Four thefts in City
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 4 — Four separate cases of thefts, including one in a sanitaryware shop, have been reported in the city. Burglaries continue unabated in the city. Mrs Jaswinder Kang of Sector 11 has reported that Rs 8,000 and some electronic items were stolen from her house when she was out of station.

A resident of Sector 34 , Mr P.C. Sharma, returned home yesterday to find that cash and jewellery had been stolen from his house. Thieves had broken the locks of his house. Mr Rajneesh Chadda , a sanitary shop owner of Kajheri village was out of station when his shop was burgled. Mr Satish Narang of Sector 23 reported that someone broke into his house and stole a briefcase, documents and other goods.

Jeewan Bhardwaj of Sector 16 has reported that someone, who had broken into his house, ran away on seeing him. A case has been registered.

Two die: Two youngsters, including a teenaged girl, have died in separate accidents in their homes. The girl, Renu, of Mauli Jagran, succumbed to her burn injuries at the PGI today. The girl had been admitted to the PGI today after she receiving burn injuries following a stove-burst at her home.

Raju, a resident of Darua village was rushed to the PGI after he consumed kerosene oil in his home. He died later.

Three injured: Three children, including a girl, riding bicycles, were injured after being hit by a car ( CH-01-J-0191) that fled away. The children, Mohammed Sharif, Imran and Imra, were injured near the 3 Base Repair Depot (BRD). They have been admitted to the GMCH in Sector 32.

Car hit: A car (CH-01-K-0954), driven by Mr Rohit Sharma of Sector 20, was hit by a truck (CHW-1228), driven by Narinder Singh. The car was damaged and the truck driver was arrested.

A case under Sections 279 and 337 of the IPC was registered against him.

Assaulted: A resident of Phase II SAS Nagar, Rakesh, was allegedly assaulted by five persons in Sector 22. Four of the accused, Harvinder Singh, Novinder Singh, Tejinder Pal and Tejinder Singh, were arrested and booked under Sections 147, 149, 341 and 323 of the IPC.

Dog stolen: A dog owned by Mr Amardeep Singh Sidhu, of Sector 18, was allegedly stolen by some car-borne persons. His servant had taken the dog, a dalmatian, for walk when two car-borne youths snatched it from him and sped off. A pup of the same breed cost around Rs 5,000 in the market today, Mr Sidhu said.

DERA BASSI

Fraudulent deal: On the charge of selling land fraudulently, the local police has arrested Jaswinder Singh, a resident of this subdivision.

According to a press note issued by Mr Param Pal Singh Sidhu, SSP, Patiala, on a complaint filed by Mr Om Prakash, a resident of Panchkula, the police had registered a case of cheating against the suspect for allegedly selling 32 bighas and six biswas of land in Naraingarh Jhugian village and four bighas in Chhat village owned by Mrs Surjit Kaur, a resident of Ludhiana. The suspect got the land documents from the woman and entered into a deal for Rs 23 lakh with Jain Kumar, a resident of Hameshpura.

The police has also arrested Paramjit Kaur, a resident of Jaula Khurd village, while Surjit Singh, another suspect involved in the case, has absconded.

PANCHKULA

Liquor seized : The local police seized 40 pouches of country liquor from Balbir Singh, a resident of Ambedkar colony in Sector 21, here. A case under the Excise Act has been registered against him.

Injured : Ram Lal, a resident of Chandi Kotla in Chandi Mandir, complained to the police that he was injured after being hit by a vehicle near Chandi Mandir on Monday. A case under Sections 279 and 337 of the IPC has been registered.

Innovation in dance needed: Sonal
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 4 — “Today is the age of hamburgers, computers and MTV. Youngsters have become very savvy, and I too have become quite savvy with them”, said exponent of Bharatnatyam and Odissi dance, Sonal Mansingh while talking about her dance, her students and the age-old ‘guru shishya’ tradition, in an exclusive interview with the TNS, at a Sector 10 hotel.

“Much has changed since the time I gave my first performance in 1964 at the Sapru House. With time, the role of the “guru” has evolved. Today I am aware that my students also have to face the burden of homework and tuitions. So my job is to provide my ‘’shishyas’’ with quality time and make them love to dance”, this Padma Bhushan awardee said while commenting on the role of a “guru” today.

Sonal Mansingh founded the Centre for Indian Classical Dances in 1977 at Delhi, which produced dancers, like Leela Samson and Bharati Shivaji. Reciting a ‘’shaloka’’ from the Vedas, she said, “The “Guru” is like Brahma who creates the disciple, he is like Vishnu who sustains the disciple with knowledge, is like Shiva who disciplines the students and is Pramambrahma who is always present with the students. Even today on Vijaydashmi I give ‘’guru dakshina’’ to my “gurus”.

For someone who has been dancing on professional stage since early 60s and learnt Bhartanatyam from renowned couple of Bangalore Prof U.S. Krishnan and Mrs Chandrabhaga Devi and later Odissi from Kelucharan Mahapatra and worked in close co-ordination with poet and scholar Jiwan Pani, it is not amazing that Sonal’s repertoire is acknowledged as unique in terms of richness of poetic, musical and choreographic inputs.

On the need for forever innovating in dance performances she said there is a need to move along with the times. With festivals like Anita Ratnam’s ‘’The other festival’’ drawing huge accolades even in the South innovative dances are being accepted today.

Calling fusion dance as “confusion dance”, Sonal Mansingh said, “Modern dancers like Astaad Deboo are brilliant. But as a dancer I have come to understand that everything has to be passed through the sieve of aesthetics”.

What is the status of dancers today, compared to the dancers of the yore who were simply referred to as the ‘’Nachnewalis’’? Sonal, who is the grand-daughter of late Mangaldas Pakvasa, one of the first five Governors of India in 1947, said, “Yes there was a time when the profession of dancing was looked down upon, and girls from ‘’respectable’’ families not allowed to be part of the same. But in the late 70s and the 80s, the trend changed and dance was deemed to be superior to even music. Today music enjoys a better status than dance. The very fact that a dancer has a paraphernalia of a musician, a vocalist etc, it seems easier to organise music performances.

“Especially after the the boom in the music industry, music has reached new heights. After a dance performance what do you take back home? Only memories and photographs may be. But music can be heard lying in bed, on personal stereo system”.

Emphasising that dance performances have more impact than vocal and instrumental music, Sonal said, “It has been a long journey for me from being a performer to a dancer, and then from being a teacher to a “guru”.

In the evening, Sonal Mansingh and her troupe presented a ballet, woven in the styles of Odissi and Chhau from Mayurbhanj, which is performed without the use of masks, at the Tagore Theatre, on the theme of ‘bravery’. The dance performance was staged in honour of the Red and White Bravery Award winners of the region.

“Bravery”, she said, “is not to be understood in a very limiting sense alone. It is that spirit which propels people to do things which they had never imagined otherwise”.

The dance performance, that reflected Sonal Mansingh’s usual flair for looking at traditional themes in an innovative way, was about Meera who faces all possible physical and mental torture with poise and then about Krishna, as the symbol of divine gift to mankind. The performance ended with a delightful rendition of the ‘Geeta-Updesh’, that Lord Krishna gives to Arjun in the battlefield of Kurukshetra.