india herald 0806 2014

India HeraldWeb: www.india-herald.com • Email: [email protected] • Tel: 281-980-6746

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Swami Mukundananda, a world-renowned teacher of Spirituality, Yoga, and Meditation would be condu-cting a week-long program in Houston from Aug. 23 to Aug. 28 at India House at 8888 W Bellfort Ave, Houston, TX 77031. He is the founder of the unique Yogic system JKYog, also known as Yoga for the Body, Mind and Soul. Each day’s program includes Yoga sessions & Spiritual discourse. The fi rst part of the session focuses on Yoga & Meditation. The second session focuses on devotional chanting and spiritual discourses. The topic of the discourse is “The Path to Happiness”.

Swami Mukundananda to talk on the Path to Happiness

Swami Mukundananda

By VIDHA DIXITArriving to the United States

as little more than a pre-school student, I didn’t know what to expect from the unfamiliar sights and sounds that hustled and bustled around me.

American culture was completely new to me and in everything I saw when I fi rst moved to Texas, I searched for reminders of the rich culture I left behind.

To my very pleasant surprise, Houston had more to offer me than I could ever expect. On a sweltering summer evening during my fi rst year in the US, my parents and grandfather took me to George R. Brown convention center to celebrate the birth of Krishna, or Janmashtami in a way that

25 Years in the making — A family’s participation in Janmashtami celebration

Radha Dixit, left, her father Dr. Sen Pathak and daughter Vidha Dixit in 2013.

See CELEBRATION, 2

I would never forget. Dressed in my fi nest outfi t I entered the halls wide-eyed, taking in the celebration around me.

Through the familiar smell ofcooked spices drifting overfrom the food booths, the

Aishwarya Ravat, 17. a senior in high school, has developed a course to help Bhutanese refugee families living in Houston.

Aishwarya titled the course New Horizons. New Horizons classes bring basic computer skills and English as a Second Language (ESL) tutoring together to help students become fl uent English speakers and computer literate.

The idea for the computer classes started when Aishwarya needed to develop a program for her Girl Scout Gold Award. According to the Girl Scouts

offi cial website, the Girl Scout Gold Award “represents the highest achievement in Girl Scouting.” The Girl Scouts website also states that “this prestigious award challenges [Girl Scouts] to change the world—or at least [their] corner of it, and be eligible for college scholarships, too.”

Aishwarya thought up New Horizons, for her Girl Scout Gold Award, while talking to a family friend.

“I was actually talking to a family friend of mine

Sewa International’s Get Inspired Houston interns Maria Mercado, right, and Sathvika Ramachandran, at the volunteer appreciation dinner.

See RAVAT, Page 7

Sewa helps youth in Girl Scout project

IACF awards 18 scholarships

The Indo-American Charity Foundation of Houston awarded scholarships totalling $24,500 to 18 college-bound

students. The award ceremony was held at “Ace of Hearts for Charity,” an interactive night mixer, on Saturday, Aug. 2 at

Aloft Hotel. Fort Bend County District Attorney John Healey, left, and FBISD school board trustee Jim Rice, were among the guests of honor who presented the awards, along with IACF president Ramesh Cherivirala, President-elect Kamala Raghavan, Secretary Vanitha Pothuri and other directors. IACF’s signature event, annual gala, with the theme “Yellow Brick Road to Charity” will be held on Sept. 20 at Hilton Americas.

See list of scholarship winners on Page 12.

• INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2014

Tickets available at Parivar Grocers 713-266-7771 • www.eventcombo.com or www.sulekha.com

INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2014 • PAGE 3

COMMUNITY NEWS

Visiting award-winning Kash-miri vocalist Dhananjay Kaul, on a U.S. tour sponsored by the Kashmiri Overseas Association (KOA), captured the attention of the Texas Medical Center as he ended his concert tour of Hous-ton.

Holistic medicine played out in the standing room only Crain Garden of Houston Methodist Hospital in the form of a “Mid-summer Noon Dream”—the Music Therapy version—on July 31, 2014. The audience was represented by various nationali-ties, ethnicities and religions, in-cluding Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu and Buddhist.

Their harboring of varied stress levels (from happiness to sick-ness), were de-stressed to peace-fulness through international music, specifi cally the North Indian version, aka Hindustani Music. Dhananjay Kaul, a Kash-miri Pandit (Hindu), presented the Hindustani music forms of Khayal andThumri, as well as Sufi Kalam and Qawwali.

Kashmir is the northernmost state of India, and borders Paki-stan, a Muslim country, to the west and the Indian state Pun-jab to its south. Necessarily, the Hindu Khayal and Thumri in-fl uenced his musical selections, while the Qawwali represented Sufi sm (the mystical branch of Islam). The percussion artist on the hand-drumming instrument

Tabla, Dr. Rahul Pandit, an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at Meth-odist, also traces his roots to Kashmir (he moved to the USA as a 2-year-old).

Selecting a melodic pitch of C# (277.18 Hz) for his Hindustani con-cert while simultaneously playing the Indian reed instrument Harmonium, Maestro Kaul started out with a popular Khayal in raga (melodic scale) Puriya Dhanashree start-ing with the Hindi lyrics Payaliya jhanakar set to teen taal (a 16-beat cy-cle). After the masterful Khayal, a Thumri in Pun-jabi style was presented in raga Misra Tilang set to keherwa taal (an 8-beat cycle). Its Hindi lyrics started with Piya naahire

documents were then presented to the maestro with the founders of Methodist’s Center for Per-forming Arts Medicine (CPAM), Distinguished Endowed Chair Dr. C. Richard Stasney, and Director/Composer J. Todd Frazier.

In attendance were representa-tives from Methodist Hospital’s International Department, Kash-miri Overseas Association Presi-dent Dr. Surinder Kaul, and Swar-alayam Arts Form Director and CPAM volunteer R. Ravi Iyer.

This Kashmiri duo touched the westerners with their eastern mu-sic therapy at Houston Methodist Hospital – ambassadors of thera-peutic cultural friendship indeed. The Hindu artists, presenting North Indian music, and includ-ing selections of Kashmiri and Sufi philosophy to an audience of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Bud-dhists and Hindus at Methodist conveys a powerful message of unity, cultural friendship, toler-ance, acceptance and peace. In-

deed a true representation of unityin diversity.

CPAM Director’s note: TheCenter for Performing Arts Medi-cine at Methodist Hospital hoststhe Crain Garden series of musicalevents year round, at noon on mostweekdays. From time to time, weare privileged to host internationalvisiting artists, such as this one byMaestro Kaul from India. A se-lect few are also re- broadcast onChannel 19 in Methodist TV.

Dhananjay Kaul at the Texas Medical Center with Dr Rahul Pandit on the tabla.shyam...

The concert ended on a spiritu-ally philosophical note with two Sufi pieces, the fi rst a Kalam sung in Kashmiri, and the second a Qawwali in the Punjabi style.

Artist Dr. Pandit then read a proclamation from Houston May-or Annise Parker commemorating July 31, 2014 as Dhananjay Kaul Day.

A congratulatory note from the Consul General of India in Houston, Parvathaneni Harish, followed. Both of these framed

Kashmiri vocalist Dhananjay Kaul’s music therapy at Texas Medical Center


TOPIC OF THE WEEK

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VOICES

THE LIGHTER SIDE

By Shashank Joshi

Did you know that India foughtagainst Britain in the First WorldWar? That, at least, is the beliefof over a quarter of Indians, ac-cording to a British Council sur-vey earlier this year. No consola-tion that the situation is little betterin Europe. Two years ago, anothersurvey showed that over half ofBritons didn’t know whether In-dia had contributed over 1,000troops. This might be a forgivablegap in knowledge, if the real fig-ure were not well over a million.

As Commonwealth heads ofstate in Glasgow commemoratedthe First World War centenary onMonday, August 4, many in thenations of the Commonwealth —India above all — will thereforewonder why they should careabout, much less commemorate,a war fought largely in Europe, ledby European politicians, com-manded by European officers, andresolved to the benefit of engorgedEuropean empires.

Even in the war’s Europeanlocales, we are separated from itshorrors not just by the chasm ofmultiple generations — the war’slast veteran, Florence Green, diedin February 2012 at the age of 110— but also a growing cultural gap.In a nation of immigrants, increas-ing numbers of children havegrown up without the childhoodvisits to memorial-strewn Frenchvillages or classroom recitation ofthe war poets that were once ubiq-uitous. No surprise, then, that asurvey in 2012 found that fewerthan half of Britons aged 16 to 24knew the year the war broke out.

The war’s legacy has alsogrown more complicated, as evi-denced in the United Kingdom bylast year’s political skirmishingamong politicians and historians.The (former) British EducationMinister, Michael Gove, attackedthe left-wing narrative of a crueland futile war prosecuted by feck-less generals. He argued, instead,“those who fought were not dupesbut conscious believers in king andcountry, committed to defendingthe western liberal order.”

In turn, a slew of prominent his-torians, led by the Regius Profes-sor of History at the University ofCambridge, Richard Evans, re-torted that Britain and her allieshad fought for dubious aims,against adversaries who were farfrom evil incarnate. As the writerKenan Malik put it in a recent es-say, “Germany had expansionistaims and a toxically racist culture.Britain, however, was not muchdifferent.” Perhaps, these scep-tics implied, triumphalism ought tobe avoided in the centenary com-memorations.

If the war resonates in such aweak, confused, and even nega-tive way with Europeans, it is littlewonder that young Africans orIndians see even smaller stakesin this year’s ceremonies. Thewar’s origins may lie in theBalkans, and it may be the Euro-pean battlefields that stick in popu-lar memory, but the non-Europeanworld was profoundly affected,and in turn transformed by the war.

The British Empire also served

A European war, fought by Indiaas a reservoir of manpower on anastonishing scale; 140,000 menserved in the Chinese LabourCorps, a force of which most Eu-ropeans have never heard. TheWest Indies contributed 16,000men. As John Reader explains inhis magisterial history, Africa: ABiography of the Continent, bythe war’s end, around two millionAfricans had participated in thewar effort, half of them troops.Around 200,000 died. The Frenchcolonies alone sent just under half-a-million Africans to fight in Eu-rope, over a tenth of these com-ing from Algeria. Kenya, Ghanaand, above all, Nigeria which pro-vided the lion’s share for Britain.

It is also crucial not to mincewords on the nature of this par-ticipation. At first, much recruit-ment was, notionally, voluntary.But local political elites wereincentivized to supply manpower,and they used all means at theirdisposal to push villagers into ser-vice. As historian Ranajit Guhaexplained to journalist SeemaSirohi, “a widespread proxy sys-tem developed in the Punjab,whereby a prosperous villagerwould buy a poor neighbor’s sonand donate him to the recruitmentcentre as his own contribution.”

How were these troops used?Overall, 650,000 colonial troopswere deployed to Europe. TheFrench, in particular, sent Africansto Europe in large numbers. Theacademic Christian Koller notesthat one French general believedWest Africans made good soldiersbecause of their “underdevelopednervous system and their heredi-tary fatalism,” permitting them tosleep in trenches if necessary.

London took a different line.Much as Britain refused to trainAfrican-American soldiers whohad entered the war, and rejectedIndian participation in the Crimeanand Boer Wars, it similarly recoiledfrom the idea of pitting Africansagainst white soldiers, and — ex-cept for some deployments to theMiddle East — preferred to usethem mostly within Africa againstother Africans.

The Empire’s biggest contribu-tion was by India. This included3.7 million tonnes of supplies, over10,000 nurses, 170,000 animals,£146 million of Indian revenue,and political support — includingthat of Gandhi, who helped recruitIndian volunteers in the face ofnationalist opposition. But most

important of all was the IndianArmy, the largest volunteer forcein the world, which provided 1.1million troops to serve overseas.Over 74,000 were killed — fivetimes more than the combineddeath toll from every war that In-dia has fought since independence— and 80,000 were held prisoner.

It would take volumes to listtheir achievements in full. Theseforces not only protected thenorthwest of India, but also but-tressed British garrisons in Egypt,Singapore and China, as well ascontributing to seminal battles ofthe Western Front, such as theSomme and Neuve Chapelle. AtYpres, in particular, Indian casu-alties were exceptionally high,compounded by the shock of Ger-man chlorine gas in April 1915.

But Indian forces had theirgreatest impact in West Asia, with60 per cent of all Indian troopsserving in Mesopotamia (modernday Iraq), and another 10 per centin Egypt and Palestine.

As recorded in a new book byKristian Coates Ulrichsen, TheFirst World War in the MiddleEast, British and Indian troops inMesopotamia suffered over200,000 casualties from sicknessalone in just one year, 1916. OnJerusalem’s capture the next year,it was Indian Muslim troops whowere asked to protect the Domeof the Rock.

When the Viceroy laid the foun-dation stone for India Gate in1921, he declared, “the stirring talesof individual heroism will live forever in the annals of this country.”Six years later, French MarshalFerdinand Foch told Indians gath-ered at Neuve Chapelle, “proclaimhow your countrymen drenchedwith their blood the cold northernland of France and Flanders.”These words have faded. No sur-prise, in an age when the newlyappointed head of the Indian Coun-cil of Historical Research is a manmore interested in questions like,“Why are the fish and the pebblesin Ganga not attaining Moksha?”than supporting real history. For theIndians who fought for the Em-pire, earning a staggering 13,000gallantry medals in the process, thislegacy of ignorance is a scandal.

— The Hindu(Shashank Joshi is a Senior

Research Fellow of the RoyalUnited Services Institute inLondon, and a PhD candidateat Harvard University.)

Business FirstIn his government’s first high-level political contact with the Obama

administration, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has signalled both prag-matism and firmness in his efforts to reboot India’s relations with theUnited States. The US secretary of state, John Kerry, was in Delhilast week to convey Washington’s enthusiasm for engaging the newIndian government, reviewing bilateral relations and preparing the groundfor Modi’s visit to the US in September. He was accompanied by USSecretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker. In seeking a rapid and deci-sive advancement of relations with the US, Modi was distancing him-self from the conservatives in his own party and government, whoremain suspicious of America, and ending Delhi’s incoherence underthe UPA government, which presided over the downslide in India-USrelations over the last few years.

That Modi, the one leader who had a personal bone to pick withWashington over the decade-long visa denial, has become the cham-pion of advancing ties with the US highlights the fact that the PM hastaken a strong political, rather than personal, view of the relationship.While recognising the centrality of the US in any Indian foreign policystrategy in the current global context, Modi is not going to merelycomply with any and all demands put forward by that country. Throughhis visit, Kerry pressed Modi not to veto a global deal on trade facilita-tion, which was to come into force when the US team was in town.Holding his ground, Modi underlined Delhi’s readiness to review itsdecision on the new trade facilitation agreement if India’s concerns onfood security were addressed. Put simply, Modi is open for a deal.

Although India’s brinkmanship at the World Trade Organisation hasdented Modi’s image in America as a bold reformer, the PM is deter-mined to transform India’s bilateral economic relationship with the US.Modi, however, appears to have grasped that the business of engagingAmerica is largely about business.

By strengthening commercial, industrial and technological partner-ships with the US, Modi is betting that he will secure India’s sustainedeconomic growth and an enduring political relationship with America.With US President Barack Obama too focused on domestic issues,fleshing out a framework for promoting mutual prosperity should be atthe top of Modi’s agenda for the US visit. — Indian Express

Real Relief for Common ManThe push for self-certification of official documents is a huge step

towards cutting red tape and reducing the common man’s bureau-cratic burden. This past week, the Prime Minister once again calledupon all Union Government departments and ministries as well as allState Governments to do away with affidavits that have to be en-dorsed by gazetted officers. This system has been the source of muchpublic harassment. Just about every Indian, who is not related to agazetted officer or is not lucky enough to live or work in the vicinity ofone such high-ranking Government officer, has a story to tell abouthow much trouble he or she has had in getting documents of a routinenature attested. The process is a colossal waste of time, energy andmoney. Moreover, it serves no significant purpose. Officers who signthe documents hardly care about authenticity — and to be fair, it’sunrealistic to expect as much from them. Also, unscrupulous personswho use fake documents bypass the entire system with ease; it’s thevast majority of honest folks who have to find their way through sarkarioffices and notary publics. Indeed, the only persons who ‘benefit’ fromthis process are those officers who charge money — mostly, to blindlyput their stamp and signature on documents.

The new system of self-attestation will also go a long way in en-couraging the common man to take responsibility for his paperwork.Precisely because there is no other authority figure verifying his docu-ments, the individual is culpable for any and all discrepancies. This alsomakes it easier for law enforcement agencies to penalise wrongdoers,as compared to the older system wherein prosecuting the notary pub-lic or the gazetted officer who had signed off on forged documents,apart from the individual, was too cumbersome a task. Critics (mostlywithin Government) should take comfort from the fact that it has al-ready been tried and tested in Punjab for the past five years.

Prior to 2009, 65 per cent of the 2.2 million services offered at thePunjab Government’s district centres related to affidavits. Two yearslater, affidavits were only 9.8 per cent of the service requests. Self-attestation is already allowed in some key areas — such as passportapplications and income tax filings. There is no reason why it cannotbe extended to cover almost all official documents. — The Pioneer


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COMMUNITY NEWS

Indian Music Society of Houston PresentsA 501 ©(3) Organization Promoting Hindustani Classical Music

Saturday, August 23 @ 4 p.m.Cullen Hall, Univ of St. Thomas

Ticket: $25

For tickets: Govind 713-922-2501 • Suresh 281-935-4653 or online www.tickets2events.com

Hindustani ClassicalVocal Recital by

Samarth Nagarkar(Promising Young Disciple of P. Ulhas Kashalkar)

Samarth Nagarkar is one ofthe foremost and prolific artistes representing Hindustani classical music traditions. After years of rigorous trainingunder the celebrated performer and guru, Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar, Nagarkar graduated as a Grade-A scholar of the ITC Sangeet Research Academy,Kolkata in 2009. Earlier, he trained under the eminent late Pt. Dinkar Kaikini in Mumbai.

Pandit Shantilal Shah on Tabla

Across from Jones Hall

•• 3901 Yoakum Blvd

IMS Programs are partially funded by a grant from Houston Arts Alliance.Programs are subject to change for reasons beyond the control of Indian Music Society of Houston.

Kedar Naphade on Harmonium

FREE ImmigrationConsultationStarting August 16, 2014Every Saturday 1 to 3 p.m.(By Appointment only)

Free Yoga Classes: Every Tuesday & Thursday 11 a.m. tonoon and Saturdays 10 to 11 a.m.Free Medical Clinic: Every Saturday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.Summer Camp: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.from June 2, 2014 to Aug15 2014After-school Tutorial Program: Monday thru Friday 3p.m. to 6 p.m. Starting Sept 2, 2014. ($5 per week; includessnacks)Bollywood & Classical dance classes: Saturdays and Sun-daysReligious prayers and spiritual fulfillment: Every Sun-day at 10 a.m.Craft Classes: Every Saturday 11 a.m. to noon.

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For info or appointment, contact [email protected] orcall 713-929-1900 • 8888 West Bellfort, Houston, TX 77031

SAN ANTONIO: Childhoodobesity has more than doubled inchildren and quadrupled in adoles-cents in the past 30 years. Accord-ing to Center for Disease ControlPrevention, the percentage of chil-dren aged 6–11 years in the UnitedStates who were obese increasedfrom 7% in 1980 to nearly 18% in2012, while among adolescentsaged 12–19 years, the obesity rateincreased from 5% to nearly 21%over the same period. In 2012,more than one third of children andadolescents were overweight orobese, having excess body weightand fat, which are the result ofcaloric imbalance and are af-fected by various genetic, behav-ioral, and environmental factors.

“American Association of Phy-sicians of Indian Origin (AAPI)has made the ‘AAPI Be Fit. BeCool. Childhood Obesity Aware-ness Campaign’ a core commit-ment,” says Dr. Ravi Jahagirdar,President of AAPI. Pointing toseveral programs organized byindividual AAPI members andseveral local AAPI Chapters, Dr.Jahagirdar says, “AAPI embracesthese initiatives and we have be-gun the process of consolidatingthese programs under a singlecampaign to create awareness onobesity among children, thus bring-ing the entire AAPI communitytogether and rededicating our-selves to eradicate this huge na-tional problem.”

Dr. Aruna Venkatesh, currentChair of AAPI Childhood ObesityAwareness Campaign says, “Weare taking this Campaign to

schools to raise awareness and empower and engage teachers, par-ents and students to make fitness cool and fun! Three schools in SanAntonio and over 30 schools in the country have been adopted to date,”she proudly states. “A high profile Health walk, the first for AAPIConventions is symbolic of AAPI’s commitment to the campaign andaims to motivate membership and local communities to get involved.We will have celebrities, Miss. Nina Davuluri and Heroes fame actorSendhil Ramamurthy as VIP Guests along with the title sponsor,” shepoints out.

Dr. Venkatesh was referring to the Be Fir Be Cool Walkathon or-ganized by AAPI on June 28 during the 32nd annual Convention in SanAntonio, TX. Led by Dr. Jayesh Shah, immediate past president ofAAPI, the walkathon was attended by hundreds of AAPI delegatesand their families on Saturday early morning. In his welcome address,“As a professional organization that represents the interests of over100,000 physicians of Indian origin, who are practicing medicine in theUnited States, one of our primary goals is to educate the public ondiseases and their impact on health,” Dr. Jayesh Shah.

AAPI stresses childhood obesity awareness program


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HOUSTON: For the first time, Houston celebrated Bonalu festi-val with joy and exuberance at Shirdi Sai Jalaram Mandir on July 27.Over 400 people joined the festivities from the Greater Houston area.The sunny weather and pious atmosphere at the Temple provided anideal stage for this indoor and outdoor community event. The Bonalucelebration in Houston was planned to coincide with the festivities inIndia including Bonalu preparation, singing, dancing, and a festive lunch.The event was organized with the help of numerous committed volun-teers and donors to promote Telugu culture and heritage.

Bonalu is a Hindu festival during which Goddess Mahakali is wor-shiped. Bonalu is an annual festival celebrated in TwinCities Hyderabad, Secunderabad and parts of Telangana and AndhraPradesh. It is also celebrated in villages to please their grama devatha,the village deity. The festival falls in the month of Ashada Masam,which is July/August.

Bonam means Bojanam in Telugu, a meal, which is an offering toMother Goddess. Women prepare rice cooked with milk, jaggery in anew brass or earthen pot adorned with neem leaves, turmeric, vermil-ion and a lighted diya on the top of the pot. Women carry the pots ontheir heads and make offering of Bonam along with turmeric, vermil-ion, bangles and saree to the Mother Goddess across the temples.Bonalu involves the worship of Kali and her various forms as Mysamma,Pochamma, Yellamma, Peddamma, Dokkalamma, Ankalamma,Poleramma, Maremma, Nookalamma etc.

The event started at 11:00 AM with a puja by Suresh Swami, resi-dent priest of Shirdi Sai Jalaram Mandir, with invoking the Goddess ,the life saver for good health and prosperity. A special stage was cre-ated for this purpose with alankaram, the decoration where peoplegathered to receive the blessings of the Goddess.

A procession was taken out around the temple with ladies carryingBonam on their heads and men dancing to the dole and music. Peoplewalked and danced around the temple bare foot in the mid afternoonwith full devotion. In spite of hot weather, everyone enjoyed the danc-ing with active participation.

Later, the specially prepared Bonalu were taken inside. All womenand girls in colorful and ethnic sarees and dresses danced as a grouparound the Bonalu. As the program reached to the end, the circulargroup dances expanded as many ladies and children participated in thesynchronized dancing while clapping along with the music. Men formeda separate circle and danced enthusiastically to the music. Overall, theTelugu native culture was showcased in every moment of the festival

First-ever ‘Bonalu’ festival inHouston

through the ethnic attire, simple yetpowerful prayers, native musicand dance, ethnic food, volunteer-ing and more importantly a senseof community. Everyone dancedcontinuously for an hour to therhythm of music. Everyone ac-tively participated throughout theevent.

Finally, the program ended withdelicious festive lunch exclusivelyprepared by Mayuri and BiryaniPot Restaurants.

The organizing committeethanked the volunteers for variousactivities ranging from food tostage set-up and other arrange-ments. They also thanked the do-nors and Shirdi Sai JalaramMandir.

INDIANS ABROADINDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2014 • PAGE 7

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about what type of project I should be doing. He brought up Sewa International and talked to me about the Bhutanese families living in Los Arcos apartments,” said Aishwarya. Aishwarya then reached out to Sewa International and presented her idea.

Sewa International, a Hindu-faith based nonprofi t dedicated to helping lower income families, saw the need for Aishwarya’s program and decided to partner with Aishwarya. “She’s been very motivated to help the students and encourage them to learn,” said Laura Frye, 24. Laura, an AmeriCorps VISTA at Sewa International, works closely with Aishwarya helping the New Horizons students. “Aishwarya encourages the students to become more independent and track their progress,” said Laura.

Before starting computer classes, Aishwarya and several Sewa International volunteers surveyed the Los Arcos apartments.

“After completing a survey around the community, we fi gured out that most of them didn’t understand English and they would prefer to start out with that,” said Aishwarya. The current structure for New

Horizons encourages students to complete three certifi cates in the Rocket Languages program in order for students to complete the computer literacy curriculum Aiswarya structured.

New Horizon’s fi rst class took place on July 8. “All of the feedback has been positive,” said Laura. “The students really enjoy coming to class and that it is good practice for them,” said Laura.

When asked about what she hopes students get out of the class, Aishwarya said, “I just want to see the students strive more, whether it is in their home environment or in their work environment. I get a lot of parents who come in that want to help their children with homework at school. And I just want to be able to help the Bhutanese families be able to expand in the community. I want them to be able to apply for a job and know that they can successfully get the job because they can speak English fl uently.”

Sewa International has been the leading organization in Houston to engage high school and college students in refugee and immigrant families. This summer six college students and eight high school students completed their summer internship with Sewa International, helping

immigrant and refugee kids and families.

For more information about college and high school internships, please visit Get Inspired Houston and Lead Houston links respectively on www.sewahouston.org.

Sewa International USA is a Hindu faith based nonprofi t charity registered under the Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3). The mission of Sewa is to serve humanity in distress, aid local communities, and promote volunteerism. Sewa volunteers across 38 chapters in 22 states performed more than 100,000 hours of community work in 2012.

Sewa runs disaster relief/rehabilitation projects (Hurricane Katrina (2005), Super Storm Sandy (2012), Maharashtra Drought (2013)), development projects in India, Sri Lanka, Peru, Guyana, and Kenya.

In the US, community service projects include Bhutanese Refugee Empowerment, Family Services, Adopt-a-highway, Habitat for Humanity, and Diwali Food Drive among others.

Yuwa for Sewa summer internships for youth and Get Inspired summer internships for high school and college students promote volunteerism among youth.

RavatFrom Page 1

Indian American banker and politician Neel Kashkari, running for the post of California governor, spent a week posing as a pen-niless vagabond looking for a job, in an attempt to highlight the importance of jobs in the key US state’s weak economy.

The 40-year-old Republican, son of Indian immigrants from Jammu and Kashmir, is seen in a 10-minute video stopping in a thrift store in California’s Fresno city, a mini-mart and a repair shop asking for work and sleeping on park benches, a report in the New York Times said.

Kashkari is the Republican Party’s gubernatorial candidate against current Democrat Governor Jerry Brown who is running for an unprecedented fourth term as governor of California in the election on November 4.

The former investment banker and multimillionaire, had only $40 in his pocket and carried a torn backpack as he spent a week posing as a homeless man looking for a job. In the video, released by him, Kashkari is left with no prospects for cash after fi ve days on the streets and appears scruffy and bereft.

“The solution is simple -- it’s jobs. It’s not more welfare. It’s not more food stamps. It’s jobs. And we know how to do this,” he says in his message in the video.

“Everything starts with education and jobs,” Kashkari, who lives in a USD 10 million home in Laguna Beach, told NYT.

“We talk about temporary help, but if the bridge is a bridge to nowhere, what does it matter? There has to be land, and that land has to be a job.”

He said he remained opposed to raising the minimum wage. “Would that have helped me get a job?” he asked. “Absolutely not, it would have made it harder. We know how to rein in regula-tions so our businesses can grow and thrive and hire.”

While some people have praised Kashkari’s effort to draw at-tention to the plight of the needy, there are others who said Kash-kari posing as a homeless man is a publicity stunt.

D J Criner, the pastor of St Rest Baptist Church in Fresno, who has worked with the homeless for more than a decade, called the video “pure buffoonery for publicity”. “To pose as a homeless man is just wrong -- it’s no different than a white man putting on black face and saying he knows what it is to be black,” Criner said. Dan Newman, a spokesman for the campaign of Governor Jerry Brown, called the move a “bizarre campaign stunt.

.

Indian American California governor hopeful poses as homeless man


COMMUNITY CALENDAR

or call for info.(713) 665-4665

Chandra & David Courtney Tabla and Vocal

Classes in Houston,Mission Bend,& Sugar Land

Visit www.chandrakantha.com

Classesnow ongoing

I-Fest 2014Sat., Aug 16 @ 2 p.m.

ICC Houston celebrates IndiaFest 2014- India’s 68th Indepen-dence Day at the Stafford Cen-ter, Cash Rd. from 2 p.m. to 10p.m. Free event, free parking &musical concert. For info callEvent Chair 281-217-7330.

Janmashtami at SRKTSat., Aug 16 @ 8:30 p.m.Grand celebration of

Janmashtami at Shri RadhaKrishna Temple, 11625 BeechnutStreet. Dandiya Raas 8:30 p.m.till 11.30 p.m. followed by Kirtan.Birth of Lord Krishna/Janma-shtami Aarti at 12 midnight. Formore information call temple 281-933-8100 or visit www.SRKT.org

Gita chanting at HWSSun., Aug 17 @10 a.m.Continuous Gita chanting

(Parayana) on Janmashtami day.Devotees are invited to chant thedivine words right on the day ofShri Krishna Janma. At HinduWorship Society temple, 2223Wirtcrest Ln, Houston 77055.Contact 832-331-5375.

Swami MukundanandaAugust 23 – 28

Swami Mukundananda, aworld-renowned teacher of spiri-tuality, Yoga and Meditation willtalk on the “Path to Happiness”at India House at 8888 W BellfortAve, Houston, TX 77031.

August 23: Yoga & Medita-tion from 4:30 pm – 5:45 pm, Dis-

COMMUNITY CALENDARcourse from 5:45 pm to 7:30 pm.

August 24: Yoga & Medita-tion from 11 am – 12:15 pm, Dis-course from 12:15 to 2 p.m.

August 25-27: Yoga & Medi-tation from 6 pm to 7:15 p.m., Dis-course from 7:15 to 9 p.m.

August 28: Discourse 7 to 9p.m. Admission is free; Prasadamserved daily after program. Visitwww.jkyog.org or call 281-630-5982 / 832-377-6070 or email:[email protected]

AIM for Seva programSat., Sept 6 @ 5:30 p.m.Dance drama of Kalidasa’s

Meghadootam. At the StaffordCenter, 10505 Cash Rd. Music byBombay Jayashri. Script and cho-reography by Shijith Nambiar andParvathy Menon. Benefit programfor AIM for Seva.

For info, email Suma [email protected]

IA Chamber galaSat., Sept 27 @ 6 p.m.

Fifteenth annual gala of theIndo-American Chamber of Com-merce of Greater Houston. AtHilton Americas Hotel, 1600Lamar St. U.S. Senator JohnCornyn is the keynote speaker. Forinfo, call 713-624-7131 [email protected]

Arya Samaj SatsangWeekly Havan Satsang every

Sunday from 10 a.m. to 12 noon.DAV Sanskriti School Sundays 10a.m. to 12 noon. - Havan, Hindiand Naitik Shiksha classes. DAVMontessori School for ages 2 to 7

years. Call Arti Khanna 281-759-3286. Free Yoga classes on Sat.Sanskrit & Upanishad classes Tue.6-8 p.m. At 14375 Schiller Rd. (betWestpark & Bellaire off Hwy 6).281-752-0100.

Chinmaya Mission -Summer schedule

One Session from 6/15 to 8/24;No classes in July. Sundaysatsanga for adults and Bala Vihar(PreK to Grade 11) from 10:50AM to 12:30 PM at ChinmayaPrabha, 10353 Synott Road, SugarLand, TX77498. Enrolling for newBala Vihar year. New membersvisit welcome desk 10:15-10:45a.m. Visit www.chinmayahouston.org or call Bharati Sutaria 281-933-0233

Vedanta SocietyVedanta Society of Greater

Houston, 14809 Lindita Drive(77083) has classes every Sundayfrom 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. onGospel of Sri Ramakrishna, 1st &3rd Sunday; Bhagavad Gita, 2ndSunday; on works of SwamiVivekananda, 4th Sunday; HolyMother Sarada’s Gospel, 5th Sun-day. Swamis of Ramakrishna Or-der visit to conduct retreats andtalks. www.houstonvedanta.orgor 281-584-0488.

Durga Bari TempleDurga Bari temple is open from

9 to 11 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. Mon.thru Sat. Sandhya aarti at 6:30p.m. Temple closes at 7 p.m. Sun-day special from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.Puja services - Priest BishnupadaGoswami 281-597-8100 Temple islocated at 13944 Schiller Rd (offHwy 6 bet. Bellaire & Westpark).Call Ganesh Mandal at 713-797-9057 / 832-423-8541.

Telugu FellowshipTelugu Christian Fellowship

meets every third Saturday of themonth at Triumph Church, 10555W. Airport Blvd., Stafford TX77477 at 6:30 p.m. Join us for atime of praise, worship and fellow-ship. Worship is in English. CallChris Gantela 281-344-0707, orRev. V. Gurrala 281-997-0757.

Sahaj Marg MeditationSahaj Marg (Natural Path)

Meditation and Spirituality (www.sahajmarg.org) A natural, simplesystem of Raja Yoga meditationand spiritual practice. Weeklysatsangs held in the Houston area.Email Radheshyam Miryala, MDat meditate_ [email protected] or [email protected].

Heritage ClassesAshirwad’s Heritage Classes in

Katy, Cypress and Sugar Land forkids 4 to 18 yrs - meditation, Yoga,slokas, stories from scriptures,Vishnu Sahasranam, bhajans, com-petitions and fun activities. Adultmeditation classes. Register atwww.ashirwadablessing.org or SriRavula 281-995-0930.

Hare Krishna DhamHouston’s original Vedic temple,

ISKCON of Houston. At 1320 W34th St. (77018). Daily Darshan& Arati Times: 4.30am, 7am,8.30am, 12noon, 4.30pm, 7pm,

9pm. Sunday Festival: 5.30 pm to 7.30 pm. Weekly Gita classes foradults; call 281-433-1635 or harekrishnadham @gmail.com

Gandhi LibraryMahatma Gandhi Library Book Club: Meets 2nd Sunday of each

month; 12:30 PM at Arya Samaj Greater Houston, 13475 Schiller Rd.Join the discussion of the great man’s autobiography – The Story ofMy Experiments with Truth. Call Manish Wani 713-829-6979.

Saumyakasi SivalayaSri Saumyakasi Sivalaya is located at Chinmaya Prabha, 10353

Synott Road, Sugar Land, TX 77478. Temple timings: Monday to Fri-day: 9:00 AM - 12:00 Noon and 5:00 - 8:00 PM Saturday and Sunday:8:30-2:00 PM and 5:00 - 8:00 PM. Contact Bharti Sutaria 281-568-1690 or Jay Deshmukh 832-541-0059 or visit www.saum yakasi.org.

Veerashaiva SamajaVSNA Houston is a group of families who believe in Veera-shaiva

dharma (Basava dharma). Monthly Mahamane program for prayerand discussion on Vachana Sahitya followed by Prasada. Contact:[email protected] or Jagadeesh Halyal 832-744-4166.

Shiv Shakti MandirSanatan Shiv Shakti Mandir, 6640 Harwin. Open daily 7 a.m. to 8

p.m. All major festivals, as well as birthdays, naam karan, engage-ment and other ceremonies. Call Pandit Virat Mehta 713-278-9099 orHardik Raval 361-243-6539 for puja or other ceremonies.

Houston NamadwaarA prayer house where the Hare Rama Hare Krishna Maha-man-

tra is continuously chanted. Weekends: 8-11 AM & 4-7 PM, Week-days: 7-8 AM & 6-7 PM. Weekly “Gopa Kuteeram” children’s heri-tage classes and Srimad Bhagavatam classes. Call 281-402-6585;visit www.godivinity.org (Global Organization for Divinity).

Mar Thoma ChurchTrinity Mar Thoma Church every Sunday at 5810 Almeda Genoa

Rd. Sunday School at 9:15 a.m. Malayalam service at 9:30 a.m. on1st & 3rd Sunday. Adult Bible class at 9:30 a.m. English service at10:30 a.m. on 2nd & 4th Sunday. Call 713-991-1557 or 281-261-4603.

Sri Guruvayurappan TempleHours: Mon to Fri 6 a.m. -8 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Week-

ends & Holidays: 6 a.m. to noon and 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. BhajansSaturdays 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Sundays 9 a.m. to 1 a.m. Special poojas(weekends and holidays) Choroon (Annaprasam) for kids,Thulabharam, Vahana Pooja, Nirapara. Temple is located at 11620Ormandy St (77035) Tel: 713-729-8994 email: temple@ guruvayur.us

Arsha Vidya BharatiSanskrit classes and special worship sessions for all ages. At 2918

Renoir, Sugar Land, TX 77479.Call 281-606-5607 [email protected]. Web-site: https://sites.google.com/site/avbtexas/classes

Preksha MeditationNew facilities of JVB Preksha Meditation Center. Classes for Yoga

and Meditation under guidance by Samani jis and discourses. At 14102Schiller Road (off Hwy 6 bet Bellaire and Westpark - 77082). Tel281-596-9642.

Patanjali YogpeethFree Yoga Classes every Sat/Sun at Arya Samaj from 8 am to 9:30

a.m. Call Anil 281-579-9433. For other free classes, call Indra 281-537-0018. For Yoga/Herbal products, call Shekhar 281-242-5000. Web:www.pyptusa.org and www.DivyaProducts.com.

Sathya Sai centersSunday program held at two locations (North Houston: 12127

Louetta Rd, Houston; South Houston: 246 Fluor Daniel Dr, Sugarland,TX, 77479) from 3:00 pm to 5:30 pm. Sai Spiritual Education classesfor children; study circle for adults. Service programs - food distribu-tion & food drives; nursing home visits, tutoring at schools etc. Con-tact Sanjay Gupta (North) 832-687-6766 or Sondip Mathur (South)832-215-8675 www.sairegion10.org.

Sadhu Vaswani CenterSadhu Vaswani Center of Houston holds regular Satsang on 3rd

Thursday of the month and daily Arti at 7.30 p.m. Call 281-463-0379or e.mail [email protected]

Gaudiya MathSri Govindaji Gaudiya Matha at 16628 Kieth Harrow Blvd., Hous-

ton 77084. Satsang Sundays 5 to 7 pm. Mantra meditation, kirtan,Sanatan Dharma classes. Vedic Education and Hindi classes for kids5-14 yrs. Gita classes noon - 1:30 pm Wed. Hanuman Chalisa andRamcharit Manas on Tue. 7:30–8:30 p.m. info@sggm. org or 281-499-3347.

HELP WANTEDHELP WANTEDHELP WANTEDHELP WANTEDHELP WANTEDVery busy grocery store

now hiring stocking,shelfing and kitchen help.

Start immediately.Call 832-351-2742 or send

email [email protected]@[email protected]@[email protected]

Open Forum Radio ProgramKGOL 1480 AM • Saturdays 4 to 6 p.m.

Informative programs with doctors, lawyers,politicians and other newsmakers. Call in todiscuss matters of interest to the community

with Dinkar, Jagat and Subodh.713-784-1480

Where Your Opinion Counts


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Tel/Fax: (212) 242-1677Dakshini R. Senanayake, B.S., LL.M.Licensed by the Supreme Court of New York

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NEW DELHI: The ‘Modified’relationship between India and theUS, should get relations going be-tween the two countries, espe-cially after the drift in the last fewyears.

The good news is that a largeamount of political capital hasbeen put in place to create theright chemistry for the relationship.

The denial of a visa to NarendraModi, differences on the nuclearliability bill and an extended tit-for-tat after the Devyani Khboragadeissue, the relationship between thetwo democracies was in tatterswith enough red marks on the re-port card.

However, when External Af-fairs Minister Sushma Swaraj satdown with US Secretary of StateJohn Kerry for talks, the bonho-mie was visible, despite differ-ences where the two have agreedto disagree in their larger goal foretching out a new roadmap ofcooperation when the Prime Min-ister Narendra Modi goes toWashington for a summit meet-ing with President Obama on Sep-tember 30.

On the WTO issue, India hasconveyed that it will hold its groundand has voiced concerns on the‘snooping’ issue, which has cre-ated a political storm.

The US Secretary of State re-sponded by saying Americawanted to leave the past behindand create a new chapter in therelationship.

Sources said that the twocountries have agreed to step upcooperation in defence, enhancestrategic cooperation, intelligencesharing and cooperation in thearena of counter terrorism.

There was also talk about ex-panding bilateral trade, which cur-rently stands at US $100 billion, inareas such as energy cooperation.

On the global front, the US andIndia have agreed to expand co-operation on Afghanistan as theyboth have vital security stakes inthe region.

While Kerry’s visit was moreabout preparing the ground for thevisit by Prime Minister NarendraModi to Washington, it is under-stood the US is doing its best towoo the Modi regime, which theybelieve will usher in the next roundof reforms and open up the In-dian economy further.

Secondly, Washington also re-alizes that it needs an assertiveIndia to play a stabilising role inthe region to balance China, andfor that it needs to have the Modiregime on its side.

Thirdly, President Obama is try-ing to play a more assertive rolein the international arena – wherehe has taken on himself to disci-pline Russia – and for this heneeds the support of other coun-tries, especially India.

The bonhomie between the twocountries is thanks to some deft,behind the scenes, diplomacy.

For this, credit needs to go tokey officials in New Delhi whoworked tirelessly to get the rela-tionship back on track.

Key interlocutors, led by India’sForeign Secretary Sujatha Singhand India’s Ambassador to the US,

S. Jaishankar, presented a tough face on consular issues and a clampdown on the diplomatic privileges for the US, in the aftermath of theKhobrgade standoff, but then changed gears quickly to reinforce tothe U.S., that they need to make a fresh beginning with the govern-ment in New Delhi.

While Jaishankar courted top Senators in Washington and businessleaders, Deputy Chief of Mission Taranjit Sandhu, in Washington, speeddialled Capitol Hill; worked on the think-tanks and the Indian Ameri-can community, to get them to lobby with the people who mattered inWashington.

In New Delhi, Singh got her crack team to mend fences and createthe right atmospherics with Joint Secretary, External Publicity SyedAkbaruddin, Joint Secretary PMO, Javed Ashraf – a former JointSecretary Americas – along with the current Joint Secretary VikramDoraiswamy playing key roles.

The officials also impressed upon the political leadership that theU.S. could help India on the international stage and the receptive Modiregime gave them a go ahead.

This was seen in the first major international crisis that the Modigovernment came in rescuing Indian nurses from Iraq, where the U.S.not only lent a helping hand but also provided vital intelligence inputs.

Then, as part of India’s diplomatic outreach to the US, Sujata Singhaccepted an invitation to be the chief guest at the 4th July reception atthe US embassy, to celebrate their Independence Day.

Finally, even though it was India’s turn to go for the strategic dia-logue in Washington, Swaraj conveyed that it would be difficult for herto travel in the middle of a Parliament session.

As a result, the US side was persuaded to send Kerry and a highlevel delegation for the strategic dialogue.

Kerry’s visit to New Delhi will be followed by a visit by US De-fence Secretary Chuck Hagel to New Delhi next month. The iceseems to have melted but there is still some some way to go. — MailOnline India

Kerry’s visit ‘Modifies’ Indo-US relations

‘CONFUSING MESSAGE’Kerry told Modi that India’s refusal to ratify a key WTO trade deal

sent the wrong message.A raft of disputes has cast a shadow over hopes for a warmer

relationship, with India on Thursday, July 31, blocking a major WorldTrade Organisation pact to streamline customs procedures and boostglobal commerce.

During the meeting Kerry told the prime minister that India’s stancewas at odds with its desire to open up the country’s economy.

“We note that the prime minister is very focused on his signal ofopen to business and creating opportunities and therefore the failureof implementing TFA (Trade Facilitation Agreement) sends a confus-ing signal and undermines that very message that he is seeking to sendabout India,” a US official quoted Kerry as saying.

“While we understand India’s food security concerns, the TradeFacilitation Agreement is one that will bring tremendous benefit, par-ticularly to the world’s poor. India’s actions therefore are not in keep-ing with the prime minister’s vision.”

But Modi said that developed nations needed to display greaterunderstanding of the difficulties faced by the developing world in meetingthe needs of their poor populations. “The prime minister emphasisedthe need for developed countries to understand the challenges of pov-erty in developing countries and their governments’ responsibilities inaddressing them..,” a statement issued by Modi’s office said.

Modi wants health insurance for allNEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called a meet-

ing on health reforms this week in which the format of the healthinsurance for all, setting up medical colleges in each district and athree-year BSc course in community health are likely to be discussed.

Improving public health facilities had been high on PM Modi’s agendaand health minister Harsh Vardhan has been working on series ofreforms that entails to provide affordable health to all. The govern-ment has announced the setting up of All India Institute of MedicalSciences in different states and improving health infrastructure.

But government sources said the meeting of all dealing with health,including department of pharmaceuticals, have been called with anidea to take the agenda ahead.

The Prime Minister’s Office has asked Planning Commission sec-retary Sindhushree Kullar to make a presentation on the reforms.

One of the major issues to be discussed at the meeting would behealth insurance for all. Sources said the government was looking at aproposal of nominal premium for health insurance that would covertreatment for widespread ailments like diabetes, cardiac and cancer.“The aim is to provide a basic minimum health insurance cover to all.The rate of the premium for the middle class could be dependent onone’s income. But for the poor it would be very nominal,” a govern-ment official said.

Another issue likely be flagged is the growing shortage of healthpersonnel in rural India. There are just 0.64 doctors and 1.44 nursesfor 1,000 Indians. The ratio halves for rural India with a large numberof health personnel working in urban areas. Although the number ofhealth personnel has increased the demand for medical treatment hasalso risen with improvement income in recent years, says a govern-ment paper for the 12th five year plan.

To meet the growing demand, the government wants to set up amedical college in each district with the help of state governments incoordination with the upgraded district hospitals.


Celebrates 23rd Foundation Day and Krishna JanmashtamiOn August 16th 17th, 2014 (2 sessions on both days – Saturday & Sunday)10.00 am – 12.00 noon, followed by lunch and 6.00 pm 8.30 pm, followed by music program & dinner

With Chatur Veda Yajna, Bhajans & Pravachans

Everyone is welcome to participate in this two day celebration with spiritual fervor.Free participation and parking.

For more information visit www.aryasamajhouston.org, or contact:Bhushan Verma at [email protected] (281) 496 7904, Anil Gupta at [email protected] (281) 798 2211,Sanjay Sood at [email protected] (281) 935 6147, Surya Nanda at [email protected] (281) 752 0100

14375 Schiller Road, Houston, Texas 77082 * PHONE: (281) 752 0100 FAX: (281) 752 0110 * www.aryasamajhouston.org

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COMMUNITY NEWS

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

Global Organization for Divinity Houston (G.O.D.) conducted three different fun “Gopa Kuteeram” summer camps in Pearland and Cypress areas this summer.

In the Pearland/Manvel area, “Vibrant India” was the theme for a 3-day camp (June 20-22) held at Namadwaar Prayer House for kids aged 4 to 10. The camp focused on India’s amazing indigenous, ‘natural’ diversity in various areas – lan-guage, food, music & dance, art & architecture, clothing, ge-ography/climate, religion and color.

The children participated in many activities based on this theme: they learned to sing and dance to the popular patriotic songs Vande Mataram and Mile Sur Mera Tumhara, where they learned lines in 15 different languages; they did Madhubani artwork, yoga, cooking, cricket & kho-kho among lots of other fun activities.

The children visited the Asia Society Texas Center Museum for a fi eld trip, to view the Tran-scendental Deities of India ex-hibit of Raja Ravi Varma paint-ings and contemporary art and photographs. They also partici-pated in an Indian Deities Writ-ing Workshop at the museum.

On the fi nal day of the camp, the kids dressed up in varied re-gional costumes and presented all that they had learned during the camp.

At Cypress, the fi rst camp was a 3-day “Crazy Kishkind-ha” camp for kids aged 8 to 12 at the Cy-Fair library (June 13-15). It was themed around Navavidha Bhakti in the Ra-mayana and the kids had lots of fun doing artwork, crafts and games themed around the nine ways of devotion. The Mission Monkeys game was a huge hit with the children. Here too, the participants visited the Asia So-ciety Texas Center to view the Indian Deities exhibit.

A second 2-day camp was also held at the Cy-Fair Library for kids aged 4 to 7 was (July 18-19). This camp too was themed around “Vibrant India”. Apart from all the other activi-ties, these younger kids also worked on some beautiful eth-nic crafts.

Events at the camps were all conducted by inspired GOD and parent volunteers as well as several community organiza-tions and volunteers who came forward enthusiastically to make it a fun experience for the kids - YogaOne Studios (yoga), Kala Art by Heart Classes (art-work), Nritya School of Dance (dance), Hot Off the Stove blog (cooking) and Asia Society Texas Center.

The camps and the informa-tion that the children learned during all the camps were greatly appreciated by all par-ents.

G.O.D. also conducts weekly Gopa Kuteeram heritage class-es at Pearland/Manvel and Cy-press on Saturdays. Classes for the 2014-15 year begin on Sep-tember 13, for age groups 4-7 and 8-12. For more information and to register online, please visit www.godivinity.org.

Global Organization for Divinity conducts ‘Vibrant India’ and ‘Crazy Kishkindha’ Summer Camps

Right, Camp participants at Asia Society during a fi eld trip.


COMMUNITY NEWS

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“Education is one of the four pillars of our organiza-tion,” IACF president Ra-mesh Cherivirala told the gathering, while introduc-ing the scholarship winners.

“In the past few years, we appointed tutors to teach math and science in Tier 1 el-ementary schools at HISD and Alief ISD. We transitioned our services this year in edu-

cation to providing schol-arships,” Cherivirala said.

The scholarships committee had chosen the students based on their GPA, rank in their class, SAT scores, and the col-

lege they are attending. Their fi nancial and family needs were also taken into consideration.

“Some of the committee members had tears in their eyes while reading the bios of the applicants. Some of the committee members could not even read them twice. I can safely say that all the commit-tee members became emotion-al going through these bios. We wished that there may be a way we could fund entire college cost for some of these children,” Cherivirala said.

IACF gave scholarships to 18 students, 14 of them from Fort Bend ISD. Career and College readiness program of FBISD helped in identifying these children. The other four

applied through IACF website.Also present at the awards

ceremony was FBISD’s newly elected school board trustee K.P. George.

The scholarship recipients were: J.B. Cameau, Jenny Chang, Daniyal Muhammad, Jasmine Felder, Emily Gar-za, Efi oma Ita, Alma Marti-nez, Ashley Mhlanga, Habiba Omosun, Sean Rivera, Megan Tu, Dennis Valle, Ta’lour Wil-liams, Birva Shah, Hiren Pa-tel, Jasmin Patel and Komal Desai. Morgan Hardin re-ceived the fi rst David Raj Me-morial Scholarship, instituted in memory of the late David Raj, former president of IACF.

Visit iacfhouston.com for more information.

IACF’s 2014 scholarship winners

After the awards ceremony, guests play in the Casino during the “Ace for Charity” event.

To advertise in India Heraldemail [email protected] For news, email [email protected]


COMMUNITY NEWSHARDIK VYASYoungest Astrologer in North America

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Astrologer Hardik Vyas, a famous young face in Vedic Astrology from India is in Houston. Call for guidance on Health, Wealth, Education, Career, Business, Property, Love & Passion, Marriage & Compatibility, Horoscope-Making, Child Problem, Luck & Fortune, Peace & Prosperity, Karma & Economic success.

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Languages spoken: English, Hindi, Gujarati & Marathi

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Arya Samaj Greater Hous-ton will be celebrating its 23rd foundation day and Shri Krish-na Janmashtami with gaiety and fervor for two days on Au-gust 16 and 17, 2014.

On this occasion, Yajnas with selected mantras from all four Vedas, Bhajans and Vedic discourses will be held at Arya Samaj.

The program will start on

Arya Samaj Celebrates Foundation Day, Shri Krishna Janmashtami

Saturday at 9:45 a.m. with In-dian fl ag hoisting ceremony to celebrate India’s Independence Day.

It will be followed by a Ya-jna, with the recitation of se-lected mantras from the Rig Veda, Bhajans, and a spiritual discourse. The morning session of this day will conclude at 12 noon with Aarti, Shanti Path and Prasad.

The program will be repeated the same evening from 6 p.m to 8.30 p.m, and also on Sunday, 17 August, in the morning from 10 a.m to 12 noon.

The concluding session will be held from 6 p.m to 8.30 p.m and will include Poorna Ahuti.

The Glory of Shri Krishna will be the topic of discourse in this session. Both the evening sessions will also have a musi-cal program of Bhajans.

At the end of every session, lunch/dinner Prasad will be served.

Each time, the Yajna will be performed with selected man-tras from one of the four Vedas.

In these four sessions, re-nowned Vedic scholar Acha-rya Ashish Darshnacharya will deliver enlightening spiritual talks.

Acharya Ashish ji is a much sought after Vedic speaker all over India and North America.

Everyone is invited to attend any or all of these enlightening four sessions.

You can also participate as a yajmaan (host) in any session by contacting Sanjay Sood ji at [email protected].

For more information, please visit the ASGH website: aryasamajhouston.org or call (281) 752-0100.

Yagna in progress at Arya Samaj of Houston

Want to advertise in

India Herald?

Email [email protected]

or call 281-980-6746.


COMMUNITY NEWS

Suite 127

The Asian American Hotel Owners Association has strong-ly condemned the recent action taken by the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Mc-Donald’s.

The ruling determines that McDonald’s can now be con-sidered as a joint employer in labor complaints from workers who are employed by its fran-chisees.

This may establish a dan-gerous precedent that could ultimately eliminate one of the most successful paths of small business ownership in the Unit-ed States.

“The action taken by the NLRB is yet another attack on the heart of the free market. It is frightening that the scope of government overreach has tak-en us to a point where franchis-ing, which has created hundreds of millions of jobs through the years, is now being threatened by a hyper-aggressive bureau-cracy,” said AAHOA President Fred Schwartz. “There is no economic rationale for this in-trusion, only a bizarre belief that government knows best.”

AAHOA urges regulators to instead advocate for poli-cies that expand entrepreneur-ial opportunity. Franchising has allowed tens of millions of Americans to realize the Amer-ican dream through owning their own business. Any ruling that effectively removes the contractually agreed to legal separation between franchisors and franchisees, could render the franchising model moot.

AAHOA has more than 12,500 members who together own more than 20,000 hotels which have a combined market value of almost $130 billion and which represent more than 40% of all U.S. hotels. The association’s members play a signifi cant role in the American economy.

Hoteliers condemn

NLRB decision


COMMUNITY NEWS

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engaging sounds of soulful Indian music resonating from the stage, and the smiles of jubilation on volunteers and attendees of the event, I was instantly reminded of the traditional festivals I had grown up with in India. I was thrilled to see such an enthusiastic crowd of people celebrating such an important holiday together. This fi rst Janmashtami experience as a young child fueled my enthusiasm to participate in the communitywide event for years to come.

During the past 15 years of my life since that fateful evening, two things have remained constant; my grandfather’s passion for volunteering at the event and my love for being a part of it, both as a volunteer and

great about being handed a bag of shoes. I decided to give it a try. To my surprise, I realized I enjoyed volunteering at the shoe booth more than anything else. My personal belief is that the removal of shoes is a sign of respect. Through the shoe booth, I felt that I was helping to facilitate a temple atmosphere which is so appropriate for the celebration of the birth of Krishna. In addition to that, it illustrated respect towards the hard work and dedication of the committee members who had worked tirelessly for months before the event. The dialogue I was able to have with each person as they removed their shoes allowed me to learn more about what excited them to come and what they were looking forward to that night. After several years of volunteering at the shoe booth, I fi nally realized where the smile

on my grandfather’s face camefrom. It wasn’t just about anexchange of shoes; it was aboutthe service, the conversation andthe mutual love of celebratingthe occasion. I enjoyedcelebrating Janmashtami somuch that I encouraged all of myfriends to participate whetherby simply attending or throughvolunteering. When one of mybest friends who happened to benon-Hindu attended the festivalwith me, I was honored to showher the program fi lled withlocal talent, exquisite colors ofthe stage, and the toe-tappingtunes during raas/garba. Shewas ecstatic about celebrating aholiday in such a traditional wayand enjoyed everything fromthe piping hot samosas to thelive music for the dancers. Theexcitement I felt while sharingmy culture with someone wasunparalleled. It made me bothproud of where I came from andenthusiastic about what I couldexpect from the event in thefuture.

I also wondered how myfamily got involved in the fi rstplace. In a conversation withmy mother, she told me that shehad been associated with theorganizing committee, Hindusof Greater Houston, since itsinception 25 years ago. Sherecalls a group of dedicatedHindu leaders coming togetherat Hindu Worship Society toembark on a new concept,celebrating Janmashtami on agrand scale at George BrownConvention Center. Growingup in Houston in the earlyseventies she said she hadlimited opportunities to learnabout her heritage besidesobserving the traditions of herelders. She had known most ofthe founding fathers as a childand was keen on watching howthey showcased Hindu traditionswith pride. In her words,“Today’s generation in Houstonis extremely blessed to havenumerous temples, classicaldance schools, a multitude ofHindu organizations, Hindischools and classes, Hinducamps and the many qualifi edteachers and instructors readilyavailable to impart theirknowledge.

I am very proud of the fact thatour community is stronger thanit has ever been and I hope thatour rich heritage continues tothrive.” My mother rememberswhen her father requested herto decorate the stage duringone of the fi rst community-wide celebrations. At that time,Hindus of Greater Houstondid not have the donations ormanpower to create the elegantstages we see during the eventtoday. She and her best friend,who also happened to be non-Hindu, stayed awake all nightto hand-paint a portrait of Gopalfor the backdrop of the stage.It amazes and delights her tosee how far Hindus of GreaterHouston has come from itshumble beginnings. This hasonly been possible throughcommunity-wide efforts to uniteeveryone for such a blessedcelebration.

Sen Pathak, left, Vidha and Radha Dixit in 1998.attendee. Like clockwork, I can recall my grandfather calling us early in the mornings the weekend before school started to let us know he was going to help organize temple booths or set up colorful decorations. Soon after my fi rst Janmashtami, my mother and father also joined in volunteer efforts through hands on work and preparations.

Seeing the collaboration with so many organizations during the event and the hard work of my family while I was growing up motivated me to get involved in any way I could. I had grown up watching my grandfather volunteer at the shoe booth and the excitement on his face as he interacted with attendees made me wonder what was so

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Remembering Kishore Kumar

Kishore Kumar’s golden voicemade us fall in love with Indiansuperstars like Rajesh Khanna,Dev Anand, Amitabh Bachchanand many more. The multi-talentedman had no formal training inmusic but was not only a fabuloussinger and a superb actor.

Kishore da, as he was calledby all, was born on August 4,1929. The singer is still alive in thehearts of millions of his fansthrough his songs. He had a songfor every mood. The man was notonly funny in movies but also inreal life. There are many storiesof Kishore Kumar’s sense of hu-mor. He had placed a sign that said“Beware of Kishore” at the doorof his Warden Road flat. Pro-ducer-director H. S. Rawail, whoowed him some money, visited hisflat to pay the dues. Kishore dahappily took the money and whenRawail offered to shake his hand,Kishore da bit his hand and asked“Didn’t you see the sign?”

Another time, Kishore da wasdue to record a song for producer-director G. P. Sippy. As Sippy ap-proached his bungalow, he sawKumar going out in his car. Afterfollowing him some distance, Sippyfinally stopped him at Madh Islandbut Kishore da refused to recog-nize him and threatened to call thepolice. However, on meetingSippy next day, he told Sippy thathe must have dreamt the incidentas he (Kishore da) was in

Khandwa that day.One filmmaker once went to

court to get a verdict that thesinger will have to followdirector’s orders. Little did heknow whom he was messingwith. During one shot, Kishore re-fused to get out of his car until thedirector ordered him to do so. And,after a car scene, Kishore dadrove on until he reachedKhandala as the director had for-gotten to say ‘cut’.

Kishore da once appeared onthe set with make-up on one sideof his face. When the directorasked him, he replied, “Aadhapaisa to aadha make-up.”

When producer R.C. Talwardid not pay his dues in spite of re-peated reminders, Kumar arrivedat Talwar’s home and shouted“Hey Talwar, de de mere aathhazaar” every morning untilTalwar paid him.

Once Kishore da apparentlyhad a tiff with a flunkey of Mrs.India Gandhi. And when someCongressmen asked him to singpraises of the government duringthe emergency, he booted themout by using Bengali expletives.Former I&B minister V.C. Shuklawas so angry with Kishore da thathe imposed a ban on the singer onAll India Radio.

Kishore da’s personal life wasnot a smooth one. He married fourtimes but was still lonely in his lastdays. He married singer-actressRuma Ghosh in 1950 but got di-vorced in 1958. Even before thetwo could officially separate, hemarried Madhubala against hisparents’ wishes. The marriage didnot work as Madhubala was ondeath bed due to her heart ailmentand had to move out of his housedue to rising family pressure.Madhubala passed away in 1969.He married Yogeeta Bali in 1976but got divorced in 1978. He thenmarried Leena Chandavarkar in1980 which lasted till his death onOct 13, 1987.

August 5 marked the 20th anniversary of the 1994 cult film, HumAapke Hain Koun. And to celebrate the occasion filmmaker SoorajBarjatya and Salman Khan have decided to have a reunion of sorts.An industry insider said, “Both of them are currently shooting in Karjatfor their upcoming film, which is a family drama. So, they will behaving a lunch party on the sets. A few members from the unit ofHum Aapke Hain Koun will be present (many still work with Barjatya),and they will all be joined by the filmmaker’s family members too.Interestingly, like in Hum Aapke Hain Koun, Salman’s character inthe upcoming film is also called Prem. Barjatya had initially planned tobring the entire cast of Hum Aapke Hain Koun together for thereunion. But it was almost next to impossible, given the hectic sched-ules of all the actors who were part of the film.

“Ensuring the presence of every actor from the film would havebeen a painstaking process. Hence, the small celebration, a Barjatyaspokesperson said.

Meanwhile, Madhuri Dixit who played Nisha in the film also tweetedcongratulations to Barjatya. She mentioned the film’s hit number BadhaiHo Badhai in the tweet.

20th anniversary of Hum Aapke Hain Koun

Nargis Fakhrihas shot an itemsong forSaahasam withactor Prashanth.Choreographedby Raju Sunda-ram, the songfeatures over100 backup dan-cers. The songwas shot atBinny Mills inChennai. Saah-asam is theTamil remake ofTelugu block-buster Julayi.

PK poster landsAamir in trouble

A case was filed in a court inKanpur against Aamir Khan andthe producer and director of newmovie “PK” after its postershowed him in the nude with justa radio covering his private parts. Petitioner Manoj Dixit, a lawyer,accused the actor, producer VidhuVinod Chopra and directorRajkumar Hirani of promoting nu-dity and vulgarity.

The court listed the case forAug 7 when the petition would beheard and, if needed, the defen-dants will be served notice to ap-pear before the court. Dixit saidAamir Khan has considerable in-fluence on the youth and any suchact would only tempt youths toemulate him, thereby threateningthe social order. This, he added,would lead to cases of sexual of-fences. The film opens on De-cember 19.

Akshay Kumar’s 500th stage show

Nargis Fakhri’s item song in Tamil film

After captivating fansglobally with his inimitablestage performances forover two decades, all-roundA-list performer AkshayKumar will set a new per-sonal best on Saturday,August 9, when he per-forms on stage for the 500thtime. This impressive mile-stone will take place at theinaugural show to open thefirst international WorldKabaddi League (WKL)tournament at the landmarkO2 Arena in London.

Akshay Kumar’s per-formance is one of the mostanticipated at any event. Henever fails to impress withhis charismatic stage presence and brings his own individuality andflair to all his performances.

Akshay Kumar, who is a fan of the sport of Kabaddi and recentlybought the team, ‘Khalsa Warriors’, will also be in London attendingthe premiere of his upcoming romantic-comedy Entertainment, tak-ing place at IMAX Cinema - Science Museum on August 8.

*** The Bombay High Courton Monday admitted an appealfiled by Twinkle Khanna, daugh-ter of actor Rajesh Khanna,against the order of a single judgeasking her to give a copy of thewill of the late actor to his live-inpartner Anita Advani.

Anita Advani has claimed tohave lived-in with Rajesh Khannaat his iconic bungalow‘Ashirwad’.

The actor’s live-in partner chal-lenged genuineness of the will,contending he was not in a posi-tion to sign it as a result of hisdeteriorating health condition.


REVIEW/PREVIEW

In April 2012 I stumbled upona blog by a C.Y Gopinath (CYG)questioning the need for expen-sive celebrations and parades onIndia’s Republic Day in light ofwidespread corruption and myriadother problems that leave Indianslike him clueless about what itmeans to be an Indian. Since then,I am embarrassed every July 4when Americans celebrate theirIndependence Day with paradesand pride.

Embarrassed because it re-minds me of Indians like CYGwho can only harp on India’snegatives. They fail to see that it(Republic Day) is about India, notIndians. They never ask them-selves if a Republic Day is an ap-propriate time to harp on Indians’corruption. My point was(Musings – April 11, April 25, June20 and August 21) that Indepen-dence Day is not the time to harpon negatives.

CYG responded, “If I were tore-write my essay, I’d add a fifthattribute (euphemism for nega-tives) to Indians – the inability todigest any self-criticism in an in-trospective way.” But this is notabout ‘Indians’ ability to digest self-criticism’. It’s about appropriate-ness - of such a discussion on ourRepublic Day. CYG furtheradded: “It saddens me that an In-dian like Gadfly is willing to toler-ate corruption in India by sayingAmericans do it too.”

But I didn’t advocate tolerat-ing Indians’ corruption for any rea-son including because (as CYGpoints out) ‘Americans do it too’.The whole point was/is if Repub-lic Day a time to wash our dirtylaundry either in public or private.On your birthday, do you harpabout your shortcomings and fail-ures or do you think of your ac-complishments? Anyone whosees only negatives in Indians onRepublic Day or any other day willnever find a moment or a reasonto celebrate being an Indian. SuchIndians embarrasses India. And itis such Indians that come to mymind every July 4th when I seeAmericans celebrating it with pa-rades. I try not to think about themon August 15th because I knowwhat it means to be an Indian.

But for 43 days (July 4th-Aug.15th), I’m reminded of Indianswho only see negatives in Indians.

Depending on the State of/andorigin - both the geographical andphilosophical - such gripes differ– from the gap between the richand the poor (Communist ‘traitors’and members of the defeatedCongress Party), to the spread ofcommunalism (easily attributed toand stemming from BJP’s victoryin the polls and esp. that demon-ized demon, NaMo) again by Con-gress, the Dalit parties, the Mus-lim league, the latest know-allOmar Abdulla of Kashmir joinedby many Indian newspapers.

Somewhere in there RahulGandhi rears his head behindmommy talking about empower-ment of women. There will beother manifestations reflected invarious Indian publications both inand outside India in articles - whatIndia’s Muslims want from theBJP and from every non-Muslim

any country in its 67-year historylike the British did before. Othercountries point a finger at us about‘caste-ism’. They don’t want totalk about the flames of racismburning in their own backyards.

Yes, many Indian women willask ‘What about Indian men’spreference for White/light com-plexion in their future spouses?That is NOT racism. Colour inIndia is NOT about race or caste.And it is about personal choice,not oppression.

I am glad there have neverbeen any massacres of any reli-gious minority in India, like thescale of continuous violence be-tween Sunnis and Shias, onebranch of Islam against otherMuslim minorities in Pakistan likethe Ahmediyas and God-knows somany other including the Hinduminorities.

That kind of violence on thatscale has never happened in In-dia as is happening now in SriLanka. Someone will shout‘Dalits’, ‘Godhra’ or ‘Gujrat geno-cide’ in a crowded room. Some-one will yell ‘partition’. It’s not thesame thing and you know it.

Being an Indian means the su-perpowers of the world (or any-one for that matter) does NOTconsider India a near-failed statelike they do Pakistan.

Being an Indian means childrenare not running away from vio-lence in India like the children inSouth American countries. I don’tmean to snub my nose at thesecountries but it IS a fact to beproud of and there has never beena time when Indian children oradults had to run away from vio-lence in India except when Sikhsfled India as a result of their ownviolent Khalistan movement.

Being an Indian means there isno outbreak of Ebola or any otherdreadful disease possibly spread-ing to other countries. Never has,never will be.

Being Indian also means noIndian head of government willflex his/her muscles to get rid ofpolitical opponents like the currentPutin regime and previous Sovietand African and Middle Easterngovernments. Indira Gandhi wasthe closest any Indian PM evercame to threaten India’s constitu-tion, democracy and stable politi-cal environment. And the Indianelectorate threw her out in thenext election. That is what beingan Indian means.

Being an Indian means no near-bankruptcy as in Iceland, Ireland,Greece, Spain and Italy. The gapbetween the rich and the poor mayincrease (show me an economicsystem where it hasn’t) but nevernear-bankruptcy.

A few dumbfounded Indiansmay not know what it means tobe an Indian but there are also ‘In-dians’ like Prof. Richard Sorabjiwho, upon being knighted byQueen Elizabeth, declared that heis proud of his family’s Indian rootsin Mumbai and Allahabad. Indiais proud of you too, Sir Sorabji.

These are a few of myfavourite things as an Indian.More about pride next week. —Send responses [email protected]

MUSINGS By Gadfly

in India, what India’s Dalits wantfrom the BJP and high caste Hin-dus. This year there could be‘what India’s women want fromIndia’s men’.

The ideal would be no rapes butthat has never happened in thehistory of ‘men’. We could at leastmake life safer for women. Afterall, we Indians shout from therooftops about our cultural supe-riority. There’s a lot to improve butIndependence Day is NOT thetime to crib about negatives. Wehave the other 363 days every yearto talk about it.

Independence Day is like yourbirthday. On a country’s birthday,we talk about what makes usproud to be Indians. Indians inAmerica witness every year first-hand how Americans express theirpride as Americans. Do they harpabout Iraq invasion? No. Theyhonour the soldiers who fought inthat war. But when it comes toIndia, all some Indians can thinkof is what’s wrong with India.They crib, cringe and feelashamed. I’d rather talk aboutthings that make me proud as anIndian.

A friend, while discussing posi-tives about India, said, “We’redefinitely better than Pakistan.” Iagreed but India is not competingwith Pakistan. Long ago, here inthe West, they used to refer toCalcutta as the ‘stink hole of theOrient’. Now the stink-hole of theOrient (by American consensus)is Pakistan.

It may not be politically correctto say this nor nice to snub yournose at the less fortunate but Pa-kistan is more messed up thanJinnah ever imagined - a self-made mess. The worst part isthey’re in denial. So let them dealwith it. India is NOT competingwith Pakistan. One competes withsomeone better off like China,which despite its Communist re-gime, is economically much bet-ter than India and more importantly,culturally much, much stronger.India is behind China economicallyand has culturally aligned itself withthe West unlike China. India’svalues today are more Westernthan Asian.

As an Indian, I’m glad thereare no school or workplaceshootings in offices, hospitals orcourts in India. Is there no violencein India? Yes. There is terrorism;there are rapes and riots, theft,burglary, the run-of-the-mill crimesprevalent all over the world.

But India does not have the kindof individualized violence we seein America and the Westernworld. Better still, there is no NRAin India. I’m also glad abortion isa personal issue in India, not apolitical one.

I’m proud that India has neverattacked any country in its 67-yearhistory. Instead it freed BanglaDesh from the clutches of Paki-stan. India has never staged elec-tions in other countries to bring aregime change as America hasdone for decades. India has nottried to annex another countrythrough ‘elections’ as in Crimeaby Putin, or like Soviet Union andthe Soviet bloc for decades.

I’m glad India has not colonized

Independence Day no time to harp on negatives Sarabham — Active vice

Jigarthanda: Racket scienceCast: Siddharth,

Simhaa, LakshmiMenon

In Pizza, directorKarthik Subbarajdisplayed a talent forthe twist, but thatwas simply at thelevel of the narra-tive. In his secondf e a t u r e ,J i g a r t h a n d a ,Subbaraj pulls therug out from underthe traditional con-structs of the heroand heroine, whom we almost always know as good people, washedin white. Kayal (Lakshmi Menon) says, at one point, that she is notlike a “cinema heroine.” As for the hero Karthik (Siddharth), his moralcentre is... well, he doesn’t seem to have one. He uses a friend(Karunakaran). He uses Kayal. He’s an unabashed opportunist. He’sa maker of short films who’s got his big shot at making a feature,based on the life of a Madurai gangster and he goes about his workwith ruthless single-mindedness.

Karthik trains his camera on Sethu and requests him for his cata-logue of sins, and when Sethu begins to talk about murders andkidnappings, Karthik isn’t horrified – a slow smile spreads over hisface. All this is material for the movie. The only thing that matters tohim is his art. Karthik asks a gangster he’s befriended to tell him aboutSethu, and next instant we cut to the song Kannamma, which followsKarthik and Kayal through the early stages of their relationship.

Subbaraj thinks exclusively in terms of twists, and he shortchangesus when it comes to the emotional graphs of the characters.

Narayanan is around. His flamboyant score imbues even the weakerscenes with a Tarantinoesque swagger. And yet, we are readier toforgive Jigarthanda its flaws than we are with other films – and I thinkit has to do with its new-gen vibe.

When earlier filmmakers displayed ambition, they still worked withinthe contours of the ‘Tamil padam’ – at most, you could call their worka ‘Westernised’ take on the Tamil film – but filmmakers like Subbarajare ushering in genuinely singular and outré modes of expression, withmorally ambiguous characters and take-it-or-leave-it tropes from thewide world of cinema, and yet trying to infuse it all with a sense ofTamil-ness. He isn’t just walking a tightrope – the tightrope is oiledand he’s riding a unicycle and it’s all happening over the Niagara Falls.You can’t stop watching.

He even works in a bit of reflexive criticism. At the beginning,Karthik is on a television program, awaiting the jury’s verdict on hisshort film. A National Award-winning director calls it rubbish. A pro-ducer, a less lofty man, concerned only about profits, says it’s the bestfilm in the competition. And a war of words ensues between Art andCommerce.

Films like Jigarthanda, targeted at Twittery youth, fight a mightyfight to bridge that divide, striving to make commercially viable enter-tainment with truckloads of auteurist artistry.

Cast: Naveen Chandra, Salony Luthra, ‘Aadukalam’ NarenArun Mohan’s intriguingly titled Sarabham is a classic noir-style

mystery. It has the patsy, the femme fatale, the plot with more twiststhan a jalebi – what it doesn’t have is a consistent mood, and noir justisn’t noir without mood.

This is one of those films where they appear to have spent so muchtime dotting every “i” and crossing every “t” in the story – which isn’tbad; a jolly mix of murder, kidnapping, assumed identities and othersuch joys that make for riveting viewing – that they’ve forgotten to doanything more.

There are no memorable lines. The acting is flat (the leads areNaveen Chandra and Salony Luthra, who looks strikingly like AngelinaJolie in some angles). And there are no “moments” to speak of, thosescenes we rewind in the mind and go “ahh!” The loopy twists keep uswatching, but with unbitten nails and a rock- steady pulse. And whatuse is that in a suspense film?


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CHEF’S CORNERThe Story of Mahatma Gandhi - VIII

Gandhi Jayanti 2014Gandhi Jayanti, cel-

ebrated as 1000 Lights ForPeace. Saturday, October 4,2014 at Jones Plaza Down-town – Free Parking* Edu-cate your children aboutGandhi ji by having themparticipate in Speech, Essay,Poster or Multi-media con-tests. To register for thesecontests and more informa-tion visit www.gandhilibrary.org

In 1906, an ordinance by theTransvaal government required allIndians — men women and chil-dren — to register themselves andobtain a personal certificate bear-ing their name and thumb impres-sion. The Indians decided not tosubmit to this humiliating and in-sulting measure. They resolved tofight it.

Gandhi saw here the need forpassive resistance or satyagraha.He explained to the people hisconcept of satyagraha. First, hesaid, they must be prepared toobserve absolute nonviolence.The authorities would take allmeasures to put down the agita-tion.

They might use violence, arrestpeople and send them to jail, butall this must be faced without re-sistance “Merely disobeying thegovernment’s laws will not beenough,” Gandhi told them. “Youmust have no hatred in your heartsand you must cast away all fear.”Now read on.

The Government ignored allIndian protests against the ordi-nance and it came into force. TheIndians decided to disobey the pro-visions of the ‘Black Act.’ Hun-dreds of Indians were arrested,tried, and jailed. They all pleadedguilty and went to jail without put-ting up any defence. Gandhi toowas imprisoned.

Then one day he was taken outof prison and sent to Pretoria tosee General Smuts. “This move-ment you have started,” Smutssaid, “must stop at once. It is notin me to dislike Indians, but theymust obey the law.” “I wouldrather die than submit to this law,”Gandhi replied. “It is meant tohumiliate the Indians.”

After some argument, how-ever, they reached a compromise.Gandhi promised to end thesatyagraha if the act was re-pealed and the prisoners released.Smuts agreed to do this providedthe Indians would register of theirown accord. On this agreement,they parted.

Back in Johannesburg, Gandhicalled a meeting of the Indians.“We must now register voluntar-ily to show that we do not intendto bring a single Indian to theTransvaal by fraud,” he said. “Ifwe show our goodwill by promptregistration, General Smuts willsee to it that the “Black Act” isrepealed.”

Most of the Indians agreedwith Gandhi, but a Pathan namedMir Alam shouted at him: “It wasyou who told us that fingerprintswere required only from criminals.It was you who said we must dis-obey the “Black Act.” How doesall that fit into your attitude to-day?”

Early the next morning Gandhi,with his fellow satyagrahis, setout for the registration office. Buton the way Mir Alam attackedhim with a heavy stick. Gandhi felldown unconscious. Mir Alam andhis associates went on beating himuntil he was rescued by somefriends. When Gandhi recoveredconsciousness, he found himselfon a couch in the house of anEnglishman whom he hardlyknew.

Struggling to sit up, Gandhi saidin a weak voice, “Do not blameMir Alam, for he did not under-stand.” Then he insisted that aclerk from the registration officeshould come to take his thumbimpression and make out his cer-tificate. In this way Gandhi wasduly registered. Many Indians fol-lowed Gandhi by registering vol-untarily. But General Smuts did notrepeal the “Black Act.”

The Indians, disappointed at theGovernment’s attitude, demandeda return of their applications forvoluntary registration. TheTransvaal government did notbudge. Gandhi, who had by thenrecovered from his injuries, gavean ultimatum: If the Black Act isnot repealed before a fixed date,the certificates collected by theIndians will be burnt.

When he found that the Gov-ernment ignored this threat,Gandhi started another satyagrahamovement. A big bonfire was litand more than two thousand cer-tificates were burnt. Many Indi-ans openly crossed the border intothe Transvaal, where their pres-ence was illegal.

Gandhi and many of his com-patriots were imprisoned severaltimes in the course of the agita-tion. When Gandhi came out ofjail for the third time, the Indiansheld a meeting and decided to senda deputation to England to ac-quaint the British Government withthe real situation in South Africa.

Gandhi and Seth Haji Habibwere asked to go to London andpresent the grievances of the In-dians. Accordingly they went, butthe mission failed. They returnedwith grim determination to fightto the bitter end. Gandhi then madea big decision. He gave up hispractice as a lawyer. He felt hecould not go on earning his livingby law when he was defying it.Hermann Kallenbach, a whitefarmer, was so impressed with thepeaceful way of life at Phoenixthat he offered Gandhi his ownbig farm near Johannesburg tostart another colony. He suggested

that all those who had lost theirjobs and homes by their partici-pation in the satyagraha couldsettle there.

The new colony was estab-lished in 1910 and named “TolstoyFarm” after the great Russianwriter whom Gandhi much ad-mired. Here people who were dif-ferent in nationality, religion, andcolor lived together like one fam-ily. They worked hard and sharedthe fruits of their labor.

Gandhi spent much of his timeat Tolstoy Farm. He was engagedin teaching the children and inother constructive activities.Gandhi’s efforts to persuade Gen-eral Smuts to change the attitudeof the Government towards theIndians had failed.

Meanwhile, the struggle con-tinued against the Black Act andthe poll-tax. And now hundreds ofIndian women, includingKasturbai, joined the movement.There had been a recent courtdecision in South Africa holdingthat Indian marriages were notrecognized by law.

The women could not brook thisattack on family ties. They openlybroke the law and were impris-oned in large numbers. In the coalmines at Newcastle, in Natal, In-dian workers went on strike pro-testing against the repression. Thearrests, the deportation of passiveresisters, and the untold sufferingsof Indian families angered thepeople of India.

A large amount of money wascollected for the relief of the vic-tims. Many satyagrahis werebeaten and flogged, and somewere even killed. Gandhi, who feltintensely the humiliation his peoplesuffered, took a triple vow of self-suffering.

He decided to dress like a poorlaborer, to walk barefoot, and tohave only one meal a day, till thepoll-tax and other injustices wereabolished. Gandhi found the Gov-ernment relentless. There was nosolution in sight. He had to takefurther measures.

— To be continued

Gandhi as a Satyagrahi inSouth Africa ... he gave up hislaw practice, and vowed to dresslike a poor laborer, to walkbarefoot, and to have only onemeal a day, till the injusticeswere abolished.

Gandhi begins a spartan life-style Chilled Tomato SoupIngredients: 3 lb. Roma

tomatoes, 2 Tbs. olive oil, 2large shallots, finely chopped(½ cup), 1/4 tsp. cuminseeds, 1-1/2 Tbs. tomatopaste, 2 tsp. sriracha chile-garlic sauce, 1 small red bellpepper, diced (1 cup); 3 Tbs.lime juice, 3 cups coconutwater, 1/2 cup full-fat coco-nut milk, plus extra for driz-zling; 1 cup halved heirloomcherry tomatoes.

Yam (Suran) Stir-fryIngredients: 3 to 3.5 cup

chopped yam/suran, 1/4 tspturmeric powder, 1-1/2 tbspcoconut oil or any vegetableoil, 2 dry red chilies,deseeded and broken or 1 to2 green chilies, chopped; 1tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp uraddal, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, 1sprig curry leaves, 3 to 4 tbspgrated fresh coconut, fistfulof chopped cilantro, gener-ous pinch of hing, salt.

Oven-roasted Greek PotatoesIngredients: 8 large potatoes, peeled, cut into large wedges; 4

garlic cloves, minced; 1/2 cup olive oil, 1 cup water, 1 tbsp dried oregano,1 lemon, juiced; salt, fresh coarse ground black pepper.

Method: Preheat oven to 420°F A reviewer has suggested spray-ing the baking pan with Pam. Put all the ingredients into a baking panlarge enough to hold them.

Season generously with sea salt and black pepper. Make sure yourhands are very clean and put them in the pan and give everything atoss to distribute. The garlic will drop into the water/oil solution but itsflavour will permeate the potatoes, and this way, it won’t burn. Bakefor 40 minutes.

When a nice golden-brown crust has formed on the potatoes, givethem a stir to bring the white underside up, season lightly with a bitmore sea salt and pepper and just a light sprinkling of oregano.

Add 1/2 cup more water if pan appears to be getting dry, and popback into oven to brown other side of potatoes. This will take aboutanother 40 minutes. Do not be afraid of overcooking the potatoes-they will be delicious.

Method: Halve large tomatoes; scoop out seeds and juicy interiorover bowl. Pour and press seeds through fine mesh sieve or cheese-cloth over bowl to extract juice. Discard seeds, and set juice aside.Chop remaining tomato shells, and set aside.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots, andcook 2 minutes. Stir in cumin seeds, tomato paste, and sriracha, thenadd bell pepper and chopped tomatoes. Simmer 5 to 6 minutes. Cool.

Transfer mixture to blender. Add reserved tomato juice, lime juice,coconut water, and coconut milk, and blend until smooth. Season withsalt and pepper and chill. To serve, pour soup into small cups, lightlydrizzle with coconut milk, and garnish with cherry tomatoes.

Method: Peel and chop the yam/suran into cubes. rinse them wellin water. In a pressure cooker, add the yam, turmeric powder and a bitof salt. Pour enough water to cover the yam completely. Pressurecook till the yam has completely cooked and softened.

Drain the yam and keep aside. Heat oil in a frying pan. Add themustard seeds and urad dal.

Crackle the mustard seeds first and allow the urad dal to become alight brown color. Then add the cumin seeds and stir. Add the brokenred chilies, curry leaves and hing.

Saute till the color of the red chilies changes. Add the drained yam.Stir and add the coconut and salt.

Stir and saute for a few minutes. Lastly add chopped cilantro andstir again. Serve yam stir fry as a side dish with sambar or rasam orwith chapatis.

INDIAINDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2014 • PAGE 19

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MUMBAI: The Bombay high court observed on Thursday, July31, that the victims of custodial deaths in Maharashtra appear to beonly from the minority community.

A division bench of Justices V M Kanade and P D Kode made theremark after they informed advocate Yug Chaudhry of their decisionto appoint him as amicus curiae (friend of the court) in a case wherea 23-year-old resident of Nalasopara (East) mysteriously died in ThaneCentral Jail.

Observing that custodial deaths are occurring routinely, the highcourt added, “It seems to be happening only against certain personsfrom the minority community.”

Chaudhry agreed: “My research shows that the cases are mostlyof Muslims and Dalits.” The court asked why such deaths are hap-pening in Maharashtra.

The same bench had recently handed over the investigation intotwo custodial deaths to the Central Bureau of Investigation. AgneloValdaris died in the Wadala railway police lock-up this April, and ZulfarShaikh, who died in the Dharavi police lock-up in December 2012.

While hearing a third case—of Akash Kharade who died in theSamata Nagar police’s lock-up in April this year—the bench had di-rected the state director-general of police to form a committee to ex-amine cases of custodial deaths and suggest steps to prevent them.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau, 1,418 custodialdeaths took place in India between 1999 and 2013, and around 23% ofthese (or 333) were reported from Maharashtra. For the majority ofthe 15 years, the state topped the custodial death charts.

The judges said on Thursday that they want to hear all custodialdeath cases together. They asked Chaudhry to assist the court as “wewant to do something about this”.

Chaudhry was appointed amicus curiae in a case in which the peti-tion was filed in 2012 by Alia Begum Ansari. According to the petition,Ansari’s son Taj Mohammad, a mobile repairer, was arrested by theSion police on February 21, 2012, for the alleged theft of a mobilephone.

He was initially kept in police custody and then transferred to judi-cial custody, where he died. Alleging torture by prison officials, Ansari’spetition sought compensation and urged the court to direct CBI toprobe the case.

In July 2012 Ansari died and now her husband Deen Mohammad ispursuing the case.

New army chief Dalbir Singh SuhagKOLKATA: General Dalbir

Singh Suhag took over as the 26thChief of Army Staff (CoAS) fromGeneral Bikram Singh on July 30.

General Dalbir Singh was bornin Bishan village in Haryana’sJhajjar district on December 28,1954. Many in the village, includ-ing his father and uncles hadserved in the infantry and cavalryunits but few would have imag-ined that the boy who started hiseducation in the two-room villageprimary school would go on to leadthe Indian Army one day.

Sources close to General Suhagsay the rooms of the school wereused for senior classes and he,along with his classmates, tooktheir lessons trees on the pre-mises.

In his spare time, the youngDalbir would lend a helping handto his family in tilling his field. Thishelp was crucial during the har-vest season. “By working thefields, they developed a deepsense of respect for the mother-land that bore them their dailybread,” the source said.

In 1961, the Government of In-dia set out to establish Sainik

Schools across the country.Chittorgarh in Rajasthan was oneof the locations. Dalbir’s grand-uncle was an equestrian instruc-tor at this school and he suggestedthat the boy study there. Dalbirjoined the school on January 15,1965.

He joined the National De-fence Academy and in June, 1974,was commissioned to the 4th Bat-talion of the 5 Gorkha Rifles(Frontier Force). He is the thirdArmy chief after Field MarshalSHFJ Manekshaw and Gen G GBewoor who was either commis-sioned into or associated with theBrigade of Gorkhas.

Malin landslide toll rises to 136

Hopes of finding any more survivors from a landslide that buried avillage in western India on July 30 were fading by Monday, Aug 4, asthe number of bodies found reached 136, officials said.

Bad weather is hampering rescue workers who are digging throughmud in Malin village near Pune in Maharashtra state.

The landslide hit the village early in the day while people weresleeping. Eight people were rescued in the first few hours, but nosurvivors have been found in the past 48 hours.

A large part of a hill collapsed on Malin. Its population of 150 to 200tribal people were covered with tonnes of loose earth, mud and rocks.

“Miracles do happen, we will keep looking, but under current con-ditions it is very, very bleak,” AFP news agency quoted Alok Avasthy,regional commandant of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF)at the scene, as saying.

By Friday, rescue workers had reached the main inhabited areaand were continuing digging, the Associated Press quoted district offi-cial DD Kale as saying.

Wailing relatives, mourning the loss of entire families, were at thescene, hoping and praying for some positive news. Survivors could beseen rummaging through the debris to salvage their possessions.

The eight survivors are being treated in the local government hospi-tal in Manchar town, some 60km from Malin, the BBC’s Zubair Ahmedreports from Manchar.

Among them are 25-year-old Pramila Lembe and her three-month-old baby, who were rescued eight hours after the landslide. Lembehad woken up to breast-feed the baby when the landslide happened.

The disaster in Malin only cameto light when a bus passed by andthe driver saw that the village haddisappeared under masses of mudand earth, officials said.

Rescue operations were dis-rupted several times on Wednes-day and Thursday after “veryheavy rainfall” in the area.

Landslides are common insome parts of India during themonsoon, which runs from Juneto September.

Environmental experts areblaming the flattening of hillyslopes for agriculture and a con-struction boom.

The mostly tribal population inthese regions has traditionallygrown a single crop of rice or fin-ger millet, but in recent years thefocus has shifted to wheat culti-vation, says Saili Palande-Datar,an environmentalist withKalpavriksh Environmental Ac-tion Group.

This, she says, has necessitatedflattening of larger areas, includ-ing steep slopes “which is obvi-ously risky”.

Malin village, the site of the di-saster, is located close to the back-waters of the Dimbhe dam, con-structed a decade ago, and ex-perts say areas adjoining backwa-ters of dams are usually landslide-prone.

“The role of the dam needs tobe investigated,” says ParineetaDandekar, associate coordinatorat South Asia Network on Dams,Rivers and People.

But she adds that “as a policy,the government is helping expan-sion of areas under traditionalpadkai (terrace farming) in thetribal belts. Earlier, the tribals usedstones to support terraces, butthese days big machines are usedto level the ground. The presenceof loose mud and absence of anyreinforcement or water channelsis a recipe for disaster.”

In recent past, the region haswitnessed several flash floods andlandslides.

Between 2006 and 2007, land-slides hit Siddhagadwadi andSaharmach villages, burying morethan 100 cattle. And last year, aflash flood caused by an illegalconstruction boom in Katraj hillsoutside Pune swept away severalcars and killed two people.

Critics say massive road andreal estate projects in the areahave also made the region un-stable.

“Hundreds of thousands ofhectares of forest land has beencleared since 2007. Often, plotsof encroached land are sold tobuilders for constructing housingcomplexes,” says Kishore Rithe,a member of the Maharashtrastate wildlife board and a conser-vation expert.

“The other menace is construc-tion or widening of roads wheremud is simply pushed down theslope. This chokes water channelsand destroys vegetation that holdsthe soil together,” he adds.

Environmental activists say thatunless the wanton destruction ofthis ecologically fragile area isstopped immediately, the regionwill continue to face disasters simi-lar to what happened in Malin.

Muslims & Dalits in most custodial deaths

Malin village, the site of the disaster, is located close to thebackwaters of the Dimbhe dam, constructed a decade ago, andexperts say areas adjoining backwaters of dams are usuallylandslide-prone.


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Modi may not address U.S. lawmakersWASHINGTON: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is unlikely to

address a joint session of the US Congress when he travels here tomeet President Barack Obama at the White House in late Septembermainly because of the general elections in November.

More than 80 members of the House of Representatives and sev-eral top Senators wrote a letter to the Speaker of the House of Rep-resentatives, John Boehner, and the Senate Majority Leader, HarryReid, to invite Modi to address a Joint Session of the US Congress.

However, this is unlikely to happen now mainly because of theelections in U.S. in November and urgency on the part of the lawmak-ers to go back to their constituencies for campaigning.

As a result, both the House of Representatives and the Senate maynot be in session when Modi visits Washington.

KATHMANDU: India’s con-cerns about China’s growing tradeand infrastructure presence inNepal are “ridiculous”, Nepal’sPrime Minister Sushil Koirala saidin an exclusive interview to TheHindu here on Tuesday, August5, a day after his Indian counter-part, Narendra Modi, concludedhis visit here.

China has emerged as Nepal’slargest investor, even as rail androad links from Tibet are expectedto boost trade at the cost of India’sgoods.

Koirala said trade was part ofbilateral relations and not aboutstrategic influence. “When Mr.Modi was Gujarat Chief Minister,didn’t he visit China and negoti-ate for business? When he goesto the U.S. next month, will he notdiscuss agreements? Then whyworry about Nepal’s relations withChina?”

Commending Modi for hisspeech in Nepal’s Parliament,Koirala said that his words “havegone a long way in rebuilding trusthere in Nepal”.

Koirala said he was sure thatthe country’s much-delayed Con-stitution would be ready by Janu-ary. “I am 100 per cent confidentour Constitution will be ready bythe January 22 deadline. The Con-stitution is our first priority, and weare working with all parties onthis,” he said.

Modi advised Nepal’s Opposi-tion leaders to put party politicsaside to work towards a “federal,democratic constitution”.

China not an issue, says Koirala of Modi visit

One of the big announcementsduring Modi’s visit was the deci-sion to update the 1950 India-Nepal Peace and FriendshipTreaty. On Tuesday, Congressleader Manish Tewari demandedthat the revised treaty must havefull reciprocity, particularly in giv-ing Indians the same property andemployment rights that Nepal citi-zens enjoy in India.

Koirala refused to commit to

that change, saying only “We areaware of the concerns from In-dia. They will be looked into whenthe question comes up. We wantto take everyone on board.”

On the contentious point of de-lays in power and infrastructureprojects in Nepal, Koirala said hewas disappointed that two powerand development agreements hadnot been signed during Modi’s visit,but the Indian government was notthe only one to blame. On delayin road projects and the Mahakalibridge work promised by Indiayears ago, he warned that thecredibility of both the Indian andNepal governments would sufferif these projects did not take offby the new timelines agreed to.

Koirala, 76, has been receivingtreatment for cancer in the U.S.and had returned to Nepal only 10days before Modi arrived. Despitehis health condition, he went to theairport to receive and send off thePrime Minister, making an un-precedented break of protocol.

Nepal Prime Minister Koirala

Doordarshan is all set to go global

Doordarahan Director-General Vijaya Laxmi Chhabra (left) exchangedMOU documents with Dorothee Ulrichs of Deutsche Welle, Asia.

NEW DELHI: Doordarshan programs will soon be available acrossAsia, Europe, North Africa and Australia, courtesy a memorandum ofunderstanding signed by Prasar Bharati with German public servicebroadcaster Deutsche Welle on Tuesday, August 5.

Doordarshan will be available as a free-to-air basic package on aDTH platform. Jawahar Sircar, Chief Executive Officer of PrasarBharati, said the content for this Doordarshan platform, named IndiaChannel, would be created in consultation with various stakeholdersand tailored to the demand of the target audience.

The programming will showcase India’s “soft power” and will beavailable on the DTH Platform of Hotbird-13B satellite and reciprocaldistribution of DW-TV on DD Freedish. Hotbird-13B has a footprintcovering 120 million homes in Europe, northern Africa and West Asiawith 1,534 channels including the BBC, CNN and Al Jazeera.

English not to count for UPSC gradesIn a bid to end the ongoing agitation against the Civil Services Apti-

tude Test (CSAT), the Government on Monday, August 4, said theEnglish comprehension skills component of Paper II in the Civil Ser-vices (Prelims) should not be included for gradaing or merit. Also, anadditional attempt should be given to those who took CSAT in 2011 inthe Civil Services Examination (CSE) 2015.

This is the opinion of the Government, Minister of State for Person-nel Jitender Singh said in the Lok Sabha after the CSAT issue dis-rupted proceedings in the Rajya Sabha again.

When some members asked if CSAT had been scrapped, Singhsaid he had nothing more to say.

PAKISTANINDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2014 • PAGE 21

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AURORA, CO:Hashim Khan’s familyreally has no idea howold their father is sincehe never had a birth cer-tificate. Best guess? Heturned 100 on July 1 —that’s what they cel-ebrated anyway. He alsocould be older, some sayeven as old as 104. Justanother intriguing layerto the lore of Khan, oneof the greatest squashplayers ever. He’s thepatriarch who got theball rolling on Pakistan’ssquash supremacy, winning his first British Open title in 1951 at an agewhen most retire, and then six more championships after that. Helater travelled to America to raise a family of 12 and help hook ayounger generation on the sport.

Over the last six months, his health has drastically deteriorated.Hospice workers are providing around-the-clock care for him at hishome. His family remains by his side, reminiscing about his squashheyday. The tales they tell: Like how he started out playing squashbarefoot. Or how he once went through a player’s legs to get to a ballnear the front wall.Or how they heard Buckingham Palace built asquash court just to watch their father’s flair.

“Just a rumor,” said Gulmast, one of Khan’s seven sons, who allplayed on the professional level. “I like the concept that his age isshrouded somewhat in mystery,” his son, Sam, said.

“He’s a whirlwind who comes out of the distant Himalayan moun-tains and conquers the world. Nobody knows where he came from oreven when he came. It’s sort of fitting that it would be that way.”

Around his house, Hashim Khan doesn’t have many traces of thetrinkets he acquired throughout the decades. There’s a framed pictureof him shaking hands with Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. Andon a table by the couch, an encased picture of him on the cover ofSquash Magazine. Another of him posing with a racket.

His awards are displayed inside the Hashim Khan Trophy Room,which is a squash court the members at the Denver Athletic Clubconverted into a shrine to him.Three of his friends stopped by on Thurs-day, just to pay their respects.

When they started talking squash, his eyes lit up.“Remember your rules for squash? Snap your wrist, don’t hit the tin

... fight like a tiger,” said Marshall Wallach, who started a foundationin Khan’s honor.

Another friend, Dennis Driscoll, asked Khan to demonstrate hisgrip —the one that was so accurate and oh so powerful.

Khan bent his wrist ever so slightly, as if he held a racket in his handagain. As if he was that player he once was decades ago. He wasexposed to squash through his father, Abdullah, a chief steward at aBritish officers’ club in Peshawar.

Back then, the youngster would go to the outdoor courts to watchthe officers play and fetch their errant shots.

Eventually, the officers would head inside to escape the baking sun.That’s when Khan sauntered onto the court and emulated their shotswearing no shoes, holding a cracked racket, and using a broken ball.

Hashim Khan’s father died in a car accident when he was 11, andhe dropped out of school to become a full-time ballboy. He honed hisskills playing the officers. He later became one of the club’s coaches.

At 37 — and at the behest of the Pakistan government eager for anational hero — Khan went to the British Open, the unofficial worldchampionship. He beat the best player in the world, four-time defend-ing champion Mahmoud El Karim of Egypt, 9-5, 9-0, 9-0, for his firsttitle. His last was at 44.

About then, he taught his brother, Azam, to play squash, and he wonfour titles. Hashim Khan’s cousin, Roshan Khan, and nephew,Mohibullah Khan, each captured one. Add Khan’s cousin’s son,Jahangir Khan, who won 10 straight titles through the 1980s, and the“Khan Dynasty” accounted for 23 British Open titles.

Khan brought his family to the US in the early 1960s after beingoffered a lucrative deal to teach squash at the Uptown Athletic Club inDetroit. He later took a pro position at the Denver Athletic Club in theearly ‘70s, with membership instantly soaring.

The past few years have been difficult for Khan, who lost his daughterin 2007 and then his wife of 65 years, both to diabetes. Up until re-cently, he could usually be found at the club. Not playing, of course (hestopped playing at 93), but watching from the stands and offering tips.

More than winning, Khan was known for sportsmanship — alwaysallowing an opponent to leave the court first. He was all about re-spect. That’s why his youngest son, Mo, has received so many callsand emails from well-wishers. Even Colorado Governor JohnHicken-looper recently stopped by for a visit, Mo said.

“We never really thought of him as this world-class champion andone of greatest players in history,” Sam Khan said. “To us, he was justdad. He just loved the game.”

Taliban declares waron Pak media

WASHINGTON: The Talibanhave warned the Pakistani mediathat if they did not stop criticisingthe Mujahedeen, they will be at-tacked and “no crying and sob-bing” will prevent the holy war-riors from punishing journalists.

In a message sent to mediaadvocacy groups across the world,Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan alsowarned that the journalists wouldnot get the chance to repent theirmistakes if they did not stop thecriticism now. The message,signed TTP media commission,Mohmand Agency, reminded thejournalists that the Taliban had tol-erated this “unbearable behaviour”from 2000 to 2014 but the timehad come to put an end to thispractice.

The message — “The globalwar of ideologies and thebehaviour of media” — was sentto “heads and members oforganisations working for therights of media members aroundthe world,” including the Report-ers with-out Borders, and the US-based Committee to Protect Jour-nalists. The CPJ posted the mes-sage on its site.

PPP men told not toattend PAT event

LAHORE: PPP co-chairmanand former president Asif AliZardari barred members of hisparty from attending PakistanAwami Tehreek’s ‘martyrs day’gathering in Lahore on Aug 10.

PPP Secretary-General SardarLatif Khosa had announced thatthe party’s members would attendthe gathering to be organised byPAT to pay tribute to the victimsof the Model Town incident.

There was no harm in attend-ing a Quran Khwani, he had said.

Zardari, however, declared thatno member of his party would beattending the PAT event.

He also asked leaders of hisparty to exercise caution while is-suing statements regarding DrTahirul Qadri’s “revolutionmarch” and Imran Khan’s “Azadimarch”.

“We don’t want to give theslightest impression that the PPPis supporting Dr Qadri,” theformer president’s spokesmanFarhatullah Babar told Dawn.

“We condemn the Model Townincident and sympathise with fami-lies of the victims. But the PPPwill not attend any PAT event be-cause doing so may give the im-pression that we are supporting DrQadri,” Babar remarked.

“This is our party’s policy state-ment on the issue,” he added.

Because he is active in effortsto “save democracy” and contact-ing various opposition leaders tofind a way out of the ongoing po-litical crisis, Zardari does not wantto give an impression that his partyis supporting PAT or PTI at thiscritical juncture, according tosources in the PPP.

“Mr Zardari wants the PPPleaders to give a clear messagethat their party is with democraticforces and fully supports thePML-N and wants it to completeits tenure,” the sources added.

Army says 30 militants killedISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s military says it has killed at least 30

militants in air strikes in the North Waziristan tribal region.A statement said six “militant hideouts” had been destroyed in the

Dattakhel area, some 25 miles west of the town of Miranshah.Media access is blocked in the area and there is no way of indepen-

dently verifying the claim. The army says it has killed more than 550militants in N Waziristan since it launched an offensive in June.

It says more than 30 Pakistani troops have also been killed duringthe operation. On Monday, August 4, the army said it had killed sevenUzbek militants in a shootout in the same area, just east of whereTuesday’s raids took place. Atleast two Pakistani soldiers also died inthe gunfight.

None of any known leaders of the Haqqani militant network orabout half a dozen other high-profile local and foreign groups is knownto have been arrested so far. The military conceded last month thatthey might have slipped out of the area after getting wind of the im-pending military action, the BBC reported.

No Pakistani troops for SaudiISLAMABAD: The government has denied a media report that it

has deployed or has plans to do so to protect ally Saudi Arabia fromthe Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).

The Times of London reported Aug. 2 that Riyadh had asked Egyptand Pakistan to station troops along its 500-mile border with Iraq. Thefollowing day, a categorical denial was issued by the Pakistani military’slead spokesman, Maj-Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa of the Inter-ServicesPublic Relations.

“No Pakistani troops are being sent or being deployed in SaudiArabia as reported in a section of the media,” he said.

Analysts said the report had been tough to believe. “Riyadh andIslamabad have probably talked about troops — perhaps during therecent [Army Chief Gen Raheel] Sharif visit — but Pakistan has quiteenough on its plate at the moment without sending troops to Saudi,”said Brian Cloughley, a former Australian defense attache to Islamabad.

Cloughley cited domestic commitments in fighting the Taliban aswell as elevated tensions with India.

“The threatening pronouncement by India’s new army chief con-cerning Pakistan has caused concern,” he said. “Pakistan had hopedto be able to concentrate on the war (and it is war) against militants inthe west but is having to devote more attention than it wants to itsfrontiers with India.”

Analyst Haris Khan of the Pakistan Military Consortium think tanksaid that such speculation is fed by a misconception that the Saudisare unable to protect themselves. “The Saudis have established avery robust defense around the northern and south western bor-ders,” Khan said. “Since 2002, they have spent US$200 billion tobeef up their defenses, and according to some [US Department ofDefense] officials, they [the US] are satisfied that they’ll be able tofend off any large- and small-scale military attack,” he said.

Khan noted in particular that offensive airpower to the north hasbeen considerably improved.


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