Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdA y, A A decemBer 2, 2011 • ONLINE EDITI ON: WWW.IND O O OAMERICAN-NEWS.COM 5821 Hillcroft, Houston, TX 77036 713-784-5673 Turn your Gold / Silver / Platinum into Cash We pay top $ for all the above metal Exclusive Diamond and Gold Jewelry at affordable prices Jewelry repairs and setting done on site Building relationships one customer at a time Diamond Jewelry Store Maharaja Jewelers www.udipicafeusa.com • Catering: 281-914-2716 Satish Rao’s Friday, December 2 2011 | Vol. 30, No. 48 Circulation Verified by www.indoamerican-news.com Published weekly from Houston, TX 7457 Harwin Dr, Suite 262, Houston, TX 77036 713.789.NEWS (6397) • Fax: 713.789.6399 • [email protected]I ndo Am erican News Partnered & Syndicated with Times of India, Sulekha.com, Google, Yahoo & Bing For more information, see pages 24 & 28 Turns Killer on the Net Medicare Annual Enrollment Period for the year 2012 ‘Kolaveri Di’ Is Big Boss Blushing? SEE PAGE 31 Call Today: 713-771-2900 Ends Dec 7 Tamil star Dhanush’s song “Kolaveri Di” has become a sleeper blockbuster by crossing 11,597,943 hits since its release Nov 16 on youtu Composed by 18-year-old Anirudh Ravichander, the song with funny ly is sung in an unconventional manner by Dhanush himself and will be a p of his next film “3”, which is being directed by his wife Aishwayra. The f also stars Shruthi Haasan. SEE PAGE 5
Transcript
Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, Ay, A decemBer 2, 2011 • Online editiOn: www.indOn: www.indO Oamerican-news.cOm
5821 Hillcroft, Houston, TX 77036
713-784-5673
Turn your Gold / Silver / Platinum into CashWe pay top $ for all the above metal
Exclusive Diamond and Gold Jewelry at affordable pricesJewelry repairs and setting done on site
Turn your Gold / Silver / Platinum into Cash
Building relationships one customer at a time
Diamond Jewelry Store
Maharaja Jewelers
www.udipicafeusa.com • Catering: 281-914-2716
PURE VEGETARIAN INDIAN CUISINEPURE VEGETARIAN INDIAN CUISINEHillcroft:5959 Hillcroft, HoustonTX 77036713-334-5555
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• Catering Events of All Sizes: Corporate | Weddings
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– Houston Press
Friday, December 2 2011 | Vol. 30, No. 48Vol. 30, No. 48Circulation Verified by
www.indoamerican-news.comPublished weekly from Houston, TX7457 Harwin Dr, Suite 262, Houston, TX 77036 713.789.NEWS (6397) • Fax: 713.789.6399 • [email protected]
Indo American News
Partnered & Syndicated with Times of India, Sulekha.com, Google, Yahoo & Bing
For more information, see pages 24 & 28
Turns Killer on the Net
Medicare Annual Enrollment Period for the year 2012
‘Kolaveri Di’
Is Big Boss Blushing?
See Page 31
Call Today: 713-771-2900Ends Dec 7
Tamil star Dhanush’s song “Kolaveri Di” has become a sleeper blockbuster by crossing 11,597,943 hits since its release Nov 16 on youtube. blockbuster by crossing 11,597,943 hits since its release Nov 16 on youtube.
Is Big Boss blockbuster by crossing 11,597,943 hits since its release Nov 16 on youtube.
Is Big Boss Composed by 18-year-old Anirudh Ravichander, the song with funny lyrics Composed by 18-year-old Anirudh Ravichander, the song with funny lyrics is sung in an unconventional manner by Dhanush himself and will be a part is sung in an unconventional manner by Dhanush himself and will be a part of his next film “3”, which is being directed by his wife Aishwayra. The film of his next film “3”, which is being directed by his wife Aishwayra. The film also stars Shruthi Haasan. See Page 5
Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, Ay, A decemBer 2, 2011 • Online editiOn: www.indOn: www.indO Oamerican-news.cOm
December 2, 201122
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at the Old Stafford Civic Center, the Center for Indian Classical Mu-sic of Houston (CICMH), in its bi-ennial “Saadhana Unmesh” concert focused on a special aspect of the Time Theory of Hindustani clas-sical music. Pandit Suman Ghosh has been holding Saadhana Un-mesh programs in Houston since 2004 to mark, celebrate, encourage and present the blossoming of his disciples in Hindustani classical music. The impact and following of Panditji’s activities grew to a point where it was appropriate to establish an organization dedicated to the cause of Indian classical mu-sic and musicians and since 2009, the Saadhana Unmesh program has been organized by CICMH, found-ed by Pandit Suman Ghosh.
‘Unmesh’ is symbolically the blossoming of a flower. Saadhana Unmesh as a program itself has
blossomed over time. From a few early stage buds, the pro-gram itself is developing into a brand like the Shalimar Gar-dens. Any person, who knows anything about gardens and blossoming of beautiful flow-ers, knows that it takes a lot of effort and attention to details before the colors and fragrances become captivating.
The 2011 Saadhana Unmesh in the words of the discerning audience left no stone unturned in that respect. It was a com-plete event!
The theme of the performance was depicting the vista of the Time Theory of Hindustani clas-sical music. Around 90 students in ages ranging from 4 to 84yrs and seniority ranging from 6 months to 8yrs performed. They performed in four groups called Sthayi, Antara, Sanchari and Abhog - just as a traditional
Hindustani classical composition progresses. The first group sang the early morning raags in a time sequence as per the “prahar” and its mood and the second group sang the late morning raags. The third group sang the afternoon to early twilight raags and added the seasonal dimension of Mon-soon to the vista – an additional mood-based categorization in Hindustani music.
This composition by Pandit Suman Ghosh on raag Miyan ki Malhar added a completely new and fresh complexion to the lyr-ics of “Vande Mataram”. The final group sang the dusk (late twilight) to dawn raags, thus completing the 24 hour cycle or the “Ashta Prahar” (eight pra-hars: each of 3hr duration). True to the traditional free flowing style of rendering in Hindustani music, Pt. Ghosh himself joined the singing, to the audiences’ de-
moods of “ashta Prahar” musically Unfolded by musically Unfolded by m cicmHcicmHcicm
light, and also provided the sup-port on harmonium. All groups were accompanied on Tabla by Shri Nishad Kanhere, another fellow Houstonian with a musi-cal lineage.
Over 400 audiences was spell-bound for 4 hours and remained glued to their seats other than few standing ovations and an in-termission. This was indeed due to the spectacular music perfor-mance, thought, planning, effort, décor and flow of the program. The program reminded me both of the beautifully choreographed fountains of Vrindavan Garden and the totally temperamen-tal Monsoon rains both with a charm of its own. When Pandit-ji initially planned for the program, the singing part was to be a com-pact 90min affair. As happens in any lively program – it extended to over 2-1/2hrs of singing.
Pt. Ghosh was presented with
a proclamation from the city of Sugar Land by City Council-man Harish Jajoo, recognizing his contribution to music. Sonal Bhuchar, president of the Fort Bend School Board of Trustees, thanked him for giving the gift of India’s rich tradition of music to the youngsters.
While praising the performance, Ajit Thakur, CPA and President-elect of Indo-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Hous-ton (IACCGH), added humor by recommending Pt. Ghosh to take his music to a partisan U.S. Con-gress, to unify them! Ajit-ji had hit on a very subtle point through that humorous remark.
CICMH and Pandit Suman Ghosh has been the glue in unify-ing Americans of Indian origin to their tradition. Saadhana Unmesh as a program has come to be a true symbol of unity, diversity and growth through creativity.
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December 2, 20114
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5December 2, 2011COMMUNITY
COMMUNITY
Houston Ushers in the art of art of a living living l centercenterc for Peace, yoga and yoga and y meditationmeditationm
HOUSTON: In a busy neighborhood in the sprawling city of Houston, amidst establishments hawking insurance solu-tions, automobile and service merchants, comes an oasis of peace and harmony. The ‘Art of Living Center for Peace, Yoga and Meditation’ establishes its roots within the ambit of the Spring Branch neighborhood. The ‘Center’, the popular moniker for this haven of peace and tranquility, opens its doors to welcome Houstonians on Decem-ber 10.
Another neighborhood Yoga center? “Not in the least. The Art of Living Foun-dation recently celebrated 30 years of helping over 50 million folks in over 150 countries, through simple yet powerful tools of the breath, to find their inner space of joy. When one is able to dive deep with-in and rejuvenate the body and mind, the result is inner peace and outer dynamism – the new ‘IPOD’ mantra to living life to the hilt”, points out Margaret Guillory, af-the hilt”, points out Margaret Guillory, af-the hilt”, points out Margaret Guillory, affiliated with the Foundation.
Houstonians are invited to join in cele-brating the arrival of this mecca for stress-relief, when it opens its portals on Decem-ber 10. Events are scheduled through the
hour, for the entire day, for kids, youth and adults alike. “The Foundation has been a community volunteer and a citizen of Houston through its solidarity for several past events. Very recently, it has contrib-uted to ‘Citizenship Week’ celebrating harmony-in-diversity and the spirit of oneness in Houston, and has also partici-pated in the Houston 5k Walk for Mental Health. Of particular significance is the Memorandum of Understanding signed by former Hon. Mayor Bill White, recogniz-ing the contributions of the Foundation in its resolve to promote health and wellness in Greater Houston. The establishment of the ‘Center’ is our way of embracing our Houston family”, emphasizes Mila Allam, also with the Foundation.
Interested in knowing more? Come and join in the grand celebrations at the ‘Open House’ of the Art of Living Center for Peace, Yoga and Meditation on December 10.
For more information, contact Nitin Ka-poor at 832-266-9309 or visit www.artof-poor at 832-266-9309 or visit www.artof-poor at 832-266-9309 or visit www.artoflivinghouston.org/openhouse. For more information about.the Art of Living Foun-dation, visit www.artofliving.org.
Kolaveri Di Becomes aKolaveri Di Becomes aKolaveri Di Phenomenon on Internet
NEW DELHI (TOI): ‘Kolaveri di’, a song from the upcoming Tamil movie ‘3’, sung by popular Tamil movie star Dhanush has become an internet rage.
The promo of the song, which was released on November 16, became an instant hit on social networking sites for its quirky ‘Tanglish’ (Tamil-English) lyrics.
The promo features the actor-play-back singer Dhanush, son-in-law of superstar Rajinikanth, singing the song in a studio, and composer Anirudh at the piano, while wife & the director Aishwarya Rajinikanth and co-star Shruti Hassan watch along and give suggestions.
“Why this kolaveri di. 24 hours 83000 you tube views. Thank you guys. For making it the most viewed you tube video in music category yesterday. God bless,” Dhanush tweeted on the day of the release of the song.
The song Kolaveri appeared as the number
one Indian trend on Twitter on November 21. The lyrics of the peppy song are simple and since it is a live recording, Dhanush keeps firing instructions while singing, making it more endearing.
“yo boys I am singing song soup song flop song why this kolaveri kolaveri ko-laveri di why this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri di rhythm correct why this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri di maintain this why this kolaveri..di..” goes the song.
IIT-Bombay Graduate Arun majumdar gets top Utop Ut sop Usop U energy Jobenergy Jobe
WASHINGTON (TOI): Naming yet an-other Indian American to a key administra-tion post, US President Barack Obama has appointed Arun Majumdar, an Indian Insti-tute of Technology- Bombay (IIT-Bombay) alumnus as the top bureaucrat in the Depart-ment of Energy. Announcing the appoint-ment of Majumdar as Under Secretary of Energy along with four other key adminis-tration posts, Obama said: “These men and women have demonstrated knowledge and dedication throughout their careers.
“I am grateful they have chosen to take on these important roles, and I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come.” At over two dozen, Obama ad-ministration has more Indian-Americans in high places than ever before with their num-bers rising through Clinton and Bush presi-dencies. By far the highest ranking Indian-American in any presidential administration is USAID administrator Rajiv Shah.
According to the White House, Majumdar has served as the Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) since 2009. Previously, he was Associate Laboratory Director for Energy and Envi-ronment at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a professor of mechanical engineering and materials science and en-gineering at the University of California, Berkeley.
His research career has focused on the sci-
ence and engineering of energy conversion, transport, and storage, ranging from the molecular and nanoscale level to large en-ergy systems. He has served on the advisory committee of the National Science Founda-tion’s engineering directorate and the Presi-dent’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Majumdar was elected a mem-ber of the National Academy of Engineering in 2005. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay in 1985 and his PhD in 1989 from the University of California, Berkeley.
Arun Mujumdar
Fundraising event for Pratham event for Pratham eBy Sy Sy rini Chittaluru
HOUSTON: On Saturday, November 12, Klein Oak High School’s IB Class of 2012 held an International Food-Tasting and Dance-a-Thon fundraising event for Pratham. The International Baccalaure-ate (IB) curriculum is an internationally recognized syllabus offered by only a few schools in each country. Apart from rigor-ous classes, IB has several additional re-quirements such as Creativity, Action, and Service (CAS), IB exams, etc.
One of the IB requirements for each class is to initiate a class project as part of CAS that has both local and global rel-evance. For this year’s class project, they chose to raise funds for Pratham. Pratham is the largest non-governmental organiza-
tion (NGO) in India and one of the most influential charity organizations in the world. It works to eliminate illiteracy in India.
The event began with Marie Goradia, a Pratham Houston Board Member, speak-ing eloquently about Pratham’s initiatives on improving literacy among India’s poor children. Klein Oak’s IB students put to-gether a fun filled Dance-a-Thon and a delectable food tasting event. They really brought international flavors similar to what you might find at the Houston Food Festival. Foods stalls included Indian, Asian, Mexican, European and American food. The non-stop Dance-a-Thon contin-ued from 6:30-10pm and everyone was clearly having a blast.
Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, Ay, A decemBer 2 , 2011 • Online editiOn: www.indOn: www.indO Oamerican-news.cOm
By Sy Sy owmya nandakumarKATY: A self- taught guitarist
Raj Vedam’s idea of “giving” to the community, culminated into a guitar Arengetram for five ninth grade girls in Katy, TX. The per-formance on Saturday, Nov 19th, 4-7 pm, was held in the Redeemer Community Church, at the in-tersection of Cinco Ranch Blvd and Westheimer Pkwy. The star performers of the evening were four Indian girls, Krithika Kup-puswamy, Mythri Partha, Kavya Pasumarthi, Vrinda Rajkumar (daughter of Rajkumar Vedam, the teacher) and one Vietnamese girl, Nicky Nguyen.
Raj has been teaching them to play the guitar for over a year now. Although they are called students of Raj’s Music School, the school itself is Raj’s home and there is nothing formal about it. Raj teach-es them out of his love for playing the guitar. He says, “I believe that if we know something we must give back to the community and share our knowledge especially with youngsters, cultivating new channels of interest for them, giv-ing them hobbies which they will relish and pursue all their lives”.
Raj’s specialty is that he does not teach classical music. He be-lieves that there is an abundance of teachers to formally train chil-dren in classical music. He wants to teach them something they
completely relate to and want to learn; popular music of the day composed by their favorite singers including Shakira, Taylor Swift, Kelly Clarkson and Demi Lavato to name a few. Raj teaches them to play the chords of their favorite numbers, which they inherently move to and sing along with any-way. That makes it easy for them to learn to sing these songs, si-multaneously twanging away the chords on their guitars. It was a pleasure to watch them sing and strum their favorite melodies with enthusiasm and complete involve-ment.
The evening’s performance had three rounds – first a comfort
A debut Performance by Five young Guitar Learners young Guitar Learners y
zone round where each of them performed solo, an English song of their choice by contemporary artists like the few named above. Mythri Partha’s solo, Lightweightby Demi Lavato, really brought out her voice very well. Krithika Kuppuswamy’s Back to Decem-ber by Taylor Swift and ber by Taylor Swift and ber My Life Would by Kelly Clarkson indicated Would by Kelly Clarkson indicated Wouldthe almost effortless attitude with which she can throw her voice, in-dicating her versatile vocal range. Vrinda Rajkumar’s peppy number Gypsy, by Shakira and Kavya Pa-sumarti’s Fire Flies by Owl City were well rendered.
The second round was an “out –of- comfort- zone- round” in
which their solo was an Indian film song, with the exception of Nicky Nguyen from Vietnam, who played a Vietnamese song instead. The Indian film songs were an in-teresting mix of Hindi and Tamil songs including Mythri’s Ovoru Pookal from the film Pookal from the film Pookal Autograph, and Vrinda’s Zara Zara from Zara Zara from Zara Zara Reh-na Hai Tere Dil Mein.
The third was a group round with a variety of songs - Chinna Chin-na Aasai from na Aasai from na Aasai Roja and Roja and Roja Nannarefrom Guru; Their repertoire also included a few surprising num-bers, not quite so contemporary, for their generation – Country Roads by John Denver, Lady in Red by Chris de Burg, Red by Chris de Burg, Red Smile by
Uncle Kracker and a couple of Celine Dion songs. Kavya Pasumarti’s invoca-tion song Adhi Lak-Adhi Lak-Adhi Lakshmi stood out for shmi stood out for shmibeing a devotional song performed with western flavor.
Although the par-ents of these teen-agers have been sending them to Raj Uncle’s classes and were all involved in arranging the eve-ning’s performance, even they must have been pleasantly sur-prised to hear their
children perform with so much ease. In about a year of learning an instrument, these teens sure have come a long way and defi-nitely made their parents proud that evening. It was very thought-ful of these youngsters to present their teacher with a surprise gift on stage – a lovely Washburn acoustic electric guitar!
As Christmas nears, bringing its spirit of giving and sharing, Raj’s idea of giving to the community has given this group of youngsters an avenue to explore guitar play-ing further and a wonderful group of friends who get together and have fun learning and pursuing something they love.
December 2nd, 3rd, & 4th
Houston Durga Bari Society 13944 Schiller Rd., Houston, TX - 77082
PRAN PRATISTHA DIVAS
Durga Bari Invites you all to 6th Anniversary
Puja Program
Friday, December 2nd
6:00 PM- 6:30 PM: SANDHYA AARATI 6:30 PM- 7:15 PM: DINNER 7:30 PM- 8:30 PM: INDIAN CLASSICAL DANCES 8:30 PM-10:30 PM: INDIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC
Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, Ay, A decemBer 2, 2011 • Online editiOn: www.indOn: www.indO Oamerican-news.cOm
77December 2, 2011COMMUNITY
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realtOrealtOrealt r® Jacob r® Jacob r david gets sres designationHOUSTON : Jacob David, REALTOR®
agent with Champions Real Estate Group got his SRES (Seniors Real Estate Special-ist) designation from the National Asso-ciation of Realtors. This course helps Real Estate agents gain the necessary knowledge to counsel mature adult buyers over the age of 50. “I am happy to have completed this course successfully. I can now help mature adults who have done Real Estate transac-tions in their past, do it once more should they need my services, ” he said.
People over the age of 50 are looking for their final two homes (the interim and their last home) to settle down once and for all to age-in comfortably. The home they choose is a decision they make after much careful thought, weighing all the pros and cons, thoughts about purchasing a new home, re-financing or reverse mortgage, and moving closer to be with their children and grand children.
The SRES designation helps Real Estate agents identify the needs and wants of the
Baby Boomers, Silent and GI Matures gen-erations, all of whom are in some phase of transition in their lives. The 50+ market is a large segment in Houston and the Seniors Real Estate Market needs this much needed service. “I would like to offer my skills and services to the best of my ability to help ma-ture adults choose their home, ” he added.
Jacob David
Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, Ay, A decemBer 2 , 2011 • Online editiOn: www.indOn: www.indO Oamerican-news.cOm
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rice rice r south south s asian society society s supports supports s dayaBy rurur Chi mukherjee
HOUSTON: It was a dazzling night of Bollywood music alluring a whopping crowd of 600 plus Houstonians at the Rice Memorial Center in Rice Campus on Sat-urday November 19. The event started with popular Bollywood dance songs followed by classical and contemporary dances. The main focus of the event was on dances and fashion show, a musical evening where Rice students organized a South Asian cul-tural event. The Rice SAS Team consisting of Vinita, Onkur, Punya and others worked together to raise $2000 to donate to Daya, a nonprofit organization that provides free services to those in the South Asian com-munity who are victimized by domestic violence and sexual assault. “We had 229 clients in 2010 and this year it has increased to 240 already, there are a lot of families in Houston needing help,” informs Abhilas-ha who works for the organization.
Daya promotes healthy family relation-ships in the South Asian community by providing services that include counseling, referrals, legal advocacy, and financial sup-port to women and children. The organiza-tion also promotes awareness on topics rel-
evant to the welfare of South Asian families through educational seminars, publications, and outreach programs.
The event was well attended by students and their parents and the event was made a success with generous sponsors like The Wadhawan Law Firm, Rice University, and Masala Radio. The main purpose of this South Asian cultural event was to raise awareness and funds for Daya. Overall it was a very successful event with satisfying goals.
ISELIN, NJ: On Satur-day, November 19 at its Biennial Convention 2011 held in Iselin, New Jersey, USA, GOPIO Interna-tional held elections for positions in the GOPIO Executive Council for the next two-year term in ac-cordance with GOPIO’s By-Laws. GOPIO Execu-tive Council appointed former GOPIO Chairman, Dr Thomas Abraham two months ago to chair the nomination committee. The election session was chaired by Thomas who was assisted by K. N. Gupta (President, GOPIO India) and Satruhan Sukdeo (President, GOPIO Upper New York).
The results of the elections are:International President: Ashook Ramsa-
ran (Guyana born, USA resident) Executive Vice President: Sunny Ku-
lathakal (Bahrain)Senior Vice President: Dr Piyush Agrawal
(USA) Inder Singh will continue as Chairman. At the General Council meeting held on
November 20, it was announced that, in ac-
cordance with GOPIO’s By-Laws and pro-cedures, appointments for all regional and council positions would be made shortly by GOPIO’s Executive Council.
For more information, contact GOPIO International at +1-818-708-3885 or email at [email protected].
GOPIO is a non-partisan, non-sectarian global organization with chapters in several countries, actively promoting the interests of people of Indian origin worldwide by moni-toring and addressing current critical issues of concern, and by enhancing cooperation and communication between groups of Indi-ans living in various countries.
GoPIoPIo o elects new Teamnew Teamn
From left: Dr Piyush Agrawal, Senior Vice President; In-der Singh (Chairman); Ashook Ramsaran (President) and Sunny Kulathakal (Executive Vice President).
Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, Ay, A decemBer 2, 2011 • Online editiOn: www.indOn: www.indO Oamerican-news.cOm
99December 2, 2011COMMUNITYCOMMUNITYchadrikaTandon Benefit chadrikaTandon Benefit c concert in Iowa Helps Launch Global Peace Initiative
MAHARISHIVEDIC CITY, IOWA: Leaders of the Global Peace Initiative host-ed a Vedic Visitors Weekend from Novem-ber 4-6 at Maharishi Vedic City in southeast Iowa, attracting Indo-Americans from cities as far away as Los Angeles and New York.
All the participants assembled to experi-ence a weekend devoted to Peace, Vedic education, Vedic health, Vedic agriculture, and Vedic architecture.
The weekend culminated with Grammy-nominated world music artist, Chandrika Tandon, performing a stunning sold-out benefit concert at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre.
“The combination of different instruments and Chandrika’s voice revealed to me what World Music should be all about,” said Vi-nod Nayagar, a university student who at-tended the concert.
Ramani Ayer, retired CEO of the Hartford Financial Group and current Director of De-velopment for the Global Peace Initiative, who served as a host of the weekend, said, “We invited Indo-Americans from around country to experience how powerful, valu-able and relevant the practical application of ancient Vedic wisdom, as developed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, is to our daily lives and to the improvement of society.”
Fred Travis, Ph.D., Director of the Cen-ter for Brain, Consciousness, and Cognition at Maharishi University of Management in neighboring Fairfield, Iowa, is one of the world’s leading researchers on the brain, consciousness and meditation. His scientific presentation during the weekend on the ef-presentation during the weekend on the ef-presentation during the weekend on the effects of Transcendental Meditation on brain functioning was highlighted by slides and graphics illustrating the beneficial changes that occur as a result of regular TM prac-tice.
From EEG signatures and connectiv-ity maps, Dr. Travis showed how different meditation practices impact different parts of the brain. “Most meditations fall into two categories,” said Dr. Travis said.
“First are ‘focused attention’ techniques, which require you to concentrate on an ob-ject, or a particular word or phrase. The sec-ond are ‘open monitoring’ techniques, which involve being mindful of your thoughts or breath without interfering with them. This approach attempts to still the mind and be-come an uninvolved witness to activity. But these attempts are on the surface level of the mind,” he added.
Dr. Travis then identified a third cate-gory—“automatic self-transcending”—a process that allows the mind to transcend its own activity. “This is the Transcenden-
tal Meditation technique, during which the mind transcends effortlessly, and arrives at the depth of consciousness, the source of the thinking mind, transcendental conscious-ness, or Samadhi,” Dr. Travis said.
Dr. G.V. Naidu, who traveled from St. Louis to attend the conference, said, “The scientific documentation of ‘The Neuro-physiology of Enlightenment’ by Dr. Travis was impressive and a subsequent presenta-tion by physicist Dr. John Hagelin was a cli-max of the conference.”
John Hagelin, Ph.D., a Harvard-trained, internationally renowned quantum physicist, provided the modern scientific understand-ing and corroborating scientific research documenting how groups of experts in the Transcenden-tal Meditation and advanced TM-Sidhi program can neu-tralize violence and conflict and create world peace.
“Extensive research pub-lished in peer-reviewed sci-entific journals verifies that Transcendental Meditation dramatically reduces acute individual stress and its del-eterious effects on brain and behavior far more effective-ly than other methods,” Dr. Hagelin said.
“But perhaps more inter-esting and important are the 23 published studies which show that relatively small numbers of people prac-ticing the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program together in a group can reduce crime, violence, and war throughout the en-
tire population,” he said.tire population,” he said.Citing studies conducted in the Middle Citing studies conducted in the Middle
East showing reductions in war death and East showing reductions in war death and violence by 70 percent, Dr. Hagelin said, “There is no approach to peace that has been so thoroughly tested and rigorously established. And now, since the arrival in America five years ago of the large group of Vedic Pandits, there has been a significant decrease in violent crime in America’s larg-est cities. We are mobilizing to add more numbers to the group, to create an even more positive effect in America.”
Ayer provided a vision of the goal of the Global Peace Initiative: To maintain perma-nent peace-keeping groups of 9000 Vedic Pandits in India and 1250 Vedic Pandits in the United States—the number established by research that is sufficient to create a con-crete and demonstrative positive global ef-crete and demonstrative positive global ef-crete and demonstrative positive global effect.
“The Vedic Pandits’ daily practice of the TM and TM-Sidhi program establishes their consciousness in Yoga, the pure field of intelligence, at the basis of all creation. And their Vedic recitation from that deep and pure level creates a powerful influence of peace for humanity,” Ayer said.
The Global Peace Initiative is building an endowment fund to create and maintain these large groups of Vedic Pandits in per-petuity.
Another sublime highlight of the weekend was the performance by 121 Maharishi Ve-dic Pandits of Rudrabhsihek.
“It’s an amazing sight to drive over the “It’s an amazing sight to drive over the rolling hills of Iowa and see spread before rolling hills of Iowa and see spread before you a campus where nearly 1000 Mahariyou a campus where nearly 1000 Mahari-shi Vedic Pandits from India reside,” said Meenakshi Ghai, from Chicago’s western suburbs, who made the four-hour drive from Chicago with her daughter-in law to attend the weekend. “It was a non-stop wonderful experience packed into 36 hours.”
Mohan Pillai from Long Island, New York, who attended the conference with his fam-ily, said, “I cannot describe in words what is like to hear such a powerful chanting of the Rudrabhishekam. I could understand how such large groups of well-trained Vedic Pandits can create peace.”
G.V. Naidu expressed enthusiasm for the global initiative: “We were pleasantly sur-prised to see that Maharishi Vedic Vishwa Vidyalaya is training thousands of Vedic Pandits here in America as well as in In-dia. These Vedic Pandits are propagating and sustaining ancient Vedic culture. At the same time, they are conducting fundamental research on the positive effects of medita-tion—far more than any other organization.
“As Indians who cherish the Vedic tradi-tion in our hearts, we should feel very proud that this great knowledge has given us a practical means to create peace in the world, ” he concluded
For more information, visit www.Global-For more information, visit www.Global-For more information, visit www.GlobalPeaceInitiative.org and www.VedicPandits.org.
- The Uncarved Blog
Chandrika Tandon describes her music as aspiring to “pierce into the deepest part of ourselves and reach into our grace.
Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, Ay, A decemBer 2 , 2011 • Online editiOn: www.indOn: www.indO Oamerican-news.cOm
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December 2, 201110 COMMUNITYU.s. denies Visa to indian Orphansindian Orphansi
By By By inu PaulBANGALORE(SI): They were
ignored, discriminated and denied of their rights by birth– from the luxury of a life with parental love to the hopes of a rosy future. But the journey took them to the safest hands of a few good people who gave wings to their dreams and there is one dream that they held very close to their hearts, prepared for it over eight months, and the team of mentors toiled for it over an year – but now, all seems to have gone in vain as the embassy denied visas to the 8 orphans to go U.S. to represent India in the World Orphans Choir.
Only 7 children and 1 leader are selected from various third-world countries and after auditioning over 1000 Indian at-risk and or-phaned children from different parts of the country, International Children’s Network’s (ICN) rep-resentative from the U.S., Heather Mehra-Pedersen selected final 7 from Udayan Care Homes located in Delhi NCR. The selected seven was deemed the best to represent the country in sharing their sto-ries and culture during a one year United States Tour touring 20 cit-ies. The one-year program was forced to cut short to 8 months as two months wer spent on clearing the paper-works, both in India and U.S. including permission from the Department of Homeland Se-curity in U.S. The kids were prac-ticing for eight months to perform before the world stage and to com-pete with children from different parts of the globe, but just two days before their much-awaited depar-ture, the embassy denied them visas shattering the big dreams of the small minds apart.
“At Udayan Care, we have al-ways ensured that despite their cir-cumstances, children feel “equal” to their peers in the neighborhood, school and society. The most re-cent denial of U.S. visa, has un-dermined this belief and their con-fidence, leaving them feeling “less than” or inferior to other children, They are also deeply disappointed that 6 months of their hard work “has gone waste”. Moreover they are anxious that that their “school friends will make fun” of them,” said Reena Tete, Director-Pro-grammes at Udayan Care.
The embassy says the selected leader and the kids are considered a flight risk and because they are without family ties, they will not come back. The biased commis-sion also fears that they would be adopted. “This “feeling” has no foundation in fact. The other countries from the World Orphan Choir and Matsiko Children’s Choir including Liberia, Peru and Uganda have all met with ap-proved and currently in the U.S., this is only India’s children,” said a statement from the Udayan Care. “There was no written denial of visa. However, at the interview for the visa, we were told that visa cannot be granted as “children do
not have strong ties in India,” said Reena.
U.S.-based NGO, International Children’s Network that invited the Indian children have a solid documented history of two prior successful choirs. The denial of visa by the U.S. embassy is con-tradictory to the facts and odd at best considering the fact that every previous choir has returned back to the home nations safely and more-over, some of these children from India and the selected leader, Pinki Biswas have travelled outside the U.S. and returned in the past.
“We have always appreciated and even welcomed the US Em-bassy’s voice in trying to prevent child trafficking. However, this unexplainable ruling to deny the 7 orphaned children from India and their leader the chance to help children by coming to the USA with the choir against the advice
and research of USA’s Department of Homeland Security and the support of US Congressman, US Senator’s, Schools and citizens is actually unconscionable.” Heather Mehra-Pedersen states.
“These children all come from difficult circumstances of losing their families or facing abuse and neglect. With both countries be-hind the approval and full on doc-umented support and proven suc-cessful history, what could make a decision like this? It’s absolutely an injustice! Udayan Care is con-stantly telling their children that al-though they have no parents, they are as valuable to society as those with parents. The U.S. Embassy Immigration Department has ne-gated this fact by denying them visa simply because they are or-phans,” said Kiran Modi, Udayan Care Founder and legal custodian of the 7 selected children.
The decision has surprised ev-eryone. Talking to us, Kiran Modi said so far no Indian authorities have taken any initiatives to look into the matter. “I have been try-ing to get in touch with the Joint Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, but could not get any solid replay or assurance,” she said.
The organizers (International Children’s Network) too are com-pletely taken back by the by the visa denial. ICN’s President and Founder Don Windham expressed his disappointment over the deci-sion and said, “An unexplainable oversight with severe impact to Indian orphan and at-risk children has been handed down from our most responsible and trustworthy
U.S. Embassy in Dehli. I cannot agree with the claims of many re-garding discrimination for the de-cision of our US Embassy in India that go against the Department of Homeland Security, the written support of many in the USA and the past actions of trust from previous choirs regarding these orphaned children in India. This decision, if it stands, will certainly have a tremendous impact on the count-less desperate children of India and around the world. However, we have always had complete trust in this process and our Embassies around the world. Therefore, we are certain and most hopeful they will consider the facts we have submitted in order to make a rea-sonable decision similar to Home-land Security, the support of many USA government officials and many other U.S. Citizens.”
“This was the first year for India and while I expected some extra due diligence and support mate-rial, I certainly am stunned at the ultimate decision and the drastic impact this decision will have on the children who have no voice. India’s street children have suf-India’s street children have suf-India’s street children have suffered so much already and to pull away hope for a future is simply devastating. This decision will set the tone of their future lives and the many people that come across their paths because of the unex-plainable denial of our US Embas-sy.” Heather Mehra-Pedersen was quoted in the statement.
The unfair and discriminatory decision surprised many despite the permission and approval - from Child Welfare Committees, schools, Indian government as well as Homeland Security in U.S., over 600 pages of documents verifying authenticity of the case and testi-mony and letters of support from current U.S. Senators who have firsthand experienced past ICN choirs. “While I respect the con-cern and overall caution for illegal immigrants and child trafficking , we must not be so ultra sensitive that we fail to properly identify the exceptions to India’s problem of deceitful applicants who fail to return to their country. These chil-dren are dolphins in the net and set a precedent. This means that any Indian child who is an orphan does not stand a chance of going to United States even when Home-land Security approves them. U.S. Dept of Homeland Security evalu-ated and approved their travel as well as the support of U.S. sena-tors and congressmen,” Kiran Modi said.
Along with ICN and Udayan Care, every sympathizer of this noble cause hope that the decision would be revoked. “We are very hopeful that the decision will be reviewed and the children will be on their way - even if a little late. However, it will need the com-bined effort of each and every one of us - the Indian and American authorities, the media as well as individuals,” said Reena.
Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, Ay, A decemBer 2, 2011 • Online editiOn: www.indOn: www.indO Oamerican-news.cOm
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Long wait For Green wait For Green w cards could end end e soonsoonsBy julia Pulia Pulia reSton
(NYT) In a rare show of bipar-tisan comity on the angrily con-tested issue of immigration, the House of Representatives on Tues-day passed a bill that tweaks the visa system to allow more highly skilled immigrants from India and China to become legal permanent residents.
The bill, originally offered by Representatives Jason Chaffetz, a conservative Republican from Utah, and Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, sailed through by a vote of 389 to 15. Joining as sponsors were sev-eral Democrats who are outspoken liberals on immigration, including Representatives Luis V. Gutier-rez of Illinois and Zoe Lofgren of California.
Chaffetz said he had tried to find a sweet spot, even if small, where lawmakers from both parties could come together to fix the legal im-migration system, which is widely acknowledged to be broken. The bill does not address illegal immi-gration, nor does it add any new visas to the system, which many Republicans, including Smith, are reluctant to do.
“I campaigned in Utah on the idea that we can never solve our illegal immigration woes without fixing legal immigration,” Chaf-fixing legal immigration,” Chaf-fixing legal immigration,” Chaffetz said Tuesday. The bill seemed likely to pass easily in the Senate, said Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, a leading Democrat on immigration.
Its main impact will be to re-duce visa backlogs that meant, for example, that some Indians with science or technology skills who were approved recently for per-manent resident visas, known as green cards, would face waits of 70 years before they would actu-ally receive the documents.
The bill eliminates limits on the number of green cards based on employment that is available an-nually to each country. Currently, 140,000 green cards are available each year for immigrants based on their job skills, with each country
limited to 7 percent of those visas. Under the bill, after a three-year transition, all employment-based green cards will be issued on a first-come-first-served basis, with no country limits.
The legislation also includes a measure that will more than dou-ble the green cards based on fam-ily ties available for Mexicans and Filipinos, the two national groups facing the longest backlogs on the family side of the system. It raises the country limit for 226,000 fam-ily green cards each year to 15 per-cent from the current 7 percent.
The fix in the family visas helped to persuade Democrats like Guti-errez to sign on to the bill.
By far, the main beneficiaries will be highly skilled immigrants from India and China, including many with master’s degrees and doctorates in science and engi-neering.
Because they come from popu-lous countries that send many people to work here who have advanced science and technology skills, immigrants from those two nations had been forced by the country limits into lines that were many years long and growing much longer.
In most cases, Indians and Chi-nese who will now receive their
permanent green cards more quickly have been working in the United States for years on tempo-rary visas. The immigrants and their employers have passed labor market tests showing that quali-fied Americans were not available for jobs they hold.
“This legislation makes sense,” Smith said before the vote. “Why should American employers who seek green cards for skilled for-eign workers have to wait longer just because the workers are from India or China?”
American technology compa-nies have been clamoring for Con-gress to offer more green cards for their foreign employees, arguing that the United States was losing out in global competition by forc-ing those immigrants to leave.
Some countries will lose under the legislation. During the next three years, many more employ-ment green cards will be set aside for Indians and Chinese than for others languishing in backlogs, particularly Filipinos and South Koreans.
And because the law would add no new visas, backlogs would be redistributed but not eliminated. The wait in the most severely clogged employment visa cat-egories will even out over time to 12 years for all countries, said Stuart Anderson, executive direc-tor of the National Foundation for American Policy, which conducts research on immigration.
G u t i e r -rez said: “We need bigger fixes to our le-gal immigra-tion system so that employers and families use official channels, not black-market ones. We want people to go through the system, not around it.”
Representative Jason Chaffetz, Republican of Utah, helped introduce an immigration bill. Photo: J. Scott Applewhite
BJP Training camp Held in HoustonHOUSTON: Overseas Friends of BJP (OFBJP), USA conducted a 2nd training camp
for its members on Sunday November 20 at Keshav Smruti.This is a first of its kind training conducted by Bharateeya Janata Party for its inter-
national cell outside of India. About thirty selected members from South Zone attended this camp. As per the vision of Shri Vijay Jolly, International Coordinator for OFBJP, first leg of the training sessions are being conducted in USA. First camp was success-fully conducted in New Jersey for the North East Zone on Nov 13 and the training ses-sions are conducted by Dr. Vinay Sahasrabuddhe.
Dr. Sahasrabuddhe is the Political Advisor to BJP President in India; Director General of a UNO recognized NGO, Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodini; Member of BJP executive committee; and Member of Board of Governors at Sardar Patel Institute of Public Ad-ministration (SPIPA). He has two-decade long experience in training for democracy, a motivational trainer for elected representatives, party workers, youth and women, and social and institutional leadership.
The session started with lamp lighting ceremony followed by the rendition of Vande-mataram. Ramesh Shah, Vice President of BJP welcomed the delegates. Following the introductions, Dr. Sahasrabuddhe stressed upon the importance of discipline of a Karya-karta and gave a brief background and context of the historic training in his eloquent speech. Ramesh Shah conducted the first session giving a detailed account of BJP’s journey from it’s inception as Jan Sangh. He also talked about BJP’s major initiatives and contributions to the society. Ramesh Bhutada, Sanghchalak of HSS southwest concluded the session with complements to all attendees.
Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, Ay, A decemBer 2 , 2011 • Online editiOn: www.indOn: www.indO Oamerican-news.cOm
December 2, 201112 COMMUNITYThe Extraordinary Life and Times of Mahatma Gandhi
The Extraordinary Life and Times of Mahatma Gandhi is brought to you courtesy Mahatma Gandhi Library. www.gandhilibrary.org
— To be Continued
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Ambassador Meera Shankar visits Houston Page 11
NRI nvestors Lose Money to Maytas Properties in India
BollywoodShows4U Brings EXPLOSION 2009 to HoustonHOUSTON: Sonu Nigam, Suni-dhi Chauhan and Hard Kaur are set to make a stunning appearance in the Explosions event organized by the Explosions event organized by Bollywood Shows 4 U conducted Bollywood Shows 4 U conducted by Moid Khan. The event is set to by Moid Khan. The event is set to be held at the Reliant Arena on be held at the Reliant Arena on August 7, 2009.
has the movie helped or hurt
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slumdog millionaire
NRI Investors Lose Money to Maytas Properties in India Page 21
Moid Khan Moid Khan informed
that Houston that Houston residents have residents have been waiting for a been waiting for a long time to see the long time to see the live performance of live performance of Sonu Nigam. BollySonu Nigam. Bolly-Sonu Nigam. Bolly-Sonu Nigam. Bollywoodshows4u is woodshows4u is bringing the bringing the
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IACCGH Helps to HirePage 5
B P KHOUSTON: If there’s one recent movie that has polarized opinions about India, it is Slumdog Mil-lionaire. The movie has all the el-ements of entertainment designed to glue you to your seat – shock, awe, amusement, disgust, true love and inspiration. Some people have seen movie several times, each time moved to tears and joy. There are a few others, however, who could not get past the slum kid’s jump into the cesspool or the blinding of a child.More than 120 people with prob-ably 200 opinions about the movie assembled at a town hall meeting held at India House last Sunday afternoon.The town hall meeting was orThe town hall meeting was or-The town hall meeting was or-The town hall meeting was organized by the Foundation for India Studies at the University of
Houston. The Foundation could Houston. The Foundation could not have chosen a better topic not have chosen a better topic to raise awareness among Indo-Americans in Houston about its Indian studies programs. Prior to
Indian studies programs. Prior to the discussion of the film, Parul the discussion of the film, Parul Fernandes and Krishna Vavilala explained that the Foundation explained that the Foundation is currently conducting Hindi is currently conducting Hindi Level I and Level II courses as Level I and Level II courses as well as classes on Hinduism, Jainism and the Anthropology of Jainism and the Anthropology of India. The Foundation has also India. The Foundation has also received support from Indian received support from Indian government’s Ministry of Over-seas Indians to fund a Chair for seas Indians to fund a Chair for Indian studies at UH.An 11-minute clip of Slumdog
An 11-minute clip of Slumdog Millionaire, edited by Anil Ku-mar, was screened to stimulate the discussion. The clip included the discussion. The clip included scenes depicting negative aspects of India such as religious dishar-mony, child prostitution, and po-lice brutality. These scenes were
lice brutality. These scenes were lice brutality. These scenes were lice brutality. These scenes were followed by uplifting scenes in followed by uplifting scenes in
ers to Houston thus making Houstonians dreams come true, by organizing “Explosion 2009” Concert. “Explosion 2009 will be giving “Explosion 2009 will be giving Houston residents a night long non-stop session of rock-
non-stop session of rock-non-stop session of rocking Bollywood melodies, ing Bollywood melodies, promising one of the most memorable musi-cal treats like never cal treats like never witnessed before.For tickets log on For tickets log on to www.bollywood-to www.bollywood-to www.bollywood
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The Queen is Dead
Maharani Gayatri Devi passes away at the age of 90Read all about it inside.
Ambassador Meera
Shankar Visits
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Central Texas Temple Grows Page 6
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Shraddhanjali to Mahatma GandhiShraddhanjali to Mahatma Gandhi
The story thus far….Gandhi permitted a lower caste family to reside at the ashram that he es-tablished at Ahmedabad. He met with much opposition. He also amazed and angered the Brit-ish officers, upper-class Indians, and friends gathered at a foun-dation stone laying ceremony at Banaras University by speaking out against usage of the English language on the university prem-ises that he deemed “sacred”.
The annual meeting of the Con-gress was held in December 1916 in Lucknow. The Congress was divided as there were the moder-ates and there were the extremists, but at Lucknow the Congress met without tension between the two wings. The President, Ambika Charan Mazumdar, spoke in terms of Swaraj, which previous leaders had demanded. A resolution was passed appealing to His Majesty’s Government and demanding that a definite step should be taken to-wards Indian self-government by granting the reforms contained in a referendum prepared by the All-
India Congress Committee and adopted by the All-India Muslim League.
In Lucknow the Congress and the Muslim League came to an agree-ment. This was later known as the Lucknow Pact. For the sake of the unity of India the Congress con-ceded many points demanded by the Muslims. For two years Gandhi had traveled extensively in India and had talked at different places. He now wanted to start some work connected with labor. His interest first centered on the problem of indentured labor, the system under which poor, ignorant laborers were enticed away from India to work in the British colonies. He disap-proved of this system in South Af-rica, fought it there, and he wanted to see it abolished. The Viceroy, Lord Hardinge, announced that His Majesty’s Government had agreed to abolish the system in due course. Gandhi, however, wanted a definite date before which the system would go.
Gandhi started a great agitation on this issue. He went to Bombay and consulted all the Indian lead-ers there. They fixed May 31, 1917
as the last date for the abolition of indentured labor. He then went around the country to get support for this view. Meetings were held in important places. Everywhere there was a great response. Even Gandhi admitted that he had not expected so much public support. As a result of the agitation, the Government announced that the system of indentured labor would be stopped before July 31,1917. Then Gandhi had heard about an obnoxious system of agricultural labor prevailing in the Champaran district of Bihar, where the culti-vators were forced by Europeans to grow indigo, a blue dye. This imposed on them great discom-fort. They could not grow the food they needed, nor did they receive adequate payment for the indigo.
Gandhi was told of this by an agriculturist from Bihar, Rajku-mar Shukla. He requested Gandhi to go to the place and see the state of affairs there. Gandhi was then attending the Congress meeting at Lucknow and he did not have time to go there. Rajkumar Shukla fol-lowed him about, begging him to come and help the hapless villag-ers in Champaran. Gandhi at last promised to visit the place after he had visited Calcutta.
Gandhi went to Champaran with Rajkumar in early 1917. On his ar-rival the District Magistrate served him with a notice saying that he was not to remain in the district of Champaran but must leave the place by the first available train.
Gandhi disobeyed the order. He was summoned to appear before the court. The magistrate said that if Gandhi left immediately the charges would be dropped.
“This cannot be,” said Gandhi. “I came here to render humanitar-ian and national service. I shall make Champaran my home and work for the suffering people,” added Gandhi.
A large crowd of peasants gath-ered outside the court shouting slogans. The magistrate and the police looked nervous.
Then Gandhi said, “I shall help you and calm these people if you let me speak to them.”
Gandhi appeared before the crowd and said, “You must show your faith in me and in my work by remaining quiet. The magistrate had the right to arrest me, because I disobeyed his order. If I am sent to jail, you must accept that as just. We must work peacefully. Any vi-olent act will harm our cause.”
The crowd dispersed peacefully. The police stared at Gandhi in admiration as he went inside the court.
Gandhi wrote about the incident later.
“That day in Champaran was an unforgettable event in my life ..... It is no exaggeration, but the lit-eral truth, to say that in this meet-ing with the peasants, I was face to face with God, ahimsa and truth.”ahimsa and truth.”ahimsa
The Government withdrew the case against Gandhi and allowed him to remain in the district. Gan-
dhi stayed and studied the griev-ances of the peasants. He visited many villages. He cross-examined about 8,000 cultivators and record-ed their statements. In this way he arrived at an exact understanding of their plight and the causes.
He came to the conclusion that the ignorance of the cultivators was one of the main reasons why the European planters could ex-ploit them. Gandhi set up volun-
tary organizations to improve the economic and educational condi-tions of the people. They opened schools and taught the people how to improve sanitation.
The Government recognized Gandhi’s strength and devotion to just causes. They themselves then set up a committee to enquire into the grievances of the cultiva-tors. They invited Gandhi to serve on that committee, and he agreed. The result was that within a few months the Champaran Agrarian
Bill was passed. It gave great re-lief to the cultivators and land ten-ants. Gandhi could not stay longer
In champaran, “ Face-to-Face with God, Ahimsa, Truth”in Bihar. There were calls from other places. Labor unrest was brewing in Ahmedabad and Gan-dhi was requested to help settle the dispute.
Gandhi hurried back to Ahmeda-bad. Before taking up the labor dis-pute Gandhi wanted to move his ashram. The Satyagraha Ashram was in a village near Ahmedabad, but the surrounding was not clean and plague had broken out. It had spread there from Ahmedabad. A rich merchant of Ahmedabad, wanted to buy alternative land for the ashram. Gandhi went about with him looking for land and they chose a place on the bank of the Sabarmati river, near the Sabarma-ti Central Jail. The land was pur-chased and the famous Sabarmati Ashram was established.
In Ahmedabad there were many textile mills. Prices had gone up and the mill workers were de-manding higher wages. The mill owners would not agree. Gandhi sympathized with the workers and took up their cause. He launched a struggle and resorted to peaceful resistance. The workers proudly followed Gandhi and pledged their full support to him. They paraded the streets with large banners, and said they would not go back to work until a settlement had been reached.
Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, Ay, A decemBer 2, 2011 • Online editiOn: www.indOn: www.indO Oamerican-news.cOm
1313December 2, 2011COMMUNITYdinyar devitre Joins the national Board of
directors of Pratham Usirectors of Pratham Usirectors of Pratham U AsAsDinyar S. Devitre is the former Senior
Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Altria Group, Inc, one of the world’s larg-est tobacco companies. He retired from the Company in March 2008.
“Pratham is a superb organization do-ing ground breaking work in education for underprivileged children in India. I feel honored to serve on the Board of Pratham USA,” said Devitre.
Devitre held a number of assignments with Philip Morris International. These in-cluded; Marketing Services Manager, Asia-Pacific (Melbourne 1974-1975), Managing Director, Godfrey Phillips India Ltd. (Bom-bay 1976-1979); and President, Philip Mor-ris Asia (Hong Kong 1980-1990). Later Mr. Devitre was appointed Chairman and CEO, Philip Morris Japan (Tokyo 1992-1995) and contemporaneously served as Executive Vice President, Philip Morris In-ternational.
From 1998 to 2001, Devitre worked for Citigroup where he was Executive Vice President and Group Head of Citibank’s Global Consumer Bank for Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Devitre has served as a Director on several corporate boards including Western Union, Altria Group, Kraft and SABMiller. In ad-dition, his nonprofit Board memberships in-clude the Asia Society, Lincoln Center and the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Born in Jamshedpur, India, Devitre earned a B.A. degree at St. Joseph’s Col-lege in Darjeeling, India, and an M.B.A. from the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad.
“We are delighted to welcome Dinny to our Board. Pratham USA depends on its Board leadership to shape governance and fundraising strategies. With his extensive experience serving on both nonprofit and for-profit boards, Dinny will be a valuable asset to the organization, as we look to 2012 and beyond,” said Arvind Sanger, Chairman of Pratham USA.
About Pratham: Pratham, which means “first” in Sanskrit,
was founded in the slums of Mumbai in 1994 with UNICEF support. Today, Pratham’s di-rect urban programs, including pre-schools, community libraries and remedial learning programs reach hundreds of thousands of children every year.
Dinyar Devitre
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By Kerri Ann JenningsAs a registered dietitian and associate
nutrition editor at EatingWell Magazine, I know thatherbs and spices do more than simply add flavor to food. They let you cut down on some less-healthy ingredients, such as salt, added sugars and saturated fat, and some have inherent health benefits, many of which Joyce Hendley reported on for Eatin-gWell Magazine.
Modern science is beginning to uncover the ultimate power of spices and herbs, as weapons against illnesses from cancer to Alzheimer’s disease. “We’re now starting to see a scientific basis for why people have been using spices medicinally for thousands of years,” says Bharat Aggarwal, Ph.D., professor at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and author ofHealing Spices (Sterling, 2011).
Aggarwal notes that in his native India, where spices tend to be used by the handful, incidence of diet-related diseases like heart disease and cancer have long been low. But when Indians move away and adopt more Westernized eating patterns, their rates of those diseases rise. While researchers usu-ally blame the meatier, fattier nature of Western diets, Aggarwal and other experts believe that herbs and spices-or more pre-cisely, the lack of them-are also an important piece of the dietary puzzle. “When Indians eat more Westernized foods, they’re getting much fewer spices than their traditional diet contains,” he explains. “They lose the pro-tection those spices are conveying.”
While science has yet to show that any spice cures disease, there’s compelling evi-dence that several may help manage some chronic conditions (though it’s always smart to talk with your doctor). What’s not to love? Here we’ve gathered eight of the healthiest spices and herbs enjoyed around the world.
Chile Peppers May help: Boost metabolism.Chile peppers add a much-appreciated
heat to chilly-weather dishes, and they can also give a boost to your metabolism. Thank capsaicin, the compound that gives
fresh chiles, and spices including cayenne and chipotle, their kick. Studies show that capsaicin can increase the body’s metabolic rate (causing one to burn more calories) and may stimulate brain chemicals that help us feel less hungry. In fact, one study found that people ate 16 percent fewer calories at a meal if they’d sipped a hot-pepper-spiked tomato juice (vs. plain tomato juice) half an hour earlier. Recent research found that capsinoids, similar but gentler chemi-cals found in milder chile hybrids, have the same effects-so even tamer sweet paprika packs a healthy punch. Capsaicin may also lower risk of ulcers by boosting the ability of stomach cells to resist infection by ulcer-causing bacteria and help the heart by keep-ing “bad” LDL cholesterol from turning into a more lethal, artery-clogging form.
Ginger May help: Soothe an upset stomach,
fight arthritis pain. Ginger has a well-deserved reputation
for relieving an unsettled stomach. Studies show ginger extracts can help reduce nausea caused by morning sickness or following surgery or chemotherapy, though it’s less effective for motion sickness. But ginger is also packed with inflammation-fighting compounds, such as gingerols, which some experts believe may hold promise in fight-ing some cancers and may reduce the aches of osteoarthritis and soothe sore muscles. In a recent study, people who took ginger cap-
sules daily for 11 days reported 25 percent less muscle pain when they performed exer-cises designed to strain their muscles (com-pared with a similar group taking placebo capsules). Another study found that ginger-extract injections helped relieve osteoarthri-tis pain of the knee.
CinnamonMay help: Stabilize blood sugar. A few studies suggest that adding cinna-
mon to food-up to a teaspoon a day, usually given in capsule form-might help people
with type 2 diabetes better control their blood sugar, by lowering post-meal blood-sugar spikes. Other studies suggest the ef-sugar spikes. Other studies suggest the ef-sugar spikes. Other studies suggest the effects are limited at best.
Turmeric May help: Quell inflammation, inhibit
tumors. Turmeric, the goldenrod-colored spice, is
used in India to help wounds heal (it’s ap-plied as a paste); it’s also made into a tea to relieve colds and respiratory problems. Modern medicine confirms some solid-gold health benefits as well; most are associated with curcumin, a compound in turmeric that has potent antioxidant and anti-inflamma-tory properties. Curcumin has been shown to help relieve pain of arthritis, injuries and
dental procedures; it’s also being studied for its potential in managing heart disease, dia-betes and Alzheimer’s disease. Researcher Bharat Aggarwal is bullish on curcumin’s potential as a cancer treatment, particularly in colon, prostate and breast cancers; pre-liminary studies have found that curcumin can inhibit tumor cell growth and suppress enzymes that activate carcinogens.
Saffron May help: Lift your mood. Saffron has long been used in traditional
Persian medicine as a mood lifter, usually steeped into a medicinal tea or used to pre-pare rice. Research from Iran’s Roozbeh Psychiatric Hospital at Tehran University of Medical Sciences has found that saffron may help to relieve symptoms of premen-strual syndrome (PMS) and depression. In one study, 75% of women with PMS who were given saffron capsules daily reported that their PMS symptoms (such as mood swings and depression) declined by at least half, compared with only 8 percent of wom-en who didn’t take saffron.
Must-Read: 4 Foods to Boost Your MoodParsley May help: Inhibit breast cancer-cell
growth. University of Missouri scientists found
that this herb can actually inhibit breast can-cer-cell growth, reported Holly Pevzner in the September/October 2011 issue of Eatin-gWell Magazine. In the study, animals that were given apigenin, a compound abundant in parsley (and in celery), boosted their re-sistance to developing cancerous tumors. Experts recommend adding a couple pinch-es of minced fresh parsley to your dishes daily.
for upset stomachs and sore throats, a reme-dy supported by one study that found spray-ing sore throats with a sage solution gave effective pain relief. And preliminary re-search suggests the herb may improve some symptoms of early Alzheimer’s disease by preventing a key enzyme from destroying acetylcholine, a brain chemical involved in memory and learning. In another study, col-lege students who took sage extracts in cap-sule form performed significantly better on memory tests, and their moods improved.
Rosemary May help: Enhance mental focus, fight
foodborne bacteria.One recent study found that people per-
formed better on memory and alertness tests when mists of aromatic rosemary oil were piped into their study cubicles. Rosemary is often used in marinades for meats and poul-try, and there’s scientific wisdom behind that tradition: rosmarinic acid and other antioxidant compounds in the herb fight bacteria and prevent meat from spoiling, and may even make cooked meats healthier. In March 2010, Kansas State University researchers reported that adding rosemary extracts to ground beef helped prevent the formation of heterocyclic amines (HCAs)-cancer-causing compounds produced when meats are grilled, broiled or fried.
- Eatingwell.comKerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D. works as Associate Nutrition Editor at EatingWell Magazine
world’s Healthiest world’s Healthiest w spices & Herbs you should be spices & Herbs you should be s eatingHEALTH
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1515December 2, 2011HEALTH
Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, Ay, A decemBer 2 , 2011 • Online editiOn: www.indOn: www.indO Oamerican-news.cOm
16 December 2, 201116 COMMUNITYstate Bank of India Becomes state Bank of India Becomes s moneyGram International Agent
DALLAS: MoneyGram Interna-tional has joined hands with State Bank of India (SBI), India’s larg-est public sector bank, to provide in-bound money transfer services across SBI’s key branches, begin-ning with 100 new agent locations by the end of 2011. India was the world’s largest recipient of remit-tances in 2010, according to the World Bank, amounting to nearly $55 billion last year.
For the Asian Indian diaspora in the U.S., this deal reflects Mon-eyGram’s commitment in serving the community. This alliance with SBI, a respected and trusted name among India’s banks, brings Mon-eyGram customers greater options and convenience for sending mon-ey to family and friends at home in India.
MoneyGram is rapidly growing its network of partners to become one of the largest global money transfer companies in India, having more than 34,000 agent locations. MoneyGram offers convenient, reliable and fast money transfer services to reach any of its agents across India. MoneyGram is a cost-effective solution for send-ing money to India, providing a competitive exchange rate as well. According to Zainab Ali, Money-Gram senior interactive marketing manager, adding State Bank of India to MoneyGram’s agent net-work increases consumers’ access to MoneyGram services in India.
The Bank’s locations make it more convenient than ever for custom-ers to send and receive money vir-tually anywhere in the country.
Dan O’Malley, MoneyGram executive vice president of the Americas and Emerging Markets, said on the occasion, “The State Bank of India is a well-known and respected institution. This is important to us and the customers we serve. They need to know and trust the services they use when they’re sending and receiving money. SBI is the largest com-
mercial bank in India in terms of branches. It is also the only bank in India ranked among the Top 500 (Rank 292) companies globally by Fortune Magazine.”
Madhavan Menon, MD at Thomas Cook (India) Ltd said, “A partnership of three powerful cus-tomer-centric brands (SBI, MG, and TCIL) augurs well for our customers and the money trans-fer business as a whole. As super-agent for MoneyGram, adding the impressive network of State Bank
of India to our extensive pan-India footprint, will ensure increased ac-cess and facilitate ease in transac-tions for our customers, by bring-ing inward remittances right to their doorstep! This arrangement is an addition to Thomas Cook’s long standing association with SBI which includes Foreign Currency Pick-ups from more than 2000 SBI locations in the country and the white labeled Global Money Card (Prepaid Forex Card – Vish-wa Yatra Card of SBI) which are retailed out of the 150 plus TCIL
branches in India.”
About MoneyGram Interna-tional
MoneyGram International, Inc. (NYSE: MGI) is a leading global payment services company. The Company provides consumers with an efficient and secure way to send and receive money glob-ally, make urgent bill payments and purchase money orders. Mon-eyGram’s products and services are conveniently available through
more than 256,000 agent locations in 192 countries and territories. Certain products and services are also available online. For more information, visit the Company’s website at www.moneygram.com or on Facebook.
About Thomas Cook (India) Limited:
Thomas Cook is the largest in-tegrated Travel and Travel related Financial Services Company in the country offering a broad spec-trum of services that include For-eign Exchange, Corporate Travel, MICE, Leisure Travel and Travel Insurance. The Company set up its first office in India in 1881, and has been providing world-class travel service for 130 years. TCIL’s foot-print currently extends to over 213 locations in 78 cities across India, Mauritius & Sri Lanka and is sup-ported by a strong partner network of 102 Gold Circle Partners and 180 Preferred Sales Agents in over 100 cities pan India. For more information, please visit www.thomascook.in
About Thomas Cook Group plc:
Thomas Cook Group plc is one of the world’s leading travel groups with FY 2010 sales of £8.9 billion and 22.5 million Custom-ers. The Group operates under six geographical segments in 21 coun-tries, and is number one or two in all its core markets. Its business is supported by 31,000 employees, a
fleet of 94 aircraft and a network of over 3,500 retail outlets. For further details please visit www.thomascookgroup.com
About State Bank of India: State Bank of India, with a 200-
year history, is the largest commer-cial bank in India in terms of assets, deposits, profits, branches, cus-tomers and employees. With over 13800 branches, 25000 ATMs, it has the highest touch points in the entire banking space in India. It has a substantial international footprint with 131 branches in 32 countries spread worldwide across all time zones. It is the only Bank in India which is presently featured in the Top 500 (Rank 292) companies globally in the Fortune Magazine. The Government of India is the largest shareholder, with 59.73% share holding. SBI has received many national and International awards including the prestigious international award “Innovations in Banking Technology Award” instituted by “The Banker”, Lon-don and IDRBT Banking Tech-nology Excellence Awards 2011. The Bank has also been conferred the Asian Banker Award “Stron-gest Bank in Asia Pacific Region”. SBI is also a leader in the domestic remittance business besides hav-ing its own products like “SBI Ex-press Remit”, “Onlinesbiglobal” and tie-ups with other agencies. For more details, visit www.state-bankofindia.com.
Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, Ay, A decemBer 2 , 2011 • Online editiOn: www.indOn: www.indO Oamerican-news.cOm
1717December 2, 2011INDIA16 crores crores c spent in 3 spent in 3 s years on Ajmal Kasabyears on Ajmal KasabyBANGALORE (SI): It’s revealed that the gov-
ernment of Maharashtra has spent over 16 Crores in three years on Ajmal Kasab, India’s most high-profile prisoner.
The lone Pakistani terror-The lone Pakistani terror-The lone Pakistani terrorist captured alive during the Mumbai terror attacks that killed 164 people is now ac-commodated at the Arthur Road jail. The state home department has spent over 16.17 crore on his accom-modation which necessi-tated building a special cell and deployment of special forces from Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) apart from expenses on his food, safety and medical treat-ments.
It should also be noted that the expenditure doesn’t include the fees paid to the special public prosecutor and his team. And it’s reported that the state government is taking a stock of the huge money spent on this Pakistani na-tional in the wake of the third anniversary of the 26/11 attacks.
The city of Mumbai had been in siege as a group of 10 terrorists from its imme-diate neighbor and archri-val Pakistan, who went on a three-day killing spree leaving 164 people dead
and 308 injured. Caught alive during the attacks, Kasab received a fair trial in a special court at
the end of which sessions court judge M L Tahilyani sentenced him to death.
The legal expenditure alone was estimated to be around 12 Lakhs until the case was chal-lenged in the apex court. Spe-cial public prosecutor Ujwal Nikam’s fee has reportedly gone up ever since the case was taken to the Supreme Court and he is paid 50,000 a day for every hearing along with business class air travels and VIP suite in the state guest-house. The state has paid Rs 10.87 crore up to July 2011 for the ITBP who provides 20 commandos equipped with highly sophisticated weaponry and communication devices to provide a round the clock guard to Kasab.
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December 2, 201118 EDITORIALFalling into the map
You are now only 4.74 degrees apart from any other person in the whole wide world, according to a recent New York Times report. Scientists at Facebook and University of Milan, using 721 million Facebook users, found that the average number of acquaintances separating any two people in the world was not six as previously as-sumed, but 4.74. In the light of this data, maps do seem quite useless. It does make you wonder about the necessity of new cartological lines, when all you need is click to speak to anyone, anywhere in the world or be ‘friends’ with them.
Social networking apart, man’s obsession with maps is not some-thing to be taken lightly. Power and ambition has been marked for centuries by this mesh of curves and furrows, with capitals marked in stars, borders inked in bright red, and oceans of deep blue.
However, these squiggles of ink on paper have often led nations to go on many a warpath. A single line on a map, one that we all know, may have as sinister a significance as swapping dead bodies after a bloody partition. It is certainly not the sort of recall for the Indian map Sir Cyril Radcliffe had in mind when he sat down to chalk out where India ended and Pakistan began. Over 50 years later, we are still tackling memories caused by everything that followed that fateful doodle.
A couple of days ago, the US State Department removed “inaccu-rate” maps of India and Pakistan from its website as it did not reflect the correct boundary and geographical locations. But then, we are not the only ones who get picky with the Indian map. China’s ambassador to India was furious when asked about a map that showed parts of India within the Chinese border. New maps and ambitious cartologi-cal oversights from our friends in the east can still stir up powerful emotions.
But before we get our borders in a knot, the powers that be are ready to splice up the states further, with Uttar Pradesh now being surgically split into Purvanchal, Bundelkhand, Awadh and Paschim Pradesh/Harit Pradesh. The whimsical drawing and redrawing of maps, and their often bloody outcomes do seem redundant, especially when the world is shrinking.
Their gory political consequences apart, maps are also simply beauti-ful to look at. For most of us, the atlas was a prized possession, and still brings back fond memories of tracing fingers over distant lands. The latitudes and longitudes gave you all the coordinates you needed for imaginary trips and brought history lessons to life. Even artists like Guillermo Kuitca from Argentina and Kathy Prendergast from Ireland (who may be closer than you think, remember less than five people keep you apart) have used maps as metaphors for human relationships and political power in their paintings. But it will always be Radcliffe’s work that has the last word.
- Sharon Fernandes, Hindustan Times
nation’s obsession, obsession, o sachin’s sachin’s s nightmarenightmarenBy Py Py radeeP MP MP agazine Magazine M
Even though Tendulkar hasn’t failed with the bat, any score below hundred now is being seen by his fans as one Even if he had been made of steel, by now he would have been reduced to pulp, given the pressure he is put under, to fulfill the “dreams” of a “billion” cricket fans. Every run he scores creates a new world record, whetting the appetite of those who thirst for more. When he scored his 35th Test hundred a few years back to reach a summit no one before him had scaled, he had tears in his eyes. They were tears induced as much by the satisfaction of achieving a monumental landmark as they were reflecting the relief he must have felt, given the intense pressure he had been facing from his adoring legion of fans. He was to say later that the pressure had become almost unbear-pressure had become almost unbear-pressure had become almost unbearable, as wherever he went, whosoever he met, the only sentence spoken to him was about his impending world record hundred.
Today, each time he goes in to bat, a nation goes into frenzy, for they want him to hit one more hundred, some-thing he has been doing so regularly that its numbers have swelled to 51 in
Tests and 48 in ODIs. But it is of little significance to a nation so obsessed with records and Sachin Tendulkar, despite all his superhuman achieve-ments, will be made to feel guilty if he does not score one more hundred. It would be as if he is letting them down.
When he was playing some win-some strokes on a sluggish Kotla track to guide India to victory over the West Indies this month, people would have any day traded an Indian defeat for his century of centuries. A nation went into mourning when he got out just short of his hundred, as if the sole reason for the contest was to provide him a platform to achieve this feat.
In the Mumbai Test he played yet another innings of vintage charm but when he got out the reaction was one of disbelief and heartbreak. Ravi Rampaul, the man who plotted his downfall, was treated like a villain by the crowd, who castigated him for having the temerity to celebrate the wicket of the man, depriving him of an incomparable number by a mere six runs.
This frenzy is fed by the media, who have for the past few months repeated
themselves to death by running de-bates on television and statistical packages in the papers, as a build up to this statistical number, which will change nothing in the way he is per-change nothing in the way he is per-change nothing in the way he is perceived by the sporting world. Like our verdict on two of the greatest spinners to ever bowl, Warne and Muralitha-ran, did not change when the duo took 1,000 international wickets. Did the world and their respective countries ever create such hysteria at their achieving this feat, something akin to scoring 100 hundreds?
The answer is no, and in India this staggering achievement was a footnote, buried in the avalanche of records of our cricket superstars which we everyday dig out as sta-tistical nuggets to gloat about, as if cricket is a game of mere numbers and nothing else.
The question ‘will he or won’t he’ must be giving him sleepless nights by now. Let us by all means celebrate if and when he gets to that figure of 100; but even if he does not, it makes no difference to his status as the greatest batsman of all times. Please, let him be.
- Hindustan Times
The curious curious c case of chetan Bhagatchetan BhagatcBy ajayajaya rarar MaMa achandranMachandranM
Chetan Bhagat is smart. I use the word advisedly, and in a corporate understanding of it. The reason I and many fellow Indian millennials like Dil Chahta Hai is because the story was about friendships in a college setting. Filmmakers who give such youth-oriented movies know their chief audience. Good or bad, they can count on the college-goer to give their films at least a single try. It is no wonder that Bhagat, who has a management degree from India’s top business school, saw an “oppor-top business school, saw an “oppor-top business school, saw an “opportunity”, and cashed in. It is, as any business student would tell you, a business model. A thriving business model, in fact. He has created an atmosphere wherein the only require-ment for anyone to publish a novel is for them to have the basic facility to tell a story. Even the how is unim-portant. The only important thing is how fast the books disappear from bookstores. What makes him a paper-bookstores. What makes him a paper-bookstores. What makes him a paperback phenomenon? Many, including ex-union minister Shashi Tharoor,
have pointed to the simple (if even pallid) style and the conversational tone of Bhagat’s books, in addi-tion, of course, to the youth-centric themes. I think the one chief feature of his success is humor. The critics, who consider Bhagat an affront to their intellect, often fail to mention this. Maybe he’s so popular because people find his books funny.
But Bhagat is no novelist. Deliber-But Bhagat is no novelist. Deliber-But Bhagat is no novelist. Deliberately (though doubtful) or not, he has difficulty in churning out an agree-able sentence. Most bad writing is the result of bad reading or poor read-ing. After reading a few of Bhagat’s books, you can say movies and not books are his primary influences. He is at best a screenwriter. He is the ideal publicist for Bollywood. His ad would read: Bollywood, now avail-able in book form. Nothing wrong in people enjoying such books. For one thing, as J.K. Rowling did with the Harry Potter series, he has boosted among the young the habit of read-ing. Sure his books require a com-plete suspension of literary sensibili-
ties on the part of the reader. Sure you can’t improve your vocabulary when you read them. And sure you can’t quote him in general conversation, if you wish to be taken seriously. The point it all becomes jarring is when you justify your deficiency saying this is what “the common people” want. Bhagat has set a precedent for other average writers who not only seem to think bad prose is wholly excusable but also seem to say they don’t read good prose because they don’t need it. The whole marketing machine–everyone from Tharoor to “youth icons” like actors Sonam Kapoor and Suriya–to perpetuate this mediocrity by elevating Bhagat as the brand ambassador of young India seems to me as going overboard. His latest book, Revolution 2020–an awful title for a novel–seems like the result of his increasing participation in the national debate (it is subtitled Love, Corruption, Ambition). “All bad art is the result of good inten-tions”, wrote Oscar Wilde. Bhagat proves why.
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19December 2, 2011EDITORIAL OPINIONBreathing space in a space in a s marriage
By ranjaniranjanir Sanjani Sanjani athiSh(Hindu) These days, it is common to
see every other marriage breaking apart in Indian society, just a few years after the grand wedding day. I am not pained by the fact that the marriages are breaking up. It is better that a marriage be dissolved, if two incompatible people have to suffer each other throughout their life time or if there is some kind of abuse involved.
But what saddens me are those cases, where married life is ruined by the in-terference from the man’s parents. This happens typically in a joint family system, where the son and his wife are expected to stay with the parents. The urge to stay with the married son, stems from a strong possessive feeling on the part of the mother. Slowly, the tentacles of posses-siveness start spreading around in every aspect of the adult son’s life, throttling the daughter-in-law. The girl starts gasp-ing for breath and is forced to look at her choices. If nothing works out, she finally opts for peace of mind — by walking out of the marriage.
Why is it that the mothers of adult sons find it difficult to let go of the attachment, which blinds their eyes and makes them do despicable things? If she wants to en-sure that no emotional intimacy develops between the son and his wife, why get the son married in the first place? Why does she fail to think of the bride as a young, sensitive person full of her own dreams and ideas about her married life? Why is it that the in-laws cannot trust their son to remember his duties towards them, even if he got married? Is it the lack of faith in their own upbringing that makes them insecure?
I am not even talking about the infirm elders, who have to stay with children due to ill-health. I am talking about financially well=off people, who are healthy in mind and body and quite capable of staying by themselves. What is the need to mi-cromanage the son and his wife’s lives, staying closely?
Shifting our attention to the daughter-in-law, the bride is no longer the really young bride of 14 years, who steps into a new house and absorbs the traditions of that house. Circumstances have changed now and mostly the girl first steps out of her house to live in a hostel for a college education. Then follow higher education and job. By the time the urban woman is ready for marriage, she is well into her mid-twenties, established her career, knowledgeable about the outside world and financially quite independent. So what does such a woman look for in a
marriage? She looks for love, compan-ionship, respect and understanding from her spouse.
If every day is a struggle, wherein the husband’s behaviour is dictated by the parents-in-law, if her life is not panning out as she dreamed and if every aspect of her adult life is constantly monitored and supervised by other people, what happi-ness does she get? What is wrong if she wants to move out with her husband so that she gets the much needed personal space? Why is she called a family breaker when she has every right to a happy life and the choice to live the life she wants? How can a woman who is so smart and in-dependent in her professional life manage the contradictions in her personal life?
What about the son who is the common
binding factor for both the parties in-volved? The typical reactions are usually one of these — a) the son is emotionally torn between his wife and mother and incapable of arriving at a decision; b) he is so completely brainwashed by his parents, that he starts believing that his wife is really evil, for wanting to go away and spend her life with him and not with his parents; c) the son breaks off with his parents on a really bad note and goes out with his wife.
Would it not be easier for everyone, if the son’s parents gracefully allowed the son and his wife to move out, if that is what they desired? The breathing space certainly ensures a healthy and happy relation among all the people involved, for a lifetime.
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Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, Ay, A decemBer 2 , 2011 • Online editiOn: www.indOn: www.indO Oamerican-news.cOm
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count Anton wolfgang von Faber-wolfgang von Faber-w castell:don’t write us off yet
By arunaruna janardhanjanardhanj(Mint) On a brief visit to Mumbai in
the first week of November, Count Anton Wolfgang von Faber-Castell was already carrying at least 150 Christmas cards. The idea was to sign them whenever he was free, well in time for the year-end festive season. “If you don’t hand write them, don’t send them,” he says.
It’s not his version of a campaign to get more people to write, though as chairman and chief executive officer of Faber-Castell AG, the stationery company head-quartered in Stein, Germany, he would probably prefer that over emails. But Count Anton’s habit is more of an old-fashioned etiquette that’s easy to explain.
The 70-year-old heads a company which is 250 years old?he was in Mumbai as part of an Asian tour that included South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia to celebrate this landmark. He is now the eighth generation of He is now the eighth generation of the family that founded the company the family that founded the company in 1761 which has a current group in 1761 which has a current group revenue of over ?450 million (approx. revenue of over ?450 million (approx. Rs3,100 crore).
Count Anton is tall, in a dark suit Count Anton is tall, in a dark suit in which I fail to see a Faber-Castell in which I fail to see a Faber-Castell pen peeping out of the coat pocket. pen peeping out of the coat pocket. He does not smile much and perhaps He does not smile much and perhaps because of his height and the low seatbecause of his height and the low seat-ing, struggles to find a comfortable ing, struggles to find a comfortable enough position in the course of the enough position in the course of the meeting. We meet at Taj Lands End, meeting. We meet at Taj Lands End, affectionately called a “sundown” affectionately called a “sundown” meeting by his office staff, but by meeting by his office staff, but by the time we do sit down, it’s already the time we do sit down, it’s already dark outside.
Faber-Castell has been present in Faber-Castell has been present in India since 1998, an association India since 1998, an association that was propelled by Count that was propelled by Count Anton, who saw Asia as the Anton, who saw Asia as the next big market. His father, next big market. His father, he says, was the one who he says, was the one who pushed the business in Latin pushed the business in Latin America. Count Anton also America. Count Anton also came to India first, preferring it over China, because of the English language. To-day, he is not entirely satisfied day, he is not entirely satisfied with their business in India, but he is not displeased either.
“I wish it would go faster,” he says about the growth. “But it’s not so easy in India, particularly, to get the distribution right. But we have some excellent opportunities. If I look at our foreign competitors, nobody’s been able to establish their own company, including manufacturing processes. It’s all relative, isn’t it? If you are satisfied, then something is wrong. So I am, in principle, not satisfied. We have great potential, so we should grow faster. We have been growing 15-20% on a small base.”
He says the challenge for the com-pany is visibility and communication. He has already been asked twice about getting some celebrity endorser for the company during this trip to India. Though the company brochure carries endorsements from people like Vincent van Gogh, there is noth-ing to connect to the current gen-eration of Indians. “From a German point of view, I would be reluctant, but from an Indian point of view, maybe
it’s a good idea. We will pursue it. We should become more open and creative regarding the means to com-municate the brands and products, which may differ from country to country,” he says, thoughtfully.
I ask him what makes the company tick or even survive for over two cen-turies, remain relevant and continue to stay within the family. “You can learn from the Castells,” he says care-fully, in his clear German-accented English. “In that, you have to make up your mind whether to survive for a long time or build an empire which might fall apart next generation. If you like to keep something long term, you have to be cautious with financial commitments. The objective is the company stays in family hands, but each generation has to work for it; you can’t take it for granted.”
Though the Though the company has survived wars and revolu-tions, it has also staved off threats of acquisi-tion. Count Anton says he has now made it com-p l e t e l y c l e a r t h a t
they they are not for sale. Even though it’s privately owned, Faber-Castell AG functions like a corporate firm, with independent, renowned outsiders on board. “What you always have to keep in mind is that companies are never destroyed from outside but from the inside?through arrogance, leniency, strategic mistakes and pompousness,” he says.
Count Anton himself did not have a seamless transition into the company. After getting a degree in law from the University of Zurich in 1966, he interned with a lawyer for a year and then with Faber-Castell in Stein, Ger-then with Faber-Castell in Stein, Ger-then with Faber-Castell in Stein, Germany, again for a year. He ventured into investment banking in 1971 in London and New York, later with Credit Suisse First Boston and White Weld Ltd, before coming back to the family business in 1978. “I went to another company to make my own career and came back because my father got sick, with prostate cancer,” he explains.
“The secret of taking a company further is to restrict family influence,”
Count Anton continues. “You have to try and include as few people from the family as possible or you have fights between family members, which is unpleasant because it’s emotional. I believe in concentrating the power because if you are too democratic, you don’t reach a decision in busi-ness. It’s important to structure your business so whoever is in charge can come to clear decisions. That’s my challenge for the next generation.”
That’s not Count Anton’s only chal-lenge. In a digital world, where cut-ting costs in offices means stationery is the first thing to go, where emails have already replaced the post, where a notepad is a computer software and a paperless world is looking increas-ingly realistic, what is the future of stationery?
“It will probably last longer than we believe,” says Count Anton. “The question is in what quantities. It was already my concern 30 years ago with the pencil business which, to my sur-the pencil business which, to my sur-the pencil business which, to my surprise, is stronger than ever. One of the reasons is because pencils, especially coloured, are needed for education, they don’t dry out, last forever and are environmentally friendly.
“In Germany, for instance, I wouldn’t say the business is growing but it’s stable. Globally, colour pencils are growing because of education and demand in developing countries. Children might start early with com-puters, but as we know from brain research, it’s important that children use their hands for motor develop-ment and mental skills.
“There was a dream of a paperless office, which has remained a dream. Where there is paper, there is the need for pencils. Colour, including artist pencils, will remain for 50-100 years because they have special features but in limited quantities.”
Pencils are Faber-Castell’s most prolific product?the company man-ufactures two billion black-lead and colour pencils a year, and is the world’s leading maker of wood-cased pencils. It’s also the product that brought the company to Asia-Pacific some years ago, given the young population in the region and the growing demand for education. For an ageing Germany, like the rest of Europe, Faber-Castell focuses on luxury products, though Count Anton dislikes using the word.
“There will be a trend (in the future) to buy more luxury products with more money around in developing countries. Particularly for men, there are few status symbols: a watch, a pen, maybe cufflinks. We decided to enter the field in 1993 with a small line of high-priced pencils. We would have started with fountain or ball pens, but we would have been in competi-tion with Mont Blanc and the others. With a luxury pencil, everyone was surprised.”
He leans forward with a rare smile and says: “You know why people have an affection for our products? Because they are, still in some ways, reminded of their childhood.”
Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, Ay, A decemBer 2 , 2011 • Online editiOn: www.indOn: www.indO Oamerican-news.cOm
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not a wife wife w waiting to Happenwaiting to HappenwBy O.y O.y j. jOjOj yceeOyceeO
(Hindu) The increasing number of divorces is a major cause of anxiety for many parents, and very often at casual get-togethers, the conversa-tion veers round to the cause of such alarming rise in divorce or separation. One of the oft-quoted reasons that has never ceased to irk me is that girls are not brought up as they used to be in the past or as they ought to be. It is lamented that in the past girls were
brought up “very strictly” to be doc-ile, obedient, patient, subservient, tol-erant and never demanding. Today, they are raised “just like boys.”
Their degree of tolerance is on the decline; they have absolutely no patience, do not make any “adjust-ments’ and have no idea of what it is to be an ‘obedient’ wife and ‘humble’ daughter-in-law. They question, de-mand and command. And if she happens to be a working woman,
she expects her husband to share domestic chores and responsibilities, and so forth. Such whining and rav-ings about the bad girls of today and their irresponsible parents are not rare either.
This made me wonder whether girls should be brought up differently. Is there anything wrong in bringing up girls “just like boys”? Shouldn’t they be taught to respect themselves, have a point of view and live out the
dreams they nurtured when young? Or, should they have no dreams at all other than getting married, staying married and bearing children? I do not know what it is to bring up girls “just like boys”.
If a girl is brought up to respect herself, uphold her dignity, cherish her dreams and be happy, then she will certainly fulfil with élan the roles assigned to her by nature. She should be brought up to be a fine human being, and not a fine woman who can be easily ‘gloved’ into the mould prepared for her by social convention. There is no need to train a girl to be subservient, to suffer in silence, to be meek and humble and bear her lot without complaints in order to make a marriage work. Instead, she should be motivated to be a person of integrity, with a keen sense of social values and a sense of responsibility. We should bear in mind that a girl is not a wife waiting to happen. She is first and
foremost a human be-ing, and therefore must be brought up to be a good and self-sustaining person.
It also made me won-der whether wedlock is truly marriage or bond-age if the wife alone suffers in silence and willingly obliges every single wish and whim of her husband and his family, and endures all humiliation stoically and uncomplainingly.
Will there be true happiness in such a marriage? If this is what made marriages in the past work, then they should be called by any name other than marriage.
While still on the subject, there is another question: should boys be brought up as they were in the past. Even today there are parents who send their boys to the so-called re-puted schools that are believed to be good, for the fee is sky-high, and daughters to the local school that of-daughters to the local school that of-daughters to the local school that offer free education. Boys are brought up to believe that they are the centre of the family; that marriage is a give-and-take affair wherein he is the taker and she the giver; that he is the sole consumer in the trade of marriage, and she the commodity — not just the commodity but also a slave who comes free with the purchase. And to think that marriage is the only trade where the purchaser is not the privi-leged owner!
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BANGALORE (SI): “It was not a flowery path for us to come up with this device!”, said Chiman Prakash Reddy, who is in news for developing an Android 2.3 powered tablet. Chiman and Nikhil, the teens studying in their first year from AVR & SVR College of Engineering and Technology, Hyderabad, have developed a multi- purpose gadget named “AVE”. The high-end Ave tablet was recently launched by Ponnala Lakshmajah, Min-ister, Information Technology and Com-munications, Andhra Pradesh.
“We were planning to release hard-ware for quite some time now and it’s been a year we were working on this tablet. So launching the tablet was pretty good move for us to enter the market”, said Chiman. The high-end tablet powered by Android 2.3 features a 7-inch display, with up to 8GB expandable memory. It also supports the1080p full HD playback, DivX including multi codec and Micro SD card of up to 32 GB. The device is said to have a good battery backup of 6 hours which is quite decent compared to other tablets available in the market. The device also sports GSM, which many tablets do not possess these days. The 3G connectivity and WiFi internet access that will keep people connected. It also sports 1.3 mega pixel front camera that enables to capture images and video chats. The tablet is being manufactured by a
U.K. - based company, Sare-ddy Technologies, a company owned by Prakash’s father and is priced at 12999. “The device is lot faster than any other tablet in the market today and it will give companies like Samsung a tough run for their money,” Chiman claimed.
“Being a student myself, I know the difficulties faced by students, therefore we got the price down to 12,999, so that students like me can easily avail this tablet,” said Chiman. He claims that his device offers all
the features as any other device in the market today that costs up to 30,000. The device is not only for students, “it will fulfill the needs of all the groups, from professionals to businessman,” he said.
“It was a great experience to work with Nikhil, who is also the team designer,” he said adding that Nikhil
has been a good family friends since 5 years now, and working together was pretty good experience.
The state Chess cham-pion from the age of 4, Chiman has won three sil-ver medals and four bronze medals in national champi-onship. Apart from that he stood at the fourth position in Commonwealth Chess Championship under 12 years. He states, “My fam-ily has been very support-ive both financially and
mentally” and today they would be really proud to see their son stepping towards his dreams.
Talking about his marketing strat-egy regarding the tablet, Chiman said the government is supporting them with all possible help. “We are trying to tie-up with schools and col-leges so that the tablets can be easily
provided to the students.” The enthusiastic teenager targets to sell off 1,000 tablets in the first 15-20 days.
Sharing his future plans, Chiman says, “Gaming is the main area of my focus”, and is interested in developing PC and mobile games. He is at present working on manufac-turing Home Theatre glasses. The device will sport a 62 inches virtual display screen
with 32GB capacity. The 5-hour bat-tery life will allow watching two movies back to back. He is also working on software that can com-pletely stop piracy and it will be out soon. “I want to develop new gaming technologies, and I and my team are working really hard towards our goal. I am confident enough that within a span of one-and-a-half year, we’ll be competing with all the biggest brand in the market today,” said Chiman packed with confidence.
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ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20: You may have developed new relationships recently. This
week, spare some time for these relationships and make conscious efforts to strengthen the bonds. Determined to rule the world, you wish to realize your dreams, on both personal
and professional fronts. However, finances for your projects are likely to be a matter of concern for you. Instead, you may look for options like finance schemes or loans that may take care of your immediate monetary requirements.
TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21 Three major areas of your life work, health and wealth are in
focus this week. You are likely to benefit a lot from computers, correspondence and new con-tacts. You will feel encouraged to march ahead on your path, as your plans have started to
materialize. You may travel far and wide be-cause of your work. Travelling will make you communicate more, you get to see different places. The trips are likely to help you grow and progress in business.
GEMINI May 22 - Jun 21: Now that you have understood the importance of relation-
ships, you value your family and friends more. There have been strenuous times as well. You have handled such situa-tion quite patiently and tact-fully, and it has always worked
in your favour. At work, you are likely to meet and interact with people from all walks of life and have a good time. Reunions with old friends is on the cards too! You will also be inclined towards social work and volunteering. Helping the needy and the underprivileged will give you peace and satisfaction.
CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 23: You are likely to go through a transition phase this week. Your
attitude, circumstances and life, change. New relationships, correspondence with people on personal and professional levels, and some travelling are on the cards. As you are likely
to be surrounded by people during this time, you may require to hone your communication and public relations skills. You may be juggling too many things now. Although you may be working very hard, don’t expect instantaneous results. You still have a long way to go before your efforts materialize into something con-crete. Your confidence levels stay upbeat.
LEO July 24 - Aug 23: This week you may be going through a lot of ups and
downs, and emotional turmoil. You may find it difficult to be yourself and express your thoughts. You may pretend to be indifferent so that you can avoid certain things. At work,
you are proving your worth. With better brand-ing and proper product positioning strategies, you are likely to portray a better and stronger image to your company. The support of your colleagues and cooperation of your bosses motivate you to achieve extraordinary results. Your consistent efforts and sincerity get you applause! Way to go!
VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23: You continue to march ahead with zest. Wiser and more
knowledgeable than before, you know what is right for you. You are bound to make considerable progress in your career. If you are in the media, your creativity is likely to fetch
you a lot appreciation. Cash may come in from more than one source. Increments, promotions and perks wait for those of you who are working as professionals. If you are self-employed, you may try out different options to earn money. You are going great guns on the career front, so you don’t mind putting personal life on the
back-burner for a whileLIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23: You have made
significant progress on the professional front, you sit back and enjoy the fruits of your hard work with friends and family. This week, a series of events and activities are likely to keep you busy. The creative side of your personality coming to
the fore, meeting new people, going for movies, and expanding your social network are all on the cards. Finance and health, too, are likely to be good. You are well balanced in your success.
SCORPIO Oct 24 - Nov 22: You have been enjoying a glorious phase for a long time now,
and it is likely to continue. Your cards suggest that you will flaunt your possessions and achievements. You make extra efforts to bond with family members to keep the home environment peaceful
and harmonious. Remain down-to-earth and don’t let the success go to your head. Avoid getting into legal hassles or issues, which may ultimately undo all the good that you have achieved till today.
SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 22: You love to be surrounded by people as much as they want
to be around you. Bonding with them is great fun. Even if you do not like somebody, you go the extra mile to converse with him/her. This week, your mood is likely to be upbeat
and positive, and you are likely to be very polite and make efforts to be calm and cooperative. Networking, socializing and travelling is on the cards. You may seek company of experienced and knowledgeable people. Family issues need to be dealt with maturity.
CAPRICORN Dec 23 - Jan 20: While you go ahead with your spiritual pursuits, de-
mands and duties of the real world may keep you under pressure. You may have to be on your toes all the time. However, you are likely to find your way through all the challenges to reach your final
destination. This week you may encounter new situations that lead to confusion. So, you are likely to seek out fortune-tellers for guidance. It may be the time to rediscover yourself as you are likely to come across your secret likings or hidden potential.
AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19: You need to be careful about your finances this week. Be
cautious about hanging out with friends, shopping and miscellaneous expenses drain your finances. You start to lose your focus. You are oblivious to this, yet your well-wishers will ring the alarm bell and
tell you to get back on track. Make necessary changes in your approach and lifestyle. Your casual attitude towards life is just a passing phase and it is likely to get over soon. More serious problems and complications may be waiting for you ahead, be cautious!
PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20: This week will be about reaping the fruits of your past efforts. You
are still brimming with fresh ideas and want to channelize this energy. If you are associ-ated with fields such as law, media, sales etc., in which you have to interact with different kinds of people everyday, you
are likely to perform exceptionally well.People turn to you for ideas in times of crisis and you stand up to their expectations. Now that the situation seems favorable, there are chances that success may go to your head. Don’t let ego be a hurdle in your personal or professional life.
Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, Ay, A decemBer 2 , 2011 • Online editiOn: www.indOn: www.indO Oamerican-news.cOm
