india herald

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

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Acarya Gaurangbhai Nanavaty, who, along with Acarya Darshanaben Nanavaty, has continued to carry on the mission of Gurudev in Houston for over three decades with An enthusiastic team of more than 70 Chinmaya Mission Bala Vihar teachers on the opening day of the Bala Vihar classes for 2014-15 on Sept. 7. Photo Jayesh Mistry. Story on Page 3.

Chinamaya Mission Houston opens doors for another year of Bala Vihar classes

By HAIDER KAZIMHOUSTON – The Indo-

American community in Houston is enthusiastically looking forward to the forthcoming visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi

to hear him spell out his plans for development of his country and provide a new impetus to growth of India-US ties.

The visit, from September 27 to 30, has created such an enthusiasm that a large group

of Houston community leaders will be traveling to New York to participate in the community reception to the prime minister on September 28, the largest ever such reception to an Indian prime minister in the United States.

“The visit will open a new chapter in the Indo-American relations because he has won a very clear mandate in the last 30 years on a development and governance agenda,” said Ramesh Bhutada, a prominent businessman who worked tirelessly in building an overseas wave for Modi during the election campaign.

20,000 to attend community reception in New York

See MODI, 4

Houston Youth MusicAssociation presents a GrandClassical Vocal Concert by therenowned Carnatic Vocalist Vidwan T.M.Krishna with Vidwan R K Shriramkmar(Violin) & Vidwan Arun Prakash (Mridangam), from India on Oct 12, 4 p.m. at Stafford Civic Center, 1415 Constitution Ave. Stafford,TX - 77477. Visit www.hymausa.org for more information

T.M. Krishna

Toyota Center welcomes “SLAM THE TOUR” (Sound,Light, Music, Action), Bollywood’s “biggest global musical extravaganza” on Friday, Sept. 19. The mega blockbuster concert features Shah Rukh Khan (Actor/Producer), Farah Khan Kunder (Director/Actor/Producer/Choreographer), Deepika Padukone (Actor), Malaika Arora Khan (Actor), Abhishek Bachchan (Actor), Boman Irani (Actor), Sonu Sood (Actor), Vivaan Shah (Actor), Kanika Kapoor (Singer) and Yo Yo HoneySingh (Singer/Actor). With the magical chemistry between leadperformers Khan and Padukone, plus a cast and crew of 130, thisis the largest and most exciting Bollywood production Houstonhas ever seen. Don’t miss your chance to see the superstars ofIndian Cinema together on stage .

• INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2014 • PAGE 3

COMMUNITY NEWS

By Padmashree RaoOver 1200 adults and children assembled in two sessions at

Chinmaya Prabha Houston, to usher in another year of learning, the Chinmaya way on Sept. 7. Melodious bhajans invoking the bless-ings of Lord Ganesa, the Guru, and Goddess Sarasvati, gave the day a sacred start.

Manasa Kethireddipalli, a teacher from Acarya Darshana Nana-vaty’s Bala Vihar team, offered a prayer to Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda, and welcomed all families to another year of Bala Vihar. She explained how, as students, when we follow the instruc-tions of a coach or teacher, we succeed.

Since wholesome success will surely come when we follow the path that Pujya Gurudev lived and taught, the central prayer to open this year of Bala Vihar was Pujya Guruji Swami Tejomayanan-da’s poetic composition , “Tvam hi no neta (You are our Leader)” extolling Pujya Gurudev. A thought-provoking presentation of each line of that poem allowed the gathering to refl ect on the glory of the Guru. As a leader, who guides, provides, protects, and enlight-ens through knowledge and devotion, a Guru leads us into a life of goodness without fear or worries. The promise of a truly compas-sionate Teacher is also that He never abandons us, His children, even if we may forget him. Guruji’s poem reinforced the assurance and inspiration of a great teacher who will lead us to true victory.

After that presentation, Acarya Gaurangbhai Nanavaty, who, along with Acarya Darshanaben Nanavaty, has continued to carry on the mission of Gurudev in Houston for over three decades, ad-dressed the gathering. With a request for all to be regular in their studies, he offered his pranams to the Guru Parampara. He explained how all sages, saints, and great Gurus experience the same Truth in their Isvara darsana. Yet, they manifested that Truth in their work in different ways. While their work shone in their lifetimes, often after them, the asramas and organizations that they built slowly became empty shells of a past glory.

However, Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda made that Truth a divine mission through which the scriptures embraced the whole family. In the 70s, when scriptural learning was offered in few camp settings only to adults in India, Gurudev opened the doors to wel-come the entire family and the world. Children were welcomed into the lap of Bala Vihar, the youth were encouraged and given a forum, and the adults were empowered with the scriptural wisdom. Even as Gurudev’s vision expanded, He sharpened the focus through the establishment of Sandeepany Sadhanalayas. Those institutes of Ve-danta keep the light of Knowledge shining brighter still, fuelled by the inspiration of those students who, in turn, carry on the legacy of a timeless Guru Parampara.

Acarya Gaurangbhai then introduced with loving pride, a young couple Priya and Rahul Maini, who took the inspiration they found from their Bala Vihar days in Houston and Dallas, TX, all the way to Sandeepany Sadhanalaya, Mumbai, and successfully completed a two- year Vedanta Course. Acarya Gaurangbhai said that he looked forward to seeing such accomplished students graduating from the Sandeepanys in the many Bala Vihar years to come.

After the Acarya’s address, the Chinmaya choir children began singing “Tvam Hi No Neta” accompanied by a drum roll and an energetic orchestra. In step with their beautiful voices, Acaryas Gaurangbhai and Darshanaben inaugurated the new year of Bala Vihar 2014-15 by lighting the Chinmaya lamp and offering their pranams at the feet of Gurudev’s pratima. The young Sandeepany graduates followed, and then, in unbroken rhythm, every child of each grade, from pre-kindergarten to twelfth grade of Bala Vihar, carried a little diya and offered it at the feet of Pujya Gurudev’s pratima. Each grade was led with love by the teachers of that grade; soon, all the 108 lamps that the teachers lit on the stage of Chinmaya Smriti shone bright, as did the hundreds of diyas offered with such earnest love by the Bala Vihar children.

As another year of learning begins, the children will explore new topics in our Vedic culture. Alongside, the adults will look forward to reorienting their everyday expectations with the wisdom from the selected text, Sadhana Panchakam, written by the revered Sri Adi Sankaracarya . Acarya Gaurangbhai, in a prelude to this text, invited all seekers to the satsangas and study of the positively empowering fi ve verses of about forty values, which will help us surf through the ups and downs of life, to fi nd that unshakable, peaceful happiness.

The signature aspect of the opening day ceremony was the joyful eagerness visible everywhere – in the faces of the young children carrying their diyas with sweet pride; in the happy smiles of the parents who watched their children connect with their Indian cul-tural and scriptural roots; in the enthusiastic team of teachers clad in their beige and gold-trimmed Kerala saris; in the spirit of seva that stood out in the assistance offered by the various teams who tirelessly work behind the scenes to orchestrate every celebration in Chinmaya Prabha Houston.

For more information on Chinmaya Mission Houston and Sri Saumyakasi Sivalaya and, its activities visit www.chinmayahous-ton.org or Call Jay Deshmukh 832 541 0059 or Bharati Sutaria 281-933-023.

Chinmaya Bala Vihar reopens with poetic prayers


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COMMUNITY NEWS

Pandit Suman Ghosh’s GurukulIndian Classical music lovers in

Houston consider it a privilege anda blessing that Pandit SumanGhosh chose this city above allothers to make his home and es-tablish his Gurukul, SaadhanaPariwar. Enriching thousands oflives with pure Hindustani classi-cal music in the Mewati Gharanatradition, Pandit Suman Ghosh isadored as much by his disciplesas by their families. The Gurukulhas just staged, for the second yearin a row, about 70 solo perform-ers in a truly unique series titledSaadhana Samvid in various loca-tions in Houston.

On Sunday, September 7, un-der the aegis of the Center forIndian Classical Music of Hous-ton (CICMH), the disciples ofAcharya Varishth Pandit SumanGhosh had the opportunity to honor

Indian Music Society of Houston PresentsHindustani Classical Vocalist

Omkar Dadarkar

Sat, Sept 27 @ 4 p.m.Cullen Hall, Univ of St. Thomas

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

For tickets: Govind 713-922-2501Suresh 281-935-4653 orwww.tickets2events.com

Senior disciple of Pt Ulhas Kashalkar

Ticket: $25

Pt Shantilal Shah on TablaHarmonium - TBA

Omkar Dadarkar hails froma family of ‘MarathiNatyasangeet’ exponents. Hereceived his initial guidancefrom his aunt, the late notedclassical vocalist Manik Vermaand thereafter from RamDeshpande. After beingawarded the CCRT scholarship(Delhi) for classical music, hewas groomed by PanditYashwantbua Joshi.

A Sangeet Visharad andBachelor of Arts in MarathiLiterature and History, Omkarjoined ITC-SRA as a scholar inJuly 1999, receiving rigoroustalim under Pandit UlhasKashalkar. He completed histraining in June 2005 with anA+ grade. He also trained in thelight classical form underVidushi Girija Devi and SrinivasKhale.

Replacing Arshad Ali whocanceled the US tour

and celebrate their Guruji. Theevent was preceded by Panditji’s2-hour-long live radio interview,the previous evening, on the well-known Open Forum radio pro-gram catering to an audience ofover 26,000 listeners worldwide.

Panditji started the symbolicGuru Purnima taalim in a playfulmanner, challenging his studentsto identify the raga if possible,guess which parent structure it hasevolved from (known as a‘Thaat’) and the notes used in theraga by listening to a short seg-ment of a sitar rendition by the leg-endary Pandit Ravi Shankarji. Theraga was Jhinjhoti, Thaat Khamaj.The revered Guru then taught abandish in this raga in drut Teental(a moderately fast 16-beat cycle).This was followed by a short in-troduction to raga ‘AlhaiyaBilawal’. By this time, the room

was charged with a positive en-ergy that is quite impossible todescribe in words.

After a short break, the secondsession ensued with ‘AkhandGaayan’ (meaning unbroken sing-ing) as the core theme, as con-ceptualized by Panditji himself.Several groups of students tookturns to join their Guru on the stageto present a short repertoire.While they took their places onstage, Panditji, the remainder ofhis students as well as the audi-ence continued singing. The flowwas smooth and ‘akhand’ as it was

meant to be. The session endedwith Panditji leading his disciplesin a bhajan dedicated to all theGurus and Grand-Gurus of theMewati Gharana and to the great-est Guru of all, the Almighty.

The evening was graced by thepresence of Pramod Kulkarni,Editor in Chief of Indo AmericanNews Houston, his wife JyotiKulkarni as well as Govind Shettyof the Indian Music Society ofHouston.

In true Indian tradition, all dis-ciples received blessing fromPanditji and his wife, Guru-MaShashikalaji Ghosh. The eveningconcluded with a sumptuous din-ner catered by ‘Madras Pavilion’.

Heartiest felicitations to Panditjiand his Gurukul on embarking onanother year of complete commit-ment and dedication to the causeof Indian classical music. — BySucheta Roy

Saadhana Pariwar celebratesGuru Purnima

The evening comprised an innovative feature - Akhand Gaayan (continuoussinging) - wherein several groups of students joined Pandit Suman Ghoshto present a short repertoire.


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COMMUNITY NEWS

Indian Music Society of Houston &Tagore Society of Houston Joinlty Present

Sunday, Sept 21 @ 4 p.m. Jones Hall, Univ of St. Thomas

Ticket: $25For tickets: Govind 713-922-2501 • Suresh 281-935-4653Ruma Acharya 713-501-6300 • Biren Das Biswas: 281-917-1873Or Online www.tickets2events.com

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

Two Classical Solo Programs of Sarangi & Tabla

Pt Ramesh Mishraon Sarangi(First Half)

Pt Kumar Boseon Tabla(Second Half)

Be it contemporary orfive hundred year old tra-ditional Indian Kirtan mu-sic, KTRU – Rice radiocreates a mystical blendof Indian culture and pre-sents it to its eclectic mu-sic and art seeking audi-ence. KTRU’s specialtyshow director VarshaVakil’s dedication towardmusic and arts is appreci-ated and valued not onlyat KTRU but also by theartists and Houston’sSouth Asian community.

On August 23, the na-tionally reputed Kirtanband “The Mayapuris”rocked the Kirtan genreof Indian music at the ktrustudios. Besides playinglive music, artistsVisvambhar and KrishnaKishore indulged in aheartfelt conversation re-counting their childhood in-terests and allure towardsKirtan.

In an earlier show, “Thement. Avi, Avilash, Alani, Maitri, Medhavi discussed their roles as wellas their harmonious interaction with other artists in the play.

Being aware of the huge responsibility with the magnificent role hehad bagged, Nishant, who plays Mowgli, beamed with confidencethroughout his radio interaction. He attributed his immaculate actingskills to his school’s theatre experience.

Shunya Theatre’s versatile actor Jeff Dorman and the former ma-rine Alex Osburn shared a more profound perspective to the story“The Jungle Book” and its relevance to the real world making it perti-nent to the current times.

Ktru’s Navrang show host Varsha Vakil can be contacted viaemail to [email protected]. Listen to the Navrang show on Saturday10 am to noon online on ktru.org, 90.1FM HD2, iheartradio,iTunes, Tune-In, Droid and iphone apps.

Rice radio features eclectic musicians & artists

Jungle Book” artists, both adultand young, shared their theatricalexperience on Navrang. Youngartists from the play - Avi Vir(monkey), Avilash Bhongir (mon-key), Alani Forouzan (wolf), MaitriMisra (wolf), Medhavi Pat-wardhan (village woman) andNishant Kelkar (Mowgli) - madetheir debut appearance on radio.

Amidst giggles and laugh-out-loud moments the young artistscaptured anarchy as well as therelevance to a serene environ-


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Houston Youth Music Association - ‘Of the Youth, by the youth, forthe youth’ is the motto of this musically inspired youth group. Theirdream is to promote classical music and also to provide platform fortalented young musicians. They intend to engage the youth musicallyby conducting educative concerts and innovative workshops on a regu-lar basis.

The discipline of both Eastern and Western music culture would beimparted in their programs making ti exemplary. HYMA would alsogive back to community through service in hospitals, Old age homes,and teaching music to children in rural villages. Education and incorpo-ration of different genre of music is also looked into.

At HYMA, classical music is not just concerts & lectures, It iswhere learning, innovation and ideas begin’ - humbly say the teammembers. For more information, please visit www.hymausa.org

HYMA’s next grand event is a Classical Vocal Concert by the re-nowned Carnatic Vocalist, “Sangita Shiromani” Vidwan T.M.Krishna,from India. He will be accompanied by Vidwan Sri R. K. Shriramkumaron violin and Vidwan Sri K. Arun Prakash on Mridangam.

T. M. Krishna is one of the most acclaimed artistes in the field ofCarnatic music. His resonant and mellifluous voice and strict adher-ence to classicism have enriched his music performances. His musicis marked with a very high level of aesthetics in conception and execu-tion. He is known for his tremendous Manodharma (Imagination) andSampradaya (Traditional) Sangeetha (music). His complete involve-ment and his ability to unfold melodies with ease have left many alistener lost in his music.

(Vocal concert by Sri T. M. Krishna will be held on October 12at 4 p.m. in Stafford Civic Center- 1415 Constitution Ave, Stafford.Tickets can be purchased at www.tickets2events.com in advance).

HYMA’s eastern, western music concerts

By Sanchali BasuIt is that time of the year again

and the air is filled with sweet nos-talgic memories of sights, soundsand smells associated with theDurga Puja, all welcoming thegoddess in all her glory.

The Vedanta Society of GreaterHouston (VSGH), like every yearis getting ready to celebrate SriDurga Puja again this year onSaturday, September 27, 2014 atthe center at 14809 Lindita Drive,Houston, TX -77083.

The puja will be performed bySwami Kripamayananda, headminister of the Vedanta Society of

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VSGH gears up for Durga Puja celebration

Toronto, under the tent in the openair following the tradition in India.

It is always a very purifyingexperience watching theRamakrishna Mission swamis per-forming the Durga Puja since theyare carried out with unequaled sin-cerity and devotion. With theVSGH choir singing devotionalsongs as the puja is being con-ducted, the chanting of the man-tras by the pujari swami, the sooth-ing sound of the blowing of theconch shell (shankh) accompa-nied by the rhythmic beats of thedrum (dhaak), invoking all goodspirits and eliminating everything

negative, the goddess seems tocome alive. Arati is performed,followed by the Pushpanjali andall devotees gather in a spirit ofwell-being and camaraderie.

The idol of Ma Durga will becarried to the puja mandap earlyin the morning to the sounds of thedrumbeats and conch shells andinstalled there. The puja will startat 9:30 a.m. The worship will endwith Pushpanjali around 1 p.m. andfruit and lunch prasad for all at-tendees will be served after that.The VSGH book stall will havebooks available for sale for adultsand children, and the Welcomedesk will allow new members toregister and offer donations.

The VSGH cordially inviteseveryone to attend the day’s fes-tivities and making it a huge suc-cess. Swami Kripamayanandawill also be lecturing on “How toworship God” on Sunday Sept 28at 10:30 a.m. at the VSGH cen-ter. For further information, pleasevisit www.houstonvedanta.org

COMMUNITY NEWSINDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2014 • PAGE 7

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Serving Humanity is Service to GodSewa International in collaboration with Alief ISD provides: ASPIRE an after-school tutorial pro-gram & LINC to Success a mentor program. Both programs seek to engage recent immigrant and ref-ugee high school students at a social and academic

level in order to empower students to advocate for their own best interest. Sewa is actively seeking committed and compassionate vol-unteer tutors and bilingual mentors. Please contact [email protected] or call (713)854-0899 to find out how to become a volunteer.

Dr. L .K. Maheshwari, former vice chancellor, BITS, Pilani with Krishna Vavilala.

Birla Institute of Technol-ogy & Science Alumni Asso-ciation, Houston Chapter met at Udipi Restaurant,Sugar Land, recently to celebrate its second anniversary coinciding with the BITSians’ day, which is annu-ally celebrated on first Friday in August, by 40,000 plus BITS alumni all over the world.

The high light of the event was the presence of a recent graduate from BITS, Pilani--Dubai campus, which happens to be the only overseas engineer-ing college wholly administered and run by an institution located in India. .

It was a nostalgic and wist-ful reunion for all the members who shared their life-changing experiences during their under-graduate student life at all four campuses of BITS. BITSians from 1954 batch to 2009, along with their families, reunite for the event.

BITSians have broken the stereotypical image of engineers and have become successful in non-traditional fields such as film making, music composition and book writing. Several have become successful entrepre-neurs in Silcon Valley.

Prof. L K Maheswari, the guest of honor for the evening had just retired from BITS, Pi-lani after serving the institute for more tha 40 years.

Dinkar Nandwana, of batch 2007, had ably put together and emceed the program.

Krishna Vavilala, a native Houstonian and the senior most alumni of Pilani from batch 1954, presented Prof. L K Ma-heswari with a memento thank-ing him for the services rendered to BITS, Pilani.

Maheswari, after receiving his Ph.D in Electronics from Pilani, has joined the Institu-tion in 1971 and served as Vice chancellor of BITS till 2010 and then as an Advisor till July 2014. Prof. Maheswari shared some of his most memorable and chal-lenging experiences during the expansion of BITS from a single campus at Pilani to four cam-puses increasing the college en-rollment four-folds.

With great sense of pride he mentioned that BITS manage-ment was approached by Gov-ernment of Andhra Pradesh and Dubai to set up its branch in Hy-derabad and Dubai respectively. He affirmatively stated that BITS stands out from most of the Indian colleges as it admits students solely on merit and not based on quotas or reservations. He also shared the challenges faced by BITS management and his role in introducing the All-India Entrance Examination, called BITS Admission Test (BITSAT) for admitting students in its undergraduate program.

Maheshwari announced that BITSAT has set a gold standard among all other competitive exams in the country. For more info. about BITSAA Houston Cahpter, contact Krishna Vavila-la @ 713-795-5169 or Dinkar Nandwana @ 217-974-0623.

BITS alumni meet in Houston


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or call for info.(713) 665-4665

Chandra & David Courtney Tabla and Vocal

Classes in Houston,Mission Bend,& Sugar Land

Visit www.chandrakantha.com

Classesnow ongoing

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

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

Navaratri at SRKTFri., Sept 26 @ 7:30 p.m.Nav Ratri celebration at Shri

Radha Krishna Temple, 11625Beechnut Street. Mata ji KiChauki from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Akhand Ramayan Path start-ing on Sat., Sept 27, at 4 p.m. end-ing at 7 p.m. on Sept 28. Prasaadwill be served after program.

For further information calltemple at 281-933-8100 or visitwww.SRKT.Org.

Walk for PeaceSat., Oct 4 @ 5:45 p.m.

Mahatma Gandhi LibraryHouston hosts 9th annual 5K WalkFor Peace. The will start from TheJones Plaza, 600 Louisiana, Hous-ton, TX 77002. It will pass byWortham Center and descend intoscenic Sabine Promenade alongBuffalo Bayou. The GrandMarshall is Mrs. Sonal Bhuchar,former President of Fort Bend In-dependent School District.

The walk celebrates the 145th

birth anniversary of MahatmaGandhi. For more information andregistration for the Walk ForPeace visit www.gandhilibrary.org

Muslim spelling beeThe World’s First Muslim Spell-

ing Bee competition 2014 will beheld at 11 regional locations acrossUSA and the finals will be held inHouston, Texas. To register, visithttps://muslimspellingbee.com/Register.aspx

New reduced registration feeis $30. Free registration for Zakateligible students with Masjid/Is-lamic School eligibility certificate.

COMMUNITY CALENDARArya Samaj Satsang

Weekly Havan Satsang everySunday from 10 a.m. to 12 noon.DAV Sanskriti School Sundays 10a.m. to 12 noon. - Havan, Hindiand Naitik Shiksha classes. DAVMontessori School for ages 2 to 7years. Call Arti Khanna 281-759-3286. Free Yoga classes on Sat.Sanskrit & Upanishad classes Tue.6-8 p.m. At 14375 Schiller Rd. (betWestpark & Bellaire off Hwy 6).281-752-0100.

Chinmaya MissionSunday satsangs for adults,

youth, and children. A unique BalaVihar program for each grade,from PreK to Grade 12. Satsangsin two sessions between 8:35 a.m.- 10:15 a.m. and 11:20 a.m. -1p.m. Bala Vihar students cantake shloka, bhajan and orchestraclasses or language classes forHindi, Telugu, Marathi, andGujarati. Located at ChinmayaPrabha, 10353 Synott Road, SugarLand, TX 77498. New membersmay visit the welcome desk be-tween 8 a.m. - 8:45 a.m. or 10:15a.m.-11:30 a.m. Visit www.chinmayahouston.org or call BharatiSutaria 281.933.0233.

Vedanta SocietyVedanta Society of Greater

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

Durga Bari TempleDurga Bari temple is open from

9 to 11 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. Mon.thru Sat. Sandhya aarti at 6:30p.m. Temple closes at 7 p.m. Sun-day special from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.Puja services - Priest BishnupadaGoswami 281-597-8100 Temple

is located at 13944 Schiller Rd (offHwy 6 bet. Bellaire & Westpark).Call Ganesh Mandal at 713-797-9057 / 832-423-8541.

Telugu FellowshipTelugu Christian Fellowship

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

Sahaj Marg MeditationSahaj Marg (Natural Path)

Meditation and Spirituality (www.sahajmarg.org) A natural, simplesystem of Raja Yoga meditationand spiritual practice. Weeklysatsangs in Houston area. EmailRadheshyam Miryala at meditate_houston@yahoo. com ormeditate.galveston @gmail.com.

Heritage ClassesAshirwad’s Heritage Classes in

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

Hare Krishna DhamHouston’s original Vedic temple,

ISKCON of Houston. At 1320 W34th St. (77018). Daily Darshan& Arati Times: 4.30am, 7am,8.30am, 12noon, 4.30pm, 7pm,9pm. Sunday Festival: 5.30 pm to7.30 pm. Weekly Gita classes foradults; call 281-433-1635 orharekrishnadham @gmail.com

Gandhi LibraryMahatma Gandhi Library Book

Club: Meets 2nd Sunday of eachmonth; 12:30 PM at Arya SamajGreater Houston, 13475 SchillerRd. Join the discussion of the greatman’s autobiography – The Storyof My Experiments with Truth.Call Manish Wani 713-829-6979.

Saumyakasi SivalayaSri Saumyakasi Sivalaya is lo-

cated at Chinmaya Prabha, 10353Synott Road, Sugar Land, TX77478. Temple timings: Monday toFriday: 9:00 AM - 12:00 Noon and5:00 - 8:00 PM Saturday and Sun-day: 8:30-2:00 PM and 5:00 - 8:00PM. Contact Bharti Sutaria 281-568-1690 or Jay Deshmukh 832-541-0059 or visit www.saumyakasi.org.

Veerashaiva SamajaVSNA Houston is a group of

families who believe in Veera-shaiva dharma (Basava dharma).Monthly Mahamane program forprayer and discussion on VachanaSahitya followed by Prasada. Con-tact: [email protected] orJagadeesh Halyal 832-744-4166.

Shiv Shakti MandirSanatan Shiv Shakti Mandir,

6640 Harwin. Open daily 7 a.m.to 8 p.m. All major festivals, as wellas birthdays, naam karan, engage-ment and other ceremonies. CallPandit Virat Mehta 713-278-9099or Hardik Raval 361-243-6539 forpuja or other ceremonies.

Open Forum Radio ProgramKGOL 1480 AM • Saturdays 4 to 6 p.m.Informative programs with doctors, lawyers,politicians and other newsmakers.Call 713-784-1480

Where Your Opinion Counts

SALES HELP WANTEDWell-known Houston jewelry store is looking forsaleswomen availabe to start immediately. Must be ableto speak English and Hindi well. Call 713-789-7575

Sri Lankan Minister Nanayakkarato speak at Asia Society

At the invitation of the Asia SocietyTexas Center, Sri-Lankan Minister of Na-tional Languages and Social Integration,Vasudeva Nanayakkara, will speak onRoad Map to Healing and Reconcilia-tion in Sri Lanka, at the Asia SocietyTexas Center at 7:00 pm on Wednesday,October 8. Dr. Bandula Wijay, the Honor-ary Consul General for Sri Lanka in Texas,is hosting the minister during his visit. Thespeech will be followed by a Q&A sessionfrom the audience, moderated by George R. Willy, a prominentimmigration attorney and a Sri Lankan Tamil American living inHouston. The free event will be open to the public.

Minister Nanayakkara is a senior cabinet member of the SriLankan government and a close friend of the Sri Lankan Presi-dent Mahinda Rajapakse. The two of them have travelled a longpolitical road together as soul mates. Nanayakkara earned hisLLB from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, and practicedlaw until he dedicated his life to politics in mid-1970s. Nanayakkarastarted his political career in the 1950s as an active member ofthe Samasamaja Youth Movement and soon became its leader. In1970 he entered Parliament for the first time and has since beenelected to Parliament several times. He is an uncompromisingchampion of the rights of minorities. He has been beaten, jailedand forced underground for his political activism. His activism,compassion and fearless honesty have won the hearts of theworking class and minority communities.

For more information on the event, visit the Asia Society’swebsite http://asiasociety.org/texas

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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AHMEDABAD: On the firstday of Chinese President XiJinping’s visit to Gujarat, threeMemorandums of Understanding(MoUs) were signed betweenChina and the state, in the pres-ence of Prime Minister NarendraModi.

The first MoU was signed be-tween the government of Gujaratand Guangdong Province in SouthChina. The second MoU is for atwin-city project between ofGuangzhou, capital of Guangdong

and the Ahmedabad MunicipalCorporation. The third one wassigned between the China Devel-opment Bank and iNDEXTb (In-dustrial Extension Bureau) – aState government body for facili-tating investments.

The MoUs are aimed at shar-ing governance experiences, build-ing industrial park and other initia-tives in the area of trade and co-operation.

Besides Modi and Xi, ChiefMinister Anandi Patel and her

Cabinet colleagues,members of Chinesedelegation and severaltop businessmen fromthe state were presentat the event.

Modi showcasedcrafts of Surat, Kutchand other parts ofGujarat to ChinesePresident Xi Jinpingand gifts Dandi Marchportrait to the ChinesePresident.

Modi told PresidentXi that the two nationsshould work in an at-mosphere of coopera-tion and give-and-take.

Chinese president and first ladymingled with tribal dancers onSabarmati riverfront.

Xi Jinping arrived inAhmedabad on Wednesday af-ternoon on the first leg of histhree-day India visit during whichtrade and investment topped theagenda of talks.

Xi is leading a high-powereddelegation.

In a first, Modi received theChinese President in Ahmedabadafter which the two sides inkedagreements related to the region.

A red carpet welcome andGujarati culture and cuisine waspresented to Xi during his six-hourvisit to the State.

Modi, who arrived inAhmedabd on Tuesday, said vis-iting heads of states should travelbeyond New Delhi and seesmaller towns to understand thecountry’s diversity better.

This was Modi’s first visit toGujarat after becoming PrimeMinister.

While in Ahmedabad, Xi visitedMahatma Gandhi’s SabarmatiAshram and spent some timethere along with Modi, who laterhosted a private dinner for the Chi-

nese President at the Sabarmati Riverfront Park.The day also marked Modi’s 64th birthday.The Sabarmati riverfront is a pet project of Modi, who as Gujarat

Chief Minister developed it on the line of the Thames river of London.Several international mega events like kite festival, and Navratri

festival were organized at the riverfront.As many as 150 Gujarati dishes were on the menu for the dinner,

that was prepared by a team of expert chefs from different parts ofGujarat and the Taj Hotel team from Mumbai and Delhi.

Modi’s personal cook, Badri, supervised the food preparation.In the evening, the two leaders left for Delhi.On Thursday, Modi and Xi will hold talks at Hyderabad House

which will be followed by the inking of several agreements, includingon infrastructure and railways, between the two sides.

Among the accords expected to be signed during Xi’s visit here is asister city agreement between Ahmedabad and China’s developedGuangdong province.

Gujarat rolls out red carpet for Chinese President

Prime MinisterNarendra Modi with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Ahmedabad

Seat sharing: Sena won’t budgeMUMBAI: In a bid to resolve the seat-sharing issue between the

Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena for the October 15 elec-tions in Maharashtra, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday metMaharashtra BJP leaders who flew down to Delhi from Mumbai.

“The talks are inconclusive. We are trying to resolve the issue.Today’s [Tuesday’s] discussion is critical. We are looking at seats thatthe Shiv Sena and the BJP have never won,” said State BJP presidentDevendra Fadnavis.

Among others who attended the meeting were MLC Vinod Tawde,Sudhir Mungantiwar, former BJP State president, and Ravinder Bhusari,organising secretary.

The by-poll results have emboldened the Shiv Sena which has hard-ened its stance against its ally the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP)demand for an equal share of seats for the assembly polls.

“The BJP should learn a lesson from the results. It needs to keep itsfeet on the ground. Their leaders should think about whose wave thereis. If there is a wave, then the Shiv Sena has also played a role in it,”Shiv Sena MLC Ramdas Kadam told The Hindu.

In a show of strength, party chief Uddhav Thackeray has called ameeting of senior leaders and district heads in Mumbai on September19. Shiv Sena leaders say the results prove its stand that the allianceneeds to stick to its 2009 seat-sharing formula of 119 seats to the BJPand 169 to the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra.

The Shiv Sena has traditionally been the Big Brother in the alliancebut the BJP has been pushing for a larger chunk of seats after itsspectacular showing in the Lok Sabha polls.

In a dig at the BJP, a senior Shiv Sena leader said, “These resultsemphasise the importance of regional players. Perhaps we need toreturn to the seat-sharing formula of 1990 where the Shiv Sena had183 seats and the BJP got only 105 seats.”

Seat-sharing talks between the allies came to a halt after the BJPproposed an equal share of 135 seats for itself and the Shiv Sena. Itsuggested that the remaining 18 seats be divided between smallerallies. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray rejected the demand out-right.

Meanwhile BJP leaders within Maharashtra are trying to downplaythe by-polls results. “These are local results, limited to those constitu-encies. They do not impact the entire country,” said BJP spokesper-son Madhav Bhandari. He also pointed out, “All these by-polls werefrom outside Maharashtra. The picture in the state favours us.”

When asked about the status of seat-sharing within the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance he said, “Our party president Amit Shah is coming toMumbai on Wednesday, so senior leaders will take a decision on this.”


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Dharma is formless. It ac-quires its form through the various methods of worship. Dharma is soul while the meth-od of worship is body.

— Acharya Tulsi

This beautiful quote by Acharya Tulsi truly depicts using body as a means of wor-ship to do Dharma. Blood is that fragile blossoming tree we all carry within us, which makes blood donation among the highest service one can render to humanity.

On the occasion of Acharya Tulsi’s birth centennial cel-ebration, JVB Preksha Medita-tion Center on Saturday, Sep-tember 6, embarked, a mega blood donation & bone marrow registration drive in coopera-tion with Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. that saw many commu-nity members line up for this noble cause.

The center was equipped with all technical requirements to render the process a huge success.

This campaign took place simultaneously in 700 camps in 300 cities worldwide. Total units collected worldwide were 100,000+, which created a new record for Guinness Book of World Records for maximum donation by an organization on a single day.

More updates are available on global event website -http://www.abtypmbdd.com/

The campaign envisioned

JVB’s pioneering role in serv-ing the local community and in meeting its needs.

The entire effort was meant to encourage Houston Com-munity to meet their responsi-bilities as good citizens and to be active participants in the ac-tivities, especially those of hu-manitarian and social nature.

The program received im-mense support from local community. About 65+ people came to donate and 44 were able to successfully donate blood.

There were approx. 20 reg-istrations for Bone Marrow drive. Lunch, fruits and juice was served for the entire time.

The JVB Preksha Medita-tion Center conducts regular Preksha Meditation sessions which is the practice of purify-ing our emotions, conscious-ness and realizing our own self. Mediation augurs attitudi-nal change, behavioral modifi -cation and integrated develop-ment of one’s personality.

Started in 1970, Preksha Meditation is the result of the untiring efforts of Ganadhipati Tulsi and Acharya Mahapra-gya.

Preksha Meditation is for everyone, irrespective of his or her race, religion, language, color, gender and belief.

For more info, visit www.Jvbhouston.org or [email protected] or call 281-596-9642.

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JVB participates in record blood donation drive

• INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2014 • PAGE 11


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“The whole world is watching Modi after his decisive victory and we are excited to hear his plans,” said India House

President Jugal Malani who will be traveling to New York to attend the community reception and other meetings.

Some 20,000 people are expected to take part in the community reception at Madison Square Garden, one of the world’s most famous indoor arena, located in midtown Manhattan. The tickets of the reception, which is free of charge, were booked early and the remaining seats had to be allocated to winners of a lottery from among thousands of applicants.

The Houstonians who are not able to go to New York will be watching Prime Minister Modi’s speech live at India House. The program is jointly sponsored by India House Inc. and the India Culture Center-Houston.

Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to arrive in New York on September 27 for the annual session of the UN General Assembly. He will travel to Washington on September 29 where the US Administration is gearing up for a red carpet reception. Obama is expected to host a small working dinner for him on September 29, rarely given to a visiting foreign leader. The two leaders will then meet for substantive talks on September 30 at the White House.

As many as 26 meetings are reportedly planned for the prime minister during the three-day visit.

Miss America Nina Davuluri, the fi rst person of Indian origin to win the crown and popular news anchor Hari Sreenivasan will be the hosts at the community reception, organized by the Indo-American Community Foundation which has been formed recently to bring together the Indo-American organizations across the United States.

Sugar Land City Council member Harish Jajoo described Prime Minister Modi’s visit as historic. “For fi rst time there is a renewed optimism of hope and opportunity in India under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi. As an Indo- American, I am very excited to travel to New York and be part of this historic event on September 28. I cannot wait to feel the energy inside Madison Square Garden that morning.”

Stafford City Council member Ken Mathew praised the development work Modi had done in Gujarat while he was the state’s chief minister. “We need this kind of leadership in India for the development of the country.” Mathew regretted the years India had missed in development by keeping its doors closed to foreign investments while China profi ted from it.

Developing closer relations with the United States, hurt recently by a diplomatic row over Devyani Khobragade affair, is considered crucial for India as the US is the largest customer base for its burgeoning software industry with over $40 billion in exports. Moreover, India-US cooperation on global issues can help in meeting the challenges.

“The US can play a very meaningful role in India’s development agenda which would be mutually benefi cial,” Ramesh Bhutada said. “Also, India and the US can fi nd a common ground to work together to fi ght the menace of terrorism that exists at the global level.”

Jugal Malani said “Prime Minister Modi’s visit will take the India-US relations to the next level as it is imperative for the world’s largest democracy and the world’s oldest democracy to work together to meet new global challenges.”

Neeta Mehta , a senior citizen, expressed confi dence that the visit would result in concrete action to develop the relations and was eager to hear the results of the meetings and the prime minister’s plans. She will watch th eprime minister speech live at India House along with other community members.

The younger generation is equally enthusiastic.“I’m really looking forward to hearing Prime Minister Modi

speak, said Kavita Pallod, a youth leader who will be going to New York with her family. “ I’ve been really impressed thus far by what he has been prioritizing, such as hygiene and sanitation and women’s empowerment through holding men accountable. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to hear his next call to action in person.”

Latafth Hussain, President of Indian Muslims Association of Greater Houston, thinks that Prime Minister Modi is in a unique position to get maximum benefi ts for India during the visit.

“Mr. Modi is a very pragmatist prime minister, so I believe he will leverage the personal insults of the past to get maximum concession from the US for India’s benefi t. The developing situation in Ukraine, Middle East and Pakistan, (ISIS, Al Qaida and LeT) has also forced the US to rely more on India for its own foreign policy goals. In such a scenario, Modi will be very fi rm in what he needs for India’s benefi t,” he said.

Hussain is impressed by the enthusiasm shown by NRIs during the Modi election campaign. “I have been in the US for 30 plus years but I have never seen the NRI get so emotionally involved with Indian politics. The number of Indo-Americans that traveled to India for canvassing, contributed money, energy, and time, both here and in India, has been an eye opener.”

MODIFrom Page 1


The fi rst ever Mrs. & Mr. Bol-lywood Houston pageant orga-nized by Ruchika Dias, Founder and CEO of Bollywood Shake & sponsored by Amiralli Dodhiya (Amir) of New York Life Insur-ance company, was held on Satur-day, Sept 6, at the Hilton Ameri-cas in downtown Houston. The event delivered all it promised

Shake and an appearance by Bol-lywood actress Raveena Tandon! Bollywood Shake thanked all its

sponsors, volunteers and Hous-ton for making this event pos-sible! The next Bollywood Shake pageant event - the Miss Bol-lywood pageant will be held in March 2015.

and more! The Houston crowd came out

in big numbers elegantly dressed for a memorable evening of fun and entertainment.

The event was also featured on ABC 13, Fox 26 Houston and TV-Asia! The evening included a per-formance by Mauli Dave, dance performances by Bollywood

Amiralli Dodhiya (Amir) of New York Life Insurance company, and Bolly-wood star Raveena Tandon applaud the contestants of the Mrs. Bollywood Pageant in Houston on Sept 6. Amir was a major sponsor of the Mrs. Bol-lywood Pageant where Raveena was the chief guest.

The fi rst look of Indra Kumar’s upcoming fi lm Super Nani is out. The fi lm marks the comeback of Rekha after a gap of seven years. She was last featured in Gautam Ghose’s Yatra.

In the picture shared on Twitter, Rekha strikes a pose Nargis made immortal in Mother India, just that she’s holding a mop instead of the iconic plough. Rekha looks as effervescent as she has always been and she will be one of the bigger attractions of the fi lm. Sharman Joshi, Shweta Kumar, Randhir Kapoor and Anupam Kher are Re-kha’s costar.

Super Nani is slated to hit theatres this Diwali, clashing with the Shah Rukh Khan-Deepika Padukone’s Happy New Year.

Live Coverage in Houston of New York Community Reception for The Honorable Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi

Sunday, Sept 28, 2014 • 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.At India House, 8888 West Bellfort, Houston, TX 77031

Sponsored by India House and India Culture CenterLight refreshments will be served • For more information contact [email protected] or 713-929-1900

Raveena is chief guest at pageant


REVIEW/PREVIEWFinding Fanny: A whimsical ride

MUSINGS By GadflyThe many pleasures of being bi-cultural

Culturally, I am part first- partsecond-generation Indian. Asmuch of a Hindi film/Indian clas-sical music buff that I am, West-ern/American theater, movies, lit-erature, music AND stand-upcomedy equally interest and en-tertain me. Ever since I startedreading books, I enjoyed comedyof almost all kind, both intelligentand playful comedy from Marathiwritings of R.G. Gadkari (writing),P.K. Atre followed by stand-upcomedies of Atre (speeches), P.L.Deshpande (speeches, one-manshows, writings to English authorslike Oscar Wilde and evenSomerset Maugham who is notknown for humour. His humourwas more tongue-in-cheek. Theonly humour that escaped me wasthat of PG Woodhouse. I triedreading PG in different decades.No go.

In Hindi films, it started withJohnny Walker and extended tothe subtle and not-so-subtle com-edies of Mukri, Agha, OmPrakash, Sunder to be topped bythe big bang of Mehmood, the bestHindi film comedian who com-bined subtleness with a smidgenof vulgarity and a heap of intelli-gence.

Thankfully what some per-formers did with their hands ontheir crouch, Mehmood did withhis tongue and a silent mouth mak-ing appropriately funny faces. Vul-gar comedy without vulgar wordsor gestures requires intelligence.

There was no stand-up com-edy in Mumbai’s (or India’s) nightclubs right up to1970s, only caba-ret.

Once I landed in the ‘land ofthe free’, there was no dearth ofvulgar comedians outside ofbroadcast TV. Cable became thehome of vulgarities. The morevulgar they got, the less funny theysounded.

In comedy, sparse use of pro-fanities is more effective than agenerous spread of the F-word.A discordant note in a composi-tion can embellish only a harmo-nious composition, not a discordantone. All discordant notes onlymake a besuri tune.

Comedians like Lenny Bruce,Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphyandothers starting from the sexualrevolution of the 1960s thrived onthe F-words. They succeededdespite the F-word, not becauseof it.

Johnny Carson, Jay Leno andDavid Letterman (and before thatSid Caesar, Bob Hope, Jack Paar)and above all, Bill Cosby didn’tneed ‘fu’lgarities to become iconsof comedy because of their com-mon sense material.

After all, a G-rated or PG-ratedmovie is more inclusive than anX-rated one. Comedians clean uptheir act when they perform @the Kennedy Center and they’revery funny. You don’t need ‘all-the-vulgarity, all-the-time’ to befunny.

Case in point: A poet wrote aletter to a critic who had brutallypanned the poet’s latest work.‘I’m sitting in the smallest roomin the house. Your review is in frontof me. In a few moments, it willbe behind me.’ No vulgarity but

the dirty picture is quite clear.I’m not a prude but within 5

minutes of vulgarities, they be-come jarring.

John Oliver who has made aprofession of political satire is oneof the few today who knows howto use a profanity - sparingly. BillMaher is another one. And thereare many like them.

Anyway, just as I am bi-cul-tural (best of both the worlds), I’vealso had (to my surprise) manyincarnations in this one life. I writeabout comedy because manymoons ago, I lived close to thefamed Comedy Store on the leg-endary Sunset Boulevard in LosAngeles.

My curiosity has taken me tomany places, some dangerousunbeknownst to me at the time.Sunset Boulevard couldda beenone of them, if I was into drugs. Inever was. I had heard that theComedy Store had open-mike –another name for amateur –nights on Mondays.

You had to be in the line out-side to register @ 7 pm for a spotat performing in front of a liveaudience starting 8pm. This wasaround July 1983. I got an 8:10 or8:20 pm spot for 3-5 minutes. Inoticed the rest of the ‘amateurs’were aspiring comedians.

I was the only one there justfor the fun of it, to experiencewhat it feels like (fear?) to be onstage in front of a mike and manystrangers saying ‘make us laugh’.I didn’t care whether I was a hitor a flop. That’s when you gener-ally succeed and I did. I got manycompliments and a gig on someWestinghouse Show. I ignored thecompliments because I was notinterested in that career and theWestinghouse Show taping waslike a pilot show cancelled beforethe ‘air’ date. End of a non-ca-reer.

Almost a year later, I decidedto go back just to see how it feelsto re-visit a ‘strange’ place that isnot so-strange any more. I gotthere around 7pm when I foundout that once you’ve performedthere earlier, on your second andsubsequent visits, you get a latenight spot. I got 1:30am. With al-most six hours to kill. I returnedhome, set the alarm for 1am andpromptly went to sleep. That’s hownervous I was….NOT.

On getting back by 1:15am, Ifound, as expected, that my turnmight be after 2 or 2:15am. Thenaround 1:40, I was told, I’d be next.And just then….would you believe….they had a surprise guest, noth-ing unexpected. Most establishedcomedians like to try their newmaterial on fresh audiences. Onlythis time the surprise guest wasmy first and last encounter withthe late, great legendary comedy-genius of all times, that double-fastsupersonic train called Robin Wil-liams.

With the exceptions of KishoreKumar Night and Asha BhosleNight (both in New York), I havenot attended live shows of anyother entertainers in America. Mymany rib-splitting, eyes-tearingexperiences of Robin’s comedycame via television. I knew whatan unusual comedian he was.

Every encounter was a roller-coaster comedy – very intelligentcomedy. It convinced me that hecould never be that good again.And yet, every time I saw him, hesurpassed himself - fresh mate-rial, new references of amazinglyvaried contexts from pop-cultureto current events. I have heard weshould compete with ourselves toget better instead of competingwith others which will get us no-where or only get us headaches.

Robin Williams was so wiredthat perhaps he didn’t even thinkabout competing, perhaps becausethat fire within him was uncon-trollable. Legendary comediansWhoopie Goldberg and BillyCrystal were lucky to have beenso close to Robin Williams. Oh,so lucky!

That night @ the Comedy Storeon Sunset Boulevard, I did notenter Robin Williams’ orbit HEentered MY orbit…oh, so..briefly.From within 20-feet distance, hewent on for about 20-30 minutes.It couldda been one hour…timetravels at the speed of light whenyou’re at a live performance ofRobin Williams.

And I was lucky, sitting therelistening to Robin Williams live. Idon’t remember much of his rou-tine that night except that he keptpicking on the lone Black guy inthe audience. All his jokes werearrows, no slings or stings. As al-ways, he teetered on the edges ofvulgarities and racial jokes but oh,how he came back from thoseedges.

The Black guy was in splits.Soon Robin was gone. My turnwas next. ‘Are you kidding? Noway,’ I said and so did the remain-ing aspirants. What comedian/newould follow Robin Williams? Theshow ended there. I don’t remem-ber what followed. After RobinWilliams, everything was a blur,long after I drove home. I didn’teven stop for a drink and com-miserate with other performers. Iwas too excited with my darshanof Robin Williams in action.

Nothing prepared me for thatexperience. Mehmood, PLDeshpande, Atre….all others Ihad heard couldn’t have preparedme for the comedy that wasfaster than the speed of light.

Like the years before and theyears that followed, Robin Will-iams was too much of a geniuscomedian for others to follow ev-erything he said in his act - hisjumping from subject to subject,reference to reference inter-spersed with even more gestures,none vulgar and none of which itwas possible to keep up with.

Genius has become a clichédterm in today’s paparazzi culture.Yet, the true definition of a geniusis this: It is something that defiesdefinition, explanation et al. The20th century had its geniuses likeTilak, Einstein, Tagore,Ramanujam, PK Atre to name afew. Robin Williams wascomedy’s improvisational geniusof the 20th century who crossedover to the 21st century and hasnow crossed over to take his placeas God’s Vidooshak. — Send re-sponses to [email protected]

Cast: DeepikaPadukone, ArjunKapoor, DimpleKapadia, Naseer-uddin Shah, PankajKapoor. Director:Homi Adajania

They all cram insidethe rundown car, all ofthem. Just like in thefilm. So when they setout for a road trip to-gether to ‘Find Fanny’,it turns out to be a life-changing decision foreveryone.

The trip becomes asymbol of the journeythey’re taking within.Just like the road trip isincomplete withouteach one, so is theirinner journey where everyone ends up playing a pivotal part in theother’s life.

And so, in the sleepy Goan village, Angie’s (Deepika Padukone)voice-over introduces us to all the characters. She lives with hermother-in-law Roselina (Dimple Kapadia), both “lonely widows” asshe puts it. Her best friend is Ferdie (Naseeruddin Shah), the maleversion of a drama queen, and the postmaster of the village where noone writes letters. Their unlikely friendship has her playing the role ofthe older, wiser soul even when he pops in the middle of the night toreplay a weird dream.

Now he’s facing a crisis. He has been unmarried all his life, rumi-nating over his one true love Fanny. But one day, after 46 years, theletter he wrote to her proposing marriage comes returned. He alwaysthought she had rejected him, but now it turns out the letter neverreached her. “What life is this?” he asks, morosely. “Do you want todie without confessing your love to her,” asks Angie wisely, egginghim on to seek out Fanny. “No”… he says …“I don’t want to die.”

This kind of acerbic, caustic humour runs throughout the film andproves to be a constant source of delight. It also defines Ferdie’s char-acter perfectly as the simpleton always a bit far away from reality.

Soon enough, the rundown car, being serviced by Savio (ArjunKapoor) is groaning under the weight of five unlikely road trip com-panions.

Savio, Angie, Ferdie, Roselina with her cat, and Don Pedro— thenew painter in town. The mission is Finding Fanny, but it’s been fourdecades, and they start with her old home address. Deepika’s charac-ter is as steely as it is soft-hearted; both assertive and a pushover.She’s the kind of person who often runs the show, while letting otherpeople think they’re in charge.

And Deepika brings out all the colours of her very real, complexcharacter beautifully. This is an expert performance worth savouring!

This is Naseeruddin Shah’s most accomplished act in recent times,and you can tell the delight with which the actor has explored the role.

Dimple Kapadia as the control-freak mother-in-law, is incredulouslyfunny. Note the scene where a young man hopes to be set up with abeautiful girl and she gives him the onceover with a caustic, “I can’tdo magic.”

Pankaj Kapur plays the larger-than-life, self-serious painter mas-terfully, with just the right amount of over-the-top nuance. Arjun Kapooris impressive as the repressed lover, who seems directionless for themost part. Co-writer and director Homi Adajania has redeemed him-self after the awful Cocktail. All this with a sprinkling of some deli-ciously wicked humor. This little, big film is all heart. Don’t miss it!

Creature 3D:Cast: Bipasha Basu, Imran Abbas NaqviFrom beginning to end, the film is a cauldron of horror/thriller clichés.Ayana (Bipasha Basu) has just opened a boutique hotel surrounded

by the forest. She has hired the cleaning and cooking staff but nosecurity in the case of a wild animal attack.

She goes about organizing the hotel’s inauguration party to elevatormusic-inspired background score. Pretty boy Kunal (Imran AbbasNaqvi) waltzes in for the schmaltzy romance track.

Soon enough we meet the Creature in 3D. We’re cautiously shownparts of it— the swinging lizard-like tail, the reptilian scales on theback, the man-like structure, and finally the face. Which is where itdisappoints. The Creature –the most important character in the film—just doesn’t have the “look” and heft to carry off the lead villain’s role.Especially when it comes to its sound, which is more a sore-throatedshout, than an impressive roar.

The special effects are pretty good, so you see the creature breathe,chase, jump, and throw its claws at you with full 3D effect. But then itbares its blunt teeth to the camera for the umpteenth time, and makesthat standard sound, irrespective of what emotion it’s going though.

Bipasha Basu is quite good in the film, and has a meaty character toplay. Basu’s Ahana is an interestingly fleshed-out character that learnsto fight out problems instead of taking an escape route.


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CHEF’S CORNERThe Story of Mahatma Gandhi - XIII

Gandhi Jayanti 2014Gandhi Jayanti, cel-

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

During the latter part of1920 Gandhi advocated a tripleboycott. He wanted an absoluteboycott of the Government andall government institutions, in-cluding schools, colleges, andcourts. If the people were freeof these they could easily havetheir own schools, colleges, andcourts, and the power of theBritish would collapse at once.There was much laughter andridicule from the moderates andthe supporters of British rule.But Gandhi paid no attention.Now read on:

Gandhi’s activities made theBritish government panicky. Theyissued a warning that anyone whooverstepped the bounds of lawwould be arrested and imprisoned.Gandhi thought that this warningwas a victory for the campaign.He issued instructions which thepeople were to follow if he werearrested. On December 26, theCongress session was held inNagpur. Though there were signsof opposition to Gandhi’s policies,his resolution was passed with anoverwhelming majority.

The adoption of the new pro-gram at Nagpur was the signal tostart the mass movement. Gandhifelt that the complete boycott ofall government organizationswould give a chance to the Con-gress to set up a parallel organi-zation, a State within a Statewhich would lead India to Swaraj.The Duke of Connaught was sentto India in 1921 to try to pacifythe Indians. He came to open thefour legislatures in the countrywhich had been introduced as aresult of the reforms announcedby the King.

His coming and going passedoff without any material changein the attitude of Indians towardsBritain. Gandhi travelled far andwide, propagating the ideals ofnonviolence and noncooperation.Day by day the Indians were get-ting more and more excited overcarrying out Gandhi’s program.Many students left their institu-tions, many officers resigned theirposts. The boycott movementgained momentum. As thepeople’s morale grew, the moraleof the government went down.Repression started.

Gandhi advised the people tohave patience, and he insisted onnonviolence. He saw the weak-nesses of Indians and he urgedthem to improve. He wanted so-cial reforms and constructivework to be intensively followed.It was announced that the Princeof Wales was to visit India. Func-tions were arranged at manyplaces to enable him to meet hisloyal subjects. Gandhi was indig-nant when he read the announce-ment in the newspapers.

“Do the British think we arechildren?” he said. “Do they be-lieve that parades for the Princewill make us forget atrocities inthe Punjab or the perpetual delayin granting us Home Rule?” OnGandhi’s advice the Congress de-clared that all parades, receptions,and celebrations in honor of thePrince were to be strictly boy-cotted. “We have no grudgeagainst His Royal Highness the

Boycott of visit, programs of Prince of Wales

Prince of Wales,” said Gandhi,“but our ideas are against him asa symbol of oppression. We canshow the world that such nonco-operation is just the reverse of theEuropean doctrine of the sword.Let us act in accordance with theholy prophets of old. Noncoopera-tion without violence is the battleof the brave.”

Fearing that there would be dis-order when the Prince of Walesvisited various places, the govern-ment began severe acts of sup-pression. Thousands of peoplewere arrested. The Indian peoplewere so agitated that in city aftercity bonfires burned and the bon-fires were made with foreigncloth, especially British cloth. OnNovember 17, 1921, the Prince ofWales landed in Bombay. Loyalstooges of Britain went to greetthe royal visitor. Those who wereobserving nonviolent noncoopera-tion did not molest them.

However, passion suddenlyblazed out. Religious and politicalhatreds fanned the flames. Riotsstarted, many were killed, muchproperty was destroyed. Therewas panic in the city. Gandhi wasin Bombay, and he rushed to thescene of disorder to stop the riot-ing. Order was finally restored.

“Every man has the right to hisreligion and his own political opin-ion. Satyagraha will never suc-ceed until man understands that,”Gandhi announced bitterly. Inother cities the boycott of thePrince’s visit was peaceful. As theunfortunate Prince of Wales vis-ited city after city, hewas greetedwith empty streets. Not a shopwas open. The people remainedbehind closed doors and drawncurtains. This infuriated the Brit-ish and they called upon the gov-ernment of India to act. MotilalNehru, Jawaharlal, and other lead-ers were arrested and sentencedto various terms of imprisonment.

Yet the determined courage ofthe people did not abate. Theywere ready to suffer any penaltyfor the cause of Home Rule. De-mands had been made to Gandhithat he should start a mass move-ment for the attainment of Swaraj.Gandhi decided to act. Prepara-tions were made to startsatyagraha in Bardoli. But Gandhihad to stop the campaign suddenlybecause of what had happened illBombay and other places.

In Chauri Chaura, nearGorakhpur in U.P., some police-men fired on a crowd which washolding a demonstration againstthe government. This annoyed thedemonstrators so much that theybecame very violent. They chasedthe police. The police took refugein the city hall. The angry mob sur-rounded the hall and set it on fire.Some policemen were burned todeath. Others, trying to escape,were killed by the furious mob out-side. Gandhi was very upset.

He thought that it was clearthat the people were still not pre-pared for satyagraha. He stoppedthe intended satyagraha at Bardoli.His co-workers did not agree withhim, but he was adamant. Hewanted his followers to start con-structive programs. Many Indianswere sorry for Gandhi’s action.

They thought that Swaraj wasnow within their reach and themovement should therefore con-tinue. The Government was play-ing a waiting game. Instead ofthanking Gandhi for stopping themass movement, they arrestedhim on charges of sedition and sen-tenced him to six years’ imprison-ment.

He was removed to YeravdaCentral Jail in Poona. In prisonGandhi settled down to a regimeof spinning, writing, and medita-tion. The people were disap-pointed and the government tight-ened its hold. Almost all the lead-ers were put in jail. Then, in 1924,Gandhi fell ill. He was sufferingfrom appendicitis and was in greatpain.

The government was alarmed.What would happen if Gandhi diedin prison? An urgent operation wasarranged, and Gandhi agreed. Theoperation was successful, but hisrecovery was very slow.

The government thought it bestto release him, so he was set free.He went to Juhu, near Bombay,for recovery.

Congress leaders were think-ing of participating in the Munici-pal and Provincial Councils whichGandhi had advised them to boy-cott. Gandhi was not dismayed ordiscouraged. He decided to leavepolitics for the time being and

spend his time in bringing about Hindu-Muslim unity and the removalof untouchability.

So for nearly six years Gandhi had little to do with politics. But hewrote, he lectured, and he prayed. He travelled all over India. Hisinfluence among the people was steadily growing. Gandhi had notgiven up the idea of nonviolent resistance to British rule. He was merelywaiting for the right moment.

Jawaharlal Nehru joined Gandhi in many of his travels. Everywherethey were greeted with great enthusiasm. Nehru was the hope of theyounger generation. In 1928 the Viceroy invited Gandhi to see him.He informed Gandhi of the appointment of an official British Commis-sion, led by Sir John Simon, which would study Indian conditions andrecommend political reforms.

“Will there be any Indians on the Commission?” asked Gandhi.“No,” replied the Viceroy. “That is absurd,” said Gandhi. “We mustboycott it.” Gandhi advised the people to boycott the Simon Commis-sion, and when it arrived in Bombay a hartal (strike) was observed allover India. On its tour through the Indian cities the Commission wasgreeted with black-flag demonstrations. The people shouted, “Simon,go back!”

At many places there were cane charges and shooting. The sameyear the peasants of Bardoli, in Gujarat, were agitated by the en-hancement of land taxes. Gandhi studied their grievances and advisedthem to resort to satyagraha and not pay taxes. But they must benonviolent, he insisted. Vallabhbhai Patel took charge of organizing theresistance. The government tried all its usual measures to terrorize thepeople, but had to climb down. An enquiry into the grievances wasordered.

Vallabhbhai demanded certain concessions. Negotiations were go-ing on when Gandhi arrived in Bardoli. Within a short period the gov-ernment came to terms with the organizers and a settlement wasreached. Now political tension again gained momentum. People ev-erywhere were preparing for a mass struggle. The Viceroy called ameeting of the Indian leaders. — To be continued

Prince of Wales was greeted byempty streets in city after city

Apple-Almond GalletteNo need for a pie pan to make a pretty French-style dessert.Dough: 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour, 1/2 cup

sugar, 1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest, 1/4 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 tsp.salt, 1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces (½ cup).

Filling: 1 cup slivered blanched almonds, 3/4 cup confectioners’sugar, 1 large egg, 1/2 tsp. almond extract, 2 tart apples, such as GrannySmith, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4 inch thick; 3 Tbs. apricot jam.

1. To make Dough: Pulse flours, sugar, lemon zest, baking powder,and salt in food processor until combined. Add butter, and pulse untilmixture looks like coarse meal. With food processor running, add up to1/4 cup cold water until dough just comes together. Shape dough intoball. Wrap in plastic wrap, and chill 1 hour, or overnight.

2. To make Filling: Pulse almonds and confectioners’ sugar in foodprocessor until combined. Add egg and almond extract, and process 1minute, or until mixture is paste-like and nearly smooth.

3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheet with foil.4. Remove Dough from refrigerator, and unwrap, leaving plastic

wrap beneath Dough. Place another sheet of plastic wrap on top ofDough. Roll Dough out into 9-inch square between sheets of plasticwrap. Remove top sheet of plastic wrap, invert Dough onto preparedbaking sheet, and remove remaining sheet of plastic wrap. Spreadalmond mixture over Dough square, then top with 4 rows of overlap-ping apple slices, covering entire surface of galette. Bake 45 minutes,or until crust is golden. 5. Warm jam in small saucepan over low heatuntil melted. Strain through fine mesh strainer into small dish.

6. Cool galette 5 minutes, then brush with jam. Cut into 9 squares.

Cranberry-Pear ChutneyIngredients: 1 large garlic clove, minced; 1 onion, minced; 12

ounces fresh cranberries, 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar, 1large pear, peeled, cored and chopped; 1/3 cup cider vinegar, 1/4 tspdry mustard, 1/4 tsp ground ginger, 1/4 tsp ground allspice, 1/4 tspground cardamom, 1/4 tsp ground cloves 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes.

Method: Put garlic, onion, cranberries, vinegar, spices and 3/4cup brown sugar in a 2-1/2 quart saucepan. Bring to a boil, then re-duce heat and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thick, about40 minutes. Add the chopped pear and cook 10 minutes longer. Re-move from heat and add remaining sugar, to taste.

Serve hot, cold or room temperature. May be refrigerated for up toone month.

RELIGION / SPIRITUALITYPAGE 18 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

Sanatan Shiv Shakti Mandir NEW LOCATION6640 Harwin Dr• Houston, TX 77036

Call Pandit Virat Mehta713-278-9099• Open daily7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Rudrabhishek every Monday followed byAarti and mahaprasad. Everyone isinvited to join the puja.Our prayer hall is large enough to accommodate up to 125guests for your celebrations — birthdays, babyshowers,engagement or any other ceremony. Plenty of free parking

President Radhakrishnan’smetaphysical idealism

By Anup Taneja

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan,whose birthday is celebratedas Teachers’ Day (Sept 5),was known for his metaphysi-cal idealism.

On the one hand, herecognised Prakriti, the real-ity of the world of experiencewith myriad diversities, and onthe other hand, he simulta-neously accepted the notionof the transcendent AbsoluteBeing, the eternal Self, pure,formless, undifferentiated Consciousness.

Though the external world that is perceived through the senses isdefinitely not ultimate reality — by virtue of it being subject to constantchange characterised by finitude and multiplicity — it derives its sup-port from the Absolute Being that is devoid of all limits, diversities anddistinctions. Despite being the canvas on which the colourful worldappears with all sorts of apparent impurities, eternal Consciousnessremains absolutely untainted and does not lose its immaculate purity.

Radhakrishnan’s reinterpretation of Sankara’s understanding ofmaya strictly as illusion stands out.

In Radhakrishnan’s view, maya ought not to be interpreted to meana rigid, objective idealism wherein the world is perceived as totallydisconnected from the Absolute Being — but to be seen as a subjec-tive misperception of the world as ultimate reality.

Radhakrishnan’s assertion that when forms cease to be attractive,that does not necessarily mean that they cease to exist, received ac-colades from great philosophers. The fact that forms cease to be at-tractive points to a change in the soteriological status of those whomthey previously attracted. No change in the ontological status of theforms is indicated. He says: “Maya is concerned not with the exist-ence of the world but with its meaning, not with the factuality of theworld but with the way in which we look upon it”.

Thus, the state of moksha or liberation transforms the seeker fromwithin—so much so that forms cease to hold any attraction for him. Inthis lofty state, forms no longer conceal the Absolute Being—the powerbehind all external manifestations—from the spiritual vision of theseeker. Radhakrishnan explains that when the illusion of the mirage isdissipated by scientific knowledge, the illusory appearance remains,though it no longer leads us astray; we see the same appearance butgive a different value to it.

A puddle in the desert is a mirage. But when, through scientificknowledge, we learn that mirage is caused by heat rising up, the mi-rage is dissipated. The mirage, though, does not disappear; only webecome aware of the fact that the mirage depends on and arises fromthe desert heat. Mirage, in this analogy, is the world, while the desertheat is the Absolute Being. Just as ontological reality of the miragedepends on and arises from the desert heat, the ontological reality ofthe world depends on and arises from the Absolute Being.

Radhakrishnan states that just as the mirage does not disappearwhen scientific knowledge is gained, the world too does not disappearwhen intuitively we come to know about the source of the world’sexistence. The world continues to exist, though it is valued differently.A jnani, after attaining jnana, begins to perceive the world from atotally different perspective. He sees the world being permeated byparticles of chitti or pure Consciousness.

Goswami Academy, a newschool at Hare Krishna Dhamunder the auspieces of ISKCON(International Society for KrishnaConsciousness) is admitting stu-dents from this semester from pre-kindergarten through Grade IV(ages 3-8). As with Gurukuls,Goswami Academy will nurtureboth creative academics and spiri-tual values in formative stage ofeducation.

On Sunday, July 27, a group ofISKCON educators and parentslaid the foundation and usefulnessof such schools. Five speakerscovered different aspects ofGoswami Academy that will pro-vide the extra curriculum in thistype of schools making studentscope with learning that will givean added advantage over studentsof public or private schools. Thisis exemplified by the educationthey received in such home studyor special schools as advocated bySwami Prabhupada, the founderacharyya of ISKCON. Theyurged Houston parents to give theirchildren a spiritually-centered edu-cation at Goswamy Academy.

Dr. Ravi Gupta, a/k RadhikaRaman dasa, got a Krishna con-scious education and graduatedfrom H.S. at age of 12. He got aB.A. from Boise State Univ. in histeens and was awarded a Ph.D.in Religious Studies from OxfordUniv. in his early twenties. Nowthe Chairman of the Dept. of Re-ligious Studies at Utah State Univ,Dr. Gupta lauded the vision ofGoswami Academy.

Dr. Edith E. Best, a/k UrmilaDebi Dasi, joined ISKCON in1973 and devoted her early life informulating a spiritually based edu-cation for the school children. Shetaught nursery, primary and sec-ondary schools for 27 yrs., and isa pioneer in developing a Krishnaconscious academic curriculum forprimary and secondary schools.She wrote a paper based onIsopanisad about the philosophyof education to be followed by

Goswami Academy - A new school in Houston

Krishna Avanti Primary School inHarrow, U.K., the first statefunded Vedic School in GreatBritain. Urmila Mataji is a prolificwriter on women’s issues andtravels around the world as herexpertise in such areas are widelysought after. She holds a Doctorof Education from the Univ. ofNorth Carolina at Chapel Hill, andis involved with many institutions

as advisor, teacher and leadingexpert on education internation-ally.

She and other speakersstressed the need of such schoolsas Goswami Academy and urgedparents to give their children abetter education, by getting in-volved with Krishna consciousmovement.

Principal of Goswami Acad-emy, Subra Debi Dasi, is familiarwith Public education system aswell as a Vaishnava scholar. Shewill be advised in curriculum,teaching methods and organizationby leading ISKCON educatorssuch as HH Hanumat PresakaSwami, HG Urmila Mataji,Australia’s Prana Dasa, andMumbai’s Rama-Giridhara Dasa,among others. School will includesolid academics, Sanskrit, devo-tional music and vegetarian meals.For more information call 713-714-2250 or visit http://goswamiacademy.org — BySarvabauma dasa, Dr.Gurubhakti and Dr. ProdyotDay of ISKCON.

From left, Brajmandali Priya, Dr. Radhika Raman Das, Mother ArrudhaDebi, Shyamadarsini Debi (on microphone) and Dr. Urmila Debi.

By Jaya Row

All of us have all three gunas; it is their relative strength that makesthe difference. Tamas is the state of ignorance, inertia and indiffer-ence. Rajas is desire-driven, frenzied activity that arises from selfish-ness and ego. Sattva is the pristine state of calm that comes fromcontemplation and absorption on the higher. In sattva, the mind is calm,intellect sharp and actions brilliant.

As long as you are under the influence of the three gunas you arebound to the world. However, you do not belong to the gunas and theirmanifestations. You are Divine. Understand how the gunas function.Declare war on tamas. Refine rajas. Nurture and cultivate sattva.

In tamas, the best qualities get shrouded and your inherent talentlies dormant. Rajas is a state of mental agitation brought about bygreed, craving and lust. Incessant desire-driven activity and the re-sultant turbulence in the mind make for mediocrity.

Sattva is tranquillity of mind when you function at your best, a statethat all executives, sportspersons and professionals in every field ofactivity strive for – being in the ‘zone’, performing at peak levels.However, nobody knows how to achieve it, much less remain in thissuperlative state of being.

Sattva surfaces in the mind between 4 and 6 am. Rajas, activity,manifests between sunrise and sunset. All indulgence, tamas, beginswith sundown. The first step to spiritual development is to encouragesattva by rising early, dedicate actions to a higher goal and stifle tamasby going to bed early. Gunas manifest only when the environment isconducive. Modern life encourages late nights – tamas. No attempt ismade to cultivate the finer aspects of life. Thus whatever little sattvayou may have is being destroyed. Ancient India promoted sattvathrough exposure to ethics and aesthetics – spiritual input, good litera-ture, classical music, fine arts... It refined rajas by instilling spirit ofservice and sacrifice in people.

The four castes were designed to help people understand the guna-mix within and choose a vocation that best suited their nature. Abrahmana was predominantly sattvika and took to the fields of phi-losophy, music, research, pure science, and teaching.

A kshatriya was largely rajasika and was warrior, ruler, administra-tor. The trader had less sattva and more tamas. The shudra wasmostly tamasika by nature and was best suited for manual labour.Each was encouraged to strive for spiritual growth through his re-spective field of endeavour. Society was led by brahmanas, men andwomen of wisdom, not the wealthy. Every king had an in-house sage

Three Gunas: Sattva, Rajas, Tamas

who would be consulted on important matters.The relative strengths of the gunas determine the environment one

goes to after death. A sattvika person is born in a spiritual family wherehis sattvika content blossoms in the ambiance of purity and tranquility.

Pure sattva catapults him to the state of Realisation. The rajasikaone is born among people who are attached to action. He gets furtherensnared in the world. The tamasika one is born to dull, foolish people.It is only the sattvika person who makes progress. The rajasika onemoves within a narrow band while a tamasika person goes downhill.

Life’s mission is to go beyond the three gunas and get liberatedfrom the traumatic cycle of birth, death, decay and sorrow. You areborn in the world only to attain Immortality.

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In the five years to 2012, Hyderabad sent more students to the U.S.than New Delhi and Mumbai combined, according to a recent studyby the Brookings Institution, an American think-tank.

Hyderabad is the hometown of one of the world’s most successfulémigré Indians, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, but its lead in sendingstudents to the States is still a bit surprising.

Brookings’ list of the top cities around the world sending students toU.S. colleges and universities ranks Hyderabad number one in Indiaand number four in the world.

Hyderabad sent 26,220 students to the U.S. Next was Mumbai,with 17,294, followed by Chennai with 9,141; Bangalore with 8,835and Delhi with 8,728.

Hyderabad’s home state, at the time, Andhra Pradesh held someother surprises. Three other cities from the region made it to theBrookings list – Secunderabad, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam.

Large Asian cities dominate the list of largest home markets for USforeign students. Seoul sent more BMD F-1 students than any othercity: more than 56,000 students over the 2008-2012 period, accountingfor almost 5 per cent of all such students. Beijing, Shanghai, Hyderabadand Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) made up the other top five global cities,each sending between 17,000 and 50,000 students to the United States.

Are Andhra Pradesh’s students more motivated to study abroad?Do they have more money to pay for an expensive U.S. college edu-cation? The report didn’t speculate on that, but it did point to one trendthat might have inflated Hyderabad’s results.

Some of the educational institutions that accepted Hyderabad’s stu-dents were little-known and often unaccredited schools, some of whichhave since been shut down by U.S. authorities for allegedly abusingthe F-1 visa system and the Curricular Practical Training (CPT)program to bring students to work for employers than to study.

These institutions include International Technological Univer-sity, University of Northern Virginia, Stratford University, Tri-Val-ley University and Herguan University.

While students from Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore tended to go towell-known universities, including Carnegie Mellon University and theUniversity of Southern California, the students of Hyderabad weremore likely to end up at smaller schools.

“Some of these schools have been closed down because they wereabusing the (student) visa system and the Curricular Practical Train-ing program to bring students to work for employers, rather than pri-marily to study for a degree program,” the report said.

Hyderabad leads in sendingstudents to U.S.

Hollywood action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger was in Chennai toattend the music launch of “I,” a mega-budget movie starring Vikramand Amy Jackson.

CHENNAI: He met the big-wigs of the Indian film industry.He met the Chief Minister ofTamil Nadu as well. But it wasIndia’s movie fans who blew Hol-lywood ‘Terminator’ ArnoldSchwarzenegger’s mind. The ac-tor, in Chennai for the audio launchof Tamil film I, said, “It’s the fanswho make movies run. I’ve beento India many times but this is myfirst visit to Chennai. I’ve alwayswanted to come for the red car-pet, and finally, I am here for it.”

But that was late on Mondayevening at the Nehru Stadium.Schwarzenegger’s day out inChennai started in the wee hoursof Monday, when he arrived at theairport, only to be whisked awayto The Leela Palace, where hewas put up at the Chairman Suite.

The Hollywood superstar, itseems, was very impressed withthe view of the city and the seafrom his table at the Spectra res-taurant at the hotel.

Apart from the sea, the actorwas interested in learning moreabout the artefacts such as thesilver elephants, crystal maharajachair and the bronze items in hissuite.

His elaborate breakfast includedscrambled eggs, cereals… andnamma dosa, which the actorseemed to enjoy. He speciallyenquired about the batter.

If the food impressed him a lot,so did the films.

“India makes so many films.The number of films made hereis far more than what Americansmake,” he explained. Is he inter-ested in starring in a film here?“I’d love to work in an Indianmovie soon.”

The actor reiterated that pointwhen, at the audio launch, he saidon the dais, “I came all the wayfrom Hollywood looking for a jobin India. I want to act in your mov-ies. I want to do your next movie,Shankar (director).”

His work as governor of Cali-fornia has also made him popular.And, Schwarzenegger is still verypassionate about working on thatfront. “Having run the fitness cru-sade for the longest time, this ismy new challenge to build sustain-able and green governmentsacross the U.S., India and China— the three biggest polluters ofthe world,” he stated.

Though he was in the city justfor a day, the superstar did not misshis fitness regime.

His morning schedule includeda 45-minute intense workout at thegym, during which he did someresistance training, chest andshoulder press. That was followed

Chennai bowled over by Arnold Schwarzenegger

by an hour-long spa treatment, where he opted for the signature 60-minute deep muscle massage.

Apart from being known as an actor and a politician,Schwarzenegger is a big name in bodybuilding circles, having inspiredseveral people across the world to take it up.

When asked about his journey, he said, “Many start and end theirlives with one job, but I was fortunate to be successful in my body-building career, which led me to becoming a leading actor. Then, thechance came for me to be the governor of California for seven years.It was a good run. What’s important is that you have to be passionateabout what you are doing.”

NEW DELHI: Former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit saidshe did not understand why some UPA-appointed Governors, like inDelhi and Madhya Pradesh, have been allowed to continue while oth-ers have been shown the door.

“Certain Governors appointed by the previous government wereasked to step down, but others like the Governors of Madhya Pradeshand Delhi have been allowed to continue. I don’t understand the rea-son for this discrimination,” Dikshit told The Indian Express.

She resigned as Kerala Governor last month, after spending lessthan six months in office. Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jungtook charge on July 9, 2013 while MP Governor Ram Naresh Yadavwas appointed on September 8, 2011. Dikshit described the Modigovernment’s decision to ask UPA-appointed Governors to step downas “selective humiliation”.

“This is a constitutional post. Why do you want to humiliate theposition? Governors have been treated selectively — some verybadly… Forcing them to resign through transfers and supposed pun-ishment postings,” she said.

Dikshit said a bureaucrat in the central government had asked herto tender her resignation.

“You are picked to be the Governor. This is not something one canapply for. You are the first citizen of the state, not involved in any kindof controversy. Why this kind of humiliation of the position by a newly-elected government?” she said.

Referring to the Centre’s decision to transfer out-of-favour Gover-nors to the Northeast, Dikshit said, “This sends a very wrong signal.

Dikshit questions selective termination

The Northeast is as much a partof India as any other region.”Challenging the “selective” expul-sion of UPA-appointed Gover-nors, Dikshit said the governmentmay as well bring in a legislation.

“Why this drama of askingsome Governors to resign. This isa post with dignity and there wasno need for controversy. Maybeit is time for the government tobring in a legislation that makes itmandatory for Governors to re-sign when the central governmentchanges,” she said.


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NEW DELHI: The BharatiyaJanata Party on Tuesday, Sept 16,suffered a major blow in the As-sembly by-elections in UttarPradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat,the States it had swept in the LokSabha polls four months ago, los-ing 13 of the 24 seats held by it.

The BJP has suffered electoralreverses in all the three rounds ofby-elections held after it swept theLok Sabha polls four months ago.

The saffron party, which gotmajority on its own in the LokSabha riding a “Modi wave”, hasgot a rude shock in the third roundof by-elections, losing ground inkey states of Uttar Pradesh,Rajasthan and Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s home State ofGujarat.

Out of the 32 Assembly seatsacross nine States for whichcounting of votes was taken upon Tuesday, BJP won 10, Con-gress seven and Samajwadi Partyseven while the TDP, theTrinamool Congress, the AIUDFand the CPI (M) bagged oneeach. One seat in Sikkim was wonby an Independent. In three seatsin UP where results were awaited,the BJP was leading in two andSamajwadi Party in one.

It was Uttar Pradesh, wherethe BJP was on a high after anear-total sweep of the 80 LokSabha seats, that delivered a hu-miliating blow to the saffron partyas it lost seven of the 11 seats heldby it, including one held by its allyApna Dal. The BSP’s absence inthe by-elections had made it a vir-tual straight fight between the SPand the BJP in the politically cru-cial State.

Equally crushing was the de-

feat in Rajasthan where BJP con-ceded three of the four seats tothe Congress, which also managedto wrest three of the nine seats inGujarat, where the elections wereheld for the first time in 12 yearswith Mr. Modi at the helm.

All the seats in Uttar Pradesh(11), Gujarat (9) and Rajasthan (4)were held by the BJP and thebypolls were necessitated afterthe MLAs were elected to the LokSabha.

The first bypolls were held inCongress-ruled Uttarakhandclose on the heels of the May 16Lok Sabha verdict. The outcomehad shocked the BJP as the Con-gress had won all the three As-sembly seats including two seatswhich were held by former BJPChief Ministers who were electedto Lok Sabha by comfortablemargins.

The second round saw theparty losing six out of the 10 seatsin Bihar, despite a formidableshow in the Lok Sabha polls.

Seat adjustments among archrivals — JD(U)’s Nitish Kumarand RJD’s Lalu Prasad besidesthe Congress — forced the BJPto beat a retreat as the three par-ties together won six seats.

As the BJP again suffered re-verses in the Assembly bypolls, theOpposition said that the resultsshould ring alarm bells for the BJPand the Modi government.

This meant that an anti-incum-bency factor has set in within 100days of the Narendra Modi gov-ernment coming to power, Con-gress General Secretary ShakeelAhmed said.

“If you look at these results,these bypolls have proved to be

bye-bye polls for the BJP,” NCPgeneral secretary D.P. Tripathiremarked.

The results have come as a shotin the arm for the Congress as itgained three seats each in Gujaratand Rajasthan after drawing ablank in Lok Sabha polls.

Gloating over the BJP’s re-verses, the Congress and the SPcalled it as a defeat of the com-munal forces. They said peoplehad rejected the Modi governmentand the BJP’s “politics ofpolarisation”.

The BJP, which is hoping to dowell in the coming Assembly elec-tions in Maharashtra and Haryana,conceded that the bypoll resultswere not up to its expectations andsaid that people had voted on lo-cal issues. The only solace for theBJP on an otherwise dismal daywas its entry into the West Ben-gal Assembly.

BJP candidate ShamikBhattacharya won the BasirhatDakshin seat in North 24-parganas district by a margin of1,742 votes against his nearestTrinamool Congress rival andformer Indian soccer captainDipendu Biswas.

The BJP retained the VadodaraLok Sabha seat, vacated by Modi,albeit with a reduced margin.Ranjanben Bhatt thumped herCongress rival Narendra Rawatby over 3.29 lakh votes. Modi hadwon the seat by 5.7 lakh votes.

In the other two Lok Sabha by-elections, Mainpuri in UttarPradesh, Tej Pratap Singh, thegrand nephew of Mulayam SinghYadav, defeated the BJP’s PremSingh Skahkya by a margin ofmore than 3.21 lakh votes.

BJP suffers major byelection losses

SC: Govt. lacks concern for female childPulling up the Union and State governments for the “sloppy” imple-

mentation of the pre-natal sex determination law despite its existencefor the past 20 years, a Supreme Court Bench of Justices Dipak Misraand N.V. Ramana on Tuesday said the approach reflects “lack ofconcern for the female child.”

The observations came on an application filed on August 2013 bySabu Mathew George, a member of the National Inspection andMonitoring Committee (NIMC) set up under the Pre-Conception andPre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act of 1994, allegingthat pre-natal sex determination continues to be done by doctors, hand-in-glove with conniving authorities. Dr. George charged that femalefoeticide continued unchallenged despite a March 2013 judgment bythe Supreme Court. The court had at the time observed that eliminat-ing female foetuses after pre-natal diagnostic tests had pushed thefemale child ratio down nationwide.

“The government has become sloppy. Central and State govern-ments are supposed to organize camps. They don’t. Then what aware-ness can you spread?” Justice Misra asked Additional Solicitor-Gen-eral Neeraj Kishan Kaul, representing the Union government.

A.P. gets power boost from CentreHYDERABAD: The world’s largest ultra mega solar power park

to generate 2,500 MW is being established in Andhra Pradesh, UnionMinister of Power and Coal, Piyush Goyal announced here on Tues-day.

Speaking at the signing of a joint document between the Govern-ment of India and the Andhra Pradesh government to implement‘Power For All’ (PFA) from October 2, a programme to supply qualitypower round the clock for domestic and industrial consumers in theState, he termed it “path-breaking.”

Besides the signing of the PFA initiative, a spate of other MoUswere signed in the presence of Goyal, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minis-ter N. Chandrababu Naidu and Union Civil Aviation Minister P. AshokGajapathi Raju to mark the completion of 100 days in office by theTelugu Desam government. In all, the State government inked 10MoUs and the total investment from NTPC, DRDO, Hero MotorCorporation and others would be over Rs.80,000 crore.

The other MoUs included handing over of 1,200 acres by APIIC toNTPC to set up of a 4,000 MW super critical ultra mega power projectat Pudimadaka in Visakhapatnam district, a 2,500 MW ultra megasolar power project in Kurnool ( 1,000 MW), Kadapa (500 MW) andAnantapur (1,000 MW) districts and a Greenfield plant to produce 1.8million two-wheelers by Hero Moto Corp Limited in Chittoor district.

Naidu said although PFA would be launched onOctober 2, the ob-jective was already achieved. He said the State government was de-termined to reduce transmission and distribution losses to 9 per cent.

PAKISTANINDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2014 • PAGE 21

Left behind as Asia forges aheadINDIA has just inked a set of agreements with Vietnam. Earlier

this month, Shinzo Abe of Japan became the first Japanese primeminister to visit Bangladesh, a tour that included a stop in Sri Lanka.He brought along with him an entourage of 22 Japanese businessmenlooking to do business in both countries.

And this weekend, China’s President Xi Jinping concluded a visit tothe Maldives, where amongst other engagements, he contributed awritten piece to a local newspaper that talked of a 21st-century “mari-time silk road”, and said, “China welcomes Maldives to get activelyinvolved” in building this trade corridor.

He then headed for Sri Lanka, where the maritime silk road isalready in substantial evidence, with a Chinese deep sea port as a keyfactor in a sea lane that connects Southeast Asia with the rest of theworld. Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Ja-pan this past Saturday, meeting Shinzo Abe and giving him his ownmessage of “come, build in India”. Both sides agreed to set up a dia-logue process involving their foreign and defence ministers to create along-term, sustained process of cooperation on strategic and economicconcerns.

Soon the Chinese president will sit down with Mr Modi in discus-sions that will touch on the sources of tension between these two gianteconomies, as well as the wellsprings of opportunity that exist.

A Sri Lankan diplomat, observing the whole round of meetings andsummits and state visits taking place around Asia all month, describedit as a “complex tapestry of relations” that is being woven in the regionever since India’s new prime minister was elected.

Asia has been abuzz with activity throughout the month so far,weaving itself together, talking, building and positioning its assets andrelationships in a complex multi-player game that is all but set to emergeas the dominant theatre of Great Power rivalry.

There is much tension across the region. A festering border disputeand suspicion of each other’s motives animates much of India’s rela-tionship with China. In the rest of Asia too, rising China inspires asmuch trepidation as it does awe.

Now consider what Pakistan has been busy doing since last month:indulging in political bickering, listening to scathing speeches with littlepurpose, and making hardly any attempt at a solution.

For decades now, Pakistan has remained mired in conspiring againsteach other as a globalising world has raced ahead. Now, as globalisationdraws to a close and a new world dominated by regional trading blocsbegins to take shape before our eyes, we still remain busy in scufflesand speeches and point-scoring.

At some point this behavior must end. At some point we must learnto respect the rules we have laid down for ourselves, learn to demar-cate our interests into strategic, political and economic domains, andpursue each separately. — Editorial in Dawn

Christians allegegraveyard grab

GUJAR KHAN: Members ofthe Christian community on Mon-day staged a demonstrationagainst occupation of graveyardarea allegedly by land mafia.

Babu Shafiq Gill, the local incharge of the Church of Pakistan,told newsmen that the land lo-cated on Railway Road had beenallocated to his community by theBritishers.

He claimed that the land rev-enue department’s record showedthe area belonged to the federalgovernment and was in the pos-session of the Church of Pakistan.

He alleged that people enjoy-ing clout with the ruling party werebehind this unlawful exercise.

The newsmen also apprised thecommissioner Rawalpindi divisionof the construction in the grave-yard of the Christian but to noavail. The assistant commissionerGujar Khan Quratul Ain did notrespond to various calls and mes-sages left on her cellphone.

An official of the revenue de-partment, on the condition of ano-nymity, said no land of the grave-yard or worship place could besold, transferred to anybody orused for any other purpose.

Altaf demands new provincesKARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf

Hussain insisting for the creation of new provinces said that Pakistanwould be wiped out from the global map, if new administrative borderswere not drawn.

Addressing his birthday function at MQM headquarters via videolink early on Wednesday, Sept 17, he stressed the need for newprovinces,saying that Pakistan is the only country to have a small numberof provinces despites its large population. He also demanded that localbodies elections be held immediately.

He said that earlier nationalist parties had created a fuss when hehad demanded the creation of a new province and added that now heis not the only one talking about the need for new provinces, as TahirulQadri was also demanding new provinces. Similarly, Imran Khan hasalso raised his voice for local bodies systems.

Altaf Hussain urged his supporters to be geared up to support theirspiritual father as what he is going to do is a hard job. He added that hewould bring honest people in the coordination committees and all ranksof the party.

The MQM chief asked Sindhis and Mohajirs to avoid confrontationand spread the message of love and peace.

Hussain also addressed the armed forces and told them that theirresponsibility is to safeguard geographical borders of the country, whilecivilians govern the state. “However, when even top judges were ac-cused of poll rigging then the army should be prepared to support thenation,” he added.

Stagnant flood waterposes health risks

MUZAFFARGARH: Healthworkers were scrambling Tues-day to manage a mounting healthcrisis nearly two weeks aftermassive flooding engulfed muchof Kashmir, where they are treat-ing cases of diarrhea, skin aller-gies and fungus as they hope thestagnant waters do not createconditions for more serious dis-ease outbreaks.

Countless bloated livestock car-casses were floating across thewaterlogged Himalayan region.Many residents, warned by ex-perts to avoid the floodwaters,were rationing water bottlesbrought by aid workers every fewdays.

The flooding has hit more than3,000 villages in both the Kashmirand Punjab regions, where at least328 people have died and 505,254have been rescued.

New flooding overnight inun-dated even more villages in east-ern Punjab and was moving to-ward the southern Sindh province,National Disaster ManagementAuthority (NDMA) said.

“Rescue and relief efforts arecontinuing in full swing,” the au-thority said in a statement, as-suring that food, tents and blan-kets were being distributed. Butmany flood victims complainedthat they were still waiting for help.

On the other hand, news chan-nels showed images of policeswinging batons as hundreds offlood-affected people attackedtrucks and snatched food in theJhang district of Punjab.

Doctors have treated at least123,020 patients in flood-hit areas,according to NDMA.

In his visit to Muzaffargarh,Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif saidgovernment would continue toprovide assistance to the flood-hitto enable them stand on their ownfeet.

Sept 19 to be ‘Go Nawaz’ dayISLAMABAD: Paki-

stan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI)Chairman Imran Khan an-nounced on Tuesday that theupcoming Friday, Sept 19,would be marked as ‘GoNawaz Go’ Day and a ‘Dayof Deliverance’.

Speaking to the partici-pants of the Azadi March,Khan said he would con-tinue the protest movementtill Prime Minister NawazSharif resigns. He vowedthat he would spend EidulAzha protesting in the red zone.

“Today is the 34th day of the protest and there has been an in-crease in the participation of the masses,” he claimed.

Khan further said that he would burn his electricity bill on Friday toremind the rulers that they have doubled the power rates. His decisionto do so comes after reports that the PTI Chairman had actually paidmost of his bills since the civil disobedience movement was announced.

In the same speech, Imran alleged that Sharif was going to spendanother 4 crore rupees on his US Trip. “The Sharif brothers do notcare for the masses. See the lifestyles of their children,” he said.

Imran also said that he would go to court tomorrow (Wednesday)to get arrested PTI workers released.

“The Constitution of Pakistan allows for peaceful protests. Whythen have PTI workers been arrested?” he asked. “Police, which issupposed to assist the masses in getting justice, is instead working forthe rulers and going against the law,” he claimed.

Meanwhile, even as Imran Khan continues his posturing, other lead-ers of the protesting PTI are still hoping for resumption of meaningfultalks with the government to address the party’s concerns on electoralrigging.

On Tuesday, PTI leaders told reporters they wanted an honestlynegotiated end to the current political impasse, but the governmenthad resorted to a brutal crackdown against their workers. The lasttime the two sides met was on Sept 8. The PTI called off talks on Sept12 in response to police action against their party workers.

Imran Khan

ISLAMABAD: The capitalpolice registered on late Tuesdaynight, Sept 16, a criminal caseagainst Prime Minister NawazSharif, some federal ministers andpolice officials under an order is-sued by a district and sessionscourt.

On Monday, the district andsessions judge asked the Secre-tariat police to register the casewhile disposing of a petition filedby the Pakistan Awami Tehreekover the alleged killing of its threeworkers on Aug 30. He also di-rected the police to strictly followthe law. According to policesources, the case was registeredunder Section 7 of the ATA andPPC sections 302, 324, 148, 149.

In another development, Fed-eral Information Minister PervaizRashid said the government ismulling legal action against protest-ing PTI and PAT leaders, indicat-ing that the ruling party wants toend the current political impasse

FIR against Nawaz Sharifthrough court action.

Replying to a question at anews conference on Tuesdayabout the government’s plan todeal with the protesters holding sit-ins in Islamabad, he said the re-sponsibility to protect the consti-tution and the democratic systemlay with the parliament as well ascourts.

The minister said the govern-ment was in the process of col-lecting evidence against PTI chiefImran Khan and PAT chairmanDr Tahirul Qadri to submit themin courts.

“Video footages of theirspeeches will also be presented,”he added.

“We want courts to investigatethe allegations (levelled against thegovernment by PTI and PAT lead-ership in their speeches). We willunmask them in courts and curbthis lawlessness,” the ministersaid.

Rashid said that Imran Khanhad accused retired JusticeKhalilur Rehman Ramday and aMilitary Intelligence (MI) briga-dier of having been involved in theelection rigging. But, he claimed,when the government offered thePTI team to include this allega-tion in the terms of reference(ToRs) of the proposed judicialcommission to investigate the rig-ging, the PTI leaders backed off.

India, Pakistan on U.S. drug watch listWASHINGTON: President Barack Obama has included both In-

dia and Pakistan among 22 major illicit drug-producing or drug-transitcountries, says a presidential determination released by the WhiteHouse. Afghanistan is also on the list.

Of these 22, three countries – Bolivia, Myanmar, and Venezuela –are on a list of those who can face US sanctions. All three are accusedof “failing demonstrably” to fulfil their obligations under internationalcounter-narcotics agreements and conventions.

But President Obama granted Myanmar and Venezuela waivers,declaring that it was in the US national interest to continue its assis-tance to them.

Besides India and Pakistan, the other countries on the list are: Af-ghanistan, the Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Myanmar, Colombia, CostaRica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti,Honduras, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, and Ven-ezuela.

The presidential memo pointed out that opium poppy trade in Af-ghanistan “threatens domestic institutions, subverts the legal economy,and undermines good governance and the capacity of the Afghanpeople”.

US support for Afghanistan after 2014 would focus on maintainingestablished infrastructure and improving security, it said.


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