Truth & Media Seminar at KUK University

"Advertorials are a dangerous trend. While on the one hand they sustain the culture of Corporatisation of Media and on the other they create another class amongst the media men which has altogether different areas of operation and different goals to pursue...objectivity is to needs to be maintained at all costs and any thing that pre-judges will only encourage the trends of media trial...we have already a system of judicial scrutiny in place and until and unless one has clinching evidence, nothing should be projected which is mere speculative or judgemental in nature" said Rajbir Deswal at the Truth & Media Seminar held at Kurukshetra University on March 8,2008. Seen in the picture is also the legendary Mr. M. R. Dua.

National Seminar on New Insights in Literatures in English

A National Seminar on New Insights into Literatures in English was held at Gurgaon which was presided over by Rajbir Deswal while Dr. Pushpinder Syal delivered the keynote address. Mrs. Suman Gupta and Mrs. Ranjana Lal, Principals,also spoke. Prof. Naresh Kansal and Prof. Samidha moderated. Dr. D.S. Dhankhar , CMO, attended as a delegate.

Rajbir Deswal dwelt largely on Creative Liberty issue as raised by none other than King Shah Rukh Khan as subterfuge for his inability to quit smoking. He said such liberties CAN be taken but with a meaningful purpose in mind . Like if you give graphic details of a murky and morbid thing in your narration, it is not appreciated when it claims credit for being a literary activity. For research it may be alright but not as literature. Rajbir Deswal recalled a recent article written by Dr. Shamim Sharma on female foeticide wherein she gave details of the surgery involved in the gory activity of killing daughters for added impact. And as such the liberty taken was acceptable.
(The report at http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20080316/delhi.htm#11 needs clarification here.) But rather, in defence of a war against female foeticide, any liberty that is required, should be taken, not only in literary Creative Writing but in all forms of projection of viewpoints, against the barbaric practice which is abhorable and condemnable in the strictest possible terms.

Dr. Pushpinder Syal's propagation of a transnational approach in current literary activity was appreciated and deliberated upon.
(Seen in the pics are Dr. Pushpinder Syal, Rajbir Deswal, Mrs. Suman Gupta,Mrs. Ranjana Lal,Prof. Naresh Kansal and the delegates.)
Seminar Gurgaon


Rajbir Deswal recalled a recent article written by Dr. Shamim Sharma on female foeticide wherein she gave details of the surgery involved in the gory activity of killing daughters for added impact. And as such, the liberty taken was acceptable according to Deswal."In defence of a war against female foeticide, any liberty that is required, should be taken, not only in literary creative writing but in all forms of projection of viewpoints, against the barbaric practice which is abhorable and condemnable in the strictest possible terms" said he.

Mr. Deswal who himself is a writer of middles in national dailies felt that the strongest feeling in one being projected through the ornamental phraseology makes the narration very ear pleasing. Creative writing can not be confined to any techniques but rather anything that comes straight from the heart and that can be clothed in a diction that has all the ingredients of the art possessed by a connoisseur or a raconteur, should create the desired effect. He also cautioned against biases and prejudices in journalistic writings as well. He quoted Mathew Arnold who said,"Journalism is Literature in a hurry."

The delegates endorsed Dr. Pushpinder Syal's transnational trends in writing of English and mention was made of Ben Le Hunte's award winning novel "There where the pepper grows" which shows the locales of the scenes in her novel in war ridden Poland, Russia, Japan, India and America. "The current trends in writing in English involve three or four or five countries," said Dr. Syal. Se further said that the whole matter of identity, of belonging and of homeland, has been deconstructed—through the fictional explorations of Naipaul and Rushdie, and other followers of that mould, as well as critical explorations drawn from areas of history that examine nation, nationality and its representations.
Dr. Samidha Shikha, Head Department of English, Government College Gurgaon, said that, “Creative language has a musical quality about it, which resonates into meaning. Thus, the sound-effect of language directly affects its semantics. This musicality goes beyond the technical rhyme scheme. It breathes life into it so as to keep it treasured for centuries ahead.”

Haryana Police Trainers adopt DFID model

The British model of Police Training (Department of International Development) being applied for imparting teaching techniques to Haryana policemen by Rajbir Deswal at Hisar.

Recalling Gutsy Girlie on Women's Day

हम किसी से कम नहीं
By: K Rajbir Deswal
My orthodox hard boiled Haryanvi grandmother would have committed suicide, on hearing the news about Bhuri Kalbi’s daughter, surviving a premature birth, slipping through the toilet bowl of a running train near Ahmadabad, in Gujrat. Also, she would have been not at all pleased, with tidings from Bangalore about three years old Laxmi, surviving a surgery involving separating two of her extra limbs, around Diwali last year. “It’s only the chhoras (boys) who death and disease like to visit and not chhoris (girls)” was her eternal lament.
My grandmother would also have caught by the neck Dr. Alexander Jacob, the Director of Kerala Police Academy I visited recently, for how dare he took pride in boasting, “Out of the sixteen-hundred women recruits, we have 400 post graduates including 47 Doctorate holders and the rest 1200 are graduates.” My PSO Robin Ignatius would have been literally lapped up and profusely consoled for his sob story, by my Grandma since “the poor boy” rued, “The girls in our state do not let us go ahead of them, neither in quality nor in quantity. You know they are 1080 for every 1000 of us.”
The in-flight experience on my way back had a weakling in me exposed inside out on my ‘gender sensitivity’—sensitisation can be taught. Minutes before the take off, the air hostess maneuvered hard to close the door when it swung swiftly off the latches. The engineer, a young Sikh, was sent for, who fixed the door. Only thing required was to use some extra muscle and a hard push.
Leaving instructions with the air hostess, he went out to see if she could close the door herself from inside. She could not; but was undeterred in her resolve to do the job trying umpteen times. Foolishly we kept fastened to our seats. Lending a helping hand to the damsel might also not have been appropriate for she had to learn to be enough plucky. When she finally closed the door, all passengers on board clapped. I noticed perspiration on the girl’s face and some kind of a dislike for being applauded. “Isn’t this remarkable display of equipoise and self respect? Gutsy girlie!” I mumbled to myself.
After about an hour of being air borne, the plane hit turbulence. The passenger occupying the window seat in our row became a bit apprehensive and anxious. He flashed an uneasy smile on his face and indulged in a kind of self reassurance saying, “Shouldn’t he have stabilised the plane by now. “It is not a he, but she! Didn’t you hear the Captain’s announcement in a sweet voice?” I quietly whispered into his ears. Wham bam! I invited trouble for myself. All through the flight this man kept praying with his seat kept in upright position and making restless body movements.
Having touched down at New Delhi and the plane being in taxi mode, I had a mischievous but mild dig at my friend, “Was it not a very smooth landing!” “That’s alright but could she have shown enough mettle and grit in case, God forbid, the plane was hijacked?” “Have you washed off your memory the sacrifice of Neerja Bhanot, a flight purser on a Pan-American flight, who laid down her life in 1986, rescuing three children and was posthumously awarded the prestigious Ashok Chakra.” I reminded him. Shame was writ large on his face when he looked at me, grinning.
While disembarking I could not resist the temptation to have a peep into the cockpit when the pilot happened to turn her face towards me and smiled as if to say, “Hum kisi se kum nahin! Safe journey back home, Sir!”
To see the versions published in The Tribune and Indian Express, click the links below

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20080308/edit.htm#5

http://epaper.indianexpress.com/artMailDisp.aspx?article=14_04_2008_010_010&typ=1&pub=320