S Korean teenager bucks trend, to study English in Nagpur

Bucking the trend in her country, a South Korean teenager has decided to come to India – to Nagpur, to be specific – to study English rather than follow her compatriots to either the United States (US), Canada, the United Kingdom (UK) or Australia to brush up their skills.
“I love India. I love her culture, ethos and food. That is why I want to come to India to improve my English. It will also give me the opportunity to learn more about the country and its culture,” the 15-year old Jun Yeji, from Seoul in South Korea, told UNI here.
If things go according to plan, she will join the Standard VIII class in a school here during the next academic session (2008-2009) and study for 2 years before returning to her country to take the high school examination there. This will be possible because South Korea has an informal education system that runs parallel to the formal schooling system, and wherein students are allowed to take an examination directly for middle school as well as high school. Yeji has already cleared her middle school examination through the informal system.
In Nagpur, though, she will be allowed the join the class, but not take the board examination for matriculation. “While in India, I will also study Hindi,” the tall, blonde and energetic Yeji said.
“My daughter just loves India. I don’t know why,” says her mother, Kim Shinae, a primary school teacher back home (Korean women retain their maiden name after marriage).
“The cultures of South Korea and India are pretty similar. The education systems in the two countries are also similar. The students there also have to study three languages - mother tongue Korean, English and one other language, which is usually a European language, besides mathematics, social sciences and science in addition to music, arts and sports. So I think Yeji will have no problems,” she said.

“Youngsters from South Korea do know English, but they are not very fluent. Therefore, they all go to one of the four major English-speaking countries – the US, Canada, the UK and Australia – to improve their skills,” Ms Shinae said. “Nobody comes to India, leave alone Nagpur, to study English. So Yeji will be the first to do so, as far as I know,” she also said.
It was ‘love at first sight’ for Yeji when she first visited India about two years ago with her parents. Father Jun Seonj Pyo, a preacher, had brought his family along when he returned to India to review the relief and rehabilitation work in which he had participated earlier in the Tsunami affected areas. Mr Pyo, who heads the Neighbour Love Church in Seoul, had come to India shortly after the disaster in December 2004, through an organisation of churches, to assist the effort.
While in India, the family spent some time in Nagpur at the home of Dr John Chelladurai, who heads the India Peace Centre (IPC) in the city. So when Yeji expressed her desire to study in India, Mr Pyo got in touch with Dr Chelladurai, who agreed to be her local guardian and help the girl get admission to a good school here.
“We have spoken to a few schools, and I am confident that things will work out fine,” Dr Chelladurai said. Ms Shinae and Yeji are currently in Nagpur for finalise the admission and complete the formalities.
Incidentally, Yeji has already made friends with a girl her age, Ela, who belongs to a family close to that of Dr Chelladurai’s. The two spend a lot of time together whenever Ela gets time off from her school and studies, with mischief and ‘masti’ high on the agenda. The way the two girls have taken a liking for each other prompts Dr Chelladurai to comment that they are like sisters, and that Ela’s mother, Ujjwala, will be like Yeji’s foster mother in Nagpur. Her face lighting up, Ms Shinae draws on her very limited vocabulary of Hindi, which includes ‘ek, do, teen, chaar, paanch, and Namaste,’ and expresses her thanks with a broad smile and folded hands: “Shukriya!”

(UNI, Nagpur, January 31, 2008)

Dynasties have made little dent in Vidarbha

Contrary to popular belief, political dynasties have held very little sway over the electorate in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, barring a few notable exceptions.
Among the prominent exceptions that merit mention are the Naik’s, the Gawli’s and the Wasnik’s.
The Naik family of Pusad in Yavatmal district has had a very good record in politics. Vasantrao Naik was chief minister of Maharashtra for 12 long years, the longest tenure for anyone so far. His nephew Sudhakarrao was also the chief minister from 1991 to 1993. He had to step down after the communal riots in Mumbai in the wake of the demolition of the disputed structure in Ayodhya in 1992. He later unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha election from Washim in 1996, but won in 1998. He went with the NCP when the party was formed in 1999, but Washim went to the Congress at the time. Sudhakarrao passed away later.
Sudhakarrao's younger brother Manohar has been a minister in the Maharashtra cabinet for several years, and now holds the Food and Drugs Administration portfolio. He unsuccessfully contested from Washim in 2004 as an NCP nominee.
Pundalikrao Gawali was a prominent leader, having represented Washim in the Lok Sabha. After his death, his daughter Bhawana took up the mantle, winning from Washim in 1999 and again in 2004. Incidentally, she got married a few days before the voting took place in 2004.
Balkrishna Wasnik had three terms in the Lok Sabha, from Bhandara in 1957, Gondia in 1962 and Buldhana in 1980. His son Mukul has had mixed fortunes. Having made his debut with a win from Buldhana in 1984, the junior Wasnik lost in 1989. He regained the seat in 1991, only to lose it in 1996, wrest it in 1998, only to lose it again in 1999 as well as in 2004. He was made a minister of state in the P V Narasimha Rao cabinet after he won in 1991.
Prominent leaders have tried, with very limited success, to initiate their sons into politics. Even while former Maharashtra minister Datta Meghe was in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), son Sagar joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to launch his political career. He won a term to the Maharashtra Legislative Council as a BJP nominee. Mr Meghe, once considered very close to NCP chief Sharad Pawar, later fell out with him, and quit the party to join the Congress. The junior Meghe also parted ways with the BJP and joined the Congress with his father.
Rajendra, the son of former Congress legislator Bhau Mulak, tried his hand in a civic poll several years ago, but failed. He entered the assembly from Umrer in 2004. Satish, the son of another former Congress legislator Sunil Shinde, joined the Shiv Sena and contested the assembly elections in 2004 from Katol in Nagpur district, but failed, losing to Anil Deshmukh of the NCP.
Another former Congress legislator who has been trying in vain to push his son into mainstream politics is Krishnarao Pandav. His son Kiran unsuccessfully tried his hand at civic politics several years ago. He joined the NCP when it was formed, but quit to contest from Nagpur South assembly constituency as a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) nominee in 2004, and lost. The eventual winner, Govindrao Wanjari (Congress), unfortunately died of a heart attack hours before members of the new Legislative Assembly were sworn in.
After a brief hiatus, the junior Pandav went to the Congress before coming back to the NCP. Recently, in the hope that the Congress-NCP combine would prefer a young face, Kiran filed his nomination for the by-election from Nagpur Local Self-Government Authorities constituency, a seat that had fallen vacant by the resignation of Sagar Meghe. However, his hopes were dashed and had to withdraw as the leadership decided to allow the Congress to contest the seat, and nominated senior leader Anantrao Gharad, who eventually lost.
Incidentally, Krishnarao Pandav managed to get a Congress ticket for his daughter Rajani Barde at the civic elections in Nagpur in 2007, and she is now a councillor. The Congress and NCP did not have an alliance at this election, and there were complaints against Kiran from a section of NCP workers that he had worked against the party’s interests.
Speaking of Govindrao Wanjari, in the by-election from Nagpur South after his death, his son Abhijeet tried in vain to get a ticket from the Congress. He contested as an independent, only to lose.
The Deshmukh family of Katol in Nagpur district, however, has had a pretty good run in politics. Cousins Ranjit and Anil have been ministers in the Maharashtra cabinet. Ranjit Deshmukh, who was once President of Nagpur Zilla Parishad (ZP), has held several portfolios, including irrigation. Anil Deshmukh has had a spectacular run in politics. Like his cousin, Anil was also President of Nagpur ZP before he jumped into the fray for the assembly elections in 1995. He won as an independent from Katol, and was made minister of state for cultural affairs in the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance government. In 1999, Anil joined the NCP and won another term, retaining his berth in the cabinet. He won again in 2004, and was made a minister again, only to be dropped during the recent change of guard in Maharashtra in the wake of the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai.
And Kamal Gavai, wife of veteran politician and former Maharashtra Legislative Council chairman R S Gavai, tried in vain to enter the Lok Sabha from their hometown Amravati in 1980.

(UNI, Nagpur, March 12, 2009)

BSP polled 11.55% votes in Vidarbha in 2004 LS polls

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) polled a whopping 11.55 per cent of the total votes cast in the 11 constituencies in Vidarbha at the Lok Sabha elections in 2004. The BSP polled 5,49,212 votes out of the total 47,56,380 votes that were cast in the region.
In fact, BSP candidates polled more than the margin of victory in four constituencies. The tally of the party’s candidate was very close to the victory margin in one constituency, and was over 50 per cent of the margin in three others. In only three constituencies were the BSP nominees unable to make a dent, not touching even the 10,000 mark in one of those.
Candidates of the BSP polled more than the margin of victory in Bhandara, Wardha, Ramtek and Chandrapur constituencies. In Bhandara, where Shishupal Patle of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) defeated Praful Patel of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) by a narrow margin of 3,009 votes, BSP candidate Ajeeb Shastri polled 90,670 votes to rank third. The fourth candidate was way behind with just over 10,000 votes. Mr Patle polled 2,77,388 votes, while Mr Patel polled 2,74,379 votes. Mr Patel later got elected to the Rajya Sabha and is now Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation.
In Wardha, too, the battle was decided by a very narrow margin. Suresh Waghmare of the BJP (2,69,045 votes) defeated Prabha Rau of the Congress (2,65,857) by 3,188 votes, while BSP nominee Somraj Telkhede polled 54,009 votes. Mr Telkhede ranked third, being way ahead of Yeshwant Zade of the CPM, placed fourth, who could poll only 14,832 votes.
In Ramtek, Subodh Mohite of the Shiv Sena (2,76,720) defeated Dr Shrikant Jichkar of the Congress (2,62,618) by 16,102 votes, while Chandansingh Rotele of the BSP polled 55,442 votes. Here, again, the BSP nominee was placed third, with the tally of the candidate placed fourth being way behind at 15,647. (Dr Jichkar later died in a road accident.)
Incidentally, Mr Mohite later quit the Shiv Sena to join the Congress. In the by-election held afterwards, the Congress fielded Mr Mohite, while the Shiv Sena fielded Prakash Jadhav. Mr Jadhav defeated Mr Mohite by 32,502 votes in the by-poll held in April 2007, in which the BSP did not contest.
In Chandrapur, Hansraj Ahir of the BJP (3,66,014) defeated Naresh Pugalia of the Congress (3,06,191) by a margin of 59,823 votes, while Rajendra Vaidya of the BSP polled 1,04,416 votes. The candidate placed fourth could manage only 26,837 votes.
In Chimur, the tally of BSP nominee Yograj Kuthe was 75,099, pretty close to the margin of victory – 98,774. Here, Mahadeorao Shivankar of the BJP polled 3,36,711 votes to defeat Jogendra Kawade of the People’s Republican Party-Congress alliance, who polled 2,37,937 votes. The three constituencies where the BSP tally was more than half of the victory margin were (figures in brackets indicate BSP tally and victory margin, in that order): Amravati – 31,573, 52,314; Yavatmal – 30,137, 56,804; and Nagpur – 57,747, 98,500;
By contrast, in Akola, Buldhana and Washim constituencies, the BSP could not make a dent. In Akola, in fact, BSP nominee Vishram Tayde could not even touch five figures, managing only 9,951 votes. The margin of victory in Akola was 1,06,371.
In Buldhana, the margin of victory was 59,907, while the BSP polled 18,241. In Washim, the BSP tally was 21,943, with the margin of victory being 60,898.
Significantly, BSP chief Mayawati drew a packed audience when she addressed a public meeting here in October 2006, to mark the 50th anniversary of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’s conversion to Buddhism.
Vidarbha saw a ‘saffronwash’ in 2004, with the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance winning 10 of the 11 seats in the region. The sole exception was Nagpur, where Vilas Muttemwar retained his seat for the Congress. He went on to become the Minister of State for Renewable Energy in the union cabinet.
Interestingly, in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections held a few months after the Lok Sabha polls in 2004, the BSP’s tally in terms of percentage actually went down – to 9.30 per cent (8,62,000 out of the 92,70,000 cast). However, its candidates upset many an applecart, polling more than the margin of victory in as many as 34 of the 66 assembly constituencies in the region! Of these 34, the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance won on 19 and the Congress-NCP combine on 12, with independents winning on 3.
(UNI, Nagpur, March 12, 2009)

A 'simple and studious' bride for Dravid

Imagine a cricketer being bowled over by a girl totally oblivious to the intricacies of the game! That's what has happened to Rahul Dravid, vice-captain of the Indian cricket team.
Dr. Vijeta Pendharkar, 27, has 'snared' Rahul, among the most dependable batsmen in the game today. However, the bride-to-be has little knowledge of the game.
"Vijeta has absolutely no interest in and no knowledge of cricket," her parents, father Wing Commander (Retired) S. P. Pendharkar and mother Jayashree, a dietician, said.
In fact, Vijeta did not even know that the wicketkeeper had to change ends after every over. "It was only when she watched some matches during the recent World Cup in South Africa that she came to know of the practice," Pendharkar said.
Although cricket does not interest her, Vijeta probably watched some games to know what her future hubby does 'at work'.
Vijeta has had a 'mixed' upbringing. She spent her early childhood at various places in the country where her father was posted during his stint in the Indian Air Force, giving her a 'forces' background. Her father retired after she passed her Class X examination from Bal Bharati school in Delhi. The family then settled down in Nagpur, and Vijeta has been leading a typical 'upper middle-class' life since.
She continued her education at the prestigious Shri Shivaji Science college in Nagpur, known to produce meritorious students. True to the institution's tradition, Vijeta came out with flying colours and faced no problems getting into the Government Medical College in the city. She went on to earn her MS (General) from the same institution in November 2002.
The Pendharkars are proud of the fact that their only daughter, the youngest of three children, got through purely on merit.
"Her scores were such that she faced no problems whatsoever," said the beaming father.
Sarita Kulkarni, a former schoolmate, described Vijeta as a simple and studious girl.
"Vijeta has had a very simple upbringing with high moral standards," according to a medicine school classmate who preferred to remain anonymous.
The sudden attention from the media appears to have flustered Vijeta's family. Her parents are trying their best to protect her privacy, even declining to reveal minor details like Vijeta's hobbies. Vijeta herself is unwilling to step into the spotlight, which she is soon going to have to share with Rahul. The Pendharkars are keeping nosey scribes politely at bay; in fact, at the door itself.
Jayashree, the concerned mother, explains: "We don't want to gain too much publicity. I am not sure Rahul's family, especially Vijeta's mother-in-law, would approve."
Unlike Rahul, Vijeta may not be able to tell a yorker apart from a googly, but is happy dreaming about the future. For now, she plans to start her surgeon's practice in Bangalore, and hopes to do well.
The Pendharkars and Dravids have known each other for long, over 35 years now. Pendharkar worked in Bangalore between 1968 and 1971, and that is when the friendship crystallised. Later, Rahul's father, Sharad, worked for a while in Nagpur.
Vijeta's co-students in medicine school remember being aware of her family's close ties with Rahul's family. They also recall that Rahul would make it a point to meet Vijeta whenever it was possible.
So is it a love marriage, after all? The Pendharkars parry the question with broad smiles.
How did the match come about?
"Rahul is a thorough gentleman. Who wouldn't want to have him as his son-in-law," Pendharkar says.
Even the traditional considerations were favourable, as Vijeta's mother Jayashree revealed: "The Dravids are from Indore/Gwalior, and are Maharashtrian Deshastha Brahmins."
However, a date has not yet been fixed for the marriage because of "Rahul's uncertain schedule", Vijeta's father informed.
Pendharkar dismissed as "sheer speculation" reports in a section of the press in Nagpur that Rahul has not yet given his assent to the proposed alliance with Vijeta.
"The marriage was finalised over two months ago. Rahul has given his consent," he says, and then bowls a dot ball: "Why else would Vijeta have been watching Rahul in action during the World Cup in South Africa?"
(Rediff.com, April 2, 2003)