Saathee Raleigh December 2020 by Shukla Entertainment

Bridging America and the Indian Subcontinent

Saathee.com IN THIS ISSUE

Investing Lessons from 2020: pg 22 Director Mira Nairâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Adaptation of A Suitable Boy: pg 30 Recipe: Sweet Potato Cutlets: pg 72

Employment Classifieds: pg 92

December 2020

Hello Readers!

This unloved of all years is slowly coming to an end. The election is over and pandemic fatigue is setting in. There is a faint light at the end of the tunnel. Vaccines are arriving and more treatments are availing themselves. The holiday season is the most diﬃcult during this time. We are isolating but long to see friends and family members. Humans are survivalists. We adapt. If we can practice that most diﬃcult of virtues during these times, patience, we will return to sunnier days. We carry on. Enjoy the festive season in your own manner and safety.

“Bridging America and the Indian Subcontinent.”

December 2020 Issue # 271 - Saathee.com Editor Samir Shukla

Comments and Suggestions always welcome. Email saathee@saathee.com

(Samir@Saathee.com)

Publisher & Advertising Divakar Shukla (rakavid@aol.com)

Ad Design / Layout Nathan C. Andrews

"Time plays a role in almost every decision. And some decisions deﬁne your attitude about time." - John Cale

Digital Media & Marketing Jennifer W. Allen

Contributors for this issue: Kirit Shukla, Ahsen Jillani, Taige Shukla Parul Kharod, Shyama Parui, Mo Vidwans Raajeev Aggerwhil, Balaji Prasad, Amit Rupani, Rishi P. Oza, Ramma Lohar and Jalendu Vaidya. Mission: Our goal is to be a valuable source of information for the South Asian community and to be a vital advertising tool for businesses.

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In This Issue

Page 46 Praying for Time.

Page 42 The Left-Right Lobe Ideological Labotomy.

Page 30 Read About Director Mira Nair’s Adaptation of Vikram Seth’s Novel A Suitable Boy as A Six Part Series.

Content

The Editor’s desk . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pg. 14

Page 34 Increase your India Knowledge: Rann of Kutch

Mirror, Mirror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pg. 46

Recipe: Sweet Potato Cutlets . . . . .pg. 72

Spot the differences . . . . . . . . . . . .pg. 50

Youth Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pg. 84

Community Events . . . . . . . . . . . . .pg. 18

Raajeev’s Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pg. 48

upcoming Movie Releases . . . . . . .pg. 26

Thinking About Thinking . . . . . . .pg. 54

Increase India Knowledge . . . . . . .pg. 34

South Asians’ Heart Health . . . . . .pg. 62

Buy Right, Sit Tight . . . . . . . . . . . . .pg. 22 Film Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pg. 28

Personal Finances . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pg. 60

Increase uSA Knowledge . . . . . . . .pg. 38

news notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pg. 64

Subcontinental divide . . . . . . . . . .pg. 42

International Students . . . . . . . . . .pg. 70

nutrition for Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pg. 40

Saathee.com

namaskar Y’all . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pg. 66

Immigration Matters . . . . . . . . . . . .pg. 74

Pop’s Puzzles and Jokes . . . . . . . . .pg. 86

Festivals and Holidays . . . . . . . . . .pg. 88

Puzzle Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pg. 88

AstroScope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pg. 90

Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pg. 92

Index of Advertisers . . . . . . . . . . . .pg. 96 december 2020

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Road Rage 2020 Volume 14:

It’s A Wrap. The Editor’s Desk

by Samir Shukla

I was recently thinking of the three monkeys of wisdom, you know speak no evil, hear no evil, see no evil. not sure why those came into my mind, maybe it’s because this unhinged and disorienting year is slowly but mercifully coming to an end and I’m hopeful for a sunnier other side.

The pandemic, protests, political pandering, posturing and pillaging all converged this year and now we crawl into the final month of the final year of this social media-warped decade. Social media has degraded into a defacing force in society, where in an alternate universe it can be a blooming exchange of ideas, solutions and progress. But I digress, that’s a discussion for another day. Throughout the political madness and shenanigans of this year, on Election day, it was instructive to see masked voters streaming in and out of the precinct after casting their ballots. Casting a secret ballot is the most powerful way an average citizen can make his or her voice heard. This year, on Election day, there was nearly universal mask-wearing at the precinct in north Carolina where I was a poll worker. Masks added to the aura of that secrecy and the image of “speak no evil” while voting during the final day of the most toxic of all elections. during that 15-hour workday, while doing my assigned duties as poll worker, I thought of all the folks coming in to vote in person. I saw just one mask-less couple, there may have been others but I didn’t notice. It is said that facial expressions can tell tales, leak out emotions one maybe feeling, even hiding. It was befitting this year that, during the most equalizing democratic action of all, voting, essentially all faces were masked. It was a stream of dutiful citizens coming in and leaving their mark on the continuing experiment that is America. After a deafening campaign and political season, the masks evoked a meditative quiet and a reaffirmation of democratic process. A record number of Americans voted and Election day still ended with uncertainty. It took several days before it was clear that Joe Biden and Saathee.com

Kamala Harris had won. Recounts, litigation and disinformation about fraud and stolen election have seeped into an unfortunate norm of American elections. There is no evidence of widespread fraud in this election cycle. Elections results will be certified and the Electors will cast their votes. Litigation and nonsense about fraud and stolen elections will go on for a spell. There will be a percentage of people that will always believe this election was stolen. Let them. Who cares? The reality is that America spoke and now we have clean results, not a Blue wave, or a Red wave, but a divided, dare I say balanced, government. It really doesn’t matter if President Trump concedes. It would be nice and could be his peace offering before he strolls out of the White House on January 20, 2021, but self-reflection is not something he does. Election workers around the country are hardworking, largely transparent and want to avail the value of voting to all citizens, no matter what their political leanings maybe. I have seen this over the past few years working as a poll worker for every election. Volunteers and Poll workers do their assigned duties quite diligently. There are also observers from both parties at every precinct. It’s a travesty that their work comes into question. Sure, there will be mistakes and maybe even bits of attempted fraud, but elections generally have proven to be transparent and fair. This was also the case this year, even in this age of extreme divisiveness. The wonderful thing is that the system has largely worked. Even with the massive numbers of mail-in ballots cast this year in many states, claims of possible fraud have been made, but none of those claims have been proven. Fraud allegations must be investigated, of course, and brought into transparent view if any proven. The national election may have wrapped, but an unfinished battle continues in Georgia where there are two Senate runoffs that will decide which party rules the Senate. Georgians will see an avalanche of negative TV advertising now till the runoff election day in early January. My sympathies are with them. Every vote matters. This simple statement continues to prove ever so essential, especially in these close, divided races. In the meantime, as the rest of the country breathes a sigh of relief from the dissonance of election fading in the rear-view mirror, President-elect Biden is assembling his administration. Just like almost every event or occasion this year, his inauguration will look different. We are now in a period of transition; the voters have spoken. It’s time to move forward.

Samir Shukla Editor of Saathee Magazine Contact: Samir@Saathee.com Twitter: @ShuklaWrites // Newsletter: ShuklaWrites.Substack.com 14

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Community Events Khamosh - Adalat Jari Hai Play: (December 5, 2020)

Hindi Rang Manch presents this virtual play presentation of Khamosh - Adalat Jari Hai on Saturday, december 5, 2020 starting at 11am EST. This is a Hindi adaptation of a Marathi play by Vijay Tendulkar. The play stars Shrinivas Joshi, Yogesh Ghangrekar, Mayank Jain, Mayuri Bhartia, and others and directed by nileena dash. The play will be streamed through Zoom at the Meeting Id: 763 265 2690.

Nuv Yug Charlotte Live: (December 13, 2020)

The nuv Yug team in Charlotte presents the nuv Yug LIVE! series - an online presentation of Indian Cultural Arts. The Charlotte team plans to stream an hour or so long show on Sunday, december 13, 2020. All shows will be presented remotely via virtual streaming. no in-person contact will be required. You may register for the show regardless of where you live. Learn more at nuvyugclt.org/events.php

Nuv Yug Raleigh Live: (December 20, 2020)

The nuv Yug team in Raleigh presents the nuv Yug LIVE! series - an online presentation of Indian Cultural Arts. The team plans to stream an hour or so long show on Sunday, december 20, 2020. All shows will be presented remotely via virtual streaming. no in-person contact will be required. You may register for the show regardless of where you live. Learn more at nuvyug.org/events.php

ChristmasVille Rock Hill: (December 3-6, 2020)

old Town Rock Hill will come alive as a charming, picturesque holiday village and outdoor art festival from december 3-6, 2020. This award-winning festival will have over 70 events including horse-drawn carriage rides, historic tours, strolling dickens carolers, art, theater, dance, music, a gingerbread house contest, multiple Santa activities, and a real ice skating rink. Learn more at Christmasvillerockhill.com. Saathee.com

Christmas Town USA: McAdenville, NC (December 1-26, 2020)

It all started in 1956, when the town of McAdenville conceived the idea of using red, white and green lights to decorate the trees around the McAdenville Community Center. For 2020, Christmas Town will introduce various pandemic precautions to ensure a safe and responsible seasonal celebration. Visitors can expect a Town that still shines with holiday cheer december 1– 26, 2020 from 5:30pm–10pm. Some of the Christmas revisions include a virtual Christmas Town 5K, no lighting of Christmas Town Lake, no tree lighting ceremony or parade. one thing that does remain constant is the reason for the lights. Find more info at Townofmcadenville.org.

Holiday Parade of Boats: Charleston, SC (December 12, 2020)

This is Charleston’s premiere on-the-water holiday event. Charleston Holiday Parade of Boats will take place on the evening of Saturday, december 12, 2020 with participants decorating their boats to sail along the Charleston Harbor and delight thousands gathered along the shore. Visit Holidayparadeofboats.com to see the full boat route and other information.

Charlotte Christmas Village: (through December 23, 2020)

Charlotte Christmas Village is a quaint, European-inspired Christmas Market in uptown Charlotte. The aromas of specialty foods will drift across the village, from classic Austrian strudels, Bratwurst with Sauerkraut, and glazed nuts. Visitors can also enjoy hot mulled wine, cider, hot chocolate and alcoholfree Glühwein in a souvenir village mug. Various local vendors will also be on hand with holiday gifts available for purchase. The Village will run from 11am-9pm through december 23, 2020. Learn more at Cltchristmasvillage.com.

Lights Before Christmas: Columbia, SC (through December 30, 2020)

Visit the Riverbanks Zoo and Garden in Columbia, SC on select nights through december 30, 2020 to experience Columbia’s longest running holiday tradition. More than one millions lights, decorative displays, festive foods and more will be available. See more info at Riverbanks.org.

Famously Hot New Year: Columbia, SC (December 31, 2020)

on december 31 from 10:30pm – 12:15am, the event will be ﬁlled with new virtual performances by past Famously Hot new Year artists, toasts from celebrities with South Carolina roots, a virtual performance by a national headliner, as well as some new surprises to keep your new Year’s Eve as memorable as ever. Since 2011, this annual tradition has brought together tens of thousands to enjoy an exciting festival atmosphere in one of downtown Columbia’s most recognizable locations. on this tenth anniversary, this energetic atmosphere will be brought to life via television broadcast and streaming on social media. Info: Famouslyhotnewyear.com. 18

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Community Events New Years Eve at Winterfest: Charlotte, NC (December 31, 2020)

Chinese Lantern Festival: Belmont, NC (through January 3, 2021)

Bid a fond farewell to last year and a hearty hello to the new Year with Carowinds’ family-friendly new Year’s Eve. dance to the beat of the region’s hottest bands and nosh on delicious tastes and sips while surrounded by lights and magic. Little ones can enjoy an authentic new Year’s Eve experience with several early-evening countdowns. Stay till midnight and start the new Year oﬀ with a bang and an amazing ﬁreworks show. Free party hats and horns are available while supplies last. The event begins at 7pm on Thursday, december 31, 2020. Learn more at Carowinds.com.

The Chinese Lantern Festival returns with hundreds of all new lanterns featuring vibrant ﬂora and fauna. Each handmade lantern is constructed by masters of the craft in Zigong, the originator of the festival. Illuminated mythical creatures, ﬂowers, trees, insects, and critters will glow throughout the Garden and interactive light displays and colorful archways will captivate all. Marvel at acrobatic shows, browse the marketplace featuring authentic Chinese folk arts and crafts handmade onsite, and explore the lush Asian-inspired garden displays. The festival will run through January 3, 2021 at the daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens in Belmont, nC. More information including ticket prices can be found at dsbg.org.

Speedway Christmas: Concord, NC (through January 17, 2021)

Speedway Christmas returns to the Charlotte Motor Speedway through January 17, 2021. The 11th edition of Charlotte’s spectacular drive-through light show features more than four million lights over a remarkable 3.75-mile course that includes most of the oval as well as the inﬁeld. But you can do more than just look – listen, too! Tune into 101.3 FM to enjoy Christmas music as you take in illuminated Christmas displays at the light show, which is open even when it rains. As an added bonus, there will be movie nights on the giant Speedway TV every Thursday-Sunday. Come see this Christmas-themed drive-in theatre. Tickets and other info: Charlottemotorspeedway.com.

New Years Eve Trail Race: Charlotte, NC (December 31, 2020)

Ring in the new Year the Whitewater way, with a celebratory nighttime 5K trail race. Set your resolutions, turn on your headlamps, and kick oﬀ 2021 with a true celebration of the active, outdoor lifestyle. This race will begin in 2020 at 11:45pm and ﬁnish in 2021 at 1am, ensuring that you, your friends, and family will put your best foot forward in the new Year. Preregistration (up until december 29) is $35. Registration the day of is $40. Headlamps are required. details: usnwc.org.

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Investing Lessons from 2020 Below are some of my biggest learnings from 2020 from an investing standpoint:

Buy Right, Sit Tight

by Amit Rupani, CFA

Doing Nothing: As my column name at Saathee magazine, Buy Right Sit Tight, doing nothing and not panicking even when your stock market investments have fallen heavily, remains one of the best investment strategies of all time. It is easy but diﬃcult to follow. It should be applied only after two prerequisites are met. First and foremost is that one has bought a “right” business. And secondly one has long investment time horizon ahead of them. As one gets closer to retirement stage, “right asset allocation” (mix between equities, bonds, and other asset classes) can be very helpful to do nothing and get through tough market times. 2020 has been a classic example of best year to have applied to do nothing. Even if one had not built up courage to add more stocks due to uncertainties when they were down, at least not selling in panic and holding to your “right” businesses would have made you money.

In March of this year, S&P 500 lost nearly 34 percent in about four weeks from all-time highs that it reached in February. It was the fastest 30 percent sell-oﬀ ever, exceeding the pace of declines during the Great depression. As the saying goes, that the air goes out of the balloon much faster than it went in. That is always the case with stock markets. It takes stairs on the way up but elevator on the way down. As of the writing of this article, S&P 500 is now up about 62 percent from the March bottom and up 12 percent for the year 2020. I will not be surprised that we end this year with positive returns. during peak crisis in March when almost the entire northern hemisphere was locked inside their homes with no trade and commerce, I never imagined in my wildest of dreams that we would end the year with a positive return. We were in completely uncharted territory that the world had not seen in probably more than a century. While I had no doubt back then that stock market in general was available at very attractive valuation and that it would recover all the losses, the main question that I had was how much time it would take for stock markets to get back to February 2020 levels. Everyone knew that we were going to enter into a recession, but the main question I had was – are we going to have a Great depression like the 1930s? It took about 20+ years for stock market to recover all losses from 1930 peak. Even for someone who had entered in at the peak of 2000 dotcom bubble had to wait for 12+ years to make any money. Market highs of 2000 dotcom peak were surpassed only by early 2013 after seeing many painful declines in between. Going through a prolonged bear market for a very long period of time in the stock market was my biggest fear. Saathee.com

Terminal Value Impact: Value of any financial security is nothing but the sum of present value of its future cash flows. And future cash flows are built-up of two components; intermediate cash flows and terminal cash flow. Intermediate cash flows are immediate cash flows that we can predict with reasonable confidence level. It can be as short as two years or eight years depending on the nature of the business. Since all public listed businesses are treated as going-concerns we have to draw a line somewhere until we can forecast its intermediate cash flows. And then at that point we assume that the business will continue to grow at an inflation rate or normal nominal GdP growth rate. Let me share an example with some numbers to make sense of above lines. Let’s assume that we have a business where we can forecast their earnings only for next five years starting 2019 till 2024. It earned $100 in 2019 (which was known by Feb 2020) continued on page 58 22

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Upcoming Movie Releases

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The Stand In (director: Jamie Babbit) Cast: drew Barrymore, Michael Zegen, Charlie Barnett, and Holland Taylor

December 4

Mank (Streaming) (director: david Fincher) Cast: Gary oldman, Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins & Charles dance

December 17

Maara (director: dilip Kumar) Cast: Madhavan and Shraddha Srinath

December 18

The Father (director: Florian Zeller) Cast: Anthony Hopkins, olivia Colman, and olivia Williams

The Comeback Trail (director: George Gallo) Cast: Robert deniro, Tommy Lee Jones, Emile Hirsch, Eddie Griﬃn, and Morgan Freeman

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Streaming) (director: George C. Wolfe) Cast: Viola davis, Glynn Turman, and Chadwick Boseman

Bombay Rose (Streaming) (director: Gitanjali Rao) Cast: Cyli Khare, Amit deondi, Anurag Kashyap, and Makrand deshpande

Nomadland (director: Chloé Zhao) Cast: Frances Mcdormand, Linda May, and david Strathairn

Wander (Streaming) (director: April Mullen) Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Katheryn Winnick, Heather Graham, and Tommy Lee Jones

December 11

Durgavati (Streaming) (director: G Ashok) Cast: Bhumi Pednekar, Arshad Warsi, Mahie Gill, and Karan Kapadia

December 30

The Midnight Sky (Streaming) (director: George Clooney) Cast: George Clooney, Felicity Jones, david oyelowo, and Miriam Shor

The Prom (Streaming) (director: Ryan Murphy) Cast: Meryl Streep, James Corden, nicole Kidman, and Kerry Washington

Coolie No. 1 (Streaming) (director: david dhawan) Cast: Varun dhawan, Sara Ali Khan, and Paresh Rawal

Wonder Woman 1984 (director: Patty Jenkins) Cast: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, and Robin Wright

Wild Mountain Thyme (Streaming) (director: John Patrick Shanley) Cast: Emily Blunt, Jamie dornan, Jon Hamm, and Christopher Walken Saathee.com

News of the World (director: Paul Greengrass) Cast: Tom Hanks, Helena Zengel, and Elizabeth Marvel 26

december 2020

Film Clips The Prom

A troupe of hilariously self-obsessed theater stars swarm into a small conservative Indiana town in support of a high school girl who wants to take her girlfriend to the prom. The musical comedy, directed by Ryan Murphy, stars Meryl Streep, James Corden, nicole Kidman, Keegan-Michael Key, and Kerry Washington. It begins streaming on december 11, 2020.

Allu Arjun Begins New Film Shooting in Andhra Pradesh Forest

Allu Arjun has started the principal photography of his action drama ﬁlm Pushpa. The ﬁlm was announced in April on the superstar’s birthday, but like so many other projects, it was delayed by months because of the pandemic. The filmmakers began shooting in the thick forest around Maredumilli in Andhra Pradesh in early november. directed by Sukumar, the film revolves around the smuggling of red sandalwood that grows only in a small part of India and has medicinal properties. The film also features Rashmika Mandanna as the female lead. Talking with an interviewer, Arjun said that it is first of its kind film as it has a unique and international appeal which is set in a very rooted story. Pushpa is slated for release in 2021 in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi.

Maara

When the female protagonist Paaru sees a fairy tale she heard from a stranger as a child painted across the walls of a coastal town, she goes in search of the man who painted it. Maara is directed by dilip Kumar and stars Madhavan and Shraddha Srinath. Look for it to open in cinemas beginning december 17, 2020. Saathee.com

The Comeback Trail

In the upcoming ﬁlm The Comeback Trail, two movie producers who owe money to the mob set up their aging movie star for an insurance scam to try and save themselves. of course, they wind up getting more than they ever imagined. The comedy is directed by George Gallo and stars Robert deniro, Tommy Lee Jones, Zach Braﬀ, Emile Hirsch, and Morgan Freeman. Look for it to begin its run on december 18.

The Midnight Sky

This post-apocalyptic tale follows the work of Augustine, a lonely scientist in the Arctic, as he races to stop Sully and her fellow astronauts from returning home to a mysterious global catastrophe. George Clooney directs and stars in the movie that also features Felicity Jones, david oyelowo, and Miriam Shor. The ﬁlm begins streaming on december 23, 2020.

Coolie No. 1

Insulted by Rosario, a rich businessman, matchmaker Jai Kishen teaches him a lesson by getting his daughter married to Raju, a Coolie, who poses to be a millionaire. They sense something ﬁshy and Raju’s deceptions are discovered. In an attempt to cover it up, he cooks up a story of having a ﬁlthy rich twin. one lie leads to another and things start to go south culminating in a comedy 28

of errors. david dhawan directs Varun dhawan, Sara Ali Khan, Paresh Rawal, Javed Jaﬀrey, Johnny Lever, and Rajpal Yadav in Coolie no. 1, which begins streaming on Christmas day.

The Fence, a Political Satire Taps into Contemporary Political Divides

Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley and William Hurt are set to star in a satirical film called The Fence about neighbors on both sides of the democrat and Republican divide. Icelandic filmmaker Grímur Hákonarson directs the film where Teller and Woodley play a newlywed liberal couple who move in next door to an ultra-conservative neighbor and ex-marine played by Hurt. They soon become at odds with Hurt when he insists on building a 9-foot-tall fence that he believes will help him protect from terrorists. There is no release date announced for the movie that begins shooting in March 2021.

Soul

A musician who has lost his passion for music is transported out of his body and must ﬁnd his way back with the help of an infant soul learning about herself. The animated feature, directed by Pete doctor, features the voices of Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Questlove, Angela Bassett, daveed diggs, Graham norton, Wes Studi, and Phylicia Rashad. Look for it to begin streaming on december 25, 2020. december 2020

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screen adaptation of the classic, bestselling, 1,349page novel of the same name by Vikram Seth. This six-part, six-hour drama tells the story of spirited university student Lata Mehra as she comes of age in north India at the same time as the country is carving out its own identity as an independent nation and is about to go to the polls for its first democratic general election. A Suitable Boy is a panoramic tale charting the fortunes of four interwoven families across northern India in 1951 – four years after India declared independence from the British. This period drama is directed by oscar-nominated film director Mira nair (Monsoon Wedding, The Namesake, Mississippi Masala) in her television series debut and adapted by Andrew davies. Shot in locations exclusively in India last year, this drama features BBC’s first-ever all-Indian lead cast including Indian screen legend Tabu (The Namesake, Life of Pi, Andhadhun) and Bollywood leading man Ishaan Khatter (Beyond the Clouds, Dhadak) Vikram Seth is one of the series’ executive producers. The series’ score is composed by Alex Heffes and renowned sitar player Anoushka Shankar. A Suitable Boy will premiere exclusively on Acorn TV in the u.S. and Canada with two episodes on Monday, december 7, 2020, and weekly episodes every Monday through January 4, 2021. More details and a free 7-day trial at Signup.acorn.tv.

Safety

Safety is an American biographical sports ﬁlm which centers on the story of Ray McElrathbey (played by Jay Reeves), who earned a scholarship to play football at Clemson university. When his mother is unable to maintain custody of his younger brother Fahmarr (Thaddeus J. Mixson), Ray must decide whether to allow Fahmarr to be put into foster care or take care of him on his own. The ﬁlm also stars Corinne Foxx, Luke Tennie, and Amanda Warren. directed by Reginald Hudlin, it will be available on disney+ starting on december 11, 2020.

A Suitable Boy

one of the BBC’s most ambitious and cinematic TV series makes its uS debut on Acorn TV this december: A Suitable Boy, an epic tale of life and love set in vibrant 1950s India in the ﬁrst

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uSA Knowledge Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert is an arid rain-shadow desert and the driest desert in North America. It receives less than two inches of rain a year. It is located in Southwestern United States, primarily within southeastern California and southern Nevada, and it occupies 47,877 sq mi. Small areas also extend into Utah and Arizona. The central part of the desert is sparsely populated, while its peripheries support towns such as Las Vegas, Barstow, Lancaster, Palmdale, Victorville, and St. George. The desert, named for the Mojave people, joins the Sonoran, Great Basin, and Chihuahuan deserts in forming the North American Desert. Singing sand dunes, cinder cone volcanoes, Joshua trees, and carpets of spring wildﬂowers are all found here. A visit to its canyons, mountains, and mesas will reveal long-abandoned mines, homesteads, and rock-walled military outposts. The Mojave plays host to Death Valley National Park, Joshua Tree National Park, and the Mojave National Preserve, as well as the lowest and hottest place in North America: Death Valley where the temperature often surpasses 120°F. Lakes Mead, Mohave, and Havasu provide water sports recreation. The Mojave also includes three California State Parks, the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, Saddleback Butte State Park, and Red Rock Canyon State Park. The Hoover Dam is a popular tourist destination. The California part of the desert also contains Edwards Air Force Base and Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, noted for experimental aviation and weapons, and the largest Marine Corps base in the world at Twentynine Palms. Saathee.com

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Improving Immunity and Combatting Chronic Diseases Lessons Learned from Covid-19

Nutrition for Life by Parul Kharod

The year 2020 will forever be remembered as the year where the whole world shut down due to the CoVId-19 pandemic. As we close out the year, let us take a moment to think about what this pandemic has taught us. What did we learn from this experience? Can it help us prepare for the future? We think of the human race as mighty and most powerful, and yet a tiny microscopic organism brought the whole world to a standstill! The virus did not discriminate! It did not ask which country you live in, how much money you have, which language you speak, what political party you belong to, which religion you follow, the color of your skin, or your class or caste in society. Everyone had their life impacted. It made us realize that we are all connected in a unique way. Maybe we need to celebrate this aspect of humanity rather than divide ourselves by petty differences. However, there are some questions that need to be looked at more closely if we are to prevent any future pandemics. did some people have a higher risk of getting infected? Why did some people die within days while some people recovered with relatively mild symptoms? Researchers will probably spend years studying that. But there are some trends emerging. data is suggesting that people, who had other chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc., are likely to suffer more severe symptoms and take longer to recover or die. Since underlying chronic conditions may put people at a higher risk for developing complications from CoVId-19, there has been an increased focus on prevention and treatment of these health issues. The CdC (Centers of disease Control) and the AMA (American Medical Association) have urged physicians and health care providers to make chronic disease prevention a top priority moving forward. This is a wakeup call for everyone. More studies are showing that the same lifestyle factors that cause chronic diseases also affect immunity.

and can never indulge in sweets or fried foods. It means that we need to be mindful of our eating habits. Eat a mostly plant-based diet that is high in ﬁber, low in sodium, fat and cholesterol, and is full of anti-oxidants that lower inﬂammation and boost immunity. do not deprive yourself or feel guilty. Enjoy life’s little pleasures, the occasional dessert or treats. But majority of the time, pay attention to what you eat, when you eat and how much you eat.

• Move more: Be physically active. Everyone does not need to run marathons, but we do need to make sure that we move our body. Walk if you can, or do yoga, Pilates, or any other form of activity that you like. Make realistic goals and do it consistently.

Here are some changes recommended by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine to help combat chronic diseases now and beyond the pandemic.

• Get a good night’s rest: our sleep cycle is very closely connected to our health. Practice good sleep hygiene. Try to get about seven hours of sleep so the body can rest and rejuvenate. develop a regular schedule with a bedtime routine. Keep your bedroom dark and noise-

• Pay attention to your diet: Food is our fuel. You either eat to nourish your body and mind or you eat to feed the disease. That does not mean everyone has to be on a “diet”

continued on page 56 Saathee.com

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The Left-Right Lobe Ideological Labotomy And Wherever You Go, There You Are

Subcontinental Divide by Ahsen Jillani

You know, I’m no nostradamus. You are reading this piece weeks after something else has happened. For all I know, there may be two presidents and two ﬁrst ladies all sleeping together in the White House bedroom suite because one guy is sulking, and refuses to leave the sandbox so other kids can play.

none of this matters anymore. There isn’t a law that hasn’t been broken in the past four years, and we are learning that this nation of laws can easily be brought to its knees by a bully with a Twitter account. I really don’t know if we are just waking up from a ﬂag waving nightmare, or entering another one – if of course the new administration isn’t locked out on January 20, 2021 because some militia groups are surrounding the White House and protecting it from the deep state. Post-election, I posted a scant photo of Melania on a platform that shall remain unnamed and made a comment. The photo was actually the front page of a tabloid newspaper in 2015, so nothing highly secret. I was immediately thrown out for seven days. Saathee.com

When I appealed and went back and forth with the live or A.I. bots (same thing now) I was thrown out for 30 days. When I appealed that and said something about the founder’s mom, I was thrown out permanently. That ended my relationship with Facebook, which was a wondrous lonely-hearts club that kept selling me Chinese scams that never arrived because that was the deal – slick video, collect on PayPal, shut it all down, and disappear into China. one billionaire was making the money. I had lost $400 before learning the lesson. I’ve griped enough about my disdain for the video and music part of human existence, and then I am adding the couple of weeks of solitude from social media to that and thinking, “Wow, that was relaxing.” I went to a painting class. I worked on my old spare Volvo. I read a couple of books and many great articles. And I thought a lot. one source of stress was of course the constant barrage of negative coronavirus news. I had spent the entire election cycle either attending events with no masks or distancing, or seeing people who didn’t even believe there was a virus. Almost 10 months out, I am sitting confused and bewildered about the state of this reality. I’m seeing Einstein n95 clad joggers under Carolina blue skies, and not a soul within a quarter mile of them, bounding through parks like lone deer during mating season. I’m seeing 200-person right wing events where masks weren’t even allowed because they conﬂicted with the president’s view of the “China Flu.” I’m seeing seniors eating at restaurants and raising their masks to take every bite. I mean, why are they even out eating? It would be comical if it wasn’t so sad. My favorite evening podcast host has been in quarantine for 11 days now because someone close to the host was diagnosed with Covid. okay. How hysterical do we need this to be when every tomato you touch at the grocery store, mask or not, could have been sneezed on by a Covid-positive person? And I’m not being judgmental here. This is part of the entire rugged individualism experiment. And it is failing. continued on page 94 42

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Mirror, Mirror

by Jennifer Allen

2020 has been a year relentless with report after report of violence and CoVId lockdowns. Then, here in America, there was the most recent Presidential Election, which, no matter what side of the playing field you’re on, was stressful in the months leading up to the election. It’s even been particularly tumultuous following the election with various bits of finger pointing, denials, and all other traces of disorder that flood our news and social media pages on a daily basis.

Praying for

Let’s not forget all the other chunks of news from this year: Wildfires in both Australia and California, the tragic deaths of Kobe Bryant, Sushant Singh Rajput, Eddie Van Halen, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Chadwick Boseman, Alex Trebek, and Sean Connery among others, tensions with Iran, murder hornets, Brexit, Tiger King, George Floyd, Meghan and Harry saying adios to the British royals, Black Lives Matter protests, discovering that black holes might actually be real… and oh yes a little South Korean film called Parasite won best picture at the oscars. I was recently thumbing through my personal music library and came across a Cd (yes I still have those) that I’ve all but worn out from playing over and over in the 90’s. George Michael’s Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1 is still one of my favorite albums of all time. originally released in the summer of 1990, it was a reflection of Michael’s views of the world at that particular time. With a title exclaiming that it was the first volume of a potential set, it’s a bit of a shame that he never did get to produce another volume before his untimely death in 2016. Maybe he was waiting for 2020 to produce it? Who knows? For a person of Greek descent, who was only 27 at the time, the album is full of absolutely breathtaking tracks that are as timeless now as they were 30 years ago. The song, “Praying for Time” in particular really hits home with lyrics that speak of a world in turmoil:

TIME

The rich declare themselves poor And most of us are not sure If we have too much But we’ll take our chances ‘Cause God’s stopped keeping score

There are only a handful of performers to this day who have earned the right to be called legendary. I think George Michael was one such performer. His music is clever, beautiful, and open. He told us stories of his own life through song, which in turn could be molded and shaped to ﬁt our own life stories like a comfortable glove. continued on page 78 Saathee.com

december 2020

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Take Two and Call Me in the Morning

Rajeev’s Comedy Corner by Rajeev Aggerwhil

during the last few months of the pandemic, I have been seeing more diversity on local and network news – a lot more Indian doctors oﬀering medical advice. Ten years ago, the only place you would see Indian people on TV was on PBS. That was just because they were answering the phones for the telethons.

In India, health care is not good. I am not saying the doctors aren’t highly qualiﬁed. It’s just hard to believe they are very motivated when they also believe in reincarnation. “Yes, madam, I am going to try. But your husband is coming back, anyway.” God forbid, if I really get sick, I would rather get treated by an Indian doctor. The doctors in India deal with serious illnesses like malaria, typhoid, and leprosy. What’s an American doctor have to deal with? “oh, Hay Fever! This is going to get me in the medical journals.” In fact, one of my friend’s parents came to the uS from India a couple of years back with malaria. American doctors didn’t even know what malaria was. one doctor thought malaria was the newest member of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Another one concurred, “Yeah, yeah. Malaria. donald Trump’s wife.” no, doc. That’s Melania. Saathee.com

It is also a fashionable trend with the American doctors to make everything a syndrome. I went to see a doctor with fever, shivering and a cough that sounded like a dog’s bark. The doctor told me, “It’s not the ﬂu. It’s probably Irritable Canine Syndrome.” Western doctors also lack common sense. A patient walks in with a stomach ache and the western doctor will do a sonogram, ultrasound, CAT scan and check for vague diseases. not once would he ask if the patient had eaten anything. In India, we are very used to dealing with all kinds of stomach aches. usually the remedy is, “Here, take these two loaves of bread and call me in the morning.” Since we have moved so many times in the uS during the last few years, I have had to pick new doctors every time we move to a new city. Tools such as Yelp and Google help. However, I like to meet the doctors before I make a decision because so many of them don’t take care of themselves. I wouldn’t take on a personal trainer that says, “Hey, we are going to get you in shape. oh, no. no. I can’t do those exercises. I am busy with this bucket of chicken wings.” Actually, I wouldn’t mind attending medical pageants where the doctors parade around like a fashion show with the announcer saying, “dr. Johnson comes highly recommended. He has four degrees and three children. But weighs in with a whopping 180 blood pressure. oh, that will knock dr. Johnson down. dr. Singh here is on three medications. Weekly shots of insulin, Prozac and Viagra. Proceed with caution.” It is also not fair that they get to look at our personal history but we are not supposed to judge them. Why don’t I get to look at my doctor’s medical history? “oh, wait a minute. Low blood sugar. That’s going to be some shaky hands, doc. I don’t know if I want you to cut into me.” I read somewhere that the body has a natural tendency to heal itself. With a good diet, proper rest and a stress-free life, you can ﬁght most continued on page 56 48

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Science (Sigh!) Ends reassurance that he is not all alone in this dark and treacherous world.

Scientists don’t have to be scientific Indeed, scientists are human. This means that self-concern, emotion and all the human frailties that are observed and accepted as part of “being human” are present in people who are labeled “scientists” too, just as it is in everyone in general. Why is it important to understand this? Why now? Clearly, the recent pandemic has put “science” front and center, and we hear many more people use this word than was the case before. If we pay close attention to the word’s usage, a discerning eye may see that the extolling of the virtues of science is not always as innocent as it might appear. Human beings use language and logic for purposes other than to speak the truth. Language exists in the twilight zone between the nighttime of lies and the daytime of truth, blurring the distinction between those two very different views of reality. And, humans, being humans, can be reasonably expected to exploit the shades in the middle of the truth spectrum to take things where their minds and hearts are inclined to take them. Science can be science, but it can also be a tool of persuasion – of politics.

Thinking About Thinking by Balaji Prasad

“If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? If you wrong us, shall we not revenge?” - William Shakespeare (The Merchant of Venice)

The man in the white coat puts down his beaker and pipette, and rummages a little frantically in his pocket for the amulet that will protect him as he goes to meet the chief who is going to put him through the third degree for the snafu that recently occurred in their facility. He mops his face with a big handkerchief, wiping the beads of sweat that have started to dot his brow. He curses the air-conditioning system under his breath, knowing at some level that it is not really the faulty cooling outside that is causing the heating inside. “Scientists are human too!” he says indignantly to no one What is science? over the centuries, slowly and steadily, many pioneers in particular, and starts to head out of the room, the amulet, as he rolls it around between his fingers, providing some continued on page 58 Saathee.com

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Nutrition

Raajeev Corner

continued from page 40

continued from page 48

diseases. Any doctor will be happy to give his or her patient this advice … as long as they can charge $200 for a consultation fee. The problem with modern day medicine is that it always focuses on the symptomatic cure; suppress the symptoms while ignoring the problem completely. This is why I don’t buy my wife jewelry. Sure, it would suppress the flare-up but the fundamental problem will still be there. Me. Western medicine is also like doing a patchwork. A patient comes in with high blood pressure. The doctor lowers the blood pressure. Great but now the sugar level has gone down. Let’s increase the sugar level. oh, now, they can’t sleep. Let’s get them some sleeping pills. now they are too lazy to exercise. They are gaining weight and increasing the blood pressure. We live in a throw-away society. Your car breaks, you get a new car. Your phone breaks, you get a new phone. Thank God, the doctors still believe in fixing things. not once have I walked into my doctor’s office and heard him say, “oh, you pulled your elbow. Try this new robotic arm. This one has no marks and has a better camera.” one of our friends is a cardiologist. He had a party to celebrate 20 years in the medical profession. In his speech, he thanked his family, his staff and Mcdonald’s. His medical practice is thriving. He has done so many bypass operations that they named an artery after him. “Just below the left ventricle is the dr. Patel Circumflex off-ramp.” I am grateful that I don’t have to deal with cardiologists or other specialists. However, I went to the dentist last week. It was bad. He was really mad at me. not a single cavity. He yelled at me, “Take some candies on the way out. I’ve got kids to feed. drink some soda and don’t brush every day. I’ve got a payment coming up for my yacht.” I also had a problem while eating, I’d bite my lips. The dentist’s eyes lit up. He advised that my lower teeth were misaligned and suggested a procedure to take out my lower jaw, realign it and put it back. And after paying for the cost of that procedure, I’d have no money left for food. I took a little bit of time to compare the death rate of Coronavirus patients in India versus the uS and found India to be about 35 percent lower. Some of my Indian friends doubt the accuracy of reports from India. others boast that the immunity in India is higher because of the BCG vaccine, less reliance on fast foods and poor hygienic conditions! I believe that besides the proper precautions like social distancing and covering faces with masks, one thing is certain. Regardless of the kind of medical treatment available in the country you are living in there is no better time to be in control of our bodies. That means proper diet, regular exercise and a stress-free lifestyle to give our body the proper immunity to fight any viruses or any future pathogens. That is commonsense and that is something no doctor will dispute, whether they believe in reincarnation or not! And I’ll waive the $200 consultation fee.

free— avoid watching television or surﬁng the internet while in bed. Stay away from caﬀeine late in day.

• Manage Stress: Stress increases inﬂammation in the body and creates chemicals that are harmful. Try breathing exercises, meditation, yoga, massage, aromatherapy, listen to music, go for a walk – whatever helps you unwind.

• Avoid smoking and alcohol: This is a no brainer! Also avoid excess medications, artiﬁcial colors, artiﬁcial sweeteners, and other chemicals and preservatives.

• Keep positive social connections: The most devastating outcome of this pandemic has been isolation. With social distancing in place, we are not able to meet with friends and family whenever we please. However social interactions are important for our mental health. Loneliness can be very damaging and can increase stress and other risk factors. use phone, chat, video calling or any other means to stay connected.

I strongly urge everyone to continue following the three W’s: wear a mask, wait six feet apart, and wash your hands. We do not know when an eﬀective vaccine will be available, and how long this pandemic will last. until then, please do your duty and adhere to the guidelines.

Parul Kharod is a registered dietitian and licensed nutritionist and works as a Clinical Dietitian. She can be reached at parulkharod@gmail.com

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Buy Right

continued from page 22

and our forecast is that it will grow its earnings at 10 percent every year until 2024 and at 5 percent after terminal period. If we assume 20 times earnings multiple for 2024 and discount at 10 percent rate, its present value would be around $2500. Below is the table explaining calculation of the numbers

now back in February/March we had no clue when the pandemic would end and when would we come back to normal. But it was safe to assume that humanity would beat CoVId-19 at some point of time in the future. now using the beneﬁt of hindsight, we know that with vaccine announcements things should come back to normal and let’s assume that we go back to normal starting 2021. But let’s also assume that 2020 was a wash-out year and our business didn’t earn $110 that we had forecasted at end of 2019. The 10 percent growth trajectory shall resume from 2021 as per our new projections. With this change below is what the valuation of the business would look like:

The value of our fictional business would have dropped by $400 to $2100 which is about 16 percent drop from $2500. now if this business is available at $1250 during March panic, it would have been a bargain purchase. A business which is worth $2100 is available at $1250. Many such opportunities were available in the market in technology sector where actually there was no impact due to CoVId-19 but in fact they were beneficiaries of the CoVId-19 pandemic. one just had to use basic common sense and look at the sectors that were most impacted and least impacted and do above math. If one notices, about 70 percent of the business value is in its terminal value. Market was rightly penalizing airlines, cruise lines, restaurants, and discretionary entertainment businesses since there was a big question mark on their existence during crisis and market was pricing in for them going out of business in most cases. If one was sure that a business’s terminal value that they had in their portfolio was not at risk, there was absolutely no reason to panic. In fact, it was an opportunity to add more. Just the question was assessing the impact on their intermediate cash flows. Howard Marks has beautifully shared in his book, The Most Important Thing that “the pendulum swing regarding attitudes towards risk is one of the most powerful of all. In fact, I’ve recently boiled down the main risks in investing to two: the risk of losing money and risk of missing opportunity. It’s possible to largely eliminate either one, but not both. In an ideal world, investors would balance these two concerns. But from time to time, at the extremes of the pendulum’s swing, one or the other predominates.” Happy Investing!

Amit Rupani is an independent investor, practices Value Investing principles, manages money for long-term wealth creation through Equities asset class. Email: RupaniAmit@yahoo Saathee.com

Thinking

continued from page 54

have built up the institution of science, which consists of deliberate and thoughtful investigation of our surrounding reality, seeking to understand better, and perhaps to exploit that understanding for human benefit. And there are many who continue to push the enterprise of science forward in this manner to take us to greater things. The word conjures up people such as Galileo, Hippocrates, Einstein and many others who took it upon themselves to probe deep and often narrow areas of particular interest to them, and who have ended up unraveling deep mysteries of the universe for the rest of us. Many of the scientiﬁc ﬁndings that arose from these pursuits have resulted in tangible utilities and methods that serve us well. We wouldn’t have cars and planes, computers, the Internet, and so many other things but for the work of many of these people, as well as the entrepreneurs, technologists and politicians who followed on their heels and brought these things to us in a tangible day-to-day form. But that is where science ends, and “science” begins – the point where exploitation by those in the world of commerce and politics becomes the focus. While these popularizers play a role in bringing many of these things to us, their goal is exploitation, not understanding and curiosity for its own sake.

Politicians love “science” What is “politics”? The Wikipedia defines it as: “Politics is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations between individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status.”

Simply put, when people engage with others in different situations, their view of the world and what they see as beneficial or “right” are thrust into the mix to drive decisions and actions that are not completely controlled by any one individual. There is negotiation, persuasion and jockeying for position and power – all very human pursuits. often, if the negotiations are carried out in the presence of partial, often flawed, information – which is often the case – everyone gets to fill things in with their own fiction, sometimes accidentally and sometimes willfully so that things move to where they would prefer things to move to. Those who commercialize things are politicians of sorts because their goal is to sell, which often involves persuasion. Persuasion works best when there are vulnerabilities in the subject’s mind that can provide “hooks” for messages. These vulnerabilities can also be exploited for commercial gain. Are you less or more likely to buy a product or “solution” when you are not mortally afraid for your well-being? Fear is easy to sell into. There is obviously incentive for those who would benefit from engendering fear in those they sell to. And they do. Just watch the commercials on TV to see this behavior on unambiguous and unhesitant display. There is a very diﬀerent kind of selling though that is far more pernicious than what the garden-variety commercialist vends. It is the politician who beneﬁts by clambering into the position of being your well-meaning benefactor, saving you from harm, perhaps even death. And they have the incentive, the means and the motivation to do this. “Science” can be a tool in their hands that helps with this objective. Also, “scientists”, being human, don’t always practice science. They can serve politicians, and serve their own personal interests too. of course, if you practice critical thinking, you can build some immunity to combat this ever-present virus.

Balaji Prasad 58

is an IIT/IIM graduate, a published author, SAT/ACT Online and in-person Coach, and K-12 Math Tutor at NewCranium. balaji.prasad@newcranium.com.

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What Can We Do? The strategy should be clear by now. We would wish to reduce or even out / balance our AGI so that we stay in the lower brackets. It becomes especially critical when we are close to a step or just a few dollars above a step which pushes us into the higher bracket. Since the fate for 2020 is decided by what we put down in 2018, there is probably nothing we can do for 2020 premiums but by the same logic what we could do now for 2020 will be aﬀecting our premiums for 2022 tax returns. Just keep that focus. now, some good news in this regard is that starting next year the steps will be adjusted for inﬂation which had not happened so far since 2011. not just because of what I have explained above, Medicare’s higher end earners should consider a yearend review any way. It is always a good idea to do an estimated 1040 for the year around mid-year and review again by november of that year which gives us a good indication as to how the taxes would work out and, even more important, there is still time if some quick steps need to be taken to adjust the income especially around the “steps.” now let us review what can be done to reduce/adjust AGI. Here are some moves that could lower Medicare surcharges: Manage AGI: your AGI is on line 8b of 1040 form; it includes capital gains/losses from your investments, earnings from selfemployment and deductions for certain retirement contributions, among other things. At this point it does not include standard deduction or schedule A amount. If you are just above a threshold, look for taking more capital losses or split sale of stock over two years. Make charitable donations from IRA if you are over 70.5 years of age. You can donate directly from IRA account, called QCd, up to a limit of $100,000. This reduces your taxable IRA amount dollar for dollar. This works out really well if you are not able to use schedule A. Those who are self-employed can deduct Medicare premiums on line 16 in Schedule 1. This reduces AGI while taking it on schedule A does not. RoTH IRAs and HSAs can help too. under the current law, RoTH IRA payouts are not taxable and hence don’t raise income for Medicare surcharges. HSA payments are also taxfree if used for eligible medical expenses. Flag a drop in income if income has dropped due to a life event such as marriage, divorce, death of a spouse or retirement. You can ask for a reassessment of your Medicare surcharge for 2020. The form for this request is SSA-44 and it explains the requirements.

Personal Finances by Mo Vidwans

Those who are paying Medicare premiums for their health insurance may have noticed this: you may be paying more insurance premium than the standard $144.60 per month that is oft mentioned. In fact, depending on what your modified AGI (Adjusted Gross Income) is on your tax return (1040) it could go as high as $491.60 per month (IRMAA). These premiums are hard to believe and to imagine that we could be paying steep premiums out of pocket for something that is controlled by the Government. This range of premiums exist because of what Congress decided back in 2003. They decided then that the Medicare insurance premiums should be based on the total income of the person/family and that obviously the higher income people should be paying bigger share for their own coverage. It makes sense in some ways; the real surprise is that they didn’t implement this ladder strategy for the premiums sooner than this. The surcharges took effect for part B (outpatient services) in 2007 and for part d (drug coverage) in 2011. The bad part of such thinking is just the way Congress has done this. They opted for a “step” (officially it is called cliff) approach like the regular income tax structure is instead of picking up a percentage approach where a certain fixed percentage of your additional income will be taken as additional premium. Because of the “step” approach what happens is that when we cross that threshold of the step even by a dollar, all of a sudden we are in the higher surcharge bracket and pay much more in premiums. We will talk more about this later. There is a new inflation adjustment for 2020 that also complicates the situation. now is a good time for higher earning Medicare recipients to check whether a small reduction in this year’s income could make a big difference in future premiums. For 2020, Part B and Part d surcharges kick in for singles that had more than $87,000 of income and for couples with more than $174,000 income. This is based on their 2018 tax returns. Medicare and Social Security have access to all the records that we file as tax returns with IRS. Yes, this indeed is a surprise to many but it is true. Income is defined as AGI from your 1040 plus tax-exempt interest income, such as from Municipal Bonds. As I mentioned earlier, the first step in our ladder approach is at the levels mentioned here, namely $87,000 Mo Vidwans for singles and $174,000 for couples filing jointly. obviously, is an independent, board certified financial planner. For details visit, the critical thing for us is to watch our AGI when we are doing VidwansFinancial.com, call 984-888-0355 or write to: mpvidwans@yahoo.com Saathee.com

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Push Is on in US to Figure out South Asians’ High Heart Risks

Sharad Acharya, Nepali American from Broomﬁeld, Colorado, has a family history of heart issues and underwent a triple-bypass surgery and received seven stents. (Eli Imadali for KHN)

By Vignesh Ramachandran, Kaiser Health News

raising awareness of the issue. The bill passed the u.S. House in September and is up for consideration in the Senate. The issue could gain more attention after Sen. Kamala Harris (d-Calif.) becomes the nation’s ﬁrst vice president with South Asian lineage. Harris’ mother, Shyamala Gopalan, moved from India to the u.S. in 1958 to attend graduate school. Gopalan, a breast cancer researcher, died in 2009 of colon cancer. A 2018 study for the American Heart Association found South Asian Americans are more likely to die of coronary heart disease than other Asian Americans and non-Hispanic white Americans. The study pointed to their high incidences of diabetes and prediabetes as risk factors, as well as high waistto-hip ratios. People of South Asian descent have a higher tendency to gain visceral fat in the abdomen, which is associated with insulin resistance. They also were found to be less physically active than other ethnic groups in the u.S. one of the nation’s largest undertakings to understand these risks is the Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living in America (MASALA) study, which began in 2006. The MASALA researchers, from institutions such as northwestern university and the university of California-San Francisco, have examined more than 1,100 South Asian American men and women ages 40-79 to better understand the prevalence and outcomes of cardiovascular disease. The researchers stress that high blood pressure and diabetes are common in the community, even for people at normal weights. That’s why, said dr. Alka Kanaya, MASALA’s principal investigator and a professor at uCSF, South Asians cannot rely on traditional body mass index metrics, because BMI numbers

For years, Sharad Acharya’s frequent hikes in the mountains outside denver would leave him short of breath. But a real wake-up call came three years ago when he suddenly struggled to breathe while walking through an airport.

An electrocardiogram revealed that Acharya, a nepali American from Broomfield, Colorado, had an irregular heartbeat on top of the high blood pressure he already knew about. He had to immediately undergo triple bypass surgery and get seven stents. Acharya, now 54, thought of his late father and his many uncles who have had heart problems. “It’s part of my genetics, for sure,” he said. South Asian Americans — people with roots in nepal, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan and the Maldives — have a disproportionately higher risk of heart disease and other cardiovascular ailments. Worldwide, South Asians account for 60 percent of all heart disease cases, even though — at 2 billion people — they make up only a quarter of the planet’s population. In the united States, there’s increasing attention on these risks for Americans of South Asian descent, a growing population of about 5.4 million. Health care professionals attribute the problem to a mix of genetic, cultural and lifestyle influences — but researchers are advocating for more resources to fully understand it. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (d-Wash.) is sponsoring legislation that would direct $5 million over the next five years toward research into heart disease among South Asian Americans and Saathee.com

continued on page 82 62

december 2020

News Notes U.S. and India 2-Plus-2 Ministerial Dialogue Held in New Delhi

Defense Secretary Dr. Mark T. Esper, Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, and Indian External Aﬀairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar participate in a press event after the U.S.-India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in New Delhi, Oct. 27, 2020.

By Jim Garamone, dod

u.S. and Indian leaders made more progress october 27, 2020 on building what defense Secretary dr. Mark T. Esper called “one of the most consequential relationships for the united States in this century.” Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, Indian Minister of External Affairs dr. S. Jaishankar, and Indian defense Minister Rajnath Singh joined Esper for the so-called “two-plus-two” meeting in new delhi. The meeting — held in the beautiful Edwin Lutyens-designed Hyderabad House — was a chance for the two nations to check the progress of previous agreements. It also was a chance for the leaders to continue to build the defense relationship across a range of areas. These areas include regional security cooperation, defense information sharing and defense sales, the secretary said. “As the world confronts a global pandemic and growing security challenges, the united States-India partnership is more important than ever to ensure security, stability and prosperity to the region and the world,” Esper said at the conclusion of the talks. It has only been 15 years since the first u.S.-India defense framework agreement. The defense ties are a pillar for the overall relationship between the united States and India. Esper called the signing of the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement important as it is the last of the foundational defense agreements between the two countries. “This enables greater geospatial information sharing between our two armed forces,” he said. “Based on our shared values and common interests, we stand shoulderto-shoulder in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific for all, particularly in light of increased aggression and destabilizing activities by China,” the secretary said. China confronted India over the summer along its disputed border. Twenty Indian soldiers were killed. Esper and Pompeo also visited with Indian Prime Minister narendra Modi. The men discussed the CoVId-19 response and security and defense cooperation. The two-plus-two meeting reaffirmed America’s commitment to a comprehensive and forward-looking defense partnership with India. The Saathee.com

men discussed concrete ways to expand regional security cooperation, military-to-military interactions and defense trade relationships. Helping in the region includes bilateral defense cooperation in the Indian ocean region, Southeast Asia and the broader Indo-Pacific. one example of this cooperation was the combined exercise by the Indian navy and the uSS nimitz carrier strike group in July. The two nations have also exchanged military liaisons to strengthen coordination and ties between military staffs. The two nations are also working toward establishing new cyber and space dialogues to increase cooperation in domains where both countries face emerging threats, Esper said. The four men also discussed engagement with like-minded nations, like Japan and Australia, to advance maritime security, humanitarian aid, disaster relief and other common interests across the region. Esper praised India’s recent decision to include Australia in the upcoming Malabar naval exercise among Indian, American and Japanese forces. He said it reflects the acknowledgment of the importance of working multilaterally to address global challenges. He said he would like to see this grow. “We have a lot of existing exercises right now,” the secretary said earlier in his trip. “We would like to multilateralize more things.” The engagement between the Indian and u.S. militaries is strong and moving in the right direction, he said. Earlier in the trip, Esper said the navy-to-navy cooperation is fairly strong. We are looking to build more army-to-army and air forceto-air force opportunities,” he said. u.S. and Indian defense trade and technology cooperation continues to grow. Esper noted that India acquired Apache and Seahawk helicopters this year. “We look forward to advancing sales for other key defense platforms including fighter aircraft and unmanned aerial systems,” he said.

USCIS Announces a Revised Naturalization Civics Test

The u.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced last month plans to implement a revised version of the naturalization civics test. The agency ﬁrst announced plans to revise the civics test in July 2019. uSCIS revised the civics test as part of a decennial update to ensure that it remains an instrument that comprehensively assesses applicants’ knowledge of American history, government and civic values. The civics test is administered to applicants who apply for u.S. citizenship and is one of the continued on page 82 december 2020

Hare Krishna Temple Sandy ridge, nC

Crown

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Hare Krishna Temple - The Temple Of The Holy Name in Sandy Ridge, North Carolina This is your opportunity to take part in finishing the Shikar, the Crown, and installing the Chakra on the Crown! This temple project was started in 1996, and is nearly completed. The Temple of the Holy Name here in Prabhupada Village has been having Sunday Kirtan and Hare Krishna Sunday Feasts (distribution of Krishna Prasadam free of charge) since 1992.

Although the current pandemic has slowed down participation from the general public, we have been using the time to work on the temple. What we need to finish is as follows: 1) The Crown $4,500 2) Gold-electroplating of the Chakra (we already have the Solid Copper Chakra) About $5,000 3) Installing the Crown and Chakra, crane rental etc. $1,500 Total cost (items 1, 2 and 3 above) for installing the Crown and Chakra--$11,000 (Once in a lifetime opportunity-leave your legacy on this temple) 4) TPO roofing $34,875 5) Wrought Iron balcony and stair railings, and security gates to protect the Altar $9,200

Total cost for the above items is $55,075! Your gift now--will be doubled! In order to complete the temple construction promptly, one of the temple's principal supporters has committed to match every gift the temple receives for construction up to $30,000! All gifts, large or small will be graciously accepted and names of the donors will be posted in the temple, unless anonymity is requested. Now is the time to get some special mercy, Krishna's Mercy! Please send your tax-deductible gift today and come and chant the Holy Names with us--Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

FOR YOUR DONATION, VISIT

iskconpv.org/donate.html CHOOSE YOUR AMOUNT AND CLICK DONATE NOW. Some of the Services the Temple Of The Holy Name Provides: Free Sunday Feast- Kirtan, Gita discussion, and distribution of Krishna Prasadam-Every Sunday at 3 pm Vaisnava Priest available to do Agnihotra Yajna; Havan; Vivaha Yajna Weddings; Griha Pravesh; New Car Puja; and other Samskaras etc at the temple or in your home Daily classes on Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam

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Blinded by Beauty

Our encounter with the perception of attractiveness starts at an early age

our encounter with the perception of attractiveness starts at an early age and depending on where we stand on that scale, it may or may not work in our favor. The Halo Effect of good looks affects how we assess other qualities in the same person. Think of that cute five-year old, with big eyes and an irresistible smile, who gets away with all the mischief. By contrast, the buck toothed or overweight kid from across the street may be incorrectly blamed as the troublemaker. Women from my generation are likely to remember their most popular classmate as the prettiest one. She was the one who also received the most roses on “Rose day” in college. And perhaps, your brother pointed out that the local “hero” got his first job before the average looking ones. These were obvious messages similar to the number of “Likes” in the world of social media. While it elevated the status of a few, those considered unattractive probably suffered unfair treatment. It is likely that their strengths were overlooked, or they were not offered equal opportunities for success. Sadly, in some cases, their confidence was crushed as they became the butt of jokes. Comparisons by “aunties” who point out differences between brothers or tell you that it is sad that you didn’t get your Mom’s beauty genes can leave a lasting effect on a child at an impressionable age. Subtle reactions or even unintentional comments on our part may affect the person at the receiving end of our words and actions. For example, hiring managers often show confidence in candidates who “look the part” for a specific job or leadership role. While gender and race exacerbate this problem, when we associate physical attractiveness with competence, knowledgeable and other positive attributes, we are likely to make poor decisions. While that may not always be the case, those lacking a gorgeous face may have to work doubly harder to demonstrate intelligence, confidence, and

Namaskar, Y’all

by Shyama Parui In America’s fierce 2020 Presidential race, where we were bombarded with news stories, advertisements and countless political posts, our role as voters gained greater weight than ever before. under these tumultuous circumstances, when you were casting the ballot, did you consider that a candidate’s win might depend on his or her looks? Would it shock you to know that historically, votes seem to favor the “better looking” person? As ludicrous as that sounds, our tendency to prefer conventionally attractive individuals expresses itself both explicitly and implicitly. My suspicion though, is that we don’t readily admit to it and often are not even aware of the “beauty bias.” I had first heard of this psychological behavior years ago in my undergrad Psychology class at St. Xavier’s College. That topic grabbed my attention partly because as a teenager, our awareness of self and other’s beauty is heightened. It has resurfaced in discussions with my kids, who are now adolescents. In the age of Instagram, innumerable filters, and Kylie Cosmetics, it appears that the influence of beauty is exponentially growing. This bias though has existed since time immemorial and across cultures. our religious epics like the Ramayana and Mahabharata depict majority of the Hindu Gods and Goddesses as strikingly beautiful. Shakespeare’s sonnets that intertwine love and beauty are well known. on the flip side, nefarious characters are the very definition of ugly; think Voldemort, the evil force from the Harry Potter series and Mogambo, the archetypal villain from the Hindi movie, Mr. India. Saathee.com

continued on page 82 66

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US Colleges Report a 43 Percent Decline in New International Student Enrollment It’s not just because of the pandemic

enrollment is about more than that. As a specialist in international education, I know that the continued decrease in students from abroad will negatively aﬀect u.S. students and the American economy.

By david L. di Maria, the Conversation

For the fourth year in a row, the number of international students enrolled at u.S. colleges and universities has declined. This is according to data released this month by the State department and the Institute of International Education.

Still over 1 million There are currently just over one 1 million international students studying in the u.S. This has been the case since 2015. This current ﬁgure includes 851,957 students enrolled at higher education institutions and 223,539 people engaged in optional Practical Training, a program that allows recent international graduates to remain in the u.S. temporarily to obtain work or volunteer experience related to their major, according to data I analyzed from the Institute of International Education. The optional Practical Training is important to consider when you examine trends in international enrollment in the era of Trump. The reason is that the true impact of the Trump administration on international enrollment is masked by obama-era policies that permitted more international students to remain in the u.S. for longer periods through the optional Practical Training program. As these people complete their training programs, the total number of international students will likely once again dip below the 1 million mark.

The fact that the decline largely took place during donald Trump’s presidency is no mere coincidence. The Trump administration has tightened restrictions on who can study here and has also sent signals that students from abroad are not welcome. As the Trump administration comes to an end, the new international enrollment data serve as sort of a failing grade for an administration that claimed international education would be a top priority. The Trump administration also made commitments to increase the number of international students in the u.S. and boasted of having spent more on recruiting international students than any other administration in history. Important as it is to have global perspectives at American colleges and universities, the steady decline in international Saathee.com

continued on page 76 70

december 2020

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Sweet Potato Cutlets

reCIPeS

The nutritious sweet potato is a super food and is available in a range of skin colors. Here in the southern united States, more popular are reddishskinned sweet potatoes. Here’s a simple and healthy recipe that people of all ages will love. This recipe makes about 10 small cutlets. You can adjust the ingredients for more servings. For example double the ingredients as per taste for two sweet potatoes. Cook food, serve love. By Ramma Lohar

Ingredients 1 sweet potato, medium (boiled and peeled) 1 onion, small (finely chopped) 1 green chili (finely chopped) 1 inch ginger (finely chopped)

Directions 1 2

1/2 tsp fennel seeds 1/2 tsp chaat masala 2 tsp cilantro (chopped) 1/4 cup poha (ﬂattened rice) crumbs Pinch of turmeric powder Salt per taste Ghee or Oil

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Preparing cutlets mixture: Wash the sweet potato, boil and peel. In a bowl add the boiled sweet potato; smash it smoothly using a fork.

Add in onion, green chili, ginger, fennel seeds, chaat masala, cilantro, turmeric powder, poha crumbs (slightly crush the poha) and salt according to taste. Mix and combine well to form dough. Apply a little oil or ghee on palms to make a small ball of dough and roll into desired shape.

Cooking cutlets: Heat a pan on medium to low ﬂame, add ghee or oil into the pan and shallow fry the cutlets on both sides. Transfer the cutlets on a paper towel to absorb excess ghee/oil. Plate it, garnish with cashews and black raisins, serve warm and enjoy with tomato sauce or your favorite sauce or chutney.

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IMMIGRATION ACTIONS PROMISED BY President-Elect Biden

Immigration Matters by Rishi P. Oza

negotiate a passable outcome without knowing where the mercurial Trump stood on the issue. Biden’s task will be to return to the familiar halls of the uS Senate to see if he can bridge what may seem like a political chasm between the two parties. His immigration plan, which can be viewed in its entirety at joebiden.com/immigration, focuses his immediate priorities on reinforcing the nation’s interest in asylum policies, dACA and border policy. Much of this can be done through executive orders, which does not require Congressional action or input; both Presidents obama and Trump were criticized for expanding the reach of executive orders, with obama using them to create the dACA program and Trump using them to institute travel bans to the united States. Eliminating executive orders have proven diﬃcult in the courts (see dACA), so Biden’s desire to institute immediate change may be met with litigation. President-elect Biden’s longer-term goals focus on many of the same themes that have been discussed for years – a pathway to citizenship for those unlawfully in the united States, reforming work visa options and increasing the number of overall green cards available to foreign nationals. However, these larger changes are under the purview of Congress, which will require Biden to utilize his decades of experience within the Senate to try to muster the necessary votes to reform the system. While a cynic may think that our current political paralysis may cast a dark cloud over the chances of genuine reform, both parties seem to understand the need for systemic improvements over the current status quo. That may be wishful thinking in our current environment, but the close electoral counts may signal to both of the parties that the public is yearning for actual progress and not a prolonged stalemate for the next four years.

The early november presidential food fight looks to have resulted in a lean victory for President-Elect Joe Biden. He ran a campaign based first and foremost upon tackling the CoVId19 and recently announced an intention to roll back some of President Trump’s executive orders, including the ban on individuals from Muslim-majority countries and vacating the deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (dACA) program. The executive orders, which were hallmarks of President Trump’s sometimes chaotic immigration policy, were widely criticized for being a short-sighted and irresponsible policy. Although the Supreme Court upheld President Trump’s authority to issue his Presidential Proclamation banning travel, whether such a ban constituted good policy is a matter of debate. Contrarily, the Supreme Court slapped down the Trump Administration’s attempt to eradicate the dACA program, which has provided hundreds of thousands of individuals brought to the uS as children with the right to live, work and study in the united States. Biden’s challenge will be to enact systematic change that has flummoxed many a president before him. The last wholescale overhaul of the uS immigration system occurred in the mid1990s and the system is widely considered to be entirely outdated compared to the economic needs facing the country. While Trump proposed to change the system from its current quota-based analysis to a skills-based approach, the Administration never offered a serious framework of the President’s vision and as a result, Congress had no particular benchmarks to start for purposes of negotiation. Rishi P. Oza As a result, both Congressional Republicans and democrats is a partner at Brown Immigration Law, a firm that focuses solely on immigration were unwilling to spend the necessary hours of time needed to law; he practices in Durham. roza@rbrownllc.com Saathee.com

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After the pandemic The Institute of International Education also partnered with nine other higher education associations to assess international student enrollment amid the CoVId-19 crisis. The most alarming facts from the survey are a 43 percent drop in new international student enrollment and a 16 percent reduction in total international enrollment in the fall of 2020. The study also found that 1 in 5 international students are reportedly studying online from abroad, and roughly 40,000 international students have chosen to defer their enrollment to a future term. All said, the findings reflect a lot of uncertainty for the future of u.S. colleges, which were already – before the CoVId19 pandemic began – anticipating that overall enrollment will drop by more than 15 percent after the year 2025 because of record-low birthrates in the u.S. that began in 2008 and continue to this day. Some experts attribute this decline in the birthrate to the 2008 financial crisis. People may simply have delayed having children or had fewer children because of that era’s economic hardships. And 17 years later, in 2025, there are bound to be fewer students and more empty seats in college classrooms. The economic impact of the CoVId-19 pandemic is estimated to be three times worse than the 2008 financial crisis. Consequently, colleges could experience another major decrease in overall enrollment caused by similar demographic changes by 2037. Success in recruiting students from abroad will be key to offsetting these declines.

International Students

continued from page 70

Where they are from While the students came from more than 220 countries and territories, China and India accounted for 53 percent of the total, the data show. About one-third of international students – 34.8 percent – enrolled in graduate-level coursework. The nextbiggest group was those enrolled in bachelor’s degree programs – 33.1 percent. Associate degree and non-degree studies accounted for 5.9 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively, of international student enrollment in the u.S. The remaining 20.8 percent were participating in optional Practical Training. Just over half of all students from abroad – 52 percent – pursued majors in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM.

How they pay for school At the undergraduate level, 83.9 percent of international students rely on personal and family income to pay for their education in the u.S. Five percent rely on a foreign government or university, and 0.4 percent rely on a foreign private sponsor. In all, 89.3 percent are pumping money from abroad into the u.S. economy, while the remaining 10.7 percent rely primarily on funding from a u.S. source. At the graduate level, 60.7 percent of international students rely primarily on international funds, since 36.5 percent received funding from their college in the u.S. These graduate students usually get this funding in exchange for David L. Di Maria is Associate Vice Provost for International helping faculty with grant-funded research projects or helping Education, University of Maryland, Baltimore County. teach undergraduate courses in their discipline. The remaining 2.8 percent received funding from other u.S. sources. Article courtesy of TheConversation.com. Most of the money spent by international students – 55 percent – is spent within the higher education sector. This, in turn, helps colleges support high-tech academic programs. It also helps keep tuition lower for students from the u.S. But a drop in international students doesn’t hurt just colleges’ bottom lines – it harms local economies as well. When you subtract all funding from u.S. sources, one analysis found, international students still contributed uS$38.7 billion to the u.S. economy in 2019. These dollars supported 415,996 American jobs, based on an economic analysis. Also, consider that 18 percent of every dollar spent by international students goes to apartment rentals and other forms of accommodation; 11 percent goes to restaurants, 9 percent to retail and the rest to other sectors of the economy. no matter how you slice the data, the fact remains that international students make positive contributions to the u.S. economy. In fact, 1 in 4 $1 billion startup companies in the u.S. had a founder who ﬁrst arrived on a student visa.

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looking forward Many international students have reacted positively to the victory of President-elect Joseph Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. nevertheless, I believe it will take years to reverse the trend of declining international enrollment that intensiﬁed under Trump. It is true that there was a decline during the last year of the obama administration, but that was mostly due to the fact that the Brazilian and Saudi governments curtailed major studyabroad scholarship programs for their citizens. This resulted in a drop of 10,586 in Brazilian students and 8,670 fewer Saudi students between 2014 and 2016. The situation got worse as the u.S. came to be seen by international students as an unwelcoming nation under Trump. Saathee.com

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Community Organizations Hello Readers

our Community organizations section guides you through all the organizations in the Carolinas. non-proﬁts, social

organizations, religious organizations, meditation groups, cricket associations, and many others are listed here and

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Mirror

continued from page 46

It’s actually quite intriguing that the man was so transparent with his music and yet so private at the exact same time. “Praying for Time” in particular is so dark and sorrowful for the time it was written. Speaking to the new York Times in 1990, Michael said this:

political climate has changed to the point that we vote for whomever we dislike the least, where humanity as a whole has become so wasteful and selﬁsh, a world bursting at the seams with mass consumerism, the continued rise of fascism, elitism, terrorism, global warming, and now a global pandemic has every single one of us living in a constant state of fear and distrust.

“No event inspired the song. It’s my way of trying to ﬁgure out why it’s so hard for people to be good to each other. I believe the problem is conditional as opposed to being something inherent in mankind.

And it’s hard to love, there’s so much to hate Hanging on to hope When there is no hope to speak of And the wounded skies above say it’s much, much too late Well, maybe we should all be praying for time

“The media has aﬀected everybody’s consciousness much more than I hope that in 2021 we can brush past a lot of the faults we most people will admit. Because of the media, the way the world is perceived is as a place where resources and time are running out. as a global community obtained in 2020. All we can do at this We’re taught that you have to grab what you can before it’s gone. It’s point is take a breath as we step forth into the new Year. Each tiny droplet can eventually create an ocean of hope as we all almost as if there isn’t time for compassion.” should be praying for time.

Remember this was in a world before we had global access to the World Wide Web, let alone various bits of social media saturating our handheld electronic devices with a plethora of “he said, she said” articles, memes, and other such white noise. Jenifer Allen It’s actually quite poignant that this 30 year old song is still works at Saathee and is also a Podcaster, Blogger, Photographer, Graphic Artist, apt for the world we’re living in today. A world where the Gamer, Martial Arts Practitioner, and all around Pop Culture Geek. Saathee.com

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Namaskar

South Asian Hearts

continued from page 66

continued from page 62

considered normal could provide false reassurance to those who might still be at risk. Kanaya recommends cardiac CT scans, which she said help identify high-risk patients, those who need to make more aggressive lifestyle changes and those who may need preventive medication. Another risk factor, this one cultural, is diet. Some South Asian Americans are vegetarians, though it’s often a grainheavy diet reliant on rice and flatbread. The AHA study found risks in such diets, which are high in refined carbohydrates and saturated fat. “We have to understand the cultural nuances [with] an Indian vegetarian diet,” said dr. Ronesh Sinha, author of “The South Asian Health Solution” and an internal medicine physician. “That means something totally different than … a Westerner who’s going to be consuming a lot of plant-based protein and tofu, eating lots of salads and things that typical South Asians don’t.” But getting South Asians to change their eating habits can be challenging, because their culture expresses hospitality and love through food, according to Arnab Mukherjea, an associate professor of health sciences at California State university-East Bay. “one of the things South Asians tend to take a lot of pride in is transmitting cultural values and norms knowledge to the next generation,” Mukherjea said. The intergenerational transmission goes both ways, according to MASALA researchers. Adult, second-generation South Asian Americans might be the key to helping those in the first generation who are resistant to change adopt healthier habits, according to Kanaya. In the San Francisco Bay Area, El Camino Hospital’s South Asian Heart Center is one of the nation’s leading centers for educating the community. Its three locations are not far from Silicon Valley tech giants, which employ many South Asian Americans. The center’s medical director, dr. César Molina, said the center treats many relatively young patients of South Asian descent without typical risk factors for cardiovascular disease. “It was like the typical 44-year-old engineer with a spouse and two kids showing up with a heart attack,” he said. The South Asian Health Center helps patients make lifestyle changes through meditation, exercise, diet and sleep. The nearby Palo Alto Medical Foundation’s Prevention and Awareness for South Asians program and the Stanford South Asian Translational Heart Initiative provide medical support for the community. Even patients in the later stages of heart disease can be helped by lifestyle changes, Sinha said. dr. Kevin Shah, a university of utah cardiologist who coauthored the AHA study, said people with diabetes, hypertension and obesity are also at higher risk of CoVId-19 complications so should now especially work to improve their cardiovascular health and fitness. In Colorado, Acharya’s health is still an issue. He said he had to get four more stents this year, and the surgeries have put pressure on his family. But he’s breathing well, watching what he eats — and once more exploring his beloved mountains. “nowadays, I feel very, very good,” he said. “I’m hiking a lot.”

other qualities that are most relevant to success on the job. Praise in the form of adjectives like “hot”, “stunning”, or “sundar” is unfortunately a double-edged sword for women in the workplace. Experts have found that while it may be an advantage in certain jobs, it becomes a weakness in roles that are traditionally male dominant such as pilots or in the armed services. our biased world mistakenly thinks of strength and beauty as mutually exclusive. Introspective and observant individuals can sense how they are assessed by the opposite sex, friends, and family members and the value they place on those assessments vary. However, what matters most is the inner dialog that goes on in one’s head. You may be your harshest critic or biggest fan. Being on the extreme end may not lead to a well-adjusted life but we may be doing a disservice to our mental health if we allow the evaluation on one aspect like appearance become the sole criterion of self-esteem. outward beauty is far from being a prerequisite for success and perfect looks are never an absolute requirement. The responsibility of conveying this to society, especially its young members, rests on our collective shoulders as parents, teachers, and leaders in the business world. unless we take steps to increase awareness and avoid prejudice, the beauty bias will continue to raise its problematic head.

Shyama Parui is a longtime North Carolina resident and an ardent writer. You can reach her at: Shyamashree_parui@hotmail.com

News Notes

continued from page 64

statutory requirements for naturalizing. Applicants who apply for naturalization on or after december 1, 2020, will take the updated version of the test. “uSCIS has diligently worked on revising the naturalization test since 2018, relying on input from experts in the ﬁeld of adult education to ensure that this process is fair and transparent,” said uSCIS deputy director for Policy Joseph Edlow. “naturalization allows immigrants to become fully vested members of American society, with the same rights and responsibilities as citizens by birth, and oﬀering a fair test, which prepares naturalization applicants for these responsibilities, is of upmost importance to our agency.” The revised test includes more questions that test the applicant’s understanding of u.S. history and civics, in line with the statutory requirements, and covers a variety of topics that provide the applicant with more opportunities to learn about the united States as part of the test preparation process. The revised test will not change the passing score, which will remain at 60 percent. Candidates must answer 12 questions correctly, out of 20 in order to pass. uSCIS will maintain the current guidelines for statutorily established special considerations for applicants who are 65 years old or older and have at least 20 years of lawful permanent resident status. These applicants will be asked 10 questions and must answer a minimum of six questions correctly in order to pass. For more information on uSCIS and its programs, visit uscis.gov.

This article courtesy of Kaiser Health news. Visit KHn.org for more articles. Saathee.com

december 2020

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Upcoming Hindu Center Events & Activities: Temple Open for Worship Daily Lord Balaji Anniversary: Saturday, Dec 12 Gita Jayanti: Sunday, Dec 20 Vaikuntha Ekadasi: Friday, December 25 New Year Tiruppavda Seva: Friday, Jan 1 Pongle / Bhogi Pallu: Saturday, January 16; Makar Sankranti: Sunday, Jan 17 Republic Day: Saturday, Jan 30

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Who wants to be a Scholar?! Answer the ones you know and research to answer the rest. There is only one correct answer! 1. Arrange these languages from most speakers to least in 2020. (a) Hindi (b) English (c) Mandarin (d) Spanish

Word World

2. The music director of 2020 film Brahmastra? (a) Pritam (b) Amit Trivedi (c) A. R. Rahman (d) Vishal Bharadwaj

By Kirit Shukla

E S

3. As Wall street is to stocks, this NYC street is to advertising. (a) Broadway (b) Madison Ave. (c) Fifth Ave. (d) Canal street 4. Limestone is this kind of rock (a) Igneous (c) Not a rock

5. Halley's Comet returns to the area around the Earth every __ years. (a) 70 (b) 75 (c) 80 (d) 85 6. The volume of our spheroid Earth is about. (a) 6.2x106 m³ (b) 6.3x106 m³ (c) 6.4x106 m³ (d) 6.5x106 m³

Make words using 4 or more letters. The central letter must be used in each word. Letters cannot be used more than once per word. Use all letters for the subject word (underlined in solutions below)

7. “Enigmatology” is the study of (a) Insects (c) Puzzles

9+ words = Excellent; 6 to 8 words = Good; 5 or less = keep looking. Words we found are in solutions below.

9. The birth stone, if you are born in December is (a) Zircon (b) Turquoise (c) Tanzanite (d) All of these 10. Shree Somnath Sanskrit University, Veraval, Gujarat; was founded in (a) 2001 (b) 2003 (c) 2005 (d) 2007

Here is a simple quiz. See if you can solve it. No peeking! Match the number in column 1 with letter in column 2

1. donald duck 2. Super duck 3. doodles duck 4. daﬀy duck 5. Rubber ducky 6. Sonic duck 7. Quaker duck 8. Flick duck 9. orville the duck 10. Aﬂac duck

Show / Producers

Answers are on bottom left. No Peeking. Scholar: All correct; 1st Class: 9 Correct; 2nd Class: 8 Correct; 3rd Class: 7 Correct; Need to improve: 6 or less

A. Tom & Jerry cartoons B. From a popular trading card game C. Green ventriloquist puppet d. Archie Comics. Superman Parody E. disney F. dC Comics G. PB&J otter cartoons H. Looney Tunes I. Insurance Company Commercials J. Sesame Street

Dadaji’s moral stories for kids A DAY IN LIFE

A sparrow couple lived in a banyan tree. Chako was the male and Chaki the female. Chako brought some dal grain (split pea) and Chaki brought rice grain and made khichdi. Chaki went out to fetch water and so Chako decided to go for a walk. Chako returned home early, ate all the khichdi and took a nap. Chaki returned home with the water and found that Chako had eaten all of the khichdi. She scolded him, then made a batch of khichdi for herself and ate it. She made her point and Chako understood. He made a note to never do that again. They lived happily ever after.

Scholar 1.b, c, a, d 2.a 3.b 4.d 5.b 6.c 7.c 8.b 9.d 10.c Brain Train: 1-E, 2-d, 3-F, 4-H, 5-J, 6-B, 7-A, 8-G, 9-C, 10-I

Moral: Share life, don’t quarrel.

SICE, SIECE, SLICE, SPICE, SPLICE...

Word World (Solution): CEIL, CLIP, ECLIPSE, EPIC, LICE, PICE,

Saathee.com

(b) Plant Parasites (d) Human Evolution

8. The average width and height of a golf ball is (a) 37 mm (b) 40 mm (c) 43 mm (d) 48 mm

Brain-Train

duck Cartoon Characters

(b) Metamorphic (d) Sedimentary

[This short adaptation is from a Gujarati story that was taught in first grade in Gujarat and was written by Gijubhai Badheka] 84

december 2020

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Wilmington Office Wilmington, NC 28403 (910) 392-5634 May 2019

By Kirit Shukla

PUZZLES AND JOKES

Clues Down: 1. A Holiday celebration for the birth of Jesus Christ. 2. The natural noise of a hog. 3. The mantra sound used in Hinduism. 4. The first month of the Hindu year. 5. To bear the expense of; take a loss on. 6. A greenish-blue color. 7. A kind of highly colored fish. 8. The religious faith of Muslims. 9. South Carolina. (*) 10. The highest mountain in the world. 12. A resort & casino city in the SE corner of nevada. 16. Bought on line from e-commerce web site. 18. Small, long-haired dogs with pendulous ears. 21. Before. 23. Either of two sexes (male or female). 25. not ignited. 26. A long narrow mound of sand, gravel and boulders deposited by a stream flowing within a stagnant glacier. 30. A tropical American tree grown for a phenolic oil and the edible kernel of its nut. 32. Mickey _____ (second word is to be rearranged). 34. Hits (something, especially a baseball) hard. (uS) 37. A corporal. (India, Hindi word) 39. The fifth month of the ancient Egyptian civil calendar. 41. Winnipeg Airport Authority. 43. Wing or a wing like anatomic part or process. (Zoology) 44. In or into a higher position or level. 46. Copper. (Periodic table abbreviation)

Note: * denotes abbreviation of the word or phrase Clues Across: 1. Indiana & Michigan Electric Co.’s nuclear power plant. 5. The total or partial veiling of a celestial body by another. 11. Mountains on the n border of India, nepal and Bhutan. 13. Coronavirus. (*) 14. Registered nurse. (*) 15. Capable of being estimated or apportioned. 17. Fabrics with the yarns have been tie-dyed before weaving. 19. north Regional Association for the Blind. (*) 20. To occupy current home. 22. A mental picture or impression of something. 24. Exhausted (often used with “out”). 27. An aﬃrmative reply. 28. Manganese oxide. (Chemical formula). 29. Global Environment Services. (*) 30. A penny. (uS currency) 31. A native American tribe from the coast of oregon. 33. A custodian in the Ku Klux Klan. 35. The international System of (Metric) units. 36. The widely distributed lichens known as the thallus. 38. Extraterrestrial. (*) 40. The second in a set or series. 42. The art or skill of shooting with bow and arrow. 45. American Steel Construction Institute. (*) 47. An elongate snakelike bony ﬁsh. 48. “ ___ Maharaj” - Guru of BAPS. (12/071921– 08/13/2016). Saathee.com

(solution on page 88)

Hee Hee

Jokes From Around The World

Booddhoo: “Are you the animal doctor?” Doctor: “Yes. Tell me what is wrong with you?” ********* Lawyer: “You said that he abused you with obscene words. Can you say exactly what he told you?” Booddhoo: “No. I can’t say those words. They shouldn't be heard by a civilized person.” Lawyer: “Then say them in the ear of our Honorable judge.” ********* Mafatlal: “I’ll bet you $1000 that I can lift a sturdy horse with one hand.” Booddhoo: “Wow! You’re on.” Mafatlal: “Good. Now go find me a horse with one hand.” ********* 86

december 2020

WordFind

Math Magic

use these numbers only once: (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9) in empty squares, to get = the final given answers. note: Follow the order of operation per basic math rule: ×,÷, +, The multiplication or division is done before addition and subtraction. (solution on page 88)

Find & circle the words in the puzzle. (Subject: Hindu Center, Charlotte, nC) AGNI ARTI BALAJI DURGA GANESH GAYATRI HANUMAN HINDUCENTER JAY LAXMAN MAHAVIR MANDIR OM

RADHESHYAM RAMA SAIBABA SATYANARAYAN SHANKAR SHANT SHIVALINGA SHIVAPARIVAR SHRINATHJI SING SITA VEDANTHALL

The remaining 13 letters spell, the state where this Hindu Center is located.

EZ-BZ

TEST YouR IQ The common letters are “Ko” - Fill in the blanks)

Note: * denotes abbreviation of the word or phrase

1. An American children's apparel company. _ _ _ Ko _ _ 2. The central religious text of Islam. Ko _ _ _ 3. A Gujarati cartoon story by Jivram Joshi. _ _ _ Ko _ _ Ko 4. A raw ﬁsh salad in Fijian cuisine. KoKo _ _ 5. A silly or slightly crackbrained person. _ _ _ Ko _ 6. A national stringed musical instrument of Japan. Ko _ _ 7. The smallest, westernmost territory of Canada. _ _ Ko _ 8. A wattled crow, new Zealand songbird. Ko _ _ Ko 9. To exercise to improve one’s ﬁtness. _ _ _ Ko _ _ 10. A Hawaiian tree, its timber used esp. for furniture. Ko _ 11. A territory (1861–89) in the nW u.S. _ _ Ko _ _ 12. He is the founder of Austin Center for design. Ko _ Ko 13. A Japanese tree, used to make Taiko drums. _ _ _ Ko _ _ 14. A village in Cook County, Illinois. _ Ko _ _ _ 15. The capital of West Bengal, India. Ko _ _ _ _ _ 16. A person who is regarded as eccentric or mad. _ _ _ _ Ko 17. A river in Kitimat Ranges of B. C. Canada. _ _ _ _ _ Ko 18. The 4th largest city in Gujarat. _ _ _ Ko _ 19. The capital city of north Macedonia. _ Ko _ _ _ 20. of food, per the requirements of Jewish law. Ko _ _ _ _ 21. A city in Catawba CTY. @ Hwy. 70x321, nC. _ _ _ Ko _ _ 22. A fried snack, fritters of Indian subcontinent. _ _ Ko _ _ 23. The capital of Thailand. _ _ _ _ Ko _ 24. A ukrainian band of folk & contemporary music. _ _ Ko 25. A dusky brown African wading bird. _ _ _ _ _ _ Ko _ (Puzzle solutions are on page 88. NO peeking!)

Kirit Shukla

kiritsshukla@gmail.com Saathee.com

december 2020

Festivals & Holidays Spot the Diﬀerences Solutions from page 50

December 2020

dec. 8 - Bodhi day dec. 10 - Hanukkah Begins dec. 14 - Somavati Amas / Sun Eclipse (no Moon) dec. 18 - Hanukkah Ends dec. 21 - Winter Solsitce / Yule dec. 22 - Pr. Swami Maharaj Birthday dec. 22 - utpatti Ekadashi dec. 24 - Christmas Eve dec. 25 - Christmas day dec. 25 - Moksha Ekadashi dec. 25 - Gita Jayanti dec. 26 - Kwanzaa Begins dec. 29 - dattatray Jayanti dec. 30 - Akshara Purnima (Full moon) dec. 31 - new Year’s Eve

1. Window removed 2. Dome removed 3. People moved 4. Window Added 5. Boat added 6. Pole removed 7. Sign removed 8. House added 14

January 2021

1 6

9. Reﬂection Removed 10. Person added 11. Dome added 12. Person removed 13. Window added 14. Tree added 15. Person added 2

10 3

Jan. 1 - new Year’s day Jan. 1 - Kwanzaa Ends Jan. 6 - Epiphany Jan. 12 - Swami Vivekanand Jayanti Jan. 14 - Lohri / Maghi Jan. 14 - Makara Sankranti (uttarāyan) Jan. 14 - Pongal Jan. 18 - Martin Luther King, Jr. day Jan. 20 - Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti Jan. 24 - Putradā Ekadashi Jan. 26 - Republic day (India) Jan. 28 - Poshi Poonam (Full Moon) Jan. 28 - Tu B'Shevat Jan. 30 - Gandhi nirvana day

Puzzle Solutions from page 86-87

Math Magic from page 87

Saathee.com

december 2020

Saffron

Indian Cuisine - Greensboro

Saffron

Lunch 7 Days a Week

under New Management

Mon - Fri: 11:30 am - 2:30 pm Sat & Sun: Noon - 3 pm

Dinner 7 Days a Week

1500 Mill St. #104 Greensboro, NC 27408

Sun - Thurs: 5 pm - 10 pm Fri & Sat: 5 pm - 10:30 pm Dine In â&#x20AC;˘ Take Out Delivery: Grub Hub, Door Dash & Uber Eats

336-574-3300 saffronindiancuisinenc.com

The Cornerstone of care for infants, children, & young adults Fluent in Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, Kannada, Konkani & Marathi Travel Consults for travel to India / Pakistan

weekend hours, weekday walk-in clinic, after-hours appointments, 24-hour on-call service, wellness Visits, lactation services, immunizations, ear-Piercing, on-site lab, adhd Management, allergy & asthma testing, nutrition & weightÂ consults All Major Insurances Accepted Mary wedegaertner, Md Jeff rutledge, Md Brett wilson, Md shefali Parmar, Md Vandana nayal, Md richard Gelber, Md theresa Kallman, Md Priti elkins-williams, Md Kristin donoghue, Md Margaret Kocsis, Md sherill steen, Pa-c Matthew Baldwin, Md chitra chandrasekaran, Md All Physicians are Board Certified

97 cornerstone drive cary, nc 27519 www.cornerstonepediatrics.org

919-460-0993 Saathee.com

december 2020

Astroscope

Libra (September 23 – October 22) Love and happiness will be all around you. You will enjoy full conﬁdence and be able to work on your dream project. Life should move very smoothly. A minor health issue or family dispute could be there; just ignore them. Travel may be troublesome, but also very rewarding. You may end up paying for your partner’s mistake. Focus on your talents and enjoy success.

December 2020

Aries (March 21 – April 19) Money will ﬂow into your accounts this month, but it may not last very long. You may try to make easy money and end up screwing up your reputation in the process. You may also spend some of it for social and religious events. Disputes with family members are also possible this month. A happy love life is clearly indicated. A lingering health problem may continue to bother you. Don’t plan any long-distance travel. You could end up working during the holidays.

Scorpio (October 23 – November 21) To enjoy real success and a happy marriage, you should listen to your partner this month. Your schedule will be very busy and income will rise. Don’t forget to share with others. You may also experience supremacy among the people around you. Be sure to pursue every possible opportunity you can. Also don’t hesitate to spend on luxury items. Don’t forget to get enough rest and keep an eye on your health.

Taurus (April 20 – May 20) This is will be a very busy and successful month for you. Luck should favor you in almost all aspects of your life except for your health. This is also a very positive time for students and the younger generation. Be very careful while driving to avoid a potential accident during ﬁrst week of the month. A misunderstanding with your partner may cause serious problems. An unexpected rise in income will delight you.

Sagittarius (November 22 – December 21) You will experience a very hectic schedule this month and waste lots of energy on useless pursuits. Try to slow down, focus on your job and don’t get involved in too many projects. Remember to curb your expenses and avoid making any major investments. If you uphold your morals and focus on work, you shouldn’t experience any problems. You may also enjoy spiritual power this month.

Gemini (May 21 – June 20) After a good start, things may turn negative during second half of the month. A dispute with your supervisor may become the main reason for stress and health problems. You may have to rely on instinct to enjoy some financial benefits. The time is also favorable for developing or buying real estate. A lack of confidence may constantly bother you. Count on help from your partner this month.

Capricorn (December 22 – January 19) Things should move very quickly for you. Travel and working on developing your hobby can bring good returns. A recommendation from your superior may help you gain increased income, but unexpected expenses and losses may wash away most of the extra funds. You may face a health problem during the second half of the month. Focus on businessrelated travel to enjoy the best results.

Cancer (June 21 – July 22) If you can control your expenses, you will enjoy good luck and success this month. Your income should go up. You may need to work extended hours, but the returns should be more than anticipated. You may feel very spiritual this month. A great life changing opportunity may come your way, so be sure to accept it. You will be able to defeat your enemies. Be very careful while driving.

Aquarius (January 20 – February 18) Work on a family project as a team and enjoy great beneﬁts. A very happy family life is clearly indicated. Your income and status should both be on the rise. It’s also a good time to take risks. Avoid the stock market during middle of the month. Enjoy good health, too. Avoid travel or spending time with friends. It is the perfect time to start a new venture. Try to keep away from parties and focus on your work.

Leo (July 23 – August 22) An unexpected ﬁnancial gain from speculation or a business deal may delight you this month. You may be forced to cheat at your place of work. Avoid compromising with your morals. A potential family dispute may result in losing your peace of mind. Avoid making any major investments this month. You should enjoy very good health. Your mother’s health may create additional stress. Be sure to take a small vacation.

Pisces (February 19 – March 20) This is a very positive time for a long-distance journey. You may enjoy work-related travel as well as earn some extra money. Achieve a higher status in society by arranging social or religious gatherings. Don’t expect much from your partner this month. Political support as well as your family background may help elevate you well above others. Your conﬁdence will be on par to assist in handling your very busy schedule.

Virgo (August 23 – September 22) A lack of conﬁdence and egotistical speech may harm you quite a bit this month. Avoid parties and public gatherings. Keep working hard and maintain your morals. Your partner will prove to be great support for you. You may enjoy good health but be sure to get your blood tested. Great family support and a slow rise in savings may help you feel more comfortable. Avoid travel as it may end in disaster. Saathee.com

Jalendu Vaidya

973-223-5047

december 2020

Email: superdesibazaar@gmail.com Search Super Desi Bazaar on Facebook

SuPER DESI BAzAAR Formerly Apna Sabji Mandi

CLASSIFIEDS BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

High Volume Gas Station/C-Store for Sale or lease in the heart of Gaffney, SC. neighborhood store on busy street with new pumps! Call 704-726-7544.

Convenience Store w/ Gas for Sale in Wagram, nC (SW of Fayetteville). Rent $1800. Asking $40k + inventory. Call 919-368-6900.

For Sale or lease: Gas Station w/ CStore & Restaurant in Pollocksville, nC. Corner location, ATM and jukebox also included (extra income). With 3 bedroom accommodations. Call 252521-5656. lakeview 12-unit Motel for Sale on Lake in Hartsville near Florence, SC. Call 843-332-8145.

Convenience Stores for Sale: Lexington, nC $199,000 + Inv., Annual $1,836,000, Fuel Gals 480,000; durham, $98,000+ Inv., Annual Sales $540,000, no gas; Charlotte, $250,000 + Inv., Inside $840,000, Fuel Gals 584,000; County South: 704-440-4433 or visit www.Countysouth.biz.

C-store with Property for Sale or lease 45 miles from Columbia, SC along with displays for fresh produce & frozen items. Gross %55K / Lotto $25K/month. daily income not included. Call 904-307-4770.

luxe eyebrow is hiring eyebrow threaders for their South Carolina urgent Hiring: need Single or Couple outlets. Knowledge of facials, waxing, to manage Tropical Smoothie Cafe in etc preferred. Good Pay, tips & Matthews, nC. Part-time or Full-time. commission. Call 734-272-7734 or 843766-5156. Call dhruvit Patel 904-806-8071. looking for Housekeeping Couple Motel Help Wanted in Atlanta, GA: for newly renovated Franchise Motel in Housekeeping Couple. Must have legal Burlington, nC. Accommodations status. Accommodations provided. provided with kitchen. Please call Renu Call neal 404-642-1611. 732-318-4878 or Aswin 336-693-9057. Housekeeping couple needed immediately for 36-Room franchise eyebrow Threading Position in in north Carolina. Winston-Salem, nC. Excellent Pay + Tips motel & Benefits! Some Experience & fluent Accommodations with Indian TV channels provided. Call Bipin Patel at English required. Call 336-422-7582. 910-916-3288. Gas Station / C-store Help Wanted in north Charlotte (15 minutes from Gas Station Help Wanted ASAP in & unCC). Legal status required. Must around Greensboro, nC. Fullspeak English. Salary commensurate time/Part-time. Multiple positions, per experience. Please call 704-733-0553. from cashier to manager, good pay. Must speak English & have basic Restaurant Help wanted: Single or computer skills. Experience preferred. Couple to manage Subway in Kinston, Please call 336-509-4054. nC. Legal status, computer skills & fluent Front Desk & Housekeeping needed English required. Call 252-521-5656. for Motel in durham, nC. $4 per room. Math Tutor Needed in Charlotte for Legal status required. college student on weekdays. Call for Accommodations provided. Call 919704-724-2005 or 704-451-6554. 452-3131 or email kenco00@gmail.com.

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Cannon Pharmacy (Kannapolis) is looking for a Pharmacy Technician who can speak Guajarati/Hindi (or any other Indian dialect) with 1-3 years’ experience in retail pharmacy. Call 336-266-1085.

Convenience store (No Gas) for Sale in Gaffney, SC. Inside sales energetic Front Desk Help needed $40K/month, lotto sales $4500, ATM (single or couple) for franchise hotel $900. Rent $2300/month. Asking $89K. near Carowinds (South Charlotte area). Call 862-754-9990. Must have basic computer skills, Saathee Classified ads: Sell your fluent English and legal status. Email business, or property. Find the perfect to bwhospitality78@gmail.com. job, hire the perfect employee. Get Nanny needed for 3.5 year old boy in more customers. Find a life partern. Fort Mill, SC. Part-time for 4 to 5 hours Get great adversting results with per day. Please call 803-504-1222. Saathee Magazine, weekly email newsletter and Saathee.com. Call live-in help needed for elderly lady in 704.527.7570 or email Gujarati household. Light cooking and cleaning required. Please call for details info@saathee.com. 336-471-1901.

leARN ABOuT lAND

We specialize in helping groups invest in land. Contact Bob Atkinson “The land Man” 919-362-6999 or visit www.learnaboutland.com Saathee.com

Motel Help Needed: Front desk & GMs for franchise motels in Richburg, SC. Fluent English & legal status required. Accommodations provided. Call 803-230-4402.

Retail Sales Associate needed immediately. Long-term/Short-term through december 31st. for Sports & Men’s designer wear store in Concord Mills Mall. Must be dependable, mature, honest w/ positive attitude & flexible schedule. Salary with some benefits. Will train beginners. For details, email: pvdadlani@gmail.com or call 704-231-5038.

Couple needed for franchise hotel 1.5 hours from Charlotte. Must be Fluent in English. Accommodations provided. Text or call 704-701-9975.

urgent: Hiring full-time energetic Housekeeping Couple needed for employee to work at Tropical Motel 6 in High Point, nC. Please call Smoothie Café franchise fast food store 843-344-4234. in Charlotte, nC. Contact Pravin Patel Motel Help Wanted in Atlanta area: 803-974-0291. Front desk Clerk. Must have legal Full-time Nanny: (live-in or live-out) status. Accommodations provided. ASAP in Ballantyne area (South Call neal 404-642-1611. Charlotte). Please call 765-409-9234. 92

december 2020

looking for single or couple to run Convenient Store in Charlotte. Competitive salary based upon experience. Must be legal. Store open from 7am-11pm. Contact Paresh Mutha at 919-264-6665.

Warehouse Job: Charlotte area (Wingate, nC). Part or Full-time. Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm. Contact drpipalia2013@gmail.com or 469-579-8600.

Housekeeping Motel Help Wanted in South Carolina. Enjoy excellent weather & work conditions! Legal status required. Call Raj 704-915-1026.

Full-time/Part-time Sales Associate needed for a Men's Retail Clothing Store in Charlotte, nC. Must be energetic, dependable, have positive attitude & flexible schedule. Previous retail experience preferred. Fluent English required. Contact nick 276618-1166 or suitcityusa@gmail.com.

live-in Caretaker needed in Charlotte, nC. duties include cooking, light housekeeping and companionship. Gujarati preferred. Call or text Anu at 919-624-3190.

Hotel Help Wanted: Front desk/Manager, night Auditor and Housekeeper (Single/Couple) for franchise hotels in Charlotte, Gastonia, High Point. Accommodations provided. Call 704-460-0379 between 6- 9pm.

Front Desk Help & On-Site Maintenance needed for Franchise Hotel in Concord, nC. Legal status required. Accommodations provided. Call Rick 704-772-5554.

Convenience Store help needed immediately in Charlotte, nC. Fulltime including weekends and evening shifts. Call 704-241-4499.

Housekeeping Couple and Front Desk wanted for Franchise Hotel in Hickory/Conover, nC. Accommodations provided. Legal status required. Good pay! Call Rick 919-724-6772.

Cashiers wanted (single or couple) for Gas Station in Rock Hill, SC (Exit 77). Legal status required. Good pay with experience! Call 803-792-4452. Need energetic Front Desk Single or Couple for hotel in Charlotte, nC (Carowinds) area. Must have hotel experience, basic computer skills, and Saathee.com

legal status. Accommodations provided. Email resume to bwhospitality78@gmail.com or call 704-302-3318.

Cashier wanted for Convenience Store near Charlotte. Must speak English. Accommodations provided. Text / Call 704-701-9975.

elder Care Help Needed: for mother in Charlotte / Fort Mill area. Part-time / full-time. Personal care, light cleaning & some vegetarian food prep required. Schedule negotiable. Call 803-230-4402.

C-store / Gas Station Help Wanted in Gaffney, SC. Part-time or Full-time. Single, Couple or Family. Legal status required. Fluent English & previous experience preferred. Call 704-726-7544.

Hotel Help Wanted: Front desk couple/staff for two shifts & Housekeeping couple for a franchise hotel in Raleigh. Ideal opportunity for family. Legal status required. Front desk must be fluent in English with good communication & computer skills. Accommodations provided. Please call 919-720-0991. 7-11 Convenience Store Help Wanted: All 3 shifts in South Charlotte (Indian Land/Ballantyne area) and near northlake Mall. Experience preferred. Fluent English & legal status a must. Part-time or full-time including weekends. $12/hour for 3rd shift. Contact 856-266-5059 or store10700@gmail.com.

looking for a life partner? Saathee can help you reach hundreds of potential matches with matrimonial classified ad. E-mail info@saathee.com. Hotel Help Wanted: Front desk / Manager, night Auditor & Housekeeper (Single/Couple) for franchise hotels in Wilmington, nC. Accommodations provided. email ilmhotelemployer@gmail.com or Call 910-262-8357

PROPERTY FOR SALE

Items for Sale in Cary, nC. JVC Stereo System: Stereo Integrated Amplifier, Cd Player 5 discs, Turn Table, dual Tape Player/Recorder, Radio, 2 Bose Speakers - $250. dining Table with 6 chairs, can be extended to 8 - $200. Contact 910-265-2501 or mihirmitra1929@gmail.com. 93

SERVICES

Gujarati Priest: devendra dave Independent priest. Ganesh, Randal, navratri, diwaliâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Laxmi & Sharda Pujas, Satyanarayan Katha, Weddings, Vastu, Baby Shower, Funeral Seva. Call daveji 704-780-3563. God Blessings to All.

Neetaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Beauty Parlor: Charlotte area open 7 days a week. Full service. Call for appointment. 704-968-0270.

Dholi For Hire: Plays the dhol (drum) for any occasion! Barat, doli, Graduation, Birthdays, Baby Showers & any other festivity. Affordable rates! Call Arpan Bhandari 704-641-4761 or email: arpandholi@yahoo.com

Priest Available for these services: Shree Satya narayan katha, Shanti hawan, Vastu shanty, Weddings, Baby shower, Bhumi pujan, Mata ki chowki pujan, Funeral, all types of karmakand. Please call Viral Bhatt 704438-6334. Pari Beauty In Matthews: Threading, Waxing, Facials, Massage for newborn and mom & other services. 30 years of experience. Special deals & Great Service. Call: 704-846-7912. Saree Draping: specializing in draping sarees, dupattas and jewelry for any event. Weddings, Engagements, Baby showers, Birthdays, etc. Contact Rital Patel at info@bridaldraping.com or www.bridaldraping.com.

Gujarati Priest in NC & SC for Ganesh, Randal, Laxmi, Sharda Pujan, Satyanarayan Katha, Wedding, Vastu, Baby Shower, Hawan, Grah Shanti. Kishor Trivedi Home: 336-774-0597 Cell: 336-486-7925 E-Mail: kishor7@juno.com

IT, Telecom & Civil engineering service Providers: website design, digital marketing, software products, education, training & certifications with placement assistance. Best quality at a reasonable price. Contact: 704-7265695; email: gescpl@gmail.com To Submit a Classified visit: saathee.com/submit-classified or email: info@saathee.com or call 704.527.7570

Saathee.com ads posted daily Ads up to 25 words. Deadline for print is the 20th. Web ads daily.

december 2020

Truthfully, I’m sick of the whole thing now. My ﬁrst sanction from Facebook a month back was for using the word “Paki.” I’m Pakistani and used that as sarcasm against racists. neither the Gen Y robots, nor their bots can pick up humor, sarcasm, or creativity. Human or not, they are now part of a machine. Life is no more about whether you are human or machine. You are 100 percent a machine, and the Fortune 500 psychological proﬁles will determine how they will “tax” you to purchase something. This is not complicated. You giggle, you act like the world is your oyster, although you are not Gates, or Bezos, or Zuckerberg—but just smile a lot, and they’ll tell you how easy it is to tap your card, or ApplePay, or oneClick purchase. don’t think now. Thinking is bad. Buy. Buy. Buy. And of course, show us your lives. We need more data; and we are listening. Is Trump 2024 spooking us? Why is half the planet still using the n-Word? Why can Q-Anon shut down Amazon with one Trump tweet and a Sean Hannity segment? There really isn’t any free speech in America. And there is racism in America. And that pandemic is also raging. What are you thinking?

Subcontinental Divide

continued from page 42

Half this country still thinks that donald Trump is a savior sent by the divine to save infants from being eaten by Hillary Clinton, who is a witch who needs virgin blood – and by the way operates out of the back of a pizza parlor in the Washington, dC, area. The other half, well, their hosts are isolating, even on Zoom, 11 days out because this demon of a virus could possibly jump through network lines and kill millions. I mean, you feel just ﬁne, but why not milk the virus some more and still get $30,000/episode to have some wine at home. And there is everything in between. The businesses who weren’t doing much business and Covid gave them a great excuse to get a loan; the employees who weren’t working much who suddenly started getting $600 extra in their unemployment checks—making them richer than they ever were in their working careers. We played this all like a Wimbledon ﬁnal on both sides of the net, and seems we landed in a draw with no referee anywhere in sight. My time in solitary from social media made me think about a lot of this. Like, really? I mean, on the one side are women against hurting rocks (WAQIR – Women Against Quarrying Innocent Rocks); and on the other, we have heavily-armed militias trying to kidnap, try and execute governors for mandating masks that are drying up the mucous membranes of evangelical women, and depriving their men of oxygen as they eat artery-clogging triple burgers in their pickup trucks.

Ahsen Jillani a former editor and publisher, is originally from Islamabad, Pakistan, and now lives in Mint Hill. He owns Must Media, a PR firm focused on political and corporate clients. Contact: aj@must-media.com

Opinions expressed herein are those of the writers and not necessarily of the publisher or editor.

Serving Buyers and Sellers Since 1989 Our experienced and talented agents can speak English, Spanish, Hindi, and Gujarati. Offering Motels, Restaurants, Dry Cleaners, Laundromats, Convenience Stores, Land and more CONVENIENCE STORES:

C-Store: Gastonia, NC $545,000 + Inv., Prop incl. Inside Sales $502,000, NO GAS C-Store: Mount Airy, NC $169,000+ Inv., Annual Sales $1,200,000+, Fuel Gallons 283,807 C-Store: Albemarle, NC $550,000 + Inv., Prop incl. Annual Sales $727,037, Fuel Gallons 100,000 C-Store: Greenville, SC $539,000 + Inv, Prop incl. Annual Sales $945,000, Fuel Gallons 300,000 C-Store: Lexington, NC $199,000 + Inv., Annual Sales $1,836,000, Fuel Gallons 480,000 C-Store: High Point, NC $399,000 + Inv., Prop Incl., Annual Sales $498,000, Fuel Gallons 36,000 C-Store: Henderson, NC $350,000 + Inv.., Prop incl. Annual Sales $700,000, Fuel Gal 150,000

FOOD:

Let Us Help You Buy or Sell A Business!

County South Realty & Business Brokers 303 Indian Trail Road South Indian Trail, NC 28079

704-440-4433 www.CountySouth.biz

Restaurant Property: Kannapolis, NC $1,000,000 1200 sq ft bldg, 1.603 acres

OTHER LISTINGS:

2 Vape Shops: Conover/Granite Falls, NC $75,000 + Inv., Annual Sales $575,660 Grocery Store: North Raleigh Area, NC $1,990,000, Annual Sales $3,900,000 Commercial Land for Development: Statesville, NC $369,000 1.085 Acres More listings available at:

Saathee.com

CountySouth.biz 94

december 2020

Cary Internal Medicine & The Diabetes Center, PA

103 Baines Court, Suite 200 Cary, NC 27511 Phone (919) 467-6125

www.caryinternalmedicine.com or www.thediabetescenter.net

Diabetes Management Heart Problems Stroke

High Cholesterol High Blood Pressure Digestive Disorders

Thyroid Disease Cough and Colds Arthritis

Board Certified Internists New Patients Welcome. Same Day Appointments Available. Accepting Most Insurances.

Dr. Patel and Dr. Juneja are both recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) for excellence in diabetes management and for providing high-quality healthcare for heart/stroke patients. Please visit ncqa.org for both recognitions.

Prashant K. Patel, MD Board Certified Internist diabetologist

Vijay K. Juneja, MD Board Certified Internist diabetologist

Nathalie ortiz Pate PA-C, MPH

Saathee has been serving the South Asian Community for 22 Years! GREAT

ADVERTISING

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For rates and information, contact Divakar Shukla. Email: Saathee@Saathee.com or call 704-527-7570

Saathee.com Your web connection to the South Asian Community of the Carolinas. Events, Videos, movies, listings, and more!

Saathee.com

MAGAZINE A FREE monthly features magazine for the South Asian Community of the Carolinas 95

e-mail

E-NEWSLETTER Reach thousands of registered readers. Plus ask about Saatheeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

Social Media Campaign! december 2020

Advertisers Accounting Solutions (Muhammad Kamran Awan)...61

Grand India Mart (Groceries).....................................31

Rajeev Devgon, CPA ................................................15

Allstate (Krish Parlikad) .............................................23

Greater Triangle Realty (Thomas John)..........................81

Ramana Coaching Center ........................................35

Anil & Anjali Bedi LLC (CPA & Consultants)...............49

Hare Krishna Temple ISKON (Temple of the Holy Name)65

RB Realty Group (Ravi Bheemarao)...........................69

Apna Bazaar (Morrisville) ..........................................16

Hindu Center Charlotte ............................................83

Real Triangle Properties (Joe Mathews) ....................79

Area 51 Fireworks....................................................51

Home Decorators Of America (Atlanta) .....................37

S&S Accounting & Tax Services, Inc. ........................17

Aspect Commerical Realty (Prashant Parmar) ..........47

Inchin's Bamboo Garden..........................................71

Saathee.com............................................................44

Bashyam Shah LLP - Immigration Law Group..........97

Indian Ethnic Ladies Wear .......................................73

Saathee Subscription Form ......................................80

Bhindi Jewelers ......................................................2

Insurance - Tushar Barot, Supreme Insurance Services43

Saffron Indian Cusine (Greensboro) ..........................89

Bipin Parekh Realty, LLC...........................................36

Jigna Shah CPA .......................................................73

Salt & Pepper Indian Cuisine (High Point, NC)...........23

Blooming Buds.........................................................61

KDP CPA ..................................................................67

Sara Elegance By Rashmi Sawant (Cary, NC) ...........67

Blue Federal Credit Union ...........................................5

Khanna & Sons Jewelers .........................................13

Sarika CPA PLLC......................................................71

Brown Immigration Law (Rishi Oza, Partner).............98

KidzCare Pediatrics...................................................85

Shah & Trivedi CPA, PLLC.........................................57

C4D Mortgage (Jubi Chackunkal, P.E.) .....................43

Lead Designs FF&@ Procurement...........................19

Shah, Kirti (CPA - Sepa Consulting) .........................47

Cary Internal Medicine & Diabetes Center, PA...........95

Lotus Salon & Spa....................................................29

Singh, Manjeet (Real Estate).....................................17

Cary Medical Clinic...................................................77

Malak Jewelers........................................................27

Sitar Indian Cuisine (Durham) ...................................75

Chandni's Beauty Salon ..........................................73

Malani Jewelers.....................................................100

Sona Realty (Venkat Suryadevara) ............................63

Corner Stone Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine.........89

Monroe Oil Company................................................45

Spectrum Family Medicine (Sujatha Sajeevan, MD)..81

County South Realty & Business Brokers..................94

Nagpal, Sunil (MassMutual Carolinas).......................43

Spices Hut .................................................................9

Crescent Dental (Dr. Kavita Ghai) ..............................30

NC Dermatology Associates .....................................68

Stylish Me.................................................................15

Darji, Iyer, Joshi & Patel (Accounting & Tax Services).21

North American Bancard ........................................11

Super Desi Bazaar (Apna Sabji Mandi Greensboro) ..91

Desai & Desai LLP (CPA & Financial Services)..........53

Nunna Realty (Shiva Nunna) .....................................29

SV Temple of NC (Fundraiser) .....................................3

DJ Sam (Sanket Shah) .............................................80

One2 Entertainment .................................................39

Swagat Restaurant (Morrisville, NC) .........................77

Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of USA...............................4

Patel Brothers (Cary)...........................................32-33

Swetal Patel (Realtor)................................................49

Elev8 Ev3nts.............................................................57

Patel, Mrugesh (Law Offices)....................................53

Tutoring (Nirmala Koripella - A+ Tutoring)............24-25

Fairview Home Mortgage .........................................47

Pediatric Dentist of West Cary (Dr. Arti Dahiya)........21

Vema Mortgage LLC (Sebastian George) .39/41/57/61

Fincare.US (Recession-Proof Your Retirement)..........49

Pramukh Mandapam ...............................................55

Vyas Travels..............................................................41

Geological Resources, Inc.........................................41

Proficient Accounting & Tax Services, Inc. ...............20

Wake Spine & Pain...................................................19

Global Engineering Services (GES)............................41

Raghu Mothukuri Allstate Agent................................39

West Cary Medicine (Dr. Kareem M.D.) ....................29

Global Mall / Legacy Jewels ....................................99

Raj Jewels (Morrisville, NC) .....................................6-7

Y2 Academy (SAT Prep) .........................................10

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december 2020