With the death of Ram Narayan Kumar in Kathmandu  on June 28, I lost a friend whose work inspired me. Many Punjabis also feel the same, because of the tireless manner in which he fought for human rights in the state, and outside it in India and abroad.

Ram Narayan Kumar (1956-2009)

I first met Ram in the 1980s because of my friend Nitya, who continued her association with Ram and his causes till the very end, often taking up the legal aspects of much of his work.

The book, Reduced to Ashes: The Insurgency and Human Rights in Punjab, written by Ram Narayan Kumar with Amrik Singh, Ashok Agrwaal and Jaskaran Kaur, is a one-of-a-kind documentation of those who had disappeared in Punjab during the 1980s.

Please click here to read a review of the book titled They did what CBI could not by A J Philip, former Senior Associate Editor of The Tribune.

Ram, Ashok, Nitya and others took many risks to get to the truth, and it was their dogged, focused quest that has brought some justice to the victims of Punjab Police atrocities through the National Human Rights Commission.

My association with Ram and his work continued over years, and every time he visited Chandigarh, we met, often over a meal. Last year, in April, Ram was kind enough to ask me to join him and speak at the release of his book Terror in Punjab: Narratives, Knowledge and Truth, where I also met Harsh Mander, a former civil servant dedicated to the cause of justice in Gujarat and Prof Abdulrahim P. Vijapur from Aligarh Muslim University.
I wrote about Ram in Punjabi, since it is the mother tongue of the people who really benefited from his work . Please click here to read my article, which was published on July 3, 2009, in the Punjabi Tribune. Its a PDF file.

For the English readers, I recommend Harsh’s article, An epic life, which was published in The Hindu on July 19, 2009.

Radio and TV in India have both made tremendous gains ever since they were freed from government monopoly. With freedom has come abandon, which is at times becomes recklessness. In this avatar, these programmes are young, manned by young people, for the young. Private FM radio programmes use language loosely and cater to the baser instinct in their audiences. Recent events triggered off an article. Please click here to read it.

A vast majority of school students in India did not get above 80 per cent marks. This fact gets lost in the celebrations of the 95+ percenters, who, in spite of scoring so well in their final examinations, still have to search for the right colleges to do their degree or professional courses. There is a shortage of “good” colleges and thus it is inevitable that many of the students will not be able to get admissions to their dream institutions, and will have to make compromises.

We have to realise that for Class XII, a total of 6,27,022 students appeared in the examination conduced by the CBSE and 52,552 students for the exam conducted by the Council for Indian School Certificate Examination.

Out of these almost seven lakh students, many do not get the kind of marks that would gain them admission to colleges that matter, but do they need to go to college at all, must they compete for academic degrees even if their aptitude lies elsewhere?

The World Bank is right when it says: “Education is one of the most powerful instruments for reducing poverty and inequality. Education is equally key to enhance India’s competitiveness in the global economy. Therefore, ensuring access to quality education for all, in particular for the poor and rural population, is central to the economic and social development of India.”

Not all students are suitable for degree education. Once we face this reality, much of the pain and privation that students undergo at the admission stage can be tackled. We must realise that degree colleges are not an end in itself, but rather, ways of finding gainful employment and building careers.

There is a tremendous shortage of skilled persons in India, and in order to meet the demand, there is a crying need for institutions that would impart proper training and thus equip the students with the skill sets that would enable them to get good jobs.

In developed countries, only some of high school graduates get college degrees and a few go to universities for further education. Most of the students make a conscious choice, based on their aptitude and career plans, and take an education path that fulfils their needs and plans.

According to an official US government report, 67 per cent of 1997 high school graduates were enrolled in colleges or universities. This proportion has risen by 5 per cent, after remaining steady from 1992 to 1995 at about 62 per cent.

In the US, college fees are generally high, and parents play only a limited role in financing the education of their children. It, therefore, comes as no surprise that most of the students are “labour force participants”, i.e. they are either working while they are studying or looking for work to help finance their college education.

How many students in India can say that? Most Indian students depend on their parents’ financial assistance as they attend colleges, looking for degrees, and then start looking for work.

In fact, the government has long recognised that all high school graduates do not need to have higher academic education. The concept of vocational education and training, through which students are prepared for jobs, is based on manual or practical activities. Vocational courses are related to a specific trade.

The government has vocational education programmes in place but, according to a World Bank report, “more vocational education is required to adequately prepare youth for current jobs.” For this what is needed is an expansion of vocational education, setting common standards for training and defining goals that ensure learning in fields where there is demand for jobs and ensuring accountability and good use of resources.

Traditional avenues of jobs are closing down and no longer can the public sector be considered a job provider. Also, the number of workers engaged in agriculture has been decreasing, as a result of which many young people from rural areas need to look for jobs in other sectors. The way to the nation’s progress is through maximising the competitive advantage by having a large number of skilled workers.

Recognising the vast need for such workers, the government has been making efforts to steer students towards vocational courses. Lip service has been available in plenty, but a little else. Practically speaking, people want education to get jobs and the courses available to such students must be geared towards the needs of the market. Unfortunately, they are not. Most of the government institutions offer courses that are out of sync with the aspirations of young students and the skill sets needed by the employers.

India has a tremendous advantage demographically because of a large number of young people. But the nation seems ill equipped to provide them with the skills that would enable them to compete in an increasingly globalised economy. In fact, we do not even have proper information about the skill deficit, and only 5 per cent of the labour force has vocational training. In industrialised nations, this figure is 60 per cent to as high as 80 per cent. Even developing countries like Mexico provide vocational training to 28 per cent of their population.

Every year, we export tens of thousands of students to various nations and a vast majority of them undergo courses that offer vocational training. They spend lakhs and the main reason for going abroad is that they hope to get good jobs. Many of these students do the “menial work” which they would refuse to do in India. This is a mindset problem, but it can be addressed if proper infrastructure is provided to the technical training institutes, and the students given the skill sets that would get them good jobs, or allow them to work as entrepreneurs in their own right. While soft skills like knowing the language, tourism-related work and computer training have their own place, we should not forget the vast need for blue-collar workers and skilled technical workers like electricians, plumbers, etc.

The proposal of creating a National Vocational Qualification Framework and increasing the number of vocations to be offered to students to 4,000 is, indeed, ambitious and much needed. It should be translated into reality as soon as possible. As a start, facilities at various institutions that provide vocational education should be upgraded to impart the skills necessary for workers of tomorrow.

Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh, DFC, my biography the living icon, has been reviewed by Dr I J Singh for a prominent Canadian-run website called SikhChic.com.

The reviewer, Dr. I. J. Singh, is Professor and Coordinator, Anatomical Sciences, New York University, NY, USA. He is also the author of four books on Sikhism and a prominent voice in the Sikh Diaspora internationally. He had originally penned a review that was published in 2002 in the Calcutta based Sikh Review.
A different readership, and recent events, including the Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh, DFC brought the man and his life into prominence again, and Dr I J Singh’s decided to post a revised review for Sikhchic.com.
Please click here to read the review at the SikhChic.com  website.

The imposing four storeyed Rashtrapati Bhavan has 340 rooms, but on this day in 2002, all eyes were fixed on the Ashoka Hall. It was originally built as the State Balroom and the assembled guests walked on the polished wooden floor. Many glanced at the ceiling with a painting in the leather that depicted a royal hunting expedition in the centre and scenes from court life in the corners. It is a dark painting, and because of leather being the canvas, even the white has become brownish. The Persian-style paining was commissioned by Lady Willington when her husband was the Viceroy of India.
Those seated under this imposing canopy included Vice-President Krishan Kant, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Home Minister L.K. Advani, Defence Minister George Fernandes, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, Air Chief Marshal Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy and a large number of retired and service military officers.
The PBG buglers sounded the fanfare from the central vestibules. Everybody in the Ashoka Hall stood up. The President of India, Kocheril Raman Narayan, was escorted to the room by his aides-de-camp, dressed in the finery of their office. The band then played the National Anthem. The hall has seen many glittering events, but none as this one. On this day, the first-ever Marshal of the Indian Air Force was to be presented his baton by the President of India.
Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh, DFC, had been named for this rarest of rare honours on January 26. This was the investiture ceremony for him and it meant a lot to everybody present, even though it had taken a while for it to happen.
A tall, handsome Sardar, sporting a milky white beard, wearing an Air Force uniform with five stars on the lapel, medals gleaming on his chest, marched up to the President with a sure stride. He belied his years and stood straight before the Supreme Commander of the Indian armed forces.
In a departure from the customary investiture ceremony protocol, but in keeping with the importance of the occasion, the Defence Secretary, Mr Yogendra Narain, read the citation that concluded thus:
“His inspiring career, towering personality and distinguished reputation have endowed him with a unique stature in society and have earned him the respect of the nation. Even till date, he actively associates himself with various welfare activities of the Air Force as a father figure of the service, which he nurtured from its fledgling days.

“For his most outstanding and extraordinary service the nation the President of India is pleased to confer upon Air Chief Marshal Arjan Singh the rank of Marshal of the Indian Air Force.”

The President acknowledged the salute of the veteran warrior. The baton was brought up on a velvet cushion. It was a magnificent creation that took the blue from the sky and had the glitter of gold gliding. The President handed the baton to Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh, DFC, who saluted him again.
The Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh, DFC, turned 90 on Wednesday, April 15, 2009. The nation salutes its only living 5-star general, whose dignity, philanthropy and upright moral conduct make him an exemplar.

Good politician is not an oxymoron, though many Indians, indeed most of the world, treats what our political leaders say with a pinch of salt. Much has been written about Captain Kanwaljit Singh, who died in a car accident recently. He was a gentleman who rose above being a mere politician and the outpouring of grief and respect that he received after his death reflects well on someone who has spent a lifetime in public service.
The ninth death anniversary of Jasdev Singh Sandhu is an occasion to remember a multifaceted man who was a political leader of yore, and an old family friend. One of Giani Kartar Singh’s most able lieutenants, Jasdev Singh Sandhu held various positions. A well-read man, he was a storehouse of information and I benefited many a time from the information that he carried in his head. His son, TPS Sandhu and daughter-in-law, Anoopinder Kaur Sandhu, run educational institutions named after him. Please click here to read an article that I wrote about that gentleman politician.

Rahi accepted the challenge and though time and space separates these two travellers (musafir and rahi both mean ‘traveller’) the empathy that Rahi had for his subject comes through forcefully.

When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh unveiled this portrait in Parliament, along with those of other prominent Indians on December 22 became the occasion to remember Giani Gurmukh Singh Musafir. Please click here to read more.

Art is not about beauty, it is all about expression, and what really matters is the freshness of the expression.
Raghu Rai is a legend, albeit a humble human being who engages those fortunate enough to meet him at many levels. When I learnt that he was to conduct a workshop in Chandigarh, I thought that I would certainly take benefit of the opportunity.
“Roopinder, What are you doing here,” he asked when he saw me among the photographers?
“I am here to learn,” was the reply.
What an experience it was to interact with one of the best photographers in the world! In fact, so impressed was I that for his lecture at the end of the workshops, I took my mother, Sardarni Inderjit Kaur, and family, Jaspreet and Shaan, to listen to what the master had to say. I also alerted many friends, and those who came had to find standing room in the aisles of the Government Museum and Art Gallery auditorium.
It was a mesmerising talk, and we all have to acknowledge the initiative of city-based photographer Diwan Manna, chairman of Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi, a friend of Raghu, who brought him to us. When a bouquet of flowers was presented to him, the famous photographer walked up to where my mother was seated and presented the bouquet to her. At the end of the talk, she spoke about the lecture and its impact on her, and Raghu simply replied that he felt a Mother’s love in her words.
The experience of learning from a master was fabulous, but the need was for it to reach a wider audience, and this is where The Tribune came in. The article An image is more than a pretty picture was published in Spectrum and through it, a sense of what transpired in the interaction was communicated to a few hundred thousand readers, some of who called to discuss it. Please click here to read the article.

You may also like to read an earlier article titled Beyond a moment in time, that I wrote in March 2008 after the National Gallery of Modern Art for the first time marked the retrospective of a photographer with an exhibition titled A Journey of a Moment in Time: Raghu Rai which had of his 185 photographs. 

Prof Pritam Singh was one of the last major Punjabi scholars of his generation, and we lost him when he passed away at his residence in Patiala on October 25, 2008.

He knew both my parents well, and since many years, we interacted with each other on various occasions.

Please click here to read my obituary on Professor Sahib, which was published on the Editorial page of The Tribune

Time magazine named Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal as one of the “Heroes of the Environment 2008”. The President of India honoured him recently, Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam visited the site of his work and expressed his appreciation….
Meeting this activist 46-year-old sant, is an invigorating, empowering experience. The honesty of purpose is evident and it soon cuts through the inevitable skepticism that is a part of journalism.

I met Sant Seechewal a few days ago, and earlier at the function held by Dr Rajwant Singh to mark “Excellence among Sikhs” where, along with others, Sant Seechewal was honoured.

Please click here to read more about this remarkable man who cleaned up Kali Bein, a rivulet in which Guru Nanak Dev attained enlightenment.

Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal and Roopinder SinghFrom Website