MANY FACETS of Randhawa

Nonika Singh recalls the contribution of M.S. Randhawa, the visionary responsible for accelerating Punjab’s Green Revolution and Chandigarh’s evolution as a ‘green city’, whose birth anniversary falls on February 2

PUNJABIS are known for agriculture not culture — so goes the popular perception. But here was a man — the late Dr M. S. Randhawa — who knew as much about culture as agriculture. This son of the soil, who was born at Zira in Ferozepur district of Punjab, held prestigious offices like those of the Deputy Commissioner of Delhi, Secretary of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Chief Commissioner of Chandigarh, and the Vice-Chancellor of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana. He was an able administrator, a go-getter as well as a caring human being.

Artist & Administrator
Dr M.S. Randhawa was a rare combination — an able administrator and a scholar. He joined the Indian Civil Service in 1934 and worked in various departments. He served as the Vice-President of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Additional Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Adviser, Natural Resources Planning Commission from 1961-1964 and Special Secretary, Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

The power behind
Iqbal Kaur Randhawa may not call her late spouse Dr M. S. Randhawa as a perfect husband. But she does remember him as very sincere one. Not surprising that even when the "a connoisseur of beauty" complimented beautiful women, Mrs Randhawa never turned green with envy because, "He just abhorred ugliness." Of all things beautiful, Nature was undisputedly his first love, she reveals.

The soul of Slumdog is in its music
A. R. Rahman’s music in Slumdog Millionaire is unique in its blend of the folk and the modern, says Shakuntala Rao
NO doubt director Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire is one of the best films to have come out of Hollywood last year. The film is a sensory rush, a take on the terrible but darkly funny side of Mumbai’s Dharavi chawls. Vikas Swarup’s debut novel, Q&A, from which Slumdog Millionaire is loosely adapted, is far darker, quirkier, and understated.

World's first Internet car radio
SICK of listening to those limited radio channels while driving? Well, now you can have access to 30,000 stations, including online broadcasts and AM and FM stations from around the globe, thanks to Aussie researchers who have developed the world’s first Internet car radio.