Inside delhi

Champion of peace
“I always felt so secure about Earth. It will always be there. But even Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Tolstoy couldn’t have imagined that the planet will change so drastically and that large parts will become uninhabitable,” says 65-year old American author and civil rights activist Alice Walker.
Speaking at Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti over the weekend, Prof. Walker expressed concern over climate change and also spoke her mind on other burning international issues.
Describing the surge in American troops in war-torn Afghanistan as a “terrible mistake”, Prof. Walker said it was a terrible mistake to extend the war in Afghanistan. “You cannot end war by perpetuating war,” she reminded the audience.
Sharing her experience in exchanging ideas with people living in different corners of the globe, Ms. Walker said: “I wanted to see what people in various countries are doing. Coming to India is like a pilgrimage. I think my whole life was about getting me here.”
A person who has widely travelled through Gaza, Myanmar and Congo, Prof. Walker has been a champion for spreading the message of peace. A strong follower of Martin Luther King Jr, she was inspired to join the civil rights movement. “The spiritual sustenance King received from Gandhi was infused in the movement and in our lives.”
Known for her novel “The Color Purple” for which she won the Pulitzer Prize in 1983, Prof. Walker appreciates the idea of Barack Obama winning the Nobel Prize. “This is the way to try and move Obama in a direction we would want him. This will remind him that the people expect him to make moves about peace,” she added.
GSDS vice-chairperson Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee accorded a warm welcome to Prof. Walker, who also visited the museum in which literature and memorabilia of the Father of the Nation is stored.
Madhur Tankha
Harrowing ride
Bus drivers in the Capital appear to get rather enthusiastic whenever they happen to see another bus with the same number along the route. Drivers and conductors alike begin yelling, both buses usually speed up and begin to race each other on the road.
A friend who was travelling by bus recently was witness to one such incident. The bus she was travelling in was rather packed. Suddenly she noticed that the bus had gathered greater momentum. Next she heard yell and hoots. Peering out of the window she saw that a bus with the same number was speeding next to them.
The conductor of the bus in which the friend was travelling began to bang on the side of the bus in a bid to spur on the driver. Soon both buses were travelling at a reckless speed and moreover both buses were dangerously close to one another, the sides almost touching. The friend and other alarmed passengers asked the driver to slow down. The driver remained impervious to their requests and kept up the reckless speed.
Since the bus was rather crowded, passengers who were already pressed for space kept falling on each other and were struggling to maintain their balance. Still the driver remained indifferent. The bus slowed down only when it neared a bus stop. Luckily the friend had to get off there. She got off with a sigh of relief and thanked her stars that she had managed to survive the harrowing ride.
Urvashi Sarkar
Magic of Christmas
Tradition has it that all major festivals of the country are celebrated with fervour at Rashtrapati Bhavan. So if it is candles and oil lamps that add glitter to Rashtrapati Bhavan lodge during Diwali, Christmas means the customary decorations and carols.
This past week, various choir groups from across the country got together at Rashtrapati Bhavan and put up a scintillating performance. The singing together with the decorations—the decked out Christmas tree and the scene of nativity, depicting the birth of Jesus—created the magic of Christmas.
Over 300 artistes from Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Delhi, Kerala and Mumbai performed for President Pratibha Patil and a select audience. The President joined in the celebrations by singing the carols and the popular ‘jingle bells’ number.
And what’s Christmas without gifts. So Santa Claus with his bag of goodies and his nice list paid a visit as well. On his list of “nice” were President Patil, Prime Minister’s wife Gurusharan Kaur and the Vice-President’s wife Salma Ansari who were all given photo frames as rewards for being nice.
Smriti Kak Ramachandran