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| Tuesday,
November 13, 2001, Chandigarh, India
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STATE
OF HOSTELS Chandigarh The building has 60 rooms and can accommodate 70 to 80 girls. Currently there are about 40 residents in the hostel, many of whom are either students or working women. The YWCA prefers students doing two or three-year courses and not those who are here for short periods. The residents are allowed to stay for five years after which the secretary of the association decides whether to allow the person to stay on. The hostel has different types of rooms. Some are meant for two persons, some for more. Some have attached bathrooms while others have common bathrooms. The rent varies accordingly. The maximum is Rs 2000 a month for a two-seater and the minimum is Rs 1400 for one which is to be shared with other residents and has a common bathroom. The residents agree that the rooms are comfortable. “And the rent includes the cost of three meals a day. So, by and large, it is an economical proposition. The acting secretary of the YWCA, Mrs S.D. Singh, says that the residents are provided with three meals and tea. There is a contractor who cooks for the staff and the residents. The hostel also has a TV room, a badminton court and some indoor games. “But not many among the residents show any interest in playing games. There is no one who even volunteers to keep the rackets etc to be given to those who want to play,” says Mrs Singh. Most of the residents are working women and find the hostel timings suitable. It is open from 6 am to 9 pm. The residents are expected to be in by that time and if anyone wants to stay out for some days, she has to seek the permission of the warden. The warden stays in the hostel and takes care of the day-to-day problems of the residents. There are sweepers to clean the rooms and the building and there is a telephone for the residents. The YWCA otherwise is an active social organisation which holds a number of camps, seminars and lectures for NGOs, women’s groups and adolescent girls, etc. The YWCA is also running a tailoring and art and craft centre for poor women. |
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Exhibition
by KU students Chandigarh, November 12 The most striking feature of the exhibits is the profuse use of bright colours to portray topics like “Plight of Humanity”, “Brahman-ism vs Budhism”, “Human desire” and “Struggle.” The bright colours symbolise the naked reality of our cultural practices, says Y. S. Alone, who teaches Fine Arts at the Kurukshetra University. He is also exhibiting two of his paintings “Brahmanism Vs Budhism in Ancient India” and “Brahmanism.” Ashok, one of the students, has compared woman with a tree while Gurdeep Dhiman has romanticised the life of a rural woman in his painting titled “Rural Woman.” Yogita’s untitled painting and Kuldeep and Monika’s “Aquarium” series are good attempts to generate awareness about environment protection. Saranjeet Kaur’s “Struggle”, Kamal’s “Desire” and Dr Ram Viranjan’s “Memory of Childhood” and “Abhimanu” are also on display. The poster section, too, has some meaningful works highlighting the importance of blood and eye donation, ill effects of population explosion, atrocities on women and girl child, dowry and drugs menace. |
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Schools
celebrate Children’s Day Panchkula, November 12 In Saupin’s School, the celebrations also included the investiture ceremony and annual academic award presentation. The programme began with a presentation of a prayer dance by students of Class VI, group songs in English and Hindi on the theme of world peace and a solo dance item by a Class V student, Aneesh Kumar. Students of various classes also presented a show of martial arts and a choreography on the folk dances of India. Rt. Rv. Gerald J. Mathias, Bishop of Simla- Chandigarh diocese, was the chief guest. In Blue Bird School, staff members of the school presented a giddha performed a skit and a choreography. Because the administration has banned the use of high-intensity crackers, students lighted phuljharies to celebrate Divali. Satluj School decided to celebrate Children’s Day in an educational manner, with teachers giving a multimedia presentation on different projects. The students judged the presentations made by their teachers on kinds of pollution, Pearl Harbor. Meanwhile, students of Chaman Lal DAV Senior Public School, alongwith their teachers organised a rally to spread the message of avoiding the use of crackers and a total ban on polythene. The rally was flagged off by the SDM Panchkula, Mr M.S. Yadav. In DAV Public School, SAS Nagar, children celebrated the festival of lights and Children’s Day by organising a cultural programme . A candle and an earthen lamp decoration competition was also held. |
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5 more night schools from Nov 24 Chandigarh, November 12 The occasion was the first anniversary of the adaptation of the school by Ajit Karam Singh International Public School. As many as 60 students are enrolled in the school. Speaking after visiting the school, being run by the National Education Development Trust, General Jacob said with the addition of five more schools, 18 night schools would be functioning in Chandigarh. Lauding the role of the trust for running the school, the Administrator said it was the responsibility of society to improve the quality of life of under-privileged and role of NGOs in the school movement was laudable. Earlier, Dr B.S.N. Walia, Chairman of the trust, informed the Administrator that in the school, the trust was providing sports material and educational material to the children and looking after the education of all enrolled children and another trust, the Arora Memorial Trust, was looking after the medical check-up of the students. Dr Walia said Ajit Karam Singh International Public School was also providing education input to the school. Earlier students welcomed the Governor with a song. General Jacob also visited an exhibition of various artifacts produced by the students. A deaf and dumb child, Ram Pal, presented his painting to the Governor. On this occasion, General Jacob honoured Ms Manju, who motivated villagers to send their children to the school. The Administrator also honoured Ms Usha Garg, a teacher of the school, and students. |
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VCs discuss
holiday schedule Chandigarh, November 12 The games which are scheduled to be held from November 19 to December 1 will be using the university campus and many colleges in the region for sporting events and hostel facilities. Sources said Dr S.P. Singh, VC, GND varsity, Amritsar, Mr J.S. Ahluwalia, VC, Punjabi University, Patiala, and Dr K.N. Pathak, VC, Panjab University, decided at the meeting that winter break would be declared for students of the universities and colleges during this period and some rooms in the hostels would be
temporarily vacated to accommodate players. |
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Bail for
accused in
contract killing case Chandigarh, November 12 The accused, Balwant Rai Vashisht, Sant Kumar and others were granted bail on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 30,000 by the UT District and Sessions Judge, Mr H.S. Bhalla. It was alleged that Balwant Rai Vashisht and Sant Kumar had hired a man to kill timber merchant Harjinder Singh. The accused were granted bail as the complainant in the case had filed an affidavit before the court that he had no objection, if the accused were granted bail. |
Miss Lashkara beauty
contest final on Dec 5 Chandigarh, November 12 According to a spokesman of the channel catwalk, question and answer rounds, introduction rounds, talent rounds, beauty rounds and presentation rounds were held at K.K. Trams. Among the prominent models who participated in the preliminary round of this beauty contest were Ghehna Singh (Bhopal), Rajbir Kaur Tanej (Shahabad), Sunit Batra (Amritsar), Gagandeep Minti (Kapurthala), Supreet (Delhi), Gurpreet (Delhi), Simran Kaur (Fazilka) and Nidhi (Kotkapura). A leading artist and photographer Ravi Mann, VLCC instructor Richa Agarwal, and renowned model Lali Virk were among the panel of judges. According to the spokesman more than 2000 entries were received. Out of this 250 participants were short-listed and after another scrutiny and short-listing, 45 models were invited to participate in the preliminary round of Miss Lashkara beauty contest. The spokesman said the grooming session of the above models would be organised from November 27 to 29 at K.K. Trams, and on November 30 category rounds, which included perfect 10, Miss Catwalk, and Miss Personalities, would be held at K.K. Trams. On December 2 Miss Beautiful Skin and Miss Beautiful Hair would be held at Lilly Resorts, Jalandhar. The final round of Miss Lashkara Beauty Contest would be held at Gulmohar Hotel, Ludhiana, on December 5, in which Miss Lashkara would be crowned. |
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Of folk tunes
and wet earth... Chandigarh, November 12 She is Pathani alias Reshma, the woman who sings in the language of the heart. This morning she was in the city, sharing the earthy space of Rock Garden with its creator Nek Chand, who is her very dear friend. In her adorable style, she admitted, "Ye fankaar ka fankaar se jo rishta hota hai, bada hi gehra aur khoobsurat hota hai. Ise alfazon mein bayaan nahi kiya ja sakta. Bas itna keh sakti hoon ki mein aapke sheher mein Nek Chand se hi milne aayee hoon (The relationship artistes share is deep and beautiful. It cannot be explained in words. All I can say is that I am here to see Nek Chand.)" Only two days earlier she was singing in the service of Khwaja Ajmer Sharif. But a visit to the city was on her itinerary. She will be here for a week. Breathing the beauty of Rock Garden today, Reshma remembered the land of her belonging —Bikaner (Rajasthan). The only detail about her birth she could recall was that she was born under a tree. But she vividly remembers the caravans, the rustic folk tunes thick in desert air, the sand dunes and the fragrance of wet earth. All this is reflected in her melodies. "I have travelled places I don’t remember. But there is nothing like the terrace of my home, where I have installed a tandoor to trap the fragrance of wet earth," she smiles. Reshma values her moorings, so much so that she does not count her children." I don’t want them to lose years of life. My son Saawan sings. I call him Saawan because he was born in spring. I don’t remember dates," she says. All she likes to remember is her love with music and how it blossomed despite the fact that she had no musical lineage. Her father was a "saudagar". "Main kabhi padhi nahi. Khuda ne sur ki shakl mein aisa dildaar bakhsha ki kisi aur cheez ke liye fursat nahi mili. (I never studied. God blessed me with music as the beloved. I was so in love that there was no time for anything else.) This fire still breathes in her songs — right from Manzoor Shalla’s Hai oye rabba...naiyo lagda dil mera, directed by Khan Mohd sahib (who is accompanying Reshma to Chandigarh) to Anand Bakshi’s Lambi judai ...which became legendary after Reshma sung them in Hero. Today, Reshma’s songs mirror the beauty of earth. They offer peace which transcends commotion, proving to the world that knowledge of ragas is not essential to sing. Reshma explained, "All I know is that I have to follow the "sura". Everything else will fall into place.There are no compromises on the purity of music. I would rather die singing Damadam mast kalandar than sing corrupted pop tunes." For the love of purity, Reshma paid some price. There was a time when she was ill and nobody offered help. But God’s help came. She said, "That is because I sing prayerfully. After the day Salim Guilani of Radio Pakistan released my audio cassette in 1965, I have been performing frequently. But I never counted my cassettes or concerts. For me, any concert is khuda ka farmaan." Reshma could not help quoting Khwaja Ghulam Farid’s: Te waqt da beli har koi honda, shala waqt na khave dole, sajjan vi ban dushman bainde, jadon waqt nu painde raule, waqt salamat hove mahi, sajanan khalaunde ne kole, Ghulam Farida sada waqt ni renda...kade masa te kade tole... No wonder Reshma’s high notes
"wash away from the soul the dust of everyday life". |
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