Gurdaspur Diary: Boosting morale of slum area kids

Roses can grow around slums, just as weeds can grow around plush bungalows. This aptly describes the condition of the 68 children living in a school meant exclusively for children of slum dwellers at Maan Kaur village on the city’s outskirts. These kids were born in slums but the slums are not inside them. That is why they are keen to break free from their shackles. On Wednesday, Shivdular Singh Dhillon, Secretary of the Punjab State Branch of the Indian Red Cross Society, paid a visit. He has recently retired from the PCS/IAS after putting in three and a half decades of service. The legacy he has left in officialdom will be hard to match. He was regarded as an officer of unimpeachable integrity and character. His speech was full of passion. Just because a child’s parents are poor or uneducated is no reason to deprive the child of basic human rights to health-care, education and proper nutrition. This is precisely what this school stands for. Before his visit, Dhillon inspected the facilities at the Red-Cross De-addiction Centre. He was a happy man when told 90 per cent of the addicts have entered mainstream society as reformed citizens. A lesson to be learnt is that life in itself is a series of relapses and recoveries. He concluded his tour with a promise to come again to meet the ‘Slumdog Millionaires’. The education of the children is being taken care of by the Secretary of the District Child Welfare Council, Romesh Mahajan. He has already spent Rs 65 lakh on the construction of a two-storeyed school building. Someday, these kids must watch the movie ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. Jamal Malik, an 18-year-old Indian Muslim from the slums of Mumbai, is a contestant on the TV show ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’. Before answering the final Rs 2 crore question, he is tortured by the cops who suspect him of cheating. Through a series of flashbacks, he recounts the incidents of his life that provided him with each answer. Like Jamal, these kids too will also be armed with proper answers when they step into the outside world. Before leaving, Dhillon distributed uniforms to the children. Indeed, if you want to know a person’s true character, observe how he treats those who don’t matter!

In life, nothing is permanent except change

Just as it seemed Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Aggarwal would take Gurdaspur through the elections, residents got the news that he had been shifted. In his place comes Vishesh Sarangal, who was previously posted as Jalandhar DC. In life, there is nothing permanent except change. Aggarwal had embarked upon some big-ticket initiatives which could have changed the face of this border district. But then, as they say, destiny follows no predictable pattern. Residents now hope Sarangal will start from where his predecessor left. After all, there are two fatal errors that keep great projects from coming to life, one is not finishing and the second is not starting. Here’s wishing all the best to the new CEO of Gurdaspur! (Ravi Dhaliwal)

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