Friday, July 31 2015 | Vol. 34, No. 31
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Noted Neurologist Dr. Ninan Mathew, 78, Passes
HOUSTON: As a famed neurologist who had given relief to many who suffered from debilitating headaches, Dr. Ninan T. Mathew, had another noted accomplishment in Indian circles. He was the first doctor from the still growing Indian community to have a clinic in two cities – Dallas and Houston. Though retired from full-time practice, Dr. Mathew saw his last patient on Thursday, July 23 and then celebrated his daughter Rita’s 50th birthday that evening before complaining of not feeling well that night. Mathew, 78, passed away four days later on July 27, 2015, surrounded by his family. Mathew’s interest in headaches started with research at Baylor College of Medicine, measuring cerebral blood flow in migraine patients. In 1976, he established Houston Headache Clinic, the first headache specialty center in Texas with outpatient and inpatient facilities for comprehensive care and later, in 1984, opened the Dallas Headache Clinic. For 35 years, Houston Headache Clinic remained a major referral and research center for treating headache patients from around the world. Dr. Mathew served in various national and international organizations related to headache. He was president of the International Headache Society and the American Headache Society; chairman of the Headache Section for the American Academy of Neurology, which he helped to form, and the American Council for Headache Education. He significantly contributed to medical literature, with more than 200 scientific publications to his credit, in leading journals such as JAMA and Lancet Neurology.
He edited books on cluster headache and his Handbook of Headache covers modern advances in headache. He was featured in a 2002 headache cover story in Time magazine and appeared on numerous radio and television programs for the National Migraine Foundation and the American Council for Headache Education. In recent years, Dr. Mathew was the recipient of three Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Texas Neurological Society in 2012; the Headache Cooperative of New England in 2013; and the American Headache Society in 2014. Ninan Mathew was born on May 21, 1937, in the southern state of
Kerala in India, to T.N. and Rahel Mathai, a deeply devout Mar Thoma Syrian Christian family. He received his undergraduate degree at the University of Madras in Tamil Nadu and his medical degree at Trivandrum Medical College, Kerala. His interest in neurology started in medical school. Post-graduate training in neurology followed at Christian Medical College, Vellore, India. He married Sushila Abraham on May 17, 1962, moved to Houston, Texas, in the summer of 1970 and completed additional fellowship training in cerebrovascular disease and stroke at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, where he
subsequently served as a faculty member. In addition to his active career, Dr. Mathew was a member of Chapelwood United Methodist Church since 1978 and was involved with various cultural institutions. He was a founding member of the Indian Doctor’s Club in Houston and served as its second president. He was president of the India Cultural Center in Houston and was on the advisory board of the Asia Society Texas Center. He and Sushila were founding patrons of the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts and the Asian Galleries of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. His interests included world traveling, antiques, and gardening, but his biggest
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JULY 31, 2015 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
passion was his family. Besides his wife of 53 years, Sushila; Mathew is survived by his daughter, Rita and her husband, Paul Morico; his son, Dr. Sanjay Mathew and his wife, Dessi Sherban Mathew; his son, Vijay and his wife, Charlotte Dubuc Mathew; and six grandchildren, Rachel Morico, Mathew Morico, John Morico, Léon Mathew, Sofia Mathew, and Stefan Mathew; Sushila’s three siblings and their spouses, and dozens of loving nieces, nephews, and cousins. The family will hold a small, private funeral and requests that, In lieu of flowers, memorial donations be made to the Chapelwood Foundation, 11140 Greenbay Drive, Houston, TX 77024.
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Maulana Azad Medical College Alumni Celebrate North American Togetherness BY JAWAHAR MALHOTRA
HOUSTON: If there is a single Indian institution whose graduates have made their mark in the healthcare industry in North America over the past 40 years, then certainly it has to be the medical college that bears the name of one of the noted Freedom Fighters of Indian Independence, Abul Kalam Muhiyuddin Ahmed Azad - commonly referred to as Maulana (an honorific meaning “learned man”) Azad - a firebrand who believed in a secular, enlightened India and became its first Education Minister from 1947 to 1958. Numerous teaching institutions have been named after Azad - in his native Kolkatta, Aligarh, Bhopal, Hyderabad and Jammu but perhaps the most well-known for the graduates who have come to North America to live and establish their careers is the Maulana Azad Medical College on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg in New Delhi, just outside the gates of the Old City and the famous Daryagunj district. According to unofficial estimates, there are upwards of 1,700 physicians in North America who claim their medical degrees to the College, which they fondly refer to as MAMCO, and most of them initially settled in the northern cities before many migrated southwards. With their numbers rising, they formed an organization all their own with the long and amusing acronym MAMCOAANA for MAMCO Alumni Association of North America, which celebrates their unique heritage with a convention each year that rotates through different cities in North America. The first reunion was held in 1985 and last year it was held in Toronto. This year, for the second time, the reunion came back to the Bayou City this past weekend, Friday July 24 through Sunday, July 26. Under the guidance and organization of the well-known local cardiologist and 2014-15 President Randeep Suneja (who is a 1983 graduate of MAMCO), the 40 delegates and their families held their 31st reunion with three days of seminars by 12 physicians, renewing acquaintances and organizational meetings at the Omni Hotel off Woodway. Next year’s convention will be held in Minneapolis and the 2015-2016 President Dr. Alok Maheshwari was on hand to extend the invitation for all to attend. With the help of the Executive Committee, Suneja proudly enumerated the accomplishments of his term in office, including establishing electronic records of MAMCO graduates to help with the US licensing group ECFMG, reducing the verification time from 3 months to 2 weeks. Also started were educational exchanges between the College and the organization, with guest lectures deCONTINUED ON PAGE
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Dr. Alok Maheshwari, incoming President receiving Certificate of Appreciation from Dr Suneja, current President.
Dr. Ashutosh Gupta receiving Bhishm Pitamah and Lifetime Achievement Award (fr L to R Dr Gupta, Dr Sodhi, Dr Suneja).
Youngest performers Nisha and Shivani Suneja.
Dr. Dinesh ChoudhryCME Chair receiving Certificate of Appreciation.
Dr. Jagdish Dang receiving Lifetime Achievement Award.
Rhythm India Performers.
Indo American News (ISSN 887-5936) is published weekly every Friday (for a subscription of $40 per year) by IndoAmerican News Inc., 7457 Harwin Dr., Suite 262, Houston, TX 77036., tel: 713-789-6397, fax:713-789-6399, email: indoamericannews@yahoo.com. Periodical postage paid at Houston, Texas. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to Indo American News,7457 Harwin Dr., Suite 262, Houston, TX 77036 INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JULY 31, 2015 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
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July 31, 2015
BAPS Charities Contributes $135,000 to Nepal Earthquake Relief Efforts
BAPS Charities donates a check of $30,000 to UNICEF to support the children affected by the Nepal earthquake. From left to right Leslie Goldman, Vice President of Community Development of UNICEF; Rachel Sternberg, Associate Direct - Civil Partnerships – UNICEF; BAPS Charities Director, Praful Raja; and BAPS Charities volunteer, Yogi Trivedi.
BAPS Charities contributed $30,000 to World Food Program USA. WFP has teamed up with trekking organizations to enlist the help of 20,000 porters — many of whom have lost homes, family members and the trekking season — to repair trails and carry much-needed supplies to hard-to-reach communities in the mountains.
PISCATAWAY, NJ: In the wake of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Nepal on April 25, 2015, BAPS Charities has contributed five disaster relief grants in support of rehabilitation efforts totaling $135,000. Direct Relief, One Heart World-Wide, the Nepali Embassy, UNICEF, and the United Nations’ World Food Program USA (WFP) are the five chosen organizations, thus far, to have received funding. The partnerships were chosen with the aim to provide the most fundamental human needs during a
UNICEF has provided for the development of children around the world during times of disaster, ensuring that their growth will not face significant setbacks as countries work to rebuild.” The next day, on May 14, BAPS Charities presented Direct Relief with a check for $25,000 at Direct Relief headquarters in Santa Barbara. The funds are earmarked for X-ray machines and ventilators that will be used to examine and treat patients suffering from crush wounds, limb loss, and broken bones, as well as urgent, life saving medication. Thomas Tighe, President and CEO of Direct Relief, hosted volunteers from BAPS Charities on a tour of the organization’s headquarters and stated, “BAPS Charities clearly understands the need of service, not only locally where their locations are based, but also in far off areas of the world. On behalf of Direct Relief, we are truly thankful for this support.” Shortly after, on June 2, BAPS Charities supported One Heart World-Wide with a grant of $25,000 to provide care for pregnant women and newborns in the most severely damaged areas of Nepal. “On behalf of the women and children in Nepal, we are grateful for the generosity of BAPS Charities at this very difficult time. You have my deepest gratitude,” said Arlene Samen, Founder and Executive Director of One Heart. New and expecting mothers, as well as their infants, are disproportionately affected by natural disasters, as they require specialized care that is not always immediately available in relief periods. BAPS Charities selected One Heart World-Wide as a grantee to help meet the needs of these women and children. BAPS Charities provides for relief efforts around the globe, and works with existing government frameworks to determine avenues for aid. BAPS Charities granted the Prime Minister’s Defense Fund at the Embassy of Nepal with a relief contribution on June 21. Support of the embassy ensures that the government relief infrastructure receives the resources needed to maintain operations. The Embassy of Nepal has requested funds to address the most pressing issues facing victims in the various districts. The latest gift was contributed to World Food Program (WFP, USA) on July 9 in the amount of $30,000. BAPS Charities aims to support innovative and dynamic orga-
natural calamity: food, shelter and medicine. UNICEF had contacted BAPS Charities within hours of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that a left massive devastation in the capital city of Kathmandu and surrounding areas. After coordinated fund-raising efforts by volunteers throughout North America, a $30,000 check was presented on May 13 at UNICEF headquarters in New York City. Praful Raja, a Director at BAPS Charities noted, “Our longstanding partnership with
nizations, like WFP, looking to deliver aid through efficient means. WFP has teamed up with trekking organizations to enlist the help of 20,000 porters — many of whom have lost homes, family members and the trekking season — to repair trails and carry much-needed supplies to remote communities in the mountains. Their expertise has been vital. BAPS Charities is honored to be able to provide support for Nepal earthquake relief efforts. Funding is made possible by the generous contributions of hundreds of BAPS Charities supporters and volunteers who stepped forward to help. BAPS Charities has a long-standing commitment in aiding disaster relief and rebuilding services across the world. In the past BAPS Charities has actively helped the victims of North India Floods 2013, Philippines Typhoon Haiyan 2013, Haiti Earthquake 2010, Japan Earthquake and Tsunami 2011 and 9/11 Memorial and Museum to name a few. For additional information on BAPS Charities and its international and local philanthropic activities, please visit www.bapscharities. org. Past Relief Efforts: 1. North India Floods 2013 2. Philippines Typhoon Haiyan 2013 3. Haiti Earthquake 2010 4. Japan Earthquake and Tsunami 2011 5. 9/11 Memorial and Museum About BAPS Charities BAPS Charities is a 501(c)(3) registered nonprofit international charity organization committed to sincerely serving the world by caring for individuals, families, and communities. It is affiliated with BAPS as an independent charity and social services arm. The 55,000 BAPS volunteers networked in over 3,300 centers around the world provide over 12 million volunteer-hours of service annually. Among social service charities, BAPS Charities is a well-respected and trusted name. It has amassed over 50 years of firsthand experience in initiating, managing, and sustaining 160 humanitarian operations throughout the world in such diverse fields as: medical services, environmental services, community services, tribal services, and disaster relief services. For additional information on BAPS Charities and its international and local philanthropic activities, visit www.bapscharities.org
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July 31, 2015
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Inaugural Indo-American Professional Golf Tour Unites Indian American Golfers
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HOUSTON: The Indo-American Golf League of Houston had a spectacular day of golf on Tuesday, July 28. The inaugural tour of the Indo-American Professional Golf Association arrived in Houston to a great reception at Sweetwater Country Club. The twelve top, world-ranked golf professionals from India have embarked on an 18-city, 45-day, IAPGA 2015 US Golf Tour. The Indo-American Professional Golf Association, (theiapga.org), the non-profit, umbrella network of golf leagues across the US is leading the tour. With the mission of meeting Indian American golfers in the US, the golf professionals are part of golf tournaments as well as meet and greet events along the way. The national tour began in New York City, went to Washington D.C. and moving along several cities in the Midwest, the South and then along the West Coast. Major event locations include Houston, Texas, Phoenix, Arizona, Monterrey Bay, California, Seattle, Washington, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Columbus, Ohio. www.reelvolume.com/events Unless we count the National Spelling Bee, Indian faces are not seen on ESPN and rarely seen as athletes. A few notables are the exception rather than the rule. Alexi Grewal came into cycling fame in 1984 Los Angeles Games and a place in US Bicycling Hall of Fame. Gymnast Mohini Bharadwaj won silver in the 2004 Summer Games. Bronze winning gymnast, Olympian Raj Bhavsar made his mark in Beijing in 2008. Brandon Chillar, with the Green Bay Packers has definitely made his mark in the NFL and Sanjay Beach before him. Tennis has Rajeev Ram, Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupati and and Manny Malhotra of the New York Rangers for the NHL in hockey. The golf professionals on the tour, were invited on the basis of their ranking worldwide and their availability of time to present themselves on a world stage. Encouraging them along are notables in the sport like
PGA winner, Arjun Atwal, who has agreed to join the tour where he can. “It’s pretty exciting! Arjun has agreed to join us and I am speaking to Daniel Chopra as well,” said Gurbaaz Mann, one of the managers and the driving force behind the idea to create the IAPGA. Having traveled the US, talking to fellow golf players in every city he could manage, Mann has had this dream for seven years. “We know there is a huge network. It is just a matter of connecting." The IAGL in Houston is one of the main organizers nationwide. The connection between Indian Americans who share the love of golf has become a strong network. The tour is being mainly crowd-funded by individuals who believe in creating the IAPGA and the hope of seeing one of the golf professionals eventually play the PGA Tour or Web.com Tour. Japan, Korea and other Asian nations take enough pride in their athletes to promote them worldwide. So far, Indian athletes have not met with such support from the Indian government so the grassroots effort in the US is what is moving along the dream of seeing Indian players on the world stage. Please consider supporting the cause http://theiapga.org/contributions/contribute-using-paypal or directly Here is the final confirmed list of golf pros on the 2015 US Tour: Ashbeer Saini, Ajeetesh Sandhu, Abhijeet Chada, Sujjan Singh, Abhishek Jha,Shubhankar Sharma,Rahul Bajaj, Amardip Malik, Angad Cheema, Gurbaaz Mann (manager), Monish Bindra, Shivam Tibrewal Players who may attend: Arjun Atwal, Dipender Kullar Reel Volume Promotions, LLC, is a production company based in Texas and is coordinating the IAPGA 2015 US Tour. Our specialty is cause-based marketing. To learn more, visit www.reelvolume.com.
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July 31, 2015
USISEC Member Institutions, to set up Centers of Skills Excellence in India to Help with Prime Minister Modi “Skilled India, Successful India” Mission
From left: Herny DerAntonian (Lone Star College), Jiten Agarwal (Cambridge Education Development), Houston Community College Trustee Neeta Sane, Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia, Linda Head (Lone Star College), Federico Zaragoza (Alamo College), Carol Fimmen (Alamo College)
HOUSTON: US India Skills & Education Council’s members delegation visited Ministry of Skills & Entrepreneurship, Government of India, Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), Government of Delhi, & National Skills Development Corporation in India from July 20-24, 2015. The delegation visit was intended to bring together the skills, training and technology community in the USA, India to discuss the challenges and possibilities for collaboration as a part of Government of India and Prime Minister’s Modi’s mission of Skilled India. Government of India aims to train over 40 crore (400 Million) people in India in different skills by 2022. The initiatives include National Skill Development Mission, National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) scheme and the Skill Loan scheme. Delegation discussed about details of setting up of Center of Ex-
cellence in India in various sectors such as Healthcare, Manufacturing, Construction, Renewable Energy, People with Disabilities, Aviation, Retail & Media/Entertainment. The delegation met with higher officials & Joint Secretary Pawan Agarwal of Ministry of Skills & Entrepreneurship, Dilip Chenoy & Rajiv Mathur from National Skills Development Corporation, Manish Sisodia, Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Government, Shobha Mishra Ghosh, Sr. Director, FICCI, Prof Rajan Saxena, Vice Chancellor, NMIMS, Mumbai, CEOs of Industry and Sector Skills Councils, and several other personnel from Government of India & Private Sector. USISEC delegation comprised of Jiten Agarwal, CEO of Cambridge Education Development (CED), Houston Community College System Chancellor Dr. Cesar Maldonado, Trustee Neeta Sane, Lone Star College System Associate Vice Chancellor of Workforce Development, Linda Head,
Subject Matter Expert Henry Der Antonian, Alamo College Vice Chancellor of Workforce Development, Dr. Federico Zaragoza, Sr. Director International Development, Carol Fimmen and Gautam Ghosh, Executive Director of Cambridge Education Development (CED).
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31st Annual Hindu Heritage Youth Camp
GAURI SIDDHIVINAYAK TEMPLE
For Any Ceremony Contact Pradip Pandya 832 466 9868 Email: pradippandya2000@yahoo.com
From left: Top row-Yash T., Arjun R. Divya S., Rohan C., Shamal S., Shiven S., Ketan D.Second row- Bharat P., Akash D., Namita P., Manan S., Sheeba A., Resham H., Shyam M., Alisha A., Puja J., Aadithya S., Sid R., Vevek S., Arpan A.Third row- Saumya W., Sujata A., Sonya C., Anoosha A., Unnati S., Abhimanyu A., Rahul S., Saket S., Lipika G. Fourth row- Niti D., Simran J., Nina W., Priya S., Kavita P., Rohit M., Veli S., Esheeta B.
HOUSTON: Keshav Smruti is alive and busy on Sunday, August 26. 40 college aged kids are frantically working and running around while a few of the lazy eat pau bhaji. But they can all agree they’re very excited, as the coming Tuesday will kick off what has taken the entire summer to prepare for. The 31st annual Hindu Heritage Youth Camp will be taking place this year during the first and second weeks of August. Growing on last year’s success, registration this year will be at an all-time high of 200 children ranging from 7 to 17. In preparation for HHYC this year, co-directors Bharat Pallod and Arpan Amin have been planning since February. It’s a long process, starting with finding enough counselors and volunteers who will be able to make the commitment through the summer. But in recent years there has been a surplus of volunteers, as lifelong campers are eager to return the favor. In addition to counselors, the two directors must also find volunteers - doctors for each day, “aunties” to help in the kitchen and “uncles” to help keep everyone straight, and sponsors to ensure camp
fees remain low. As Pallod puts it, “we get counselors, volunteers, and campers from every part of the city, it really requires bringing the whole community together. But we’re able to do it, the support is overflowing.” Pallod is co-directing camp for the second consecutive year. Doing it once is simply not enough. “You use the first year to learn, and you use the second year to build on that and make camp better.” He’s worked with his co-director diligently on that. For his co-director Arpan Amin, directing camp for the first time is something very special. His father Sharad Amin was one of the founders of camp, and Arpan proudly boasts that his first camp was when he was still in his mother’s womb 23 years ago. Growing up attending HHYC has not only given him lifelong friends but also shaped his identity today. The desire to return the favor to the next generation is visible. One of the best examples of this is the revamped HHYC website, hinducamp.com. “Today, if you’re a legit organization, you’re expected to have a legit website”, he says, explaining how he may know how great HHYC is, but showing it to others is important. A better website
allows this, and it’s shown in the increased registration, up almost 30 kids from the prior year. But Amin wants the improved website to go beyond that, long term he hopes that it can properly capture the 31 years of history that camp has, and provide portals for counselors and parents. He wants campers to be able to visit the website and look back at the material they were able to learn. He beams “we believe we’re a staple event in the Houston community, and we want to show that”. For both directors, long term plans for their camp are even bigger. Owning a campsite would be nice, and having additional events in the year would be ideal. “The goal of camp is to help strengthen these children’s identity” as counselor Ketan Datta puts it, and he believes there is so much more they could do to achieve this. But for now, his priority is reviewing a counselor’s presentation on Dharma.
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BY SANCHALI BASU HOUSTON: A simple, unostentatious, well planned evening of classical music was arranged by classical music lovers Soumya and Ajay Rege at their resi-
gram started with Shamik Boses's soulful vocal renditions, with able accompaniment provided by the proficient Raja Banga on the tabla and Deyali Chatterjee on the tanpura and vocal. He set the mood with raga Photo: Sanchali Basu Bhimpalashi, did a dhrupad style dence in Bellaire, the afternoon of alaap followed by July 19. The very hospitable cou- vilambit khayal in ple welcomed the classical music CONTINUED ON connoisseurs with tea/coffee and PAGE16 snacks around 3 PM and the proINDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JULY 31, 2015 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
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16 July 31, 2015 Maulana Azad Medical College Alumni Celebrate North American Togetherness
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Perfect Evening of Classical Music Ghar Baithak at the Reges CONTINUED FROM PAGE
Jay Solanki and Shyamala Ram of Toronto performed for the convention
livered by to the students, the first one delivered by Suneja himself in November 2014. Other accomplishments included the creation of a slogan for MAMCOAANA (Education, Excellence, Camaraderie); modification of the group’s insignia and modification of by laws for the first time in 31 years. Visiting Maulana Azad graduate and Padmashree Dr. Kshama Metre, the National Director of CORD (Chinmaya Organization for Rural Development),
COMMUNITY
talked about her work at the NGO. And Dr. Deepak Tempe, Dean of Maulana Azad Medical College, sent a videotaped message felicitating the convention. The event was the occasion to hand out awards to several notable people in the organization for their dedication and service. Dr. Ashutosh Gupta, Dr. Jagdish Dang and Dr. Suneja received Life time achievement awards and the Bhisham Pitamah award was given by Dr. Vimal Sodhi to Dr.
Ashutosh Gupta. All 12 speakers and 11 sponsors received certificates of recognition. A Gala and dinner was held on Saturday, July 26, starting with the pledge to allegiance to the US flag by 6 children and pledge to Texas flag by Nisha and Shivani Suneja (Randeep Suneja’s 8-yearold twin daughters). Seema Suneja (Randeep’s wife), who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to coordinate the event was the emcee of the evening. Entertainment featured DJ Yogi at the turntables, an energetic Bollywood dance by Shivani in a yellow Rajasthani outfit who also performed the song “Eh malik tere bande hum” with her sister Nisha (in a similar outfit). Rounding out the “family” performances, Randeep did a surprise solo dance to the title song from “Badtameez”, to roars of approval. Dancers from Arzan Gonda’s Rhythm India school performed two pulsating dance numbers and topping it off, the singers Shyamala Ram and Jay Solanki of Toronto (who performed at the convention last year there) sang a medley of Bollywood songs, new and old, for the rest of the evening as the conventioneers danced. A buffet dinner was catered by Bombay Brasserie.
11
Ektaal and then two drut khayals in teentaal. Not being partial to either of the two gharanas that he got trained in, he sang one bandish from the Senia gharana, and one from the Bishnupur gharana. His deep resonating voice did justice to the Senia gayaki, founded by Mian Tansen, by blending layakari, chhandabhed and bol taans. The Bishnupur gharana known for its sweet lilting melody, happens to be the only Hindustani gharana of West Bengal. He ended with a bandish in raga Bhairavi. The next part of the afternoon belonged to Biplab Samadder on the violin. He started with raga Puriya-Dhanashree. The maturity in his playing has grown over the years and the compositions he played flowed from the alaap to the jod (majh, and drut jor) and to the first Gat in raga vilambit in Rupak taal (7 beats). The fluid transition into the second Gat in raga madhyalaya in Ada chautaal (14 beats), led to the next Gat drut in Teentaal (16 beats). The sawal jawab with tabla exponent Raja Banga was very well appreciated by the audience. The final crescendo of the jhala demonstrated the level of expertise of both the artists. The icing on the cake was in
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JULY 31, 2015 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
store after a short break. Of course the last, but not the least performer of the early hours of the evening was the gracious hostess Soumya Rege herself. Her melodious vocal classical presentation with Guru Shruti Sample on the harmonium and Govind Shetty on the tabla was a treat for the audience. She started with a Vilambit khayal in Ektaal, followed by drut in Teentaal in raga Bhupali. Being proficient in three vernacular languages of India, her mother tongue Oriya, her second love Bengali and her husband's mother tongue Marathi, she mentioned that she would attempt to sing a Marathi natyageet from the Marathi natak, “Katyar Kaljat Ghusli,” in raga Puriya kalyan – and oh, what a fine attempt it was!! As the saying goes, “Music knows no language,” Soumya proved that the Natya sangeet which basically had emerged so that the common people could also enjoy classical music, because it was loved by one and all. The program culminated with her rendering of a Tarana in Teentaal based on raga Bhairavi. The invitees got to mingle with the artists during the simple vegetarian potluck dinner that ensued. The evening was enjoyed by all, and the performances by all the artists were commended.
STORY OF MAHATMA GANDHI
July 31, 2015
17
The Story thus Far.....
Great Summer Project For children! Enter Mahatma Gandhi Week 2015 Essay, I-Tribute, Poster and Speech contests. Visit gandhilibrary.org for registration and more information. All school going children can participate! These contests are being organized to create higher awareness of the inspiring life and work of Mahatma Gandhi to promote universal values of Truth, Non-Violence, Love and Service. For two years Gandhi traveled extensively in India and had talked at different places. His interest first centered on the problem of indentured labor where poor, ignorant laborers were enticed away from India to work in the British colonies. He disapproved of this system in South Africa, fought it there, and he wanted to see it abolished. Gandhi started a great agitation on this issue. As a result, the Government announced that the system of indentured labor would be stopped before July 31,1917. In Ahmedabad at textile mills, prices had gone up and the mill workers were demanding higher wages. The mill owners would not agree. Gandhi sympathized with the workers and launched a struggle and resorted to peaceful resistance. The workers proudly followed Gandhi and paraded the streets saying they would not go back to work until a settlement had been reached. Days passed. The mill owners wouldn’t budge. The strikers were getting impatient for they were faced with starvation. Their discipline became weak. Gandhi feared that some workers would break their pledge and go back to work. That would be a great moral defeat. One morning he called the workers and told them that unless the mill workers held to their pledge, and reached a settlement, he would not eat. The workers were shocked. “Not you, but we shall fast,” they said. “Please forgive us for our lapse; we shall remain faithful to our pledge.”Gandhi did not want anybody else to fast. His fast was not against the mill owners, but against the lack of coordination and unity among the workers. The fast lasted only three days. It was powerful enough to influence the mill owners that they came to an agreement with the workers. Hardly was the mill workers’ strike over, when Gandhi had to plunge into the Kheda satyagraha struggle. The Kheda district of Gujarat was on the verge of a severe famine. Crop yield had been so low that the cultivators, especially the poor farmers, were unable to pay the revenue. But the government insisted that the yield had not been so bad and that the cultivators should pay the tax. Gandhi saw the injustice advised the farmers to offer satyagraha by not paying their taxes. Leaders, like Vallabhbhai Patel, Shankarlal Banker, Mahadev Desai and others took an active part in this struggle. There had been signs that the campaign might fizzle out, but after four months
of struggle there was an honorable settlement. The government asked rich farmers to pay and granted relief to poor farmers. The Kheda satyagraha marked the beginning of an awakening among the peasants of Gujarat, the beginning of their true political education. It gave to the educated public workers the chance to establish contact with the actual life of the peasants. During this time the war had entered a critical phase. Britain and France were in a difficult position. In the spring of 1917. Germany had inflicted crushing defeats on both the British and French troops in France. Russia’s war effort had broken down and the Revolution was threatening its Government. Though America had entered the war, no American troops had yet reached the battlefront. The Viceroy of India, Lord Chelmsford, invited various Indian leaders to attend a War Conference. Gandhi was also invited. He accepted the invitation and went to Delhi. Gandhi was not happy that leaders like Tilak or the Ali brothers had not been invited to the conference, so he was un- willing to attend. After meeting the Viceroy, however, he went to the conference. The Viceroy was keen to get Gandhi’s support on military recruiting. Gandhi spoke only one sentence. “With a full sense of my responsibility I beg to support the resolution.” Gandhi had supported going to war! Many of his friends were taken aback. Some said, “You are a votary of ahimsa, how can you ask us to take up arms?” Others said, “What good has the government done to India to deserve our cooperation?” Even some of his best friends could not understand how he could reconcile his war effort with his campaign for ahimsa. But Gandhi stuck to the belief he held at that time that “absolutely unconditional and wholehearted cooperation with the government by the educated Indians will bring India within sight of our goal of Swaraj as nothing else will.” Gandhi had made his decision and he now set out to implement it. The response to recruit went was not in any way encouraging, but Gandhi was determined to carry out his mission. He held meetings. He issued leaflets asking people to enlist in the forces. His steady work began to bear fruit. Many men were recruited and he hoped to get a bigger response as soon as the first batch had been
sent. Gandhi nearly ruined his health during the recruiting campaign. He worked very hard. He could not take his food at regular times, nor could he take enough nourishment to keep up his energy. He had an attack of dysentery. He refused to take medicine and his condition worsened. Friends tried their best to advise him but he was beyond all advice. He passed restless days and nights and he himself felt at times that he was near death’s door. It took him a long time to regain his health, but before then news came that World War I was over. Germany had been completely defeated. Friends and doctors advised him to go away for a change and recover his health. He went to Matheran, but the place did not suit him. He went to Poona, where a doctor was consulted. He advised him to take milk to rebuild his body, and prescribed some medicine. Gandhi took the medicine but he would not agree to take milk, for he had given up cow’s milk and buffalo’s milk. He was finally convinced to take goat’s milk. Gandhi returned to Ahmedabad. He was recouping his health there when he read in the papers the Rowlatt Committee’s report had just been published. The committee recommended that for the maintenance of peace, the government could arrest any person without a warrant and detain him for any length of time without any trial or right to appeal. Thus, the law was a direct attack on the ordinary civil liberties of the people and a clear indication of the autocratic and barbarous tendencies of the British rule in India. These recommendations startled Gandhi. He described them as “unjust, subversive of the principles of liberty and justice, and destructive of the elementary rights of individuals.” Friends approached him for guidance.“Something must be done,” he said to them. “If the proposed measures are passed into law, we ought to offer satyagraha.”Gandhi lamented the fact that he was in poor health. From his sick-bed he wrote articles for the Indian papers explaining that the proposed bill was an act of tyranny which no self-respecting people could submit to it. The only possible step against the government’s proposal, Gandhi thought, would be to launch a satyagraha movement in right earnest. A meeting of some of the leaders was called at the ashram and a satyagraha pledge was drafted. It was unanimously signed by everybody present. Gandhi did not believe that the existing institutions could handle such a noble weapon, so a separate institution named Satyagraha Sabha was formed with headquarters in Bombay. There were agitations everywhere against the Rowlatt Committee’s report. But the government was determined to implement the Rowlatt recommendations and in 1919, the Rowlatt Bill was introduced. When the bill was debated in India’s Legislative Chamber, Gandhi attended as a visitor. -To be Continued
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18 July 31, 2015 A Love Affair with Gold For the last few days my next door auntie has been busy shuttling from one jewellery store to another around Delhi. Her youngest daughter is getting married next year but she’s trying to buy as much jewellery as possible now for the wedding, since gold price is bit on a lower side. And the trend which has been around for eons, is that parents give their daughters a lot of gold jewellery as a symbol of financial security. In some parts of southern India, during wedding season, people would purchase kilograms of gold to match the weight of their daughters as part of the bridal trousseau, an ancient tradition known as streedhan (woman’s wealth), that forms most Indian women’s financial security blanket for marriage. I wonder still in this progressive age when daughters are doing good for themselves why parents have to gift them with gold. The reason I think is Indians cannot do away with their love for gold. ‘I was waiting for this period to start buying gold jewellery for my daughter’s wedding,’ my next door lady said, as she proudly showed me a necklace piece she bought. But why is she in such a hurry to buy so much jewellery right now? After all, her daughter’s wedding is still a year away. ‘This is the best time to purchase gold and the prices are also low right now. I am not sure whether I will get the same rate next year,’ she says. This lady is one among millions of Indians who have been thronging stores over the last few days to purchase jewellery, as the gold price is low and the festive and wedding season kicks in. The festive season runs from October to December every year, making these months the most important for buying gold in India. Diwali, the festival of lights, falls around OctoberNovember every year, this is also the time when most weddings take place. Gold ornaments are often given as wedding presents, irrespective of the religion. According to World Gold Council report, since the early 1990s, urban Indian women have been adopting contemporary designs for everyday use and wear. Younger, more affluent Indian consumers want pieces that are modern, yet reflect their heritage and culture; jewellery that expresses their new identity. This necessarily reflects that India’s affair with gold is for ages and this love affair will continue in the years to come. So newlywed brides are given enough jewellery to break their necks. Peasants store their meagre savings in trinkets. Wiseguys sport rings like knuckle-dusters and tycoons offer gold at temples in return for redemption. But what I understand, that every Indian’s desire of gold is not for gold. It is actually a means of freedom and reaping benefit. So go and have fun with gold! Barsha Nag Bhowmick in Times of India
EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY Kalam: The Problem Solver
BY G. MADHAVAN NAIR My association with A.P.J. Abdul Kalam began in 1967 when I joined the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station, Thiruvananthapuram. Through the years, he had been my guide and mentor. I learned about the technology behind rockets and project management from him. We worked together for nearly 20 years — first at Thumba and later on the satellite launch vehicle (SLV-3) project. I owe all my achievements to this great personality. Kalam was a real taskmaster and used to set impossible targets. At the same time, he used to be our motivator and facilitator. He used to check that we were on the right track and if any mistakes occurred, he would help us analyse and resolve the issues. He saw to it that we achieved success in the shortest possible time. Kalam never blamed anyone for a mistake or failure. He used to encourage people to put in their best. One of his biggest contributions was seeing through the successful progress of the SLV 3 program in the 1970s. When we got into the SLV program, we had only been launching small rockets that would go to an altitude of 10 km. Kalam envisioned launching a huge 20-tonne rocket with a spacecraft that would orbit the earth. We had no hope of getting this technology from outside. It was Kalam’s leadership that enabled this to happen. The basic technologies in a rocket system are complex and elements are integrated into future missions. The technology for the rocket, control system, navigation system, etc that were developed during the SLV 3 time have formed the foundation for Isro’s PSLV and GSLV systems. One of the remarkable things about Kalam was his intuitive decisionmaking. He had a knack for spotting trouble well in advance. We encountered many failures in the SLV programme and he always used to say that failure is the stepping stone to success. Today, Isro’s project management system stands out as one of the most purposeful in the world
Kalam always believed that for achieving the development goals of the country, the youth must be empowered.
because of his efforts. After leaving the space program, he took up the challenge of providing a missile shield for the country. Prithvi, Agni, Akash, etc are his brainchildren. Later on, he worked on weapons systems. When the weapons system was realised, I asked him why we were developing it and he said that only strength can draw the respect of others. He looked at the entire thing as a deterrent. I will not classify Kalam as a pure scientist. He was not the kind of person to write a thesis or solve equations and things like that. But he knew the critical issues in development programmes, whom to tap — a senior scientist, technician or professor. He had high respect for the professors and teaching staff at our leading science institutions and always used to tap their wisdom. He was able to synthesise the knowledge of hundreds of people to solve a single problem. There is practically no other person who has successfully completed so many missions in such a short time. When we were thinking of the moon mission and had completed the design of the moon probe, we made a presentation to him at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Kalam asked what we were going to do about putting an Indian flag on the moon. That is how we conceived the Moon Impact Probe, which put the Indian flag on the moon on November 14, 2008. He always said success was something to be celebrated, but he also believed that failure was something that you must concentrate all your energies on resolving. When the first PSLV launch failed, he was scientific
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advisor to the government. He took a flight to Sriharikota and spent a whole day and night with me to help us overcome the setback and chalk out a recovery plan. He believed that failure was a teacher. This was the kind of philosophical approach he brought to problem-solving. He had the knack of putting his finger on the issue and pointing you in the right direction. There were numerous occasions when we were groping in the dark and a few innocent questions from him would get us thinking and steer us in the right direction. Kalam was also a great humanitarian. He was always thinking of the welfare of the people. His aim was to see that the entire country benefited from his presidency. He wanted facilities that existed in cities taken to rural areas. Providing urban infrastructure in rural areas was a project close to his heart. Kalam always believed that for achieving the development goals of the country, the youth must be empowered. This is why he was always interacting with the youth and schoolchildren. It is a strange coincidence that he breathed his last talking to a group of young people in Shillong. Kalam’s system concepts and system integration capabilities were put to use in the nuclear programme as well as when he was scientific advisor and was involved with the nuclear tests at Pokhran in 1998. Technology was flown in from various laboratories, the ordnance factories and so on. He was the synthesiser of all these technologies. Kalam never carried the baggage of one responsibility to another. As president, he left his days as scientific advisor and scientist behind and focused on the wellbeing of the people of India. After his term as president was over, he concentrated on sparking the minds of children and the youth. Whenever I faced some trouble, one of the persons I would turn to for support was Kalam. We used to call each other quite often. I would get calls from him even in the middle of the night. Discussions with him were fulfilling. He was a great friend, philosopher and guide to me.IE The writer is a former chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation.
COMMUNITY
July 31, 2015
19
The 2015 MetLife South Asian Spelling Bee Regionals Conducted, NY & Boston Area Winners Announced Asia is the exclusive broadcast partner for the MetLife South Asian Spelling Bee and will be airing the series across 120 countries. Find us on Facebook at SouthAsian Spelling Bee and you can follow us on our Twitter handle at Spell South Asian. To reserve your FREE passes to the Finals, please log on to www. SouthAsianSpellingBee.com and fill in your details. About Touchdown Media Inc.: Touchdown Media Inc. is a specialized South Asian advertising and
Boston Picture: from left: Anjum Khalifa - second runner up, Arushi Kalpande - Regional Champ and Harshita Sunchu - first runner up and Founder of South Asian Spelling Bee, Rahul Walia.
NY Picture: from left: Anil Singh - second runner up, Uma Upamaka - first runner up, Jairam Hathwar - regional champ and Founder of South Asian Spelling Bee,Rahul Walia.
HOUSTON:The2015MetLifeSouth Asian Spelling Bee (www.SouthAsianSpellingBee.com) wrapped its 12-city tour this past weekend with the last two events in New York and Boston. MetLife, a leading global provider of life insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management, is serving as the event’s title sponsor for the seventh consecutive year. With a huge turnout this year as well, the Bee attracted some top talent as well as young and new spellers that competed for the coveted prizes and titles. “Its been an exciting tour and we got to see some wonderful spellers from across the country as well as outside,” said Rahul Walia, Founder - South Asian Spelling Bee. In the NY regional, Jairam Hathwar, was the regional champ, Uma Upamaka, was the first runner up, while Anil Singh was second runner up. In Boston, Arushi Kalpande was named Regional Champ, Harshita Sunchu was first runner up while seven year old Anjum Khalifa was second runner up. "MetLife is pleased to serve once again as the title sponsor of the South Asian Spelling Bee competition,” said Laurel Daring, assistant vice president, Communications, MetLife Premier Client Group. “This event allows youth from across the country to test their spelling skills in a national forum and helps them gain a better understanding of how much they can achieve through hard work and dedication. For MetLife, it also underscores our commitment to serving and giving back to the South Asian
community.” Along with MetLife, Britannia is the presenting sponsor while food brand Kawan is the Powered by sponsor for this event. As always, SONY Entertainment Television Asia is the exclusive broadcast partner for the MetLife South Asian Spelling Bee and will be airing the series across 120 countries. “Kawan is proud to support this platform that helps in the overall growth of the child. We look forward to seeing this year’s talent and are happy to be part of the process to find the best speller from the South Asian community," said Tim Tan, Managing Director, Kawan Food, makers of the world’s most popular Roti Paratha Brand in the world Kawan Paratha. “Once again, we are proud to be associated with the Bee and are looking forward to showcasing the journey in the quest for the best speller. We look forward to yet another successful year,” said Jaideep Janakiram, Head of North America, Sony Entertainment Television-Asia. The winners received cash prizes of $500, $300 and $200 respectively. Children up to 14 years of age are eligible to participate and the contest saw spellers of even 6 years of age compete and make it past a few rounds. There are 10 more cities on the anvil and for more information and to register your child, please visit www.SouthAsianSpellingBee.com. The top two winners from each from every city will be given an all expenses paid trip to NJ on August 14 for the FINALS. SONY Entertainment Television
promotions firm based in New Jersey. Now in its 11th successful year, Touchdown has helped clients- both mainstream and otherwise, reach out to the lucrative South Asian market, Touchdown Media represents more than 35 years of collective experience in this niche market. As a full service ad firm, Touchdown has helped many clients achieve their media and marketing goals within the South Asian Diaspora in the US. About MetLife: MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET),
through its subsidiaries and affiliates (“MetLife”), is one of the largest life insurance companies in the world. Founded in 1868, MetLife is a global provider of life insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management. Serving approximately 100 million customers, MetLife has operations in nearly 50 countries and holds leading market positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. For more information, visit www. metlife.com.
"Excellence Gap" Grows as Attention for Gifted Students Dwindles
United States policymakers have focused on implementing state standards to ensure that students reach proficiency levels, particularly in reading and math. Although proficiencies have improved across the nation the past several years, this focus on meeting new federal standards has let gifted students fall by the wayside. A recent study released by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation graded states by rating their policies for academically talented children, and the results are nothing short of dismal. The majority of states received a D, and an A was not attained by a single state. While this “excellence gap” between gifted students and the rest of the student body grows, it has become more imperative than ever that gifted students supplement their education with programs designed to help them reach their full potentials.
Students who are not adequately challenged can be just as detrimental to the education process as neglecting a child who needs help in one area or another. It is crucial to identify a gifted child as early as possible so that he or she can be tested for admission into a gifted program or begin working on coursework at a higher grade level to match his or her current learning capacity. Common signs that a child may be academically gifted include the following: The child began writing and reading very early; Appears to have what most people would refer to as a photographic memory; Is highly critical of oneself; shows early signs of perfectionism; Has a keen eye for small details other children at the same grade level tend to miss; Is musically or artistically talented. If a child meets these criteria, it is important to pursue a professional assessment and determine the best course of action for the child’s educational future. Resources like Best in Class Education Center specialize in evaluating students’ strengths and
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weaknesses through individualized assessments. If a child’s school offers a gifted program, select Best in Class Education Centers offer services to help him or her prepare for the gifted program acceptance exams. All locations provide a custom, supplemental curriculum that adheres to each student’s learning capacity. Where students may not be receiving an adequate challenge through their daily coursework, Best in Class is able to supplement that education with assignments and practical exercises so that students can be prompted to reach full potential. 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 20 additional units in 2015. 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.
20 July 31, 2015
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PUZZLES/RECIPES
Mama’s Punjabi Recipes
Bharre Tinde (Spice Stuffed Round Gourd) This is one vegetable that is fairly hard to find outside of north India and is especially popular in the Punjab, where it is found usually after the middle of April through the end of the summer. Although tinde are also found in Sindh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra, they should not be confused with the tendli or kundru vegetables of other regions. Sadly, tinde are not readily available in stores in the US or in the frozen section and are not featured in most restaurant menus, so many people here have grown up not being exposed to this truly Punjabi dish. Tinde (the plural form of tinda) are often called Indian round gourd or apple gourd as they are a squash-like curcurbit which are grown for its immature fruit. The fruits grow on a vine, are round (2 to 3 inches in diameter). green with a smooth skin, and look like a mini pumpkin. The vegetable is usually cooked whole, with a four-way split in the middle or cut into quarters and the results are very enticing as the soft seeds are exposed while the outer skin is still soft and firm giving a slight crunchiness to each bite. This is one dish that tastes best with crispy, hot tandoori rotis. Because they are small and round, some people carve out the middle and stuff it with paneer and other ingredients and cook them in a rich gravy. But the real Punjabi way is to only stuff the cross-cut tinde with masalas and let it cook in its own small amount of gravy. Among Punjabis, the word tinda (meaning squat and fat) is also used as an affectionate nickname or in jest! Ingredients :
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1) Jenil Patel 2) V. P. Geetha 3) Sri Kumar
500 gm tinde (medium size round gourd) 2 tablespoon tael (vegetable or olive oil) 1 small piyaaz (onion) peeled and chopped 1 small tamater (tomato) chopped 1 small piece adrak (ginger) peeled and chopped 2 cups pani (water) Spices for the masala: 1 tspn namak (salt), 1 tspn mirch (red pepper), 2 tspn dhania powder (ground coriander), 1/2 tspn garam masala,1/2 tspn haldi powder (ground turmeric)
Directions: 1. Cut off the top stalk, then peel
the tinde, wash them and leave it to drain in a sieve. 2 .Make a deep cross cut (in quarters) into each tinda almost till the bottom, but do not cut through, leaving the fruit connected but ready for adding the masala. 3. Now prepare the masala for the tinde in a small bowl. Mix all the spices together well and then take a small pinch and stuff it into the crosscut in each of the tinde one by one. Keep the stuffed tinde to the side. 4. In a kadai (wok) or skillet, heat the oil well; throw in the adrak and onions. Stir well over medium high heat till they are golden brown, then add the chopped tomato and stir for 2 minutes. 5. Add the tinde carefully, top side up and cook for 5 minutes while stirring gently. Pour in 2 cups of water, then cover the kadai and let it come to a boil.
6. Now stir gently, leave the cover on, turn the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes. 7. Check to see if the tinde are tender and the gravy is thickened. Cook another 5 minutes covered over very low heat so that the masala seeps in completely, then turn the heat off. 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 GET MASALA INGREDIENTS READY FOR MANY DISHES
I have heard many people say that the hardest part of cooking a Punjabi meal (especially vegetarian) is getting ready with all the ingredients. Many people simply shy away when they realize they have to peel the onions, garlic and ginger and either use the powder form, or simply decide to make something else! The easy way out is to peel and cut these ahead of time in large quantities and then chop them and place them in covered containers or plastic zip-lock bags in the fridge. If you want, you can even saute the three ingredients together till they are golden brown and store them. If you want to add the chopped tomatoes, you can make the complete masala and freeze it. Then, when you need some, just take a tablespoon or two and add it to the dish you are preparing.
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July 31, 2015
ENTERTAINMENT ENTERTAINMENT
Movie Review: Masaan
BY SHWETA KAUSHAL NEW DELHI: Set against the visually powerful backdrop of funeral pyres and the burning ghats in Varanasi, Masaan is a poetic narrative of pathos and love. The film takes on the tragedy of life, death and loss. It traces two different stories -- one is about Devi's (Richa Chaddha) fight with morality and the other one is the love story of Deepak (Vicky Kaushal) and Shalu (Shweta Tripathi). Picture this: Corpses are burning on a ghat in Varanasi and the men attending the pyres take lathis and hit on the skulls of the burning corpses while asking each other to ensure that the bodies burn properly. We get to see this twice in Neeraj Ghaywan's Masaan that hits theatres on Friday. The film, which was honoured with a five-minute standing ovation and won two awards at the Cannes Film Festival, stars Richa Chadda, Vicky Kaushal, Shweta Tripathi and Sanjay Mishra in lead roles. Chaddha is seen watching porn on her computer as Masaan opens. She then leaves her house, changes into a saree in a Sulabh shauchalaya -- the public toilet -- on her way and rents a cheap hotel room with her friend Piyush (Saurabh Chaudhary). The duo is interrupted by cops who barge into the room and the sequence lands Devi and her father Vidyadhar Pathak
A parallel love story between Shalu and Deepak offers romantic relief to the otherwise tense story of Devi. Deepak belongs to a family of doms people who help burn corpses on the ghats while Shalu is an upper caste girl, protected from the harsh realities of life that Deepak encounters everyday. One of the many beautiful aspects of Masaan is that none of the characters give up. They are caught up
in the social and moral confines but are ready to take them on within their own litte spheres and ways. Devi, despite her small-town upbringing, struggles with the social morales, weaves vulnerability, rebelliousness and strength together. Both Devi and Deepak have their personal losses and tragedies to deal with but they put up a strong fight, bring closure to their griefs and move ahead in life. -HindustanTimes
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Salman Thanks UP Government for Making Bajrangi Bhaijaan Tax Free
NEW DELHI: It's raining praise from Salman Khan's new flick Bajrangi Bhaijaan from all quarters, and the latest to join the list is Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav who has declared the film tax free in his state. The film's director, Kabir Khan, met Yadav earlier this week and the Chief Minister decided to make the cross-border drama tax free. "Bajrangi Bhaijaan is tax free in
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UP. We thank the Govt of Uttar Pradesh. @yadavakhilesh," Salman posted on Twitter. Bajrangi Bhaijaan is about a siyear-old mute Pakistani girl, who loses her way on the Indo-Pak border and finds herself in India. Salman’s character finds the girl and takes it upon himself to reunite her with her family in Pakistan. -HindustanTimes
22 July 31, 2015
INDIA
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Ex-President Who Pushed a Nuclear India, Dies at 83 BY ELLEN BARRY
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NEW DELHI: India’s 11th president, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, whose role in advancing India’s nuclear program made him one of his country’s most beloved figures, died on Monday after collapsing at an event where he was to deliver a lecture. He was 83. The cause was cardiac arrest, doctors told NDTV, an Indian news channel. Dr. Kalam, an ardent nationalist nicknamed “the missile man of India,” was embraced by both the leftleaning Indian National Congress party and the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party. His death brought an outpouring of mourning on Monday from across the ideological spectrum at a time of intense political polarization in India. Born into a humble South Indian family his father rented a boat to fishermen working the strait between India and Sri Lanka Dr. Kalam was singled out as a promising student and went on to study aeronautics. A practicing Muslim, he involved himself in the country’s broader culture, studying Indian classical music and, a biographer said, committing to memory sections of the Bhagavad Gita, one of Hinduism’s most sacred texts. “My mind is filled with so many memories, so many interactions with him,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on Twitter. “Dr. Kalam enjoyed being with people; people and youngsters adored him. He loved students and spent his final moments among them.” A similar tribute came from P. Chidambaram, a prominent leader in the Indian National Congress and sharp critic of the current government. “In recent history, only a few had endeared themselves to the young and old, poor and the rich, and to people belonging to different faiths,” he wrote of Dr. Kalam. Dr. Kalam’s celebrity could be traced to 1998, when India detonated five nuclear devices in the northwestern desert, to widespread international condemnation. Described at the time as an “impish, shaggy-haired bachelor” of 66, he was one of the most exuberant boosters of the country’s nuclear program. In the years leading up to the tests, he was so frustrated with the govern-
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in 2006. Dr. Kalam, the president of India from 2002 to 2007, strongly supported its nuclear program.
ment’s reluctance to approve them that he threatened to leave his post. He used the spotlight to urge India to build up its military strength and to free itself from the threat of domination by outside forces. “For 2,500 years India has never invaded anybody,” he said at a news conference after the tests. “But others have come here. So many others have come.” Even after he was elected president four years later, Dr. Kalam made it a priority to meet one-on-one with young people, setting a target of 500,000 such exchanges for his five-year term. Many came to know him as “Kalam Chacha” (“Kalam Uncle”), an endearment previously bestowed on “Chacha” Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister. Dr. Kalam’s speeches were ebul-
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liently motivational. “We must think and act like a nation of a billion people, not like that of a million people,” Dr. Kalam once said. “Dream, dream, dream!” Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam was born on Oct. 15, 1931, on an island off Tamil Nadu. He had said that his interest in aeronautics began when he was a small boy, delivering a local Tamil newspaper, and noticed an article about the Supermarine Spitfire, a fighter used by the British in World War II. He studied aeronautical engineering in the hope of becoming a fighter pilot but was eliminated from contention in a final round of qualifying interviews. He took an entry-level job at Hindustan Aeronautics instead and was later hired by the Indian space research organization and defense research and development organization. There he helped develop India’s first satellite launch vehicle and guided missile program. Dr. Kalam spent little time outside India. For him, it was a point of pride that India had developed its bomb without much help from foreign powers. And he described himself as thoroughly Indian. “I am completely indigenous!” he told The New York Times in 1998. By early morning on Tuesday, there were few political figures in India who had not released an expression of grief. “He was the best human being I came across,” Pratibha Patil, his successor as president, told Times Now, an Indian news channel. “I feel very sorry.” Correction: July 28, 2015 An earlier version of this obituary referred incorrectly to the Supermarine Spitfire, a British fighter plane that Mr. Kalam read about as a child. It was a propeller aircraft, not a jet. -NewYork Times
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My Meal at Dishoom: How the Irani Café Template Helped London’s Hottest BY SIDIN VADUKUT The best, and perhaps only, way to definitely find a table at any of the three wildly popular branches of the Dishoom restaurant chain in London is as follows. You call up co-founder Shamil Thakrar and convince him to join you for a lunchtime chat about Dishoom. And then you also convince Thakrar to book the table. This is what I did a few weeks ago when I met Thakrar for lunch at the massive branch of Dishoom that opened in November at the achingly hip Granary Square near King’s Cross station in London. Thakrar was a few minutes late for our meeting so I passed the time sipping on a mango and fennel lassi. First-class yoghurt with fresh mango pulp and fennel seeds. £3.70 When Dishoom first appeared in Covent Garden in 2010, it plugged a gap in the London dining scene that few people thought existed. But what is this gap? What was the niche Thakrar and his fellow founding partners—cousin Kavi Thakrar, Amar and Adarsh Radia—aimed for when they first began Dishoom-ing? Many worldly wise people, food writer Vir Sanghvi chief amongst them, will tell you that London is where you can eat the best Indian food in the world. But there is a subtle difference in saying that some Indian restaurants in London are great, and in saying that Indian food in London is excellent. In fact, most Indian food in London, and indeed anywhere in the UK, is atrocious. Over the decades, Indian by which I mean Bangladeshi restaurateurs in this country have run a race to the bottom, competing on who can serve the cheapest weekend bowl of “meat in gravy” that can adequately
Restaurant Raise the Bar for Indian Food in the UK
congeal lager-laden bellies. Which is perhaps why Dishoom works. Because, for all its meticulously designed interiors, nuanced menus and rich themes, it wears its Indianness lightly. You go to Dishoom to have a good meal. That this meal has an unshakeable Indian soul wrapped in 21st century hipster ingenuity is somewhat incidental. The knack, Shamil Thakrar tells me, is to balance two tendencies— having fun and being authentic. “For example, our dal is as it should be, a straight, true and delicious black dal. However, we also have a lot of fun with, say, the Bacon Naan Roll which is, frankly, a homage to London. The sort of London dish an Irani might serve here, and it’s authentic in its honesty and simplicity. It has a great cult following and it’s a large part of the reason we have such a popular breakfast.” Thakrar offers to order lunch. And proceeds to order nearly everything on the menu. We start with starters. Prawn Koliwada: Bombay’s Koli (fishermen) Wada (district) recipe: a bowl of delicate, crispy morsels with tamarind and date chutney. (S) £5.90 Thakrar used to be a management consultant earlier and is quick to point out that he had no experience in the food and beverage business before he opened his first branch with
his partners. “The closest I came to this kind of thing was my family’s business,” he says. Thakrar’s family, originally from Porbandar, Gujarat, has a basmati rice business in India and divides its time between London and New Delhi. Thakrar’s hunt for a suitably new concept for a restaurant in London eventually led them to Mumbai’s legendary Irani cafés. The founders visited many of the three dozen or so remaining Irani eateries in Mumbai, drawing up ideas for food, decor and ambience. They then hired head chef Navid Nasir, previously of ITC Aurangabad (now WelcomHotel Rama International) and, along with food consultants Karen Anand and Stephen Parkins-Knight, designed an eclectic, engaging menu that perfectly straddles the exotic and the familiar. As we reach for a bowl of dal, Thakrar tells me how a key inflection point in the business came about. Black House Daal: A Dishoom signature dish—dark, rich, deeply flavoured. It is simmered over 24 hours for extra harmony. (V) £4.90 “At one point, we realized that we were spending way too much time obsessing over costs and profits and business metrics,” Thakrar says. That is when the founders realized that they had to approach their business from a new angle: “Good food and
great service.” Good food and great service? That was the new angle? Thakrar explains with an example. “Initially, we tried to standardize the way our waitstaff interacted with customers.” Interactions were scripted to a high level of detail. But this took the life out of these interactions and robbed many staff members of their ability to engage with customers. So they changed everything. “Today, I like to think that my staff do seva. I know it sounds a little up in the air. But I genuinely think that when you approach this with a sense of service…that you have an opportunity to do something great…which is feed someone…it changes the way you work.” Thakrar now says that the company spends a lot of time and money training its people on this concept of seva. photo If the endless lines, great reviews and constant thrum of cheer in the dining rooms are any indication, the effort is a success. In June, Dishoom King’s Cross came 21st in the 2015 National Restaurant Awards, ahead of Hibiscus, Michel Roux Jr’s Le Gavroche and Heston Blumenthal’s Dinner—all outstanding restaurants with prices to match. Chicken Berry Britannia: The Dishoom variation on the legendary Irani Café special, with cranberries. £8.50 I ask Thakrar how they develop dishes on their menu. How do they arrive at that real-but-not-so-real-thatit-is-boring balance that Dishoom is famous for? “We try a lot of dishes. A lot of our inspiration comes from when we are in Mumbai. Trying food on
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Mohammed Ali Road, or in Irani cafés or wherever. We’re working on some different desserts right now; for example, a fantastic falooda. As a team, we try dishes many times with iterations and tweaks before we’re happy that it’s Dishoom-ified and ready for our menu.” photo One of Thakrar’s non-culinary goals is to make Dishoom a focal point for events that celebrate these values. For instance, Thakrar wants to make Holi a “big thing”. In July, Dishoom organized the first edition of RISE, a 90-minute dynamic yoga session for 100 people. Conceived in collaboration with composer Nitin Sawhney and yoga teacher Claire Missingham, the evening brought together yoga, music and food. As I tuck into dessert, Thakrar asks one of his crew to bring me a “Dishoom King’s Cross key chain and the matka”. Guju Chocolate Mousse: Intense, dark and rich, with just a touch of chilli and salt. Graced with Gujarati shrikhand fruited yoghurt and blackberries. (V) £5.20 “We give one of these to all our regulars,” he explains. Holders are invited to roll a dice after their meal. Throw up a six and your meal is free, no questions asked. I roll a three. This is the story of my life. I save my most important question for last. When is the first Dishoom in Mumbai opening? Thakrar is non-committal. “Right now we want to focus on London,” he says. Which is not a “No”. If I were a Mumbaikar, I would be praying for Dishoom to take over one of those dilapidated old Irani cafés. If only for that Guju Chocolate Mousse. -Livemint.com
24 July 31, 2015
Ashes: England Hope for Edgbaston Magic
BY BRYDON COVERDALE EDGBASTON (ESPN Cricinfo): Ten years ago next week Michael Kasprowicz’s glove, Geraint Jones’ dive and Billy Bowden’s finger combined in Birmingham to create one of the most memorable finishes in Ashes history. If the 2005 Ashes was the Himalaya of modern Test series, the Edgbaston Test was its Everest, the site of its highest drama. Michael Clarke and Ian Bell are the only two players remaining who took part in that Test; now they will return to Edgbaston with their teams locked at 1-1 in the 2015 Ashes. The stage is set. What will this year bring? England’s victory in Cardiff was followed by a punishing defeat at Lord’s, and it is the task of Alastair Cook and Trevor Bayliss to ensure that Australia do not carry significant momentum from that result. England’s form in their most recent six Tests - win, loss, win, loss, win, loss - might hint at bouncebackability, but it should be noted that the first two losses each marked the end of a series, so the wins that followed were against new opponents. The selectors have responded by cutting Gary Ballance and recalling Jonny Bairstow, who last played Test cricket during the Ashes tour of Australia in 2013-14. It remains to be seen whether that is the only change. Australia have confirmed that Peter Nevill will be retained ahead of Brad Haddin, who withdrew from the Lord’s Test for family reasons. It is a move that may well spell the end of Haddin’s Test career. The other key factor at Edgbaston will be the pitch, after the first two Tests were played on surfaces lacking in pace and bounce. Two days before the Test there was so much grass on the Edgbaston pitch that Clarke compared it to the Gabba green-tops used in Sheffield Shield cricket, but the likelihood is that cover will be shaved off before play. Whatever the case, the toss may again prove crucial: England won the toss and the match in Cardiff, and Australia won the toss and the match at Lord’s.
Jonny Bairstow was back with the England Test side, Edgbaston, July 27, 2015.
The No.3 position could hardly be filled by two men with more differing form-lines. England’s axing of Ballance has meant a move back up to first drop for Ian Bell, who made 1 and 11 at Lord’s and in the past year has scored 336 Test runs at 22.40. For Australia, the spot is occupied by Steven Smith, who at Lord’s posted 215 and 58 and in the past year has amassed 1565 Test runs at 97.81. Adam Lyth has been struggling as opener and Bell faces the very real prospect of confronting Australia’s fast men early with the new ball. He has more than 7000 Test runs to his name, but he will need to draw on every bit of that experience to lift himself out of his current form slump. Smith, on the other hand, needs only 74 more runs to reach 3000 in Tests, and if he gets there in this match he will be third-fastest Australian to the milestone, behind Don Bradman and Neil Harvey. Not bad for a bloke who started his Test career at No.8. Team news England’s un-Ballanced side needed some rearranging, so Bell will move up to No. 3, with Joe Root at No. 4 and Bairstow to slot
in at No. 5. It remains to be seen whether changes will be made to the attack. Mark Wood had little impact at Lord’s and will undergo a fitness test on Wednesday morning as England continue to monitor his troublesome left ankle. Steven Finn and Adil Rashid are the other options in the 13-man squad. England (possible) 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Adam Lyth, 3 Ian Bell, 4 Joe Root, 5 Jonny Bairstow, 6 Ben Stokes, 7 Jos Buttler (wk), 8 Moeen Ali, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 Mark Wood, 11 James Anderson Nevill has retained his spot after a strong debut, and Chris Rogers appears set to play despite suffering a dizzy spell at Lord’s. That might mean an unchanged XI, and Australia will hope not to add to their recent history of last-minute changes in Edgbaston Tests. Glenn McGrath rolled his ankle on the first morning in 2005 and was replaced by Kasprowicz, and in 2009 Graham Manou made an unexpected debut when Haddin broke a finger just before the toss. Australia (possible) 1 David Warner, 2 Chris Rogers, 3 Steven Smith, 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 Adam Voges, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Peter Nevill (wk), 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Nathan Lyon Pitch and conditions The Edgbaston groundstaff have used cannabis lamps to help prepare the pitch, in the hope of supplying greater pace and bounce. Only time will tell if they have succeeded or made a hash of it. Despite rain interrupting practice on Tuesday, the forecast for the match is fine. Stats and trivia Only 11 players have the Test double of 2000 runs and 300 wickets, but Stuart Broad and Mitchell Johnson may both join the club this Test. Broad has 296 wickets and 2353 runs; Johnson has 299 wickets and 1999 runs. Nevill becomes just the fifth man in the past 27 years to be Australia’s first-choice Test wicketkeeper, after Ian Healy, Adam Gilchrist, Brad Haddin and Matthew Wade. Brydon Coverdale is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @brydoncoverdale
SPORTS
Legspinner Amit Mishra Recalled for SL Series MUMBAI: Legspinner Amit Mishra has been recalled to India’s Test squad for the tour of Sri Lanka in August. Mishra, 32, last played a Test in 2011 and he took legspinner Karn Sharma’s place in the team that had travelled to Bangladesh in June. It was the only change to India’s 15-man squad. Mishra has not played a Test since the 2011 tour of England, where he played two matches and took three wickets at an average of 106.66. In the 2014-15 Ranji Trophy season, Mishra played six matches for Haryana and took 10 wickets at an average of 20.40. “Amit Mishra has always been part of our thinking,” India’s chairman of selectors Sandeep Patil said in Delhi. “If you remember, even last year he was in the reserves [for the West Indies series]. The final authority of picking the XI is the role of the captain and the team management.
Why A was not played and why B was picked it is not what we get into. Looking at the conditions, we have picked him for this SL tour.” Karn and fast bowler Mohammed Shami were not considered because of fitness problems. Karn had been ruled out of India’s tour of Zimbabwe in July with a fractured finger, and Shami is presently recovering from knee surgery. Opener KL Rahul had missed the Test in Bangladesh because of dengue fever and his replacement Shikhar Dhawan made a hundred in that game, leaving India with three openers - M Vijay being the third - to choose from in Sri Lanka. The selectors have not picked a reserve wicketkeeper in the squad as back up for Wriddhiman Saha. “We have a standby wicketkeeper we have nominated,” Patil said. “Secretary and selectors, we are aware who is the wicketkeeper nominated if there is injury on the SL tour.
Series Win for Pakistan with Shehzad’s 95 Runs
Ahmed Shehzad lines up a big shot, Sri Lanka v Pakistan, 4th ODI, Colombo.
HAMBANTOTA: Pakistan 257 for 3 (Shehzad 95, Hafeez 70) beat Sri Lanka 256 for 9 (Thirmanne 90, Dilshan 50) by 7 wickets For the third time in the series Pakistan denied those expecting drama and nerves and inexplicable events normally associated with Pakistan cricket. They first refused to let Sri Lanka get away despite a seemingly effortless 100-run second-wicket stand and dragged them down to 256, and then Ahmed Shehzad followed it with a ruthless chase of a target that could have been tricky on a dry turning surface. This was their first bi-
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lateral series win in Sri Lanka in nine years, and took them closer to Champions Trophy qualification. In fact even in the second match - the one that they lost - Pakistan were predictable and excellent. They just came up against individual brilliance of the Pakistani kind, and even after that record fastest fifty by Kusal Perera Pakistan fought to make sure it was not a cakewalk for Sri Lanka. There was no such out-of-theworld brilliance from Sri Lanka this time, but Pakistan retained that tenacity even though Sri Lanka scored three half centuries.
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Politicians, Judges Urge President to Stay Yakub Memon's Execution
Yakub Memon, the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts convict, at a TADA court.
MUMBAI:Hundreds of politicians, jurists and activists appealed to President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday to spare the life of 1993 Mumbai blasts plotter Yakub Memon, adding fuel to a raging debate over the issue on a day actor Salman Khan sought mercy for the death row convict. The fresh petition came ahead of the Supreme Court hearing a last-ditch appeal on Monday from Memon who was sentenced to death for the dozen explosions that ripped through India’s financial capital, killing nearly
260 people at separate landmarks and leaving more than 700 injured. “Blood-letting and human sacrifice will not make this country a safer place; it will, however, degrade us all,” said the signatories including BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha, Congress’ Mani Shankar Aiyar, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury, Supreme Court lawyer Ram Jethmalani as well as film personalities Naseeruddin Shah and Mahesh Bhatt. “Grant of mercy in this case will send out a message that while this country will not toler-
ate acts of terrorism, as a nation we are committed to equal application of the power of mercy and values of forgiveness, and justice.” The trained chartered accountant who has spent over two decades in jail is due to be hanged at Nagpur central jail on July 30, the day he turns 53. “The CPI(M) is in principle against capital punishment, whether it is Yaukb Memon or others. Memon is guilty and he should be punished. But we are for the abolition of capital punishment,” Yechury told HT. The nearly 300 petitioners joined a growing chorus of voices opposing the death sentence, as Bollywood superstar Salman Khan posted a series of tweets to argue against Memon’s hanging but later apologised after his comments sparked strong reactions from political parties, social media users and his own father. “I had tweeted that Tiger Memon should hang for his crimes and I stand by it,” he said, referring to the convict’s brother. “What i also said is that Yakub Memon should not hang for him. I have not said or implied that Yakub Memon is innocent.” Tiger Memon, along with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and his brother, Anees Ibrahim, are considered to be the key conspirators behind the serial blasts.
Indian investigators have accused Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI of aiding the plotters, an allegation that Islamabad has denied. Both Tiger Memon and Dawood Ibrahim are believed to be holed up in the neighbouring country. The clarification from Salman Khan who was himself convicted in a deadly hit-and-run accident this year came after dozens of angry protesters, many of them shouting slogans and waving BJP flags, gathered outside his Mumbai home and demanded an apology. “My dad called & said I should retract my tweets as they have the potential to create misunderstanding. I here by retract them,” the actor tweeted. “I would like to unconditionally apologise for any misunderstanding I may have created unintentionally.” Protests erupted against Khan in several parts of Maharashtra as state revenue minister Eknath Khadse said those sympathising with Memon should also be punished, while special prosecutor in the blasts case, Ujjwal Nikam, called the actor’s tweets an attempt to “undermine the image of the Indian Judiciary.” “I would like to ask him whether he knew about the criminal conspirators, or did he term Yakub Memon as innocent from his personal knowledge,”
the lawyer said. Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said the court’s decision had come and “we must all follow the course of the law”, but questioned the BJP government for supporting the hanging of Yakub Memon while “asking agencies to proceed slowly in bomb blast cases like Malegaon, Modasa, Samjhauta express, Ajmer Dargah Sharif involving people from the Sangh”. However, former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju called Memon’s death sentence a “gross travesty of justice” as the evidence based on which he had been found guilty was “very weak”. “This evidence is retracted confession of the co-accused and alleged recoveries,” he said and added that “everyone knows how confessions are obtained by the police in our country by torture.” Memon’s wife, Rahin, also pleaded for her husband’s death penalty to be reduced to life imprisonment, saying she believed he was innocent and had willingly surrendered to authorities. “I have full faith in the judiciary. I ask for pardon from the government of India for Yakub so his death sentence can be commuted,” she told a news channel. -HindustanTimes
SBI Accounting Error Makes this Kanpur Woman Super Rich for a Day
KANPUR:It could give anybody a heart attack. But Urmila Yadav of Kanpur's Vikas Nagar survived to tell the tale. A few days ago, she became one of the richest women to walk the earth when an amount of Rs 95,71,16,98,647 was credited to her State Bank of India (SBI) account,
thanks to a strange procedure followed by the bank to get in touch with its customers. Urmila, who works as a domestic help, had opened a savings account by depositing Rs 2000 with the SBI's UPSIDC branch in Vikas Nagar as a part of the central government's Jan Dhan Yojana. Two text messages
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from the bank made her sit up and gasp in disbelief. While the first one said her account had been credited with Rs 9,99,999 the other showed that Rs 9.97 lakh had been deducted leaving a balance of Rs 2,000. She was obviously shocked as she had not made any such transaction. "I was constantly asking myself as to how this Rs 10 lakh came and went," she said. But a bigger shock was awaiting her when she rushed to the bank with Lalta Prasad Tiwari, an account holder who helped her open hers with the bank. When her account was checked, there was a balance of Rs 95,71,16,98,647.14. Even the bank officials, who could not easily read or calculate the figure immediately, were stunned.
Rs 95,71,16,98,647 was credited to Urmila Yadav's SBI account. VK Srivastava, a senior clerk who also officiates as manager, said it happened apparently because of a process undertaken to freeze a dormant account. Urmila's account was dormant for some time as she had not maintained the adequate balance required to keep an it going. It was, according to the bank employees, a way to communicate to the account holder that he or she could no longer use the account.As a part of the process, the bank credited a made up figure and then deducted it. But can they really do such a thing? "Rules bar banks from crediting and debiting any sum without the consent of the account holder," says Abhishek Gupta, a chartered accountant.
"The bank is responsible for what has happened. What is the point in such a process?" he asked. He said when if the account was opened with Rs 2,000, then the woman should not have received the messages about the credit of Rs 9.99 lakh and the one about a deduction of Rs 9.97 lakh in the first place. "It needs to be investigated thoroughly," said Gupta. For Urmila, all that matters is the actual amount that she used to open her account. "I do not want to contest as to how it happened. My only worry is the Rs. 2000. That should be safe," said Urmila. The bank has now activated her account, which is showing the correct balance of Rs. 2000. --HindustanTimes
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