Friday, May 22, 2020 | Vol. 39, No. 21
Indo American News
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May 22, 2020
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Published weekly from Houston, TX
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Special Reports Community Briefs Local Politics South Asians in the News
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ICC Presents PPEs at Stafford City Hall On Wednesday, May 20, ICC Board Advisors and Members (from left, front) Jawahar Malhotra, Parul Fernandes, Swapan Dhairyawan, Jasmeeta Singh, Hemant Patel and Kiran Shah with Congressional candidate Sri Kulkarni donated 1,000 masks to Stafford City Council members (back from left) Virgina Rosas and Alice Chen (Ken Mathew joined later) and Stafford Fire Chief Larry DiCamillo. Photo: Ramasankar S.
Late Arif Memon Does Houston Proud
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COMMUNITY
May 22, 2020
Tragedy Strikes Arif Memon at Peak of Success By Jawahar Malhotra
Houston: It is a cruel twist of life that just as you feel elation and happiness at reaching a pinnacle of success, you seldom get the chance to savor the moment fully. In Arif Memon’s case, this incongruity could not be more evident than his winning four awards for Best Actor in the newly released independent film “The First Drag” over a two-week time only to meet his end in a tragic and inexplicable car accident on Monday, May 18 around 2 pm. His Lexus convertible slammed into the back of an 18-wheeler parked in the left emergency lane. The sole occupant, Arif died on the spot. He was 59. The moment the news filtered out, Facebook was ablaze with posts from people, in stunned disbelief, who knew him or had heard him on his popular radio program “Woh Jab Yaad Aaye, Bahot Yaad Aye” on HUM FM106.1 from 10 to 12 in the mornings. He was equally loved by Indians and Pakistanis, Hindus, and Muslims. Arif came to Houston over 20 years ago from his native Mumbai where he already had stars in his eyes through his work with the late great Bollywood actor Rajesh Khanna for whom he was both an assistant and confidant. In Houston, he worked in a variety of businesses, and had his own entertainment company, which did lighting for events and brought in several standup comedy shows. He was married to Shamim and they have two daughters, Arsheen and Shareen, both graduates of the University of Houston. Recently, on May 4, in a Facebook post, Arif lamented losing his mother in Mumbai. Another Facebook post from his friend PJ, shows Arif in a video clip on his radio show of Wednesday, May 13, being cavalier about death and how he was not afraid of death and would prefer a quick one. Just a day before his death, Arif sent an email to Indo American News to describe his elation at winning the best actor award. The email is printed below as it describes Arif Memon, by himself. Arif Does Houston Proud They say that hard work, persis-
tence and patience are the keys to achieve your goals and dreams. Arif Memon, a resident of Houston for over 20 years, has been a part of society in many ways and there would be not very many who would not know or have heard about him. Coming from Mumbai, he was a part of Bollywood in various capacities. There, he acted in some Hindi movies like Awwal Number, Pyar ka Rog and Ghar ka Chirag to name a few and also acted on the Hindi and Gujarati stage. Apart from acting, he also set up stage shows and events as a Technical Director and a Lighting Director. In Houston, Arif found that his passion and experience of films and events was not enough to survive for himself and family, so he did several trades but at the same time kept the fire lit inside him. In due time, he did production of Bollywood shows in Houston and Texas, and made no compromises. The acting bug in him was restless and he looked for venues to release that actor within. He started doing some short films with Ubaid
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New York Doctor Succumbs to Covid
New York: Dr. Sudheer S ChauSeth and han, a kind hearted physician of one of their Indian Origin, who had dedicated films - The his life at the service of his thouCall - won sands of patients in the New York an award for region, succumbed to the deadly the best Is- corona virus on May 19th. lamic film. Dr. Chuhan, an Internal MediHe did a cine specialist in South Richmond music video Hill, New York, who was diagwith Zack nosed with COVID-19 and batKnight di- tling for his life for the past few rected by weeks, died of complications from Ray Khan the illness. about four “Our Father, Dr. Sudheer Singh years ago Chauhan, Internal Medicine Physiand it has cian and Associate Program Direc- Dr. Sudheer Chauhan with his wife over 35 mil- tor IM Residency Program at Ja- during happier times. lion views. maica Hospital, New York passed especially in Internal Medicine Dhoom Bros away on May 19 after battling with Dr. Chauhan received his graduapproached him to do a web series COVID for two months. We will ate medical education from GSUM called “Hum Kahan Chal Diye”, miss this unique, kind, gentle and Medical College, University of which was a big hit on internet caring spirit. May his soul rest in Kanpur, India in 1972. He was platforms. Canadian YouTube star peace,” wrote his daughter, Sneh chief resident in Internal Medicine Zaid Ali T also invited him to be Chuhan on COVID-19 Physicians at Jamaica Hospital and graduated part of a comedy film called “Bol- Memorial. in 1997. lywood Songs”. He also received MRCP and Dr. Chauhan, who had attendHis big break was a short film on ed and graduated from medical FRCP from Royal College of PhyIndia and Pakistan called “Azaa- school in 1972, has had nearly half sicians and FACP from American di”, directed by Harsh Mahadesh- a century of diverse experience, College of Physicians. war that created a storm all over the world on internet platforms and took off like a rocket. After Chemical Co. in Baytown that Arif and Harsh did about three Looking for more short films to be shown on Chemical Engineer the “Dil Ki Baat” platform. Candidates should have an engineering Indian Film Project is a compedegree and some chemical plant experience tition where filmmakers have to make a film in 50 hours. The “First Great pay w/ benefits. EOE/AAP Drag” was made for that compeSend resume to apply@chemicalsinc.com tition and won the Platinum Film Award and later the film was seRoom Available in West Houston lected as a finalist in over 12 festiFor responsible female student or young professional. vals. ROKS Film Festival awarded Beautiful, furnished room with own refrig. Access to the Best Actor Award to Arif Mekitchen, tv room, washer dryer, free wifi, own parking, utilities included. Asking $500/mo. Immediate availability mon for this film. Similarly, he reCall or text 713-962-5555 ceived the Best Actor Award New York, and oLife Insurance just last week, oLong-Term Care Insurance he received the oVariable and Fixed Annuities** Outstanding oDisability Insurance* Achievement Award at the oHealth Insurance* Tagore InterFor More Information Contact Me national Film Services: Award. Divyendu Singh, Ph.D. Now Arif feels Financial Services Professional and •Life Insurance Planning that he is finally Licensed Agent •College funding getting his due CA Insurance License # 0M30399 •Retirement Planning and is looking •Estate Planning forward to some New York Life Insurance Company more exciting 3200 Southwest Freeway, Suite 1900 •Planning for Business owners work as an actor Houston TX 77027 Registered Representative offering securities through NYLIFE Securities LLC to make Hous- Cell: 812-272-2911 (member FINRA/SIPC), A Licensed Insurance Agency. *Product available through one or more carriers not affiliated with New York Life Insurance ton and the Desi Office: 712-499-7638 Company, dependent on carrier authorization and product availability in your state or locality. C o m m u n i t y dsingh06@ft.newyorklife.com **Issued by New York Life Insurance Company and New York Life Insurance and Annuity proud.” Corporation. SMRU 1759568
Indo-American News • Friday, may 22, 2020 • www.indoamerican-news.com
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COMMUNITY
May 22, 2020
India House Providing Masks, Lunch to Hospital Workers, First Responders Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston to hold a COVID-18 webinar featuring Harris County Commissioner Adrian Garcia. And later this month, on May 29, the ICC will donate another 1,000 masks in a collaborative effort with CRY USA’s Houston branch in a meeting with Houston District B Councilman Jerry Davis. Another donation is planned for later on ei-
ICC President Jasmeeta Singh and Treasurer Ajit Patel at the HPD Northwest District delivering lunch.
By Jawahar Malhotra Houston: During the economic and health crisis that has engulfed the country, all across the region where thousands of Indo Americans have settled and established roots, their love for their adopted homes has shone through in the way they have mobilized to serve others. Nowhere has this come through better than Harris and Fort Bend counties, which are home to many and where most of their businesses are located. And with many organizations left scrambling for alternatives to show their presence and carry on their programs, Zoom video calling and webinars have become the
norm to stay connected and show how they can help. As the crisis and lockdown has continued, the India Culture Center (ICC) has grappled with ideas to show how it cares for the community and under the new leadership of 2020 President Jasmeeta Singh, the organization has moved along to follow suit rather than focus all its attention to its flagship Independence Day program in August. “In this time of need, the Board of the ICC decided that it had to provide care to first responders and healthcare workers,” said Jasmeeta Singh about the initiatives the nonprofit has undertaken now. Three of these are to donate
surgical masks to several city officials. On Friday, May 8, at the International District Building on 11360 Bellaire Blvd, ICC Board members met with District F Councilwoman Tiffany D. Thoma to deliver 1,000 masks. Almost two weeks later, on Wednesday, May 20, Board members met with Stafford City Council members and the Fire Chief to donate another 1,000 masks. and Congressional candidate Sri Kulkarni also attended. Also on May 20, ICC collaborated with the Indo American
On Friday, May 8, at the International District Building, ICC Board members met with District F Councilwoman Tiffany D. Thomas to deliver 1,000 masks.
HPD Northwest District police with the sandwiches delivered for lunch by the ICC Indo-American News • Friday, may 22, 2020 • www.indoamerican-news.com
ther in Little India or Houston City Hall. In addition to this, also in May, the ICC donated lunch each day for four days to the Houston Police Department’s District A Northwest location. With the pandemic showing signs of lingering on, other initiatives from the ICC are sure to come.
COMMUNITY
May 22, 2020
AAPI Supports Immigration to Reduce the Shortage of Doctors, Nurses By Ajay Ghosh
Washington DC: “AAPI supports the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act S.3599/ HR6788, introduced by Senators Durbin, Perdue, Young, Coons addressing Shortage of doctors, nurses, and urges the Congress to approve the bill and allow the thousands of immigrant Indian American doctors on green card backlog to bolster the American health care system and extend their patient care whole-heartedly without disruption,” said Dr. Suresh Reddy, President of AAPI. Dr. Reddy was responding to the Bill. the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act, introduced by U.S. Senate Democrats Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, along with Senators David Perdue (R-GA), Todd Young (R-IN), and Chris Coons (D-DE), which recaptures 15,000 green cards to provide a stopgap to address our nation’s shortage of doctors. This legislation will help underserved communities with physician shortage to recruit more physicians and thus effectively extend health care coverage. The Health care Resilience Act S.3599/ HR6788 would recapture 25,000 unused immigrant visas for nurses and 15,000 unused immigrant visas for Physicians. This would help the American health care force to mobilize the medical professionals to the areas of health care needs. Healthcare continues to be at the center of the national debate, especially in the context of the global Corona Virus pandemic affecting millions of people in the United States. This deadly virus has claimed lives of many health-
care professionals who are in the frontline caring for the hundreds of thousands of patients affected. An estimated 800,000 legal immigrants who are working in the United States are waiting for green card. This unprecedented backlog in employment-based immigration has fueled a bitter policy debate but has been largely ignored by the Congress. Most of those waiting for employment-based green cards which would allow them to stay in the United States are of Indian origin. The backlog among this group is so acute that an Indian national who applies for a green card now can expect to wait up to 50 years to obtain it. The wait is largely due to the annual per-country quota immigration law, which has been unchanged since 1990. This heightened demand for physicians will only continue to grow, and will soon outpace supply leading to a projected shortfall of nearly 122,000 physicians
Pradeep Sulhan, P.C.
Certified Public Accountant
by 2032. Thus, recapturing the unused visas/Green cards that are available for International Medical Graduates is critical to addressing this mounting shortage of physicians. In a detailed report on Green Card delays affecting Indian American physicians, the Green Card Backlog Task Force by AAPI had pointed out that there are over 10,000 Physicians waiting for Green Card for decades. AAPI members would like to see the Green Card backlog addressed, which it says has adversely impacted the Indian American community. During their annual Legislative Day on Capitol Hill, they have
Houston: Using the most recent available data from Harris County Public Health, Chron.com compiled the Harris County ZIP codes with the highest confirmed number of COVID-19 cases so far. HCPH updates its numbers on confirmed cases each day. The numbers are as of 4 p.m. Tuesday, May 19.
281-583-2993 | 281-580-8700
office@pspccpa.com| pradeep@pspccpa.com
Over 25 years of experience
the fight against COVID-19,” said Sen. Durbin. “This bipartisan, targeted, and timely legislation will strengthen our health care workforce and improve health care access for Americans in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support these vital health care workers,” the Senator from Illinois pointed out. “The growing shortage of doctors and nurses over the past decade has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis,” said Sen. Perdue. “Fortunately, there are thousands of trained health professionals who want to practice in the United States. This proposal would simply reallocate a limited number of unused visas from prior years for doctors and nurses who are qualified to help in our fight against COVID-19. This shortage is critical and needs immediate attention so that our healthcare facilities are not overwhelmed in this crisis.” “AAPI joins other similar organizations including American Medical Association ,Illinois Health and Hospital Association, American Hospital Association, American Organization for Nursing Leadership, Physicians for American Healthcare Access, American Immigration Lawyers Association, etc. that have come in support of The Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act,” said Dr. Sampat Shivangi, Chair of AAPI’s Legislative Committee.
Harris County Public Health’s At-Risk Zip Codes
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stressed the need for bipartisan efforts in passing the Health care Resilience Act, which will recapture and provide Green Cards for physicians serving in America’s under-served rural communities. “Consider this: one-sixth of our health care workforce is foreignborn. Immigrant nurses and doctors play a vital role in our health care system, and their contributions are now more crucial than ever. Where would we be in this pandemic without them? It is unacceptable that thousands of doctors currently working in the U.S. on temporary visas are stuck in the green card backlog, putting their futures in jeopardy and limiting their ability to contribute to
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Harris County ZIP: 77036. Number of confirmed cases: 294
Harris County ZIP: 77449 Number of confirmed cases: 284
Harris County ZIP: 77084. Number of confirmed cases: 260
Other Harris County zip codes: Harris County ZIP: 77099 Number of confirmed cases: 178 Harris County ZIP: 77080 Number of confirmed cases: 168 Harris County ZIP: 77057 Number of confirmed cases: 162 Harris County ZIP: 77072 Number
of confirmed cases: 157 Harris County ZIP: 77338 Number of confirmed cases: 145 Harris County ZIP: 77002 Number of confirmed cases: 145 Harris County ZIP: 77087 Number of confirmed cases: 143
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COMMUNITY
May 22, 2020
#RealHeroesNeedMasks Providing PPEs Teaching Baking via Zoom By George Vlahakis
Houston: In the fight against the novel coronavirus, health care professionals are today’s heroes. A social, grassroots venture -- #RealHeroesNeedMasks – is doing more than raising awareness about the shortage of personal protective equipment. It is working at getting N95 and surgical masks to hospitals and to the life-saving doctors and nurses who need them. Launched by a team that includes medical doctors, a genetic researcher, business professionals and college students from all over the world, #RealHeroesNeedMasks will soon direct more than 20,000 masks to 32 hospitals in Chicago, New York City, New Orleans and the states of New York, New Jersey, Indiana, California and Georgia. It also is building alliances with other organizations with a similar goal of increasing the supply of personal protection equipment. The effort arose from an “Idea Sprint” organized by Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. More than 200 entrepreneurs, coders, engineers, medical doctors, nurses, venture capitalists and other business professionals recently worked virtually and developed 19 potential solutions for problems arising from COVID-19. Several other projects are under development. “Doctors, nurses, mid-levels, respiratory therapists and medical assistants and first responders are
By Jayashree Krishnan
Dr. Amani Jambhekar with a recent shupment of PPEs
risking their own lives daily in this pandemic are the real heroes,” said Dr. Amani Jambhekar, a Houstonbased cancer surgeon and a student in the Kelley Direct online MBA program. “Our goal is to convince the public to be sidekicks and donate masks. “Our movement started as a weekend idea sprint which was supposed to be handed off to entrepreneurs who could make it happen,” added Jambhekar, who previously launched a national effort, Operation New Orleans, after Hurricane Katrina. “It turns out we’re the entrepreneurs, and
this project has already engaged so many healthcare professionals looking for a way to give back to our front lines.” Anyone who wants to donate masks can do so. They have worked with seamstresses making masks for donation in New York, Dallas, and Houston and the volunteer coordinators have helped them secure the necessary Halyard H600 material. To learn more, visit www.realheroesneedmasks.com and include the hashtag #realheroesneedmasks to show your support.
Dallas: I am an Indian-American educator and cake decorator from Dallas, Texas. I was raised in Chennai and moved to America in 1998.I decided to pursue a career in teaching as I enjoy teaching kids, whether it be for education, baking, or crafts. I completed my Master’s degree in Education at Dallas Baptist University in 2012, and began my teaching career at a private school in Dallas where I taught different grade levels. As the years went by, I decided to follow my passion in baking. Recognizing my love for this art, my family and friends encouraged me to start my own bakery, which last year led me to develop “Jay’s Creations” – a customized bakery at my home. I am a person who is very empathetic and was taught by my parents to serve people in need through my actions. That spark within me helped me to organize this fundraiser to help the institution that has been very close to my heart since my childhood Since the US was also under lockdown and citizens were supposed to stay at home to practice social distancing, I thought that
the best way to create awareness in supporting the institution was through a virtual baking class at home, which I organized; on May 3, 2020 via a Zoom meeting. Though I have recipes for different desserts, I wanted to teach something simple and easy using basic ingredients found in the kitchen for anyone to make - even without needing a beater or an electric mixer. I taught participants to make one of my favorite muffins: banana- nut muffins using pecans. I was overwhelmed with the response I received on hosting this virtual class. Family and friends from different parts of Texas, California, Virginia, New Jersey, Georgia, Ohio, along with friends from Canada participated in the class and also made generous contributions towards this great cause. 25 people participated in the virtual class, and as a result, I was able to raise about $1500 to donate for this wonderful cause The participants enjoyed my virtual class as they not only learned how to make muffins but also about a general life lesson: to help people in need through enthusiastic participation and selfless contribution.
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Indo-American News • Friday, may 22, 2020 • www.indoamerican-news.com
SOUTH ASIA
May 22, 2020
‘Vande Bharat’ Returns 4,200 Indians Stranded in US
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‘Amphan’: Death & Destruction
By Pramod Kulkarni Houston: “More than 4,200 Indian citizens, who had been stranded in the United States due to Covid-19, have been evacuated back to India through two phases of the global Vande Bharat mission,” said Consul General Aseem Mahajan during a video conference on Friday with the local IndoAmerican news media. The flights, operated by the Indian national flag carrier Air India, will continue into Phase 3. CG Mahajan said the evacuations are being conducted on an 8-point priority basis. At the highest priority are pregnant women and people who have to travel due to a death in the family in India. “We are operating on a Hub Spoke model,” explained Mahajan. The flights to India are returning to India via three of Air India’s hubs in the United States: New York, Washinton DC, Chicago and San Francisco. Selected passenger in the United States have to travel to board the appropriate flight at one of the hubs to return to India. “We are taking all safety precautions for the evacuees,” said Mahajan. “Each passenger is subject to a thermometer reading and must wear a mask throughout the flight.” Upon return to India, the passengers are subject to the local quarantine requirements before they are able to return to their domestic destinations. Additionally, the passengers have to pay for their own airfare and hotel accommodations, if needed. CG Mahajan had the opportunity to visit with some of the passengers at the Houston Bush airport. CG Mahajan explained that the Houston Consulate had been operating on a 24/7 basis to answer hundreds of email and voice mail
Houston CG Aseem Mahajan (right) greets stranded Indians on their way back their homeland.
Kolkota: The death toll due to devastation caused by Cyclone Amphan rose to 72 across West Bengal of which 15 are from Kolkata. State Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced a compensation of Rs 2.5 lakhs for those affected. ” I have never seen such a disaster before. I will ask PM to visit the state and see the situation, ” she said. The extent of the structural damage caused by Cyclone Amphan is evident from visuals of airport hangars in Kolkata collapsing and water inundating runaways. The Cyclone also left a trail of destruction (see photos here) in other parts
of West Bengal and Odisha. Weakening into a deep depression, the cyclone has now moved north-northeastwards and lay centered over Bangladesh about 300 km east-northeast of Kolkata, 110 km south-southeast of Dhubri and 80 km south-southeast of Rangpur in Bangladesh, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said in its latest bulletin. It is very likely to further weaken into a depression later today and further into a well marked low thereafter, the IMD added. The cyclone hit the states at a time when it is already struggling to fight the transmission of the novel coronavirus.
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Air India is carrying out the evacuation flights on a global scale.
queries from people within the Consulate’s seven state jurisdiction. “We’re also working with the local Indo-American service organizations, in each of the states and major cities, such as Sewa International, ICC and India House in Houston, to help college students on various campuses, and Indian citizens, who have been affected by furlows or layoffs.”
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The Consulate is now accepting online applications for passports, OCI cards, etc. even though commercial international passenger flights are still banned in India.
Showing concern for the Houston community, CG Mahajan participated in the Iftaar food distribution organized by the Indian Muslim Association of Greater Houston.
US Deports 167 Indian Illegals to Amritsar Amritsar: A special flight carrying 167 Indians, who were deported for illegally trying to enter the USA, landed here on Tuesday, officials said. Sixty-seven of them were from Punjab and rest belonged to Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Goa, they said.
The passengers will be sent to their home district for quarantine after the completion of legal formalities, they said. All of them were trying to enter the USA through illegal means and arrested by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Before being deported, they exhausted all legal options.
Indo-American News • Friday, may 22, 2020 • www.indoamerican-news.com
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EDUCATION
May 22, 2020
DAV Schools Adapt to Covid with Unique Online Teaching Methods
Houston: The Covid-19 pandemic has had a global impact, changing the ways that people around the world work, socialize and learn. The D.A.V. Montessori and Elementary School (DAVMES) was not spared and on March 13th, the school had to close. But that did not stop the DAVMES community from making sure students continued to learn and experienced spiritual growth.
Arti Khanna, the School director, stated, “Our school has modernized and transformed as we implemented a hybrid learning model that blends synchronous and asynchronous online learning – what this means is that students connect with teachers in real-time with technology like Zoom and FaceTime and in more passive ways through email and texts”. DAVMES is completely invested in making sure students contin-
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ue to learn and follow our 5Es of instruction – Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate and Evaluate. This means a real investment in leading digital technologies such as Stemscopes, Readworks, Flipgrid and Khan Academy. It has been an unforgettable six weeks for the world, but after four weeks of online learning and having 100% attendance from the students, we could not be prouder of the results. Along with the academics, students enjoyed doing STEM based project like making a maze, a reading project by creating a setting from a story book and playing virtual sight words Bingo. And birthdays – while students cann’t celebrate these occasions with their friends at schools, the kids still connect with each other on birthdays to pass along their best wishes.
While the new model of instruction and learning hasn’t been perfect, kids are developing some very real-world skills such as working in a virtual setting, using digital technology and working independently to complete projects and assignments. None of this could be possible without the dedication of the DAVMES staff – making sure both the students and the parents
are fully engaged and learning. Would you like to know more about DAVMES or the enrollment process? Visit us at www.davhouston. org and https://www.facebook. com/davmontessori/ Enrollment for 2020 -21 school year is now open. Please email your inquiries to info@davhouston.org
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Indo-American News • Friday, may 22, 2020 • www.indoamerican-news.com
EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY Corona: Cause for Concern
May 22, 2020
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The Tale of Two Pandemics: 1897 & 2020 By Samir Karandikar
In 106 days since the first laboratory-confirmed novel coronavirus case was reported on January 30, India surpassed China’s tally of 84,038. As on May 15, India had over 85,500 cases and the death toll stood at 2,752, as against 4,633 in China. There are only 10 other countries that have more cases than India. At the same time, the toll in the U.S. alone went past the total number of cases in China, while the total case load crossed 1.4 million. On March 18, when China reported zero fresh cases, India had just 162 cases and three deaths. Despite the country being under lockdown since almost end-March, the number of fresh cases and deaths reported each day has continued to rise steadily — on average, over 3,600 cases have been reported daily since May 8. This is of serious concern as contrary to the advice of WHO, India has not fully utilised the precious lockdown period to increase manifold the number of tests carried out daily while simultaneously tracing, isolating and treating COVID-19 patients. That even during the lockdown India has witnessed the shortest time, of 13 days, for cases to double compared with 14 other countries that have the most cases reported is testimony to the wide spread of the virus. A reason for this could be that cases in other countries, barring Russia and Brazil, have already peaked or are about to. Unfortunately, even as the number of cases has crossed 94,700, India is yet to begin investigating community transmission despite the strongly suggestive findings of sentinel surveillance among those hospitalised for severe acute respiratory infections. Given the high rate of asymptomatic transmission, high viral resurgence is inevitable when the lockdown is lifted. With over 11,200 cases, Tamil Nadu has the second highest number of cases next to Maharashtra (over 33,000). But with over 4,000 tests per million, TN is testing nearly two times more than Maharashtra. It is not the States that report more cases that is a cause for concern, but those that have reported fewer. Active case finding and testing of most people with a travel history early during the lockdown could be one reason why Karnataka has reported fewer cases. Similarly, surveillance and case finding of those with a travel history early on have been good in Andhra Pradesh and could be a reason why it has reported fewer than 2,400 cases so far. Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal have reported high case positivity. This could either be due to good surveillance, which is unlikely, or wider spread of the virus in the community, at least in specific regions. If the latter be the case, India can expect huge numbers to be reported in the coming weeks. No State, including Kerala, can thus be complacent.... -- The Hindu
Part I: While growing up in Pune in 1980s, I had watched a Marathi movie titled, 22 June 1897. The story of Damodar Hari Chapekar and his brothers who avenged the brutality of Walter Rand during the plague epidemic of 1897 was depicted in this National awardwinning movie. The movie was more about the heroic act of Chapekar brothers on the backdrop of the plague epidemic. The 2020 CORONA virus pandemic is making us think of the backdrop itself. Indian press has criticized how the Modi government has used ‘Epidemic Diseases Act 1897’ and has run parallels between the 1897 atrocities by the British colonial government and the lockdown enforced today. Having lived in the United States for the last thirty years, my reaction was quite different. I see many differences between the conditions of 1897 bubonic plague in India and 2020 COVID-19 pandemic in India. First, as compared to one million deaths caused by the plague, the death toll is expected to be lower because Indian authorities have imposed a lockdown early and seem to have contained the first wave without overwhelming the hospitals and ICU beds. Second, a vast majority of Indians have access to knowledge about public health and the multitude of social media supported by huge network of cellphones is percolating this information to everyone in 2020. In 1897, Indians were under the imperialistic British rule and the common people were in no position to understand the extent of pandemic nor demand the reasons for the atrocities and dehumanizing policies of the military rule. Third, the current government at all levels considers it necessary to make people aware of the reasons for the lockdown being imposed on them. Except for the migrant workers who had to leave the cities where they worked to earn a living; a vast majority of population has stayed inside their homes and the impact on daily
A plague house being whitewashed in 1897 by men standing on scaffolding in Bombay. Source: Live History India.
lives has been moderate. In 1897, the houses where infected people were found were torched to minimize the spread of the disease. Everyone will agree that the current mandate of isolating and forcing people to wear masks in the households where family members were COVID-19 positive is significantly more humane. The Bubonic Plague of 1897 started in Western Yunnan province of China in 1850s and spread to Hainan island and then to Hong Kong. History shows that the opium trade between India and China in which the British participated was primarily responsible for bringing the plague from China to Mandvi docks in Mumbai. British government which was much more interested in the profits from the trade than the lives of its subjects did not stop the trade. If you compared this to 2020, COVID-19 virus emerged in China and spread in the large metropolis of Wuhan and then spread all over the world. Whereas it took decades for the nineteenth century plague to arrive in other parts of the world, COVID-19 spread very quickly and in an uncontrolled manner. It is interesting to examine where it has spread. The 1897 pandemic
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was called the Third Plague Pandemic. Although the plague eventually reached San Francisco and Portugal, it was detected by local authorities and contained effectively. It certainly did not have the horrific effects of the plague pandemic in India. In total contrast, the nations that are at the top of the list of COVID-19 positive cases and deaths are the United States, Spain, United Kingdom, Russia and Italy. Except for the US, all other nations were the ones that had empires in 1896 and knew about plague from the horrific experience of Black Death in 1346-1353. These wealthy and powerful nations could better protect their populations from plague back then as compared to China and India who were far behind in public health knowledge and governance. I accept that it may be too early to draw conclusion from the current data and the second and third waves may be more tragic. While only time will tell if the policies implemented in India in 2020 saved lives or not, there are many differences between 1897 and 2020. To be continued as Part II. The author is a Houston-based engineering executive and a playwright.
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May 22, 2020
ENTERTAINMENT/BOOK REVIEW
‘Paatal Lok’: Neeraj Kabi and Jaideep Ahlawat Hit it Out of Paatal to Swarg in Amazon Series
Read ‘Underdog Thinking’ for the Thriller of a Lifetime
By Ananya Bhattacharya
By Pramod Kulkarni
We used to be heroes, you know. If you have spent years in the media seeing this fraternity of journalists going from a sense of camaraderie to drawing daggers and lusting for each other’s blood, if you have been observing the general scenario of the media in India, you will realise how true Sanjeev Mehra’s words are. Neeraj Kabi, who plays this 40-something popular journalistTV anchor in Paatal Lok, utters these words with a wistfulness that all of us can relate to. We have seen our journalism-school heroes being stripped on Twitter, trolled, attacked, and some of the really hated ones, even killed. Four goons are apprehended on a bridge over the Yamuna and handed over to Inspector Hathiram Chaudhary at Outer Jamuna Paar thana... paatal lok, like we’re introduced to it in the opening scene. The universe is divided into three worlds: swarg lok, dharti lok and paatal lok, we are told. The inhabitants of this paatal lok are vermin. Your gangsters, goons, and smalltime down-and-out police inspectors like Hathiram Chaudhary whose lives revolve around catching them. So what is the case? Prime-time hero Sanjeev Mehra survives an assassination attempt. Inspector Hathiram begins his investigation that takes him to the darkest corridors of paatal lok. His leads are these four people whom he has caught. One girl, three guys. Or are they? Within the nine episodes of Paatal Lok, we visit all these three worlds. Only to realise that swarg is not all that great and the residents of paatal lok are not just creepy crawlies. The three worlds overlap, spill over and percolate into each other and tell you that all that glitters is not gold after all. In these nine episodes, the directors of Paatal Lok Avinash Arun Dhawre and Prosit Roy (Pari) and writer Sudip Sharma (NH10, Udta Punjab) take you through everything that India 2020 is dealing with. Well, everything minus the coronavirus because, well, the se-
During these days of Coronavirus isolation, I have a lot of time on my hands. But that feeling is deceptive. As a corollary of Murphy’s Law, a lot of time on hand is countered by an equal amount of lethargy. As a result, it took me a long time to open this book. Once I did open up Atul Vir’s book, Underdog Thinking, I was intrigued by the first sentence: “When the third bullet whizzed by my office window, I knew the time had come.” This sentence refers to Atul Vir’s first job in Africa as a Country Manager for a London-based import/export company after graduating from The Lawrence School, a military boarding academy in Lovedale in the Nilgiris of Tamil Nadu, and then earning Bcom and Mcom degrees and Chartered Accounting certification. Autobiographical in nature, the book describes how Atul, with his and wife Arti and baby daughter, left everything behind in Africa and sought a new beginning in the United States in 1991. After a brief stop in New York, Vir selected Houston as the place to start a business as an entrepreneur. The book then describes Vir’s remarkable adventure as the entrepreneur who manufactured and sold a clothes washer/dryer combo unit. In the 1990s, the product was new to the United States. Vir and his company, Equator Advanced Appliances, Inc., took the lead in creating a niche market for the combo unit as a compact appliance for apartments, trailor homes, RVs and marine vessels. I was hooked into Vir’s book once he started describing Equator’s steep ascent and then, as rapid a descent due to a series of unfortunate crises with product quality control and breaches of trust. You’ll have to read the emotionally gripping finale of whether or not Vir is able to recover from the business debacles. What was most interesting to me was to realize how trust played a key role in Vir’s rise as well as his downfall. Trust from various individuals such as an office manager,
ries was shot before this virus hit From the plight of journalism to the netherworld of hinterland politics, from fancy bungalows in Lutyens’ Delhi with anxiety patients within them to the lanes of Chitrakoot where upper-caste politicians visit Dalit homes with mineral water bottles and cooked food, Paatal Lok covers quite a bit of our life today. The incidents all through the series have all happened somewhere or other in this massive country of ours. Your mind will go back to headlines that dealt with mob lynching due to suspected cow meat which later turned out to be something else, you will recall how news is ‘manufactured’ to sound more palatable. The characters in the series, for one, are picked out of your neighbourhood. If your life is in swarg lok, you will find a known in Neeraj Kabi and Swastika Mukherjee. If you are a resident of dharti lok, Gul Panag and Jaideep Ahlawat’s middle-class home, their tussles with their teenage son and the brother-in-law will appear familiar. Paatal Lok comprises a solid ensemble, with Jaideep Ahlawat dominating the series and each frame that he appears in. He brings forth the frustration and futility of his vardi. He shows you how being a cog in the well-oiled machine that is the ‘System’ is not a price everyone can pay. Neeraj Kabi, the ever-dependable Neeraj Kabi, hits it out of the park as the prime-time anchor who ‘used to be a hero’ once, before India 2014 happened. Now he is trolled, attacked, threatened day
in and day out. And fired. In this battle of right, wrong and ‘predictable’ left-liberals, Kabi’s character Sanjeev decides to float along with the tide. Wherever the news takes him; wherever his audience wants him to take them. Kabi pulls off an act frighteningly similar to many of our once-upon-a-time heroes of journalism, and what ships Fate ends up pushing them into. That is where lies the craft of this actor. Along with Kabi is Swastika Mukherjee who brings her classic ‘nyaka’ high-society Bengali wife game to Paatal Lok. Wish a translation could do justice to that Bangla word! Abhishek Banerjee as Vishal AKA Hathoda Tyagi is chilling; with his cold, emotionless eyes doing the trick in most parts. Gul Panag is a delight to see on screen as the wife of Hathiram. Panag, the woman who is torn between her duty towards her husband and son, and dealing with her fraud of a brother. Vipin Sharma, Jagjeet Sandhu, Niharika Lyra Dutt, Aasif Khan all play their parts believably. Above all of this is the story of Paatal Lok. The series is wellwritten. The scenes shot in a glitzy newsroom to those in the bylanes of Punjab, all look real. However, some scenes require a trigger warning. Paatal Lok leaves you asking for more. About that though, looks like we will have to wait a while till a Season 2 happens, if at all it does. In the time in between, we have our erstwhile journalism heroes to keep us entertained all the time, prime or otherwise. -- India Today
Indo-American News • Friday, may 22, 2020 • www.indoamerican-news.com
Atul Vir in the early days of promoting his clothes washer/dryer combo.
warehouse lessee, and an appliance dealer were the key factors that helped Vir establish his Equator brand. Later on, breach of trust on the part of his manufacturer, legal team, and even real estate developers within the Houston community, led to the downfall of Vir’s company. Throughout the ups and downs, belief in his abilities as an entrepreneur provided the key survival instinct. The book also contains 101 “lessons learned” and golden words of advice for achieving balanced business management. Do take up Underdog Thinking. It is a real-life thriller that rivals anything else in Amazon books.
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Sharmila Moharir
May 22, 2020
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Mama’s Punjabi Recipes
Some Indian comfort foods are universal as they are simple, taste good and are easy to make, like kadhi. Kadhi is also a great dish to eat with plain rice on a rainy, cold winter day like we have during this time of the year. This is a repeat of a recipe but so appropriate for the Holidays ahead while watching football or movies at home.
PUNJABI BESAN DI KADHI (CHICKPEA FLOUR CURRY)
Kadhi is a dish that is made all over India with many variations. In some parts of India, they throw minced vegetables in the curry and eat it with boiled rice. Rajasthani and Gujurati kadhi is usually thinner and has a sweet taste. Sindhi kadhi uses imbli (tamarind pulp) to give it the sour taste. The traditional Punjabi style kadhi is made with thick besan curry and has fried vegetable pakoras (fried fritters) in it with some yogurt to give it a sour taste. It is usually eaten with tandoori roti, paranthas and sometimes with rice. Besan (roasted gram flour or garbanzo flour or chickpea flour) is a flour that is commonly used all over India to make pakoras, one of the most favorite and easy to make snacks which can be found at almost every street corner halwai or cooking vendor. The flour, when mixed with a few spices, adds zest as batter for vegetables and it is just a delight to eat hot pakoras – never mind that they are fried! Pakoras are, after all, Indian comfort food. Besan is high in carbohydrates and somewhat high in protein but has no gluten, which makes it unsuitable for those trying to lose weight (especially when it is fried). Besan has many uses in cooking. You can make boondi (besan fried droplets) to put in dahi (yogurt) or to make laddus (sweet balls) – either fried dripped in syrup or those made of roasted, sweetened flour - or simply besan ki barfi (sweetened flat cake) or pooda (a flat bread) Punjabi kadhi tastes best when made with plain pakoras instead of those stuffed with vegetables in them Ingredients: • 2.5 cups besan (chickpea flour) • 1.5 cups of plain dahi (yogurt) • 3.5 cups of water • 1 tsp methi danna (funugreek seed) • A dash of amchoor (mango powder) if desired • Spices: namak (salt), mirch (red pepper), haldi (turmeric) and sukha dhania powder (dried coriDirections: 1. Mix 1.5 cups of besan, 1 cup yogurt and 3 cups of water well and keep to the side for 10 minutes. 2. Mix the rest of the ingredients separately to make the pakoras in step 3. Adjust quantities if you want more pakoras.
ander seed powder)
3. Heat the oil in a karahi (wok) and pour small portions of the mixture in lumps in order to make the pakoras. The lumps will fluff up and when the pakoras are brown, take them out and place on a paper towel to soak the oil out. 4. In a saucepan, add a tablespoon of vegetable oil and add the haldi, mirch and methi dana and stir till they are roasted. Add the mixture from step 1. Stir continuously taking care that the mixture does not bubble and spit out. If it does, then add a little cold water. Make sure the kadhi is not thin, but remember that after it cools down, the curry will thicken. 5. Add the salt to taste and bring to boil the mixture for 10 minutes and then reduce the heat to simmer. Be careful not to add too much salt because if the yogurt is a bit sour then you will not need much salt. If you like, add a little amchoor and you could almost do without the salt. 6. Add the pakoras to the curry and
let them soak for at least 20 minutes. The pakoras will be softer the longer they are in the mixture. Let the mixture simmer over low heat and stir occasionally to make sure it doesn’t stick to the pan. If it starts to stick then remove from heat. 7. Serve with hot roti or paranthas or steaming rice and pickle. Shakuntla Malhotra is a skilled cook of Punjabi dishes made in the old-fashioned style that she learnt as a young woman in her ancestral home in Lyallpur, India (since renamed Faisalabad) before it became part of Pakistan after the Partition in 1947. People have often admired her cooking for its simplicity and taste that comes with each mouthful. Even in her early-nineties, she continues to cook daily and agreed to share her delectable Punjabi recipes for future generations.
MAMA’S TIP O F THE
WEEK FOR A SORE BAC K , U SE A HOT WATER BOT TLE WRAPPED IN In the winter mon A BAG ths, it is
not unco colds or the flu. Bu t what is even mormmon to come down with back muscles thro e common ones. The cold w ugh some exertion, sometimesis pulling the ea even m or th er makes the back m become tense – es uscles contract in pe ci al ly and if yo u – and then a sl ar ht movement canen’t dressed warmly enough pain that doesn’tiggo le ad to excruciatin g back Apart from using away soon. ba lm s and analgesic cr applied to the back eam You can use a sim helps a lot, especially if it is dos,nea little heat pl e overnigh ru bb er hot water bottl in India for 60 ru e like the ones soldt. pe es (o r 65 ce nts). Wrap it in ping bag and tie cotton shopyour list to buy th the straps so it won’t slip out.aAn em on yo ur ne xt $15 each in local trip to India, as th d put it on stores here! ey are over
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May 22, 2020
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