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Friday, March 08 2013 | Vol. 32, No. 10

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COMMUNITY

March 08, 2013

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Rhythmic Energy of Young and Adult Tabla Players Rejuvenates Audience

The Swaralayam Arts Forum, with Pandit Shantilal Shah as its director (center), held its annual “Laya-Taal Saadhna” of student performances at the Stafford Civic Centre last Sunday, March 3. Over 84 students presented their tabla skills in ten ensembles. Mahendra Govil accompanied the students on harmonium for a portion of the concert.

BY PRAMOD KULKARNI STAFFORD, TX: If you thought only parents could enjoy student performances, you would be wrong in the case of Pandit Shantilal Shah’s Swaralaya Arts Forum. The auditorium at annual “Laya-Taal Saadhna” student performances was full with not only with families of performers, but classical music enthusiasts, who were thrilled by the skill and dedication of the performers.

Over 83 students performed in concert in groups of 10 students.

The age of the performers ranged from elementary school children to senior citizens. The performers were guided on stage by Pandit Shah himself and three harmonium professionals: Mahendra Govil and Sameer Kotasthane.

The evening concluded with a solo performance by Guruji and Aparna Shah’s son, Anurag Shah.

It was a pleasure to see that the tabla talent is continuing in the Shah family.

Due to the extended duration of the student performances, the audience missed out on the finale, which was intended to be an Abhi-

vadan, an ensemble performance of Guruji, Aparnaji as a vocalist and the senior students.

Special guests included India’s Consul General P. Harish, India Music Society of Houston Chairman Suresh Shenoy and President Govind Shetty, who himself is a well known tabla artiste. Also in attendance was Rathna Kumar, Founder-Director and renowned danseuse of the Anjali School of Performing Arts, where several of the tabla classes are held. Weekly classes are also held in the Medical Center, Clear Lake and Pearland.

The ensembles, with exotic classical music names such as Aavartan, Ateet and Hanspad, performed kaida, paltas, rela and tukdas of varying complexity.

Continuing student Vimal Kothari was the emcee for the evening.

Kothari interviewed many of the students on stage, who in unison, praised Pandit Shah for making the teaching of tabla a joy of learning, but also instructing them in lessons of life. “I did not appreciate the art of tabla at first, but enjoyed the energy and and the enthusiasm of the classes,” explained Deepika

Pangarkar, who has learned under Guruji’s tutelage for more than seven years. “I now appreciate the joy of playing the tabla.”

Consul General Harish praised the students for their dedication and skill. “There are a hundred other things that these youngsters could be doing, but their dedication to classical music and skill in tabla performance is remarkable.

The parents also deserve our ap-

plause.” The enemble concert also served as the occasion to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Pandit Shantilal Shah’s arrival in Houston and the starting of classes in association with Pandit Suman Ghosh. Dr. Virendra Mathur with wife Nalini presented bouquets and other offerings to Guruji and Aparnaji and said they derived great rejuvenation from the energy of the young performers.

In explaining his tutelage, Pandit Shah said he teaches as if in flash forward. “I remember how my own Guruji Pandit Suresh Talwalkar taught me, in combination of praise and strict discipline. I am trying to inculcate the same dedication and skill to my students.”

For additional information on the Swaralayam Arts Foundation, visit tablahouston.com.

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March 08, 2013

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COMMUNITY

March 08, 2013

5

Chowpatty Chat: Good Food and Bollywood Decor

BY VANSHIKA VIPIN SUGAR LAND: If you’re craving for some mouth-watering chaat, all you’ve got to do is hop on to your cars and drive to Sugar Land. After the grand success of Kurry Walah in Katy, Chef Nirman Shah has done it again. He has successfully opened a second restaurant in less that one year, Chowpatty Chat. Chef Nirman is a graduate of Indian Hotel Management (IHM), Ahmedabad. Before arriving in US, shah earned accolades working as Chief Chef at famous Rambagh Palace Hotel in Jaipur, a former residence of Maharaja of Jaipur and now a luxury Taj Palace Hotel.

Chowpatty Chat is not just an Indian restaurant with street cart style dishes, but a unique concept that brings the best of Indian cuisine and culture together to Houston. Chef Nirman Shah is a huge Bollywood fan and watches one movie everyday and this is very evident as soon as you enter the restaurant. Chowpatty’s interior theme is inspired by famous Bollywood movies and stars with more than 180 Bollywood movie posters of different eras covering the walls of the restaurant (See picture on page 1). The food and the theme are guaranteed to take you on a little escape to Bollywood.

The restaurant has an inside seating capacity of sixty people and has a cozy feel to it. Chowpatty’s menu offers world-class quality, and authentic taste of famous Indian street cart dishes, seasoned and cooked to perfection by Chef Nirman. The uniqueness about the menu is, the names given to the food from different parts of India.

The items from Mumbai are called Bhai Log ki 1st Choice, various chaat items are called Chamak Challo Chat, items from the south are called Rowdy Annas Choice, and the Chinese menu is called Chandni Chowk to China.

A typical chaat stand serves its products on disposable plates, but at Chowpatty Chat, the food is presented in a fine dining style. Chef Nirman believes that the presentation of the food adds more value and taste to the meal and more than that; the warmth with which it is served should be genuine. Every

Raj Kachori

Chef Nirman Shah with the chaat spread at his new restaurant, Chowpatty Chat in Sugar Land

dish at the restaurant has a unique presentation style, and the person behind this is the chef himself.

Many chaats are deep-fried, like pakoras, bhaturas and samosas, and they may be sweet or savory.

Therefore, they can’t be made in advance, they have to be made and served fresh. This is the approach Chef Nirman follows. All the ingredients are fresh and made from scratch. In addition, he always asks his customers about their preference in spice level as chaat uses a wide variety of spices. They prepare the dish according to the customers spice level and make the dish accordingly-spicy, medium or mild.

The restaurant had its soft opening a month prior to the Grand opening. I asked him for the reason for doing this as we always see others start right away with their grand opening. Chef Nirman Shah was nice enough to share his business strategy secret with me.

He said “No matter how much I train the staff, which I personally do, the real experience happens

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while dealing with the clients, and therefore, to have a successful grand opening I always want my staff to train in real time situations for a month first, in which they get to know each others working style, learn to rectify their mistakes, and finally are ready for a high quality service on the grand opening day.

Chowpatty Chat celebrated their grand opening on Sunday, March 3. The specials included buy one get one free on any item. The restaurant served more than 1000 people from 1-5pm. The Music Masala radio crew entertained the gatherees in Masala Style. The guests were also entertained by a Bollywood dance performance by Mahesh Mahbubani and his crew of Naach Houston, a Bollywood dance company.

Chef Niram Shah was very happy with the turnout and would like to thank everyone for their love and support.

The restaurant was full when I arrived at 6pm and people kept pouring in. As per Chef Nirman Shah, the highest selling items at the restaurant are Chole Bhature, Mysore Masala Dosa, Bombay Grill Sandwich and Raj kachori.

They are his favorite too. This small anecdote will vouch for it.

During the interview with him,

Chole Bhature

a young couple walked to us and with a big smile on their face said, “Wow, we have never had such delicious bhatura’s before, we just moved from Dubai and really miss the food back home. Thank you so much for serving such amazing food.” This definitely made the Chef happy. And now after tasting the Chole Bhature, they are my personal favorite too, a must try at the restaurant.

When asked about his success for this restaurant, he got emotional while talking about this dream project. He mentioned cooking and serving people is his passion and he cannot think about doing anything else. He wanted to do this come what may, because this was originally his dad’s dream project but unfortunately his dad passed away a month before the opening of the restaurant. He is now happy that he has fulfilled his dad’s dream and firmly believes that his dad must be happy looking at the success, the restaurant has achieved in a months time. In addition, like the saying goes behind every successful man there is a women, the same applies for Chef Nirman, and in his case it’s not just one but four of them, his wife Niyati and three daughters Manushi, Aayushi and Shreyanshi. He had a big smile when he spoke about the

unconditional support they have shown him, “Without their support and especially my wife nothing would have been possible, said the Chef.”

Chef Nirman Shah also added “My aim is to bring the best food in the entire Houston area.”

Therefore, after the success of his Katy, Kurry Walah location, and Chowpatty Chat, he is now venturing into opening Kurry Walah – 2 in Sugar Land. It is located right next to Chowpatty Chat. It will be a multi cuisine restaurant. All the three restaurants offer catering services as well. They specialize in making fresh chaat at events as per the requirements of the guests.

Chowpatty Chat is open all days except Tuesdays, with extended timings on the weekends. So if you have not visited the place yet, its time you try it.

Chowpatty Chat is located at 2319 Williams Trace Blvd, Sugar Land, TX 77478. For more information, visit www.chowpattychat. com or call 281-565-1375.

Kurry Walah is located at 1830 S. Mason Rd., Suite # 165, Katy, TX 77450. For more information, visit www. kurrywalah.com or call 832- 437-3800 For catering and specials, call Chef Niram Shah at 214-9987277.

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MARCH 08, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

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March 08, 2013

COMMUNITY

Changing Face of U.S. Spurs Insurance Brokerage to Focus on Asian Market

BY PRAMOD KULKARNI HOUSTON: America’s populaton is becoming more diverse.

Nowhere is this trend more visible than in Houston. The latest insurance group to act on this demographic trend is The Producers Group, one of the largest national privately held life insurance brokerage agencies in the U.S. The Producers Group venture into the multicultural market took place last Thursday, Feb. 28 at the Westin Oaks Hotel in the Galleria.

In attendance were C. Kent Freundt, President of the Producers Group; Chuck Anderson, Sr. Vice President of Prudential Insurance, and Mike Vietri, Vice President of Met Life. As a insurance brokerage firm, The Producers Group represents these insurance companies as well as many others. Representatives of AXA Equitable were also present at the event.

“The changing face of America is creating opportunities,” said Tariq Khan, well known to the South Asian community as the President of Global Diversity Marketing, who introduced The Producers Group. “The companies that understand this are taking a global view.”

Vietri recalled how his own father sold insurance in the New York Italian neighborhood. “My father was able to develop personal relationships. Some of these people are still associated with Met Life even after 50 years.”

“Today, there are similar neighborhooods in New York, New Jersey and Houston that are habitated

by Americans from South Asia, China and Vietnam,” Vietri continued. “The same concept of relationships that my father utilized remains valid today. We want to embrace each of these communities and not just treat everyone the same way. We want to celebrate the differences.”

“Houston is one exciting city,” began Freundt. “I was here eight

Tariq Khan, President of Global Diversity Marketing, introduced The Producers Group President Kent Freundt, and Chuck Anderson, Sr. Vice President at Prudential insurance.

multicultural concept and the independent career concept.” To the independent agent, Freundt said, “With The Producers Group, you start with a team. We help you grow. I can give you example after example of people who have increased their commission dollars immensely working with our firm. We like the opportunity to work with you.” “Prudential has $3.6 trillion of death benefit to families,” said Chuck Anderson.

“I think of it as our most important commitment to families.”

“We believe in diversity and we believe in inclusion,” continued Anderson. “ If you look at our country and look at how our population has grown, it is so important that we remain diverse and inclusive.”

Photos: Bijay Dixit

years ago. Within that time span, Houston’s multicultural growth has been phenomenal.”

Freundt explained the exceptional growht of The Producers Group. “In 1997, TransAmerica and other insurance companies decided to get rid of the “career” shop. Consequently, we decided to form The Producers Group. Since then’ we’ve grown from one company in one state to virtually every company in every state and internationally. More importantly, we created our firm with the understanding that we were going to be a differentiator. Even if the career shops closed, we felt there was a need that had to be serviced.”

Freundt elaborated on The Producers Group’s unique selling conept. “We believe in life insurance, annuities, long-term care and we have a broker relationship with AIG. We’ve placed $100 billion of insurance in the last 15 years. We offer you choices, we offer you concepts, ideas, and motivaiton, something you can’t get from any other brokerage. We’re unique. We’re pleased to be in Houston. We have embraced the

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COMMUNITY

March 08, 2013

“EKal Vidyalaya Foundation” Celebrates

25 Years of Unique Rural Literacy & Development Projects

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This year, 2013, marks 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, the revered ‘spiritual master of modern age’, who more than a century ago, initiated the concept of ‘oneness’ of global humanity. Noting the vicious cycle of poverty and illiteracy in India, Swamiji had emphasized, “If the poor child cannot go to Education, then the Education must go to the child”.

“Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation”, following this vision as guiding light to eradicate illiteracy, has turned Swami Vivekananda’s dream into a profound reality in the last quarter century.

This year marks 25th year of “Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation” which has been dispensing functional literacy, health care training and Integrated Development in tribal, rural areas of India, while transpiring localized empowerment never seen before. To highlight this achievement of attaining the landmark ‘Silver Jubilee Year’, “Ekal Vidya laya Foundation, USA”, a duly registered nonprofit, tax-exempt Organization, is launching a whirlwind series of over 40 fundraising concerts all over USA bet w e e n February and June, this year. Keeping up with their tradition of bringing the top notch talent of ‘Bollywood’, Ekal this year has invited ‘SA, RE, GA, MA, PA’ Melody queen ‘Sanjeevani Bhelande’ and popular singer Chirag Panchal to entertain their well-wishers. The details of these concerts are available at www.ekal. org. There are plans ahead to convene an International meet in Chicago of Pan-Ekal Organizations, as a tribute to Swami Vivekananda whose inspiration has now made ‘Ekal’ the largest grass-root NGO literacy movement in the world. Ekal schools are

spread all over India, including ‘Jammu & Kashmir’.

According to Ashok Danda, President of Ekal-USA, “As of this moment, Ekal is operating 46,966 Schools educating over 1.33 million children in remote rural areas and Villages where, in many instances, not even basic amenities have reached.” In the last few years, “Ekal” has received numerous prestigious Awards and Grants, including ‘Best NGO’, for its transparency of operation and outstanding administration. To the amazement of proud Indians, ‘Pinki Karmakar’, a 17 year old girl from the remote teaestates of Assam, who carried the relay-torch in London Olympics last year, was an ‘Ekal alumn i ’ .

She now symbolizes the new dawn of a vibrant future the rural folks can aspire to, with the advent of “Ekal”.

This is the very reason why Rodney Clark, V.P. of Microsoft, recently spent extensive time in ‘Ekal’ territories to explore how ‘Ekal’ is changing the face of rural development by utilizing local resources, creating awareness in personal hygiene and making Women self-reliant. With the kind of momentum ‘Ekal’ has garnered in recent years, the future of establishing 100,000 schools in remote rural areas of India is definitely not a distant dream.

Announcement INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MARCH 08, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

COMMUNITY

March 08, 2013

9

Gaura Purnima: The Incarnation of Lord Krishna HOUSTON: Around five-hundred years ago, the very personification of the Lord’s Mercy descended upon this planet and gave us one of the most precious and beautiful of treasures – the means to attain the Love of God. That personality was none other than Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who is actually Lord Sri Krishna Himself, in the mood of his consort Srimati Radha Rani.

Born in Mayapur (West Bengal) in a town called Nadia, and known variously as Gaura (due to his golden complexion) and Nimai (due to his birth under a Neem tree), Sri Chaitanya showed astonishing intellect and curiosity about everything spiritual. His parents (Jagannatha Mishra and Sachi Devi) as well as anyone that knew Him, understood that He was no ordinary person.

Along with His entourage (Advaita Acarya, Gadadhar Pandit, Srivas Thakura, and Nityananda – collectively known as the PancaTattva) He made it His mission to spread the nectar of the Holy Names far and wide, and succeeded brilliantly. People from all over India came to see Him and His ecstatic singing and dancing, intoxicated as He was with the love of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna Himself!

It is said that one of the main reasons for His descent was to show the people how to perform proper worship of the Lord, and He exemplified it in every step of every stage of His life. Inspired by His pure and unadulterated teachings, His devotees spread the power of the Mahamantra (Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare! Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare!) all over India. The Mahamantra is the only means to attaining salvation in this age of quarrel and hypocrisy – the Kali Yuga.

Each of the four yugas requires certain duties to be performed to attain liberation. During the Satya

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as Radha Krishna

yuga, the means was meditation on the Supreme; Dwapar yuga required temple worship; Treta yuga needed sacrifices; and finally, Kali yuga is all about Nama-Sankirtana (chanting of the Holy Names).

This priceless gift of the Holy Names by the most compassionate Sri Chaitanya is unparalleled in its ease of access (one can chant anywhere, anytime), brevity (only sixteen words), power (ability to invoke the Lord’s mercy when done in complete surrender and with pure devotion), and value (it is free!).

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s elegant composition, called the Siksastakam, lays down the core beliefs of the Gaudiya-Vaishnava framework. A few of the core beliefs are that Lord Krishna is the Supreme and Absolute Truth; the jivas are the separated parts of the Lord; pure devotion is the duty of the jivas; and complete, unconditional, and pure love of the Supreme Lord Krishna is the final goal.

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s sampradaya (disciplic succession) is known as the Brahma-MadhvaGaudiya sampradaya, indicating the origin as that of Lord Krishna’s passing on the true knowledge to Lord Brahma, who then passed it on to Sri Madhvacharya – and it has flowed uninterrupted since then, currently traceable to ISKCON via the Founder-Acarya Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

The Gaura Purnima festival, which celebrates the appearance

day of the Sri Chaitanya, is observed with great enthusiasm every year at the Hare Krishna Dham in Houston. This year the festival falls on Tuesday, March 26. Don’t miss the joyful kirtans, maha-abhishek, maha-Arati, Chaitanya mahaprabhu pastimes and of course, the delicious prasadam feast that will comprise the festivities. And there are scintillating cultural programs and Gaura Lila Drama on Sunday, March 31.

Hare Krishna Dham is located at 1320 W 34th Street, Houston TX 77018. For more information, visit www.iskconhouston.org or call 713-686-GITA (4482).

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INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MARCH 08, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

10 March 08, 2013

Sri Saumyakasi Sivalaya MAHASIVARATRI

Come, celebrate and receive Lord Siva’s grace and blessings Saturday, March 9th 2013

( Temple Hours 8:30 am – 2:00 pm & 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm ) 9:00 am - 10:15 am Maha Mrtyunjaya Homa ( In Chinmaya Smrti Building — Homa sponsorship: $21)

Sunday, March 10th 2013 ( Temple Hours 8:00 am to Midnight )

Special Pravacana (for adults) on Siva Manasa Puja

by Acarya Sri Gaurang Nanavaty

8:35 am - 10:30 am AND 11:20 am - 1:00 pm

Puja Schedule 9:00 am - 9:45 pm Ksirabhiseka to Utsava Murti of Lord Siva 9:00 am - 11:30 am Mahanyasa purvaka Rudrabhiseka 7:30 pm - 10:30 pm Laghunyasa purvaka Ekadasa Rudrabhiseka 10:00 pm - 10:30 pm Arati & Prasada 10:30 pm - 11:45 pm Meditation followed by midnight Arati ( Rudrabhiseka puja sponsorship with Ksirabhiseka Seva: $21 per family ) Chinmaya Mission Houston 10353 Synott Road Sugar Land, TX 77478 281-568-1690

www.saumyakasi.org Contact: Jay Deshmukh 832-541-0059 Bharati Sutaria 281-933-0233

Om Namah Sivaya INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MARCH 08, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

COMMUNITY

March 08, 2013

11

Award Winning Author to Visit Houston Bookstores

HOUSTON: M. G. Vassanji will appear at Barnes & Noble Champions on March 26 and Brazos Bookstore on March 27 to discuss and sign “The Magic of Sadia,” his latest novel. In the novel, he tells the story of an African/Indian doctor who returns to the Tanzanian town of his birth in search of the girl he once loved. In this powerful saga of love and loss, the past will not loosen its grip on him as he enters a world of mystery and magic.

Vassanji is the author of six previous novels: “The Gunny Sack,” “No New Land.” “The Book of Secrets,” “Amrika,” “The In-Between World of Vikram Lall” and “The Assassin’s Song.” He earned the first ever Giller Prize for “The Book of Secrets” and a second for “The In-Between World of Vikram Lall.” The Giller Prize is Canada’s most distinguished literary recognition, awarded annually for the best Canadian novel or short story

collection published in English.

Bapsi Sidhwa, internationally acclaimed author, essayist and playwright who resides in Houston, stated, “I am delighted that Moyez Vassanji is visiting Houston for the launch of his latest novel, “The Magic of Saida.” I admire his writing, and “The In-Between World of Vikram Lal” is among my all time favorite novels.

“Vassanji is not only a terrific writer but an extraordinarily kind

man as well. I met him when we were rookie writers giving readings in Germany at the same time. On arriving at the hotel I discovered that my passport had been stolen.

Vassanji sacrificed his readings to accompany me to the US, British and Pakistani embassies in Bonn, to have my travel documents reissued. I don’t know how I’d have done it without him.”

Vassanji was born in Kenya and raised in Tanzania. He specialized in theoretical nuclear physics until his literary successes allowed him to pursue writing full-time. He lives in Toronto with his wife and two sons.

Barnes & Noble Champions is at 5303 FM 1960 West (281-6310681) and at Brazos Bookstore is at 2421 Bisonnet (713-523-0701).

Both readings are at 7pm.

For more information on M.G. Vassanji, visit www.mgvassanji. com

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March 8: International Women’s Day

BY KRISHAN GUPTA International Women’s Day has been observed since 1900’s, a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies. Women demanded that they should be given the right to vote, to hold public office and against employment sex discrimination.

On May 8, 1965 International Women’s Day was declared a non-working day in the USSR. The People’s Republic of China on October 1, 1949 proclaimed on December 23 that March 8 would be made an official holiday with women in China given a half-day off. Australia issued a 100th anniversary commemorative coin on this day. The United States even designates the whole month of March as “Women’s History Month”. Now March 8 is an official holiday in many parts of the world. The International Women’s Day adopted purple and white color logo and features the symbol of Venus. The faces of women of all backgrounds, ages, and nations are also seen in various promotions, such as posters, postcards and information booklets, on International Women’s Day In 1975, during International Women’s Year, the United Nations began celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8. Two years later, in December 1977, the General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace to be observed on any day of the year by Member States, in accordance with their historical and national traditions. In adopting its resolution, the General Assembly recognized the role of women in peace efforts and development and urged an end to discrimination and an increase of support for women’s full and

equal participation.

International Women’s Day now is marked on March 8 every year in different regions. The focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women’s economic, political and social achievements.

On this date thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and to celebrate achievements. A global web of rich and diverse local activity connects women from all around the world ranging from political rallies, busi-

ness conferences, the government activities and networking events through to local women’s craft markets, theatric performances, fashion parades and more.

Many students in schools and other educational settings participate in special lessons, debates or presentations about the importance of women in society, their influence, and issues that affect them.

Much progress has been made to protect and promote women’s rights in recent times. However, nowhere in the world can women claim to have all the same rights and opportunities as men, according to the UN. Women also continue to be victims of violence, with rape and domestic violence listed as significant causes of disability and death among women worldwide.

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BY RADHA DIXIT HOUSTON: The Indian American Cancer Network (IACAN) held an educational symposium for the Houston community entitled Blood Cancers: Signs and symptoms, treatment options , results and how bone marrow and blood stem cells transplantation can save a life. Over one hundraed attendees took advantage of the opportunity to learn about blood cancers from experts in the field.

The presentations were held at the spacious Vallabh Hall at VPSS Haveli on Sunday, February 24.

Noted oncologist and Vice President of IACAN, Dr. Sewa Legha moderated the symposium. He opened the presentation by introducing the president of IACAN, Kanchan Kabad. She said the goals of IACAN are to be a resource network helping Indian families affected by cancer, spreading awareness through education outreach, organizing a survivors network that helps survivors cope with psychological and emotional issues and to make sure that no family goes through the cancer journey alone. As cancer is touching more and more Indian families, she said there are many ways to be involved with IACAN. She would like for the community to be involved with IACAN by donating their time as well as money.

Kanchan’s passion for IACAN was clearly evident and admirable.

Dr. Legha then introduced Dr. Jatin Shah and Dr. Uday Popat, specialists in the diagnosis and treatment of blood cancers from the University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Shah explained the different types of blood cancers including leukemia and lymphoma. He explained that leukemia is a type of cancer beginning in the marrow with the cancerous cells circulating in the blood. Lymphoma is a cancer arising from the lymph glands.

Multiple myeloma is another type of blood cancer which remains inside the bones. In this case the cancer cells often damage the bones which then tend to break easily. Bone marrow and lymph glands are blood forming tissues and since cancer can arise from any of the tissues of the body these tissues are no exception and thus

comes the name, blood cancer.

Dr. Shah also touched on the topic of signs and symptoms of blood cancer including anemia, low platelet count, low or high white blood count, increased fatigue, fever due to infections, bleeding, and easy bruising. In the case of lymphoma, enlarged lymph nodes are often noticeable. Multiple myeloma patients usually have bone pain or easily fracture their bones.

Sudden and unexplained weight loss, poor appetite, and persistent fever are common symptoms of any type of cancer. Dr. Shah went on to describe that since blood cancer is not like a solid tumor where surgery can be done, other treatment options including stem cell transplants are necessary for a cure in many cases. Now came the expertise of the next speaker Dr. Uday Popat.

Dr. Popat’s expertise in the area of blood cancer treatment was very informative for the audience.

Taking full advantage of VPSS’ advanced audio visual screens Dr. Popat described in detail the process of stem cell transplant as a treatment for blood cancer. He said stem cell transplant along with chemotherapy is widely used today as a cure for many blood cancers. He also mentioned that some lymphomas do respond to radiation therapy as well.

Dr. Popat described in detail the process of stem cell transplantation. Stem cells make our blood.

These cells are found in the bone marrow and also in the peripheral blood. They can be taken out through a special procedure and given back to the needy patient suffering from blood cancer. First the patient is given high doses of chemotherapy and radio therapy to kill the existing cancer cells. Then the patient is given fresh stem cells which grow in the bone marrow and start forming new blood. Dr. Popat also described the different types of procedures available to obtain the stem cells. Some patients use their own bone marrow if it is healthy; others use donors, either a family member or an unrelated volunteer. Dr Popat emphasized that only a small percentage of patients qualify for using either their own bone marrow, or match a sibling. The vast majority of pa-

tients depend on an unrelated donor to save their life. As an example, he said that there is virtually no chance that any two people in the audience will match. He also explained that marrow donation is simple, and just slightly more time cousuming than a blood donation and encouraged every one to come forward and be a Marrow Donor.

The topic of stem cell donation was the next part of the presentation. Sarvesh Bhavaraju, Joint Secretary of IACAN introduced Rachel Neihart , Gulf Coast Marrow Donor Program local recruiter, and Gaytri Kapoor, A Retention Specialist at the Gulf Coast Marrow Program. Rachael put in a personal perspective to the topic, and described how a volunteer donor was a perfect match for her when she was in her twenties and diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer. A volunteer donor saved her life which encouraged her to pursue a career in the field.

She spoke in detail with facts as to why it is so important to register as a bone marrow donor. Ms Neihart explained the role of the National Marrow Donor Program and the Marrow Registry. She presented the data about the nearly 12 Million Donors in the US Registry and how the world wide registries collaborate and share the Approximately 20 million registered donors. She noted in a solemn tone that minorities like South Asians, and African Americans are severely under represented in the database and that poses a significant threat to minority patients.

Gulf Coast Retention Specialist Gayatri Kapoor spoke about the importance of keeping the records updated in the registry so that when a patient is matched, getting in touch with a donor can be easily done. Many people sign up to be in the registry but either do not update their information or decide not to donate when the time is critical for a patient who has found a match in the registry. It is important to be committed and to keep records updated to save a life. She noted that an alarming 70% of the donors are at times unreachable and pleaded with the audience to spread the word about the importance of commitment and the need Continued on Page 13

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MARCH 08, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

d in

COMMUNITY

March 08, 2013

Treatments for Blood Cancer....

Continued from Page 12 for keeping the contact information current.

In his closing remarks, IACAN Board member Sarvesh Bhavaraju reminded the audience about the importance of community participation. He urged the community to come forward and share and encourage anyone in need to utilize IACAN and Network together.

He also reminded everyone that the combination of Doctors, Technology and Marrow Databases have increased a patient’s survival chances; but it still takes donors to come forward and provide this gift of life. To give an example, he presented the real life story of how one of our Houston area patients and his friends have funded bone marrow drives in India. This patient’s cousin who lives in India matched a three year old girl in Chennai. The donation occurred

last month and all attendees were able to see a photograph of that special donation.

The audience were then introduced to the guests of the afternoon - three local individuals in the Indian community who have matched and donated and helped save the life of blood cancer patients..

Harish Kapoor, Niti Tottempudi, and Arumugam Jayakumar were given a warm applause. They then spoke about their experiences, why they chose to be a donor, their fears and their thoughts on being a part of saving someone’s life.

They all emphasized that if called upon again they would definitely do this again. The presentations ended with a question and answer session. One attendee actually said this was the most informative three hours of his life and he will support any event by IACAN. Gayathri Kongovi, past president

of IACAN mentioned that IACAN has been receiving more calls for bone marrow registries because of blood cancer affecting the community at a higher rate.

IACAN would like to thank the Presenters, and special guests Harish Kapoor, Niti Tottempridi and Arumugam Jayakumar for coming forward in sharing their experience with the public. IACAN would like to thank Dr Snehal Desai and his team at VPSS for their significant contributions in sponsoring this event. IACAN would also like to encourage young adults (age 18 to 44) to volunteer to register as stem cell donors for the treatment of blood cancer.

13

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TCA Announces New Executive Committee HOUSTON: Ramesh Akarapu has been elected as President for Houston Telugu Cultural Association (TCA) for the year 20132014. The newly elected Executive committee consists of General Secretary Maruthi Reddy, Treasurer Durga Prasad Seloj, C ultural Secretaries Raj Pasala and Jyothi Pakeru, Web and Communications Secretary Raj Rentala, and Literary Coordinator Pallavi Chilappagiri. TCA elections were held at Meenakshi temple and huge number of voters participated in making it successful.

The new TCA Executive Committee meeting hosted by Dr Venkat Veerisetty took place at Mayuri restaurant on February 23, attended by all trustees, incoming & outgoing EC members along with many of the past presidents and trustees.

Ramesh Akarapu first thanked the election committee members Rahul Reddy, Karunakar Chowdavarapu and Ravi Atluri for ) organizing this year’s ) election process very smoothly and effectively.

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18

EDITORIAL

March 08, 2013

Audacity of Hope

A baby girl born with HIV, the virus that causes Aids, appears to have been cured using a combination of three widely available HIV-fighting drugs. The Mississippi girl, who was declared “functionally cured” by US doctors on Sunday, is now two-anda-half years old and has been off medication for a year. If she stays healthy, it would be the world’s second reported cure. What makes the Mississippi baby’s cure more exciting than Brown’s is that she was cured using standard high-dose antiretroviral therapy — ART, the combination of drugs used to treat HIV — within hours of birth.

In a world where an average drug developed by a pharmaceutical major costs at least $4 billion to as much as $11 billion, a cure using existing and affordable drugs immediately makes it possible for the treatment to be standardised. All pregnant women who deliver at a clinic or hospital are tested for HIV, including in India.

Those who test positive are given a drug called Nevirapine that more than halves mother-to-child transmission.

The Mississippi cure is not expected to provide a cure for the 34.2 million people living with HIV. Most people discover they have HIV often years after getting infected. But then the virus that killed more than 25 million people in three decades, is not the killer it used to be. Antiretroviral therapies, now provided free in several countries including India, not only keeps those infected healthy but also makes the infected person less likely to infect others. Globally, 8 million with HIV are being treated with ART. This has led to new HIV infections falling in 33 countries since 2001, mostly in Africa and Asia. What will make the Mississippi cure more than just a miracle is if it can be scaled up to save other children the world over.

Another Slap in the Face

The passion, the fury, the intensity — we had never seen anything quite like it before in India on a gender issue. Yet, as International Women’s Day approaches, we can only wonder why all that anger against the December Delhi gang rape has not made any serious dent in social and official attitudes on violence against women.

Leading the way is the completely insensitive and ham-handed manner in which our home minister revealed the names of three minor rape victims in his statement in Parliament. We can only assume that he did not even bother to read through his statement beforehand. The latest in a series of outrages against women comes from Punjab where a girl who approached the police for help after she had allegedly been molested by truckers was savagely beaten up by the so-called custodians of the law. Their brutality was there for all to see in broad daylight as they pummelled the victim. In another appalling case, a tribal girl who had been raped has been denied education as this would ostensibly “unsettle other students.” The most frightening part of these incidents is that the perpetrators of violence and prejudice do not even think that they may be wrong. Hindustan Times

How the Chennai Test Was Won

BY HARSHA BHOGLE As an exhibition of character, of ambition and frailties, of opportunities and fears, five days in Madras were enthralling. Yes, you read it right. At various times during the Test, when I read that people were queueing up at four in the morning, when when there was a decent crowd even for an hour on the last day, when I had dinner with traditional cricket lovers who wanted to know about emerging young players in Australia, I found myself referring to the city as Madras. And I wondered if Chennai was Super Kings and Madras was Test cricket. And as I pondered over that to write this piece I realised that Test cricket addicts, as I know them, reside in the old Bombay and Calcutta. They too would have loved this outstanding Test match.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is, in many ways, Chennai’s adopted son (there were even messages on the scoreboard for him in Tamil) but Madras would have loved the innings he played. By his own admission he is not the most technically adept cricketer but the manner in which he reacted to the conditions and seized the moment in the game was what made this one of the finest batting performances in India.

Nathan Lyon, a spinner of considerable ability but uncertain self-belief, had just begun to make the conditions work for him. Tendulkar had been bowled with a ball that another Aussie spinner who did so well in India, Ashley Mallett, would have been delighted by.

The drift towards off dragged the bat towards the ball and created the space for it to spin back in. It could have been one of the highlights of the game, in fact it probably was in spite of what followed.

Virat Kohli had, in one over, got one that skidded through and another that reared fairly menacingly at him. With 380 given him by his batsmen, Lyon could have made a reputation and maybe, just maybe, even won Australia a Test.

At most times Dhoni jabs at the ball, soft hands weren’t in vogue

M Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara thrilled Indian cricket fans with their performances in the second test vs. Australia, which the Indians won by an inning.

when he was learning his cricket; those belonged to VVS Laxman now such an eager student in the commentary box.

Dhoni had realised that India’s success lay in hitting Lyon off his length and more critically, by denting his confidence, by making him wonder where the next ball would go rather than allowing him to skip in with visions of a dipping ball fooling the batsman into a mishit or a bat-pad. To his credit, Lyon kept at it but it had become an unequal contest. Tactically Dhoni had delivered a masterclass and that is why the innings was more than just a batting exhibition. It was an example of how to identify a game-changing moment and then to seize it. It could well have been a series-changing assault but for that we will have to wait. Adam Gilchrist’s spectacular innings in Mumbai in 2001, the one that most resembles this, gave that impression too, but a young Sikh bowler and a delightfully self-effacing batsman (in commentary he said he was “satisfied” with his 281!) modified the script.

Ravichandran Ashwin is more son of the soil than Dhoni. In his family and cricketing upbringing perhaps lies the transition between Madras and Chennai. He has made his name as a CSK man but when he bowled his off-breaks, tossing them, looping them, getting them to break back from outside off stump he had travelled back in time. The pause in the action, the quick darted ball onto pad, the

rather too frequent carrom ball... they were largely ignored, that was CSK. This was a Madras spinner going back to his roots to rediscover himself, even if so early in his test career. Just as Dhoni’s assault was an exhibition of tactical acumen and skill, Ashwin’s was a demonstration of his intelligence and his craft. He knew how he had to bowl on this track, his speed frequently dipped to below 80 kmph, and he ensured he was ready for it. As Venkataraghavan would tell him, it is not easy for a tall man to let the ball go higher unless there is a precision to his craft for it must still land shorter than where the batsman thinks it will. Lyon, on the other hand, was pushed into bowling over 90 kmph, the ball had no time to hang in the air and dip. It was a fine an exhibition of classical off break bowling.

Both Dhoni and Ashwin kept at it for long periods, aware that a little burst of skill was not much use in a game that demands extended periods of excellence. Dhoni was at it for six hours and 265 balls and late on the third day was charging back for the second like a young sprinter might while still fresh.

And Ashwin bowled 444 balls in the game, more than he would in the entire IPL. And yes, this Test match told us one other thing. Sometimes you can get too involved with the surface and end up playing the conditions rather than playing the ball. You can get out before you are in. Only Philip Hughes in the second innings, and maybe Michael Clarke, were waylaid by the pitch, some others by fear of what it would do. We in India know that well often succumbing in the mind to the bounce before it has appeared. 1243 runs were made on this surface at a runs/wicket ratio of 38.84.

And if you wanted to show a young generation that wondered why ours was so in love with a game that lasted five days, this was the best gift Madras could give. I wonder if we can get a series with the class of 2001 all over again.

Indian Express

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RELIGION

March 08, 2013

M

ahasivaratri is the most important festival dedicated to Lord Siva.

This holy day is observed by millions of Hindus all over the world.

It is one of Hinduism’s most esoteric holy days, when yoga practices, mantras and meditation take the devotee closer to God’s essence within the core of himself. Hindus typically fast, maintain silence and stay up all night to perform spiritual practices, such as worshiping, chanting and singing. In some regions, devotees visit as many Siva temples as they can on this night.

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Who is Siva?

For hundreds of millions of Hindus Siva is the Supreme Being, the absolute One God who both transcends creation and pervades it—thus existing as our own innermost essence.

Siva is the powerful Deity whose energetic dance creates, sustains and dissolves the universe in endless cycles. He is the master yogi delving into unfathomable mysteries, the supreme ascetic, the prime mystic, the Light behind all light, the Life within all life. Siva is often called Mahadeva, “Great Being of Light,” for He created other, lesser Gods such as Ganesha and Karttikeya. Although Siva is usually depicted as male, in reality God and the Gods are beyond gender and form, as depicted by His half-male, half-female form, Ardhanarishvara.

Parvati, regarded as Siva’s consort in village Hinduism, is mystically understood as His manifest energy, inseparable from Him. The ancient Tirumantiram scripture says of Siva, “Himself creates. Himself preserves.

Himself destroys. Himself conceals.

Himself all of this He does and then grants liberation— Himself the allpervading Lord.”

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What happens on Mahasivaratri?

Many Hindus perform an all-night vigil, plunging the soul into its own essence, led by Siva, the supreme yogi, who is both the guide and the goal of the search. Staying awake through the night is a sacrifi ce and a break from life’s normal routine, a time out of time to be with God within, to reach for the realization of our true, immortal Self. Siva is known as Abhisheka Priya, “He who loves sacred ablutions,” and thus many temples and home shrines have water always dripping on the Sivalinga.

On this special night, Sivalingas are bathed with special substances, sometimes several times. Mahasivaratri occurs on the night before the new moon in February/March.

This year, Mahasivaratri will be celebrated on Sunday, March 10

What is the Sivalinga?

Linga means “mark, token or sign.”

A Siva linga, representing Siva, is found in virtually all of His temples.

The Sivalinga is the simplest and most ancient symbol of the Divine. It is especially evocative of Parasiva, God beyond all forms and qualities, the unmanifested Absolute. Sivalingas are commonly made of stone, but may also be of metal, precious gems, crystal, wood, earth or even transitory materials like sand or ice. Ardent devotees make special Sivalingas to worship during Mahasivaratri.

Is there a special mantra for Siva?

Namah Sivaya is among the foremost Vedic mantras. It means “adoration to Siva” and is called the Panchakshara, or “fi ve-letters.” The fi ve elements, too, are embodied in this ancient formula for invocation.

Na is earth, Ma is water, Si is fi re, Va is air, and Ya is ether, or space.

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NRI Education Pioneer, Dr Sugata Mitra, Wins $ 1 Million TED Prize

BY CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA LONG BEACH, California: Sometimes, a hole-in-the-wall is all you need to get a deep insight into education and -- attain worldwide recognition.

When Prof. Sugata Mitra installed a computer in a slum in Kalkaji, Delhi, in 1999 in what came to be known as a “hole-in-the-wall” experiment, it led to a fundamental reappraisal on his part of the formal education system. Surreptitious monitoring of what followed showed the power of what he would later call ‘’Minimally Invasive Education.’’

Left to themselves, kids anywhere, from any background, even without knowing English, seamlessly learn to use computers and the internet.

Particularly if they are working in groups, they can figure out complex subjects such as DNA sequencing, trigonometry, and avionics, as Dr Mitra found in similar experiments he has conducted across the world.

For his revolutionary work in this area, TED, the multidisciplinary conference of brainiacs, on Tuesday awarded him its $ 1 million prize at its annual mindfest here in Long Beach, California. Cheered with gusto by the cream of world intelligentsia and geek power, Dr Mitra later told ToI that the prize money would go to further research in non-formal, minimally invasive education “that should rid us of a system that is fast becoming obsolete.”

Previous winners of the annual TED prize of $ 100,000 before it was bumped up to $ 1 million this year include the singer Bono, former President Bill Clinton, the naturalist E.O.Wilson, tech-savant Larry Brilliant, and the writer-historian Karen Armstrong.

In experiments from Karaikal in Pondicherry to Villa Mercedes in Argentina, Dr Mitra has found that left to their own devices (literally), children easily forgo what he mocks as TCPIP education, the abbreviation denoting an Internet Protocol that merely carries data without comprehension. Such learning by rote, he says, is a legacy of both Victorian and Brahmanical values, furthered by the East India Company to produced an army of clerks and accountants for

Visionary: Sugata Mitra

the Empire. Independent India has not challenged that model; instead, it has nourished it.

In the Pondicherry experiment, Dr Mitra left a computer with some DNA Replication software amid slum children who did not know any English.

Yet they managed to figure out within days that improper replication of DNA causes disease. Similarly, kids in a remote South American village grappled with theology and geometry in understanding why human beings are born with five fingers on a limb.

The best results were when children worked in groups and there was minimal adult supervision, although informal mentoring helps. ‘’The results broke every learning

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hypothesis in my mind,” said Dr Mitra, adding that such alternatives could have happened only at this time with the arrival of computers, internet, and broadband. “There is no need to carry data in our head as if it is a pen drive, because information is available at our fingertips. Instead, children should be challenged to understand and express ideas and concepts.”

Dr Mitra has since expanded on his findings and created a “granny cloud” -- online moderators of retired teachers -- who could Skype into learning centers and encourage children with questions and assignments.

He now wants to build a “School in the Cloud,” a learning lab in India, “where children can embark on intellectual adventures by engaging and connecting with information and mentoring online.” He is particularly keen on schools and teachers NOT depriving children of smartphones, laptops, and other connected devices in the classroom.

“Such schooling is outdated,” he said. “Will you take away a gun from a soldier when you send him to battle?”

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TRAVEL

March 08, 2013

21

Long Journey to a City Ablaze in Lights and Awash in Natural Gas

BY JAWAHAR MALHOTRA DOHA, February 28, 2013: After the long all day flight over seven time zones, Qatar Airways 078 banked a hard turn to the east over the Red Sea and cut across the Saudi Arabian peninsula to the north of Medina and Riyadh, flying right over Bahrain into the Persian Gulf and then hooked a right turn around the east side of the Qatar peninsula. The night was dark, but lights from many ships, large and small, dotted the black waters below, as they waited for their turn in the port and made their way from the area’s huge petroleum refineries.

To the west, along the coastline, the lights of Doha shone brightly and with another two banks to the right, the plane made its descent on the runway, then taxied to a stop a fair distance away from the terminal.

Buses came to load the passengers and from two loading doors.

But I waited with my 84 year-old mother and another six clumps of people who needed help in getting off through the food cargo access door by a scissor-hoisting van. The two Nepali airport service personnel, along with their Bihari and Kenyan counterparts lowered the hoist and helped the mostly infirm and elderly into the waiting passenger bus which took a ten minute ride to drop me off at the Arrival Terminal. “I’ll be alright,” said my mother, her two handbags at her feet, happy that the Nepali spoke fluent Hindi, “you go

in Peace and God be with you,” as we hugged goodbye. “Don’t worry,” reassured the Nepali with a wave of his hand and a swing of his head. They whisked her off to the next stop, the Transfer Terminal for her New Delhi flight.

I expected a larger Arrival Terminal, and was surprised when it was average, thinking the throngs coming for the 2022 FIFA World Cup would overpower the hall. It wasn’t full, but

it was slow, as only eight, and then later twelve, immigration personnel handled the formalities sitting behind very modern kiosks. On the one side six women in black hajibs and chadors handled passengers – I was wrong to think that they were only handling females – and when my turn came 40 minutes later, she told me to step on the black shoeprints on the floor and look up at the “Look here” flashing light just above the small

mirror as she snapped my picture.

“You have a visa?” she asked in accented English, I replied no. “Twenty eight dollars, credit card only,” she responded, and I obliged.

The small Duty-Free shop was just beyond and a quick look at the prices – a giant bar of Toblerone was $10.77 each and a toy digital guitar Qatari Rial 175 ($48) was enough to satisfy my curiosity and dash my impulse to buy – as I walked to get my bags.

Flight 078 was already off the carrousels and one man from the cluster of South Asian baggage helpers told me in Hindi “woh uder hai, uthaar diya” (they are there, have been taken off). I found my bag, loaded a free cart and wheeled out through the empty “Nothing to Declare” aisle.

A trickle of faces pressed against the glass awaiting their arrivals, on the other side, a long line of kiosks advertized their hotels and rental cars.

“Where’s the shuttle for Hotel Gloria?” I asked. The Indian man looked confused, “Not here,” he said but asked another who looked around and said, “Yes, yes, come, come.” I tagged along and he pointed towards the glass, “There,” I was confused.

“Where,” I asked. He pointed to a man holding up a sign for Peter

Stoveteski, “him, he’s with Gloria, yes, yes,” and strode off. I made for the exit and the man, Rafiz, walked towards me thumbing through the four names he had signs for, mine was not one of them.

“Never mind, I can take you, wait there please,” he took me to some chairs, “I will find the other people.

If you need a SIM card you can go there,” he pointed towards a kiosk.

I waited and took some pictures. A French man took the seat next to me, another French couple walked by.

Rafiz brought along a German couple with knapsacks and chimed, “I still have one more,” and disappeared again. A few minutes later, he brought along a middle-aged man with a windblown face and a beak nose, the elusive Peter Stoveteski. We followed Rafiz outside in the pleasant 70 degree night to the bus loading area and Peter asked with a big smile, “Are you with the crew too?” as we settled into the backseat and got to knowing more of each other, although I pry more out of others than they do from me. It’s a hazard of being too nosy.

Peter was on his umpteenth journey to Doha from his native Poland, over the past two years but usually went straight from the plane to the ship.

“I’m surprised they have me in a hotel this time,” he said with a quick giggle.

In the morning he would be on a ship taking off from the world’s largest liquefied Natural Gas refinery in Ras Laffan just a hour north of Doha and

take it for near two weeks to Shenzhen as the Gas Engineer for the 2000 metric tonnes of cargo, with a crew made up of mostly Croatians and Filipinos.

It’s been this way since he joined the merchant marines, “when I was just a young man” but he was looking forward to retiring in two years from this three-moth on ship and three-month at home lifestyle.

The bus approached the roundabout by a floodlit sand-colored building looking like a cross between a mosque and a monument. “The Museum of Islamic Art,” pointed out Rafiz. We were impressed and on the left brightly lit restaurants and LED wrapped trees shone along the Al Corniche Street. “They know how to burn electricity her,” I muttered and Peter responded, “They have enough for a hundred years! After that, they’ll have other stuff going for them.” I wondered how his family took to his work. “My family has been used to this,” Peter continued, But in two years I will stop. Enough is enough,” he declared we descended and sauntered into the lobby of the brightly lit Hotel Gloria.

Six hours later, at 4:39am, dawn had still not broken but the muzzein in the little mosque next door made a short plaintive call for prayer but I had been up for an hour already, jet-lagged, watching the dark skies over Doha, with lights ablaze on Al Corniche and the Museum to the right.

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ENTERTAINMENT

March 08, 2013

LEARN TO DRIVE TODAY!

Kai Po Che: An Ode to True Friendship

BY ANUPAMA CHOPRA (HT) Kai Po Che! is a moving portrait of friendship, loss, forgiveness.

Working from Chetan Bhagat’s bestseller The 3 Mistakes of My Life, cowriter and director Abhishek Kapoor lovingly constructs camaraderie so deep and abiding that you know it must be splintered. Ishaan, Govind and Omi, three middle-class boys

the Gujarat riots. You know that no good can come out of this.

Abhishek Kapoor’s biggest accomplishment is that he and his writers have created three-full bodied characters - these boys with their towering ambitions and aching vulnerability, are people you and I know. And then, most critically, he has also found three wonderful actors who inhabit

in Ahmedabad, are swept away by currents beyond their control. Great horrors unfold and yet, when the deeds are done, a sense of redemption remains.

The story begins with the three -Ishaan played by Sushant Singh Rajput, Govind played by Raj Kumar Yadav and Omi, played by Amit Sadh - embarking on their first business venture, a sports shop with coaching facilities. Ishaan was an aspiring cricketer but like thousands of boys in India, his talent was lost in the maze of selectors and politics. He morphs into a hot-tempered but unusually generous coach. Govind, the cautious and brainy one, keeps a strict eye on the finances - the other two call him baniya. And the loutish but unquestioningly loyal Omi, serves as the financer. He manages to routinely extract money from his uncle who is a political leader in a right-wing Hindu party. Ishaan’s star pupil is a scrawny Muslim boy.

We are a few months away from

the characters wholly. Sushant, Raj Kumar and Amit become Ishaan, Govind and Omi. Their lack of stardom works in their favour (though I’m fervently hoping that post release, each one becomes a sought-after star). We believe them. We partake in their joys and struggles. Kai Po

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Che! is beautifully shot by Anay Goswamy but it’s not glossy. You can almost feel the sweat and dust of the narrow lanes. And the icing on the cake is the song Manjha by composer Amit Trivedi (who has also sung it) and lyricist Swanand Kirkire. It has a sweet melancholy that reminded me of Kirkire’s other gem, Baanwara Mann (from the 2003 film Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi).

What doesn’t work as well is the screenplay.

There are stretches in which the film slows down enough to make you restless. In places, the narrative is jerky and not fully convincing the boys recover from a big financial blow with little stress. I also found the Gujarati dialogue a little distracting. Kapoor’s portrayal of the Gujarat riots doesn’t lacerate you like Rahul Dholakia’s Parzania or Nandita Das’ Firaaq.

This version is far more comforting and palatable. But perhaps that is not such a bad thing.

Kai Po Che! is Gujarati for “I’ve cut”. It is used as a cry of victory in kite-flying contests. Here victory is hard-earned and tinged with tears and regret. But it’s also deeply satisfying.

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STOCKS • FINANCE • SOUTH ASIAN MARKETS • TECHNOLOGY

All Regulatory Approvals in Place for Diageo-USL Deal: Mallya

NEW DELHI (The Hindu) Liquor baron Vijay Mallya on Tuesday said United Spirits and Diageo Plc have received all regulatory approvals for their Rs 11,166.5 crore deal under which the Indian spirits maker will sell 53.4 per cent to the UK-based firm.

“CCI (Competition Commission of India) approval has been received.

All regulatory approvals have been received. So that’s why it (the deal) is on track,” Mallya told reporters here after meeting Finance Minister P Chidambaram. The CCI in an order dated February 26 had approved Diageo’s proposed majority stake purchase in Mallya-led United Spirits, saying the deal would not have adverse impact on competition.

After seeking clarifications and changes four times, CCI had ruled that the deal would give a boost to entry of premium brands in alcoholic beverage market.

Diageo Plc had earlier said it would launch its over Rs 5,441-crore open offer to acquire 26 per cent stake in United Spirits between January 7, 2013 and January 18, 2013 but the delay in getting CCI nod had made it approach market regulator SEBI. While granting its approval to the request, SEBI on its part has said that Diageo will have to pay an interest of 10 per cent per annum for the period of delay to the public shareholders tendering their shares in the open offer. In a letter dated January 31, 2013 SEBI had said the letters of offer needed to be dispatched to public shareholders within seven days and the share tendering period was supposed to begin within next five days. Subsequently, the payment to all shareholders was required to be completed by March 18.

However, JM Financial, which has been appointed as manager to offer by

Diageo, requested SEBI that the tendering period should be allowed to commence within 12 days of receipt of all applicable statutory approvals.

SEBI has accepted the request with a condition of ad- Liquor baron Vijay Mallya said that the Competition Commission of India approval had ditional interest been received. Photo:Rajeev Bhatt payment for the delay and Diageo would announce firm to a foreign company, UK-based Diageo agreed to buy 53.4 per cent the revised schedule in due course.

In November last year, in one of stake in United Spirits for Rs 11,166.5 the biggest stake sales by an Indian crore in a multi-structured deal.

US Spending Cuts Likely to Hit Diamond Exports

BY MELVYN REGGIE THOMAS SURAT (TOI) : Exports of polished diamonds and jewellery to the USA are likely to be hit after the USA enacted a law to cut federal government spending limit by $85 billion each fiscal. Industry experts said the new law is not only aimed at cutting the government’s spending limit, but would also decrease liquidity in the American market. Since diamonds and diamond jewellery falls are luxury items, consumers may reduce their annual spending on these.

India’s exports to the USA stand at $6.1 billion, higher than that from Belgium and Israel, and dominates the contribution to the USA’s import basket in the jewellery category with a 23.4% share. With annual sales in the US pegged at around $65 billion, Indian diamantaires, especially those based in Surat, are now worried that orders could dwindle.Over 50% of the diamonds exported from India find their way to US shelves. October-end is also the time when most orders are placed with Indian diamond houses, in time for the Christmas and New Year seasonal holidays. “Though the US is no longer the leading export destination of cut and polished diamonds manufactured in India, (UAE has jumped to first position) it did account for a major portion of the $27 billion worth of polished diamonds exported from India in 2011-12,” said diamond exporter, Kirti Shah. Shah added, “Spending cuts by the US federal government means that there will be less money with people, which translates into lower consumption of jewellery and diamonds. If that happens, export of diamonds and jewellery to the US will suffer.” “The US is still a leading destination for Indian exports, as far as diamonds and jewellery are concerned. Consumers in the US will likely not spend more on jewellery and diamonds due to reduced spending and liquidity,” said a senior office-bearer of Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).

Maruti Launches Limited Edition of Estilo

NEW DELHI (TOI): The country’s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India on launched a limited edition of its hatchback Estilo, priced at Rs 3.92 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).

“To pep up the market in the slow moving car bazaar, car market leader Maruti Suzuki has introduced an exciting limited edition of its popular model Estilo as EstiloNlive,” the company said in a statement.

The added new features in the car include leather seat covers, doubledin sound system with USB, dual tone interiors, body graphics, full wheel covers and beige parcel tray.

“The full package of 14 new features on the EstiloNlive is worth Rs 23,000” and it is “being provided at a special customer offer price of Rs 15,000”, the company said.

Commenting on the new launch, Maruti Suzuki India Vice President (Marketing) Manohar Bhat said: “In recent months, we have had good success with limited editions of some of our recent models such as Wagon R, A-star and Alto. We are confident that the EstiloNlive will be liked by the customers for its attractive new feature list.”

Powered by a 998 cc K10B petrol engine, EstiloNlive will give a mileage of 19 kilometers per litre as tested by ARAI, the company claimed.

127

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24

SPORTS

March 08, 2013

A Head-Spinning Victory for India Ashwin scalps 5 as Dhoni’s men beat visitors by an innings and 135 runs to take 2-0 lead

BY MADHU JAWALI HYDERABAD (Deccan Herald): Trailing India by 192 runs, Australia, overnight 74/2 in their second innings to India’s first innings total of 503 all out, were expected to struggle but not embarrass themselves with another dismal batting show on the fourth day here at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday. In a harrowing display of batting against spin, Australia lost eight of their remaining batsmen in just 122 minutes for a measly 57 runs.

Off-spinner R Ashwin (5/63) scalped three on the fourth morning to go with his two wickets the previous evening for his third five-wicket haul in four innings while Ravindra Jadeja (3/33) chipped away at regular intervals to end Australia’s innings at 131. India have now taken an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the fourmatch series.

So abject was Australia’s batting that their team’s combined total for the match (368) was two runs less than what Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara had put together. This is also India’s second biggest win over Australia who had suffered an innings and 219-run loss in 1998 in Kolkata. With this result, MS Dhoni became the most successful Indian skipper, surpassing Sourav Ganguly’s 21 wins in 49 Tests. Dhoni, though, has crossed the record in four Tests fewer.

A lot depended on the big two – overnight batsman Shane Watson and skipper Michael Clarke -- in the Australian camp if the visitors had to stretch the Indians if not save the match. But both the batsmen did little of note as Australian innings crumbled in no time.

The meek surrender in the second innings didn’t present a pretty picture of Australian batting but they had conceded a huge ground by failing to make the most of ideal batting conditions in the first innings after electing to bat first. Both their temperament and technique appeared suspect against the turning ball while their poor shot selection only compounded their misery.

Asian Athletics Championship Shifted from Chennai

NEW DELHI (The Hindu): With the Tamil Nadu government refusing to host Sri Lankan athletes on political grounds, the third leg of the Asian Grand Prix scheduled to be held in Chennai has now been shifted to Colombo.

After the Tamil Nadu government cancelled the Asian Athletics Championship scheduled to be held in Chennai from July 3-7, the Asian Athletics Association has decided to hold the third leg of the Asian GP in Colombo on May 12.

On February 21, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa called off the championship, saying that Lankan athletes have no place in the State, after reports of the alleged brutal killing of slain LTTE chief Prabhakaran’s son came out.

However, theAthletics Federation of India is still hopeful about find an alternate venue in the country.

The first two legs of the Asian GP would be held as scheduled earlier on May 5 in Bangkok and on May 8 at Chonburi in Thailand.

Selectors Must Take Call on Sehwag’s Fate as Opener: Dravid Ravindra Jadeja (left) and Ravichandran Ashwin ran through the Australian second innings on Tuesday. (Getty Images file photo)

After England dented their proud home record following an upset 2-1 Test series win late last year, India took a big stride forward in re-establishing their superiority with a crushing innings and 135run win over Australia in the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.

With a definite strategy in place, Dhoni got Ishant Sharma to strangle the Aussie batsmen with a leg-side line. Watson fell prey while trying to work a delivery off his pad, nicking the ball for Dhoni to complete a smart diving catch. This was Ishant’s first wicket of the series.

Jadeja, operating from the other end, was causing a few problems without success. He was even lifted over long-off fence nonchalantly by Clarke but Jadeja had the last laugh when he knocked over the batsman with the delivery of the match.

Easily the best player of spin in the Australian line-up, even Clarke could do little as the ball drifted in to the middle and leg before spinning away to peg the top of off, beating the batsman’s forward defence. This was the third time in four innings that Jadeja has dismissed Clarke whose departure led to a procession.

Next over, Jadeja had a doughty but an unconvincing Ed Cowan (44) caught by Virender Sehwag at slip and moments later he ran Moises Henriques out with a direct hit despite fumbling while collecting the ball. In one fell swoop, the Saurashtra all-rounder, whose very place in the playing 11 was questioned, had changed the complexion of the game. Incidentally, it was another Saurashtra player, man of the match Pujara who had set the tone for India’s dominance with his second career double century.

Once Jadeja’s strikes had left Australia reeling at 111/6, Ashwin got into the act to prise out Matthew Wade and Glenn Maxwell to push the opponents into a deeper abyss.

There was a bit of resistance from the last pair after Jadeja had accounted for Peter Siddle but Ashwin pulled the curtain down trapping Pattinson during an extended session to trigger the celebrations.

NEW DELHI (TOI): Former India captain Rahul Dravid has said that the national selectors must take a call on whether to continue with struggling Virender Sehwag as an opener in the Test series in South Africa later this year or give someone else a chance. “I think the selectors and management need to decide whether they are going to open with Viru (Virender) in South Africa,” Dravid said.

“I mean Viru playing well, Viru at his best, is a great asset to any side, but the reality is that he hasn’t been performing particularly well, and he hasn’t really done well on overseas trips over the last two or three years. “If they feel confident about opening with Sehwag in South Africa, then I think it makes sense to continue with Sehwag and give him the opportunity to get that confidence,” he added. Even though India registered commanding victories in the first two Tests against Australia in Chennai and Hyderabad, the opening partnership between Sehwag and Murali Vijay could produce only 11, 16 and 17 runs. While Vijay scored a fine 167 in Hyderabad, Sehwag has totalled only 27 in his three innings.

The selectors will be picking the Indian squad for the last two Tests against Australia on Thursday.

After the two remaining Tests against Australia, India have no more five-day games scheduled before their trip to South Africa at the end of the year and Dravid felt that

a young opener should be tested in home conditions first before throwing him in front of the new ball in foreign conditions.

“I think it makes sense to try out another youngster, or try out another opener, and give him the opportunity to play at least a couple of Test matches in more familiar conditions, before going to South Africa. “I think it will be unfair on any young opener to be asked to go to South Africa straightaway, and play against the likes of Steyn, Philander and Morkel,” Dravid said.

He was of the view that the selectors could explore the option of moving Sehwag down the order. “If they are going to look ahead, I think there could be a realistic possibility of Sehwag coming into the middle order,” Dravid said.

“You know if opportunities open up at some stage, maybe Sachin is going to move on, then I think Viru is the man with the experience to be able to come in and bat in the middle order. He has said in the past that he would like to, and that could be an option,” he insisted. Sehwag has failed to fire in five consecutive Tests after getting a hundred in the opening game of the home series against England at Ahmedabad in November-December last year.

He was unable to score even a half-century in two home Tests against New Zealand.

During India’s last overseas tour, in Australia, Sehwag scored just 198 runs in eight innings.

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March 08, 2013

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Most millionaires do not pay tax

Tax Increase, No Problem: Indians are Tax Immune

BY RAJ KANWAR IAN INDIA CORRESPONDENT One would imagine that the 10% surcharge proposed on income of above rupees one crore* in the budget

by Finance minister P Chidambaram would have set a cat amongst the pigeons of India’s crorepatis. But, it has not ruffled their hair, not even a wee bit. Not unsurprisingly, since almost all of these crorepatis are virtually income tax-immune. *1 crore = 10 million According to official calculations, there are only 42,800 individuals and entities in a country of 1.20 billion people paying tax on an income exceeding rupees one crore. It is such a pity considering that India now proudly boasts to be the second largest growing economy in Asia.

The country today is in the midst of an unprecedented housing boom with hundreds of multi-storied commercial and residential complexes coming up virtually in every nook and corner of the country, particularly in the National Capital Region (NCR) in and around the Indian capital. Fast growing towns of Noida, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and several more in the states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh bordering New Delhi are currently the hot favorites both of the builders and the investors, and have overnight become virtually metropolitan cities.

Each and every such building produces many crorepatis who then reinvest their illicit gains in further building up their land banks and thus multiplying their fortune by geometrical progression. This process of enrichment has also a domino effect bringing riches to virtually everyone connected even indirectly with such construction projects. It is understood that most of such money is ill-gotten and kept largely outside the purview of the income tax or internal revenue authorities.

Apart from the construction boom that is everyday producing crorepatis by the dozen, most other crorepatis are the corrupt bureaucrats and the crooked politicians who all are busy amassing money with both hands as if there is no tomorrow. Many of the government departments are treated like “milch cows” that are readily and

greedily milked by whosoever gets a chance. Departments such like Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and similar authorities in other cities besides the municipal corporations in most parts of the country are the traditional dens of corruption. Almost everyone right from the bosses to the lowest peons have their hands in the till. The reason that they are not being caught red handed is that even their supervisors too are engaged in this game of getting rich by hook or crook. If there are some unusual exceptions, their acquiescence in the rampant corruption being indulged by their bosses or colleagues presumes their implicit acceptance. …and promoters of educational institutes Many of these new crorepatis could also be found among the promoters of hundreds and hundreds of educational / engineering / management / paramedical and other such institutes that have grown virtually like mushrooms in most parts of the country. Interestingly, most of these promoters were initially involved in real estate, and moving on to this business was simply a seamless transition for them in the sense that such businesses essentially required imposing buildings in order to impress the unwary and naïve but ambitious students. In due course, most of these institutes gave birth to new offspring and second campuses. Many others to enter, what

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looked like a flourishing and easy ‘business’, came from liquor trade, flaunting their “black money” chests.

Paradoxically, hardly anyone of their promoters wore an educationist’s tag; some are just plain graduates with no pretensions of being scholarly.

Enter chartered accountants!!

When these construction and ‘educational’businesses became so attractive that the chartered accountants of such nouveau riche ‘entrepreneurs’ too started licking their lips in greed; a few became the benami partners of their clients while others, more enterprising, set up their own construction projects making use of the various loopholes available in the law such like buying ‘dormant’ private limited companies and purchasing lands in their names. Partnership firms came up overnight with their wives and HUFs as partners while the chartered accountants merrily continued their practice in utter violation of the ethics of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

The question is how ‘black money’ becomes such an easy multiplier? Just consider that you are constructing a large and spacious building with a carpet area of one lakh square feet and you do not have even 10% or 20% of its approximate cost in, what is colloquially called, “No. 1” money. No problem. Every supplier of construction and building material or for that matter every other product including

bricks, steel, cement, bajri, sand, timber or whatever will be happy to accept your payment in cash. Cheques are strictly “No, No” in such transactions that normally run into crores of rupees. In a way, this ‘merry go round’ game is a win-win situation for each and every player; no cheque payment, no receipt and no VAT or service tax, and lastly no income tax.

Everybody is happy but the country everyday of the year loses crores and crores of rupees.

But then we Indians are some of the most self-centric peoples in the world. WHAT A PITY!!!

Lakshmi Maa – the presiding deity It is not alone the players directly engaged in these massive construction projects who are the votaries of black money; they also include the entire chain of the wholesale distributors or manufacturers located in metropolitan cities or other large commercial hubs. Goddess Lakshmi, does not distinguish between the black and white money, and no wonder that devout worshippers pay her special obeisance on the Diwali night. Interestingly, even payment of crores in cash is no problem for these crorepati businessmen. A clandestine and foolproof system of money transfer is in vogue. If you have to pay a crore of rupees to someone in Delhi, you pay that amount to an identified person in Dehra Dun and that someone in Delhi will get that amount at his house, a la Western Union.

Professional Evaders In addition to these “entrepreneurs”, there are a large number of white collared “respectable” professionals enjoying high esteem among their peers who too are very adept at evading income tax. There are hundreds and hundreds of such high profile doctors, lawyers, chartered accountants and others in India with incomes easily exceeding a crore of rupees. A news story in MAIL TODAY sometime ago had lamented

that, “Independent professionals and traders with lavish lifestyles are reported to be filing tax returns that reflect incomes ranging from a mere rupees 2,00,000 to 5,00,000 a year.

The big cars that they use are bought in the names of business entities.

“These assessees have been showing withdrawals from their bank accounts of paltry rupees 10,000 or so to run their monthly expenses.” Who they think are they hoodwinking?

These worthies by and large declare incomes based only on the payments received by checks from government departments or corporates; the cash receipts are attributed to the benevolence of goddess Lakshmi and as such not shown or recorded anywhere.

And all these retailers Now look at the numerous wholesale and retail businesses. Almost 99% (I don’t know why I have spared the remaining 1%?) of such businesses including the kirana stores or sweet shops or general merchants or other outlets all over the country either do not pay any tax whatsoever or just about file a nominal return. It was in the support of such kirana stores that many opposition parties shouted themselves hoarse in opposing FDI in multi-retail businesses. There must be on a conservative estimate several millions such kirana and other retail stores in the country who do not generally pay income tax or even sales tax. Retailing in India accounts for 14 to 15 percent of its GDP. The Indian retail market is estimated to be US$ 450 billion and one of the top five retail markets in the world by economic value. Yet, this significant sector of the Indian economy makes a woefully meager contribution to India’s tax revenues.

“It is indeed unfortunate that we as Indians by and large are bereft of the culture of tax compliance. The Indian tax rates are among the most attractive in the world and we should all happily and readily contribute our mite by way of paying our due taxes,” opined a senior chartered accountant.

He also expressed his disapproval of the recent tendency among some of our colleagues of carrying on ‘benami’ businesses.

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