Life after 60

So does life end after retirement? Not necessarily. Even in the old age homes, senior citizens have found a sense of purpose and meaning. Here is a report.

Self Employed

Slum dwellers who work as craftsmen.

Delhi is of the oldest and continually inhabited cities in the world. It has grown to be cosmopolitan city owing to the immigration of people from across the country. Slums are always seen as a negative thing in the way of Delhi’s development.

Most of the slum dwellers work either as labourers or as rickshaw pullers. But the slum dwellers near Kalkaji are different from others. These people live in a strecth of few meters, and these few metres are their home and work place as well.

The place where they live is world for them. They sleep there, eat there, bath there, work there and finally earn their meal the same place.

1.Dreams for the future- A new life born in the Slum itself.

2. Learning the art-Children in the slum start learning the art of making Idols from their Childhood.

3. What's in the eyes- Children sharing the light moments.

4. The clayful hands that make the God- Clay being mixed, the first step of making the Idols.

5. Finishing touch- Working on the Idol to give it the last shine.

6. Blessed by the God- Feeling happy after seeing the several days hardwork coming out so beautifully.

7. Speaking eyes- Watching the busy road and relaxing after whole days’ hardwork.

8.Reflective beauty- The girl at the slum is getting ready before going out.

9.Smackdown- Some men at the slum relax themselves by taking drugs and smoking.

10.Lighting the houses- Finally at the night, winding up the work and preparing to have dinner.

Dying Monuments

Archaeological Survey of India is celebrating the world heritage week. With this ASI wants to involve people in its effort to save the monuments. Here is the report...

Go Green the Authorised Way

By: Sheeba Naaz, Nazia Jafri and Neha Sethi

Mohammad Salamuddin, a taxi driver who drives an Omni car, which runs on CNG says he is saving a lot of money on fuel now। “CNG is a lot better than petrol। It costs me around Rs 200 to drive around Delhi from morning till evening,” he says.

But talk to him about the latest Wagon R accident where the car, which was fitted with CNG, went up in flames and he has his own explanation. “The car went up in flames because of impact of collision, and not because of CNG. And moreover, I got the CNG kit fitted from the company itself, so it’s safe.”

Salamuddin is one of the few who know that it is important to get a CNG kit fitted in car from an authorised centre. Manjot Singh, a technician with Texla Gas Engineers, an authorised centre in Guru Nanak Nagar says most of the people running their cars on CNG face a problem because they don’t get their kits fitted from authorised centres approved by the government. “The government has around 110 authorised centres in Delhi, which have their special RFC codes. The customers should go only to these centres to get their kits fitted.” he adds.

Seeing the recent rush for CNG in cars, many companies like Hyundai have started having pre-fitted CNG kits in some of their models. Dr S K Sharma, Executive Director, Deep Hyundai, Mangolpuri, says, “We have an option of CNG in our Santro and Accent cars. It costs around Rs 60,000 more to buy a car fitted with CNG. But even if a customer is getting CNG kit fitted after buying the car from the showroom, they should make sure that the centre gives you a cash memo. You can then attach the cash memo to your car’s RC and send it to the Transport Authority. Then, a new RC is made, which makes your CNG usage legal.”

Then there are other companies like Maruti Suzuki who have come out with dual mechanism cars, which can run on petrol as well as LPG. V B Mittal, General Manager, Marketing Times, Maruti Suzuki says, “LPG is safer than CNG. The LPG cars that we sell have sensors. As soon as the sensor feels that the car is headed for a collision, the LPG connection is automatically cut off from the car to prevent any untoward incident.”

But the technicians say that LPG and CNG leak may not be the only problem because of which cars catch fire. “The other wire connections of the car might also be responsible for electrical shot circuits. If the wiring of the stereo system is loose or not proper, then it can also be dangerous.” says Manjot.

Entertaining Tibet

With the mention of the word Tibet, all we think about is the political turmoil.This time also it is a political story but not in the form of dharnas n demonstrations. Movies and popular music are new ways to vent out their pent up feelings.

Will single screen theatres be able to survive in Delhi?

Are Single screen theatres in Delhi, loosing their charm with the increasing multiplex culture? The closure of the famous Chankya cinema raises such questions. Are multiplexes becoming more famous amongst the masses. The report tries to find out the answer...

Delhi’s student community demands judicial enquiry in Jamia encounter

Encounter is not an option to tackle with problem of extremism in a civilized society, feel the organisers of Shanti (peace) march held on October 4, 2008 by Sadbhav Mission, a NGO.

Organised in collaboration with Nishant Natya Manch, another NGO, the march started from Lal Quila (Red Fort) at eight in the morning. The participants included 300 students and teachers from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi University (DU) and Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI). Before culminating at Jamia Nagar for a solidarity meeting, the group traveled via ITO, Pragati Maidan, Mathura Road, Ashram and New Friends Colony.

Demanding a judicial enquiry on the Jamia encounter, the participants felt that certain religious communities are defamed. “We want judicial enquiry on the Jamia encounter. Unless the person is proved guilty, he should be provided legal aid,” said Vipin Tripathi, professor at physics department, IIT Delhi and the president of Sadbhav Mission.

Speaking on the fear psychosis created among the minority religious communities, he said, “There is a lot of fear among minorities. We want to change the perception against particular communities in India. We want people to speak out; an entire community can’t be terrorists. We want to break this myth. Innocent people should not become the target.”

Sukhdeep Kaur is a Ph D student and a core member of Sadbhav Group. She feels terrorist do not belong to one particular community. “This issue is the problem of the entire society, not just Hindus or Muslim. I am in this march because I want to spread harmony.”

Another participant, Anmol Ratan is a student of Masters from Delhi University. “When a Christian Nun is raped by Hindu fanatics, he is termed as a fundamentalist. When a Muslim is involved in any criminal activities, he is called a terrorist! This is hypocrisy of worst form,” he laments.

When asked why does a community get branded as terrorist? Anuj Agarwal, sub inspector, IP estate said, “We do not want to stereotype. Coincidently most of the culprits are Muslims. May be that is the reason why many think that way.”

Speaking on the recent encounter at Jamia Nagar, he said, “If we had not killed Atif Ameen, there could have been more bomb blasts. In fact there has been one encounter in the area before.” When pointed out that the victims of the previous encounter were proven innocent, Agarwal did not have a reply. He added, “If public wants a judicial probe, we don’t have any problem.”

As questions continue to be raised on the Jamia encounter by various sections of the society, the police and government still have a lot to answer.