Sindri
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| ?Sindri Jharkhand • India |
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| Coordinates: | |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
| Area • Elevation |
• 178 m (584 ft) |
| District(s) | Dhanbad |
| Population | 76,827 (2001) |
| Codes • Pincode • Telephone • Vehicle |
• 828122 • +91 (0)326 • JH 10- |
Sindri is a town in the Indian state of Jharkhand.
Contents |
[edit] Overview
Sindri [3] is a huge city in the state of Jharkhand. It rose in prominence as the site of the one of the largest fertilizer plants in India, although the factory was closed in 2002. There is another small town of the same name in the state of Rajasthan in India. The name in English is sometimes also written as Sindari.
[edit] Origin of name
According to the brochures of the now-closed fertilizer plant, the name Sindri was given to the location by the local tribal residents of the area. The name originates from "Sindoori" or vermilion--coloured. The soil in the area is laterite and has a Vermillion/reddish hue. That gave the location its name.
The word Sindri is also part of the Mundari lexicon. Mundari is a language spoken by the indigenous people that have lived around Sindri far a long time. It roughly translates to "ridge" or "frontier." There is some evidence that centuries ago the Santhals, Mundas and Hos inhabited the banks of the Sindhu river and were displaced to Eastern India by the Aryans.[citation needed]
The word Sindri is also in use amongst Icelanders, but is unrelated to the name of the town.
[edit] Transportation
Sindri is connected by road and rail to the district headquarter of Dhanbad. The road between Sindri and Dhanbad has usually been in a state of disarray. The train service between the Sindri and Dhanbad is a much more welcome relief. There are three small rail stations in Sindri, the Sindri Town station, Sindri Marshalling Yard, and Sindri. Visitors to the main township need to be careful that they get down at the Sindri Town station rather than getting down at Sindri station itself. The rail line connects Sindri (via Dhanbad) to the regional industrial city of Jamshedpur with the most important train through Sindri being the Subarnarekha Express.
[edit] History
Sindri was a largely ignored tribal village until 1952, when it was selected as the site of a large fertilizer plant in 1952 under the first five-year plan. At its inauguration time, the then prime minister of India, Jawahar Lal Nehru said that he was not inaugurating a fertiliser factory but he was inaugurating a temple of modern India[4]. The fertilizer plant, operated perennially at a loss, and was eventually closed in 2002, despite vehement opposition by the local trade unions and politicians. The factory primarily produced Amonium Sulphate, Urea, Ammonium Nitrate-Sulfate combination called Double salt. The raw materials used were gypsum, coal and naphta. Sindri also had a cement plant that was part of ACC (Associated Cement Companies). Although the fertilizer plant was not a commercial success, it provided a wonderful social environment for a couple of generations of people during its existence. The Bihar Insitute of Technology was also established and remains one of the premier institutions in the state of Bihar and Jharkhand.
[edit] Localities
The most prominent portion of Sindri town were the residential area for employees of the fertilizer plant. The two other portions included the residential area for BIT Sindri and the residential area for ACC employees. The older tribal village of Sindri, is now known as Domghar, or the residence of Doms. [1]
The fertilizer plant residence area had three prominent locations, Rohraband, Shaharpura and Rangamati. A new location of Manohartand town was added near Rohraband in early 1980s. Rohraband had the housing for the highest grade employees, with Shaharpura and Rangamati housing lower grade employees.
The Sindri township was a well-planned and maintained area in comparison to most of the neighbouring areas. Houses were laid out neatly on well lit, leafy avenues and ample open spaces were set aside for playgrounds. Power was generated locally and well run plants purified the dark polluted waters from the Damodar river to provide a reliable supply of clean water. If Sindri was a temple of Modern India, its altar was the immaculately landscaped and professionally staffed Sindri Hospital. Many children born in this hospital have a hard time explaining the high quality of life in Sindri to their out of town friends.
[edit] Social life
The fertilizer plant brought together people from many different locations of India to work in various roles. Sindri was truly the mixing pot of different cultures and regions in India. It was not unusual to find a Bengali, a Bihari, a Sikh, a Tamil, a Kannada and a Jain family living in the same block of the town. The communal harmony and social acceptance which was instilled in youngsters growing up in the town made it much easier for them to adapt to a diverse culture. The greatest contribution of Sindri fertilizer plant may be in creating a generation of Indians born with multi-cultural values who are now distributed all over India and the world.
Shaharpura hosted the downtown shopping area where established dry goods merchants, tailors and butchers shared their space with farmers and other small time merchants. Every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday a lively open air market was held featuring fresh locally raised produce, poultry and locally crafted artifacts. Wandering minstrels and traditional medicine men from as far away as Afghanistan brought with them unexpected services and concoctions like low cost street side tooth extraction and "lizard oil" for arthritis sufferers that was brewed in-situ at low heat in wide mouthed vats of oil in which a few exotic looking lizards lounged around (unharmed) for the afternoon. Marathon bicyclists occasionally came to town to ride around in circles for days on end without setting their foot down. This form of theater elevated everyday activities like shaving, showering and eating to heroic levels and got the salaried men of Sindri to spare some change for their more venturesome if less fortunate compatriots. The open air market was Sindri's window to the rest of India and brought a splash of color to an otherwise pastel town.
The Officer's club offered a great social setting for the employees of the fertilizer factory and (Fertilizers) Planning and Development India Limited (FPDIL). FPDIL was a second public sector organisation in the township mostly doing research and project work for fertiliser projects across the country. For some reason the Fertilizer was later on dropped from the name and the major part of the truncated organisation by the name of Planning and Development India limited (PDIL), later renamed as Projects & Development India Limited, shifted to Noida and Baroda. Sindri club had two badminton courts, Tennis courts (later converted into swimming pool), Billiards and Table tennis. It was a major destination for the Officers and their young children in the evenings and weekends. Saturday night and Sunday night used to be the movie night where a 16 mm projector was placed on a makeshift table and Raj Kapoor, Nargis and Devanand came alive on the makeshift screen.
A well stocked library was a great place to relax and spend time. The local club barber Moinuddin was a popular figure and was responsible for a quite a few latest haircuts in the town. With an ever ready smile and a latest gossip he was the most popular barber in town.
Sindri was relatively crime free. Armed bandits, or dacoits as they were known, occasionally staged a hit on homes in the outskirts of town. A few children were born out of wedlock and an occasional aborted fetus or a new born was found abandoned. Suicides by distraught college aspirants through self inflicted burns or hanging from the ubiquitous ceiling fans were occasionally reported.
Sindri has a Protestant Church, a Catholic Church, a Hindu temple, a Sikh Gurudwara and a Mosque as well. A movie theater "Kalpana Talkies" near the taxi stand screened year old Bollywood and other regional hits and English movies on Friday nights. The young engineers in training at BIT Sindri and other college students occasionally sorted out their social differences in and around Kalpana Talkies. The Friday night English movies served as the window to the west for counteless kids, a few of whom did go west.
The Kalyan Kendra (Welfare Center) located between Rohrabandh and Shaharpura had a sprawling ground adjacent to it. The complex boasted of a traditional gym and a modern one too. Later a swimming pool was built as part of this complex. It was the venue for Independence Day and Republic Day parades and location of choice for staging plays and poetry readings by groups that believed that watching movies (along with chewing tobacco, imbibing tea, gambling and playing chess or cards,) was a bad habit. The one western influence that seeped into Kalyan Kendra was table tennis and of course carrom board. The Bengali literati staged night long yatras and durga pujas, the Biharis (and those from Eastern UP) staged Kavi Samelans and observed Chaat, the Tamil literati arranged for Kacheris and staged Ayyappan Puja. Nehru would have been proud of the melting pot he had helped create. He would probably have been less proud of the unauthorized but quite popular late night transvestite cabarets that popped up in the wild.
[edit] Famous people
One of the most notable person from Sindri would be Late. Mr. Mihir Sanyal a prominent Table tennis player of yesteryears represented State and Indian team in numerous occasion. Vinod Rao was Jr Bihar Table Tenis Champion coached by Mr. Mihar Sanyal. Late Mr. TP Bhattacharjee a writer, dramatics and an ultimate source of inspiration to the culture loving people. "Andhakare Surya Sikar" "Taxi driver" are some of his flawless and comtemporary novels however he could not contribute more due to his sudden demise at an early age. When talk about the gems of Sindri surely we can not effort to miss Mr. Chitra Subramaniam[5], who catapulted onto the international scene with her gutsy reporting on what was to become the Bofors scandal. [6]. The daughter of a former General Manager of the fertlizer plant, Meenakshi Seshadri, was crowned Ms. India in 1980 and went on to make a career for herself as a popular Bollywood actress [7] much to the delight of the residents. The town's next great literary hope may be Vijay Nagaswami author of "Courtship & Marriage: A Guide for Indian Couples. Amazon.com describes this book as an "indispensable resource for all couples, not only dysfunctional ones" [8] The title of his next book "Something Black In The Lentils" [9]makes a lot more sense in Hindi and awaits a publisher. Sindri has produced many engineers and doctors, with an average of four to five students qualifying for the Indian Institute of Technology IIT annually.
Some of them have gone on to win President Gold Medals at undergraduate levels and become preeminent researchers, e.g. "Dinesh Verma" [10], Rajeev Kumar,Milan banerjee. Sindri has consistently produced several engineers and doctors for premier institutions in India, and several Sindri people are working in reputed laboraties worldwide, Mr Manoj kumar singh working in IBN7(Channel7)as a camera person. Sindri also produce a lots of sports personalities in Volleyball, Basketball and Athletics.Mr.Shailesh kumar pandey(Bulbul - Nick Name) represents Bihar as sergeant in N.C.C. two times in 1995 & 1996 in RD prade. Mr. Dinesh Singh (Mantu - Nick Name) represents India in Volleyball and he also won best Blocker Award During the Jr. World Cup Championship. There are lots of Clubs in sindri, but the main Club which is known for playing Volleyball is Sindri Youth Club, Sindri. In movie "Damul" and "Parinay" which is directed by famous director Sri Prakash Jha, most of the artist are from sindri and all are associated with Sindri Youth club. Name of one more person i want to add who has done a great job and continuing his duty towards the people of sindri is S.K.Chatterjee, worked in the electrical dept. and now taking care of the whole power distribution in the city. If he want then he can leave but i think this is the love for the town that has kept him there. Sindri has been a great source of enterteinment.people in sindri are always entitled towards entertainment --117.99.10.202 (talk) 06:55, 22 May 2008 (UTC)--117.99.10.202 (talk) 06:55, 22 May 2008 (UTC)maujmasti.some interesting persons of sindri are as follows-:saharpurians.the j type colony in sindri is regarded as the colony of the V.I.P's
[edit] Educational institutes
Sindri had schools run by the management of the Fertilizer factory. Rajendra Schools in Shaharpura, Ragamati and Domgarh. All areas were having Middle Schools but High School was in Shaharpura. An only girls school from Middle classes to 10th/11th class was also there. Many student of these schools are at very high places and many are in Administrative as well as Military Services. Other schools in Sindri that provide excellent education to residents are Model English High School, De Nobili School (chain of schools run by Society of Jesus in the coal belt), Lions Public School and Saraswati Sishu Mandir.
Sindri has created so many engineers over the last half century through the great engineerring college, BIT Sindri. Engineers who are MD's or GM's in some of the leading businesses of the country whereas many of the engineers are across the globe doing great in their fields. Dr. C. P. Singh, Ph.D. from University of Florida and BS in Chemical Engineering from BIT Sindri, is a founder of Nanotech company called "Nano Interface Technology, Inc." located in Washington DC Metro area. Founded in 1949, BIT Sindri is a premier technical institution offering undergraduate and postgraduate courses in various branches of engineering approved by All India Council of Technical Education, New Delhi. It is wholly owned by the Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of Jharkhand, Ranchi. BIT Sindri was formerly known as Bihar Institute of Technology, Sindri which was renamed as Birsa Institute of Technology, Sindri after the creation of Jharkhand state in November 2000
[edit] Current status
Today, after the closure of the factory, Sindri is a mere shadow of its past glory. Some parts of the town have been turned over to the Central Reserve Police Force and seem to be well maintained. Many homes remain unoccupied while others right next door are lived in and well maintained. The hospital is largely shuttered and its grounds quite unkempt. Only one ward is in use. Kalpana talkies has shut down but DVD vendors have popped up at the still bustling market. The butchers have yielded space to jewellers! Bihar Stores is still open for business, Ahmad Tailors is mostly selling ready made garments and D. N. Studio has gone digital. Sindri's great spec master, "Dipu Opticals" is still catering the optical needs. The town is greener now. Many more trees have sprung up but Sindri seems to be slowly receding in time. There is a Club famaous for its cultural activities and others Sports Competition Sindri Youth Club, is now looks like a bushy garden and no one is there to take care of all that. Sindri Youth Club has produced lot of National & International Players in VolleyBall, Badminton , Table Tannis & lot more. This Club is famous all over India for Great Drama Artist.
Today Sindri has got different educational institutes such as the Denobili School Sindri which provides good educational facillities and has teachers like mama,thakura, mitrain,singhu dariyal,molly holly.Principal is Shaktiman.Vice principal is Tommy. The best batch in the school is std 10 of 2009.some students of them are surabhi a,b,sweety.
Lions Public School is emerging one of the Powerful educational Institute in Sindri.The Commerce Section as well as Science section has great Faculties.Lions Public school is the School of common man.It is providing education at very genuine fees.
[edit] Geography
Sindri is located at [2]. It has an average elevation of 178 metres (583 feet).
[edit] Demographics
As of 2001 India census[3], Sindri had a population of 76,827. Males constitute 54% of the population and females 46%. Sindri has an average literacy rate of 68%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 77%, and female literacy is 57%. In Sindri, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age..
[edit] References
- ^ The term Dom is said to have been derived from dombī from the Munda language[1]. Doms have been viewed in many parts of India as a community of sweepers and latrine cleaners and the term is sometimes used in a derogatory manner. Yet the term "Dom" simply means man according to the Dom Research Center [2]
- ^ Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Sindri
- ^ Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns. (Provisional). Census Commission of India. Retrieved on 2007-09-03.
