Desi Today English - August 2014

Vol. 5 | Issue 4 | Aug-Sept 2014

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NEXT MAYOR OF SURREY? PM 40013094

Exclusive Interview with Commonwealth Gold Medallist Wrestler Arjun Gill

Angels of mercy: ‘Beintehaa’ From a serious British Columbia responsibility: to India Preetika

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WE SPECIALISE

Who should be the next Mayor of Surrey?

Commonwealth Gold Medallist Wrestler Arjun Gill: And now for the 2016 Olympics!

Desi Today Profile: Hughes & Company Law Corporation Does China really need to rebalance its economy?

Don’t take Sikh religious matters to court: Akal Takht Chief To Study or Not To Study English: India debates Rural-urban migration swell ranks of Delhi’s homeless In Modi era, little place for BJP seniors Angels of mercy - From British Columbia to India Amavasya (The Night of New Moon) Part-III

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Robin Williams brought dignity to male crying: Kamal Haasan

Parliament of words: Politicians as successful writers Kabaddi is now cool sport thanks to Bollywood, corporates LGBT definitely out of closet: Filmmaker Sridhar Rangayan Okay, so gender issues can be confusing How e-commerce met my deepest, darkest fantasies (The Funny Side) Virtual Friendship In, Personal Connect Out Indian techie will drive solar-powered auto to Britain Pulitzer winner, some shortlisted novels Auto Review: BMW Auto Review: Mercedes Benz Sprinter Desi Girl: Safeeya Pirani

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We are proud to bring you another edition of Desi Today Magazine. This edition features an outstanding Punjabi Canadian wrestler Arjun Gill who has made us all proud to be living in this great country called Canada. It is good to know that we have some role models that our kids can look up to. If you see Arjun in the mall, gurdwara, park or your local gym, make sure you give him a hug and congratulate him for his achievements. We should all encourage our youth to get into athletics and at the same time as parents, we should attend their activities with them and cheer them on to their success. Take time off your work to be with them at their events. Dropping them off and leaving them there on their own is not encouraging at all for our children. Let’s not concentrate on building real estate but emphasize on building our children’s future. They are our real property.

Another important story we have featured is the mayoral race in the City of Surrey. The job of Mayor plays a very important role for the growth and health of the city. And since a majority of us South Asians have chosen to make Surrey our home, it is our responsibility to come out and vote for the right leader. Statistics show a very poor turnout of South Asians in the elections. If we don’t participate in voting, then we have no right to complain about any injustice happening in the community. We encourage you all to read between the lines of the write-ups of these three candidates and choose for yourself the best candidate.

We wish you are a very happy remaining summer!

Until next time, Sanjeev Katyal

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DESI TODAY EXCLUSIVE

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WHO SHOULD BE THE NEXT OF SURREY?

DESI TODAY requested Councillor Linda Hepner of Surrey First, former Surrey mayor Doug McCallum and Councillor Barinder Rasode to present their take on why they should be the next Mayor of Surrey to our readers.

All of them readily agreed.

So here are their write-ups and our readers should go through them carefully to decide who they think would be best as Mayor of British Columbia’s second largest city.

Of course, what is really important is to make sure you get out and cast your precious vote on Saturday, November 15.

In Surrey, residents vote for one Mayor, eight councillors, and six school trustees.

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‘Vote for Surrey First so we can continue on our journey of building the city we love to call home’

BY LINDA HEPNER

I am honoured to reach out to the strong Indo-Canadian community that has enriched the lives of all Surrey residents. Some thirty years ago I moved with my family to Surrey and have watched our city grow from an agricultural community to a thriving metropolis. Our best days are ahead of us, but it is a privilege we must earn by working together, and I want to share with you our Surrey First vision to build Surrey into the city of our dreams.

For twenty years I worked as a public servant, including as the Manager of Economic Development at City Hall. I learned that to harness our diversity advantage we must put the citizen first. Good ideas can come from anywhere, from a new immigrant or a long-time resident, from the left or right, business or arts groups, it is the balance of all these and the harmony www.desitoday.ca

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of them all that makes for a vibrant community.

As someone who loves this community, I would not stand for the jokes people used to tell about Surrey and so I ran for Council and was elected in 2005. It seems so long ago now, but they were dark times.

City Hall was plagued in scandal, despite a growing population, there was insufficient investment in our infrastructure, the police were woefully under-funded, and young people didn’t believe in a future here. Every aspect of Surrey needed fixing, and the only way to fix it was to work together, and under Mayor Dianne Watts’ leadership, Surrey First was born. A coalition of independents, it included arts advocates like Judy Villeneuve and an accountant like Tom Gill. We had different ideas but a common purpose, and we mastered the skill of working together for the betterment of the community.

Through hard work life in Surrey got better. We maintained the lowest residential taxes in Greater Vancouver by controlling spending, with the lowest per capita spending in Greater Vancouver. But we still managed to invest over $5 billion in the Build Surrey program, improving roads, expanding parks, building community centres and sports fields, all the key elements to make Surrey a true home for families. To create job opportunities for young families, we maintained the second lowest business taxes in the region and brought in foundations for a modern economy like our Smart Surrey initiative and the Innovation Boulevard, to attract the smartest entrepreneurs in the world to want to work and live and hire here in Surrey.

As journalist Kevin Diawkiw has shown, under Mayor Doug McCallum, Surrey had the worst number of police officers per person in all of Canada. His under-funding led to an over-worked police force and the highest violent crime rate of Canada’s

15 largest cities according to the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics 2002 report. At Surrey First we worked to repair the damage and rebuild the RCMP, hiring over 300 officers with more to come. Tellingly, in 2001 under Mayor McCallum the number of crimes per officer was 127, the worst in the country, which we’ve recently managed to get down to 55 per officer.

To clean up the scandal at City Hall Surrey First brought in unprecedented improvements, such as a lobbyist registry and a whistle-blower protection policy.

This has had tangible improvements, with better morale and trust at City Hall and national recognition for Surrey’s transparency with City Hall repeatedly receiving the Canadian Award for Financial Reporting.

To be sure, Surrey is a better place than when we took over in 2005. We’ve gone from being a joke to being the centre of growth, with 10,000 new residents a year and 15,000 new businesses setting up shop since 2005. But there is more to do and I want to share with you three priorities Surrey First is determined to tackle.

First and foremost is public safety, the number one responsibility of any government and my number one priority as your Mayor. We will continue to add officers to achieve our goal of one officer for every 700 residents, keeping up with our population growth. But we cannot reduce the complexities of crime to simple slogans and grand-standing. Surrey First worked to develop the Crime Reduction Strategy in partnership with citizens like you, and I am proud to say that we have implemented over 90% of recommendations with crime falling significantly since we took office.

We will build a comprehensive approach to crime that includes not just more police, but also smarter policing, taking advantage of better information, cooperating with community groups and working to address the root causes of crime such as

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poverty, mental health and addictions and a disconnect with young people.

A growing city like Surrey deserves transportation infrastructure worthy of a metropolis and that is why Surrey First is committed to investing in public transit, including a Light Rail System. Our light rail transit system will connect all the town centres together, reducing commute times, minimizing traffic congestion, and fighting pollution while at the same time strengthening local businesses and improving accessibility for seniors.

Finally, our economy must keep up with our population growth, to provide good jobs for families and a funding base to support our social programs and quality of life. But growth must be balanced, and that is why we are 100% behind the Green Surrey initiative to protect our parks and agriculture lands. We are steadily moving towards renewable energy, beginning with our city vehicle fleets. Job opportunities must provide for all of Surrey residents’ unique talents, and while we are proud of the $11 billion in development investment Surrey has received, we are committed to diversifying to lead in the 21st Century knowledge economy. We are working in partnership with the province and educational institutions to expand Kwantlen Polytechnic in Surrey with a new campus under construction and strengthen SFU Surrey’s presence here. The Innovation Boulevard is the centre-piece of our health-science technology hub and with a new Cultural Corridor we will make Surrey the magnet of the creative economy in Western Canada.

Surrey First is a proven team that has worked with you to build a Surrey we can all be proud of. But there is so much more to do, and I ask for your vote so that we can continue on our journey of building the city we love to call home.

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FEATURES

Surrey’s next mayor must take immediate action to ensure a successful future

BY DOUG MCCALLUM

The ability of any one individual to have an impact in their community begins with a decision to stand up and make a difference.

I am very proud of the 12 years that I spent as both a City Councillor and the Mayor. I cleaned up the crime-ridden town centre of Whalley by taking aggressive stances on drug houses, increasing the police presence on the streets, and ensuring that all criminal activity was taken seriously and met with swift action.

I showed respect for the residents of Surrey and froze property taxes for 9 years. The City of Surrey also reached unprecedented levels of growth and prosperity through property development and investment.

Since leaving office in 2005, I have enjoyed my life as a private citizen by spending quality time with my family. I was also involved in several personal and professional pursuits.

Yet in spite of the wonderful lifestyle I am living, I have decided to once again put my name forward as a candidate to become your next Mayor of Surrey.

The reason for my decision is simple: Surrey is at a crossroads, encountering many 12

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problems that require strong and decisive leadership to ensure that we remain on a path of sustainable growth that benefits everyone.

First, let me outline some of the key issues that have put a fire in my belly to make improvements and bring sweeping change.

Crime has infiltrated every corner of the City of Surrey. Citizens in all of Surrey’s neighbourhoods have major concerns about public safety. 2013 was a record year for murders with a shocking 25, which was of course capped by the tragic death of Julie Paskall outside the Newton hockey arena in December. Property crime in 2014 has jumped 35 per cent, with break and enters and vehicle theft leaving residents in fear within their own neighbourhoods. Unregulated drug recovery houses are springing up every week, creating havoc and a level of anxiety amongst upstanding citizens worried for the safety and security of their families.

Since 2003, the City of Surrey has the worst performance of the nine largest municipalities in BC in lowering criminal code offences, and is the only city in the region to see an increase in violent crime. When it comes to property crime, only Kelowna has a worse record than Surrey over this time frame.

Something isn’t working, and yet the current Mayor and Council seem to have put their heads in the sand about the level of crime in our community.

For the past 6 years, every single City Councillor in attendance at Police Committee meetings has voted to close them off to the public. Once again, I want to emphasize that these votes were unanimous – no one stood up for the citizens of Surrey and showed a dissenting, independent voice.

The Surrey RCMP is now set to move into the old City Hall, dramatically decreasing the emphasis on community policing by concentrating operations in the south of Surrey.

Furthermore, information released as a result of my inquiries into how many police are truly on the streets revealed a disturbing number: most shifts have only 36 uniformed officers working, meaning that there is one patrol officer for every 14,156 Surrey residents.

In spite of a new clause promising greater accountability in the 20-year contract signed with the RCMP in 2012, the current Mayor and Council continue to blindly accept RCMP reports, operations and results.

This is completely unacceptable. As Mayor, the responsibility to guarantee that Surrey residents get value for the $90 million they spend on the RCMP every year begins and ends with me.

I will double the amount of officers on patrol to 72 without spending any new money, but rather by demanding better service as

per the terms of the contract; more officers need to leave their desk duty and get into the community. I will open up Police Committee meetings to the public (with the exception those dealing with legal or personnel matters) so that community members will have a better understanding of how policing is working in Surrey. I will ensure that community policing continues to be a significant priority in the way that police have presence in neighbourhoods across Surrey. Finally, I will make the Mayor’s office the first line of accountability for the public – there are several measures that I will implement to ensure that the Mayor has better access to accurate information and a greater ability to have an impact if changes to public safety strategies are needed.

I will take direct responsibility, and make sure that every citizen of Surrey knows that they can come to me directly to deal with the problems they are facing.

There are three other key Surrey issues that have made me determined to win this election and take immediate action with.

First, the City of Surrey’s mismanagement of taxpayers’ money is out of control.

Including interest payments over the next 25 years, the new City Hall will cost residents a whopping $150 million – a selfish and unnecessary expense that ignores top priorities in the community. Furthermore, over $5 million was spent on new furniture for City Hall – again, an example of excessive waste that shows no respect for the public purse.

The Surrey City Development Corporation, which invested $20 million into a brewery, is competing against private development, taking speculative risks with public money, and costing the City of Surrey over $96 million per year.

Property taxes have increased by close to 3 per cent every year since 2012 (one of the largest jumps in Metro Vancouver), yet services have not improved for Surrey residents.

As Mayor, I would immediately find efficiencies in City Hall to reduce spending, eliminate the Surrey City Development Corporation and the Surrey Regional Economic Forum to save taxpayers over $100 million per year, and look to invest those services into better police and community services so greater equity and attention is paid to treating every Surrey neighbourhood with respect. I would also look to use those savings to lessen the tax burden on property owners.

Secondly, transit services are completely inadequate for our population.

We currently have 1,200 residents moving into the city every month, yet there have been no major transit upgrades in Surrey for decades.

When I served as the Chair of Translink, I oversaw the largest increase in regional transportation infrastructure built in over 50

years. From the Canada Line, to the Golden Ears Bridge, to the world’s largest purchase of trolley buses for Metro Vancouver, I was able to effectively secure provincial and federal investment to drastically upgrade and modernize transit across the region.

The Mayor of Surrey must be a tireless advocate with senior levels of government to receive this kind of funding. Within a decade, the City of Surrey will be the largest city in the province, and without a Mayor that is prepared to fight hard to receive the transportation investment we require, the community is going to suffer. I am ready, willing, experienced and knowledgeable about how to secure the funding that our city requires.

Lastly, I believe that we are grossly underserved by the current electoral system.

Simply put, for a city as geographically and culturally diverse as Surrey, we desperately need wards to allow people to have more representative, accountable and effective elected officials.

I believe that different areas of Surrey deserve their own representatives that are responsible for a defined section of the city.

It works well for our Federal and Provincial counterparts, and demonstrates the level of diversity that we can achieve at City Hall.

People should be able to vote for Councillors that are informed and understand the specific issues that each neighbourhood is encountering. In the current at-large system, entire sections of Surrey are being forgotten about and even ignored because Councillors are getting elected by focussing all their efforts in select areas at the expense of others.

It is time to end this outdated way of choosing elected officials. As Mayor, I would immediately begin the process of petitioning the BC government to change the electoral system so that wards would be in place for the election in 2018.

These are the broad strokes of why I am running for office, and over the coming months, I am excited to have the opportunity to present more detailed policy proposals for the voters of Surrey to consider.

I am inspired by a deep concern for the City that I have called home for over 40 years. Surrey has become the showcase for the best that BC has to offer – a multicultural landscape that is strong and vibrant, a business community that generates attention and interest in the city’s competitive landscape, and a kind and considerate population that is a model for community spirit.

But unless we take immediate action to tackle the very real growing pains the City of Surrey is currently facing, then we are risking our chance at a future that is healthy, dynamic and comfortable.

This is our community. The time for leadership is now.

I am ready for that commitment.

FEATURES

Surrey citizens look for change in 2014

BY BARINDER RASODE

Photo: Chandra Bodalia

Every day people tell me they don’t feel safe and it’s time for Surrey to make fighting crime its number one priority. Violent crime continues to shake our neighbourhoods, and skyrocketing property crime is having a significant impact on the livelihood of our businesses and residents.

Last week, Surrey recorded its 11th murder of the year, and there were a record number of homicides in 2013. Our community has been let down and people are fed up that nothing is being done to fix the problem – it’s time for action. Our neighbourhoods and parks deserve some intensive care and the status quo is simply not good enough.

It’s time for fresh ideas and new approaches to the longstanding crime problem in Surrey. Municipal governments have the power to affect change quickly and dramatically, if there is the political will to implement solutions. The City’s revenues totaled $788.5 million last year, so we have the money to deal with this complex, yet fixable problem.

It is completely unacceptable that Vancouver has 95 per cent more sworn officers than Surrey. Vancouver’s crime rate has dropped significantly since 1998, and Surrey’s rate has not. Vancouver has dramatically increased the number of cases it solves, and Surrey has not.

We must hire more police officers because we don’t have the manpower to deal with the growing caseload and to serve our growing population. But, the RCMP can’t do it alone. We need a team of 200 community safety personnel who will target problem 14

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areas, and deliver new crime prevention and public safety programs.

We need to start tackling the root causes of crime and addressing the mental illness and addictions issues in our community. Onethird of Surrey’s population is under the age of 19, so we must make sure they’re guided on a path to success. That means finding and helping the youth that need our support. Our business community also needs more support to deal with the increase in crime. We need to create a Business Watch Program to address the crime and nuisance activity that is costing people money and causing businesses to shut down.

Improving transit and transportation infrastructure is also vital to the success of our city. And, residents have repeatedly told us that it is one of the most pressing concerns in Surrey. I’m committed to fixing Surrey’s transportation issues by delivering rapid transit and new rapid bus service. By not coming to the table as a true partner with our regional, provincial and federal counterparts, we have failed to secure the necessary funding to improve transit in our city.

Over the next 25 years, the population of Surrey is expected to grow by 50 per cent, to approximately 750,000. We need to ensure that we are preparing for this growth by improving our road network and intersections, so we can better manage the flow of people and goods across the city. And, we have to solve the longstanding issue of finding appropriate truck parking to support this vital and growing industry in Surrey.

It’s imperative that we create a thriving economy and make life more affordable for families - that means keeping taxes low, generating new employment opportunities, and ensuring that city hall respects taxpayer money, because waste and abuse of tax dollars can cripple a city.

Our small businesses are the backbone of our economy and play a critical role in job creation. In order to foster a healthy business environment, we have to streamline processes and reduce unnecessary regulations so businesses can operate efficiently and effectively.

I believe that building a progressive city with opportunities for young people requires new leadership and a new a way of doing things. I’m raising my three kids in Surrey because I love this city. And, I feel it’s my responsibility to look after the future leaders, as well the aging parents who built the city.

If we make the right choices, we will overcome our challenges and build a stronger, safer city. We’ve learned some valuable lessons over the last number of years, and now it’s time to move our city forward and fix the problems that are standing in the way of us becoming a truly incredible city. www.desitoday.ca

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DESI TODAY EXCLUSIVE

FEATURES

COMMONWEALTH GOLD MEDALLIST WRESTLER ARJUN GILL:

Photo: Surya Studio

And now for the 2016 Olympics!

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ARJUN says he started wrestling at the age of 10. His dad Paramjit Gill, who represented Canada in weightlifting at the Edinburgh Commonwealth Games in 1986, encouraged him consistently.

Although he placed fourth in his weight category in the B.C. High School Wrestling Championships while at North Surrey secondary school in grades 10 and 11, the breakthrough came in grade 12 when he bagged the gold medal in March 2009 in his weight category.

He went to Douglas College for two years and then to SFU where he begins his last semester this September in B.A. Health Sciences.

At 2009’s Canada Summer Games, Arjun won silver in his weight category. But at the 2010 national championships, he won gold

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AFTER winning the gold medal in the men’s 97 kg freestyle wrestling final over Satywart Kadian of India at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, Arjun Gill, 22, is all fired up for the 2016 Olympics.

“Well, obviously I want to go to 2016 Olympics. You know everyone’s got goals,” he tells Desi Today.

But right now he’s undergoing gruelling training six days a week for the World Championships coming up in September in Uzbekistan.

He trains at Simon Fraser University (SFU), where he is a wrestler for the SFU Clan, twice a week with coaches Justin Abdou and Dave McKay, and at Guru Hargobind Wrestling Club three days a week with Lhamsuren ‘Lhama’ Naidan, who was the Mongolian 2000 Olympic team wrestling coach.

Besides, Lhamasuren, Arjun gives credit to Guru Hargobind Wrestling Club coach Nasir Lal, and the late Randeep Sodhi, national and international wrestling champion who won gold at the 1997 Commonwealth Championships, for his success.

In fact, back in 2010 Randeep said this about Gill: “Arjun is an athletic and explosive wrestler. Success at the junior and senior level will depend on his work ethic over the next few years. He definitely has the skills to do well at 96 kg.”

Indeed, Arjun proved him to be correct.

Arjun himself is now inspiring a whole new generation of South Asian wrestlers.

When asked about the potential he sees in the younger generation, he responds: “Definitely we’ve got guys coming up. We are going to have more people in the national team in the next Games hopefully. I can see us bringing home two golds in the next Commonwealth Games.”

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FEATURES

Photo: Chandra Bodalia

Photo: Chandra Bodalia

his weight category.

Arjun won a Canadian Junior Championship in 2011. He also finished second at the Canadian Championship in 2013. He won the 2014 Canadian Championship.

Wrestling at the Commonwealth Games “was definitely one of my goals,” he tells Desi Today.

His strategy was to scout his competition as he competed in championships in France last year and in Italy this year.

In Italy, he lost to the Indian wrestler but it was a good experience. It was important to “have an understanding of what to expect.”

Coach Lhamasuren helped him make the game plans.

Arjun explains that there is a huge difference between just watching a wrestler perform and actually wrestling with him. Once you have wrestled with him, “then the next time you understand what to expect – what moves to use, what might work.”

Photo: Surya Studio

“...I have never actually been emotional after my wins, but this meant a lot and I was really happy.”

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NOW, he had made it to the final match at the Commonwealth Games.

“I was a little bit nervous when I stepped on the mat, but then once the whistle blew, I was fine,” Arjun relates.

He felt his opponent Satywart Kadian weakening a bit when the second round began and that boosted his confidence.

“Then I gave it my all. The score was 4-4 but I won because of technical superiority – if you take the guy down [as opposed to push outs], then it’s more points – two points,” Arjun explains.

And when he won?

“I was really happy. I have never actually been emotional after my wins, but this meant a lot and I was really happy,” he says.

And what a victory it was!

“I would like to thank my coach Lhamsuren and my grandfather Harbhajan Singh Gill and my dad and mom. Grandfather played a big role – he’s always been supporting me through my ups and downs in wrestling,” Arjun says.

Asked if having so many successful Indian wrestlers and Indo-Canadian wrestlers has helped to strengthen his confidence, he humbly acknowledges how Indian wrestlers like Sushil Kumar who have won gold medals at the Olympics and Commonwealth Games and Indo-Canadians like Arjan Bhullar and those who came before him “all inspire you to do better, to work hard.”

ARJUN says he’s thinking of becoming a firefighter after completing his degree at SFU. “I feel like it’s a rewarding job – like you are doing good for the community. So I feel I will enjoy it,” he says.

Photo: Chandra Bodalia

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PROFILE

HUGHES & COMPANY LAW CORPORATION:

Every client is valued and every case is important “... At present, it is viewed as essential that claims be filed in courts, and very importantly, the matter be set for trial.”

Hughes & Company Law Corporation was established in 1996.

The company has its main office at 501 – 1128 Hornby Street, Vancouver, BC, just two blocks away from BC’s largest courthouse.

Offices in major locations throughout the BC lower mainland are available for meeting clients. The company has always taken the view that meetings with clients should be close to their homes. This saves clients the need to drive to downtown Vancouver, wasting time on commuting, and dealing with the problems of parking.

The company takes on a wide range of personal injury claims, including car accidents, aircraft incidents, and other general liability matters involving injuries through which the responsible person has liability insurance.

Mr. Cedric Hughes says that considerable changes have been noted over time with respect to the response of the insurance companies involved. Many years ago reasonable settlements without litigation was a practical option. At present, it is viewed as essential that claims be filed in courts, and very importantly, the matter be set for trial.

Clients rarely have any desire to go to trial. As long as liability is not in dispute, and there is a trial date, the client can expect that there is a high probability of settlement for a reasonable amount.

Matters that will go to trial typically involve either a dispute regarding blame for the accident, or a dispute regarding the client’s 20

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employability.

Essential to this process is the need to file and serve the necessary Notice of Civil Claim at the earliest opportunity. Hughes & Company makes it a practice to issue the Notice of Civil Claim immediately when the file is opened. The purpose is always to bring the matter to a conclusion as quickly and efficiently as possible, with the best possible result available in the circumstances.

Above all else, Hughes & Company insists on serving the client’s interest in accordance with the high standards of the legal profession. Mr. Hughes says that the governing body for lawyers in British Columbia, the Law Society of British Columbia, expects nothing less.

Mr. Hughes points out that a lawyer is not only an advocate for the client, but as counsel, is an Officer of the Court. This means that the lawyer has a duty at all www.desitoday.ca

times to present the evidence efficiently and fairly, so as to allow the judge to make a just decision in the case. The client must always be told the difficult facts of the case as well as those parts of the claim that the client may find pleasing.

Mr. Hughes says that in British Columbia we are blessed with a reliable and predictable legal system which is the key to a peaceful civilization, and the fair and respectful treatment of individuals within society. Judges in British Columbia are highly trained, independent, and fair-minded. They seek the result that is demanded by justice, as based on the facts.

The judiciary are the guardians of democracy and counsel are the essential assistants in that process.

Hughes & Company seeks always to serve these higher purposes while pursuing the financial interests of clients with fairness and vigour.

It is a great privilege for Hughes & Company to represent members of the public before the courts of this province. Every client is valued and every case is important.

A lawyer’s role as a professional necessarily involves doing some work on a pro bono basis. This means that in some situations, there may be no fee.

One example is that there is an increasing need to dispute the claims of Wage Loss Indemnity Plans in respect to the client’s settlement proceeds.

There is an increasing trend for these Plans to refuse to pay their share of the legal expenses in relation to the reclaiming of money paid to the client, and also for the Plans to fail to accommodate when the primary recovery is less than 100%.

Hughes & Company has taken a vigorous position on a pro bono basis when these situations arise, moving to have the court adjudicate a fair result by way of a process called an Interpleader Proceeding.

Hughes & Company will take the steps that are necessary in accordance with the honor of the profession and the Rules of Court to achieve, above all else, client’s satisfaction and a reputation for integrity with everyone the company deals with.

Hughes & Company Law Corporation 501 – 1128 Hornby Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2L4 www.desitoday.ca

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Does China really need to rebalance its economy?

Over the past few months, China has been under the economic spotlight over the People’s Bank of China’s intervention in the foreign exchange markets, the first ever corporate bond default, and Beijing’s mini stimulus package in response to fears of a “hard landing” of the domestic economy due to the collapse in real estate prices and the credit freeze.

With most of the above fears now largely abated, this column wants to return to a larger, longer-term and a more structural question — that of China’s re-balancing act. It has long been argued that China must move from being an investment-driven economy towards one in which consumption also contributes a significant amount to GDP growth.

The data has been encouraging on this front.

Household consumption, as a percentage of GDP, has risen from 34.9 percent in 2010 to 36.2 percent last year, according to official data. This year, even with the government’s mini-stimulus (a burst of spending on railways and public housing unveiled in April), consumption has still accounted for over half of Chinese growth. If this trend continues, it will of course lead to a change in global trade dynamics - especially the export-oriented economies in the Asia Pacific. As The Economist points out, countries such as Australia - which supplied raw materials for China’s industrial boom - will be on the losing side while countries such as Taiwan - whose exports target the Chinese consumer (eg. mo-

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bile phones) - would be relatively shielded.

But is China’s re-balancing a dangerous obsession? China’s high national savings and investment ratios over the last three decades have often called for a switch towards consumption-led growth. A typical diagnosis states that China invests too much, as measured by the investment to GDP ratio of 48 percent, and that it consumes too little given an even higher national savings rate. The “new normal” for Chinese growth is pegged at around seven percent, well below the 10 percent growth it managed up until recently.

So at this stage of its economic development, can it be the case that China is actually not investing enough? (Note that this is a contrarian view.)

In its research note, HSBC points out that the curious thing about the consumptionled growth model is that there is little theory or evidence behind it. Economists generally agree that sustained economic growth depends on supply-side fundamentals such as the stock of capital, technological innovation, trade policies and the structure of government taxation. Ultimately, it is productivity growth that drives GDP growth in the long run.

The standard theory on economic growth is relatively straightforward on the relationship between the structure of aggregate demand and growth: higher investment leads to faster growth. A higher savings rate will mean less consumption, but it funds greater investment

too. That ultimately allows poorer countries to catch up to higher per-capital GDP levels faster. Indeed, there is some evidence that a rising savings rate is also positively co-related with long-run growth. However, there is little in the academic literature that suggests a causal link between higher consumption and higher growth rates, according to HSBC. No theory of growth recommends that poor countries such as China lower their savings rates and increase consumption as a means of boosting growth.

The savings rate will also eventually fall naturally due to demographics. But that makes it even more important for China to invest now, while simultaneously pushing through financial reforms that create more sustainable funding models for investment.

China’s economic rise has been a role model for other emerging economies. In terms of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), China’s economy will soon overtake that of the United States according to the World Bank.

However, policymakers in Beijing must remember that China is still a poor country. Its development into a modern economy is also far from finished, and more infrastructure investment is needed to cope with the rapid pace of urbanization and industrialization.

The great rebalancing of China’s economy is inevitable in the coming years. But it is too soon to take the foot off the investment accelerator.

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Don’t take Sikh religious matters to court: Akal Takht Chief

The move (creation of HSGPC) is to weaken the SGPC and divide the Sikh community.

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Amid the controversy over the creation of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (HSGPC) and the stand-off between Sikh leaders in Punjab and those in Haryana, the Jathedar (chief) of the Akal Takht, Gurbachan Singh, says that Sikhs should not take these matters to court. Instead, these should be “resolved within the religion”.

“I appeal to all Sikhs across the world not to take the religious issues to any court of law. These should be resolved within the religion,” Gurbachan Singh told IANS in an interview here.

Under fire from sections of Sikh and political leaders, who have accused him of being a puppet in the hands of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Shiromani Akali Dal president and deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, the Akal Takht chief denied that he was taking decision under influence from anyone.

“The Akal Takht is an institution of the Sikhs. It is not linked to any particular party. It is completely independent and takes all decisions without any bias. In the past, there have been instances when pressure was mounted on the Akal Takht,” he said. www.desitoday.ca

“I don’t agree that I am a puppet in anyone’s hands. If this would have been the case, I would not have directed the Akali Dal to cancel its Sikh convention. If I had gone by them (Akali Dal), the conventions would have been held. If I had not taken that decision, it would have led to a lot of damage,” Gurbachan Singh pointed out while defending his role in the controversy over the Haryana SGPC. The Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikh religion, July 16 excommunicated three senior Sikh leaders from Haryana from the Sikh community.

Those excommunicated “for anti-Sikh activities” were Haryana’s Finance Minister Harmohinder Singh Chatha, and senior Sikh leaders Jagdish Singh Jhinda and Didar Singh Nalvi. Jhinda and Nalvi are now the president and senior vice president of the newly created ad hoc committee of the HSGPC. The Akal Takht ordered that no Sikh should have any association with the excommunicated leaders. The excommunicated leaders were directed to appear before the Akal Takht and seek penance under religious conventions. www.desitoday.ca

With the HSGPC controversy clearly dividing Sikhs in Punjab and Haryana and elsewhere too, Gurbachan Singh admitted this has affected the community.

“This is a very unfortunate situation.

Sikhs, as it is, have a small population.

There are many Sikh groups now but majority of the Sikhs are with the Shiromani Akal Dal (led by the Badals). Since the SGPC (Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee) is dominated by the Akali Dal, the party represents most Sikhs,” he said.

The Akal Takht chief, who recently ordered that status quo be maintained on the control of Haryana gurdwaras (Sikh shrines), said that the matter can only be resolved between the SGPC leadership and Haryana Sikh leaders. But he made it clear that no talks could be held with the Sikh leaders excommunicated from the community.

“The move (creation of HSGPC) is to weaken the SGPC and divide the Sikh community.”

Jhinda and Nalvi were physically prevented from entering the Akal Takht inside the Golden Temple complex here Monday when they went to offer prayers.

Gurbachan Singh justified the action.

“They were stopped as an excommunicated Sikh cannot enter the Takht...”

The Akali Dal and the SGPC are locked in a bitter controversy with Haryana’s Bhupinder Singh Hooda government over the creation of the HSGPC. They have both strongly opposed the creation of the new HSGPC for Haryana Sikh shrines.

The Haryana assembly June 11 passed a bill to set up a state committee to manage gurdwaras (Sikh shrines) in Haryana. The Haryana Sikh Gurdwaras (Management) Bill, 2014, got the assent of the state governor June 14.

The SGPC, the mini-parliament of Sikh religious affairs, which controls gurdwaras across Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, will lose control over gurdwaras in Haryana with the new law.

The SGPC, which has a Rs. 950-crore annual budget, controls majority of the gurdwaras in Punjab, including the holiest of all Sikh shrines ‘Harmandar Sahib’ (popularly known as Golden Temple) in Amritsar.

By Parminder Singh Bariana and Jaideep Sarin, IANS

AUG / SEPT 2014 News With A DESI View

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FEATURES

TO STUDY OR

NOT TO STUDY English: India debates

Nearly two centuries after Lord Macaulay championed the introduction of English as a medium of education in India in 1835, a debate is still raging on the suitability of what many describe as a “foreign language” in a polyglot nation that has 22 official languages and over 350 dialects.

The debate was rekindled in the last few days as civil services aspirants thronged the streets here in large numbers demanding that the Civil Services Aptitude Test - which they said was a glaring disadvantage to students from non-English backgrounds be scrapped.

Though the government announced on Aug 4 that the marks in the English language comprehension skills of the UPSC aptitude test will not be included in the merit list, the protestors remained far from satisfied, impelling many to ponder that resentment against the English language is probably more intense than we imagined.

Pavan Verma, former diplomat and author, said English is not a language of social inclusion.

“English is a foreign language and I be26

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News With A DESI View

lieve it can never be a language for social inclusion. It has created a literary upper tier where people with a certain fluency and accent are more privileged,” Verma told IANS. Macaulay had, in justifying the introduction of English education, said its purpose was to create a “generation of Indians” who were “Indians in blood and colour but English in tastes, mannerisms, opinions and intellect”.

“Nobody is denying the importance of the English language, but we cannot allow it to become a barrier to those whose knowledge of English is limited or who have not studied in English medium schools,” Varma added Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, a political commentator who supports the students’ agitation, described English as a “colonial hangover”.

“I think the ongoing protest has its merits. It is not just about the UPSC. The way people are selected in various competitive examinations clearly demonstrates a colonial hangover,” Thakurta told IANS, allud-

ing to the undue prominence given to the English language.

He also said that this prominence is reflective of class divisions.

“The ability to read or write English invariably has a class connotation. It is reflective of people who are wealthy. For example, any leading English daily fetches more advertisements than a leading Hindi daily which may have a greater circulation. This is because even the advertisers recognise the English readers as wealthier people,” Thakurta maintained.

Aam Aadmi Party’s chief spokesperson Yogendra Yadav too believes English is over-emphasised. He said the protests were in fact against the “entire system that is rigged against Indian languages.”

“The entire system of higher education that controls white collar jobs is loaded against bhasa (regional languages) medium students. More often than not they need to switch overnight to the English medium to enter the best institutions in the country. Even if the institution formally permits one or more Indian language as a www.desitoday.ca

medium of examination, there are multiple informal barriers at each step: syllabi, prescribed books, classroom teaching, question papers, and examiners are all biased in favour of English,” Yadav wrote in a column published in The Indian Express on August 4.

Amreesh Pandey, spokesman of NSUI, the student wing of the Congress, said the predominance of English has led to discrimination against people whose medium of education was Hindi.

“Personally, I feel there is a mentality in our society that if somebody is studying in a Hindi medium institute, he is seen as an inferior. This mentality is the problem,” Pandey told IANS. He further said that the focus should shift from one’s medium of education to what skills one has learnt irrespective of the medium.

Meanwhile Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu Thursday asked agitators to wait till the UPSC exam was over on August 24, and then he would address the issue taking every party into consultation.

Experts from the south, on the other hand, have a very different perspective on the debate over the supposed domination of English.

M.S.S. Pandian, author and political commentator based in Chennai, said the very friction between English and Hindi languages is an artificial construct and politicians from the Hindi heartland are to blame for this.

“The very phenomenon of an English versus Hindi reistance is created by Hindi heartland politicians who destroyed the possibility for Hindi heartland students to be conversant in English by not providing an equibalance between the two languages,” Pandian told IANS. He also objected to English being seen as a “colonial hangover”.

“English is to begin with our language.

When the constituent assembly debated the question of language, the Anglo-Indians said we belong to this country and our language is English. Similarly, Engish is the official language in Nagaland. If you want Nagaland and Anglo-Indians to be a part of India, you have to recognise English as part of India. Where is the question of colonial hangover here,” he asked.

Thakurta summed up: “We need English as it can continue to be the linking factor in a country with many languages, but using proficiency in this language as a measure to ascertain a person’s capability to be a good administrator is not reasonable.”

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Rural-urban migration swell ranks of Delhi’s homeless A homeless man reaches out for chewing tobacco from his friend after waking up at a place that rents out beds to poor people in New Delhi, India.

Beds on a cot with blankets cost approximately 50 US cents while a bed on the ground with blankets cost 15 US cents a day.

Siddheswari Devi lies sprawled on the hard tiles under a flyover in East Delhi, one of the scores of people who keep swelling the ranks of the barricaded space that is now their home. Around her are swarming groups of other hapless people, many with children, who have left their villages to seek their fortunes in the Indian capital.

It is not a pretty sight for the tens of thousands of city commuters who pass that way daily on the busy Ring Road that skirts the capital.

This temporary refuge is convenient as it is just across the road from the InterState Bus Terminus at Sarai Kale Khan, where buses from outside Delhi disgorge thousands of passengers every day, many of whom have abandoned their rural homesteads with their meagre bundles of belongings in the hope of a better life in the city.

But, like Rajesh Kumar, 35, who came here more than 10 years ago, there is no going back as the city streets has become his home, although that ‘home’ is often without a roof or a proper bed and is exposed to the elements and thugs.

Indu Prakash Singh, national convener of the National Forum for Housing Rights, pegged the number of homeless in Delhi 28

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News With A DESi View

at around 150,000, with about a quarter of the houseless population in urban India living in the top five metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

According to India’s 2011 Census, there are 449,761 houseless households/fami-

lies in the country, homeless or houseless defined as those who live in “the open or roadside, pavements, in hume-pipes, under flyovers and staircases, or in the open in places of worship, mandaps, railway platforms etc.” But NGOs working in this

Indian homeless men wait to receive free food distributed outside a mosque ahead of Eid al-Fitr in New Delhi, India

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area say the figures are much higher than projected officially.

“The main reasons which drive people to urban areas are poverty and unemployment. Other reasons include recurrent droughts, floods and riots in different parts of the country fearing which they run away to save their lives,” Indu Prakash Singh told IANS. Experts said the migrants are part of a global story of people in developing countries who are steadily moving out of their homes for survival as agricultural incomes and livelihoods shrink and land becomes economically unviable because of climate change and other environmental factors.

For Balwinder Singh, 45, home is “wherever I find space” in central Delhi’s Paharganj area. “I sold my house to someone who duped me of the money. Now, I am on the road - where I eat, sleep and earn my daily living,” Balwinder Singh told IANS. “I don’t even remember when I came to the capital to earn a living, but the one reality I live with everyday is that I still do not have a place to call my own in this huge city,” Bishu, a cycle rickshaw driver in Dwarka, told IANS. “I have a family, which I cannot afford to bring here. Living far away from them is a nightmare I live everyday,” he added.

According to Sanjay Kumar of Aashray Adhikar Abhiyan, an NGO that works for empowering the homeless, there are a few areas across the city like Nizamuddin, Okhla, around Connaught Place and also areas around the Kalkaji Temple and opposite railway and bus stations that have a large homeless population.

Indu Prakash Singh said that such migration is “distress migration” rather than “opportunity migration”.

“It is more of a push factor than pull factor for lack of opportunities in rural areas.

Somewhere, even the government policy is responsible for this migration as they say that it is the cities which are the engines of economic growth. So, why would the rural population not flock to the urban areas for work,” he asked.

“Tell me”, he questioned, “why would anyone otherwise want to come here and die on the roads and pavements in the extreme weather?”

He said lots of economic opportunities in rural areas, among other things, are needed.

“We need a lot of economic opportunities in the rural areas. Additionally, we need a range of 24x7 shelters across India for all. These shelters should not only have adequate space for those living in them but should be able to retain them,” he added.

By Shweta Sharma, IANS

www.desitoday.ca

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FEATURES

IN MODI ERA, LITTLE PLACE FOR BJP SENIORS They anchored the rise of the BJP in the 1990s and guided it through the tumultuous years in the opposition but do not appear to have a role in the party’s first fullmajority government. L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, both past presidents of the party, now appear to have a largely ceremonial role in the Narendra Modi dispensation though they continue to command the respect of party workers.

Both Advani and Joshi are founding members of the BJP and were functionaries of its predecessor, the Jana Sangh. Advani and Joshi played a central role in the party’s sharp rise in the 1990s. Advani was deputy prime minister during the first NDA government but could not deliver victory when the BJP projected him as its prime ministerial candidate in the 2009 general elections.

Advani, a perpetual “yatri” who nursed prime ministerial ambitions till last year, is now a “guardian”, “patriarch” and “guide” to the BJP rank and file. Joshi, whose reports as chairman of the Public Affairs Committee kept the UPA-II government on the edge, is also seen to have an “advisory” role for the present.

A major reason for Advani and Joshi’s apparent isolation from governance in the second National Democratic Alliance government is the nature of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s victory in the April-May Lok Sabha elections under Modi’s stewardship. With the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological patron of the BJP, also keen to herald and sustain a generational change in the party, there appear to be limited options for the “seniors” in the party, including Advani, Joshi, Shanta Kumar and others.

At 86, Advani can still give a run for 30

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their money to leaders younger than him in terms of his alertness and fitness. Joshi, 80, too is alert and quick-witted. Both are regulars in parliament during its sessions and sit in the front rows of the treasury benches.

Advani and Joshi continue to be members of the BJP’s parliamentary board, the apex decision-making body. Advani is also on the dais at all important party meetings, including that of the parliamentary party.

But there appears little scope of his playing a larger role in the NDA as Modi is the prime minister and, effectively, the leader of the alliance.

As the 2014 election came, Modi’s rising graph and popularity among the grassroots workers eclipsed any chance of the party again putting Advani at the forefront.

He displayed strong reservations in the beginning but eventually reconciled to Modi’s elevation.

BJP MP from Bijnor Bhartendra Singh said that Advani’s role was that of “a guardian, role-model and patriarch.”

“As a founding member of the BJP, former deputy prime minister, former party president and one of the seniormost parliamentarians, he dwarfs others. His natural role is of a guardian. He certainly is the most influential member of the BJP in parliament.”

Advani’s accessibility, his stellar contribution to the party’s growth and humility are some of the reasons cited for the respect he commands from party MPs. “If a minister does not address grievances related to my constituency, I can go and tell Advaniji and his word will have an impact,” a party MP who did not want to be identified told IANS. The MP conceded that he can ap-

proach Advani more freely than Modi on any issue. Joshi, too, enjoys respect of the party MPs. Poltical analyst and senior journalist S. Nihal Singh said that Advani now has a titular role in the party structure. “He has a titular role, an honorary role not amounting to much. He has had his innings and later conceded Modi’s supremacy. As far as leadership stakes are concerned, they are over,” Nihal Singh told IANS. According to Subrata Mukherjee, a political analyst who taught at Delhi University, Advani’s role at the peak of the BJP largely ended with that of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee after the party’s defeat in the 2004 general elections.

He said political leaders should hand over the reigns to the second generation with a certain amount of grace. “In our political culture, we have not imbibed that. Political parties have not created procedures where leaders get elevated and retire. Politics is also played within a time limit,” he maintained.

Congress MP Saifuddin Soz said that Advani and Joshi had been the pillars of the party and they appear to be sidelined.

“It appears there are fissures in the party and there will be a reaction though it may come late,” Soz told IANS. Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar said that Advani was not in the BJP mainstream. “From his body language and his failure to comment on certain things I think that he is very disapproving of Modi and his cohorts,” Aiyar told IANS. “Modi does not want to bring Advani into the mainstream and Advani is too dignified a person to push himself,” he added.

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www.desitoday.ca

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“As we say, we cannot add days to your life, but we can add life to your days.”

- Dr. Ann Thyle 32

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www.desitoday.ca

“WE are good at helping people coming into this life, but we are not necessarily very good at helping people be comfortable when they pass away.”

Dr. Ed J. Dubland of Burnaby Hospital’s Burnaby Palliative Care Program pointed that out to me when he came over to The VOICE with Dr. Ann Thyle, whom he had met in India in 2008 and persuaded to start a palliative care program in North India that is now providing amazing care and comfort to the dying poor in rural areas.

Anne is currently a consultant on anesthesia, pain and palliative care with the Emmanuel Hospital Association that has 20 hospitals across North India with a focus on the poor and the marginalized, catering to the rural poor.

Dubland, who speaks Hindi, was born in India and went through high school in Mussoorie in the north Indian state of Uttarakhand, which was part of Uttar Pradesh at the time. His parents were missionaries and he spent time in the Garhwal hills. He went to medical school in B.C. before joining Burnaby Hospital where he is the medical coordinator of Tertiary Hospice Palliative Care.

As Dubland explained: “Hospices are places where people can be cared for in their own home … and so they are dying, but family members can’t cope or take care of them. Hospices are locations where they can be taken care of outside of that by nurses and physicians, but it’s not in the hospital.”

When Dubland started out in family practice and took over from an elderly physician who had a number of patients who were quite ill, he noticed that “a number of those who died, died very poorly.”

And he said to himself that there had to be a better way to come to the end of your life.

He added: “So as a result of that I went and did some training and found out that there existed this whole area of specialty called palliative and hospice care which is taking care of people as we come towards the end of their life. This was here in Burnaby. I did some training in England and did a bunch of work with that in the ‘80s.”

Then in the early’90s a palliative care unit was established at Burnaby Hospital. It became an acute unit which started taking care of people who had major symptom control problems of pain, shortness of breath, cough, vomiting, psycho-social issues, people who were struggling with the inevitability of the end of life type of thing.

Then they developed hospices.

In 2008, a pastor from Kerala, whom Dubland’s parents had known many years ago, suggested that he should look at doing this kind of care in India. www.desitoday.ca

Dr. Ed J. Dubland and Dr. Ann Thyle at The VOICE.

Dubland decided to take that challenge up and headed to the south Indian state of Kerala, visiting Cochin and Trivandrum.

Kerala has a well-established palliative care program. However, there is very little palliative care in north India.

Dubland noted: “And my heart is from north India because I grew up there.”

While looking around for some people who might be interested in palliative care, he visited an organization called Emmanuel Hospital Association where he met Dr. Ann Thyle, who was teaching at a rural hospital in Herbertpur in Dehradun district.

Dubland said: “She had an interesting chronic pain management and I said Ann

what you need to do is think about doing palliative care. She thought about it and after about six weeks I got an email from her saying ‘I’d like to do this.’”

ENTHUSIASM & DEDICATION Thyle studied medicine at the famous Christian Medical College in Ludhiana, Punjab, from where she also earned her MD in anesthesiology. She also taught at the college. She and her husband, Sydney, an ophthalmologist, were then asked to visit the Herbertpur Christian Hospital because they very badly needed an anesthesiologist and an ophthalmologist. That was

Seema, seen here with palliative care nurse Saroj, was paralyzed below the waist at the age of 10 when a rock fell on her back but now has new hope after the gift of a sewing machine which helps generate income for her family.

AUG / SEPT 2014 News With A DESi View

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FEATURES

A school awareness meeting in Indian village.

part of the Emmanuel Hospital Association mentioned above. The couple worked there for 16 years and then in a hospital in Mussoorie for six years. Thyle is currently based in Delhi.

She met Dubland in Delhi while doing a fellowship in pain management. She said: “When Dr. Dubland talked to me about palliative medicine, I started reading it up and I realized across north India there is very little by way of care for the terminally ill people. So I asked my organization if I can start this as another service and they agreed.”

So took a course offered by Flinders University in Adelaide with classes in Singapore at the National Cancer Centre.

She was apparently so enthusiastic about it, that during her training she had already started planning the first palliative service which her organization set up in a small town called Lalitpur, close to Jhansi, in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

Thyle said: “We have a small 40-bed hospital there and we renovated one of the wards and created a palliative care inpatient and out-patient service.

“But we realized the majority of the pa34

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tients would need to be cared for at home.

So we built up a team that went from house to house. We registered people who had cancer or HIV or any kind of chronic organ failure like chronic heart disease.

This was in 2010 and we did the planning and training in 2009.

“Eighty-two per cent of our patients have cancer, about six per cent are HIV positive, about six per cent are paralyzed for some reason - it could be a stroke or it could be a road traffic accident - and six per cent have an organ failure.

“So these are all people who would die without any kind of care whatsoever because in the villages they are hidden in the huts and you never come to know about them. They cannot access any kind of care because they cannot afford it. They are very, very poor people.

“So when we offered them a wholeperson care, we were offering them medical care as well as emotional support, social support and spiritual support. When they were coming to the end of their life they had very deep questions about the value of their own lives and what will death be like and what will happen to my family?”

A MOVEMENT IS BORN Thyle’s organization, the Emmanuel Hospitals Association, built up teams in six other hospitals, establishing palliative care services in a total of seven hospitals in five different states of rural north India.

The teams have nurses, nurse aides, social workers, some volunteers and a doctor – and all of them receive training in this specialty.

The teams have to actually find the patients in the villages. The strategy was to hold very large community awareness programs.

Thyle explained: “We go into a village and as soon as people see the hospital vehicle, they all crowd around and we tell them the dimensions of palliative care. We say if you have a person who is very ill in your family and maybe has been diagnosed with cancer, we are willing to look after them.

“They don’t understand what palliative care is, so we spell it out. We use flip charts, we use banners, we use pictures and we use illustrations to help them understand.

They are mostly illiterate people, so the www.desitoday.ca

message has to be repeated over and over again.

“And it’s during these awareness meetings that we actually find the patients because people will come to you afterwards and say my neighbour has cancer of the mouth or my other neighbour has cancer of the breast and they are not being cared for.

“So like that we built up our patient numbers. So now we have looked after over 700 patients in all the seven locations (that started at different times) over the last four years and we’ve had over 500 in-patients and over 500 out-patients. And we have brought about awareness to probably about 40,000 people just by holding awareness meetings.”

Thyle then took the next logical step: approaching the medical community to edify them about palliative care.

She recounted: “So we target the primary health centres and the community health centres and the chief medical officer of each town and we hold meetings among doctors, the government nurses and the ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activists) workers.

“ASHA is a system put together by the government’s National Health Mission. It’s a way of training village women to do certain key activities like maternal and child health, helping people access pre-natal care, helping children to be immunized, taking them to centres for safe delivery, but they also train them in simple nursing care for palliative care. Because they are from their own villages, they know their community, and they have access to the homes.”

Indeed, it’s become a movement in North India!

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TACKLING MULTIPLE ASPECTS Thyle said the Emmanuel Hospitals Association is hoping to spread these services to their other hospitals. However, they also want to empower the local government hospitals.

She noted: “So once we train the government doctors, they become the people who refer patients to us because most times the villager goes to the local doctor first and the local doctor realizes they have advanced cancer which cannot be treated, and then they refer them to our unit to be taken care of.

“Unfortunately, they cannot offer cancer care. By the time we see them they are very advanced. And most of our patients die within three to six months.

“It’s devastating for the rural poor because they don’t have access to any www.desitoday.ca

AUG / SEPT 2014 News With A DESi View

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FEATURES

A health worker trimming Yashoda’s hair at her home in Lalitpur. Yashoda has breast cancer and receives nursing care, and emotional and spiritual support.

care. They don’t even have access to a paracetamol or an aspirin tablet. So they will be dying in such terrible pain and suffering that it’s unimaginable. I’ve worked for this organization since 1981, so I’ve had 32 years of working with the rural poor. But I have never seen suffering to the extent that I am seeing now.”

Just imagine going to the home of a person with cancer of the cheek. He has a large wound and it’s crawling with maggots and there is no pain relief. It’s so smelly that no one goes near the patient.

Thyle added: “So we even have to start out by cleaning the patient’s home, then cleaning the wounds, giving them a bath, 36

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and then teaching the family members how to care better for that person. We teach them how to do simple dressings (of the wounds). We teach them how to give pain medication. We teach them about nutrition. We even cook for them and show them what nutritious food is.”

Then there was the question of prevent a patient’s family from starving when the main wage earner is stricken with a terminal illness.

Thyle said: “We started income generation projects to allow the family to generate some income and we found two things that really worked. One is helping to start a small tea shop in their village. And the

other thing we do is if there are young teenage girls, we teach them how to sew clothes or bags and then we can market them. And once they reach a certain level where we know they are self-sufficient and they can sew clothes on their own, we gift them a sewing machine. So they can take it home. A sewing machine costs about Rs.3,500 now [CDN$70] and we have negotiated with the shopkeeper in Lalitpur and told him why we are doing this, so he gives us a subsidy.”

But then Thyle went a step further in compassion as she found that families are often starving because they don’t have even money to buy basic food items when the main wage earner is sick. She said: “So we give care packages – we don’t give money – but we give like rice, flour, lentils, salt, oil, the basic stuff they would use every day. And we give about Rs.2,000 worth of food supplies per month to needy families.”

Then there was the problem of children being pulled out of school if a parent fell sick to either earn or act as the main caregiver.

Thyle said: “So you would have a 10-year-old looking after their father who’s dying. We try and make it possible for children to remain in school and we can only do that if we are doing home visits on a regular and frequent basis. So we have a priority list. If someone is very sick, we would visit them three times a week. People who are less sick we would visit them maybe once in two weeks. Keeping children in school is very important.”

Another serious problem was children starting to chew tobacco at a very young age.

Thyle said: “We do very large school awareness programs in which we negotiate with the school principal to be able to talk to children from Grade 8 upwards and we do it in a very structured fashion, so that we teach them about cancer prevention, especially oral cancer prevention.

“I show them packets that are sold and say if you chew this, this is what is going to happen to you. We have banners we show them about the progression of the disease and in the end we show them this horrific picture that scares them terribly.

“And the feedback we get from the children is ‘we never knew this’ and ‘we have people in the family who are chewing tobacco and we are going to go home and tell them about this.’ And the other message we get back from them is ‘oh, we have a neighbour who has cancer of the mouth which you should come and see.’

So that’s another way of getting patients.” www.desitoday.ca

THE FUTURE I asked Thyle how she viewed the future of the movement her organization has started and she responded: “We really need to advocate with the government because each state government has funds under the National Health Mission for non-communicable diseases under which comes palliative care. To actually get funding from the government is very, very difficult.

“So we keep advocating for it with the local authorities. So sometimes we get donations of medicines, sometimes the local bank will give you a donation, but so far we haven’t had any success with tapping into government funds.

“But that is something that I am looking forward to in the future. For example, in Maharashtra we have one hospital that is doing palliative care and Maharashtra has a state policy that just came into effect in 2013. Under the state policy, if you can become a training centre, you can be funded.

“So we are already renovating a portion of the hospital to be a training centre for palliative care. We are part of the Indian Association of Palliative Care, the national body that offers this training, and the certification from the association then gives a doctor or a nurse the licence to practice palliative medicine and also to prescribe opiatic medicine.”

She noted: “Lalitpur, our first centre, is now the only accredited rural training centre accredited by the Indian Association of Palliative Care in all of India. It gets some funds for the training from the association.”

Thyle was recently recognized as faculty by the association and that gives her the licence to teach instead of being dependent on other people to teach.

As for the future, Thyle said: “What I see is that if we can build up models in different rural areas.” As the word spreads that people don’t have to die in pain, and that there is always something you can do, more people will seek their services.

She added: “What we are saying is that in palliative care, there’s always something we can do. We can always give some medication to improve the quality of life until the person dies.

As we say, we cannot add days to your life, but we can add life to your days. What Mother Teresa said was you just do small things with great love and that is the message we need to give over and over again when we are training.

“Things like cooking something for them, giving someone a bath who hasn’t had a bath for three months because no one will go near them. Giving someone a bath is an act of compassion. So people die www.desitoday.ca

A village awareness meeting in Indian village.

with dignity because they know that there are people who come in and touch them.

Mostly they are shunned and nobody will touch them.

“Everyone wants to be recognized and everyone wants to feel that their lives meant something. So when they are suffering they often question what was the value of their life, why they were born at all?

“But when you give them that importance, when you listen to their life’s stories

and you are willing to participate in their suffering and decrease it to whatever extent you can and also provide support to the family members who are grieving, that means that they can go with the hope and comfort that every person deserves when they die.

“What lives on then in the memory of the family is that my loved one didn’t suffer when they died and leaves a deep impression on them.”

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AMAVASYA (THE NIGHT OF NEW MOON) PART-III

“As flowing rivers become one with the ocean by losing their identities, so do great souls become one with the Divine when their lives end.”

--Mundakopanishada; Section-II (8).

The 1st of January is that international date, when people, despite their faith and cultural differences, celebrate the birth of a new-year and wish each other A Happy New Year. But I went to inform masi of the end of a life; the passing of her brotherin-law.

I stayed with her just long enough to comfort her and pick up my white cotton

40

AUG / SEPT 2014 News With A DESi View

shirt, the one I had dreamt of dad, when he was alive, dressed in. He must have liked that shirt very much, or why would I see him in that shirt?

As soon as I returned from masi, I hurried off to Pundit Vishnu Das’s home to inform him about his prediction, seek his advice on the funeral arrangements and also take him to the market with me to

purchase the necessary items for his final rites. That was one of the phases of life I was completely ignorant about.

By the time we returned, I noticed a few neighbourhood aunties had gathered and were sitting around dad’s lifeless body.

Suddenly, the grandmother of the young man, who had helped us with dad’s check up at the BHEL hospital, looked at me and

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questioned, “Where is Tripta? Why isn’t she here?”

What could I say? I was not taking her absence calmly either. How unlucky one could get? We all traveled all the way from Canada and Ram from Nigeria, and yet neither of them, except me was around to bid dad a final good bye. Was it some kind of karmic punishment?

I left dad’s room and went to the front of the house where men folks had gathered, but only to be confronted once again, this time by elder brother Shashi. He was upset with me because the silk shroud I had purchased was not up to family standard. May be he was right, but I kept struggling with his outright rejection. If the shroud was below family standard, it was not because I was trying to nickel and dime dad’s funeral, it was only because I had no experience in shopping for shrouds.

Mind stores memories; both pleasant and unpleasant and is always ready, with or without your command, to reproduce recollections of similar incidents occurred.

They might comfort you, compound current grief or anger, or navigate one’s troubled present. Shashi’s critical comment reminded me of a scolding I had once received from mom, but not about a silk shroud. It was about a bridal silk sari.

Before I got married, I lived in Poona, teaching at the American Institute of Indian Studies. Mom instructed me to buy two good quality Maharastrian silk saris for my future bride. If Mrs. Pattanayak, my boss’s wife were around I would have requested her go shopping with me. But she was in Bhuvneshwar at the time, visiting her parents. I asked Barbara, a visiting professor from the Columbia University, who happened to be my student at the time. On the way, she asked my hundreds of questions about Tripta’s likes and dislikes.

“This is an arranged marriage, Barbara!

What the hell do I know about her likes and dislikes? If I can marry her not knowing her likes and dislikes, you sure can help me pick two saris,” I told her.

“I feel sorry for you, Dr. Kurl, but I will do my best,” she responded with a smile, which felt heavily lased with pity.

Barbara and I visited several sari stores and finally decided on two beautiful saris, yellowish and pale green, both with delicate silver work.

When I handed them to mom, hell broke loose. She rejected them outright, “They are not appropriate for a bride. They did not have enough silver work on them.” www.desitoday.ca

She pronounced her final verdict and left.

Guess who jumped to my rescue? It was dad.

“What is wrong with these saris” he asked. Mom did not answer his question; instead, she launched a verbal attack on him. “What do you know about bridal saris?”

“Well, well, well. If I, who have married a daughter and three sons to date in my life how do you expect Suresh to know about bridal saris?”

Mom invoked God and left for the kitchen leaving those saris at the spot where she sat, on the floor.

Where was dad? Why was he not standing up for me? I felt so alone. I began to cry. *** Our Hindu customs could be rigid, flexible or custom made, depending on the circumstances of the individual and the creativity of his advisors, especially the family priest. Traditionally, it is the eldest son, who performs the final rites of his parents. But if he is not available or forbidden to perform, the youngest son is given that right and responsibility. Also, as a sign of his grief he has to have his head shaved before cremating the body. Something else, after the cremation, at night he sleeps on the floor and stays house bound until all the rites are completed, which could take a minimum of eleven to thirteen days, depending on the lunar cycle.

Since our eldest brother Ravi was not to perform the cremation, the dilemma we were faced with was that as the youngest son, if I were to perform the cremation rites, I was also to stay put at home. Pundit Vishnu Das suggested a compromise. He advised that I should perform the cremation rites and Shashi, who was still limping with a broken leg in cast, should have his head shaved, stay home and be recognized as the head of the family. It was a practical solution. It freed me to do all the outdoor work.

I bathed dad with the holy Ganges water, dressed him up in my white cotton shirt, wrapped a dhoti around his waist, put sandalwood paste on his forehead, just the way he used to after his morning prayers, placed a marigold garland around his neck and covered him from head to toe with the shroud. The men standing around helped me pick up his body from the floor, place it on the bamboo stretcher, and tie it around

I looked at Punditji hoping he would veto the ruling. He did not. Instead, he suggested that since my shoes were made of the skin of dead animals, they were apavitra (impure)...

AUG / SEPT 2014 News With A DESi View

41

FEATURES FEATURES

I know you loved your father very much. You have good karma. Don’t you see how he pulled you from thousands of miles away? Don’t cry for the loss of his body. Cherish his memories. He was a great soul. Bid him farewell. We are a gift from God. We are a loan to this earth.

A loan has to be returned.

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with a string. The next step was to carry him to the cremation grounds to the banks of the Ganges.

All that time, I kept hoping that Tripta and my daughters would suddenly show up just as uncle Keshav, my maternal grandfather’s younger brother, had magically appeared before the people were just about ready to pick up grandmother’s body and carry her to the banks of the Ganges.

But my hopes remained empty; beggars’ hopes.

Ignorant of the funeral custom, I put on a pair of leather shoes to protect my feet from pieces of broken glass, nails, small rocks, animal dung or any other harmful debris scattered on the way to the Ganges.

Then, just as I bent to lift one end of the stretcher, I heard a stern command from a stranger, “Don’t touch the stretcher until you take those shoes off. You will assist this journey only with bare feet.”

I looked at Punditji hoping he would veto the ruling. He did not. Instead, he suggested that since my shoes were made of the skin of dead animals, they were apavitra (impure) and therefore I could not be allowed to perform religious rites and rituals with them on. But as my bathroom slippers were made of rubber, I could put them on.

Priests could be very creative, at least he was, I thought, and took off those shows as required, washed my hands and picked up the head side of the stretcher, placed one end of it on my shoulder, while three other people picked up the remaining three ends and carried him out of his worldly home for his final send off with a loud burst of “Raam naam satya hai, satya bolo gata hai.”

God’s name is the (only) truth. Speak the truth. Salvation lies in truth. How strange it was that an out burst of such a profound philosophical chant marrying truth with salvation was allowed only at funerals processions; as though it was a confession made out of fear.

I kept moving forward, while some people showered the body with flowers, candies and pennies. Shashi followed on a rickshaw. We had hardly gone two hundred yards from home, a stranger cut in to relieve me and also as a gesture of respect for the departed individual.

Once we reached the banks, the body once again had to be bathed by submerging in the holy waters. Twelve-year-oldShekhar, Shashi’s son was the only relative who could assist me, but he was too young to lift that weight. Who else could I ask for help? I spotted Ravi standing aloof at a distance. I could not say how he heard

of dad’s passing but he was there, looking at me. Our eyes locked. The incident reminded me of his last night behaviour and dad’s words not to let him touch his body.

Should I or should I not invite? I had a difficult decision to make, and fast. If I obeyed dad, I would license the entire community to perform a postmortem on our family relations. That would bring us nothing but disgrace. Ravi was not a stranger to the people of this town. Every one knew that he was dad’s eldest son, and the principal of the biggest senior secondary school in Haridwar. On the other hand, if I disobeyed, I would be guilty of not following his instruction. I had no choice, but to find a solution to the dilemma. Several pairs of eyes were looking at me.

I thought of a spiritual solution and attempted to convince myself. No, no matter what decision I make dad could not be upset with me. Why? Because when he instructed us not to let his eldest son touch him, he was an earthly being of emotional weaknesses. Since then, he has moved to the spirit world, a world that is void of all emotions and all attachments. He just could not be disappointed or appointed.

He does not those faculties.

With these thought I invited Ravi with a gesture of my eyes. And he came, immediately, as though he had been waiting for that signal. We picked up the ends of the stretcher, and having submerged it in the holy waters placed it on the pyre.

In addition to Pundit Vishnu Das, there was another priest standing and waiting to assist me. He only performed the sacrificial karma-kanda rites. Right away, he moved forward and started instructing me in short imperative sentences, “Pour the melted ghee on the pyre. Place those pieces of sandalwood and incense sticks on the pyre. Make three circles around the pyre. Now touch your dad’s feet with your forehead and ask for his forgiveness for any disrespectful words you might have uttered to him or unpleasant behaviour you might have displayed when he was alive.”

After that, he handed me a bundle of dry grass and asked me to torch it and set the pyre ablaze.

In about twenty minutes he approached me again, and gently putting his hand on my shoulder said, “We believe that human spirit lives in the forehead. We perform this rite to set the spirit free from falling in the hands of tantrik yogis. They are occasionally seen roaming around cremation grounds at night, looking for unbroken

www.desitoday.ca

AUG / SEPT 2014 News With A DESi View

43

LOVE FEATURES & RELATIONSHIPS

That was the first time in my life I had experienced the enormous healing power of rites, rituals and ceremonies. That was the moment I realized that traditions do have a meaning in life and they must be preserved.

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News With A DESi View

skulls to use them in their occult practices.”

Then he handed me a long bamboo and asked, “Please poke this bamboo into your dad’s skull and break it into pieces and perform your dad’s Kapaal Kriya rite.”

The cruelty to dad’s skull stoked my pain. Only fifteen hours ago both of us had reminisced and conversed; he had affectionately stroked my hair and told me how happy I was when he took me to the bazaar to see those colourful Diwali lights.

How excited I was that I began to beat on his face like a drum. Only fifteen hours ago, he had blessed me to live a happily life. And only fifteen hours later, I was being asked to break his skull into pieces to save his spirit from tantriks. I felt shattered.

I heard Pundit Vishnu Das reciting the most popular funeral-hymn from the Bhagavad Gita, “Sword can cut it not, fire can burn it not, waters can wet it not and wind can dry it not. It’s the spirit. It is never born and it never dies.”

He came over, called me, “Son” and said, “I know you loved your father very much. You have good karma. Don’t you see how he pulled you from thousands of miles away? Don’t cry for the loss of his body. Cherish his memories. He was a great soul. Bid him farewell. We are a gift from God. We are a loan to this earth. A loan has to be returned.”

The Karma-Kand Priest came over and asked, “Please go around the ashes and bow to them.” I bowed but not his ashes.

I bowed to the sum total of my dad’s life lived and loved.

When we returned home, the house looked and felt empty. His bed was gone.

His clothes were removed. His medicines and tonics were put away. We swept, washed and purified the house with the holy water and lit a lamp where he slept.

Mom treated that space as his shrine from then on. She mourned him there, communed with him there in silence and received mourners there. And at the end of the day, both mom and Shashi slept over there for ten days.

The same evening Tripta and the girls returned from Dehradun. They were much too late to be a part of the most important chapter of my life. When she noticed mom sitting in the corner, on the floor, wrapped in a white dhoti, I could not say which emotion gripped Tripta first? Was it shock, shame, anger, disappointment, grief or fear of the consequences of not respecting her husband’s repeated requests to return within twenty-four hours?

On the third day, Shashi, a few of his close friends and I went to the Ganges to pick dad’s ashes, euphemistically called, pushpa (flowers), and dedicated them to the Ganges. That was his final payment of a debt to mother earth and our final goodbye to him.

Thus, days, evenings and nights passed mourning and performing different rites.

Hindus believe that the spirit of the departed stays around his house for ten days. On the eleventh day, it leaves after receiving a send off and unite with the spirits of his/her ancestors. But to me, dad’s Kriya was not another rite, but it was a celebration of the ultimate liberation from his earthly life. To me, his soul, the moment it separated from his body, left and united with the Supreme, just as the five composing elements united with the nature one by one.

Pundit Vishnu Das returned on the eleventh day, along with ten additional priests, including a few young students in training for priesthood. The students in training purified dad’s room with holy waters and coated a portion of the floor with cowdung and clay. A few of them prepared for a fire sacrifice (havan). Then, in the centre of that coated space they heaped small kindling of mango and sandal wood and placed pieces of camphor underneath that heap. They poured ghee on the kindling and then set them alight.

Then, we heard a sudden burst of Vedic mantras, chanted in unison. The fire sacrifice started by invocations to gods, including the god of fire (Agni Deva), who is the priest (purohitam) of gods. Ritually speaking, there were twelve priests performing that kriya ceremony. Eleven of them were representing our family and one, Agni Deva representing the gods.

Their Vedic chants and the offerings rising on the wings of those divine flames were uplifting and therapeutic for our grieving hearts. That was the first time in my life I had experienced the enormous healing power of rites, rituals and ceremonies. That was the moment I realized that traditions do have a meaning in life and they must be preserved.

By Dr Suresh Kurl Dr. Suresh Kurl is a former university professor; a retired Registrar of the BC Benefits Appeal Board and a former Member of the National Parole Board.

www.desitoday.ca

HEALTTH & WELLNESS

BODY, HEALTH

Myths Gym Bag Exposed Must-haves

From drinking eight glasses of water everyday to eating food before going to bed helps in storing fat are some of the health guidelines that doctors suggest time and again, but experts bust such health and body myths that has been the part of our lifestyle since ages.

Experts at Nature’s Best nutrition, an online bodybuilding supplement provider, reveals the reality behind the myths, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Myth: You should drink eight glasses of water a day: 51 percent people think this is true

Excited about hitting the gym and cutting flab? Make sure to carry essentials like water bottle, hair ties and deodorant in your duffle bag.

Experts shares what should be inside your gym bag: WATER BOTTLE: Hydration is the key. Keep water on hand with a sleek water bottle.

HAIR TIES: Black hair bands are boring. Liven up your hair tie collection with colourful ones.

DEODORANT: Ditch your drugstore brand deodorant and treat yourself to a luxe alternative instead.

RAZOR: A razor will help you to get gymtime ready with smooth and hydrated skin.

YOGA LEGGINGS: Incorporate some fun yoga pants in the process of sweating it out. A printed pink pair will do the job.

SPORTS BRA: Look for a perfect mix of style and support in a sports bra.

FRAGRANCE FREE WIPES: Freshen up post-workout with handy face wipes.

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Reality: Fluid intake will be dependent on a number of factors and eight glasses of water a day is not going to be a level which is suitable for everyone. If a person is very physically active, either because they play sports or have a demanding job, they will need to drink more. Conversely if someone is eating lots of watery fruits and vegetables then they may need to drink less to remain well hydrated.

Myth: A tan can be healthy for your skin: 68 percent people think this is true Reality: A tan is a visible indication of sun damage, therefore, there is no such thing as a healthy tan.

Healthy exposure should be limited to less than the time it takes to tan or burn. Burning just accelerates the risk of developing skin cancers and can also accelerate the ageing process, damaging the skin and causing fine lines and wrinkles.

Myth: Adding fibre to your diet helps with constipation: 45 percent people think this is false Reality: A high fibre diet is often recommended, especially for those with constipation. Furthermore a diet rich in healthy fibre is linked to developing an improvement in digestive health. However, for many adding bran and bran-based cereals to your diet may make constipation worse, whilst foods high in insoluble fibre may reduce the absorption of certain minerals, such as iron if eaten at the same time of day. Ideally, it is preferable to take soluble fibre found in fruits and vegetables, particularly dried fruits as this forms a gel and softens the stools.�

Myth: Eating at night makes you store fat: 66 percent people think this is true Reality: If you are eating a meal or snack which is rich in carbohydrate and fats in the evening then this is likely to cause some fat storage as your insulin levels will peak in response to the glucose produced. However, this fact is largely dependent on what has been eater throughout the entire day and also what level of exercise has been undertaken. To avoid any type of fat storage choose a meal with a good balance of protein, fibre and a small amount of good fat. www.desitoday.ca

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HEALTH & WELLNESS

Marijuana use shrinks teenagers’ brains Frequent marijuana use among teenagers can lead to cognitive decline, poor attention and memory and decreased intelligence quotient (IQ), psychologists warn.

Abnormalities in the brain’s grey matter, which is associated with intelligence, have been found in 16to 19-year-olds who increased their marijuana use.

“It needs to be emphasised that regular cannabis use is not safe and may result in addiction and neurocognitive damage, especially in youth,” said Krista Lisdahl, director of the brain imaging and neuropsychology lab at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Brain imaging studies of regular marijuana users have shown significant changes in their brain structure, particularly among adolescents, Lisdahl added.

People who have become addicted to marijuana can lose an average of six IQ points by adulthood.

Countries must consider regulating levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) - the major psychoactive chemical in marijuana - in order to reduce potential neurocognitive effects, researchers emphasised.

THC is responsible for most of marijuana’s psychological effects.

Previous research has shown that frequent use of high potency THC can increase risk of acute and future problems with depression, anxiety and psychosis.

“This relationship between marijuana and mental illness may be moderated by how often marijuana is used and potency of the substance,” claimed Alan Budney from Dartmouth College in the US. The psychologists discussed public health implications of marijuana at the American Psychological Association’s 122nd annual convention this week.

Baked or broiled fish improves brain health Baked or broiled fish once a week is good for your kid’s brain, regardless of how much omega-3 fatty acids it contains, says a study.

“Our study shows that people who ate a diet that included baked or broiled, but not fried, fish have larger brain volumes in regions associated with memory and cognition,” said James T. Becker, a professor of psychiatry at University of Pittsburgh’s school of medicine.

They found that people who ate baked or broiled fish at least once a week had greater grey matter brain volumes in areas of the brain associated with memory (4.3 percent) and cognition (14 percent).

They were more likely to have a college education than those who did not eat fish regularly.

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But no association was found between the brain differences and blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids.

The lifestyle factors, in this case eating fish, rather than biological factors contribute to structural changes in the brain.

“A confluence of lifestyle factors likely are responsible for better brain health, and this reserve might prevent or delay cognitive problems that can develop later in life,” Becker noted.

Scientists estimate that more than 80 million people will have dementia by 2040 which could become a substantial burden to families and drive up health care costs.

The anti-oxidant effect of omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in high amounts in fish, seeds and nuts and certain oils, also have been associated with improved health, particularly brain health.

The paper appeared in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. www.desitoday.ca

CAREER & BUSINESS

Let worke surf inter rs net to Boost Producti vity The new mantra to boost productivity is: Give your employees internet breaks during work hours to help kids in school homework or pay utility bills and not offline during lunch or coffee breaks.

The consequences of online work breaks are momentary recovery, learning and satisfaction to begin afresh, a study has found.

“Workers engage in online work breaks when they report a high need foxr recovery like feeling tired after an intense work period or recovering from a reported significant loss of physical or emotional energy,” said Sung Doo Kim, a doctoral candidate at University of Cincinnati.

Other triggers for going online during work hours are to break monotony or boredom, check on demands at home

and other personal demands, or emotional work-related events that triggered anger or frustration.

“Employees reported benefits on going online to balance their work and personal responsibilities such as checking on their children on social media or chatting with them,” Sung added.

After reassuring themselves about their children, they were better able to focus on their work.

Employees who took online breaks also reported greater levels of satisfaction at work, perhaps because of the freedom to be able to occasionally check in on their personal life.

The researchers, however, cautioned that if taken in an undisciplined manner, online breaks could turn into cyberloafing,

resulting in the excessive loss of time and productivity. Workers whose jobs required extensive computer time or sitting at a desk for prolonged periods were less likely to find online breaks rejuvenating.

The respondents for the study included 14 healthcare workers and 19 full-time working MBA students.

The reported online activities were categorized into pleasure-seeking and nonwork-related duties and responsibilities.

The former includes listening to music, reading entertaining articles and checking the sports scores while the latter includes checking in with family members, paying bills and doing school work.

The findings were presented at the 74th annual meeting of the Academy of Management in Philadelphia.

Employees who took online breaks also reported greater levels of satisfaction at work, perhaps because of the freedom to be able to occasionally check in on their personal life.

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* Download a de-stressing app: Your smartphone might be partly to blame for the stress you’re feeling (non-stop emails), but it’s also a great resource for de-stressing tools so try a couple of destressing apps.

* Keep essential oils at your desk: A whiff or two could actually help you relax. Aromatherapy has been shown to decrease stress levels, so shop around for a scent you fancy and get sniffing.

* Handwrite your to-do list: Think of your handwritten to-do list as a sacred document. You’ll know exactly where to find it when you need to refer back to it since it won’t be lost among the many open tabs of your browser. Also, the act of physically writing down your tasks may help you organise your thoughts and remember them more clearly which, in turn, will help you to be more focused and less stressed.

* Snack on an orange: A 2002 study found that a dose of vitamin C helped people bounce back more easily from a stressful situation.

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STYLE, BEAUTY, CULTURE

BE GAME FOR PLAYFUL NAILS Let your nails look nail-o-licious by colouring them with pop hues or with the help of a few accessories. Here are some tips from Ishika Taneja, make-up expert and executive director of Alps Beauty Clinics: NAIL PAINTS: The nail colours have undertaken a diversified journey from glossyshimmery nail-polishes to bright yet subtle looking ones. Hot pink, red, orange, green and yellow, the market is full of bright nails possible.

One may also find convenient nailpens, which makes the task of painting them easier. If you are bored of the usual texture of nail paints - go wild with velvet ones and nail-paints with foils - with a tendency to change its sheen.

paste the natural looking long nails on the original ones.

NAIL PIERCING: Go for nail-piercing by getting nail accessories like butterflies, bows, stones, pearls and other studs pierced over your nail bed. The procedure is painless. If you would like to be on a little daring, you can opt for slightly long chains and accessories - which keep hanging beyond your nails.

3D NAIL ART: Known as a more prominent sequel to nail-art, it is done using different coloured swarovski, bows, pearls, stones and chains. It is a shortened-up form of nail-piercing - where the frills attached on your nails last for a specified time period only.

NAIL ART: A nail-do where two or more nail paints are mixed, makes way for a great nail-art. This is often done along with a few other nail-accessories that are used to enhance the look of your fingers.

Moreover, a lot of asymmetrical studs are often used to garnish the overall look of our nails in 3D nail-art - while some nails are left blank to add a dash of unevenness to the do.

NAIL EXTENSIONS: Nail extensions are for those who complain of brittle, hence short nails; but if you yearn for longer-looking nails, you can go for this trend. Special acrylic powder and liquids are used to

You can go all wild while choosing the hues for nail-paints and accessories or also keep it a bit simple. But remember to make sure that you don’t go overboard with all the bling together

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www.desitoday.ca

How to dress for summer events For a day at the races or other smart summer outings, choose outfits that are not only apt for the occasion, but also those that fit well with your personality.

Stylists of cosmetic brand Colour Me Beautiful have put together tips on how to dress for summer events where you stand a chance to get photographed, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Your personality Be yourself. Don’t become frivolous and flowery if you feel better in something simple. Equally, just because it’s smart, it doesn’t mean you have to go classic or matchymatchy. Think about what works for you.

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Colour & pattern Yellow is stealing the show this season, but blue follows closely behind. White always looks feminine and super fresh in the summer, but it doesn’t work for everyone or all events (for instance, weddings). Other great colours for occasion dresses are pink and orange for bold or pastels in mint, lemon, pink or blue.

If you are considering patter, you need to decide whether your outfit is going to be a one-off or something you’ll want to wear again and again. Make sure the pattern is in proportion to your scale. You don’t need to over-accessorize with pattern.

Hats or fascinators Make sure yours suits your face shape and that the brim doesn’t extend beyond your shoulders. Choose a flattering colour that complements your outfit, but it doesn’t have to be the same colour. Beware of black trims too, they can throw a dark shadow on your face. www.desitoday.ca

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STYLE, BEAUTY, CULTURE

Biker jackets, jerseys - bridal wear gets wild twist Internationally acclaimed designer duo Falguni and Shane Peacock gave a touch of rock ‘n’ roll and spunk to their bridal showcase at the BMW India Bridal Fashion Week (IBFW). They duo teamed up biker jackets, jerseys and crop tops with intricately crafted lehengas and saris.

The show, titled - Nuit Sauvage - was clearly a wild take on vintage bridal couture.

“Sauvage means wild and Nuit means 54

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night in French. We wanted some inspirational traditional Indian designs and mixed it with something different,” Shane told reporters here post the show Saturday night.

“We didn’t want to do typical dupattas and cholis. So, we used jerseys instead of usual blouses, and capes instead of dupattas. The ethos remained Indian, but we just changed the silhouette a bit.

“It’s for the trendy, sporty and young bride,” he added.

The models also sported interesting and unique head jewellery that gelled well with the overall look.

The designers wanted to explore the wild side of brides.

No wonder they teamed up edgy biker jackets with beautiful gowns, crop-tops with lehengas, sheer bodysuits with draped saris, quirky motifs and cascading capes with churidars in antique tones and embroidery. www.desitoday.ca

There were lehengas with digital prints, which caught many an eye in the audience.

The ensembles ranged in colours like off white, light peach and pink offset by gold, silver, deep navy and the duo’s signature black.

The duo, known for dressing international celebrities like Madonna, Britney Spears, Katy Perry, Fergie, Nicole Scherzinger, Nikki Minaj, Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, Kim Kardashian, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Shakira and Beyonce Knowles, used a mix of vintage net, velvet, georgette and satin for their new collection.

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Kangana Ranaut Walks for Suneet Varma

Esha Gupta Walks for Jyotsna Tiwari

For Tarun Tahiliani

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FOOD, ART, ENT Condolences poured after the shock announcement of the death of Oscar-winning US actor Robin Williams, whose body was found Monday in his residence in the San Francisco Bay Area.

US President Barack Obama and his family were among the many who sent condolences to Williams’ family, Efe news agency reported. “He arrived in our lives as an alien - but he ended up touching every element of the human spirit. He made us laugh. He made us cry. He gave his immeasurable talent freely and generously to those who needed it most - from our troops stationed abroad to the marginalised on our own streets,” said Obama in a statement.

Disney’s CEO, Robert Iger, described Williams as “an incredible actor and comedic genius” and said he would be remembered for bringing some of the world’s favourite characters to life, from his zany alien on ABC’s “Mork and Mindy” to the irascible genie in Disney’s “Aladdin”.

“I could not be more stunned by the loss of Robin Williams, mensch, great talent, acting partner, genuine soul,” fellow actor Steve Martin tweeted.

“Mr. Williams visited me the first day of filming ‘The Parent Trap’. I will never forget his kindness. What an enormous loss. My condolences,” Lindsay Lohan said.

Robin Williams brought dignity to male crying: Kamal Haasan

John Cusack: “RIP mr Williams - beyond great talent - such a kind and lovely person.”

Actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan, whose “Chachi 420” was based on actor Robin Williams “Mrs. Doubtfire”, mourns the death of the Oscar-winning star and also credits him for revolutionising the portrayal of men on the big screen and bringing dignity to male crying.

Williams was found dead Monday in his home in California. The suspected cause of death was suicide. He was 63.

“If the alleged story about his suicide is true then I dislike him for ending his life before his due date of expiry. That’s a copout that I don’t expect of an artist of his calibre.

Same applies to my Indian idol Guru Dutt,” Kamal Haasan said in a statement.

Kamal considers comedians as “critics of society”.

“They have masked their anger with humour, constantly maintaining a funny facade leads to depression. Robin Williams’ true nature is being quick to tears. You can see it in his films,” he said.

Williams was popular for his roles in films such as “Good Morning, Vietnam”,

BOLLYWOOD TWEETS:

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Miley Cyrus: “I can’t take the Robin Williams news. I’ve never cried over someone I’ve never met but I can’t stop????????”

Shabana Azmi: Robin Williams. What a loss!

You leave behind a vacuum difficult to fill but your remarkable body of work will continue to inspire. RIP. Arjun Rampal: Woke up to the awful and tragic news of Mr. Robbin Williams. He touched our hearts through so many wonderful characters. RIP captain o captain.

“Peter Pan” and “Jumanji”.

“He could have never become a star in the 1960’s, for American film heroes were too scared to cry on screen. The Vietnam War changed the American psyche,” Kamal said “Rambo was the first popular action hero to show panic cry and scream in fear.

Robin Williams brought dignity to male crying. I like him for his talent,” he added.

Dia Mirza: He warmed the cockles of the heart, tickled the funny bone and made one feel so deeply...But above all he made us think. #RIPRobinWilliams. My childhood would have been incomplete without #MrsDoubtfire #Flubber #Jumanji and so many more of his films... #RobinWilliams.

Abhishek Bachchan: Oh captain, my…… terrible news about the passing of one of my favourite actors. Mr. Robin Williams. This is the 1st time he made anyone cry.

Nargis Fakhri: RIP Robin Williams... makes me so sad to hear this news. My heart aches. Doesn’t matter how successful u r.

The mind is a strange place.

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FOOD, ART, ENT

Filmmaking is team work and when a film doesn’t work, actors should take discredit for the failure, suggests actor-filmmaker Ajay Devgan, who is gearing up for the release of “Singham Returns”, his ninth film with director Rohit Shetty.

Currently director Sajid Khan, a college friend and colleague of Ajay, is in the line of fire for the “Humshakals” fiasco. His cast is blaming him for its box office debacle.

“When a film works, every actor tries to take the credit for the film, but when it does not work, you should take the discredit too because filmmaking is a teamwork,” said the 45-year-old in a group interview.

The actor-producer, who has come a long away since his first film “Phool Aur Kaante” in 1991, admits that the director is the captain of the ship and as a result the onus is on him.

“Yes, the director gives maximum inputs. Sometimes he says, ‘Trust me’. But somewhere it’s your mistake too. If you felt the script wasn’t right, then why did you do it?

“I accept my fault in ‘Himmatwala’, because I thought it would be made in a different way, but it was made differently. But I won’t blame the director for it because everyone is equally responsible,” said the actor.

Recently Saif Ali Khan described his stint in “Humshakals” as a “mistake”, while his co-actor Bipasha Basu has declared that she will never work with Sajid again.

But the failure of “Humshakals” had no repercussion on Ajay and Sajid’s friendship.

ACTORS SHOULD TAKE DISCREDIT TOO: AJAY DEVGAN 58

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Harcharan (Harry) : 604-862-2174 “If the film didn’t work that does not mean we won’t remain friends. We are very good friends even now,” said Ajay when asked about his bonding with Sajid post the failure of “Himmatwala”, a remake of 1983 Jeetendra and Sridevi starrer.

“I have known Sajid since college days...

What is important is that you have a friendship that goes on.”

More than directors, actors should give priority to script.

“I think most important is the script.

When a director narrates the script, there comes an understanding and you know you will be able to pull it off,” said Ajay, adding that with each new film actors want to push the bar for themselves.

“You should go one step ahead of what you have done in the past,” he said.

He also clarifies that failures do no cast a shadow on the career of established actors.

“We have crossed that stage where we think that if one film of ours flops, we will stop getting work because we have been here for about 25 years. Hits and flops are there in everybody’s life. But, yes, for yourself, you want to push the bar.”

His association with Sajid may not have been fruitful, but Shetty and Ajay’s team have churned out maximum hits, including “Golmaal” franchise.

Talking about their camaraderie, Ajay said: “It’s been 25 years with Rohit. It’s very difficult to say how our friendship has evolved, but I would like to say he has grown and worked hard. He is one of the most hardworking directors I have ever worked with and he knows his job fabulously.”

Also, “Singham Returns” is not a remake, says Ajay and adds that the film’s theme is fresh and “topical”.

“We have involved a lot of youths and women in the film. Women will be inspired by the film,” he said.

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FOOD, ART, ENT

Biggest Film OR Best Script

“Take the best, leave the rest” seems to be Kareena Kapoor’s mantra for choosing films. The actress, who is said to have refused six scripts lately, says she is keen to do a few but fantastic films as there’s never a “middle way” for her.

“If the scripts were good, I would have definitely said ‘yes’. A few scripts work for some actresses, a few scripts don’t work.

But, yes, my job is to choose the best script,” Kareena told IANS in an interview here.

The 34-year-old, who married actor-producer Saif Ali Khan in 2012, said: “After marriage, I want to do only one or two films at a time. I can’t do too many films. That’s my personal decision and I want people to respect that.

“Whatever I will chose it would be according to my time frame. It should be worthy enough that I leave my home and 60

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NO MIDWAY FOR ME a n e e r a K r o o p a K

go to work. Either it should be the biggest film of the year or it should have the best script. There is no middle way out for me at the moment.”

Wouldn’t turning down offers affect her personal equation with celebrities?

“I don’t think it affects relationships at all. It’s (a film is) an actor’s choice and one film can’t affect a relationship. In fact, if you say ‘no’ to somebody, there are chances that they will come back. After all, it’s a film! If you are not comfortable, it’s okay,” said the actress, who will now be seen in “Singham Returns”.

Kareena, who belongs to the famous Kapoor family of Hindi cinema, started her Bollywood career in 2000 with J.P. Dutta’s “Refugee”. She made space in the industry with entertainers like “Ajnabee”, “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham...”, “Chameli”, “Aitraaz”, “Omkara”, “Don”, “Jab We Met”, “Tashan”, “Golmaal Returns”, “Kurbaan”, “3 Idiots”, “Bodyguard”, “Ra.One”, “Talaash: www.desitoday.ca

The Answer Lies Within” and “Satyagraha”.

The actress is clear about what she wants.

In fact, on an episode of celebrity chat show “Koffee With Karan”, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap advised Kareena: “Don’t ask who is in the film; you should ask what is the film.” She is taking it seriously.

“I am taking his advice and that’s why I am rejecting scripts because I am choosing films on the basis of scripts,” Kareena said.

She, however, feels the Hindi film industry suffers from a lack of good scriptwriters.

“People should write good scripts. I definitely feel there is a lack of scriptwriters...a lot of people don’t get a chance. Probably, there are good writers who don’t get a chance; so I am listening to everybody from small to big. I am meeting everybody - whoever has a good script,” said the actress, who is the daughter of veteran actors Randhir Kapoor and Babita.

Kareena is yet to be a mother, but while there has been a lot of hullabaloo over whether there should be a “no pregnancy” clause for actresses when they sign a contract with Bollywood studios or not, she has a point to make.

She feels if Indian filmmakers are aping the West, they should also include insurance of an actor while drafting the agreement papers.

“I think it’s (‘no pregnancy’ clause is) fine by me. If it’s there, it doesn’t matter, but I think we try to ape foreign. It’s just because in the west they have no pregnancy clause, even we want to do it.

“But in the west, they insure an actor for a million dollars, but here we are not bothered about insuring the actors,” said the outspoken actress.

“If they want to put a ‘no pregnancy clause’ they should insure the actors also,” she added.

By Uma Ramasubramanian AUG / SEPT 2014 News With A DESI View

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FOOD, ART, ENT

’ a a h e ‘Beint onsibility

p s e r s u o i r a se O EETIKA RA PR

By Subhash K. Jha 62

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Preetika Rao, who has a chequered career behind her as a model, journalist and now actress, can’t believe the impact of her serial “Beintehaa”. She says her character Aaliyah is a “serious responsibility on my shoulder”.

“When I took up the offer, I knew I was getting into something special. I loved the storyline and my character Aaliyah’s spunk spirit and social concerns.

“But I never imagined Aaliyah would become a role model for Muslim girls all over the world including our neighbours in Pakistan as well as England and Spain. It’s an amazing experience and also a very serious responsibility on my shoulder.”

The story revolves around a Muslim famlily and Preetika, the younger sister of Bollywood actress Amrita Rao, has no time for anything except for shooting for the social drama.

“My social life has come to a grinding halt. I can’t meet friends nor spend time with my sister Amrita. We’re constantly battling deadlines on the serial... There is no room for illness when doing a daily soap,” she said.

Preetika adds doing a serial is tougher than doing a film.

Just how Preetika bagged “Beintehaa” is a story of its own.

“I was a model, and a very successful one at that. My very first campaign was for Cadburys with Bachchan Saab when I was just a child.”

Once she got bored of modeling, Preetika quickly moved on to other vocations.

“How long could I hold a product and smile into the camera? I did some South Indian films, one each in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. I went into print journalism. Then I went to New York for a three-month course in screenplay writing.”

After Preetika returned from New York, she got a number of television offers.

“In fact, one soap for another production company was finalised. Coincidentally, my co-star in that soap was also meant to be Harshad Arora. That serial was taking a little bit too much time.

“Meanwhile, both Harshad and I were offered ‘Beintehaa’.

And here we are.”

Preetika says her sister Amrita Rao enjoys the serial as much as anyone else.

“Amrita is very happy for me. She knows as well as anyone else the reach and viewership of television. ‘Beintehaa’ reaches into lakhs of homes every day. I feel very happy. It has revived the soap-viewing habit among people who were bored of the ‘saas-bahu’ formula.”

She is not pining to get into Bollywood.

“But if it happens I will be okay with it.”

Incidentally, Preetika was mistakenly considered Amrita’s twin sister.

Laughing it off, she said: “People had never seen me. They drew their own conclusions. Now that they’ve seen me they know we sisters are two different personalities. And we occupy two different visual mediums.” www.desitoday.ca

FOOD, ART, ENT

I’m intrigued by traditional Indian Jewellery Nargis i Fakhr

She was born and brought up abroad, but she has come to love everything Indian, courtesy her stay in Bollywood. Actress Nargis Fakhri, who walked the BMW India Bridal Fashion Week ramp for a jewellery brand here Saturday, says she’s in awe of the intricacy that goes into making traditional Indian jewellery.

As the showstopper for jewellery brand Azva, the “Rockstar” actress flaunted an opulent statement choker which complemented her flamboyant black gown on the ramp.

For her catwalk, she flaunted one of Azva’s pieces from its latest collection of 22-carat bridal gold jewellery.

“I like to wear jewellery, even though I like my look to be minimalist. When I go out for events, I like to have at least one statement piece. It always adds glamour,” Nargis told IANS in an interview here.

For the ramp show, her jewellery piece was handcrafted in gold with an antique finish designed by a craftsman from Junagadh.

“I’m hoping someone will buy it for me someday,” the actress quipped, and added that she is yet to buy herself an exquisite piece of ornament.

She says she prefers Indian designs in jewellery.

“I’m intrigued by traditional Indian designs. They are so beautifully handcrafted and the designs are so intricate and beautiful. I really prefer the Indian designs,” the actress added.

Since Nargis wore a black gown for the bridal show, one couldn’t help but ask if she feels women have gone beyond the stereotype of colour in bridal wear.

To that, the New York-born beauty said: “I come from a culture where we wear white for weddings.

In India, it’s different. But I really feel that there should be no set notions, and a bride should only wear something when she’s comfortable in it.”

Luckily, Nargis was at ease while walking the ramp. She always finds it a fun experience.

“It’s something I am confident about. It gives me an adrenaline rush - who wouldn’t want want to wear beautiful clothes and jewellery and look wonderful - it’s a dream job for many,” she said, admitting that her “heart starts racing” when she’s on the ramp.

Though she had a bit of an ‘oops’ moment before the show ended, she smiled on. That’s some confidence! www.desitoday.ca

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FOOD, ART, ENT

SC rejects plea seeking stay on Aamir film ‘PK’ The Supreme Court Thursday junked a petition seeking a stay on the screening of Aamir Khan starrer “PK” for alleged obscene scenes and scenes with a potential to stir ill-will among people practising different faiths.

While throwing out the plea, the apex court said that the facets of religion should not be brought into art and entertainment.

“This is art and entertainment. Don’t bring religious facets in it. If you don’t like it, don’t watch it. Let others watch,” said an apex court bench of Chief Justice R.M. Lodha, Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Rohinton Fali Narimam as the counsel for NGO All India Human Rights & Social Justice sought a ban on its screening in India and abroad.

The NGO had objected to two scenes relating to alleged semi-nude appearance of Aamir Khan, and a rickshaw puller, appearing like Lord Shiva, pulling a cycle rickshaw in which two burqa clad woman are seated.

The PIL said that “this is hurting religious sentiments of followers of Lord Shiva and it is a criminal offence punishable under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code (deliberate effort to outrage religious feelings).”

It contended that “the scene shall probably create a communal tension among the two major communities. It is surprising that the film censor board has permitted its exhibition in cinema halls likely next Tuesday.”

Asking the counsel Nafis Ahmad Siddiqui if the film has been through the Censor Board, Chief Justice Lodha said, “Others have a right to watch the movie.

How is your legal and constitutional right affected.”

“India is a mature society. They know the difference between entertainment and other things,” Chief Justice Lodha said as counsel told the court that there was anguish throughout the country and it (the film) was spoiling youth.

To this, Chief Justice Lodha said, “It is an age of Internet. What will you hide? Youth are very smart these days.”

Taking a dig at the counsel pointing to generation gap, court asked him, “Why you are talking about your youth and mine. It is 50 year old.”

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FOOD, LIFE, ART, ETC. ENT A British prime minister who was a novelist too, a US president known for works on history and nature, an Indian statesman who was a famous philosopher too... They make a compelling case that politics is not a full-time occupation and its practitioners can shine in other fields too. Writing - beyond autobiographies or political polemics - for one.

Through the ages, there have been iconic leaders - not only of people but also of thought, intellect and language too.

Though involved in intense political activity - making their country a great power, directing make-or-break wars, heading freedom struggles or revolutions - they also found both the time and inclination to write enduring works on the events they were part of as well as on history, nature, philosophy, travel and even fiction.

Among the first in this illustrious league was the most famous Roman of all times.

A masterful politician and a successful sol-

dier, Julius Caesar was also acknowledged as among the best authors of Latin prose.

Though the bulk of his writings has been lost, his commentaries on the wars he fought he fought are still available.

Of them, “The Commentarii de Bello Gallico (usually translated as “the Gallic Wars”) , an account of the nearly-decadelong war against the Gauls in what is now France, Belgium and Switzerland, is a model of a simple and direct but polished and elegant style. More than 20 centuries later, it is still used as a textbook for Latin students.

Following him was a tough order. It is only in the late 19th century that the talent resurfaced.

Twice British prime minister and one of the founders of the modern Conservative Party, Benjamin Disraeli (1804-81) entered parliament in 1837. By then, he had already penned 11 novels as well as some non-fiction works. In his 44-year-long po-

litical career, which saw him implement a reformist agenda, strengthen the constitutional monarchy system, take control of the Suez Canal, influence contours of Europe and make Queen Victoria the Empress of India, he also wrote seven more novels (one left unfinished at his death) as well as the biography of a contemporary statesman.

The youngest US president, Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) was also a noted author, naturalist, explorer, historian, and war hero. Between entering politics in 1882 and his death, he had dozens of published works in these fields (many with several editions), testifying to the range of his interests and breadth of his knowledge.

And these in a life which saw him in many roles - a legislator, a ‘cowboy’, the New York police chief, New York governor, commander of a voluntary cavalry regiment in the US-Spanish war, vice president, president (1901-08) and the first Ameri-

Parliament of words: Politicians as successful writers Winston Churchill

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Benjamin Disraeli

Jawaharlal Nehru

Theodore Roosevelt

can to win a Noble Prize (for Peace in 1905). If that wasn’t all, after his presidential term, he went to East Africa to hunt and then followed it by exploring and mapping a river in Brazil (subsequently renamed after him) - all described in robust prose.

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a prolific writer too - on the practical aspects of carrying out a revolution. His role in t r a n s fo r m i n g Marxism into a workable

political strategy for seizing power was stupendous and is laid out in his voluminous collected works (650-page plus each 54 volumes in Russian; 45 in English). His writings may appeal to a niche audience only, not to mention being overtaken by events, but as an expression of theory, which was successful (never mind the result), are significant.

Winston Churchill has received many accolades for his determined leadership of Britain in the Second World War but a key one is for having “mobilised the English language and sent into battle” for his inspiring oratory. A reputed author, with over 40 books (chiefly history and biographies),

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

thousands of articles and even, at least two film scripts, he was the first (and so far the only) top politician to win the Nobel Prize for Literature (1953).

Plato spoke about the desirability of a philosopher king, but India is one of the two countries to have made it a reality. (Czechoslovakia with Vaclav Havel was the other).

A leading scholar of comparative religion and philosophy, Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan was India’s second president, but is equally famous for re-interpreting Hindu philosophy and shaping Hindu identity for contemporary times.

His translations and commentaries of “The Bhagavadgita”, “The Dhammapada” and “The Principal Upanishads” played a major role in influencing understanding of Hinduism in both India and the west - despite criticism of his inclusivist approach as well on post-colonial grounds.

Complementing him was India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, whose “Discovery of India” is a pathbreaking account of the ethos and idea of India down the ages, and “Glimpses of World History”, one of the first comprehensive modern analysis of rise and fall of civilisations and empires from an Asian viewpoint.

Sadly, the recent record (both in India and elsewhere) does not offer any notable instance of a contemporary leader excelling in transposing their verbal skills onto the printed page.

By Vikas Datta - is a Senior Assistant Editor at IANS. The views expressed are personal

Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan

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DESI

Around Town

Federal Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau received an enthusiastic welcome from South Asian supporters at former Liberal MLA Dr. Gulzar Cheema’s Surrey residence

At the presentation of Prem Goel Memorial & Humanitarian Awards at Burnaby’s Royale Palace Banquet Hall.

Celebrating Anniversary of Caribbean Medical University’s satellite campus in Vancouver. Awards presentation & Cake cutting ceremony from CMU’s Faculty & Administration.

Photos by Chandra Bodalia

Eid Celebrations at Riverside Signature Banquet Hall, Surrey. Maulana Nomani, Malik Irfan, Former President Pakistan Canada Association, Jinny Sims, John Horgan, Bruce Ralston, Sue Hammel & Harry Bains attended the celebrations.

Bollywood Hungama dancers were a huge hit at Surrey’s Fusion Festival.

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At Surrey’s 7th annual Fusion Festival in Holland Park which was attended by a large number of dignitaries. The turban tying booth was very popular as usual.

At Burnaby-Edmonds MLA Raj Chouhan’s annual summer BBQ

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Around Town

At the opening of Surrey’s Night Market at the Cloverdale Exhibition Grounds sponsored by the Surrey Board of Trade.

At the Chand Raat and Eid Mela organized by the Pakistan Canadian Cultural Association at Surrey’s Royal King Palace

Terry Beech’s wife Mrs Rari Beech (Bansal) in Cap - Daughter of Ram Bansal of Save More Plumbing at Justin Trudeu meeting in Vancouver.

Over 300 hundred people packed into Vikram Vij’s new South Surrey restaurant, My Shanti, for an exclusive event with Surrey Councillor Barinder Rasode.

Swami Satyamitranand Giriji at Hindu Temple Burnaby with Narinder Dhir, Robin Dhir with other followers.

The Pakistan Canada Association held its eighth annual Ramadan Spirit Food Drive for the Homeless and the Hungry at Main and Hastings streets in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

Mayor Dianne Watts at Youth Strengths Coference 2014 Guildford Sheraton Hotel

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Arjun Gill, 23, of Surrey, who won the gold medal in the men’s 97 kg freestyle wrestling at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, received a hero’s welcome at Vancouver International Airport

At a reception for famous actor Jimmy Shergill at the residence of Richmond businessman Paul Arora of Gagan Foods

At the Hindu Temple Burnaby’s annual picnic in Burnaby.

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LIFE, ETC.

is now

COOL SPORT

thanks to Bollywood, corporates

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www.desitoday.ca

Bollywood stars, Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Aamir khan, Sunil Shetty and Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar are some of the stars present at the inaugural match of the PKL

Kabaddi, an indigenous contact sport in India, is witnessing a resurgence, thanks to big-time commercial 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 to complement each other.

For long kabaddi has been dismissed as an indigenous rustic sport not strictly fit to be an Olympic discipline. India had to fight hard to keep it as an Asian Games sport and won all the seven gold medals ever since it was introduced in 1990.

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

The Pro League has more or less taken on the lines of the IPL, naming franchises after cities to lure brand loyalty, whereas the World League is pure diaspora sport for the expat Indians in England, US, UAE and Canada and it is a huge affair.

Abhishek Bachchan, UTV founder Ronnie Screwwaala and Retail Moghul Kishore Biyani have bought franchise rights for the Pro-Kabaddi League while Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha and rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh have bought teams in the World League.

The eight-team Pro League opened to a packed crowd in Mumbai July 26 and the World League is scheduled to start Aug 9 with a power packed opening ceremony at London’s O2 Arena by Akshay.

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

The genesis of the World League is in the success of the Kabaddi World Cup, the brainchild of Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Charu Sharma, the man behind the www.desitoday.ca

Pro-League, said it was while commentating for the sport in the 2006 and the 2010 Asian Games that the idea struck him. Charu’s Mashal Sports, which is also promoted

by Anand Mahindra, is organising the ProLeague.

“It was while commentating during the 2006 Asian Games in Doha that I realised the pontential of the sport. Then it was in 2010 Asian Games the idea struck me why not start a league,” Charu told IANS. The two formats are completely different. The Pro-League follows the international 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 Kabaddi League. They want to take the sport to the global stage and want to cash in on the huge Indian diaspora in US, England, UAE and Canada.

“The whole idea of the World Kabaddi League started from the success of the Kabaddi World Cup. In fact the league was telecast on a local channel and the figures were encouraging given the fact that it coincided with the T20 World Cup. Mr. Badal thought why not take it to the next stage with a World Kabaddi League,” Raman Raheja, chief executive of World Kabaddi League, told IANS. Raman said roping in Bollywood stars as team owners was a conscious decision but it was indeed tough convincing them.

“Honestly, it was a conscious decision to rope in Bollywood stars to own teams. It helps in attracting the eyeballs. At the end the sport stands to gain from it. But it was not easy convincing them,” said Raheja.

Charu says getting Bollywood stars as team owners is an advantage. But for them it was also a challenge to convince the Bachchans to pump their money in owning a team.

“It is was tough convincing them to in-

vest in a sport like kabaddi. But is a sport which has a strong Indian connect. Everyone has played this sport. So we had a very compact plan when we approached the team owners, who also found an instant connect with the sport,” he said.

For the owners, now kabaddi is pure business and they also expect quick returns, said Raheja.

“On an average an owner is spending Rs.5 crores to run a franchise for four months. It is not a big investment for the owners. Since the operating cost is not much, we expect profits from the second edition,” said Raheja.

Charu has simple message for the team owners.

“Sports ownership is very different from all other forms of business. It is a privilege to own a sports franchise. It may take three to four years for the owners to break even but the since it is a restricted property the valuation of the team increases every year,” he said. The team owners are also guaranteed a fair share of TV revenues from host broadcasters Sony, for World Kabaddi, and Star, for Pro-Kabaddi.

“The World Kabaddi League is targetting the Indian diaspora overseas. We are expecting a good response from the ticket sales and TV revenues. We are also trying to get a Pakistani broadcaster since some prominent Pakistani players would also feature in the league,” said Raheja.

So is the World Kabaddi League competing with Pro-Kabaddi League, Raheja said: “In fact we are trying to complement each other.”

“There is no way we are competing with each other. The formats are different. By the time World Kabaddi League returns to India after the oerseas leg, the Pro-League will be over,” he said.

By Abhishek Roy, IANS AUG / SEPT 2014 News With A DESi View

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LIFE, ETC.

LGBT definitely out of closet: Filmmaker Sridhar Rangayan

ers Hindi filmmak am re st n ai m , de sues to the In the past deca transgender is d an y ga t gh Dostana... have brou rother Nikhil”, B y “M ke li s fore via film 72

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Sridhar Rangayan, filmmaker, gay rights activist and director of the ongoing KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival, is glad that LGBT is a subject “out of the closet”, but he hopes the country’s mainstream cinema understands “LGBT persons are part of the social mainstream” too.

“I think LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) is a subject that is definitely out of the closet, especially since the 2009 Delhi High Court verdict - you read about it, you see people around who are open about their sexuality and want to live their life with dignity,” Rangayan told IANS in an email interaction from Mumbai.

“There is definitely no going back for the LGBT community, and that holds good for KASHISH too,” he added.

Rangayan is also positive that the new government will pose no hindrance to the the future editions of the fest.

“Our festival is conducted with all due permissions. We have the patronage of eminent personalities like Shyam Benegal, Dolly Thakore, Celina Jaitly and Wendell Rodricks who are consistently championing for the festival because they understand the basic human rights issues it advocates for,” he said.

The going wasn’t easy for Rangayan when the idea to have the fest was conceptualised.

“The first year was of course a tough challenge, convincing a mainstream multiplex theatre to come on board as venue partners. There were concerns about what will be the reaction of the general public to a film festival like this.

“But what convinced everyone across the board was the fact that we were organising the event with due permissions that every film festival in India is expected to procure - like the Information and Broadcasting Ministry clearance,” he added.

The fifth editiion of the film festival kickstarted in Mumbai Wednesday, and it offers patrons a chance to sample as many as 154 films from 31 countries, including those from Bangladesh, Britain, Spain and India.

Rangayan has witnessed a “remarkable increase” in the number of films from India submitted to the fest.

“From 22 in 2010 to almost 60 this year! We are screening about 30 Indian films this year which include shorts, documentaries and features. That is an amazing collection indeed,” said the filmmaker, whose own short film on transsexuality, “Gulabi Aaina”, made in 2003, remains banned in the country.

He says most films dealing with LGBT are “made on shoestring budgets and do not have the marketing muscle to secure distribution”. The fact that “most of them are shorts and documentaries or independent films” keep them away from theatres.

But Rangayan, who also made films like “Yours Emotionally” and “68 Pages”, believes there’s a “need to find alternate ways of reaching them out to audiences”.

In the past decade, mainstream Hindi filmmakers have brought gay and transgender issues to the fore via films like “My Brother Nikhil”, “I Am”, “Dunno Y ... Na Jaane Kyun”, as well through sub-plots in entertainers like “Kal Ho Naa Ho”, “Girlfriend”, “Kalyug”, “Page 3”, “Fashion” and “Dostana”.

Asked about his take on the portrayal of the subject, Rangayan however said: “Mainstream cinema has to mature and evolve while dealing with subjects that have not been dealt with widely.

“They should understand that LGBT persons are as much part of the social mainstream and their portrayals need to be accorded the same respect and dignity as other characters.

“There is a need for the film industry to understand that not only are they an industry that sells entertainment; they also have a social responsibility.” www.desitoday.ca

LIFE, ETC.

I was so outraged when an American friend said that Asian males were kind of “girly” that I almost hit him with my shoulder bag.

But instead I just gave him a cold stare and turned back to my Hello Kitty collection.

Westerners have bizarre ideas about gender. A recent book said that the original British plan to get rid of Hitler was to turn him into a woman. Spymasters tried to get estrogen slipped into Adolf’s meals to make him “pliable and easy to handle”, according to a report sent to me. Pliable and easy to handle? Had these British guys ever met a woman? Lucky they failed, or World War II could have turned seriously unpleasant.

Gender issues are on my mind because a reader sent me details of a daring recent criminal operation. A gang of villains got hold of 70 sheep penises and sewed them between the legs of 70 female sheep (the technical terms being “ewes”, “girl sheep” or “sheepesses”). The gang then tried to smuggle the sheepesses out of Sudan, which only allows the export of male sheep (technically known as “rams”, “boy sheep” or “sheepmen”).

Border guards were about to let them through when Dripleg the Ewe, standing at the back of the flock, decided that she really, really “needed to go”.

The reader told me: “She did not go to the toilet like a male, but like a female,” which presumably means that she didn’t stand at the far end of a wall with her eyes fixed pointedly downwards, but got together a group of girlfriends who disappeared with their handbags for 20 minutes.

The border guards were shocked. www.desitoday.ca

Okay, so gender issues can be confusing

By Nury Vittachi, IANS

“These are girl sheep wearing sewn-on male genitalia” they exclaimed, and impounded the lot. The ewe-smugglers were incensed, which is hardly surprising. If you spent your whole weekend sewing genitalia on to live animals, you’d expect a pay off, right? (Important note: I have not actually done this.)

But you know what? Disguising “Animal A” as “Animal B” is more common than you think. Never trust zookeepers! Last year, a zoo in the People’s Park of Luohe, in the central Chinese province of Henan, displayed a suspiciously compact creature in the enclosure labelled “African Lion”. When visitors approached, it started barking - it was a disguised dog. The zoo’s leopard was a fox. Its wolf was a mongrel. At the Marah Land Zoo in Gaza City, the zebras were a pair of white donkeys painted with black stripes. After these cases were publicised by the crusading media, I suspect many small zoos around the world responded quickly to avoid liability - by re-labeling all their exhibits “Animal”.

An Australian friend reading over my shoulder has just told me that a politician in her country had a six-pack surgically added to his torso. Ewww. I didn’t know that was even possible. I told her to make sure he doesn’t get any ideas from Sudanese sheepesse exporters carrying sewing kits. I don’t even want to think about that, so I am going back to discussing matters of great importance with the rest of the guys in my favourite chat room. Guys: did you know that Hello Kitty collectible earrings are now $3,000 a pair?

AUG / SEPT 2014 News With A DESi View

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LIFE, LIFE,ETC. ETC

How e-commerce met my Deepest, Darkest

s e i s a t n fa

Woohoo! The whole e-commerce thing is a brilliant development for guys like my son and myself, who HATE shopping with a passion.

When we absolutely HAVE to make a physical journey to a store, we create a “search and rescue” plan to minimise time spent. 1) Locate supermarket. 2) Access chilled food aisles. 3) Liberate peanut butter milkshakes. 4) Return to base. Mission accomplished. Well done, son.

Of course, some people are warning that as e-commerce spreads, couch potatoes like me will spend our whole lives rotting on sofas in front of bad movies.

Like that’s a bad thing!

Oh, believe me, there are many worse ways to spend your life than being a “sedentary hedonist”, which my wife says is Latin for “married man”.

These days, guys everywhere are using e-commerce to buy little masculine necessities, such as sports magazines, shaving gear, rash cream and family members.

Yes, I have a case in mind. A young man in the city of Foshan, south China, used the internet to get a wife and baby 74

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to distract people from the fact that he preferred to live with a gentleman friend.

A news report says he went online to order a fake marriage certificate and “everything he needed to look like a family man”, which I presume means suit jackets with vomit-streaked shoulders, bags to hang under his eyes and a massive hole in his bank account.

After finding photos of a woman who looked “wife-like” (I think this means “with rolling eyes and a long-suffering expression”), he ordered a baby from a peopletrafficker and gave it to his parents to raise.

“Hi, mom, bought you a present - I mean, I got married and had a son and heir last Tuesday, forgot to mention it earlier.”

Everything went fine - until police tracked the missing infant to a location which puzzled them: a baby-free apartment containing two guys, both sensitive aesthetes with no interest in children.

The case finally broke when a detective visited the guy’s parents and had a conversation which went something like this.

COP: “Whose baby is that?” PARENTS: “My son’s.” COP: “But who gave birth to

it?” PARENTS: “His partner.” COP: “The 42-year-old male model?” PARENTS: “Ah.” The story was forwarded to me by a geeky friend who used it to argue that you can now use the internet to get anything, making “your wildest fantasies” come true.

Really? To show how ridiculous this was, I gave him mine: 1) A date with Scarlett Johansson; 2) My own personal kingdom in which everyone wears silly hats and 3) A working time machine.

He found them all in minutes! Ms. Johansson’s time can be booked by contacting her agent at number 2000, Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles. He located several islands for sale, and a book on writing legal constitutions (to force residents to wear silly hats). And a search for “Time Machine” led to an Apple product. It only takes gadgets back in time but he was “99 per cent sure” a version which worked on physical reality would be included with the next iPhone upgrade.

I need to finish here. It may be time to liberate another peanut butter milkshake.

By Nuru Vittachi, IANS www.desitoday.ca

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LIFE, ETC

VIRTUAL FRIENDSHIP

IN PERSONAL CONNECTOUT

Friendship bands have become old fashioned. Now, there is WhatsApp, Instagram where you can post your photos with your friends. Virtual friends are more now...

By Natalia Ningthoujam, IANS

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News With A DESi View

www.desitoday.ca

Time was when Friendship Day meant hanging out with buddies and wearing colourful friendship bands. But now virtual connect through forwarded messages or mobile app stickers or a simple post on a friend’s wall of a social networking site overshadows the personal touch and people’s socialising skills.

Easy-to-access internet without pinching your wallet and mobile app’s fun stickers expressing your emotions have made many people connect with one another, but mostly on a superficial level, say experts.

“Friendship bands have become old fashioned. Now, there is WhatsApp, Instagram where you can post your photos with your friends. Virtual friends are more now,” Nidhi Sharma, a stylist, told IANS. There was paucity of time earlier too, but now technology has made people lazier and as a result, personal meetings have reduced - thus affecting the quality of friendship.

The dilemma is that people feel closer by connecting through apps, but they are actually drifting away.

“You have internet on phone, work space and don’t have to take out extra time to stay in touch with people. Now, people would rather use WhatsApp or do video chat or send pictures. You are becoming closer because of technology, but it has become more superficial,” Harsheen K. Arora, a psychologist, told IANS. Davistine Liddle, a 30-year-old online marketing professional, agrees that a busy schedule keeps him away from meeting his friends regularly and that technology helps

to stay connected. But, yes, he misses that personal touch.

“I stopped buying gifts for friends after I finished school. Now, it’s more about WhatsApp, Facebook and Hike messenger.

The stickers are pretty interesting. People have become busy and all these sites and apps help to remember their birthdays or know what’s happening in their lives.

“Personal meetings have reduced and I miss that, but most friends are working in different locations, so that gets tough,” he said.

Consultant psychiatrist Rajiv Mehta describes the new friendship trend as “shallow”.

“There are some who are active on social networking sites or mobile apps as they are following others blindly. They feel that everybody is doing so and should follow them. Lack of time and effort have also made people turn to virtual friends.

“So, close friendships are not there.

Earlier friendship used to mean a lot. People used to take a decision on the basis of friendship. Now, it’s becoming shallow,” said Mehta.

Apps and social networking sites are also taking people away from reality.

Raman Suri, a life strategist and success coach, says people are now living in a “fancy land” and the fascination for social networking sites and apps is nothing more than an addiction.

“All these sites are designed in a way that people get addicted to them and they are living in a fancy land where they feel that if they send a friend request to a stranger and that stranger accepts, they become friends

in reality. That doesn’t happen,” said Suri.

It’s time for a reality check.

“There are friends on social networking sites, but when you meet them in person you get different energy...We are living our life on autopilot mode. It is easier for robots to lead a virtual life rather than a realistic one,” said Suri.

The virtual medium has affected people’s confidence to socialise in the real world.

“People want to save time but the more time they spend on sites and apps the more they lose confidence of meeting people. It has now become a choice not to meet and rather send a message. It’s all about living in the virtual world,” said Suri.

“For people who have a fear of public speaking, emotions help because you can express yourself by exchanging smileys but in person it gets difficult,” Suri added.

The consequences are worse for the younger generation as for them expression of emotions and articulation of thoughts become tough.

“Children as young as 10 start using such sites and apps. They won’t know how to communicate face-to-face. The older age group (above 25) has passed all that; so there’s not much to worry,” said Mehta.

Arora also warns children, especially teenagers, against over-indulgence in virtual friendship.

“They don’t have a sense of responsibility at that age. They may not understand or develop a trait of making real friends or having an emotional connect with someone,” she said.

Technology certainly helps to bridge the gap, but maintain a balance and make sure to grab a cup of coffee with your friend whenever you get the time.

www.desitoday.ca

AUG / SEPT 2014 News With A DESi View

77

LIFE ETC

Indian techie will drive

SOLAR-POWERED AUTO to Britain

An Indian techie will soon embark on a transnational expedition riding on a self-built solarpowered autorickshaw to Britain to promote a sustainable low-cost alternative transport solution and check air pollution in towns and cities across the country.

“The objective of this 10,000 km (6,250 miles) adventure through 10 countries is to demonstrate the environmental and economical benefits of using a solar-powered autorickshaw, a popular transport mode in South Asia used for commuting by ordinary folks,” 33-year-old engineer-turned green activist Rabelli Naveen told IANS here.

Though Naveen initially planned to drive the three-wheeler prototype through Pakistan and Afghanistan to Iran on way to Britain via Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Austria, Germany and France, he will sail with the vehicle by ship to Iran in the first leg of the expedition, as he does not have a visa from the two neighbouring countries.

“As visa is issued on arrival in rest of the countries, I will drive from Teheran to Paris through Istanbul, Belgrade, Zagreb, Budapest, Salzburg and Munich and use a ferry to reach London in over three months, travelling about 100 km a day,” Naveen said.

After graduating in B.Tech from Hyderabad a decade ago, Naveen flew to Australia for masters in electronics and worked in Melbourne as a product development engineer long enough to acquire its citizenship and an Aussie passport to travel across countries without hassles.

“Apart from difficulty in getting a visa, I have been advised that it is unsafe to travel on road

through Pakistan and Afghanistan for security reasons. Hence, after driving to Mumbai from here, I will board a ship with the solar auto ‘Tejas’ to reach the Iranian port Bandar Abbas in five days and resume the journey on land,” Naveen said.

Raoul Kopacka, 26, an Austrian automobile engineer and a videographer, will accompany Naveen on the long trip to make a documentary of the expedition to show how road worthy and safe is the solar powered auto with zero emission.

“We look forward to meeting lots of people with diverse cultures and from various walks of life to understand their efforts towards a sustainable lifestyle,” Kopacka said during a testdrive in the ‘tuk tuk’, as autos are known in Southeast Asian cities.

Naveen fancied embarking on this mission inspired by an Austrian team, which drove across the world in a solar powered taxi during 2008-09.

“We plan to share our experiences and learning from the long journey with others online so that the data can be used to create awareness for switching over to renewable energy from non-renewable energy like fossil fuels,” Naveen said.

The duo plan to hit the road in the next six months after getting fitness certification for Tejas, regulatory approvals and funds (Rs.25 lakh) through sponsors, corporate and organisations involved in promoting sustainable solutions for protection of global environment.

“We are in the process of getting the retrofitted auto certified by the Automotive Re-

search Association of India and clearances from the road transport organisation, as it has logged about 2,000 km on test drives to test its vital parameters and assess its fitness with endurance to ride on electric power and solar energy,” Naveen said.

Though a city-based automobile firm (Mahindra Reva) rolls out electric cars, absence of a similar vehicle in three-wheeler prompted Naveen to buy a second-hand Piaggio Ape diesel auto and modify it into a battery operated vehicle at a cost of Rs.3.4 lakh, with six panels fitted on its three sides, including four on top for solar charging.

“We had to rebuild the auto from scratch, replacing its diesel engine with a battery operated engine and re-wiring to charge it with electric and solar power,” Naveen said.

When fully charged with electrical energy in eight hours and solar power in five hours, the 650 kg auto travels 105 km non-stop at 45 km per hour.

Barring the solar panels, which are from the US, the rest of the vehicle is indigenous. Its dashboard is fitted with a GPS (global positioning system) to navigate through the circuitous route and store data, a voltmeter to indicate battery power, a thermostat to record temperature, a speedometer to log distance covered and a stereo music system.

“The cabin in the front has legroom for just two of us to sit through the long journey, while the rear portion has space enough to keep spares, tools, personal luggage, water cans, sleeping bags and packaged food,” Naveen

By Fakir Balaji, IANS added.

Left: Naveen Rabelli’s solar tuk tuk at Lake, AECS Layout, Kundalahalli Bangalore, India (Raoul Kopacka). Right: Attracting attention from passers by Naveen Rabelli beside his solar tuk tuk (red) on the HAL Airport Rd, Thubarahalli, Bangalore, India (Raoul Kopacka)

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News With A DESi View

www.desitoday.ca

LIFE ETC

Pulitzer winner, some shortlisted novels

Residue

On Sal Mal Lane

Named for the revolutionary Trotsky by a missing communist father he never saw, Leon Ali is a Kashmiri born in Britain and brought up by a single mother in Delhi. Keya Raina is a Kashmiri scholar in exile, an insecure immigrant who collects other people’s stories. Marked by the oppressive history of Kashmir, they meet in Berlin, the city of Cold War partitions, and begin a journey of discovery which reveals to them the story of Shula Farid, the bohemian wife of a staid Bengali diplomat. Through their travels, the two young Kashmiris outside Kashmir find startling truths about themselves in the midst of unwitting identities and multiple belongings the residue of shared human emotions. This book was shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize.

Sri Lanka, 1979. The Herath family has just moved to Sal Mal Lane, a quite street disturbed only by the cries of the children whose families live there. As the neighbours adapt to the newcomers in different ways, the children fill their days with cricket matches, romantic crushes, and small rivalries. Their innocence contrasts sharply with the petty prejudices of the adults charged with their care. But the tremors of the civil war are mounting and it is only a matter of time before the conflict engulfs them all and the sleepy neighbourhood erupts in violence. Tender and heartbreaking, this book was longlisted for the DSC Prize 2014.

Three Sections

The Invention of Wings

In an array of poetic forms from the rhyming lyric to the philosophical meditation to the prose essay, this Pulitzer winner confronts perplexing divisions of contemporary life - a wayward division of contemporary life - a wayward history, an indeterminate future and a present condition of wanting to out-think time.

Sarah Grimke is the middle daughter. The one her mother calls difficult and her father calls remarkable. On Sarah’s 11th birthday, Hetty ‘Handful’ Grimke is taken from the slave quarters, wrapped in lavender ribbons, and presented to Sarah as a gift. Sarah knows that she can’t accept. And so the trouble begins...

Author: Nitasha Kaul Publisher: Rainlight Pages: 324

Author: Ru Freeman Publisher: Penguin Pages: 388

Reckless voices and poetic verses won a book the Pulitzer prize this year and other fictional tales made the longlisted and shortlisted list of several book awards: Our bookshelf has the magic of imaginative richness. Take your pick.

Poet: Vijay Seshadri Publisher: Harper Collins Pages: 68

www.desitoday.ca

Author: Sue Monk Kidd Publisher: Tider Press Pages: 370

AUG / SEPT 2014 News With A DESi View

79

AUTO REVIEW

BMW ActiveHybrid 3 Sedan

PREMIUM PERFORMANCE AND FUEL ECONOMY

The new BMW ActiveHybrid 3 is the newest in a slew of performance orientated Hybrid sedans from the hallowed German premium.

Following the ActiveHybrid 7 and ActiveHybrid 5, the new ActiveHybrid 3 offers the holy grail; namely performance and fuel economy. The numbers speak for themselves as the ActiveHybrid offers a 0 to 100 km/h in 5.5 seconds; and offers city/highway fuel economy 8.0 city; 5.9 highway and a combined 7.1 L/100 km. And there is no trickery here as the ActiveHybrid 3 can run solely on electric power, solely on gas engine power, or a combination of both, depending on the battery charge and driving conditions, so making it an official “full hybrid” vehicle.

Like most hybrids, the ActiveHybrid 3’s lithium ion battery is recharged while coasting and braking, and the gas engine turns off automatically, restarting when the driver lifts their foot off the brake pedal when stopped.

This performance comes courtesy of 340 horsepower from a longitudinal frontmounted twin- turbocharged 3.0L inline sixcylinder engine, an eight-speed automatic “Steptronic” transmission and 40-kW electric motor delivering power to the rear wheels.

The interior of the ActiveHybrid 3 is superb with fine leather and wood trim and luxuriously appointed.

The ActiveHybrid 3’s seats wherever you sit are soft comfortable perches and headroom and legroom in front in all areas is very good. On long journeys or even tooling around town the optional and high end Harman/Kardon sound system is simply superb with its 16 speakers. The system’s 12-GB hard drive allows over 100 music CDs worth of music to be stored and you can hook an iPod into the system via auxiliary and USB ports, as well as wireless Bluetooth.

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Storage room is ample with a decent enough sized glovebox, center console and door pockets.

On long trips you will also appreciate the ActiveHybrid 3’s 390 litre trunk which can be extended via split-folding 40/20/40 seatbacks. On the road, the Activehybrid 3 has a somewhat Jekyll and Hyde character. You can feather foot and caress the throttle and obtain stellar hybrid fuel economy and take full advantage of the hybrid technology. Yet be a bit more judicious with the throttle and unleash the combined 332 lb-ft of torque. And it is a different story as the car roars and offers fast smooth acceleration in a distinctly non- hybrid manner. BMW claim the ActiveHybrid can do a 0 to 00 km/h dash in 5.5 seconds which is extremely fast for a hybrid.

ActiveHybrid 3 drivers can select the driving parameters by choosing one of four driving modes: Eco Pro, Comfort, Sport or Sport +. Each program changes the throttle response, transmission shift points, stability control settings, and steering feel for different performance and driving feel. Note in In Eco-Pro mode, the ActiveHybrid 3 can run on electric power for up to four kilometers

at speeds up to 75 km/h With a battery fully charged in Eco Pro mode, the car will run on electric power alone, but only if you drive it gently at city speeds and only for about three or four kilometres. The close-ratio eight-speed automatic transmission provides smooth transitions and it can be shifted manually via the console shift lever or paddles behind the steering wheel Overall the ActiveHybrid 3 feels like a typical BMW 3-Series with fast acceleration, composed stable handling and good high speed cornering reflexes with a firm yet comfortable ride.

A slew of safety aids also make the ActiveHybrid an extremely safe sedan. For example our test car had the optional blind spot warning system and the lane departure warning which vibrates the steering wheel if the car drifts over the lane markers. Meanwhile a collision warning sensor gives an audible and visual warning in the instrument cluster if another vehicle is approaching too quickly.

Overall the BMW ActiveHybrid does command a substantial premium for example over the benchmark BMW 335i sedan. However the ActiveHybrid 3 does offer excellent performance and is no pretend hybrid with all the advantage of a gas electric hybrid vehicle.

Also it does no compromise on performance which a huge selling point.

There is no All-Wheel Drive option in the ActiveHybrid 3, but the extra weight of that hardware may make it too heavy in any case and adversely affect performance. It is a compelling buy if you want performance chops and hybrid technology you can really go wrong with this impressive new model.

2013 BMW ActiveHybrid 3 sedan Priced from $58,300. Price as tested: $61,170

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AUTO REVIEW

BY VEENO DEWAN

2014 MERCEDES BENZ SPRINTER

WINS BATTLE OF THE VANS EVENT! WITH a new look, more safety features and a new engine for the Canadian and U.S. markets, the 2014 MercedesBenz Sprinter van is now better than ever. First launched on the European market in 1995, the Sprinter has steadily been redefined and improved. Business owners like it for its low operating costs and excellent resale, whilst drivers enjoy the virtues of its modern design, carlike performance, and comfort.

For 2012 the Sprinter has a noticeable facelift with LED driving lights incorporated into the headlight clusters, a chassis that’s now 30 mm lower and new safety features on board, such as a pre-collision system as well as blind-spot and lane-keeping assist technology comfort and convenience options include options such as a navigation system, 5.8-inch TFT screen and a backup camera, the Sprinter is probably the best work van money can buy.

In the recent Battle of the Vans Event held in Pitt Meadows, British Columbia, and hosted by Mercedes-Benz Surrey, the Sprinter outperformed its Dodge, Ford GM and Nissan competition in a number of trials and competitions.

At the center of the event was a fully comprehensive Comparison Test Drive Event, in which 16 participants ranging from fleet managers, procurement specialists to automotive journalists got their chance to test the new Ford Transit, the Ram ProMaster, and the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter back to back.

The event was divided into a few sections beginning with a slalom test and an emergency ABS brake test from 60-0 in the closed course. Then the participants had the opportunity to take the vans onto the public road for a road test. All participants enjoyed being driver and passenger on all three vans, switching every 10 minutes. Lastly, all participants were given a measuring tape to examine each van according to any category they feel important to them personally.

At the end of the afternoon, all the participants had the opportunity to directly compare the efficiency, safety, technology, comfort, and overall driving experience of each van. All participants agreed unanimously the Sprinter

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rated the highest in every category. Most importantly, the Sprinter recorded an actual 10L/100km fuel economy during the road tests, while the other two manufactures’ vans recorded 19L/100km under the identical conditions. The results clearly show why Mercedes-Benz offers the best solution for their business’ needs – the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter.

Available in a range of configurations and roof heights, the Sprinter can be had in two short-wheelbase cargo vans, five long (4.3-metre) cargo vans and a pair of passenger models — all powered by Mercedes’ 3.0-litre turbocharged V6 BlueTEC diesel. A new four-cylinder 2.1L turbodiesel with 161 horsepower and 265 poundfeet of torque is also on the cards, while a six-speed manual is offered in Europe; in Canada, however, the only available gearbox is a seven-speed automatic.

The Sprinter is a true work truck with a readily accessible cargo area accessed either through the side (best-inclass 182 x 130 centimetres) manual sliding side door or the twin swinging rear doors. The back doors are hinged at the edge of the truck, so the accessible area is almost as wide as the cargo area. The height of the cargo van is also versatile with three roof heights offered enabling drivers and workers to walk around inside the cargo area, which has a total volume of nine to 17 cubic metres, depending on the van’s configuration (two wheelbases and three lengths are offered). The cargo van can also be fitted as a crew cab, with a second-row bench, boosting seating capacity to five. Configured as a passenger model, the Sprinter will accommodate up to a dozen people.

Mercedes’ 3.0-litre turbocharged V6 BlueTEC diesel is shared with the ML, GL and R-Class SUVs and produces 188 horsepower and 325 pound-feet of torque, which is more than adequate. The 3.0L diesel engine’s fuel consumption is listed at 13.8 litres per 100 kilometres in the city and 9.4 on the highway. These engines are impressively smooth and quiet, while its clean-diesel technology lessens impact on the environment.

Safety has been much increased on the Sprinter with

aids such as blind-spot detection and a lane departure warning system. The Collision Prevent Assist system meanwhile monitors the road ahead and warns the driver via a visual and sounds alert of potential collisions. When the driver does hit the brake it automatically increases the brake pressure in an attempt to prevent a potential rear-end collision On the road, the Sprinter is so easy to drive and very manoeuvrable for such a large vehicle. The seats are very comfortable and the high driving position and excellent visibility make it a breeze to drive.

The hefty starting price is justified in my opinion as the Sprinter benefits from stronger resale value, fewer scheduled service stops and much better fuel economy.

Not only will you impress and probably obtain more customers you pull up in a 2014 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, but total cost of ownership actually lower than its competitors in the long run.

With a best in class maintenance interval of 25,000 kilometers, the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter depreciates at a much lower rate than that of its competition, commanding a higher resale value than any commercial vehicle in its class. That’s something every business person values.

Potential buyers will also be glad to know, according to Mercedes Benz, the Sprinter has the lowest fuel consumption of any vehicle in its class. The V6 diesel engine with BlueTEC clean diesel technology saves up to 39% when compared with competitors’ gasoline-powered vehicles say Mercedes. With fuel costs averaging 14 cents/ km, it is claimed the Sprinter can reduce fuel costs by up to $4,300 per 50,000 km, a remarkable savings of $21,500 over 5 years. There is no doubt the Mercedes Benz Sprinter makes the most sense. The results from the Battle of the Vans Event clearly show why Mercedes-Benz Surrey offers the best solution for their business’ needs – the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter.

2014 Mercedes Benz Sprinter – base priced from $39,900 (With limited time special offers.)

AUG / SEPT 2014 News With A DESI View

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DESI GIRL

a y e e Saf ni a r i P Local instructor with Shiamak Davar International, Vancouver/Bombay for 7 years Participated in IIFA Awards, TOIFA Awards, The Sahara Sports Awards in Bombay, and the Unforgettable Tour which occurred in 2008.

Degree in Communications.

She is passionate about local community topics and have also started her own non for profit project called Dance For Good where she works with people with special needs and train them to perform at local community events, shelters, hospitals, and various festivals to give them a chance to empower and inspire. These events include The Ronald Mcdonald House, Vancouver General Hospital, BC Childrens Hospital World of Smiles Telethon, Canuck Place, and many more!

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Mouth Watering

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#124-15299 68th Ave., Surrey 83 Tel: 778.578.4444 or Tel: 778.551.0143 AUG / SEPT 2014 News With A DESI View