India Currents March 2012 Northern California Edition by India Currents

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IndiaCurrents Celebrating 25 Years of Excellence

march 2012 • vol. 25 , no .11 • www.indiacurrents.com

Daring to DREAM—how one undocumented student formed a nationwide group to help others like herself

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Transitions Dear Jaya, Welcome to the wonderful world of India Currents. As you take over the role of editor, you must be wondering what to expect from this new job. So here goes: First of all, the reports of the demise of print media are greatly exaggerated. Three years ago, when I joined this magazine, the death knell was already being rung, yet here we are, in 2012, as relevant as ever. Our upgraded website has attracted a new set of readers, but there are many, like me, for whom nothing can replace the thrill of getting a fresh copy in the mailbox, to be perused at leisure with a cup of chai. That emotion is the heart and soul of this magazine, even as we reach out to new audiences and new generations across new media. Your biggest challenge, as it was for me and the editors who came before, is to stay relevant and speak to the hyphenated identity that defines us, even as we take giant steps as a community to integrate, assimilate, belong in this country. When we seek success in the boardroom, or strive for public office, or audition for roles in mainstream television, what parts of our culture are we bringing along? What is uniquely Indian about our struggles? What defines us as separate when we are doing our best to connect? In finding that balance between Indian,

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RAJU S. KOSURU

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Information provided is accurate as of the date of going to press; India Currents is not responsible for errors or omissions. Opinions expressed are those of individual authors. Advertising copy, logos, and artwork are the sole responsibility of individual advertisers, not of India Currents.

American, and Indian American, you have two powerful allies. The first is our team of writers—insightful, provocative, and thoughtprovoking; their words surprise and inform us. They write of the complications of cultural hangovers, mixed marriages, and generation gaps that cannot be spanned by bridges woven of ethnic experiences. They rue the loss of the traditions that constitute identity, and celebrate the blessings of tolerance and acceptance that are the products of diversity. Whether Indian or Indophile, they revel in the color, the pageantry, and the drama that we add to the American tapestry. Then there are our readers. I believe that the worth of a magazine is determined by the quality of its readers. In this you are truly fortunate, for you could not ask for more discerning critics, more passionate supporters. Measured in their praise and civil in their censure, they will guide you and point the way; all you have to do is listen. As you embark on this exciting journey, I am thrilled for you, but I am even happier that next month my copy of India Currents will be a beautifully wrapped, much anticipated gift, contents unknown. I can’t wait!

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Northern California Edition

PERSPECTIVES 1 EDITORIAL: Transitions. By Vidya Pradhan 6 VOICES 8 FORUM: Should India censor social media sites? Two opinions. By Rameysh Ramdas and Mani Subramani

Undocumented, Unapaologetic, Unafraid An undocumented student shares her story of forming a nationwide group to help others like herself By Prerna Lal

ZEITGEIST: Overseas anybody. By Ragini Tharoor Srinivasan

BUSINESS: Racism in Silicon Valley. By Vivek Wadhwa

PERSPECTIVE: Zombie journalism. By Lakshmi Santosh

ELECTIONS 2012: Get involved for your kids. By Rishi Kumar

25th ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL: Growing older by the Golden Gate. By Kalpana Mohan

TAX TALK: Optimizing the 2011 tax filing season. By Khorshed Alam

TAXATION: Overseas Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (OVDI) open again. By Rahul Ranadive

102 REFLECTIONS: Meditate to unveil knowledge and liberate consciousness. By Roy Eugene Davis

144 THE LAST WORD BY SARITA SARVATE: The war on contraceptives.

LIFESTYLE 58 RECIPES: Gluten-free quickbreads. By Shanta Nimbark Sacharoff 68 RELATIONSHIP DIVA: Dilemma of the alpha woman. By Jasbina Ahluwalia

110 THE HEALTHY LIFE: How to sleep well. By Suchetha Sarathy and Mona Shah

121 DEAR DOCTOR: Seeking the perfect life. By Alzak Amlani

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

The subterranean horrors of the Cu Chi Tunnels in Vietnam By Kalpana Sunder

FICTION: Dhatura. By Monideepa Sahu. Katha Finalist.

BOOKS: Review of The Way Things Look To Me, Life Happens and Death Too, and Zelda, the Queen of Paris. By Jeanne Fredriksen, Anu Kumar, and Geetika Pathania Jain

IN FOCUS: Young dancer Aditi Ahuja. By Anu Kher

MUSIC: The blessing and the burden of being Alam Khan. By Teed Rockwell

137 FILMS: Review of Agneepath and Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu. By Aniruddh Chawda

DEPARTMENTS

WHAT’S CURRENT

32 Ask a Lawyer 33 Visa Dates 135 Uncubed

88 Cultural Calendar 103 Spiritual Calendar 126 Classifieds

india currents • march 2012 • 3

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voices

Strange Coincidences

Raywat Deonandan’s piece (The Ethics of Surrogacy, February 2012) is concise and complete. Ominous expressions like “reproductive tourism,” “assisted reproductive technologies,” “maternal surrogacy” and “wombs for rent” convey a fictional perspective to a futuristic concept. But the reality is here and now and it is the newest profession to a segment of Indian women and perhaps women elsewhere too. The women engaged in this billion dollar industry are probably correctly identified as service providers. In simple terms, a woman in the childbearing age group contractually agrees to carry a fertilized embryo from another woman, give birth, and surrender the newborn infant to the client for a fee. A key part of the agreement between the parties is a legal document called “informed consent” by the service provider to the client under specified legal conditions. But no amount of legalism can erase a mother’s instinctive bond to her child. Those of us familiar with Hindu religion can marvel at two mythological parallels. The epic Ramayana anecdotally refers to Gautama as the son of Maharshi Vasishta The son is referred to as a “kumbha–ulbhavan” which translates to a “test-tube baby” in modern parlance. The event dates back to the Dwapara yuga, which is at least 51 centuries ago. (The current year in the next yuga, Kaliyuga, is 5113 Kali.) This suggests that in vitro fertilization (IVF) was in practice then. Similarly, another amazing anecdote relating to the avatars of Vishnu narrates that, in order to mislead the evil Kamsa, his sister Devaki and her husband Vasudeva transfer her fertilized embryo to the womb of another wife of Vasudeva, Rohini, who delivers Balarama in due course. The next child of Devaki and Vasudeva is Krishna who, thus, becomes a brother of Balarama (from different mothers). Here is a case of maternal surrogacy, also practiced in Dwapara Yuga. Did we perhaps inherit an ethical edict for surrogacy and IVF from mythological times? This should be equally puzzling to non-believers as well, who will be hard-pressed to expect such projections in pure fiction. P. Mahadevan, Fullerton, CA

Yoga Is More Than Asanas

The commentary (Om My God, February 2012, web only) did not do justice to the essence of yoga. It is true that sheer commercialization ($5 billion industry) has wrecked the principles and practice of yoga. Thus, for most, it is reduced to mere physical postures. Yoga is much more than just few postures, breathing techniques, mind control, and meditation. Yoga is really the sum of all the essential, intelligent, 6 • india currents • march 2012

and activating principles of a person’s endeavor to realize a greater potential. The selfless ancient Hindu sages who developed the principles of yoga did not seek patent or copyright protections but presented the multifaceted, integrative system for the benefit of all. If one performs only the postures, the benefit derived is limited to that extent. As one progresses to the next levels, it promotes greater wellbeing. Yoga has roots in Hindu spirituality. Yoga practitioners need to follow simple, common sense principles of biomechanics the way an athletic trainer or a physiotherapist develops a training/treatment regimen to suit the state of the subject/patient. Recently on Makar Sankranti day (always on January 14), the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh organized a 15-day Suryanamaskar Yagna nationwide at schools and community centers. It received wide media coverage and official proclamations from many cities and states. Yet not a single cent was solicited or raised, as this movement is run by self-motivated modern rishis offering health for humanity. Suresh, Irvine, CA

zation is 100% non-profit, and all the money goes into donations to the poor, clothing for the divine statues, or to build more temples so some believers don’t have to commute, or to upgrade the temple for tourists who come to learn about Swaminarayan Bhagwan. You also blamed your stomachache on the food made in the cafeteria. The truth is, many people get sick from eating in India, (including me), because their stomachs aren’t used to the environment in India. It was most likely your weak immune system that didn’t adapt to the food. I had to laugh at your reference to “Swaminaryan dolls.” These aren’t dolls! They are divine idols made for Swaminaryan devotees who want to have a statue of the Lord at their home. They aren’t meant for tourists who don’t appreciate it. This article did offend a lot of people and I felt writing a rebuttal was the right thing to do. Saahil M. Patel, via email

Religion As A Political Tool

The article by Sarita Sarvate (A Hindu Mecca? Or Disneyland? February 2012) is a distorted representation of India in the 21st century. Like most people who have migrated in the 60s and 70s she seems to have remained frozen in time. As a new immigrant to the United States, I can see the difference in the outlook of people who have come here in the 70s and those who have arrived in the past decade. The author did not know what Akshardham was even though it was in the news a few years ago when the temple in Gujarat was targeted by terrorists. Swaminarayan temples have their presence all over the world and are known for their opulence. There are many Swaminarayan temples in the United States and even in the SF Bay Area! She says her eyes were glazed over by all the elaborate sculptures at the Akshardham temple. But aren’t all the ancient temples in India, including the exquisitely carved Jain temples, also known for their beautiful details and elaborate sculptures. People visit these temples (as well as Akshardham) from all over the world to marvel at their beauty. Her cousin told her that they bring their children to Akshardham to teach them Hindu values. Why is this a problem? Isn’t this common in the United States too? We all want to instill traditional Hindu values in our children and I see this more in the United States than in India. If one can capture the imagination of children with high-tech gadgetry, there should be no complaints about using modern methods. I do not see how this will turn the citizen from a patriot to a parochial fundamentalist.

The so-called secular democracies like the United States and India are hypocritical when is comes to election time. They use religion as a political tool. If you are a democracy guaranteeing freedom of expression, you cannot make exceptions like banning Salman Rushdie from the Jaipur Literary Festival. The argument that it was done for security reasons is a lame one. It is refreshing to read an editorial (The Myth Of The Secular State, February 2012) that upholds freedom of expression, a pillar of secular democracy. Lakshmi Mani, online

Get The Facts Right

In the last issue of India Currents, my mom showed me, a 14-year-old 8th grader, an article that criticized a temple known as Akshardham (A Hindu Mecca? Or Disneyland? February 2012). My family belongs to the Swaminarayan sect which runs this temple. I know that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I also believe you shouldn’t publish an article without doing your research first. I would like to point out some specific details that the author Sarita Sarvate should have known. First of all, Swaminarayan isn’t a guru. There is an enormous difference between a guru and a God. A guru is a man who has God residing in him. He is the one that will show us the path to God. Swaminarayan Bhagwan is the Lord of the universe. Second of all, Akshardham is not a money-making machine, as you call it. The organi-

Why Be Negative About India?

The author concludes by hoping that this turn towards Hindu nationalism does not lead to fanaticism. Hindu fanaticism, history tells us, has always existed—even when she was living in her country “in its day of glory past.” I just hope a depressing and negative portrayal of India will never be “the last word” in India Currents. Vijay Vaishnav, Cupertino, CA Sarita Sarvate’s article on the Akshardham temple generated many negative and personal comments online. The author responds: It is tragic that some commenters, instead of addressing specific points in my article, (A Hindu Mecca? Or Disneyland? February 2012) have chosen to attack me personally. If they had read my column properly, they would have realized that nowhere in my essay have I criticized the Hindu religion. I have simply critiqued the showbiz quality of the temple in question. The emphasis, at least while I was there, was definitely on tourism rather than prayer or worship. Hinduism traditionally has not been an organized religion, but rather a personal one. It seems to be moving more and more toward the former, which worries me. Regular readers of this magazine would also know that I am not any fonder of Catholicism or Islam or any other organized religion. And I don’t see any logic in doing something simply because others are doing it. To correct some other misconceptions, I do not make my living as a writer, but as a professional who is responsible for procuring electricity for California. I was trained as a physicist and respect Einstein. It was Einstein who said: “I do not believe in a personal God ... If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it.” He also said, “The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend a personal God and avoid dogma and theology. Covering both the natural and the spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things natural and spiritual as a meaningful unity. ” I couldn’t agree more. Sarita Sarvate, via email

SPEAK YOUR MIND!

Have a thought or opinion to share? Send us an original letter of up to 300 words, and include your name, address, and phone number. Letters are edited for clarity and brevity. Write India Currents Letters, 1885 Lundy Ave. Suite 220, San Jose 95131 or email letters@indiacurrents.com.

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forum

Should India Put Restrictions on Social Media Content? Rameysh Ramdas

Mani Subramani

No, India should embrace Facebook and Google as a part of its strong democratic legacy.

Yes, social media sites have to take responsibility for their content.

hile the talk of the town here in Silicon Valley is on the upcoming IPO of Facebook, across the world in India, Facebook and Google are in the news for different reasons. A High Court judge in New Delhi is threatening to slap criminal sanctions on their sites for “objectionable” content and has warned them of China-style control if they do not impose a self-censorship regime. The basis for this ruling is a law passed in India last year that holds internet companies responsible for the content in their websites—a law that unfortunately does not reconcile the way that social networking or collaboration websites operate by using user-posted content. This could be dismissed as just an overzealous, lone High Court justice’s actions except that the Government of India has also unfortunately joined in with its support of possible criminal prosecution, taking exception to the caricature of political leaders by a few users of Facebook. It is unfortunate that India, long a beacon of strong democratic traditions and a vibrant free press, is now going down the path to curtail freedom of expression online. This sets an unwelcome precedent for other nations with questionable democratic commitment to follow suit. As the San Jose Mercury News editorial on February 8, 2012 opined—“The world’s largest democracy has a serious freedom of speech problem.” India now has the world’s third largest population of internet users, next only to the United States and China. Just like the cell phone revolution, internet access and the ability to collaborate online has leveled the playing field and opened up new vistas to India’s lower and middle class. According to their IP filing, Facebook has seen a doubling of their user base in India in just the past year, with more than 46 million active users. The power of Google search helps even rural children and farmers access to information and knowledge from the world over. I recently received a Facebook Friend request from the son of our family’s former maid in India—a true testament to how the internet and social collaboration websites have provided access to the rest of the world and have inspired the lower economic and educational strata to aspire to become members of the upwardly mobile urban Indian elite. While the Government of India or the courts can reasonably request that content that could jeopardize public safety or national security be removed, any moral policing on user-provided content is misguided, Instead, India can take the true moral high ground that a democratic nation could disagree with an opinion but will defend the right of every individual to state it—even on a Facebook wall!n

ocial media penetration in India is less than 5%. Despite the proposed legislation, the vast majority will have no restrictions on their freedom of expression. Any comparison of a multi-cultural, multi-lingual, multi-religious democracy like India to communist China is invalid. This regulation is intended to prevent misuse of internet for inflammatory causes with potential of causing violence and threat to social harmony, according to the Daily News Agency. Is it too much to ask social media companies to react with sensitivity and understanding of the society in which they choose to exist? Recently Facebook warned that their revenues could be impacted by content censorship. Shouldn’t the content belong to the company before they can claim censorship? And if it belongs to them shouldn’t they be responsible for it? The main argument is that since users post content on social media sites, the sites themselves cannot be held responsible for the content. This is a very hollow argument, especially coming from Silicon Valley. Just imagine how EBay would have fared if it couldn’t vouch for the quality of the products of its sellers or payments by its buyers. Social media sites have thrived in a totally unregulated environment so far and have had no responsibility for side-effects of their products. For example, parents and teachers in schools around the United States now have to worry about cyber bullying. Besides, freedom of speech does have sensible limitations. As cited in the ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in Schenck v. United States (1919), there are some circumstances in which restrictions on freedom of speech are warranted. India, with its diverse religious and ethnic identities, is a prime example of a place where incendiary speech could arguably be regulated. Another popular argument is that it would be too onerous for social media sites to track the material posted. Given the extremely talented people who work in these companies I find this argument very weak. While user input cannot be controlled, what is published on the web can. With the advances in natural language understanding and speech recognition it is not far-fetched to imagine a situation where the content could be flagged for review by artificial intelligence algorithms. So instead of valley companies banding together and fighting various governments around the world, let them work on creating a smarter internet where anonymous hit and runs that cause mayhem and panic can be monitored and its publishers face the consequences of their irresponsible behavior. Now that is something all of us can “Like.”n

Social media websites have inspired lower economic and educational strata to join the upwardly-mobile, urban Indian elite.

Rameysh Ramdas, an SF Bay Area professional, writes as a hobby. 8 • india currents • march 2012

Social media sites have thrived in an unregulated environment, without responsibility for the side-effects of their products.

Mani Subramani works in the semi-conductor industry in Silicon Valley.

india currents • march 2012 • 9

zeitgeist

Ragini Tharoor Srinivasan

Overseas Anybody

Photo Credit: Leoplus

eadlines declare expats flock to India for jobs, excitement. Interviewed Germans-turned-Delhiwallas sight “the future” in India. This is only the latest crest of the wave, still cresting—of jobs, people, companies, capital in its myriad forms—that started with outsourcing and compelled a generation of emigrants from India to return home as former immigrants. Return-to-sender, brain not drained. In Kochi, high-schoolers drink espresso at the Cocoa Tree. Starbucks is coming for them. They are ready. In the mornings, before it gets so late here that I can’t begin my reading, and before it gets so late there that the household is asleep, I sit with my coffee at my work desk and phone my grandmother. Last week, we read the same news story about Newt Gingrich and the moon. Yesterday, we watched Dhanush’s tribute to Sachin on YouTube (me) and heard it on Airtel Super Singer Junior (her). An email has already made the journey between us three or four times this morning—send, reply, forward, reply. So, in a way, we have already spoken today, and yesterday, and last week. In the afternoon, I’ll eat a snack of murukku from Grand Sweets, and my grandmother will read a New York Times bestseller. Between here and there, between Pacific Daylight and India Standard, there are too many time zones to count: Alpha, Charlie, Oscar, Papa, Armenia Summer, Tiempo del Este, Bangladesh Standard, Kuybyshev, Cuba Daylight, Romeo, Tango, Mountain Standard . . . more than one for every letter of the English alphabet, every hourly and half-hourly movement toward and away from UTC, our “Coordinated Universal Time.” We used to calculate our positions relative to Greenwich Mean Time, but UTC more ambitiously clocks the rotation of the earth, ensuring that human time doesn’t differ from the earth’s by more than 0.9 seconds, keeping time so that we don’t lose one second of it, giving us a leap second when it seems that we’re behind. On June 30 of this year, Coordinated Universal Time will give us three seconds, where normally there are two: at 11:59 p.m. we will have 59 seconds, then 60 seconds; 0 seconds, then 1. It’s a funny business, counting nanoseconds in a world of terabytes. The instruments of our technology grow ever more precise, identifying moments on sub-atomic levels and seconds in their naked singularity, as everywhere else the world grows fuzzy. In Delhi, two million people rode the metro yesterday. In Berkeley, a grocery-store owner lines shelves

with Vicco Vajradanti and watches, out the corner of his eye, a pirated Bollywood film. We have heard it so often that it becomes nauseating to repeat: “everything is available in India now.” So, too, “everything is available in the States.” You can eat McDonald’s there; you can buy dosa maavu here. We know this. The requests from family back home grow fewer. Foolishly, we pack overweight suitcases filled with gifts (American chocolate? Velcro? shampoo?) that they shrug at from over iPads. But it’s not the standardization of products that interests me. We are more than what we can buy, other than what we consume. It felt like an accomplishment to have the Naz theaters in Fremont, but does anyone honestly celebrate KFC in Aurangabad? With tongues hanging out, the likes of Wal-Mart and Tesco survey the Indian “market size” and “potential.” But just as corporations are not people, human beings are not markets. It should make our skin crawl to hear the excitement in the voice of a Starbucks executive, rapturous at the thought of half a billion mochas sold. Oh, the twin forces and internal contradictions of capitalism. On the one hand, it flattens the world, homogenizing markets as it globalizes. On the other hand, it diversifies, multiplying distinctions, demanding variation, and creating unevenness in a world of Universal Time. Often, however, the differences seem to reside on the level of Domino’s paneer pizza. This is not meaningful difference. It is just a way for a business to masquerade as authentic so that the unwitting customer feels she’s been heard before laying down her money. Everything is available here; everyone is available overseas. Tomorrow, my grandmother and I will read the same piece by Paul Krugman, syndicated to newspapers everywhere, as if there were only one op-ed that needed to be read in the world. Another blogger will announce that the future has moved to India, although it was already there, in a way, in the half day lived in advance of us, here. A one-year-old baby in Chennai friends me on Facebook, and I deactivate my account. We’ve talked for twenty minutes; my cell phone is warm in my hand. My grandmother tells me that Oprah will be introducing Aishwarya Rai’s baby to the world. We laugh about this, though I’m not sure what we find funny. I talk to my grandmothers now more often than in years before. We email and talk on the phone; once in a way we Skype, and we’re in touch daily. When my parents came to the United States in the late ’70s and early ’80s, it wasn’t even affordable to call. Now the world is small and everyone listens to Akon and the American “O” is hanging out with India’s “Big B.” Maybe we laugh, as they say, to keep from crying. Because despite all the ways that global technologies and media have advanced connections, we remain so very far apart. When everything around you conspires to demonstrate closeness and equivalence, the substantive difference of distance is magnified. The disembodied voice on the other side of the line might as well come from outer space. And how painful it is to say goodbye to a two-dimensional face with the click of an x in the corner of a screen. Did they know, I ask my grandmother, what they were doing when they left home, when they left India to come to the United States? Did they know how far it would be? I knew, she says.n Ragini Tharoor Srinivasan is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Rhetoric at the University of California, Berkeley.

10 • india currents • march 2012

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Undocumented, Unapologetic, Unafraid By Prerna Lal

walked into the San Francisco Immigration Court for my initial deportation hearing right before Christmas 2011. The courtroom was packed with immigrants mostly from India and Mexico, awaiting their deportation to countries they had left behind years ago. One by one, they stepped up; someone entered a plea for asylum, someone asked for more time, and many others accepted their fate: imminent separation from their family members. When they came to my name on the docket, I took a seat next to my attorney, fully prepared to hear and battle the charges against me.

12 â&#x20AC;˘ india currents â&#x20AC;˘ march 2012

o the average desi, illegal immigration is a “Hispanic” problem. Indeed, from the rhetoric that swirls around this issue, one gets the sense that every undocumented immigrant has skulked across the Mexican border at night, desperate to milk the American welfare state and steal good old American jobs (an argument whose efficacy seems to be uncorrelated with its inconsistency!) But the undocumented have many stories to tell—of escaping persecution in their homeland, of arriving as employees and staying on past their visa expiry dates because of their ties to this country, of unscrupulous employers and terrible immigration attorneys mishandling their cases. Or, as in my case, arriving as a child and “aging out” before I could petition to change my status. And yes, Indians cross the border from Mexico too. After Latin Americans, Indians are the largest group of immigrants caught at the Southwest border. And we’ve been doing this since the late 1800s—entering the United States without inspection through Mexico and Canada.

he Notice to Appear (NTA) document read, “She entered the country around November 13, 1999 and was authorized to stay till November 10, 1999.” The Honorable judge smiled. “Well, obviously that is wrong. Would you like to suggest a friendly amendment?” The government lawyer shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I’m not clear. It says in my files that she entered at or around May 2000. Is that not true?” The attorney assigned to represent me looked sideways at me with her eyebrow raised. I returned the raised eyebrow and shook my head. “That’s not true,” she countered. “In that case, I don’t know what the facts are,” the government attorney declared in apparent frustration. I don’t blame him. A lot has happened in the past 13 years that his job as a prosecutor would never allow him to consider beyond arrival and departure dates. From what I can recall, I was around 14 when my father decided to pack our belongings and move us to the San Francisco Bay Area all the way from the islands of Fiji. He said he was running away from years of ethnic violence against Indians in Fiji. The rest of us did not have his sense of urgency but he wanted out and it didn’t matter if anyone else understood. I’ve often wondered about his reasons but no longer think the question holds any relevance.

old dreary weather gave me a warm welcome to the United States. We came to live with one of my uncles in Hayward, CA. I was enrolled in a public high school and expected to pick up right where I had left off, as if nothing had changed. My grandmother—a U.S. citizen—filed papers for us and I was told

not to worry about immigration matters. My older sister had been studying here on an F-1 student visa and there was no reason to believe that I couldn’t do the same upon graduation from high school, and then eventually adjust my status to a green-card holder. In hindsight, South Asians would ask me why I wasn’t smart enough to just stay on a student visa. It’s actually illegal to attend a public high school in the United States on an F-1 visa without compensating the school, and I couldn’t afford that. Besides, I was a dependent on my father’s visa and attended high school legally. I ended up graduating near the top of my class with admission to attend several reputable schools but discovered that I was unable to accept any of the offers because the newly formed United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) denied my application for a student visa. Apparently, the visa petition filed by my grandmother when I was brought here was evidence of immigrant intent. In order to be an F-1 international student, I had to prove ties to my former country. USCIS emphatically declared in their denial letter that I was unable to prove any ties to Fiji and that the visa petition filed for my parents by my grandmother meant that I intended to live here. The irony in all of this is that had they allowed me to study here in legal status, I would have probably left the country after college. However, because I started to accrue “unlawful presence” due to the visa rejection, leaving the country triggered a senseless 10-year ban. I became someone who could neither live here nor leave here. I became undocumented.

hat is how a lot of South Asian immigrants live in America. We make up a significant number of the undocumented immigrant pop-

ulation in the United States but we are also conditioned to stay silent and remain fearful about our status. For a long time, I lived in fear of my life. Afraid to go to hospital when I broke my hand, afraid to talk about the abuse I underwent at home, afraid to ask for help if I was involved in an accident, afraid to tell teachers and friends in college that I was undocumented and needed financial support, afraid to apply for jobs or seek scholarships out of fear that someone would find out and report me to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). My mother constantly told me not to worry about my immigration status. According to her, all I had to do was work hard and go to school, and things would eventually sort themselves out. With the little money she had saved up from cleaning hotel rooms and working a fast-food job, she bought a small cleaning business. She enrolled me in a local community college. The college was more than happy to take me even without the proper immigration paperwork. I would go to school in the day and work for the cleaning business till the crack of dawn. I didn’t have work authorization. I was paying out of state tuition for school with no access to student loans. I could not drive so I would bike and take public transportation up to six hours daily to get to college. I had no identification besides a passport with a photo that no longer resembled me, so I could not travel. For a long time, I dealt with these barriers by compartmentalizing them and throwing myself into my studies.

worked hard and somehow graduated from college and graduate school before I was 22. By then, I had spent my entire adult life looking over my shoulder, waiting for the axe to india currents • march 2012 • 13

14 • india currents • march 2012

to complete two years in the military or two years at a four year institution of higher learning, they would obtain temporary residency for a six year period. The legislation went nowhere for several years and was later tied to the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 and the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 (S. 1348) as low-hanging fruit. With the failure of “comprehensive reform” legislation, Senator Dick Durbin (Ill.), the chief proponent of the DREAM Act in the Senate, made its passage a priority for his office.

Prerna, right, at a rally

come down on the life we were leading in this country. Fortunately, my parents finally became eligible for a green card and we went to a lawyer’s office to file for adjustment of status. Then a new wrinkle appeared. “What do you mean, she aged out?” my mom asked the lawyer, perplexed. “She is too old now to qualify for a green card with you. You would need to file for her again separately, after getting your green card. She will have to wait in line again. Alternatively, there’s always the DREAM Act (a piece of proposed legislation that would give certain undocumented youth brought to the United States before the age of 16 a pathway to legal residency).” “How many more years does she have to wait? She has already waited 8 years for her green card.” “7-8 more years. There is no way to tell. Maybe she should consider getting married.” “I keep telling her to find a boy,” my mother said, agreeing with the lawyer. “She has plenty of time. Just make sure he

is a U.S. citizen.” It hurt. Up to that point in time, I had kept quiet about the fact that I was gay. I’m sure my parents knew but they refused to acknowledge it. Depressed, lonely, and frustrated with living multiple lies, I tried to kill myself on several occasions. When my mother and sister started to look for prospective husbands for me, I decided that the only way to put an end to it was to be as out as possible. The best way to protect myself was to break through the barrier of invisibility. And that was the first step to breaking my chains.

he DREAM (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) Act is a proposal that was first introduced in the U.S. Senate on August 1, 2001. This bill would provide conditional permanent residency to certain undocumented youth of good moral character who graduated from U.S. high schools or gain a GED, arrived in the United States before the age of 16, and lived in the country continuously for at least five years prior to the bill’s enactment. If they were

n October 2007, after Congress failed to pass the DREAM Act once yet again, I met other undocumented youth like me on an online portal, who were willing to do more than just sit around in fear and live in the shadows. There was Mohammad Abdollahi, brought here from Iran at the age of three, whose attorney had filed the wrong fee for his dad’s work visa and then failed to appeal the adverse decision, which made the entire family undocumented; Kemi Bello, brought here at the age of six from Nigeria by her mom because her severely handicapped sister could only get medical treatment in this country. I found and created family in these students. Little did I know that the family I was created through email, GChat, Facebook, and phone conversations would evolve into an entire network of fierce and envied immigrant rights activists in just a few short months. With the little cash I had from doing odd jobs, I bought a web domain—DreamActivist.org—and started working on building a website to act as both a resource and action center for undocumented youth. The Internet allows users to be anonymous, so it was a safe way to gather and share our stories while protecting our identities, meet other undocumented youth in the same state and forge friendships as well as alliances. I traveled to dozens of states, teaching undocumented youth across the country how to use the web and social media to share their stories. Immigrant rights organizations started noticing our growing network and reached out to us to speak at events and conferences across the country. After all, we were building the very base that they purport to fight for and support with their money. Currently, we have more than 13,000 followers on Twitter, 80,000 on Facebook, and over 100,000 members on the mailing list and growing—a network that even multi-million dollar immigration reform campaigns have been unable to match. With the support of an entire community behind me, I was no longer afraid to take on the system. So when the largest newspaper in the country, USA Today, decided to brand us as “illegal students,” I wasn’t going to allow them to get away with it. The label “illegal” has a way of dehumanizing the person involved, and from there it is a quick step to creating an unknown and amorphous bogeyindia currents • march 2012 • 15

16 • india currents • march 2012

man who is responsible for all the ills befalling citizens. I directed thousands of emails and calls to the newspaper asking them to change their discourse. A retraction was printed within days and the reporter quit her job a little later. Inspired by the small campaign, Colorlines, a news site focusing on issues of racial justice, launched their “Drop the I-word” campaign, asking media professionals to stop using the word.

Photo Credit: Paulina Clemente

hrough my work, I found other undocumented South Asian students in various parts of the country. One such student was Taha, who was brought here at the age of two and lived in New Jersey for 16 years. He was being deported back to Bangladesh in less than a week. But due to the shame and stigma of being undocumented, his family wanted no media exposure. We had to launch a behind-the-scenes campaign, urging his Senators to stop his impending deportation and directing a few thousand faxes to the Department of Homeland Security. Senator Robert Menendez wrote to the Department of Homeland Security on Taha’s behalf, requesting that they defer action on Taha’s deportation because “our nation benefits more by his presence than by his absence.” Indeed, one recent UCLA study estimates that between $1.4 trillion and $3.6 trillion in taxable income would be generated for the economy over a 40-year period by DREAM Act beneficiaries successfully obtaining resident status through the legislation. A week later, at a June 2009 United We Dream governance convening, I learned that Taha and his family had been granted deferred action—a stay of removal that authorizes a person to live and work in the United States. That amazing realization that we could now stop any deportation holds mostly true to this day.

ince then, immigrant rights organizers and attorneys across the country have banded together to halt deportations in similar cases. Every week, friends, families and organizers gather to fax, email, call, and arrange meetings with officials in the Obama Administration. Some of this momentum has led to the formation of new organizations with numerous local alliances, such as the Immigrant Youth Justice League (IYJL) in Chicago. Undocumented students have started to realize that their growing numbers

and visibility actually help their cause. Undocumented, unafraid, and unapologetic is the new mantra of the movement. As part of this movement we attend City Council hearings, organize educational workshops for community members, hold rallies, and lobby legislators to support the DREAM Act. The more courageous ones partake in civil disobedience actions—from hunger strikes to shutting down streets to occupying Congressional offices to placing themselves in detention to gather evidence of ICE abuses against detainees.

ut in the open, nothing seems to be impossible. We have stopped hundreds of deportations. We have found ways to get undocumented youth employed by creating limited liability companies. We have creat-

ed Undocuhealth.org to battle the shame, stigma, and stress of being an undocumented youth. And I have embarked in my own form of civil disobedience—placing myself in deportation proceedings while attending law school in the nation’s capital. Given the current immigration court backlogs in San Francisco and the pending litigation with regards to my case, I probably won’t be scheduled for an individual deportation hearing till 2015. By that time, I should actually be able to get a green card through my mother. Till then, I am “an alien authorized to work” in the United States. I did pay a heavy price. My mother was hospitalized upon hearing about my impending deportation and she is now suffering from depression. My father does not speak to me because I am openly gay. As a poster child for the DREAM Act, I have a tougher time gaining and keeping employment because people assume that my undocumented status means that I don’t have work authorization or clearance, which is a classic case of job discrimination. I’m not writing this to garner widespread sympathy or empathy regarding my deportation. I am writing this story to ask everyone to live their lives as honestly and openly as possible because living in the shadows and hiding our problems doesn’t do anything for us as a community. My experience has clearly shown me that finding people in the same situation as me and working together to fight the system has been tremendously successful. Some would deride my personal journey and battle as a sense of entitlement. Some would extoll the courage and conviction I have displayed in the face of adversity. I’d peg it down spending half my life figuring out how to keep my family together by making a broken immigration system work for us. I sometimes question whether the struggle has been worth it but my dream is to sit on the beaches of Fiji sipping coconut water with a green-card in my wallet. n Prerna Lal is a law student at The George Washington University Law School and the cofounder of DreamActivist.org. She can be reached at Prerna@ dreamactivist.org india currents • march 2012 • 17

business

Vivek Wadhwa

Racism in Silicon Valley Women are not the only underrepresented minority in the Silicon Valley “meritocracy”

n the May 2011 article “The Non-existent Gender Divide,” I had discussed the dearth of women in technology and the way it polarizes Silicon Valley. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, in 2008, blacks and Hispanics constituted only 1.5% and 4.7% respectively of the Valley’s tech population—well below national techpopulation averages of 7.1% and 5.3%. You hardly find any blacks in positions of leadership in Silicon Valley companies. There is at least an unconscious bias. One of my Duke students, a black woman, Viva Leigh Miller, approached me in March 2010 to help her get a job in Silicon Valley. I have taught more than 300 really smart students at the Duke Masters of Engineering Management program, and Viva was one of the best. With a high GPA, many awards, and degrees in science and mathematics from top colleges in the United States, I couldn’t imagine that Viva would have any difficulty gaining multiple job offers. I was sure she would one day become a hotshot CEO. But Viva couldn’t get a job in the Valley—despite introductions that I gave her to leading venture capitalists (VCs). I could never understand why. During my tech days, I would have hired Viva in a heartbeat. She had the determination, drive, and education that all tech companies look for. Discussing the dearth of black in Silicon Valley is an even bigger taboo than discussing women. I learned this the hard way by having a frank discussion with black entrepreneurs that was recorded by CNN and aired in a documentary titled “Black in America.” In the interview, I relayed my own experience building a tech company in the deep South of the United States. When I was looking for funding for my second startup, local VCs wouldn’t return my phone calls, even though I’d previously helped build a public company with $120 million in annual revenue. In Silicon Valley, an entrepreneur with credentials like mine would have had dozens of VCs knocking on his door. The advice that other successful Indians gave me was to have a “white guy” on my management team who would deal with the VCs. My company was growing rapidly, and I needed to hire a president and chief operating officer. So I hired a white guy for that role, and killed two birds with one stone. After that, it was easy raise 18 • india currents • march 2012

millions of dollars. After a pre-screening of the documentary, a heated discussion broke out on Twitter about the documentary and my comments. TechCrunch founder Mike Arrington, who is considered to be the tech industry’s most influential blogger, tweeted: “the Indian guy is viveck (sic). he always plays the victim card.” When I confronted Arrington on his comment, he retorted: “@wadhwa you got rich starting companies in America. I don’t understand why you then complain you weren’t given a chance.” He insisted “there’s negative bias in [Silicon Valley]. VCs are dying to invest in women & minorities just so they don’t have conversations like this.” Arrington then “blocked” and “unfollowed” me on Twitter— the ultimate social media insult. In the documentary, Arrington had said that he didn’t know a single black entrepreneur in Silicon Valley. Then he said that he had once put one black entrepreneur on stage at a TechCrunch event—but would have done the same even if the black entrepreneur had been running a “clown show.” These are blunt comments, and they exemplify the dark side of Silicon Valley: that it is composed of an elite group of power brokers totally ignorant of the hurdles faced by minority groups. Venture capitalists routinely tout their “patternrecognition” abilities—they say they know a successful entrepreneur when they see one. Sadly, the patterns they see merely represent those who have achieved success in the past: typically young, white males. Silicon Valley is indeed a meritocracy for those who meet these criteria. But others— the blacks, women, and Hispanics—find it an private club from which they are excluded. The good news is that these obstacles can be surmounted. First, let’s stop pretending that the tech industry is perfect and admit that there is a problem. All of us have biases, whether we realize it or not. Research published in September 2011 by the Level Playing Field Institute (LPFI) revealed that hidden biases within the I.T. workplace caused women and blacks to have negative workplace experiences far more often than their male and white counterparts. They were more likely to say they had difficulty balancing their work and family responsibilities, had been excluded by cliques, or were bullied. Not surprisingly, this leads to lower job satisfaction and increased

Let’s stop pretending that the tech industry is perfect and admit that there is a problem. Silicon Valley is indeed a meritocracy for young, white males. But others—the blacks, women, and Hispanics—find it an private club from which they are excluded. turnover among members of these groups, creating a significant cost for employers and a loss of talent for the sector. LPFI founder Freada Klein says that to fix the bias problem, corporations need to systematically collect anonymous data from employees on their perceptions and experiences. Otherwise, she says, there is no way for hidden biases to become apparent. She says that companies need to create a workplace culture in which differences are respected and people can speak up about inadvertent, unintended bias or exclusion. A critical mass of underrepresented groups is important; one or two token hires will always be in the spotlight. It’s obviously unfair to ask one person to represent an entire gender or race, and the pressure to do so has been shown to lead to

stilted performance. Companies should always hire the most qualified candidates regardless of race and gender. But because of hidden biases, they don’t always make the right decisions. Telle Whitney, CEO of the Anita Borg Institute, says that companies should interview at least one woman and member of a minority group for every open position. Simply ensuring that recruiting efforts include a diverse slate of candidates can substantially affect team composition, she says. And there should be at least one woman and minority-group member on the hiring team. Academic research has shown that people tend to hire those who are similar to them. The current demographics of the hiring team and company can therefore influence the outcome of hiring. In the startup world, success is all about networks and mentors. Learning from people with experience and getting introductions to investors and customers can make a huge difference. This is where the success of Indian immigrants in Silicon Valley provides valuable lessons. By establishing their own mentoring networks and actively helping each other, Indians were able to transcend discrimination and stereotypes and become the dominant group of immigrant company founders. Despite constituting only 6% of Silicon Valley’s working population in 2000, this group founded 15.5% of the Valley’s startups in 1995–2005. The first generation of successful founders took it upon themselves to teach and mentor the next generation. This is a model that all other groups can emulate. The venture capitalists that startups meet with have their own biases. These firms are dominated by white males—mostly from elite institutions such as Stanford, Harvard, and Cornell. The interns there are recruited from the same schools. These firms should make a conscious effort to recruit from second- and third-tier colleges—particularly those with large minority populations. And yes, they will find extremely bright, capable people from these schools. This diversity in VC firms will help change perceptions and stereotypes and will open the door for members of groups that are always left out. Despite all the issues I have raised, I still believe that Silicon Valley is the most open, inclusive place in the world. There are hurdles. But once you cross these, the Valley readily accepts you. I know of no evidence of deliberate intent to exclude people on such arbitrary bases as their sex or color. Rather than arising from conscious prejudices, the bias that is rife in the Valley is based on simple ignorance. This can be fixed—and groups that are left out can share the economic bounties that the tech industry offers.n Vivek Wadhwa is an entrepreneur turned academic. You can follow him on Twitter at @vwadhwa and find his research at www.wadhwa.com.

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perspective

Lakshmi Santosh

Zombie Journalism

s journalism dying? Is the party over? Perhaps those of us that keep writing are the stragglers at the end of the night—insisting on sticking around as the host takes down the streamers and collects the empty cups. Actually, journalism is dead. But halfway through the autopsy one of its legs started twitching. It leapt from the laboratory table flailing its arms from side to side. Purposefully, it limped towards the open door. It stood blinking in the sunlight as passerby stopped to stare. Yes, this is it: the zombie of journalism. Pieces of new media—blogs, microblogs like Twitter, news compilation sites like Digg, and even social networks like Facebook are cobbled together onto the leftover torso of print media. This ugly brute is the new journalism—a slightly rabid, incongruent creature who behaves little like the polished gentlemen he once was.

n some ways the zombie journalism performs its functions better than the old. It might prove to be a better watchdog on politics than the notoriously elitist media outlets of yore, controlled by a small number of people and sometimes fed by one particular political party. While the Wikileaks phenomenon would be classified more as activism than journalism, the discoveries published on the site were initially propagated over blogs and lesser-known media streams before being picked by the larger players. Low barriers to entry to online publishing open multiple avenues to writers looking to find consumers for their content. Websites like Jezebel and Curbed.com target a specific niche of people with an interest in particular topics. Jezebel states that it follows “Celebrity, sex, and fashion...without airbrushing.” while Curbed.com is a popular real estate site covering upscale residences. This allows for specialization and depth. Even online news sites have begun taloring themselves to attract particular kinds of readership. At the same time, having so many news sources creates a hyper-competitive atmosphere. And when this is combined with the speed of information exchange it can create frenzies of media coverage, such as during a crisis. News of a country’s default or stock market crash spread faster than ever. This can create a panic which is difficult to control especially when people get their news from a disaggregated collection of sources that are sometimes trying to outdo each other in 22 • india currents • march 2012

sensationalism. This can lead to a misdirected flurry of information that can be inflammatory. It seems the zombie doesn’t quite know what to gnash its teeth into sometimes.

here is one more problem for zombie journalism—and that is making money. This can be seen most dramatically when well-known magazines like U.S. News and World Report, Businessweek, and Newsweek shut down, declared bankruptcy, or restructured/merged with other media entities. Others, like the New York Times, have been forced to reduce newsroom staff. It’s still possible for journalists to join the flood of content on the internet. Throw your hat into the ring or your username into the blogosphere. But while numerous feisty models for online news have sprung up, many support only a handful of writers. Some of these operations are blog aggregators that provide a platform for professionals, politicians, and experts in various fields to reach their audience. ScienceBlog is compilation of blogs by scientists while Huffington Post, which chiefly provides a news service, also has celebrities and businesspeople blogging on their site. However, blog aggregators are often unable to compensate contributors in the same way as news outlets and magazines. Most bloggers, as a result, usually have a paying occupation other than blogging. For those who want to be full-time journalists, networks like Patch.com and Gothamist employ a cohort of writers to report on arts and culture, news, and politics in suburban and urban neighborhoods. But even these enterprises have been unable to grow to the size of existing media giants. But their entry has added to the shake-up of old media, with larger publishing groups struggling to make profits.

espite their financial woes, the old guards of journalism, known mostly for their print product, still function as the center of the new journalism environment. While many newspapers and magazines could benefit from beefing up their online presence and making their content available on multiple devices, the larger publications still set the agenda for the type of news and topics that are covered. This is partly because they are often the only ones with enough resources to cover some of the stories. The expose on the Koch brothers that the New Yorker ran last

Writers will be able to manage their content and own it in a way that they haven’t before. But the responsibilities of generating revenue will shift to them as well. year is something that a smaller operation might not find feasible. Established organizations are also better able to withstand any backlash an investigation may produce. Finally, they grant a stamp of credibility to whatever issue they are covering. People writing during this new phase of journalism should carry with them an entrepreneurial outlook. Writers will be able to manage their content and own it in a way that they haven’t before. But the responsibilities of generating revenue will shift to them as well. Journalists will be producers of content seeking storefronts in the form of news sites, magazines, and blogs. Writes may simultaneously contribute to websites like iVillage and Salon.com while maintaining a blog of their own. Some authors already have an online following and they take advantage of a variety of portals when reaching their audience. The winners and losers from this arrangement are yet to be seen but journalism continues. The zombie marches on, his locked legs shifting back and forth. And while he does alarm people with his haggard appearance, that’s only because he is both dead and alive. n Lakshmi Santhosh worked as a researcher at the San Francisco Business Times and is currently working towards a Master’s in Biotechnology at the University of Pennsylvania.

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Get Involved For Your Kids We will never truly integrate if we are not involved in the political process

here I was, doing a precinct walk in a small suburban town in Northern California, armed with campaign flyers, a badge, and lawn signs sitting in the trunk of my car. My mind flashed back to a nostalgic moment in Bombay when a bunch of us 6th graders watched an election jeep go by, interrupting our cricket match, and raising a flurry of dust on a humid summer day. There were election signs all over our town—slogans imprinted on boundary walls and light poles. The wannabe politician went by, waving and signing “Namaste.” The intention was to display humility, an effect somewhat marred by the “campaign team” standing by menacingly. It was an impressive spectacle, but politics could get ugly and even outright dangerous in those days. It was not surprising that politics and I were poles apart. Since then I have been a city commissioner, campaign manager, and consider myself completely entrenched in local city issues in my city of Saratoga. What led to this transition? Why did I get involved in local politics? The contrast between Indian and American politics is glaring, in spite of both being large democracies. I have discovered that politics is palatable in the United States and getting involved to make a difference is not that difficult.

ollowing the American dream was the mantra for many of us who came to this country after engineering school. The American political system was far from my mind as I focused on acing my grades, maintaining my research assistantship, winning season tickets to watch UCONN basketball, and listening to Aerosmith. I had just defended my Masters thesis in 1992 and was floundering around as I worked on my Ph.D. when I bumped into a presidential campaign stop in Storrs, CT. Jerry Brown, the current Governor of California, was then running in the Democratic primaries. It was my first introduction to a political rally, and I noted the interest his arrival had raised on my college campus. The auditorium was packed with students. In those days I was the epitome of apathy for all things political, but I was intrigued. In 1993, when I interned at a local company, I helped an Indian American friend lobby his state and local representatives to get his wife permission to immigrate to the 24 • india currents • march 2012

Rishi (far right) with the late Susie Nagpal campaigning outside Gene’s Fine Foods in Saratoga

United States a tad faster than the process mandated. I learned a very important lesson; our locally elected representatives are accessible and will listen.

ast forward a few years to my move to the Silicon Valley. As a newly anointed U.S. citizen, I wanted to get “involved” and understand the process. I heard about an Indian American candidate who was running for city council in my town. In a small town like Saratoga, being part of the election campaign seemed very feasible and I felt that the proceedings would be run with decorum. I rolled up my sleeves and joined the campaign team. Over the next few weeks, we strategized and brain-stormed ways to get our candidate elected. It was a little bit like the one-eyed dude leading the blind, but we leveraged our contacts. After all, it takes a village to win an election. The process was very energizing, and I had tasted blood. As a result I developed an interest in Saratoga’s local issues. Every week, I opened up the local Saratoga News, poring over happenings, issues, and letters. I found that I truly cared for my adopted town. That experience eventually stoked an in-

terest to apply for a city commission position. I was probably more surprised than anyone else when I was appointed Saratoga’s Planning Commissioner. I learned about Saratoga’s land use issues along with the complexity of local politics. I met a fellow commissioner, Susie Nagpal, who had decided to make a run for city council. Susie and I crafted a road-map for her campaign together. I ran a lot of the rudimentary behind-the-scenes, day-to-day campaign tasks. I helped organize the precinct walk, the campaign retail presence, and campaign sign placements. Our inevitable victory turned out to be a bittersweet memory as Susie slowly succumbed to lung cancer. But Susie was a trail-blazer, and her run has opened doors for many Indian Americans in subsequent years. In the next election, Pragati Grover decided to run for the city council spot. As her campaign manager I worked across many teams and groups to run a clean and, I believe, exemplary campaign. Recently, I have been also involved with Kathleen King’s Santa Clara County County Supervisor run, and am supporting Ro Khanna in his endeavors. As I juggle a tech job in the valley with

a young family’s daily run-around, my hands are full. People wonder why I do it. My friends ask me, “What’s your agenda? I insist that Indians need to be politically involved. I point to the Jewish community which is much more established in this country politically. Their involvement has not only built political clout, but is also creating synergy between the homeland and the motherland. I can understand why a political agenda does not sound attractive to many of us caught in the rat race. But that attitude eventually leads to apathy! Take the example of Measure Q that was a hot button for the 2010 Saratoga elections. In a nutshell, Measure Q aimed to restrict commercial buildings to two stories in Saratoga. There was a lot of posturing from both sides, but I was dismayed to see my friends pick one side of the argument or another without taking the time to truly understand. Are we any different than the illiterate segment of the voters in India who cast their vote blindly? When an Indian American runs for elections, we often hear him/her declare “I am not banking on the Indian vote,” as only a small percentage of Indian Americans vote. Is that something we should be proud of? If your excuses is, “I just don’t know where to vote,”

When an Indian American runs for elections, we often hear him/her declare “I am not banking on the Indian vote,” as only a small percentage of Indian Americans vote. or “I don’t have the time to vote,” have you considered registering as an absentee voter? Makes the voting process a breeze. So here is food for thought: If we all pass on this political apathy to future generations, how do we see our Indian community evolving, integrating into America? What is the long term impact of making the wrong election choices by not being informed, or by not voting at all? For us to truly leave our mark, encourage the next generation to embark on careers in public service, help them make the most of the opportunities available to them, get our voices heard, and position Indians well for the future, we need to shirk our political apathy and get involved. The time is now!n Rishi Kumar lives in Saratoga, California with his wife and two boys. Rishi works in the tech industry in software sales. In his spare time, he loves being involved in city issues and local politics. He also produces a TV show called “Saratoga’s Got Talent.”

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books

All in the Family Jeanne E. Fredriksen

THE WAY THINGS LOOK TO ME by Roopa Farooki. St. Martin’s Press: New York. $25.99. 352 pages. stmartins.com. roopafarooki.com Available in hardcover, paperback, and e-book.

“M

y mind is not like a neat and tidy garden; it is a vast untidy wilderness, full of irrelevancies, but with lots of places to wander and get lost,” states Yasmin Murphy in recognition of her Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) and synesthesia. The 19-year old is the youngest of the three Murphy orphans and the fulcrum of Roopa Farooki’s fourth novel published in the United States, the character-driven The Way Things Look to Me. Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) is a mystifying state of being for those who do not have it. Classified as an autism spectrum disorder, it manifests itself through a lack of proper social interaction coupled with repetitive actions, behaviors, and interests that become all-consuming. Spontaneity and change are causes for extreme distress. Asperger’s differs from other autism categories because it impairs

40 • india currents • march 2012

neither language nor learning capabilities. Synesthesia, a lesser-known condition with over 60 variations, is the uncontrollable heightening of the senses and the translation of sounds, sights, movement, and/or emotions into colors, stripes, bubbles, and other expressive outlets. Numbers or letters are assigned specific colors. Music elicits swirls and waves. Distance and space may even apply themselves to days of the week or months of the year. Farooki’s voyage into AS, with a side helping of synesthesia, is a complicated, edgy family affair that digs deeply into wounds that were unintentionally inflicted early in the lives of the two oldest siblings because of Yasmin’s rigid world. Asif, 23, is the family overseer, the one who took responsibility for the family when their mother passed away. A rising star at Cambridge, he gave up his studies and a successful future to become Yasmin’s caregiver. Yet, despite being the head of the family, he suffers from an excruciating lack of self esteem. Lila, 22, is the family rebel, the artist who lives an outward life on what she thinks are her own terms. She runs wild, suppressing her talents, as she strives to avoid becoming Yasmin’s caregiver. And she suffers from an agonizing case of eczema that she painstakingly hides from the world. Yasmin, the youngest sister, is the one who sees life at its most frustratingly literal. Asif and Lila represent both sides of the Yasmin issue—obligation and rejection— and the novel presents a moving, duality-based study of this trio as they cope with each other while a documentary is being filmed about Yasmin. Farooki chose AS for thoughtful reasons in her quest to construct a young family grappling with growing up and achieving harmony without adult guidance. “I specifically wanted to explore a situation where all the siblings weren’t treated equally—I knew that the youngest sister would have to be ‘special’ in some way, to merit special treatment from her parents beyond that sometimes accorded

to the baby of the family,” Farooki said in an e-interview. But why Asperger’s specifically? “I also knew it couldn’t be an obvious physical disability or even a traditional disability at all, as that would make it hard to keep sympathy with the siblings as they struggle with their feelings of resentment. [Asperger’s Syndrome] … allowed Yasmin to be academically successful, self-aware, and highly functional, but her different way of interacting with the world still made it necessary for her to have full time care.” Wrestling with conflicted feelings about themselves and each other, Asif and Lila deal with their truncated lives as best they know how. Neither is living the life they had hoped for or wanted. They fret, fume, and beat themselves up internally and emotionally. Constantly struggling with the subtext of his name, “As If,” Asif often wonders why his mother never told him that she loved him. Lila, once awarded a scholarship to a prestigious school, deliberately creates a life as unlike her home environment as possible. Yasmin, entirely unaware of her brother’s and sister’s inner conflicts, goes about her daily routine without batting an eyelash, never expecting or being able to manage change. She is perfectly bright—albeit lacking in certain critical thinking skills—and able to pass her A levels at school, but she is devoid of social graces outside of actions she was taught. Yasmin perceives everything in the plainest and most exacting terms, but when she slowly begins to make her own decisions affecting change, her family is too self-absorbed to notice until it’s too late. Challenging herself in scope, topic, and theme, Farooki never fails to produce a mesmerizing novel. She has the ability to remain a storyteller first without a hint of sentimentality toward her characters even when the reader feels great compassion for them. In The Way Things Look to Me, she took an enormous risk with AS, but her meticulous research prior to writing was rewarded with favorable reviews by Psychology Today magazine and Action for Autism. “To be honest, I did far too much research—I read everything I could get hold of, spoke to educators in the AS community and used my personal experience of those I knew with AS,” Farooki explains. “The research was paralyzing, as for about six months afterwards,

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Anu Kumar

An Honest Gaze LIFE HAPPENS AND DEATH TOO: STORIES AND POEMS by Latika Mangrulkar. Strategic Book Publishing. $13.50. 182 pages. Available in paperback and e-book.

Roopa Farooki

I felt that I couldn’t write a word from Yasmin’s viewpoint … I was too afraid that I’d find myself fictionalizing someone else’s real life experience, and that Yasmin wouldn’t be her own character.” So how did she forge ahead with Yasmin? “I forced myself to think how she would think, what she would observe, and what she wouldn’t, and write it down as a long and never-ending list, a constant round of detailed snapshots of seemingly unimportant minutiae, that eventually formed into coherence. So Yasmin was informed by the research, but her personality and voice grew out of my own imagination and observations.” Asif, Lila, and Yasmin are characters that linger long after the story is finished and, in a bookishly-selfish way, hang around to remind us that our own situations may not be as insurmountable as we think. In short, the Murphys walk right off the page and into your heart. Farooki’s grasp of her characters’ contradictory perceptions and thought processes is honest and deep. She paints vivid and vibrant pictures of how an invisible condition, a damaged childhood, and an abridged path to adulthood have an impact for life. She is masterful at showing the way things look to her characters, yet she offers that glimmer of hope everyone needs in order to survive the worst. “I’m an optimist when it comes to human relationships,” she states simply, “and I wanted to create a world in this novel where good things happen to good people, and where those who are less good can still hope to be redeemed.”n Farooki’s next novel, The Flying Man, is scheduled to be published in the U.K. in early 2012. The Way Things Look to Me was longlisted for the Impac Dublin Literary Award 2011 and for the Orange Prize in 2010, and the novel was voted one of The Times Top 50 Paperbacks of 2009. Jeanne E. Fredriksen reads and writes from Wake Forest, NC. 42 • india currents • march 2012

n the story, “Waiting,” Kusum, an elderly lady, still retains her fierce independence of spirit. It is much against her will that she succumbs to the demands and humiliations old age enforces but, even then, her strength of personality can be intimidating. She does not hesitate to mince words when people cross her path, and makes her wishes clear when others appear far too ready to write her off as doddering and senile. To her daughter and her family, Kusum is still the matriarch who ran the family effortlessly, and so when the time comes to break a particularly hard bit of news, the family settles on her beloved niece, Meena. In this story, easily my favorite in this new short story collection by Latika Mangrulkar’s, there is much insight into the little-understood and yet frightening world that old age inhabits. Old age, and especially old women rarely figure as a subject in Indian writing; one that comes to mind is Mahasweta Devi’s collection of two novellas titled Old Women (translated into English by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak), which deals with women left behind in Bengal villages. Kusum traverses worlds in Latika Mangrulkar’s story. Even though her life unfolds in a few pages, it is really evocative, for, while enduring her present day daily humiliations

and tribulations, she relives her past, her rich life in her mind, which no one else has any inkling about. And therein lies the tragedy of old age—an entire life becoming invisible to younger generations. Latika’s stories are about people in all their various contradictions and complexities, the dilemmas that can appear starkly simple to the reader/other, but end up playing a centrally large role in shaping the characters’ lives. These are lives lived out within traditional expectations, and there could be hidden pain, betrayals, never fully expressed but carried within oneself. The stories have a deep interiority; there is a gradual unraveling of the many layers a life can hold. Often told from the immigrant standpoint, they speak of dual identities—those within and without, and the demands that come from living in and adapting to a country that is now a second home. One story in the collection, “Strange Connections,” is about Sheila, middle-aged and comfortable in her own skin, and her encounter with a younger man at an airport lounge. As Sheila and Satish converse in the lounge and in the flight, Sheila allows herself a flashback through her own life, and wonders if this is a new chance at happiness. But this, too, turns out to be elusive.Sheila realizes that her sophistication, gathered over the years, is ultimately something of a veneer. Some stories dwell on the painful dilemmas of being a father and husband; how a man can be torn apart by the demands of family. Few stories written by women authors feature a man’s perspective,.Here the male characters and relationships are explored with sensitivity. The poems that intersperse these stories are of a somewhat different texture, with themes of love, dreaming, and acceptance. Many of the stories in the collection, displaying, as they do, a complex tapestry of people, emotions, and conflicts, could have worked better as novels or even novellas. Still, in the Balzacian world she has unraveled, Latika gives us a glimpse of ordinary lives; in those simple lives, with their petty conflicts and irresolvable dilemmas, entire universes can be concealed. n This review first appeared in sawnet.org. Anu Kumar’s novels include Letters for Paul (2006), The Dollmakers’ Island (2010) and the forthcoming, It takes a Murder. She has also written for younger readers, and was twice awarded for her short stories by the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association.

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Geetika Pathania Jain

An Inter-species Love Story ZELDA, QUEEN OF PARIS: THE TRUE STORY OF THE LUCKIEST DOG IN THE WORLD by Paul Chutkow. Lyons Press. 209 pages. $22.95.

etween Zelda, a mangy slumdog (before Danny Boyle made slumdogs fashionable), and Paul Chutkow, American reporter, emerges an alchemy of deep adoration. The book is a warm account of an interspecies love affair between Zelda and her human. Paul Chutkow, it turns out, has had a rather interesting life. His reporting career with the Associated Press took him to India, and subsequently to Paris. Not only does he have the élan of the foreign correspondent who can speak with familiarity of Jor Bagh in Delhi, and Mother Teresa in Calcutta, but he has stories of how he lost his heart in India. Zelda’s frolicsome antics fill most of this light-hearted book, and surely there is something magical about the complete devotion of a dog to his master. The narrative is interesting enough—man meets dog, grudgingly falls in love, travels the world and watches

44 • india currents • march 2012

dog turn into canine diva. Chutkow smiles indulgently even at Zelda’s most grievous misdeeds. Yes, Zelda is a biter, but how sweet she looks during, and penitent after having bitten, you can hear him say. Acts of celebrity self-destruction can make for a fascinating read, yet lacking access to sex, drugs, or rock and roll, Zelda restrains herself to despoiling the pristine Parisian sidewalks and biting various unsuspecting innocents. Yet far more interesting than issues of dog misbehavior is the description of the world that Zutkow inhabits. Two things became clear as I read the book. One is that surely Zelda was Queen of Paris in simpler times. One yearns for those certainties, when the lines were clearly drawn between the good guys (us) and the bad guys (them). Chutkow’s aversion to the Iron Curtain and his satisfaction at the end of the Cold War bears a certain historical authenticity. His convictions appear unclouded by any niggling doubts of the legitimacy of alternative viewpoints or competing ideologies. Communists were, quite simply, bad people who had to be destroyed, or at least wrong-headed zealots from whom the world had to be shielded. So devoid of nuance is his uncomplicated world-view that I found myself remembering the George W. Bush Presidency’s “axis of evil” with a terrifying nostalgia. My second insight was that surely Zelda was Queen of Paris at a time when news gathering was a far more lucrative occupation. First class flights from Delhi to Paris? I was quite impressed by the glamor of a writer’s life in the 50s. And surely it is somewhat unseemly that Zelda feasts while other slumdogs eke out a miserable existence? Chutkow does seem sensitive to the large inequalities that exist between him and his domestic staff in India. There is evidence of the benign paternalism that seems emblematic of U.S.-Indian relations at the time. Take pause to remember the geopolitical context of the time, especially the legacy that tied food aid that the United States had supplied to the humiliated India. Struggling to stay non-aligned in the cold war, and not yet having offered up its lucrative domestic market to global corporations, India’s foreign reserves were low and its self-esteem bruised.

Chutkow’s world reflects the geopolitical realities of its times. This was the midseventies, when Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister of India. Chutkow’s references to the Emergency bring the realization that for many Indians living through this draconian period of Indian history, the international press was a more reliable source of credible news than the muzzled Indian press. So one imagines that after what would have been considered a “hardship” assignment in Delhi, Chutkow embraces the familiar comforts of his Paris assignment with a discernible sigh of relief. Surely croissants and weekend seaside excursions hold greater promise of salubrious times, but the book

Chutkow’s references to the Emergency bring the realization that for many Indians living through this draconian period of Indian history, the international press was a more reliable source of credible news than the muzzled Indian press. lost some of its charm for me and became rather bland as Chutkow departed Delhi. I suppose I wanted more of India’s grittiness, and let me place some blame at the feet of Danny Boyle, who has made poverty porn a sub-genre of voyeuristic fetish. I was missing the mirch-masala. Dogs, like children, have often been emblems of social status and denoters of privilege. Zelda’s slumdog status notwithstanding, she confers upon her owner the ability to recount tales of proximity to John Kenneth Galbraith, to Mother Teresa, Julia Childs, and Mariel Hemingway, among other notables. In the end, the book is about Paul Chutkow’s favorite, who, I must acknowledge, is rather less than a paragon of virtue. It was, after all, Hemingway’s son who clearly saw this: Zelda was a bitch.n Geetika Pathania Jain is an educator and writer living in the SF Bay Area.

india currents • march 2012 • 45

tax talk

Optimizing the 2011 Tax Filing Season

he 2011 tax filing season has already kicked off as the IRS has already started accepting e-filed tax returns as of January 14, 2012. Individual taxpayers will have until April 17 to file their tax returns. Taxpayers are being given an extra two days to file their returns due to a legal holiday in the District of Columbia. However, waiting till the last minute to file your tax return increases the chance of errors. Besides, the earlier you file the sooner you will get a refund if applicable. One of the biggest procedural changes this season is the need for paid tax return preparers to obtain and use a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN). New IRS regulations require that all tax preparers have a PTIN, as part of an ongoing program by the IRS to regulate tax professionals. The IRS has launched an online PTIN registration site where preparers can obtain or renew their PTIN. The preparer (whether signing or nonsigning) must provide his or her PTIN. If your tax preparer doesn’t have one, find another preparer. There are several other changes in the 2011 tax filing requirements. To mention just a few, there are changes to Schedule C, a new Form 8949 (Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets) an annexure to Schedule D, changes to Schedule E, and a another new Form 8938 (Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets) which needs to be filed along with the tax return and is required of all U.S. persons holding assets overseas to the tune of $50,000 (single) or $100,000 (married filing jointly) as the case may be. This is in addition to the separate filing requirement of the Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR) for taxpayers having a balance of $10,000 or more in an overseas account. You can cut down on the number of hours you spend preparing your 2011 taxes by taking a few simple steps as noted below. These steps if followed will save time, money, and hassles down the road.

A System For Organizing Documents

Your system can be as simple as a large envelope or an accordion file. Just designate a specific spot and keep all your tax related documents there.

Review of Tax Documents

Take a moment to review each document so that you can correct any discrepancies well before your start preparing your tax return.

46 • india currents • march 2012

Acquaint Yourself With Tax Changes Of 2010

Several tax law changes were made in 2010 that impact credits and deductions in 2011, plus many 2009 tax credits have expired. Be sure you know the new 2010 tax rules so that you can take advance of every tax credit and deduction possible. For example, the itemized deduction limitation has been repealed, which means that taxpayers can deduct the full amount of their itemized deductions. The personal exemption phase out rules also do not apply in 2011. The 2010 Tax Relief Act included a patch of the AMT exemption amounts for 2010 and 2011. This Relief Act also extends the ability to use nonrefundable personal credits to offset AMT into 2011. It’s easier to take the standard deduction, but you may save a bundle if you itemize especially if you are self-employed, own a home, or live in a high tax area. It’s worth the bother when your qualified expenses add up to more than the 2011 standard deduction of $5,800 for singles and $11,600 for married couples filing jointly. Don’t forget deductions which are deductible if the combined amount adds up to more than two percent of your adjusted gross income such as tax preparation fees, job-hunting expenses, business car expenses and professional dues.

Decide If You Need Professional Help

Note that the U.S. tax code is more than 18,000 pages long and so complicated that it is difficult to comprehend even for the professionals working years together in this field. About 60% of the population pays a professional to help prepare their taxes. Therefore, if you are going to use a professional make sure that the tax professional is authorized to prepare taxes for fees (i.e. has a PTIN) and make your appointment as early as possible.

Collect 2011 Tax Forms Early

You need to study these forms very carefully because many of the changes are embedded into the forms without any warning to the taxpayer of the change. You’ll get to know this when you put your 2010 form next to the new 2011 form. Familiarizing yourself with the form will help you be prepared in completing it correctly. These forms are usually available at your local library or post office. Also, the forms can be downloaded from the IRS’s website www.irs.gov.

Gather Your Tax Information

Khorshed Alam

You already have a multitude of information that is helpful in the preparation of your tax return. Income tax can only be reduced by taking off as much tax deductible expenses you have incurred and you need proof of such deductible expenses. Even before you receive a single tax document you can start by making a list of all your 2011 tax payments and tax refunds. Gather up all receipts and information, collect credit card bills and checkbooks for possible deductions and sum up charitable donations (cash and non-cash). Make sure you know the price you paid for stocks or funds you have sold. If you don’t call your broker before you start to prepare your return. Know the details on income from rental properties. Don’t assume that your tax-free municipal bonds are completely free of taxes.

Electronic Filing

When a refund is anticipated it is better to file electronically because the taxpayer receives the electronic refund much faster than when a paper return is filed. Additionally, electronically filed tax returns get checked out automatically for errors and accuracy. Furthermore, the IRS acknowledges receipt of your tax return.

Get Refund/Pay Taxes On Time

If you can’t finish your return on time, make sure you file Form 4868 (Application for Automatic Extension of Time) by April 17, 2012. Form 4868 gives you a six month extension of the filing deadline until October 15, 2012 for filing your tax return. On the form, you need to make a reasonable estimate of your tax liability for 2011 and pay any balance due with the Form 4868. It should be noted that filing an extension does not extend your time to pay taxes if you have a balance due to the IRS. 2011 tax time is now in progress and it will be over before you know it (within the next few weeks). By following the simple steps outlined above you can make the process easier, save time, and save money.n The information contained in this article is of a general nature. Please consult your tax attorney or finance professional for details. Khorshed Alam is a practicing CPA and business valuation analyst. Check out http://alamcpatax.com or call (408) 445-1120.

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taxation

Rahul Ranadive

IRS Reopens Offshore Disclosure Program Those who missed the boat the last time should consider applying

n May 2011, I wrote about the IRS’ increased enforcement efforts against U.S. taxpayers with undeclared foreign accounts, assets, and income, specifically regarding the August 2011 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (OVDI). Since the OVDI closed on September 9, 2011 (or December 8, 2011 for those on extension), many people are now wondering what they can do now if they still have not disclosed their foreign assets. For a while, it appeared the only options available for taxpayers wishing to come into compliance were either a formal disclosure through the IRS’ standard voluntary disclosure program (a “noisy disclosure”) or simply trying to file prior year original or amended returns and hope they slip through the cracks and don’t get audited (a “silent disclosure” or “quiet disclosure”). Upon closure of the 2011 OVDI, speculation had abounded amongst tax practitioners as to whether the IRS would institute another defined disclosure program similar to OVDI, and if so when. I was convinced a new OVDI type program (with adjusted qualification and penalty structures) would not be announced until sometime in 2013. Somewhat surprisingly, on January 9, 2012, the IRS announced in IR2012-5 that it has reopened the OVDI, with certain important modifications noted below. This is a very welcome development. As such, this article reviews the newly reopened OVDI and its important changes, and discusses the relative benefits and risks taxpayers should be aware of as they consider the merits of which compliance option they choose to pursue.

Background

The IRS has been increasing its enforcement efforts against U.S. taxpayers with undeclared offshore accounts for many years now with varying levels of success. In the past year alone we have seen the following significant developments in this area: • Over 30,000 people filed to participate in either the 2009 OVDP or the 2011 OVDI, resulting in $3.4B in taxes and penalties collected from the 95% of 2009 OVDP cases that have been closed to date, and $1B in up-front payments of tax and penalties required from the 2011 OVDI filers; • Five South Asians were indicted by federal grand juries for not reporting assets and income held at HSBC India or other HSBC international branches;

• HSBC India received a federal subpoena against it to turn over names and information of its U.S. accountholders to the IRS; • Credit Suisse concluded its settlement negotiations with the IRS to end its criminal investigation, and may have already disclosed names and information regarding its U.S. accountholders by the time this is published; • Eleven other private banks, mostly in Switzerland and Israel, are being investigated by the IRS, and likely will have to disclose their respective lists of U.S. accountholders.

Noisy Disclosure and Reopened OVDI

The IRS has always had a voluntary disclosure program available to taxpayers making a timely, truthful, and complete disclosure of their non-compliance before being audited by the IRS, a so-called “noisy disclosure.” The various OVDI programs have been a subset of this larger voluntary disclosure program where taxpayers can assure themselves of certainty of outcome based on the fixed civil penalty structures, in exchange for not being able to make any type of reasonable cause argument against imposition of penalties. This is in contrast to the regular voluntary disclosure program which has no fixed penalties and where reasonable cause can be asserted by the taxpayer as a defense. Accordingly, whether a taxpayer entered the OVDI program or not depended on whether the taxpayer was in danger of being classified a willful non-filer, or had credible reasonable cause arguments, or fell in the large gray zone somewhere in between. For those taxpayers at substantial risk of being treated as a willful non-filer by the IRS, the OVDI fixed civil penalties, generally, are substantially lower than the potential maximum willful penalties. Therefore, filing under the OVDI generally should be a good deal for such taxpayers. For those few taxpayers, however, who have credible and strong reasonable cause arguments to avoid penalties completely, the fixed penalties of the OVDI program generally do not appear to be an attractive option. For the vast majority of taxpayers who fall somewhere in between (i.e., clearly not a willful non-filer, but also no credible reasonable cause arguments), the decision becomes a difficult one of number-crunching and comparing all possible outcomes, followed by risk tolerance and risk aversion-based choices from amongst those possible outcomes in

deciding which course to follow. The decision making process for the many taxpayers in this gray zone is made even more difficult by the fact that the IRS has the natural leverage in this situation. Further, many commentators, and even the National Taxpayer Advocate, have noted the unfair manner in which the IRS has enhanced its bargaining asymmetry by providing empty promises in FAQ 35 and the opt-out procedures. FAQ 35 states a taxpayer would not pay more penalties under the OVDI than he or she would under existing statutes. The opt-out procedures for the OVDI states taxpayers who choose to opt-out because they are unhappy with the 25% penalty will not be treated in a negative fashion for opting-out. Many practitioners, however, have reported quite the opposite; that, IRS agents have been threatening taxpayers who indicate they may opt-out that doing so would result in a long and painful complete examination and that contrary to FAQ 35, the maximum penalties would be asserted against them rather than applying existing guidelines under the Internal Revenue Manual for applying existing statutes which, in most cases would suggest a warning letter or a penalty less than the maximum allowable. In other words, it appears the IRS has been treating all non-willful filers as willful, or at the least, threatening to treat them as such despite the strong likelihood the IRS would not be able to prove willfulness in most cases. Given this current posture from the IRS, it is unreasonable to expect taxpayers to assume the huge risk of massive penalties that could result from rolling the dice by opting-out, and for practitioners to advise their clients to do so. Accordingly, many taxpayers in the gray zone who likely could do better under existing statutes (if fairly applied by the IRS) are pressured into staying in the OVDI and paying the 25% penalty. While there was no fixed penalty OVDI program open, most practitioners believed many taxpayers wishing to disclose would try to utilize the open-ended nature of the general voluntary disclosure program to assert credible, perhaps even aggressive, reasonable cause arguments and try to settle their cases for less than the OVDI program fixed penalties. On the other hand, many taxpayers are wary of an open-ended voluntary disclosure and prefer the certainty offered by the OVDI program. With the reopening of the OVDI india currents • march 2012 • 51

program, one thing is now certain: any noisy disclosure involving offshore accounts will be herded into the OVDI program under the fixed civil penalty structure with no ability to make reasonable cause arguments. In other words, an open-ended regular voluntary disclosure of offshore assets does not appear possible while the OVDI program is open. Many practitioners believe the OVDI program was reopened to allow the thousands of taxpayers soon to be disclosed by Credit Suisse (and the eleven other banks currently under investigation) an opportunity to apply for the OVDI program before their names are disclosed by such banks. The reopened program is, generally, very similar to the 2011 OVDI but with two major differences. As with the 2011 OVDI, taxpayers will have to file eight years of tax returns and information returns and pay all taxes, interest and a 20% accuracy penalty on omitted income (plus late filing and late payment penalties if applicable). The first major difference is that the offshore penalty on the taxpayer’s highest aggregate balance of offshore accounts is now 27.5% instead of 25% in the 2011 OVDI and 20% in the 2009 OVDP. Under the reopened OVDI, taxpayers may still qualify for a lower offshore penalty rate of 12.5% for aggregate balances under $75,000, or 5% for certain inherited accounts, and for qualifying bona fide foreign residents or dual-citizens. The second major difference from the 2011 OVDI program is the reopened program is open indefinitely. As such, currently, there is no deadline for a taxpayer to make their full submission; however, the IRS has stated that it may end the program at any time in the future and/or may change the terms and conditions of this reopened OVDI at any time. In other words, while there is no deadline (many complained the short timeline for submitting under the 2011 OVDI was a major problem), there is still urgency and incentive for taxpayers wishing to comply to do so as quickly as possible since the program could close at any time or the 27.5% offshore penalty could be increased at any time, perhaps even without notice or forewarning from the IRS.

Silent Disclosure

The IRS continues to focus efforts on auditing silent disclosures, disclosures outside the formalities of the regular voluntary disclosure program where taxpayers simply file and mail in prior year returns and hope nothing happens; or, at least the IRS says so. The IRS has attempted to create a lot of media messages to discourage taxpayers from doing silent disclosures and force everyone into a noisy disclosure by appearing to be highly aggressive in auditing silent disclosures. Given the limited enforcement resources available to the IRS, I question whether this is a lot of sound and fury from the IRS, and whether its bark is bigger than its bite in this particular

52 • india currents • march 2012

area. Taxpayers must be clearly aware, the IRS is getting more aggressive in auditing silent disclosures of offshore accounts and, therefore, this option remains highly risky and is not advisable for most taxpayers. I continue to believe, however, that a silent disclosure could be a preferred option for some taxpayers, depending on their specific circumstances, and that the IRS will never be able to succeed in forcing all taxpayers into a noisy disclosure, which is their stated goal.

Conclusion

The newly reopened OVDI program may offer an opportunity to those taxpayers who continue to be non-compliant with respect to reporting their offshore accounts, assets and income. Whether this noncompliance is due to recalcitrance, or simply just now learning of the filing requirements and the OVDI program, should make a major difference in how taxpayers are treated under existing statutes, but appears to be irrelevant to the IRS in its application of the OVDI program. For many, the OVDI program could be the best option available after considering all factors and potential scenarios. Taxpayers who continue their non-compliance, are slowly running out of time—the IRS is very serious about finding taxpayers with undeclared offshore assets, and has increasing tools available to find such non-compliant taxpayers. Taxpayers who do have credible and strong reasonable cause arguments, however, may wish to question whether entering the OVDI program, at least as currently being administered by the IRS, is the right course of action. Those taxpayers at high risk of being found to be a willful non-filer who think they can escape completely by starting to disclose going forward (or closing all offshore accounts

now) and hoping the standard six year statute of limitations expires before they get audited, are definitely exposing themselves to tremendous risk. With the new FATCA reporting rules now in force on taxpayers (and soon to be in force on foreign financial institutions), and given the IRS’ increased focus on this area in general, this approach likely will encounter a high failure rate. Further, the possibility of the IRS charging such taxpayers with civil fraud for actively taking steps to further conceal their non-compliance is highly likely. In that case, such taxpayers could be audited at any time in the future because no statute of limitations applies for cases of civil fraud, and the possibility of a criminal tax evasion charge would be very high as well. Accordingly, given the high stakes involved, readers seeking to determine whether it is advisable for them to seek qualification under the OVDI program or attempt a silent disclosure, or otherwise, should immediately consult their tax advisor for an evaluation and advice on the best way forward.n The foregoing is not tax or legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. No attorneyclient relationship is created or implied with any reader of this article. All taxpayers should seek independent advice from a qualified tax professional based on their individual circumstances. Rahul P. Ranadive is admitted to the Florida and California bars and the U.S. Tax Court, and has practiced international and domestic tax planning focusing on high net-worth families with international ties for over ten years. He is based in Miami, Florida and can be reached at rranadive@gtecllp.com or 305-9137128 or by visiting www.gtecllp.com.

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A Subterranean Life O

n a big television screen in the visitor’s center the Vietnam War plays on: B-52s drop bombs, villagers run for cover but, outside, it is easy to forget that this was what writers Tom Mangold and John Penycate called “the most bombed, shelled, gassed, defoliated, and generally devastated area in the history of warfare.” This is the site of the Cu Chi tunnels, a network of underground tunnels located in the Cu Chi district of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, that are part of a much larger network of tunnels that underlie much of the country. The Cu Chi tunnels were the location of several military campaigns during the Vietnam War, and were the Viet Cong’s base of operations for the Tet Offensive in 1968(Source: Wikipedia). Now rubber and eucalyptus trees have been allowed to grow again and the area looks like any other tranquil forest. Originally carved out of the clayish, red earth by the Viet Ninh against the French in the late 1940s it was re-excavated by the Viet Cong (VC) guerillas in the late 1960s. The locals dug these tunnels with hand tools, filling reed baskets and dumping the dirt in bomb craters. The web-like Cu

Cu Chi tunnels today

Chi tunnels, 30 miles from Ho Chi Minh City, allowed the VC to control a huge slice of the rural area, almost up to the Cambodian border. Some of the tunnels even ran under the U.S. military base. It stretched over 150 miles, allowing the VC to communicate between different pockets of their territory that were separated by the South Vietnamese and American bases, and wage an unrelenting guerilla war. The Vietcong would execute hit-and-run raids and simply melt away in their subterranean world. The original tunnels were quite narrow and have been widened for tourists now.

Our guide, Pencil, dives through the door

The now-widened tunnels

54 • india currents • march 2012

e start by seeing a black and white propaganda film in a large briefing room, with a very one-sided account of the Vietnam War. Our guide Thung first explains the layout using a model of the Cu Chi tunnels—a three-level ingeniously planned underground maze, with meeting rooms, hospitals, bedrooms, kitchens, and even cavernous rooms for staging political plays! The tunnels were built using bare hands, tiny hoes, and wicker baskets by farmers who would hide these implements and pretend to work in the fields. We see underground kitchens. Our guide

explains how the chimneys were several meters away, and had flat vents, so that the smoke just diffused gently, instead of a plume. How did the soldiers breathe? Bamboo poles were stuck through the ground into the tunnels to provide air and were disguised as termite mounds from the top. There are camouflaged trap doors all over the grounds—the Vietcong even used to hide the openings in pig pens so that they would not be discovered. Our guide suddenly parts the leaf litter, and opens a miniscule, camouflaged wooden hatch. He is of small build, like the Vietnamese usually are, and in the blink of a second, he does a pencil dive into the small trapdoor that leads to the tunnels. My daughter follows his example, but I am wary and choose to avoid getting stuck! No wonder the United States had “tunnel rats”—a special force selected for their small size and bravery—whose job was to enter these tunnels and flush out the Viet Cong. Armed with just a torch and a pistol, these tunnel rats played a deadly game of hide and seek, where many met their end, either from deadly booby traps or grenades or even vipers and scorpions. The Americans sprayed chemical defoliants aerially, and ignited the vegetation with napalm and gasoline. But the tropical air reacted with the intense heat to cause cloudbursts. When the Americans used German shepherd dogs to ferret out the trapdoors, the VC started washing with American soap and putting on captured Americans’ uniforms to confuse the dogs. There are workshops with models which show how the VC lived. They made their weapons and land mines using recycled metal from bomb shrapnel in a most dangerous procedure. Their very rudimentary but durable footwear was made from strips of old

Bomb craters at the Cu Chi site

rubber tyre treads and inner tubes. There is an unnerving section devoted to the different traps used by the VC—the tiger trap has a hinged trapdoor that flips up and throws the person into a bed of bamboo spikes, tipped with poison, and a rack of nails that fits into a door frame. The war experience is made more real by the snack that we are served here: boiled tapioca and a mixture of peanuts, sugar, salt, and sesame seeds. The Viet Cong subsisted on this kind of bland food for months. There is a souvenir shop with war memorabilia: planes and toy tanks from Coco Cola cans, dog tags and jewellery from bullet shells, and fake Zippo lighters (copies of those carried by American GIs) with messages carved on them. The ultimate touch in a kind of combat theme park: Our guide takes us to the shooting range and says, “$1 for 10 bullets—you can choose an AK 47 or a American M-16!”

We move away, choosing to finish our experience here by actually crawling into a tunnel. My daughter crawls behind the guide in army fatigues; there are escape exits every 20 metres if you change your mind. She reaches the end of the tunnel and says, “How did they even spend a couple of hours here?” War tourism is not confined to the Cu Chi tunnels in Vietnam. Another very popular tour is to the DMZ or the De-Militarized Zone on the 17th parallel, extending from the Laotian Border to the South China Sea. It’s a bleak terrain with barbed wire and napalm-burnt ground. The War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City has grisly images, photos of war crimes, deformed fetuses in glass jars, and mock prisons. There were losses on both sides and the war was never over for many—some were maimed, others suffered from post-traumatic stress disorders. But most of the locals are not interested in the War—it makes sense because more than half of the population was born after the Vietnam war. But the Vietnamese have also realized that there’s money to be made from painful memories … and maybe that’s not such a bad thing for a country trying to heal. n The author is a Japanese language specialist and travel writer based in Chennai, India

FACT FILE FOR CU CHI TUNNELS: How to get there: Fly to Bangkok and take a flight by Vietnam Air to Ho Chi Minh City. From Ho Chi Minh City drive down forty kilometres to the Cu Chi Tunnels or take a guided tour. Where to stay: Hotel Movenpick 253, Nguyen Van Troi Street, Ho Chi Minh City. Visit http://www.moevenpick-hotels.com When to go: The dry months of December to April is the best time to visit the Cu Chi tunnels. Local Currency: The Vietnamese Dong. One of the traps set by the VC india currents • march 2012 • 55

56 • india currents • march 2012

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recipes

Shanta Sacharoff

Vegan and Gluten-free Quick Breads

eing a vegetarian at home was not a problem; my Hindu family had made the decision for me: “Thou shall not kill for food.” But then I moved to upstate New York to attend college, and the menu on campus was mostly meat, with a few canned vegetables. I was motivated to experiment with ingredients and recipes to create nutritious and flavorful dishes, and I became interested in creating recipes for those with other dietary restrictions due to health or ethical issues.

A Vegan Diet

A vegan diet contains no animal products at all; no meat, no dairy, no eggs. Some vegans believe that humans do not need to exploit animals for food. Others question the nonsustainable use of farmland to raise animals instead of growing plant foods. Food activist Frances Moore Lappe frames it this way: If we all eat more beans, more people can have

beans. The cuisine of India already uses a variety of vegetables, and grains. Therefore it can be easily incorporated into a vegan lifestyle.

Going Gluten-free

Back in India, women make fresh roti for the family every day to enjoy piping hot with meals. These rotis are made from millet, corn, wheat, or other grains, the most popular being wheat. Indian wheat breads are world famous for their flavor. Currently many people here and in India are discovering that they suffer from Celiac disease, which is associated with eating gluten. Gluten is a protein that is found primarily in wheat, rye, and barley. It is the magic component of wheat that makes bread rise and make it spongy. Common symptoms of gluten intolerance include abdominal pains, headache, and skin rashes. Gluten sensitivity can

Homemade Green Corn Tortillas

Tortillas are delicious and easy to make. Here I have incorporated some leafy greens to make them colorful and increase their nutritional value. Ingredients: 2 ½ cups of gluten–free masa harina flour. (Bob’s Mill brand is good for those with severe sensitivity) 1 cup mixture of finely chopped spinach leaves, and mustard greens (wash, drain, and remove any stems before chopping) 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro leaves 2 teaspoons minced jalapeno pepper 1 cup warm water ½ teaspoon salt a few tablespoons of oil

Mix the masa flour with the salt, chopped greens, and jalapeno peppers. Add the warm water a small amount at a time to form a dough that is neither sticky nor dry. Cover the dough and let it stand at room temperature for about 40 minutes. Divide the dough into 10 small pieces and compact each piece using the hollow palms of your hands. Set them aside. Then, using two pieces of waxed paper, or a small amount of masa flour on the surface of the counter, roll each piece into a five- to six-inch disc. Heat a heavy skillet or griddle on moderately high heat. Gently place a tortilla on it. Turn it after a minute to cook on the other side for two minutes. Turn it again, spread a small amount of oil over the surface, and cook for another minute. Turn and spread the oil on the other side. The tortilla is ready when it shows a few speckles on both sides. Serve with rice and beans or dal. Note: You can roast the tortillas without oil, but adding a little amount of oil while roasting makes them soft and easy to store.

Corn Bread

This gluten-free version of corn bread is less puffy than you

58 • india currents • march 2012

vary. Some people can eat a small amount of gluten with no adverse effects, but suffer if they eat more. Others cannot consume any gluten at all, and must even avoid anything that is made in a facility that processes grains that contain gluten. Whether one has a known gluten allergy or not, avoiding gluten can have other health benefits, as much of the gluten in our diets comes with other unhealthy ingredients. Most crackers, cookies, pastries, and breads are made with an abundance of processed flours, fats, and salt. However, some homemade versions of these foods can be healthier. Here are two recipes to try; both are vegan and gluten-free. n Shanta Nimbark Sacharoff, author of Flavors of India: Vegetarian Indian Cuisine, lives in San Francisco, where she is a manager and coowner of Other Avenues, a health-food co-op.

might be used to, but as delicious as corn breads that use wheat flour to make them rise. Adding some garbanzo flour (besan) fortifies this corn-bread nutritionally. Ingredients: ½ cup brown or white rice flour 1 tablespoon baking powder 1 ½ cups corn meal (gluten-free) ¼ cup besan (garbanzo flour) ½ teaspoon salt ¼ cup maple syrup cup oil 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice ¾ cup water, and more water as needed Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Generously oil the sides and bottom of a 9” or 10” cast iron pan. In a large bowl, sift the rice flour with the baking powder using a flour sifter or a sieve. Add the corn meal, garbanzo flour, and salt. Stir the mixture well. In a separate small bowl, whisk the liquid ingredients briefly. Combine the wet and dry ingredients, stirring only as much as necessary. Add more water, little at a time, to create a batter that is a bit thicker a pancake batter. Spread the batter evenly in the greased pan and sprinkle a little oil on top. Bake the corn bread for about 45 minutes or until the surface seems dry and when a fork is inserted, it comes out clean. Turn the oven to broil and cook for just a few minutes longer to allow the surface to become golden brown, being careful not to burn the bread. Serve this bread hot with vegetables for a nutritionally complete meal. Add rice or beans as desired. The corn bread also goes well by itself with the afternoon chai.

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india currents • march 2012 • 67

I C relationship diva

Jasbina Ahluwalia

Dilemma Of The Alpha Woman Are working women perceived as too controlling?

Given what I do for a living I come across as a powerful woman, often criticized by the men I date as “too controlling.” Is there a way to maintain the integrity of my personality without being perceived as too controlling?

Let me assure you that you are not alone. As a matchmaker and dating coach to powerful men and women, I come across this issue frequently. As a powerful woman, how do you feel when others try to control you? Once you put yourself in a guy’s shoes, it’s easy to appreciate that women who act controlling tend to repel men. Self-empowered women, on the other hand, magnetize men. Your integrity lies in being a self-empowered woman more so than a woman who exerts control over others, including men. So how do self-empowered women act? • They tend to be comfortable in their

68 • india currents • march 2012

own skin, making those around them comfortable as well. • Empowered women tend to have a strong sense of self, allowing them to be accepting of themselves and others. I'll leave you with one final thought: Selfempowered women realize that their true power lies in their ability to control their own thoughts and actions, leaving little need to control others.

In the past when I’ve been involved in a relationship, I feel like I’ve lost my identity in the process. These days I’m very careful to not seem needy, but I’m worried that I’ve got a wall up. Can you help?

It sounds like your behavior may be originating from a fear of rejection. Consider shifting your focus to strengthening your sense of self-worth. A strong sense of self allows you to risk

emotional vulnerability without risking your self-worth. You sound like an introspective person. This quality will serve you well in finding and maintaining a great relationship. Why not make a list of all your other great qualities? This may help build up your sense of self. Building intimacy in a relationship involves emotional vulnerability. There's just no way to get around it. You can safely allow yourself to be emotionally vulnerable once you believe that you are strong enough to handle any outcomes. Your power lies within you.n Jasbina is the founder and president of Intersections Match, the only personalized matchmaking and dating coaching firm serving singles of South Asian descent in the United States. She is also the host of Intersections Talk Radio, a monthly lifestyle show. www.IntersectionsMatch.com. Jasbina@intersectionsmatch.com.

india currents • march 2012 • 69

in focus

Anu Kher

Dancer, Cellist, and Animal Rights Activist!

hen you think of a teenage artist’s debut, New York City’s famed Carnegie Hall isn’t the first venue that comes to mind. But that is the place 15-year-old Aditi Ahuja chose for her arangetram, which was held on Oct. 7, 2011. For a bharatnatyam dancer of her age, this is a quite an accomplishment. Aditi was only six years old when she started bharatnatyam training with Guru Swati Gupte Bhise, who has been performing the dance extensively in the United States and in India to the acclaim Aditi Ahuja

of critics as an intelligent performer with a keen sense of aesthetics. After years of hard work and practice with Bhise, Aditi was raring to go on stage. “Bharatanatyam has always been a bittersweet experience for me, and at many times, more bitter than sweet,” says Aditi. “To many who accidentally asked, ‘What is bharatanatyam like?’ I would give a long-winded answer explaining how difficult it is. They would learn of all of my aches and pains, and how tiring each class is. Then I would teach them a step or two and force them to sit in aramandhi to prove my point,” Aditi explains. During the recent months leading up to Aditi’s arangetram, her view of this art form changed slightly. “Of course, on a shallow level, my body still ached, even more than before due to the increased intensity of the practice menu. But along with the feelings of fatigue and pain came a sense of accomplishment,” says Aditi. She went to Goa for two weeks to immerse herself in the culture and practice of bharatnatyam. Her daily rou-

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tine there included studying for three hours with Guru Goswami, a renowned professor of bharatanatyam from the ancient Kalakshetra tradition who has taught for 27 years. After a lunch break that she says always seemed too short, Aditi would have another two-hour lesson with Bhise. “The fact that I could actually complete long classes made me proud. I can now say with confidence that I have come very far. I believe that this feeling can only be achieved through hours of strenuous practice and hundreds of aching muscles that I am now grateful for,” adds Aditi. A sophomore at the Riverdale Country School in New York, Aditi is also a valued member of Riverdale’s Upper School Orchestra and Riverdale’s junior varsity field hockey team. Bharatnatyam isn’t the only art form Aditi excels at. She has studied the cello intensively since age six under David Krieger and is a student at Hoff-Barthelson Music School where she plays in the festival orchestra. She has performed at the Summit Music Festival in New York and the Burgos International Music Festival in Spain, among others. Aditi’s achievements go even further. She is passionate about animals and is the president and founder of the Riverdale School for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) and is also an ASPCA ambassador. n

Vocal, Tabla and Instrumental 20th Annual SDMT North Indian Classical Music Contest Contestants must register by: Saturday, March 17, 2012 Contest Semi-Finals: Saturday, March 31, 2012 — 1:00 pm

FINAL CONTEST: Saturday, April 21, 2012 — 9:00 AM W E NE NU E V

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722 S. Main Street, Milpitas, CA 95035 Registration Fees: $25 per contestant For more information, visit our website: www.satyadevi.org email: info@satyadevi.org or call Amit Bansal (408) 771-6014 • Vibha Akkaraju (650) 346-2837 70 • india currents • march 2012

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presents

Bharatanatyam Arangetram of

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Disciple of Guru Smt. Indumathy Ganesh, Artistic Director

Saturday, March 10, 2012 • 5:00 PM Jackson Theater, Ohlone College 43600 Mission Blvd., Fremont, CA 94539 Choreography & Nattuvangam: Vocal: Mridangam: Violin:

Indumathy Ganesh Asha Ramesh N. Narayanan Shanthi Narayan

For more details call: Suhani & Ajay Mody

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72 • india currents • march 2012

presents

A Fund Raiser Show

Presents

“NRI T TO ”

pts from Tarangini Dancers present their 20 r d e c n x E a it H g r e p 11 Su h a Na d a r “Kathak through the Bollyw An u

lywood Lane”

Date: Saturday, March 17, 2012 Time: 6 pm (sharp) Venue: Smithwick Theater Foothill College 12345 El Monte Rd., Los Altos, CA 94022

($2 Parking Fees Please bring exact change) Tickets: $75 (Donor - Reserved Seating) To purchase $75 reserved tickets please send a check in the exact amount payable to “Promise Worldwide” with the following information: * # of $75 tickets desired * Name & Address to mail the tickets to * Email address for correspondence Send the check to: Promise Worldwide 173 Ivy Hill Way, Los Gatos, CA 95032

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Rasika Kumar and and Abhinaya Dance Company Presents Presents their their award award winning winning choreographic choreographic pieces pieces

Contact Information Jaya Basu (408) 605-0495 Pompy Bhattacharjee (510) 468-7777 Preeti Chadha (408) 892-8782

"Promise Worldwide is a US-based 501(c)3 non-profit with a mission to provide nutrition, clothing, education and training to under-privileged children and women from the slums of the world, with projects currently in Kolkata, India.”

india currents • march 2012 • 73

Sunday, March 4, 2012 - 3:30 pm

Sunday, April 22, 2012 - 3:30 pm

Kum. Shanthala Subramanyam - Flute Sri. Avaneeswaram Vinu - Violin Sri. Melakaveri Balaji - Mridangam Sri. Sai Giridhar - Mridangam

Sri. UnniKrishnan & Party Vocal concert Venue: Santa Clara Convention Center - 5001 Great America Pkwy., Santa Clara, CA 95054

Venue: ICC (India Community Center) 525 Los Coches St, Milpitas, CA 95035

Sunday, March 25, 2012 DOUBLE HEADER CONCERT

Venue: Santa Clara Convention Center

5001 Great America Pkwy., Santa Clara, CA 95054

2:00 pm Master Sidharth Sriram Vocal

Sri. Ajay Narasimha - Violin Master Vignesh Venkataraman - Mridangam

4:30 pm Sri O.S. Thyagarajan Vocal

Sri. Mullaivasal Chandramouli - Violin Sri. Ramesh Srinivasan - Mridangam

Sunday, April 8, 2012 - 3:30 pm

Smt. Priyadarshini Govind - Bharathanatyam With Live Orchestra Venue: Foothill College

12345 El Monte Rd., Los Altos Hills, CA 94022

Sunday, April 15, 2012 - 3:30 pm

Sri. Neyveli Santhanagopalan and Kum. SriRanjani Santhanagopalan - Vocal Duet For all concert timings and venue please visit http://www.southindiafinearts.org/ SIFA 2012 Sponsor Membership is now open. Please become a sponsor by signing up at

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Sunday, May 6, 2012 - DOUBLE HEADER CONCERT Venue: Center for Performing Arts - Menlo-Atherton High School 555 Middlefield Rd., Atherton, CA 94027 2:00 pm - Vocal concert

Sri. Sandeep Narayan - Vocal Sri. Mysore V. Srikanth - Violin Sri. Neyveli B. Venkatesh - Mridangam 5:00 pm - Violin concert

Sri. R.K. Shriramkumar Sri. K. Arunprakash - Mridangam Sri. B. S. Purushotham - Kanjira

Sunday, May 13, 2012 - DOUBLE HEADER CONCERT Venue: Center for Performing Arts - Menlo-Atherton High School 555 Middlefield Rd., Atherton, CA 94027 2:00 pm - Vocal concert

Sri. R. Suryaprakash - Vocal Sri. Nagai Sriram - Violin Sri. Tanjore Murugabhoopathy - Mridangam 5:00 pm Strings Attached - Featuring: Sri. R. Kumaresh - Violin & Dr. Jayanthi Kumaresh - Veena Sunday, May 13, 2012 - 4:45 p.m. Sri. Neyveli Narayanan - Mridangam Sri. Trichy Krishnaswami - Ghatam Friday, May 18, 2012 - 7:00 pm Sri. S. Saketharaman - Vocal

Sri. S. Varadarajan - Violin Sri. Neyveli B. Venkatesh - Mridangam

Monday, May 28, 2012 - 3:30 pm Smt. Vishakha Hari - Harikatha (music discourse) Sri. Balaji Ananthakrishnan - Violin Sri. S. J. Arun Ganesh - Mridangam

Our Fall 2012 Concerts Include: Sep. 9 - Dr. Mysore Manjunath & Party - Violin Duet • Oct 7 - Sammilan - Folk Fusion / Sri. Shashank Subramanyam & Party - Flute Nov. 11 - Kum. Alarmel Valli - Bharathanatyam

For details & updated information please log on to www.southindiafinearts.org

74 • india currents • march 2012

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music

Teed Rockwell

The Blessing and the Burden Alam Khan takes on the responsibilities of the family tradition

hilosopher Patrick Grim says that we have two kinds of heroes: those who are both enviable and admirable, and those who are only admirable. We admire the Beatles’ musicianship, and also envy the success and adulation they received. But although we admire Abraham Lincoln’s courage and devotion to his country, very few of us are eager to change places with him, and endure the depression, hardships, and agonizing decisions that were his lot. In cases like these, this distinction seems plausible. However, there are other cases where it is not at all clear-cut. As we watch Play Like a Lion, the new documentary on the intertwined lives of Alam Khan and his father the late Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, we see much in each of their lives which seems far from enviable. Ali Akbar Khan (or Khansahib, as he was respectfully addressed by his students) was forced by his father, the great Allaudin Khan, to practice constantly, and he lived with the threat of beatings and missed meals if he ever tried to have anything resembling a normal childhood. And yet when those of us who play music hear him, we cannot help but wonder “Could it have been worth it? Would I have been willing to endure what he endured if it meant that music of this quality could have flowed from my hands and heart?” Most of us will never be given the opportunity to make that choice. Play like a Lion tells the story of how Alam Khan was given that choice, and the grace and courage with which he made it.

hansahib would never have forced his son to endure what he had endured, and he made it clear that a music career was not a parental command. Instead, Alam’s love of music blossomed slowly and naturally. “My father never forced me to play music, but from an early age I was always either drumming on something or singing something I had heard. His relationship with his father was so strict, he didn’t have a close relationship with his father beyond the music. He obviously didn’t want that same relationship with me. He gave me that freedom he never had, and we had a very loving relationship.” For much of his younger life, Alam Khan played music playfully. For a while, he was a rock and roll guitarist, jamming with his mother and brother in the family living room. Later he was a rapper in Marin clubs, and was often 76 • india currents • march 2012

seen around the Ali Akbar College in a black stocking cap and low-hanging blue jeans. Today, however, this young man in his late 20s is the senior instructor at the Ali Akbar College, and plays classical sarod concerts all over India and America. With the passing of his father, music is no longer a game for Alam, but a spiritual calling. “When I was 13, I was playing Jimmy Hendrix, Grunge, Nirvana, but I also started to listen to my father’s recordings. The melodies, the sounds, the kinds of vibrations you would feel inside, the moods it brought out—that has never left me. It was like recognizing an old friend. Today, my whole life is to play this music and try to keep it alive and continue it.” Was his choice enviable as well as admirable? The distinction between the two seems to turn on the suffering that results from such decisions. for Alam, however, the suffering was clearly part of the point. “There have been many times in my life when I’ve thought about doing something else. This music was beautiful and I loved it, and I was connected to it, and I had an ability to play it and learn it. But was that enough? I finally decided that it was. Difficulties and obstacles arise in life to test you, because nothing is worth having unless you work for it. It has to be important if you spend your whole life doing it. It’s just a question of are you going to give up, or are you going to work through it. And working through it can take years.”

lam has already spent years learning his father’s music, and now has reached a level of virtuosity that the rest of us can only dream about. Is his condition enviable as well as admirable? In one sense, he has a deeper awareness of his family’s music than any of us will ever have. And yet, paradoxically, he will never be able to enjoy it the way the rest of us do, because his critical eye is always colored by an awareness how much better he could be. “Since I am in this family, the expectations I have for myself are probably higher than I can meet. That’s something I’m going to have to come to terms with in my life.”

Alam has already spent years learning his father’s music, and has now reached a level of virtuosity that the rest of us can only dream about. Yet he will never be able to enjoy it the way the rest of us do, because his critical eye is always colored by an awareness how much better he could be.

lam’s younger brother Manik, who also plays sarod, acknowledges that his brother’s burden is unique. “Being the second son in the family, I don’t have the responsibility that Alam does. Alam has taken a huge responsibility on his shoulders.” This perfectionism has made Alam hesitant to release any recordings, despite the fact that many people privately hoard their bootleg recordings of his superb live performances. Shades of Sarod, his first album without his father, came out this year and is clearly shaped by Alam’s determination that nothing is recorded until he is certain it deserves to be. The standard format of a Hindustani performance, which Alam usually follows in his concerts, is to devote the bulk of the evening to exploring all the nuances of a single raga. Apparently Alam feels that these live performances don’t measure up to his own tough standards, and so he has elected to do shorter versions of four different ragas, to make sure that there is no hint of mechanicalness or redundancy. He is accompanied by Salar Nader, one of the finest tabla players of their generation, who carries on the style of Zakir Hussein in much the way that Alam preserves his father’s tradition. The result sounds uncannily like Khansahib himself playing in a tight economical manner, but with complete authority and control. It is a sobering reminder that the rest of us are too willing to tackle the most difficult aspects of Khansahib’s music way too early. The son had completely mastered one small region of his father’s genius, and only then was he willing to let himself document what he had accomplished. A lifetime of such accomplishments lies before him, and we can all look forward to hearing them.

his does not mean that Alam is merely a conduit of his father’s tradition. Despite the uncanny similarity in their styles, Alam has emerged with a musical mind of his own. This is eloquently demonstrated by Alam’s final words in Play Like a Lion, and the fiery climactic performance that follows them. “People have always said ‘It’s going to be on you next.’ That’s true, but my father was bigger than any one person, and it will take many people to carry that responsibility. Obviously I’m grateful for the gifts he’s given me, and that’s what my life revolves around. But I’m not the next Ali Akbar Khan. There will never be another Ali Akbar Khan. I’m Alam Khan. That’s what I’m going to realize in my life and be okay with that.” n For more information on the movie and album, go to playlikealion.com and alamkhan.com Teed Rockwell has studied Indian classical music with Ali Akbar Khan and other great Indian musicians. He is the first person to play Hindustani music on the Touchstyle Fretboard.

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78 • india currents • march 2012

Sri Lalitha Gana Vidyalaya Presents

Carnatic Vocal Arangetram

Naeha Lakshmanan

Disciple of Smt Latha Sriram (Artistic Director, Sri Lalitha Gana Vidyalaya)

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Violin - Smt Lakshmi Balasubramanya Mridangam – Sri Balaji Mahadevan

March 17, 2012 4:30PM INDIA CURRENTS GRAPHICS (408) 324-0488

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dance

KALANJALI Dances of India Establshed in 1975

CLASSES IN BHARATANATYAM

Jayendra Kalakendra

India's most ancient classical dance

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Bharatanatyam classes (Kalakshetra style, incl. Extensive Theory)

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Presents

The 5th Annual Evening of World Theatre & Dance Featuring Mythili Kumar and Abhinaya Dance Company

Saturday, February 25 @ 8 pm Cabrillo Crocker Theater

Visual & Performing Arts Complex 6500 Soquel Drive, Aptos, CA 95003 Tickets: $18 General, $15 Student/Senior, $13 w/ Student Activity Card www.cabrillovapa.com or call (831) 479-6154

“NRITTO”

An Enchanting Evening of North & South Indian Classical Dance with Abhinaya Dance Company & Tarangini School of Kathak

Saturday, March 17 @ 6 pm Smithwick Theater

Foothill College 12345 El Monte Road, Los Altos, CA 94022

Tickets: $75 (Donor), $35, $25, $20 http://a3.acteva.com/orderbooking/bookEvent/A315296

Abhinaya Touring Performance

Natya MIT

Rasika Kumar & Abhinaya Dance Company in choice repertory pieces Saturday, March 3 Little Kresge Theater @ MIT, Massachusetts Malavika Kumar & Mythili Kumar dance for Mahashivarathri Natyothsav Saturday, February 18 @ 3pm Sanatan Dharma Kendra - 897 Kifer Rd., Sunnyvale, CA 94086

www.abhinaya.org

(408) 871-5959

abdanceco@gmail.com

india currents • march 2012 • 87

Edited by: Mona

Shah

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special dates Holi

March 8

St. Patrick’s Day

March 17

First Day of Spring

March 20

A tribute to Jagit Singh will be held on Sunday, Dec. 4 in Saratoga.

I C cultural calendar March

1 Thursday

The Influenza Pandemic of 1918: New Findings from India and Indonesia. Sid-

dharth Chandra, Professor of Economics and Director of the Asian Center, Michigan State University, speaks on the influenza pandemic of 1918-19, the single most lethal short-term world-wide epidemic of the 20th century. This talk will respond to existing data and present new research on the mortality rates in India and Indonesia for this period. 4:15 p.m.-6 p.m. Dwinelle Hall, 341, DSSEAS Library, Level G, Berkeley, 94720. Free. (510) 642-3608. southasia.berkeley.edu.

Citizenship Process and Related Issues.

Aruna Venkidu will advise about how to apply for citizenship and any other related issues. Ends March 10. Organized by HCCC Human Services. Livermore Shiva Vishnu Temple. 3:30 p.m. Assembly Hall, 1223 Arrowhead Ave Livermore 94550. Free. (925) 449-6255.

88 • india currents • march 2012

Aruradha Nag of Tarangini School of Kathak perform at Promise WorldWide, March 17

suman1218@yahoo.com. www.livermoretemple.org.

March

3 Saturday

Impact 5K/10K Walk/Run. Pound the

pavement and change a life. Fundraising event to benefit food and education for disadvantaged girls in India. Organized by Kiran-Anjali Project. 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. 951 Cheyenne Drive, Walnut Creek, 94598. $30/ person. (925) 943-6083. uvjb@yahoo.com, www.kaproject.org.

recommends

Mona Shah

Indian Films Shine at Cinequest C

INEQUEST Film Festival (CQFF) showcases emerging and legendary artists, premiere films with 13 days of films, fusing the community of film lovers with film creators. With over 200 international movies form 44 countries, the festival will once again bring a world of cinema, fans and moviemakers to downtown San Jose. This year three films depicting Indian themes are showcased. The films details are below. The films are showing at Camera 12 (C12), 201 S. Second Street, San Jose. (408) 998-3300, and at California Theatre (Cal), 345 S. First St., San Jose. (408) 295-9600.

Love, Wrinkle Free

Goa-native Savio Monteiro is in the underwear business. His pregnant wife struggles with her age, while his adopted daughter grapples with a personal secret. When Savio meets the beautiful Natalie, his aspirations to make his family proud are within reach as he enters into a business venture with her boyfriend. But the scheme for profiting from “Eat Me” edible lingerie goes awry, and Savio must turn to a character who ultimately stirs up the family in more ways than one. Love, Wrinkle-Free offers a comedic perspective to widespread delusions concerning youth and beauty. March 4 , 7:00 p.m.(Cal), March 7, 7:15 p.m., March 9, 9:15 p.m. (C12).

The King

In this Tamil film, you’ll find no song and dance. Still, the action packed, lightly comedic, and delightfully smart political thriller hits all the right notes. Zealous photojournalist Ashwin (Jeeva, Raam) has a knack for risking his life to capture photos. When his crush, Renuka, writes a cover story about a big-name politician’s intentions to marry a minor, Ashwin gambles his safety to get photographic evidence. Vasanthan Perumal (Ajmal Ameer), a recent graduate and engineer, strives hard to enter the political field.. But when his allegiance turns out to be a shock, Ashwin’s involvement in the political spectrum turns out to be more than he bargained for. Once you’ve dug your hole, is there a way to get out? March 5, 9:30 p.m. (Cal), March 7, 4:15 p.m. (C12), March 10, 9:15 p.m. (C12).

Raju

As part of the Shorts Program 3: Give-And-Take, Raju has already won several awards. A German couple adopts an Indian orphan in Kolkata. When the child suddenly disappears they realize that they are part of the problem. Raju has been nominated for an Oscar in the Live Action Shorts category for the 84th Academy Awards. March 1, 2:15 p.m. (C12), March 6, 4:30 p.m. (C12), March 8, 7:00 p.m. (C12).

india currents • march 2012 • 89

March

4 Sunday

Kids Art Contest. Children must bring their own pencils, markers, crayons, color pencils, watercolors, and oil pastels. No reference material, i.e. books, sample drawings, etc., allowed. Work must be finished in the two-hour session. Entries will be judged on originality, colors and execution. Emphasis is on creativity and design. Organized by Indian Community Center. 3 p.m.-5 p.m. Indian Community Center, 525 Los Coches St., Milpitas, 95035. (408) 934-1130. www. indiacc.org.

Holi Celebrations around the Bay Area

South India Fine Arts Presents. Shanthala Subramanyam (flute), Avaneeswaram Vinu (violin), Melakaveri Balaji (mridangam), Sai Giridhar (mridangam). 3:30 p.m. India Community Center. 525 Los Coches St, Milpitas, 95035. http://www.southindiafinearts.org.

Holi Celebration Cultural Program. Talk

on “Celebrating the True Colors of Life,” guided meditation, and lunch. Seats are limited. RSVP required. Organized by Brahma Kumaris.11 a.m.-1 p.m. Milpitas Library, 160 North Main St., Milpitas, 95035. Free. (408) 935-8740. contact@bkmilpitas.org. www.bksiliconvalley.org.

Ali Akbar College of Music Winter Concert Series 2012. The third concert in the

series features Rachel Unterseher (violin) with Ram Kaundinya (tabla), followed by Benjamin Araki (sitar) with Jim Santi Owen (tabla), and will conclude with Chris Ris (sarod) with Dana Pandey (tabla). 7 p.m. Ali Akbar College of Music, 215 West End Ave, San Rafael, 94960. $15 general, $12 AACM members/seniors/students. (415) 454-6372. office@aacm.org. www. aacm.org.

March

6 Tuesday

Desert of Forbidden Art. An incredible true story of how one man, Igor Savitsky, saved a treasure trove of art worth millions of dollars “hiding” it in a museum in the desert in Uzbekistan. A collector of paintings that the Soviet government wanted destroyed, Savitsky traveled thousands of miles scheming, plotting, pleading, doing whatever it took to get his hands on the art he so passionately wanted to preserve. Voices: Ben Kingsley, Sally Field, Ed Asner. Organized by Tiburon International Film Festival. 6 p.m. Bay Model, 2100 Bridgeway, Sausalito. Free. (415) 381-4123. www.TiburonFilmFestival. com.

Abhinaya Dance Company’s Rasika Kumar, March17

March

10 Saturday

A Smarter Way to Invest for College. A

free workshop to help answer key questions about your children’s college planning: How much is college going to cost? When should I start saving for college? What are the different ways to save for college? Attendance is limited. To RSVP call (510) 789-2411 or email: nshah@financialguide.com. Organized by Neepa Shah, MBA, Financial Advisor. 10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. MassMutual Financial Group, 2201 Walnut Ave. #140, Fremont, 94538. Free. (510) 789-2411. nshah@financialguide.com. www.financialguide.com/Neepa-Shah.

Performance by A Lakshman. A disciple

of Kalaimamani K. J. Sarasa and the guru of many leading bharatanatyam exponents of India, in a live performance. Live orchestra: Subhasri L (nattuvangam), Praveen GR (vocal), N Sigamami (violin), Saktivel Muruganandhan (mridangam). Organized by Yuva Bharati and Sankritilaya. 4 p.m. Mission Center for Performing Arts, 3250 Monroe St., Santa Clara. $15 general, $10 Sankritilaya members. (650) 565 - 8859. yuva_bharati@ yahoo.com.

Bharatanatyam Arangetram of Priyanka Mody. Student accompanied by

Non-Stop Bhangra with Delhi 2 Dublin, March 10

90 • india currents • march 2012

musicians, Indumathy Ganesh (nattuvangam), Asha Ramesh (vocal), N.Narayan (mridangam), Shanthi Narayan (violin). Organized by Nrithyollasa Dance Academy, Artistic Director Indumathy Ganesh. 5 p.m. Jackson Theater, Ohlone College, 43600

30th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival The festival presents wide-reaching programs of the latest in South Asian cinema. This year they continue highlighting the best in South Asian media. India’s official entry to the 84th Academy Awards, “Abu, Son of Adam,” presents a meditative story of the determination of an aging couple to perform the Islamic pilgrimage of Hajj. Director Salim Ahamed brings a simple yet revelatory cinematic experience against the picturesque simplicity of rural Kerala. In “The Sun Beaten Path,” a young man making a pilgrimage to Lhasa has to overcome the guilt of causing a family member’s death. Director Sonthar Gyal’s superb debut feature, winner of the Vancouver International Film Festival’s prestigious Dragons & Tigers Award, suggests that the New Tibetan Cinema is upon us. In Director Midi Z’s “Return to Burma,” Xing-Hong, a Burmese laborer in Taiwan, returns to his home village in Burma with the ashes of his friend and finds himself a foreigner in a country he once called home. Inspired by classic Taiwanese cinema, “Return to Burma” captures the essential reality of rural Burma at a critical moment in time. Also showing is CAAM-produced comedy series, “Nice Girls Crew,” helmed by award-winning filmmaker Tanuj Chopra (Punching at the Sun) and featuring Sheetal Sheth. The SFIAAFF occurs between March 8-18, in San Francisco, Berkeley, and San Jose. Films screen in San Francisco at the Castro Theatre, 429 Castro Street; Sundance Kabuki Cinemas, 1865 Post Street; and the San Francisco Film Society |New People Cinema, 1746 Post Street. In Berkeley, films screen at the Pacific Film Archive, 2575 Bancroft Way. In San Jose, films screen at Camera 3 Cinemas, 288 South Second Street. For tickets and information about CAAM membership benefits and levels please visit www.caamedia.org.

Mission Blvd,. Fremont. Free. (510) 657-7365, (510) 623-8230. info@nldance.com. www. nldance.com.

Non Stop Bhangra with Dehli 2 Dublin. This Vancouver based group plays an

energetic mash-up of bhangra, celtic, dub, reggae and electronica with global rhythms and club beats. The night will start off with bhangra dance lessons and performances by Dholrhythms Dance Company, followed by DJ Jimmy Love and other top Bay Area DJs spinning alongside live dhol drums. Organized by Non Stop Bhangra (NSB). 9 p.m.-3 a.m. Public Works, 161 Erie St., San Francisco. Pre-Sale: $10 / door: $15. (415) 694-9080. nonstopbhangra.ning.com.

March

11 Sunday

Suzuki Guitar Open House. Learn the basics of the Suzuki approach and how music education can enrich your student performance. Organized by The California Conser-

vatory of Guitar. Noon - 1 p.m. The California Conservatory of Guitar, 2905 Stender Way Unit 72, Santa Clara, 95054 . Free. (408) 8448300. info@thecaliforniaconservatory.com. www.thecaliforniaconservatory.com.

March

15 Thursday

Darbar. As part of the Maharaja exhibit,

the Majestic Courts of India are represented in dance. A kathak performance depicts the decadence romance royalty with “Darbar.” Organized by Chitresh Das Dance Company. Asian Art Museum, 200 Larkin St., San Francisco. $35. $45, $55. (415)333-9000. http:// www.kathak.org. (see story).

March

16 Friday

Why Foreign Aid Does Not Work In Countries Like Pakistan. Talk by Samia

Altaf, a public health physician and author of “So Much Aid, So Little Development: Stories From Pakistan.” Organized by Center for South Asia Studies. 12-2 p.m. TBD, Univer-

sity of California, Berkeley, 94720. Free. (510) 642-3608. southasia.berkeley.edu.

March

17 Saturday

Nritto: An Enchanting Evening of North and South Indian Dance. Ra-

sika Kumar presents their award-winning choreographic pieces, and Anuradha Nag and Tarangini dancers present their 2011 super-hit excerpts from “Kathak though the Bollywood Lane.” Organized by Abhinaya Dance Company and Tarangini School of Kathak Dance. 6 p.m. Smithwick Theater, Foothill College, 12345 El Monte Road, Los Altos, 94022. $20, $25, $35. (408) 871-5959. abdanceco@gmail.com. abhinaya.org.

Ali Akbar College of Music Winter Concert Series 2012. The fourth concert

in the series features a performance by Manik Khan (sarod) with William Rossell (tabla), followed by a tabla duet with Ram Kaundinya and Rahul Joshi, and concluding with Arjun Verma (sitar) with Nilan Chaudhuri (tabla). 7 p.m. Ali Akbar College of india currents • march 2012 • 91

recommends

Asian Art Museum

Darbar

he Chitresh Das Dance Company (CDDC) is partnering with the Asian Art Museum (AAM) of San Francisco to present CDDC’s Home Season and the world premiere of Pandit Chitresh Das’ new work “Darbar.” Darbar means “The Court.” It is a traditional kathak dance drama. Kathak, a classical dance form that combines Hindu and Muslim influences, was adopted by the Mughals when they ruled India. The story is set in the court of the king Wajid Ali Shah, who represents an age of decadence. He is so distracted by his indulgences that he fails to notice that his general is being tempted by the British to betray him. The work is both a representation of the rich artistic and cultural legacy of the courts of North India as well as a statement about the responsibility of power and the risk of corruption—concepts still relevant today. Recently we had a chance to talk about this work with Pandit Chitresh Das.

Darbar performance by dancers of the Chitresh Das Dance Company

Pandit Chitresh Das 92 • india currents • march 2012

Q. What was the genesis behind this new work, Darbar? Darbar is based on a work I created in 1998, but I am re-imagining it in a new way. This time I have gained inspiration from the Maharaja exhibit, which is about power. Not just power within India, but British and colonial power as well. And there was another side of this power in the court, the power of the courtesans. We are bringing forth the power of music, dance, and drama through a story line that combines the stories of several historical figures. The work explores the power play between Indian rulers and generals and the British, with their strategy of divide and rule. In 1757 almost sixty miles from the city of Calcutta, where I grew up, under the mango grove of Palashi, the last Nawab of Bengal, Shiraj-ud-Dullah, was defeated by the British colonialist Robert Clive. In 1856 the Nawab who was the patron king of kathak was exiled to a suburb of Calcutta. His entire court moved with him, helping to establish Calcutta as a major seat of culture. My parents’ performing arts institution, Nritya Bharati, was one of the oldest and most established in Calcutta. They brought in the greatest gurus in the classical arts as

well as painters, poets, and thinkers of the time. My father choreographed the first revolutionary dance drama before independence called Abhudhoy, meaning The Dawn. My guruji, Pandit Ram Narayan Mishra, used to live and teach in the quarters of Calcutta inhabited by descendants of courtesans from Lucknow, Jaipur, and Benares. As a child, I would accompany him there, and I would see him teaching my guru-sisters a form of kathak different from what I learned. These girls would later grow up to perform and entertain wealthy clients. Despite the fact that society considered it taboo to go to the courtesan district, my mother was an independent woman and felt that I should accompany my guruji. So as I child I had the incredible experience of seeing this living history. The dance in this piece is a direct reflection of what I witnessed. Q. How is Indian dance being changed by the globalization of our world? The dance form is undergoing tremendous change. Thousands of years ago dance was performed by wandering minstrels in temples honoring the deities. Then kathak moved into the courts, where it was an important expression of the melding of Hindu

and Muslim cultures. Today kathak has moved into the proscenium. When I was growing up, kathak was a solo art, performed over two to three hours. There were no fancy lights, no costume changes, no sound checks, just an audience who knew and appreciated the intricacies of a dancer who

“We are bringing forth the power

of music, dance, and drama through a story line that combines the stories of several historical figures.”

could perform with exceptional technique, rhythmic improvisation, poetic recitation, and storytelling from the great epics. Now, with the art form being performed for audiences who are mostly unfamiliar with its traditions, many artists are no longer learning or performing the traditional solos. To cater to Western audiences and an increasingly soundbite based society, Western choreography and production, as well as fusion, have entered kathak. Classical Indian artistic expression is giving way to pop forms like Bollywood. But my company members are all aspiring soloists. Seema, who runs my school in Mumbai, is performing traditional solos in the heart of Bollywood and working hard to show the people of Mumbai how thrilling and rich the Indian classical tradition is. No tradition is static. All traditions evolve. Dancers who take hold of these traditions only become important artists when they develop themselves within the art to the point of finding and expressing an original voice. I call this innovation within tradition. This is what makes these traditions universal and meaningful. With Darbar I am able to talk about power, about politics, and about art through the tradition of kathak. In kathak lies the art of my message, of movement and dance, of costumes, of finding what happened in India in the 1700s and 1800s that is relevant to modern audiences, whether they be in San Francisco or Mumbai. Just as the Maharaja exhibit explores the power and dynamics of the maharajas, so this art reflects that history and brings it alive for the modern day.n

Music, 215 West End Ave, San Rafael, 94960. Tickets: $15 general, $12 AACM members/ seniors/students. All tickets sold at the door. (415) 454-6372. office@aacm.org. www.aacm. org.

Karnatik Vocal Arangetram. Naeha Lak-

shmanan, student of Latha Sriram (Artistic Director, Lalitha Gana Vidyalaya) Accompanied by: Lakshmi Balasubramanya (violin), Balaji Mahadevan (mridangam). Organized by Sri Lalitha Gana Vidyalaya. Cubberley Commmunity Center, 4000 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, 94303. Free.

March

23 Friday

Unity Dinner 2012. Featuring Keynote

Speaker Carl Guardino, President and CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group and Host of “The CEO Show.” 6:15p.m. Fremont Marriott, 46100 Landing Parkway, Fremont, 94538. http://www.indocommunity.us. (408) 596-4223.

March

24 Saturday

Scarlet Night Fundraiser. The annual dinner gala raises awareness and funds for heart health. Keynote by acclaimed physician and author Abraham Verghese. Raj Mathai will

Jeevan Zutshi organizes Unity Dinner, March 23

emcee a fun evening featuring music, dance, comedy, a silent and live auction, gourmet banquet, and a casino where guests can play blackjack, roulette, and more. The auction will feature personal chef packages, exciting trips, fine wine and autographed copies of Verghese’s books. Organized by South Asian Heart Association. 6 p.m.-11:30 p.m. Mission City Ballroom, Santa Clara Convention Center, 5001 Great America Parkway, Santa Clara. $125 - $250. Tables from $1250 - $2500. (650) 940-7242. scarlet@southasianheartcenter.org. www.southasianheartcenter. org/scarlet/.

Darbar Performances: March 15-18. Thurs-Fri, 7:00 pm. Sunday, 2:00 pm. Samsung Hall, Asian Art Museum, 200 Larkin St., San Francisco, 94102. www.kathak.org. Maharaja Exhibit: Now through April 22. Tateuchi Thematic Gallery, second floor, Asian Art Museum, 200 Larkin St., San Francisco, 94102. $17 general; $13 seniors; $12 students; $7 children 13-17; members and SFUSD students free. Closed Mondays. (415) 581-3500. www.asianart.org. Priyadarsini Govind performs April 8 india currents • march 2012 • 93

and frolic. Race day registration starts at 8 a.m. Run/Walk Starts: 9 a.m. Organized by Asha for Education, Silicon Valley. 9 a.m.-12 p.m. Baylands Park, Sunnyvale CA, 999 E Caribbean Drive Sunnyvale, CA 94089. Early Bird (Until March 10th): $20, After March 10th: $25, Race Day Registration: $30. agaur. asha@gmail.com. www.ashanet.org/siliconvalley/marathon/5k/SpringRun.

Holi Milan. Organized by Kamna Mittal. 12-4:30 p.m. Peninsula Italian American Social Club of San Mateo, 100 North B St., San Mateo 94401. $35/adult, $15/child. (650) 515-9961. kamna@kamnasparties.com. holi2012.kamnasparties.com.

March

25 Saturday

Youthsava 2012. The deadline to submit

CDs is March 9. Contest categories are: Sub Junior Folk (ages 4-7), Sub Junior Film (ages 4-7), Sub Junior Remix (ages 4-7) Junior Folk (ages 8-12), Junior Film (ages 8-12), Junior Remix (ages 8-12), Senior Folk (ages 13-18), Senior Film (ages 13-18) and Senior Remix (ages 13-18), and a non-competitive Adult Showcase category. Organized by India Community Center. 9 a.m. India Community Center, 525 Los Coches St., Milpitas, 95035. $89 per group entry, which includes tickets for participants and dance directors. (408) 9341130. www.indiacc.org.

South India Fine Arts Presents. Ajay Narasimha (violin), Vignesh Venkataraman (mridangam) in concert. 2 p.m. Santa Clara Convention Center, 5001 Great America Pkwy., Santa Clara, 95054. http://www.southindiafinearts.org.

In memorium of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, April 7

The Khantastic Music Concert. Bay Area’s

popular Indian music bands will be performing their 40th musical production. The performance is a Hindi film music concert, featuring chart buster songs enacted by leading and well-loved Hindi cinema actors Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan. The orchestra will be composed of over 15 talented vocalists and instrumentalists performing live songs on stage. Part of the profits from the concert will benefit the Akshaya Trust, Madurai. Organized by Eastern Winds. Santa Clara Convention Center, 5001 Great America Parkway, Santa Clara. $20 tickets available at www.easternwinds.org. (408) 660-3739. contact@easternwinds.org. www. easternwinds.org.

Zakir Hussain and Masters of Percussion.

An outgrowth of Hussain’s memorable tours with his father, the legendary Ustad Allarakha, has enjoyed successful tours in the West since 1996, and is a particular favorite with Cal Performances audiences. Joining the 2012 performance are Fazal Qureshi (tabla and kanjira), 94 • india currents • march 2012

Rakesh Chaurasia (bansuri), Dilshad Khan (sarangi), Navin Sharma (dholak), Abbos Kosimov (doyra), and the Meitei Pung Cholom Performing Troupe, dancing drummers of Manipur. Organized by Cal Performances. 8 p.m. Zellerbach Hall, 101 Zellerbach Hall, Room 4800, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, 94720. $20. (510) 642-9988. tickets@calperformances.org. www.calperf.berkeley.edu. (see story)

Bharatanayam Arangetram of Madhavi Muralidharan. Student of Jayanthi

Sridharan, Artistic Director of Jayendra Kalakendra. 5 p.m. Dougherty Valley Performing Arts Center, Dougherty Valley High School, 10550 Albion Road, San ramon, 94582. (408) 221-1268.

March

25 Sunday

Asha for Education Spring Run 2012.

A 5k and 10k Run/Walk/Carnival. There will be games, face painting, food stall, fun

South India Fine Arts Presents. O. S. Thyagarajan (vocal), Mullaivasal Chandramouli (violin), Ramesh Srinivasan (mridangam) in concert. 4:30 p.m. Santa Clara Convention Center, 5001 Great America Pkwy., Santa Clara, 95054. http://www.southindiafinearts.org.

March

31 Saturday

Ali Akbar College of Music Winter Concert Series 2012. This is the final

concert in the series. It features a vocal performance by Gaayatri Kaundinya with Ram Kaundinya (tabla), followed by a tabla solo by Tim Witter, and will conclude with Bruce Hamm (sarod) with Tim Witter (tabla). 7 p.m. Ali Akbar College of Music, 215 West End Ave, San Rafael, 94901. Tickets: $15 general, $12 AACM members/seniors/students. All tickets sold at the door. (415) 454-6372. office@aacm.org. www.aacm.org.

B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B

SHIVA MURUGAN TEMPLE P U J A S

F E S T I V A L S

www.shivamurugantemple.org

NEW SHIVA MURUGAN TEMPLE Let us all join together and build a new Shiva Murugan Temple, the dream of all of us. Many of the Bay Artists are generously accepting to do Benefit programs for this auspicious effort.

PHOTO: VIGGY MOKKARALA

Feb. 25 - Guru Vishal Ramani & Students. Apr. 15 - Radica Giri & Students. May 5 - Guru Vishal Ramani & Students June 17 - Mythili Kumar & students. Aug. 12 - Rohit Jayaraman. Sept. 8 - Suganda Srinath & Students. Dec. 1 - Meena Logan Dec. 15 - Preetha Shesadri

Feb. 9, 2013 - Nirupama Vaidyanathan. Indumathi Ganesh, Jeyanthi Sridharan, Anu Suresh, Harini Krishna, Shreelata Suresh, Hema Sista, Srikanth Chari, Aruna Krishna, Manasa Suresh & Lata Sriram

Other Artists have also accepting to do a program for the New temple.

You have all come to Murugan’s temple and praised gods with your beautiful music and dance. We hope you all will be there in your new temple and help us to make it flourish. God bless you and your family.

PUJAS & FESTIVALS

Sun., Mar. 4 - Masi Magam Sun., Mar. 18 - Yugadhi - Suganda Sreenath. - Aruna Krishna and friends. Sat., Mar. 25 - Sriramanavami Sun., Mar. 11 - Karadaiyan Nombu - Jayashree Varadarajan. Preetha Shesadri TEMPLE

SHIVA MURUGAN / SAIVA SIDDHANTA ASHRAM

• Weekdays: 10am - Noon & 6pm - 9pm • Weekends: 10am - 9pm Voice Mail (925) 827-0127 • Fax (925) 827-0209 • www.temple.org

B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B

1803 Second Street, Concord, CA 94519

"I made my song a coat, covered with embroideries, out of old mythologies, from heel to throat". Yeats

650-559-0825 (Store) 650-353-0599 (Cell) email: pia@piakaghar.com www.piakaghar.com

india currents • march 2012 • 95

ZakirHussain & Masters of Percussion 2012 Featuring:

Zakir Hussain, Fazal Qureshi, Rakesh Chaurasia, Abbos Kosimov, Uma Shankar, Sabir Khan, Navin Sharma & Joy Singh with special guest Antonia Minnecola

March 22- Davis, CA

Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts - 8 pm

http://www.mondaviarts.org/events/event.cfm?event_id=1015&season=2011

March 24- Berkeley, CA

Cal Performances, Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley - 8 pm

http://www.calperfs.berkeley.edu/performances/2011-12/world-stage/zakir-hussain-masters-of-percussion.php#.Tw2upDWJcR8

March 16 - Hampton, VA March 17 - Washington, DC March 18 - Cambridge, MA March 21 - Los Angeles, CA March 22 - Davis, CA March 24 - Berkeley, CA March 28 - Mexico City, Mexico March 30 - Portland, OR March 31 - Seattle, WA

April 1 - Vancouver, BC April 3 - Calgary, AB April 5 - Savannah, GA April 7 - Philadelphia, PA April 10 - Columbus, OH April 12 - Ann Arbor, MI April 13 - Milwaukee, WI April 14 - Chicago, IL

For complete tour information: www.zakirhussain.com

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Raman Rajpal

Reminiscing: A Shared Experience

Habib Khan Day, April 2

April

1 Sunday

Team Asha Marathon Program Kick-Off.

Achieve your goal of running a half or full marathon or biking for 100km/100 mi and support the cause of children’s education in India, all at the same time. Organized by Team Asha -Asha for Education. 2 p.m.-4 p.m. Sports Basement, Sunnyvale, 1177 Kern Ave. Sunnyvale, 94085. Free. (408) 287-4860. run@sv.teamasha.org. sv.team-asha.org.

April

2 Saturday

Pandit Habib Khan Day. Hindustani clas-

sical music by the children of Gurukul. Chief guests: Madhusudan and Usha Borde. 7 a.m. 2759 Gold Meadow Court, San Jose 95135. (408) 528-0786, (650) 255-9752. habibkhan@ comcast.nt. www.habibkhan.com.

April

7 Saturday

Pampa Dance Academy Celebrates 20 Years. Nirmala Madhava and over 60 of her

students will be performing in “Utsava,” a production marked by Nirmala’s quest for creativity. There are several unique items being performed in this production, including a variation of the basic Alarippu, which will take the audience back to the Vedic times by combining the traditional item with verses from the Upanishads. Organized by Pampa Dance Academy. 7 p.m. Woodside Performing Arts Center,, 199 Churchill Ave., Woodside, 94062. $15 General admission, $50 donors. (408) 243 2623. www.pampans.com.

Samsmaranam. An annual memorial in honor of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra’s passing, in collaboration with Abhinaya Dance Company of San Jose. 4 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Sunnyvale Theatre, 550 E. Remington Avenue, Sunnyvale, 94087. gurushradha@ gmail.com. http://www.gurushradha.org.

April

8 Sunday

Bharathanatyam Performance. Pranaa-

myam - “A Salutation to Poetry and Dance” by Priyadarsini Govind. With live orchestra 3:30 p.m. Foothill College, 12345 El Monte Rd., Los Altos Hills.

April

15 Sunday

Shhh............The Language of Silence.

Have you ever wondered about “Silence” and the absence of thought? Come join Saratoga author Raji Lukkoor in this fascinating journey of silence and its transformative effects. Raji recently released a memoir, titled “Inner Pilgrimage: Ten Days to a Mindful Me,” based on her life-changing experience of a ten-day vipassana meditation retreat. Organized by Saratoga Library. 2 p.m. Saratoga Library Community Room, 13650 Saratoga Ave. Saratoga, 95070 . Free. (408) 867-6126. www.sccl.org, www.rajilukkoor.com.

awn is breaking as a group of people emerge from the trails at Rancho San Antonio Park and head towards their cars. Their faces are radiant despite the perspiration on their foreheads and the sweat on their bodies. One can sense the exhilaration and gauge the confidence in their stride. They are ready to face whatever lies in store for them through the rest of the day. What is so special about these runners? They have not only taken a step towards improving their health and well-being, but have dedicated themselves to improving the lives of myriads of others less fortunate than themselves. They push themselves beyond their existing capabilities, reaching deep within themselves – knowing only that their pain is not as great as those for whom they are running. These are the Team Asha runners, who spend many hours each week training to run a marathon while helping to raise funds to educate the underprivileged in India. Running is the most natural form of

exercise. It requires minimal gear and is as simple as putting one foot in front of the other. It can be done anywhere, at any time, and under almost any conditions. Yet many people shy away from running, especially when it comes to taking on the king of the races – the marathon. Why? A lot has to do with folklore, misconceptions, and the fear of the unknown. After completing dozens of marathons over 18 years and helping hundreds of runners fulfill their dream of running a marathon, I can confidently say that training for a marathon is no more dangerous than crossing the road. One has to prepare for it, proceed with caution, back off at the first sign of trouble, and then complete the journey. So it is with marathon training. Preparation is key. Team Asha assembles a team to help you each step of the way. There are coaches like world-class marathoner Tony Fong, Ironman tri-athlete Rajeev Charand, ski-marathoner Martina Koldewey, mentors in each neighborhood to address your dayto-day concerns, and dozens of volunteers to plan your logistics for the weekend runs and races. All one has to do is show up!n Coach Raman Rajpal has coached for seven years and run 18 marathons. india currents • march 2012 • 97

Michelle Baird

Master of Percussion U

nmatched in energy, enthusiasm, and improvisational precision, Zakir Hussain is widely regarded as the world’s preeminent tabla player. The son of legendary musician Ustad Allarakha, Hussain actively brings his father’s musical and philosophical legacy to his tours around the world. This spring Zakir Hussain is playing across the United States and Canada with his Masters of Percussion tour. Hussain talks with India Currents about his upcoming performance in Berkeley from Bombay, where he’s just returned after playing in Palestine. The Masters of Percussion (MOP) Tour is organized by Hussain to feature relatively unknown Indian artists. The tour “makes for a unique opportunity for the lovers of Indian art and culture to see these incredible performers and get a bird’s eye view of what India has to offer,” explains Hussain. MOP brings Indian artists rooted in traditional and regional forms to the west while offering Hussain the opportunity to explore new musical territory. This spring’s tour features an Uzbek doira player, Abbos Kosimov, for the first time. Hussain is excited to include the doira because it allows him to improvise, “moving towards rhythmic styles outside of

Antonia Minnecola’s narrative through kathak

98 • india currents • march 2012

India that have similar roots.” Hussain has carefully chosen his musicians to complement Kosimov’s doira. Uma Shankar from South India will play the kanjira and ghatam, bringing corresponding sounds to the ensemble. Navin Sharma will play dholak, contributing similar rhythmic patterns to the doira and kanjira. Hussain, with his brother Fazal Qureshi, will showcase the North Indian classical tabla repertoire featuring two players. Hussain’s wife will also contribute a narrative element to the performance through kathak. “The main feature of the evening will be the story-telling aspect of kathak dance featuring Antonia Minnecola and Meitei Pung drummer and dancer Joy Singh.” Rakesh Chaurasia on bansuri and Sabir Khan on sarangi will round out the evening featuring ragas and folk melodies from their home regions. Although Hussain is too humble to admit it, he’s considered a master of the tabla, a 300 year old instrument he uses to access a 2,000 year old musical tradition. Hussain’s fluency with the melodic possibilities of the tabla, as well as his command of its percussive voice, makes him a favorite collaborator of contemporary musicians around the world. He worked with Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead to produce the Global Drum Project, which won a Grammy for best contemporary world music in 2009. Hussain

has also collaborated with artists as diverse as Yo-Yo Ma, Van Morrison, Bela Fleck, and Pharoah Sanders. Over a career that began at the age of 12, Hussain has been showered with a downpour of awards. In 1999 he won the National Heritage Fellowship, America’s most prestigious award for a master of traditional arts. Hussain has also been awarded the titles of Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri by the Indian government. In 2009 Hussain also held four widely celebrated concerts at Carnegie Hall’s Artist Perspective series. Despite his accomplishments, Hussain remains focused on learning. “This combination of artists is new to MOP and I am looking forward to see how this interaction will influence my performance.” Hussain’s approach to music and life has been deeply shaped by advice given to him by his father, who said, “No matter what you learn, just remember that ultimately you’re a student… don’t even consider trying to be a master.” It’s this advice that has driven the depth and breadth of Hussain’s musical career. His compositions range from the trance of Tabla Beat Science to the smooth eclectic quality of the Global Drum Project and the beauty of his collaborations with John McLaughlin, but ultimately Hussain’s genius rests in his masterful command of Indian classical music. Hussain is a prodigious and creative musician, but more importantly, he’s an electrifying performer. His joy and enthusiasm on stage are contagious, making him a darling of audiences around the world. He admits, “The tour has played sold out concerts in all the prestigious theatres throughout the world.” One thing he’s found is that his current audiences are familiar with traditional, folk, and contemporary music from India. That has a great deal to do with Hussain’s charisma on stage and his willingness to educate himself, and his audiences, to listen to India’s percussive traditions while continuing to push musical boundaries.n March 22, 8 p.m. Zakir Hussain and Masters of Percussion. Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, Davis. Tickets start at $25 March 24, 8 p.m. Cal Performances. Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley. Tickets start at $20 (510) 642-9988. www.ticketsatcalperformances.org.

india currents • march 2012 • 99

100 • india currents • march 2012

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reflections

Roy Eugene Davis

Meditate to Unveil Knowledge and Liberate Consciousness

o quickly unfold superconscious states, meditate long and deep with special techniques and advanced practices. Instead of meditating for 15 to 20 minutes for physical and psychological health and gradual spiritual growth only, schedule longer and more frequent practice sessions. If you are a beginning meditator, maintain your short daily sessions and include a 30 minute session once a week until you acquire more proficiency in practice. If you have been meditating on a regular schedule for several months, extend your daily session to 30 minutes or an hour, adding another daily session after another few months. Balance meditative practices with intentional living routines and maintain a keen interest in accomplishing purposes and performing duties. In this way you will avoid becoming so preoccupied with investigating subjective states of consciousness that you lose interest in secular life. When meditating, concentrate completely on knowing the truth about yourself and awakening to God-realization. When not meditating, remain established in Self-knowledge and live effectively. It is not necessary to completely withdraw from the world and from activities and relationships to be spiritually free. When we clearly comprehend that we are spiritual beings in a consciousness-energy-manifested universe sustained and ordered by a Higher Intelligence, we can maintain inner realization and live successfully in relation to the world and its processes. Having a private meditation sanctuary can be helpful. This may be a small, secluded room, or place set aside in a larger room. Separate it for the purpose of meditation and philosophical reflection. Install a comfortable chair. If desired, have a picture of your guru or of saints whose spiritual attainment inspires you. Keep your sacred space simple and clean. When you go there, thoughts of secular matters will be replaced by thoughts of your relationship with God. Aspiration to Self-knowledge will be nurtured and superconscious meditation will more easily be experienced. If you sincerely want to be fully awake to your true nature and know the reality of God, meditate with focused intention impelled by devotion to God and firm commitment to accomplish your pur102 â&#x20AC;˘ india currents â&#x20AC;˘ march 2012

pose. Remain alert and observant. Practice techniques to elicit physical relaxation and mental calm, then direct your attention to discovery of what you want to know about God, your relationship to God, and cosmic processes. Contemplate clear states of consciousness and awaken to them. Directing attention in this way is meditative contemplation, which is successfully accomplished when concentration and meditation culminate in insight or realized experience as determined by your aspiration and focused intention. Examples of accomplished meditative contemplation are (1) discernment of knowledge; (2) actualization of the soul qualities of peace, happiness, compassion, wholeness, and exceptional functional skills; (3) vivid experience of refined superconscious states and transcendent realizations. When the intellectual faculty is unveiled and purified, superior powers of discernment can be demonstrated. When intuition is unveiled, the truth about whatever is examined can be directly and immediately known. When awareness of our true nature is no longer obscured by illusions and delusions, we are enlightened; our Self-revealed knowledge is reflected in our illumined mind

and expressed through our refined physical body. When permanently established in this realization and consciousness is no longer influenced by the qualities of nature or of cosmic forces, we are liberated. Affirm with confidence: *Established in Self-revealed knowledge, I am whole in God. *Wisdom-directed, I live freely, easily, and enjoyably in a God-governed, supportive universe. *The understanding and happiness I now have, *I lovingly wish for others.n

Meditation Seminar and Kriya Yoga Initiation will be held at the Center for Spiritual Enlightenment, 1146 University Ave, San Jose. www.CSEcenter.org. Roy Eugene Davis is the founder and Spiritual Director of the Center for Spiritual Awareness, www.csa-davis.org. He is a direct disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda and was ordained by him in 1951.

IC March

spirituality and health

3 Saturday

Group Singing of the Sri Sundarkhanda Ramayana. Aarti and mahaprasad. Orga-

nized by Badarikashramam 2:30-5:30 p.m. Badarikashrama, 15602 Maubert Ave.,San Leandro, 94578. Free. (510) 278-2444. badarik@ pacbell.net. badarikashrama.org.

March

4 Sunday

Puja and Kirtan. Group worship of Sri

Satyanarayana Swami, aarti and mahaprasad. To sponsor puja call ashrama staff. Organized by Badarikashrama. 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Badarikashrama, 15602 Maubert Ave.,San Leandro, 94578. Free. (510) 278-2444. badarik@pacbell.net. www.badarikashrama.org.

The Mother: The Font of Transformation, a lecture by Kundan Singh. In this

talk, Singh will refute the essential equation of Tantra with sexuality and focus on the Divine Mother as the font and spring of psycho-spiritual transformation. Singh is the author of “The Evolution of Integral Yoga: Sri Aurobindo, Sri Ramakrishna, and Swami Vivekananda,” and many other writings on the topic of spirituality and postmodern philosophy. Organized by Cultural Integration Fellowship. 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Cultural Integration Fellowship, 2650 Fulton St., San Francisco, 94118. (415) 668-1559. culturalfellowship@sbcglobal.net. culturalintegrationfellowship.org.

Masi Magam Puja. Worship by Aruna

Krishna and friends. Shiva Murugan Temple, 1803 Second Street, Concord, 94519. (925) 827-0127. www.shivamurugantemple.org.

March

6 Tuesday

Pradosham Shiva Sri Rudra Abhisheka Aarathi and Manthra Pusha. 6 p.m. Sri

Lakshmi Ganapathi temple, 32B Rancho Drive, San Jose 95111. (408) 226-3600. www. vvgc.org.

March

7 Wednesday

Gentle Chair Yoga. For seniors and the

physically challenged and for anyone of any age who cannot do yoga from positions on the floor. Taught by Narayana (Michael Glassoff). Organized by Badarikashrama. 6 p.m.-7 p.m. Badarikashrama, 15602 Maubert Ave.,San Leandro, 94578. $10.00 per class.

Isha Foundation Events on March 7 and 21

(510) 278-2444. badarik@pacbell.net. www. badarikashrama.org.

Meditation Session for Clarity, Health and Joy. Participate in a simple and power-

ful meditation for: enhanced clarity, improved health, heightened focus and energy. Greater prosperity and a state of peacefulness and joy. Organized by Isha Foundation. 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m. The Happiness Institute, 1720 Market St, San Francisco, 94102. Free. (408) 409-6436. www.bebreatheblossom.com.

Masi Magham Holi Festival. 6 p.m. Sri Lakshmi Ganapathi temple, 32B Rancho Drive, San Jose 95111. (408) 226-3600. www. vvgc.org

March

8 Thursday

Learn to Meditate. Learn direct and intuitive experiences of higher realities, and true spirituality. Meditation will also bring balance, rest, and a growing inner peace. Ends March 29. 7:30 p.m.-9 p.m. Ananda Church, 2171 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, 94306. $60. (650) 323-3363. www.anandapaloalto.org.

March

9 Friday

Home Satsang, Discourses on Dakshin-

amoorthi Strotram. Organized by Chinmaya Mission San Jose. 8 p.m.-9 p.m. Rao Residence, 22314 Cupertino Road, Cupertino, 95014. Free. (408) 863-0595. raogeetha@yahoo.com. www.chinmaya-sanjose.org.

Readings from the book Ribhu Gita.

With commentary and dialogue, by Nome. Organized by Society of Abidance in Truth (SAT). 8 p.m.-9:30 p.m. SAT, 1834 Ocean St., Santa Cruz, 95060. Free. (831) 425-7287. sat@cruzio.com. www.satramana.org.

March

11 Sunday

Karadaiyan Nombu. Worship by Preetha Shesadri. Shiva Murugan Temple, 1803 Second Street, Concord, 94519. (925) 827-0127. www. shivamurugantemple.org. Haridas Chaudhuri’s Vision of Integral Education. A lecture by Joseph Subbiondo. The late Haridas Chaudhuri distinguished himself as the leading scholar on the work of Sri Aurobindo. Today, Chaudhuri’s vision continues to inspire the California Institute of Integral Studies, and is being developed at mainstream universities throughout the U.S. This talk will outline the basic tenets of integral education and outline its past, present and future gains. Organized by Cultural

india currents • march 2012 • 103

Integration Fellowship. 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Cultural Integration Fellowship. Free. (415) 668-1559. culturalfellowship@sbcglobal.net. culturalintegrationfellowship.org.

Sri Ramakrishna Jayanti and Music. An afternoon honoring the life and teachings of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. Kirtan by Suman and Sargam Shah, “Avataravarishtaya,” a musical story of Sri Ramakrishna by Ardhendu Raha and friends. Guest Speaker: Swami Tattwamayanandaji. Ramakrishna aarti and mahaprasad. Organized by Badaikashrama. 2:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m. Badarikashrama, 15602 Maubert Ave.,San Leandro, 94578. Free. (510) 278-2444. badarik@pacbell.net. www.badarikashrama.org.

March

13 Tuesday

Monthly Shiva Puja. Abhishekam for Lord Shiva, chanting of entire Rudram and Chamakam. Organized by Chinmaya Mission San Jose. 7:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m. Sandeepany San Jose, 1050 Park Ave., San Jose, 95126. Free. (408) 998-2793. sanjose@chinmayamission. org. www.chinmaya-sanjose.org.

March

14 Wednesday

Amma Sri Karunamayi Spiritual Events, March 22 and 24

The Life and Poetry of Hafiz, a play.

Offering a glimpse into the mystical Sufi tradition and culture of Islam. The play captures the life, the times, and the poetry of this 14th-century Iranian contemporary of Chaucer. The script is original and includes many of the poems of Hafiz, as translated by Daniel Ladinsky. This is a full-scale production, including music and dance. 7 p.m. Ends March 17. Ananda Church, 2171 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, 94306. $12 adults, $7 children. (650) 323-3363. www.anandapaloalto. org.

March

16 Friday

The Nondual Self-Inquiry Retreat. This

retreat is based upon the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi as presented in his books, Self-inquiry and “Who am I?” The spiritual instruction focuses on the nature of the self, the natural state of self-realization, the introspective inquiry that results in this realization. The retreat provides much time for silent meditation in addition to the instruction. Ends March 18. Organized by Society of Abidance in Truth (SAT). 9:30 a.m. SAT, 1834 Ocean St., Santa Cruz, 95060. Registration Required. (831) 425-7287. sat@cruzio. com. satramana.org/html/nonduality_and_selfinquiry_re.htm.

Home Satsang. Discourses on Aparokshanubhooti. Organized by Chinmaya Mission 104 • india currents • march 2012

San Jose. 8 p.m.-9 p.m. Dash Residence, 6789 Glenview Drive, San Jose, 95120. Free. (408) 268-5056. jdash@sbcglobal.net. www.chinmaya-sanjose.org.

March

17 Saturday

Shambhavi Mahamudra Program. Con-

ducted by an Isha Yoga teacher, and is open to those who have completed the Inner Engineering online program. This is a unique opportunity for the community, as Inner Engineering online, the Shambhavi Mahamudra Program is only offered at the Isha Institute of Inner Sciences, in Tennessee. Participation is mandatory on both days. Ends March 18. Organized by Isha Foundation. 5 p.m.-7 p.m. India Community Center, 525 Los Coches St. Milpitas, 95035. $300. (408) 409-6436. http ;//www.InnerEngineering.com.

March

18 Sunday

Sri Ramanama Sankirtana and Meditation. Group recitation of 108 slokas from the Ramayana, aarti and mahaprasad. Organized by Badarikashrama. 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Badarikashrama, 15602 Maubert Ave.,San Leandro, 94578. Free. (510) 278-2444. badarik@pacbell.net. www.badarikashrama.org.

Yugadhi. Worship by Suganda Sreenath.

Shiva Murugan Temple, 1803 Second Street, Concord, 94519. (925) 827-0127. www.shivamurugantemple.org.

March

20 Tuesday

Pradosham Shiva Sri Rudra Abhisheka Aarathi and Manthra Pusha. 6 p.m. Sri

Lakshmi Ganapathi temple, 32B Rancho Drive, San Jose 95111. (408) 226-3600. www. vvgc.org.

March

21 Wednesday

A Free Meditation Session for Clarity, Health and Joy. Participate in a simple

and powerful meditation for: enhanced clarity, improved health, heightened focus and energy. Greater prosperity and a state of peacefulness and joy. Organized by Isha Foundation. 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m. The Happiness Institute, 1720 Market St, San Francisco, 94102. Free. (408) 409-6436. bebreatheblossom.com.

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worship throughout the day. Organized by Badarikashrama. 6 a.m.-8 p.m. Badarikashrama, 15602 Maubert Ave.,San Leandro, 94578. Free. (510) 278-2444. badarik@pacbell.net. www.badarikashrama.org.

Sunnyvale, 94089. Fee will be charged. (408) 865-0709, (650) 948-4230. SFBayArea@Karunamayi.org. www.karunamayi.org.

Sri Karunamayi Spiritual Event. Sri Karunamayi spiritual discourse, Individual blessings and Saraswati Diksha iages 4-24). Organized by SMVA Trust. 10 a.m.-1:50 p.m. Sunnyvale Hindu Temple (Community Hall), 420-450 Persian Drive, Sunnyvale, 94089. Free. (408) 865-0709, (650) 948-4230. www. karunamayi.org.

ence of self and God-realization will be offered as well as attention to the spiritual disciplines necessary to support spiritual growth and awakening. Ellen Grace O’Brian will offer the morning introductory session on meditation and spiritual growth. Roy Davis, a direct disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda, will teach the afternoon class and offer Kriya Yoga initiation following the meditation seminar for prepared students and those previously initiated into Kriya Yoga. Organized by Center for Spiritual Enlightenment. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Center for Spiritual Enlightenment, 1146 University Ave, San Jose, 95126. Free. (408) 283-022. info@CSEcenter.org. www.CSEcenter.org.

March

23 Friday

Home Satsang, Discourses on Sadh Darshanam. Organized by Chinmaya Mission

San Jose. 8 p.m.-9 p.m. Ruparel Residence, 20668 Seaton Ave., Saratoga, 95074. Free. (408) 867-9550. kirtida.ruparel@gmail.com. www.chinmaya-sanjose.org.

Gentle Chair Yoga, March 7

March

22 Thursday

March

Yugadi, Candramani Yugadi. Celebration of the New Year by many Hindus especially from Karnataka, Andra Pradesh, and Maharastra. Mandir will be open for darshan and

24 Saturday

Sri Karunamayi Spiritual Event. One day meditation retreat. Organized by SMVA Trust. 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunnyvale Hindu Temple (Community Hall), 420-450 Persian Drive,

Meditation Seminar with Roy Eugene Davis. The essential teachings of the sci-

March

25 Sunday

Sri Karunamayi Spiritual Event. Homa - sacred fire ceremony. Organized by SMVA Trust. 9 a.m.-1 p.m. To be annoucned. Free. (408) 865-0709, (650) 948-4230. SFBayArea@Karunamayi.org. www.karunamayi.org.

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Sri Ramakrishna Jayanti Sunday, March 11, 2012 • 2:30 pm

Kirtan: Suman & Sargam Shah "Avataravarishtaya" - A Musical Story of Sri Ramakrishna by Ardhendu Raha and friends "Sri Ramakrishna's Teachings for Everyday Life" Guest Speaker: Srimat Swami Tattwamayanandaji Maharaj Northern California Vedanta Society,S.F. Ramakrishna Aarti, Mahaprasad

Sri Ramanavami Music Festival

Saturday, March 31,2012, 10:30 am - 5:00 pm Sunday, April 1, 2012, 10:30 am - 5:00 pm Featuring Bay Area Carnatic Music Schools, Vocals & Instrumental GENTLE CHAIR YOGA - yoga for seniors, physically challenged of any age who cannot do asanas on the floor. Taught by Narayana (Michael Glassoff) - Graduate, Sivananda Yoga Teachers Training Course, Sivananda Ashram, Madurai Classes begin March 7, 2012, Wednesdays, 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm To register call ashrama staff: 510-278-2444. Donation $10.00 per class.

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and a deeper, extensive understanding of the knowledge revealed by the Maharshi. Organized by Society of Abidance in Truth (SAT). 8-9:30 p.m. SAT, 1834 Ocean St., Santa Cruz, 95060. Free. (831) 425-7287. sat@cruzio.com. www.satramana.org.

March

31 Saturday

Sri Ramanamvami Music Festival. The

two-day festival honors Lord Rama spotlighting classical Karnatik compositions on Rama. Featuring Karnatik music schools of the Bay Area, vocals and instrumentals. Lunch provided on both days. Ends April 1. Organized by Badarikashrama and Srikanth Chary. 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Badarikashrama, 15602 Maubert Ave.,San Leandro, 94578. Free. (510) 278-2444. badarik@pacbell.net. www.badarikashrama.org.

Sri Ramanavami Celebrations. OrgaMeditation Seminar with Roy Eugene Davis, March 24.

Talk on Sri Ramayana by Sargam Shah.

Aarti and mahaprasad,. Organized by Badarikashrama. 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Badarikashrama, 15602 Maubert Ave.,San Leandro, 94578. Free. (510) 278-2444. badarik@pacbell.net. www. badarikashrama.org.

Sriramanavami. Worship by Jayashree Varadrajan. Shiva Murugan Temple, 1803 Second Street, Concord, 94519. (925) 827-0127. www. shivamurugantemple.org.

March

28 Wednesday

Sukla Sashti Vratha. 8:30 a.m. Sri Lakshmi Ganapathi temple, 32B Rancho Drive, San Jose 95111. (408) 226-3600. www.vvgc.org.

March

30 Friday

Home Satsang, Discourses on Aparokshanubhooti. Organized by Chinmaya Mission San Jose. 8-9 p.m. Dash Residence, 6789 Glenview Dri p.m.ve, San Jose, 95120. Free. (408) 268-5056. dash@sbcglobal.net. www.chinmaya-sanjose.org.

Ramana Darshanam. The events are focused on the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, as contained in books published by Sri Ramanasramam. Passages are read aloud, and their meanings are explained in detail so that seekers can fully practice the teachings and comprehend their profound significance. Dialogues also occur in which aspirants raise questions from their own practices and receive answers so to provide better absorption 108 • india currents • march 2012

nized by Chinmaya Mission San Jose. 6 p.m.-10 p.m. CMSJ Facility, 10160 Clayton Road, San Jose, 95127. Free. (408) 998-2793. raogeetha@yahoo.com. www.chinmayasanjose.org.

Mataki Choki. Group singing of bhajans to the Divine Mother. aarti and prasad. Organized by Badarikashrama. 6:30 p.m.9:30 p.m. Badarikashrama, 15602 Maubert Ave.,San Leandro, 94578. Free. (510) 2782444. badarik@pacbell.net. www.badarikashrama.org.

94306. $60. (650) 323-3363. www.anandapaloalto.org.

April

7 Saturday

Sri Sundarakhanda Ramayana of Tulsidas Goswami. Group chanting from the

Ramayana. Organized by Badarikashrama. 2:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m. Badarikashrama, 15602 maubert Ave.,San Leandro, 94578. Free. (510) 278-2444. badarik@pacbell.net. www.badarikashrama.org.

April

11 Wenesday

A Journey to Wellness. How can we become truly well? An immersion in healing, guided by two life-long medical professionals: Connie Hernandez, naturopath, and Shanti Rubenstone, a Stanford-trained M.D. Each week there will be a 45-minute practice of hatha yoga, and a light potluck meal, then focus on one particular area of healing. These sessions will include getting to know ourselves as energetic beings, healing through sound, prayer, and nature, and saying “yes” to life through the use of affirmations. Ends May 30. 6 p.m.-9 p.m. Ananda Church, 2171 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, 94306. $120, or $20 per class. (650) 323-3363. www.anandapaloalto.org.

Rama Navami Festival. 4 p.m. Sri Lak-

shmi Ganapathi temple, 32B Rancho Drive, San Jose 95111. (408) 226-3600. www.vvgc. org.

April

3 Tuesday

Paramhansa Yogananda: Walking in the Footsteps of the Master. Firsthand

reminiscences show him to us as avatar, teacher, friend, and guide. Studying his biography, tells us how to walk the path the master himself has walked, from ego-bondage to soul-freedom. Ends May 29. 7:30-9 p.m. Ananda Church, 2171 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, 94306. $15 per class. (650) 3233363. www.anandapaloalto.org.

April

5 Thursday

Learn to Meditate. Meditation is one

of the most natural and rewarding of all human activities. It gives direct, intuitive experience of higher realities, and is the cornerstone of true spirituality. It also brings balance, rest, and a growing inner peace. Ends April 26. 7:30 p.m.-9 p.m. Ananda Church, 2171 El Camino Real, Palo Alto,

Lecture on Sri Aurobindo, March 11.

Om Sri Mathre Namaha

Vaidica Vidhya Ganapathi Center

SRI LAKSHMI GANAPATHI TEMPLE 32B Rancho Drive, San Jose, CA 95111 (Capitol Expressway West and Montrey Road Junction, Opposite and 1 Block from Capitol Cal Train Station)

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

(408) 226-3600

At 6.00 pm Pradosham Shiva Sri Rudra Abhisheka Aarati and Manthra Pusha

Wednesday, March 7, 2012 Temple opens in the evening at 5.00 pm Shiva Abhisheka Aarati and Manthra Pushpa At 6.00 pm Masi Magham Holi Festival Pournami Vratha/Pooja Sri Sathayanarayana Swamy Vratha/Pooja. All are welcome to particpate with family.

• www.vvgc.org or siliconvalleyhindutemple.com

Karadayar Nombu In The Temple at 9.00 am to 9.45 am. Please contact temple for further details.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012 At 6.00 pm Pradosham Shiva, Sri Rudra Abhisheka, Aarati and Manthra Pushpa

Friday, March 23, 2012 Chaitra Noothana Nandana Nama Samvath Saram (Ugadi Festival) Temple opens at morning 8.00 am Sunday, March 11, 2012 Sri Venkateswara Suprabhatam continued At 4.00 pm Sankata Hara Chathurthi Sri with Sri Bhuwaneswari/Sri Lalitha Devi Lakshmi Ganapathi Homa, Sri Lakshmi Abhisheka Sri Lalitha Sahasra Nama Ganapathi Abhisheka, Sri Shiva Abhisheka, Chanting Telugu and Kannada Panachanga Sri Valli Deva Sena Sametha Sri Subramanya Patana (Sravana) Aarati and Manthra Pushpa Abhisheka Aarati and Manthra Pushpa Tuesday, March 27, 2012 Wednesday, March 14, 2012 At 6.30 pm Kritika Vratha Sri Valli Deva Sena

Sametha Sri Subramanya Abhisheka, Sri Shiva Abhisheka Aarati and Manthra Pushpa Wednesday, March 28, 2012 Sukla Sashti Vratha At 8.30 am Sri Valli Deva Sena Sametha Sri Subramanya Sahasra Nama Archana Saturday, March 31, 2012 12 Noon Sri Navagraha Homa/Sri Saneeswara Graha Homa And Sri Navagraha Abhisheka/Sri Saneeswara Graha Abhisheka Aarati and Manthra Pushpa Noon at 2.00 pm Sri Venkateswara/Sri Balaji Abhisheka Continued with Sri Vishnu Sahasra Nama Chanting Aarati and Manthra Pushpa At 4.00 pm Sri Rama Navami Festival ( Sri Sita Kalyanam)

Please Make A Note:: Temple Address: 32 Rancho Drive, San Jose CA 95111 Temple Timings: Week Days Morning 10.00 Am To 12 Noon, Evening At 6.00 pm To 8.00 pm - Week Ends And Holidays 10.00 am To 8.00 pm

FOR BHAJAN'S RELIGIOUS DISCOURSES, MUSIC AND DANCE PERFORMANCES, PRIVATE POOJAS PLEASE CONTACT TEMPLE FOR FURTHER DETAILS MANGALANI BHAVANTHU,SUBHAM BHUYATH,LOKA SAMASTHA SUKINO BHAVANTHU, LOVEALL SERVE ALL LOVE ISALL

For Pujas & Rituals Contact: PANDIT GANESH SHASTHRY 245-5443 / Cell: (925) 209-7637 E-mail: srikalahatheeswara@yahoo.com

5639 Kimberly Street, San Jose, CA 95129 — Home: (408)

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india currents • march 2012 • 109

the healthy life

Suchetha Sarathy and Mona Shah

How to Sleep Well D id you sleep well last night? If you say no, who is responsible for it? Nothing is more frustrating than not being able to sleep. Tossing and turning. Your mind is racing, going over everything that happened today. Night noises keep you awake. What can you do? Read on and learn some new tricks to sleep well. A good night’s sleep keeps you healthy both physically and mentally. It boosts your memory, getting more quality sleep will help you remember and process things better. It reduces inflammation in the body; it may also help in keeping cancer at bay. Quality sleep makes you more alert. It reduces body weight, keeps the heart healthy. When you are deprived of sleep you feel lethargic, your routine is disturbed, your hormones are not doing there normal work and you feel sick. Here are few common sleep killers: Stress: Stress and sleep deprivation seem to go together. Unfortunately, stressed and busy people tend to get less sleep than they need. Some people handle it better, while others cannot withstand the smallest change in their routine. When one does feel stressed they may find it difficult to sleep due to the decrease in the level of melatonin, the sleep hormone. Overscheduling: A hectic, busy life can rob you of time you can actually dedicate to sleep. If you find yourself pushing your bed time back further and further to get things done, or getting up earlier and earlier in the name of productivity, you may feel tired a lot of the time but not realize the toll lack of sleep is taking. Pain: In any form, such as simple headache, backache, arthritic pain tends to reduce the quality of sleep. Similarly, acid reflux or belching, especially after a laterthan-usual, heavy meal, in females premenstrual syndrome, as well as menopausal hormonal fluctuations are bound to mess up the body clock hence the sleep. Caffeine: The world’s most widely used stimulants are coffee, alcohol and nicotine. It acts on the blood by increasing the levels of serotonin thereby increasing the levels of alertness. You may down cups of coffee because of a deadline or may enjoy excess colas just because they taste good with your pizza, but these contain caffeine. The

110 • india currents • march 2012

duration of effect depends on the amount of caffeine ingested, tolerance levels and time gap between the intake and sleep. Quiet and Comfortable: Environmental matters like light, temperature, noise are the external factors that affect the quality and restfulness of sleep. Our ancestors followed the simple law of nature; they were awake while the day lasted and went to sleep at the first signs of night. Some people do find a “white noise” machine helps lull them to sleep. Deep sleep is most sensitive to temperature-related disruptions. For example, we may find it difficult to sleep when it is too hot or cold. Too lumpy or too hard a pillow may lead to not just back and neck pain, but also a sleepless night. So, choose the right ones that are comfortable for you.

Get the sleep you need

Have dinner early. Two or three hours before you sleep. Avoid bed time snacks it not only disturbs digestion but also raise your blood levels. If you still feel hungry you can choose a fruit or a glass of fruit juice or milk with dash or honey. Aerated drinks, alcohol and caffeine should be avoided 2-3 hours before sleep. Don’t take naps. This will ensure you are tired at bedtime. If you just can’t make it through the day without a nap, sleep less than one hour, before 3 pm. Cultivating good bed time habits like listening to soft music, reading a book, listening to spiritual talks will get good sleep.

Develop sleep rituals. It is important to give your body cues that it is time to slow down and sleep. Listen to relaxing music, read something soothing for 15 minutes, have a cup of caffeine free tea, do relaxation exercises. One of the best therapies to get good sleep a de-stress your body and mind is Shirodhara. “Shiro” means head and “dhara” means to flow. Shirodhara involves gently pouring liquids over the forehead, more specifically stated, on the “third eye.” It is the chakra point just above and between the eyebrows which is said to be the seat of human consciousness. Shirodhara is a unique form of Ayurvedic therapy which includes pouring oil on the forehead from a specific height and for a specific period continuously and rythmically allowing the oil to run through the scalp and into the hair. Shirodhara is a purifying and rejuvenating therapy designed to eliminate toxins and mental exhaustion as well as relieve stress and any ill effects on the central nervous system. The liquids used in shirodhara can include oil, milk, buttermilk, coconut water, or even plain water according to the prakruti or the nature of the individual. If you can’t get to a spa, massage your scalp at home, with a mixture of ghee, sesame oil and Brahmin taila or jatamamsi taila for about 20 minutes daily. People with predominance of vata can use sesame oil, pitta people can use ghee or coconut oil, and kapha predominant ones can use mustard oil. A mixture of powders of vacha(sweet flag),amla(Indian Gooseberry) and brahmi(bacopa) in equal quantity taken with milk or honey rejuvenates the central nervous system and hence useful in sleep disorders. Nutmeg powder can be made paste with milk and applied over the eyes and forehead to get good sleep. A cup of chamomile tea at bedtime is truly beneficial for inducing sleep. It is a coveted remedy throughout the world. The earlier you adopt good sleep habits, the easier it will be to sustain them through the years.n Suchetha Sarathy is chief Ayurveda physician at a hospital in Mysore, India. She can be contacted at ayursuchi(at)gmail.com.

india currents • march 2012 • 111

Ongoing yoga events

Sunday Yoga Classes for all. Organized by Yoga

Bharati. Fremont Hindu Temple, 3676 Delaware Dr., Fremont. Sundays, 7:30 a.m. Free. (510) 386-3315. venkat@yogabharati.org.

Yoga Class. Iyengar Yoga Institute, 2404

27th Ave., San Francisco. Sundays, 9-10:30 a.m. level 1-3 with Allan Nett, $20. 9:15-11 a.m. level 3-5 with Nora Burnett, $15. 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m. level 2-4 with Allan Nett, $20. 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. level 1-3 with Nora Burnett, $15. 5-6:30 p.m. level 1-3 with Jill Keltner, $15. (415) 753-0909. www.iyisf.org.

Gentle Yoga for the Mind, Body, and Spirit, taught by Jerry Bezaire and Padma

Jennings is especially for someone who is presurgery, post-surgery, recuperating, a senior, or wants a slow-paced class. San Francisco Integral Yoga Institute, 770 Dolores St., San Francisco. Sundays, 9:30-11 a.m.; Tuesdays, 4:30-6 p.m. $11. (415) 821-1117. www.integralyogasf.org.

Hatha Yoga In this advanced class, students experience cardiovascular, muscle conditioning, weight training, with yoga asanas and controlled breathing. Chakra meditation, advanced pranayma, mantra chanting, and deep relaxation are included. Studio 10 Dance, 6190 Bollinger Rd., San Jose. 9:30-11 a.m. (408) 257-8418. vasanthib@aol.com www.vasanthayoga.com. Hatha Yoga In this class for all levels,

Vasanthi Bhatt teaches asana, pranayama, meditation, pranic healing, including cardiovascualr, energizing,a nd weight training exercises. Individual attention is given to help people heal stress-related symptoms. Studio 10 Dance, 6190 Bollinger Rd., San Jose. 11:10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (408) 257-8418. vasanthib@ aol.com www.vasanthayoga.com.

Yoga for Children taught by Charu Agrawal, accredited yoga instructor from India. Cupertino venue. Sundays, 4:30-5:30 p.m. (408) 446-1741. charu@the-agrawals.com. Beginner Yoga and Meditation Yoga is

youthfulness. Pacific Meditation Center, 590 Castro Street, Mountain View. Sundays, 6 p.m. (650) 279-3610. www.pacificmeditation. com.

Integral Yoga every second and fourth

Sunday. Study the works of Sri Aurobindo in a supportive and informal setting with Rick Lipschutz and Vishnu Eschner. 2-3:30 p.m. Cultural Integration Fellowship, 2650 Fulton St., San Francisco. Free will donation. (415) 668-1559. Yoga Classes for all. Organized by Yoga Bharati. Sunnyvale Hindu Temple Audito-

112 • india currents • march 2012

rium, 440 Persian Drive, Sunnyvale. Sundays, 7:30 a.m. (408) 446-1801. anil@yogabharati. org.

(408) 257-8418. vasanthib@aol.com www. vasanthayoga.com .

Hatha Yoga with Vasanthi Bhat. In this

Yoga Class. Iyengar Yoga Institute, 2404

advanced class, you experience the power of meditation in the asana, pranayma, pranic healing, mantra chanting, and deep relaxation while awakening chakras. Hilton Garden Inn, Cupertino. Mondays, 8-9:15 p.m. (408) 257-8418 vasanthib@aol.com www.vasanthayoga.com .

Hatha Yoga II Intermediate Class. In-

Yoga for Seniors to cure and prevent arthritis, high-blood pressure, diabetes, stress relief, relaxatio with gentle poses, pranayama, pranic healing, and meditation. 6-7 p.m. Dr. Yoga Therapy at 5638 Stratton Way, San Ramon. (925) 803-9196. adibhagya@yahoo.com. www.dr-yogatherapy.com.

Monday 27th Ave., San Francisco. Mondays, 8-10 a.m. level 3-4 with Janet MacLeod, $20. 10-11:30 a.m. level 1-3 with Janet MacLeod, $20. 5-6:30 p.m. level 1-4 with Joe Naudzunas, $20. 6-8 p.m. level 3-5 with Janet MacLeod, $20. (415) 753-0909. www.iyisf.org. tegral Yoga Institute, 770 Dolores St., San Francisco. Mondays and Thursdays, 9:30 a.m. and 6 p.m.; Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 6 p.m.; Saturdays, 9:30 a.m. (415) 821-1117. www. integralyogasf.org.

Hatha Yoga IA Advanced Beginner Class. Integral Yoga Institute, 770 Dolores

St., San Francisco. Mondays and Wednesdays, 9:30 a.m. and 6 p.m.; Tuesdays, 9:30 a.m.; Fridays, 6 p.m.; Saturdays, 8 a.m. and 11 a.m., 6-7:30 p.m. (415) 821-1117. www.integralyogasf.org.

Hatha Yoga pranayama and meditation

classes by Manda Rao. Mountain View venue. Mondays, 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. (650) 694-1468. lotusyoga@hotmail.com.

Noon Meditation and Lunch. Call the

kitchen manager by 10 a.m. on the day. Integral Yoga Institute, 770 Dolores St., San Francisco. Monday-Friday, 12 p.m. $6 suggested donation. (415) 821-1117x303. www. integralyogasf.org.

Parent-Toddler yoga classes. Yogalayam,

1717 Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley. Mondays, 12-2 p.m. $9 per class. (510) 655-3664. www.yogalayam.org. info@yogalayam.org.

Power Yoga Class by Mahendra Lohmor for all age groups. Organized by the India Community Center. 555 Los Coches St Milpitas. Mondays, 1-2 p.m. $5 day pass. (408) 935-1130. www.indiacc.org.

Evening Yoga Classes led by VYASA or

Yogabharati trained instructors. Sunnyvale Temple, 450 Persian Drive, Sunnyvale. Mondays. 7-8 p.m. sreejit_chakravarty@yahoo.com.

Stress-Release yoga class includes deep

relaxation, pranayama, and meditation. Props used to put student in comfortable poses. Integral Yoga Institute, 770 Dolores St., San Francisco. Mondays, 7:30-9 p.m. $11. (415) 821-1117. www.integralyogasf.org.

Evening Meditation includes 40 minutes

of chanting, pranayama, and silence. Arrive a few minutes early. Integral Yoga Institute, 770 Dolores St., San Francisco. Monday-Thursday, 7:45 p.m. Free. (415) 821-1117. www.integralyogasf.org.

Stress release Mondays by Angie David-

son and Bhaktan Rivera. Weekly Integral Hatha Yoga class that will use pillows and other props to put the student in the most comfortable variation of the poses. Class will include a longer deep relaxation, pranayama and meditation time. 7:30-9 p.m. Organized by Integral Yoga Institute. 770 Dolores St., San Francisco. $11. (415) 821-1117. mail@ IntegralYogaSF.org, www.IntegralYogaSF.org.

Laughteryoga. Laughteryoga uses a blend

Beginning Yoga classes. Yogalayam, 1717 Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley. Mondays, 5:30-7 p.m. $8.50 per class. (510) 655-3664. www.yogalayam.org. info@yogalayam.org.

of playful and stress release laughter exercises, interspersed with gentle breathing and stretching exercises. Instructor is Lydia Gonzales, Certified Laughter Yoga Teacher with Dr. Kataria’s School of LaughterYoga. 7-8 p.m. Dublin Senior Center, 7600 Amador Valley Blvd., Dublin. $5, $3 seniors. Drop-ins allowed. (510) 390-4105, lydiagogo@excite. com for registration information. www.laughteryoga.org.

Hatha Yoga for the entire family with

Yoga Class by Arun Thaker. 7-8 a.m. Fre-

Yoga for Children ages 4-5 years. Yoga-

layam, 1717 Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley. Mondays, 4-5 p.m. $7 per class. (510) 655-3664. www. yogalayam.org. info@yogalayam.org.

Vasanthi Bhat (ages 3 and above). Learn to relax, energize, improve concentration, promote flexibility, relieve allergy, asthma, improve eyesight, and increase self-esteem. Teaches easy meditation techniques, to understand, unite and strenghten family life. Hilton Garden Inn, Cupertino. 6:30-7:30 p.m.

mont Hindu temple, 3676 Delaware Dr., Fremont.

Gently Yoga for Every Body with Julianne Rice. Class begins with centering and meditation and includes gentle stretching,

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individualized instruction in basic postures and a time for relaxation. No experience necessary. All are welcome. Special needs accommodated. 12-1 p.m., $13 per class or 10 classes for $110. Center for Spiritual Enlightenment, 1146 University Ave., San Jose. Register: (408) 283-0221; info@CSEcenter.org. www.CSEcenter.org. Yoga Classes for all. Organized by Yoga Bharati. Sunnyvale Hindu Temple Auditorium, 440 Persian Drive, Sunnyvale. Mondays, 7 p.m. (408) 446-1801. anil@yogabharati.org.

Tuesday Yoga for Children ages 3 years. Yogalayam,

1717 Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley. Tuesdays, 9-9:45 a.m. $7 per class. (510) 655-3664. www.yogalayam.org. info@yogalayam.org.

Pre natal Yoga classes by Matra Majmun-

dar a certified perinatal educator and yoga therapist. Presented by Palo Alto-Lucille Packard Children’s hospital, Stanford. 5-6p.m. To register, (650) 723-4600, www.birthclasses. lpch.org.

Yoga For Seniors by Kokila Patel, a physical therapist and certified yoga instructor. Union City locations. Tuesdays, 9-10 a.m. $5. (510) 441-8906. kokila@tricitypt.com. Hatha Yoga with Vasanthi Bhat. In this

class for all levels, Vasanthi Bhatt teaches asana, pranayama, meditation, pranic healing including cardiocascular, energizing, and weight training exercises. Individual attention is given to help people relieve back pain, insomnia, arthritis, depression, headaches, and other stress-related ailments. Studio 10 Dance, 6190 Bollinger Rd. San Jose. Mondays, 9:30-10:30 a.m. (408) 257-8418. vasanthib@ aol.com www.vasanthayoga.com.

Yoga Class. Iyengar Yoga Institute, 2404 27th Ave., San Francisco. Tuesdays, 9:30-11 a.m. level 1-4 with Jaki Nett, $20. 10-11:10 a.m. ageless yoga with Nora Burnett, $12. 11:15 a.m.-12:45 p.m. parent-baby yoga with Anna Kelleher, $14. 5:45-7:45 p.m. level 3-5 with Kathy Alef, $20. 7-8:30 p.m. women’s class with Jill Keltner, $15. 7:45-9:15 p.m. level 1-2 and backcare with Kathy Alef, $20. (415) 7530909. www.iyisf.org.

Classic Yoga classes taught by Manjiri. Palo Alto venue. Tuesdays, 9:30-10:30 a.m. $12/ class, $60/6 classes. (650) 324-0445. www. yoga-marga.com.

Gentle Yoga for the Mind, Body, and Spirit, taught by Jerry Bezaire and Padma Jennings is for someone who is pre-surgery, post-surgery, recuperating, a senior, or wants a slow-paced class. Integral Yoga Institute, 770 Dolores St., San Francisco. Sundays, 9:30-11 a.m.; Tuesdays, 4:30-6 p.m. $11. (415) 821-1117. www. integralyogasf.org. 114 • india currents • march 2012

Hatha Yoga I Beginner Class. Integral Yoga Institute, 770 Dolores St., San Francisco. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 6 p.m.; Thursdays, 9:30 a.m. and 6 p.m.; Fridays, 9:30 a.m.; Saturdays, 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. (415) 821-1117. www. integralyogasf.org. Hatha Yoga II Intermediate Class. Integral Yoga Institute, 770 Dolores St., San Francisco. Mondays and Thursdays, 9:30 a.m. and 6 p.m.; Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 6 p.m.; Saturdays, 9:30 a.m. (415) 821-1117. www.integralyogasf. org. Yoga for Pregnant Women: Prenatal and postnatal yoga in a therapeutic way to regulate mood swings, hormonal imbalance, and to guard against pregnancy related problems. 9-10 a.m. Dr. Yoga Therapy, 5638 Stratton Way, San Ramon. (925) 803-9196. adibhagya@yahoo.com. www.dr-yogatherapy.com. Yoga for Children to improve memory,

reduce allergies and general health and fitness. Individual attention will be given to correct poses from 4:30-5:30 p.m. Dr. Yoga Therapy at 5638 Stratton Way, San Ramon. (925) 803-9196. adibhagya@yahoo.com. www. dr-yogatherapy.com.

Hatha Yoga IA Advanced Beginner Class.

Integral Yoga Institute, 770 Dolores St., San Francisco. Mondays and Wednesdays, 9:30 a.m. and 6 p.m.; Tuesdays, 9:30 a.m.; Fridays, 6 p.m.; Saturdays, 8 a.m. and 11 a.m., 6-7:30 p.m. (415) 821-1117. www.integralyogasf.org

Post-Natal Yoga with infants. Yogalayam, 1717 Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley. Tuesdays, 10 a.m.-12 noon. $10.50. (510) 655-3664. www. yogalayam.org. info@yogalayam.org. Yogic Breathing, pranayama, and meditation conducted by Prema Sastry. Organized by ICC. 555 Los Coches St Milpitas. Tuesdays, 11 a.m.-12 p.m. Members free. $5 day pass. (408) 935-1130. www.indiacc.org.

Guided Yoga Posture Classes Ananda Sangha, 2171 El Camino Real, Palo Alto. Tuesdays, 12:15 p.m.-1:30 p.m. $10 class. (650) 323-3363. www.anandapaloalto.org.

Ki-Yoga classes. Los Altos Hills. Tuesdays 4-5:30 p.m. (408) 799-0590. kiiyoga@yahoo. com www.kiyoga.4t.com. Hatha Yoga classes, aimed at giving par-

ticipants a total body workout. This class is taught by Asha. Organized by ICC. 555 Los Coches St Milpitas. Tuesdays, 6-7 p.m. Members free. $5 day pass. (408) 935-1130. www. indiacc.org.

Pranayama and Meditation with Manda Rao. Dancing Yogi Yoga Studio, Saratoga. Tuesdays, 6:30 p.m. (408) 741-7084. www. dancingyogi.com. Ki-Yoga Classes Los Altos Hills venue. Tues-

days, 7:30-9:45 p.m. (650) 804-9577. kiiyoga@ yahoo.com. www.kiyoga.4t.com.

Gentle Yoga classes for a complete workout. and flexibility. This class is taught by Urmil. Organized by ICC. 555 Los Coches St Milpitas. Tuesdays, 7-8 p.m. Members free. $5 day pass. (408) 935-1130. www.indiacc.org. Evening Meditation includes 40 minutes

of chanting, pranayama, and silence. Integral Yoga Institute, 770 Dolores St., San Francisco. Monday-Thursday, 7:45 p.m. Free. (415) 8211117. www.integralyogasf.org.

Beginner Guided Meditation Pacific Meditation Center, 590 Castro Street, Mountain View. Tuesdays, 9 p.m. (650) 279-3610. www.pacificmeditation.com. Yoga Class by Arun Thaker. 8-9 a.m. Fre-

mont Hindu temple, 3676 Delaware Dr., Fremont. Yoga Classes for all. Organized by Yoga Bharati. Sunnyvale Hindu Temple Auditorium, 440 Persian Drive, Sunnyvale. Tuesdays, 7 p.m. (408) 446-1801. anil@yogabharati.org.

Wednesday Yoga Class. Iyengar Yoga Institute, 2404 27th Ave., San Francisco. Wednesdays, 8-9:30 a.m. level 1-3 with Maria Calabria, $15. 9:30-11:30 a.m. level 3-5 with Janet MacLeod, $20. 4-5:30 p.m. level 1-2 with student teacher, $5. 6:30-8 p.m. level 3-5 with Nora Burnett, $15. 7:30-9 p.m. level 1-4 with Joe Naudzunas, $20. 8-9:30 p.m. level 1-3 with Nora Burnett, $15. (415) 753-0909. www.iyisf.org

Hatha Yoga IA Advanced Beginner Class. Integral Yoga Institute, 770 Dolores St., San Francisco. Mondays and Wednesdays, 9:30 a.m. and 6 p.m.; Tuesdays, 9:30 a.m.; Fridays, 6 p.m.; Saturdays, 8 a.m. and 11 a.m., 6-7:30 p.m. (415) 821-1117. Advanced Mixed Level Class for intermediate and advanced students who are ready to move from IA to II. Integral Yoga Institute, 770 Dolores St., San Francisco. Wednesdays, 9:30 a.m. (415) 821-1117. www.integralyogasf. org.

Yoga for Adults to reduce physical and mental problems such as gastritis, obesity, stress, depress, insomnia, and sinusitis. 6:307:30 p.m. Dr. Yoga Therapy, 5638 Stratton Way, San Ramon. (925) 803-9196. adibhagya@yahoo.com. www.dr-yogatherapy.com. Hatha Yoga I Beginner Class. Integral Yoga Institute, 770 Dolores St., San Francisco. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 6 p.m.; Thursdays, 9:30 a.m. and 6 p.m.; Fridays, 9:30 a.m.; Saturdays, 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. (415) 821-1117. www.integralyogasf.org.

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Hatha Yoga II Intermediate Class. Integral

Yoga Institute, 770 Dolores St., San Francisco. Mondays and Thursdays, 9:30 a.m. and 6 p.m.; Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 6 p.m.; Saturdays, 9:30 a.m. (415) 821-1117. www.integralyogasf. org.

Viewing of Videos of Sri Swami Satchidananda on practical aspects of living with a spiritual perspective. Followed by questions and noon meditation. Integral Yoga Institute, 770 Dolores St., San Francisco. Wednesdays, 11:30 a.m.-12:40 p.m. (415) 821-1117. www. integralyogasf.org. Ki-Yoga classes. Club House, Ball Room, Stanford University, Palo Alto. Wednesdays, 3:30-5 p.m. Free. (650) 804-9577. kiiyoga@ yahoo.com www.kiyoga.4t.com. Beginners’ Trial Yoga class. Sivananda Yoga

Vedanta Center, 1200 Arguello Blvd, San Francisco. Wednesdays, 5:30 p.m. (415) 681-2731. SanFrancisco@sivananda.org.

Yoga Drop-In trial class for all levels. Siva-

nanda Yoga Vedanta Center, 1200 Arguello Blvd, San Francisco. Wednesdays, 5:30-7 p.m. (415) 681 2731.

Therapeutic Yoga for back care, taught by Kokila Patel, a physical therapist and certified yoga instructor. Fremont and Newark locations. Wednesdays, 6-7 p.m. (510) 441-8906. kokila@tricitypt.com. Yoga for Total Health Hindu Temple, 450

Persian Drive, Sunnyvale. Wednesdays, 7 p.m. (925) 980-0077..

Let us brighten your smile!

Evening Yoga Classes led by VYASA

or Yogabharati trained instructors. Sunnyvale Temple, 450 Persian Drive, Sunnyvale. Wednesdays. 7 -8 p.m. sreejit_chakravarty@ yahoo.com.

• • • • •

Hatha Yoga classes with Anjali Desai. Organized by ICC. 555 Los Coches St., Milpitas. Wednesdays, 7-8 p.m. Members free. $5 day pass. (408) 935-1130. www.indiacc.org. Luchakova. Foothill Congregational Church, 461 Orange Ave, Los Altos. Wednesdays, 12:30 p.m.-2 p.m. $15. (510) 869-2611.

Guided Yoga Posture classes. Ananda

Sangha, 2171 El Camino Real, Palo Alto. Wednesdays, 6 p.m.-7:15 p.m. $10. (650) 3233363. www.anandapaloalto.org.

Pre-Natal Yoga for expectant mothers. Yogalayam, 1717 Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley. Wednesdays, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.. $10.50 per class. (510) 655-3664. www.yogalayam.org. info@ yogalayam.org. Yoga for Children ages 6-11 years. Yogalayam, 1717 Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley. Wednesdays, 4:30-5:30 p.m. $7 per class. (510) 655-3664. www.yogalayam.org. info@yogalayam.org.

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Evening Meditation includes 40 minutes

of chanting, pranayama, and silence. Arrive early. Integral Yoga Institute, 770 Dolores St., San Francisco. Monday-Thursday, 7:45 p.m. Free. (415) 821-1117. www.integralyogasf.org.

Hatha Yoga with Vasanthi Bhat. In this

yoga class open to all levels, experience the power of hatha yoga with Vasanthi Bhatt while learning to tone, relax, relieve stress, and heal ailments of many kinds with asana, pranayma, meditation, and pranic healing. Cardiovascular, energizing, and weight training exercises are included. Shri Krupa Dance Company, 3568 Homestead Rd, Santa Clara. 8-9:15 p.m. (408) 257-8418. vasanthib@aol. com www.vasanthayoga.com.

Gentle Yoga classes. Yogalayam, 1717 Al-

catraz Ave., Berkeley. Wednesdays, 6:45-8:45 p.m. $9 per class. (510) 655-3664. www.yogalayam.org. info@yogalayam.org.

Yoga Class by Arun Thaker. 8-9 a.m. Fre-

mont Hindu temple, 3676 Delaware Dr., Fremont.

Teenpath Yoga Classes. 4-5 p.m. Yoga Society of San Francisco, 2872 Folsom St., San Francisco. (415) 235-0245. www.teenpathyoga. org . Beginning Yoga with Debby Edwards.

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anne Rice. Class begins with centering and meditation and includes gentle stretching, individualized instruction in basic postures and a time for relaxation. No experience necessary. All are welcome. Special needs accommodated. 12-1 p.m., $13 per class or 10 classes for $110. Center for Spiritual Enlightenment, 1146 University Ave., San Jose. Register: (408) 283-0221; info@CSEcenter.org. www.CSEcenter.org. Yoga Classes for all. Organized by Yoga Bharati. Sunnyvale Hindu Temple Auditorium, 440 Persian Drive, Sunnyvale. Wednesdays, 7 p.m. (408) 446-1801. anil@ yogabharati.org.

Yoga Class. Iyengar Yoga Institute, 2404

27th Ave., San Francisco. Thursdays, 10-11:30 a.m. level 1-4 with Joe Naudzunas, $20. 1011:10 a.m. ageless yoga with Nora Burnett, $12. 6-7:30 p.m. level 2-4 with Kathy Alef, $20. (415) 753-0909. www.iyisf.org.

Thursday

Classic Yoga classes taught by Manjiri. Palo Alto venue. Thursdays, 9:30-10:30 a.m. $12/class, $60/6 classes. (650) 324-0445. www. yoga-marga.com.

Hatha Yoga II Intermediate Class. Integral

Post-natal Yoga. Eucalyptus Room, Oak

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Pre natal Yoga classes by Matra Majmundar a certified perinatal educator and yoga therapist. Presented by Palo Alto-Lucille Packard Children’s hospital, Stanford. 5:306:30 p.m. To register, (650) 723-4600, www. birthclasses.lpch.org.

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and includes gentle stretching, individualized instruction in basic postures and a time for relaxation. No experience necessary. All are welcome. Special needs accommodated. 6-7:30 p.m., $13 per class or 10 classes for $110. Center for Spiritual Enlightenment, 1146 University Ave., San Jose. Register: (408) 283- 0221; info@CSEcenter.org. www.CSEcenter.org.

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niors, Vasanthi Bhatt teaches gentle asanas, pranayama, meditation, pranic healing, and nutrition to promote health and happiness. Special techniques are taught to control blood pressure, arthritis, osteoporosis, insomnia, hypertension, eye disorders, and many other health symptoms. Also, teaches chair yoga for people who cannot sit on the floor. Cupertino Senior Center, 21251 Stevens Creek Blvd. Cupertino. 2:30-3:30 p.m. (408)-7773150. vasanthib@aol.com www.vasanthayoga. com.

health

Gentle Yoga classes with Urmil Jindia. Or-

ganized by ICC. 555 Los Coches St., Milpitas. Thursdays, 12-1 p.m. and 7-8 p.m. Members free. $5 day pass. (408) 935-1130. www.indiacc.org.

Yoga for seniors taught by Kokila Patel, a

physical therapist and certified yoga instructor. Union City locations. Thursdays, 9-10 a.m. $5. (510) 441-8906. kokila@tricitypt. com.

Yoga Classes taught by Asha Agarwal. Organized by AIF. 647 E. Calaveras Blvd., Milpitas. Thursdays, 12-1 p.m. $5. (408) 9341600 x 4. Introductory Meditation Pacific Meditation Center, 590 Castro Street, Mountain View. Thursdays, 9 p.m. (650) 279-3610. www. pacificmeditation.com. Expanding your Awareness with Rick Bonin, Robert Clark, Greg Dyal. Ananda Sangha, 2171 El Camino Real, Palo Alto. Thursdays, 7:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m. (650) 3233363. www.anandapaloalto.org . Guided Yoga Posture Classes Ananda

Temple, 2171 El Camino Real, Palo Alto. Thursdays, 9-10:30 a.m. $15. Current schedule on website. (650) 323-3363. www.anandapaloalto.org.

Post-Natal Yoga with infants. Yogalayam, 1717 Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley. Thursdays, 2-4 p.m. $10.50. (510) 655-3664. www.yogalayam. org. info@yogalayam.org. Pre-natal Yoga. Eucalyptus Room, Oak Creek Apartments, 1600 Sand Hill Road. Thursdays, 5:30p.m.-6:30 p.m. $80 for 8 classes or $60 for 4 classes or $15 for trial. (650) 723-4600. Beginning Yoga classes. Yogalayam, 1717

Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley. Thursdays, 7:15-9:15 p.m. $9. (510) 655-3664. www.yogalayam.org. info@yogalayam.org.

Introduction to Meditation. Integral Yoga Institute, 770 Dolores St., San Francisco. Thursdays, 7:30 p.m. (415) 821-1117. www. integralyogasf.org. Evening Meditation includes 40 minutes

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perinatal educator and yoga therapist. Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital, Stanford. Thursdays, 5:30-6:30 p.m. $80 for 8 classes, $60 for 4. (650) 723-4600. www.birthclasses.lpch.org.

Laughteryoga. Laughteryoga uses a blend

of playful and stress release laughter exercises, interspersed with gentle breathing and stretching exercises. Instructor is Lydia Gonzales, Certified Laughter Yoga Teacher with Dr. Kataria’s School of LaughterYoga. 7-8 p.m. Kenneth C. Aitken Senior & Community Center, 17800 Redwood Rd., Castro Valley. $5, $3 seniors. Drop-ins allowed. (510) 3904105, lydiagogo@excite.com for registration information. www.laughteryoga.org.

Hatha Yoga with Vasanthi Bhat. Advanced

class; learn to relax, relieve pain, tone and condition, and expand spirituality. Special attention is given to treat osteoporosis. Studio 10 Dance, 6190 Bollinger Rd., San Jose. 9:3010:30 a.m. (408) 257-8418. vasanthib@aol. com www.vasanthayoga.com.

Hatha Yoga with Vasanthi Bhat. Class for

Aparna C. Nayudu, D.D.S. Personalized Care for the whole family • Cleaning, Fillings, Crowns , Bridges • Root Canal Treatment, Extractions • Bleaching

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all levels. Cardiovascular and weight training exercises are included. Shri Krupa Dance Company, 3568 Homestead Rd., Santa Clara. 7-8:15 p.m. (408) 257-8418 vasanthib@aol. com www.vasanthayoga.com.

Sri Aurobindo’s Integral Yoga, reading and meditation. Thursdays, 8-9 p.m. 2134 Carmenere St., Danville. Free. (925) 736-7636, braroo@gmail.com. Yoga Classes for all. Organized by Yoga Bharati. Sunnyvale Hindu Temple Auditorium, 440 Persian Drive, Sunnyvale. Thursdays, 7 p.m. (408) 446-1801. anil@yogabharati.org.

Friday Mixed Level Class for continuing students. Integral Yoga Institute, 770 Dolores St., San Francisco. Fridays, 9:30 a.m. (415) 821-1117. www.integralyogasf.org.

Hatha Yoga I Beginner Class. Integral Yoga Institute, 770 Dolores St., San Francisco. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 6 p.m.; Thursdays, 9:30 a.m. and 6 p.m.; Fridays, 9:30 a.m.; Saturdays, 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. (415) 821-1117. www.integralyogasf.org. Beginning Yoga. Yogalayam, 1717 Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley. Fridays, 11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m. $10. (510) 655-3664. www.yogalayam.org. info@yogalayam.org.

Guided Yoga Posture Classes Ananda

Sangha, 2171 El Camino Real, Palo Alto. Fridays, 6 p.m.-7:15 p.m. $10 class. (650) 3233363. www.anandapaloalto.org.

Hatha Yoga IA Advanced Beginner Class. 118 • india currents • march 2012

Hatha-Meditation Connection taught by hatha yoga teachers and Buddhist practitioners. Integral Yoga Institute, 770 Dolores St., San Francisco. Fridays, 6-8 p.m. $11. (415) 821-1117. www.IntegralYogaSF.org.

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Hatha Yoga with Vasanthi Bhat, for seniors. Learn gentle, easy-to-do yoga poses. ICC Sunnyvale, 285 N. Wolfe Rd., Ste. 102 Sunnyvale. 12-1 p.m. (408) 257-8418. vasanthib@ aol.com www.vasanthayoga.com.

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27th Ave., San Francisco. Saturdays, 8:3010:30 a.m. level 2-4 with Jaki Nett, $25. 9-10:30 a.m. level 3-5 with Joe Naudzunas, $20. 10-11:30 a.m. level 1-2 with Jaki Nett, $20. 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m. level 1-3 with Joe Naudzunas, $20. 5-6:30 p.m. level 1-2 with student teacher, $5. (415) 753-0909. www. iyisf.org.

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Ki-Yoga Classes Roble Gym, Stanford.

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Saturdays, 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. (650) 804-9577. kiiyoga@yahoo.com. www.kiyoga.4t.com

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Classic Yoga classes taught by Manjiri. Palo Alto venue. Saturdays, 9-10 a.m. $12, $60 for 6 classes. (650) 324-0445. www.yoga-marga. com

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1117. www.integralyogasf.org

days. (408) 741-7084. www.dancingyogi.com

HIV Hatha Yoga I Class with Jack San-

Heart Opening Kundalini Yoga with Olga Luchakova. Inst of Transpersonal Psych., 744 San Antonio Rd, Palo Alto. Saturdays, 9 a.m. (510) 869-2611.

chez. Integral Yoga Institute, 770 Dolores St., San Francisco. Saturdays, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. $11. (415) 821-1117. www.IntegralYogaSF.org

Raja Yoga. Bay Area venue. 2nd Saturday

Breath for Health powerful breathing exercises. Elderday, 1410 Ocean St, Santa Cruz. Saturdays, 9:30 a.m. Donations. (831) 458-3481.

Yoga Beginner Course: Eight-week in-

Yoga Classes for all. Organized by Yoga Bharati. Sunnyvale Hindu Temple, 440 Persian Dr., Sunnyvale. Saturdays, 7:30-8:30 a.m. Free. (408) 244-9119. info@yogabharati.org

every month. Free. (510) 797-3649, (408) 5328224, (408) 746-9827. www.sriramchandra. org. isrc_ca@yahoo.com troduction to yoga. Vishnu-devananda Yoga Vedanta Center (Sivananda tradition). Berkeley. Saturdays, 11 a.m. 510-273-2447. www. vishnuyoga.org

Yoga for All Ages to relive stress, alleviate health ailments, and reduce weight. 9-10 a.m. Dr. Yoga Therapy, 5638 Stratton Way, San Ramon. (925) 803-9196. adibhagya@ yahoo.com. www.dr-yogatherapy.com

Yoga for Children to improve memory, re-

duce allergies, and general health and fitness. Individual attention will be given to correct poses. 4:30-5:30 p.m. Dr. Yoga Therapy, 5638 Stratton Way, San Ramon. (925) 803-9196. adibhagya@yahoo.com. www.dr-yogatherapy. com

Pranayama and Meditation by Manda

Rao. Dancing Yogi Studio, Saratoga. Satur-

Yoga Classes for all levels. Yogalayam, 1717

Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley. Monday-Saturday, 7:30-8:30 p.m. $5. (510) 655-3664. www.yogalayam.org. info@yogalayam.org

Pre-Natal Yoga. Yogalayam, 1717 Alcatraz Ave., Berkeley. Saturdays, 10 a.m.-12 p.m. www.yogalayam.org. info@yogalayam.org

Hatha Yoga Level 2 with Julianne Rice. This class is appropriate for students with at least one year of experience or permission of instructor. Class begins with centering, chanting and seated meditation. It includes a thorough asana practice, including backbending and inversions. 8 to 9:30 a.m. Center for Spiritual Enlightenment, 1146 University Ave., San Jose. $15 per class or $130/10 class-

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Hatha Yoga Level 1 with Julianne Rice. This class builds on Gentle Yoga. Class begins with centering, chanting and seated meditation. Sun salutations, incremental instruction of seated poses, balance poses and backbending are included. 9:45 to 11 a.m. Center for Spiritual Enlightenment, 1146 University Ave., San Jose. $15 per class or $130/10 classes. Register: (408) 283-0221. info@CSEcenter.org. www.CSEcenter.org. Tai Chi/Chi Gong with Mike Genzmer.

This combination practice, infused with philosophical principles, is accessible and enjoyable for all levels of fitness. It nurtures internal energy, develops physical strength and inspires an open heart. 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Center for Spiritual Enlightenment, 1146 University Ave. San Jose. $15 per class or $130/10 classes. Register: (408) 283-0221. info@CSEcenter.org. www.CSEcenter.org.

Yoga Classes for all. Organized by Yoga Bharati. Sunnyvale Hindu Temple Auditorium, 440 Persian Drive, Sunnyvale. Saturdays, 7:30 a.m. (408) 446-1801. anil@yogabharati. org. © Copyright 2011 India Currents. All rights reserved. Reproduction for commercial use strictly prohibited.

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Alzak Amlani

Searching For The Perfect Life Q

Recently I have been struck by how many contradictory feelings and thoughts I have each day. For example, one moment I will want to get out and exercise and the next moment I want to sit and read a book. I really love my wife but I find myself feeling bored sometimes or not even liking her much. I seem to enjoy my work, but then I catch myself looking forward to something better. Even when I am eating my favorite meal, I find myself not fully relaxing and enjoying it. I feel distracted, worried, or I criticize the food because isn’t as healthy as I think it ought to be. How do I deal with this?

We are by nature immersed in the opposites of life—day and night, male and female, gay and straight, inner and outer, sex and spirit, sun and moon, light and dark, joy and sorrow, separateness and connectedness, and love and hate. The dance of life involves these opposite qualities and forces to contradict, complement, and unite. As children, we have to contend with a big

range of feelings immediately, as we are wired to seek pleasure and avoid pain for survival. When a child is fed and warm, he feels pleasure. When he is afraid and uncomfortable and the mother isn’t there to soothe him, he feels pain. When mother gives him what he wants or needs, then he sees mother as good and when mother isn’t available or gratifying him, then she is seen as bad. As we grow up, we experience so much of life through this bipolar lens. Some people are able to accept that life comes in various shades and are not as torn by differing viewpoints or decisions. Others get stuck, feel ambivalent, and are highly challenged in making a choice or committing to one thing. Often, fear of failure and fear of the unknown are underneath this dilemma. Also, modern culture places an undue emphasis on getting it perfect. Sounds like part of what you’re dealing with is accepting the good that you do have in life. Do things need to be perfect before you

can actually appreciate and enjoy them? Do you have idealized and, perhaps, unrealistic expectations from you life and family? Flaws and imperfections are very much a part of the human experience. Accepting the limitations and messiness of life allows us to actually be more real about ourselves and the nature of life. People who are able to hold both realities—the “good” and “bad”—as part of one life, are more content and appreciative of what they have. The Zen monk and poet Thich Nhat Hanh sums it up well: “My joy is like spring, so warm it makes flower bloom in all walks of life. My pain is like a river of tears, so full it fills the four oceans. Please call me by my true names, so I can hear all my cries and laughs at once, so I can see that my joy and pain are one.” n Alzak Amlani, Ph.D., is a counseling psychologist in the Bay Area. 650-325-8393. Visit www. wholenesstherapy.com.

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real estate . loans

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uncubed

Krishna M. Sadasivam is the cartoonist behind UNcubed, a weekly online auto-bio comic, focusing on life as an Indian guy in the United States. When he’s not creating comics or working as a freelance illustrator, Krishna teaches full-time in the Media Arts and Animation department of the Art Institute of Tampa in Florida. See more of his work at http://www.uncubedthecomic.com/.

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films

Aniruddh Chawda

A Slippery, Thorny Slope AGNEEPATH. Director: Karan Malhotra. Players: Hrithik Roshan, Sanjay Dutt, Rishi Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Om Puri, Zarina Wahab. Music: Ajay-Atul. Theatrical release: Dharma Productions.

ukul Anand's Agneepath (1990) was one of the very last successful forays Bachchan made into the socalled Angry Young Man persona, about the same time that he briefly waded into politics. Anand’s movie featured a neo-feudal archetypal central character forced to balance a thirst for revenge while maintaining fidelity to his familial origins. For this timetested formula to be successful in 2012—in a country that has taken a giant leap forward—a remake would have to be special indeed. With this remake, however, director Malhotra delivers a cinematic masterstroke that carves up its own new archetype that resonates with contemporary hooks. Brooding and brawny Vijay (Roshan) whiles his time away as a Good Samaritan in a Mumbai slum even though he is haunted by the childhood memory of his father being brutally murdered by the crime lord Kancha (Dutt). Struggling to make good in a drugs- and gangsinfested wasteland, and estranged from his mother (Wahab), Vijay patiently waits, as if for the clock to strike a certain hour. Grabbing the opportunity to strike an alliance with Rauf Lala (Kapoor), another underworld chieftain, Vijay embarks on a tumultuous path that alters his destiny. The setting is often dark and sways between a dreaded island where Kancha rules with impunity and the Mumbai slums where Vijay lives. Malhotra, with insight from producer Karan Johar, no doubt, carves up a starkly desolate world where just about every dream imagined has at best a slim chance of succeeding. The overbearing sense that no proverbial good deed will go unpunished makes the plotline unique for a mainstream Hindi movie and the story’s fine execution is equally striking. Malhotra, who previously assisted on My Name is Khan (2010) and Jodhaa Akbar (2008), and cinematographer Kiran Deohans construct two extreme worlds. The slum that

Vijay inhabits brings together celebratory Hindu festivals that relive Krishna’s adventures in stealing butter from high-hanging pots and a tight-knit down-market community. At the other extreme, Kancha’s torrid remote island enclave forcibly tears apart a sea-battered barren rock that Kancha has transformed into a living hell. Roshan’s Vijay suffers silently—almost too silently—seldom betraying the inferno raging inside him. While outwardly hewing to a revenge theme, the unintended consequence of this modern treatment is that Agneepath emerges as a big screen deconstruction on

from characters that overtly tap into any contemporary anti-heroes. Kancha’s brand of evil is so protracted in its purpose, so void of any humanity, and so obsessed with bomb explosions that he brings to mind a certain arch-terrorist neutralized at a posh villa in Abbottabad last year. Dutt, who always appeared somewhat ill at ease in leading male roles, gorges on Kancha’s supporting role character. His Kancha is a black-robed post-apocalyptic incubus on self-imposed exile at a remote island, deviously plotting a “homecoming” to Mumbai where subdued masses would be forced to welcome him with open arms as he claims his fiefdom. Tora Bora caves, anyone? With Agneepath’s $5 million gross in the international market, Roshan is already proving to be the second biggest Hindi lead outside India, behind only Shah Rukh Khan. With a particularly strong opening weekend and continued muscular box office returns, Agneepath has been certified a super hit for Karan Johar. In the handful of recent entries that have balanced brains and brawn of various stripes (Singham, The Dirty Picture), Agneepath finds great company.n EQ: A-

the nature of evil. More precisely, Agneepath (“path of fire”) graphically illustrates the slippery slope leading to the delivery of a no-win endgame. Through this prism, Rauf Lala is only slightly less evil than Kancha, in that Lala has intensely strong family roots, even as he traffics drugs and girls. Kancha is clearly the greater baddie in that his brutality won’t allow even his own father to get in the way. In addition to Vijay being overtly retrained, the only other distraction—and a significant one, at that—is the short exposure that women have in the narrative. Wahab is terrific in the truncated role of Vijay’s estranged mother and, as Vijay’s love interest, Chopra’s Kalli also holds her own. Perhaps what most sums up the lack of a strong female presence is that in Vijay’s world, Katrina Kaif has be brought in for an “item” song. Surely the female characters have more to say. Barring an occasional mention of Dawood Ibrahim, apolitical Hindi movies shy away

Globe trekker, aesthete, photographer, ski bum, film buff, and commentator Aniruddh Chawda writes from Milwaukee.

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india currents • march 2012 • 137

It Happened in Vegas EK MAIN AUR EKK TU. Director: Shakun Batra. Players: Imran Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Boman Irani, Ratna Pathak, Music: Amit Trivedi. Theatrical release (UTV).

aran Johar has a knack for directing megabudget box office hits (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, My Name is Khan). For movies that Johar produces under his Dharma Productions banner, however, he prefers modestly-budgeted, smartly made romantic comedies that even turn tidy profits (Dostana, Wake Up Sid). If Dharma’s Agneepath qualifies amongst their heavyweights, then Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu (EMAET) is an appropriate mid-market counterbalance to round out the banner’s 2012 repertoire. While the novelty factor of setting his movies in the United States may have ended with Kabhie Alvida Na Kehna (2006) and My Name is Khan (2010), EMAET is one more American hand for Johar to play. An overtly Americanized script, co-written by Batra and Ayesha Devitre, nicely ping pongs between Vegas and Mumbai. Rahul Kapoor (Khan) is a mousy, introverted architect who has a run in with the chatty, slacker hairdresser Riana Braganza (Kapoor). He has just lost his job and is afraid to tell his domineering, rich, snobby parents (Irani and Pathak). She is destitute and needs a place to crash. After a night of drunken carousing, Rahul and Riana wake up to find themselves, in true Vegas fashion, married to each other—even though they barely know each other’s names. The Americanization of the plot line is credibly etched with Rahul being pink-slipped (in a delayed newsflash, the Great Recession finally hits Hindi movies! Ed: I think Desi Boyz got there first!) and Riana being kicked out of her apartment for not making rent. To drive home just how hip and mod they are, Rahul and Riana somehow find the wherewithal to use skateboards as the favored mode of transport along The Strip—traffic be damned—and when not boarding, they constantly carry mugs from a popular franchised coffee beanery in their hands—as if the truest identity for being “American” is having a certain brand of coffee mug in your hand. 138 • india currents • march 2012

The description “smartly made” gets a bit of a workout here. The plot’s most Hollywood-influenced narrative, ironically, is in the part that takes place in Mumbai. Riana’s family in Mumbai is a strikingly “non-conventional Hindi movie” family. They don’t care that Riana brings a (nice young) man home. They don’t care that the two may may have dallied in premarital salad tosses. They don’t care who Riana marries, provided that she is happy with her choice. The fact that an unmarried single woman is given this much choice to control her destiny is, without a doubt, new territory for Hindi movie storytelling. The other element to consider is the interplay— and curious role reversal— in how the male and female leads are drawn up. It is Rahul who is meek and struggling under his parents’ domineering control of every aspect of his life, down to his tie selection and haircuts. And it is Riana who is allowed to stay out late and is trusted to be on her own. She is older than he is (yes, script anarchy right there!) Also, both of them are comfortable with seeking psychiatric help. Their sophomoric, psychiatric couch attempts at self-actualizing are an absolute hoot. This whole gender-neutralization, carried out with surprising effectiveness, is satisfying and humbling to watch. As Rahul’s snobbish parents, Irani and Pathak marvelously nail the caricatures of 1-percenter, nouveau riche desis playacting as victims of their own excess. As Riana’s grounded middle-class parents, Zenobia Shroff and Akshar Verma capture the full flavor of naturally gray, slightly pudgy, urban middle modernity. We don’t mind that Kapoor and Khan each build upon one or two of their previous roles. Kapoor’s role is one credit card short of the bossy runaway she played in Jab We Met (2008) while Khan is an only slightly betterdressed version of the uber-nerd campus misfit from his breakout role in Jaane Tu… Ya Na Jaane (2008). If Karan Johar and company continue to devise slower-faced, not-too-deep entries like EMAET, we will keep coming back. n EQ: B+

Mythily Ramachandran

Crossing the Language Barrier In conversation with film director Gautham Menon

enon cut his directorial teeth in 2001 with Minnale, a love story in Tamil that was both critically and commercially acclaimed. Success followed him with Kaakha Kaakha, a cop saga starring Surya, and best remembered for its racy screenplay and peppy music. The wave of success continued with Vettaiyadu Villaiyaadu, a thriller led by veteran Kamal Hassan. Catapulting him into the spotlight was his fifth venture, Vaaranam Aayiram(VA), a romantic film that hinged on a father-son bond, and brought home several awards, including the national award for Best Feature Film in Tamil. His film Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (VV), a realistic take on unrequited love made simultaneously in Telegu and Tamil, was a huge commercial success in the South, prompting a Hindi remake titled Ekk Deewana Tha. Shot in Chennai, Agra, Mumbai, Delhi, Goa and Kerala, the film has music by A.R. Rahman who has retained the same tunes for the Hindi version.

The Hindi version stars Prateik Babbar and introduces British model Amy Jackson to Bollywood. It is not Gautham’s first film in Hindi. His earlier outing was Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein, (2001) a remake of Minnale starring Madhavan and Diya Mirza that made no ripples in Bollywood. Menon, despite a hectic schedule with post production work and shooting for his trilingual upcoming film, made time for a chat. What changes were made in the story of Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa to suit the Hindi audience? The story is the same. Sachin an engineering graduate and an aspiring film maker, falls in love with Jessy, a Christian girl, who is

Prateik Babbar and Amy Jackson in Ekk Deewana Tha

older than him. I have made some changes to keep my own interest alive since this is the third time I am working on this story [after Tamil and Telegu]. Some moments in the film have been changed to reduce the length of the film from the Tamil one. And the climax is different from the original. What was the thinking behind casting Prateik Babbar and Amy Jackson? We wanted fresh faces and not stars. Ranbir [Kapoor] and Imran [Khan] were on my wish list, but I don’t know if they had heard about me and my work. Prateik is a director’s actor. You keep drawing stuff from him. While working with him, I found him more vulnerable and endearing than aggressive, unlike Simbu who was the lead in the original. So I toned down the aggressiveness in his character and brought out his vulnerability. Yet his angst comes through. As for Amy Jackson, I wanted someone fresh and new who would walk into the audience’s heart just like she walks into the hero’s heart. She is very good. We had no problem with her lip sync. She worked so hard on her lines, despite not knowing the language. To get her accustomed to Indian attire, we got her wearing Indian clothes even off the sets. Since this was your second outing in Bollywood, how did you ensure that you did not repeat the mistakes of Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein (RHTDM)? I don’t think there were any mistakes with RHTDM. When it was made, I was not ready for a Hindi film. Besides, I realized within ten days of working on the film that it was no longer in my control, but in the hands of the producer who planned the locations, costumes, and dialogues. Maddy [Madhavan]

was not keen on losing weight. It clearly was not progressing the way I wanted it. Although the film did not do well initially, it was popular on television. What are your plans this time around? I wanted to share the story of VV with a larger audience and 99% of the film has been in my control. If the film does not do well with the Hindi audience, I take responsibility for it. And if it fares well, I take the credit. What made you choose a career in films? I worked for a year as a mechanical engineer before following my heart. My interest in the performing arts came to the fore in college where I wrote short stories and actively participated in cultural events, singing, and choreographing shows. From an introvert I grew into finding what I wanted to do in life. I realized then that I wanted to make films. I was exposed to old Tamil and Hindi melodies as well as Raj Kapoor and Guru Dutt films, thanks to my parents. I was fascinated by those love stories and black and white pictures. Later Mani Ratnam’s Nayagan defined my interest in films. How has your family responded to this career? I would not be here had it not been for my family. My parents never had a problem. Yes, there was a time they wanted me to become an engineer and go abroad but when I explained my ambition, they were supportive. Being totally unrelated with the film industry, their only concern was “How do you go about this?” I told them that I would have to work under someone initially. Thankfully my sisters were supporting the family and they took the burden off of me. Who would you consider your mentor?

I learnt the ropes while assisting Rajeev Menon on the sets of Minsaara Kanavu. I also learnt to shed my inhibitions after observing Menon on the sets. Rajeev would act out scenes for his actors. Watching him I learnt that you have to demonstrate what you visualize. Initially I was reserved and conscious of people around but, with Minnale, I overcame that. When it was released, I was clueless about how it would fare and what I would do next. In fact, I was not too happy when I saw [the finished film] in the theaters. I felt I could have improved on some scenes. Scriptwriter, director, producer and a family man—how do you juggle between the various roles? That’s what we all strive to do. I set aside time early morning for writing. While travelling, I jot down things on my iPad. Where do you get the ideas for your films? I write my own scripts. They are all inspired from life, not just my own, but people around me. My stories are relatable. People can identify with the characters. In my films, there are bits about me. Vaaranam Aayiram is semi-autobiographical. Many moments that I shared with dad were translated onto screen. When my father passed away I was not in town. On the flight back home, I penned down memories and used them in the film. It was my way of holding onto those memories. The mother’s character is drawn from my mother and the daughter-in-law's character in the film was drawn from my wife. She was my friend before we got married. What are your upcoming movies? Coming up is Neethaane En Ponvasantham, a trilingual in Hindi (with Aditya Roy Kapoor), Tamil (with Jiiva) and Telegu (with Nani). Tamil and Telegu actress Samantha plays the love interest in all three films. Seventy percent of the production is complete. It’s a love story but the treatment is different and has been structured differently. Once again, it has been inspired from life. On the anvil is Yohan: Adhyayam Ondru, an action thriller with Vijay. What about Friday blues? Yes, I am nervous before a film’s release and withdraw into a shell. People around tell me, “It’s just a film.” For me it’s not just a film. It’s something I have created and you want people to like it. When Nadunisi Naayga did not work, I was upset for two weeks and then moved on. What gives me joy is when people tell me that they could relate to a character or that the story is a leaf out of their life. Or that they knew someone like one of my characters. When people relate to your film, that’s when you’ve achieved something. n Mythily Ramachandran is an independent journalist from Chennai, India. india currents • march 2012 • 139

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the last word

Sarita Sarvate

The War on Contraceptives I n 1959, Margaret Sanger, the American pioneer of the birth control movement and the founder of Planned Parenthood, urged President Eisenhower to resist pressure from the “Roman Catholic hierarchy” to reject foreign aid programs supporting contraceptives. She went so far as to publish a letter to the editor of the New York Times and other major newspapers, urging the government to listen to the voice of the majority of American voters who believed that proper medical care including birth control and contraceptives were the right of people around the world. Sanger was such an American stalwart that she not only managed to change President Eisenhower’s opinion, but eventually persuaded him to serve as President of Planned Parenthood. One of the reasons Eisenhower changed his views was his serious concern for rising world population. Yet, the world population was only three billion then. In spite of the efforts of Eisenhower and Sanger, world population passed the seven billion mark in the autumn of 2011. Some argue that population is not an issue for the United States because the country has a zero growth rate (not counting immigration). But we no longer live in an insular world. Our national policies have global influence. Sanger and Eisenhower recognized this 50 years ago. The Republican Party of today does not. The recent kerfuffle over Obama’s decision to include free contraceptives in American healthcare plans has highlighted the retro policies of the Republican right wing. It appears that the Catholic Church is once again dictating the future of our planet. What century the Vatican lives in is anyone’s guess. It would be interesting to conduct a survey to find out how many wives and daughters of right wing politicians use contraceptives. Studies of Catholic and fundamentalist Christian women have shown that an overwhelming majority uses birth control. The trouble is, this is not just an issue of women’s reproductive choices and personal freedoms any more. It also is also an issue of our planet’s survival. Nowhere in the debate on contraceptives is the word “population” even uttered. As if it were a taboo. Yet, it is evident that the most effective way we can reduce the human carbon footprint is through population reduction. Polls show that a majority of Americans still support foreign aid for healthcare, including contraceptives. Why, then, has the U.S. government not done more for this cause? Because the Republican right wing has managed to undo the gains of the last half a century and taken us back to where America was in 1959. On his first business day in office, President George W. Bush signed the “Global Gag Rule” that was ostensibly against U.S. funds going towards abortion services in developing countries, but ended up removing access to comprehensive contraception and family planning services in at least 16 African countries. (The executive order was later repealed by President Obama.) What conservatives gain by encouraging poor women to have

Nowhere in the debate on contraceptives is the word “population” even uttered. As if it were a taboo.

144 • india currents • march 2012

more children is beyond me. When I try to analyze their motivations, I end up going in circles. Here are some facts. The right wing generally only worries about rich people. Its tax policies are a case in point. The Mitt Romneys of the world even go so far as to openly confess that they are not worried about poor people. Why then would they want to multiply the ranks of the poor by refusing them free contraceptives and thereby inciting them to have more babies? By the same token, why would they want to refuse birth control to women of Africa or India and thereby encourage them to have more children? Do the same people who want to build a wall to prevent all these poor brown immigrants from entering their country also want the same brown people to increase their numbers by billions? It does not compute, unless you attribute sinister motives to these politicians, such as the desire to keep the poor populations around the world poorer by encouraging them to have more children? That sounds like a plot only a villain in a James Bond movie would conceive. Newt Gingrich as a Dr No? The mind boggles. Why has population policy been on the back burner? It is not just the right wing which has neglected this issue. Many liberals too believe that America has no right to tell the so called “third world” to reduce its birth rate. Just as they find it offensive to tell India or China to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, many liberals find it culturally insensitive to tell them to stop having babies. So instead, the liberals are busy inventing technical fixes for the survival of our planet. Such as constructing energy efficient green buildings. Such as manufacturing electric cars. Or growing food in hydroponics ponds. Or desalinating water. Many citizens of developing countries are under no illusion, however. During my recent travels in India, people constantly told me that they thought population was the sole culprit in the breakdown of infrastructure in their country; that the place was splitting at the seams because of demand for resources. The Indian government, too, states that even though it has made progress in reducing population, it has not yet reached a replacement rate or a negative growth rate. It is imperative that countries like India should achieve a population growth rate equal to or less than replacement if they are to survive. If we are all to survive. Or else the ice caps will melt, the oceans will rise, and earth’s climate will irrevocably change. The planet will run out of clean air, water, and eventually food. A first step in mitigating these problems is to have free contraception easily available around the world. Obama is taking steps in that direction; by mandating that healthcare plans should provide free contraceptives to Americans and by removing the restrictions that George W. Bush’s administration put on foreign aid for contraceptives. But more needs to be done. A study by the World Watch Institute shows that foreign aid for birth control has steadily declined since the advent of the Reagan revolution. This is clearly a result of the “moral majority’s” grip over the White House. Planned Parenthood is one organization that is still fighting for the cause. We all need to join it. n Sarita Sarvate writes commentaries for Pacific News Service and KQED. Visit www.saritasarvate.com

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