And Sir Young had a message from his Prime Minister Tony Blair for the people of Punjab. But Lady Catherine, of French origin, was more interested in seeing around Chandigarh, the city created by a fellow French.``Now you know the reason behind her interest. The French get into a strong national feeling,'' Sir Young teased her. When Sir Young talked of the ways to improve Indo-British relationship in which Sikhs could play a vital role, his Lady was more focussed on what she should explore in the city. ``I must get the feel of the place, its architecture. For I find Corbusier an extremely interesting person though controversial too. But I was very disappointed that I had to land up in this dream city in the night.''

Another factor that impressed her was the elevation of Bibi Jagir Kaur to the high post in an otherwise man's domain. ``I am fascinated by this positive signal and the position given to women in Sikhism.''

Joining her husband on the `warmth' that has come up in Indo-British ties, Lady Catherine noted, ``This warmth is visible not just in Delhi but throughout, even in Calcutta and Mumbai.'' But for the time being, Lady Catherine is only looking forward to a long stint in Chandigarh so that ``I can study the architecture and enjoy it too.''

A spiritual voyage on CD
A CD-ROM ``A journey from Sikh to Khalsa'' has been released by city-based computer firm, Teg Computers. Based on the history of Sikhism, the CD comes with audio, video and text portions, lasting for an hour and a half and is priced at Rs 990.

The SGPC-approved CD was the concept of NRI Sarabjit Singh who felt it would be the ideal way to propagate the message of Sikhism among children settled abroad. The CD will be released in all North American countries as well as Australia.

Apart from imparting information about the Sikh shrines, historical events, the Gurmukhi script and Guru Granth Sahib, the CD also has a glossary which includes a dictionary.

The software has been developed by Jasbir Singh, Tarlochan Singh, Parminder Singh and Dinesh. The music for all sections has been composed and sung by Dharamvir Singh. Sunil and Deepak Saini of Teg Computers have authored and directed the project.The CD is available at the English Book Shop in Chandigarh and at their stall at Anandpur Sahib.