India Herald 061417

India Herald

Web: www.india-herald.com • Editor@india-herald.com • Tel: 281-980-6746

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VOL. 24 • NO. 24 • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 2017 • P.O. BOX 623, SUGAR LAND, TX 77487 • PERIODICAL PERMIT USPS 017699 • 25 cents

IAA brings Gandharva ChoirAssociation Indo-American

adds another first to its credit by presenting the classical ragas as well as folk music of all regions and languages of India in the choral style. The concert by the choral group from Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, India’s oldest school of classical music and dance, is on Sunday June 25 at Wortham Center at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at iaahouston. com and at 832.487.7041 or 832.231.3086. See Page 3.

Pandit Madhup Mudgal, left, Principal of Gandharva Mahavidyalaya and Conductor of the Choir.

Swami Ramdev schedules visit to U.S.

By MANU SHAH North America will soon get a lesson in yoga from none other than yoga’s global icon Yogrishi Swami Ramdev. He will lead the way showing thousands of yoga amateurs and practitioners various postures (asanas), breathing techniques and meditation that promise a medicine free life.

The declaration of June 21 as the International Day of Yoga (IDY) by the UN three years ago helped India gain an international platform overnight.

Efforts by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has seen a sharp increase in yoga’s popularity – not just in India but around the globe.

More than a hundred countries will embrace the day cutting across age barriers, nationalities and ethnic backgrounds to ignite health and harmony of the body, mind and soul. India’s biggest cultural export will be a mark of unity and solidarity around the world.

In a statement, Shekhar Agrawal, President, Patanjali

Congressman Mr. Pete Olson visited Seva Clinic in Pearland on Monday, June 5 and presented a Certificate of Congressional Recognition to Dr. P. Vaduganathan who organized the first charity Yogpeeth (USA) noted that clinic in Pearland. See Page 7. after “celebrating the 3rd IDY with half a million people in Ahmedabad, India on 21st ; 888-881-LESS; June, Pujya Swamiji will We have special low fares on Emirates visit North America to further Emergency contact spread the message of yoga to Call us for last minute fares!

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INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 2017 • PAGE 3

NEWS Ramdev

From Page 1 more than 700 products ranging from herbal toothpastes to foodstuff, he stunned business analysts and corporate honchos with his marketing acumen.

His phenomenal success in encouraging consumers to opt for a chemical free lifestyle in all strata of people in India is being studied at business schools around the world.

Swami Ramdev’s worldwide visit will begin in Washington D.C on June 23rd to celebrate the Yoga Diwas or the International Day of Yoga at the JSS Spiritual Center from 4-7pm. For more details, visit (http://www.jssmission. org/). He will head to an AAPI private event on June 24th for a 6-8 am yoga session in Atlantic City, NJ followed by a talk and a Q&A session from 2-3:30 pm on Yoga and Spirituality.

With the support of the Consulate General of India in Toronto, Canada will also welcome the yoga master on Sunday, June 25, at the International Centre, Toronto.

The program, which is expected to attract 8,000-10,000 yoga enthusiasts from across the Greater Toronto area, will be the largest congregation of yoga practitioners, at a single venue in North America practicing yoga. Yogrishi Swami Ramdev

IAA brings Gandharva Choir to Houston

Indo-American Association adds another first to its credit by presenting the classical ragas as well as folk music of all regions and languages of India in the choral style. The concert by the choral group from Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, India’s oldest school of classical music and dance, is on Sunday June 25 at Wortham Center at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at iaahouston. com and at 832.487.7041 or 832.231.3086.

Gandharva Choir is in the US for a week at the invitation of Kennedy Center to perform at the 2017 Choral Festival with sixteen countries participating.

IAA was fortunate to be able to squeeze a visit to Houston to enthrall audiences with a concert rich in music and culture of various regions of India.

IAA worked closely with Pandit Madhup Mudgal, Principal of Gandharva Mahavidyalaya and Conductor of the Choir, to select a repertoire for Houston that represents India’s colors and diversity.

The numbers the Choir will present in Houston include Vedic hymns, the spectrum of ragas and taals, the patriotic songs praising the motherland, and the folk songs from the colorful tapestry of India’s diverse regions.

To be specific, the spectrum of ragas presented in choral style include Khamaj, Kafi, Jog, Bageshari, Pahadi, Malkauns, and Bhairavi. Vedic hymns include Swasti Vachan and Agnisukti from Rigveda.

Patriotic songs are poetry of Sumitra Nandan Pant and

Suryakant Tripathi Nirala.

Folk songs are from UP, Bihar, Punjab, Kumaon region, Malwa region, Rajasthan, Bengal, Karnataka, Kerala, and Goa. And the repertoire covers compositions by Pandits like Vishnu Digambar Paluskar, Kumar Gandharva, Vinay Chandra Mudgalya, Saint Dharamdas, Rabinndranath Tagore, Mallikarajun Mansoor, and, of course, Madhup Mudgal.

If you love Indian classical music, you must not miss this concert. If you admire the cultural diversity of India, you must not miss this concert. If you adore the beauty of India, you must not miss this concert.

If you are an Indian at heart, you must not miss this concert!

will lead the session from 1012:30 in the morning. For more information, visit http://iydc. ca.

In a statement issued in Toronto, Satish Thakkar, Chair of the Board of Directors of the International Yoga Day Canada, said, “We are very excited to welcome Yogrishi Baba Ramdev to Toronto on the occasion of the third IDY on Sunday, June 25, 2017. It will be a rare privilege and a special blessing for everyone participating in the event to be guided by such a world renowned Yogrishi.”

On June 26th, Swami Ramdev will hold an Interactive session from 7-9 am to learn and practice yoga, meditation and spirituality for a stress free live at the BAPS Sri Swaminarayan Mandir in Toronto.

Swami Ramdev will also be honored with the 2017

CIF Global Indian Award on 26th June by the Canada India Foundation. Past recipients of this prestigious award have been Ratan Tata of the Tata Group, Narayana Murthy of Infosys and Dr. Subhash Chandra of the Essel Group.

“Baba Ramdev epitomizes the vitality and profoundness of ancient Indian disciplines of Yoga and natural health sciences, and by honoring him with the CIF Global Indian Award, we are acknowledging his significance to the world of both material and spiritual wellbeing,” said Ajit Someshwar, Chair of CIF. On 27th June, Swami Ramdev will conduct a “Yoga in daily life” talk at TV Asia in New Jersey from 6:30 -8:00 pm after which he will return to India.

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by Rajeev Gadgil, Seshadri Kumar & Salim Sindhi India Herald (USPS Periodical 017-699) is published every Wednesday by India Herald, Inc. for a subscription rate of $25 per year. Periodical postage paid at Houston and Sugar Land, Texas. POST MASTER: Send address changes to India Herald, P.O. Box 623, Sugar Land, Texas 77487 Publisher & Editor: Seshadri Kumar www.india-herald.com; email:editor@india-herald.com India Herald assumes no liability resulting from action taken based on information included herein. ©India Herald. All rights reserved.

PAGE 4 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 2017

NEWS

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev receives Padma Vibhushan award

Spiritual leader and founder of Isha Foundation, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, was conferred the Padma Vibhushan award by the Government of India on 13 th April 2017.

At the glittering ceremony held in the Durbar Hall of Rashtrapathi Bhavan in the presence of a distinguished audience, Sadhguru accepted the award from Shri Pranab Mukherjee, President of India.

The Government of India announced the award of the Padma Vibhushan to Sadhguru on 25 th January, 2017, in recognition of his contribution towards spirituality and the many humanitarian causes such as rural rejuvenation, environmental work, public education, mobile health clinics, and more.

Currently, for example, Sadhguru has taken on—with an urgency akin to a war footing— the River Restoration Project, an ambitious and visionary undertaking to save India’s dying rivers.

Expressing his gratitude for the Padma Vibhushan, Sadhguru dedicated the award to the thousands of volunteers who work for Isha Foundation, stating : “I congratulate the Government of India for recognizing the unique offering of our volunteers, a spectacular demonstration of selflessness and commitment to the larger wellbeing of humanity.”

Addressing the volunteers, he said, “I bow to all of you as this is your award. May this be a further inspiration for all.”

The annual Padma Awards were instituted in 1954. They are awarded to civilians in three categories––Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri.

The Padma Vibhushan, the highest honour among the three annual awards, is conferred upon an individual “for exceptional and distinguished service.”

The Padma awards recognize outstanding service or achievements in a diverse range of fields including the arts, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, industry, medicine, literature and education, civil service, sports, human rights, and conservation among others.

The Padma Awards Committee, consisting of senior Government officials and 4-6 eminent civilians forwards a list of recommendations every year for approval to the President of India and the Prime Minister.

At the formal ceremony held in March/April every year, the awardees are honoured with a Sanad (certificate signed by the President of India) and a medallion.

Sadhguru is a yogi, a mystic, a humanitarian, and an internationally renowned speaker addressing issues as diverse as socioeconomic development,

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev ization programs. leadership, and spirituality.

Named one of India’s 50 most Project Green Hands : works influential people, Sadhguru’s towards inspiring people to work has touched the lives of plant trees, developing a culover 7 million people world- ture of care towards the enwide through his transforma- vironment, and making them tional program called “Inner realize their inevitable dependence on nature.

Engineering.”

Sadhguru has a unique ability to make the ancient yogic sciences relevant to contemporary minds, acting as a bridge to the deeper dimensions of life. His approach does not ascribe to Isha Yoga will be conductany belief system, but offers ing a 4-day Inner Engineering methods for self-transforma- Program in Houston, Texas tion that are both proven and from July 27-30, 2017. This powerful.

4-day program offers the rare A bestselling author, poet, opportunity to experience life visionary, Sadhguru has been transforming wisdom from an an influential voice at major Isha Teacher trained by Sadglobal forums including the hguru. Inner Engineering is a United Nations World Head- technology for well being dequarters and the World Eco- rived from the ancient science nomic Forum. of yoga. This program includes He has also been invited to guided meditations, interacspeak at leading educational tive discussions, asanas and institutions, including Oxford, the transmission of the sacred London Business School, IMD, Shambhavi Mahamudra, which Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Whar- is a life transforming process ton and MIT, to name a few. that enhances your energy, balDedicated to the physical, ance, and clarity, helping you mental and spiritual wellbeing discover your highest potential. of humanity and gifted with ut- To learn more or register you ter clarity of perception, Sadh- can visit www.InnerEngineerguru possesses a perspective on ing.com/Houston or can call life and living that never fails (832)-408-0663 or email Housto intrigue, challenge, and sur- ton@IshaUSA.org. prise all those he encounters.

The Isha Foundation is a notfor-profit institution offering yoga programs worldwide.

Under Sadhguru’s leadership, the foundation is also engaged in numerous social and educational development projects.

Its achievements in these fields have gained it a special consultative status with the UN’s Economic & Social Council. It’s three pillars of social outreach constitute: Isha Vidhya : is committed to increasing literacy and vocational skills among the rural masses.

Action for Rural Rejuvenation (AAR) : is a pioneering social outreach program that seeks to transform the lives of India’s rural poor. Initiated by Sadhguru in 2003, ARR takes a comprehensive approach to the complex challenges faced by rural communities by implementing a range of health, livelihood and community revital-

Isha Yoga in Houston

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Carol McCutcheon wins Sugar Land City Council race

By SESHADRI KUMAR In Sugar Land’s District 4 city council runoff election, Carol McCutcheon with 1,304 votes defeated Q. Imam, who got 973 votes on June 10.

In an unusual trend, in the runoff election, more people voted than in the May 6 general election.

On May 6, out of the 14,401 registered voters in the district, only 1,931 people voted. In the runoff election last Saturday, 2,286 people voted.

In the three-way contest on May 6, McCutcheon got the maximum of 702 votes, followed by Imam with 653 votes and Sean Burnett, finished third with 576 votes.

It may be safe to assume that McCutcheon got most of Burnett’s votes, but Imam also seems to have gotten a share of Burnett’s votes.

At least 355 people who did not vote on May 6, voted in the runoff, but they cannot be labelled as Burnett voters.

Out of eight voting precincts, the turnout was about the same in three voting precincts. But in five others, the new voters were more in numbers.

For example, in Telfair (Pct. 4135) 174 voted in the runoff against 150 in the May 6 election. Telfair has a total of 489 registered voters.

In Telfair, Imam got 90 votes and McCutcheon 84 votes. McCutcheon got one vote less than her May 6 tally here, while Imam improved his votes from 64 to 90. Burnett got one vote in the May 6 election here.

Next, in Avalon at Telfair (Pct. 4102) the highest number of 495 people cast their votes, 135 people more than in the May 6 election. There are 2,343 registered voters in this precinct. Here Imam got his highest total of 320 votes to McCutcheon’s 175.

McCutcheon improved her total votes in this precinct from 82 to 175 and Imam increased it from 236 to 320. Burnett had received 42 votes here.

In Pct. 4047, between Lexington and Sweetwater Blvd., McCutcheon’s own neighborhood, the turnout was slightly higher in the runoff, with 229 people voting, against 197 in the May 6 election. Here McCutcheon trounced Imam with 197 votes to 32 polled by Imam. The number of registered voters here is 886. In the May 6 election, McCutcheon got 172 votes here and Imam 16, with Burnett receiving 9 votes.

In Sweetwater (4119) 497 people voted in the runoff and 368 voted in the May 6 election. Here McCutcheon got 285 votes and Imam 210 votes. The number of registered voters here is 3,277.

In Sweetwater, in the May 6 election, Burnett got 146 votes, followed by McCutcheon with 136 and Imam 110.

In Riverstone, (4129), McCutcheon got 285 and Imam 207. In the May 6 election, 336 votes were divided among Imam 167 votes, Burnett 146 votes and McCutcheon 123 votes. Here, Imam lost his lead to McCutcheon.

McCutcheon actively wooed Burnett’s voters as a sure strategy to win. Since, both Imam and McCutcheon did not differ much on issues or in their platform, the choice boiled down to personalities and who knew who.

It would be naive to think that ethnicity did not have an impact on the election outcome, though it was not a dominant issue.

In the neighboring Pearland City Council race, Democrats played a role and a Muslim woman candidate ran unsuccessfully.

In Sugar Land, the Republican Party officially endorsed McCutcheon because Imam is a Democrat. The party did not care about city elections being non-partisan and the justification is that Democrats have done the same thing in school board and Missouri City elections.

As a countervailing force, Imam was supported by many Indian-Americans as well and outgoing Councilman Harish Jajoo endorsed him. In the past 20 years, at least four Muslim candidates, including Imam, have run unsuccessfully for Sugar Land City Council.

INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 2017 • PAGE 5

NEWS Woodlands woman charged with defrauding employer

Mayor Tom Reid re-elected in Pearland

A 52-year-old resident of The Woodlands has been charged with defrauding her former employer of more than $1.5 million, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez.

A criminal information was filed May 24, 2017, charging Kavita Nehendra Duvvuru with one count of wire fraud. She is expected to make her initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen Smith at 10:00 today.

According to the charges, Duvvuru worked for the president of Vinmar International Ltd., a petrochemical, marketing and distribution firm located in Houston. The criminal information alleges that from 2010 through January 2017, Duvvuru made unauthorized charges of personal expenses and unauthorized cash withdrawals on credit cards which were only to be used for Vinmar business expenses. Duvvuru allegedly altered the credit card statements and provided false information to conceal her fraud from Vinmar.

As a result of her scheme Duvvuru caused Vinmar a loss of more than $1.5 million, according to the charges.

If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine.

The criminal information also contains a notice of forfeiture.

The FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney The City of Pearland, Brazoria County, Texas conducted a hotly contested runoff election on June 10th 2017. Incumbent Mayor Tom Reid, a friend of Indian community for four decades, won the John Braddock is prosecuting the case. election with 59.3%. Former Councilman Woody Owens won the City Council seat number 7 with Kansas Shooter Charged With Hate Crime 58.3% . Indian community under the leadership of Sam Kannappan assisted the Mayor’s election Leaders of the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) lauded with the help of team of volunteers such as Dr. SG. Appan, Dr. Venu Menon, Ramani Row, Thanthe US Attorney in Kansas for charging Adam Purinton with a garaj, Somarajan Nair, Achalesh Amar and others. This election is a historical event in Pearland hate crime for shooting and killing Srinivas Kuchibotla and the city’s election which received a lot of attention due to issues raised by opposing candidates. wounding of Alok Madasani in an Olathe bar. Prior to the shoot- Picture from left: Councilman elect Woody Owens, Sam Kannappan, Mayor Tom Reid, Former ing, Puritan was escorted out of the establishment, after he told Councilman Kevin Cole (at Tom Reid Library voting station) Kuchibotla and Madasani to “get out of my country” only to return with a loaded gun and an intent to kill them. Upon spraying In the immediate aftermath statute, to ensure the maximum Relations. bullets at his targets, Ian Grillot, a bystander who tried to prevent of the shooting, HAF met with penalty can be levied against “This alone will ensure the the shooting, was also severely injured.

Governor Sam Brownback, Lt. perpetrators of such incidents. murder of Srinivas is not in “This is a positive step not just for the loved ones of Srini- Governor Jeff Colyer, and De- Kansas is one of few states re- vain. In our first meeting, the vas, but for victims of hate crimes across the United States who partment of Justice officials, maining to ratify such a law.

Governor said ‘We can either await justice,” said Suhag Shukla, Esq., HAF Executive Director alongside community members “Governor Brownback must get bitter, or we can get betand Legal Counsel. “It is now incumbent upon the Department demanding Purinton be charged champion a hate crime statute ter.’ Kansas will only get better of Justice to pursue this hate crime charge to the furthest extent with a hate crime. Governor in Kansas before his departure from having such a law on its of the law. Anything short will be a grave injustice to his widow Brownback was also urged to from Topeka,” said Jay Kan- books.”

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COMMUNITY

HSS organizes Hindu Unity Day in Houston

By Charudatta Malusare The Houston chapter of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh USA (HSS) held its twelfth annual Hindu Sangathan Divas conference on Saturday, June 3, at the Houston Durga Bari Society (HDBS) in Houston, Texas. This event was attended by over 165 participants from over 49 Hindu organizations from the greater Houston area.

Hindu Sangathan Divas offered representatives of Houston area Hindu organizations the opportunity to network with each other with the goal of synergizing the work of different Hindu organizations, exchange ideas, share material and resources.

The event began with the meaningful Sangh Geet “Chale Nirantar Sadhana”, which set the perfect tone and aligned all minds with the agenda.

Arun Sharma referred to the different Hindu organizations as blooming flowers of different colors and fragrance, and “Hindu Identity” as the string which strings the flowers together to form a beautiful garland, “Hindu Society”.

After an introductory session, representatives attended one of three parallel breakout sessions, covering “Synergizing Seva Activities amongst Hindu Organizations”, “American Hindu Identity and Awareness”, and “Creating Second Generation Hindu Youth Leadership”.

Each breakout session in-

cluded a presentation from an experienced panel member from Hindu organizations actively working in the respective area followed by group discussion.

The first group outlined the importance of Sewa as serving society selflessly. The seva efforts should ultimately lead to empowerment of the society by taking the role of “Sevak” than “Seva Seeker”.

This can be achieved by increased networking between organizations, sharing platform with each other, appreciation of the efforts of other groups and complimenting them with their own efforts.

The emphasis was made to put up the framework structure for togetherness, to unite such organizations under one umbrella to take up the causes of natural calamities or crises, to serve better and faster.

The second group expressed their thoughtful views on the significance of proudly projecting our Hindu identity in the mainstream community.

Greater clarity and proactive approach is needed and this can be done by Hindu involvement in governance, inviting politicians to our cultural events such as Diwali, Holi, Garba celebrations.

HSS is organizing Guru Vandana and Raksha Bandhan which are gaining popularity in mainstream community such as the police , teachers and fire fighting departments. The

broader and inclusive meaning of “Hindu” should reflect in our behaviour than mere words.

All Hindu organizations need to unite on protecting and projecting “American Hindu” identity and increasing awareness.

The third group brainstormed the topic of creating second generation youth leadership. The young individuals participating expressed that this can be achieved by giving autonomy, nourishing their curiosity, developing common interest areas and respecting suggestions.

The youth camps conducted

by youth can be a great engaging tool and create a sense of responsibility.

It was recommended that support groups for youth be formed to communicate their challenges and take guidance during the leadership transition process. The creation of a Hindu Youth forum database as a platform for sharing ideas and organising Hindu Youth leadership conferences will be a step closer to achieving this goal.

All groups assembled back and a summary of each session was presented to the audience.

Arun Kankani, keynote speaker thanked all attendees for their enthusiastic participation.

He urged all organizations to understand the massive change happening globally over the last two decades and align with Hindu Ethos, Values, and Cultures.

He outlined our collective approach to be “Think Globally, Act Locally”. “Hindu Dharma” resonates where diversity is valued and multiple perspectives are promoted

however, our Hindu identity as a whole should be distinct, protected and promoted proudly. This broader understanding will lead to the ultimate goal of Sangha where the entire society will be transformed, safeguarding our own Hindu dharma.

The keynote speech was followed by Sangh Prarthana and Durga Arati. The atmosphere was so enchanting and divine that everyone felt empowered with the blessings of Durga Devi.

This event was made successful with the lively participation of many community leaders, including youth, HSS volunteers. Special efforts and warm hospitality by HDBS members made the event more enjoyable.

HSS conducts a structured values education program through its 150 chapters nationwide to develop strong character and teamwork and leadership skills to organize a dynamic and flourishing Hindu-American community.

INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 2017 • PAGE 7

COMMUNITY U.S. Rep. Pete Olson presents Congressional Certificate to Seva Clinic

Congressman Mr. Pete Olson visited Seva Clinic in Pearland on Monday, June 5th, 2017. He presented a Certificate of Congressional Recognition to Dr. P. Vaduganathan who organized the clinic. This is the first charity clinic in Pearland.

About 25 people attended the brief event, which included Honorable Mayor Tom Reid, board members, doctors, nurses of the Seva Clinic and leadership team from Memorial Hermann Southeast.

The clinic which was inaugurated on June 1st, 2017 is a general medical clinic and is open every Thursday between 5.30 pm and 7.30 pm for the people in need in the Pearland area. The clinic is located in the building of Pearland Neighborhood Center, 2335 N. Texas Ave, Pearland, TX 77581. The clinic is staffed by volunteer physicians and nurses.

Honorable congressman Olson commended all the medical professionals and volunteers who selflessly volunteer their time and effort to serve the community.

Above, Congressman Pete Olson, (rear) with Mayor Reid, leaders of Memorial Hermann and members of Seva Clinic

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PAGE 8 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 2017

NEWS Nod soon for Amazon’s investment in retail of food products: Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal The Union government will soon clear retail giant Amazon’s proposed $ 500 million investment in retail of food products, according to Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal. “There was some delay due to abolition of the FIPB [Foreign Investment Promotion Board]. It [Amazon’s proposal] will soon be cleared,� she said

on Tuesday.

Amazon’s proposal will now be vetted by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) under the Commerce Ministry.

Ms. Badal said more investment in the food processing sector iwas need of the hour to reduce the huge wastage during post harvesting and transportation.

Despite India being the world’s largest producer of vegetables and fruits, the processing level is very low at 10%, she said, adding that foreign investment would bring new technologies, products, processes and markets.

The government had received investment proposals from three companies — Amazon, Grofers and Big Basket —

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worth $695 million for retail of food products.

While the U.S.-based Amazon is one of the major e-commerce players in India, Grofers and Big Basket are into online grocery space. Amazon has proposed to invest around $500 million in food products retail.

The government in the last year allowed 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) through approval route for trading, including through e-commerce, in respect of food products manufactured and produced in India.

In 2016-17 (April-December), the food processing sector in the country received FDI of $663.23 million.

The Union Cabinet, in May 2017, decided to wind up the 25- year-old FIPB, which was vetting FDI proposals requiring government approval, to expedite the clearance process.

Under the new mechanism, the proposals will be approved by the Ministries concerned as per the standard operating procedure approved by the Union Cabinet.

INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 2017 • PAGE 9

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Virat Kohli captains Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL

Sasha Jaffrey’s painting depicts the cricketer’s IPL journey over ten years British Indian entrepreneur Poonam Gupta has bought a painting depicting Virat Kohli’s Indian Premier League (IPL) journey over 10 years for a whopping ₤ 2,90,000 (approx Rs 2.4 crore).

The artist is Sasha Jaffrey and it was bought during the recent charity dinner organised by Virat Kohli Foundation.

Jaffrey is an award winning and one of the most notable painters in the world.

He has collaborated with the likes of former England footballer David Beckham, and Indian cricketers MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh for their charities and causes.

“What I like about this young generation of Indian cricketers is that they are responsible and want to make a difference on and off the field. I am very connected to the cause taken up by Virat,” said Poonam Gupta, who is CEO of Scotland-based company PG Papers.

“Slavery has no place in this world and we need to stand up and do our bit. I am glad Virat has come forward against this evil and by buying this magnificent piece of art created by my favourite artist Sasha Jaffrey, I tick two boxes. I take a rare masterpiece to my home and also help this noble cause in my own way,” Ms. Gupta said.

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INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 2017 • PAGE 11

COMMUNITY The International Indian Film Academy 2017 Awards weekend in New York The 18th edition of IIFA Weekend and Awards in New York is all set to be the grandest celebration of Indian film, music, fashion and dance from July 13 to 15.

IIFA Rocks 2017– The show will celebrate 25 years of A. R. Rahman in the industry and is set to feature a never-beforeseen medley of musicians that includes A. R. Rahman, Diljit Dosanjh, Benny Dayal, Javed Ali, Neeti Mohan, Jonita Gandhi and Haricharan Seshadri.

IIFA Rocks Hosts are the charismatic duo Riteish Deshmukh and Manish Paul.

The star-studded NEXA IIFA Awards Powered by VIVO to witness power-packed performances by Bollywood Megastars Salman Khan, Alia Bhatt, Katrina Kaif, Shahid Kapoor, Sushant Singh Rajput, Kriti Sanon among others.

The host for NEXA IIFA Awards Powered by Vivo is the talented Karan Johar.

The IIFA Global Voting is available for the global audience to participate in the voting process and will be open till 18th June 2017.

Mumbai, 1st June 2017: The International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) announced the 18th Edition of the most spectacular celebration of Indian Cinema worldwide that will be hosted in the city of New York, from 13th – 15th July 2017 this year!

The NEXA IIFA Awards Powered by VIVO is among the most coveted and highly anticipated award celebration that honors the very best of Indian Cinema with the highest level of achievement seen through the glamorous IIFA statuette.

The NEXA IIFA Awards will air exclusively on COLORS – the Broadcast Partners, with the Title Sponsor NEXA, Official Airline Partner- AIR INDIA and Powered by VIVO. To reveal some of the exciting details about the upcoming NEXA IIFA AWARDS POWERED BY VIVO, Bollywood’s superstar Salman Khan was joined by leading ladies Katrina Kaif and Alia Bhatt at the official IIFA press conference in Mumbai today at Taj Lands End. Additionally, encapsulating IIFA’s aim to build bridges across cinemas, businesses, communities and nations, creating everyone’s dream: “One People. One World” a LIVE Video Conference with 5 Cities globally- New York, London, Dubai, Chicago and Houston was also held post the press conference.

Commenting on the occasion, Salman Khan says, be “It always feels great to be a part of the IIFA Movement and I look forward to the 2017 IIFA Awards.”

Katrina Kaif added saying, “I’m really excited and looking forward to performing at the IIFA Awards this year. It is such a great platform that not only showcases the cel-

ebration of cinema globally but also it’s a great opportunity for us to reach out to our fans worldwide. I am excited that this year, it is happening in one of my favorite cities – New York!”

Speaking about her debut performance at IIFA, Alia Bhatt shares, “I am very excited to be a part of IIFA 2017, as this is going to be my debut at the IIFA Awards after 5 years in the industry. I am super excited that IIFA is being held in the beautiful city of New York.

IIFA is all about togetherness and the celebration of the Indian cinema globally and I eagerly look forward to this celebration”.

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Rajinder of Star Promotions in Houston, local promoter of IIFA, hosted a video conferencing with Houston media, soon after a press conference in Mumbai recently. Alia Bhat, Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif answered questions from the Houston media on the upcoming IIFA event in New York. For information on tickets and VIP packages for the IIFA Awards weekend, call Rajinder at 281-222-4500.

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Krishna Vavilala, left, with Judith Hiott On May 31, 2017, Judith Hiott, Chief of the Houston Area Library Automated Network (HALAN), a staunch supporter of the Foundation for India Studies (FIS) retired after 27 years of service with the City of Houston. Judith was honored at a retirement celebration at the beautiful Julia Ideson Building, home of the Houston Metropolitan Research Center. The party was attended by many of Judithâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s current colleagues,including Deputy Director of HPL Administration, Mr. Roosevelt Weeks, as well as many she has worked with in various capacities over the years. Laughter and tears were shared as her friends and colleagues recalled memories of working with Judith.

FISâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s collaboration with HPL started way back in January 2007 in a special project called â&#x20AC;&#x153;World Languages Book Collectionâ&#x20AC;? then headed by Ms.Hiott. The project collected several hundred books from 5 Indian languages Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Tamil and Telugu, which were procured from India. They are available at HPLâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Central Library for the public to borrow.

The ties with HPL grew stronger and in March 2011 Ms. Hiott spearheaded HPLâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s partnership agreement with FIS and had been HPLâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s primary contact for the Indo-American Oral History Project which has seen completion of over 53 video interviews till now. They are digitally archived in HPLâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Houston Metropolitan Research Center.

At the retirement celebration, FIS was represented by Board Member Mr. Kulwant Bhatia and Chairman, Mr. Krishna Vavilala who spoke of Judithâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sincerity and support to FIS over the years and wished her the very best as she begins a new chapter in her life.

(Report and photo credit : Ms. Somer Newland, System Administrator, Houston Public Library.)

INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 2017 • PAGE 15

INDIA/U.S. Indian-American among 12 new astronauts chosen by NASA

Trump-Modi meet to set forth vision to expand ties with India: White House

Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Vice President Mike Pence poses for a group photograph with NASA’s 12 new astronaut candidates in Houston, Texas on Wednesday. (Standing from L-R), Robb Kulin, Jonathan Kim, Robert Hines, Warren Hoburg, Matthew Dominick, Kayla Barron, Jessica Watkins, from L-R kneeling, Francisco Rubio, Loral O’Hara, Jasmin Moghbeli, Zena Cardman, and Raja Chari.

U.S. Space Agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), has chosen 12 new astronauts, including an Indian-American, from a record number of over 18,000 applicants, who will be trained for missions into Earth orbit and to deep space.

Lt Col Raja “Grinder” Chari, 39, is a commander of the 461st Flight Test Squadron and the director of the F-35 Integrated Test Force at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Hailing from Waterloo, Iowa, Mr. Chari earned a Master’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics from MIT and graduated from the US Naval Test Pilot School.

His father is from India.

The seven men and five women comprise the 22nd class of American spaceflight trainees since 1959.

This is the largest group NASA has selected in almost two decades.

It was selected from a record 18,300 applicants — more than NASA has ever had during an open astronaut call.

To get picked, people had to meet some physical requirements as well as certain education and experience criteria — such as having a bachelor’s degree in a STEM field or accumulating up to

Hailing from Iowa, Raja Chari earned a Master’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics from MIT and graduated from the US Naval Test Pilot School 1,000 hours of piloting jets.

But it’s clear that this new class greatly surpasses all the minimum skills that NASA requires.

After completing two years of training, the new astronaut candidates could be assigned to missions performing research on the International Space Station, launching from American soil on spacecraft built by commercial companies, and flying on deep space missions on NASA’s new Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket.

Vice President Mike Pence joined NASA leaders, including acting administrator Robert Lightfoot and director of flight operations Brian Kelly, in Houston, Texas to announce the new astronaut candidates, or “ascans”.

The event was set inside the Johnson Space Center’s

Space Vehicle Mockup Facility in front of a full-scale engineering model of NASA’s Orion spacecraft, which the new astronauts might fly in the coming years on missions beyond low Earth orbit.

Mr. Pence said that President Donald Trump is “firmly committed” to NASA’s mission in space and that “America will lead the way in space once again.”

He said that NASA would continue to have the resources it needs to “make history” — even though the president’s budget request cuts funding and cancels certain programs at the agency.

He also mentioned that NASA would continue to collaborate with the commercial space industry in the future.

While delivering the speech, Mr. Pence touted the merits of the new astronaut class.

“The courage of these men and women, and all the astronauts who have gone before, inspires me to this very day,” he said.

The 12 new candidates include six military officers, three scientists, two medical doctors, a lead engineer at SpaceX and a NASA research pilot.

The maiden meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi would “set forth a vision” to expand the U.S.-India partnership in an ambitious way, the White House has said.

The leaders of the world’s two largest countries, home to 1.6 billion people, will meet on June 26 to discuss a gamut of bilateral issues including terrorism and India’s concerns over possible changes in H-1B visa rules.

“I think you can expect the two of them to set forth a vision that will expand the U.S.-India partnership in an ambitious and worthy way of both countries’ people,” White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters at his daily news conference.

Mr. Spicer said the two leaders were expected to set forth a “common vision” on expanding the U.S.-India partnership. He cited fighting terrorism, promoting economic growth and reforms and expanding security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region as shared priorities.

“President Trump and Prime Minister Modi will look to outline a common vision for the United States-India partnership that is worthy of their 1.6 billion citizens,” Mr. Spicer said.

Mr. Trump invited Mr. Modi to Washington after the Indian leader rang him in January to congratulate the new President on his inauguration.

“The President and the Prime Minister have had a number of positive phone conversations, and expect to further that discussion ... whether it’s economic growth and reforms, fighting terrorism, expanding our cooperation as major defence partners,” Mr. Spicer said in response to a question.

The bilateral talks appear to be no bed of roses as they come amidst thorny issues like U.S.’ plans to reduce the number of H-1B visa slots that are mainly used by Indian IT workers, and its withdrawal from the historic climate accord.

The White House said that the U.S.-India trade has grown six-fold since 2000, from $19 billion to $115 billion in 2016, despite the recent hiccups over the H-1B visa issue.

“U.S. energy and technologies, including natural gas, are helping to build Prime Minister Modi’s vision for a new India and creating thousands of U.S. jobs in the process,” Mr. Spicer said.

Notably, Mr. Modi’s U.S. visit, which would begin on June 25, comes in the backdrop of Trump’s announcement to withdraw the U.S. from the historic Paris Climate Agreement signed by over 190 other countries.

In his announcement of the decision for which he received a global condemnation, Mr. Trump had blamed India and China for the U.S. withdrawal.

“India makes its participation contingent on receiving billions and billions of dollars from developed countries,” he had said.

Strongly rejecting Mr. Trump’s contention, India said it signed the Paris deal not under duress or for lure of money but due to its commitment to protect the environment.

During his visit to France this month, Mr. Modi even said that India would “go above and beyond” the Paris deal to protect climate for the future generations.

Apart from ways to enhance trade and business cooperation, Mr. Modi and Mr. Trump are expected to discuss defence ties.

PAGE 16 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 2017

NEWS

Enough evidence to prove my case, says Mallya outside UK court

LONDON Embattled Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya, who is wanted in India on loan defaults to several banks, today claimed that he has “enough evidence” to plead his case as he appeared before Westminster Magistrates’ Court here for his extradition case hearing.

The 61-year-old former chief of erstwhile Kingfisher airlines, who has been out on bail since his arrest in April, arrived for the hearing in Court Room 3 after a number of other extradition cases on schedule for the day.

“I have not alluded any court...I have enough evidence to prove my case,” Mallya told reporters outside the court.

Chief Magistrate Emma Louise Arbuthnot will preside over what is referred to as a “case management hearing”, when a final hearing date is expected to be set.

Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will present the case in court on behalf of the Indian authorities.

Mallya’s defence team is being led by the firm Joseph Hague Aaronson LLP. They have instructed barrister Clare Montgomery, a specialist in criminal, regulatory and fraud law, to argue in court on their behalf.

The CPS have instructed Mark Summers to act as barrister for the CPS Extradition Unit and the Government of India.

Summers is a leading expert in extradition and international law matters.

“There might be a few more hearings in this case in the coming months to deal with case management or any issues that arise, before the final hearing takes place, at which the full arguments from both sides in this case will be heard by the Judge,” explained Jasvinder Nakhwal, partner at Peters and Peters Solicitors LLP and member of the UK’s Extradition Lawyers Association.

The CPS had met a joint team of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials in London last month to thrash out details of the case.

“Our aim is to build a strong, infallible case and these meetings will help resolve issues

across the table. The CPS will be arguing based on documents provided by CBI and ED, therefore a joint team is here to address queries they may have,” official sources had said after the meeting held in early May. A CBI official has also flown in from Delhi for the hearing today.

Last week, Mallya was welcomed with chants of “chor, chor” by Indian cricket fans as he arrived to watch the India vs South Africa Champions Trophy match at The Oval cricket ground in London.

Earlier, he had caused a stir by his attendance of the India vs Pakistan match in Birmingham after which he had declared on Twitter that he would be attending all India matches in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy.

Mallya, who is wanted in India for Kingfisher Airlines’ default on loans worth nearly Rs 9,000 crores, has been in the UK since March 2016 and was arrested by Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant on April 18.

He had attended a central London police station for his arrest and was released on conditional bail a few hours later after providing a bail bond worth 650,000 pounds, assuring the court of abiding by all conditions associated with extradition proceedings, such as the surrender of his passport and a ban on him possessing any travel documents.

An initial case management hearing date of May 17 had been postponed to June 13.

If the District Judge rules in favour of extradition at the end of the trial, the UK home secretary must order Mallya’s extradition within two months of the appropriate day. However, the case can go through a series of appeals before arriving at a conclusion.

India and the UK have an Extradition Treaty, signed in 1992, but so far only one extradition has taken place under the arrangement– Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, who was sent back to India last October to face trial in connection with his involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002.

However, unlike Mallya, he had submitted to the extradition order without legal challenge.

India launches free legal aid via video conferencing to villagers Villagers in India will soon be able to connect directly with city lawyers and receive free legal advice via video conferencing as part of a government initiative aimed at improving access to justice for the country’s poorest and most marginalised.

The “Tele-Law” initiative launched on Sunday will be piloted in 500 village councils in the northern states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and then rolled out across the rest of the country in a phased manner, said the Law Ministry.

Villagers will access the service through newly established “Common Service Centres” -single-window centres providing online services to the public in rural areas where there is little or poor internet connectivity.

Through the “Tele-Law” portal, people will be able to access lawyers - selected by the government in their state capitals - and seek advice on anything from land disputes to domestic violence cases via video conference.

The Law Ministry said hundreds of village women will also be trained up as paralegal volunteers and will act as the first point of contact for rural citizens -- explaining the advice given by lawyers and assisting if further action is required.

Their training will include understanding laws on social justice and fundamental rights, and will include women and child rights as well as labourrelated legislation.

“Tele-Law will fulfill our commitment to ensure access to justice and empowerment

of the poor,” Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister for Law and Information Technology, said in a statement.

“The Common Services Centers and paralegal volunteers will offer easy legal advice to litigants in rural India making them digitally and financially inclusive.”

An economic boom over the last two decades has lifted millions of Indians out of poverty and boosted literacy rates in the country of 1.3 billion, but access to justice remains costly and beyond the reach of hundreds of millions of poor citizens. Some of the major challenges include a lack of public awareness of their basic rights and entitlements, the limited reach of institutions providing legal aid and too few courts and judges, say activists.

Government has no intention to change food habits of people: Harsh Vardhan The government does not have an “iota of intention” to change anybody’s food habits or adversely affect the slaughter business, Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Tuesday, promising to look into any suggestions to modify the recent controversial order on cattle trade.

“It is all some misunderstanding and misconceptions. We don’t have an iota of intention to either alter the food habits of anyone nor do we intend to directly or indirectly affect adversely the slaughter trade,” he told CNN News 18.

He was replying to questions on the recent notification by the Environment Ministry regulating the cattle sale to ensure that they are not sold for slaughter in markets. A raging controversy followed that notification with states ruled by non-BJP parties taking strong exception to it. The Kerala and Meghalaya Assemblies have already passed resolutions attacking the notification and asking the Centre to withdraw it.

Dismissing epithets like “fascist” being used against the Modi government, Vardhan said the BJP is used to such attacks but the government was fully dedicated and committed to the people’s welfare.

Asked whether the notification would be amended, he said it has already been assured that the government would correct it. “We will talk it out,” he said adding that everyday the government was receiving representations on the issue.

The minister said the media was unnecessarily hyping the issue as the notification was issued in accordance with a Supreme Court directive.

INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 2017 • PAGE 17

NEWS

Rs 200,000 fine for instant talaq

LUCKNOW A Turk Muslim panchayat in western Uttar Pradesh has imposed a Rs 2-lakh fine on a 40-year-old for pronouncing the instant triple talaq on his wife.

Attended by over 1,000 community members yesterday, the traditional council of elders also ordered the man to return to his divorced wife a sum equal to what her father had spent on their marriage three years ago.

The man, from Musapur in Sambhal district, about 410km west of Lucknow, was forced to pay the sum on the spot.

Eight weeks ago, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board had issued a code of conduct stressing staggered talaqs and reconciliation efforts, and urging a social boycott of those who pronounce the instant triple talaq.

The Supreme Court heard a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional propriety of the instant talaq last month and is expected to pronounce a verdict in July.

The Centre supported the petitioners in court on the grounds of women’s rights but the law board, an influential body within the community, opposed any judicial or government interference in Muslim personal laws.

“Yesterday’s panchayat was held near Sambhal city. Two elders, Mohammad Asrar Babu and Shahid Hussain, respectively presided over it and conducted it,” said Liyaquat Hussain, former elected gram panchayat chief of Govindpur, near Sambhal.

He declined to name the divorced husband but said he had had to pay Rs 260,000 to the woman’s father.

“A similar fine would be imposed on any man who dares pronounce the instant triple talaq on his wife. The fine may increase up to Rs 10 lakh depending on the man’s economic status,” Liyaquat said.

He added that those who try to “pull the development of the community back by following the mindless practice of the triple talaq will also be ostracised permanently”.

On May 5, a larger traditional panchayat of Turk Muslims, a community that has over 8 lakh members in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, had “banned” the instant talaq.

The panchayat, held in Hajipur village in Sambhal, also ruled that an instant talaq would be invalid if a remorseful husband accepted he had uttered it in anger. “In that case, the woman would still be his wife,” it had ruled.

It had warned that those who practice the instant talaq would be punished.

Shahid, who conducted yesterday’s panchayat, endorsed the law board’s code of conduct. “A man can utter the second and third talaqs after a gap of a month each, and must discuss his marital problems with the elders of both families before pronouncing the third talaq,” he said.

Dining Table Project encourages family members to have at least one meal together in a week

NAGPUR Remember the adage ‘A family that eats together stays together?’ Well, it’s none other than the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) that is trying to revive the concept of ‘family time’ with its project, “Kutumb Prabodhan”, or family awakening. “Under this, all family members must meet at least once a week and have at least one meal together,” says RSS’ Ravindra Joshi, the coconvener for the project and a retired professor of economics. The project has been rolled out in all 42 “prants” (provinces) of the country.

RSS karyakartas when travelling stay in the homes of colleagues, rather than in hotels which is their way of getting to know each other’s family. Kutumb Prabodhan is another step towards deepening family ties. There’s more to Kutumb Prabodhan than just sitting and dining. “We are also promoting the idea of having discussions between family members,” says Manmohan Vaidya, RSS’ Akhil Bhartiya Prachar Pramukh, or publicity chief. But those powwows have to be of a certain quality. “They must go beyond politics/film/ cricket,” adds Vaidya.

So what should the tete-a-tetes be about, then? “Family members can discuss about one’s family tree, gods and goddesses, sanskriti, dharma, or desh bhakti,’’ offers Joshi. And no smartphones on the table, please. “Initially we are beginning with the idea of staying away from TV and mobile phones for an hour,” says Joshi.

But the idea is to not make it ritualistic. “Sehej roop se samaj mein parivarik prem ki bhavna lana is pravadhan ka uddeshya hai (The aim of the project is to inculcate love and family bonding in the society in a natural way).” Like many projects, Kutumb Prabodhan too will be rolled out in, well, phases. In the first, the objective is to get immediate family members to sit together. “Later we will try to get neighbouring families to join in,” explains Joshi. The possibilities thereafter are, of course, endless. After all, as far as the RSS is concerned, the Hindu Rashtra is one extended family - or, Vasudhev Kutumbakam.

Shah forms panel for ‘consensus’ on presidential candidate NEW DELHI BJP chief Amit Shah on Wednesday asked senior leaders Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley and Venkaiah Naidu with talking to various parties, including those in the Opposition, “to build a consensus for the President’s election”.

Sources said, however, the effort was primarily meant to counter Opposition charges that the ruling establishment was bypassing the convention of a consensus, rather than wining the trust of rivals. The BJP seems convinced the Opposition has joined hands and is determined to force a contest, suggesting the consensusbuilding effort could amount to little more than tokenism.

The Shah-Narendra Modi leadership is equally determined to get a President of the BJP’s choice elected and is confident it has the numbers.

“BJP president Amit Shah has constituted a panel for holding talks with different political parties. The committee will hold talks with leaders of different parties and try to build a consensus for the President’s election,” a BJP statement said.

The poll is scheduled for July 17 and the last date for filing nominations is June 28.

BJP leaders said Shah cancelled a pre-scheduled trip to Arunachal Pradesh today and

the party is likely to defer its national executive meet slated for July 15-16 in view of the presidential election.

The BJP is yet to finalise its candidate and insiders said Shah was speaking to Prime Minister Modi and others. “No formal meeting has taken place so far. The parliamentary board is likely to meet soon to discuss names,” a BJP leader said, referring to the BJP’s top decision-making body.

In Bhubaneswar, Naidu said the BJP might consult ruling BJD president and Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik. “It will be a good tradition to elect a person as the President on consensus,” PTI quoted Naidu, one of the panel members, as saying. Asked if Naveen would be spoken to, he said they would like to talk to all Opposition parties, including the BJD. Both the BJP and the Opposition are in wait-and-watch mode, eyeing each other’s moves. Several Opposition parties, led by the Congress, have come together to try and field a consensus candidate, fearing the BJP would push someone with RSS links for the top constitutional post. The Opposition wants the ruling NDA to declare its candidate before it decides its own nominee.

More than the Opposition

though, the BJP panel of senior leaders is likely to try to reach out to ally Shiv Sena, the sources said. The Sena has threatened to take an independent stand on the President’s election and continues to push the name of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. Securing the Sena’s support is crucial to project the NDA as united.

Shah’s announcement of the panel came on a day BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha posted a picture with L.K. Advani on Twitter and said his discussions with the veteran could “have a far reaching impact”.

Advani is believed to be one of the top contenders for the President’s post and Sinha is known to be disgruntled with the leadership.

“Far from the madding crowd, a great meeting with our guru, real role model & ultimate leader, LK Advaniji in God’s own country Kerala. Not difficult to guess that the meeting had little to do with the ‘Marg Darshak Mandal’, the upcoming ‘Presidential Election’ Nonetheless what was discussed could have far reaching impact...”, Sinha tweeted.

The Margdarshak Mandal is the BJP advisory panel comprising Advani and other sidelined veterans like Murli Manohar Joshi and Yashwant Sinha.

Cattle markets turn gloomy The numbers say it all. In May 2016, 763 buffaloes were traded in Hyderabad; in May 2017 the number fell to less than half at 369. There has been a sharp dip in the number of cattle that are brought to the city’s two animal markets which are considered the largest in the State. “We have stopped bringing cows here for the last three years. Now, we will have to stop bringing buffaloes and bulls as well,” says Ahmed, a trader, who brought buffaloes to sell at the Babbuguda sub-yard of Narsingi Animal Market Yard.

The Narsingi cattle market is a three-day affair with Friday at Narsingi and Saturday and Sunday at Babbuguda sub-yard. On Friday, as the sun blazed overhead, the traders and buyers took refuge under shamianas and swapped stories about trouble they are having transporting the animals, new rules and how farmers will be impacted.

Traders and farmers expressed fear that the dip in trade will get worse once the new rules and regulations of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Acts kick in.

The new rules while not explicitly preventing slaughter of cattle, have tough regulations about who is allowed to buy

and sell animals. Traders who play a key role in the pan-India trade of animals are shut out of the market yards with a caveat in the new rules: “Verify that the purchaser is an agriculturist by seeing the relevant revenue document.”

“I have two buffaloes. I came to buy one more from Madar Jani. I can spend ₹ 60,000 on it,” says K. Naresh Goud of Chindappa village of Shankarpalli. The buffalo he is eyeing has been brought from Guntur in a lot of 10 by Madar Jani and one of them has calved one day earlier. “The new set of rules push traders out of the business. This farmer has brought two animals from me.

He wants to buy one more. As a trader I go to various villages and load the animals and bring them here for trade. A single farmer cannot afford to transport one animal from a village.

Can he?” asks Mr. Jani. It takes Jani and his workers about 10 days to buy up animals from the villages of Andhra Pradesh and transport them to Hyderabad and it costs him roughly ₹1 lakh.

“We don’t allow cows into the market any more. If someone brings a cow, we ask them to trade outside. We don’t want any trouble,” says an official at the Babbuguda cattle market.

“There has never been any trouble in this cattle market though this is the biggest in the State. We have held seven rounds of meeting with various traders and farmers to ensure that there is no trouble during transport of animals,” says P. Ramchander Rao of Narsingi Police Station. Incidentally, two of the largest export-oriented abattoirs in the country buy cattle from Babbuguda.

“Cattle is the currency of farmers. If a farmer cannot sell the animal after it stops giving milk, what will he do? He will become poorer. We cannot release the cows and buffaloes in the village as we will have to pay a fine if the animal raids a paddy field or a banana plantation,” said Madhusudan Rao, a 55-year-old farmer who has four buffaloes in Tirvur Mandal in AP. “The decline in trade of cattle will have its impact in two or three years when milk supply will decline. Most of the cattle traded in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are brought from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. If there is no trade in calves and milch cattle milk production will decline substantially,” said V. Veeranandi, Assistant Director, Rangareddy, office of District Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Department.

PAGE 18 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 2017

PERSPECTIVE

Celebrating Tyagaraja: A case of aesthetic extravagance

By T.M. KRISHNA The opening in Tyagaraja’s ‘Dasharati’ (Todi) casts a spell on us even before the syllable ‘sha’ has been intoned. I am not going to even try to unravel that. Or try to investigate the elliptical flight-path in the anupallavi of ‘Etijanmamidi’ (Varali) that glides and lands on the tara sthayi shadja. I am not going to attempt that because spells need to be experienced, spell-bound, not dissected. We can only bow down in awe to Tyagaraja’s musical span and insight. But it is this eternal admiration that compels me to question some of his aesthetic choices and social commentary.

Tyagaraja works are gifts that we offer with ease to everyone very rarely pausing to reflect on the creator. By crowning Tyagaraja as superhuman, god-like we rarely investigate this brilliant aesthetician and complex personality with our eyes wide open. His every art object was a moment in his life; we can be sure that every line of music narrates to us his own creative flight, artistic-ego, inward-movement, celebration, politics, social reflections and possibly even escapism. In the journey of any true artist these different threads constantly overlap and intertwine. And it is in this undivided inter-connectivity that the unpredictable beauty we call Art makes her appearance.

And in Tyagaraja’s life she seems to have remained wed-

ded to him until the very last moment.

Among the three late 18th century Carnatic catalysts — Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri — it will be safe to say that the priest to Bangaru Kamakshi was the traditionalist or should I say in Tamil brahminical cliche, ‘madi-accharam’ composer. This is especially true with regard to his raga choices and treatment. Except in the case of Chintamani and Kalgada, all the ragas he chose were of the older organic order. Though there are Syama Sastri kirtanas rendered today in Janaranjani and Kiravani, their authenticity is questionable. There was no attempt on his part to intellectually juggle, shake and stir swaras to create a synthetic bundle and then call it a raga. In the case of Dikshitar, it seems like loyalty to his sampradaya and a need to legitimise his tradition overwhelmed him. And consequently, he brought into musical form many of the fabricated structures (raganga ragas) of his predecessor Muddu Venkatamakhin that contravened the basic spirit of the raga idea.

This is not about whether we find these artificial ragas appealing, this is an aesthetic question about its ideation, structuring and interpretation and subsequent impact on musical thought. On that score they fail and have over the years caused a downward spiral in the raga-ness of Car-

natic music. And it is important for us to be unemotional and recognise that Muthuswami Dikshitar had an early role in triggering such a thought flow.

But I will say with great trepidation and absolutely no disrespect that Tyagaraja’s impact has been deleterious. This is much to do with the larger than life presence Tyagaraja has had over the Carnatic psyche.

Before I proceed to substantiate my point, I need to say a few words about the critique of the brilliant scholar K. V. Ramachandran of the so-called newer ragas that make their appearance for the first time in Tyagaraja kirtanas. His basic argument is that due to the dishonesty of Tacchur Singaracharyulu and his brother Chinna Singaracharyulu, who from the late 19th century until early 20th century published numerous books with details and notations of Tyagaraja kirtanas, we have today undesirable fancy ragas attributed to many of his compositions.

Ramachandran asserts that the brothers manufactured scales and concocted new names. Later when they stumbled upon Sangraha Chudamani, a treatise of unknown origin, authored by the mysterious Govinda, they retrofitted ragas found in that flawed document on to Tyagaraja kirtanas. They also changed the lakshanas of older ragas by deleting or altering the nature of their swaras, thereby propagating the false theory of an in-

dividualistic Tyagaraja school vis-à-vis the Dikshitar school.

Though this theory raises valid questions it cannot be accepted in toto.

If we were to look at the three main schools that have carried forward Tyagaraja kirtanas — Umayalpuram, Walajahpet and Thillaistanam — we would find artificial first time scale-raga Tyagaraja kirtanas in all three streams. For example, in the Umayalpuram patantharam we find kirtanas in ragas such as Chandrajyoti and Simhavahini, in the Walajahpet collection — Gowrikalyani, Amritavahini — and in the Thillaistanam group, ragas such as Bindumalini and Siddhasena. There are other nouveau scale-structure kirtanas that are common to all three patantharams. Such ragas are also mentioned in the 19th century publication, Sangita Sarvarta Sara Sangrahamu

by Vina Ramanuja. There are many nuances to this discussion regarding raga attributions, descriptions in lakshana granthas and patantharams but they are beyond the scope of this piece.

While I am certain that there are cases where the Tacchur brothers and other musicians manipulated and/or mutilated ragas, it would be highly unlikely that all such scales were post facto force fits. It is important to note that there are new ‘Tyagaraja scale-kirtanas’ that are not mentioned in Sangraha Chudamani but found in some

other 18-19th century treatises and some that have no textual reference. It is therefore fair to assume that Tyagaraja himself was indulgent and did frame a considerable number of these non-raga ragas. In playing the swara permutation and combination game, he did alter raga abstraction.

This is exactly why ragas like Kokilavarali, and Chenchu Khambodi do not have the life of a raga. This trend set by Tyagaraja was followed by many later composers like Muthiah Bhagavathar. While we are willing to critique 20th century composers, we forget that it was Tyagaraja who showed the way and therefore we also need to question him philosophically. It is on the same grounds of raga-essentiality that it is very difficult to justify Tyagaraja composing kirtanas in simulated linear sampurna swara arrangements such as Pavani, Rishabhapriya, Kokilapriya and Bhavapriya.

Though Tyagaraja could not have foreseen its after effects, the impact of these acts of aesthetic extravagance are being felt a century and half later.

Ragas today are being treated as packs of swaras, and these raga-pretenders are being generously dealt out, and ancient ragas are being reduced to swara skeletons.

From matters musical let us move into Tyagaraja’s social realm. If we take the position, that the semantics of compoSee TYAGARAJA, Page 19

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INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 2017 • PAGE 19

PERSPECTIVE

The personal and interpersonal in Sri Tyagaraja’s compositions

By Santhi Pasumarthi Tyagaraja’s Jayanthi was on Vaishakha Shukla Saptami (fell on May 2, this year).

In this article, Vidwan T. M Krishna, as part of a series to celebrate the composer’s 250th Jayanthi, wrote of ‘aesthetic extravagance’ in his compositions and tried to delve into the personality of Sri. Tyagaraja through his lyrics.

In that attempt, he made a statement that “while Sri Syama Sastri’s conversations with Kamakshi Devi were interpersonal, Tyagaraja was a social commentator”. While the ecosystem that often gives space to Sri T.M Krishna for his own social commentary might readily accept this opinion, this gives us an opportunity to have a closer look at interpersonal nature of Sri Tyagaraja’s Krithis vis-à-vis Rama.

The interpersonal Ramabhakti was the mainstay of Tyagaraja’s life and apart from praising his lord, he often spoke to, pleaded, urged and complained to him.

To give some numbers, a search the word ‘Rama’ in this page, that had 464 Tyagaraja krithis (not a full list), gives 136 matches. This does not even include songs from his operas, Prahlada Bhakti Vijayam and Nauka Charitram. Of these, around 120 are seen as directly addressing Rama (sambodhana). And these do not include many other names by which he is addressed — Raghuvara, Sitapathe, Sitanayaka.

When people accused him of dividing the family property, he complained to his Rama saying ‘Naadupai balkeru janulu’. When his disciple gifted him a depiction of Rama during his daughter’s wedding, he poured out his joy by singing ‘Nanupalimpa nadachi vacchitivo’. He questioned him saying ‘Ela nee daya raadu’ and ‘Ela daya raade raamayya’. He literally used every trick under his sleeve.

In krithi ‘Nagumomu ganaleni’, he asked if Garuda is stopping him to come down. In Krithi ‘heccharika gaa raara’, he makes the parrot perched on Meenakshi Devi’s shoulder sing her brother Rama’s praise

(‘ninu chooda vacchu bhagini karambu chiluka manasu ranjilla nee mahimalu‘).

In ‘Ninuvina naa madendu nilvade’, he pines and yearns for Rama like a beloved.

Most of his krithis are conversations with Rama about his agony, his failure to keep his mind steady in Ramadhyana, his heights of ecstasy.

This is a standout feature of his compositions — a song for every emotional swing of his, addressed to his friend-philosoper-guide-father-lord.

Many a time, it is as if he builds a mental fortress — only him and Rama in conversation. At times, he opens up and lets us in and join his worship — like in kithis ‘chutamu rare’ and ‘pathiki harati re’.

The swagatam Tyagaraja not only extensively conversed with his Rama, but also with his own mind. Again, a search of the word ‘manasA” -meaning O mind) on the same page gives 34 matches just in the Pallavi and adds up to much more when we consider the word appearing in Anupallavi and Charanam.

Krithis like ‘rAmuni maravakave O mansA’ (O mind, don’t forget Rama), ‘sAdhinchene O mansA’ (O mind, I have achieved!). He even pleads with his own mind in the krithi ‘manavi AlakincharAdaTe’. These krithis were his ‘swa-gatams’ (spoken to his own self) and sometimes make us wonder if they are meant to be sung at concerts.

Can there be anything more personal than this?

His Krithis like ‘bhajana seyave O manasA’ and ‘rama namam bhajare mAnasa’ remind us of ‘mAnasa sanchara re’ of Sadashiva Brahmendra and ‘sumiran karle mere manA’, of Guru Nanak. There are many such tropes often used by great bhaktas.

Like Vidwan T.M Krishna says, he saw himself as a part of the bigger Bhagavata Sampradaya/Parampara (probably refered to as the Smarta network in the article).

He clearly mentions in the Krithi ‘Seetamma Maayamma’, that he considers Para-

Tyagaraja

commentator. He saw his life as a part of the smarta network.

To his credit, by and large, he has stayed away from what we would find today disturbing, but there are compositions in which misogyny is quite obvious. We could cleanse the meanings, justify them or you could accuse me of imposing post-modern values on to him.

But if we, in the 21st century continue to seek cultural validation through his words, we should question them.

In compositions like ‘Menu Joochi Mosa Bokave,’ ‘Dudukugala,’ ‘Enta muddo’ and ‘Entha nerchina,’ he follows the

From Page 18 sitions are immaterial to aesthetic immersion in Carnatic music, then I would not raise the following issue. But since most people in the Carnatic universe still harp on sahitya bhava and its importance in the aesthetic experience, it is imperative that we look into the meanings in some of Tyagaraja’s compositions.

Unlike Syama Sastri, whose conversations with the Goddess were inter-personal or Dikshitar who surrendered as a pandita, Tyagaraja was a social

ma-Bhagavatas like Shiva, Vasishta etc. as his relations, and Hanuman, Lakshmana and Garuda, as brothers.

The so-called social commentary we see in his Krithis, almost always, had a personal connection, mostly with events in his life or around him. In the Krithi ‘yagnadulu sukhamanu’, he criticises indulgence in ritual Yagnas and in the krithi ‘chakkani rajamargamu’, talks about staying away from ‘toddy’, but says so to his own mind.

Even in the krithis Sri T.M Krishna referred to in the article with references to caste and role of women — ‘menu juchi’ and ‘dudukugala’, Tyagagarja was talking to himself. Does it do any good to impose today’s sensibilities to his times when the elements of patriarchy and objectification of women were definitely higher and scrutinise his personality through those? He never seems to have tried to project himself as egalitarian. We do come across such ideas in Annamacharya Krithis like ‘Brahmamokkate’. We do not know if Tyagaraja was referring to trespassing scriptural injunctions laid down for his Kulam in that phrase ‘modati kulamu…’.

Is looking at Krithis in isolation without understanding their context being fair to the composer?

While T.M Krishna rightly looks at the lyrics to understand the composers’ minds,

there are instances where artists view music and lyrics as two disconnected entities. He himself once sang ‘Devi Brova Samayamide’ the only krithi in Chintamani Raga, in slow tempo, at a concert in Boston, couple of years ago.

The pallavi — ‘Devi Brova Samayamide ativegame vacchi Naa vetalu teerchi karuninchave’ (‘O Devi, this is the time to protect me. Please come very fast, remove my troubles and shower your mercy.’) Madhyamakala, the tempo generally chosen, helps in conveying the hurry and desperation of the composer and greatly enhances the bhava.

But in this case, one was left wondering if Devi was being put to sleep, instead of being urged to come soon.

To be fair, artists don’t make a promise to deliver the composer’s vision. But in this case, he succeeded in creating a mood contrary to what the lyrics suggest.

In the name of creativity T.M Krishna laments, ‘one wishes that a mind as creative as his had gone beyond and risen above.’

Tyagaraja was, already, sort of a radical for his times, in terms of his musical creation and in the way he lived. And it is surprising that Sri Krishna says this in this age, when the word ‘creativity’ is used as a license to stray away from tradition, etiquette and righteousness, to be eccentric and much

classical norm of objectifying women, implying the sexual vulnerability of men. She is always the vice, the seductress who will enslave the man, therefore he needs to be ever watchful. Women and their own self-worth, rarely of any consequence. In ‘Dudukugala,’ it is interesting that the woman is placed below the sudra! And in the same composition, you also find the following casteist reference — “ Despite being born a Brahmin (“Modati Kulam,” first caste), I was behaving like a sudra. Much like Tulsidas, Tyagaraja’s position on women and caste was

undoubtedly shaped by his times, his social mores but one wishes that a mind as creative as his had gone beyond or risen above those.

We will never know the person Tyagaraja. From Harikatha accounts and early 20th century biographies we get a hagiographical description of Carnatic music’s foremost star.

The two biographies written by his disciples — Walajahpet Venkatramana Bhagavathar and Walajahpet Krishnaswami Bhagavathar — are realistic.

But we cannot ignore the relationship between the subject and the biographers and in this

more.

All this talk about creative people having to rise above certain things reminds of a recent in a concert in USA, where an artist sang a 30-second alapana in Kapi and followed it with the phrase ‘Jagadoddharana’.

The poor audience clapped.

The artist said, to the surprise (and shock) of many, that he doesn’t know if this is linguistic mania or musical mania and he wishes it is the latter. So, he was prejudiced enough. Many in the audience were probably left wondering if being so creative, the artist should have risen above such statements.

The Vaggeyakara Sri Tyagaraja is celebrated for his great lyrics, their spiritual quality and for his musical genius. But Vaggeyakara is the one term that best defines him.

While music alone is enough for the ‘aesthetic immersion’, Tyagaraja’s alchemy-esque hold over music and lyric takes the experience to a different level.

After the great Jayadeva, there were unsung dance gurus, like Siddhendra Yogi, who excelled in this. Sri Annamacharya, hailed as the Padakavita Pitamaha, was an extraordinary poet, but we do not know much about his music.

Hence, Tyagaraja is perched in a special place, right near the top, in not just Carnatic music, but the whole of Indian music, similar to Kalidasa’s, in Sanskrit poetry.

In the Krithi ‘Maa kulamuna kihaparamosagina neeku’ from Nauka Charitram, the Gopis praise Krishna, saying he gave them Iham and Param (everything related to this world and beyond).

A group of artists was once heard say that Tyagaraja, too, gave the same to their musical fraternity.

The way he himself wanted to be identified is probably mentioned in krithis like ‘Bantureeti koluviyyavayya Rama’, where he says he wants a medallion bearing the words ‘Rama Bhaktudu’ (rAmabhaktudane mudrabillayu).

— creativeindiamag.com

case Guru-Sishya. So what does he say about himself ?

Beyond his devotion to Rama, Tyagaraja seems like the archetypical artist. Self-deprecating, seeking validation and the company of his intellectual equals, perspicacious and at times insecure. But there is one thing he always seems certain about — his own musical genius.

(T.M. Krishna, Carnatic vocalist, author, public speaker and writer on human choices, dilemmas and concerns —The Hindu)

PAGE 20 â&#x20AC;˘ INDIA HERALD â&#x20AC;˘ WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 2017

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or call for info.

(713) 665-4665

Classes in Houston, Mission Bend, & Sugar Land

are Sat-Sun @ 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Contact us at (832) 379-8888, houston@bktexas.com, or bktexas.com to sign-up for classes. All Raja Yoga Meditation teachers at the Houston center are samarpit and have 15+ years of teaching experience.

Chinmaya Mission Summer schedule Both BalaVihar and adult classes will remain closed during the summer time from May 22nd - September 9th. Classes will resume on Sunday, September 10th. For more information: Visit www.chinmayahouston.org or call Bharati Sutaria 281.933.0233 Vedanta Society Vedanta Society of Greater Houston, 14809 Lindita Drive (77083) has classes every Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, 1st & 3rd Sunday; Bhagavad Gita, 2nd Sunday; on works of Swami Vivekananda, 4th Sunday; Holy Mother Saradaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Gospel, 5th Sunday.

Swamis of Ramakrishna Order visit to conduct retreats and lectures. www.houstonvedanta. org or 281-584-0488.

Jain Society Jain Society of Houston (JSH) located at 3905 Arc Street Houston Texas 77063 is open M-F from 7:30 AM to 12 Noon and 4 to 7 PM, and Sat, and Sun from 8 AM to 6 PM. Jain Society of Houston invites Jain scholars all year round. Please call Urvashi Jain 713 789 2338. Visit www.jainsocietyhouston.org for calendar of events and other detailed information.

Shiv Shakti Mandir Sanatan Shiv Shakti Mandir, 6640 Harwin. Open daily 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. All major festivals, as well as birthdays, naam karan, engagement and other ceremonies. Call Pandit Virat Mehta 713-278-9099 or Hardik Raval 361-243-6539 for puja or other ceremonies.

Heartfulness Meditation Heartfulness Meditation is a practical technique of tuning inwards to experience our higher selves. Meditation with someone who has the capacity of yogic transmission can help you explore the Heartfulness practice more deeply. There are no charges for this, and we invite you to experience the unique beneďŹ ts of this transmission. Workshops on Heartfulness relaxation and meditation are held weekly throughout Houston, including Saturdays at 11 am at India House. Web: www.heartfulness.org; Email: houston.heartfulness@gmail. com. Cell: 713-929-0040.

Hare Krishna Dham Houstonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s original Vedic temple, ISKCON of Houston. At 1320 W 34th St. (77018). Daily Darshan & Arati Times: 4.30 a.m, 7 a.m, 8.30 a.m, 12 noon, 4.30 p.m, 7 p.m, 9 p.m. Sunday Festival: 5.30 pm to 7.30 p.m. Weekly Gita classes for adults; call 281-433-1635 or harekrishnadham @gmail.com Houston Namadwaar A prayer house where the Hare Rama Hare Krishna Maha-mantra is continuously chanted. Weekends: 8-11 AM & 4-7 PM, Weekdays: 7-8 AM & 6-7 PM. Weekly â&#x20AC;&#x153;Gopa Kuteeramâ&#x20AC;? childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heri-

tage classes and Srimad Bhagavatam classes. Call 281-402-6585; visit www.godivinity.org (Global Organization for Divinity).

Saumyakasi Sivalaya Sri Saumyakasi Sivalaya is located at Chinmaya Prabha, 10353 Synott Road, Sugar Land, TX 77478. Temple timings: Monday to Friday: 9:00 AM - 12:00 Noon and 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM. Saturday and Sunday: 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM. For more information Contact 281568-1690 or Jay Deshmukh at 832-541-0059 or visit www.saumyakasi.org Gauri Siddhivinayak Temple Darshan from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. All major festivals as well as birthdays, naam karan, engagement and other ceremonies. Call Pandit Pradip Pandya 832-4669868 for puja and other ceremonies. At 5645 Hillcroft Ste 701, Houston, TX 77036.

Veerashaiva Samaja VSNA Houston is a group of families who believe in Veerashaiva dharma (Basava dharma).

Monthly Mahamane program for prayer and discussion on Vachana Sahitya followed by Prasada.

Contact: vsnahous ton@gmail. com or Jagadeesh Halyal 832744-4166.

Mar Thoma Church Trinity Mar Thoma Church every Sunday at 5810 Almeda Genoa Rd. Sunday School at 9:15 a.m.

Malayalam service at 9:30 a.m. on 1st & 3rd Sunday. Adult Bible class at 9:30 a.m. English service at 10:30 a.m. on 2nd & 4th Sunday. Call 713-991-1557 or 281261-4603.

Telugu Christian Fellowship Telugu Christian Fellowship meets every third Saturday of the month at Triumph Church, 10555 W. Airport Blvd., StaďŹ&#x20AC;ord TX 77477 at 6:30 p.m. Join us for a time of praise, worship and fellowship. Worship is in English.

For information call Chris Gantela 281-344-0707, or Rev. Vijay Gurrala 281-997-0757.

Sri Guruvayurappan Temple Hours: Mon to Fri 6 a.m. -8 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Weekends & Holidays: 6 a.m. to noon and 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Bhajans Saturdays 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Sundays 9 a.m. to 1 a.m. Special poojas (weekends and holidays) Choroon (Annaprasam) for kids, Thulabharam, Vahana Pooja, Nirapara. Temple is located at 11620 Ormandy St. (77035) Tel: 713729-8994 email: temple@ guruvayur.us Preksha Meditation JVB Preksha Meditation Center conducts weekly Meditation, Yoga and Swadhyay sessions inside its unique Pyramid hall under the auspicious guidance of Samani Kanchan Pragyaji and Samani Pranav Pragyaji who are stationed at Houston Center this year. It also runs special events and programs like I-Choose, Meditation Camps and Gyanshala program for children ages 4-14 yrs. JVB is located at 14102 Schiller Rd. Houston 77082. Every Tuesday, 9:30am-11:30am, Samaniji has pravachan for all adults interested in learning about Jainism. Every Wednesday there is Swadhyay class from 7-8pm and meditation from 8-9pm. Every Thursday from 9:30-11am there is special Yoga class for Ladies only. Every Saturday, there is Yoga Class from 9-10am and Meditation from 10-10.30am. Ist

& 3rd Sundays, there is Gyanshala Classes for Kids ages 4-14yrs. from 10-12:15pm followed by Lunch. Upcoming Events include Samanijis Pravachan on Sunday, June 4th from 10:30-11:30pm followed by Gyanshala Graduation and Teacher Appreciation Day. Visit www.jvbhouston.org or send email at info@jvbhouston. org for more details.

Patanjali Yogpeeth Free Yoga Classes every Sat/Sun at Arya Samaj from 8 am to 9:30 a.m. Call Anil 281-579-9433.

For other free classes, call Indra 281-537-0018. For Yoga/Herbal products, call Shekhar 281-2425000. Web: www.pyptusa.org and www.DivyaProducts.com.

Hindu Temple of The Woodlands 7601 S. Forest Gate Dr, The Woodlands, TX 77382 Temple Hours, Weekdays: 7:30 AM - 9:30 AM 5:30 PM - 8.30 PM Aarti @ 7:30 PM Saturday and Sunday 8:30 AM - 1:30 PM Aarti at 12:00 PM 5:30 PM - 8:30 PM Aarti @ 7:30 PM; Contact 832-585--0001 or temple@myhtw.net Sathya Sai centers Sunday program held at two locations (North Houston: 12127 Malcomson Road, Houston; South Houston: 246 Fluor Daniel Drive, Sugar Land) from 3:00 to 5:30 pm) - Sai Spiritual Education (SSE) classes for children; Study Circle for adults & Devotional singing for all. Service programs - food distribution, canned food drives, nursing home visits, tutoring at schools, etc. Contact Venkat Rao (North) - 602-503-2249 or Ranji Raghavan (South) 281-4518238. Visit www.sairegion10.org Sadhu Vaswani Center Sadhu Vaswani Center of Houston holds regular Satsang on 3rd Thursday of the month and daily Arti at 7.30 p.m. Call 281-4630379 or e.mail ramolaj@aol.com Gaudiya Math Sri Govindaji Gaudiya Matha at 16628 Kieth Harrow Blvd., Houston 77084. Satsang Sundays 5 to 7 pm. Mantra meditation, kirtan, Sanatan Dharma classes. info@ sggm.org or 281-499-3347.

Swaminarayan Temple Hindu Satsang at Shree Swaminarayan Hindu Temple, under Shree NarNarayan Dev Gadi kalupur.

Opens daily from 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Daily aarti at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Saturday sabha from 5p.m to 7 p.m. followed by aarti at 7 p.m. and Maha-Prasad (free dinner). www.issotx.org. (281) 530-2565.

Sanatan Dharm Maha Sabha West Indian Religious Organization called Sanatan Dharm Maha Sabha Branch # 377 is located at 26100 Tina Lane, Katy, TX 77494. Durga Mata Pooja is held every Friday from 7 pm to 9.30 pm. Contact Ram Sharma @ 713412-9985.

Gandhi Library Mahatma Gandhi Library Book Club: Meets 2nd Sunday of each month; 12:30 PM at Arya Samaj Greater Houston, 13475 Schiller Rd. Join the discussion of the great manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s autobiography â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The Story of My Experiments with Truth.

Call Manish Wani 713-829-6979.

INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 2017 • PAGE 21

MUSINGS by Gadfly

One Person CAN

Musings column since it began (IH-Nov.8, 2002), has had tributes to stars of all types & stripes – Shammi Kapoor 2, Dilip Kumar 3, Dev Anand, Mehmood, Sadhana, director Vijay Anand, music directors OP Nayyar, Sajjad Hussain, Shehnai Nawaz Bismillah Khan, Ravi (Sitar) Shankar), Ali Akbar (Sarod) Khan. Yet the first Musings on my late father (IH-May 18, 2016) on his birthday brought more responses than any before. That led to two (unplanned) followup Musings. So why should this year’s tribute to him (IH-May 17, 2017) be different?

It’s Déjà vu (French –‘already seen’, ‘I’ve been here before’ feeling) all over again as Yogi Berra (American professional baseball catcher) put it.

Some of this is my own hindsight about last (May 17) Musings. That column mentioned that my father ‘essentially led a ‘groundhog-day’ like life, as in same-old-same-old’. That could come across as boring. Not so for him. He never thought he was living a boring life. Nor was he ever bored with it. He always found time to read books in 2-3 languages, to attend Indian classical music concerts at our neighbourhood venues. He hardly ever visited relatives.

That was mother’s department.

Knowing him well, she decided when he was going to accompany her to some family event.

Later since his early sixties, when mother seemed to be getting tired sooner, he’d go with her because he would take a taxi. He knew mother wouldn’t take a taxi (even with us children accompanying her) on her own.

I never asked him point blank if he’s not bored with his life, his routine 7-days-a-week; why he doesn’t sleep in even one Sunday a month or a year. He didn’t go anywhere on Sundays.

He just read, read & read. So why not sleep in? We, each of his children, broached the subject of his retirement when we got jobs. One day, he said, “If I retire, it’ll be game over (khel khatam) in six months. The logic was that his body was comfortably used to the cycle of his routine because his mind was still unwilling to retire. “It is my mind that drives my body. If I stay home seven days a week,

my empty mind will play havoc.” I couldn’t understand that.

When I ventured to ask ‘how’ (his mind will play havoc), he dismissed me saying, “That you won’t understand and I don’t want to explain it to you.” The other part of his answer both amused me & amazed me.

Here’s the amusing part. “The body gets tired more often than we would like. If I stopped every time I felt tired a bit, half the things will not get done. And I want to get those things done.

I like my life the way it is.”

Asked how he can be interested in getting up around 4:45 every morning, he laughed and said, “You get up much later than the rest of us. Wouldn’t you want to sleep more if you could?” Yes, I admitted, that I would sleep a few more minutes or hours if I could. He continued, “There is no end to the body’s demands.

That doesn’t mean you should give in.” I had a blank face. He said, “You had to have experienced the life I lived after my mother died when I was six until your mother & I were married. (He was thirty-one then.)

The hardships, the suffering I went through then make my life now, a bonus. Hard work is different from hardship. (Here’s the amazing part.) So getting up early in the morning and doing things to make life easier for my family may seem ordinary to you but simple happiness of taking care of my family, your mother and….our children… that I’ll take every day with all the hard work and without the hardships. At the end of the day, we have our children and they’re in good health & they are not in trouble. That is what your mother & I live for. Work doesn’t bother me.” My mother, standing there at the door, was smiling. Marriage brought them the stability, a sense of belonging & caring that was missing in their lives, esp. my father’s life.

After marriage, their joy was children. Looking back, it is amazing (& may sound very ordinary), how much they enjoyed our company. They seemed to believe a family that eats (dinner) together stays (happy) together.

When we were younger, he frowned if any of us was late for the 8pm dinner call. Breakfast & lunch were on divided schedules but you must be home for

dinner or you better have a good explanation. The punishment was not physical but a good verbal dressing down that left you in no doubt that you were in the dog house. At that time, I used to think ‘what’s the big deal’. As he explained later, there were two reasons. One, there was no phone in our house or in the whole building where we could call & leave a message about being late. They had no way of knowing their missing son was safe. Mother used to worry and father used to have worst-casescenarios, something even our worst enemy couldn’t inflict or imagine. He himself said so.

Only in my twenties, did I understand their agony when one of us was ‘missing’. Second reason was more touching. The daily dinner together (on Saturdays both lunch & dinner) was his happy hour. Actually dinner with his family – I mean all of us – was something he felt he was entitled to after a day’s work. For him it was the reward he was owed. “That’s the least you can do for me,” he said with some irritation once when I was late.

Now to the two responses from IH readers. Syed Fariduddin sounds like he caught the spirit of the last Musings (May 17 – Short But Tall) about my father. He writes – “Dear Sir, I enjoyed reading about your father. Straight from your heart.

As one who grew up in 70s (High school & college) and worked in the then Bombay 89-98 before moving to States I was able to feel your words. It’s difficult if not impossible to find people living like your father in today’s materialistic stressful world. I also liked you mentioning Shastri, a rarity among politicians. Thanks again. Regards, Syed Fariduddin.

It is pleasing to know when Musings touch a chord. Fariduddin’s letter reminds me. Lal Bahadur Shastri was the most honest Prime Minister India has had so far. Honesty and dignity are the two words that describe both Shastriji & my father. One won hearts of India and Indians, the other, hearts & reverence in a much smaller social circle.

The other response was from the young lady that responded to first ever Musings about my father (IH-May 18, 2016 – You’ll see ghosts if you look

back), with - “Namaste…… I am reaching my 50th year. And for the past few months, I have been thinking about the same issue. What is left in life? So much of it is behind me! Now what? How to live the rest of it? As life is so unpredictable, there is not much to look forward to as death might come at any time. And even if it does not come, what’s there to do except remember the past? But somehow remembering the past never seemed right to me.

And so, wondering what to do next.” May 19, 2016.

That dark response made me write two more columns in answer (IH-June 8 & July 6, 2016-The secret of being unhappy, and Calm of the sea with a few raindrops).This year, her response is on a much more pleasant note. “I read the article and I particularly appreciated this article a lot because for past few years I have been repeatedly questioning

the meaning of it all. How to be and live day in and day out in a world that can be so difficult at times, what to focus on during the days when situations make your life so bitter.

Where to find that center? Your father had found his center. It’s the daily mandate activities that you do with grace and as your duty so others feel secure around you. There is no need to make lot of money or be highly achieving or be recognized by others. It is the quiet peaceful life that gives meaning to your existence. Thank you!”

Yes, my father had found his center quite early in his life, in his mid-thirties. He made such a huge impact on his children’s lives. And it seems his life & words still touch chords, fortyfour years later. Yes! One person CAN make a difference.

Send responses to fly7_7@yahoo.com;

gad-

Significance of Surya Namaskar

By Raj and Krishan Gupta An International day for Yoga was declared unanimously by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in December 2014. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his UN address, suggested the date of 21 June, as it is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and has a special significance in many parts of the world.

On this day, Surya Namaskar is performed throughout the world. “Surya” means “Sun” and “Namaskar” means “to bow down.” The term Surya Namaskar also means “Salutation to Sun”. It is an exercise sequence, which has both physical and spiritual aspects. On the physical side, it involves a series of yogic postures, where virtually all the parts of the body, including the thoracic and abdominal organs are exercised and rejuvenated with vitality. Regarding the spiritual aspect, the Surya Namaskar is a method of propitiating the Sun-God and enjoying his blessings. This helps in meditation, a sharp intellect, sound health, and acquisition of spiritual wisdom.

The logical conclusion is that the sun is the life or energy source for this planet and is an element in everything we eat, drink or breathe. When one is in tune with the cycles of the sun, physical health, well-being, vitality, and energy, are all yours.

Solar energy is fundamental even within your body. Your body maintains a certain temperature and all forms of life or inanimate forms generate solar energy. Surya Namaskar is therefore a process to harness this solar energy to build a dimension within you where your physical cycles become in sync with the sun’s cycles of twelve-and-a-quarter years. So it is by design that Sun Salutation has twelve postures in it.

Surya Namaskar is best done at sunrise. If done fast, it provides a good cardiovascular workout. This exercise involves six postures in one direction and another six, which mark the return to the original position. It is equivalent to the sun traversing six signs of the zodiac to give rise to one ‘Ayana’ of six months and returning through another six signs to give rise to another Ayana, thus constituting the Northerly course and Southerly course. The completion of a cycle of Northerly and Southerly brings the sun back to its original position from where the next solar cycle starts.

Inhalation, exhalation, or retention will be natural during various postures.

With practice, the sequence of posture and synchronization of breathing get integrated and appear natural. The best results can only be expected when the posture and the breath proceed in harmony. These postures help tone the muscles and can relax the system if done at a slower pace.

Regular practice of Sun Salutation improves the functions of every part of the body. The process purifies the blood and improves blood circulation throughout the system and ensures proper functioning of the stomach, bowel, and nerve centers. Practicing Sun Salutation daily also helps balance the three constitutions – Vata, Pitha and Kapha – that the body is made up of, according to Ayurveda science.

PAGE 22 â&#x20AC;˘ INDIA HERALD â&#x20AC;˘ WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 2017

STORY OF MAHATMA GANDHI Gandhi goes to England to study law After passing his high school examination, Mohandas joined the Samaldas College at Bhavnagar.

He did not find the classes interesting and returned home after the first ten days.

A big surprise awaited him at home. His eldest brother and a family friend suggested that Mohandas should go to England to study and become a barrister.

Mohandas was thrilled. Here was a chance to see the world.

But his mother did not like the idea. She did not want her youngest son to stay away from her.

There was also the problem of money and she feared that Mohandas would lose his caste if he crossed the ocean (an age-old taboo against overseas travel among the high caste Hindus).

The family friend assured her that there would be no such difficulty and everything would be all right. But his mother was still opposed to the idea. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I know many reasons why it is dangerous for a Hindu to leave India,â&#x20AC;? she explained to him. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You will have to eat meat. They drink alcohol there and you will be tempted to drink it. Then you might fall into bad company and there are many other temptations which may spoil you.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;No, mother,â&#x20AC;? said Mohandas. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I am no longer a child. I can look after myself.â&#x20AC;? He pleaded with her to allow him to go, and he took a vow not to eat meat, not to drink, and not to touch a woman.

Putlibai at last gave in and allowed him to go to England.

Mohandas was sorrowful when he left Rajkot for Bombay, because he had to leave behind his mother, his wife, and son Harilal, who was only a few months old.

On September 4, 1888, Mohandas left Bombay to set sail for England. Dressed in western style, he stood on the deck as the ship slowly steamed out of the harbor.

Mohandas never forgot his first morning on board. He felt most uncomfortable in his black suit, a white shirt, a stiff collar and a necktie. The stiff collar pinched him. It was quite a job to knot his tie properly. The tight, short coat also made him ill at ease. He thought that Indian attire was much more comfortable. Yet a glance in the mirror made him feel proud of himself. He thought he looked very impressive.

Mohandas was shy. He rarely left his cabin. He even ate by himself. He was not sure of all those unknown foods served on the ship.

He thought they might contain meat and did not wish to break his vow to his mother never to eat meat. So he lived mainly on the snacks and sweets he had brought from home.

On landing at Southampton he looked around and saw that all the people were in dark clothes, wearing bowler hats and carrying overcoats flung over their arms.

Mohandas was embarrassed to find that he was the only one wearing white flannels.

In London, he stayed at first at the Victoria Hotel. Dr. P. J. Mehta, a friend of the Gandhi family, was

Gandhi as a law student in London

the first to meet him. Mohandas was impressed with Dr. Mehtaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s silk top hat. Out of curiosity, he passed his hand over it and disturbed the pile of the silk. Dr. Mehta then gave him his first lesson in European manners. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Do not touch other peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s things,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Do not ask questions as we do in India when we meet someone for the first time. Do not talk loudly. Never address people as â&#x20AC;&#x153;sirâ&#x20AC;? while speaking to them, as we do in India. Only servants and subordinates address their masters in that way.â&#x20AC;?

Mahatma Gandhi Library Mahatma Gandhi Week will in be celebrating 148th birthday Sept. 27ontoSunday, Oct 3, of Houston Mahatma-- Gandhi 2004.

Call 713-785-3900 or visit Oct. 1, 2017 at the Miller Outdoor www.mahatmagandhilibrary.org Theatre from 5 PM to 8 PM.

Young Gandhi found everything around him strange. He was homesick. He almost starved until he discovered a vegetarian restaurant. Struggling to learn western manners and customs, he rented a suite of rooms. He bought well-tailored clothes and a top hat.

He spent a lot of time before the mirror, parting his straight hair and fixing his tie. He took lessons in dancing, but soon gave it up as he had no sense of rhythm. He tried his hand at playing the violin, but failed. He took lessons in French and elocution, but went to sleep.

His attempt to be an Englishman lasted about three months.

Then he gave up the idea. He converted himself into a serious student. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have changed my way of life,â&#x20AC;? he told a friend. â&#x20AC;&#x153;All this foolishness is at an end. I am living in one room and cooking my own food. Hereafter I shall devote all my time to study.â&#x20AC;?

His meals were simple. He avoided expenditure on transport and went on foot everywhere in London. He started to keep an account of every penny he spent.

Mohandas joined the London Vegetarian Society and soon found himself in its executive council. He wrote articles for the magazine Vegetarian.

The bar examination did not require much study and Gandhi had ample time to spare. Oxford or Cambridge was out of the question because it meant a long course and much expense.

He therefore decided to appear for the London matriculation examination. It meant hard work, but he liked hard work. He passed in French, English, and chemistry but failed in Latin. He tried again, and this time passed in Latin too.

Meanwhile, he progressed in his study of law and in November 1888 was admitted to the Inner Temple.

It was the tradition of the Inns of Court for the students to dine together at least six times each year. The first time Gandhi dined with his fellow students, he was nervous. He was sure the boys would rib him for refusing meat and alcohol. When wine was offered, he said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;No, thank you.â&#x20AC;?

The boy sitting next to him said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I say, Gandhi, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t you want your share? As a law student in London you pay for it, you know!â&#x20AC;?

When Gandhi replied that he never touched wine, the boy shouted to his friends, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;By Jove, fellows, we are in luck to have this chap sitting with us. That gives us an extra half bottle.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;You can have my share of roast, too,â&#x20AC;? Gandhi told them, looking quite content with his bread, boiled potatoes and cabbage. He was pleasantly surprised to find that his strange habits did not make him unpopular. The next time he went for the dinner, he had a pile of law books with him. He was taking the books to his room to study. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Gandhi,â&#x20AC;? said a student, â&#x20AC;&#x153;you are not really going through this stuff, are you?â&#x20AC;?

He snatched up one of the fat volumes. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Look, you chaps,â&#x20AC;? he cried, â&#x20AC;&#x153;he is actually reading Roman law in Latin!â&#x20AC;?

The students laughed. One of them said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Let me tell you, Gandhi, I passed the last examination in Roman law by spending two weeks on a printed summary.

Why do you slave at it like this?â&#x20AC;?

Gandhi explained to his lighthearted friends that he worked so hard for sheer interest in the subject, and that he wanted to acquire knowledge for its own sake.

After a short trip to France, he prepared for the final law examination. The results were soon declared. He had passed with high marks. On June 10, 1891, Gandhi was called to the bar. He was admitted as a barrister and the next day was formally enrolled in the High Court. The following day, June 12, he sailed for India.

Gandhiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s three-year stay in England was eventful. Those were days of great intellectual activity, and there was tolerance for every school of thought. The country as a whole was a living university. As Gandhi sailed for home on the S.S. Assam, he felt that, next to India, he would rather live in England than any other place in the world.

(To be Continued)

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Mahatma Gandhi Library will be celebrating 148th birthday of Mahatma Gandhi on Sunday, October 1, 2017 at the Miller Outdoor Theatre from 5 PM to 8 PM. Winners of the speech contest, for children age 10 under and children 11, and above will deliver their speeches and enthrall you. The winners of Speech, Creative Writing, Multi-Media and Poster contest will be awarded their prizes. Please visit www.gandhilibrary.org for more information.

INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 2017 • PAGE 23

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PAGE 24 â&#x20AC;¢ INDIA HERALD â&#x20AC;¢ WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 2017

Spring Branch Family Dentistry,P.A. 1111, Gessner, Suite B Houston, Texas 77055 (713) 461-8050 (713) 461-4747 WeWe Speak English, Hindi & Gujarati speak English & Gujarati CONVENIENT HOURS Monday: 9 am â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 6 pm Tuesday: 9 am â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 7 pm Wednesday: 9 am â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 6 pm Thursday: 9 am â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 7 pm Friday: 9 am â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 4 pm Saturday: 9 am â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 4 pm (Closed one Saturday a month) '

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