Rotarians salute frontline health workers in PGIMER

Press Release Rotary Club Chandigarh

Rotarians honour frontline health workers  

500kg of Sweets Distributed by Rotary Club Chandigarh

 

Chandigarh, December 29: 

Rotary Club of Chandigarh handed over 450 boxes of sweets to PGIMER Director Dr Jagat Ram here today.

 

The words cannot express the gratitude that we owe to doctors, nurses, paramedic staff fighting the

pandemic to save human lives, said President Sukhjit Singh Gill of Rotary Club of Chandigarh, handing over the gifts of gratitude to the frontline heroes who are healing the suffering humanity against Covid19.

 

Fifty boxes of sweets would be handed over to the doctors, nurses and paramedics in General Hospital Sector 16 too, he informed.

 

Dr Jagat Ram, Director, along with Dr Meenu Singh from Paediatrics department received the gifts from Rotary Club of Chandigarh represented by President Sukhjit Singh Gill, President Elect Jaspal Singh Sidhu, and Rtn Lalita Grover.

 

Dr Jagat Ram, Director PGIMER thanked the Rotarians especially past Rotary International President Rajendra K Saboo for his leadership assisted by senior Rotarians like past district governor Kawal Bedi who helped raise funds for the cause.

 

The Club had earlier paid tribute to the great congribution that the army, police, and other frontline heroes are making to protect the country and save human lives by sending the greetings and gratitude of the society towards them through boxes of sweets, including 4000kgs for army, 2000kgs for the police personnel, and now another 400kg for the medical fraternity engaged in fight against Covid19.

 

CAPTIONS:

1.     Dr Jagat Ram, Director PGIMER along with Dr Meenu Singh receiving the boxes for Frontline Heroes from Rotary Club Chandigarh

 

2.     The team of PGI Doctors along with Director PGIMER and Rotary Club Chandigarh Members

                       

 

 

Unique Rehabilitation and Reskilling for Specially-abled Afoot

Global PwDs to participate in Global Ability Summit on Saturday

 

Global Ability Summit initiated and designed by The CLAW (Conquer Land, Air & Water) under the Operation Blue Freedom shall go underway on Saturday on virtual platform in order to bring together experts from across the globe to find solution to the challenges of disability. 

Major. Vivek Jacob, Founder of CLAW and a Special Forces Veteran, said “This global initiative has set out to shatter the inaccurate perception of pity, charity and inability associated with persons with disabilities and replace that with power, ability and freedom. 

PwD icons participating in the Summit include Double Para Olympic Gold medalist Danielle Brown from UK, Founder of Poseidon Handicapped SCUBA Adventures, Mark Rausch from US, double amputee mountaineer Chitrasen Sahu, spinal cord injury survivor and now ultra-marathon runner Pranab Roy, amongst many other specialized achievers. 

The Summit shall help develop a Human Ability Matrix to aggregate research, rehabilitation and re-skilling which would form the backbone to creating a robust ecosystem engaging experts from diverse domains to find a sustainable solution and developing cutting-edge rehabilitative protocols to integrate people with disabilities with the society's mainstream. 

The Human Ability Ecosystem. An ‘on-ground’ state-of-the-art research, rehabilitation and re-skilling ecosystem, connected to the ‘Global Ability Matrix’ designed to facilitate a seamless re-integration of PwDs by effectively harnessing their immense creative potential and channelizing it into the global production process. 

Several ex-Indian special forces commandos have joined the Operation Blue Freedom, conceived and spearheaded by a veteran of elite 9 Para (Special Forces), Major Vivek Jacob, having multiple skills not just in combat but also in skydiving, scuba diving, mountaineering, and all-terrain survival expertise who are sharing it with PwDs to conquer their physical disabilities with mental prowess. 

The virtual Global Summit meeting can be joined through the following link: 

https://zoom.us/j/91247968088?pwd=d2E1RjlXR2twc0lYdlgwbStXNHNBQT09

Meeting ID: 912 4796 8088   Passcode: 902962

For further information:
Major. Arun Prakash Ambathy (Veteran)
M: 9500183706

PRCI Chandigarh inks MoU with Shoolini University

Prof P.K.Khosla, Chancellor, Shoolini University, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, (second from right) with Registrar Dr Sunil Puri on his right. Mr Vipin Pubby, Director External Communication, and Dr J M Julka, Director Planning of Shoolini University on left.  

Young Communicators Club also chartered at Shoolini University 

Chandigarh Chapter of Public Relations Council of India (PRCI) signed an MoU with Shoolini University, Solan, HP through a virtual meeting to strengthen the industry-academia partnership today.

The MoU was signed by the Chairman of the Chandigarh Chapter of PRCI Vivek Atray, and Dr Sunil Puri, Registrar of the Shoolini University.

Speaking on the occasion Dr P.K. Khosla, Chancellor of the University congratulated the PRCI for taking up the initiative which would help the faculty and the students in further improving their communication skills to make their lives more useful for the society.

Dr Khosla said that the partnership shall support the University’s efforts to make it into a centre of excellence, inculcate the values of rich Indian ethos in the students, and make them ambassadors of goodwill to spread the message across the globe in whatever they do.

On this occasion a Young Communicators Club was also chartered at the University to empower students to network with the professionals, explore newer research and internship opportunities, and become better human beings, said Vivek Atray, an ex-IAS, motivational speaker and author.

This is the first YCC that has been established in the northern region and the chapter would enter into similar arrangement with other universities here, Vivek Atray added.

The PRCI chief mentor and chairman emeritus, M.B. Jayaram shared the growing footprint of the professional body in the country with 38 chapters and presence abroad, especially Dubai, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, etc.

National President of PRCI, Dr T Vinaykumar said that PRCI is publishing various journals and case studies to help the PR practitioners in the country grow, and that YCC is preparing the youth for the leadership positions through such partnerships of PRCI with educational institutions.

National Head of YCC Ms Chinmaye Pravin, PRCI secretary general U S Kutty, Senior Vice President of PRCI C J Singh, North Zonal Head Renuka Salwan, amongst other attended the meet.

Remembering Dr F C Kohli father of Indian IT Industry

Society for Promotion of Science & Technology in India (SPSTI) in association with the Chandigarh Chapter of NASI (National Academy of Sciences India), Technology Enabling Centre (TEC), University Institute of Engineering & Technology and Panjab University Alumni Association Chandigarh organised an online memorial meeting in honour of the Father of Indian IT Industry, Padma Bhushan Dr. F.C. Kohli, Founder and first C.E.O. of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), who left for his heavenly abode on November 26, 2020. 

The web assembly took place on December 6, 2020 at 11:00 AM to pay tribute to this preeminent alumnus of the University of Punjab, Lahore (a precursor of Panjab University, Chandigarh).

The meeting was steered by Prof. Keya Dharmvir, General Secretary of SPSTI. Prof. Arun K. Grover, former Vice Chancellor of Panjab University spoke on the background of the memorial meeting, highlighting Dr. Kohli’s association with Tata Consultancy Service and TIFR (Tata Instt. Of Fundamental Res., Mumbai) and his work with Prof. Yash Pal, Prof. Narasimhan, Prof. M. K. G. Menon, 

Dr. Mathai Joseph and Dr Kehav Nori. Prof. Rajesh Kochhar, an eminent historian of Science, presented a brief profile of Dr Kohli including his personal and professional life. There were messages from Prof. Raj Kumar, VC, PU and Prof. Kesav V. Nori, IIIT Hyderabad, who was earlier a senior functionary at TCS, highlighting his role as a great mentor and visionary.

Shri Som Mittal, former Chairman NASSCOM, paid his tribute stating him being an engineer at heart and being a great student as well as a great teacher throughout his life. 

Dr. Ananth Krishnan who is Chief Technology Officer at TCS read the official statement on the great loss and said greatest tribute to him will be if we can live up to his vision for the growth of nation. 

Shri Rajiv Vaishnav shared how his every meeting with Dr. Kohli was focussed on what better NASSCOM can do to, showing his passion for nation. 

There was also a message from Prof. Shri S. K. Munjal from Hero Enterprises indicating both computer and software industry would not have been possible without Mr Kohli’s interventions. 

Dr. Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, AICTE, shared his personal experiences and the supportive role played by Dr. Kohli. Prof. Manoj Arora, former Director, PEC shared his vision that science curriculum including mathematics should be revised every year. 

Prof. Sarit K. Das, Director IIT, Ropar also shared how passionate Dr. Kohli was with the development of nation and stated his words “India has no damn business to remain poor”. 

Prof. Dheeraj Sanghi, Director, PEC, Dr. Manu Sharma, UIET, Prof. Renu Wig, former Director, UIET, Prof. R. K. Kohli, Secretary, Chandigarh chapter of NASI, Prof. Deepti Gupta, Dean Alumni Relations, Panjab University, Mr. Akhil from MP and Prof. G. S. Kainth, ex Faculty, IIT Kanpur, also paid their tribute by sharing their experiences. 

The meeting was also attended by Prof. R. P. Bambah, former VC, Panjab University and a contemporary of Dr. F. C. Kohli in Lahore, with more than 200 participants on zoom and about 222 on facebook page of SPSTI. 

The meeting ended with vote of thanks by Shri Dharam Vir, IAS (Retd.) & President SPSTI, to all the present for the memorial meeting remembering Dr. Kohli as a legend who not only had passion for developing technology in country but also had similar love for academics.

Dharam Vir, IAS (Retd.)

Formerly Chief Secretary and State Election Commissioner, Haryana

President
Society for Promotion of Science & Technology in India

#229, Sector-4, MDC

Panchkula-134114, Haryana, India

Phones: Landline: +91 172 255 8799, Mobile: +91 93 16 121799

Hotel Restaurant Association Joins Farmers' Protest

PRESS RELEASE ENGLISH & HINDI
City Hotel and Restaurant Association Backs Farmers' Protest

The Hotel and Restaurant Association of Chandigarh (HRAC) today expressed its solidarity with the farmers of the country.

The president of the association Arvinder Pal Singh said that the hospitality industry works in close coordination with farmers and can understand their concerns.

The chairman of the Association Man Mohan Singh Kohli said that their industry has suffered at the hands of corporate aggregators such as OYO and ZOMATO and the likes and therefore can very well understand what's in store  for the farmers and in turn with the food pricing system of the country in times to come.

He added that they have tremendous belief in capability of the country's Prime Minister Sh Narender Modi and are confident that he will be able to solve this logjam amicably.



For more details,
Manmohan Singh Kohli
M: 9814004840

Photo Caption: HRAC rally outside Hotel Aroma in Sector 22


शहर के  होटल एंड रेस्तरां एसोसिएशन ने किया किसानों का समर्थन  

होटल एंड रेस्टोरेंट एसोसिएशन ऑफ चंडीगढ़ (HRAC) ने आज देश के किसानों के साथ अपनी एकजुटता व्यक्त की।

एसोसिएशन के अध्यक्ष अरविंदर पाल सिंह ने कहा कि आतिथ्य उद्योग किसानों के साथ निकट समन्वय में काम करता है और उनकी चिंताओं को समझ सकता है।

एसोसिएशन के चेयरमैन मन मोहन सिंह कोहली ने कहा कि होटल व् रेस्टोरेंट उद्योग को OYO और ZOMATO जैसे कॉर्पोरेट एग्रीगेटर्स के हाथों काफी परेशानिओं को झेलना पड़ा है और इसलिए बहुत अच्छी तरह से समझ सकते हैं कि किसानों के लिए  खाद्य मूल्य निर्धारण प्रणाली के साथ आने वाले समय में किस प्रकार की समस्याओं को झेलना पड़ सकता है.

उन्होंने कहा कि उन्हें देश के प्रधानमंत्री श्री नरेंद्र मोदी की क्षमता पर बहुत विश्वास है कि वह इस समस्या  को सौहार्दपूर्ण ढंग से समाधान  कर पाएंगे।

अधिक जानकारी के लिए,
मनमोहन सिंह कोहली
एम: 9814004840

फोटो कैप्शन: सेक्टर 22 में होटल अरोमा के बाहर  रैली

	CJ Singh CEO, CorePR PHD House  Sector 31A, Chandigarh 160030
	M: +91 93161 33924 P: +91 172 5016581 E: corepr@gmail.com  |

Trail-Runner Pranab Roy seltcted as Ambassador of Team CLAW

Press Release 

Pranab Roy selected as Ambassador of Team CLAW for India

Chandigarh-based trail-runner Pranab Roy has been handpicked by the Team CLAW and selected to be an Ambassador for Operation Blue Freedom mission to turn people with disabilities (PwD) into high achievers. 

Pranab Roy, a Guinneese world record holder and the first Indian to complete the 140kms run in Asian Trail Master in 2018 in Malang, Indonesia, who met with a road accident later in 2019, rendering him paralysed waste down due to spinal injury, but through his own self-belief, determination and hardwork, that he not only started walking but resumed running. 

They are the real heroes, said Mr Vivek Jacob, the founder of Team CLAW (Conquer Land, Air, Water) to transform them into people with substance and role models for everyone, and shatter the common perception of pity, charity and inability associated with 'disability' and recreate it to one of dignity, ability and freedom.

The Team CLAW under its Operation Blue Freedom, has signed an MoU with Maldivian Integrated Tourism Council (MITDC) to conduct a world championship to create triple records on land, water and air by preparing largest teams of PwDs to participate in scuba diving in Maldives in March 2021, freefall sky diving in Dubai in June, and a trek to the highest battlefield in the world, the Siachen glacier in India. .

Nearly 50 PwDs from across the globe are training at Puducherry and later in Lakshwadeep with Pranab Roy as one of the participants, comprising training in Sky Diving, Scuba Diving and Mountaineering by the former Special Forces instructors and civilian volunteers.

The MoU with MITDC also covers long term collaboration between CLAW Global and MITDC to create cutting edge rehabilitation ecosystems for people with disabilities not only from Maldives but from India and other parts of the world.

 

Rotarians gift 500 Kg of sweets to Chandigarh Police

Members of Rotary Club of Chandigarh gifted 500kgs of sweets to Chandigarh Police, today, 30th November, as a mark of appreciation of the wonderful work that the force did during the hard times of corona pandemic. The sweets were distributed among those members of the police who were present, while the remaining were handed over to be sent to various police stations for distribution.

In his welcome address, Mr Ketan Bansal IPS lauded the contribution of Rotary Club of Chandigarh in reaching out to the police force and appreciating the work done by the police.

President Sukhjiit Singh Gill informed that the Rotarians have contributed money to send their best wishes on the occasion of Gurpurab of Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji, through the efforts of Past Rotary International President Rajendra K Saboo, the guiding force of Rotary Club of Chandigarh. PDG Kawal Bedi has been a big support in raising these funds. He stated that there is a long-standing association between Rotary Club of Chandigarh and Chandigarh Police Department, and together, they have done many projects on traffic awareness, and the like.

This partnership was at its zenith during the pandemic lockdown, as Rotary Club of Chandigarh took up supplying ration and cooked food to the stranded residents. It was the daredevil staff of Chandigarh Police that came forward to distribute the cooked food and the ration to the needy.

Those present on the occasion included Rotarians Jaspal Sidhu, Dr. Nusrat Shafiq, Mandeep Singh Sodhi, and Aarti Goyal.

Rotary sends another 2000 kg mithai for army jawans

Past Rotary International President R K Saboo (second from right) along with other senior Rotarians with Club President Sukhjit Singh Gill (extreme left) at Rotary House, flagging off the consignment for jawans. 

Rotarians of Rotary District 3080 have sent another 2000kg of mithai to the army jawans on boarder today. 

President Sukhjit Singh Gill informed that the Rotarians have contributed more money to send their greetings on the Gurpurab of Sri Guru Nanak Dev through the efforts of Past Rotary International President Rajendra K Saboo, Past District Governor Kawal Bedi, and the current Rotary District Governor Ramesh Bajaj.

 

The 2000 kg was flagged off by the President from the city to be delivered to the forward posts in Kupwara and Baramula region of Sri Nagar.

 

Earlier the Rotarians had sent 4000 kgs of sweets for army jawans on border on Diwali.

 

This is the humble tribute that we can pay to them, as the sticker on each box said, "Aap Hain to Hum Hain", said PDG Kawal Bedi. 

CAPTION: 

Men should open their minds to strong and creative women

The concluding session was with CLS Chairperson Dr Sumita Misra in conversation with celebrated bestselling author, poet, activist and teacher of writing who joined in from Houston, USA, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

 

Best known for her work translated into twenty-nine languages many of which have been turned into films and her last novel was a retelling of the Ramayana from Sita's perspective, "The Forest of Enchantments". 

Men should open their mind to strong and creative women who handle their lives much better, she said thanking her readers.

She remembered her time in 70s when she arrived in the USA and would go to work in a mall wearing sarees, since not many Indians were not there in the state of Ohio, and this made me proud of being an Indian woman.

I started writing to analyse myself with the immigrants' stories published as "Arranged Marriage" that captured the travails and trauma of diaspora having been uprooted from their cultures, and that had been the subject of my studies, she said.

Women have shared and transmitted the centuries of our culture through stories and narratives.

As a writer writing on mythologies and i treat my subject with open mind and try to research afresh so that i can look at these subjects more effectively.  

What is important to me is to make writing graphically to depict that particular character would have experienced at that moment. 

Even my understanding of being-like Sita, self-effacing and tolerant was unpalatable and therefore, my representation had to be different not for those traditional reasons but being strong and how she faced the challenges. 

Punjabi Film writer, director, with famous movies like Jatt James Bond(2014) , Farar (2015), Babukaat (2016), Rabb Da Radio (2017), Saab Bahadur (2017), Ikk Sandhu Hunda Si (2020). Jass Grewal shared his journey with Ravee Pandher.

 

Down to earth, and deep thinker, Jass Grewal shared he believe in Vedanta and writings of Paramhans Yogananda, and a great believer in simplicity, said that he is working on a horror movie „Kaun aa Yaar" and „Bajre da Sitta"

 

Ashish Vidyarthi creates magic at Literati

The national award-winning actor, writer, podcaster, motivational speaker, and corporate trainer, Ashish Vidyarthi in conversation with Suparna Saraswati Puri, unfolded his concept of life providing an entirely newer perspective on life, its purpose, and the magic one can create in other's lives.

He talked about the fragility of life that pandemic has brought to the fore that has also need to be understood as an extreme privilege that one should celebrate and liberate oneself at every step of the way.

Sharing his journey as an actor and now as a coach, mentor and motivational speaker, what he called as a good 'SEO' word, Ashish said that every moment of one's life is all about enjoying it fully.

"I love to be an igniter", he remarked.

"I love to engage people in real conversation during corporate coaching sessions on one to one basis, to ignite liberating thoughts and the inner potential of the people to open up their clenched fists and be themselves."

Whatever you are doing in life, do it for yourself first, only then you as a delightful liberated individual person would be able to make an impact on the lives of others, he advised. 

TV Journalism on the decline: RAJDEEP SARDESAI

 

The Power Coffee session at the fag end of the second day of Chandigarh Literary Society's 8^th edition of Literati turned out to be a powerful and engrossing session with Rajdeep Sardesai batting with aplomb.

He livened up the session with his memories of working as a lawyer after returning from Oxford to entry into journalism with Times of India to be the first one to declare Sachin Tendulkar as the upcoming don of Indian cricket way back in November 1988 grabbing the front page byeline with his story.

Winner of over 50 awards for journalistic excellence and Padma Shri in Journalism in 2018, his two best sellers, "2014: The Election that Changed India", and "2019: How Modi Won India", according to him, were the documentations of Indian political and democratic scenario for the posterity to understand what, how, and why of these historic events.

Both books were written to educate the readers and make politics accessible to the readers, inform them about political trends and events that unfolded, and not to make or impose any opinion, he said, since we as journalists are privileged to get access to the ringside view of the happenings as they unfold.

People did try to label me on political parameters but my 'dharma' as a journalist is to report the news and the facts, and not take any sides, since an author writes for a much larger audience and not to please the players in the events, he remarked.

He, however, lamented the fact that with over 400 tv channels in the country, the tv journalists are sharply polarized and divided just like our society, and strongly believed that TV journalism is on the decline and Sushant Singh Rajput's case sounded the death knell turning channels into a farce/'tamasha'.

The editors and owners of channels will have to raise the bar and the ethical and professional standards of journalism to plug the decline, and he believed that print media at least is protected so far in retaining its credibility, Sardesai felt.

He also referred to the fake news through social media channels impacting the lives of the people through wrong narratives which is far more dangerous since we don't have the means to counter such campaigns.

Rajdeep Sardesai offered to participate in the next Literati at Chandigarh, which, he said, is a beautiful city unlike the 'gas chamber' that we live in here in Delhi. 

Coming of Age Stories for Young Adults

IMPOSSIBLE SECRETS

Songwriter and author Anmol Malik daughter of music director Annu Malik, and another prolific writer with 17 books to her credit, travel writer, poet, Vibha Mitra, explored the softer dimensions of the Impossible Secrets: Coming of Age Stories for Young Adults' in a session moderated by RJ Mehak 98.3 Mirchi Chandigarh

 

Working with Yash Raj Films as a scriptwriter, Anmol said that love romcom but it is not all sugar and fun, it takes cares of lot of serious issues, like the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai formed the backdrop of my book, and is about love story of a Russian guy and Indian teenage girl, but is beyond a stereowriter.   I studied screenwriting at Warwick and that impacts the dynamic between your characters and therefore it is dialogue heavy since you tell their story.

 

She talked about her character, especially Arya, whose goal in life is to slip in thru the cracks and she tries to cheat the system even for passing her exams in college.

 

Studying abroad makes you much more responsible, and mature, and the lessons I personally learnt there I have put them across in this book also.  

 

Vibha, whose recent book "The Secret Life of Debbie G" said that writing for the young adults one has to be very careful especially using safe choice of words that resonate with them.

 

There is always a story in everyone back of the mind and one need to share it, said Anmol, and though I am writing regularly I do not know as yet what it would be, and Vibha plans to do a book for older readers.

 

The award-winning author and journalist with his recent bestseller, "2019: How Modi won India" Rajdeep Sardesai, the consulting editor with India Today, was another highlight of the evening session 'Power Coffee' in conversation with author Jupinderjit Singh

 

The session on 'Mystical Poetry from Tagore to Years' saw Irish poet now settled in India Emer Davis who has recently published her anthology during a pandemic, "Poetry in the Plague Year', along with Dr Reba Som, an academic, historian, writer and former director of Indian Council for Cultural Relations in conversation with Nisha Luthra.

Another evening session "Raw and Crunchy: The Supernatural Benefits of Super Foods", author and food enthusiast Lily Swarn, a power-packed panel comprising Erini Loucaides, a published Australian-Cypriot writer is a winner of Bridport Prize 2020 along with Kavita Devgan, nutritionist and author of popular 'Fix it with Food'  talked about the power of simple, wholesome, everyday foods that can provide important nutrients for optimum mental and physical health.

The last session of the day "Once Upon a Time: The Fabulous Four Met a Spyder' focused on children writing, and revolved around the latest novel "Itsy Bitsy Spyder" by Bangalore based author Apeksha, and another children's writer Rajesh Talwar whose recent fantasy "Fabulous Four Battle Zoozoo Wizard" has been published. 

Youth should imbibe habits of hardwork, compassion and pride in our culture: Sudha Murty

Simple, pure and grounded what Sudha Murty portrayed in her conversation as the second day of the Literati 2020 opened today while she conversed with motivational speaker and author Vivek Atray.

She celebrated her deep love and empathy for the people at the grassroots, especially the downtroddens and the underprivileged that she said was her only purpose in life and the source of her great satisfaction and happiness.

 

The greatest need and the most difficult thing to achieve in today's life and the human beings is the ability to understand another human being, she said.

 

The best medicine, she said, and about which she writes in one of the chapters in her latest book, "Grandparents Bag of Stories" is a really genuine affectionate and compassionate hug to an individual in need is what is required in this world.

 

Sudha Murty has been writing primarily in her local language Kannada, which according to her, could connect her to the people of that part of the country where she had grown up, learnt the cultural nuances and enjoyed rich tapestry of life, and "all my writings are for the common people and not the rich ones, because I'm so deeply connected with them even though my work in Infosys Foundation," she remarked.

 

She practically demonstrated her belief in what she talked about when the moderator Vivek Atray requested her not to say 'Vivek ji' to which she responded it is not because of your age or position I'm using this but for the deep respect that each one of must genuinely have for each other in our lives.

 

Talking about the role of women in society, she said that it would remain the only way to perpetuate the cultural richness, the values, our traditions, and customs to the next generation which is possible only if the mothers themselves learn more about and practice them.

 

She advised that the younger generation has a great future ahead of them they must imbibe highest of work ethics, learn to do hard work, and acquire new skills, be proud of your country, and engage themselves in doing community work by putting in whatever time, effort and money they can contribute, which can only make them successful and happy.

 

My happiness, she added, is not in any material acquisition but working for the people in need which keeps me joyous and nothing worries or disturbs me since I understand life is transient, she added.

 

 

Celebrated award-winning author and literary historian Dr Rakhahanda Jalil in association with Suparna Saraswati Puri explored the emerging negative parochial outbursts amongst people during the pandemic in the session on 'Through the Looking Glass', which she said, was an unfortunate situation, which resonates in her recent book published by Harper Collins, "But You Don't Look Like a Muslim".

 

She emphasized that despite the fact that India faced many historically significant upheavels that impacted the lives of people from diverse religious and cultural backgrounds starting with the partition, but we have failed to learn any lessons from them and continue to be judgmental on the basis of external representations of people.

 

She hoped that people would rise above the stereotypes and become judgmental about people which unfortunately has seen a rise on social media during the pandemic.  Though the current year taught us to live frugally and learn from the fragility of life, people have unfortunately failed to learn to be compassionate, more caring, and tolerant, fanned by misinformation and illogical campaigns on social media that corrupted the people's mind.  

 

She hoped that learning from our lessons we could rise above these narrow and limiting thought patterns and shun violence or fights based on religion.

 

 

Fasting is a validated science from vedic times to cleanse and detoxify the body

 

The session on "Train Your Mind. Train Your Body" focused on diverse thoughts on the kind of food one need to have to keep the physical body in shape and energized with two expert panelists, the scientist and psychologist  Shymal Vallabhjee, and banker turned fitness trainer Shwetambari Shetty.

 

Moderated by young Anshuman Arora who shared about how the fastfood brands were making the people addicted to sugar without anyone realizing it, Shymal explained that the reason for addiction is the amount of sugar injected even in salty food where it is not needed has led to make it addictive

 

Fasting is common advice and best for your body and is referred to every religion, and this is best way to detoxify your body and optimize your physical performance, he added.

 

If you invested in your body and understand at cellular biology level, and even hardbacked information from nutritions may not be helpful so everyone should look for more research and data on one's own, he advised.

 

Shyamal who had been working with some international players as a performance coach said that one has to take up the responsibility for one's own habits and not blame it on external sources, which makes them as champions.

 

Shetty advised conscious eating, to eat what you want to eat and enjoy that food.

 

This was followed by another interesting interaction on yoga.

 

 

YOGA as a practice of controlling your mind, body and soul through proper control of breath and even bringing about dynamic changes in the lifestyles of people and encouraging people to internal reengineering said US based political blogger and Yoga practitioner and author, Jerome Armstrong.

 

Popular TV producer of Yoga programmes and Yoga Acharya, Ira Trivedi spoke about the ancient discipline that was impacting the lives of the people.

 

Moderated by Ritu Nichani, the panelists believed that though it is being ritualized but the practice is generally impacting the mental well being of the people.

 

Jerome felt that instead of making it much more like a show, it has to make one go into the inner being and as a spiritual practice. 

 

Jereome suggested to do yoga in the morning when the sun rise and practice asanas on empty stomach and doing it regularly.   Ira Trivedi's advice was to practice in morning as the best cycle for human body when entire metabolic system starts working better. Since most people have different energy levels and they can conduct themselves better in the evening, they can practice it around sunset between 4pm and 6pm, though one can practice it at anytime too. 

Write about things that you know the best: Navtej Sarna

Write about the things that you know the best was the advice from the career diplomat and celebrated author Navtej Sarna in the session on 'Tracing Footsteps" with Cauvery Madhavan as his copanelist.

Moderated by Col Ashvin Sharma, Navtej Sarna and Cauvery shared their travels, experiences, and life's learnings in the session.

Recalling his encounter as a young man in a book launch with veteran writer Mulk Raj Anand whom he asked for advice to write, who told him to write about himself.  If you can't write about yourself how would you write about others, Mulk Raj Anand had advised him.

Cauvery who lives in Ireland and is the author of 'Tainted' and many other books said that reading anything and everything is essential who wants to get into writing, and in so far as the subjects are concerned they are all around us.

Navtej Sarna shared the research and the work that went into writing about Maharaja Ranjit Singh's son Dalip Singh in his heart-wrenching book 'The Exile" which has been fictionalized in so far as the narrative is concerned to bring in the emotional and psychological aspect of Dalip's life, but dates, and other facts are real and even conversation is based on the letters that he wrote.

He informed that he is working on his next book which is another historical fiction around the time when Jallianwala Bagh massacre happenedbut there were other social cultural changes happening in Punjab that form the backdrop of the novel.

Cauvery talked about 'Tainted' the fictionalized story of the Irish soldiers in her book, who were in Punjab a hundred year back and who rose in mutiny against the British at that time, and the aftermath of the Irish nationals left behind.

The Indian version would be released next month or so in India, she informed.

Session on 'Pain and Pride' focused on the political and socio-economic sitatuion in Punjab including the riots of 84 which continue to form the backdrop of writings of Bangalore based author Amandeep Sandhu and another author and US based podcaster Sarbpreet Singh and bringing out the turmoil of the generation that went through some trying times, including farmer suicides, drug abuse, casteism, and social injustice.

"To be Likeable and to be Happy" focused on the younger generation and their extensive engagement with social media.  Jyotnsa Mohan Bhargava author of her debut book, "Stoned, Shamed, Depressed- An Explosive Account of the Secret Lives of India's Urban Teens", joined from Dubai, along with tv producer, author, creative director from Mumbai, Naomi Dutta, moderated by motivational speaker and author Vivek Atray.

Jyotna lamented the distressing situation of social media dictating the lives of the younger generations lives, leaving them confused and for them right or wrong is irrelevant since they want to be socially acceptable and be seen as successful whether it is any competition or getting through the class. Each one of them are fighting for identity amongst their peers.

Naomi Datta said with tongue in cheek remark said that 2020 is the perfect year to be a 'potato', which her book is all about and said, people are seeking validation from others in this 'weird bubble' that people are creating around themselves.

The panelists regretted that the millenia is missing out the realities of life, and are least concerned about the right or the wrong way of doing things except that they are focused on getting results by hook or crook. 

India should grow by Day: Gurcharan Das

The first day of the digital edition of Literati 2020 organised by Chandigarh Literary Society (CLS) in association with HAREDA and Ireland as the country partner was kicked off on two digital platforms of Facebook and YouTube.

Dr Sumita Misra, IAS, CLS Chairperson in her opening remarks said that the digital platform has made Literati truly international with authors from across the globe participating making it a brilliant cross-cultural literary exchange.

Earlier the Ambassador of Ireland to India Mr Brendan Ward in his video remarks said that Ireland was proud to be a part of CLS Literati  especially because of the association his country shares with Punjab where the hundred year old stories of Irish rebellion have been fantasied.

Gurcharan Das, the prolific writer in conversation with Manraj Grewal, fondly remembered his beautiful memories of the city where he stayed in his earlier years, shared his journey of writing and the current foray into autobiographical work, 'Moksha' which, according to him, is the most joyous experience of reliving the life again by remembering some of the best moments of his life.

Taking the cue from the question from Manraj Grewal regarding his idea of India, as he explained in his book on 'India Grows at Night' , he said that there is a dire need for India now to grow by day, which requires extensive reformation on the part of the State and the institutional framework of executive, bureaucracy and judiciary.

India is still coming up but fortunately, the growth is bottoms up unlike China's upward down, which is a good sign for the country to evolve more

The major problem with India, he reiterated, was corruption that also made him write "Difficulty of Being Good" which talked about moral and ethical issues in our days to days life, which, he said, emanates from the perennial conflict between 'kama', the desire, and 'dharma'.

These two conflicting aspects of the human psyche is so natural, but one need to understand that 'kama' is all about one's own duties and responsibilities, while 'dharma' teaches you to think about others.   

Problem was corruption in India and so I went to Mahabharta and that gave me the idea for "Difficulty of Being Good" which provided the basis for moral and ethical issues.

Talking about his upcoming work 'Moksha' Gurcharan Das said that he was learning and rediscovering himself, by relieving the moments from his own life and reflections from his own personal experiences, besides learning more about ego and how one can rise above it.

He also referred to the growing social polarization in the society which according to him, emerges from another significant aspect of language, i.e. of the people who know English and who do not.

Sharing tips for the writers, Gurcharan Das advised budding writers to make writing a habit and a discipline and keep writing every day, and continue to live life lightly, not as a feather, but as a bird.