Sep 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

L ET T E R S M AT T E R

GIVE M ATTER ON CUISI N E

As a regular reader of your magazine, I would like to request you to write an ar ticle on cuisine as India is known for good & variety of foods Even if you star t with Indian states one by one & writing on their specialities, it will become a wonderful recipe to read Make some ar ticles on Indian culture also Foreigners loves Indian culture ver y much so you show our culture to them in your magazine. Hoping to see this type of ar ticle in your magazine. Thank you and all the best for future.

Ni s h ant Ku m ar, D e l h i

WH ERE IS VA ASTU

I am regular reader of your magazine. As always your magazine contain good content I wrote you earlier also that why there is no article on vaastu and now again I am asking you the same question I think many of your readers want information on Vaastu. Please do continue with vaastu again. Hope you publish this article again. ank you

Neetu Goel, Mumbai

IMPORTAN T DAYS

DATE COUN TRY DAY

September 1 Slovakia National day

September 1 Uzbekistan Independence Day

September 8 Macedonia Independence Day

September 9 Tajikistan National Day

September

September 16 Mex ico Independence Day

September 18 Chile Independence Day

September 21 Armenia Independence Day

September 22 Mali National Day

September 23 Saudi Arabia National Day

September 30 Botswana National Day

AW E S O M E COV E R STO RY

I r e a d y o u r m a g a z i n e , i t w a s m u c h b e t t e r t h a n o t h e r m a g a z i n e s A s t h e c o n t e n t s i n y o u r m a g a z i n e a r e r ea l l y g o o d a n d p a g e s a r e n i c e A n d s k e t c h o n y o u r m a g a z i n e ’ s c o v e r i s r e a l l y g o o d A r t i c l e a s c o v e r s t o r y i n t h e m e m o r y o f A P J A b d u l K a l a m w a s s i m p l y a w es o m e , w h o w a s o n e o f t h e m o s t i n t e l l i g e n t m e n e v e r. I l i k e y o u r c o v e r s t o r y v e r y m u c h T h a n k s f o r m a ki n g a c o v e r s t o r y o n A P J A b d u l K a l a m A n d a l l t h e b e s t f o r y o u r f u t u r e

To s t i Me h t a , U. K .

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

BUSINESS ASSOCIATE (DELHI) MANAGER-MARKETING (MUMBAI)

OVERSEAS ADVISORS

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KRITI RASTOGI

SUMIT SINGH

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SUMIT SINGH

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A SUMMER OF DISCONTENT ?

The past month of August has proven to be a month of mixed signals getting to the reigning NDA government, which has now completed almost 15 months (or 30%) of its current tenure.e ongoing bitterness roiled up by the One Rank One Pension (OROP) stir by veterans of the armed forces for a just and equitable framework for pension and a government that despite having wholeheartedly supported the demands during the run-up to its election now dragging its feet on the matter not to mention economic uncertainty injected by the Chinese crisis hitting Indian capital markets and indices tanking in response … enough to say that these and other matters are today sending a whole bunch of 'early warning' signals to the government.

is overall scenario peaks amidst the run-up to the Bihar elections, which is important for the government at the centre Tackling the new maha grand-alliance of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar with Lalu Prasad's RJD, with whom the INC too has chosen to throw its lot … is what the BJP faces in the state. All this taken together does present some uncertainty, which seems to be reflecting on markets. Industr y too, for the first ever time in India's parliamentar y histor y, took the hitherto unembarked step of opining on the need for parliament to function A sign of more assertive constituents ?

Coming to the current issue of NRI Achievers, our Cover Feature takes us back to our tried and tested Diaspora Connect theme. Indian Achievers profiles a bunch of 40-something Indians, who have chosen to return to India and create solutions for the countr y and the world. Realp olitik reflects the editorial line, lo oking at and analysing the various warning signals emanating from national security, economy, ser vices and other fronts that the government post-haste needs to act upon Heritage delves into the long tradition of Delhi's 'Phoolwalon ki Sair' Travelogue goes on a trip to Pahalgam in the J&K, while Silver Screen talks to Sushmita Sen. Of course news on milestone happenings and cinema are all there under News Scan, Business Buzz, PSU Buzz & Cineppets. Metaphysical Musings takes to your spiritual side, while we have a feature that fits both under Global Events as well as under In Focus, which will transport you to Uzbekistan More on that in our next issue as well Till then have a wonderful festive season ahead.

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

WORLD SKILLS COMPETITION 2015

India's Ministr y of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, along with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), are preparing an India contingent of 29 participants for the 43rd World Skills competition 2015 to be held in Sau Paulo, Brazil Widely known as the Skills Olympics, World Skills competitions are held in different countries ever y two years and brings together over 1,000 participants from all over the world to compete in more than 50 skills.

PIO GIRL, 12, BETTERS EINSTEIN'S IQ

A 12-year-old Indian-origin girl in the UK has achieved the highest possible score of 162 on a Mensa IQ test, outwitting physicists Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking Lydia Sebastian from Essex has joined the one percent of all entrants to attain the highest mark in the Cattell III B paper super vised by Mensa, the society for people with high IQs Lydia completed the paper with minutes to spare at the sitting at Birkbeck C ollege, London during her school holidays. “At first, I was really ner vous but once I started, it was much easier than I expected it to be and then I relaxed,“ said Lydia. She said the paper challenged her language skills, including analogies and definitions, and her sense of logic, the Guardian reported Lydia's father, Arun Sebastian, a radiologist at Colchester general hospital, said his daughter “had looked at the websites for the IQ tests herself and had shown an interest in them and talked to my wife about them.”

EYE ON UNSC SEAT, INDIA WOOS PACIFIC ISLANDS WITH INVESTMENTS

KHATTAR IN NEW YORK TO ATTRACT INVESTORS

e Chief Minister of Indian state Har yana, Manohar L al Khattar, recently went on an eight-day visit to the United States and Canada Khattar tweeted with the #HappeningHar yana hashtag: "Reached New York, thereby commencing my eight days visit to USA and Canada to attract investors to invest in our state." Khattar was accompanied by Finance and Industr y Minister Captain Abhimanyu and a team of senior bureaucrats He and his team intend to showcase Har yana as an investment destination in both the countries to woo foreign investors, including those from Har yana who are now settled in these countries.

India committed to support the Pacific Island countries' aspirations to the UN Security C ouncil, and invest in the ocean economy these island countries represent. Hosting the first regional summit of the NDA government, India was stitching a positive relationship with the Pacific Islands even as the India-Pakistan NSA talks were coming apart Anil Wadhwa, secretar y east in MEA, told journalists that there was widespread support by the Pacific Islands for India's candidature to the UNSC e summit itself has been a unique event, attended by leaders of all 14 Pacific Island countries. e leaders, who were officially welcomed by the President at the R ashtrapati Bhavan, toured the Taj Mahal before going to the summit meeting in Jaipur PM Narendra Modi said, “India will support the realization of your vision of Pacific regionalism

Snapdeal.com, India’s second-largest ecommerce firm, has raised US$ 500 million in a fresh round of investor funding led by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, Foxconn Technolog y and Sobank Group Existing investors Temasek, BlackRock, Myriad and Premji Invest also participated in the round. According to Reuters, this deal values Snapdeal at more than US$ 5 billion “ is investment in Snapdeal en-

AU DI, MERC, BMW TEA M U P TO BUY NOKIA H ERE M APS

hances our exposure to India’s burgeoning e-commerce industr y. Snapdeal has a strong presence in mobile commerce and it fits our strateg y of investing in innovative companies that are transforming the way people transact,” said an Alibaba spokeswoman via email

G er man car ma kers BMW, Audi and Merce des wi l l p ay around 2.5 bi l lion euros (US$ 2.8 bi l lion) to buy Nokia’s maps business, beating out high-tech ri-

vals for location ser vices seen as key to the future of self-driving cars e three wi l l hold e qua l st a kes in t he business, known as HERE, and the transaction is likely to close in the first quarter of 2016 e deal allows the auto makers to offer ne w premium fe atures, including autonomous driving, in their luxur y cars, sha king up t he p e cking order b etwe en car makers, parts suppliers and soware rivals such as Uber, Google or Apple

ENGI N EER TO PI LOT AI R I N DIA REVIVAL

A rai lway eng ine er cre dite d wit h restoring t he world’s oldest working ste am loc om ot ive to r u n a s t h e ‘Fai r y Q u e e n ’ b etwe en D el hi and Alwar has now b e en ent r uste d wit h t he unenviable t ask of reviving Air India. The gover nment chos e Mad hya Pradesh Tour ism D e velopment C or p orat ion chief Ashwani L ohani to b e t he next AI C hair man and MD “A lot of t h ou g ht h a s gon e i nto s e l e c t i ng t h e A I

chief,“ aviation secretar y R N Choubey said. Lohani will succeed senior IAS officer Rohit Nandan, w ho complete d four ye ars as AI chair man on Thurs day and is now emp anel le d as s e cret ar y Nandan has got a mont h’s extension to enable t he change of guard “ Tur naround sp e cia list“ L ohani wi l l b e work ing in clos e co ordinat ion wit h C houb e y, w ho was re cent ly broug ht in by t he PMO to sp e e d t hings up at t he aviat ion minist r y.

In d i G o, In d i a ’ s l a r g e s t a i r l i n e by d o m e s t i c m a r k e t s h a re h a s pl a c e d a f i r m ord e r for 2 5 0 A i r bu s A 3 2 0 ne o ( ne w e ng i n e opt i on ) a i rc r a f t , w it h a l i s t pr i c e of U S $ 2 6 . 5 bi l l i on . T h e n i n e - y e a r- o l d L C C ( l o w c o s t c a r r i e r ) n o w h a s 5 3 0 A i r bu s a i rc r a f t s on ord e r, a n d h a s s o f a r re c e i v e d 1 0 0 of t he m In te r ms of nu mb e r of pl ane s ord e re d i n one go, Ind i G o ’ s ord e r f or 2 5 0 a i rc r a f t i s t h e bi g g e s t e v e r In t e r m s o f v a l u e o f p l a n e s o r d e r e d , i t i s s e c o n d o n l y t o t h e 2 0 0

w i d e - b o d y A i r b u s a n d B o e i n g a i r c r a f t o r d e r e d by E m ir a t e s a t t h e D u b a i a i r s h o w i n No v e m b e r 2 0 1 3 , w i t h a c ombi n e d l i st pr i c e of U S $ 9 9 bi l l i on . In d i G o, In d i a ’ s on ly c ons i ste nt ly prof it abl e ai rl i ne w h i ch h a s pl a c e d re c ord ord e r s of 1 0 0 , 1 8 0 s i n c e 2 0 0 5 a n d n ow 2 5 0 A 3 2 0 s , w i l l g e t t h e l at e s t ord e re d p l a n e s b e t w e e n 2 0 1 8 a n d 2 0 2 6 A

e Metals & Minerals Trading Corporation of India (MMTC) now plans to impor t Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) f rom the spot market to meet fuel demand of a fertilizer plant, according to the state-r un megalith’s CMD Ved Prakash MMTC wants to capitalize on international gas prices halving to about

US$ 7-8 per million BTU (British ermal Unit) and impor t LNG in ships at spot or current rates “LNG prices were

r uling at US$ 18-20 … now it is quite economical for the fer tilizer industr y, ” says Ved Prakash “A fertilizer company, to whom we were supplying potash, had approached us for arranging LNG

B H E L COM M I S S I O N S

50 0 MW TH E R M A L U N IT

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has added one more coalbased power plant to the grid by successfully commissioning the 500 MW

Unit-13 of Vindhyachal Super ermal Power Station (STPS) Stage-V, of NTPC. e project is located in Vindhyanagar in the Singrauli district of Madhya Pradesh. Significantly, BHEL has earlier commissioned 6 units of 500 MW rating each at the Vindhyachal power station With the commissioning of this unit, BHEL has now commissioned 7 sets of 500 MW, aggregating to 3500 MW, the highest by BHEL in a power project.

PRASAR BHARATI & DIGITAL TV RUSSIA SIGN MOU

P r a s a r B h a r at i a n d D i g it a l Te l e v i s i on Russ i a ( DT R ) , Russ i a ’ s nu mb e r one PayT V pro g r a m m e r, s i g n e d a Mo U i n Aug ust to fo c us on h i g h qu a l it y pro du c t i on , market ing and dist r ibut ion of content relate d to ar t, c u lture, t rade and s cience, res e a rc h a n d t e c h n o l o g y, e t c . Joi nt pro du c t i on a n d e x c h a n g e of T V prog r ams and rel ate d s e r v i c e s w i l l g ive au d i e nc e s i n b ot h c ou nt r i e s an unpre ce dente d access to a r ich var iet y of t hemat ic enter t ainment and fac tua l content The MoU was sig ne d by Jaw har Sircar, Pras ar Bharat i C E O, and D m it r y Me d n i kov and Ay u na B a d ma e v a , re pre s e nt at ive s of D i g it a l Tel e v is i on Russ i a , i n Ne w D el h i.

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Q1

State-owned Power Grid C or poration of India Ltd (PGCIL) today reported a 20.2 per cent rise in its June quarter standalone net profit at Rs 1,366 51 crore, helped by higher income from operations e company ' s net profit in the corresponding quarter last fiscal stood at Rs 1,136.51 crore, PGCIL said in a regulator y filing. Total income from operations during the quar ter under review increased by 19 6 per cent to Rs 4,717 55 crore as against Rs 3,941.85 crore in the same period a year ago.

POWER GRI D CORPOR ATION

N ET PROFIT U P OVER 20% AT RS 1,367 CRORE

GURMANT GREWAL AN I RON M AN OF CANADIAN PARLIA MENT?

Gur mant Singh Gre wal i s a Canadian politician and for mer Conser vative Par ty of Canada MP. Gur mant and w ife Nina Gre wal were in fact the ver y first mar r ied couple to ser ve in the Canadian House of Commons together. He was first elected to the House of Commons on June 2, 1997 for the r iding of Sur re y Central and re-elected on November 27, 2000. He has represented the r iding of Ne w ton Nor th Delta f rom 2004 till 2006 as well. His w ife represents Fleetwood Por t Kells. Bor n in Bar undi, Punjab state, India, Gur mant g re w up in Ludhiana, g raduating f rom the Punjab Ag r icultural University. While not much is in the public domain about his childhood, boyhood and youth in India, the man himself shared some details w ith the NRI Achievers team which spoke to him dur ing his v isit to Ne w Delhi recently :

I“belong to Ludhiana in Punjab, in a village called Pul Sudhar. In 1965, when I was 8 and in school, I got the opportunity to welcome US Vice President Hubert Horatio Humpfrey, when he came to our region to inaugurate a hospital in Gurusar Sudhar. Our government at that time was more inclined towards the Soviet Union But many central and state government ministers were there to welcome him His caravan was of 2 to 3 kilometres long, a spectacle I was seeing for the first time in my life. My parents were teachers, who used to keep both me and my brother Manmohan rather well groomed We were also good singers, so we were invited to sing a song for him. He was ver y impressed with us, and gave us a certificate in which it was written: ‘Admit card to the Vice President Galler y US Senate Chamber, an invitation,’ and below that there was his signature in gold. We didn’t know the value of this piece of paper at that time. But aer finishing my

matriculation, when we came to Delhi and showed this certificate at the US embassy, we were told that they were obliged to give us a US visa and that we will never be denied one ever is was when my desire to ser ve the people got kindled ”

“Aer matric, I went on to do my B.Sc. Honours in Agriculture from Punjab Agricultural University, aer which I did an MBA and got to join the D CM Group’s ‘Shriram Fertilizers,’ as a middle level manager. Aer a while I felt restless, so I took to seeking a better opportunity. In time, I got job with a British company, where I was selected from among 700 candidates, and was offered a station of my choice I chose northern India

“ en came matrimony, and it so happened that my in-laws were settled in Africa So I le India for Liberia in West Africa Liberia had become independent in 1847 and it is the only countr y outside of the United States where the official tender is the US Dollar. eir ships are also

registered in largest quantity. Me and my brother Manmohan Grewal star ted the business of pest control with a meagre amount of six (6) dollars We got to do a job at the home of the British Ambassador, and we managed to earn 600 USD. us began our endeavour, and this is in fact how we got to establish our business Later we went on to diversif y into agricultural chemicals, pesticides We got the privilege to represent the global company ‘ICI’ in the Liberia. We introduced electronic telephone systems in the countr y. In fact, we even went to the extent of suggesting the replication of India’s green revolution to the president of Liberia, and the response was positive. In a way our host countr y also benefited by this measure in terms of growing more food and elevating poverty, and in retrospect, that helped us indeed with our getting good business ”

Gurmant Grewal’s interests were not only focused upon growing his business, he also took interest in academics, and has served as an expatriate Assistant Professor at the University of Liberia In the year

1991, Grewal immigrated to Canada, where he wholeheartedly plunged into Canadian politics, apart from spending time with his commercial ventures that took care of his livelihood Within 6 years, he managed to get elected as a Member of Parliament for the Reform Party of Canada, in the federal riding of Surrey Central in 1997 Next in the 2000 federal elections he won by getting 29,812 votes, 51 6% of the popular vote a margin of 10,300 votes more than the Liberal candidate. As a MP sitting in the caucus of the Reform Party from 1997 to 2000, the Canadian Alliance from 2000 to 2003 and then for the Conser vative Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006, Grewal has held the positions of Deputy House Leader of the Official Opposition of Canada (19982000); as the Official Opposition Chief Critic for several portfolios including Foreign Affairs, Multiculturalism, Scrutiny of Regulations, for Canadians Abroad, for Asia Pacific and for Foreign Affairs (19972004). He was one of only two Opposition MPs to Chair any committee of the Parliament; he was Chairman of a Joint Standing

Committee of the House and Senate for Scrutiny of Regulations, elected for 7terms He has been the first minority to Chair any parliamentar y committee and as Deputy Opposition House Leader since 1867. With his wife, Nina Grewal, winning a seat in the 2004 federal election, the Grewals became the first married couple to ser ve concurrently in the House of Commons or in any Commonwealth parliament.

“When I migrated to Canada, I was no politician. But aer settling down in Canada, I saw that minorities particularly Asians had to reckon with a lot of partiality and discrimination, and they were not getting equal opportunities. Due to poor representation, our position was not so good, so I ultimately decided to take to politics as a means of alleviating the lot of Indians (and Asians) I recall how in Africa I was called the white man while in Canada the brown man. I became the first minority candidate of the Reform Party of Canada It was my privilege to initiate all work for the minority ethnic communities in Canada I managed to accomplish all this in a mere 5 years and 8 months aer immigrating to Canada. I have ser ved three terms as a MP and my wife is currently in her 5th term as a MP In my stints, I have the distinction of having introduced more than 50 Bills, while any average MP gets to introduce a mere 4-5 bills during their tenures. I used to also give the maximum number of speeches, once in one session I gave 87 speeches of 10, 20 and 40 minutes while the average MPs gave 6 speeches.” I also hold a record in consecutive voting. Once there was such a marathon votes that according to the procedures, have to be consecutive without interruption that lasted for 53 hours and I was the only MP who voted continuously.

e Guinness B ook of World Records in-

Gurmant Grewal with Dlai

formed that it was a world record but they could not open the new categor y.

When India conducted the Pokhran nuclear tests in 1998, Canada expressed its unhappiness and in a knee-jerk reaction, recalled their diplomats f rom India and Pakistan, at the same time imposing trade sanctions Gurmant Grewal was Deputy House Leader and became official opposition critic for foreign affairs, aka the government’s opposition shadow minister.

In my view it was a ver y serious issue, both countries were in tension and war could have happened I felt the need to take some strong leadership actions I did my research, put all relevant facts together, convinced my leaders that Canada was taking a wrong step, and that we should stand up to avert disaster I had convinced our leader to go to India, we had to go against Canadian government orders to make the trip. On the 18th of July 1998, I, my opposition leader, Preston Manning, MP B ob Mill and an assistant made it to India is delegation was the first foreign one to visit India aer the nuclear tests If Dr Grewal had not taken this visionary action, the Indo-Canada relationship would have remained frostier for a longer time.

“Our embassy shadowed us ever ywhere Our presence had a positive impact on Indian leaders e Indian government arranged high-level meetings for us including with president of India Dr. KR Naraynan. We met the president and he gave us the nuts and bolts of the nuclear policy of India e meeting, originally set to last 20 minutes, lasted almost an hour Subsequently, we also held meetings with many senior ministers and ministries, and ours turned out to be one successful mission We went back to Canada and I did ever ything to make the Canadian government to roll-back all sanctions. We got diplomats sent back to India and Pakistan.

en our PM, Mr. Jean Chretien, in recognition of my efforts had offered twice that I join his Liberal Par ty and thus a Cabinet Minister, but being a man of principle, I have regretfully turned down his offers But I do have ver y good relations with almost all cross sections of the Canadian polity. In India too, I have had ver y good relations with most of the Indian leaders and have met with Dr Manmohan Singh, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L al Krishan Adwani, Yashwant Sinha, Pranab Mukherjee, and others... I.K. Gujral was my personal friend.“

Grewal has raised many issues that have benefitted the visible minorities in Canada, including the Indian Diaspora He had initiated and raised the issue of India’s dual citizenship and had appeared as a witness before the High Level Committee of Indian Diaspora led by Dr L M Singhvi Dr Grewal made the case that India must capitalize on the people of Indian origin living abroad and the dual cit-

izenship would keep them and their future generations connected with India their motherland. He is also credited with raising the issue of recognition of foreign credentials in Canada He is the one who lobbied the governments of both countries for opening of a Canadian Consulate Office in Chandigarh. He also raised many other issues including Calling for an inquir y into Air India Tragedy of 1985, an Apolog y of Komagata Mar u racism tragedy of 1914, reducing the discriminator y head tax on new immigrants and the right of landing fee was eventually cut into half, a bond or guarantee system to facilitate visitor’s visa, removing hyphenation of Canadians so that all Canadians are treated equal, exposed corr uption in Canadian missions among others. Nina Grewal, Gurmant’s spouse, is the first South Asian woman to have been elected to Canadian Parliament, and continues to ser ve her fih term as MP. Gurmant has accompanied two Prime Minister during

Gurmant Grewal with Prince Charles

their official visits to India. Nina Grewal has accompanied Canadian PM Stephen Har per twice on official visits to India B oth Gurmant and Nina are co-founders of the Canada-India Parliamentar y Friendship Group, of which Gurmant has also been elected a Chairman.

Talking about the Diaspora and his efforts to smoothen their way into Canadian society and the economy, and his current endeavours and preoccupations, Gurmant Grewal shared this with the NRI Achievers editorial team: “At one point in time, many qualified Indian professionals like doctors and engineers who came to live in Canada faced a problem regarding recognition of their qualifications, and were forced to find employment as taxi drivers, petrol pump attendees, shopkeeper’s assistants, and cleaners etc I was disturbed by this and took it upon myself to get this problem sorted out. Even facing some opposition from my own party members, I was all for it I said make the pie bigger, create more jobs Ultimately, I got recognition for foreign credentials successfully initiated

I am a proud Canadian, but I am also prou d of my Ind i an or i g i n . D r. Gre w a l has me t w it h ove r 6 0 He a ds of St ate s , Pr i me Mi n iste rs and Pre s i d e nt s of t he world and has rais ed many issues of international concerns

“Presently I am out of Parliament and into business. I am in the process of high density modern apple orchards with my ver y able team led by Dr Amarjit Jatana, a veteran in this field for some 35 years now, and are credited with being the first one to introduced ‘stickered’ apples in India, during 1997-98. We also have Non Resident Indian R ajesh Satija collaborating with us, whom you had featured in one of your earlier issues Together between us, we have so far about 320 acres of apple cultivation. As of now, we are the largest

apple growers in Atlantic Canada and the four th largest in all of Canada It is my projection that if ever ything goes well, we will be the largest in next couple of years. My family and I had gone to Prince Edward Island in the year 2007 I saw huge potential there, as the land was extremely good and as a matter of fact, rather inexpensive then. So, I envisioned to do something and put a team together. Our apples are of the choicest and premium varieties, our main variety is called ‘Honey Crisp’ and we have a 65% hold of this premium variety “In July 2000, while travelling in Central and Eastern Europe, I had gone to Georgia, a former Soviet republic and now independent countr y I even had the occasion to meet the Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze and interact with him I shared my thoughts and ideas on current trends in world affairs and gave him certain suggestions, which he liked. at apart, Georgia has great geographic positioning in Europe, an excellent climate, rich soil, and is eminently suited for fruit orchards. So we went in for orchards there, and we now have 170 acres of apples and other fruits in Georgia as well So much so that we are labelled one of the largest fruit grower in Eastern Europe ” Gurmant was bestowed by the famous Caucasus University an Honorar y Ph.D. in Political Science

and Diplomacy in 2012 He has also been given the World Sikh Award and Queens Diamond and Golden Jubilee Medals Nina and Gurmant has two sons, the elder Japjot is finishing his degree in medicine in the USA and Livjot has finished his MS c in Governance and Public Administration with Merit f rom London School of Economic and pursuing his Law degree in the US. Liv also worked in the strategic communication in the Prime Minister’s Office

As his next big project, Gurmant wants to start an NGO dealing with the serious international challenges faced by humanity and writing a book that he feels will move and shake in politics based on his experiences

All said and done, the Grewals come across as Canadians who are proud of their Indian origins, and keen to contribute towards the strengthening of bonds and relations between Canada and India, on the diplomatic, political, economic and people to people fronts

Rajeev Gupta

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.

Grewal Family - Livjot, Gurmant, Japjot & Nina at home

Sundar Pichai google.co.i n ...

With Google creating its ow n parent company, Alphabet, there’s a bit of mov ing about in its boardroom. Lar r y Page i s now CEO of Alphabet, and Sergey Brin its president. And mov ing up to be in charge of G oogle i s 43-year-old Sundar Pichai. Great ne ws for Pichai, and good ne ws too for India too his appointment makes him the latest Indian to step into a massively high-profile job in the US technolog y indu str y. Pichai’s stor y is remarkable, and his rise to the top of G oogle i s endors ement indeed of India’s standing in the global technolog y arena, and equally, a reassur ing reminder of the s o-called “Amer ican Dream”. We have featured Sundar earlier, s o we br ing you a stor y w ith a different slant in thi s i ssue of NRI Achievers ...

Pichai was born and schooled in Chennai, India He captained his school’s cricket team, leading it to win regional competitions. He studied Metallurgical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technolog y in Kharagpur (IIT Kharagpur) According to one of his tutors, quoted in the Times of India, Pichai was the “brightest of his batch”. He has evidently used his talent to great effect at

Google, a company he joined in 2004. Products under his watch include Google’s web browser, Chrome, as well as the Android mobile operating system Android is by far the world’s most popular mobile OS a fact made perhaps more startling by the fact Pichai’s family did not possess a telephone until he was 12 years old

Pichai’s upbringing was humble His family lived in a two room apar tment Pichai didn’t have a room he slept on the living room floor, as did his younger brother e family didn’t own a television or a car But Pichai’s father planted the seeds of technolog y into his boy’s mind, par tly thanks to his job at British conglomerate General Electric Company (not to be confused with the American General Electric) “I used to come home and talk to him a lot about my work day and the challenges I faced,” Regunatha Pichai told Bloomberg. Aer graduating f rom IIT Kharagpur, Pichai was offered a scholarship at the ultimate breeding ground of tech geniuses Stanford

Pichai’s appointment is par t of a restr ucturing that will end with a rather “slimmed-down” company. is smaller,

search-focused Google will be the largest subsidiar y of a new parent company called Alphabet With Page leaving to head Alphabet, the position of Google CEO became available. Page said Pichai was the natural choice to lead Google … . Pichai “has really stepped up since October of last year, when he took on product and engineering responsibility for our internet businesses Sergey and I have been super excited about his progress and dedication to the company, ” Page said in a blogpost. “I feel ver y fortunate to have someone as talented as him to r un the slightly slimmed down Google and this frees up time for me to continue to scale our aspirations. I have been spending quite a bit of time with Sundar, helping him and the company in any way I can, and I will of course continue to do that ”

“Sundar has been saying the things I would have said (and sometimes better!) for quite some time now, and I’ve been tremendously enjoying our work together,” wrote Larr y Page in his blogpost announcing all the big changes that took place last fortnight. Larr y Page and Sergey Brin have been hands-off with Google’s

day-to-day running for sometime, and so, in Pichai’s life, this August 10th announcement was simply making it official His remit is best summed up as Google’s core products the bits that make the real money. at includes search, advertising, maps and YouTube. He has challenges to navigate, like YouTube’s increasingly intense battle with Facebook in the video space e social network has dramatically increased the amount of video being watched on its site but YouTube still holds the title of most popular, at least for now Page went on to say that Pichai will continue to stretch boundaries and ensure that Google “ can continue to make big strides on our core mission to organize the world’s information”.

Colin Gillis, technolog y analyst at B GC Par tners in New York, said Pichai’s appointment was a smar t move given the current fight for talent in technology. With Twitter and others looking for new bosses, the former Android and Chrome executive is on top of many head-hunter lists “My sense is he is someone in high demand,” said Gillis. Offering him the top job at Google may keep him in the fold.

Sundar Pichai & his Wife

Apart from all the above, so much has already been written and spoken about Sundar Pichai in various media vehicles, that we thought of bringing you some information about the man that is not too well known or less written about Here goes 

In Februar y 2014, Pichai was rumored to have been in active negotiations with Microso to become it’s third CEO. When he was almost lured away to Microso, Google reportedly renegotiated to retain Pichai for US$ 50 million a year in stocks

 Pichai tends to walk it out when he’s deep in thought It’s not unusual for him to wander away in the middle of a meeting, only to return with the solution to whatever problem is being discussed.

 Sundar’s full name is Pichai Sundararajan. ough he had a modest upbringing, he’s now worth a reported US$ 150 million.

with McKinsey & Company. He joined Google in 2004, when he was asked to lead product management for Google Chrome and Chrome OS At Google, Pichai is described as so-spoken, and well liked He is also very popular among developers he runs Google’s annual developer event, I/O He has been involved with Google Drive and went on to oversee Gmail and Google Maps as well. 

In 2011, Pichai drew attention when he was considered to lead products and replace Jason Goldman at Twitter He chose to stay with Google 

 His father, an electrical engineer, had to save for three years to buy the family a new scooter, but made sure Pichai and his brother had the best education the family could afford  Pichai’s father told media that he believes his talking to young Sundar about the challenges in his work as an electrical engineer at GEC led to his son ’ s interest in technolog y  When Sundar won a scholarship to Stanford, his father has to withdraw more than his annual salar y from the family’s savings to fly him to the United States. 

Prior to joining Google, he did management consulting

In 2013, Pichai took over Android founder Andy Rubin’s portfolio to run mobile platforms. He was also entrusted with wooing more than a billion global users to the Android ecosystem.  According to Business Insider, Pichai was skilled at staying out of politics and drama at Google When he reported to Marissa Mayer, he reportedly sat outside her office for hours, if necessar y, to make sure his team had good performance reviews  “Android One,” Pichai’s pet project designed to provide affordable smartphones in all households worldwide, launched in India in September 2014  Pichai is credited with tr ying to convince WhatsApp founder Jan Koum not to sell to Facebook He also helped Page convince Nest’s Tony Fadell to merge his company with the Google team, among other things.  Dieter Bohn at e Verge describes Pichai’s office as “clean to the point of being spartan” and noted that this simplicity was reflected in his demeanor  Now married to his childhood-love Anjali, whom he dated in India before she joined him in the United States, Pichai is the father of two.  Pichai is known for his so-spoken and diplomatic nature

Pichai has an unusual gi that seemed little more than a curiosity to him when he was a child, but has ser ved him incredibly well in adulthood: he has insane numerical recall and can remember ever y number he’s ever dialed.

“S i n c e j oi n i n g G o o g l e i n 2 0 0 4 , Su nd ar h a s l e d a nu mb e r of ke y c ons u m e r p r o d u c t s w h i c h a r e n ow u s e d by hu nd re ds of m i l l i ons of p e opl e and, pr i or to h i s c u r re nt rol e, s e r ve d a s G o o g l e ’ s S V P of And roi d, C h rome and App s , ” a c c ordi ng to t h e d o c u m e nt s f i l e d w it h t h e S ec u r it i e s an d E xch ange C om m i s s i on . “If t h e re ’ s any b o dy t h at c ou l d t a ke ove r a s

C E O o n e d ay, I w o u l d s e e S u n d a r a s b e i n g a g r e at c h o i c e f o r d o i n g t h at , ” Ma a r t e n Ho of t , p a r t n e r at t h e v e nt u re c apit a l f ir m Q uest Venture Par t ners had t o l d B u s i n e s s In s i d e r l a s t y e a r Ho o f t an d Pi ch ai h a d wor ke d to ge t h e r for s i x ye ar s b e t we e n 2 0 0 6 an d 2 0 1 2 “ T h e re ’ s a l ot of s m ar t p e opl e [ at G o o g l e ] , but i n t e r m s o f t h e c o n s u m e r p r o d u c t s h e ’ s

wor ke d on s o f ar, I d ou bt t h e y wou l d b e a s s u c c e s s f u l w i t h o u t S u n d a r b e i n g t h e re . ” In a d d it i on t o b e i n g w e l l l i k e d , Pi ch ai h a s b e e n pre v i ou s ly d e s c r i b e d a s t h e “ m o s t p owe r f u l m an i n m o bi l e ” an d t h e “ m an b e h i n d G o o g l e ’ s m o s t i mp ort ant pro du c t s ”

FL AVOU RS OF UZBEKISTAN

Roughly around the time of presenting this mini photo essay on Uzbekistan, Uzbekistan is busy playing host to whole horde of music makers, singers and performing ar tists from across the globe, who have converged on the famous Uzbek city of Samarkand to partake in an International Music Festival, the “Sharq Taronalari,” (or “Melodies of Orient”) One of our senior editors, Rajeev Gupta, is touring the countr y as a guest of the Uzbek Government & the only journalist from India, both to cover the festival and to bring you the flavours of this historic central Asian republic that was a birthplace to Babur and the moguls We bring you this to titillate your palate before we present extensive stories in our forthcoming issues

Registan square - Registon maydoni Makoni

Uzbekistan Is Paradise O f Fruits O'zbekiston Jannat Mevalar Makoni

Sharq Talonalari Logo

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SUMMER OF DISCONTENT

EARLY WARN I NG SIGNALS FOR MODI

One of the most hear t-w renching images on the eve of this year ’ s Independence Day celebrations was that of an old soldier, w ith an array of war medals dangling from his torn shir t, weeping in anger and shame because he had been manhandled by policemen wielding canes and lathis. He was just one of dozens of battle-scarred militar y veterans who have been peacefully protesting in the hear t of the Indian capital against the inexplicable delay in implementing the ‘One Rank One Pension’ (OROP) policy.

Another astonishing visual was that of a hither to unknown 22year-old youth leading public rallies by half a million members of the Patel community in the Prime Minister’s home

State of Gujarat, to demand inclusion in the quota system for government jobs and school admissions Television footage showed uniformed policemen smashing the windshields of parked cars with their

lathis, and demonstrators setting buses and even police stations on fire. E arlier, there were tumultuous scene in the Indian Parliament as well as agitations by farmers, labour unions, and even students of a film

institute Leading industrialists have begun voicing concern over the slow pace of economic reforms and the slow growth of the economy.

Fieen months aer coming into power, the Narendra Modi government is finding the going tougher than expected With each passing week new problems and predicaments seem to crop up making it all the more difficult to cope with.

On the economic front, there is no certainty that the volatility in global markets will not adversely impact India ere is no clarity on whether the erratic monsoon rains will ease the agrarian crisis. ere is no guarantee that banks will get rid of their huge volume of toxic debts aka 'NonPerforming Assets' (NPA) any time soon, or that the rupee will stabilize, that sagging exports will look up, that the GST Bill will be passed even if a special session of Parliament is held, that the slump in the housing market will perk up soon, that the flight of foreign capital will be reversed, that onion prices will fall.

Nat iona l s e c ur ity is a ls o under st rain.

There is no sig n of guns fa l ling si lent on t h e b ord e rs T h e t h re at of te r ror i s t att a ck s c ont i nu e s to l o om l arge. Ye t anot her round of p e ace t a l ks wit h Pa kist an h a s c ol l ap s e d. T h e l i s t of n e g at ive s i s s e e m i ng ly l ong R e a s s u r i ng s t ate m e nt s by of f icia l sp okesp ers ons t hat a l l is wel l and t he nat ion wi l l s o on b e on t he move a g ai n are b e g i n n i ng to s ou n d i n c re a si ng ly u n c onv i n c i ng . T h e s t r ate g y of blaming t he pre vious gover nment for a l l t he i l ls of to d ay is prov ing less and less ef fe c t ive And p ointe d quest ions are b eg inning to b e aske d.

Is there a discord between the Reser ve Bank and the Finance Ministr y? If not, why is the interest rate not being reduced in spite of historically low oil impor t prices? How else can business and industr y get the kick-start it badly needs?

Where are the much-promised inf rastructure projects and the 'Make in India' investments? And where are the millions of promised jobs?

What is the Patidar Patel stir all about? Do they really want reser vations or is this

some devious strateg y to tr y to scrap the reser vation polic y altogether? Is a young man barely out of college really the sole leader or are other political forces behind the sur prising impact of the agitation? Why is this upper caste revolt taking place in Gujarat? Is Chief Minister Anandiben not a Patidar Patel herself? Does the Finance Minister Saurabhbhai also not belong to the same caste and community? Is that not true of the Health Minister and the Energ y Minister as well?

Is the famous Gujarat model of development not working? en why is it that Hardik Patel is claiming that small and medium traders and entrepreneurs in Gujarat are being suffocated under the government’s Vibrant Gujarat polic y that favours only mega industrial houses and big global investors and multi-national corporations? If the Gujarat model doesn’t really work in Gujarat, will it work in the rest of the countr y?

It is almost as if 15 months aer occupying the Prime Minister’s chair, Narendra Modi seems to have realized that imple-

mentation of ideas and policies is the most difficult thing to achieve in a countr y of India’s size, diversity and internal pulls and pushes ere are just too many people, too many castes and creeds and religions, too many States and too much income disparity. And too many vested interest groups and even too much politics, corruption and greed

Even though nobody in ruling party circles has openly admitted it till now, realization is also dawning among Ministers and party leaders alike that the previous Prime

Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, did not do too badly aer all during his decade-long tenure If he looked indecisive and even disinterested during the second half of his second term it was probably because he was unable to cope with the c running the country and convinced himself that India could, perhaps, be ungovernable under the present democratic system.

One-fourth of the Modi government’s term of 60 months has elapsed. Voices of dissatisfaction are beginning to be heard At least some of those who had enthusiast ica l ly supp or te d Mo di in Apr i l-May 2014 are now b eginning to have s econd thoughts. ere are signs of a gradual but unmistakable change in the mood of various sections of the citizenr y Whether it is army veterans pleading in vain for one rank one pension, or peasants and farmers worried ab out reforms that will lead to forcible acquisit ion of t heir land, or

captains of industr y openly voicing their impatience, or students in premier educational institutes fearing cultural imp osition, of higher caste youth even in his own home St ate of Gujarat holding sur pr isingly aggressive public demonstrations

T he re sp ons e f rom gove r n me nt and r uling p ar t y l e a d e rs has l argely b e e n to e it he r i g nore su ch publ i c outc r i e s or to d ow np l ay t h e m a s l it t l e m ore t h a n minor er upt ions of protest f rom is olate d ve ste d i nte re st g roup s But publ i c opi ni on is by natu re f i ck l e. G o o dw i l l has t he p ot e nt i a l t o e v ap or at e ov e r n i g ht . Not p ay i n g h e e d t o e a r l y w a r n i n g s i g n a l s c ou l d b e c ou nte r- pro du c t ive

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

B R AI N BAN K

I N DIA

T H E R E T U R N O F T H E P R O D I G A L S

As recently as last week, India’s Finance Mini ster Ar un Jaitle y, speaking as the Chief Guest at the 3rd convocation of the National Law Universit y, aver red that india’s days of brain drain were over, for we have today become the world’s brain bank. Gone are the days of ‘ g rey eminence’, he said, where people needed to pers evere till the y were 60 to achieve excellence: “ere was a time when old age meant ex cellence … [today] people in their 30s reach the acme of their careers … CEOs, Law yers, D oc tors, Eng ineers, E ditors … . Most of the developed world is today shor t of skilled people … [and] we have a sur plu s of human [capital]

What he said is indeed evident, as Indians and people of Indian origin in the diaspora scale new heights – be it to head large multinational technolog y firms, or helm global megaliths offering financial ser vices and banking. Not merely that, a whole bunch of young, second generation indian diaspora are busy building some of the most interesting startups in that mecca of entrepreneurship, the fabled Silicon Valley of the US. But what clinches the deal and proves Jaitley’s point is the home-truth that hordes of senior level Indian engineers, executives and managers are making a beeline back to India, to set up businesses and become our new-age tycoons Bitten by the entrepreneurship bug, leaving cushy and comfortable jobs in the West to explore wealth creation in India, these returning prodigals are attracted by the innovative ways in which indian startups are tr ying to solve some of the biggest challenges facing India and the world Ghar Wapsi of a different kind ? NRI Achievers compiles a brief dossier on our gen-X returnees

PEEYUSH R ANJAN |41| H EAD OF ENGI N EERI NG – FLI PK ART

Was Abroad For: 18 years | Experience: HP, M icrosoft, G oogle | Returned: 2015

Peeyush R anjan made news when he quit Google’s engineering team in Silicon Valley and moved to Bangalore to become Head of engineering at India’s top online retailer, Flipkart Ranjan previously headed engineering for Google’s Android One, the project to conceive low-cost phones for emerging markets. B efore that, he drove engineering for the Google-owned Value Devices division of Motorola Ranjan returned to India aer nine years at Google and two decades in the United States. He was among the first technologists to make the move but since then many known Silicon Valley names have quit top jobs in the US to join India’s booming e-commerce and star t-ups sector Peeyush saw in e-commerce the capability to dramatically improve the quality of life in India. Having grown up in the small and not-so-prosperous town of Muzaffarpur in Bihar, the transformational potential of e-commerce – its ability to give remote consumers access to the best of products and small sellers a global reach – was particularly alluring So when Flipkart reached out to him, it did not take him long to decide to chuck his job at Google and move to India Ranjan graduated in computer science from IITKharagpur in 1995 and went to Purdue University, US, for an MS. He has worked at Microso, HP and three startups, including one that he co-founded. In 2006, he joined Google, where he worked on mobile devices, search and apps, and was India R&D head for two years when he was posted in B engaluru “My parents and brother are in the US So family was not what brought us back It was the quality of the opportunity and the fact that Flipkart is so well-positioned to take that opportunity for ward,” he says.

NA MITA GUPTA |36| CH I EF PRODUCT OFFICER – ZOM ATO

Was Abroad For: 13 Years | Experience: Facebook , M icrosoft | Returned: 2014

Namita Gupta, an IIT Delhi alumnus, returned to India in S eptember 2014 to take up a new assignment as Chief Product Officer at Z omato, a restaurant aggregator and advisor y company based out of Gurgaon. By then, Namita had already spent six years at

Facebook, starting as product manager working on ads, pages, developer tools and the mobile platform She later became head of global games partner engineering at the social networking giant. Prior to that, she had worked at Microso on the Windows Presentation Foundation and Silverlight, Microso’s next-generation platform for writing rich content and webbased applications Her career began as a research intern at IBM in 1999, working on recognition algorithms and computer vision. Namita has 17 US patents to her credit in the fields of social networks, developer platforms and search Aer about a year at Z omato, she has quit recently, presumably to star t-up her own venture Gupta, a mother of two, is among the top talent f rom Silicon Valley moving to India. "One of the things I was really worried about when moving from the US was about bigger Indian tech firms that were primarily into ser vices and not a lot of original products coming from them But aer seeing Z omato, I was just blown away – it’s a real product," Gupta had said. "It was ver y similar to how it’s in the Valley – a bunch of young guys thinking of changing a global industr y, it was the same sense of being a small company attempting to go global," she had added We will update you with more inputs aer hearing from her about her plans.

PUN IT SON I |38| CH I EF PRODUCT OFFICER – FLI PK ART

Was Abroad For: 17 Years | Experience: G oogle, M otorola | Returned: 2015

For Punit, shiing back to India from the Bay Area was not a decision based on emotion alone. “It was an interesting opportunity and that is a testament to where India stands today,“ he says Punit was born in Mumbai and went to the US for his master’s in 1998, aer completing his B Tech from NIT Kurukshetra It was the time of the internet boom in Silicon Valley. e Wharton business school graduate joined Google in 2007 and his association with Flipkart started while he was product head of Motorola India seemed new to him aer being away for close to two decades “Initially, I had my WHY prejudices about working in India, but later I realised they were the same pool of people.“ Flipkart did not seem ver y different from companies in Bay Area. “My goal and mandate will be to help build the world’s best product company with a global ambition Over time, we will build programs to attract the best talent to Bangalore and also establish a significant presence back home in the Valley e over whelming scope of the task feels like the right next step in my journey, and its success will depend on a lot of things including your support. e startup ecosystem in India, apropos, is here to stay,“ he says e situation in India today reminds him of what the Bay Area was in 1999 Although he expects thoughtfulness to come with the current valuations of startups, he expects India to change in the next 10 years.

ANAN D CHAN DR ASEK AR AN |36| CH I EF PRODUCT OFFICER – SNAPDEAL

As Snapdeal aggressively bids to create a products and ser vices ecosystem similar to that created by Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba Group, it will have a lot riding on its new product chief Anand Chandrasekaran Anand Chandrasekaran has worn many hats – entrepreneur, product leader and advisor. In his new role as CPO at Snapdeal, Anand calls himself the steward of the end-user, building products for a billion users. at seemed like the opportunity of a lifetime “India has started to have the same energ y that I felt in the Valley when I moved to study at Stanford I can’t imagine a better time in the past decade to be building product-driven businesses in India. at, and the chance to be in India. at, and the chance to gorge on fantastic street food all the time, not just when I’m back on vacation,” says Anand of his return to India He studied engineering at PSG College of Technolog y in Coimbatore before going to Stanford He worked with several companies, including Yahoo. “I look for ward to working towards building a highly scalable, sustainable, innovative and future ready technolog y platform,” he says, while averring that the

Valley’s fail-fast culture is the biggest thing India’s startup scene is picking up. Chandrasekaran, a Stanford university alum who was till recently chief product officer at Airtel, where he led product strateg y for music streaming ser vice Wynk and Airtel Money, also played a key role in the launch of the highly criticised Airtel Zero, which drew flak from net neutrality supporters who said it violated the concept of a free internet. Chandrasekaran’s appointment at Snapdeal followed soon aer Flipkart onboarded former Google executive Punit Soni.

SON IA PAR AN DEK AR |37| DI RECTOR OF ENGI N EERI NG – URBAN LADDER

Was Abroad For: 14 Years | Experience: M icrosoft, Groupon | Returned: 2014

Sonia Parandekar’s interest in working with smaller organisations began during the time she worked for Microso between 2003 and 2011. When she joined the soware giant, it was on a smaller campus with just 1,500 people, a ver y different atmosphere f rom the Redmond campus Aer doing her masters at the University of Washington, the Pune-bred Parandekar joined Microso where she worked on Windows, Bing and Office, both in Redmond and in Silicon Valley. In 2011, she moved to Groupon in Palo Alto, where her love for ecommerce platforms began Within a year, she moved to B engalur u to head a new team, an experience she describes as “ crazy “ She returned to the US a year later but realized she missed the diversity of the workplace as well as of the city, and looked for options that would bring her back In 2014, she joined online furniture store Urban Ladder as its director of engineering “ e work environment may be chaotic in India but people are far friendlier,” she says. “Working in this industr y is an exciting challenge.”

After completing his engineering f rom IIT-Kanpur in 2002 and working at Unilever for a few years, Tanmay Saksena to ok t he usual route to t he US and got a MBA f rom St anford University followed by a job in the Bay Area He was director of operations at Playdom, a startup that developed games for Face-

KRISH NAN K ASTURI R ANGAN |38|

COO – KNOWLARITY

Was Abroad For: 10 Years | Experience: M ck insey | Returned: 2010

TANM AY SAKSENA |35|

H EAD – ON LI N E ORDERI NG, ZOM ATO

Was Abroad For: 8 Years | Experience: Disney Social G ames | Returned: 2015

b o ok and i Phone, w he n it w as a c qu i re d by D is ne y i n 2 0 1 0 . That’s when the company star ted changing and Tanmay wasn’t having so much fun at work Though the games came under big banners like Mar vel and Disney, climbing the cor porate ladder was not enough.

“It was not excit ing at a l l,“ he s ays. Wit h f r iends and fami ly in Indi a, it s e eme d on ly natura l to lo ok e ast. “I wante d to b e cl o s e r to my f am i ly I s aw t he m on ly on a c ompute r s c re e n “ That’s w hen Z omato came ca l ling To him, t he on line rest aur ant s e arch s e r v i c e s e e m e d “ b ol d, ambit i ou s an d, i n a t r u e s ens e, a g lob a l st ar tup. India is smel ling ver y much li ke Si licon Valley today, where Indian industr y is providing the needed ind e p e n d e n c e w h i l e b a s i ng d e c i s i ons on w h at i s opt i m a l for g rowt h of t he business ”

Aer completing a master’s degree and a Ph.D in transportation engineering from the US, Krishnan Kasturirangan’s need for speed drove him into the world of business He joined McKinsey & Co in 2006 and provided financial consulting ser vices to various countries, including Nigeria “Nigeria was exciting as the market was developing,” he says It was an experience that whetted his appetite for working in growing economies. Solving problems in already mature markets like the US did not present him with “transformational problems“ to solve. e decision to move to India was taken in a month with his wife Suman “India was home We knew we would be happier here,“ he says ey moved to Bengaluru in 2010, where Kasturirangan set up as an independent consultant He joined cloud telephony company Knowlarity as Chief Operating Officer in 2013, soon aer it received an INR 34 crore funding from Sequoia Capital. ere is untapped growth in B2B companies as most of the attention is on B2C, he says Although he says the professional environment here is a challenge, he believes that the excitement is greater and opportunities for growth abound

WE ARE ‘ON E’ PHOOLWALON KI SAI R

When the Mughals conquered India, they adopted Indian lifestyles and respected the relig ions of the locals. From Akbar offering Chhatar to Hindu temples and donating land for the Golden Temple of Sikhs, each Mughal emperor was involved in some or the other inter faith activ ity. Communal unity was at its peak then w ith many Jain, Hindu and Sikh nobles ser v ing in the Mughal cour ts. e British, when they realized that this streng th of the Indian people w ill be a stumbling block in advancing their insidious motives, decided to implement what later came to be know n as their 'Div ide and Rule' policy. ey identified Aurangzeb as a pivot, during whose rule maximum forceful conversions and temple destructions took place. e fact that these incidents happened only in those areas where Hindu/Sikh g roups had star ted mutinies against the Mughal crow n was deliberately removed from Histor y books. Instead, it was projected that Mughals, and especially Aurangzeb, were always bad. Follow ing this Div ide and Rule policy of theirs, all events that exhibit Hindu Muslim Unity were banned, including the one we are going to talk about today ...

THE YEAR WAS 1812 e British East India Company had penetrated the Mughal court completely and a Resident Officer was living inside the Red Fort controlling the administration of India. C oins were being struck by British Mints and the name of the Mughal Emperor was summarily removed from the currency Emperor Shah Alam II had died, whom the people had started calling:

‘Badshah Shah Alam, Az Delhi, Ta Palam’

Meaning: “Emperor Shah Alam’s rule is merely f rom Delhi (the Red For t) to Palam (the present day Delhi Airport)

Sha h A l am I I’s s on , A kb ar Sha h I I , was a puppet king and Archibald S eton, a S cottish E ast India C ompany Administ r ator, w as t he app oi nte d O f f i c e r i n t he R e d For t Ne x t i n l i ne to t h rone, C row n Pr i nc e Mi r z a Ja hang i r w as against the British way of working. One day, this reckless young prince of 19 insu lte d S e ton by c a l l i ng h i m Lu l lu S e ton d i d not re a c t t he n Pe rhap s he

did not understood the meaning of the word A few days later, when S eton was re tu r n i ng f rom c ou r t , Mi r z a Ja hang i r, s itt i ng on t he ro of of Naub at K hana , f ired a shot at him, missing S eton compl e tely. Wh i l e S e ton e s c ap e d u n hu r t , his orderly lost his life Angr y with this, the British arrested Mirza Jahangir and sent him to Allahabad for t

Back then, it was an infamous fact that any political prisoner sent to the Allahabad For t never returns alive e Mughal court tried its best to save him,

but the administration was completely in British hands. Having failed at ever y door, Empress Mumtaz Mahal, mother of Mirza Jahangir, came to the shrine of Sufi Saint Khwaja Qutubuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki (ra) in Mehrauli, Delhi. She took a vow that if Mirza Jahangir returns safely, she would offer a sheet (chadar) of flowers at the Dargah And aer a few years of praying, Mirza Jahangir one day miraculously returned to the Red For t. e Empress approached Emperor Akbar Shah II and told him about her vow. e Emperor was more than happy to be a par t of pledge, and they both decided to star t from the Red Fort with a sheet of flowers for the shrine. is news soon spread like jungle-fire and ever yone in and around the palace got ready to walk with the royal family, to pay homage to the Sufi Saint resting in Mehrauli.

It was the month of September e Convoy started with all the praise singing and merr y making. When they reached the outskir ts of Mehrauli, the Mughal Emperor stood by the Temple of Ma Yogmaya and averred that as Mehrauli was wellknown for this deity, it would indeed be a sin to pay respects at the Sufi Shrine and not visit the Hindu Temple. e Yogmaya Temple in Mehrauli is considered to be one of the many temples that the Pandavas (of the Mahabaratha) built It is dedicated to Maa Yogmaya, a sister of Lord Krishna, who was replaced with Krishna upon birth to save him from his evil uncle Kans And it was thus that this temple came about to give this area the name of “Yoginipura” Maa Yogmaya is also known as Maha Maya or Mehraa.N waali maayi (the

Mother of Graces) … and some say, the name ‘Mehrauli’ is but a distorted version of ‘Mehra N Waali’ (NOTE: Mehra-waali = Mehravali = Mehrauli)

So Emperor Akbar Shah II entered the Hindu Temple and offered a Pankha (fan) to the deity, and it was only then that he went to the Muslim Shrine to fulfil the rituals of offering the Chadar For seven days, the entire cour t was shied to Mehrauli and with all the merr y making and celebrations, people were ver y happy. e Emperor then decreed that this event be repeated ever y year A palace, called Rang Mahal, was constructed here in the vicinity,as ever y year the entire Mughal court would shied to Mehrauli for these 7 days f rom then on. And ever y year the Mughal Emperor would come with ever yone from Red Fort and around, with a sheet of Flowers for the Dargah and a decorated Fan for the Temple is festival became popular with name ‘Phoolwalo N ki Sair’ or ‘Sair-iGul-Farosha.N’.

e Rang Mahal in later times came to be called the Lal Mahal Mirza Jahangir, apropos, could never become king and instead, his brother, Mirza Sirajuddin aka Badshah Bahadur Shah ‘Zafar,’ a poet who had no interest in ruling the countr y, was made Emperor. Zafar added his portion to this palace, and to this day this palace complex is popular by the name of Zafar Mahal Emperor Akbar Shah II and his family were interred at this selfsame palace, the Zafar Mahal, next to the shrine. Emperor Zafar also designated a place for his grave next to his father, but since he was exiled to Rangoon, he could never return and his last wish remains unfulfilled.

In the early 1940s, the British imposed

a ban on all activities that exhibited communa l har mony. S o was t he fate of Phoolwalon ki Sair. It was stopped for almost two decades, until in 1961, Pundit Jawa harla l Nehr u aske d t he mayor of Delhi, Mr Nooruddin Ahmed and a scion of prominent fami ly Shr i Yogeshwar Dayal to revive the festival. On September 6, 1962, Pt Nehru played the part of the Mughal Emperor and the festival was celebrated as in the olden days He continued to do so until his death, aer which his daughter Indira Gandhi took special interest in the festival. She invited other states of India to par ticipate so that this festival of C ommunal Harmony becomes the festival of National Harmony

Phoolwalon ki Sair is celebrated till date, for 7 days every September. It is managed by the Anjuman-i-Sair-e-Gulfaroshan, a society governed by notable Hindus and Muslims of Mehrauli e Pankha and the Chadar are offered by the President, Prime Minister, Chief Minister of Delhi, Lt. Governor of Delhi and different state governments It is indeed a great pity that these days we are too busy in propagating religious bias rather than pay no attention to such celebrations and take part in them.

A

Vikramjit Singh Rooprai

A M A AL M ALLI K COMPOSES FOR SALM AN AGAI N

Aer making his debut with Salman Khan’s JAI HO, Amaal Mallik composes once again for the title track of HERO starring Suraj and Athiya Under the label of T-Series, the HERO title track is a romantic song. is title track has 2 versions sung by Salman Khan and Armaan Mallik. Aer the success of Chal Wahaan Jaate Hai, Amaal Mallik has his second romantic track releasing with title track of HERO sung by Superstar sensation Salman Khan Amaal says, “Salman wanted a ver y soothing track and we ' ve used minimal beats to make it soothing to the ears. We've used Chinese instruments as well. With T-Series on board for music, this song is assured to be another hit”. Salman wanted the song to be larger than life yet personal.

DAN ISH SI NGER-ACTOR ARYAN MOVES TO BOLLYWOOD

Ar yan, who looks ever y inch a muscleman, is not only an actor but also a singer and music composer, who has come all the way from Denmark to tr y and make it big in B ollywood, both as an actor as well as a singer. An Indian of Kashmiri-Punjabi origin, Ar yan is an MBA graduate, and feels at home in B ollywood though he has cut some albums in Europe as well as Denmark, has acted in Danish films and come up with four albums till date Ar yan, who has employed a coach to teach him chaste Hindi, is well conversant with English, Arabic, Chinese, Danish, Parsi, German, and French.

AMITABH BACHCHAN ANNOUNCES RETURN

Amitabh Bachchan has announced the return of veteran actor Kader Khan to Films aer a long sabbatical in HO GAYA DIMAAGH KA DAHI. e 72-year-old Piku star took to twitter to share the news and welcomed the actor-writer once again to the big screen "Kadar Khan great colleague, writer, and contributor to many of my successful films returns to cinema aer a long hiatus ! Welcome," e film HOGAYA DIMAAGH KA DAHI is set to release on the 25th of September, 2015. e starcast, apart from Kader Khan, includes Om Puri, Raajpal Yadav, Sanjay Mishra, Razzaq Khan, Vijay Patkar, Chitrashi Rawat, Amita Nangia, Bunty Chopra, Subhash Yadav, Amit J and Danish Bhat

AR R AHM AN L AU NCH ES FI RST VI DEO OF NAFS

Legendary music composer and co-founder of multi-channel network QYUKI, AR Rahman, has launched the first music video of his new band NAFS Instituted and curated by Rahman, the band is an inventive initiative to promote Indian talent internationally Award winning Music director, arranger and conductor Arjun Chandy of the Dallas Choir 'the Vocal Majority' fame, was specially commissioned to groom the young band and fine-tune them to match International standards Commenting on the band, AR Rahman said, “e ultimate goal of NAFS is to spread joy

Mumbai Bureau

OF KADER KHAN WITH HO GAYA DIMA AGH KA DAHI

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

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 w w w.nriachievers.in

You are judg ing the realit y show COMEDY KE SUPER STAR w ith Shekar Suman and S onu S ood. In what way i s judg ing different from acting ?

Most of the time I think as an actor you look for applause, but when you become a

judge you have the most responsible job in the world, because you would be taking away someone ’ s applause I think this is not something which can be good or bad but you have to be honest with this. I am lucky to have a senior person like Shekhar

I A M OPEN TO DO FICTION SHOWS ON TV TOO

SUSHMITA SEN

She’s bad & beautif ul, she’s an act re ss , she’s a p a st b eaut y p ag eant t o p p e r a s a Mi s s Univ e r s e t o b o o t , s h e ’ s a s i ng l e m o t h e r, s h e ’ s hot and quite controve rsial. She’s al s o bee n off the f ilm buff ’ s radar f o r qu it e s o m e t i m e n o w, o n a l o ng i s h s abb at i c al t h at s e e m s t o be draw ing to an e nd. O ur bollyw o o d m av e n Jy o t i Ve nk at e s h c aug ht u p w it h S u s hmit a S e n at t h e s u c c e s s b a s h f o r a c el eb r it y book in Mumbai, and br ing s you an e x cl u s iv e i nt e r v i e w w it h t h e pr ima donna ...

Suman at my side in terms of experience over decades He sat there and kept it fair all the time In what way is this show unique ?

In this show there was no public opinion only judges, and our verdict were

final. ere was no voting too. Even if someone tries buttering we make it ver y clear that it will not work with us In the first week itself they understood that nothing can impress the judges other than performance, so they concentrated on rehearsals. Honestly I felt like a parent I felt like my kids are doing good What kind of briefing did you get ?

We had a brief And comic timing plus screen presence played an important role. ey did multiple get-ups so they had to look and behave like the character, the way they spoke, and they should be able to dance and be able to do a catwalk in a presentable way We wanted them to do ever ything we ask. ere was a ver y tough ruling thing we put them through. I have also seen that performance wherein I used to push Shekar sir’s hand and say that even I cannot do this

What was the toughest aspect as a judge?

e most difficult thing was to see the process of elimination and the feeling that X or Y was eliminated because of my marks is the worst feeling I ever had Sometimes even one contestant was eliminated just because he scored 0.5 less. We have cried a lot while seeing them eliminating. Are you al so open to do fic tion shows on T V ?

I don’t know about fiction shows For me ever ything is an opportunity is something comes my way I will definitely do it.

Why are you not been seen in films for a long period of time ?

I can’t chase things anymore if something comes to me that I wish to do, I will do it and ever ything will fall in place I want to do a Hindi film for sure because I have just finished my B engali film NIRBAK e director told me that it was not a commercial but a diploma film which he wanted to take to all the festivals He had not planned a commercial release earlier, but later they did that and it was appreciated. If I do not have a film in Hindi, it is because people have a typical thinking that I may be having many ser vants looking aer my house, kids and stuff like that I have my own office and my kids and I balance and manage both alone. ere is nothing that happens with my children that I am unaware of You adopted your kid s when you were ver y young, right ?

Yes, even my family was pretty shaken up with my decision to do so. When I told my dad that I wanted to adopt, I was just 24 and he told me that I was taking a big risk as a mother He warned me that my priorities will change. What is your take on comedies ?

I like all kind of comedies, and freedom to me is my freedom of expression I will back it all through my life But what I don’t believe in is purposely offending someone. If you like a certain kind of comedy that tickles your funny bones then why not ? Why always keep cribbing that log kya kahengey Never loose your freedom for other people I raise my children saying the same thing. Exercise you own choices without harming someone else and if someone comes and harms you get up and fight back How are you at home ?

I am the comedian in the house whenever I am in a good mood. e only thing that I strive hard to achieve for my kids is

a happy environment. e older one is now 16 and already wants to become an actress My desire is that my kids first of all get good degrees

What happened to your projec t on JHANSI KI RANI ?

I have JHANSI KI RANI’s film rights. It is a period film but I am not prepared for it right now I’d rather wait

Tell us something about NIRBAK ?

NIRBAK has 4 love stories. e stor y of a man in love with himself, another about a dog in love with his father, a stor y of three in love with a woman, a morgue attendant in love with a dead body I am in all the four stories I am like the Sutradhar. e morgue attendant falls in love with my body and its my life falling till death. In retrospect, how do you look at your career path till now in cinema ?

People say they are happy when their movie runs well on Friday, but I say I am a hit on satellite. I have done cinema that’s progressive. Films like SAMAY, FILHAAL and CHINGAARI, people generally tend to ask what the heck is she doing, but howmuch ever they say, I know what went into the making of the films. I want to leave good body of work behind which people will remember People said who would do CHINGAARI aer MAIN HOON NA

On what basis did you choose your films as an actress ?

I did films because I liked the script, and not because of Salman Khan or Shahrukh Khan

Who would you say is your favourite actress today, if any?

Kangana is the best. I was blown away when I saw QUEEN and then TANU WEDS MANU RETURNS She makes me ver y proud

A

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

A deter mined-looking, dashing Sunny D eol i s r iding a galloping steed. In a distant lush g reen meadow, you spot an idyllic log hut (well, log hut here is a euphemism for a sprawling wooden mansion). e large wooden fence around it is both rustic, and low enough for a horse to jump over. Amrita Singh is anxiously waiting for him on the cobble-stoned driveway, while Shammi Kapoor steps out of the mansion w ith a loaded double bar rel. And the audience i s at the edge of the seat !

PAHALGA

NATURE’S OWN EXOTICA

The scene is f rom an iconic romantic movie B etaab a t h r i l l - a - m i nute bl o ckbuste r of it s t i me s In it s honour, the locale has been christened as B etaab Valley, the most popular picnic spot of Pahalgam. River Lidder f lows through this scenic valley. And tourists and locals alike f lock here in hordes

e river makes Pahalgam not just a hill station, but also a hub of many exciting activities It offers a gentle raing experience for the visitors. You may also spot a few anglers armed with fishing permits acquired from the authorities, patiently

Lidder River - A Bird’s Eye View

Lidder River - A View From Top

Pony Riders in Pahalgam

waiting to catch trout e meadows around are geared for tourists hankering for a pony ride. For women and children, many enterprising locals offer traditional Kashmiri attire on rent for a memorable photo opportunity

Pahalgam is a tehsil of Anantnag district Normally, travellers would arrive here for an overnight stay from Srinagar covering a scenic route meandering through the saffron belt, small towns that manufacture cricket bats and numerous apple orchards.

e city centre is a congested road that is lined with tourist lodges, inns and budget hotels Barring one or two luxur y hotels, the available accommodation here is modest e State tourism department has a resort in a picturesque setting that could do with some maintenance.

Pahalgam also acts as the feeder town for pilgrims who undertake the Amarnath yatra, since the starting point of pilgrims’ trek, Chandanbari, is just 15 kilometers away Another obsessed set that visits Pahalgam are the golfers, as the golf course here is breathtakingly spectacular.

is small town also offers some charming treks that furnish panoramic views of nature’s bounty in Kashmir ose averse to strenuous physical activity may take a drive on some of the scenic roads leading to other small towns. It is likely that they will come across stunning sur prises like petite waterfalls or some exotic wildlife that abounds the jungles around Pahalgam.

For those who love their vacation to be packed with action, a shor t overnight trip to Pahalgam is recommended But if you seek a peaceful sojourn with nature and a tranquil slow-paced holiday, you shou ld plan a longer st ay here. e place is wel l suited for that.

Ajay Sood

e author is an accomplished travel photographer and travelogue writer who has been to more than 20 countries in search of the unusual.

Chandanbari

Betaab Valley

Waiting for customers - Apple Orchard near Pahalgam

White Water Rafting on Lidder River Option 2

Postal regd No. dn/297/2013-2015

Date of Publication: 5th of ever y Month

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