PALAMPUR, March 6: The Punjabi University, Patiala would set up a research centre at Andretta, 15 km from here, with the objective of ``unearthing various components and parameters reflecting commonness among the cultures of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.''While disclosing this to media persons here today, Joginder Singh Puar, the Vice-Chancellor, pointed out that there were many factors which determine the pulsating closeness between the culture of neighboring states and scholars would be urged to dig up traces hinting at such correlational affinity.This would be a tribute to the pioneer of Punjabi theater Norah Richard, on whose birth and death anniversaries the Theater and Television Department of Punjabi University organises festivals, seminars and symposia twice every year, he added.A compact library containing books relating to cultural contiguity would also be established to facilitate the work of anthropological experts who are assigned the task of locating factors attracting two cultures and dispelling them. All this was being done to establish Andretta, popularly known as Kalagram, as a mini research wing of Punjabi University.Attributing the delay in completion of the faculty guest house at Andretta to bad weather and technical snags, he assured that it would be completed in the next four months. The VC also disclosed that a 15-day workshop and symposia on different aspects of theater would be conducted in October, sponsored by PU.Earlier, the Department of Theater and Television staged two plays `Ala Afsar,' a Punjabi adaptation of Gogol's play and `Dhoort Samagam,' a Hindi translation of a Sanskrit play.While `Ala Afsar', directed by Anoop, exposed social hypocrisy in all its dimensions, `Dhoort Samagan,' directed by Pahlad Aggarwal, focussed and man's lust for women.
