When joy turns into sorrow

Recently, during a visit to one of the government dispensaries, a little girl came to the dispensary from school complaining of stomach ache. The school was located next to the dispensary, so, whenever, a student faces any health problem, he/she is taken to this dispensary for a check-up. The doctor instructed the girl:  "Today is Thursday, so there will be kadi-chawal in the mid-day meal, but you are not going to eat it". The look on the little girl's face was to be seen and it seemed that her hopes were dashed. She once again asked the doctor if she could eat a little bit, but the doctor refused. She nodded and went back after taking the medicine. "I wait throughout the week to relish kadi-chawal, but today everything has gone awry due to my stomach ache. Now, I will have to stay empty stomach. I wish the stomach ache had happened yesterday," she was heard murmuring to her friend.

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Waterlogging goes viral

As the industrial capital of the state have had a moderate rainfall during last week, most city localities, including the so called 'posh areas', were submerged with the political leadership and the MC authorities drawing flak for their inability to tackle the problem of waterlogging. City residents, especially the social media buffs, had a field day exchanging pictures and messages of different city localities which were under water. Many people compared the waterlogged areas to water sports centres. The political leadership (read elected representatives) and the MC top brass ought to take this matter seriously and take whatever remedial steps are possible.

Kheer/malpure all over

'Saawan' has come and so have the traditional delicacies! These days, kheer is being cooked in various houses. The sweet shops also claim that malpuras are in a huge demand during saawan'. When asked about the reason, an octogenarian woman said, saawan is the month when in ancient times, the married women used to visit their parents. During this month, there were festivities all over and mothers used to cook delicacies such as kheer and malpuras for their daughters. The salesman at a leading shop here said: "Majority of buyers take malpuras days during monsoons". 

Poor state of government schools 

Several government schools in the district are crying for attention due to staff-shortage and lack of infrastructure. A group of senior citizens were carrying out discussion about current scenario of the government schools here. A retired official said, "I hadstudied in a government school. I used to play hockey at our school. There were the best teachers in our school. Those were golden days of my life. Now, whenever I come to  know about poor condition of any government school, I feel very sad. A wall of government school has collapsed recently as the school building was in state of neglect. It seems our elected representatives are not interested for paying any attention towards poor condition of the government schools," he remarked.  

Moral values still exist in students

A few days ago, a Class III student was seen touching feet of teachers as a mark of respect. However, other students were seen wishing 'good afternoon' while leaving the school. The discipline among underprivileged students was praiseworthy. However, the dismal condition of the school building also suggests that the education is in darkness for these children. A child does not need high-end facilities to learn moral values. But a congenial atmosphere is every child’s right.

Contributed by: Manav Mander, Kuldip Bhatia, Shivani Bhakoo, Harshraj Singh, Naina Mishra