Bengalureans

There are also workshops that cater to aspiring entrepreneurs. Mukta Darera, who recently held a seminar on restaurant management says, “We get mentors who talk about factors like license registrations, regulations and concept building.”

Shwetha Prakash, a student who attended the seminar says, “I thought all I needed to open my restaurant was money. The course was an eye-opener.” She adds that youngsters are attracted to these seminars because, “you meet like minded people.”

Those who enroll are also taken to a restaurant to learn about book-keeping and handling kitchen staff — practical advice which is greatly appreciated.

There are also workshops on self-defence. Frank J Wolf, who teaches Krav Maga, an Israeli self-defence technique, says that he has many youngsters, notably women, who attend. “The crime statistics in India is frightening and professionals who commute at night want to feel secure.”

Kunga Tenzing Wanguyal, an IT professional says that Krav Maga is about, “honing your natural instincts and getting away from a sticky situation. Workshops can help you develop a broader world-view too.”

Most seminars cost upwards of Rs 1000, but youngsters feel it is money well worth spending. “The workshops on Krav Maga lets you test your capabilities,” says IT professional Mats Kuruvilla.

But Kunga warns that not all workshops are created equal. “When people identify a demand for such workshops, the market is flooded with ‘experts’ who are just in it for the money.”

Suneesh Surendran, a project manager, says that the market is overrun with management seminars. “A lot of them are unimaginative and boring. It comes down to what you do with the information you have received. But ultimately you are the key.” And you don’t need a seminar to tell you that.

6th, Jan, 2009

By Asit Jolly

Chandigarh

Recently “handicapped” by a High Court order significantly scaling down the number of security men and vehicles deployed to protect top politicians and bureaucrats, the Punjab police is now seeking to better its anti-terrorist skills by re-training its commandos in advanced martial arts and equipping them with state of-the-art Swiss weaponry.

Police commandos on Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s elaborate, 1,000-man security detail in Chandigarh as well as others at the Punjab Armed Police Academy at Jalandhar were recently shown live demonstrations of Krav Maga — a Czechoslovakian-Israeli unarmed combat technique currently employed by special forces across the world.

Staged over 10 days by experts from the Israeli Krav Maga Federation (India), the demonstrations were a precursor exercise to identify physically and emotionally suited personnel to undertake advanced courses in the technique supervised by Israeli instructors.

“The idea is to arm our men with specialised skills that could prove far more efficient than pistols and AK-47s in the protection of VIPs,” said a senior police officer. He admitted that with their present level of training and fitness, many of Punjab police commandos constituted more of a threat than any security to the people they are supposed to protect.

“There is always the possibility that motivated intruders could snatch a PSO’s weapon and use it on the protectee in a crowd or other close protection situations,” the officer said. Vicky Kapoor, the man who runs IKMF-India, insists “unarmed combat skills are the only solution on the street.” According to him, state police forces and other security agencies in India have been “overly focused” on procuring weapons. “Yes, a good weapon is important but even more critical is the man behind that weapon,” he said, adding, “As soon as we have a formal request, IKMF will commence an advanced Krav Maga course for a hand-picked group of Punjab police commandos.”

Source: Deccan Chronicles