Sarika Sharma
India was at war with China in 1962 and, along with several other Leftist leaders, Tera Singh Chan was jailed over the suspicion that his sympathies lay with the Communist neighbour. At the same time, ironically enough, inspiring the masses on radio was his song “Eh pyaari Bharat maa”. Punjab newspapers took note of the dichotomy and the government was forced to release Chan. As we celebrate the poet-playwright’s birth centenary this year, his writings are still inspiring like his poem “Desh de kisaan, aa gaye vich maidan” reverberating at the Delhi borders that are witnessing an unprecedented farmers’ movement.
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Neha Saini
Amritsar, January 22
During his childhood, Narendra Chanchal gathered neighbourhood kids to sing devotional songs and Bulleh Shah’s poetry, using wooden toys as his mike. “My first audience comprised people from my mohalla who encouraged me no end,” Chanchal shared in an interview in 2018.
The 80-year-old singer, who rose from humble beginnings to become a popular bhajan singer, died in Delhi after a long illness. He is survived by his wife and three children.
Born on October 16, 1940, in Amritsar’s Shakti Nagar locality, Chanchal hailed from a middle class family. Despite his interest in singing, his family never encouraged him to become a singer. But when his father suffered huge losses in the share market, Chanchal took up singing to support his family.
12/31/20
2020 was supposed to be an action-filled year in sports with all eyes on the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. However, Covid-19 Pandemic brought all action to a grinding halt with events either being postponed or cancelled.
The Parasport action was affected too. In that scenario, the achievements of a few Para athletes and the revocation of the suspension of the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) remain the high points in Indian Parasports this year.
Among them, Para shuttler Manasi Jos hi’s resurgence stood out this year. Joshi continued to inspire her fellow para sportspersons with her extraordinary achievements one after the other. In a huge shot in her arm, the reigning world champion became the first ever Para athlete to feature in TIME magazine’s 2020 list of Next Generation Leader.
Farmers give donations at a protest in Bathinda on Monday
BATHINDA/AMRITSAR/PATIALA: Funds have not been an issue for farm organisations which have been protesting around Delhi against the three central agricultural laws, with the sources of money, and material, ranging from membership funds, gurdwara committees and NRIs, to morning walkers, well-wishers and farmers themselves.
Farm protests against the laws have been going on for close to three months in Punjab and close to a month on Delhi borders. However, recently, questions have been raised over the sources of funds used for sustaining the protests, which are being touted as the largest in the world.
The film has been received with great love, and at the first screening, the farmers distributed khoya ladoos before the film started, with a big screen put up on a truck, with a sound system already in place. Kumar says what was heartening was the long discussion and debate after the film with so many relevant questions and observations on the fallouts of the World Trade Agreement, the Green Revolution, corruption, supply of low-quality seeds, negligible compensations to farmers, ineffective government policies, the struggle that every segment of the agricultural community is facing …that Siri brings to light.
The son of a police constable from Mullanpur Dakha, a small village in Punjab, Kumar, in his late 40s, is an alumnus of the Indian Theatre Department, Panjab University, Chandigarh, and worked here with Gursharan Singh for many years, before moving to Mumbai to be part of the television industry, but never far away from ‘home’ in Punjab. Someone had to tell the stories o