Welcome to our June issue and the beginning of the season of the sun. Of all our lovely seasons, summer is always the most special. Vacation time, family reunions, trips to the coast, maybe just sitting outside reading a book, or the latest issue of Saathee.
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As always, thanks for reading and soak in the summer.
Some highlights in this issue:
♦ Check out the essay, "My Memory of Anuradha Paudwal" on page 30.
♦ Find out "Why Protecting Wildland is Crucial for American Freedom..." on page 44
♦ Read the Financially Speaking topic "So You're Gonna Die - Now What?" on page 54.
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“Technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards.”
- Aldous Huxley
Cover: Bhaktapur, Nepal
Bhaktapur is the smallest city of Nepal as well as the most densely populated. Along with Kathmandu and Lalitpur, Bhaktapur is one of the three main cities of the Kathmandu Valley and is a major Newar settlement of the country. The city is also known for its Newar tradition, cuisine and artisans.
Photo: Adobe Stock
“Bridging America and the Indian Subcontinent.”
June 2025 Issue # 325
Editor Samir Shukla (Samir@Saathee.com)
Publisher & Advertising
Divakar Shukla 704-527-7570 or saatheemag@hotmail.com
Digital Media & Marketing
Jennifer W. Allen
Ad Design / Layout
DSJ Graphics, Cooper’s Hive and Manimaran
Contributors for this issue:
Taige Shukla, Rupa Pereira, Jay Ahuja, Dipika Kohli, Preethi Sriram, Shyama Parui, Hiren Deliwala, Girish Modi, Ketu Desai, Raajeev Aggerwhil, Maneesha Lassiter, and Jalendu Vaidya.
Mission: Our goal is to be a valuable source of information for the South Asian community and to be a vital advertising tool for businesses.
Saathee
(USPS 021-116) (ISSN: 1543-8147) is published monthly by:
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In This Issue
Page 40 The Scent of Mangos Page 18 Upcoming Events Page 14 Editor’s Desk: The Next 25 Page 74 Recipe: Keri Nu Shaak
The Editor’s Desk pg. 14
Upcoming Events pg. 18
Ride to the Past pg. 26
Kismuth and the Way II . . . . . . . . .pg. 28
Anuradha Paudwal pg. 30
Upcoming Movie Releases . . . . . . .pg. 34
Film Clips pg. 36
Namaskar Y’all pg. 40
Raajeev’s Corner pg. 42
Protecting Wildland pg. 44
Eye on the Markets pg. 46
Adult Dance Student pg. 50
Annie Leibovitz Exhibition . . . . . .pg. 52
Financially Speaking pg. 54
the Differences
56
Why Me, Yaar? pg. 58
News Notes pg. 62
Helping Hands pg. 68 Recipe: Keri nu Shaak pg. 74
Editor’s
Desk
Editor’s Desk
by Samir Shukla
The Next 25
A Welcome Feast or An Unwelcome Beast
Humans have achieved the ability to travel faster than the speed of sound and may someday travel at the speed of light.
We are an overachieving species, curious and restless inventors. Ingenuity and adaptation are in our DNA.
We conquered basic survival long ago, since then it’s been off to the races. Landing on the moon? Got it done. Exploring the solar system? On it. Sending probes out into the universe? Yup.
We also love shiny objects. The brighter the better. New gadgets and shiny technologies intrigue most of us. Each advancement or new tech opened up possibilities and markets, but still had a give and take that didn’t kill off its predecessor, or older tech.
Radio didn’t make newspapers extinct, TV didn’t kill off radio, streaming hasn’t put movie theaters out of business.
Among all the means of communication at our disposal, good old email is still the king in matters of commerce and business.
Of all the technological advances in human history, there’s a shiny object coming at us at the speed of sound, maybe even speed of light, that perplexes, excites, scares, and unnerves me. Yes, its potential to do good, change our lives for the better, is my optimistic view.
It’s potential to unhinge societal norms and fabrics, shake up traditional industries, sow further political divisions, spread misinformation and disinformation, infuse fakeness into everything, is the immediate threat.
The ongoing development of this shiny object called AI is already moving at an uneasy and wobbly velocity, quicker than investors can say, “Take my money, put it into whatever AI and make me more money.”
AI is being implemented into just about everything. Just wait for it, yes, there will be AI in toilet paper, somehow. The whole tech world is collectively saying, “We’re going to dive into this swirling ocean even though we haven’t yet learned how to swim in an AI ocean.”
Editor’s Desk continued on page 110
Upcoming Events
SC Festival of Flowers: Greenwood, SC (June 5 – 8, 2025)
The unique mix of events and attractions make the SC Festival of Flowers in Greenwood, SC a one-of-a-kind place to visit. The arts and entertainment are alive and well with a wide variety of flower-themed performances and exhibits. Also check out a variety of foods and cuisines. The festival will take place between June 5 & 8, 2025 along the 11,000-acre area of Lake Greenwood. For more details visit: Scfestivalofflowers.org.
of Charlotte: (June 6 – 8, 2025)
Taste of Charlotte is the city’s largest food festival and returns to uptown Tryon Street between June 6 & 8, 2025. The food festival features samples from area restaurants. Enjoy delicious food while strolling & experiencing three stages of entertainment, performances, and interactive tours. Local, regional, and national partners will provide information, coupons, and free stuff. Admission is free. Learn more at Tasteofcharlotte.com.
Bystander
CPR Training (Rohan Rajeev Foundation):
Charlotte, NC (June 7, 2025)
The Rohan Rajeev Foundation was born from loss and a powerful purpose. In 2022, Rohan Rajeev, a bright, compassionate young man,
tragically passed away from sudden cardiac arrest. Despite being surrounded by people, no one present knew CPR. Help arrived just five minutes too late. That gap — those five minutes — became a call to action. The foundation now works to teach free CPR classes to help save lives. The next session is Saturday, June 7, 2025, 10am, Medic - 4425 Wilkinson Blvd, Charlotte, NC. Info: Info: Rohanrajeev.org.
Raleigh International Food Festival: (June 7, 2025)
The 10th annual festival will take place on Saturday, June 7, 2025 (11am to 9pm). Enjoy over 120 food trucks from around the globe creating cultural culinary delights. It will also host the largest, outdoor, international dance party with nonstop performances. Admission is free and the event is pet friendly. The festival will be held outdoors in the City Plaza along the 400 block of Fayetteville Street in downtown Raleigh. More info at Visitraleigh.com.
As a recipient of the 2025 NC Heritage Award, Sarod player Gaurang Doshi will perform live along with Ragavan Lutchmidat on table. The event will take place at Martin Marieta Center, Raleigh, NC on Saturday, June 7, 2025, from 2:30 to 5pm. For more details, visit Ticketmaster.com.
High Country Jazz Festival: Boone, NC (June 13 – 15, 2025)
The 4th annual High-Country Jazz Festival takes place between June 13 & 15, 2025. Three headliners will perform on stage at the Appalachian Theatre of the High Country in Boone, NC; a historic Art Deco theatre built in 1938, now renovated and restored. Other events will include a lecture at the Blowing Rock Art & History Museum, a free performance on the lawn at the Jones House Cultural Center in Downtown Boone, jazz brunches and lunches, and a jam session after the performances on Friday and Saturday. Info: Apptheatre.org.
Taste
Upcoming Events
Triangle Community Health Fair: Morrisville, NC (June 14, 2025)
Organized by Triangle Area Hindu Temples, the fair takes place on Saturday, June 14, 2025, 9am – noon, at HSNC, 309 Aviation Pkwy, Morrisville, NC. The blood draw day is on Saturday, June 7, 2025, 8am – 11am. To register or for more details, visit Tahts.org.
Shaan in Concert: Raleigh, NC (June 15, 2025)
Arvind Mahajan presents legendary singer Shaan in concert on Sunday, June 15, 2025, at 6:30pm, Raleigh Memorial Auditorium, Marietta Ctr for the Performing Arts. Shaan’s “The Infinity Tour” will feature live musicians and the singer performing his hits. He hosted the TV show “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa” between 2000 – 2006. He will perform from his extensive catalog of hits. For more details, send text to 571-241-6285 or visit Ticketmaster.com.
HSNC Summer Camp:
Morrisville, NC (June 16 - 20, 2025)
DOC NC and HSNC Om Squad present the annual summer camp from June 16 – 20, 2025 for kids ages 5 – 12. This is the first of four weeks of summer camp featuring hands-on activities and Hindu teachings. Kids can attend all four weeks or pick one week. HSNC, 309 Aviation Pkwy, Morrisville, NC. For more details, call 919-599-9667 or visit Hsnctemple.org.
truth to the forefront in “The Paglees: Between Reason and Madness,” an exhibition that reclaims the term “crazy woman” and transforms it into a symbol of resistance, wisdom, and decolonial power. The exhibit runs through June 28, 2025, at McColl Center, 721 N. Tryon St., Charlotte. For more details, visit Mccoll.org.
SkyShow
Charlotte: (July 3, 2025)
SkyShow is returning to Charlotte. This Fourth of July fireworks show will take place in Truist Field, after a baseball game pitting the Charlotte Knights against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. The game starts at 6:05 p.m. on Thursday, July 3, 2025, fireworks will follow. This is one of the largest fireworks shows in the Southeast. Truist Field, 324 S Mint St, Charlotte, NC. Details: 704-274-8300 or Charlotteknights.com.
Fourth of July Celebration: Charlotte, NC (July 3 – 4, 2025)
Celebrate the holiday outside at the Whitewater Center. The festivities span over two days with live music, night ops, races, rafting, multiple yoga practices, and more. Admission is free. Details: Whitewater.org.
Life Mission Youth Summer Camp:
Mebane, NC (July 5 – 11, 2025)
Heroes Convention was founded in 1982. Since then, the convention has become famous for its comics-first and familyfriendly atmosphere, where fans can mingle directly with professionals and exhibitors. A large guest list of comics industry pros will attend, along with exhibitors and creators from every region of the country to the Charlotte Convention Center. Details: Heroesonline.com.
CORDUSA
Charity Run: Cary, NC (June 21, 2025)
The 10th annual charity run event will take place on Saturday, June 21, 2025, at 101 Soccer Park Dr., Cary, NC. This is a fundraiser for “The Women’s Center” in Cary and to build a facility in rural India for skill-based programs for villagers. For more details, call 919-641-0491 or visit Cordusaraleigh.org.
The Paglees: Between Reason and Madness: Charlotte, NC (Through June 28, 2025)
The Paglees is a feminist collective of artists of South Asian origin living across the United States. Paglee or pagli means crazy woman in several South Asian languages. The Paglees are rewriting the narrative for women of color through art that confronts generations of patriarchy, colonialism, and systemic oppression. This feminist collective of artists of South Asian heritage brings fire, beauty, and
Life Mission USA presents their 2025 Youth Summer Camp from July 5 to 11, 2025 in Mebane, NC with a theme of Living in harmony with Yam & Niyam: Exploring the importance of Ahimsa and Satya. This camp is for 9 to 17 years old kids to awaken the spirit, enliven the body, and inspire minds. Schedule includes yoga class, morning classes on personal growth, stories from Indian Culture, and discussions on how to maintain a youthful spirit through life, afternoon workshops in Indian cooking, arts and crafts, sports, and then an evening campfire with skits. Info: kgvaghela@gmail.com or call 760-4734811. Registration: Lifemissionusa.org.
NAACP National Convention: Charlotte, NC (July 12 – 16 ,2025)
The NAACP National Convention is an empowering and immersive experience held each year to celebrate our community’s collective power. The Convention attracts innovative change-makers, thought-leaders, entrepreneurs, scholars, entertainers, influencers, and creatives to network and exchange ideas. https://naacp.org/convention
Upcoming Events
Queen's Feast: Charlotte, NC (July 18 - 27, 2025)
Food enthusiasts are in for a treat as Queen's Feast: Charlotte Restaurant Week returns Friday, July 18, 2025 through Sunday, July 27, 2025, with an array of participating restaurants offering attractive three-course, prix fixe dining deals that showcase the region’s culinary scene. Since 2008, the semi-annual promotion has encouraged residents and visitors alike to experience hundreds of restaurants around the area. Info: Charlotterestaurantweek.iheart.com.
Hindu Center Anniversary:
Charlotte, NC (July 26 – 27, 2025)
Enjoy an Anand Bazaar, cultural programs, health fair, mela, lots of food and vendors at this two day 43rd anniversary celebration. Hindu Center is located at 7400 City View Dr., Charlotte, NC. For more details, call 704-607-8412 or visit Hcclt.org.
Gaurav Kapoor Live:
Kannapolis, NC (July 29, 2025)
Comedian Gaurav Kapoor will perform live on Tuesday, Jul 29, 2025, 7:30pm, at Kannapolis Middle School Auditorium, 1000 Virginia Dare St., Kannapolis, NC. For more details, visit Sulekha.com.
Friday Nights at Camp North End: Charlotte, NC (Through October 24, 2025)
This weekly series brings together the best of Charlotte’s music scene, featuring a mix of rising local talent, established artists and touring musicians from across the country. Pair the music with food, public art and perusing one-of-a-kind small businesses. 1824 Statesville Ave, Charlotte, NC. Info: 980-337-4600 or Camp.nc.
Coming up down the road:
Festival of India, Charlotte, September 20 – 21, 2025. Global Mela, Atlanta, October 4 – 5, 2025
Look for details in future issues of Saathee or visit Saathee.com/events.
Keep up with all the events happening in our region with Saathee Magazine. The best way to find them is in these pages or online at our regularly updated events section: Saathee.com/events
Cultural Awareness Community Service
Become a member at gcap.us
GCAP organizes numerous activities and events including Holi, Navratri, Diwali and more. 127 Landmark Dr., Greensboro, North Carolina 27409
GCAP was established to preserve Gujarati cultural heritages and traditions, educate the youth, celebrate Indian festivals and create networking amongst individuals within our community. Established in 1992, GCAP is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, charitable and educational organization. Our mission is to create an innovative, inclusive and ideal Gujarati Samaj to implement our vision and activities. We believe we must nurture the youth of our community to become leaders of tomorrow while nourishing our senior citizens to provide opportunities for inter-generational exchange of ideas and knowledge. The Piedmont region of NC includes Greensboro, Winston Salem, High Point and surrounding areas.
MYB-77 A Ride to the Past
Voice by Maneesha Lassiter
On his 80th birthday, I asked my father, “What happened to MYB-77?”
He paused, then took a bite of toast after dipping it in his daal soup. With a twinkle in his eye, he exclaimed, “Ahhhh, MYB, the evergreen car!”
His voice excited, he said, “Good old times in the 1950’s! Did you know MYB supported a lot of our family ceremonies? She helped us through all our big life events from weddings to funerals. I had five brothers and two sisters, and they all agreed that I would be the best caregiver to maintain an old car. The 1959 Standard 10 Companion was a British model car, right-side steering wheel, manual gear drive, but everyone who knew her called her MYB-77, as it was her license plate number.”
body, bright yellow seats, blaring headlights, and toothless grin set her apart from all the other modern cars.”
After hearing Dad’s compassionate description, I took a big slurp of my bowl of soup and gulped the teenage memory down my gullet and gave a neutral response, “Hmmm, I must say one thing, she drew a lot of attention because of her unique features; she held her own identity in any parking lot.”
I silently thought to myself, “As a teenager that was not my exact memory of the car. Our neighborhood friends nicknamed the car as “Shikari Shambhu” after a comic character, which means a lazy and cowardly hunter. My sister and I often ducked down when driving past friends, especially since MYB embarrassed us by sputtering for fuel in their presence. Her boxy green
He wiped his mustache with a napkin, cleared his throat and set his soup bowl aside. “You see, this present generation must understand one thing.” He paused, scanning his brain to take a ride to the past. “In those days, owning a car was an enormous deal. India got its freedom from the British in 1947, and not many people had the privilege of owning a car.”
He brushed his right thumb over his eyebrow and scratched his scalp to recall a few more words before he continued.
My
The Year of the Composition Stamina
Kismuth and the Way II by
Dipika Kohli
A long time ago, there was a quote I had copied over by hand into a bright pink neon notebook, one of those 70-page ‘college ruled’ ones. Quotes are so popular, aren’t they? Someone puts something cute into a clipartlike frame and instagrams it and there it is, instawisdom. I’ve got nothing against quotes, I’ll even leave you with one, today, but in this era of very short attention spans I noticed they can get overly clipped, and you lose the nuances of their meanings. Have you noticed that, like when sometimes you happen to come across the full text of something you had read a snippet of before, and therein discover a whole lot of variances in how it could be interpreted? That is what I’m talking about. Dressed-up, clipped quotes about success are especially trendy where I am, in Southeast Asia.
Sometimes the people running book clubs will specify, ‘No business books, please,’ which really tells you something. There were some literary artsy books that hosts chose at two book clubs I went to recently in Bangkok; I was glad to be part of these discussions as they spanned the grays in what things were being communicated, and we had a highly textured conversation with people from different age groups and life experiences. I forgot how much I like that. I’ve since started my own circle here, where I am. It’s a mix of people, quite cool and fun.
Maybe a part of committing to our creative work is learning how to keep negative attitudes of others at bay. If that’s the case, then what’s the rest? Actually doing. Actually making. For writers this means putting down the words, line by line, day after day. After a decade - or two? - you may surprise yourself by being able to see how far you’ve come by simply practicing and reading and conversing with others, too.
Kismuth continued on page 80
by Girish Modi
I had the honor of meeting Anuradha Paudwal twice over a 40-year period. I met her and her late husband Arun Paudwal in 1978 when they had come with Kishore Kumar on his first concert in the USA. She was only 24 years old at that time, but her voice was just like Lata Mangeshkar’s. I met her for the second time in 2015 when she performed at a Diwali concert in Cary, NC.
I was very impressed when she had sung the very difficult song “Rasik Balma” from Chori Chori as her maiden live performance in 1978. Many singers have tried to imitate Lataji’s voice; but Anuradha and Shreya Ghoshal are only two singers whose voices sound exactly like Lataji’s. As a matter of fact, when you listen to two versions of “Maine Jisko Dil diya Hai” duet from the film Muskaan, only an expert can distinguish Anuradha’s voice from Shreya’s voice. Years later when I mentioned it to Shreya Ghoshal, she was very impressed.
Very few people know that Anuradha’s maiden name was Alka Nadkarni. Her husband Arun changed her name to Anuradha after marrying her so that people would not confuse her with Alka Yagnik. She and Kumar Sanu used to participate in singing competitions when they were students at St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai. Anuradha was one of the most successful playback singers of the 80s and 90s era. She has recorded thousands of songs and more than 1,500
My Memory of Anuradha Paudwal
bhajans in several languages. She is often known as “Bhajan Queen” and “Melody Queen”.
Anuradha was in fourth grade when a Lata song that she had heard on radio triggered off her interest in music. She attended a live recording of unreleased SD Burman composition sung by Lata, “Puchho Zara Kiske Liye Aayee Hoon,“ with a friend who inspired her to sing. However, she had a hoarse voice, and classmates often called her a “peacock” in those days.
During a bout of pneumonia for which she was bedridden for more than 40 days, Anuradha listened to Lataji’s recording of Bhagwad Gita incessantly and when she recovered from the illness, her voice had changed. She took this miracle in stride and tried to mold her voice as she continued her autodidact from her spiritual guru—Lata Mangeshkar.
During a visit along with Arun to a Lata Mangeshkar recording composed by Hridaynath Mangeshkar, she was able to grasp the complete song and sang it live on a popular radio program, Yuva Vani. Several top composers including Hridaynath Mangeshkar and Laxmikant-Pyarelal called the radio station to seek the singer. When they learned that it was Arun’s wife, they offered to launch her career. But Anuradha, with her conservative background, was not ready to make the leap yet.
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina (Director: Les Wiseman)
Cast: Ana de Armas, Anjelica Huston , Gabriel Byrne, and Keanu Reeves
The Ritual (Director: David Midell)
Cast: Al Pacino, Dan Stevens, Ashley Greene, and Patricia Heaton
The Life of Chuck (Director: Mike Flanagan)
Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Mark Hamill
June 13
How to Train Your Dragon (Director: Dean DeBlois)
Cast: Mason Thames, Gerard Butler, and Nick Frost
Materialists (Director: Celine Song)
Cast: Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal
Echo Valley (Director: Michael Pearce)
Cast: Julianne Moore, Sydney Sweeney, Domhnall Gleeson, and Kyle MacLachlan
The Twits (Director: Phil Johnston)
Cast: Natalie Portman, Emilia Clarke, Johnny Vegas, and Margo Martindale
June 20
The Queen of My Dreams (Director: Fawzia Mirza)
Cast: Amrit Kaur, Nimra Bucha, Hamza Haq, Ayana Manji, Adnan Jaffar, Kya Mosey, Meher Jaffrie, and Bakhtawar Mazhar
28 Years Later (Director: Danny Boyle)
Cast: Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Ralph Fiennes
Kuberaa (Director: Sekhar Kammula)
Cast: Dhanush, Rashmika Mandanna, Nagarjuna, and Jim Sarbh
Bride Hard (Director: Simon West)
Cast: Rebel Wilson, Anna Camp, Justin Hartley, and Stephen Dorff
Sovereign (Director: Christian Swegal)
Cast: Nick Offerman, Jacob Tremblay, and Dennis Quaid
June 27
Kannappa (Director: Mukesh Kumar Singh)
Cast: Vishnu Manchu, Mohan Babu, and R Sarathkumar
F1 (Director: Joseph Kosinski)
Cast: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, and Javier Bardem
Maa (Director: Vishal Furia)
Cast: Kajol, Ronit Roy, Indraneil Sengupta, and Kherin Sharma
M3GAN 2.0 (Director: Gerard Johnstone)
Cast: Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, and Jemaine Clement
Gyanvapi Files (Director: Bharat Shrinate)
Cast: Vijay Raaz and Rajneesh Duggal
July 2-4
Jurassic Park Rebirth (Director: Gareth Edwards)
Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, Rupert Friend, and Mahershala Ali
Metro… in Dino (Director: Bharat Shrinate)
Cast: Aditya Roy Kapur, Sara Ali Khan, Anupam Kher, and Pankaj Tripathi
The Old Guard 2 (Director: Anurag Basu)
Cast: Charlize Theron, Henry Golding, and Uma Thurman
Thammudu (Director: Venu Sriram)
Cast: Nithiin, Sapthami Gowda, Laya, and Varsha Bollamma
Heads of State (Director: Ilya Naishuller)
Cast: John Cena, Idris Elba, and Priyanka Chopra
Saathee.com/movies has the latest info on where the movies are showing or streaming. All dates subject to change.
The Unholy Trinity
Pierce Brosnan and Samuel L Jackson star in this Western. Buried secrets of an 1870s Montana town spark violence when a man returns to reclaim his legacy and is caught between a sheriff determined to maintain order and a mysterious stranger hell-bent on destroying it. It opens on June 13, 2025.
Kuberaa
Revolves around the pursuit of wealth and its consequences: a beggar’s transformation, exploring themes of greed, ambition, and moral dilemmas faced by the characters leading to a quest for redemption. Sekhar Kammula directs Dhanush, Nagarjuna, Rashmika Mandanna, Jim Sarbh, and Dalip Tahil in the film slated to open on June 20, 2025.
F1
A Formula One driver comes out of retirement to mentor and team with a younger driver. The film, directed by Joseph Kosinksi, stars Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Tobias Menzies, Kim Bodnia, and Javier Bardem. Look for it on June 27, 2025.
Kannappa
Vishnu Manchu leads the cast in this epic story rooted in the legend of Lord Shiva’s most devoted follower. Directed by Mukesh Kumar Singh, the film unites some of Indian cinema’s biggest stars — Mohanlal, Prabhas, Akshay Kumar, and Kajal Aggarwal. It will be released on June 27, 2025.
Sitaare Zameen Par
After a DUI, an arrogant basketball coach must train Neurodivergent adults for community service. His initial prejudice fades as his players show him a new perspective on life. Aamir Khan returns with Sitaare Zameen Par, a spiritual sequel to Taare Zameen Par. Genelia Deshmukh costars, R. S. Prasanna directs. Releases on June 20, 2025.
Heads of State
Priyanka Chopra Jonas, John Cena, and Idris Elba star in this action comedy. When the leaders of UK and USA become the targets of a foreign adversary, they are forced to rely on the only two people they can trust: each other to help thwart a global conspiracy. The film premieres on July 2, 2025.
Maalik
Maalik is a gangster drama starring Rajkummar Rao about a man’s rise to power in the underworld. Expect plenty of action and drama. The Pulkit directed film also stars Huma Qureshi and Prasenjit Chatterjee. Look for it on July 11, 2025.
12/31/25
The Scent of Mangos The Scent of Mangos
Namaskar, Y’all
by Shyama Parui
If I could craft lyrical poetry, I would write an ode to the mango, the fruit as perfect as fruit can be. Alas, I am not a poet, but I offer this prose as a dedication to, shall I say, the Queen of Fruits.
During my childhood, I observed the flow of spring into summer not by soaring temperatures but the season specific mango preparation. While March rejuvenated nature around us and unleashed greens in every shade, I was and still am partial to the color of kairi (unripe mangos) that awaken taste buds with their sour flavor. Traditionally, women spent afternoons in early April preparing tongue tickling relishes known as achar, amchur, chundho, murabba, depending on which part of India the recipe originates. The open terrace of our building provided ample sunlight to set these varieties of pickles made by different families. Over the days as sunlight dehydrated the trays of deliciousness, kids watched in slow agony wiping the drool off the corners of their mouths. Our consolation was eating green mangos plain or adding little pieces to chaat for some zing resulting in immediate gratification.
The memory of an afternoon walk to the temple when I was around ten years old, is still etched in my mind. It was the month of May, and as my mother was leaving the house, I tagged along to ensure she brought back a hamper full of mangos. Passing through the market, I noticed that most of the fruit and vegetable sellers had opted to sell different varieties of mango instead of their usual assortment of produce. The searing heat, the rise of the dust as autorickshaws passed by and the trickle of sweat running down my forehead were all drowned by the scent of mangos.
The air wafted with the sweet aroma of kesar and happus confirming this aficionado’s belief that a single bite of mango could melt away one’s
Namaskar continued on page 80
As I mentioned in my last column, my wife and I started making dance videos and posting on Instagram and YouTube. Nothing wild—just two grown adults having a little fun, shaking a leg, and occasionally pulling a hamstring.
At first, we thought: “Hey, maybe 100 people will watch… maybe our relatives… or people who owe us money.” But then the videos blew up. Millions of views! We were like, “Wow! We’re viral!” Which is also how people in their 40s say they caught the flu.
God Gratitude GroovesRepeat Daily
to be entertained. These viewers on the Internet are getting entertainment for free. And if they don’t like what they see, they can scroll on. Then I looked at the Instagram page of these trollers and they didn’t have any content or any followers. I concluded that it must be jealousy, seeing close to 50 videos and close to 20,000 followers on IG and over 100,000 subscribers on YouTube in a few months. Maybe this kind of lewd cyberbullying was a way for them to feel better about themselves.
I made a list of Hindi equivalents of the F bomb, along with their creative variations so Instagram will block them. These people are not very creative and with my IT background I can easily outsmart them.
The third kind of comments were all centered around ageism.
A majority of the comments were encouraging. They were thoughtful, creative and complimentary with funny emoji signs. But a few of them were downright rude with nasty swear words. I was puzzled. I can understand hecklers at a comedy club who paid money and invested their time Raajeev continued on page 72
“Grandma, must have been a sweet doughnut when she was young.”
Raajeev’s Corner by Raajeev Aggerwhil
Why Protecting Wildland is Crucial to American Freedom and Identity
By Michael Childers and Leisl Carr Childers
As summer approaches, millions of Americans begin planning or taking trips to state and national parks, seeking to explore the wide range of outdoor recreational opportunities across the nation. A lot of them will head toward the nation’s wilderness areas – 110 million acres, mostly in the West, that are protected by the strictest federal conservation rules.
When Congress passed the Wilderness Act in 1964, it described wilderness areas as places that evoked mystery and wonder, “where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.” These are wild landscapes that present nature in its rawest form.
The law requires the federal government to protect these areas “for the permanent good of the whole people.” Wilderness areas are found in national parks, conservation land overseen by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, national forests and U.S. Fish and Wildlife refuges.
introduced by U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei, a Nevada Republican, is a departure from the standard process of federal land exchanges that accommodate development in some places but protect wilderness in others.
Regardless of whether Americans visit their public lands or know when they have crossed a wilderness boundary, as environmental historians we believe that everyone still benefits from the existence and protection of these precious places.
This belief is an idea eloquently articulated and popularized 65 years ago by the noted Western writer Wallace Stegner. His eloquence helped launch the modern environmental movement and gave power to the idea that the nation’s public lands are a fundamental part of the United States’ national identity and a cornerstone of American freedom.
Humble origins
In 1958, Congress established the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission to examine outdoor recreation in the U.S. in order to determine not only what Americans wanted from the outdoors, but to consider how those needs and desires might change decades into the future.
In early May 2025, the U.S. House of Representatives began to consider allowing the sale of federal lands in six counties in Nevada and Utah, five of which contain wilderness areas. Ostensibly, these sales are to promote affordable housing, but the reality is that the proposal, Wildlands continued on page 92
Extreme Chop
Eye on the Markets
by Ketu Desai
2025 is off to a rocky start. The question, as far as markets are concerned, is whether we’ll enter into a recession or not. Trade policy will go a long way in answering that question. In the meantime, we remain in an extreme chop zone between 4697 (200 week moving average) and 5746 (200 day moving average). The market will often shift multiple percentages in a day based on the latest headline or post from President Trump, yet most are just noise.
There’s a meaningful split between hard and soft data; hard data indicates the economy is growing north of 2%, while the soft (survey-based data) indicates a meaningful contraction. Household debt to GDP is near historic lows, as is household debt to disposable personal income. Household net worth is near all-time highs. Real wages are growing. Unemployment claims remain at historically low levels. Corporations similarly remain in good shape, with low leverage, strong balance sheets and earnings growth. Sentiment-based survey data, on the other hand, has reached recession levels. Consumer and business sentiment levels indicate a contraction of 4%. The market will break
down or fall off this chop zone when we gain more clarity about whether the hard or soft data is correct.
There are many stocks, especially cyclicals, that are down over 30% with the historical median decline in a recession at 24%. Earnings season was a good reminder of how much negative news influenced certain stocks. United Airlines, for instance, gave two sets of guidance, one for a recession and one for not. Even at the low end the stock trades at a single digit multiple will keep the company profitable.
The market realized it had priced too much into stock, allowing it to rally. We have seen similar reactions for a number of stock post-earnings including, 3M, Texas Instruments, General Electric, Visa, JP Morgan, ServiceNow, UPS, Royal Caribbean, Ecolab, Honeywell, Caterpillar, Sherwin Williams, and Lam Research. Overall, 61% of companies have reported beating this by an average of 9.5%. Cyclical sectors have beaten it by an average of 15%, perhaps an indication of how much bad news has been priced in.
For long-term investors, the focus during this extreme chop period is figuring out what leadership will be doing. To start building your portfolio in these areas, as the gains will be significant coming out of it. Early candidates for leadership look to be financials, industrials, and Bitcoin. Financials globally are breaking out of a 15-year base. European financials have been one of the best performing areas this year, up 28%.
The Eternal Mother
How does mother manifest in one’s life?
Some creatures can be seen as a manifestation of the mother.
For instance, the cow, which is a giver of milk, a nourishment, is seen as a form of the mother.
When thinking of the earth, many cultures see the earth as a mother. Earth brings forth life.
There is a painting from Mexican artist Frida Kahlo called “The Love Embrace of the Universe, the Earth, Myself, Diego, and Senor Xolotl.” The painting is a very vivid picture of how Frida Kahlo viewed the earth, as a woman, embracing her and all life. The mother is within the clouds and is of different colors of night and day and bearing life forms.
Earth bores a variety of diverse life forms and bears the weight of its beings upon her.
Mother Earth is a giver; There are trees to provide shade, fruits for nourishment, beautiful bodies of water to keep us cool. Mother Earth is sustenance.
Some cultures believe that Mother springs forth language, and thus the mother is worshipped for giving us various ways to communicate.
Mother rotates so we can see the variety of life.
In the daytime, the glorious luminance of the sun can be seen. And she rotates so then we can see the night and the stars and take a rest under the infinite sky.
Did you feel that beat?
Where is that humming sound coming from?
In science, it was found that every 26 seconds, the earth is sending a “heartbeat.” Mother Earth is pulsing with her music.
Come rejoice in those beats of the mother!
Life comes from Earth and goes back to Earth. From Mother Ganga we come, and so we shall go back.
In the Ramayana, Mother Seetha in her pain, is embraced and was nurtured to go back to her loving Mother Earth.
Within Indian poetry and music, various venerations of the forms of Mother can be found.
The varnam is one of the centerpieces of a Bharatanatyam performances. A translation of the word varnam is “color.” The varnam showcases the various colors of the expertise of the dancer as well as the musicians. The musicians bring about various “colors” through the various instruments used like the mridangam, flute, veena. The vocalist and the nattavangam artists hypnotize with the various sollakatus or rhythmic bols
Adult Dance Student continued on page 88
Adult Dance Student by Preethi Sriram
Annie Leibovitz / Work Exhibition at Mint Museum
by Jay Ahuja
My wife and I first met in an extracurricular photography class. So, when we learned that an Annie Leibovitz exhibit was coming to Charlotte’s Mint Museum Uptown, we wasted no time attending. Leibovitz is best known for her cover photos for Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, and Vogue magazines. Plenty of those pictures are included in this exhibit, but there is so much more.
All told, there are 324 still photos with an additional 200 images displayed on five giant video screens. Entering the exhibit, you’ll notice that photos are hung on the walls with pushpins. This is by design, as Leibovitz wanted to convey the sense of being in her home studio.
The first photos to jump out are 63 modest sized black and white photos of celebrities in cars. You’ll see Richard Pryor, Jerry Garcia, Fran Leibowitz and others. Farther into the room, there are more black and white photos from her early days living with family in the Philippines, an iconic shot from Washington DC on the day of Nixon’s resignation, and an extended period spent on tour with the Rolling Stones in 1975.
As you turn the corner into the largest space of the museum’s 4th floor gallery, the exhibit suddenly goes to the next level. An entire wall is stacked with larger color and black and white photos of modern pop culture heroes: David Byrne, Iggy Pop, Nicholas Cage, Michael Jordan, Keith Haring, Muhammad Ali, and dozens of other celebrities. The video screens rotate images of celebrities and landscapes at varying paces. In addition to famous shots, you’ll see a handful of more recent works. Don’t sleep on the small display of Polaroid pictures and the funny story about their origin. Also be sure to take some time to scroll through the considerable collection of books featuring Leibovitz’s photos
Leibovitz’s newest painting, a portrait of Hugh McColl was unveiled at the Mint’s annual gala. The very next day, Annie Leibovitz/Work debuted. Running through August 31, 2025, tickets are available at Mintmuseum.org.
Jay Ahuja
moved to Charlotte, NC in 1986 and has retired there with his wife, Karen, and their dog, Jango. Jay is the author of two sports-travel guidebooks, executive producer of a documentary film about The Double Door Inn, and has served on North Carolina Outward Bound School’s Charlotte Advisory Board since 2008.
Contact: Jahuja@carolina.rr.com.
Photos by Jay Ahuja
So You’re Gonna Die – Now What?
Part 1
Financially Speaking
by Rupa Pereira
We’ve all got a bucket list, right? Exotic vacations, learning to dance, starting a business, or hiking in the Himalayas. But there’s one list we often forget, the ‘Kick the Bucket List’ – you know, the one that deals with what happens after the bucket gets kicked. And that, my friends, is where estate planning comes in. It’s basically your final say in who gets your stuff, so you don’t end up haunting your relatives for the next century. After all, life is such a beautiful thing, so why talk about after-life, but that reality is in store for each of us at some point in the future – how near or how far, time will tell. Even if we believe in after-life, our finances are bound to our earthly existence in this life.
Even though it is a less talked about aspect of financial planning, Legacy Planning is quite a dense topic and is complicated enough for those that are born, domiciled and die in one nation – be it India or USA. Moreover, when we’re discussing 1st generation families and their cross-border economic and social ties, the complexity scale goes up quite a few notches.
To do proper justice to this important, yet hardly understood area, I’ll cover this in a series, this being the first part. Part 1 defines estate, its purpose and a Will.
An “estate,” in the context of estate planning, refers to the total property and assets that a person owns at the time of their death. Estate planning is a crucial process in the US that ensures a person’s assets are transferred according to their wishes, preventing disputes and potential financial hardship for heirs. It also involves addressing complex family situations and minimizing estate taxes. In short, it is a legal framework that the US state courts rely on for distribution of assets and settling of debts for the deceased member.
Legacy: Estate planning is more than just deciding where your assets go after you’re gone; it’s about ensuring your legacy reflects your values and wishes. It allows you to protect your loved ones, provide for their future, and leave a lasting impact on the causes and people you care about. By taking the time to create a comprehensive estate plan, you can gain peace of mind knowing that you have made arrangements to safeguard what you’ve worked a lifetime to build.
Protection: In its essence, estate planning is a vital process that protects your loved ones and your assets in the event of incapacity or death. Without a proper plan, your family could face unnecessary stress, financial hardship, lengthy legal battles, and the potential for your assets to be distributed in a way that doesn’t align with your intentions. Estate planning provides you with the tools to control these outcomes, ensuring your wishes are honored and your family is provided for.
Control: Estate planning is about maintaining control—over your assets, your healthcare, and your legacy. It’s a proactive step to ensure that your wishes are carried out, even when you can no longer express them yourself. Through a wellcrafted estate plan, you can direct how your property is distributed, who will care for your children, and who will make critical decisions on your behalf if you become unable to do so. Taking this essential step relieves your loved ones of difficult decisions during an already emotional time. For families caring for aging parents as well as minor children, this is an important element to include in your legal document.
Tax Implications: The US has estate taxes that can significantly impact the value of inherited assets. Estate planning strategies can help minimize these taxes, preserving more of the estate for beneficiaries. Estate Tax or Inheritance Tax is essentially a Wealth-Transfer Tax and is different from Income Tax that most of us are so familiar with. The rules/regulations vary based on the residency and citizenship of beneficiaries highlighting the careful planning with experts in this matter.
In its simplest form, a Legacy Plan is a Will – that’s drafted and notarized by a legal expert in the state of residence. In its sophisticated form, it may have multiple trusts and provisions for every possible scenario.
With a Will (Testate): If the person has a valid Will, it provides instructions on how their assets should be distributed. The Will typically names an executor, who is responsible for managing the estate.
Without a Will (Intestate): If the person didn’t have a Will, state law determines how their assets are distributed. This is called intestate succession, and it usually prioritizes spouses, children, and other close relatives. About 1 in 2 Americans die without having a will in place, leaving the court to decide how their wealth should be managed and who will care for their dependents – hardly a desired situation.
Next month, we’ll take a deeper dive in the probate process and alternatives.
Meanwhile, I leave you with this short limerick. In lands afar, where we make our home, With vasanas (desires and tendencies) of old, yet futures to roam.
To uphold our dharma, Avoid family karma, A clear icchapatram (will) guides what we own.
Rupa Pereira
is a CFP, EA, CSLP and an Advice-Only Planner and Tax Professional based in North Carolina. She specializes in cross-border matters and all things financial planning. Contact: info@fwjplanning.com
Spot the Differences
See if you can spot the 15 differences between the original photo on top and modified below. (Solution on page 104)
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We all have our moments—those days when nothing goes right, everyone seems difficult, and life just feels unfair. For me, those moments are more common than I’d like to admit. When a customer calls to address an issue caused by my own oversight, or when I get caught in an unexpected traffic jam, frustration rises quickly. It’s the same when my carefully planned weekend gets derailed by family or my spouse, or when a long trip to India is made even more exhausting by endless plane delays. I feel boxed, like I’m stuck in my own head, helpless and at the mercy of things I can’t control. That feeling only intensifies under stress. I get mad. Upset. Frustrated. Sometimes at people. Sometimes in circumstances. And often, at both. Through it all, one question keeps repeating itself: Why is this happening to me?
I think of myself as a good person—although I admit that even the concept of being “good” is murky and subjective. Still, if I have good intentions and try to live ethically, why do I face these overwhelming challenges and the emotional storms that follow? Why do things go wrong despite my best efforts? This constant questioning—this obsession with why—often drains me. It steals my focus, my energy, and my capacity for action. My mind may still be thinking, but it’s caught in an unproductive loop.
Let’s be honest: when things go wrong, most of us fall into one of two camps—blame others, or blame ourselves. Sometimes, it’s automatic. “He said this,” or “She didn’t do that,” or “If they had just listened...” Other times, we internalize it. We think, “Maybe I’m the problem. I should have seen this coming. It’s my fault.” Sound familiar?
The Roots of Dementia can Start in Childhood Prevention Should be Lifelong Goal The Roots of Dementia can Start in Childhood Prevention Should be Lifelong Goal
By Scott Chiesa, Francesca Farina, and Lauri Booi
More than 60 million people are estimated to be living with dementia, resulting in over 1.5 million deaths a year and an annual cost to the global healthcare economy of around US $1.3 trillion (almost £1 trillion).
Despite decades of scientific research and billions of dollars of investment, dementia still has no cure. But what of the old saying that prevention is better than cure? Is preventing dementia possible? And if so, at what age should we be taking steps to do so?
Despite what many believe, dementia is not simply an unavoidable consequence of ageing or genetics. It is estimated that up to 45% of dementia cases could potentially be prevented by reducing exposure to 14 modifiable risk factors common throughout the world.
Many of these risk factors – which include things like obesity, lack of exercise, and smoking – are traditionally studied from middle age (around 40 to 60 years old) onwards. As a result, several of the world’s leading health bodies and dementia charities now recommend that strategies aimed at reducing dementia risk should ideally be targeted at this age to reap the greatest benefits.
We argue, however, that targeting even younger ages is likely to provide greater benefits still. But how young are we talking? And why would exposure to risk factors many decades before the symptoms of dementia traditionally appear be important?
To explain, let’s work backwards from middle age, starting with the three decades covering adolescence and young adulthood (from ten to 40 years old).
Many lifestyle-related dementia risk factors emerge during the teenage years, then persist into adulthood. For example, 80% of adolescents living with obesity will remain this way when they are adults. The same applies to high blood pressure and lack of exercise. Similarly, virtually all adults who smoke or drink will have started these unhealthy habits in or around adolescence.
This poses two potential issues when considering middle age as the best starting point for dementia-prevention strategies. First, altering health behavior that has already been established is notoriously difficult. And second, most high-risk individuals targeted in middle age will almost certainly have been exposed to the damaging effects of these risk factors for many decades already.
As such, the most effective actions are likely to be those aimed at preventing unhealthy behavior in the first place, rather than attempting to change long-established habits decades down the line.
The roots of dementia
But what about even earlier in people’s lives? Could the roots of dementia stretch as far back as childhood or infancy? Increasing evidence suggests yes, and that risk factor exposures in the first decade of life (or even while in the womb) may have lifelong implications for dementia risk.
News Notes
Meditative Melodies
The Meditative Melodies event, held on April 26, 2025, and hosted by Heartfulness in Matthews, NC, brought together a vibrant gathering of individuals seeking inner peace and balance through a blend of meditation, art, and culture. Centered around a guided Heartfulness meditation session, the event offered participants a moment of collective stillness that visibly resonated throughout the evening. The event also featured performances by local partners, including Amruthvarshini School of Music, Charlotte Symphony Youth Orchestra, Miller Street Dance Academy, Raagamalika, and Shri School of Dance. For more details about Heartfulness, visit Heartfulnessinstitute.org.
The Paglees: Between Reason and Madness Exhibition
can take. The bubble of life grows larger. The line between reason and madness grows thinner.”
Featuring mixed media works on paper, fabric, and canvas, sculpture, performance, photography, installation, and moving image, the exhibition questions and reframes the labeling of nonconforming women as crazy and the marginalization of immigrant women of color. This collective exhibition presents new decolonial narratives that center the reason and wisdom of brown women of the Global South and diaspora and provide pathways to a creative feminist future. The Paglees believe in working in collaboration with other marginalized communities to build bridges and demand social, environmental, and legal justice for all.
The exhibit runs through June 28, 2025, at McColl Center, 721 N. Tryon St., Charlotte.
For more details, visit Mccoll.org.
Life of Pi Broadway Musical Coming to Blumenthal
The Paglees is a feminist collective of artists of South Asian origin living across the United States. Paglee or pagli means crazy woman in several South Asian languages. The Paglees are Shelly Bahl, NYC; Monica Jahan Bose, Washington, DC; Fawzia Khan, Hopkins, MN; Renluka Maharaj, Boulder, CO; Indrani Nayar-Gall, Charlotte, NC; Nirmal Raja, Milwaukee, WI; Pallavi Sharma, San Ramon, CA.
The Paglees are rewriting the narrative for women of color through art that confronts generations of patriarchy, colonialism, and systemic oppression. This feminist collective of artists of South Asian heritage brings fire, beauty, and truth to the forefront in “The Paglees: Between Reason and Madness,” an exhibition that reclaims the term “crazy woman” and transforms it into a symbol of resistance, wisdom, and decolonial power.
The Paglees investigate – with fierceness, beauty, and wit – the impact on women of generations of patriarchy, religion, white supremacy, colonialism, violence, capitalism, and environmental plunder.
The title of the exhibition derives from Rosa Parks’ words: “There is just so much hurt, disappointment and oppression one
Life of Pi - The Broadway Musical is coming to the Belk Theater in Charlotte. This production takes one on an unforgettable journey of survival, faith, and the power of storytelling. Witness the incredible tale of young Pi, stranded in the Pacific Ocean with a Bengal tiger, with a story that will stir the imagination. The musical is based on a movie and novel of the same name. It begins its run at Belk Theater, Charlotte NC on July 29, 2025, and runs through August 3, 2025. For details, visit Blumenthalarts.org.
World Hindu Economic Forum Australia
The World Hindu Economic Forum Adelaide 2025 is slated to take place August 2 – 3, 2025 at Adelaide Convention Centre, South Australia. It is organized by the Hindu Economic Forum of
Treatment:
Procedures:
Next to Sangam Mart
Australia Ltd. This international event will bring together Hindu entrepreneurs, business leaders, investors, professionals, and academics to collaborate on a shared goal and theme: Building Partnerships for Global Prosperity.
Network Globally: Meet and connect with like-minded Hindu leaders and entrepreneurs from across the world; Explore Opportunities: Learn about trade, investment, and innovation prospects in Australia and beyond; Showcase Your Business: Become a sponsor, book an exhibition booth, or advertise in the event magazine; Gain Insights: Hear from top-tier speakers and industry experts through keynotes, panels, and forums; Empower the Community: Support youth and contribute to global Hindu economic growth and self-reliance.
Info: Events.hindueconomy.org/WHEFAdelaide2025
Ram Charan Wax Figure Unveiled
Indian actor and superstar Ram Charan attended the unveiling of his wax figure for Madame Tussauds Singapore. This is a first-ever dual celebrity and pet figures —alongside his beloved pet Rhyme.
Charan saw his figure for the first time at Madame Tussauds London, joined by his family and his father, legendary actor Chiranjeevi.
The figure will then make its way to its permanent home at Madame Tussauds Singapore.
Ram Charan shared, “When I saw the figure for the first time, I was absolutely stunned. The likeness is unbelievable— from the expression to the stance to the exact detail of Rhyme by my side. It’s like looking in a mirror, and I’m so thrilled that fans around the world will get to experience me up close.”
The creation of Ram Charan’s wax figure was a feat of precision and artistry, with many months going into bringing both Ram Charan and Rhyme to life. Every feature—from the subtle tilt of his head to the lifelike posture of Rhyme—was crafted with care to reflect the actor’s personality.
North Carolina Music Hall of Fame 2025 Inductees
The N C Music Hall of Fame has announced the 2025 class of inductees: Clyde Mattocks, David Childers, Dexter Romweber, Hattie ‘Chatty Hatty’ Leeper, Luke Combs, and Robert Deaton.
Everyone selected for induction into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame has roots in the state and has made a significant impact on American music. The Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place on Thursday October 16, 2025, 7pm, at Mooresville Performing Arts Center, 161 South Magnolia St., Mooresville, NC.
This evening will pay tribute to music industry icons whose work has left a lasting impact on American music. From performances to moving tributes, it’s a celebration of talent, legacy, and the rich history of the state’s musical heritage. The celebration will feature each inductee’s official induction into the Hall of Fame, along with live performances. For more details, visit NorthCarolinamusichalloffame.org
AAPI convention in July
“It is with great pleasure, we announce that the 43rd Annual Convention and Scientific Assembly by the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), planned to be held from July 24th-27th, 2025 in Cincinnati, OH will have a great line up of Speakers from Public Service, Healthcare, Science, and, Sports,” Dr. Satheesh Kathula, President of AAPI recently announced.
Confirmed speakers at the Convention include Dr. Mario Capecchi, a Nobel laureate; Dr. Bobby Mukkamala, presidentelect of the American Medical Association; and Dr. D Nageshwar Reddy, a Padma Vibhushan awardee.
Other invited guests include, Vice President of the United States, JD Vance; Governor of Ohio, Mike DeWine; Governor of Kentucky, Andy Beshear; Jagat Prakash Nadda, India’s Minister of Health and Chemicals/Fertilizers; Vivek Ramaswamy, Republican candidate for Governor in Ohio; and Schin Tendulkar, Bharat Rathna awardee and a Legendary Cricketer.
Dr. Mario Capecchi, a Nobel laureate, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine/Physiology in 2007 for his contributions to the development of “mouse knockout technology” will deliver keynote address during the 43rd annual AAPI Convention.
Dr. Bobby Mukkamala, an otolaryngologist from Flint, Michigan, currently serving as the president-elect
Dr. Mukkamala
of the American Medical Association (AMA) and is expected to assume the presidency of AMA in June 2025 will be another keynote speaker at the Convention.
Dr. Satheesh Kathula, while describing how AAPI’s mission has evolved in the past 43 years, said, “Today, AAPI is strong representing over 120,000 Indian American physicians, 130 local Chapters, who make up of 10% of total physicians in the US and nearly 50% of International Medical Graduates, rooted in every corner of the nation, who serve every 7th patient in the US. We are proud of our achievements and our contributions to the healthcare industry and the millions of people we serve.”
Physicians and healthcare professionals from across the country will convene and participate in the scholarly exchange of medical advances, to develop health policy agendas, and to encourage legislative priorities in the coming year.
In addition to colorful entertainment, exquisite authentic Indian cuisine, esteemed yoga gurus and experts, who will share their wisdom and lead the Wellness Sessions, world renowned speakers and leaders in the industry will offer enlightening sessions to the delegates.
The annual convention offers extensive academic presentations, recognition of achievements and achievers, and professional networking at the alumni and evening social events, in addition to offering an exciting venue to interact with leading physicians, healthcare industry leaders, academicians, and scientists of Indian origin. Physicians and healthcare professionals from across the country will participate in the scholarly exchange of medical advances, to develop health policy agendas, and to encourage legislative priorities in the coming year.
For more details, visit Aapiconvention.org and Aapiusa.org.
NY Indian Film Festival
The New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF), the longest-running U.S. festival dedicated to Indian independent cinema returns for its milestone 25th edition from June 20 - 22, 2025 spotlighting bold new voices, storied auteurs, and urgent narratives from the Indian subcontinent and its global diaspora. This year’s festival pays tribute to Shyam Benegal and features a special film on James Ivory. The 2025 lineup includes 22 feature-length films-18 narratives and 4 documentaries-spanning more than a dozen languages and regions.
From Tamil and Odia to Assamese, Hindi, and Malayalam, the selection reflects both the diversity and the evolving language of Indian cinema. The festival program also includes 21 short narrative and documentary films. All the films have English subtitles. Screenings will take place at Manhattan’s Village East by Angelika, with tickets and full programming details now live at Nyiff.us.
India’s Department of Posts Releases a Commemorative Postage Stamp Celebrating 125 Years of Kodaikanal Solar Observatory
India’s Department of Posts has released a commemorative postage stamp celebrating 125 years of the Kodaikanal Solar Observatory (KSO). Recognizing the legacy of the KSO through this special stamp is a tribute to one of India’s most significant scientific institutions and highlights the nation’s long-standing contribution to global science.
Located in the Palani Hills of Tamil Nadu, the Kodaikanal Solar Observatory (KSO), and established on April 1, 1899, it has been a pioneering center for solar research in India for over a century. Operated by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), it holds the distinction of being the country’s longest-running astronomical observatory and maintains one of the world’s most extensive and continuous daily records of the Sun. Over its 125 years of operation, researchers at KSO have undertaken studies on sunspots, solar flares, prominences, and the solar corona, enhancing the understanding of solar activity.
The stamp is now available at Philatelic Bureaus across India and can also be purchased online at Epostoffice.gov.in.
Revamped OCI Portal
India’s Union Home Minister Amit Shah in mid-May launched the revamped Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) portal and said its updated user interface will simplify the registration process for overseas citizens.
He stressed that many Indian-origin citizens reside in various countries worldwide, “and we must ensure they face no inconvenience when visiting or staying in India.”
The new portal will provide enhanced functionality, advanced security and a user-friendly experience for the existing over five million OCI cardholders and new users.
The new OCI portal has a user sign-up and segregation of registration menu, auto-fill of user profile details in registration forms, dashboard displaying completed and partially filled applications, integrated online payment gateway for those who filed in FRROs.
The OCI scheme was introduced through an amendment to the Citizenship Act, 1955, in 2005. It provides for the registration of Persons of Indian Origin as Overseas Citizens of India, provided they were citizens of India on or after January 26, 1950, or were eligible to become citizens on that date. The new OCI portal is available at: Ociservices.gov.in.
Helping Hands
Helping Hands
Profiles of Organizations Helping the Community
Profiles of Organizations Helping the Community
CORDUSA National Team Lead Interview
By CORDUSA’s youth ambassadors
Interview with Subha Pathial, CORDUSA National Team Lead.
support the movement. Today, there are about 90 Chinmaya mission centers and a potential to have as many CORDUSA chapters across the United States, and the potential to do even more is immense.
Subha Pathial holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of Wisconsin. She has extensive experience in the software industry, including various roles at Intel, gaining valuable expertise. Although always interested in humanitarian work, her career required her to be onsite. In 2009, she decided to take some time off, visiting CORD sites, which inspired her to pursue this work full-time. Currently, as the Chief Technology and Operations Officer at a medical clinic, she can balance her professional role with her passion for humanitarian efforts, contributing significantly to CORD’s mission.
Give a brief introduction of yourself and a history of CORD and CORDUSA from your perspective.
I serve as the secretary and one of the founding board members of CORDUSA. My journey with CORD began in 2001. I quickly realized that CORD is not a typical charity-driven organization. It is a grassrootslevel movement. Most charity organizations provide handouts, like filling a food bank, but often don’t know anything about the beneficiaries. CORD is different. It focuses on empowering individuals. Instead of just offering help, CORD helps people regain their footing in society and become self-reliant.
I fell in love with this approach, especially how beneficiaries are treated with dignity and respect. CORD ensures that their voices are heard. After returning from a trip to India that year, I couldn’t stop talking about CORD. We began spreading awareness and raising funds at our local center, engaging in various empowering activities. I also started collaborating with Dr Sneh Chakraborty in Canada who was actively involved with CORD at the time.
In 2009, we were asked to establish CORDUSA to unify all the humanitarian efforts under one umbrella. Although many initiatives were already taking place, they weren’t connected. The goal of CORDUSA was to bring all this work together so people could see and
Do you have a personal connection with CORD, and what motivated you to be part of this movement? How do you prioritize service when you have a full-time job and a family to care for?
CORD holds a deep place in my heart. More than being just an organization, it reflects my core values: compassion, service, and fostering care for the community. I was drawn to CORD because it isn’t just a charity. It empowers dignity, independence, and transformation, and that is a very important thing. Charity always has a special place in my heart and CORD’s model of lending a hand up rather than a handout just made perfect sense to me, and CORD’s model of doing it changed me.
Seeing children we once helped are now giving back to the community, becoming leaders—the thought of that excites me. Balancing work, family, and service isn’t easy, but I’ve learned that when something truly matters to you, you make time for it. Service brings me joy and strength—it fuels me to keep going.
CORDUSA has centers all over the USA. Could you give a brief overview of what activities are being done at these centers?
We don’t refer to them as centers- we work in collaboration with Chinmaya Mission centers, and we call them “chapters.” These chapters work closely with us to ensure clear direction and consistent efforts. We’ve established frameworks to help guide these activities effectively.
Some of our key programs include tutoring services, road cleanups, food bank drives, and assistance with resume writing and college applications. Even people who aren’t familiar with Chinmaya Mission often know about our work. We don’t seek credit; our goal is impact. For instance, during road cleanups, signs might say “Adopted by Chinmaya Mission,” but all administrative tasks go through CORDUSA. This is easier to measure the impact across USA
People
We Welcome You to Become a Part of This Loving Spiritual Family
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 (The Holy Bible)
Regular Activities
Sunday Worship Service: 9 AM (Dynamic Praise Time)
Children’s Sunday School & Adult Bible Study: Sundays at Noon
Sunday Love Meal: 11 AM
Wednesday Intercessory Prayer Fellowship: 7 PM
Bible Club: Character development of children through memorization of God’s powerful and redemptive word. Please send your child and receive guaranteed life lasting blessing.
We welcome you to our new facility come and receive a blessing through this evangelical, Christ-centered, Bible-based, non-denominational, loving, caring, mission-minded spiritual family church.
from page 68
We also run women’s mentoring programs, sustainability projects (like tree-planting with Friends of Trees in Portland), summer camps, fundraisers, and awareness events.
Do you envision collaboration with other nonprofits to further CORD’s work?
Absolutely! To survive, collaboration is essential for a non-profit. especially when working with migrant communities, which can be hard to reach. For example, in Portland, we partnered with IRCO, an immigration organization, to expand our outreach and connect with those in need.
We adapt to the needs of each group, like matching younger kids with high school mentors. It’s all about meeting people where they are and helping in the most effective way possible.
What is one big challenge you face as the national director of CORDUSA, and how do you face it?
One of the challenges is sustaining the volunteer program, especially as our organization matures. Some people stay as they are interested, while others are only there because their children are there. There are a lot of applications coming in, and we have a full team dedicated to that. We select people who are dedicated to the mission, and we are continuously looking for interested people.
How can the readers help contribute to CORD’s mission?
There are many ways to contribute: you can volunteer, organize fundraisers, participate in humanitarian activities, or donate. But you don’t need to contribute financially to make a difference: sharing your skills and knowledge is just as valuable.
We believe in teaching people how to fish, not just giving them a fish. Simply providing aid creates dependency, but empowering individuals builds independence. And when you empower someone, you gain their trust, and that’s incredibly rewarding.
Interview conducted by: Anika S, Shirom M and Sanjana C Writers: Shirom M, Aaryan M, Sanjana C and Anika S (CORDUSA Youth ambassadors) Info: Cordusaraleigh.org
CORDUSA’s Youth Ambassador Program offers local youth leadership opportunities through community service. Participants engage in activities centered on sustainability, addressing issues like the environment, food insecurity, housing instability, education, and intergenerational connections.
CORDUSA’s youth ambassadors aim to raise awareness about other local non-profit organizations making a significant impact in underserved communities. To achieve this, they interview representatives from these organizations. The youth take on the tasks of researching the organizations, creating questions, conducting the interviews, and compiling the responses.
Bhargavi Rao, the Head of Programs and Community Engagement at CORDUSA Raleigh, mentors and guides the youth by offering them valuable leadership opportunities within the organization.
More details: Redbaraat.com. CORDUSA
Music Review: Red Baraat Bhangra Rangeela
By Samir Shukla
When a dhol kicks in and unleashes its percussive magic, heads start swaying and the feet wanna do their thing.
The dhol is essential in traditional Indian wedding processions, also known as baraats. The large drum, slung over the neck and played with its own unique drumsticks, typically leads a groom’s wedding group with a rollicking beat while the party dances along. The dhol rolls along with its beats as the group arrives at the bride’s house.
Since their debut album 15 years ago, the band Red Baraat has been creating a musical world rooted in baarat music and layered with bhangra, jazz, rock and funky beats. The band, led by percussionist and dhol player Sunny Jain, began as a baraat outfit and since have toured the world and released several recordings. Their latest recording is Bhangra Rangeela, their first studio output since 2018.
The album opens with the title track and swiftly grabs the listener with its sunny disposition. It could be a focal song of a Bollywood film, with horns wrapped around scatting and playing tag with the dhol.
Other notable tracks include the jazzy instrumental “Thums Up.”
The cacophonous “Crown of Spades” is a dhol-led rocker.
Stewart Copeland (drummer for the band The Police) appears on “Gaadi of Truth.”
The song “Bhangale” is draped in scats that are typically interwoven with Indian percussion instruments.
“Layers” is horns-fueled track that also sounds like a throwback number to an earlier era.
Jain surrounds himself with talented multiinstrumentalists who bring bombastic beats and fiery horns.
Sunny Jain: “We must uphold our values above the divisions caused by religions, nationalism, and politics. There is no absolute truth, as sometimes perpetuated by religious or political dogma, but rather relative truths, or different perspectives. Basic human rights are under attack just for looking different or because of misconceptions of beliefs. We need to get out of our social media silos and be open and engaging in real life. We can come to understand others and elevate humanity.”
Raajeev continued from page 42
“Uncle, do some rest. Otherwise you will rest in peace.”
“How come this old man got this beautiful young woman?”
“One foot in grave and you are doing this kind of dance!”
“You should be chanting God’s name… why are you doing this kind of drama?”
“Go do bhajans! At this age, is this how you remember God?”
Let’s clear this up. Dancing is not a sin. It’s not even a midlife crisis. It’s midlife cardio! When Gen Z dances, it’s called a “trend.” When we dance, it’s called “tremendous nerve!” Someone commented, “This is not age appropriate!” My thoughts, “Neither is your grammar!”
In Indian culture, there’s this ancient framework for life stages: the first 25 years are for studying, the next 25 for raising a family, then from 50 to 75 you’re expected to become a forest-dweller—occasionally visiting your family. After 75, you enter Sanyasa: renounce everything and contemplate the divine. So apparently, after 50, we’re supposed to retire and chant mantras. But here’s the thing — ancient rishis didn’t have Instagram! Also, Vanaprastha was about leaving material attachments, not stopping your Zumba class!
This structure has become ingrained into our cultural psyche. If you’re over 50, you’re expected to fade into the background, like a piece of software that’s no longer supported. My wife and I respectfully disagree. We refuse to follow that script. We’re not forest-dwelling, we’re floordwelling, as in rolling on it during the 14th take of a dance reel. And what about Amitabh Bachchan? He’s 80 and still dancing! Let’s face it — if Big B can boogie, so can we!
If Shah Rukh Khan or Salman Khan can romance or boogie at age 60, why can’t I moonwalk across my living room? We’re not here to be exceptional. We’re here to be normal. To show that dancing, laughter, and love don’t expire after 40. To the folks who say, “Stop dancing,” we say: “Beta, stop watching.” To those who say, “Do bhajans,” we reply: “We do. Sometimes to a remix.
You know what I think it is? People don’t hate our age. They hate that we’re not ashamed of it. They hate that we’re laughing, dancing, being affectionate… without filters or fear.
I have seen with many of my relatives and friends’ parents that many men, especially in the Indian community, don’t plan for their retirement. They stop working and hope by doing nothing, they will be happy. That approach doesn’t work. Without any hobbies and just sitting on recliners doing WhatsApp is a recipe for depression. To have a fulfilling life, you need passion. Whether it’s God, gardening, or dancing on a Tuesday afternoon—it’s about joy.
danced. She laughed. I never stopped dancing. It’s not aging that bothers people, it’s seeing someone age joyfully, unapologetically. They want you to act your age. But what does that mean? To sit still, become invisible, and only speak when spoken to?
This age-shaming isn’t about culture — it’s about control. People are uncomfortable when you don’t “act your age.” They say, “Grow up!” And I say, “Why? Growing up looks boring on you.”
My wife and I aren’t trying to be young. We’re just trying to be alive — and that’s apparently controversial. Funny, isn’t it? You get judged for sitting too much and judged again for shaking too much.
Here is my message to the Trolls and the supporters who say “Uncle and Aunty, stop dancing” — we say: “Beta, don’t troll on. Scroll on.” We didn’t post to impress you. We posted to inspire someone like us who thought their fun was over. But it’s not. We’re just getting started. Because age doesn’t stop you from dancing. Judgment does.
So yes, we’ll dance.
We won’t forget God’s name. We won’t forget each other. If we forget a dance step, We’ll still remember the laughter. Our spirits are always dancing, Even when our knees protest. We may ache for two days, But we’ll ache with joy—at best.
Raajeev Aggerwhil
is a Los Angeles-based comedian. Follow his latest work on Instagram, YouTube and TikTik @Mr.CheapGupta. He can be reached at raajeev24@gmail.com.
For those who say, “You should be chanting God’s name… why are you doing this kind of drama?” We posted a dance video. Not a video of us stealing mangoes in Haridwar. Also, remembering God’s name and dancing don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Sometimes I remember Krishna mid-spin, especially when my knees crack!
Let’s also talk about another recurring comment: “How did this old man get this beautiful woman?” The answer? I
by Taige Shukla (IG: @whatsthe_chai)
Keri Nu Shaak (Mango Shaak)
Saathee family, it’s our favorite time of year aka mango season! So, you know that means we have to bring you another recipe involving the world’s best fruit (in my personal opinion). As we all know, mango is a super versatile fruit, we can use it in desserts, achar, sabzi or shaak, or enjoy it on its own. This time around we’ll be enjoying it in sabzi / shaak form. Keri nu shaak (mango curry) is very popular this time of year in India; not only is it super refreshing but also one of the largest crops during the spring / summer months. If you haven’t tried this shaak yet definitely give it a go, it’s such a great balance of sweet, spicy, and tangy! Original Recipe By: Amma (Charu Shukla)
Ingredients Directions
1 large mango (not ripe or soft)
(cut into 1-inch cubes)
1 tbsp ghee or oil
½ tsp methi (fenugreek seeds)
½ tsp rai (mustard seeds)
1 tsp hing
1 tsp achar masala
1 tbsp gor (jaggery)
½ inch cinnamon stick
1 clove
Salt to taste
Servings: 2 - 3
Prep Time: 20 minutes / Cooking Time: 15 minutes
In a pan on medium heat, make the vhagar with oil / ghee, the cinnamon stick, clove, methi & rai. Temper for about 30 seconds or until the seeds begin to pop. Stir in the hing.
Add in pre-chopped mango (yes it’s okay to leave the skin on) and a small pinch of salt Sauté until ingredients are combined, then add in jaggery. Stir until the jaggery begins to melt, mix in the achar masala, then cover the pan. Reduce to medium-low heat and Let cook for about 5 mins or until the mangos can be easily pierced with a fork.
Optional: using a shredder scrape the seed of the mango to get as much excess pulp and juice as possible; add to the shaak.
Once ready, you should be left with mango in a fine gravy (almost looks like oil). If needed, adjust the salt and spices to taste.
For a traditional Gujarati meal serve with rice, and / or roti.
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Kismuth continued from page 28
Ten years ago, I was in India and Thailand and Nepal before landing in Cambodia. But even within those many days of movement from place to place, I found stillness. I set aside time to write, over breakfast once a week. This would be for roughly two hours and I typed away on a wireless keyboard into a cracked iPad to write columns, for this magazine, and bunches of other things. Like diary entries that today I can chuckle over or feel emotional about and then delete. Processed. I’m glad I did all that travel and moving around. At that time, it was highly imperative to keep moving and learning. It mattered, and despite the friction and the inevitable losses that come with such a long trip that accidentally turned into, ah, exile, I guess, I had to see it through.
The news is I have a new pink folder now. I’m quite happy having it under my arm as it reminds me of the old days of the pink Mead. This one is translucent, sized A4 with the two-ring binding we have in this part of the world. I got a white two-ring puncher, and I use it to file A6-size index cards in a loose, mix and match way, each card containing an exercise in how to reflect or write something in a way that may generate surprising compositions. I’ll pull a few cards from this file now, when I go meet people who ask me for help on how to make time to find their own creative voice and write new poems or short stories. What a privilege to get to do this. I suppose there is a lot to share with some who trust me to help them earmark time to reflect with me as a guide along their discovering their own way towards doing for them what my Saturday morning writing time did for me.
I’ll now share the quote I mentioned that has been with me all this time, having been transferred to digital archives and reconsidered often, added to one of those index cards in the file and in the ‘keep?’ pile at the moment. I left this one alone for the most part but fished it out from time to time to give it another bout of attentive reflection. Is it really this simple, I wonder, as I read it, today. The idea of making things by simply prioritizing that act of setting aside time? You decide. Here it is.
‘The advice I like to give young artists, or really anybody who’ll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself. Things occur to you. If you’re sitting around trying to dream up a great art idea, you can sit there a long time before anything happens. But if you just get to work, something will occur to you and something else will occur to you and something else that you reject will push you in another direction. Inspiration is absolutely unnecessary and somehow deceptive. You feel like you need this great idea before you can get down to work, and I find that’s almost never the case.’
Chuck Close
Dipika Kohli
is an author who is based in Phnom Penh. Discover her books at kismuth.com and ther projects at dipikakohli.com.
Namaskar continued from page 40
problems. Summer breaks were sweeter thanks to mango lassi for a post lunch cool down and mothers lured their kids away from the playground by promising aam ras and puris for dinner. Across the country, chilled mango slices were the most popular snack.
The onset of the monsoon in Mumbai meant the end of mango season but we kept the palate happy with the help of canned pulp and store-bought ice cream and kulfi so that our favorite flavor stayed alive all year.
As a city girl, I missed plucking mangos from low branches, raiding the neighbor’s tree to beat boredom or being rewarded when the perfectly ripe mango drops from the tree like a gift from the heavens, experiences that my parent’s generation talked about. Nevertheless, my loyalty to aam prevails. I am particularly happy that my kids share my love for mangos, and I now can bring some home for them from the nearest Indian grocery store. That is a luxury I thought I would never have in this country.
When my husband and I moved to the United States 25 years ago, we could not find any Indian mangos. We spent our first summer longing for them and even gave in when we saw South American varieties, sitting next to the bananas, at the local grocery store. The disappointing taste of these distant cousins of Indian mangos made me crave for the real thing even more. The taste did not even meet the standards of the end of season variety called langra, which literally translates as lame. Luckily, after a few years, with changes in trade deals between the US and India, Alphonso mangos were available through a couple of online importers. The joy I felt at receiving a box of this goodness on Mother’s Day was boundless. It was one of the most thoughtful gifts that my husband had presented to me.
One of the interesting observations I have made on this topic is that we tend to favor the region-specific variety that we grew up eating. For example, my siblings and I desired happus primarily grown in Goa and Maharashtra the most whereas my parents preferred himsagar that is abundant in West Bengal and Bangladesh. My South Indian friends swear by banganapalle, famous in the states of Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh whereas I had never even heard of it until I saw it at a desi dukan. One could surmise that there is no such thing as the best mango, but we all have a soft spot for the best kind of mango that brings back memories related to this divine fruit and yearns to recreate it with our families in a foreign land that simply isn’t hospitable to growing its trees in our backyards or in orchards.
As a true devotee of the fruit, my fear of US tariffs on Indian goods is mainly about missing out on mangos again. I am afraid that it might become unaffordable or too high to justify what might be considered a guilty pleasure. However, from my perspective, enjoying mangos is a tribute to my tastebuds and food for my soul. So, I am keeping my fingers crossed.
Shyama Parui
is a long time North Carolina resident and an ardent writer. You can reach her at: shyamashree_parui@hotmail.com
Etihad Airways Begins Charlotte - Abu Dhabi Service in 2026
Beginning May 4, 2026, Etihad will launch four weekly nonstop flights between Charlotte and Abu Dhabi (AUH), marking the airline's first direct service from North Carolina and expanding CLT's connectivity to the vibrant hub for business, culture and tourism in the Middle East. The route provides Charlotte passengers with one-stop access to destinations across the Middle East, Indian Subcontinent, and Asia.
Flights will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
“Etihad’s arrival is a milestone for CLT as we continue expanding our global reach,” said Haley Gentry, CEO of Charlotte Douglas International Airport. “This new route opens the door to the Middle East and beyond, providing our passengers with greater access to international destinations and strengthening Charlotte’s role as a key gateway for global travel.”
“This new service creates a vital connection between Charlotte and Abu Dhabi, linking two important economic hubs,” said His Excellency Mohamed Ali Al Shorafa, Chairman of Etihad Airways. “We're opening direct channels for business, investment, and tourism that align with Abu Dhabi's vision for a diversified global economy. Charlotte businesses gain efficient access to the UAE and beyond, while Abu Dhabi strengthens its connections to the American Southeast. Travelers benefit from U.S. Customs Preclearance in Abu Dhabi and gain efficient one-stop access to and from more than 40 destinations across the Indian Subcontinent, GCC, Africa, and Southeast Asia. We're proud to partner with Charlotte Douglas International Airport to deliver this strategic route that will benefit travelers and businesses in both regions.”
“The addition of a direct flight to Abu Dhabi reinforces Charlotte as a world-class city,” Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles said. “These new, nonstop flights will be sure to welcome both increased tourism and new business to our region. We are honored to continue enhancing global access for our region’s residents while creating connections for new visitors to enjoy Charlotte’s amenities and entertainment.”
Tickets for the Charlotte–Abu Dhabi route are on sale now at etihad.com. Etihad is the first international airline to launch service at CLT since 2018, when Volaris began nonstop flights to Guadalajara, Mexico.
Demential
To understand why this may be, it’s important to remember that our brain goes through three major periods during our lives – development in early life, a period of relative stability in adult life, and decline (in some functions) in old age.
Most dementia research understandably focuses on changes associated with that decline in later life. But there is increasing evidence that many of the differences in brain structure and function associated with dementia in older adults may have at least partly existed since childhood.
For example, in long-term studies where people have had their cognitive ability tracked across their whole lives, one of the most important factors explaining someone’s cognitive ability at age 70 is their cognitive ability when they were 11. That is, older adults with poorer cognitive skills have often had these lower skills since childhood, rather than the differences being solely due to a faster decline in older age.
Similar patterns are also seen when looking for evidence of dementia-related damage on brain scans, with some changes appearing to be more closely related to risk factor exposures in early life than current unhealthy lifestyles.
Taken together, perhaps the time has come for dementia prevention to be thought of as a lifelong goal, rather than simply a focus for old age.
A lifelong prevention plan
But how do we achieve this in practical terms? Complex problems require complex solutions, and there is no quick fix to address this challenge. Many factors contribute to increasing or decreasing an individual’s dementia risk –there is no “one size fits all” approach.
But one thing generally agreed upon is that mass medication of young people is not the answer. Instead, we – along with 33 other leading international researchers in the field of dementia – recently published a set of recommendations for actions that can be taken at the individual, community and national levels to improve brain health from an early age.
Our consensus statement and recommendations deliver two clear messages. First, meaningful reductions in dementia risk for as many people as possible will only be achievable through a coordinated approach that brings together healthier environments, better education and smarter public policy.
Second – and perhaps most importantly – while it’s never too late to take steps to reduce your risk of dementia, it’s also never too early to start.
Article courtesy of theconversation.com
Scott Chiesa is Senior Research Fellow and Alzheimer’s Research UK David Carr Fellow, UCL
Francesca Farina is Research Assistant Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology-Urogynecology, University of Chicago
Laura Booi is Senior Research Fellow, Social Gerontology, School of Health, Leeds Beckett University
Vikas Patel, MD
Elizabeth Ju, MD
Katharine Hodinka, MD
Evan Darwin, MD
My Voice Anuradha
She made her debut from a Sanskrit verse in the 1973 Hindi film Abhiman. At that time, she used to sing as a dubbing artist. She obtained popularity from her song “Tu Mera Janu Hai” along with Manhar Udhas in the film Hero She had been asked to ‘dub’ this song for Lata Mangeshkar. But when the music director, the duo LaxmikantPyarelal heard Anuradha’s version, they decided to keep it. She then recorded 23 songs composed by Nadeem-Shravan. Ten songs out of them were released as the Chahat album, but the producer decided to include them as film songs in the Aashiqui movie in 1990. Aashiqui songs became so popular that it established Anuradha as a successful playback singer.
After the concert in 1978 I met with both Anuradha and Arun backstage and invited them to come to my home as guests, which they immediately accepted.
Arun had told me during his stay at my house that he had come as lead musician for Lataji’s first concert in U.S.A in 1976. Arun’s father had died while he was in America,
still he stayed with the tour so that Lataji’s concert will not have to be cancelled. Anuradha was often given preference over the Mangeshkar sisters. I was told by Arun that Lataji had destroyed his career as assistant to S. D. Burman because she was jealous of Anuradha’s success and was forced to join Bappi Lahiri, a newcomer at that time. I was moved when tears rolled down on his cheeks, while recollecting.
Anuradha was very quiet and helped my wife cook food for us. She also liked watching the Lucy Show on TV. My son was 7 years old at that time. Though both spoke in Gujarati with my wife and son, I found Anuradha’s pronunciation better than Arun’s. I took them to a music store in Manhattan, where Arun bought an expensive Moong synthesizer which was shipped directly to India to avoid paying sales tax. A month later I received a letter from Arun, wherein he had asked me to contact the music store for a copy of the invoice so that he could clear the synthesizer from customs.
A few years later when my son visited India for the first time, he was bragging about meeting Anuradha Paudwal and also Hema Malini because his dad was a famous photographer.
Anuradha ended her first innings in mainstream movie films abruptly when she was on the verge of claiming the throne of the likes of Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle. Afterwards she started singing devotional songs, which became very popular.
During her prime, legendary veteran composer OP Nayyar had said, “Lata is finished. Anuradha has replaced her.” By the time she reached this pinnacle, she had already been struggling for 17 years.
Anuradha came back after quitting for a few years and got some of the best songs and became popular again, but at that time Alka Yagnik was dominating the Industry and Anuradha Paudwal didn’t receive much success like she had achieved earlier. She continued to sing until 2006 and after that she quit Bollywood.
She has won four Filmfare Awards out of eleven nominations. She has also appeared in popular singing show Indian Idol as a special guest where she shared some of the memories of her career.
When Anuradha had come to Cary, NC for a Diwali concert in 2015, I had driven 430 miles each way alone to attend her concert, because nobody else wanted to go that far for the concert.
I had bought a first-row ticket and was allowed to take photos and videos by the organizers. I went on the stage during the interval, because Anuradha was sill sitting there instead of going back stage. I spoke to her about her and Arun visiting my home in 1978, which she did not remember. So, I showed her a few photographs from 1978, and she was very moved and almost cried. Though Aditya was a musician like his father, her daughter Kavita is a singer like her.
I don’t believe her daughter had accompanied Anuradha on her concert tour. Ironically, while Anuradha started her career singing Lataji’s songs, Kavita started her career singing Ashaji’s songs.
My Voice Anuradha continued on page 88
Adult Dance Student continued from page 50
For the dancer, their “colors” are showcased through their expertise of the Nritta and the physical aspects of the pure dance through the adavus, as well as through their nrithya, which includes the story telling portion of the dance and utilizes abhinaya or expressions that help bring emotion to the storytelling for the audience. The combination of the music and the dance brings about the rasa of the varnam.
One well known varnam is called Mathay Maladjwaja Pandyasan Jathay. The writer is Harikeshanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar who was born in now what is known as the state of Tamil Nadu. The varnam is well known and has been sung by famous artists such as M.S Subhalakshmi and T.M Krishna.
This specific varnam is beautiful, as it is a Bhakthi Varnam, or a devotional composition to the Mother Goddess.
The varnam first starts with three speeds of a jathi or known as Trikala jathi. The jathi showcases pure dance, or the nritta of the dancer, and this is performed at the slow, medium and fast speed.
In the Purvaranga or first half of the dance, the lines in the Pallavi are “Mathay Maladwaja Pandyasan Jathay, Mathanga Vadana Guha.” The translation of this is “Oh Mother! You are born to Maladwaja of the Pandya Kingdom and are the mother to Ganesha and Murugan.”
This phrase can be sung in numerous ways, and the dancer will bring forth the Pada Artha Abhinaya, or the literal meaning of the phrase as well as Vachika Artha Abhinaya to give a wider depth of the phrase through the storytelling portion of the dance.
The second part of the Purvaranga, following the Pallavi, is the Anupallavi. The line in the anupallavi is “Shatodhari, Shankari, Chamudeshwari, Chandrakaladhari, Thaiyay Gauri.” This line describes some of the physical manifestations of the Goddess and her characteristics. She is slim, the wife of Shiva, the slayer of the demons, she wears the moon as her ornament, and she is luminous of complexion. The dancer can portray this line in various ways, through literal translation as well as through artistic interpretation and guidance of the guru.
The last part of the Purvaranga is the Mukthaiyi Swaram. In the varnam, more characteristics are described of Mother’s personality.
Datha Sakala Kalah Nipoona Chatura. Mother is skilled in all arts. Datha Vividha Matha Samaya Samarasa. She is equal to people of all faiths. Datha Sulabha Hridaya Madura Vachana. She is soft-hearted and speaks sweet words. Sa Rasa Ruchirathara Swaralaya Geetha Sukhada nija bhava. Rasika Vara datha
Her notes and tempos used in music provide constant emotional pleasure to the devotee. Mahishura Natha. She is the slayer of the demon of Mahisha. Nalvathi Sri Krishna Rajendra, thaye sadha pore, mahitha harikesha Manohara sadaya She is Mother of the kings, worshipped by Harikesha. Beautiful, and compassionate.
The final part of the varnam is the charanam. The lines in this are Shymay! Oh Mother who is of Dark complexion. Sakala Bhuvana Sarva Bhaumay. Sashi Mandala Madhyaga. She is the ruler and center of the universe.
From the varnam, we can experience the eternal presence of that shakthi pervading all around us.
Whether we use the language of the technical to call it stardust, or the emotional/poetic to call it mother, we all are made from some essence.
Our physical manifestations are a form of her shakthi or energy.
We are in this form, so we can work to attain enlightenment that we are beyond form. We are interconnected.
It is important not to forget this fertile land we live on and to constantly remember how to be kind to the Loving Mother, of the soil, of the water, of the air, and all the forms of life brought forth: our brothers and sisters.
The beautiful weather of this season is a wonderful time for contemplation, celebration, and remembrance of the bountiful and diverse blessings that spring forth from Mother, Earth, and Universe.
This series of articles is about the journey and unique insights of an adult dance student learning classical Indian dance and the experiences and perspective of taking classical Indian dance as both an American and an Indian.
Preethi Sriram
is a classical dance enthusiast and lifelong learner of dance.
Contact: SriramPreethi@hotmail.com
My Voice Anuradha continued from page 86
Aditya had come with Anuradha and was playing harmonium during the concert. After Anuradha introduced me to Aditya, I gave him photos of his parents taken in 1978 as mementoes. He thanked me and touched my feet by calling me uncle. Anuradha wrote a thank you note on the picture I asked her to sign.
I didn’t really enjoy the concert, because Anuradha sang only a few songs, and other local male singers were singing while she would go backstage to relax. I had noticed that she was sweating a lot and wiping her forehead often. After the concert I stayed on when Anuradha and Aditya were taken to the backroom where they had dinner. After dinner, she continued talking with me ignoring a few volunteers taking her pictures. I was elated when Anuradha and Aditya specially posed for a picture with me before going to the airport.
I left at midnight and drove back non-stop to Atlanta and reached there around 7am. Along the way I was savoring my meeting. Anuradha survived a helicopter crash in 2002 in Madhya Pradesh. Sadly, Arun died in 1991 at age of 47 and Aditya died of kidney failure in 2020 at age of 35.
Girish Modi
is an 85-year-old retired engineer who is passionate about Indian music and classical dances. He donates money to various Indian organizations and provides free photo service. Contact: girish39@yahoo.com.
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“You see, can you imagine how a 1959, 948 cc, fourcylinder, 37-horsepower car could perform against modern new cars? She was heavy - made of steel. Where do you get cars now-a-days that can withhold the test of time? The same car, when new, was marketed as a ’farm’ car with the ability to carry 180 dozen eggs or 5 very large milk churns/cans along with a family of four.”
”Wow, when did you inherit this car, Daddy?”
“I don’t remember exactly, but it was in the 1980’s after my parents passed away. He smiled and said, “She had her own personality; when cheerful, she could easily cruise at 50 miles an hour; when burdened, she slowed to 5 miles an hour. If she was grumpy, she would give you the time of her life.”
I responded, “Yes, I think she was pure high maintenance and hard to use, unattractive for most prospects. She would never start on time whenever we needed to go somewhere.”
Agitated, my father shot back, “What are you saying? What do you know about the mechanics of old cars?” He retracted as though I had said something offensive that hurt his pride.
“Daddy, do you recall that moment when MYB refused to start? I watched you carefully check the battery connections when you placed the battery in the car. When you turned the ignition key and it failed to start, you had to manually insert a crank rod through an access hole in the front bumper to turn the starter motor. You swung your arm in a full 200-degree motion—up to six attempts—to get her going (causing you to break into a sweat). When I tried, the swing jolted my arm, teaching me the lesson of my life about her resistance! If the crank didn’t work, you would resort to pushing her to get her rolling and then shift her into gear to get her started. Once she got going, her big eyes, yellow seats, and toothless smile seemed to glare in satisfaction and tease me. To top it all off, you had to connect two wires together whenever you wanted to blow the horn.” Then softening my voice to agree with him, I continued, “That’s all I’m saying… never mind.”
Despite her quirks, Dad cherished MYB-77 as a royal antique and member of the family. She most often responded to his care.
Dad replied, “Ahhhh, I see. Do you remember how many long road trips she remained faithful to us? The trip to Ramanagara was filled with songs and games until we reached the foothills of the 2,451-foot high main Ramanagara hill. She cleverly protested against her load, so we had to redistribute our passenger weight. After the adults disembarked, she sighed in relief but still needed a push from the villagers to start us moving on the uphill road.”
I replied, “Oh yes, that was a trip of a lifetime that we will always cherish. What a great time to spend with family members! Our family group rallied with shouts of the Hindi phrase ‘Dum lagake haisha, jor lagake haisha!’ (Put in your strength! Put in your breath, to put in your strength!) to motivate ourselves and MYB’s tiny 37-horsepower engine. With everyone pushing the car, you skillfully shifted her into gear, she climbed the long hill and finally parked proudly at my aunt’s house. After a couple of days of rest, she was ready to bring us home safely.”
I then asked my dad something that had always puzzled me, “But why was the battery always kept charging inside the house instead of being in the car itself?”
He wiped his eyebrow with his right thumb, scratched his head, and replied with a chuckle, “So that no one could ever steal her!”
We both laughed.
“Oh Daddy, You haven’t lost your sense of humor. Haaaa!”
He reminisced, “You see, over the years, MYB impressed us with her endurance, covering long distances as we moved from city to city. Her horn’s vitality was a measure of her mood, signaling her happiness during journeys. She carried our family of four, along with a dog and a cat, with care and reliability. She completed the 14-hour drive from Bangalore to Pune.
A few years later, she managed a 21-hour trip to Jodhpur, covering nearly 2,000 km through hills, desert terrain and sands. Once she took off, she was very sturdy for long trips. She served us faithfully for nearly 30 years.”
“But, but, what actually happened to MYB Daddy?”
Dad took a moment to gather his thoughts. He cleared his throat, wiped his eyebrow, and scratched his head.
“You see, when we were coming back from Pushkar city her radiator boiled over, and she had electrical issues. We had to tow her back to our house using a jeep from the village. Do you remember when I asked you all to keep me awake during the drive? Do you remember? You all had gone to sleep and were snoring. I dozed off for a few seconds, and MYB smoothly kept working her way. She jolted us awake and brought my attention back to the road. After returning, the mechanic worked on her for days, but parts for such an old car were hard to find. He spent a lot of time with her, salvaging parts from other cars the best he could, but sadly was unable to bring her back. She was too tired to continue.”
“But what happened to our dear old car in the end?”
“I let the mechanic keep her, hoping he could re-purpose her parts to possibly benefit some other old needy cars. He gave me a deal on a used Fiat he had in his shop.” Dad replied.
After our conversation, I was nostalgic remembering how MYB-77 made such a mark in our lives. I researched online and found a video taken a few years ago of a 1959 Standard Ten Companion model like MYB being auctioned as a vintage car and shared the info with Dad on a recent video call we had.
I told my father, “Daddy, a 1959 Standard Ten Companion model like MYB was auctioned as a vintage car. She was auctioned in England for £5,772, which is about $7,250 in US dollars, Rs. 619,200 in Indian rupees. Do you think the mechanic restored her for auction?”
He acknowledged my question with a silent nod and raised his palm to bless me, “MYB was the best, but she needed to rest.”
Maneesha Lassiter
is an elementary school educator in Raleigh,North Carolina. She’s an actor, story teller and author. Her first children’s book, Cat With A Passport, was published in 2024. Contact: maneesha.lassiter@gmail.com
Wildlands continued from page 44
One of the commission’s members was David E. Pesonen, who worked at the Wildland Research Center at the University of California at Berkeley. He was asked to examine wilderness and its relationship to outdoor recreation. Pesonen later became a notable environmental lawyer and leader of the Sierra Club. But at the time, Pesonen had no idea what to say about wilderness.
However, he knew someone who did. Pesonen had been impressed by the wild landscapes of the American West in Stegner’s 1954 history “Beyond the Hundredth Meridian: John Wesley Powell and the Second Opening of the West.” So he wrote to Stegner, who at the time was at Stanford University, asking for help in articulating the wilderness idea.
Stegner’s response, which he said later was written in a single afternoon, was an off-the-cuff riff on why he cared about preserving wildlands. This letter became known as the Wilderness Letter and marked a turning point in American political and conservation history.
Pesonen shared the letter with the rest of the commission, which also shared it with newly installed Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall. Udall found its prose to be so profound, he read it at the seventh Wilderness Conference in 1961 in San Francisco, a speech broadcast by KCBS, the local FM radio station. The Sierra Club published the letter in the record of the conference’s proceedings later that year.
But it was not until its publication in The Washington Post on June 17, 1962, that the letter reached a national audience and captured the imagination of generations of Americans.
An eloquent appeal
In the letter, Stegner connected the idea of wilderness to a fundamental part of American identity. He called wilderness “something that has helped form our character and that has certainly shaped our history as a people … the challenge against which our character as a people was formed … (and) the thing that has helped to make an American different from and, until we forget it in the roar of our industrial cities, more fortunate than other men.”
Without wild places, he argued, the U.S. would be just like every other overindustrialized place in the world.
In the letter, Stegner expressed little concern with how wilderness might support outdoor recreation on public lands. He didn’t care whether wilderness areas had once featured roads, trails, homesteads or even natural resource extraction. What he cared about was Americans’ freedom to protect and enjoy these places. Stegner recognized that the freedom to protect, to restrain ourselves from consuming, was just as important as the freedom to consume.
Perhaps most importantly, he wrote, wilderness was “an intangible and spiritual resource,” a place that gave the nation “our hope and our excitement,” landscapes that were “good for our spiritual health even if we never once in ten years set foot in it.”
Without it, Stegner lamented, “never again will Americans be free in their own country from the noise, the exhausts, the stinks of human and automotive waste.” To
him, the nation’s natural cathedrals and the vaulted ceiling of the pure blue sky are Americans’ sacred spaces as much as the structures in which they worship on the weekends.
Stegner penned the letter during a national debate about the value of preserving wild places in the face of future development. “Something will have gone out of us as a people,” he wrote, “if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed.”
If not protected, Stegner believed these wildlands that had helped shape American identity would fall to what he viewed as the same exploitative forces of unrestrained capitalism that had industrialized the nation for the past century. Every generation has an obligation to protect these wild places.
Stegner’s Wilderness Letter became a rallying cry to pass the Wilderness Act. The closing sentences of the letter are Stegner’s best: “We simply need that wild country available to us, even if we never do more than drive to its edge and look in. For it can be a means of reassuring ourselves of our sanity as creatures, a part of the geography of hope.”
This phrase, “the geography of hope,” is Stegner’s most famous line. It has become shorthand for what wilderness means: the wildlands that defined American character on the Western frontier, the wild spaces that Americans have had the freedom to protect, and the natural places that give Americans hope for the future of this planet.
America’s ‘best idea’
Stegner returned to themes outlined in the Wilderness Letter again two decades later in his essay “The Best Idea We Ever Had: An Overview,” published in Wilderness magazine in spring 1983.
Writing in response to the Reagan administration’s efforts to reduce protection of the National Park System, Stegner declared that the parks were “Absolutely American, absolutely democratic.” He said they reflect us as a nation, at our best rather than our worst, and without them, millions of Americans’ lives, his included, would have been poorer.
Public lands are more than just wilderness or national parks. They are places for work and play. They provide natural resources, wildlife habitat, clean air, clean water and recreational opportunities to small towns and sprawling metro areas alike. They are, as Stegner said, cures for cynicism and places of shared hope.
Stegner’s words still resonate as Americans head for their public lands and enjoy the beauty of the wild places protected by wilderness legislation this summer. With visitor numbers increasing annually and agency budgets at historic lows, we believe it is useful to remember how precious these places are for all Americans. And we agree with Stegner that wilderness, public lands writ large, are more valuable to Americans’ collective identity and expression of freedom than they are as real estate that can be sold or commodities that can be extracted.
Article courtesy of theconversation.com
Leisl Carr Childers is Associate Professor of History, Colorado State University
Michael Childers is Associate Professor of History, Colorado State University
So what’s the alternative?
Growing up in an Indian household, there was no shortage of theories for why bad things happen. Karma, past life debts, planetary alignments... We’ve heard it all. And whether it’s Western self-help or ancient wisdom, both often propose a shift in focus—from why to what. Instead of asking why something is happening, we can ask: What’s the next action? This question grounds us in the present. It interrupts the loop of blame and self-pity and nudges us toward movement. When we ask what’s next, we become curious. We stop dwelling in the past and begin looking toward the future.
Of course, this doesn’t mean we should never ask why. Understanding the reasons behind our experiences can be enlightening and help us avoid repeating harmful patterns. But when we are caught in emotional overwhelm, why often serves more as a trap than a tool. In those moments, what is the lifeline. What can I do right now? Maybe it’s as small as taking a deep breath, calling a friend, stepping outside for a walk, or even just sitting still for two minutes. Maybe it’s about listening instead of reacting. Each of these actions, however small, brings us back into motion and agency.
I’ve come to appreciate a simple but powerful shift: Instead of asking “Why is this happening to me?” I ask, “What’s the next action?” This isn’t a magic mantra, but it works like a mental reset button. “What now?” pulls you out of the swamp of overthinking and nudges you toward the present. It might mean calling a friend. Taking a few deep breaths. Going for a walk in the neighborhood. Or just sitting still and letting the moment pass. Sometimes, the next action is to do absolutely nothing—and that’s okay too.
My family can confirm. I still hit “react” way before I hit “think,” and yep, it happens a lot. My family would be the first to tell you that I’m not always a model of emotional regulation or graceful responses. I often fall into old habits of anger, blame, and spiraling thought. But I’m learning to catch myself sooner. I’m trying to pause, take stock, and ask: What’s the next step? And every time I do, even imperfectly, I reclaim a bit of the power that my automatic responses once stole from me.
So, I offer this reflection not as advice from someone who’s figured it all out, but as a conversation starter—for myself and for others. The next time you find yourself swirling in thoughts, stuck in the why, consider pausing and asking what now? Just ask, what’s the next small thing I can do right now? Maybe it’s making that phone call. Maybe it’s forgiving yourself. It won’t solve everything, but it might just change the trajectory of that moment—and perhaps, over time, of our lives.
Hiren Deliwala
is a Charlotte-based overthinker, closet philosopher, and husband who tries really hard to be calm but occasionally argues with inanimate objects. He writes about everyday life, Indian upbringing, and finding humor in the chaos. When not philosophizing over chai, he’s usually losing arguments to his wife—and, shockingly, learning from them. Contact: hcdeliwala@gmail.com
Eye on Markets
continued from page 46
Domestic financials have simply fallen and filled last year’s rally. Financials have many tailwinds with a steeper yield curve to drive net interest margins. A new deregulatory focus combined with a weaker Basel III endgame will lower capital requirements and improve returns on equity. De-regulation will make financials one of the best sectors in returning capital back to shareholders. Wells Fargo just announced a $40bn buyback, nearly 20% of its market cap. Visa announced a $30bn buyback. Capital markets and M&A have been shut for nearly four years now, and these openings will provide a further earnings boost. AI and technology are driving margin expansion in financials, up nearly a percentage over the past year. Financials trading at just 16x, are in the process of multiple re-rating.
Many of the major secular themes benefit industrials, ranging from increased global defense spending, AI and infrastructure buildout, increased focus on domestic manufacturing, onshoring / regional supply chains, and a new aerospace cycle. These themes could last over a decade with large industrial companies such as GE Aerospace, RTX, Eaton, Lockheed Martin, GE Vernova, Boeing, Honeywell, Northrop Grumman, Emerson Electric, Rockwell Automation, and Vertiv poised to benefit. Industrials outperform when PMIs bottom and turn up. In particular, when PMIs are less than 47, the 12M forward return has historically been 22%, with a 95%-win ratio.
We also appear to have reached an inflection point with Bitcoin. For most of Bitcoin’s history, it’s essentially traded like a levered version of the Nasdaq 100. Initially it was a risk-on asset class, but in 2025 that changed. Its correlation with the Nasdaq 100 has broken down with trades as a digital store of value in recent weeks. If that remains the case, the Bitcoin rally has barely begun. The reasons for allocation to crypto are increasing as it is not subject to tariffs, can potentially be an inflation, central bank and fiscal spending hedge, and we are in the early stages of sovereign and institutional involvement.
The geopolitical turmoil and concerns about the US Dollar as the reserve currency will make the global digital store of value more important. Financial markets such as Germany and Hong Kong, for example, are discussing holding Bitcoin in their reserves.
Pension funds make up only 1% of reported holdings, even if a small increase will cause a meaningful bump in price. Just in the past few days, the Fed announced deregulatory measures for banking crypto assets. The current administration is crypto-friendly, as new policies start to get rolled out, institutional involvement increases, and correlations further break down.
Looking forward, the market will focus on the latest from Washington, geopolitics, earnings, a Fed meeting, and economic data.
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CarToon Corner
Tune Your Brain
Solve these brain teasers - Solutions on Page 110
PUZZLES
Magic Maze
Puzzles 4 Kids Answers on page 110
Key Word Search
Fill in blanks of these clues, then take the first letter of each word and unscramble them to find this month’s Key Word.
August, _____, October.
Cairo is in _____.
The smallest planet is _____.
The Red Planet is _____.
_____ is capital of North Carolina.
An _____ keeps the rain off your head.
Answers on page 104 Go
Chess Puzzles
Difficulty:
Game reference: Dashdorj – Naroditsky 2005
Directions: Black to move, checkmate in 2.
Difficulty:
Game reference: Finegold – Knoppert 1991
Directions: White to play, checkmate in 3.
Difficulty:
Game reference: Anand –Grischuk 2005
Directions: White to move, checkmate in 3.
Hello Readers
We welcome comments and suggestions about our puzzles and cartoons pages. Send your thoughts to Samir@Saathee.com
Festivals & Holidays Puzzle Solutions
June 2025
Jun. 5 - Ganga Dussehra
Jun. 5 - World Environment Day
Jun. 6 - Nirjala Ekadashi
Jun. 6 - National Donut Day
Jun. 7 - Eid al-Adha
Jun. 7 - Bakrid
Jun. 10 - Jyestha Purnima (Full Moon)
Jun. 11 - Kabirdas Jayanti
Jun. 12 - Loving Day
Jun. 14 - Flag Day
Jun. 14 - Mithuna Sankranti
Jun. 14 - World Blood Donor Day
Jun. 15 - Father’s Day
Jun. 16 - Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev Sahib
Jun. 19 - Emancipation Day
Jun. 21 - Litha / Summer Solstice
Jun. 21 - Yogini Ekadashi
Jun. 21 - International Yoga Day
Jun. 25 - Darsh Amas (No Moon)
Jun. 26 - Jagannath Rathyatra
Jun. 27 - Muharram
Key Word Search Answers from page 103
September
Egypt
Mercury
Mars
Raleigh
Umbrella
Key Word of the Month: SUMMER
Go Figure! answers from page 103
1. Color changed
2. Cap color changed
3. Number removed
4. Man removed
5. Added crow
6. Removed tree
7. Elephant cloth color changed
8. Window removed
9. Poster
10. Elephant removed
11. Tree inserted
12. Tower removed
13. Window removed
14. Man added
15. Man removed
Puzzle Solutions from page 102
Astroscope JUNE 2025
Aries
(March 21 – April 19)
After a negative start, things should shift to uncover a major positive change this month. You will feel confident and be able to resolve past due decisions. Try to maintain an easy temperament and keep working hard. Travel could prove fruitful and even bring in some extra income. A strong parapsychic experience could shift relations within your friend circle and with associates.
Taurus
(April 20 – May 20)
Things will gradually improve but won’t allow for any grand achievements at this time. A boost of positive energy will help with financial gains. Victory over your enemies should help in controlling any other potential opponents, however your dietary system could create minor health problems. New job opportunities may come your way but be sure to take your time with any decisions. Avoid disputes with family.
Gemini
(May 21 – June 20)
Your confidence will be on par this month. A particularly adept skill will help bring in extra money. In fact, you may also earn some fame due to this creative endeavor. Destiny is on your side. You may get terribly busy at your place of work. This is also a good time to make new friends or romantic commitments. Take extra precautions for your health and avoid enemies.
Cancer
(June 21 – July 22)
Life should fly by this month. You may experience major ups and downs but if you strictly watch your morals, you can still achieve great success. Any wrongdoing must be curbed and avoid taking any risks. You can count on your associates, but don’t trust them blindly. Minor family issues may disrupt your peace of mind. A heavy workload could also keep you on your toes most of the time.
Leo (July 23 – August 22)
This period will make you very comfortable. You could meet some influential people who can help boost your income. Also, probable chances of getting a promotion are there. You might enter into profitable deals. Travel will prove very relaxing. Others will appreciate your social and religious work. Overall, this month will be very pleasant for you.
Virgo
(August 23 – September 21)
Avoid rushing into anything during the first half of the month as major family problems may disturb your schedule. You should be back in control by the second half. Your partner may also prove to be a great help. Avoid any underhanded dealings to try and make easy money. Spiritual activities can boost your inner confidence.
Libra (September 22 – October 20)
This will be a month of travel, a period of relaxation and time to enjoy life. A long-cherished wish will be fulfilled this month. Just watch your health seriously and don’t dispute with your partner. Try something different to achieve success but be sure to also take time to celebrate your accomplishments. Don’t think about profit or loss, just have faith to walk a few steps onto an unknown path.
Scorpio (October 21 – November 20)
Hard work undertaken during the first half of the month will produce results by the second. These results won’t be wholly beneficial, but satisfactory. You will experience uncertainty in your day-to-day pursuits, so try not to get involved with too many projects simultaneously. This is a good time to travel for vacation. Good news from a far-off place may delight you.
Sagittarius
(November 21 – December 21)
Even though you won’t experience financial issues this month, paranoia will rule your psyche. Try to develop mental strength by spending some time on meditation. This is not a negative period, but aggressive actions won’t let you enjoy it. At the same time watch your health, listen to your partner, and act accordingly.
Capricorn (December 22 – January 21)
A very busy schedule and unexpected travel may constantly rearrange your monthly plans. A misunderstanding at work could stir up a heated argument. While it may not be possible to avoid this confrontation, try to remain calm about it. This is a good time to buy real estate. An improvement in your health is clearly indicated. Bad news from your partner is possible during the second week of the month.
Aquarius
(January 22 – February 18)
Uncertainty may delay important decisions this month. A critical mistake could place you in hot water and cost you an important opportunity. Any risk-taking tendencies should be avoided. You may seek spiritual help throughout the month to protect your morals. Financial loss is unavoidable; however, your regular income should remain undisturbed.
Pisces
(February 19 – March 20)
You have entered a difficult phase in your life. You could face tough competition at work as luck may not favor you during critical moments. Try to control your temper and act wisely to avoid losses. You can gain support from friends and potentially see relief during the second half of the month. Just be prepared to put in extra effort to achieve desired results.
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Seeking Live-in Care for elderly woman, who needs help with mobility, eating, etc. in North Raleigh. Must be reasonably strong, as she needs help getting up and walking. Competitive salary. Please text 667-401-7533.
Hiring for Eyebrow Threader & Esthetician in Kannapolis, NC. Please text 704-4502900 with your information.
Housekeeping Couple Wanted for Franchise Motel (Econo Lodge) in Southern Pines, NC. Interior Corridor property & Accommodations provided. Great salary! Call Bipin 910-916-3288.
Gas Station Seeking Help in Rock Hill, SC. Single or couple. Good pay for an experienced person! No accommodations. Call 803-659-3330.
Recent Graduate Manager Couple Wanted for Franchise Hotel in Fort Mill, SC (near Charlotte). Must have fluent English and basic computer skills. Email resume to bwhospitality78@gmail.com.
Hotel Help Wanted
Front Desk / Manager, Night Auditor & Housekeeper (Single / Couple) for franchise hotels in Charlotte, Gastonia, High Point, NC & Columbia, SC. Accommodations provided. Call 704460-0379 between 6-9pm.
Front Desk Clerk Needed for Franchise Hotel in Fort Mill, SC (near Charlotte). Some hotel experience, basic computer skills, and fluent English preferred. Call 704-302-3318.
Front Desk & Laundry Help Needed for Franchise Hotel Accommodations provided. Concord, NC. Call 704-772-5554.
Motel Help
Looking for experienced couple to operate 27-room independent motel in Richmond, VA. Includes full operations. Must speak fluent English. Legal work authorization required. Accommodations provided. Call 804-517-7484.
Cashier Wanted for Convenience Store near Kannapolis, NC. Very attractive salary! Accommodations provided. Text or Call 704-701-9482.
Saathee Classified ads: Sell your business, or property. Find the perfect job, hire the perfect employee. Get more customers. Get great adversting results with Saathee Magazine, weekly email newsletter and Saathee.com. Call 704-527-7570 or email saathee@saathee.com.
Travel Passion
Seeking Groom
Seeking well-educated, US raised Kamma/Naidu groom from any profession for 27-year-old, US raised Telugu speaking girl. MD, first year Resident Pediatrics & Internal Medicine in NC. Text PriVen 919-817-4715 or 919800-7210.
Seeking Bride
Uncle seeking suitable match for Nephew (Agarwal). PhD, Professor of Electrical Engineering in Charleston, SC. Handsome, 32, 5'7", H-1 Visa and well settled. Caste nobar. Text details to 864-915-0619.
40 year-old Prajapati groom looking for Bride. Medical Doctor. US Citizen in North Carolina. Contact 919-437-1202 or bpraja1985@gmail.com.
34 year-old never married Software Engineer from Charlotte, NC looking for a like-minded Bride. Please call 980-349-6529.
US citizen, Hindu, business graduate, 33 currently working in a federal position in Raleigh, NC. Looking for educated bride. Call 336-683-7631 or cstore1947@yahoo.com.
Looking for bride for 47 year-old man with 19+ years of experience in IT field working as Application Architect in Charlotte, NC. Please call 980-406-0666.
51 year-old Bisa Agarwal male looking for bride. London born. Studied at UNC Wilmington. Lived in Manhattan for 3 years. Risk Manager with British Airways, 29 years of service. Great sense of humor. Contact victoragarwal@hotmail.com, 00447789611184 or Dr BS Phull 910-352-9030.
43 year-old Prajapati groom looking for Bride. Physical Therapist. Contact 919-4371202 or dharmessh57@gmail.com
Well-educated 3rd year Medical Student (25 year-old, never married, and good-looking, Vegetarian, Spiritual, Gujarati, only child, US Citizen) looking for girl, preferably Medical professional but will accept any higher education. Text Shailesh 260-602-3354.
Saathee Classified
Looking for a life partner? Saathee can help. E-mail saathee@saathee.com or call for details: 704-527-7570.
Beautiful Furnished House for Rent in peaceful family subdivision of Hope Mills, NC. 3 bedrooms , 2 bathrooms, , big fenced backyard , 2 car garage. Rent $1600 furnished or $700 each for individual rooms. Close to schools, stores, & highways. Available on July 1. Call 910224-4510.
Property for Sale in India
Vallabh Vidyanagar, Gujarat. Plot size: 500 vaar or 4500 sq ft, Located right before Raguvir tenements, near Mahesvari Palace, Sardar Patel University, Nana bazaar, Mota bazaar. Call Rajesh: 706-633-4577.
LearnAboutLand.com
Car for Sale
2016 Toyota Corolla LE Eco. 87976 miles in excellent condition & well-maintained. Original owner. Asking price $13,200. Text to 704-900-3462.
Priest Available for Shree Satya narayan katha, Shanti hawan, Vastu shanty, Weddings, Baby shower, Bhumi pujan, Mata ki chowki pujan, Funeral, all types of karmakand. Please call Viral Bhatt 704-438-6334.
Neeta's Beauty Parlor
Full service. Near the Hindu Center of Charlotte. For more details on our services and to make and appointment please call 704-968-0270.
International & Domestic Air tickets. We process India Visa, OCI, Indian Passport Renewal, Hotel bookings & Tour packages. Call 509-550-9076 or 509-550-9034 or email travelpassion24@gmail.com.
Alterations
Specializing in alterations for both Men’s and Women’s clothing in Charlotte, NC. Including Western & Indian Outfits. Contact Sanish Verma 980-349-0351.
Affordable Wedding Photography
20 years of experience in Indian wedding photography. Specializing in film & digital photos. Engagement, Wedding, and Receptions. Contact Vivek: email: vivekweddingmemories@gmail.com or call 347-321-4746.
Pari Beauty in Matthews
Threading, Waxing, Facials, Massage for newborn and mom & other services. 36 years of experience. Special Deals & Great Service. Call: 704-846-7912.
CPA/Accounting Services
Charlotte, NC CPA firm specializing in hotels & hospitality, physicians, & other small businesses. Services include bookkeeping, payroll, tax, accounting, and IRS services. Call 704-935-4525 or visit www.MirchCPA.com.
The real sinister aspect of AI or Artificial Intelligence is that it is a misnomer, a gentler, cooler sci-fi articulation that disguises its true intent. What AI really stands for in practice is Automation Integration.
The essential goal is to reduce the need for humans in enterprise, governments, even social settings, to increase productivity, build things, find mates, or whatever else you can think of.
Employers are racing to integrate this automation on a grand scale and get a bunch of carbon-based bio units off the payroll.
Yes, our lives have been made more convenient by technology. We welcome this. The dilemma? An unpredictable amount of replacement of human work with automated bots, code, real robots, drones, or what have you, is imminent. This is a problem because it is in our inherent nature to work, to advance, make progress, build things. Idle hands…well, you know how that cliché goes.
Just think of tech advances in the past 25 years. They have made lives and communication easier, but these advances didn’t make lots and lots of jobs obsolete.
Now the next 25 years will mark the trajectory for the rest of the century and well beyond. We are newbies of this technology, coders and developers, the guinea pigs who are also the birth givers to an incoming new world. We must take a deep breath and assess this unfolding. AI is the feast or the beast that cannot be ignored or shooed away. It will affect everyone.
It must also be tamed, or understood better, before it is unleashed on grander scales.
I have written before and talked about it in conversations; we are creating a world that will require fewer humans to run that world. That is either a wonderful thing, or an imminent disaster. Until we figure out a balance.
I love technological convenience as much as anyone and understand AI is inevitable in pretty much everything. We need to be legally, socially, and morally prepared for this incoming flood. The real problem is that most people could not care less about it right now. When you’re spending time on daily wages and survival and feeding your family, some high falutin incoming tech is not your concern. But of course, it should be.
I won’t wager any predictions on what the world will be like 25 years from now. AI will remove many humans from workload equations. There are no ifs ands or buts about that. But how we ease into this technology now is going to be crucial to what will happen to humanity after that.
Automation Integration. The next 25. A welcome feast or an unwelcome beast.
Be prepared.
Samir Shukla
is the Editor of Saathee Magazine
Contact: Samir@Saathee.com
X: @ShuklaWrites
Newsletter: ShuklaWrites.Substack.com
Magic Maze & Puzzles4Kids answers pgs 102 -103
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