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

India has finally ban smoking at public places. The Indian initiative comes soon after one of the richest men in the world and a former Mayor of New York city came together in a laudable initiative to help anti-smoking campaigns in the world, especially in the developing countries which are being aggressively courted by tobacco companies. Please click here to read more.

Tobacco consumption is on the rise in India and China and they are both in the focus of this initiative. Incidentally, following aggressive anti-tobacco campaigns, as well as increasing awareness about the ill-effects of smoking on the health of the society and individuals that comprise it, tobacco consumption is on the decline in the USA and in some other high-income countries.

Please click here to read more.

Chandigarh is definitely growing in terms of bookstores! A new one came to the city in the form of Books & Beyond, and a short while ago the Oxford Bookstore debuted in the city.
I had seen cartons of books at the DLF City Centre in IT Park, when Jaspreet, Shaan and I had gone to see a movie a few weeks ago, and thought that I would check out the store when it opened.
Imagine how pleasantly surprised I was when Suparn Vaidik, Senior Manager, Merchandising and his colleague Shriniwas, came home to invite me to inaugurate that very store on August 12.
This is the sixth outlet of the book chain run by Spencer Retail, the retail arm of the RPG group. It is a very swank place that stocks 35,000 books, as well as magazines, toys, stationery, gift items, music and accessories.
K Dasaratharaman, president (Specialty Retail), conducted me around and it was delightful to interact with him. We discussed books, translations, literature in Indian languages, as well as the reading tastes of various segments of society, and how they vary at various locations. His colleague, Moitreyee’s love of books and her involvement with literature also sparked off an interesting discussion.
Book & Beyond and Music World stores are run by the same company, and are often sharing the same space now, which makes for an interesting juxtaposition that is being increasingly adopted worldwide. As I walked around the store, I also came across some familiar faces, wearing new uniforms.
The venerable English Book Store and Capital Book Depot, located at two opposite ends of Sector 17, are among the oldest bookstores in the city, dating back to practically the time when it was developed. Rajiv and Ajay respectively have their own loyal clientele and occupy an important space in the mindscape of book-reading city dwellers.
Some years ago, Pankaj Singh, a young book lover, opened The Browser, which claims to be India’s first integrated library and bookstore. It also has an online presence . You can buy, borrow or browse through books and DVDs — in English, Hindi and Punjabi at the store located in Sector 9, where more often than not you also run into the charming Deep, Pankaj’s wife.
Punjab Book Centre has long been serving the city under the stewardship of Ajit Pal. This store, with a decidedly leftist leaning, has a great stock of popular books in English and an extensive collection of Punjabi books.
The Panjab University campus has Lyall Book Depot and Atma Ram & Sons and there are many other bookstores as well—book reading culture in Chandigarh is alive and truly kicking.

Caption for the photograph given above. Lighting the lamp at Books & Beyond, shortly after the inauguration. At the extreme left of the picture is K Dasaratharaman, President (Specialty Retail), RPG group.

A new book, A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12^th Century, by Upinder Singh, was released on August 5, at Delhi, and it was my proud privilege to be there for the occasion. This is a very well-written book which is equally well produced, with many visuals that aid the text in bring alive history is a way that is refreshingly different from what one has read so far.

Please click here to read more.

Punjabi University Patiala has always had a very special place in our family’s collective life. Giani Gurdit Singh ji, my father, played a significant role in its creation, Mrs. Inderjit Kaur, my mother became its third Vice-Chancellor, and we grew up on campus while she was Vice-Chancellor.

An invitation from the Department of Journalism to talk to the students about Cyber Journalism: Concept and Scope was a good reason to make the trip to Patiala from Chandigarh. Accompanying me was my brother, Ravinder Singh.

The students of Punjabi University are a bright lot, and thanks to Profs Walia and Mann, we had a healthy interactive session. Lunch was at an old friend’s house. Balraj Singh Ghuman is the grand son of General Raja Gurdit Singh, a legendary Prime Minister of Patiala State.

I also took some photographs of Yadavindra Public School, which was such an important part of our lives as children.

While we were in school, we walked out of this corridor

We were just like these children practicing on the grounds of the school

Please click on the respective links to see photographs of the

Guru Gobind Singh Bhavan, which had such stalwarts as Prof Harbans Singh, the editor of Encyclopedia of Sikhism and Dr L M Joshi of the Department of Buddhism, the Vice-Chancellor’s office, where our mother worked….All in all, a fun time and a great trip down memory lane, coupled with a good interaction with active, bright young minds.

On Sunday, February 24, we released a book Giani Gurdit Singh 1923-2007 at the Punjab Kala Bhavan in Chandigarh. Sardar Tarlochan Singh, Member, Rajya Sabha, and former Chairman of the Minorities Commission, released the book in front of an audience that comprised friends, family and fans of Gianiji.

Please click here to read more about the book release.

Much more information is available at Giani Gurdit Singh ji’s website.

Power point presentations are ubiquitous these days and it was interesting to be present at the Techonbyte2008, an Inter-School Power Point Competition of schools in Chandigarh, SAS Nagar and Panchkula.

The competition was held at the Ajit Karam Singh International Public School (AKSIPS) Sector 41, Chandigarh on January 29, 2008. The topics discussed by students of classes VIII and IX were “Hazards of Smoking” and “Importance of Trees”.

It was a tough task for Mr. J. D. Ghai, Chairman-cum-CEO of SantaBanta.com and Mr. Baljit Singh, CEO of VIA, the two judges since many of the presentations were very well made, indeed.

I particularly liked the confidence with which the students made their presentations, thought I was not too enamoured of the kind of free-for-all borrowing that I saw of material picked up from the Net.

As the Chief Guest, I spoke on the importance of attribution and how it is imperative that copyright laws be kept in mind, a point stressed by Mr J D Ghai who also spoke of the need for learning to make better Power Point presentations.

This was also an occasion for us to meet Mr. Jasdeep Kalra, Executive Director of AKSIP group of schools, the well-known educationist Mrs Karam Singh and Mrs. Jagjit Sekhon, the Principal.

Later I gave away the prizes to the students of the following schools:

1st Prize: Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan, Sector 27, Chandigarh

2nd Prize: Lawrence Public School, Mohali

3rd Prize: Shishu Niketan Model Sr. Sec. School, Chandigarh

Consolation Prize: Shemrock Sr. Sec. School, Mohali

I can really never get enough of interaction with students—I learn so much from them.

January 26, celebrated as Republic Day all over the nation, has a very personal significance for me, and it became more so this year because among the eminent persons honoured by the nation was Prof B N Goswamy, who I have had the privilege of knowing well for many years now.

I normally associated Doctor Sahib, as I call him, with the other national holiday that marks his birthday. Padma Bhushan Brijinder Nath Goswamy traces his roots to the holy city of Amritsar and he has made Chandigarh his home. Padma Bhushan is an honour that he richly deserves, one many expected that he would get sooner.

I am posting an article that I wrote on Prof Goswamy in 2004, when we were celebrating his 70th birthday, to give you more information about him and his work.
January 26, is also a cause of celebration because it also marks the birthday of two dear friends, Nitya and Aradhika, both remarkable women in their own right. This is the time of the year to celebrate their many accomplishments and wish them all the very best for many birthdays to come.

Turbans are a matter of pride and honour for the Sikhs. Sikhs all over the world wear turbans as articles of faith and there is no major city in the world where you will not spot a turban in a crowd.

However, in France, Sikh school children are not allowed to wear a turban and attend school. They are being discriminated against.

The President of France will be the Chief Guest at the Republic Day festivities. This is an occasion to remind him and the world of this injustice that turban-wearing Sikh children have to face in the Republic of France.

My article on this issue has been published in The Tribune today on the OpEd page. Please click here to read it: