India in New York - August 29, 2014

SPECIAL INDIAN WEAVES ON THE RUNWAY

FOOD THE CHEFS WHO WOWED MICHELLE OBAMA

COMMUNITY MODI VISIT: WHISPERS OF ANGST

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VOL. XVIII NO. 10

India in New York A GUIDE TO EVENTS AND ENTERTAINMENT FROM INDIA ABROAD FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 2014

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Preet Bharara on the 5 years of being US Attorney for the Southern District of New York

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PARESH GANDHI

HIS DREAM JOB

India in New York

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INDIA IN NEW YORK AUGUST 29, 2014

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Modi visit: Whispers of angst, shouts of denial GEORGE JOSEPH

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hough nobody is saying it openly, many in the Overseas Friends of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Sangh Parivar organizations are unhappy at being sidelined in organizing the reception for Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Madison Square Garden, September 28.

Some are also upset that those who

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi opposed Modi tooth and nail are getting a place in the reception.

OFBJP sources fumed that the embassy and consulate officials are bringing the “Congress party’s culture” to the event, and BJP-RSS leaders are nowhere seen.

The committees are not inclusive, the sources claimed, and people from some states have no representation. Some others said only rich people are accommodated on the committees, while desis who protested Modi’s visa denial have no place there.

Dr Bharat Barai, lead organizer of the event, dismissed claims of any problems, infighting or confusion. He said the differences were sorted out and all have been accommodated on various committees.

FIA leaders like Ankur Vaidya and Ramesh Patel, who objected to Barai’s leadership during a meeting at TV Asia earlier, have been accommodated in the core committee.

any case, the approval should not take more than 48 hours.”

Vijay Jolly, convener of the BJP’s foreign cell, and BJP Member of Parliament from India Rajyavardhan Rathore have attended meetings of OFBJP workers in California and Georgia to create awareness about the reception. They were scheduled to meet the community in New Jersey August 26 as part of their 12-day, eight-city tour to meet party workers.

In an announcement, the IACF asked people to register to get a ticket to attend the event. Until September 1, pre-registration for tickets is available only to individuals who have an organization code issued to community organizations that have registered to be a ‘welcoming partner’. If you have an organization code, please go to www.pmvisit.org/register To register a partner organization and get a code, visit www.pmvisit.org/organizations The announcement clarified that the registration is not a ticket.

‘There is limited seating and we may not be able to accommodate all requests,’ it said. ‘Once individuals are verified and selected, actual tickets will be mailed to organization leaders for distribution. Entry at Madison Square Garden will not DANISH SIDDIQUI/REUTERS be permitted without an officially issued ticket.’

After September 1, registration will be York. “The Prime Minister’s Office available for individuals not affiliated wants it as an inclusive event for all.” with organizations, for limited seating.

He said 90 percent of the 18,000 seats A tentative schedule for the registraavailable at the Madison Square Garden tion process is provided on the Web site. will be given free to the attendees. A few September 3 is the deadline for organseats will be given for a price, which only ization leaders to verify the list of memmeans that the seat is assured. Most of bers registered. Depending on the volthe $1.5 million needed for the event ume of registrations, organizations may will be raised by this. not be allocated tickets for all registered According to the MSG’s stipulation, members. Organizational leadership will the Indian American Community be responsible for finding a fair method Foundation, newly formed for the sole to determine how to distribute tickets. purpose of prime minister’s visit, had to September 7: Deadline for registered engage an advertisement firm, Media individuals to reconfirm attendance.

Morphosys, for publicity matters. The September 10: IACF will send tickets MSG insists it should approve all press via FedEx and a list of attendees to the releases, posters and billboards. primary contact for the welcoming partAs a result, the IACF had to submit ner organization for distribution. The the posters and advertisement material organization is responsible for distributto them for approval, which took severing tickets to its members. al days. email info@pmvisit.org “They insist it involves their prestige,” For organization requests, e-mail: Barai said. “They also want all required organizations@pmvisit.org information on the poster so that www.pmvisit.org nobody calls them for information. In Dr Barai said there will be no room for any complaints.

As for inviting political opponents to the reception, he pointed out that there are no permanent enemies especially in the American situation, and the past is past.

“There is nothing improper if members of other political organizations attend the event as long as they behave properly,” Dr Barai told India in New

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INDIA IN NEW YORK AUGUST 29, 2014

Judge allows summons to be served on Amrit Singh, daughter of India’s former prime minister and daughter is beyond doubt and during each of his trips to the United States defendant has been reported to have met Amrit Singh. Therefore delivery of summons and complaint to Ms Amrit Singh will certainly reach the defendant.’

The motion added, ‘Ms Amrit Singh is an attorney admitted to practice before the courts of the United States and a seemingly law-abiding and responsible individual who will not falter in conveying and delivering the court summons and complaint to her father the defendant, once she receives the court papers. Reassuringly enough, Ms. Amrit Singh is a human rights lawyer who feels for the victims of torture and has demonstrated commitment to human rights and torture related issues.’

Amrit Singh is senior legal officer, national security and counterterrorism, Open Society Justice Initiative. Previously, she served as a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union’s immigrant rights project. Her work in the ACLU versus Department of Defense case resulted in the public disclosure of thousands of documents concerning the abuse of prisoners held by the US overseas.

‘Service of the summons and complaint on Manmohan Singh is the next step,’ said Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the SFJ’s legal adviser, ‘to continue the rights violations lawsuit, since Judge Boasberg has already ruled that claims can be heard against Singh for funding “cash for bullet” policy during his tenure as finance minister in the federal government.’

August 19, Judge Boasberg ruled that Dr Singh is immune from claims that he supported the PARESH GANDHI Amrit Singh is a leading human rights lawyer. genocide of Sikhs during his tenure as head of the country, but does not have head of state immunity for claims arising from his tenure as India’s finance minister (1991 to 1996).

The SFJ and Inderjit Singh, another plaintiff, claimed GEORGE JOSEPH in the 2013 suit that as finance minister, Dr Singh ‘funded several counter insurgency operations in the state of nited States District Judge James Boasberg in the Punjab during the 1990s, resulting in more than hundred District of Columbia has granted the Sikhs for thousand Sikhs being killed extra-judicially by the securiJustice motion allowing service of summons on Dr ty forces.’

Manmohan Singh’s daughter Amrit Singh, who is a perSince the news of the US court allowing continuation of manent resident of the US, in the pending human rights claims against Dr Manmohan Singh was known, Inderjit violation case against the former Indian prime minister.

Singh claimed the Indian police is harassing his family to The SFJ claimed that ‘the plaintiffs have met with a force him to withdraw the charges. stone wall in their attempts to serve the defendant ‘My father was illegally detained for a day and was through the Hague Convention via the Central Authority released only after the police took his signatures on a of India and hence the request to use alternative means blank paper,’ Inderjit Singh claimed. of service.’

“This lawsuit, like the others based upon the SFJ’s While requesting the judge to allow service of summons recipe, is intended to generate publicity and in the on Dr Singh’s daughter, the SFJ said, ‘Amrit Singh is a process dishonor India, former PM Singh and perhaps, known individual and has been residing and working in current PM Modi as he prepares to meet our President New York for several years. The relationship between the Obama,” noted attorney Ravi Batra, who represents the defendant Manmohan Singh and Amrit Singh as father

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Congress party.

“Judge Boasberg’s placement of ‘memo endorsement stamp’, without any opinion, granting the alternativeservice motion-request by SFJ’s affiliated plaintiffs, speaks to the law’s nobility and desire to provide a level playing field. It’s no different that when a doctor hears an emergency plea, and says go to the Emergency Room,” Batra added.

“Alternate service is the Emergency Room entrance for a court’s in personal jurisdiction, and is matter-of-factly granted as it merely allows a defendant to be served with a lawsuit — even one, such as this, which can be dismissed outright on the law,” he said.

“Genuine victims deserve better — lawsuits that can bring relief and damages, not merely publicity for the case’s handlers, SFJ, who is not a plaintiff in this case, and in the cases we handled for the INC and Mrs Sonia Gandhi, we got them unmasked and legally barred from being a plaintiff in the ATS and TVPA cases.”

This 12-year-old will sing at the US Open

Jehiel Butt, 12, is scheduled to sing America the Beautiful at the evening session of the US Open tennis championships at Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York, August 29. He was among the roughly 15 selected singers from an audition of about 400 kids at the Queens Theater in early July. His teacher at the Baccalaureate School for Global Education in Astoria, Queens, told him to go for the audition.

Jehiel is the son of MaryAnn Butt, originally from Mumbai, and Mumtaz Butt, who is from Pakistan. His parents said Jehiel showed special interest and talent for performing arts from a very early age.

The parents admitted him to the New York City Children’s Theater Company at age 4. At age 7, he started attending the Alvin Ailey Dance School in Manhattan. In 2013 and this year, he was selected to perform solo at Carnegie Hall for the program named Salute to Music by Middle Schools.

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INDIA IN NEW YORK AUGUST 29, 2014

DRUM backs the homeless in Queens

ARTHUR J PAIS

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oining a highly inflamed situation in Queens in which a largely middle class Chinese immigrant community is protesting against turning a defunct hotel into a shelter for the homeless — mostly African Americans and Latinos — Desis Rising Up and Moving last week offered solidarity and friendship to the newcomers to the New York neighborhood.

‘As an organization of low-income South Asian immigrants, we know that Band-aids and temporary fixes are not enough,’ said Fahd Ahmed, director of DRUM, South Asian Organizing Center.

DRUM was asking the city to help the families stand on their own, giving them vocational training and creating jobs, Ahmed said.

The residents have been protesting vigorously against the shelter for over two months, claiming that sanitation around the former hotel is deplorable and they do not feel safe to walk in the neighborhood. They have carried placards asking the newer immigrants to the neighborhood to get a job and be self sustaining.

DRUM members, who joined homeless people and their advocates, saw racism in the protest by the older residents.

The organizers of the shelter also asked the government to do much more than locating the homeless in dilapidated hotels.

‘In the world’s richest city, we have the ability, and the responsibility, to provide permanent housing for all New Yorkers,’ said Cathy Dang, executive director of CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities. ‘We do not condone the rhetoric shaming homeless individuals and families. CAAAV believes that everyone has a right to housing and that we are all fighting together for that common goal.’

The protesting residents said the activists have no moral legs to plead for the homeless. “They are living elsewhere where they are safe,” said a resident who was nudging children waving placards such as ‘Shame on You’ towards journalists. “And they come here and fight us. Let the mayor live here for a day and see what life is after it is dark. ” DRUM is a multigenerational, membership-led organization of low-wage South Asian immigrant workers and

youth in New York City, which was founded in 2000 by Monami Maulik, a Columbia University grad. It has taken part in many protests backing blacks and Latinos, and championed minority issues including the ending of police surveillance of Muslim communities and ending of deportation of immigrants.

Several shelter residents were vocal in decrying the attack on them at the rally.

‘I’ve been here four months and keep getting denied for housing, telling me I’m not eligible,’ Amy Rojas said at the rally. ‘I fell into this situation because I lost my job. I missed three interviews in the past two weeks because the city keeps telling me I’m ineligible and have to keep reapplying.

They’re not helping homeless people, we need permanent housing so we can look for and get a job.’

New York City spent $1 billion on the shelter system last year, but homeless people don’t benefit from being warehoused in facilities like the Pan Am Hotel, DRUM said. The Pan American Hotel, on Queens Boulevard, is one of dozen shelters opened since the beginning of the year in New York. Over 650 people, nearly half of them children, live in its 200 rooms.

Hundreds march in Rockland County India Day parade GEORGE JOSEPH

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undreds of people marched in the India Day parade organized by the India Cultural Society of Rockland, a 42-year-old nonprofit organization, which followed a fair and cultural program at the lawns of the Court House in New City, Rockland County, New York, August 16.

New York State Assemblyman Kenneth Zebrowski was the grand marshal for the parade, which was led

by Rockland County Legislator Aney Paul, and ICSR officials Rajan Baranwal, Ajayveer Chapotkat, Charu Krishan, Alka Shah and Smriti Sridhara.

There was also a public meeting, which was attended by US Representative Nita Lowey, state Senator David Carlucci, Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffey, Clarkstown Town Supervisor Alexander Gromack, County Executive Ed Day, County Legislators Aney Paul and Harriet Cornell, and others.

“Our parade ran for around 40 minutes,” Baranwal said, “consisting of lively Indian music, Indian drums on behalf of the Hudson Valley Malayalee Assocation, and colorful floats from ICSR, Jeevan Jyothi, Hudson Valley Malayalee Association, the Pomona Sri Ranganatha Temple, the Mahwah Temple, Hindu Samaj Temple, AAPI, and Bal Gokulam. The cultural program afterwards consisted of both Bollywood and classical Indian dance performances from children in the community.”

Baranwal said the county officials are very supportive of the parade, and “do everything within their power to assist ICSR in funding, procuring necessary permits, and approval of temporarily shutting down roads for the parade.”

A snapshot from the parade.

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INDIA IN NEW YORK AUGUST 29, 2014

HIS DREAM JOB

Preet Bharara in his office in Manhattan.

Preet Bharara speaks to Aziz Haniffa about how every day of the 5 years of being US Attorney for the Southern District of New York is Thanksgiving, and what happens post the Obama administration

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PARESH GANDHI

n the eve of completing five years as the hard-charging United States Attorney of the Southern District of New York, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, Preet Bharara, probably took on his toughest case yet.

In an interview on public radio in April, Bharara assailed New York Governor Andrew M Cuomo’s decision to disband the Moreland Commission, the anti-corruption commission Cuomo himself had set up.

Even as he was being interviewed, his investigators, it was reported, arrived at the commission’s headquarters in Lower Manhattan to haul out files and documents and copy hard drives.

This sequence of events, unfolding over a little more than an hour, perhaps set the stage for one of New York City’s most extraordinary battles — between the Governor and Bharara.

Fast forward three months, when it came to Bharara’s attention that Cuomo’s office had hobbled ethics inquiries by the commission, and worse, urged some members of the commission to issue public statements characterizing the commission’s operation. It metamorphosed into fullscale war.

The New York Times, in a three-page investigative piece July 23, spoke of how ‘Bharara directed his office to send a letter threatening to investigate the Cuomo administration for possible obstruction of justice or witness tampering.’

Dubbed ‘Cuomo’s Watergate’ by others, this had the potential to stymie, if not completely torpedo, his much speculated bid to seek the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2016.

Speaking to the Times for an article (dated August 18) coinciding with the fifth anniversary of his tenure August 13, Bharara said, ‘Any time there’s a suggestion of political meddling with an investigative body, however that investigative

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INDIA IN NEW YORK AUGUST 29, 2014

BRENDAN MCDERMID/REUTERS

HIS DREAM JOB

f PAGE 5 body was set up, that is going to cause alarm and should cause alarm.’

The Governor, who had declared in August last year that the commission could probe into ‘anything they want to,’ including him, has tried to roll back these words following Bharara’s investigation, saying in a statement that ‘a commission appointed by and staffed by the executive cannot investigate the executive. It is a pure conflict of interest, and would not pass the laugh test.’

Cuomo may also have asserted that the commission that he conceived and controlled was never intended to be independent, but Bharara is not buying any of it.

His office is investigating all the suggestions that the Cuomo administration made to the commission,

Preet Bharara speaks at a news conference about the verdict in the Abu Hamza al-Masri case outside the Manhattan Federal Courthouse in New York, May 19.

Highlights of the tenure Terrorism

l Conviction after trial of Osama bin

Laden’s son-in-law of terrorism charges. l Conviction after trial of UK Imam Mustafa Kamel Mustafa on terrorism charges. l Conviction in most serious post 9/11 terror threat to NYC, Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad. l Conviction following first and only civilian trial of Guantanamo Bay detainee. l Conviction of defendant who plotted to murder Saudi Ambassador. l Conviction of Pakistani scientist for attack on US soldiers in Afghanistan.

International criminals

l Conviction of one of the most prolific international arms traffickers in modern history, Viktor Bout. l First charge and conviction of a pirate, Somalian Abduwali Muse, on piracy-related charges in over a century. l Charges, convictions and expulsions of Russian spies. l Charges against international gang of mercenary killers. l Conviction of former Guatemalan president Alfonso Portillo on money-laundering charges. l Arrest of Bubo Na Tchuto, former head of the Guinea-Bissau navy, and six others on drug trafficking offenses. l Conviction of Christopher Coke, a violent gang leader engaging in narco-terrorism. l Extradition of Daniel Barrera, a Colombian drug lord. l Prosecution of director of Surinam’s anti-terrorism unit for conspiring to import cocaine into the US.

White collar/financial prosecutions, forfeitures

l Four out of five largest criminal forfeitures in US history (all over $1 billion) — BNP Paribas, Jeffrey Picower, J PMorgan Chase Bank, NA, Toyota. l Forfeitures of cultural artifacts — with repatriation of priceless fossils and art to countries and individuals. l Largest ever forfeiture of a building, 650 Fifth Avenue, a 36-story office tower in Manhattan. l First guilty plea by a Swiss bank, Wegelin & Co, on US tax charges. l Most successful string of insider trading prosecutions in history, including firms like SAC Capital Advisors and individuals like Raj Rajaratnam (of Galleon hedge fund), Rajat Gupta (former head, McKinsey and member of the Goldman Sachs board), and Madoff employees in the largest Ponzi scheme in history. l Convictions in the largest criminal tax fraud scheme in US history. l First charge and conviction in a Troubled Asset Relief Program fraud case. l Largest Medicare fraud in history involving 45 members and associates of Armenian-American organized crime enterprise.

Cyber prosecutions

l Charges against founder of largest online drug bazaar (Silk Road), resulting in largest forfeiture of Bitcoins (Silk Road). l Charges against operators and employees of Liberty Reserve, the world’s largest on-line money laundering operation. l Charges relating to malicious malware known as Blackshades in largest-ever

global cyber law enforcement operation.

Prosecution of individuals responsible for the ‘Gozi’ virus. l Prosecution of the CEO of the Bitcoin Exchange Company. l Prosecution of the ‘Anonymous’ cyberhacking group.

Public corruption prosecutions

l Successful prosecutions in Long Island Railroad pension disability fraud scheme. l Successful CityTime prosecution for largest known fraud ever committed against the City of New York. l Successful prosecution of individuals for illegal campaign finance activities in 2013 citywide mayoral election. l Prosecution of numerous state and local officials on fraud and corruption charges.

Violent gang prosecutions and takedowns

l Convicted over 1,000 violent street gang members in over 52 large-scale drug and gang takedowns, including members and associates of the Bloods, Latin Kings, and Trinitarios. l Human traffickers found guilty; FloresMendez brothers sentenced to life.

Affirmative civil litigation

l New and innovative cases under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployments Rights Act, like obtaining settlements in a class action suit against NYC for unlawfully reducing the pensions of NYPD employees. l Filed suits against developers and

including which subpoenas it should issue or not issue.

Also, no one is buying the contention by the Governor’s cohorts that the suggestions were only an effort to educate the commission that may have not been fully cognizant of the legislative process.

Bharara, who has convicted more than a dozen lawmakers on corruption charges, told the Times, ‘Some of the things that we’ve seen out of Albany and elsewhere are, quite frankly, appalling.’

And, perhaps in what could be construed as a dig at an incestuous relationship between the administration and the legislature, he added, ‘Speaking mildly obliquely, I don’t see

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architects of newly constructed NYC apartment buildings not designed and constructed to be accessible to persons with disabilities. l Actively enforcing a Fair Housing Act / False Claims Act consent decree with Westchester County. l Expanded the practice of filing statements of interest in private civil rights suits. l Continue to bring traditional significant civil rights cases uncovering racial discrimination in rental housing, in Irvington (2013), Riverdale (2012), and Rockland Counties (2012); and in lending (GFI, settled 2012) and pursuing criminal civil rights cases, including indicting a Department of Corrections Captain on Rikers Island for depriving an inmate of his constitutional right to have his serious medical needs addressed (the inmate, Jason Echevarria, died). l Following creation of the Civil Frauds Unit, several significant civil fraud actions filed against banks like Bank of America, Bank of New York/Mellon, Wells Fargo, Deutsche Bank and Citibank to pursue fraud claims and even big pharma. l Largest ever environmental clean-up settlement by US against Anadarko Petroleum Corp. l Robust tax shelter practice, with the office being scheduled to go to trial against Lehman Brothers in October, in a challenge to its use of a foreign-tax credit strategy involving stock-lending between Lehman’s US and UK divisions. l Representing the United States and its agencies in some of the largest and most significant bankruptcies in history, including Chrysler, General Motors, Kodak, Lehman Brothers, Enron, WorldCom, Delta Air Lines, Hostess, and American Airlines.

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a lot of legislative hearings going on about anything relating to public corruption in Albany.’

While sources said that Cuomo intended to slug it out to vindicate himself, they acknowledged there was growing concern in his camp that with Bharara on the prowl — nay warpath — other possible violations could come to light and even if it doesn’t tie the Governor directly, he would still be damaged goods even as he seeks re-election to the governor’s mansion.

As Jeff Smith at Politico said, ‘Few US attorneys — particularly not the pugnacious Bharara — get into public pissing matches they intend to lose.’

No small wonder then that John Cassidy, writing in The New Yorker, said that while Cuomo could take all sorts of things ‘in stride’ from jibes from opponents and critical editorials, ‘a full-fledged investigation of him and his staff by Bharara and his crew? That would be something nobody —

HIS DREAM JOB

Above, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo with President Barack Obama. Left, Preet Bharara with the President.

The clash of what The New York Times called ‘two of New York’s most powerful Democrats’ — the investigation of Cuomo’s disbanded anti-corruption commission by Bharara’s office — has sent alarm bells going off in the Democratic establishment.

not even Cuomo — could take lightly.’

Bharara also made his intentions clear in this exclusive interview with India in New York, coinciding with his fifth anniversary as US Attorney. He said “no one is above the law and no one gets a short-cut around the law,” whether “you are a politician who’s been elected to office by hundreds of thousands of people, it doesn’t matter.”

This belief that “the law is the law” could well be the theme of his tenure. It has been visible in every case his office has taken on, even the controversy involving the arrest of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade controversy, which he admits took a toll.

With his trademark humor, Bharara talks about completing five years without being fired and the future, which, he is adamant, does not involve getting politics.

How does it feel being the hard-charging, hard-driving prosecutor for five years now?

(Laughs) It’s actually the longest job I’ve ever had as an adult, and I am just glad I’ve got to do five years without getting fired. At the moment, I am the fourth-longest serving (US Attorney for the Southern District of New York) since the beginning of the 1900s. Mary Jo White did nine (years, from 1993 to 2002), Robert Morgenthau did about eight (years, from 1961 to 1970) and (Rudy) Giuliani (former Republican New York Mayor, during 9/11) about six (years, from 1983 to 1989).

I know each case is important in itself, but what were the cases that made the job most fulfilling?

It’s been the career professionals in my office who have

done so much good work with the law enforcement partners over the last five years, it’s impossible to name a single highlight. It’s basically been the equivalent of a highlight reel, whether you are talking about the terrorism cases, including the Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad, or the first and only person convicted out of Guantanamo Bay, and more recently, Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law, or you are talking about the huge cases against big companies like Toyota or Bank of America or BNP, the largest bank in France, or the oldest bank in Switzerland or SAC Capital.

Those have been unbelievably important cases, or you are talking about a line of corrupt politicians (in the New York state legislatures in Albany) who’ve been held accountable and sent to prison or you are talking about some of the civil cases or you are talking about the cyber cases.

What I am proud of is that everyone in the office has worked really hard in every area — not just one or two areas, but really in every area — making the public a little safer and holding people accountable who deserve to be held accountable.

Any real downers? What I mean is, where I am sure prosecuting some of these cases were probably so saddening, so tragic, considering who the victims of the guys you were prosecuting were?

There are a lot of sad things. A lot of the crimes we prosecuted, at base, they have to be prosecuted because what happens to start a case was a tragedy.

We convicted (Ahmed) Ghailani and brought to trial more people who were responsible for the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, in which 24 people were killed.

We prosecuted gang cases in Newburgh in the Bronx after innocent kids had been shot and killed in the crossfire.

We had cases that didn’t get much attention with the sexual abuse and exploitation of children and those are incredibly sad.

KEVIN LAMARQUE/REUTERS

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But what is rewarding is that at the end of the day, we do as much as we can to bring some peace and justice to families and also a different kind of justice to the perpetrators.

Is this still your dream job? You’ve told me many times earlier in interviews that you’ve got the best job in the world?

But how do you feel now — five years later?

Absolutely. A 100 percent. One of the reasons I stayed as long as I have and I hope to stay a long time more, as I say to people in the office — and they get tired of me saying this — when you are lucky enough to have a job in the US Attorney’s Office and whether you are the US Attorney yourself or anyone serving on the staff, everyday is Thanksgiving, and I continue to believe that.

So, it’s still your dream job even after the Devyani Khobragade affair (the former deputy Indian consul-general in New York whom his office indicted for visa fraud and alleged exploitation of her nanny), Rajat Gupta (the iconic Indian-American former head of McKinsey and board member of Goldman Sachs) and all the flak that you got from Indians for that? How come, your only job seems to be prosecuting Indians?

Associated with the job, when I was a line prosecutor and even now, if you get your satisfaction and your self-worth just from what people say, in particular from what other people who don’t know anything about the facts of what the law says, then you won’t last very long.

We get our self-worth and satisfaction from the fact that everyday — no matter what criticism comes our way, no matter what political forces or winds there are — that we do what we think is right.

Do we make mistakes sometimes? Of course. But the guiding principle is that we do what we think is right all the

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HIS DREAM JOB

time, whether you are talking about a small case, a large case, whether you are talking about a powerful person or a rich person or a politically connected person.

None of that matters to us and that’s why the office has the reputation that it has preceding me. It’s because we really don’t care what ideology people come from, or what country people are from, but that if you’ve broken the law, then you have to answer for it.

I know the Khobragade case affected you much more than even the Rajat Gupta case vis-à-vis the Indian-American community. I believe the former controversy affected you not so much for the criticism you received from Indians and the Indian media and the personal attacks, but I guess the fact that you were concerned about the flak that your parents got.

And despite all of your humor, including at the Harvard Law School Commencement speech, how tough was it? Did it burn you up?

It was not terrific. I don’t mind criticism and if you do any kind of a public job, you have to get used to criticism. I don’t mind it. But what gets to you is if people question your motivations in an idiotic way. And, there are a lot of people who do a lot of things, and you can criticize the decisions that the President makes or a public official makes, but when you suggest that their motivations are because they hate their own country — the country they come from — or they hate the color of your skin, that’s obnoxious and silly, and when your parents have to read that and your family has to read that, there are occasions when that can get to you. But I am a big boy and you get past that.

I know of the jokes you made in your Harvard speech and the digs you took at the India media for their saying that your indictment of Khobragade was to ‘serve his white masters’ and you quipped, ‘presumably, Eric Holder and Barack Obama.’

Also at the India Abroad Person of the Year function (June 20) you joked that you intended to ‘arrest all the Indians in the room’ and that ‘not all of you could have diplomatic

immunity.’ But later (after the event ended, Democratic Party fundraiser and longtime community activist) Ramesh Kapur got in your face about indicting Khobragade for a second time (even after she had left for India but making it possible to arrest her in case she returned to the US without diplomatic immunity) and why you had to go after her for a second time, etc?

I understand there are a lot of people who have their own views… but the law is the law, and if you’ve broken the law, whether you are a mid-level or a previously unknown Indian diplomat or you are a hedge-fund kingpin or you are a drug-dealer or you are a politician who’s been elected to office by hundreds of thousands of people, if doesn’t matter.

No one is above the law and no one gets a short-cut around the law. That’s actually why notwithstanding occasional small pockets of criticism from people who are not familiar with the office and don’t even live in this country, the strength of the office is that we are relentless in every case.

Sometimes there is a high-profile case in a particular community and it gets a lot of attention, but we are relentless in every case.

We are relentless in some cases you haven’t heard of — in our murder cases, in our drug cases, we are relentless in our arms trafficking cases, we are relentless in our public corruption cases. In all our cases.

So, when one asks a silly question as to why you don’t drop a case and there is no legal basis for dropping a case, why should you do it? Why should somebody get special treatment because they happen to be of the same ethnic background as the prosecutor? To do that in fact, would be corrupt.

Our office tried the son of the crime boss John Gotti, Jr, three times unsuccessfully because they didn’t care if they’d be successful. (But) That’s the way we do it and I don’t think John Gotti, Jr was from India! You understand where I am coming from.

On the Khobragade affair, were you disappointed that the State Department seemed to be pulling the rug under you,

Left, Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade after returning to India following her arrest in New York.

Right, Rajat Gupta departs the Manhattan Federal Court after being sentenced in New York.

Bharara has faced much criticism from the Indian-American community when cases involving high-profile desis have been prosecuted by his ofice. But he says, ‘If you do any kind of a public job, you have to get used to criticism. I don’t mind it.’

LUCAS JACKSON/REUTERS

REUTERS

INDIA IN NEW YORK AUGUST 29, 2014

with the Secretary of State (John F Kerry, calling then Indian national security adviser Shiv Shankar Menon and) expressing ‘regret’ (over the way Khobragade had been arrested and strip and cavity-searched by US Marshals)?

I’ve made enough public statements about how that case unfolded and I think I’ll leave it there (the same evening after the State Department announced that Kerry had called Menon and expressed ‘regret’ over the episode, Bharara countered by issuing a statement strongly defending his office’s decisions, and pointing out that the State Department’s Office of Diplomatic Security had only initiated the Khobragade arrest and turned over the material to the US Attorney’s office. Bharara later said in interviews that ‘our partner agency knows quite well — and in great detail — what my views are on how that case was handled.’)

You’ve been pretty adamant that a political career is not on the cards for you. Why? After all, that’s public service too and I am sure that if you are a US Senator or a member of the US House of Representatives, you could make a difference too. So, why this almost antipathy toward a political career? (Bharara had also been strongly tipped to be the next Attorney General in the Obama administration’s second term, but this speculation has dissipated, following Eric Holder’s indications that he has no intention of resigning anytime soon).

I have a better job than all of those people. I don’t have to deal with political nonsense everyday. I can get up every morning and try to figure out what’s the right thing to do and care about public safety and care about people’s livelihood and protecting them. So, I don’t think there is anything better than that.

I don’t have anything against people who decide to go into

PAGE 9 g

Cover Story

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INDIA IN NEW YORK AUGUST 29, 2014

HIS DREAM JOB f PAGE 8

PARESH GANDHI

politics or the long number of people we’ve prosecuted. But if they do it the right way, they are to be commended, they are to be admired. So, everyone is different, but that’s not my cup of tea.

What happens to you in the next two years when the Obama administration’s term comes to an end? Will you be affected in any way? Or can you carry on in a new administration?

That’s not up to me. I’d like to go on as long as I can, but there are other people you’ll have to ask that question probably.

Not just in terms of a possible political career, but even in terms of the private sector — have you given it any thought or are you laser-focused on your current job?

Yes, because if you get distracted about Preet Bharara receives the India Abroad Person of the Year 2011, an annual honor awarded by India in New York’s sister publication. the next thing, you are not going to do the ty should be involved in all aspects of life.

I don’t believe I’ve ever made any statement about current thing especially well. At some point, when I have to When I started in law school, there were only a couple of Indian Americans influence and any generalization in the leave, I’ll probably think about it then, but not now.

Indian Americans in my law school class and now there are same way that I don’t think people can make generalizaWere you a little pissed that your perfect batting average many, many more. That helps people not to stereotype a tions about how I do my job because I happen to be of that could have been 86-0 became 85-1 by that one strike out particular community.

Indian descent. in terms of Wall Street prosecutions?

It also helps the community as a whole when young peoBut what is true is that there is a subset of young people, By any measure, 85 and 1 is an incredible record and a ple think they have a lot of options — that they don’t have White, Black, Indian, Latino or whatever, who probably better record than even our overall record prosecutions of don’t appreciate the privileges that they’ve gotten, who don’t to just become a doctor, or an engineer, and hopefully over the office. So, that one acquittal we had so far in trial makes appreciate that they can get into trouble if they are not care- time there are many more breakthrough artists like DJ clear how impressive the first 85 convictions were. ful about how they go about their business and have integri- Rekha and Aasif Mandvi and others to show that South It’s not easy to convict somebody in America; it shouldn’t Asians can go into art and music and comedy and acting ty, and that’s a problem and that can rile people up. be and it isn’t. It also shows people that we weren’t just takand that’s all great.

I don’t think there’s anything specific to the Indianing easy cases — we were taking hard cases too.

Really there’s nothing that is a greater testament for a American community at all.

But what would you say to critics who say that you guys community in a country than being involved at a high Your presence at the Vanity Fair Oscar party and your seem to have gone after the banks, but don’t seem to have appearances at other high-profile events has led to some crit- level in every aspect of business and public life and the gone after the bankers who were the ones responsible for arts. ics saying you’ve become a media celebrity and that you bask some of these huge corrupt practices and insider trading?

Not forgetting your latest fan, Mindy Kaling? in the spotlight and they tie this to political ambitions. What Again, not every case is easy to be brought. But we’ve felt I am a fan of hers — I am not sure about the other do you say to such contentions? we’ve done both. We’ve gone after individuals. We went direction.

Every once in a while, I get invited to something where I after individual bankers in the JP Morgan Chase London Finally, anything you can say on the (New York Governor am a fish out of water, and every once in a while I go. I went case, we went after bankers in the Credit Suisse case, and Andrew) Cuomo Moreland Commission case (where and spoke at a very distinguished event — the Harvard Law those related to the financial crisis.

School commencement exercise — which, was a great honor Bharara has attacked Cuomo on his decision to disband the In other circumstances we’ve gone after gigantic banks anti-corruption and government ethics commission case that and I also had a selfie with Mindy Kaling that day. I am and have them pay billions of dollars and have them agree Cuomo himself had appointed and his office has decided to happy about both things. to a monitor and have them agree to make admissions of investigate the findings of this Commission)?

The reason that our office gets the attention is because of bad conduct and have them agree to deferred prosecution I think I’ve said enough about that and you have everythe cases that career line prosecutors bring every day and charges. So, you can’t generalize on a particular case, on thing I’ve said on that (that is already in the public domain, it’s important for people to know about their work because particular facts that you have. reported by The New York Times and other mainstream that is what helps to achieve its desired effect and helps I know we’ve spoken about this — about some young media and his interview on public radio in April). other people to see how they shouldn’t act and also is a tesIndian Americans on Wall Street who believe they are Any vacations planned anytime soon — to India (he has tament to the work the career people do every day. So, I immortal, and I remember you saying how you’ve been put been asked to stay away from the country of his birth), don’t see that as a bad thing. off by their arrogance and their smugness that they can get Russia (where he was banned after prosecuting arms dealer In recent years, besides Judge Sri (Srinivasan), there has away with anything?

Viktor Bout), Switzerland (the country’s oldest bank pleaded been quite a proliferation of nominations and appointments For example, Mathew Martoma (convicted by a jury of the guilty to helping Americans evade their taxes) or Albany (he of Indian-American judges both at the federal and state levlargest-ever insider trading case), whom you had your sights has prosecuted several lawmakers)? els. How delighted are you with this development? on and whom you also want to forfeit $9.4 million and also Not at the moment, but if I do so, I’ll be sure to wear a I believe diversity is terrific. I am happy because in part pay a fine. Are these guys besmirching the Indian American disguise. diversity is good and that members of the Indian communibrand on Wall Street?

Aseem in New York

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INDIA IN NEW YORK AUGUST 29, 2014

And so, Bombay Palace shuts down L

ast week as I walked on 52nd Street in midtown Manhattan, I passed by the familiar awning of Bombay Palace, a restaurant I have known since my early days in New York City. I was shocked to notice that there was brown paper on the glass door of the restaurant and the menu had been taken off from the side glass windows. I was shocked, but not surprised that the eatery had shut down.

I was at Bombay Palace in late June for an after-party for a small indie film, Siddharth, directed by Canadian-Indian filmmaker Richie Mehta and I remember wondering how this restaurant had stayed opened for so long.

For a while, Bombay Palace — which served mostly North Indian Mughlai food, with perhaps the best butter chicken and kababs — was a solid place to eat Indian food in New York City.

But in the days of newer Indian restaurants, with innovative In the 1980s and even through 1990s, Bombay Palace was a New York City institution fusion dishes and Michelin stars, Bombay Palace had long lost its Room have had to shut doors, although it edge. Plus, the rents must have been very a limited shelf life. Just when you think has reopened in a new incarnation with high for a restaurant located on 52nd you have the best formula, someone else new management. comes along with the next big thing. Even Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. iconic restaurants like The Russian Tea In the 1980s and even through 1990s In a city like New York, restaurants have

T

Rani Mukerji in a scene from Mardaani

his past weekend I went to the UA Kaufman Astoria multiplex to see the latest Bollywood film Mardaani with Rani Mukerji. My first reaction when the film started was that the theater was nearly empty. Either the film did not come with the kind of buzz that big budget productions like Happy New Year are already getting, or more likely Mukerji just does not have the kind of pull among desis compared to stars like Aamir Khan or Shah Rukh Khan.

I was ready for an over-the-top Bollywood film with Mukerji’s female cop who acts more manly than other men. But I was fairly surprised. Much of Mardaani is over-thetop melodrama, but it has enough action and a plotline as well. And here is the surprise – there is no romance sub-plot and no songs, except for one in the end that overemphasizes the film’s message. And Mukerji was especially good through most of the film.

But Mardaani, with its focus on sex traf-

Bombay Palace was a New York City institution, run by Sant Chatwal. I visited the eatery many times with friends and for events. In 1993 my American colleagues at Sony Music took me there for a farewell buffet lunch when I left the company to join Reader’s Digest.

I remember a big Mahindra Indo American Arts Council Film Festival party in 2010, with celebrities like Aparna Sen and Rahul Bose. And Suketu Mehta’s Maximum City book launch party was held there.

In the early 2000s Vikram Chatwal (Sant Chatwal’s son) along with his friends Gotham and Mallika Chopra (Deepak Chopra's children) converted the upstairs dinning space into KLounge, a desi club with decor inspired by erotic sculptures from the Khajuraho and Konark temples. There were many parties in the K-Lounge. A R Rahman held a press conference to announce his Jai Ho stage show. And Jay Sean spoke to the press, the night before his big concert at Atlantic City.

Chatwal sold the place to another restaurateur and it was only time before we would say goodbye to an Indian institution in New York City.

ficking of young girls, ends with a very wrong and problematic message which reflects a horrible set of political views.

By channeling the anger that emerged on the streets of Delhi after the gang-rape of a student in December 2012, director Pradeep Sarkar suggests that it is okay for a cop to take personal revenge against the criminal. And it is equally okay for those who were affected by the criminal’s crimes to also beat him up.

It is such an irresponsible message from the filmmaker and his producers Yash Raj Films. They believe they are making a socially important film, but in the process they doing greater harm to society.

Recently, India's Central Board of Film Certification has been in the news after the arrest of its CEO on bribery charges. I wonder how a government agency that is supposed to watch over the moral structure of society would approve of such a nonsensical ending.

American Desi

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INDIA IN NEW YORK AUGUST 29, 2014

Phir bhi dil hai Hindustani ‘Having been raised in Surat's streets, I have a natural ability to make friends and build relationships that have lasted a lifetime,’ says Suresh Maisuria.

Words and image: Paresh Gandhi

I

t started with a dream. A dream for a better life for his family.

But, says Suresh Maisuria candidly, if it were not for his uncle, that dream may have never become reality.

“In 1989,” he says, “my Mama (maternal brother) brought us over the United States on a family immigrant visa.”

It was a start, but not an easy one.

“I did not have an American degree or the necessary language skills, I had no option but to opt for hourly wage jobs,” says Suresh, as he recalls how he struggled to provide for his family.

He found an opening at Kentucky Fried Chicken, as a server packing chicken wings in the kitchen. He worked 14 hour shifts. He worked days, nights, weekends, holidays… logging the maximum hours possible.

“My commitment and diligence were noticed,” he recalls proudly. “Within six months, I became a shift manager.

Within a year, I was running the KFC outlet in Elizabeth, New Jersey.”

He held the job for six years.

During these days of struggle, romance bloomed in Suresh’s heart.

He had met the young lady who would be his wife before he came to America. He returned to India to marry her.

Back in America, the struggle continued.

Like most Gujaratis, the entrepreneurial urge flowed strong in his veins. Suresh now dreamt of owning a motel.

In order to make more money, he would go people’s homes to cut their hair in his free time, The skill he had learnt from his father as a lad in Surat had come to good use.

Another typically Indian skill came his aid. He knew how to scrimp and, by 1995, he had saved enough for a down payment on a motel in western New Jersey. At which point, he ran into what seemed like an insurmountable roadblock.

He needed a guarantee for the bank loan!

“Starting my own business in the US was my lifelong dream and this hurdle threatened to derail it. I had no assets to offer collateral,” he says.

But then, a miracle happened. Word spread among the Indian community that he needed a guarantor.

“To my surprise,” he recalls, “not one but three businessmen from the community offered to underwrite the guarantee for my loan!

“Having been raised in Surat's galiyan (streets), I have a natural ability to make friends and build relationships that have lasted a lifetime. Almost all my acquaintances have become my lifelong friends.

It was the first time he was running a business, but he decided it would have a ‘personal’ foundation. He nurtured his relationships on the professional front as well.

“That is why I enjoy great loyalty from my customers and my staff. More than 80 per cent of my business is from repeat customers.

“I have also developed a great network of service providers for my motel business. I am a pretty good citizen in the community too. As a result, I get good support from my town, the sheriff, the police and utility

Suresh Maisuria, left, with his family. providers,” he says.

With his motel doing well, Suresh decided to diversify.

His sister-in-law, who runs a mergers and acquisitions advisory service, suggested signing on with Great Clip, a nationwide hair salon franchisee. “They were planning to enter the New York-New Jersey market in a big way,” he says.

She helped him prepare a business plan and the rest, he says happily, was history. “Within three years, we have opened two salons and plan to open several more.”

Looking back, he says, “My story is the story of every immigrant in this great country. What matter more, however, is how you enjoy your journey. Having a great time with my family and friends is more important to me than the pursuit of money. I value my relationships over everything else in my life.

“We came to US with nothing but a few clothes! I could not speak proper English or afford a car.” But, with the support of his family and friends, he built a good life here.

Suresh was born in a village in south Gujarat. It has no electricity, no paved roads, and less than 5,000 residents.

When Suresh was 5, his father moved to Surat in order to provide a better future to his family.

It was the very same reason that motivated Suresh to move to America. But he didn’t leave India behind.

Suresh is as proud of his Indian roots as he is about being an American. “I still enjoy the kind of intimacy and informality with my friends that you will find back home.

My friends can knock at my door at middle of the night and I can do the same.”

His children too have been taught to respect Indian values. “My son, Hem, is studying bio-medical engineering at NJIT and my daughter, Vidi, is a junior at Morris County Vocational Technical Institute. My father is 83 and he lives with us.”

He returns to India for every alternate year. “While most of my immediate family members have migrated to the USA, I still have an uncle and couple of cousins back in Surat. However, one does not need connection with the motherland; we are bound by the umbilical cord. I have many of my childhood friends, relatives and tons of fond memories.”

Suresh continues keeping the Indian spirit alive in the US. “I have great respect for our community. We are a cohesive group and are always ready to help fellow Indians in need.”

Special

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INDIA IN NEW YORK AUGUST 29, 2014

A true master

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY: IYENGARYOGAKSHEMA.ORG

Nivedita Joshi had given up hope, virtually bedridden from spinal problems, when she met yoga guru B K S Iyengar, who passed away last week. Upasna Pandey finds out what happened next

N

ivedita Joshi spent 12 years virtually bedridden until she met legendary yoga guru Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar, who passed into the ages August 20 at the age of 95.

Born and educated in Allahabad, Nivedita was 15 when she was stricken by slip disc and cervical spondylosis. She lost all hope as she suffered perpetual pain for almost 12 years and was practically on a wheelchair.

“I was around 26,” Nivedita remembers, “when (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh veteran) Nanaji Deshmukh, friend of my father (senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Murli Manohar Joshi), introduced me to Guruji’s yoga. I realized after six months that something was incomplete in my practice. I met a physiotherapist who was Guruji’s disciple; she guided me to him.”

She recalls not discussing her condition or sharing her reports with Iyengar when she first met him.

“Guruji saw the skin of my neck and said, ‘I am ashamed that for six months you have been practicing my yoga and you don’t have any confidence and progress in your condition. You will start coming to me from tomorrow’.”

The conviction in his voice made her “surrender to his vision,” she says.

Nivedita Joshi, left, with her late guru B K S Iyengar. Above, Joshi now teaches yoga in New Delhi.

By the 12th day of her practice, she regained the confidence that she lost 12 years before.

“I continued my practice for a month and extended it to a year. Then over the next three years, I took short breaks and continued to go to Guruji to practice yoga,” Nivedita says. “The most wonderful day of my life was when my MRI showed that I was out of danger post three years of yoga practice.”

Another moment of pride for her was when Iyengar tied a ‘ganda’ (thread) of Patanjali on her wrist as a mark of recognition for her devotion to yoga.

Having learned from the master for 18 years, Nivedita now runs a state-of-theart Iyengar Yoga Centre Yogakshema in New Delhi.

Trained as a microbiologist, Nivedita decided to give up her career to practice yoga to improve her condition.

“I wanted to do something for Guruji, but I was sure that I did not want to teach yoga,” she says. “So I created two television series, Dharohar and Arogya Yog; the second series has been translated in 12 regional languages and is still running on some channels. Guruji taught me yoga with unparalleled zest. I was among his devoted students; I applied scientific approach, was

a disciplined student and always tried to capture his energy and teachings.”

She added that Iyengar was unfailing in his efforts and hard work on every student and she resolved not to let this go waste.

“Guruji was keen that I start teaching yoga and set up a center in Delhi. I wasn’t sure and did not agree,” she says.

Iyengar then called her to attend an international workshop of senior yoga teachers and students in Pune. He along with his son and daughter taught at the workshop, which was “an amazing symphony of yoga,” Nivedita says. Iyengar again asked Nivedita if she was ready to teach yoga. This time she said yes.

“From there began my journey of teaching yoga, during which I was blessed to learn by sitting next to Guruji. He was not only an intense teacher, but remained focused on my healing process all along,” she says.

Iyengar continued to visit Nivedita’s Delhi center till recently, holding workshops and training students.

“In our last interaction in June this year, he asked me about my lower spine and directed me to work on some asanas along with his granddaughter, which I did. It worked wonders for me,” Nivedita says.

“Guruji used to say that patients make the

best teachers because they have compassion and sincerity to learn.”

She is convinced that Iyengar wanted her to teach all along, apart from healing her from her prolonged pain.

She says, “The way to pay tribute to my Guruji would be to continue on his path and principles and be steadfast on true and genuine practice, which I want my students to learn from me.”

Her voice chokes with emotion as she talks about her teacher.

“Indeed there is a vacuum in the world of yoga with his demise,” she says, “but I am sure his son and daughter, who are both great practitioners, will continue to disseminate his teachings.”

Nivedita’s own students are of mixed nationalities and backgrounds.

She laments the absence of reverence for “guru-shishya” culture, which is intrinsic to the process of learning and healing through yoga.

“Unless we are willing to be open and humble,” she asks, “how can a guru fill our minds with learnings and wisdom? I am a hard taskmaster, as I instruct my students to leave their ego outside the room along with their footwear because yoga is all about being humble and willing to adapt and follow a path of core practice.”

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India in New York August 29, 2014

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Bollywood INDIA IN NEW YORK AUGUST 29, 2014

I was missing popular songs, the hero-villain conflict and combat, the drama, the romance, Emraan Hashmi tells Sonil Dedhia

ÂKISSING SCENES HAVE LOST THEIR SHOCK VALUEÊ A

fter surprising his critics with films like Shanghai, Ghanchakkar and Ek Thi Dayaan, Emraan Hashmi is back on home turf with Raja Natwarlal, August 29.

The film features the actor as a smalltime conman, who wants to get into the big league.

On a rainy Saturday afternoon in Mumbai, India in New York catches up with Hashmi.

Ghanchakkar and Ek Thi Daayan did not do well at the box office. Is there pressure to deliver a hit with Raja Natwarlal?

My last release was a year ago.

There have been a few personal problems (his young son was diagnosed with cancer) and some delays due to which this film took almost 10 months to be completed.

I hope Raja Natwarlal lives up to expectations. My previous films missed out on good music and a few other things that I am known for.

We are shooting for this song, Tere Hoke Rahenge. It has chartbuster written all over it.

If you are confident of your film, no matter when it comes out, your fans will be waiting to watch it.

Did you deliberately decide to do a film

your fans want to see you in?

Yes. A critically acclaimed film earns half the earnings in comparison to a commercial film. But I will continue to do such films. The problem is that the trade is very myopic. They always talk about box-office numbers.

Coming back to what I am really known for — the quintessential box-office mainstream stuff — Raja Natwarlal, by design, has everything in it.

I was missing popular songs, the herovillain conflict and combat, the drama, the romance...

I won’t say kisses because my wife would kill me if I say that (laughs).

So, yes, I was missing all of that and I am happy I am back doing it.

You play a conman in Raja Natwarlal.

‘Conman’ is too affluent or elitist a word to describe the character that I play. I would rather call him a fraudster. He comes from the streets and declares, “Main charso beesi (420 refers to the Indian Penal Code section that deals with cheating and dishonesty and has been adopted by popular culture as a tag for such criminals) karta hoon.”

He prefers small scams to the huge ones, but he is a small-time scamster who wants to become the master of the longer version of the game.

The film was earlier titled Shaatir. Any particular reason for changing the title to Raja Natwarlal?

Shaatir was the working title. We shot half the film with that title. During the shoot, we realized that Raja Natwarlal was a very colorful character. He says some tongue-in-cheek dialogues and he is a funny guy. Shaatir was a dark title, so we decided to change it.

Will Raja Natwarlal’s music please fans missing the trademark Emraan Hashmi hit music?

Yes, they missed the music. And many other elements that I am known for.

But in this film we are back with chartbusters.

My films are synonymous with great music. Today, any successful film must have music that connects with classes as well as masses. The soundtrack of Raja Natwarlal, I feel, has all of that.

Karan Johar recently passed on the serial kisser tag to Alia Bhatt on a TV show.

I am very happy. Please give it to someone else. I am fed up of the serial kisser crown. I would love to pass the baton to these young actors and let’s see how far they take it.

When I started off, it was spooky for all of us as no one had attempted something so bold.

Today, kissing scenes have lost their shock value. It has just become a part of the script. If you want to show romance or a love sequence, you push in a kissing scene.

Have you watched any of your cousin Alia’s films?

I rarely watch Hindi movies. I saw Student Of The Year and liked it. She was pretty good. She always tells me to watch her films. I’ll see her other films soon.

Any plans of working with her in the future?

I would love to, but we would have to play brother-sister, else it would be very twisted (laughs).

You are all set to work again with Vidya Balan in Hamari Adhuri Kahaani.

When The Dirty Picture had released, our pairing was quite liked. There was one scene between Silk and Abraham (their characters in The Dirty Picture) in the pre climax. Besides that, there was no scene between them.

The last scene somehow defined their romance and people felt it was one of the best romantic scenes ever shot.

In Ghanchakkar, we kept fighting but now there will be a lot of scope for romance, drama and intensity. So it will be great, I guess.

Bollywood

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INDIA IN NEW YORK AUGUST 29, 2014

Arjun Kapoor attends the wrap-up party of director Sriram Raghavan’s Badlapur.

The cast and crew — from left, actress Nargis Fakhri; cinematographer Anil Mehta; actors Divya Dutta, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Varun Dhawan, Huma Qureshi; co-producer Dinesh Vijan.

ALL THAT GLITTERS

A PEEK INTO THE WEEK’S GLITZIEST TINSEL TOWN EVENTS PHOTOGRAPHS: PRADEEP BANDEKAR

From left, director Sriram Raghavan shares a light moment with actor Varun Dhawan and co-producer Dinesh Vijan

Actress Rani Mukerji inaugurates a self-defence workshop for schoolgirls in Mumbai along with the city’s Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria.

Actor Ranbir Kapoor joins Saavn, a digital music company, as creative partner.

Bollywood

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INDIA IN NEW YORK AUGUST 29, 2014

Raju Shrestha, as a television star now.

Below, as the much-loved Master Raju.

to ha lets us in n t s e r h S ju a R io is conversat h t in fe li is h with Patcy N

n i k c a b Going h t i w e m i t U J A R R MASTE

O

ne of the most popular child actors of his time, Master Raju has acted with some of the biggest actors of Bollywood. Now 47, the actor is just as busy, thanks to his television shows.

Raju, whose real name is Fahim Ajani, tells India in New York how he got his name, anecdotes from his childhood on the sets, and what he’s been doing all these years.

Starting off in Bollywood It was Sanjeev Kumar who started calling me Raju, when I did my first film Parichay (1972) with him. That’s how I became Master Raju.

My father Yusuf was a chartered accountant and my mother Mehrunissa was a school teacher. My older brother Parvez is presently settled in the US and my elder sister passed away about 25 years ago.

We had no connection with films. I got my first film Parichay when I was five years old.

We lived in Dongri (in south Mumbai). Child and junior

artistes often came from Dongri those days because the casting agents lived there.

Gulzar bhai (the well-known director Gulzar) was looking for a child actor for Parichay. A junior casting agent got in touch with my father to ask if I would be interested.

My family was ignorant about films, so my father’s first reaction was to turn down the offer. But eventually he agreed.

We came to Pali Hill in Bandra (a suburb of Mumbai), where Gulzar bhai had his office. All the kids who had come for the audition were well prepared. Some danced, some did mimicry and some recited dialogues from films.

I felt inferior as I was not prepared.

Gulzar bhai talked to everybody. When he came to me, I started crying. My parents thought there is no chance now that I had started crying.

Two days later we got a call from Gulzar bhai’s office to say he wanted to meet me again. When we met him he said, ‘I was looking for a kid who behaved his age. All the kids I met were over-prepared and behaved older than their age. I want someone who behaves like a five-year-old and so I am going to cast you for Parichay.’

My scene from the film where I say ‘K for Karna hai’ was

a huge hit. People wrote about me. They called me a scene-stealer.

Shooting for Parichay Jeetuji (Jeetendra) was the producer of the film. He looked after us children, played with us and made us very comfortable.

We did outdoor shoots in Pune, Panchgani, Mahableshwar, the Khandala Ghats... in those days, in 1972, going to such places was a big thing.

Jeetuji was seeing actress Mumtaz then so she would come on the sets and play with us.

I was scared of the actress Veena, who played the sister of actor Pran in the film.

She was a very famous vamp. Whenever I saw her on the sets, I would start crying.

There is a scene in the film where we break the teacher’s chair and Veena enters the room and throws the leg of the chair at us. We had to do many retakes for that particular scene because as soon as Veena entered the room, I would start crying, even before she threw the leg of the chair at us!

Gulzar bhai got things done in such a way that everyone was comfortable. The work he got out of all the kids in Parichay was amazing. I did Khushboo and Kitaab with him too.

I remember when I became an adult, I did a stupid film and Gulzar bhai asked me why I did it. I told him I did it for money. He said, ‘Paise he kamana hain toh dukaan khol lo phir acting kyun kartey ho (If you want to make money, open a shop, shy take up acting?).’

After Parichay, I started getting a lot of work. Since I was good at studies, I would carry my books on the sets and gave all my exams.

I was seven when I acted in Khushboo, with Hema Malini, who spoke very little. But she would play with me.

I taught her how to spin a top.

I have done quite a few films with Hemaji — Dream Girl, Nastik, and Krodhi.

Rapport with actors I don’t know how I transformed into an actor. In my first few films, I had to be myself, a kid, but later I started acting.

I acted in films directed by Yash Chopra, Hrishikesh

PAGE 19 g

Bollywood

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INDIA IN NEW YORK AUGUST 29, 2014

Going back in time with Master Raju

Master Raju with Gulzar, the filmmaker who launched him.

Below, with actor Amitabh Bachchan.

f PAGE 18 Mukherjee, Basu Chatterjee and Gulzar.

They didn’t make me ‘act;’ they just told me to be there and do what I wanted. By being on the sets, in that atmosphere, watching other actors, I started learning the craft.

I had a great rapport with Dharamji (Dharmendra). I did Samadhi, Krodhi and Dream Girl with him. We would share the same tiffin.

I have done the most number of films with Jeetendra — Badalate Rishtey, Aatish, Kushboo, Parichay and Tumhari Kasam. We became good friends.

Later, I got close to Mithun Chakraborty.

Salman Khan has been very nice to me.

I got to know things early in life. Many a time the hero would be flirting with the actress even though I was right there. They thought I wouldn’t understand. I purposely sat there just to listen to what they were saying.

A busy shooting schedule I would do about three films at a time and three shifts at a time. I was in a film called Faraar, with Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjeev Kumar and Sharmila Tagore.

They would wait for me to reach the sets and in the meanwhile, the director would take Amitabh Bachchan’s close-ups. Then they would wait for me to join in.

Even though I was working all the time, I never felt I was exploited. I think only Baby Naaz had problems with her parents who used her money and made her work a lot.

I acted because I enjoyed it.

In 1973, I was paid Rs 10,000 ($165 in today’s terms, a princely sum in India then) per film. In 1977, when I got very popular, I got more than Rs 100,000 ($1,650 in today’s terms).

Whatever I earned was invested wisely by my father. The benefits are still coming in.

Working in Chitchor I did Chitchor in 1978 with Basu Chatterjee. We were called to the Rajshri Productions office for the narration. My mother asked about the hero and heroine.

They were very new.

My mother was reluctant to let me act in the film because I had to be in Panchgani for 40 days. We also had date issues and the money was less. So my mother said no.

We were called again and told that the

dates would be adjusted as Basu Chatterjee wanted to work only with me.

I really had a busy schedule during that period. But everyone on the sets was told that Raju didn’t want to do the film because the hero and heroine were newcomers.

Zarina Wahab and Amol Palekar were very upset with me and kept their distance.

Even Dina Pathak and A K Hangal were upset. They all thought I was behaving like a star. After a few days, they got to know that dates and money were the issues and we all became friends.

I did not know there was something called the National Award.

In those days, in 1977, the media was not very strong and there was no glamour about a National Award.

We got a call from the Rajshri Production office asking if we had read that day’s newspaper.

‘Your son has received the National Award for the best child actor for Chitchor,’ the person said.

We did not know it was such a big thing. We were just happy that my name was in the newspaper.

When we got a letter from the information and broadcasting minister and just one ticket, my mother replied that I was just a kid and couldn’t travel alone.

Then Rajshri explained to us how big the award was and that I would receive it from the President.

So my mother and I travelled with our own money. I wore a suit. We took the morning flight, received the award, and came by the late night flight.

Break and comeback After Woh Saat Din, I took a break for three years because I had to finish Class 10 and join college. I knew I would get back to acting but I had to graduate first.

I also took a break because I wanted to break out of the image of Master Raju, but I have not been able to break out of it even today.

I realize now that brand Master Raju is very big and there is no harm in it. Today, it is working to my advantage. But there was a time when it was going against me. I wanted to play more character roles, do villain roles. I was fed up of playing the good boy. But the producers, directors and audiences were not ready to accept that.

After I grew up, I changed my name to Raju Shrestha. I did not use my original name Fahim as Sanjeev Kumar, who gave me the name Raju, was no more and I wanted to keep the name in his memory.

In my personal life, I had become wild. I

would party till late. I would drink, get involved in street fights. There were scandals and it got printed in the newspapers. I was linked with some actress.

I never did drugs, but I was called a drug addict because I did a serial called Chunauti after I came back from my break. I also did Mahesh Bhatt’s Saathi in which again I played a drug addict and so I was branded as one.

A villainous dream One thing I was clear about: I never wanted to become a hero. I was fascinated

by Pran, Anupam Kher, Shakti Kapoor and Kader Khan, who did negative roles then. I wanted to be a popular villain.

I also wanted to try my hand at direction. I started assisting directors and joined Rajesh Khanna’s production house.

They were making serials then so I joined as associate director.

I got a call from Mukul Anand who was making a film called Maha-Sangram and wanted someone to play Govinda’s innocent-looking friend. I said I had given up acting, but Mukul Anand persuaded me to do it.

When I went to the office of the producer, Nitin Manmohan to collect my check for the film, I met Salman Khan there.

Salman and I are old buddies. We grew up together. When he was learning to skate, I would go along with him. I would ride a bicycle and he would skate holding the carrier of the bicycle.

Salman asked me what I was doing in Nitin Manmohan’s office, and I told him I was there to collect my check.

He asked me to wait and went in and met Nitin Manmohan. After some time I was called in and Nitin Manmohan told me that he was making a film called Baaghi with Salman. There was the role of a friend and he asked me to do it.

I said no, but Salman insisted. He said it was a one schedule film, so I agreed. I got very good reviews for Baaghi and lots of acting offers started coming in.

I played the role of a friend to almost all the heroes of the day. My dream of being a director went for a toss.

I played Salman’s friend in many films.

One day, I told him I didn’t want to play the hero’s friend any more. I wanted a negative or a comic role. From then on, we stopped working together.

We don’t share the same friendship any more and I don’t expect that. He is always available when I want to meet him, but we don’t discuss work any more.

Getting in television in a big way After Saathi, I got a call from Sanjay Khan’s production house to do a mythological serial for Doordarshan called Jai Hanuman. They wanted me to play the character of Naarad.

I got good reviews for playing Naarad.

All the mythological serial-makers then called me to play Naarad.

I did almost 3,000 episodes playing Naraad in different serials over 10 years. I made good money but I realized that the audience for mythological serials is not like those for films. They are from small towns.

Within the industry, nobody was watching me. So there was a phase when people thought I had no work. I was not seen, whereas I always had a show on air. I decided not to do mythologicals any more.

I have done lots of serials and I am doing films once in a while, like Black Friday, Hum Aapke Dil Main Rehete Hain, Dil Tera Deewana...

I have directed a Punjabi film called Ishq Awala, and written a few scripts too.

Right now, I am doing a Doordarshan show, as well as Maharana Pratap (Sony).

20

Bollywood INDIA IN NEW YORK AUGUST 29, 2014

Akshay Kumar takes the challenge.

Bollywood takes the Ice Bucket Challenge fter the Ice Bucket Challenge went viral Stateside, with who’s who like Satya Nadella, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Oprah Winfrey, Robert Downey, Jr, and A many, many others joining in, the challenge has finally arrived in India.

Why Aamir went nude in PK achieved what I wanted with the first PK poster,’ Aamir Khan said at the launch of the film’s second poster at Yash Raj studios in Mumbai.

“IWhile the first poster grabbed eyeballs, thanks to Aamir’s nudity, the second poster sees

The challenge, aimed at raising awareness and money for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis research, a neurodegenerative disorder also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, found early responders in tennis star Sania Mirza, and actors Bipasha Basu, Riteish Deshmukh, Abhishek Bachchan and Akshay Kumar.

The challenge, despite criticism, has raised tremendous awareness and close to $42 million in funds (as compared to $2.9 million in the same period last year) and counting.

him as a bandwala.

“Normally, film’s promos are launched, but we have decided to launch a series of PK posters,” the actor said, about his marketing strategy. “Every two, three weeks, a new poster will be launched.”

Each poster will see him in a new avatar. “We want to confuse people!” he said.

So why was Aamir nude in the first poster?

“I wanted to test Salman’s friendship. He wore the Dhoom 3 hat for me in Bigg Boss. Now, I want to see if he will do this,” Aamir joked.

He seemed thrilled about the jokes and memes that went viral after the release of the first poster: “The jokes were really funny. Some people even posed in the same fashion, and we enjoyed it.”

At the event, Aamir was asked what he thought about Shah Rukh Khan’s about on his poster, and he cheekily replied: “What happens to people, who dig holes for others? I stay away from such digs!”

PK has been directed by Rajkumar Hirani, and also stars Anushka Sharma, Boman Irani and Sanjay Dutt. It will release December 19.

— Sonil Dedhia

Now, a Ram Lakhan remake! resh off the success of Singham Returns F director Rohit Shetty

now has his eye on a new project, a remake of the 1989 hit Ram Lakhan. It will be coproduced by Karan Johar and Subhash Ghai, who originally directed it.

The leading actors, who will step into the shoes of Jackie Shroff and Anil Kapoor, have not been revealed yet, but there are reports that Johar may bring back his Student Of The Year protégés Varun

Fahadh weds Nazriya alayalam actor Fahadh Faasil wed actress M Nazriya Nazim August 21 in Kerala.

Fahadh, the son of director-producer Fazil, and Nazriya got engaged in February, after they met on the sets of a film.

Fahadh Faasil and Nazriya Nazim.

All is NOT Well, thanks to Smriti schedule of director Umesh Shukla’s new All Is Well has been postponed indefinitely.

TCasthefilmnext members Rishi Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan, Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit in the original Ram Lakhan.

Dhawan and Sidharth Malhotra.

Though not a huge fan of Bollywood remakes, we will give this, a fair chance solely because of KJo, who did a credible job of producing the remake of Amitabh Bachchan’s Agneepath.

who play father and son, are left waiting for Smriti Irani, who is now India’s minister of human resource development and is extensively required for the next shoot.

“All Is Well is about a road trip undertaken by Rishi Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan, who are later Smriti Irani joined by their mother, played by Smriti Irani. There is no way the film can be shot without her. She is in almost every frame. Until she finds the dates, the shooting remains postponed,” says a source.

— Subhash K Jha

Food

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INDIA IN NEW YORK AUGUST 29, 2014

Young master chefs Suman Mozumder finds out what inspires White House Healthy Lunchtime Challenge winners Jasmy Mavilla and Rajen Day again this year to host the nationwide recipe challenge to promote cooking and healthy eating among America’s youth.

Among the 54 kids whose winning recipes took them to the White House, were Jasmy Mavilla and Rajen Dey.

J

COURTESY: SOWJANYA SEETALA

asmy Mavilla of Kansas says her mom Sowjanya Seetala, who cooks “excellent dishes,” inspired her to cook. “I have been just watching my mom cook, and I decided I wanted to try as well,” she says.

The Kansas-born eightyear-old loves to help her dad Murali, who hails from Hyderabad, grow Jasmy Mavilla a the Kids’ State Dinner. vegetable and fruits in Parmesan cheese, for garnish their kitchen garden, and help her mom use those veggies in different ways.

For the sauce But she “never imagined” that her 2 tbsp olive oil efforts would make her one of the win1 pound of 20 count shrimp, peeled and ners of the White House Healthy deveined Lunchtime Challenge. Or that her win1 tbsp garlic, minced ning ‘Tangy Veggy Springetty’ would lead Salt and pepper to taste her to the White House Kids’ State ½ cup fresh lemon juice (from about 2 Dinner this summer. lemons) “I never even imagined that this could ½ teaspoon white wine vinegar, happen to me,” says Jasmy, who studies in optional Raintree Montessori School in Lawrence, 1 tbsp lemon zest, optional Kansas and is going to third grade this 1 cup canned garbanzo beans, optional fall. “Besides visiting the White House, I liked meeting the other contestants, and METHOD the First Lady. Mrs Obama told me I was Bring a large pot of salted water to a special and pretty, and she also gave me a boil. Add the pasta and cook until almost hug. It was AMAZING. We took individal dente, about 6 minutes. ual pictures with her, and they said that Add in the vegetables and cook about 3 we would be receiving those pictures in minutes more. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the next month or so.” the cooking liquid.

Jasmy, whose favorite subject in school In a large sauté pan, warm the olive oil is mathematics, says despite her love for over medium heat. When the oil is hot cooking she does not want to become a add the shrimp and cook until the shrimp chef when she grows up: “No. Cooking is are pink, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic great fun but I see it as more of a hobby and season with salt and pepper. Transfer for now.” the shrimp to a separate bowl. Turn the heat to low and add lemon juice, white Tangy Veggy Springetty wine vinegar, and reserved cooking liquid Jasmy Mavilla’s like to eat this with (¼ cup at a time). Whisk until the sauce fresh fruit or a fruit smoothie. is well mixed and reduced by one third.

Add the pasta to the pan along with the INGREDIENTS shrimp, lemon zest, and garbanzos, if (Makes 4-6 servings) using, and mix to combine. Serve with For the pasta 1 pound whole-wheat spaghetti or angel Parmesan.

467 calories; 10g fat; 43g carbohyhair pasta drates; 32g protein 3 cups fresh or frozen mixed vegetables

COURTESY: THE DEYS

W

ith the success of the Healthy Lunchtime Challenge & Kids’ State Dinner the past two years, First Lady Michelle Obama teamed up with Epicurious, the Department of Education and the Department of Agriculture once

R

ajen Dey, 11, says the thought of going to the White House and meeting the First Lady, and maybe the President, made him create the best dish he possibly could.

The 11-yearold, whose elder brother was one of the Rajen Dey at the White House. winners last 1 yellow onion, peeled and chopped year, prepared the ‘Yummy and Healthy 1 tbsp fresh ginger, finely chopped Kati Roll.’

1 garlic clove, minced The inspiration came from a summer ½ cup tomato, chopped trip to India when his family ordered 4 mushrooms, chopped some rolls that he found “too spicy.” ¼ tsp turmeric powder, ground He recalls, “I think I drank almost a ¼ tsp garam masala, ground gallon of water after the meal! When we ¼ tsp red chili powder (cayenne) came back to the US, I was trying to ¼ tsp cumin, ground make roll that would be healthy and deli½ tsp coriander, ground cious, but not spicy. When I finished 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken experimenting, I cooked it for my family, thighs, cut into small cubes and they loved it. But, I wanted it to be 4 eggs even better. So, I added an egg to every 9 whole-wheat tortillas roll, and I got the best roll ever made.” ½ red onion, peeled and chopped Rajen, who was a student at the Smith 3 carrots, peeled and chopped Middle School in Chapel Hill, North ½ cucumber, chopped Carolina when the competition took place 1 bunch cilantro, finely chopped (the family moved to Rockville, Maryland Juice from 2 limes last month), says his inspiration for cookSalt to taste ing comes from his grandfather who cooks dinner for the whole family.

PREPARATION: “Last year, my brother won the contest In a large sauté pan or wok, warm oil with my grandpa’s recipe. I decided to on moderate heat. enter with my own recipe and my grandAdd the onion, ginger, and garlic and father’s love for cooking inspired me to cook for 2 minutes. create my own recipe,” he says.

Add tomatoes and mushrooms and It also helps that his mom, Mei, is of cook for 2 minutes.

Chinese origin and his dad, Ranabir, is of Add turmeric, garam masala, cayenne, Indian origin: “They both cook occasioncumin, coriander, and chicken and cook, ally, so my family eats a lot of different stirring often, until chicken is cooked, kinds of food. We eat food from all about 15 minutes. Season with salt to around the world and also occasionally taste, and transfer to a bowl. mix one country’s recipe with another In a small bowl, whisk the eggs. Using a country to have something very unique.” nonstick pan, cook the eggs over moderBut much as he enjoys the kitchen, ate heat. Place a tortilla on top of the egg Rajen is not willing to commit to being a while it’s still cooking. Cook for 1 minute, chef: “No. I don’t want to be a chef when then flip the eggs over. Cook 1 minute I grow up. I think there are a lot of differmore, and slide the eggs onto a plate. ent opportunities out there waiting for To make the roll: Diagonally on a torme, but I don’t know what I want to spetilla, place a few tablespoons of the chickcialize in when I grow up.” en mixture and eggs, as well as red onion, carrots, cucumber, and cilantro. Squeeze Yummy and Healthy Kati Roll lime juice over the mixture and roll the tortilla up.

INGREDIENTS: 317 calories; 11g fat; 36g carbohydrates; (Makes 8 servings) 20g protein 1 tbsp vegetable oil

22

Special INDIA IN NEW YORK AUGUST 29, 2014

The colourful life of the Rabari (or Rewari) tribe was the inspiration for Vaishali Shadangule’s collection at the Lakmé Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2014 in Mumbai, August 20-24.

SHOWSTOPPING, THE DESI WAY Gorgeous Indian weaves on the runway Photographs: Hitesh Harisinghani, Rajesh Karkera and Uday Kuckian Gaurang Shah’s line featured kalidaars, kurtas, lehengas dhotis and sherwanis among other silhouettes that were inspired by Afghani history but tailored with Indian fabrics.

Special

23

INDIA IN NEW YORK AUGUST 29, 2014

Krishna Mehta’s love affair with the textiles of India continued with handlooms from Benaras, Maheshwar, Bhagalpur and Manipur.

FOR A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE LAKME FAHION WEEK VISIT rediff.com/getahead/lakme-fashion-week-winter-2014

The Kadwa Brocade technique of Varanasi found its way on to the runway courtesy designer Sanjay Garg.

A hand-woven chanderi skirt dyed in natural turmeric paired with a handspun khadi creation from the collection of Divya Sheth, one of the designers endorsed by the Indian Ministry of Textiles at the fashion week.

24

The Week That Was INDIA IN NEW YORK AUGUST 29, 2014

U R Ananthamurthy passes into the ages

Hunger for rights

assaulting and threatening an inspector inside a police station in his constituency, the police said August 25.

Legendary novelist U R Ananthamurthy died August 22 at a hospital in Bengaluru, where he was undergoing treatment for kidney failure. He was 82.

A Jnanpith awardee, India’s highest literary honor, who was also shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize last year, he will be remembered for being a pioneer of modern Kannada literature.

Foes-turned-friends LaluNitish win Bihar by-polls In Bihar, Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav have come a long way from being rivals for over two decades to allies. Their alliance along with the Congress party won them six of the 10 assembly seats in the byelections August 21.

Clearly, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s magic, which helped the Bharatiya Janata Party wrest victory in the Lok Sabha election, failed in Bihar with the BJP only winning four seats.

Anti Corruption Bureau stopped from probing Reliance case The Center took away the powers of the Delhi government’s anti-corruption branch to investigate charges filed against Reliance Industries, its chairman Mukesh Ambani, former Congress ministers Murli Deora and M Veerappa Moily, and others in a case relating to gas from the company’s find in the Krishna-Godavari basin off the Andhra Pradesh coast.

The complaint was filed by former Union power secretary E A S Sarma, Supreme Court lawyer Kamini Jaiswal, former cabinet secretary T S R Subramanian and former chief of naval staff Admiral R H Tahiliani when Arvind Kejriwal was the chief minister of Delhi.

Meanwhile, After a 10-month probe, the Central Bureau of Investigation has decided to file a closure report in the coal block allocation case involving industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla and former Coal Secretary P C Parakh as the agency could not find any evidence in the matter.

Salman’s hit-and-run case: Original statement documents go missing Expressing unhappiness over the police failure to trace original documents in the 2001 hit-and-run case involving actor Salman Khan, a sessions court asked the police to locate the papers by September 12.

On September 28, 2002, the actor’s car had rammed into a bakery, killing one person and injuring four others sleeping on the pavement outside.

REUTERS

Indian human rights activist Irom Sharmila outside a prison hospital in Imphal, August 20. After being on hunger strike for 14 years to demand a repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from Manipur and alleged army atrocities, she walked free that day from a prison hospital where doctors had force-fed her to keep her alive.

Her release came after a trial judge found no evidence to support charges filed in 2000 by prosecutors in Manipur that she was trying to commit suicide by refusing food.

The court order on her release, however, said that the state would be responsible for her health and must feed her through a nasal tube if necessary. Soon after her release, she refused a medical examination and was arrested again.

In a new turn in the Badaun case, the Central Bureau of Investigation has decided not to file a chargesheet against the five accused arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police in connection with the murder of two teenage cousins whose bodies were found hanging from a tree after allegedly being raped in May this year. CBI sources said August 25 there was no evidence linking the accused to the murder and also

Burning BORDERS

that no sexual assault had taken place on the two victims before their death.

BJP lawmaker booked for assaulting cop A first information report has been registered against the Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament from Mumbai North East Kirit Somaiya for allegedly Violence in Golaghat district of Assam August 20.

Thousands of protesters here defied a curfew and attacked the police in continuing unrest over a territorial dispute with neighboring Nagaland.

The flood situation worsened in Bihar August 24 with the death toll going up to 36. Flood waters entered new areas, pushing up the number of affected districts to 17.

Love jihad dropped from BJP resolution After breathing fire over ‘love jihad,’ the Bharatiya Janata Party dropped any mention of it in the political resolution at its two-day Uttar Pradesh executive meet that concluded August 24.

‘Love jihad’ (the term coined for marriage between a Muslim man and a Hindu woman) has been taken up by the party as a big challenge ahead of the assembly elections three years hence as part of its moves to consolidate the party base in UP.

Fire guts artworks inside Jaipur’s City Palace A fire broke out inside the City Palace complex in Jaipur and spread to an art gallery, damaging some records and paintings, August 24.

No non-veg menu at Modi’s banquets No non-vegetarian food will be served at banquet-dinner or lunches at the prime minister’s presence. The instructions are extended to banquets hosted in the prime minister’s honor on foreign soil as well.

Vegetarianism will go well with the earlier instructions of the ‘no wine’ rule during toasts at state banquets in New Delhi. The PMO has also instructed Air India to stop supply of whisky and wine whenever he is on board Air India One.

Six years after 26/11, Chabad House reopens Putting behind the horrors of the 2008 terrorist attack, Chabad-Lubavitch of Mumbai at Nariman House reopened August 26. The Jewish learning center was one of the targets of Pakistani terrorists who held Mumbai to ransom for four days in November 2008. In memory of the tragedy, a museum is to be set up in the building.

CBI not to file chargesheet aganist Badaun accused

Floods worsen in Bihar; death toll climbs to 36

Stealth corvette INS Kamorta enters Indian Navy India’s first indigenously-built anti-subREUTERS

PAGE 25

g

The Week That Was

25

INDIA IN NEW YORK AUGUST 29, 2014

Where a federal minister puts a cost to Nirbhaya gang-rape

f PAGE 24 marine warfare corvette the INS Kamorta was commissioned by the Indian Navy in Visakhapatnam, August 23.

This is the first of the four ASW stealth corvettes designed by the Indian Navy’s Directorate of Naval Design.

Indian Finance and Defense Minister Arun Jaitley, addressing a tourism meet August 21, said, ‘One small incident of rape in Delhi was enough to cost million dollars in terms of lower number of tourists.’

That one ‘small incident’ was the horrific December 16, 2012 gang-rape in a moving bus that shocked the world and led to months of unrest on the streets of the New Delhi.

Jaitley later said it was not his intention to be insensitive: ‘I regret that some word that I used was construed as insensitive. That was not my intention.’

Woman comes to husband’s aid, thrashes men in busy street A woman in Meerut took on a group of attackers single-handedly as they assaulted her husband.

Mamata Yadav later said she and her family were ‘living in fear’ as only one of the accused has been arrested and alleged that the police were harassing her and not taking action against the culprits due to their proximity to a Samajawadi Party leader.

Former CAG makes revelations about UPA regime In fresh embarrassment to the erstwhile United Progressive Alliance regime, particularly to then prime minister Manmohan Singh, former Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai has claimed that coalition functionaries had deputed politicians to get him to leave out names from the audit reports in the Coalgate and Commonwealth Games scams.

Child beaten with pipe, forced to clean toilets at government shelter

Mumbai’s most revered SAHIL SALVI

One of the oldest and most revered idols of Lord Ganesh, the Lalbaugcha Raja, was unveiled in Mumbai, August 25, days ahead of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival, which begins August 29.

A mere glance of the deity takes about two-and-a-half-hours of waiting in queue during weekdays and eight to nine hours during weekends.

A 13-year-old boy was abused and assaulted with a pipe in a government-run home in Bengaluru for allegedly refusing to clean toilets. The police have launched a manhunt for three persons, including the head of the home, in connection with the incident.

Times of India wants journalists to use only official social media accounts Apparently, Bennet Coleman and Company, which publishes The Times of India, Economic Times and owns other media properties, including on television, has unveiled a contract that told its staffers not to post any news links on their personal Twitter and FB accounts. Instead, they should start a company-authorized account on various social media platforms and or convert their personal accounts as the official one.

The log-in and other access details of these accounts will rest with the company, which will be free to post any content to these accounts without the journalists’ knowledge.

Stampede in Madhya Pradesh kills 9

Nine pilgrims, including five women, were killed following a stampede at Chitrakoot in Madhya Pradesh’s Satna district, August 25. Pilgrims had gathered in large numbers due to Somvati Amavasya.

Security cover for Muzaffarnagar riots accused BJP leader Several political leaders have questioned the National Democratic Alliance government’s move to provide Z+ security cover, the highest security grade in India, to party leader Sangeet Som, an accused in the Muzaffarnagar riots case.

Prohibition comes to Kerala The ruling Congress-led United Democratic Front in Kerala has decided to shut down over 700 liquor bars attached to hotels below the five-star categories and make Sundays ‘dry days.’

SRK gets police protection After his business associate Ali Morani’s house was under attack following a call from gangster Ravi Pujari, actor Shah Rukh Khan too received threat calls from the gangster.Additional police protection has been provided to SRK.

Supreme Court declares all coal allocations since 1993 as ‘illegal’ The Supreme Court declared allocation of all the 218 coal blocks made since 1993 as ‘illegal and arbitrary’ while holding that the central government had no power of allocation under the relevant laws.

The consequences of this declaration, particularly whether such allocations will be scrapped or not, will be considered September 1 after further hearing by the court.

Indian airports on alert for Ebola The Mumbai and Delhi international airports were placed on full alert as 114 Indian nationals were returning from the Ebola-hit Liberia August 26. At press time six had been quarantined for additional investigations and 45 have been cleared.

*** A soldier was arrested for allegedly attempting to molest a teenaged girl on board the Dibrugarh-Delhi Rajdhani Express in Assam.

The 17-year-old girl raised the alarm and the Railway Protection Force immediately caught the accused. *** Ishwar Singh, 72, and his 45-year-old relative Rohtash Mann were sentenced to 20 years in jail by a Delhi court for gangraping a young woman.

According to the police, the woman had came to Delhi in 2012 in search of a job and fell into Maan’s clutches. *** An 18-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped by six men, including Bharatiya Janata Party leader Dalsingh Solanki’s son, near Pipaljhopa in Khargone district in Madhya Pradesh.

They threatened to kill her if she revealed the matter to anyone, the complaint said. *** Six persons, including a Bharatiya Janata Party leader, were arrested in Madhya Pradesh in connection with the alleged trafficking and rape of a minor girl from Assam.

The accused were caught during a routine check near Ujjain when the police stopped a car and found a 15year-old girl held captive by four men.

The minor later told the police that she was lured from Assam on the pretext of a job and trafficked. She also said that the woman who bought her had handed her over for Rs 4,000 ($70) to four persons, including the Dewas municipal corporation’s revenue inspector Sabir alias Lal, a corporation employee Rohit Jalodia, BJP leader Hamid Sadar and Yaqub Sheikh.

The BJP has expelled Hamid from the party. *** The Bombay high court has suspended sessions court judge M T Gaikwad on charges of sexually harassing a female staff worker after a preliminary inquiry found substance in her complaint about his ‘inappropriate behavior.’

The complainant alleged that the judge used to stare at her often in an offensive manner. During the preliminary inquiry, this allegation was corroborated by other employees, high court sources said. *** A 33-year-old woman was allegedly gang-raped by three men, one a school teacher, who left her tied to a tree naked, police in Umarda, Uttar Pradesh, said, August 18.

Sports

26

INDIA IN NEW YORK AUGUST 29, 2014

BCCI fumes at Dhoni ‘overstepping brief ’ T

he Board of Control for Cricket in India top brass is fuming at India Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s statement that Coach Duncan Fletcher continues to be the ‘boss’ of the team and will stay till the 2015 World Cup. The BCCI top brass is fuming that the captain ‘overstepped his brief ’ at the team’s pre-match press conference ahead of the first One-Day International against England in Bristol.

His comments have also raised speculation whether he is on the same page with the BCCI bigwigs, who appointed Ravi Shastri as ‘director of cricket’ in the wake of the team’s pathetic performance in the Test series against England.

A very senior BCCI office-bearer made it clear that Dhoni’s statement will come up for discussion at the board’s next working-committee meeting.

‘What happened is very disappointing and unbecoming of an Indian captain,’ the unnamed BCCI official told the Press Trust of India… Let’s get it straight. Dhoni is no one to comment as to who is the boss of the team. It’s not his domain. Obviously, Dhoni has overstepped his brief as an Indian captain. The media can ask him any question, but

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

TONY MARSHALL/GETTY IMAGES

being a matured cricketer he should know what his lines are. Just like BCCI officials are not going to decide who is in the playing 11, Dhoni does not decide who is going to stay till what time.’

The official, a former India team manager, added, ‘He (Dhoni) has not been entrusted with the duty of recruiting the support staff or commenting on their tenure.’

BCCI Secretary Sanjay Patel had made it clear that the team would now be ‘Ravi Shastri’s baby,’ and Fletcher will have to report to him.

Shastri himself had said in media interviews that he will be the overall in-charge of the team and that Fletcher would report to him.

However, at the pre-match press conference, Dhoni threw his weight behind the beleaguered coach.

‘He (Fletcher) will lead us into the World Cup,’ Dhoni said at the press conference. ‘Also, he is still the boss. We have Ravi Shastri who will look into everything, but Fletcher is the boss. It’s not as if his powers or his position have been curtailed. I don’t know what you feel from the outside, but operations still remain the same. We have a few other support staff coming into the dressing room, but, overall, the operation remains the same.’

Dhoni also said Ravi Shastri will merely ‘oversee the team’s preparations,’ which is being seen as an attempt to undermine the former India all-rounder’s position in the squad.

The skipper also made it clear that he did not approve of the ‘break’ given to fielding coach Trevor Penney and bowling coach Joe Dawes.

Asked if he was happy with the timing of the changes, Dhoni had replied, ‘It’s a bit tough on Trevor and Joe, especially when fielders drop catches and the fielding coach has to miss the series. But let’s hope for the best.

We are welcoming the new guys because that is very important. They will be part of the dressing room family as of now. We will have to give them some time to adjust to how we operate, and see what kind of input they bring to the table.’

First one-dayer washed out The first One-Day International in the five-match series between India and England was August 25 abandoned without a ball being bowled due to relentless rain and wet ground conditions in Bristol.

The weather forecast for the second ODI wasn’t too good either as intermittent showers were expected in Cardiff, August 27.

MICHAEL STEELE/GETTY IMAGES

STU FORSTER/GETTY IMAGES

27

India in New York August 29, 2014

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