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Include marginalised in democratic process, asserts Philip
Chandigarh, January 24 The National Seminar on Participatory Democracy: New Contexts, New Challenges - Inclusion and Exclusion was organised by the Department of Correspondence Studies, Panjab University. The guest of honour, Mr Philip raised the question from the perspective of the poor. “Do these poor form a part of inclusion or exclusion? Do the glass buildings with steel frames lead to more inclusion or more exclusion of people from the process of democracy”, he asked. “If the Tatas can pay $ 7.5 billion for an Anglo-Dutch steel company, why can they not pay Rs 150 crore for 1000 acres here? If the farmers are asking for their due share, what is wrong with that”, he asked. He added that the farmers who were forced to give up their land should be made shareholders in the company’s profits or at least adequately rehabilitated, not just in terms of money, but also in terms of employment. He recalled his visit to Mewat in Haryana, which was a fast-developing state. “Nun is a small place just miles away from Gurgaon. But none of the development of Gurgaon has rubbed off on this place. There is neither a good school nor a good government hospital”, he said. Prof Kulwant Pande delivered the valedictory address and said partnerships should be highlighted, as also negotiations, both at national and international levels, in order to maximize benefits to the people in the process of inclusion. The valedictory session was chaired by Prof Veer Singh, Dean of University Instructions.
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Book on nursery rhymes
Chandigarh, January 24 Speaking on the occasion, Brinder Aulakh, former Director, Regional Institute of English, Chandigarh, and the author of the book said, “Prior to teaching nursery rhymes to the little kids we first need to look at the need and objectives of teaching them. At the same time, these nursery rhymes are required to be taught at the right time”. Brinder Aulakh, who has conducted many workshops in English for special purposes, has many study materials as well to her credit in English linguistics, phonetics, phonology, grammar, methodology and communication skills etc. Brinder, who has written five new rhymes in the book, is also working on her next book, which would be teaching of handwriting based on cellular
memory.
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Rally for AIDS awareness
Dera Bassi, January 24 According to the school headmistress, Ms Vijay Bala, this was the third rally under the adult education programme. Mr Tarsem Chand, a retired Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax, flagged off the rally, organised in collaboration with the Red Ribbon Club of the school. Prominent among the speakers were Kamlesh Kumari, Jai Pal, Surinder Sharma, Karam Singh, Rajesh Kumar, Sujata and Prem Chand.
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Nature’s Shaukeen
Chandigarh, January 24 He had barely reached his teens when he clicked an award-winning photograph and after two years he came out with his first exhibition of photographs in Sector 17 plaza
where people from all walks of life, including rickshaw pullers to connoisseurs of
photography, came to see his work. Now 25-year-old Surkhab Shaukeen is the only student of Indian origin pursuing a degree in Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photographic Illustrations at one of the world’s best and oldest institute, Rochester Institute of Technology, USA. Interestingly, his admission in the prestigious institute has a story behind it. Surkhab who was earlier studying at Santa Barbara finished one year of his course when a professor from the Rochester institute was visiting there. It was then that he noticed his works and asked him to switch over. Though the young photographer who loves to shoot nature was reluctant initially, finally after much persuasion and a scholarship of $ 20,000, a first one to be given to any foreign student by the institute that he
went to the present establishment. What started as a simple hobby in Vivek High School where he studied has now become a passion for him. His home that has been converted into a full-fledged gallery with 126 photographs adorning the walls is a perfect example of his passion for photography. Shaukeen, who has inherited his aesthetic sense from his late father, first started clicking pictures with an old camera. Just as his name, which means a rare bird,
the photographer happens to be a rare combination of being a voracious reader, drummer
and a pianist. He has been travelling extensively for clicking images, to different places that include four visits to the Ladakh valley crossing three highest passes, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Switzerland, Italy, England, Bangkok,
coast of California and Alaska et al. In all his works, the ones that dominate viewers’ interests are the
pictures of the Pengong-Dso Lake that is the highest salt-water water body with its one end in India and the
other in China. On being asked if Shaukeen has a mentor, he is quick to attribute most of it to his mother who is an artist and a journalist herself. “He is unlike most others of his age and would prefer reading universal classics over going to parties and indulging with friends,” says
Reeta Sharma, Surkhab’s mother. He is currently exhibiting his photographs together with some prize-winning titles such as ‘No bars on hope’ and others like ‘a bowl full of sky and ‘merchant of dreams’. |
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‘Zindagi Retire Nahin Hoti’
Chandigarh, January 24 Scripted by Munna Dhiman, also the Bollywood lyricist, the play flourished under the direction of acclaimed thespian GS Channi and Harleen Kohli to depict the divergent perceptions of life after retirement. The thespian couple structured the play close to the radical street theatre form with actors establishing an instant rapport with the audience. The creative confrontation between the ideological standpoint and stark realities of life radiated a conflict between the retired person and his progeny compelling him to drop his cherished aims and ambitions. Similarly the nagging mother-in-law in Harleen Kohli, takes on her daughter in law to check and contradict her every move and dictate her own terms maintaining the supremacy of which she was a victim in early life. Vijay Machal playing multiple roles displayed versatility as also all the actors. The play weaved in lighter vein had touched
many serious aspects of our day to day life holding social relevance. |
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City, Brasilia compared in film by a French
Chandigarh, January 24 Based on a self-written story, Louidgi chose to weave a script around these two cities as they are the icons of modernism set in early fifties. Using the film as a medium, he tries to draw comparisons between the architecture and planning and also how the two cities actually exist now. Interestingly, Le Corbusier, the planner of Chandigarh, and Oscar Niemeyer, who planned Brasilia, worked together for various projects. Though the first part of the film was shot in Brasilia with Brasilian actors in May, 2005, the second part has been wrapped up in Chandigarh with two actors from Chandigarh, Manisha Pande and Balpreet. Manisha, a final year student of MCM DAV College, Sector 36, who is playing the role of a student of architecture in Chandigarh, tells, “There were no rehearsals at all and it was all very natural”. A fact that her fellow artist, Balpreet, playing the love interest of the Brasilian lead actor, completely agrees. “There was absolutely no make-up and the entire part has been shot with the actors wearing the same costume all through”. With most of it being shot in the Capitol Complex, Panjab University, city museum, gardens and the residential areas in old sectors, it was like a close-knit family to work with, says Balpreet. For Louidgi, who has earlier directed short films, making a film in Chandigarh was a maiden experience that he claims was wonderful, considering the architectural buildings and beautiful parks in the city that mesmerised him. But he did confess to have faced permission problems when he wanted to shoot in the Secretariat. Nevertheless, he had to do with long shots of an important official building. Loudigi, who has had done a lot of research prior to starting the film by reading architectural books, took almost a year to finally to start the project. He will now take the film to France for editing and mixing where later it will be shown to audience in a museum first. The film has no songs but only electronic music, arranged by two musicians from Ireland and Paris. The film funded by the French Government is made in English and will have subtitles in French for the audience as well. |
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