Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Kanshi Ram’s 95-yr-old mother battles the personal and political
Telephone lines are dead in Kanshi Ram’s Ropar village home, family waits for TV, press updates on his health
KHAUSPUR/ BUNGA SAHIB, ROPAR, SEPT 18: At age 24, Darbara Singh, a welder, went to attend a meeting of employees at Guru Ravi Das Gurdwara in Chandigarh. The meeting, he was told, was being addressed by Kanshi Ram, co-founder of All India Backward and Minority Employees Federation (BAMCEF) and a rising star of the Dalit movement.
After the meeting, Darbara Singh walked to up to Kanshi Ram, touched his feet and hesitatingly said, ‘‘Do you know me’’? Kanshi Ram’s face said he did not know who the young man was. ‘‘I am your youngest brother,’’ Darbara Singh told him.
As tears rolled down their eyes, Kanshi Ram said: ‘‘You are not only the youngest but also the smallest.’’ That was late ’70s — and the first time Darbara Singh met his eldest brother.
As the Bahujan Samaj Party leader lies in a Delhi hospital after a brain stroke, a family in distant Ropar is switching on the TV and looking at the morning’s papers for news about the man who disappeared from their life one day and returned after two decades. Telephone lines are dead in the village and brother Harbans Singh — who is now in Delhi — has no way of letting the family know about Kanshi Ram’s health.
In fact, almost each member of the Ravidasi Sikh family in Ropar has a similar story of a bizarre reunion. Sister Swaran Kaur, who lives in Bunga Sahib near Anandpur Sahib, says: ‘‘At the residence of a common friend in Chandigarh, we met veerji (elder brother). The host pointed towards me and asked, ‘Do you know her?’’’ Kanshi Ram did not recognise her.
Those were years of agony for his mother, 95-year-old Bishan Kaur. ‘‘For 18 years, I did not know where my son was. Our registered letters to his Poona office came back. We were told he had proceeded on five years leave. Later someone said he had quit,’’ she says. The family heard all sorts of stories — some said he had gone abroad, some said he had disappeared. Finally, 18 years after he left for Poona, to join Department of Defence Production after completing his BSc, the family came to know that he was organising employees’s conferences. ‘‘One such conference was at Nagpur, and I went to meet him,’’ the mother says.
Yet, he refused to come back to his village fearing that family and emotions would divert him from his cause. ‘‘He even refused to get married, though he was engaged to a girl from Balachaur,’’ says his mother. He returned after 23 years — to attend the bhog ceremony when his father Hari Singh died. By then he was a Dalit leader on the move — who would soon launch the Dalit Soshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti (DS4) in 1981 and the Bahujan Samaj Party in 1984.
Darbara Singh and Harbans Singh, a peon at the local Industrial Training Institute, stay at Khuaspura in Ropar. Darbara is now a welding contractor at Ropar Thermal Plant and runs a furniture shop as well.
Kanshi Ram used to visit them once in a while. The last time he stayed with his mother was during the Himachal Pradesh elections early this year. And when the ancestral house was renovated three years ago, Mayawati had come to inaugurate it.
Though there have been offers and opportunities, the family kept away from political limelight. Darbara Singh says he was offered a Congress ticket by former Chief Minister Beant Singh. Villagers wanted him to be sarpanch. But Darbara refused.
‘‘I am committed to the cause and according to my brother’s instructions, will not accept any party post or contest elections’’.
Bishan Kaur has not been feeling well for the past three days and has been complaining of weakness. ‘‘It’s because of brother’s illness,’’ says daughter Swaran Kaur with whom she stays. But the mother waits, with a photograph of Kanshi Ram and Mayawati waving to supporters at a rally behind her.
KHAUSPUR/ BUNGA SAHIB, ROPAR, SEPT 18: At age 24, Darbara Singh, a welder, went to attend a meeting of employees at Guru Ravi Das Gurdwara in Chandigarh. The meeting, he was told, was being addressed by Kanshi Ram, co-founder of All India Backward and Minority Employees Federation (BAMCEF) and a rising star of the Dalit movement.
After the meeting, Darbara Singh walked to up to Kanshi Ram, touched his feet and hesitatingly said, ‘‘Do you know me’’? Kanshi Ram’s face said he did not know who the young man was. ‘‘I am your youngest brother,’’ Darbara Singh told him.
As tears rolled down their eyes, Kanshi Ram said: ‘‘You are not only the youngest but also the smallest.’’ That was late ’70s — and the first time Darbara Singh met his eldest brother.
As the Bahujan Samaj Party leader lies in a Delhi hospital after a brain stroke, a family in distant Ropar is switching on the TV and looking at the morning’s papers for news about the man who disappeared from their life one day and returned after two decades. Telephone lines are dead in the village and brother Harbans Singh — who is now in Delhi — has no way of letting the family know about Kanshi Ram’s health.
In fact, almost each member of the Ravidasi Sikh family in Ropar has a similar story of a bizarre reunion. Sister Swaran Kaur, who lives in Bunga Sahib near Anandpur Sahib, says: ‘‘At the residence of a common friend in Chandigarh, we met veerji (elder brother). The host pointed towards me and asked, ‘Do you know her?’’’ Kanshi Ram did not recognise her.
Those were years of agony for his mother, 95-year-old Bishan Kaur. ‘‘For 18 years, I did not know where my son was. Our registered letters to his Poona office came back. We were told he had proceeded on five years leave. Later someone said he had quit,’’ she says. The family heard all sorts of stories — some said he had gone abroad, some said he had disappeared. Finally, 18 years after he left for Poona, to join Department of Defence Production after completing his BSc, the family came to know that he was organising employees’s conferences. ‘‘One such conference was at Nagpur, and I went to meet him,’’ the mother says.
Yet, he refused to come back to his village fearing that family and emotions would divert him from his cause. ‘‘He even refused to get married, though he was engaged to a girl from Balachaur,’’ says his mother. He returned after 23 years — to attend the bhog ceremony when his father Hari Singh died. By then he was a Dalit leader on the move — who would soon launch the Dalit Soshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti (DS4) in 1981 and the Bahujan Samaj Party in 1984.
Darbara Singh and Harbans Singh, a peon at the local Industrial Training Institute, stay at Khuaspura in Ropar. Darbara is now a welding contractor at Ropar Thermal Plant and runs a furniture shop as well.
Kanshi Ram used to visit them once in a while. The last time he stayed with his mother was during the Himachal Pradesh elections early this year. And when the ancestral house was renovated three years ago, Mayawati had come to inaugurate it.
Though there have been offers and opportunities, the family kept away from political limelight. Darbara Singh says he was offered a Congress ticket by former Chief Minister Beant Singh. Villagers wanted him to be sarpanch. But Darbara refused.
‘‘I am committed to the cause and according to my brother’s instructions, will not accept any party post or contest elections’’.
Bishan Kaur has not been feeling well for the past three days and has been complaining of weakness. ‘‘It’s because of brother’s illness,’’ says daughter Swaran Kaur with whom she stays. But the mother waits, with a photograph of Kanshi Ram and Mayawati waving to supporters at a rally behind her.
Labels: kanshi ram
Chandigarh memorabilia will shuttle into space with Kalpana Chawla
Memorabilia from Chandigarh will be shuttled into space on November 19 as the first Indian woman, Kalpana Chawla, carries her college insignia on her maiden flight on board the Space Shuttle Mission STS-87. Two copies of the insignia of her alma mater, Punjab Engineering College, (PEC), Chandigarh will be on board the Space Shuttle which is due to be launched from the Kennedy space centre in Florida on November 19.
Kalpana had earlier requested the college authorities in Chandigarh to send her memorabilia which could be carried on her space mission. The college, which is celebrating its golden jubilee this year, has sent Kalpana two copies of the college insignia requesting her to return one copy back to the college.
Kalpana has, meanwhile, invited her former teacher and head of department, Professor V. S. Malhotra to witness the launch and the landing of the space shuttle. The landing is due on December 5.
Her present mission includes a SPARTAN satellite deployment and retrieval and a spacewalk by Capt Winston Scott and Dr Takao Doi. This is also the first flight to include a Ukrainian payload specialist.
College teachers recall her fondness for aviation, when she decided to pursue studies in aeronautical engineering wayback in 1978 when fuel students went in for studying the subject. Despite having secured a good grade to get admission to more sought after trades like mechanical and electrical engineering, she preferred aeronautical engineering.
Kalpana was allso one of the first girls to opt for the subject. A former secretary of the Aeronautical Society of the College, she also served on the faculty of the college for some time.
Earlier in 1995, 2962 applications had applied to NASA for participation in the space programme. 122 persons were shortlisted and only six of them were civilians. Armed with a commercial pilots licence for single and multi-engine land airplanes and single engine seaplanes, Kalpana also has a certified flight instructors licence. She has nearly 650 hours of flying experience.
Kalpana joined the MCAT Institute, San Jose, California as a research scientist in 1988 and was responsible for simulation and analysis of flow physics pertaining to operation of powered lift aircraft like the Harrier. In 1993 Kalpana joined OVerset Methods IC., California as Vice President and specialised in simulation of moving multiple body problems Selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in December 1994, she reported to Johnson Space Centre in March 1995 to begin a year of training and evaluation.
Born in 1961 in Karnal, her parents Sangita and Banarsi Lal Chawla reside in New Delhi. Kalpana was a student of Tagore school, Karnal in 1976 and did her Bachelor of Engineering (BE) from Punjab Engineering College in 1982.
Professor Malhotra recalls her frantically working with basal and spruce cuttings while preparing a model of an aeroplane. He proudly displays a mounted poster of the Space Shuttle sent to him by his former student, which is also signed by the entire NASA batch.
When Kalpana paid her debt to the college, her former teacher, Prof Malhotra wrote to her -- ``Sky is the limit''. Well, Kalpana seems destined to cross that very limit. As she wrote in her peom on the Atlantis recently,
We don't see your till your engines fire,
And then -
Veil lifted -- the sky around you is lit
a magnificent jewel hanging in the air
etched in my memory forever.
Kalpana had earlier requested the college authorities in Chandigarh to send her memorabilia which could be carried on her space mission. The college, which is celebrating its golden jubilee this year, has sent Kalpana two copies of the college insignia requesting her to return one copy back to the college.
Kalpana has, meanwhile, invited her former teacher and head of department, Professor V. S. Malhotra to witness the launch and the landing of the space shuttle. The landing is due on December 5.
Her present mission includes a SPARTAN satellite deployment and retrieval and a spacewalk by Capt Winston Scott and Dr Takao Doi. This is also the first flight to include a Ukrainian payload specialist.
College teachers recall her fondness for aviation, when she decided to pursue studies in aeronautical engineering wayback in 1978 when fuel students went in for studying the subject. Despite having secured a good grade to get admission to more sought after trades like mechanical and electrical engineering, she preferred aeronautical engineering.
Kalpana was allso one of the first girls to opt for the subject. A former secretary of the Aeronautical Society of the College, she also served on the faculty of the college for some time.
Earlier in 1995, 2962 applications had applied to NASA for participation in the space programme. 122 persons were shortlisted and only six of them were civilians. Armed with a commercial pilots licence for single and multi-engine land airplanes and single engine seaplanes, Kalpana also has a certified flight instructors licence. She has nearly 650 hours of flying experience.
Kalpana joined the MCAT Institute, San Jose, California as a research scientist in 1988 and was responsible for simulation and analysis of flow physics pertaining to operation of powered lift aircraft like the Harrier. In 1993 Kalpana joined OVerset Methods IC., California as Vice President and specialised in simulation of moving multiple body problems Selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in December 1994, she reported to Johnson Space Centre in March 1995 to begin a year of training and evaluation.
Born in 1961 in Karnal, her parents Sangita and Banarsi Lal Chawla reside in New Delhi. Kalpana was a student of Tagore school, Karnal in 1976 and did her Bachelor of Engineering (BE) from Punjab Engineering College in 1982.
Professor Malhotra recalls her frantically working with basal and spruce cuttings while preparing a model of an aeroplane. He proudly displays a mounted poster of the Space Shuttle sent to him by his former student, which is also signed by the entire NASA batch.
When Kalpana paid her debt to the college, her former teacher, Prof Malhotra wrote to her -- ``Sky is the limit''. Well, Kalpana seems destined to cross that very limit. As she wrote in her peom on the Atlantis recently,
We don't see your till your engines fire,
And then -
Veil lifted -- the sky around you is lit
a magnificent jewel hanging in the air
etched in my memory forever.
Labels: kalpana chawla
Caste? What is that....
Parkash Singh Dhillon, Gurcharan Singh Tiwana, Jagdev Singh Gill, Surjit Singh Dhariwal and Rajinder Kaur Sidhu. Unknown people?
Just replace their caste with the names of their villages and check the list again. Parkash Singh Badal, Gurcharan Singh Tohra, Jagdev Singh Talwandi, Surjit Singh Barnala and Rajinder Kaur Bhattal. If you are an urban Sikh, then Manjit Singh Ahluwalia becomes Manjit Singh Calcutta.
A century after the practice of casting away one’s caste in Punjab gained ascendancy in Punjab politics, the practice is now being pursued with renewed vigour by the younger generation. When the reformist Singh Sabha stalwarts wanted Sikhs to forget caste and instead use a suffix as their surnames, the Akalis were the first to adopt their village as a convenient suffix. This was in the first decade of the 20th century. The first elections of the next millennium is witnessing younger political elements follow the same course with aplomb.
Among younger elements is the son of former chief minister Beant Singh. While Beant never used the surname Kotli, come elections and his son Tej Parkash uses the surname, since village Kotli falls in Payal constituency from where he is contesting. His surname Jhajj has never been heard as a suffix.
In Kharar, the son of Bachittar Singh proclaims his name as Rajbir Singh Padiala, the surname being his village. His father did not use the surname. BJP minister Swarna Ram avoids it but his son Mohan Lal uses his village name Behram as his suffix.
Or All India Sikh Students Federation leader Karnail Singh Pir Mohammad, who is a Sikh often causing some confusion because of the name of his village, Pir Mohammad. A change in name on entering politics has been resorted to by Capt Amarinder’s OSD Bikramjit Singh Sandhu, who when joining politics shifted from Sandhu to his village Pahuwind.
It leads to some queer circumstances as well. Like the Badal family, where both the Chief Minister, his son Sukhbir and nephew Manpreet use the Badal surname. But so does Agriculture Minister Gurdev Singh Badal, who is neither related to them nor is a Jat Sikh. The minister was born not in village Badal but in his maternal village Abul Khurana, the surname used by his Congress opponent Gurnam Singh.
Using the name of maternal village was resorted to by Manmohan Singh Sathiala since he was contesting from Beas where Sathiala village falls. Or the son-in-law of former SGPC president Gurcharan Singh Tohra, who uses the village of his father-in-law — Tohra — has his passport to success instead of his own village Thuhi, which falls in Nabha district.
‘‘The trend began in the era when Singh Sabha reformers freed the Golden Temple from the clutches of mahants who prevented lower castes from entering the sanctum sanctorum,’’ says Bhai Ashok Singh Bagrian, who also suffixes the name of his village with his name. All Singh Sabha leaders of that time were known by their village or the region, such as Sewa Singh Thikriwala, Darshan Singh Pheruman, Gian Singh Rarewala and Ishar Singh Majhail. So were some Congress leaders of that time, such as Partap Singh who uses the suffix Kairon after his village. His sons and grandson Adesh Partap have followed suit.
The trend was followed by militants too. Manochal, Zaffarwal, Kaonke, Budhsinghwala were all names of villages thrust into limelight by them. The flip side is that with such suffixes, regional identities tend to become stronger. A candidate from outside the constituency faces opposition for being an outsider. Like the opposition faced by Bir Devinder Singh in Kharar, Surinder Singla in Bathinda, Brahm Mohindra in Samana.
Just replace their caste with the names of their villages and check the list again. Parkash Singh Badal, Gurcharan Singh Tohra, Jagdev Singh Talwandi, Surjit Singh Barnala and Rajinder Kaur Bhattal. If you are an urban Sikh, then Manjit Singh Ahluwalia becomes Manjit Singh Calcutta.
A century after the practice of casting away one’s caste in Punjab gained ascendancy in Punjab politics, the practice is now being pursued with renewed vigour by the younger generation. When the reformist Singh Sabha stalwarts wanted Sikhs to forget caste and instead use a suffix as their surnames, the Akalis were the first to adopt their village as a convenient suffix. This was in the first decade of the 20th century. The first elections of the next millennium is witnessing younger political elements follow the same course with aplomb.
Among younger elements is the son of former chief minister Beant Singh. While Beant never used the surname Kotli, come elections and his son Tej Parkash uses the surname, since village Kotli falls in Payal constituency from where he is contesting. His surname Jhajj has never been heard as a suffix.
In Kharar, the son of Bachittar Singh proclaims his name as Rajbir Singh Padiala, the surname being his village. His father did not use the surname. BJP minister Swarna Ram avoids it but his son Mohan Lal uses his village name Behram as his suffix.
Or All India Sikh Students Federation leader Karnail Singh Pir Mohammad, who is a Sikh often causing some confusion because of the name of his village, Pir Mohammad. A change in name on entering politics has been resorted to by Capt Amarinder’s OSD Bikramjit Singh Sandhu, who when joining politics shifted from Sandhu to his village Pahuwind.
It leads to some queer circumstances as well. Like the Badal family, where both the Chief Minister, his son Sukhbir and nephew Manpreet use the Badal surname. But so does Agriculture Minister Gurdev Singh Badal, who is neither related to them nor is a Jat Sikh. The minister was born not in village Badal but in his maternal village Abul Khurana, the surname used by his Congress opponent Gurnam Singh.
Using the name of maternal village was resorted to by Manmohan Singh Sathiala since he was contesting from Beas where Sathiala village falls. Or the son-in-law of former SGPC president Gurcharan Singh Tohra, who uses the village of his father-in-law — Tohra — has his passport to success instead of his own village Thuhi, which falls in Nabha district.
‘‘The trend began in the era when Singh Sabha reformers freed the Golden Temple from the clutches of mahants who prevented lower castes from entering the sanctum sanctorum,’’ says Bhai Ashok Singh Bagrian, who also suffixes the name of his village with his name. All Singh Sabha leaders of that time were known by their village or the region, such as Sewa Singh Thikriwala, Darshan Singh Pheruman, Gian Singh Rarewala and Ishar Singh Majhail. So were some Congress leaders of that time, such as Partap Singh who uses the suffix Kairon after his village. His sons and grandson Adesh Partap have followed suit.
The trend was followed by militants too. Manochal, Zaffarwal, Kaonke, Budhsinghwala were all names of villages thrust into limelight by them. The flip side is that with such suffixes, regional identities tend to become stronger. A candidate from outside the constituency faces opposition for being an outsider. Like the opposition faced by Bir Devinder Singh in Kharar, Surinder Singla in Bathinda, Brahm Mohindra in Samana.
Where is the budget Mr Finance Minister
NO new taxes, no new proposals, no new expenditure and no incentives. That is the Punjab budget for you.
A little later after the state Finance Minister, Lal Singh read out the state budget today, he was asked the simple question, ``where is the budget?'' The FM chose not to reply. So what is contained in the budget? The achievements of the Punjab government, listed in regular media handouts, now compiled in the form of a booklet.
The Finance Minister says that he cannot impose new taxes, and that would be decided by the cabinet sub committee. He has no money for any new scheme, and ``the financial situation is so bad that the state can offer no incentives''. Hence there are no new proposals.
A sampling of the replies that the FM gave to the media are telling. ``Tax di chori te zor diyange'' (We will concentrate on theft of taxes). Amidst an interruption and laughter, he corrected himself, that the state would try and prevent theft of taxes. And how is that? By use of computers, he says. And what does he hope to gain? An additional 1000 crore in Sales Tax itself. That is a different matter that the state failed miserably in ST collection last year, and the harassed finance minister and his group of officials spent a good 10 minutes trying to find out the exact ST collection. The budget off course is silent on all this.
The FM was asked the size of the budget. ``It is there in the press note'', he said. But neither did he know nor could not find out. Finally the Finance secretary gave the figure, 29,830 crore.
Will more taxes be imposed? ``I cannot say'', the FM said. Does the FM have the power to impose taxes? ``The cabinet sub committee would decide''. Is the Johl committee report on resource mobilisation mean more taxes?.``Each department is analysing it''. When will taxes be imposed? ``I cannot say''. Will taxes be imposed via a midnight notification after the session is over? ``That was the allegation last year as well''.
Though the official press note ran into 15 pages, hardly 15 sentences were uttered at the media briefing following the budget.
A glance at the budget document is revealing. Many portions in Part A of the budget are repeated in part B of the budget. The last page of the budget has a small table which informs everyone that the revenue deficit is 3442 crore.
And if the document read like the one last year, give credit to the FM for introducing three minor expenditures this year. Despite a cash strapped government, a luxurious guest house shall be built at the cost of three crore in Chandigarh. Freedom fighters will get Rs 2500 per month instead of Rs 2000 , and 6600 persons would benefit from it. And last but not the least, Haj Committee would be provided two lakh instead of 1.05 lakh last year.
Bon voyage.
A little later after the state Finance Minister, Lal Singh read out the state budget today, he was asked the simple question, ``where is the budget?'' The FM chose not to reply. So what is contained in the budget? The achievements of the Punjab government, listed in regular media handouts, now compiled in the form of a booklet.
The Finance Minister says that he cannot impose new taxes, and that would be decided by the cabinet sub committee. He has no money for any new scheme, and ``the financial situation is so bad that the state can offer no incentives''. Hence there are no new proposals.
A sampling of the replies that the FM gave to the media are telling. ``Tax di chori te zor diyange'' (We will concentrate on theft of taxes). Amidst an interruption and laughter, he corrected himself, that the state would try and prevent theft of taxes. And how is that? By use of computers, he says. And what does he hope to gain? An additional 1000 crore in Sales Tax itself. That is a different matter that the state failed miserably in ST collection last year, and the harassed finance minister and his group of officials spent a good 10 minutes trying to find out the exact ST collection. The budget off course is silent on all this.
The FM was asked the size of the budget. ``It is there in the press note'', he said. But neither did he know nor could not find out. Finally the Finance secretary gave the figure, 29,830 crore.
Will more taxes be imposed? ``I cannot say'', the FM said. Does the FM have the power to impose taxes? ``The cabinet sub committee would decide''. Is the Johl committee report on resource mobilisation mean more taxes?.``Each department is analysing it''. When will taxes be imposed? ``I cannot say''. Will taxes be imposed via a midnight notification after the session is over? ``That was the allegation last year as well''.
Though the official press note ran into 15 pages, hardly 15 sentences were uttered at the media briefing following the budget.
A glance at the budget document is revealing. Many portions in Part A of the budget are repeated in part B of the budget. The last page of the budget has a small table which informs everyone that the revenue deficit is 3442 crore.
And if the document read like the one last year, give credit to the FM for introducing three minor expenditures this year. Despite a cash strapped government, a luxurious guest house shall be built at the cost of three crore in Chandigarh. Freedom fighters will get Rs 2500 per month instead of Rs 2000 , and 6600 persons would benefit from it. And last but not the least, Haj Committee would be provided two lakh instead of 1.05 lakh last year.
Bon voyage.
Labels: budget, finance minister, lal singh, punjab election akali
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