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December 30, 2011 2011 Awards for dubious Achievements Veena Malik The Sir Issac Newton Society Medal of Honour for successfully demonstrating to the illiterate people of the India and the Pakistan the deleterious effect of the force of gravity on the chiffon and lycra.
Poonam Pandey The 2011 World Cup Organising Committee blank cheque to the Kuala Lumpur Police Deptt for artful rendition of the hit number KLPD Blues at the closing ceremony.
Narendra Modi The Sabarmati Sadbhavna distinction (61st edition) for fasting to protect his right to accept various articles of clothing from religious institutions across the Republic of Gujarat. Kapil Sibal The Mark McCormack rolling trophy for super realistic portrayal of “What they don’t teach Montek Singh you at Harvard”, Ahluwalia be it in calculating zero losses to “For showing prescreening internet how far Rs 32 goes content or receiving in the time of high Baba Ramdev inflation if you want it to go long enough, I, the President of India, am pleased to confer the nation’s second highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan....”
Omar Abdullah for The Dr Prakash Kothari pin king his stic for premature articulation, ers low fol 000 90, neck out before his The for g nin run the in o on Twitter. Als phy tro g Mouth Ka Saudagar rollin Ramesh). ram Jai to ed ard aw r rlie (ea
Kiran Bedi The Thomas Cook Testimonial for economisation of business class travel for a noble cause, using the PWC model of best accounting practices.
Anil Ambani The Most Invisible Man in India Today running jersey (No. 9999) for his admirable ability to stay out of the limelight in a year when everything could have gone wrong---and nearly everything did.
S.M. Krishna The Suresh KalmadiJason Bourne Momentous Lapse in Memory medal, for presciently reading the Portuguese foreign minister’s speech at the UN, on Goa’s 50th anniversary of liberation.
Vijay Mallya An honorary doctorate (his second) in business administration from the University of Southern California for Learning to Fly via Bank Loans while claiming to be the king of good times.
Kanimozhi Indian Banks’ Association citation for exemplary honesty in returning business loans at RBIapproved interest rates calculated at 2002 values of 2G spectrum on a first come first served basis. Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, A decemBer 30, 2011 • Online editiOn: Ay, On: www.indOamerican-news.cOm O
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Colorful Diwali at Swaminarayan Mandir
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AGLA’s Bollywood Movie Night HOUSTON: American General Life & Accident (AGLA) insurance company organized its yearly Bollywood Movie night at Bollywood cinema, on Hwy 6 on October, 19..... Read Story on Page 14
Sharad Amin: New HGH President Read Story on Page 15
YLDP Appoints New Board Story on Page 14
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CIVIL LITIGATION EMPLOYMENT LAW IMMIGRATION LAW
STAFFORD: The flickering of lights and the rhythmic sounds of traditional musical instruments could be felt as one entered the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir on Saturday, October 22. The special outdoor program titled “Swar se Ishwar” was performed by a well known musician from Mumbai, Jaydeep Swadia and group.... Read Story on Page 14
Eblast Every Thursday Indo-American News was the first to launch to new services for the our South Asian community. Our Thursday e-blast informs email recipients about the upcoming news in the weekly newspaper. Our iamdailydeal is the source of valuable coupons for an extensive range of cuisine, fashion and retail services.
Former State Prosecutors Hare Krishna Ex-Leader Kirtanananda with over 10 years of experience Swami Dies
HOUSTON: A festive spirit energized everyone, as they gathered to celebrate Diwali at Arya Samaj this past Saturday evening, October 22. Captivating renditions of songs, and enthralling music and dance performances by DAV Sanskriti & DAV Montessori School children were the highlights of the Diwali celebrations.... Read Full Story on Page 3
Meenakshi Temple’s 16th Diwali Bazaar PEARLAND: After successfully propitiating Varuna to send rains to Houston, the priests must have ‘communed’ with the Powers that Be to make it a picture-perfect day – balmy weather, nice breeze, not too much sun – for the annual Deepavali celebrations at the Sri Meenakshi Temple... Read Full Story on Page 9
Final Farewell to a Community Icon Mohiniji HOUSTON: There was a huge outpouring of grief and sympathy at the death of Dr. Mohini Sindwani last Saturday, October 22, at her funeral held at the Garden Oaks Funeral Home on Bellaire near Synott in far west Houston as the hall was filled to standing room only capacity....... Read Full Story on Page 5
Close Knit Group of Punjabis Celebrate Diwali
CRIMINAL LAW
All Misdemeanors and Felonies DWI Houston - Principle Office 11200 Theft/Burglary Westheimer Rd, ste 120 Houston, Texas 77042 Assault Juvenile Crimes Read Full Story on Page 7 office 832-767-0339 White Collar Crimes direct 469-256-8585
Rosa Lladro Signs Iconic Artwork at Karat 22
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Renowned Author Abraham Verghese Celebrated at UH Story on Page 8
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COMMUNITY
December 30, 2011
India Tycoon’s got Tons of cash, But no w where to Invest
By Erika kinEtz MUMBAI (Yahoo): Ajay Piramal is sitting on a mountain of cash. Yet the billionaire Indian tycoon, working in one of the world’s fastest growing economies, is struggling to figure out what to do with the money. The problem isn’t opportunity, he said. It’s India. “Every large investment, there was no transparency,” Piramal said. His dilemma is a worrying sign for India. With the country mired in corruption, bureaucratic red tape and unclear and changing government policies, many of the men who made their billions here are saying maybe it’s time to quit India. It’s got to be easier to do business elsewhere. In May last year, Piramal’s healthcare business sold its generic drug operations to U.S. pharmaceutical giant Abbott Laboratories for $3.8 billion. Piramal, a tall big man in a country that still measures prosperity by girth, was eager to set that cash pile to work. He wanted to expand one of his chemical plants, but was told it would take five years. “The same plant could be set up in China in two years,” he said. “I love India, but my customer is not going to wait.” India, still a beacon of relatively fast growth despite a troubled world economy, should be a magnet for capital. Instead, since the beginning of 2010, the amount that Indians have invested in businesses overseas has exceeded the amount foreigners are investing in India, according to central bank figures. In part this reflects the confidence and aptitude of India’s maturing companies and the current malaise in the global economy and financial markets. But it also reflects deep problems at home. India’s big coporations may be cash rich but the failure to invest that money domestically is bad news for a developing country that needs capital to build the roads, power plants and food warehouses that could help lift hundreds of millions out of dire poverty. The frustration of India’s business elite with corruption, political paralysis, log-jammed approvals, regulatory flip-flops, lack of access to natural resources and land acquisition battles to pick a few of the top complaints has reached a pitch perhaps not heard since India began liberalizing its economy in the early 1990s. “If you are an honest businessman in India, it’s very difficult to start up anything,” said Jamshyd Godrej, chairman of manufacturing
Billionaire tycoon Ajay Piramal at his office in Mumbai. Owing to red tape, Piramal has been unable to deploy the $3.8 billion from the sale of the company’s generic drug operations in India, in any constructive investment. Photo: AP
giant Godrej & Boyce. “Companies are going to operate where they see the best opportunities and efficiency for their capital.” Increasingly, that’s outside India. In 2008, foreigners poured roughly twice as much direct investment into India — $33 billion as Indians plowed into businesses overseas. By 2010, that had reversed: Indians invested $40 billion abroad twice as much as foreigners invested in India — a trend that’s continued this year. There is another, unspoken element to all the complaints. To the extent that business in India ran on corruption, some of the old, dirty ways of doing things are being disrupted, freezing India’s already glacial bureaucracy, business leaders say. Scandals in the staging of the Commonwealth Games, the pilfering of homes meant for war widows and the irregular auction of cellphone spectrum that cost the country billions has sent parliamentarians and even a Cabinet minister to prison. With Indians tiring of the incessant graft, tens of thousands of middle-class protesters poured into the streets and pushed an anti-corruption bill onto the floor of Parliament. Steelmakers can’t get enough iron ore because a massive mining scandal in the southern state of Karnataka prompted a court to order the closure of illicit mines that account for a fifth of iron ore production in the country. The bureaucrats, even the honest ones are reportedly so scared of being punished they are refusing to make the decisions needed to make the country run. Piramal is not unpatriotic. Each room in
his executive suite is named after an Indian epic hero: Arjuna, the most pure; Dhananjay, acquirer and master of wealth. There’s a quote from the Upanishads scriptures on the wall. His office sits in a one million square foot office park in Mumbai his family built. The buildings around him — white with blue glass that flashes back the unforgiving sun bear his own name in large black letters: Piramal Towers. Piramal had the will and the means to build power plants and roads. Instead, his Piramal Group’s largest investment to date has been in one of the of office park’s tenants: the Indian subsidiary of the British telecom giant Vodafone Plc. Last September, when he got the first payout, of $2.2 billion, from Abbott, the phone started ringing. “Because people knew we had money, we had so many people approaching us for projects in the infrastructure sector,” he said. “These people had no experience and no knowledge and no track record of having built a business in any area. And yet they were coming to us saying we have licenses and approvals. That just didn’t sound right or smell right.” Each day, they paraded through his office: The investment banker who decided to build a 500 megawatt power plant, the coal trader assured of a government coal allocation, small-time miners with pretty presentations promising land, licenses and financing. “They’d name politicians from the center and the state who had it all tied up for them,” he said. “It didn’t sound right. Obviously there were things going on in the system.” Road and port projects weren’t much better, he said. Piramal also looked at investing in engineering and infrastructure services companies, but couldn’t make sense of their books. “We couldn’t find anything,” he said. “People get greedy. In their desire to get good valuations they resort to, if I can say, creative accounting.” Today, India’s infrastructure companies are known as great wealth destroyers. “Infrastructure investment has become untouchable, a sure way of losing money,” said Jagannadham Thunuguntla, head of research at SMC Global Securities. He calculates that four of India’s top infrastructure companies — GMR Infrastruc-
ture, GVK Power and Infrastructure, Lanco Infratech and Punj Lloyd — have lost over 80 percent of their value since 2007. A fifth, Larson & Toubro is down 50 percent. Piramal may have dodged a bullet, but shareholders in Piramal Healthcare aren’t happy. Despite a $600 million special dividend and share buyback, the share price has sagged since the Abbott deal was announced on May 21 last year. They’d like to see the Abbott cash productively deployed. Instead, much of it is sitting in fixed deposit accounts. Piramal said he really does want to run a pharmaceutical company and be the first Indian company to discover a world-class drug — despite his dabbling in telecom, financial services and real estate financing. It’s just that pharma can’t absorb all his cash. He plans to sell the 5.5 percent stake he picked up in Vodafone Essar for $640 million in a few years, when Vodafone Essar issues shares in an initial public offering, he said. He has also launched Piramal Capital, to make real estate and infrastructure loans, and spent about $50 million to acquire IndiaReit, a real estate investment company. Meanwhile, his thoughts have turned to Boston, where he set up IndUS Growth Partners with a professor from Harvard Business School to look for buying opportunities in the U.S., in security, financial services and biotechnology. And he said he’s still planning to spend over a billion dollars on biotechnology acquisitions in North America and Europe. “India was going more towards capitalism than socialism,” Piramal said. “I think we’re going back. Capitalism went to too much excess. Corruption levels went to the extreme.” He said he’ll announce his first overseas acquisition by March. Indo American News (ISSN 887-5936) is published weekly every Friday (for a subscription of $30 per year) by IndoAmerican News Inc., 7457 Harwin Dr., Suite 262, Houston, TX 77036, tel: 713-789-6397, fax:713-789-6399, email: indoamericannews@yahoo.com. Periodical postage paid at Houston, Texas. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to Indo American News, 7457 Harwin Dr., Suite 262, Houston, TX 77036
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6
December 30, 2011
A Birthday celebrated. c Boy, is she s surprised!! s
Open 7 days a week
By Jawahar Malhotra HOUSTON: The look of surprise and shock said it all when Kanwaljit Bhalla stepped out of the elevator into the midst of a crowd of her friends who shouted out “Happy Birthday”! It took a few minutes for her to comprehend that the small birthday party that she was going to have with her family at Maggiano’s restaurant on Post Oak was in fact a hoax by her fun loving husband Raj to surprise her with a banquet hall full of 150 of their friends. So as she moved through and hugged the friends who had massed around her, all she could mutter was “I had no idea” as Raj guided her way, grinning that his plan had gone undetected. “It was quite a feat to keep this quiet,” he declared later at the podium from which he thanked all the revelers and added the lively jokes and witticisms that he is fond of and well known for. And he thanked his friends Harvinder Arora and his wife Ranjit in organizing the party on the sly, The Bhalla’s sons Dr. Gurpreet Bhalla (the elder one) and his wife Joytish and Dr. Narinder Bhalla and his wife Tracy along with their young son Ashton had flown in for their mom’s 75th birthday as well as for the Christmas holidays and were in on the secret. They posed for pictures and mixed with the mostly Punjabi crowd that included many of the India Culture Center Board of which Raj has been the President for the past year. “I knew things were amiss when Bani started rummaging through old photo albums and ran off with some pictures,” joined in Kanwaljit. “Now I know why!” she added as she pointed to the screen where a trove of pictures from her youth, marriage and other parts of her life were being projected. Kanwaljit was born in Sheikhupura, India, got an MA in History from Delhi University and after getting married followed her husband to the US in 1960 when he did his Master’s degree. On their return to India, she worked for a
The Bhallas with their sons Gurpreet (left) and his wife Joytish and Narinder and his wife Tracy at the 75th birthday bash for Kanwaljit. Photos: Bijay Dixit
Kanwaljit surrounded by enthusiastic partygoers.
while and raised her family. When the couple immigrated to the US in 1976, she started and ran a much liked Indian restaurant in Manhasset, NY from 1982 to 1991. The Bhallas moved to Sugar Land in 1994. For all her shock, Kanwaljit took the surprise in stride as she cut her birthday cake and went from table to table to express her thanks to the guests who ate from Maggiano’s famous salad and huge pasta platters. The drinks were a plenty and soon enough the diehard revelers were at the parquet floor dancing to Bol- Raj Bhalla (left) with family friend Harvinder Arora who helped in orgalywood and Bhangra hits. nizing the party and keeping it a surprise.
COMMUNITY
n dry dock Facility Venture new for Apex swiftships s
At a ceremony held at the Dubai Drydocks - Maritime City on Tuesday, December 20, Chairman of Drydocks and Maritime world, Khamis Juma Buamim (right) signed the partnership agreement with Lutfi Hassan, CEO of Apex Swiftships while Dubai business tycoon Juma Al-Majid (rear right) and the Director General of Rulers Court (to his left) witnessed the occasion
By Jawahar Malhotra DUBAI: Apex Swiftships, a company owned by Houston businessman Lutfi Hassan, announced the opening of its newest venture, a dry dock facility in this port city with a signing ceremony held on 21 December. The partnering agreements were signed by Hassan and Khamis Juma Buamim, Chairman of Dubai Drydocks and Maritime World, at the Maritime City in Dubai on December 20. Apex Swiftships will partner with Dubai Dry Docks (owned by the Govt. of Dubai) to operate a ship repair facility in Dubai to cater to the US Government and commercial vessels and allow the firm to service the ship repairing market in this active and busy port city.
school with Indian Kids named Britain’s Best s LONDON (TOI): A primary school in Britain where the majority of students are of Indian and Asian origin has achieved the best exam results in the country. Students at Newton Farm School in Harrow, northwest London, gained the highest average points score in their tests, The Sun reported. More than three-quarters of pupils are from “ minority ethnic groups”, mainly Indian and other Asian backgrounds, and speak a language other than English at home, including a large number of Tamil-speaking pupils. Over 90 percent of pupils in a class achieved a level above the standard in the age group in both maths and English. The school has 200 pupils aged four to 11. “The school provides a really well-rounded education while the foundations are absolutely rock solid. I believe our success is down to the rigour with which we look after our children,” headteacher Rekha Bhakoo, herself of Indian origin, was quoted as saying.
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COMMUNITY
Hocc-2: Hocc occ-2: c champions of w winter 2011 Houston Taped Ball c cricket ricket League
By rohan BavadEkar HOUSTON: HOCC-2 won the Infodat Cup and became the champions of the Houston Taped Ball Cricket League for the Winter 2011 Season. In the finals that were played at the India House grounds on Saturday, December 19th, HOCC-2 (or the Oilers) achieved the distinction of being unbeaten champions of the league by winning comprehensively against STYXCC by 6 wickets. HOCC-2, who were led on the field by Jawad and Hemant, after losing the toss and being asked to bowl first, showed great discipline with the ball and aggression on the field and put the STYXCC line-up, led by Pankaj, under constant pressure by picking up wickets at regular intervals. Jawad and Ashutosh were the stars picking up 2-11 and 2-15 respectively in their allotted 5 overs, while Ravishankar picked up 1-20. The bowlers were backed by a solid fielding effort, which yielded 4 run-outs. STYXCC
December 30, 2011
were restricted to 111/9 in their 25 overs with Srikanth top-scoring with 23. The target of 112 did not prove to be too strong of a challenge for the strong HOCC-2 line-up, and despite losing a few wickets towards the end, coasted to a comfortable win with the help of a few meaty blows from Jawad Khalid, who finished with an unbeaten 25. George Issac was the top-scorer for HOCC2 with 53 and the Oilers reached the target in the 15th over. Jawad Khalid was adjudged the MVP of the game for a superb all-round per performance. The tournament MVP award was given to Omair from ACC. Ramesh, playing for the Oilers, topped the run-making charts in the tournament with 207 runs with 51 being his top score for the season. Ashutosh, playing for the Oilers, and Hashim of ACC topped the wicket-taking charts in the tournament with 15 wickets. Ashwin, from STYXCC, was the best fielder with 11 catches and 1 stumpings.
Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, A decemBer 30, 2011 • Online editiOn: Ay, On: www.indOamerican-news.cOm O
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mTs mT Ts Board of directors’ election Held for the 2012-2015 Term PEARLAND: Sri Meenakshi Temple Society’s Board of Directors’ election is held every other year on the first Sunday of December. The Board consists of 20 members, 18 of whom are elected for a four year term and two are appointed from the community for a two year term. Nine members of the Board are elected every two years, thus providing a fifty percent overlap. The nine elected Board of Directors are for various positions. On Sunday, Dec 4, the MTS Election Committee declared the following as elected for the 2012-2015 term: P. Vaduganathan: Vice Chairman Srikanth Venugopal: Joint Secretary Padma Golla: Joint Treasurer Padma Anantha: Executive Director Meena Subramanian: Executive Director
The 2012-2013 MTS Board, which takes over on the New Year’s Day is headed by the leadership team consisting of Chairman Tupil Narasiman, Secretary Rajendra Mikkilineni and the Treasurer Parthiban Dhanabalan. Other continuing Board members are Executive Directors Nat Annamalai and K.R. Thiagarajan and Directors Nirupama Balakrishnan, Malar Narayanan, Meka Prasad, and Swaroopa Reddy. The new Board takes charge, with the blessings of Goddess Meenakshi, after the traditional ceremonial hand over function at the main temple on the New Year’s Day at noon.
Writers are requested to limit their words to 500 The deadline for advertising and articles is 5 pm on Tuesday of each week. For more information, Call 713-789- NEWS (6397) or email us at: indoamericannews@yahoo.com
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Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, A decemBer 30, 2011 • Online editiOn: Ay, On: www.indOamerican-news.cOm O
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COMMUNITY EDISON, New Jersey: The Edison Cricket Club (ECC) celebrated eight years of promoting and playing cricket in New Jersey. The annual gala, held at Crown Plaza in Edison, was attended by families of players, fans, followers, and attracted the usual bevy of sponsors and luminaries. This year’s gala was presented by MoneyGram in association with LiveNRI.com. In 2011, the ECC entered the quarterfinals in each of the three leagues that they participated in. Walking in the footsteps of the team that made the top division of the Cricket League of NJ two years ago, the ECC team in the Millennium Cricket League progressed to the finals of the second division and earned itself a promotion to the first division of that league. The award ceremony was attended by honorary members of the club including Congressman Frank Pallone Jr., NJ Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula, Edison Councilman Dr. Sudhanshu Prasad and well known attorney Seema Singh. This year, the club honored Rohit N. Kulkarni, director and producer of the documentary titled “Pitch of Dreams - Cricket in America.” The highly acclaimed movie, which was made in 2009, was screened at five film festivals including the prestigious
December 30, 2011
The Annual ecc Gala held in edison
Assemblyman Upendra J Chivukula presented Atul Huckoo, President of Edison Cricket Club, with a commemorative proclamation.
LA Sports Film Festival. An avowed cricket fan who plays weekend cricket in Virginia, Rohit Kulkarni is Executive Producer, Multimedia - South Asia Division at Voice of America. In his acceptance speech, Rohit spoke of his experience while shooting the film and emphasized that the sport’s future really lies in its acceptance among youth. Congressman Frank Pallone Jr. said that he was very proud of his honor-
ary membership of the Edison Cricket Club. Remembering the Padma Bhushan, India’s third highest civilian award, which he received in 2002, he said that the ECC recognition was among his favorites. Congressman Pallone is the founder of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, and also serves on the Congressional Caucus on Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan Americans - both cricket playing countries.
The highlight of the evening was the special proclamation that the club received from the State of New JerJer sey. By joint legislative resolution, the State of New Jersey honored and saluted the club and it’s President Atul Huckoo for its significant efforts and praiseworthy achievements in the sport of cricket. The recognition was presented to the club by Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula. Awards were also presented to the following cricketers and officials: • The MoneyGram Best Umpire Award - Deepak Katte • The MoneyGram Spirit of Cricket Awards - Leisure Cricket Club • The MoneyGram Spirit of Cricket Awards for ECC - Ajanthan Elanganathan • The Keller William - Akhila Aneja 5 Wicket Hauler - Abhishek Dwivedi • The Keller William - Akhila Aneja Centurian Awards - Amit Patel • State Bank of India Ambassador Award for ECC - Sriram Srinivasan & Chirag Patel
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INDIA
Theatre Guru satyadev s dubey Falls s silent Forever By v v. GanGadhar Mumbai’s Prithvi Theatre looked no different to the layman or visitor. Crowds thronged the Irish Coffee counter, gazed at exhibits in the Book shop, gawked at celebrities, while serious young men and women discussed plays. . But for the regular Prithvi Theatre-goer, there was something missing. The man with unruly hair, who, sipping tea with cigarette in hand , expounded on the mysteries of theatre to an admiring crowd that had many of who were trained by him and even performed with him. He is Pandit Satyadev Dubey, the 75-year-old doyen of Hindi theatre in Mumbai. For decades the actor, director and playwright was a permanent fixture at Prithvi till his health began to fail some two years ago. Dubey suffered a seizure at Prithvi last September, was hospitalised and later slipped into coma. Friends, followers of the theatre and volunteers were ready to take care of him but there are no indications that he will ever return to his favourite haunt, the Prithvi. He hasn’t staged a new play since 2008 and was only occasionally seen at his popular theatre workshops. ‘Khuda Ke Liye Mat Dekhna’, a semi-autographical play was his last production and the same year Prithvi honoured him by dedicating its annual festival to him. Yes, things were changing at Prithvi. What with Dubey’s absence and now Sanjana Kapoor, who was managing the theatre for several years, quitting to start a new unit, Junoon. Her brother, Kunal Kapoor, will take over. Dubey was a constant factor at Sanjana’s Prithvi, which tolerated all his eccentricities because he gave it so much in return. As important as his productions were his informal get-togethers, where he held court, talking to theatre-lovers. My friendship with him began in the early 1980s when I was reviewing theatre for a Mumbai daily. Initially, he snapped at me, questioned my knowledge of theatre and made critical comments on many of his contemporaries. No wonder, he was labelled the ‘enfant terrible’ of the Mumbai stage, but no one could challenge the work he has done or his overall contribution. As Ashok Vajpeyi, editor of the book, ‘Satyadev Dubey: A fiftyyear Journey through Theatre,’ explains, “He was a stalwart of Indian theatre at a time when modern urban theatre was in the process of establishing itself. Dubey was known for his unconventional choices, bold handling of material, discovery of Indian regional theatre and a close connection with the language he worked in.” I watched several of his earlier plays at the pokey, little Chhabildas auditorium at Dadar, which often overflowed with people.
Well known actor, director and playwright Satyadev Dubey
Prithvi was a godsend to the likes of Dubey. Dubey came to Bombay in 1952 to graduate in English Literature and improve his cricketting skills! “I quickly learnt that I was not good enough for top level cricket,” he confessed. Collegemate and future film director, Vijay Anand, introduced
A tribute to Satyadev Dubey, whose contributionto Mumbai’s Hindi theatre has been immense. him to Bombay theatre, which was in a period of transition with the old, socially-committed theatre fading and the modern one waiting at the wings. Dubey felt he should start a movement against the ‘tyranny’ of the glamorous English theatre, which had nothing in common with life, as we knew it. He did this by selecting plays, which were close to our way of living, yet looked beyond the obvious: For instance, the late Dharam Vir Bharati’s ‘Andha Yug’ and Badal Sircar’s ‘Evam Inderjit’. Written as a radio play, no one, including the writer, had recognised ‘Yug’s’ potential as a stage play. But Dubey, with the help and co-operation of NSD director Ebrahim Alkazi, converted it into a modern classic. Once the genius was kindled, there was no looking back.
Though often described as arrogant, quarrelsome and whimsical, the theatre world stalwarts such as Amrish Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, producer-director Sunil Shanbag grew to admire him. His greatest contribution was the discovery of Indian regional theatre, while staging plays by Badal Sircar, Mohan Raakesh, Vijay Tendulkar, Girish Karnad and Adya Rangacharya. The most important feature according to Dubey, was the power of the spoken word. The language of the stage had to be different and he often worked his writers overtime to produce it, which lifted the level of his plays. As his career advanced, Dubey changed his views about English plays and staged dramas such as ‘Antigone’. His theatre became truly international. Dubey often lacked funds for his productions. There was very little sponsorship for Hindi theatre and he did not seek grants because it involved lots of delay and red tape. He had brushes with the censors because of the bold themes of some of his plays, where abusive words were liberally used. He once refused to edit out some 150 foul words (he felt they were needed for the theme) from Vijay Tendullar’s ‘Gidhade’. After a battle of words, the play was staged with three cuts. When Hindi theatre was stagnating, Dubey arrived and showed that there was a need to change with the times. This has to be a permanent process and that is why we all pray that Dubey will be back soon at his appointed place at Prithvi, holding court.
IamNEWS is
Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, A decemBer 30, 2011 • Online editiOn: Ay, On: www.indOamerican-news.cOm O
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Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, A decemBer 30, 2011 • Online editiOn: Ay, On: www.indOamerican-news.cOm O
INDIA
12 December 30, 2011
The Extraordinary Life and Times of Mahatma Gandhi
Gandhi Leads Boycott of 1920 Prince of wales’ Visit to India
The story thus far…During the latter part of 1920 Gandhi advocated a triple boycott. He wanted an absolute boycott of the Government and all government institutions, including schools, colleges, and courts. If the people were free of these they could easily have their own schools, colleges, and courts, and the power of the British would collapse at once. There was much laughter and ridicule from the moderates and the supporters of British rule. But Gandhi paid no attention. Gandhi’s activities made the British government nervous and panicky. They issued a warning that anyone who overstepped the bounds of law would be arrested and imprisoned. Gandhi thought that this warning was a victory for the campaign. He issued instructions, which the people were to follow if he were arrested. On December 26, the Congress session was held in Nagpur. Though there were signs of opposition to Gandhi’s policies, his resolution was passed with an overwhelming majority. The adoption of the new program at Nagpur was the signal to start the mass movement. Gandhi felt that the complete boycott of all government organizations would give a chance to the Congress to set up a parallel organization, a State within a State which would lead India to Swaraj. The Duke of Connaught was sent to India in 1921 to try to pacify the Indians. He came to open the four legislatures in the country which had been introduced as a result of the reforms announced by the King. His coming and going passed off without any material change in the attitude of Indians towards Britain. Gandhi traveled far and wide, propagating the ideals of nonviolence and noncooperation. Day by day the Indians were getting more and more excited over carrying out Gandhi’s program. Many students left their institutions, many officers resigned their posts. The boycott movement gained momentum. As the people’s morale grew, the morale of the government went down. Repression started. Gandhi ad-
vised the people to have patience, and he insisted on nonviolence. He saw the weaknesses of Indians and he urged them to improve. He wanted social reforms and constructive work to be intensively followed. It was announced that the Prince of Wales was to visit India. Functions were arranged at many places to enable him to meet his loyal subjects. Gandhi was indignant when he read the announcement in the newspapers. “Do the British think we are children?” he said. “Do they believe that parades for the Prince will make us forget atrocities in the Punjab or the perpetual delay in granting us Home Rule?” On Gandhi’s advice the Congress declared that all parades, receptions, and celebrations in honor of the Prince were to be strictly boycotted. “We have no grudge against His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales,” said Gandhi, “but our ideas are against him as a symbol of oppression. We can show the world that such noncooperation is just the reverse of the European doctrine of the sword. Let us act in accordance with the holy prophets of old. Noncooperation without violence is the battle of the brave.” Fearing that there would be disorder when the Prince of Wales visited various places, the government began severe acts of suppression. Thousands of people were
arrested. The Indian people were so agitated that in city after city bonfires burned and the bonfires were made with foreign cloth, especially British cloth. On November 17, 1921, the Prince of Wales landed in Bombay. Loyal stooges of Britain went to greet the royal visitor. Those who were observing nonviolent noncooperation did not stop them. However, religious and political hatreds fanned the flames. Riots started, many were killed, much property was destroyed. There was panic in the city. Gandhi was in Bombay, and he rushed to the scene of disorder to stop the rioting. Order was finally restored. “Every man has the right to his religion and his own political opinion. Satyagraha will never succeed until man understands that,” Gandhi announced bitterly. In other cities the boycott of the Prince’s visit was peaceful. As the unfortunate Prince of Wales visited city after city, he- was greeted with empty streets. Not a shop was open. The people remained behind closed doors and drawn curtains. This infuriated the British and they called upon the government of India to act. Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal, and other leaders were arrested and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. Yet the determined courage of the people did not abate. They were ready to suffer any penalty for the cause of Home Rule. Demands had been made to Gandhi that he should start a mass movement for the attainment of Swaraj. Gandhi decided to act. Preparations were made to start satyagraha in Bardoli. But Gandhi had to stop the campaign suddenly because of what had happened ill Bombay and other places. In Chauri Chaura, near Gorakhpur in U.P., some policemen fired on a crowd which was holding a demonstration against the government. This annoyed the demonstrators so much that they became very violent. They chased the police. The police took refuge in the city hall. The angry mob surrounded the hall and set it on fire. Some policemen were burned to death.
Others, trying to escape, were killed by the furious mob outside. Gandhi was very upset. He thought that it was clear that the people were still not prepared for satyagraha. He stopped the intended satyagraha at Bardoli. His The Extraordinary Life and Times of Mahatma Gandhi is brought to you courtesy Mahatma Gandhi Library. www.gandhilibrary.org co-workers did not agree with him, but he was adamant. He wanted his followers to start constructive programs. Many Indians were sorry for Gandhi’s action. They thought that Swaraj was now within their reach and the movement should therefore continue. The Government was playing a waiting game. Instead of thanking Gandhi for stopping the mass movement, they
arrested him on charges of inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch and sentenced him to six years’ imprisonment. He was removed to Yeravda Central Jail in Poona. In prison Gandhi settled down to a regime of spinning, writing, and meditation. The people were disappointed and the government tightened its hold. Almost all the leaders were put in jail. Then, in 1924, Gandhi fell ill. He was suffering from appendicitis and was in great pain. The government was alarmed. What would happen if Gandhi died in prison? An urgent operation was arranged, and Gandhi agreed. The operation was successful, but his recovery was very slow. The government thought it best to release him, so he was set free. He went to Juhu, near Bombay, to recover. — To be Continued
Shraddhanjali to Mahatma Gandhi Saturday, January 28, 2012 at Rose Garden Hermann Park
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INDIA ENTERTAINMENT star Babies 2011
As the year 2011 comes to an end, we can’t help but reminisce about what the year brought with it: some ‘stars’ were born, a few legendary ones left us for heavenly abode, and still others did their job of shining bright all through the year! Some movies enthralled us, some should never have been made; a few actors basked in thunderous applause, a few others swam in controversial waters. And as we look back, we take the opportunity to look ahead to what the year 2012 may have in store for us –hopefully a bagful of ENTERTAINMENT and more! Here’s a look at the bigwigs who were blessed with babies in 2011! •Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan This year, the biggest Bollywood news was of the addition of a new member in the Bachchan family, ‘Beti B’. Bollywood actress and ex-Miss W o r l d Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and hunk Abhishek Bachchan became proud parents of a cute baby girl at Mumbai’s Seven Hills Hospital on November 16, 2011. Beti B is currently the most talked about baby among the media and social networking sites. But the baby’s name and pictures are yet to be made public, leaving everybody guessing. Ash and Abhi got married on April 20, 2007.
•Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao R e c e n t l y, t h e news that Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao were blessed with a baby boy sent a ripple of excitement through Bollywood. However, it was revealed that the child was born through IVF to a surrogate mother. The baby boy was born on December 1, 2011 at a private clinic in Mumbai. Aamir and Kiran confirmed it by sending a written statement to all the media houses. “It gives us the greatest joy to share with you the good news of the birth of our baby boy. This baby is especially dear to us because he was born to us after a long wait and some difficulty. Due to medical complications, we were advised to have a baby through IVF-surrogacy, and we feel very grateful to the Almighty that all has gone well. We are humbled by the greatness of God, the miracles of science, and the kindness and love of our families and friends in being there for us while respecting our privacy. We seek your good wishes and blessings for our child,” said the statement from the couple.” The baby was named Azad Rao Khan, after freedom fighter andAamir’s great-granduncle Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad. Aamir Khan has two kids from his first wife, Reena Dutta, son Junaid and daughter Ira. •Konkona Sen Sharma and Ranvir Shorey Two times National Award winner Konkona Sen Sharma, daughter of actress
Aparna Sen got married to Bollywood actor and her co-star Ranvir Shorey on September 3, 2010 in a private ceremony. On March 15, 2011, Bong beauty Konkona gave birth to a baby boy, at a South Mumbai hospital. Konkana was so excited about her motherhood that she was seen flaunting her baby bump on the cover of the April issue of OK! magazine. The actress has named her son Haroon, which is Arabic for protector, or chief. •Mandira Mandira Bedi and Raj Kaushal Actress and TV anchor Mandira Bedi gave birth to a baby boy on June 17 at Lilavati Hospital. He has been named Vir. Mandira Bedi married director-producer Raj Kaushal on February 14, 1999. After the birth of the baby, an overjoyed Raj tweeted, “Ladies and gentlemen. At 11.01am IST weighing 6 pounds the czar of our lives Mr Vir Kaushal has arrived. :-) Had a superb Fathers day (my 1st) thanks to my little Vir. Thank you @mandybedi for the best gift in my life. I think I am in love again :)” •Sohail Khan and Seema Sachdev Bollywood actor Sohail Khan, married to fashion designer Seema Sachdev, became the father to their second child. The Khandaan was on cloud nine after this news was out and Salman Khan became chachu once again. The baby boy was named Yohan.
December 30, 2011
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Sohail and Seema also have a son name Nirvaan. •Anoushka Shankar and Joe Wright Sitar player Anoushka Shankar, daughter of Pandit Ravi Shankar, gave birth to a boy on February 22, 2011. Anoushka married British director Joe Wright on 26th September 2010. They named the child Zubin Shankar Wright. •Barkha Bisht and Indraneil Sengupta Tollywood and TV actress Barkha Bisht gave birth to a baby girl on October 10, 2011. Barkha Bisht got married to a Bengali film actor Indraneil Sengupta on March 2, 2007 after two years of courtship. It’s their first child and they call her Meira. •Rituparna Sengupta and Sanjay Chakrabarty Bengali actress Rituparna Sengupta got married to her childhood sweetheart Sanjay Chakrabarty on December 13, 1999. Rituparna has done many Hindi movies too. Earlier this year, she gave birth to her second child. The couple was blessed with a baby girl on July 14, 2011. They also have a son named Ankan. •Preeti Jhangiani and Parvin Dabas Bollywood actress Preeti Jhangiani and producerdirector Parvin Dabas became proud parents of a baby boy on April 11, 2011. Preeti Jhangiani, who has acted in about 20 films, married model-cum-actor Pravin on March 23, 2008.
Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, A decemBer 30, 2011 • Online editiOn: Ay, On: www.indOamerican-news.cOm O
14 December 30, 2011 Taurus
Aries March 21 April 20
General Peace and tranquillity are predicted for you this year. Much of your efforts and projects that have been put in the back-burner shall come to the fore-ground this year. Take ample time to prune unwanted persons, things and ideas from your life this year. The pace of your life might slacken a bit but do not lose hope. Slow and steady always wins the race. This year is likely to give you more freedom, particularly in relationships and career areas. Career Your career field remains uneventful for most part of the year but for the last quarter. You shall learn to evolve from your mistakes. A change in career course or some chances for higher education or research is also on the anvil. Artists are likely to get a beating rather than encouragement this year. You stand to get better in your relationship with authorities and peers in your work-place. Love Your love life shall see a more calm and peaceful phase after the turbulent periods of last year. Forget the past and live in the present. It has a lot to offer in your love and relationship arena. Channel your feelings and romance in the best possible way. Intense passion is predicted for the last half of the year as far as your relationships are concerned. Exchange your views and likes with clarity with your partner if already in a relationship. Open up as this year offers much positive scope. Give way for your desires as well and do not always yield to the whims and fancies of your partner. Health Health is likely to go on a roller -coaster ride, at the peak in one time and touching the bottom of the rock the other instant. Your emotional and mental make-up has a lot to play in this time. The first quarter of the year shall see you in the pink of health. But the last quarter might call in for unwanted medical issues and expenditure. Do not push yourself too much into personal and professional work and take time to take a break which goes a long way in wishing you better health. For all Horoscope 2012 Aries.
April 21 May 21
General Much changes had been experienced by you in the past one year, that you have to go in for many reworks and revamps on your life. This is the apt time for you to go for the same. You would come out unscathed periods as good tidings are ahead. Do not be a scatter-brain, instead focus on one thing at a time and come out with flying colors. Long term projects might meet with impediments but do not lose hope and heart. There is plenty of time ahead. It is yours for the asking. Career Much improvement is predicted in your career field for the year 2012. It does not mean that it would be a path of roses. En-route you have to untangle lots of knots. Try your level best if you want to have a change of position or job. Because the year is much favourable for this. Channel and focus your energy into the proper channels, that you can advance into a much favourable territory, much to the surprise and chagrin of your peers. Love Your love life is in for better stability this year after much humdrum of the yesteryears. Do make sure that your desires and wishes are met by your partner. Make all efforts to get you more closer and intimate with your other half. Your relationship shall have a constructive growth this year. Those unmarried shall see the necessity to get into a relationship at the earliest this year. Do take some time off from your works to spend quality time with your loved one. Better communication would be the key to a lasting relationship for you. Health Better management of your time with respect to exercises and work is needed this year. Your change of lifestyle might bring in tiredness and a loss of energy levels. Hence it is essential that a balance is found out here. Beware not to deplete your reserve energy levels. Avoid unwanted food stuffs that add nothing but calories. Do take some vitamin supplements as well for a healthy make-uo for te year ahead.perienced by you in the past one year, that you have to go in for many reworks and revamps on your life. This is the apt time for you to go for the same.
Gemini May 22 June 21
General The year 2012 would be an eventful year for the Geminis. New ventures take shape with new ideas and new goals in life. You would be coming out of your shell and shall venture into unknown territories with renewed vigor and strength. Variety shall spice up your life this year. Relationships need utmost dedication for the year. Certain compromises ought to be made in your personal and professional life this year. Career Peace and tranquillity are forecast in your professional field this year. It would be a calm after the wild tempest that happened last year in this area of your life. Take stock of your present situation and plan what is to be done in future for better rewards. The middle of the year shall see you enter into a new phase of your career path. Financially it would be a rewarding year ahead from your career point of view. Love It would be a passionate year of 2012 for Geminis. You feel an urge to be loved but you need to love as well. Your emotions needs to be caged up for quite some time. Patience would be the keyword here. Your moods and emotional needs are to be kept under lock and key. Avoid all sorts of conflicts in relationships and wait for reciprocal actions from the other side, instead you always doing the thing. Single ones have maple time to meet their ideal man or woman in life. You shall get the opportunity of getting to know more about your partner this year. Of course, there would be certain errors in your relationships but do not give way for negative feelings. Health Your health is likely to get some negative aspects this year of 2012. Physical and mental strain is forecast hence do not hesitate to take a break or relax when time and finances permit. Artistic pursuits can be engaged to let the steam out. Rejuvenate, revamp and refresh your inner and outer self for a healthier you in year 2012.
Leo
Cancer June 22 July 23
General Major changes in your relationships are in store for the year 2012. Some of your near ones are likely to dfit apart leaving you in shatters. But avoid depending on others and rise and shine. Peace and calm shall prevail then in your life. Towards the middle of the year you may need to take an important decision in life related to personal and professional life of yours. If single you might meet the ideal partner. But beware of foxes in sheep’s clothing. New ideas of all sorts take shape this year. Keep your cool, and enter into actions to meet your plans. Success in legal processes are predicted for this year. Career Much effort and commitmentwouldbeneeded this year for good results in your professional front. Unavoidable difficulties shall come from nowhere leaving you in tenterhooks. Confidence in yourself shall help you to ward off any negative effects in the career side. You would pursue your long fought ambitions with renewed vigor and strength. Reveal your inherent talents to the workforce. The first half of the year would be very much exhausting while the latter half shall see you off sailing smoothly. Love Much peace and tranquillity shall prevail in your love front for the year of 2012. Stability in relationships is also guaranteed. Your ideals in relationships shall be met during this period. Be free to open up your heart to your loved one, be frank and try to understand the feelings of your partner. This is the apt time to clear any clouds of doubts in your relationship. Generally an average year as far as love and relationships are concerned for Cancers. Health You are assured great energy levels for the year ahead. There would be a stability in your moods which had been deviating last year quite a bit. This would give you mental and physical health on a positive note. Take a resolution to cut down in bad habits that had been haunting you for the last few years. Concentrate on your works and take good care of your health.
July 24 August 23
General Renewed energy levels are predicted for you this year which shall help you to achieve your long sought after gaols in life. Your creative talents shall come to the forefront this year. Your wishes and aspirations shall materialize. You ought to make some major sacrifices for family or home sake. Take life as it comes by and live it simply in a positive sense. Some laziness might set in during the last quarter of the year. But beware that only strong actions shall give good rewards in life. Career Much orientation would be seen in your career front this year. Though personal problems might drag your feet, you shall come out with good colors in the professional field for this period. Teamwork shall suit you well this time unlike the last few years. Be sure that you do not enter into loggerheads with authorities and peers in work place. The last quarter of the year shall bring profits much to your suprise. New agreements and contracts can be signed during this period. Love Do not chew more than you can bite. Do not venture into relationship with whoever passes by. Communicate your desires to your partner in the right sense. Some difficulties would be encountered en-route this year as far relationships are concerned. Many sensual and intense moments in your relationship are forecast for the year ahead. The first quarter of the year shall bring in luck if you are single and in search of an ideal partner. If already into a contract, then some tensions are forecast. But that would soon pass off as the passing wind. Health You need to maintain a balanced lifestyle for goodness in health this year. Else something bad might strike you any moment as you had in the previous few years. Of course, you need to enjoy the pleasures of the world, but let it be minimal. Do try your level best to maintain your shape and weight this year. The last quarter of the year shall see you in good health and cheer. Take ample time for rest, sleep and exercises for a more healthier you.
Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, A decemBer 30, 2011 • Online editiOn: Ay, On: www.indOamerican-news.cOm O
Virgo August 24 Sep 23
General This year shall see to that your creative abilities are expose to the outside world. Express yourself as better as possible because this is the time to showcase your abilities. Some painful results can also be expected. But do not lose your cool. Work hard, put in all your efforts and you shall get positive energy in a rewarding way. Make efforts to improve your lifestyle. Be optimistic this year and try to avoid all sorts of nervousness and negativity that might creep in now and then. Do not get along with those who are likely to cause some discord in your life. Career Do learn to appreciate your hard work in the career field this year. Your efforts shall be giving tangible results this year. Decide precisely what is to be done for some betterment in your professional field and plunge into action. Strategic planning shall help you in this aspect. Let your ambitions and actions come to the forefront. Avoid wasting your time on unyielding projects. Instead focus on the commercial ones that might fetch you good returns as the year moves by. Love Your love life shall get more stabilized this year after much fluidity of the last few years. Circumstances might ask you to doubt your relationships but do not heed to them. Assert your position to your partner and do not yield in completely. Open up your heart and soul, crush the strong wall that developed between you and your partner. Make all efforts to plough inroads into your partners heart this year. Health Take the year 2012 by its horns. It would be an eventful year loaded with high spirits and energy for Virgo natives. Take care that the limits of your health activities are not exceeded. Keep yourself engaged in some activity or the other. Mobility is the keyword for you this year. This year could help you to recuperate after some harsh health issues from the yester years.
December 30, 2011 Libra Sep 24 Oct 23
2012 HOROSCOPE
General Life would be much happier, contented and lighter for Libras this year of 2012. You would be empowered by much freedom than before this period. Concentrate on your inner-self and do some spiritual rejuvenation. New relationships are likely to come into your life this season. Peace and harmony shall prevail for most of the year. Financial and legal entanglements are forecast for the year, hence beware of the consequences. Deadlines and resolutions shall not be met and shall go with the wind. Career More scope for growth and achievement in your career field are forecast for the year of 2012. But be cautious not to spend much of your energy on the same. Go slowly, meeting one deadline at a time. Some high risk ventures are to be taken care with caution and ease. New contracts and agreements are likely to be signed in your favour this period. Teamwork shall do well and take your creativity to new heights. Make sure your give in a major share of your effort to any task that comes by the way. Love Your love life would see calm and settled waters this year of 2012. Whatever that happened last year can be taken as a warning signal in your love life. Take time to understand the moves, likes and dislikes of your partner. In that way, you can control your emotions and desires. If frustrations and loss of partner comes on the way do not lose your heart. It is just a passing phase of your love life. Avoid impatience of all sorts for this year. If already into a relationship this year shall see a more matured you as far as relationships are concerned. Health The first half of the year shall see you in good health and cheer. You are predicted with renewed energy and a positive spark in life. Indulge in some pleasurable activities but make sure you do not overdo the same. Do pat yourself on the back then and now to comfort your inner self that you are on the right health track. General
Scorpio Oct 24 Nov 22
General New projects and ideas shall take wings in this year of 2012. You shall pass through a new phase of your life and would be relieved of issues that had been haunting you for the past few years or months. You shall be able to enjoy much freedom in your life like never before. Much important decisions regarding career and personal life ought to be taken this year, hence take wise counsel in this regard. Do not remain idle or become lazy. This is just a passing phase and time once lost cannot be regained. Therefore put good use of the time you have in your hand this year to your utter fulfilment. Career Much struggle and moments of impatience are forecast in your career field for the year of 2012. You need a change imminently. Your competitive spirit shall come to the fore in this area during this period. If looking for a change of course, the second half of the year shall help you to achieve the same. Concentrate on the area of your interest and come out with flying colors. Help from authorities and peers would be a boon for you this year. Love Stormy sessions are predicted in your love life for the year. Make sure your bond with partner remains intact despite the problems ahead. If not into a relationship, speak up your mind and settle down with your ideal partner for life. But choosing remains a difficult task as also settling down in a comfortable relationship. Live fully in the present and let the future take its own course. You would be able to explore new territories in romance and emotions this year. Health Your energy levels and actions would be on a high during the course of the year 0212.Make sure you concentrate and focus your energy on one common goal, to stay healthy. You need to exercise much restraint in your lifestyle. Make sure that you take a balanced diet, take good exercises and practise healthy habits. Mental health also need to be taken care with caution. Here’s to a healthier you in 2012.
Sagittarius Nov 23 Dec 22
General Your life would be free from difficulties unlike the last year. You stand to gain much in terms of power and authority this year. Your social status and living also gets an enhancement. If willing there is scope for a change of residence, career or relationship. You shall be loaded with much potential energy which would take you into the road for success in life. Some retrospection would be needed to understand your past life deeds. Take decisions then and there and do not procrastinate. Remain optimistic throughout the year. Career This would be an average year as far as your career prospects are concerned. However the uncertainty that had been looming large shall leave you. Difficult testing times are also forecast for the period ahead. Some misfortunes would be met on the way. Teamwork shall be better suited for you though you would find it difficult to get along with others. The last quarter of the year shall see you get some recognition in your work place. This is also an apt time to venture into new projects that had been in the backburner for quite some time. Love This would be a decisive period in your love life. There would be a total change in your visualization of love, romance and emotions. Your charm shall be able to attract new partners into your territory. If single this would be an apt time to tie the knot or settle down in a relationship. Do not be too much selective and you might be left to wander alone. Love is in the air!! Health You shall be blessed with much energy and vigor this year. It would take you to new places hitherto unexplored. Be active though some occasional weaknesses shall weigh you down at times. Take care of your diet and maintain a balance. Make sure you relieve yourself of some of the bad habits. Take some time to exercise, relax and rejuvenate your spirit.
Capricorn
Aquarius
Dec 23 Jan 20
Jan 21 Feb 19
General This year would be generally a year of low profile for you. It helps you to enter a serene and peaceful atmosphere. You can go in for introspection and spiritual pursuits for the year. Much reflection can be done on your future prospects of the course of your life. You are likely to give up some of your projects that were dear to your hear this year. Your ambitions might take a back seat. Don’t lose heart and let optimism take over you. Certain impulsive actions should be taken in your personal and professional life this year. Career New contracts and agreements would be signed in your professional field. Much precision needs to be implemented in doing your works. Show courage and commitment in all your endeavours. Be sure you get the goodwill of your authorities. If willing for a change, then this is the right time. Your hidden talents are likely to come to the fore this year. The first quarter of the year shall see some hindrances on your career path. But do not lose heart and keep going. Love Your love issues take up the centre of attraction in your circle this year. Much emotional happiness is predicted for the year ahead. You are likely to meet your perfect companion if not already into a relationship. You would be attracted to those who understand your feelings, emotions and sensitivity. Express your feelings with an open heart to your partner. This is just a passing year with no major events or mishaps in your love life. Health Do not take much risks with your health issues this coming year. Commit yourself to better health habits and pursuits this year. Manage your energy levels in the best possible way so that you do not end up drained at the end of the year. Do not procrastinate your visit to the doctor or dentist. Something bad would be lurking around the corners. The last quarter of the year shall see you in a more calm and peaceful atmosphere and is an ideal time for relaxing and revamping.
General You would be able to enjoy the fruits of your hard toils of the last few years in this year of 2012. Much socializing is predicted in this year for you. You might meet up with unwarranted confrontations this year. Meet up with it head on. In fact this combating spirit would be good if healthy in a sense. Some of your resolutions shall take wings and land on better grounds. Though occasional minor unhappiness are predicted for the first quarter of the year, it would be a generally rosy year for you. Your perspective of life shall see a major change and put good use of your knowledge for a better rewarding future. Career This year shall land you in a new phase of professional life. You shall be armed with much freedom and independence in your work place like never before. Pursue your ambitions with renewed vigor and you would be able to meet a considerable amount of your pursuits. Legal and authoritative influences shall help you in your endeavours. Beware of people who might land you in troubled waters. Do not commit anything to such people. Love The year 2012 would be a more passionate and romantic year for you as far as your love relationships are concerned. Make sure you expose your inner self to your partner without any negative consequences. This is an apt time to settle down with a better agreeing partner than one who confronts you in all your personal matters with cynicism. If not into a relationship you will see a surge of sensuous longing. Do not restrain yourself into your cocoon. Come out and show the world that you have soft feelings too. This year shall provide ample opportunities for improving any strained relations. Health Health needs utmost care as you are aging as the years moves on. Practice better health habits and inculcate the same in your family members too. Your moral life might see some down slides. Beware not to fall into a deeper hole.
Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, A decemBer 30, 2011 • Online editiOn: Ay, On: www.indOamerican-news.cOm O
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Pisces Feb 20 March 20
General Year 2012 seems to be a calm and peaceful year for you much deviating from the hustle and bustle of the previous few years in your life. Involve yourself whole heartedly into any task which you undertake and ensure it continues and ends on a positive note. There would be much freedom for your thoughts, ideas and ideals in life this year. Time is on your side and hence do not compromise on quality and quantity of work done this period. Career You would be blessed with much peace and pleasure this year in your work place. But make sure that your tasks are on the right track. Certain unfinished tasks should be taken to the foreground and worked head on. You shall get the goodwill of your authorities in profession. Take any challenges that comes in your career field. Work positively with determination and grit. Do not doubt your inner self and energy levels. Luck is on your side this year. Love You would become more softer and calmer as far as relationships are concerned this year. But you need to radiate your positive energy too. Do not rely on any transitory partners or friends. They might desert you in times of need. Your desires and passions would be on the rise in the first quarter of the year. Those single shall end up tying the knot or settling down with a partner. You are likely to have moments of unhappiness in relationships as well. But channel your emotions into positive notes for your goodness. Health Do understand what your body really needs and do not yield to any unwanted temptations. It is by your sheer control and will power that good health is predicted for you. There would be a tendency to neglect your general health but beware. The last quarter of the year shall see some high energy deals for you. Make sure that your health and weight remain stable without much oscillations throughout the whole year. Generally a hale and hearty year for Pisceans in this 2012.
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Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, A decemBer 30, 2011 • Online editiOn: Ay, On: www.indOamerican-news.cOm O
COMMENTARY INDIA
December 30, 2011
Hypocrisy of a anna and His Henchmen
By Raj KanwaR anwaR Ian DelhI Ian elhI CoRRespon RResponD RRespon esponDent NEW DELHI: The battle lines seem to have been clearly drawn out between Congress and most opposition parties on one side and Anna Hazare and BJP on the other. Though both BJP and Anna Hazare team are loathe to admit any explicit nexus between the two, yet the under undercurrents of their “understanding” were clearly visible on Sunday. Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh today accused Anna Hazare of being a RSS agent; his proof was a Hazare’s photo taken some years ago with Nanaji Deshmukh, a top RSS leader and ideologue. Surprisingly, Kiran Bedi was prompt enough to produce photographs of Deshmukh not only with Singh himself but also with former president APJ Abdul Kalam, veteran Congress leader Narayan Dutt Tiwari and others. One wondered how Kiran Bedi could have produced within hours such ‘old’ photographs. Has she been ‘collecting’ for years Nanaji Deshmukh’s photographs with important Congress leaders and other celebrities? Or someone from RSS or BJP provided her all those pictures taken out from their archive? Not only that, two of Anna’s vocal supporters ridiculed Digvijaya Singh’s charge and said that “Anna was the ‘agent’ only of India”. Their argument was that if being photographed with Deshmukh makes one an ‘agent of RSS’, then all these Congress leaders sitting in pictures with the RSS stalwarts too must also be deemed to be “RSS agent”. Digvijaya retorted that RSS had brought out a book on Anna and that indicated much closer relationship. As Anna and his supporters get ready for the three-day fast beginning 27th December at Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) large ground in Mumbai,
edly supporting Anna Hazare and telecasting LIVE his statements/ speeches even when these are bereft of any news, and are mere repetitive of their known attitude and stand; the same LIVE telecast privilege is extended to both his known and unknown team members even though their statements are boring and carry no news value. Judged by the preparations being made at the Anna and Kejriwal, his close aide MMRDA grounds in Mumbai as shown on news channels are simply there were a LIVE telecasts on all news chan- mind boggling; the huge stage is high and large nels showing Anna and his supporters at their enough to accommodate over a 100 people; a strident best. The only redeeming exception separate room is also being made for Anna and was DOORDARSHAN which continued with conference room for his supporters. Additionits scheduled programme. The speeches by ally, rooms for police and security paraphernalia Anna and his close supporter Prashant Bhushan are also being constructed. All these expensive underscored their inherent contradictions. They construction is only for three days. Though, the said that their moment was not against any polit- organizers cringed at paying what they deemed ical party, yet they venomously criticized in the to be exorbitant ground rental, the money being same breath the ruling party at the Centre; they spent on the construction of the little township further announced that simultaneously fasts must be relatively much more than the ground would also be undertaken at Ramlila Ground charges. in New Delhi. While claiming that they had no As opposed to the blatant support extended animosity against any particular political leader, by news channels to Hazare’s moment, there the Anna Hazare teammates declared that a is some objectivity in reporting by print media. dharna would be staged outside the residence Most leading columnists have criticized Anna of Sonia Gandhi on 30th December. The next for proclaiming that his version of the Lokpal step beginning on New Year eve would be ‘Jail Bill alone was authentic and the government Bharo’ all over the country for which nearly a and other versions were weak and totally unhundred thousand supporters had volunteered acceptable. Other columnists have also taken online. Anna and his team to task for saying that those Though the TV news channels are unabash- who opposed their version were supporters of
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corruption and even corrupt themselves. With the sudden announcement of elections in five states on Saturday, the confrontation between the two sides has become more blatant. BJP is broadly supporting Anna’s position but at the same time keeping some cards close to its chest; the party wants that CBI should not be under the control of the Central government, even though it did not hesitate in ‘using’ the same CBI as a hand maiden when it was in power. Why does BJP want CBI to be made an autonomous agency? What would happen if BJP comes to power tomorrow, wouldn’t it then regret losing control over the Central Bureau of Investigation. Or has it lost any hope of regaining the Delhi crown? The coming elections in the five states of which UP, Punjab and Uttarakhand are more formidable will offer crucible of sorts. Anna’s henchmen have threaten to campaign against the Congress even though they repeatedly proclaim their ‘political neutrality’. Funnily enough, the BJP-led Uttarakhand government is one of the most corrupt in the country, and it was for that reason alone that the Central BJP leadership found itself compelled to remove the previous chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. Those of us who live in this state daily face situations where bribe is expected by bureaucrats at all levels even for doing their routine job. Thus even if Anna Hazare and his vocal supporters such as Kejriwal launch an antiCongress campaign in Uttarakhand, UP and Punjab, they would only be making a mockery of their anti-corruption campaign and will in the process expose their hypocrisy. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Indo American News.
Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, A decemBer 30 , 2011 • Online editiOn: Ay, On: www.indOamerican-news.cOm O
EDITORIAL
18 December 30, 2011 Anna Factor in 2012 Representative politics is not just about elections. It’s also about visions and issues that mould political consciousness: A lesson that has been powerfully driven home by Anna Hazare and his anti-corruption movement. No doubt, the nationwide popular groundswell, witnessed over the last few months, has changed the rules of contemporary engagement between the political classes and the civil society. The crucial Lokpal debate in Parliament, even as Anna launched into his three-day fast in Mumbai, was an upshot of months of hectic negotiations between the formal political class and informal civil society groups, including Team Anna. It used to be customary once to make an unequivocal distinction between civil and political society. But this distinction, predicated upon equating politics solely with elections, has become untenable. The Anna movement has succeeded in expanding democracy’s public sphere outside the grid of established political parties. The engagement of forces inside and outside Parliament has generated a political churning, moving the debate outside the strict confines of both legalism and populism. It’s worthwhile to remember that non-party mass movements, even in the past, had impacted mainstream politics and policymaking. The JP movement had jolted the political establishment in the 1970s with its slogan of ‘partyless democracy’. The truth is that the political class and civil society need to work together for people’s greater good. Neither side can afford to delegitimize the other. It’s Parliament’s mandate to legislate. But, civil society too, though falling outside the formal political and institutional systems, has a right to conduct movements and impact the legislative process. Political parties can’t ignore the power of social movements, especially in the present information age dominated by social media and 24 x 7 TV channels. Team Anna may not be able to mobilize crowds of the same size as organized political parties. But then the political class may well keep in mind the large numbers of people watching the fasting Gandhian crusader on their television screens, and using social media to mobilize opinion. That autonomous spheres of civil society have now come into their own is no longer a matter of debate. Team Anna too can’t delegitimize the political class. Anna should desist from launching into one fast after another. Especially, when the government is discussing the Lokpal Bill, and Parliament is debating its nitty-gritty. A Bill of such complexity has to be thoroughly debated. Team Anna should not keep mounting pressure to push through a draconian legislation that can defeat the very objective of the anti-corruption movement. Times of India
democracy’s odyssey in 2011 By anI nIta InD nDeR sIngh I Did democracy break through or fall back in 2011? Protesters in many countries demanded the upholding of the essentials of the democratic idea: freedom, dignity and participation. In some authoritarian Arab states, people ousted tyrants. In Tunisia, President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali resigned last January after weeks of demonstrations against a quarter of a century of corrupt authoritarianism. In Egypt, a combination of popular protest and the withdrawal of military support brought down the autocratic Hosni Mubarak. Libya’s cruel Muammar Gaddafi was over overthrown by his people and sections of his armed forces. Syria’s Bashar al-Assad is looking over his shoulder in fear of being toppled by a widespread demand for decent democratic governance. Recently ordinary, internet-savvy Russians took to the streets of Moscow and St Petersburg - the historical centers of revolution chanting “Russia without Putin” in protest against a power-greedy ruler accused of rigging parliamentary elections in favor of his United Russia party. Putin’s ability to use his control over Russia’s security forces and vast oil and gas reserves could not repress and bribe Russians into submission. China’s communist dictators seem anxious about the chances of political unrest which could turn out to be a Chinese spring. Protests have not broken out against despots everywhere. But tyranny cannot be taken for granted; it is never a natural state of affairs. ‘Instant democracy’ is not in the offing in the Arab world or in the former USSR. So those who see anti-authoritarian movements leading to ‘the end of history’ lament that spring has turned into autumn and might soon turn into winter. Egypt’s army is now trying to suppress pro-democracy activists. And, given the chance to choose new rulers, 60% of Egyptian voters opted for Islamist conservatives rather than
westernized liberals. That raises the question whether political Islam and democracy are compatible; indeed whether democracy is synonymous with being “western”. In any case, voting is only the first step towards democracy. And politics is merely the art of the possible. The fact is that democracy is premised on uncertainty - and choice. The West’s double standards have been on display yet again. Initially, the US expressed support for Mubarak and Assad. To Washington and its European friends, the Arab movements heralded “spring” only when it became clear dictators would not survive the swelling tide of popular protest. Nato helped the Libyan rebels to topple Gaddafi but the EU and US now want to stay out of the troubled politics of nation-building in a country riven by tribal divisions - and needing development largesse at a time rich western democracies find it hard to cope with their own economic troubles. Meanwhile, it’s business as usual between Saudi oil despots and the West. At another level, some established democracies have failed to meet popular expectations. In several western cities including Madrid, London and New York protests erupted. Appar Apparently against the inability of governments to do anything about - or even their suspected collusion with - socio-economic forces fomenting inequality, greed and injustice. The EU’s ‘democratic deficit’ has been exposed yet again by the Greek debt crisis, to the extent that there has been talk not only of the unraveling of the eurozone but of six decades of European integration. India’s democracy - which, along with that of Japan, is the oldest and most stable in Asia since the end of World War II -- is dented by corruption. Will the ruling Congress party push through the tough legislation demanded by anti-graft protesters to clean up corrupt politics, which is essential to increase the life choices of Indians? The pristine longing to determine individual destiny can never be sup-
pressed; that is why Arab, Russian and Chinese autocrats cannot relax on the sword-edge. Disenchantment with American, European or Indian democracy will never mean a wish for dictatorship. But populist xenophobic parties could gain ground in Europe if unemployment rises and if living standards fall. And in India and western democracies, governments must introduce legislation to tackle sleazy governance and crony capitalism. Expectations of democracy are always high. No one expects much from dictators if only because they try to survive by crushing hope. But people living under dictatorship want - first and foremost - intellectual and political choice, as a step towards improving their life chances. Those living in stable democracies have that choice; they want better functioning of their democratic institutions and more equitable economic delivery. The year 2011 will be remembered as the year when citizens of some democracies were disillusioned at the maladroit handling the economic mess in their countries. They blamed not the stars but their elected leaders whom they saw as underlings. What about the autocracies? Putin is determined to win the presidential election next March, by hook or by crook, while Russian democracy activists remain leaderless. Like the Arabs yearning for freedom, they find that the path to democracy is never strewn with roses - and that the roses inevitably have their thorns. Whatever their faults, established democracies will remain durable, if only because their leaders wish to renew and re-forge consensus on dealing with new challenges. All told, 2011 is likely to be remembered as the year when popular protest left dictators fearing for their survival in 2012. Times of India The writer is a security analyst and visiting professor at the Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution, New Delhi.
I Indo Am American News Founder: dr. K.L. Sindwani
editor: Pramod KuLKarni BuSineSS manager: Jawahar maLhotra managing Partner: KriShna giri Community rePorter: KaLyani giri Community editor: manaSi goKhaLe adminiStrative manager: vanShiKa viPin BuSineSS & reCreation: JaCoB david graPhiC deSign: SaqiB rana correspondents chicago: nand Kapoor, UK: aseem KUlKarni new delhi: raj Kanwar ®All rights reserved. No material herein or portions thereof may be published without the written consent of the publisher. The deadline for advertising and articles is 5 pm on Monday of each week. Please include self-addressed, stamped envelope for return of all unsolicited material. Published at 7457 Harwin Drive, Suite 262, Houston, Texas 77036. Tel: 713-789-NEWS or 6397 Fax: 713-789-6399, email: indoamericannews@yahoo.com, website: indoamerican-news.com
Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, A decemBer 30 , 2011 • Online editiOn: Ay, On: www.indOamerican-news.cOm O
INDIA
December 30, 2011
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HOUSTON: Houston’s fashionistas got an opportunity to shop top designer’s latest trends in Indian and Pakistani clothing and accessories on December 11 at the SBR Magazine Winter Fashion Show and Expo. The event, which was held at the Crown Plaza River Oaks, catered to individuals looking to update their wardrobes or plan for a future wedding. Clothing vendors including Inara Saris, Craft Clothing, Afsheen Mehboob, Nisha’s Collections, Parinaz Boutique and Viranski had their best designer pieces on display during the exclusive fashion show presented by Abiya Malhotra of Glitz Entertainment. Also displaying their stunning creations were Jifs Jewels and More along with Amaya Home Décor and Sweet Joy Cupcakes and Treats who gave away free cupcakes to the first 50 guests. Many prizes were to be won throughout the day including a 42” Plazma TV which was sponsored by local channel 28 who will also be airing the event on their network very soon. “It was definitely a fun event to put together” admitted Narmeen Lakhani, publisher of SBR Magazine. The main attraction of the day ofcource was the fashion show, all the models looked gorgeous, Zohra from Hooked on Henna did such an amazing job with their hair and makeup, and the stage and set up of the venue
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SBR magazine’s publisher Narmeen Lakhani and Abiya Malhotra from Glitz Entertainment with the fashion models. Photo: Frame Photography
looked absolutely stunning thanks to Affairs By Olli! The Hybrid Rhythms dance troop kicked off the show, DJ AV was spinning live throughout the day, and SBR Magazine’s Fashion Editor, Sneha Merchant did such an amazing job entertaining the crowd as the emcee for the day. Narmeen
credits the success of her events to her vendors, supporters, friends and ofcource her family whose been her backbone throughout the entire process! For more information on future SBR Magazine Fashion Expo’s visit www.sbrmagazine.com.
Icc’s cc’s 38th Annual General Body m cc meeting Held at India House HOUSTON: The 38th Annual General Body Meeting of India Culture Center, Houston (ICC) was conducted on Sunday, December 11 at India House. The General Body Meeting was presided by President Col Raj Bhalla who addressed the gathering of over 80 attendees. In his remarks he spoke about year round events of ICC including the India Fair, Hasya Kavi Sammellan, Leaders Conference, India Fest, Eid Milan Celebrations, Diwali Celebrations etc. He also spoke about the partnering events with various other Associations which were significant and in continuing tradition of ICC. He also updated the General Body about the Relief efforts and funding made by ICC for a cancer battling student, the Japan Tsunami victims and also the victims of Wild fire of Bastrop. He ended his message with some guided pointers to the New Board of 2012 so that the oldest premier organization in Houston can revitalize. Thereafter the Elections to the Board
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ICC President Col. Raj Bhalla (left) with the Election Commission Officers Ashok Dhingra, Koshy Thomas and Dr. Satish Jhingran.
were conducted. The Election Commission officers were Dr Satish Jhingran, Koshy Thomas and Ashok Dhingra. There were 15 contestants who ran for the 10 available positions for the Board at Large. There were 57 valid votes cast and after conducting the elections very smoothly and professionally; the Election Officers announced the results.
Election Directors for 2 year term: Rajiv Bhavsar, Ramesh Cherivirala, Sridhar Dadi, Manisha Mehta, Hemantkumar Patel, Devesh Pathak, Nirmala Vale and Mahesh Wadhwa. Election Directors were for 1 year term: Prasad Kalva and Nirmala Keshu Patel. For more information, visit www. icchouston.org
Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, A decemBer 30 , 2011 • Online editiOn: Ay, On: www.indOamerican-news.cOm O
COMMUNITY INDIA
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By RamaChanDR hanDRa hanDR DRa guha NEW DELHI (India Together): In 1905 and 1906, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, his wife and their children shared a home in Johannesburg with an English couple, Henry and Millie Polak. Later, writing of their life together, Gandhi recalled that “Polak and I had often very heated discussions about the desirability or otherwise of giving the children an English education. It has always been my conviction that Indian parents who train their children to think and talk in English from their infancy betray their children and their country. They deprive them of the spiritual and social heritage of the nation, and render them to that extent unfit for the service of the country.” “Having these convictions, I made a point of always talking to my children in Gujarati. Polak never liked this. He thought I was spoiling their future. He contended, with all the love and vigour at his command, that, if children were to learn a universal language like English from their infancy, they would easily gain considerable advantage over others in the race of life. He failed to convince me”. Gandhi added that while he insisted on his children speaking at home in Gujarati, and learning through that language, “they naturally became bilingual, speaking and writing English with fair ease, because of daily contact with a large circle of English friends, and because of their stay in a country [South Africa] where English was the chief language spoken”. The private debate between Gandhi and Polak has had very many public echoes down the decades. In the 1920s, Gandhi and Tagore argued in print about whether a love for the English language be-trayed a colonised mind-set. The Mahatma thought it did, whereas the poet, a prophet of a rooted cosmopolitanism, argued that Indians could glory in the illumination of lamps lit in languages and cultures other than their own. After Independence, the battle between these positions was truly joined, when the brilliant, maverick socialist, Rammanohar Lohia, launched and led an ‘Angrezi Hatao’ andolan, a movement to banish English from the face of India. (With a splendid but also somewhat malicious sense of timing, he chose the occasion of a visit by the queen of England to intensify the agitation.) Lohia was answered in turn by Tamil politicians and intellectuals, who feared that in the absence of English, Hindi-speakers would exercise a sort of colonialist dominance over the southern, western, and eastern parts of India. Thus Hindi signs were defaced across Tamilnadu by followers of E V Ramaswami ‘Periyar’ - a leader as brilliant and as maverick as Lohia. Meanwhile, Periyar’s former adversary, C Rajagopalachari, now joined him in opposing Hindi and in promoting English as the language of communication between different parts of India and between India and the world. To the argument that English was a foreign, even an imperialist, language, Rajaji answered that since the goddess Saraswati had given birth
to all the languages of humankind, we could and should claim English as our own. The debate continues. In Karnataka, for example, many prominent intellectuals - among them the novelist, U R Ananthamurthy - argue that a child must speak and learn exclusively in her mother tongue until she enters high school lest she become totally disconnected from her social and spiritual roots. (Ananthamurthy is an admirer of Gandhi and a former disciple of Lohia, but, withal, very much his own man, who makes the argument with a distinctive flair and originality.) On the other side, Dalit activists suggest that the promotion of Kannada is an upper-class ploy to keep them
A meaningful and enduring bilingualism, embracing both English and the mother tongue, remains out of reach of the vast majority of citizens. away from the fruits of modern learning. They say that once the Brahmins denied them access to Sanskrit; now, the descendants of those Brahmins wish to
deny the Dalits access to the modern language of power and privilege, namely, English. This subaltern endorsement of the foreign language has taken a most interesting form in north India, where the writer-activist, Chandra Bhan Prasad, has chosen to build a temple dedicated to the ‘Goddess English’ in his own home state of Uttar Pradesh. Described in the Wall Street Journal as “a bit of a maverick” (he is also, I might add, brilliant) Prasad believes that the Dalits can achieve emancipation via a deeper and fuller engagement with English. A century after Gandhi and Polak debated the question in Johannesburg, arguments about the relevance of English to India and Indians continues. The debate has moved on, of course, since society and history have moved on too. One might foreground three significant changes since Gandhi’s time. First, there are now far more intercommunity marriages, particularly among the middle and upper classes. And if a Gujarati marries a Tamil, or a Bengali weds a Malayali, then the default language of their children, and of the family as a whole, tends to become English. Second, although Britannia no longer rules the waves, English continues to be the major
global language, its pre-eminence a consequence of America having replaced Great Britain as the great imperial power of the age. Whether spoken in the queen’s diction or in its American or other variants, over most of the world English thus remains the language of choice for communication between people of different nationalities. The third change is, in the Indian context, arguably the most significant. This is that there is now a real hunger for English among the poor. As many readers of this column will know, from their own experience, domestic servants are determined that their children will not follow them into their profession. They recognise that the best way to escape hereditary servitude is for their children to learn the language of mobility and opportunity, which of course is English. The desire to learn English thus runs deep among all castes and communities. Poor Muslims are as keen to learn the language as are poor Dalits or adivasis. Whether one approves of it or not, this rush to learn English is unstoppable. Rammanohar Lohia and his followers have lost the battle to banish English from the imagination or learning experience of the Indian child. That said, one might still wish for a sort of historic compromise between the positions articulated by Gandhi and Polak. We live in a land of a quite extraordinary diversity of linguistic and literary traditions. And yet in practice we tend to privilege one language at the expense of all the others. That so many middle- and upper-class Indians speak only English is a shame; that so many subaltern and working class Indians do not have access to decent education in English is equally a shame. As for Gandhi’s children, despite their father’s insistence that they speak and learn only in Gujarati, they willy-nilly picked up the lingua franca of Johannesburg, which for fortuitously was also the lingua franca of the world. In the enclaves of class and language that Indians live in, the promotion of bilingualism and multilingualism is certainly more difficult. It is easy enough for a child of the elite to acquire a smattering of Hindi (or Marathi or Kannada) phrases; how much more enriching would it be for him to learn the language well enough to read widely in its literature. By the same token, children from subaltern families are constrained by money and class from acquiring more than a functional knowledge of English. Gandhi is not known to have been a model father, but by the accident of circumstance in at least this respect his children turned out to be more fortunate than other Indians. Their bilingualism came naturally, with the language of the home being supplemented by the language of the city they lived in. In contemporary India, on the other hand, a meaningful and enduring bilingualism remains out of reach of the vast majority of citizens.
Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, A decemBer 30 , 2011 • Online editiOn: Ay, On: www.indOamerican-news.cOm O
HEALTH
December 30, 2011
21
sstay Healthy in 2012!
If you want to transform the way you function and usher in a year that is filled with the blessings of health and well-being, here are some suggestions and Metabolic Diseases, Fortis Group of Hospitals, New Delhi., “These products are not usually scientifically tested to prove that they are safe or that
they work. For example, certain herbal products have caused serious health problems and even death. It is therefore necessary to talk to your physician before using any weight loss product.” If you intend to try herbal products this year, ensure that they come from authentic sources and have documented health benefits. Cut back on bad habits in moderation: Any bad habit that has held you in its clutches for years can be difficult to weed out overnight. Richa Anand, Chief dietician at Dr LH Hirandani Hospitals, Mumbai advises you to cut back in moderation this New Year, taking small steps to rid yourself of die-hard habits. “If you’re a chain smoker, aim at reducing two cigarettes a day. Sweet lovers should try to replace at least one dessert by fresh fruit. Reduce alcohol intake gradually.” Richa also suggests making breakfast a mandatory meal for everyone in the family and avoiding eating meals in front of a blaring television as this cannot only distract and deter family discussions, but can make you eat more than you intend to. “When we choose to go slow while getting rid of bad habits, we tend to
make these positive changes stick,” says Richa. Say no to slimming pills: There are so many myths re-
garding weight loss that it may be
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minds. However, experts do not agree anymore on the benefits of low-fat products. “A low-fat or non-fat food is often considered to have lower calories than the same serving of the full-fat product,” says Dr Misra. “But many processed low-fat or non-fat foods have just as many calories as the full-fat version of the same food; some even have more calories! They may contain added sugar, flour, or starch thickeners (corn starch) to improve flavour and texture after fat is removed. These ingredients add calories to the product. It is, therefore, important to read the Nutrition Facts Label on a food package to find out how many calories there are in a serving. Check the serving size mentioned on the nutrition label too as it may be less than you are used to eating.” Becoming more aware of diet and lifestyle this New Year can help you ring in a healthier, happier you in 2012. As you lose weight the healthy way and become more fit, these small steps and positive changes can even transform the quality of your life in the years ahead.
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confusing and hard to focus on the facts. Dr Anoop Misra sheds light on some of these mysteries, so that you can make clear choices this year. “In recent times, much hype has surrounded the marketing of weight loss pills. There is no magic pill that can lead to weight loss,” he says. “Avoid taking slimming pills this year as it cannot help in keeping the weight off in the long term. Focus instead on indiindi vidual meals. “Follow a well balanced diet with regular physical acac tivity.” Don’t switch to low fat foods: One of the biggest mistakes dieters do is to switch to low-fat products. Many people vow to do T:6” this around New Year, when losing weight is uppermost on their
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Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, A decemBer 30 , 2011 • Online editiOn: Ay, On: www.indOamerican-news.cOm O
T:4”
By Kamala thI hIaga IagaR agaRajan Rajan (Hindu) Every New Year, the minute the clock strikes twelve, countless people around the globe resolve to shed those extra kilos. You may not be surprised to learn that weight loss is one of the most popular of all New Year resolutions and also, one that fizzles out the soonest, especially as we are unable to alter our unhealthy lifestyle and eating patterns. The New Year dawns with so much hope and promise and yet, old habhab its die hard, proving that the more things change every year, the more they remain the same. Instead of focusing solely on weight loss for the sake of looking good, ensure that your New Year’s resolutions have a long-term health impact. Here are some of the resolutions that experts across the country recomrecom mend that you should be taking this year to keep your weight under control and to improve your general health. Eat, sleep and exercise: We seldom rere alize that eating, sleeping and exercising are goals that are interlinked. Unless you pencil all three simultaneously into your New Year’s schedule, you cannot hope to reap any health benefits. Consulting Nutritionist Malavika Athavale, host of www.eatrite.in advises you to make exer exercise, sleep and nutrition an equally impor important part of your lifestyle in the year ahead. “Simple changes such as exercising for 40 minutes just thrice a week, sleeping for at least six hours at night, never skipping meals and ensuring that your body is wellhydrated throughout the day can give you tremendous health benefits,” she says. “The health resolutions you take need to be personal, individualized and not taken at the spur of the moment. Do aim at an overall positive change.” Avoid herbal weight loss products: While there is documentary evidence of the healing effects of natural herbs, the same cannot be said of the plethora of herbal products that have assailed the mar markets. “A weight loss product that claims to be “natural” or “herbal” is not necessarily safe,” warns Dr.Anoop Misra, Director & Head of the Department of Diabetes
ENTERTAINMENT Top 10 Bollywood movies of 2011
22 December 30, 2011
(TOI)From real life sagas to sci-fi and experimental to sentimental dramas - Bollywood’s potpourri of hits offered a wide range of themes. Films like “No One Killed Jessica”, “Ra.One” and “ Zindagi Na M Milegi Dobara” not only satiated the moviegoer’s appetite but also yielded profits for the Hindi film industry. clothes astonished and her double meaning dialogues left audiences gasping for breath, but all this nothwithstanding, Vidya Balan swept both the classes and the masses off their feet with her bold avatar in Ekta Kapoor’s “The Dirty Picture”. An unofficial biopic of southern sex symbol Silk Smitha, the film broke the myth that only movies with “Khans” work at the box office.
1. “Bodyguard”: Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor’s “Bodyguard” broke the opening day records by earning Rs.22 crore on the first day. Although the story of the film, directed by Siddique, didn’t have much to say, the music as well as the action sequences worked in its favour. Salman’s signature dialogue - “Mujh par ek ehsaan karna ki mujh par koi ehsaan na karna” - once again struck a chord with fans.
4. “Ready”: Romantic comedies have been a staple of Hindi films and this year Salman Khan’s “Ready” used the recipe to earn profits. Shot in exotic locales of Thailand, director Anees Bazmee’s drama about mistaken identity saw Salman romancing Asin Thottumkal amid all the hotch-potch in their lives, thanks to their onscreen relatives.
2. “Ra.One”: World class VFX, amazing graphics, innovative marketing, tie-ups with multiple brands and Shah Rukh Khan as the superhero made sci-fi thriller “Ra.One” a profitable venture. Another highlight of the film was its music, especially the song “Chamak challo” sung by international rapper Akon. And the marathon promotion by the superstar helped bring people to the theatres. 3. “The Dirty Picture”: Her
sensuous look shocked, her itsy-bitsy
5. “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara”: Focussing on three
bachelors dealing with their friendship and romance, the well-scripted film, with a resemblance to real life episodes, was supported by beautiful performances by the talented cast - Hrtihik Roshan, Abhay Deol, Farhan Akhtar, with Kalki Koechlin and Katrina Kaif as their love interests. Kudos to director Zoya Akhtar for bringing liveliness, happiness and joyfulness with such deftness on screen through an adventurous road film mostly based in Spain.
6. “Singham”: An out-and-out action film, the success of “Singham” proves that there are takers for such films. Based on the “good wins over evil” theme, the actioner takes a dig at the corruption within the police department through two main characters - honest cop Ajay Devgn and Prakash Raj as a corrupt politician. Director Rohit Shetty’s film also marked southern actress Kajal Aggarwal’s debut in Bollywood.
7. “ Rockstar”: Give him a good role and he can sink his teeth into it. Ranbir Kapoor proved that again by stepping into the shoes of a musician. From a cute and simple college boy to a crazy lover to a successful but cynical singer, the young actor proved his mettle in every frame. The film appealed despite a faulty script, which had too many loose ends. In short, it was Ranbir’s film, which launched American Pakistani model in the Bollywood business. Other high points of the movie were A.R. Rahman’s music and Mohit Chauhan’s singing.
the romantic comedy managed to pull the crowds. The film got mixed reviews, but managed to enter the top grosser list of the year.
9. “Delhi Belly”: Replete with cuss words, weird situations, witty dialogues, the experimental movie in the English language targeted the urban audiences, who hailed this free will adult comedy as they identified with the characters of Imran Khan, Kunal Roy Kapoor and Vir Das in the movie. If director Abhinay Deo faced failure with “Game”, this film pulled him out of darkness and Aamir Khan once again proved that he has a knack for choosing the best scripts as a producer. 10. “Yamla Pagla Deewana”: After the 2007 release
“Apne”, the Deol trio - Sunny, Bobby and Dharmendra - returned to the big screen with the comic caper “Yamla Pagla Deewana” by director Sameer Karnik.
8. “Mere Brother Ki Dulhan”: Not good, not bad - that
is how Yash Raj Films’ “Mere Brother Ki Dulhan” could be described. Thanks to Imran Khan, Katrina Kaif and Pakistani singer-actor Ali Zaffar’s tangled love story woven against the backdrop a wedding,
Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, A decemBer 30 , 2011 • Online editiOn: Ay, On: www.indOamerican-news.cOm O
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24 December 30, 2011
Best cricket memories of 2011
This image was taken after India won the world cup beating Sri Lanka in the final at Mumbai. It was the Little Master Sachin Tendulkar’s first World Cup triumph and it came 22 years after he made his international debut. After all, better late than never. The world cup win also came after 28 long years of wait for Team India.
This image was taken after Chennai Super Kings won the IPL-4 title. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is seen hugging his wife after the famous win. It was a golden period for Dhoni as he had also won the World Cup with India just 2 months ago.
Has India found the successor for Rahul Dravid? Too early to say but looking at early indications, it certainly looks like a possibility. Virat Kohli has the technique and temperament to excel at the highest level in all formats of cricket. This image was taken after India demolished England 5-0 in the ODI series.
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Here’s wishing you A Happy New Year 2012! Be Safe! www.GaneshaSpeaks.com ARIES Mar 21 - Apr 20: The new year is LIBRA Sep 24 - Oct 23: Saturn is transitjust around the corner. Rethink your strategies ing through Libra, which indicates that you and reset your deadlines. Caneed to be more patient than reer becomes the top priority before. Although you wish to now, family life takes the back do things according to your seat. You try to strike a balance whims and fancies, you also between office work and doknow that it’s not always mestic responsibilities. Read possible. If you are adamant the fine print of legal documents before you and continue to push things, sign them. Spend your money wisely. This is you’re likely to be left with nothing but disnot the right time for capital investments. Your appointment. Your attitude may disturb your love life may have some problems. smooth relationships. Be patient and focus on TAURUS Apr 21 - May 21 Your current your goals. Also, learn the art of diplomacy job is probably taking a toll on you, you adapt and hone your communication skills, so that no to the busy schedule. Although cracks develop in your relationships. you may contemplate changSCORPIO Oct 24 - Nov 22: This week ing your job, don’t do it just brings along an urge to make some major yet. If you are self-employed, and positive changes to your home. You may want to decoyou may be in need of some rate your home with artefacts money, for which you may or completely change the look have to dial a few numbers to get the borrowof your house. But all the ers to pay back. Do not ask for favors. You will exuberance may fizzle out by have to trust yourself; you have the potential the middle of the week due to to make the money. Your love life, for it to be some emotional disturbance with a loved one! harmonious and joyful, will demand flexibility Be very calm through the week. Partnerships, and open-mindedness from you. GEMINI May 22 - Jun 21: Your per per- both professional and personal, will go well by sonal life may have gone through frequent Jupiter’s transit through Taurus. So make hay ups and downs. Without ef ef- while the sun shines. SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 22: An fective communication no extremely busy week ahead of you. The hectic relationship stands a chance. work schedule may exhaust Converse with your partner, you both mentally and physispouse, family members and cally. The restlessness may refind solutions to issues. Yoga sult in frequent loss of temper. and meditation, will help you fix your health All work and no play make problems but also give you the much needed Jack a dull boy, you need to repeace of mind. Legal battles may not yield favorable results; try avoiding them. Students pose and unwind, soon! Head may find it difficult to concentrate on their to a nearby picnic spot over the weekend. It’s not studies but those of you who dream of studying only your profession that demands your attenabroad may get a chance to travel overseas for tion this week; your personal life too demands vocational purpose. a lot of it. On the domestic front, try to sort it CANCER Jun 22 - Jul 23: Certain things out any issues left hanging, now. Patiently and are beyond our control and it’s best to let life take cleverly, untangle the knots and complications its course, sometimes. If you will dissolve. apply this philosophy at your CAPRICORN Dec 23 - Jan 20: Your workplace and concentrate on perception about life may undergo a significant things that you can control, life change, as you now look at will seem manageable. With the bigger picture. You now this attitude you will halve your understand the intricacies of burdens at work. However you need to be life, and it becomes the right more disciplined in order to handle matters ef eftime to seriously think about ficiently. If you are into business, it is likely that unresolved matters and find your business progresses at a slow pace. This solutions. If you are a freemay tempt you to take risks. However, think lancer or self-employed, this week will be good twice before you decide on anything. On the for you. Financially, you will be well off and personal front you may not want to socialize. happy. Travelling is on the cards for you; if posPursue your hobbies to refresh your mood. sible, arrange short trips not long ones. LEO July 24 - Aug 23: It’s time to put your AQUARIUS Jan 21 - Feb 19: Gautam Budbusiness plans into action, an opportune time dha’s quote- ‘You yourself, as much as anybody lies ahead. If you are in a job, in the entire universe, deserve however, watch your step. If your love and affection’. It’s you raise unnecessary issues the time when you should people may turn against you. pamper yourself with all that So, wait and watch. As far as you like. Trendy clothes, a possible, avoid travelling; be cool hairstyle or haircut , a prepared for last minute changes. You will have spa relaxing session will work to loosen your purse strings, as some unexpect- wonders for you. Divert your attention to your ed expenses are on the cards. Students, may not friends. For those in a relationship good times feel well and perform well in their exams. This are ahead. Luck may not be on the side of the depressing phase will soon pass. Romance is in married Aquarius, as you feel something is the air and thus it’s a great time for lovers. missing in your relationship. See the glass half VIRGO Aug 24 - Sep 23: You will be full and not half empty. Good times are on their exceedingly emotional during this week. Also, way! you will be quite aggressive, if not channeled PISCES Feb 20 - Mar 20: You have put properly you may land in trou- in a lot of effort to make money, refrain from ble. For those running a busitaking impulsive decisions in ness the week may be a little business. If you are looking discouraging, a slow week. If for a loan, this may be the you are in a job there may be perfect time to apply for one. some minor differences with But make sure you take a colleagues and seniors. However, your personal loan which may, never in the life is about to go through some upheavals. You may expect a smooth sailing on the financial future, become a burden for you. This may not front but avoid unnecessary expenditure. Keep be the right time to complain about things as reminding yourself of the adage- A penny saved you may get a better opportunity in the future. Romance may blossom in your life but you may is a penny earned! get involved in a secret affair; so beware.
December 30, 2011
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Indo AmerIcAn news • FrIdAy, A decemBer 30 , 2011 • Online editiOn: Ay, On: www.indOamerican-news.cOm O
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