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Friday, October 24 2014 | Vol. 33, No. 43

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Indo American erican News

www.indoamerican-news.com Published weekly from Houston, TX

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Diwali Festivities

Diwali fireworks at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandri on Saturday, October 18.

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October 24, 2014

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October 24, 2014

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Club 24 Kicks Off Diwali Celebrations at a Home Worthy of a Resort

Oberoi’s beautifully illuminated backyard

notes at a mic below a banner of the Club, “and we have had four great ones so far”!

The Diwali event committee – Madhavi Kavadi, Poonam Pagnis, Dr. Aparna Kamat and headed by Dr. Asra Oberoi - stood behind her and acknowledged the applause of the members in the patio area in front of them. Behind them, a large garlanded idol of Ganesh formed the backdrop for many pictures and the Rice University Bhangra Team which, later in the night on Friday, October 17, entertained the 150 people who attended the function with a vigorous set of dances. Most of the Club 24

MISSOURI CITY: In the background, jets of water splashed playing fully in multi-hued colors from the middle of the kidneyshaped swimming pool and a gas-fueled fire blazed in the open hearth at the far edge. Trunks of the palm trees surrounding the pool were draped with strings of LED lights. A few tall bar tables covered with long red table cloths dotted the large open tile floor in front of the doors leading to the kitchen and the media room on

one side and on the other side the main entry to the high-ceilinged foyer of the two-story house with the wrought-iron railing balcony overlooking the entire vista. White wooden round tables with matching chairs dotted the back lawn and midway to the pool was the covered cabana with a counter with the built-in cooking setup where the food catered for the evening by Bombay Brasserie was laid out for the Diwali party goers.

Just as the hint of Fall weather touched the Gulf Coast, the first days of Diwali were being cel-

ebrated across the Metroplex and by the Club 24 Plus members at the resort-like outdoor setting of the home of Ricki and Asra Oberoi, decorated with string lights across its huge outline in Sienna Plantation. It has been a tradition of the Club to hold its second largest event of the year at the home of one of its members and to cap off its annual activities with a splendid bash. “We usually hold five events every year, the last being our Holidays Party in December”, said President Asha Dhume as she read from prepared

For photo collage, see page 15

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Rice Bhangra Group with (from left) Jay Guerrero, Dr. Asra Oberoi, and Asha Dhume.

Photos: Syndee Jolly

BY JAWAHAR MALHOTRA

Executive Committee attended, though founding member Ashok Garg was in India for a wedding in the family.

Club 24 Plus is a social and recreational club that was founded eight years ago and is slowly redefining the way that many highpowered Indo Americans choose to give their money to charities.

Organized under section 501 (c) (7) of the IRS regulations, Club 24 Plus allows its members to direct their contributions directly to the charity that they favor.

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October 24, 2014

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October 24, 2014

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Diwali Celebrations at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir

Ferris Wheel ride at the BAPS kids diwali carnival Diwali program started with a vedic sholk by a group of 10 year old kids

Unity in Diversity Diwali Program highlighted India’s culture, music and language at BAPS

BY BAPS CORRESPONDENT STAFFORD: Many years ago Rupal Patel recalls reading comic books on Ramayan in India. She remembers that anytime she would have a question, her grandmother would narrate the journey of Bhagwan Ram and Sita by memory.

She was always intrigued when hearing about when Ram would triumph over Ravan and bring Sita back to Ayodhya. She felt a sense

of peace and restoration of balance. After each narration, Rupal would take away a new moral and apply it to her life. It is with this spirit that millions of Hindus celebrate the festival of Diwali every year.

Now that she lives in Sugarland, Texas and thousands of miles from India she misses Diwali and its atmosphere. She misses the assortments of sweets or mithai during Diwali. In order to sustain those

memories, for the last 10 years, she and her family attends the celebrations at the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Stafford.

For the last two weekends, Diwali has been celebrated in grand scale at the Mandir. On October 11, children of all ages got to participate in a special Kid’s Diwali Carnival. Each child took part in a special sabha or assembly followed by carnival rides. The day ended with each child lighting

their own divos and participating in a special grand Diwali arti on the Mandir.

The celebrations continued at the Mandir on Saturday, October 18 with an outdoor Diwali program titled “Unity in Diversity.”

The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir was beautifully lit with orange, white and green representing the Indian flag. Along with Rupal’s family, several hundred visitors were welcomed with beautiful rangolis and divos. The Diwali program highlighted India’s diverse culture, language, music, character and most importantly unity. Throughout the program a special laser show was displayed lighting up the dark skies with beautiful colors. Rupal Patel’s daughter was amazed when the fireworks started to pop at the end of the program. Each visitor left with the sentiments of being proud Indians and happy citizens of the community in which they live in.

In an age where traditions and morals are challenging to maintain, His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj invests time to build

the roots of ancient rituals for generations. On the surface, Diwali is the most colorful holiday with fireworks, rangolis, and beautiful decorations, variety of mithais, fancy flowers and lit divos. But the true essence of Diwali is an internal journey of dispelling darkness in the forms of ego, anger, jealously, greed, and envy and invoking the light to bring in positive virtues of patience, contentment, compassion and inner-stability. Pramukh Swami Maharaj is a living example of positive virtues that we can strive towards with sincere efforts.

Through introspection at this auspicious time, we can overcome our negative virtues and bring out the light from within.

Rupal Patel left this Diwali with the hope that the coming year will bring joy and peace to her family and instill moral values for her children to pass onto coming generations. Not only was she able to be a spectator of the beautiful colors of Diwali, she left with a sense of ease by applying virtues

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COMMUNITY

October 24, 2014

The Grand Deepavali Bazaar at Sri Meenakshi Temple

Erin Asprec,CEO Memorial Hermann Southeast, Mayor of Pearland Tom Reid, Joanne Barrett, Chief Nursing officer Kindred Hospital, Dr. Ramesh Patel (back) and MTS Chair Dr. Vaduganathan Photos: Nandhu Radhakrishnan

BY CHITOOR RAMACHANDRAN PEARLAND: Sri Meenakshi Temple looked extraordinarily vibrant starting from the daybreak on Saturday, October 18 with the morning Suprabhadam to welcome Sri Venkateswara and Sri Lakshmi to the beautiful dawn. The festive look of the temple with colorful lights, huge tents and filled parking lots were all indicative of a grand celebration. Deepavali (Diwali) literally means Festival of

Lights with an ancient message to erase darkness of ignorance with the light of knowledge.

A feature of the festivities is the free community Health fair (running 19th year) and was inaugurated by dignitaries (Erin Asprec, CEO Memorial Hermann Southeast hospital, Mayor Tom Reid and Joanne Barrett, Chief Nursing officer, Kindred Hospital). Kindred Hospital and their staff provided all the blood tests.

Dr. Nirmala Kethineni of Cypress

Spring Family clinic provided Flu shots (either free or heavily subsidized price). Free tests and general medical checkup was conducted.

Dr. Ramesh Patel gave lectures on vegetarian diet, stress management and cardiac risk screening. Temple chairman and coordinator of the Health Fair Dr. P. Vaduganathan thanked the Health professionals and volunteers.

Devotees thronged all day with families offering prayers; by noon, the temple premises had turned into a little India. The choices of delicious food items provided by the vendors, art competitions, facial paintings and the carnival games and a shiny Red Fire truck kept the children excitingly engaged.

Many area merchants had their display of beautiful items for sale ornaments, jewels, clothes, sarees, gift items, paintings, handicrafts, imported art work, ayurvedic medicine, just to name a few. Information booths were set up to promote valuable services and innovative educational materials.

The variety of entertainment demonstrated the wealth of culture in the Indian community living in Greater Houston area. While the children entertained the crowd CONTINUED ON PAGE

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The Spectacular Fireworks at the MTS Diwali Bazaar (Ratham in foreground)

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October 24, 2014

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October 24, 2014

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Walkathon for Child Rights

People from different parts of Houston came to walk in support of Child rights for the CRY Walk 2014 at Lost Creek Park, Sugar Land on October 18.

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Volunteers at the CRY Walk 2014

SUGAR LAND: Millions of children can only dream of having the basic rights to live, learn, play and grow. The United Nations Convention on the rights of the child grants children four basic human rights: the right to survival, development, participation and protection. CRY supports organizations in India and the US and has transformed the life of over 450,000 children.

With a vision of a just world in which all children have equal opportunities to develop to their full potential, CRY (Child Rights and You) works to raise awareness and support for underprivileged children.

With this goal in mind people from different parts of Houston came to walk in support of Child rights at Lost Creek Park in Sugar Land, TX on October 18. The Event started with a speech from Dharam Bali who is the Houston AC Lead for CRY America. Student volunteers Parth and Ravali, both 8th graders talked about the agenda for the day. This was followed by a talk by esteemed guest Dr Raj Shani who is an orthopedic surgeon and Assistant Professor in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston. Priya Gambhir and Sonia Joshi conducted Bollywood Yoga with music by DJ Dholi Tamim that kept the crowd on their feet.

This event was organized keeping young kids in mind. Madhulica Misra, walk lead for 2014, and Indira B along with volunteers from different schools put in a lot of hours to make this event a success. There were multiple stations for food, music and face painting. To keep everyone entertained there was a Tug of war and Soccer for kids. This kept all the participants engaged from start to the end of the program. Dr Nik Nikam, cardiologist at Sugar land Heart center and All India

Radio host answered questions and offered great advice to all participants.

CRY America would like to thank all the sponsors, media and everyone who helped in making this event a big success. People can still donate by going to www.cryamerica. org and finding the Houston Walk under the Events tab. CRY believes that “CHANGE is POSSIBLE because we will make it POSSIBLE”.

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The Grand Deepavali Bazaar at Sri Meenakshi Temple

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October 24, 2014

Diwali Celebrations at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir CONTINUED FROM PAGE

Kids Carnival at MTS Diwali Bazaar 2014

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displayed by Pramukh Swami Maharaj into her life.

About BAPS The BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), a worldwide sociospiritual organization is dedicated to community service, peace and harmony. Motivated by Hindu principles, BAPS strives to care for the world by caring for societies, families and individuals.

Through social and spiritual activities, BAPS endeavors to produce better citizens of tomorrow who have a high esteem for their roots. Its 3,300 international centers support these character-building activities. Under the guidance and leadership of His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj, BAPS aspires to build a community that is morally, ethically and spiritually pure, and free of addictions.

About Pramukh Swami Maharaj His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj, the fifth spiritual successor of Bhagwan Swaminarayan, has inspired millions of people across the world to lead a Godcentered, morally pure life. As the present leader of BAPS, Pramukh Swami Maharaj has trav-

Crowd enjoying the Diwali program at BAPS

eled extensively, emphasizing the importance of family harmony, community service and spiritual progress. He embodies the essence of Hindu life. His compassion for humanity, universal

wisdom and striking simplicity has touched many world religious and national leaders.

For further information visit www.baps.org

Standing room only at MTS Diwali bazaar with over 4000 visitors

with their impressive talents, the outstanding classical dance performance by Krithika Subrahmanian and group entertained the audience packed in the Kalyanamandapam.

By sunset, an elaborate set up was made by the priests for the traditional Lakshmi puja; this was preceded with the Diwali parade, where MTS was joined by Namadwar and ISKCON. The dedicated priest of MTS inspired the devotees with Veda manthras and pushpa archana. The utsava murthy of Sri Lakshmi was taken out on the majestic silver chariot pulled by hundreds of devotees with thousands assembled all around the temple to have a darshan of this auspicious scene. The exhilarating

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sound of Chenda Melam led the Rathotsavam.

The crowd rejoiced in the spectacular firework, which was followed by Garba with live music.

The mood was just exhilarating till the end.

We thank the volunteers and employees of MTS for organizing such a flawless festival year after year for two decades. They deserve congratulations for a meticulous job well done with the support of many benevolent well-wishers and supporters. We pray to Sri Meenakshi, Sri Sundareswara, Sri Padmavathi and Sri Venkateswara for a year of happiness and welfare to all.

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10 October 24, 2014

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October 24, 2014

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Wallis State Bank #1 SBA Lender in the Houston District Office

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From left: Aziz Rahim, Zafar Khan, Nasrullah Khan, Asif Dakri CEO, Rajiv Bhavsar and Faizel Dakri.

HOUSTON: Wallis State Bank has made another milestone in SBA lending in the Houston area.

For the SBA fiscal year from October 1, 2013 to September 30, 2014, Wallis State Bank is the #1 SBA volume lender for the Houston District Office. Out of the 128 banks in the Houston area, Wallis State Bank did the most SBA loans dollar wise with $49.3 million.

Surpassing the previous ranking held by the larger banks, Wallis State Bank did a combination of 7(a) and 504 SBA loans to be #1.

Leading the SBA department is Nasr Khan EVP/Chief Lending Officer who has been with WSB for over 3 years. “This was a Wallis State Bank Team effort and I’m extremely proud of our SBA department for their hard work and dedication to make us #1” says Khan. “Our goal is to help the community and make their dreams come true of owning and operating a business. And with the

community’s support, Wallis State Bank is on top.”

Wallis State Bank has eleven locations including offices in Dallas, San Antonio, and a Loan Production Office in Los Angeles. WSB is a Preferred Lender (PLP) of the SBA. The Preferred Lenders Program (PLP) is part of SBA’s effort to streamline the procedures necessary to provide financial assistance to the small business community. Under this program, SBA delegates the final credit decision and most servicing and liquidation authority and responsibility to carefully selected PLP lenders.

Lenders are considered for PLP status based on their record with SBA, and must have demonstrated a proficiency in processing and servicing SBA-guaranteed loans. *Along with doing SBA loans, Wallis State Bank also has an array of bank products such as personal/ business checking and savings accounts, conventional loans,

business credit cards, online banking as well as personal loans and auto loan.

The leading loan officers who are servicing the South Asian Community in the Houston area are Raj B. Bhavsar/SVP at the Kempwood Branch, Aziz A. Rahim/SVP at the Stafford location and Zafar Khan/ AVP also at the Stafford location.

Asif Dakri, the CEO of Wallis State Bank remains committed to providing excellent service and quick turnaround time for approval and closing.

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Dinner Honoring Daya at Consul General's Home

From left: Daya Board and Staff Chitra Divakaruni, Lakshmy Parameswaran, Vyoma Majmudar-Banker, Vatsala Bhaskaran, Abhilasha Raj, Sesh Bala & Anita Manoharan

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HOUSTON: Daya, an organization serving South Asian survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault was inaugurated in 1996 by the then Consul General of India, Swashpawan Singh. Since then, Daya has been fortunate to have the support of every Consul General and his spouse who succeeded Swashpawan Singh in Houston.

This relationship between Daya and the office of the Consul General reached a new height on October 14 when our current Consul General Parvathaneni Harish and his wife Nandita Harish hosted a dinner at their home honoring Daya’s work to end violence against women and children. The couple had invited the staff, board members and advisory board along with their spouses for this occasion. After a short yet soulful music performance by Keerthana and Kruti Bhat and Tanmayi Krishnamurthy, the Consul General spoke of his association with Daya from the time he arrived in Houston and about the importance of Daya’s work and its impact on both women’s and men’s lives. He praised and encouraged Daya’s dedicated staff and volunteers.

The sentiments expressed by Harish was all the more meaningful to the staff and board of Daya considering October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The speech was followed by an elegant formal dinner that Nandita Harish had thoughtfully planned for her guests. Nandita, like her predecessors, serves on Daya’s Advisory Board and has identified and referred

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clients to the organization. Her compassion and passion for women’s causes have benefited not only Daya but also our community at-large. Houston is indeed fortunate to have this power couple among its residents for a few years at least.

BY LAKSHMY PARAMESWARAN

From left: Lakshmy Parameswaran, Nandita Harish and Consul General of India Parvathaneni Harish.

From October 03, 2014 to November 10, 2014 Come today to our store to celebrate our

First Year Anniversary & Diwali Sale.

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COMMUNITY

October 24, 2014

Houston Maharashtra Mandal Celebrated Diwali

Padmaja Phenany Joglekar (Singing), Guitar - Aditya Joglekar, Tabla - Nitish Kulkarni, Harmonium - Mandar Parkhi

BY RAVI OZARKER HOUSTON: HMM celebrated Diwali on October 18 in Katy. Highlights of the Diwali event included Mangaldeep Sugam Sangeet Concert by Padmaja Phenany Joglekar.

Padmaja received Padma Shri Award in 2001 for her god gifted voice and singing talent.

She had a special privilege of composing and singing poems written by Honorable Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. She has also tuned and sung poems written by former Prime Minister Hon’ Shri V P Singh. Her voice and personality is exceptional. She molded her God gifted golden voice with dedication and hard work and quickly grew up to become an extremely versatile singer.

The HMM Diwali event started with a beautiful Diwali welcome message by Viju Bhadkamkar and introduction of all artists (i.e. Padmaja Phenany Joglekar , Guitar Aditya Joglekar, Tabla - Nitish Kulkarni, Harmonium - Mandar Parkhi). All songs were undoubtedly well sung by Padmaja Phenany Joglekar. Rising stars Aditya Joglekar (Padmaja’s son who is doing his masters in Atlanta) and Nitish Kulkarni (HMM’s home grown talent, released a Hollywood album) also gave a splendid performance. The 250 plus attendees were very happy to hear the sweet tabla and guitar. Mandar was just phenomenal on harmonium ready to play almost any tune. Mandar also sang one song very well. People enjoyed nice Marathi and Hindi songs and then enjoyed delicious food from Maharaja Bhog restaurant.

HMM President Megha Ozarker requested all HMM members to donate for the HMM 2014 Kashmir Floods Fundraiser.

In September 2014, the Jammu and Kashmir region was hit by heavy floods caused

by torrential rainfall. By September 24, 2014, nearly 284 people in India died due to the floods. HMM had started fundraising for the Flood/Disaster led by Houston’s, Mrudula Lele and supported by Houston’s Sewa International.

During the Diwali event, HMM Vastu Division President, Samir Karandikar thanked all the Vastu Donors. HMM is planning to build a Vastu (a facility including a temple and community center) in the Houston area.

The facility will be a symbol for HMM children to stay connected and identify with our Indian cultural heritage. HMM has organized a fundraising event called “Durga Zali Gauri” on November 8, at Cullen Performance Hall to raise funds and awareness of this initiative.

Durga Zaali Gauri is the story of a tempestuous adolescent Princess Gauri who runs away from the palace since she cannot get sleep on any bed in the palace. The musical has 60 participants between the age group of 6 and 25 from the Houston area who have been practicing for almost one year. This show will be staged in Cullen Performance Theatre in Houston on November 8. HMM’s Durga Zali Gauri is directed by Sharmila Moharir and choreographed by Madhura Swadi, Rupa Aranke, Tanuja Sahasrabudhe and Uma Rajguru.

Famous movie stars/directors, Sachin and Supriya Pilgaonkar will be attending this event. Sachin has acted in several Hindi and Marathi movies such as Sholay, Jewel Thief, Bramhachari. He has also directed several films such as Aamhi Saatpute. Sachin Pilgaonkar celebrated his 50 years as part of Indian Cinema.

For further details, contact Shirish Kulkarni (281)213-3799 or email thekulkarnis@hotmail.com.

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16 October 24, 2014 Soulful Concent by T.M. Krishna

BY UMA RANGANATHAN STAFFORD: The great poet Rabindranath Tagore once said, ‘The measure of a singer’s liberation is in his own creative personality. He can sing the composer’s song as his own, if he has the power creatively to assert himself in his interpretation of general law of the melody which he is given to interpret’. These words came alive on October 12 at Stafford Civic Center, when Vidwan T.M.Krishna rendered a soulful concert in his mesmerizing, yet commanding voice.

Renowned for his distinctive style and creativity, TMK swept the audience with an ambience of divine music, which kept ringing in the listeners’ ears, long after they left the concert. But what was truly most inspiring, was his unending passion towards every note he delivered, oozing with purity.

This concert was organized by the Houston Youth Music Association, a group of musically inclined youth who have come together to promote music by hosting Classical Music Concerts featuring young and

experienced global musicians, conducting workshops to enrich the musical knowledge of young enthusiasts, and encouraging the youth to embark on a rewarding musical journey. It was a milestone in HYMA’S journey to have T.M.Krishna’s grand vocal concert. Commencing the program with a Swarajathi in the majestic Thodi raga, his musical voyage knew no boundaries to expedition. Following the swarajathi, the viruttam ‘Pullagi Poondagi’ written by Manikkavacakar, was a perfect gateway to the krithi ‘Srinathadi GuruGuho Jayati’. The viruttam explains that the human birth is extremely precious, because it is bestowed upon a soul after going through enormous births, as a grass, a worm, a tree, a reptile and so on.

However, this human birth is only worthy if dedicated to the one who creates and preserves it. Hence, Dikshitar, in his krithi aptly weaves a beautiful description of the creator and preserver, to whom we owe all our births. TMK thoughtfully tied the two into a moving piece, with the neraval at one of the most powerful lines ‘Maayaa Sabalitha Brahma rupo’. Unlike the form or swaroopa

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of the Creator is veiled by Maaya or illusion, TMK’s neraval unveiled the grandiosity of the phrase as well as the nuances of Mayamalava Gowla. A brief but very fitting tani avartanam by Vidwan Arun Prakash felt like a poetic completion to the swirls of Neraval. Thereafter came a surprise treat to the listeners, a melodious Javali by Ramnad Srinivasa Iyengar in Kamas raga.

While the audience was dwelling in the romantic air of the Javali, TMK presented an ice-breaking Ragam and Tanam in Salaga Bhairavi, awakening the audience to Tyagaraja’s call, ‘Padavini Sadbhakti’, stating that the real status of an individual is not contingent upon wealth, fame, royalty or wishes, but only on the intensity of devotion to Lord Rama.

It was then, a moment of calming down with Shankarabharanam, rendered very pertinently and gracefully by R.K.Shriram Kumar on the Violin. His expressions, both facial and on his violin, were demonstrative of his unison and bliss with the notes, so much that TMK decided to abandon his presentation in the same raga, and went on to

another Tyagaraja krithi explaining a sweet problem,’Dwaitamu Sukhama’. Hence, TMK covered Tattvam through Dikshitar’s Srinathadi, Jnaanam through Tyagaraja’s padavini, and landed on Bhakti, while singing Dwaitamu Sukhama.

T.M.Krishna’s crescendo was at Bhairavi, while relishing Amba Kamakshi, the last words of which, he improvised into a Pallavi. The audience held its pulse when he stood still at the high notes, it felt like an outright silence before a heavy downpour of swarams and tani.

Thereafter, relaxing numbers ‘Baro Krishnaiyya’ and ‘Irakkam Varaamal’ were a calming lullaby to a restless mind. The accompanists too, waved in enjoyment of the tukkadaas, making the exemplar rapport between the three very visible to all listeners, to the extent that it was three Musicians, but just One music that flowed through the theatre.

TMK’s next big surprise unfurled in the Behag tillana, when singing Neraval for the Anupallavi. The sollu kattu got a life and emotion of their own to be proud of. The concert ended with a feeling of satisfaction, as well as the craving for a greater appetite of such moving music. Darshak Thacker (Krishna Sounds) provided an excellent acoustic for the concert.

The concert was presided by the gracious presence of Parvathaneni Harish, the Consul General of India to the United States of America and his wife Nandita Harish. Also, the renowned Violinist Vidwan Vittal Ramamurthy marked his company with his encouraging words. HYMA is not just proud to have hosted such a successful event, but is extremely optimistic about its vision to take music to the next level of appreciation, learning and sharing.

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2014 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

COMMUNITY

October 24, 2014

17

Urge to Reconcile and Bind a War Torn Society Leads to Visible Role in Sri Lankan Government

BY JAWAHAR MALHOTRA

HOUSTON: It was a civil war that lasted 26 years and tore apart the fabric of the country, with death and destruction wreaking havoc far from the Jafna Peninsula, the epicenter of the conflict, to the streets of Columbo, the Sri Lankan capital on the western seaboard. Countless people were caught within the spiraling fighting between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (also known as the Tamil Tigers) and the Sri Lankan military forces, and thousands of innocent lives and families were caught in the crossfire. By some accounts, close to 100,000 people lost their lives.

It was a war based as much along linguistic lines as on harsh economic realities and many Tamils caught in the fighting in the northeastern Jafna peninsula moved up into the central highlands to continue their lives. Many more who were inter-racially married found their personal allegiances challenged by the nature of the conflict between the Tamil minority and the Sinhalese majority.

The conflict made certain their demands for political and economic equality of the Tamil minority were heard, and it exposed the fissures that lay within Sri Lankan society and the political hierarchy of the lack of inclusivity, laying bare that much work had to be done to avoid a repeat of the conflict after the war was finally over. With the war over in 2009, the process of healing the wounds and bitter memories had to begin, a process that Vasudeva Nanayakkara is a veteran left-wing Sri Lankan politician, former presidential candidate and current Member of Parliament and Minister is now leading the government’s efforts to establish a process in a style reminiscent of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission established in South Africa to heal that country’s apartheid era wounds.

“The conflict has a linguistic basis in relation to claims as the Tamils felt Ceylonese but did not feel Sri Lankan when the country changed its name in 1972”, said Nanayakkara in an exclusive interview with Indo American News on a semi-circular balcony open to the atrium of the Galleria 3 Financial Center on Tuesday, October 7. “One way to resolve this resolve this is by becoming truly bilingual and offering everything in Tamil and Sinhalese”, he added.

Nanayakkara, 75, was on a week-long trip to Houston to visit his son Chiranjaya Nanayakkara who is an attorney here as well as give a speech on the subject of reconciliation at the Asia Society (see IAN dated October 17, 2014) organized by attorneys Rajneesh Chaudry and George Willy. He was accompanied on the trip by his colleague in politics, friend of 35 years and his Coordinating Secretary Walter Wilegoda. Nanayakkara became a Minister for National Languages and Social Integration in 2010 and represents the sole seat in the Government from the ten year-old Democratic Left Front, which is part of the United People’s Freedom Alliance, a member of the coalition government that rules the country.

“We need to change the attitude of the people regarding the differences, inequalities and gaps in traditionally inherited divisions of labor”, said Nanayakkara, “and promote ethnic harmony between the Sinhalese, Tamils, Hindus, Christians and Muslims in the country”. He hastens to add that the reconciliation effort is not the same as in South Africa, as the people do not hate each other. Of the 20 million people on the island, roughly 11 percent are Hindus and mostly Tamils, 6 per cent are Muslims and an-

The Sri Lankan Minister for National Languages and Social Integration and Ethnic Affairs, Vasudeva Nanayakkara (right) visited Houston recently with a colleague and fellow minister Walter Wilegoda. They gave an exclusive interview to Indo-American News in the Galleria on October 7.

other 6 are Christians; but of the whole, almost 80 per cent of the people are relatively poor to very poor. Staring in 1956, ethnic cleansing

by Sinhalese gangs and ultra-nationalists led to this problem, though now there are less of their followers.

Nanayakkara started his career as a criminal lawyer and worked with the labor and tribal movements in the southern district of Galle.

From an early age his leftist leanings and concerns for the growing inequalities in society led him to join the Lanka Sama Samaja Party in 1958 and he was elected to parliament in 1970. After changing several parties, he was proscribed in 1982 and forced into hiding with other left-wing politicians until 1985. He ran for president in 1999, and won a seat on the Columbo Municipal Council in 2006.

“A large part of the conflict has been ‘Who owns Sri Lanka? Who has the right of dominance?’”, said Nanayakkara. “It is a question of a single state to the exclusion of the minorities”.

He is proud that he and his Alliance have been able to get lots of things done to help the poor, like the fertilizer subsidy to small farmers; competitive purchasing by the state of agricultural products; stopping the privatization of all lands and bringing them back to state ownership and helping the small and medium farmers to get cheap loans.

Nanayakkara also worries that foreign investment has been low – about $2 billion – and has not met targets, but is going to other lucrative markets in Asia and that the IMF complains that the state interferes in the markets. “The state tax policies are light for the rich and harsher for the common man”, Nanayakkara said adding that he would like to see that change to corporations carrying 30 per cent of the tax burden and the poor much less. A large number of workers continue to send remittances from service in the Middle East.

“The solution to integration is making sure that bilingualism – Tamil and Sinhalese – becomes official in all parts of the country. More

Tamils speak Sinhalese than the other way around”, emphasized Nanayakkara. “Our cultures are very similar and through a lot of inter-

marriage we are related to each other. Poverty has no ethnic distinction. Our chief problem is governance”.

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2014 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

18 October 24, 2014 A Mandate for Change

An outright assembly poll victory in Haryana and a stellar performance in Maharashtra clearly confirm that BJP has hit a political purple patch. Following the last round of bypoll results many had questioned whether the Modi wave witnessed during Lok Sabha elections was on the wane. But by wresting away Haryana and Maharashtra from Congress, the Modi-Amit Shah combine has once again proved that BJP’s poll machinery can fire on all cylinders. The poll results not only strengthen BJP across the country but also Modi and Amit Shah within the party and Sangh Parivar.

Understandably BJP is now looking forward to upcoming assembly elections in Jammu & Kashmir and Jharkhand, where it should use the same strategies deployed successfully in Maharashtra and Haryana. It also appears ready for fresh polls in Delhi. In all three states it has an excellent chance of forming the government. J&K will likely throw up a fractured mandate but BJP could still emerge as the single largest party, as it did in Maharashtra.

Given that BJP is on a strong wicket politically Prime Minister Narendra Modi is well placed at this point to challenge a firmly held conviction among politicians, to the effect that good economics makes bad politics. There is no real evidence to confirm such a conviction. Indians have turned aspiratio-nal but politicians are behind the curve. Modi is commonly perceived as being pro-business but this hasn’t hurt him politically in any way.

It’s now time to turn that perception into reality by pushing economic reforms. True, BJP was politically burnt by its ‘India Shining’ experience, but this has been radically misinterpreted.

Benefits of reforms during the last NDA regime were reaped by UPA-I because reforms were enacted during the fag end of the Vajpayee government. Thus, Modi should take tough decisions on the economy now when BJP’s political fortunes are on the ascendant and his hand vis-a-vis the Sangh Parivar has grown strong.

The need of the hour is big-ticket reforms such as Goods and Services Tax, land acquisition, labour laws, raising the FDI cap in insurance, direct benefits transfer, supply side response to inflation and so on. Having already displayed an appetite for political gambles, Modi must not play it safe on the economy front. Risks of inaction are far higher than risks of reform, as UPA found out to its cost. Times of India

EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY Zuckerberg on India’s Potential

think this a barrier?

We are focused on things we can do; which is making Internet access available to people around the world.

Legal rules are a local thing. We can help be a part of the debate but a company like ours is not into trying hard to change the local rules in any country.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s quest for the next billion Internet users has brought him to India for the first time. But given the lack of Internet connectivity and challenges related to affordability of services, he realises that Facebook needs to do much more than what it is today.

In an interaction with media, Mr. Zuckerberg took questions on a wide range of issue, including freedom of speech, India’s potential and network neutrality. Edited Excerpts: You are going to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. What will be the main point of discussion?

One of things I am really excited about is the Prime Minister’s Digital India mission. We want to figure out how we can plug into this mission. I am going to be interested in learning what we can do to help. Facebook is the biggest Internet service worldwide, and there are unique things where we can help out.

Can you give an example of how Facebook overcame a specific barrier in India?

One of the things we are doing is to enable local language. India has great diversity of local language. We now support 10 popular languages. We have more work to do there.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg addressing the inaugural session of the first Internet.org summit (October 9-10), in New Delhi.

For Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, India is more than just a big market. It is a test bed where he hopes to enable the development of tools and ideas that can be useful for the entire world.

To make this happen, Mr. Zuckerberg announced a million dollar fund to start an innovation challenge in India. The fund will be made available to developers of applications, websites and online services that improve lives of women, students, farmers and migrant workers.

“Because India has embraced science, research and development, benefits of bringing connectivity to India are going to be profound. When you bring Internet to India, you are You said you will spend billions empowering people to build tools on things like drones and satellites that can really benefit the world,” to ensure Internet access around the he said.”

Other than the sheer number of people, what is it that makes India important for you?

Sheer numbers are an important part of it. You have a different dynamics and different challenges in building tools and infrastructure for so many people. If you can do it successfully in India, then you can do it anywhere else. This is a country which is forward on science and engineering. I think benefits of bringing connectivity to India are going to be profound. When you bring Internet to India, you are empowering people to build tools that can really improve the world. We, at Facebook, can play some role in making that happen.

world. How do you react to critics who say that there are more important things than Internet like toilet, food and water?

People need different things. Internet is an enabler of lot of things.

People use Internet for health information, news and weather. People do not need any one thing alone. We are focused on Internet because we

understand the dynamics well. We never say Internet is important than food or water. You need both. But we, as Facebook, are better suited to provide Internet than food or water.

You talked about barriers to Internet. In India there is the Section 66 of the IT Act under which people can be arrested just for liking a post. Do you

Any plans to monetize WhatsApp? Over the long-term, there are clear models building businesses around messaging products. But in the next few years, our focus is on connecting more people.

Right now there are more than 600 million users on WhatsApp, we should have more than a billion people. In the near-time, there is no plan to monetise. Longer-term, we have ideas which we are thinking about but it’s not a focus area.

How difficult is it to get telecom companies to collaborate in your Internet.org scheme? What’s coming in the way of bringing this to India?

There are certain countries and certain operators who are forward leaning and want to try new things.

So, we started in smaller countries where it’s easier to test things out. We are trying to build success stories in bringing more people on the Internet, and also make it profitable for telecom operators.

Once we have these success stories over time, then we can go to bigger players in bigger market in countries like India. India is an important market so we didn’t want to take a risk not doing it well. A lot of times, leading operators may not be risk taking compared to a challenger who wants to try a new thing first. All we need is to find some folks and show that it works and then over time it becomes clear that’s it good for everyone. It’s still early days. The Hindu

Indo American News FOUNDER: DR. K.L. SINDWANI PUBLISHER: JAWAHAR MALHOTRA EDITOR: PRAMOD KULKARNI BUSINESS & PRODUCTION MANAGER: VANSHIKA VIPIN

CORRESPONDENTS

HOUSTON: MALAY VYAS INDIA: RAJ KANWAR, ASEEM KULKARNI ®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 4 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

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2014 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

COMMUNITY

October 24, 2014

Sankara Eye Foundation Hosts First Banquet in Houston

HOUSTON: Sankara Eye Foundation (SEF) is proud to announce it first ever Banquet in Houston on Nov. 8, in celebration of the inauguration of its ninth eye care hospital in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh and performing over 1.2 million free eye surgeries.

Established in 1998, Sankara Eye Foundation (SEF), a non-profit 501(c) (3) organization, has been working tirelessly for the past sixteen years with Sankara Eye Care Institutes in India to eradicate curable blindness.

Driven by the truly inspirational vision of “Vision 20/20 by the year 2020,” Sankara has established eight community hospitals throughout India. It recently inaugurated its ninth hospital in Uttar Pradesh, and will

launch its tenth hospital in Rajasthan next year.

In India, over 55 million people are visually impaired and 8 million are blind. Over 80% of the blindness such as Cataract and Glaucoma are considered curable. Sankara’s efforts based on robust infrastructure and aggressive outreach programs have enabled over 3 million patient screenings and over one million free eye surgeries with a network of state of the art hospitals across India. SEF is today the largest totally free eye care provider in the world, performing about 150,000 free eye surgeries per year.

With over 300 volunteers in sev-

eral cities including Houston, SEF’s mission is to strengthen and expand the infrastructure and outreach programs to all parts of India through its fundraising efforts. America’s largest charity rating agency, Charity Navigator, has accorded SEF a prestigious four-star rating (out of four stars) for its accountability and transparency for two consecutive years, a feat achieved by only 19% of the charities in the United States.

SEF is hosting its first ever Banquet in Houston on Saturday, November 8, at the India House. With banquet dinner and multilingual musical entertainment by Swaramadhuri Group, the goal of the banquet is to raise SEF awareness in Houston while raising funds to support free eye surgeries, screenings, and capital expansion projects in India. The event will be attended by eminent personalities such as the Consul General of India, P. Harish, Dr. Ramani and Dr. Radha Ramani, Sankara Eye Care Institution Founders, and Murali and Sridharan Krishnamurthy, SEF Founders.

Visit www.giftofvision.org or contact the SEF Houston Team via email sefhouston@giftofvision.org to receive more information about the banquet.

This festival season give the “Gift of Vision”! Contact: Dr. Rajender Aparasu at 713-429-4520b or Email: aparasu@giftofvision.org

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2014 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

19

20 October 24, 2014 Record Breaking Attendance Numbers for Texas Renaissance Festival’s Opening Weekend

TODD MISSION: Despite forecasts for patchy rain over the first weekend, Texas Renaissance Festival organizers report record breaking attendance numbers for Saturday and Sunday’s Oktoberfest opening weekend. The nation’s largest and most acclaimed renaissance festival celebrates 40 years of food, fun and magical weekends from October 11 through November 30, as well as Thanksgiving Friday.

“After 40 years, the Texas Renaissance Festival is built to withstand all types of weather, especially rain,” General Manager Terre Albert says.

“Being in Texas, rain is something we’ve learned to expect in the fall.

With that in mind, the festival has several covered venues that visi-

tors can step inside if it does start to rain, including The Barbarian Inn, Hacienda San Jorge and a number of shoppes. These places offer food, drinks and entertainment!”

After rain, organizers rebuild any paths, holes or water damage across the 55-acre footprint during the week.

“We do this so that the festival is in perfect shape for festival goers for the next weekend,” Albert says.

Organizers promise an unforgettable season of eight themed weekends, filled with new surprises and the same 16th century cheer, lively characters and turkey legs that have made the event famous.

Magical fantasies came to life this past 1001 Dreams weekend, October

COMMUNITY

Photos: Vanshika Vipin

18 & 19, as wizards, elves and faeries enchanted the streets of New Market Village spreading joy throughout the shire. A Fantasy Scavenger Hunt, Fantasy Costume Contest, and the Dragon Wing Eating Contest were all part of the enchanting celebrations.

To commemorate its 40th anniversary, Texas Renaissance Festival debuted a major addition to its stable of offerings – King Midas’ Masquerade. An event in its own right, the much-anticipated inaugural masked ball takes place every Saturday night of the festival season from 8 p.m. – 1 a.m. Guests will celebrate in costume and are required to wear a mask or face paint.

The Texas Renaissance Festival has always been known as a camping destination for RVs, trailers and tents and the expansion of the The Fields of New Market Campground is an exciting addition for those looking to extend their stay. This year, visitors will enjoy amenities such as brand new showers and continue to enjoy access to restrooms, water stations and a “Quikie Mart” open from 7 a.m. to 12 a.m. for drinks, snacks, ice and other camping materials as well as hot cooked meals being served throughout the campgrounds.

Tickets for the Texas Renaissance Festival can be purchased online only at www.texrentfest.com/buy-tickets.

Tickets to the King Midas Masquerade are limited (only 600 people are allowed each Saturday), and must be purchased online along with a parking or camping pass. Guests will enjoy hors d’oeuvres, beer, wine and a bevy of activities and entertainment. For those seeking the royal treatment, Golden Tickets to the King Midas Masquerade are available for an additional $95 to the regular ticket price ($75), and include early entry into the Masquerade Ball at 7 p.m., a celebratory toast with King Midas at 7:30 p.m., VIP and lounge area seating, top shelf drinks and hors d’oeuvres, private entertainment and a gift of King Midas’ special reserve wine. Golden Ticket upgrades are extremely limited. Guests must be 21 years old or older to attend the King Midas Masquerade. Tickets for the King Midas Masquerade Ball must be purchased at http://texrenfest.com/ masquerade-ball/buy-tickets.

About Texas Renaissance Festival The Texas Renaissance Festival is the nation’s largest and most acclaimed Renaissance-themed event.

Established in 1974, the event attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year to its 55-acre footprint in Todd Mission, Texas. The interactive event features live entertainment, food, fun and professional actors who stay true to character for eight themed weekends from Saturday, October 11 through November 30.

For further information, visit www.texrenfest.com or follow on Twitter @texrenfest or like on Facebook/texrenfest.

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COMMUNITY

October 24, 2014

21

HMM Presents “Durga Zali Gauri” a Musical Journey of a Princess

BY RAJESH THATTE HOUSTON: Their feet are ready to step, hands ready for katthak mudras, faces full of expressions ready for the stage light. This is a dedicated group of Houston’s youngest Maharashtrian community members, as young as 5 years and up to high school. More than 60 children are practicing hard for the past several months to present to you once in a life time mesmerizing presentation of “Durga Zali Gauri”, a theatrical presentation which depicts transformation of a young princess from being angry and ill-mannered to happy and humble.

Durga Zali Gauri is to the Marathi theatre what The Nutcracker is to the English theater. Houston Maharashtra Mandal (HMM) will present this performance on November 8 2014 at Cullen Performance Hall, University of Houston.

The original musical was produced about 25 years ago by Sulabha and Arvind Deshpande, noted Marathi Artists. It has been widely adapted by various performing groups in India.

It is a story of Princess Durga and her journey.

Durga, the pampered princess cannot sleep and no one knows why. Her parents, the King and Queen are willing to do whatever it takes to please their lovely daughter but her insomnia is causing common citizens of the kingdom to suffer. The common folks are often forced to build something to find a cure for Durga’s sleeplessness. Days pass by but nothing works and the subjects of the kingdom suffer. Finally in a feat of anger the princess leaves the palace and an eventual accident causes a memory loss. She travels through kingdom as a common person, develops empathy and compassion towards her citizens and helps them. Please come and watch the musical to learn how Durga turns into Gauri a loving, caring person. Although the dance drama is in Marathi, it will be accompanied by narration in English which should make it easy to understand for everyone.

Houston’s Maharashtrian community is presenting this musical as a fundraiser for building of the temple and community center. We are delighted to have renowned Hindi and Marathi Movie actors, directors and producers, Sachin and Supriya Pilgaokar, as Guests of Honor for this performance. Sachin started as a child actor

in Marathi film, Ha Majha Marg Ekla (1962).

He went on to act in about 65 films as a child artist. As an adult actor he gave hits such as Geet Gata Chal (1975), Balika Badhu (1976), Ankhiyon Ke Jarokhon se (1978) and Nadiya ke paar(1982). He has acted, produced and directed successful comedy shows on Indian television, including Tu Tu Main Main (2000) and Kadvi Khatti Meethi. Sachin has also acted in several hit Marathi films including the recent movies Ekulti Ek (2013) and Sanggto Aika (2014). Supriya is a well-known Hindi and Marathi television and movie personality.

Sachin and Supriya appeared together on the dance show Nach Baliye and walked away as the winners of season 1.

Children and volunteers are working hard devoting their time to bring this grand production to the best of their abilities. Artists, mainly children, are excited that their talent will be presented in front of the noted artists Sachin and Supriya.

Greater Houston area is seeing unprecedented economical growth and that is attracting huge diaspora of Indian community to Greater Houston area. The Maharashtrian community has grown from a few families to several hundreds.

Many of the families are now in third generation and working hard to keep their Maharashtrian heritage as part of their American lives. This is easily seen by sold out HMM events. The large number of members need a common place to get together, interact and celebrate various festivals. The members also need a venue we can call our own for celebrating our events such as milestone birthdays, religious events, and anniversaries. Sensing this growth and need, HMM proposes to build a temple and a community center that will serve the community over the future years.

Passes for the “Durga Zali Gauri” play can be obtained by donating to HMM. Donation levels are set at $100, $1,000, $5,000, $ 10,000 and $ 15,000+. Each donor is provided four passes for the main event. Every donation is tax deductible if you itemize. HMM is 501(c) (3) non-profit organization. For obtaining passes for the show or donating visit WWW.HMMHOUSTON.ORG or contact Shirish Kulkarni at theKulkarnis@hotmail.com.

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22 October 24, 2014

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In the next series of topics, we will explore specific cancers. The first of these is prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is not only a very common cancer but one of the few, where there are several choices of treatment for early to intermediate disease. In most cancer types, the oncologists taking care of the patient can provide a clear recommendation for what would be considered the “best” treatment. In prostate cancer, there is often no “best” treatment. Patients truly have choices to select from. In order to do that well, patients and their families need to be well informed about the nature of treatment and potential side effects. We encourage all men to have consultations with both an urologist as well as a radiation oncologist. Read further as Dr. Ramesh Krishnan explores the topic of prostate cancer.

-Vivek S. Kavadi, M.D.

BY DR. RAMESH KRISHNAN Prostate cancer is a silent killer. It is the most commonly diagnosed cancer for men, other than skin cancer, in the state and country, and one of the leading causes of cancer deaths among men. However, this deadly disease often shows no symptoms, silently attacking its victims with no warning signs. This year alone, more than 233,000 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed in the United States.

The risk stretches down to Texas, where an estimated 17,991 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and 2,113 men are expected to die of the disease in 2014.

At Texas Urology Specialists, we work with patients fighting some of the deadliest diseases, including prostate cancer. The best weapons in the fight against cancer are prevention, early detection, and prompt treatment, which are all critical to survival. In fact, if prostate cancer is detected and treated early and before the cancer spreads, patients have a nearly 100 percent chance of survival after five years.

Although symptoms may not always appear, there may be warning signs. Symptoms include: a frequent need to urinate, especially at night; difficulty controlling urination or bowel movements; painful or burning urination; blood in urine or semen; difficulty having an erection; painful ejaculation; frequent pain or stiffness in the spine, hips, ribs, and other bones; and weakness or numbness in the legs or feet.

Prevention . Prevention of prostate cancer is based on a set of good lifestyle choices, which can also reduce the risk for several other types of cancers and health conditions.

Healthy eating is paramount to healthy living, with nutrition, weight management, and regular exercise all essential elements. For a healthy, well-balanced diet, try eating five or more servings of fruits and vegetables daily and reducing consumption of animal protein.

Several studies have also pointed to regular exercise as a key preventive measure for reducing prostate cancer risk. Being overweight or obese can further complicate prostate cancer, so maintaining a healthy body weight is important.

Early Detection. When detected early, the survival rate for prostate cancer is much higher than if detected at a later stage.

Men should discuss with their physicians the risks and benefits of prostate cancer screenings to make an informed decision about testing. Most men should consider yearly prostate screenings beginning at age 50. Men at high risk (African Americans and men with a family history of prostate cancer before age 65) should consider testing beginning at age 45. Consider screening at age 40 if more than one first-degree relative is diagnosed before 65. Prostate screenings can include the PSA (prostate-specific antigen) blood test and DRE (digital rectal exam).

Treatment. Prostate cancer, depending on the stage, may be treated by different members of the cancer care team — urologists, medical oncologists, and radiation oncologists.

Physicians will determine the most appropriate treatment for each patient, but possible treatment options include surveillance, surgery, radiation therapy, hormone therapy, and chemotherapy, or a combination.

The cancer care team at Texas Urology Specialists offers an array of medical, urologic, radiation oncology, and surgical services, with each treatment program fully tailored to the individual patient’s needs. Texas Urology Specialists offers leadingedge radiation technology for treatment of prostate cancer, including intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). IMRT enables radiation oncologists to precisely target tumor cells using 3D images that map out

the tumors. Physicians use these images to localize treatment to the affected area, minimizing damage to surrounding tissue.

Some patients with prostate cancer may be treated with surgery. Radical prostatectomy is a surgical procedure that removes the prostate gland and surrounding tissue. The surgery is usually performed in cases where the cancer has not spread outside of the prostate gland.

At Texas Urology Specialists, patients have access to two types of this surgery: open radical prostatectomy and robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy. Open surgery includes one incision to remove the prostate gland and surrounding tissue. Robotic-assisted surgery involves a series of smaller incisions, all controlled by a physician operating robotic arms. This minimally invasive procedure allows more precise control over the surgical instruments performing the operation. With the experienced surgeons at Texas Urology Specialists, the robotic surgery offers shorter hospitalization and faster recovery. Post-operative outcomes such as incontinence and erectile dysfunction are also much better with the robotic approach.

With nearly 18,000 Texas men expected to be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year, it’s essential that all men understand their risk and take steps to reduce it. It’s also critically important to remember that leadingedge treatment offers patients heightened survival rates, especially when detected early.

Spreading awareness is essential to the cause, so encourage everyone you know to reduce their risk and avoid becoming another victim of this silent killer.

Dr. Ramesh Krishnan is an urologist with Texas Urology Specialists at Memorial Urology Associates– -Memorial City, 915 Gessner Rd., Suite 720 in Houston, Texas; Memorial Urology Associates–Katy, 23920 Katy Freeway, Suite 380 in Katy, Texas; and Memorial Urology Associates–West Houston, 18400 Katy Freeway, Suite 420 in Houston, Texas.

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2014 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

COMMUNITY

October 24, 2014

23

Houston Buddhist Vihare Celebrated Katina Pinkama

BY CHIRANJAYA NANAYAKKARA HOUSTON: This year the Houston Buddhist Vihare held the celebration of ‘Katina Pinkama’ on two consecutive days - October 18 and October 19, at the Temple located at 8727 Radio Road, Houston, TX 77075, with the participation of twenty monks from various parts of the country and, well over five hundred Buddhist devotees from Houston and other cities of Texas.

The ceremonies started on Saturday evening with Buddhist Monks chanting ‘Pririt’ (blessings) throughout the night. The next day, early morning around 7:30 a.m., the monks were offered ‘Heel Dana’ (breakfast) prepared by the devotees. The monks walked slowly and silently in line, with their ‘Pathra’ (bowl) held out and, the devotees placed the ‘Heel Dana’ (breakfast) into the monks’ ‘Pathra’ as they passed by. The day was then filled with ‘Bana’(Sermons) from various monks, addressed to all the adults and children present, and this went on until the time came for Dana (Lunch) which, again, was prepared by the devotees and offered to the monks.

After the afternoon Dana, the Buddhist devotees organized a ‘Perehara’ (parade) where they brought offerings

Job Posting:

to the monks, while traditional dancers danced to the rhythmic, hypnotic beat of the drums. The dancing was presented by the second generation of Houstonians who enthralled the spectators with their beautiful dancing. They had been trained by Mr. Suren Lewkebandara and Mrs. Ritani Rathnapala.

Resident monks of Houston Buddhist with the assistance of the Houston Buddhist Vihare devotees, was instrumental in organizing the colorful ‘Katina Pinkama’ festivities and ensuring that they adhered as closely as possible to the Buddhist traditions practiced in Sri-Lanka, India, Burma, Vietnam and elsewhere in the world.

While the entire Buddhist Community pitched-in through various means and ways for the success of the ‘Katina Pinkama’, usually, one family is charged each year with the main responsibility of providing the ‘Dana’ and other Offerings to the monks.

This year the responsibility of the ‘Pinkama’ was carried out by Mr. and Mrs. Sumith and Sandya Jayasuriya, together with the Houston Buddhist Vihare and the Buddhist community of Houston.

Katina-Vap (October) Full Moon ‘Poya’day is of special significance to Buddhists because of ‘Katina Pinka-

TEMPORARY NEWS REPORTER

KTRK-TV, the ABC owned station located in Houston, TX, has an opening for a full time temporary News Reporter.

ma’. In the month of ‘Vap’, Gautama Buddha is said to have completed three months of the ‘Vas’ period (rainy period). In other words, it signifies the completion of the rainy season, so that the Buddhist monks can once again step out of the temples and go forth to preach the teachings of Buddha as well as obtain offerings, which often include food, clothing and monetary donations.

Job Posting:

NEWS REPORTER

Candidates should have experience in general assignment reporting, including Live ENG and satellite work. Applicants must be able to develop contacts, enterprise good, hard news stories, and respond well to breaking and spot news. Candidates must have outstanding writing skills and the ability to make good use of graphics and production equipment. Must be willing to work evenings and weekends.

KTRK-TV, the ABC Owned Television station located in Houston, TX, has an excellent career opportunity for a full time News Reporter.

Candidates should have experience in general assignment reporting on multiple platforms, including social media and web, including Live ENG and satellite work.

Applicants must be able to develop contacts, enterprise good, hard news stories, and respond well to breaking and spot news. Candidates must have outstanding writing skills and the ability to make good use of graphics and production equipment. Must be willing to work evenings and weekends.

All interested applicants must apply on-line at www.disneycareers.com by uploading a resume file, cover letter and list of references. Interested applicants should also send video tape samples of your news related work to: Human Resources, KTRK-TV, 3310 Bissonnet, Houston, TX 77005. Please Reference Job ID: 220303BR on all materials submitted. No Telephone Calls

All interested applicants must apply on-line at www.disneycareers.com by uploading a resume file, cover letter and list of references. Interested applicants should also send video tape samples of your news related work to: Human Resources, KTRK-TV, 3310 Bissonnet, Houston, TX 77005. Please Reference Job ID: 219223BR on all materials submitted. No Telephone Calls

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INDIA

By Victories in Maharashtra and Haryana, Modi-Amit Shah Duo Captures Two Key Congress Citadels

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Bhartiya Janata Party’s overwhelming victory in Haryana and its emergence as the single largest party in Maharashtra provides three important indicators. One, Prime Minister Narendra Modi undoubtedly proved, if such a proof was needed, that his mass popularity that had given the BJP an unprecedented success in the May Parliamentary polls has largely remained unabated. BJP had then virtually dominated the parliamentary elections in these two states.

Two, Modi together with his alter ego Amit Shah, whom he had himself anointed as the BJP president, had launched a blitzkrieg in Maharashtra and Haryana, similar in its intensity and reach to the one in the May parliamentary elections. It was Modi’s charisma and his indefatigable campaigning; that brought in at the last minute hundreds of thousands of additional undecided voters to BJP’s camp.

Three, with the incumbent chief ministers under siege by the party dissidents both in Maharashtra and Haryana, the ruling Congress was in utter disarray, badly riven by internal dissensions.

Some fortuitous circumstances in Maharashtra too greatly helped BJP’s cause. After it split with the Shiv Sena, the Congress and its coalition partner Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) decided to follow suit and to separately contest the elections. Had the two allies fought jointly after the breakup of BJP- Shiv Sena’s 25-year long partnership, they

could have collectively beaten the divided BJP and Shiv Sena? Individually and separately the Congress and NCP secured 18% and 17% votes, winning 42 and 41 assembly seats respectively.

On the other hand, BJP’s poll percentage on its own was 25 and Shiv Sena’s 18. Even though two and two does not necessarily make four, yet it is reasonably certain that the Congress and NCP together would have certainly secured more votes than either the BJP or Shiv Sena did separately.

BJP scores big win in Haryana The BJP’s performance in Haryana, where it had only four sitting members, was much heartening in as much as it was able to secure a simple majority in the 90-member House. For the first time, it had fought elections on its own strength as in Maharashtra, and the gamble richly paid off. Interestingly, it was the support extended by the communities other than the Jats including the upper castes and OBC that helped BJP earn rich dividends. Another factor that significantly enhanced BJP’s prospects in several constituencies was the last minute support extended to it by Dera Sacha Sauda that has a substantial following.

Here too fortunately, the BJP faced a faction-ridden Congress with several of its prominent Jat and even non-Jat leaders switching their allegiance over to it. Eventually, it was a lone battle for the cornered chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda; he alone addressed over 130 election rallies across the state that failed to

have much impact in the face of the sustained and intensive campaigning

by Modi and Shah. Both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi too addressed a few sundry meetings here and there but with minimal effect on the fortunes of the Congress candidates. The Indian National Lok Dal led by imprisoned Om Prakash and son Ajay Chautala did much better than the Congress winning 19 seats albeit with active support from Badal’sAkali Dal against 32 that it had won in 2009.

With the results from these two states, the political map in India has now more of saffron hue. The BJP is today in power in many large, crucial and contiguous states like Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab (with Akali Dal), Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Kerala and Karnataka in the South, Assam in the East and Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand in the Northwest are now the last Congress regimes in the country.

It appears that the Modi’s war cry of Congress-mukt-Bharat is nearing realization. In many ways, the concentration of power throughout the country in the hands of a single political parivaar with several of its members nursing their own individual agendas indeed is somewhat scary a prospect.

Raj Kanwar is the India Correspondent of Indo American News.

Happy Diwali to everyone

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2014 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

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STOCKS • FINANCE • SOUTH ASIAN MARKETS • TECHNOLOGY

India Set to Become $2 Trillion Economy this Year: IMF

Tata JLR Plans Factory in US

Selling directly into the US would allow JLR to avoid high import tariffs and smooth the impact of fluctuating currency rates.

BY ADITI KHANNA

India is poised to become a $2 trillion economy this year, while its GDP size would cross another milestone.

NEW DELHI (IE): India is poised to become a USD two trillion economy this year, while its GDP size would cross another milestone of USD three trillion after five years in 2019, according to IMF’s latest world economic outlook.

India’s ranking would also improve to seventh largest economy in the world, while measured on “current prices” basis in US dollar, in 2019 from its tenth position currently.

Latest data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) show that Indian economy is set to be worth USD 2.05 trillion this year, increasing its size from USD 1.88 trillion in 2013.

Last year too, India was among the ten largest economies in the world.

Going by the IMF, United States would remain the world’s largest economy with a size of USD 17.42 trillion, followed by China at USD 10.35 trillion.

Meanwhile, India is all set to cross the USD 3 trillion milestone in 2019 with a size of USD 3.18 trillion, surpassing Russia, Brazil and Italy. This would also make India the world’s seventh largest economy.

At that time, Brazilian economy is estimated to be worth USD 2.89

trillion while Russian and Italian economies would have a size of USD 2.59 trillion and USD 2.45 trillion, respectively.

The United States would remain the world’s largest economy in 2019 with a size of USD 22.15 trillion, followed by China (USD 15.52 trillion) and Japan (USD 5.43 trillion).

In 2019, other economies in the top ten segment would be Germany (USD 4.55 trillion), the United Kingdom (USD 3.7 trillion) and France (USD 3.39 trillion).

“India has recovered from its relative slump; thanks in part to effective policies and a renewal of confidence, growth is expected once again to exceed five per cent,” as per latest IMF World Economic Outlook report.

India’s economic growth was below 5 per cent in the past two financial years.

“The post election recovery of confidence in India also provides an opportunity for that country to embark on its much-needed structural reforms,” according to IMF report.

Prime Minister Narendra Modiled government took charge in May this year after sweeping the general elections.

LONDON: Tata Motors owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is working on an ambitious plan to set up a factory in the US, in a first for a British carmaker in the world’s secondbiggest automobile market. The West Midlands-based luxury carmaker is reportedly talking to several southern states of America, including South Carolina, about building a plant in

the US, The Sunday Times claimed on Sunday. JLR is capitalizs ing on a turnaround in its fortunes after Tata acquired the struggling brand for around £1.3 billion back in 2008. It is all set to open a 130,000-vehicle factory in China on Tuesday and later this month will launch its i54 engine plant in Wolverhampton -— a £500 million investment. It has also signed a deal for a new factory in Brazil and is exploring three possible locations in Wales for a new logistics hub, though it is also considering a site in the Midlands. Selling directly into the US would allow JLR to avoid high import tariffs and smooth the impact of fluctuating currency rates. The newspaper believes it would probably receive significant start-up support from the chosen state, and could commit itself to building a factory that will eventually produce 200,000 cars

Luxury carmaker is talking to several southern states, including South Carolina, about building plant, The Sunday Times reports a year. The company has also been exploring the possibility of opening a factory in Mexico. JLR sold about 55,000 cars in North America last year, an eighth of its 425,000 global sales. Its target is to reach 1 million cars by the end of the -Livemint.com

Rupee Closes Marginally Higher Against Dollar at 61.32

BY RAVINDRA SONAVANE Mumbai:TheIndianrupeestrengthened marginally against the dollar on Tuesday on hopes of more reforms by the government that may attract more foreign institutional investment. Investors also believe reforms will help narrow the fiscal deficit. The local currency ended at 61.32 per dollar, up 0.07% from its previous close of 61.36, while India’s equity benchmark Sensex closed at 26,575.65 points on BSE, up 0.55%. The local currency had opened at 61.31 and hit a high and low of 61.25 and 61.37 per dollar, respectively. Among other Asian currencies, South Korean won ended up 0.47%, Malaysian ringgit up 0.30%, Indonesian rupiah gained 0.26%, Philippines peso advanced 0.18%, Japanese yen rose 0.14%, China offshore added 0.1%, Taiwan dollar edged up 0.07%. Since the beginning of this year, the rupee has

gained 0.78%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $12.99 billion from local equity markets.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 85.207, up 0.29% from the previous close of 84.953. The government on Monday approved an ordinance which will end state monopoly on coal and enable commercial mining by the private companies in future. On Saturday, the government announced diesel price deregulation and a gas price hike from the current $4.2/per mBtu (million British thermal unit) to $5.61 per mBtu. The 10-year bond yield closed at 8.373% compared with its Monday’s close of 8.36%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

An adviser to the monetary authority said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may consider cutting rates as early as March due to fall in inflation after global oil prices fell to a four year

low, Bloomberg reported. “The drop in oil prices is a definite positive for India as it will help reduce the deficits and inflationary impulses,” Ashima Goyal, a member of the Reserve Bank of India’s technical advisory committee, said in a phone interview from Mumbai on Monday. “Various factors are coming together to enable the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) to support the growth process by lowering interest rates.” India’s CPI-based inflation eased for the second month in a row to 6.46% in September, compared with a downward revised 7.73% a month ago, driven by lower price increases in food and fuel items.

On 30 September, RBI indicated that it has no intention of moving to a looser monetary policy until it reins in upside risks to the target of lowering consumer price inflation to 6% by January 2016.

-Livemint.com

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INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2014 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

28 October 24, 2014

COMMUNITY

MassMutual Honors Diwali and Business Tradition of Chopda Pujan

No-Cost Seminars Help Business Owners Secure Their Futures and Protect the Next Generation SPRINGFIELD, MASS: Almost three million Asian Indians in the United States are preparing to celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights, on Oct. 23. For the more than 300,000 Asian-Indian owned firms* in the U.S., the holiday takes on an added dimension, as the celebration marks the beginning of a new business year.

To help business owners prepare for the New Year ahead, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) is offering a series of free, no-obligation business seminars in five cities across the country this Diwali.

In a special Diwali ritual for businesses known as Chopda Pujan, new account books are opened and blessed. Business owners use this time to reflect on the past year while looking ahead to new opportunities for prosperity and wealth. It is said the goddess of wealth, known as Lakshmi, visits the homes of devotees on this day, and lamps light the way to welcome her.

A MassMutual study** found that

although 77 percent of Asian Indian business owners believe financial planning for their business is very important, only 43 percent are concerned about who will run their businesses if they or another owner leaves, becomes disabled or dies; only 46 percent have a formal retirement plan.

“Entrepreneurial businesses are vital to our growing economic recovery, so it is concerning that so many business owners seem to be sacrificing their own and their family’s financial future,” says Nimesh Trivedi, AsianIndian Market lead at MassMutual.

“With help, business owners can look past the seemingly overwhelming day-to-day demands of running their businesses and establish and meet their long-term financial goals.”

To help Asian Indian business owners open their new books this Diwali and plan for a prosperous new year, MassMutual is offering a series of free video-based seminars featuring stories shared by real business owners. The vignettes explore critical business planning topics, such as passing ownership on from one generation to the next, preparing for the unexpected, the death of an owner, retaining key employees, and proper estate and retirement planning.

Seminars addressing these topics critical to Asian Indian business owners will be presented in the following cities across the country this Diwali: Houston, Oct. 14 Atlanta: Oct. 18

Prakara Puja in the new Ganesh temple

San Jose, Calif.: Oct. 24 Edison, N.J.: Oct. 29 Chicago: Nov. 6 For more information on the multicitybusinessownerseminartour,contact Nimesh Trivedi, 413.744.1244.

For more information on planning for your businesses’ and families’ financial futures, visit massmutual. com/asianindian *2007 Survey of Business Owners Summaries of Findings, U.S. Census Bureau. This information is the most current data available. **MassMutual’s Business Owner Perspectives: 2011 Insights in an Uncertain Economy, conducted by GfK Custom Research North America for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual), 2011.

About MassMutual Founded in 1851, MassMutual is a leading mutual life insurance company that is run for the benefit of its members and participating policyowners. The company has a long history of financial strength and strong performance, and although dividends are not guaranteed, MassMutual has paid dividends to eligible participating policyowners consistently since the 1860s. With whole life insurance as its foundation, MassMutual provides products to help meet the financial needs of clients, such as life insurance, disability income insurance, long term care insurance, retirement/401(k) plan services, and annuities. In addition, the company’s strong and growing network of financial professionals helps clients make good financial decisions for the long-term.

MassMutual Financial Group is a marketing name for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) and its affiliated companies and sales representatives.

MassMutual is headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts and its major affiliates include: Babson Capital Management LLC; Baring Asset Management Limited; Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers LLC; The First Mercantile Trust Company; MassMutual International LLC; MML Investors Services, LLC, Member FINRA and SIPC; OppenheimerFunds, Inc.; and The MassMutual Trust Company, FSB.

From left: Nimesh Trivedi, Lalit Jallan, Adam Segal and Vikesh Amin.

For more information, visit www. massmutual.com or find MassMutual on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Google+ and Pinterest.

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2014 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

INDIA

October 24, 2014

‘The Fez Project’ Brings Classical Strains to the Youth

MUMBAI: Acclaimed Sufiana virtuoso Zila Khan, and the young Faizan Khan introduce a movement that promises to shed new light on classical and traditional sounds.

Classical music has always been an integral part of the socio-cultural fabric of India. With a burgeoning young populace there is a need to re-connect the youth with the rich musical tapestry of the Indian fabric. Although the current music landscape is dominated

by Bollywood, EDM and Pop & Rock, it is indeed heartening to hear some popular Bollywood tracks feature powerful Classical backdrops.

This is where ‘The Fez Project’, comes in – the brainchild of Zila Khan – one of India’s most prolific Classical & Sufi singers, and her son

Faizan Khan. Beginning with an album of 12 songs, The Fez Project will be established as a long-term digital brand that will release periodic music videos and tracks in a seasonwise format.

The objective of the project is to package and present Indian classical music in a way that the youth will connect with, imbibe, experience and enjoy. This is a concerted effort to bring back an art form that is increasingly at odds against the cacophony of varied global and more commercial sounds.

For a while now the youth has been either having a hard time understanding, or has just been shying away from their rich classical heritage.

“We aim to bring about a reconnection to our roots, particularly with

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regard to the youth”, said Zila Khan.

“We plan to release music videos which merge classical music with genres popular today, like Beat-box, Electronic, Flamenco, etc. Tags like ‘remix’ & ‘fusion’ have become run of the mill and done-to-death. We have been careful to ensure that we don’t dilute the quality of the songs, and yet marry the two genres while keeping the essence and relevance of each intact”, she added.

“We have several music festivals & music channels in India which are thoroughly promoting Bollywood music and now Indie music which is brilliant, but unfortunately no one is making an effort to revive classical.

And digital media is one of the most effective ways to reach out to a large audience, especially the youth. It’s high time that Indian Classical Music utilizes the power of the web and makes its presence felt”, said Faizan Khan.

Watch out for weekly drops of each music video. The first video - ‘Chaap Tilak’, came out in September. Also listen for ‘Mai To Piya Se’, ‘Halka Halka Suroor Hai’ and more on each exciting drop. You can watch the videos on our YouTube channel: https:// www.youtube.com/zilakhan The Fez Project has plans in place to work with several upcoming names on the music landscape, and already generated preliminary interest from current industry stalwarts for planned collaborations. Talks are also on for concerts and road-shows as the next season takes shape. The project has caught the eye of stars like Anupam Kher who has endorsed this movement through a video byte in which he has encouraged the youth to follow the project.

Musicloverscangetyourupdatesfor each exciting release at our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ pages/Zila-Khan/558436667534460 & Twitter profile: @zilakhansufi For Booking & Media Enquires please contact 917-331-4924, or mail to tagads@att.net

For advertising Call: Vanshika Vipin at 713.789.6397

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2014 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

29

30 October 24, 2014

PUZZLES/ RECIPE

SUDOKU

Mama’s Punjabi Recipes Phirni (Cream of Rice Pudding)

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Send us the correct answer before OCTOBER 29, 2014 to

win two complimentary tickets to Texas Renaissance Festival. (for first three entrees only)

Email us at indoamericannews@yahoo.com or mail to 7457 Harwin Drive, Suite 262, Houston, TX 77036.

Solution Next Week Phirni is often confused with kheer but actually it is quite different both in presentation and taste. It is a simple, easy and quick desert to make and most people find it delicious.

There are several variations of the basic phirni recipe, like the badami phirni (with almonds), kesari (saffron), gulab (rose), piste (pistachio), aam (mango) and chocolate.

The original “phirni” dish is believed to have originated in the Middle East and traveled to India with the beginning of the Mughal dynasty. This dish is prepared universally in Hindu and Muslim homes to celebrate the festivals of Eid, Holi and Diwali.

And to make it even simpler, there is an easier way to start than the original method that uses soaking and grinding the raw rice with milk. This is the recipe that I have described which uses cream of rice powder, which is now widely available in packets, just like cream of wheat.

Just like its close cousin, kheer, phirni has become popular with many young people as a chic dessert especially when it is served in small earthen dishes, garnished with designs of saffron, almonds and pistachios. Recently, it has been showing up on many wedding parties as an easy to serve and eat desert.

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Ingredients: • ½ gallon doodh (milk) – whole is best, but low-fat will do too • ½ packet cream of rice (rice) • ¼ cup chinni (sugar) – use more as desired • ¼ tsp ilachi powder (cardamom powder)

Directions: 1. Pour the cold milk in a saucepan or small pot, add in the cream of rice and mix well.

2. Place over medium heat and stir continuously as the mixture starts to thicken up quickly. Make sure that the mixture does not stick to the sides or the bottom and also does not start to form little clumps.

3. Once the mixture appears to be thick enough, but can still be stirred, add the sugar while continuing to stir, for about 10 minutes.

4.

Turn the heat off and let it cool down. Sprinkle with the ilachi powder.

Shakuntla Malhotra is a skilled cook of Punjabi dishes made in the old-fashioned style that she learnt as a young woman in her ancestral home in Lyallpur, India before it became part of Pakistan after the Partition in 1947. People have often admired her cooking for its simplicity and taste that comes with each mouthful. Even in her mid-eighties, she continues to cook daily and agreed to share some of her delectable Punjabi recipes.

MAMA’S TIP OF THE WEEK CUT VEGGIES EARLY AND KEEP CURRY MASALA HANDY FOR QUICK USE

One of the biggest reasons that many people do not want to cook at home is that they say the preparation of the vegetables takes too long. After a long day at work, it is often hard to get the energy to cook a desi meal at home, so here are a couple of shortcuts.

The hardest part of cooking vegetables, even those with a simple recipe, is the cleaning and cutting them up, which can take upto an hour by the time you cut up all the different ingredients. Try cleaning, washing and cutting the raw vegetables on a weekend or an off evening and then storing them in ziplock plastic bags in the crisper section of the refrigerator.

The other part that will cut down the cooking time is to prepare the masala or spice paste for several days at a time and storing it in the freezer in small containers. Then, when the time is ready to pour in the spices, simply take a tablespoon or two, depending on the quantity of food to be prepared, and put it into the dish.

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5. Phirni is usually eaten cold, so refrigerate for an hour or two before serving.

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INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2014 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

ENTERTAINMENT

October 24, 2014

31

‘Happy New Year’ Breaks Screen Count Record; Set for Widest Release Worldwide

BY ANKITA MEHTA The musical heist drama, which is said to be the longest film of 2014, has created one more record by taking its screen count total to 6,000 screens worldwide.

The makers of “Happy New Year” will release the film in 5,000 screens in India and 1,000 screens abroad, according to Business Standard. This is the highest screen count ever recorded for any Bollywood film.

The highest India screen count

recorded for Bollywood film is 4,500 screens. Be it the recent film “Bang Bang” or last year’s “Dhoom 3” the big-budget films were released in less than 5,000 screens in India.

But “Happy New Year” has shattered that record with big margin.

“You cannot get a better combination in Bollywood. Happy New Year marks the return of SRK and Deepika after Chennai Express and SRK and Farah (Khan) after hits such as Main Hoon Na and Om Shanti Om; and, it’s the occasion of Diwali. The film

is set for a wide release and, at least at PVR, 80 per cent of our screens will be running the movie,” Kamal Gianchandani, chief operating officer, PVR Ltd told Business Standard.

Not only Hindi, but the film will also release in Tamil and Telugu versions for south audience, which why it has one of the widest releases.

The huge release will also reflect at the box office collection of the film worldwide.

“Wide release strategies are typical for major films with blockbuster

potential. Distributors book a film in a huge number of screens to record maximum results due to the festive

occasion of Diwali,” distributor Suniel Wadhwa told the daily.

-ibt.com

B-town Congratulates Newlyweds Dia Mirza, Sahil Sangha MUMBAI(IE): Bollywood celebrities including Bipasha Basu, Lara Dutta, Genelia Deshmukh, among others today congratulated the newly married couple Dia Mirza and Sahil Sangha for embarking on a new journey of their life.

The 32-year-old ‘Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein’ star tied the knot last night with her longtime partner Sahil in an intimate Arya Samaj wedding in New Delhi.

“Congratulations to my prettiest @

deespeak as she begins a new journey together with Sahil, now as Mrs. Sangha. Awww god bless you both,” Bipasha tweeted.

Lara, who began her modelling career with Dia, attended the wedding with her Tennis star husband Mahesh Bhupathi.

She wrote, “Kal meri yaar ki shaadi thi! Wishing my lovely @deespeak and Sahil a wonderful married life!

Had a wonderful time last evening!”

Newly engaged actress Soha also

wised her friend on her wedding.

“Many congratulations @deespeak and Sahil – you both make a beautiful couple and may you have a lifetime of happiness and bliss together,” Soha tweeted.

Heavily pregnant actress Genelia wrote, “Congratulations @deespeak and Sahil on starting a beautiful journey together.. Lots n lots of love always.” “@deespeak congrats prettiness.

Love to u both,” Huma Qureshi wrote.

Last week’s edition can be found online. Issue dated June 27,2014.

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INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2014 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

32 October 24, 2014 ODI India vs. West Indies: Kohli Sets Up Series Win

BY ABHISHEK PUROHIT DHARAMSHALA (ESPN Cricinfo): India 330 for 6 (Kohli 127, Raina 71, Rahane 68) beat West Indies 271 (Samuels 112, Bhuvneshwar 2-25, Akshar 2-26) by 59 runs Virat Kohli cracked his 20th ODI hundred, Suresh Raina and Ajinkya Rahane made fifties as India comfortably downed a seemingly eager-to-leave West Indies in Dharamsala. The news that West Indies’ tour had been cut short due to the players’ payment dispute with their board broke during India’s innings, and the visitors backed that up with shoddy fielding and bowling performances.

Marlon Samuels overcame a struggle of a start to make his seventh ODI century, Virat Kohli was a relieved man after his 20th century, India v West Indies, 4th ODI, Dharamsala, October 17, 2014. but barring Andre Russell’s belated and brief blitz, the weather. Samuels was peppered rest of the line-up sank after In- bowling wide with a packed off- break the partnership.

India were 142 for 2 when Rawith bouncers, especially by Modia had racked up 330. India took side field, but he disturbed those the five-match series 2-1, with the plans by stepping out and going hane went in the 27th over. Kohli hammed Shami, when he came in and Raina nearly doubled that but he survived and hit back with third ODI washed out by a cyclone leg side. and the fifth cancelled by West InThe stand had grown to 70 in the with a 138-run stand that took 108 the odd boundary before taking 47 off the 29 deliveries. dies’ pullout.

12th over when Russell combined balls.

West Indies had gone overboard Jadeja went for 2 for 80 from There was more bounce in the pace with bounce and Dhawan, Dharamsala track than on most not for the first time, top-edged an with the short ball; they weren’t nine overs, while the second leftIndian ODI pitches, but it was use- awkward hook to the deep. West going to hold back against Raina. arm spinner in the XI, Akshar ful to the bowling side only when Indies had an opportunity to claw But even he wasn’t troubled with Patel, returned 2 for 26 from ten. backed by serious pace. West In- back further in Russell’s next over, their half-hearted, predictable of- Akshar conceded just one bounddies weren’t really willing to bend but Jerome Taylor spilled a simple ferings as he swiped and pulled ary from his quota, and broke the 56-run third-wicket stand between their backs barring the odd occa- chance at fine leg off another top- five sixes on way to 71 off 58.

Raina and Kohli collected 52 Samuels and Darren Bravo, who sion. They were eager to bowl edged hook, reprieving Rahane on off the batting Powerplay, and In- fell for a steady 40. short, though, and continued to 38.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar had tied do so throughout the innings. And Kohli, at No. 4, had made his dia took 94 off the last ten overs India kept hooking and pulling first fifty across Tests and ODIs as West Indies, who had been up the top order with prodigious harmless stomach-high bouncers since February in the previous threatening to do so all the time, swing under lights. Kieron Polto the short boundaries. game. Back at his usual No. 3 completely lost it in the field. The lard, promoted to No. 3, could not As early as the first ball of the position today, he had his ODI- dropped chances, overthrows and put bat to ball, unable to figure out which way it was swinging. When second over, Shikhar Dhawan autopilot mode on from ball one, misfields piled up.

Kohli reached his hundred on an Bhuvneshwar ended Pollard’s showed there was nothing to worry to which he leaned forward solidly about the bouncers short on intent and pushed a single to cover. There overthrow off his 101st delivery, crawl on 6 off 31, West Indies were as he pulled Jason Holder for four. was some turn and bounce for the and he and MS Dhoni were both 27 for 2 in 11 overs. West Indies West Indies refused to learn and spinners, and Kohli wasn’t going put down in the same over. Kohli kept losing wickets, and though Russell powered 46 off 23 at No. Dhawan helped himself to easy to go after anything unless it was ended with 127 off 114.

Samuels responded with 112 off 8, they had already slipped too far boundaries. too wide or short. He and Rahane Ajinkya Rahane was timing the collected 72 at just under five an 106 and was last man out as the behind on the asking-rate.

Abhishek Purohit is a senior subball superbly at the other end, ca- over without taking any risk, and rest crumbled around him, despite the considerable dew soaking editor at ESPNcricinfo ressing full deliveries both sides it took an incorrect leg-before deof the wicket. West Indies tried cision against Rahane, on 68, to the outfield in the cool mountain

SPORTS

Pak Coach Waqar Sees Aussie “Weaknesses”

DUBAI Pakistan coach Waqar Younis has said his side has spotted certain “weaknesses” in Australia during their tourgame defeat in Sharjah, and they will be looking to exploit that once the Test series gets underway in Dubai on Wednesday.

The Australians were undone

by Pakistan A - a team that included several young players who could feature in the Tests - falling to 185 in the face of a target of 339. Waqar said he had keenly observed the game and made note of several things. “I was there and watched most of the game there and it was good to see youngsters doing well there,” Waqar said. “It [Pakistan A’s win] definitely has given us edge or a boost.

“I would say that because we have seen some weaknesses [in Australia] and I am pretty happy with it. At the same time I wouldn’t say it [the practice game] will be a big deal, but before the Test you want to win. They are a fine team, very professional side and do their things well but yeah, we have definitely seen some weaknesses and we are working on it and hopefully we will deliver the goods.”

Pakistan’s bowling line-up without Saeed Ajmal and Junaid Khan looks relatively fragile, as the suspended offspinner and the injured fast bowler had shouldered much of the burden over recent years. With the duo absent, Pakistan will be mainly relying on inexperienced and young bowlers. Waqar will be faced with reshaping the bowling line-up, but he is not fazed by the task.

Coach Waqar Younis has a tough task against Australia.

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2014 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

33

October 24, 2014

Sunday’s Wins Spray Saffron Hue Across North, West India NEW DELHI: Travel to north India and you will see a glimmer of Congress rule, as a junior partner or alone, in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. But drive past Punjab and Haryana, through Rajasthan and Gujarat, enter Maharashtra, drive down to Goa, return to the Indian heartland of Madhya Pradesh via Maharashtra and continue to Chhattisgarh — you will not have left saffron territory once.

With Sunday’s win, a large belt of the demographically sizeable north and west India is now under the BJP’s grip.

The pattern is unmistakable. The Congress – India’s old natural party of governance – is losing state after state even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on an upward trajectory,

is becoming the preferred choice for many.

A caveat is important. Four out of the five states in south India are outside the BJP ambit — it is only in alliance with the Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh.

Two of India’s biggest states, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, remain with regional parties. The east — West Bengal and Odisha — is with the Trinamool Congress and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), and the BJP is not in power in any northeastern state.

But with the BJP set to form governments in Chandigarh and Mumbai, the number of state governments it has a stake in will go up to nine. In 1998, when Sonia Gandhi took over the Congress, her party was in power in four states.

Five-year-old Indian Boy Reaches Everest Base Camp, Claims World Record

Five-year-old Harshit Saumitra waves the Indian flag at the Everest Base Camp.

BY UTPAL PARASHAR KATHMANDU: As snowstorms lashed Nepal’s Himalayan region few days ago, a five-year-old boy from New Delhi and his father stayed indoors at a small lodge in Pheriche, a village in the Everest region located 4371 meters above sea level.

They were worried that the mission that they had set out to accomplish could get jeopardized midway.

But the weather cleared two days later and they set out again towards their goal.

On Friday, Harshit Saumitra, a Class 1 student of GD Goenka School in New Delhi, reached the Everest Base Camp (5364 m), becoming arguably the youngest person to complete the difficult trek.

It took the child 10 days to cover the distance of 62km trek, many sections of which were covered by 5-7 inch of snow from the snowstorm caused by the tail-end of cyclone Hudhud.

“I felt very good. I unfurled the tricolor at the Everest Base Camp,” said Harshit at a press meet here after his return from the trek. He also climbed the Kalapathar (5550 m) peak located near the EBC.With this feat the child overtakes the record set

by Aaryan Balaji, a seven-year old Indian boy who had reached EBC and Kalapathar peak in May 2012.

“We were worried that Harshit might experience altitude sickness.

But he didn’t face any problem,” said the child’s father Rajeev Saumitra, a mountaineer who had reached the peak of Mount Everest (8848 m) last year.

The family plans to register the feat in record books like the Guinness World Records and the Limca Book of World Records by submitting the necessary proofs.

Harshit who climbed Rohtang Pass (3930 m) before attempting EBC has his eyes set on climbing Mount Kilimanjaro (5895 m) in Africa next and plans to attempt Mount Everest (8848 m) in a few years.

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- Hindustan Times

Jayalalitha Walks Out of Jail

NEW DELHI: Southern India’s powerful politician Jayaram Jayalalitha was released on bail Saturday, 22 days after she was convicted of corruption and sentenced to four years behind bars.

She was taken by car from the Bengaluru prison to her home in Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, where she has been ordered to remain at home while on bail. She arrived to a grand homecoming with scores of avid supporters turning up to welcome her despite heavy downpour.

The 66-year-old former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister stepped out of Parappana Agrahara Central Prison at Bangalore after completion of all formalities, with the Special Court Judge John Michael D’ Cunha issuing the release order.

The release order by the Special Court came after a bond for Rs20 million (Dh1.2 million) and surety on assets for more than Rs10 million was furnished for Jayalalitha. The copy of the Supreme Court order was also produced by her lawyers.

The Supreme Court on Friday granted her bail, after she argued that she needed medical attention for diabetes and high blood pressure.

She has also asked a lower court to suspend her sentence while she appeals her conviction.

The court warned it would cancel her bail unless she provided all documents related to the corruption case

by December 18, and said it expected her to maintain calm among her supporters.

“I request all to maintain peace, law and order,” she said in a statement.

“I appeal to my beloved Tamils, my supporters and my party men not to criticise judgements or the judges who delivered them or the court proceedings.“ Jayalalithaa’s close aide Sasikala and her relatives Sudhakaran and Elavarasi, who also fulfilled similar conditions, also walked out of jail.

Sasikala and Elavarasi were in Jayalalithaa’s car, while Sudhakaran, disowned son of AIADMK chief, was in another vehicle.

Amid massive security, Jayalalithaa came out of prison and was greeted by hundreds of AIADMK supporters who had gathered at several points en route a kilometre away from jail to the HAL airport. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Pannerselvam, several ministers, MPs and legislators re-

By 2004, the party was governing 17 states, either alone or in alliance.

And while it still has more states numerically than the BJP, this number is down to 12 states — of which two are in the south (Kerala and Karnataka) and six are in the northeast.

The BJP seems to be keenly aware of its weak spots. This is why party strategists say its focus will shift east. It will invest political muscle in Bihar, embark on an unprecedented campaign in West Bengal and Assam, before turning its focus back in 2017 on the state that gave it a majority in the Lok Sabha — Uttar Pradesh.

If the winning pattern continues, be prepared for an even longer drive through saffron territory.

-Hindustan Times ceived her near the prison.

A smiling Jayalalithaa waved at her frenzied supporters holding her photos and flowers which they showered on her car as her motorcade passed on way to the airport from where she flew back to Chennai by a charter flight.

At Chennai, where security was stepped up ahead of Jayalalithaa’s arrival, slogan-shouting men and women AIADMK supporters thronged the airport as well as Jayalalithaa’s Poes Garden residence, hailing their ‘Puratchi Thalaivi’ (Revolutionary Leader) who was released on bail after spending 21 days in the prison in the Rs660 million (Dh39.47million) disproportionate assets case since September 27, 2014.

Jayalalitha was forced to step down as the highest elected official in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, after a Bengaluru court last month found her guilty of possessing wealth disproportionate to her income.

Cases move so slowly through India’s overburdened judicial system that decades may go without a verdict.

Jayalalitha joined politics in the early 1980s after a successful film career in southern India that included appearances in nearly 150 movies.

She has had three stints as chief minister of Tamil Nadu, including her latest one, which began in May 2011.

-Gulfnews.com

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