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Business IndoAmerican News

STOCKS • FINANCE • SOUTH ASIAN MARKETS • TECHNOLOGY

Bombay Sweets - A Mountain of Indian Sweets and More

By Jacob David

HOUSTON: There is always a place where you can go to try sweets made the Indian way Bombay Sweets. Indians have auspicious days and religious festivals every year where they celebrate by sharing sweets amongst families. Weddings are another big day for Hindus, Christians and Muslims where sweets are distributed by the cart load. Bombay Sweets has over 100 different varieties of sweets they make from all over India. This is the one and only restaurant in Texas that has been making sweets for nearly 15 years in a row. They have small and large specialty wedding sweet trays that are decorative and match the festive spirit. The candies as their American diners call them are well loved and popular that now the sugar free varieties are being made for the conscious eater. What the truth is Bombay

Sweets have chefs who are first and second generation Indians.

They go to great lengths making the sweets the only way they know how to make it - paying attention to each detail, with fresh milk and pure Indian ghee or clarified butter. Eaten in moderation, these sweets can evoke nostalgia.

The Bengali Sweets like Cham Cham, Rosgolla, Rasmalai are high on the popularity list as are Kalakhand, Hafshi, Khoya Barfi (condensed milk), Kaju Barfi (cashews), Badam Barfi (almonds), and Gajar Halwa (Carrots). A dish that is served combined with sweets is the Pakistan specialty Halwa Puri - served with chana dal, puris and Halwa on the same plate.

More to Bombay Sweets: A full size restaurant that seats over 100 people serves all kinds of Indian food, daily spicy snacks and variety of hot mixtures. They start

serving breakfast from 10:30 AM and stay open till 9:30 PM. Open seven days this restaurant serves over 1200 customers daily. There is plenty of space to dine in. Take out facility is available. The restaurant serves a full range of Indian dishes - 15 varieties including the dessert items for lunch and dinner buffet. The buffet is only $6.99 daily throughout the year. The buffet is accompanied by your choice of nan, chapati or puri. There is also the additional salad bar with fresh salad items, chutneys, pickles, papads and sauces.

The food is quickly prepared, offering you a hearty yet completely vegetarian serving, a good mix of vegetables like carrots, potatoes, eggplants, basmati rice and mung dal stew. The vegetarian theme changes daily. continued on page

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They make pure Indian sweets made with fresh milk and desi ghee.

Bombay sweets also has the sugar free varieties available for those who simply must eat sweets on a daily basis.

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Indo American News • Friday, July 09 , 2010

h o u s t o n b u s in e s s

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Bombay Sweets - A Mountain of Indian Sweets and More

continued from page

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The kitchen has over 15 staff working over thousands of orders

chutneys and sauces - Delhi Papri chaat, mix chaat, Kachori chaat, Samosa chaat, Pani puri chaat,

Arman Singh the manager helps out customers place their order

placed daily. Bombay Sweets carries North and South Indian cuisine. The Vada Pav - a deep fried potato patty (cutlet) between two buns is served with Tamarind and Mint Chutney is the iconic food, Pav Bhaji - pav - bread, Bhaji a mouth-watering stew of vegetables which is accompanied by buns to eat them is straight from Mumbai or the Maharashtra region. Their menu is overloaded with every variety of chaat - instant food snacks - made of potatoes, puffed rice, mini puris, spicy mixtures, chopped onions chilies,

tikki chaat, bhel puri chaat, sev puri chat and Dahi vada - a fried donut in yogurt. They have the chaat and sauces packed separate if you’d like to take them home with you.

Gujarati items are the dhokla fried or steamed cakes made of chickpeas, khandvi - chickpea flour shaped like pasta rolls, Undhiyu - a mixed vegetable dish served with hot Parathas.

“We can cater for an unlimited number of people” says Arman Singh with a smile. He is the manager of the restaurant. “We can

you take a seat and wait it out till your food order is called. They make the food fresh after you order it. This may increase your wait time somewhat if it is over crowded, but you can rest assured that the food will be served hot.

The buffet line food is also constantly changed out. Since the crowd is always milling about, the food gets over quickly at the buffet. You can be sure that there are very few hours that go by real slow at Bombay Sweets.

The buffet is dine in only and cannot be packed to go. What you can be guaranteed is plenty of family bonding time while you wait for your order and while you are dining in. Be prepared to visit this restaurant with loads of time to spare. Otherwise, you can order a quick take out as well and enjoy the food at home.

Make sure to order what is your favorite best.

If you are new to Indian cuisine or a risk taker, you can order the new dishes. With their busy fare, they still take time to be hospitable.

Certain items do have sesame seeds Friends meet and greet each other at Bombay Sweets restaurant, time for a late and nuts, so watch lunch. American customers now have taken a great liking to Indian dishes. out for allergens.

Always check with What you can expect: A fast the chefs and make sure they unCauliflower, onions, potatoes, eggplants and large food, family atmosphere, plain derstand your allergic condition green not so spicy chilies, booth and individual style seat- before you place your order.

Located: 5827 Hillcroft, Housmixed part dry and wet in ing, friendly crowds, constant spicy chickpea batter and dinging of the bell and your food ton, TX 77036 Ph: 713-780-4453 Photos: Jacob David quickly deep fried in oil. order being announced over the It is a great delicacy that is speakers. When you first go in, you can place the order directly served with hot tea.

Visit our web site, we’ve The south Indian cuisine is with the cashier by looking at a given it a new look and added large menu board hanging on the more content.

Simple in decor, Bombay wall. You can always customize, mix and match your order as your Sweets has a relaxing www.indoamerican-news.com atmosphere as crowds taste fancies. gather around tables to You can order your dishes spicy We thank you for your feast on some popular or mild right when you place your I n d i a n s n a c k s a n d order. After paying for your food, SUPPORT!

also make any number of dishes, we’ve got a talented kitchen staff who have years of experience cooking these dishes over and over again.” They can also cook pure Jain food using no onions, garlic or tuberous vegetables.

Spicy snacks are available from all over India.

There are over fifty varieties of spicy mixtures, nuts, and appetizers like Aloo Tikki - a potato cutlet, Aloo Vada, Bread Pakora, Panneer Pakora, Chili Pakora, and the mix pakora - which consists of vegetables like

known for its unique taste. Bombay Sweets serves hot idlis with sambar, Medhu vada, Masala dosas, Mysore Masala dosa, Rava Masala dosa, Plain dosa, Uthapams in six varieties.

To quench your thirst they have home made drinks mango shakes, sweet lassi, salted lassi (buttemilk), chickoo shake, rose milk shake, freshly pressed sugarcane juice. They have two coolers full of pop stick icecreams and kulfis - Pistachio, Malai and Mango.

Hot drinks served that are in great demand are spicy tea also called Masala chai, regular tea and coffee served with milk and sugar.

dishes

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VISIT THE HOUSTON ZOO THIS WEEK

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Purchase Discount Zoo Tickets at any of the 33 Fiesta Mart stores. Visit the courtesy booth of Any Fiesta Mart to purchase an adult zoo admission for $9 and a child zoo admission for $6. - IA News

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Indo American News • Friday, July 09 , 2010

society

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Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to Visit Houston HOUSTON: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will make his first visit to Houston as Singapore’s head of government on July 12 to deliver an address expected to highlight the growing economic ties between his country and

the Bayou City. Despite global recession, trade between Houston and Singapore grew 24 percent last year, and the Prime Minister sees scope for even greater economic cooperation.

Hosted by Asia Society Texas

Center and the Greater Houston Partnership, Mr. Lee will speak at noon at the Hyatt Regency Houston downtown.

The Prime Minister has expressed keen interest in getting to know better those U.S. regions that are key trading partners for Singapore. More than 520 Houston companies report doing business with Singapore, which ranks as Houston’s 13th largest trading partner. The Houston/Galveston Customs District is Singapore’s third largest U.S. gateway for

international trade.

Mr. Lee will make Houston his only other U.S. stop after delivering the keynote address at the Allen & Co. Sun Valley Conference in Idaho.

Prime Minister Lee assumed his present office in 2004. First elected to Parliament in 1984, he has held a series of progressively more responsible government posts, with emphasis on economic growth and finance. He served as Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister before becoming Prime Minister.

As Prime Minister he has launched policies to build a competitive economy and an inclusive society.

He has introduced new programs to upgrade the education system, invest in research and development, and strengthen Singapore’s social safety nets.

Mr. Lee earned an undergraduate degree in mathematics from the University of Cambridge and a master’s degree in public administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is the eldest son of Singapore’s first Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew. For more information, contact Asia Society: Fritz Lanham at fritzl@asiasociety.org or call 713439-0051 x17

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He Turns Huts into High-Rises

A new-generation builder who can manage glitzy couture weeks while redeveloping shanty towns TheblackPorschePanameraparked outside the Dheeraj Arma building in suburban Mumbai’s Bandra (East) area looks out of place amid the lawyers in black coats streaming in and out of the neighbouring Bandra court, the crowd at the railway station around the corner and squatters all over.

I meet Sarang Wadhawan, the 33year-old managing director of Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL), in his chamber on the ninth floor of the building. Tall and dressed, as usual, in well-tailored clothes, he looks less hurried this time.

Our last meeting, over a year ago, was in the midst of the economic downturn. Wadhawan and his team were busy setting things right— tweaking their business model and keeping away from new sectors, such as power, gas and hospitality, that they knew wouldn’t sustain them through the crisis.

He is a little more forthcoming this time too, possibly secure in the knowledge that the worst seems to be over for the real estate sector— and that they came out relatively unscathed.“The recession caught us all by surprise. But in the last one year we took the right decisions, were open and spoke to our investors almost on a daily basis,” he says.

Till 2008, Wadhawan may not have imagined that his firm, described as India’s largest slum redeveloper, would do anything else. Yet as the downturn hit in 2008-09, HDIL changed gear and tapped, for starters, the safer residential sector.

Today, the firm’s got a different image. And he’d rather talk about his showcase project—the Mumbai International Airport Pvt. Ltd (Mial)— than why the firm had to opt out of the redevelopment of one of Asia’s largest slums, Dharavi, in 2009.

Wadhawan, who joined the company in 2000, believes two factors played a key role in HDIL’s corporate branding. One, a June 2007 initial public offering (IPO), which consolidated its real estate business.

Two, the extravaganza called HDIL India Couture Week, a collaboration between the Fashion Design Council of India and HDIL, which started in 2007. “It was a conscious, wellthought decision and this association will help us,” he says of the Couture

Week.

HDIL’s core remains its land banking business, in which it typically develops infrastructure and sells development rights.

The Mumbai-focused developer has a land bank of 2,500-odd acres.

Just before its IPO, HDIL had 45.5 million sq. ft of space under development, comparable only with India’s largest developer by market value DLF

Ltd, which had 44 million sq. ft under construction.

HDILprobably never imagined that it would not be part of the Rs15,000 crore Dharavi redevelopment project.

In one of our conversations in 2008, Wadhawan had said his firm was capable of single-handedly executing the project, and was ready to bid for all five sectors there. After the bankruptcy of its partner, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., in 2008, HDIL was forced to pull out completely from the Dharavi project in March 2009—an outcome that continues to surprise many. Senior Maharashtra government bureaucrats say it’s ironical that the best, and probably most eligible, firm in the business of slum redevelopment is out of the Dharavi project.

Sipping my second cup of coffee, I remind Wadhawan that the Dharavi project is yet to take off. He explains that the project has been “on the anvil for eight years, plagued by (the) overexpectations of people and the lack of someone to take responsibility”.

He is more forthcoming, however, about the seven-year Mial project that

will relocate around 80,000 families.

Under way despite the hiccups and delays, it will generate 43.4 million sq. ft of development rights and is valued at around Rs6,700 crore, according to a report by brokerage firm Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt. Ltd. “Mial is just as difficult as Dharavi. If we can handle 80,000 slum dwellers, the government also can,” he says.

For a company that is one of the largest players in the real estate business after DLF Ltd and Unitech Ltd, there is, strangely, only one spokesperson—Wadhawan himself. A secondgeneration developer, he will tell you that he learnt the tricks of the trade from Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan, his father.

Wadhawan senior is the company executive chairman, but not as hands on as he was till the son took over. Sarang Wadhawan, however, says the veteran is still involved in the big decisions.

“The days are busy, so often be-

Wadhawan doesn’t hesitate to say that the HDIL India Couture Week extravaganza gave the company, largely into redeveloping slums, a much needed corporate brand image makeover. tween 10pm-1am, I sit down with him and chat. We talk about business, strategy,” says Wadhawan.

He says he was into the family run business for years before the company went for its IPO. From 2000, on his return to India after a management degree in finance and marketing from the University of Houston, followed by a six-month internship in “a small company that dealt with plasma reactors for garbage disposal”,Wadhawan was on home turf. In the run-up to the company’s IPO, he simply followed his father’s instructions, spending days at a project being developed in Mumbai’s Andheri area and interacting with government officials to understand the key rules of project

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approvals during countless rounds of Mantralaya, the state secretariat.

There isn’t a speck of dust on his designer shoes now but he still manages to watch every project site, workers and every bag of cement that comes in through webcams in his plush cabin.

Despite the fiercely competitive nature of the real estate business, Wadhawan does have friends within the industry. He counts Vikas Oberoi, managing director of Oberoi Constructions Pvt. Ltd, and Boman Irani, chairman and managing director of Keystone Realtors Pvt. Ltd, as two of them.

But right now he is ecstatic about his newborn boy. “We have named him Abhay,” he says His three-yearold daughter Sara, he adds, goes to a playschool close to their home in Pali Hill, Bandra.

He has a hectic schedule, shuttling between his home and office in a Ferrari F430 Spider, Porsche or Roll-Royce, and travelling to Delhi regularly for project approvals. But sometimes, on a lazy Sunday, Wadhawan goes for a cruise in his 90ft yacht, a Ferretti 881 he bought a year ago, and which is parked at the Gateway of India.

So where did he go for his last holiday? “I haven’t taken a holiday in two years. The recession, you know,” he chuckles.

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Indo American News • Friday, July 09 , 2010

SOUTH A S I A

Anil Ambani Plans 8,000 MW Plant in Gujarat GUJARAT (DNA): The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) is likely to invest Rs 40,000 crore to set up an 8,000 MW power plant in Gujarat. Group chairman Anil Ambani is expected to make an announcement in this regard at the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors’ Summit (VGGIS) in January 2011.

State government sources said that the ADAG power company, Reliance Power, had submitted a proposal for setting up an 8,000 MW power plant near Bharuch or Dahej. The company has indicated that it proposes to invest around Rs40,000 crore for the project. The company submitted the proposal recently to the energy & petrochemical department and the industry & mines department of the state government.

“The company intends to set up

the gas-based power plant in two phases,” a source said. “In the first phase, it will build a plant of 4,000 MW capacity and, in the second phase, it will add another 4,000 MW capacity to the plant.’’

The source further said that, a few days back, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani had told his company’s shareholders that his firm will supply gas to ADAG plants as and when they are ready.

This, of course, is subject to the allocation made by the government.

The Gujarat State Petroleum Corp (GSPC) and the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) are also likely to commit gas supply to ADAG’s power plants, the source said.

The group is also likely to shift its proposed power project at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh because of delay

caused by local opposition, sources said.

“The Supreme Court ruled last month that the government alone had the right to approve the price of the gas produced from fields such as KGD6 of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries and determine its users,” another source said.

“After that, ADAG informally approached the Union oil ministry for approving allocation of gas to its proposed power plants. These include the 7,800 MW unit at Dadri in UP and other projects including those in Gujarat.’’ The state government has assured ADAG many incentives and infrastructural support to set up power plants in Gujarat. These incentives would be as per the Power Generation Policy announced in January 2009 to attract power projects to the state .

Internet and Mobile Banking to be Expanded THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: (Economic Times) Internet and mobile banking would be expanded during the coming days and more facilities would be added to ATMs, State Bank of India, Kerala Circle, chief general manager BS Bhasin said.

Steps would be taken in the current fiscal to expand the base of internet banking with additional facilities to disburse salaries for employees, Bhasin and SBI Kerala circle general manager V Ramamoorthy told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday.

Mobile banking facility would be made available even on phones that

did not have an internet connection, Bhasin said. ‘We are launching it in a big way’, Bhasin added.

New features like facility to deposit money through ATM would be introduced shortly, he said.’One could deposit both cash and cheques through this facility to any accounts they wish’, he said.

SBI would introduce for the first time in Kerala the ‘POS’ machines, cash terminals as a pilot project in four branches in Kochi.

The new facility to speed up the process of cash withdrawals and deposits would be introduced next week,he said.

Referring to the functioning of dedicated loan processing centres, Bhasin said the new system had proved to be a success and Bank was ready for making necssary modifications and changes as per the suggestions of customers.

SBI did not believe in strong arm tactics to recover loans from its customers. ‘Unfortunately some other banks employ outsiders to collect money. They create some problems’, he said to a question.

SBI have no outsiders to do its business. The bank recruited 1134 persons last year and another 875 would join in few days time, he said.

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Bangladesh Footwear Eyes Major Indian, EU Markets

Leather footwear maker Fortuna Bangladesh is eyeing Indian and Chinese markets and hopes to compete with the two in the European Union. million ($eight million) and raise its BANGLADESH (Deccan Herald): Many importers are seeking capacity from 2,500 to 6,000 pairs a leather footwear from Bangladesh day. Taher said the group is expecting due to rising production costs and the to earn foreign currency worth Taka World Trade Organisation (WTO)’s two billion ($28 million) a year by restrictive rules, a senior official exporting the footwear.

“I believe this will be the next of the group claimed. “Many buyers from China are now coming to garment industry for Bangladesh,” Bangladesh as their cost of labour is he said, referring to the country’s increasing. Many European buyers highest export earner that netted $19 are also looking to take advantage billion last year. Earlier, China, India of the duty-free export facility to the and Vietnam were the largest leather EU as an additional 16.5 per cent shoe exporters. The Fortuna group is tax is levied on footwear exports also establishing the country’s first from China,” said Fayaz Taher, chief shoe mould manufacturing factory executive (manufacturing and retail by September.

“We will manufacture plastic division) of Fortuna Bangladesh.

“Many countries, like China and mould that is now being sourced from India, are failing to produce high China and India. Once we are done, quality but low-cost leather items it will help ensure a perfect shape of because of the WTO anti-dumping our shoes,” he said. At present, most rules. So, orders from Germany, local footwear companies are using Italy, France, Japan and Canada wooden moulds that cannot assure an are increasingly shifting to the lo- accurate shape. A traditional exporter cal manufacturers,” Taher told The of leather, Bangladesh exports six Daily Star. The group is poised to set million pairs of shoes, 45 percent of up a new factory spending Taka 560 its produce, every year.

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South Asia News of the Diaspora

India Inaugurates World Class Terminal 3 at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Airport NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said that an airport is often the first introduction to a country. And sure enough, with the gleaming new terminal at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, India has truly arrived on the world scene.

Christened T3, the shiny steel and glass terminal has all the ingredients to make a very impressive first impression on visitors and is reflective of the modern, industrialised country with an expanding economy that India today is. It will integrate domestic and international operations to handle 34 million passengers annually. All set to redefine air travel, the first flight from the plush terminal will be launched on July 14.

Completed in a record 37 months, T3 is spread over a mind-boggling 5.4 million square feet. The nine-level building has come up at a cost of approximately Rs 10,000 crore with the involvement of 54 government departments and the GMR groupbacked developer, Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL). With this, the IGIA has become the eighth-largest airport in the country. A whopping 90 per cent of entire passenger movement at the airport will be at T3.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit during the inauguration.

Besides three functional runways, T3 has 168 check-in counters, 95 immigration counters, 78 aerobridges, 14 baggage conveyer belts, 97 travelators or automated walkways as passengers may have to cover at least 1.2 km from one end of the vast building to the other. Other facilities include a much-required multi-level air-conditioned car park, first of its kind in the country, that will accommodate 4,300 cars. T3 will also have metro connectivity with Connaught

Place.

At the flick of a button, check-in counters will be switched from one airline to the other. In other words, the same counter can be used by a domestic airline in the morning and an international one in the evening. Comfortable lounges, nap and shower rooms done up tastefully in the colours of India add to passenger comfort. The new building is facing some power problems but these will be taken care of by the time T3 receives its first flight.

Another interesting feature is a 100-room transit hotel in the international departure area. The area has lounges on the first floor, airline offices on the second and the hotel on the third.

There is a mix of restaurants, bars, cafes and fast food outlets in the 21,500 sqm of commercial space. Not just this, the gleaming T3 is barrier-free to suit requirements of passengers with special needs or reduced mobility.

And, as Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said: “T3 is not just a building, it is a statement.” He said the cost to build the T3 was higher than estimated, but people should not mind paying the special airport usage fee and toll tax.

The nine-storey terminal is spread over 4 km and would be used for 90 per cent of the entire passenger movement in the airport. Photo: S. Subramanium

Haldiram Owner Agarwal Goes to Jail KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Thursday rejected the bail prayer of Haldiram Bhujia owner Prabhu Shankar Agarwal who was sentenced to life imprisonment for conspiring to murder a tea stall owner whose shop came in the way of a food plaza the dry snacks baron was building.

A division bench comprising Justice S P Talukdar and Justice M K Sinha rejected the bail prayer of Agarwal who is in jail since he was awarded life imprisonment by a fast track court on January 29.

Agarwal’s counsel Bikash Bhattacharya submitted the dispute was civil in nature and that he was already in possession of the piece of land in front of the upcoming plaza in the city’s business district Burrabazar.

Opposing the bail prayer, public prosecutor Asimesh Goswami said it had been proved before the sessions court that Agarwal was the key conspirator to kill the tea stall owner and the question of civil dispute did not arise.

Judge Tapan Sen of Bankshall Court had awarded the sentence toAgarwal, history-sheeters Gopal Tiwari, Arun Khandelwal, Manoj Sharma and Raju Sonkar under Section 120 B (criminal conspiracy) besides 10 years rigorous prison terms under section 307/34 (attempt to murder/common intention).

Tiwari, who had pulled the trigger, was also found guilty under the Arms Act and sentenced to seven years under one section and three years under another.

Agarwal, owner of the multi crore food and confectionery chain

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, july 09 , 2010 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

Prabhu Shankar Agarwal has been given life sentence for conspiring and attempting to kill a tea stall owner.

which has outlets in many cities and also in London and elsewhere, had failed to persuade tea stall owner Satyanarayan Sharma to move out as the shop would spoil the facade of the food plaza he was constructing.

His hired goons had then raided the shop looking for Satyanarayan, but not finding him, shot his nephew Pramod Sharma, injuring him seriously on March 30, 2005.

Agarwal, who was in London to open his first overseas food plaza at the time of the attack, was arrested when he returned home two months later.

Agarwal was arrested at IGI Airport in Delhi as soon as he landed and was handed over to the Kolkata Police.

Tiwari was arrested from Hyderabad, where he was hiding, while the other accused persons were arrested here.

The prosecution, during the trial, submitted Tiwari and his henchmen had embarked on the murder bid at the behest of Agarwal.

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Right-to-Know Law Gives India’s Poor a Lever

By Lydia Polgreen BANTA (NYT): Chanchala Devi always wanted a house. Not a mudand-stick hut, like her current home in this desolate village in the mineralrich, corruption-corroded state of Jharkhand, but a proper brick-andmortar house. When she heard that a government program for the poor would give her about $700 to build that house, she applied immediately.

As an impoverished day laborer from a downtrodden caste, she was an ideal candidate for the grant. Yet she waited four years, watching as wealthier neighbors got grants and built sturdy houses, while she and her three children slept beneath a leaky roof of tree branches and crumbling clay tiles.

Two months ago she took advantage of India’s powerful and wildly popular Right to Information law.

With help from a local activist, she filed a request at a local government office to find out who had gotten the grants while she waited, and why.

Within days a local bureaucrat had good news: Her grant had been approved, and she would soon get her check.

Devi’s good fortune is part of an information revolution sweeping India. It may be the world’s largest democracy, but a vast and powerful bureaucracy governs. It is an imperial edifice built on feudal foundations, and for much of independent India’s history the bureaucracy has been largely unaccountable. Citizens had few means to demand to know what their government was doing for them.

A grant for the poor was elusive to Chanchala Devi until she used India’s right-to-know law.

But it has now become clear that India’s 1.2 billion citizens have been newly empowered by the farreaching law granting them the right to demand almost any information from the government. The law is backed by stiff fines for bureaucrats who withhold information, a penalty that appears to be ensuring speedy compliance.

The law has not, as some activists hoped, had a major effect on corruption. Often, as in Ms. Devi’s case, the bureaucracy solves the problem for the complaining individual, but seldom undertakes a broader inquiry.

Still, the law has become part of the fabric of rural India in the five years since it was passed, and has clearly begun to tilt the balance of power, long skewed toward bureaucrats and politicians.

“The feeling in government has always been that the people working in government are the rulers, and the people are the ruled,” said Wajahat Habibullah, the central government’s chief information commissioner. “This law has given the people the feeling that the government is accountable to them.”

Rajiv Gandhi, a former prime minister, once said that only A goat herder and her children in Jharkhand, a 15 percent of corrupt state where the poor use India’s right-tospending on the know law to solve basic problems.

state of Bihar in 2000. Here the rural poor are using the law to solve basic problems. Their success stories seem like the most minor of triumphs, but they represent major life improvements for India’s poorest.

In one village near Banta, a clinic that was supposed to be staffed full time by a medical worker trained to diagnose ailments like malaria and diarrhea and provide care to infants and expectant mothers had not been staffed regularly for years.

A local resident filed a request to see worker attendance records. Soon the

In Jabri, a village in Jharkhand, a clinic was often closed, but a claim filed under the information law led to more regular hours.

poor actually reached them — the rest was wasted or siphoned off.

That figure may have changed in the decades since he uttered it, but few Indians doubt that a good chunk of the roughly $47 billion budgeted this fiscal year to help impoverished citizens is lost.

India’s Right to Information law has given the poor a powerful tool to ensure they get their slice of that cake. The law, passed after more than a decade of agitation by goodgovernment activists, has become embedded in Indian folklore. In the first three years the law was in effect, two million applications were filed.

Jharkhand is an eastern Indian state where corruption and incompetence are rife, fueled by mineral wealth and the political chaos that has gripped the state since it was carved out of the

medical worker started showing up regularly.

The worker, Sneha Lata, an assistant midwife whose government salary is $250 a month, denied that she had been neglecting her post.

She said the information law was a nuisance.

“Because of this law I have to listen to all these complaints,” she said. But with villagers now watching, she dares not miss work.

In a nearby hut, Ramani Devi sewed a blanket for a grandson born nine days earlier. In years past she would have been in the fields, toiling for a handful of change to make ends meet. As an elderly widow, Ms. Devi (no relation to Chanchala Devi) knew she was entitled to a $9 monthly government pension. That may not sound like much, but in a rural village,

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it is the difference between eating and starving.

Middlemen at the government office demand bribes of $20 to direct applications to the right bureaucrat, and many people ineligible for pensions were collecting them. When a local activist filed a request to find out which villagers were receiving pensions, Ms. Devi, who is a Dalit, formerly known as an untouchable, finally got her pension. Now she proudly shows off her savings account passbook.

Simply filing an inquiry about a missing ration card, a wayward pension application or a birth certificate is nowadays enough to force the once stodgy bureaucracy to deliver, activists here say.

But a more responsive bureaucracy is not necessarily less corrupt.

Sunil Kumar Mahto, 29, an activist in Ranchi, Jharkhand’s capital, said he quickly learned that using the law to expose corruption was pointless.

He gave the example of a road project. “The money was spent, but there was no road,” Mr. Mahto said.

When he applied to find out what had happened, new money was allocated and the road was ultimately built. But no action was taken against whoever had pocketed the original money.

“The nexus of politicians, contractors and bureaucrats is very strong here,” Mr. Mahto explained. “To get action against someone is very difficult.”

Some critics wonder if the law is simply a pressure valve that allows people to get basic needs addressed without challenging the status quo.

“It has been very successful in rooting out petty corruption,” said Venkatesh Nayak of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. “But our accountability mechanisms are weak, and transparency has no purpose without accountability.”

But Shekhar Singh, an activist who fought for passage of the law, said that in a nation recovering from centuries of colonial and feudal oppression, fighting corruption was secondary.

“Our main objective was to empower citizens,” Mr. Singh said.

“This law has done that — given the people the power to challenge their government. That is no small thing.”

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in d ia

Indo American News • Friday, July 09 , 2010

33

BJP Invites Narendra Modi to Campaign in Bihar

By Manas Dasgupta

AHMEDABAD: BJP national general secretary Ananth Kumar on Friday “invited” Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to campaign for the party in Bihar in the coming Assembly elections.

Kumar, in-charge of party affairs in Bihar, who specially attended the first meeting of the reconstituted Gujarat BJP executive committee here, said he had come at the instance of na- Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi with Anant Kumar, BJP leader in-charge of tional president Nitin Bihar, during an event in Ahmedabad on July 3 Gandkari, to “invite” leader M. Satish.

Modi to campaign in Bihar. “Modi Ananth Kumar said.

“CBI being misused” His assertions indicate that the BJP is our national leader and we want Ananth Kumar reiterated the State would go it alone in Bihar if the Jahim to campaign in Bihar and in other BJP’s allegation that the Congressnata Dal(United) and Chief Minister States,” he said amidst thunderous Nitish Kumar continued to insist on led UPA government at the Centre cheers.

Kumar said the party was eyeing keeping Mr. Modi out of the cam- was misusing the CBI in Gujarat and other non-Congress States. It “is not to capture power at the Centre in the paign in the State. the Central Bureau of Investigation The recent spat over Modi’s visit 2014 parliamentary elections and before that it was keen on reaching out to Bihar, the issuance of an advertise- but the Congress Bureau of Investigain different States. He indicated that ment showing Modi with his Bihar tion.” Referring to the July 5 Bharat the party held Modi a trump card to counterpart and Nitish Kumar return- bandh on the fuel price issue, State ing the Rs. 5-crore assistance given by BJP spokesman I. K. Jadeja said that win elections in various States.

“I feel from the bottom of my heart, Gujarat for the flood-affected in 2008 in Gujarat the protest would be obwhether it is Bangalore, Banaras or caused a dent in the relations between served also against CBI harassment and price rise in general.

Ballia or Bihar, we invite him to come the alliance partners.

Modi congratulated party workers The meeting was attended by Mr. to campaign. Modiji, please come to Bihar and campaign for the party Modi, national vice-president Pur- on enrolling more than 25 lakh memand hold the BJP flag in Bihar high,” shottam Rupala and another senior bers in the State.

Every Morning you start your days with Yoga, Ayurveda and indigenous goods Divya Dantmanjan, Dant Kanti-Tooth paste, Keshkanti (Shampoo) Kanti (Soap), Ojas (Soap), Amala juice, Aloe Vera juice, Divya Pey

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Indo American News • Friday, July 09 , 2010

o p ini o n

How to be Really Selfish

By Sudhir Kakar (DNA) Some months ago, listening to a talk by the Dalai Lama, I was struck by one of his remarks: “Paying attention to one’s own needs is a producer of suffering; cherishing others (is) a giver of happiness.” His emphasis on acting solely out of concern for others rather than from self-interest stayed with me because altruism has had a troubled place in the reigning climate of modern thought.

Economic theory, based on the premise of homo economicus economic man acting rationally out of self-interest and selfishly, is uneasy with altruistic behaviour while the influential notion ofthe ‘selfish gene’ in biology has been commonly misunderstood to mean that selfishness is essential to evolutionary success. Much of modern psychotherapy, too, believes that a ‘healthy narcissism’ is essential for mental health, maintaining that a person can love others only if he first loves himself.

Was the Dalai Lama, I wondered, like all religious-spiritual sages, talking about human nature as it should be and not as it is? Mahatma Gandhi, too, had considered altruism “a test of true spirituality. All our prayers, fastings and observances are empty nothing so long as we do not feel a live kinship with all life.” Were they both talking of the few spiritually evolved people and not us ordinary mortals who rarely take off the armour of self-centredness that encases us?

Yet, further exploration and reflection convinced me that this dichotomy between egotism and altruism is false. It seems that doing good to others is doing good to yourself. Altruism and narcissism are not in conflict but complementary; indeed, they are inextricable, the former being a significant contributor to the raising of an individual’s self-esteem.

This advocacy of altruism is not an ideological stance, underlined only by the authority of great souls or wise sayings which may or may not be true, but very much a matter of empirical fact.

And here I am not only talking of psychological well-being and happiness, which some may consider as vague categories, but of concrete, physical health. The benefits of altruistic, helping behaviour are so large that they even show up in improved health and longer lifespans.

In a large, longitudinal study from the US, those who reported giving more help and support to spouses, friends and relatives went on to live longer than those who gave less, whereas the amount of help that people reported receiving showed no relationship to their longevity. In other words, it is indeed more blessed to give than to receive. Since this particular study also studied the effect of specific altruistic actions, it might be of interest to give some details regarding these.

As we all know, aspirin is often prescribed as a preventive to those at risk of heart attack.

However, helping another person has a five-fold

greater positive effect on longevity than the ingestion of aspirin. Just to listen to another person is twice as good as aspirin for one’s survival.

Indeed, recent research in social neurosciences suggests that empathy, and helping behaviour that is motivated by empathy, may be wired into our brains. Witnessing the pain of a stranger activates a similar ‘pain network’in our brains, the so-called ‘mirror neurons’, although in contrast to women this empathy reaction almost disappears in men (society’s designated ‘punishers’) if the stranger is perceived to be a ‘bad’ person.To witness good deeds altruistic behaviour gives rise to feelings of elation (some call them religious feelings), that are physiologically related to the rewarding release of the hormone oxytocin.

In an ingenuous experiment, the social psychologist Jonathan Haidt gathered 45 nursing mothers with their infants in a psychological laboratory where half were shown videos depicting altruistic behaviour while the others watched comedy videos. Almost half the mothers who were shown the morally uplifting video showed increased milk flow, or nursed their babies after watching the video, while only a very few mothers did so after watching the comedians. The first group also turned towards their babies more, touching them and clasping them to their breasts. Haidt comments: “The effect was one of the biggest I ever saw.”

Other experiments demonstrate the presence of altruistic behaviour in children as young as 18 months and even in two- to three-year-old chimpanzees that spontaneously help a familiar adult who appears in some distress.

In other words, acting on the Golden Rule, ‘Do unto others what you would have them do unto you’, present in various forms in all the world’s religions, may not only be vital for an individual’s spiritual progress but also for his physical health and psychological happiness.

The Dalai Lama’s remark, then, is not only a moral exhortation but an empirical truth, an evolutionary reality rather than a utopian dream.

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Shimla’s ‘Garbage Girl’ to Get Green Hero Award SHIMLA (HT): The ‘garbage girl’ of the mountains will get a ‘green’ award at an environment film festival to be held in Shimla next month.

“I’m so happy and honoured. The award will be dedicated to Himachal Pradesh and all the volunteers who have helped to make the mountain cleaning dream a reality,” said Jodie Underhill, a British national.

Jodie came to Dharamsala in January on a tourist visa to sponsor the education of some Tibetan children but soon got involved in cleaning the mountains after seeing piles of garbage.

“Every Monday and Tuesday we visit Triund (the popular trekking route overlooking this town) to collect waste like polythene and paper bags, empty beer and liquor bottles, old tents, food item sachets and clothes. On an average, we are collecting 35 sacks of garbage from the nine-km stretch every week,” she said. Underhill said 70% of what they

collect at Triund is plastic bottles.

“During the garbage collection drive, we also educate the local people and vendors about the scientific disposal of biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste,” the 34-yearold Briton said.

The film festival is sponsored by the ministry of environment and forests. The WWF-India is its organising partner.

“We will honour Jodie with ‘Green Hero’ award at the inauguration of a three-day Shimla CMS Vatavaran-Environment and Wildlife Travelling Film Festival and Forum 2010 beginning July 2. Chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal will present the award to her,” said Vishwajeet Ghoshal, Assistant project manager with New Delhi-based Centre for Media Studies Besides cleaning the hills, the Mountain Cleaners - as her group is known - is also providing waste disposal bags to the people settled in nearby areas of this town.

Elephants Get Own Village in Rajasthan Rajasthan tourism minister Bina Kak inaugurated an elephant village that would house 51 pachyderms on Saturday. About 49 acres of land was allotted for the project named ‘Elephant Village’ in Kunda village, close to the Amer fort. The project was jointly funded by the Central and State government.

“As of now, 51 elephants have been accommodated here and each has got its marked house, rest would also get the same,” Kak said.

“The project was in the pipeline for the last 40 years and now with the initiative of the government of Rajasthan for the past two years, the initiative finally bore fruit,” said

Shyam Gupta, general secretary, Elephant Owners Association.

According to officials, 32 of the 51 shelters have been allotted to elephant owners.

“Our elephant village project has been done in two phases. In first phase, 51 shelters have been constructed which provide for keeping of elephants and their owners. Out of this, 32 shelters have been allotted. We also have made provisions for water and electricity,” Rakesh Verma, general manager, Amer Development Board.

The first phase of the project cost Rs 492 lakh while the second phase has Rs 50 million already allotted.

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india

Indo American News • Friday, July 09 , 2010

35

Will Indians Face a Backlash in the U.S.?

There is a cultural defensiveness among many Indians, but they bring enterprise and energy to communities with their presence, and this works to everyone’s benefit.

By Pranay Gupte (Hindu) There has been increasing angst and teeth-gnashing among Indians in the United States this week over a tongue-in-cheek essay by columnist Joel Stein in the international newsweekly, Time. Stein ruefully talks about how his native Edison, a New Jersey community just across the Hudson River from New York City, has been transformed into a “Little India” with the overpowering smells of Indian cuisine, the eclectic colours of Indian ethnicity, and the distinctive dialects of the subcontinent dominating what was once a largely Italian-American town.

The blogosphere has been ricocheting with rants against the writer, accusing him of prejudice or worse.

Time’s editors subsequently said that the magazine whose circulation is just under four million did not intend to offend Indians. I know Stein, and he’s scarcely a racist; he has acknowledged that the presence of Indians has brought fresh prosperity and diversity to Edison. I am pretty sure that his piece was intended to be satirical, even if it wasn’t especially felicitous.

Columnists, after all, are paid to be provocative; engendering offence is sometimes one of those unintended consequences of the trade.

An Indian friend, who lives in East Asia, put a healthy perspective on Mr. Stein’s article after I had e-mailed it to her. “I was aware somewhere that I ought to be insulted as this guy is saying mean things about my countrymen and culture but the piece is written with so much humour and candour that I could not help but see his point,” she said.

“I cannot help but see where he is coming from. It may not be balanced but brings out the feelings of so many. And somewhere along the line admits to being biased. I see why Time ran it!”

My own feeling is that Indians especially those living and prospering abroad often tend to be bereft of irony and a self-deprecating sense of humour; they are given to being far too readily offended as a tribe. It may not quite be a “Masada Complex” a feeling of being under sieg but there’s a cultural defensiveness that I have

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, CEO, Yale Chief Executive Institute, with FICCI delegates during Yale CEO Summit in New York.

sensed among many Indians I have known since I first landed in the U.S. as a student.

Of course, there are now many more Indians in America since my initial arrival in 1967. When I visited the U.S. now my adopted country not long ago for a major class reunion at Brandeis University near Boston and Cambridge, it struck me that just about every second person on the streets seemed to be of Indian origin.

In my home city of New York, the situation was no less different.

Surely, I thought, America a nation of 307 million must profit substantially from the presence of these Indians, of whom there are now more than 2.5 million, a tenth of the global Indian Diaspora. As if by serendipity, I came across a study showing that indeed America does benefit handsomely through the contributions of Indians, including businessmen, physicians, and high-technology entrepreneurs.

This study was jointly prepared by the India-U.S. World Affairs Institute of Washington, the Robert H. Smith School of Business of the University of Maryland, and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry; it revealed that Indians are not only the most affluent and most educated of the scores of ethnic communities in the melting pot that’s the U.S., they are also rapidly becoming among the most significant investors in the American economy.

According to the report, 90 Indian companies made 127 greenfield investments worth $5.5 billion between 2004 and 2009, and created 16,576

jobs in the U.S. During the same period, 239 Indian companies made 372 acquisitions in the U.S., creating more than 40,000 jobs.

The total value of 267 (of the 372) acquisitions was $21 billion, or $78.7 million per acquisition. A “greenfield investment” is a form of foreign direct investment where a parent company starts a new venture in a foreign country by constructing new operational facilities from the ground up.

The study says that the five industrial sectors in the U.S. that received the most greenfield investment were metals; software and information technology services; leisure and entertainment; industrial machinery, equipment and tools; and financial services. The sums poured into these sectors accounted for almost 80 per cent of total greenfield investment.

New Jersey the State in which Edison is located has been one of the top recipients of Indian investment.

New Jersey schools and colleges also have among the largest number of the Indian students who come to the U.S. each year. Overall, there are an estimated 94,563 students from India whose net contribution to the U.S. economy was $2.39 billion, according to the study. In fact, students of Indian origin constitute 10 to 12 per cent of medical students entering U.S.

schools, the new study says. Furthermore, there are about 50,000 physicians (and 15,000 medical students) of Indian heritage in the American cities, and in rural areas.

New Jersey has its share of the so-called “Patel motels” too. There are currently almost 10,000 Indian American owners of hotels/motels in the U.S., owning over 40 per cent of all hotels in the country and 39 per cent of all guest rooms; the study says they own more than 21,000 hotels with 1.8 million guest rooms and property valued at $129 billion.

These Indian-owned facilities employ 578,600 workers.

The U.S. Census Bureau adds that there were 231,000 businesses owned

by Indian Americans in 2002, which employed 615,000 workers and had revenues of over $89 billion. (The

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, july 09 , 2010 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

Census Bureau conducts the survey every five years, and the results of the 2007 survey will be available in a few days). A study led by Vivek Wadhwa for Duke University and the University of California, Berkeley, found that Indian immigrant entrepreneurs had founded more engineering and technology companies during 1995-2005 than immigrants from Britain, China, Japan, and Taiwan combined. Of all immigrant-founded companies, 26 per cent had Indian founders.

Which brings us back to Joel Stein’s column and all the hullaballoo that it has generated. Edison, New Jersey, may not be a precursor of things to come in other words, Indians are hardly about to demographically dominate small towns all across America; the country’s immigration laws would work against that possibility. But Indians bring enterprise and energy to communities with their presence, and this works to everyone’s benefit. They are largely anchored in their homespun culture, but they are also respectful of American mores and morals, and laws as well.

They make the American tapestry more colourful, richer, and culturally more alive. They are living the American Dream, but in their own special Indian way. What’s wrong with that?

36

Indo American News • Friday, July 09 , 2010

profiles

Rainbow Man

online edition: www.indoamerican-news.com

Jamal Mecklai believes that shirts become your friends over time. His own taste in shirts is unusual — the brighter the better. The CEO of Mecklai Financial likes it loud.

If it’s Wednesday, it’s got to be green. And Jamal Mecklai’s shirt is every bit as bright as the all-clear traffic light. In comparison with some of the multi-coloured gems that he tends to favour, though, it seems almost ordinary. Normal is boring for this 60-year-young maverick, who feels at home in a shirt only when it’s got an unusual hue. The louder it is, the more he likes it. This day, he’s compensated for the lack of multiple colours in other ways. His socks—he lifts his plain brown pants up to reveal a pair of cottons—are bottle green.

The shoes are formal blacks. And his tie crowns the contrast: it has all the shades of the rainbow. To say that the man would stand out in a crowd would be an understatement.

The uninformed, of course, would be stunned to learn that this man of many hues is the CEO of a risk advisory firm. The Mecklai Financial boss explains his philosophy once our pupils have returned to their normal size: “My goal has always been to have fun. And one reflection of that is what I wear.” But there’s also a method behind the colour. Each of the many Hawaiian beach casuals that reside in comfortable co-existence in

his wardrobe is there for a reason, he assures us. Apparently, Mecklai likes to wear a particular colour to work each day of the week. From Monday to Sunday, that order is as follows: yellow, pink, green, orange, blue, red and purple. “I took the idea from the people of Thailand. They wear yellow on their King’s birthday. He was born on a Monday,” he smiles.

Sober Beginnings It’s been a while since his fascination for Hawaiian shirts took root— Mecklai isn’t even sure exactly when it all began. “Can’t tell you when the spark or trigger happened. When you do something, you forget how it started,” he says. On a recent trip to New York, a friend of his was taken aback when she saw Mecklai in a brightly printed shirt. This wasn’t the Mecklai she used to know back in the 1970s. Back then, the young graduate was always to be found in sober attire.

Mecklai grew up in Mumbai and got a degree in chemical engineering from IIT Mumbai before moving to the US in 1972 to study biomedical engineering at the Rice University in Houston, Texas. He dropped out of the university after three years

of research and began working odd jobs. He returned to India in 1985 and headed Mecklai Financial, an offshoot of his family-run broking business. Somewhere along the way, he says, the fixation for shirts in psychedelic colours took hold.

The man has never been afraid to flaunt his colours. In fact, they seem so normal on him that his attire has never been the butt of jokes. His shirts have become an intrinsic part of Mecklai’s personality. He is what he wears now—people have come to identify him with his RELIGIOUS SERVICES sartorial style.

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Like his shirts, Mecklai’s pig art is a reminder of the exuberance life has in store for him.

Rs 300.” When he was at a party recently, his sister was shocked to discover that most of the other guests probably wore socks that were worth more than the bargain shirt he had on. “It was a Rs 60 shirt,” says a proud Mecklai.

The expensive ones, which are only a handful, cost him thousands of rupees; three of them, in particular, are worth a total of Rs 10,000. They are original Hawaiian shirts sent by a friend from the American island state. The shirts were gifts but the import duty burnt a hole in Mecklai’s pockets, costing him the Rs 10,000.

Partner In Color But, ask him how much his other shirts cost and he’s hard put to put a price tag on most. Reason: his wife Pravina pays for them. “She’s the boss,” says Mecklai of his partner of 18 years, who indulges his preoccupation with colourful shirts. “She even gets some custom-made for me.”

Pravina works with family friend and designer Sabina Singh to create many of Mecklai’s outfits. ”Sabina knows my style. I let her buy the fabric and stitch something for me,” he says. But Mecklai admits that it can get out of hand sometimes. Once, he recalls, Sabina designed a shirt with the shirt pocket stitched upside down.

“It looked like an export reject,” laughs Pravina.

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There are some shirts that he likes but his wife doesn’t. Pravina’s dislike has nothing to do with her husband’s loud self-expression, but everything to do with a shirt’s tattered condition.

She discards the old ones, especially the cottons that acquire lint and fluff.

“But the reality is, our energies are parallel, especially when it comes to my shirts,” insists Mecklai. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t be married!”

Earlier, he used to pick up some of his shirts from Fashion Street in Mumbai. But when his options there dried out, he began getting them from Malaysia and Thailand. Not just any

shirt would do, each had to have a ‘snap’, an inexpressible quality, he explains. And that’s why Mecklai gifted away a Tommy Bahamas piece he bought in the US—it was too staid for his taste. “Each one should have a personality to it. Shirts become your friends over time,” Mecklai asserts.

Needless to say, he has an aversion for formalwear. But he has a stack of elegantly printed kurtas, which he wears to business gatherings. At funerals, he usually dons a white shirt.

Apart from shirts, Mecklai also collects, of all things, pictures, wallmounts and artefacts depicting the porcine species. His table is strewn with pig-shaped pens and paperweights. A framed picture of the porcine creature is nailed to his wall. “I have always loved pigs and I am also a Muslim,” says Mecklai. Like his shirts, his pig art is a daily reminder of the exuberance life has in store for him.

Clearly, Jamal Mecklai is a manysplendoured man. And, given his penchant to wear all things unusual, it’s unlikely he will ever have a boring day at the office. Neither will others around him.-Outlook

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arts

Indo American News • Friday, July 09 , 2010

37

Art and Science Converged Here A tribute to Vidya Shankar. This musician went on to wear several hats with ease and grace as an eminent musicologist, veena artiste, writer and teacher.

Born in 1920 into a distinguished family that nurtured Nobel laureates (uncle C.V. Raman and brother Chandrasekar) veena vidushi Vidya Shankar undertook a musical journey in which her passion for knowledge burned bright from start to finish.

Mother Sitalakshmi was a multitalented homemaker, adept in music, arts and crafts. Father C.S. Ayyar’s (Chief Auditor, Railways) avid in-

terest in music propelled him into training under violin vidwan Sabesa Iyer, who also taught young Vidya for 12 years.

Growing up among nine siblings, Vidya experienced the joys of a home atmosphere permeated by music.

Advanced training followed under Madras Sabapathi Iyer and musicologist T.L. Venkatarama Iyer, with the veteran gurus expressing their approbation for Vidya’s talent and dedication.

Small wonder then that this musician went on to wear several hats with ease and grace as an eminent musicologist, veena artiste, writer and teacher.

Vidya pursued academics with the same diligence as music and had a yen for Mathematics. The budding scholar was also proficient at games and participated in inter-school and inter-college tennicoit matches.

On completing the Teacher’s Training Course, she began teaching her favourite subject, mathematics, at Kala Nilayam, Children’s Garden School and Kalakshetra. She later taught Sanskrit and musicology at the Central College of Carnatic Music. Post marriage to V.S. Shankar, (Executive, Parry and Co.) she entered a large joint family, where her progressive mother-in-law (sibling of reformer and educationist Sister Subbulakshmi) encouraged her to resume teaching and music.

The artiste’s lec-dems and writings are held in the highest regard by the music fraternity. A long-standing member of the Experts Committee, Music Academy, her discourse on the mela raga malika at the Music Academy and her series of 15 lectures analysing Carnatic Music at the Atomic Energy Centre, Kalpakkam, are regarded as memorable examples of her profound knowledge.

Musicologist S.A.K. Durga whose association with the late vidushi spans 30 years, asserts: “One of Vidya amma’s greatest traits lay in her ability to translate theoretical concepts into practice, as she was a practical musician. She affirmed solidarity with other musicologists and musicians by attending lec-dems and concerts, making observations that were both analytical and appreciative. Her contribution to the propagation of Syama Sastri’s compositions through publishing and archiving is invaluable.

Her notations are simple and clear, providing a definite framework upon which a musician can build.

Zest for research “An immensely dedicated guru, she enthused her disciples by encouraging them to play along with her, whether they were beginners or advanced students. Her zest for research and spirit of enquiry were undimmed, setting an example for the younger generation.

She recently released a compilation of Tyagaraja’s Divya Nama kirtanas.”

Vidya Shankar’s linguistic skills, particularly her proficiency in Sanskrit and English shone through in her publications that include ‘Syama Sastry, Subbaraya Sastry, and Annasamy Sastry’s Compositions,’ ‘Aesthetic and Scientific Values in Carnatic Music’ and ‘Art and Science of Carnatic Music.’

Widely acclaimed as an authority on Syama Sastri’s works, her complete identification with the revered Trinity vaggeyakara’s compositions stemmed from her singular good fortune in imbibing the highest tenets of classicism from no less a personage than the namesake and great grandson of Syama Sastri.

Her guru’s guidance and strength of patanthara led to an in-depth exploration of the chiselled form and luminous content of Syama Sastri compositions.

Vidya reverenced these oeuvres, immersing self and soul in their radiance to attain bhava-rich interpretations.

Reviewers waxed eloquent about the clarity, fluidity and poignancy of her musical expression. Her concerts showcased her conviction that the art and science of music go hand in hand.

Veena vidushi Kalpagam Swaminathan, now 89, and a long-time friend and colleague, reminisces: “We joined the Music College together as lecturers in 1964. Although our playing styles were different (my area of specialisation was Dikshitar kritis), our musical vision coalesced as we performed several duets, sharing a perfect empathy. She was a wonderful person with a sense of humour that often surfaced in conversations.”

A recipient of honours such as the Sangeet NatakAkademiAward, Nada Brahmam (Narada Gana Sabha) and the Mudhra Award of Excellence, the artiste was actively involved in the cultural organisation, Parampara.

Passing away on 29.6. 2010 at age 90, after a brief illness, she leaves behind three sons and their families.

Music is not only a calling but a way of life, one that calls for the highest standards of personal and professional discipline. Vidya Shankar lived up to these standards with a rare perception, dignity and humility.-Hindu

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health

Indo American News • Friday, July 09 , 2010

Adrenalin May Help Combat Heart Attack

In the quest for that heart-pumping adrenaline rush, some go to any length

Everyone experiences strong heartbeats that accompany emotions like fear and rage. But can the body’s natural response to these emotions be used to combat heart failure? It may be so.

Scientists from the University of Rochester Medical Centre (URMC) found that two experimental drugs have the potential to restore pumping strength to failing hearts in part by harnessing the fight-or-flight response that makes hearts beat stronger.

At the core of this finding is the

hormone adrenalin, which normally maintains the heart’s pumping strength and makes the heart beat with greater force during crisis.

The newly identified drugs ensure that adrenalin’s ability to drive heartbeat strength is maintained.

The two therapies, when tested, were found to slow and, in some cases, halt the progression of the problem.

“Considering the limited efficacy of current drug therapies for heart failure, this discovery is both exciting

and promising,” said Burns C. Blaxall, associate professor at the University of Rochester Medical Centre and senior study author.

When the heart stops pumping as effectively as it should, the body responds by sending more adrenalin to give the heart a pick-me-up.

While increased adrenalin initially restores the heart’s vitality, over time heart muscle cells become less and less responsive to high levels of adrenalin.

Blaxall’s lab is part of a nationwide effort that has linked adrenalin’s ability to propel heartbeat strength to a key protein, the beta adrenergic receptor.

When adrenalin combines with this receptor, it orders heart muscle cells to contract with greater speed and force.

The problem in heart failure patients is that these receptors are chronically desensitised - they no longer respond to adrenalin, so the heart grows weak and does not pump as forcefully as it should.

The desensitization is caused in large part by elevated levels of a particular enzyme (GRK2) when it interacts with G-proteins.

These findings were published online in Circulation Research. Hindu

Eat to Live:

Mediterranean Food is Good for Your Heart Eating healthy is the key to staying healthy and recovering your health. The Mediterranean style of cooking - high in vegetables, legumes, fruits, nuts, whole grains, cheese or yogurt and fish—are increasingly getting good press for being good for your heart. Several studies have proven the diet’s benefit in preventing and curbing heart disease, including research released today in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

The study, conducted out of Indiana University in Bloomington, examined 276 sets of predominantly Caucasian middleaged twin males—both identical and fraternal. (The use of twins helps to eliminate the genetic risk factors commonly linked to heart disease.) Starting with the

standardized Willett Food Frequency Questionnaire, researchers evaluated the diet, energy intake, genetic and environmental factors

of the participants. Those who followed a Mediterranean diet most closely showed the widest range of heart rate variability (HRV), a tell tale sign of good heart health.

This type of diet resulted in a 9 to 14 percent decreased risk of cardiovascular-related death.

“Our study demonstrates for the first time a positive association between the Mediterranean dietary pattern and heart rate variability” and suggests “that autonomic tone may be one of mechanisms linking the Mediterranean diet to a lower rate of CV events,” the researchers concluded.

In addition to being heart healthy, the Mediterranean food has also been shown to lessen the risk of cancer and depression, and ward off cognitive problems associated with aging. For those with newly diagnosed cases of Type II diabetes, this diet may help to delay or even eliminate the need for prescribed medication.

Eating healthy is the key to staying healthy. Always remember that. HealthNews

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Babulbhai

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Indo American News • Friday, July 09 , 2010

Food talk

Shahi Dum Aloo

How to Make Prawn Pakoras

INGREDIENTS:

2 lbs of roughly chopped medium raw prawns 1 finely chopped medium onion

1/4 cups (60 ml) fresh chopped coriander 1 large finely chopped tomato 1 grated garlic clove 1/2 teaspoon grated ginger 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder 75 grams of besan flour A pinch of salt 2 cups (500 ml) of vegetable oil (for deep frying)

METHOD:

Roughly Purée the prawns. Leave minced chunks for texture. Do this in a blender.

Then combine the prawns with all the remaining ingredients, except the oil - you’ll

need that for cooking the pakoras.

Portion out into patties. Do this with a tablespoon. Now, with damp hands, roll each portion into a ball shape; place on a

plate, and cover with cling film until they are ready for frying.

Heat the oil. Do this in a wok or heavy based frying pan.

Fry several of these at once. Cook until the pakoras are golden brown.

Drain the pakoras on paper towels. This is a good idea, as draining them removes a lot of the oil you would otherwise be eating.

This doesn’t make the pakoras a healthy food option, mind you, but it does get rid of some of the extra calories.

Garnish with fresh chopped coriander leaves.

Serve your prawn pakoras. Serve them hot, with some mint or mango chutney on the side. - Kosmix

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INGREDIENTS :

8 nos baby potatoes 1 onion 6 tbsp tomato puree Ginger a small cube 6 pods garlic 2-3 nos green chilli 2 tbsp cream (fresh or frozen ) ¼ cup milk ½ cup water Sugar a pinch Salt to taste 10-12 nos cashews halves ½ tsp chilli powder ½ tsp coriander powder ¼ tsp turmeric powder ¼ tsp garam masala Oil to cook and deep fry

METHOD : Peel the baby potatoes and keep aside Take onion, chillies, ginger garlic and puree them in the mixer.

Heat oil and deep fry the potatoes till golden brown Take about 2-3 tbsp of oil in a wok and to this add cumin seeds and finally add the onion garlic paste to this and keep frying till golden brown in colour.

Once the oil starts to leave the wok add tomato sauce to this and keep frying till the oil leaves the sides of the work.

To this add chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric and stir well.

Add a little cream to it and add garam masala.

Finally add milk and keep stirring till it begins to boil.

This is important because if not stirred well then the milk might cuddle.

Add water to this and salt sugar and finally add the fried potatoes and let simmer for about 15-20 minutes.

Check tenderness of potatoes with a fork and finally add cashews to this.

- Recipes Indian

Grand style spicy potato stew garnished with cilantro made Moghlai Style

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INDIA

Indo American News • Friday, July 09 , 2010

41

India in Pictures

BJP workers take out a protest rally against fuel price hike in Ghaziabad.

A leading car manufacturer unveiling its latest model as it is suspended from a building

RPF ON THE LNE: Security personnel of Railway Protection Force inspect a railway track following the Maoists’ 48-hour bandh call in Patna.

Delhi PM Sheila Dikshit flags off a special vehicle during the launch of a survey to indentify homeless people, taken up in collaboration with UNDP in New Delhi

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Indo American News • Friday, July 09 , 2010

sports

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Leander Wins Wimbledon with Cara LONDON: Leander Paes created history on Sunday. He became only the second man to win Wimbledon titles in three different decades and, in the process, also topped the list of Indian Grand Slam winners.

The 37-year-old, together with Zimbabwean partner Cara Black, won the mixed doubles crown defeating South African Wesley Moodie and Lisa Raymond of the US 6-4, 7-6(7-5).

Paes had won the mixed doubles title in 1999 with Raymond and in 2003 partnering Martina Navratilova. Rod Laver is the only man to have previously won titles in three different decades.

Though Paes has always stated that numbers don’t hold any special meaning for him, he described his 12th Grand Slam title triumph as a “wonderful” feeling, holding a “special” place in his heart.

“It is wonderful to be in my 23rd Grand Slam final. It is a lot of fun. Days like these remind me what hard work is all about. It is really special,” Paes said.

“It has been 20 years since I first won the junior singles at Wimbledon and even after all these years, it is really sweet to stand out there with a trophy in your hand when you are almost doubly 19,” the 37-year-old told a television channel.Paes and Black had won the Australian Open in January this year and the Indian said the Zimbabwean was one of his favourite mixed doubles partners.

“Cara is one of my favourite partners to play with. She is not only a true champion but also a very good human being. Navratilova was also a fantastic partner. I have been lucky to have good partners,” Paes said. “In fact, I played against one of my first partners Lisa. We have played on centre court in 1999. So it was bitter out there to see Lisa’s face when we shook hands after the match,” Paes added.

Paes thanked his fans for motivating him to keep going and hoped they would keep inspir-

Leander Paes and Cara Black celebrate with the trophy after beating Wesley Moodie of South Africa and Lisa Raymond of US in the Mixed Doubles final at the Wimbledon Tennis Championship

ing him during the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and US Open.

Indian legends lauded Paes’ achievement.

“Leander is the greatest doubles player of all time,” said former Davis Cup coach Akhtar Ali. “Leander, by winning his 12th Slam on Sunday, gave me a wonderful birthday present a day before I turned 71! What he has achieved for Indian tennis is marvellous. No other Indian seems to be close to his pace right now.

“Although it is easy to compete in doubles — as top singles players don’t play — that does not mean it is easy to win a Slam.”

“I was present for the final and was amazed,” said Naresh Kumar. “It’s a phenomenal achievement, to win a Grand Slam at the age of 37. Leander’s hard work and dedication to the sport, especially at his age, is miraculous.”

“When I selected him for the Davis Cup squad 21 years ago, I knew he was special, but I could never have imagined he would end up winning 12 Grand Slams. With a couple more years of tennis still left in him, I’m sure that by the time he hangs up his boots, Leander would have a few more Slams to his name.”

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Indo American News • Friday, July 09 , 2010

Houston India Cricket Beat Spartans

Saina & Sania: Wildly Varying Careers

By Rohit Mahajan

HYDERABAD (Outlook): It’s a tale of two girls from one city. In their chosen professional lives, it’s the best of times for one; the worst of times for the other. Saina Nehwal seems to be ascending the final steps to the acme of her sport, badminton. The other Hyderabadi of our story, Sania Mirza — earlier known as a tennis player but now essentially a celebrity who asks questions of contestants at beauty pageants, appears in advertisements or hotly denies endorsing gutka products in Pakistan — seems to inhabit a slippery spiral of decline.

The contrast between them was stark over the last few days. As India feted Saina for winning in a row three Super Series badminton titles—Indian Open Grand Prix, Singapore Open and Indonesian Open—and becoming the world No. 3, news trickled in that Sania, true to unfailingly indifferent form, had been knocked out of the first round at Wimbledon.

The careers of the two girls, almost homonymic though made distinct by a pliable syllable in their names, are moving rapidly in opposite directions. At 20, Saina has a world of success to look forward to. Sania, already India’s greatest ever woman tennis player at age 23, seems to be tragically puffing and plodding her way to the end of the road as a sportswoman.

Once at a career high of No. 27 in the world rankings (in 2007); she’s now down to 111. She has had a troubled, uneven career, and is plagued by a persistent wrist injury. The buzz in the tennis world is that she’s going to find it very, very tough (read ‘impossible’) to reclaim the heights she reached five years ago.

Perhaps Sania knows that deep down in her heart. In early June, after winning her first match following her marriage to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik, Sania said: “The distance between us is difficult. But we will be together for life hopefully, so two years isn’t long.” It seemed to imply that she’d play for only two more years. Before Wimbledon, Sania tweeted—the all-too-familiar trait of those on the verge of making their final bow (Shashi Tharoor, Lalit Modi)—that she “hadn’t imagined” she’d be “playing after marriage in the first place”.

The irony is obvious: the career of a player who became an icon for

Saina is feted upon arrival in Hyderabad after winning the Indonesian Open.

the post-liberalised, newly confident Indian woman could dissolve into matrimony before 25.

To be fair to Sania, she has not had it easy—in her early teens she was lionised as a prodigy who had the groundstrokes to take on the best in the world. Fans and the media loved her attitude, her T-shirts and her noserings; those who manufacture and market image coopted her career into their own schemes to make profits.

Sania was quite willing to play ball.

Columnist Bachi Karkaria says, “Sania loved that status, played the role of a media darling very well.

She loves the limelight, and she lends herself very well to it. She was like a breath of fresh air.” And then the inevitable happened—Sania began to court celebrity, says Karkaria, not the game. “Public appearances, media, the sound bites you have to give— this can interfere dramatically with your game.”

Sania somehow also attracted controversy,deliberatelyorunwittingly— orthodox Muslim clergy denounced her tennis skirts and for shooting an advertisement in a mosque; a case was filed against her for resting her feet next to the national flag on a table.

Before her marriage to Malik, Sania was linked with actor Shahid Kapoor and engaged to another Hyderabad resident. The marriage with Malik was solemnised after an ugly spat, due to allegations that he was married to another girl from Sania’s hometown. “There have been so many controversies, so many distractions.

The marketing companies just try to monetise a celebrity or an athlete

Shiv Sagar

43

like a product, because they exist just to make money,” says Amer Ali, editor of the Hyderabad newspaper Siasat. “The things they do to feed the celebrity machine may not be in the sportperson’s best interest.” Perhaps there are lessons that Saina, who was born in Hissar, Haryana, and shifted to Hyderabad, can draw from the Sania Mirza story. For now, though, she’s doing all right.

Right after winning tournaments, she’s known to be back in the gym early the next morning. “I’ve worked very hard on my game all my life after I started playing, and it’s not that I was looking for glory in the game—I love to work on my game,” she says.

There’s pressure on Saina, but happily, it seems it largely comes from within. “She tends to put pressure on herself because she expects too much from herself,” says Gopichand.

Though she was mobbed at the airport on arrival after her three wins, the pressure from the media is lesser on Saina than was on Sania. “She’s not a celebrity-oriented girl, and is rather plain,” says Karkaria.

Tennis, of course, is a much larger sport than badminton on the world stage. Irrespective of the little she achieved, the advent of Sania, understandably, excited India. Not detracting from her achievements, you can’t deny that Saina has been winning tournaments relatively unknown in India, against nameless players of a sport not hugely popular in India.

This, and the fact she’s not prone to a celebrity temperament, might be just the factor that will keep the Saina story so different from Sania’s.

A brilliant century from Amir Nanji helped HICC beat Spartans by 62 runs. Arun D (20) and Sourabh Triphathi (37) were the other contributors to HICC’ total (245 for 8). This first division match was played at Matzke park, Spartans’ home ground.

HICC batted first and faced a big blow when their opener Alpesh had to retire without scoring a run and they lost two quick wickets. Then came the stylish Amir Nanji to rescue and made his second century of the season. He made 117 with 10 boundaries and helped HICC to reach a respectable total.

Spartans Bowling: Jawwad: 3 for 55 and Satish 2 for 45 Spartans’ rock start Manas Dasaraju opened the innings with Asad but only managed to make

a single. Even though Spartans’ middle order, Asad (41), Ruchir (22), Jeeva (33) and Himanyun (32), looked ok but their wickets kept falling in regular intervals and tailenders could not help reach the target and Spartans’ only managed to put 181 on board before they were all out. Krishna Kasturi was the best bowler with 4 for 25, Kuleep Patel also took 2 for 22.

HICC’s standing in first division: 9 matches - 6 won -2 lost -1 NR 39 points Other Local Match: HCC (182/4 in 28.5 Overs – Hazan 96 not out) beat TCC-W (181 All out in 30.1 Overs) by 6 wickets - Hassan took 5/19 including a Hat-Trick that turned into 4 Wkts in 4 balls. Contributed by Raheel Khan www.cricketusamag.com

Muralitharan to Retire from SL Tests COLOMBO (Reuters): Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan, cricket’s leading international wicket taker, will retire from tests after this month’s first test against India, his manager said on Tuesday.

“Murali took a decision to retire from test cricket during the West Indies series in November but with an unscheduled Indian series coming up he has fasttracked retirement from Test cricket,” Kushil Gunasekara said.

“The selectors want Murali to consider himself to be available for the 2011 World Cup which Sri Lanka is partly hosting with India and Bangladesh,” Gunasekara added.

The 38-year-old off-spinner is unlikely to play in the one-day TriSeries against India and New Zealand next month but may play oneday internationals in the build-up to next year’s World Cup. Sri Lanka are due to tour Australia in November where they will play three one-dayers and two Twenty20 Internationals and they have five one-dayers against West Indies in December.

Muralitharan has taken 792

wickets in 132 tests and 515 wickets in 337 one-day internationals since making his test debut against Australia in 1992.

A statement from Sri Lanka Cricket said an official press conference would be held “in due course” to announce Muralitharan’s retirement.

“Mr. Muralitharan has had discussions with the National Selectors, SLC officials and has had the blessings of His Excellency the President Mahinda Rajapakse and the Minister of Sports, Hon. C B Ratnayake,” said a statement on the Sri Lanka Cricket website (www.srilankacricket.lk).

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