A 12-day self-defence training programme for girl students of the Khariar Autonomous College was conducted in the college between from January 3 to 14 in which 180 girls actively participated.
The programme was inaugurated by Principal of National College, Nuapada, Tikeswar Bhoi on January 3 in the presence of Principal of Khariar Autonomous College Fanindam Deo and Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), Khariar, Santanu Dash.
“The objective of the training was to initiate a process that will help girls be mentally strong to face problems in their day-to-day life boldly,” said the SDPO. The students said they are feeling confident and fearless due to the training. Sabnam Ara and Ipsita Sing, students of +2 Class said, “‘We are confident, but we need regular practice to continue the spirit.”
The programme was supervised by college lecturers Anandini Mishri, NCC officer, and Pranati Panda, NSS officer. The trainers were Sangita Kheti, Rukhmani Majhi and Basanti Sabar, who are Reserve Constables in the Nuapada police.
The closing session on January14 was attended by Prof Major Ramachandra Mishra and chairperson of Khariar NAC Khulana Behera as the guests. Nilima Barik, Trushnamayee Panda, Rukhmini Harijan and Rajeswari Naik were selected for further training to become master trainers to train girls of other colleges of the district after completion of their training at the Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar.
ongIJ)esp~IJHzKumari Nayak, Bishnupriya Padhi, Badrinath Gantayat, Rajendra Panda, Subash Panigrahi, Niranjan Nayak, Harapriya Sahu, Kishore Panigrahi, Ashok Behera, Pitambara Patra, Sasmita Sabat, Prafulla Panigrahi and Ramanath Gantayat led the demonstration.
ing. IIJQotIJHzIJzy little haven in the hills. I always have loved mountains. In Kim, Kipling wrote ‘Who goes to the hills, goes to his mother.’ I cannot agree more with him. living in the hills is like living in the bosom of a strong, sometimes proud, but always comforting mother. Every time I go away from here, the homecoming is warmer and sweeter.”
He says had he not decided to make Mussoorie his home, he may have been a different person today. “There's nature all around me. My shrubbery is my favourite place. Watching nature change its colours with the changing seasons enchants me. The sparrows are here all the year round. And so are the thrushes. It is summer and fruit-eating birds have arrived. The presence of these birds adds tranquility to my life."
The writer-in-residence in this hill town, Bond wrote his first book The Room on the Roof at the age of 16 .The work has the Doon valley as its backdrop and paints an endearing picture of the pristine beauty of the valley in the 1950s. Generations of children have been studying the book as a text in school. “I was 17 when The Room on the Roof was published. Makes me feel quite ancient sometimes,” Bond said.His latest book is Tales of Fosterganj, a novel about a charming Himalayan hamlet which he loves.
“Actually Fosterganj is Barlowganj near Mussooie disguised as a fictional place,” Bond told The Pioneer.
“There are more than a dozen chapters and they all are interlinked,” said the author who has been attending literature festivals in Dubai and Mumbai.
Tales of Fosterganj has several characters whom the author met and knew in the 1960s in Barlowganj. The novel is also set in the 1960s.
Ruskin Bond has a gentle charm. It has kept him going even as he wanders around the hill side identifying wildflowers for children or just listening patiently to the local baker's complaint of poor yeast and as the years have gone by, he has become a living legend, an institution.
Having long ago, effortlessly, crossed his ‘century’ of published titles; Ruskin Bond has maintained his integrity as a writer and has worked towards his goals with single-minded devotion. Perhaps his greatest achievement is that he has persevered in his dream of becoming a full-time writer. And he writes for those ‘gentle readers’ who are interested in the beauty of nature and the dignity in the lives of ordinary people rather than in stormy events.
His stories achieve a universal quality that transcends the regional locale and endorses the human endeavour to survive against odds and to preserve what is beautiful and meaningful.