• By Prabhjot Singh

“Just overwhelmed”. Thank you all for your welcoming and warm messages, phone calls and kind wishes conveyed in person to the first episode of my new monthly blog. I sincerely hope you will continue to back this offbeat venture as it is about you and me and our common friends.  On my side, I shall make every endeavor to sustain your interest by recalling events or talking about developments that are of mutual interest.

Incidentally, February turned out to be an eventful month. A  lot was happening around. A visit to my alma mater – Department of Languages, Culture and Journalism in the College of Basic Sciences and Humanities at Punjab Agricultural University – was most fulfilling.

It was more than a reunion. Returning to the Department on the first floor of the infamous Pal Auditorium revived memories of the  Functional English classes we used to attend in the Department.

We were three students – Bhagwan Dass, AP Singh, and me – when the M.Sc. in Agricultural Journalism degree programme was revived after a gap of a couple of years. At that time, Dr Hazara Singh was the Head of the Department of Languages, Culture and Journalism.

From the earlier batches, senior journalists like Surinder Sud and PPS Gill, besides  Rantej Singh and Shiv Jagday, were among the successful passouts. The Masters in Agricultural Journalism was introduced when Dr M.S. Randhawa was the Vice-Chancellor and Promila Kalhan of the Hindustan Times was roped in as  Guest Faculty and Head.

The Department’s claim to fame is based on a rich crop of journalists it has produced over the years. The successful alumni include Ramesh Vinayak, Aditi Tandon, late Sarabjit Pandher, Amardeep Bhattal, Varinder Walia, Umesh Dewan, Ramaninder Bhatia, Dr Balwinder Singh, Kamlesh Singh Duggal, Anupam Bhagria, Jai Raj Kajla, Bandeep Singh, Amarpal Singh and Kanwal Preet Kaur, and several others.

Professor Hazara Singh, a perfectionist, would keep us amused by narrating his encounters with some of the freedom fighters. An ardent and committed follower of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh, Professor Hazara Singh was a teacher of an altogether different genre. He would get his lectures typed – there were no computers those days – and give us copies.

He was not only an excellent teacher but also a great motivator. He inculcated in his students the qualities of inquisitiveness and scientific temperament. He also religiously followed the progress of each of his students and would volunteer to help in case any one of us needed extra classes or help as two of us – myself and Mr Bhagwan Dass – came from a different system of education while PAU followed the American 4.0 grading system with weekly and monthly tests. We both had done our Bachelor of Journalism from Punjabi University, Patiala, while our other class fellow, AP Singh, an excellent photo artist, was a PAU graduate.

Meeting my batchmate AP Singh was gratifying. Dr Amarjit Singh Hayer, who also taught English to students of the subsequent batches, has been the spirit behind organizing the reunion. Dr Amarjit Singh Hayer, now settled in Mohali, misses no opportunity to stay in touch with all passouts from the Department.

The Vice-Chancellor of PAU, Dr  Satbir Singh Gosal, must have cancelled all his appointments to spend the entire day with the alumni. He not only participated in all events but also interacted freely with all old students, applauding the role media has been playing in the dissemination of information, thus bridging the gap between the research institutions and farmers, the ultimate beneficiaries, and the agrarian societies.

Also in attendance were the Dean of College of Basic Sciences, Dr Kiran Bains, Acting Director of Communications Centre, Dr T.S. Riar, Prof (retd) Dr Amarjit Singh Hayer, Dr Sheetal Thapar, Head of Department of Journalism. Dr Hina Goyal played master of ceremonies while students of the Department volunteered to make the day memorable for all of us.

Three of the outstanding alumni – Ramesh Vinayak, Executive Editor, Hindustan Times; Ms Ramaninder Bhatia, a former senior Assistant Editor of Times of India; and Dr Balwinder Singh, who had a stint as a teacher in the Department, before moving to Canada, where he runs Radio Sargam – made excellent presentations on the theme of the reunion “Reaping Stories: Sowing Ideas.”

Among the alumni were senior journalists, including senior Tribune staffer  Umesh Dewan, Jai Raj Kajla (ex-Commissioner, Income Tax),  Kanwal Preet Kaur,  Bandeep Singh, Brampton-based Satbir Singh, Amarpal Singh (Ludhiana Head of  Daily Savera), Anupam Bhagria, and an accomplished teacher of journalism Kamlesh Singh Duggal, besides others.

To make the event memorable, all guests signed a “Heritage tree” while students regaled the audience with some popular Punjabi folk numbers to give a musical finish to the day-long event.

Other than the “Reaping Stories: Sowing Ideas” event, I had a chance to meet several old timers and friends in sports like Gurmangal Dass, who, after his degree in Engineering, returned to his village Rurka in the Doab. In the last 30 years, he has not only taken his native village to the world soccer map through his football club – YFC  – but also got it on a select list of five cities that run the Generation Amazing programme to empower youth. Rurka is the only center in India.

Meeting Gurmangal Dass after a long gap was both illuminating and rewarding.  He is perhaps the first person in the subcontinent to talk about the “Right to Sports” and believes education through sports is the best way to take a nation forward.

Starting with a modest budget of Rs one lakh, YFC Rurka Kalan now spends Rs 18 crore a year in its endeavor to produce world leaders of tomorrow.

“We are thrilled to deepen our partnership with YFC Rurka Kalan, building on the strong foundation, we established in 2017, remarked Nasser Ali Khori, Executive Director of Generation Amazing, who was present at the inauguration of the GA Multi Sports Facility at Rurka Kalan that includes football pitch, synthetic courts for basketball, tennis, volleyball and picket ball as well as a multi-activity hall and a modern 50-station gym. Additionally, the facility features a 200-seat auditorium for community events and training sessions. It has on-site accommodation and dining facilities where, at present, 60-odd athletes, including soccer players and wrestlers, are training under the watchful eyes of qualified trainers.

Developed with the support of the Generation Amazing Foundation, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy of the FIFA World Cup 2022, and the contributions from non-resident Indians, the US$ 1 million project will provide free access to children and youth in the community.

The backbone of this project has been the support it has been getting from the overseas Indian community. Gurmangal Dass recalls how his first trip to England helped him to collect £30,000 for his Youth Football Club (YFC) Rurka Kalan, the forerunner to the newly launched Generation Amazing programme.

Talking about the new facility,  Gurmangal Dass says that the “inauguration of this facility is a proud moment for the YFC Rurka Kalan and the entire community. I can say that this facility is more than just a sports complex – it is a beacon of hope and opportunity for thousands of young people in Punjab.

Yes, weaning youth away from the menace of drugs, sports is the best way.

Among others, he is supported in his endeavor by his college classmate, Amandeep Singh Marwaha,  and his elder brother Rajeev Rattan, also known as Tony Sandhu.

Those who have been lending all support from overseas include Balbir Singh Sandhu, ex-Deputy Mayor of Derby, and Ravinder Singh Sandhu, past District Governor, Coventry.

It is time to stand by people like Gurmangal Dass in their endeavor to put disenchanted Punjabi youth back on track to progress and prosperity. 

(Prabhjot Singh is a Toronto-based award-winning independent journalist. He was celebrated by AIPS, the international body of sports journalists, for covering ten Olympics, at its centennial celebrations held at UNESCO Centre in Paris during the 2024 Olympic Games. Besides, he has written extensively about business and the financial markets, the health industry, the public and private sectors, and aviation. He has worked as a political reporter besides covering Sikh and Punjab politics. He is particularly interested in Indian Diaspora and Sikh Diaspora in particular. His work has also appeared in various international and national newspapers, magazines, and journals. He can be reached at prabhjot416@gmail.com)