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GOAN POET READS AT CHANDIGARH Goan traveller-poet Dr Brian Mendonça travels once more over the weekend, this time from Delhi to Chandigarh, the unique state capital of both Punjab and Haryana, at the foothills of the Shivalik hills. After visiting the Gurudwara and partaking of a meal with a Sikh friend tomorrow on the birthday of Guru Nanak (1469-1539) the first Guru of the Sikhs, Brian will leave Delhi the next morning (Sat, 27th Nov) at 7.40 AM by the Kalka Shatabdi for Chandigarh. He will be received by his friend and mentor, Rana Nayar and now Professor at the Department of English at the University of Punjab, Chandigarh. A poetry reading has been organised the same evening, tentatively at the Chandigarh Press Club in asociation with the Creative Society, Chandigarh. Rana’s wife Aruti is with the Tribune newspaper Chandigarh. Press coverage has been assured. Brian has written several poems (one in Hindi) seduced by the speed of the Shatabdi viz, ‘Shatabdi’, ‘In Conclusion’ and ‘Dharmayuddha.’ The last one is framed with verses from the Bhagavad Gita and was written when the Kalka Shatabdi slammed through Kurukshetra – the ancient and sacred site of the epic war of the Mahabharata, ‘the war of Dharma’ or ‘Dharma-yuddha.’ The poem was well received at his poetry reading at the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) Mumbai last month. He has also written ‘Pinjore’ at the world-famous Mughal gardens at Pinjore which he had visited with Rana and his family earlier. Designed by Nawab Fadai Khan, a great architect and foster brother of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in the 17th century, Pinjore is 20 km from Chandigarh on the Chandigarh-Shimla road. The Pinjore gardens are also known as the Yadavindra gardens after the garden was restored by Maharaja Yadavindra of Patiala. Brian returns the next day (Sunday) by the Kalka Shatabdi (dep. Chd. at 6.20 pm) to reach Delhi at 9.50 pm. The next Sunday (5th Dec) Brian comperes, and reads his poems at the annual feast celebrations of St Francis Xavier,being organised by the St.Francis Xavier Goan Society, Rajinder Nagar, at the Community Centre, Sacred Heart Cathedral, New Delhi.