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FRIDAY, April 25, 2014 Understand How Health Savings Account Can Help Save For Retirement, Read more on Page 20 Or Call: 713-771-2900.
Vol. 27 No. 17 Friday, April 25, 2014 Published Weekly from Houston 713-774-5140 28 Pages ( 2 sections) 50 cents E-mail: editor@voiceofasiaonline.com
Punjabi Society of Houston Celebrates Menil Collection hosts ‘An Evening Vaisakhi With Glitz and Glam with Ramachandra Guha’ Book reading by author of Gandhi Before India
by Shobana Muratee OUSTON - In anticipation of its first international exhibition, ‘Experiments with Truth: Gandhi and Images of Nonviolence’ to be held from October 2, 2014 to February 1, 2015, the Menil Collection held ‘An Evening with Ramchandra Guha’, author of Gandhi Before India on Monday, April 21. An impressive gathering of over 300 Houstonians and admirers of the award winning author and renowned historian got a refreshingly new account of the Gandhi’s life from his birth in 1869 through his two decades as a lawyer and community organizer in South Africa. Guha, recounting of his multiple-volume biology, took the audience on an awe-inspiring journey through his travels to England, South
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L-R: Organizers and Co-host Jasmeeta Singh seen with Consul General Harish and Mrs Nandita Parvathaneni (center) being honored at the celebrations. by Manu Shah
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OUSTON: Energetic dhol beats by Tamim welcomed the crowds that gathered outside the Cullen Performance Hall and set the tone for the high energy, high
spirited Vaisakhi 2014 program organized by the Punjabi Society of Houston on 19th April. The evening started with a short film which gave a historic perspective of Baisakhi - the most important festival
Ramchandra Guha’, author of Gandhi Before India on Monday, April 21, 2014 at the Menil Collection, Photos by Shobana M.
for Punjabis. Apart from giving thanks for the bounties of nature, it was also the time when Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Guru of the Sikh community Continued on Page 6
IACAN ‘Celebrates Life’ at its 5th Annual Gala by Shobana Muratee
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mall by no measure, the Indian American Cancer Network (IACAN) has made giant strides in educating and supporting the community on how to deal with cancer, carrying on with its earnest vision to see that ‘no Indian American travels the cancer journey alone.’ This year’s gala was celebrated on Saturday, April 19, 2014 at the Houston Marriott Westchase where close to 500 guests attended an estimated 85K was Continued on Page 5
L-R: Chitra Divakaruni, Roopa Gir, Dr. Mani, Ramachandra Guha, Sudha and Murthy Divakaruni.
L-R: Kanchan Kabad, Dr. V. K. Dorai, Dr. Hardeep Singh and Mrs. Singh. Photos by Bijay Dixit., Unique Images.
Bone marrow Donors who were honored at the gala.
Africa and Israel. The result, writes The Guardian newspaper, is “a work of vivid social history (and) fresh biography.” Josef Helfenstein, Director, The Menil Collection welcomed the gathering. Chitra Divakaruni Banerjee, an award winning author and Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Houston introduced Guha and shared some of the finer aspects of the author that she had learnt during his short spell in Houston. Mr. Guha never wanted to be a writer, instead he wished to be a professional cricket player and goes by the name ‘failed cricketer’ in his twitter, Divakaruni humored. She also presented his wealth of accomplishments including the prestigious Padma Shree honor bestowed on him. The most profound statement he heard in the process of his prolific research on Gandhi in South Africa was when he was
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told, “You gave us a lawyer and we gave you back a Mahatma.” Guha in his reading mentioned Gandhi’s closest friends in South Africa, an English couple named Henry and Millie Polak. Henry was a radical Jew and Millie a Christian feminist. Gandhi was instrumental in getting them married and was greatly impacted by the whole drama. Guha also mentioned Tolstoy’s solid influence on Gandhi and the Mahatma’s philosophy in his later years. In conclusion, Guhu answered questions from audience and signed copies of his book. Later the guests were treated to a home-style Indian dinner with the author at the famous Indika Restaurant in Houston. Ramachandra Guha has taught at Yale and Stanford universities, the University of Oslo, the Indian Institute of Science and the London School of Economics. His books include a pioneering environmental history, an award-winning social history of
cricket and the award-winning India After Gandhi. He writes regularly on social and political issues for the British and Indian press, including columns in The Telegraph and the Hindustan Times, and his work has also appeared in The New York Times. He lives in Bangalore. The Menil Collections exhibition: ‘Experiments with Truth: Gandhi and Images of Nonviolence’ is the first of its kind project to explore the resonance of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s (1867-1948) ethics of nonviolence, or satyagraha, in the visual arts. This exhibition presents approximately 130 works spanning several centuries and includes paintings, drawings, photographs, prints, sculptures, rare books, and films by artists from Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. The exhibition’s themes echo the expansive humanitarian concerns of the Menil Collection’s founders, John and Dominique de Menil.
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