Indo-American News: June 4, 2021

Friday, June 4, 2021 | Vol. 40, No. 23

Indo American News

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June 4, 2021

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Published weekly from Houston, TX

www.indoamerican-news.com

Special Reports Community Briefs Local Politics South Asians in the News

2470 Dairy Ashford, Houston, TX 77077 • 713.789.NEWS (6397) • indoamericannews@yahoo.com

CRY Houston Gala : “We are the Village”

Malala on ‘Vogue’

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NBA’s Superfan

Due to the COVID pandemic, the CRY fundraiser was a hybrid event held both virtually on Zoom and with a small gathering at the Four Points by Sheraton Energy Corridor to bring people together for the cause of children’s rights. Shown here are Dinner Committee ladies with Col. RPS Bhalla.

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Indo-American News • Friday, june 4, 2021 • www.indoamerican-news.com

2 June 4, 2021 COMMUNITY CRY Gala: “We are the Village for Children in a Covid World” Houston: CRY, Child Rights & You America [CRY America], a 501c3 non-profit that works towards ensuring underprivileged children their basic rights, held their Annual Houston Gala Fundraiser on May 22nd with celebrity guest performer Usha Uthup.

Due to the COVID pandemic, the fundraiser was a hybrid event held both virtually on Zoom and with a small gathering at the Four Points

by Sheraton Energy Corridor to bring people together for the cause of children’s rights.

The current COVID crisis has taken a devastating toll on children and their families. CRY America in addition to providing vital services with its grass-root projects to ensure children have quality education, healthcare, and protection from child labor, child marriage and issues which hinder their development; is also providing lifesaving emergency COVID relief across 18 states reaching 271,000 households and more than 350,000 children with oxygen cylinders, concentrators, masks, hand sanitizers, dry food rations and education materials.

A heartfelt thank you to our Dinner Committee members Dharam and Priya Bali, Juuhi and Prakash Ahuja, Neeraj & Gauri Seth, Geetha and Bala Balachandran, Dr. Tina and Dr. Harish Pariani,

CRY Core Team. Photos by msanphoto.com

Chetan and Radha Patel, Ritu and Kunal Nadkarni and Devina and Dilip Bhojwani, Vaishali and Prakash Dev, Ruchika and Darren Dias and Rekha Nair played a key role in enabling a successful event!

Thank you to our CRY team, MC Sunny Moza, MC Chetan Patel, DJ Raman and Sage Productions, Keynote speaker Colonel R.P.S. Bhalla and celebrity guest Usha Uthup who made our CRY Virtual Fundraiser such a success! While MC Sunny Moza and Chetan Patel had charmed the audiences, Col. Bhalla’s heartfelt

Keynote address connected guests with charity further. Usha Uthup entertained audiences with some of her peppy numbers; her finale performance “heal the word” by Michael Jackson touched the right cord with audiences giving current conditions around the world.

The event raised over $110,000 which will be directed towards grass roots Projects working on critical children’s issues. This Houston event is one of five events that CRY America is conducting in May and June. The other cities that are conducting virtual fundraisers include, NY/NJ, San

Francisco/Bay Area, San Diego/ Orange County and Seattle. The goal is to raise $550,000!

Auction items include included a beautiful painting by Samiran Sarkar, Mashobra saree by Sabyasachi, U2 guitar signed by 4 members of the rock band, Star Wars Movie Poster signed by 6 Cast Members, Boxing glove signed

by Muhammad Ali, Beatles record album signed by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr and Cricket bat signed by Saurav Ganguly.

We thank our event sponsors, donors and volunteers for their generous contributions. Event sponsors

Indo-American News • Friday, June 4, 2021 • www.indoamerican-news.com

included WiseMen, Vantive Inc., Shipcom Wireless, Object Win, Viva, Wells Fargo Advisors, Ailings, Discount Power, Bollywood Shake, Sugar Land Diamonds, The Alphabet Club, Murali Santhana Photography, Daawat, Musaafer, Executive Baskets and Sage Productions. A special shout out to the media for your ongoing support - Meena Datt Radio, Radio Dabang, Namaste Radio, Indo American News and TV Asia.

For additional information please contact CRY America Texas Fundraising Manager, Dina Patel, at (617) 981-2288 or CRY America Advisory Board member, Dharam Bali, at (832) 341-1142. You can also email at dina.patel@cryamerica.org for more information.

About CRY America: CRY - Child Rights and You America Inc. (CRY America) is a 501c3 registered non-profit that is driven by its vision of a just world in which all children have equal opportunities to develop to their full potential and realize their dreams.

With the support of over 25,000 donors and 2,000 volunteers, CRY America has impacted the lives of 733,684 children living across 3,839 villages and slums through support to 90 Projects in India and USA. All donations to CRY America are tax deductible.

SPIRITUAL

June 4, 2021

Why Meditation is 20 Times More Powerful than Pranayam

Question: In one of your recent lectures you mentioned that pranayam is 20 times more beneficial than asanas and meditation is 20 times more beneficial than pranayam. Please illustrate since this sounds so incredible to most.

Swami Mukundananda: The Yog Vasishtha describes a conversation between Lord Ram and Maharshi Vasishtha. Once Lord Ram toured his kingdom of Ayodhya, and found that some of his citizens were sick. He was moved to pity. On returning to his palace, he asked Guru Vasishtha, “What is the cause of vyadhi?” Guru Vasishtha replied, “Ram, vyadhi begins in the mind. When we harbor negative thoughts—of hatred, anxiety, fear, envy, desire, etc.—this disturbs the manomaya kosha. When the mental sheath is disturbed, it agitates the pranamaya kosha. When the vital energy sheath is agitated, it manifests in the annamaya kosha (gross body) as disease.”

The Vedas explain that our body houses five sheaths, or koshas.

These are progressively deeper aspects of our personality. They are annamaya kosha (physical sheath), pranamaya kosha (vital energy sheath), manomaya kosha (mental sheath), vigyanamaya kosha

(intellectual sheath), and anandamaya kosha (bliss sheath).

When we engage in meditation, we purify the mental sheath from poisonous thoughts. We thus strike at the source from where diseases sprout. Pranayam helps strengthen the vital energy sheath of the body.

When it is healthy, it automatically heals the physical body. Thus, to give us a comparison of their relative importance, the Hatha Yoga Pradeepika states that pranayama is 20 times more important than asanas, and meditation is 20 times more beneficial than pranayama.

Swami Mukundananda is a world-renowned teacher of spirituality, Yoga and Meditation. He is the founder of the unique Yogic system JKYog, also known as Yoga for the Body, Mind and Soul. He received His degrees in Engineering and Management from IIT (Delhi) and IIM (Kolkata).

Swamiji is the senior disciple of Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj.

He has inspired people all over the world, on the path of Spirituality, holistic health, yoga, meditation, ser-

Swami Mukundananda

vice to society and God-realization.

He blends ancient Vedic knowledge, modern science and psychology in a unique and compelling way. His lucid yet emphatic explanations of concepts help his audiences to easily connect, comprehend, adopt and apply his life transforming gems of knowledge.

JKYog presents the International Festival of Yoga, a free Virtual or In - Person world-wide

celebration of Yoga for Body, Mind & Soul from June 15th - 21st, 2021.

There are Over 100 hours of traditional and modern styles of yoga, meditation, and Patanjali Yoga Sutra sessions presented by well-known practitioners.

JKYog International Festival of Yoga is honored to welcome some of the most inspiring global spiritual leaders and experts in the fields of Yoga and Ayurveda who have transformed the Yoga and wellness landscape in recent times.

The JKYog International Festival of Yoga has grown many fold since its inception in Dallas a few years ago. In 2020 for the first time ever JKYog delivered a world class virtual International Festival of Yoga that proved immensely useful to people looking for ways to maintain their health and wellbeing amid the challenges of a pandemic.

In 2021 it returns bigger and better.

For the second year it will provide a weeklong experience of holistic health one can enjoy from home or anywhere they can connect with a digital device.

Indo-American News • Friday, june 4, 2021 • www.indoamerican-news.com

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In its seventh iteration, JKYog International Festival of Yoga - the biggest festival for wellness enthusiasts anywhere in the world - is back with many more unique offerings for the community from June 15th – 21st , 2021! It offers a platform for the following: Connect with a worldwide community of Yogis and inspiring instructors.

Experience the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual benefits of a well guided practice.

Transform your life with Yoga!

Some of its Highlights: Weeklong access to 100+ expert sessions Talks by world renowned experts including Baba Ramdev, Swami Mukundananda, Dr. Smita Naram, Sadhvi Bhagwati Saraswati, Yoga, holistic wellness, nutrition, alternative medicine Virtual marketplace with exciting wellness products JKYog invites you to Reserve your spot for this FREE Event NOW! For Details and Registration, visit https://www.radhakrishnatemple. net/international-yoga-festival. For Questions, contact 281-630-5982, 713-330-5033

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DIASPORA

June 4, 2021

Malala Yousafzai: Cover Star of British Vogue

London: Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani activist who was shot by the Taliban after campaigning for girls’ education, has been unveiled as British Vogue’s latest cover star.

In an accompanying profile, the recent Oxford University graduate and budding TV producer, now aged 23, opened up about her faith, Twitter activism and her new partnership with AppleTV+.

Yousafzai, who at 17 became the youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize winner, also spoke about her friendships with other young female activists, such as Greta Thunberg and the gun control campaigner Emma Gonzalez. “I know the power that a young girl carries in her heart,” she is quoted as saying.

The profile, which will appear in Vogue’s July issue, includes tributes from some of Yousafzai’s high-profile admirers, including former First Lady Michelle Obama, who called her “truly extraordinary,” and Apple CEO Tim Cook, who told Vogue: “I don’t think there’s anyone quite like her.”

Shot by photographer Nick Knight, the cover shows the activist dressed in a bright red Stella McCartney outfit and headscarf.

Inside the magazine, she is pictured in another red shirtdress and linen trousers, by Uruguayan designer Gabriela Hearst, that

are paired with a contrasting blue headscarf.

In the interview, Yousafzai described her headscarf as a “cultural symbol for us Pashtuns,” referring to the predominantly Sunni Muslim ethnic group from which she hails.

“Muslim girls or Pashtun girls or Pakistani girls, when we follow our traditional dress, we’re considered to be oppressed, or voiceless, or living under patriarchy,” she said. “I want to tell everyone that you can have your own voice within your culture, and you can have equality in your culture.”

On Instagram, Yousafzai said she was “thrilled and humbled” to be the magazine’s newest cover star, adding: “I hope that every girl who sees this cover will know that she can change the world.”

Having long championed hu-

man rights and girls’ right to education, the Pakistani activist became the subject of global attention when, aged 15, she was shot in the head by the Taliban. She survived after being airlifted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, UK, and went on to establish her own non-profit organization, the Malala Fund.

Last year, Yousafzai graduated from Oxford University with a degree in politics, philosophy and economics, and she recently launched her own production house, Extracurricular. A multi-year deal with AppleTV+ will see the company release documentaries about girls’ education and women’s rights, as well as comedies, animation and children’s series.

Correction

Pradeep Sulhan, P.C.

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Call Sid or Pradeep In the article about Foundation for India Studies (FIS) published in the May 14, 2021 issue, the photo above was incorrectly captioned as Krishna Vavilala interviewing Hon. Dalai Lama. The person with the Dalai Lama is actually India’s former Prime Minister I.K. Gujral.

Indo-American News sincerely apologizes for the error.

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June 4, 2021

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Swami Mukundananda is a world-renowned teacher of spirituality, Yoga and Meditation. He is the founder of the unique Yogic system JKYog, also known as Yoga for the Body, Mind and Soul. He received His degrees in Engineering and Management from IIT (Delhi) and IIM (Kolkata). Swamiji is the senior disciple of Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj. He has inspired people all over the world, on the path of Spirituality, holistic health, yoga, meditation, service to society and God-realization. He has been invited to speak at various Fortune 500 companies like Google, Oracle etc. and has conducted programs at prestigious universities such as Stanford, Princeton, MIT, Kellogg and Duke University. Radha Krishna Temple of Dallas is the headquarters of JKYog. Please register for the Online events at https://www.radhakrishnatemple.net/CICE.

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June 4, 2021

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DIASPORA

June 4, 2021

How Superfan Nav Bhatia Distracted Shaq, Webber & Garnett on Way to Hall of Fame To r o n t o : Navdeep Bhatia – Nav to the world – once told Shaquille O’Neal that the big man had no juice left in his legs and they were quaking in fear while taking a free throw.

Chirping courtside at one of Toronto Raptors’ games against Milwaukee Bucks, Bhatia drove Giannis Antetokounmpo to tweet about missing six free-throws. Chris Webber told his wife that Bhatia often picked on him and a slightly unnerved Kevin Garnett would request the Raptors to throw out the “drunk”, though Bhatia hasn’t touched a drop of tipple his whole life.

This last week, some of National Basketball Association’s (NBA’s) biggest names chimed in their congratulations to Raptors’ Nav Bhatia, who became the first ‘Superfan’ to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. This included families of the ones he heckled, as well as owner Mark Cuban who when his Dallas Mavericks travelled to Toronto, would often ask for Nav’s iconic twirling towel to be taken away. “These are the greatest names in the sport. But my job as a fan was to mess with their free throws,” says the 69-year-old who has attended every game the Raptors played at Toronto, and was honored by the NBA for his unrelenting loyalty to his team.

“We Indians are the first ones to enter the Hall of Fame as fans, and it’s still not sunk in. It’s not what happens to fans in their wildest dreams. Kids dream about winning Championships as players and for a fan the honour is huge which I humbly accept,” says the man, who left Delhi during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, and spent his time in Toronto ensuring children from minority communities didn’t feel left out from the greatest basketball gig in town. “I’ve bought thousands of tickets so that kids – Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Jews, the Chinese, Jamaicans, Brazilians, Italians – can become a part of this team,” says the businessman.

How much do Bhatia’s seats with the Raptors cost? According to Auto News, Bhatia spends more than $300,000 a year on Raptors tickets and also gives away tickets to area youth. The Raptors superfan has a big budget with $200,000 per year designated to advertising. Even former president Barack Obama recognized Bhatia from Raptors games.

“I told President Obama that I sort of bring the world together through the game of basketball,” Bhatia noted to Auto News. -- Shivani Naik in Indian Express.

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COVID RELIEF

June 4, 2021

US Doctors Launch Real-time Map to Show Vacant Beds for Indian Patients

Mumbai: A group of doctors and professionals from the diaspora in the US and from India has launched a first-of-its-kind online map that shows available hospital beds in India with real-time updates, aimed at providing critical and time-sensitive information to anxious Covid-19 patients, as the country battles a devastating second wave of the pandemic.

‘MadadMaps.com’ by Project Madad (help) is India’s first country-wide map of available hospital beds with real-time updates, said Washington-based Dr Rajesh Anumolu, lead architect of ‘MadadMaps’.

The portal uses a proprietary algorithm to extract information from all major online aggregators of hospital beds availability in every Indian city and state for both the government and private hospitals, he said.

It cross-verifies and filters this information across sites, prioritises official data and eliminates all data that has not been updated for long, he said.

Project Madad, a unique initiative by the voluntary team of 15 Indian and Indian diaspora doctors/Covid-19 experts and 12 professionals, has been created with the mission that “proper education and training” of local healthcare workers and Registered Medical Practitioners (RMPs) will be “fundamental” in controlling the Covid-19 spread in rural India.

“Indian families combating Covid-19 are struggling to access proper care such as oxygen supply, ventilators or access to an ICU bed for their loved ones.

“Across the country, to find a hospital bed, our citizens are forced to call each hospital, manually find hospitals online, or place desperate appeals on social media,” a statement from Project Madad said.

The team said that such is the intensity of the crisis that hospital beds sometimes get filled before a patient reaches the hospital.

While state governments and civil society organisations are running a number of aggregators and lists of hospital beds in cities in India, with varying times of update,

“there exists no single source to find a hospital bed anywhere in India in an emergency. We are losing too many of our citizens to Covid19 before they even make it to the hospital,” it said.

“This will no longer be the case,” the team said. Project Madad lead Raja Karthikeya said MadadMaps is “India’s first real time map of hospital beds designed for Covid19 and any other public health emergency that India may face” in the future.

The website provides critical and real-time details such as hospital name and location, availability of ICU beds, ventilators, oxygen supply, non-oxygen beds, along with indication of the precise time of last update of availability, hospital

phone numbers, directions to hospital as well as facility to call directly from the map.

For patients and their families, the website provides immediate information of all available Covid-19 treatment centers, expedites access to hospitals, seeks to reduce psychological stress of people in their time of crisis and provides directions and traffic conditions to any hospital.

For healthcare professionals and Covid-19 war-rooms, the portal seeks to help direct patients to hospitals that have bed availability, reduce crowds of patients’ families waiting to verify availability of beds outside hospitals and in turn eliminate risk of super-spreader events, assess which hospitals need more support to provide care based on supply demand and insufficiency, and reduce stress placed on hospital staff by patient overload.

Karthikeya said Covid-19 is an unprecedented pandemic but had this health crisis happened 20 years ago, “we would have been in a much more difficult place. But this is 2021. We have technology at our fingertips.”

He said that there is a great awareness and understanding of

technology among the population in India.

“We are leveraging this technology to overcome this crisis. There is no reason why India cannot beat back Covid-19 if we were to channel and pull all our resources together,” he said.

He also offered that the Government of India and other stakeholders can “take over” MadadMaps. com and “share it through government platforms like CoWIN or Aarogya Setu so that it reaches as many people as possible across the country”.

Karthikeya added that with time, the team aims to fine-tune the portal and along with data of government and private hospitals, it is also trying to add data of vaccination centers and other emergency services on the portal.

India has been severely affected by the unprecedented second wave of the coronavirus and hospitals in several states are reeling under the shortage of beds, health workers, vaccines, drugs and oxygen.

On Wednesday, India reported 1,32,788 new coronavirus infections, taking the country’s tally to 2,83,07,832, according to the Union health Ministry.

The Covid-19 death toll climbed to 3,35,102 with 3,207 fresh deaths, it said, adding that the active cases were recorded below 20 lakh for the second consecutive day.

-- Times of India, Photograph by Rebecca Conway / Getty

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ENTERTAINMENT

June 4, 2021

‘Ek Mini Katha’: A Comedy on How Size Matters girl. After marriage, however, she disappears into daily household chores as the hero wallows in his own sorrow. There is also a glamorous, weed-smoking, woman sage, played by Shraddha Das. She is just meant to serve as eye candy and a distraction as the filmmakers don’t have anything substantial and worthwhile to offer. -- Indian Express Ek Mini Katha is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

By Manoj Kumar R In Ek Mini Katha, it all begins when a seventh-grader looks at the private part of his friend, while both are at the school toilet and asks, “Why is your penis is so small?” Now the kid is understandably dazed and confused by his friend’s assessment of his pee-pee. And he makes the right choice to seek clarification from his father. Back from school, the boy tells his father, who is interestingly a college professor, “I have a doubt.” The father is more than happy to help him but only if his doubts are in maths, science or social. The father loses it and let him have it, when the boy says, “My doubt is in my shorts.”

That doubt of the seventh-grader remains unresolved even after he becomes an adult. And it has infested every aspect of his life and continues to torment him even in his 20s. Santosh (Santosh Shoban) suffers from small penis syndrome. For no fault of his own, he has put inflated importance on the size of his penis. He is a fairly successful man with a well-paying job and he’s handsome. But, he’s not happy because he has tied his self-worth to the size of his penis.

Vidya Balan’s ‘Sherni’

Debutant director Karthik Rapolu and screenwriter Merlapaka Gandhi have a relevant and compelling subject in Ek Mini Katha.

And they both have turned in a movie that offers genuine moments of laughter and a few unexpected comedic twists. That, alas, is all the film has to offer. You laugh at a series of jokes concerning rather a common complaint among men about the size of their penis. And you hope down the line, the filmmakers will lead you into a mental space of the protagonist, but it

never happens. The film gets very generic in the second half.

Everyone wants sex, but nobody wants to talk about it. Our tendency to tip-toe around the subject, the shame and stigma attached to it, deprives the children of the most basic and vital knowledge that would go a long way in making their adolescent years a bit less challenging and confusing.

Instead of discussing the actual problem at the centre of the film, the filmmakers only try to stretch the humour around the misconception that size matters the most. The filmmakers also become clueless about what to do with the female lead character Amrutha, played

by Kavya Thapar.

Amrutha is introduced as a smart and independent

Vidya Balan shared the teaser of her upcoming movie Sherni, in which she plays the role of a forest officer.

The teaser only heightens the mystery about what to expect from Sherni as it comprises just a one-liner by Vidya: “Jangal kitna bhi ghana kyun na ho, sherni apna raasta dhoond hi leti hai (no matter how dense the forest is, a tigress always finds her way).” The teaser begins with an eerie shot of Vidya navigating a forest, presumably in search of the titular Sherni.

The Sherni teaser wraps on a cliffhanging note with Vidya scanning her surroundings with a alarmed expression on her face.

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Manoj Bajpayee Back with ‘Family Man 2’

The second season of the muchawaited Amazon Prime Video’s series The Family Man will start streaming from June 4. Manoj Bajpayee returns as Srikant Tiwari and this time he is pitted against a new enemy, Samantha Akkineni’s Rajji.

Just like the first season, this time too we will see Bajpayee juggling his personal life like any family man and being a spy in the service of his nation. Created by filmmaker duo Raj and DK, the 9-part series also stars Priyamani, Sharib Hashmi, Seema Biswas, Darshan Kumar, Sharad Kelkar, Sunny Hinduja, Shreya Dhanwantary, Shahab Ali, Vedant Sinha and Mahek Thakur.

With The Family Man Season 2, we’ll know if the gas leak caused by terrorists actually wreaked havoc in the city or if the team at TASC was able to put an end to the menace.

Samantha Akkineni, who plays the main antagonist Raji in The Family Man Season 2, has already grabbed attention with her scenes in the web show’s trailer.

Elaborating on how watching the show’s season one was no less than a “theatre kind of experience”, she said, “It was like watching a blockbuster film with comedy, action.”

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SPORTS

June 4, 2021

Smit Patel Quits BCCI System for a ‘Second Coming’ in the Americas

By Shashank Kishore

Smit Patel, an Under-19 World Cup winner with India in 2012, has officially retired from all forms of cricket under the BCCI’s ambit to pursue his American dream. This also makes him eligible to play in franchise tournaments outside India, and his first stop will be the Caribbean, where he will represent the Barbados Tridents in the CPL this August.

“It’s a new innings for me,” Patel told ESPNcricinfo from Arizona, where he is representing the New Jersey Blackcaps, a club side, at a weekend tournament. “It’s been a different sort of a journey. Starting with the highs of the Under-19 World Cup, then the frustration of not finding a place as a wicketkeeper and then moving four teams [Gujarat, Tripura, Goa and Baroda] within India for opportunities.

“All this is bound to happen when there’s stifling competition, so I’ve got no complaints. I’m blessed to have played for India at a world event - few get that chance. So I’m moving on with happy memories. All my paperwork with the BCCI is complete.

I’ve sent in my retirement letter.

So the India chapter of my cricket career is over. If I return, it’ll only be to train here for a month or so every year when it’s snowing back in the US.” Patel isn’t a stranger to America though. He is a green-card holder - meaning he can live and work there permanently - having spent

considerable time in the country since 2010. His family had migrated from Gujarat to Pennsylvania and currently lives in Easton, where his father runs a gas station, and the plan of having a better life has worked out well.

It is this security, along with a two-year Major League Cricket (MLC) contract, Patel said, that gave him the confidence to try and forge a playing career in the USA. As things stand, the league has been pushed back because of the Covid-19 pandemic and is now set to kick-off in 2023.

“Yes, having played for 12 years in India, to suddenly pack up and leave can be intimidating,” he said.

“But since my family was already here and they have set themselves up here, the decision was somewhat easier than just having to turn

up here and look out for yourself.

I’d been doing that in India for a decade now - living there to just play cricket and come back here during the off-season. I’d spent nine months of lockdown last year here, and I’ve been back here since April. Also signing up with MLC was a surety that I’m part of a system here.”

Patel’s cricket career in India was at best a stop-start affair. After becoming a breakout star at the 2012 Under-19 World Cup along with Unmukt Chand, B Aparajith and Sandeep Sharma, to name a few, Patel had to contend with the frustration of being in the reserves for a better part of a few years at Gujarat, where their captain Parthiv Patel was the first-choice wicketkeeper.

This frustration of not getting a

regular berth in the team then took him to Tripura for three seasons.

When their new administration opted not to have Patel as a “guest player”, he moved to Goa. Ahead of the truncated 2020-21 season, he signed with Baroda, so that he could play with a “better team”.

In all, Patel finished his India chapter with 3278 first-class runs in 55 games at an average close to 40, including 11 centuries and 14 half-centuries. He also featured in 43 List A matches and 28 T20s, scoring 1234 and 708 runs, respectively. Coincidentally, Patel’s final first-class and List A appearances in India came against Gujarat, his original team, in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

“No doubt I’ve moved around teams, but I only did that because

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I didn’t want to stagnate and get opportunities wherever I could,” he said. “I didn’t get picked in the IPL either, so I had to find ways to keep the wheel turning. I’ve had good stints at all the team’s I’ve represented. Tripura and Goa were challenging because I was playing for teams wanting to prove themselves.”

Patel must now spend three years in the USA - including at least nine months in a year - to become eligible to qualify for the national team. He should be eligible to play for USA “if everything goes to plan” in late 2022, by when he will be 29 with “my best years ahead of me”.

Patel has already spent a bit of time at the USA national camps in Texas, under new head coach J Arun Kumar, the former Karnataka captain and coach, and Saurabh Netravalkar, the captain. Incidentally, Netravalkar, like Patel, was part of India’s Under-19 World Cup squad from 2010, alongside the likes of KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal and Jaydev Unadkat.

“I spent a bit of time at the national camp,” Patel said. “They have been pretty welcoming of me and the decision I’ve taken to try and forge a career here. I still must score runs, perform well and do everything asked of me to get selected. Mere eligibility doesn’t guarantee anything, but I’m willing to put in the hard work and try and carve out a second coming of sorts in my career in America.” -ESPN Cricinfo

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June 4, 2021

Mama’s Punjabi Recipes Nothing beats the morning brunch than a plate of hot puris (fried puffed bread) and either channe (chickpeas) or turri aloo (curried smashed potatoes)! So here is a reprint of Mama’s Puri recipe which is a favorite of kids and grown-ups alike. It is reprinted with some additional information and directions

Puri (Deep Fried Puff Bread) There is one type of fried bread that elicits great excitement because it is a cross between an appetizer and a meal, but can be eaten as either. You could call it a snack, but puris (deep fried puff bread) can be eaten for breakfast (with aloo sabzi), lunch (with kale channe), dinner (with different sabzis) and even dessert (with halva).

Puris are those wonderfully light, golden brown puffed, usually fourinch round pieces of fried bread that, if you aren’t careful, you can eat a dozen of in one sitting when they come hot off the frying kadai (wok).

The word puri derives from the Sanskrit word purika from pur or filled. Puris are usually made of atta (wheat flour finely milled), but some make them using maida (refined and bleached white flour) and atta mix.

The dough is a little harder than the one made for regular rotis (flat bread).

While frying puris, the moisture in the dough expands in all directions so that it puffs up like a round ball. A punctured puri does not puff because the steam escapes as it cooks. Some people put a little oil in the dough as they believe it will make the puri crispy but that in fact, it makes the puris hard after they have cooled down.

Punjabi usually eat puris with kale chole (black chickpeas), but these are not to be confused with the larger and softer bhature (deep fried soft bread) which is similar but bigger and also eaten the same way. Most often puris are eaten for breakfast or as a part of a ceremonial religious ritual.

Uneaten puris can be kept wrapped in aluminum foil for 4 or 5 days and they will not go bad. If they are hard then warm them up in the microwave, and they become soft again.

Ingredients: • 250 gm atta (wheat flour) • 1 measure of pani (water) to make the dough soft • Vegetable oil to fry in Directions: 1. Slowly add water to the flour and knead the dough till it has is semisoft.

2. Put the dough in a bowl, cover it with a light cloth and place it aside for 30 minutes to let it ferment a little.

Last Week’s Winners LastBasu, Week’s Winners Sanchali Ramana Vadrevu Sanchali Basu

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3. Grease your palms with some oil so that the dough won’t stick and then break the dough into several 1-inch pieces. Roll them into balls and set aside.

4. In a kadai (deep skillet or wok), heat the oil up till it is very hot.

5. Roll the dough with a valan (rolling pin) till you form a 4-inch round patty. Roll all the patties out and keep to the side for frying.

6. Carefully slide the patty into the hot oil and then see if the patty starts to puff up and then turn slightly brown.

7. Repeat the steps and cook all the dough. As the puris come out, place them on paper towels on an inclined plate to soak up and drain the excess oil. Keep the heat on high until you are done with cook-

ing.

8. Serve hot with the chole, aalo sabzi or halva with your favorite garnishes 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 late-eighties, she continues to cook daily and agreed to share her delectable Punjabi recipes for future generations.

MAMA’S TIP OF THE WEEK HOW TO CHOOSE

FRESH VEGETAB Shopping for fresh LES vegetables can of ten be a confusing are not experienc task if you ed in picking the right ones, especi are the seed varie ally ty. many seeds then yo If you happen to select the ones that if these u will waste a lot of the vegetable sin have too seeds will have to ce the ripe be removed. For ka (okra), ghia (bot tle squash), khee relas (bitter gourd), bhindi ra (cucumbers) an (eggplant), france d baingan bean (green bean s) choose pieces too fat (which mea that are not ns too many seed s inside), but pref and firm. For shal erably ga (daikon radishes), m (turnips), band gobi (cabbage) an long large pieces are no d mooli t ripe and hard; ch oose medium sized the best as they will be too pieces instead.

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June 4, 2021

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