Friday, January 5, 2024 | Vol. 43, No. 1
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January 5, 2024
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Indo American News
Published weekly from Houston, TX
www.indoamerican-news.com
Special Reports Community Briefs Local Politics South Asians in the News
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Sewa’s ASPIRE: Empowering Underserved Children
Tributes to Prof. Nanda
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‘Kho Gaye Hum Kahan’
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Sewa’s ASPIRE (Assuring Student Progress in Remedial Education) program. ASPIRE provides immigrant children and their families the resources and skills needed to thrive in their newly adopted country.
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WEDDINGS, SPECIAL EVENTS, TENTED EVENTS, OUTDOOR COURTYARD
3 3 3 0 F M 1 4 6 3 | K a t y, T X 7 7 4 9 4 | 8 3 2 . 8 5 5 . 5 5 2 0 | p a l m r o y a l v i l l a . c o m
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COMMUNITY
January 5, 2024
Sewa’s ASPIRE: Empowering Children in Underserved Communities
Houston: 15-year-old Samiksha Chetri is a confident and bright high school student, well-integrated into American society. But that was not the case a decade ago when Samiksha’s family first arrived in the United States as refugees from Nepal. They moved into the Los Arcos Apartments in Houston, a community popular with recent immigrants and refugees from different parts of the world. As a new American resident, Samiksha barely spoke any English and struggled to communicate in school and with friends. It was then that Samiksha’s mother became aware of Sewa’s ASPIRE (Assuring Student Progress in Remedial Education) program. ASPIRE provides immigrant children and their families the resources and skills needed to thrive in their newly adopted country. Since its founding, ASPIRE has helped children from over 40 countries in their overall development, nurturing the knowledge and qualities required for social and academic success, such as emotional intelligence, competence in core subjects, critical thinking, and creativity. Teachers from ASPIRE worked with Chetri for hours each day and at the end of the school year, Samiksha was not only able to speak English fluently but there was a dramatic improvement in her overall development. ASPIRE addresses the education gaps that many children face due to cultural and language barriers and it comes at no cost to the students and their families. Apart from helping new immigrants and refugees, ASPIRE also helps children from inner-city low-income families. Each ASPIRE center is housed in an apartment that’s been converted into a learning space and these apartments are housed in the complex where the students live. Each center develops a style that meets the needs of the children that it serves. Those needs are based on differences in English language ability, cultural background, age, schools they attend, and personal development challenges. Sewa International, a faith-based humanitarian nonprofit introduced the ASPIRE tutorials program in Houston in 2013. It began as an after-school homework help center for elementary school students in apartment complexes where refugees and immigrants lived. The program has now expanded to two large school districts in southwest Houston. “Four years ago, AmeriCorps decided to partner with Sewa on the ASPIRE Houston project. I am proud to say that since the beginning of this partnership, Sewa AmeriCorps ASPIRE has served over 2500 students, mostly from underprivileged backgrounds,” said Kavita Tewary, who has served as the director of the program since its inception. Over 83 percent of participants have shown better engagement in school and almost 80 percent have improved their grades. “Our vision has evolved to not just address the child but to include the entire family in our services. Our ASPIRE tutorial centers have now evolved into ASPIRE community centers, providing resources and services to families of our students, addressing the social-emotional determinants of wellbeing like mental health, community health, Adult ESL, and job readiness,” Tewary said. ASPIRE has served as a successful model for a public nonprofit partnership that effectively addresses these issues at the grassroots level. Carol Juarez currently serves as the program manager for AmeriCorps and previously worked as a teacher for the program, she highlights the importance of such partnerships. “For non-profit organizations, the importance of partnering with governmental entities such as AmeriCorps lies in the capacity-building support the relationship affords. AmeriCorps Members help to expand an organization’s footprint in the communities they serve. And, when those Members are recruited from those same communities, the benefit to all comes full circle, perpetuating a self-vitalizing process that raises the individual so that the entire community thrives. Ultimately, this is the goal for all non-profits on the frontlines of humanitarian action,” said Carol. After the success of the program in Houston, Sewa decided to expand it to several other cities, establishing a strong partnership with local schools and tutors. Today, Sewa’ ASPIRE is successfully running in Atlanta, Cleveland, and the Bay Area. ASPIRE will also expand to Baltimore very soon, this particular program is supported by some private donors and Adobe.
ASPIRE Houston teachers at a fundraiser for Turkey earthquake
Indo-American News • Friday, january 5, 2024 • www.indoamerican-news
INDIA
January 5, 2024
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Poor, Middle-class, Wealthy: More Indians are Leaving the Country By Sanjay Baru There is a sense that only those who pay money or are well-connected get government jobs, lamented the man from Mehsana speaking to a journalist tracking the recent news of the flight of 303 Indians to Nicaragua. “There are no well-paying private jobs. So it is better to be in some menial job in Canada or the US and earn well than stay here in India and struggle forever.” Many enterprising Indians have left the shores of Gujarat over the centuries in search of fortune and opportunity. India of the 2020s is, however, making them leave in desperation. From November 2022 to September 2023, The Hindu news report says, up to 96,917 Indians were arrested while crossing illegally into the US alone. This compares with 19,883 Indians caught trying to illegally sneak into the United States in 2019-20, and 63,927 in 2021-22. “Gujarat’s development journey has received tremendous praise both across India and the world” — claimed an April 2014 article titled ‘The Gujarat Model’ on the website narendramodi.in. It added, “Under Narendra Modi’s leadership Gujarat was known for its development oriented governance where the people were made active partners and stakeholders in the development journey.” Clearly, something has gone wrong this past decade. If desperate Indians are jumping ship and bearing ordeals in search of decent livelihood, the country’s wealthy, the so-called “high net worth individuals” (HNIs), are buying golden visas to settle overseas. The London-based global citizenship and residence advisory firm, Henley & Partners, reported in 2022 that 7,500 HNIs had left India to take up residence and citizenship in a foreign country. The global investment bank, Morgan
Stanley estimated that between 2014 and 2018 as many as 23,000 Indian millionaires had moved their principal home out of India. The out-migration of the poor, the professionals and the wealthy has increased exponentially this past decade. While the poor become victims of touts and middlemen, professionals use their marketable talent to secure work visas and the wealthy simply buy their overseas citizenship. An increasing number of countries are selling citizenship to wealthy Indians. Time was when Indians complained about enforced migration. Novelists and historians have written eloquently about the fate of “indentured labour”, lured from their villages with the false promise of a better life and then pushed into slavery and drudgery. That was British India. Then came the 1970s and 1980s when Indian labour was once again lured away with the promise of employment and higher income. In the event, many found themselves living in inhuman conditions in the nondemocratic, feudal kingdoms of West Asia.
Interestingly, though, neither the indentured labour of the colonial era nor the working class in the Gulf region chose to return home. After 1947, the former were offered the option of taking up Indian citizenship, but most chose to live overseas. Over the years their lot, in countries as varied as Mauritius and Jamaica, has improved. Most are better off than their relatives back home in the villages of eastern India. In West Asia too, the working class fought for better living conditions but rarely opted to return home. Rather, they have been demanding dual citizenship and voting rights. With over 20 lakh Indians migrating overseas every year, the regionally and professionally diversified Indian diaspora is now close to 30 million and non-resident Indians are now more than non-resident Chinese. Till recently, many NRIs retained their Indian citizenship. However, a combination of attractive citizenship policies in host countries and liberal outward remittance of foreign exchange have combined to increase the number of Indians taking up
foreign citizenship. Replying to a question in Parliament on July 21, 2023, India’s external affairs minister, S Jaishankar, stated that a total of 2,25,260 Indians had “renounced their Indian citizenship” in 2022. This compared to 85,256 in 2020. Taken together a total of 16,63,440 Indians had renounced their citizenship in the period 2011-22. In the first six months of 2023, the figure was already at 87,026. The minister then added: “The number of Indian nationals exploring the global workplace has been significant in the last two decades. Many of them have chosen to take up foreign citizenship for reasons of personal convenience.” Many in government take the view that overseas Indians are an asset. A “brain bank” claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi. True, inward remittances into India have increased steeply to an all-time high of US$125 billion last year. These money inflows are not matched by “brain inflows” to justify the specious claim of overseas Indians being a “brain bank”. “A successful, prosperous, and
influential diaspora is an advantage for India,” the foreign minister claimed and added that the government’s efforts, “are particularly aimed at encouraging the exchanges of knowledge and expertise in a manner that would contribute to India’s national development.” Money inflows are there to be counted. Knowledge inflows remain nebulous, if not elusive. If inhospitable conditions at home encourage poor and middleclass Indians to migrate, the fear of harassment by government agencies is driving wealthy Indians to go overseas. The rising demand for school education that enables securing admission overseas is only one indication of the middle class’s desperation to quit India. Till now this phenomenon has been taken lightly by policy makers and analysts. After all, most of their children have already migrated. However, the out-migration of Indians is acquiring staggering proportions. It is partly shaped by the global shortage of people that has created demand for Indian labour and professionals. Equally, it is being shaped by a desire of many to migrate to a better, safer life, far away from Modi’s “New India”. While the government is now discovering, in light of growing activism of religious extremists of all hues among overseas Indians, that the diaspora is as much of a liability as an asset, families that have children overseas are beginning to bear the burden of their absence, investing in old age homes. In all this, it is the wealthy who are having a ball — in Dubai, Singapore, London, Lisbon, Cayman Islands and other exotic places. -Indian Express The writer was member, National Security Advisory Board (19992001) and Advisor to the Prime Minister of India (2004-08)
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OBITUARY
January 5, 2024
HSS President Ved Prakash Nanda: 1934-2024 with Tributes from HGH
Denver: Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) mourns the passing of its America Sanghachalak (President) Prof. Ved Prakash Nanda on Monday, January 1st, 2024 in his hometown Denver, CO. He was surrounded by his close family and HSS volunteers. Born in 1934 in Gujranwala of the undivided India, Prof. Nanda underwent an arduous immigration to the Punjab state in India along with his family during the partition of Pakistan from India. He went on to build an exemplary career starting from M.A. Economics from Punjab University, Law degree from Delhi University in India, and LLM from Northwestern University and subsequent postgraduate work from Yale University in the US. He was a champion of Human Rights and a successful International Law professor at the University of Denver Denver’s Sturm College of Law since 1972. He was also Honorary President of the World Jurist Association, former honorary Vice President of the American Society of International Law, and a member of the advisory council of the United States Institute of Human Rights. He was widely published, having authored or co-authored 24 books in various fields of international law. He was a regular columnist for the Denver Post and wrote on a wide range of topics including human rights and international relations. In 2006, the University of Denver Denver’s Sturm College of Law alumni founded the Ved Nanda Center for International and Comparative Law in his honor. He has also received a number of awards including the Gandhi-King-Ikeda Award for Community Peace Building in 2004 and the Padma
By Thara Narasimhan
Bhushan in 2018 by the Government of India. The cause of preserving Hindu Dharma and integrating Hindus in America was dear to Prof. Nanda and he advocated it lifelong with his infectious smile, humor, and compassion. He started the first shakha in the US in 1961 at the University of Chicago. Since 2001, after becoming president of HSS, Prof. Nanda constantly traveled across the country to meet, guide, and inspire HSS volunteers. He took initiative to reach out to the opinion makers of the society for various Hindu-American causes. He also served as the Chairman of the Board of Hindu University of America. He was the chairman of the board of trustees at Hindu Temple of Colorado and also remained active in interfaith activities in Colorado. He leaves behind daughter, Anjali, son-in-law, granddaughters and extended family. On the demise of Nanda ji, we express our heartfelt condolences to his family and acquaintances and pray to the Almighty that the departed Atma be absorbed in the Divine light.
Hindus of Greater Houston expresses our heartfelt sympathies to the family of Padma Bhushan Ved Prakash Nanda who passed away on January 1st, 2024, in Colorado. A noble soul and distinguished academic scholar, whose contributions to preserving Hindu Dharma and integrating Hindus in America was one of his missions. Nanda was the only person in the western hemisphere to be awarded the Padma Bhushan to date. He started the first HSS Shakha in the US in1961 st the University of Chicago. He has been the President of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh USA since 2001. He was in Houston in June 2018 for the Hindu Sangathan Diwas. India’s Deputy Consul General in Houston, Surendra Adhana compared Nanda’s contributions to that of Lord Krishna in Vrindavan, holding the Mount Govardhan on his little finger as an umbrella to protect the people from a deluge of rain. Ramesh Bhutada, VicePresident of HSS USA and CEO of Star Pipe Products, pointed out that ‘Nanda was a humble person, despite his extraordinary achievements. “I admire him as a human being,” he added, “who puts spirituality into practice. Nanda, in his remarks, responded: “I deserve humility and that is why I practice it.” In reference to all the accolades, Nanda said he would continue to work hard to live up to those words of praise. Nanda also made special mention of Houston’s Hindu community and described Houston as “a model” where Hindus can come together and work for the common good. In March 2023, as Chairman
Late Ved Nanda , Ramesh Bhutada, Kiran Bhutada and Thara Narasimhan at Hindu University gala at VPSS on Mar 26, 2023.
of the Board of the Hindu University of America, Ved Nanda ji came to Houston to honor to Shri Ramesh Bhutada ji and family for their generous donation to Hindu University of America. Referring to a topic of concern in 2018 expressed by the youth at the HSS event, during a panel discussion on how the second generation would keep its Hindu identity, Nanda said, parents, schools and temples are the three places that can exert a great influence on children. Many parents don’t know the significance of Hindu rituals and fail to offer a satisfactory explanation to inquiring children. Sometimes, temples also don’t explain the rituals they perform. He emphasized the fact that parents and temples should be able to educate children and answer their questions for them to carry on the legacy. Prof. Nanda concluded by stating that “We have a wonderful heritage. We are the trustees. No other culture has such excellence in philosophy and values., Gaurav Singhal, who was very
Indo-American News • Friday, january 5, 2024 • www.indoamerican-news
close to Nanda ji reflects and shares in his message, “Mananiya Nanda Ji’s Last Moments: A Personal Reflection “shares this with everyone “because I believe many of us are experiencing similar emotions. The present moment, for me serves as not just a reflection but an inspiration. Without uttering a single word during his moments at the very end by the great soul, his profound contemplations, he delves deep, emerging as a symbol of the Adarsh Swayamsevak, an exemplar of selfless service and unwavering commitment. Each title, though meaningful, feels insufficient to encapsulate the entirety of his being. He defies easy classification, for he is more than the sum of these titles.” We join with all Greater Houston Hindu organizations to offer condolences to his family and friends, with prayers for his” Aatma Sadgati”, Om Shanti Thara Narasimhan is President of Hindus of Greater Houston (HGH)
OBITUARY
Tributes from Houstonians
“I had the privilege of visiting with Nanda Ji several times both growing up and as an adult, and something that always stuck with me was his joyful nature and his sharp wit. We would always say he was the most youthful of us all given how much strength and conviction he had for topics he was passionate about. And he was a professor at heart, always making sure young people were making smart decisions. In fact, while I was in college, he made it a point to chat about my upcoming career decisions, listen to all my thoughts, and gave great advice on how to weigh the options. Despite being so busy and so accomplished, he made certain this conversation happened which speaks volumes about his giving nature.” Karuna Kankani HSS Yuva Volunteer from Houston “I was fortunate to interact with him at our home along with Dr. Bhism Agnihotri, both co-founders of Friends of India Society. It was a privilege to know Dr. Ved Nanda ji.” Subhash Gupta President of HSS Houston Chapter Ved Nanda ji besides his tall professional achievements in International Law was literally one of a kind Human being. Thousands of Hindus in USA feel today either they lost a guide, a close friend, fatherly figure, someone to look up to. He touched countless lives due to his approachability, humility, jovial nature, and compassion.
Ramesh Bhutada Vice President of HSS National Ved Prakash Nanda was a respected member of the IndianAmerican Community and known for his educational leadership in International Law. Despite his busy schedule, he devoted a great deal of time to volunteer service. I was fortunate enough to meet him several times and was always impressed by the way he gave his expertise, providing guidance to many individuals and organizations and doing so with humility. Beth Kulkarni I feel fortunate that I had the opportunity to meet Ved Nanda ji, every time, he visited Houston. Today, after reading his Bio, I came to know that he was such an accomplished scholar and a well recognized author. To me, he was a just a great Sanghachalak, so very humble in his demeanors. His loss will be felt not only by HSS but the whole Hindu Community. May God bless his soul eternal peace. Devinder Mahajan Ved Nanda ji was a personification of humility, dedication and service for his entire lifetime. As HSS President his service to mankind was truly unique. His cheerful smile will be missed and his last interaction in September with us at BAPS Akshardham inauguration will be remembered eternally. Swapan Dhairyawan International Hindi Association Trustee.
January 5, 2024
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Sewa International Pays Tribute to Prof. Nanda
Houston: Prof. Ved Prakash Nanda, the founding member of Sewa International USA, a distinguished legal scholar and teacher, and a leading voice of the Hindu community in America, passed away after a brief illness on Monday, January 1, at a hospital in his hometown, Denver, CO. Deeply loved by his students, friends, and thousands of volunteers from the organizations he was associated with, Dr. Nanda contributed richly to many fields. He taught International Law at the Strum School of Law, University of Denver, CO, until his last days. He leaves behind his daughter, son-in-law, two grandchildren, and many friends. Legacy of Scholarship Prof. Nanda commanded great respect from a broad section of society globally. One of his students, Doug Scrivner, donated $1 million to the University of Denver to establish the Ved Nanda Center for International & Comparative Law, which was established in 2006. Dr. Nanda authored over 24 books, was a columnist for The Denver Post, and contributed immensely to improving US-India relations. Dr. Nanda received the Padma Bhushan, one of the highest civilian awards by the Government of India, in 2018. The American Bar Association International Law Section conferred on him the Louis B. Sohn Award, for “distinguished, longstanding contribu-
Prof. Nanda receiving Padma Bhushan from President Kovind
tions to the field of public international law.” One of the early Indian emigres, Dr. Nanda arrived as a student of law and earned his LLM at Northwestern University in 1962. Born in 1934 in Gujranwala in the Punjab province of then undivided India he migrated to Jammu with his mother during India’s partition, when he was 13 years old. Prof. Nanda studied economics and law at the University of Punjab and Delhi. After completing his LLM degree at Northwestern University in Chicago and a graduate fellowship at Yale Law School, Prof. Nanda joined the University of Denver. Ved Nanda was immersed in the
Indo-American News • Friday, january 5, 2024• www.indoamerican-news.com
ideals of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) – creating disciplined and committed citizens to build a strong India. He was President of the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) USA, Chairman of the Hindu University of America, and the past president of the World Jurist Association. Prof. Nanda held leadership positions in the American Society of International Law, the American Law Institute, and the American Bar Association’s Human Rights Center. He also served as a US delegate to the World Federation of the United Nations Associations in Geneva and on the governing council of the United Nations Association of the United States.
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January 5, 2024
India Cautions UK on ‘Unfair’ Visa Crackdown of Indian Professionals
London: Groups representing skilled professionals and students from India on Tuesday expressed concerns over a lack of clarity around the UK government’s latest visa crackdown, branding the ban on family dependents as “unfair”. UK Home Secretary James Cleverly tabled a five-point plan in Parliament on Monday that would see overseas care workers banned from bringing family members and skilled professionals having to meet a much higher minimum salary threshold of GBP 38,700. While the Health and Care visa will be exempt from this hiked salary requirement, it remains unclear how the category would operate for Indian medics in future. “We will be writing to the Home Secretary urgently to seek clarification; we hope that this does not include doctors and nurses because if it does, we can assure the Home Office that the number of doctors and nurses coming to UK from India will be nil,” said Dr Ramesh Mehta, founder of the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) – the UK’s largest representative body for nearly 80,000 doctors and 55,000 nurses of Indian origin. “But even if the changes apply only to care workers, it is extremely unfair if they are not allowed to bring their family. For anyone to provide a satisfactory and good quality care service, they can’t be separated from their own family,” he said. BAPIO, which works proactively with the National Health Service (NHS) to help address the state-funded system’s “desperate need” for quality doctors and nurses from India, warned that it
IMMIGRATION
would be forced to withdraw the voluntary support if the new rules clamp down on family rights. There is also an element of doubt if the Home Office intends to revoke an exemption for professionals under the Health and Care visa from paying the compulsory Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS), which Cleverly confirmed would be increasing from the current GBP 624 to GBP 1,035. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, attributing the move to high immigration levels, asserted that these radical measures would contribute to lowering migration, ensuring that it benefits the United Kingdom. In a post on the microblogging site X, Sunak said, “Immigration is excessively high. Today, we are taking decisive action to reduce it. These measures will guarantee that immigration always serves the best interests of the UK.” In a related development, Britain said it planned to bring in new legislation to prevent migrants who cross the English Channel from remaining in the country, as the government tries to control a surge in people arriving in small boats on its southern coast. The number of people arriving in England across the Channel has more than doubled in the last two years, with government figures showing Albanians account for the highest number of people arriving by this route. “If you enter the UK illegally you should not be able to remain here,” Sunak told parliament. “Instead, you will be detained and swiftly returned either to your home country or to a safe country where your asylum claim will be considered.”
Indo-American News • Friday, january 5, 2024 • www.indoamerican-news
ECONOMY
January 5, 2024
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Outlook 2024: Corporate Chieftains Highly Bullish on India Growth Story Mumbai: Ahead of the New Year 2024, India Inc bigwigs seem to be on the same page when it comes to India’s growth trajectory, as Deepak Parekh, NR Narayana Murthy, Uday Kotak and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw shared their unwavering optimism about the country’s economic prospects. Kotak, the veteran banker and founder of Kotak Mahindra Bank, outlined his dream for India with a financial sector model backed by 9 percent annual growth and a $30trillion GDP by 2047. He said India is transforming from a nation of savers to that of investors and the tussle between the saver/borrower and issuer/investor model is underway. “At this point, I wish all of us to celebrate India at 100. And, how do we transform India. The aim is for 9 percent per annum GDP for the
next 25 years. What does it take for people, policymakers, and practitioners to achieve this? All of us should dream of a $30-trillion economy and per capita income of every Indian at $15,000plus from its current $2500. This is the dream,” he said. Kotak pointed out that investors who have entered the market after the Covid pandemic have mainly seen the upside, and cautioned that while the situation is not comparable at present, we need to keep Japan of the 80s at the back of our mind. “Its Nikkei Index peak was 1,989. Some 34 years later with near-zero interest rates, the Nikkei is still below its 1,989 peak,” he said. Former HDFC chairman Parekh believes that the best for India is yet to come, and mentioned that he was never more optimistic
about the country’s future. “I would like to see India’s ride ahead and claim its rightful, honourable place in history, and I have been saying this for the last few months that in my last fifty-odd years of working in India, I have never been more optimistic as I have been today.” Murthy, who co-founded Infosys, credited the current sense of hope and confidence to the leadership. “This year is all about hope, confidence, and optimism. All of this has happened because of our prime minister. It is whether urban or rural India, or educated India or not so well-educated India, whether it is rich or poor, everybody is positive, and that is an extraordinarily difficult task,” he said. Shaw, chief executive and founder of Biocon, expressed her aspiration for global leadership from India. “I have always wanted
to put India on a global map at a leadership level. I aspire to global leadership from India.” Tata Sons’ Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran chose to measure his steps with more vigilance. He cautioned employees of the Tata Group about the anticipated volatility and disruption in 2024 will be driven by the evolving global landscape in data privacy regulations. In his year-end letter to employees, he highlighted geopolitics as a potential source of volatility. “The complexity of global governance will reach new heights as the world establishes new rules to safeguard data privacy, address inflation, reduce carbon emissions, and manage perceptions of AI risk.” He also noted that 2024 is marked by elections, with 40 nations heading to the polls during
the year. Despite the cautionary tone, Chandrasekaran presented a silver lining, emphasising a promising future for India. “In 2023, we performed exceptionally well. We demonstrated commendable leadership at a historic G20 Summit. Our economy is thriving, with GDP set to double to $7 trillion over the next five years.” He expressed confidence that India is well-positioned to benefit from the transformative shifts reshaping the world. Moving towards the boom in artificial intelligence (AI), especially in 2023, Chandrasekaran said: “Generative AI, for example, is a potential antidote to our access and inequality problems—provided we are careful and introduce the right rules.” -- Money Control
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January 5, 2024
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January 5, 2024
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Congratulations to all on Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s 358th Birthday!
Indo-American News • Friday, january 5, 2024 • www.indoamerican-news
January 5, 2024
‘Kho Gaye Hum Kahaan’: Modern-Day Horror
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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 us the correct answer before January 8, 2024. Email us at indoamericannews@yahoo.com. Please send us your solved Sudoku for your name to be published.
O F
O F
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PR O
O F
PR O O F
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Kumud Athavale, Krishna R. Vuddagiri, Sanchali Basu, Prabha Barvalia, Ramana Vadrevu, KB Amarnath, Pruthvi Seth, K.S.Balasubramanyam, Sahiti Palle, Rekha Trivedi, Sunil Sharma, Yudhveer Bagga, Rekha Trivedi, Taranjit Singh, Sai Lakshmi Subramanian
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Recent Winners
Indo-American News • Friday, january 5, 2024• www.indoamerican-news.com
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Last Week’s Solution
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Local help with your Medicare questions.
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parts. A lot is left for the audience to imagine. Roomies rarely cook or share bills. While a little more insight into the co-living situation would have helped, the anxiety-inducing, mystery-ridden treatment outshines the story. Each scene leaves you feeling restless and makes you anticipate some sort of disaster. The intent is bang on and so are the lead performances. Siddhant Chaturvedi lends a rare balance of warmth and detached arrogance to Imaad. Ananya proves that she can’t be written off as a nepo kid. She makes you invest in her vulnerabilities and fears. Adarsh Gourav stays with you as he brings forth Neil’s emotional turmoil and repressed anger skillfully. Kho Gaye Hum Kahan is highly relevant and an unsettling modernday horror that dares to give you a reality check. It will make you think twice before posting that irrelevant selfie or stalking that energy-drainer cum time-waster. -- Times of India
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Story: Set in Mumbai, three platonic friends navigate through life, relationships and career challenges in this slice-of-life drama that unfolds like a thriller. The trio is in for a rude awakening when they discover the impact of social media obsession on their day-to-day life. Review: What happens if social media crashes some day and people are forced to snap back into reality? Has social networking and its psychological manipulation made us lonelier? Netflix documentary ‘The Social Dilemma’ was smart enough to remind us, “If you are not paying for the product, you are the product.” Roommates Ahana (Ananya Panday) and Imaad (Siddhant Chaturvedi) along with their friend Neil (Adarsh Gourav) reflect upon this thought, the hard way. Imaad, a standup comic finds solace in Tinder, Ahana dreams of an idyllic relationship with Rohan (Rohan Gurbaxani) and Neil hopes to start his own gym but each has their own struggles. The fine line between real and reel is dangerously diminishing. Completing any given task at hand without peeping into your phone to check social media updates can be an adventure sport today. Offline used to be the new luxury. Now it’s more of a dire need in a world that’s increasingly plagued by the horrors of virtual spells. Has ‘Doing it for the gram’ ceased our ability to truly live, feel Kaushika Shah and experience things? Likes and follows proLicensed Sales Agent vide instant gratification further igniting our 832-282-3515, TTY 711 need to document everything and anything. This attention seeking neediness compels us to place our self-worth Y0066_23SPRJ55188_C in the hands of random
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strangers, those least invested in us. Debutant director Arjun Varain Singh’s slice-of-life drama works as a scathing social commentary on the millennial and Gen Z’s existential crisis. His urban tale holds a mirror to our current state of mind. When did capturing moments turn into creating content? When did scrolling take over living? What begins as a breezy friendship tale soon switches to a dark relationship thriller that addresses trauma and loneliness in the digital age. A tad meandering but tense, writers Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti, Yash Sahai and Arjun (story), smartly weave in the class disparity into the narrative. Influencers selling a lifestyle they wouldn’t afford otherwise, to Adarsh Gourav’s Neil, an ambitious fitness instructor judging himself for not fitting the bill, it’s all relatable. Barring a few, Zoya-Reema’s writing largely battles first world dilemmas, and though authentic, this too has a privileged milieu. The plot feels ambiguous in
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By Renuka Vyavahare
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Solution Next Week
12 January 5, 2024
Indo-American News • Friday, january 5, 2024 • www.indoamerican-news