EDUCATION

College staff continue stir
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 29
The relay fast started by the Joint Action Committee of managements, principals, teachers and non-teaching employees of 172 non-government aided and unaided colleges of Punjab and Chandigarh entered the 10th day today. Those who sat on the fast today included Prof Mahesh Pramjit and Prof Rajesh Sharma from Modi College, Patiala, Prof V.K.Sharma and Mr Prem Singh from P.M.N.College, Rajpura, Mr Pratap, Mr Tej Kumar and Mr Bhushan from H.M.V. College, Jalandhar.

Addressing agitating teaching and non-teaching employees, Prof N.P. Manocha, Prof Karam Singh and Dr Jagwant Singh condemned the “anti-higher education policies” of the Punjab Government. They said these were bound to make higher education costly and beyond the reach of the common man.

PUSU demands place for Kang on Senate
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, December 29
The Panjab University Students Union (PUSU) today demanded that its elected president be given membership on the Senate. It also demanded that the minimum requirement of attendance be kept at 66 per cent, which has been raised to 75 per cent. Mr Malwinder Singh Kang, president of the PUSU also urged the university authorities to make arrangements for adequate funds for the university handball team, which has qualified for the Commonwealth Games be held in Malaysia.

CULTURE

Adept presentation of Sartre’s play
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, December 29
The Punjabi play “Jadon Roshni Hundi Hai” staged at Bhaskar Rao Indoor Auditorium of Pracheen Kala Kendra today dwelt upon exploitation of the common masses. Based on Sartre’s famous work “The Flies” and adopted by famous playwright Gursharan Singh, the play conveyed the message that one should not succumb to unjust demands made in the guise of law and religion.

The story unfolds against the backdrop of a country inhabited by people who have no courage to rebel against the unreasonable norms set by their king. Condemned to wear only black attires, the inhabitants live in constant fear of being subjected to the acid test of climbing a dais separating the evil from the good.

The story’s climax is the arrival of a youth in white. Soldiers drags the boy to the dais for justice where he is joined by a girl who dares to defy the king’s order by wearing pink. As both victims climb the dais and come down unscathed, people in the kingdom are liberated of their fear.

This 45-minute long play finishes on the note that life is too short to be spent on irrelevant and unjust social norms forced upon by the so-called leaders of society.

The cast included Parveen Sharma as Raja, Navtej as Auliya, Preeti Sharma as the rebellious girl, Mohan as the stranger , Gaurav Sharma as the common man and Aarti as the old lady.

The play was directed by Mohinder Dogra.

Shafaatullah captivates old and young
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, December 29
Applause has never been a yardstick for success for Shafaatullah Khan, the rising star in the world of classical music, but the thunderous evasion never ceased throughout his performance on the tabla and Sitar at the Tagore Theatre here today.

It was for the first time the city audience had an opportunity to savour the melodious notes of Imdad Khan gharana, courtesy Department of Cultural affairs, Chandigarh Administration. Equally renowned for his skill on the tabla, Shafaatullah thawed the winter chill with Teen Taal.

Starting the evening with a composition “Peshkar” in teen taal he showed his expertise by playing 16 beats. He improvised on various ‘Tihais’ composed in free style that captivated both the old and young among the audience.

The second half of the show was a solo recital on Sitar. He started with ‘Aalap’ in raag Desh. He then moved on to raag Khamoj.

Shafaatulla began his career at an early age on the sitar and surbahar under the guidance of his father Ustad Imrat Khan, who along with his brother Ustad Vilayat Khan are legendary maestros of the Indian sub-continent. Later, he diversified his interest to Tabla and studied under Ustad Ibrahim Khan. He learnt the most rare and ancient tabla compositions of varying regional style.

At tonight’s concert, Shafaatullah was accompanied by Madan Sharma on the Harmonium and Renu on the tanpura in the first half and Mahmud Khan on the tabla and Link Kohen, one of his American students, on the tanpura.