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Guerra & Johnson, P.C. - Rising Stars Blazing New Trails Young legal firm, specializing in immigration law, opens office in San Diego

By Kalyani Giri HOUSTON: The association between lawyer and client is sacrosanct and based on bedrock born of trust and commitment. Attorneys Frank Guerra and Brian Johnson embrace a holistic approach when resolving the legal issues of their clientele; they do not just confine themselves to their arena of expertise, which is immigration law. Rather, they treat the whole by navigating an infinitely complex legal system, culling resources, finding the best options within the law that help keep those coming to them

Frank Guerra

Brian Johnson

for representation and succor safe.

Youthful, enterprising, and au courant with the ever-changing legal landscape, Guerra and Johnson have distinguished themselves in just two short years since they started their own immigration law practice, Guerra & Johnson, P.C., Attorneys and Counselors at Law on Kirby in May 2008. Now the maverick duo is blazing new trails by bravely expanding their reach onto the west coast where their work ethic and experience is coveted.

“We had such great response here in

Houston. And we have many clients in California. So in response to that demand, we opened an office in San Diego that Brian Johnson is heading right now,” confided Guerra. The firm has a local attorney at the office there, who will deal with criminal issues, divorces, and other legal cases.

Johnson will commute between the cities to deal with the more complicated cases.

Both Guerra and Johnson have had extensive experience working with homeland security that has given them different perspectives from continued on page

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both sides of the immigration law, the government’s and the private side. The firm handles all aspects of U.S. and international immigration law including employment-based business immigration and emigration, family-based immigration and naturalization, deportation and removal defense, immigration-related litigation, consular and point of entry assistance, visas for artists and entertainers, foreign investors, and employer audits.

The firm has hired a valuable resource in Richard Cravener, former District Director, Houston District, Immigration and Naturalization, who has brought his prodigious expertise to the table. Guerra and Johnson, P.C., employs several legal assistants and is presently grooming attorneys to better represent the firm’s interests.

“When someone comes into this country on a visitor’s visa and then chooses to make their lives here, the relationship between the attorney and the client can last from five to ten years in the naturalization process.

They become almost like family because they depend on us to guide them,” said Johnson. “It is a very anxiety-laden process for the client and simple humane actions like being accessible at all times – even giving them our cell phone numbers – can make a difference. There are many choices of attorneys in this big city.

But when they come to us we do the best we can so that they come back to us for future needs and tell their friends about us. The best testimonial is when people are happy with our work,” added Johnson.

During the immigration process, clients are sometimes blindsided by personal mishaps and traumas such as divorce, criminal or other issues that require legal help that the firm may not be able to handle in depth.

Guerra and Johnson liaise with a wide

network of competent knowledgeable attorneys and provide referrals to clients.

The partners-in-law are also best friends. Guerra completed an undergraduate degree in Political Science at Texas A & M and attended law school at the South Texas College of Law. Johnson is a Rutgers University of New Jersey alumnus, and a University of Houston Law School graduate. Their dizzying odyssey to success could also be attributed to their shared business vision, an unwavering confidence in the other’s abilities, and a huge leap of faith on both their parts. They complement each other professionally making for an exemplary business arrangement.

How did it all begin?

“We were both working at another firm where I was the senior associate attorney. We gained a lot of experience there working mostly with the Asian community who trusted us for honest legal advice,” said Guerra.

“When Brian passed the bar exam and became a colleague we had the opportunity to start a business. It was scary at first, we had lots of sleepless nights, but when you’re working with your best friend, it’s enjoyable at the same time.”

Guerra and Johnson have a 97% South Asian clientele. The partners often offer their services at reduced rates or pro bono as they deem deserving. The goal for Guerra & Johnson P.C.’s future is to continue to expand, to become a national brand name.

“We are very thankful for the past, and we’re grateful for the present,” said Guerra. “We’re grateful to our clients for appreciating what we do,” he added.

For more information visit http:// www.gjpclaw.com. Guerra & Johnson P.C. Attorneys and Counselors at Law 3730 Kirby Drive, Suite 1200 Houston, TX 77098. Phone: (713) 834 1160/69

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India Passes Landmark Civil Nuclear Deal

By Jim Yardley NEW DELHI (NYT): India’s Parliament approved a final, critical piece of a long-delayed landmark civil nuclear agreement on Monday, a pact regarded as a cornerstone of a Bush-era effort to transform the relationship between the United States and the world’s largest democracy.

But even as supporters praised a historic victory, the end result is probably not what the United States had hoped for, nor does it seem likely to signal a new era in relations between the United States and India.

Indeed, some analysts say the compromises needed to move Monday’s legislation through India’s contentious Parliament could undermine the practical impact of a political, diplomatic and economic accord that took years to negotiate. The legislation still requires the signature of the president, a ceremonial gesture that is virtually guaranteed.

With President Obama scheduled to make his first visit to India in early November, both governments are trying to strengthen a relationship sometimes described as, potentially, a natural and strategic alliance of democracies. But drawing closer has proved complicated as differences remain on issues like trade and climate change, as well as how to effectively deal with Pakistan.

The nuclear issue, putatively about India’s future, has set off weeks of bitter political debate in New Delhi and tapped into Indian nationalism and public suspicion of foreign corporate interests, while dredging up a very different chapter in the countries’relations: the 1984 Union Carbide industrial disaster at Bhopal, which killed thousands. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, accused of toadying to the United States, appeared before the lower house of Parliament last week to deny that his allegiance was anywhere but with India.

Singh, who announced the nuclear deal in a 2005 joint statement with former President George W. Bush, has an expansive vision of the role of nuclear energy, to which the deal is limited, as a power source for India’s

Police officers took banners from people protesting nuclear legislation in New Delhi last week. The legislation still requires the president’s signature.

future. For decades after its 1974 nuclear weapon test, India had refused to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and was subjected to a threedecade American moratorium on nuclear trade.

Now the question is whether any foreign or even Indian energy company will be willing to enter the market to provide the expertise India needs to expand, because of the liability guidelines codified in the legislation in case of a nuclear accident.

India currently has 19 nuclear reactors, and the government wants to attract foreign and domestic suppliers to build more. International conventions largely abide by a principle in which liability is “channeled” strictly to the operator of a reactor rather than the long list of suppliers.

In Bhopal, thousands of people were killed after a leak in December 1984 at the Union Carbide pesticide factory unleashed a poisonous cloud over the city. India sought $3.3 billion in damages from Union Carbide, since purchased by the Dow Chemical Company, but would later settle for $470 million. In June, India’s court system announced light criminal sentences for eight former executives of Union Carbide’s Indian subsidiary, one of whom had since died. Meanwhile, Warren M. Anderson, the former chairman of Union Carbide, has never been prosecuted, and he still lives in the United States, which has declined to extradite him.

After the issue resurfaced, the pub-

lic was outraged, and the Bhopal tragedy again dominated the Indian media. Then on Aug. 19, an Indian news channel reported that a senior American official had cautioned a top Indian official in an e-mail that the “noise” over the Dow Chemical Company could hurt investment in India.

The official, Mike Froman, a deputy national security adviser, issued a statement denying that he was making any sort of threat, but the episode further inflamed the nuclear debate.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, the main opposition, insisted on language that left open the possibility that suppliers could be sued in the case of an accident.

Indian business groups and even the government’s own Nuclear Power Corporation of India, which operates the existing reactors, have warned that such liability language was problematic and could dissuade private suppliers. India already has a separate bilateral agreement with Russia, and liability is less central an issue since Russian companies are state-owned. Yet Russia also has expressed concern. Private companies in other countries, including France, which also has a bilateral agreement with India, could be more exposed.

“It really increases the exposure of Indian and international suppliers,” said Ashley J. Tellis, a former American diplomat involved in negotiating the framework of the United StatesIndia deal.

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KS Narayanan: Cryogenic Man

This managing director wants to change the way we eat, one Shepody potato at a time

By Priya ramani NEW DELHI (Mint): Potato evangelist is probably a better descriptor for the managing director of McCain Foods India Pvt. Ltd, the Indian arm of the privately owned Canadian firm that makes one out of every three French fries consumed in the world.

Narayanan never misses an opportunity to play preacher.

Give him a chance and he’s bound to say: “There are a lot of misconceptions about potatoes…” He might, then, whip out his ready reckoner that compares the calories of 100g of your favourite snack (Haldiram’s salted peanuts 644 calories; Frito Lay Kurkure 561 calories) with the sugarfree fries he sells to McDonald’s (290 calories only). Last month he was a speaker at the India International Potato Expo held in Delhi. His topic?

“Potato is good for us.”

Yetthesedays46-year-oldNarayanan, who has worked at the $6.5 billion (around `30,225 crore) frozen foods company for a year now, is equally obsessed with the perfectly shaped frozen idli—all 35g of it. “Fries are a foreign product. We thought, let’s take a traditional product that has never been made any other way, and see what it takes for people to go from a fresh form to a frozen food,” he says.

McCain began test marketing its rice idlis in Delhi last month.

The R&D team worked on the preservative-free frozen idli for more than a year. Every little process had to be rethought. Grinding the batter in a regular colloid mill, for instance, produced the wrong texture. So the

company custom-made and fitted 4ft tall stone grinders into the production line. Post grinding, the batter is left to ferment in a temperature-controlled room for 24 hours; exactly 35g is then dispensed into idli-shaped grooves, and the rice discs steam slowly on a conveyor belt before a specially designed instrument scoops them out without damaging them. Of course, idlis are still a minuscule part of McCain’s business.

After spending one and a half hours with him at Rick’s Bar in Delhi’s Taj Mansingh, I’m convinced Narayanan dreams of McCain’s bouldersized Shepody potatoes full of the “northern vigour” that comes from their high-altitude seeds grown in Lahaul-Spiti—and a world free from power cuts.

Five minutes into a discussion on the challenges of the cold chain distribution network in this country, perfectly on cue, the lights go out and we are briefly plunged into darkness.

“Oops there goes the power and there goes the cold chain,” he guffaws.

Narayanan laughs a lot. It could be because I repeatedly ask him how his wife Bharathi handles the potato hard sell, and before that, a job that involved him feeling passionately about ice cream. As a father, his professional choices have always ensured he’s high on his daughters’ popularity charts. “I used to be the ice-cream man, and now I’m the potato man. So in this respect I’m definitely a cooler father than most,” he agrees.

But I guess you need a sense of

When Narayanan and his family moved to Barcelona, nobody spoke a word of Spanish. “ Spanish was completely unknown territory, it was just something on the map,” he says. In India, everyone called him KS and when he tried to explain that to the Spanish, they said that in their language, KS meant ‘what is it?’. Eventually, he stuck to Narayanan when introducing himself.

“Fortunately, it was understood because it rhymed with Ramayan and everyone had heard of that,” he says. His wife Bharathi signed up for several classes at the University of Barcelona and is now a Spanish instructor.

humour to survive in the frozen foods business in this country. Narayanan’s full of stories from the paleolithic era of frozen foods, 10 years ago, when he first took charge of Hindustan Lever’s (now Hindustan Unilever) ice-cream division. Those were the days when storekeepers switched off the mains every night when they

seafood exports. After a “transforming” three-year stint there (among other things, he discovered paella and the Mediterranean diet), he returned to head the company’s food solutions business where he stayed until last year.

Though Narayanan joined McCain only a year ago, the company has been in India for more than 10 years. McCain has spent the last decade researching the types of potatoes that would grow well in India.

After experiments in the traditional potato-growing belt of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, the company opted to set up camp in Gujarat’s Mehsana. In 2007, after they were convinced they had cracked the spud cycle, they invested `100 crore in a plant that has the ability to process 40,000 tonnes of potatoes a year. “To be successful in the frozen food business in India, you need to control the whole supply chain from farm to fork,” says Narayanan.

When we meet, Narayanan is wearing his navy McCain polo, the one he usually wears when he’s travelling (good Spud the word: Narayanan points out branding, he believes) or that McCain’s potatoes are sugar-free. when, like today, his sales Jayachandran/Mint managers from across the shut shop, disregarding the fact that country are in town to review growth the ice cream in their freezer cabinets plans for next year. He sits on the edge would melt. “When ice cream melts of the couch, one arm resting on the you can’t refreeze it. When the air chair next to him, eyes darting to me escapes the volume comes down by and away, both hands gesticulating, half,” he says. Back then he always as he tells me his story. I rarely see cautioned his daughters, Deepti, 14, him take a sip of his beer but his glass and Sandhya, 9, to opt for an ice cream is finished long before mine. on a stick rather than in a cup.

He shuttles between his office in Of course, like most people with Delhi and Mumbai (where his famcool jobs, he has an engineering de- ily lives) and ran the half marathons gree. His father worked in the govern- in both cities. He runs regularly and ment’s civil aviation department and ensures that he mixes the cardio with Narayanan grew up in several metros weights. Narayanan likes to think of across India. “Guilty,” he laughs when himself as a quack nutritionist and I ask why engineers rarely do what- occasionally we divert to potato-free ever it is they’re supposed to do. After discussions such as the one about the he graduated as a civil engineer, he merits of different cooking oils (he’s worked for five years in Asian Paints recently rediscovered the health benuntil he found his life’s calling. efits of virgin coconut oil).

He’s worked in the processed foods As I listen to him attempt to conindustry for nearly two decades now, vince me that potatoes could even or since he joined Hindustan Lever in help alleviate India’s hunger prob1992. There he got a taste for all kinds lem, I wonder what powers all his of food from tea/coffee to jams/sauces excess energy. Maybe, just maybe, it and dairy. The vegetarian worked with is all that celebrated northern vigour ice cream for six years before moving in McCain’s potatoes. to Barcelona to market Lever’s frozen 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 VISIT THE HOUSTON ZOO THIS WEEK

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Amritsar’s Golden Temple Where All May Eat, and Pitch In

By Lydia Polgreen AMRITSAR (NYT): The groaning, clattering machines never stop, transforming 12 tons of whole wheat flour every day into nearly a quartermillion discs of flatbread called roti.

These purpose-built contraptions, each 20 feet long, extrude the dough, roll it flat, then send it down a gasfired conveyor belt, spitting out a never-ending stream of hot, floppy, perfectly round bread.

Soupy lentils, three and a third tons of them, bubble away in vast cauldrons, stirred by bearded, barefoot men wielding wooden spoons the size of canoe paddles. The pungent, savory bite wafting through the air comes from 1,700 pounds of onions and 132 pounds of garlic, sprinkled with 330 pounds of fiery red chilies.

It is lunchtime at what may be the world’s largest free eatery, the langar, or community kitchen at this city’s glimmering Golden Temple, the holiest shrine of the Sikh religion. Everything is ready for the big rush. Thousands of volunteers have scrubbed the floors, chopped onions, shelled peas and peeled garlic. At least 40,000 metal plates, bowls and spoons have been washed, stacked and are ready to go.

Anyone can eat for free here, and many, many people do. On a weekday, about 80,000 come. On weekends, almost twice as many people visit. Each visitor gets a wholesome vegetarian meal, served by volunteers who embody India’s religious and ethnic mosaic.

“This is our tradition,” said Harpinder Singh, the 45-year-old manager of this huge operation. “Anyone who wants can come and eat.”

India is not only the world’s largest democracy, it also is one of the most spiritually diverse nations. It was born in a horrific spasm of religious bloodshed when British India was torn in two to create a Muslim homeland in Pakistan. Yet from the moment of its independence, India has been a resolutely secular nation and has managed to accommodate an extraordinary range of views on such fundamental questions as the nature of humanity, the existence of God and the quality of the soul.

Indeed, few places in India demon-

At Amritsar’s glimmering Golden Temple, the holiest shrine of the Sikh religion, people can dine free at the world’s largest community kitchen, or langar. Sikhs pray at the Golden Temple at dawn.

strate so clearly the country’s genius for diversity and tolerance, the twin reasons that India — despite its fractures and fissures — has remained one nation.

Sikhism, which emerged in the Punjab region of India in the 15th century, strongly rejects the notion of caste, which lies at the core of Hinduism.

The Golden Temple, a giant complex of marble and glittering gold that sits at the heart of this sprawling, hectic city near the border with Pakistan, seeks to embody this principle.

Nowhere is it more evident than in the community kitchen, where everyone, no matter his religion, wealth or social status, is considered equal.

Guru Amar Das created the community kitchen during his time as the third Sikh guru in the 16th century.

Its purpose, he said, was to place all of humanity on the same plane. At the temple’s museum, one painting shows the wife of one of the gurus serving common people, “working day and night in the kitchen like an ordinary worker,” the caption says.

Volunteerism and community support are other central tenets of Sikhism expressed in the langar. When the Mughal emperor Akbar tried to give Guru Amar Das a platter of gold coins to support the kitchen, he refused to accept them, saying the kitchen “is always run with the blessings of the Almighty.”

Ashok Kumar, a Hindu with a scraggly beard, has been coming to

the kitchen for the past five years — all day, almost every day — to work as a volunteer. “It is my service,” he explained, after reluctantly taking a very brief break from his syncopated tray sorting.

A white rag covered his head, and his hands were bound like a boxer’s.

His job is to man the heavy bucket that receives the dirty plates and bowls.

He is the last man on a highly organized line that begins with collecting the spoons, dumping out any leftover food, then loading giant tubs of dirty dishes bound for the washing troughs.

Plates and bowls fly at him, but he never misses a beat, using a metal plate in each hand to deflect the traffic into the tub. Plates go around the rim, while bowls get stacked in the middle.Kumar used to be a bookbinder.

“I feel happy here,” he said when asked why he had given up his old life.

Indians of all faiths come here to find a measure

All faiths are welcome to eat a free lunch daily at the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine for Sikhs, in Amritsar

of peace largely unavailable in the cacophony of the nation’s 1.2 billion people. Like the thousands of pairs of shoes left at the temple gates, the chaos and filth of urban life are left behind at the marble entrances.

The temple is a world of cleanliness and order — where the wail of the harmonium and the shuffling of bare feet are the only sounds, and every square inch is scrubbed many times a day.

It has not always been a peaceful place. A Sikh insurgency, which sought a separate homeland for Sikhs in Punjab, tore at India’s heart in the

1970s and ’80s. In 1984, Indira Gandhi, then the prime minister, ordered a bloody raid on the temple. Hundreds of militants were hiding there, and many were killed. The temple was also damaged. Sikh bodyguards later assassinated Mrs. Gandhi to avenge the attack on the temple.

Despite this history, Sikhs remain resolutely a part of India’s mainstream, holding leading positions in the arts, government and business.

India’s current prime minister, Manmohan Singh, is a Sikh.

Pankaj Ahuja, who owns a medical

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Indo American News • Friday, September 03 , 2010

Baba Ramdev Has No Objection to Sanju!

By Kunal Shah MUMBAI (Mumbai Mirror): Producers of the Sanjay Dutt-starrer Knock Out had to get an NOC from the yoga guru, since promos of their upcoming film had references to him.

Baba Ramdev turned out to be quite

to unveil the first look of the film.

Our source said, “There was this dialogue in the promo where Irfan asks Sanju what he wants. Dutt replies that he wants the same thing that Baba Ramdev wants from his followers. The censor raised an objection to this as it was a reference to

a blessing for Mani Shankar’s Knock Out. The film starring Sanjay Dutt, Kangna Ranaut and Irfan Khan was stuck at the censor board when its promos were put on a hold for a mention of yoga guru Baba Ramdev.

The censor board asked the producers, AAP Entertainment, to get an NOC (No Objection Certificate) from the baba. The promos go on air from today after Sanjay Dutt’s iftar bash, followed by a press conference

a living person.

The makers were in a fix as there was hardly any time for correction.

So, the censor board asked the producers to get an NOC from Baba Ramdev. That’s when Mani Shankar got into action and within a few hours they got the NOC from him.

However he had to explain his entire film and the reference to context of the dialogue and why it featured in the film and thus in the promos.”

The third Sikh guru, Amar Das, created the community kitchen. Its purpose, he said, was to place all of humanity on the same plane.

Volunteers prepare food in the kitchen. continued from page 28 is different.”

supply shop in Rajasthan, was visiting the temple for the third time, this time bringing his wife and son, who had never been before. They took the Golden Temple Express train, and were sleeping in the pilgrims’ dormitories, which are also free. The family is Hindu, but the temple has a special significance for them nonetheless.

“You have lots of religious places in this country,” said Mr. Ahuja’s wife, Nikita. “But the kind of peace and cleanliness you find here you won’t find anywhere else.”

Back home, cleaning floors would be considered degrading for someone of her status — people of low caste usually do such work. But here, Mrs. Ahuja happily scrubs floors.

“In normal life, I would ask, ‘Why should I do this?’ It is shameful to clean floors,” she said. “But here, it

Indeed, she never gives a moment’s thought to who prepared the food in the kitchen, even though in India’s highly stratified caste traditions such matters are vital.

“It is more than food,” she said of the meals that she had eaten at the community kitchen. “Once you eat it, you forget who is cooking, who is serving it, who is sitting next to you.”

Anil Kumar, a 32-year-old Hindu, was up to his elbows in soapy water at one of the washing troughs.

“At home, I would never do this,” he said with a laugh. “It is my wife’s work.”

But he said he tried to come for at least an hour every day to wash dishes. “It is not a question of religion,” he added. “It is a question of faith. Here I feel a feeling of peace.”

When contacted Mani Shankar said, “When the censor board raised an objection regarding Sanjay Dutt mentioning Baba Ramdevji’s name in the trailer of Knock Out we had very little time to respond. The matter had to be resolved within hours as we needed the censor certificate for the trailer the very same day.

Fortunately I had made several short films on spiritual themes in the past and had worked closelywithleadingspiritual gurus of the country. I requested Shri HV Prasad, the chief trustee of his Holiness Swami Ganapathi Sachchidananda in Mysore, to approach Baba Ramdevji with our request.

Within a few minutes we had a telephonic conference with their media chief and spokesperson, Mr Tijarawala.

When my producer Mr Nag and I explained to him that there was an essential synergy in what Baba Ramdev has been saying about restoring national wealth and the theme of our film — and that the reference to Baba Ramdev was very positive — we received a no objection letter immediately. We’re very grateful to Baba Ramdev and Shri Tijarawala to respond so quickly in this matter and come to our rescue.” Breathe easy, guys. Just relax.

Saffron Terrorism: PM Should Apologise to People, Says Modi AHMEDABAD: Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi on Monday sought an apology from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for use of the term ‘saffron terrorism’ by the home minister.

“The post of the Prime Minister has been devalued and he has become helpless as someone else is in control of the administration,” Modi said at a public function here.

Criticising home minister P Chidambaram for using the term ‘saffron terrorism’, Modi said, “it is the height of misfortune that the Union minister has demeaned the chair which was once held by the Iron man of India, Sardar Patel.”

“Is not there a saffron flag on a temple? Would you call it a centre of terrorist activity? Swami Vivekanand, Dayanand Saraswati, Shankracharya, Swami Ramdas and others who have sacrificed for the country wore saffron clothes. Are you calling them terrorist?” Modi asked.

“Every Congressmen will have to answer this. And the Prime Minister has to apologies to the people of the country for this,” the chief minister added.

Modi said saffron colour is an in-

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tegral part of Indian tradition. “By conning the term ‘saffron terrorism’, the home minister has caused insult to the Indian heritage,” he said.

Attacking the Congress on the alleged misuse of CBI against him, Modi said one cannot make place in people’s heart through CBI. Modi also dared the Congress-led UPA government to compete with Gujarat on the development front.

“The Union government had the country, entire administration and crores of rupees at its disposal. I dare the Union government that despite of all this, Gujarat will be far ahead if there was a competition,” he said.

He said those bent on demeaning Gujarat will be taught lesson by the people themselves.

The chief minister, today dedicated number of project to the people which included a recreation centre, water pumping and distribution station, a sports and commercial complex, a Sardar Patel Heritage Hall and Zonal office of New western zone of the city to name a few.

Modi speaking at a function in Vadodara on Sunday also had demanded an apology from the Prime Minister on the ‘saffron terrorism’ issue.

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South Asia News of the Diaspora

Giving Up the Great American Dream, NRI Telugus Are Returning to Business Opportunities, Lifestyle at Home

By Padmini CoPPara PParaP PPara araPu HYDERABAD (TOI):At 23, Gautam nurtured the common Telugu dream of the 1990’s, to go to the US. And 18 years later, he is among the many Non-Resident Telugus nursing yet another common desire — to head back home.

So as Gautam gets ready to pack his 18 years of life in the US, which included a master’s degree, a cushy job in a multinational IT major and children ‘Born in America’, he says he is sure that familial bonds score over fat pay packets. But then, he is also sure the fat pay packet would come by easily in a flush with opportunities in India.

At the helm of the ‘mera Bharat mahaan’ NRIs are doctors, who were among the first migrants in the postindependence era and are also turning out to be the first to return. More and more of them say they came back sensing a deeper need for their exper expertise in India than abroad.

Dr P Raghu Ram, a practicing sur sur-

geon in the UK, returned to Hyderabad in 2007 after 10 years when he realised that there was no dedicated centre for breast surgeries in the country and hence founded KIMS Ushalakshmi Centre for Breast Studies -- named after his mother. “I’ve received far greater satisfaction in

the three years I’ve spent serving my own people here than the 10 years I spent working in an established UK hospital,” says Dr Raghu Ram. Similarly, Dr Pramati Reddy, a senior consultant physician at Apollo Hospitals, who lived in the us for 13 years gave up her practice in Tampa,

Florida and moved to India for a personal cause — to raise her children here. Echoing the sentiments of many NRTs, she wants her childrentogrow up knowing their extended family and their culture here.

But the ‘reverse migration’ is not exclusive to doctors but people from all walks of life including engineers. Many professionals claim that they are not compromising on much when they move back to India with competitive salaries, better standard of living and a ‘glocal’ work culture pervading across the country today. Vijay, a

software engineer recently returned from the Silicon Valley, working in an MNC in Hyderabad, says, “You get to grow faster, learn more and put your skills to much better use here in India. So it makes up for the parity in money.”

Not to forget are the number of entrepreneurs who are returning to mana Hyderabad to set shop. These entrepreneurs claim that there’s a saturation point in markets like the US and therefore, its logical for them to tap the immense potential still locked in developing economies like India. Take for instance, Mamata Banerji who returned to Hyderabad in 2008 after 18 years in the US to start ‘Investment Yogi’ after realising the market for personal finance in India.

“There’s no doubt reverse migration is happening. In fact, most of my friends are returning NRIs,” she says. Her husband, an IT professional moved seamlessly from his team in Microsoft, Seattle to Microsoft, Hyderabad.

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33

Khali Peeli Bunkus Ltd: Quirky Everyday Objects On Sale

By Namrata Joshi

NEW DELHI (Outlook): An elderly gentleman stands absorbed for several minutes outside a poky holein-the-wall shop in Delhi’s upscale Khan Market. He (and many others) would have passed it by but for its amusing name Happily Unmarried and the intriguing bright yellow sign that screams “Don’t Blink Or You’ll Miss Us”. A similar quirkiness literally falls on you from the shelves inside. They are crammed with lifestyle products that are fun with a capital F. The store’s mission statement says it all: “We sell fun bundled in little brown boxes and we don’t take ourselves seriously”.

So there is Sandass, an ash-tray designed like an Indian toilet seat, another shaped like the coal-iron used by your neighbourhood presswala and a bottle-stopper in the form of a handpump. The Indian Standard Time wall clock plays on how we desis read and talk time—dedh for 1.30, dhai for 2.30. A key-holder resembles the back of an Indian truck, complete with poetic phrases and kitschy artwork. One of HU’s latest, eye-grabbing products is a simple, white mug that brings an instant smile to your face with the words “My Name Is Khan Market And I Am Not A Mall”.

“Normal objects of daily use, be they doormats or glasses, are boring.

We wanted to play with them to make them interesting,” says Rajat Tuli of HU. So he and his partner Rahul Anand invited a bunch of designers, trained in places like the National Institute of Design (NID) and National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), to let their hair down; it’s their products that line the shelves,

Nidhi Singh of Indigreen with her Bollywood kitsch poster art and ‘go green’ messages.

and they get a share of the royalties.

And HU hasn’t looked back since it started six years ago. Their products sell in 47 stores, apart from their own two exclusive outlets in Delhi (two more are opening soon, one in Delhi, another in Shillong). “You’ll find our merchandise even in small-town Agra,” points out Rajat.

Similarly whacky lifestyle products are spilling out of urban malls and markets. Cups, coasters and CD racks, cutlery and cushions, T-shirts and bags, shot glasses and beer mugs, key holders and doormats, all imbued with a kitschiness and humour that’s so very Indian. Even something as functional as a toilet roll can make you giggle—like Design Temple’s Cheer Haran range. Inspired by Draupadi’s never-ending sari (pic on page 60), it comes in a set of two (it does finish, though). “It’s all about being tongue-in-cheek and having a good

laugh,” says Madhumita Goswami of the Bombay-based store, Loose Ends. “A coaster now is not just something for your dining table. It’s a display board for creativity and quirkiness,” says Sneha Raisoni who started Tappu Ki Dukaan in Bombay last December to sell such products.

“The core idea is to make the mundane magical,” says Himanshu Dogra, who runs Play Clan in Saket’s Select City Walk. It sells hand-painted shoes, T-shirts and undergarments, bags, home products, stationery and clip-boards that work playfully with all things Indian—dtc buses, autos and the Ambassador, slogans like ‘Maa ka Aashirwad’ and ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’, graphics of areas like Purani Dilli, Colaba and Crawford Market, images of Indian martial art forms.

These objects seamlessly marry a western and an Indian aesthetic. The

design is clean and contemporary but the humour is 100 per cent desi, inspired by the daily urban grind, Bollywood, age-old Indianisms, Indian myth and culture. “It’s about looking inwards at ourselves and celebrating India,” says Himanshu. “It works for you only if you know India, have understood and experienced it,” says Rahul of HU. That’s not just the domain of Indians. French designer Iris Strill has also been adept at packaging India’s quirks, first in her bags for the export market, and more recently, for the Indian market too. She and her business partner Emeline Grasset set up the design studio Purple Jungle, a collection of bags, cushions, stationery, coasters, stuffed toys and tablemats strong on bright colours and influenced by Indian truck art, wall art, even the old-fashioned tel maalish wala and the neighbourhood barber. Iris, who has lived here for

a decade, and Emeline explain that their products aim to reflect India’s chaos and confusion as well as its energy and vibrancy. “We are not tourists anymore,” they say. They sell through the upmarket Delhi store Zaza and their own shop in the capital’s trendy Hauz Khas Village, and are hoping to move to other cities.

Think India and can Bollywood be far behind? Indigreen, set up by Nidhi Singh and Gaurav Gupta in Bombay, is frankly inspired by Bollywood’s kitschy poster art, transplanting it onto clothing and bags, lamps and mirror frames. The message is serious—‘go green’—but filmi aesthetics add a sense of fun to these eco-friendly values. For example, organic cotton (“100 per cent free of chemicals”) T-shirts jazzed up with compelling Hindi film motifs. “Everyone wants a piece of Bollywood so we work with the essence of Bollywood, the mushiness, the over-thetop emotions and the riot of colours,” says Nidhi. They sell through stores in Bombay, Goa, Pune, Delhi and Bangalore. Similarly, Indian Hippy, a collective of the last few remaining Bollywood film poster and billboard artists in India, are propagating their work through, leather folders, even foldable chairs.

The target consumer for these retailers is the young Indian, apt to find such humour cool, and wanting to define himself (and herself) by it.

“We are a one-stop shop for the young and the young at heart,” says Rajat.

What’s more, in a booming economy, even the young can afford these products, most priced between Rs 150 and Rs 1,000. “The disposable income of the youth has risen remarkably,” says Madhumita of Loose Ends.

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Pune, India’s High-Tech City, is Plagued by Potholes

By Vikas Bajaj PUNE (NYT) Call it India’s engineering paradox.

Despite this nation’s rise as a technology titan with some of the world’s best engineering minds, India’s full economic potential is stifled by potholed roadways, collapsing bridges, rickety railroads and a power grid so unreliable that many modern office buildings run their own diesel generators to make sure the lights and computers stay on.

It is not for want of money. The Indian government aims to spend $500 billion on infrastructure by 2012 and twice that amount in the following five years.

The problem is a dearth of engineers — or at least the civil engineers with the skill and expertise to make sure those ambitious projects

An unfinished building over an outdoor cafe in a new mall in Pune. Construction firms say projects are often delayed by a lack of experienced civil engineers.

Vishal Mandvekar, 26, a civil engineer who writes software code for a Japanese automaker, says it takes an hour to travel the nine cratered miles of road between home and his office in Pune.

are done on time and up to specifications.

Civil engineering was once an elite occupation in India, not only during the British colonial era of carving roads and laying train tracks, but also long after independence as part of the civil service. These days, though, India’s best and brightest know there is more money and prestige in writing software for foreign customers than in building roadways for their nation.

And so it is that 26-year-old Vishal Mandvekar, despite his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, now writes software code for a Japanese automaker.

Mr. Mandvekar works in an air-conditioned building with Silicon Valley amenities here in Pune, a boomtown about 100 miles east of Mumbai. But getting to and from work requires him to spend a vexing hour on his motorcycle, navigating the crowded, cratered roads between home and his office a mere nine miles away.

much-lauded metro rail system collapsed, killing six people and injuring more than a dozen workers. A government report partly blamed faulty design for the accident; metro officials said they would now require an additional review of all designs by independent engineers.

Acknowledging India’s chronic shortage of civil engineers and other specialists, the national govWater buffalo crossing a river in Pune. India’s technology ernment is building 30 centers are held back by crumbling bridges, rickety railroads universities and considerand a balky power grid. ing letting foreign institutions set up campuses in During the monsoon season, the many potholes “are filled with water and you can’t tell the country. “India has embarked on its largest education expansion program since indepenhow deep they are until you hit one,” he said.

Fixing all that, though, will remain some other dence,” the prime minister, Manmohan Singh, said in a speech last year in Washington. engineer’s problem.

But the government may have only so much Mr. Mandvekar earns a salary of about $765 influence on what students study. And while the a month. That is more than three times what he made during his short stint for a commercial Indian government runs or finances some of the contractor, supervising construction of lodging country’s most prestigious universities, like the for a Sikh religious group, after he earned his Indian Institutes of Technology, fast-growing private institutions now train more students. degree in 2006.

“It was fun doing that,” he said of the con- About three-quarters of engineering students struction job. “My only dissatisfaction was the study at private colleges.

Moreover, many civil engineers who earn pay package.” degrees in the discipline never work in the Young Indians’ preference for software over steel and concrete poses an economic conun- profession or — like Mr. Mandvekar — leave drum for India. Its much-envied information it soon after they graduate to take better-paying technology industry generates tens of thousands jobs in information technology, management of relatively well-paying jobs every year. But consulting or financial services.

Industry experts say a big obstacle to attractthat lure also continues the exodus of people qualified to build the infrastructure it desper- ing more civil engineers is the paltry entry-level ately needs to improve living conditions for the rest of its one billion people — and to bolster the sort of industries that require good highways and railroads more than high-speed Internet links to the West.

In 1990, civil engineering programs had the capacity to enroll 13,500 students, while computer science and information technology departments could accept but 12,100. Yet by 2007, after a period of incredible growth in India’s software outsourcing business, computer science and other information technology programs ballooned to 193,500; civil engineering climbed to only 22,700. Often, those admitted to civil engineering programs were applicants passed over for highly competitive computer science tracks.

There are various other reasons that India has struggled to build a modern infrastructure, including poor planning, political meddling and outright corruption. But the shortage of civil engineers is an important factor. In 2008, the World Bank estimated that India would need to train three times as many civil engineers as it does now to meet its infrastructure needs.

The government has “kick-started a massive infrastructure development program without checking on the manpower supply,” said Atul Bhobe, managing director of S. N. Bhobe & Associates, a civil engineering design company.

“The government is willing to spend $1 trillion,” he said, “but you don’t have the wherewithal to spend that kind of money.”

Sujay Kalele, an executive with Kolte-Patil, a Pune-based developer of residential and commercial buildings, said the company’s projects could be completed as much as three months faster if it could find enough skilled engineers.

“If we need 10 good-quality civil engineers, we may get four or five,” Mr. Kalele said.

Beyond construction delays and potholes, experts say, the engineering shortfall poses outright dangers. Last year, for example, an elevated span that was part of New Delhi’s

pay. The field was considered relatively lucrative until the 1990s, when it was eclipsed by the pay in commercial software engineering.

Ravi Sinha, a civil engineering professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, says professionals in his field with five years of experience make about as much as their counterparts at information technology companies.

But those starting can make as little as half the pay of their technology peers.

That is partly because of the lead set by government departments, where salaries for civil engineers are often fixed according to nearly immutable civil service formulas.

And in the private sector, developers and construction companies have often been reluctant to pay more and invest in the training of young engineers, because executives believe that new graduates do not contribute enough to merit more money or that they will leave for other jobs anyway. “If companies take a holistic view,” Mr. Sinha said, “they have the opportunity to develop the next generation’s leaders.”

In fact, a construction boom in recent years has led to higher salaries in private industry.

Kolte-Patil now pays junior engineers $425 a month, nearly twice the level of five years ago.

Larsen & Toubro, a Mumbai-based engineering company that builds airports, power projects and other infrastructure, offers Build India Scholarships for students who want to pursue a master’s degree in construction technology and management. The program produces 50 to 60 graduates a year, who are hired by the company. “You don’t get the best quality in civil engineers, because today the first choice for students is other branches” of engineering, said K. P. Raghavan, an executive vice president in L.& T.’s construction division. “We are compensating with lots of training.”

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entertainment

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Indo American News • Friday, September 03 , 2010

I Will Get Married: Sushmita Sen NEW DELHI: While most of her contemporaries are married and settled with kids, Sushmita Sen is still in the news for her relationships and break-ups. But the actress says she definitely has plans to tie the knot soon.

‘Well, I will get married. It was just that I didn’t feel like getting married at 23-24 which is considered to be marriageable age,’ said Sushmita, 34.

‘And I am tired of answering what kind of a man I want in my life. I will show you the full sample whenever it happens,’ she added.

In the past, the actress has dated actor Randeep Hooda, ad man Manav Menon and then she has been linked with Bunty Sachdev and very recently with Pakistani pacer Wasim Akram, with whom she has supposedly broken off with.

The ex-Miss Universe was in the capital Wednesday to attend the event for the real estate company Assotech where she was announced its brand ambassador. Dressed in a short and colourful ruffled dress, Sushmita looked radiant and exuded warmth.

Last year, Sushmita’s production company Tantra Entertainment was awarded the India franchise by the Miss Universe Organisation. But the winner, Ushoshi Sengupta, failed to win the title for India.

The beauty queen is not at all ‘disappointed’.

‘I wasn’t disappointed at all. We gave our best shot and there was a lot of learning for us as well.

I also went to the pageant after 16 years (Sushmita won the title in 1994) and a lot has changed in terms of format.

‘So I had a look and understood the news things. This will help us in bringing the title back in the near future. Now, I feel like it is a challenge for me,’ she said.

Recently ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ actress Freida Pinto said Sushmita inspired her to act in the movies.

Commenting on that, she said: ‘I believe life has come a full circle for me. When I saw my baba (father) in tears when Rakesh Sharma went up in space and told Indira Gandhi ‘Saare Jahan Se Aacha Hindustan Hamaara’, I asked him for whom he was crying. He replied - he (Rake (Rakesh) is famous.’

>>>

Director VK Prakash Debuts in His First Kannada Film

Director VK Prakash, who has directed Hindi, Malayalam and Telugu movies so far, is now going to direct his first Kannada movie titled Aidu Ondla Aidhu, which will be on floor in September. The didi rector is well educated in Kannada literature and theater so making a Kannada film won’t be very tough for him. He was looking forward to make a Kannada movie since a long time.

Speaking about this, Prakash said that he was waiting for the right story to make a Kannada film. He added that he had been living in Bangalore for more than 20 years and is closely associated with film

industry and theater here. Now, he is very happy with the script so going ahead with a Kannada film, Prakash said.

In Aidu Ondla Aidhu, Malayalam star Dileep will play the character of a director, who will be shown having a theatre background like Prakash in his real life. The film will depict how the director tries to combine four plays into one film.

Speaking about his role, Dileep said that he will play a director about whom people have their dif different opinions. Some say that he is lacking in experience and some suggest he should have an item number to make his movie successful commercially. As no one is ready to produce his film, the director goes ahead and produces it himself, added Dileep.

The cast of the movie includes Padmapriya, Shruti, Harish Raj, Devraj, CR Simha, Nithya Menon, Ajith Hande and Prakash’s assistants Rashmi and Vrinda. Five cinematographers are working in this film, which includes KU Mohanan who has worked in the Hindi movies like Don, We are Family and Aaja Nach Le. The movie also has five music directors including Ouseppachan and Vijay Prakash.

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Carfull! ‘Bale Pandiya’ is Coming! SUV Redesigned You know that the director of ‘Bale Pandiya’ is a creative designer and his expertise is seen in every inch of the film. Right from the colours to the pleasantly side-splitting promotional trailers Siddharth Chandrashekar has turned many new leaves in promotional techniques.

If print campaigns are not enough to score the points we learn that Siddharth has modified a SUV and made it look out of the world just for the film. We hear that he has completely redone the interiors which will create “I too want it that way” feeling in the minds of all car owners when the film is released.

‘Bale Pandiya’ releasing this Friday is expected to surprise with good initials as the movie has caught the fancy of fun loving youngsters. Vishnu has done a fabulous job in the film. Remember his dialogue in the trailer “I have 10000 rupees, you have to kill me sir”! The film is going to be a hilarious hit you bet.

Don’t miss the redesigned SUV when you watch the film folks!

‘At that time all I knew was to be famous. It was my only ambition in life and I wanted people, who didn’t even know me, to cry for me. So when people say such things about me, I feel life has come a full circle for me.’

All-Women Jury at 12th Mumbai Film Festival

MUMBAI: The 12th Mumbai Film Festival boasts of all-women jury that is headed by Oscar winning Hollywood filmmaker Jane Campion and will include wellknown names like Indian actressdirector Suhasini Ratnam.

Starting Oct 21, the eight-day festival is a Reliance Big Picture initiative.

Campion’s ‘Peel’ won the Golden Palm award at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival and bagged an Oscar for best screenplay for ‘The Piano’ (1993). Her directorial ventures include ‘In the Cut’ and ‘Bright Star’.

Accompanying Campion will be four internationally-celebrated panelists - British filmmaker Tanya Seghatchian, head of the Film Fund at the UK Film Council, Iranian filmmaker Samira Makhmalbaf, South Korena actress Yoon Jeong-Hee and Suhasini Ratnam.

Seghatchian played a pivotal role in the ‘Harry Potter’ film franchise, having developed and produced the first four in the series for Warner Bros, alongside David Heyman, Steve Kloves and directors Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuaron and Mike Newell.

The Mumbai Academy of Moving Images promises criticallyacclaimed films.

l a i c offi rd wo

chai & movies

Three heroines and one villain and yet they all play heroes! This contemporary comedy is a story of three working girls that bond together in a posh office of Mumbai, though each one of them belongs to a dif different stratum of society. The biggest issue they face now is in their own work place - It is headed by their smart boss played by Jaaved Jaffery - a chronic playboy. He is smart.

They have to be smarter. Who wins this battle of the sexes? Who outsmarts whom is the basis of this fun filled hilarious comedy with chart-busting music by Pritam. Three of the sexiest looking heroines Eesha Koppikhar, Celina Jaitly and Gul Panag lead the cast with great performances. It is Directed by Manoj Tiwari and written by Pankaj and Sachin who wrote blockbuster comedies like Apna Sapna Money Money and Kya Kool Hain Hum.

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Indo American News • Friday, September 03 , 2010

indian diaspora

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K R Sridhar’s Bloom Energy Has the Know-How to Produce Clean Energy

By Camille RiCketts SANTA CLARA (Green Beat): Bloom Energy shook the clean tech sector earlier this year when it unveiled its unique Bloom Box, a fuel cell capable of powering 100 homes while producing close to zero greenhouse-gas emissions.

Now, despite the company’s assurances that it is closing in on an IPO next year, it looks like it might be raising $50 million more to get it there.

The company has declined to comment on the story. Private Equity Hub caught wind of the fundraising via internal sources, who also said that Northgate Capital may be joining existing backers Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and New Enterprise Associates.

These investors have already sunk $400 million into Bloom, which is quickly becoming one of the most expensive green tech plays to date.

Despite the media blitz in February, a lot of mystery still surrounds the Bloom Box. Right now, it is sold only on a large scale, with units costing $800,000 apiece.

Installations are already pumping out power for early adopters like Wal-Mart, Google and FedEx. eBay reported that its nine Bloom Boxes saved it $100,000 in energy costs over the first nine months they were installed.

This sounds all well and good, but the technology — initially developed by now CEO KR Sridhar at NASA — is still secretive, and

its implications sound too radical in their coverage areas and selling to be true. Bloom says that in the the energy they generate. But utilinext 5 to 10 years it will be sell- ties aren’t going to want to do this ing fuel-cell boxes for individual until they absolutely have to. households for less than $3,000. If Private Equity Hub has also heard this happens, the company could that Bloom told investors that its remove whole homes from the last round of funding would progrid, supplanting utilities and their vide enough runway to get it to its unwieldy, long-distance transmis- public exit. There’s a sense that sion lines. This would restructure the company doesn’t have a good the way energy is delivered the grasp on its roadmap, and is trying world over. to run on the same hype surroundThere is a camp of analysts ing other cleantech stars like Tesla and investors — like Kleiner’s Motors.

John Doerr, a serious evangelist This makes participating in — that believes Bloom has the Bloom’s rumored new round a same game-changing potential as hefty bet for new investors. Do Google or Facebook, the first of its kind in the cleantech sector. But others wonder how the company will even af afford to get its products to market if it’s already burnt through so much money and is now looking for more.

As is, there’s no way Bloom is going to compete cost-wise with utilitydelivered energy for next five years at least. In order Bloom says its Energy Servers, since to encourage adoption, the the first commercial installation government would have to in July 2008, “have collectively launch a major consumer produced more than 11 million incentive campaign. But kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity, this is unlikely to happen, with CO2 reductions estimated at considering how powerful 14 million pounds – the equivalent utility interests are in the of powering approximately 1,000 U.S. It’s been suggested American homes for a year and that utilities might become planting one million trees.” Bloom’s Bloom’s biggest custom- first commercial customers include ers, installing the boxes Bank of America, Coke, eBay, Fedex,

they sit it out and hang their heads if and when the technology revolutionizes the global energy market?

Or do they buy a stake and wait for years as the Bloom Box struggles to break into the mainstream?

Both outcomes are equally likely at this juncture.

Even if it is a hold and see approach, more investors are lining up behind KR Sridhar’s Bloom box invention with high hopes.

Tech journalists joined Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bloom cofounder and CEO K.R. Sridhar as they share a hug at a press conference.

Venture capitalist John Doerr has helped Bloom, Energy raise about $400 million from investors, plans are underway to mass produce its solid oxide fuel cells.

KR Sridhar stands in front of his invention Bloom Box.

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nutrition / food

Indo American News • Friday, September 03 , 2010

37

How to Preserve Rich Nutrients in Indian Foods and Actually Benefit Your Body (FFK:) The health benefits of the Indian food depend on the method of cooking.

If a recipe calls for too much cream, yogurt, ghee or oil and crushed cashews, then the dish will be very rich in taste and texture, but with out any nutritional value. The north Indian food, Punjabi food and the foods available in restaurants are cooked (rather over-cooked) like this and they are higher in fat and lower in nutritional value. These foods are generally prepared with deep fried onions, ginger, and spices in lot

of oil or ghee.

Instead of deep frying, you can stir-fry or saute them in very little vegetable oil. The over-cooked foods lose their nutrition because, in the process, the vitamins and minerals are leached out.

You should stop the cooking of a vegetable when it is still crisp.

Never use trans-fat or vanaspati like dalda, rath, etcfor cooking, these are not healthy. Many restaurants and shops use trans-fats for cooking tikkis, bhaturas, parathas, puri (poori) and even sweets and vegetable curries Do not chop the vegetbles into too

Ads can be misleading when it comes to food and health

small pieces. The vegetable will lose its nutrients if it has more exposed surfaces to the atmosphere.

Always chop the vegetables only when you cook them, do not chop and leave them for a long time.

Do not wash the vegetables like spinach, zucchini, lauki, etc. after chopping to preserve their nutrients.

When you stir-fry, do not overheat the oil.

If you make pakoras, keep the besan batter thick. Deep frying of thin batter pakoras absorb too much oil during frying.

Do not add ghee or oil for making the dough of poori, otherwise

the pooris will absorb too much oil during frying.

However, it is possible to have traditional Indian cooking recipes that produce tasty dishes with very less fat and keeping the natural nutrition values and low calories.

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nepal - cuisine

Food in Nepal - A Way of Life, Culture KATHMANDU: Food indeed of 46 photographs. tion, it is varied as well as interestplays a major role in the life of “I had always dreamed of com- ing. One of the photos has a platter of people. Food describes you and ing to Nepal and after coming delicacies offered to a man dressed reflects your culture and the nation here I wanted to tell the story of as Goddess Durga during Navarati you come from. Be it Ganesh puja, Nepal in a different way,” said at Patan. Another picture has TibetIndra jatra, Gai jatra, Lhosar, wed- Richard Ragan, country repre- an Buddhists concluding the New ding ceremonies... food definitely sentative of WFP. “This exhibi- Year Lhosar ceremony by throwing is the second priority in all these tion is principally a celebration of tsampa (roasted barley flour) into functions. As a matter of fact the air, another portrays most of the nations are known dua mari made out of by its cuisine. Food is a means steamed rice flour. Anof sustenance yet it defines the other interesting photo individual you. is the mouth of the idol And that is what the photo of Akash Bhairab stuffed exhibition that took place on with rice cakes by devoJuly 25 - ‘The life of food in tees during Indra jatra.

Nepal’ portrays — it has a Food is offered to Gods story to share about food, of and Goddesses in search people and of their tradition of prosperity, health, and culture. It portrays the life happiness, protection, of food from the diverse lands and good harvest. in which different crops are Geda gudi (pulses) is grown to the daily dedication Chicken, baby corn and flat style pasta a staple in a Nepali diet. and rituals of preparing it for Nepal’s vibrant food culture, and And in the middle of nowhere is the table and Gods. The exhibition it is also about raising awareness seen a small kirana shop that houses organized by the United Nations on issues around food insecurity the basic necessities of a Nepali World Food Program (WFP) and in the country.” kitchen. It has rice, sugar, pulses, inaugurated on July 20 at the NeWith over a dozen photogra- potatoes, chilli, ginger, garlic, and pal Art Council comprised a total phers contributing to the exhib- dried fish.

Indo American News • Friday, September 03 , 2010

39

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Indo American News • Friday, September 03 , 2010

sports

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Three No-balls Tarnish Pak Players in a Spot Fixing Controversy

ceed with caution.

By Andrew Miller ThismuchwasreLONDON (Cricinfo): Apparportedly acknowlently a cricket match concluded at edged by Mazher Lord’s today. Apparently Graeme Majeed himself, Swann claimed his ninth five-wickallegedly the fixer et haul in 24 Tests, and England at the centre of the won their seventh Test out of eight News of the World by a resounding innings and 225. investigation, who Apparently Umar Akmal slammed was quoted by the 79 not out from 68 balls to double at paper as saying: a stroke his previous series average “They’ve toned of 17.5, and apparently there was a down match-fixing presentation ceremony in the Long a lot, they’ve made Room afterwards. Far from being it very, very dif difa final curtain call, however, it was ficult.” But it still the drawing of a veil over a series remains possible, whose shameful conclusion now begs so many questions.

Pakistan players at the center of the controversy: Salman Butt (left), Mohammad and as it happens even harder to pinIn the course of a turbulent de- Asif and Mohammad Amir point, thanks to the cade, cricket has known too many last great furore involving these two with the admission that the problem growth of the indays like this for sweeping conclusions to be drawn from a single source teams - the Oval Test abandonment of match-fixing will never be entirely ternet and onset of spread-betting, of evidence. And yet, there was an of 2006, when once again the fourth eradicated. But these three deliveries through which it has been possible atmosphere around Lord’s today day of the fourth Test proved seismic. could yet prove to be the first three to target specific and subtle “brackthat reeked of a once-in-a-generation Now, unlike then, the show did go on licks of flame through a fabric that the ets” of action, instead of completed betrayal. Ten years ago, the Han- - when perhaps the gut reaction was sport patched up, without conviction, innings, totals and results. The real around the time of the Qayyum and shock of the pre-ordered no-balls is sie Cronje revelations destroyed the to wish it had not done so.

Nothing, however, was quite as King Commissions. In isolation, they the microscopic extent of the control sport’s integrity and drew the cynic in every supporter that much closer to shocking as the haggard appearance amount to nothing, for three runs in that the fixer appears to have been the surface, and since then, too many of Pakistan’s captain, Salman Butt, a total of 446 is trivial, unless you’ve able to exert.

And yet, the three main men allegwhispers have persisted for anyone to whose eloquent explanations of his got an Edgbaston 2005 finish around believe that the cancer had been cut team’s enduring failures had earned the corner. In implication, however, edly in the firing line can each offer a him genuine admiration through- they could lead to so much more. key plea in mitigation. Asif and Amir out at the core.

“They are only allegations at this can point to some of the most sensaBut the chance to suspend one’s out a difficult - and intermittently disbelief is the very reason why so triumphant - campaign. This time, stage, but they are allegations of the tional fast bowling seen in England many people are drawn to sporting however, he faced the press with a full worst kind,” said Strauss. “For those for two decades - 31 wickets at 24.29 events in the first place - which is why maelstrom of emotions etched on his of us who love cricket, it’s not a good doesn’t look like the work of a pair the charade that was played out in face. That he survived the ordeal was thing. A lot of allegations are so hard of under-achievers - while Butt can front of a quarter-full Sunday crowd thanks entirely to his team manager, to prove, but if someone is found restate his boast that both Australia Yawar Saeed, who used every stall- categorically guilty, the only way - for and England have been brought low was so painful to behold.

In ordinary circumstances, six ing tactic in the book, including the me - is for them not to be able to play on this tour, no matter how circuitous wickets in a victorious session would pretence of deafness, to draw the sting international cricket again. Because if the route to both victories turned out that leads to a cleaner sport in the fu- to be. be ample justification for breast-beat- of a massed media.

Butt offered just the one defiant anture, that can only be a good thing.”

There in a nutshell is the paradox ing and bold statements about bringThe real shock of the pre-ordered of spot-fixing. It need not affect the ing on the Aussies, but afterwards swer. When asked if he would resign, England’s captain, Andrew Strauss, he shot back: “Why? Pakistan won no-balls is the microscopic extent of endgame, and as this investigation said each wicket felt like a token a Test match against Australia after the control that the fixer appears to unfolds, it may even prove to be so endemic that the players themselves breakthrough at 600 for 2. “We all 15 years and [in] England after nine have been able to exert Strauss is absolutely correct, of see no harm in accepting the bonuses understand the greater context,” he years, so does that make me resign said. “It’s a pretty sombre context from this current situation?” It was a course. The half-measures that were that come along the way. A sporting and not one we really want to be valiant attempt to clutch at the straws meted out a decade ago were disas- career is, after all, distinctly finite of fleeting success - more of which trous for the game, with a handful - even one as youthful and brimful involved in.”

Nothing felt right about today from later - but three far more insidious of players carrying the can for their with promise as Amir’s. And in a start to lunchtime finish. At 9am, strands are threatening to break the generation - among them three Test country as traumatised as Pakistan, when the ground was still largely de- back of his young team. Namely the captains and a token bowler in Ata- where one’s brief time at the top could serted and an expectant hush should trio of no-balls, allegedly delivered to ur-Rehman - while a raft of others, transform not only one’s own life but by rights have existed, a heightened order by Mohammad Amir and Mo- including Pakistan’s current coach that of everyone around you, is it so police presence provided the first hammad Asif on Thursday afternoon Waqar Younis and his fellow legend wrong to reach that extra metre? A Wasim Akram, were stained by as- love of money may be the root of all violent jolt to the senses. Meanwhile and Friday morning.

There’s no smoke without fire, as sociation but exonerated through a evil, but can it always be classified rolling news footage of the Pakistan team bus, revving uncertainly out- the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit has lack of specific punishment. A bright as a sin?

The answer, as it happens, was side the their hotel in Swiss Cottage, long conceded, with Lord Condon red message of intended deterrence couldn’t help but hark back to the signing off from the role back in May turned into an amber signal to pro- seen in the squalid circumstances of

Shiv Sagar

the final day at Lord’s. As a match stripped of innocence dribbled to an awful and ignominious conclusion, anyone who believes in the magic of hero worship and the joy of escapism was dragged into the gutter as well.

If it was bad for the punters who watched at close quarters, the abuse of trust for those Pakistani fans back home was abominable. At this time in the country’s troubled history, the need to believe is paramount. root cause?

Internet Betting in India NEW DELHI: A trial court in New Delhi has suggested that sports betting in India be legalized. Currently, Indian gambling laws forbid sports betting in all forms, with the exception of wagers placed on horse races, a custom leftover after years of British influence. The current situation sees police battling against illegal bookmakers year after year, yet never gaining ground. Connections between underground bookies and organized crime are strong. The problem is becoming overwhelming, and some believe that the best solution is to simply lift the ban on sportsbooks in India.“It does not need divine eyes to see that satta in cricket and other sports is reaching an alarming situation,” commented judge Dharmesh Sharma.

Legalizing online sportsbooks in India would let the government keep tabs on the flow of money in the industry, while simultaneously taking a slice of it to be used for public welfare.

“It’s high time that our legislature seriously considers legalising the entire system of betting online or otherwise so that enough revenues can be generated to fund various infrastructural requirements for the common man and thus check the lucrative business in organised crime,” judge Sharma added.

“A little surfing on the internet will reveal that in Delhi alone, as many as 2,000-3,000 bookies operating at any given point of time whenever cricket matches or any other sport are played all over the world.” While many of these bookmakers operate out of streetfront bet shops, others are online. Many of the largest international sports betting companies like Betsson and Ladbrokes also offer internet betting in India.

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children’s rights

Indo American News • Friday, September 03 , 2010

41

Child Undernutrition in India is a Human Rights Issue By kaR aRin Rin HulsHof the first six months of life tions and successful poverty alle(The Hindu): “All human beTimely introduction of comple- viation strategies. ings are born free and equal in mentary foods at six months 2) Targeted nutrition intervendignity and rights.” So begins the Age-appropriate foods for chil- tions to prevent mild and moderate Universal Declaration of Human dren six months to two years undernutrition and treat severe unRights established 60 years ago Hygienic complementary feeding dernutrition as part of a continuum and celebrated today around the practices of care for children, particularly globe. This year’s theme is nonImmunisation and bi-annual Vi- among the most vulnerable childiscrimination. When it comes to tamin A supplementation with de- dren: the youngest, the poorest, nutrition, all of India’s children worming and the socially-excluded; are not equal. According to InAppropriate feeding for children 3) Reliance on community-based dia’s third National Family Health during and after illness primary health care to ensure high Survey (NFHS-3) of 2005-06, 20 Therapeutic feeding for children coverage through communityper cent of Indian children under with severe acute malnutrition based frontline workers; five-years-old are wasted due to Adequate nutrition and support 4) Strong supervision, monitoracute undernutrition and ing, evaluation, and knowl48 per cent are stunted due edge management to proto chronic undernutrition. vide the evidence base for Seventy per cent of chiltimely and effective policy, dren between six months programme and budgetary and 59 months are anaemic. action.

Despite a booming econThe universal delivery omy, nutrition deprivation of this package of ten eviamong India’s children redence-based, high impact mains widespread. essential nutrition intervenIn absolute numbers, an tions will lead to an unprecaverage 25 million children edented reduction in child are wasted and 61 million undernutrition. India has are stunted. The state of the resources — financial child undernutrition in India and human — to address, is — first and foremost — a once and for all, the chalmajor threat to the survival, lenge of child undernutrigrowth, and development tion. The prevention and and of great importance treatment of child undernufor India as a global player. trition in the first two years Prime Minister Manmohan of life needs to be a national Singh has referred to undevelopment priority. dernutrition as ‘a matter of India’s leadership is recnational shame.’ ognized globally and its Children who are undereconomy is growing at an nourished have substanenviable rate. That strength tially lower chances of and leadership can be chansurvival than children who nelled to ensure survival of are well-nourished. UnIndia’s most precious asset dernourished children are A MATTER OF NATIONAL SHAME’: — its children — to thrive much more likely to suf suf- According to India’s third National Family and survive. The nutrifer from serious infections Health Survey of 2005-06, 70 per cent tion targets set forth by the and to die from common of children between six months and 59 government in its Eleventh childhood illnesses such as months are anaemic.

Five-Year Plan are ambidiarrhoea, pneumonia, and tious, more ambitious than measles. More than a third the international commitof all deaths in children aged five for adolescent girls to prevent ane- ments set forth in the Millennium years or younger can be attribut- mia Development Goals. In the govable to undernutrition. Children Adequate nutrition and support ernment’s own words, “it is better who survive undernutrition do not for pregnant and breastfeeding to aim high, than to fail low.” perform as well in school as their mothers Now is the time to combine the well-nourished peers and as adults These 10 essential interventions existing technical knowledge with they are less productive. could halve the proportion of un- the political will to change the Good nutrition early in life is a dernourished children over the lives of millions to guarantee the key input for human capital for- next 10 years. human rights, dignity and rights mation, a fundamental factor for A number of emerging economies of all of India’s children.This is a sustainable and equitable econom- have encountered nutrition chal- ‘make or break’ time to emerge as ic growth. Widespread undernutri- lenges similar to those currently global leader in the fight against tion impedes socio-economic de- facing India. For example, China undernutrition… 61 million chilvelopment and poverty reduction. reduced child undernutrition by dren are waiting.

With persistently high levels of more than half (from 25 per cent Despite a booming economy, nuchild undernutrition, vital oppor- to 8 per cent) between 1990 and trition deprivation among India’s tunities to save millions of lives 2002; Brazil reduced child under- children remains widespread. are being lost, and many more nutrition by 60 per cent (from 18 (Dr. Karin Hulshof is UNICEF children are not growing to their per cent to 7 per cent) from 1975 India Representative.) full potential. to 1989; Thailand reduced child There is a critical window of undernutrition by half (from 50 opportunity to intervene when per cent to 25 per cent) in less than mothers are pregnant and during a decade (1982-1986); and Viet children’s first two years of life. Nam reduced child undernutrition After that age, the window closes by 40 per cent (from 45 per cent and the opportunity for the child is to 27 per cent) between 1990 and lost forever. We know what works 2006.

— ten proven, high-impact interFour lessons can be learned from ventions can dramatically reduce these countries’ experiences: 1) undernutrition in young children if Leadership at the highest level delivered nationally: to ensure that priority is given to Timely initiation of breastfeeding child nutrition outcomes across VISIT THE HOUSTON ZOO THIS WEEK within one hour of birth sectors and states, with large inExclusive breastfeeding during vestments in nutrition interven-

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Indo American News • Friday, September 03 , 2010

adventure • fashion

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13-Year-Old American Boy Becomes Youngest to Climb Mount Everest, Calls Mom on Cell Phone from Peak

Armed with a bunch of goodluck charms, Jordan Romero became the youngest boy to pinnacle Mount Everest. The teenager had previously climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa when he was just 9 years old. His next conquest is the Vinson Massif peak in Antartica. His mom assures that is a piece of cake

By CaR aRa Ra anna BEIJING (Guardian): A 13year-old American boy became the youngest climber to reach the top of Mount Everest on Saturday, surpassing the previous record set by a 16-year-old Nepalese.

Jordan Romero called his mother by satellite phone from the summit of the world’s highest mountain, 29,035 feet (8,850 meters) above sea level. He is now one climb away from his quest to conquer the highest peaks on all seven continents.

“He says, ‘Mom, I’m calling you from the top of the world,’” Leigh Anne Drake told The Associated Press from California, where she had watched her son’s progress on a GPS tracker online.

“There were lots of tears and ‘I love you! I love you!’” Drake said.

“I just told him to get his butt back home.”

The teenager with long curly hair — who climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa when he was 9 years old — says he was inspired by a painting in his school hallway of the seven continents’ highest summits.

“Every step I take is finally toward the biggest goal of my life, to stand on top of the world,” Jordan said earlier on his blog.

The former record for the youngest climber to scale Everest had been held by Temba Tsheri of Nepal. He reached the peak at age 16.

Also Saturday, officials said a Nepalese Sherpa who lives in the Salt Lake City suburb of Draper broke his own world record by climbing Everest for the 20th time. Apa, who goes by one name, went up with fellow climbers on a mission also to collect garbage, a growing environmental problem on the mountain. Mountaineering Department official Tilak Pandey said several climbers took advantage of Saturday’s clear weather to reach the summit.

Jordan’s climbing team reached the peak hours earlier than expected.

“The first thing, they all hugged each other and said, ‘I love you, I can’t believe we’re finally here’ and started crying,” said Rob Bailey, the team’s spokesman, by phone from the United States.

Jordan, from Big Bear, California, was climbing Everest with his father, his father’s girlfriend and three Sherpa guides. He left for the peak from the base camp on the Chinese side.

Everest was his first challenge above 26,240 feet (8,000 meters).

Unlike neighboring Nepal, the other approach to Everest, China has no age limit for climbers. Jordan registered with Chinese of officials in April, said Zhang Mingxing, secretary general of China Tibet Mountaineering Association.

No interview with Jordan would be possible until he returns to advance base camp, which could take a couple of days, Bailey said.

Climbers stay overnight at three or four camps before the summit, depending on their route and pace.

Jordan carried a number of good luck charms, including a pair of kangaroo testicles given to him by a friend who has cancer.

“That’s the one that probably meant the most,” Bailey said.

At the summit, Jordan left behind his lucky rabbit’s foot and planted some seeds that a Buddhist monk

at a local monastery had given him for luck on his journey, Bailey said. Then he took the satellite phone and called his mom.

Jordan continues the recent trend of young adventurers. Earlier this month, 16-year-old Australian Jessica Watson became the youngest person to sail around the globe solo, nonstop and unassisted.

Thousands lined Sydney Harbor to cheer as she cruised past the finish line in her pink yacht.

A Dutch court late last year blocked an even younger sailor, 14-year-old sailor Laura Dekker, from pursuing a similar round-theworld voyage, ordering her to prepare more and wait at least until this year before starting.

And in January, 17-year-old Johnny Collinson of Utah became the youngest person to climb the highest peaks on all seven continents. Just one mountain remains in Jordan’s own quest to climb those peaks, the Vinson Massif in Antarctica.

Jordan’s team leaves for Antarctica in December, Bailey said.

“A piece of cake,” his mother said.

Van Heusen India Men’s Week MUMBAI (TOI): It was more work and less play at the second edition of the Van Heusen India Men’s Week ( VHIMW) Aug 2729 that showcased a concentrated umbrella of pret lines under as many as 16 labels and, barring some exceptions, kept the usual Bollywood octane off the premises -- and the ramp.

“The main focus this time was more on the designer’s creations than anything else,” said Sunil Sethi, president of event organiser Fashion Design Council of India ( FDCI).

“It is time to change direction and propose a new kind of style for the Indian male,” said Nari.

The high points of the men’s week included designer brothers Shantanu and Nikhil’s deforestation-inspired collection - experimental enough to bring the Indian male in an exaggeration of a floral drape sherwanis and skirts. Then, there were low crotch hot pants

by Vijay Arora, the Robert Vadra inspired 1970s English line by Ashish N. Soni, cargo jodhpurs

by Rajesh Pratap Singh - and not to forget Anarkalis for men by Gudda.

Then, there were the debuts Wendell Rodricks, Sanchita Ajjampur, Troy Costa, Smit Raj Gyanani and Bollywood director Karan Johar.

“It’s great to have a men’s week that is dedicated completely to men,” said Johar, “My clothes are my showstoppers,” he maintained.

The palette saw a lot of feminine colours, with basics and whites ruling in entirety. Shorts and chappals were in abundance.

Johar collaborated with Varun Bahl to bring the New York skyline on the runaway with embellished silhouettes and sketches of hand-drawn scenes of the city on the numbers.

Added Samant Chauhan: “With so many fashion shows happening (in the country), buyers are taking time to think what to buy and what not to. Probably they are confused where to invest.”

All said and done, may be the third edition will witness a heady combo of glitz, glamour and mon-

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life & style

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Rajini Style >>> By akila kannadasan CHENNAI (Hindu): When Rajinikanth wielded a pair of hair styling shears for his role as a hairdresser in the movie Johnny, ‘Rajini’ Devaraj was the happiest man in the world. A hairstylist himself, the movie is one of his all time favorites. His house is not crammed with posters of the superstar as one would expect.

Rather, it’s his motorcycle’s side box that bears a hand-painted picture of the style icon. The Rajini devotee has taken his thalaivar’s punch line, En vazhi thani vazhi all too seriously.

As traffic drones on in Uppilipalayam on a Friday afternoon, the lanky 49 year old is seen giving a haircut to a shirtless old man on the pavement. The man sits on his haunches while Devaraj trims his beard and moustache. Wellgroomed within minutes, he lifts his trembling hands in salute and walks away with his gunny bag.

Devaraj is a mobile hairstylist on a mission.

Most of his clients cannot afford to have a haircut. Beggars, vagrants, the mentally ill and slum dwellers – this slice of our society, that most of us have chosen to ignore, forms his special clientele.

Every Friday morning, he starts from home with his kit of scissors and combs tucked inside his motorcycle’s side box. Riding around the city, he seeks a destitute in the streets and gets down to business. Once he’s done – hair neatly cut, beard and moustache trimmed down, he sets off to find the next needy one and goes on till sundown. “It was on December 12, 1994, the birthday of Rajini sir that I started offering

Indo American News • Friday, September 03 , 2010

43

Devaraj Celebrates his Love for Superstar Rajinikanth by Providing Free Haircuts and Shaves to the Destitute “Rajini sir is a great actor. I look up to him. Most of his movies convey social messages; it’s his way of doing his bit for the society. This is my way of doing it. I’ve been a hairdresser all my life, it’s what I do best and I intend to make the best use of it”.

Man on a mission ‘Rajini’ Devaraj. Photo: S. Siva Saravanan

free haircuts,” recalls Devaraj.

“I did free haircuts for underprivileged children in my shop on the last Friday of every month. Parents on daily wages, who couldn’t afford to give their kids a haircut, brought them to me,” he says. “I also visited slums and schools for the visually impaired and offered to do free haircuts,” he adds. It was in 2008 that Devaraj started going around the city in his two-wheeler to give the disadvantaged free haircuts once a week.

Having settled his children comfortably in the metros, the humble hairdresser has nothing but service for the society in mind. But not all of is beneficiaries have been welcoming.

“Some try to drive me away. It’s only after persuasion that they give in. I gesture to make them understand that it’s safe and that I’ve come to give them a haircut,” he says.

“He comes home with a truckload of experiences to share on Fridays,” beams Shanthi, the proud wife of Devaraj.

“Once, after sitting through a haircut, to my utter surprise a beggar prostrated before my vehicle, like it was some kind of a deity,” he says with a smile. “Each person I tend to has a unique way of expressing their gratitude. Some nod their thanks, some hold up their hands in blessing while some disappear before I get the place cleaned up,” he says.

Spoken like a true hero.

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Indo American News • Friday, September 03 , 2010

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