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Friday, June 21 2013 | Vol. 32, No. 25

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The honorees for this year’s awards. Front row from left: Hasmukh Doshi, Ben Bansal, Jasbir Singh Sethi, Ravi Arora and Ramesh Garg. Back row from left: ASIE Board member Raj Basavaraju, Dinesh Shah, Krishna Vavilala, ASIE President Vishal Merchant, Rao Ratnala, Mahesh Wadhwa and Narendra Gosain.

HTC Honors Goradia, Desi Entrepreneurs

The Riyaaz Qawwali group at their performance in the Brown Performing Arts Theater where they sang four qawwalis, three of which are on their debut CD Kashti.

P6

P5

P25

Movie Review

Spring into IACF Walkathon

Pure Texas Bred Quawwals

EngineeringElders Honored


2 June 21, 2013


3 June 21, 2013 3June 21, 2013 COMMUNITYJust What Makes a Good Leader? Local Leaders Find Out from Experts

BY JAWAHAR MALHOTRAHOUSTON: “We need to have

better communication,” said P.V. Patel intently as he looked out at the roomful of about 60 people at the India House last Sunday, June 16. “Let us try to improve it.” As the current President of the India Culture Center, the oldest organi-zation of Indo Americans in the Greater Houston area, Patel was in a good position to lament that.

Two weeks earlier, the ICC, in conjunction with the leadership of India House had arranged for the majority of Indo American orga-nizations, most of which are reli-gious or non-profits, to join hands and come together for a prayer meeting for the four fallen HFD fire fighters after the Southwest Inn blaze on the Southwest Free-way. About 200 people attended that program (see IAN dated June 7, 2013) and the organizations then collectively pledged about $50,000 to donate to the families of the fire fighters.

That effort brought to Patel’s attention how important it was to act quickly, efficiently and deci-sively. No novice at working in public service, Patel has been in-volved in some form or the other in many other organizations, but he reasoned that the main problem for ineffective dialogue was that the Presidents of many of these groups change every year and the programs change accordingly, with no continuity or follow through.

Patel threw out the gauntlet to the four people who were the pan-elists for this year’s ICC sponsored Leaders Conference, the seventh year that it has been held. Dr. Fal-guni Gandhi opened the event with a short, simple Hindu prayer and then Ramesh Akarapu introduced the topics: the role of power and politics in grooming leadership and future leaders: are you a good leader or manager?

He also introduced the panelists: Surendra Nath Sharma, Consul from the Indian Consulate; Jose Villarreal, Executive Director of AVANCE in Houston; Pradeep Anand, a business consultant and President of Seeta Resources and Saum Mathur, Global Chief Infor-mation Officer at Hewlett Pack-ard’s Software Division, each of whom spoke separately and then in a panel discussion later when questions were presented. Sugar Land Councilman, Harish Jajoo who was recently re-elected for his second term spoke briefly about the role of politics. “Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world,” he said, quot-ing futurist, author and filmmaker Joel Barker.

Consul Sharma stood in for Con-sul General Harish who could not attend. He appreciated the shared bonds that the ICC and the CGI have had in enhancing the rela-tionship between India and the US, especially in culture. “Power and politics often have negative con-notations,” he said, “but power can

enable you to lead your team.”Jose Villareal spoke about the

work that AVANCE does in parent and early childhood education be-cause “parents are the most impor-tant teachers and the home is the most important classroom.” His belief is that we must prepare for a multiracial democracy – shar-ing demographic data that showed how the population would shift by 2040 to a predominantly Hispanic majority. He then noted that lead-ers needed to be held accountable, be innovative, honest and “have the vision but put it into action.”

Pradeep Anand explained the four ‘C’s” that affect leaders: com-pany, competition, customs and the climate that these forge. He went on to enumerate the sixteen characteristics of leaders: integ-rity, authenticity, action, humility, self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, social skills, anticipate changes, adaptive ca-pacity, vision with purpose that inspires themselves, focus, delega-tion, intolerant of mediocrity and excel at creating trusting relation-ships.

Saum Mathur said that he threw The emcees for the program were Dr. Falguni Gandhi and Ramesh Akarapu, both Board members of the ICC.

The leaders of many Indo American organizations participated in the afternoon program at the India House last Sunday, June 16 and later posed with the panelists. Photos: Jawahar Malhotra

The panelists for the afternoon program with ICC President P.V. Patel (far left) were, from left, Surendra Nath Sharma, Consul from the Indian Consulate; Jose Villarreal, Executive Director of AVANCE in Houston; Pradeep Anand, a business consultant and Saum Mathur, Global Chief Information Offi cer at Hewlett Packard’s Software Division.

out all his prepared que cards and started anew by asking the two fu-ture leaders in his house – his 20 and 16 year-old daughters – how they perceived the working world they were to enter. “The Gen Y’ers – 8 to 30 year-olds – are the future,” he stated. He spoke from the experience he has gained in his role at Hewlett Packard where he is “provocative” in the demands he puts on his teams. “Each company goes through phases,” he said, “and change is constant and can be

disruptive.” In his opinion, a lead-er has to be comfortable with, and be a catalyst for, change, inspire others, be technologically savvy, leverage the power of information, communicate and be open, learn through reverse mentoring, and lead from behind.

The conference ended after a brief question and answer period handled by each one of the panel-ists and was followed by a buffet lunch catered by Mayuri restau-rant.


June 21, 20134 June 21, 20134


5 June 21, 2013 5June 21, 2013 COMMUNITY

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A Brotherhood of Indian Engineers Honors its Achievers with Casual Informality

BY JAWAHAR MALHOTRASUGAR LAND: One of the

nice things about engineers is that they seldom put up pretenses. Most solve the problems of their designs, carry forward and think nothing of their solutions even as their projects have been built, chalking it up to team, and not individual, effort. It is a brother-hood that transcends most other barriers and they seldom place one engineer’s skills above the other’s since the knowledge base is so universally available.

But when they do recognize each other, it is usually with some reluctance and without the pomp that marks other professions which promote one individual above the other. True to this creed, the American Society of Indian En-gineers held their Annual Dinner and Awards Ceremony this past Friday, June 14 at Sankalp restau-rant’s banquet hall on Kensington Drive, packed with 140 people who had to squeeze by the tables to get to the buffet dinner.

The event was further proof of the growth of the ASIE as it has expanded its vision to reach out to more people and showcase the impact of the thousands of engi-neers who work and practice in the Greater Houston area. ASIE Presi-dent Vishal Merchant, a young energetic civil engineer and his equally young event team pulled together the program with the help of some of the senior and found-ing members of the 19 year-old organization to honor eleven ex-perienced engineers for their con-tributions to the local construction industry.

According to Merchant, since its inception in 1994, the ASIE has held 200 seminars, given out many scholarships - $10,000 worth alone in 2013 – and helped

with disaster relief efforts, like during Hurricane Katrina and the recent fire fighter’s deaths. “We hope to energize and inspire the next generation,” said Merchant, with a toss of a full head of long hair. Raj Basavaraju helped in the presentation of the other honor-ees. The awards were handed out by this year’s key sponsors of the ASIE, whose company logos were displayed on a large poster and on the short brochure.

The first award went to Jasbir Singh Sethi a civil engineer who has the kindly demeanor and soft footsteps of someone’s favorite uncle and had the wisdom to share his personal philosophy about en-gineering as it related to spiritual-ity. Sethi set the tone for the eve-ning, with many other honorees latching onto his idea of God as the creator and engineers as His workers getting things done. “En-gineers have a common language – the drawing,” explained Sethi, “They have humility, their think-ing is global and they are in pur-

suit of excellence.”He was followed up by his other

honorees. Mahesh Wadhwa, who is the sole architect to be recog-nized, and is perennially smiling, noted that he wanted to expand the ASIE to include other construction professionals too. Wadhwa has built many hotels and motels in the US and overseas. Virendra “Ben” Bansal, a civil engineer who, over the years, was the face of the ASIE at many community events, was honored for his tireless work at the City of Houston and dedicated enthusiasm for the role of engi-neers in society. Krishna Vavilala, a retired electrical engineer, who despite his full-time job, dedicated his life to public service and is bet-ter known for installing the Ma-hatma Gandhi statue in Hermann Park, the Indian Studies Program at the University of Houston and the Oral History Project. “We left India,” he said, “but India has not left our hearts.”

Ravi Arora, also a stalwart of the ASIE and another civil engineer

attributed his love for community service, which he is well known for all across town, to his young days at the Arya Samaj in Chandi-garh. Ramesh Garg, a mechanical engineer who has worked on proj-ects all over the world was grati-fied to “be recognized by people like me” and accepted it with hu-mility and pride.

Rao Ratnala, another civil en-gineer in private practice, spoke of the first such gala during the period of former Houston Mayor Bob Lanier’s, “which highlighted the success of Indian engineers.” Narendra Gosain, a structural en-gineer and VP at Walter p. Moore Associates attributed the trait of Americans to take risks, one that eventually has rubbed off to Indian engineers settled in the US, to the success of engineering projects. “When the risks are higher,” he went on, “the number of people taking it are smaller.” His hero was the late Space Shuttle astronaut, Kalpana Chawla, who was also an engineer from Punjab College of

Engineering in Chandigarh.Dinesh Shah, a civil and struc-

tural engineer has built a success-ful career for himself as a real es-tate developer and is also known for his community activism. He his been working hard to promote the ASIE and pledged to “take it to the higher level.” Hasmukh Doshi, a civil engineer who founded Doshi Engineering and Surveying, opened by invoking a Hindu man-tra, then gave a brief history of the ASIE of which he was the first president. He asked for more engi-neers to join the still 127 member organization, and ended by giving away free 50 copies of the book “Understanding Joy and Sorrow”. The final recipient, Chad Patel, a civil engineer who is also the Vice President of the Houston Chapter of GOPIO, was not able to attend.

The event was generously ca-tered by Sankalp restaurant, which also is the venue for the next free ASIE event on July 18, sponsored by ADS Pipes.

ASIE Board member Raj Basavaraju coordinated the event with other Board members and also emceed part of the presentation portion of the event. Photos: Jawahar Malhotra

ASIE President Vishal Merchant addressing the guests at the Annual Awards dinner last Friday, June 14 at Sankalp restaurant’s banquet hall in Sugar Land.


June 21, 20136 June 21, 20136 COMMUNITY

Six of the members of the eight-man group signed the debut CD at the end of the program after which the CDs went on sale in the lobby.

A family friend and loyal supporter Navjot and Sonny’s sister Ankita just before unveiling the CD cover onstage.

The Riyaaz Qawwali group at the unveiling and release of their debut CD Kashti after their performance at the Asia Society last Saturday, June 15. Second from left is Sonny Mehta, the founder and lead singer of the group. Photos: Jawahar Malhotra

Mystic Music for the Soul Sways from the Lips of a Young Texas Group

BY JAWAHAR MALHOTRAHOUSTON: “When words lose their

meaning, Sufi devotional music takes over,” explained Navjot Birring as she tried to ex-plain to the uninitiated what type of music they were about to hear. She could have added that qawwali music is putting poet-ry in motion using traditional instruments, including accompanying clapping and an abundance of passing the lyric from one singer to the other. It is a 700 year-old art form that has found its modern day equiv-alent in the hip-hop of inner cities, except those aren’t devotional.

For the eight-man group dressed similarly in rust colored pajama-kurtas who strode on to the stage at the Asia Society’s Brown Foundation Performing Arts Theater last Saturday evening, June15, this music was all they had thought about and practiced when not at their day jobs for the past seven years. They had started as amateurs at un-dergraduate school at University of Texas in Austin where some in fact are still finishing off their degrees. But inspired by a central singer, Sonny Mehta, they hung together and learnt a musical form that was foreign, not just in rhythm but also in tongue to them, as some do not even speak Hindi or Urdu, hav-ing been born and brought up in the US.

But Sonny came over as a child and some-how was imbibed with the specialized tradi-tional music that is not mainstream even in India. He went to many Hindustani music teachers as he grew up, many of them were in the hall that night listening to him per-

form with the group. “I went to sleep some nights,” he said during an interlude between songs, “with the CD still playing a song by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and wanting it not to end” referring to the late artist who brought the music international fame, especially with tracks that were featured in the Holly-wood movie Dead Man Walking.

And with Sonny as the lead, the group practiced for countless hours, hence their name Riyaaz (which means practicing hard) Qawwali and over 120 performances have solidified the group’s skills as qawwals and many a listener has left marveling at their artistry and versatility. In the two years ago since I last heard the group, their voices have taken on the slight throaty growl that is associated with the hard singing qaww-

als of yesteryear, even as their image is well scrubbed, less boisterous and not at all like the more rotund and unkempt singers of In-dian yore.

Apart from the traditional qawwalis writ-ten and even performed by well-respected older artistes and written by legends like Hazrat Amir Khusro and Baba Bula Shah, Riyaaz Qawwali took on the challenge of bringing a devotional Hindu bhajan into the mold of qawwali: Ragupati Raghav Raja Ram, a favorite of Mahatma Gandhi, as in-terpreted through another musical lens. The results were immediately intriguing, lilting and entrancing and fit in neatly with the name and theme of their debut CD Kashti.

“For Riyaaz Qawwali, Kashti or a boat encompasses the different faiths and devo-tional music they want to explore,” went on Navjot. The CD itself was funded through the novel crowd funding website kick-starter.com through which the group was able to raise the necessary money – several thousand dollars – to record in a studio, get the graphics and packaging and release the CD. It was available after the concert in the lobby where the group members also signed each copy.

Most of the people in the hall had some connection to the group and all were equal-ly mesmerized by the four songs they sang, some (all men) even moved to rush to the stage and shower the performers with dollar bills, in the time honored tradition of bless-ing them with money for the much appre-ciated performance. The singers and musi-cians had to brush the hundreds of dollars that were scattered at their feet and on their instruments in order to continue.

At the end of the performance, a huge graphic of their debut CD was brought on-stage to be unveiled by one of their chief benefactors, Dr. Prashant Kaul who had flown in from Chapel Hill, North Carolina especially for this concert. He was accom-panied onstage by three other huge fans of the group, Dr. Raj Bhalla, Music of India radio show hostess Meena Datt and Navjot. “Music that touches your soul is divinely inspired,” read Kaul. “One gets inspired by their passion, rigor and very fine attention to detail. Theirs is not the end of the journey; it is the end of the beginning.”

Meena Datt added that in years to come, people will say, “have you heard that qaw-wali group from Texas?” and that Kashti is one for everyone’s music collection. Dr. Bhalla, always a humorous one, lamented that the previous speakers had stolen all his ideas.

As the hall emptied, everyone seemed to realize that they had witnessed the rise of a new star in performers. The sounds of the masterful and famous Damadam Mast Ka-ladar that the group had sung, with a nice dholuk and spoon solo interlude were still very much in their heads.


7 June 21, 2013 7June 21, 2013

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The interior of the restaurant. It gets all of the light from the hot Houston Sun without any of the heat.

The staff of Tandoory Taco poses next to their menu, the head cook, Kathir Athi (left), Yash Nagalingam (second from right).

Tandoory Taco Takes On Tex-Mex with Food that Tickles Your TastebudsBY PARTH DWIVEDI

THE WOODLANDS: Texas has no shortage of restaurants, and while a large part of its identity lies in its vast culinary experience, a growing part of that experience lies in Indian food. Anyone who has been to Houston can attest to the good eats. Needless to say I was nothing short of happy when I heard about Tandoory Taco. Wait. Tandoory Taco? Nevermind what I said; I was nothing short of ecstat-ic! And they did not disappoint.

Located immediately off of I-45 in The Woodlands, making the trip can be seen as a worthwhile hike for some, a convenient stop head-ing up toward Conroe, Dallas or College Station for others, or near-by for a few.

Walking in, the bright colors catch your eye, accentuated by plenty of natural light from the Texas Sun, let in through large windows, while wooden tables and chairs contrast the trendy coloring with a more rustic feel. Friendly staff greet you and a variety of mu-sic plays in the background while you figure out what you want from the menu in a fast-casual set-up uncommon to most Indian restau-rants.

The menu itself is split into two groups. One side caters to the more traditional Indian food-lovers with a large assortment of dishes from Hyderbadi food, to Hakka-Indian fusion, to South Indian food. The biryani was served in fair-sized portions and was full of flavors. Using minimal oil, it was also healthy, and while it came out without the flavor of mirch, spice-lovers can always order theirs hot.

I know what you’re thinking, now, “But what about the tacos?”

This is finally my favorite part of the menu! The menu itself had a wide variety of tacos, some with more Indian ingredients like The Patriot, with tandoori chicken and curry sauce, and others with more conventional ingredients, like The Convict, with shrimp and baja sauce. I had The Brit, which had a very Indian taste, being made using a strongly flavored curry sauce and chicken tikka. I also had The Hippie, Tandoory Taco’s veg-etarian option, with cooked mush-room, sautéed vegetables and Baja Chipotle sauce. A mutton-lover from birth, I had to try The Em-peror as well, a taco with ground lamb, a first for me, peas, and a variety of herbs.

Unwilling to sacrifice quality, each hired kitchen-hand is expe-

rienced and many are specialized (that explains all the flavors in the biryani!). The head cook, Kathir Athi, is stylistically open-mind-ed and has a knack for creating unique dishes; he even makes all the sauces in-house.

The tacos can also be seen as kati rolls, a popular Indian street-food originating in Kolkata that

made its way to the U.S. since they can be made using paratha-bread. Yash Nagalingam, who owns Tan-doory Taco explains that he wants to give his customers the option to use different kinds of breads, with different amounts of spice, and even more ingredients to en-joy casual grab ‘n’ go meals. The more traditional sit-down part of

the menu reflects this philosophy as well, incorporating dishes from all over India. Madiha Haque, a lunch-time customer, especially liked the “affordability” and “se-lection.”

The best part about the restaurant, though, is the malleability of the staff. Every employee is centrally concerned with the customer’s ex-perience, and as such, is very open to criticism. Nagalingam jokes, “I’m not that smart, so I need to rely on customer-opinion.”

In short, Tandoory Taco is a de-liciously Indian alternative to the usual Tex-Mex for the adventur-ous (or even the hurried), and a more traditional Indian meal for lovers of consistency.


June 21, 201310 June 21, 201310

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Swami Girishanandaji, Trustee and Treasurer of Belur Math Visits VSGH

BY SANCHALI BASUHOUSTON: Vedanta Society of

Greater Houston devotees had a great opportunity to meet Swami Girishananda, a trustee and the of-fice manager of Belur Math, the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission in West Bengal, on his very short whirlwind tour through Houston on June 16 and 17.

On Sunday, June 16 after his late afternoon arrival, Swamiji gave a lecture on the guru (teacher)-shishya (disciple) relationship be-tween Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda. As the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Swami Vivekananda continue this year, it was good to hear about how im-portant a role a guru plays in spiri-tual life. He described a guru as one who has got the realization of the interpretation of the scriptures, has no bad intentions, lust or evil in mind. When one approaches the Guru to know the truth, he has the power (Guru Shakti) to choose the path to follow. The shishya has to depend on the Guru to be exempt from the repeated birth and death cycles of human life. The Guru holds the hand of the shishya and helps cross Samsara (worldliness) by making ignorance/darkness go away with faith.

The Guru must be respected and

there needs to be immense earnest-ness to learn and give absolute sur-render. The guru must be served with utter devotion and questions must be asked with humility and humbleness to extract truth. The Guru will then bless and advise and direct the shishya in the right path.

Sri Ramakrishna had various Gurus beginning with Kenaram Chattopadhyay, then Bhairavi Brahmani and then Totapuri and each played a great part in him attaining Sat-chit-ananda (truth-consciousness-bliss). Swami Vivekananda who initially had several doubts in his mind about Sri Ramakrishna tested him in various ways before accepting him as his Guru when he realized that Sri Ramakrishna was indeed an in-carnation of the Divine Power. As the chief disciple he then took on the colossal work of spreading his Master’s message, once the dor-mant power (Brahmakundalini) within him was awakened. Sri Sarada Devi, Sri Ramakrishna’s consort in whom Sri Ramakrishna saw the Holy Mother, provided support to Swami Vivekananda on the Master’s passing. So much so that in the short 18 years of his life after Sri Ramakrishna’s death, Swami Vivekananda was the first

key figure in the introduction of the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the western world and was credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world reli-gion in the late 19th century. He was ahead of his time in preach-ing the motto that all the different religions lead to the same goal – realization is one.

On Monday, June 17 there was a Satsang at the center where Sw. Girishananda answered questions asked by the devotees. “What is the relationship between God-gu-ru and the shishya?” was the ques-tion posed. He replied that one does not have to be an intellectual to have spirituality and God real-ization. These come to the most common man through unimagina-ble absolute renunciation. Mother Kali made Sri Ramakrishna follow all the religions including Christi-anity, Islam and non-dualism to find out the ultimate truth for him-self. Incomparable renunciation of lust and attachment to gold made his mind crystal pure leading him to go into Samadhi (pure ecstatic state) often. Discrimination is the other asset and seeing God in ev-erything and looking at all work as God’s work is the other tool for the highest spiritual transformation.

The events of both the nights were well attended and ended with Arati and Prasad dinner. The ef-forts of the VSGH to attain a resi-dent swami were well accepted by Sw. Girishananda. He mentioned that patience and perseverance needs to be practiced and to then leave it in God’s hands and left the dedicated volunteers of the VSGH very hopeful of achieving their goal.

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One of the organizers Dharminder Dargan of the speech by Dr. Subramanian Swamy (right) at the Arya Samaj of Greater Houston last Saturday, June 15. Photo: Jawahar Malhotra

Dr. Subramanium Swamy on ISI/Dawood, Corruption, Narendra ModiHOUSTON: Dr. Subramanium

Swamy spoke at the “India at the Crossroads” discussion presented by the Hindu Mahasabha of Amer-ica, Arsha Vidya Satsanga and hosted by Arya Samaj of Greater Houston. The event was drew in over 200 people including emi-nent leaders of the local Hindu community.

During his public address, Dr. Swamy spoke about contempo-rary trends impacting social, reli-gious and political dynamics in In-dia. He mentioned three negative trends and two positive trends that are under focus. One is rampant corruption which is in full swing under the current UPA regime; scams like Coalgate, 2G telcom licenses and Railways which have impeded economic growth and the suspicion of corruption in each and every Central gov-ernment deal. Regarding foreign investments, he said that more fo-cus is on the production of luxury goods while less investment goes for goods catering to the middle class and the poor.

Moreover corruption fosters black money which is a serious threat to India’s national security. Billions in black money are being

routed via Dubai through hawala brokers to international financial safe havens. Since ISI and D-Company have access to Dubai fi-nancial systems including hawala brokers, the private financial data (account, amount and final desti-nation) of corrupt ministers is ac-cessible to them. As a result these politicians are fearful of speak-ing openly and to take stiff action against D–Company or ISI spon-sored terrorism and other projects in India, as they fear ISI will ex-pose their black money data.

In addition, many 2G telcom licenses which were given at relatively heavy discounted rates to Indian firms, were later sold to foreign firms, some of which have ISI and Pakistani-Muslims connections, such as how Swan Telecom was later sold off to UAE-based company Etisalat, the majority of whose board members are Pakistani Muslims. Swamy emphasized the fight against cor-ruption has to be started from top executives and the top leader-ship at Central/State Government offices. If the top leadership is corrupt free, downstream systems and process will fall in line.

Swamy said that people of India

are smart enough to understand the problem and the culprits will fight back with strong ballot support for NDA. On the Sanjay Dutt case he said that the court verdict should have been stiffer as supporting the Islamic underworld which re-sulted in the Mumbai bomb blasts is a heinous crime against the nation. Swamy believes in zero sympathy, zero tolerance politi-cal policy for the triple problems of Islamic Terrorism, Maoism and Naxalism.

Another negative trend he men-tioned is that of Indian society’s sole focus on becoming more ma-terialistic whereas under Hindu Vedic and Sanatan Dharma the materialist progress of an individ-

ual should be kept in balance with social welfare. This trend of hav-ing the whole focus for material well off needs to be arrested and diluted.

Another serious challenge is countering rapid conversions which happened in many eastern and southern states, work is un-derway by by pro Hindu forces to contain such conversions. He stated that the Taliban considers India as an unfinished chapter and is constantly conspiring to create havoc among Hindus and showed the strength of Hinduism which was able to sustain 200 years of Christian rule and 800 years of Islamic rule, still 80% India is Hindu in population.

On Kashmir policy Swamy stated that not a single inch of Kashmir will be ever given to Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir is an integral part of In-dia. On Bangladeshi Muslim im-migration he stated that since 1/3 of Bangladeshis are in India, 1/3 of Bangladesh land should also be integrated with India for equal adjustment or illegal Bangladeshi Muslims should be deported.

But he also saw two favor-able trend, one is India’s growing young population which is tal-ented, innovative and with good online education models. Associ-ated employment projects which can educate and employ millions of young Indians wil immensely help the country. On agriculture he said that India is currently op-timizing 33% of yield. If India can optimize 100% yield it could grow crops year round and be a global leader in agriculture produce. He said China is running on steroids and the prospective financial breakdown of Chinese economy is near in future. He is optimistic that India can have a growth rate of 12% and can be a developed na-tion by 2020 under good national-ist leadership.

He requested Hindus to have a positive outlook for the future and not lose hope but make correct moves. He suggested the ideology of keeping national interest above local and regional interest for the upcoming elections. India should check Chinese investment in the Indian Ocean and foster good re-lations with Israel. For overseas Indians he suggested supporting pro-Hindu organizations and work on projects that weakens political leaders who are corrupt and anti-national.

On the question of Bollywood movie themes that are against Hin-duism and Hindu organizations, he said it is an area of concern and should be carefully countered. On Narendra Modi he stressed that with an pro-agenda towards de-velopment, good governance and a Hindutva-Narendra Modi led NDA victory is certain in the next general elections.


13 June 21, 2013 13June 21, 2013

1321_2_WF2013_Q2_Con2_Demo_FP_AI_FP_Hou_IAN_Rev052413.indd 1 5/24/13 8:59 PM


June 21, 201314 June 21, 201314 COMMUNITYIACCGH Small Business Outreach at HCC NW Campus

mitted partner with diverse stakeholders has leveraged the college as a catalyst for eco-nomic and community development in West Houston.

In addition to his passion for economic and community growth in Houston, Dr. Hodges also admires the wealth of diver-sity, business knowledge and capital that the Indo-American community has brought to the Bayou City. In his talk on how HCC is preparing students for the 21st Century workforce at the Spring Branch campus, he charged the chamber to get involved in with the college’s efforts of entrepreneurship and engineering. “At HCC, we are creating a learning environment for students to pur-sue their dreams, not just their majors. This helps our students develop independent and entrepreneurial thinking,” said Dr. Hodges.

IACCGH Executive Director introduced Sandra A Louvier, Director, Center for Entrepreneurship(c4E), HCC who talked about the Center and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses are two vibrant programs that HCC has for individuals seeking to stake their claim in Houston’s economic growth. Each program has dedicated profes-sionals that provide education and training for entrepreneurs and small business owners to develop the skills they need to grow their companies.

Additional programs that HCC has de-veloped to lead students into the 21st Cen-tury workforce are the college’s engineer-ing partnership with University of Texas at Tyler. Students can obtain a four-year Civil, Mechanical or Electrical Engineering de-gree for less than $20,000 at the HCC Alief campus in West Houston. While beneficial for the student, the program is also designed to support Houston’s demand for engineers.

For further information on C4E, visit hc-cbizconnect.org and to learn more about HCC’s partnership with UT Tyler visit hccs.edu/engineering. To learn more about the Chamber visit www.iaccgh.com

The 14th annual IACCGH Gala and awards banquet is on Saturday, August 17, 2013 at the Hilton Americas. For sponsor-ship opportunities and to buy your Gala tickets contact [email protected]

From left: Dr Ritu Raju (HCC), Pankaj Dhume, Dr. Zachary Hodges (HCC NW President), Sandra A Louvier (HCC) and Jagdip Ahluwalia (IACCGH). Photo: Bijay Dixit

HOUSTON: One June 12, IACCGH Pres-ident Pankaj Dhume welcomed over 40 at-tendees at the third in the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston small business outreach series sponsored by Houston Community College. Resource partners at the event included representa-tives from the U.S. Small Business Ad-ministration and SCORE Houston. Dhume emphasized the Chamber’s focus on helping empower small business owners and profes-sionals grow their business by helping them connect through IACCGH resource partners at these outreach events.

HCC Professor Dr. Ritu Raju introduced Houston Community College Northwest President, Dr. Zachary Hodges who deliv-ered the keynote address. A strong sup-porter of small business development and entrepreneurial growth in Houston, Dr Hodges has been President of the college for approximately 20 years, and as a com-

Visa Processing Changing from Travisa to BLS

HOUSTON: Expect delays with Indian visa processing in US, make sure to sub-mit your applications well in advance. According to sources, Indian authorities are changing their third-party visa service provider from Travisa to BLS Internation-al on June 20, 2013. A new Indian regu-lation now holds that only Indian-based agencies will be allowed to process visa applications throughout the world. BLS International is part of the New Delhi-based company BLS Group, and has been awarded the new contract to process all Indian visa applications for Consular Posts located throughout the U.S. This change may cause significant delays in processing times, changes to document requirements, visa application fees, and application procedures. We will continue to monitor the development closely and will provide further updates as they are made available.

The new office will be at: Indian Pass-port Application center 9800 Northwest Fwy, Suite 602, Houston, TX 77092.

Email: [email protected] Phone: 832-831-2499 / 832-815-3319


15 June 21, 2013 15June 21, 2013


June 21, 201316 June 21, 201316 COMMUNITY1000 Walkers Join in BAPS Charities to Support

Firefi ghters, ADA and Stafford MSDSUGAR LAND: Many of us are

touched when we lend our hands to help others. The feeling of giv-ing makes us even more emotional when it comes to a child. On Sun-day, June 9, 11 year old Riya Desai from Sugar Land woke up early. She was thrilled knowing that her efforts were going to make a pro-found impact in the community. For the last 3-4 months, Riya made sure that every person she came in contact knew that she was raising funds for this year’s BAPS Chari-ties walkathon. At the end of her efforts, she had collected $2500 to support this year’s walkathon benefiting American Diabetes As-sociation and the Stafford MSD Education Foundation.

By 9:00 am there were over a 1000 people lined up in front of Sugar Land’s City Hall to get the walk started. Before the walk a moment of silence was observed for the four fallen heroic firefight-ers from a tragic fire at a motel off US59. BAPS Charities represen-tative Nilkanth Patel stated, “Our community service providers play an integral role in keeping us all safe and this year we (BAPS Char-ities) have decided to give $5000 to the 100 Club’s Survivor Fund for the firefighters.”

Associate director of ADA walk, Katie McCoy said that “Working with BAPS Charities has been wonderful as this event raises awareness of diabetes and assists ADA to continue research in ways to prevent and cure diabetes.”

As part of raising awareness of this 5k walk, Riya Desai and vol-unteers of BAPS Charities brought sponsors like Piping Technology & Products, SDB group, Forge USA, Ansh Laboratories, Wedge Energy Services, 4th Dimension, Akshar/Shriji Properties, Bharat Patel and many others to contribute to this year’s walkathon. Dr. Atul Dhin-gra, COO of Sphier Emergency Rooms, was amazed of the turnout

of the walkathon and commented, “It’s good to see that we have so many people out to give back to the community.”

Riya Desai was excited to watch the special addition to this year’s walk, the 5k run. As Rohan Jethva finished first place in the 5k run, he shouted, “WOW, this was so much fun and it was all for a great cause.”

Numerous volunteers were also there early to help make the day possible as well as participated in the event. Bharat Patel said, “We were able to help prepare the sand-wiches for all the participants and it was great to see so many people here to create a positive impact one step at a time.”

At the end of the walk, Riya was exhausted but ecstatic that her ef-forts will go a long way. Similar walks took place in over 40 cities throughout North America where-in over 13,000 participants walked over 45,000 miles. In addition to annual walkathons, BAPS Chari-ties hosts health fairs, Children’s health and safety day programs, education and career develop-ment seminars, disaster relief op-erations, blood drives and much more. BAPS Charities sincerely serves the community, by improv-ing the quality of life of individu-als and families.

For further information con-tact Viral Desai at 832-498-4725 or email [email protected]



Presents… How is Cancer Diagnosed & Treated?

The Process Explained

Sunday, June 30 2013 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.

India House 8888 West Belfort Ave., Houston TX 77031

FREE EVENT – ALL WELCOME

Join us as our panel of experts walk through the timeline of events from diagnosis through treatment options.

We welcome your questions! Our Medical Panel:

Dr. Savithri Krishnamurthy

Professor, Department of Pathology --- MD Anderson Cancer Center Dr. Sagar Naik

Radiologist, St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital Dr. Ali Mahmood

Colorectal Surgeon; Methodist Hospital Dr. Shalin Shah

Radiation Oncologist; Medical Director of MD Anderson Sugar Land Dr. Sewa Legha

Medical Oncologist Indian American Cancer Network

Ph: 713.370.3489 or E---mail: iacannetwork @gmail.com www.iacannetwork.org

THANK YOU TO OUR EVENT SPONSORS

Eminent Scientist to Speak on Inner Transformation by Leading a Divine Life

HOUSTON: The Sathya Sai centers of Houston (www.sathyasai.org) are hosting a talk by Dr. G. Venkataraman, an emi-nent scientist and current head of Radio Sai Global Harmony, on Sunday, June 23 at the Sur Auditorium of Durga Bari Tem-ple, located at 13944 Schiller Rd, in Hous-ton, TX 77082 from 4:00 pm to 6:30 pm.

His talk will address many of the spiritual imperatives for today’s society, as estab-lished by the teachings of Sathya Sai Baba. During the talk, Professor Venkataraman will also be sharing many of his direct expe-riences with Sathya Sai Baba, resulting from decades of personal interaction with Him. The event is free and open to the public.

Sathya Sai Baba, who left his physical form on April 24 2011, was a highly re-vered spiritual teacher whose life and uni-versal message have inspired millions of people around the world to lead construc-tive and virtuous lives through inner trans-formation. His core teachings are; to love and serve all, the underlying unity of all faiths, and unwavering practice of the five fundamental Human Values inherent in us all: Love, Truth, Right Conduct, Peace, and Non-Violence. The understanding and practice of these principles ultimately helps man realize his innate divine nature.

Dr. G Venkataraman is a former Vice-Chancellor of the Sri Sathya Sai Insti-tute of Higher Learning. He served at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai and the Indira Gandhi Atomic Research Centre. He was the Founder Di-rector of ANURAG, a unit of the Indian Defense Research and Development Or-ganization. He is the recipient of the Sri C. V. Raman Centenary Award, the Indira Gandhi Award, and the prestigious Padma Shri Award from the Government of India.

For further information about the event, please call 832-215-8675 or 832-687-6766 and RSVP at http://Profgv.sairegion10.org.

For advertising Call: Vanshika Vipin at 713.789.6397


June 21, 201318

®All rights reserved. No material herein or portions thereof may be published without the written consent of the publisher. The deadline for advertising and articles is 5 pm on Monday of each week. Please include self-addressed, stamped envelope for return of all unsolicited material. Published at 7457 Harwin Drive, Suite 262, Houston, Texas 77036. Tel: 713-789-NEWS or 6397 Fax: 713-789-6399, email: [email protected], website: indoamerican-news.com

CORRESPONDENTSHOUSTON: HAIDER KAZIM, MANU SHAH

CHICAGO: NAND KAPUR, INDIA: RAJ KANWAR

Indo American NewsFOUNDER: DR. K.L. SINDWANI

PUBLISHER: JAWAHAR MALHOTRAEDITOR: PRAMOD KULKARNI

ADVERTISING & ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER: VANSHIKA VIPIN

MARKETING INTERN: PARTH DWIVEDI

June 21, 201318 EDITORIALOne of the major issues being debated in Parliament at this time

is the food security Bill that aims to end hunger and malnutrition in the country. The discussion focuses chiefl y on the issue of funding and the application modalities of the proposed law. More important and fundamental questions pertaining to the rationale behind the proposed legislation are being neglected. For a scheme that plans to spend R1,30,000 crore of public money annually, it is imperative that the public and the Parliament alike see beyond the obvious and raise questions as to the effi cacy and necessity of the same.

There are people who may be unable to provide for their own nutrition, like the infi rm, the aged, orphans and people with severe physical or mental disabilities. It is legitimate to expect the State to make provisions for their basic material wellbeing, and we do have laws and schemes in place to help address the issue. But for people who are able to earn their own livelihood it is the State’s duty to create conditions that will enable them to do so. To provide food to them without engaging them in safe and fair labour would be wasteful for the State and pernicious to the benefi ciaries.

The task of creating a just labour market accessible to all classes and sections of the people may be diffi cult. But to skirt around the diffi culty by taking the short cut of doling out food cannot be good, in the long run, either for society or the economy. Moreover, if the State undertakes to ensure that all the extant laws and schemes meant for the welfare of the weak and the marginal run effectively and without the canker of corruption, the need for a blanket food security scheme would be eradicated.

The prime minister has termed mass malnutrition a national shame. Indeed it is, but the proposed Bill may not be an adequate means to eradicate that ‘shame’. For one, it focuses chiefl y on food grains and, as we know, grains are not enough to provide the various ‘trace elements’ a human body needs in order to fi rst grow and then maintain itself in optimal health. Besides, apart from the issue of diet there are other ground-level factors that affect nutrition and even survival.

To begin with, a country where 70% of rural households do not have toilets cannot dream of achieving general good health, the objective of ‘nutrition’. In the circumstances, regular administer-ing of anti-ringworm drugs to rural children would enhance their health signifi cantly.

Similarly, greater access to safe drinking water and improved drainage systems in villages and small towns would contribute toward improving public health. Ensuring quality primary health-care within reasonable distance of each village would minimise preventable deaths due to common illnesses or snake bites.

The recent National Sample Survey has thrown up staggering statistics about impoverished girl children dying in early child-hood due to inadequate nutrition stemming from parental biases against girls. A large number of our young women suffer from poor heath or even die as a result of early and multiple pregnan-cies. Hindustan Times

Chasing an IllusionMuch Food for ThoughtBY FARRUKH

DHONDYSix young men

were jailed on June 6 by a British court and awarded up to 19-and-a-half year jail terms. Their names tell an incomplete and unfortunate sto-ry: Mohammed Has-seen, Anzal Hussain, Mohammed Saud, Omar Khan, Jewel Uddin and Zohaib Ahmed.

Their photographs, all of them bearded in the mullah fashion, tell a further tragi-comic one: In June last year the English Defence League, an organisation dedicated to opposing what they call the creeping infl uence of Islam in Britain, held its ‘Armed Forces Day Rally’ in Dewsbury in Yorkshire, a town with a large Mirpuri Muslim popula-tion. The EDL’s tactic was intentionally provocative.

Both the jihadis and the EDL are tiny organisations and can muster fewer num-bers behind their banners than can the Hare Krishna dance group in Oxford Street. They regularly oppose each other at functions such as the funeral of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan, shout-ing slogans and swearing at each other from behind the police lines deployed to separate them. Such is the drama of free-speaking Britain.

Our convicted jihadi gang decided on this occasion last June to go a few steps further. They plotted to assault the English Defence League’s rally in Dewsbury with shotguns, swords, knives and home-made nail and pipe bombs.

Though these six men from Birming-ham assembled their weapons and set out for Dewsbury on the correct date, they arrived two hours too late — after the march was over and the crowds had dispersed. They turned back and were, the police insist by pure chance, stopped on the highway and asked for the insurance documents for the Renault Laguna they were driving.

They couldn’t produce them. They had neglected to insure the car and this prompted the police to search it and discover the amateur arsenal. This led to the search of their houses and comput-

ers which yielded terrorist ideological material including al-Qaeda publications, instructions on how to construct bombs and a video on ‘Tactics to kill the kaffi r’. Mohammed Hasseen, the mastermind behind the plot, pleaded guilty to the of-fences of terrorism. He hadn’t travelled to Dewsbury. He’d courageously sent the others on, saying he would stay at home to facilitate the escape of any of them who survived the bombings.

The highway police haven’t disclosed why they stopped the Renault and de-manded to see its insurance papers. Was it because they, with racist selectivity pick on and victimise drivers whose appear-ance declares them to be Muslims? Or do the police have instant access to the insurance status of every vehicle on the road through computer surveillance? I ask this because I have been stopped on the road by a patrol car and, on winding down my window to speak to the offi cers who approached me, was surprised to be greeted by name.

The six had no feasible defence and admitted their murderous intentions. The court was shown documents they carried, which contained lectures from Islamist preachers that addressed Queen Elizabeth II as the “kafi r female devil”.

Leaders of the EDL were in the public gallery of the court and shouted ‘God Save the Queen’ when the sentences were handed out. These same EDL lead-ers now insist that their organisation has no involvement in the recent attacks on mosques and on an Islamic boarding school that followed the murder of Drum-mer Rigby on the streets of Woolwich this May. They profess to publicly condemn such actions even though the mosque was

daubed with EDL graffi ti at the time of the arson attack.

Since the hacking to death of soldier Rigby by two Islamist fanat-ics, attacks on Muslims and Muslim institu-tions have, the police say, in-creased eight-fold. Some of the increase is simply re-ported verbal

abuse, graffi ti on Muslims shops and then the two serious acts of arson. Police forces all over the country have consequently put protective cordons around Islamic centres and mosques.

The failed action of the six jihadists a year ago and the murder of Lee Rigby last month were both avowedly acts of terror aimed at, in the words of one of Rigby’s killers, “starting a war in Britain”. These jihadis are perhaps stupid enough to be-lieve that their actions will lead to some ‘British spring’ and a mass conversion of Muslims to their ill-defi ned jihadist ideology.

So far there is no sign of it. Global cooling seems more of a threat. If our six jihadists had indeed succeeded last year in shooting, knifi ng and bombing EDL members and, inevitably killing members of the public in the process, there may have been a series of rejoinders and attacks.

After the Pakistani terror attacks in Mumbai I witnessed a large and dedicated demonstration of Muslims who paraded in condemnation of terror to mass ap-plause from the Mumbai public. The Muslims of Britain haven’t responded in like manner to the murderous ac-tions of men who claim to represent them. Their offi cial spokespersons have feebly shuffl ed from one TV studio to another to insist that these jihadis don’t represent Muslims, but somehow, with the evidence of growing radicalisation of misguided youth in the name of Islam, it doesn’t seem enough.

Farrukh Dhondy is an author, screen-play writer and columnist based in Lon-don.



13100 Southwest Freeway, Sugar Land, TX 77478

www.testmasters.com281-564-7700

H O U S T O N : ‘DAM999’ is an in-ternational movie pro-duced by UAE based BizTV Networks with the support of NRIPA(NRI Film Pro-ducers Association).

Recently there were two screenings held in Houston. The first was a Tamil screen-ing on 14 June at the AMC First Colony, Sugar land. It was the first ever screening of the tamil version of the movie, anywhere in the world, due to the ban issued by the Tamil Nadu govern-ment on the movie. The second screen-ing was held in Eng-lish on 16 June at the Studio Movie Grill City Center.

The direction and script is cred-ited to the upcoming director Sohan Roy, who is primarily an established mariner with a Guin-ness Book record to his credit.

‘DAM999’ is a movie with a so-cial cause which describes the haz-ards dams can cause and creates awareness among the masses about the impending dangers of a dam collapse, if not attended on time.

‘DAM999’ screenplay which has found its way into the Perma-nent Core Collection of The Acad-emy’s Margaret Herrick Library is the first movie to enter the Li-brary even before its theatrical re-lease anywhere around the globe.

DAM 999 was also shortlisted for 5 awards for the 2012 Acad-emy awards in 3 categories. 3 songs for the best original score category and also for the best film and for the best back ground score.

The director and script writ-er of this first 3D International movie from India was also ac-knowledged for the fabulous recognition ‘DAM999’ received before its theatrical release.

Sohan Roy added, “It was my deep rooted passion to make a movie on the Hollywood canvas, with a ‘Made in India’ stamp on it while bidding for the Oscars. The movie maintains a very positive note throughout, in the portrayal

of Indian culture and values. In my voyage towards this destination, I was joined in by a group of talented people, including 16 National and International award winners, who sailed across this sea, overcoming all the hurdles and making it to the shore of our dream – DAM999.”

Shot in a single start-to-end schedule “DAM 999” has sixteen National and International award winning cast and crew working behind and in the scenes of the movie. It is based on real life in-cidents bringing to life the memo-ries of 1975 Banqiao Dam disaster in China which claimed the lives of an estimated 250,000 people.

‘DAM999’ is all about a corrupt mayor who builds a new dam for political gains and personal glory

Dam 999 Screens in Houstonendangering millions of innocent lives; a mariner desperate to save his sis-ter from evil; two not-so- young lovers challenging destiny in a bid to unite; a woman on a mission to win her family back; a little boy battling a deadly disease; a devoted wife wants to be with her hus-band even in death; and the astrologer who has foreseen their ominous fate - Nine lives entwined by the impending disas-ter. Take the journey of a lifetime - Nine characters, Nine moods and a crum-bling dam of emotions.

This multi starrer in-ternational venture has an ensemble cast star-ring Rajit Kapur, Joshua Fredric Smith, Linda

Arsenio, Jaala Pickering, Ash-ish Vidyarthi, Vinay Rai, Vi-mala Raman, Megha Burman, Jineet Rath and Gary Richardson.

The movie will be released in four regional languages – Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam along with English. The other credits of the movie include in-ternational experts Eric Sherman as Project Consultant; Rob Tobin as the Script Doctor and Uzma Xina Kang as the Casting Director of ‘DAM 999’. The crew that has worked behind the making of this movie includes eminent profes-sionals like Ajayan Vincent, Suresh Pai, Padmashri Dr. Thota Tharrani, V. Srinivas Mohan, Ousephachan, Amala Popuri, Shajith Koyeri, Pat-tanam Rasheed and S. B. Satheesh.


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COMMUNITYChicagoans Give Fond Farewell to CG

Mukta Tomar

BY SURESH SHAHCHICAGO: Chicagoans vied

with each other to bid farewell to popular Indian Consul General Mukta Tomar who is leaving her office after a three year successful run as Indian CG at the Downtown Consulate office. She had suc-ceeded Ambassador Ashok Attri and struck instant rapport with In-dian Diaspora in Midwest region.

A farewell function was held at the Consulate in Chicago Down-

town on Friday, May 31 where the elite of Indian community flocked to express their appreciation for the departing CG as also to offer their best wishes to her for her new assignment in the Foreign Minis-try in New Delhi. Notable pres-ence was that of Pakistani Consul General Zaheer Pervaiz Khan who presented her with a beautiful book Journey In Pakistan. His gesture of goodwill was vastly appreciated.

Heads of Indian corporations

and associations, Prof Pandey and Naren Patel of AIA, Hina Trivedi, Iftekhar Shareef of FIA, Gurbachan Kaur of Hindi Lovers Club, Niranjan Shah of Globetrot-ter Eng Corp, Dr Birendra Sinha of Anila Sinha Foundation, Bal-winder Singh of Gurudwara Sa-hib of Chicago, Vinesh Virani of Art of Living, Dr Aniruddh, Ro-hot Joshi of Northeasern Illinois Univerity, Usha Kamaria of Niles Township Indian Community, Dr Mehboob Kapaida, Gur Mahendra Kumar, Rishikant Singh Midwest Manager of Air India and Me-dia representatives were present.

A group of Indian Americans headed by Balwinder and Vinesh Virani held a private reception for Mukta Tomar on Sunday June 2 at Jaipur Palace in Chicago Down-town. The function was attended by 30 plus guests and invitees. Hindi Lovers Club President Gur-bachan Kaur presented a Plaque recognizing the services rendered by Tomar to the Indian commu-nity in the past three years as CG.

Launch of Newer Version of Hindi Patrika

BY NAND KAPURCHICAGO: Hindi Lovers Club,

a budding non profit body in Chi-cagoland, has added one more feather in its cap of achievements – adding 14 pages of English to its monthly Magazine Hindi Patrika.

Gurbachan Kaur Neelam, the Club President, said that it is done with a view to reach out to second generation Indians here who have had not much opportu-nity to learn the premiere Indian language Hindi. “They are a bur-geoning component of our com-munity and we can ignore them at our own peril. Our attempt will be to induce them to read the Pa-trika and thru it our national lan-guage Hindi,” she said in a talk.

A formal launch of newly de-signed Patrika June issue was held at Uru Swati Resturant on Mahatma Gandhi Marg on De-von area Chicago last week and it was attended by a good number of Chicago elites and media rep-resentatives. The Club Secretary Vinita Gulbani welcomed the invitees in her chaste Hindi and read out a Hindi couplet at the end of her speech that underlined the basic objective of the Club

promoting – Hindi and Indian culture in this part of the world.

The formal launch was done at the hands of a noted octogenar-ian Hindi author Raghunandan Prakash Sharma. Sharma is cred-ited with authoring number of Hindi books and is an acclaimed writer in India. He has 169 pub-lished books under his belt and numerous awards for his writ-ings. He has agreed to be a regu-

lar columnist for Hindi Patrika. He congratulated the Club mem-

bers in taking this unique step of adding English pages to make the Hindi Patrika more popular. He welcomed overall efforts of the Club executive team in seek-ing to promote the cause of Hindi language in foreign land. He is the scheduled speaker at the Club up-coming monthly meet at Skilkie Public Library on Monday June 24.

Among the prominent commu-nity leaders attending the meet was Sohan Johshi, president of National Federation of Indian Association and an ardent fan of Hindi, Jodh Singh Rawat, a free lance writer, Praful Rami, a community activist, Man Mo-han Sharma, a writer , Nand Ka-pur, former president of AIA and Vandana Jhingan often dubbed Jhansi Ki Ranee of Chicago.

For further information call 847-962-8595 or visit

www.hindiloversclub.com

Launch of Hindi Patrika by Raghunath Sharma (right) and J Rawat.

A group of supporters and activists. From left: Secretary Vinita Gulbani, Praful Rami, Raghunath Sharma, J Rawat and President Gurbachan Kaur


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Mama’s Punjabi RecipesGajar ka Achar (Carrot Pickles)

RECIPES/PUZZLES

Punjabis love to eat their food with some sort of condiments - whether it be pickles, chutneys, white radishes or just plain raw onions – to get the last bit of maaza (enjoyment) out of each mouthful. Since the time of my ancestral home in Lyallpur, when our families had large lands that were cultivated and our lives were more rural, the womenfolk in the home used to make their own pickles, usually amb da achar (mango pickle) in sarson da tael (mustard seed oil) or mitha achar (sweet and sour vegetable pickle).

There were even ways to get the sting out of raw onions and radishes. My husband’s grand-mother (whom we called bhabhi) would peel the white radishes, coat it with salt, pierce it with a sharp knife stick it on the side of a wooden post to let the onion drip out its water. She would also peel the onions and leave them in the rain to become sweeter. In Pun-jabi villages, men will squash the

Ingredients: • 1 kg lal gajar(red carrots)• 1 tablespoon rai powder

(mustard seed powder)• 1 tablespoon namak (salt)• 1 tablespoon lal mirch powder

(red pepper powder)• 1 tablespoon tael (vegetable

Directions:1. Peel the carrots, then

wash and towel dry them. 2. Cut the carrots length-

wise in thin 2 inch long sticks.3. Throw the carrot sticks

in a glass jar and then add the spices to taste and the oil.

4. Close the jar and shake well. Now add the vinegar, close the lid and shake well again.

5. Place the jar in the sun and shake the contents two or three times a day for a week. The pick-les will be ready to eat and as they will become tastier the lon-ger they stay in the marinade. Be sure to shake the contents from time to time so that the mari-nade does not settle in one place.

6. Since this pickle is not cooked, to avoid it going bad, keep in the refrigerator and consume within a month.

Vijay ShenoyKamal Arora

onion with their hand and squeeze the water out before eating it.

Here is a really simple way to make gajar ka achar (car-rot pickle) to eat as a condiment. It’s not oily like mango pickle and for a healthier pickle, you can reduce the salt as you want.

or olive oil)• 1 tablespoon sirka (white

vinegar)

Nimboo aur Adrak ka Achar (Lemon and Ginger Pickles)Ginger is one of the main ingredi-

ents in Punjabi cooking, but it can also eaten by itself in pickle form or in the powdered form in spiced tea. Apart from its unique taste, ginger helps with the digestive pro-cess and reduces gas in the stom-ach. When used with black salt, ginger is used to help with nausea or to help cure the common cold.

In the old days, and even now in villages, ginger would be peeled and then dried in the sun so that it could be used later when it was not easily available. Ginger is also peeled and made into a paste to use in the preparation of various meat dishes or to make some vegetarian dishes. But generally, it is cut into small pieces and used when pre-paring the base masala of dishes.

This is another really simple way to make an achar (pickle) but in this, due to the spicy taste of the ginger you do not use any haldi (turmeric) or lal mirch (red pep-per). When made with nimboos (lemons), it has a really summery feel. If you prefer, you can add long, hari mirchain (green chilies)

Ingredients: • 1 kg nimboo (lemons)• 500 gm adrak (ginger root)• 2 tablespoon namak (salt)• 1 tablespoon of chini (white

sugar)• 1 cup sirka (white vinegar)

Directions:1. Wash the lemons, then wash

and towel dry them. Cut then lem-ons into four quarters. If the lem-ons are small, then cut into halves.

2. Peel the ginger root, then wash and also towel dry them. Cut the roots length-wise in thin 2 inch long sticks.

3. Throw the ginger sticks and lemon halves into a glass

too: just wash, towel dry, score them with a slit and place them in the jar. In Texas, you can improvise by us-ing jalapenos, either sliced or whole with slits. You can reduce

the salt as you want in this achar. This achar does not need to be re-frigerated and kept for a long time.

jar and then add the salt.4. Close the jar and shake well.

Now add the vinegar and sugar, close the lid and shake well again.

5. Place the jar in the sun and shake the contents two or three times a day for a week. The pick-les will be ready to eat and they will become tastier the longer they stay in the marinade. Shake the contents from time to time.


23 June 21, 2013

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127

MUMBAI (Live Mint): The bat-tering that sent the rupee to a re-cord low last week was an impor-tant reason why the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to hit the pause button on Monday, when it left its key lending rate unchanged. The decision by governor D. Sub-barao came after three consecutive rate cuts since January to support a weak economy.

In a cautious monetary policy statement, the Indian central bank also indicated that the long battle against inflation has not yet drawn to a close, despite the sharp de-cline in wholesale price inflation in recent months.

“It is only a durable receding of inflation that will open up the space for monetary policy to con-tinue to address risks to growth,” it said.

RBI also said its outlook on in-flation “will be determined by sup-pressed inflation being released through revisions in administered prices, including the minimum support prices, as well as the re-cent depreciation of the rupee”.

Though RBI bank did not give any clear commitment on its fu-ture policy course, private sector economists indicated in various research notes released after the announcement of the monetary policy that they expected modest rate cuts in the coming months, perhaps as early as July, as long as the currency remains stable and a good monsoon helps ease food prices.

Even as the central bank said that “the most significant development in the external sector has been the movement in the exchange rate”, new data released by the govern-ment on Monday served as a useful reminder of the fragile balance of payments situation, the underlying cause for the weak rupee. India’s

trade deficit in May widened to its highest level in seven months (see page 6).

The repo rate at which RBI lends short-term funds to banks has been retained at 7.25%. RBI left the cash reserve ratio (CRR), the portion of deposits banks need to park with the central bank, un-changed at 4%, saying that liquid-ity conditions have eased in the banking system.

The rupee had touched a lifetime low of 58.99 against the US dollar on 11 June, though it has recov-ered some lost ground since then. Since January, the Indian currency has lost 4.73% against the dollar and is the third worst performing currency among Asian currencies this year.

A record trade deficit combined with fears that the US Federal Reserve could begin to withdraw some of its monetary stimulus has rattled the rupee and other emerg-ing market currencies.

The US central bank is to have a key policy meeting later this week.

Poor transmission of previous rate cuts in the banking system has made earlier rate cuts ineffective. Not many banks have cut their minimum lending rates in the last one year despite RBI slashing its effective policy rate in phases.

Reacting to the policy, finance minister P. Chidambaram said he recognized that RBI was in-dependent while C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister’s economic advisory council, said “external factors” will be predom-inant in RBI’s future decisions.

The financial markets, which had already factored in a decision to leave policy rates unchanged, reacted positively in the latter half of the day on optimism that RBI will cut rates later.

Government bonds rallied, with dealers attributing this to expecta-tions that RBI will continue to buy bonds in the secondary market to bolster liquidity, through so-called open market operations (OMOs).

The yield on India’s 10-year bond fell eight basis points to 7.238% intra-day from 7.31%

prior to the policy announcement. It ended the day at 7.255%. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

“Since there was no CRR cut, markets feel that there will be more OMOs, which is positive for the bond market,” said Moses Harding, head of the asset liability committee and economic and mar-ket research at IndusInd Bank.

The stock market, which ini-tially didn’t react to the policy an-nouncement, later picked up posi-tive cues.

India’s benchmark equity index, the S&P BSE Sensex, which was trading flat after the an-nouncement, ended 0.77% higher at 19,325.87 points. The broader Nifty index closed the day 0.72% up at 5,850 points.

The rupee, which had fallen to 57.87 against the dollar after the RBI announcement, later pared most of its losses to rise to 57.55 intra-day; it closed at 57.87, down 0.58% from its previous close.

Industry associations were dis-appointed by the policy. “The deci-sion of the RBI to hold policy rates is disappointing,” said Chandrajit Banerjee, director general of the Confederation of Indian Industry.

“At a time when both growth and inflation dynamics call for an accommodative monetary policy, the RBI has taken a cautious ap-proach of attending to the prospect of a possible resurgence in infla-tion over reviving growth in the economy,” he said.

If the lending rates are not brought down with immediate effect it would have a serious to moderate impact on investment plans. RBI will need to focus on the outcome of lower lending rates by banks,” said Naina Lal Kidwai, of the Federation of Indian Cham-bers of Commerce and Industry.

RBI Pauses Rate-Cut Cycle on Rupee Infl ation Worries

RBI retained the repo rate at 7.25% and cash reserve ratio at 4%. Photo: Pradeep Gaur/Mint.

CHENNAI: Ford Motor Co. will make India an export hub for its compact sports utility vehicles, chief executive Alan Mulally said.

“India is a great market and is the lead edge indicator as to what people want in the world,” Mulally said on Monday. “We are going to pay more attention to this segment. You will see more products in that segment.”

Mulally was in Chennai to start production of the company’s com-pact SUV EcoSport at its Chennai factory, where it has invested $142 million to create a new produc-tion line that can produce as many as 10 variants of the model. The Chennai facility is one of the five plants that will produce this model, Mulally said.

Global small utility vehicle sales grew 154% between 2005 and 2012, according to IHS Automo-tive, a sector-specific consultancy. Ford’s small utility vehicle sales are estimated to outpace the over-all industry growth, according to IHS Automotive.

Ford aims to generate 60-70% of its global sales from the Asia-Pa-cific region by 2020, Mulally said without giving details. “For the first time, we are making money. In the next 4-5 years, 40% of the revenues will come from Asia Pa-cific,” he said.

Ford has invested a total of $2 billion to set up manufacturing fa-cilities in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat besides an engine facility in Guja-rat. Ford needs to introduce mod-els more frequently in India, ac-cording to an industry consultant.

Ford Designates IndiaHub for SUV Exports


June 21, 201324 June 21, 201324 SPORTS

BY ALAN GARDNERTHE OVAL (ESPN Cricinfo):

South Africa at The Oval, with Hashim Amla in the line up: it’s a thought to make even Alastair Cook sweat. Go back further and the ground played host to a one-sided thrashing during the 1999 World Cup, the defeat so damag-ing in terms of net run rate that it went a long way to seeing England knocked out of the competition they were hosting.

But England have won their last two encounters in global 50-over tournaments - in Centurion and Chennai - and will take comfort from South Africa’s return to The Oval for an ODI last summer. Amla made 268 runs fewer than the 311 he amassed in the first Test, and was removed by no less a bowler than Jade Dernbach, be-fore Jonathan Trott’s patient half-century was followed a brisker one from Eoin Morgan in a four-wicket win. Sounds like a good formula, doesn’t it? That the series finished 2-2 suggests these teams are rea-sonably well matched.

Both have experienced a few malfunctions in progressing to the knockout stage. England, one-time hot favourites, have cooled like a custard left in the kitchen, their much-documented penchant for platform-building lampooned in various quarters. Wear and tear to Graeme Swann - though James Tredwell has proven an able dep-uty - and the bowlers’ inability to defend 293 against Sri Lanka mean they have long been usurped by India as frontrunners.

AB de Villiers, meanwhile, has had to contend with injuries to his

two strike bowlers, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel - the latter tournament-ending - plus familiar jiggery pokery with Duckworth-Lewis (though this time it came to South Africa’s aid). A sole group win over a hapless Pakistan is not the sort of form to fill opponents with dread, nor is a record in 50-over knockout competition that boasts just one appearance in a final, 15 years ago. At least they can take comfort in the knowledge that this match is unlikely to go the way of their 1992 World Cup semi-final against England.

At last year’s World Twenty20, de Villiers was able to utter the word “choke” and not be immedi-ately carted off. On this occasion, however, it is perhaps England who are more likely to be dragged down by an albatross around their necks. They have never won an ICC 50-over event and this may still be their best chance. Cook’s men can’t afford any more mis-takes.

England’s lower middle-order has generally failed to live up to its billing in this tournament, a couple of Ravi Bopara cameos aside. While Cook, Ian Bell and Trott have been assiduously ac-cumulating - and are accordingly England’s three leading scorers - Morgan and Jos Buttler have 51 runs, from 50 balls, between them. Cook has hit twice as many sixes (2) as both put together. The bang-to-buck ratio has been kept respectable by Bopara’s death hit-ting but another failure to launch could be costly.

Much may rest on Steyn individ-ually but it is South Africa’s bowl-ers as a group that will be under the microscope. The injured Morkel aside, they went missing against India, before a much-improved display gave them an all-important win over Pakistan. Steyn was the difference against West Indies but, on another night, Ryan McLaren’s three overs for 34 might have sent South Africa out of the competi-tion. Bowling to England’s more orthodox batsmen could mitigate against similar trauma.

Cook said that Swann’s calf problem means he won’t be risked unless 100%.

BY NAGRAJ GOLLAPUDICARDIFF (ESPN Cricinfo):

Relaxed. That is what the Indian team are feeling at the moment. In fact, that seems to have been their state of mind throughout the tour-nament. Their progress might have caught the cynics off guard, espe-cially back home, but MS Dhoni and his team could not care less. Although Dhoni did point out on the eve of the first warm-up match that it was surprising not to see nu-merous Indian TV channels, who had boycotted the event, unhappy with the terms and conditions set by the ICC over accreditation for non-rights holders.

Away from the glare of relent-less media attention, India have trained quietly and purposefully. And it was the same in Cardiff on a warm and sunny Tuesday after-noon, where India did nothing out of the ordinary, two days ahead of their semi-final against Sri Lanka. Being such a big match, it is nor-mal to expect teams to bring ex-tra intensity to training. But India decided to keep things simple; greasing the nuts and bolts so that they are ready to roll out smoothly come Thursday.

Suresh Raina, obsessive when it comes to training, turned up first at Sophia Gardens, an hour before the rest of the squad arrived (at the scheduled time) in the after-noon. Taking throw downs from the fielding coach Trevor Penney, Raina focused on every aspect of his batting, especially against the moving and short ball. The success of the top order has not allowed Raina much time in the middle, so it was key that he remained in the right frame of mind.

Elsewhere, Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik asked Penney to feed them length balls, as they wanted to make certain they were sensing, eyeing and timing well. Kohli focused on leaving the ball as he felt he was not letting them go as much as he should have dur-ing match situations. Karthik went so far as to berate himself after pulling a ball too far away from his body. He communicated that to Penny, even pointing the exact distance he had connected with the ball, when all of the time he

should have been lunging forward to play the pull.

Earlier, Karthik was involved in an animated chat with Indian coach Duncan Fletcher, with both men discussing the finer points about the upper cut and pull shot. It would have been fascinating to hear what was being said, but Fletcher seemed to galvanise Karthik, who was hell bent on get-ting things precise later.

Although the success of the Indian batting has been the cen-tral point of focus, the fast bowl-ers have also toiled hard, despite not having much experience with the white Kookaburra bar Ishant Sharma. Today, Joe Dawes, the Indian bowling coach, put the trio of Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar through various drills, pointing out exactly what each needed to do in order to be more sharp. Lengths, body movement and getting certain variations accurate seemed to be Dawes’ focus during the hour-long session.

Dawes, a former Queensland fast bowler, as well as being a po-liceman, is a methodical guy, and at times irritates the batsmen by refusing to give them easy balls, even during throw downs. This fact was not lost on Kohli, who teased Dawes for never giving batsmen any allowance. “Always at the batsman’s wrists. You can throw 300 balls, but only five will be easy to drive,” Kohli joked with Dawes, who was giving a slightly hard time to Bhuvneshwar at the time.

Such light-hearted banter only happens when a team is function-

Champions Trophy: England vs. S. Africa, India vs. Sri LankaROTTERDAM: An error-prone

India need nothing short of a mira-cle to secure a direct berth in next year’s hockey World Cup as they take on formidable Australia in the quarterfinals of the men’s compe-tition of the FIH World Round 3 on Wednesday.

India Needs Hockey Miracle to Secure a World Cup Entry

Six top teams—three each—will qualify directly for the 2014 World Cup to be held in Hague, The Netherlands from the two edi-tions of FIH World League Round 3 -- the ongoing event in Rotter-dam and then the next one to be held in Malaysia from June 29 to July 7.

But for India it is now looking extremely difficult to be among one of those six teams as in the last eight round world ranked sec-ond Australia await them, a side against whom the Indians hold a poor record in the recent past.

India, however, could take heart from the fact that they put up a much-improved performance to eke out a fighting 3-3 draw against higher-ranked New Zealand in their last match to finish third in Pool B with two points.

After two pretty ordinary out-ings against lower-ranked Ireland (4-4) and hosts Netherlands (0-2), the Indians displayed an attacking brand of hockey against the Black Sticks from the starting hooter on Monday.

The Sardar Singh-led India, who dominated the match throughout, however paid the price for poor defending and conceded a goal four minutes from time against New Zealand to return winless from the group stage.

India’s chief coach Michael Nobb too knows it very well that a slight lapse in concentration from his wards can spoil their chances as the Kookaburras can run away with the game in no time.


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NEW DELHI (IE): Cloudbursts, floods and landslides brought on by incessant rain over the past 48 hours have left a trail of destruc-tion across north India, killing at least 60 people, injuring scores and leaving thousands stranded.

Uttarakhand has borne the brunt.

At least 30 people have died and floods have washed away four hundred roads, scores of tele-phone towers, vehicles and hous-es as well as a helicopter and left some 57,000 pilgrims to Badri-nath, Kedarnath, Yamunotri and Gangotri stranded. The Army has

Incessant Rain Causes Floods, Landslidesbeen called in to rescue them as well as local villagers.

In the worst-affected Rudrapra-yag, rescue workers have found bodies of five of the 11 people believed to have been killed in a cloudburst near Rambada near Ke-darnath. Two persons are feared dead in a landslide in the area and several are missing. The famous Kedarnath temple is inaccessible as the bridge to it has been washed away.

“Rambada mein zyada nuksan hua hai,” Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna told a press conference Monday. “But I am not in position to give you details. Uttarakhand is in grip of unprecedented rain and floods. I am trying my best to collect information from vari-ous districts to assess the situation. About 400 roads have been dam-aged. Bridges have been swept away. Helicopters are ready but the weather is not favouring us.”

Rambada is a base camp for pil-grims to Kedarnath. Reports said at least 40 hotels near Gaurikunda, from where pilgrims start their journey to the temple on foot, and a market at Sonprayag have been washed away by a raging Manda-kini river. Some 3,000 pilgrims

Incessant rain have left a trail of destruction across north India, killing at least 60 people, injuring scores and leaving thousands stranded.

have reportedly taken shelter with villagers in Gori.

In Chamoli, a group of seven foreign trekkers are believed to be trapped at Ghattauli near Badri-nath. And the authorities evacu-ated Pandukeshwar village after Alaknanda changed course.

National Disaster Response Force personnel has sent 50 per-sonnel to Haridwar “but they are unable to move ahead because of the damage to roads.”

Meanwhile, unrelenting skies poured 375 mm more rain on Dehradun. “This is a new record,” Anand Sharma, director of Dehra-dun Meterolgical Centre, said. He predicted more rain over the next 72 hours.

In Himachal Pradesh, heavy rain and floods have killed 11 people, damaged much of the road and communication network in the worst-affected Kinnaur dis-trict and left some 1,700 tourists stranded, including Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.

Singh was in Kinnaur to cam-paign for the Mandi Lok Sabha byelection scheduled for June 23. He is stuck at Sangla, a popular tourist destination.

The rain and floods have also led

to collapse of at least 50 houses, washed away several roads and caused widespread damage to apple orchards and fields. Those killed include five of a family, three of them children, who were crushed in a landslide.

The government has sought help from the Army and the Air Force to rescue the stranded people, in-cluding 25 foreigners and a team from Doordarshan, but bad weath-er has frustrated their efforts so far. The state helicopter made two at-tempts to airlift the chief minister and his staff but was thwarted by bad weather each time. The gov-ernment, meanwhile, sanctioned Rs 10 crore to provide immediate relief to the affected people.

In Haryana, the Army and the Air Force rescued more than 200 people, including 52 from an is-land in Yamuna. An overflowing Yamuna — eight lakh cusecs of water flowed through Hathnikund Barrage Monday compared to 4.7 lakh cusecs a day before — has flooded Shergarh Tapu and Chandrao villages in Karnal and alarmed the state enough to sound a high alert in Karnal, Panipat and Sonepat.

Trailer: Two Million You Tube ViewsThe trailer of superstar Shahrukh

Khan starrer Chennai Express has crossed the 2 million mark on You-tube just four days after its launch. The action-comedy directed by Rohit Shetty also stars Deepika Padukone, who plays a South In-dian in the film, has dubbed in the typical southern accent.

Chennai Express is about a man’s journey from Mumbai to Rameshwaram and what happens along the way after he falls in love with the daughter of a don, played by Padukone.

BY ANUPAMA CHOPRADirection: Mrighdeep

Singh LambaActors: Pulkit Samrat,

Varun Sharma, Ali Fazal, Manjot Singh, Richa Chadda, Pankaj Tripathi

Rating: *** Fukrey is a genial romp

about four lower middle-class boys in Delhi who embark upon a harebrained scheme to raise money

Hunny and Choocha, played by Pulkit Samrat and debutant Varun Sharma are buddies whose only as-piration is to get into the coolest college in town. Zafar, played by Ali Fazal, is a struggling musician and Lali, played by Manjot Singh, is the hapless son of a halwai who watches his girl, who already attends the cool college, get enamored by big cars and slick guys.

Lali, Hunny and Choocha des-perately want to get into the col-lege (Hunny and Choocha fanta-size about riding in on horses) but none have the grades. The leaked exam papers cost Rs. 50,000 each.

And so begins a journey that

takes them to the wily college watchman Punditji, played by the terrific Pankaj Tripathi and Bholi Punjaban played by Richa Chadda, the local mistress of vices.

Director Mrighdeep Singh Lam-ba gives us a theatre of the absurd set in East Delhi. The characters and actors are a perfect match.

Fukrey: A Genial Romp to Make You SmilePulkit embodies the over-confident charmer and Manjot looks comically sweet and bewildered all the time. But my favourite was Varun as the foolish and always-in-heat Choo-cha whose dreams kick-start the entire mess — he manages to be both, idiotic and endearing. Ram Sam-path’s boisterous score add to the rough and tumble feel of the film.

But the problem with Fukrey is that the characters and milieu are more engag-ing than the plot, which gets more far-fetched as it thick-ens. By the time we get to a rave party and drugs, the outrageousness of the story becomes exhausting.

By the climax, the writing becomes slack. Anything

is possible, including a financial windfall from a character who seems tacked on to save the day. But there is enough pep in Fukrey to make it pleasantly diverting. I’m not suggesting that you drop everything and get to the theatre. But if you happen to stroll in, you are likely to come out smiling. HT


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