City Scape 8212; Chandigarh

Here are the first-place winners: Srishti Sharma under-6, Honey under-8, Harmanjit Singh under-10, Lakhbir Singh Bhatti under-12, Sajan Singh under-15 and Sachin Gandhi above-15.

From post to post
Who got the first prize in Sunday8217;s fancy dress competition at the Lions Diwali Mela? The prize for 5-8 year olds went to quot;letter-boxquot; Ashutosh Vats 8230; it8217;s the fifth time in a row that the lad has gone home from the mela with a prize. A Class II student of St John8217;s High School, Ashutosh is also a member of the Young Express Club.

Boo!
Turnout wasn8217;t too great at Chandigarh8217;s very first Halloween party last year but going by the turnout at this year8217;s Halloween bashes, over the past 12 months the kids have wised up to the fun-potential of this weird occasion. As usual, the younger the kid, the more excited he/she was about the whole affair.

However, the historical angle to the festival is still not widely known. One kid, quizzed about the meaning of Halloween, stumbled and fumbled and finally admitted that he hadn8217;t a clue. Never mind, one needn8217;t know the why of a party so long as one is clear about the how of partying.

Cultural gap
The city crowd does not like rock. This was very much evident at the CII Fair 99 where Rome of the East, a Goa-based band, was playing. Sunday evening was request night so it came as no surprise that the demand was limited to Punjabi remixes and desi pop.

When a request was put forward for the Doors8217; classic, Road House Blues, the band was hardly past the opening bars when the hooting and catcalls started. Enduring loud protests, the band played till the last, winning applause only from those who had requested for the number. Only another Punjabi dose could pacify the crowd.

Overheard
At the CII Auto show, a farmer from Rajpura to his friend: quot;Should I go over to the girl and ask about the car or wait for somebody else to make inquiries in Hindi and then listen to the conversation?quot; Apparently, he found the confident young lady manning the exhibit more than a little daunting. In fact, most of the stalls were in the hands of pert something chickadees. Pretty faces and impeccable dress-sense, they certainly weren8217;t hard on the eyes.

Setting a good example
Diwali time, fun time 8230; especially for children. Most of them can hardly wait to get their hands on crackers. But recently a reporter met an 11-year-old lad who had other ideas. quot;I8217;ll buy some crackers,quot; he explained, quot;but I8217;ll use at least half of my pocket money to buy sweets. I want to give them to children at an orphanage.quot; Asked how he came up with such a thoughtful gesture, he just chuckled, but his silence and radiant smile were more touching than words. quot;We don8217;t know where he got this idea,quot; his Dad admits.

On the panel
Former Panjab University senator and history Prof G.S. Sethi will chair the History Experts panel being set up by the Union Education Department8217;s Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology. He and his colleagues will contribute their expertise to a new English-Hindi dictionary for use in Central and state government offices.

Seeing through visitors
The Sector 9 Police Headquarters became the third building in the city to get an X-ray baggage scanner. The recently acquired Rs 9 lakh machine stands at the building8217;s entrance. The Airport and Punjab Secretariat already have these devices. Also new at Police Headquarters is the refurbished reception area: new carpet, new counters, new furniture.

Sipping time
While the police searched for the supposed to be planted bomb at the District Courts complex the other day, it was relaxing time for the otherwise tied up judicial officers most of whom are handling a good about 300 cases daily. Thanks to the hoax caller, the officers got time to sip in some coffee at the Sector 17 Coffee House.

Last days
So abruptly did City Mayor Kewal Krishan Adiwal adjourn the Municipal Corporation8217;s 29-member House last week that, what to speak of opposition members, even ruling party members were annoyed. The whisper is that, as his term will expire in less than two months, the Mayor doesn8217;t want to face the House.

As per rules, the new mayor must be a woman. Incidentally, Saudambini Bambah and Kamlesh stole the show by lodging a strong protest before the Mayor8217;s office.

Bow-wow bulletin
They8217;re looking for loving homes: one 18-month-old white male Pomeranian, vaccinated and affectionate; and two brown and white Chandigarh terriers, one male, one female, about 12 weeks old, vaccinated and healthy. Contact People For Animals, H No 82, Sector 10, Tel: 742095.

Timber tale
For the past several weeks a Sector 19-C housewife, Sneh Jain had been after Horticulture Department officials to send a crew to remove a dry branch of a eucalyptus tree near her house. Sure enough, the branch fell, crashing down on her courtyard just feet from where she was standing. The first thing she did after this lucky escape was ring up the Newsline reporter and narrate the episode.

All handmade
Talk about the personal touch! When the Sector 25 Janata Colony children sent out invitations for their play, every single card was handmade and decorated with beautiful crayon pictures signed by each little student artist. The message was simple: quot;We are inviting you to our play on November 3. Please come8230; quot;

We surely will!
A handwritten Guru Granth Sahib prepared by octogenarian G.S. Sobti, a resident of Sector 19, has been installed in the Sector 21 gurdwara. He8217;s done a beautiful job on it and, as he proudly proclaims: quot;I didn8217;t use glasses either 8230; How8217;s that for a man my age?quot; He worked 10 hours a day for nine months to copy the entire scripture.

Prizes sans plastic
Teachers and preachers need to practice first. That8217;s what one of the winners of the World Wildlife Fund-sponsored cycle race-cum-rally told the organisers. At the prize distribution ceremony for the Habitat Week competitions, this young man pointed to the poly-films wrapping the trophies and remarked: quot;Organising races and painting competition don8217;t propagate eco-friendliness.quot;