Thursday 29 November 2012

Anil Kant Night at Gurgaon

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It was a blessing and a great honor for us to have Pastor Anil Kant  with us today, the 29th. of November at the St.Crispin's school Gurgaon. The magic and the spiritual gift of music once again brought forth a moment of revival for all those present. Although the rain played spoil-sport, the people present were enthralled by the soulful music.  Also present on the occasion were the Bishop of the Diocese of Delhi, (Church of North India) Sunil K. Singh and Mr. Richard Khan who heads the Bible Society of India.
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Reverend Sunil Ghazan, the Presbyter In Charge of the Epiphany Church of Gurgaon said the prayer at the beginning of the programme. The choir of the Epiphany Church of Gurgaon also sang a hymn on the occasion.
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The ground was full and those who hungered for spiritual bread were numerous:
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Some of the different moods of Pastor Anil Kant have been captured below: 
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Wednesday 28 November 2012

The Lonely Journey of a Ras


The Ras’s journey was a long and mystical, full of surprises and Epiphanies. Revered by some as “Jani Ho” he is the Corner Stone of the Ras Tafarian movement. Two rather mystical incidents early in his life were his encounter with a Lion, and the death of a close friend. These were two defining moments which were to shape the direction which his life would take. The mystery of his death the manner of the  disposal of his remains, and the fate of the rest of the Royal Family continues to be a topic of much discussion and debate such as that of the last Tsar of Russia.

Astride  a  Horse, he  gazes at the distant horizon,
His  faithful sword  in a  scabbard  fastened to his
Waist, spear  held in his hand. His  round leather-
Satchel  filled with  the precious  bread, Ambasha,
Horn   topped   with   the   bitter-sweet  tej  to last!
 
Eagle eyes  hooded  against   the rising  Harar Sun,
Heart heavy with  the loss of his close friend,Tefari
Broods  about the  encounter  with the Lion, visions
Of the Lion of Judah spurring him on a long journey
To  lead  his    people  out  of   Abyssinian  darkness.
 
Addis, still a distant destination and a Cousin not in
Favour. But  heavy lies the burden  on shoulders so
Young,  parents  not   around,  all so alone!The lions
In  the bush  roar  their  prophecy  of a  new reign of
Prosperity, and  joy   for  a  nation  brought  to  light!
 
This poem is the result of my memories of what I once read in a discarded book which I once found in the library of the Arbaminch Comprehensive High School in Arbaminch where I studied till class nine. This book was about the early life of the Ras, and it had been discarded for condemnation because the country had turned towards Socialism and all material pertaining to the Ras was consigned to the flames!
 
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Sunday 25 November 2012

Gagging the Post-How freely should we express our points of view?

The recent incident of two Mumbai Girls shooting into the limelight and questions being raised about the provisions of Articles 66A of the IT Act, deserves a debate on what constitutes, “sending messages of a menacing character (or)  causing annoyance” within the framework of Democracy. In a democracy,  Freedom that infringes the rights of others becomes licence and can no longer be termed Freedom as such! We need to understand what constitutes infringing the rights of others; casting aspersions on character , mud-slinging, vilification, mockery, lampooning and even making caricatures  (in the form of cartoons) can all be said to be an infringement of the right to dignity and respect. Many democracies  throughout the world however have  different attitude towards  the right to Freedom of Expression. Some of the more mature and developed Western countries even accept Cartoons and a mild form of lampooning of some of their famous and great personalities.  It is ironical that while we talk about provisions of Freedom of Expression, we do not talk about Freedom of Privacy while tapping phone calls of those in opposition to us! While it is true that the Freedom of Expression doesn’t mean that we should vilify another person, it is however easily curbed through legislation, rules and acts whose context might be conveniently misunderstood.
It is highly surprising that even though we live in a Democracy, we behave in a most immature manner and go overboard in matters of arresting young people desirous of expressing their opinions on social networking sites which might be only expressions of the obvious! The gifts of Information technology, and networking sites which most politicians and famous personalities use to express their opinions are at odds with the provisions of Democracy if they are gagged by acts and rules which might not have been  properly interpreted! Having spent a greater part of my early teens in what was once a Socialist Republic of a North Eastern Country in Africa, I observed the atmosphere of paranoia that existed in the society stemming from the fear of being overheard criticizing the military  junta! A single word spoken in censure of the government policies would lead to the arrest of the speaker, and the labelling of him or her as a traitor, often leading to the status of a political prisoner. The brain washing and re-education programme would be then given in prison. In some cases, the perpetrator was never seen again. Such extreme lack or tolerance was understandable in a country which was being run by a dictatorial administration whose very foundation was based on a coup d'état, and bloodshed in a military take over. I remember how all the Expats ensured that they didn’t speak anything that could be taken otherwise by the Government. As a teen, I had many friends from that country and I could sense the extreme state of fear that they lived in.
The relative freedom that I found when I came to India was rather intoxicating. In my Political Science classes we were taught about the various Freedoms that were the foundation of a Democracy, and of course we were taught about the Rights of citizens living in a Democracy, our Duties as responsible citizens, and the need to respect the Rights of others. The cartoons of Sudhir Talang and many others that appeared in the English dailies were a testament to the greater amount of freedom that existed in a Democracy. The famous serial, Ulta Pulta by the famous Comedian Jaspal Bhatti targeted corruption in such a way that even the very victims of corruption could sit back and have a good laugh!  The I.T.revolution truly opened up the boundaries for freedom of expression in a manner that had never been possible before! It is probable however that this heady mixture of  social networking sites and ease of access to a large number of people might have become a target for misuse. The appearance of morphed photographs, remarks made in bad taste, comments mocking the sentiments of different communities and individuals on social networking sites have been on the increase recently. However, in such cases it is the malicious intent that should be taken into account. There are frequent live telecasts of people who engage in public opinion polls, debates, and even public discussion forums, making vociferous comments, mud slinging and yet they are not prosecuted for indecency or even propriety. We tolerate indecency and even vulgarity in T.V. serials and reality shows, but are intolerant towards comments which reflect the obvious state of affairs!
Excess freedom can however be intoxicating in nature, and its effect can be seen in all aspects of life, whether it is the revolution that is taking place in the Education sector, or even the Entertainment Industry. Today we have more lampoons, satires, comedies and cartoons than ever before, most of which are really in bad taste and yet they are passed by censor boards. Students in schools are spoiled for choice today than we were in our days. If our youth today is more expressive and voluble in its criticism of what they don’t like, then it is because they have been born in the I.T. age and age where they have greater freedom than ever before! Earlier, children were not allowed to talk out of turn, they were not allowed to appear in the presence of adult guests, sometimes not even allowed to be present on such occasions! I guess times have changed and your child knows about his rights, and can question you as and when he wishes. It is therefore rather surprising that we  who have given so many freedoms to our younger generations should now be talking about taking action against those who are voluble in talking about the defects in our system! Today we stand at the crossroads of an era where Information technology is the road towards empowerment. We can either enjoy the fruits of the I.T.Revolution(albeit in a reasonable manner), or we can go back to the stone-age practice of gagging expression. The Jasmine Revolution, and the  uprising at Tahrir Square- Egypt stand testimony to the fact that today it has become very difficult to moderate opinions posted on the internet!

Tuesday 20 November 2012

The Craft of Interviewing

One of the most popular methods of selecting or rejecting candidates in a school whether for the post of a Principal, or the post of a teacher continues to be the Interview. Unfortunately this is also a most maligned tool. A high attrition rate of selected candidates or inability to retain them for more than a year might also point out to defects in the selection procedure which is based on the Interview method. Attrition might be attributed to inability to judge whether the candidate matches to the expectations of the philosophy of the organisation, or the inability to identify discrepancies in the eligibility of the candidate for the post. Unfortunately when a candidate who has passed through the rigours of the selection process leaves the organisation rather suddenly, it leaves a bad image not only on the organisation, but also has a traumatic impact on the candidate. During a training held recently, it was made clear that every candidate who goes through the interview should leave with a sense of fulfilment even if he is not selected, having due respect for the objectivity of the selection procedure.
It is true that many organisations subject the candidate to a battery of tests and processes of elimination which include Psychometric procedures, Aptitude tests and a thorough screening of the Curriculum Vitae before calling him or her for the interview. The traditional interview however has much that is lacking in terms of validity, and better form of the Interview is the Behavioural Event Interview or the B.E.I. The B.E.I. unlike the traditional method of interview has better chances of analysing behavioural manifestations of attitudes, mind-sets, skills, values, and motives. An accurate analysis of these traits in the candidate might help avoid embarrassment caused by a high attrition rate among selected candidates or inability to retain them for a justifiable period of time. If the Philosophy and Mind-Set of the candidate doesn’t match with those of the Organisation then it would be better to be forewarned and the Organisation could then look for another suitable candidate.
The key to the B.E.I. method of interviewing candidates lies in making the candidate feel as comfortable and at ease and then this is followed by asking him or her relevant probing questions that would attempt to analyse the relevant attitudes and values and mind-sets. The strategy of the B.E.I. is to probe for critical incidents in a persons earlier life and career which would have a future bearing on his or her ability to serve the organisation faithfully. One important assumption on which the Behavioural Event Interview is based is that past performances are suitable predictors of future performances. Thus, having  defined behavioural indicators are a necessity for an effective B.E.I.
It is true that the Interview is a craft learned through experience and development of skills of being able to make the candidate feel comfortable and not intimidated in any case. It is also an art that has to be cultivated painstakingly. The best interviewers could also be those who have undergone this process a fair number of times.The ideal Behavioural Event Interview is not an interrogation method such as many of my readers might have undergone. There was this interview that I went through sometime in the year 2010, and amazingly I had to face a panel of interviewers who kept firing questions at random. Some of the questions were as funny as, “Why are sewer covers or manhole covers round?”. This question was not connected to my professional profile, but still it was thrown at me at random. My reply that “not all manhole or sewer covers are round!” was met with amusement, and one of the panel members, a retired Principal appreciated my answer while the person who asked the question squirmed, although I later told them that the round shape was ideal for accessibility. An effective Behavioural Event Interview is all about careful planning, and trick questions should not be asked. It is also all about a one to one interview and not about be bombarded by question by a large number of panel members. Unfortunately the greatest mistake is to make the candidate feel intimidated! The workshop that I attended recently on the B.E.I. made it very clear that the Interviewer should sit at a tangent to the interviewee, and not directly opposite to him, without of course  being too close for comfort.
I am most thankful to the organisation which set up this workshop on the B.E.I. method and did a wonderful job of acquainting me further with the latest methods of assessing candidates.!
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Friday 16 November 2012

My Memories of The Arbaminch Airport and the D.C3 Aircraft

 
 
 
 
 
It was a rather unassuming Airport in nineteen seventies, nothing more than a dirt-track that served as a runway, a sock and a radio antenna that was raised on a pole. Samson, my classmate in class seventh and eighth was also the airport manager’s son and he would often take me to the airport or rather airstrip. In those days the aircraft that frequented the airstrip were the D.C3s.,the double canvass winged aircraft that served as a crop sprayer, and the few single engine  aircraft that seated six passengers and had the legend Admass Air emblazoned on the sides. In those days all communication between the pilot and the airport was via the Short Wave radio band and could be heard on ordinary radio sets.
Of all the aircraft that landed and took off from the airstrip, the D.C3 was the most impressive! Just before the aircraft landed, the pilot would call up the Airport Manager, the Airstrip would be cleared of the animals grazing around the airstrip and the D.C3. would touch the edge of the airstrip trailing a rather long trail of dust behind it. The D.C3 squatted on its tail with a nose up attitude which seemed to be rather strange because while parked, the D.C3 had a nose pointing up towards the blue sky. Samson often took me on a tour of the plane and it did look odd walking up an incline from the tail towards the cockpit. This plane also had a tiny chemical W.C. at the tail. My memory of flying in this plane goes back a further few years when at the age of three or four we flew from Mekele to Asmara. It was a most uneventful flight (except for the tendency of the plane to drop a few feet each time it hit an air pocket), and there were only four of us, both my parents, my brother and I.
The twin piston engines of the D.C3 had a distinct beat and it never flew at a very high altitude. You could see the D.C3 pass over the town in a rather sedate manner. In those days, the largest aircraft that could land on the airstrip in Arbaminch was the D.C3. The plane had seats that could be folded over to make space for the cargo. I often observed that besides sundry parcels, odds and ends, the aircraft was loaded with corn of all things! The only time I was aware of an accident involving this plane happened when a D.C3. plane took off with a full load of cargo including corn, and for some reason failed to clear the tree tops in the forest which started after the perimeter of the airport. The reasons of the crash were never clear, but the sound of music could be clearly heard on the radio coming from the cockpit of the plane. Was it engine failure, or was it that the aircraft was overloaded beyond its payload capacity was never made clear. All we knew was that two young pilots had lost their lives in the crash.
4297 ET-ABR Ethiopian Operating flight ET 231 to Addis Ababa sometimes spelled Addis Abeba Lalibela Ethiopia 13 October 1974 Christian Hanuise
The wreckage of the plane could be seen from the main road just a few kilometres from the town, that was till the trees grew taller. I remember visiting the crash site with my father and brother after the crash had taken place. The place was still smouldering in some places, and debris was scattered all over the place, cables, instrument panels and melted blobs of aluminium littered the place. It felt really bad to see this rather beautiful plane in such a state. Of  the Pilots, nothing could be seen ( they had been airlifted to Addis Abeba in another plane). One of the pilots had survived, but he passed away en route because of serious head injuries.
 
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Wednesday 14 November 2012

The Last Stand-A Short Story

From our elevated position overlooking the plains, we saw three bright flashes far away which seemed to punch into the air and, in what seemed to be instant later, came the sound of the ordinance whistling past to land a kilometre away with a deafening explosion that knocked the breath out of our shaking the Earth  and causing a storm of dust and debris to rain over our  entrenched camp. We now knew that our hidden camp had been discovered finally! It would take only a few more ranging shots to make a direct hit!
The last remnants of Humanity had abandoned the big cities and fled towards the mountains where the alien cyborg Robots would not yet follow. it was here that they would  make a last stand. The alien Cyborg Robots were out to clear the Earth of all human beings which for them were vermin and posed an unnecessary obstacle for preparing the planet for the settlement of alien  creatures from another galaxy. I looked at Clara grimly and indicating towards the hidden trail said, “ Well it is time to put our emergency evacuation plan into action!” She nodded and said, “ Yes Fred I have already alerted the team leaders and even as we are speaking, the families are being led to their buses!” “Well done,” I exclaimed, recalling that she had gone into emergency mode the moment our watchers reported the activity in the plains, especially when the field guns in the plains were being pointed towards our positions in the mountains.Clara interrupted my thoughts, “ Fred, don’t waste time in obliterating the tracks leading to the hidden track,  there is also the matter of activating the timers!” We had planned to cover up our escape route and signs of our camp by detonating a series of explosions.The klaxon continued blaring  and  children, men, women, families, and the elderly  rushed to board the waiting buses which would take them deeper into the mountains.  After we left, all signs and remains of the camp were to  be obliterated making in look as if one of the high explosive shells had hit us. 
The knock on the door to the command centre was followed by the entry of Ramesh, a twenty-three years old computer expert, Philips, a former army special forces soldier, and Tina, the communications expert. They were an integral part of my team. “Hi Fred!” they called out albeit in a serious tone, “Guess it is time we moved on to the next camp,” said Ramesh in a matter of fact tone.  “Yes, Ramesh, it had to come to this one day: wonder how the Cyborgs were able to pinpoint our location so soon!” I said. Ramesh replied, “ It was those Condor Drones we saw last week!” I nodded my head in agreement, there had been a rather unusual activity of the Condor Drones flying high above the camp the previous week which did suggest that they had probably registered the heat signature of the camp. “ How’s the evacuation going on?” I asked Tina. “Fine,” she replied, “Ramesh has set the timers on the explosives for thirty minutes, enough for us to clear the area in time!” I grunted, “Good,” and picked up my haversack and we all trooped out to our 4X4 Sherpa SUVs. parked outside. We were all lost in our thoughts, Camp David had served us well, hidden from the plains behind a wall of mountains, it was well placed flat piece of ground which we had excavated to make underground bunkers. There was a nearby stream of clear water flowing which supplied our needs for fresh drinking water.We had earlier identified an alternative camp higher up in the mountains and we had named it Camp Goliath.
There were five 4X4 Sherpa SUVs. and I boarded the nearest one. The Sherpa was a tested and proven vehicle which had been modified to run on different fuels and also to work at high altitudes. Each vehicle was able to work as an independent command centre, with communication equipment, radios, satellite links, and enough computing power to run an entire mission. These SUVs. were in constant contact with the buses that had preceded us towards higher ground.
There were tears in the eyes of all those who formed the rear-guard. For all practical reasons Philips, Tina, Ramesh and I travelled in separate vehicles (Clara however always accompanied me) because we reasoned that if we travelled together in the same vehicle, and the vehicle was hit by a missile, then the entire command  system would be wiped out! If this happened, then there would'nt be anyone left to look after the survivors.
We had been ever on the move since the year 2014 when the strange spacecraft had started to land on the Earth, especially in the larger towns and cities disgorging a large number of Cyborgs which went about wreaking havoc in the cities and towns, killing all those human beings that had the fate of coming in contact with the killing machines. Curiosity in those who turned up to see the alien crafts and the Cyborgs turned to horror when the killings started! The cyborgs quickly rendered communications useless in the cities. The Army, Air force and Navy were neutralised  in a matter of hours, the high tech machinery, tanks, fighters jets, and even the destroyers were rendered useless with the firing of electro-magnetic pulse beams at them which resulted in fried circuits. It was a matter of time before the remaining people realised  that they should flee from the cities to the relative safety of the mountains. It had been six years since we had left the towns and cities. The process had been gradual and slow, and we had collected enough food, fuel and those EMP proof weapons for the final stand we would make against the aliens. The K-4 mountains did afford some safety from the H.E. rockets that the Cyborgs preferred to use because their flat trajectories meant that they could hit targets that were in the line of site, but if the object was shielded by a rock face or a hill, then these rockets couldn’t climb over the obstruction to dive at the object. The radio suddenly crackled, “ Incoming H.E. rockets identified, E.T.A. two minutes, Camp David!” the terse voice was that of Phillip’s. Clara, without missing a beat remarked, "I guess it is high time we left! those H.E. Rockets can flatten the whole area in one go!" I looked at the terrain, high cliff faces on both sides shielded us from the enemy, Clara drove the SUV expertly, “Yes, I guess there will be nothing at the camp site when the Cyborgs arrive to inspect their trophies of war!” I replied. Of course the Condor Drones would have relayed images of the destruction to their command centre. I went on remarking to Clara, “ But, then they won’t be fooled for long into thinking that they have destroyed the entire remnants of us!”
The type I Cyborg Robots were rather mean looking machines and they were designed to kill. They looked like a cross between a spider and a scorpion, and their two front eyes also worked as laser guns firing a lethal beam that could cut through steel six inches thick! Woe betide any hapless human being who dared to face them, they were simply decimated, Kevlar vest, weapons and all! The type II Cyborgs were humanoid in form, and they were deadlier than the previous versions. The type twos appeared in 2015 a year after the type ones. What made them different from the type ones was that they were more dexterous, more powerful and could shift loads many times their weight. The H.E. rockets were handled by the type twos. The type III Cyborg robots like the type twos were shaped like humans but then their heads were bigger than the rest of their bodies. Type threes were the leaders, commanders, and decision makers. The Condor Drones were operated by the type threes. The type threes had arrived barely six months ago, and since their arrival, the condor drones became more active, and the frequency of their sorties had increased, especially over camp David.
A bright flash appeared from the general area of Camp David, at a lower altitude than we were driving at, and the flash was followed by a deep rumble. Clara and I looked at each other quietly. The second salvo of H.E. rockets had found the target with great accuracy, and if we had been a little slow in evacuating the camp, then surely, we would have been decimated! We had been planning for all sorts of eventualities, and this had been one of them. Till now we had adopted a rather hide and hide  kind of an approach towards the enemy. To fight them this early would have been rather foolish. We would make our final stand against the enemy at Camp Goliath where we had hidden the highly secret pulse guns, and pulse rockets which were lethal weapons, and could in theory cut through the thick armour of the Cyborgs. Well that would be another day, right now it was all about   reaching Camp Goliath.
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Sunday 11 November 2012

Some more photographs of the Epiphany Church of Gurgaon Garden Fete-2012

Space being a constraint, I couldn’t put in a lot of photographs in the first blog so I have put in some more photographs in this post.
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Epiphany Church, Gurgaon Civil Lines-Annual Garden Fete, 2012

 
 
The Epiphany Church, Gurgaon Annual Garden fete took place, today, the 11th. of November 2012. The Chief Guest on the occasion was Dr. Sushant Aggarwal, the Director of CASA, and the convenor was Mr. Rudy Phillip.
 
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We had lots of fun today. everything was well organized and what I noticed was that the granddads had a lot of fun! This is one occasion which we all look forward to every year. It was a testament to the unified fellowship of all the members of this wonderful Church!

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Flight to Nowhere

An Incident took place when I was nine years old while flying from Addis Abeba to Mumbai.


This is an incident that took place when I was eight years old. We travelled to Addis Abeba from Arbaminch to take the flight to Mumbai for the once in three years visit to India. The flight from Addis Abeba took off smoothly from the Addis Abeba airport. We re-fuelled at Aden the capital of the Yemen Arab Republic. It was after we had refuelled and took off for the on going journey to Mumbai that things took an ugly turn.



One Indian passenger, who had been working as an engineer in Dare Salam , had drunk a whole bottle of Johnnie Walker Whiskey and he had become rather violent. He had been suspended from his job and  had started behaving in a rather violent manner. When the food was served, he threw the tray into the air, splattering fellow passengers with the curry, olives and whatever was in the tray. My brother and I were surprised! All through the journey we both, my brother and I had made friends with a Brazilian Couple who were medical doctors. They kept on asking us whether we applied hair oil before bathing because they felt that our hair was rather jet black and healthy!



This gentleman seemed to be rather bent on creating trouble. He threatened to blow the plane, a venerable Boeing 707 to smithereens by smashing the empty whiskey bottle against one of the windows! In the meantime, after consuming the first bottle of Johnnie Walker Red Label, he went on to consume a second one and had drunk almost half of it. The Airhostess arrived by his side to make him come to his senses, but then this didn’t work. He demanded that the Captain should talk to him. The Captain did arrive, but then even  he couldn’t talk sense to him! After what seemed ages, the Captain got up and left and two men approached the drunk passenger and frog marched him to the rear of the aircraft. He didn’t return. After about an hour, the Captain asked on the P.A. system if there was a doctor on board the aircraft. The Brazilian Doctor Couple got up and were taken to the rear of the plane. When they returned, they were shaking their heads. I didn’t know what had happened. All this while we felt as if we were all the time getting closer to Mumbai. While the aircrew were preventing all the passengers from using the toilet at the rear of the plane, I however slipped past to use the toilet and saw lying prone  on the floor the same passenger who had been creating all that disturbance. I thought that perhaps he had collapsed and was resting.



Just when we thought we were about to land in Mumbai, the Captain made another announcement, “ Ladies and Gentlemen, because of the mishap that took place earlier, we will be landing back at the Addis Abeba airport. The inconvenience is regretted!” We were all astounded! When we landed, the airlines officials told the passengers to, “go back home and return the next day.” We had checked out from our hotel earlier, so my Dad insisted that the airlines should lodge us in a Hotel, and the airlines officials acquiesced and we were lodged in the Wabe Shabele Hotel. The next day officials from the Indian Embassy in Addis Abeba visited the passengers before the special flight to Mumbai and it was from them that we came to know that the Indian passenger had died on the flight. Apparently, landing in Mumbai with a dead body would have raised questions about the manner of the passenger’s death, so the Captain was advised to return to Addis Abeba Airport with the dead body on board.
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Saturday 10 November 2012

The Dhanpatmal Virmani Education Trust and Management Society Celebrates yet another year of its Adult Literacy Programme for women

 
Seven Years of Empowering Women
 
 
When I received an SMS inviting me to attend the Annual Function of the Adult Literacy Programme on the tenth of November, I was pleasantly surprised. Having been associated with the Programme in its initial stage, I was curious and wanted to know how well it was doing! I called up Parvinder Pal and confirmed whether the SMS was correct, and he told me that the function would be taking place in the Virmani Public School. Today, after helping out my colleagues with the Heritage MUN, I took off for Delhi. On reaching the venue, I was greeted by Dr. Dharambir Singh Mann, the Principal of Dhanpatmal Virmani Senior Secondary School, and an erstwhile colleague of mine and escorted to the venue. At the venue, I met Mr. Anil Virmani, The Chairman of the Dhanpatmal Virmani Education Trust and Management Society where  and Mrs. Asha Kishore who is the Vice-President. For me it was like a home-coming experience since I had served this management for more than seventeen years! Dr. M.K.Vajpayee was also present at the function and he reminisced about the times when the Adult Literacy Programme was in its fledgling stage and we had been a rather coherent group working to develop a working model for the Adult Literacy programme, since when I started the programme in the Dhanpatmal Virman Sr.Sec.School, the women were facing problems because they had to find spare time to attend the classes in the school. A second and better surprise for me was to see two of my students, Ramesh Joshi and Sahil Gupta, who had been awarded the R.N. Virmani scholarship come up to the stage to share their experiences in the school. Today, the Dhanpatmal Virmani Trust and Management Society along with NDPL is running no less than 72 Adult Literacy Centres for women.
Mr. Anil Virmani delivering the Vote of thanks
The Chief Guest on the occasion was Mr. Praveen Sinha, C.E.O. of NDPL. In his speech, he expressed his optimism that soon there would be a total of two hundred Adult Literacy centres running in and around Delhi. Mrs. Asha Kishore delivered the welcome speech for Mr. Sinha, while Mr. Anil Virman delivered the Vote of Thanks.
 
Mr. Praveen Sinha, the Chief Guest delivering his speech
 
A Collection of photographs taken on the occasion:
 
                 
Mrs Asha Kishore with Guests from NDPL              That’s Dr.Dharambir and Me

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Dr.Vajpayee reminiscing about old times
 
                                       
Ramesh Joshi left, and Sahil Gupta right, both R.N.Virmani Scholarship awardees
 
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