friday gurgaon, december 30-january 5, 2011
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Gurgaon's Own Weekly NewspaperTRANSCRIPT
{Inside}
Vol. 1 No. 19 Pages 32 ` 7 RNI No. HARENG/2011/39319
Contd on p 8
30 Dec–5 Jan 2012
{ Abhishek Behl / FG }
HUDA Chief Praveen Ku-mar takes his karma religiously. He begins
official work at 5 am, and when we requested him for an interview he had a twinkle in his eyes. He asked us to catch up with him in the early morning any day, knowing it was a tough task.
Friday Gurgaon caught up with him when he came to meet a senior ex-bureaucrat who lives in Gurgaon. This meeting, described by Kumar as the ‘meeting of the old and not so new’, also pointed to the fact that Gurgaon has a wealth of experience; and the civil society and administra-tion must tap this vast reser-voir of knowledge, to make Gurgaon a truly Mil-lennium City.
In a freewheeling chat, Praveen Kumar tells us his grand plans for the City. How HUDA is going to make it encroachment free, cleaner, greener – and a place to live and enjoy life, rather than be-ing worried about the next pothole on the road. He also categorically said that no one will be spared if he has violated the law; and even the most power-ful and influential will have to vacate land, if they have encroached upon it illegally.
The HUDA Chief told Friday Gurgaon that his organisation is working on at least fifty points to improve the civic and social infrastructure. But he considers his ‘Clean the City’ drive to be the most important for Gurgaon. He asserts that a new mechanism is being devised for garbage disposal, so that waste is picked up in
front of the houses, and taken straight to Bandhwari (gar-bage disposal site).
I think the most impor-tant job presently is to clean up the City. There is so much garbage, dirt and solid waste to be disposed off”, says Ku-mar; adding that he has hired 250 additional men, and put them on the job to clean up Gurgaon.
As part of this plan, a cou-ple of workers are assigned a specific area, and they have to keep it clean, to earn their wages, informs Kumar. This way HUDA has given jobs to labourers who were not employed, and the city is getting cleaner.
For a change, HUDA is also planning to go for plastic sheet dustbins, instead of the fixed
plastic and iron ones that have been the standard feature of Indian cities. “We have bought 1 lakh meters of high quality plastic at a very reasonable price, and this would be converted into large plas-tic dustbins – to be placed in front of the houses”, says the HUDA chief. The six newly-bought garbage trucks, that are state-of-the-art, would either pick the dustbins or the garbage, depend-ing on the delivery mechanism that evolves in the coming days.
Gurgaon being totally dependent on private vehicles for commuting, we ask him about the measures being taken to streamline the parking. Kumar says HUDA is working with market as-sociations in the city, and a model of free tick-eting system is being developed, that will help resolve the issue.
Cinema Listings & Helplines...Pg 7
The Week That Was...Pg 7
Learn Haryanvi...Pg 10
Realty Rates...Pg 25
Food Prices...Pg 8
Jokes...Pg 23
Regular Features
Multimedia Art
Coverage of FRAGILITY, a multimedia exhibition
held at Art Alive Gallery. The exhibition features 14 artists known for their stylish experimentations.
...Pg 6
SEET
A multi-faceted NGO, that provides both help and
advice – through its Health Intervention Policy, promoting the health of the urban and rural poor.
...Pg 10
Know Your Councillor
We catch up with Ravinder Kataria,
Councillor of Ward No. 20, who talks about the problems his Ward is facing, and the challenges that lie ahead.
...Pg 11
Shakti Vahini
Featuring the NGO, Shakti Vahini; and how it’s
Childline Programme has helped many a child.
...Pg 13
A Noble Pastime
A refreshing off-line club in these fast times, and a
webbed world. The Gurgaon Book Club is fast gathering fans and members alike; those who consider reading a passion.
...Pg 19
Astro-Science
Continuing our series, we offer information
on Rashis, and the houses of Jyotish. Also learn how astronomy effects the zodiac signs...
...Pg 20
Setting A StandardHUDA CHiEF PRAVEEN KUMAR
{ Maninder Dabas / FG }
People often say that the government agencies are toothless ti-gers, who neither have courage nor ability to strike down the wrong doers. But in the last two months, Gurgaon has seen an-
other face of its civic agencies; where they not only have shown their teeth, but along with it an ability to bite too. The anti-encroachment drive carried out by various agencies is testimony that the State, at its sovereign best, is capable of doing anything. Be it Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), Muncipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG), Public Works Department (PWD) or Haryana Housing Board
(HHB) – every single agency has ‘left no stone unturned’, to eradicate the menace of encroachment in their respective jurisdiction. HUDA, however, seems to have taken all the lime-light. Maybe deservingly so. With the arrival of
its new Administra-tor, it took the lead in taking swift, effective action against en-croachments on their
land, in various parts of the city.
The Aftermath
Contd on p 9
Gurgaon Needs A Nodal Body
{ Abhishek Behl / FG }
To bring Gurgaon back from the brink of in-frastructure disaster,
the Millennium City needs an over-arching body, that combines the planning and supervision role – but in no way substitutes the Po-lice, HUDA, MCG and the local administration. This suggestion must be taken seriously, as it is made by none other than the former Chief Secretary of Haryana, M.C Gupta, who lives in Gurgaon after his retire-ment from the service.
Having vast experience in administering the state of Haryana, the former Chief Secretary says that this nodal agency could be on the pattern of the Noida Development Authority, and could even be better than that. “The Gurgaon Devel-opment Authority (GDA) could be an umbrella or-ganisation, that takes a comprehensive view of the
Contd on p 8
Sabhne Naye Saal Ki Subh Kaamna
Editor: Atul SobtiSr. Correspondent: Abhishek Behl
Correspondents: Hritvick Sen Maninder Dabas Shirin Mann
Sr. Photographer: Prakhar Pandey
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RNI No. HARENG/2011/39319VOL.–1 No.–19 30 Dec–5 Jan 2012
02 30 Dec–5 Jan 2012 Coming Up
ART FOOD CELEBRATION
ART Indraprastha Art Fest 2011@ Studio Art, C-751 A, Sushant Lok-1(Near Hotel Marriott Courtyard)Date: January 1st – January 31st 2012Time: 10 am to 1pm & 5 pm to 7 pm, Daily
Annual Exhibition@Quills and Canvas Art Gallery, DLF South Point MallDate: December 28 to December 31Time: 10.30 am to 8.30 pm
A group show of 25 upcoming art students, with each
student showcasing two original creative art works, in different media.
Gratitude@National Art Centre, Art Centre Complex (Near Plot No. 258, Udyog Vihar Phase-IV), Sector-18Opening Ceremony Date: December 31st 2011Time: 5:30 pmShowDate: January 1 – January 15Time: 10 am - 5 pm, Daily
An art show by 33 Gurgaon-based established and
upcoming artists. The show is an attempt to promote local artists. Artists include Ashok Mahakur, B. Jaya Lakshmi, Charru Goel, Deepa, Deepti Rao, to name a few.
New Year's Eve celebrationsDate: December 31st La CabanaBring in the New Year with Cabana Night 2012, featuring Open Bars, unlimited drinks (specific), and renowned DJ's playing an International Mix of the Best Dance Music. Venue: La Cabana Resto & Bar (Opp. Kingdom of Dreams)Time: 9 pm onwardsPrice: Rs. 4000 per couple (inclusive of taxes)Contact: 9818147574, 0124-4284337/38
GolfworxFun,entertainment and adventure – all in one night! Sip on champagne, groove to the beats of one of the country’s best DJs, and watch the bartenders put up a display.
Venue: Golfworx, Level 4, Ambience MallPackages: Rs. 6,000/- All Inclusive per couple (Premium Spirits)Rs. 9,000/- All Inclusive per couple (Imported Spirits)Purchase 10 packages, and the 11th one is on the house** Private VIP lounge options availableFor enquiries, contact #8800723688
Galaxy HotelNew Year Eve DinnerAuthentic Oriental cuisine with a five-course set menu. Venue: The MonkTime: 9 pm onwardsPrice: Rs. 2,250 (all inclusive) per person
New Year's Eve FiestaUsher in the New Year with freshly brewed beer, exotic cocktails and rocking music.Venue: HowzattTime: 9 pm onwardsPrice: Rs. 5,999 (all inclusive). Couple entry only
New Year's Eve CelebrationsA specially crafted dinner buffet with a selection of world cuisines and traditional dishes. Groove on the dance floor to the beats of the DJ, and live performances by dance troupes. Venue: ZinniaTime: 9 pm onwardsPrice: Rs. 3,800 (all inclusive) per personRs. 1,800 (all inclusive) per child (below 10 years of age)For reservation, contact 0124 – 4868000
Destination 2012Dance away to the beats of DJ Tarun (Todoo Nite Fame) & in-house Dj Rubal playing EDM/Retro/Bollywood and much more. Ring in the New Year with unlimited drinks, snacks and dinner.
Venue: Tab 01, Food Court, DLF Cyber Greens, DLF Phase 3
FoodSpecials@Spaghetti Kitchen@27 & 28, City Center, Sector 29Date: Till January 15Price: from Rs.495/- (for Pizzas) & Rs.595 (for Pastas)Time: 12 Noon to 11pm
Chef Bill Marchetti, the man behind Spaghetti Kitchen,
adds a special touch to the season’s festivities, with his Signature Special Pizzas and Pastas. Savour Italian food with select wines recommended by the chef.
An exhibition of paintings and ethnic art on fabrics,
displaying the works of Sanjay Mehta, Sajal K. Mitra and Vanita Bhatnagar. The mediums vary from water colours and fabric canvas.
Time: 9:30 pm onwardsContact: 0124 4283200, 0124 4283201
New Year Jamm-Dancing to 2012Enthralling live music with the house band, Jamm Trio. Also playing, live audio video remixes by Rocker KK. Savour exotic drinks, while munching on specially crafted starters, barbeque snacks and pizzas, followed by a lavish buffet.
Venue: Downtown – Diners and Living Beer Cafe, SCO 34, Leisure Valley Road, Near Crowne Plaza Hotel, Sector 29Time: 8 pm onwardsPrice: Rs. 5,000 (all inclusive) per couple
The 3 Some PartyEnjoy the three-some DJ Rummy team – who rocked New York, Tokyo & Bangkok! Blu O offers a musical battle between the 3 international Djs. Take a break in between and opt for bowling.
Venue: Blu O, Level-4, Ambience Mall,Time: 8 pm onwardsContact: 0124 4665613, +91 9990800600
Regenta Hotel & Convention Centre, NH-8, Rajokri Ring in the New Year with western dances and belly dancers. Get entertained with a special fire show and flaring bartenders. Groove to the beats of a live performance by a rock band, along with a DJ.
Venue: Tulip lawnTime: 9 pm onwardsPrice: Rs. 6,500 (inclusive of taxes) per coupleContact 9717311228 & 8130591860
Welcome 2012Say goodbye to 2011 with an attitude! Enjoy great music, exotic drinks, delicious snacks – all this while you groove to the beats of Toya and Friends and DJ Ankit!
Venue: Attitude Alive!, C002, Supermart I, DLF- Phase IVContact 9650180404
New Year's eve Gala DiNNer31st Dec 2011
at Mélange, with unlimited drinks, snacks and DJ music at Athena
Rs. 4,000 per person (inclusive of all taxes)
Children below 6 years with our compliments. Children between 6 and 12 years of age at 50% charge
For reservations, please call our Festivity Desk +91 124 4915055+91 9711878509 (Duty Manager) +91 9711878531 (Asst. Manager-Sales) email: [email protected]
One Night Package
Rs. 10,000 per person(Rs. 12,000 with Mercedes Benz
Pick up and Drop)*
New Year weekeND PackaGe30th Dec 2011 to 1st Jan 2012
Contemporary or Neo-Classic Rooms, on Twin-sharing basis only New Year's Eve Gala Dinner Gourmet Breakfast (by the poolside at the Roof Top on 1st Jan 2012)
Two Night Package Rs. 15,000 per person
(Rs. 17,000 with Mercedes Benz Pick up and Drop)*
Both options inclusive of all taxes
Ring in the New Year with us
* Maximum distance cover from the hotel should not exceed 25 kms for a one way tripSpecific brands
04 30 Dec–5 Jan 2012
Mind Blowing
FOOD
BOOK
The Other City Movie Round-up 2011Alka Gurha
Undoubtedly, Pakistani writers—and Pakistan as a theme—are the flavour
of the season. ‘Instant City’ is an epic saga on Pakistan, unfolded by the formidable writer and National Public Radio host Steve Inskeep. Steve seeks to unravel the chaos, violence and turmoil that have become an integral part of Karachi.
“Cataclysmic events seemed to tilt the sur-face of the earth,” writes Steve, “raising the angle until human beings tumbled downhill into the city – at the bottom of the slope. The India-Pakistan partition was the greatest convulsion of all, tilting the ground on which millions of Indians stood. And Muslims began tumbling downward into Karachi’s reluctant embrace.”
Owing to partition, the colonial port town of Kara-chi doubled its population, from 400,000 in 1947, to a crowded polluted city of thirteen million people. Hence the author titled his book- ‘In-stant City’.
The reader gets an intriguing insight of Karachi; as the writer, somewhat whimsical-
ly, chronicles his story around the mega-city – through the prism of the brutal bombing of a Shia Procession on December 28, 2009. According to Steve, the reasons for wide-spread violence that is prevalent in Karachi, is because of the turf battle between its principal ethnic groups – the Mohajirs (from
India), the Pakhtuns and the Sindhis (who are the natives of the city). Steve delves deep into history, as he contemplates on the mistakes by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan; who failed to enforce secular-ism as the law of the land. The result was widespread sectarian strife.
In his engaging style Steve writes, “There are red streams going down the streets, that people say are pollution from tanneries. There’s raw sewage going into the harbor. But at the same time, it’s a city full of incredible life and incredible improvisation.”
The most compelling ac-counts are about Abdul Sattar Eidhi, who runs a voluntary ambulance service that ferries the dead and the wounded; and also about Tony Tufail, a close
aid of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who built a glossy casino that never opened.
Even though the book is an ambitious and enthralling account, it is tough to cap-ture Karachi – in one book. u
Vijaya Kumar
This folks, is a quick summary for those who did not have time to
watch the movies, and who would like either to go by my views – or act just in the opposite manner!
Just one movie, Chalo Delhi, gets top rating. It was simple, heartwarming, and a good clean comedy – with outstanding acting. I would vote for it as the Best Picture for 2011. The runners-up are: The Dirty Picture, No One Killed Jessica and Delhi Belly. Each of these is of a different genre, and made beautifully. In the also-ran category, were Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Mere Brother ki Dulhan, Dum Maaro Dum, 7 Khoon Maaf, Dil to Bachcha Hai Jee, Dhobi Ghat, Not a Love Story, Double Dhamaal, Bbhuddah Hoga Tera Baap and Shagird. The rest of the movies are seriously worthy of being missed!
My choice for the Best Actor would be Ranbir Kapoor, for his portrayal of the errant character in Rockstar; with Vinay Pathak in Chalo Delhi being a runner-up. From the heroines, Vidya Balan easily takes the numero uno position, for her role in The Dirty Picture; my choice for runner-up would be Priyanka Chopra, for her role(s) in 7 Khoon Maaf.
Abinay Deo would easily walk away with the Best Director Trophy, for his work in Delhi Belly; Ram Gopal Verma would be a runner-up for his treatment of the shocking Not a Love Story. A.R Rahman deserves the award for Best
Music for his compositions in Rockstar; Mohit Chauhan has been the Best Male Singer for his rendering of Sadda Haq in Rockstar; Shreya Ghoshal’s rendering in Teri Meri from Bodyguard makes her deserving of the Best Female Singer award; and Irshad Kamil gets the Best Lyricist place for his lyrics in Kun Faya Kun – also from Rockstar.
The award for the most disappointing movie (in relation to expectations) easily goes to Mausam; Ranveer Singh and John Abraham share the credits for appearing in the skimpiest of costumes (male) in Ladies vs Ricky Bahl and Desi Boyz respectively; Anushka Sharma wins that award for the female category, for her appearance in a bikini in Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl!
The award for the most hyped-up (yet flimsy on delivery) movie goes to RA One. It is a difficult choice as to which of these sequels is the biggest let-down: Murder 2, Bheja Fry 2 Or Don 2. It is best that they share that award.
As far as 2012 is concerned, a producer had asked me for advice on a new picture he wishes to make, called The Dirtier Picture. He wanted names. My choices – Rayon Revathi, Nylon Nalini, Polyester Padmini, Cotton Kamini...they were all extras! u
Vijaya Kumar
In the last four weeks or so, in a novel attempt
to promote Don 2, a few of its punch-packed dialogues—called Donisms—had been released to the media. But these very Donisms have failed to make an impact on the big screen – they clearly lack the setting, and the punch. This, however, is the least of the detractions of Don 2.
The earlier remake of Don had succeeded partly, because the director, Farhan Akthar, tweaked the original script and gave it a modern touch; and cleverly inserted a twist in the tale. In Don 2, the story itself is different – that of a heist, and the associated crossings and double-crossings. To be fair to Shah Rukh, the plot doesn’t require much of emoting; and he therefore sails through with a couple of wigs, and his usual swagger. The others—Priyanka, Lara Dutta, Om Puri and Kunal Kapoor—have even less room to act, and almost sleep walk through their roles. The only exception is Boman Irani, who manages to infuse life and expression into his character. The music directors, Shankar-Ehsan-Loy, have created some fairly forgettable compositions.
A thriller could still redeem itself with sheer, relentless pace. However, even here Don 2 does not set the screen on fire. The movie picks up some good pace in the second half only, after a first half
Aalok Wadhwa
Looks like Gurgaon is in for a mind-
boost. The Mind Café, a recently opened board-game-cum-food joint, promises to enrich the way we hang out. It has the right paraphernalia—a large space with comfortable seating, ample natural lighting, three hundred plus games to challenge kids, teenagers and working professionals – and a promising menu. “The Mind Café is an ideal meeting place – for families, colleagues and friends to meet up for board games, over good food, snacks and drinks,” says the proud owner Umesh Hora.
The menu is intelligently planned, with an extensive choice of beverages, salads, sandwiches, pizzas, pastas – all chosen to ensure that you can focus on the game as you nibble on the food. Many items, like the angry birds sandwich, slamwich, and meat monopoly pizza are named after popular games.
I start with the iced caramel latte (Rs. 185). Charged with the coffee, I explore some of the ‘corporate’ games in the café’s repertoire. There are games here that are familiar, and those that are surprises; ranging from party fun to finance, manage-ment, strategy and adventure.
As the table at the far ends starts cheer-ing a good move, I get my first bite—falafel, lettuce, hummus and aioli pitawich (Rs.
The Mind Cafe2nd floor, Cross Point, opposite Galleria market, dLf Phase 4, GurgaonPhone: 0124 98114-88830Cuisine: Multi-cuisineTiming: 11:00 aM – 11:00 PMCosT: Rs 1000 for 2 (without alcohol)
Reviews
CINEMA
Just Won’t Do175). It is an interesting dish, faithful to its middle-eastern roots. Inside the pita bread are a mélange of freshly prepared ingredi-ents, making it comforting and tasteful. The much recommended spaghetti bolognaise (Rs. 325) is a treat. Here is a popular Ital-ian dish that one can find in every country other than Italy – very much like the Indian chicken tikka masala. In every mouthful I enjoy a perfectly cooked al-dente spaghetti with olives, and a rich meat sauce.
The Mediterranean carnival pizza (Rs. 195) looks good on paper – with vegetarian toppings like zucchini, bell peppers, egg-plant, roasted garlic, basil and mozzarella; but is let down by its base. A good thin-
crust pizza requires dough kneaded out of an equal combination of flour (atta) and refined flour (maida). Here it is all maida, which makes the base brittle, and deprives it of the crunchy-chewy texture. The gooey chocolate pastry (Rs. 125) is as gooey as promised, but for mecould have been a bit less sweet.
Given that the café is in its first month, the occasional misses are understand-able. And, the Mind Café is more than just
a café; it is a club for people who love board games, and that is an area
where it excels. I can easily see myself spending hours here with friends, very much like those lazy Pictionary sessions of the past. And have a range of food and beverage along the way! u
plod. The much-touted car-chase scene is good, but fails to create those edge-of-the-seat moments. The photography and the technical aspects are excellent; not always a given in glitzy, costly ventures like these.
I am told that Shah Rukh has joined Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in being the very few to have shot in Germany. In addition, the German government has also earned credit as a co-producer, for funding some shots in Berlin.
Will Farhan, after this, dare a sequel of Don Two? The answer is hidden in the anagram – Wont Do. u
dOn 2DireCTeD by: farhan akhtarCAsT: Shahrukh Khan, Priyanka ChopraLara dutta, Om Puri, Kunal Kapoor genre: action
inSTanT CiTy: Life and deaTh in KaRaChiAuThor: Steve inskeepPubLisher: PenguinPriCe: Rs 599PAges: 284genre: non-fiction
30 Dec–5 Jan 2012 05Lifestyle
Striking a ChordStriker Pub hosted a musical night, 'Ustaad Meets the Master'. The evening saw jazz guitarist Igor playing Indian classical instruments. With Advait's Suhail Yusuf Khan on Sarangi, Amit Kilam on the drums, Mario with the Spanish bass guitar, and Gyan Bhai on the tabla, the evening was a treat for music lovers. Suhail also provided the vocals.
Recognising TalentINTACH Gurgaon Chapter organised its first Crafts Bazaar at a couple of popular malls. The Bazaar creates a platform for crafts persons in various Gurgaon urban centres. The Bazaar included metal, leather and woollen products from Rewari and Kullu.
Viva la Vida!Vivafit, the women-only fitness club, celebrated Christmas with its members. Besides a lavish spread of delicious goodies, a salsa workshop was also held. Santa was present too, and distributed gifts to the members, and their children.
Epicentre paid a tribute to the late Dev Anand and Kishore Kumar by hosting a musical evening in their memory. Singers Ramesh Nautiyal, Col. R.C Chadha, Anuja and Lilly Singh belted out popular numbers of Dev Anand movies, that were sung by Kishore Kumar. The evening brought back cherished memories for many.
Musical Tribute
Capital Christmas SpiritGurgaon-based Lorraine Music Academy performed at the National Christmas Celebrations held at the Ashoka Hotel in the National Capital. Eminent guests included Members of Parliament, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, and Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. The joyous celebrations included solo recitals and Christmas carols; with participation even from some Ministers.
“danger, bomb-blasts, violence and turmoil were considered a part of life while growing up,” and that the gentle visitation of butterflies at any home were viewed as an evanescent ‘good omen’. His subtle, near-invisible needle-butterflies thereby cel-ebrate a tangential optimism.
Manisha Parekh’s vast, looming 10-foot by 5-foot horizontal installation of jute rope-sculptures, ‘MUR-MUR’, of 30 large coiled ‘mur-murs’ – hand-twisted in earth–and- yarn-tones, and suspended against a deep sap-green back-ground – seem to be afloat in a metaphorical limbo between hope and despair. The work is rather like a stage set. Manisha, who studied Art at MS Universi-ty Baroda and the Royal College of Art London, is the daughter of senior painters Manu and Madhvi Parekh.
Similar in vastness and theat-ricality are the Northeastern art-ist Sisir Thapa’s white papy-rus-like tubular suspensions,
hung at the entrance of the gal-lery. These evoke the bulbous yet fleeting presence of both natural clouds and gas-pipelines.
Artistic draftsmanship is more clearly displayed in the ‘painterly’ works of Om Soorya, Pooja Iranna and Mithu Sen, who depict varied forms—from ‘negative and posi-tive images’ of sharp, dagger-like skyscrapers and fish-bones, to sliced apples—with a play of electric light. They convey the disparate drama of transience.
I would point out Anita Dube’s works as the more suc-cessful, mature and skilful art-installations in this exhi-bition. Dube’s masterly jux-tapositions—constructed of mirror, wire and velvet, cre-ating vast calligraphic ‘reflec-tions’—are symbolic of the
30 Dec–5 Jan 2012 Lifestyle06{ Srimati Lal }
“The town is frozen solid, leaden with ice. Trees, walls, snow, seem to be under glass. Cautiously, I tread on crystals.”
Anna Akhmatova
On the Art Alive Gallery stairwell in Gurgaon’s Sector 44, these words by
the 20th-C Russian modernist poet are emblazoned as the leitmotif of a new multime-dia exhibition entitled FRA-GILITY. They seem to echo the mindscape of an extreme winter, as well as the frag-mentary delicacy of glass.
“... If a gag should blind my tortured mouth / Through which a hundred million people shout / Then let them pray for me / As I do pray for them ...” Akhmatova had written in her 1940 poem REQUIEM. These words too, could embody this cutting-edge exhibition – whose haunting, mysteriously-emblematic works seem like a muted scream in the dark.
Showcasing theatrical art-works in varied media, by 14 art-ists known for their stylistic ex-
perimentations, the exhibition is curated by Rakhee Balaram; who holds Doctorates in French Literature and Art History from Cambridge University, and is currently teaching at JNU’s School of Arts and Aesthetics. The artists—from within, and the diaspora—include Anita Dube, Pooja Iranna, Susanta Mandal, Manisha Parekh, Ashim Purkayastha, Mithu Sen, Om Soorya, Masooma Syed and Sisir Thapa.
Filaments Of FragilityART ALIVE GALLERY was
opened to Gurgaon’s public on 27 August 2011 by Sunaina Anand, who felt that larger and newer gallery-spaces were re-quired for artistic experiments to fully develop. For those tired of conventional art-displays, a walk through this layered show would be a welcome change. De-scribed as “a new moment in contemporary art that locates ruptures through artistic ma-terials”, FRAGILITY uses actu-al building materials from a rap-idly-expanding Gurgaon, among a spectrum of other natural substances. The fragile counter-parts of consumerism—break-able, evanescent and psychical matter of so many kinds that surround us—are used here in a rather interesting fashion. For instance, Susanta Mandal’s in-stallation, ADDING FIRE TO WATER, comprises two hand-laid walls of red Gurgaon bricks, protecting a symbolic ‘eternal flame’ within them – a fire that is both fragile as a wisp which can
be blown-away, as well as strong enough to burn. This fire creates ‘forms’ of needle-like points to-wards the simmering water be-ing constantly heated on a tawa – inspired by typical Indian roadside dhabas and shelters. Mandal explained his work to me thus: “To me, a process is more important than a ‘final production’ in Art”.
The curator, meanwhile, told me that she had conceptualised this exhibition as “three cham-
bers of fragility: ‘Air’, fol-lowed by a descent into the ‘basement-level’ dis-play of ‘Earth’ and ‘Body’ “. An empty cordoned square in Room One denotes ‘Air’, while a square filled with Gurgaon mitti earth in the basement signifies ‘Earth’, and a large mirror on the floor symbolises the ‘Body’. This exhibition took two years to conceptu-alise and complete . I noted that seven differ-ent art-forms, by twice this number of artists, have been employed here – installations, drawings, paintings, ‘sculptural’ objects, photography, and vid-eo. The show attempts to blur the divisions of east
and west, and display shared psychological locations and mindscapes. “The exquisite ten-sion between aesthetic beauty and its possible shattering” is explored in this exhibition in a variety of styles.
Masooma Syed, a Pakistani artist who did her MA from La-hore’s National College of Art, and moved to Delhi in 2009 after her marriage to an Indian artist, has created two small ‘sculp-tures’ of a nerve-wracking delicacy. These are painstak-ingly made from her own hair and nails! Syed’s ‘Hair sculp-ture,’ titled ‘TO LIFE,’ embodies the actual shape of two human feet, that carry all the weight and pain of the body, the mind and heart; her ‘Nail-sculpture, called ‘NO-MAN’S LAND’, has a strangely calligraphic look to it, with nail-clippings suspended like scripted curves from a hair-strand! The amazing fragility of both flesh, hair and nails is a vis-ually fascinating concept of this show’s theme.
Ashim Purkayastha’s in-tricate, whisper-like ‘Needle-Drawings’ of butterfly-forms, very delicately created with needles and meticulous ‘punc-turings’ on white paper with no inks or paints—contrasted by his rather totemic wall-hanging of a recreated tattered Indian quilt, in the Bengali ‘lep’ style—evoke yet another subtle drama of fragility. Ashim, who was born in Digboi, Assam, told me that
corporeal or physical mani-festation of Fragility. The viewer is literally ‘drawn-into’ the exhibition, by being ‘reflect-ed’ in a horizontal mirror placed upon the gallery floor. Dube’s sophisticated installations effec-tively utilise the dramatic and theatrical, with the impact of space – while retaining subtlety. Thus Dube manages to capture and convey the personal poetry that the cultivated eye looks for in all forms of Art.
FRAGILITY is an experiment in a variety of forms, manners and media. With 14 artists in a single show, there is the dilemma of ‘too much going on’ – diluting the sanctity of an individual artist’s aesthetic impact. The idiom of installation-art is also a very difficult one, and can be prone to clichetic ‘projections’, politicised ideas and repititive ‘symbols’ – rather than direct artistic expressions.
(For samples of more ‘direct’ artistic expression, one can check-out the NIFA (National Institute of Fine Art) Exhibition, by students of the 2010-11 batch – from Dec 28 to 30 at the QUILL AND CANVAS GALLERY. Unique artistic talent is often found young; and a fresh mind can convey painterly depth and beauty that a jaded palette is unable to retrieve – despite all the predictable parapherna-lia of scholarly and academic discourse).u
The writer is an Artist & Curator
TO LIFE(Installation)by Masooma Syed
MURMUR (Installation)by Manisha Parekh
Anita Dube with her FRAGILITY (Installation)
Sunaina Anand with her FRAGILITY (Installation)
Susanta Mandal with his FRAGILITY (Installation)
JIT
KUM
AR
30 Dec–5 Jan 2012 Listings 07
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PVR: Ambience Gold SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWSTime: 11.20 am, 2 pm, 4.40 pm, 7.20 pm, 10 pmDON 2 Time: 10.45 am, 1.45 pm, 4.45 pm, 7.45 pm, 10.45 pm
PVR MGF: MGF Mall SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWSTime: 10 am, 12.40 pm, 3.20 pm, 6 pm, 8.40 pm, 11.20 pmDON 2 – 3D
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CINEMATHIS WEEK
The Cyber City got many new projects during the year 2011, for improving connectivity. The administration took steps to bring transparency in its functioning, and to curb corruption in the registration of immoveable property. The time limit for delivery of 15 essential services to the public was also fixed during the year.
The Projects:► Clearance of metro rail link be-tween Gurgaon and Indira Gandhi International Airport, via Dwarka.► Bio-Diversity Park being developed in about 600 acres near Nathupur; it will have an Amphitheatre.► The Gurgaon General Hospital got a new Intensive Care Unit (ICU) facility, which is first of its kind in any Government Hospital in the State. ► 100 bedded ESIC Hospital in Manesar.► Community College of IGNOU opened in Government Polytechnic College of Manesar.
► The Gurgaon Municipal Corporation (MCG) got its first elected body. Municipal Councillors were elected in all 35 wards of MCG. Vimal Yadav was elected as the first Mayor, while Yashpal Batra and Parminder Kataria were elected as Senior Mayor and Deputy Mayor respectively.
► The efforts of the Deputy Com-missioner PC Meena helped in saving about 1900 acres of land of Municipal Committee Sohna, and about 165 acre Panchayat land of village Nainwal, from going into the hands of land grabbers; and in fact the land was restored to the respective government agencies.
► The MCG started a new facility
for citizens to apply and obtain Birth and Death Certificates online.The new facility of delivering the registered sale deed of the immoveable property on the same day to the buyer was started; three counters for registration of sale deeds of immoveable property in Gurgaon Tehsil, to check corruption.
► HUDA built 560 flats for the Economically Weaker Sections of society, under the Ashiana Scheme.
► Widening of Gurgaon-Faridabad road, and construction of a new road from village Ghata to the Gurgaon-Faridabad road.
► The road crossing near sector 23 was dedicated to the Rezangla martyrs, and its name was changed to ‘Rezangla chowk’.
► Rajendra Park colony got a boosting station.
► Special mutation camps were also organized in various tehsil offices of the district, to clear the backlog of pending mutations
► CCTV Cameras were installed at 16 different locations in the Mini Secretariat.
► The Head Office of newly formed Farmers Commission was also set up in Gurgaon. It is housed in the Kisan Vishram Greh.National Projects Construction Cor-poration Limited (NPCC) selected Gurgaon for its corporate office
► Gaushala in Carterpuri.
► A ‘Ved Pathshala’ was set up in the famous Sheetla Mata Mandir - where the teaching of Vedas is being given by the preach-ers of Shankracharya Sharda Peeth Shrengeri.
Year round up - 2011
Police ................................................100 Fire Station .......................................101 Ambulance .........................................102Railway Enquiry ................. .............................. 139Women Helpline ..............................................1091Children Helpline .............................................1098Senior Citizens Helpline ..................................1291LPG Helpline ........................................011-155233Weather Helpline ...............................18001801717Car Breakdown Helpline. ..................011-43676767Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway Helpline.............................. 0124-4787828/817/853DMRC Helpline .....................................011-155370Disaster Management Helpline .......................1077Municipal Corporation (MCG) ............18001801817Ambulance Service for Animals ...........................................9873302580
♦ Car gang returning. Multiple cases of taking owner hostage, looting wallet and cards, taking out cash from ATMs, beating up person, and throwing him out of car.
♦ 2 engineers of Hero Motocorp killed in road accident.♦ Call centre executive found dead in car.♦ 2 held for property dealer murder
THE WEEKTHAT WAS
♦ 3 vehicle thieves caught.♦ Rs. 20 lakh property loan fraud with bank. Person caught. ♦ Pet (fish) shopowner nabbed, with rare animals, corals/shells.
♦ Power supply continues to be extremely poor.♦ Various local bodies send notices of non-compliance to commercial establishments – on status (illegal), and on safety (mainly high-rises).♦ Demolitions of encroachments continue.♦ HUDA checking road quality.
Contractors warned, will be fined, and even have FIRs filed against them. Even responsible HUDA engineers warned.♦ The plan for a 100 buses, operating from February 2012, is shelved. It was found non-viable, and a PPP plan is being proposed now. Public transport will remain a mess.♦ MCG launches a new portal – Pragati - for public convenience.♦ Smart cards to replace Ration Cards. Gurgaon a pilot site.♦ Govt. school timings changed for winter.
(dpro)
30 Dec–5 Jan 2012 Civic/Social08 Contd from p 1
Area/vegetables
Palam Vihar Sector 54 South City 1
DLF City Phase 5
Sadar Bazar
Sector 23 Safal Reliance Fresh
Potatoes
(old/new)
10 10 5 8 7 7 5.90 5.5
Onions 10 12 10 16 8 10 14.90 13
Tomatoes 20 15 15 20 14 10 13.90 15
Cucumbers 24 20 20 30 18 15 20 18
Spinach 20 16 15 20 14 10 12.90 15
Cauliflower 20 18 18 22 12 15 17.90 15
Radish 10 10 10 12 8 8 6.90 2
Carrot 20 16 15 20 14 16 13.90 14
Mushroom 20 25 20 25 20 20 25 20
Food Take
We have started this sys-tem in Sector-29, and got a very good response. The same would be replicated in the entire city in time to come. We will also change the face of Leisure Valley, and turn it into a hub of cultural activity – where people can come and spend time with the family”, says Kumar.
His secretary comes up to him, so he can take a call on his mobile.
The HUDA chief, dressed in blue jeans, a brown tweed jack-et, a white home - made sweater, and brown cap gives instructions in his trademark style. He also tells the official on the other side that he will read the relevant pa-pers in the car, as he needs to go home. “Ghar se daant pad rahi hai bhai’, he says, pointing to the fact that the man, who has given hope to Gurgaon in just a few months, is also a human being. And perhaps others can also do their job as diligently, if they are willing.
Demolition is another impor-tant subject that Kumar dwells on, but it is clear he is not will-ing to show his cards. Despite hitting the roads with vengeance every day, the HUDA chief ad-mits it is still a long way to go, “We have completed just one per cent of the task. A lot more needs to be done. I have made it very clear that the land en-croachments, and the covering of roads and nullahs to extend
Setting A Standard
situation. Some of the people can come from gov-ernment, and some can be included from outside to take advantage of private exper-tise”, says Gupta. He has had the distinction of serving Ch. Devi Lal, Ch Bhajan Lal and other doyens of Haryana politics.
Gurgaon Needs A Nodal Body
the plots, would be considered a serious violation”, says Kumar.
While on his way here, Kumar and his men had demolished a boundary wall of a leading shoe manufacturing fnear Bata Chowk. As the firm had concret-ized a portion of the road, it was demolished, and so were many other such encroachments on MG Road – from Bata Chowk to IFFCO Chowk.
He also cites an instance when earlier, as the additional Deputy Commissioner of Gurgaon, he had taken on one of the the most powerful and influential prop-erty owners near the National Highway 8. “I went to the build-ing at 2.30 am (dead of night) and asked my people to demolish the illegal road. This happened after a month of requests and instruc-tions, and when they would not budge. Pressure from the high-est quarters was put on me, but anything wrong cannot be con-doned”, he says. The illegal por-tion was removed then, and the same will happen even now.
Like Lalu Yadav, the HUDA Chief promises that roads in Gurgaon will become as smooth as butter – there would be no bumps, no potholes and the cars will glide over the surface. “We have tied up with leading organ-
isations, that have come up with several solutions – and we have taken the best one”, says Kumar.
Within the next three months, driving on the MG Road will be an unbeliev-able experience, promises the HUDA Chief. “After fixing the road, it will be coated with a special material, ensuring that this road become a paradise for drivers”, he says with the enthu-siasm of a child.
Kumar also mentions a re-cent meeting with the Direc-
tor General of Roads, where he discussed matters relating to Gurgaon roads, and discussed possible solutions. “We have re-alised that water harvesting and proper drainage must be the top priority, to preserve roads. This will also help in water conser-vation, and improve the water table”, he says.
HUDA is working with pri-vate agencies, including the Seh-gal Foundation, to come up with a rain harvesting structure that is cheap, and works in Indian conditions. “We have devised a structure that costs only between Rs. 30 to 40 thou-sand, and works quite well”, in-forms Kumar. Of course, he also wants the citizens to be more re-sponsible, and follow the water harvesting guidelines seriously.
When asked about the en-demic corruption in the sys-tem, Kumar says that he will not tolerate it in any form. “I have told my officials that this has to end. I am ready to go to any extent, to ensure that it does not happen in my organisa-tion. I am ready to go to jail to protect the truth”, he asserts.
Kumar also says that the of-ficials should be ready to take pressure from the top. “We have to fight for the truth and what
All the stakeholders in Gur-gaon can be guided by this Agen-cy, and it can also plug the loop-holes in the system. When asked about the basic problems in the administrative set up of the city, Gupta says that the structure of governance for and in Gurgaon has not evolved with time. It to-day cannot keep pace with the
challenges of the times. “The ap-pointment of a number of super-time scale officers in Gurgaon is also a drawback; as the Deputy Commissioner—the pivot of Ad-ministration in the District—is still in the time scale. These loopholes need to be fixed, if the system has to run smoothly. Whatever you do, senior officers cannot be commanded”, asserts the former bureaucrat.
When asked about the cor-ruption plaguing the govern-ment bodies, Gupta says that it is not only in the establishment, but also outside. He says there is need to fix the system with
My first memory of Gurgaon is of May, 1967, just six months after the creation of the state of Haryana – when I was travelling from Delhi to Narnaul on May 27 in a private car. The City then gave a distinct impression of being a very small place, and even the much touted Railway Road had hardly a dozen shops. During my stay at Narnaul as DC, Mahendragarh, I had the chance to visit and pass through Gurgaon several times.
I was deeply impressed by the DC’s residence, and a huge cam-pus around it. My colleague Meera Seth was the DC, Gurgaon at that time, and she lived all alone in that imperial bungalow.
Gurgaon continued to be an old-fashioned city for a long time, till suddenly the Haryana government—the Department of Town and Country Planning, and its agency HUDA—decided to give a new shape and push to Gurgaon. It is the highly venerable citadel of Guru Dronacharya – the legendary teacher of martial arts in the Mahabharata.
The government of the day was both assisted, and may be in-spired, by private developers like DLF, Unitech and Ansals – the first three to travel on this road.
I remember a couple of meetings with Captain K.P Singh of DLF, Sushil Ansal of Ansals, and Ramesh Chandra of Unitech in 1984-85. During that time I was Secretary, Town and Country Planning and Urban Development for Haryana, under Chief Minister Bhajan Lal.
As I looked through the papers and development plans of Gur-gaon, I could never have imagined—nor would anyone else includ-ing perhaps these developers (who are often referred to as coloniz-ers)—that Gurgaon and its neighbouring areas would develop in this remarkable fashion.
From a sleepy small town of hardly 50,000 people in 1966, it now has a population easily between 15 to 20 lakhs. It has expanded, blossomed and burgeoned into a colossus among cities.
Reminiscences of a former bureaucrat
is right. If we are not ready for this, we can not do the job”, he says. He admits that the State Government has backed him to the hilt, in this exercise of turning Gurgaon into a glori-ous city.
The CM and the entire politi-cal class is backing HUDA and all other organisations in the State – including MCG, HSIIDC, Police and the District Admin-istration – to change the way things happen here, he reveals. “We are certain that things will improve, and Gurgaon will see great days ahead”, promises the HUDA chief.
In his last posting as the Deputy Commissioner in Farid-abad, Kumar tells us that people used to appreciate the work be-ing done by the Administration. The politicians also realised that he had tried to give an honest and responsible administration, he says.
Kumar has a unique style. He has the knack of stumping out the opposition with wit, and actions that come from ‘out of the box’. After slapping a peon for accepting money, driving a rick-shaw, and hitting himself with a shoe, he is being seen as a mav-erick. However, his bold actions have endeared him as a saviour. Will he continue to deliver the goods? Would he be allowed to take on anybody and everybody? And what after him? – remain the big ques-tions. For now, full marks to Mr. Kumar u
some innovative solutions, as is being done by the current HUDA Administrator.
He cites an incident when, as the Home Secretary of Haryana, he helped in the reconciliation of two caste groups fighting over a religious congregation. Gupta says that he asked one of the parties to invite the other, and in this way the tension fizzled out.
Gurgaon, he says, has ben-efited from the state’s dynamic leadership, the entrepreneurial spirit, and the phenomenon of globalization. The city offers absolutely modern facilities for shopping and entertainment, and it has both local and global
connectivity. However on the flip side, one is bothered by poor traffic management, inadequate water and power supply, and above all, absence of high qual-ity normal educational institu-tions, particularly the lack of a university.
“I would also like people not to blame the government for all the problems in the city. We should also ensure that our behaviour and con-duct is up to the mark. The chaos in parking is caused by us, and we are spreading the muck”, he says; adding that an enlightened citizenry will never behave like that. u
Contd from p 1
All Prices in Rs/kg.As of December 28, 2011
30 Dec–5 Jan 2012 09Civic/Social
The Aftermath“Gurgaon is the city of Guru Dronacharya, and hence it ought to be a perfect place to live in. HUDA is committed to make Gurgaon a perfect city. The anti-encroachment drive is just the first step toward this distant, yet achievable goal. Once we rid the city of these encroachers, we will focus on the infrastructural development, which the city urgently needs,” said Dr. Praveen Kumar, the Administrator, HUDA.
Will this demolition drive yield something fruitful, or it will turn into another well-be-gun-but-half-done at-tempt made by various civic agencies, to get the city back on the track of development and growth?
Are encroach-ment drives completed?
“No, not at all. We will continue to evacuate encroachers from our land. Whatever has happened till now is just a sample of our drive; because this problem is not confined to one or two places. The whole city is in its grab. We will continue our drive, and that too with a faster pace. Nobody will be spared. We have around 500 acres of land under encroachment; it is a mammoth problem,” said Dr. Praveen Kumar. Kumar is not the only one who seems to have this demolition spirit; HUDA officers too have geared up. “We are with doctor Sahab. Nobody will be spared, and HUDA is committed to get all its encroached lands back. After all, nothing is more precious than land in Gurgaon,” said another senior official in HUDA. Although MCG, and other civic bodies have also carried out demolition drives in their respective jurisdictions, they have not caught the limelight, nor received adequate kudos from the city. “We are not really concerned with the media limelight; we are totally committed to our cause of removing encroachments from our areas, and making this city more open and spacious. We started our campaign
along with HUDA, but we never got much attention. We will continue our drive. For example, after the demolition drive in Sadar Bazar, the market has got a new look, and the public can better enjoy their shopping now. We have also made it a vehicle free area,” said another very senior official in MCG.
What about the homeless?
For most of the citizens, this demolition drive is the best thing that has happened to Gurgaon in the recent years. But somebody’s gain is always somebody’s loss; and if that loss hits the have-nots, the situation can become grim. Thousands of families have lost their shanties (for them these shanties are nothing short of bungalows) in this demoli-tion, and have been left at the mercy of this spine chilling win-ter. “Yes, some people are suf-fering, and are homeless. But
a hard approach is the only measure against encroach-ment, and we have to be harsh in life sometimes. How-ever, we have already set plans in motion for temporary winter shelters, based on models work-ing in various other cities of the country – e.g. Mumbai. Within a week, you will see people able to get comfort,” said Kumar.
MCG, too have made people homeless; but the numbers are negligible, as most of the areas set free were used for commer-cial purpose. “Our main aim is to remove encroachment, and make the area more spacious. How-ever, our night shelters are al-ready in function in the differ-ent parts of the city – with the name of ‘Rainbaseras’,” said the official.
Steps to avoid re-encroachment
A few instances of ‘re-en-croachment’ have been reported from different parts of the city,
and HUDA is aware of it. “This is expected, isn’t it? Who-so-ever has lost his home, or means of income, will definitely try to get it back. But we are on our toes to thwart any such possibility. We have already done the wire-fencing of the vacated areas, and placed a warning board at each corner. Serious action will be taken against the people who will try to test our patience again,” said a grim Kumar. “We are keep-ing a tab on every area we have got vacated till now. And we are ready to take action,” said Amarjeet Dangi, SDO, Enforcement, HUDA.
MCG too doesn’t want to leave any stone unturned, to keep the encroachers at bay. “Definitely we are keeping an eye on the encroachers, and our bulldozer is always ready to take care of any such trial of re-encroach-ment. We will not let it happen,” said the official.
Mass opinionThe city has welcomed this initiative taken
by different agencies, to wipe out the en-croachments. Almost all the residents, be it in old Gurgaon or new, have praised this drive. “This is the best thing to have happened to Gurgaon in the last few years. HUDA is seriously committed to get its land back from the encroachers; and whatever they have done by demolishing the shanties etc. is to-tally justifiable – because there is nothing wrong in telling an encroacher to vacate your land. To me, a fine job has been done, and I hope they will not let any re-encroachment happen,” said Sudhir Kapoor, the Secretary General, the DLF City Resident Welfare As-sociation. “This HUDA Administrator seems to have some guts; because prior to him no other Administrator had shown such courage to take on these encroachers. He is doing a fine job,” said Jolly Bhargav, President, Gar-den Estate RWA. In various markets, where this anti-encroachment drive was carried out,
the shopkeepers are happy. “The hawkers used to encroach the whole space here, and we used to face great problems in attract-ing customers. They would misbehave with us too. Now nobody is here, and look at the change. The market has a lot of space now,” said Ramavatar, an owner of a sweet shop in Sector-14 market. The city may bestow a lot of pats on the back of civic agencies like HUDA, but there are people who lost their homes – and now have no where to go. “I used to live here with my family, and now I am homeless. These people have no mercy, nor this city has any space for the poor. I am going back to Bihar,” said Rajesh Kumar, while stand-ing at the threshold of the ruins of his former home – confined by a metalled wire fencing at the Genpact Chowk.
Construction at SikanderpurPeople have started reconstructing their
demolished shops; but this time within the boundary of their own legitimate land. “We are just refurnishing the damaged outer appear-ance of the shop. The HUDA Administrator
is nothing short of a despot. He didn't even abide by the law, as we had a stay order from the Punjab and Haryana High Court. We are fighting our battle in the Court now; and if the Court's judgement comes against us, we are ready to vacate the whole place. But he is nobody to break our source of liveli-hood,” said an angry youth, whose shop had been demolished during HUDA's anti-en-croachment drive.
Kumar has been issued a contempt of court notice for this. The hearing against the HUDA Administrator, for this contempt of court (dur-ing the demolition drive carried out at Sikan-derpur), has been extended to 11th January, 2012. Mir Singh, an advocate and owner of various shops at Sikanderpur's demolished market, told Friday Gurgaon, “Earlier, the date for the hearing was 19th December, 2011; but now the Punjab and Haryana High Court has extended the date till 11th January, 2012. The HUDA Administrator has demolished our shop, acting against the stay order of the Court; and we are committed to prove that no-body is above the law of the country.”
Rehabilitation Plan, if any?
Demolition drives carried out by various civic agencies in the city have left many people homeless and unattended in the winter season, and a proper re-habilitation plan for this popu-lation is clearly needed. HUDA seems to have taken this seri-ously. “Rehabilitation of these poor people is at the top of our mind. For now, we have planned for temporary measures (shel-
ters), to save them from the cold; but we are definitely working on a permanent plan, based on a Public-Private-Part-nership (PPP) model – to give these people a prop-er life. We are planing to build 25-30 storey building apartments for them, and that too
under low cost hous-ing scheme – with modern facilities,” confirmed Kumar. “Yes, the current apartment system is for the rich. But now, HUDA will
build low cost apart-ments on the various HUDA lands set free
from encroachers re-cently. Earlier, we thought
of providing a space of 32 sqm. to each family in the building; but later we thought that 32 sqm. is not enough – and now the space provided would be 40 sqm. We will take care of all the requirements of
Major DeMolitions till now Sikanderpur Nathupur Genpact Chowk DLF-III Sector-14 Market Sadar Bazar Fazilka Jharsa IFFCO Chowk Sectors-10, 15, 18, 39,
44, 45, 56 NH-8 MG Road Faridabad Road Sukhrali Road
DURGADATT PANDEY
Contd from p 1
the masses – ranging from good parks to good schools. Another scheme we would like to intro-duce is ‘workplace combined with the apartments’ (a walk to work facility); so the peo-ple can earn their livelihood just a few minutes away from their homes,” informed Kumar. However, he was non-commital when asked about the time dura-tion and places for such a huge enterprise. “As of now, we can’t say anything. Obviously it will take time; and as far as the plac-es are concerned, it can be any-where – in old or new Gurgaon, depending on the availability of land.” It is obviously more in Kumar’s mind today, than on paper. No other HUDA offi-cial has anything to say in this regard. “I don’t have any knowl-edge about this sort of plan. As of now I am unaware of it,” said an Estate Officer. u
Multi-faceted InitiativesSociety for education and environmental training (Seet)
Haryanvi Made Easy Get a taste of the local lingo
{ Shirin mann / fg }
most of the focus on chal-lenges that Gurgaon faces, is on poor, civic
infrastructure. However, the gravest issue of any society would always be something that impacts its inhabitants directly – economically and socially. And especially the poorer and under-privileged. Gurgaon has an ever-grow-ing problem of migrant la-bour. About 3 lakh migrants have flocked to Gurgaon and the surrounding villages, in search of work. They lack ba-sic medical help, safety and security.
The health status of the urban poor residing in the slums around Gurgaon is even poor than the rural poor. And the degradation in their health status, dealing with communicable and non-com-municable diseases, is being ig-nored by the health departments as well as the government. Soci-ety for Education and Envi-ronmental Training (SEET) is a voluntary, non-profit organisa-tion, set up in 2000, and has de-signed its ‘Health Intervention Policy’ to promote the health of the urban and rural poor in and around Gurgaon.
Dr. Sarvadanand Arya, Founder of SEET, former Vice Chancellor of MDU Rohtak, Kurukshetra University and CCS Harayana Agriculture Uni-versity, Hissar says, “Through our Health Intervention Poli-cy, SEET has been organising
Health Camps for Tribal and other underprivileged people in Orrisa and Hissar. SEET is now also working for the migrant la-bour population that lives in and around Gurgaon. The medical facilities are extremely expen-sive here, and a labourer can’t afford such expensive care. So we organise free health camps, and roll in hospitals like Medic-ity and Artemis – who come and set up OPDs, and give free health care and medicines to those ef-fected. Our efforts are funded by the Ministry of Labour.”
As a part of the Health Inter-vention Policy, SEET organises General Health camps, based on the health needs of a specific area or village. These camps aim at promoting a healthy lifestyle,
cation to the children, till Class 6. After which he/she receives formal education in schools.”
The project is carried out in the Gurgaon and Mewat Dis-tricts of Haryana in the slums of DLF, Sushant Lok, Saraswati Vi-har, and South City. Also villag-es like Wazirabad, Ghata, Jhar-sa, Tigoa; and residing colonies like Ram Nagar, Bhim Nagar, where a large migrant popula-tion from UP, Chattisgarh, Bihar and W. Bengal are in very large number. Further, Nuh, Taoru, Punhana, Ferozpur Jhirka and adjoining Meo-dominated areas of Mehwat—where problems of dental, eyes and gynaecology ex-ist—are also a part of the policy.
Business Continuity Plan-ning and Disaster Manage-ment for Corporates in NCR
Falling under a high (Zone 5) seismic zone of the country, Gurgaon is susceptible to nat-ural disasters like earthquake – apart from man-made dan-gers such as fires and bombs. There are thousands of high-rise offices and residences. Even though we might fall into high impact zones, most corporates fall short in the expertise to man-age and deal with such disasters. SEET through its Business Continuity Planning (BCP) and Disaster Management and Disaster Recovery Plan-ning, aims to provide assistance and training to employees of the corporates – so that effective measures like first aid, fire fight-ing, emergency evacuation can be taken up. The idea is to help corporates to help themselves.
Dr. Arya informs, “Most of the corporates claim that they are well-equipped in case of a fire, bomb threat or a natural calamity. But the real picture is that none of the employees are trained, or have any idea about what must be done in case of an emergency. We provide training, knowledge, and development and execution of the plan – which is very important, especially in a place like Gurgaon. Gurgaon is
and also work on spreading awareness of common ailments, family planning methods, nu-trition and hygiene, and sanita-tion. They provide services free of cost, and are organised with the support of government bod-ies and individual volunteers. To date, thirty two health care camps have been set up in the villages in and around Gurgaon, and have benefited thousands of people.
SEET also conducts Multi- Disciplinary Mega Health Camps, which are specialised camps set up in villages, and pro-vide investigative and surgical interventions. These are done in make-shift hospitals, by a team
of doctors. The Mega Camp pro-vides free diagnosis, medicines, food, accommodation and surgi-cal care. These 10 days camps, catering to several villages, provide benefit to almost 2,000 people. Along with 100 beds, the camp has 25 specialist doctors and paramedical staff – from surgery, ophthalmology, gynaecology, orthopaedics, med-icine, ENT, anaesthesia, radiol-ogy, paediatrics and pathology. They provide voluntary services in the camp.
Dr. Arya says, “Along with the care of migrant labourers, we also provide education and care to their children. In most cases both the parents are labourers, and as a result the child is ig-nored. We provide primary edu-
a city of multinationals and big corporate houses, where lakhs of people work. In case of a di-saster many lives can be lost. So disaster management and recov-ery is a discipline that is a neces-sity. It involves a process of mitigation, preparedness, re-sponse and recovery – through various activities like training, mock drill, testing of equipment and plan preparedness.”
The advisory board for the Gurgaon project comprises of – Dr. Satish Yadav, Chairman, Dronacharya College of Engi-neering, Gurgaon; Mr. Neil O’ Connor, Former Director Mar-
keting, Indian Airlines and Tier-ra Infotech Pvt. Ltd. Gurgaon; Mr. N.S Grewal, GM, Orient Exports, Gurgaon; Lt. Gen. Ad-itya Singh PVSM (Retd.) Delhi; Dr. Markanday Ahuja, MS (Ophthalmology), Director, Shri Baba Mastnath Group of Institu-tions, Asthal Bohar, Rohtak; Mr. Anupam Dev, MD, Resources International and SLDEV&CO., Gurgaon; Col. Rattan Singh (Retd.) Chairman, JAFRA, Gur-gaon; Sh. B.D Pahuja, Gen. Sec., RWA, Sector 14, Gurgaon; Sh. Parween Kumar Bansal, MD, Bhakti Buildwell Ltd., Gur-gaon and Sh. Mahesh Dahima, Former District Councillor, Zila Parishad, Gurgaon.
The view from the 20th floor might picture a beautiful sky-line of the city—from your bal-cony or office window—but it has become equally important to understand the risk that might accompany it; and be fully prepared for it. SEET, through its initiatives in and around Gurgaon, is making a differ-ence for not only those who live and work in them; but also the unorganised labour that helps build them. Let’s be a part of the Project, and help make a difference and do our bit for humanity. uTo volunteer contact +91 9213366339, 0124- 4209080or log onto www.seet.in for further information about the NGO and their extensive work in Rajasthan, Orrisa, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
Future Project in GurgaonA Project for working women in the unorganised sector
starts end of January, 2012; and will be funded by the Ministry of Labour and Employment. This project will lay emphasis on 3 aspects (i) Organising working women and educating them about their rights/duties; legal aid to working women; also awakening women about the legal remedies against sexual harassment at work. (ii) Seminars and workshops aimed at raising the general consciousness of the society about the problems of women labour. (iii) To start income generation Projects for women labour.
1. What are you doing on 31st night? Tu 31 ki raat ne ke karya hai?
2. Are you going out of the city? Ke tu shaher te baar ja se ke?
3. I am celebrating at home Main apne ghar ne manaunga
4. Come home to celebrate new year’s eve Ghar ne aaja, yede manavenge
5. Can I bring anything? Ke ke lena hai?
6. Happy New Year Sabhne naye saal ke subh kaamana
30 Dec–5 Jan 2012 Civic/Social10
30 Dec–5 Jan 2012 11Civic/Social
Struggling With Basics Traffic Run On New Year’s Day
{ Maninder Dabas / FG }
Almost all the sectors in Gurgaon are away from the two biggest blessings
of the city – the NH-8 and the Metro. However, a few sectors are lucky enough to have both! Sector-39 is that Sector of envy; it is not only situated on the threshold of NH-8, but the Metro – another glittering marvel is just at a stone’s throw away. The Sector connects directly to the HUDA City Centre Metro Station. But at ground level, the Sector stinks. “There is no worthwhile road inside the Sector, and the village Jharsa remains
{ Hritvick Sen / FG }
Ravinder Kataria
Sitting in his home on a freezing December eve-ning, Ravinder Kataria
candidly says, “I haven’t done for my Ward as much as I had thought. It has been a trying time.”
As the Councillor for a Ward which is one of the most con-gested, under-developed and overpopulated areas of the city, Kataria has hardly sat down for a chat when two men, very agitat-ed, rush into the room. The issue is that one man has spoken out against a neighbour’s ill-treat-ment of a minor girl, and this has escalated into a full-blown fight. Phlegmatic, Kataria listens to both the men, and advises them to cool it – until he calls them over for a face-to-face discussion.
Resuming, he says, “What can I say about my Ward? I’ve lived here all my life. I know almost all the people, and I know all the problems. Water is the prob-lem. My people have little or no access to potable water. And this has been a burning is-sue as long as I can remember. There is only one booster sta-tion which provides water to my Ward. That water booster station also has to send water to other areas; which means my Ward does not receive timely wa-ter supply – let alone its quota.”
What has he done to address that problem? “I’ve installed two tubewells to provide water to the people. The water quality is not that great, but at least the people have some water. Besides that, I’ve sent a request to the Corporation for four more tube-wells. As soon as they are in-stalled (and it will happen soon enough, one to two months), the problem of water scarcity will lessen drastically.”
“Then,” Kataria pauses for breath, “is the problem of sew-
{ FG Bureau }
For those who run for a cause, or just run for run-ning’s sake, put on your
track shoes – again. Jan 1st -7th is the ‘Road Traffic Safety Week’; and to kick this off, the city’s Traffic Police is organis-ing a 5-kilometre and a 10-ki-lometre run on January 1.
Deputy Commissioner of Po-lice (Traffic) Bharti Arora will flag off these runs. “We hope to get people out and running on the first day of the New Year. It is a dedication to the people
Well Connected, Well Off, Ignored
short,” says Poonam Devi, the MCG Councillor of the area.
“Not a single road here is good enough to walk on, forget driving. Now in winters it is still bearable; had you come in the monsoon season, you would have seen an ocean here, with tides daring to enter our hous-es. It is a pathetic place,” says Ramesh Chauhan, a resident
{Sector 39}
What’s good1. Location2. Connectivity to NH-83. Connectivity to Metro4. Proximity to a world class
hospital – Medanta5. A commercial powerhouse:
Unitech Cyber Park6. Rent: a great source of
incomeWhat’s no so good1. Pathetic inner roads2. Poor Sanitation3. Lot of unutilised land4. No school
under-developed – it seems HUDA does not want to work in an MCG area,” says Krishan Kumar, a resident. However, the sector boasts a world class hospital in the form of Medanta, and a commercial building (Cyber Park), where thousands of youngsters come daily to earn their bread. “I can’t do anything for the Sector, because it doesn’t come under my jurisdiction. Yes, this sector is neglected by the authorities. My village Jharsa too is not in good shape, but we are trying to bring it back on the track of development. Both Medanta and Cyber Park have become a boon for the village and the Sector; because 70 per cent of the people working here are from outside the city, and need a place to stay. Both Sector-39 and Jharsa take maximum benefit of this and people have become rich on rentals. But when it comes to facilities outside the home, this area falls miserably
WARD NO. 20Area: Hari Nagar, Anaaj Mandi, Raj Nagar, Shakti Park, Shivji Park
Chola-Kulcha stall here for the last three years, and it is a good source of income; because a lot of people come here to work. But you can see there is literally no road left here; and during rains, it becomes a total mess. With the demolition drive go-ing on, I pray that they don’t come here,” says Avinash, the stall owner. u
age. In contrast to the problem of potable water scarcity, the monsoons turn my Ward into a slush-zone. Earlier, the sew-age connections in my Ward were never enough to drain the water away. Then, the residents built their own drains, which lessened the problem – but added to the sewage connection confusion.
But the good thing is, I’ve had the entire road—from Anaaj Mandi to Chaar Aath Marla—remade. That includes the water and sewage connec-tions; and the road is made of reinforced concrete cement,” he says, satisfied. [It is to be noted that even though the Corpora-tion did remake the road, the consequent elevation of the road has left the residents and shops on the right side much lower than the left side. “Although it is much better now, I guess the next rains would result in a flood-like situation on our (right) side of the road,” says Anuj, a resident.]
What challenges is he fac-ing in the upcoming year? “Mainly, the issue of develop-ment in unauthorised colo-nies. My supporters and I had promised the people of faster development at the time of elec-tions. We are waiting for the vil-lages to get authorised, so that we can start work on what is needed. The people had trusted us, voted for us. I can’t let them down,” Kataria says. u
who owns a beautiful bungalow just a few metres away from the Cyber Park. Eating outlets just adjacent to Cyber Park are an-other positive point of the sec-tor; because they not only pro-vide cheap yet good quality food to people working there, but also provide a great source of income to people of the Sector and the village. “I have been keeping my
who have fallen victim to road accidents.”
She added, “Let’s pledge to make our roads safer in 2012, and every year going forward. That is why we have the run go-ing through older and newer parts of Gurgaon.”
These are free runs organised by Running And Living Info-tainment, a Gurgaon-based en-terprise. Rahul Verghese, the founder of Running And Living Infotainment, said runners in India mostly use roads – and they need to be aware of road safety norms. “If Gurgaon can lead the
way, other cities can surely follow.”
Registration And Runs:Interested runners are
to assemble at 10:00 am on Jan 1, outside Optus Sarovar Premiere Hotel, for free reg-istration and bibs with road safety signs.
The run is to start at 10:30 am – it will go via Crowne Plaza, Signature Towers, Bata round-about, Kalyani Hospital, Agrasen Chowk, Gurudwara Road, Railway Road, Park Inn Hotel and Mor Chowk – and back to the start. u
{ FG Bureau }
The Gurgaon Traffic Po-lice is gearing up to observe the 23rd Road Safety Week from 1st to 7th January 2012 - during which it
is planning to undertake a number of activities to educate the masses about road safety.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Traffic Gurgaon, Smt Bharti Arora explained various activities that wopuld be undertaken for the better management of the Traffic System:
A ban on parking on arterial and primary roads; Restricting use of goods vehicles during the day at
crowded places;Clearance of road encroachments;Allowing only one pillion rider on a motor cycle; Ensuring motor cycle drivers wear protective headgear;Ensuring school buses have a uniform color (preferably yel-
low) with a display card in front indicating that the ‘bus is carrying school children’;
Vehicles carrying goods including tractor-trollies not being allowed to carry passengers;
Ensuring enforcement of regulations in respect of vehicles carrying hazardous goods;
Ensuring strict adherence to load ceiling, in order to curb overloading.
Smt Bharti Arora said that checking of over-speeding, over-loading, unauthorized parking, drunken driving would be intensified.
She said that though the Traffic Police generally under-takes these activities as part of their duty, but during the Road Safety Week, special emphasis will be laid.
The Traffic Police has invited entries for slogans on Road Safety, through newspapers - and the best entries will be awarded, she said.
Apart from these actions, the Traffic Police will also lay
thrust on making the concerned au-thorities take up the improvement of road infrastructure - like taking up pe-
riodic road maintenance, grade separation of traffic to avoid a mix of fast and slow moving vehicles, and proper road marking works on National Highways, State Highways and other major roads.
She said that the emission norms - like fitness checking drive and inspection of fuel dispensing unit - to check adulteration, will also be undertaken.
Besides, there would be awareness/education programmes:Holding of meetings on Road Safety, in which Senior Offi-
cials of concerned departments and public representatives would be invited;
Public announcement on road safety at important intersec-tions, using mobile vans;
Banners, Road Signs, Dos and Don’ts regarding Road Safety would be displayed at Traffic Junctions;
Organizing exhibitions, seminars, lectures, and screening of documentary films in public places;
Pamphlets and folders for children, road users and drivers would be distributed, to educate them on road safety aspects;
Special training programmes for school/college students in traffic rules;
Traffic training to children who visit the traffic training parks;Practical traffic education campaign by the Police Depart-
ment and Voluntary Agencies, particularly among cyclists and pedestrians.
Further, medical check-ups and eye-sight testing camps, and free distribution of spectacles to drivers would be taken up.
The Traffic Police would set up a 24×7 call centre, with a dedicated number ( 1073 ) for the State, to attend to accident victims with ambulance/crane services; and also organize first aid training programmes for police and road construction workers, drivers and volunteers, Smt Arora added. u
Traffic Week
30 Dec–5 Jan 201212 Civic/Social
{ Manjula Narayan }
“Aao, aao,” bellows Nadir Khan, as we stand in an open ground in Sushant Lok III – and
immediately about 15 stray dogs, tails wagging furiously and faces plastered with happy grins, rush towards his red Maruti van. Sudhir, one of Khan’s two assistants, opens the back of the vehicle, that contains a first aid kit and a huge heavy-gauge vessel – the sort used by caterers to make biryani. It is full of a porridge made of dalia and meat. The dogs can barely contain their joy, and leap about excitedly, as Sudhir slops generous portions into their bowls. A few shy females observe the action from the fringes, waiting patiently for the riff-raff males to finish, before they come forward for their share.
“I think she might have been stolen and brought here, because someone thought she’d have cute puppies,” says Khan, pointing to a gentle-eyed brown dog watching the action from afar. Apparently, the boys at the local car garage once took Khan to task, because they believed their friendly neighbourhood dog wasn’t having pups because Khan had mixed birth control pills in her porridge! “Whoever brought her here didn’t know she had already been sterilized,” says Khan.
Khan feeds about 150 stray dogs in Gurgaon every morning, and is “in touch with about 1,800 dogs here.” The residents of Sector 57 ensure that
Stray Love
all his canine friends are sterilized, and vaccinated against rabies and distemper; and that those suffering from a variety of ailments—like mange, fever and broken bones—are treated. Even as we speak, Sudhir prises open the mouth of a mange-afflicted pooch, and stuffs a pill down its throat.
Khan seems to know every tyke in the area, and points out the family who were rescued by the security guards at Hong Kong Market – when their mother was run over. Next to them is their buddy Tintin, who once was a scrawny abandoned pup, but is now a magnificent white hound. “I’ve named many dogs after my friends,” laughs his wife ecologist Pia Sethi adding “they aren’t too happy about it!”
“This one is Puran,” Khan says affectionately, patting the head of a friendly mongrel. Puran, flouting all territorial rules revered by pack dogs, regularly follows the van unhindered, as it travels through various sectors. Puran actually ‘belongs’ to a human with the same name. “I used to say ‘Arre where is Puran’s kutta?’, when he didn’t show up; and eventually I started calling the dog by the owner’s name,” Khan laughs.
But doesn’t Puran’s owner look after him? “Many of these people are poor, and they think giving a dog a few rotis a day means looking after him,” says Khan. He is often approached by impoverished dog lovers, for advice and medicines. At one stop, a young workman shows Khan his black pup, rather absurdly named ‘Sandy’. “Keep her warm, and when she’s a little
JIT
KUM
AR
Outsourced Parenting?{ Alka Gurha }
It is a strange paradox. While we crib about the hordes of illegal migrants who have descended on Gurgaon, we cannot seem to have enough of them. Recent news of a maid kidnapping a child shows how vulnerable working
parents are. If the maid had the gall to kidnap the child, I dread to think how she treated the toddler in the absence of the parents. The news also revived memories of the horrible story in Bangalore, where a maid rented out the employers’ drugged baby to a racket of beggars.
A walk in the park reveals that more maids now escort children, in the absence of parents. It is the maids who feed them, escort them to school, and also play with them. It is the maids who play and fuss over children, when they get hurt or throw a tantrum. Other than the regular house-help for cleaning and washing, urban families now prefer a live-in maid, who doubles up as a cook and a nanny. Cashing on this phenomenon, builders now provide an attached servant room with most new apartments
It is understandable that working women living in nuclear families need some help to look after their children. However even stay-at-home mothers, with a single child, are increasingly opting to leave children in the company of maids. Grandparents also prefer a solitary walk or chat sessions among their own peer group, rather than huffing and puffing after grandchildren.
A decade ago, the concept of ‘outsourced parenting’ was not in vogue; and parenting did not allow the luxury of pursuing a hobby, a weekend getaway, a movie at the theatre, or the simple pleasures of socialising. As I recall my motherhood, the challenges of diaper changing, sleepless nights, potty training, and running after my son remain a treasure. The images, over time, have become hazy – more akin to a dream than reality. Though I was sleep deprived and stressed as any new mother, given a chance I would love to relive those moments – of running after him in the park, playing hide and seek, or clapping deliriously as he took his first baby steps. Parenting is a full time job, and there is no experience quite like having children. Despite the challenges, raising a blessed family remains a most satisfying experience.
However, with changing times, nuclear families, and both parents wedded to career and finance, the all-time, all-purpose maid is here to stay. The least that one can do is ensure that diligence is never compromised.
older, bring her to me for vaccinations and medicines,” says Khan. He advises the boy on the right diet for the pup. Pia reveals that Sandy is a replacement for another much beloved black dog—also called Sandy—who was snatched off the street by “some men who came in a car”.
“Can you imagine a desi stray dog being kidnapped?” says Pia shaking her head; “but in Haryana they consider black dogs lucky, especially ones with a single white marking on their bodies. So that’s probably why they took her.”
Since organisations like Friendicoes-SECA and PFA (People for Animals) Sadrana have been sterilizing dogs in Gurgaon—with the assistance of
individuals like Nadir Khan—very few pups are now born here; which is why the original Sandy’s grieving owner had to trudge to Delhi to find a new companion. “Most of the dogs here are old,” says Khan. A few very senior dogs now live in the couple’s home, which serves as a kind of doggy sanatorium. Many who benefitted from their treatment - like the dog who broke his forelegs when he was thrown off the first floor of a building by construction workers -- now live in the barren land outside, keeping a constant watch on their saviour’s residence.
“Dr. Anuj Synghal, who is a qualified vet, helps us with many cases,” says Nadir. Nadir too has learnt to treat particular canine ailments, in the years since 1998 – when he began feeding strays. “I had two German Shepherds, and I started feeding street dogs with their leftover food,” Khan reminisces. One thing led to the other, and soon he was setting aside a large amount of his time and resources—Rs 40,000 per month—towards feeding and treating the loveable and very intelligent desi stray. “I’ve given up opportunities to work abroad. When my wife was in the US for eight years, I never went there, because then who would look after and feed these dogs,” says Khan. He is a senior executive with a logistics firm in Delhi.
Besides good karma, his work for stray dogs has earned him many friends within the community; as everyone, from pujaris at local temples, to beat constables and humble workmen, approach him for assistance with their animals. “I help out those who don’t have the money to look after their desi pets; but I tell the richer folk with their German Shepherds and Labs to get things done themselves,” says Khan. He laughs as he recounts the tale of someone with a fleet of cars asking him for a jacket for his dog!
As Pia and Nadir leave for the rest of their morning 15-stop round, you realise you’re as happy as a cheerful Gurgaon stray to have met them. u
DOGS’ BEST FRIEND: Nadir Khan and his wife Pia, surrounded by their best friends
30 Dec–5 Jan 2012 13Civic/Social
{ Maninder Dabas / FG }
No doubt, children are the fu-ture of India. But are they safe enough from the reach of the
evils of our society; that not only en-slaves them to its malice desires, but also separates this nation from its prosperous future? Children are the most vulnerable section of our soci-ety, and hence they need to be pro-tected, in order to keep the hopes of a bright future alive. Unfortunately, India doesn’t seem to bother much about its future, as almost 1.4 million children are forced to indulge in child labour – and the number is increasing at a rapid rate. The country neither has a dearth of plans to rehabilitate these kids, nor of the NGOs working for their welfare yet the situation is getting grimmer day by day.
Shakti Vahini, an NGO that works for the welfare of these poor kids, is among thousands claiming to change the world for these kids. Yet, this one is different – it has given results, and that too in good number. This organisation has not only saved children from being la-bourers, but has also provided them assistance – to become good future citizens of India.
An Introduction“Shakti Vahini is an NGO taking care
of Childline 1098 – an initiative of the Ministry of Women and Child Develop-ment, Government of India. The pur-pose is to provide care and protection to the children that have been harassed by the evils of society. It works in 370 districts of the country, and offers a toll free number, 1098. It takes care of children who are either forced into child labour or harassed in any other mean (it includes sexual crimes against children too),” says Nishikant, the Executive Director, Shakti Vahini. Gurgaon too is among those lucky 370 districts. “Child-line, Gurgaon has been in operation since 2006; and since then, we have unearthed many cases of child trafficking and chil-dren forced into child labour. Dhabas are among the most common places, where you can find these children forced to work against their will. Shakti Vahini not only sets them free from the shack-les of slavery, but also helps them in get-ting their life back on track – by provid-
Shakti Vahini: The Childline
Programmes organised by Childline, Gurgaon
♦ Awareness Programmes like talk shows, with the School Children, on Child Rights.♦ Awareness Programmes with the shop owners, on CHILDLINE (1098) functioning.♦ Awareness Programmes with Bus Drivers, Conductors, Rickshaw pullers.♦ Sensitization Programme, in the form of a signature campaign, with the general public.♦ Campaign on “Cycle To Liberate Childhood”: a 320 km ride from Gurgaon to Ajmer, in 22 hours.♦ Awareness Programmes with slum children.♦ Awareness programmes in the form of Community meetings in the different slums.♦ Programmes with Residence Welfare Associations.♦ Awareness Programmes with mixed group of people.
Childline programmes cater to the needs of
♦ Street children♦ Emotionally disturbed children♦ Child labourers ♦ Children who have been abused♦ Child victims of the flesh trade♦ Child addicts♦ Children in conflict with the law♦ Mentally ill children♦ Children in institutions♦ HIV/AIDS infected children♦ Children affected by conflicts & disasters♦ Differently-able children♦ Children whose families are in crisis
victims are from different states of India. The states like West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, and Orissa are highly prone to child trafficking. As a part of this project we are providing direct assistance—like medical, shelter, protection from abuse, repatriation, intensive counselling—for the long-term rehabilitation of the needy children,” informed Nishikant.
How it works?“Shakti Vahini’s Childline pro-
gramme is based on the concept of four Cs – through which it reaches out to every child in need, and ensures that their pro-tection and rights are immediately taken care of. The four Cs are:
1. CONNECT through technology, to reach the ‘last mile’.
2. CATALYSE systems through active advocacy.
3. COLLABORATE through integrat-ed efforts between children, the state, civil society, corporates and community – to build a child friendly social order.
4. COMMUNICATE to make child protection everybody’s priority.”
A few cases solved by ‘Childline’.
CASE-IIt was on 5th January 2011 that Child-
line, Gurgaon, received a phone call regarding a case of a child who was being kept in a house in Gurgaon as a bonded labour; and subjected to continuous physical and mental tor-ture. The Childline team planned for the rescue, and rushed to the Police Station in DLF Phase I. The child was rescued with police help. The child, named Anil
(8) – S/O late Vishnu and Noorjahan tem-porary R/O Railway Fatak, Surat Nagar, Dhanwapur Gaon, Gurgaon and a perma-nent R/O Faidpur, Haldaur, Dist: Bijnaur, UP – was full of scars all over his body. Anil disclosed that he was subjected to continuous physical and mental torture, and was forced to do the entire house-hold work. The child was then produced before the Child Welfare Committee, Gurgaon, after the Medical examination, and the custody of the child was given to his mother. The case was taken up by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), and the Secre-tary, Department of Social Welfare Hary-ana. The Gurgaon Administration has released Rs. 20,000 to the victim, under Bonded Labour (Abolition) Act.
Case-IISonu (13)—S\O Vedpal, R/O krishna
Colony, Sector – 4, Gurgaon—was appre-hended by the Gurgaon Police in an alleged theft case of a motor bike. The police subjected Sonu to torture at the Sector-4 police post in Gurgaon. While talking to his father, he revealed that the policemen poured petrol in his rectum, and sprinkled chilli powder in his eyes, during the investigation – before he was sent to the Rehabilitation Centre in Farid-abad. His father got the boy released and admitted him in civil hospital, in a seri-ous condition. The child also confirmed the torture there, and told them that the police had threatened and forced him to admit his involvement in the theft case, before sending him to Rehabilitation Centre. When Shakti Vahini came to know about the errant police officials involved in the torture of a juvenile, it collected all the information and raised the matter to the NCPCR. Shak-ti Vahini also wrote to the Commissioner of Police, Gurgaon, to take immediate action against the errant police officials. NCPCR constituted a team that visited
Gurgaon and Faridabad. The team met the child, his family, the PMO of the Civil Hospital, the DCP, the DC, and the Super-intendent of the Rehabilitation Centre at Faridababad. The Commission found dis-crepancies on various facts and circum-stances as narrated by the child, versus the police testimony personnel involved in the incident. The Commission took serious note of the discrepancies, and issued summons against the accused po-lice officials – and asked them to appear before the Commission on 11th of April 2011. The Commission recorded the state-ment of the involved DCP; and the Head Constable, the investigation officer in this case, was suspended. Along with him, a constable who also tortured the child has been sent back to the Indian Reserve Bat-talion – the parent body from where he was deputed to the Gurgaon Police. u
ing them education. We not only respond to the emergency needs of children, but also link them to services for their long-term care and rehabilitation,” informed Subhir Roy, the Director, Programmes and Projects.
Childline Gurgaon: an overviewShakti Vahini is working in close co-or-
dination with the Government and Non-Government set-ups. It has developed a good partnership with the Police, Labour, Health, and Education departments, along with the Ministry of Social Devel-opment, Corporates and NGOs work-ing in the area, and Village Panchayats. “Childline, Gurgaon, has rescued 450 children in need of care and protec-tion. It is the only Childline programme in Haryana. We have conducted many rescue operations of the child labourers in the brick kilns, dhabas, tea stalls and other business establishments – with the help of the Labour Department. Most of the victims —317 of them—have al-ready been united with their family, and the rest are in shelter homes. The
14 30 Dec–5 Jan 2012 Comment
Actions and OutcomesIt is perhaps expected that politicians have short
and convenient memory – real or feigned. It is bothersome that we in the media suffer from the
same malaise.
The two current hot Bills - The Lokpal Bill and the Food Security Bill - have provided enough fodder, to confirm this.
The headlines are about people drama, not action against corruption; and about outlays, not outcomes. Also, lessons on being more responsible, and less sensational, may perhaps be learnt from the Hindi/ver-nacular press.
The background to the Lokpal Bill was simple and clear.
The rot of corruption, that has enveloped every citi-zen day in and out, and that has looted the nation, needs to be aggressively tackled. It is an extra-ordinary situa-tion today, alongwith the high food and fuel prices that have crippled us for 2 years now. Nothing brought our deep-seated angst and anger out better than the strong, heartfelt response given to Anna. Hope swelled, nur-tured by a person with high moral authority. To deny this, because crowds have now thinned, is again seeing a few trees, and missing the forest. And being surprised soon once more – with even more people power.
Politicians, parliament, successive governments, for decades, have not been interested, inclined, willing to take on this monster – maybe since more than a few are themselves compromised. And of late, coalition politics has been the irrelevant excuse for inaction.
Rather than accept failure on corruption humbly, the govt. is smarting – and seemingly waiting for the Bill to fall, while making the right noises. If it works, take credit; otherwise, debit Anna.
How does a bizarre last minute entry for minority reservation find its way in? So beautifully co-incident with the polls announcement for UP.
It seems a sickening one-upmanship and opportun-ism at play; not a serious play at uprooting corruption.
Given this background, it is astounding that the Lokpal Bill be now just left to parliamentarians to finalize. You cannot ignore something like corruption for decades, then have to be pushed to do it, and finally decide to do it – but only on your terms. And specially when you are an interested party – by omission or commission; corruption in high places is at an all time high. In fact, for a telling effect, political corruption would have to be prioritized, and aggressively tackled.
That is precisely what Anna is driving at.He wants Action, not just a Bill.
It is action, and the right actor(s), that has been missing.
He wants a Lokpal system that would have the in-dependence, the authority and the willingness to take aggressive action – against anyone.
What we have lacked is this – not just a new Bill.
And yet, we now have even editorial space asking Anna to back off; arguing that any solution needs to be a panacea for corruption (or nothing?); and realizing suddenly that Parliament is supreme. The supreme inaction on corruption for decades is just a byline. TV focus is on various Anna statements on any topic, and Anna crowds – anything but the sole matter of corruption.
As it stands, we may well have a new Bill; but will get no worthwhile action.
We would be worse than where we started from. The Lokpal system would be ineffective; it will then be questioned and ridiculed, Anna blamed, and corrup-tion forgotten.
The Food Security Bill is no different really.Again, for decades we have wrung our hands at the
waste of our state-sponsored schemes for the under-privileged. We sadly acknowledge that perhaps 20 to 40% reaches the right people. Yet we do precious little to improve the situation – it is a given. The role of the incumbent govt. is to announce improved, different, new offerings – much like a soap. One bigger than the other in outlay – with fancy acronyms. A Finance Min-ister some years ago had promised to table outcomes, and not just outlays. Sadly, that never happened.
And now we have the Food Security Bill. Another outlay that will find its way to the non-deserving over-privileged majority. Another pre-election ploy. A timely Santa Claus for the non-needy; and perfectly timed for the upcoming elections.
And again, the editorials talk of us being not caring enough for the under-privileged. That India needs to do this.
No questioning of where all the food and money has gone, for decades.
Why is there no improvement in effective delivery?Why outlays, without any status on outcomes?And this at a time when the coffers are running dry;
and the fiscal deficit is alarming.
When will we see aggressive Action on Corruption?When will be know the Outcomes of our Outlays?It surely cannot be a few more decades.Somewhere, sometime the patience will run out....
even in a democracy.We, The People are surely supreme. u
EDITORIALAtul Sobti
F A m O u S Q u O T E S
Visitors to Gurgaon especially by night cannot
imagine the nightmare in store for them. Unlike NOIDA, Greater NOIDA and even Dwarka, there is no signposting for Sectors/Phases and Roads in Gurgaon. Recent changes in one way traffic without adequate signposting make it worse. One has to keep directing visitors on mobile how to reach your apartment. There appears to be no move on part of the administration to rectify this void. I have not seen any write ups on this count either, the focus being only on potholes, garbage
L E T T E R T O T H E E D I T O R
Please send your letters to: [email protected]
A good head and a good heart are always a formidable com-bination.
Nelson Mandela As you walk down the fairway of life you must smell the roses, for you only get to play one round.
Ben Hogan By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflec-tion, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.
Confucius Every man is a damn fool for at least five minutes every day;
disposal, traffic congestion etc. I wonder if the administration realizes that lack of signposting adds to the traffic congestion as visitors keep driving in circles.
Lt. Gen (Retd) PC Katoch.DLF Phase IV, Gurgaon
We (are) all with you bhaisahab. When Delhi
Cantt is near to (the) Airport and Gurgaon, then why this Depot (is) required in Gurgaon? And if IAF (is) not in mood to shift this, then they have to make changes as IAF Training Centre or IAF Technical Centre, as Guragon is already an IT Hub; if IAF
wisdom consists in not exceed-ing the limit.
Elbert Hubbard I’d rather regret the things I’ve done than regret the things I haven’t done.
Lucille Ball The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions.
Oliver Wendell Holmes When written in Chinese, the word “crisis” is composed of two characters. One repre-sents danger and the other represents opportunity.
John F. Kennedy
will do this, it (will be) also appreciated by the world
Satish Ahlawat, on the article Supreme Justice
Apart from (the) above, I (have) personally known
him as a man of principles and high morale. Perhaps that transformed him into (being) very successful and proactive businessman. Wishing him for doing the best as always
BHG, on the article From Energy Manager to Power
Thanks. Keep it up Pawan Kumar, on the
article Supreme Justice
1530 Dec–5 Jan 2012 Kid Corner
SolutionS Spot the Difference
1. Tank gun nozzle longer.2. Mailing slot shorter.3. One less bottle.4. Cat’s tail disappears.5. Tank wheel vanishes.6. Neigbour at window.7. Chimney appears.8. Flower vanishes.9. Patch on trousers.10. Bird bath changes.
Spo
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Kid
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tick
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SolutionS
Sud
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Kid
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Scottish High celebrated its sixth anniversary
with ‘Elixir’ – the colours of diversity. The students presented a colourful extravaganza of the different cultures of the world, through dance & drama. Students from nursery to Grade XII participated in the show – that included Polish, Spanish and Indian dances. The Principal, Mrs.Sudha Goyal, Chairman, Mr. Kartikay Saini, Junior School Head, Ms. Seema Bhati and Initial School Head, Ms. Rupa Chauhan were also present at the occasion.
The Good Shepherd and Christmas16 30 Dec–5 Jan 2012 Kid Corner
Good Shepherd Public School celebrated
Christmas with great fanfare; the Christmas cheer was contagious. The School organised a magic show for the kids. Goodies like candy floss and muffins were distributed, along with Christmas cards. The kids, who wore costumes of Santa Claus, a shepherd, kings, Mother Mary, and sheep.
A Cleanliness Drive was organised by Montessori Ryan International School, at
Sector-14, Sector-31, and Huda Market at Sec-56. The drive—inspired by the recent Cleanliness Drive by HUDA—was held to make the students aware of the three Rs-Reduce,Reuse and Recycle. The tiny tots set out with brooms, to bring about a positive change in society. The school head, Ms. Peeya Sharma accompanied them.
Lotus Valley International School organised a Scholastic Book Fair in the school premises. Inaugurated by the Principal, Mrs Anita Malhotra,
the fair had a plethora of books, that both students and children browsed through with interest. The Principal emphasised the importance of good reading habits among children.
Delhi Public School Gurgaon held its annual Sports Day for the Junior School. The Meet was declared open by the Principal Ms. Aditi Misra. The students displayed their sportsmanship with active participation in the march past, yoga, drill and aerobics performances, Taek-won-do, gymnastics and athletic field events. Results were declared by the Junior School Headmistress, Ms. Guneet Ohri. The winners received certificates and medals.
CCA School, Sector 4, organised a Sensitization Workshop on Disaster Management, to prepare its students for
disasters. The workshop included a mock drill, along with briefs on safety rules, and precautionary measures to be taken in case of emergencies. Students from Class IV to Class XII participated in this workshop. The Principal Mrs. Nirmal Yadav, and the Chairman Colonel Kr. Pratap Yadav were also present.
Scottish High on Elixir Tiny Ryan Tots
Clean Up
Books Bloom at Lotus Valley DPS Junior gets Sporty
Disaster Management Workshop at CCA
Students of Ryan International School, Sector 40, visited the
Thompson Press (one of the largest printing presses in North India),
in Faridabad. 34 students of Class V got a guided tour
of the printing process. Besides seeing the latest techniques of printing, the students also learnt about the high-tech equipment used for printing. The trip concluded with a quiz
organised by Scholastic Publications, for the visiting
students.
Ryans Meet the Press!
'We Meet Again!'You don't need to be studying to have great
memories of school! This was clearly seen at the CCA reunion, organised at the school campus. The alumni nostalgically went down memory lane – enjoying the events planned specially for the reunion.
1730 Dec–5 Jan 2012 Kid Corner
Hey kids, do you have a painting or a poem/short story that you want to see published on this page? Send in your contributions to [email protected]
Artistic Strokes Drawing Them In
Title: ANGEL priNcEss Aditi, class: V
Title: cOLOUrFUL BirDraghav, class: V
Title: x’mAs TimE Avantika, class: V
Title: OUT FOr A wALk Aman, class: V
Title: cOLOUrFUL VAsE saksham kumar, class: ii-A
Title: hAppy sNOwmAN krishna, class: V
Creative strokes of art by underprivileged children
of Happy School
Christmas Celebrations in Schools
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18 30 Dec–5 Jan 2012 Kid Corner Hitopadesha is a collection of ancient Sanskrit fables written by Narayana Pandit. It is dated around 11th or 12th century AD. The four stories chosen in this group have simple moral tales to tell. Lions, jackals, monkeys, cats, dogs and donkeys are protagonists who teach common sense lessons in how to judge for oneself; how not to succumb to rumourmongers; how to mind one’s own business and how not to be greedy.
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© 2011 Amar Chitra Katha Private Limited, All Rights Reserved
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30 Dec–5 Jan 2012 Pastimes 19Booker’s Club
The Family Circle
{ Shirin Mann / FG }
It’s somewhat like the movie—The Jane Austen Book Club—where six Californians get
together to form a club where discussions on her books take place, every other weekend. Af-ter watching the movie, more that its entertainment factor the concept of having a book club—where you can share your pas-sion for reading with other read-ers—definitely got you thinking. We looked for similar clubs in our vicinity. Well we have here our own Gurgaon Book Club. It is not limited any single author, but is a lively club, where enthu-siastic readers come together, to read and discuss books written by various Indian and Interna-tional authors – of all genres.
Started almost seven months ago, by Manish Kinger—till then not an aggressive reader,
but enthusiastic to be one—to-day Gurgaon Book Club has about 52 passionate readers as its members. The books to be read are picked by a major-ity vote; and through Facebook page sharing, the strength of every session of the Club is de-fined. Depending on the genre and the book, each session does not exceed 7 to 8 readers – mak-ing sure that the analysis and discussion of the book is free flowing, interesting and ex-tremely interactive.
Manish Kinger, Copywriter at Noah’s Ark Creative says, “I moved to Gurgaon from Punjab about three years ago, for work. When I came here I started look-ing for some social groups. I was not much of a reader, but wanted to develop the habit of reading; and so was looking for a social group to help me do that. I wanted to be a part of a
group;starting one was not even a remote thought. But when I joined some coffee meets and other groups, I realised they weren’t serving any purpose. So came about Gurgaon Book Club. Slowly a few friends joined in, and now we are about 52 mem-bers; and all of us who meet for book analysis are people who love reading, or those who want to get into it. We meet, have cof-fee, and talk. But the main objec-tive of reading and discussing a book stays in place; that’s the es-sence of this club.”
The Gurgaon Book Club gets together every alter-nate Thursday at 7.00 pm at the Barista Crème Lavazza, Grand Mall, MG Road. After the discussion on the previous book, the readers discuss the next genre or author to read; and on mutual agreement, the readers head to the Landmark
{ Shirin Mann / FG }
Sometimes moving to a cos-mopolitian city—where you might not know anyone and
have to start life afresh, without any friends—can be a bit daunt-ing. But not anymore in Gurga-on. Gurgaon’s Friends’ Circle, a local activity group, started over two months ago with a view to get like-minded people, of all age groups, together. Today the Circle has 60 friends who meet at least twice a month, and plan fun activities in and around Gurgaon. Started by Meenakshi Batra, Country Head of Warchild Canada, and Gaganpreet Uppal, Director Buisness Development of Avon Beauty Products, this cool Circle is open to all, from children to senior citizens; and they plan varied activities that involve the whole family.
Gaganpreet Uppal says, “I am a part of many Gurgaon activity groups, but I realised that at most of the activities you can’t take
Book Store that is below Barista. That’s the fun part. The read-ers spend good 45 minutes to an hour, scanning and then picking different books. Once the group decides on a particular book to read, they then order the book from Flipcart, the online web-site – offering discounts, and so, cheaper. The book takes about 3 days to arrive, and gives the readers ample time to be pre-pared for the analysis, that hap-pens 2 weeks later.
At the sessions, the readers get an idea of the book, and dis-cuss what they thought was ex-ceptional; and what they liked or disliked. Everyone’s perspective on the book can vary, and that brings about several ideas and angles to the book. The Club fol-lows no fixed pattern of discus-sion or reading; its a free flow conversation. If there is some-thing that you feel extremely excited about, or something you found terrible and want to talk about to someone who has also read the same, then this is the perfect platform for that reader in you.
Dr. Simi John, Clinical Psy-chologist and a member of the Club says, “Reading books or even literature is a mirror into life. It sort of reflects what happens in real life. Also we are all so caught up in our work life and pressures, and reading pro-vides a breakthrough. It gives you that escape route. For example, if I am reading about France, it takes me there for those five hours that I am read-ing. It makes you live what you read. Reading is very im-portant. The Gurgaon Book Club is a group of people coming together, reading and discussing how the book was, and making a sort of critical analysis of the book. We share what we like and dislike about the book; but its all very light. Discussions on the book give you different perspec-tives. The gatherings of the Book Club we like the most, are the ones where most dis-agreements happen (laughs). Also on the books that ev-eryone disliked, and outdo-ing each other on what we disliked. One of my favourite
books is Love In Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.”
The Club has read various genres of book- Romance, Classi-cal, Comedy, some screen plays, and various Indian and Interna-tional authors. The next gath-erings of the Club have other genres like Horror, Thriller, Sci-ence Fiction, Travel Log lined up.
Its is a non-commercial group, with no membership fee, and the expense only pertains to the cost of the book – or what you order at Barista. “We have a new member in the Club, who has an immense passion for reading, and is a spe-cial educator. She is physically disadvantaged, and has problems in communicating as well; but is just so full of life that she bright-ens up our sessions. She is now enthusiastically a part of the discussions, and initiates more discussions than we have ever. That’s the essence of our club – the readers who love reading and sharing it with other readers. We all come from diverse back-grounds and professions, but what’s common is the passion for reading,” says Manish.
Reading is not only supposed to be limited to your study desk, bed, class or library. Bring it out, release all the excite-ment in the book. Tell the rest how much you hated or loved Eat, Pray, Love; or how much you disliked or adored Dexter and Emma from One Day. Let loose those emotions and excite-ment, and get more in return, re-sponses to yours at the fun and interesting Gurgaon Book Club.
Amindya Gupta, Entrepre-neur and member of the club concludes, “The Gurgaon Book Club is a great platform for avid readers, or those who want to in-culcate the habit. Before I joined the Club, I wasn’t much of a reader; and now I read so often and love it. I particularly like the thrillers, but in the Club we read all genres of books. Reading is a great recreational activity, and doing it in a club, just makes it so much more fun.”uTo know more about the club or be
a part of it, join them on http://www.facebook.com/groups/
gbclub/ or search for Gurgaon Book Club on Facebook!
your parents along – because it many not be physically possible for them, or not of their inter-est. They see us going out every weekend and having fun, and it’s unfair for them to sit at home. So we decided to start a friends group, where you can bring your kids as well as parents, meet new like-minded people, and have a great time together. We have people from all ages and interests as part of our Circle.”
It is a non-commercial group; the membership is absolutely free. Members planning an ac-tivity chip in for the travel and activity expenses.
Any group activity – coffee meetings, meals together, pic-nics, heritage walks, bird watch-ing, cultural shows, theatre, pho-tography, spirituality; or even something as simple and fun as going for long drives – is en-couraged. The Gurgaon Friends’
Circle has a core group of 3 to 4 members, that plan, discuss and sketch activities, and post them on Facebook, and who ever is in-terested can go for it.
“Like last Sunday, we went to the Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary again, for a Christmas picnic. It was freezing, but we had a great time taking pictures, watching the stunning birds, and having our picnic.” says Gaganpreet. The Circle is now preparing for
their ‘Breakfast with the Butter-flies’ at the Asola Wildlife Sanc-tuary in the coming month.
Besides the picnics, the Circle has organised a ‘stress manage-ment workshop’. Encouraged by the high participation at that workshop, the Circle is now preparing for a ‘workshop on anger management’ that will be conducted by leading psychia-trists, on the 29th of December. Several other activities are in
the pipeline. Most are planned for the weekend.
Ranbir Singh, 65, a friend of the Gurgaon Friends’ Cirlce says, “I am the senior most mem-ber, and am also part of several other groups; but I really enjoy being a part of Gurgaon Friends’ Circle for three reasons – you get to make new friends in your city, and so does your family; second, my passion is photography, and this group gives you many op-portunities to do that; and third, it keeps you in good health, as we do a lot of walking in our ac-tivities. I take my wife and grand daughter—who is only 9 years old—along, and they absolutely love it. We are now looking for-ward to out-of-NCR trips; we are planning to go to Amritsar and Bharatpur in the near future. And that will be a lot of fun, with all the varied families together experiencing a new city.” u
To be a friend with the Gurgaon Friends’ Circle, join them on http://www.facebook.com/groups/gurgaonfriendscircle/
durgadatt pandey
20 30 Dec–5 Jan 2012 Astro Science
What’s Your Rashi? So wrote Aryabhatta about 1500 years ago.
The Equator is called the Great circle, and all other circles not pass-ing through the centre of the earth are known as small circles.
The Space around earth extends to infinity. For an astrologer, the extension of space upto the Zodiac is important. Celestial Sphere, an imaginary extension of the plane of terrestrial equator into space, is called celestial equator.
Just as parallels of latitude and meridians of longitude help locate a place on the surface of the terrestrial sphere, the extensions help locate heavenly bodies on the celestial sphere.
The earth rotates on its axis in twenty four hours, It also revolves around the sun in a year, or 365.2422 days (365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 sec-onds). This span of time is called tropi-cal year. The path of the earth, which we feel is path of the sun around the earth, is known as an ecliptic.
The Equator runs through the middle of the earth in an east-west direction, and divides the earth into two hemispheres. However, the path of the sun around the earth does not run along the equator. It is obliquely placed to earth at an angle of 23.28 degrees. Half of the sun’s path thus lies to the north of the equator, and half of it to the south.
The sun crosses the equator twice a year. It results in two equinoxes-the ver-nal equinox (around 21 March), when the sun is on its northerly course; and the autumnal equinox (around 23 Sep-tember) when the sun is on its south-erly course. On both the occasions, day and night all over the globe are of equal length. After vernal equinox, the sun progressively declines to a maximum of 23.28 degrees, around (21 June). It is known as the summer solstice. The sun is then vertically above the Tropic of Cancer, giving the longest day and the shortest night. The reverse happens in the southern hemisphere. Here, the sun pursues a southward course, and reaches a maximum declination of 23.28 degrees at the time of the winter solstice (around 22 December). The sun is ver-tically above the Tropic of Capricorn at this time. The Northern hemisphere ex-periences the shortest day and the long-est night. The Southern hemisphere ex-periences just the reverse of it.
The obliquity of the ecliptic to the equator results in the formation of seasons.
As result of the earth’s rotation on its axis in 24 hours, all heavenly bodies appear to revolve round the earth―from east to west―once in 24 hours. The Zodiac (Bhachakra in Sanskrit), the Nakshatras and the Rashis fixed upon it, also appear to revolve round the earth once in 24 hours. The commencement of the Zodiac is reckoned from the first point of Aries (Mesh).
Each of the 360 degrees is divided into sixty minutes. Each minute is di-
vided into sixty seconds. Thus the total extent of the Zodiac is 21,600 minutes or 12,96,000 seconds. All the signs, Nak-shtras on the Zodiac, appear to succes-sively rise in the eastern horizon once in 24 hours; and set in the western horizon. Six of the signs appear at the eastern ho-rizon during the day, and the remaining six during the night.
The sign that rises in the eastern horizon, at a given time, is important. It is called the ascendant or the lagna. This is the sign where the ecliptic cuts the eastern horizon. In a horoscope, it is known as the first house. When a particular sign rises in the east, its opposite sign is setting in the western horizon – where the ecliptic cuts the western horizon. In a horoscope, it represents the seventh house.
Each sign takes time to rise at the horizon, from 0 degree to 30 degrees. All signs are not of equal duration. Therefore some signs take a longer time to completely rise above the horizon, compared to others.
The signs are divided into three groups, depending upon their rising period-rashi maanas.1. Mesh, Kanya, Tula, Meen.2. Vrish, Simha, Vrishchika, Kumbh.3. Mithun, KarkaDhanu and Makar.
All signs of a group take equal time to rise from the equator.
Six signs, from Karka to Dhanu, lengthen – and the remaining six become shorter – as one proceeds from the equator to the north pole. As against this, signs from Makar to Mith-un lengthen, while the remaining six shorten – as one moves from the equa-tor to the South pole.
The rising period for every sign is fixed for each latitude.
Moving away from the equator, the rising periods of certain signs lengthen – while those of others shorten. Thus certain signs remain on the horizon for a longer period. In winters, days are short. The Zodiacal signs that rise one after the other during the day, have a shorter duration; while the remaining six have a longer duration.
As we near the north pole, certain Zodiac signs fail to rise.
The rotation of the earth around its axis in 24 hours makes a solar day. This earth rotation has a reference to the sun. The earth completes its one rotation, with reference to any fixed star in the Zodiac, in 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4.09 seconds. This rotation of the earth, with reference to a fixed Zodiac star, is called sidereal day. A sidereal day is shorter than the mean so-lar day by about 3 minutes and 56 seconds. Sidereal day comprises of sidereal hours. Time reckoned thus is called sidereal time. It is based on the angular rotation of the earth, in relation to the fixed stars. The earth retains the same position with ref-erence to the Zodiac every day, at the same sidereal time. Therefore astrologers work on sidereal time, to make the astrological chart. Eph-emerides (Panchang) contain details of sidereal time, and also software programmers have made it easy to accurately prepare a horoscope chart.
The Astrology Chart or Horoscope
32 12 11
110
74
5
6
9
8
Taurus Pisces
Gemini
Cancer
Leo Libra
Virgo Scorpio
Aries Aquarius
Capricorn
Sagittarius
North – Indian Style Chart
Taurus Gemini
Cancer
Leo
Libra VirgoScorpio
Aquarius
Capricorn
Sagittarius
South – Indian Style Chart
12
11
10
9 8 7 6
5
4
1 2 3Pisces Aries
{ V.K Gaur }
The Horoscope is a plan or map representing the accurate picture of planets, stars and heavens at the time
a baby is born; or on the occurrence of an event. It is based on an exact time, place and date. All the three ingredients are essential to prepare a horoscope. Accurate
time is crucial for making a horoscope. The first cry of a new born is the exact time of birth, for making a horoscope. Horoscopes can be made with the help of Panchang (ephemerides). A horoscope has 12 houses, each occupied by a Rashi. Nine planets(Grah) are located in more than one house. There could be one to eight (very rare) planets in a house.
No. Rashi Sex Motion Lord Element / Nature1. Mesha / Aries M Movable Mars Tejas (Fire)
2. Vrishaba / Taurus F Fixed Venus Prithvi (Earth)
3. Mithuna / Gemini M Common Mercury Vayu (Air)
4. Karkata / Cancer F Movable Moon Jal (Water)
5. Simha / Leo M Fixed Sun Tejas (Fire)
6. Kanya / Virgo F Common Mercury Prithvi (Earth)
7. Thula / Libra M Movable Venus Vayu (Air)
8. Vrishchika / Scorpio F Fixed Mars Jal (Water)
9. Dhanus / Sagittarius M Common Jupiter Tejas (Fire)
10. Makara Capricorn F Movable Saturn Prithvi (Earth)
11. Kumbha / Aquarius M Fixed Saturn Vayu (Air)
12. Meena / Pisces F Common Jupiter Jal (Water)
The Houses of Jyotish (Vedic astrology) KundaliHouses Karakas Main Rulerships Type Body Part
1 Tanu / Body Mars
Body, soul, name, fame, glory, character, age, head, brain ,aspirations. Exalted planet brings name, fame. Malefic brings misery and all round losses.
Trine or Trikona Angle or Kendra
Head, body in general
2 Dhana / Wealth Venus
Domestic happiness, fate, old age. Family, Wealth, Speech, Food. Represents gold, silver, nose, eyes, ears and beauty.
Maraka Face, mouth
3 Sahaja / Siblings Mars
Refers to relatives, brothers, illness, courage, patience. Moon in this house confers long life, and saves from death and misfortune.
Upachaya Breasts, ears, arms
4 Sukha / Happiness Moon Mercury
Refers to happiness, home, landed property, conveyance, Mother, possessions, good conduct, wealth. Saturn and Mars in this house are malefic.
Angle or Kendra Heart, chest
5 Suta / Children Sun
Intelligence, Creativity, Children, Entertainment, Deity, Fortune, eminence, writing books, wisdom, education etc,Malefic Saturn and Venus exercise bad effect.
Trine Trikona Belly, womb
6 Ripu / Enemy Mercury Ketu
Enemies, thieves, cuts and wounds in body, disappointments, miseries, sorrows, debts, diseases, paternal relatives, sinful deeds.
Dushtana (Difficult)
Lower abdomen
7 Jaya / Spouse Venus
Spouse, partners, contracts, married life, love, lust, sex desire, affairs with women other than wife, passion for ornaments, perfumes.
Angle or Kendra Maraka
Lap area
8 Mrityu / Death MarsDeath, disasters, disease of, sex organs, defamation, violence, loss of fortunes.
Dushtana (Difficult)
Genitals, anus
9 Dharma / Religion JupiterReligion, God, Guru, fortune, father, law, faith, protection, humility, status and wealth.
Trine Trikona Thighs, hips
10 Karma / Work Profession Saturn
Career, prestige, rise, success, relation with government, material success, livelihood, trade, father’s blessings and general success in life. Royal status. Conquest over enemies
Angle or Kendra
Knees, back
11 Labha / Gain Saturn
Gains, desires, friends, income gains, investments, acquisition of gold and precious metals, speculations and gains from lottery.
Upachaya Legs
12 Vyaya / Loss JupiterDonations, liberation, losses, old age, pilgrimage, imprisonment, losses, theft, expenditure on medical treatment.
Dushtana (Difficult) Feet
Rashis and their characteristics
Astronomical
{ Alka Gurha / FG }
Almost every part of our body follows the same mantra; use it or lose it. Just as it is important to exercise our heart for unclogging the arteries, it is essential to exercise our brain cells too. It may be difficult to gauge
the health of our brain cells, and the impact of mental exercise, but we have to consciously keep building a better brain at all times.
Doctors advise that the first thing we should do is to avoid living on autopilot; which means that a routine, day after day, is not desirable. At work, we unfortunately follow a routine, which does not stimulate our hip-pocampus – the part of our brain responsible for memory. It is important to learn something new. It could be anything – learning a new language, engag-ing in a new hobby, or practicing a new instrument. The idea is to use parts of our brain that are normally dormant. We do have diverse interests, and so can opt for activities that will stretch our mind.
Many people think that the ideal way to stretch the mind is to take a vaca-tion. Vacations are a good idea for relaxing the mind; not stretching it. But when we study maps, plan an itinerary, or study the subway system of a new city, we do exercise our visual-spatial skills – which contributies to the brain-building process. Just as there are aerobic exercises for the body, there are ‘neurobic’ exercises for the brain. Activities like solving puzzles, crosswords, and other brain teasers help in strengthening the neu-ral pathways. A puzzle a day keeps dementia away!
Generally, food that is harmful for our heart is also harmful for our brain. Saturated fats, which clog coronary arteries, clog the brain ar-teries too – increasing the risk of a brain stroke. A brain healthy diet in-cludes – omega-3 fatty acids found in fish, olive oil, and nuts. Dark colored fruit and vegetables—which contain more antioxidants—also help in pro-tecting brain cells.
The most important element, of course, is education. The more we want to know, the more we stretch the brain’s capacity for learning. People with higher levels of education, and those who continue to be involved in activi-ties that stimulate the mind, are mentally younger. The idea is to keep learning – keep testing and taxing the brain. u
Use It Or Lose It
30 Dec–5 Jan 2012 Pastimes 21Bad Was Never This Good{ Alka Gurha }
At one of the countless award functions Vidya Balan was asked the classic question, “Aapko
kaisa lag raha hai?” She gushed, “If only I knew that sleeping with men, exposing, and using expletives would win me accolades, I would have done it much earlier!” The truth is that today the characters portraying shades of grey bag all the accolades and awards.
The new movie, Ladies vs Ricky Bahl, reminded me of the Gurgaon-based Citibank employee who was booked for siphoning money, and cheating clients. The hero of Ladies vs Ricky Bahl is a similar con man, albeit with thirty two cases of cheating and fraud.
So what if the hero cons and cheats? He does it in style. And he doesn’t get caught. If at all he does, he brazens it out. Ricky Bahl dupes his girlfriend’s father, and later abandons the girlfriend. The besotted girl remains indifferent to the hero’s swindling ways. She says, “So what if my boyfriend conned my father? He came up with a clever idea. Dad should have been more careful.”
The contemporary heroine is a complete antithesis of the erstwhile female protagonist, who protested against any deviation from the accepted moral norms. Little surprise then that the Badshah of Bollywood, Shahrukh says, “When I’m good, I’m good; but when I’m bad, I’m even better.” Recalling a dialogue from his film Don, where the character played by him is told that his mother would have killed him if she were alive, Don replies, ‘you don’t know my mother’.
Whatever be the case, the archetypical honest, upright lead characters have made way for abusive cops, and swindlers with doubtful morals. And the new hero is… the one with bangla, gaadi and paisa. Not the one with ‘Ma’. The balancing act comes into play towards the end, when the hero has a change of heart, and morphs into an ‘Oh-so-honest and righteous’ avatar. Maybe this too will change.
With the avalanche of stylish conmen, affable cheats and awesome dons, Sooraj Barjatya’s saccharine sweet hero is likely to cause diabetes to present day cinema enthusiasts. Now that the lead actors are revelling in portraying darker shades of grey and getting applauded by the audiences, cinema is portraying reality. I am not sure whether real imitates reel—or it is the other way round—but as corruption scandals bounce off the television screens and scream out of newspaper headlines, they find an echo on the big screen. Movies are celebrating nuances of more realistic grey characters, and the audiences are not complaining.
The previous year belonged to Salman, who featured as a corrupt cop blurting flatulent jokes about stink making; this year is likely to bring glory to Don Shahrukh, Dirty Vidya and Conman Ranveer.
Robin Hoods are in vogue after Dabangg; cheating is cool after Ricky Bahl; and abusing is fashionable after Delhi Belly. The viewer gets to decide how much bad is good for him. When Don says, “Don’t call me Sir…Sir bahut shareef lagta hai. Call me Don,” I wonder if sharafat is passé? u
22 Wellness30 Dec–5 Jan 2012
Snacky Seeds Health & Vitality... Naturally!
{ Jaspal Bajwa }
As we discovered last week, seeds contain vitamins, minerals, and other nu-
trients – necessary to create new life. Some seeds are in-deed ‘superfoods’ – when it comes to packing a nutrition-al punch, as well as satisfying the taste buds. Health wise, some of the benefits associat-ed with these superfoods are lowering blood pressure, eas-ing arthritis, and promoting brain and heart health.
The fun part of growing up is when, as kids, we discover that all seeds make a wonder-fully healthy snack choice that is portable and tasty. The wider definition of seeds includes all nuts, beans, grains and sprouts. Instead of mindlessly choosing chips, crackers or other junk foods, seeds can easily form the ‘snack-of-choice’.
Most nutritional experts rec-ommend 4 to 5 servings of seeds each week, as part of a whole-some heart-healthy diet. Seeds come in all kinds of colors, tex-tures and tastes.
Most seeds contain high lev-els of phytosterols. These are compounds found in plants that have a chemical structure very similar to cholesterol. When
present in the diet in sufficient measure, they are believed to re-duce blood levels of cholesterol, enhance the immune response, and decrease risk of certain cancers. In a study reported in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, of all the seeds typically consumed as snack foods, sunflower seeds and pistachios were found to have the highest phytosterol content (270-289 mg/100 g) – fol-lowed by pumpkin seeds (265 mg/100 g).
Tip of the weekAlways have bowls of seeds
on the table within easy reach. For school-going children, con-sider packing a small box of seeds for lunch. Easy availabil-ity helps kids learn to reach for a healthy snack, when they feel hunger coming on. Having a boost of nutrients in-between meals will curb pangs of hunger and stimulate digestion – actu-ally helping kids eat with more calm at meal times.
When possible, choose seeds in their raw form, over the deep fried, salty, seed snacks! Mak-ing a ‘Trail Mix’ is easy. Mix pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, raisins, and your choice of nuts. For a twist, coat the mix in a bit of olive or flax
oil, and sprinkle with paprika, cayenne, sea salt and onion powder – or any other favourite spice. When adding seasonings, be sure to only add just enough salt to flavour the seeds. Too much salt makes your lips dry, and of course is not healthy! As a sweet alternative, try coating (glazing) the seeds with some honey and cinnamon.
A good way to power-charge the morning bowl of porridge oats or yoghurt, is to top it with a sprinkling of sunflower or pumpkin seeds and dried raisins. It is
a power-house of nutrition, full of healthy unsaturated fats, protein and fibre; and is a tasty and convenient way to provide essential nutrients – such as vi-tamin E and selenium – which help to keep the skin youthful.
Nature’s Wonder Foods of the week:
Sunflower seeds: Perhaps the most popular seed food, a quarter cup of these kernels contains more than 90 per cent of the recommended daily allowance of Vitamin E. As an antioxidant, Vitamin
E is reported to protect cells from dangerous free radicals, suspected of causing cancer and heart disease. Also, when it comes to having the high-est amount of cholesterol-lowering phytosterols, sunflower seeds beat all the other edible seeds.
Pumpkin seeds: These are filled with minerals essential to maintaining good health. Pumpkin seeds are be-lieved to be beneficial for prostate health, bone strength and arthritis. A mere quarter cup (35 gm) provides 187 calories, and more than 40 per cent of
the recommended daily allow-ance of manganese (1.04 mg) , magnesium( 185 mg), and phos-phorus(405 mg). Each element is important for maintaining bone and blood health. Additionally, you get 8.5 gm of protein, and important quantities of iron (5.2 mg), copper(0.5 mg), Vitamin K 17.8 mcg), zinc (2.6 mg), and tryp-tophan (0.48 mg).
(For education purposes only; consult a healthcare practitio-ner for medical conditions.) u
Registered Holistic Nutritionist (Canadian School of Natural
Nutrition)
Not Just Beauty Sleep{ Alka Gurha }
Apart from diet and exercise, sleep is essential for good health. Although most people need seven
to nine hours of sleep each night, to function well, the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) Women and Sleep Poll found that the average woman, aged 30-60, sleeps only six hours and forty-one minutes during the workweek.
A more recent study revealed that women have more difficulty in falling and staying asleep, resulting in more daytime sleepiness. Getting the right amount of sleep is vital; but just as important is the quality of your sleep. The changing levels of hormones that a woman experiences throughout the month, and over her lifetime, have an impact on sleep. Also, since women tend to multi-task, they work their brains—especially the cerebral cortex—harder.
Could sleep be the new feminist issue?
Enjoying more snooze time is the next big issue for young American women, who are increasingly sleep-deprived due to work decisions, relationship challenges, children and house-hold chores. And women in particular can’t function well if they are sleep deprived. Scientists say that an extra hour of sleep has more impact on how women feel throughout the day, than earning more money for a whole year. Feminists, supported by scientists, are spreading the good news that compared to men, women need twenty minutes of extra sleep per night.
Slumber TipsThe cure to sleep difficulties and
daytime fatigue can often be found in your daily routine. Your sleep schedule, bedtime habits, and day–to–day lifestyle choices make an enormous difference in the quality of your nightly rest. The following sleep tips will help you optimise your nightly rest, minimise insomnia, and lay the foundation for all–day energy and peak performance.
Relax and Calm down: Postpone worrying and brainstorming. Tea, coffee, alcohol or any other stimulant is not advised before bed time. Turn off the computer and television!
Go by the Hour: For a regular sleep pattern, it is important to go to bed at the same time on all weekdays.
A Ritual Helps: Drinking warm milk, listening to soothing music, or reading a book help your brain to recognise the signals for sleep.
Dress Comfortably: Any loose comfortable cotton clothing aids sound sleep. The right bed, the correct mattress firmness, and the right pillow are essential. A warm shower or a relaxed bath also helps some people.
Stay Away from late big meals: Avoid a heavy meal and rich oily food just before bed time. Heavy meals cause hyperacidity and flatulence, which can interfere with the normal sleep pattern.
Switch off the Light and Sound: A dark bedroom, devoid of any light and sound, always helps.
If nothing works, try meditation.And since sleep is the next feminist
issue, as soon as you finish reading this article, simply lie down and take a short nap. It helps. A-men.
(Inputs from National Sleep Foundation) u
Happy New Hangover
{ Jyoti Arora }
Everyone wants to bring in the New Year with a spark. Some-times the fun of the New Year
party gets lost the next day – when you have had one too many the night before. Let’s start the new year with a bang; not a hangover...
Before you say good bye
to 2011Alcohol can cause dehydration; so
please consume fluids before stepping out for a party. You can take water/ fruit juice or milk shake.
Never take alcohol on an empty stomach; eat a small meal or a snack before.
Eat food that is high in fat— like a pizza, cream roll, cheese sandwich—as it slows down the absorption of the alcohol.
How to deal with the (morning-after) hang-over
Eat a high protein/carbohy drate breakfast.
Do some form of exercise, to get rid of lethargy.
While it is a common belief that tak-ing coffee helps to recover from a hang-over, actually caffeine works as a de-hydrating agent, and must be avoided. Instead, have black tea with lemon.
Do not have more than a glass of or-ange juice or lemonade, as too much of Vitamin C can cause diarrhoea.
Banana shake, milk shake or even tomato juice can help a hangover.
Blend some apples with ice, and turn it into a smoothie – this will reduce nausea.
Replenish the electrolytes. Sports drinks like Gatorade help immensely.
The most effective remedy is to rest, and drink lukewarm water mixed with a spoonful of honey.
Group Team Leader – Nutrition & Dietetics
Artemis Health Institute, Gurgaon u
23Wellness30 Dec–5 Jan 2012
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Laughing St ck
On New Year’s Eve, Ann stood up in the local pub and said that it was time to get ready.At the stroke of midnight, she wanted every husband to be standing next to the one person who made his life worth living.As the clock struck, the bartender was almost crushed to death.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Jemima was taking an afternoon nap. On waking up, she confided to her husband Max, ‘I just dreamt that you gave me a diamond ring as a gift. What do you think it all means?’‘Aha, you’ll know tonight,’ answered Max smiling.At night, Max went to Jemima & handed her a small box. Delighted, she opened it quickly. It was a book titled, The Meaning of Dreams.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Customer asked the shopkeeper, “What do you have for graying hair?”The Shopkeeper replied, “Nothing but the highest respect Sir.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A man wakes up in a hospital bed after a terrible accident and cries – “DOC, DOC… I can’t feel my legs, I can’t feel my legs!!!“Well of course you can’t silly!”, replies the Doc… “I’ve cut off both of your arms.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Teacher: “George Washington not only chopped down his father’s Cherry tree, but also admitted doing it. Now do you know why his father didn’t punish him ?”One Student: “Because George still had the axe in is hand.”
24 30 Dec–5 Jan 2012 Business
An Intelligent Network
{ Abhishek Behl / FG }
The BPO industry has made a major impact on the Indian economy. It
has not only given millions of jobs to the youth, but it has also brought India to the world table; and proved that Indians can run the service industry with great efficiency
and productivity—and at al-most half the cost—than the United States and Europe. This young and relatively new sector has spawned many suc-cess stories. One of these is Bhupender Singh, Chief Execu-tive Officer of Serco Intelenet, a company that grew from 25 employees to a whopping 40,000 men – in just a decade.
Question: In just a single decade, Serco Intelenet has grown from 25 people to almost 40,000. How did you manage to do this? What was the killer idea to achieve such a spectacular growth?
Singh: The growth has been achieved by following a two-pronged strategy – focusing on the domestic market, and smart acquisitions. The Indian BPO industry has itself grown from less than 100 million dollars in 1999 to 11 billion dollars in 2011; and we have been growing well within the industry.
In 2005, we decided to focus on the domestic market, despite the price point being one-third of the interna-tional price. Serco Intelenet changed the entire busi-ness model, by shifting to non-metros and tier II and III cities. Half of the work being done by our company, particularly for the domestic market, is done in non-metro centres. We have a strong base in Mohali, Kar-nal, Dehradun, Agra, Ajmer, Lucknow, Pune, Aurang-abad – and several other cities. While competitors have been talking about shifting to non-metros, we have managed to do it.
What strategy was used by Serco Intelenet to enter the global league, after realising that getting business was increasingly tough for a domestic BPO company?
With top Indian IT companies entering the BPO space, we realised that Intelenet will have to become a global player, and have a footprint that spans multiple countries. We acquired companies smartly. Simi-larly, the Indian operations began only after taking a 51 per cent equity in a local BPO called Sparsh.
To enter the global league, the company also evolved a combination of on-shore, offshore and near shore strategies for its operations – that ensured that while cost remained under control, the quality of service and processes could be constantly improved.
What are the key value propositions of Serco Inte-lenet? How it is different from the competitors and what is the co-sourcing model developed by the company that has helped it to grow?
Honestly, the BPO industry started on the basic premise of cost arbitrage. ‘Whatever you do, we can do it at half the cost’; but with passage of time, price can-not be the only differentiator. The customers now want solid value-add – which can be delivered by being inno-vative, and improving the processes and systems. Apart from standard metrics, the call is now to reduce work-ing capital requirements, reduce transaction costs, and similar things that add value to the service and process.
As far as co-sourcing model is concerned, the goal is to ensure that the customer become our partners. Unlike the major IT players, who have been forced into this sector, we tell our clients that our expertise and core competence lies in processing. We do not differentiate on the delivery side, and even help our clients set up captive BPOs
– as we did in the case of Barclays Bank and ANZ.What has been the role of Blackstone group in the
growth of Intelenet? What are the learnings?Blackstone has helped us grow in two big ways.
It gave us capital to acquire companies. It also helped us get business – we were introduced to almost 60 companies in their portfolio. Almost 20 per cent of the business of Serco Intelenet comes from 6 to 7 of these companies today.
With double dip recession looming over the global horizon, unemployment in Europe, US a major concern, inflation being high worldwide, where do you see the growth coming from?
No doubt there are fears of double dip recession globally, but this means a huge opportunity for the BPO industry worldwide. Our value proposition of being more efficient and productive becomes stron-ger and more attractive in these conditions – as com-panies are looking to cut costs. Despite the slowdown since 2008-09, our company, as well as the industry as a whole, has witnessed robust growth.
There would be short-term problems due to infla-tion, as well as the political environment in US and Europe. With US elections next year, it is likely there would be blips like additional taxes, talks of banning outsourcing – but this is going to be short term. The economic driver is so strong that it would not be pos-sible to shackle the BPO sector.
Serco Intelent clocked 15 per cent growth in international operations in 2011, while domestic growth was even more robust at 20 per cent. This is because the Indian economy is still growing, and our focus on local business has helped us to remain in good stead.
Which business verticals do you think are the most promising for the Indian industry in the coming years? It is being predicted that there would be a shift from BFSI to other sectors?
Globally, BFSI and Telecom have driven the
BPO industry – and these will continue to grow. In India, the relative penetration of outsourcing in these verticals is just 20 per cent, and there is plenty of room for growth. Apart from that, health care is an upcoming sector that has lots of processes; and there is pressure to reduce costs globally. In addition, there are several government projects that are offering a lot of scope for outsourcing.
How do you manage the challenges of talent acquisi-tion and retention amid the global business changes?
We have evolved ourselves as a caring company that empowers its employees, and ensures that they grow with the company. We have systems and processes that ensure that employees are keenly involved in the work they are doing. BPO jobs can be monotonous; so we try to keep a college-like atmosphere, where people are enjoying their work, learning on the job, achieving targets, and getting rewarded for performance. In addition, the shift to non-metros has helped us not only to cut costs, but also ensure that employees stick to their jobs – as they are closer to their homes. They would think twice before changing jobs, just for a little extra money.
Being based in Gurgaon, how does the city fit into your plans? What are the challenges you face while operating from here?
Gurgaon has become a challenge for us, as the costs have gone up significantly in terms of real estate, utilities and manpower. The cost of living is also high here, and it impacts the workforce. In fact, Gurgaon and West Mumbai are the most expensive locations for us.
We used to have 12,000 employees in Gurgaon, but currently have 6,500 people – as half of the work has gone to non-metros. We need to fix the problems here, and it is not only our issue but that of the entire industry. We are ready to help the local authorities and partner with them, but they need to take the initiative. The Metro service needs to be extended fast. We are a people intensive industry, and need quality infrastructure and a safe working en-vironment. Other states are giving us grants for setting up base; here we are not asking for this, but at least the state needs to upgrade the infrastructure, and make it bearable for the people living and working here.
As a Gurgaon resident, what is your message to citizens and the civil society?
In the last six months, the local authorities have begun to act. The MCG and HUDA have made some changes that are visible. The people in the city need to become more responsible and also need to support the officials, who are willing to work and deliver the goods. There is need to have a five year plan for the city so that development takes place in a planned manner. u
exited India. “It was in McK-insey that I was exposed to the BPO industry. I also worked with NASSCOM, and realised that this sector offered great op-portunity – especially after the dotcom bust”, he says.
In 2001, he made a career de-fining move, and joined First Source, a BPO company being set up by ICICI Bank. “Since most of the business came from abroad, I moved to the UK, to be closer to clients – and this helped a lot”, he says.
After taking First Source to a critical level, Singh decided to look for new pastures and joined Cendant, a US 5 Billion dollars company that wanted to set up its own captive BPO – that could later serve third parties. In 2007, the Blackstone Group bought the BPO business from Cendant, and merged it with Intelenet – an Indian company owned by HDFC and Barclays jointly. It is now called Serco Intelenet, after Blackstone exited in 2011. Singh, in a tete-e-tete with Friday Gur-gaon, tells us the story of these momentous years, the growth of Serco Intelenet, and the growth of the Indian BPO industry into a global powerhouse – that has helped India assume the mantle of the ‘back-office of the world’. u
Singh, like his employees, is young. He understands the lingo of the BPO crowd, so essential for an industry where people are the prime assets. “A real estate company is assessed by its land bank, a bank by its deposits; a BPO company is measured by the quality of its people, and the ability to hold them”, says Singh.
Singh was part of the McK-insey team that predicted, in 1999, that the BPO industry in India will grow to $ 8 billion – a claim that many believed was farfetched. “We proved to be right; the industry grew to al-most 11 billion dollars in 2008”, says Singh.
Singh graduated from IIT Delhi, and later obtained his MBA from the prestigious IIM, Ahmedabad. From class four onwards he has studied on scholarships. He was a student of Sport School, Rai in Hary-ana; and is probably the only alumni who went on to become the CEO of a global company. Singh says that more than a CEO, he likes himself to be de-fined as a sportsman, who is proficient in basketball and ath-letics. I did the Delhi half mara-thon recently”, he proudly states with a smile.
Since he was not sure about which sector to join after his management degree, Singh de-cided to join Booz and Co. as a consultant. “I was the first em-ployee of the company, and it was like working in a start-up. I hired people, and set up the office in Mumbai. It was a great learning experience”, he says.
After working there, he de-cided to join McKinsey, as Booz
JIT
KUM
AR
Bhupender Singh, CEO of Serco Intelenet, with his team
Interview
30 Dec–5 Jan 2012 Business 25Associations Sprout Even As Industry Shrinks
MG road residential property
2 BHK Aptt10,000/ sq ft
3 BHK Aptt9900/ sq ft
Residential Plots14,000/ sq ft
Commercial property rates
Offices 17,000/ sq ft
Shops23,000/ sq ft
Commercial Plots11,000/ sq ft
Golf course road residential
1 BHK Aptt7800/ sq ft
2 BHK Aptt7400/ sq ft
3 BHK Aptt8600/ sq ft
3 BHK Houses9100/ sq ft
4 BHK Houses9800/ sq ft
5 BHK Houses13,500/ sq ft
Residential Plots25,000/ sq ft
Commercial property rate golf course road
Offices 14,000/ sq ft
Shops16,000/ sq ft
Commercial Plots7500/ sq ft
Realty Rates (in Rs. as of December 28, 2011)
{ Abhishek Behl / FG }
Last week saw another Industrial Association being formed in Gur-gaon, ostensibly for the purpose of
uniting the industrialists, fighting for their cause, and providing a platform to pursue issues of common interest with the government and its agencies. No doubt it is tough to deal with the establishment anywhere in India, but is multiple lobby groups the answer? Or are they merely being used by vested interests to further their own agenda?
This is at a time when manufacturers, whom these associations claim to rep-resent, are facing a question mark over their future. Irregular power supply, wa-ter supply, parking, high cost of labour, labour conflicts, and rising cost of living is forcing the industry to shift to newer lo-cations outside Gurgaon – and even Hary-ana. Despite the reducing factory output, Udyog Vihar has at least four industrial associations that claim to represent the interest of the owners.
Insiders says that most of these asso-ciations, while fighting for the cause of industry, are often at loggerheads. Udyog Vihar is a small turf, but every group here has carved out its zone of influence. The chieftains have their own agendas; while some of them are running indus-tries, others are landlord industrialists, and some of them have rented out build-ings to other industry.
In addition to the differences among themselves, they also have to contend with national associations like the CII and Assocham.
However, they do often co-ordinate ac-tion when dealing with HSIIDC. HSIIDC is their main ‘opposition’, as the agency is responsible for managing industrial ar-eas in Gurgaon, as well as other parts of the State – for issues like External Devel-opment Charges (EDC), the new Estate Policy, the New Industrial Policy, the lack of civic infrastructure.
One of the association heads told Fri-day Gurgaon that there were only two methods to get things done in Gurgaon – either sit on the table, or go to the courts. “No one listens to protests, and agi-tations do not result in any positive action”, he says. He adds that there has been a growing tendency among people to form associations, but it is very difficult to run these – as members will not devote their time, money and energy for com-mon cause.
Another point that he raised was that when multiple associations are formed, then the authorities are able to easily fol-low the ‘divide and rule policy’, and play one against the other. It is important that industrialists understand the importance of being united, so that the cause is not lost, he suggests.
Gurgaon Chamber of Com-merce and Industry (GCCI)
The Gurgaon Chamber of Commerce and Industry was formed in 1979, and currently it has around 350 members. Its area of operation includes Gurgaon, Manesar, Pataudi, Dharuhera and Rozka-Meo Industrial areas.
GCCI President P.K Jain says that the chamber was formed to provide a common platform, to put issues before the government.
Jain also revealed that GCCI is the only body in the city that has been rec-ognised by the Government of India, to issue a Certificate of Origin. The Visa recommendations made by GCCI are ac-cepted by embassies in Delhi.
However, as far as formation of sev-eral associations is concerned, the GIA
Secretary S.K Ahuja believes that such groups are not sustainable in the long run – and often hurt the cause of indus-try. The members must be interested and willing to give time for its activities, he says, adding “an organisation is success-ful if it is respected by the government and the industry”.
Gurgaon Industrial Association (GIA)
The Gurgaon Industrial Association (GIA) is the oldest industry body. It has played an important and active role in the development of local industry, as it aims to create an environment that is condu-cive to the growth of business.
GIA was formed in 1966. It has around 400 large, medium and small enterprises as its members, and it believes in acting as a catalyst to bring about change in the business environment. GIA President V.P Bajaj, an industry veteran, says, “We have good relations with government, and actively engage with it in the formation of new industry policies, decisions and guidelines”, he says. Recently, the association also took up the labour problems being faced by the industry.
Bishan Mehrish, Secretary GIA,
by the HSIIDC.In a most positive development, a
UVIA case against the imposition of EDC by HSIIDC was upheld by the High Court recently. It accepted the de-mand of withdrawing the EDC imposed by HSIIDC on entrepreneurs of Udyog Vihar (@ Rs. 348.00 per sqmtr.), as also an earlier decision of the then Commis-sioner, Industry P.K Chaudhry, IAS.
UVIA is an authorised Contract Ex-change center for Industrial development activities. It organises Skill development programmes and Buyer Seller meets, in association with NSIC, Govt. of India. UVIA also takes up various issues of entrepreneurs with the relevant Govt. Agencies, and helps in resolving them.
Gurgaon Udyog Association (GUA)
The Gurgaon Udyog Association was formed in 1995, to help the industrialists in Udyog Vihar. The current President Parveen Yadav, says his father started this association after being exasperated by the inability of local HSIIDC officials to take any decision. The association has 450 members at present.
“It was because of the efforts of GUA that decision making has been
decentralised. Now many important decisions – like transfer of property, leas-ing, and paying different fees – can take place in Gurgaon itself”, says Yadav. His current agenda is to ensure the power situation improves in Udyog Vihar, as well as improvement in parking fa-cilities. He also wants the crane service used to tow the wrongly parked cars to stop, as it has become a harassment for local industry.
As far as the formation of different associations is concerned, Yadav says that some people have assumed that running such groups is a profitable activity. “They also want to wield influence with the government and the local officials, but it actually hurts the industry as a whole”, he asserts.
IMT Industrial Association, Manesar
IMT Industrial Association President Manoj Tyagi says that the association has come a long way since 2003, when it was formed. It has managed to get a num-ber of demands fulfilled by the govern-ment and HSIIDC.
“We had asked for housing facilities, proposed the metro to be extended to Manesar, and several other things. Many demands have been met, and more devel-opments are in the pipeline”, says Tyagi.
Tyagi says that he has learnt that patience and perseverance help in getting things done as far as government is concerned. “The association has managed to get sites approved for two dispensaries, a fire station, and an additional police station in Manesar. This is a great achievement”, he says, adding that the setting up the ESI hospital in the industrial area was the best thing to happen here.
Forming associations is an easy part, but running them is difficult. “Everyone wants to be the boss, but is not willing to devote time and resources. India is a free country; people can form associa-tions, but they must realise that mul-tiple associations only harms the cause”, says Tyagi.
Chamber of Commerce and In-dustries Gurgaon
Led by Colonel Raj Singla, this Asso-ciation has been very active in taking on the HSIIDC and the government, over what it says have been autocratic decisions and policies. Singla is par-ticularly peeved over the new Estate Management Policy that he says has been imposed by the bureaucracy in in-complete disregard to the interests of the small and medium enterprises. u
IDC Industrial Association: The latest entrantIDC Industrial Association is the latest addition to the growing list of industry
groups in the Millennium City. Led by noted social activist and industrialist Dharam Sagar, this association aims to take up the issues being faced by industrialists lo-cated in IDC Gurgaon, the oldest industrial area in the city.
The most important issue, says Dharam Sagar, is to change the land use regula-tions of IDC so that these plots can be used for commercial activities. The industrial area, Sagar says, covers only 50 acres; and it lies now in the heart of Gurgaon – making it very difficult to run industrial units. “The industrial area in the centre of the city puts tremendous pressure on the infrastructure and other civic facilities. As such we want to shift the units to someplace outside, and use these plots to construct commercial facilities”, says Sagar.
The association members say that soon this matter will be taken up with the Chief Minister. They also cited instances where IDCs in Panipat, Sonipat, Bahadurgarh
and Yamuna Nagar have been declared commercial, as they fall in the municipal areas – like the IDC in Gur-gaon.
Government agencies have also made positive recommendations in this regard, says Sagar; add-ing that other issues con-cerning the IDC will also be taken up by the association.
informed that the association also helps local entrepreneurs to explore opportuni-ties in different geographies, and works closely with government to further eco-nomic growth.
Mehrish, however, was not very opti-mistic over the formation of new associa-tions in the city, and opined that this only harms the cause as a whole. “Forming an association with 20 to 30 members, with-out an objective, does not serve any pur-pose”, he asserted.
Udyog Vihar Industries Asso-ciation (UVIA)
This association was found in 1992, to provide a platform to the small and medi-um enterprises operating in Udyog Vihar Industrial Area.
The association has currently 400 members, and is led by A.P Jain, who is of the opinion that government policies and regulations must be implemented in a fair manner. The most important issue concerning them recently has been the poor parking facilities in the industri-al area, and the EDC charges imposed
Time Pass26 30 Dec–5 Jan 2012
9 to 5
The Grizzwells
Love is...
Dogs of C-Kennel
Pearls Before Swine
The Barn
Animal Crackers
Star Fun
Arctic Circle
30 Dec–5 Jan 2012 Time Pass 27
Baby Blues
Tiger
Zits
Ipso facto
The Born Loser
Andy Capp
Daddy’s Home
The Better Half
Two Wise Men
Solution 06/03/116. The next domino always has one dot more.
28 G lobal30 Dec–5 Jan 2012
Appy New Year: Sydney Updates New Year’s Eve Fireworks Display
{ Sid Astbury / Sydney / DPA }
Sydney is out to make the most of its guaranteed annual slot on the
world’s television screens, by accessorizing the New Year’s Eve fireworks display with hi-tech goodies – like a smart phone app and a downloadable theme song.
There will also be a first-ever digital radio broadcast of the shindig, so blind people can share in the fun, officials said Friday.
“We want to ensure that people with visual impairments have the chance to appreciate the excitement and wonder that our celebrations inspire,” Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said.
Every year, thousands camp overnight on the foreshore, to bag the best spots to watch the world’s biggest New Year’s Eve fireworks display. Next week spectators will have the benefit of an interactive map, showing ahead of time which places are full, and where spots are still free.
Moore said all the extra effort was worth it, because more than 1 million will converge on the harbour for the fireworks; and hundreds of millions more will be watching on television.
The performance will cost the city 6.3 million Australian dollars - that is 315,000 Australian dollars up in smoke for each of the 20 minutes of pyrotechnics.
Event producer Aneurin
{ Vienna / DPA }
Production of meat al-ternatives such as soy meat, tofu and seitan
causes about 95 per cent lower emissions of climate-damaging gases than pro-duction of ground meat, ac-cording to a recent study by the Sustainable European Research Institute (SERI), a Vienna-based think tank.
Commissioned by the German Vegetarian Soci-ety (VEBU) and the Austrian branch of the international en-vironmental activist network Greenpeace, the study found that producing one kilogram of soy meat released about 350 grams of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, com-pared with about 7,200 grams from the same amount of ground meat.
The heat-trapping green-house gas CO2 contributes to global warming. Large amounts of it are released, for example, when forests are cleared to provide pas-tureland and grow crops for animals raised to pro-vide meat.
Meat Alternatives More Climate-Friendly
{ Marco Krefting / Stuttgart / DPA }
Scientists at Germany’s Fraunhofer Society re-search organisation
have developed a machine that makes artificial skin automatically.
If it receives approval from the relevant control bodies in Europe, it could make animal testing in laboratories obso-lete.
The machine is seven metres long, three metres wide and three metres high. Inside, small robot arms take care of the work of producing skin samples. The machine can also make connec-tive tissue and pigment cells.
At the moment foreskins from male infants provide the cells that initiate the process.
“The older the samples are, the less efficient cell production is,” says Andreas Traube, an engineer at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation in Stuttgart.
Work is being carried out on using stem cells to initiate the skin production process. “It’s very important that the initiating cells come from a uniform source, in order to avoid variations during production,” says Traube.
Between three and 10 million cells are extracted from each of the initiating skin samples. These cells are then incubated to increase their number by a hundred-fold. The cells are then placed on a layer of collagen in-side a one-centimetre-diameter test tube. The new epidermis that grows is less than one mil-limetre thick.
When the scientists com-
Automatic Skin-Making Machine
Coffey worked out that spending was around 4 Australian dollars for each spectator, “which is damn good value in any language.”
And for those who begrudge the contribution to global warming, Moore insists that the New Year’s Eve fireworks are a “carbon neutral” event because of tree planting, recycling and other environmentally sound endeavours. u
bine the collagen with con-nective tissue they can cre-ate a skin with a thickness of up to five millimetres. The entire process takes six weeks.
“We can’t speed that up in the machine. Mother nature has determined it takes that long,” says Traube.
The machine is completely sterile inside, while in the incu-bating chambers the tempera-ture is a warm 37 degrees Celsi-us. It can handle up to 500 trays,
chine’s main buyers.Rolf Hoemke from the trade
organisation the Association of Research-Based Pharmaceuti-cal Companies believes one area where the new machine will find a home is the area of developing new active ingredients.
“We think cells found in arti-ficial skin are comparable with those in real skin,” he says. Until now artificial skin samples have only been produced in small quantities. “It makes sense that we can now make skin on a large scale.”
Hoemke thinks artificial skin will be used in research on cancer, pigment disorders, allergic reactions and fungal infections.
However, he also thinks it could be years before artificial skin made by the machine is routinely used in testing new drugs: “The terms of refer-ence for testing new drugs are standardized around the world. You can’t interchange the procedures.”
Artificial skin is already of-ten used in hospitals to treat pa-tients.
Two companies dominate the market for so-called skin band-ages, which are between eight and 10 centimetres long, accord-ing to Ulrike Schwemmer from the German Society for Regen-erative Medicine.
There is a market, however, for even larger skin sections, such as those used to treat burns.
Traube says it will be some time before the machine can make skin sections that big. Right now, the next step is to produce cornea, the transparent tissue at the front of the eye. u
On average, VEBU said, 98 per cent less land is needed to produce meat al-ternatives.
In the study, SERI exam-ined the environmental im-pact of eight food products made either from soy granu-late or seitan - also known as wheat gluten - and then com-pared it with that of ground meat. The factors that were considered included water consumption, transport and the use of both renew-able and non-renewable re-sources.
VEB Managing Director Sebastian Zoesch said that ground meat was especially easy to substitute with plant-based alternatives because it would be nearly impossible for those eating it to tell by the texture of such small pieces that they were not chewing real meat.
He added that if Germans replaced their annual per capita consumption of 12 kilograms of ground meat with meat alternatives, the CO2 savings would equal the emissions from 4 to 7 million automobiles. u
containing 24 test tubes each at the same time.
Testing is still being carried out to see if the skin samples produced by the machine pro-duce the same results as the animal skin used in laboratory testing.
“I think that in about eight months we’ll get official ap-proval, and can go into full production,” says Traube. Commercial industrial opera-tions are likely to be the ma-
30 Dec–5 Jan 2012 G lobal 29
{ Wolfgang Jung, Andreas Landwehr and Marco Mierke / Moscow/Beijing/Washington / DPA }
Fifty years after the flight of the first man into space, the three major space pow-
ers - the United States, Russia and China - have entered an era in which co-operation is more important than ever.
2011 saw the US space shuttle fleet retired after three decades, as well as successes and failures for Russia; and the rise of China as a new star in the heavens. Europeans also took part in the spectacular simulation, Mars 500, in Moscow.
Milestones looming in 2012 include a US next-generation rover, scheduled to land in Au-gust on Mars; and China start-ing to build its own space sta-tion. Russia remains the sole transporter of astronauts to the International Space Station, while the US will move toward ‘planned for commercial space-flight’, with firm Space X expect-ed to make its first unmanned test flight to the ISS.
2011 began for Moscow with celebrations of the 50th an-niversary of Yuri Gagarin’s pioneering 1961 flight; but went downhill as a satellite was lost, and a cargo rocket unex-pectedly crashed.
Finally, the Phobos-Grunt Mars mission ended in failure.
Mars In Sight At The End Of A Turbulent Year In Space
{ Patrizia Schlosser / London / DPA }
The run on tickets for the London Olympic Games (July 27-August
12, 2012) already began some nine months ago. So trying at this point to get a remaining ticket is a high-performance challenge.
And if you don’t want to pay exaggerated rates for some
Tips On Getting To The 2012 London Olympics
began last March, so many peo-ple applied that the tickets had to be raffled off,” said Christian Klaue, press spokesman for the German Olympics Sports Fed-eration DOSB.
For example, more than 1 million people ordered tick-ets for the men’s 100-me-tres sprint race, an event for which only 40,000 tickets were available.
“Tickets have never been sold so quickly or thoroughly,” Klaue said. “It is the most successful ticket sale in the history of the Olympic Games.”
And if you don’t get a tick-et to the Olympics? A trip to London in 2012 can still be rewarding. Many events such as bicycleroad racing or early-round cricket matches are free of charge. And be-sides which, the games will be shown on huge screens in public areas around the city so that every sports fan can join in watching the action close-up.
“There are three public areas with outdoor screens: Hyde Park, Victoria Park and Trafalgar Square,” says Andrea Hetzel of the British tourism of-fice VisitBritain in Berlin. “All three areas offer a mixture of sports and concert broadcasts.”
In order to secure a spot in front of a screen, people can register online at www.londonlive.uk.com. For 3.50 pounds (about 5.25 dollars) one can order up to four tickets, which allow people early entry
dump to stay in, you had better get started soon. On your marks, get set, go!
One method is to go directly to the British Olympics organizing committee. Ticket sales by this committee (the LOCOG) are of-fered via this homepage: www.tickets.london2012.com. “At the moment there are still tick-ets left for some football match-es, as well as for various events
of the Paralympic Games,” notes LOCOG press spokesman David Paull in London. Trying your luck that way, you have to log in on a page, and then start picking and choosing for tickets yet available for the desired date, event, or sports category.
So much for the theory. In practice, things look a bit different.
“In the first sales phase that
to the public viewing area.Contrary to the ticket offer-
ings, there is still a wide variety of available lodgings in London.
“For visitors with a small budget, staying in a hostel or on the campus of a university is a cheap alternative,” notes Ingo Frieske, managing director of the German sports travel com-pany Vietentours.
The disadvantage is that such lodgings are not very centrally located. It is more expensive in the city centre.
Those who like things more exclusive can book overnight stays on cruise ships, which will be steaming towards London next summer.
The round trip, three nights’ stay and an Olympics ticket, can be booked for between 1,548 eu-ros and 3,988 euros per person.
“Such all-round packages are suited for people who don’t want to have to bother about arrange-ments,” says Torsten Schaefer, press spokesman for the German Travel Association in Berlin.
A further advantage is that the all-included package offers are often less costly than trips a person organizes on his own.
“If you go about doing your own planning, then you should start to book very quick-ly, in order to obtain favour-able offers - whether by bus, train or airplane,” Schaefer advises. “But don’t be expect-ing super-cheap bargains at such a high-season period as the Olympics.” u
After 15 years of planning, Rus-sia had hoped to begin a new era in interplanetary explora-tion, but the 160.6-million-dollar satellite failed to make it out of Earth’s orbit.
The Russian space agency Roscosmos could take some consolation from its new, higher profile role as the sole provider of rides for international astronauts to the ISS, on Soyuz space capsules.
Since the US spacecraft At-lantis completed the final shut-tle flight in July, the United States has had no vehicle of its own to transport astronauts. Charles Bolden, head of the US space agency NASA, tried to put the best face on it, saying a great future lay ahead.
“Contrary to popular belief, this has been an incredible year for NASA,” Bolden told the US Congress in November.
In addition to completing con-struction on the International Space Station, plans were laid for world-changing missions, he said – with a human mission to an asteroid by 2025, and to Mars 10 years later. Both pro-jects are enthusiastically backed by US President Barack Obama.
The largest rocket in NASA history has started to take shape, as well as a new space capsule to carry six astronauts. Unmanned test flights are to start in 2014.
But it’s not certain whether NASA will get the annual 3 bil-lion dollars in development costs. And the missions are not uncontroversial. No one at NASA knows for sure how ex-perts can develop the compli-cated technology to land on an asteroid in only 14 years, the Washington Post wrote.
Nor is it even clear which as-teroid is the target. NASA faces a heavy workload in 2012.
China made decisive steps in 2011, toward building its own
space station, with its first ex-perimental docking test on the orbiting Tiangong 1 (Heavens’ Palace). The space station is to be finished by 2020.
China’s unmanned spaceship Shenzhou 8 (Magic Ship) docked twice at Tiangong 1 in Novem-ber. China co-operated with Ger-many in space, using a German laboratory facility, Simbox, on Shenzhou 8 – in which the side effects of weightlessness on or-ganisms are to be studied.
With its successful docking
experience, China has joined the large space-travelling na-tions—United States and Rus-sia—which have commanded the technology for four decades. The world’s second-largest economy has ambitious plans: If the space station is built as planned, China will be the only nation with a stead-ily-occupied space presence by 2020.
The young space-faring na-tion is building a satellite-based global navigation system, and plans to send spaceships to the moon and into deep space, for which powerful rockets are being developed. Experts say that China could harvest exten-sive political capital out of its space programme. Domesti-cally, the communist leadership can bask in the success of its space programme while earning strategic merits on the foreign-policy front.
Forty-two years after the first moon landing, Mars has advanced as the next goal for human space travel. There is hope that the first flight to the red planet could oc-cur as early as the 2030s, says Johann-Dietrich Woerner, head of Germany’s space pro-gramme. But such an ambitious project is only imaginable with intense international co-opera-tion, he says. uThe Phobos-Grunt Mars Mission, that lost its way just after launch
G lobal30 30 Dec–5 Jan 2012
A crush on someone can be intense, but it is best to be honest with your partner about what is happening.
Get A Crush, But Think Hard Before Breaking-Up
{ Aliki Nassoufis / Munich / DPA }
He’s a dream, but his friend is pret-ty cute too. What’s a girl to do when another guy - such as her
boyfriend’s friend - starts to shake up a relationship that she thought was going pretty well? Experts say that before rushing to break up, she should examine the reasons why she suddenly is falling for her boyfriend’s friend, or someone else in their circle of friends.
“There is nothing at all reprehensible about noticing these kind of feelings to-ward another person,” said Beate Fri-ese of a children’s hotline in Germany. “Swooning over someone is often su-perficial, as in being crazy about a movie star.” Usually, the object of one’s affection is only an acquaintance - some-one who looks cool or seems like a sweet person - and not someone who is already a friend.
It’s also important to know that en-thusing about someone else doesn’t mean you are no longer in love with your boy-friend of girlfriend, said Jutta Stiehler, director of an advice column at a Ger-man magazine for teenagers.
Swooning over someone or finding them attractive is not the same as being in love, said Stiehler. It has a lot to do with dreaming and “bringing a little bit of suspense into your life.” But when does it become serious enough to worry about? Experts say it can be a sign that the relationship isn’t going well. “At the beginning of a relationship there is a lot of excitement and tingly feelings, but after a certain time it
Diag
entu
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Makeup, Heels And Dim Light; A Night In The Life Of A Drag Queen
{ Johanna Uchtmann / Berlin / DPA }
The he-to-she transfor-mation of Basti to Bab-si – takes rouge, a wig,
two large wads of cotton, and nearly three hours. The change results in the diva Bar-bara Vogue - Babsi for short.
Recently, as Basti prepared for a Lady Gaga contest at a Ber-lin gay bar called SchwuZ, he al-lowed reporters a glimpse into his lifestyle.
The transformation starts with his face. Patting powder on his forehead and turning his head right, then left, he holds his eyes fixed on the image of his face in the mirror.
“Quite mask-like. That’s nice,” he said. His red dress is short, he admits, but that’s OK because he has nice legs.
When a friend teases him about it, he turns away, pulls his face to show his dimples—with-out really smiling—and rolls his eyes. That is his way of respond-ing when people don’t under-stand him. “I don’t know,” he says. ‘I do it for fun.”
Two years ago Basti and a friend decided to throw a Hol-lywood-themed party, and they needed the appropriate guests – including transvestites. Initially, Basti took the name Coco Cou-ture. She eventually became Bab-si, and the party became a fixture in Berlin’s gay social calendar.
Basti talks about it casu-ally, rolling his eyes, flexing his wrists and showing his dimples
- without smiling.He’s wearing blood-red lip-
stick and nail polish, eye-liner and light eye-shadow to make his eyes look wider - too much rather than not enough. “It’s OK to look a little cheap,” he said; transvestite lore that he loves to cite.
He struggles to get his make-up just the way he wants it. Us-ing a piece of paper, he draws a sharp-edged line in pink un-der his cheekbone to create a contour; but he wrinkles his forehead in disappointment, and sighs.
“Ah, I think I’ll just leave it the way it is. It won’t matter inside the dark club,” he said. “Trans-vestitism functions best in the dark. Darkness is my friend.”
Basti, 23, studies fashion design, which comes in handy when he’s choosing clothing for Barbara Vogue.
His Gaga imitation is a patch-work of garments; some de-signed by himself, but usually he buys Babsi’s clothes.
Her wardrobe is full of co-lourful frocks, trimmed in feath-ers, tassels, lace – and even alu-minium foil. He is small around the middle, and thus can wear a medium women’s size. Though his foot is the largest standard women’s size, he can still find high heels.
When it’s time to get dressed, he lets his pajama bottoms slide to the floor, and pulls the red dress over his head – slipping it on with a wiggle of his hips.
The dress is backless and tight-fitting, except at the bosom. To create feminine curves there, Basti uses wads of cotton stuffed into pieces of nylon stockings, and pins them in place.
“At least I have a pretty decollete at the back,” he
said, looking at his just- formed breasts.
“Too high?” The left one, yes. A little tug and a twist and it’s in place. But a glance in the mir-ror reveals another problem: He needs a shave. Careful not to disturb the makeup on his chin,
Basti gets it done quickly, and then it’s time for him to put on his heels and call a cab.
He sits in the taxi as el-egantly as a queen. Babsi avoids the underground. She occasionally has been accost-ed; but at more than 2 metres tall, Basti is an imposing fig-ure. The real enemy in the underground is the light.
Basti is not sure how to define himself. Drag queen is not a term he can relate to. It sounds too much like “an old, ill-tempered transvestite.”
Near the SchwuZ, one of the oldest and most popular gay bars in Berlin, is Drama, another bar that Babsi likes. On this night, the red lights have a fatal effect on her outfit, making her red dress look grey. Barbara Vogue orders vodka and cranberry, and takes a seat at a table – while oth-er transvestites course through the club.
They greet her with kisses on each cheek, careful not to smudge each other’s makeup. She contorts her face to show her dimples - without smiling - even more frequently now. Though all the contestants have been called over to SchwuZ for a group photo, Babsi remains seated in her corner, sipping her drink.
But eventually, she looks at the floor, then over at the bar. Surely, anyone getting a glimpse of her face would think - as he did earlier in the evening - “Quite mask-like. That’s good.” u
A drag queen performs at a drag show in Germany
can fade,” said Friese.Meeting a third person can
be thrilling, but you should pause and look at what strengths your partner has that are important to you, and what the other person could offer in a relationship. She added that it’s important to remember that one single person cannot fulfill all one’s desires.
When one partner doesn’t like going out, but his friend does, it’s natural to feel drawn to that person. “You might think: ‘I’m sure to have more fun with him,’” said Friese. But that could possibly be the only thing. If that’s the case, it’s best to tell your boyfriend you would like to do more things with him.
Another thing to consider is how it feels to flirt with two people at the same time. This can be exciting and it can make a person feel more sought-after. It’s good for self esteem, said Friese. “Everyone wants to be liked and loved, even better
from several people,” she said. However, you should ask yourself whether it’s the other person you like, or just the feeling of being the object of affection. “A person also can fall in love with this feeling.”
For many people this is exactly the rea-son they constantly change partners. The problem is they want to experience the excitement of a new relationship over and over again, but this never leads to a deep relationship, Friese said.”In a relationship you have to be able to endure everyday life together, which is not always that exciting,” she added.
Sometimes an innocent attraction develops into true loving feelings; and when that happens, it should be clear that this is playing with fire. It’s something that can hurt one’s partner badly. “If it becomes serious or if you pay more attention to the other person than your boyfriend or girlfriend, then it’s time to ask, ‘Do I like him or her better, and do I have to say something?” said psychologist Elisabeth Raffauf.
Stiehler added that when it’s more than just a little crush, the partner should be honest. “It hurts to be left, but it is better to speak honestly about one’s feelings in order to avoid hurting the partner even more,” she said. Going be-yond a flirtation is a “no-go” because it has to do with trust, Friese adds.
“Your partner has to be able to trust you,” she said. No one wants their partner to start fooling around with their best friend behind their back. If possible, spend some time apart, and if the feelings still exist, only one thing will work: “Be honest in order to avoid unnec-essary pain.” u
30 Dec–5 Jan 2012 G -scape 31DURGADATT PANDEY
