Indo-American News: February 10, 2023

ICC unveiled its 50th celebration of the Indian Republic Day, billed as “Jai Jawan, Jai Kissan”, featuring a line-up of nine local dance troupes competing for three prizes, other performances, speeches and a pulsating set of songs by the headliner singer Harjeet Mehndi.

Photos by Navin Mediwala

ICC’s 50th Celebration of the 74th Republic Day Resounds in New Venue

By Jawahar Malhotra

houston: This year, if you drove, by force of habit on autopilot, to the India Culture Center’s Republic Day celebration figuring it was at the Stafford Civic Centre on Cash Road, you would have been wrong and very much confused. The organizers probably did not leave any posted signs there to re-direct you.

Where? To the two-year old Gujrati Samaj Houston – or GSH –Event Center on West Bellfort and the Beltway 8. For a dozen years the ICC has held both the Republic Day and Indian Independence Day events at Stafford, so the change of venue came as a surprise to many.

But the huge GSH with plenty of free parking, a cavernous auditorium, long stage, built in sound system and enclosed foyers for 25 vendor booths was a big enough draw for the organizers to make the leap. An estimated 1,500 people attended the event held on Sunday, January 29 from 1 to 7 pm and many came hungry, judging from the food booths by Mirch Masala and Kumar restaurant which were swamped.

So, to start off with the first big festival of the year, the ICC unveiled its 50th celebration of the Indian Republic Day, billed as “Jai Jawan, Jai Kissan”, featuring a line-up of nine local dance troupes competing for three prizes, other performances, speeches and a pulsating set of songs by the headliner singer Harjeet Mehndi, who flew in especially from San Francisco. This year’s festival was chaired by Dr. Falguni Gandhi, assisted by co-chair Sanjay Singh and ICC President Malla Mekala. As in the past few festivals, the cultural por-

tion of the event was organized by Jasmeeta Singh, whose trademark eye to detail was evident in the arrangements. She was assisted by ICC Directors Dr Hina Azam and Sangeeta Dargan. Stage decorations were by Décor One; the

sound system by Darshak Thackar of Krishna Sounds.

Among the invited guests were Indian Consul General Aseem Mahajan; Ft Bend County Judge K.P. George and Ft Bend Commissioner Andy Meyers all of whom

spoke briefly and expressed their best wishes for the occasion and admiration of the ICC’s selfless work in bringing these Indian National events to Houston.

Troupes from nine dance schools competed in the competitor, which

was judged by Bangar Reddy, Puja Agarwal and Rutvi Chauhan. First prize was won by Nritya Kalpana, choreographed by Kalpana Bora, and they were presented with a large trophy by CG Mahajan, along with a $1,000 check. Second prize was won by Studio Mudra School of Dance with a check for $700 and the third prize was won by SPARC Superstar with a check of $500. All the performances were chaired and Emceed by Jasmeeta Singh.

The main attraction and the program finale was a concert showcased by Harjeet Mehndi (brother of Indian pop singer Dalher Mehndi) who flew in from California with his team and performed an outstanding show full of beautiful songs with his booming voice with great power and control.

Harjeet started with patriotic songs and continued with many popular songs in Hindi, Punjabi and Gujarati, including ghazals and qawwalis. The mesmerizing songs brought people to the front of the stage to dance alongnonstop, including Garba and Bhangra, for over two hours.

With Harjeet was a Dholak player, a Dholki player and local keyboardist Shrikant Pabrekar whose wife, Shilpa also joined in the singing, as well well-known local singer Uma Mantravadi, who knows Harjeet personally and had persuaded him to come to perform at the event.

For ICC’s upcoming events please go to icchoustontx.org and to register for booths and sponsorship for the August Independence Day celebration; or to participate in India Culture Center’s 50th Anniversary Gala to be held on June 24..

THE BIG GAME RESPONSIBLY

Rushdie Returns with New Book

new york: A little over six months ago, on August 12, as writer Salman Rushdie waited to deliver a lecture on the importance of the United States offering asylum to artistes in exile at New York’s Chautauqua Institution, a commotion broke out in the aisles.

A young man clad in black had made his way on to the stage, and before anybody could react, had stabbed the 75-year-old repeatedly.

It was the threat that had foreshadowed Rushdie’s life and career for over three decades since the publication of ‘The Satanic Verses‘ (1988) and the issuance of the infamous fatwa by Iran’s religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini in February 1989 for insulting Islam in the novel. Now, it seemed to have made good on its sinister promise. But there’s something about Rushdie that spells insouciance and dig-one’s-heels-in resilience. Six months later, Rushdie is back with a new novel, ‘Victory City‘ (Jonathan Cape), and with his spirits intact.

In an extensive piece in The New Yorker magazine, for which the writer spoke to its editor David Remnick, new details have emerged about the attempted assassination and its aftermath.

Here are some highlights from Remnick’s article in The New Yorker:

Hadi Matar, Rushdie’s 24-year-old assailant of Lebanese origin, had read about the event at Chautauqua Institution on Twitter. A visit to his estranged father in Lebanon

in 2018 had not improved their relationship. Instead, Matar had returned to his mother and twin sisters back at New Jersey, disgruntled.

Back in the US, he became withdrawn and religious, unable to keep a job and disinclined to venture out of his basement room.

If he did go out, it was only to a gym to train. Even there, he kept his distance, before dropping his membership altogether.

A day before the attack, he took a bus and then a rental car to the venue, walking around and getting a feel of the place. That night, he slept under the stars.

At the event, Rushdie was on stage with long-time friend Henry Reese, cofounder of City of Asylum, a non-governmental organisation in Pittsburgh, that offers assistance to writers in exile. When Matar attacked the writer, it would be Reese who would be Rushdie’s first point of defence.

He threw himself at Matar, tackling him from the back and holding on to his legs, despite being stabbed himself.

When asked, Rushdie had one thing to say for Matar — he called him an “idiot”: “I don’t know what I think of him, because I don’t know him,” he tells Remnick.-- Indian Express

Arya Samaj D.A.V School Children Celebrate India’s 74th Republic Day

houston: D.A.V Montessori & Elementary School a vision of Arya Samaj of Greater Houston was started 23 years ago. It is a unique one of its kind school in the whole of USA providing academic excellence with Spiritual growth combined with the knowledge and appreciation for heritage, culture and language while raising confident and resilient Global citizens. It is accredited by Texas Alliance of Accredited Private Schools (TAAPS).

The school serves children 2.5 years through 5th Grade in small class sizes. We have a group of highly qualified, experienced & motivated teachers who provide a loving nurturing environment and help prepare each child to reach their full potential – academically, socially & emotionally.

Preschool to 1st Grade follow the Montessori curriculum and from 2nd to 5th grade we switch to the traditional method of teaching and follow Common Core & TEAKS curriculum. We offer Hindi, Yoga, Moral Science, Prayers, P.E & Art as part of our curriculum. Our graduating 5th Grade students move on to excel in Public and Private Schools. Our students participate in the Private School Interscholastic Association (PSIA) and last year we were the Elementary School division winners.

Our school also participates in the Annual Rodeo Art show and this year we had 9 entries and we won 8 awards of excellence & 1 Finalist award.

D.A.V Montessori & Elementary

School is a blend of both worlds; we celebrate both Indian and American culture.

Keeping up with this tradition, this year we celebrated India’s 74th Republic Day on 27th January. This year it was a unique celebration. The Indian states were clubbed into North, South, East & West based on their geographic location. The parents & guests were left spellbound as they watched the students & staff dressed up in their state costumes moving in sync with the march past music and dance to their state songs. It was so nostalgic and for a moment we all were transported back to our beloved India. It was a surreal feeling.

This was followed by speeches given by our 5th Grade students who spoke about the origin & significance of Republic Day. It was beautiful to hear everyone sing the American & Indian National Anthems.

The program ended with the announcement & award distribution of the Science Fair winners from 1st to 5th grade. All the projects & presentations were excellent and the judges were challenged in choosing the winners. So proud of all our students who raise the bar every year.

D.A.V Montessori & Elementary School has an Open House on Friday March 3rd & Friday March 10th from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm. School is currently enrolling for the 2023-24 school year and welcomes new families to schedule a tour by emailing director@davhouston.org or calling 281-759-3286. Bus service is available to the Katy area.

D.A.V Montessori & Elementary School Celebrated celebrated India’s 74th Republic Day on January 27 in traditional East, West, North and South states costumes.

Rupee Rises 19 p to End at $1= Rs. 82.51

New Delhi: The rupee appreciated 19 paise to close at 82.51 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hiked the repo rate by 25 basis points.

A rally in the domestic equity markets and weakness in the greenback against major crosses overseas also supported the rupee, forex traders said. However, surging crude prices in the international market and persistent foreign fund outflows restricted the appreciation bias in the local unit, they added. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened strong at 82.67 and touched an intra-day high of 82.47 and a low of 82.72 against the greenback.

It finally settled at 82.51, up 19 paise over its previous close of 82.70. The Reserve Bank of India slowed the pace of interest rate increases for the second straight time when it on Wednesday expectedly increased borrowing cost by 25 basis points but hinted more to come as core inflation remained high.

The central bank projected India’s economic growth at 6.4 per cent for 2023-24, broadly in line with the estimate of the Economic Survey tabled in Parliament last week.

It also estimated retail inflation to ease to 5.3 per cent in the next fiscal from 6.5 per cent this year on assumptions of lower imported inflation, even though core inflation remains sticky.Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, slipped 0.38 percent to 103.03.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 1.31 per cent to USD 84.79 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 377.75 points or 0.63 per cent to end at 60,663.79, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 150.20 points or 0.85 per cent to 17,871.70. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Tuesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 2,559.96 crore, according to exchange data. -- IE

SONY KOHLI

REAL ESTATE AGENT

832-766-6662

Speed Dating Type Event Hosted by Hindu Vivah Attracts Over 100 Singles

By Jawahar Malhotra

houston: After a gap of five years, the Dallas-based non-profit Hindu Vivah once again held an event to bring together Hindu singles for a speed-dating type of event held at the main auditorium of the Radha Krishna Temple on Beechnut near Kirkwood in Alief. But unlike the event of 5 years ago where only a handful of people came together, this free event held in the afternoon on Saturday, February 4 attracted over 100 singles, some travelling from other parts of Texas and even from Seattle, according to one of the organizers, Manoj Agarwal. Singles were categorized and clustered into three age groups: 23-32; 33-42 and 42 to 60.

Hindu Vivah was formed just over 5 years ago by Hindu activ-

ists concerned by the lack of venues for young Hindus to meet and other Hindus to marry. Since then, it has held 75 events nationwide, some in person and others virtually over Zoom. “It is a pan Hindu effort, “ explained Agarwal, “and caters to all Hindus, irrespective of jati, varna, language, origin, financial status, previous marital status, and age.”

Helping to organize the event were the founder from Dallas, Sashi Kejriwal, Radha Patel of Dallas who runs the online dating site Singles to Shaadi; and from Houston Vinod Shah, Manoj Agarwal, Shalini Patel (who emceed the event) and Sanjay Aggarwal.

Hindu Vivah intends to hold its next event in Chicago and then other cities. For more info, visit www.hinduvivah.org

Organizers of the singles dating non-profit Hindu Vivah at the event held on Saturday, February 4, From left, Sashi Kejriwal, Vinod Shah, Radha Patel, Manoj Agarwal, Shalini Patel and Sanjay Aggarwal.

Singles were categorized and clustered into three age groups: 23-32; 33-42 and 42 to 60.

‘Faraaz’: Humane Film More Stagey than Menacing

Place a number in the empty boxes in such a way that each row across, each column down and each 9-box square contains all of the numbers from one to nine.

Send

Solution Next Week

By shuBhra Gupta

Faraaz is a hostage drama based on a true incident in 2016, when a group of five heavily-armed young men took over a cafe in Dhaka one night. In the firing, several diners, most of them foreigners, were killed.

rorists force assembled outside, waiting for an opportune moment to go in.

The film begins, literally, with a series of bangs, as the terrorists walk into the clearly upscale eatery, spraying bullets, leaving diners slumped over their tables. Then begins the ordeal, as the gathering is targeted on the basis of their nationality and religion, and the armed men herd the rest into the middle of the room, waiting for their handler to spread the word.

lent happenings inside keep feeling as if they are being enacted. The security detail comes off amateurish. And when a couple of the terrorists clash over the strength of their ideology, it feels more stagey than menacing. And that’s the trouble with the film.

One of the hostages was Faraaz, a Bangladeshi Muslim, the scion of a wealthy, connected family. Showing exemplary courage, he stands up for his companions, one of them a Hindu. On the morning after, when the dazed survivors file out, Faraaz is not with them.

It is clear why Hansal Mehta, whose work has consistently challenged the status quo, was drawn to making this film. At a time where rampant bigotry and muscular nationalism is on the rise, films which give us humans of all shades are more than welcome.

The five youngsters who are arrayed on one side, shooting to kill without a shred of remorse, do so because they have been brainwashed, not because they are intrinsically evil.

Faraaz (Zahan Kapoor) is probably the same age as those young men. In fact, the leader of the group (Aditya Rawal) has known Faraaz from before. He could have taken the offer of freedom held out to him, and gone straight into the arms of his distraught mother (Juhi Babbar), who has been raising Cain, yelling and shouting at the anti-ter-

But ‘Faraaz’, which aims to be more nuanced than the standard Good Muslim vs Bad Muslim narrative, doesn’t leave as much of an impact as it should have. The material the plot is based on is powerful, and the theme important.

But you can never quite shake off the feeling of artifice: the busy streets of Dhaka feel real, but the cafe feels like a set, and the vio-

PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF

Kaushika Shah Licensed Sales Agent 832-282-3515, TT Y 711

Zahan Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor’s grandson, grows into his role, and delivers an unshowy performance. His Faraaz starts off by being just another entitled wealthy young man, who doesn’t want to do what his mommy tells him to, and then slowly, as the night wears on, discovers the courage within.

Aditya Rawal, as the leader of this ragtag bunch (labelled ‘bullies with a gun’) has presence. But this is a film which needed more depth and weight.

Cast: Aditya Rawal, Zahan Kapoor, Juhi Babbar Director: Hansal Mehta

Last Week’s Solution

PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF

Rating: Two stars

PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF

PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF

Recent Winners

Kumud Athavale, Ramana Vadrevu, Krishna R. Vuddagiri, Sanchali Basu, Yudhveer Singh Bagga, Taranjit Singh, Kanubhai Patel, Prabhu Narumanchi, Prabha Barvalia

PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF

ICC unveiled its 50th celebration of the Indian Republic Day, billed as “Jai Jawan, Jai Kissan”, featuring a line-up of nine local dance troupes competing for three prizes, other performances, speeches and a pulsating set of songs by the headliner singer Harjeet Mehndi.

Photos by Navin Mediwala

ICC’s 50th Celebration of the 74th Republic Day Resounds in New Venue

By Jawahar Malhotra

houston: This year, if you drove, by force of habit on autopilot, to the India Culture Center’s Republic Day celebration figuring it was at the Stafford Civic Centre on Cash Road, you would have been wrong and very much confused. The organizers probably did not leave any posted signs there to re-direct you.

Where? To the two-year old Gujrati Samaj Houston – or GSH –Event Center on West Bellfort and the Beltway 8. For a dozen years the ICC has held both the Republic Day and Indian Independence Day events at Stafford, so the change of venue came as a surprise to many.

But the huge GSH with plenty of free parking, a cavernous auditorium, long stage, built in sound system and enclosed foyers for 25 vendor booths was a big enough draw for the organizers to make the leap. An estimated 1,500 people attended the event held on Sunday, January 29 from 1 to 7 pm and many came hungry, judging from the food booths by Mirch Masala and Kumar restaurant which were swamped.

So, to start off with the first big festival of the year, the ICC unveiled its 50th celebration of the Indian Republic Day, billed as “Jai Jawan, Jai Kissan”, featuring a line-up of nine local dance troupes competing for three prizes, other performances, speeches and a pulsating set of songs by the headliner singer Harjeet Mehndi, who flew in especially from San Francisco. This year’s festival was chaired by Dr. Falguni Gandhi, assisted by co-chair Sanjay Singh and ICC President Malla Mekala. As in the past few festivals, the cultural por-

tion of the event was organized by Jasmeeta Singh, whose trademark eye to detail was evident in the arrangements. She was assisted by ICC Directors Dr Hina Azam and Sangeeta Dargan. Stage decorations were by Décor One; the

sound system by Darshak Thackar of Krishna Sounds.

Among the invited guests were Indian Consul General Aseem Mahajan; Ft Bend County Judge K.P. George and Ft Bend Commissioner Andy Meyers all of whom

spoke briefly and expressed their best wishes for the occasion and admiration of the ICC’s selfless work in bringing these Indian National events to Houston.

Troupes from nine dance schools competed in the competitor, which

was judged by Bangar Reddy, Puja Agarwal and Rutvi Chauhan. First prize was won by Nritya Kalpana, choreographed by Kalpana Bora, and they were presented with a large trophy by CG Mahajan, along with a $1,000 check. Second prize was won by Studio Mudra School of Dance with a check for $700 and the third prize was won by SPARC Superstar with a check of $500. All the performances were chaired and Emceed by Jasmeeta Singh.

The main attraction and the program finale was a concert showcased by Harjeet Mehndi (brother of Indian pop singer Dalher Mehndi) who flew in from California with his team and performed an outstanding show full of beautiful songs with his booming voice with great power and control.

Harjeet started with patriotic songs and continued with many popular songs in Hindi, Punjabi and Gujarati, including ghazals and qawwalis. The mesmerizing songs brought people to the front of the stage to dance alongnonstop, including Garba and Bhangra, for over two hours.

With Harjeet was a Dholak player, a Dholki player and local keyboardist Shrikant Pabrekar whose wife, Shilpa also joined in the singing, as well well-known local singer Uma Mantravadi, who knows Harjeet personally and had persuaded him to come to perform at the event.

For ICC’s upcoming events please go to icchoustontx.org and to register for booths and sponsorship for the August Independence Day celebration; or to participate in India Culture Center’s 50th Anniversary Gala to be held on June 24..

THE BIG GAME RESPONSIBLY

Rushdie Returns with New Book

new york: A little over six months ago, on August 12, as writer Salman Rushdie waited to deliver a lecture on the importance of the United States offering asylum to artistes in exile at New York’s Chautauqua Institution, a commotion broke out in the aisles.

A young man clad in black had made his way on to the stage, and before anybody could react, had stabbed the 75-year-old repeatedly.

It was the threat that had foreshadowed Rushdie’s life and career for over three decades since the publication of ‘The Satanic Verses‘ (1988) and the issuance of the infamous fatwa by Iran’s religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini in February 1989 for insulting Islam in the novel. Now, it seemed to have made good on its sinister promise. But there’s something about Rushdie that spells insouciance and dig-one’s-heels-in resilience. Six months later, Rushdie is back with a new novel, ‘Victory City‘ (Jonathan Cape), and with his spirits intact.

In an extensive piece in The New Yorker magazine, for which the writer spoke to its editor David Remnick, new details have emerged about the attempted assassination and its aftermath.

Here are some highlights from Remnick’s article in The New Yorker:

Hadi Matar, Rushdie’s 24-year-old assailant of Lebanese origin, had read about the event at Chautauqua Institution on Twitter. A visit to his estranged father in Lebanon

in 2018 had not improved their relationship. Instead, Matar had returned to his mother and twin sisters back at New Jersey, disgruntled.

Back in the US, he became withdrawn and religious, unable to keep a job and disinclined to venture out of his basement room.

If he did go out, it was only to a gym to train. Even there, he kept his distance, before dropping his membership altogether.

A day before the attack, he took a bus and then a rental car to the venue, walking around and getting a feel of the place. That night, he slept under the stars.

At the event, Rushdie was on stage with long-time friend Henry Reese, cofounder of City of Asylum, a non-governmental organisation in Pittsburgh, that offers assistance to writers in exile. When Matar attacked the writer, it would be Reese who would be Rushdie’s first point of defence.

He threw himself at Matar, tackling him from the back and holding on to his legs, despite being stabbed himself.

When asked, Rushdie had one thing to say for Matar — he called him an “idiot”: “I don’t know what I think of him, because I don’t know him,” he tells Remnick.-- Indian Express

Arya Samaj D.A.V School Children Celebrate India’s 74th Republic Day

houston: D.A.V Montessori & Elementary School a vision of Arya Samaj of Greater Houston was started 23 years ago. It is a unique one of its kind school in the whole of USA providing academic excellence with Spiritual growth combined with the knowledge and appreciation for heritage, culture and language while raising confident and resilient Global citizens. It is accredited by Texas Alliance of Accredited Private Schools (TAAPS).

The school serves children 2.5 years through 5th Grade in small class sizes. We have a group of highly qualified, experienced & motivated teachers who provide a loving nurturing environment and help prepare each child to reach their full potential – academically, socially & emotionally.

Preschool to 1st Grade follow the Montessori curriculum and from 2nd to 5th grade we switch to the traditional method of teaching and follow Common Core & TEAKS curriculum. We offer Hindi, Yoga, Moral Science, Prayers, P.E & Art as part of our curriculum. Our graduating 5th Grade students move on to excel in Public and Private Schools. Our students participate in the Private School Interscholastic Association (PSIA) and last year we were the Elementary School division winners.

Our school also participates in the Annual Rodeo Art show and this year we had 9 entries and we won 8 awards of excellence & 1 Finalist award.

D.A.V Montessori & Elementary

School is a blend of both worlds; we celebrate both Indian and American culture.

Keeping up with this tradition, this year we celebrated India’s 74th Republic Day on 27th January. This year it was a unique celebration. The Indian states were clubbed into North, South, East & West based on their geographic location. The parents & guests were left spellbound as they watched the students & staff dressed up in their state costumes moving in sync with the march past music and dance to their state songs. It was so nostalgic and for a moment we all were transported back to our beloved India. It was a surreal feeling.

This was followed by speeches given by our 5th Grade students who spoke about the origin & significance of Republic Day. It was beautiful to hear everyone sing the American & Indian National Anthems.

The program ended with the announcement & award distribution of the Science Fair winners from 1st to 5th grade. All the projects & presentations were excellent and the judges were challenged in choosing the winners. So proud of all our students who raise the bar every year.

D.A.V Montessori & Elementary School has an Open House on Friday March 3rd & Friday March 10th from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm. School is currently enrolling for the 2023-24 school year and welcomes new families to schedule a tour by emailing director@davhouston.org or calling 281-759-3286. Bus service is available to the Katy area.

D.A.V Montessori & Elementary School Celebrated celebrated India’s 74th Republic Day on January 27 in traditional East, West, North and South states costumes.

Rupee Rises 19 p to End at $1= Rs. 82.51

New Delhi: The rupee appreciated 19 paise to close at 82.51 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hiked the repo rate by 25 basis points.

A rally in the domestic equity markets and weakness in the greenback against major crosses overseas also supported the rupee, forex traders said. However, surging crude prices in the international market and persistent foreign fund outflows restricted the appreciation bias in the local unit, they added. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened strong at 82.67 and touched an intra-day high of 82.47 and a low of 82.72 against the greenback.

It finally settled at 82.51, up 19 paise over its previous close of 82.70. The Reserve Bank of India slowed the pace of interest rate increases for the second straight time when it on Wednesday expectedly increased borrowing cost by 25 basis points but hinted more to come as core inflation remained high.

The central bank projected India’s economic growth at 6.4 per cent for 2023-24, broadly in line with the estimate of the Economic Survey tabled in Parliament last week.

It also estimated retail inflation to ease to 5.3 per cent in the next fiscal from 6.5 per cent this year on assumptions of lower imported inflation, even though core inflation remains sticky.Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, slipped 0.38 percent to 103.03.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 1.31 per cent to USD 84.79 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 377.75 points or 0.63 per cent to end at 60,663.79, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 150.20 points or 0.85 per cent to 17,871.70. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Tuesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 2,559.96 crore, according to exchange data. -- IE

SONY KOHLI

REAL ESTATE AGENT

832-766-6662

Speed Dating Type Event Hosted by Hindu Vivah Attracts Over 100 Singles

By Jawahar Malhotra

houston: After a gap of five years, the Dallas-based non-profit Hindu Vivah once again held an event to bring together Hindu singles for a speed-dating type of event held at the main auditorium of the Radha Krishna Temple on Beechnut near Kirkwood in Alief. But unlike the event of 5 years ago where only a handful of people came together, this free event held in the afternoon on Saturday, February 4 attracted over 100 singles, some travelling from other parts of Texas and even from Seattle, according to one of the organizers, Manoj Agarwal. Singles were categorized and clustered into three age groups: 23-32; 33-42 and 42 to 60.

Hindu Vivah was formed just over 5 years ago by Hindu activ-

ists concerned by the lack of venues for young Hindus to meet and other Hindus to marry. Since then, it has held 75 events nationwide, some in person and others virtually over Zoom. “It is a pan Hindu effort, “ explained Agarwal, “and caters to all Hindus, irrespective of jati, varna, language, origin, financial status, previous marital status, and age.”

Helping to organize the event were the founder from Dallas, Sashi Kejriwal, Radha Patel of Dallas who runs the online dating site Singles to Shaadi; and from Houston Vinod Shah, Manoj Agarwal, Shalini Patel (who emceed the event) and Sanjay Aggarwal.

Hindu Vivah intends to hold its next event in Chicago and then other cities. For more info, visit www.hinduvivah.org

Organizers of the singles dating non-profit Hindu Vivah at the event held on Saturday, February 4, From left, Sashi Kejriwal, Vinod Shah, Radha Patel, Manoj Agarwal, Shalini Patel and Sanjay Aggarwal.

Singles were categorized and clustered into three age groups: 23-32; 33-42 and 42 to 60.

‘Faraaz’: Humane Film More Stagey than Menacing

Place a number in the empty boxes in such a way that each row across, each column down and each 9-box square contains all of the numbers from one to nine.

Send

Solution Next Week

By shuBhra Gupta

Faraaz is a hostage drama based on a true incident in 2016, when a group of five heavily-armed young men took over a cafe in Dhaka one night. In the firing, several diners, most of them foreigners, were killed.

rorists force assembled outside, waiting for an opportune moment to go in.

The film begins, literally, with a series of bangs, as the terrorists walk into the clearly upscale eatery, spraying bullets, leaving diners slumped over their tables. Then begins the ordeal, as the gathering is targeted on the basis of their nationality and religion, and the armed men herd the rest into the middle of the room, waiting for their handler to spread the word.

lent happenings inside keep feeling as if they are being enacted. The security detail comes off amateurish. And when a couple of the terrorists clash over the strength of their ideology, it feels more stagey than menacing. And that’s the trouble with the film.

One of the hostages was Faraaz, a Bangladeshi Muslim, the scion of a wealthy, connected family. Showing exemplary courage, he stands up for his companions, one of them a Hindu. On the morning after, when the dazed survivors file out, Faraaz is not with them.

It is clear why Hansal Mehta, whose work has consistently challenged the status quo, was drawn to making this film. At a time where rampant bigotry and muscular nationalism is on the rise, films which give us humans of all shades are more than welcome.

The five youngsters who are arrayed on one side, shooting to kill without a shred of remorse, do so because they have been brainwashed, not because they are intrinsically evil.

Faraaz (Zahan Kapoor) is probably the same age as those young men. In fact, the leader of the group (Aditya Rawal) has known Faraaz from before. He could have taken the offer of freedom held out to him, and gone straight into the arms of his distraught mother (Juhi Babbar), who has been raising Cain, yelling and shouting at the anti-ter-

But ‘Faraaz’, which aims to be more nuanced than the standard Good Muslim vs Bad Muslim narrative, doesn’t leave as much of an impact as it should have. The material the plot is based on is powerful, and the theme important.

But you can never quite shake off the feeling of artifice: the busy streets of Dhaka feel real, but the cafe feels like a set, and the vio-

PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF

Kaushika Shah Licensed Sales Agent 832-282-3515, TT Y 711

Zahan Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor’s grandson, grows into his role, and delivers an unshowy performance. His Faraaz starts off by being just another entitled wealthy young man, who doesn’t want to do what his mommy tells him to, and then slowly, as the night wears on, discovers the courage within.

Aditya Rawal, as the leader of this ragtag bunch (labelled ‘bullies with a gun’) has presence. But this is a film which needed more depth and weight.

Cast: Aditya Rawal, Zahan Kapoor, Juhi Babbar Director: Hansal Mehta

Last Week’s Solution

PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF

Rating: Two stars

PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF

PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF

Recent Winners

Kumud Athavale, Ramana Vadrevu, Krishna R. Vuddagiri, Sanchali Basu, Yudhveer Singh Bagga, Taranjit Singh, Kanubhai Patel, Prabhu Narumanchi, Prabha Barvalia

PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF PROOF