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An Ethical Ortho & Joint Replacement Surgeon Passes Away

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Most orthopaedic surgeons, especially new age joint replacement surgeons, would look to rip you off come the slightest complaint of pain in the knees. But he was one among that class of doctors who would never prematurely ring the alarm bells and nurse most patients back to normal with the time tested simple exercises done with the help of an old bicycle rubber tube.

That was Dr Jaswant Rai for you, one of the most respected orthopaedic and joint replacement surgeons of the region, who famously served in the orthopaedic departments of the PGI, Fortis Hospital Mohali and Alchemist Hospital Panchkula in senior positions and as head of the department. He died on Sunday night at age 74. His cremation will be held on Tuesday at Sector 25 crematorium at 4 p.m.

I do remember, in my late 40s, I developed this problem in my right knee, which used to start aching after a few minutes of drive and get locked. “We have to rule out arthritis,” said an ortho in one of the hospitals in Sector 34 after looking at my x-ray. “Get an MRI done,” he advised, and I promptly obliged. The MRI did not report anything adverse, so the doc prescribed a few medicines and daily light exercises. My painful condition did not improve even after a longish adherence. So I went to another ortho, this time in Sector 44. Listening to my ‘Ram kahani’, and going through my records, he advised me to undergo regular diathermy sessions for a few weeks. My condition deteriorated further and even bending my knee became an issue.

Photo By: Life in Chandigarh

That’s when somebody suggested that I visit Dr Jaswant Rai, who was then director orthopaedics and joint replacement at Alchemist Hospital Panchkula. A quick examination and a few questions later, he was at his table writing a prescription. “It’s nothing, you’ll be all right soon. Just get an old bicycle rubber tube and do these exercises twice a day.” Case dismissed, no further talk. That’s how he was, misconstrued as being rude by some of his patients. The problem was gone and forgotten within weeks, as if nothing had happened.

I took a real liking for the professionally ethical doctor and started recommending him to friends. My last visit to him was in March 2017 at the Fortis clinics in Sector 11. This time it was my left knee. He looked quite weak in the legs, and was moving around by taking support of the furniture in his cabin. I did ask if he was all right, and he nodded. “Dasso ki problem hai.” I explained and he completed the same routine as last time and said, “Nothing to worry. You’ll be all right.” Without prescribing any medicines he asked me to follow the same tube exercises. Though this time the problem lingered on for a little longer, he insisted on my not taking pain killers. Instead he prescribed a few tablets to improve the lubrication in my knee joint. And there I was up and about within days, without having to undergo expensive tests and gulping down pain killers.

Informing about his death, a PGI press release said Prof. Jaswant Rai was born on 18.3.1943. He did his MBBS from Government Medical College, Amritsar in 1969 and MS Orthopaedics from PGI. He worked as a surgeon in PGI since 1974 and remained head of one of the units for a long time before he took voluntary retirement in October 2004. He joined as Director Orthopaedics at Fortis Hospital, Mohali and later moved as such to Alchemist Hospital, Panchkula. He last ran an OPD at the Fortis clinics in Chandigarh.

The PGI release described him as a leading joint replacement surgeon of the region since 1981. He was also an excellent teacher and a favourite with postgraduate students. His morning classes are the best memories for every postgraduate student of Orthopaedics Department.

Prof Jaswant Rai taught sports medicine and sports physiology as Honorary Consultant at Panjab University Chandigarh for 20 long years from 1983 to 2003. He delivered lectures, and participated in live demonstrations, during National and International conferences on joint replacement.

Lifeinchandigarh.com salutes the towering man

Politico Sidhu On Possibility Of Being Caught In A Chakravyuh™

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You may be wanting to play with a straight bat, your intent and resolve may be honest, but the way politics is played in the country, and in Punjab (there is very little differentiating one party from another), a distant possibility is that you might get sucked into a political ‘chakravyuh’ from where there is little or no possibility of escape.
This observation was put to maverick cricketer-commentator-turned-politician and current local bodies and tourism minister of Punjab, Navjot Singh Sidhu, at a meet-the-press programme at Chandigarh Pres Club on Thursday. ‘Sixer Sidhu’, a magician of wordplay, had the answer ready “The political malaise confronting the country today can only be fought from within. So good people have to enter politics and have the conviction to stay on against all odds. There have been great people who have run away from politics. We cannot shirk our responsibility towards our country,” he said.
Photo By: Life In Chandigarh
“For me politics is a mission. It’s a means of changing the lives of people for the good, it can also change the fortunes of a state. Unfortunately, from the heights of selfless politics from the likes of Mahatma Gandhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, when a Prime Minister had to take a loan to buy a car which he could not repay during his lifetime and his widow did from her pension, there is now a crisis of character and moral values are at their lowest ebb, with protectors of the people becoming their perpetrators. Ninety percent of the people in politics have adopted it as a profession, as a business.
“We have to win back that trust. We have to bring good people in. My father, Late Bhagwant Singh, who idolised Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, used to tell me ‘when in doubt, walk straight, walk the path of truth’.  I was only seven years old then, the words stuck in my mind. Today I am zealously following that path. I may have my faults, as all others do, but my ‘neeyat’ (intentions) are honest. I’ll not dither in my tracks,” he asserted.
Come, Politics Beckons You !! 

Smiles Just Stuck On Specially Abled Children’s Faces

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It’s seldom that children with special abilities, and those from the marginalised communities, get to enjoy a fair specially designed for them, and happily learn from it too. One such opportunity was provided to them by a well known boys’ school of the city on Friday. “Just Fair”, as it was aptly called, allowed the dozens of children drawn from the colonies, rehabilitation institutes and NGOs, with which St John’s regularly conducts its community activities, to forget themselves for those three hours and soak themselves in fun, frolic, creative activities, and a variety of lip-smacking food items laid out for them absolutely free of cost.

The fair organised in all Christian Brother schools across the country, was part of the mission of the school’s founder, Blessed Brother Edmund Rice. The aim being to empathise with children from the margins, who are largely deprived of the happiness and opportunities they deserve. The fair succeeded in its primary motive as the smiles just did not fade from the faces of the mentally, visually and audio impaired children during the entire course of the fair.

PHOTOS BY: LIFE IN CHANDIGARH

The school buses were at hand to ferry children from Bapu Dham colony, Government Rehabilitation Institute for Intellectual Disabilities (GRIID), Sector 31, the School for the Blind, and children supported by NGOs like Hamari Kaksha,  Nanhi Jaan, Sadhana and Donbosco. Students of government schools in sector 26 and 8 were also among the gleeful invitees.

Every child was given an identity card and a set of coupons to participate in specially designed games and creative activities and to eat to their heart’s fill.  The children and staff members enjoyed playing a wide variety of value-based games like Memory Game, Building Blocks, Roll the Dice, Lucky Dip etc.

Under the overall motivation of school principal Kavita C. Das, the students and teachers of St. John’s truly lived their belief – "It is more blessed to give than receive."

Transformation From A Strokeless Wonder™ To A Palm-Grove Hitter™

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The swashbuckling cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu credits the Media for the transformation in his cricketing fortunes, as well as making people accountable for their actions, and would like to see a stringent law being framed to effectively protect its freedom.

Remembering the days when he found himself being omitted from the national team after a poor showing on his debut in international cricket in 1983, Sidhu told a meet-the-press programme at the Chandigarh Press Club on Thursday that a banner headline in a national daily changed his very approach to the game. “The headline ‘Sidhu : A Strokeless Wonder’ carried on top of a column by a noted cricket writer of that time Rajan Bala in the Indian Express ripped me, and stripped me of my pride.”

 

PHOTOS BY: LIFE IN CHANDIGARH

His father, Sardar Bhagwant Singh, then advocate general of Punjab, who meant everything to Navjot, was apparently deeply disturbed after reading the column. “It was then that I took a secret pledge to make a comeback to the national squad. I started to take my cricket career more seriously. It took me a good four years to retu to the national team, during which period I also lost my father. That was shattering, as I could not fulfil my father’s dream, but I was goaded by all those around me to keep making efforts towards living his dreams.

“And there I was playing for my country in the Reliance World Cup 1987 co-hosted by India and Pakistan and scoring four fifties in a row which included 36 sixes (he had scores of 73, 75, 51, 55 against Australia, New Zealand, Australia again and Zimbabwe, respectively). After the world cup, on way to a tournament in Sharjah, Ravi Shastri showed me a headline to a column by the same writer (Rajan Bala) carried in Khaleej Times which this time read ‘Sidhu: From Strokeless Wonder To A Palm-Grove Hitter’. I felt great reading that. A transformation had really taken place.”

Sidhu recalled that when he made the secret pledge to himself, he was up 4.30 in the morning every day and was in the field with his helpers, “watering and rolling the pitch myself before practice. From the pocket money my father used to give me, I carried chocolates for the bowlers who were to bowl at me. I used to make it a point to hit 125 sixes every day. My hands used to bleed and I wore batting gloves with an extra lining of cotton to soak in the blood. Within 3-4 months my hands were as hard as steel.

“It took me three-and-a-half years to get a genuine break when Kapil Bhaaji called up one day to offer an opportunity to me to play for Sahara India in the then prestigious Sheesh Mahal Trophy. I grabbed the opportunity with both hands. In each of the seven innings I played against SBI and others, I hit a minimum of 10 sixes, which was enough for me to be included among the 25 probables for the Indian team for the Reliance World Cup. During the preparatory camp, some 200-300 cricket balls would have been lost because of my big hitting.”

A Real Inspiration For Aspiring Cricket Stars !!

First Woman SSP Assures Greater Accountability From Her Force

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As the Chandigarh Police claim to have busted a gang of vehicle thieves with the arrest of two 19-year-olds and a juvenile and recovery of 15 two-wheelers from them, the first woman Senior Superintendent of Police of UT Chandigarh Nilambari Jagadale appears to be putting in place a system of greater accountability towards the general public and seeking their closer cooperation in making the city, its colonies and the villages falling within the jurisdiction of the Union territory safer.

Talking to lifeinchandigarh.com after a press briefing to announce the arrests and the recovery, Nilambari said it is still early days (she joined the force six weeks ago on deputation from Punjab), but she has taken a few steps already to win the confidence of the people, whose safety, security and wellbeing is her business. “The foremost of my priorities is to make the force more accountable to the people we serve. For this the complaint redressal system is being monitored on a daily basis so that there is no pendency, especially of complaints of a serious nature. I am also keeping a close eye on the complaints being submitted in the public window at the police headquarters in Sector 9.

Photo By: Life in Chandigarh

“A string of anti-snatching measures have also been operationalised, including a practice of shifting nakas (anytime, anywhere), especially in the identified most prone areas. With this we have removed the predictability factor,” she said.

The SSP informed that the entire public grievances system was being given a new thrust, with more and regular interactions with all sections of the people at all levels. The market committees and resident welfare associations will be central to all such activities aimed at creating closer bonding between the public and the police. These will not remain ceremonial in nature, she assured.

She said the police force will organize more camps like the dental camp organized for senior citizens recently and these will touch the daily lives of the weaker sections of society in a major way.

During the festive season, though security is the topmost priority, but officers at all levels have been instructed to attend to even other festival-related public grievances like noise pollution. “DSP and SHO level officers have been asked to personally intervene in such complaints and counsel the people against whom such complaints are addressed,” she shared.

lifeinchandigarh.com sincerely hopes that the police are able to improve their image in the eyes of the general public and we are to take pride in them.

‘No Time to Fight Over River Waters, Let’s Save Rivers First™

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This is not the time to fight over sharing of river waters. It’s time to think what we can do together to save our rivers. Because if there is little, or no water, left in our rivers, what will be share. This was the message which Esha Foundation head Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev, who is spearheading a nationwide campaign “Rally for Rivers”, left for us to ponder at a event organised at Tagore Theatre here to drum up support for the cause of reviving our rivers. Punjab and Haryana, as well as UT Chandigarh said a resounding “Yes” to the Sadguru’s initiative. Officials of the Punjab Government and Esha Foundation also exchanged a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the cause on the occasion.

Accompanying Sadguru on the dais to strongly endorse the need for adopting a long term national policy on creating one km wide green belts along both sides of all rivers in the country, were governors of Punjab and Haryana, VP Singh Badnore and Kaptan Singh Solanki, Chief Minister of Haryana Manohar Lal and Member of Parliament from Chandigarh Kirron Kher. Though not on the dais, Preneet Kaur, wife of Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, deputised for him in his absence.


Photo By: Life In Chandigarh

 Doing some plain speaking, Sadguru wondered whether we had a plan for the country, or are we convinced that we are going to be the last generation to exist on this planet. While conceding that after independence the country was in a survival mode and desperate measures were taken by governments then, which at that point of time they considered best for development and overall interests of the people, he asserted that subsequently to satisfy our greed, mother earth was plundered of its natural resources and in just over 50 years be brought it down on its knees.

Today the environment is no longer a talk confined to the bedrooms of the elite, it is the business of all our 1.3 billion population, he said, adding that we need to act, and act fast. He informed that for the first time parties from all sides of the political spectrum were agreed on one thing, that the revival of river waters was absolutely necessary for our very survival. He said it was heartening to note that during his 8300 kms rally across the country, starting September 3, 2017 from Coimbatore, as many as 12 states had assured their full support for the initiative and more were joining the bandwagon.
Sadguru appealed to the masses to continue to support the cause by making missed calls on 8000980009 so that the Union government, which was already positive towards the initiative, was empowered with the people’s overwhelming mandate to go ahead with framing a long term national policy on reviving river waters.
Emphasising on the enormity of the task ahead, he said several legislative, legal, administrative and other complexities would need to be overcome before the initiative gets off the ground. Even if the process of framing a long term national policy is completed in a year, it will take another 10-15 years to create the proposed green belts along the rivers and still 4-5 years more to see positive outcome of the efforts to start showing.
Dwelling on the issue of farmers’ suicides across the country, Sadguru said while it was true that increasing indebtedness and inability of farmers to repay their farm loans were causes for the members of the community to take the ultimate step, he said unless we are able to provide the farmers with rich soil and adequate water they cannot be extricated from the vicious cycle.
Asked for his views on the continuing construction of dams, Sadguru felt that the dams were perhaps relevant at the time these were planned and erected, but with rapid climate change there was a need to have a fresh look at their efficacy. But he was against the idea of dismantling the existing dams, which he felt would cause greater social tensions in regions benefitted by them.
Expressing his government’s unflinching support to the initiative, Haryana CM Manohar Lal informed the gathering that though there was not a single river which flowed exclusively through the state, his government was doing its utmost to keep the rivers clean by installing sewage treatment plants all along their courses. He also highlighted the concerted efforts being made by the state government to revive the legendry Saraswati river, which is believed to have flowed from the state into Rajasthan and Gujarat before entering the sea.
Governors Badnore and Solanki, while lauding Sadguru’s initiative and wishing it all success, said any policy decisions by the government need mass support and participation from the people to succeed.
MP Kirron Kher wore a green and blue saree combination (representing trees and water) to the function to demonstrate her support to the initiative.

Get Ready To Spoil Yourself At The Wardrobe Story™

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It will not be any ordinary lifestyle and fashion exhibition. The Wardrobe Story (TWS), a first of its kind exhibition in Chandigarh, being put together by an established makeup artist and fashion consultant and an experienced weddings and event organiser duo, promises the fashionistas and the would-be-brides, a most exhilarating experience while leisurely scouting for their fall-winter embellishments.

To make the browsing and shopping experience comfortable and carefree, Hotel Lalit, IT Park, which is partnering the duo, is laying out a lounge with a bar and a children’s play area to afford the visitors patience, time and energy to soak in the refreshing creations being brought to the venue by 50-plus labels, some A-listed and other promising and already popular. So, mark you diary on September 30 and October 1. The exhibition will be on from 11 am to 8 pm on both days.

PHOTOS BY: LIFE IN CHANDIGARH
Anshika Gulati, founder and curator of TWS, and Amitoj Sandhu, founder of Fashion Boulevard, while interacting with media persons, said there would also be live band performances along with food and drinks.

Promising that there would be something for everyone, trendy, peppy, quirky, and at the same time comfortably wearable, they said the price range would be anything between Rs 1500 to Rs 2 lakh, all value for money. Expanding on the range on offer, the organising duo said, from designer wear to everyday wear, from crepes to cottons, from formal to semi-formal, from Indo-weste to ethnic, from wedding wear to kids wear and home decor it would be both expansive and exhaustive.

Among the 50-plus labels would be Ritu Kumar, who are participating in any exhibition for the first time, Guneeta Ghai, Talash by Indra, Shilpi Gohri, Shilpa Goyal, Preeti Sidhu, Mithi Brar, Sanam Tamana, Neet, Savita Gupta jewellery designer, Vintage Touch footwears, Roxso, Jugni by Jyotika, Dressing Loft by Isha and The Peach Pit.

Sharing her idea behind TWS, Anshika Gulati said, “As Karwachauth, Diwali and the wedding season are approaching, we thought we will showcase before the fashionistas and the would-be-brides a never seen before festive collection of neo designers as well as established players.”

Amitoj Sandhu added, “The market is flooded with lots of new talent and now it’s time that we offer something new to fashion enthusiasts. Our designer list is quite fresh as we have brought young talent which has not exhibited at big platforms. We aim to give them exposure, and buyers an opportunity to look out for something new, quirky and full of creativity. Off course we will have few
A-listed designers as well who could be a source of inspiration for the nouveaus.”

Bhupinder Kala, the Chandigarh representative of Ritu Kumar, Babli Bedi, one of the participating promising fashion designers, and Imit Arora, General Manager of The Lalit, also interacted with the media.

On the occasion, Mrs India 2017 (1st Runner Up) Cheena Arora showcased a new designer dress from the stable of Ritu Kumar and a couple of other models showcased designer wear of Babli Bedi.

Start Up Opens Doors To Students, Corporates, Artists, Bloggers

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Digital India is going places. If you are a small or big businessman, a corporate, an artist or a blogger and need to reach out to a wide and targeted audience, then you need to quickly go digital. Otherwise, chances are you will find it difficult to survive in this rapidly digitalising world. Digital Series, an ISO certified Digital marketing training centre in Chandigarh’s Sector 34, has opened its doors to such categories of people, offering them crash courses to manage their digital marketing themselves, instead of doling out thousands every month to outsource this work. The centre is also offering two-month professional certified course in digital marketing to students to take this up as a rewarding career. There are also courses in digital photography and content writing.

Says Digital Series founder Nitin Rai Chaudhary, “Today’s market is all about digital marketing. Traditional marketing is taking a back seat. From small setups to bigger corporate houses, all need to go digital. According to a recent Nat-geo US survey, 77% jobs will be based upon computers and digitization by 2020. If we don’t learn or teach digitization today, we’ll be left behind.”  He adds, “Digitization will improve employment and entrepreneurship opportunities.

Photo By: Life in Chandigarh

Interacting with media persons, Vipin Rai Chaudhary, co-founder and Google Adwords certified search engine optimization (SEO) expert and trainer with 8 years of up-work and SEO experience, said the centre will provide Learn and Earn Google Certification concept of digital marketing training. There will be certified digital marketing courses – one 18-days crash course and another
2-months digital marketing professional program.

In both the courses the student will be provided on job training. “Students will be guided by Google certified trainers. They will also be trained to write effective content. The course will cover hands-on projects, weekly assignments, research based internship, pre reading material and industry interaction sessions, the Digital Series founders informed.

The three-month digital photography course includes Skype calls with international artists, international certification and on job training.

After the completion of each course, the centre promises to assist each student in job placements, the founders claimed, adding that the probability of getting a decent job is 99 percent. The price tag on 18-day crash course in digital marketing is Rs 15,000 and on two-month professional program Rs 35,500.

To foster creativity, the team behind Digital Series has crafted a quirky learning environment quite different from regular class rooms. Wall arts, which embellish the centre, are aimed at encouraging a positive thought process.

News Editor KJ Singh Professional Par Excellence

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KJ Sir and his mother have been murdered today in their Phase 3B2 Mohali residence, an ex-Tribune photo journalist colleague informed me at a book launch on Saturday evening. My first instinct was it could not be true. What ? I asked him as if expecting he might just say he was joking.

But that was wishful thinking. The tragedy had actually happened….a dastardly crime against one of the senior most desk journalists of the region, and a highly respected one at that. Though he had distanced himself from mainstream journalism for a few years now, after very rewarding innings at the Indian Express, The Times of India and finally The Tribune as news editor and chief news editor, he is still held in high esteem by the teams he worked with.

As I still lie in a state of disbelief, I wonder how someone could do this to him and his nonagenarian mother. Though we last communicated quite a few years ago, I cherish fond memories of us working together first in the Indian Express and then Times of India between 1994 and 2005.

As a news editor, the hands on person responsible for producing the newspaper in the shape and manner we read every day, he was a perfectionist. Highly self respecting and firm in his beliefs, I remember the circumstances in which he left The Times of India and The Tribune.

He was very aggressive in his approach towards news selection and wanted to beat the competition hollow the next day by attempting always to take developing big news to the last, even if it meant holding the edition till even 3 a.m.

One particular incident I fail to forget, despite my memory running short, is when a day after a weekly off I opened the morning newspapers to be flabbergasted to find that only one English newspaper, The Times of India, was carrying a banner headline to the effect that “The Hijacking That Was” and all the competitors howling that a hijacking had taken place at the Delhi airport.

Not knowing what to believe, and not wanting to disturb any of my colleagues in the morning, because they go home very late and sleep till late in the morning, I switched on the television to be informed with a sense of pride that it was indeed a mock drill ordered by the civil aviation minister…..The Times of India had come out with flying colours. That was the level of his professionalism. And he was a stickler for design, having a great design sense.

Such journalists are always hard to find … one in hundreds, maybe thousands. My parting salute to the Great Man !!!

On the orders of Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh, state police chief Suresh Arora has formed a SIT, headed by IG (Crime), to get to the depth of the double murder in the heart of Mohali. We pray and hope that the culprits are caught soon and awarded the harshest of punishment for the heinous crime. We cannot bring them back, but this the bare minimum we can do for the departed souls. RIP

Life In The IAS: My Encounters With The Three Lals of Haryan™ Makes for Interesting Reading

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It would surely make very interesting reading. A senior Haryana bureaucrat, retired since long, has poured into a book launched on Saturday his experiences while working at various times under the famous three Lals of the state.

Writer Ram Varma (left), Harish Khare, SD Bhambri and DS Dhesi with the book launched on Saturday at UT Guest House

Photo By: Life in Chandigarh

The book “Life In The IAS – My Encounters With The Three Lals of Haryana”, penned by former Haryana chief secretary Ram Varma, was formally dedicated to the people in Chandigarh by a galaxy of luminaries – former Haryana chief secretary S.D. Bhambri, editor-in-chief of The Tribune Harish Khare and Haryana chief secretary D.S. Dhesi – at a simple ceremony organised by the Swarna Jayanti Celebrations Authority, Haryana, at UT Guest House.

Packed with interesting anecdotes, tongue-in-cheek observations, behind-the-scenes political happenings and personal recollections, “Life in the IAS…..”, published by Rupa Publications India, captures the extraordinary journey of Haryana, its famous three Lals – Bansi Lal, Devi Lal and Bhajan Lal – and author Ram Varma, who takes the ups and downs of his distinguished career in his rollicking stride, experiencing thrills and triumphs, trials and tribulations.

On 1 November 1966, India saw the birth of its 17th state, Haryana, carved out of Punjab. Two years prior, Ram Varma had graduated from the prestigious IAS Academy and was allocated to Punjab. He was then transferred to Haryana, which was a state in turmoil and had within a year infamously been stamped as a land of political infidelity – ‘Aya Rams and Gaya Rams’.

Having served in various capacities from sub-divisional magistrate to chief secretary, Ram Varma relives the history of Haryana in the first three formative decades. An ambitious work, it covers the whole range of the state’s history – its inception, the chief ministers at the helm, the bureaucracy, the infrastructure reconstruction programme, including the innovative lift-irrigation projects and much more – as captured against the nation’s history which too was crafting a resurgent identity.

The book pivots its central narrative around the portrayal of the three Lals of Haryana – Bansi Lal, Devi Lal and Bhajan Lal – who dominated the scene. Barring a few years, Haryana was ruled by the Lals, who chased each other in and out of office. The author has watched this fledgling state grow during their respective reigns, had keenly observed the workings of each chief minister and was a witness to the fascinating drama of its transformation from a poor, resource-less state to a progressive, front-ranking state during his tenure.