Lucknownama

The painter
Way back in October 2008,the government suspended IAS officer Balwinder Kumar over the allotment of land for the proposed rail coach factory at Rae Bareli. In those days of idleness,Kumar developed a liking for painting — something he had never done before. Over the next nine months that he remained under suspension,it became Kumar’s hobby which stayed even after the government reinstated him. Kumar’s works now decorate his house and he has also gifted paintings to friends. Beginning March 29,Kumar is organising a six-day exhibition of 20 of his best works at Ravindra Bhawan in Delhi. We wish more power to his brush,and a boost to his creativity.

Miya Biwi aur Singapore
Last month,a man filed a PIL in the Allahabad High Court,challenging the Lucknow Municipal Corporation’s proposal to send corporators on a trip to study the handling of civic issues in Singapore. Dissatisfied over the High Court order,the petitioner has now filed an appeal in the Supreme Court. “Why are they taking the corporators on this trip when many of them are not educated? Instead,they should take officials who can benefit from the trip. They want to spend public money on corporators who want to spend a vacation there,” argued petitioner Sanjay Kumar. If the Supreme Court accepts the petition,among those going to be denied a trip to Singapore is his former wife Saroj — a corporator from Lal Bahadur Shastri (Pratham) ward. She was not aware of the petition until “an official called up to confirm the address of the petitioner”,said Saroj. But how did she know the address of her former husband? “We live in the same house,but we are not on talking terms,” she said.

Grassfield v/s astro-turf
In the age of astro-turf,the 23rd All India Invitation Prize Money Women’s Hockey Tournament is being held on a grassfield. This has raised many eyebrows. Lucknow has an astro-turf at Dhyanchand Stadium where the All India KD Singh ‘Babu’ Men’s Hockey Tournament was organised recently. Wondered Olympian Sujeet Kumar: “When the men’s tournament could be held on the astro-turf,why not this one?” Like the men’s tourney,the women’s event is also being organised by the Regional Sports Office under the auspices of the state Sports department. The person at the helm of affairs at the RSO is R P Singh,a former international hockey player. So,why not?