The National Capital Region

The national capital region is essentially the outgrown version of Delhi. Delhi was a predominantly muslim city before 1947. The influx of refugees from Punjab and Bengal changed its demography beyond recognition. The New Delhi designed by the British also changed as the white skinned Sahibs left the country.

The local population in the countryside villages around Delhi has always remained confused as the city changed faster than anyone could dream. Their natural lifestyle could never blend well with the ever changing styles of the city.

The Muslim population got reduced to minority. The new generation of the Punjabis mixed their mother tongues with Hindi in such a way that it created a kind of new dialect typical of Delhi. Trade and industry have been bringing people from all parts of the country. Also, quite often, the retired people from the armed forces, government and private organisations make it their new home.

What remains unique about the capital is that none of the various types of people claim themself to be true Delhi-wallas. Not even the Gujjars or any other tribe that has been living here for centuries.

Death knell for the newspapers

The newspapers of Punjab have begun to hear their death knell. With the advent of the smart phones very few people buy newspapers. The English newspapers in particular are vanishing into the thin air very fast. The reason being that a person who can read English does not need a newspaper. All he needs is an internet connection to know the latest happenings around him.

Most newspapers of the province have started focussing on their websites to have their presence felt. Ultimately which website becomes the most liked, trusted and visited for Punjab centric news remains yet to be seen.

The potential of the virtual world

Internet is commonly referred to as 'Vitual World'. May be in the initial days a ripple created on the world wide web of computers had little effect on the real life. But that isn't anymore. A minister in the previous government lost his office due to a tweet on a social networking site. A senior official of the cricket association also met the same fate due to similar reasons. It can make a person feel good just as it can cause a heart-break. Now that even money can be exchanged, food, grocery and services be bought, the virtual world has almost merged with the real world.

Internet has immense untapped potential. In India there can be a revolution if the Adharcard number, the bank account number, the telephone number and the passport number get merged into one. Further, if the currency becomes digital in place of the paper money and all the transactions are made to take place through phone, the crime rate could dwindle along with solving all the issues related to black money.

Perhaps, the politicians would be among the first to get effected by the monetary reforms. They may not easily allow such a transformation to take place.

How I auctioned my phone

Today I Posted a message on the Whatsapp group for the auction of my phone Nokia E 63. The minimum bidding price was fixed at Rs 300. The message was posted at 10.47 am. The group was of Aam admi Party Jagraon. Some one in the group asked me to upload the picture of the mobile. That was done. The first bidding took place at 11.32 am. The price quoted was Rs 500. There was no bidding after that. After 5pm the bidder was contacted. We both met at the Easyday Mall and closed the deal.

The worth of Fees

The worth of the money gotten in the form of fees from my students is much more than their apparent value. Perhaps, it is hundred times more. A thousand Rupees given by them is like one lakh. They make me swim in the river of their affection. They make me relive my childhood. They give me a feeling of having a large family. It often appears that there aren't just two sons in the house but a dozen of sons and daughters. The joy of being amidst young giggling faces isn't easy to describe. The respect earned through them is invaluable.
In a school the students may have to go to a teacher by compulsion. But in contrast the students come to a tuition master because they like him, as well as his teaching skills. This feeling of being liked and respected by the boys and girls just cannot be bought by money.
How thankful I am to God for making me a tuition master!

Dummy admissions

Coaching classes are marketing their services in Jagraon quite aggressively. Several institutes of Ludhiana held exams in Jagraon to attract the intelligent students. Their course would be of two years while the students would pursue their 11th and 12th class from some regular school. The coaching would be provided in both medical as well as non medical streams. Till now it seems that Career Academy of Ludhiana has taken a lead over other institutes. Nowadays the students plan to continue the higher secondary education from a school that puts least burden on them so that they may join the coaching classes and should be able to crack the entrance exam of the prestigious institutes of the country. Some students even plan to take a sort of dummy admission in some school so that they can have enough time to prepare for the competitive exams.

Bounties of the Sun

Jagraon-wasis ought to be thankful to the Rabb as they have enough Sunshine to prevent their spirits from sagging despite the cold spell that followed the rain. Yesterday one of my school time friends (Bharat Godra from Toronto) shared that he had been shovelling snow on Sunday afternoon. It must be quite a challenge of the sort to Keep the spirits up and also keep smiling when one is required to deal with the snow and that too on a Sunday. 

In India the sun is quite generous to us. But we realise its bounties only during the winter season. We love the Sun in the cold season just as much as we dread it in the Summers. Pehaps, every North Indian would agree that the joy of basking in the sun in December can hardly be compared in terms of wealth or any salary package.

Koi Chakkar ne - a teenage slang

A question that begins with - Is, Am, Are, Do, Did, Does, Has, Have, Had, Will, Shall, Can, Could etc has two answers. Either it can be answered in 'Yes' or "No'. For example let us consider an interrogative sentence,"Would you reach in time?" The answer to it can, normally, be "Yes' or "No'. But politicians come out with answers like 'No comments' or 'It depends'. Some may answer by saying 'Let us see'.

Once General Parvez of Pakistan was asked by a journalist to answer some question in either 'Yes' or 'No'. The General cleverly evaded the question by saying, "Yes and No". (It was a television interview sometime in Dec 1999 when there was a military coop in their country)

Several teenagers of Jagraon (including my boys) often answer such questions by saying "Koi chakkar ne" (there are no circles). The person at the other end remains perplexed. He does not know what to infer.

The first time that I heard such an answer was in 1999 when we had recently come to Jagraon. There was a teenager at a cement shop. I made him the payment and asked if the material could reach in time. He said, "Koi Chakkar ne Uncleji koooeee Chakkarr ne".

I often wonder what would happen to the army if our soldiers give a similar reply to their officers in the battlefield.

The risks posed by quacks

Dr Balraj Singh repeatedly gets cases where the village quack spoils even a simple case by his treatment. Recently he has shared a necrosis of skin that was ill treated by some unqualified medical practioner. He has taken up the case and has started the treatment. It is in the best interest of the society if the treatments are carried out only by the qualified professionals.

Your contributions are most welcome

Dear reader,
Jagraolive is a blog that was started about five years ago to lay focus on Jagraon in particular and Punjab in general. Now we aspire to spread our influence to the other parts of the country as well as the world. Therefore we seek your contribution in the form of a true report, an essay, a short stories or a memoir. You can send your writings to me. The only criteria is that the reports should be true and the feelings expressed should come from the heart.
Thanking you,
Yours faithfully,
Kamaljit Singh Gill

Political equation in Delhi

Political equation in Delhi depends on three forces namely the Hindu force, the secular force and the Dalit power. The congress no longer represents the secular force in Delhi. Seemingly the Aam Admi Party has replaced it and has emerged as a formidale political power. The Dalit power always play a crucial role as it does not always back the Hindu hardliners. Their tilt would determine the outcome of the forthcoming assembly elections. Rakhi Birla of the Aam Admi Party has become an icon among the Dalits. Unless BJP  ropes in a popular Dalit leader of reasonable standing, the Aam Adnmi party could become a force to reckon with. The Congress Party having been sidelined the contest is being seen mainly between the BJP and the Aam Admi Party.

The BJP would love to scatter the minority vote by encouraging some Muslim Party to contest the elections. It may also try to scatter the Sikh vote by asking the Akali Dal to contest the elections separately.

Arvind Kejriwal would be spearheading the secular forces instead of the Congress Party this time. If the Dalit power tilts towards Rakhi Birla, Aam Admi Party stands a good chance of coming to power.

Untouchability in Punjab

During nineteen forties, before partition, a grandmother and her grandson from a Sikh family go to a neighbouring village to a Muslim household. She wants to know about the well being of her son who lives in Kolkatta with their son. The old lady and her grandson are served water that comes from a neighbouring house of Sikhs. In Kolkatta the two friends could be eating in the same plate but back home even water comes from a neighbouring house.

In the nineteen seventies a farm labour has his plate and glass kept at a particular engraving in the wall. He takes his utensils and sits leaning against the wall. Chappatis are dropped into his hands from nearly a distance of one foot. Dal etc is also given in a similar way. After having food he cleans his uttensils and places them at the same spot. Those utensils are never touched by anyone else.

The caste divide exists in Punjab and the policies of the state government are to be blamed for that. A certain class of people have to declare themselves as backward to avail free electricity and almost free ration. In a way such schemes cause disorientation and cripples their future. They hardly have any need to struggle and work. The stamp of being backward remains on them as clear as ever because they themself declare that. They do that happily as they want free books for their children and several other benefits given by the government. Therefore it is self imposed untouchability.

In the presrnt times there is buffet system at social functions and the old form of untouchability is not visible. But that does not mean that it does not exist anymore. A person can be thoroughly untouchable and face total boycott. The present untouchability, however, is begotten by ones own deeds. It is quite unlikely that such untouchability would ever cease to exist.

.

What is Gut power?

A powerful digestive apparatus or a strong gut power is the key to physical well being. All the energy we need comes from the food we eat and all the food that we eat has to be digested before using its energy. As per the advice of the health experts a few tips for improving the gut power are as follows

1 Maintaining correct PH value of the stomach. In other words one needs to get rid of the  acidity problem. Recently I saw a video of Rajiv Dixit on the Youtube that suggested a simple remedy for that. Drinking water after one and a half hour after the meals and forty eight minutes before it cures acidity. It may appear strange but that works. Water just after the meals does a lot of harm. But a person who does a lot of physical activity can have water one hour after the meals instead of one and a half hour as his metabolic rate is faster.

2 Cutting on tea, coffee and corrosive food improves digestive health.

3 Eating moderately during the meals ensures sound health.

4, Having a balanced, fibre rich and well cooked meal keeps the system smiling and the body flexible.

5 Avoiding a talk during eating improves the digestive health.

When we say that a person has guts, it really means that all his system and particularly his digestive system is in perfect tune. That in turn gives immense courage and power.

The emergence of a Punjabi Saying

In the earlier days a male garment worn above the waist was called a Chagga. A typical chagga was a shirt that had one or two buttons near the chest for changing and it normally reached down to near the knee level. The front part had a fold near the stomach to cover the bulge of the belly and the rear part had folds at the upper back to make it airy. The front part and the rear part of the shirt were separated at the waist level. The front part could also be lifted with both the hands and could accomodate any thing that required urgent storage without affecting the rear part. It was called Jholli.

Punjabi society was basically agranian. In all probability if any person was antagonized he could go and uproot whatever one had sown for himself or his family. But later on the society got diversified and people learned to make a living through several other occupations. Then the person who antagonized the other had no fear of getting anything uprooted and suffer a loss. So he could afford to say say, 'Putt lae jo putt sakdaa-aen' (uproot whatever you can uproot). It got further corrupted with indecency. When a person wasn't left with anything much to lose and wanted to convey to his opponent to try and harm as much as was possible, he would lift his Chagga.

Presently there is a well known and widely used saying in the business circles of Punjab, that is "Chagga chakkna'. If a person cannot be trusted, he is advised by his well wishers by saying not to trust him in money matters as he may lift his Chagga. They would further add that, 'Kal nu ohne Chagga chakk laena. Pher ki karenga?' (Tomorrow what would you do if he denies you your dues?)

Security risk posed by the Easy Day Mall

Today I went to shop at the Easy Day Mall. The girl at the counter started noting down my debt card details on her computer. This is strange as it puts to risk the money in our bank accounts. The matter has been reported to their customer care division. This can also reveal our personal details like email number etc which further could be misused to fill our email in box with advertisements. Easyday must stop this immediately.

Top class Nakhra for poor class service

The Nakhra (airs put on)  by the municipal corporation is top class whereas their services are wanting in efficiency desperately.

Firstly there is no online payment facility for severage bills. Secondly the payment is not received after 1 pm. I went to make the payment on Saturday and the clerks refused as they said cash is not received on Saturdays. But this is not mentioned in the bill. Their noses appeared to be pointing towards the skies. Their Nakhra is surely not proportional to their efficiency.

Some precautions while changing the wheel of a car

Changing the wheel of a car is among the most boring things that a person needs to do. But a few precautions are necessary while doing this work.

If one is on the roadside one must place an L shaped stand a few yards behind the car. This stand comes with the tool kit in Maruti Alto. It needs to be unfolded and the shinning side should face the traffic that is approaching from the rear side. In this way the vehicles coming from the back side come to know that we are busing are mending our car.

Hand brakes ought to be applied before starting the work. After lifting the car on the Jack the wheel tends to move when we try to loosen the nuts. The hand break helps but not much. Therefore the loosening part should always be done before lifting the car. It is sometimes required to stand over nut opening tool to loosen it. It should be done with care lest it injures our ankles. Remember that the nuts get loosened in the anticlockwise direction and tightened in the clockwise direction. The tightening of the nuts should be done little by little for each nut. If one nut is made fully tight the others cannot be tightened without damaging the threads of the bolt.

The removed wheel must be locked in the dicky with a nut. In Maruti Alto there is a plyboard which fixes over the wheel and then there is a special nut which can be rotated with the thumb and the forefinger. The Jack must also be put in the notch that is designed for it. It is important as during an accident the wheel and the jack can come flying over the passengers who are already in trouble. The tool-kit must also be tucked under the plyboard at its fixed position for the same reason.

Lastly a Chinese hand pump and an air pressure gauge should be placed along with the toolkit. They can fit with them if placed properly. This is important because if the spare wheel is not used for a long time it may not have any air at all.