-
A Wet Day in Edinburgh
Read more here: A Wet Day in EdinburghThe Tribune | September 9, 1980 The Edinburgh Festival held in September every year is famous the world over. Tourists come from all over Europe, and the town is given over to art exhibitions, film shows, musical evenings, and sports contests. The highlight is the military tattoo which is staged outside the portals of the…
-
In a haven of peace
Read more here: In a haven of peaceThe Tribune, Chandigarh | September 1, 1980 With my morning newspaper these days full of gory details of murder, stabbing and arson, I find some cheer in the remembrance of an incident long past. Some years back I went on a tour from Delhi to the Andamans. I had heard much of their green forests,…
-
The Real Punjab Mail
Read more here: The Real Punjab MailThe Tribune | July 18, 1980 The Orient Express was made famous by Agatha Christie. In the days of the raj the most romantic train on the subcontinent was the Frontier Mail which ran from Bombay to Punjab and the Khyber Pass. Men like John Masters have described the fascinating journey by this train, full…
-
The supermen who failed – Last of the Burra Sahibs
Read more here: The supermen who failed – Last of the Burra SahibsThe Hindustan Times Magazine | July 13, 1980 The qualities claimed for the former Indian Civil Service – the rule of law, a sense of justice and fair play, sympathy for the underdog, love for the countryside and pursuit of scholarship – were more British than Indian. No wonder, after Independence, the Brown Burra Sahibs…
-
Empty Houses And Lonely Couples
Read more here: Empty Houses And Lonely CouplesThe Sunday Tribune, Chandigarh | July 6, 1980 We were sitting in a group with the conversation drifting from one thing to the other. The bank manager casually mentioned his doctor son, now settled in the U.S.A. “My other two sons have followed him”, he said with a tinge of sadness. “Once gone they never…
-
Grey Beards, Green Hedges
Read more here: Grey Beards, Green HedgesThe Sunday Tribune | June 8, 1980 We were sipping iced nimboo-pani with some friends. The conversation was about life at Chandigarh. “What is there to do in this dull city?” exploded the husband in virile Punjabi, “All you get here are serving or retired bureaucrats, and a duller lot would be hard to find.…
-
A rare get-together
Read more here: A rare get-togetherThe Tribune | April 18, 1980 Possibly the most exclusive Indian club is a worldwide group of Punjabis. Since Punjabis are spread over the far corners of the globe, the membership perforce has to be an international one. Of course, it is another matter that when the members, like good Americans, decide to exchange visiting…
-
Punjabi films: hope on the horizon
Read more here: Punjabi films: hope on the horizonThe Tribune | April 15, 1980 The Punjabi film industry will today receive formal recognition when the State Governor Mr Jaisukhlal Hathi, gives away the first ever State awards. The selections were made by a jury headed by Dr M.S. Randhawa. According to the jury, although State awards could only be given to Punjabi language…
-
Captains of the sea
Read more here: Captains of the seaThe Tribune | April 10, 1980 Punjab is a dusty plain a thousand miles from the sea. The only water it knows of are the five sluggish meandering rivers that sustain its people. Even these are valued only for their irrigation potential. The Punjabi does not sport with them as do the Europeans with their…
-
Remembering Bhagat Singh
Read more here: Remembering Bhagat SinghThe Tribune, Chandigarh | March 22, 1980 On a mild September day in 1971 I motored to a small fishing village on the east coast of England. I was in search of Shiv Singh Johal, a friend of Udham Singh, who was said to have in his possession Udham Singh’s last letters from jail. I…
-
Scientist Emeritus
Read more here: Scientist EmeritusThe Tribune | December 28, 1979 I knew Mr Lal Singh Kang many years ago as my Sub Divisional Magistrate in Jullundur. A tall, grave-faced and mild-mannered man, he attended diligently to his duties as a revenue officer. He was always a picture of dignity. I was, therefore, surprised to see in a recent issue…
-
The lure of mountains
Read more here: The lure of mountainsFor The Tribune, Chandigarh | December 8, 1979 INDIAN MOUNTAINEER SPRING NUMBER, 1979. Indian Mountaineering Foundation. Pp 135. Rs 6. The Himalayas are nature’s greatest gift to the subcontinent. Indians in the past, apart from a limited amount of pilgrimage travel, largely ignored them. It was the Europeans, particularly the British, who went out to…
-
Musings on the Match
Read more here: Musings on the MatchThe Sunday Tribune, Chandigarh | December 2, 1979 AMRITSAR, Dec 1 – The cancellation of play on the first day was a big disappointment. A huge crowd had gathered and a large number of tickets were sold at the gate even though there was little chance of play. But Amritsar has a long tradition of…
-
Chandigarh’s Hyde Park
Read more here: Chandigarh’s Hyde ParkThe Tribune | November 26, 1979 He stands defiantly on the traffic island leading to the Punjab Secretariat. He wears a yellow turban and a military great coat, over which he carries a sword. A steel chakra in his hand, a distant and aloof look in his eyes, he occasionally walks with a proud and…
-
A step towards cultural revival
Read more here: A step towards cultural revivalThe Tribune | November 12, 1979 Mr Parkash Singh Badal will today lay the foundation stone of the Punjab Arts Council building near the Rose Garden in Chandigarh. This will be an important step in the cultural revival of the State. Ever since 1966, when the miracle wheat seeds came to Punjab, we have all…
