Pandrethan
A K Khanna
The gentle slopes of the spur of
serpentine Zebarwan mountain range in Srinagar
abound with natural beauty on the eastern and
western side of ancient Pandrethan temple. The
River Jhelum flows on the southern and western
sides of the site. A smiling
verdant valley picturesquely relieved with
meandering rivers and brooks, gushing springs,
calm Dal and Nagina Lakes. The entire panorama
vibrating beauty and genial loveliness. The
Kashmir valley is a paradise for tourist not for
its enchanting gifts bestowed by nature to eyes,
affording works of man completing beauty in its
fine handicrafts and edifices in various medium
continuing the age old
tradition to modern times.The Temple of
Pandrethan is presently located in the Badami
Bagh cantonment area, 5km to South - West of
Srinagar with in the Municipal Limit of the city.
The name itself derived from the ancient
appellation Purana- Adhistana or old capital,
Srinagari. Pandrethan, the site of ancient
capital of Srinagari supposed to have been
established by the great Mauryan Emperor Asoka in
3rd century BC. The selection of the site for
capital in the ancient time might have been
influenced by certain advantages against the
devastating floods which used to caused damage to
life and property in the valley by the life
giving river the Jhelum. During the 9th century
AD king Avantivarman, under professional guidance
of his able engineer Suyya devised means for
better drainage and water management of the river
by regulating the course of Vitasta or Jhelum
River to minimize the damage.
According to Rajatarangini, there was no Buddhist
establishment at Srinagar by Buddhist King. His
son Jaluka has been credited with the
installation of Jyestharudra or Siva Temple in
the capital. .. .. .
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Dilemma of
growing old
Kritika Pandey
Break-up of the joint family
alone is not responsible for the
marginalisation of the elderly. Complex
factors like urbanisation, the crunch on
space,
migration of youngsters to cities and
abroad,
inflation, a visible assertion of
individualism and the onset of a
youth-worshipping culture,
are responsible for the displacement.
After a long time the government of India
passed the maintenance and welfare of
parents and senior citizens bill 2007,
but instead of involving the state, the
bill makes relatives solely responsible
for their elders. This legislation will
not solve the problems faced by the
growing population of the elderly people
in the country, because more often than
not it may involve litigation.
Like shifting sands, change has been
altering the social landscape of the
country over the past two decades.
Gerontologists (people studying the
process of ageing and the problems of old
people) fear that the elderly are in for
a harrowing existence, as time-honoured
attitudes towards them alter. The aged
are gradually being divested of the one
asset they always took for granted:
authority.
The 2001 census reveals that India has 78
million over the age of 60, a number
equal to almost the entire population of
Germany and twice that of most European
countries. During the past decade, the
increase in the aged population was a
little over 38 per cent—the rest
went up by only 19 per cent.
Alarm bells should be ringing. The only
other segment of society multiplying at
such a dizzying speed is the under-15s.
With such double dependency on the
comparatively sluggish middle, the
question that looms frighteningly large
is: whose baby are the elderly?
Especially in a world growing
increasingly indifferent to them.... .. ....more
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Ranvir: Madhuri is
amazing
Ranvir Shorey is one of the most
popular faces on both the small screen and big
screen. His shows Ranvir Vinay Aur Kaun and The
Great Indian Laughter Challenge are very popular
on the small screen, occupying prime time slots,
while his movie performances have been critically
acclaimed for his brilliant portrayal of roles as
diverse as that of the conman/druggie in Traffic
Signal to the aggressive young brother in Khosla
Ka Ghosla. Post his latest film, Aaja Nachle,
Ranvir has been a very busy ma. The actor in
conversation with Abdul Moheet
Firstly, congratulations on your performance in
Aaja Nachle. How was it working with a living
legend like Madhuri Dixit?
Oh!! I was completely floored from the word go! I
was utterly tongue tied, I mean we were all in so
much awe of her, we didn’t know what to say.
But Madhuri is an amazing, amazing human being
and I’m not just saying this because I have
to be diplomatic, but because she really is. She
charmed the pants off everyone on the sets (not
literally) and was completely down to earth.
I’ve known many newcomers who don’t
even have a hit to their name and they show so
many airs, but not Madhuri. Even veterans like
Yash Raj swear by her.
You have acted in a variety of roles, and never
let you be stereotyped to a particular role. Why
the penchant for offbeat cinema?
Well I grew up as part of a generation that was
quite frankly sick of the mainstream cinema of
that time. So keeping this in mind, I could never
see myself doing something that would come across
as ‘typically mainstream’.
So you don’t see yourself doing a typical
SRK role? . . ......more
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Willow talk
Rajesh Dhar
 Yeah! What
a hulla bulloo about the game of cricket there is
today. Extensive hype is attached to this game in
the present era. Today, uppermost in the mind of
a man is cricket. Cricket, cricket and play
cricket is the slogan of the day or in other
words there is euphoria of cricket world
–over. Cricket has come to be the most
debated, out- spoken and common place topic of
discussion throughout the sports community.
Anyway, the most important and most expensive
equipment needed to play this game is the BAT.
This BAT is made up of willow. Let’s talk of
this willow today.
There are two types of willows used in formation
of bats — the English willow and the Kashmir
willow. Both these forms are entirely different
in quality, brand, price and may be durability.
While the cost of English willow bats ranges from
Rs 2000/- to Rs15000/-per piece, the cost of
Kashmir willow bats ranges from Rs 100/— to
Rs 1500/-per piece. BDM, SG, SS, SF, BAS, KG
& TAURUS are a few bats to name in English
willow while BARUN, TAMAR, KSPORT, SALROO SONS
and ASCO are a few to name in Kashmir willow. The
quality of a bat is directly proportional to the
quality of its handle; the presence of GRAINS
(sorts of lines on its face) on the blade; the
absence of knots (Nodes) and butterflies (spots
similar to knots just on upper surface) on the
blade and most importantly the way of its
compression.
The handle of the bat is made of Canes . The Cans
are usually found in Singapore and Malaysia. So,
the handles are specially made and scientifically
designed with rubber cushioning in these places.
Nine Cane laminated handle is considered to be a
superior handle perfect for stroke making. The
straighter and smoother the GRAINS on the blade,
the better the stroke of the bat and lesser the
chances of its breakage. While the bats with
multi- co lour GRAINS are prone to breakage and
stroke of the bat varies from colour to colour. .. ........more
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Varanasi The
city of Ganga
Uma Ramachandran
Why would we want to
go to Varanasi?" was the
first reaction to a friend's
unusual zest for the old city.
But answers came easy after a two
day trip to the land of the
Ganges. After a rather
comfortable 12 hour journey by
the Shiv Ganga Express, we were
there. The old city of Benaras
had once been notoriously famous
for sex workers, swindlers and
robbers. Prostitution may be
extinct now but there are
definitely a lot of people eager
to lighten your wallets. We
learnt that in our first few
minutes in Varanasi. After
brushing aside touts and pesky
auto drivers outside the station,
we opted for the pre-paid auto
service. Only to be stranded at
least two kilometres away from
our hotel. We had bought his
argument that it was only a
minute's walk away.
Rickshaw-pullers will chase you
and promise to take you on a city
tour when all they do is ride
around in circles and charge an
exorbitant price. Remember, the
golden rule here is to trust no
one but your own instincts.
There are many hotels and lodges
in Varanasi but the better ones
are situated in the cantonment
area, which is 20 minutes away
from the ghats. If you don't mind
compromising on luxury, it's best
to stay at a small cheap lodge on
the ghats to be close to all the
action. We decided to stay at
Hotel Riverview, a family run
lodge, near Brahma Ghat. Apart
from great food, our room
overlooked the Ganges and had a
magnificent view of the entire
stretch of the ghats.
Varanasi, at first sight, comes
across as a rather filthy and
dirty town. The narrow gullies in
the old city are littered with
animal and human waste, trash and
slush. You have two choices: ... ......more
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School-age exercise
prevents Diabetes
Dr Jitendra Singh
 The hi-tech scenario of
21st century is a witness to more and more number
of youngesters in the school-age group staying
glued to Internet, computer, DVD etc thus growing
up accustomed to leisure pastimes which hardly
involve any physical activity. This recent
phenomenon has sent alarm bells ringing across
the globe with research and medical fraternity
taking upon itself to devise methods that could
motivate youngsters to engage in physical
activity as a safeguard against many a modern
lifestyle disorders including Diabetes Mellitus,
hypertension and heart disease.
Considering that the level of physical activity
has considerably declined in the last 10 to 20
years, the new recommendations emphasise that a
school-age youngster needs one hour of moderate
to vigorous physical activity daily in order to
stay healthy and prevent himself from a host of
disorders including Diabetes.
Impact of Physical Activity
A 13 - member expert panel led by Dr William
Strong from the Medical College of Georgia was
assigned the task of reviewing literature and
finding evidence of the impact of physical
activity on the health and well-being of children
and thereby putting forth recommendations in this
regard. The group published its conclusions
recently.
Evidence based data cited by experts states
beneficial effects of physical activity on
several components of health including Blood
sugar levels, blood pressure, body weight, heart,
cholestrol/lipid profile, muscular system etc. In
addition, in adolescents physical exercise helps
improve their academic performance and keep at
bay negative states of mind . ..........more
Balloons are not
for children only
G V Joshi
 A balloon is flexible bag
normally filled with a gas or sometimes even
water as in Holi festival Early ballons were made
of dried animal laders. Modern balloons are made
from materials such as natural rubber, synthetic
rubber, polythene, or a nylon fabric.
Some balloons are purely decorative, like the
ones sold in a village fair, or displayed at a
party, while others are used for specific
purposes such as meterorology, science, medicine,
defnece, or even transportation.
A balloon’s properties, inclding its low
density and relatively low cost, have led to
their use in a wide range of scientific
applications.
The word ‘balloon’ was originally
derived from the French word
‘‘balloon’’, meaning a large
ball. This was in turn probaly from the Latin
‘‘balloon’’, but another
possible source for it was
‘‘balla’’, meaning ball, from
Old German.
The first ballon was invented by the Brazilian
priest Bartolomeu de Gusmao, and the first public
exhibition was made on August 8, 1709, in Lisbon,
Portugal. The rubber balloon was invented by
Michael Faraday in 1824; it was inflated with
hydrogen and used in his experiments with that
elecment.
The more familair rubber balloons of today were
first manufactured at London in 1847, by J G
Ingram, but mass production did not start until
the 1930s.
Filling the balloon with air is done with the
mouth or a hand pump, or with a source of
compressed gas. When rubber balloons are filled
with helium so that they float, they typically
retain their buoyancy for only a day or so,
because the enclosed helium atoms escape through
small pores in the rubber which are larger than
the helium atoms. However, even a perfect rubber
balloon eventually loses the gas to the .. ......more
Swami
Vivekananda and the youth
Chander M. Bhat
 In
the last century, India has produced many
saints, but very few were like Swami
Vivekananda, who can rightly be called
not merely a saint of India, but a saint
of the whole world. His immortal address
at the Parliament of Religions held at
Chicago in the U.S.A. in the September
1893 is the most important event, which
made him known the world over.
Swami Vivekananda's inspiring message is
applicable to all the people of the world
without any distinction of caste, colour,
creed or country. More than what he said,
he had a tremendous impact on everyone
who came in touch with him. Our great
national leaders found in him a perennial
source of inspiration to serve the cause
of the nation. What makes Vivekananda's
call to the youth so compelling? It is
his infinite trust and reverence for the
youth, for he believed that the future of
the world depended on the youth of every
generation. So he bequeathed his message
and trust especially to them. Romain
Rolland, the great French savant,
presents a fascinating and graphic
account of Swami Vivekananda's life and
message. He says: "Vivekananda's
words are great music, phrases in the
style of Beethoven, stirring rhythms like
the march of hundred choruses. I cannot
tough these sayings of his scattered as
they are through the pages of books at
thirty years distance, without receiving
a thrill through my body like an electric
shock. And what shocks, what transports
must have been produced when in burning
words they issue form the .. .
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Kaleidoscopic
kailash kund
G.L.Khajuria
The procession of several
thousands of pilgrims in the form of holy
mace (Chari) to kailash kund (Kaplash)
uphill Bhaderwah barely around 20 kms and
is situated at a height of 14000 ft above
sea level(M.S.L.) waying through and
amidst lushgreen, vibrant and salubrious
pines, oaks, other broad-leaved trees,
bushes, shrubs, herbs, climbers and
creepers epitomize a rarer of rarest
combination of spirituality in the
hearts, minds and souls who trek the
pilgrimage to the sanctimonious sacred
kund which is so conveniently called the
holy kund of highest spirituality where
pilgrims from far flung areas come with
utmost reverence, not only from India but
from abroad to pay obeisance and obtain
blessings.
The pilgrimage or locally as we speak
'yatras' to the revered Kailash Kund
begins on 'Triyodshi'- the 13th of dark
Bhaderpadmas, fourteen days after pious
Raksha Bandhan each year and on this most
auspicious day of 'Triyodshi', there is a
huge assemblance of delighted devotees at
the most revered "Vassuki Nag
Devta" of utmost benevolence located
at 'Gatha' (Depicted in the photo by the
author), just on the enterance of
Bhaderwah township, where a ceremonial
pooja is held before holy mace (chari)
takes its route from temple complex
itself.There are multihued devotees
irrespective of caste, colour, creed and
that of religion or gender enchanting
songs and hymns which echoe the velvety
Bhaderwah valley and its azure sky in its
ambience.
In our old scriptures it has been
attributed that 'KAILASH KUND" like
that of Amarnath, kidarnath, Sudhmahadev
and other multihued sacred shrines was as
well an abode of 'Lord Shiva' .........more
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