A t l a n t a ’ s P r e m i e r S o u t h A s i a n N e w s p a p e rAugust 2014 Free Copy Tel: 404-235-4998 www.NRIPulse.com

Anu Romesh was crowned IACA Miss India Georgia 2014, while DiyaSharma won the IACA Miss Teen India Georgia 2014 title at a glitteringceremony held at the Ferst Center for the Arts in Atlanta on July 19. Photoby Hakim’s Studio. Full report on Page 4.

Hindu Temple InMonroe Vandalized

Atlanta, GA: Early Saturday morning, Au-gust 2nd, the Vishwa Bhavan Mandir, a Hindu

temple inM o n r o eGeorgia, wasvandalized,according toa press state-ment issuedby thetemple. Thebuilding was

defaced with black spray paint, consisting ofprofanity and other damaging graffiti. The statueof Lord Shiva was desecrated with black spraypaint. The Walton County Sheriff Department’shas started investigations into the matter, butso far the perpetrators remain at large.

The desecration of the Lord Shiva statue washeartbreaking for the Hindu community in Georgia,because their biggest function of the year, a weeklongcelebration of Lord Shiva, includes mass worship ofthe statue, said the statement.

The Mandir had just concluded a weeklongyouth camp, last Sunday, July 27th, before thehate crime occurred.

“The members of Vishwa Bhavan Mandir wantto make it known that acts of vandalism should neverbe tolerated at any place of worship. Hindu Mandirshave been vandalized for centuries, but many Mandirsdecide not to pursue any further action, after filing apolice report,” said the statement. “Additionally,members of the Vishwa Bhavan Mandir want otherplaces of worship, around the country, to be awareof what has happened, follow suit with the neces-sary precautions, and not wait for an act of vandal-ism to catalyze strict security.”

Step-Mom & Dad Charged WithTorturing 12-Year-Old Daughter

Atlanta GA: A Queens, NYC couple, Sheetal andRajesh Ranot, face multiple child abuse charges, in-cluding multiple counts of assault and child endanger-ment for allegedly starving and beating their now 12-year-old daughter between December 2012 and July2014. In one instance, the childwas allegedly hit with a brokenmetal broom handle that cut herwrist down to the bone and re-quired hospitalization & surgery.

The couple is now out onbail. Sheetal Ranot (31) postedher $60,000 bail and was turnedloose, shortly after husbandRajesh Ranot (46) was releasedon $25,000 bail for the relentless attacks on little MayaRanot, reported New York Daily News.

The preteen weighed just 58 pounds whenthe 5-foot-3, 160-pound Sheetal, who is thechild’s step-mom gashed the child’s wrist to thebone with a jagged metal broom handle in May,authorities said. When medical personnel arrivedat the family residence, they found Maya lying ina pool of blood in the kitchen with the tendons toher left wrist cut to the bone. Maya was trans-

ported to Elmhurst Hospital where she under-went surgery for her wrist and received stitches toher knee. At the time, doctors allegedly observed sev-eral bruises, marks and scars in various stages of healingthroughout Maya’s body including bruises on her right

scapular area, right ear and legs.DA Brown said, “The

criminal charges allege that thisyoung victim was subjected toyears of unspeakable physicalabuse at the hands of her fatherand stepmother – including beinglocked in her bedroom by her step-mother without food or water forextended periods of time and

forced to take cold showers while her father hit herabout her body with his hands and even a baseball bat.Despite the bruising and scarring on her body whichserved as a silent testament to the violence and crueltyshe purportedly endured, it is alleged that for a longtime this emaciated child was fearful of disclosing thetrue nature of her injuries or those responsible for hersuffering for fear that her younger step-siblings wouldbe taken away by authorities and placed in foster care.

Fortunately, she found the courage to speak up.”

2 NRI PULSE August 2014

4 NRI PULSE August 2014........City News ........

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Anu Romesh Crowned IACA Miss India GA 2014;Diya Sharma Is The New IACA Ms Teen India GA

BY VEENA RAOAtlanta, GA: Anu Romesh was crowned IACA

Miss India Georgia 2014, while Diya Sharma won theIACA Miss Teen India Georgia 2014 title at a glitter-ing ceremony held at the Ferst Center for the Arts inAtlanta on July 19. The pageant, now in its 27th year,was organized by India America Cultural Association(IACA). This year’s theme was ‘Once upon a time’.

Suvarsha Reddy was the first runner-up in theIACA Miss India Georgia section of the pageant, whilePrachita Porika was the first runner-up in the teencategory. The pageant was a fundraiser for multiplemyeloma research at the Winship Cancer Institute ofEmory University.

The superlative awards went to Maulika Reddy (BestEyes), Vaishnavi Bavadekar (Best Smile), Yash Yadav (Miss

Congeniality- chosen by the contestants), Anu Romesh(Best Talent) and Priyanka Patil (Best Talent, Teen). Thisyear’s pageant included an SMS polling feature where audi-ence could vote for their favorite contestant. VaishnaviBavadekar won the People’s Choice award.

The final found of the teen category ended in a tiebetween contestants Diya Sharma and Prachitha Porika.Diya was named winner after she aced the tie-breaker

question- “If youwin this pageant,how would lifechange for you ona daily basis?”

Earlier, fourtop contestantswere chosen fromeach section of thepageant after anIndian attireround, an eveninggown round and aQ&A segment.The top contes-tants then had to

pick a judge’s namefrom a bowl, and answerthe question asked bythat judge. The winningquestion in the IACAMiss India GA categorywas, “What qualitiesshould the judges lookfor in a beauty pageantcontestant?” AnuRomesh’s confident re-sponse won her the

crown. She said, the judges should see not only the makeupand clothes, but look beyond the outward to see the talent,intelligence, grace and self-confidence of the contestants.“We are all special in our own way,” she said.

The glittering evening was interspersed with en-tertainment and a fashion show coordinated by HemaShilpa, who also choreographed the pageant. The cre-ative design and choreography was by Shiva Turlapati

of Shiv’s Institute of Dance. Students of the institutealso performed during the show. A highlight of theevening was some mellifluous singing by Sa-Re-Ga-Ma star Darshna Menon and the Ehsaas Band. Punjabisinger Ikkamjeet Gill rocked the evening with upbeatPunjabi beats. Emcees Pritesh Patel and Anjali SharmaTripathi were charming.

The panel of judges included Paddy Sharma, SanaAyubi, Ross, Rossin, Karishma Kothari, Nix Spaldingand Ava Bonneva Rossin.

This year, the pageant was directed by NidaShariff and Kaushal Tripathi. In his brief address afterthe pageant, Tripathi said the IACA annual pageant isof the community, by and community and for thecommunity. “This is a vehicle for us to give back tothe community,” he said.

“I have personally seen our angels on earth workhard in an ultimate display of poise, grandeur, ambi-tion, self confidence and friendship,” added IACApresident Nivedita Garabadu.

Governor Deal Appoints Sachin Shailendra To Board Of RegentsAtlanta, GA: One of the newest members of the

University System of Georgia’s governing body hangsa Georgia Tech Civil Engineering degree on his wall.

Gov. Nathan Deal appointed Sachin Shailendra,CE ‘01, in April. He’s now one of the 19 members ofthe Board of Regents (BOR), who set policy forGeorgia’s 31 state universities—from establishingtuition rates to hiring campus presidents. The boardalso oversees the Georgia Public Library System andthe Georgia Archives.

“Education is the biggest thing in life, and I likehelping people,” Shailendra said this week. “I amhighly honored to have been appointed to the presti-gious Board of Regents.

“As a graduate of Georgia Tech, I’m excited thatI will be able to have a hand in helping to mold thefuture of this esteemed university. I look forward toworking with the men and women of this distinguishedgroup to help the University System of Georgia con-tinue to thrive and succeed.”

Shailendra is president of SG Contracting, a full-service construction management and general contract-ing company based in Atlanta. He has been involved

in the construction industry for most of his life, but hesaid he’s not so far removed from his time on campus

that he has forgotten what it was like to be a student.“I want to do anything I can to help students,”

Shailendra said, noting he still remembers the rigors ofhis studies at Tech.

Shailendra is involved in a wide variety of com-munity organizations, including the boards of the At-lanta Opera and the Children’s Healthcare Sports Net-

work. He’s also on the advisory council for Wood-ward Academy, his alma mater. And he said his ap-pointment to the BOR is another way of giving backto the system that gave him a top-notch education.

“[The School of Civil and Environmental Engi-neering] provides a great training ground,” Shailendrasaid. “The beauty of it is, it gives you lots of differentlevels—transportation, construction, structures—[itgives students] a basis to do lots of different things.”

So far, Shailendra has participated in two BORmeetings, and he said he’s working through a moun-tain of reading material to get up to speed on all theissues before the board.

He said he has been assigned to a groupthat handles academic affairs; law issues, suchas the formal grievance process; and personneland benefits.

Shailendra will serve a seven-year term.Sachin is the son of well known Atlanta entre-

preneur, philanthropist Shi Shailendra and KiranShailendra. Sachin’s brother, Paul Shailendra, was ap-pointed to the Board of Natural Resources by Gover-nor Deal last year.

Photos byHakim’s Studio

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Thousands Converge In Atlanta For NATA Biennial ConventionAtlanta, GA: North American Telugu Asso-

ciation (NATA) celebrated its second conven-tion in Atlanta, Georgia on July 4th. The three-day cultural extravaganza showcased momentswhere happiness was redefined and ecstasy ranabound unshackled. Thousands enjoyed the en-riching literary presentations from world renownedscholars and poets, enthralling entertainment fromvarious cultural teams that ranged from classical,semi-classical, fusion, film songs, folk songs anddances at the Georgia World Congress Center.

Dignitaries who graced the occasion included Georgia Governor Nathan Deal, Amma SriKarunamayi, spiritual leader, TTD chairmanKanumuri Bapiraju, music director Devi Sri Prasad,Miss America 2014 Nina Davuluri, lyric writer &NATA brand ambassador Chandra Bose, LyricistSirivennela, Padmasree Shobha Raju, besides a hostof politicians, acclaimed personalities ofTollywood, literary scholars and artists fromAndhra Pradesh and Telangana. The proceedingswere further augmented by the presence of VIPSlike Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy MLA, TeegalaKrishna Reddy MLA, L Ramana TDP TelanganaLeader, Revanth Reddy MLA, Jitta SurenderReddy, Peddi Reddy.

Tollywood sensations Tamanna, Praneetha,Vimala Raman, Laya, Madhavi Latha and othersadded to the glamour and beauty quotient in thecordial environment. The cream of Tollywood en-tertainers Siva Reddy, Hema, Jabardasth team,Madhavapeddi Suresh and Ghantasala Ratnakumaradded to the excitement with their fantastic humorand spontaneous exchanges. Melody was abound

in the air as singers Sunitha, Gopika Poornima,Mallikarjun and other stalwarts gave a command-ing performance that took everyone’s breath away.

The NATA Banquet evening on July 4th, atGeorgia Ballroom of Georgia World Congress Cen-ter (GWCC) was an elegant affair with a stunningambiance- a true visual feast. The stage backdropby Bytegraph Creations was a perfect setup ofpanels whose colors blended absolutely well withroom lighting along with other decor of the hall.

After the entertainment programs, NATA Ex-cellency awards were presented to outstandingindividuals from various fields such as medical,community service, media, research, entrepreneur-

ship and other areas. Seva days and service awardswere conferred upon selective individuals for theiroutstanding support for NATA Seva Days in In-

dia and elsewhere.Benefactor awardswere given to 10kdonors.

The host forthe evening wasSunitha Upadrashtawho entertained theaudience with heremceeing as well asmelodies from herhit movies.Mallikarjun andGopika Poornimaentertained withtheir songs.

Day 2 of thefestivities kicked offwith a flash mob thatwitnessed a huge

gathering followed by the Swagatham song and inaugu-ral dance for song written by NATA Brand Ambassa-dor Shri Chandrabose, music composed by ShriRamachari Komanduri and choreographed by Smt.Neelima Gaddamanugu. Chief Guest, Gov. Nathan Dealaddressed the gathering after an inaugural theme dance.Gov. Deal highlighted the achievements of Indians invarious fields and emphasized the growing partnershipbetween US and India. He recognized the contributionsof people of Telugu origin in India and around the worldand lauded the extraordinary efforts by the Telugu com-munity in community services and charitable work.

Various cultural programs including classical,semi-classical, folk dances, music, skits and playswere lined up to enthrall and entertain the audi-

ence. NATA honors and recognitions for confer-ence donors and other recognitions, live music songsby Vandemataram Srinivas, Malgudi Subha,Saahithi and others marked a delightful end to theday’s festivities.

Day 3 got off to a rousing start with a sensa-tional rendition of Annamayya songs by the sing-ing legend Padmasri Shobha Raju and progressedwith entertaining programs through the day.

The proud moment of the evening came withthe conferring of the Lifetime Achievement Awardto Padmabhushan Sripati Panditharadyula BalaSubrahmanyam or SPB as he is affectionatelyknown. The spirit and talent of SPB, one of thebest singers in the world, is well known to every-one. President Dr. Sanjeeva Reddy, Convener BalaReddy Indurti, Coordinator Srini ReddyVangimalla, Co-Convener Dr. T. SatyanarayanaReddy, Advisory Council, Executive Committee,Honorary EC were part of the felicitation and inawarding a swarnakankanam, memento, bouquetand shawl to this singer of the millennium.

The DSP musical show brought the entireauditorium to its feet. A plethora of other forumshad interesting programs such as literary programs,nostalgic alumni meet ups, spirited carom & chesstournaments, the CME medical forum, businessforums, health and yoga forums, senior citizensprograms, seminars on dating, JAM -Just a minuteand so many more. The much anticipatedAshtavadhanam by Sri Narala Rama Reddy en-gaged, educated and entertained the audience withtheir amazing command of the Telugu languageand their creativity.

Forty-five convention committee membersand scores of volunteers worked tirelessly withthe NATA leadership for 18 months to bring avery successful event to fruition.

Phani Dokka Receives Dr. P. VenugopalaRao - Maitri Award For Art & Literature

Atlanta, GA: Maitri announced its annual awarda few weeks before the NATA Convention 2014 washeld. This year’s award went to Sreenivasa Phani Dokka,a well-known young writer and singer from Atlanta.The award was presented onSunday July 6, 2014 at the Geor-gia World Congress Center dur-ing the NATA Convention.

Maitri, along with thefamily of Dr. Venugopala RaoPemmaraju (P.V. Rao), estab-lished an award for Art andLiterature during 2013. Lastyear’s award went to Dr.Nyayapathi Shivananda, arenowned portrait artist liv-ing in Atlanta.

Dr. P.V. Rao, who was aprofessor of physics at EmoryUniversity was the first Teluguperson to come to Atlanta in1966 along with his family andwas a father-figure for the entire Indian-American com-munity. Dr. Rao was very passionate of Telugu Litera-ture and introduced Telugu to North America throughhis writing. He wrote several books and used to con-tribute articles to many magazines. He was a regularattendee of literary meetings.

Phani Dokka, the recipient of the Award, had anemotional attachment to Dr. Venugopala Rao and con-

sidered him as his mentor, guide and philosopher.The award presentation was held a few min-

utes before NATA Atshtavadhanam in front of acaptive audience and literature lovers.

Viju Chiluveru, coordinatorof Maitri gave a brief introduc-tion about Maitri and the awardand requested the audience toobserve a moment of silence topay tribute to Dr. Rao. Later herequested Dr. ManagarajuVanapalli to speak about Dr. Rao.Dr. Vanapalli briefly recollected afew extraordinary moments heremembered about Dr. Rao. Hesaid Dr. Rao played a key role inestablishing India American Cul-tural Association (IACA) andhelped several Telugu organiza-tions in the country. Dr. Raoloved literature and the arts ,be-side his own subject Physics.

Later Mrs. Lakshmi Rao was invited to presentthe award to Phani Dokka. She presented the goldmedal while Dr. B. Krishna Mohan gave away theplaque.Phani, said that he is very fortunate and blessedto be the recipient of an award named after a legend hewas very closely associated and adored. He read out apoem he recently wrote after hearing the news of hisaward.

8 NRI PULSE August 2014........City News ........

Guru Purnima Celebrations At Shirdi Sai Temple Of AtlantaBY MAHADEV DESAI

Atlanta, GA: Thousands of devoteesthronged to the Shirdi Sai Temple of Atlanta inSuwanee, Georgia to offer their prayers and seekSai Baba’s blessings at the joyous and spirituallysuffused Guru Purnima Celebrations on Saturday,July 12, 2014.

Guru Purnima is celebrated on the auspiciousfull moon day in the month of Ashada. GuruPurnima or Vyas Purnima is celebrated in rever-ence of the universal teacher.

The temple had daylong celebrations, whichbegan with at 5:45 am with Kakad Aarati, the cer-emonial awakening of the Lord. Following this,the Nava (9) Kalasa sthapana was performed in-voking the lord in the form of energy into the 9kalasas (pots). The ritual was performed by thelearned and experienced Temple priests SrinidhiKadambi and Amol Kulkarni, in the presence ofhundreds of devotees who had turned out for anearly darshan of Sainath. After the puja rituals tothe kalasas, the priests performed the havan in thename of Lord Sainath, Ram Parivar and Shiv Parivar.

Around 9 am, the priests performed abhishek(ceremonial bath) to the larger than life and bliss-ful main deity of Shirdi Sai Baba along with theutsav murthy and the padukas. The hour longceremony with Vedic chants energized the wholesanctum and the devotees present.

The stage was set for the decoration of themain sanctum. This year, the priests had chosen atheme to replicate the Guru Sthan present in Shirdi,India. Guru Sthan represents the place under the

neem tree in Shirdi where Saibaba meditated. Vol-unteers had worked tirelessly for the past fewdays to create a replica of Guru sthan which waslater assembled in the sanctum. While the decora-

tions were going on, bhajan singers engaged theaudience with their uplifting bhajans.

Around 11 am, the priests performedabhishek to Lord Dattatreya. Shirdi Saibaba isconsidered an avatar in the lineage of LordDattatreya. Upon completion of the ceremonialrituals and decorations, the noon Aarati was per-formed at 12 PM. Devotees were pouring in andby about 1 pm, approximately 1000 people hadalready made Sai Baba’s darshan.

Around 3 pm, more than 100 families partici-pated in the community sai vrat. Sai vrat is similarto satyanarayan vrat where the 9 governing plan-ets, ashta dikpalakas (rulers of the 8 corners) and

the five presiding dei-ties are invoked alongwith Lord Sainath. Asan added feature thisyear, the 52 weeksainath paduka pujawas also performedas part of this sai vrat.

The dhoop aaratiat 6 pm was followedwith Palki Seva at 6.30PM. Devotees enthu-siastically sang anddanced to the loud beatof the drums through-out the palki processionaround the temple whiledazzling firecrackers litup the sky overhead.

The significantpart of the elaborate rituals of Guru Purnima isGuru Pranam – the act of submitting oneself to aguru and touching his feet in respect. Chapter 22of Sai Satcharitra says “How to meditate on Baba?No one has been able to fathom the nature or theform of the Almighty. Even the Vedas and the thou-sand-tongued Shesha are not able to describe itfully; but the devotees cannot but know and lookat the form of the Lord, for they know that HisFeet are the only means of their happiness. They

know no other method of attaining the supremegoal in life, except meditating on the Holy Feet.”

The devotees lined up in the sanctum by 7:15PM to take the opportunity of reaching out to theBaba, touching his feet and receiving his blessings.The queue started inside the sanctum and the longline stretched out into the plaza and tent area.Priests chanted Vishnu Sahasranama and LalitaSahasranama as the devotees went up to touch thefeet of the Lord. Later, volunteers continued chant-ing “Om Sai Namo Namaha, Sri Sai Namo Namaha,Jai Jai Sai Namo Namaha, Sadguru Sai NamoNamaha” till 10 pm.

More than 2,500 people visited the templebetween 7.30 and 10 pm. All were accommodatedto do Guru Pranam. The Temple had courteouslyarranged for a separate lane for convenience ofsenior citizens, pregnant women and families withinfants.

The Temple kitchen served delicious MahaPrasadam to all the attendees from 11 am to 11pm. The dedicated volunteers efficiently and cheer-fully managed the parking lot throughout the day.More than 100 volunteers worked ceaselessly tohelp in the sanctum, kitchen and parking areas toensure that devotees had a smooth and safe darshan.

The joyous celebrations concluded with com-munity archana on behalf of the entire local com-munity, followed with Shej aarati at 10.30 PM.

With the blessings of Lord Sai Baba, dedica-tion, commitment and hard work of the TempleOfficers, priests and volunteers, the mammoth andspectacular Guru Purnima Celebrations were trulymemorable.

Photo by ByteGraph Creations

Meghana Pothukuchi Wins Talent Search CompetitionAtlanta, GA: Meghana Pothukuchi of Johns

Creek, GA won the Paadutha Theeyaga singingcompetition, hosted by the legendary Dr. S.P.Balasubramanyam in the US in July 2014. Thecompetition is a reality based singing talent searchcompetition seeking to discover the best singingtalent by conducting a series of auditions acrossall the major cities of USA.

The competition has a first prize cash awardof a whopping $10,000 with second, third and fourthprizes at $5000, $2500 and $2500 respectively.

Dr. S.P.Balasubramanyam (SPB to many ofhis ardent fans), the host of the competition, is aphenomenon that needs no introduction. His ex-traordinary singing capabilities, his ready wit andhumor, his passion for perfection and his down toearth simplicity laced with respect for all endearshim to everyone and magnifies his stature a mil-lion times.

The Paadutha Theeyaga journey started inDecember of 2013 for Meghana, when she sub-mitted her audition song- Sadiseyako Gaali” fromthe movie “Raja Makutam”. When PaaduthaTheeyaga responded favorably in April, her ex-citement knew no bounds. After the initial excite-ment, apprehension mounted on young Meghanaas the tasks for the competition loomed in front ofher—She had to memorize the telugu lyrics for 23songs, get the correct pronunciation, understandthe meaning and then sing with a LIVE Orchestra.What made it really daunting was that she cannotread/write or speak in Telugu.

Character evolves only when grit and deter-

mination are tested. Meghana committed her en-tire time and energy to start learning and memo-rizing songs. Destiny paved the way for her to gethelp from an accomplished teacher Mani Sastry—a perfectionist who would leave no stone unturnedto help the young children understand the mean-

ing of the Telugu lyrics, to get the correct “bhavam”while singing. Meticulously, teacher and studentworked to polish each of her songs, understandthe lyrics, and correct the pronunciation.

The experience of singing first time with alive orchestra is a challenge in itself. Gearing up tointeract with the legendary SPB, a perfectionistwho has music in his soul, goodwill in his heart

and an ocean of knowledge, is an experience unlikeany other. True to his fame and reputation, themaestro with his affable smile and caring naturequickly allayed the fears of the young children andadded an entirely new dimension of enrichment tothe competition. He quickly connected with thekids affectionately and gave meaningful insightson the song and lyrics and ensured that each par-ticipant received fair and honest feedback that onlyhelped each child to improve further.

Apart from the challenges of singing, the com-petition was hosted in different cities and pro-vided the challenge of having to travel every week.In all, Meghana had to sing 23 songs across eightcities in six weeks—which meant there was verylittle time to settle down at one place and even lesstime to dwell on feelings of home sickness. The onlyway out was to focus on the songs and prepare forthe weekend. And that is what she did - even if itmeant living with a set of ear plugs and practicingsongs as she walked across busy airports.

After the grueling sessions, rigorous memori-zations, nail biting moments of suspense at elimi-nation rounds, the stage was set for a dramaticfinale in front of 3000+ audience at the prestigiousConvention Center in downtown, Philadelphia. Asthe three rounds of competition went through andher results were declared, it was a moment of glorythat she will cherish for a long time to come. In herjourney to this achievement, Meghana made herfamily and teachers proud and understood thattrue happiness results from determination, hardwork and focused practice.

Hansinee Mayani MakesWaves At NAM Pageant

Atlanta, GA: Twelve-year-old HansineeMayani was one of 20 semi-finalists at the NAM(National America Miss) Georgia Pageant held atthe Renaissance Waverly over the July 4th week-end. Over 400 girls participated in the three-daycompetition; 130 contestants of them inHansinee’s pre-teen group.

Hansinee also won the best resume award, thespirit award for being the most friendly contestant andfor best sportsmanship. She was also talent 1st runner-up. She played the violin and lost 1st place to an excep-tional Malaysian-American piano player.

She is now qualified and invited to compete at thenational level (specifically for talent) in California thisyear, during the Thanksgiving Holidays.

With S.P. Balasubramanyam

........City News ........

Atlanta Based Bharathakala Natya Academy Performs In ChinaAtlanta, GA: Atlanta based Bharathakala

Natya Academy was invited by the Chinese Gov-ernment to perform at the International DanceFestival in China. The team comprising of ShreyaViswanathan, Harini Indrakrishnan, IshwaryaVenktachalam, Nantheshan Sudarshan and Smt.Subathra Sudarshan performed in the three dayinternational festival of indigenous music and dancein July. The team was led by Smt. SubathraSudarshan who is the founder and artistic directorof Bharathakala Natya Academy and artistic di-rector of Third Eye Dancers.

Bharathakala Natya Academy presented twoscintillating dance performances during the threeday festival. The first dance item, ‘Bharatham’,was a classical Bharatanatyam piece with brilliantand complicated rhythmic nritta patterns in se-quences of scintillating dance movements and in-tricate footwork. The colors of the costumes, theform and style of the dancers and beauty of thedance form captivated the audience at large. Thesecond piece presented was fusion displaying theversatility of Indian dance form. The energy andelegance of this dance piece was a treat to theChinese audience who were mesmerized by thebeauty of the Indian dancers. Both the dance

pieces were exclusively choreographed for thisfestival. Talking about the experience, Smt.Subathra said, “This was an amazing opportu-nity to share the stage with international dancers

and share this divine art and our culture withpeople of China. This festival has brought togetherartists from all over the world and weaved to-gether a beautiful fabric which cannot be ex-

pressed in words.”The three day festival was at-

tended by more than 4500 people andwas very well received. In fact, subse-quent day’s tickets sales were boostedby Bharathakala’s performance andpeople surged to watch Indian classicaldance at its best. This event was exten-sively covered by provincial and nationalChinese News papers includingGuizhou times and were also inter-viewed by Television Channels.

The dance performances were ahuge hit with locals who couldn’t getenough of the dancers and dance. Thedancers were stopped on the roads toget a glimpse and a chance to get pic-tures taken with them. In addition,Bharathakala dancers were specialinvitees to the International economicforum conference where several worldleaders spoke including former prime

minister of Australia, Prime minister of Malt andseveral other world leaders.

Bharathakala Natya Academy is a primer In-dian Classical dance institute in Atlanta. Smt.Subathra Sudarshan is a versatile Bharatanatyamdancer, teacher and choreographer with many no-table performances in her repertoire. She learntunder the tutelage of Padmabushan Sri V.P.Dhananjayan and Padma Bhushan Smt. ShanthaDhananjyan, at their distinguished dance school,Academy Bharathakalanjali. She was also awardedthe title ‘Naatya Poorna’ by her Gurus. Her asso-ciation with Bharathakalanjali enabled her to show-case her talent in Dance Dramas performed acrossIndia and UK. She has successfully staged manydance dramas and charity fundraisers in England,North America and South America. She is highlyrespected for her exceptional teaching style andlauded for her remarkable choreography. Smt.Subathra was awarded ‘Natya Mayuri’ by spiri-tual Guru Srinivas Arka. In 2013, Naadhabrahmamawarded the title of ‘Nrithya Sevika’ for her exem-plary work in Bharatanatyam. Georgia Associa-tion of Physicians of Indian Heritage awarded ‘Hu-manitarian Award 2014’ for her tireless commu-nity service through dance.

Swami Adhyatmanandaji Visits Atlanta, Addresses CommunityBY RAVI R PONANGI

Atlanta, GA: Swami Adhyatmananda’s stayin Atlanta from June 25 to July 6 was a hectic onewhen he attended many programs in and aroundthe city, averaging 3-4 programs every day.

People from diverse cultures and differentback grounds had the opportunity to hear andinteract with Swamiji on a one-on-one basis.Swamiji addressed social workers, community lead-ers, businessmen, professionals, students and spiri-tual seekers.

Key note address to Rotarians:Swamiji arrived in Atlanta on the evening of

June 25 and immediately drove to give a key noteaddress at the installation ceremony of new officebearers of Rotary club of Emory Druid Hills(RCEDH) which was held at the Palace Restau-rant. His words of wisdom on building peace acrossnations, meeting basic human needs, leadership ,attendance and service above self was outstand-ing. (Read report in this issue.)

IPN: Secrets of success in business and pro-fessional life:

On June 26, Swamiji addressed a group ofbusinessmen and professionals at the Indian Pro-fessionals Network (IPN) meeting at Ashiana Ban-quet hall in Norcross. Swamiji spoke about thesecret of success in professional and business life.Swamiji’s inspirational words will leave long last-ing effects on the audience. In His words, “Noprofession is possible unless and until you knowthe root and root in two ends. If the root is notstrong, the end cannot be reached. Have a strongfoundation. If you want to propitiate in your busi-ness, never lose a chance to do business. Workinghard is a must. As Swami Vivekananda saidstruggle, struggle, struggle. Struggle is sine qua noneof life. Success is possible with seriousness andsincerity. Be true to yourself. Identify yourself

with business, profession. Don’t keep yourselfseparate. Thinking and planning is essential. Incase, if you flourish in the profession you shouldbe kind hearted and soft hearted and have a sweettongue. Choose whatever you want, small or big.

Business is not someone’s fore father’s property.It is your property. What is needed is courage,seriousness, effort, hard work and loyalty. Don’thave an ego. Be kind, humble, noble and simple.Keep in mind ‘DIN’, do it now and ‘KIV’, keep itin view.”

Earlier, Dr. Narsi Narasimhan welcomed theaudience. He said IPN Atlanta was founded in1993. After holding monthly meetings for morethan 12 years, it was put on hold since there areother excellent professional networking opportu-nities offered in Atlanta by GIACC, NetIP-At-lanta and TiE-Atlanta. To fill a void in the commu-nity, we are back.

IPN does not have membership dues and ev-eryone is welcome. Each monthly meeting is orga-nized by a different volunteer leader.

Shiv Aggarwal and Dr. Ravi Sarma introducedSwamiji. Sarma said the lifelong gift that Swamijihas given to all of us is his unconditional love and

affection. “I think of Swamiji, I think of his smile,genuine love and affection.”

Swamiji’s talk on Sri Vishnu Sahasranamaat the Hindu temple:

As always, Swamiji wasreceived at Hindu temple of At-lanta, Riverdale with all templehonors, purna Kumbham whilemusical instruments are beingplayed. After having the darshanof temple deities, Swamiji ad-dressed the gathering on SriVishnu Sahasranama. Swamiji hastaken the starting word ‘Viswam’from Sri Vishnu Sahasranama andexplained.Sri VishnuSahasranamastarts withone wordv i s w a m .

Vishwam is the cosmic form of thelord. He is within and without. Heis the supreme exist. Swamiji’s de-tailed explanation of various aspectsof viswam with anecdotes im-pressed many.

Swamiji visits GuajaratiSamaj:

Swamiji addressed mem-bers of Gujarati Samaj. The at-tendance was impressive.Swamiji felicitated three senior couples who areabove 80 year old with garlands. Swamiji exhortedmembers to teach their children their culture andlanguage at home. He told audience that they areIndians first and then Gujarati. Swamiji commendedGujarati Samaj for the good work they have beendoing and encouraged them to work united to carryforward the Samaj projects. He asked members

Swamiji with theorganizers of IPN.

not to keep their ego up and respect each other.

Swamiji at NATA convention & Hema MaliniBallet

Swamiji addressed delegates of 2nd NorthAmerica Telugu Association (NATA) Conventionthat was held in Atlanta which was held from July4-6. Swamiji welcomed Georgia Governor NathanDeal and his wife Sandra deal who opened theconvention.

Swamiji also blessed Hema Malini, a wellknown film artist and Bharata Natyam dancer whowas in Atlanta presenting her dance ballet ‘Durga’.

Swamiji also presented the Srimad Bhagavat Katharecital ‘Srimad Bhagavat Saptah’ from June 29 to July 5for the benefit of Sanatan Mandir, Smyrna.

Swamiji had a brief meeting with Sri HarshaVardan, minister of health, Government of India in At-lanta.

Swamiji also conducted yoga asana classes atthe Global Mall in the mornings. Swamiji’s dayincluded morning yoga sessions, home visits andsatsangh, evening lectures, special requests andvisits to the sick.

Swamiji being received by Narender Reddy,President of Hindu temple of Atlanta, Riverdale.

12 NRI PULSE August 2014........City News ........

Rotary Club of Emory Druid Hills Installs New Office BearersBY RAVI R PONANGI

Atlanta, GA: Rotary Club of Emory DruidHills (RCEDH) installed new office bearers at itsrecently held annual banquet at Palace Restaurant,Norcross. Past District Gov-ernor (PDG) Rtn Barry Smithinducted Rtn. Chandler Sharmaas president of the club for 2014– 15, starting from July 1.Members of Rtn. ChandlerSharma’s team are: Rtns. RaviChander, immediate past presi-dent; Shiv Aggarwal, vice presi-dent & president elect;Ravindra Singh- Secretary andChair- Club AdministrationCommittee; BhairaviNadgonde- Treasurer; SusanSweeney and Naveen Shroff-Sgt. of Arms. PDG. Rtn. Smithcongratulated the new officebearers and each of them took the oath to serve theclub to the best of their ability.

The theme of the induction ceremony, apartfrom aiming to be the best club was “The Year ofthe Happening”. The new inducted officers willbe racing to work towards achieving Rotary goalsand giving back to the community.

Alicia Michaels, District 6900 District Gov-ernor graced the occasion as guest of honor and heraddress uplifted the induction ceremony. She talkedabout “The Power of One” and about how every-thing we do makes the world a better place.

Swami Adhyatmanandaji, President ofSivananda Ashram, Ahmedabad, India was the key-note speaker. His words of wisdom on buildingpeace across nations, meeting basic human needs,leadership, attendance and service above self wasoutstanding. It left the crowd enriched from histalk.

The event also had the esteemed presence ofRtn. Ben Hunter, Assistant District Governor whohas been supportive of the club in many ways.

The evening began with a social hour withRtn. Dr. Nazeera Dawood serving as the emcee of

ceremony. Her humorouspresentation style en-thralled the audience.

The icebreaker at theevent left every last one inthe room sitting withsmiles.

The ceremony beganwith the recital of convo-cation and the pledge of Al-legiance by Rtn. Dr. MelFareed. The 2013-2014club member leadershipwas acknowledged fortheir service. They wereeach given certificates of ex-cellence. The club member

of the year was awarded to Mr. Mustafa Ajmerifor his selfless service in the operations of theclub.

Rtn. Ravi Chander, outgoing president of theclub, who is away in Hyderabad in an email mes-sage to the members said “We have not only in-creased in strength but achieved our goals that we

Photo by Kireeti Vaggu

set forth during the beginning of my term. I sin-cerely feel that we as a club have a good heart andwe are proving to be a group that others want tojoin.”

Chandler Sharma’s acceptance speech wasempowering, as he addressed the group on theimportance of charity, leadership, community con-tributions which are needed to carry out RCEDH’sdesired and planned charitable activities. He alsodetailed his plans for his presidency and thankedthe past and the current leadership for their valu-able contributions.

The Rotary Club of Emory-Druid Hills(RCEDH), which has diverse, international mem-bers, received its charter as a new club from Ro-tary International on October 21, 2009.

The new club is sponsored by the RotaryClub of Lake Spivey and the Rotary Club of SandySprings. The club meets every Wednesdays at12:15 PM in Ashiana Restaurant, Global Mall,5675 Jimmy Carter Blvd; Ashiana Restaurant,Norcross, GA 30071. Fellow Rotarians and indi-viduals interested in joining the Rotary Club areinvited to attend.

Overall the induction ceremony raised thebar for future programs. The program ended witha quote from Mother Teresa, ‘Yesterday is gone.Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today.Let us begin.’

Rama In Panchavati: Yakshagana Traveling Troupe Performs In AtlantaREVIEW & PHOTO BY GIRISHMODI

Atlanta, GA: On Saturday July 26 and Sun-day July 27, two outstanding Yakshagana pro-grams were held in Atlanta. The first program wasabout Shri Krishna Parijatha and NarakasuraMoksha in an episode from Bhagavatha, describ-ing the travails of Lord Krishna, which was per-formed at the Hindu Temple and was in Kannada.Its theme was about the love story of Satyabhamaand Vishnu. The second program was in Hindicalled “Rama in Panchavati” and was performedat the IACA auditorium. Both programs were en-thusiastically received by the Atlanta Audience.

Those of us who hail from North India maynot have heard of Yakshagana. It is a theater formthat combines dance, music, dialogue, costume,make-up, and stage techniques with a unique styleand form. This theater style, resembling Westernopera, is mainly found in the coastal districts andthe Malenadu region of India.

Yakshagana is the scholastic name used forthe last 200 years for art forms. Yakshagana liter-ally means the song (gana) of the yaksha, (naturespirits). It is believed to have evolved from pre-classical music and theater during the period of theBhakti movement. It is sometimes simply called“the play” in both Kannada and Tulu. Yakshaganais a separate genre of music, independent ofKarnataka Sangeet and the Hindustani music ofIndia. It is believed to have survived as an indig-enous phenomenon only in parts of Karnatakaand Kerala.

A typical Yakshagana performance consistsof background music played by a group of musi-cians (known as the himmela); and a dance anddialog group (known as the mummela), who to-gether enact poetic epics onstage. The himmela is

made up of a lead singer (bhagawata)—who alsodirects the production—and is referred to as the“first actor” (modalane vesha). Additional himmelamembers are players of traditional musical instru-ments, such as the maddale (hand drum), the pungi(pipe), the harmonium (organ), and the chande (louddrums). The music is based on ragas, which are

characterized by rhythmic patterns called mattuand tala. Yakshagana talas are believed to be basedon patterns which later evolved into the Carnatictalas.

The Panchavati performance began with aninitial beating of the drums of several fixed com-positions, called abbara or peetike. This lasted forfive minutes before Rama, Sita and Laxman arriveon the stage. The actors wore resplendent cos-tumes, head-dresses, and face paints.

The story of Rama in Panchavati revolvesaround Shurpankha, who was sister of DemonKing Ravan. As she enters the stage, she makesher strange moves and hissing sounds. She is on

the lookout for a prey. She smells human flesh andis eager to devour any one who crosses her path.Then she hears of Rama, who has come to live inPanchavati with Sita and Laxman. Shurpankhadecides to seduce Rama, so she transforms herselfinto a beautiful 16-year-old maiden girl. She walksto the hut and sees Sita and Rama relaxing. She

makes her move and asks Rama to marryher. Rama tells her that since he is mar-ried and faithful to Sita, he is unavail-able. However, Rama suggests, she canask Laxman who is a bachelor to marryher and besides, Laxman is more hand-some than himself. So Shurpankha goesto Laxman and finds him an attractive,strong, young man. Shurpankha tellsLaxman that Rama sent her to him andask to marry her. Laxman says that hecannot marry her because he is celibateand can only marry upon Rama’s order.He then asks Shurpankha to bring somesign from Rama so that he can believeher story. Shurpankha goes back to Ramaand asks for a sign. Rama writes on the backof Shurpankha this message “Cut her nose”.

Excited Shurpankha goes back to Laxman and showshim the sign. The bemused Laxman follows the instruc-tions from his brother and defaces Shurpankha by cut-ting off her nose.

She curses Rama for insulting her and wowsthat she will go to her brother Ravan and will askhim to take revenge on Rama for humiliating her.

The opera consisted of a story teller (thebhagvatha) who narrated each scene by singing (whichincluded prepared character dialogues) as the actorsdanced to the music, portraying elements of the storyas it is being narrated. All components of Yakshagana—including the music, the dance, and the dialog—are im-provised. The acting in Yakshagana can be best catego-

rized as method acting.Rakshasa (the demon) as depicted in

Yakshagana performances, is called Bannada Vesha.The Stree Vesha, or female roles, are performed bymale actors in traditional Yakshagana. However,in these two shows, Vidya, the director of thetroupe, played the leading female roles.

The whole opera of Rama in Panchvati wasbased on the tenkutittu style. The influence ofKarnatic Music was apparent in tenkutittu, asevidenced by the type of maddale used and inbhaagavathike. Yakshagana is influenced more byfolk art blended with classical dance aspects. Intenkutittu, three iconic set of colors were used:the Raajabanna, the Kaatbanna, and theSthreebanna.

Narayan Swamy, President of NKK wel-comed the gathering. He mentioned the impor-tance of Ramayana and Mahabharata stories andhow Yakshagana is very effective in communicat-ing the morals of our stories through colorful cos-tume, heart rendering music, dance and dialogs tonot only entertain but educate the masses for ages.He was particularly referring to the young kidsgrowing in USA to take advantage of these eventsto enrich their experience, learn about our cultureand inculcate its values.

These two operas were very informative andexciting. Even though I don’t know Kannada anddid not understand the dialogues or the lyrics, I stillenjoyed the acting and dancing at the HTA program.I enjoyed the Sunday’s program even more as Iunderstood better the lyrics and dialogues in Hindi.I also got chance to mingle with all 10 actors. With-out their makeup and costumes on, one can hardlyrecognize them. I was amazed looking at them whilethey spent over an hour to apply makeup verymeticulously and put on layers of garments and gotready to play their respective roles.

14 NRI PULSE August 2014........NRI News ........

Indian-American Officials AskedAbout ‘Your Country’, ‘Your Govt’

Washington: (IANS) In an extremely awk-ward incident, a newly elected member of the USHouse of Representatives mistook two senior In-dian American officials of the Barack Obama ad-ministration to be from India and asked them ques-tions about “yourcountry” and “yourgovernment”.

“I’m familiarwith your country;I love your coun-try,” freshman Re-publican CurtClawson told NishaBiswal and ArunKumar at a HouseForeign AffairsCommittee hearingThursday, ForeignPolicy online reported.

“Anything I can do to make the relationshipwith India better, I’m willing and enthusiastic aboutdoing so,” he continued amid looks of confusionamong State Department and Congressional staffattending the hearing.

Biswal is the Assistant Secretary of State forSouth and Central Asian Affairs and Arun Kumaris the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for GlobalMarkets and Director General of the US and For-eign Commercial Service.

Clawson, apparently confused by their Indiansurnames and skin tone also asked Biswal and ArunKumar if the Indian government could loosen restric-tions on US capital investments in the country.

“Just as your capital is welcome here to pro-duce good-paying jobs in the US, I’d like our capi-tal to be welcome there,” he said.

“I ask cooperation and commitment and priorityfrom your government in so doing. Can I have that?”

“I think your question is to the Indian govern-

ment,” Biswal responded.“We certainly share your sentiment, and we cer-

tainly will advocate that on behalf of the US.”According to the report, it is extremely uncom-

mon for foreign officials to testify before Congressunder oath.

“Even so, it’sunclear if at any pointClawson realized hismistake, despite theexistence of a witnesslist distributed to thevarious members de-tailing Biswal andKumar’s positions,”the Foreign Policy re-port said.

Clawson, whowon a special election

last month to fill the seat of Trey Radel, who hadresigned after being convicted for cocaine possession,repeatedly touted his deep knowledge of the Indiansubcontinent and his favorite Bollywood movies.

It was Clawson’s first day sitting on the sub-committee on Asia and the Pacific.

He was named to the full committee July 9and Steve Chabot, subcommittee Chairman andRepublican member from Ohio, spoke aboutClawson’s deep international business acumen andknowledge of four languages in welcoming him.

“Our newest member of this committee, CurtClawson speaks four languages and all kinds ofother great stuff,” Chabot said.

Following Clawson’s opening statement,Eliot Engel, the full panel’s ranking Democrat,pointed out that Biswal and Arun Kumar work forthe US government.

“I made a mistake in speaking before being fullybriefed and I apologize. I’m a quick study, but in thiscase I shot an air ball,” Clawson later said.

India-US Joint ExecutiveMBA From 2015

New Delhi: (IANS) A joint executive MBAprogram announced by the Indian Institute of Tech-nology, Bombay and the Washington University

in St. Louis(WUSTL)will be of-fered in 2015,the parlia-ment was in-formed re-cently.

“ T h eIndian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombayand the Washington University in St. Louis(WUSTL) have launched a Joint ExecutiveMaster of Business Administration (MBA)program on June 30, 2014, to be offered in2015,” Human Resource Development Minis-ter Smriti Irani said in the Lok Sabha.

The program is the first of its kind to con-fer an executive MBA degree from both an Indianand American university.

Stating the salient features of the program,Irani added that it is meant for executives, profes-sionals and entrepreneurs with a minimum sevenyears of experience of quality; the curriculum isrooted around the leadership development and in-novation and the courses will be jointly offered byfaculty from IIT Bombay’s Shailesh J. MehtaSchool of Management and WUSTL’s Olin Busi-ness School.

Apart from teaching business fundamentals,the program will address leadership, strategic man-agement, growth and innovation.

It will be spread over a duration of 18 months,where classes will be offered four days per monthin Mumbai and it will end with a two-weekcapstone experience at the Washington Univer-sity.

“The MBA degree will be conferred to theseexecutives jointly by IIT-Bombay and WUSTL,”Irani added.

Doctor Accused OfRunning Illegal

Prescription RacketWa s h i n g t o n :

(IANS) A court in the UShas indicted an Indian-origin doctor of illegallyrunning a prescriptionracket that led to thedeath of one patient andharming the health ofmany others, media re-ported.

A grand jury inthe federal court of Al-

exandria, Virginia, concluded that NibeditaMohanty, 56, illegally prescribed medicines underthe guise of treating a chronic patient.

A former chief of medicine at Stafford Hospital,Virginia, Mohanty prescribed narcotic pills to patientswho had been jailed for selling controlled substancesand even to someone who, she was explicitly told,would sell the drugs to pay another patient’s bond.

Despite being warned by another doctorabout a patient who had painkiller addiction, shecontinued to prescribe OxyContin, Percocet andDilaudid to that patient. The patient washospitalised with drug overdose but Mohanty dis-charged her and less than two weeks later, pre-scribed more painkillers, the Post report said. Aday later, the patient died of oxydone overdose.

Mohanty, who served as hospital chief fromJune 2009 to February 2013, “rapidly and ran-domly increased the dosages” of patients’ drugs,and charged $250 in cash for each appointment.

Mohanty faces a minimum sentence of 20years in prison and a maximum penalty of lifeimprisonment and a $10-million fine if she is con-victed of the most serious charges.

Kerry Meets Modi, SaysObama Keen On Summit

US Secretary ofState John Kerry called onPrime Minister NarendraModi here recently andconveyed that PresidentBarack Obama attachesgreat priority to relationswith India and looks for-ward to a productive andfruitful summit in Septem-ber in DC.

Kerry, along with Commerce Secretary PennyPritzker, held an hour-long meeting with Modi at theprime minister’s 7, Race Course Road official residence.

The two visiting secretaries briefed Prime Minis-ter Modi on the India-US Strategic Dialogue; conveyedthat President Obama attached great priority to rela-tions with India, both for bilateral cooperation and glo-bal partnership, and looks forward to a productive andfruitful Summit in September in Washington to set anambitious new agenda to chart a new course in therelationship, said an official statement.

Modi said that there was broad convergenceof views and interests between the two countries.

He outlined his vision for India and for thepartnership between the world’s two largest de-mocracies in addressing global challenges, promot-ing peace and stability in the world and support-ing India‘s own economic transformation.

Mumbai Girl’s Memorable Dinner At White HouseMumbai: (IANS) For differently-abled

Mumbaikar Neha P. Naik, her “dinner date” withthe Obamas in the White House was like “a dreamcome true” and she will always cherish memo-ries of the humbleness and courtesy of the USpresident and the grace of the first lady.

Ever since she returned home from Wash-ington, the joyful Neha and her parents, Prakashand Asha, simply can’t stop talking about themega-experience of her life.

The Obamas hosted ‘A celebration of SpecialOlympics and a Unified Generation’ at the WhiteHouse July 31, the glittering event which attractedspecial athletes, top representatives of Special Olym-pics, celebrities and business barons from the US,and, of course, Goregaon girl Neha.

“President Barack Obama was so nice,humble and courteous, he gave me a warm hand-shake, asked my name and wanted to know whichpart of the world I came from... I told him,” Nehatold IANS, totally floored by the unique experi-ence with the world’s most powerful man.

And then, a graceful Michelle came forward,smiled, shook hands and hugged Neha even as hermentor-teacher Juanita Rodricks looked on with pride.

The welcome ceremony for 24-year-old Nehaand 10 other select differently-abled children from allover the world took place on an upper floor of theWhite House.

The event with the Obamas, was organisedby the Special Olympics of which Neha is an In-ternational Global Messenger (SOIGM), to com-memorate its anniversary and as a fore-runner tonext year’s Special Olympics World Games in LosAngeles.

Neha’s family credits Special Olympics forgiving independence and confidence to Neha toaddress large audiences and share her experiencesand excitement with the world, including at the

2013 Special Olympics in Korea.“There was a placard with my name on table

no.20, along with the dinner menu, the venue andthe date mentioned on it,” Neha said happily.

The multi-course lavish spread includedMaryland Crab and Corn Ravioli, FarmstandChopped Vegetable Salad, Wagyu Beef Roast withthe dessert Caramalised Plum Gallete, she said.

Post-dinner, the invitees were ushered to an-other room nearby where the Obamas attended aspecial presentation by several Special Olympi-ans who spoke how their lives were changed andimproved by Special Olympics.

Later, US singer Katy Perry entertained the gath-ering in the presence of legends like Stevie Wonder,Jason Derulo, former basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, former tennis player Andy Roddick and formerfigure skater Michelle Kwan, among others.

Rodricks, who is Neha’s mentor, is a teacher atGoregaon’s 33-year-old Punarvas Education Society’sShri Devrajji Gundecha Punarvas Special School andVocational Training Centre for Mentally Handicapped,where Neha studied. Though she lagged behind in aca-demics at Punarvas, Neha more than made up in herspeaking abilities and athletics.

16 NRI PULSE August 2014........Perspective/Feature ........

Letter TO PM Modi: Please Make India’s Health An Urgent PriorityBY DR. K.M. VENKAT NARAYAN

Dear Prime Minister Modi: Congratulationsand best wishes. Talking to people in my nativecity of Bangalore, I can sense the palpable opti-mism that your win has brought to the youth inIndia. People are longing for a decisive government:your emphasis on economic development, afford-ing opportunities to the common man, eliminatingor reducing poverty all resonate with the people.

There is one other priority that needs urgentattention: peoples’ health. Good health is impor-tant on its own right, but will also help realize thecountry’s economic potential. Health should be animportant priority to realize the full potential ofIndia’s young people, and not to lose them from theworkforce during the peak of their productivity.Furthermore, with significant numbers of peopleliving longer into ripe old ages, it will be importantto keep them healthy, productive, and fulfilled.

I want to urge you to attend to four urgentpriorities.

1. Invest in, strengthen, and modernizethe public health infrastructure: A lot of thedeterminants of good health reside outside of thehealthcare sector, and the majority of the impres-sive health gains that the world has had have comefrom public health approaches: better nutrition,hygiene and sanitation, safe water, healthy envi-ronment, immunization, poverty elimination.

Strengthening public health and making it rel-evant to today’s needs should be an importantpriority: (a) India needs modern health informa-tion systems to measure and monitor the country’shealth status in a dynamic manner, and to guidedecisions. (b) A well-resourced independent cen-tral agency is needed to strengthen public health,to build the science base, and to connect federaland state-level policies and resources for effectiveaction. A model to consider might be the US Cen-ters for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC. (c)

Better mechanisms are needed to promote col-laboration across sectors for health – e.g., agricul-ture, urban planning, sports and entertainment,schools and education, economics, industry, tech-nology, citizen involvement. (d) India needs tomodernize and expand training of public health

professionals at every level, from grass-roots commu-nity health workers to highly trained public health sci-ence experts. Some impressive work is already hap-pening through the Public Health Foundation of India(PHFI) and at several medical colleges. These need tobe built upon, and public health education needs to beintegrated across all education systems in the country.The creation of an independent university of publichealth with a network of institutes across the countrymay catalyze this development.

2. Prevent and control noncommunicablediseases (NCDs): Even as India deals with anunfinished agenda of undernutrition, infectious dis-eases, and maternal & child health, the country isfacing the gigantic challenges of NCDs, such asdiabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancers, lung dis-ease, road traffic accidents and injuries, and poormental health. What is especially disturbing isthat these NCDs are affecting people in India atyounger ages.. Yet, a high proportion of these

NCDs are potentially preventable by tackling to-bacco, improving diets and physical activity, re-ducing excess alcohol use, reducing air pollution,and by investing in evidence-based preventiveclinical medicine. Addressing NCDs in an inte-grated manner, and based on data and evidencegathered from India, is an urgent priority.

3. Invest in healthcare reform: India’shealthcare systems require modernization toproactively deal with the new health challengesbrought by the growth of NCDs superimposed onthe ongoing challenges of infectious diseases, ma-ternal and child health, undernutrition. The coun-try needs to strengthen its primary health caresystem, emphasize prevention, and retrain andexpand workforce to address NCDs. There is ahuge shortage of health personnel, especiallytrained primary care physicians, and non-physi-cian health workers. Innovatively addressing theseshortages through public-private partnerships wouldoffer huge opportunities for improving healthcare, whilealso providing employment to millions. The challengeis to develop and implement models of healthcare thatare of high quality, yet affordable in cost. Some greatexamples exist: the Devi Shetty approach to delivery ofhigh-technology cardiac treatments or the Arvind Eyemodel of eye health for millions are some innovationsto learn from. Beyond these, good integrated models ofprimary care for NCDs are much needed, and it is alsoimportant for India to develop mechanisms to guideand monitor healthcare quality and to introduce ac-countability and consumer participation in healthcare.

4. Invest in health research infrastruc-ture: For the size of its population and of itsdisease burden, India lags woefully behind in healthresearch. For example, although India is about 15%of the world population, she contributes to roughly0.5% of the world’s research productivity in sev-eral health areas (e.g., diabetes). Developing high

quality research from India needs serious action atseveral levels: (a) the country’s education systemremains largely stuck in a rote-learning model whichis completely out of sync with the creative andinnovative needs of a 21st century economy. Re-search skills and training need to be inculcatedwithin the education system at all levels. India’ssystem of doctoral training needs to be reformedin a manner that encourages independent investi-gators, who are encouraged and supported to takerisks. (b) the country needs a large network ofwell-supported clusters of excellence for healthresearch and innovation across several thematicareas. Such clusters will help India retain her toptalent and also attract into India talent from else-where. (c) India needs to drastically cut the redtape that holds research back in general, and is alsoa huge impediment to healthy international col-laboration. Some of the recent regulations concern-ing clinical trials are death knells to innovation.Similarly, India still practices several protection-ist policies that impede global research collabora-tion (e.g., huge delays with health ministry clear-ances for foreign grants or disallowing transfer ofspecimens in collaborative global studies usingstandardized methods).

Prime Minister, Modi, you have indicated thatthe 21st century will be “India’s century”. That is aninspiring and compelling vision. I humbly offer to youthat attention to health should be an urgent priority forIndia to achieve that tall and exciting vision.

K.M. Venkat Narayan is Director of Emory GlobalDiabetes Research Center, and Ruth and O.C. HubertChair of Global Health and Professor of Epidemiol-ogy and Medicine at Emory University Atlanta. He isa product of three continents, having lived and workedin India, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom,and United States of America.

This letter first appeared in the British MedicalJournal blogs.

Kabaddi Is Now Cool Sport, Thanks To Bollywood, CorporatesBY ABHISHEK ROY

Kabaddi, an indigenous contact sport in India,is witnessing a resurgence, thanks to big-time com-mercial sponsorship and prime-time TV patronage.Riding on the IPL-style hockey and football leagues,kabaddi has come up with not one but two leagues tocomplement each other.

For long kabaddi has been dismissed as anindigenous rustic sport not strictly fit to be anOlympic discipline. India had to fight hard tokeep it as an Asian Games sport and won all theseven gold medals ever since it was introducedin 1990.

All of a sudden corporate honchos as wellas Bollywood celebrities see it as a sport tailor-made for prime time TV. Even amazing is thatmany see kabaddi can challenge the shortest for-mat of cricket.

The Pro League has more or less taken onthe lines of the IPL, naming franchises after cit-ies to lure brand loyalty, whereas the WorldLeague is pure diaspora sport for the expat Indi-ans in England, US, UAE and Canada and it is ahuge affair.

Abhishek Bachchan, UTV founder RonnieScrewwaala and Retail Moghul Kishore Biyani

have bought franchise rights for the Pro-KabaddiLeague while Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha andrapper Yo Yo Honey Singh have bought teams inthe World League.

The eight-team Pro League opened to a packedcrowd in Mumbai July 26 and the World League isscheduled to start Aug 9 with a power packed openingceremony at London’s O2 Arena by Akshay.

What has baffled sports enthusiasts is the factthat two leagues are vying for TV space that too in asport, which is not so popular in urban India.

The genesis of the World League is in the successof the Kabaddi World Cup, the brainchild of PunjabDeputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Charu Sharma, the man behind the Pro-League,said it was while commentating forthe sport in the 2006 and the 2010Asian Games that the idea struck him.Charu’s Mashal Sports, which is alsopromoted by Anand Mahindra, isorganising the Pro-League.

“It was while commentatingduring the 2006 Asian Games in Dohathat I realised the pontential of thesport. Then it was in 2010 AsianGames the idea struck me why notstart a league,” Charu told IANS.

The two formats are completelydifferent. The Pro-League follows theinternational style while World League

is played according to the desi Punjabi style.Badal and former hockey captain Pargat Singh

are the main force behind the World KabaddiLeague. They want to take the sport to the globalstage and want to cash in on the huge Indiandiaspora in US, England, UAE and Canada.

“The whole idea of the World Kabaddi League

started from the success of the Kabaddi WorldCup. In fact the league was telecast on a localchannel and the figures were encouraging giventhe fact that it coincided with the T20 WorldCup. Mr. Badal thought why not take it to thenext stage with a World Kabaddi League,” RamanRaheja, chief executive of World Kabaddi League,told IANS.

Raman said roping in Bollywood stars asteam owners was a conscious decision but itwas indeed tough convincing them.

“Honestly, it was a conscious decision torope in Bollywood stars to own teams. It helpsin attracting the eyeballs. At the end the sportstands to gain from it. But it was not easy con-vincing them,” said Raheja.

Charu says getting Bollywood stars as teamowners is an advantage. But for them it was alsoa challenge to convince the Bachchans to pumptheir money in owning a team.

“It is was tough convincing them to investin a sport like kabaddi. But is a sport which hasa strong Indian connect. Everyone has playedthis sport. So we had a very compact plan whenwe approached the team owners, who also foundan instant connect with the sport,” he said.

NRI PULSE 17August 2014 ......Biz Pulse......

Deep Global Stock Market Sell-Off Is ComingBY VATSAL SRIVASTAVA

Indian benchmark equity indices endedsharply lower with a cut of more than 1.5 per-cent Friday (Aug 1) afternoon. The sell-off wason the back on solely global cues, particularlythe confusion over the US Federal Reserve’sQE exit strategy, the strength in the US DollarIndex and the uptick in US 10-year yields.

Currency Corner has been writing aboutthe potential negative spillover effects over theUS Fed taper over the past couple of monthsand is now convinced that a deep correction(10-15 percent) in US equities will occur in thenext six months. The financial system is simplynot ready to absorb US real rates heading higherat this point of time. We have already startedseeing major cracks in US equities with S&Pfutures trading at 1,926 in European trade Fri-day. Further, the sell-off in US equities has fitthe ‘risk-off’ sentiment witnessed in the after-math of the financial crisis perfectly. US equi-ties and WTI oil are showing a positive correla-tion while US yields and the US Dollar Indexare displaying a negative correlation with USstocks. There is a stark difference between thesetype of market moves and the ones we wit-nessed last summer when Ben Bernanke firstannounced that the central bank would be end-ing its easy liquidity regime. Last year, the QEtaper represented a sign of confidence in thestrength of the recovery in the US real economy

- from the labour market to the housing recovery.Thus, market participants remained long stockseven though the US dollar and US bond yieldswere expected to rise. This carried on for a whileand then the US Fed suddenly started soundingdovish again in its forward guidance. They keptreiterating the fact the interest rates will remain

near the zero bound even after Quantitative Eas-ing completely ends. Janet Yellen even went as faras to say that the the first interest rate hike wouldtake place six months after QE ends. As thingsstand currently, QE would be completely woundup by October which implies that we can expectinterest rates to rise May 2015 onwards in theUS.

CLSA chief strategist Chris Wood is also ofthe view that “the system is not set up fornormalised interest rate in the current deflationarycontext. This means that an attempt to raise inter-est rates to, say, the 3-4 percent level, while ulti-

mately healthy, would cause such financial dis-location that overwhelming political pressurewould lead to a reversal of that policy. This isparticularly the case if monetary tightening iscommenced on the assumption that theeconomy is cyclically improving as opposed toas a consequence of a recognition that zero in-terest rates, and related quanto easing, are un-healthy and need to be abandoned”.

We are now in the sixth year of a bull mar-ket in equities (March 2009 was the low). Allmajor indices have scaled to life-time highs thisyear. All economists, fund managers and marketcommentators agree on one point — QE hasbeen the major bullish driver for equities, bondsand commodities. In fact, it may even be arguedthat this period was one of those rare phaseswhere these different asset classes all moved inone direction due to the liquidity spree. We nowstand at a major inflection point for global mar-kets. Central banks were innovative when theyintroduced unconventional monetary policies tofight the most severe economic downturn sincethe Great Depression. Now it is time marketparticipants realize that the exit strategy (some-thing which has never been tried before) wouldrequire an even greater level of coordination andfinancial innovation.

If there is indeed a taper scare coming inthe next few quarters, there is only one cer-tainty — a global risk-off environment. Indianequities will not be isolated.

New CEO SikkaExhorts Infocions

To Do Better

Bangalore: (IANS) Vishal Sikka, new chiefexecutive of India’s second largest global softwaremajor Infosys Ltd, urged Infoscions to get betterat everything they were doing without disruptingthe iconic company’s foundation.

“The task before us is to lay out the way forward.We must get better at everything that we do withoutdisrupting the foundation that has got us where weare,” 47-year-old Sikka told the 1.6-lakh techies in hisfirst mail on assuming the top job.

The $8.3-billion IT bellwether’s investors unani-mously approved his appointment as the first non-founder chief executive and as a whole-time director onthe board at its extraordinary general meeting (EGM)here. “I am really looking forward to serving as theCEO of Infosys, one of the most iconic companies weknow. To lead Infosys is nothing less than a privilegeand an opportunity of a lifetime,” Sikka said.

Noting that the transition from being led by itsillustrious co-founders to a non-founder chief executivewould sweep across every company in the industry,Sikka said it was a great opportunity to lead Infosys, assoftware reshaped the world around.

“We must quickly augment the task by goingafter software opportunities with clients to createnext-generation, intelligent solutions.”

Outlining his agenda for steering the bellwetherfrom troubled times, including its less than indus-try growth rate, Sikka said the company wouldwork with the start-up community and reinforceits focus on intellectual property, products andplatforms to drive new scale and new economics.

Sikka will draw an annual salary of $5.08million (Rs.30.5 crore) with $2 million (Rs.12crore) as stock options (equity shares).

Prior to joining Infosys, Sikka was executiveboard member of the German software productfirm SAP AG, leading its products and drivinginnovation globally for over a decade.

A doctorate in computer science fromStanford University in the US, Sikka did extensiveresearch in artificial intelligence, intelligent sys-tems, programming languages and models and in-formation management at Xerox Palo Alto Labsand as founder of two start-ups.

Though Sikka will continue to live in Califor-nia where his family stays, he will travel to Banga-lore as and when required.

Manu Kumaran Files Lawsuit ToDissolve Company He Founded

Atlanta, GA: Manu Kumaran, the ex-CEOof Medient Studios has filed suit seeking to dis-solve the entertainment company he founded, acouple of weeks after he was fired in an abruptleadership overhaul, Savan-nah Now reported.

Although headquar-tered in Effingham County,Georgia, the company wasincorporated in Nevada. Inthe suit filed recently in aReno, Nevada state court,Kumaran is asking the courtto appoint a receiver anddisband the corporation inaddition to seeking mon-etary damages in excess of$10,000. He is also askingfor attorneys’ fees.

The defendants listedin the suit are members ofMedient’s current board of directors, including itsrecently appointed chair, Charles Koppelman,former governor of New York David Paterson,Joseph Giamichael and new CEO Jake Shapiro,reported Savannah Now.

Medient Studios announced in June that ithad terminated Kumaran and several others overwhat it described as “the management’s lack offocus and for straying from the company’s maingoal of making movies”.

Readers will recall that Medient finalized an

agreement with the Effingham County IndustrialDevelopment Authority to build a $90 millionmega-studioplex on its land in Savannah in ex-change for aa $10 million, 20-year lease, at the end

of which Medient has theoption of purchasing theland for $100.

In the complaint,Kumaran accuses theboard of directors of issu-ing new CEO Shapiro 40million preferred stock atless than fair value for “thesole purpose of dilutingKumaran’s majority inter-est in Medient.”

“ K o p p e l m a n ,Giamichael, Paterson andShapiro have colluded togrossly mismanage thecorporation in the conduct

and control of Medient affairs,” the lawsuit states.The suit states that Kumaran used $15 mil-

lion of his own money to acquire 10 million of 50million shares of preferred stock.

Kumaran also alleges that Shapiro has reducedMedient’s workforce from 28 independent con-tractors to three or four.

The Effingham County IDA has put on holda supplemental agreement with Medient as itawaits the changes the company will make to itsmaster plan, Savannah newspapers reported.

Mahabodhi AmongIndia’s Richest Temples

Patna: (IANS) After Tirupati, Vaishno Devi andShirdi Sai Baba temples, the Mahabodhi temple in Bihar’sBodh Gaya, Buddhism’s holiest shrine, has becomeone of the richest temples in India, officials said. The1,500-year-old Mahabodhi temple’s total income in2013-14 was Rs.106 crore, the highest till date.

It includes Rs.4.19 crore collected from thecharity box, Rs.4.7 crore through donations bydevotees and Rs.2.2 crore through fees for pho-tography, meditation and other services, saidArvind Kumar Singh, a member of the temple’smanagement committee.

The temple also received Rs.38 lakh in bankinterest. A major part of the income was received inOctober-November 2013, when the temple was in-laid with nearly 300 kg gold donated by devotees,including the king of Thailand. The temple is a WorldHeritage Site where the Buddha, who was born atLumbini in Nepal, attained enlightenment around2,500 years ago. The temple is visited by millionsof pilgrims annually from all over the world.

18 NRI PULSE August 2014........Bollywood Pulse ........

MOVIE TRENDS

Dhishoom! Dhishoom! It’s Action Time In BollywoodBY RADHIKA BHIRANI

After “Kick”, are you ready for some morejumping, boxing, punching and chasing?Bollywood lovers, brace yourself for a slew ofaction-packed high-on stunts movies slated for

release in the remaining 2014 calendar.Salman Khan’s “Kick” has already set a

high standard by zooming into the Rs.100 croreclub within its first week itself and now, thestage is set for entertainers like “Singham Re-turns”, “Mardaani”, “Mary Kom”, “DesiKattey”, “Bang Bang”, “Haider”, “Happy NewYear”, “Tevar” and “Tamanchey”.

If the success of the 2011 movie “Singham” isanything to go by, Ajay Devgn as Bajirao Singhamwill roar again upon his return in Rohit Shetty’s“Singham Returns”, releasing on Independence Day.

The Ajay-Shetty duo has dished out “some

unique and different stunts”, says a source closeto the production team - and that’s a fact well-endorsed by the movie’s trailer.

Once Hindi movie aficionados have had a doseenough of the men in action, gear up for RaniMukerji’s dare-me-if-you-can look and avatar in“Mardaani”, produced byYash Raj Films (YRF). Thefilm isn’t about stunts, butthey are integral to the plotand what’s worth looking outfor is the fact that Rani has beentrained professionally to carryout the stunts.

“‘Mardaani’ is not a stunt-based film and is a must-watchmovie only for ‘action-buffs’. Theaction scenes are very real and in-tegral to the story without peopleflying around after being punched,”Rafiq Gangjee, vice president, YRF,told IANS.

“Rani has been trained byprofessionals of Krav Maga, anIsraeli martial art form, and her ac-tions are true to life. Her role is thatof a senior Police Inspector of theCrime Branch who goes after thechild trafficking mafia and she has played that role toperfection without going into unrealistic fight sequencesand ‘daredevilry’,” Gangjee said.

Talk about Bollywood ladies in action mode, andyou wouldn’t like to miss the punches that PriyankaChopra seems to have packed up in “Mary Kom”.

As the Olympic bronze medallist boxeronscreen, the National Award winning performerhas “undergone extreme physical endurance to pre-

pare for the character anddelivered a knock-out per-formance that has set a new

bar for the women protagonists in Bollywood,”says Ajit Andhare, COO, Viacom18 Motion Pic-tures.

True that - be it Rani and Priyanka or ShahRukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan - actors gothrough months of training to pull off toughaction sequences despite the prevalence and useof advanced technology, which is believed tohave eased out the process of making stars flyin the air, jump down high-rises and performother dazzling and dangerous stunts.

One will also agree that the old world charm of‘dhishoom dhishoom’ action does not seem to borethe audiences either - and that’s why “Desi Kattey”,with its raw and gritty stunts, seems like it will hitthe right chords with the audience.

In contrast, there’s Bollywood’s own ‘su-perhero’ Hrithik Roshan in “Bang Bang”! TheGreek god of Indian cinema is ready to surpassthe standards of action he himself set with“Dhoom 2” and the “Krrish” series. He zoomsout of the sea, swings like Tarzan and his bikestunts are to be watched.

There’s also the Shahid Kapoor-starrer“Haider”, an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s“Hamlet” by Vishal Bhardwaj. A sneak peak into theforthcoming movie via its trailer, tells it’s high onguns, explosions and violence.

And how can the year be complete without adose of Shah Rukh Khan? So, there’s “Happy NewYear”, which has a multi-starrer punch with AbhishekBachchan, Deepika Padukone, Boman Irani, VivaanShah and Sonu Sood.

Ready for all the action, are you?

I Am Given MoreThan I Deserve: SRK

S h a hRukh Khan,who hashuge fan fol-lowing allover theworld, sayshe has beengiven a lotmore thanwhat he de-serves.

“ I t ’ sbeen 25

years that I have been working... initially you wantmoney, then fame, happiness for family, awards,rewards and no matter wherever you reach... youcomeback to the core and realise only what youwant is to bring smile on peoples face,” Shah Rukhtold reporters here during the announcement ofthe Got Talent World Stage Live.

“I feel I have been given a lot more than what Ideserve and I have to return it to them...I owe them. Iwant to be on sets and want to work harder ...LightsCamera Action...Ohhh shit he is gone,” he said.

The actor, who is all set to host the show,says “when you feel that you are talented that’sthe end”.

He says, “Even today when I go on the setsI get nervous before my first shot. The way to livelife is not to know your talent.”

The Got Talent World Stage Live will be tele-cast on Colors and be held at Andheri Sports Com-plex here Dec 6, 2014.

Thankful To Judicial System, SaysRajesh Khanna’s Companion Anita

Anita Advani, Bollywood superstar RajeshKhanna’s companion during his last years, heavesa sigh of relief and saysshe is thankful to the ju-dicial system.

The Bombay HighCourt Wednesday or-dered that Anita can begiven a copy of RajeshKhanna’s will, whoseveracity she has dis-puted.

“I am extremelythankful to the judicialsystem. I am grateful tothem. This is the third time I have won the case. Igot this news yesterday and I am extremely happy.Let me get the will, then I will think what to donext,” Anita told IANS.

Rajesh Khanna died on July 18, 2012, leav-ing behind a will in which he had named his daugh-

ters Twinkle and Rinkiehis legal heirs, and theformer as his will’s ex-ecutrix.

Meanwhile, Anitahas also challenged the saleof Khanna’s bungalow,Aashirwad, in which shestayed with him. Report-edly the bungalow has beensold for Rs.90 crore.

“I have also chal-lenged the sale of the

bungalow. I want to convert it into a museum. It’smy and Kakaji’s dream so let’s see. Rs.90 crore arejust peanuts for that bungalow. It’s worth muchmore. It’s prime property,” said Anita.

Nimrat Kaur LandsRole In ‘Homeland’

Indian actress Nimrat Kaur, who rose to famewith “The Lunchbox” last year, has now bagged arole in American TV series “Homeland”.

“Pretty fun for someone who watched the pilotafter the screen test! Season 4 HOMELAND it is,”Nimrat tweeted recently. “Mad Men” star Mark Mosesand Art Malik will also join the drama.

Moses and Nimrat Kaur have joined the se-ries for several episodes. Additionally, Malik willappear in at least one episode, reportshollywoodreporter.com.

Nimrat will be seen as a high-level operativewithin Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence, whileMoses’ character Dennis is described as an aca-demic teaching political science at Islamabad’sQuaid-I-Azam University.

Malik, best known for playing the villain in1994 action-thriller “True Lies”, is playing an oldfriend of Saul’s retired Pakistani general Bunran“Bunny” Latif. “Homeland” is currently shootingits fourth season in South Africa, where Cape Townis doubling for Islamabad.

400 Crore Alimony News Not True: HrithikReacting to rumors that his estranged wife

Sussanne Roshan has demanded an alimony of awhopping Rs.400 crore, actorHrithik Roshan has said it is“fabricated news”, which is“testing my patience”.

“Fabricated news articles.Demeaning my loved ones. Test-ing my patience,” Hrithikposted on micro-blogging siteTwitter Wednesday night.

The duo announced their split in December 2013.

Hrithik then said that Sussanne decided to annul theirmarriage and end their 17-year relationship.

They had tied the knot Dec20, 2000, following a whirlwindromance. They have two sons -Hrehaan and Hridhaan.

In December, there was newsthat their divorce was a Rs.100 croresettlement. However, Sussannedenied the reports, saying “there isno element of truth in the news and

it is entirely speculative”.

NRI PULSE 19August 2014

SuDoku Solutions

SuDoku ChallengeRules: 1.The 3 x 3 sub grids are calledregions2.Numbers already filled in the grid are calledgivens3.The goal of the player is to fill the blankgrids of

· Every row· Every column and· Every 3 x 3 box· With the numbers

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9However: All rows and columns and regions(3 x 3) should contain numbers 1 to 9without being repeated.

NRI Pulse Online MagazineThe Complete Portal for NRIs

www.NRIPulse.comNews, Views, Blogs, Features, Perspectives,

Debates, Community Profiles, Immigration, Health,Business, Youth, Fashion, Entertainment,

Bollywood, Cookery, Free Classifieds and more...

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Why It’s WrongTo Write Balanced Reports

So I get a news reportfrom a young reporter. “A carwas in collision with a bath”the other day, it told me.

Huh? So why was some-one driving a bath down aroad? In a follow-up email, sheexplained that the guy in thebath claimed that the car drovethrough the wall of his house(this happened in the US cityof Oklahoma), but she decidedto write that the car and the

bath were in collision to “try to be fair and impartial”.Good thinking. Life is strange. An investigation might conclude that the car was innocently

parked by the kerb when a house came roaring down the road and subsumed it.This actually might happen in New Zealand, where many houses are wood-framed and por-

table, and people drive wood-framed homes around the way normal folk take dogs for a walk.If you’ve ever wanted to win a road race, go to Christchurch and get aggressive at the traffic

lights with a man who has a two-story mansion on his trailer.But the main point is that reporters these days have to be VERY careful, which is why we write

things like: “It will allegedly be cloudy with an alleged chance of rain, according to the allegedweather forecast released by our alleged government.”

But the truth is, being a reporter is harder than ever, now that news often breaks on socialwebsites. My new golden rule: “Forgive those who sin against you: it’s easier than trying to workout how to delete their Facebook posts.”

Yet sometimes readers do send interesting tales through social media: like the guy who for-warded a report about two dogs who drove away their owner’s truck. Apparently true. I guess thiscould have happened if they were jumping around and accidentally hit the controls.

But generally speaking, dogs hate machines. If you want to break into any high security placeprotected by guard dogs, just carry a vacuum cleaner and make a zzzzhhhhhhhh noise: watch thosemutts vanish.

Motorists: if you crash into a lamppost going home today, tell people that you swerved toavoid a speeding bath driven by a pair of dogs. With a bit of luck, your story may be covered by ayoung reporter determined to be fair and impartial.

Salman Khan And SajidNadiadwala Kick Up A Storm

BY SUBHASH K. JHA

Film: “Kick”; Cast: Salman Khan, Randeep Hooda, Nawazuddin Siddiquiand Jacqueline Fernandez; Director: Sajid Nadiadwala; Rating: ****

“Kick toh banta hai, boss!” The number oftimes the word ‘kick’ kicks into this heady cock-tail of comedy and action, you’d think there’s noword in the dictionary that gives our hero a greaterkick than...well, kick.

So, brace yourself fora hero who likes to get hiskick in the unlikeliestways. And a hero, who isas unpredictable, whimsical, mischievous and in-timidating as Salman Khan.

Let’s pause here for a word on the phenom-

enon named Salman Khan. His stardom defiesanalysis...as much as his antics on screen. He iswhat he is. While writing his character in “Kick”,co-writers Chetan Bhagat, Rajat Arora and SajidNadiadwala had to considerSalman’s fan following ev-ery step along the way. Thescript is heedful of but notservile to Salman’s stardom.

This time Salmancomes across as far strongeraggressive and in-your-facecharacter than he did in hisrecent films like “Body-guard” and “Jai Ho”. Salman sinks into the dual roleof the prankster Devi and his Robin Hooddoppelganger Devil with the smirky relish that onlySalman knows how to muster and master. He makesthe dual personality not so deep and dark as fun andenjoyable.

The stunts spiral splendidly into a climax.The stunts are of the kind never seen before inHindi cinema, decidedly superior in execution towhat we saw in ‘Krrish 3’ and ‘Dhoom 3’.Nadiadwala spares no expenses to ensure that hissuper-hero flick gets going from the first frame.The spectacle is never over-the-top.

Playing the karmic crusader comes easily to SalmanKhan who likes to see himself being...well... human inreal and on screen. Cleverly, the plot weaves thesuperstar’s real and reel persona into a precocious pas-tiche where you never know where the reel Salmanends and where the fictional begins.

While his eyes go moist for suffering children

he also becomes a child on the dancefloor cavort-ing to the sound of “Saat samundar paar” fromRajiv Rai’s “Vishawatma”...Nadiadwala’s sly littlehomage to his deceased wife Divya Bharti onwhom the song was originally filmed.

The narrative’s pace never slackens. The cru-cial crossovers in characterization and continents

are achieved without muchado. This can be a problemwhen we’re in search ofconsistency in the charac-

terization of other heroes. But not Salman. Weexpect him to be whimsical and mercurial. And as

he jumps personalities, helives up to his unpredictableimage.

The plot is designed as aflashback conversation betweenJacqueline Fernandez andRandeep Hooda who could havebeen strangers in a train if onlythey were not engaged to getmarried. On a journey, they bothdiscuss the man who playedhavoc in their lives withoutknowing it’s the same character.

Nadiadwala ensures thereare enough tailormade sequencesto accentuate Salman’s super-heroic persona. An early encoun-ter in a crowded cafe betweenour hero and a group of eve-teas-

ers is superbly comic and yet reflective of a largelydormant society that allows evil to flourish. Also deftlydone is Salman’s interview with his future father-in-law(Saurabh Shukla, as brilliant as ever) where audiences

familiar with Salman’s con-duct at press meets, wouldrecognize his wry responses.

Not all of them work,though. The drunken buddy-buddy bonding sequence be-tween Hooda and Salmanfalls flat as Hooda goes pro-gressively over the top.Hooda is otherwise very

much in control over his character and plays offagainst Salman very effectively. Salman’s scenes withhis screen-father Mithun Chakraborty are a screamfor all the wrong reasons, mainly because Mithun’sBengali accent comes in the way of his Punjabi char-acter.

And that brings me to Jacqueline Fernandezwho has bravely spoken her own Hindi lines. Wewill ignore her linguistic efforts and focus on howgorgeous she looks while dancing with and forSalman in “Jumme ki raat”. This film definitelymarks her coming of age.

Admirably, the supporting characters are wellwritten. But if you ask me the biggest hero besidesSalman is Ayanka Bose’s cinematography which makesSalman, Warsaw, Mumbai and Jacqueline look fetching.

I came away with Nawazuddin’s evil laugh-ter ringing in my ears. Not because it’s scary, butso indicative of the world of ferocious comicbookbattles that Salman inhabits so casually.

NRI PULSE 1March 2014

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TECH PULSE

Power-Free Wi-Fi Connectivity Near YouHow about a world where you do not require power

to access your smartphone or tablet or even an eye-wear-able device like Google Glass?

Led by an Indian-origin engineer, a team at Univer-sity of Washington has designed a unique communicationsystem that uses radio frequency signals as a power sourceand reuses existing Wi-Fi infrastructure to provide internetconnectivity to these devices.

Called Wi-Fi backscatter, this technology is the firstthat can connect battery-free devices to Wi-Fi infrastructure.

“If ‘internet of things’ devices are going to take off, we must provide connectivity to thepotentially billions of battery-free devices that will be embedded in everyday objects,” said ShyamGollakota, an assistant professor of computer science and engineering at University of Washington.

We now have the ability to enable Wi-Fi connectivity for devices while consuming orders ofmagnitude less power than what Wi-Fi typically requires, he added.

This work builds upon previous research that showed how low-powered devices such astemperature sensors or wearable technology could run without batteries or cords by harnessingenergy from existing radio, TV and wireless signals in the air.

Instagram Launches Messaging AppSocial network Instagram has launched its messaging app called

Bolt which makes sending visuals easy. The easy to use app allows youto tap once to send aphoto and long press tosend a video. Undoing asend is done by shakingyour phone.

For now, Bolt is available only in New Zealand, Singapore andSouth Africa, reported the Verge.

“We are going to other regions soon, but are starting with a handfulof countries to make sure we can scale the experience,” an Instagram spokesperson was quoted assaying.

With Bolt, you can send one message to a friend at one time, and the app also allows you to addtext over your image or video.

With the app, users can now share their Instagram stuff with the specific users they want, one at a time.Instagram’s parent company and popular social networking site Facebook recently launched

its own messaging app called “Slingshot”.

Google Nexus To Herald Big Screen EraIt looks like global smartphone makers are bet-

ting on bigger screens in 2015 and Google cannot be farbehind.

Google’s next flagship Nexus phone could be ahuge 5.9-inch model called “Shamu”.

According to media reports, Motorola is currentlycollaborating on a new device with Google.

The device is in test phase now and should bereleased in November this year.

The new model will also have a fingerprint sensor.With Chinese maker HTC testing a 9-inch Nexus tablet, code named “Volantis”, this new

development means that Google has two Nexus devices up its sleeve now, reports added.The hardware and screen size of the final Google product could change based on test results.

App To Alert Forgetful Parents About KidsHave you ever forgotten your baby in the car? Pay more

attention as the baby can die of heatstroke or poisonous gas ifthe car AC is on.

To alert parents, a non-profit organisation called Kars4Kidsin Lakewood, New Jersey, has created a free smartphone app.

The “Kars4Kids Safety” app is designed to help avert anytragedy with a simple reminder.

Once you are in the car with the baby, the app connects to theBluetooth device inbuilt in your vehicle. When you leave the car and it disconnects, the app sounds an alarmon your phone. One has to keep in mind that Bluetooth radio technology works within a set distance.

If you are not far enough away from your car, Bluetooth will not disconnect, meaning the alarmwill not sound. You also choose the alarm sound feature - it can be something you record - and includeyour baby’s name and photo. “Kars4Kids Safety app is designed as an emergency backup for carefulparental and adult monitoring, not as a substitute for such monitoring,” read the app’s descriptionon its website.The app is available on Google Play app store.

To submit an upcoming event, follow the link for ‘Submit Event’ on ourwebsite www.NRIPulse.com.

August events atHindu Temple ofAtlanta (HTA)Friday 8th - Pradosham - Siva & Nandi Abhishekam- 6:30 pm & Varalakshmi Vratam - 7:30 pmSaturday 9th- Rigveda Upakarma - 7:00 am &Sravana Purnima (Satyanarayana Puja) 3:00 pmSunday 10th- Yajurveda Upakarma - 7:00 am,Saraswathi Puja (Academic year begins) - 1 pm &Kalasarpa Dosha Nivarana Puja - 6 pmWednesday 13th - Sunday 17th - Siva Temple 2ndBrahmotsavam – (see display ad)Sankashtahara Chaturdhi - Ganesh Puja - 7 pmSaturday 16th - Siva Parvathi Kalyanam - 11 am &Ratha Yathra - 1 pmSunday 17th- Sri Krishna Janmashtami & BhagavadGita ParayanamFriday 22nd - Pradosham - Siva & NandiAbhishekam - 6:30 pmSaturday 23rd- Masa SivaRatri - Rudrabhishekam -10 amThursday 28th - Swarna Gauri Vratam & SamaVedaUpakarmaFriday 29th- Ganesh ChaturthiWhere: Hindu Temple of Atlanta, 5851 GA HWY85, Riverdale, GA 30274Contact: 770-907-7102, http://Hindutempleofatlanta.org

IACA: Festival ofIndia 2014When: Saturday, August 16, 2014 / Time: 2pm- 4pm / Venue: IACASaturday, August 23, 2014 / Time: 11am - 7pmWhere: Gwinnett CenterContact: 404-317-5474

AUG 16-18Sri KrishnaJanmashtamiCelebrations - Atlanta Hare KrishnaTemple, AtlantaWhen: August 16th, 2014 from 6 pm - 9 pmAdivas Ceremony… Preparing for the arrival ofLord KrishnaWhen: August 17th from 4:30 am - 12:00midnightVyasa Puja of Srila PrabhupadaWhen: August 18 th from 5 pm. - 9 pmWhere: 1287 S. Ponce De Leon Ave, Atlanta,GA 30306Contact: Mahaguna Dasi • 404-452-5244Website: http://www.atlantaharekrishnas.com/

AUG 17BAPS JanmashtamiSamaiyoWhen: Sunday, August 17 at 3:30 PM to 6:00 PMWhere: BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, 460Rockbridge Rd NW, Lilburn, GA 30047Contact: Jigar B. Patel MD,jigarbpatelmd@gmail.com

Radha MadhavSociety: Sri KrishnaJanmashtami.When: Sunday, August 17 from 6 pm.Where: 2769 Duluth Hwy 120, Duluth, GA30096Contact: 678-920-6669,info@radhamadhavsociety.org

AUG 17

Shreya Ghoshal LiveIn AtlantaWhen: Sunday, August 17 at 7:00 pmWhere: Cobb Energy Performing Art CenterCenter, 800 Galleria Pkwy SE, Atlanta, GA30339Contact: info@balajientertainment.com,shribalaji04@yahoo.com, 201-805-9426

Asian AmericanHeritage FoundationBusiness MixerWhen: Monday, August 18, 2014 from 5:30 -8:00pmWhere: Tabla Restaurant, 77 12th St NE,Atlanta, GA 30309Cost: Preregister for $20, on site $25 (includes1 drink ticket and light appetizers)Contact: ani.agnihotri@gmail.com, FrankSoomro - fsosoomro@yahoo.com

IPN Atlanta monthlymeeting: StrategicAlliances Between Profits and Nonprofits,with Cynthia CurrenceWhen: Thursday, August 21, 2014 from 6.30 pmComplimentary appetizers will be servedduring the networking hourWhere: Ashiana, Global Mall, 5675 JimmyCarter Boulevard, NorcrossCost: $10/person (includes buffet dinner)Organizer: Sudhir Agarwal, Principal BusinessConsultant at Hewlett Packard, 770-289-0370Contact: Narsi Narasimhan at 404-488-7310

AUG 23Vishwa MadhwaSangha: SriRaghavendra Swamy Aradhana MahotsavaCelebration.When: Saturday, August 23, 2014Pooja and Panchamrutha – 9 am to 1 pmMaha Mangalarathi – 1 pm to 1:30 pmThirtha Prasada – 2 pm to 3 pmCultural Activities – 4pm to 6 pmWhere: IACA Auditorium, 1281 Cooper LakeRoad, Smyrna, GAContact: RSVP by 8/2 torayaraaaradhane@googlegroups.com,www.facebook.com/rayaraaardhane, Pradeep,678-656-4076

AUG 31BAPS CharitiesHealth FairBlood Work: Sunday, August 31, 2014 andSeptember 7, 2014 / Time: 8am-11amHealth Fair: Saturday, September 20th, 2014 /Time: 9 AM to 1 PMWhere: BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, 460Rockbridge Rd NW, Lilburn, GA 30047Contact: jigarbpatelmd@gmail.com

SEPT 6Ganesh Ustavorganized byMaharashtra Mandal AtlantaWhen: Saturday, September 6, 2014 from 9am-6.30pmWhere: Ambaji USA Shakti Mandir, 1450 HuieRoad, Lake City, GA 30260Contact: Pramod Waingankar 203-253-9043Website: www.mmatlanta.org

22 NRI PULSE August 2014........ What’s Cooking? ........

BY P.S. LAKSHMIRAO

........ InVogue .......

For More info, call me at 404-386-2062or visit Raneez Boutique in Decatur, GA.

BY RANI SHARMA

Sabudana& NutsPayasam(kheer)½ cup sabudana1 ½ cups water½ cup raw

cashew pieces¼ cup almonds1 cup water

Garnish

2 teaspoons home made ghee or unsalted but-ter2 tablespoons cashew pieces2 tablespoons chopped almonds1 tablespoon raisins½ gallon milk1 can sweetened condensed milk (8 ounces)1 cups sugar½ teaspoon cardamom powder¼ teaspoon saffron soaked in tablespoon milk(optional)

In a pressure cooker, bring 1 cup water toboil. In a mixing bowl, mix a half cup sabudana andone and half cups water. Place mixture in pressurecooker, cover and cook until it whistles three times.Turn the heat off and cool it until pressure sub-sides.

In a blender blend half cup cashew pieces andone-fourth cup almonds with water into a paste. Set aside.

In a four-quart sauce pan, heat ghee on me-

dium low heat and fry two tablespoons of cashewpieces, two tablespoons almond pieces, and rai-sins until light brown. Transfer them with a slot-ted spoon onto a plate. Return the saucepan to thestove. Add milk and boil for five minutes. Add cookedsabudana while mixing. Continue cooking sabudana untilthe grains start to become clear. Add cashew paste,condensed milk,sugar, and carda-mom powder.Cook for tenminutes on lowheat mixing con-tinuously, beingcareful not to letit stick to thebottom of thepan.

Add saf-fron and mix thoroughly and cook for one moreminute.

Transfer sabudana payasam into a deep serv-ing dish and garnish with fried cashew nuts, al-monds, and raisins just before serving.

Can be eaten hot or cold.Note: Add more hot milk if the payasam becomestoo thick.Makes ten servings.

Atukulu (Poha) Laddu2 Cups thin atukulu (poha)½ Teaspoons cardamom seeds (elaichi)1 Cup light brown sugar1 Cup fresh grated or frozen coconut (unsweet-ened)

½ Teaspoon Ghee (optional)

In a dry frying pan fry poha on lowheat for three minutes. Let it cool. Blendpoha and cardamom seeds together untilthey become coarse ravva.

Mix all the above ingredients and gheewith hand until you are able to make balls.Taste the mixture for sweetness and makesmall lime size balls. Makes about 12 balls.

Note: If you are using frozen coconut, spread thecoconut on doubled paper towel and microwave itfor 30 seconds to remove some moisture.

My mother used to make these laddus duringDasara holidays, when the school children camedoor-to-door singing Dasara songs.

This is very easy to make. Looks like ravvaladdu.

Up Your Glamour Quotient This Party Season

Evening party wear sarees are designed on a puregeorgette or chiffon base with regalembellishments of shimmering se-quins, stones, blooming resham em-broidery etc. Color combinations andstyle lines add for a strong fashionstatement. Aesthetic motifs and theirunique arrangement is the extraordi-nary feature of this collection. Makeyour celebration come alive with theseglamorous ensembles.

Here are some beautiful possibilitiesfrom Raneez.

Pearl border on a mauve saree inpure chiffon. The border is heavy. The

blouse is resplendent with sparkling silver sequindetailing and provides a contrast shade.

Red pure chiffon saree with sequins on thepallu embroidered in the diamond (barfi) pattern.The thin diamond border on the saree is repeatedin the stitched blouse that comes in your fitting.The needlework and embroidery makes the wholeoutfit exquisite.

Maroon pure chiffon sari embroidered in a zigzag pattern with golden colored sequins. Thematching stitched blouse is heavily embroideredat the front and back and has short sleeves. Theblouse can be customized too. The border of thesari has the same zig zag pattern as repeated onthe pallu.

Teal blue saree in pure chiffon with booti em-broidery in golden colored sequins. Christened ascircle saree, this looks heavy yet not gaudy andprovides a mirror like reflection. The blouse is

crafted with bold circle pattern and bordered withintricate sequin details in striking contrast. Wear itfor a cocktail party and be the center of attention!

Innovative black color saree crafted out of chif-fon with shimmering work patch border and se-quins to give you a mind blowing designer look.

Black chiffon sarees with sparkling sequin workresham embroidered design and triple patch bor-der. This exclusive saree will compliment yourtaste of high fashion.

Jewelry: Summer calls for minimal jewelry. Wearonly very light diamond or pearl sets. Single linebangles.Make up: Light blush on with light lip shades.Footwear: Match your sandals with your saree.Purse: Simple clutches in light colors