gsvijay1
April 11th, 2006, 01:14 PM
Georgian car rally celebrates the girl child as well as camaraderie as it winds its way up the hills reports Gayatri Rajwade
The second Georgian Car Rally, a ‘drive’ against female foeticide, got underway this morning from Taj Chandigarh amidst exhilaration, intense photo clicks and applause. The Georgian Association (North)—alumni of the erstwhile King George Royal Indian Military Colleges (now known as Military Schools located at Ajmer, Bangalore, Belgaum, Chail and Dholpur)—comes together in comradeship and conviviality every year, but more importantly, to provide a platform to raise concerns that they can, collectively, make a difference to.
This year they celebrate the girl child.
The rally, flagged off by Haryana Finance Minister Virender Singh, left Chandigarh around 10 am on Saturday and completed the 150 odd kilometres by late afternoon going through Dharampur, Solan, Shimla, Kufri and finally ending at the Chail Cricket Grounds.
From the deodar (the theme for last year) to the girl child, it is the cheering spirit of camaraderie that binds and the refrain is the same across all ages. “The school has made us.”
What makes this awareness appeal heartening is that it goes beyond mere observance. “The association has adopted 30 underprivileged girls from Panchkula, Chail and Rattewali and we will provide for all their educational needs from now,” explains Treasurer of the association Lt. Col. Rajan Kadyan.
For the girls, it is a chance at making their dreams come true. So while Alka Diwan from Government Senior Secondary School, Rattewali, hopes to be a doctor, 10th class student Roma Raghav from the same school wants to look after the country some day.
Alumnus Jangvir Dadhwal believes firmly in a “reason” to activities such as these so people get attracted to participate. Dadhwal, lives in the USA and comes every year to participate in these annual get-togethers, especially the rally this year, “because this is a neglected cause.”
A “cause” for celebration—these ‘boys’ certainly know how to get things going. It all started on Friday night at the alumni get-together at the Air Force Officers’ Institute, Sector 31.
A musical soiree, piping hot tit-bits, encountering long-lost friends over bubbles (read drinks!) and the evening was magical. “Life was tough but disciplined” remembers Lt. Gen Ranjit Singh Dyal MVC, PVSM, AVSM, former Lt. Governor of Pondicherry and Andaman & Nicobar.
Indeed as one of the wives, Poonam Sapra (her husband Rajesh Kumar Sapra passed out of Chail in 1981) puts it, “you have so many friends all over that you can never feel alone.”
Founder of this chapter of the association Col Amrik Singh remembers what a “Herculean task” it was to locate people. “After much searching we found 40 persons in this region and had our first function at the DSOI in January 1997,” he recalls. For each person presents, the belief in their school is all pervading. “We cannot pay back what we have received, in a lifetime.”
The second Georgian Car Rally, a ‘drive’ against female foeticide, got underway this morning from Taj Chandigarh amidst exhilaration, intense photo clicks and applause. The Georgian Association (North)—alumni of the erstwhile King George Royal Indian Military Colleges (now known as Military Schools located at Ajmer, Bangalore, Belgaum, Chail and Dholpur)—comes together in comradeship and conviviality every year, but more importantly, to provide a platform to raise concerns that they can, collectively, make a difference to.
This year they celebrate the girl child.
The rally, flagged off by Haryana Finance Minister Virender Singh, left Chandigarh around 10 am on Saturday and completed the 150 odd kilometres by late afternoon going through Dharampur, Solan, Shimla, Kufri and finally ending at the Chail Cricket Grounds.
From the deodar (the theme for last year) to the girl child, it is the cheering spirit of camaraderie that binds and the refrain is the same across all ages. “The school has made us.”
What makes this awareness appeal heartening is that it goes beyond mere observance. “The association has adopted 30 underprivileged girls from Panchkula, Chail and Rattewali and we will provide for all their educational needs from now,” explains Treasurer of the association Lt. Col. Rajan Kadyan.
For the girls, it is a chance at making their dreams come true. So while Alka Diwan from Government Senior Secondary School, Rattewali, hopes to be a doctor, 10th class student Roma Raghav from the same school wants to look after the country some day.
Alumnus Jangvir Dadhwal believes firmly in a “reason” to activities such as these so people get attracted to participate. Dadhwal, lives in the USA and comes every year to participate in these annual get-togethers, especially the rally this year, “because this is a neglected cause.”
A “cause” for celebration—these ‘boys’ certainly know how to get things going. It all started on Friday night at the alumni get-together at the Air Force Officers’ Institute, Sector 31.
A musical soiree, piping hot tit-bits, encountering long-lost friends over bubbles (read drinks!) and the evening was magical. “Life was tough but disciplined” remembers Lt. Gen Ranjit Singh Dyal MVC, PVSM, AVSM, former Lt. Governor of Pondicherry and Andaman & Nicobar.
Indeed as one of the wives, Poonam Sapra (her husband Rajesh Kumar Sapra passed out of Chail in 1981) puts it, “you have so many friends all over that you can never feel alone.”
Founder of this chapter of the association Col Amrik Singh remembers what a “Herculean task” it was to locate people. “After much searching we found 40 persons in this region and had our first function at the DSOI in January 1997,” he recalls. For each person presents, the belief in their school is all pervading. “We cannot pay back what we have received, in a lifetime.”