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Welcome cool breeze, singing, chirping birds!
By Sonal Bhandari
The University administration is working hard to change the outlook of the campus to compensate for the loss of parks
and greenery which are slowly vanishing and becoming a faint past. At this point of time, when open spaces are being eaten
up by tall buildings, industries, institutions and people, the University is making an effort to give a rebirth to the disappearing
beauty by laying an attractive green carpet. Appealing to every generation, this green belt is a welcome step.
It is a heartening fact to know that the University has a treasure of 40,000 different varieties of trees.
The Religious Studies Centre, surrounded by a pool of water and greenery, gives a soothing effect and a sense of spiritual
satisfaction, especially by the evening. One just cannot afford to erase from one’s memory such a heavenly image.
The pinkish flowers along the boundary wall smilingly welcome everyone, creating the desire to move inside and explore.
While trying to observe this new green pulse of the campus, I reached a delighting conclusion. Amidst a starry night,
University’s clean and green soil seems like a beauty embracing you with open arms. The soft cool breeze entering
the campus would love to rest here forever.
Now the new birds will come and make their nests in this attractive atmosphere. New genera- tions will also sit under
the shade of these trees where the music of chir-ping birds will provide them with a sense of fulfillment. No doubt, nature
always has its own ways to entertain people, my keen desire is to remain a part of this beautiful campus forever.
Still you echo in our hearts
By Poonam Grewal
The tap of the heel and the jovial laughter still echoes in the corridor. Those eyes with zest of living the life to its
fullest face that never forgets to smile. That smile will never wear out as it lies, framed restfully on the wall. A rose
without thorns, faded when it was on its full bloom.
Dr Inderpreet Kaur Mander, a teacher, a guide, a friend, parted from us on a fateful day leaving behind memories so sweet
to cherish . We miss you madam and pray to the Almighty to keep you close to Him as you always are and will remain with us.
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Remembering your lively face
Anu Sehgal,
Research Fellow
For that loudest laugh,
And for an enchanting smile,
You walked with us,
Though for just a while;
Remembering your lively face,
With tears in our eyes,
So we miss you!
Leaving behind a legacy,
Of your moods and moments,
Your unspoken words ;
Promises and commitments,
Keep coming back,
Without any lament,
Really we miss you!
Whatever you did,
Right or wrong,
Doesn’t matter now,
Once you are gone,
Oh! But it’s a pity,
Life goes on… and on ... and on,
Still we miss you!
I am not as Thunk as you Drink I am !
Presentation : Gurmeet Maan
Omar Khayyam (Hakim Yashuddin Abdul Fateh Omar Bin Ibrahim Ai Khayyam) was a Persian bard. The literal meaning of Khayyam
is Khema, the tent. Omar’s father was a tent maker.
Omar Khayyam has himself talked about his profession poetically :
Khayyam, who was once the tailor
Of precious royal tents,
Was blistered in the kiln of misery.
The scissors of time cut his life short,
And the broker of misfortune sold him for a lark.
A great scholar of his times, Omar is known today only for his Rubaiyat, though he had profound knowledge of algebra,
astrology, religion and philosophy.
Once, while was addressing a congregation, Omar said : “My tomb will be at such a place where the trees will
shower flowers on it twice a year.” And yes, his tomb is under the trees—guava and apricot—which
shower flowers on it twice a year ! The flowers showered so abundantly that his tomb would be wreathed completely.
There are many editions of Omar Khyyam’s Rubaiyat. A Rubai is a quatrain which was a favourite form in
the Persian poetry. Rubaiyat is plural of Rubai.
In 1859, Edward FitzGerald unearthed and paraphrased the poems that had been hidden by a veil of anonymity, and established
them as a masterpiece of English letters. After the publication of this volume, new manuscripts of Omar Khayyam’s
poems were discovered and gave him his rightful place in Persian poetry.
Omar Khayyam was a Sufi master who has been very much misunderstood. Many translations have been done of The Rubaiyat
but nothing has gone beyond the translation of Fitzgerald. But he was not a mystic, just a poet. He understood the beauty
of the language, he translated it very sincerely, but still he missed the point, created a web of misunderstanding around
the world about Omar Khayyam. People started thinking that Omar Khayyam was just a drunkard—talking about wine,
song and dance—that he was just a materialist, that ‘eat, drink and be merry’ was his message.
This is a great misunderstanding and very unjust to Omar Khayyam.
Wine, song and dance are symbols. What he means by using them is that one should enjoy even small things—eating,
drinking—just the small things of life, things of no spiritual quality. But the spiritual quality comes from quality
of your enjoyment, not from the things. One can eat just ordinary food with such joy, with such gratitude, that it becomes
a prayer. It starts having the quality of The Sacred.
In one of his poems Omar Khayyam says, “I want to warn the so-called saints that if they don’t
enjoy this life, they will become incapable of enjoying the other.” And he is perfectly right, because enjoying
something is an art and this life is an opportunity to learn the art.
If you cannot enjoy flowers here, how will you be able to enjoy flowers in paradise? Those flowers may be of gold,
studded with diamonds—ever-lasting, eternal—but if you cannot enjoy the momentary, not even the momentary,
how will you enjoy the eternal? The momentary gives you an opportunity to learn the art—that’s the whole
function of life.
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