The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

IN FOCUS
School building remains a dream
Kulwinder Sangha

SAS NAGAR
For the past 19 years, the Government Primary School in Phase VI here has been without a building of its own. Its hope of getting one in the near future has also vanished with the decision of the Punjab Urban Development Authority not to undertake such work in the future.

Over the years, the school authorities and the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) has been pleading with PUDA to construct a building on the plot allotted to the school. In 1999, the then Executive Officer of PUDA had announced at a school function that the building plan was ready and that construction would start soon. However, recently PUDA decided not to undertake construction of any school building as the Punjab Education Department usually failed to take over such buildings and their maintenance and upkeep became the headache of PUDA.

The school is, at present, running in a temporary structure built by the PTA in 1982. Two rooms were constructed initially for five classes. Later one of the rooms was divided into two with a partition wall.

Mr R.C. Jhingan, president of the PTA, said the rooms were built with great difficulty after collecting donations from the residents. Maintenance work was also being undertaken by the PTA. Recently, the rooms were whitewashed.

After years of indifference, the government recently gave Rs 10,000 for constructing toilets in the school. As the amount was inadequate, donations were again collected and toilets for girls, boys and the staff were built. Mr Jhingan said when Mr Harnek Singh Gharuan was an MLA, he gave Rs 50,000 for the construction of a boundary wall. Only two sides of the boundary wall could be built with the help of this amount. The Municipal Council has fixed railings on the other two sides.

The school, which has 110 pupils on its rolls and four teacher to handle five classes, is without an electricity connection. Its students come mainly from jhuggi colonies. The lack of proper accommodation compels the teachers to take classes in the open in every kind of weather. During the rainy season, the children are huddled in the three rooms, one of which is also used as a store.

The school does not have a chowkidar or a peon. After the school hours, children from the neighbourhood play in the school and often damage its property. Undertaking repair work becomes a problem for the fund-starved school.

Hans Raj school team wins Limca quiz
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, December 6
The three-member team from Hans Raj Public School, Panchkula, beat seven teams from the city to be declared the winner of the Chandigarh chapter of Limca Book of Records Quiz, 2001, organised by Coca- Cola India at Shivalik Public School, Sector 41, here today.

The competition witnessed an overwhelming response as students from 30 schools from Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali thronged the venue. Popular quiz master Barry O' Brien with his unique style of presentation which involved both the participants and the audience alike made the event interesting.

Bharat Takhti, Arun Koul and Rajat Sharma representing Hans Raj Public School were declared winners followed by Summet Khullar, Gaurav Chhibber and Samarth Chugh representing St. Stephen’s, Sector 45, in the second position. Aakash Aggarwal, Shiv Anant Tayal and Akhil Dhar representing St. Kabir School, Sector 26, bagged the third position.

The candidates were shortlisted through a preliminary round based on an questionnaire. The final phase consisted of eight rounds, including audio and visual rounds. Chandigarh is the last of the 18 cities to be organising Limca Book of Records Quiz at the city level.

The winning team will be representing the city in the national finals of Limca Book of Records Quiz, 2001, to be held in Kolkata on December16.

Stage quiz more challenging: Barry
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, December 6
Charismatic quiz master Barry O'Brien is driven by a mission to imbibe some sort of value system in our education system.

Barry who describes himself as a good communicator has been into quizzing after he left his teaching job in 1995. "Stage quiz is more challenging as it requires a lot of communication skill, presence of mind and a powerful presence," says Barry as he nurses his back with a hot water bottle after a hard day's work, quizzing eight school teams for the Limca Book of Records, Chandigarh City Quiz 2001.

The quiz series "Big Bubble Green Teen Quiz" he anchored ran for about two years in DD Metro. Besides he anchored another prestigious project called National Parliamentary Quiz on Doordarshan, sponsored by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.

"Neil O'Brien will be remembered as father of quizzing, Sidhartha Basu will be remembered for taking quiz to people's drawing rooms, Derek for making quiz an industry and Amitabh Bacchhan for taking it to the masses, I will be remembered as the stage quizmaster," says Barry.

But diehard Barry fans are in for a disappointment as this quizmaster is going to quit quizzing soon. "As quizzing demands a lot of stamina, I wonder for how long I will be able to carry this with grace".

An academician at heart, Barry is more interested in pursuing writing children's books. Author of "Find Out", a series of general knowledge books, he is currently engaged in doing another series called "Rainbow" jointly with his father.

Barry who started his career as a journalist for Ananda Bazar Patrika group nurtures a dream to occupy a seat reserved for the Anglo-Indian community in the Lok Sabha some day and bring some changes in the existing educational policies. "The richness of our value system needs to be preserved, besides adding practicality and imbibing some sense of responsibility among students through proper curriculum," he adds.

COURTS

HIGH COURT
DC summoned on farm land auction
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 7
Directing Kurukshetra’s Deputy Commissioner to be present in court along with relevant record in a case seeking directions to a gram panchayat for leasing out agricultural land by open auction, a Division Bench of the High Court on Thursday also asked him to file an affidavit giving details of the factual position.

Pronouncing the directions, the Bench, comprising Mr Justice Jawahar Lal Gupta and Mr Justice Mehtab Singh Gill, observed that an undertaking was given in court on the last date of hearing that the possession of the auctioned land would be given to successful bidders. Time was granted, but the respondents failed to file a detailed reply. The case will now come up for hearing on January 7.

PPSC restrained on selections

Issuing notice of motion on a petition filed by an advocate seeking directions to the state of Punjab and other respondents to fill the post of Ayurvedic Medical Officers in Punjab Ayurvedic Department through Punjab Public Service Commission, a Division Bench of the High Court today ordered that the selection process shall not be finalised in the meantime.

In his petition taken up by the Bench, comprising Mr Justice Amar Bir Singh Gill and Mr Justice Swatanter Kumar, Shiv Partap Singh Mann had also sought directions for quashing an advertisement issued by the Subordinate Service Selection Board for filling 19 posts of officers and for quashing the screening test fixed for December 18. The case will now come up for hearing on January 3.

CULTURE

‘Pardes’ beauty in a state of euphoria

The news is thick in the air and it is bothering a number of Mahima and Leander Paes fans. Mahima Chowdhry has been dating the lawn tennis stage for quite some time now and the two are all set to tie the nuptial anytime. Well, this is the hottest news around after the one which said that Anupma Verma and Mahesh Bhupati were also going strong. There really seems to be some attraction.

The ‘Pardes’ beauty is said to be very happy with the way things are going and even Paes is believed to be settled with the thought of marrying the ‘Pardes’ girl. As for Mahima, life has moved very smoothly. She may not have had plum assignments after ‘Pardes’, but she is not very sensitive about her fare as a heroine. With a huge line of movies to back her (along with the fact that Subhash Ghai made it a point to help her succeed), Mahima is going fine with her Bollywood career. She just had a good performance in Priyadarshan’s ‘Tera Ghar Mera Ghar’ opposite Sunil Shetty. Her role in ‘Lajja’ took off from the fiery script of the Rajkumar Santoshi film and lent it a very solid base.

Well, now the reel-life bride of Lajja may turn into a real-life bride of Paes anyday. Are the fans helping themselves?

Now digital films on Zee Cinema
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 6
For the first time ever, the December Zee Cinema will be showcasing films directed by independent film-makers. These films have never been aired on a channel before. Most of the films are in Hindi, but for the first time ever Zee Cinema is ready to air movies in English also. While three days of screening are over from December 3 to 5, the rest of the films will be screened on December 7 and 8.

Among the movies to be screened are Divya Drishti. Based on the life of a charlatan sadhu, who lives off people’s faith, the film has been directed by Sidhrath Srinivasan. The second film is Ramlila, which once again bares the legendary role of Lord Rama and Sita and, of course, the demon king Ravana. The film has been directed by Subhash Kapoor, Sanjay Pande and Anant Sridhar. My Friend Su is a documentary about a man, his thoughts and trauma. The protagonist, who is a male, experiences inner urges of a woman. Made by Neeraj Bhasin, the film explores an unexplored theme.

A Perfect Day, directed by Nishit Saran, chronicles the most imperfect day possible. Sukesh and Madhvi were in love and then they fall out of love. On a day like any other, when he no longer thinks of her, Sukesh realises that it is Madhvi’s birthday. The old memories come flooding, leaving him too distraught to do anything else except wander through Delhi reminiscing and getting increasingly drunk. Ending up at Madhvi’s house, only to find she is out shopping for the party later that night, he decides to attend the party. There is something he must tell her.

Urf Professor, directed by Pankaj Advani, is about a professor whose name no one knows. He wears a no-nonsense safari suit, looks like an accountant and looks clumsy. He dreams of winning a lottery so that he can pay exclusive attention to his books.

High flier hunting for talent

This Chandigarh boy has many claims to fame. The latest being the success of his first film as director. Mohan Sharma is still being complimented for his film ‘Avgat’, released on June 1 this year. The film, which deals with the subject of underworld escapades, has Ajinkya Deo and Nethra Raghuraman in lead roles. It also stars Sudesh Beri and Shivaji Shinde (of Shool fame).

This Government College of Art, Sector 10, graduate appears satisfied with his first product. The movie is based on the life of two underworld dons — Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan. Believe it or not, Mohan and his team shot the real episodes of terror at the real locations. Before going it alone, Mohan had assisted Gyan Sahay, director, photography for shows like ‘Saregama’, ‘Bournvita Quiz contest’ and ‘Antakshri’. He also worked with Asha Parekh in ‘Kora Kagaz’ and ‘Kangan’ (currently being aired on Sony).

Mohan’s new film is tentatively titled Aadhar. Based on Kashmir terrorism, the film will have Aditya Pancholi, Om Puri and either Sonali or Sushmita. The film will be shot in locations around Rohtang Pass. With a third film already at hand, the 28-year-old Mohan is already winning the trust of big producers like Sunil Thakur, Subhash Agarwal and Prakash. But he feels he still has a long way to go.

Adds the high flier: “Since I belong to Chandigarh I would love to cast someone from here. But he or she must possess the talent to take off the film. Also I require mature people because I like to handle mature scripts.” Any takers?