July 2012 Southern California Edition

Grown Up Things

Letter From Paris TheA Games We Played

Kitchen Chemistry

Celebrating 26 Years of Excellence

Bias Prejudice

The

Discrimination

Color of Justice

july 2012 • vol. 26 , no .4 • www.indiacurrents.com

The Criminal Justice System has very few reported cases of racial discrimination against South Asians.

What are the reasons behind our community’s reticence?

The Niceness Index IC Celebrates 25 years facebook.com/IndiaCurrents twitter.com/IndiaCurrents 1885 Lundy Ave, Suite 220, San Jose, CA 95131 Phone: (408) 324-0488 (714) 523-8788 Fax: (408) 324-0477 Email: info@indiacurrents.com www.indiacurrents.com Publisher & Editor: Vandana Kumar publisher@indiacurrents.com (408) 324-0488 x 225 Advertising Manager: Derek Nunes ads@indiacurrents.com Northern California: (408) 324-0488 x 222 Southern California: (714) 523-8788 x 222 Marketing Associate: Raj Singh (408) 324-0488 x 221 marketing@indiacurrents.com (408) 324-0488 x221 Graphic Designer: Nghia Vuong EDITORIAL BOARD Managing Editor: Jaya Padmanabhan editor@indiacurrents.com (408) 324-0488 x 226 Events Editor: Mona Shah events@indiacurrents.com (408) 324-0488 x 224

I have been serving organic milk and vegetables to my family for over a decade. I suffer from a sense of malaise when it comes to volunteering, though I force myself to do it. These are two unrelated reflections.

There’s a study out in the Social, Psychological and Personality Science Journal linking those two distinct ideas. The research by Kendall J. Eskine concludes that folks who eat organic food are inclined be judgmental, “which attenuates their desire to be altruistic.”

The niceness factor is apparently linked to the food we eat—the sweeter, fattier, hormone rich diets eliciting a nicer attitude. So go ahead, be generous with Aunt Jemima’s sublime syrup over your pancakes. It is responsible for sensitizing your empathic receptors; and watch out, that craving for bitter gourd comes packaged with moral turpitude.

In the study Eskine calibrated goodness by the level of indignation to certain questionable scenarios including a man eating his dead dog and lawyers casing hospital wards for potential lawsuits. But, there’s a double negative in that definition. It’s an odd way to identify goodness.

I believe that at its most rudimentary breakdown, goodness is largely about sharing.

How much of your time, money, resources or goodwill do you share?

I remember my dad, a skinflint till his very last days on earth, repeatedly justifying his fis-

cal restraint with the adage, “Charity begins at home,” and yet being extremely generous with his time and patience. In my youthful arrogance, I criticized him for the former and never thought much of the latter. Maturity and experience have taught me otherwise.

Eskine’s study suggests that Whole Foods’ produce jettisons wholesome intentions; people who buy organic food, are less likely to volunteer. But, the idea that volunteerism defines goodness is erroneous. Take the case of Jerry Sandusky: Penn State’s Assistant Football coach convicted of being a heinous child molester is also notably acknowledged as the founder of the non-profit, The Second Mile.

I find the assumptions of the Eskine study lacking coherency. Decency is not dictated by a single trait. It has many subtleties. We are driven to be nice to the people we love. Our moral calculus goes into high gear when we have something to gain, as in being pleasant to a boss or a romantic interest. We are also compelled to give when we have a surplus. But, I believe that true altruism is donating something (advice, money, possessions, time) that pinches to give up.

Niceness is a strategic skill to have, no matter what the motive and irrespective of where you shop for your greens.

Jaya Padmanabhan

COLUMNISTS Dear Doctor: Alzak Amlani Films: Aniruddh Chawda Forum: Rameysh Ramdas On Inglish: Kalpana Mohan The Last Word: Sarita Sarvate Zeitgeist: Ragini Tharoor Srinivasan Uncubed: Krishna Sadasivam Contributors: Jasbina Ahluwalia, Sudha Chandrasekaran, Anita Felicelli, Jeanne Frederiksen, Malar Gandhi, Madhumita Gupta, Praba Iyer, Malay Jalundhwala, Usha Kris, Rishi Kumar, Indu Liladhar-Hathi, P. Mahadevan, Vidya Pradhan, Teed Rockwell, Mani Subramani, Shruti Swamy Cover Design: Nghia Vuong.

INDIA CURRENTS® (ISSN 0896-095X) is published monthly (except Dec/Jan, which is a combined issue) for $19.95 per year by India Currents, 1885 Lundy Ave., Ste 220, San Jose, CA 95131. Periodicals postage paid at San Jose, CA, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to INDIA CURRENTS, 1885 LUNDY AVE, STE. 220, SAN JOSE, CA 95131 Information provided is accurate as of the date of going to press; India Currents is not responsible for errors or omissions. Opinions expressed are those of individual authors. Advertising copy, logos, and artwork are the sole responsibility of individual advertisers, not of India Currents.

Copyright © 2012 by India Currents All rights reserved.

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india currents • july 2012 • 1

The Color of Justice

Southern California Edition

PERSPECTIVES

An exploration of the reasons why there are very few reported cases of prejudice or discrimination against South Asians in the U.S. Criminal Justice System.

By Anita Felicelli

10

1

EDITORIAL: The Niceness Index. By Jaya Padmanabhan

4

VOICES

6

FORUM: Can We Afford a Romney Presidency? By Rameysh Ramdas and Mani Subramani

7

ZEITGEIST: Grown Up Things By Ragini Tharoor Srinivasan

8

PERSPECTIVE: The Lost Art of Letter Writing By Sudha Chandrasekaran

16 ELECTIONS 2012: Are You Waiting for the Monkey God.

By Rishi Kumar 20 FICTION: Lucky Sky By Malay Jalundhwala 28 Q&A: Kitchen Chemistry. By Vidya Pradhan 52 REFLECTIONS: Summer Magic. By Madhumita Gupta

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

58 DESI VOICES: Pursuit of Happiness. By P. Mahadevan

18

BOOKS: Review of The World We Found and Tina’s Mouth: An Existential Comic Diary By Jeanne Fredriksen and Shruti Swamy

34

MUSIC: Amjad Ali Khan comes to Stanford. By Teed Rockwell

60 ON INGLISH: Pukka Idiot. By Kalpana Mohan 64 THE LAST WORD BY SARITA SARVATE: A Letter From Paris.

LIFESTYLE

FILMS A Review of Rowdy Rathore and Department By Aniruddh Chawda

36 25th Anniversary Celebrations

54

HEALTHY LIFE: Brain Foods. By Malar Gandhi

56

TRAVEL: Waters of Haridwar. By Usha Kris

61 RELATIONSHIP DIVA: Breaking Up and Not Breaking Down. By Jasbina Ahluwalia 63 DEAR DOCTOR: The Therapy of Journal Writing.

By Alzak Amlani

RECIPES An Affair to Remember

Mediterranean Cooking

An event, a milestone, a success story!

By Praba Iyer

Life by the Sea

38

40 DEPARTMENTS 26 Ask a Lawyer 27 Visa Dates 62 Uncubed 2 • india currents • july 2012

WHAT’S CURRENT 46 Cultural Calendar 53 Spiritual Calendar 59 Classifieds

india currents • july 2012 • 3

IC

voices

The Skeleton Out of the Closet

More than 20 years ago, domestic violence was a taboo topic. Whenever I brought attention to it, many people would tell me “every community has its negative, why am I coloring the Indian community with this? There is no domestic violence in the Indian community.” Maitri and Narika brought the skeleton out of the closet. South Asian women started getting help and domestic violence became an open topic of discussion.

One question I am frequently asked, these days, is whether “Indian women are selecting the sex of their child, preferring female to male?” I don’t have any statistics to back me up, but I have noticed the advertisements in an Indian-American newspaper catering to parents: “Choose the sex of your child.”

These advertisements are created because of existing demand. We do know that in India, it is very prevalent in some areas.

Otherwise the population ratio would not be 800 females to 1000 males. Is something similar happening here in the U.S.? Do educated, progressive Indian-Americans have the same short-sighted mentality? Is the desire for having the family name continue so strong that parents prefer a male child and are willing to abort a female fetus?

Is there a skeleton in our closet? Isn’t it time to discuss this in the open and do something about it? Only then, we will be able to empower women to make the right choice and stand up for the girl child.

Deepka Lalwani, Monica Kumar, Shubhangi Vaidya, Kulvinder Kaur, Nithya Ruff, Pragati Grover et al.

Learning to be Indian American

In response to the cover article (India Currents, June 2012, Raising An Indian American Teen) by Nitya Ramanan and Listen Up, Parents! by Simran Devadasani, I was hoping to find some insights into parenting advice for Indian-Americans parents raising teens in America but what Ramanan has covered is a very generalized overview of what we already know. However, I found Simran Devidasani’s DO list very interesting.

I don’t quite agree with the statement that “parents were teenagers, too.” That’s true, parents were teenagers too, but on a land on the other side of the globe. We parents uprooted ourselves, as adults, realigned our values, identities and cultural norms in an adopted land where we also have had to shed a lot of old skin as we molted into the new one here. For our teenagers, it is very difficult, since they have had to learn the same lessons at a much younger age—especially those kids who have had to adapt and fit in socially in mostly white neighborhoods and schools. It’s 4 • india currents • july 2012

the popular misconceptions in mainstream culture about Indians, which might be the major cause of trouble with our teens. Its not drugs or gangs or sexual orientation or violence. The paramount issues for our teenagers is being bullied in school by teachers and students alike. We hear the use of the word “terrorist” often on school playgrounds. Many Indian kids and their parents don’t complain and endure these daily humiliations.

I am very curious to learn how do IndianAmerican teenagers adapt to such societal pressures? How do they handle cultural ignorance from their peers and how do they manage being Indian-Americans? I would like to see some insights from teens on this issue.

Ann Lauren Sharma, San Francisco

Congratulations on 25 impactful years!

India Currents has become essential for the Bay Area community and beyond. Vandana is a true inspiration for guiding this ship over the years. Good luck and here’s to another 25 wonderful years.

Ash Kalra, San Jose Councilmember

Notes From the 25th Anniversary Event Guest Book

What a journey! I do remember the early days of India Currents. Keep it going! I am so glad to see you engaging the next generation.

All the best.

Jayshree Patil, S.F. Bay Area

Thanks so much for including me. Your speech was eloquent. The play was edgy and smart. It was inspiring to see Arvind Kumar again.

Sandy Close, New America Media Congratulations on 25 years of a stellar achievement. Katyayini and I proudly proclaim that we have read and enjoyed every issue of India Currents. Without IC our Indian culture would not have flourished as it is today. Thanks for the memories.

G. S. Sathya, S.F. Bay Area You are an amazing role model as an entrepreneur to run an awesome media company in these tough economic times. I am looking forward to celebrating the 50th anniversary!

Reena Rao and Mahesh Pakkala, TV Asia IC has a huge following and you guys rock!

Rishi and Seema Kumar, Saratoga’s Got Talent

It was a wonderful experience. What a way to celebrate the 25th anniversary! It shows the ability to be different. Wishing all the very best.

N. Parthasarathi, Consul General of India It is an honor to be present at the 25th year party of India Currents. Thanks a ton for being a gateway for the world of Indian arts.

Keep up the good work.

Anu Natarajan, Fremont Vice Mayor Congratulations on 25 years. May you celebrate many more milestones as you bring us all together and describe the Indian experience on the left coast and beyond. We are privileged to know you and be counted in your community.

Antonia Minnecola, Arts Lover

A very innovative magazine providing service to the community. 25 years! You have built a company to last! Congratulations!

Suhas Patil, Entrepreneur Congratulations India Currents for your perseverance, creativity, editorials and lasting for 25 years. I look forward to the Golden Jubilee!

A.V. Sridhar, S.F. Bay Area

Congratulations to my Dad and all who work at India Currents. Good job!

Desiree Nunes, Student Hooray for India Currents! Has it really been 25 years? Yes, and yes to 25 more.

The Oza family, Palo Alto Congratulations on reaching a great milestone. You make us all proud!

Pranay and Madhavi, S.F. Bay Area Who says Indians lack a sense of humor?

Indians were laughing at themselves, their idiosyncrasies, quirkiness and hypocrisy at the staging of Naatak’s recent play, Death in San Francisco at IC’s 25th anniversary. What a great event! When we laugh, we are acknowledging we can relate to the problem and at the same time have compassion.

Deepka Lalwani, IBPW Just a little note to say “Thanks!” You all did an amazing job and wish you many such wonderful years ahead!

Prabha Gopal, Founder, Bay Area Performing Arts

SPEAK YOUR MIND!

Have a thought or opinion to share?

Send us an original letter of up to 300 words, and include your name, address, and phone number. Letters are edited for clarity and brevity.

Write India Currents Letters, 1885 Lundy Ave. Suite 220, San Jose 95131 or email letters@indiacurrents.com.

India Currents is now available on the Kindle Follow us at twitter.com/indiacurrents Like us facebook.com/India Currents Most Popular June 2012 Articles Online: 1) Raising an Indian-American Teen. Nitya Ramanan, Simran Devidasani 2) Can Death Be Beautiful? Latika Mangrulkar 3) RVing in Alaska Rishi Kumar 4) Ragamalika Celebrates 20 Years Asha Ramesh 5) The Games We Played Sudha Subramanian 6) Cooking for the Golden Years Shanta Sacharoff 7) Bay Area Summer Camps, Mona Shah 8) Cotton Bales and Calico Tales Kalpana Mohan 9) Unchecked Jaya Padmanabhan 10)In Transit? Sarita Sarvate

Online Extras: • • • • • • • •

Easy access to our current content and decade-old archives of diverse articles Special web-only articles and videos Digital issue of the magazine Interactive event listings Advertising access to a niche high-value segment of the community Comments highlighted on home page A full color experience RSS feeds and newsletter subscriptions

india currents • july 2012 • 5

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forum

Can We Afford a Romney Presidency?

Rameysh Ramdas

Mani Subramani

No, a Romney presidency would be disastrous

Yes, a Romney presidency does have benefits

resident Bill warned us recently that a Romney presidency will be “calamitous for our country and the world.” I completely agree. Further, I also agree with Clinton that while Romney is eminently qualified to seek the presidency with his experience steering private enterprise and the state of Massachusetts, a Romney presidency is something our nation cannot afford at this time. The stakes in the November 2012 election are high and our votes critical in determining the course we pursue as a nation.

Most polls today point to a close fall election for the White House with a possible Romney win but also for the Republican takeover of the Senate with a President Romney’s VP getting the tie breaker vote.

The Republicans in the House of Representatives are either poised to increase or retain their majority. Given this scenario in Congress, President Obama’s re-election is the only path to block the extreme right wing House Republican agenda.

Led by the House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) and the Tea Party backed freshmen, the Republican agenda is to gut social programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and Food Stamps for the poor, further slash taxes on the wealthiest including corporations, deregulate banks, increase defense spending, literally eliminate the EPA and Consumer Safety agencies, and above all overturn the health care reform law.

Most Americans are in the middle of the political spectrum and expect the Federal Government to astutely create conditions for the private sector to thrive and hire. But, it is also essential to have a basic safety net for those that need it, a sensible environmental protections policy and a fair taxation scheme that neither punishes success nor penalizes the middle class, a fair regulation of banks and consumer safety protections in place. There should be a balance between a smart defense capability, elimination of wasteful expenditure and yet a fair dispensation of foreign aid to advance our strategic and humanitarian interests abroad.

Candidate Romney has pandered to the extreme right wing agenda, understandably to burnish himself as a conservative to win the nomination. However, Romney has given no indication that he will govern as he did in Massachusetts working synchronously with the Democratic legislature. Instead, Romney has embraced the Paul Ryan plan and the extreme right wing agenda. Without a Democratic majority in Congress to moderate his presidency, that is a risk we simply cannot afford.

We absolutely need President Obama to be reelected so that we can ensure “checks and balances” are in place with a Republican Congress that will limit both extreme right and left wing excesses. Obama’s reelection this time is not for any “hope or change” but a last line of defense, with his veto pen, against the extreme right wing agenda. n

n 2008 Barack Obama won the election by a thin margin of 53-47%.

In other words 3% of the voting population decided to not elect a McCain-Palin ticket. This inspite of a total collapse of financial industry just before the elections due to deregulation policies that were instituted in 1999; inspite of McCain being well past his prime; and inspite of Sarah Palin.

Lets face it this is a nation that votes for candidates based on the entertainment value of the campaign and pithiness of the slogans. In the era of super PACs this type of campaigning just got a streroid boost.

Particpation in elections is lack-luster as demonstrated in the recently concluded California primary where only 35% voted. Add to all this the electorate is easily manipulated as evidenced by the decrease in support from 67% to less that 50% from March 2012 to June 2012 for the tobacco tax. Mainly because of a propaganda campaign by the tobacco companies outspending the opposition 8:1. Given these circumstances Romney could be the next President given the massive fundraising advantage he has currently.

President Obama upon election was met by Senator McConnell vowing that he would make it his priority to make Obama a one term president. The Republicans followed their leadership and fought Obama on every issue to the detriment of the economic recovery. For this the voters rewarded the Republicans with the majority in the house in the 2010 elections.

A Romney presidency would not have this to contend with. Republicans would be supportive of Romney and Romney would adapt himself to any and all of the Republican agenda, however extreme. He has adequately demonstrated this capability during the campaign for the White House. Romney never hesitated to change his position on abortion rights or on healthcare law. As far as we can tell from the polls these flip-flops don’t seem to matter to voters. Even if the Democrats manage to win the house in 2012 and retain possession of the Senate, it is my view that it would still be a cooperative congress, largely because Democrats believe in government and try to make the system work. As a result it is unlikey that we will have an obstructive democratic congress. Romney’s flip-flops which many perceive as a weakness would actually be a great strength in this scenario.

While the economy was rescued from the brink by President Obama’s policies, the job market is still teetering and slow to accelerate. Romney is promising 500k new jobs per month with his plan if elected president. While this, in my view, would require unsustainable levels of GDP growth it is a chance we may have to take in order to get this economy moving faster. After all Romney’s Bain Capital did return an outstanding rate of return for investors. n

Rameysh Ramdas, an SF Bay Area professional, writes as a hobby.

Mani Subramani works in the semi-conductor industry in Silicon Valley.

P

... President Obama’s re-election is the only path to block the extreme right wing House Republican agenda.

6 • india currents • july 2012

I

Republicans would be supportive of Romney and Romney would adapt himself to any and all of the Republican agenda, however extreme.

IC

zeitgeist

Ragini Tharoor Srinivasan

Grown-up Things

A

few years ago, I was exchanging emails with an up-and-coming desi actor who’d been a schoolmate of mine. “Excited to feature you in India Currents!” I said. “Can’t believe how long it’s been since Challenger.”

His response: “Are we grown-ups?”

I laughed, but then I scratched my head. If 50 is the new 40, and increasing numbers of 20-somethings are boomerang kids, graduating from college to move back in with mum and dad, cycling through years of internships before landing jobs, if the vast majority of men and women in their 20s are happily, resolutely unmarried (and uncoupled), if the “target” childbearing age that gets bandied about by Indian parents at dinner parties is 30 (and it is), then when do we grow up?

Last year, at a shower for an Indian-American mother-to-be approaching her Jesus year, I had the strange experience of being one of very few married women under 35. This was a multi-generational shower, and as I talked to the 50- or 60-something mothers present, cake-pop firmly in cheek, I found myself the subject of curious scrutiny. “Tell me something,” a sari-clad dame asked, “why did you get married so early?”

I was 26. But for many of my peers, the thought of being married in your 20s, never mind having children, is anathema. And not just desis.

A Jamaican professor-friend looked askance when I suggested that my then-boyfriend and I would probably try to “get the wedding over with” before finishing our Ph.D.s “Your 20s are for you,” she said, slowly shaking her head.

File that under new conventional wisdom. Our 20s have become a long decade of starting up, ten years to become who we are going to be: grown-ups. And even though I am an unusually young married lady (don’t laugh, Mom), most of my grown-up experiences have had little to do with conventional markers of adulthood: children (don’t have any); job (still in school). So here are some new grown-up things that, in my experience, separate the women from the girls: Subscribing to the newspaper. Ok, nobody does this anymore, but one of the things I love about visiting my parents is that there is sure to be a stack of week-old newspapers lying on the coffee table, the daily jumble neatly completed in my father’s handwriting. I pay $15/month for news just to have that responsible feeling.

Taking out renter’s insurance. I didn’t bother for my first two years of apartment living, but my husband insisted and now we’re covered. I have no idea what’s in our apartment, haven’t catalogued, itemized, or photographed anything, and the insurance company will never believe how many expensive wedding presents were in the closet collecting dust, but it’s good to know we’ll get back the cost of the DVD player in case of a break-in.

Cooking a meal (without calling Mom). I’m talking about a balanced meal: vegetables, salads, fruits, starches, proteins, multiple colors and food groups. Served with wine and home-made raita. Extra points if you have three dishes going on the stove at the same time.

Tying your own sari (see above). Extra points if you wear a sari to a non-Indian function. I once wore a sari to a wedding in Oklahoma. As the bridesmaids bounced to “Sweet Home Alabama,” I felt distinctly out of place and, importantly, very, very old.

Running in a sports-bra. This is one of those things you either do because you’re young, slim, and confident (the kind of girl who wears bikinis on the beach—you know, normal teenagers), or, in my case,

Our 20s have become a long decade of starting up, ten years to become who we are going to be: grown-ups. when you’re old enough that you finally don’t care what anybody in the neighborhood thinks about your love handles and unwaxed underarms, and it’s hot outside, so whatever.

Waxing your own legs. There is nothing like self-waxing to bring out the inner masochist, who is almost always a grown-up. I had a great moment of revelation-into-womanhood when a girlfriend mentioned waxing her own bikini line. Brilliant. And all that time I’d been awkwardly pulling my shorts down my thighs as my waxing lady (waxing aunty actually) worked toward the panty line, trying to save us both the embarrassment.

Not waxing ever. My preferred method.

Getting your eyebrows threaded on your lunch break. This simple act communicates three important grown-up things: 1) you are busy; 2) you are efficient; 3) even though you don’t wax, you maintain minimal grooming standards.

Paying your own rent/car registration/electricity and water. Recycling/taking the trash out. Extra points if your rent is a mortgage, your registration is for a car you purchased yourself, and you compost food scraps.

Hosting a dinner party (with at least two appetizers). My husband is a much better cook than I am, but I do my part when we have people over, and nothing says “grown-up” better than hors d’oeuvres.

You may never be as a good a cook as your mother, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be half the host.

Serving aperitifs and after-dinner liqueurs. See above.

Sanding/staining/finishing your own furniture. We recently did this with an unfinished chest of drawers. I don’t know if this is a marker of adulthood (my parents certainly never stained anything), but it’s up there with washing your own car and mowing your own lawn. You know, all-American DIY stuff that proves you are more capable than most Indian dads.

Finding your own dentist/doctor. The transition from a family doctor to your own, to someone who mercifully doesn’t know your childhood history, and to a dentist who doesn’t know you didn’t floss between ages 10 and 20, should be up there with the major milestones of adulthood. I love my new dentist. She thinks my gums are healthy and doesn’t infantilize me with bubble-gum-flavored tooth polish or by asking me to choose my own toothbrush. We have a very grown-up relationship, and I found her all on my own.

Getting your own cell-phone. This might well be the final frontier. I’ve been plowing my way through the above markers of womanhood, but the cell-phone plan is up there with full-time employment and breeding the next generation. I’m not old enough, anyway. I may be grown, but there are years to go until I’m ready to leave that family plan. n Ragini Tharoor Srinivasan is still in her 20s. india currents • july 2012 • 7

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perspective

Sudha Chandrasekaran

The Lost Art of Letter Writing

W

ith the advent of telephone, email, texts, chat and skype, letter writing has become a lost art and is becoming as much of an anachronism as lighting candles for brightness. But I clearly remember the pleasure of receiving a hand written missive; a letter addressed to me, waiting in the mailbox, just for my eyes.

What do letters signify? Nostalgia. Gone are the days of poring your thoughts out on a a scented foolscap sheet of colored paper. It’s short bursts of information, 140 characters long, these days. Gone too is that delicious anticipation for the postman’s knock, hoping that a friend’s, penpal’s or beloved’s letter is in his bag.

The advent of the email sounded the death knell to letter-writing. Emails are today’s instantaneous letters. While I am happy to receive an e-mail, it represents a transient form of communication, here today—deleted tomorrow.

No Time For Niceties

For quite a few years now, I have watched with sadness the dwindling number of letters that find a place in my mailbox, a fact that is especially noticeable during festivals and birthdays. Thank you letters, once part of gift receiving etiquette, have now all but disappeared. Is it that we are just too busy for such things? Or is it that people never really liked writing letters in the first place (although everybody likes receiving letters)? There was a time when writing letters was our only means of communicating.

In today’s world, we can pick up the phone and speak to anyone around the globe within a second or two. However, there are times when writing is so much more meaningful. The written vocabulary tends to be more precise and often more thoughtful. When writing letters I have the time to elaborate exactly what I want to say and how best to say it.

As a child I remember my mother receiving a letter every week from her mother. I recall looking at the beautiful handwriting and wanting to write like that. My mother would sit down and answer the letter in her neat script and I would be invited to write a short note to Grandma to include in the envelope.

A Personal Connection

So what do letters mean to all those who like to get them and those who like to write them?

“A letter from a beloved can make your

8 • india currents • july 2012

heart soar. Even today, letters have the power to enchant people ... We pay the price of losing intimacy for the convenience of speed.

Letters are valuable to people who love to treasure them for a lifetime,” says Swetha, a computer programmer in Canada. “I like the instant nature of e-mail, but I dislike the fact that it represents a technical businesslike transaction. I definitely loved the slower mode of communication a couple of decades ago,” says Sharanya, a writer. “It is alright. I do not lose much by not using e-mail,” says Rajan, a retired professor, “I still enjoy writing and receiving letters and the beauty of the entire procedure—making sure my handwriting is good, my letter paper is neat, the envelope is well stuck, clean, the address is neatly written out with all the lines being symmetrical and the stamps glued on to the right side of the envelope etc.”

My letters remind me of who I used to be.

Only the other day a friend of mine told me about some letters I had written to her three decades ago, which she has still preserved.

She burst out laughing when thinking about the contents of those old missives. She relates what she remembers from one of them: “I feel like running away from home! I’m unable to bear the pressure of my parents regarding my marriage in the near future.” Now I am happily settled with two lovely daughters!

Says a friend, Rakhi, “I keep re-reading my letters. Reading a letter for the second and third time is just about as much fun as the first time. Although I could probably tell with my eyes shut what the next line will say, I find myself time and again tracing those nostalgic thoughts. It is like a comfort zone. I do not experience any qualms in deleting an e-mail, but would definitely agonize over tearing up a dear one’s handwritten letter. I have preserved the letters of my parents who are no more, and draw solace from them when ever I feel disturbed.”

Letter writing can be a very personal form of communication. When I recognize a familiar handwriting and read the letter’s contents, I find that a part of the writer’s personality leaps from the page to greet me! It is a heady feeling to realize that a loved one has labored to fill a letter with personal thoughts and emotions.

Sure, it is good to hear someone say, “I love you.” But to read it in a letter, knowing that someone took the time to write it makes it so much more meaningful. Even if, at some point of time in the future, those words are

Photo Credit: A Creative Commons image

The written vocabulary tends to be more precise and often more thoughtful. The letter writer has the time to elaborate exactly what he wants to say and how best to say it.

taken back, we still have a permanent record of it and can cherish it for a long time.

The Hallmark Convenience

The U.S. Postal Services (USPS) has named April as the Letter-Writing Month.

The USPS marketing message reads: “Touch them with a letter they can feel—and keep.”

Today one can go to a department store and buy a Hallmark card that conveys just about any greeting: “Belated Happy Birthday,” “I Miss You,” and “Sorry we had a disagreement” are just some of the cards available today.

While it is convenient to pick up one of these cards, it also strips the offering of any uniqueness. Sending these cards are nice gestures, but they are still somebody else’s words.

Is the receiver of the card to be touched by the sentiment because the sender passed the “greeting cards” aisle on her way to pick up dishwashing detergent and cereal? I know that most people truly feel what the card is trying to convey. I, too, buy cards like these, but I personalize the action by writing a note in my own words.

The Scent of a Letter

Just as hot-out-of-the-oven bread gives pleasure to anyone lucky enough to be within nose-shot of the kitchen, so is finding a plump, hand-lettered envelope addressed to you. Like bread, letters are a tactile pleasure which cannot be duplicated by the ring of the telephone or the blinking neon of a computer.

Added to all this, paper comes in all sizes; ink has a peculiar smell; and handwriting has a way of changing appearance as the mood or speed of the writer changes; and even the lovely postage stamp adds a colourful and festive air to a letter.

It’s these little decisions that constitute something special, something designed to give pleasure to the receiver. The quiet moments it takes to write a letter are the hours that nourish one’s own self.

A good chef is known for the way he or she puts ordinary things together in an extraordinary way. So too, the best letters are the ones that expose the reader and writer to the profound truths in life’s ordinary events.

Epistolary Lessons

I received a short letter the other day from an eight-year-old, carefully printed on a pink heart shaped paper: “Dear aunty, how are you doing? I’m fine. How is Scooby? My baby brother Santosh can talk a lot these days. I am attending guitar and swimming classes. Here is a lovely bookmark which I made especially for you. Love, Shilpa.” I immediately penned a response expressing how happy I was to receive such a lovely keepsake. This, I hope will encourage Shilpa to continue writing.

Jawaharlal Nehru’s letters to his daughter, Indira Gandhi, gave her knowledge and wisdom which no telephonic conversation could ever have imparted. There are history lessons and a father’s hopes and ambitions locked into those letters, forever preserved as the book, Glimpses of World History.

In the delightful novel published in 2008, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, author Mary Ann Shaffer lays out the plot using letters, notes and epistles.

This technique is not new. The most famous epistolary novel was Bram Stoker’s Dracula, composed mostly of letters and published in 1897. Letters can be compiled into an unforgettable work of art.

If we wish to preserve the grace and dignity of the rich culture of letter writing, we should slow down, set aside time each month to sit alone, perhaps under a spreading tree, and write letters to friends and family who would be delighted to receive a letter from us. Our lives take on color and shape when its events are spun out onto paper. Patterns emerge and we discover things hitherto unknown to us. It leads us on a journey of self-discovery. n Sudha Chandrasekaran is a writer based in India.

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The Color of Justice

By Anita Felicelli

T

he U.S. Criminal Justice system has uncharacteristically underreported instances of prejudice, discrimination and racial profiling against South Asians. Few cases have emerged and those that have, rarely gathered much momentum.

The callous disinterest can be blamed on prevailing attitudes, perceptions and a lack of expediency.

I

t’s been more than a decade since 9/11, but the backlash against South Asian Americans in the realm of law enforcement continues. In March 2012, South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) and six other organizations released a report “In 10 • india currents • july 2012

Our Own Words: Narratives of South Asian New Yorkers Affected by Racial and Religious Profiling” that reveals numerous stories of discrimination in everyday life: workplace, schools and neighborhoods. Perhaps the saddest aspect of the stories is the mistrust that’s

fostered within communities as a result of discriminatory acts by people outside the community.

One 18-year-old Hindu male reported, “I was arrested by a School Safety Agent in Flushing, Queens, in 2009. I was searched ...

[and] questioned … The tone of the conversation was aggressive and hostile. I was scared ... my friends and family don’t talk to me anymore. My family thinks I am a criminal. I told my family members about this incident, but they take the [government’s] word over mine, so they don’t believe or trust me …”

Other stories tell of government officials asking individuals to spy on other individuals in the community or be locked up.

Airport Discrimination

While 2011-2012 saw the birth of Occupy Wall Street and other protest movements, it also saw a rise in media reports of a public outcry against bullying and discrimination.

As recently as April 2012, Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan visited the United States to speak at Yale University and was detained at a New York airport for two hours. Sources reported that the letter by the US immigration department said Khan’s name was “flagged” in their system, requiring approval of senior authorities to clear him. Later the actor said, “Whenever I start feeling too arrogant about myself, I always take a trip to America—the immigration guys kick the ‘star’ out of ‘stardom.’”

While detention of a star (or the unorthodox airport frisking of a political figure in the case of President APJ Abdul in 2009) causes a media flurry, most people can’t hope to have their flight status concerns as quickly resolved. Advocacy groups believe that discrimination is underreported.

Hoping to get a more accurate read on airport discrimination, nonprofit organization The Sikh Coalition released an Android and iOS mobile application FlyRights that helps people report incidents of harassment at the airport. The free app not only offers information about TSA policies, but allows the filing of official complaints with both TSA and The Sikh Coalition, too. Within a month, it had been downloaded over 12,000 times. According to The Sikh Coalition, three weeks of app use yielded more complaints of airport discrimination than the total number of complaints received in the first half of 2011 by the Department of Homeland Security.

Congress Measures

This finding begs the question: just how much discrimination exists in our criminal justice system? Can we trust the figures regarding Indian-Americans that are offered by the American criminal justice system? Or is discrimination against both victims of crime and criminals underreported across the board?

End Racial Profiling Acts were introduced into Congress in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007,

2009, and 2010, but have never passed. The Senate hearing for ERPA 2011 on April 17, 2012 was heated, particularly on the issue of racial profiling for purposes of antiterrorist activities. Those opposed to ERPA made no reference to the fact that the FBI’s statistics show that the vast majority of terrorist activity in the United States is conducted by non-Islamic extremists. ERPA 2011, if passed, would make it illegal for all law enforcement officers to use race and religion as means to profile persons and entire communities of color and would provide methods for training officers to police better based upon behaviors, not race and religion.

Officials that subscribe to the propriety of racial profiling give the public the perception that increased suspicion of particular communities is justified, that hateful speech and acts are reasonable. Longtime residents of the Bay Area usually think of their home as a more liberal, tolerant community than most other places in America, but last year, an anomalous violent assault suggested that not only is it possible there is underreporting of hate crimes against perceived Muslims, but that underreporting occurs because of how callously or obliviously people respond when it is reported.

job.

Case in Point

Officials that subscribe to the propriety of racial profiling give the public the perception that increased suspicion of particular communities is justified, that hateful speech and acts are reasonable.

On November 21, 2011, graphic designer Atul Lall made a quick stop for some of the ingredients to prepare Thanksgiving dinner at a crowded Lucky’s Supermarket in San Jose. Pulling out of his parking space, he inched forward to exit when four angry men lurched diagonally several lanes of traffic and stumbled, apparently intoxicated, in front of Lall’s vehicle.

Two of the four men stopped a few feet from the front of his car. One man stood in front of his car, preventing him from leaving the lot. Another man who reeked of alcohol yanked Lall’s car door open. He yelled at Lall, “Why are you staring at my friend?”

Confused by the unexpected confrontation, Lall didn’t know what to say. A second man started hitting Lall. Both men beat Lall, while spitting on him and pouring alcohol over his face and car. The guy who was holding his door open said to him, “Just sit there and take the beating, just take it–don’t try and fight back.” Lall refused to be dragged from the car.

A third attacker ran towards Lall’s door saying that he had a gun and that he would shoot Lall if he tried to defend himself. The second man called Lall “a terrorist” and hit him in the face with a tequila bottle. These attacks lasted a few minutes, but Lall’s jaw was broken, requiring two heavy-duty titanium plates for reconstruction. He lost two teeth and four other teeth were damaged. One of the attackers had cut beneath his chin, requiring eight stitches and leaving a sizeable scar.

Left with chronic pain, insomnia and daily headaches, he lost all of his savings and his

Although the parking lot was crowded with witnesses, nobody assisted Lall. Perhaps the “bystander effect” was at work. In a series of experiments that started in 1964 when Kitty Genovese was stabbed to death in the presence of a group of witnesses who reportedly did nothing to help, emergency situations are staged with varying numbers of witnesses present. In each case, the larger the group size, the less likely anybody is to help the victim. During his attack, Lall could see people driving by in his rearview mirror, but nobody stopped to help him.

You might think that a disturbing public attack with multiple witnesses, a hate element and possibly surveillance tape footage would be promptly investigated. But it took six weeks and ten requests by Lall for the San Jose Police Department to bring him in to meet with a sketch artist. Lall later complained that, “the investigating detective was condescending and never communicated anything about my case to me. He didn’t look for witnesses and even made errors in the police report. The SJPD even made remarks like what happened to me is no big deal because I’m alive and homicides happen every day.”

Atul Lall india currents • july 2012 • 11

Lall contacted city officials, internal affairs, and the media on his own in an attempt to push the police to investigate the attack. He was grateful that Councilwoman Rose Herrera and the South Asian Bar Association (SABA) managed to come up with a combined $3000 reward for information on the assailants. Lall hit the streets with a friend and his girlfriend

Broken Teeth

Atul Lall

to plaster “Wanted” posters about town and search for witnesses. By approaching various “thugs” in his neighborhood, he learned that one attacker was named “Emilio.” A source told him that the four men who attacked him have committed petty strong-arm robberies in the area.

The police caught “Emilio,” but the other attackers remain at large. An assigned detective is still conducting a follow-up investigation. “Emilio” had previously been arrested for a similar attack. Police have since claimed that the surveillance footage of the attack show the attack was trafficrelated. They seem to have concluded that because it was not an attack motivated by anti-Islamic sentiment, notwithstanding the hateful epithet hurled at Lall during the attack, it could not be charged as a hate crime.

Pursuit of Crime

12 • india currents • july 2012

Rather than asserting their rights, Indian-Americans and people from similar cultures tend towards offering the questioning agents hospitality. cause you’re Indian or was the fight started for another reason and included an Indian slur? Those nuances leave a lot of room for charging it or not charging it as a hate crime.”

The Turban Bias

Sometimes law enforcement infers there was a hate crime.

Last spring, two elderly Sikh men taking their daily walk together were shot on East Stockton Boulevard in Elk Grove, California. Surinder Singh was found dead, while Gurmej Atwal was left in critical condition. Both men wore Sikh turbans and had beards that signified their faith.

Status Quo

In contrast, despite the assistance of Councilwoman Rose Herrera and the South Asian Bar Association, Lall felt alone after he Zahra Billoo Photo Credit: A Creative Commons image

Attorneys for the Santa Clara District Attorney’s office commented that it was not charged as such because the hate element could not be proved by the stringent criminal standard “beyond a reasonable doubt.” It was set on the early resolution calendar for June 13, 2011 to see if a settlement could be reached.

Zahra Billoo, the Executive Director of the San Francisco branch of CAIR, commented, “Atul’s case was particularly violent. I don’t know that we’ve had such violent incidents in the Bay Area over the last couple years.” She noted that the distinction between hate incidents and hate crimes is that the “latter is bias-motivated, so there’s legal action that can be taken.

With a hate incident, it’s a lesser incident, such as when someone walks by and calls you a terrorist.”

CAIR collects information about these lesser incidents because it gives the group an idea of the current climate. The last year that CAIR counted hate incidents in the

Bay Area was 2008-2009. Less than 10% of the calls that year were hate incidents, but Billoo believes that advocacy groups hear more anecdotally than they do by case report. Since there are no legal consequences to a hate incident and the only effect is increased documentation, people are less likely to report them, just as they were unlikely to report airport discrimination prior to the release of the FlyRights app.

Billoo stated, “Law enforcement and prosecutors are sometimes reluctant to pursue hate crimes charges because they’re very difficult to get a conviction on. So if it’s a question of a battery or a hate-motivated battery and one’s easy to convict and the other not to so much—do you push ahead?

Just proving them—having those facts and proving them is difficult. Was the fight started because someone didn’t like you be-

While it was never definitively determined to be a hate crime, the Elk Grove Police Chief said in a statement: “We have no evidence to indicate there was a hate or bias motivation for this crime; however, the obvious Sikh appearance of the men, including the traditional Dastar headwear and lack of any other apparent motive, increasingly raise that possibility.”

The crime was never solved and the mens’ attacker is still at large.

Four months before that, a fifty-sixyear-old Sikh American cab driver wearing a turban was assaulted by passengers who shouted anti-Islamic remarks as they beat him.

The criminals ultimately took a plea bargain, but Amar Shergill, an attorney who worked in support of both the cab driver and the two elderly Sikh friends, believes that the plea and sentences were appropriate. He commented that the Sikh-American community in the Sacramento area has a long history of working with elected officials and introducing itself to other community organizations and that this led to more support when attacks took place. Shergill said, “The Muslim and Sikh community have worked very well together when incidents like this have come up. Everyone in both communities realizes that an attack against one is an attack against everyone.”

As recently as December 2011, a Sikh man was stabbed while waiting to board an airplane at the airport in Fresno. In fact, the Sikh experience of hate incidents seems better documented than that of other subgroups of South Asians in the Bay Area—and it also seems worse. A 2010 report by the Sikh Coalition that surveyed 1,300 Sikhs in nine Bay Area counties revealed that 38% of the Sikh adults surveyed had been called epithets: “Bin Laden,” “terrorist” or “towel-head.” Ten percent of surveyed Sikhs reported being victims of hate crimes and 68% of those crimes were physical attacks.

india currents • july 2012 • 13

Even during the fight for India’s independence, most of the middle and upper classes tended to cooperate and tried to suppress the independence movement. It was the masses that got behind Gandhi, not the well-to-do.

14 • india currents • july 2012

Photo Credit: TroyRawlings.com image

reported the attack. A San Jose Mercury News newspaper article about the attack showed video footage of the attack that seemed to contradict Lall’s interpretation of events. Lall responded that the video was sent out for formatting and was not accurate. The comments section of the article included numerous disparaging remarks including: “The point is if the Indian guy almost ran over those folks twice then I can understand why he got a whooping” and “If Lall tried to run them over he should be arrested for attempted murder as well as providing a false police report. Way to play that race card.”

Lall’s reaction to the status quo—his proactive quest to find his attackers and his open criticism of SJPD—isn’t usual among members of the Indian-American community when faced with questions of criminal justice on either side of the law. The community more often protects the status quo, than challenges it. Because it marked a significant social change, media seized on the May 2012 rally in New Jersey in which Indian Americans came out in droves to support Dharun Ravi before his sentencing for bias intimidation, invasion of privacy and witness tampering.

When I asked Billoo what she believed were the biggest challenges faced by CAIR in the San Francisco Bay Area, she cited the FBI interviews of Muslims suspected to be terrorists. These are problematic because of how suspects respond. Since 9/11, the FBI has been visiting individuals in the community for what it calls voluntary interviews, which are experienced by individuals as interrogations. They’re asked about everything: their religious beliefs, political activities, language capacities and international travel. Rather than asserting their rights, Indian-Americans and people from similar cultures tend towards to offer the questioning agents hospitality.

Many of the targeted individuals aren’t used to interactions with law enforcement. They have never even received a speeding ticket.

Billoo said, “And so when you open your front door and someone with a gun and badge wants to talk with you, you don’t know what to do. And quite often you’re going to do the wrong thing—the very awkward joke in circles of the Arab, Muslim and Indian advocacy groups in the area is that our culture of hospitality as South Asians, as Muslims, the Eastern culture of hospitality often leads to people opening their doors really wide and saying come on in and offering chai … They should be less worried about putting cardamom in the chai and more worried about contacting

an attorney right away.”

A criminal defense attorney who did not wish to be named agreed, saying of IndianAmericans that become involved in the criminal justice system there is an “obsequiousness before officials, and over-disclosure.”

Although he acknowledged this problem existed in the community’s response to law enforcement generally, he didn’t think that hate incidents or racial profiling presented a problem.

Instead, he said, “I have had many Indian clients in jail. To my knowledge they did not have any problems with racial profiling. Or any negative experience in jail. The opposite.

They did not have to join the usual gangs and were left alone. Indians have a rep for being nerds. And don’t get profiled.” But my own efforts to talk to criminal defendants about their experiences (and perhaps verify what the attorney told me) were fruitless. Nobody wanted to talk about what had happened to them or why.

Like New York City, the Bay Area is a melting pot with a large Indian immigrant population, but the dismal findings in the SAALT report—findings like an 18 year old whose parents trust the government over their son’s word—don’t appear to apply in Northern California. Besides the fact that 9/11 occurred in NYC, what’s the difference?

South Asians in both locations operate within a hospitality culture. It would seem that Indians have as much of a reputation for being nerds in NYC as they have in the Bay Area.

Some might conclude that the Bay Area is simply better for South Asian Americans than New York is.

Social perceptions within the community or perhaps it has to do with perception of social order in the Bay Area. With a cultural history of a strong independence movement, you might think that Indian-Americans by and large would have a strong affinity for social justice, for speaking out or fighting

against unfair treatment. But there are very few Indian-Americans involved in Occupy or other forms of protest. One Indian-American woman involved in restorative justice commented that her heritage in connection with the independence movement was what inspired her vocation of working for social justice, but this seems to be unusual. Might the difference be that much of the IndianAmerican population in the Bay Area tends to be affluent, conservative and fully supportive of the establishment?

Even during the fight for India’s independence, most of the middle and upper classes tended to cooperate and tried to suppress the independence movement. It was the masses that got behind Gandhi, not the well-to-do.

As in any uprising in history, there were some intellectuals, artists, and activists interested in overthrowing the government, but most of the upper class felt beholden to the British for their livelihood and initially even worked with them in terms of helping them and subverting the independence movement.

Many of us in the Bay Area feel similarly beholden to existing institutions for our good fortune. Many of us are more likely to support the free market system, trust that our government will conduct itself appropriately, and feel antagonism toward those we believe are unnecessarily rocking the boat.

It’s this mindset that encourages silence and causes antagonism among many successful Indians and NRIs toward figures like Arundhati Roy, whose work on behalf of the interests of the working classes and the poor is frequently dismissed or denigrated. It’s this mindset that chooses to ignore those hate incidents and racial profiling that do occur.

We’re more likely to worry about manners than about the possibility of real harm when law enforcement comes knocking.

On whichever side of the controversy over whether Trayvon Martin’s killing was justified you may fall, one takeaway point is clear to me. It took the people’s outrage over what happened to Martin to force officials into an investigation that was necessary and that most likely would have been conducted from the start had Martin been white. If history has anything to say about it, the repercussions of underreporting, or failing to support those who do complain, can be far more devastating in the long-term than speaking out.

During my years practicing law, I learned that an investigation doesn’t always give us justice, the truth or the answer we want. But, at a bare minimum, the investigation fueled by public outcry and support for those that appear to be victims of injustice gives us evidence from which to build a better sense of the society in which we live and the ways in which it needs to be better. n Anita Felicelli is a writer and attorney who lives in the Bay Area. She is the author of the novel “Sparks Off You” and other books.

india currents • july 2012 • 15

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elections 2012

Rishi Kumar

Are You Waiting for the Monkey God? Does the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?

I

n the early 60s, Edward Lorenz, an MIT meteorologist, coined the term “Butterfly Effect.” He theorized that the formation of a hurricane was predicated upon the flapping of a butterfly’s wings weeks earlier. Now accepted as part of chaos theory, the butterfly effect does not state that a butterfly causes the hurricane. Instead, it theorizes that the fluttering of a butterfly’s wings can create tiny changes in the atmosphere, which can create a ripple effect that may determine the occurrence of a hurricane in a different location. Being the intelligent species we are, let us make intrinsic changes within ourselves, within our communities, and watch the effect snowball.

Are you waiting for Hanuman to right the wrongs in the world? Don’t. Mahatma Gandhi’s oft repeated quote comes to mind, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

We witnessed global unrest last year with the Arab Spring revolt. It began in Tunisia, spread to Egypt, Libya, Greece, Spain, Chile and emerged in North America with the Occupy movement. The Anna Hazare anticorruption movement mobilized Indians en masse and energized the country behind a cause other than cricket. The dots are finally connecting. The people of this world are empowering themselves to take action.

Come to think of it, every massive change has a grass-roots beginning. Back in 2007, a state senator running a very aggressive ground campaign, depended on an electronic network of neighborhood organizers, volunteers, activists, and energized young precinct walkers to take on Goliath—and ended up in the White House. Yes, President Obama used simple Neighbor-to-Neighbor tools with volunteers reaching out to their community brethren. The volunteers walked within their own neighborhoods talking about the reasons why they were supporting Obama, their personal opinions of his policies and other election issues. That resonated across the country.

The results were spectacular.

Does the name Daniel Valenzuela ring a bell? It will in the next few months. Daniel Valenzuela is a fourth-generation MexicanAmerican who won a Phoenix City Council election by having local university students knock on more than 70,000 doors and increasing the Latino voter turnout by more than 16 • india currents • july 2012

A Creative Commons Image

400 percent. The statistics were so compelling that President Obama is looking to copy Daniel’s playbook for the upcoming elections.

More recently the KONY 2012 video, a short film created by “The Invisible Children, Inc.,” has reached over 90 million views on YouTube creating a grass roots movement to oust Joseph Kony, a Ugandan guerilla leader, from power. Kony, your days are numbered.

People’s sentiments can push the wheels of many a cause, and it is for each of us to take the first step. Growing up in Mumbai, I had the typical “chalta hai” attitude, that typical Mumbaikar attitude of absolute disregard, wanting to be somewhere yesterday. Hey, that’s not my problem, was a common refrain.

I discovered the state of total empowerment in graduate school. Tuition hikes wereproposed for the state schools during the recession of ’92. As a graduate student I did not need to worry about the tuition, this topic was only of passing interest. But, I was surprised upon reading the Daily Campus newspaper, how students from all over Connecticut had descended onto the State Capitol and were raising a hue and cry over the upcoming hikes.

And I was even more surprised to discover the then Governor Weicker back down when faced with the student protests. As a result, the tuition hikes were not as significant as

originally planned. It made my mind boggle when I realized that the common man could exert this kind of influence.

Back in early 2000, as I settled down in Saratoga, a small town, in the heart of Silicon Valley California, I was told again and again about Saratoga’s antiquated ordinances and stringent processes that seemingly slow projects down to the point of frustration. I knew there was more to it. How could something be that wrong? I decided to become a part of the process and the solution. I joined the city planning commission, and found myself beginning to understand the motives behind the process driven culture that the city forefathers had adopted.

Admittedly there were quirks. On the one hand we wanted to promote development in Saratoga to lead to the revitalization that is talked about at every election. On the other hand we needed re-vitalization for the development to happen; the classic chicken and the egg.

I began to wonder what could be done to revitalize Saratoga’s downtown? The intention was to bring in more foot traffic into the Village to help out the city’s businesses.

I teamed up with the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce and came up with the idea of a weekly “Saratoga Village Karaoke,” positioning it as a “Celebration of Cultures” to bring all the various cliques and cultures to join in and mingle.“Saratoga Village Karaoke” rebranded as “Saratoga’s Got Talent” gradually succeeded in bringing lots of newcomers to Saratoga downtown. Did I ever expect that?

Not in my wildest dream.

At the end of the day, issues are not complicated. All it needs is thought leadership and focused interest, to come up with answers. If we can sift through the issues and really try to make a difference, answers eventually come. The key is to get started and get engaged. The grass roots movement is taking over. Hanuman is here and within each of us.

Are you ready to jump in? n Rishi Kumar lives in the heart of Silicon Valley with his wife Seema and their two boys. Rishi’s day job is in the valley tech industry selling software. In his spare time, Rishi loves being involved in volunteering for charity, local politics, and hosting the “Saratoga’s Got Talent” event.

india currents • july 2012 • 17

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books

Jeanne E. Fredriksen

The Clarifying Principle THE WORLD WE FOUND by Thrity Umrigar. Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins: New York. $25.99. 320 pages. harpercollins. com umrigar.com Available in hardcover and for digital readers.

R

ewind: Laleh, Kavita, Nishta, and Armaiti were college students in Bombay during the late 1970s. They, plus the men they married, came from different classes, family environments, and religions, yet their idealism bound them together. Optimism colored their vision. Equality fortified their goals. Their future was destined to be better, ameliorated by their political activism.

Fast Forward: Now they are approaching 50. Their ties have loosened. Their worlds are different from each other’s. And they never expected the unexpected.

While the love and friendship forged during college remains undiminished, the big question that confronts them is: How do their actions, decisions, and beliefs of 30 years ago square with their lives today? In The World We Found, best-selling author Thrity Umrigar takes us on a journey that will persuade even the reader to take a personal inventory.

Armaiti, who moved to America for graduate school, lights the fire of reunion when she is diagnosed with a brain tumor and has six months to live. She wants to see her three dearest friends again before she dies. However, the request isn’t as simple as it seems.

They haven’t seen each other for years, and the others still live in India.

Laleh married her college sweetheart, Adish, who once shared her politics, but because he works hard to provide for their family, success allows them to live the life they once disdained. Kavita, still in contact with Laleh, is a successful architect, but she keeps her lesbian lover a secret just as she always hid her feelings for Armaiti. Nishta and Iqbal, the brave, liberal couple who defied everyone’s cautions about a Hindu-Muslim marriage, have seemingly disappeared.

Duty-bound to deliver Armaiti’s appeal, Laleh and Kavita manage to locate Nishta in a squalid section of Bombay. Iqbal, once a free spirit but now a devout Muslim, keeps her on a short, conservative leash. Nishta converted and took the name Zoha, wears a burkha in public, and is forbidden contact with those from her non-Islamic past.

Adish—once known as “Mr. Fix-It”—is asked to step in and facilitate Armaiti’s wish, 18 • india currents • july 2012

which will then quietly set Nishta free of the life neither she nor Iqbal had imagined for themselves. In a thrilling down-to-thewire series of events, Adish finds himself in a position that requires him to decide whether it is right and good to do something wrong and cruel in order to bring about the desired results.

The World We Found is a novel for anyone who has stood up for what they believe in.

Umrigar, one of the finest authors writing in America today, was an activist in Bombay during her younger days, as told in her memoir, First Darling of the Morning (India Currents, September 2004). But the spark for this novel came from a very different place.

“The bare outlines of the story took shape after a chance meeting in India with a college friend I hadn’t seen in over twenty-five years,” Umrigar relates in an e-interview. “We were catching up on our lives, and she mentioned that she had moved away from the activism of her college days after the Hindu-Muslim riots that tore apart Bombay in 1992-93. It marked the end of her innocence in a way.

And although I was living in the U.S. by then, I remembered how the riots had affected me at a very deep level. It was almost as if the secular, easy-going, tolerant city we had grown up in didn’t exist anymore. So I could relate to her feelings, even though I disagreed with her conclusions. And then I asked myself questions about lost idealism and whether something of value still lingered from that era.”

The result is one of Umrigar’s most introspective offerings yet. All of her characters are obliged to take good, hard looks at who they were and whom they’ve become. Adish and Iqbal size up each other as contemporaries and the men they once were. By making her characters reach deep inside themselves, they are forced to reconcile the world they once fought for with the world in which they now live.

There is no question that Umrigar hands us a complex character in Iqbal. She creates his character with compassion and reason.

The ability to convey complexity without the reader judging Iqbal in “post-9/11 terms” is quite an accomplishment. Did the author see it as a risk to handle Iqbal in such a way?

“I didn’t see it as a risk. I saw it as an obligation,” Umrigar replies. “My role as a writer is to take readers behind clichés, behind stereotypes, to places they would normally not travel to. I wanted to weigh in on this question

of why a deeply devout Muslim is automatically equated as sympathizing with terrorism. I wanted to tell Iqbal’s story from a non-American lens. Iqbal is not transformed because of 9/11 but rather, because of a home-grown tragedy, which is the Hindu-Muslim riots of 1992-93.”

On the other side of the world and as the first reunion occurs in India, Armaiti resists treatment that might extend her life. Having watched cancer slowly and painfully eat away at her mother, she refuses to allow that same anguish to burden her family. I asked Umrigar how she decided on Armaiti’s diagnosis. Her answer was short and heartbreakingly true: ”I gave Armaiti a brain tumor because that is the illness I found would give her the least amount of time and was basically unresponsive to treatment.”

In her short time left, Armaiti finds a new perspective. Spending time with her exhusband and her college-age daughter, she comes to the realization that life is for living and that every life action has meaning.

It is energizing that there is so much life in a book that deals with one character’s imminent death and another’s looming freedom. Umrigar possesses the remarkable ability to tell stories that time after time ring true and clear. Like American novelist Anne Tyler, she has the gift of creating ordinary characters that become special when thrust into extraordinary circumstances. Umrigar makes us love her characters, cry and laugh with them, feel their pain and sorrow, rejoice and celebrate with them because we know each one well enough to not be embarrassed by our own emotions.

During their college discussions and debates, the novel’s characters focused on identifying “the clarifying principle,” their guide to the truth. Armaiti’s impending death at 50 is the stimulus by which many things are clarified for her and her friends. The truest scene of all is when Armaiti tells her daughter why her three friends are so important to her: “What matters is … that ... these three women gave me something. A sense of belonging in the world, but more than that. A sense that the world belonged to me … A belief that is was my world—our world. To shape it as we wanted. That we never had to settle for things as they were, you know?” I sure do, Armaiti. I sure do. n

Questions & Answers with Thrity Umrigar

J

eanne E. Fredriksen(JEF): As the decades pass, the characters in The World We Found have dramatically changed from their “revolutionary” college days. Some have grown apart, while some have stayed in touch. It’s such a truthful portrayal of how life turns out to be quite unlike our youthful dreams and aspirations. Why is Laleh the only one of them all who still clings to the hope of justice and revolutionary change?

Thrity Umrigar(TU): Because in a group of that size—six people—it would normally be one person who would still remain true to his or her former self. But part of what the novel is saying is that even though they have all moved away from revolutionary politics, some part of them has been forever transformed by that experience in their youth. And they each acknowledge this at different times in the novel.

JEF: It is painful to read about Nishta’s life before and after Iqbal’s transformation. Is this an indictment of inter-religious love marriages, or is it a comment on an inability to predict and deal with drastic change?

TU: It’s mostly an indictment of society and how brutality and violence and humili-

ation and lack of power can transform individuals such as Iqbal into something even they don’t recognize.

JEF: Every character in your novel exhibits some form of strength including the secondary characters. Those secondary characters—Diane, Ingrid, and Mumtaz—support the others in their time of need. That being said, who of the four friends plus Diane, Ingrid, and Mumtaz do you feel is the strongest woman of them all?

TU: It’s a good question. I don’t know.

And I don’t know that “ranking” them matters. I suppose Mumtaz has the most to lose and the least to gain. In that sense, she’s the most selfless of them all. She has no ideology that she’s following, like the other four. She has no vested interest in this, like Diane has.

She does this purely out of love for Nishta— and outrage for who her brother is turning into.

JEF: I am so anxious to know how Nishta fares in her new life! Have you given any thought to a sequel focusing on her?

TU: I have never thought of myself as the kind of writer who writes sequels. But I’ve heard from hundreds of readers who are

asking exactly the same question—is there a sequel? Earlier, I was simply laughing off the question but now, there’s a tiny part of me that’s intrigued by that idea.

JEF: Are you working on a new novel, and if so, can you briefly say what it’s about?

TU: The new novel, I Begins, tells the story of two women—a feisty but repressed immigrant woman caught in an unhappy arranged marriage, and her African-American therapist who takes her under her wing. It’s a story about power dynamics and how they alter in the course of a friendship.

JEF: What is the one thing you would like your readers to take away from reading The World We Found?

TU: A realization that, as Armaiti puts it, even though our efforts to change the world may sometimes not yield visible results, the very fact of making the effort is important.

Making the effort itself does change the world. n Jeanne E. Fredriksen reads and writes from Wake Forest, North Carolina, where she is happily at work on her first young adult novel. She dedicates this review to her late sister, Carol Ann Robinson.

Shruti Swamy

A Graphic Interest TINA’S MOUTH: AN EXISTENTIAL COMIC DIARY by Keshni Kashyap Illustrated by Mari Araki. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. $18 256 pages. tinasmouth.com. Available in hardcover and for digital readers.

T

ina Malhotra is a sophomore at a Southern California private school, and the star of Tina’s Mouth: An Existential Comic Diary. Tina’s wrapped up in the usual high school dramas, but she’s different from many of the heroines I’ve come across in this genre. She’s a good student, a decent violinist, and a self-described intellectual: the epistolary dairy she keeps is addressed to Jean-Paul Sartre, and deals, however lightly, with his ideas of existentialism.

The terrain of the plot is purposefully everyday and made up of friendships, crushes, classes, and the school production of Rashomon, in which Tina has a leading role.

At the beginning of the novel, Tina has been cruelly dumped by her best friend Alex, who changed after her parents’ divorce from a kindred geek to a fashionista with a boyfriend.

It leaves Tina on the outskirts of Yarborough Academy society—an excellent vantage point to view high school life.

Much of the novel centers on her crush with Neil Strumminger, a dreamy fantasy often depicted in a way that makes a case for graphic novels. A kiss can shatter time and space, “What is nirvana, mon pholisphe?” asks Tina as she spends more than one lovesick page sprawled on her bed surrounded by hearts. But Tina is also occupied with the world of ideas found in Rashomon, and in class.

Full disclosure: though I am not currently an Indian-American self-described intellectual teenaged girl, it is not all that long ago that I was (and frankly, all that’s changed is I’m not a teenager). Sometimes reading books this close to one’s own experience can make one react surprisingly, finding fault with the book for not depicting your own experience the way it felt like to you, or overlooking its faults because of its comfortable familiarly.

That said, Tina’s Mouth felt for the most part like an honest and specific rendering of a girl’s life, and, many moments rang true to me, even as they diverged from my own life.

Alex’s transformation from fellow dork to vapid clotheshorse, for example, is sharply observed, and Tina’s hurt is deeply felt because of her lack of self-pity.

I was also struck by the depiction of Tina’s

family and the Indian gatherings they attend.

There is subtle humor in these scenes, which don’t rely on the family’s “otherness,” but take the time to develop real characters. These outings are often a source of amusement or boredom, but very rarely embarrassment.

Tina doesn’t have a lot of angst about her status as a minority, which isn’t to say that she’s in denial about it. It features into her explorations of who she really is. That search for a holistic identity is at the root of her competitive pursuits.

Tina’s world is depicted in simple black and white line drawings that leave each character’s skin the same blank color—which seems perfectly in keeping with the character’s worldview. Tina is funny, smart, and likeable, and while some of her experiences may feel distinctly relevant to many readers of this magazine, I think her story, because of its specificity of detail, is both larger and smaller.

It is at once the story of one particularly brown, brainy girl and a story about growing up. n Shruti Swamy recently finished her MFA in fiction at San Francisco State University. She’s now Vassar College’s 50th W.K. Rose Fellow in the Creative Arts. india currents • july 2012 • 19

IC

fiction

Lucky Sky

Malay Jalundhwala

.

Katha 2012 First Place Winner

A

cart laden with sweet, crunchy pethas is before me. I take a piece and roll it between my fingers. It feels sticky, and rough like soft stone. What magic transforms white pumpkin into this treasure? I close my eyes and take a bite—rosewater floods my mouth. Mmmmmm…

What’s this? I look at my hand, ready for another nibble but it’s empty. My fingers caress nothingness.

It’s evening, I’m very hungry. The Taj minarets fade into dusk—glowing columns of translucent petha. So close … my mouth waters. I reach out to pluck one but Hazratchacha intrudes: “Lazy boy, can’t get two customers into my shop! If I don’t get some gora tourists today you’ll have to answer me understand? Look at these leather bags, embroidered dresses and marble plates! You think I’m stockpiling them for your wedding hanh?” He shakes his head and clicks his tongue.

Katha 2011 Results ard $300): FIRST PLACE (cash aw UNDHWALA, JAL Y LA Lucky Sky by MA San Francisco, Calif. sh award $200): SECOND PLACE (ca REFAI Amma by MOHAMED N, FA IR MOHAMED Chennai, India award $100): THIRD PLACE (cash LIGA, BA For Sale by VRINDA ia Hyderabad, Ind ION: HONORABLE MENT NIKESH by s me Ga th eal Commonw lia stra Au MURALI, Canberra, ION: HONORABLE MENT DU EN RN The Beggar by PU re, India kpo rac Bar , EE RJ CHATTE

20 • india currents • july 2012

A Creative Commons Image

My body rocks violently. I awaken with a jumping heart and roaring ears.

Ammi stirs: “What’s wrong with you restless child?”

“Uh ... nothing Ammi-jaan; the thunder slapped me out of my sleep.”

“It’s too early,” she murmurs coughing beneath her thin blanket.

With arms crossed over my thick red sweater I try to sleep. Ammi got this sweater from one of her houses: “You’re growing fast, this will keep you warm.”

“I don’t need it Ammi-jaan. I’m not cold.”

Yet she forces me to have warm milk with turmeric all the time. My little sister Naina doesn’t drink it, nor does Ammi who needs it more. She works four houses sweeping, mopping and washing utensils.

It’s still dark except for the streetlight shining through cracks in the metal and blue plastic walls. When Abba was alive we had an electric light. As a child I would jump and try

to touch the bare bulb dangling from a wire hooked to the metal roof. Of course I couldn’t reach it but I wouldn’t give up. “Dance! Jump!” father would say hitting a stick on the ground as if I was a street bear.

Somebody cut our electricity line—now there’s little warmth.

I drift and the pethas seem within reach … then the sky crackles open and swallows my sleep. I jerk up taken by an idea. Naina who is cuddled up with Ammi whimpers. I wait until she settles down, my nose wrinkles from the nearby sewer that goes to the Yamuna.

Creeping out of bed, I stay on my knees.

“Where is it? Where is it?” I rummage under my bed. I pull at a tin box which causes Ammi to shift.

“I remember now … ” I crawl towards my treasure pile tucked out of Naina’s reach and sift through it: a tire from a toy bicycle, a halfpack of cards, a windup solider, several keys and an old petha box with a mouthwatering photo

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that Abba gave me. The marbles inside tinkle as I push the box aside; dust sticks to my fingers. A slice of light from outside falls on me. “There it is!” My heart falls at the sight of the rusted arm and dusty old black fabric. I pull at it carefully.

Soon I’m at the door.

“Beta where are you running off this early?” she asks sleepily.

I stop, “uh, nowhere Ammi, be right back.”

Outside, in the dawning light I look up and pray. Soon a ghostly dark cloud smothers the eastern sky. I walk in the gloom, umbrella tucked under my arm. I don’t dare open it.

At the tea shop I inquire: “Aslam-mia… what time is it?”

“What’s it to a boy like you?” He asks in an irritated voice, his head bent as he lights the stove.

“I have a need to know today. Is it sixthirty?”

“The mosque called eons ago … look there the sun creeps up,” he gestures to his right.

“Oh no!” I run into the back road which is my shortcut jostling past the early risers. An old man with a tin can glares at me as I rush past.

Rahim, my classmate, lives nearby.

A cow coming from the opposite direction blocks me. She sways lazily, chewing on a banana peel shaking her head. “Hut, hut ...,” I push her with the umbrella tip but she won’t budge. The sky is clearing. I can’t be late! I turn back and dive into another lane. The umbrella slows me down.

At last … I reach the gates and things are quiet. Cars are not allowed here so tourists take a cycle-rickshaw, electric car or just walk from the barricades. My breath races as I look around. There are barely any tourists. Usually many come for the sunrise at six-thirty. The rain must’ve slowed them down. At least my shop isn’t open or Hazrat-chacha will be sending me off for chai and paan.

A lone rickshaw crawls up the grade, I know the driver Munna. The lady wears a peacock blue kurta, white churidaar and has a shiny dupatta wrapped around her head. The Sahib looks like a potato—dressed in green pants and sweater, with a tight woolen cap. He gestures wondering if the Taj will greet him in sunrise.

I’m desperate for rain. I cut them off as they get out and walk towards the security gate. “Sir sir, umbrella, for rain?”

He stops and looks at me. “Janaab, are you selling it?”

“No Sahib, just for hire. You return it after seeing beautiful Taj.” “How much, kid?”

Begum intrudes: “Jaane do Ashish, the sun is coming out already. Why waste money?” She gives me the same stern look I get at school.

Only she is very beautiful … like Empress Mumtaz.

Sahib hesitates and turns towards the gate.

I’m doomed.

Just then, like a wounded tiger the sky emits a mighty roar that unsettles my stomach.

Begum’s dupatta flutters in a strong breeze that 22 • india currents • july 2012

brings fat droplets of water.

Subhanallah. “Only hundred rupees Sahib.

Begum can enjoy Taj in comfort.”

He turns to me, “I can get a new umbrella for that much is it not?”

“No Saab, shops are closed just now.”

“How convenient. Fifty.”

“Sahib…you’re my first customer,” I plead.

The droplets keep coming as Begum looks on in a bad mood. I put the umbrella in his hand before things change.

“If I don’t return it what happens?”

“Then that’s your fortune Sahib.”

He laughs, “what’s your name?”

“Nazeer,” I answer grudgingly. I know he wants to bring down my price by acting friendly.

I should have waited for a gora, they pay more.

“Where will I return this umbrella?”

“I’ll be right here Saab.”

“Even if we take a few hours?”

“Please enjoy our Taj at leisure.”

They walk to the entrance. I cringe when he tests the umbrella. Thankfully he tries it partway and closes it.

Begum looks back at me suspiciously as they disappear inside. She must think I stole the umbrella. It’s Abba’s, I’m sure it’s older than me.

I pray for sun as soon as they enter the courtyard. My breath releases. *** The flaky biscuit dipped in tea tastes delicious and I don’t have to pay. I finish it off and look to Aslammia who passes me two more.

I sit in the shelter behind his cart. Such a goodhearted person, Allah will shower him with blessings. If only he offered pakoras with tea and a petha—I would be in heaven every day.

I lean out towards where the sunrise should be. It barely rained half a bucket, now golden rays sneak out. That’s good—the umbrella won’t be used and my money is safe. But what if Sahib refuses to pay saying he didn’t use it?

The warm tea and food lulls me. My eyes close, sleep envelops me in her warm blanket: We float in a boat on the Yamuna. It’s early morning and the mist is heavy. Ammi-jaan sits at one end of the boat and Naina—who looks much grown—has her back to me. I hear the oars slapping the water and the whoosh of the boat. I must be the oarsman … but are those my hands? Ammi smiles at me. How happy and healthy she looks!

The Taj sails into view as we make for the far bank. It’s small as a souvenir and carved out of petha. As it bobs up and down sunlight glints off the dome, I can reach out and take it. I’ll eat it by myself. No, I must share with Naina and Ammi.

“Nazeer! Not at school? Half the time you’re missing. Remember how teacher’s slap stings?” I recognize my schoolmate Rahim’s voice. What’s he doing here? I’m on a boat, he

can’t just walk over unless he’s a ghost.

A sting on my cheek awakens me—sharp drops of rain, big enough to hurt. I stand up dazed, “Aslam-mia! What time … ” “Don’t you start again…what’s gotten into you today?! Khuda is your timekeeper not me,” he grumbles.

“But, but…I’m terribly late.”

Aslam-mia mutely stirs his pot of boiling tea.

“Khudahafiz,” I run into the muddy street.

How long has it been? If Sahib disappears with the umbrella I’m sunk.

Old, toothless Bhavani-ma who sells flowers waves to me; her basket is covered with a gunny sack while she shelters next to the mango tree.

The faster I walk the more mud splatters my pant. The sweater’s getting wet and heavy too.

Ammi is going to be so angry.

I see several shops open, though desolate.

I circle around Hazrat-chacha’s shop. Really I don’t want to go there today come what may.

Afternoon school will be better; I can sleep in the back row.

At the gates things have changed—an electric bus pulls up and several men hawk umbrellas. But where is mine? There’s no sign of Sahib or his Begum. I hope they are slowed by this rain but what if he broke it? I’ll blame him for being careless and charge him more.

I take shelter at Salim-bhai’s drinks shop.

Rain crashes down tearing at the plastic awning.

I shake my head dry and wring out water from my sleeves.

A bright flash then an explosion—the hairs on my neck stand up. I crouch and cover my ears. Salim-bhai looks on, his face expressionless. I’ve never gotten anything free from him. A small plastic bag blows by, I stuff it in my pocket. Before me cigarette butts dance in a puddle.

Suddenly, the tap turns off and there’s sunlight. I shield my eyes from the glare and stand up. Beyond the gate the marble dome floats on waves of blue. The main road is a glittering sheet of glass.

“Ullu ka patha! This is where you’re hiding …”

My head is wrenched to the right as a strong hand twists my ears, “ah … ah! Let me go!”

I know who it is—Irfan the goonda—he’s the enforcer for Hazrat-chacha and a few other shops. Making sure the boys are always hawking to tourists.

“Where have you been? Chachaji has been asking for tea all morning.” I kick his shins as he drags me towards the shop.

Now I’m doomed. There will be no money for the umbrella … no pethas, just another dull day.

“Irfan-bhai, I’ll bring tea right now for both of you!”

No answer. He’s about eighteen, thin as a broomstick but acts like a filmi hero—cigarette dangling from mouth, steel bracelet on wrist.

If only I could give him a nice slap. His grip is like iron. What to do?

Happy Holi

Out of the corner of my eye I keep a lookout before Irfan gets his hands in my pocket. for Sahib dreading that he will see me and come Begum gets into the rickshaw. Sahib looks straight towards us. distracted, still staring in the direction of the Just then I see the carcass of an umbrella Taj as if he lost something. He turns to me and near the gutter—spokes poking through says, “here,” handing me another fifty Rupees, tattered fabric, it’s shape lost forever. Oh no! I “that’s for repairing your umbrella.” tug at Irfan’s loosening grip.

My heart smiles, “shukriya Sahib.”

“Stop squirming like a rat.”

“You must go to school tomorrow,” he adds.

All around I see tourists approaching; “I do want to go … sure I will,” I muster there’s a group of goras. “Handicraft … nice enthusiasm. key chain, marble Taj, brass, woodwork. Please I strike a salaam as they are driven towards Season Greeeting’s this way,” the boys call out. the car park. Tucking Abba’s broken umbrella “I need to get those tourists for Chachaji under my arm I steal away from the gates my … let me go!” mouth watering in anticipation.

“You promise … ” “Have I ever lied to you Irfan-bhai?” He’s diverted by a woman, his grip loosens. I jerk *** away.

I hide out of his sight on the far side of the gate behind the food stalls. What’s taking Sahib It’s evening, I get home before Ammi and so long? Is he gone after dumping my umbrella Thfall asleep in her bed. When I wake up it’s dark anniversary in the gutter? I shiver and step into a Happy patch of25 except for the band of white light on my chest. sun as hope deserts me. Before long Irfan will Is it day or night? My ear hurts, my head feels be on my tail. like a lump of glue, my right arm throbs and Oh, it’s him! I see the tall Sahib first, my legs are tired stumps of corn from running umbrella in hand then Begum appears. around at the cloth market.

I push a few people aside and reach Sahib I rub my eyes as my stomach growls—if before he gets too far. only I had a petha.

“Here Sahib!” I call out trying to get them I hear the jingle of Naina’s anklets. Ammi in the corner. walks in with her, “where have you been Nazeer?

“Nazeer?” asks Sahib. “You look like a wet I was looking for you all afternoon! Rahim said puppy.” you didn’t go to school.”

My eyes go to the umbrella—bulging on I sneeze, “I wasn’t well Ammi. Tomorrow one side with bent spokes. Forcing a smile I I go.” say, “I like running in the rain Sahib. Please We sit down to eat. She’s got chicken and follow me.” palak from one of the houses. It smells heavenly.

“Why are you taking us away?”

Naina and I eat very well.

I must move fast before the hawk swoops Bent over her plate, Ammi glows in the in. Begum, who was talking to a sales boy walks lantern light. I imagine her floating on a boat over. Her dupatta is draped over her shoulders, and can’t wait for her to sleep. ng her face glows in the sun. “It’s sunnier this Just then Naina looks under my bed, side,” I say weakly. “what’s that?”

“Ah, Nazeer your umbrella didn’t really help “Shush … ” I elbow her. you know. We just sheltered. It does appear in I sit up until Ammi finishes washing the many of our photos though.” plates. She finally lies down with Naina. I sneak Lies. “Beautiful photos I hope—the Taj over and cover them with the thick new blanket; must look like it was carved from pethas … ” the best I could get.

I regret the words the moment they slip out.

She stirs, “what’s this Nazeer?”

They laugh loudly and Begum claps her “I bought it for you today.” hands. “Well said, did they teach that to you in “Where did you get so much money silly 324-0477school?” She asks appearing a bit softer. boy?”

“No Sahiba … it’s just, just nothing. I do “It fell from the sky Ammi-jaan,” I yawn ue to arrive. like pethas that’s all.” and sink into bed. n ailable Handing me the umbrella Sahib inquires: “have you been inside and seen the Taj Mahal?”

“No Sahib, that’s for tourists like you.”

Their cycle-rickshaw driver Munna appears.

Malay Jalundhwala is a writer and consultant “Here,” says Sahib handing me fifty Rupees based in San Francisco. His current writing which I quickly put away in the bag in my projects include a novel and a story collection. pocket. “Now what shop are you going to send us for souvenirs.”

“Sahib … ,” I hesitate, “just go to Kinari Judges’ comments: Chitra Divakaruni: “I appreciated the fine use Bazaar for better items.” of voice and character, the well-chosen details, “Thank you for your honest advice,” says and the fun, unexpected ending.”

Begum. “And where would we buy pethas?”

Bharti Kirchner: “Believably told; the story stays “They’re still in season Sahiba. Any good with you; got the voice right.” shop will welcome you.” I’m eager to run away

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Natyanjali School of Dance, Los Angeles www.natyanjali.org

(Artistic Director Dr. Malini Krishnamurthi) Presents

“River of Dances”

A Bharata Natyam concert with a special feature on Lord Shiva

On Saturday, July 14th 2012, 5pm (Seating at 4.30pm) At the Sohphia B. Clarke Theater, Walnut, CA 91789 Tickets: $50, $30, & $20

All Seats are reserved Packaged Dinner will be available after the concert for a nominal donation of $10.

For information call:

Theater Box Office 909-468-4050, www.4tix.org Jeya Venugopalan: 909-396-6872 Parvati Balagopal 626-844-0288 Musical Ensemble: Dr. MaliniKrishnamurthi ~ Nattuvangam Sri. K.S. Balakrishnan ~ Vocal Sri.V. Ganesan ~ Mridangam and Tabla Sri. C.V. Sudhakar ~ Flute Akshaya Patra (www. Akshayapatra.org) (An organization for feeding and educating

PURNA VENUGOPALAN

24 • india currents • july 2012

underprivileged children in India)

india currents • july 2012 • 25

I C ask a lawyer

Indu Liladhar-Hathi

Re-Entry Permits

Q

With markets opening in the emerging economies, my US employer has offered me a two-year temporary overseas assignment that is financially lucrative. I am a Legal Permanent Resident (LPR) and so how can I accept this status and still keep my green card?

I have had a green card for 3 years, and want to spend a year in India so that I can help my elderly parents. My employer is willing to temporarily transfer me to our India offices. Is my green card at risk?

A

: For these individuals, the option I normally suggest is applying for a re-entry permit. A re-entry permit is a travel document issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for those LPRs who need to reside outside the U.S. for a temporary period, and eventually return to the U.S. to resume their residence.

This temporary need can be based on family, employment, or other reasons. In order to apply for a re-entry permit, the LPR must

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submit the appropriate application to the USCIS while the LPR is physically present in the U.S. at the time of filing. In addition, the LPR must attend a biometrics appointment in the U.S. It is possible to request the USCIS to expedite the biometrics appointment in case the individual has to depart the U.S. by a certain date. The whole process can take about five months. If approved, the re-entry permit can be issued for up to 24 months, and subsequent extension (from within the U.S.) may be possible. Finally, it should be kept in mind that the re-entry permit does not serve to preserve residency for naturalization purposes. However, it helps to establish the LPR’s intent not to abandon their permanent resident status here in the U.S. In addition to obtaining the re-entry permit, it is important to continue to maintain close ties to the U.S., such as maintaining active bank accounts, filing taxes, maintaining residence if possible and other similar ties to U.S. Therefore individuals who intend to spend a significant amount of time outside the U.S. should seriously consider applying

for their re-entry permits; otherwise they risk losing their permanent resident status.

Q

: I currently have a re-entry permit that was issued for two years. I need to spend additional time in India, because I need to continue to pursue my higher education. Is it possible for me to re-apply for another re-entry permit?

A

: There is no limit on the number of times you can apply. The fact that you have a specific purpose for the extensions is helpful.

I have many clients that are studying abroad and have renewed their re-entry permits upto three times without any problems. You just need to be mindful of timing. You need to be physically present in the US at the time of filing and preferably until the time that your biometrics are scheduled, which can be expedited. n Immigration and business attorney Indu Liladhar-Hathi has an office in San Jose. (408) 453-5335.

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legal

visa dates

Important Note: U.S. travelers seeking visas to India will now need to obtain them through Travisa Outsourcing. Call (415) 644-0149 or visit http://indiavisa.travisaoutsourcing.com/ for more information.

July 2012

T

his column carries priority dates and other transitional information as taken from the U.S. State Depart­ment’s Visa Bulletin. The information below is from the Visa Bulletin for July 2012.

In the tables below, the listing of a date for any class indicates that the class is oversubscribed. “Current” means that numbers are available for all qualified applicants. “Unavailable” means no numbers are available.

FAMILY PREFERENCE VISA DATES Preference Dates for India 1st 2A 2B 3rd 4th

July 08, 2005 February 15, 2010 May 01, 2004 April 15, 2002 January 22, 2001

Note: For July, F2A numbers EXEMPT from per-country limit are available to applicants from all countries with priority dates earlier than Feb 01, 2010. F2A numbers SUBJECT to per-country limit are available to applicants with priority dates beginning Feb 01, 2010 and earlier than Feb 15, 2010.

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IC

q&a

Vidya Pradhan

Kitchen Chemistry Master Chef contestant Nandini Anant is a self-taught cook Nandini Anant

W

hen Nandini Anant arrived in the United States 7 years ago, she did not even know how to boil rice.

The New Jersey resident taught herself to cook watching food shows on television and experimenting on her husband. After a stint in the pharmaceutical industry, Anant opted to be a stay-at-home mom to her two daughters and continue her culinary adventures.

This year, she auditioned successfully to be a contestant on Master Chef, the competitive cooking reality show that airs on FOX. Master Chef is judged by chef, television personality and restaurateur Gordon Ramsay together with restaurateur and vineyard owner Joe Bastianich and Chef Graham Elliot.

W

hat is Gordon Ramsay really like? He seems terrifying on TV. Going into the competition I was freaked out. He [Ramsay] seemed so intimidating. It came as a shock that all three judges were very nice to me. Gordon Ramsay is more of a flirt.

Behind the scenes he wants to get the best out of everyone. I think [his attitude] is just an act. I did not see him be rude to anyone.

Tell us about the audition process. What did you need to do to be able to get in front of the judges?

In November 2010 I heard about the open auditions for Master Chef in New York City from a friend. I preregistered to get in line on a Sunday morning at the Flatotel, which is where the auditions were being held. I went in at 6 a.m. in the morning because I didn’t want to stand in line. I managed to get in the first batch, though the room was packed by the time the auditions began. I believe there were 50,000 applicants countrywide who auditioned for the first open call.

For the audition they ask you to bring the best dish that you can present. I went with my favorite paneer dish, Paneer Pasanda. I stuffed the spiced paneer in a red bell pepper with the cap on.

There were about 30 of us in the first batch. We were given three minutes to plate our dish. It was a bit nerve-wracking but I managed somehow. A chef from California came around tasting the dishes. She sampled mine and said “You cooked curry for me!” She found it delicious, and talked to me about my background. In 10 minutes they had made their decision. Out of my batch of 30 six got in.

But the dish is not enough to get you on 28 • india currents • july 2012

the show. After the initial tasting I had to go through a producer interview and an oncamera audition. That narrowed it down to three in our batch.

Then they asked me to do a home video about me and my family. I sent it to them and they informed me that I had passed that level as well. I guess you need to be able to talk in front of the lights and be entertaining. Around February I found out I’d been selected to be in the top 100 participants who present their dishes to the final judges and was flown to Los Angeles for the finals.

Your signature dish was Spicy Egg Curry with Cashew Peas Pilaf and Pomegranate Raita. What made you pick this particular dish?

I was born in Kerala and grew up in Cochin. Egg curry is a staple in Kerala. My mom made it a lot and it was a memorable dish.

I figured it would be a new concept since people out here cannot imagine egg in a curry.

I felt Gordon Ramsay would absolutely like it.

You write in your blog that you did not learn cooking till after you were married. How

were you able to replicate your flavors when you never cooked it yourself?

In India if you tell your family you want to cook for a living, your mom will say, “Do you want to be a maid?” My mother never gave me a chance to cook. Since she also worked outside the home, my grandmother was the one who cooked for the family. Whenever I could I would stand next to her and watch her cook, watch her toast the spices and grind them. I think [my passion for cooking] was always there, buried in me. When I came here, my mother sent me my grandmother’s recipe book and I tried to replicate the dishes she used to make.

Is your food informed by your experiences in the United States? Are there fusion elements?

Very much. Cooks in the Indian restaurants here are so cream-and butter-intensive.

Given the obesity epidemic in the United States, mine is a healthier vegetarian concept of cooking. My message is moderation and balance. Instead of cream, use milk—it will give you the same effect. I also do a lot of bak-

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ing. If you want to eat healthy you can always add some olive oil and spices to vegetables and throw them in the oven and you will get the same effect [as pan frying them]. I also throw in nuts like walnuts. My sauces are usually yogurt-based with basil and cilantro. I am also experimenting with tempeh and seitan which are good substitutes for meat. [Seitan is a form of wheat gluten that is finding popularity in vegetarian restaurants because of its meat-like consistency.]

You quit your job as a microbiologist because you couldn’t bear the thought of your family eating store-bought or frozen food. Did you think at the time that cooking could be a potentially new career?

When I got my job as a full-time microbiologist, it was crazy. The house was a mess, I had no time to cook or clean. We lived on frozen food for three years. I had to sit back and think about why I was going to work; I felt the job was not worth the opportunities missed for spending time with my family around a good meal.

As far as my future is concerned, I’m a very determined and positive person and I feel I can make the best of what I have. [When I quit my job] I was not thinking of cooking as a career but I knew I would be creating good food memories. I don’t want my kids to be carrying mac and cheese and frozen peas to school. I cook every single day for my family.

People think I am crazy but if you enjoy something it doesn’t feel like work.

Take us through the process of creating a new dish.

Generally, with vegetables you tend to think you will quickly reach a saturation point but I find that there are so many avenues to vegetarianism. Whenever I step into Whole Foods the selection just blows me away. Every time I go there I find a new vegetable. I bring it back home, research it a bit and try to make a new dish out of it. In the early years I had no idea what an avocado tasted like. I got it home, did some research and made some homemade plantain chips with guacamole and served it to friends. They loved it!

Who were your biggest inspirations as you learned to cook?

70% of the credit should go to my husband. He challenges me every day. He loves to entertain, loves to experiment with dishes, especially with lentils. He makes a great Dal Makhani! He also exposed me to a variety of cuisines when we were newly married. Every Friday we would head out to New York City and taste a new cuisine and try to figure out what was in those dishes. I would come back home and experiment with what we had tasted. I see him and get inspired.

I was a very skinny as a kid. Eating was just a job to finish. But every person should have a love for food. It breaks all barriers and is a single language that everyone speaks.

Do you feel your vegetarianism is holding you back from experiencing the gamut of tastes?

30 • india currents • july 2012

I don’t think so. I am very principled against killing of animals. I feel as a vegetarian you have so many options. Why should you force yourself into eating something that looks very unappetizing ? I think I will stand out in competitions because I am a vegetarian.

When I walked into the Master Chef arena to present my dish to the judges the one question that everyone had was how a vegetarian could even think of entering the competition. I said my aim was pass on the message of vegetarianism through the platform of the show. There are so many acceptable meat substitutes that can compensate for the protein.

They asked me how I would manage further along in the competition if they presented me with a meat ingredient. I told them that I would work with the dish because I am a creative person. But I wouldn’t taste it. A cooking show like Master Chef is not going to change my principles.

Does your journey on Master Chef continue?

I am not at liberty to tell you right now.

You will have to watch the show!

Where do you see this culinary journey take you?

I think right now, I would love to do a book on quick dishes that the busy working person can prepare when they get back from work.

My baked cauliflower dish takes just about 20 minutes. The book would have healthy fusion vegetarian concepts.

Every Wednesday night I invite my friends over. They come straight from work and I cook their requests. We watch a movie together and have a good time. That has led to catering opportunities. I do lot of catering for people. I organize parties. I do bake sales at my kids’ schools. So in the long run I would definitely like to open a restaurant.

Will you share one recipe with us that symbolizes your Indian American food journey?

Definitely. My Baked Cauliflower with Pecans in a Cilantro Yoghurt Sauce got a wow from Chef Ramsay on Twitter! Enjoy.

Baked Cauliflower with Pecans in Cilantro Yoghurt Sauce Ingredients Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) 1/2 head of cauliflower 1 large onion 3 cloves of garlic 5-6 mint leaves 1/4 cup slivered almonds 1 teaspoon cumin powder 1 teaspoon coriander powder Pinch of turmeric 1 teaspoon cayenne powder 1 teaspoon lemon pepper powder 1/2 cup low fat or Greek yoghurt 2 teaspoons lemon juice Salt to taste For garnish Mint leaves and dried red chili Preparation Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut the cauliflower to small florets. Take a bowl and add 2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil. To this add all spices, salt, cayenne and whisk well.

Take a baking pan and transfer the almonds and cauliflower florets. Drizzle the oil mixed with spices onto the florets and toss well so they are evenly coated. Place the pan in the oven for 20 minutes.

In a bowl add yoghurt, salt and whisk in the lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon EVOO. Add some mint leaves and mix well.

Chop the onion lengthwise and finely chop the garlic.

Heat a pan add some EVOO, add the chopped garlic and onions and sauté till onions caramelize a little.

After the baking is done, transfer the cauliflower and almonds from the baking pan to the pan that has the onions and garlic. Transfer to a plate and spread the yoghurt over it. For garnish place a sprig of mint and a dried red chili. n Master Chef airs on FOX at 9 p.m. on Comcast Cable Channel. Follow Nandini Anant’s culinary journey at http:// curryliciousme.wordpress.com.

Vidya Pradhan is a freelance writer who hosts the weekly radio show Parent Talk on KZDG 1550 AM. She also runs the community blog Water, No Ice and was the editor of India Currents from June 2009 to February 2012.

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32 • india currents • july 2012

india currents • july 2012 • 33

IC

music

Teed Rockwell

Amjad Ali Khan comes to Stanford Sarod maestro blends Eastern and Western teaching techniques

T

he Stanford University music department has 90 faculty members. Not surprisingly for a Silicon Valley school, there are 14 professors in the center for computer research in music and acoustics, many on loan from the engineering department.

There are also six teachers of Western music composition, four flute instructors, six jazz instructors, and eight keyboard instructors.

There are even instructors for various kinds of East Asian music, including Chinese Orchestral Music, Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar, and Japanese Taiko drumming. There is, however, only one professor with any connection to South Asia: Ethnomusicologist Anna Schultz. Professor Schultz knew that her students could never fully appreciate South Asian music just from reading books and hearing her lectures, and wanted them to experience what it was like to actually study this most challenging of musical art forms.

Fortunately, the great Ustad Amjad Ali Khan had a desire to reach out to western students, and the result was an agreement for Khan to teach a course at Stanford he called Indian Music: A Way of Life.

There was no question that this way of life was going to be as new to the students as the music itself. Khan has strong beliefs about the nature of music and its impact on our personal lives. “There are two fundamental kinds of music: pure sound and songs with words,” Khan told his students.

“Pure sound connects you directly to God. Song has language and is thus connected to stories and text. Words like ‘Oh my darling, I love you, when will you come back?’ can make music popular, but it also makes it less universal. All music is based on singing. My main goal when I play is to make my sarod sing. But with all due respect to language, it creates barriers. Vocals without words are best. Once language is added to the voice, it becomes possible to manipulate people.

Romney makes a speech, Obama makes a speech, and because of language somebody will win, and somebody will lose. Music is transparent. If I am out of tune, I cannot manipulate anyone. I thank God every day that I am fortunate enough to live and work in the world of pure sound.”

Before coming to Stanford, Khan had 34 • india currents • july 2012

never taught anyone except sarod and sitar players who planned to devote their lives to playing the music he taught them. Khan responded to this devotion by following the traditional practice of never charging for lessons. His students at Stanford were a much more diverse lot. Many were fans of Indian classical music, including several sitar students, but they were all from the science and engineering departments. The music majors, in contrast, included opera singers, Europeanstyle violinists, and silver flute players, who habitually talked of “reading” and “writing” music. Written music is not completely foreign to Indian music. However, there is no one notation system used by all musical gharanas (lineages or traditions), and such systems tend to be disparaged as a kind of crutch. Some gurus are openly hostile to the very idea of written music. When Khyal vocalist Laxmi Tewari showed up for his first lesson with a notebook, his guru held the

book to his ear, said “I don’t hear this book making music!” and threw the book away. For the next five years, Tewari learned everything entirely by ear.

Amjad Ali Khan had a more open-minded attitude, even though he himself never uses any notation system. Suddaseel Sen, his Stanford teaching assistant, listened carefully to the melodies Khan sang, then provided notations on the spot using both western notation and an Indian system that placed each

note into a crosswordlike grid. Although the sitar students were permitted to play their instruments during a special session at the end of class, everyone else had to put their instruments aside and focus entirely on singing. “If you can’t sing what you are playing, then your knowledge is incomplete. I am also requiring everyone in my class to perform the lessons we learned in class in a live public concert,” said Khan. Although he encouraged his vocal majors to sing in the operatic style they were used to, and the concert undoubtedly showed that the students had worked hard to learn this new material, the concert was primarily for the performer’s benefit, not the audiences. But the benefit was real, even for those who would probably never perform such music again. “The insights into him as a performer is the main thing I gained from this class,” said one grateful student. “Things stop being abstract concepts when you actually try to do them. I now know how to keep taal, identify a tihai, and I can detect the contours of Raga Darbari Kanada now that I know that Re is the vadi and Pa is the samvadi. Reading about and listening to music is helpful, but you never get any really deep understanding unless you have the hands-on experience of trying to play and sing it.”

Perhaps the students who learned the most were those who performed the final movement of Khan’s concerto for sarod and orchestra in a “Mozart and More” concert at the end of the term. It was originally scored by conductor David Murphy from a CD of Khan’s precise vocalization of every instrumental part. First performed by Murphy’s Scottish Chamber Orchestra, it provided fresh challenges for the top student ensemble known as the Stanford Philharmonia Orchestra. Conductor Jindong Cai remarked on stage that all the musicians had to recalibrate their tuning to account for the difference between Indian tuning and the western compromise known as the well-tempered scale. Afterwards some of the musicians told me that the biggest challenge was learning to follow Khan as a performer. “In (European) classical music, you can keep your eye on the page and just follow the notes” said one violinist, “playing with the Sarod requires much more awareness of the moment.” “That’s because he often changes his parts, not just the phrasing but the actual notes,” added a cellist. “About a quarter of his performance was different for each run through, not just the phrasing but the actual notes. But his rhythm was so impeccable that everything he played always fit with what we played.” n Teed Rockwell studied with Ali Akbar Khan for many years, and is the only person in the world to play Indian classical and popular music on his customized touchstyle veena. You can see and hear videos of his musical performances at www.bollywoodgharana.com

music

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Mala Ganguly

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india currents • july 2012 • 35

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films

Missing Person's Bureau

Aniruddh Chawda

The Bumpkin Rules

DEPARTMENT. Director: Ramgopal Varma.

Players: Sanjay Dutt, Amitabh Bachchan, Rana Dagubatti, Lakshmi Manchu, Nathalia Kaur. Theatrical release (Viacom)

S

ROWDY RATHORE. Director: Prabhu Deva.

Players: Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha, Nasser. Music: Sajid-Wajid. Theatrical release (EROS)

A

amir Khan’s Ghajini and Salman Khan’s Wanted and Bodyguard were noteworthy not for only being huge box office hits but also because they were remakes of movies from south India. Now it’s Akshay Kumar’s turn. Kumar’s first foray into remaking movies from south India was Bhool Bhullaiya (2007), which became a sizable money maker. Now Kumar returns with Rowdy Rathore, a remake of S. S. Rajamouli’s huge Telugu hit Vikaramarkudu (2006). Noisy and over-the-top, Rowdy succeeds with light, watchable and laugh-out-loud escapist hooks.

Akshay Kumar is foremost a performer.

A star second and perhaps actor some distance back. Rowdy fits the Akshay-Kumar-theperformer par excellence. Shiva (Kumar) is a small-time crook who blindingly falls for Paro (Sinha). Out of nowhere, a little girl turns and claims Shiva as her father. Suddenly, an entire village shows up convinced that Shiva is their lost villager. To add even more mystery, there is Shiva’s look-alike Vikram Rathore (also Kumar), a police inspector who appears to have landed in the cross-hairs of the wrong criminal chieftain (Nasser).

Rowdy provides Kumar a chance to return to the same roots he first cultivated in his popular Khiladi series from the 1990s. The combination of spectacular action and romantic comedy served Kumar extremely well during those early years. Kumar’s Shiva, the ace village bumpkin, is a superb throwback to a comedy style pioneered by Raj Kapoor (Awaara) and Bachchan (Namak Halaal).

Shiva crashes a wedding, wears Ray Ban sunglasses and, when put on the spot, can spill out a peculiar vernacular of country-fied Indian English. The "Don’t Angry Me!" proclamation in the movie’s publicity poster is but a token of Shiva’s many profoundly upcountry desi battle cries.

Sinha has climbed to a remarkable high in the short stance since her sensational debut in Dabangg (2010). With only her second release in Rowdy, she comes across well-poised, polished and also a decent dancer—never 36 • india currents • july 2012

mind that there is no mention of what her character does for a living. Matching wits with Kumar onscreen in each of Kumar’s dual roles is veteran south Indian character actor Nasser.

Nasser’s all-purpose village usurper and megalecherous villain Baapji is the easy-to-hate caricature of evil. Matching Kumar step by step with his mis-adventurous, Nasser’s Baapji is a one-man dynamo.

A notable bow that Rowdy rolls out is an homage to the lost proto-Bollywood era of hand-painted publicity posters, some of which were artistic masterpieces sprawled out over 100 feet wide mega-billboard spanning major traffic intersection in India in their hey day. With their over-sized paint strokes of primary colors and highly evocative visuals, the best posters from that era were a sure-fire matinee guarantee for promising a primordial melodrama in an ancient, pre-internet epoch.

The Rowdy poster does just that for the digital age!

The music composing team of brothers Sajid Ali and Wajid Ali has been a fixture in Salman Khan movies since their debut in “Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya” (1998). That partnership culminated with the mega-successful Dabangg score. In Rowdy, their Chamak Challo ditty brings back Kumar Sanu for a duet with Shreya Ghosal, the top female playback singer in Hindi films currently. The soundstrack, much like the rest of Rowdy Rathore, is over the top and somehow, we don’t mind.

Director Prabhu Deva is a gifted filmmaker, actor and perhaps an even better choreographer. He has a knack for capturing action choreography as if it is a dance—which, if one pauses, it truly is. While at least some of the action turns on invisible-cable, giant monkey-style leaps, there is still enough left to the imagination to make the action scenes here a visual treat. Prabhu Deva captured this style with the successful Salman Khan-entry Wanted and does so again here. This Rowdy rules! n EQ: B

o here’s the skinny. Ramgopal Varma used to be respected filmmaker whose movies invariably released with huge anticipation. Much of the frenzy had to do with some stellar works Varma made earlier (Satya, Raat, Company, Sarkar). Having nearly unlimited resources and access to the best and brightest talent, alas, has not recently translated into entertaining movies from Varma.

A case in point, Varma’s disjointed, politicalcriminal nexus-spanning and confusing Department is nothing short of a train wreck with no passengers.

What appears as a hastily devised plot features Nilesh Girkar’s story and screenplay that teeter-totters between extremes. There are numerous plot elements. There is the mafia using bribery and extortion to infiltrate Mumbai police. There is Inspector Bhosle (Dutt) on the verge of cracking a bent column within the department with the help of dedicated underling Inspector Shivnarayan (Dagubatti). There is a know-it-all politician (Bachchan) who may be pulling the strings behind the scenes. Not a single plot element touches on anything that Varma has not previously triangulated on in Satya, Sarkar, Rakht Charitra or Company.

At the other extreme, there are some unintentionally unsettling camera angles. There are extended portions of Department that appear as if there is no cameraman behind the lens. The actors walk in and out in front of the camera. This resulted in spell-binding results for Varma previously. Varma’s Raat set a new standard of the Hindi supernatural thriller that employed a convincing ankle-level perspective of a sinister, unseen entity crossing a street at twilight to haunt an otherwise bland neighborhood.

No such luck here. At best, some scenes convey a POV of a grainy, hand-held secret cam used to nab swindlers red-handed at their own game. At worst, and most of Department falls in this category, these scenes impart an AWOL film-making crew demonstrating a third-rate attempt at recreating the vertigoinducing camera angles that made Hollywood entry The Blair Witch Project an international phenomenon.

Bachchan’s megastar rep is in no small part due to his uncanny onscreen ability to react to something, anything. In Sholay, there was the criminal past, a taboo-defying attraction to a young widow and a dastardly villain.

In Deewar, there was the scourge of poverty

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and low-status family history. In Trishul, there was the burden of illegitimate birth and Agneepath and Aaj Ka Arjun both had the standby land grabbing robber baron to fend off.

Department is an uphill battle for Bachchan’s character. Bachchan’s unscrupulous, fat-cat politician has nothing left to conquer. He can spout off the exact price of his next political vote which, incidentally, is permanently out for bidding by corrupt captains of free enterprise. Having attained this hollow crown, Bachchan’s character is reduced to a one-dimensional, dhoti-wearing, overpriced goon that is only a shadow of the extraordinary histrionics Bachchan is capable of. Dutt’s half-hearted, uncharacteristically pudgy and smug police chief is no help.

Loud, contrived and anemic, Department limps through an unmitigated, drawn out, two-hours-too-long and downward spiraling battle between Varma’s ego versus creativity. Sadly, the ego out-muscles any shred of creativity. Despite taking directorial credits, there is zippo evidence that the former-great filmmaker Varma we remember appeared even anywhere near the making of Department. The missing director report that has been in the making for some time can now be filed with the entertainment gods. The gods are not happy. n

For more information::

(818) 790-2897

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india currents • july 2012 • 37

IC

recipes

Praba Iyer

Life by the Sea

A

zure skies, white sands, and twenty-one different countries with their unique cultures and traditions, all with a bounty of deep purple, yellow, red and green fresh vegetables and flowers. From the shores of Morocco to the islands of Cyprus and Malta, from the coast of Turkey to the beaches of Spain, all these countries along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea are united by their cuisine.

A Mediterranean lifestyle promotes lifelong health and well-being. There has been much research on the benefits of a Mediterranean diet. Many dietitians will vouch for the fact that it’s not just a diet, but a way of life. Dr Walter Willet of the Harvard School of Public Health, an expert on food and public health, advocates the Mediterranean diet for a healthier and happier life. Studies show that the people in this region have fewer occurrences of chronic disease and health related issues. Their improved quality of life has much to do with their diet, which includes an abundance of fresh vegetables and fruits eaten daily, a weekly fill of eggs and cheese, and red meats limited to once a month, with a good dose of olive oil as the primary source of fat. The most important reason that this lifestyle works is because of its positive reinforce-

ment, with pleasing flavors and fresh tastes.

As a vegetarian in California, The Mediterranean food pyramid works perfectly as a “gold standard for eating.” We are blessed with a seasonal array of vegetables from artichokes to tomatoes, a world class selection of wines, along with a high quality Californian olive oil. We have the beaches, the vineyards, vegetables and flowers. The only thing missing is the white washed walls and warm waters.

The Mediterranean pantry has a huge array of bell peppers, mushrooms, eggplant, courgettes (zucchini), cucumbers, okra, tomatoes, olives, peaches, figs, grapes, pomegranates and fragrant herbs like thyme and basil, nuts like almonds, walnuts, pistachios, breads, pasta, couscous, rice and legumes like beans and lentils, and wines. Yogurt and cheese are staples, along with olive oil.

Each region has its own version of cooking and serving of these foods, either fresh or sautéed, grilled, broiled, baked, roasted or pureed.

Ratatouille

Greek Polpettes

Ingredients 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 4 cloves of garlic chopped fine 2 bay leaves 3 cups of vine ripe tomatoes blanched in hot water, peeled and chopped 2 red onions sliced thin 3 medium Italian eggplants chopped into cubes 2 courgettes (zucchini) cut into thick slices 2 medium bell peppers (red/ orange) seeded, sliced into chunks 1 tablespoon of fresh basil chopped ½ tablespoon of fresh Greek oregano or marjoram chopped Salt and pepper to taste Heat the olive oil in a large sauce pan and add garlic, bay leaves and red onion, and fry for a few minutes. Add the bell peppers, eggplant and zucchini and sauté for a few more minutes. Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper and cook (about 15-20 minutes) until all the vegetables are tender and resembles a stew.

Add the fresh basil and marjoram and serve warm with crusty sourdough bread or a bowl of soft polenta.

38 • india currents • july 2012

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

Olives are native to the Mediterranean region. Tree ripened olives are pressed to extract a flavorful oil that is high in mono-un-

saturated fats. The flavor, fragrance and color of olive oil depend greatly on the regional growth and climatic condition. The grading of the olive oil is based on the degree of its acidity. Cold pressed olive oil is a method by which there is no chemical used, and the acidity is very low. Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is made by the first cold pressing of olives and is considered the purest and the most flavorful olive oil. It has less than one percent acidity.

EVOO is usually used in salad dressing and in marinades because of its intense flavor.

Light olive oil can be used for frying and baking. Regular olive oil is used for sautéing and roasting. EVOO is stored in a cool dark place or refrigerated as it can turn rancid quickly. n Praba Iyer teaches custom cooking classes around the SF Bay Area. She also blogs about cooking at rocketbites.com.

Ingredients Olive oil to fry 4 medium potatoes cooked soft without skin 1 egg beaten 4 oz of feta cheese 4 scallions chopped fine 2 tablespoon of fresh dill chopped 1 tablespoon lemon juice Salt and pepper to taste All purpose flour to dredge Place the potatoes in a bowl and mash; add the crumbled feta cheese, chopped scallions, fresh dill, lemon juice and egg. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well and refrigerate until firm. Make small balls with the mixture and flatten into discs. Dredge the discs in flour and fry them in a hot pan with olive oil. Pan fry until golden brown on both sides.

Serve warm with a yogurt dip.

Moroccan Dates, Orange and Carrot Salad Ingredients ½ cup dates, seeded and sliced lengthwise

2 oranges peeled, cut into segments 2 carrots peeled and grated ¼ cup toasted almonds chopped 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 tablespoon orange juice 1 teaspoon sugar Salt to taste Lettuce leaves Mix all the ingredients except the almonds and lettuce in a bowl. Line the bottom of the salad bowl with lettuce leaves.

Place the mix of oranges, carrots and dates in the middle of the lettuce lined bowl.

Sprinkle the almonds on top and serve.

dance

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offered by Danseuse

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Prachi Dixit

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25 YearsOf Teaching Excellence

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CLASSES OFFERED AT: • DIAMOND BAR • WALNUT • CHINO HILLS • IRVINE • TALENT FACTORY NEW classes forming and accepting enrollment in WEST LA (Beverley Hills, Santa Monica, Hollywood, Culver City) Classes could be offered in your area

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One time rate $50.

Call (714) 523-8788 Email: ads@indiacurrents.com india currents • july 2012 • 39

An Affair To Remember An event, a milestone, a success story India Currents’ 25th Anniversary Celebrations Photos: Sameer Yagnik - creationsbysam.com

The IC Team

IC Fans: Antonia Minnecola and Zakir Hussain

Vandana Kumar, Publisher

IC Founders, Vandana Kumar and Arvind Kumar, sharing reminiscences

Fremont Vice Mayor, Anu Natarajan looks on while Vandana Kumar receives a commendation (co-signed by Mayor Chuck Reed) from San Advertising Manager, Derek Nunes Jose Councilmember, Ash Kalra.

A rapt audience 40 • india currents • july 2012

Guest of Honor, Consul General of India, N. Parthasarathi

Mona Shah, Shubho Nag, Anuradha Nag, Vandana Kumar, Vijay Rajvaidya

Volunteers - Couldn’t have done it without you!

Guest of Honor, Sandy Close lighting the lamp Social Hour

Vinita Agarwal, Rajat Agarwal helping with setup

Viji Sundaram, Deepka Lalwani, Monica Kumar

Derek Nunes, Prabha Gopal, Antonia Minnecola, Mona Shah, Zakir Hussain

Chaat!

Narika supporters, Priya Kasturi and Manju Seal, greet Vandana Kumar

Emcee, Vijay Rajvaidya

Teed Rockwell

Editors: Jaya Padmanabhan, Mona Shah

Aruna Venkidu with Derek Nunes india currents • july 2012 • 41

Staging an appearance: Raj Singh, Jaya Padmanabhan, Derek Nunes, Mona Shah, Nghia Vuong and Vandana Kumar

Consul General, N. Parthasarathi with Vandana Kumar

G.S. Sathya with Arvind Kumar Guest of Honor, Suhas Patil

Kalpana Mohan with Mona Shah and Vandana Kumar

42 • india currents • july 2012

Prabha Gopal, Habib Khan

Business and Technology Titans

Anil and Jyoti Godhwani

The Check-in counter

dance

ELIZABETH KURIEN

Nitya Shetra Bharatnatyam Dance School

Bharata Natyam Folk Dances

Offers Classes in:

Classes: Duarte,Cerritos, Riverside,Chino Hills

• Pioneer/Norwalk • Torrance • Ektaa Center/Irvine

Paulomi Pandit Recipient of Post Diploma from

Bharatanatyam Mohiniyattam complimented with Carnatic Music Classes offered at: Los Angeles * Pasadena * Rancho Cucamonga (909) 944-7233 * elizabeth_mani@yahoo.com

Kalakshetra, India

Deepali Vora Cell: 310-525-0301

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Email: ads@indiacurrents.com

CELEBRATING DANCE 1977 to 2012

Viji Prakash Founder/Director

Shakti School of Bharata Natyam Classes in West Los Angeles, Torrance, Cerritos, Orange/Irvine, Woodland Hills

www.shaktidancecompany.com danceyatra@yahoo.com

india currents • july 2012 • 43

katha

India Currents and Khabar are pleased to announce the results of

DESI FICTION CONTEST 2012

First Place:

• Lucky Sky by MALAY JALUNDHWALA, San Francisco, Calif.

Cash award $300

Second Place:

• Amma by MOHAMED REFAI IRFAN, Chennai, India.

Cash award $200

Third Place:

• For Sale by VRINDA BALIGA, Hyderabad, India.

Cash award $100

Honorable Mention:

• Commonwealth Games by NIKESH MURALI, Canberra, Australia • The Beggar by PURNENDU CHATTERJEE, West Bengal, India.

The winning entries will be considered for publication in upcoming issues of India Currents and Khabar magazines.

We received a total of 167 entries for Katha 2012. This year’S judges were Chitra Divakaruni and Bharti Kirchner. The judging process was completely blind.

Chitra Divakaruni, who lived in the Bay Area for many year’S and remembers the birth of India Currents, teaches Creative Writing at the University of Houston. She is a co-founder of Maitri, a Bay Area organization that helps women in abusive situations. Her latest novel is the international bestseller One Amazing Thing. In 2011, along with Salman Rushdie, she received a Light of India award. She invites India Currents readers to join her at facebook.com/chitradivakaruni for literary conversation.

Bharti Kirchner is the author of nine books—five novels and four cookbooks and hundreds of short pieces published in magazines and newspapers. Her latest novel Tulip Season: A Mitra Basu Mystery is just out. Visit bhartikirchner.com.

We thank the writers for taking part in the contest and encourage them to continue writing!

IndiaCurrents

The Complete Indian American Magazine India Currents is the largest Indian-American magazine on the West Coast

(408) 324-0488

editor@indiacurrents.com

44 • india currents • july 2012

Khabar is the largest community magazine in the Southeast.

(770) 451-7666 editor@khabar.com

india currents • july 2012 • 45

Edited by: Mona

Shah

List your event for FREE!

AUGUST issue deadline: Friday, July 20 To list your event in the Calendar, go to www.indiacurrents.com/submit-event and fill out the Web form.

Check us out on Facebook and Twitter!

special dates Guru Purnima

July 2

U.S. Independence Day

July 4

Raksha Bandhan

August 2

Ramazan

August 2

Krishna Janamashtami

August 10

Indian Independence Day

August 15

IC July

cultural calendar

1 Sunday

Bharatanatyam Arangetram of Ishwariya Chandramouli. Student of Paulomi Pandit, Artistic Director of Rangshree Dances of India. 3 p.m. Performing Arts Center, Mount San Antonio College, 1100 N. Grand Ave., Walnut. Free. (626) 590-5547. paulomi@ rangshree.com. www.rangashree.org.

July

7 Saturday

Bharatanatyam Arangetram of Thushara Poozhikala. Student of Paulomi Pandit,

Artistic Director of Rangshree Dances of India. William Bristol Civic Auditorium, 16600 Civic Center Plaza, Bellflower. Free.

(626) 590-5547. paulomi@rangshree.com.

46 • india currents • july 2012

Grammy winning recording artist Gary Nicholson at Lila Fest, August 11

rangashree.org/rangashree-usa.html.

Bharatnatyam Arangetram of Purna Venugopalan. Student of Malini

Krishnamurthi, Artistic Director of Natyanjali School of Dance. 3:30 p.m. Sophia B. Clarke Theater, 1100 North Grand Ave., Walnut Rancho Cucamonga. By invitation only. (909) 396-6872. venu2@verizon.net.

July

14 Saturday

River of Dances. A bharatnatyam concert

with a special feature on Lord Shiva.

Accompanied by Malini Krishnamurti (nattuvangam), K.S. Balakrisnan(vocal), V.Ganesan (mridangam and tabla), Raman Kalyan (flute). 5 p.m. Sophia B. Clarke Theater, 1100 North Grand Ave., Walnut Rancho Cucamonga. $50, $30, $20. (909) 4684050. www4tix.org.

July

15 Sunday

Guru Purnima Celebration with Binay Pathak. Lunch served after the music.

Organized by Sohini Sangeet Academy. 11 a.m. Sohini Sangeet Academy Branch, 5135 Ward Lane, Rocklin. Free. (916) 217-3259. maya@sohinisangeet.org. www.sohinisangeet. org.

August

11 Saturday

Lila Fest. A festival with music and food.

Performances by mantra pop singer Donna De Lory, yoga music balladeer Janaka, and Grammy winning recording artist Gary Nicholson. Proceeds from this event benefits Summer Youth Program for Boys and Girls. Organized by Chela Gala Charity Productions, Inc. San Dieguito Heritage Museum, 450 Quail Gardens Drive, Encinitas

IC

recommends

Shyamal Randeria

River of Dances R

Ishwariya Chandramouli’s Arangetram, July 1

. $49. (760) 670-8026. Info@LilaFest.org, Info@ChelaGala.org. www.lilafest.org, chelagala.org.

Thushara Poozhikala’s Arangetram, July 7

© Copyright 2012 India Currents. All rights reserved. Reproduction for commercial use strictly prohibited.

ivers holds exalted positions in Indian myths, likened to deities, dispersed in multiple directions and yet relentless in their ambition to unify with the great oceans of the world.

“Students of dance are similar to the originating points of rivers, advancing and gaining momentum to eventually release their grand potential,” says Malini Krishnamurthi, choreographer and founder of the West Covina based, Natyanjali School of Classical Indian Dance.

This year, Natyanjali’s annual performance takes place on July 14, with a much-anticipated bharatanatyam performance billed as “River of Dances.”

This ancient art form, from across the world dating to the Vedic period will come alive once more on stage. As the fragrance of floral incense lingers, poised artists with complex sculpted posturing reminiscent of the fixed figures found in Indian temples usher in motion and abhinaya, or poetic eye and body expressions.

Audiences can expect to see 25 richly bejeweled students in full regalia with brightly colored costumes accented with flowers and head dresses in their hair to the shimmering anklets to emphasize beats.

Solo and group performers aged 7 through 17, will feature thematic works honoring Lord Shiva, the primordial Lord of Dance as well as vignettes honoring Lord Ganesha and Parvathi.

Bollywood number “Jai Ho” is sure to amuse fans of film dances.

Natyanjali’s orchestra will churn rhythmic Karnatik sounds which fuse with elaborate footwork. The orchestra will be composed of Krishnamurthi on nattuvangam, K.S. Balakrishnan (vocals), V. Ganesan (percussion instruments, mridangam and tabla) and C. Sudhakar (flute). Nattuvangam is the rhythmic sound play of cymbals, an important instrument within the orchestra.

Krishnamurthi has performed since the age of five and during the formative years of Natyanjali, in 1982, Krishnamurthi performed from an invitation of the High Commissioner in London and later delighted audiences at the French Cultural Society in Paris, France.

Malini Krishnamurthi, founder of Natyanjali School of Classical Indian Dance.

Balakrishnan has over 20 years of professional experience as a nattuvangist and is a sought after vocalist for South Indian music. As a young award-winning artist he has given several memorable performances at numerous venues around the world and provides vocal support for many Indian dancers.

C. Sudhakar hails from a family of musicians whose ancestors were court musicians in the royal Tanjore Court of Tamil Nadu. He has been featured in many commercial recordings and light music shows with legends like S.P Balasubramaniam and Vani Jayaram.

V, Ganesan is an award-winning percussionist who has accompanied leading dancers and participated in music festivals all over the world.

This show’s proceeds will be donated to Akshaya Patra, a charity close to Krishnamurthi’s ideals. Krishnamurthi is no stranger to social causes which are usually aligned with her shows.

Akshaya Patra is an international charity that originated in India and aids millions of underprivileged children by providing them with a healthy, balanced meal that they would otherwise have to work for. The meal is an incentive for them to continue their education.n Saturday, July 14, 5 p.m. Sophia B. Clark Theater. 1100 N. Grand Ave., Walnut Rancho Cucamonga. $50, $30, $20. (909) 468-4050. www4tix.org. www.natyanjali.org. india currents • july 2012 • 47

48 • india currents • july 2012

india currents • july 2012 • 49

Bharata Natyam Arangetram (A Solo Dance Debut)

By

Purna Venugopalan

Disciple of Dr. Malini Krishnamurthi Director: Natyanjali School of Dance

On Saturday July 7th, 2012 at 3.30 pm At the Sophia B. Clarke Theater Walnut, CA 91789.

Featuring the

Silapadikaram

(A well known Tamil epic)

Attendance by invitation only For more information Please email Jeya.Venu@Verizon.net Tel: Jeya Venugopalan

909-396-6872

50 • india currents • july 2012

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india currents • july 2012 • 51

IC

reflections

Madhumita Gupta

Summer Magic

“

E

lephant!!”

“Shhhhhhhhhh…..it’ll hear you!”

“Shoot straight or we’re goners!”

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

And then, “Get off me, you idiots, or I’ll call Ma!” It was way before TV, way, way before VFX effects and much before 3D films for that matter. So capable were we of creating our own special effects that we could reach the Sahara desert or the tropical forests of Africa in a wink of an eye. We couldn’t just magically transfigure our little selves into strapping and intrepid explorers, Tarzan or Batman, we could also transform tiny ants and grasshoppers into huge, bumbling elephants or man-eating tigers in seconds. And the combat tactics had to be seen to be believed.

Actually, that is what we, Gul, my cousin, the more action-oriented foil to my imaginative self, had just been doing.

Having transported ourselves to Africa with the simple technique of covering all surfaces with multi-colored bed-sheets and changed our good-natured elder sister into a mad-elephant, we: two of the world’s most formidable hunters, had just fallen upon our quarry wielding our guns which we had just crafted out off some broken pencils, when didi had brought us back to earth, with that unsporting threat of calling Ma. Ma had materialized from the kitchen, brandishing a rolling-pin and efficiently 52 • india currents • july 2012

transported us back to the dining-room and transfigured us back into our four-feet high selves with a stern, “If I catch you pestering your sister again, you’ll have to read one more classic today!”

Not that we always managed to escape the dire punishment but now when I look back, I wonder where I would be if that punishment hadn’t been there? Unaware of those wonderful worlds, for sure.

Usually we respected the threat and dug out more peaceful pursuits like the much loved Lego set and were once again back to imagining ourselves to be world-class architects. And with the trusty Ludo with all its possibilities of cheating and winning or Scrabble or the self-designed games on old-notebook sheets, I don’t remember ever being short of options. If all else failed, there were doting grandparents- our storyon-demand resources. From Lord Krishna’s escapades to Feluda’s adventures to Tintin, the world, it seemed, was ours for asking.

“Bored” didn’t quite figure in our dictionaries, neither did Lol or RotFl or awesome! When we did find something awesome I guess we physically did laugh out loud and sometimes actually roll on the floor, tears of laughter streaming from our eyes.

Kids today wonder, even pity that we spent the long days of summers without TV and worse, without cell-phones and (with an “Oh Lord!” look) FaceBook. But looking back, what an advantage it had been to be thus disadvantaged! What a blessing it was

to have our own imagination and the ability to create our own worlds! How lovely it was to write a long, gossipy letter, then peek into the letter-box hopefully everyday and then one day receiving an equally warm reply in spidery handwriting overflowing to the folding margins—who cares that we didn’t have cell-phones to communicate! Who needed them?

I come across kids these days who haven’t known what vacations are truly meant to be —long chats around the dining table, picnics with cousins or just long leisurely summers doing nothing. Submerged as they are in holiday-homework and prepping to top the next class by stuffing as many coaching-classes and extra-curricular activities as possible in a day, have they ever read for pleasure?

Very recently I got a “are you mad” look from a friend when I suggested she let her wan-looking son drop one of his many classes this summer, “No, no, what are you saying, our age was different. Theirs is the age of competition, they have to know everything.”

I wonder why our not knowing much still sounds better than knowing everything today?n Madhumita Gupta, from Alwar, India, is a teacher by default and a writer by choice. A reluctant Facebook inhabitant, she spends her time teaching and dreaming up the next Great Indian Novel, which will be more humor, less grime.

IC July

spirituality and health

1 Sunday

The Spiritual Foundations of World Peace. Sunday Service. Lake Shrine Temple

and Retreat, 17190 Sunset Blvd., Pacific Palisades. (310) 454-4114. Hollywood Temple, 4860 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood. (323) 6618006. Glendale Temple, 2146 East Chevy Chase Drive, Glendale. (818) 543-0800. Fullerton Temple, 142 East Chapman Ave., Fullerton. (714) 525-1291. Encinitas Temple, 939 Second Street, Encinitas. (760) 436-7220. San Diego Temple, 3072 First Avenue, San Diego.

(619) 295-0170. Call temples for times. Organized by Self Realization Fellowship. www. yogananda-srf.org.

July

8 Sunday

Reincarnation: the Soul’s Journey to God. Sunday Service. Lake Shrine Temple

and Retreat, 17190 Sunset Blvd., Pacific Palisades. (310) 454-4114. Hollywood Temple, 4860 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood. (323) 6618006. Glendale Temple, 2146 East Chevy Chase Drive, Glendale. (818) 543-0800. Fullerton Temple, 142 East Chapman Ave., Fullerton. (714) 525-1291. Encinitas Temple, 939 Second Street, Encinitas. (760) 436-7220. San Diego Temple, 3072 First Avenue, San Diego.

(619) 295-0170. Call temples for times. Organized by Self Realization Fellowship. www. yogananda-srf.org.

July

15 Sunday

Universal Steps That Lead to Godcommunion. Sunday Service. Lake Shrine

Temple and Retreat, 17190 Sunset Blvd., Pacific Palisades. (310) 454-4114. Hollywood Temple, 4860 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood. (323) 661-8006. Glendale Temple, 2146 East Chevy Chase Drive, Glendale. (818) 543-0800. Fullerton Temple, 142 East Chapman Ave., Fullerton. (714) 525-1291. Encinitas Temple, 939 Second Street, Encinitas. (760) 436-7220. San Diego Temple, 3072 First Avenue, San Diego.

(619) 295-0170. Call temples for times. Organized by Self Realization Fellowship. www. yogananda-srf.org.

July

22 Sunday

Great Saints and Illuminated Teachers: God’s Messangers of Truth. Sunday Ser-

vice. Lake Shrine Temple and Retreat, 17190 Sunset Blvd., Pacific Palisades. (310) 4544114. Hollywood Temple, 4860 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood. (323) 661-8006. Glendale Temple, 2146 East Chevy Chase Drive, Glendale.

Yogiraj Siddhanath Workshops, August 11, 12

(818) 543-0800. Fullerton Temple, 142 East Chapman Ave., Fullerton. (714) 525-1291.

Encinitas Temple, 939 Second Street, Encinitas. (760) 436-7220. San Diego Temple, 3072 First Avenue, San Diego. (619) 295-0170. Call temples for times. Organized by Self Realization Fellowship. www.yogananda-srf.org.

July

29 Sunday

Understanding the Mystery of Life and Death. Sunday Service. Lake Shrine Temple

and Retreat, 17190 Sunset Blvd., Pacific Palisades. (310) 454-4114. Hollywood Temple, 4860 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood. (323) 661-8006.

Glendale Temple, 2146 East Chevy Chase Drive, Glendale. (818) 543-0800. Fullerton Temple, 142 East Chapman Ave., Fullerton.

(714) 525-1291. Encinitas Temple, 939 Second Street, Encinitas. (760) 436-7220. San Diego Temple, 3072 First Avenue, San Diego. (619) 295-0170. Call temples for times. Organized by Self Realization Fellowship. www.yoganandasrf.org.

Self-Realization Fellowship World Convocation. A week of spiritual renewal, in-

cluding group meditations, kirtans and classes on the yoga meditation teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda. Ends Aug. 4. Organized by Self-Realization Fellowship. 7:30-8:30 p.m.

Westin Bonaventure Hotel, 404 South Figueroa St., Los Angeles. Evening classes: $20 per ticket (purchased on site). (323) 225-2471. www. yogananda-srf.org.

August

3 Friday

Satsang with Swami Nityananda. Ex-

plore his teachings through this discourse, and experience chanting and meditation.

Organized by Shanti Mandir. 7-9 p.m. Unity of Tustin, 14402 S. Prospect Ave., Tustin. Free.

(415) 287-0455. gopita@comcast.net. www. shantimandir.com.

August

4 Saturday

Intensive Meditation with Swami Nityananda. Organized by Shanti Mandir. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Unity of Tustin, 14402 S. Prospect Ave., Tustin. $100. (415) 287-0455. gopita@ comcast.net. www.shantimandir.com.

August

11 Saturday

Kundalini Kriya Yoga Meditation.

Satsang and healing and enlightenment worshops. Organized by Hamsa Yoga. 7-9 p.m.

Free. Seaside Center, 1613 Lake Dr., Encinitas.

(866) Yogi-raj. www.siddhanath.org.

August

12 Sunday

Kundalini Kriya Yoga Empowerment Workshps. Organized by Hamsa Yoga. 5-9

p.m. $125. Seaside Center, 1613 Lake Dr., Encinitas. (866) Yogi-raj. www.siddhanath.org.

© Copyright 2012 India Currents. All rights reserved. Reproduction for commercial use strictly prohibited. india currents • july 2012 • 53

IC

the healthy life

Malar Gandhi

Brain Foods

C

an’t find your keys, again? Wondering why you headed to the pantry for? It could be a momentary memory loss or multitasking has made the brain fog a little.

There is no denying that as we age, our body ages along with us and so does the brain. The human brain starts slowing down as early as age twenty five.

There are some age-old remedies to improve our memory. Repetition is the mother of retention. So, don’t be embarrassed to use post-it notes on your refrigerator doors. As our brain has evolved as a pattern seeking device, associate recall is the best method to stay focused. Remembering important dates, events and names with some catchy phrase or image, works well most of the time. Scientists have known for some time that power nap is key to learning and memory. Yes, sleep plays an important role in organizing and laying down your memories.

And ofcourse, the diet. In today’s world, when most of us are on a special diet, our overwhelming concern is always our body. Whether it be including more vegetables to shrink the waistline or adding some almonds to make our skin glow! But in fact, we need to eat healthy for one of the most critical organs of our system, the brain. Fortunately, it can be kept running at its peak performance at any age.

To improve the cognitive ability, we need to make some smart changes to our daily eating regimen. During my time at the University of Madras (endemic species research), I had an opportunity to observe many dementia and Alzheimer’s patients. When they altered their diet a little with more brain boosting foods, they usually showed the signs of progress. They were able to recall their past far better than other patients. And, here is the list of most popular foods to keep our memory active and sharp as a lifestyle.

Most Popular Brain Boosting Foods

•Bacopa monnieri (brahmi) Ayurveda talks about a special class of medhya herbs—specifically useful to promote brain function. For hundreds of years, it has been used by herbalists in India to influence the activities of the central nervous system. This neuroprotective herb is highly recommended by Ayurvedic texts as a neural tonic.

•Centella asiatica (Indian pennywort, gotu kola in Hindi and vallarai in Tamil) is used as a leafy green in South Indian cuisine and it can act as an cerebral tonic. It contains natural chemicals known as triterpenoids; researchers have found that triterpenoids help to reduce anxiety and enhance mental function.

54 • india currents • july 2012

•Withania somnifera (Indian ginseng or ashwagandha) has been used as a medicinal herbs for many centuries in India.

Ayurveda claims that aswagandha (berries and roots) improves memory and concentration.

•Ginkgo biloba (Maidenhair tree or balkuwari) has been studied by doctors for several years. It is said to boost blood circulation in the brain, and therefore improve attention, focus, concentration, memory and overall health.

•Turmeric or its active ingredient curcumin is a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory substance. Research has confirmed that curcumin is responsible to decrease the plaque buildup that is thought to be precursor to Alzheimer’s and its antiinflammatory effects has proved to prevent memory loss.

•Finger-millet (ragi) the complex carbohydrate are amongst the best type of brain foods. As their molecules are longer and it takes more time to break down, which enables a steady supply of energy to our brain, unlike sudden surge provided by refined carbohydrate foods.

•Indian Blueberries (jamun), have a lower glycemic index rate. Taking whole berries have a better advantage than in juice form. This fibrous fruit will cling for a longer period in the tract and all the natural vitamins will be assimilated thoroughly.

•Sesame Oil Seeds in our diet is very essential for neurotransmitters to deliver messages to other neurons more quickly and effectively. Ayurveda identifies two best oils in the Indian tradition, cold pressed sesame and coconut oil.

•Pumpkin Seeds. Just a handful of seeds a day is enough to meet our daily recommended amount of zinc, vital for enhancing memory and thinking skills.

•Oregano (karpooravalli in Tamil) helps improve memory by defending the brain from inflammation, supplying oxygen, thus delaying the aging of the brain.

•Eggplant’s skin contains a nutrient called nasunin, it is high on the list of potent antioxidants. Biologically it functions by scavenging excess iron in the body and thereby preventing a free radical chain reaction that damages cells. Makes the brain sharp by enhancing communication between our brain cells and messenger molecules.

•Kidney Beans contains almost 19% of the recommended daily allowance for the B-vitamin thiamin, which is critical for cognitive function, needed to synthesize the nutrient choline. Kidney beans are rich in inositol, which improves symptoms of depression and mood disorders.

•Walnuts (akhrot) Studies have linked low consumption of omega-3s to depression and decreased cognitive function. So snacking on walnuts in between meals could be a good way boost your spirits as well as your IQ. •Egg yolks are loaded with ‘choline,’ a B vitamin essential for the production of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which sends electrical impulses across synapses between nerve cells. These fat-like molecules in the brain are responsible for brain function and health.

•Milk. It is also important to calm down the brain...sometimes. Milk has an essential amino acid tryptophan which plays a key role in altering mood.

•Yogurt. Calcium rich yogurts have an essential amino acid tyrosine, which is responsible for producing the neurotransmitters dopamine and noradrenalin. It improves alertness and memory.

•Root vegetables. Tubers like sweet potatoes, carrots and beetroots are highly nourishing for the brain. They are rich in vitamin B6, carbohydrates and antioxidant nutrients (vitamin C and beta-carotene), which not only purify the blood, but also help increase brain power significantly.

Last but not least, use it or lose it is very true to brain function. No matter what the age is or the occupation; our brain needs to be constantly challenged to be at its peak in terms of performance. Doing logic puzzles, memorizing the poems, and learning a new skill will keep the brain busy. Even cooking a different recipe each day and taking a new route to your home, counts.n Malar Gandhi is a freelance scholar and writer, who specializes in Culinary Anthropology and Gourmet Indian Cooking.

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travel

Usha Kris

The Waters of Haridwar Floating Lamps on the Ganga

A pilgrim destination, renowned for its numerous temples, ashrams, and the healing presence of the mighty river, Ganga

I

n all the times that I had traveled from Delhi to Mussoorie, I had never stopped by at Haridwar; so when my sister Sudha asked me to accompany her, I was off like a shot. Sudha and her husband Ed had made the trip from the United States to immerse my uncle Sekaran’s ashes in the Ganga at Haridwar. At the train station we sat in a cycle rickshaw and headed toward Heritage Hari Ganga, a hundred year old house that was converted into a resort, on the banks of the river Ganga. It was with some surprise that I saw cycles with flat bamboo pallets lined with fresh green leaves. Plump red strawberries by the hundreds were neatly stacked on the leaves, presenting a wonderful burst of vibrant colors.

It was Baisakhi (New Year) on Sunday, which coincided with our Tamil New Year and being a day of festivity, the narrow streets were packed like the strawberries, with one set of people going onward to the ghats (as the banks of the river are referred to), and another group returning from there. There were shops on either side with heaps of red kumkum and shiny mirrored boxes to store them. There was a display of all kinds of simple artifacts to lure the travel-happy crowds into a purchase.

Rudrakshams were aplenty. They showed us ek mukhi rudraksham as well as other kinds; there was no way to tell if they were authentic. For those who wished to wear their religion on their persons there were Om shirts, tulsi beads, and Shiva Parvathi pendants. We explored the surrounding neighborhood leisurely. An enthusiastic tea-stall owner showed us a large courtyard hidden from view. We 56 • india currents • july 2012

entered through a small doorway, and lo and behold, the vast space was completely in the shade of the peepul (ficus religiosa) and banyan trees (ficus bengalenses). There was also a small temple for Lord Krishna and, of course, the eternal Ganga flowed nonchalantly along.

O

ur uncle had come to the United States many decades ago, and somehow he had not found the opportunity to take a dip in the Ganga. So he expressed the wish that his ashes be immersed in the holy river (this is known as asthi visarjan). The morning of Baisakhi saw us at Har Ki Pauri, the main ghat, considered to be the precise location where the river enters the plains. Ed, who performed the rites in Sanskrit, followed the priest’s dictum perfectly. We thus fulfilled our uncle’s wishes and performed the traditional last rites with the priest recording the event in his book for posterity.

T

he Hari Ganga Heritage Resort was located plum in the heart of the city on the banks of Ganga. It made a perfect setting. From every floor of the house we could view the Ganga flowing with set purpose and speed that was astonishing. I did not wish to be away from this mesmerizing river, and turned down invitations to go to Rishikesh, which is another pilgrimage destination about 30 kilometers away from Haridwar.

“What do you do for Baisakhi here?” I asked the hotel receptionist. Prompt came the reply, “Bathe in the river, but of course. What else would you do?” I followed that suggestion and in the privacy of the Heritage Hari Ganga, I descended into the waters of the river. The melting glacier had made the water really cold and little did I realize how frigid it was till I found that I had to warm myself under a quilt, in the sun, after getting out.

While in the water, I had the luxury to ruminate about life’s twists and turns as I gazed at the other swimmers. I watched a young boy as he dove into the river. He swam with the furious energy of the young. Frolicking with his friends, he attempted to go against the current as his friends cheered him on. Finally he gave up, did an about turn, gave himself up to the river and climbed up the banks. All the boys clambered out of the water and followed

Photo Credit: Usha Kris

Performing Last Rites

Photo Credit: Usha Kris

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Photo Credit: Usha Kris

Photo Credit: Usha Kris

Photo Credit: Usha Kris

him. Then with hoots of joy they jumped back into the water, further upstream, and allowed themselves to flow along with the waves till they returned to the same bank they had started at.

Haridwar, literally meaning “gateway to God,” is one of the most renowned pilgrimage centers in India. It is visited for its many temples, history and most especially the healing powers of the river Ganga. Haridwar is located at the foothills of the Himalayas and from the plains, it is a splendid sight to see the flowing river reflecting the towering mountains The main shopping centers in Haridwar— Moti Bazaar, Jwalapur, Kankhal and Upper Road are filled with stone idols. The stones that are used for these idols have a rare polish to them. The story goes that these stones have traveled along the mighty Ganga river for many miles before they are deposited along the Rishikesh plains, shaped and polished by the river currents. This is why they have a shine.

Locals told us the story of how the Chinese pilgrim, Hiuen Tsang, who came to India Photo Credit: Usha Kris

Har Ki Pauri

in the first half of the seventh century A.D. described the holy city of Haridwar as the peacock on the banks of the Ganga.

We went with an escort to the river front to witness the arati ceremony, a tradition where many lamps are lit as the sun goes down, amidst singing and chanting, in order to pay obeisance to the mighty river Ganga.

Sudha managed to find us a nice spot despite the crowds and we saw just enough of the spectacular event as the yellow glow from the lamps turned the river into molten gold.

There’s an old restaurant called Pracheen Mathura Wala that has served the same fare for seven decades. The reviews on TripAdvisor persuaded us to visit the eatery. We gorged on hot fluffy bhature with chole garnished with green chillies and ginger, fresh kachodis and desserts including the famous Mathura pedas and gulab jamuns. Closeby, at another restaurant, the chef made jalebis, in continuous concentric circles with a flourish of his wrist. Others made matka ice cream, hand churned, while cold rabri and ras malai were displayed enticingly. The falooda recipe was a

secret though all the ingredients were arrayed on the counter. It’s the measure that was the the secret.

We decided to take back some holy water from the Ganga. The rotund shopkeeper explained that it was no ordinary water, “That is Ganga Jal,” he stated. He showed me a beautiful brass vessel known as a vengala shombu, literally a brass vessel, like the one I used to boil dal or lentils in my hometown of Chennai. “Where is it from,” I asked the shopkeeper. “Kumbakonam,” came the reply.

That set us off on a conversation on the temples of the south. He was well travelled; more than many of the people living in the south.

I informed him that during my photography exhibition at the IIC in Delhi many people asked me if we have Shiva temples in the South. “Toba toba,” he exclaimed in Hindi. “If someone went to the Brihadiswar in Tanjavur wearing a cap, and he saw the lingam, not only will his cap fall off, but also his head!”

On that delightful note we said our goodbyes to gaze at the river once more before heading homewards. n Usha Kris was awarded the prestigious Bharat Nirman award for artistic photography. She can be contacted at ukrishnaswamy@hotmail. com.

Goddesses of Haridwar The Chandi Devi Temple is located on the top of the Eastern summit of the Sivalik Hills, at a distance of 4 kilometres from Har ki Pauri. Goddess Chandi Devi is the main deity of the temple. Built in 1929 by Suchat Singh, the King of Kashmir, it also goes by the name of Neel Parvat Teerth.

The Mansa Devi Temple is devoted to the goddess, Mansa. This temple is located on the top of the Bilwa peak on the Sivalik Hills. The word mansa literally means wish. Access to the temple is by a ropeway known as Mansa Devi Udankhatola.

Goddess Maya Devi is a three-headed, four-armed deity, housed in the Maya Devi Temple. Maya Devi is an incarnation of Shakti. The inner shrine consists of the Goddess Maya in the center, flanked by Godesses Kali and Kamakhya on either side.

Devout prayers at these three temples can get one’s desires, wishes and hopes fulfilled. india currents • july 2012 • 57

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desi voices

P. Mahadevan

Pursuit of Happiness

S

oon after reading the review of British writer, Jeanette Winterson’s book Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal, I decided not to read the book and chose instead to be happy at the risk of being dubbed abnormal. Nobody volunteers to be unhappy but many are forced into that state, for real or avoidable reasons. The U.S. Declaration of Independence, adopted in 1776, states, inter alia, that men are endowed “with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” This is a skillfully crafted document that deliberately leaves many imprecise or uncertain clauses in place, which, in turn, has created a whole class of constitutional academics, lawyers and jurists trying to divine its truth. The unalienable rights listed earlier are not justiciable—they constitute a grand platitudinous assertion. I am not sure if such statements or equivalents are embedded in the constitutions of other countries but I am very certain that people everywhere find ways and means to be happy.

Even dictatorial world leaders cannot enforce any regulatory methods to control the basic urge to seek happiness.

Before we pursue an object or objective, we should be able to define it precisely or at least as a boundary value problem with a set of pre-requirements. Happiness could be a one-time event such as passing an exam, a lottery win, victory in a court case, recovery from serious illness or perhaps happiness for another or unhappiness for an adversary. It can be a very personal matter, a familial one or a collective one.

Recently, I was jubilant when an Indian teenager won the national National Spelling Bee contest. My congratulations to Snigdha Nandipati on her win this season. She is entitled to her happiness because she must have put in hard work within a congenial, encouraging and supportive home environment. I feel gratified that collectively, we of the Indian diaspora are inheriting the right to this pursuit of happiness and achievment.

Hard work is one of the paths to happiness and Nandipati has successfully retained the Indian-American baton of spelling success this year.

Happiness can sometimes be a sudden revelation. I am reminded of the story of a minimalistic Indian holy man whose only material possession was his favorite Kamandalu (water jug). Unfortunately, it fell from his 58 • india currents • july 2012

hand and broke into smithereens. In absolute ecstasy, he proclaimed: “Now, I am finally a free man.” To him, happiness was just a state of mind.

The prolific travel writer Pico Iyer recently wrote about his trip to the least populated of the Hawaian Islands, Kauai. On the main street next to the waterfront, there were, in addition to numerous churches, a Bikram Yoga center, a dial-a-prayer kiosk to seek protection from the next tsunami, an ad for “peace of mind rentals” and a call to “connect with the movement, Not the Net.” Apparently, that area of the island did not have internet service and hence the numerous proclamations reflected the different varieties of happiness available on the island.

A reader recently wrote seeking guidance from the Ask Amy column recently. He had won a sizeable lottery prize just prior to retirement. He wanted to be happy and relaxed by sharing the bounty with his own children.

They respectfully declined saying “You have struggled through your life. This is for you both to enjoy the Golden years.” At the same time, a whole host of nephews, nieces and acquaintances who never ever contacted him before were demanding large gifts for various urgent needs. He was an unhappy man with a lot of money in his possession.

Happiness is not a quantifiable metric.

There are no measurable body parameters such as temperature, blood pressure, pulse rate or cholesterol composition to derive a dependable index even though some of these measures are affected by the patient’s mental state at the time Also, do we realize that we are happy and admit to be so in real time or is it more often a past phenomenon? High school students probably look forward to the day when they can move to a far off college campus and escape some of the discipline at home. In most cases, however, the advantages of freedom are far out-weighed by the responsibilities of the new environment. Happiness, is only a “relative” state of mind. The lottery winner has to face the tax man immediately.

The gluttonous consumer of rich food has to face the doctor soon. The substance abuser knows what comes next. The methodology for seeking happiness and its consequences appear to come in a mixed bag like as if the label on a bag of sugar reads “laced with salt.”

The American philosopher, Henry David Thoreau opined that happiness is like a but-

Photo Credit: A Creative Commons Image

terfly. The more you chase it, the more it eludes you. But turn your attention away and it will come and perch on your shoulder.

It appears inevitable that something less materialistic and more enduring is required to ensure lasting happiness. Let me transliterate ideas of wisdom from the ancient Indian epics like the Mahabharata and Bhagavatham. In these, the frailties of man are clearly characterized with many illustrative episodes. These are carnal desire(kamam), anger(krodham), jealousy (lobham), greed(moham), pride( madam) and unhealthy competitiveness(matsaryam).

When our bodily desires control our mind, we are vulnerable to their influences. With enough discipline, we can reverse the control sequence, if the mind controls the body, we may reach an acceptable level of happiness.

Happiness for the young adult is vastly different, from any other age group. Their philosophy can best be rephrased as the “happiness of pursuit.” As always, a prophetic Indian sage has anticipated this whole scenario, long before the adoption of the constitutional requirement. Adi Sankara, the brilliant philosopher in his immortal poem, Bhaja Govindam, details the phases in a man’s birth to death cycle. The relevant passage reads “tharuna sthapal tharuni saktha.” Simply put, it means boys always chase girls. But, we all know that. So why do we need the backing of the constitution for this pursuit? n P. Mahadevan is a retired scientist with a Ph.D. degree in Atomic Physics from the University of London, England. His professional work includes basic and applied research and program management in the corporate sector for the Dept. of Defence (India). He taught Physics at the Univ. of Kerala, at Thiruvananthapuram.

He does very little now, very slowly.

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on Inglish

Kalpana Mohan

PUKKA IDIOT pukka or pucka (p^kuh) — adj 1. properly or perfectly done, constructed, etc: a pukka road 2. genuine: pukka sahib [from Hindi pakka firm, from Sanskrit pakva]

B

y the time you begin reading this, I’ll be a pukka South Indian in sultry Chennai gorging on dosas and drinking filter coffee at least two or three times a day. Correction: I’ll be a pukka Tamilian wearing a silkcotton sari and two strands of jasmine in my hair, bathing twice a day and spewing magma and obscenities at the sweltering heat of July.

But I’ll also be a pukka American yelling at my dad for always secretly attempting to conserve electricity and turning off the air-conditioner whenever I slip away from the living room to go to the loo. And then he will admonish me in his soft voice, calling me a pukka hypocrite because I talk about ecothis and eco-that but don’t live up to my ideals when it comes to my personal comfort. And then he’ll “drive that needle into the banana,” as they say in Tamil, and accuse me of being a warmonger in his peaceful home. He’ll add that I have the mentality of a foreigner and that I’ve lost all sense of proportion and that he’s after all only a retired accountant in his twilight years, a poor man with thickening arteries and diminishing hearing even though he may have a 15,000-Rupee fancy hearing-aid, and that his monthly expenses are over 10,000 Rupees and that he cannot “ever swell more than his finger,” a Tamil expression which means one must live within one’s means.

“The problem is you have become a pukka foreigner,” he’ll say at the end of it all and sigh, and sink back, with a puppy dog expression, into the rattan chair with a ratty cushion that hasn’t been changed since my mother left it for yet another chair beyond the pearly gates. Then, in minutes, I’ll feel like a pukka idiot because my 87-year-old dad is all I have left of my flesh and blood, aside from my sister, of course, and there’s really no point yelling at a man who knows even as well as I do that Yama is hurtling down in a high speed Japanese style bullet train to get him and transport him to some place where he won’t even get his morning coffee, much less The Hindu, have a valet, a cook or a job that will pay for his car and his petrol.

While dad is reading his newspaper with pretend-or-real-puppy-dogglumness, the doorbell will ring and Geetha, his cook, will be at the door and I’ll ask her to please make me a pukka Kerala meal with a lot of coconut and she will nod and dash in and out of the kitchen at jet speed. Just before she walks out after cooking the day’s lunch, she’ll tell dad that she’s about to leave and that everything in the kitchen is clean and that she has left it in a pukka way and dad will dismiss her absently.

But dad’s driver, Vinayagam, the other Ganesha in our home—who may soon have his own altar given how he’s worshipped by my dad, my sister and the rest of my extended family—will raise a “really, lady?” eyebrow and he will go into the kitchen after she leaves and look at the state in which she left it and say “Yenna, saar? Geetha calls this pukka? This is not pukka, saar. Watch me make it pukka, saar. You’re paying her all this money. For what? Pukka, she says. Pukka.” And he’ll continue sniping and griping, wiping the kitchen slab three more times, ranting all the while that 60 • india currents • july 2012

the word “pukka” has lost all meaning in this godforsaken world.

Vinayagam’s concerns may not be unwarranted because the meaning of the word does indeed celebrate truth.

P

ukka, in Hindi, means genuine, authentic; also, first-class.

In Hindi and Urdu, pukka means cooked, ripe, solid, from the Sanskrit word “pakva.”

I found out, however, that what was considered pukka could, in fact, be a dupe. The British used the word “pukka” in a slang expression that meant “true gentleman” or “excellent fellow.”

“Pukka sahib” was used to describe Europeans who had an attitude which British administrators affected, that of an “aloof, impartial, incorruptible arbiter of the political fate of a large part of the earth’s surface.” George Orwell burrows into the mind of such a sahib in Burmese Days.

“You see [English] louts fresh from school kicking grey-haired servants. The time comes when you burn with hatred of your own countrymen, when you long for a native rising to drown their Empire in blood. And in this there is nothing honorable, hardly even any sincerity. For, au fond, what do you care if the Indian Empire is a despotism, if Indians are bullied and exploited? You only care because the right of free speech is denied you. You are a creature of the despotism, a pukka sahib, tied tighter than a monk or a savage by an unbreakable system of taboos.”

In his essay, Shooting an Elephant, Orwell spells out what it means to maintain “the pose” of a pukka sahib. “A sahib has got to act like a sahib; he has got to appear resolute, to know his own mind and do definite things. To come all that way, rifle in hand, with two thousand people marching at my heels, and then to trail feebly away, having done nothing—no, that was impossible. The crowd would laugh at me. And my whole life, every white man’s life in the East, was one long struggle not to be laughed at.”

And so, as Vinayagam might say, what’s supposed to be “pukka” is, in fact, quite often, not “pukka.” All you have to do to prove that is to go to a shoe store in a forgotten alley in India. If you are wondering whether the shoe you’re looking at is really a Nike and the vendor says, “Yes, madam, pukka Nike,” stop and reflect. Chances are the imposter you’re holding is a Nikc. n Kalpana Mohan writes from Saratoga. To read more about her, go to http://kalpanamohan.org and http://saritorial.com.

y

I C relationship diva

Jasbina Ahluwalia

Breaking Up and Not Breaking Down Q

: I was in a long-term relationship with someone who I thought would be “the One.” We broke up a week ago, and I’m still having a hard time getting over my ex. Any suggestions?

A

: I’m sorry you’re having a hard time.

Keep in mind you are not alone. Most people tend to feel sad and disappointed after a breakup.

My first suggestion is to allow yourself to experience grief in each of its five stages (denial, anger, bargaining, sadness and acceptance). By allowing yourself to feel your feelings, rather than burying your feelings and thereby likely keeping you stuck in the past, you empower yourself to fully let go and move on.

Speaking of empowerment, I encourage you to internalize the following mindset once you have reached the acceptance stage. Remind yourself that events have no meaning in and of themselves—that is, until our minds choose what meaning to give them. Reframe the significance of your past relationship with

your ex in the most well-serving way possible.

Choose to believe that your special someone is still out there (as opposed to believing your ex WAS the love of your life, and that you've now missed out on the chance for love). Ask yourself if there are any learning opportunities from your experience with your ex that can help you in your journey to your special someone.

Armed with this mindset, here are some other effective things you can do to support your journey to your special someone.

• Treat yourself with kindness and compassion, reconnect with your joyful self, and avail of your support circle. What is most fulfilling and meaningful for you? Spending time with family and friends? Reading, travel, music, artistic pursuits? If sports or exercise does not happen to be one of those activities you enjoy, consider engaging in them anyway—physical activity floods your body with “feel-good” endorphins, and has actually been scientifically shown to be effective in improving mood.

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for readers in California contact with your ex for

• Cut off ALL at least the next month. Remove your ex from your online and offline life. Don’t call, text, or email him/her. Don’t meet-up as “friends.”

If you allow your heart to stay connected to your ex, you will likely push away potential Mr/Ms Rights (even if you are technically “going through the motions” of meeting new men/women).

• Instead of dwelling on any lack in your life stop and invigorate yourself with feelings of gratitude for the blessings in your life instead.

Not only does this practice keep things in perspective and make life more enjoyable, it tends to magnetize other positive people to you. n Jasbina is the founder and president of Intersections Match, the only personalized matchmaking and dating coaching firm serving singles of South Asian descent in the United States.

She is also the host of Intersections Talk Radio, a monthly lifestyle show. www.IntersectionsMatch.com. Jasbina@intersectionsmatch.com.

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uncubed

Krishna M. Sadasivam is the cartoonist behind UNcubed, a weekly online auto-bio comic, focusing on life as an Indian guy in the United States.

When he’s not creating comics or working as a freelance illustrator, Krishna teaches full-time in the Media Arts and Animation department of the Art Institute of Tampa in Florida. See more of his work at http://www.uncubedthecomic.com/.

62 • india currents • july 2012

I C dear doctor

Alzak Amlani

The Therapy of Journal Writing

Q

There are people who keep diaries and write in them often. I have been intrigued by this, but haven’t done much of it.

From time to time you recommend that people do some journaling to help them sort things out.

Can you say more about the value of writing down personal experiences and what are some good ways of exploring oneself in this way?

A

Yes! I think the practice of writing your experiences on a regular basis is an invaluable tool. We all have an inner life of feelings, thoughts, unconscious experiences, memories, dreams and aspirations. Our minds and hearts are constantly thinking, solving and feeling. If we really paid attention to our inner lives, we would realize that we have an entire world waiting to be discovered.

Writing in a journal is a powerful tool to unlock our inner world. It is private and you can write anything you feel, think, remember or imagine. However, it’s not the same as ruminating because it is intentional, takes deliberate shape into words and sentences, forces one to make choices in what gets written

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and it is externally manifested, on paper or a computer screen. This forms a different relationship with the expressed material. Such writing engenders self-reflection and actually helps you process your experiences.

Writing without an agenda, or free writing invites hitherto unknown personal aspects to be revealed. This is an excellent exercise for someone who is very rational and controlled in his or her thinking and viewpoint. The writer discovers layers of inner realities and perceptions. If a person can tolerate feeling confused and disoriented in this way, it can broaden the mind and help become more sensitive to other differing viewpoints.

Simple exercises of writing down pros and cons of a decision can help you work with your indecision or confusion about a choice.

Engaging in a written dialogue with opposing or different parts of yourself will draw out each opinion within you more fully so that you can clearly see how you feel, think and behave from these viewpoints. If you find yourself obsessing about a misunderstanding or conversation, writing can help you go deeper.

For example if you’re feeling hurt or offended by someone you care about, writing

about your feelings can start you on the process of understanding why you got hurt.

First ask yourself, “What did I hear this person tell me?” Second, “How did it feel to hear that?” As you write, feel these feelings.

Sometimes it is difficult to do this without the presence of a trusting person. Third, “Does this feeling or incident remind me of past experiences of being hurt?” After you jot down those memories, ask yourself how you have learned to protect yourself from these challenging memories or experiences? This will greatly assist you in getting closer to the core of your pain.

The last step could be to have a conversation with the person who said some of these things and share with them what came up for you when you heard he or she speak to you. By knowing and owning your experience you don’t move into blame. Instead it becomes an honest sharing of triggered emotions. This helps develop intimacy with yourself and another. n Alzak Amlani, Ph.D. is a counseling psychologist in the Bay Area. (650)325-8393. Visit www.wholenesstherapy.com.

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the last word

Sarita Sarvate

A Letter From Paris

O

n an impulse, I bought a ticket to Paris. A friend of mine has been living here for a year so I decided to visit her.

Visiting her was just an excuse. Subconsciously, I wanted to travel alone; to test my mettle; to see if I could get around France by myself.

I was here four years ago, for four days at the end of a whirlwind European tour. I was a little sick then, and Paris seemed like a big noisy blur. The food seemed ordinary, perhaps because my traveling companion had no appreciation for it and insisted on going to the cheaper places. Or perhaps because we were staying in the St. Michel area, full of tourists.

But this time, it is a different story. The friend I am staying with is busy with her studies, which turns out to be a blessing in disguise, for I am all alone, wandering the streets and noticing things I did not notice before.

The very first morning, I awoke naturally at 5 a.m. I could not figure out my friend’s stove—I spotted the valve on a vertical pipe you had to turn on to get the gas flowing but I could not fathom what was wrong with the burner. So after waiting for three hours, I headed to the café next door. Superficially, the place seemed like a diner back home but quickly I began to notice subtle differences.

The waiter, a towel flung over his shoulder, asked “Café?” as I entered. He was single-handedly serving the tables, even occasionally pulling the broom and dish pan out from behind the counter to give the place a sweep, working with such alacrity that I could only marvel. American service was the best in the world, I had always thought.

I was wrong.

When I said “thé?” in response to his query, guessing the word for tea, which, in Spanish is “te,” he brought me a teapot with hot milk on the side. The water was just the right temperature, the milk frothy and rich and in that moment I understood why the French feel frustrated with the rest of the world. French sensibility dictates that things have to be done just right.

I notice this everywhere now.

I walked next door to the boulangerie that first morning and bought myself a croissant, something I never eat at home because of the carbs. But the thing was light and fluffy, not heavy and rich like American croissants and it just melted in my mouth.

I decided to bring home a salmon and avocado sandwich too, a long thing that, when cut, became two sandwiches—a CEO from Subway must have come to France and decided to fashion his product after the French idea—and it too was a thing of artistry and perfection. The bread was not chewy like some of Bay Area’s best French bread like Semifreddi’s, but soft, and, once again, light.

A waiter in another restaurant, this time near Napolean’s tomb, explained it to me this way, “Bread doesn’t make you fat; it fills you up and has very few calories. It depends on what kind of bread you eat.”

So we discussed supersizing and American food versus

I am beginning to understand what France is all about. You get the sense of living inside a great civilization in which there is style and history and identity.

64 • india currents • july 2012

French food. American food was big, he explained, French food was served in little portions. He was right of course.

The dinner and lunch courses everywhere are a sensory treat, the food cooked to perfection. And the French walk a lot, speeding through Metro turnstyles as if they are on rollerblades.

My waiter declared with some flair, “I propose to you a Panacotta for dessert.” And when I left the tiramisu half eaten, he pointed out that the French would never imagine leaving a plate of food uneaten, nor would they ask for a doggie bag. I felt guilty.

I am beginning to understand what France is all about. You get the sense of living inside a great civilization in which there is style and history and identity. Where you don’t have to give a tip because waiters get salaries. Where the façade of every official and academic building is engraved with the motto “Liberty, Egalite, Fraternity,” the legacy of the French Revolution. Where the way people hold themselves in spite of the economic downturn, you sense pride and grace.

It is the way people treat one another that distinguishes the old world from the new, I suppose. You get that sensibility in India; you get it among the Maya in Mexico and Guatemala. And you get it in France.

During a boat trip on the Seine, a man on board had a medical problem so we docked by the riverside. The ambulance boat came. The paramedic ran to the road to wave the ambulance van onto the pier; the police arrived in a tire-raft kind of a speed boat.

It was all done so efficiently and so cheerfully! Afterwards, the policewoman, who looked like the boss of her crew, kissed the chief paramedic on both cheeks the way the French do. The French have a sense of style, an etiquette and a way of doing things. No wonder they frown upon the rest of the world.

You see that kind of etiquette in personal interactions in India too.

I decided not to do the touristy thing this time but to sit in cafes like Hemingway, and in more recent times, Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker staff writer.

With such illustrious traditions, how could I not be a writer in Paris?

As I sit alone in the cafes or t'he Luxembourg Gardens where old men—and an occasional woman—play a game of boules, I experience the kind of poignancy I have not experienced before.

Being alone here is beautiful. I am much more alert and observant. My isolation makes me feel sensitive in a way that I am not with company. I notice a vacuum beside me; I miss the person who is not there. I am forced to appreciate everything just a little bit more. The life around me seems fuller and richer.

In the past, whenever I have heard people talk of making a “bucket list,” of seeing certain places before they died, I have wondered what the point was if you were going to die anyway.

Would you remember what you saw in the afterlife? Was there an afterlife?

Now I realize that it not about seeing places but about the adventure of getting there. I have only gone on one organized tour in my life and I hated it. Traveling on my own, on the other hand, teaches me to be brave, to observe and learn and explore.

What is the point of that you might ask?

The point is that I can use the lessons I learn this way in my journey through life. After all, I am not dead yet; I might yet live for decades. n Sarita Sarvate writes commentaries for Pacific News Service and KQED. Visit www.saritasarvate.com

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