Indo American News • Friday, September 10 , 2010
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Friday, September 10 2010 | Vol. 29, No. 37
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Bollywood Blast Sizzles with Masti and Magic
A record audience of 8,000 Houstonians enjoyed the Bollywood musical at the Miller outdoor theater. Photo by Navin Medivala.
story on page 3
It’s Jai Ho Time in Houston Texas sized Aid for Flood Victims in Pakistan
FEATURED INSIDE
HOUSTON: AR Rahman’s much awaited Jai Ho Journey Home tour comes to Houston next week on Sept 17, 2010. The show which was originally scheduled for July 3, 2010 was postponed due to stage collapse in Detriot. In a recent press conference in Houston, AR Rahman said the show is much better than what is originally was. “It’s a two and a half hour of non-stop mu-
sic, excitement and great visual effects”, said Rahman. Moid Khan, Houston promoter for Jai Ho Concert is excited about the show as well, “It’s great, I am thrilled about the show and would like to thank all the ticket holders personally for supporting the whole AR Rahman tour here in Houston, around the US and wish to see all Jai Ho fans on Sept 17 at Toyota Center.”
By Hussain Khalid Khan EvErsHinE (C) explains HOUSTON: Pakirelief efforts to stan has been expeCongressman riencing its worst Al-Green and flooding since 1929 Consul General and the numbers are Mohd. Aqil sobering. Nearly 1 Nadeem at the Pakistan Center in in 8 Pakistanis are Houston homeless as a result of an epic flood. With 20 million people affected, the number is considered worst than the 2005 South Asia Tsunami, Earthquake and 2010 Haiti Earthquake combined. combined more containers will be sent in PAGH has been stepping up coming weeks. “The outpouring its efforts to bring relief to those of the south asian communities affected by this recent disaster. has been great, people have been Khalid Khan; President of PAGH contributing money, food, clothes, said two containers have already medicine these days to bring been sent through PIA and three some relief to the flood victims
Sri Guruvayurappan Temple Celebrates Ashtami Rohini Story on Pg 6
in Pakistan and we want to thank them for their generous support,” said Khalid. However, PAGH is still accepting donations so if you wish to contribute - please donate medicine, money, food 3-7pm at the Pakistan Center in Houston.
Hasu Patel Appointed on Board of Hotel Corporation Story on Pg 18
Story on Pg 10
Story on Pg 13
Harish Jajoo Chairs Infrastructure Conference
Janmashtami Celebration at the Kumar’s
Story on Pg 21 From Bach to the Beach: ON THE WEB • Read aR aRticles • Post comments omments • V Vie ieW e-neW ieW neWs neW WsPa PaP aPeR • shaRe eVent PictuRes • Become a Fan on FaceBook • PictuRe GalleRy• Ry• R y• V Visit isit ouR WeBstoRe indoameRican-neWs.com A Saxophone Does All This?
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By Kalyani Giri HOUSTON: As early as up to a year ahead of the annual BolBol lywood Blast stage presentation, Bollywood dancer/choreographer/ teacher Mahesh Mahbubani at the Anjali Center for Performing Arts, is inundated with pleas from young people in the community eager to be included in the show. And Mahbubani, unwilling to turn away aspiring performers, puts them through many months of rigorous training to create the optimal visual extravaganza. On September 5, 2010, over 8,000 gatherees from the diverse communities of this city were privy to Bollywood Blast – Life is a Movie, which was staged at the Miller Outdoor Theatre, Hermann Park. Presented under the auspices of Samskriti Society for the Performing Arts, the theme of the 2-hour musical was conceived by Dr. Rathna Kumar, Artistic Director at the Anjali Center, and conceptualized as a turnkey project by Mahbubani who choreographed and directed the event. The show incorporated the talents of over 75 artistes, most from the Anjali Dance Company, and several guest performers, whose dexterity, energy, and showmanship created a rapturous Bollywood ambiance that delighted a very appreciative audience. Against a backdrop of popular Bollywood songs, Life is a Movie vividly explored the true meaning of love and the rocky path to romance, extolled friendships forged along the way, and culminated in an elaborate happily-ever-after Indian wedding celebration. Weaving through witty observations and humorous banter the color-
fully fabric of the story was Dr. Subodh Bhuchar in the role of a studio janitor and erstwhile dhol player. Dr. Kumar committed to a cameo role as the smiling, proud mother of the bridegroom, and Dr. Vinod Bhuchar made a guest appearance as the turbaned and urbane father of the bride. Also featured in several pieces was the very graceful Shipra Mehrotra, who teaches the Odissi style of dance at Anjali. Clad in vibrantly ornate costumes, the artistes conversed through a gamut of dance styles and dramatic and oft-comic facial expression. This year marked the fifth an-
Photos: Navin Medivala
Bollywood Blast sizzles with masti and magic at miller Theater
nual presentation of Bollywood Blast. The seamless transition from scene to scene, the introduction of a central theme, the stage design, and the effective lighting (by Anil Kumar and Mahbubani) displayed much dedicated effort and took the production to a decidedly higher level. Unprecedented also during this season at Miller was the record-breaking crowd, another feather in the cap for non-profit Samskriti in furthering its intent in bringing the Indian art forms to the mainstream in an attractive educational performance. “The show is about celebrating the community spirit through dance. Every year we raise the bar on the performance skills, and this year the students have superseded themselves,” said Mahbubani, a reputed choreographer formerly from Mumbai. ““Bollywood Blast is a platform that allows us to bring people of all age groups to-
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gether through the medium of live performance,” he added. For more information about Indian dance classes – classical and Bollywood, contact Anjali Center for Performing Arts at 281 265 ARTS or anjalicenter.org and for more information about SamskritiSociety for Indian Performing Arts go to www.samskritihouston.org. If you receive your paper more than 4 days after the Dateline, please file a complaint with your post office or call the USPS Consumer Affairs Office at 713-226-3442 Indo-American News (ISSN 887-5936) is published weekly on every Friday (for a subscription price of $30 per year) by Indo-American News Inc., 7457 Harwin Dr., Suite 262, Houston, Texas 77036, Tel: 713-789-6397, Fax: 713-789-6399, Email: indoamericannews@yahoo.com. Periodical postage paid at Houston, Texas. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to Indo-American News, 7457 Harwin Dr., Suite 262, Houston, Texas 77036.
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Workforce Summit to Highlight Growth Opportunities for Businesses HCC Trustee Neeta Sane initiates summit to be held on Wednesday, September 15 at Kim Son Restaurant in Southwest Houston HOUSTON: As a continuation of the successful Workforce Summit series initiated by HCC Trustee Neeta Sane, District VII, the next summit will be hosted in joint partnership with the Brays Oaks Management District, the Greater Sharpstown Management District and the International Management District of Alief to bring together industry leaders, emerging business executives, community partners and elected officials to highlight the growth opportunities in Southwest Houston. The Workforce Summit will be held on Wednesday, September 15 from 7:30-9:30 am at Kim Son Restaurant, 10603 Bellaire Boulevard in Houston. Special guest Andy Icken, Chief Development Officer, City of Houston will be a featured speaker at the event The purpose of the Summit is to continue the innovative dialogue with the community and business partners to better align the HCC educational offerings with the regional needs for workforce development and economic growth. Summit participants will have the opportunity to provide suggestions on ways that HCC can team up with companies to help expand businesses in Southwest Houston through education and training, which ultimately benefits the local community and the economy.
Neeta Sane is an entrepreneur and a community leader who brings to the HCC Board a unique blend of innovative entrepreneurship, educational background and fervor to serve the community.
“We are committed to meeting the business needs of the community through education and training, and we look forward to hearing from industry leaders and other stakeholders to help build an even stron-
ger economy in Southwest Houston,” said required. To R.S.V.P. or for more details, call 832Neeta Sane, Trustee, District VII, ViceChair, HCC Board. “We are grateful for 630-9402 or e-mail ccampbell@yaffethe opportunity to collaborate with the area deutser.com. About HCC Management Districts as we work together HCC is one of the country’s largest sinto strengthen the regional economy through gularly-accredited, open-admission, comstrategic partnerships.” In today’s economy, access to post-sec- munity colleges offering associate degrees, ondary education and training is essential certificates, workforce training and lifelong for individual career success. Estimates in- learning opportunities for more than 70,000 dicate that 80 percent of today’s new jobs students each semester. HCC is composed require education or training beyond high of six colleges that serve the greater Housschool and that those jobs represent the fast- ton area’s diverse communities by preparest-growing and highest-paying segments ing individuals to live and work in today’s increasingly international and technological of the new economy. The Workforce Summit will be a valuable society. To learn more, visit hccs.edu. opportunity to work with stakeholders in the community to collaborate on ways to grow local businesses and help build a stronger regional economy. The Summit will also focus on assisting many first generation immigrants to become Writers are requested to limit their words to aware of HCC’s educa500 The deadline for advertising and articles tional and training opportuis 5 pm on Tuesday of each week. For more nities. The Summit is free information, Call 713-789-6397 or email us at: and open to representatives indoamericannews@yahoo.com of businesses in Southwest Houston. Registration is
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s Guruvayurappan Temple sri celebrates Ashtami rohini
By CHittoor ramaCHandran HOUSTON: Even before the decorations of last week’s annual Janmashtami were dismantled, Krishna devotees witnessed an outstanding celebration of Ashtami Rohini on September 4 at Sri Guruvayurappan Temple grounds. Although the theme of these two festivals was Sri Krishna’s birthday, Kerala Hindu Society was successful in highlighting the religious importance of this special day. For the several hundreds of nostalgic visitors, it was an enjoyable socializing evening. Dozens of children paired up clad as Radha – Krishna and lined up in a procession (Shobha Yatra) ahead of a decorated chariot with Krishna’s idol. The elegant style of honoring their Lord with the essential thalapoli, muthukuakal and majestic
shitar describing baby Krishna. Sri Chandramouli’s disciple Deepa Ramachandran accompanied her Guru. The mridangam support by Sri Mayavaram Siva was very delightful. Several dance schools presented thrilling group dances with their energetic students dressed up in very attractive costumes. Appropriate to the occasion, everyone focused on the theme of Krishna and the multitudes of the charming stories of his youthful life. Both the children and the dance teachers deserve great appreciation for their contribution to making the evening a grand success. The amount of thrill and the knowledge the children gain by learning these art forms is amazingly impressive. Ashtami Rohini staged ‘Uriyadi’, an exclusive sport seen only in this festival.
Dozens of Krishnas waiting for the pageant to start.
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melam could be watched only with great respect and devotion. Each beat of on the loud drums represented the excitement of the hundreds of people in the pageant as they approached the temple. The rhythmic pattern of the melam reached its pinnacle as it entered the temple. The huge tent set up overflowed with people as the festival was inaugurated with a lamp lighting ceremony. The classical music recital by the highly renowned violinist Sri Mullaivasal G. Chandramouli mesmerized the crowd with several well-known masterpieces of great composers. Through the serene Devagandhari composition of St. Thyagaraja, the violin vidwan brought the audience to imagine the majestic pose of Mahavishnu (Ksheera sagara shayana) on Anantha. The melodious Swathi Tirunal composition in Arabhi in praise of Goddess Saraswathi described her dazzling beauty. The lovely rendition of Bhairavi almost spoke the words of Sri Mudduswamy Dik-
Participation of several dozens of families made this game into an exciting event. The spectacular Raas and garba attracted hundreds of people in the community dance until midnight. The unique 5 Star Thattukada (the village tea shop) served visitors of the event until midnight. As a joint community effort, this outlet prepared and served a variety of Kerala food. This also served as a way of raising money to meet the expense of the festival. When asked about the status of the temple construction, Sri Madhavan Pillai was enthusiastic about the progress that has already been made. With ardent devotion and strong optimistic confidence, he said ‘Sri Guruvayurappan will never let us fail’. He is of the opinion that the majestic temple will rise very soon at the location of a flag post (pointing to a spot of dhwaja sthambham) in the near future. The temple is planning to lay its foundation on October 17, 2010, on the auspicious day of Vijaya Dashami.
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Indo American News • Friday, September 10 , 2010
IAPAC Facilitates Raksha Bandhan Event with Houston’s Peace Officers
HOUSTON: Indo-American Political Action Committee (IAPAC) of Greater Houston is the political voice of Indo-Americans of Greater Houston and continues it’s endeavour to provide an interface between Indo Americans and various city, county, state and federal agencies. Recently, IAPAC, as part of it’s outreach program, along with Hindus of Greater Houston, reached out to various heads of Manisha Mehta with Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia City Police Departments and the Harris County Sherriff’s Office and ald. The sisters were welcomed on behalf of introduced them to the Hindu tradition and practice of Raksha Bandhan and it’s signifi- the Hindu Community of Greater Houston and were promised continued protection by cance. Harris County Sherriff, Adrian Garcia, their adopted brothers. Asst. Chief Chen in HPD Asst. Chief and Head of the Asian his response made a statement “It is such a Advisory Board for HPD, John Chen and beautiful tradition.” All three were recountMissouri City Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald ed stories related to Raksha Bandhan and were prompt in their response and invited how the practice transcended all religion. sisters to visit with them to tie the Raakhi on IAPAC will continue it’s efforts to introduce behalf of the Hindu Community of Greater the various leaders of Greater Houston to the diverse cultures of Indo Americans. Houston. For more information on IAPAC, visit Manisha Mehta & Preanka Desai tied a raakhi to Sheriff Adrian Garcia and Asst. www.iapacgh.org or contact: Ramesh Chief Chen while Dr. Iswari Murthy and Anand at 832-731-6133 or via email at Mala Rao tied a raakhi to Chief Joel Fitzger- rhappy@gmail.com
Priya’s India Property Show in Houston on September 21-22 HOUSTON: A 2-day property show will be held on September 21 and 22 at India House from 12 noon to 9 pm. Organised by Chennai based Priya Publications, publishers of real estate magazines in India, this is the fifth edition of the show across US. The entry is free and those who register will be eligible to enter the draw to win gold coins every day. Indian developers from cities like Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad and Pune will display a range of residential apartments, twin homes, villas and developed plots. There will be special offers for homebuyers during the show. Property management services are made available to enable NRIs/PIOs to delegate to professional agencies. A significant factor is that this is the first select apartments are available with leasing arrangement from corporates so that NRI investors can earn rental income
from day one of the investment. Rental income is now repatriable every year after payment of tax where applicable. While housing finance options are made available, free NRI advisory services are offered during the show. A lecture on NRI investment at 5 pm during the show days will enable NRIs/ PIOs to update themselves on the FEMA regulations, repatriation procedures and tax planning tips while investing in real estate in India. There are options for HNIs and other investors looking for project level investments. Consultancy services are made available during the show days for those keen to invest at project level investments in select cities across India. There are Greenfield projects and joint development opportunities available in select cities to earn competitive return on investment. For more information, call 408-771-5779 / 785-979-5497.
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StoRy of MahatMa Gandhi
Anti-rowlatt r rowlatt stir & Jalianwala Bagh carnage s
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A separate institution named Satyagraha Sabha was formed with headquarters in Bombay. There were agitations everywhere against the Rowlatt Committee’s report. But the government was deter determined to implement the Rowlatt recommendations and in 1919, the Rowlatt Bill was introduced. When the bill was debated in India’s Legislative Chamber, Gandhi at attended as a visitor. Now read on. In spite of the well entrenched opposition from nationalists, the Rowlatt bill became law. At this time, Gandhi got an invitation from activists in Madras to visit the city. He went there, though still weak, along with Mahadev Desai. That was Gandhi’s first meeting with another stalwart of India’s freedom struggle, C. Rajagopalachari. A small conference of leaders was held and Gandhi explained to them the implications of the Rowalatt act. While these talks were being held news was received that the Rowlatt Bill had been published as an act. It was also in Madras that Gandhi first conceived the idea of an all-India hartaal (strike) as the beginning of the satyagraha movement. The leaders at once took up the suggestion and gave much publicity to the forthcoming action. The date was first fixed for March 30, 1919, but was later changed to April 6. The masses had received only short notice for the hartaal, but it turned out to be most successful. That was the first great awakening of India in her struggle towards independence. Gandhi left Madras and went to Bombay to join in the hartaal there on April 6. Meanwhile in Delhi, Lahore, and Amritsar, the hartaal had been observed on March 30. In Delhi the police did not allow free movement to the demonstrators and firing by police caused a number of casualties. Gandhi was requested to go to Delhi and he replied that he would do so after the hartaal in Bombay on April 6. In Bombay the hartaal was a great success. Not a wheel turned in any factory. Not one shop was open. All over India the hartaal was observed. Gandhi had asked the people again and again to be peaceful and not to be provoked to violence by the Government’s actions. In spite of this, violence broke out in many places. There were disturbances in Ahmedabad and also in the Punjab and he decided to go to these places to propagate nonviolence. On the way to the Punjab he was arrested at a wayside station called Palwal and sent back to Bombay. The news of his arrest inflamed the entire population of Bombay.
There was an enormous crowd awaiting his arrival there. When he reached Bombay he was set free. The crowd was getting impatient. “Only you can control the crowds,” said a friend to Gandhi. “Come, I shall take you to the spot.” The crowd greeted Gandhi with frenzied joy. A huge procession started but the police barred its progress. A company of mounted police was ordered to charge the crowds. Piercing screams and cries from women and children filled the air as the horsemen plunged forward with lowered lances. People ran to escape the fury of the police. Gandhi was shocked by the police brutality. He went and met the Commissioner. The official was boiling with rage. “We, the police, know better than you the effect of your preaching on the people. If we had not taken drastic measures the situation would have gone out of our hands. I have no doubt about your intentions, but the people do not understand them. They only follow their natural instincts.” “The people are not violent by nature; they are peaceful,” said Gandhi. “You wanted to go to the Punjab,” said the Commissioner. “Do you know what is happening in Ahmedabad, the Punjab, and Delhi? You are responsible for all these disturbances.” Gandhi was pained to hear of the disturbances and said that he would certainly take the responsibility upon himself if he was convinced that it was his. Gandhi went to Ahmedabad. On the way he learned in detail about the happenings there. Ahmedabad was under martial law. A police officer was waiting for him at the railway station to escort him to the Commissioner. This commissioner too was in a rage. Gandhi expressed his regret for the disturbances and promised complete cooperation in restoring
peace. Gandhi then asked for permission to hold a public meeting on the grounds of the Sabarmati Ashram. The officer liked the idea. At the meeting Gandhi announced with great sorrow the suspension of civil disobedience. He said he would fast for three days as a penance and he appealed to all the people to fast for one day. He asked those who were guilty of violence to confess their guilt. He expressed his regret at having started civil disobedience too early without giving sufficient training to the people. “I have made a Himalayan miscalculation,” he said. Many people jeered at Gandhi for saying that. Many of his friends and followers were furious at his stopping satyagraha. Gandhi then started teaching people the true meaning of satyagraha and how it should be conducted. Through writing and speeches he wanted to drive home to the people the essence of his new creed. In the Punjab the situation was very critical. It was true that there were disturbances on the part of the people, but the measures adopted by the Government to check the disturbances were too severe. The leaders were trying to keep the people peaceful, but the stem measures of repression taken by the authorities had few parallels in history. In Amritsar the people were not allowed to move about freely. A proclamation was issued forbidding all gatherings and meetings. Only a few had the chance to know about the proclamation, however, because it was not announced widely, and it was made only in English. It was announced that a meeting was to be held in a garden called Jallianwala Bagh, to protest against the Government’s actions. General Dyer took no measures to prevent the meeting. He reached the place soon after the meeting began and he took with him armored cars and troops. Without giving any warning he ordered, “Fire till the bullets are finished.” The garden was surrounded by walls and buildings and had only one exit. At the first shot the exit was jammed and there was no hope of escape for the crowd. There were between eight and ten thousand people attending the meeting. The soldiers fired 1600 rounds into that unarmed mass of people. Once a park, Jallianwala Bagh was now a scene of the most brutal massacre of hundreds. — To be continued
Gandhi Jayanti 2010 Celebration as 1000 Lights for Peace 5 pm: Sunday, October 3, 2010,at Miller Outdoor Theatre To register for “Walk For Peace” at Gandhi Jayanti celebrations, visit www.gandhilibrary.org.
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Indo American News • Friday, September 10 , 2010
c classical dance at a s spiritual Banquet By PEtEr r Goddard visitinG Journalist STAFFORD: In honor of Vedic heritage and to promote a unique angle of Sanskrit and Sanskriti, a forum named as KalaaRashmi was presented in Houston that combined classical arts from India alongside a spiritual banquet on August 27 for over 350 guests by local volunteers of the US based Nonprofit, Self Enquiry Life Fellowship. The venue was the old Stafford
entrepreneur and philanthropist. The lamp for the evening was lit by Sushila Agrawal, the Houston host of His Holiness and a respected community leader who, along with her industrialist husband Dr. Durgadas Agrawal, have long supported the local community through their philanthropic vision and service. The divine ambience of the evening helped nurture the
Mythili Kumar (top left) Artistic Director of the Abhinaya Dance Company in San Jose, California and her daughter, Rasika performed at the spiritual banquet held on August 27 at the Old Stafford Civic Center. Swami Vidyadhishananda, Head Pontiff and President of Self Enquiry Life Fellowship gave discourses at the event.
Civic Center and the highlights of the evening were a classical Bharata-natyam performance by Mythili Kumar and Rasika Kumar followed by a message by His Holiness Swami Vidyadhishananda at the end of the banquet. Swami Vidyadhishananda was welcomed with a garland by Jugal Malani, a prominent Houston
performances from the very beginning. The whole venue was transformed by the lighted presence of those took the stage and all the guests who were ushered into their seats in an impeccable manner by the volunteers. The atmosphere was one of spiritual enthusiasm supportive of the high quality of performances, slideshows and the
discourse. Self Enquiry Life Fellowship was established to preserve and disseminate indigenous knowledge from the ancient Sanskrit heritage, including esoteric Himalayan yoga and meditation practices of unbroken lineages. The Nonprofit strives to make accessible through its educational publishing projects, the spiritual philosophy passed down by the monastic lineages of Himalayan masters and intonated Sanskrit hymns meant for sublime recitation. Under the spiritual leadership of an ordained monk trained in the Himalaya, His Holiness Swami Vidyadhishananda, the Nonprofit offers public lectures, workshops, retreats, initiations into meditation practices, and special fellowships. This is the second time the Nonprofit has held a spiritual banquet of this magnitude. The Nonprofit provides a forum for cultural transmission of the Sanskritic tradition by hosting exquisite performances representing ancient Vedic fine arts, performing arts and classical music. In line with this goal, Self Enquiry Life Fellowship took the opportunity to present classical India dance on stage in America in a banquet-style program. For such an offering to the community, the nonprofit selects exceptionally gifted artists who have made great sacrifices for the cause of preserving and continuing the classical lineages of performing arts. The performers chosen for the banquet event were from the Abhinaya Dance Company of San Jose, which celebrated its 30th anniversary only a week earlier. The audience was treated to classical pieces performed by mother and daughter, Mythili Kumar and Rasika Kumar. The violin was played by Lakshmi Balasubramanya, mridangam by Ravindra Bharati Sridharan with vocals by Roopa Mahadevan. Malavika Kumar who herself is an accomplished dancer, and the sister of Rasika, performed the nattuvangam. Malavika also gave a memorable staccato vocal rendition of the sound of a drum, to which her sister Rasika took spritely steps across the stage. continued on page
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From Bach to the Beach: A Saxophone Does All This?
By Jawahar Malhotra HOUSTON: For most of the audience, the music was certainly eclectic and out of their normal range of entertainment experiences. But as they filed in to the Mabee Teaching Theatre on the Houston Baptist University campus at the beginning of the Labor Day weekend this past Friday, September 3, many of the desis recognized each other for they had come to hear – and see – a young man who had grown up in their midst and moved on to a calling that is becoming more common for second generationers: entertainment and specifically music. But they had no idea that, in turn, the young man, 27 year-old Sunil Gadgil, was going to take them on a wild musical ride of notes coming from the four brass saxophones that would hold the bare wooden stage for the next hour. Some would have expected the usual fare made popular by the saxophone – soulful music with mellow lament or contemporary tunes with a beat you could dance to – but they were quickly corrected as they heard the wide array of notes that the instruments were capable of producing from compositions ranging from the 18th century to now. Gadgil, who is the son of India Herald Publisher Rajeev Gadgil, took up the saxophone while in high school in Houston and has studied music at the Uni-
From left: Rami El-Farrah on the soprano saxophone; Sunil Gadgil on the alto saxophone; Spencer Nielsen on the tenor saxophone and Michael Hertel on the baritone saxophone performed as the Bel Cuore Quartet at HBU on September 3.
versity of Texas in Austin and is currently a doctoral candidate at the Butler School of Music. His family was in the front row, including his mother Bina and sister Urmila (who is also a much talked about classical Indian dancer and studies at the University of Houston) as well as many other friends who have seen Sunil grow into the tall, lanky, friendly young man. Indian Consul General Sanjiv Arora was also in attendance. What the audience of over 150
The four members of the Bel Cuore Quartet are doctoral students at the UT Butler School of Music in Austin and will be performing at the University of Helsinki, Finland later this Fall. Sunil Gadgil (second from left) is the son of India Herald publisher, Rajeev Gadgil. Photos: Jawahar Malhotra
witnessed in the two 20-minute performances, interspersed by an intermission, were four young men in dark suits perform virtuoso pieces on their respective saxophones as an ensemble that is called the Bel Cuore (Italian for “good heart”) Quartet which they formed two years ago. Each of the members – Rami El-Farrah on the soprano saxophone; Sunil Gadgil on the alto saxophone; Spencer Nielsen on the tenor saxophone and Michael
Hertel on the baritone saxophone – are doctoral students at the UT Butler School of Music in Austin. After they banded together, the group has performed chamber music ranging from classical, jazz, pop and rock. They have been featured in the Longhorn Music recording of Over the Rainbow and Bach Again and after recitals in Austin and now Houston, they will be performing at the University of Helsinki, Finland this Fall through an exchange program.
This evening was given over to displaying the length and breadth of their mastery over their instruments, which began as they stepped on stage, without introductions, and dove into Gugue in G Minor by Bach, after which Sunil welcomed the audience and explained the next piece composed by Jennifer Higdon. The others introduced each of the other pieces before jumping into it, a strong number was Stomp
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and Dance, also by Higdon which brought out the vibrant energy behind the music and also Blackbird, a takeoff by Rami on the Lennon/McCartney favorite and dedicated to his wife “who loves the number”. After the intermission, the group moved into older compositions playing three movements from Six Bagatelles by Gyorgy Ligeti and an Allegro String Quartet in A major, K. 169 by Mozart written when the composer was just 17 years old. But the pieces de resistance for the evening had to be the last composition, Saxteto, written by Victor Marquez-Barrios, a Venezuelan who asked the group to perform his creation and even gave them some cues on adaptation to the saxophone. The piece, in four movements, is plaintive at first, then gets more playful and ends as rambunctious in Sopla Palmbiche. “Imagine yourself at the beach, and a band is playing
in the distance,” explained Spencer. “It gets closer, the music is so lively, it invites you to join in, then the band moves on into the distance again, and you go back to your drink as the waves crash in.” The BCQ performed just that, down to the waves and the drums on four saxophones, which is a feat of ingenuity in itself, let alone evoking the scenery of the beach, the waves, the Sun and partygoers dancing. The piece brought the house down (visit www.indoamerican-news.com for a video clip) and with it the experience that the four saxophonists afforded an unsuspecting, mostly desi crowd, who thronged the young musicians as the show ended. Become a fan of the Bel Cuore Quartet on Facebook, follow them on Twitter (@ belcuorequartet) or visit them at www. belcuorequartet.com. Their CD releases are available on iTunes and Amazon.com
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Mythili Kumar began dancing at the age of 8 in Mumbai, India, and was giving solo three-hour performances by the age of 11. After moving to the USA, she founded the Abhinaya Dance Company in San Jose with her husband in 1980. This is an organization that actively promotes the classical dance forms of South India through instruction and performance. Her daughter, Rasika, has been her student since 1987. Since 2005, Rasika has been a featured soloist and more recently a choreographer. Her everyday job as a software engineer at Google, is a far cry from the classical dance she engages in for about 2-3 hours a day when she comes home from work. A spiritual banquet is a tradition where spiritual masters often deliver inspirational messages and confer blessings on the seekers and lovers of precious traditions. Swami Vidyadhishananda was present on stage and pointed out the two key ingredients of the evening: the “soul food” in the form of a carefully chosen sattvik vegetarian meal and the “soul culture” in the form of the exquisite classical Indian dance brought to Houston especially for the occasion. The revered Swami also shared the nonprofit’s vision. “Everything from meaningful practical solutions to high-end spiritual
teachings, we provide it all,” His Holiness said. “We are helping to preserve the indigenous knowledge at the source in India and to disseminate it for the benefit of society here in the USA and for future generations. We want to provide channels where we can share our teachings and one of them will be a resource-based website we want to produce.” His Holiness was able to meet many of the participants in the banquet seated at over 50 tables around the civic hall. The evening was put together by a team of nearly 40 volunteers working diligently over the last few months. The Mistress of Ceremonies was one of these volunteers, Chitra Divakaruni, the award-winning author and professor of Creative Writing at the University of Houston. A personal tribute was given by Dr. Subroto Gangopadhyay, a cardiologist by profession, who first met Swamiji in 2003 in Houston. “Since he came into Houston, my life has been transformed. For my wife, he seems to have lifted a veil. I was more like a blind child in a dark room with too much furniture, unaware of even a door. He came with a key and led me to a glimpse of the universe beyond, through the keyhole. Walk with him and you may yet find that he has opened a window to a new experience.”
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Janmashtami Celebration at the Kumar’s
Krishna Janamashtami was celebrated at the palatial home of Hersh and Rita Kumar in Friendswood. The entire first floor was decorated like the temple in Banke Bihari in Mathura, India, the birthplace of Krishna, complete with a jhula (swing) for the baby Krishna. Swami Vidyadhishananda attended this year’s event and gave a sermon and presided over meditation in the main hall. Bhajans were sung by the Ishwar Bhakta group. About 200 people attended the event which fell on a Wednesday this year and particpated in the aarti after midnight. Photos: Jawahar Malhotra
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Eid Celebrations at India House Another Collaborative Effort of ICC
HOUSTON: On Sunday, Sep 19th the India Culture Center Houston (ICC) will join three major organizations: American Federation of Muslims from India (AFMI), Aligarh Alumni Association of Texas and All India Qaumi Ekta Committee of Houston to celebrate Eid-ul-fitr Milan at the India House on West Bellfort. A joint celebration with the Muslims of Indian origin is the first of its kind in Houston and bringing organizations together is ICC’s ongoing endeavor. For the past five years, the ICC has shifted its focus from just two signature events of celebrating India’s Independence Day and Republic Day
to hosting a whole gourmet of events involving similar organizations. ICC has successfully collaborated with various other events like Holi, Deepavali and Janmashtami primarily to show its support to the IndoAmerican organizations of Houston as well to facilitate diversity in the community. “It is not possible for any single Indo-American organization to cap-
ture India’s grandeur or portray it’s complex culture, traditions and practices, so it becomes more meaningful that we collaborate our efforts for the singular purpose of unity & strength,” commented ICC President Swapan Dhairyawan. Event Chair Raj Bhalla, ICC Director stated that, it being a first attempt would be done on a limited scale with invited guests only. However, based on its success it would be made an open event from next year onwards. ICC President was fully convinced that this event would be added to the list of ICC major activities in the future especially with efforts of committed ICC Directors as Col Raj Bhalla.
The celebrations includes a poster/essay contest for kids on “Eid as I see it” apart from the social hour, formal segment, cultural programs that include poetry, ghazals, mushaira, light classical music and will conclude with Eid Milan Dinner. Consul General of India, Hon. Sanjiv Arora will be the Chief Guest for the event. Other dignitaries expected at this event are Judge Emmett, Pro-tem Mayor for Sugar Land Tom Abraham, Pro tem Mayor of Stafford Ken Mathew and a few others. For more info visit www.icchouston.org or contact Raj Bhalla at 281-265-4650 or Swapan Dhairyawan 281-382-0348.
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Andhra Pradesh Student Dies in Water Rafting Accident at LSU
BATON ROUGE (TOI): A 24-year-old Indian student of Louisiana State University, who was on a rafting adventure with his friends, drowned after his boat flipped in the Mississippi river. Gotham Joseph Smiles, a Masters student of engineering at the LSU, who was rafting without a life jacket, died after the accident yesterday, the Telugu Association of North America (TANA) said in a statement. The accident is reported to have happened around 8 pm local time. Joseph, who hails fromAndhra Pradesh, went to Mississippi along with eight other friends to experience a Canoe trip and drowned in water when their boat flipped. “Joseph was not wearing a life jacket at the time of the accident; life guards jumped in to the water to save him but it was already too late,” TANA said in a statement. A native of Visakhapatnam, Joseph came to the US in January 2009 after earning a B Tech from MVGR Engineering College, Vijayanagaram. He joined LSU to pursue Masters in Engineering and he was in the last semester of his course. Joseph is survived by his father Samuel Smiles, who is at the Bharat Heavey Plates and Vessels Ltd (BHPV), and mother Hemalatha, a Professor at Andhra University. He
also has a younger sister. The Telugu body said Joseph’s father has sought help in sending the remains of his son as soon as possible. Daggubati Purandeswari, Minister of State for Human Resource Development (Higher Education), called Prasad Thotakura of TANA to enquire about the accident and offered any help in contacting US authorities or the Ministry of External Affairs in expediting the case. The organisation, which is working to send Joseph’s body back to his family, expects his remains to reach Visakhapatnam by September 8.
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A Call for Banning Bandhs
When I was growing up in Calcutta, bandhs were days marked for playing cricket, for meeting school-friends without the burden of a uniform and basically having a daylong feast. Often my father would tell me about the plight of day labourers, how business was suffering and how medical help would never come for those who needed it that day. But as children, we never cared. When one grew up, one realized it was a political weapon, not to win a battle for something that would benefit the common man but instead a show of cowardly strength. A show of supposed solidarity between political parties which wanted to show they cared by actually hitting the poorest of the poor in the gut. Bandhs have no ideology, they are a weak tool used by weak political parties for their own selfish purposes and it is not about which party engenders the most bandhs. It is about their lack of concern, their total disengagement from the aspirations of the people and their complete disbelief in the fact that in today’s times cities don’t shut down for political causes! What influence do these wretched political parties talk about? How really strong are you when you use violence to stop people from working? How caring are you when you deprive the poor labourer his daily wage? How powerful are you when the infirm cannot access medical help on a bandh day? Is this the face that Calcutta wants to always show? A city that paralyses itself for flimsy reasons? A city that will never be ready for serious business because those in power and those in opposition have lost the civility or the depth to fight for these issues in Assemblies? The bandh is no longer a symbol of people’s angst. It no longer represents the frustration of the governed. Instead, it is a symbol of our weakening polity and the fact that we today have pygmies, goons and hustlers pretending to be mass leaders who care for the people. I was of the impression that the courts had passed orders against such bandhs but then of what use is that order when we see these bandhs every once a while? Why can’t the very same courts exert themselves and have people who call for the bandh itself locked up in jail? Have we ever calculated the loss not just of commerce but of face when these bandhs happen? Does anyone really care? And if we do, can the people hit back? Why should I get beaten up if all I want is to go to work? Why must children be deprived of their school-day just because some silly politician doesn’t understand the value of that education? We don’t need these bandhs. We need the city to be open. For business. For medical care. For school and for leading a normal life. These jokers very rarely can do us good; why are they depriving us of the good we can do for ourselves by earning a hard day’s wage? Suhal Sheth in Calcutta Telegraph
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A Blinkered Vision By Sagarika Ghose The headlines scream almost every day: ‘Girl allegedly murdered because of inter-caste romance’, ‘Couple killed by relatives because of caste honour’. The matrimonials are unabashed: ‘Match sought for fair khatri girl’or ‘Brahmin boy seeks Brahmin partner.’ A Delhi mother whispers that her daughter’s choice of husband is not “our kind of person,” but stops short of admitting that the prospective groom is not from the same caste. Characters in Bollywood films bear surnames that are drawn from the very narrow social pool of Sharma, Mehta and Roy. Indians may be holidaying in Phuket, shopping at Mango and devouring Sex and the City. But one social reality just refuses to go away. And that reality is caste. Should caste matter to a modern Indian? Of course it shouldn’t. Yet, whether we like it or not, caste is still a defining category. Excluding a narrow westernised elite band, Indians marry according to caste, socialise within similar castes, education is determined by caste and caste, by and large, corresponds to class when it comes to backwardness. Twenty years ago when then Prime Minister V.P. Singh implemented the Mandal recommendations reserving 27 per cent government jobs for Other Backward Classes (OBCs), many caste Hindus heard the word OBC for the first time. Today there are similar feelings of dread that the government has decided to include caste in the 2011 census. When Parliament pushed for a caste census there was near panic about an impending caste war. It was argued that counting OBCs would only add further muscle power to the caste chieftains to once again lobby for that terrible ‘Q’ word: quotas. But will counting OBCs make caste loyalties deeper or will it, on the other hand, provide, for the first time, hard reliable information on how many OBC castes are there and what their numerical strength is? Confronted by real numbers, it may be more difficult for the quota warriors to argue for reservations. The Constitution makers
Excluding a narrow westernised elite band, Indians marry according to caste, socialise within similar castes, education is determined by caste and caste, by and large, corresponds to class when it comes to backwardness.
aimed to progressively abolish caste discrimination, not abolish caste as an identity. Unless we all understand and study caste, we will never be able to fight it or develop a genuinely anticaste mindset. Political scientists Yogendra Yadav and Satish Deshpande say that a colonial caste-based census where all castes, including the Hindu ‘upper castes’ , are counted and ranked is neither feasible nor desirable. What we need is to count OBCs in the same manner as we count SCs and STs. We need to count Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBCs) in order to get an accurate picture of their actual number. When reservations for OBCs have been provided for at the Union and state levels, surely a census is essential to find out what the hard numbers are and whether the quotas are accurate. So how does caste operate nowadays? There is the robust argument that caste is irrelevant in contemporary India. What matters is quality health and education for all irrespective of caste. Increasingly, elections are showing that caste is no longer the sole criterion for voting preferences: voters are voting for bijli, sadak, pani, padhai and hardworking candidates and not for Gujjars, Reddys and Ezhavas. But while caste may be
irrelevant for a minority, it is highly relevant — indeed saliently — for others. When it comes to social and economic progress, certain castes have done better than others and the advantages of the English language and a modern education are distributed along caste lines. Generalisations are risky, and rural Brahmins can be impoverished and backward too. Yet, access to English and to quality education has traditionally been the monopoly of upper castes. Secure amid our Krishnamurthys, Sens and Vermas, we never stop to think about how we got so secure in the first place. The English-speaking elite is overwhelmingly ‘upper caste’ that is comprising the forward levels of the Hindu varna system. The Bengali ‘bhadralok’ class, or the genteel class, which was supposed to be the only non-caste class in India, is also a castebased category, as the bhadralok are restricted to the upper caste even though they may not be exclusively Brahmin. A Bengali Dalit bhadralok is still unheard of. In 1996, when B.N. Uniyal undertook a survey of national newspapers, he found that among 686 journalists accredited to the government, 454 were upper caste, the remaining 232 did not carry their caste names and in a random sample of 47, not a single one was a Dalit. In a survey of matrimonial advertising carried out in 2000, ad agency McCann Erickson noted that caste remains as important in the new century as it was four decades ago. In 2002, Virginius Xaxa found that only six of Delhi University’s 311 professors are Dalits. Thus, a caste census should not be seen as simply a political instrument designed to secure quotas. The fight against caste is best fought when we know the enemy. Caste is an immutable, invisible and overwhelming reality in our daily lives. If we continue to act as if caste does not exist, or deny its existence, we would be failing to do battle with one of the most urgent social inequalities of our time. Sagarika Ghose is Senior Editor, CNN-IBN.
IndoAmerican News Founder: Dr. K.L. Sindwani Editor: Pramod Kulkarni Business Manager: Jawahar Malhotra Marketing Manager: Krishna Giri Community Reporter: Kalyani Giri Community Editor: Manasi Gokhale Administrative Manager: Vanshika Vipin Marketing & Food Reporter: Jacob David Production Manager: Hussain Mandviwala correspondents Chicago: Nand Kapoor ®All rights reserved. No material herein or portions thereof may be published without the written consent of the publisher. The deadline for advertising and articles is 5 pm on Monday of each week. Please include self-addressed, stamped envelope for return of all unsolicited material. Published at 7457 Harwin Drive, Suite 262, Houston, Texas 77036. Tel: 713-789-NEWS or 6397 Fax: 713-789-6399, email: indoamericannews@yahoo.com, website: indoamerican-news.com
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Daekyo Franchise Seminar Under Brand Name Enopi: It’s More than Just Learning Daekyo was founded in 1976, and has been operating for 33 years. Daekyo is a global company operating in 16 countries, with 2.5 million members. Daekyo has been operating in American for the past 19 years, under the brand name E.nopi. Daekyo has worked with state governments, particularly governments in California, in about 500 schools in English and Mathematics. E.nopi approach is to teach at teach students individual eye level. For example: The standard classroom school curriculum does not allow teachers to teach, students at their individual learning levels. If a student is unable to keep up the curriculum, teachers aren’t able to adjust the curriculum for each individual student. However, E.nopi’s Diagnostic Test is designed to identify the each student’s strengths and weaknesses. The results are used to determine the student’s starting point. The progress of their student is monitored through various examinations and assessment. If the
student is struggling with a test or assessment, they are able to review that skill until it is mastered. E.nopi provides services for students from Pre-Kinder to 8th grade in Mathematics and English. E.nopi’s curriculum has been approved by the state government. 80% of E.nopi students are of Chinese, Korean, Indian or Jewish descent. The following is the Enopi Fremont Learning Center Director, Dr. Yang’s interview: What made you interested in education? I think the children’s education is very important. What is your academic background? I grew up in the Bay Area, graduated from the MIission San Jose schools then went to Berkeley and Purdue were I have degrees in Chemistry and Education. Why did you choose Enopi? E.nopi is a global company. They provide a quality education to the
students. And help build their confidence and wisdom. The program teaches children to think independently. The English program has a strong focus on critical thinking. There are eight levels in the program. The English program is great for students where English is a second language spoke in the home. The program involves reading, writing, and active listening. What is the difference between an Independent Learning Center and a Franchise? Independent Learning Centers are usually required to create their own syllabus, materials and tools. And they also need to develop their own management systems. If you join a franchise business, their curriculum, materials, and tools are created for you. If you have a passion and commitment to education, Enopi has a long history and proven system that allows you to get a higher success rate!
Bollywood Stars to Descend Upon Houston for the 2nd Annual Indian Film Festival: September 22-25 HOUSTON: Sutapa Ghosh, Festival Director, is thrilled to announce the 2nd Annual Indian Film Festival of Houston will be held Wednesday, September 22 through Saturday, September 25, 2010. The Festival will culminate with an elegant and glamorous “Awards Night” on September 26, at Royal Oaks Country Club. The Film Festival will showcase movies from India and beyond, including regional films in three categories: feature films, short films, and documentaries. The Film Festival will once again be held at the Studio Movie Grill at Town & Country CityCentre at Memorial and Belt-
way 8 from September 22 through September 25, 2010. Tickets are $15.00 and include one feature, short and documentary film. The official
sponsors of the Film Festival are Momentum Jaguar, Skypass Travel, Studio Movie Grill, Hotel Sorella, and Straits.
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Hasu Patel Appointed on Board of Convention Center Hilton Hotel
By Haider Kazim Bank, a Houston-based banking inHOUSTON: Mayor of the fourth stitution catering mostly to the Asian largest U.S. city Annise Parker has community. appointed Indian-American hotel Patel is also involved in several owner Hasu Patel, a former regional Indian-American Committee orgadirector of AAHOA, on the Board nizations, including Indo-American of Directors of Houston Convention Political Action Community, India Center Hotel Corporation, owner of Hilton Americas-Houston, for a two-year term. The appointment was approved by the Houston City Council at a session on August 18. Houston Convention Center Hotel Corporation, known as the “Hotel CorHasu Patel with Houston Mayor Annise Parker poration”, is a non-profit corporation set up by the City Culture Center, and Texas Lodging Council in 2000, to develop, operate Association. and maintain a flagship convention “I am greatly honored,” said Patel. headquarters hotel adjacent to the “I will try to fulfill my new responsiexpanded George R. Brown Conven- bilities to the best of my ability.” tion Center. Patel has a vast experience in manPatel is the first Indian-American aging hotels and motels as an owner appointed on the board. He also a himself and as the regional director of director of Southwestern National Asian American Hotel Owners Asso-
ciation. AAHOA is the nation’s largest organization of its kind and its over 10,000 members own more than 22,000 hotels with a total property value of some $60 billion. P a t e l ’s rich experience will add diversity to Houston Convention Center Hotel Corporation. Hilton AmericasHouston is managed by Hilton Hotels Corporation one of the largest operators of hotels in the world. The nine-member corporation board is chaired by Peter McStravick and Dolores Kerr is the secretary.ry.
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Ohio Gov. Turns from Proponent to Opponent on Outsourcing BANGALORE (HT): Infosys, the country’s second largest software company, today expressed concern over the Ohio state government’s move to ban IT outsourcing to off offshore locations such as India. Infosys CEO & Managing Director Kris Gopalakrishnan said, “We are concerned with the recent news from US about banning offshore outsourcing by Ohio State government departments. “Infosys’ initiative in the Public Services sector is focused on creating a domestic Delivery Center in the US hence this should not be affected.” Media has reported that the U.S. state of Ohio had banned outsourcing of government IT and back-office projects to offshore locations such as India, raising fears of similar moves by other American states. Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland is delivering one of the strongest attacks yet on offshore outsourcing, calling it not only a threat to jobs but an IT security risk. Strickland’s criticism of offshore outsourcing was part of a recent order to state agencies prohibiting them from hiring any firm that sends work offshore. The agencies were ordered to be in compliance by last week. In his order, Strickland said that the purchase of offshore services “has unacceptable business consequences,” and among them were “unacceptable data security, and thus privacy and identity theft risks.” But Strickland has also wooed off offshore companies to his state. In 2007,
Behind in polls, Ohio Governon Ted Strickland has turned from friend to foe of outsourcing.
Indian IT services giant Tata Consultancy Services said it would build its North American Delivery Center in Milford, Ohio, after the state offered about $19 million in tax credits and other incentives. TCS said Friday that it has 400 people working at its Ohio delivery center, an increase of a 100 workers from about a year ago. TCS employs more than 141,000 people worldwide, but more than 90% of its work force is Indian. U.S. workers account for only a tiny fraction of its workforce. Earlier this year, TCS reported that it has 10,700
employees who are nationals of other countries and of that number, fewer than 7% were Americans. Despite the effort to win Tata, Strickland’s views on offshore vendors are particularly harsh. “There are pervasive service delivery problems with offshore providers, including dissatisfaction with the quality of their services and with the fact that services are being provided offshore,” Strickland wrote in his order, which also pointed out: “It is difficult and expensive to detect illegal activity and contract violations and to pursue legal recourse for poor
performance or data security violations.” Strickland’s deal with TCS has drawn White House attention. Last November, Strickland was among 16 people seated at the head table for a State Department luncheon for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Others with Strickland included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Stickland’s executive order stems from a decision by the Ohio Department of Development to hire a Texas-based company, Parago Inc., to administer a rebate program for new energy-efficient appliances. But the company apparently used call center works in El Salvador, prompting Strickland to ask for a review and the subsequent order last month “to ensure that public funds are not expended for offshore services.” Amanda Wurst, a spokeswoman for Strickland, said Friday that it has been Ohio’s policy all along that public funds should not be spent on services provided offshore. “Throughout Governor Strickland’s time in office, procurement procedures have been in place that restrict the purchase of offshore ser ser-
vices,” said Wurst, in an e-mail response to questions. “Despite these requirements, federal stimulus funds were recently used to purchase ser services from a domestic company which ultimately provided some of those services offshore.” That incident led the governor “to redouble his commitment” to bar the use of public funds for offshore services, she said. In March, the Department of Development contracted with Texasbased service provider Parago, Inc. to assist with the agency’s implementation of the federal stimulus-funded appliance rebate program. Despite state procurement requirements designed to restrict service providers from using public funds for offshore labor–in particular, a DAS directive that requires agencies to ask potential vendors to list all locations where the services will be performed–the contract was let with a company that ultimately used offshore labor. Earlier this week, the governor asked Development Director Lisa Patt-McDaniel to further review the circumstances surrounding the award of the Parago contract including any potential legal recourse with the vendor.
Name Correction in Our Issue Dated September 3, 2010 At JVB Preksha Bhajan competition, the youth category winner was Neha Shrivastav (1st) and she sang Tora Mann Darpan Kahalaye as part of her performance.
I Am C Charity’s Friend riend 22nd Annual Gala - Magic of Passion Fri, October 1, 7pm, Stafford Civic Centre 10505 Cash Rd, Stafford, TX
Reji Joseph Director Jawahar Malhotra Director
Shahnaz Vadgama Director
“I have known the IACF since its inception. They have been helpful to many charities in the Houston area and we appreciate their unflagging support for Friends Helping Friends over the past four years”
- PANNA BHATIA, President
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Panna Bhatia Friends Helping Friends
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Harish Jajoo Chairs Infrastructure Conference HOUSTON: An overflowing crowd of 300 people were in attendance at 7:30 am in the morning at the Regional Infrastructure Confer Conference held at the Safari Texas Ranch Ballroom on Friday, August 27. The conference chaired by Vice-Chair of Infrastructure Planning Division for Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce and a member of Planning and Zoning Commission for City of Sugar Land, Harish Jajoo, P.E., CFM was titled “Innovative Infrastructure” and lived up to its name. Many elected and appointed officials were in attendance including Fort Bend County Judge Bob Herbert, Commissioners Patterson, Prestage, Myer and Mor Morrison. Council Member Don Olson from the City of Sugar Land as well as Council Members from other cities were at hand. The morning started with registration, breakfast and networking. The first speaker, Dr. Steve Klineburg absolutely captivated the audience for almost an hour with his fast paced and enthusiastic delivery of facts pertaining to demographics of this region and what to expect from the latest census. Regional mobility was discussed next by the Gulf Coast Rail District followed by Intelligent Traffic Systems by the City of Sugar Land. The session following a short break focused on water issues including the details of ongoing construction of surface water plants by the City of Sugar Land and City of Missouri City. Mr. Pablo Martinez from the San Antonio Water System trav-
Texas Transportation Commissioner and Lunch keynote speaker Ned Holmes (Left) with Harish Jajoo, P.E., CFM- Conference Chair and member of Planning and Zoning Commission for City of Sugar Land.
eled from San Antonio to highlight the water reuse technology currently used there. This was followed by a presentation on sustainable and green infrastructure. The much awaited Power Panel discussion on Infrastructure funding, future plans for the Grand Parkway and related issues included Fort Bend County Judge Bob Herbert, Bill Jameson and Joe B. Allen. This panel was moderated by Commissioner James Patterson. The luncheon arrangements were elegant and the service was superb. In his lunch keynote, Texas Transpor Transportation Commissioner Ned Holmes highlighted the state of the Texas Department of Transportation. He underscored the point that the next
legislature must find sustainable revenue to fund the projects for TxDOT. He gave various statistics for alternate sources of funding for infrastructure. The conference ended at 1:30 PM. The participants echoed many positive comments. The general comment heard was that the conference covered a wide range of topics in 5 hours and all speakers were experts in their fields. The chamber would like to thank their underwriter and all the sponsors for their generous support. The Chamber also thanks Allison Wen and his staff of Safari Texas for providing a great venue and exceptional service. The conference planning committee chaired by Har Harish Jajoo, P.E. deserves accolades for a job well done.
Local Travel Agency Closes Shop Without Notice HOUSTON: The Better Business Bureau of Metropolitan Houston and South Texas has been conducting an investigation into Air International, also operating as Jai Ho Travel and India Cheap Fares. They have received several complaints from consumers who allege that the company’s owners have pocketed funds intended for the pur purchase of their airline tickets. Calls to the company have gone unanswered and the company has failed to respond to complaints. The BBB
believes that the agency may have vacated its location on Harwin Drive and Hillcroft. According to the Building Manager, Helen De Nobrega, the agency has moved out of its 6th floor offices a month ago without advance notice and “nearly 100 people have come asking about them.” Often in such cases, the BBB, said in a memo that is being handed out by the building management, consumers contact the property management company in an attempt to locate the business and its owners.
The BBB usually refers consumers to file a complaint with the them. The information that the BBB obtains will be fielded to the appropriate government agency for further investigation. Consumers may file a complaint via internet at www.bbbhouston.org. They may also mail complaint to the address at 1333 West Loop South, Ste. 1200, Houston TX 77027. For more information, contact Monica Russo at mrusso@bbbhou.org
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American Ayodhya
U.S. rages over a ‘mosque’ planned two blocks from Ground Zero By Ashish Kumar Sen NEW YORK (Outlook): America—formidable bastion of freedom, glorious exemplar of religious tolerance, magnet to talent from across the world, bewildering salad bowl of people of different faiths, nationalities, ethnicities.... It’s this America that finds its cherished values threatened by a raging debate over a proposed Islamic centre in Lower Manhattan. The lines are sharply drawn, facts have been twisted, and dissimulation dominates. The biggest falsehood—which triggered the debate—has now been forgotten in the fury of impassioned speeches: that the proposed centre is to be built at the site where the World Trade Center stood till 9/11. The truth is different, definitely not provocative enough to have the entire nation agitated. The fact is, the proposed centre is to be built at least two blocks from Ground Zero, considered hallowed ground in the American consciousness, consecrated as it is by the blood of those killed in the attack on the twin towers. The centre won’t even overlook Ground Zero: the two are separated by a two- to fiveminute walk. For critics, , the centre is still two blocks too close, and reflects the insensitivity of its proponents towards the victims of 9/11. At the site of the proposed centre stands a decrepit building that once housed a Burlington Coat Factory, a clothing chain. It’s in a stripclubpocked neighbourhood through which tourists amble to glimpse Ground Zero. The Islamic Centre, officially named Park 51, will house a mosque, a swimming pool, a basketball court, an auditorium, a library, a day-care facility and restaurants. The centre is the brainchild of Imam Feisal Rauf and his wife Daisy Khan of the New York-based Cordoba Initiative. They say the community centre will be based on the model of the Jewish Community Centre in Manhattan, serve the needs of a large community of Muslims in the neighbourhood, and promote interfaith dialogue. The debate received fresh impetus because of President Barack Obama’s comments at an iftaar dinner at the White House on August 13. Obama said Muslims had the right to practise their religion just like everyone
The Islamic centre, which includes a mosque, is not planned on Ground Zero. But millions believe it is.
else in America. “And that includes the right to build a place of worship and a community centre on private property in Lower Manhattan,” he added. A day later, as a firestorm raged over his remarks, Obama appeared to backpedal, saying he was only speaking on the issue of religious freedom and “not commenting...on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque” in lower Manhattan. James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, says, “Obama raised an important argument the first night and hedged the second day. When he hedged, he opened the door wide for this debate to persist.” Into this debate jumped the irrepressible Sarah Palin, the Republican Party’s self-anointed ‘Mama Grizzly’. Unable to contain her excitement at sniffing out a potent votegetter, she shot off misspelt tweets criticising plans to build the centre near Ground Zero. In one such malapropism-bearing missive she wrote: “Ground Zero Mosque supporters: doesn’t it stab you in the heart, as it does ours throughout the heartland? Peaceful Muslims, pls refudiate.” Another influential Republican, Newt Gingrich, described plans to build the centre as “a test of the timid-
Facts & Figures
• The Islamic Centre is two blocks, or a two-to-fiveminute walk, from the site where the World Trade Center once stood • It doesn’t overlook Ground Zero, can’t even be seen from there • It is planned as a community centre for Muslims living in the neighbourhood • It also aims to promote inter-faith interaction and dialogue ity, passivity and historic ignorance of American elites”. Such rhetoric has shocked people like Zogby. “The doors are now open for bigots and bigotry,” he says. He believes the controversy will cause more damage to America’s reputation than Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay combined. “How you treat an Iraqi prisoner is one thing, but how you treat your own is a measure of who you are. I think in this instance we are failing badly,” he told Outlook. A few luminaries refused to budge from their initial support for the Islamic centre, considerably burnishing their secular credentials. For in-
stance, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Jewish American, said, “The WTC site will forever hold a special place in our city, in our hearts. But we would be untrue to the best part of ourselves and who we are as New Yorkers and Americans if we said no to a mosque in lower Manhattan.” He further warned that to “cave (in) to popular sentiment would be to hand a victory to the terrorists, and we should not stand for that.” But the tide of popular opinion seems decidedly against the Islamic centre. A CNN poll found nearly 70 per cent of Americans opposed to the mosque. A Time Abt srbi survey found 61 per cent in opposition; as
many as 46 per cent thought Islam was more likely than other faiths to encourage violence against nonbelievers. The Pew Research Centre found that 18 per cent of Americans believe Obama is a Muslim. No doubt, conservatives have exploited the issue to attack the president and his Democratic Party ahead of the mid-term elections in November. But the xenophobic bluster is likely to have detrimental ripple effects worldwide. Scott Atran, a research director at the National Center for Scientific Research in Paris, who studies Islamic terrorism, says Muslims around the world are “outraged at what is perceived as the bigotry of ‘the majority’ of Americans” but they support what is viewed with admiration by intellectuals as Obama’s articulated ‘minority’ stance. Even closer home, the debate over the location of the centre in New York has triggered off protests in states as far away from Ground Zero as California and Tennessee. “It’s not about the location. It’s about Muslims. Period,” Zogby says. Quite depressingly, nobody is prepared to listen to Rauf, who has presided as imam at a mosque 12 blocks from Ground Zero for the past 27 years. The imam has been repeating what the Cordoba Initiative notes on its website: “As Muslim New Yorkers and Americans, we want to help and be part of rebuilding our neighbourhood in lower Manhattan. It is important for all of us to show the world that Americans will not be frightened or deterred by the extremist forces of hatred.” For now, some Americans have stirred a storm of hatred. And it’s the Cordoba Initiative which has refused to buckle under. Dismissing the suggestion of New York state Governor David Paterson to shift the centre to a different part of town as a gesture of peace, the Cordoba Initiative shot back: “No one should be driven out of his or her own neighbourhood— especially for religious reasons.” And then to remind Americans about their values, it said it would be “unconstitutional and un-American” to shift the centre elsewhere. The high-pitched rhetoric is not only a dangerous symptom of a metastasising Islamophobia, but threatens to change what being American really means.
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 03 , 2010 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
online edition: www.indoamerican-news.com
society
Indo American News • Friday, September 10 , 2010
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Filmmaker Vijay Kumar Awaits Hearing on September 8
HOUSTON: Indian filmmaker Vijay Kumar will remain behind bars without bail on federal immigration charges until allegations that he was illegally carrying brass knuckles in his checked airport baggage are resolved, a judge has ruled. The immigration hearing was held on schedule but the judge denied a bond, Kumar has been asked to leave within 90 days. Voluntary bond means that his departure as an alien from the United States would be without an order of removal. Kumar is allowed to voluntarily depart concedes removability but does not have a bar to seeking admission at a port-of-entry at any time. However, failure to depart within the time would result in a fine and a 10-year bar to several forms of relief from deportation. And if he does not depart within the 90-day period he will be deported. However, his departure primarily depends on his criminal case hearing on September 8. Unless the case is dismissed he cannot leave. If his case is resolved within four months, he can leave voluntarily and can ask to return. Till then the judge has asked him to be in immigration custody. Kumar has not yet been charged by immigration judge. Kumar bonded out on August 23 and surrendered his passport to Harris County officials as a condition of his bail. When released, Kumar’s visa was revoked. He was then detained by Immigration and Customs
Vijay Kumar ... in limbo in Houston
Enforcement, because he had neither a passport nor a visa. At a hearing on Thursday, a federal immigration judge refused to set a bail for Kumar. Federal officials would not say why Kumar’s visa was revoked. John Connolly, assistant agent in charge of ICE in Houston, said that Kumar is not the subject of a homeland security investigation. Kumar turned down an offer to plead guilty in exchange for time served because he did not want to jeopardise his chances to return to America, Scheiner said. Now he faces the same dilemma. If his case is resolved within four months, he can leave voluntarily and can ask to return. If the case takes longer, he will be deported after it is complete, squelching his chances to return. Kumar, 40, a resident of Malad in Mumbai, was detained at Houston International airport for allegedly carrying brass knuckles and
jihadist literature in his luggage and is now in federal custody since last week. Kumar could get a jail term of upto 10 years if convicted. At Interface Heights, a residential tower on Link Road in Malad (West), security guards are hawk-eyed and closely quiz all strangers trying to get in. If the person does not have a good enough reason, entry is denied. Society members have been on guard ever since they read about the arrest of Vijay “Kumar is a documentary filmmaker and has been living in a flat on the 12th floor of the building since the past six months,” revealed one of the security guards, refusing to be identified. “But for the past one month Kumar’s apartment has been locked.” “Some police officers visited the flat on Wednesday morning. They also questioned Kumar’s neighbours about him and told us to stop strangers from entering the premises,” the guard added. The build-
ing was constructed around a year ago and all residents have moved in just recently, said another guard. A resident of the building, requesting anonymity, said Kumar shared the flat with his wife and was an introvert. “I have not had any conversation with Kumar but I have seen him passing by,” the resident said. “Kumar had left around a month ago and we thought he had gone out for business and that his wife has gone to stay with her parents,” said another resident. Kumar was initially detained for
suspicious behaviour and arrested when a search of his luggage revealed jehadi literature and brass knuckles. The Mumbai police’s crime branch is now conducting inquiries about when Kumar left for the US and his activities in the city. “We are collecting his passport details and the information he provided to the immigration authorities when he left. There is some confusion about some of the details so it’s taking time. But till now, we have not found anything suspicious,” said a crime branch officer.
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 03 , 2010• ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
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Indo American News • Friday, September 10 , 2010
ONLINE EDITION: www.indoamerican-news.com
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 03 , 2010 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM