Jul 2015

I N D I A S P O R A S U C C E S S S T O R I E S

A D D O N D I F F E R E NT M ASA L A TO P I C S

As a regular reader of your magazine, I would like to bring into your notice that your magazine is becoming more and more predictable due to the f ixed format of the topics Why don’t you add on dif ferent masala topics once a while like stories on health, sex, spor ts, science, kids, or may be philosophy also and fashion of cource. I have read this complaint of not covering these topics many a times in your magazine but I think you don’t give much ear to your readers' suggestions.

Yasmin Shazadi, D ub ai UAE

LISTEN TO YOUR READERS

L ast mont h I had gone to Europ e on vacat ion wit h my fami ly D ur ing my visit to Par is I met memb ers of t he Par is Indian community t here and to my wonder f u l sur pr is e I s aw your magazine t here and found p e ople re ading your magazine. Whi le we were chatt ing ab out India t he y aske d me w het her you know anyone f rom t his magazine w hom you

can cont ac t and share our exp er iences as PIOs living in France since ages. When I aske d t here is cont ac t det ai l in t he magazine and w hy you can’t wr ite t hem dire c t ly, t he y s aid, t hat we have wr itten many a t imes but t i l l date we have not got any resp ons e Is it quite sur pr ising I just wante d to br ing to your kind not ice ?

i nu s e s , w h i ch I s h are h e re. As a c r it i c a l l my l i fe an d s p e n d i ng m o s t of my t i m e w it h yout h a s a te a ch e r of p ol it i c a l s c i e n c e, I f i n d ve r y fe w s tor i e s on p ol it i c s , m o s t ly w r itte n by ve te r an j ou r n a l i s t R am an Sw amy t h at are a lw ay s d i f fe re nt ly ang l e d. It’s go o d to s e e prof i l e b a s e d s tor i e s , but I won d e r i f it s re a l ly p o s s i bl e to m a ke bi ll i ons s t ar t i ng w it h s u ch m o d e s t c apit a l You r c ove r s tor y h a s s i x m o o d - pi c s of S at ij a a l l f rom s i m i l ar l o c at i ons – n ot on ly o d d but a l s o i n s om e w h at b a d t a s te A n d you s h ou l d g ive s u b h e a d i ng s to m a ke l e ng t hy s tor i e s e a s i e r on t h e e ye T h an k you

D r. R P Ag g ar w a l , F I J I

Bobby Richard, Bhopal, MP

INSIDE

CHIEF PATRON

EDITOR

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER ADVISORS

CONSULTING EDITOR BUREAU HEADS

AJAY SINGH (Former High Commissioner, Fiji)

RAJEEV GUPTA B.K. AGGARWAL

CH. SUNIL OHLYAN SUSHIL TAYAL CHAKRAVARTHI SUCHINDRAN

JYOTHI VENKATESH (MUMBAI)

SANJAY KUMAR (EUROPE)

VINOD GOEL (NEW YORK, USA)

AJAY AGGARWAL (U K)

PREMCHAND RAMLOCHUN (MAURITIUS)

RAJIV KUMAR (FRANCE)

RAVI KUMAR (FRANCE)

ASSOCIATE EDITOR SUB EDITORS

PHOTO EDITOR SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER AVP (MARKETING)

MANAGER-PR & MARKETING MANAGER-MARKETING (MUMBAI)

OVERSEAS ADVISORS

SANDIP THAKUR

KRITI RASTOGI

SUMIT SINGH

AJAY SOOD RAJEEV TYAGI SUMIT SINGH

OVERSEAS CO-ORDINATORS

NORTH INDIA CO-ORDINATOR

PUNJAB CO-ORDINATOR

SOUTH INDIA BUREAU MEDIA ADVISOR

ART DIREC TOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER INDIA DISTRIBUTOR CIRCULATION

BHARAT SINGAL AARTI BAGARKA M.S. SHALI MANJIT NIJJAR MOHAN GUNTI RAJKUMAR YADAV SUNNY VYAS JOGINDER MALIK MOHAN MEHRA SHIKHA CHOPRA R SHAKTIVEL GORAKH NATH CHAUBEY AR. VIVEK KHURANA ANJU GUPTA

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EDITOR:

A LOT IS HAPPEN I NG...!

Somehow no month passes by without any hue and cr y and much ado, and June was no exception to the rule. e political domain was agog with LaMo-gate as revelation aer revelation by our electronic media kept public hysteria up, while other eventful happenings also did take place … Delhi got a fresh budget, presented by the Aam Aadmi Party as a common-man ' s bonanza; the International Yoga Day saw R ajpath of Delhi getting transformed into a 'Yogpath', even as PM Modi to the surprise of many spread his mat and joined the masses for yogasanas.

e Greek crisis in the Eurozone continues to shake up capital markets across the world, even as Indian stock markets are showing much more maturity than earlier, as a whole bevy of corporates are lining up and getting ready to go for initial public offerings (IPOs) from IndiGo to new-world e-commerce companies and brick-and-mortar ones as well Economic outlook looks good, though RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan cautions us on the possibility that the global economy might enter into another recessionar y phase. PM Modi had the audacity to announce three mega-schemes aimed at urban reconstruction plans that are in scale and scope larger than the largest plans that have in the past been ushered in on the world economy post world war two Coming to our current issue of NRI Achievers, our Cover Feature falls back on our staple diaspora outreach, profiling ten Britons of Indian origin, who have made it to Westminster post the recently held UK General Elections. Realpolitik does a double take while Indian Achievers profiles Ar vind Kumar, a self-made yogic healer. As usual our regular features like Real Estate,Heritage, Silver Screen, News Scan, Business Buzz, PSU Buzz & Cineppets are there but you will miss Travelogue this time round, as it takes a break Instead, our new section Incredible India takes you to Malana village in the high Himalayas though not a travelogue definitely, you will find it interesting. We do hope you are finding our evolving content in NRI Achievers more and more to your liking. As always, our editorial desk is open to reader inputs and content, so keep sending us news, trivia and experiences from your cities, communities and circles e NRI Achievers desk is at your ser vice Have a great month ahead ! Until our next issue ...

editornri@gmail com panchhir@yahoo com w w w facebook com/nriachievers http://themediagurupanchhi blogspot com

RAILWAYS PITCH FOR NRI FUNDS

Indian Railways (IR) has decided to approach the Diaspora to finance schemes for development of railway stations across the countr y. Guidelines for improving stations through assistance from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), trusts, charitable institutions, corporates and nonresident Indians (NRIs) have been sent to the Indian embassy/high commissions in the US, Canada, UK and Australia

Elaborating on the concept, a Railway Board member (Engineering) said that individuals and corporates would be invited either to “adopt a station”, or contribute towards the development of a station by way of installing water coolers or escalators “We expect that the scheme will draw a positive response from NRIs and others to adopt or develop remote railway stations located in the vicinity of their home towns,” he said 1,052 stations have been identified for development under the Adarsh Station Scheme which was started in 2009.

Shortcuts

C o m p u t e r s c i e n t i s t S h r e e K N a y a r f r o m t h e C ol u m b i a U n i v e r s i t y h a s i n v e n t e d t h e w o r l d ' s f i r s t f u l l y s e l f- p o w e r e d v i d e o c a m e r a t h a t c a n p r od u c e a n i m a g e e a c h s e c o n d , i n d e f i n i t e l y, o f a w e l l - l i t i n d o o r s c e n e .

N o v e l i s t A k h i l S h a r m a ’ s 2 0 1 4 n o v e l F a m i l y L i f e h a s w o n t h e F o l i o P r i z e 2 0 1 5 . T h e 4 3 - y e a r o l d n o v e l i s t b e a t w r i t e r s l i k e I r i s h n o v e li s t C o l m To i b i n a n d S c o t t i s h w r i t e r A l i S m i t h C o i l m t o w i n t h e £ 4 0 , 0 0 0 p r i z e

“Sambathika Asoothranavum

a weekly interactive financial awareness program conducted by

last 14 years in Asianet Radio won the best Financial Awareness Program in radio from Asiavision Mr K V Shamsudheen has been involving in discusion on financial matters in all local and international radio and TV channel regularly is program has been guiding exaptriates on financial descipline, financial plannning, how to save and invest, what are the investment avenues available in India and abroad, its risk and profitability and what are the measures to be taken to safeguard the investment. Also advising on how to avoid debt trap and stop the tendency of committing suicide because stress of financial burden is program has more than 1.4 million listeners all over the GCC countries.

A

K V

S a k e t A g r a w a l o f C a l i f o r n i a , K a r i s h m a S r i r a m o f G e o r g i a , D h r u v D i x i t a n d K a u s t a v A G o p i n a t h a n o f M a s s a c h u s e t t s , N a v e e n J a i n o f M i n n e s o t a , Va r u n A n a n d a n d A d i t y a D Pa r i k h o f N e w J e r s e y, S h o s h a n a D a s o f N e w Yo r k , A n j l i M Pa t e l o f Pe n n s y l v a n i a , Vi s h n u V. D a n t u a n d R i t i s h Pa t n a i k o f Te x a s a n d S o h i l R . S h a h o f Wi s c o n s i n , Tw e l v e I n d i a n - A m e r i c a n s a r e a m o n g t h e r e c i p i e n t s o f t h e 2 0 1 5 G o l d w a t e r S c h o l a r s h i p s , a w a r d e d a n n u a l l y t o u n d e r g r a d u a t e s o p h o m o r e s a n d j u n i o r s

T h e g o v e r n m e n t o f M a u r i t i u s d e s i g n a t e d A m e e n a h G u r i bFa k i m a s t h e I n d i a n O c e a n i sl a n d n a t i o n ' s n e w p r e s i d e n t , m a k i n g h e r t h e f i r s t w o m a n t o h o l d t h e c e r e m o n i a l p o s i t i o n

Nikshepa Margangalum”

Mr

Shamsudheen

Indian-Or igin Scientist Develops First SelfPowered Camera

Indo- American Undergraduate Among Goldwater Scholarship Recipients

Akhi l Sharma wins Folio Prize

Mauritius designates its first woman president

Seetanah Lutchmeenaraidoo Minister of Finance and Economic Development of the Republic of Mauritius with his delegation addressed Indian media in New Delhi recently

c o m m i s s i o ni n g t h e 5 0 0 M W K o s t i T h e r m a l Pow e r S t at i o n ( T P S ) i n S u d a n w h i c h i s a l s o s u p p o s e d t o b e t h e S u d a n ’ s l a r g e s t Pow e r P l a nt No t a b l y, Ko s t i T P S i s B H E L’s l a r g e s t

o i l - f i r e d t h e r m a l p o w e r p l a n t i n t h e ov e r s e a s m a r k e t It i s a l s o B H E L’s f i r s t c r u d e - o i l f i r e d t h e r m a l p ow e r p l a nt i n

A f r i c a a n d c o m e s c l o s e o n t h e h e e l s o f t h e s u c c e s s f u l c o mp l e t i o n o f B H E L’s 2 8 M W Ny a b o r a n g o Hy d r o p r o j e c t i n Rw a n d a w h i c h w a s r e c e n t l y i n a u g ur at e d by H E t h e P r e s i d e nt o f Rw a n d a

BPCL RAISES USD 500 MILLION

"BPCL has launched an issue of $500 million fixed rate unsecured notes due 2025, which were priced on April 29," the company said in BSE filing. e 10-year notes will bear a fixed interest of 4 per cent with interest payable semi-annually, the company added

BH EL COMMISSIONS SU DAN’S L ARGEST TH ERM AL POWER PL ANT ONGC, PETRO BRAS FIND OFFSHORE FIELD IN BRAZIL

POWER GRI D CORPOR ATION OF I N DIA’S PROFIT AFTER TAX CROSSES INR 5000 CRORE

Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID), a ‘Navratna’ company and the ‘Central Transmission Utility’ of the countr y, has posted a profit aer tax of INR 5,046 crore on consolidated basis, surpassing the INR 5,000 crore mark for the first time It has posted a net profit of INR 1,412 crore for the fourth quarter of 2014-15 (Januar y-March, 2015), a growth of 20 per cent with respect to the corresponding period of 2013-14. POWERGRID has registered a net profit of INR 4,979 crore over a turnover of INR 17,780 crore in the FY 2014-15, registering a growth of about 13 per cent in turnover and 11 per cent in net profit compared to FY 2013-14 on standalone basis

Domestic oil major ONGC and PETRO BRAS of Brazil have discovered a new light oil deposit off the northern coast of Brazil, according to a company statement. e well, informally known as Poço Verde 4, is the third drilled in the Poço Verde area, off the coast of Sergipe state of Brazil, since July 2012 Petro bras has stated: “ is area is part of the explorator y project in Sergipe Alagoas Basin, at ultra deep waters.” ONGC has a 25% stake in the project, while Petro bras, which is the operator, holds the rest Drilling at the reservoirs began in April A Reuters report quoted a Petro bras statement that claimed that the reser voirs were 85 meters wide, with good porous and permeable conditions, and contained light oil of good market value. However, more tests were required to determine the exact potential, the statement had added.

3 COs M AY PARTN ER TO M AKE iPHON E I N I N DIA

Is Sunil

e proposal could see the production

other electronics devices at a time when the government is looking

manufacturing through duty sweeteners Mittal,

like

emerging as the biggest mobile ser vice operator (Airtel), may be heading for a major push in the hardware business again if indications are anything to go buy.

ton landline phones in the countr y through

It’s the Italians versus the Brits. In its second coming to India, Italian bike-maker D ucat i is s et to t a ke t he fig ht to Br it ish bi ke-ma ker Tr iumph, w hich c ur rent ly owns a size able share of t he count r y ’ s fledgling luxur y bike market. Armed with numerous mo dels including t he ent r y le vel S crambler Icon pr ice d at around INR 7 la k h, D ucat i hop es to s et t hings right aer a dealer fiasco had le the company red-faced and its customers angr y and frustrated here “We will take care of all Ducati bikes that have been sold in India till date,“ said Pier Francesco Scalzo, Ducati Asia GM, sales and marketing. “India’s premium bike market grew by 60% last year.

TOYOTA BEATS TATA MOTORS

ere has been a shi in the pecking order of car and SUV companies in India with the four th, fih and sixth spots showing significant changes. According to statistics from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the top five passenger car companies in India by sale are Mar uti, Hyundai, M&M, Honda and Toyota. Tata Motors, which was in fourth place in fiscal 2014, slipped to sixth place in FY2015 Ford India is the seventh company in the top sellers’ list As a result of this rejig, M&M is now the only Indian brand among the top five passenger vehicle companies in India. Indeed, Maruti, Hyundai and M&M have retained their earlier positions in FY2015 as well.

Emami, one of the leading FMCG comp an i e s i n Ind i a , has a c qu i re d S anj e e v Juneja’s Kesh King for INR 1,651 crore T he Ke sh Ki ng a c qu is it i on , bi g ge st for t he Kol k at a - b as e d c omp any, mark s Emami’s foray into the ayur vedic hair & scalp-care segment, which is growing at a r api d p a c e E mam i d i re c tor Harsh Agar wal said the company will fund the acquisition through a combination of inte r na l a c c r u a ls and d ebt . He i nd i c ate d t hat t he c omp any has a c ash re s e r ve of INR 7,00,800 crore and has no plans to dilute equity stake in Emami for funding the acquisition

Mittal’s Bhar ti Enter pris es lo oking at joining hands with Foxconn, one of the world’s biggest mobile phone contract manufacturer, and Japan’s SoBank to manufacture electronic devices in India?

of iconic products

Apple’s iPhones and

at giving a major push to local

who had pioneered the production of push-but-

B eetel before

WESTMI NSTER’S

N EW CROP OF PARLIA MENTARIANS

A large majority of PIOs have done well in their countries of adoption. And in countries where our diaspora constitutes a considerably large percent of the population, like Trinidad & Tobago, Suriname, Mauritius et al., people of Indian origin have done yeoman service, rising to become even Presidents and Prime Ministers. In the empire on which the sun never set during the recently bygone centur ies, ie., the United Kindom, PIOs have done remarkably well as well. From r unning businesses to helming multinational corporations, from forming the very backbone of the much acclaimed NHS to political par ticipation, Indian or ig in people have ear ned a well deser ved place for themselves. NRI Achievers in this issue features the fresh crop of parliamentarians who went to the hustings and won this year ...

In t he re c e nt U K el e c t i ons , 59 Indian-origin candidates were in the f ray and when t he resu lts rol le d in, Pr ime Mi n iste r D av i d C ame ron ’ s C ons e r v at ive Par t y, d e f y i ng a l l pre d i ct i ons and sp e c u l at i on , s e c u re d a s i mpl e maj or it y on t he 8 t h of May i n t he 6 5 0me mb e r Hous e of C om mons , w i n n i ng 331 seats. Of which 10 out of the 59 Indian-origin candidates got elected Their numbers in the new House of C ommons remains at 10, unchanged from the previous house, with all sitting MPs re-elected, bar one. Paul Uppal of the C onser vatives

lost in Wolverhampton S outh West, ceding the seat to Rob Marris of the L abour party. Uppal’s loss however, was compensated by a victor y for conser vative Rishi Su na k f rom R i ch mond i n York sh i re. Su na k aprop o s is t he s on - i n - l aw of N R Narayana Mur thy of the Indian software giant Infosys

That prominent Labour candidates like l ong - s e r v i ng M Ps Ke it h Va z ( L e i c e ste r E ast ) and Vi re nd r a Shar ma ( E a l i ng S out hall) won t heir resp ec tive s e ats was by no means a sur prise, given their special connect with a largely Indian-origin electorate in their constituencies. Indian-

or i g i n st a lw ar t , Pr it i Patel a ls o re t ai ne d he r Wit ham s e at O pp o s it i on L ab ou r ’ s Va l e r i e Va z a ls o re t ai ne d he r Wa ls a l l S out h s e at and S e ema Ma l hot ra won he r s out h we st L ond on s e at qu ite c om for t ably O t he r Ind i an - or i g i n w i nne rs i nclu d e d A l ok Shar ma ( R e a d i ng We st ) , Shai l e sh Var a ( C ambr i d ge sh i re North West), first-timer Suella Fernandes ( Fareham ) for t he C ons e r v at ive s and a L abour novice Lisa Nandy (Wigan)

We br i ng you br i e f m i n i - prof i l e s of t he 1 0 Br it ish M Ps of Ind i an or i g i n i n t he fol l ow i ng p age s , as a ge t - toknow initiative …

N IGEL KEITH ANTHONY STAN DISH VAZ

Keith Vaz has the distinction of being the first person of Asian origin to sit in the House of Commons since 1922 Vaz was first elected in June 1987 and has subsequently been re-elected as a Member of Parliament 7 times He was Britain’s Minister for Europe under Tony Blair. Four years ago he was elected a member of the Labour Party’s ruling National Executive Committee and appointed by the Prime Minister in 2006 to chair its Ethnic Minority Taskforce, a position he still holds Born to Goan parents in Aden, Yemen he was educated at Cambridge University where he studied law and went on to become a solicitor. Elected as the youngest Labour MP in 1987, he was appointed Opposition Spokesman on regeneration and established the City 2020 C ommission When L abour was elected to government in 1997, he was made Parliamentar y PS to the Attorney General. He then became a Junior Justice Minister and was later promoted to become a Minister of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, where he helped negotiate the enlargement of the European Union In 2001 he became the senior Labour member on the Justice Committee and in 2007 was elected Chairman of the Home Affairs Committee.

VALERI E VAZ

Va l e r i e Va z , M P, i s t h e e l d e r s i s t e r of Ke it h Va z , w h o h a s b e e n t he Me mb e r of Parl i ame nt for L e i c e ste r E a st s i nc e 1 9 8 7 . Va l e r i e, l i ke Ke it h , w as w as b or n i n Ad e n , to p are nt s Me rly n and Tony Va z , w ho or i g i nate d f rom G o a , Ind i a . She has a s iste r Pe n ny Mc C on nel l, w ho is a s ol i c itor Va l e r i e ’ s f am i ly s e t t l e d i n Tw i c k e n h a m a n d t h e n E a s t S h e e n Va l e r i e at t e n d e d Tw i cke n ham C ou nt y Gr am mar S cho ol and B e d ford C ol l e ge, Un iversity of L ondon, w here she re ad Bio chemist r y. She a ls o attende d C ambr i d ge Un ive rs it y to u nd e r t a ke re s e arch . Va l e r i e qu a l i f i e d as a s ol i c itor i n 1 9 8 4 , and we nt to work as a l aw ye r i n l o c a l gove r nm e nt i n L on d on B orou g h s S h e s e t up a c om mu n it y l aw f i r m ‘ Tow ns e nd Va z ’ and s at as a D e put y D ist r i c t Ju d ge O ne of he r not able cas es was Hammersmit h and Fu l ham vs Mon k HL 1992 The case conf irmed the principle that one of two joint tenants can ser ve a Not i c e to Q u it on a l and l ord and e nd t he te nanc y. In 2 0 0 1 she j oine d t he G over nment L ega l S er v ice and has worke d at t he Tre asur y S olicitors D epar tment and t he Ministr y of Justice From 19861 9 9 0 Va l e r i e w a s a C ou nc i l l or i n t he L ond on B orou g h of E a l i ng and w as D e put y L e a d e r i n 1 9 8 8 - 1 9 8 9 .

VI REN DR A SHARM A

Virendra Sharma was born in India in 1947 and educated at the London School of Economics on a trade union scholarship. He speaks fluent Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu. Sharma came to Hanwell from India in 1968 and became a bus conductor on the 207 route, later working as a day ser vices manager for people with learning disabilities in Hillingdon He star ted his political career by joining the

Liberal Party, then switched to Labour in later years He was R ace Equalities Officer to the L abour Party nationally He was a local councillor in the London B orough of Ealing from 1982–2010 and was Mayor for part of his time as counc i l l or Sh ar m a i s c u r re nt ly a l s o a s cho ol gove r nor at t he T h re e Br i d ge s an d Wol f F i e l d s s ch o ol s . Vi re n d r a Shar ma was ele c te d as MP in t he E a li ng S out h a l l by - e l e c t i on , h e l d on 1 9 Ju ly 2 0 0 7 T he by - el e c t i on w as c a l l e d fol l ow i ng t h e d e at h of t h e s itt i ng L ab ou r M P, Pi ar a K h abr a on 1 9 Ju ne 2007. Shar ma held on to t he s e at at t he 2 0 1 0 G e n e r a l E l e c t i on an d h a s s i n c e b een reelec ted Shar ma is a memb er of t h e p ar l i am e nt ar y s e l e c t c om m itte e s on Health, Human Rights and Internat iona l D e velopment.

SEEM A M ALHOTR A

Seema Malhotra is a former management consultant who worked for Accenture and Price Waterhouse Coopers She founded the Fabian Women’s Network and was a previous National Chair of the Young Fabians. While Labour was in government prior to 2010, she worked as an adviser for Liam Byrne and Ian Austin when they were regional ministers for the West Midlands Following Gordon Brown’s resignation as Prime Minister in the wake of the 2010 general election, she was the special adviser to Harriet Harman during her tenure as Leader of the Labour Party. Malholtra entered Parliament in December 2011 aer securing a majority of 6,203 in the Feltham and Heston by-election In August 2014 she was given the newly-created role of Shadow Minister for Preventing Violence Against Women and Girls by Ed Miliband. e role within Labour’s Home Affairs team made her responsible for championing the causes of victims of rape, sexual assault and domestic violence as well as female genital mutilation, forced marriage, prostitution and trafficking

LISA NAN DY

Lisa Nandy has been the Member of Parliament for the Wigan constituenc y in Greater Manchester since the 2010 general elections, and is one of the mere handful of Asian women MPs in Westminster today B orn to Luise Nandy (née Byers) and her then husband Dipak Nandy, Lisa Manchester and in Bur y, Greater Manher family later moved to She graduated stle University, Tyne and Wear, in 2001 ee in politics and obtained a master’s delic polic y from Birkbeck, University of Aer becoming an MP in 2010, Lisa has Parliament ar y Pr ivate S ecret ar y to t he ympics Minister and as a member of the Select C ommittee until May 2012 when pp ointe d Shadow C hi ldren’s Minister ls o chairs t he Al l Par ty Parliament ar y oup on Inter nat iona l C or p orate Reonsibi lity B efore enter ing Parliament he worked for a national children’s charty, e C hi ldren’s S o ciety, helping abused, ill-treated childrens.

SUELLA FERNANDES

Suella Fernandes is a British Conser vative Party politician, who successfully won the elections to become the Member of Parliament for Fareham this May 2015 Suella had earlier on in 2005 unsuccessfully contested the Leicester E ast seat, taking on long time politician and labout MP Keith Vaz, incidentally also of Goan origin like her, coming a distant second is time though, contesting out of the Fareham constituency in Southern England, Suella, who has her roots in Assagao, Goa, India, managed to get 56 percent of the votes polled in her constituency. Prior to her election, she was a barrister at London-based No5 Chambers Suella’s parents reached the UK in the 1960s with ver y little in their pockets, from Kenya and Mauritius. Uma Fernandes, her mother, was recruited by the NHS and was a nurse for 45 years and has been a local councillor and parliamentar y candidate; her father Christie Fernandes worked for a housing association and has been a local activist.

ALOK SHARM A

Alok Sharma, indian-born british politician and Tor y Member of Parliament, is ver y much a local Reading man. He grew up in Earley and Whitley Wood and went to school in Reading and then to Salford University, where he received a B Sc in Applied Physics with electronics in 1988 Sharma subsequently qualified as a chartered accountant, training with Deloitte Haskins & Sells in Manchester before moving into corporate finance advisor y with Nikko S ecurities and then Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken, where he held senior roles based out of London, Stockholm and Frankfurt Alok has a wide gamut of work experience, from working on a factor y production line to being a company auditor, from tutoring university students to running a business and advising companies on corporate finance Elected to the Reading West seat in 2010 with one of the largest swings to the Conser vatives in the countr y, Alok Sharma has ser ved as a member of the Commons Science & Technolog y Select Committee, as a Parliamentar y Private Secretar y at the Treasur y, and since 2012 as Conser vative Party Vice Chairman with special responsibility for BME communities. He is also Co-Chairman of the Conser vative Friends of India Alok is currently a member of the Treasur y Select Committee, where he has supported the work of the committee to encourage reform in the banking sector Alok is a big supporter of local business. He has supported businesses to deliver new jobs in Reading and has organised local business export seminars, helped deliver reductions in business rates for local businesses and campaigned for faster broadband

RISH I SU NAK

Rishi Sunak is the newly elected Member of Parliament for t he constituenc y of Richmond (Yorks), having won t he re cent genera l ele c t ions wit h a large le ad. Suna k studie d in Winchester C ol lege, University of Oxford and later did his MBA in Stanford University. He is married to

Shailesh Lakhman Vara (born 4 September 1960) is a British Conser vative Party politician, who was first elected as the Member of Parliament for North West Cambridgeshire in 2005 and has since been reelected in 2010 and more recently in May 2015. B orn in Uganda to Indian immigrants, Vara came to Britain with his family in 1964 when he was a mere four-year old infant E du c ate d at Ay l e s bu r y Gr am mar S cho ol and Br u nel University, Vara qualif ied as a solicitor, then went to work i n t he C it y and We st E nd of L ond on , and du r i ng 1 9 8 91990, in Hong Kong. Shailesh has also been a senior legal advis er and business consultant for L ondon First, and is Vice-President of the Small Business Bureau Prior to entering Parliament, Shailesh held various posts in the C ons e r v at ive Par t y i nclu d i ng b e i ng a Vi c e - C hai r man of t he Par ty during 2001-2005.

SHAI LESH VAR A

PRITI PATEL

Priti Patel, 43, a married mother-of-one and a tor y p olit ician who has been the MP for t he Wit ham const ituenc y in Ess ex, has b e en name d PM Cameron’s new minister of j obs, ma king her t he s e cond Asian woman to sit in C abinet aer for mer Foreig n Office minister Baroness Warsi Ms Patel, w ho has b e en a Tor y MP for five ye ars, was made Exchequer Secretar y to the Treasur y last year overseeing t ax p olic y, and was a regular in T V studios during the election campaign As a Eurosceptic, she is a believer in low taxes and is outspoken about the need for welfare cuts. She has also hit the headlines with her support for the death penalty for serious crimes. Priti is the daug hter of Sushi l Patel, 64, a Gujarat i w ho move d wit h his family to Britain when dictator Idi Amin ordered Indians out within 90 days, more than 40 years ago He initially ran a post office in rural Norfolk before settling as a shopkeeper in West London. “My parents were kicked out of Uganda,” she said in an inter view recently

Akshata Murthy, the daughter of infoSys doyen N R Narayana Murthy. ey have two daug hters. A complete ne w bie to politics, Rishi has this to say on his spanking new MP’s website: “I grew up watching my p arents s er ve our lo ca l community with dedication my dad is a NHS fami ly GP and my mum ran her own local chemist shop As an MP, I want to make that same positive difference to p e ople here and I now live in Kirby Sigston, just outside Northallerton. I have

been fortunate to enjoy a successful business career. I co-founded a large investment firm, working with companies from Si licon Va l le y to B anga lore, and I t hen used that experience to help small and entrepreneurial British companies grow successfully. From working in my mum ’ s tiny chemist shop to my experience building large business es, I have s e en first-hand how politicians should support free enterprise and innovation to ensure our future prosperity. My parents sacrificed a great

deal so I could attend good schools. I was lucky to study at Winchester College, Oxford University and Stanford University. at experience changed my life and as a resu lt I am p assionate ab out ensur ing ever ybody has access to a great education I am a school governor, a board member of a large youth club, and have always volunte ere d my t ime to e ducat ion programmes that spread opportunity

A PEOPLE’S PRINCESS PADMAJA KUMARI PARMAR

She was bor n in Rajasthan’s lakecit y of Udaipur, into the royal family of Me war the world’s longest-ser v ing dy nasty, founded nearly a 1,300 years ago. She studied in the United States, worked on Wall Street and Four Seasons in New York, and Bvlgari in L ondon. She jets across the g lobe to promote India’s largest and only pr ivately-ow ned chain of e x clu sive he r itage hotel s and res or ts. Not to me ntion he r involvement in activ ities to help the poor, promote the ar ts, education and culture. B or n in the O r ie nt and educated in the Occident, she straddles both world s w ith ea s e, and i s equally at home r ubbing shoulders w ith multi-billionaires, or hug g ing ordinar y wome n working for bettering the lot of the unde r-pr iv ileged in he r native state. In B oston, whe re she lives w ith her husband and their little daug hte r, she i s happy be ing a doting mother and a homemaker, making breakfa st for he r hu sband, obser v ing kar va chauth for him, and wear ing a s ar i or s alwar-kameez. NRI Achie ve rs features the people's pr incess ...

3 4

-year-old Padmaja Kumari Parmar (nee Mewar), is all that and much more. Her grandfather Maharana Bhag wat Singhji set up the Heritage Royal Resorts (HRH) Group in the 1960s at Udaipur Her father, the group ’ s Chairman and Managing Director Shriji Ar vind Singh Mewar took over the reins of this enterprise in 1984. e family operates the HRH Group, India’s largest chain of four privatelyowned palace hotels and resorts, with over 200 exclusive rooms Padmaja Kumari Parmar takes care of business development for the group, which morphs royal properties into vacation spots.

She studied in her own school Mahar ana Me w ar P ubl i c S cho ol i n Ud aipu r, af te r w h i ch he r f at he r s e nt he r to Nor t h f i el d Mou nt He r mon , a pr iv ate b o ard i ng s cho ol i n we ste r n Mass a chus etts, w hen she was 16 She went to Tul ane Un ive rs it y i n Ne w O rl e ans , w he re she did her BA in international relations and also did business studies.

Up on g radu at ion, she move d to Ne w

York City She recalls: “I worked on Wall Street for some time and have also been on the other side to see how world-class ho spit a l it y re a l ly work s . I worke d w it h the Four S easons Hotel in New York as a ‘ sp e c i a l s e r v i c e s re pre s e nt at ive,’ c o ord inating hospitality for its top 100 guests It was an enormous learning experience for me. There is no gains aying t hat it is only when you get your hands dir ty that you understand real hospitality This experience was useful at HRH Group after I came back home ”

An heir to the family legac y, Padmaja is t he Manag i ng D i re c tor of Ete r na l Me w ar, a c ong l ome r ate t hat work s to ser ve and preser ve the region in a variety of ways, from education ser vices to hotels and tourism to historical preser vation to public health initiatives. Her grandfather Ma h r ana Bhag w at Si ng hj i re - i mag i ne d t he fami ly's mission over ha lf a centur y ago by extending the call for custo diansh ip b e yond t he su r rou nd i ng re g i on to the world at large. L ater, her father Shriji Ar vind Singh Mewar extended these pro-

g r am me s f u r t he r to i nclu d e i mprove d local health care and support for regional ar ts and craf ts. Thes e moves, e ach w it h an eye on the future, preser ved both the re g i on and t he f am i ly. “ T he re ’ s a hu ge cor porate and philanthropic side to what we do The world doesn’t revolve around just t he f ive of us , ” she s ay s ab out he r f am i ly t hat i nclu d e s he r p are nt s , s iste r Bhargavi Kumari and brother Lakshyaraj. T he l e g a c y “ is s ome t h i ng you are c onscious of all the time There’s never a time when I make a decision that’s specif ically for my convenience”.

She married Kunwar Kush Singh Parmar of Santrampur of Vijaynagar in Gujarat in March, 2011 ey were studying and living in the same city in the US, fell in love and got married He has a Ph D in biotechnolog y. She enjoys living with her husband in Boston. She still maintains traditions and Indian culture in Boston ey now have a little daughter Rohitta

e family also operates foundations, museums, tr usts, and charities. Her late grandfather established a charitable foun-

dation in 1969 to preser ve the region’s heritage and develop better local educational inf rastr ucture Her father added health care and suppor t for regional cras and arts, recently involving the Getty Foundation in the family’s preser vation initiatives. “I am forging new associations with local non-governmental organizations, such as Alakh Nayan Mandir, a medical institution dedicated to eye care, and S eva Mandir, a group advocating women ’ s rights. e rewarding part is when people come up to me when I visit their centres, they just want a hug ! It’s this human connection that gives my support meaning,” she says with a smile

She suppor ts girl-child activities and raises funds for these activities. "My parents brought me up as a normal child I never thought I am from a royal family or having a special identity," she remembers. She uses and loves social media to reach people. She looks at Facebook, Twitter and Wikipedia as useful tools for busy people in today’s world Oen one can see her comments on the Twitter on various issues

She is the founder board member at Friends of Maharana Mewar Charitable Foundation (MMCF) She visits Udaipur

to meet her parents, and to attend events related to the institutions she heads e

family set up the Maharana Mewar Charitable Trust (MMCT) to felicitate upcoming and famous artistes from around the globe.

Ever y year, the Trust presents awards to people who excel in various fields such as art, culture, mass media, cinema, etc e awardees are chosen f rom all over the world. A six-member selection committee picks the people. It includes Padmaja’s mother Vijaya R aj Kumari and brother

Lakhashay Raj Singh and some prominent members f rom various fields Since the awards were instituted over three decades ago, nearly 4,000 people have been honoured with awards for making a difference to society through their work.

She finds time to indulge in her hobbies and interests She likes to listen to music She loves to travel, enjoys Indian food, likes to read fiction, non- fiction, and autobiographies. She enjoys watching movies She loves playing tennis and

cricket. She is passionate about horse-riding too. ere are no princely airs about her She is simple and loves dressing up traditionally She is down-to-ear th, and her simplicity and warmth charms those who meet her. She says she “could have chosen to live a ver y luxurious lifestyle without liing a finger ” But following the entrepreneurial leads of her father and grandfather into the global business community proved too compelling.

Padmaja has been attending the annual Fortune Most Powerful Women Summits in the US to interact with global celebrities, thought-leaders, chair persons of multinational cor porations and media persons. She attends global travel mar ts regularly, and has been building new business alliances and getting first-hand knowledge of the hospitality industr y Says she: “It is important for you to know who you are and what values you stand for. Aspirations in today’s consumerist societies are about possessions and acquisitions. It is about what money can buy When we are referring to royalty and heritage, it’s about what money cannot buy”

“I could have done something completely different in life. But I always wanted to be par t of this But I did not

want to be known as someone r unning her daddy’s business. So I did other things.

I studied in the US and worked there to get a different perspective My father has worked ver y hard, and it's only fair for me to think progressively and make sure it doesn't end here. It's a great responsibility. We want to go on for another 1,500 years at least ” Talking about her siblings, she says: "We are ver y close knit family and I am ver y proud about my brother L akshyraj Singh. He is not only a Director of the HRH Hotels. He is also involved in several other organizations, including the Maharana Pratap Smarak Samiti, R ajasthan Cricket C ouncil, etc He is the President of the Udaipur District Cricket Association and has had a remarkable run of success in ever y facet of the game He is now married Princess Nivrati Kumari Singh Deo of Balangir, Odisha " Her elder sister Bhargavi Kumari is the Executive Director of the HRH Group of Hotels. She completed her education in the United Kingdom She assisted their father in the revitalisation plans of e Durbar Hall, renovations at Shiv Niwas Palace and Fateh Prakash Palace. Her hands-on approach and on-the-job training gave her confidence to expand the ambit of her ex-

pertise. She was instrumental in popularising polo. Her marriage to akur Lokendra Singh R athore, one of the finest polo-players of India today and a former captain of the India team to the World Cup, has cemented her love and relationship with the sport. ‘Mewar Polo’ has now emerged as one of the first private professional teams that participates in events in India, UK and Europe Ms Bhargavi Kumari Mewar of Udaipur gave shape to Shriji’s dreams of developing Ramgarh Resort & Polo Complex as one of India’s first polo destinations

Bhargavi Kumari has also conceptualised and created Aashka – the lifestyle boutique. Her endeavour has been to popularise and revitalise the handicra and handloom traditions of the Mewar region She has ensured that the master-crasmen and their artisans are able to benefit most as they translate the designs into reality for visitors to take back mementoes f rom Udaipur. She lives in Jaipur with her husband and two daughters

Santosh Mehta

e writer has over 20 years of experience as a journalist and specializes as an ar t-critic

Ar v ind Kumar has been prov iding training in Yoga, Stress Management & Acupressure for cricketers, notably for Shahr ukh Khan’s IPL team ‘Kolkata Knight Riders’ from 2011 to 2014 and earlier to the ‘King s Ele ven Punjab’ IPL team from 2008 to 2010. Harking from a nondes cr ipt r ural family f rom ‘Khanpur,’ a hamlet in the Shamli district of West Uttar Pradesh, he has chosen not to involve himself in the IPL thes e days as he i s bu sy doing his Ph.D in Stress Management from Singhania University in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan. He has an interesting nar ration on how he came to Delhi, which Rajeev Gupta retells for our readers …

I WANT TO M AKE SOCI ETY ‘CH I NTA MU KT ’

Ar vind Kumar is an erstwhile national level kabaddi player, who used to partake in local competitions avidly. It so happens that once a yoga expert, Dr Dev Ketu of New Jersey, USA, who used to regularly organise spor ts events in his district, saw his gameplay and liked it so much that he queried about his doings. When he found that Ar vind, an MA in Economics, was actually unemployed, he offered him a job on the spot, to go and work with him in Delhi at was in 1996, and Ar vind did not think twice before accepting. He had not even worn western clothes until then, nor seen Delhi. He reminisces: “Dr Dev Ketu took me, a typical village boy from a rural backwater, to Delhi and put me in Hyatt Regency a 5-star hotel in the heart of Delhi I could not believe what was happening, I was just ver y frightened but aer assimilating all this, I meekly asked him what he expected from me Dr Ketu, a Ph D in Yoga living and teaching in New Jersey, USA, and a master in weight-loss regimens, averred that I was a good candidate for learning

yoga and vein acupressure therapy and that he would teach me. I decided then and there to learn his art and ser ve people in pain. He took me into his Gur ukul and taught me his skills for more than a year ” “One unfortunate incident overturned my life and upset this haven I was living in his car used to pick me up and drop me back at the hotel. One fine day, thinking that if I could drive a tractor so perfectly in the fields I could just as easily drive his car on the roads, I miscalculated my abilities and crashed his car and my guru, ver y much annoyed and angr y with me, said that he will no longer teach me, that I was undeserving, and that I should go back home and he le for America I felt so lowly, but I was determined not to go back I took up modest accommodation in Kalkaji, and began doing early-morning rounds of nearby parks, trying to find and help people with pains Initially response was dismal, but I kept at it, seeking to help old people in pain. A lot of struggle later, my commitment fetched results. I got chances to help people with joint pains, and treated them.”

Photo: Rajiv Tyagi

“People who got relief f rom their chronic pains would offer money, but I would refuse: ‘No, don’t give me money, just refer me to two more people ’ is is how I began with my successful career Soon, I got to meet an influential person f rom Vasant Vihar, who, impressed with my skill, took me to Ajay Jadeja, an excricketer who played for India for many years & a close friend of his Jadeja was in severe pain due to a shoulder injur y and surger y was prescribed. I told him I can cure his shoulder sans surger y. ough unsure, he let me tr y and ultimately his shoulder was cured Happy with my treatment, he took me to his mother, an arthritic, and I eased her pains as well f rom there, lady luck star ted smiling on me Ajay Jadeja introduced me to the Indian cricket team I got to meet all the big heroes Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virendra Sehwag, Saurabh Ganguly … my life took a new turn from then on … . ”

“Another fine day in December 2002. I was introduced to Shahr ukh Khan as a healer He was then at his in-laws’ place at Panchsheel Park, and reeling under severe neck pain. I was shivering whether I will be able to give him relief, but with belief in god I star ted working on his neck using vein acupressure, and was able to give him enough relief that he could move his frozen neck. Net result, he hugged me and invited me to join his new year par ty. When I demurred saying I avoid parties as I don’t have good clothes, he and his friends bought me clothes insisting that I must come When I did go, Shahr ukh was waiting for me, and introduced me to the glitterati there making me a hero in a single night, with my wife being entertained by Gauri, Shahrukh’s wife e next morning the Khan takes me to Mumbai and through him, I get to meet many famous persona Priety Z inta, Dharmen-

dra, R ani Mukher jee, Salman Khan, Amitabh Bachchhan Today I have clients from all walk of the society, f rom cricketers Umesh Yadav, Ashish Nehra, Gautam Gambhir, Virender S ehwag, Mohmmad Shami, and new player Negi to corporate honchos like R ajan Mittal of Air tel, the Nandas of S omani Tiles, Naveen Jindal, Ritu B eri, etc Even politicians like R ajeev Shukla, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Ambika Soni, Lal Krishna Advani and many others are regular visitors ”

“I am at present doing a Ph D on ‘How to reduce Stress’. I am not aer money, when poor people come to me I cure them gratis, but by the grace of god, I am able to meet all my expenses comfortably”

When asked how his yoga practice is different f rom Baba R amdev’s Yoga, he says: “R amdevji’s yoga is different as he teaches simple yoga to groups all the way up to thousands of people, whereas what we do is highly customised My thought is that ever y person is unique by nature, with differing eating habits, lifestyles … different genes. So a yoga- kriya that suits one person may not necessarily suit another When I constitute a group, I select people according to their problems say one group of maybe 4 exclusively for diabetics, and so on. My yoga practice is different in that it depends on results and from man to man I tr y to go to the root of the problem and then start my treatment ”

Nowadays Ar vind regularly goes to Paris and South Africa to teach Yoga. He

presently has two centres in Delhi, one in GK and another in Shanti Niketan He is also setting up a new centre in Defence Colony and one in Mumbai. On June 21st this year, celebrated as International Yoga Day, Ar vind was invited to conduct yoga sessions with prisoners in Tihar jail He has two kids one daughter undergoing MBBS and a son who plays national cricket in ‘under 14’ group. He says philosophically that there is a little difference between Chinta and Chintan “Do Chintan forget Chinta and to get rid of Chinta practice yoga My goal is to make society “Chinta Mukt.”

A

e author is a veteran journalist with more than 20 years of experience Had been associated with many Electronic Channels before star ting NRI Achievers magazine.

Photo: Rajiv Tyagi

SAPTARISH IS OF TH E MODI ER A

W ho are the S e v e n S ag e s ( the S aptar i shi s) of the Modi administration ? Within the Sangh Pariv ar and the B J P p ar t y and g ov e r nme nt , the re are dif fe r ing v ie ws on s ome of the names. But af te r the c ompl e t ing one y e ar of r u ling Indi a , the s e v e n name s that are emerged today are thos e of Amit S hah , Mohan Bhag w at , Ajit D ov al , Ar un Jaitl e y, R am Mad hav, B ab a R amd e v and of c our s e Nare ndra Mo di him s elf. Raman Swamy w r ites on the parallax be ing created by thi s shif ting p anthe on of s ag e s on the political hor iz on ...

Not ever yone might agree with the inclusion of the names of Baba R amdev and R am Madhav or even Ajit Doval. Similarly many might express surprise and consternation over the omission from this elite list of seven sages the names of senior Union Ministers like R ajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Manohar Parikkar, Suresh Prabhu ... and Smriti Irani. However, from what has so far transpired in the tenure of the Modi administration, it is only to be expected that this list will transmogrif y and change f rom time to time, depending on circumstances, events and controversies.

Unlike the complex time-c ycle of the Hindu religious pantheon, present day politics and power are ver y volatile and nobody can afford to take their position and status for granted. Sushma Swaraj could have been among the select seven,

had it not been for the shadow of conflict of interest involving her husband and daughter in the Lalit Modi case. Similarly Baba Ramdev might not have been in the reckoning had it not been for prominence he was given during the Yoga Day event

Mohan Bhagwat

Amit Shah

esting because of his rapid rise over the past year or two. He has had a splendid track record and his credentials are multidimensional Not only is he among the top intellectuals of the Sangh Parivar, he is also a director of the India Foundation, which is the think-tank that fuels policy making

Equally, R am Madhav could well be dropped from the list because of his needless and somewhat roguish dig at Vice President Hamid Ansari. On balance, the criteria for being counted among the Saptarishis of the Modi dispensation are not just merit and loyalty e key lies in making significant contributions in terms of ideas and action.

Despite not being in party politics, Ajit Doval is clearly playing a ver y important role in foreign polic y, national security and even in militar y, diplomatic and humanitarian operations on the ground. He is gradually shedding his low profile image and emerging into the spotlight, whether it be in rescuing Indian citizens held hostage in war-torn Iraq, micro-managing the commando strike in Myanmar, or making advance preparations for Narendra Modi’s visits to China and Mongolia, France and Canada

Amit Shah’s proximity to the Prime Minister apart, his major mission is to galvanize the party machiner y towards capturing political power in States where the BJP electoral presence has been minimal. e debacle in the Delhi polls apart, so far he thankfully appears to have made significant in-roads in the Eastern States Bihar will be the acid test of his success and utility as a political strategist. In elections and politics, nothing is written in stone and Amit Shah will have to once again prove his worth and mettle to retain his stature as one of the saptarishis.

e case of Ram Madhav is pretty inter-

for Modi. His appointment as National General Secretar y of the BJP has raised his profile and job responsibilities, par ticularly since he has been a former member of the National Executive of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. O ver the years, he has acted as a senior functionar y, media interface and interlocutor for the intelligentsia of the RSS

R am Madhav has his fingers in many pies he has been an active journalist and writer for over 20 years, authored several books with the latest being “Uneasy Neighbours: India and China aer Fiy Years of the War” He has vast experience of issues pertaining to strategic and international relations, which he has gained over his travels across the globe and facilitation of think tanks. As a BJP general secretar y, he has played a pivotal role in

several major decisions of the Modi government, most spectacularly as the negotiator of the BJP-PDP coalition in J&K.

Which is why his embarrassing faux pas on the day of the Yoga event at Rajpath is all the more unfortunate and inexplicable Insiders say that his factually incorrect Twitter message that the event had been blacked out by the R ajya Sabha T V was based on hearsay information that he did not take care to verify His sarcastic quip that Hamid Ansari was missing was again based on lack of familiarity with protocol and the warrant of precedent.

e feeling within Sangh circles is that Ram Madhav’s intention was to take a potshot at the Congress party and its leaders like Rahul Gandhi for not participating in the International Yoga Day celebrations and he had wanted to use the Chairman of the R ajya Sabha to expose the C ongress and at the same time convey the ruling party’s displeasure at the manner in which the Modi government’s reform legislation was being blocked in the Upper House by the Congress and other Opposition parties.

is rather devious and indirect tactic boomeranged due to flaws in his basic information and took something away from the sense of immense satisfaction over the success of the Yoga event. Reports say the Pr ime Minister was not happy wit h R am Mad hav’s Twitter mis adventure Whet her he cont inues to remain in t he p ant he on of t r uste d and va lue d Sapt arishis remains to be seen.

Arun Jaitley

R am Madhav

Ajit Doval

Baba R amdev

At the preparator y meeting of the World Speakers Conference in Gene va in early June, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha Sumitra Mahajan made a strong plea that countries of the world ought not to be judged or ranked merely on the basis of their GDP statistics. e volume of how much goods and ser v ices an economy produces, she averred, should not and cannot be the only yardstick for measuring a nation’s contr ibution to global de velopment outcomes there are other aspects that need to be taken into consideration while measur ing prog ress in real ter ms, such as f reedom of expression, well-being of the common people and checks on unhindered exploitation of nature. Our Political Commentator Raman Swamy w r ites on India's postur ing on the world stage...

Sumitra Mahajan’s obser vations were made in the context of global issues of great magnitude relating to achieving equitable economic development and bringing about a just world order for all human beings, whether in the rich developed nations or the poor and developing countries. But back in India, governments at both the Centre and in the States are struggling to grapple with similar problems of growth and justice; and bridging the gap between rich and poor e er udite Governor of the Reser ve Bank, Raghuram Rajan, who does not always see eye-to-eye with government policies on growth and inflation, recently came out with the thought-provoking concept of following what he chose to call the “Goldilocks polic y ” neither too aggressive nor too conser vative.

B oldly expressing views that are different from the official claim that things have turned better during the past 12 months of the Modi sarkar, R aghuram R ajan asser ts that the economy is still not out of the woods and overall growth was likely to be lower than what was being projected. Advising against both over-optimism and over-pessimism, he warned that the economy is still in a gamble on rainfall and an uncertain monsoon could have an adverse effect on food prices, leading to a widening the gap between haves and have-nots.

e 52 year old RBI governor ’ s reference to the Goldilocks metaphor has aroused much curiosity, with many analysts scurr ying to understand the meaning of his words. In Western countries, most people are familiar with the children’s fair y tale about Goldilocks and the tree bears e stor y is about a little girl called Goldilocks who gets lost in the forest and comes upon a house in which nobody was there, but there were three bowls of porridge on the dining table Her stomach growling with hunger, she tastes the porridge from the first bowl and finds it too hot. S o, she tastes the porridge from the second bowl, but finds it was too cold. And when she tastes the last bowl of porridge, she finds it just right She happily eats it all up en she comes across three chairs two of them were too big for her, and only the third looks just right for her. But just as she settles down into the chair to rest, it breaks to pieces Goldilocks is now ver y tired by this time, so she goes upstairs to the bedroom She lies down in the first bed, but it was too hard. en she lies down in the second bed, but it was too so en she lies down in the third bed and it’s just right Goldilocks happily falls into a deep and refreshing asleep is charming children’s tale is not as simple as it sounds. It is full of symbolism

and philosophical concepts which eminent scientists, astronomers and economists have adapted in various fields Basically, the Goldilocks principle states that something must fall within certain margins, as opposed to reaching extremes. Each nation and each group of citizens within a nation have their own unique needs and preferences Each consumer has his or her own requirements and preference of food, chairs and beds. As Goldilocks discovered, some products are always too much in one extreme (either too hot or too hard or too large), others are too much in the opposite extreme (too cold or too so or too small)

Only one is "just right" is principle is applied across many disciplines, ranging from medicine, psycholog y, biolog y, economics, engineering and astronomy For instance, in the science of astrobiolog y, the term “Goldilocks zone ” refers to the planets near the Sun where life can exist. A planet must neither be too far away from, nor too close to the Sun to support life Such a planet, like the E arth, is called a "Goldilocks Planet" In medicine, it refers to the ideal dosage of a drug, and the extremes which may result in death of a patient.

In economics, a “Goldilocks economy ” sustains moderate economic growth and low inflation, which allows a marketfriendly monetar y policy. is is what Raghuram Rajan was referring to. e term may be applied to virtually all aspects of the economy and to government policies A “Goldilocks market” occurs when the price of commodities lies between a bear market and a bull market. Goldilocks pricing is a marketing strategy that uses product differentiation to offer three versions of a product to attract buyers from different segments of the market: a high-end version, a middle version and a low-end version.

In the communication industr y too, the

Goldilocks principle indicates the amount, type and detail of communication necessar y in a system to maximize effectiveness while minimizing redundancy and excessive scope on the "too much" side and avoiding incomplete or inaccurate communication on the "too little" side.

In the context of the celebration of the first year in office of the Modi government, it is fair to say that there is an “information overload” both f rom Government Ministers and Opposition parties. Much of the claims and counterclaims are based on too little truth and too many false claims Similarly, the Prime Minister is open to criticism for indulging

in “initiative overload” due to which he is announcing too many over-ambitious schemes in too short a time frame like bullet trains, 100 smart cities, clean Ganga project, river linking, Jan Dhan Yojana, Swachchh Bharat, tax reform, education reform, land reform, Make in India, jobs for all, et al., some of which may even be somewhat at odds with the needs of the countr y at the present state of economic development Perhaps, the Prime Minister should pay heed to Raghuram Rajan, with whom he reportedly has a good equation, and apply the Goldilocks principle to vision of ushering in Achchhe Din

e author is a veteran journalist, political commentator & satirist.

R aghuram R ajan

e 21st of June 2015 marked the first ever “International Day of Yoga,” which was celebrated across the globe f rom Almat y to Rome to Mexico to manila and Colombo, from Bangkok to New York to Tel Av iv to Paris, kabul, Peking and New Delhi, as 192 countr ies joined in for a mass yoga session to mark the United Nation s declared Inter national Yoga Day. India, the orig inal UN petitioner for an International Yoga Day to be created, saw millions across its vast subcontinental mass take to the open for ‘Yogabyas.’ NRI Achievers brings to you evokating pictures from across the world which depict the enthusiasm w ith which citizens of my riad countries bent it w ith India to celebrate Yoga …

Prime M inister Narendra Modi per forms yoga along with thousands of Indians on Rajpath

Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, who was instr umental in championing the cause of Yoga at the United Nations and getting the homily of nations to co-sponsor an International Yoga Day, joined thousands of people on R ajpath, the iconic thoroughfare leading from R aisina Hill to India Gate, which represents the ner ve cent re of p ower in D el hi to t a ke p ar t in a massive yoga session on the day While one does not normally expect to s e e world le aders gett ing dow n on a l l fours and p er for m yoga in public, let alone in a mass yoga class that draws obser vers from the Guinness World Records people, Modi did just t hat af te r he i nau g u r ate d t he ke y note d ay of Yo g a “Who would have thought that we would turn R ajpath into Yogpath,” mused Modi that day

Numerous Ambassadors of various countries also marked attendance on Yoga day, amidst a s e a of colour f u l yoga mats made, by the way, in China stretching out all along the mall to number anywhere between 35,000 to 37,000 e day also saw the release of a commemorative coin and a new Indian stamp, which will help mark the first International Yoga Day, celebrated from Ankor Wat to Time Square, for thouse who want to latch on to that memor y.

NRI Achi e vers Desk

Taiwan

Russia Novosibirsk Indonesia Jak ar ta

The GCC countries too obser ved Int ’l Yoga Day this is from Bahrain

Parisians spread bright yellow mats under the Eiffel Tower to per form yoga and mark the International Day of Yoga on June 21

Two yoga sessions under way in Sydney on the occasion of International Yoga Day, June 21

K ashmiri students per form yoga as they mark International Yoga Day in Srinagar

New Yorkers take to Times Square at Big Apple for yoga as par t of the International Yoga Day celebrations that incidentally fell on Summer Solstice Day on June 21

UZBEKISTAN:

COOPER ATION FOR PEACE AN D SUSTAI NABLE DEVELOPMENT

NRI Achievers in this issue brings to you two keystone happenings in Uzbeki stan, under the s eg ment ‘Global Events.’ e ar ticle features one of the biggest music festivals of Central Asia, the “Sharq Taronalari,” that will take place in Aug ust this year, and an event that took place last month, the UN meet on “Cooperation for Peace & Sustainable Development.” A repor t ...

THE UN CONFERENCE ON COOPERATION FOR PEACE & SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

was g race d by t he S e cret ar y-G enera l of the United Nations, Mr Ban Ki-moon, at Tashkent on 11th June 2015 Uzbekistan President, Islam Kar imov, re ceive d t he UN chief at Kuksaroy. During the meeting were discussed the prospects of bilatera l co op erat ion, as wel l as issues of regional and international character Mr Karimov praised the contribution of the Unite d Nat ions under t he le adership of

Ban Ki-moon to ensure peace and stability in the world. He stressed that the UN today is unique and is the only organization engaged in s olving problems at t he global level, and expressed hope that the UN wi l l not on ly pres er ve but a ls o strengthen its role on the world stage. Issues of st rengt hening p e ace in C ent ra l Asia, co op erat ion b etwe en count r ies of t he reg ion in t he fig ht against inter national terrorism, extremism and radicalism were also discussed.

In tu r n , t h e U N S e c re t ar y - G e n e r a l

t h an ke d Uz b e k i s t an for t h e w ar m we lc om e an d h o s pit a l it y, an d pr ai s e d it s le adership in s olving reg iona l problems an d prom ot i ng p e a c e an d s t abi l it y, a s wel l as t he init iat ives t a ken at t he internat iona l le vel In Uzb ek ist an, repres ent at ions of a numb er of UN agencies such a s t h e Wor l d He a lt h O rg an i z at i on , Un ite d Nat i ons E du c at i on a l, S c i e nt i f i c an d Cu ltu r a l O rg an i z at i on , Wor l d B an k , Fo o d an d Ag r i c u ltu re O rg an i z at i on , U N IC E F, U N F PA , D e ve l opm e nt Pro g r am m e, t h e O f f i c e on D r u g s an d

Cr

ime, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS are f unc t ioning. Toget her t h e s e org an i z at i ons h ave i mpl e m e nte d m ore t h an 4 4 0 proj e c t s , w it h 7 0 of t hem ongoing

e Millennium Development Goals, a comprehensive guideline and checklist for all constituent States during the last fieen years, has been a key set of ideals for world nations to follow, as well as the path delineating the upcoming new agenda for the future sustainable development. Mr Karimov was effusive on Mr Moon’s visit, saying: “Your current visit to Central Asia and in particular to the Republic of Uzbekistan as the head of the UN will provide an excellent opportunity to get acquainted with the prevailing situation in the region and

exchange views on issues of concern to us, on all topical issues … first and foremost, a cause of serious concern is the growth of radicalization, of conflict and violence, and the ongoing global financial crisis In this increasingly difficult global environment, we consider the UN as the only universal international organization that can play a role in the maintenance of global security and stability, a unique structure to address the many complex inter-state and international issues.

Mr. Moon said: “Uzbekistan has made s i g n i f i c ant pro g re ss i n a ch i e v i ng t he MD Gs, ensuring the r ule of law and prote c t i on of hu man r i g ht s , prote c t i on of motherhood and childhood, and improvi ng t he e du c at i on s y ste m . A l l t he s e

I NTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL

“SHARQ TARONAL ARI”

achievements are the result of sustainable and p eople-oriented so cio-economic refor ms ” The S e cret ar y-G enera l a ls o emphasized the interest of the UN to further strengthen cooperation with Uzbekistan

Dis c uss ed were various asp ec ts regional and i nte r nat i ona l issu e s , and pr i or it i e s were identif ied for f ur t her de velopment of co op erat ion b etwe en Uzb ek ist an and the United Nations and its specialized institutions and agencies. Ban Ki-moon expre ss e d c on f i d e nc e t hat i nte r a c t i on between the UN and Uzbekistan will become even more productive The signing of t he f rame work of t he United Nations De velopment Assistance Frame work for 2016-2020 ye ars was anot her imp or t ant milestone during this visit.

this festival us, if the first festival held in 1997 attracted representatives of 31 nations, in 2013 singers and musicians from 53 countries took part in this major music

“Mel o d i e s of t he O r i e nt” is one of the biggest such festivals in C entral Asia. The predominant aims and objectives of t h is fe st iv a l is to w i d ely p opu l ar i z e t he achie vements of national music and ar t, to pres er ve and de velop great traditions of people, to encourage talents in instr ume nt a l and vo c a l sphe re s , as wel l as to e x p and f u r t he r i nte r nat i ona l c re at ive b onds , st re ng t he n c u ltu r a l - spi r itu a l cooperation, and celebrate peace, f riendship and ideas of mutual sympathy.

Ev e r y bi e n n iu m , b e t w e e n t h e 2 5 t h a n d 3 0 t h of Au g u s t , t h i s i nt e r n at i on a l mu s i c f e s t i v a l , “S h a rq Ta ron a l a r i” ( Mel o d i e s of O r i e nt ) is re g u l arly org ani z e d at S a m a r k h a n d , a w or l d h e r it a g e s it e , u n d e r t h e a e g i s a n d p at ron a g e of

U N E S C O, at on e of it s u n i q u e m onum e nt s of a rc h it e c t u re t h e R e g i s t a n S quare. This international for um, organi z e d u nd e r t he i n it i at ive of Pre s i d e nt of t h e R e pu b l i c of Uz b e k i s t a n , s t r i v e s t o f u r t he r t he d e vel opme nt of c u ltu r a l t i e s among p e oples, and aims for t he cons oli d at i on of f r i e n d s h ip, p e a c e a n d h a rm ony. Un i v e r s a l v a lu e s , h i g h m or a l s pi r it u a l it y a n d n at i on a l t r a d it i on s a re e mb o d i e d i nto t he f u nd ame nt a ls of t he Sharq Tarona l ar i Fe st iv a l

is festival today, it must be said, has found its worthwhile place in the plethora of prominent world music forums. A confirmation to this fact is the holding of this event under the auspices of UNESCO, as well as the ever growing interest and attention of countries, international organizations, celebrity musicians and ar tists for

occasion is year around, representatives of more than 60 states are expected to participate in this art festival. e 10th International Music Festival of “Sharq Taronalari” will be held f rom 25 to 30 August, 2015

IN T E R NAT IONA L M U SIC F E ST IVA L “SHA RQ TA RONA L A R I , ” or

TEN DI NG TH E L A MP OF M AL AYALI CU LTU R AL H ERITAGE

THE

KERAL

A FESTIVAL IN DUBAI

When the Second Part of the 8th Utsavam, the International Koodiyattam and Kathakali Festival (IKKF), concluded on the 18th of April 2015 at the Indian Consulate Auditorium in Dubai, another feather was added to the cap of Traditions Live, the Dubai based non-profit cultural organi sation, that has been conducting such events w ith the suppor t of the Consulate General of India in Dubai for promoting the rich heritage of per forming ar ts from Kerala for the last eight years. Biju omas w rites a feature on the IKKF for the readers of NRI Achievers in this issue ...

The IKKF is a much-feted annual festival and it has evolved as a signature event in the cultural calendar of Dubai. e staging of Balivadham Koodiyattam, based on ‘Abhisheka Natakam’ of Bhasa, was the first programme of the second part of the 8th Utsavam and it was staged in the evening of 16th April, 2015. e first day of the

festival was dedicated to Padmashri Moozhikulam Kochukuttan Chakyar, one of the greatest exponents of Koodiyattam, the only sur viving Sanskrit theatre in the world which has been performed for the last two thousand years in Kerala, without substantial changes in the style of presentation, mannerisms, recital or costumes, making it one of the

oldest existing classical theatrical forms in the world. At any rate, it is the only surviving Sanskrit theatre on earth Koodiyattam has been recognised by UNESCO as one of the ‘Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.’ Sri Sooraj Nambiar played the sole character representing Sri Rama e second day, the 17th of April, was quite an eventful day and was dedicated to Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty-amma, who liberated Mohiyattam from the Sringaram stigma and placed it on a pedestal as an Indian Classical Dance Dr Neena Prasad gave a lecture and illustrative demonstrations on the techniques and aesthetics of Mohiniyattam. e dance form Mohiniyattam, literally meaning “the dance of the enchantress,” originated in the 16th centur y and is performed by women as solo recitals Women in gold embroidered off-white costumes present graceful and rhythmic movements accompanied by vocals and instrumental music. is was followed with a lecture and demonstrations on Koodiyattam by artistes Sooraj Nambiar, Saritha Krishnakumar, Dr Aparna Nangiar, Kalamandalam Rajeev, Kalamandalam Narayanan Nambiar and Kalamandalam Hariharan ey elaborated on the histor y and technical aspects of Koodiyattam

In the aernoon, Saritha Krishnakumar presented Nangyiar Koothu, an offshoot of Koodiyattam that is believed to have started around five centuries aer Koodiyaattam It is a solo performance and remains the exclusive domain of female artistes. is was followed by a repetition of the Koodiyattam performance based on Balivadham by Sooraj Nambair e day concluded with a Mohiniyattam performance by Dr Neena Prasad, whose repertoire included presentations of both katcheri and thematic style.

e third day was dedicated to Vilvattathu R avunni Nambiar, an all-round scholar of Koothu and Koodiyattam and an expert in playing the Mizhavu, a big drum made of copper and is played with bare hands, as an accompanying percussion instrument for the performances of Koodiyattam, Nangiyar Koothu, Chaakyar Koothu, and Mizhavu ayampaka e day began with a lecture and demonstration on Mohiniyattam by Dr. Neena Prasad, dwelling mainly on the history and evolution of the dance form. is was followed by lecture and demonstration by the same team as of the second day on Koodiyattam, elaborating on Cholliyattam the simultaneous recital by the artistes, technical aspects and the role of the percussion

instrument (Mizhavu) in the performance. In the aernoon on the third day, four Koodiyattam artistes Kalamandalam Rama Chakyar, Ammannur Kuttan Chakyar, Saritha Krishnakumar and Sooraj Nambiar, performed Balivadham and Dr. Neena Prasad presented a grand Mohiniyattam performance

e suppor ting ar tistes for Koodiyattam on all these days were Kalamandalam R ajeev, Kalamandalam Hariharan and Kalamandalam Narayanan Nambiar playing the Mizhavu, Kalanilayam Unnikrishnan playing Idaykka, Dr Aparna Nagiar playing thaalam and Kalanilayam Sankaranarayanan doing the makeup (Chutti). e supporting artistes for Mohiniyattam were Changanasseri Madhavan Nampoothiri singing the vocal, Satheesan playing the Mridangam and Muralikrishnan playing the Veena e

First Part of the 8th Utsavam had been staged from 4th to 6th December 2014 at HRH Pr incess Haya Bint Huss ein e at re, GEMS Wel lington Inter national S cho ol, Dubai On the first day on 4t h D e cemb er, t he prog ramme st ar te d in t he e vening wit h Maddalakeli, the sounding of the percussion inst r ument Madda lam, to announce the starting of the event is was followe d by a Kat ha ka li p er for mance by Padmabhushan Madavo or Vasude van Nair, Ka lamanda lam C hinosh B a lan and Vellinezhi Haridas. Kathakali is a traditional classical dance-drama performance that originated in Kerala and has gained worldwide appreciation on account of the gorgeous makeup, elaborate costumes, expressive body movements and gestures e fo c us of t he Utsavam in Kathakali was on the character Ravana, exploring the vibrant and var ied facets of R avana, t he anti-hero (Kat hi Vesham) across four plays in

which he is one of the central characters

e closing event of the day was a thrilling thayampaka, a traditional percussion ensemble of Kerala, led by Kalloor Ramankutty Marar and Porur Unnikrishnan Artistes who performed in the First Part of Utsavam were ver y eminent persons such as Padma Bhushan Madavoor Vasudevan Nair, Kottakkal Kesavan Kundalayar, Kalamandalam Shanmughan, Kalamandalam Sreekumar, Ottamthullal ar tiste Kalamandalam Geethanandan, Kallur Ramankutty Marar, Porur Unnikrishnan, Kalamandalam Krishnadas etc.

Apar t f rom Kathakali, Ottan ullal and Sheethankan ullal were staged during the First Part of the Festival It was for the first time that Dubai witnessed performances of Ottan ullal and Sheethankan ullal. ullal is essentially a modified form of Koothu the language is simple Malayalam, and wit and humour are the soul of the performance Generally movements are fast and rhythmic Sheethankan ullal is a slower variation of Ottan ullal. Percussion instruments of maddalam and elathalam accompany the solo performance, in which the dancer does the singing e humorous elements of Koothu are combined with the steps and gestures of Kathakali and the songs in

general, are aimed at correcting evils prevalent in society

e first part of the 8th edition of Utsavam IKKF also had on show a unique exhibition of photos taken by Rajan Karimoola depicting late Kottakal Sivaraman e exhibition was a rare treat for the fans of Kathakali and the camera. e photos portrayed Kottakal Sivaraman in various milieus and miens which took one down the memor y lane with the great actor Utsavam, the International Koodiyattam and Kathakali Festival (IKKF), is the only annual event in Dubai aimed at showcasing the traditional performing ar ts of Kerala and has successfully completed its eighth sequential yearly event with the support of the Consulate General of India. e UAE has a Keralite population that is estimated to be above one million and the event is awaited eagerly by all emigrant art-lovers However, no entr y fee is collected and no passes or tickets are issued to control the number of people coming for the event. Traditions Live organises the event ever y year purely depending on contributions from art lovers Traditions Live is a Dubai-based event management team of art-lovers, managed by art-lovers and solely for art-lovers. All the stakeholders of the organisation hail

from Kerala and all of them believe that it is truly the duty of all Keralites to keep the cultural traditions and heritage of their motherland alive wherever they are ey believe that the richness of their cultural inheritance should not be allowed to be lost through ignorance, indolence or lack of opportunities for staging Clarity of vision and dedication to their cause have made the members of this team gather expertise and credibility in organising highly successful festivals in and around Dubai.

e event is commemorated each year with an issue of the annual publication ‘Keleeravam’ Apart from reports and reviews on the event, the issue contains illuminating ar ticles on traditional and contemporar y aspects of classical ar t forms, contributed by renowned artistes and academicians, who are well conversant with the social, cultural and aesthetic aspects of the ar t forms, and inter views and discussions on the past, present and future of these cultural treasures by experts, making Keleeravam a much soughtaer collector’s item that is cherished by ar tistes, connoisseurs and lay ar t lovers alike. Arangu is a cultural event organized in Kerala ever y year in August and this year it will be the 9th year of its staging rough Utsavam and Keleeravam, the organisers expect to raise the profile of Kerala and India in the Emirates and all over the world. e great antiquity, the aesthetic value, the eternal relevance and the continuing appeal of the traditional performing arts of Kerala deser ve to get more appreciated globally by all art-loving people and Traditions Live is doing its mite to achieve this vision of the team ... and the dream of all Keralites

e writer is an executive editor of HIF news. He is an exper t in international affairs, economic studies & planning.

MODI’S MISSION U RBAN REVA MP THE AUDACIT Y OF HOPE

On ursday the 25th of June, Prime Minister Modi, by desig n or by sheer accident, chose the landmark date to live up to his electoral promise and launch three mega-projects to take India to the next level of development in an audacity of hope. ree urban development and reconstruction peojects the ‘Atal Mission for Rejuvenation & Urban transformation’ (AMRUT), the ‘Housing for All by 2022’, and the ‘100 Smar t Cities’ mission entailing an initial investment of 400,000 crore rupees. Both in scale and scope, these sur pass both the post WW-2 Marshall Plan for the economic reconstruction of Europe and Germany ; and the Douglas McAr thur plan for economic recover y and socio-political transformation of Japan. Does it aug ur well for the long-in-doldrums Indian real estate sector? Vinod Behl ruminates ...

The three-pronged initiative of the NDA government through big ticket urbanfocused investment schemes of the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation & Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Smart Cities Mission & Housing for All, with a central funding of INR 4 lakh crore, holds the promise of providing a much-needed fillip to Indian real estate, housing and infrastructure and raise the living standard of people by creating world-class cities and spaces But the government needs to surmount a number of tough challenges to successfully implement these schemes and realize their full potential.

As p er the plan, under Smar t Cities Scheme, 100 new cities will be developed, with each city getting an annual central funding of INR 100 crore over the next five years Under AMRUT, 500 cities and towns would be rejuvenated over next 10 years And under Housing for All, 2 crore affordable hous es will b e built throug h slum rehabilitation, with the help of private de velop ers, housing for p o or with credit-linked subsidy, housing projec ts with public and private sector and subsidy for individual house construction e enormity and challenge of urban revamp can be gauged from the urban popula-

tion explosion Ever y decade we add one Brazil (181 million people). By 2020, about 123 million of additional urban population will be added An estimated 600 million Indians will be living in cities by 2030, up from 290 million, as reported in the 2001 census By 2025, 78 percent of India’s urban population will be concentrated in 69 metro cities, putting severe pressure on already crumbling physical and social infrastructure Inefficient and faulty urban planning is resulting in massive consumption and wastage of precious water and energ y resources and causing major sanitation and health problems due to increasing slums and

poor waste disposal. In this backdrop, PM’s initiatives assume significance, especially as contribution of built environment to economy accounts for about 17 5 percent of GDP as per 2010 statistics and in view of industry and services growing faster than agriculture, people are moving from farms to urban areas

at technolog y holds key to government’s initiatives aimed at urban rejuvenation is amply demonstrated by a recent sur ve y of 2000 buildings in India done by Hone y well, that emphasizes on the need to invest more in smar t building technologies as such smar t building s olutions can make facilities more connec ted and adaptive, reduce energ y and op erating costs and improve the safety and quality of life for occupants and users. Information & C ommunication Technologies (ICT) help make a smar t city’s critical inf ra, components and utilities interactive and efficient rough Intelligent Building Management S olutions, energ y saving and lower maintenance costs can b e achie ved, at the same time prolonging the life of assets and reducing the carbon footprint Last year the government intro duced the dra Internet of ings (IOT) to create IOT-enabled smar t cities eco-system to ensure faster implementation to improve overall efficiency CISCO has established an IOT hub at Bangalore to help

companies develop soware applications for deployment in the upcoming 100 smart cities IBM has prepared an Integrated Communication Technolog y (ICT) Master Plan for Dighi Port Industrial Area under DMIC

Along with technology, crucial real estate reforms are necessar y for the success of programmes aimed at urban revamp Considering that in future, power will be increasingly generated from renewable resources, it is necessary that we move from consumer-oriented generation model to a model based on principles of smart power generation, smart power grids, smart storage and smart consumption Keeping this in view, the government has converted S olar Energ y C orporation of India into a growth-oriented commercial company to generate and sell power and develop other sources of renewable energ y It has also renewed solar power generation targets for 2022 from 20000 mw to 100000 mw In another progressive policy initiative, the government has approved 6.5 percent interest subsidy on housing loans with tenure up to 15 years for economically weaker sections and lower income group It is however questionable as to why real estate has been kept out of GST when fees and taxes account for as high as 35 percent of what the home buyer pays as the cost of his house Similarly, with direct institutional support to the real estate sector

from banks, HFCs, private equity etc., accounting for a mere 22 percent of total investment flow in the sector, reforms to increase capital flows are required

There are ot her ke y cha l lenges w hich ne e d to b e met b efore gover nment’s initiatives for urban revamp could be successfully implemented

To st ar t w it h, t here is t he f unding cha llenge Though the C entre has earmarked liberal funding of INR 4 lakh crore for the three initiatives of urban development, it will however not be easy for the states and local urban bodies to arrange for additional large investments, consider ing t heir p o or f inanci a l he a lt h It is a ls o a big cha l lenge to me et t he huge gap in ser vices under AMRUT scheme. Against 135 litres per person per day desired water supply, urb an p opu l at ion gets on ly about 69 litres B esides, cities and towns are able to t re at on ly 5 p ercent of tot a l waste, while sewerage treatment is merely 3 percent. The situ at ion on t he p ower f ront is e qu a l ly bad Also, considering the scope and scale of urban de velopment initiatives, t here is a s evere shortage of skilled professionals, with demand-supply gap of 82-86 percent in the core professiona l g roup of civ i l eng ine ers, archite c ts and pl anners, not to t a l k of sk i l le d labourers There is a huge challenge to make land available for massive urbanisation programme On the technological front, the challenge w i l l b e to achie ve e conomies of s c a le and their viability on mass scale.

And last but not the least, there is the challenge of smart governance at Local Urban Bodies level, as there is tremendous shortage of professionals there e challenge is to provide transparent and efficient governance at the municipality level

e author is a senior media professional, with long-standing experience in the real estate sector. he may be reached at: vbehl2008@g mail.com

I TH I N K WE ARE NOT READY FOR A FA MI LY...

K AREENA K APOOR KHAN

Kareena Kapoor Khan has proven the popular perception that actresses who get married have to quit films w rong, by going ahead and successfully churning out box-office hits like SINGHAM RETURNS and 3 IDIOTS. She says that she is indeed quite excited about having worked with all the Khans in the industry, including S alman Khan in BHAJTR ANGI BHAAIJAAN, which i s slated to be releas ed thi s ID, in a tete-a-tete w ith NRI Achie vers ' Bolly wood maven Jyoti Venkatesh …

How would you describe BHAJRANGI BHAIJAAN?

BHAJRANGI is completely different story driven film unlike BODYGUARD. It is important that an actor keeps working with different directors. Harshali the kid, who is playing the role of Salman’s kid in BHAJRANGI BHAIJAAN is going to be the real star of BAJRANGI, not me or Salman Khan

How has the experience of working in BHAJRANGI BHAIJAAN under the direction of Kabir Khan?

It w a s f or t h e f i r s t t i m e t h at I h a d t h e opp or t u n it y t o w or k w i t h K a b i r K h a n I p l a y a s c h o o l t e a c h e r w h o h e l p s S a l m a n K h a n i n t a k i n g h i s c h i l d aw ay f rom Pa k i s t a n I w ou l d s ay t h at it w a s a v e r y d i f f e re nt f i l m f or m e w it h S a l m a n K h a n a s it i s

Is it true that it was for the first time that you had shot for a film in Kashmir?

Yes. Ever yone in my family except me has shot in Kashmir including my parents, uncle Chintuji and aunt Neetuji, grand uncles Shammi Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor R anbir Kapoor. ough I had not shot there earlier, when I reached the venue, I could feel I was there at L alit Hotel in Kashmir It was quite an eerie experience Isn’t BAJR ANGI BHAAIJAN your third film with Salman Khan?

Yes. It is my third film with Salman aer KYONKI ten years ago and BODYGUARD four years ago I know him from 1990 when he was acting in NISCHAY for Bappi Soni opposite my sister Karisma. I know Salman, Shahrukh and Ajay right from those days, when I was ver y raw and new to films Salman is calmer now He is mature enough not to show whatever comes his way in his personal life on his work.

You seem to do oeat film s like CHAMELI and DEV on one side and BODYGUARD and BAJRANGI BHAAIJAN on the other!

It is important enough to do commercial films. I have already wanted to strike a balance between off beat films and mainstream films I have done commercial films all my life e big commercial bonanza films are part of my blood. You cannot take away the fact that Salman is a

great person I am honoured that he took me in his first film as a producer. Who would say she can say no to a Kabir Khan movie with Salman? I had not worked earlier in any film with Kabir

Has your marriage to Saif made any difference to you career-wise?

Aer marriage, only the surname Khan has been added to my name fieen years aer I came into the industr y. It is indeed a big achievement for me that Salman is working with a married woman like me. I am glad that Kabir thought of casting me I should say that marriage has not made any difference to me, as I have always been an exception to the rule. I do not think I lost even one brand ever since I got married Aer marriage I thought this is the time to work with new as well as different directors Aer a certain stage in your career, it is nice to work with different people. Kabir Khan makes larger than life kinds of movies which are not mindless and which also have a stor y

You are now working w ith Ar jun Kapoor in a film!

Yes, it is a great honour for me that aer working with Anil Kapoor as his wife, I

am now working with Arjun Kapoor as his wife. I think the younger generation actors are all brilliant and a lot more aware and conscious It is about your passion and what you believe I am of the opinion that you needn’t be seen in ever y film as you are as old as you look.

With TANU WEDS MANU RETURNS and PIKU, the era of heroine or iented film has come back!

at era has always been there. In the 1970’s there were SEETA AUR GEETA and AMAR PREM where the heroine had strong roles Even JAB WE MET was also a heroine oriented film I have always done heroine oriented films whether it was OMKARA or JAB WE MET. OMKARA was a title role for the heroine but Saif played the lead Didn’t he? However, I am not going to do a heroine oriented film till the script demands that just because ever yone is doing a heroine oriented film.

What is your role in UDTA PUNJABI?

I play a doctor in Abhishek Chaubey’s f i l m U DTA P U N JA BI It has a brilliant stor y. The par t demanded that it needed me. I wanted to cr y when I heard it People will talk of its stor y when it is

rele as ed. I felt t he par t demanded me. I am not opposite Shaheed Kapoor in the f i lm UDTA PUNJABI, t houg h if I get a me at y p ar t , I wou l d l ove to work w it h him I am instinctive

Do you reg ret hav ing tur ned dow n DIL DHADAKNE D O becau se you did not want to play Ranbir’s sister?

I have no re g re t s not d oi ng any f i l m , even DIL DHADAKNE D O. I didn’t say no to the f ilm because I did not want to play R anbir’s sister. I had my own reason why I did not do it The only regret is that I couldn’t do a film with Zoya Akhtar But no probl e m s i nc e i n any c as e, it w as n’t her last f ilm.

You are perhaps the only actress who has been paired with all the Khans!

I have worked with all the Khans, whether it is Salman or Shahr ukh or Aamir or for that matter Saif in not just

one film but in three rounds as I have done two films with Aamir Khan, two with Shahrukh Khan ASOKA, RA ONE and two with Salman Khan e comfort level is there with all the Khans It is ver y scar y to work with Shahrukh because he has a lot of energ y. Salman’s greatest quality is that he is the greatest star of the countr y Aamir is a ver y intense actor Ajay too is I have acted in OMKARA, SAT YAGRAHA, GOLMAAL and SINGHAM RETURNS with Ajay Devgn.

Is there any remake of which you would love to be a par t of?

I would love to be a part of the remake of AMAR PREM. I love song and dance. I love doing item songs.

Are you and S aif ready for a family of your own now?

A child is not in our agenda now. We do not even discuss about family planning. I

think neither Saif nor I am now ready for a family. I am ver y greedy right now for ever ything People warned me not to get married but I did

Why do you and Saif or Karisma not re v ive your grandfather R aj Kapoor’s banner?

Even if I and Saif or Karisma decide to revive the RK banner and launch a film, the question is who is going to direct it? We have to get the right director to live up the expectations. I think Ranbir should do it ough my dad wanted to make RISHWAT under the RK Banner, we have to give him rishwat now to make a film under the RK Banner. (Laughs)

You detest doing action films!

I would love to do a KILL BILL but I cannot because I hate action I do not have the fluidity of the body to do action roles. However, you do not know what Rohit Shetty will come up with next and hence if Rohit Shetty comes to me with an offer to do an out and out action, I cannot say no to him

Aer Pr iyanka did MARY KOM and Vidya Balan did THE DIRT Y PICTURE, do you plan to do a biopic?

I feel that the content should matter and the role should suit your personality Just because ever yone is making a biopic these days, I do not think I should jump into the bandwagon of biopic films.

Did you dole out any adv ice to Ranbir aer his film Bombay velvet tanked?

R anbir does not need advice. Why should he need my advice? He has the biggest weapon his talent I am sure he is going to rise

e writer is a well-known & established film critic.

AI BACHCHAN TO PL AY DALB I R K AU R SI NGH I N SARBJ IT

T h e i n du s t r y a n d m e d i a h av e b e e n a bu z z w it h v a r i ou s n a m e s t h at m ay e s s ay t h e ro l e of S a r a bj it S i n g h’s s i s t e r D a l bi r Kau r i n O mu n g Ku m a r ’ s bi opi c on t h e s l a i n In d i a n pr i s on e r. T h e hu nt f or t h e a ct re s s h a s f i n a l l y c om e t o a n e n d , a s t h e m a k e r s h av e f i n a l i z e d A i s hw a r y a R a i B a c h c h a n t o p l ay t h e l e a d S a n

MUGDHA GODSE TO DO EROTIC DR A M A ROMI L A

Mu g d h a G o d s e i s a l l s e t t o d o a n e rot i c d r a m a R OM I L A t o b e d i re c t e d by Ja s vv a nt K h e r a . Mu g d h a G o d s e w i l l p a i r up w it h Ku s h a l Ta n d on f or t h e f i l m S ay s d i re c t or Ja s v v a nt K h e r a , “R OM I L A i s a n e m ot i on a l j ou r n e y a b out t h e d a r k e s t s i d e of e v e r y on e of u s a n u n f u l f i l l e d n e e d t h at l e a d s t o s or row, p a i n a n d t u r m oi l of d e s i re . Ev e nt u a l l y R OM I L A i s a c omp l e x i nt e r p l ay of re l at i on s h ip s

“ Wh e n y ou w a nt t o b e t h e b e s t , y ou t r a i n w it h t h e b e s t” s ay s Ma h e k C h a h a l , w h o h a s rec e nt l y s t a r t e d t r a i n i n g f or h e r a d v a n c e d l e v e l of Mu ay T h a i K i c k B oxi n g w it h D a a s ( T h a il a n d ) & Su s ov a n G h o s h ( In d i a ) , f or m e r & c u rre nt c h a mpi on of t h e Wor l d P rof e s s i on a l Jiu Jit s u C h a mpi on s h ip “I h av e b e e n k i c k b ox i n g f or m a ny y e a r s n ow & e v e r y f e w y e a r s on e t e n d s t o a d v a n c e on e ’ s l e v e l

A few glossy calendars that surfaced while he was cleaning out his office became a source of inspiration for National Award-winning director Madhur Bhandarkar to make CALENDAR GIRLS. e film revolves around five

girls who are calender models and their showbiz journey thereon. “While flipping through the pages of those calendars, my mind wondered about who these girls were I was curious about what happened to them aer they shot

for these calendars. I kept asking myself, ‘Where have they disappeared?' at was the trigger for me to make my next,” says Madhur, adding, “I set out to research like I usually do I interacted with many of these girls.

M AH EK TR AI NS WITH TH E B EST FOR I NTERNATIONAL PROJ ECTS

I FEEL LI KE TH E FL AG-B EARER OF WOMEN-CENTRIC CI N EM A: M ADH U R B HAN DARK AR

Mumbai Bureau

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TH E ARMEN IAN TAWAI F

In today's context, the word 'Tawaif ' is associated w ith prostitution. In olden days howe ver, Tawaifs were or ig inally esteemed and respec ted members of Indian feudal s ociet y, and con sidered as an authority on etiquette. Tawaifs are al s o know n as Kanjar i s in Nor th India. ey were the cour tes an s of the Mughal era, adept in mu sic and dance. e y were the elite female masters of Urdu Poetry, whose job was to entertain the nobles through their dance, music and poetr y. Vikramjit S ing h Rooprai takers the readers of NRI A hi dow n memor y land ...

June 26, 1873, a girl was born William Robert Yeoward and ctoria Hemmings in AzamPradesh). Her father was an Jew and mother was born and in India ey named their Angelina Yeoward’ Like her e was trained in Indian music

When she was 6, her parents ys and later Victoria, her k her to Banaras in 1881 Vicccompanied by a Muslim Noursheed’ In Banaras, Victoria to Islam and adopted a new name ‘Malka Jaan’. Her daughter, the star of our stor y, Angelina Yeoward was renamed as ‘Gauhar Jaan’

Malka Jaan became popular by the name Badi Malka Jaan, as there were three other

Malka Jaan, younger than her. She became an accomplished singer & Kathak dancer of Banaras In 1883, she moved to Calcutta to establish herself in the court of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, who had settled in Matiaburj near Calcutta. She became so popular, that within 3 years, she earned enough money to buy herself a building at 24 Chitpore Road (Now Rabindranath Sarani) for 40,000 rupees Her daughter Gauhar Jaan started her training at this place. She was being trained by the founding member of Patiala Gharana, Ustad Ali Baksh along with Ustad Kale Khan of Patiala and Ustad Vazir Khan of Rampur She also started learning Kathak from the grand uncle of Pandit Birju Maharaj, the legendar y Pandit Brindadin Maharaj. Her Dhrupad training started in parallel with Srijanbai and Bengali Keertan with Charan Das She soon became proficient in Rabindra Sangeet and began writing under the penname, 'Hamdam'.

Gauhar Jaan made her debut performance in the court of the Dharbhanga Princely State (Bihar), at the age of 14 in 1887 She was soon appointed as the court musician In 1896, she started performing in Calcutta and was called as ‘First Dancing Girl’ in her records. In 1902, e Gramophone Company approached Gauhar Jaan to record India’s first ever record is was a major milestone in Indian Music Industry and Gauhar Jaan became the pioneer establishing her name in histor y for ever. She sang a Khayal in Raag Jogiya. e record format required the song to be 3 minute long Gauhar Jaan developed this format for them At the end of every song, she recited ‘My name is Gauhar Jaan’, which was a practice for records in those days. Gauhar Jaan charged 3000 rupees per sitting, which was a huge sum those days F W Gaisberg, the owner of Gramophone Company, noted that Gauhar never wore the same jewels or dress twice. Even her motorcade

was nothing less of royalty. Gauhar recorded more than 600 songs in 10 languages for them in next 18 years

In 1910, she visited Madras for a concert at Victoria Public Hall She impressed the Tamils so much that her songs were translated and published in Tamil Music B ooks By this time she was at the peak of her career e next year in 1911, King George V came to India for his coronation. Gauhar Jaan had the ultimate honour of performing during the coronation ceremony. She sang a duet ‘Ye hai Tajposhi ka Jalsa, Mubarak ho Mubarak ho’ with famous Jankibai of Allahabad

Mallika-e-Ghazal, Padma Shri, Akhtari Bai Faizabadi, popularly known as Begum Akhtar was one the most famous Ghazal, umri and Dadra genres of Hindustani Classical Music It is said that Akhtari

B egum wanted to pursue her career in Hindi Films. But aer listening to Gauhar Jaan, she gave up the idea of performing in films and started concentrating on Hindustani Classical Music Gauhar Jaan’s Sarangi player, Ustad Imdaad Khan became B egum Akhtar’s first teacher

Gauhar Jaan lived a lavish lifestyle. Nazrana for 1 sitting was 1000-3000 rupees, which was an outlandish sum even in

those days Some speculated that she made over one crore back in early 1900s, making her the richest, and one of the earliest Millionaires of India. She flaunted her money so much, that 12,000 rupees was spent on her cat’s marriage and another 20,000 on a party, when her cat gave birth to kittens When Gauhar went to perform in Datia, the entire train was booked for her. Cook, Cook’s assistants, private Hakeem, Dhobi, Barber and dozens of her servants travelled with her She was nothing less than a Diva of Divas en one fine day she decided to move out of Calcutta, and became the court singer of Darbhanga, and later Rampur. From there, she moved on to Bombay for a short period

On 1st August 1928, Gauhar Jaan was appointed as the Palace Musician in the cour t of Krishna R aja Wadiyar IV of Mysore. In less than two years, as she turned 56, her financial state was bad. She had lost most of her money to the lavish lifestyle she kept Her travel and lawsuits also costed her a fortune While she was still respected, her patrons were reduced and the inflow of gis and money had almost stopped On 17th Januar y 1930, Gauhar Jaan died almost penniless

A

e writer is a self-made IT entrepreneur, who is also a passionate heritage & history buff.

MAL ANA

A HISTORICAL EN IGM A

Set in the deep interiors of the Himalayas in the Himachal Pradesh state is Malana, a quaint solitar y v illage w ith a di stinc t identity. It i s di sting ui shed by its unique traditions, inimitable culture and an immaculate system of self-government that is said to be in existence for several hundred years. Almost cut off from the world till the late 20th centur y, this esoteric v illage and its inhabitants still remain secluded and unchanged to a great extent, making it an ideal subject for those interested in the study of social structures of a community that has retained its age old culture even in this fast chang ing world. It is also increasingly being considered for some serious trekking and hiking experiences by enthusiasts and nature lovers. Academician Dr. Preeti Singh w rites on Malana for the readers of NRI Achievers ...

Among the many reasons why Malana evokes great interest is the persistence of a set of such beliefs and theories regarding its histor y, which make it one of its kind in the world.

Said to be the oldest sur viving democracy and referred to as the “Athens of the Himalaya, ” Malana has still-in-use participator y political procedures, reminiscent of the ancient Greek system. It is also fasci-

nating to learn that the inhabitants of this village, called Malanis, claim Greek ancestr y, believing that they are the descendents of the soldiers of Alexander’s army, who stayed back and settled in the region. is

theor y has not yet been scientifically or historically substantiated, though it has not been completely rejected either ere is also a legend in Malana that Akbar, the Mughal Emperor, waived off all taxes on the inhabitants of this village and legitimized its independence, and ever since, Malana has been free of any external control is of course, is again one of the many interesting stories about this enigmatic village, and has no historical evidence to prove its veracity.

GEO GRAPHICAL LO CATION

Malana is situated below the Chandrakeni Pass, north-east of the Kullu Valley in Himachal Pradesh, at a height of 3029 m above sea level. It can be reached aer a one and half hour drive from Manali through a village called ‘Jari’ which lies at the confluence of Malana river and Manikaran stream. is is the least difficult of the three routes that lead to the beautiful green rimmed hamlet which overlooks the Deotibba and Chandrakheni peaks Malana has a census size of approximately 1700 inhabitants and is snow-bound during the months of December and Januar y. e village is divided into two par ts Upper region (Dhara Bheda) and Lower region (Sor Bheda) A spectacular view of the snow-clad Pirpanjal range of mountains makes this a truly enchanting place to see.

A UNIQUE IDENTIT Y

Nestled in nature’s arms, this historically obscure village continues to remain an enigma due to several reasons, foremost being Malana’s geographical location, which is such that it is not easily approachable even today A visit to Malana involves a treacherously uphill trek, though the earlier 18 hour climb is now considerably reduced to just 4 hours,

thanks to the construction of a motorable road However, the last stretch which involves a steep and arduous climb to Malana is still a challenge. e other reason for Malana continuing to remain largely aloof and unaffected by contemporar y civilization, is the persistent and adamant effort made by its inhabitants to preser ve a cultural heritage, which they go to great lengths to guard from outside influences. B eing largely isolated has actually helped Malanis to retain their unique identity e language spoken by these people is called “Kanashi”, which is unintelligible to outsiders. Classified as a SinoTibetan language related to Milchang, ‘Kanashi’ does not belong to the IndoAr yan group of languages is autochthonous dialect does not resemble any other dialect spoken in villages of the region. It also has no proved lexical link

with Greek and Macedonian languages. Another cause for the exclusivity of Malana is the existence of strict caste barriers wherein all outsiders, though not stopped from entering the village, are considered inferior and impure, and consequently untouchable. Visitors have to obey a litany of esoteric rules for example they must refrain from even touching and thus ‘defiling’ the walls of Malana houses or even the belongings of the villagers. Hey monetar y fines have to be paid in case of breach of this rule, earning the epithet ‘Village of Taboos’ for Malana at Malana has retained much of its separate identity and way of life is also highlighted with the obser vation that the nearest villages, Chowki and Kasol, have nothing in common with Malana.

HISTORY & THEORY OF ORIGIN

Ancient lore has it that the village of Malana was granted as a boon to Jamdagni Rishi or Jamlu devta, by Lord Shiva. e village was already under the control of the demon Banasura, who came in conflict with the sage e tussle for supremac y ended with an understanding on division of powers and duties between the two.

Even today, Malanis have unshaken faith in Jamlu devta who is not just the presiding deity, but who also controls the administrative and judicial matters of the village Banasura, the demon is ‘consulted’ for the selection of the village council members. During the two major festivals celebrated in Malana, ‘Badoh Mela’ (August) and ‘Fagdi Mela’ (Febr uar y) holy relics of Jamlu devta are kept on display ‘Goor’ a village inhabitant who is said to be possessed by the spirit of the deity, listens to the woes of villagers and suggests remedies e shrine of Renuka Devi, wife of Jamlu Devta, is located in Lower Malana, and is noteworthy for it’s beautiful architecture and decorative exterior.

ough the Greek origin theor y of Malanis caters to popular appeal,with a few words of ‘Kanashi’, physical features of the people and the bicameral political structure present in Malana appearing to be of Greek provenance, recent genetic-

typing of the Malani population is more consistent with an Indo-Ar yan origin. It is also popularly believed that Malana inhabitants are Rajputs, though according to Somnath akur, who conducted an interesting study on this village, the term ‘Rajput’ here should not be confused with the warrior clans f rom R ajasthan and other parts of India e Malanis follow certain Hindu rituals and are divided into the Dhamyani, Dhurani, Nagvani and Pachani sub-divisions in their community. Inter-

marriages are permitted between these sub-divisions, indicating absence of a rigid social categorization within the village

THE AU TONOMOUS ADMINISTRATIVE AND JUDICIAL SYSTEM

e centuries-old democratic set up and public f ramework that exists in Malana is its most striking feature Matters in Malana are dealt with by the village executive council called ‘Hakima’, with an Upper and Lower House, members of which are chosen by the villagers through a process of unanimous selection not an election e Upper House is called ‘Jeshthang’ and consists of three permanent members the ‘Goor’ and also the ‘Pujari’ and ‘Karmishtha’, with the former conducting religious rituals and ceremonies and the latter being the main administrative head of the village ‘Jeshthang’ also has eight chosen temporar y members in all, and one of them is called ‘Pradhan’.

e Lower House is called ‘Kanishthang’ and it comprises of the eldest member of each family of the village, who may be a male or female. e decisions of the Lower House are sent to the Upper House for a final verdict Ever y decision of the village requires the consent of the Lower house us all internal disputes are resolved by the villagers through their own judicial system. Four officers called ‘Fugaldars’ assist the ‘Jeshthang’ in maintenance of safety and security and for ensuring compliance of the decisions of the village council ere are strict rules for offences like the, elopement or misuse of ‘God’s treasure’. e village council also ensures preser vation of ecological heritage by prohibiting lighting of fire in the forest or fixing of nails on trees Hunting can be allowed only if the council permits and that too, only in cer tain months of the year. Malana is a role model of Gram Swaraj self governing, self efficient village administration

T H E V I L L AG E HOU SE S A N D STRUCTURES

Malana's village plan comprises of four concentric squares with the ‘Handula’ as the central community fireplace where the villagers assemble. It is surrounded by houses that are normally spacious and

have two or three storeys Each house has a name and specific purpose e ground floor, ‘Khudang,’ is used as a cattle shed and also for storing firewood and fodder. e first floor, ‘Gaying,’ is used by Malanis to store eatables and for weaving woollen fabric e top floor is ‘Pati’ or living quarters Original Malana houses are typically built in alternate bands of stone and timber, with the inner walls plastered with mud, while the outer walls are made of wood e flat stone roofs have a distinct style exclusive to the village Motifs on residential houses have no resemblance to those in the adjoining regions. Rest houses or ‘Dharamshalas’ have been built for pilgrims visiting the shrine of Jamdagni Rishi ese str uctures are richly decorated with wooden car vings, depicting figures of animals, flowers and trees. However the original structure of many a typical Malana house, and some temples

dedicated to Jamlu Devta, were gutted in a devastating fire that broke out in the village in Januar y 2008 Priceless ar tifacts and valuable historical material were lost in the tragedy and hundreds of Malana inhabitants were rendered homeless in the peak of winter. e houses that were rebuilt have metallic roofs and such material that was not used originally in building of dwelling structures in the village

S O C IA L L I F E A N D P O SI T ION OF WOMEN

Malanis are primarily simple people, with no elaborate rituals and ceremonies associated with their social life Moreover, with no distinct class-divide, all villagers have almost identical living standards, and there is great unanimity in the way rituals like marriages and last rites are conducted No priest is involved in conducting mar-

riages, called ‘Rakshasi’ by the locals, and are performed at an early age. Malani girls can marr y only within the village or grooms from just one more village Rasol, since Rasol worships goddess Renuka, the wife of Sage Jamlu. Even divorce, which is not uncommon, is a simple procedure, wherein the husband and wife start living separately, the former providing a house and food for the latter Divorced women can remarr y. Polygamy is practiced. Malanis cremate their dead on a funeral pyre in a special area assigned for that purpose ereaer, no elaborate customs and procedures are followed, except sacrificing a goat for the purification of the house

It is noteworthy that women of Malana enjoy a fairly good status in social life, with equal oppor tunity of par ticipation in all activities of the village In fact, they make up the main work force of the village and have a say in the matters of the village. Widow remarriage, adeqauate care of a divorced woman, remarriage aer divorce, women addressing their husbands by their names (contrar y to tradition in other areas in India), and absence of any discrimination in dispute redressal are some facts that authenticate this obser vation . Malana is thus egalitarian with regard to gender hierarchy

Residents here celebrate their two festivals or ‘Melas’ with much gaiety. Musical instruments called Nagaras, Shanani, Karnali, and Narsimgha are used as accompaniment to dancing and singing Men and women, though always dressed in traditional attire consisting of long ‘Lamas’ of wool, don the typical ‘Cholas’ ‘Kalgi’ (round caps) and tight ‘pyjamas’ during their festivals

ere is much to learn from the Malani social system ere is almost total absence of conflict and disharmony among

the inhabitants, who are not just peace loving, but also present an example of mutual faith and unity

e livelihood of Malana inhabitants is based on cattle rearing and farming, apart from collection and sale of herbs. Weaving for personal use is practiced in practically ever y house Cultivation of maize and wheat in rotation, and production of potatoes and ‘rajmah’ or kidney beans is also common.

M A L A NA A N D HASH I SH TRADE

In more recent times Malana had unwittingly earned a place on the world narcotics map, due to large scale cultivation of Cannabis the derivative plant for marijuana or Hashish ough cannabis grew wild for several years and was earlier used for making footwear, ropes and medicines by the locals, it was sometime in the 1970s and 80s that ‘Malana Cream,’ as the hashish extracted from the plant came to be called, became much sought aer by Europeans, leading to its global commercial potential being recognized worldwide Mytholog y and local lore talk about how

cannabis in abundance But for centuries the Malanis did not know of its use as a narcotic substance and never traded in it. It is only in the last fiy years or so that marijuanaphiles and the drug mafia has gradually drawn these simple villagers into the nefarious dr ug trade, especially for ‘Malana Cream,’ which has earned the dubious distinction of being the best quality hash in the world. Eventually, most of the locals have now got involved in cannabis cultivation, and for many years now, it is the main source of income for most Malana residents

Decades of mafia domination and a desire for quick cash has reduced this village with a rich histor y spanning thousands of years, to little more than a mere drug production facility Alternative cropping has been tried but has yielded little success, as cannabis cultivation has long been an integral part of Malana culture and is a way of life for these villagers e exclusivity and aloofness maintained by the inhabitants of Malana is also seen by some as a technique used by the people to retain their monopoly in hashish manufacture in the region However, failure of the government in providing alternate means of livelihood, while coming down with a heavy

hand on this hitherto primary source of income, has resulted in hardships for nearly 400 Malana families It is sad that they were drawn to toil on the wrong side of law, but earn a pittance for their produce, and are now le high and dr y financially. Although drug dealers have raked in millions through the sale of ‘Malana Cream,’ people in Malana have benefited little, so much so that today most of them live in squalor, with no proper infrastructure, sewage or health facilities.

C ONCLUSION

Malana has remained a source of curiosity for scholars and tourists for the past many years. e distinctiveness of it’s traditions, life-style and language is a valuable treasure in the socio-cultural histor y of India Earlier geographic, linguistic and social barriers contributed to its isolation from the rest of the world. But now this unique village is on the verge of succumbing to such influences which, though modern, may result in the gradual oblivion of a historical heritage It is our social responsibility to protect this endangered community from getting lost forever.

e writer is a teacher by profession having command over histor y & heritage

Lord Shiva blessed Malana with the ability to produce good quality

NRI ACHIEVERS

ÁèÌ ã àææÙ â

I N D I A S P O R A

who make thir motherland proud

With all the cultural varieties and variegation, the Indian Diaspora has a thread joining them into a garland and it is the essence of being an Indian, the unity in diversity Indian diaspora has over the past hundred plus years been making its way to myriad destinations across the globe, wherever opportunity beckoned ‘NRI ACHIEVERS’ magazine with its very much self explaining slogan “ÁèÌ ã àææÙ â” , that endeavours to connect our natives to the nation with a dear vision to become a platform and forum for Indian achievers spread out all across the globe

Postal regd No. dn/297/2013-2015

Date of Publication: 5th of ever y Month

Date of Posting: 8th & 9th of ever y Month