Gurdaspur Diary: Morning walk with a touch of humour
Morning walk brings a comic relief from the stress and strain of modern day life. Almost every day at the Fish Park, an iconic spot of this centuries old city, morning walkers can be seen delivering sermons to youngsters. The other day, discussions veered around how time has “changed” the nomenclature of some posts. An octogenarian said that these days, the abbreviation IPS stood for “In-Politicians-Service”, instead of the Indian Police Service. He went a step ahead and told the gathering, much to its delight, that the topmost civil service was not IAS but the IBS (Indian Baba Service). “Become a Baba and everybody from a civil servant to a topnotch politician will fall at your feet,” he said. Somebody chipped in and asked, “How come stealing from one book is plagiarism, but stealing from many is research?” The man had some logic here. With talk of panchayat elections thick in air, one gentleman had some pearls of wisdom to share. He said, “Elections are when people find out what politicians stand for and politicians find out what people will fall for.”
Now, that was brilliantly said!
An Amritsar resident, Avtar Singh, who is in social activities, always comes up with interesting observations about people and the life they live. An intellectual and an avid book reader, he has a good sense of humour. Like when he said, “Too often, people who want to give sound advice end up giving more sound than advice.” He had everyone in splits when he said, “When you are in deep water, it’s better to keep your mouth shut.” His humour is often appreciated by morning walkers in Gurdaspur. Here, one remembers the quote of Thomas Mann: Thoughts come clearly while one walks. How true he is!
Advisory on stubble burning goes unheeded
Led by Deputy Commissioner Uma Shankar Gupta, a team of officers from the Gurdaspur district administration invariably lands at villages early in the morning. These officers are not on a jaunt. They are, in fact, reaching out to villagers to inform them of the harmful effects that stubble burning has on our daily lives. The team includes ADC (General) Surinder Singh, SDM, Fatehgarh Churian, Veerpal Kaur, Batala Tehsildar Jagtar Singh and Chief Agriculture Officer Surinder Pal Singh. ADC Surinder Singh is the main speaker at these ‘educative seminars’. Villagers are told that burning stubble will take them nowhere and if they continue to do so, they can be liable for prosecution. The villagers are also informed that burning stubble releases harmful pollutants like carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, particulate matter and volatile organic compounds. “These pollutants cause or worsen respiratory diseases like asthma and bronchitis. The heat from burning also kills beneficial bacteria and fungi in the soil. To complicate matters, stubble burning contributes to climate change. We urge you to incorporate the stubble back into the soil. This can improve soil health and reduce the need for fertilisers and retain moisture,” an officer advises a group of villagers. The problem is that nine out of 10 farmers refuse to listen to these sermons. Raging farm fires in the countryside are proof that the lectures of these officers have little effect on agriculturists. Some other way must be found if they want the fight against stubble burning to be taken to the next level. (contributed By Ravi Dhaliwal)
