Indo-American News September 10, 2021

Friday, September 10, 2021 | Vol. 40, No. 37

Indo American News

September 10, 2021

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How about October as Hindu Heritage Month?

‘Thalaivi’ : Poignant

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England Outplayed

World Hindu Council of America has announced the creation of October as Hindu Heritage Month.

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2 September 10, 2021 DIASPORA Black vs. Indian Vigilante Killings Rampant in South Africa Phoenix, South Africa: The blows rained down — bats, hammers, a hockey stick — as Njabulo Dlamini lay on the pavement. He and five friends, all of them black, had been driving in a minibus taxi through the streets of Phoenix, a predominantly Indian suburb created from the forced racial segregation of apartheid South Africa.

A mob dragged them from the car and beat them furiously, according to witnesses and video footage. Other people were chased and beaten by the crowd, which had been whipped up in recent days by WhatsApp warnings and reports of violence and looting by black people. Dlamini later died of his injuries, his family said.

South Africa was convulsed this summer by some of its worst civil unrest since the end of apartheid.

The imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma for refusing to appear before a corruption inquiry set off violent protests by his supporters. Soon, riots and looting erupted in parts of the country, fed by poverty, inequality and the government’s failure to provide basic services, like water or electricity.

Officials have called the violence an insurrection — an attempt to sabotage Zuma’s rival and successor, President Cyril Ramaphosa, in part by stoking some of the nation’s oldest racial tensions.

Nationwide, over 340 people died in the mayhem. But officials have been alarmed by what they say undermines the social order: dozens of vigilante killings by ordinary citizens. The vigilantism was pronounced in Phoenix. The country’s police minister said 36 people there — 33 of them black — were killed. Fifty-six people have been arrested in connection with the Phoenix violence.

Mobs of mostly Indian residents, worried that their community was under siege, erected roadblocks.

They stopped black people and sometimes beat or killed them, police said, inflaming the fragile relationship between black and Indian South Africans — two marginalised groups under apartheid rule.

Interviews with dozens of black and Indian residents, as well as a review of video footage, show that at least some of the violence and deaths could have been prevented if police had provided basic security.

While the apartheid government

deemed black and Indian people inferior to the white population, Indians were placed above black people in the hierarchy.

This afforded them access to better education, freer movement and sturdier homes than the blacks.

On July 11, after days of watching TV footage of shopping centres in other places being looted, and cops nowhere to be found, many Phoenix locals got an anonymous, unverified message on WhatsApp. “Tomorrow we coming in all your Indian people town to close every-

Indo-American News • Friday, September 10, 2021 • www.indoamerican-news.com

thing,” it read. “You’ll wake up and see flames.”

Residents began to brace for an attack. Videos and messages left many feeling that their city was being overrun. One video showed hundreds of people charging into Phoenix from a predominantly black settlement. Gunshots rang out as looters made their way toward a shopping plaza, said Marc Chetty, a resident. A bullet tore through the kitchen window of Chandramati Bhagwati, 66, grazing her as she cooked, she said.

Two shopping plazas were looted.

Scared, many residents armed themselves and flocked to the streets to erect makeshift roadblocks. People argued they were not accosting black people because of their race, but because they seemed to be doing most of the looting. All around Phoenix, Indians asked how anyone could say this was about race. Indian said that while the government failed to create opportunities for their black neighbours, they employed them as gardeners and housekeepers. But for Linda Khawula, one of Dlamini’s friends who was with him that night, everything has changed. “Now I have hate in my heart,” she said. “I feel hate toward Indian people when I didn’t feel it before.”

-- Times of India

3 How about Celebrating October as the Hindu Heritage Month?

COMMUNITY

September 10, 2021

By Manu Shah Washington DC: Today, Dharma-based organizations including those of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist and Jain traditions from around the world, are pleased to announce the addition of another major festival, indeed an entire month of festivals, in October as the Hindu Heritage Month. (Website: www. hindumonth.org) Hindus represent one of the newest and the fastest growing immigrant communities in the United States and Canada. Backed by a rock-solid family structure and love for education, they are fully integrated into every aspect of their adopted society, enriching it with not only outstanding professional contributions but also rich cultural heritage. From the elegant ethnic wear to delicious food to festivals like Holi and Diwali, their diverse and rich culture has impressed all in the Western world.

Based on the “open source” model, the celebration of Hindu Heritage Month will be a showcase for the diversity that is so fundamental to Hindu civilization.

Each participating organization will decide the manner as well as the schedule of their event(s). On a given day, there may be several events taking place in different parts of the United States and Canada. Celebrations may take many forms – cultural programs, fashion shows, webinars, multi-day conferences, walkathons and more, the choices being limited only by our imagination. Some events may be conducted in-person but the majority will be virtual, given the Covid-19 situation.

Participation is open to all organizations, businesses and individuals that identify with the sanatana

Dr. Jai Bansal, Vice President – World Hindu Council of America, announced the creation of October as Hindu Heritage Month.

(everlasting) values embodied in Hindu dharma. More than 30 organizations have already joined hands in this exciting celebration of our shared heritage; many more are expected to join in the near future.

Mission Bindi and Hindu Student Council are the first organizations out of the gate to announce their premier event for the Hindu Heritage Month. Following on the success of last year’s celebration, they will be observing the “World Bindi Day” on the first day of Navratri, October 7, 2021. For more details visit www.Hindumonth.org and click on the “2021 World Bindi Day”.

Dr. Jai Bansal, Vice President – World Hindu Council of America, and one of the organizers of this event, underscores the fact that the Hindu community is, by nature, rather unassuming. However, with second and third generations now making their mark in their adopted lands, the time has come for the Hindu community to come out of their shell and talk about its rich cultural heritage and important role in making the multitude of contributions to every aspect of the fabric of the adopted lands.

Welcoming the decision of the organizers to hold this monthlong event, President of the Hindu Student Council (HSC) Arnav Kejriwal said, “HSC is extremely excited about the Hindu Heritage Month. The American experience is all about sharing and learning each of our unique cultures, traditions and histories. We will get to see so many communities graciously tell their unique stories in the course of a dedicated history and awareness month, and I am ecstatic about the prospect of seeing the Hindu American community offering our own stories in return.”

Benny Tillman, President of the Vedic Friends Association, enthusiastically endorses this monthlong celebration of Hindu culture, “As one of the only African American leaders of a significant Hindu/ Vedic organization in North America, I have to say how happy and proud I am to participate in this month-long Located in the celebration. Just as the African Heart of Chinatown American com-

Woodchase Park Nears Completion

Houston: The construction of Woodchase Park is nearing completion. A future gem and hub of the community, Woodchase Park represents Westchase District’s first park that will feature yearround activities.

Located at 3951 Woodchase Drive (just south of Westpark Drive), Woodchase Park will feature a children’s play area, dog park, water misting feature, community garden, restrooms, public art, fitness space, a 2,700-square

foot multi-purpose pavilion and 7,500-square foot activity lawn.

To raise awareness about the park’s location and planned activities, the District is offering apartment and building managers a special preview on Thursday, Sept. 9, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

There will be brief presentations at the Tracy Gee Community Center 3599 Westcenter, and an on-thego lunch for attendees. Guests will meet our programming partners and then board luxury shuttle bus

munity united nationwide to establish the very successful Black History month, and similarly, the Latino community has come together to bring national focus to their unique culture and heritage.

Likewise, we followers of this great Hindu/Vedic culture should unite and make the Hindu Heritage Month a tremendous success.”

Putting the celebration in perspective, General Secretary of the World Hindu Council of America (VHPA) Amitabh VW Mittal said, “The Vedic sanatana dharma — which is, with a limited capacity of understanding, referred to as Hinduism — represents the only continuous civilization that has survived the test of time for tens of thousands of years. There is no single book that one can consult to get what the Hindu philosophy is, as it is constantly evolving and its contribution to the human civilization is unmeasurable; its vibrance in fact runs the risk of being misinterpreted. The Hindu Heritage Month will give an opportunity to the world to understand how open and free this philosophy is, which is quite often limited misrepresented by the tag ‘religion’.”

Seeing this as the community’s chance to communicate to the world in general and the United States and Canada in particular, President of Hindu University of America Kalyan Viswanathan said, “The Hindu Heritage Month is a great opportunity for the Hin-

will transport attendees to the park for an up close look.

“This will be the community’s park,” said Sherry Fox, Westchase District’s vice president of communications.

“We can’t think of better ambassadors than our colleagues who work in residential communities and corporate buildings who can tell their residents and tenants about this exciting amenity and share information.”

-- Westchase Wire

du community to remember our collective journey so far — from the ancient Vedic times, our own golden eras, through the trials and tribulations of conquests and colonization — and look optimistically forward at the opportunity we have for recovering and rearticulating the Hindu worldview for future generations. Amidst the celebrations, I hope we can reflect on what it means to be Hindu in the modern world: whether it is just a matter of being of a certain ethnicity or we have something to say, something to contribute that may just be of immeasurable value to all of humanity.”

General Secretary of Coalition of Hindus of North America (COHNA) Shobha Swami made a point about the diversity of the culture that is going to be celebrated the whole of October. “Multi- generational Hindus from different parts of the world who call the US their home add to the color of the ethnic tapestry here. They would like to showcase their vibrance in arts, dance, music, yoga, meditation, mindfulness, Ayurveda and food in all its richness for this monthlong celebration in October,” she said.

Any organization that wishes to participate in the HHM celebration is requested to register as a partner on our website: www.hindumonth. org. More information contract Jai Bansal at 908-803-3523 jaigb0@ gmail.com

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4

September 10, 2021

Two Indo-Americans Victims of Hurricane Ida

COMMUNITY

An abandon car sits in standing flood waters on a residential street, Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021, Mamaroneck, N.Y. (AP Photo).

New York: At least two Indianorigin persons have been killed in the US state of New Jersey after they were swept away by flash floods caused by Hurricane Ida, according to a media report on Sunday.

Hurricane Ida, which made landfall on August 29 in Port Fourchon, Louisiana, is the second-most destructive hurricane to hit the state on record, only after Hurricane Katrina (2005).

Ida transitioned into a post-tropical cyclone on September 1, killing 65 people across the US, with the majority deaths in New Jersey, New York and Louisiana.

Indian-origin Malathi Kanche, 46, a software designer, was driving home with her 15-year-old daughter on Wednesday when her vehicle halted in waist-deep floodwater on Route 22 of Bridgewater, New Jersey, the New York Times newspaper reported.

Kanche and her daughter held onto a tree as floodwaters pulled them, according to a family friend,

Mansi Mago, but the tree fell, pulling Kanche in the torrent.

Initially, officials put Kanche on the list of “missing persons”.

She was confirmed dead on Friday, the report added.

Danush Reddy, 31, was stranded in the flood in South Plainfield, New Jersey, when he lost balance and tumbled near a 36-inch-wide sewer pipe.

Officials said Reddy was pulled into the drain pipe and his body was found miles away.

Apart from deaths and damage to the ecology, Hurricane Ida has battered the civic infrastructure in the northeastern states of the US. The storm has caused at least USD 50 billion in damages, according to official estimates. -- Indian Express

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COMMUNITY

September 10, 2021

5

KP George, Community Leaders Celebrate Harvest Festival of Onam

The Office of Fort Bend County Judge KP George hosted the first Onam celebration at the Fort Bend County Historic Courthouse.

By Juhi Verma Richmond: Fort Bend County Judge KP George welcomed residents to the Fort Bend County Courthouse as he hosted first “Onam” celebration.

The Office of Fort Bend County Judge KP George hosted the first Onam celebration at the Fort Bend County Historic Courthouse.

The 10-day long Hindu festival which marks the start of harvest season is celebrated with great enthusiasm in the In-

dian state of Kerala and by the Malyalee community across the world.

“Onam is a celebration where we can all come together — regardless of your religion, race or ethnicity — and have respect for our differences while treating each other with dignity and coming together as one,” said George.

Several community leaders and area dignitaries attended colorful ceremony, which included the lighting of a ceremonial lamp and a colorful rangoli

display in the courthouse’s rotunda.

Joining George for the festivities was Ashok Kumar from the Indian Consulate General’s Office, Fort Bend County District Attorney Brian Middleton, County Attorney Bridgette Smith Lawson, County Clerk Laura Richard, County Tax Assessor Carmen Turner and County District Clerk Beverly Walker.

Always an enthusiastic advocate for cultural diversity, George reiterated his commit-

ment to honoring Fort Bend County’s rich community by acknowledging its residents’ religious and cultural observances throughout the year.

Members of the Fort Bend’s Malyalee community were also in attendance, including Babu Thomas, Sasidharan Nair, Thomas Cherukara, Ponnu Pilai and Jimmy Kunnachery.

The meticulous, floral rangoli, made by Ponnu Pilai, symbolizes prosperity, abundance, and joy.

The rice harvest and Onam

celebrations also mark the start of the Malyalam new year, the first month of which is ‘Chingam.’

The festival has its origins in Hindu legend, commemorating the appearance of the Vamana avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu and the subsequent homecoming of the legendary King Mahabali. Festivities start on Atham Day and go on for ten days until Thiruvonam Day which is considered the festival’s most auspicious day.

-- Houston Chronicle

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6

COMMUNITY

September 10, 2021

Indian Students Flock Back to US Universities as Visas are Fast-tracked

By Ishani Dasgupta

New York: Sahil Kumar (name changed on request) landed in New York from Delhi last week to join a masters programme in computer science at a university in New York City. He had planned to join the course in the Fall of 2020, but had to defer by a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic and travel restrictions both in India and the US. “When the US embassy in Delhi started giving student visa appointments in June, initially it was quite chaotic; but later things got streamlined and most of the students who applied were granted visas. Travel logistics, too, were difficult with very few airlines operating direct flights. But finally, everything worked out smoothly,” says Kumar who is now all set to start classes on campus soon.

The United States mission in Delhi, in fact, had a surprise announcement earlier this week of more student visa applications having been approved in India in 2021 than ever before, through its embassy and consulates, despite the global Covid-19 pandemic.

This announcement of more than 55,000 students and exchange visitors visas already issued to students in India even as more were getting approved every day, comes amid reports of students in many other countries facing difficulties and delays in getting US

visas approved for the Fall term of 2021.

For students in India, plans for joining US universities in 2021 have been challenging.

With the second wave of the pandemic during AprilMay, all US consular operations remained shut with no certainty about when they would resume.

Universities in America, too, delayed making announcements on vaccine requirements and reopening their campuses for in-person classes.

What then are the reasons for the record number of Indian students boarding flights to the US? Even as countries such as Australia and New Zealand have not opened their borders for international students, several European Union countries have not been clear about vaccination requirements for Indian students. While the US embassy and consulates in India opened additional hours for visa appointments for students since they resumed visa services in July, applications for some other countries including Canada continue to be hit by delays. Canada, which is

a very popular destination for Indian students, is yet to allow direct flights from India.

“What we are primarily seeing is a combination of a pent-up demand from the past couple of years when Indian students were either reconsidering studying in the US because of a perceived unwelcoming climate or they were unable to come due to Covid-19, with many having deferred their offers of admission to the next year - which is the current academic year that is beginning,” says Rajika Bhandari, New York based international higher education expert, and author of the soon to be released book, America Calling: A Foreign Student in a Country of Possibil-

ity. Bhandari adds that despite the ongoing pandemic globally, students coming to the US are likely to feel reassured that their campuses have a clear plan for health and safety protocols.

Rajiv Malhotra, whose son took a flight from Delhi to New York earlier this week to join an undergrad course at Williams College in Massachusetts, agrees.

“My son is just 18 and was leaving home alone for the first time. We were somewhat worried that we couldn’t travel with him to help him settle down at the campus.

However, we have a good support system and close friends of mine picked him up at the airport and will drop him off at campus, which is reassuring for us,” he says. As a parent, he feels that the broad perspective of the education system in the US and the reputation of the college were very attractive for his son. “Besides, he has also got a scholarship, which is one of the reasons for him to chose to go to the US rather than the UK or

Canada, both of which were options that he was looking at.”

Many universities in the US that have recently opened their doors to in-person classes, are still crunching the numbers on international student enrolments. “We call this the add/drop week when students register for courses and/or drop them -it appears that we have a high number of students from India for Fall 2021, perhaps higher than any previous year,” says Kiki Caruson, interim vice president, USF World, University of South Florida. While this validates the statement of the US Embassy in India on having issued a record number of visas for Fall 2021, Caruson adds that some of these will be students who deferred their Spring 2021 admission to Fall 2021. “These students made their plans to come to the United States pre-pandemic because of the excellence, diversity of programmes and the flexibility of the higher education system and the promise it offers for professional and personal success,” she said adding that though universities in India were yet to start face-to-face classes, the US had opened its doors to international students.

University of Missouri-Kansas City too has seen a big rise in the number of Indian students enrolled for the Fall semester 2021. With 630 enrolments, this is the highest number since 2016; in 2019 the number was 288. -- ToI

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Indo-American News • Friday, September 10, 2021 • www.indoamerican-news.com

INDIA

September 10, 2021

7

The Taliban’s Ideology has Surprising Roots in British-ruled India

By Lauren Frayer

Deoband, India: Hundreds of young men in crisp white tunics and skullcaps sit cross-legged in classrooms ringed with porticoes, poring over Islamic texts. From a marble minaret above them, a dozen voices wail Quranic verse in unison.

They start and stop in rounds, echoing like a canon across an otherwise scruffy landscape of rickshaws, tea stalls and open sewers.

This is where the Taliban’s ideology was founded. It’s not Afghanistan; nor is it the Middle East. It’s not even a Muslim-majority country. It’s a small town in India about 100 miles north of the capital, New Delhi.

More than 150 years ago, this is where Muslim scholars started a seminary that also became entwined in the politics of that era.

The Darul Uloom Deoband seminary, founded in 1866, taught that by returning to the core principles of Islam, Indian Muslims could resist British colonial rule. Less than a decade earlier, the British crown had taken control of India from the East India Company. The previous Mughal — Muslim — rulers had been vanquished.

“The British have taken over.

The Muslim glory has faded away.

So there comes a kind of state of despondency within the Muslims,” says Luv Puri, a researcher, author and columnist. “Then they decide it’s time to get back the glory of Islam. And let’s start a movement.”

Arshad Madani, the 80-year-old principal of Darul Uloom, told NPR at his residence just outside the walled seminary’s ornate brick gates. “What they say is right.”

But Madani — and everyone else NPR met in Deoband — denied any contact with the Taliban and seemed uncomfortable with any association with them.

“They call themselves Deobandi, but 99% of the Taliban have never even visited India.

We have no connecThe main entrance to the campus of the Darul Uloom seminary in Deoband, India, tion to them,” Madwhere the Deobandi strain of Islam was founded in the 19th century. Among its ani says. “The Talimore recent adherents are the Taliban. Lauren Frayer/NPR ban say our guiding idea — of not being The movement they started be- Pakistan, along with several other came known as Deobandi Islam. Taliban leaders. But while Af- enslaved by anyone — that comes Adherents later joined Mahatma ghanistan’s new rulers call them- from a Deobandi scholar who had Gandhi’s freedom struggle. After selves Deobandis, clerics here in gone [to Pakistan and Afghanithe partition of India, they fanned the birthplace of Deobandi Islam stan]. Apart from that, there is no out across South Asia and set up are keen to distance themselves connection.”

Scholars say he’s right — that seminaries, or madrassas, teach- from the Taliban — even if they ing an austere version of Islam occasionally speak admiringly of the Taliban’s version of Islam diverged from the original Deobandi — particularly along the Pakistan- them.

Afghanistan border.

“The Taliban say they are do- movement in the latter years of the And that is where they educated ing what we did in India. The way 20th century.

“The Indian Deobandi [version] their most infamous students: the we kicked the British out of India, Taliban. that’s what the Taliban are doing is classical, whereas the one in he late founder of the Taliban, in Afghanistan. They’re kicking Pakistan and Afghanistan is neoMullah Mohammad Omar, gradu- out outsiders: first the Russians, Deobandi,” explains Soumya Awated from a Deobandi seminary in then the Americans,” Maulana asthi, a security expert at the Vive-

Indo-American News • Friday, SEPTEMBER 10, 2021 • www.indoamerican-news.com

kananda International Foundation, a think tank in New Delhi. “I call it ‘neo-Deobandi’ because it’s walking away from the true tenets of Deobandi Islam. It has a strain of Wahhabism in it,” she says.

Wahhabism is another ultraconservative movement within Sunni Islam, named for the 18th-century Saudi theologian Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab. It’s the version of Islam enshrined in Saudi law and practiced there today.

“After the Iranian revolution in 1979, Saudi Arabia was worried that the Muslim world would be dominated by a Shia country — Iran. So they started funding [Sunni-majority] Pakistan to run these madrassas on their [Afghan] border,” Awasthi says. “Slowly the Wahhabi culture came into Deobandi Islam.”

Wahhabi influence grew in Pakistan and Afghanistan throughout the 1980s, when the CIA and Saudi Arabia both funneled arms to mujahedeen guerrilla groups fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, during the Cold War. Over time, different strains of Deobandi Islam were influenced by the different politics of the countries in which they flourished: the Wahhabi-infused strain, practiced by the Taliban, whose adherents have attacked more moderate Muslims and people of other faiths, and the original Deobandi strain, which has existed overwhelmingly peacefully in India for more than 150 years. -- NPR

8

ENTERTAINMENT

September 10, 2021

‘Helmet’: Cringeworthy Start to Finish Catch IAN Radio on FM98.7

By Shubhra Gupta

Cast: Aparshakti Khurana, Pranutan Behl, Abhishek Bannerjee, Jameel Khan, Ashish Varma, Ashish Vidyarthi, Sharib Hashmi Director: Satramm Marani Rating: 1 star Why, why would anyone watch a film about condoms and family planning and AIDS control, which is nothing but a cringe-fest from start to finish?

High-school pass, jobless Lucky (Aparshakti Khurana) is in love with Rupali (Pranutan Behl) from a well-to-do background. What she sees in him is a mystery, but then who knows with lovers, right?

Big bucks are required to appease snarling dad (Ashish Vidyarthi).

The only way out for Lucky and his pals is to dream up a bananas get-rich-quick idea which involves robbery, a whole stack of condoms, and a town where not one soul can look at a prophylactic without turning red.

Going by the makers of this enterprise, men are incapable of buying ‘protection’ from across the counter (apparently there’s only one chemist shop, manned by a lewd guy, in fictional Rajnagar which looks a lot like Banaras) in this day and age.

Take these shameful things (condom packets) away from my sight,

bellows a fellow (Jameel Khan, so good in ‘Gullak’) who is highly ‘frustrated’ because his wife isn’t putting out.

‘Haiii ram,’ says his equally frustrated wife. Voila, the rubbers exchange hands. Husband-and-wife get it on. So do the other inhabitants. Lucky and co start counting their pennies, and everyone is happy. Till one day…

No harm in converting barmy

ideas into socially-relevant comedies, which is what ‘Helmet’ thinks of itself. But that needs smarts: a great idea about women’s agency regarding their sex drives, and enjoyment in plain horniness gets buried. The film comes off like those unfunny sitcoms.

Aparshakti has stood out in good films; so have Ashish Varma and Abhishek Bannerjee. Here they scramble past such situations as, exhibit A: men in an adult movie show squirming in anticipation of happy endings; exhibit B: a brothel madam who lectures about clients refusing to use condoms; exhibit C: a baddie who has suffered from a ‘bad disease’ because he didn’t wear a ‘helmet’ on his appropriate extremity, and so on, and on.

‘Dawaai se like ke bhaujaai tak, sab ki expiry date hoti hai’. Got it, in one.

-- Indian Express

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4:20 pm The Partition of India is 75 years old this year and many of those who survived the horrors of that time are getting old and slowly passing on. We are happy to have

in our studio today Mrs Shakuntla Malhotra, who was 19 years-old to at the time, to share how the partition shaped her life. She is 93 now and the mother of our co-host Jawahar. Affectionately called “mama” by everyone who knows her, she shared her memories of that epoch.

5:00 pm Dr Jay Raman has written a memoir entitled “From the land of Spice to the land of Oil” which has been getting good reviews for how he has mixed his life narrative with a unique historical perspective of the times. Dr Raman joins us today with a reading of a selected passage.

5:20 pm Our Karachi correspondent Sayed Ali Raza Usama, the video choreographer and celebrated TV series called in LIVE with a report of the situation in Pakistan.

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Indo-American News • Friday, September 10, 2021 • www.indoamerican-news.com

ENTERTAINMENT

September 10, 2021

Ode to Jaya-MGR’s Poignant Love Story Have you planned for your future?

People don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan

Jesal Patel ARPC, CLTC, LUTCF Financial Adviser*: Eagle Strategies LLC Life Member MDRT Ph: 281-221-5061/713-499-7670 Fax: 832-201-5394 Website: www.jesalzpatel.com

By Renuka Vyavahare STORY: The film chronicles the life of actor-turned-politician Jayalalithaa (Kangana Ranaut), her relationship with the legendary M. G. Ramachandran (Arvind Swamy) and her tumultuous rise to power as the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

REVIEW: An iconic figure in Indian politics, Jayalalithaa’s political journey is known to most. Director Vijay attempts to unravel her icy cold persona and look at her as a woman passionately driven by love. Make no mistake, a woman’s fight for self respect and battle against patriarchy are integral to the story. However, what lies at the heart of the tale is her unconditional love for MGR, despite the societal contempt of her. She faced the wrath of his loyal followers, who deemed their extra marital relationship as illicit and a disgrace to his noble reputation.

As days turned into decades, they became each other’s strength and weakness. Bound by the heart, the purity of their love stayed intact even as murky politics, power struggle and people got hellbent on parting the two.

The scenes where they indulge in phone conversations without uttering a single word but letting their silence do the talking are heartbreaking. The film essentially works for its poignant love story.

Perceived as the ‘other woman’ in MGR’s life, who got things easy for being his blue eyed girl, Jaya had everything but respect at the beginning of her political career. Despite being cornered, slut shamed and humiliated time and again, she marches on with her head held high. Her relentless fight to earn her place in the society forms the crux of the film.

Kangana in the titular role channels her inner rebel and unflinching self assurance to make a point — she plays second fiddle to no one. A classic case of her screen character imitating her real life in a way. She renders a powerful portrayal of a lovelorn woman who keeps rising like a phoenix from the ashes. She elevates the formulaic script with quiet determination and powerful presence, cleverly not mimicking Jaya but getting the

tone and nuances of her character right. As a woman scorned by people for loving fearlessly and feeling deeply, Kangana is outstanding.

The actress finds a perfect companion in Arvind Swamy as MGR, her mentor, the wind beneath her wings. He brings in a certain calm to the storm that engulfs Jaya.

Swamy is impeccable in his mannerisms and body language. There couldn’t have been a better actor to play the Tamil screen icon and people’s leader.

A lot of dialoguebaazi and dramatic slowmo walks populate the stretchy political second half. A former ‘filmwali’ rising to power doesn’t go down too well with the men and the misogyny is conveyed in a rather theatrical & repetitive manner. Shoddy editing and a loud background score feels jarring.

The execution lacks restraint and objectivity.

The filmmaker takes one dimensional approach to storytelling and his observation of the lead character. Jaya is either smirked at or worshipped. There is no in between. The treatment gets reverential especially in the political portions. The chink in Jaya’s armour doesn’t find at outlet.

Dialogues are painstakingly written and hit the right note. “Mahabharat ka dusra naam jaya hai” sums up Jaya’s life perfectly. In a scene where Jaya tells her ailing mother that people only remember you when they need you, her mother righty argues, “Bina Matlab ke log bhagwaan ko bhi yaad nahi karte.” When Jaya is told that everyone reveres MGR and that she is no different, she says, “Krishna ko sab pasand karte the, phir bhi Radha ki sab mein ginti nahi hoti.” Neeta Lulla’s costumes are detailed and effective.

From conical bras of the 60s and 70s to the winged eye makeup, bouffant and vintage props, the recreation of a bygone era is decent if not specific.

Thailaivii pays a resounding ode to JayaMGR’s poignant love story, a relationship without labels. The political aspect feels talky, half baked and one-sided. What eventually stays with you is the story of a woman who defied the odds and wrote her own destiny. -- Times of India

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SPORTS

September 10, 2021

England Outgunned and Outplayed by India Cricket Festival in Pearland

By George Dobell

London: The gas holder still stood one side of the ground and Archbishop Tenison’s School to the other, but something surely had changed.

This was the surface on which England’s bowlers had laboured for almost 150 overs in India’s second innings, after all. It was the surface on which James Anderson, one of the most skilful bowlers the country has ever produced, said he had tried everything to gain some movement but to no avail.

It was the surface on which Jasprit Bumrah - who came into the game with a career average of 4.81 - had driven Chris Woakes through extra-cover with a confidence that suggested even batters of modest pretensions had nothing to fear on this wicket.

But now it looked different. Now, as England lost four wickets for six runs, as four of their middle-order contributed seven between them, as India’s spinner choked the scoring and India’s seamers found late movement, it looked almost unrecognisable. In less than 24 hours, it seemed a pitch transported.

That’s nonsense, of course. The truth is, in Bumrah India had a bowler with the pace and skill to extract life from the surface and the ball which was almost completely absent to his England counterparts. His figures of 2-27 do no

justice to an outstanding spell of fast bowling which highlighted a key difference between the sides: he was able to hit the pitch harder than anyone in the England side and he was able to gain movement that England could not.

But it wasn’t just about Bumrah. In Rohit Sharma, India had the one batter in the match to convert a start into a match-defining score, while in Ravindra Jadeja they had a spinner who could apply pressure and threaten. It is telling that his economy rate was 1.66 per over and his opposite number

on the England side, Moeen Ali’s, was 4.54. Ultimately, India were just better than England.

There is no disgrace in losing to this India side. Even with Virat Kohli enduring a prolonged run of modest form, even with their long tail, even without R Ashwin, they are a formidable side blessed with the talent and temperament to beat the best. Throughout this series, either with their top-order batting or their seam bowling, they have given England a lesson in playing in their own conditions. -- ESPN Cricinfo.

Pearland: Cricket enthusiasts of all age groups congregated on the Meenakshi Temple ground for the Cricket Festival organized by Pearland Cricket Club on Sunday, 29 August 2021.

This festival was part of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ to commemorate the 75th anniversary of India’s independence in association with Meenakshi Temple Society (MTS) in Pearland,Texas.

The momentum for the next phase of cricket growth in Pearland started with the cricket fever that gripped well-respected community leader Sam Kannappan a few months ago. Since then he has been spearheading the efforts to develop cricket ecosystem for guiding and supporting cricket players in Pearland.

First, a youth session with Alok Singh, corporate executive with Dell Technologies and professional cricket coach, was conducted.

It was followed by a session with Julia Price, head coach of USA women’s national team.

Both sessions generated more enthusiasm towards cricket that led to the idea of a mega cricket event for broader communities in and around Pearland.

The MTS Chairman and the board unanimously agreed to organize this festival on the MTS premises. MTS board member and cricket captain Ganesh Rajamani motivated volunteers for a massive task of getting the ground and viewers areas ready.

12 men’s teams, 2 women’s teams and 4 youth teams were formed with players from Pearland and the Greater Houston area. They all played and enjoyed shorter versions of the game on the festival day.

Mayor Kevin Cole also announced a new cricket ground in Pearland.

Group photo of guests and players at the Pearland cricket festival.

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Mama’s Punjabi Recipes

By popular demand, here is a reprint of Mama’s Baingan Di Dip recipe, which is just the kind of tasty, snack that you need for the parties that are held during the Winter Holidays season. It goes well with crackers, pita bread or veggies. It is reprinted with some additional information and directions.

Baingan Di Dip (Eggplant Dip) In the middle of the Holidays, thoughts turn to ways to cool yourself down. Though there are many Indian comfort foods to do that, like gol gappe or pani puri (wafer puffs in spicy water), chaat (spicy cubed potato salad), bhalle (lentil cakes in yogurt), rooh afza (a drink of fruits and herbs), mango ice cream and cool hindwana (watermelon); there are few salty snacks like dips that will do the trick, especially as Indians don’t have things like pita chips to dip with!!

But these are summer foods though in the US, people eat them year-round. One summer food that goes well in the winter too are dips for party snacks.

Dips and chips aren’t very popular in the Punjab, as they are in the US where Indians of all types easily rush to them. Mediterranean like dips Baba Ghanoush and hummus are popular; just as salsa and guacamole are in the southern US. The closest Indians get are chutneys like pudina (mint) and imbli (tamarind) but these are condiments and not dips or raitas (yogurt sauce) which are usually eaten with rice or paranthas.

But the plump baingan (eggplant) is just the right versatile vegetable to turn into a spicy dip with an Indian twist to it. Baingans are very popular in North India where they are often cooked as baingan bhartha with lots of onions and oil. And this same vegetable can be made into a succulent dip that can be eaten with pita chips or small pieces of Italian bread.

Baingan dip is a very easy concoction of eggplant, onions and garlic with many herbs and spices.

When left to cool in the fridge and served, it is a surprisingly popular addition to the appetizer table and really a hit on hot summer days but equally well for winter holiday parties!

Ingredients: • 1 large baingan (eggplant) • 1 medium piyaaz (onion) • 4 tbsp tael (vegetable or olive oil) • 2 cloves lassan (garlic) • Spices to taste: namak (salt), mirch (red pepper), fresh dhania (coriander)

Directions: 1. Remove the top dandal (stem) off the eggplant, peel it and then cut it lengthwise into slices. Cut the slices into smaller 1.5 inch pieces.

2. Wash the pieces in cold water and let them drain in a strainer.

It is very important to wash them otherwise the eggplant will start to turn dark.

3. Put 2 tablespoons of oil in a skillet, wok or kadai over medium heat, place the eggplant in it and mix till they are coated. Cover and let cook for 10 minutes. Check to see that the eggplant has become tender. If it has, then mash the eggplant with a large spoon.

4. Leave to cook for 2 more minutes, then take off the heat and let it cool for 30 minutes.

5. Peel the onions and garlic and

then crush them in a mixer. Put 2 tablespoons of oil in a skillet over medium heat and throw them in till they are brown. Take off the heat and let the mixture cool for 20 minutes.

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 (since renamed Faisalabad) 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 early-nineties, she continues to cook daily and agreed to share her delectable Punjabi recipes for future generations.

MAMA’S TIP O F THE

WEEK HOW TO MAKE E A C H GRAIN OF RICE SE Rice is a PARATE

stap they make rice thleatfood for so many people, but it’ serve. Some may sticks together in lumps and th s a pity that but really, the metsay that it depends on the kind of en is hard to rice you buy hod of cooking it is the key.

Most people, espe cially those in a hu rice right out of th rry, will e pa then serve it afterw ckage into a pot, boil it oncejust throw the , sim ar ds. This only allo in the rice and m ws all the starchmer and ak e it to stay st ic k.

Although there ar cook the rice to e a few drops of leget separate kernels, a simple trother ways to before boiling. Yomon or a teaspoon of oil to th ick is to add out separately! u’ll be surprised to see how thee rice and stir grains come

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September 10, 2021

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