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Lady Pilot from Punjab Gets Her Wings BY JACOB DAVID HOUSTON: Mandeep Kaur, 25, hails from Barnala, a small town in Punjab, India, which has now become a district. She lays claim to being the first lady pilot from Punjab. She has received her commercial pilot license from the MVPAeroAcademy, Texas in March 2009. She has accumulated 290 hours of flight training over 13 months. She is now a proud certificate holder and operator for 3 commercial licenses - for flying a private Cessna, instruments rating, Pipers Warriors - Single Engine plane and Multi rating on the Duchess BE 76 (Beechcraft) 4 seater, twin engine. It’s been a tough and intensive time for me, she says, with a brief hiatus from training for the hurricane season here in Texas. She has now been approved by the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) as a licensed commercial airline pilot. Still she has a long ways to go before she can truly get her hands on the joy stick of a large commercial airliner. Sarla Thakral in 1936 was the youngest to become a woman pilot in India. She was only 21, supported by her husband and father in law to achieve her dream. Mandeep Kaur is well on her way to achieving her dream of becoming a commercial pilot and holding a job in any of the top prestigious airlines in India like Jet Airways, Kingfisher, Spice Jet, Indi Go, Air India, Paramount, and Go Air. These hold an operating percentage in India’s share market. India has its share of lady pilots in Delhi and other metropolitan cities. Air India encourages flights with all women crew on certain days of the week in a bid to encourage gender equality and helping bring India to the forefront of world aviation commerce. According to the Hindu, India’s National Newspaper, 136 women pilots operate in India flying domestic and international routes. Women represent 18% of the work force according to Sunil Kishen, Executive Director, Southern Region for Air India. To honor International Women’s Day, March 8, 2010, Air India operated 12 flights, both domestic and international with all Much like any other lady, Mandeep Kaur loves life and is seen toting a designer handbag. She is now closer to her dreams of flying high.
Departures & Arrivals handling check-in baggage. I worked there a year and a half. I was qualified as the Best Employee of the year at the Delhi Airport. Working with their talented staff motivated me to become a lady pilot.” Taking a commercial pilot’s license has been a gruelling 13 months of training. Mandeep Kaur now plans to go back this month to India to get it approved by the Director, General Civil Aviation in India before she can apply for a regular pilot’s job. Indo American News wishes her the very best in her pursuit.
women crew on board. Mandeep Kaur could not have realized her goal of becoming a commercial pilot at a better time. She has a bachelors degree focusing on Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. She came to Houston on an N1 Visa. Her recency training for multi-rating commercial pilot’s license took place at David Wayne Hookes Airport in Spring,Texas. “I had no idea that I’d want to be a commercial pilot” she says, “till I got selected to work as ground crew with Kingfisher Airlines, at the
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Ashok Soota: The Mind Behind an Industree
The MindTree chairman helped transform the IT sector into a globally dominant player By Venkatesha Babu As with most interesting people, Ashok Soota’s past is more fascinating than his present. Not that the present—Soota is executive chairman of MindTree Ltd, a one-of-its-kind software services firm—is insignificant; it’s just that the past—building Wipro, being part of an exclusive group of three or four people who helped define the Indian IT industry—is so much more overwhelming. The man himself is anything but that. At 67, Soota is soft-spoken, and self-effacing almost to a fault. He is also remarkably fit, which he attributes to yoga and his love of trekking. We decide to meet for lunch at Fiorano, one of Bangalore’s trendiest restaurants, in Koramangala, where he lives. Soota, who picks the location, likes Italian food. When I reach the restaurant, he is already there. Soota seems to be a regular patron, given the way he is recognized and immediately attended to. He does most of the ordering—risotto, ravioli and pasta. As we get the order out of the way, I can’t help but think of Soota’s past. In 1984, when Azim Premji, chairman of Wipro Ltd, wooed Soota to join the infotech arm of what was then mostly a vegetable oils company, the IT arm’s turnover was Rs7 crore. When Soota left as president of Wipro Infotech to set up his own company in 1998, the division’s revenue was $500 million (around Rs2,220 crore now). But we are getting a bit ahead of the story. Soota was born in what is now the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan and spent a part of his childhood there. “My parents came from Dera Ismail Khan and Dera Ghazi Khan and were part of the small Hindu community there,” he says.
Engineering success: Soota scripted turnarounds for DCM Shriram group, turned Wipro’s nascent IT division into a global powerhouse and set up MindTree.
Soota was the fourth child among six—his three sisters now live in the UK. The family lived in Murree; his father was a doctor in the British Indian army. Soota, then five years old, remembers the traumatic move during Partition. The family had to leave under armed escort, “and within hours of our departure, the family home was burned down. But we learnt to move on in our lives”. They stayed briefly in Delhi, and then Lucknow. The peripatetic army life of his father meant that Soota had “studied in 12 schools by the age of 12”. “Some years (I) studied in multiple
schools within a single academic year,” he recalls.Naturally, the constant change had its influence on him. “It made me adapt to change fairly quickly. It helped me (to) easily network across cultures,” he says. He gravitated towards engineering because “that is what the top students did then and (the University of) Roorkee used to be the prime institute”. He chose civil engineering, but the drawings bored him, and after the first year he switched to electrical engineering because of the “mathematics involved”. Immediately after graduation, he worked for a few years with Burmah Shell, a blue chip employer at the time, in Kolkata, selling engine oils and lubricants. “It was not challenging as one was selling in an environment of shortage,” he recalls. So Soota moved to the DCM Shriram group in 1965, then one of the best Indian companies to work for—and one that, along with Hindustan Unilever Ltd (then Hindustan Lever Ltd), served as the finishing school for smart managers. The group, he says, had a structured programme, almost like a management education, for its new employees. Still, Soota did eventually enrol for an MBA from the Asian Institute of Management, Manila, in 1973. He availed of time from the DCM Shriram group, the understanding being that he could join them again if he wanted to.Among its other businesses, the DCM Shriram group— then headed by the redoubtable Charat Ram— used to sell electrical appliances such as fans under the Usha brand name. Soota worked with the group for 19 years, in several businesses. In 1978, Ram chose Soota to turn around the loss-making refrigeration and air-conditioning business. Which he did, within a short time. “But once that happened, I got bored, as I tend to if I don’t have challenges.”
Even as he contemplated a sabbatical to do a PhD, a common friend—Anand Koka— recommended his name to Premji, who was looking for somebody to run his nascent IT business. Premji wooed Soota for eight months. “Wipro was not even a consumer company but a cooking oil firm, with the IT business being just Rs6-7 crore,” recalls Soota. Along with a few other executives, he made Wipro into an IT powerhouse.He was at the top of the game in Wipro when he quit in 1999. Some analysts have said all successful executives in Wipro—Ashok Narasimhan, Arun Thiagarajan, Vivek Paul and Soota himself—had to go when they began overshadowing the chairman. Soota is quick to defend Premji: “That’s unfair to him. For the time I ran Wipro (the IT division), several people actually thought I owned the company. He stayed in the background and gave a lot of freedom. But when it became too large, (inevitably) he had to step in.” When he started MindTree with nine others— most of them former Wipro employees who chose to leave the company with him—analysts said IT services had become a scale game and he was too late an entrant. Soota says: “The scepticism might have been warranted. If you look at the large number of companies floated around the dot-com boom (1999-2000), strangely by most mainstream entrepreneurs, few have survived in their original form except MindTree.” Now almost a decade old, MindTree employs 8,000 people and earned around $290 million in revenue in 2008-09. It is targeting a billion dollars in revenue by 2014. “People have underestimated us in the past and we have proved them wrong. I am confident we will do it again,” he says.Few would bet against him and MindTree, given their track record.-Mint
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An Evening of Indian Classical Music
Friends of USTAD BALKAR SINGH (of Patiala Gharana) (disciple of Ustad Bakar Hussain Khan)
cordially invite you to a classical concert with
Pandit Shantilal Shah on tabla Saturday, May 8, 2010 • 5:30pm Anjali Center for Performing Arts 2615 Cordes Rd, Sugar Land, TX 77479
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Indo American News • Friday, May 07 , 2010
Japan Signs Pact with 3 States for DMIC Project
NEW DELHI: Major Japanese consultants on Friday entered into joint pacts with DMICDC and three State governments to develop ecofriendly infrastructure for the new cities planned in the USD 90 billion Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC). The DMIC, comprising six states -- Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh -- is being developed in collaboration with Japan as a manufacturing and trading hub. Under the four Memorandums of Understanding (MoU), Japanese consultants will launch feasibility studies to set up the first set of ‘smart communities’ in Manesar-Bawal (Haryana), Dahej and Changodar (Gujarat) and Shendra (Maharashtra). A host of Japanese companies like Hitachi, Mitsubishi Corporation, Toshiba, JGC, Itochu and Tokyo Electric Power Company will be part of the consortiums conducting the feasibility studies. “We have reached a stage where we can say this project will be taken to its conclusion,” Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said after
Union Commerce & Industy Minister with Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Nasayuki Naoshima in New Delhi on Friday.
the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Ltd (DMICDC), the three state govern-
ments and the Japanese consultants signed the MoUs. The DMIC project was planned in
India to Set Up DNA Data Banks
NEW DELHI: India will set up several DNA data banks at the national and state levels to strengthen
forensic investigation, Science and Technology Minister Prithviraj Chavan told parliament Thursday. A draft bill has already been circulated among the ministries and departments concerned, he said in the Rajya Sabha. “The draft bill having provision for establishment of DNA data banks both at the national and state levels was circulated to the ministry of home affairs, Bureau of Police Research and Development, Central Bureau of Investigation, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Planning Commission, ministry of finance, department of science and technology, ministry of defence, legislative department of the ministry of law and justice, and the directorate of forensic science,” Chavan said. “The comments have been obtained.
The draft bill is being sent to all the states for their comments,” the minister added. He said various ministries and departments have given their opinion on “confidentiality of information and penalties for misuse or abuse thereof, size, composition and tenure of members of the DNA Profiling Board, its powers and functions and administrative support”. Comments have been received on the possible data sharing between the national and state DNA data banks, approval norms for DNA profiling laboratories and “procedures for expungement of records from the data bank”. The minister, however, said that the finalisation of the bill involves further consultation with the states followed by cabinet approval.- IANS
2006. During the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama here in December, 2009, a MoU was signed between DMICDC and the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) to develop smart communities or eco cities in India. “This (DMIC) is perhaps the biggest infrastructure project taken up anywhere in the world,” Sharma said. The first phase is expected to be completed by 2018. Once the project is completed, it would generate huge employment opportunities, double India’s industrial production and quadruple exports, the minister said. Development of such cities assumes signifi-
cance as increased economic growth is likely to put additional pressure on environmental resources. A smart community is a city where the residents, business and government live and work in a sustainable manner through delivery of integrated, low carbon products and services, DMIC CEO and Managing Director Amitabh Kant said. A total of 24 investment zones have been planned in the DMIC region, with seven likely to be completed in the first phase. The region has been projected to grow at a compounded annual rate of 13 per cent. The development plan for the Ahmedabad-Dholera investment region in Gujarat has been completed, while the overall perspective plan for the entire region has also been approved. Kant said to meet the power requirements of the region, power projects are being established in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh.
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Kasab Guilty; Ansari, Sabauddin Shaikh Acquitted
MUMBAI: Pakistani terrorist, Ajmal Amir Kasab, charged with the deaths of 166 Indians and foreigners, has been pronounced guilty of all charges by a special court in Mumbai. The two Indians, who were named as co-accused in the case-- Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Shaikh, have been acquitted. The argument on quantum of sentence to Kasab will be held tomorrow. Kasab has been convicted on all 86 charges against him. He was found guilty or murder and waging war against the nation, the court said while delivering the judgment. “You have been found guilty of waging war against India, and killing people at CST (train station), killing government officials and abetting the other nine terrorists,” Judge M.L. Tahaliyani said as he announced his verdict. They were the most serious charges laid against Kasab, a 22-yearold Pakistani who was arrested after the Mumbai siege. The conspiracy was hatched in Pakistan, the judge said. The two Indian co-accused were set free because the evidence against them was weak, the court ruled. Kas-
ab had said that the duo supplied maps of Mumbai to LeT bosses. Thus, they gave logistical support to carry out the attack. But the judge, punching a hole in the prosecution’s argument, said better maps were available on Google than the crude drawings Kasab claimed had been supplied by Ansari and Sabauddin. This verdict is the biggest terror trial the city has witnessed in recent times. Ten Pakistani terrorists sneaked into Mumbai on 26th November 2008 and unleashed 60 hours of mayhem that left 166 people dead and 244 injured. The terrorists had targeted several sites such as the World Heritage Building of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel, Hotel Oberoi-Trident, Cama Hospital and the Chabad House, a Jewish prayer centre and Leopold Cafe, a favourite among foreigners. The witnesses included many survivors of the terror attacks, eyewitnesses, family members of the victims, police officials, several foreign nationals, Indian security officials and officials from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). There was extremely tight security around the court premises as the verdict was being delivered. Some
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attack on Mumbai. Nikam also relied on scores of witness testimonies in a bid to establish Kasab’s role in the killing of innocents at CST and Cama Hospital, the gunning down of senior policemen in Badruddin Tyabji Lane and the final gunbattle at Marine Drive. The prosecution’s main argument had been that Kasab is a cold-blooded killer whose guilt has been established both through human accounts of the night of November 26, 2008, as well as forensic evidence in the form of DNA reports. The case against Ansari and Shaikh revolved around Kasab’s confession to magistrate R V Sawant Waghule in February 2009. Kasab had said that the duo supplied maps of Mumbai to LeT bosses. Thus, they gave logistical support to carry out the attack. In his defence, Kasab had maintained that he was an innocent Pakistani who was picked up several days prior to the attack. He has insisted that the terrorist caught on CCTV is not him but a lookalike. He also Ajmal Amir is the only attacker captured alive by police and is currently in Indian custody. The rubbished all witness testimonies as Government of Pakistan initially denied that Ajmal tutored and given at the behest of was from Pakistan, but in January 2009, it officially police officials. accepted that Ajmal Amir Kasab was a Pakistani Both Ansari and Shaikh had denied all wrongdoing. Their main argument reporters were that are capable of sending him to is why would the LeT rely upon allowed inside the gallows. Special prosecutor Ujjcrude maps allegedly supplied by court, however, wal Nikam charged Kasab with not them when far more sophisticated use of mobile just the criminal acts of killing and versions were easily available on the phones or any injuring scores of innocent people, internet. After the arrest of American other devices but termed him guilty of the entire David Coleman Headley, they also was strictly pro- conspiracy that went into planning argued that recce work for the attack hibited. and executing the dastardly attack. was done by him and they had been The prosecuNikam argued that Kasab is a highly framed needlessly in the case. tion had gathered trained and motivated member of the In September 2006, after 13 years a heap of evidence Pakistani terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiof arguments, the Tada court had against Kasab ba (LeT) who underwent months of begun giving its verdicts in the 1993 and presented training in weapons and intelligence serial blasts case. It was the last major strong arguments so he could execute the well-planned trial in recent times.-TOI
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Pakistanis Living on Brink, and Often in the Dark
By Sabrina Tavernise LAHORE: The Taliban may be plotting bombings, and the economy is on the brink. But these days, the single biggest woe tormenting Pakistanis is as basic as an electric light bulb. Pakistan is in the throes of an energy crisis, with Pakistanis now enduring about 12 hours of power cuts a day, a grueling schedule that is melting ice, stopping fans and enraging an already exhausted populace just as the blast furnace of summer gets started. In an effort to stem that frustration, Pakistan’s government held an emergency meeting last week, bringing together top bureaucrats from across the country. But instead of easing the problem, it aggravated it, ordering power-saving measures that seemed calculated to smother some Pakistanis’ last remaining pleasures. “They are playing a joke on us,” said Amina Ali, the mother of a bride at a wedding hall that was under orders to close early as part of the new energy-saving restrictions. Her brother chimed in: “The Pakistani people are a toy in the hands of the government.” The power failures could prove destabilizing if they go unchecked, analysts said. Pakistan badly needs its economy to expand to make space for its bulging young population, and chronic power cuts work against that. It is a concern for the United States, which is trying to help steady Pakistan’s wobbly finances and keep its democratically elected government afloat. The Obama administration has pledged about $1 billion for energy over the next five years. The crisis is a snarl of unmet responsibilities, and untangling it will not be easy. It has a cast of guilty characters that goes back years: governments that are incapable of planning ahead; bureaucrats who take bribes; even ordinary people who steal about 30 percent of all the power produced. The tribal areas in the west, for example, have no meters and have never paid for power. The result is about $2 billion a year in energy that is generated but not paid for. Industry experts said they were skeptical the government had a way to close the growing gap between Pakistan’s demand for power and the energy sector’s ability to produce it. “There is nobody in Islamabad who is working on a coherent, integrated plan,” said one industry executive who asked not to be identified because he did not want to be seen as being critical of the government. “The discussion just keeps going in circles.” Which was why it seemed particularly galling when the government ordered stores to be shut at prime shopping time, 8 p.m., and wedding halls closed by 10. Weddings are important entertainment in Pakistan, and go on late into
a pittance but are reported to live well off the proceeds. “They have big houses, big cars,” said Muhamed E. Baderi, a plastic-tube maker who said he knew a metal-works company that regularly bribed its meter man to reduce its electric bill. “They know the art of meter tampering.” Those who cannot afford to bribe have to pay or face being shut off. Muhamed Faqir, a 45-year-old buffalo farmer with five children, said he had to borrow from relatives to pay $50 in bills after his power was cut for eight days this winter. The energy industry was already beginning to spiral when the current government took office in 2008, and to a large extent, the problem is inherited. Even so, the government and President Asif Ali Zardari are the lightning rods for public anger, which has begun to bubble up in the form of protests in some places in Punjab. A basement full of cobblers in the old city, when asked to describe where they thought the Residents in Lahore, Pakistan, try sleeping on a roof in the heat. The country faces crisis had come from, could come up with only about 12 hours of power cuts a day. curse words for their leaders. the night, with dancing, The opposition party, led by lights and finery. former prime minister Nawaz “Should we just sit at Sharif, has played on that anger, home in the darkness trumpeting the crisis to score poand go to sleep?” sputlitical points, analysts said, even tered Ms. Ali, waiting though its government’s record in outside the Mughalthe 1990s was no better. e-Azam banquet hall, On Saturday, city government whose owners had been officials marched around Lahore’s warned the night before most important markets at 8 p.m., that it should be closed demanding that merchants shutter by 10 p.m. One of the their stores. Men with sticks from owners, Moazzam the local trade union made the final Ilyas, was nervously argument for those who were slow trying to coax the event to comply. along, even though at “We want to shop,” said a wom9:45, the groom had an glaring at the lowered gates of still not arrived. a shoe store. “People don’t get up Here in Punjab, Pakiearly, and it’s hot. Now I’ll have to stan’s most populous The Jamshid family in Lahore. Some residents have resorted to come back on Monday.” province, the power using gas lamps and candles, and businesses are struggling. The restrictions look menacing, failures have been dibut few believe they will last. sastrous for small businesses. Ali Raza, a committing suicide.” Follow-through has never been Pakistan’s Poorer Pakistanis have it worse. In Lahore’s strong point, and the power-saving measures printing press owner, has watched his onceprospering label business sag as power cuts old city, an ancient warren of narrow streets full seemed unlikely to be an exception. bite into printing time, delaying orders and of cavelike workshops for metal and leather, When the groom finally arrived at the marthe sound of circular saws stops suddenly at 4 riage hall, it was after 10 p.m., and Mr. Ilyas frustrating clients. Late last year, he sold two large Swedish p.m. Candles are lighted. The only noise is the looked distressed. A thick river of guests inched presses and fired half his 35-member staff. He tapping of hammers. into the hall for dinner, which had been ready “There’s no income; we are very worried,” since 7, as a marching band played behind them has given up much of his upper-middle-class lifestyle, selling his Toyota, quitting his gym and said Mirza Arif Beg, 33, a metal polisher whose in the dark. family business is collapsing. “We feel helpless. limiting purchases of fruit and meat. But by 11, no one had come to shut the hall As his life and business shrink, so does his Should we do crime?” down. A basic truth about Pakistan had been Stealing electricity seems to be an option revealed. determination to stay in Pakistan. “I should available mostly to those with enough money move from here before I have nothing,” he said, “It will be like this for 10 days, and after that sitting in his office next to a blank computer to afford a bribe. It also might require some will go back to the way it was,” Mr. Ilyas said. monitor and motionless fan. “Staying means relation to the storied meter men, who are paid “This is the Pakistani way.”-NYT
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Centre to Monitor Immunisation to Open Call Centre in Delhi
Union Minister for Health Ghulam Nabi Azad administering polio drops to a child in New Delhi. File Photo
NEW DELHI (PTI): Noticing massive gaps in figures provided by states on immunisation programme and the ground reality, the government on Friday said it will open a call centre in the national capital to monitor the implementation. “In the database, we shall have telephone numbers of parents of children who will be given shots... In case parents don’t have telephone then any other family member or some contact number of the officials of village panchayat would be mentioned to confirm if a child has been vaccinated,” Health and Family Welfare
Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said. Answering questions in the Lok Sabha, he said the call centre is being set up to ensure compulsory immunisation of children and hoped to see results by next month. “This is a new introduction and by next month we are going to get the first result,” he said. On whether government plans to include anti-pneumonia vaccination in its Universal Immunisation Programme, Mr. Azad said two types of vaccines are available in the market but given their cost its inclusion was not possible. A vaccine for pneumonia costs Rs.
100 and three doses are required. While another patented vaccine is also available costing Rs 3,800 and if three shots are given this would cost about Rs 12,000 per person. “If Rs 12,000 per person has to be provided, you can imagine the budget of the government under UIP,” he said. Mr. Azad also said there is no single causative organism for pneumonia and technically no single vaccine can prevent the disease. However, pneumococcal and influenza vaccines are available but currently not in the National Immunisation programme.
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Justice Kapadia Appointed New CJI NEW DELHI: Justice Sarosh Homi Kapadia, the senior most judge of the Supreme Court and one who wants all judges to keep themselves abreast with commercial laws, was on Friday appointed as the 38th Chief Justice of India. The 62-year-old judge will take over from incumbent Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan on May 12 and would remain at the helm of Indian Judiciary till September 29, 2012. Justice Kapadia was associated with an historical judge- Justice Sarosh Homi Kapadia, who has been appointed as the 38th Chief Justice of India ment in which a fivejudge Constitutional Bench had held that the law put in the cases not only in the top court but in Ninth Schedule was open for judicial High Courts and trial courts. However, the real test for Justice review. Kapadia would be to take a stand on Justice Kapadia’s deep knowledge on wide-ranging issues, particularly whether or not the office of the CJI tax laws, has earned him accolades comes under the ambit of the Right from the Bench and the Bar in equal to Information Act as the present CJI Justice Balakrishnan has consistently measure. For the judge, who during his tenure maintained that it has to be kept out in the apex court since December 18, of the purview of the RTI. The issue assumes importance as 2003 had been associated with 771 the Delhi High Court had dismisssed judgments, his 28-month term as the CJI would be a challenging one the stand of Justice Balakrishnan after against the backdrop of the need to which the Supreme Court Registry reduce the mounting pendency of the appealed to the Supreme Court.-
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Bargaining With the Devil
By Rajeev Srinivasan As India prepares for renewed talks with Pakistan and with Maoist guerillas, an observer may wonder why the country’s track record in negotiations is so poor. Winston Churchill said, “jaw-jaw is better than war-war,” but there is a make-believe quality to it in India, as the mandarins appear to just go through the motions. There is no recognition that there is logic and structure to parleys; there is a difference between positions and interests; and ends and means must be separated. Consider these instances—the negotiations over Tibet, where India meekly surrendered substantial treaty rights in return for nothing; border talks for the last 28 years that have only led to increasing Chinese claims on Indian territory; the interminable discussions with Pakistan, with no letup in crossborder terrorism. In Copenhagen, China hoodwinked India into a stand that helps China, a major polluter, not India, a minor villain. The “nuclear deal” with the United States also gave away too much in return for very little. Success stories are rare: Arundhati Ghose famously fended off nuclear blackmail regarding Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) at the United Nations.In his book Bargaining with the Devil: When to Negotiate, when to Fight, Robert Mnookin focuses on situations in which two parties that may consider each other evil sit down at the bargaining table. There should
be a combination of intuitive as well as analytical approaches, he suggests. India fails here:negotiators depend entirely on intuition, when a cold-blooded decision-tree analysis would help. Some Indian negotiators are seduced into accepting the other side’s perspectives, falling for sob-stories about poor villagers (never mind the cognitive dissonance about Communist insurgents blowing up said villagers’ schools). The core issue with the negotiation style of Indian bureaucrats is the lack of clarity about objectives. Nobody knows what the goals are, what is absolutely non-negotiable, what are the “don’t-cares” that can be thrown in as concessions to clinch a deal. When talking to Maoist insurgents, the objective is to prevent their violent overthrow of the State; their civil rights are not the main concern. Let us remember: the human rights of insurgents and terrorists are not greater than the human rights of the average citizen. Second, the negotiators do not distinguish between positions (some of which may be posturing for domestic consumption), and fundamental interests. China always takes extreme positions, probing for weaknesses. However, if there is credible push-back, China will retreat. To be deterred, they have to believe that India is prepared to fight if the talks fail. They don’t; nor do Pakistanis or communist insurgents. Without that implicit danda (punish-
ment), the sama (persuasion), and dana (incentive) don’t work. Third, because they do not internalize core interests, India’s negotiators are sidetracked into peripheral and trivial matters. An example was the panic about Indo-Pak rail links, which were jeopardized by a terror attack on the Samjhauta Express. There were pious pronouncements: “The rail links must not be affected.” Why? What is so sacred about that? The rail links are only a means to the end. Negotiation and game theory (Get-
tives are decided on ahead of time, and negotiators will not deviate from them. They will walk away if they cannot get to at least the compromise situation. But Indians attempt to wing it and figure out their alternatives on the fly, and get confused and rattled, and lose out. In game theory, a negotiation can be modeled as a repeated Prisoner’s Dilemma game. The best known tactic is tit-for-tat, so that if the adversary
ting to Yes by Roger Fisher and William Ury is a favorite) are taught in business schools and schools of government the world over, but apparently not to India’s mandarins. One of the cardinal principles is that you must be fully prepared with three alternatives: a) the desired goal, b) the compromise you can live with even though it is less than ideal, and c) the walk-away position. These alterna-
cooperates, you cooperate the next time; but if they betray you, you betray them the next time. Alas, Indians cooperate all the time, which means there is no penalty to Pakistan for betrayal; their payoff is better if they betray, so they will do it every time. Exhibit A: the 91,000 prisoners India released after the Bangladesh War. Exhibit B: Sharm-al-Sheikh, where the unfair equivalence of Baluchistan
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with Kashmir was accepted. Similarly, communist insurgents have learned that they can offer talks and ceasefires, use the respite to re-arm themselves, and then turned around and betray the good faith. There is no consequence to them for their behavior. In other words, India’s negotiation skills are extremely poor. It is best to not expect any miracles from these palavers. However, it is intriguing that the Indian side literally ambushed the Pakistanis on February 25, 2010 with dossiers about three serving Pakistani Army officers accused of supporting terrorism. This more or less accuses Pakistan directly of being a terrorist state. This is an interesting new situation: apparently an India that can say no. But in response, there was a chilling editorial in the New York Times the very next day titled “India and Pakistan (Barely) Talk.” It displayeds barelyconcealed annoyance: “No future discussions were scheduled. That is not enough, for the United States...” There was also a worrisome statement: “In 2007, after three years of secret negotiations, the two sides were reportedly close to a deal to create an autonomous, demilitarized region in Kashmir.” In other words, a secret American-brokered deal is in the wings regarding Kashmir, and that will be a disaster for India. There is a simple first step that India needstotake.FollowingShakespeare’s dictum in Hamlet: “This above all: to thine own self be true,” India should clarify exactly what its strategic longterm goals are: for instance, to be the number one economic power in the world. Once there is clarity about goals, the rest will follow logically. IC
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advice
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What Your Realtor Didn’t Tell You
Buying a home for the first time is a wonderful experience. From the viewing of properties (all of which were built with you in mind, at least according to the realtor), to the exhilaration when your bid is accepted, to the sinking feeling in the pit of the stomach when you sign over 30 years of your life to the bank ... By Lakshmi Palecanda My family went through it a few years ago, and looking back, I realize that we haven’t been the same since. If nothing else, we haven’t been able to look at houses that are up for sale the same way, since our own experience with buying a house opened our eyes to many aspects of home ownership that we didn’t know before. Watch out for the lawn! We were waiting for our real estate agent to appear one morning, when my husband said, “Let’s get a place with some land … you know, like an acre or so. It might be a little outside of town, but it will give the children plenty of space to play!” Here, I should mention that he is from a landowning family, and was born and bred on a coffee estate in Coorg, South India. I, on the other hand, come from a totally urban background and can’t sleep without light from a streetlamp on my eyelids. I imagined a house set in the midst of a snowy wilderness (since Montana has at least six months of winter) and thought of Steven King’s masterpiece The Shining. Barely suppressing a shudder, I reminded him that we were not operating on Ted Turner’s budget, so a ranch was definitely out. As it turned out, an acre was out of our budget, too, thank goodness. Then we saw this house with a beautiful lawn, and the idea of a budget, any budget, flew out of my head. A lawn is irresistible to a city dweller since it is as rural as she wants to get, while still living close to a paved road. “This lawn looks so good,” I gushed. “The kids can even play soccer on it!” Gentlemen, be warned! Women may love the look of lawns, but will do nothing voluntarily towards its upkeep. Since we bought that house, I haven’t lifted a finger for its maintenance while my man hasn’t had a weekend to himself. Funny how a 20’ by 12’ stretch of prairie can dominate one’s life! That summer, for weeks on end, the lawn looked parched and balding, leading to evaluations and re-evaluations of the timing of the sprinkler system, the sprinkler heads themselves, and their areas of coverage. Then we had a couple of rains and all of a sudden, the grass was as tall as our younger daughter. The urban equivalent of haying, i.e. lawn-mowing, followed, and the yard looked like a piece of Ireland for a week, before going parched and bald again. When the first snows fell in the end of October, the family bill-payer-in-chief called me to where he was standing at the window. “Isn’t it beautiful?” he smiled, pointing to the lawn which was fast turning into a snowfield, and enjoying the feeling of home ownership. I didn’t have the heart to remind him that he would now have to shovel the sidewalks. Beware of “cute.”
I think that in every school of architecture, there is a department called “cute features,” because every home has to have at least one feature that makes prospective buyers go, “Oh, that’s so cute!” or “Isn’t that just darling?” Poor schmucks! If they had but a few moments of quiet meditation in a padded cell, they would realize that what they are oohing and aahing over is a future pain in the neck. When we first looked at our house, we noticed the coat closet in a nook under the stairs. “How cute and how clever!” I marveled. A year later, my daughters watched roundeyed as I struggled to come up with epithets appropriate for airing in front of the knee-nipper crowd. The silly nook took barely six coats and was totally useless for storing stuff because it was only a couple of feet deep. Since then, I have snarled every time a visitor marvels at the “cleverness” of the architects. Our home also has sloping ceilings in the upstairs bedrooms, which were “so quaint” on day one and a pain on day 110. You can’t hang a ceiling fan on a low sloping ceiling, and summers have become tests of our endurances. Therefore, when a realtor says, “Look, isn’t that cute?” back away slowly and head straight for the nearest exit. Reflect a little. This one is for the ladies, and nah, I’m not saying think twice before deciding you like a house. I’m talking about mirrors. Now, every woman knows that in the world there are two kinds of mirrors: there are those that make you look good, and there are those that behave like clothing-store dressing-room mirrors. For some reason, dressing-room mirrors are made to highlight every flaw in your face and form. It is a ploy to make you buy more clothes to hide that body, and more make-up to cover that face. Now, do you really want such a mirror at home, one that tells the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help it, God? No way! When it comes to my body, I don’t ever want to know the truth, since I definitely can’t handle it. I look at myself in the mirror every morning before I put my contact lenses in, and then avoid it for the rest of the day. Being severely myopic and somewhat astigmatic helps my self-esteem no end. There are two mirrors in our house that provide flattering reflections at a distance of three feet (again, this may due to the eye of
the beholder, or the defects in the eye of the beholder, who would, of course, be me). We also have a dressing-room mirror clone in one of the bedrooms. Funny, how the light above that mirror always burns out in a day … Exhaust your options. I’m talking kitchen exhaust here. Desis have a tough time cooking Indian food since the yummy and appetizing flavors that are emitted while cooking tend to linger in a stale and repulsive form. I am blessed with a spouse who has an extraordinary nose when it comes to detecting food odors, and cursed with an inability to cook anything without making the house smell like an Indian restaurant that has no ventilation. This was barely tolerable when we rented; it became a huge liability after we moved into our first home. One day, my husband came home from work and, as I watched fascinated, froze in the middle of the living room with his nose in the air like a well-trained pointer indicating the presence of sage grouse in the bush. Then he looked at me with reproach in his eyes. “I told you to use the exhaust at the highest setting, didn’t I?” he asked, his very gentleness unmanning me. “Now the odor will sink into the carpet, seep into the walls and penetrate the ceiling, and we will be stuck with this house until even the bank doesn’t want it.” The lesson? Buy a house with a kitchen exhaust system that will qualify for an EPA or OSHA clean air certificate, or do what I do: cook with minimum amount of spices while you are at home, and gorge yourself on really spicy, deep-fried food when you eat out at Indian restaurants or go to India. There is always more storage space ... in your neighbor’s house. When we first entered our new home, it seemed spacious after our cramped rental apartment. But once we spread out our earthly possessions, one thing became very apparent: there was no storage space. Despite piling stuff up, and lining the walls of a two-car garage, we found ourselves sharing living space with an odd suitcase or box of photo albums. Then we visited our neighbor. “You mean you have an attic over your entire garage?” I asked, feeling white-hot envy ignite in the pit of my stomach. “Yes,” admitted the woman. “But this is
nothing. In a house two blocks away, they have made a room above their garage, and used the extra space to build huge closets! And in a house on the next street, there is an actual store room with efficient shelving and everything.” There was a wobble in her voice, and her husband looked hollowly up at the attic which seemed to suddenly shrink to the size of our nook-closetunder-the-stairs. When we got back home, my husband broke the heavy silence. “Well, it is good to know that we are not the only ones suffering from poor storage space,” he said with false heartiness. I eyed him with a bleak look in my eyes. “I suppose it is good to know that we have the least storage space in the entire subdivision.” I held up my hand when he would have objected to my hyperbole. “Do you think you are up to finding out for sure?” You could have heard a pin drop on the carpeted floor after that. Of course, there are several other common sense points when it comes to choosing your first house. For instance, ladies, if your man loves power tools, don’t buy a fixer-upper. He’ll try to do the work himself, and in the process, injure himself and ruin the investment—the house itself. On the other hand, if your husband doesn’t particularly like working with his hands, and/or you don’t particularly like your husband, you want to get just such a house, for he will either hire someone to do the work, or he will leave, either of which would be a favorable outcome for you. And beware of anything that is hidden—like a crawl space, the basement, or roof—for it may have a weird history like flooding or mold. You may think that the roof is out in the open, but how many of us know what is really up there, hmm? Above all, try to remain strong psychologically in the face of the fact that you are only a coowner of the house, with the bank or mortgage company owning a very large part of it. This truth was brought home forcibly to me when my husband reduced my six-year-old daughter to tears by asking her to define the word “owned” when she asked him if we owned the house. Nevertheless, in spite of all the attendant problems, getting into your very first home is a wonderful experience, and I wish you all, all the best. I shall end with an ancient blessing … or a blessing that will be ancient once a decent number of years pass. May your laundry basket and kitchen sink always be empty, and your pantry shelf always be full. May all the fungi, weeds, and rodents in your yard perish, and all the things that would cost a ton of money to replace, flourish. May your mortgage interest rates decrease, and your equity increase. Happy house hunting!- IC
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Doctors Study Man Who Says He Has Fasted for 70 Years Prahlad Jani says there’s no diet like no diet at all. The 83-year-old says he hasn’t consumed food or water for seven decades, and doctors in India are trying to learn his secrets, or prove once and for all that his 70-year fast has been nothing more than a lengthy hoax. Jani -- who says he gets all of his sustenance from meditation -- has agreed to spend three weeks in a hospital in Ahmedabad where he’ll be observed by a team of 30 doctors, monitored 24 hours a day by cameras, and subjected to tests studying his brain and heart activity. “The observation from this study may throw light on human survival without food and water,” researcher G. Ilavazahagan told SkyNews. “This may help in working out strategies for survival during natural calamities, extreme stressful conditions and extraterrestrial explorations, like future missions to the moon and Mars by the human race.” Jani’s condition is so extraordinary, some military experts wonder if studying him might help them develop supersoldiers. Since the experiment began on April 22, Jani reportedly hasn’t had anything to eat or drink. He also hasn’t been to the bathroom. That apparently is par for the course for the yogi, who says he was blessed by a goddess when he was 8 years old and hasn’t needed to consume food or water ever since. In 2003, Jani -- who reportedly spends much of his time in a cave near a temple for the goddess Ambaji in Gujarat state underwent a 10-day medical observation, during which he didn’t eat, drink, urinate or defecate, according to the BBC.
From Left: Bollywood stars Arjun Rampal, Deepika Padukone, Sajid Khan, Akshay Kumar, Jiah Khan and Ritesh Deshmukh pose as they promote their latest movie ‘House Full’ during a media gathering on in Mumbai.
Prahlad Jani says he has survived without food and water for more than seven decades. India’s Defense Institute of Physiology & Allied Science is researching the 83-year-old’s claims.
Although people can survive for several weeks without eating, most can only survive several days without water.-AolNews
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Straight Up
Food Talk
How are you Going to Make it Special for your Mom on Mother’s Day? BY JACOB DAVID Every year Mother’s Day comes and goes, people celebrate their moms on that day like there is no tomorrow. But have you ever stopped to think that there are 364 days of the year where you can show appreciation to your mom in simple ways? Actions speak louder than words. Daily words of approval, seeking her advice and following it, saying, “I love you mom,” can go far than rushing her out on mother’s day waiting in a long line in the hot sun just to get into a packed, sweaty restaurant and ordering food that is hurried. Doing these things does not make you a momma’s boy / girl as some
people would like to slot you into that category. A true person need not be bothered by such labels. Today’s mom is usually a wife, a working woman and a mother to kids she takes care of everyday. Economists have not been able to place a value on a mother’s contribution in terms of actual working hours and dollars contributed towards the economy as a whole. You can analyze a mother’s contribution in several ways in nurturing her children the best possible way to make them model citizens of the future. Right, we are sometimes guilty of plopping them in front of TV as parents collectively, but that is to get away for a brief respite
from the society as a whole, not because we dislike being with our kids. So this Mother’s Day, Mom, don’t feel guilty one bit, let it all go and relax, and expect the best
Suggestions to Make Mother’s Day Outstanding Mothers Day Brunch Mothers Day Brunch is a popular way to celebrate Mothers Day and a great way to spend the early afternoon. It’s a Sunday after all and what better way to spend a few hours with Mom, family and friends. Just remember that this is a “Mothers Day” Brunch, so take care to think about where Mom likes to eat and what her favorite foods are before making any decisions. There is really only one important rule for a Mothers Day brunch and that’s to make sure that mom does NOT do the washing up afterwards. Mothers Day Brunch at Home Let’s get personal. That’s what many families are doing when they make plans for a Mother’s Day brunch. Adding a personal touch may be easier than you imagine. Here are some ideas you can use: - Make your centerpiece stand out. Don’t limit yourself to flowers. Centerpieces can consist of
anything that fits into the theme of the event. For visual interest, you can use a large glass bowl with goldfish swimming in it. You can cluster candles or float votives in water. - Create unique place cards. As it’s Mothers Day, this would be a great craft item the kids could make and contribute to the party. - Decorate with a theme. Start by deciding on the colors and the theme. Is your mom a gardener? Decorate the room with flowers cut out of construction paper. Make a chocolate cake covered in flowers made out of candies. - Don’t forget the cookies. Cookies can be very useful in personalizing a party, either as the dessert or as creative place cards. Mothers Day Brunch at a Restaurant A very traditional but pleasant way to celebrate Mothers Day is to take your Mom out for mother’s day brunch. This is especially true if your mother likes and appreciated good food and enjoys trying
new dishes. To make the brunch special, you will have to make a few arrangements including the choice of restaurant and the cuisine served. Keep in mind Mom’s likes and dislikes and remember above all that this is her day so choose for her – not for yourself. Make sure and book the restaurant well in advance as brunch is a popular mothers day treat and others will have the same idea as you. Book a table with a good view or position within the restaurant and request some special arrangements such as a special centerpiece, bouquet of flowers, or other decoration that picks up on your mom’s favorite colors. A very loving thing to do is to book the table in your mother’s name. If you have reserved a table for 12 pm (since it’s a mothers day brunch) it is advisable to reach ten minutes before and not ten minutes after 12pm. Do not take any risks on this day in order to make mother’s day brunch the most memorable one for your mom.
Make her day special: If you know the favorite food or meal of the mom in your life is then your job is simple. Make a menu of those items, create your grocery list, shop for the items, find the recipes and cook. However, if you have no clue what you would like to prepare for her this Mother’s
Day, read on. Breakfast: Breakfast in bed might sound like a wonderful idea but mom might just be sitting in bed worrying about the mess you are making. A better idea might be to just get the kids ready and let mom shower and dress in peace and then take everyone out to breakfast at her
favorite restaurant or diner. However, if you would like to make a breakfast for mom then make her favorite dishes and don’t forget to clear the table, wash the dishes and put them away. Brunch / Lunch: If you let mom sleep in a little – that means watching any little ones that might be around – then you can serve her a brunch or lunch. You can prepare the meal while she is waking up and getting ready for the day and then surprise her when she walks into the kitchen with a sumptuous meal. Once again, it is your responsibility to clean up so try to plan a relaxing activity for her to do while she is waiting for you to finish the dishes. A well rested mother with food in her belly is a happy mother.
Siddha Healing and Shiv Yog
‘Shiv’ means infinite and ‘Yog’ means Union, “Shivyog” means union with the infinite. Each one of us has infinite potential and ‘Shivyog” is the process of unfolding the infinite potential; It is the process of transcending all limitations to achieve the abundance of health, prosperity and success.
AVDHOOT BABA SHIVANAND Tel: 281-565-6186 • www.shivyog.com Avdhoot Baba Watch Bhakti Sutra on Zee TV Shiv Anand
from your family members. We’ve gone through getting some wonderful recipes for mom and a list of things to do for the entire family to get your mom the deserved break she needs this special day. And, please don’t drag her off to some restaurant to feed her and shuffle her through the long lines. Rather, it would mean so much more if you can get it catered from one of the Indian restaurants advertising with us and dine in at your home, you still don’t have to do the cooking, (wink), but you can cook if you are into it for the sake of getting your mom her heart’s delight - her favorite recipes done in appreciation for all she has done
for you through the years. Do check out our list of things to do and our recipes which you can use your creativity to perfect them. Add your own ingredients and add your touch to these recipes. Sometimes, with all that moms do, we wonder how she finds the time to do it all. Even the most efficient business managers in the corporate world can take a lesson or two in organizational skills from their mothers. No wonder America’s DC Comics has created its own Wonder Woman with super stamina and agility. Here’s wishing all mothers a Happy Mother’s Day!
Grilled Orange Herb Chicken Ingredients: 1/4 tsp minced fresh rosemary 1/3 cup fresh Orange Juice 1 1/4 tblsp vinegar 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce Black pepper to taste 1 lb boneless chicken breasts, skin attached 3/4 tsp grated orange peel 1/4 tsp minced fresh Thyme 2 cloves minced Garlic Combine the first 5 ingredients in a small bowl to make the herb mixture. Take each chicken breast and slip your fingers between the skin and flesh of the chicken, leaving the skin attached. Slide some of the herb mixture under the skin of each breast, pulling the skin back over each breast when finished. Prepare a grill with an oiled rack set
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4 inches above the heat source. On a gas grill, set the heat to high. Mix together the orange juice, vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce
in a small bowl. Grill the chicken breasts for 3-4 minutes on each side, turning once and basting with the orange juice mixture, until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the skin before eating. Credit: indianfoodrecipes & the weekendgrillers.com
Tell us how you pampered your mom! Email us : indoamericannews @yahoo.com
Does your Mom have Wonder Woman Capabilities? Wonder Woman © 2010 DC Comics
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H a p p y M o t he r ’ s Da y
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Thoughtful Things You Can Do for Mom For Guys & Gals alike: Your mom is special and although you tell her you love her all year long, Mother’s Day can be the perfect opportunity to let her really see the evidence of your appreciation. Planning in advance is a good idea if you want to make the day special so add these thoughtful things to your To Do list for Mother’s Day 2010. Take her on a vacation – Not everyone will be able to afford to pay for an entire vacation but if you’re already planning a vacation why not include your mother? Lasting memories can be created by taking your mom on a “girlfriend’s getaway” or if you are taking the entire family then bring grandma along for the fun. Surprise Visitor – Many Moms today have grown up kids that are away from home, either studying or having moved away from the area for work reasons. It’s in the nature of a Mother to think about her kids (young or old) every day. What better an idea for Mother’s Day to arrange a surprise visit from your son and/or daughter for a Family get together. Mom will be excited to see her “children”, especially if she does not see them that often. A visit from a loved one will make for a very special Mothers Day. Family BBQ – You can make this as simple or elaborate as you would like. Want to just have your mom and the immediate family present? Make your favorite barbecued meat and sides and enjoy your time together. Thinking bigger? Think about making it a family reunion type of event and invite everyone – aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, sisters, whomever you think would attend. Ask everyone to bring a side dish or desert and you provide the meat and paper goods. Handmade Gifts – Anything made by hand is sure to be loved by your mother and a handmade gift could
be anything your precious hands can create from her favorite desert to a new sweater or quilt. If your not exactly the crafty type, keep in mind that “hand made” might not even have to be “made by your hand.” If your mom likes hand crafted items or maybe you have recently been to a craft fair and your mother has shown interest in a specific item you could purchase it for her as a surprise. Help Her With Chores – There are a ton of things that your mom might appreciate help with. Some things that come easily to mind: • Gardening- mow the yard, weed the garden or help plant flowers and shrubs • DIY – houses are in constant need of care. Maybe you could make a list of everything that she needs to be done from painting to helping with remodeling. Make a seasonal checklist and help your mom make sure her house is ready for each season • Wash Windows – this is probably her least favorite job anyway so why not help her out by bringing your cleaning solution, buckets, rags and squeegee and get those windows spotless and squeaky clean • Wash Her Car – clean and vacuum it out, too. A clean lightly scented car will make her feel extra special. Pamper Her – Call her favorite hair stylist and make an appointment for a cut and style. Then make an appointment for a manicure, pedicure and facial. Be her chauffeur for the day and take her out to lunch, too. With a little effort and planning you could show your mother how special she really is and make this Mother’s Day one your mother will never forget. If you are a guy, don’t neglect your wife, the mother of your kids too. If you really want to top it, make it Mother’s Week! Treat both your wife and mom the whole week. (Mother’s Week is our idea)
Does She Love Oven BBQ Salmon?
Ingredients: 4-5 lbs Sockeye Salmon - (also known as the red or blue black salmon found in the Pacific Ocean) 1 sliced Lemon 1 medium sliced Onion 1 sliced Bacon strip (Optional) 1/2 cup Light corn syrup 1 cup Ketchup 1/2 ts Salt 1/2 ts Pepper 1/2 ts Garlic powder Remove head and tail from salmon and fillet. Place onehalf skin side down on a large sheet of foil in a baking pan. Add spices and layer with lemon, onion, and bacon. Mix corn syrup and ketchup and pour 1/2 over the fillet. Place second fillet flesh side down over the first; pour rest of sauce over all. Seal with the foil and bake 30- 40 minutes at 400 F.
Salmon will flake easily with a fork in the thickest part when it is done. Do not overbake. Serve hot; oven baked potatoes or corn would make a good accompaniment with a green salad. Serve fruit salad afterward.
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Babulbhai
india
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Coca-Cola’s Response Disappoints Plachimada
An activist who raised questions about groundwater exploitation at the annual shareholders’ meet says the company is misleading investors.
Accused of exploiting groundwater resources, the Coca Cola factory at Plachimada in Palakkad, Kerala, has been shut since 2004. Photo: C. Ratheesh kumar
By Narayan Lakshman Activists who raised the issues of unethical groundwater use and pollution by Coca-Cola plants in India during the soft drinks giant’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Atlanta this week have expressed disappointment with the response of Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent, accusing him of misleading investors about the problems the company had run into with regulators. Amit Srivastava of the India Resource Centre which campaigns for the rights of communities in the affected areas said that he had brought up the recommendations made on March 22 by an High Power Committee (HPC) set up by the Kerala government, according to which Coca-Cola should be held liable for $48 million (Rs.216.26 crore) in “damages to the community and the environment around its bottling plant in Plachimada”. On the discussion at the shareholders’ meeting, Coca-Cola representative Lisa Manley told The Hindu that Mr. Srivastava was a lone voice speaking out on the matter. She said: “Mr. Srivastava did ask a question about the Kerala committee’s report… this topic was otherwise not an issue of focus during the meeting.” Yet, it is a fact that the Coca-Cola bottling plant in Plachimada has been shut since March 2004 on government orders. According to the HPC, the Kerala Agricultural University found that fodder, milk, meat and
egg samples collected from the Plachimada area contained copper, cadmium, lead and chromium at levels considered toxic by World Health Organisation standards. The HPC adds that the deterioration in the quality and quantity of groundwater and the consequent public health problems, displacement and migration of labour and destruction of the agricultural economy were the main problems in Plachimada identified as caused and contributed by the Coca-Cola plant. The company has also been involved in a controversy in Kala Dera in Rajasthan, where groundwater resources had been declared as “overexploited” by the government in 1998. Yet, Coca-Cola built a new plant there in 2000, leading to severe water shortages in at least 40 villages in the vicinity of the plant, according to reports. However, Ms Manley said CocaCola did not have all these details as it had not been given a copy of the Kerala committee’s report and “at this point, it is simply a recommendation from a committee. The government has not yet acted on the committee’s recommendations”. She said Coca-Cola disagreed with the recommendations, “and we will defend ourselves against any actions that may result. As always, we will continue to work with the proper authorities to resolve this matter”. Ms Manley also said that numerous investigations by the government of
Shiv Sagar
Kerala had shown that the Coca-Cola system was not the cause of local watershed issues and it was Coca Cola’s view that any government committee or panel reviewing claims should “first determine through an established process of law whether any damage was caused to the residents of Palakkad [the district where Plachimada is located], and second, if such damage was caused, who was responsible.” “It is unfortunate that the committee in Kerala was appointed on the unproven assumption that damage was caused, and that it was caused by Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages,” she added. Mr. Srivastava, however, took exception to Mr. Kent’s response to the effect that Coca-Cola “could open the Plachimada plant any time”. This was untrue, Mr. Srivastava said, adding that he challenged them to “try and reopen the plant tomorrow — we can guarantee that they cannot open the plant again”. He emphasised that the IRC had been campaigning to get the company’s shareholders to realise that “the Coca-Cola management, including board of directors, is misleading shareholders about the financial and criminal liabilities that Coca-Cola is incurring in India”. Mr. Srivastava said Coca-Cola had passed on the issue to its public relations department, rather than seeing it as an operational issue. But this was not a PR issue, certainly not for the communities in Plachimada and Kala Dera, he said. Ms Manley contested this point, telling The Hindu that managing water responsibly was the highest priority in Coca-Cola’s approach to environmental policy and corporate social responsibility in India. She said: “Our goal in India is to be a ‘net zero’ user of groundwater, which means we are working to create a potential recharge of the amount of groundwater equivalent to that used in our operations in India.” Ms Manley added that such recharge was happening through support for rainwater harvesting, drip irrigation and other initiatives such as helping restore traditional water storage systems that local communi-
ties use. “By the end of 2009, we had achieved a recharge rate of 93 per cent of the groundwater that we use throughout India and we aim to achieve a net zero balance at the end of 2010,” she said. However, government figures that Mr. Srivastava quoted cast doubt on this as they suggest that “in the nine years prior to Coca-Cola’s bottling operations in Kala Dera, groundwater levels fell just 3 meters and in the nine years since Coca-Cola has been operating in Kala Dera, the groundwater levels have dropped 22.36 metres.” Coca-Cola’s shareholders have also been important in the debate.
While the shareholder group had been more responsive in the past and had passed a few resolutions, Mr. Srivastava admitted that they did not get a very positive response this time. He said the shareholders were myopic in their views and more concerned with the company’s sales, which had been on the decline in the U.S and in Europe for some time now. Arguing that even in this regard there has been an injustice towards Indian consumers, Mr. Srivastava said the reason for declining sales in the West was that consumers “are wising up to the negative impact of these highsugar drinks”.
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INDIA
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India’s Best Student: Dr. Manmohan Singh The Prime Minister stood first in class throughout his academic life.
By Sanjaya Baru Whenever he was asked for the secret of his professional success Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would say only one thing, “I am what I am because of my education.” He has often thanked his family for ensuring that he went right up to college and then had opportunities to win many scholarships that finally helped him get a PhD from Oxford University. Manmohan Singh was born into a family of modest means in the village of Gah in Pakistan. For the first 12 years of his life he lived there, a village which had no electricity, no school, no hospital, no piped drinking water. He walked for miles every day to school and studied at night in the dim light of a kerosene lamp. When asked once why he had poor eyesight he confessed that it was because he had spent hours reading books in that dim light. It was his hard work that enabled him to finish his schooling and attend college in Amritsar, where he lived after the Partition. He then won a scholarship to go to Cambridge University in England to do his Master’s in Economics. Another scholarship helped him complete his PhD. He won the coveted Adam Smith Prize in Economics for his outstanding academic record. He always stood first and was a brilliant student. For all his brilliance, he was a very shy boy. He once told Mark Tully,
Gah village in Pakistan, where Dr. Singh was born
was available in the hostel all the other students would come in to bathe and he felt shy to show them his long hair. As the only Sikh student in the hostel he felt inhibited to remove his turban in front of others. It is this shy boy who became the darling of his teachers because he was such a good student. He returned to India to teach at his college in Amrits ar. One day, his neighbour, renowned writer Mulk Raj Anand, took him to Nostalgia grips Gah, where some meet Prime Minister Jawaharlal of his friends lovingly display his Nehru and Panditji asked him to join the government. But he had photograph a commitment to teach at the the famous BBC correspondent in college and so he could not accept India, that throughout his stay in that offer. Later, when he was working at the Cambridge he used to bathe with cold water because the moment hot water United Nations under the famous
economist Raul Prebisch, he got an offer to join Delhi School of Economics as a lecturer. He immediately accepted that invitation and decided to return to India. Dr. Prebisch was shocked. So many brilliant economists would be
Dr. Singh interacts with some of his childhood friends, from Lahore. His family migrated to Amritsar during the Partition.
delighted to get a UN job and this young man was giving it up to teach in India? “You are being foolish,” Prebisch told Manmohan Singh, add-
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, mAY 07 , 2010 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
ing, “But, sometimes in life it is wise to be foolish!” Manmohan Singh returned home first to teach and then to work in the Government. He has held every important job in the field of economic policy making in India: Chief Economic Advisor to Government of India, Finance Secretary, Governor, Reserve Bank of India, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Union Finance Minister and now Prime Minister! In 2005 when he visited Kaula Lumpur for the India-ASEAN Summit he was introduced at the ASEAN Business Forum meeting as “the world’s most qualified Head of Government”! That is what makes us all proud. No country in the world has a more qualified head of government and India has never had such a highly qualified Prime Minister. Manmohan Singh’s life is a record of excellence and of merit being rewarded. His life will always be an inspiration to young people who want to work hard and achieve something based on their learning. No rich parents, no influential uncles, no wealth, no inheritance, no one to pull strings and ‘put in a word’ – it was always his merit, his hard work, his honesty, his intelligence and, above all, his deep love for India that energised him. Every young Indian should feel inspired by the life of Manmohan Singh!
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Indo American News • Friday, May 07 , 2010
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opinion
Indo American News • Friday, May 07 , 2010
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Among the Followers Twitter is fickle and fun. But don’t confuse it with the real world. By Vir Sanghvi Those who live by the tweet, die by the tweet. For some months now, Shashi Tharoor has been a Twitter phenomenon, tweeting several times a day to over seven lakh followers. Though the tweets have often got him into trouble (‘cattle class’, the visa issue etc), Tharoor has been unrepentant. A few weeks ago—before the sweat equity controversy broke—he explained his position to me in an interview for CNBC. The advantage with Twitter, he suggested, was that it allowed him to reach over seven lakh people whenever he wanted, without relying on the filter of the media. His Twitter audience, he pointed out gently, was much greater than the number of people who would watch our interview. (True).
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At the time, many peopled regarded Tharoor’s Twitter following with awe. Twitter was the voice of a young, enthusiastic middle class, happy to have its say on a variety of issues and unburdened by the pressures of literacy. (You can use telegraphese on Twitter because tweets can only be 140 characters long.) The seven lakh followers were Tharoor’s constituency. He reached them directly whenever he wanted. He did not have to care what journos said about him because rare is the newspaper that reaches seven lakh people. Eventually, some people predicted, it was Tharoor’s followers who would propel his rise as he became the symbol of a new India where citizens (middle-class citizens, at any rate) had the right to express their views and the technology to be heard. As we now know, it hasn’t quite worked out that way. In fact, Twitter has actually led directly to Tharoor’s downfall. It was on Twitter that Lalit Modi (a much less popular tweeter than Tharoor) provided details of Sunanda Pushkar’s shareholding in the Kochi consortium and set off the events that resulted in Tharoor’s resignation. Nor has Modi been a Twitter winner. As far as I can tell, he hoped to create a controversy about the owners of the Kochi team, embarrass Tharoor (who was ‘mentoring’ the consortium) and then use the furore as an excuse to take away the franchise and give it to somebody else. Instead, all he has achieved is Tharoor’s exit from the ministry. The Kochi consortium is still in place. And the taxmen are knocking at Modi’s own door. Now that the government can claim that its own hands are clean (following Tharoor’s departure), it will go for Modi and his BCCI colleagues—who clearly have much to hide—with such vigour that Modi’s own position will come under threat. The episode teaches us several things. One: there is an instant rush to be derived from putting something on Twitter and getting immediate feedback. But once something is out there in the Twitter universe, you lose all control over it: there is no telling what form the controversy you have started will take. And it may well come back to bite you in the behind—as has happened with both Tharoor and now Modi. Two: no matter how much action you generate on Twitter, it really makes no difference to how you are perceived by the country as a whole. Tharoor wanted to be seen as the symbol of a new India. Instead, he was seen as a man who was too clever by half. Modi wanted to be perceived as a dynamic sports visionary. He ended up being seen a dodgy, sleazy character. Three: never confuse following with loyalty. Many people regarded Tharoor’s followers as his loyalists. As the traffic on Twitter has demonstrated over the last week, fellow tweeters (even those who follow Tharoor) are as disparaging about him as anybody else. When I tweeted about this, I got many bemused responses from his followers. They said they followed him to read what he had to say, not because they had any special affection for him. And while they may be called ‘followers’, he was certainly not their leader. And finally, the events of the last fortnight have reminded us of the wisdom of that old cliché of Indian politics: the worst constituency to have is the middle class. As much as they like supporting you, they love sitting in judgement over you even more. It makes them feel powerful and important. So yes, the middle class can be vocal. But it can also be fickle. Twitter can be fun. I know because I tweet. I have 3.6 lakh followers. But it cannot be—and should not be—confused with the real world.Outlook
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book review
online edition: www.indoamerican-news.com
The Better Half
Why the Tagore women could leave behind the more illustrious legacy By Aru-
nava Sinha
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Some time in 19th century Kolkata, an almost historic confluence of minds took place. No, this wasn’t the beginning of the famed Bengal Renaissance, but of another revolution that was born, both literally and metaphorically, out of sight. That is the remarkable story that’s captured in Women of the Tagore Household, Chitra Deb’s now classic account of the lives of women in the inner sanctum of the Tagore household—translated in English by Smita Chowdhry and Sona Roy, academics both. The first family of culture in Kolkata through much of the 19th and 20th centuries is, obviously, best known for its most famous son, Rabindranath Tagore. Fortunately, Deb is not blinded by his brilliance. With single-minded focus, she reels off story after story, anecdote after anecdote, milestone after milestone, to establish the incredible achievements of the women of the Tagore family. It wasn’t just the daughters but also the daughters-in-law who flew the flag of freedom and rebellion. Telling tales that span more than a century and include both those who were born Tagores and those who married Tagores, Deb’s slice of fam-
ily and social history—rendered into English with loving fidelity—lifts the veil on events and initiatives that can scarcely be believed in the context of the period. It isn’t actually easy to imagine such a collection of feisty women under a single roof—so to speak— who knew their minds and were eager and willing to fight for their rights. Not surprisingly, most of the accounts are of “deviant” behaviour. There was Saudamini, who went to school. There was Sudakshina, adept at riding and shooting, who ran her husband’s zamindari after his death. There was Sushama, who wanted to travel rather than marry. That all of them got their way, the book reveals, had everything to do with their determination, though it didn’t come without support and help from the Tagore men. Not every struggle was for operational freedom, of course. The practice of asserting oneself in spite of being a woman practically began with Digambari, wife of “Prince” Dwarkanath Tagore, who discovered her husband giving up his orthodox Hindu ways to wine, dine and perhaps womanize too in the company of the British. Instead of whining or sulking, she consulted priests on whether she should forsake him or join him in his merry ways. Their advice, which she followed with a tremendous display of will: Take care of your husband no matter what the circumstances, but don’t share his bed. All the legends are in here, of
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course: Jnanadanandini Devi, who not only gave the Bengali woman a more practical way to wear their saris, but also travelled abroad alone with her child; Swarnakumari Devi, the first Tagore to be a successful writer; Indira Devi Chaudhurani, the first woman from the family to graduate and a translator of French literature. But so too is a succession of other women brought to public attention for the first time through Deb’s books, each of their feats as jaw-drop-worthy as the next—for instance, Sarala, who composed a Western score for one of Rabindranath’s poems, or Pragyasundari, the first fusion cook. An outstanding work of research in the manner in which the lives of scores of women are detailed, this book is a dramatic document of struggle. Against male prejudice, against the denial of the right to be educated. To act, to travel. So fascinating are the individual tales that you wish they had been placed on a calendar as well so as to identify the larger backdrop (some compensation, however, comes in the form of more than 100 marvellous pages of family trees). Thankfully, Rabindranath Tagore himself is one among a cast of hundreds, more prominent than the rest only in his artistic influence. In the powerful position in the arts occupied by men of the Tagore family, it’s easy to forget the women. And yet, Deb’s chronicle seems to suggest, theirs might actually prove to be the stronger legacy.-Mint
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By S. Dinkar BRIDGETOWN: It’s time for high-octane face-offs on an island they call fireball. Barbados is seldom short of action and velocity. The Indian cricketers had a feel of Barbados’ many splendours when they embarked on a journey into the ocean on Tuesday afternoon. The cricketers appeared relaxed and confident. Harbhajan Singh, a hint of mischief seldom leaving his eyes, was his chirpy self. The in-form Suresh Raina appeared in high spirits as he ventured onto the inviting beach. Piyush Chawla, the one with a spontaneous smile, was bubbly as ever. The Indians have grown in belief after coasting through the initial league phase. From here on, the big boys will come into play. India’s path in the Super Eights is more or less certain. Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men could meet
Tennis
sports
Time Now for the Tougher Battles
Australia at Kensington Oval here (unless Bangladesh comes up with a miracle against the Aussies) on May 7, then take on the West Indies at the same venue on May 9 before travelling to St. Lucia to meet Sri Lanka on May 11. It could be a tough group; every match represents a challenge in itself. India might need to clinch at least two of the matches to progress into the semifinals. The team will seek inspiration from its indomitable captain Dhoni. While this explosive cricketer might sport a calm exterior, his intensity and aggression simmer within. Dhoni can drive his men hard without being abrasive. The side is optimistic. Team manager Ranjib Biswal, a capable cricketer in his time from Orissa, said, “The mood in the camp is good. The boys are looking forward to the matches. There is
strong unity in the side.” He was pleased about lefthanded opener Gautam Gambhir recovering well from a stomach disorder. “He batted without any discomfort at the nets. It is a good sign,” said Biswal. A fully fit Gambhir is critical to India’s chances in the Super Eight. The Indian top-order will need to fire. India could be up against some high quality fast bowling in this stage. The Aussie pace trio of Shaun Tait, Dirk Nannes and Mitchell Johnson (if he recovers from minor fitness concerns) could be a daunting one. This is a fast and furious attack where sizzling short-pitched bowling is combined with scorching toe-crushers. Tait, Nannes and Johnson could seek to disrupt the feet movement of the batsmen and then cash in. Once the batsman is pushed onto his back-foot, the
Three Indians in Last Eight
Yuki Bhambri, Karan Rastogi and Rohan Gajjar reach the quarter finals in the ONGC ITF Futures
KOLKATA: Three seeded Indians, Yuki Bhambri, Rohan Gajjar and Karan Rastogi reached the quarterfinals as the rest of their compatriots fell by the wayside in the ONGC ITF Futures. Bhambri, the top seed, produced a fine all-round game to breeze past his Uzbek opponent Vaja Uzakov in straight sets in the pre-quarterfinals. The results (Indians unless specified): Men’s singles (pre-quarterfinals):
Indo American News • Friday, May 07 , 2010
Yuki Bhambri bt Vaja Uzakov (Uzb) 6-2, 6-4; Xin-Yuan Yu (Chn) bt Yu Chang (Chn) 6-3, 6-1; K. Wachiramanowong (Tha) bt Akash Wagh 6-3, 6-1; Murad Inoyatov (Uzb) bt Kamala Kannan 6-1, 6-0; Karan Rastogi bt Sudanwa Sitaram 6-3, 6-2; Rohan Gajjar bt Vivek Shokeen 6-3, 7-5; Perakat Sereluethaiwattana (Tha) bt Peng Gao (Chn) 7-6(1), 1-6, 6-3; Weerapat Doakmaiklee (Tha) bt Wan Hao (Chn) 6-2, 6-3.
Doubles (quarterfinals): Yu Chang & Zhuo-Qing Zhou (Chn) bt Wan Gao & Xin-Yuan Yu (Chn) 6-4, 6-3; Murad Inoyatov (Uzb) & Yannick Nelord bt B. Vikram Reddy & Sudanwa Sitaram 6-1, 6-4; W. Doakmaiklee & K. Wachiramanowong (Tha) bt Kamala Kannan & Vijay Sundar Prashanth 6-2, 6-4; Vivek Shokeen & Ashutosh Singh w/o Shahbaaz Khan & Saurav Sukul. -Hindu
yorkers can be deadly. The fact that Johnson and Nannes are left-armers makes scoring harder for the batsmen. The natural left-armer’s angle from overthe-wicket can make it difficult for the batsman to bat freely, with deliveries angling across or straightening. Throw in some precise shortpitched stuff — these deliveries from the left-arm quicks can follow the batsman making it difficult for him to duck or sway away from the line — and these bowlers are a real handful. The surfaces at Barbados, from all accounts, should offer more to the quicks than those at the other venues of this ICC World Twenty
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20. The bounce in the tracks should lead to exciting duels. The West Indian pacemen, Kemar Roach in particular, could make the Indian batsmen smell leather. It is here that India could miss the mercurial Virender Sehwag who can harness the pace on the ball so effortlessly. India’s final Super Eight clash — against Sri Lanka — would be played at the slower surface in St. Lucia. Actually, the wicket for this match between two sub-continental giants should suit the gameplan of both the sides. Finally, it boils down to holding one’s nerve and winning the key moments. Sides that do not fear losing, end up winning.
Brendon McCullum First To Score 1000 Runs in Twenty-20 Cricket
Brendon McCullum became the first batsman ever to score 1000 runs in Twenty-20 cricket. The hard hitting New Zealand batsman achieved this feat during his unbeaten 22-run knock against Zimbabwe at Providence Stadium, Guyana on Tuesday (May 4). Brendon McCullum who made his Twenty-20 debut against Australia at Auckland on February 17, 2005 took five years and 76 days to reach this landmark. Apart from scoring 1000 runs in Twenty-20 cricket, the right hand batsman also became the first batsman to hit 100 fours. The second four off Prosper Utseya during his knock was 100th in 35 innings of as many matches in Twenty-20 cricket. Zimbabwe achieved their lowest total in Twenty-20 cricket by making 84 in 15.1 overs. Zimbabwe came into the tournament as one of the form teams after shocking Pakistan and Australia in the warm-ups, but in a must-win game they subsided to one of the lowest Twenty-20 totals. After making a sprightly start, they collapsed spectacularly - losing eight wickets for sixteen runs. Scott Styris scalped three in four deliveries in the 13th over to erase Zimbabwe hopes of reaching triple-digits. Danile Vettori returned to finish off the innings by bowling Ray Price which meant Zimbabwe had been bowled out with nearly five overs to spare. It was fifth lowest ever total in Twenty-20 World Cup. Zimbabwe’s previous lowest was 105 in 19.5 overs against West Indies at Port of Spain on February 28,2010 while 138 for seven in 20 overs against England at Cape Town on September 13,2007 was the previous lowest in Twenty-20 World Cup. For more national and international cricket news please log on to www.cricketusamag.com • Contributed by Raheel Khan
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MAY 07 , 2010 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
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Indo American News • Friday, May 07 , 2010
community connections
RELIGIOUS SERVICES
Arya Samaj of Greater Houston 281-242-5000
Havan Satsang 10 AM - 12, discourse by Dr. Premchand Shridhar: 281-7520100 DAV Sanskriti school 10 AM - 12 - Havan, Hindi and Naitik Shiksha classes. Shekhar Agrawal: 281-242-5000
Every Sunday satsang assembly accompanied by Santo with inspirational BAPS 281-765-BAPS (2277) talks & devotional bhajans from 4:30pm - 6:30pm followed by arati and mahaprasad. 281-765-BAPS (2277), www.houston.baps.org
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may 2010
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CURRENT EVENTS
7:30pm: Mera Gaon: Save a Mother’s 2nd Annual Gala, Ashford Oaks, veenakaul8@gmail.com, www.save-a-mother.org
Fri
9pm: Bapuna Rajma Leela Laher, Namaskaar Entertainment, Old Stafford Civic Center, 281-240-3333, www.namaskaar.org
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11am: 6th Annual IITAGH Bowl-A-Thon, IIT Alumini of Greater Houston, Palace Bowling Lanes, 713-743-4335
Sat
5pm: Hindustani Recital by Jayateerth Mevundi, India Music Society of Houston, Jones Hall, University of St. Thomas, Govind: 713-922-2501, www.tickets2events.com
Daily Darshan & Arati Times: 4.30am, 7am, 8.30am, 12noon, 4.30pm, 7pm, 9pm. See darshan live on www.iskconhouston.org. Sunday Festival: 5.30pm to 7.30pm. Located at 1320 West 34th St, Houston, TX 77018.
5pm: Carnatic Concert by Kalaimamani Unnikrishnan, Bharathi Kalai Manram, Emery Weiner School Auditorium, 832364-9894
Priest – “Bhibhdutt Mishra Ji”. Open for Darshan all days, except Thursday, from 8am -10am & 5pm - 8pm. Sunday 11:30am to 1:30pm – Regular Puja, Religious discourses and Prasad. Website www.hwst.org
5:30pm: Classical Concert with Ustad Balkar Singh (of Patiala Gharana) Accompanied by Pandit Shantilal Shah, Anjali Center, Free Admission, Raman: 281-630-6075
JVB Preksha Center Regular weekly program of Yoga and meditation Mon-Thu 7.15pm to 8.15pm. On Saturdays from 9.00am to 11.15am. Located at 14102 Schiller Rd. 281-596-9642 Sanatan Shiv Shakti Rudrabhiskek every Monday followed by Aarti and mahaprasad. 5645 HillMandir croft, #701 Houston TX 77036. 713-278-9099
online edition: www.indoamerican-news.com
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Sun
8:30am: IACF 2010 Walkathon, Indo American Family Foundation, Lost Creek Park, Sugar Land, Pradeep Gokhale: 832-7667181, www.iacfhouston.com, info@iacfhouston.com
Saumyakasi Sivalaya 281-568-1690
Temple hours: Mon - Fri: 8.30am-Noon, 5-8pm, Sat & Sun: 8.30am-2pm, 5-8pm, Aarti: Noon and 7.30pm, Chinmaya Prabha, 10353 Synott Rd, Sugar Land, TX 77478. www.saumyakasi.org, Bharati Sutaria: 281-568-1690
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6:30pm: Art of Living Workshop, University of Houston, Rohit Khare: 281-777-3094
Sri Ashtalakshmi Temple 281-498-2344
Daily Schedule: 7:30am – 9:30am -Suprabhatam, Sri Murthy Aaradhana, Tiruppa:vai Sevakalam, Theertha Ghosti, Balabhogam, 9:30am – 11am :Temple is open, 6:30am – 7pm, www.jetusahouston.org
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Shri Kripalu Kunj Ashram 713-344-1321
Satsang & spiritual discourses, Sun: 10.30 am.-12.30pm. with simultaneous prog. of Hindi, Sanskrit and Moral science for kids, dance classes for children and adults every Fri:8 pm, www.shrikripalukunj.org
2pm: 50 Years of Gujarat, Gujarati Samaj of Houston, Immanuel Center, Ajit Patel: 713-557-2536
Shri Radha Krishna Four Arti daily: 6:30am , 12 noon, 7pm & 9pm. Tuesday & Saturday 7:10pm. Sunday Bhajan and Kritan at 6pm. Maha Arti 7pm, More information www. Temple srkt.org Located at 11625 Beechnut Houston, TX 77072. 281-933-8100 Swaminarayan Mandir (ISSO) 281-530-2565 Vedanta Society
Darshan: Daily 7.30am-12.30pm, 4-8.30pm. Aarti: Daily 7.45am & 7pm. Hanumanji Aarti: Sat: 7.15pm. Rajbhog Thaal (No Darshan): 10.30-11am. Dinner Thaal 5.30-6pm. Located at 10080 Synott Rd, Sugar Land TX 77498. 5906 Cypress • Classes Sunday from 10.30am to 12.30pm on Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, 1st &3rd Sunday; Bhagavad-Gita, 2nd Sunday; on works of Swami Vivekananda, More information visit www.houstonvedanta.org
Sri Guruvayurappan Temple Houston 11620 Ormandy St. Houston, TX 77035 Balalaya Prathishttha celebrations - Poster Contest – Theme Mahabharata for children (Ages 6 – 18) from 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM on Saturday, May 22, 2010 Costume Contest – Theme Mahabharata - For children ages 6 and under from 2:30 PM to 3:30 PM followed by Mahabharata Quiz – Knowledge Contest for children (ages 6 – 18) from 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM For Details visit: www.guruvayurusa.org last day for registration is May 14, 2010.
Send event information to indoamericannews@yahoo.com Listings should be concise and occur within 15 days of submittal
Free Citizenship Classes @ Houston Public Library
February - May 2010
Mondays & Thursdays Wednesdays 7-8:30pm 5:30-7:30pm Carnegie Neighborhood Library Henington Regional Library 832-393-1820 832-393-1970
Mon Sat
8pm: Incredible India- A Cultural Journey, Samskriti, Miller Outdoor Theater, 281-265-ARTS, www.samskritihouston. org, www.tickets2events.com
16
3pm: Seminar on Immigration with attorney Uma Mantavadi, GOPIO Houston, University of Houston ( Central Campus), Abby Kannappan 832 247 0609
21
6:30pm: India Jazz Suites, The Hindu American Foundation, & Hindus of Greater Houston, Madras Pavillion, Sugar Land, Vijay Pallod: 281-565-0001
Sun
Fri
8pm: India Jazz Suites, Indo American Association, Wortham Center, 832-758-2844 8pm: DJ Aqeel Live in Houston, ABCD Houston, PRAVADA, Montrose: 713-533-1200
22 Sat
8pm: Sukhwinder Singh Jai Ho, Hum Tum City, Arena theatre, www.humtumcity.com
SatSun
8-9:30am: Free Yoga Classes by Patanjali Yogpeeth Center, Arya Samaj, Anil: 281-579-9433
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INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, mAY 07 , 2010 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
online edition: www.indoamerican-news.com
Indo American News • Friday, May 07 , 2010
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MAY 07 , 2010 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
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Indo American News • Friday, May 07 , 2010
online edition: www.indoamerican-news.com
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, mAY 07 , 2010 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM