Issuu

Friday, May 23 2014 | Vol. 33, No. 21

Indo American erican News

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COMMUNITY

May 23, 2014

ISKCON of Houston Celebrates the Opening of its New Temple

BY ISKCON OF HOUSTON COMMUNICATIONS TEAM HOUSTON: The past weekend of May 16, 17 and 18 marked a historic milestone in yje city with the Grand Opening of new International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) temple. Spanning over 24,000 square feet, the temple – an architectural gem – is anchored by a central dome that is 72 feet high. This weekend, the temple celebrated its Grand Opening Festival, attended by more than 11,000. Visitors from Kazakhstan, Canada, Australia, India and USA marked this as a “once in a lifetime” event. (see related story on pages 8 and 9). The celebration was officially inaugurated on Friday evening with an Interfaith program, welcoming participants from the Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Baha’i, Zoroastrian communities followed by a variety of cultural presentations. The open garden was perfectly lit up and filled with lively booths, including a very popular henna station, ‘try-a-sari’ booth, Indian arts & merchandise booth. The temple, with intricate marble lotus carvings on the inside, has multiple domes all-glittering in a captivating blue and tan on the outside. The center dome is adorned with a glittering golden wheel, or chakra as it is referred to in Sanskrit and is visible from miles around. The main altar, with intricate hand-carved teakwood carvings, is home to Their Lordships - Sri Sri Radha Nilamadhava, Sri Gaura Chandra, Sri Nitai Chandra and Sri Giriraj Govardhan, all looking radiant and happy in their new home. The altar of Founder Acharya of ISKCON, His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada was lovingly decorated with flowers and handmade garlands. As unique decorations on the main altar, were two stunning white el-

ephants, bedecked with white and yellow flowers. Devotees conducted kirtan, which is a form of call and response, singing glories of the Lord both days accompanied by traditional instruments such as the flute, mrdanga drums and harmonium. Smiling volunteers offered temple tours and offered to the newcomers a glimpse into the ancient Vedic traditions and philosophy of Krishna consciousness. Festivities started early on Saturday morning as the new Radha Krishna Deities – Sri Sri Radha Giridhari were installed by two very highly qualified priests - well versed with the science of Vedic rituals who traveled from India to perform the auspicious ceremony starting with a fire sacrifice (yajna) in the garden outside the main temple. HH Giriraj Swami, HH Bhakti Bringa Govinda Swami, HH Guruprasad Swami, HH Romapada Swami, HH Gunagrahi Dasa Goswami, HH Rtadhvaja Swami, HH Bhakti Sundar Goswami, HH Jayadvaita Swami, HH Hanumat Presaka Swami, HG Mukunda Datta Dasa, HG Deena Bandhu Dasa, HH Kalakantha Dasa, HG Yashomati Nandan Dasa - to name a few, were present to grace the proceedings. Following the yajna, there was Abhishek of the Deities (ceremonial bathing) with choice offerings while devotees joyfully sang and chanted welcoming the new deities into their new abode. The Consul General of India Parvathaneni Harish with his wife Nandita attended the event for several hours. He captured the essence of the event when he said that the only way to salvation in today’s day and age was by chanting the holy names. He warmly appreciated the devotees of ISKCON for their sincerity and commitment to

the path of Bhakti. At ISKCON, bhakti yoga is promoted throughout all teachings. As explained by the temple president, HG Shyamsundar Dasa: “Bhakti Yoga is a very simple process and is built on the 4 pillars: Mercy, Truthfulness, Cleanliness and Austerity. “All of us carry bhakti eternally in our hearts. Fire spreads quickly when we have a spark and fan it a little. That spark is the chanting of the holy names”, he said. The grand opening weekend was marked with performances from all over the nation showcasing the wonderful unity that can be found amongst so much diversity. The cultural events kicked of on interfaith day - Friday with several performances. On Saturday and Sunday, students of more than 30 dance and music schools Houston graced the Children’s indoor stage and the Radha Nilamadhava Main stage. The main attractions were The Mayapuris’ Kirtan and Mrdanga presentation, the United Nations Association International choir group performance and the Kirtan band from Kazakhstan with HH BB Govinda Swami. The Mayapuris have performed in Houston before and gave vibrant and exciting performances infusing the areas of Kirtan, music, dance and traditional Mrdanga presentations. On both days, there were unlimited, free prasadam meals, with various Indian delicacies. For more details, please visit www.iskconofhouston.org or call 713-686-GITA (4482)

For photo collage, see page 15 For related story, see pages 8 & 9

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COMMUNITY

May 23, 2014

Jubilation Reigns Supreme for Locals at Narender Modi Victory

BY JAWAHAR MALHOTRA HOUSTON: The strength of a landslide victory by Narender Modi at the helm of the Bharati Janata Party’s push for assuming power in India brought out all the pent-up emotions among the hundreds of local supporters who have clamored for change and even worked to make that change happen. An estimated 625 people came out to show their joy vocally and with loud fanfare at India House this past Sunday evening, May 18 to a hurriedly put together victory celebration, in a version of a Fan Mob orchestrated by emails and phonecalls rather than Twitter and Tumblr for the mostly first generation, middle aged crowd who have grown tired of the status quo and lack of visible improvements in daily life in India. But that effort for galvanizing the forces of hundreds of volunteers from the Indo-American population in the US came from the efforts and technology savvy of a younger generation mindset who banded together as the Global Indian for Bharat Vikas who borrowed a page from the 2008 US Presidential election which heavily relied on the social media aspects of the internet to reach out to voters and influence the outcome of the elections. And the volunteers behind the GIBV were front and foremost among the jubilant crowd which came to India House, first at the noisy and joyous crowd at entrance to the building and then the speeches, songs and video program that played out in the banquet hall and was followed with a buffet dinner catered by Madras Pavilion whose co-owner Mahesh Shah was on hand. As people filtered in to the packed parking lot, they witnessed a huge crowd gathered in a circle around two dholuk players and the volunteers who carried a large

Modi’s victory in India was celebrated with a program that had patriotic songs and an impromptu dance by Masterji Trivedi

banner and tiny flags, while dancing to whoops from the others. The mood was definitely jubilant as people shared sweets in the traditional form of felicitations and posed for pictures, one person even walking around with a Narender Modi cutout mask on. The team leaders for GIBV, Ritesh Seal, Achalesh Amar, Anand Bhatad and Gandhi Gopinath led the indoor program with descriptions of the intense work they had directed at getting out the vote in India through phone calling banks to voters, Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook messages to connect 20 million people. Under a slide of the frontpage of an Indi-

For photo collage, see page 4 an newspaper that read (in Hindi) Lohji aa gaye ache din (Hey, good days have finally come), Seal explained that the 336 seat majority for the NDA (including the 278 seats for the BJP) meant that India was on the path of solid growth for the future. “Through the NRI efforts, we got the BJP agenda for 70 million special needs people” said Amar and recommended the book “Modi, Muslims and Media” by Madhu Keshwar to everyone. “India will lead the BRIC (Brazil-Russia-India-China) grouping of emerging nations”, he said. The

GIBV team was giddy with the success of the election results and showed many short videos and a few cartoon clips lampooning the Am Adami Party’s Kejriwal as well as other Congress and national leaders. “The BJP has planned for many years, using its Houston connections with the support of the RSS, Baba Ram Dev and others. Modi had huge leverage, using 3D holograms and the Chai Charcha and he became a concept”. There were songs by patriotic songs several women and their teenage children and a young girl named Preeti read a poem she wrote called “NaMo Dance”. The assembly was repeatedly interrupted with shouts of Vande Matram and Bharat Mata ki Jai from both the people on stage and from the crowd and Masterji Trivedi took to the stage to do an improvised celebratory dance with a couple of people and a dholuk player. Before a slide show showing the activities of the GIBV for the past four months, the main supporters of its work – Ramesh Bhutada, Jugal Malani and Vijay Pallod came to the front to be recognized. Seal acknowledged the mentoring of Ramesh Shah, who has spent many months in India canvassing for votes for the BJP and the GIBV National Coordinator Gitesh Desai, who likewise is still in India. Seal then introduced his own team and others from the local community for their support. Sharad Amin was among the 1,000 people from the US and the 25 people from Houston who went to work in the canvassing for two weeks and explained what he and the others encountered there, with many people curious at NRIs (Non Resident Indians) being involved. P.V. Patel described what he saw in

Ahmedabad. Jugal Malani read a poem about the good days to come due to Modi, a visionary person. Saroj Gupta read a poem she wrote about the hopes for Modi and the future. Dinker Chedda declared there were two stories going on: one in India and the other in Houston and predicted that Modi would seek out the help of NRIs, whose efforts have all been within the laws of both the US and India. Haider Kasim said that change had already begun as the US media gave more coverage to India affairs. Ramesh Bhutada closed out the speeches with his impassioned call to everyone to heed the message of change and progress that this crucial election signaled for the future of India, urging that there was no turning back in the transformation of the country. “The GIBV volunteers inspired me, not the other way around”, he declared. “This is India’s second independence, but from a dynasty, from vote banks, from a legacy of socialism and from divide and rule policies”, he added. He said that there was a debt to the RSS for their work over its existence. “The RSS and the HSS have given me the discipline and other aspects to run my life and my business”. Achalesh Amar described the work that the GIBV performed since starting in December 2013 and how 1,260 volunteers made 1,900,000 calls, and connected with the calling centers in 15 states. “Even before the last round of calling was finished, we predicted that the BJP would cross 252 seats”, he proudly declared. “The US may have made WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter but India used it to the change the government”, he added with a broad smile.

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COMMUNITY

May 23, 2014

Nearly Three Decades in the Making, ISKCON’s Temple Soars and Delights

Thousands of people came to attend the Grand Opening of the new Hare Krishna Temple, including these people on Sunday, May 18

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BY JAWAHAR MALHOTRA HOUSTON: The faithful and the merely curious slipped off their footwear and walked on the cool marble tiled floor to the roped of line where they passed in front of the deities of Radha and Krishna, newly installed just the day before. Devotees, many young and completely immersed in the temple, sang bhajans to the accompaniment of a harmonium, cymbals, violin, dholuk and hand-clapping in beat and their voices and music was broadcast across the 7 acre grounds. The altar for the deities runs across the entire south wall and is made of handcarved teakwood from Kerela. In the middle of the 24,000 square foot temple building, the central shikara (conical tower) stands 72-feet high, while the smaller shikaras at each corner balance out the Vedic inspired architecture. The shikaras are made of colored fiberglass to present consistent, clear clean lines, reduce weight and present a idealized, modern lotus flower representation with the amalaka (lower ridged ring) giving rise to the kalasha or pointy peak, all of which are gold colored of various shades, while the stylized brick of the tower is painted in pleasing, blending colors. It was hard to imagine that this was the once the site of the one-story wooden Baptist Church and two adjoining wooden buildings on 1.2 acres when the leader of the then small group of devotees, Tamal Krishna Goswami purchased it in 1984 for the flock to move to from its facility on Rosalie street. At a Diwali celebration held in 1990, the site was overwhelmed by the nearly 3,000 people who attended, including then rookie Houston City Councilwoman Sheila Jackson Lee. ISKCON Houston started in a run-down house on West Gray in 1972 and Goswami died in a car accident in 2002. The new temple building was possible through the gener-

ous donation (reportedly $24 million) of Dr. Rakesh Kumar Dhingra who was a devotee of Lord Krishna since childhood and lived a renounced life in a simple 1,000 square foot house across from the temple and passed away in January 2010. This past weekend, May 16 through 18, marked the grand opening of the new temple, installation of the new deities (the previous ones had been stolen by vandals in October 2010) and the Festival of India, a travelling exhibit produced by ISKCON which regularly sets up in New York, Washington D.C., Los Angeles and Toronto and last made a visit to the Bayou City at the International Festival in 2005. The exhibits and sales booths for deities, religious artwork, books and food as well as explanations (using a diorama on Reincarnation) about the message of Krishna Consciousness were laid out on the lawn between the temple and the older, large Gauranga Hall. An estimated 10,000 people were expected to attend and seating under huge tents was set up for them to eat a free vegetarian meal and sit in front of the outdoor stage for the cultural program that highlighted the performances of many local groups and an ensemble from Kazakhstan and the United Nations International Choir. On the inside stage in Gauranga Hall, many other local groups and the Mayapuris of Florida performed songs and dances. Charted school buses ferried people every fifteen minutes from a remote parking lot at Northwest Mall. By Sunday evening, the volunteers figured that many more than the estimated number of people had attended the three day event. The focus of the event, of course, was the temple building and garbha graha (inner

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CONTINUED ON PAGE

COMMUNITY

May 23, 2014

Nearly Three Decades in the Making, ISKCON’s Temple Soars and Delights

In front of the entrance to the temple were (from left) Chirag Bhatt, volunteer; Shyamsunder Das (Hamukh Patel), Temple President; Bharat Patel, Temple Treasurer, Sunil Shenoy and his wife Sandhya, son Sreesh and daughter Sneha, all of whom volunteered for fundraising. CONTINUED FROM PAGE

sanctum) where the deities were installed. A with peacock made of feathers greeted the faithful in the foyer as they dropped off their footwear. Past the ornate inner doors, a huge hall with white marble opened to the altar beyond, with murals from the life of Lord Krishna painted above and on the three surrounding walls of the hall, the fourth bearing paintings of several saints. The lifelike statue of the ISKCON founder Swami Prabhupada that graced the former temple has been moved to the east wall of the sanctum, under a decorated altar. A gift shop sells religious items and sweets and a restaurant is planned to open soon in the west wing with its own entrance closest

to Golf Street. Across the street, the Goswami Academy offers schooling for children from KG to third grade and will soon offer it till eighth grade. It was a testament to the growth of the temple congregation that they all pitched in and volunteered to make the Grand Opening a moment to remember and place the new temple on the list of must-see places in the Bayou City, much as the BAPS temple in Stafford has become. For this New Delhi native, the most telling moment was being served at the lunch line by Indo-American teenagers and then sitting down to eat just as the train passed by the east-west line that abuts the back property line of the temple compound. The sound of the train, the rush of bhajans over

Devotees and the curious ﬁled by the new altar to Radha and Krishna as young, faithful ISKCON followers sang bhajans and danced in the entrance foyer.

Dayal Nitai Das (David Garvin) an ISKCON devotee for 5 years and husband of Voice of Asia Editor Shobana Muratee, worked the book stall with Radha Vinod Das (Ravi). Garvin and Ravi received their initiation rites from their Guru Giriraj Maharaj on Monday, May 19 at the temple, and took their new names.

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the loudspeakers and the desi vegetarian food made it feel eerily like I was back home! The structure is being built on a 4.38-acre land allotted to the HKM by the government. Cultural attractions include the themed experience of ‘Narasimha Leela’, ‘Narasimha Kala Kshetra’ or an open air theatre and a ‘Vedic Samskara’ Hall. The Hare Krishna Movement (HKM), Hyderabad, an affiliate of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) Bangalore, is set to begin construction of its ambitious Rs.100 crore temple complex and culture centre at Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple premises in Banjara Hills from Friday. The HKM, which runs the ‘Bhojanamitra’ free food scheme in government hospitals and ‘Akshaya Patra’ for students in government schools, said they had received the mandatory permission from municipal authorities to take up construction of the temple and cultural centre. “Friday is ‘Akshaya Tritiya’ and it will mark beginning of the construction of the temple dedicated to Lakshmi Narasimha in a 4.38-acre land allotted to us by the government,” said HKM Hyderaba-d’s head Gaura Chandra Dasa.

10 May 23, 2014

ENTERTAINMENT Million Dollar Arm Hits A Home Run

Suraj Sharma is one of the stars of Disney’s Million Dollar Arm.

MUMBAI: As far as inspirational sports movies go, Hollywood is trying a new pitch altogether India and its love for cricket - and tying it up with what they know, baseball. Based on a real-life story of sports agent JB Bernstein, it has Mad Men’s Jon Hamm playing the lead. “Jerry Maguire Goes to India or Slumdog Fireballer must have been the high-concept pitch for baseball drama Million Dollar Arm, but the highly enjoyable result isn’t nearly as opportunistic as it sounds - even if it is, in part, a portrait of a shameless opportunist... this sharp, slickly produced addition to the Disney sports movie canon works as both a stirring underdog tale and as a revealing look at the expanding global footprint of the American sports-entertainment machine,” writes Scott Foundas of Variety. Bernstein is clearly feeling the pressure of running his own agency. Watching late night TV, he has a Eureka moment - why not look for a Major League Baseball pitcher from cricket’s bastion, India? Off he goes and combs India along with baseball scout (Alan Arkin) and an Indian translator (Pitobash, engaging). The winners are two lads Rinku (Life of Pi’s Suraj Sharma) and Dinesh (Sulmdog Millionaire’s Madhur Mittal) who by the way know nothing about cricket and even less about baseball -- a fact Bernstein realises after he lands in America. USC coach Tom House (Bill Paxton) is responsible for training the duo. However, the film is as much about the training as alienation and loneliness the duo feels in a foreign land. Great performances and deft direction makes the film an interesting watch. - Hindustan Times

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COMMUNITY

May 23, 2014

An Investment in Sugar Cane Could Make India Energy Independent

At the sugarcane investment presentation held on Sunday, May 4 at Crystale Ballroom were presenters (from left) Adam Hartley, Dr. Syed Azhar and his wife Dr. Rukshan Azhar, Shahla Ali, Maharashtra Minister of State Fauzia Khan and her husband Tehseen Khan, CEO and Managing Director of Tridhara Sugar mill located in Parbhani, Maharashtra.

BY JAWAHAR MALHOTRA HOUSTON, TX: Nestled almost in the center of the Deccan Plateau, in the center of the state of Maharashtra and almost due east of the state capital Mumbai is the district of Parbhani, an area of immense sugarcane cultivation fed by a network of canals emanating from the Godavari river. It is home to 1.3 million people who owe much of their livelihood to agriculture, growing mainly grain crops in the off season, but almost exclusively sugarcane during the heavy growing season from October through May. This area and hundreds of acres around it in Maharashtra - as well as the fertile plains of the state of Uttar Pradesh - are the sugarcane centers of India, producing the majority of the main cash crop from which sugar, molasses and hard brown sugar are produced and exported from the country. The area gets plenty of water from rainfall and the river, and has the right moderate temperature that is suited to growing sugarcane. “This area is home to 230 sugar mills, mostly government coops”, explained Tehseen Ahmed Khan, “and since 2009, about 40 have gone into private ownership”. The mills are cooperatives run for the local kisans (farmers) but many mills fell into hard times due to mismanagement and were sold off. Khan is the Chairman and Managing Director of one of the mills that was auctioned off by the bank in 2009, when he headed a team of investors that bought the Tridhara Sugar mill located in Parbhani for $26 million. Khan used to be a forest official in government service but after seeing the opportunity, took early retirement to buy the mill which was being underutilized. “Almost 20,000 families depend on the mill. During the growing season, we have 4,000 laborers, but our permanent staff is 250”, said Khan as he met

with members of the community recently on May 4 in Houston. Khan was in town on a private visit with his wife Fauzia Khan who is the Minister of State for Maharashtra and a member of the Legislative Council for 12 years, as they both came to see Fauzia’s sister, Dr. Rukshan Azhar’s recently born grandson. Azhar is a Child Psychologist in private practice and her husband Dr. Syed Azhar is a professor at UTMB, Galveston. Syed had quickly arranged the gathering for a small group of locals on Sunday, May 4 at Crystale Ballroom on S. Gessner so that Tehseen could explain the financials of the mill and attract potential investors for future expansion plans. Since he bought the mill, Khan has modernized it with a $1.6 million investment in crushing machinery. Azhar himself has a large investment in the mill and said that he was very happy with the way it has performed in the past three years. Tridhara Sugar is about 2.5 hours away from Aurangabad, a city of about 11.5 million which is known for the Bibi ka Maqbara, an imitation of the Taj Mahal that was built around 1661 as the burial place for Emperor Aurangzeb’s wife. “For six or seven months this plant is the hub-bub of activity and is like a huge bustling village”, Tehseen Khan described with a smile, noting that there was even a school for the laborer’s kids. According to Khan, one acre produces 60 to 100 tons of sugarcane which sells for Rs. 2,000 per ton. He himself owns 200 acres of land in the area. The average field is about 5 to 100 acres, so most farmers are fairly well off with sugarcane as their main crop and growing grains in the remaining four months. At present the plant makes 3,000 metric tons of sugar cane juice a day, but Khan hopes to increase that to 5,000 metric tons a day by 2015. After processing the sugarcane

juice, the byproduct is 5% molasses, which is the basis of ethanol, currently a 5% gasoline additive in India, and required to increase to 10% soon. The leftover is 30,000 liters of bagasse, the fibrous matter that remains after sugarcane stalks are crushed for their juice. This is used as a fuel and for ethanol distilling and sells for Rs. 1,500 per ton. Generally, for every 10 tons of sugarcane, nearly 3 tons of wet bagasse is left over. Khan has received permission from the government to produce 27 megawatts of electricity from the left over bagasse and sell it on the power grid. Fauzia Khan used a slide presentation to explain statistics showing the GDP growth in India and how the government had deregulated the sugar industry and corrected the huge cycles in production and consumption, creating a strong market. Now 31% is purchased by large industries and 30% by small businesses. The government has $940 million in subsidies for domestic consumption and incentive subsidies for exports. Fauzia and Tehseen pitched the idea of getting private investors – either through equity or debentures – for 60% of the $5.6 million they need to invest for increasing the capacity of the ethanol distilling plant and for generating electricity from bagasse. For those making a minimum of $20,000 investment, they would offer preferred shares with a minimum 12% dividend or debentures at 12% interest. The offer would be open only through the 3rd quarter of 2014, but they are still structuring the official documents for the offering. Their cousin, Shahla Ali who is a lawyer and works as a compliance officer at a hedge fund in New York, came down for the family get together and was asked by the Khans to explain the investment offering. “She is helping put the documents together”, said Azhar later by phone, “and we will hold a meeting with some of the interested parties soon”.

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12 May 23, 2014 COMMUNITY Anjali Center Students to Present Odissi Dance Recitals HOUSTON: Around fifty students of Dr. Smt. Aparupa Chatterjee, the Odissi faculty at Anjali Center for Performing Arts, a disciple of Guru Ratikant and Sujata Mohapatra from “Srjan”, are going to present an exquisite program, “Kelucharan Guna Keertanam 2014” (the 3rd North American Odissi Convention), at the Sur Auditorium of the Houston Durgabari Society, on June 1st, at 1pm, as a special tribute, commemorating the 10th year of both Padmabibhushan Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra’s passing and Chatterjee’s Odissi career at Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Nrityabasa in Bhuvneshwar. The festival, an annual cultural retreat organized by Chatterjee every year, will feature three renowned dance maestros, Guru Ratikant/ Sujata Mohapatra, Dr. Janaki Rangarajan and Smt. Sudeshna Maulik and several other out-of-state/local, eminent performing arts institutions, such as Niharika

Mohanty, Rathna Kumar, Shipra Mehrotra, Lisa Santhanam, Nazanin Baygani, Sunanda Nair and so on. Chatterjee, with the distinction of being the first disicple of Srjan in Texas to have spread her legacy for 7 years, was awarded the President’s award in 2007. She stole the hearts of many and taught over 200 students to do the same in the past years, which will be showcased through a production-‘Vande Mataram’, by Shri Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, choreographed by Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, performed by her Dance Company in USA. The program will begin auspiciously with a prayer to Lord Jagannath, and inaugurated by the Honorable Consul General of India, P. Harish and Mrs. Nandita Harish and an inaugural speech by the Director of Samskriti, Smt. Rathna Kumar, to introduce the significance of Srjan style of authentic Odissi flavor through this excellent program

to Houston showcasing the best of Indian performing arts. C h a t t e r j e e ’s contribution to the field of Odissi, through her teaching, practice and Doctorate, has been termed ‘instrumental’ in nurturing and preserving the Srjan style of Odissi and stands as a testimonial to the dedication of a teacher who inspired many young students to learn the ancient Indian art form and to perform it with pride and joy. This program will also feature Chatterjee’s own choreographyShri Ramachandra Krupalu Bhajamana, performed by one of her recent Manchapravesham students. Chatterjee’s contribution, creativity and professionalism have been awarded by the Texas A&M University through several grants and awards for Arts, including numerous productions. Her dance company has presented all over North America. Sponsored by Texas A&M University Association of former students,

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OCC, Samskriti, Sitaram Foundation, SKAI and several other locals and volunteers, all are cordially invited to this enchanting, artistic evening to cherish beautiful dancers and pay homage to the resurrector of OdissiGuru Kelucharan Mohapatra. Tickets will be available at the gate and online at HYPERLINK “http:// odissiconvention.ticketleap.com/ houston/”ttp://odissiconvention.

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MAY 23, 2014 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

COMMUNITY

May 23, 2014

Chinmaya Mission Students Offer Gita Chanting with Devotion

BY SREE GUNDAMARAJU It starts in early February every year. On the crisp chilly Sunday mornings, a group of excited children, their parents, and equally enthusiastic teachers gather at Chinmaya Mission Houston, an hour before the regular session starts. They go into their respective class rooms and begin learning to chant the selected chapter of Bhagavad-Gita for that year. They carefully pronounce every single syllable, word and phrase in the Sanskrit sloka, join the composite words according to correct grammar, and chant the verses meticulously and melodiously. This industrious practice continues till early May, and culminates in a grand celebration of Gurudeva Swami Chinmayananda’s birthday. Every year, children of Chinmaya Mission centers all over the world celebrate Gurudev’s birthday by participating in Gita Chanting Competitions. This year, the children of Chinmaya Mission Houston studied Chapter 12, Bhakti Yoga, for the competition. More than 140 children, ages 5 to 18,

participated in the Gita Chanting event conducted on May 10th 2014. Leading into the competition, Acarya Sri Gaurang Nanavaty congratulated the participants and reiterated that every single one of them was a winner, as long as they strive to better themselves from within. Shortly afterwards, Chinmaya Smriti reverberated with the divine chanting of the Bhakti Yoga by young sweet voices. The children were divided into several groups by their grades, and the challenge increased as the age group increased. Participants of Group 3 and 4, belonging to grades six and higher had an additional challenge – to explain the gist of the chapter 12 and its verses, and present a practical, contemporary interpretation. Every single participant chanted beautifully and offered their best as a birthday present to Gurudeva Swami Chinmayananda. The winners of this year’s competition are: Sreeharshini Ambatipudi, Srilalita Trisha Madasu and Soumya Upadhye from group 1A (kindergarten); Aditi Chaubal, Veda Suresh, Shikhar Sahay, Anika Chock and

Harshit Arja from Group 1B (grades 1 &2); Meghana Prabhakaran, Raghav Rau and Rajasi Kolhatkar from Group 2A (grade3); Ayush Manoj, Krishnendu Sainath, Yashwant Arra and Disha Udatha from Group 2B (grades 4 & 5); Bhavya Kethireddipalli, Niharika Pakala and Mythreyan Ganesh from Group 3 (grades 6-8); and Sumedha Rao, Amogh Pandey and Harinandan Sainath from group 4 (grades 9-12). Gurudeva’s Janma Jayanti festivities continued into the afternoon with the rendering of an inspiring and melodious Gita Parayana by the adults. The Smriti Hall was filled with the Lord’s Song sung as a harmonious offering to Lord Krishna and Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda. The CMH chanting group recited all the18 chapters of The BhagavadGita in front of the beautifully decorated images of Lord Krishna and Gurudeva. The divine, melodious Gita Parayana concluded with Gita Arati offered with reverence by everyone present. The day ended with Prasad distributed to all. The next day, May 11th, when awards were

presented to the winners, was coincidentally, Mother’s Day. All mothers and the rest of the audience were treated to a special recital of the Gita slokas by the little children from Pre-K. Several four- to five-year-olds went up on the stage and chanted the Gita Slokas in the presence of over five hundred people. Pranav Sriram, Eesha Vullanki, Komal Kallur, Rohan Byali, Srilakshminath Satyasai Madasu, Gayatri Konduri, Nithalaakshaya Raja, Shivani Mukkamala, and Varnika Pavirala, sang the Lord’s song with great confidence and precision, as our Acaryas, Pujya Gaurang Uncle and Pujya Darshana Aunty proudly looked on. Acarya Gaurang Nanavaty said that most of the adults in the audience may not have had this kind of exposure to the sacred Gita at the tender age of 4 and 5, even in India. He congratulated the parents for inspiring the children to tread this trail from such a young age. Chinmaya Mission Houston celebrates Swami Chinmayananda’s birthday every year with a grand event in Gita Chanting. This year was Gurudeva’s 98th Birthday. All the members of Chinmaya family cherish this event, participate in it enthusiastically, and are inspired to discover the self and serve.

For more information about Chinmaya Mission Houston, please visit www.chinmayahouston.org or contact Bharati Sutaria at 281933-0233.

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MAY 23, 2014 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

14 May 23, 2014

COMMUNITY

HMM Hosts Music Composer Kaushal Inamdar’s Houston Concert

support. The hardworking team of fourteen HMM Committee members; Megha Ozarker HMM President, Manasi Pendharkar - Treasurer, Aditya Raje - Secretary, Amit Pendharkar, Suchitra Deo, Akshay Deshpande, Bhagyashree Dixit, Gajanan Borikar, Isha Amte, Kiran Khurd, Koushik Gumaste, Savita Kale, and Ravi Ozarker worked for two months to organize this mega event. Several volunteers including, Anjou Sathe Keller, Shirish Khandekar, Avnav Jariwala and Falguni Jariwala also helped to make this event memorable. HMM offered momentous to Kaushal and his team which were beautifully hand crafted by Vaibhavi Kotnis.

Visit www.hmmhouston.org” www.hmmhouston.org for more information. BY RAVI OZARKER HOUSTON: May 11th 2014 - Houston Maharashtra Mandal (HMM) hosted Kaushal Inamdar’s Concert at Berry Center, Cypress. Shri Kaushal Inamdar is the music director of a super-hit Marathi movie called “BalGandharva”. He is an accomplished singer and music composer. He is also the music director of several recent successful Marathi movies, Pitruroon and Yellow. Marathi Abhimangeet is Kaushal’s biggest achievement. For the first time in musical history, more than 450 accomplished singers had come together for a single song. 112 professional playback singers have sung one line each for this composition. From 10 year old Mugdha Vaishampayan to senior singer Vittal Umap, each singer has lent his or her own special style and presence to make this song a collage of melodious voices. The actual recording of the song took place over a period of 15 months across 3 different studios in Mumbai, Chennai and Thane. A part of the song was recorded in A.R.Rahman’s studio in Chennai. Famous singers like Hariharan, Mahalakshmi Iyer, Hamsika Iyer, Shankar Mahadevan also have sung one line in this beautiful song. Kaushal Inamdar with his team Aditya Oke (On Harmonium), Mandar Gogate (Tabla), Jaydeep Bagwadkar (Singer), Mugdha Hasabinis (Singer) entertained

Houstonians for almost three hours. The show is absolutely unique, magnificently stitched together by Kaushal’s scenic musical tour of how music is written and created. He is a great song writer, singer, speaker, and entertainer. Jaydeep sang many famous songs from Kaushal’s recent movies along with Mugdha. Berry Center Theater was filled with their melodious voices and table and harmonium played by Aditya and Mandar. The show began with a heart touching surprise performance by thirty children from three HMM Marathi Shala branches (Cypress, Katy, and Sugarland) who sang Kaushal’s “Abhiman Geet” specially for Kaushal and his team. Many people and parents were in tears to see their little ones sing such a great song that Kaushal had worked on. Vaishali Khandekar, Marathi Shala (School) Lead, said that the kids, teachers, and parents had worked extremely hard for this event. Kaushal congratulated all the children, parents, and teachers for their marvelous efforts. In the beginning, Nivedan was done by Achala Bapat. The event ended with a thank you note from Dipti Kanhere and HMM President Megha Ozarker. Megha thanked the attendees, artists, children, committee members, volunteers, and HMM Sponsors (KT Bombay Grocers, Vishala Restaurant, and Maharaja Bhog Restaurant) for their

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May 23, 2014

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MAY 23, 2014 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

16 May 23, 2014

COMMUNITY

“Path of Ahimsa” – JVB celebrates Akshay Tritiya, Acharya Abhinandan & Mother’s day BY SHASHANK JAIN Houston: JVB Preksha Meditation Center held a unique event celebrating Akshay Tritiya, Acharya Abhinandan and Mother’s day, on Sunday May 11th 2014. The event was aptly titled – “Path of Ahimsa” which attracted 125 people and was held under the guidance of Samani Sanmati Pragyaji and Samani Jayant Pragyaji. The program began with a special event prayer, and the unveiling of the much awaited Prayer Book designed by the Samanijis. This book was given as a gift to all mothers’ in attendance. The program also featured an unique advertisement contest, wherein participants used their creativity to make & present commercials – on topics such as “How

to control Gun Violence with Ahimsa”, ” Getting angry on kids & family - cure for this himsa”, “How to celebrate Birthday to portray Ahimsa”, “Advantages of being Vegetarian”, “Transform your life by attending JVB”. All the teams enthralled the audience with their witty ads and messages. The program was expertly compered by Seema Jain & Mukta Jain. Samani Sanmati Pragya Ji & Jayant Pragya Ji presented their thoughts on the auspicious day, and talked about the importance of having a guru in life. Event was followed by a delicious lunch. Mothers’ Day was commemorated with the ladies staying out of the kitchen, and the food serving and cleanup was done by the men folk, providing much cheer & enjoy-

ment to the ladies. In closing, President of JVB Houston thanked audience and presented all contestants with participation prizes. He also thanked the team full of energetic volunteers and the sponsors of this event. The JVB Preksha Meditation Center envisions a blissful and peaceful society through Yoga, Preksha Meditation and Education of Non-violence. It conducts weekly Mediation, Yoga and Swadhyay sessions and runs special events and programs like iChoose & Camps. Its open to all and every session or event is free of charge to its attendees. For more information please visit www.jvbhouston.org or call them at 281.596.9642.

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KTRK-TV, the ABC owned station located in Houston, TX is looking for a multimedia producer who can execute all aspects of the broadcast and digital story-telling process. Will be expected to come up with original content daily for broadcast and digital platforms. Must be comfortable juggling multiple projects at once and managing various crews. Needs to be a strong researcher, writer, field producer, communicator and leader. Responsibilities will include working on a variety of news, programming, and digital projects. Qualified candidates must have at least 5 years television broadcast writing experience and must be creative self-starters. All Interested applicants must apply online at disneycareers.com, ref job #187777BR Please upload a cover letter, resume and list of references. No Telephone Calls KTRK-TV is an Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/D/V.

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MAY 23, 2014 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

COMMUNITY

May 23, 2014

“Why” Camp for Youth Holds Summer Camps in Pearland and Cypress MANVEL, TX: The Global Organization for Divinity (G.O.D.) USA’s Gopa Kuteeram camps have grown to become innovative, notto-miss experiences for children and youth in Houston and several cities in the USA and the world! This year G.O.D. Houston (Namadwaar group) once again presents an exciting array of 4 unique camps, with a wonderful blend of funﬁlled creativity, culture and education. Two of these camps will be held in the Pearland area and two in Cypress area, and will be geared towards kids and youth of different ages. The most innovative of these camps will be the “WHY?-5” Youth Camp for youth aged 12 to 17 years which will be held in the Pearland area, at Namadwaar Prayer House on Bailey avenue. This camp will aim to directly focus on the numerous questions of the younger generation – about the Indian culture and way of life, and more importantly, about ‘Life’ itself. Here youngsters will be encouraged - in a youth-friendly manner - to think deeper about life and the future (beyond career and comfort, and even beyond religion and ‘doing good’), and open up with their questions, so they can be guided to discover the answers in a fun, inspiring environment. Apart from the interactive sessions and discussions, there will also be themed workshops in Cartooning, Culinary Arts, Cricket and Creative Writing. This camp will be held in the evenings, from July 24 to 27, with the timing set to accommodate any internships or summer jobs of high school youth. Apart from the Why-5 camp, G.O.D. will also conduct three other camps for younger children. The uniqueness of these camps is that they blend creative themed workshops and value-based

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exercises with lots of games and fun trips and activities to present an exciting immersion in rich Indian culture. The “Vibrant India” camp in Pearland (June 20-22) for children aged 5 to 10 years will provide an experience of India’s colorful diversity and educate children with information they never knew about India. There will be several creative workshops in art, sports, music, dance, culinary arts and many interactive sessions on India’s twisty languages, grounded traditions, all-embracing belief system and ancient royal history. A highlight of the camp will be a ﬁeld trip that includes a writing workshop with a writer from WITS Houston. Children of all cultural backgrounds will gain immensely in their knowledge and appreciation of India’s culture through this camp. The Cypress area camps include “Crazy Kishkindha”, a Ramayana-themed camp (June 13-15) for children aged 8 to 12 years, and a Li’l Gopas culture camp (July 18-19) for children aged 4 to 7 years. Both these will include several creative and fun activities and themed workshops including art & craft, music, dance, yoga, story-telling, and much more. Both these camps will be held at the Cy-Fair Library on Barker-Cypress road. Early-bird discount deadlines for all the camps end on different dates in June. For more information about all the camps, their dates and times, and to register online, please visit www.godivinity.org. Please call 281-516-1596 or email houston.god@godivinity.org with any questions.

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INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MAY 23, 2014 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

18 May 23, 2014 Time for a New Beginning Indo-American News congratulates the Bharatiya Janata Party, Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi and the Sangh Parivar in the U.S., and particularly in Houston, for a spectacular win. Euphoria over the results was the riding emotion at the victory party at India House last Sunday, especially for stalwarts such as Vijay Pallod, Shekhar Agarwal and Ramesh Bhutada. Many of them had gone to India to help out in the general election campaign and hundreds of others had organized telephone campaigns and Chai pe Charcha meetings to get out the vote. I, myself, had come under NaMo’s spell when I had attended the inauguration of the Pandit Deen Dayal Petroleum University in Ahmedabad in 2007. Both Chief Minister Modi and University Chairman Mukesh Ambani made impressive speeches. Under Modi, Gujarat has achieved remarkable growth in agricultural and industrial growth. Of significance to Houstonians, the Gujarat government has encouraged oil and gas exploration. The Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) was the first. regional state-sponsored oil and gas company in India. One of the best examples of pro-business policies was Modi’s welcome banner for Tata’s Nano factory after the company faced such political strife in West Bengal. Unfortunately for West Bengal, its electorate has also given a resounding victory to Mamata Banerjee and her socialist ilk. Hopefully, Modi and the BJP can achieve a similar level of growth throughout India. Since the election victory, Modi has made conciliatory speeches, promising to work for the poor people and be a prime minister for all the people, including Muslims. While we wish the BJP and Modi well on this new journey, we must look back and thank the Congress and its GandhiNehru dynasty for their service to the nation. Motilal and Jawaharlal Nehru went to jail for India’s independence and Pandit Nehru guided the nation through her formative decades. Both Indira and Rajiv Gandhi gave their lives for the nation. Sonia Gandhi did her best to carry on the family tradition. Now the Congress must give the India’s first family a break and revive itself under new leadership to become a viable party in opposition. PM PV Narasimha Rao and FM Manmohan Sigh also deserve credit for starting economic reforms. While the party in power may change, India’s interests remain the same. We must encourage foreign investments. There must be continuous stimulation to the economy to regain double-digit GDP growth. We must keep a check on terrorism that may continue to trouble us under the feeble government in Pakistan. China can be a friend as well as a foe. For now, let’s celebrate ... until the reality returns. Pramod Kulkarni

EDITORIAL

10 Things PM Modi Should Do BY RAJESH KALRA Here are my 10 suggestions for the new Prime Minister and his government to follow. The list can be a hundred long, but this can be a good start, I feel. 1. INFRASTRUCTURE PUSH: There needs to be a huge infrastructure push. Yes, we have seen growth in telecom and roads have improved, but are we anywhere close to what a world-class network should be? No! And about electricity, the less said the better. 2. SHUN CRONY CAPITALISM: When you talk of infrastructure, a lot of inputs on what and how come from the powerful committees that work under the Prime Minister’s Office. These could be committees on investment, on enterprises, manufacturing, skills development and what have you. The governments may change but these committees don’t. In some of the most important committees, the same set of industrialists have ruled the roost. The new government would do well to throw out all those who have lasted dynasties and regimes. 3. TACKLE CORRUPTION: It may sound clichéd, even sloganeering, but this is something that this nation now needs to tackle almost as a mission. It is not going to be easy, but where there’s a will, there’s a way. 4. IMPROVE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX: We may tom-tom our nuclear prowess and huge skilled manpower and young population, but on some of the basic HDI, we are an embarrassment. This needs to be top priority. More so, since it does not single out a particular community, but benefits all. 5. HEALTH AND EDUCATION: Both these points can never be overemphasised. They are critical for any nation. We may have a ‘great and vibrant’ democracy, but those on ground know better. As for healthcare, it is an area that the government seems to have almost abdicated its responsibility. And in this, there should be a marked push towards preventive healthcare. We are good at creating AIIMS like in-

Miracles won’t happen overnight, they don’t happen overnight, but if they see things moving in the right direction, they would support not just these ﬁve years, but after that too. stitutions, but have done precious little for preventing those who have to use the overcrowded facilities run by the government. Preventive healthcare would ensure hygiene and clean drinking water. Surely, a nation that aspires to be a superpower cannot not have this as a priority. 6. BUILD A SCIENTIFIC TEMPER: There was a time when this nation could be counted among those what gave top class thinkers in every field, including science. But now? And if truth be told, the tag of us being an IT Superpower is phoney, to say the least. We are software pygmies, at best. One of the largest growing population in the world needs to be harnessed and that can happen through a combination of several things, education, as mentioned above. 7. EMPOWER YOUTH: This nation’s youth has huge potential and they have high hopes too, for themselves and for their nation. But they can see the promise being frittered away. Make the huge young population of this country regain pride in their nation. It is something they seem to have lost. Let them regain the confidence in themselves and their nation. Empower youth. 8. PUNISH OFFICIALS AND MINISTERS WHO DON’T RESPECT LAW: The common man is quite sick of how the powerful misuse their position. It should be your priority to make these ‘lawunto-themselves’ fear, and respect

Indo American News FOUNDER: DR. K.L. SINDWANI PUBLISHER: JAWAHAR MALHOTRA EDITOR: PRAMOD KULKARNI BUSINESS & PRODUCTION MANAGER: VANSHIKA VIPIN GRAPHIC DESIGN: AMITHA DEVIKRUPA CORRESPONDENTS

HOUSTON: MALAY VYAS, MANU SHAH CHICAGO: NAND KAPOOR, INDIA: RAJ KANWAR ®All rights reserved. No material herein or portions thereof may be published without the written consent of the publisher. The deadline for advertising and articles is 4 pm on Monday of each week. Please include self-addressed, stamped envelope for return of all unsolicited material. Published at 7457 Harwin Drive, Suite 262, Houston, Texas 77036. Tel: 713-789-NEWS or 6397 Fax: 713-789-6399, email: indoamericannews@yahoo.com, website: indoamerican-news.com

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MAY 23, 2014 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

laws of land. Make sure they don’t grab all that is scarce. Let the word get out that the common man has first right over resources that are scarce. It could be seemingly unimportant things like school and college admissions, but am sure you have an idea what it means to those who are going through the exercise.And this list of misuse can go on and on from grabbing non-political postings to not giving up sprawling and palatial government bungalows and so on. 9. DON’T SINGLE OUT COMMUNITIES: Improve the lot of all religions. Some minorities are used only as vote banks. They deserve better. An improvement in their condition would expose their so called leaders as having used them. No harm in getting genuine converts to your brand of progress. At the end of the day, people want progress and dignified life 10. RESTORE OUR RIVERS: Rivers, other than being sacred to a large number of Indians, are our lifeline, but thanks to rampant misuse and lack of respect for what they give, most have turned into open sewers. Also, Prime Minister, there would be several who would be chuckling at the thought of you inheriting an economy that is nowhere close to what it should be. Price rise being one, law and order, defence preparedness, more specifically low on ammunition and spare reserves, etc. Let them chuckle. People are no fools. Put your points across forcefully. Tell them this is what you have inherited but you will work in the most earnest manner to get us out of it. Spell out what you wish to do. As soon as they see things moving in the right direction, there would be acceptance. They will support the right moves. Miracles won’t happen overnight, they don’t happen overnight, but if they see things moving in the right direction, they would support not just these 5 years, but after that too And ultimately, Prime Minister, please provide governance, don’t rule! Times of India

COMMUNITY

May 23, 2014

What is the Hype about STEM Education?

Southern News Hosts Education Workshop

Well, a Child Could Develop a Passion for Engineering in Kindergarten

HOUSTON: Best in Class Education Center is on board with STEM curricula from pre-K to adult education If you Google “STEM education,” you’ll ﬁnd countless media outlets covering the topic and articulating that the United States is falling behind internationally, ranking 25th in mathematics and 17th in science among industrialized nations. What is STEM? It stands for science-technology-engineering-mathematics, and generally supports broadening the study of engineering through these subjects as early as elementary school. The United States CoSTEM (The committee on STEM Education) in conjunction with the Dept. of Education has outlined several goals intended to be achieved over the next several years, which will improve the United States’ ranking internationally, and prepare our students for success in technology and engineering ﬁelds. The top three initiatives are: Increase the U.S. tech/engineering talent pool by improving K-12 sci-

ence and mathematics curricula Strengthen the skills of educators through additional training in science, math and technology Enlarge the pipeline of students prepared to graduate college with STEM degrees Best in Class Education recognizes that with a higher demand than ever in STEM-related career fields, it behooves us to spark our students’ interest in the field early on. We need to equip students with the tools they need to excel, particularly in the areas of mathematics, science, and technology. As a part of its proprietary curriculum, Best in Class offers a mathematics enrichment program that pinpoints specific concepts a student has trouble with, and then aims to improve upon the students problemsolving skills for those particular concepts first. Once these concepts have been mastered, the student goes on to learn how to utilize analytical strategies to apply basic principles to more complex material. The private

tutoring program through Best in Class implements the same method of teaching. It guarantees students of all levels access to teachers who specialize in STEM subjects in a private setting. The end-goal of a well-rounded education is to prepare our students for a successful career, right? Currently, only about 16 percent of high school graduates are interested in pursuing a STEM degree. Educational services such as My College Options and STEMconnector predict that will be a demand for an 8.65 million-strong STEM workforce by 2018. With a clear demand in the ﬁeld, Best in Class Education is committed to teaching STEM in a manner that gets students excited about these subjects and provides them with the skills to surpass their peers. For more information about Best in Class services for your student, or about current franchising opportunities, visit www.bestinclasseducation.com or call toll free at 1.888.683.8108. Best in Class is targeting the addition of 20 additional units in 2014. The state of Texas has been identiﬁed as a key state for growth. The current team behind Best in Class is looking for passionate and dedicated individuals to join this premier franchise family and ensure our youth will excel academically.

|| Har Har Gange || Shree Gangaji Avataran

HOUSTON: The educational workshop sponsored by McDonald’s and Southern News Group was a grand success by getting over 1000 students along with their parents of different communities, event Cochair Mr. Rahman Moton welcomed elected ofﬁcials and all attendee. On May 17, 2014 at Sharpstown International School-Houston, the educational workshop started with a Ribbon cutting ceremony by Al Green (Congressman), GeneWu (State Representative), Richard Nguyen (City Council member), Way Lee (CEO Southern News Group), Rahman Moton (President MACC & Co chair), Thuy M. Le-Thai (Principal of Sharpstown), and many other elected ofﬁcials and several organizations in a grand way. More than a dozen of universities and colleges participated in the workshop to guide students

and parents in finding the suitable colleges and universities. Congressman Al Green and elected officials honored the organizers by presenting them with a certificate. The workshop continued by serving with the lunch. The attended students participated in a Raffle drawing and some grand prizes were gifted to the winners.

Our Hearty Invitation to all Devotees on the Special Occasion of Shri Gangaji’s Avataran on Earth We Celebrate This Occasion on

Sunday, June 8, 2014

** Shri Ganga Poojan will start at 2 PM followed by Gangaji’s Avataran Darshan from 4 PM to 6:30 PM - Aarti at 7 PM Priti Bhojan and Prasad after Aarti

Shri Ganga Poojan is a great opportunity in your life which can wash out all sins. ***SPONSORS WELCOME FOR PRASAD & PRITI BHOJAN To be Yajman in Shri Gangaji’s Poojan contact : Pandit Virat K. Mehta 713-784-5500 or Priest Hardik Raval 361-243-6539 or Temple 713-278-9099

Shree Gangaji Dashera (Dashhara) The Great Tapascharya of the King of the Raghukul Dynasty, Maharshi Shri Bhagirath brought Shri Gangaji down to the Earth to liberate 60,000 sons of King Sagar.

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20 May 23, 2014

INDIA

Modi Government’s Axe to Fall on Governors BY RAJ KANWAR IAN INDIA CORRESPONDENT

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SPECULATION is rife among political observers that the axe may fall on about 10 of the 28 state governors whose “use-by-date” had long expired. Some of these worthies have been enjoying for many years these gubernatorial ‘sinecures’; a few of them even have had the privilege of being a tenant in more than one Raj Bhavan. Barring the former bureaucrats who are largely in their 60s, the political appointees are in their late seventies or early /mid eighties. Though the Narendra Modi government will have other more important priorities when it is formally sworn in by the weekend, it is nonetheless believed that it will have to undertake sooner rather than later a serious review of the fossilized tenants in some of the Raj Bhavans. According to the Indian Constitution, any person who is at least 35 years of age and a citizen of India is qualified to be appointed as a governor. By that yardstick, almost every third Indian is constitutionally eligible for such an exalted post. A governor’s position is possibly the best sinecure one can aspire to. The dictionary meaning of ‘sinecure’ is a telling commentary. Sample this: “A job or position that provides a regular income but requires little or no work” This dictionary meaning is amply representative of state governors in India. Here a governor gets a basic salary of Rs. 1,10,000.00 plus free board and lodging. He also has a plethora of perks and allowances, absolutely unheard of in any other democracy. A governor here includes his family, meaning spouse, dependent children and dependent parents. Now consider the other perquisites: i)A rent-free official residence, considered to be the largest in the state capital, with free electricity, gas, water, a retinue of kitchen and housekeeping staff, cars with chauffeurs (their pay and allowances included) and provision of free petrol, diesel, maintenance, repairs etc. The official residence of a governor will also include staff quarters and other buildings appurtenant thereto as also gardens, lawns etc. ii)Since constitutionally, a governor is head of the state, he is provided with several other privileges and freebies in order to enable him to discharge conveniently and with dignity the duties (or whatever these mean) of his office; these are entertainment allowances, hospitality grant, household establishment expenses, office expenses, contract allowance that means allowance for miscellaneous expenses as also all the expenses incurred on tours and travels. He is also given free medical treatment without any limit. Though, it is not specifically stated, it is understood that governor will also have access to free liquor and cigarettes, if he were a worshipper of Bacchus and a smoker. iii)The governor is also provided with two ADCs (aide-de-camp), one

Shivraj Patil

from military and the other from the police; they act as confidential assistants to the governor and stay all the time at his beck and call. The governor also has over a score of officers of various ranks, as senior as a secretary to the state government, to assist him in the discharge of his duties. There are at least 10 governors who have been in office for more than four or, perhaps closer to, five years. They were all appointed, barring an exception or two, by the UPA I and UPA II dispensations. At 87, the Assam governor Janaki Ballabh Patnaik is the oldest among them. Kamla Beniwal (85), Gujarat governor since 27 November 2009 has had many spats with chief minister Modi, particularly over the appointment of state Lokayukta. She was also in the eye of storm in Rs. 1000-crore Jaipur Development Authority land scam. Even otherwise, her performance at the Ahmedabad Raj Bhavan has been lackluster, to say the least. The next on the expired list is another octogenarian Jagannath Pahadia (82) who has been the governor of Haryana for nearly five years now. Yet another long-lasting governor is Narender Nath Vohra (78) of Jammu & Kashmir who will be completing six years of his uninterrupted tenure on 25 June next; he also has had the dubious distinction of earlier having been a permanent interlocutor in Kashmir of the Union government but his contribution to the thorny Kashmir problem either as an interlocutor or the governor is virtually zero. Urmila Singh of Himachal Pradesh, though relatively younger at 68, has been in the gubernatorial saddle since 25 January 2010. She was a prominent Congress leader of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh; she had fought elections in 2003 and 2008 but without any success. Her appointment was purely a case of ‘political’ rehabilitation. HR Bhardwaj (77) of Karnataka has already completed nearly five years at the Bangalore Raj Bhavan. He was, as is well known, the law minister in the UPA I. Another octogenarian K Sankaranarayanan (82), a senior politician from Kerala, has been the Maharashtra governor since 22 January 2010. Shivraj Patil (79), a Maharashtra politician and a former Lok Sabha speaker, has now been the Punjab governor for nearly four years and a half. He is suave and invariably immaculately dressed. Another Kerala politician, Vakkom Purushothaman has been the governor of Mizoram for nearly three years. At 86, he is the second oldest among the current governors. Many other governors came from civil and defense services. It is not

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MAY 23, 2014 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

known if they had any ‘special qualifications’ or were they given the gubernatorial positions merely to provide them with post-retirement sinecures for the “services rendered during their respective careers”. Otherwise, one cannot distinguish the relative merits of a Ashwani Kumar from a MK Narayanan or of VK Duggal from KK Paul. If one was in the Indian Administrative Service, the other came from Indian Police Service and the third from the defense. It is the case of tweedledee and tweedledum. The BJP rank and file as also its ambitious leaders had remained in political wilderness for the past decade or so, and they would be seeking a ‘well-deserved’ sinecure, now that Modi-led BJP has received a mammoth mandate. The party has only 282 members in the Lok Sabha; there are many others whose contributions to the party had been noteworthy and would perhaps need to be given some pelf or position. There are not many governorships going around but still India’s 28 Raj Bhavans can at least provide 10 vacancies in the very near future. Hence, the Modi government will have no option but to provide Raj Bhavans’ sinecures to some of the party’s senior leaders who would need to be rehabilitated. Fortuitously for the Modi government, there are precedents galore where the successive Central governments have filled up gubernatorial vacancies without any regard to the qualifications of the appointee. The only criterion was the loyalty and the services rendered. However, here a word of caution will be in order. The Modi government must set new standards in public probity and must not blindly copy the unhealthy practices followed by its predecessors. Although there are no specific qualifications for the post of a governor, it is nevertheless expected that the chosen candidates are men and women with poise and of unimpeachable lineage. They should also be equally capable of conducting themselves with dignity. They must also be in good health and physically capable of discharging the ceremonial or other duties assigned. Though, a governor is appointed for a five-year term, yet he holds the office at the pleasure of the President and could be removed any time before completion of his term. In any case, several of the governors are on the verge of completing their fiveyear term. Thus the new government will have a smooth sailing if and when it wishes to appoint new governors from among its own supporters. Raj Kanwar is a Dehra Dun-based author and freelance journalist.

COMMUNITY

May 23, 2014

Big Accolades for 9th IAFC Annual Awards Banquet Gala in Dallas

DALLAS: The Indian American Friendship Council (IAFC) hosted its 9th Annual Awards Banquet Gala with big fanfare where more than 500 people attended to celebrate the success of the Indian American community. This awards banquet was held on Saturday, May 10 at Park Plaza Towers in Dallas. The ﬁrst Indian American Woman Governor, the youngest Governor in the USA, Nikki Randhawa Haley, Governor of South Carolina attended the banquet as a Keynote Speaker and Beth Van Duyne, Irving City Mayor as a special guest. Rao Kalvala, IAFC Secretary opened and welcomed the gathering and explained the importance of this year’s banquet theme of “Education – Experience – Empowerment.” The evening started with beautifully sung Indian and USA National Anthems by young children. Once Popular TV anchor and artist now settled in Dallas as an IT professional Rajeswari Udayagiri who did an excellent job as Mistress of Ceremonies invited the students of Guru Parampara Scholl of Arts to perform a dance item titled the “Glory of Kuchipudi” as an

said Dr. Prasad Thotakura, IAFC Texas State Chairman. Thotakura further stated that IAFC has been recognized twice in US Congress for its dynamic role in building better relations between the largest democracy, India and the oldest democracy USA. This year’s Awards Banquet was special as Governor Haley attended and very successful people from all walks of life were felicitated with distinguished awards Haley, Thotakura and other IAFC Board Directors presented awards to the following individuals: “IAFC-Outstanding Scholar & Administrator” award was presented to Prof. Kharbari M. Vistasp, eighth President of the University of Texas at Arlington. Vistasp is a visionary leader and accomplished scholar who is committed to advancing UT Arlington’s national and international proﬁle while strengthening excellence in research and teaching and ensuring the success of the University’s 38,000 students body. During his more than 20 years in higher education, he has received numerous awards for research,

invocation dance. Manogna Chavali, Yashaswini Pindi, Parimala Gangaraju, and Sampreeti Bingi did an excellent job in showcasing their talents of foot rhythm and expressions. This dance item was choreographed by the late Padma Vibhushan Guru Vempati China Satyam and Guru Hemamalini Chavali, Director of the Guru Parampara School of Arts of Irving. John Hammond, IAFC Director and the Awards Banquet Chair spoke about the simple living and high thinking of the Mahatma Gandhi and stated that proceeds of this banquet beneﬁts the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial project. “As a strong Indian American community, we all need to focus on local issues like Education, Health Care, Social Security, Roads and Transportation, Safety and Security etc., and express our opinions with an uniﬁed voice and need to participate in the US election process”,

teaching and innovation. “IAFC-Community Bridge Award” was presented to Beth Van Duyne, Mayor of City of Irving. Duyne fought hard against tax and fees increases, championed the movement against more apartment complexes and promoted smart development backed by legitimate investors. “IAFC-Outstanding Entrepreneur Award” was presented to Arun Agarwal, CEO, Alok International. Agarwal, a Harvard University graduate, who has built a multi-million dollar business, is a pioneer in Home Textile Industry has focused on World-class infrastructure, bestin-class technology, uncompromising quality standards and dynamic product innovation. The company is a supplier to major retailers such as Wal-Mart, Target, Kohl’s, Dillard’s, JC Penny etc., “IAFC-Outstanding Youth Excellence

Award” was presented to Ali A. Saherwala, 2nd year Medical Student, UT Southwestern, Dallas. Saherwala, despite his complex life due to his congenital bilateral conduction hearing loss and other medical conditions, successfully battled many surgeries, years of speech therapy and worked hard at school, until he graduated at the top of his class in Allen High School, Allen. He then attended UT Dallas with a full scholarship with the acclaimed and prestigious Eugene McDermott Scholarship program. Currently,Ali is a second year medical student at UT Southwestern Medical School and is involved with numerous student organizations. Taiyab Kundawala, Vice President, in his closing remarks thanked all the guests, congratulated all award winners, John and. Linda Hammond, the grand sponsors of the banquet, volunteers, dance schools, Bombay Photography, Weddings by Farah, media like TV 9, FunAsiA.

The Gala ended with a patriotic songs medley presented by the students of the Inspirationz Dance Academy that was choreographed by its Director Shanti Nuti. Participants included Wednesday Price, Siddha Eleswarapu, Siddhartha Eleswarapu, Swetha Vadlamannati, Sonika Reddy, Sriya Vaskarla, Sreya Laxmi Kodela, Shreya Thalla, Pragna Brahmadevara, Sonika Reddy, Abhi Vadlamannati, Akhil Mulukutla and Avani Sunkireddy. IAFC TX State Chapter Executive Team includes Chair Dr. Prasad Thotakura, Executive Vice President Dr. Tara Kumar Reddy, Vice President Piyush Patel, Vice President Taiyab Kundawala, Secretary Rao Kalvala, Board of Directors include: Prof. Niranjan Tripathy, Dr. Sat Gupta, Paul Pandian, Murali Vennam, MRaj Asava, Ramki Chebrolu, John Hammond, Ms. Sushimitha Kosuri and Advisory Board of Directors include Arun Agarwal, Dr. Nick Manesh and Neeha Curtis

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COMMUNITY

Enchanting Sri Vasavi Jayanthi Celebrations at Sri Meenakshi Temple

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Devotees in procession at Sri Meenakshi temple carrying Utsava Vigraha of Sri Vasavi

BY SESHAGIRI PABBISETTY On May 18th Vasavi Pooja Sangam coordinated the celebrations under the auspices of Sri Meenakshi Temple. With the sponsorship of Sri Vasavi devotees and their enthusiastic participation with their families and friends the festival turned out to be another enchanting and memorable socio-religious experience for everybody. The event is a celebration of Dharmam, Seelam (Chastity) and Ahimsa (Non-violence), the three core values she preached and, meant to spread her message. As Sri Vasavi Puranam portrayed she was a manifestation of Adi Parasakthi. With a Divine purpose She was born into a royal family. She was given the name, Vasavamba, but later known as Sri Vasavi Kanyaka Parameswari or Sri Vasavi in short. Unlike Goddess Meenakshi, who married Lord Siva, Sri Vasavi decided to dedicate her life to Lord Siva by remaining unmarried as “Gowrabalika (Virgin)”. As such She refused the King’s marriage offer even under the threat of war and decided to end her Avatar by offering herself to the God of Fire, Agni, thus preventing bloodshed and also upholding the dignity and honor of womanhood. In her message She emphasized the virtues of Dharmam and Seelam and Ahimsa. In reverence to her true manifestation the function started at the Ganesh

temple with homam (havan), seeking the blessings of Lord Ganapathi first and ending with invoking sanctifications of Sri Vasavi Devi as Adiparasakthi by chanting Vasavi Gayathri: Om Parah Sakthaicha Vidhmahey; Adi Sakthaicha Dheemahi; Thanno Kanyakamba Prachodayat Swaha. The Kalasam with holy water was taken in a procession to the Vasavi Sannidhi for doing Abhishekam to the Moola vigraham. The alankaram was expertly done by the priest with Silver Kavacham, new Silk Sari and fresh flower garlands. The participants cited Ashtothra Namavali. The ritual aspect ended with Aarati followed by another colorful procession carrying the Utsava Vigraham around the main temple. In parallel children were actively kept engaged by the Borugu family in fun and learning experience that included a question and answer session on the history and message of Sri Vasavi Devi. At the Sri Vasavi Sannidhi the priest gave theertham and prasadam to each participant with the Devi’s blessings; this was followed with a delicious lunch. At the luncheon the current coordinator, Sri Kalva Prasad, gave an account of the year-long activities and thanked all the volunteers, especially the Ladies, sponsors and participants, children in particular, for a successful and blissful year. He expressed his gratitude to the

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MAY 23, 2014 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

Moola Vigraham of Sri Vasavi Kanyaka Parameswari at Sri MTS

Celebration Team, in particular to Sri Shankar Pabba for the team leadership role, to Sri Karunakar Chowdavarapu for his liaison role with the temple and to Sri Satya Narendrula for the Audio arrangements and introduced the incoming coordinator, Sri Athukuri Sudarshan. He mentioned about the NRIVA-GMR fund drive nationwide to help the needy and introduced Dr. Siddeswar Gubba as the local champion. He also made a reference to the local media coverage, wherein Sri Vasavi was mentioned to have become immortal as the champion of Peace and Nonviolence (Ahimsa) and a reference was made to the statement of Bharat Ratna Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, past president of India, describing Goddess Vasavi very rightly as the First ever known personiﬁcation of Non-violence in the world – a fact that needs to be publicized and recognized as is done for other non-violence champions, such as Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and others. The devotees were very grateful to the temple board and administration for their support and, in particular, to the temple priest, Sri Pawankumar Sribhashyam, for his expertise in performing the ritual aspects of the celebrations.

COMMUNITY

May 23, 2014

Vedic Heritage School Year End Program Celebrated at Sri Meenakshi Temple

Vedic Heritage School students depicting episodes from Siva Purana

BY MAHESH K IYER HOUSON: The annual Year End Program (YEP) by the Vedic Heritage Class (VHS) students of Sri Meenakshi Temple was celebrated on 5/18/2014 at the temple Kalyanamantapam. Garuda Rao, the coordinator of VHS, ensured the execution of a well thought out event, which was attended by nearly 350 individuals. A team of 30 students from VHS, put together a stage-drama, under the

able guidance of volunteer teachers, that depicted episodes from Siva Purana. During a week ﬁlled with ﬁnal exams, it was truly remarkable to see young talent go on stage and exhibit great enthusiasm in learning their script and portraying mythological stories. It was inspiring to see whole-hearted support from parents who spent countless hours in working with their children to prepare for the event.

Colorful costumes and stage props added to the authenticity of the show. Mahalakshmi Sadasivam, who is a joint coordinator for VHS helped to direct the show that included music, dance and captivating dialogue. The YEP included a graduation ceremony for the senior batch of VHS students who rendered a videotaped summary of what they learned in Bhagawath Gita class. There was also poster presentation by the junior

Vedic Heritage Schools youngest students were dressed as gods and godesses at Meenakshi temple. Photos: Vairavan Subramanian

VHS class who went on stage to discuss what they learnt about various temples in India. But certainly the most memorable segment was the littlest students who were dressed up as Gods and Goddesses. The show came to an end with Garuda Rao introducing Mahalakshmi Sadasivam as the coordinator for 2014-2015 along with Sripathy Karanam and Padmanabhan Bheri as co-coordinators. Padma Golla (MTS Treasurer),

representing the MTS board, thanked heartily the hard and dedicated service provided by the VHS teachers and volunteers. No event of such magnitude is complete without a sumptuous lunch which was served in the adjacent Youth Hall, complete with kids’ favorite noodles and ice cream kulﬁ. Indeed a great day to remember for VHS who will regroup in Fall 2014 for the next academic year.

Bharathi Kalai Manram Celebrates Annual Tamil School Year end Program BY AKILAN GOPAL This year marks the 40th Anniversary for the cultural organization Bharathi Kalai Manram (BKM), an organization that provides a forum for cultural and social interaction with special emphasis on ﬁne arts, lit-

BKM Tamil School children performing Tamil Thai Vazhthu at the start of the year end program.

BY AKILAN GOPAL HOUSTON: This year marks the 40th Anniversary for the cultural organization Bharathi Kalai Manram (BKM), an organization that provides a forum for cultural and social interaction with special emphasis on ﬁne arts, literature and performing arts of Tamil speaking people from India. Among BKM’s established programs is its Tamil School, educating children as young as 4 years to read, write, and speak Tamil. Founded 13 years ago, the Tamil School was originally taught with only a handful of students in small trailer at the Sri Meenakshi Temple Society in Pearland. Commensurate with the growth in Houston and surrounding areas, the BKM Tamil School has grown to four locations with aspirations to grow further. Pearland School led by Mala Gopal, Sugarland School led by Chockalingam Solayappan, Cypress school led by Kuzhali Arcot, and Katy School led by Malar Narayanan are the current four loca-

tions. From its humble beginning to its widespread success today under BKM President Parthasarathy Krishnaswamy, the BKM Tamil School now boasts around 150 students and 30 teachers, several of them are high school students who are Tamil School graduates. The BKM Tamil school year end event was celebrated at the Meenakshi Temple Society’s Auditorium. The program commenced by an invocation “Tamil Thai Vazhthu”, a state song of Tamil Nadu sung by students from all four schools followed by an array of cultural performances, in which students displayed their Tamil knowledge and aptitude through a variation of stage acts such as singing Bharathiyar’s (a great Tamil literary ﬁgure) songs, acting in Tamil skits, reading Tamil literature, jokes and riddles, and etc. Following the entertaining performances, the Award Ceremony commenced for students who ofﬁcially graduated and students who won in

the Tamil School Competition held earlier on April 5th. Several guests of honor who each spent countless hours brining the BKM Tamil School to its current success gave away the awards to the students. These guests included Sam Kanappan, Padmini Nathan, Srikanth Venugopal in lieu of P.V. Vaduganathan, and Giyapuram Prasad. BKM’s Tamil School Year end Program was the most remarkable and splendid it has ever been so far. Sam Kannappan in voicing his congratulations to the children added the importance of fostering the language and requested the parents to spread the word to others who will beneﬁt from attending the Tamil language classes. Bharathi Kalai Manram’s Tamil School, in light of its current progress, hopes to grow to new heights and continue to spread the Tamil language to next generation of children. For registering into the BKM Tamil school visit BKM website www.bkmouston.org.

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Photos: Dr. Gopal

24 May 23, 2014

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Place a Number in the empty boxes in such a way that each row across, each column down and each 9-box square contains all of the numbers from one to nine. Send us the correct answer before MAY 28, 2014. Email us at indoamericannews@yahoo.com or mail to 7457 Harwin Drive, Suite 262, Houston, TX 77036. Send us your picture and we will publish it if you are a winner (for ﬁrst three entrees only).

Solution Next Week

Mama’s Punjabi Recipes

Moong Daal Sabat Da Poodda (Whole Moong Daal Pancakes) Daals are the mainstay of the majority of India and so many different ways of preparing it have developed over time. Instead of a plain daal dish with the curry, it is possible to make daal dry or ground and then fashioned into different items, like bhallas (salty puffs), namkeen laddus (salty nuggets) or pooddas (pancakes) But not all daals can be ground and made into other items, usually it is the kali maah (black maah); channa (yellow split chickpea) or moong (yellow or green). Ground whole moong is used for this quick dish a salty and spicy poodda which looks like a large, soft pancake. Poodas, whether salty or sweet, are usually eaten during cold weather or the rainy Monsoon season, along with some hot tea. A poodda is sometimes called “chilla” by people from Uttar Pradesh. There are various types of pooddas made of different grains and each has its own texture and taste. Pooddas are often eaten with chutnies. Some people prefer to eat daal poodas in the morning for breakfast to keep their blood sugar levels under control.

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Ingredients: 1 cup sabat moong daal (whole moong lentils) – makes four 6-inch round poodde 1 tbsp besan (chickpea flour) Some stalks of hara dhania (green coriander tops) – finely chopped ½ cup pani (water) 1 teaspoon of vegetable or olive oil for each pooda Spices (to taste): namak (salt), mirch (red pepper), adrak powder (ginger powder), garam masala

pooda, heat place a little oil on the tava, pour a small amount of mixture and spread it to make a 6-inch circle. When tiny holes start to form on the surface, check to see in the bottom side is cooked. If so, use a spatula and flip the pooda over. 5. Cook the other side till the poodda is not moist, but do not let it cook too long or become brown. 6. Place the poodda on a plate and serve with chutney or ketchup.

Shakuntla Malhotra is a skilled cook of Punjabi dishes made in the old-fashioned style that she learnt as a young woman in her ancestral home in Lyallpur, India before it became part of Pakistan after the Partition in 1947. People have often admired her cooking for its simplicity and taste that comes with each mouthful. Even in her mid-eighties, she continues to cook daily and agreed to share some of her delectable Punjabi recipes.

MAMA’S TIP OF THE WEEK WELCOMING THE EVENING LIGHT BEFORE DINNER

For many people, the evening meal is the most important one of all, when they come back home from a hard day’s work, tired from the drive in rush hour. It is also a time when we give thanks for the end of the tussles of a day’s work and are safe back home with family and friends. For Hindus, it is also a welcome to the light that will illuminate the way through the darkness that slowly engulfs us.

Directions: 1. Place the daal in a pot of water and let it soak overnight.

Many Punjabis say a little prayer when the first light is turned on – whether an oil lamp or an electric bulb – in the home. The prayer which I have recited ever since I was a little girl is:

2. Drain the water in the morning and then grind the daal into a fine paste, using a little water. It should not be too thin else the poodda will not cook and will remain wet inside.

“Jai Sandhya tarkaal, sarvat da bhalla te sarvat di khar, divadde tael, vichadde mael, divadde watti, vasdi rahe meri pekki savri hatti. ghar ave khatti. Divadde tael te vichadde mael, sarvat da bhalla te sarvat di khar. Sandhya waelle buti chalayo te eh prathna kar loh”.

3. Mix in the besan and the spices thoroughly into the paste. 4. Place the tava (flatplate) or in a frying pan on high heat. For each

(Victory to the evening twilight. Peace and safety for everyone. Oil the lamps, and bring everyone back home, put wicks in the lamps. Let my parents and in-laws homes grow; bring home good earnings. Oil the lamps, and bring everyone come back home; Peace and safety for everyone. It is evening, light the lamps and recite this prayer.)

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ENTERTAINMENT

May 23, 2014

Movie Review: The X- Pose

BY MADHUREETA MUKHERJEE It’s the swinging ‘seX’ties’ (60s) - with an ‘Xtra’ ‘X’ factor. Largerthan- life superstars, bulging bosoms, sensual sins, high-riding hemlines, charisma galore and exciting extramarital affairs. This is where ‘The X-pose’ unfolds. At a glittering after-awards party a top actress, Zara (Sonali), is found dead. “Murder” they said. “Who’s the suspect?” they quizzed. And the music of a riproaring era played on. Himesh Reshammiya & Yo Yo Honey Singh are better good in singing & are ...Read more With a line-up of (usual) suspects - Ravi Kumar (Himesh) playing an angry ex- cop turned South actor (with dialogue-baazi like - “Main joh bol deta hoon, wohi script ban jaata hai!”). He’s signed up by Bollywood

director Subbu Prasad (Ananth) for a film titled ‘Ujjwal Nirmal Sheetal’ (‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’ anybody?), opposite sexy siren Zara, who tries to seduce him out of his puritanical vows. Ravi, however, is madly in love with newbie Chandni (Zoya), who’s being launched in ‘Reena Mera Naam’(remember ‘Johnny Mera Naam’?) and is Zara’s arch rival (cat-fights coming up!). There’s also music composer KD (YoYo) - with a Pran-like-latt, who ‘rips’ rap music, and a host of cagey characters to add intrigue to this conspiracy. Ananth’s motley of filmi characters is colourful, comical and hilariously OTT. With razzmatazz, he interestingly draws references from real incidents and real stars. Himesh’s role has a Raaj Kumar hangover; Zoya

and Sonali are modelled on Parveen Babi and Zeenat Aman. Irrfan (as narrator) is the black-marketeer who makes big bucks. This whodunit has more tongue-in-cheek humour than suspense, more ‘laugh’ (with dialogue-baazi) than ‘gasp’ moments. And peppy music packaged in ‘60s’ style. It’s pacy but the plot unravels stylishly, not intelligently (some suspects don’t have a clear motive for murder). Sonali is stunning and impressive, Zoya makes a pretty picture and Yo Yo is best when he’s grooving. Himesh slips well into his character, with quirkiness and conﬁdence. This is far from a mind-bending thriller, but a decent effort which has some good ‘ol masala to keep you entertained. -Times of India

“I shall auction my Hari Mirchi costumes”: Rakhi Sawant

BY VICKEY LALWANI After tasting defeat in the recentlyconcluded Lok Sabha polls, Rakhi Sawant has resigned from the Rashtriya Aam Party she had founded. Excerpts from her conversation on her next political move: Many B-town personalities won, why did you lose? I even went to the slums to campaign, but people didn’t take me seriously and I got only 1,995 votes from Mumbai’s North-West constituency. I guess people only vote for established parties. But then India’s oldest political party also did not fare well. Now, I am planning to join the BJP. Has the BJP agreed to induct you? I have a picture with Rajnath Singh,

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the BJP party president. Do you want me to send it to you? Would you like to declare your assets again? No, because I won’t contest again. I will only work for the welfare of the BJP. What will you do with your Hari Mirchi outﬁts? Gosh, I never thought of that. I think I shall auction them. Several mango jokes are doing the rounds ever since you joined the Rashtriya Aam Party... Let people joke. I think that Elections are serious busi ness. At least for me. -Times of India

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Wal-Mart to Engage with New, Stable Govt

Wal-Mart wants to continue to make ‘important social, environmental and economical contributions’ to India, says Krish Iyer. Photo: AFP

BY SUNEERA TANDON DELHI: The world’s largest supermarket chain, Wal-Mart Stores Inc, will work with India’s new government and seek to expand its business in Asia’s third largest economy, the head of its India busines said on Saturday. “As India elects a new and stable government at the Centre, we’ll continue to remain engaged, committed and work together with the govern-

ment and other stakeholders and continue adding value to the economic growth in the country,” said Krish Iyer, head of the company’s India business. His statement came a day after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) swept to a victory in the 16th general election, ending the 10-year rule of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance. The BJP is opposed

to foreign direct investment (FDI) in so-called multi-brand retail. In 2012, the Indian government allowed FDI in supermarket chains, but left it to the state governments to decide whether they will allow foreign-owned retail stores on their territory. Wal-Mart, through its investments in cash and carry or wholesale stores and supply chain infrastructure, and sourcing for global markets, wants to

continue to make “important social, environmental and economical contributions” to India, Iyer said. In its manifesto, the BJP said that if elected to power it would allow FDI across sectors wherever needed for job and asset creation, infrastructure and acquisition of niche technology and specialized expertise, but not in supermarkets. “The BJP is committed to protecting the interest of small and medium retailers...and those employed by them,” it added, disappointing foreign retailers. However, before the ﬁnal phase of the Lok Sabha polls, in an interview to Times NOW, the English news channel of Times Television Network, Modi indicated that if elected, his government need not necessarily reverse the decision that allows FDI in multi-brand retail. “The government is a continuous process. But it is very unfortunate when the Samajwadi Party creates a

district and the Bahujan Samaj Party comes and destroys it, the AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) takes some decisions and then the DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) comes and overrules it to make another. The country cannot run this way. Mature decisions must be taken,” Modi said when asked whether he would bar FDI in multibrand retail. While the government allows 51% FDI in the retail sector, it comes with multiple riders that make operations tough for companies keen to do business in India. In April this year, Wal-Mart announced that it would invest in opening 50 cash and carry stores in India under the name BestPrice Modern Wholesale over the next ﬁve years Wal-Mart entered India in 2007 through a joint venture with Bharti Retail, an alliance that it exited last year. -Livemint.com

Volkswagen To Invest $130 Million On New Models, Localisation In India

Volkswagen is working on product upgrades of existing volume models Polo and Vento. Photo: Abhijit Bhatlekar/Mint

NEW DELHI: German auto giant Volkswagen group is planning to invest about $130 million in India to expand business, including launches

of sedan and sports utility vehicle (SUV) in the compact segment along with a hatchback. “At present, an investment of approximately €100 million is in the decision process for new models and for further localisation of parts and components,” Volkswagen India president and managing director Mahesh Kodumudi told PTI. While he did not share the timeline for the investment, he said “further large investments will accompany decisions for further new models for the Indian and export markets”. “We intend to make these investments step-wise as decisions are realised. In summary, we intend to make these ‘further large investments’ over

a period of the next few years before the end of this decade,” Kodumudi said. When asked about new product launches and expanding Volkswagen’s offering in India, he said: “Volkswagen is currently considering various options, including a compact sedan specially designed for India, a compact SUV and a compact hatchback.” These are the fastest growing and largest segments in the Indian market, he added. “We are close to making decisions on some of these new models and we will announce at the right time,” he said. Besides, the company is also working on product upgrades of existing

volume models Polo and Vento. “Along with these, we are also considering the re-introduction of the new generation Passat (premium sedan) as soon as possible,” Kodumudi said. Stressing on the importance of the Indian market, he said: “India remains a key strategic market for the Volkswagen group and success in this market is important for the Volkswagen group to achieve a leading position worldwide.” The Volkswagen group had announced that it was aiming to be the number one auto maker in the world by 2018. “India is expected to become one of the biggest automotive markets in the

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world and Volkswagen wants to be a part of this growth. As far as market share is considered, the Volkswagen group aims to achieve a high single digit market share before the end of this decade,” he said. The Wolfsburg-based group, which is present in India through a wholly-owned subsidiary, has invested around €100 million in 2012-13, after the initial investment of €580 million by the auto major on its Pune-based manufacturing facility. The group has ﬁve brands—Audi, Volkswagen, Skoda, Porsche and Lamborghini—in the Indian market. The company employs about 5,000 employees in the country. PTI -Livemint.com

28 May 23, 2014 IPL 2014: KKR’s Uthappa, Shakib Flatten Super Kings BY ABHISHEK PUROHIT KOLKOTA (ESPN Cricinfo): Kolkata Knight Riders 156 for 2 (Uthappa 67, Shakib 46*) beat Chennai Super Kings 154 for 4 (Raina 65, Narine 1-24) by eight wickets Robin Uthappa made his fourth half-century of the season to lead Kolkata Knight Riders to an eight-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings with two overs to spare. The win took Knight Riders level on Rajasthan Royals with 14 points from 12 games, helping them break further away from the crowded middle of the table. Uthappa, who was put down twice, and Gautam Gambhir put on 64 for the opening partnership in seven overs, and Knight Riders were in control of the chase of 155 after such a beginning. Shakib Al Hasan belted an unbeaten 46 off 21 to hasten the end. Uthappa made 67 off 39 and middled the ball consistently on a pitch where most batsmen had to rely on muscling it. Both sides had wanted to chase on the untested surface in Eden Gardens’ first match of the tournament, and Super Kings were to find out that despite the green tinge, the ball wasn’t quite coming on. There was some help for the Robin Uthappa punches one down the Chennai Super Kings, IPL 2014.a. spinners as well. Super Kings went below the third over, Raina let a harder, run a ball for almost two-thirds of diving chance off Mohit Sharma their innings. In contrast, Uthappa go down, with Uthappa on 24. By began with a flurry of boundar- the time Uthappa timed a lofted ies. He eased the first ball of the drive off Ravindra Jadeja to wide innings from Ben Hilfenhaus be- long-off in the 12th over, Knight tween extra cover and mid-off Riders had almost reached 100. In for four and also clipped the fifth his previous seven innings now, through square leg for four more. Uthappa’s lowest score has been The two shots were to bring him 40. plenty of runs through his innings. Knight Riders needed 57 off 50 He also deftly guided deliveries when Uthappa fell. Manish Panpast slip, and resorted to the slog- dey struggled to get going but sweep as his innings progressed. Shakib more than made up with In his eagerness to drive, Uthap- some powerful hitting. Slogging, pa offered two chances to slip ear- paddling and lofting his way to ly on, and Super Kings reprieved eight boundaries in 21 balls, Shakhim each time. First, R Ashwin ib shut the door firmly on Super dropped him on 6 off Hilfenhaus Kings. in the first over. MS Dhoni imShakib had opened the bowlmediately replaced Ashwin with ing and had contributed in tying Suresh Raina in that position. In down the Super Kings top order.

ground, Kolkata Knight Riders v

At the other end, Pat Cummins, on IPL debut, bowled Dwayne Smith with his second ball. The pace of Umesh Yadav and the spin of Sunil Narine was as hard to get away. Raina took nine deliveries to get off the mark in a slow 55-run partnership with Brendon McCullum but accelerated later to make 65 off 52. Shakib could have had Raina on 16, but Yusuf Pathan dropped a difficult chance diving at the straight boundary in the eighth over. Raina opened up against Piyush Chawla, hitting him for three sixes but his attempt to clear longon in the 18th over failed. Raina’s effort enabled Super Kings to go past 150, but it was quite insufficient against Uthappa and Shakib. Abhishek Purohit is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

Sunrisers Hyderabad 161 for 3 (Dhawan 50, Warner 59) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 160 for 6 (Kohli 67) by seven wickets Sunrisers Hyderabad appeared to be coasting towards their target of 161 after a strong opening stand, but managed to drag the chase into the last over to win by seven wickets and upset Royal Challengers Bangalore’s plans of making the playoffs. Sunrisers needed 20 off the last two overs but Darren Sammy’s salvo took them through with two balls to spare. Despite the victory, Sunrisers still need other results to go their way, as do Royal Challengers - both have ten points with two remaining games. A predominantly one-sided chase turned competitive at the start of the 17th over, when Sunrisers needed 35 off 24 with nine wickets in hand. David Warner, set on 59, carved a high full toss from Varun Aaron straight to cover and his exit increased the required rate as Yuvraj Singh bowled a tight 18th over, giving away just seven runs. It came down to 17 off ten and a boundary was needed. Naman Ojha then sent the ball soaring over the second tier at deep cover and Aaron had his revenge when Ojha tamely scooped the next ball to cover. Darren Sammy didn’t need any sighters as he bashed his first ball flat over the straight boundary, bringing the equation down to less than a run a ball. He sealed the win by chipping a slower ball from Mitchell Starc over cover, giving Sunrisers a foot in the door as the scramble for fourth place got tighter. Just as pleasing for Sunrisers was the fact that Shikhar Dhawan, who was relieved of the captaincy for the sake of his batting form, scored his first fifty. Sunrisers were dominant in the Powerplay, scoring 51. Dhawan scored boundaries off more conventional strokes while Warner wasn’t afraid to play the reverse sweep against Muttiah Muralitharan. Royal Challengers used five bowlers inside the first ten overs but they had to wait till the 13th over for their first breakthrough.

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SPORTS

Thisara, Malinga Script Close Win for Sri Lanka THE OVAL: Sri Lanka 183 for 7 (Thisara 49, Thirimanne 40) beat England 174 for 7 (Hales 66, Malinga 3-28) by nine runs The world champions, Sri Lanka, began their T20 life without Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara by securing a ninerun victory at The Oval as Lasith Malinga’s brilliance at the death ensured Alex Hales, and England, could not repeat the grand chase they managed in Chittagong. It was Hales’ dismissal to Malinga in the 17th over by a smart slower ball which made Sri Lanka strong favourites, but with Ravi Bopara in the middle and the equation down to 28 off 12 balls it was far from impossible. Then, however, Malinga produced a pinpoint penultimate over which cost just four runs (in comparison to the equivalent in Sri Lanka’s innings which cost 22) and provided the less-assured Suranga Lakmal with some breathing space. Malinga may not always appear the most involved of captains - occasionally putting himself at long-off - but knew he had his individual skills up his sleeve. The key innings came from Thisara Perera who bludgeoned 49 off 20 deliveries having been dropped on 20 by Michael Carberry at cover. Six of Perera’s next eight deliveries went to the boundary, which included him taking 22 off the 19th over, bowled by Chris Jordan, who had been on the receiving end of Carberry’s error. Thisara was prevented from reaching a half-century by some quick thinking from Harry Gurney, who was alert enough to remove a stump from the ground to complete a run-out off the final ball of the innings.

Lasith Malinga claimed 3 for 28 to lead his side to victory, England v Sri Lanka, T20, The Oval,

May 23, 2014

Modi Wave Humiliates Cong, Govt Formation To Have His Stamp

NEW DELHI: Narendra Modi wrested the top job in the country on Friday as a saffron wave swept most of India, lifting the Bharatiya Janata Party to its highest-ever tally and leaving the Congress in tatters. Prime Minister designate Narendra Modi speaks a a rally. (Agency Photo) Underlining the humiliation of India’s oldest party, Congress vicepresident Rahul Gandhi had to scrap hard to beat the BJP’s Smriti Irani in the Gandhi family bastion of Amethi, while several senior ministers bit the dust. Modi led the BJP back to power after a decade in the opposition, taking advantage of public anger at the Congress for uncontrolled high prices, corruption scams and rising unemployment.

The triumph capped an amazing run for the 63-year-old chief minister of Gujarat, who ran a high-voltage campaign that rewrote the political rulebook and knocked his rivals off balance. The result is the biggest landslide in 30 years, and the ﬁrst time since 1984 that a single party has a majority in the Lok Sabha. The mandate gives Modi the chance to shape the new government as he wishes, without the pulls and pressures that have hobbled past coalitions. Expectations are growing that he will slash red tape, revamp tax laws and unveil measures to kickstart growth. The Congress’ incumbency problems were compounded by a listless showing from Rahul, who failed to grab the public imagination. He ﬁnally emerged in the afternoon and

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acknowledged that the responsibility for the defeat was his. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his cabinet will resign on Saturday. Modi, who triumphed from both Vadodara and Varanasi, tweeted “India has won!” and went to seek the blessings of his 90-year-old mother Hiraben in Ahmedabad. Later, he told an adoring crowd in Vadodara, “I trust the people of India and they trust me, and it is the power of trust that will work for this country.” Narendra Modi will lead a victory procession and meet party men in the capital on Friday. Modi is expected to reach the party headquarters in central Delhi’s Ashoka Road in two hours and will participate in the meeting of the parliamentary board scheduled at 12.30pm. “Modi will leave Ahmedabad at

8am on Saturday and his flight is expected to reach here by 10am. BJP has made extensive arrangements for a victory procession of Modi from the airport to the party headquarter on Ashok road. The procession will stop at eight places on the way to party headquarter where cadres will felicitate him,” said a source associated with the arrangements. He will then fly to Varanasi in the afternoon where he is expected to participate in Ganga arti and a public meeting. He is expected to be back in the capital by night. According to late-night figures, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance was leading or had won in 339 seats, with the BJP alone at 284, comfortably crossing the 272 halfway mark needed to form the government. The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance was limping in at 57, heading for its worst-ever tally. Leads and results from all 543 seats were in. The BJP-led alliance swept the electorally key state of Uttar Pradesh, leading or winning in a stunning 73 of the 80 seats, its campaign orchestrated by Modi’s right-hand man Amit Shah. Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, which runs the state government, won just a handful of seats and Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was wiped out. In Bihar, the BJP was leading in 31 of the 40 seats, and in the nation’s capital, the BJP was set for a clean sweep in all seven seats. Congratulations came in from across the world, including the United States and the United Kingdom, which had in the past shunned Modi over riots that happened in Gujarat under his watch in 2002. In contrast, there was gloom in the Congress camp as many prominent ministers lost or were heading for defeat, including Sushilkumar Shinde, Kapil Sibal and Sachin Pilot. Arun Jaitley was a prominent loser on the BJP side, undone by anti-incumbency against the ruling Akali Dal in Amritsar.

The big winners included J Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK, which led in 37 of the 39 seats in Tamil Nadu, and Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress, which was leading in 34 of the 42 seats in West Bengal. The Aam Aadmi Party, which stunned everyone by winning the Delhi assembly last year, made an encouraging Lok Sabha debut, grabbing a handful of seats in Punjab. But its chief, Arvind Kejriwal, fell well short of Modi in Varanasi. Friday’s counting exercise brings down the curtain on a gargantuan poll process that began on March 5 with the announcement of the poll schedule. A record 66.4% people turned out to cast their votes in nine phases of the world’s biggest election held between April 7 and May 12. Modi to discuss govt formation today The landslide victory has given PM-designate Modi all the leverage he wants to form his cabinet. Party sources indicated that Modi, who is arriving here on Saturday, would share with top BJP leaders his plans about the team he has in mind. Modi will take part in the BJP’s parliamentary board meeting on Saturday to set in motion the process of government formation. He is likely to take oath next week, with leaders close to him suggesting May 21 as a probable date. Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley is tipped to get an important portfolio while his Lok Sabha counterpart Sushma Swaraj is being seen as a probable for the external affairs ministry. Former BJP chief Nitin Gadkari has emerged as a strong contender for one of the top four ministries – home, defence, ﬁnance and external affairs. There is a likelihood that BJP chief Rajnath Singh would continue in the party organisation, in line with the RSS’ preference for a leader with ‘stature’ at the top post, till his term expires in December 2015. -Hindustan Times

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