Ringside view

IT was a historic moment last week,when a health and sanitation mobile court was launched at Tagore Hall in the city.

Audience management
AHMEDABAD: IT was a historic moment last week,when a health and sanitation mobile court was launched at Tagore Hall in the city. Aimed to be a guide and deterrent for those littering public places,the court was launched amid great fanfare. The hall was packed beyond its capacity,and amazingly,more than 90 per cent of the audience comprised womenfolk. This impressed one of the speakers,who got a loud applause for expressing his happiness over this. It was only after the function that the cat was out of the bag. A woman employee of the municipal corporation confided that the women were all municipal corporation employees and that they had received early morning phone calls asking them to attend the function instead of office!

Chaos,thy name is GU
AFTER the results,students are now making a beeline for getting admission forms at various colleges of their choice. Gujarat University authorities have adopted the practice of selling uniform forms for all colleges,but have given the students little time to purchase,fill and submit them to the colleges. This led to avoidable chaos at colleges all over. Perhaps,if the varsity authorities had supplied the admission forms well before the announcement of the HSC general stream results,the students would have got ample time to ponder over what course to take and fill the forms at ease,and also avoid a chaotic situation.

An encounter sans row?
ANY police encounter is likely to be surrounded by a controversy. The recent encounter of Subramaniam alias Ghetiya in Ahmedabad by the City Crime Branch was no exception. A suspended police officer who has been arrested for the alleged fake encounter of Sohrabuddin Shaikh and the murder of his wife Kausar Bi has allegedly termed Ghetiya’s encounter as the state governments attempt to create a secular image by killing a Hindu anti-social. Frustrated for being in jail for around two years,the suspended policeman said in favour of his argument that after the Sohrabuddin episode came to light,not a single encounter has taken place in Gujarat and when it happened,it was that of a Hindu.

Anything karega for publicity
EACH year,the toppers of the Secondary Examination in the state are interviewed by mediapersons and honoured by the Education Department officials as well. This has been the usual practice,and the students generally gather at the Sanskar Bhavan in the city for the media interaction. This time,this also became an opportunity for a city-based NGO working for the cause of women,to be heard or so they thought. They shouted slogans and demonstrated for over an hour,thus drawing the attention of some of the photographers. For the rest of the attention,the ladies went straight to the remaining photographers and said,”Samachar patra wada to photo levu che,tame kem nathi levta. Mara interview levo.” They surely knew where to find the media and how to be heard having waited for three hours to tap the opportunity.

Roll,roll & derailed!
VADODARA: THE launch of the first metro rail coach made by the Bombardier Transportation India for the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) at the Savli factory would have derailed many a lives on June 5. The occasion was the unveiling of the metro coach in a jam-packed makeshift auditorium at the Bombardier factory. Everyone,including Chief Minister Narendra Modi,DMRC Managing Director E Sreedharan and company officials,were waiting to see the metro coach roll out from its facility. The layout of the stage was designed with an added space for the coach to be rolled out from the covered area. The workers were to push the coach in order to bring it on the stage. The announcement was made amid loud music and thunderous applause,signaling the workers to push the coach. Alas! They pushed it so hard that it stopped just an inch before rolling over the photographers and other mediamen waiting to catch a glimpse of the car. In fact,a few terrified cameramen had to run from the spot after they saw the metro rail coach coming towards them breaking the stoppages.
It was only then that an alarm was raised and some of the Bombardier employees then pushed the metro car coach in the other direction. One of the guests,who witnessed the entire incident,said,I only hope they didnt forget the brakes in a hurry to rollout the metro car ahead of the schedule.

Of speeches & space
FIRST you have to excel in studies and then find yourself a place among the Board toppers. But,thats not enough. After the results,you also have to prove your oratory skills in front of the mediamen to fight for the newspaper space. Well,these days,the students are well aware of both the mantras. After the HSC result,the hot question for the toppers was on Narendra Modi v/s Manmohan Singh,last week. After the SSC results were declared,the toppers were hunted down by the media for their reaction on the latest Aussie bias against Indians. Surprisingly,while the students meekly faced the media on the initial patent questions of how do you feel and how much did you study,the toppers sprang to enthusiasm when the million-dollar question was asked. What followed was an uninterrupted (as if rote learnt) monologue by the students on the evils of racism,sympathy over the poor condition of fellow Indians in the Land of Oz,and their pledge to never leave their country for Australia. However,as an end note,the United States seemed a much better option for them!

 Contributed by Amrita Didyala,Debarati Basu,Kamran Sulaimani,Parimal Dabhi and Tanvir A Siddiqui.

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