Manveen Sandhu

Manveen Sandhu
Born	13 April 1962
Died	11 January 2009 (aged 46)
Occupation	Author, educationist, peace-activist
Nationality	Indian
Genre	History, culture, education

Manveen Sandhu (1962–2009) was an Indian writer, educationist, culture promoter and a peace activist. She married Dr. Shivinder Singh Sandhu and was blessed with two children - Kirat and Sahil. Kirat is married to a pilot named Samar Cheema. She was the creator and director of Punarjyot, an NGO that works for the preservation and promotion of the heritage of Punjab, and also founded Saanjh: Amritsar-Lahore festival to promote cultural interaction and better understanding between the cities of Amritsar & Lahore^[1]

Sandhu was posthumously awarded the Kalpana Chawla award for promotion of art, culture and education.^[2] She produced several plays in an effort to revive the composite culture of Punjab, which had suffered a setback after the partition of India. She had also encouraged Pakistan-based artists and was instrumental in organising several joint cultural shows under the aegis of Saanjh and Punarjyot.

Career

Sandhu authored the book Maharaja Ranjit Singh: Personalitas Extraordinaire which chronicles the life and times of the Ranjit Singh, who was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire. Her research was instrumental in bringing a fair representation to Moran Sarkar, the dancing girl who Maharaja Ranjit Singh married in 1802.^{[3] [4]}

Manveen Sandhu was also the principal of Spring Dale Senior School, Amritsar, and was noted for her exemplary integration of Multiple Intelligences into the curriculum.^[5]

Her efforts to further education were recognised by Ministry of Human Resource Development – Govt. of India, which conferred the National Award 2008 on her under its scheme of National Award to Teachers. Dr. Kirat Sandhu and Mr. Sahiljit Sandhu received the award on her behalf from the Vice-President of India on Teacher's Day – 5 September 2009. ^[6][7]

Death

She died in a road accident along with her husband, Dr. Shivinder Sandhu, on 11 January 2009 while on the way from Bikaner to Amritsar.^[8][9]

References

1. "Manveen Sandhu, Saanjh, Punarjyot".
2. "Kalpana Chawla Awards, 2009".
3. "Author Manveen Sandhu: Moran, the mystery woman".
4. "Play establishes Maharaja Ranjit Singh Moran marriage".
5. "Exemplary Integration of Multiple Intelligences into the Curriculum at Spring Dales, Amritsar".
6. "Manveen Sandhu honored posthumously".
7. "Manveen Sandhu honored on Teacher's Day" (PDF).
8. "Accident kills Manveen Sandhu and Shivinder Sandhu".
9. "Punarjyot Director Dies in Road Accident".