Lucknow diary

Some relief for birds

With April already halfway through, Lucknowites are heading for the peak of summer, which has just one comforting feature—juicy, delectable Dussehri mangoes. Otherwise, it’s all heat and thirst. And all creatures are equal in their suffering. A new initiative from a group, however, would ensure that birds will have enough resources to quench their thirst.

Three city NGOs have started a citizen-driven initiative to pledge water for birds in scorching heat. Morning walkers of the local Lohia Park were the first to take this pledge. The drive will continue till July when the monsoon sets in.

Different avatar of police officers

The cultural evening of the annual IPS week in Lucknow has always been a top draw. With a known crooner heading India’s biggest police force, it had to be special. So, there were two ‘deewanas’ stealing the show. DGP OP Singh, known for his flawless rendition of Mukesh’s immortal song, came up with a mesmerising ‘Deewanon se yeh mat puchho, deewanon pe kya gujri hai’ from Manoj Kumar’s ‘Upkaar’. Whether the feel in the song reflected the heat he has been facing after taking over is not known. If this was good enough, the ADG (law and order) put the icing on the cake with Kishore Kumar’s ‘Deewana le ke aaya hai, dil ka taraana’.

Ballot war in media world

Amid the brouhaha of a series of elections, a quiet Sunday was lit up by the battle of ballot featuring Lucknow journalists, who are proud holders of accreditation cards. Held every two years, it is much more talked about in the city, thanks to the candidates’s campaign in the social media—Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter. Even the WhatsApp groups created for news dissemination remained flooded with ‘vote for’ messages for the past fortnight. And the level of competitiveness could be gauged from the fact that with a voter list of 750, there are 15 candidates in fray for the post of president alone.

La Martinere under scanner

The famous La Martinere College is in news for wrong reason. A Class 8 student who alleged ragging in its hostel and lack of action from the authorities, has come out with some eye-opening tales of boozing and smoking by school kids at its hostels and washrooms. The parents of the student from Auraiya withdrew him for the college and have complained to the Union HRD ministry. A police case has been registered against the prestigious college which has just two branches - Kolkata and Lucknow - across India. The police recorded the boy’s statement on Saturday.

Namita Bajpai

Our correspondent in Uttar Pradesh

namita.bajpai@newindianexpress