Issuu

Friday, February 26, 2021 | Vol. 40, No. 09

Indo American News

February 26, 2021

Published weekly from Houston, TX

www.indoamerican-news.com

Special Reports Community Briefs Local Politics South Asians in the News

NEW: 2470 Dairy Ashford, Houston, TX 77077 • 713.789.NEWS (6397) • indoamericannews@yahoo.com

Helping Houstonians Recover from the Freeze

HGH Supports Yoga

“T&F”: Desi Rom-Com

P2 From left -- Raghav (Silver Heart Care volunteer coordinator), ICC Director Hemant Kumar, TX State Rep Gene Wu, ICC President Jasmeeta Singh, ICC Trustee Manisha Gandhi, ABC channel13 Miya Shay and ICC Director Dr. KD Upadhyay.

Indo-American News • Friday february 26, 2021 • www.indoamerican-news.com

COMMUNITY

February 26, 2021

Community Organizations Help Houstonians Recover from Deep Freeze

Houston: Several South Asian community organizations gathered their resources to help the needy of Houston to survive the challenges of the Texas deep freeze last week. Among these organizations included India Culture Center, Sewa International and Dawoody Bohra Community of Houston. India Culture Center addressed the need to help Seniors by providing about 400 hot lunches from two local Indo-American restaurants and distributed among the neediest people at Bellerive Senior Apartments, Lafayette Plaza Apartment Senior living, and at a local school where ICC leaders and volunteer members joined the local State Representative Honorable Gene Wu along with channel ABC 13 reporter Miya Shay, who lead this initiative to ensure that any and all who needed food got served which was sponsored by ICC. ICC President Jasmeeta Singh said, “We were glad to be part of this big initiative in a small way. ICC is playing a meaningful role in the local community.” Sewa International, which had already mobilized to help the commnity to meet the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, quickly rose

to help with problems arising from the frigid weather. Sewa created an area-specific list of plumbers to fix burst pipes. Volunteers were able to fix 13+ homes on at least temporary basis. In other specific instances, Sewa volunteers helped a young couple in west Houston with loss of electric power. The woman was 8-months pregnant. A lady from Phoenix asked for assisstance with her senior parents who had no electric power or water. Sewa arranged for the seniors to stay with another family, which had the necessary utilities. Temporary accommodations were found for several other families. Sewa also assisted a 90-year-old couple. The husband was on oxygen support with his life in danger without power and oxygen cannisters. Sewa also set up food and water distribution sites. Consul General Aseem Mahajan joined Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee in food distribution drives organized by the Dawoodi Bohra community of Houston. Many Indian-Americans in the Houston area helped each other and their neighbors in coping with the challenges of frigid weather.

ICC President Jasmeeta Singh (second from left) with teenage Silver Heart Care voluntters at a local senior facility.

CG Aseem Mahajan speaking at the food distribution event organized by the Dawoodi Bohra community. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee also spoke (right).

Her New Book, Unfinished, Priyanka Chopra Discusses Racism in US Los Angeles: A few weeks back, Priyanka Chopra launched her memoir Unfinished where she shared unknown facts and anecdotes about her life, which are making headlines every now and then. Right from revealing about her boyfriend to sharing pictures from her Grah Pravesh, PCJ gave us an insight into her personal life. After ruling Bollywood, Priyanka Chopra moved to the West and began her Hollywood career with the TV show Quantico and a few Hollywood films. While Priyanka Chopra has written almost everything about her life, she didn’t stay back from opening about her journey to Hollywood. Mrs Jonas made a shocking revelation and stated in her book that she was asked to go back to India and get gang-raped. PCJ revealed that her excitement

of explicitly racist hate mail and tweets, including – among many, many examples to choose from – ‘What’s a brown terrorist doing promoting an all-Americal game?’ and ‘Go back to the Middle East and put your burka on’ and-years later it’s still hard to write this – ‘Go back to your country and get gang-raped.” A remarkable life story rooted in two different worlds, Unfinished offers insights into Priyanka Chopra Jonas’s childhood in India; her formative teenage years in the United States; and her return to India, where against all odds as a newcomer to the pageant world, she won the national and international beauty competitions that launched her movie career in Bollywood, and subsequently, in Hollywood. -- Republic World

of having her first song debut in the United States on such a huge platform was destroyed by a storm of explicitly racist hate mail and tweets. Priyanka Chopra wrote in Unfinished, “I remember the thrill of turning on the television the first night it aired and seeing myself introducing the game in a prerecorded announcement, and then watching the upbeat ‘In My City’ promo video along with the millions of others who were tuned in. From where I sat, there was no better way for me and my music to be introduced to mainstream America than through an NFL weekly spot. #GameOn!” She further wrote, “My bubble was quickly burst. The excitement of having my first song debut in the United States on such a huge platform was destroyed by a storm

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3 Hindus of Greater Houston Supports BIPOC Yoga Teachers

COMMUNITY By Pooja Salhotra Houston: In response to calls for racial justice last summer, Hindus of Greater Houston (HGH) donated about $8,000 to fund yoga-teacher-training for four Black students, each of whom is, in their own way, spreading the mind and body practice to marginalized communities. Last summer, a 46-year-old Black man named George Floyd died after police officers in Minneapolis handcuffed and then pinned Floyd to the ground. For nearly nine minutes, a white officer kept his knee on Floyd’s neck, even as Floyd called out repeatedly “I can’t breathe.” This act of racial violence — unfortunately only one of many such incidents against Black people in the United States — shocked the nation, inciting protests and a widespread movement for racial justice. The movement has influenced many, including Hindus of Greater Houston, to act. “When the movement for justice for those racial minority members of our communities escalated last summer, my kids came to me and said, ‘We need to do something,’” says Vijay Pallod, who is on the Board of Hindus of Greater Houston. Pallod took his children’s calls for action to heart and brainstormed with others for ways to help. Funding training

for Black yoga teachers is an idea Pallod came up with while in conversation with his friend Benny Tillman, the first African American president of the Vedic Friends Association, an international body that has embraced Vedic culture. Tillman suggested that Pallod invest in Black people by helping them learn a marketable skill. Yoga was an obvious answer for Pallod, an avid practitioner. HGH took on the project and, with the help of local yoga studios, identified Black yoga teachers in need of financial support. Two recipients of the sponsorship, Adryn Mari and Alex Kaufmann, completed their training online in November 2020 at the Melanin Yoga Project, a Houston-based organization whose mission is to make yoga more accessible. “The [training] helped me to expand my teaching toolbox, especially when it came to diving into anatomy and cueing and the philosophy of yoga,” said Kaufmann, 29, who has been practicing yoga for about eight years. “It was also a great way to network with other yoga teachers.” Mari and Kaufmann both completed a 300-hour program, an advanced training open to students who have already done a 200-hour level program. They said the HGH sponsorship made a tremendous difference in enabling them to participate in the program, which

February 26, 2021

Jordan Dunn-Ridgill has been practicing yoga since he was 17 years old, and he is now a fulltime yoga teacher. (Photo: Tahni Candelaria).

typically costs $2,999. Kaufmann teaches both online for MYP as well as in person in the Bahamas, where she says people of color have historically not practiced yoga. Mari is not yet teaching, but she plans to do so in a post coronavirus world. She hopes to align her teaching philosophy with that of MYP, teaching populations that would not necessarily have access to yoga. “I’m definitely working on finding an accessible way of sharing yoga,” said Mari. “My family is

very much my guinea pigs and they are kind of my focus groups. I want people to come to me at their very baseline stage.” The costs of yoga classes and teacher training is one factor that sometimes precludes marginalized groups from taking part in the spiritual practice. The lack of representation can in turn discourage people of color to practice, creating a feedback loop that is difficult to counteract. Yoga has grown exponentially in the West over the past decade — nearly 37 million U.S. adults now practice yoga — but it remains significantly more popular among white people. While 11.2 percent of Non-Hispanic white adults practice yoga, only 5.6 percent of Non-Hispanic Black adults practice, according to a 2015 National Health Statistics Report. “Being a person of color, I had never heard of yoga,” said Sharonda Hines, a scholarship recipient who is currently completing her yoga teacher training with SVYASA Houston. “From my background, there’s no yoga.” Hines grew up in Lubbock, TX and served in the military for ten years from ages 17 to 27. She discovered yoga about seven years ago when she got a Groupon Coupon for a 30-day yoga program. The first day she attended, on Jan. 1, the class was doing 108 sun salutations, a rigorous exercise for

Indo-American News • Friday february 26, 2021 • www.indoamerican-news.com

anyone, especially a new student. Despite the challenge, Hines, now 49, felt empowered at the end of the class. She has stuck with yoga ever since. “When I got out of the military, I had lost part of my identity,” said Hines. “I struggled with loss of identity and depression. These yoga practices, I know they help. I know they work.” Hines, who works as an ultrasound technician, hopes to share yoga with veteran populations. What Hines and others learn in yoga teacher training is not just physical poses, or asanas, but also yoga philosophy. Jordan DunnRidgill, an HGH scholarship recipient currently completing a 300-hour training with Pralaya Yoga, says The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali have become a guide for his life. “Yoga was physical [to me] at first,” he says. “I’ve played sports my whole life since I was young. Yoga was something new to try. And then getting into the study of the philosophy really interested me. I align with a lot of the principles of yoga, and I’ve been able to implement more of the spiritual practices of ahimsa, and the yamas and niyamas have become an important thing for me that I practice every day.” Dunn-Ridgill, 24, teaches yoga full-time in Houston and hopes to teach around the world.

February 26, 2021

UH Receives $5 Million to Combat HIV/AIDS Houston: A University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work research center working to eradicate the underlying serious and systemic challenges that contribute to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Southern United States has received $5 million in renewal funding from biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, Inc. to facilitate the continuation of its impactful work. Led by assistant professor Samira Ali, the SUSTAIN Wellbeing COMPASS Coordinating Center is one of four coordinating centers in the Gilead COMPASS Initiative®, an unprecedented $100 million collaborative effort to reduce HIV/AIDS disparities in care and advance equities over 10 years in the South, which is disproportionately impacted by the epidemic. While HIV diagnoses are falling in many parts of the country, the South accounts for almost half of all HIV deaths – 20 people die every day – and 51% of new HIV diagnoses, even though it accounts for only a third of the total United States population. The SUSTAIN Center is focused on improving the quality of and access to frontline care, particularly among Black, Latino and LGBTQ+ communities by enhancing community-based organizations’ abilities to help those dealing with trauma, mental health issues and substance abuse. Since its launch in 2018, funding or training has been provided to 70 organizations, totaling more than $2 million. “Our approach is rooted in social and racial justice as well as the Meaningful Involvement of People Living with HIV (MIPA). We are driven by the voices of people living with HIV/AIDS. The expe-

UH Assistant Professor Samira Ali.

rience of really listening to people who are directly impacted by this epidemic and then creating programming and grant opportunities based on their needs is a major success,” said Ali. “There’s still a lot more work to do and we’re grateful to Gilead for the opportunity to continue this important work.” The Southern Aids Coalition, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health and, just added last week, Wake Forest University School of Divinity operate the other COMPASS Coordinating Centers. Along with funding community-based grants, the UH team has traveled across the South offering coaching, in-depth training and technical assistance to organizations with a goal of creating accountability and ultimately transforming systems to be more trauma-informed and harm reduction oriented. These efforts continue but have shifted virtual since the coronavirus pandemic. The root causes of HIV are structural, such as poverty, systemic racism and inequitable policies and practices, and lack of access to

high quality care among marginalized communities of color, according to Ali. These experiences lead to poor HIV and mental health outcomes. Despite being only 13% of the U.S. population, Black Americans account for 43% of the new HIV diagnoses in the country. Similar disparities exist in the Latino community. Unfortunately, Black and Latino led organizations are often under-funded. However, 78% of organizations funded by the SUSTAIN Center over its first three years were Black-led or Latinoled. “Black and brown communities who have been kept out of care because of racism and oppressive systems continue to be disproportionately impacted by HIV,” said Ali. “We are working to dismantle white supremacy culture and racial injustice, because until organizations address these systemic issues, they can’t effectively serve their clients. They’re going to continue to not come back for treatment or continue to not get tested. That’s where we come in.” This work is not done in isolation. Rooted in MIPA, the SUSTAIN leadership team works closely with a diverse group of advocates – people living with HIV – from each state. They bring a combination of lived expertise, community involvement and grassroots advocacy. COMPASS has brought together nearly 150 partners across 16 states in the initiative’s first three years. Through Gilead’s work with the coordinating centers and direct engagement with partners in the region, the company has provided $52 million in funding to the Southern United States since the program’s inception.

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SCIENCE

February 26, 2021

Face of ‘Perseverance’ Mars Landing was an Indian American: Swati Mohan By Harmeet Kaur Pasadena, California: It was Swati Mohan who first delivered the news to earthlings that NASA’s Perseverance rover had successfully landed on Mars. “Touchdown confirmed,” she announced to roaring applause from mission control at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. “Perseverance safely on the surface of Mars, ready to begin seeking the signs of past life.” You might have seen her in the front row of the control room, bindi on her forehead, providing constant updates to the team as mission commentator for the historic landing. But before that nailbiting moment, Mohan had been working for years to make it all happen. Mohan, an Indian American who moved to the United States when she was a year old, is the guidance and controls operations lead for the Perseverance rover mission, acting as the “eyes and ears” for NASA’s most sophisticated spacecraft to date. Not only is Mohan a pivotal player in the effort to determine whether there was ever life on the red planet; she’s also a reflection of the progress NASA has made in reflecting the nation it represents. Mohan has been interested in space ever since she saw her first

“Star Trek” television episode at age 9. It opened up her world to the beauty and expanse of the universe. “I remember thinking ‘I want to do that. I want to find new and beautiful places in the universe,’” she recalled in a Q&A on NASA’s website. “The vastness of space holds so much knowledge that we have only begun to learn.” Still, she thought she would grow up to become a pediatrician. It wasn’t until she took her first physics class at age 16 that she began considering a career in engineering, which would allow her to follow her childhood dreams of exploring space. Mohan went on to study mechanical and aerospace engineering at Cornell University, followed by a masters degree and doctorate in aeronautics and astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Eventually, she land-

ed at NASA. Before her work on Perseverance, Mohan was a part of space exploration efforts such as Cassini, a spacecraft that unearthed countless discoveries about Saturn, and GRAIL, a mission that sent twin spacecraft around the moon. She started working on the Mars 2020 mission in 2013, and ultimately became the lead engineer for guidance, navigation and controls operations. She helmed the mission’s attitude control system, which helps make sure the spacecraft is heading in the direction it needs to be. “During the cruise phase heading toward Mars, our job is to figure out how we are oriented, make sure the spacecraft is pointed correctly in space (solar arrays to sun, antenna to Earth), and maneuver the spacecraft to get it where we want to go,” Mohan explained in a NASA Q&A. “During entry,

descent, and landing on Mars, GN&C determines the position of the spacecraft and commands the maneuvers to help it land safely.” And on Thursday, she was one of two voices heard in the control room and around the world -- explaining major milestones in NASA’s first mission to search for signs of life on another planet. “I’ve been on Perseverance longer than I’ve been at any school,” Mohan told the newspaper Florida Today. “I’ve been on Perseverance longer than my younger daughter is alive. It’s just taken up such a large portion of my life for so long.” The Perseverance rover mission was diverse by a number of measures: race, gender and sexuality. That the team behind the historic

spacecraft included folks like landing lead Allen Chen, and engineers such as Moogega Cooper, Cj Giovingo and Gregorio Villar, shows it was representative of the nation’s demographics. That array of names and faces is a sign of the progress NASA has made since it was founded in 1958. White men were long seen as the face of the space exploration program, despite significant contributions from women and people of color over the years. The agency had only ever selected White men as astronauts until 1978, when it admitted a class that included the first female, first African American and first Asian American astronauts. -- CNN

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CRICKET

February 26, 2021

3rd Test: Pink-ball Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder -- India in Charge By Andrew Miller

Ahmedabad (ESPN Cricinfo): Stumps: India 99 for 3 (Rohit 57*, Rahane 1*, Leach 2-27) trail England 112 (Crawley 53, Patel 6-38, Ashwin 3-26) by 13 runs What do you see when you look at a pink ball? As Joe Root had indicated on the eve of the Ahmedabad Test, there’s not a lot of data to back up any preconceptions about day-night Test cricket. Therefore, both sets of players came into this contest at perfect liberty to see in the conditions whatever they so chose. Ben Stokes, for England’s part, had been “licking his lips” in anticipation of a seam-dominated joust in what he clearly envisaged being the Trent Bridge of the East. And sure enough, England’s optimistic surge continued on the morning of the match, as James Anderson and Stuart Broad were thrown together for one last heist, like the cast of Ocean’s 14, before Root won a crucial toss and handed his batsmen the same opportunity that they had seized upon in the first Test - a chance to post a gargantuan first innings and dominate the match narrative through sheer weight of runs. Well, so much for the best-laid plans and all that. Unfortunately for England’s dreamers, India saw clean through the optics, and the lacquer, and all the paraphernalia

improving on his that comes with Test-best figures this most fundawith a remarkable mental switch haul of 6 for 38 in of the sport’s 21.4 overs. basics. Instead Between them, they looked dithey harvested the rectly at another doubts that still dry, dusty redlingered from that earthed deck, last Test, and inand opened their stigated a collapse ears to the sweet that was remarkmusic of 50,000 able even by the passionate fans at standards of Engthe newly minted land’s last visit to Narendra Modi stadium - which, Axar Patel followed up his five-for in the second Test with 6 for 38 India in 2016-17. From a pre-lunch even when half BCCI. scoreline of 74 for full, was still more populated than almost any after England’s catastrophic bat- 2, with Zak Crawley batting with ting malfunction had surrendered uncommon poise and panache, ground bar the MCG. The upshot was an ardour-dous- any right to set the match agenda. England squandered their last eight ing day of one-sided dominance Instead, England’s attentions be- wickets for 38 in 17 overs - almost - one that has emphatically killed gan to stray to factors beyond their universally spooked by the fear of off any hopes of Root’s men emu- control - most notably, the state of what might have been, rather than lating those of Sir Alastair Cook the footmarks that were forming by any unplayability on the part of nine years ago, and inflicting on big cavities for their heavy-limbed the balls that did them in. Between them the spinners acIndia a rare home series defeat. seamers, and the state of the TV The late dismissal of Virat Kohli umpiring, which reprieved each counted for nine of England’s ten was a boost to their hopes of limit- of India’s openers on evidence all told - the exception being Dom ing their deficit but by that stage that may have been correct but Sibley, who flinched to slip in the Rohit Sharma was rumbling on was less-than-conclusive, much to second over for a duck to give Ishant Sharma a souvenir from his towards another century - very dif- Root’s mounting fury. Instead, the mastery of R Ash- 100th Test appearance. On the eviferent, but no less emphatic, to the game-breaker he produced on the win - in his 77th Test and now dence of the rest of the innings, Isodds-on to reach 400 wickets hant is unlikely to be over-worked first day of the previous Test. And though Anderson and Broad before the match is done - was in the next few days. Despite some unconventional proved predictably parsimonious matched for the second Test in a in their combined analysis of 15- row by the eager apprenticeship of seam movement for Jasprit Bum7-27-0, they had been fighting the Axar Patel, who proved his debut rah in particular, India turned to rising tide from their opening spells in Chennai had been no fluke by spin as early as the seventh over -

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and were not made to wait for vindication. Jonny Bairstow, hailed as England’s missing link in Chennai despite a top score of 47 in his two appearances at No. 3 in Sri Lanka, showed that visualisation hadn’t been a big part of his post restand-rotation break. He poked uncertainly at his first ball from Axar and was slammed on the knee-roll by the ball that didn’t turn - his wasteful use of the review merely compounding his confusion. That brought Root to the middle several hours earlier than he would have liked - although in his earliest overs, he was at least shielded by an extraordinary flurry from Crawley at the other end. It would prove all too brief in the end, but while it lasted, Crawley’s timing was stunning - right from his very first scoring shot, a non-committal block that pinged through long-on off Bumrah. He continued in the same vein en route to a 68-ball fifty, replete with drives and clips whenever seamer and spinner alike over-pitched. And just as Rohit had transcended the conditions in Chennai through his uncompromising weight of stroke, so Crawley appeared to be providing the forward momentum that England needed to post a competitive total. So long as he endured, and enabled Root to grow into his day’s work, the chance was there to make a good toss count.

COMMUNITY

February 26, 2021

IAPAC Supports Neera Tanden Nomination

Houston: The Indian American Political Action Committee (IAPAC) of Greater Houston is a nonpartisan organization and one of its missions is to promote and encourage political involvement and increase political awareness in the Indian American community residing in the Greater Houston area. IAPAC congratulates Neera Tanden on her historic nomination to be the Director of the Office of Management & Budget (OMB). Her exemplary qualifications and experience, both formative and professional experiences, make her a great fit for this cabinet role. President Biden described her as having a “brilliant policy mind with critical practical experience across government.” An immigrant from India, her family at one time relied on government assistance and the social safety net and this is reflected in her professional work and her approach to policy. The Budget director translates the

administration’s priorities into a budget – dollars, and cents. As Tanden has said – “Budgets are not abstractions. They are a reflection of our values. They touch our lives in profound ways, and sometimes they make all the difference.” IAPAC strongly encourages the US Senate to confirm her historic appointment. For more information, contact Ramesh Anand, President IAPAC at C: 832-7316133 or email: president@iapacgh.org. Tanden saw her path to confirmation narrow significantly on Monday after two of the Senate’s more centrist Republicans said they would not lend their support to her confirmation. Tanden would need at least one Republican in the Senate to support her nomination in the 50-50 divided chamber. Last week, Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia said he would oppose Tanden’s nomination, a first real sign of a weakening of Tanden’s chances.

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ENTERTAINMENT

February 26, 2021

“Tuesdays and Fridays”: Novel Rom-Com Concept with a Fresh Pair By Ronak Kotecha

STORY: Sia and Varun decide to try a new dating formula of meeting only two days a week. Will it work? REVIEW: Varun Sarin (Anmol Thakeria Dhillon) is a hot shot writer whose new book is a bestseller and Sia (Jhataleka Malhotra) is an upcoming lawyer. Besides being young, good looking and raring to go, the two also share the insecurities that stem from a broken and dysfunctional family. While Sia is still a little more conventional in her outlook, for Varun, all relationships come with an expiry date. So when they meet, sparks fly, but to make it work, they must think of a strategy to combat the regular relationship wear and tear. And thus, begins their plan to be lovers on Tuesdays and Fridays and friends through the rest of the week. It’s a new concept for a story and a dating calendar that could inspire commitment-phobic millennials to fall in love, on a ‘trial basis.’ Writer-director Taranveer Singh uses a super-chic and urbane canvas to tell his unconventional story that starts off in Mumbai, but soon all the action shifts to London. Perhaps, in an attempt to make many of its relationship issues look more believable. There are too many characters and tracks, scrambling for space and attention in a limited runtime here. In them, is Sia’s teenage half-sister yearning to lose her virginity on her 18th birthday, her gay friend pretending to be her

ex-boyfriend to fool the world and Varun’s single mother (played by

Anuradha Patel), with a very weak backstory. Most of it comes like a

flash in the pan, not only taking the focus away from Sia and Varun’s

Shahid Kapoor to Make His Digital Debut Shahid Kapoor is all set to join the list of Bollywood actors who have tried their luck on the digital medium. The actor is set to make his digital debut with Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK’s yet-to-betitled quirky thriller, that’ll stream on Amazon Prime Video. Shahid, who liked the idea and the story, had been waiting to work with The Family Man creators Raj and DK for sometime now. He says he couldn’t think of anyone else but the duo to venture into the digital space. In a statement, the Kabir Singh

actor shared, “I have been keen to collaborate with Raj and DK for a while. My favourite Indian show on Amazon Prime Video is The Family Man. I loved the story.” The untitled web series is Raj and DK’s second project with Amazon Prime Video after The Family Man. They are happy to have signed Shahid for the series which is their “favourite script” and has been “a labour of love” for them. Calling the actor a perfect match for their work, the creators said, “He was always our first choice for this series. We hit it off im-

mediately, and have been on the same page from the first time we spoke. Shahid is an exciting actor to watch and work with. The intensity he brings to his roles is amazing.” Excited about Shahid’s collaboration with Raj and DK, Vijay Subramaniam, Director and Head, Content, Amazon Prime Video said, “Shahid Kapoor is an incredibly gifted actor and we are excited to have him join the Prime Video family with a brand new exciting collaboration with Raj and DK. -Indian Express

fledgling love-story, but also making it a problem of plenty. Among all of them, though, Niki Walia and Parvin Dabas stand out with their seasoned performances and an extremely progressive track. The two newcomers give an honest performance to make their characters believable. Former Femina Miss India International (2014) Jhataleka Malhotra, makes a promising debut, looking every bit the gorgeous and independent young lawyer, who is also vulnerable, when it comes to the matters of heart. Her mature relationship with her single mother (played brilliantly by Niki Walia) is heartwarming and their scenes are one of the highlights of the film. Jhataleka is surely a talent to watch out for. Anmol Thakeria Dhillon (yesteryear actress Poonam Dhillon’s son) too, is confident and well-suited for his character.He looks dapper in his part, but could do with far more fine-tuning in emotional scenes. For a love story though, the music of ‘Tuesdays and Fridays’ is a huge letdown. The few songs it has, are all forgettable and placed randomly. Owing to these unnecessary sound and character tracks, after a point, even a short runtime feels wearisome. Overall, it’s a novel idea with a fresh and breezy storyline that has its moments. But with more depth and soul, this idea of bi-weekly romance could have become a love story for all seasons. -- Times of India

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February 26, 2021

After giving an insight into the ‘arranged marriage’ set up with Indian Matchmaking, Netflix is all set to celebrate the big fat Indian wedding with The Big Day. The series will take a deep dive into the multibillion-dollar wedding industry, and gives the audience a chance to be a part of the most unique and lavish modern weddings. The trailer of the first season of The Big Day was released on Monday. The video is nothing short of a live Pinterest board on dream weddings for millennials. From lavish settings, designer clothes to some exciting themes, the series showcases it all. The show will also have couples talk about crafting their happily ever after. The makers have chosen six different stories, and each of these couples do not believe in toeing the line. From planning a truly sustainable wedding, which is the need of the hour, to a bride that does not believe in following traditions blindly, the stories would definitely touch a chord. Celebrity makeup artist Daniel Baeur, who got married to partner Tyrone Braganza in 2019, also features in this special wedding series. Produced by Conde Nast India, The Big Day will have couples navigating their way through an eye-opening list of shenanigans and soul-stirring moments that go into creating spectacular Indian weddings. There would also be a dash of family drama, unique personal struggles, triumphs and much more. The Big Day will start streaming on Netflix from February 14.

Indo-American News • Friday february 26, 2021 • www.indoamerican-news.com

OPINION

February 26, 2021

Rights of Migrant Laborers

Govt Response as Comic as Greta’s Follies By S.A. Aiyar

It took a lockdown for the country to see the precarious existence of the large migrant workforce that provides cheap labor to the industry and urban services sectors. At least 26 lakh migrant workers were stranded across the country, according to the Chief Labor Commissioner’s Office, and the government told Parliament that at least 10 lakh of them returned home during the COVID-19 crisis. Thousands of people, young and old, men and women, were seen walking on the highways and along railway tracks for days to get back to villages from their workplaces in the cities. This is the context in which the Niti Aayog has prepared a draft national policy on migrant workers. It is a welcome first step towards ameliorating the inhuman conditions in which many migrant workers live and work. The draft highlights the contribution of migrant labor in keeping India’s economy competitive and calls for a “rights-based” approach to “address the complexities of circular migration in the region, as well as migrants’ precarity, vulnerabilities and agency”. The lockdown months had exposed the shocking fact that the migrant workforce is almost invisible in official data. This absence also meant that they could not access even the minimal social protection programs offered by the state. A hugely diverse and disaggregated workforce, they lacked agency and thereby any power to bargain collectively. Besides, being footloose, political parties do not always recognise or respect them as a political constituency and respond to their concerns. The draft has suggested that political inclusion could be key to bridging the gaps in their access to health services, basic entitlements, food security, education and so on. The proposed administrative measures and corrections, such as inter-state migration management bodies involving labour departments of both source and destination states and inter-sectoral convergence to break down ministerial silos, could help to create an institutional framework for timely and targeted response in crises. The government has taken steps to ensure portability of welfare schemes, especially access to the public distribution system, beyond state borders. More needs to be done on that front. A rights-based approach to welfare and social security would work only if the workers have agency, as the draft has indicated. Politicisation, unionisation and mobilisation as workers in the past has forced parties and governments to see welfare as an essential aspect of industrial development. The Niti Aayog draft is a prompt to reimagine labour-capital relations while integrating the migrant workers within the formal workforce. This is necessary to build a compassionate society and a competitive economy. -- Indian Express

Hilariously, climate activist Greta Thunberg supports India’s farmer agitation. The farmers demand government guarantees for a farming system that is environmentally ruinous and emits colossal carbon. The government’s appropriate response to Thunberg should be “how dare you!” Instead, the government has invented an elaborate international conspiracy theory, linking Thunberg, pop star Rihanna, and hundreds of activists, Indian and international, with Khalistani terrorists seeking a Sikh state. This is as comic as Thunberg’s follies. The government says activists are using a “toolkit” to spread their message, making this sound like a dreaded instrument of sedition. Sorry, toolkits simply provide background information, talking points, ideas for mobilisation, catchy slogans and hashtags. As a World Bank consultant, I once produced a toolkit for publicity campaigns in African nations to promote community-driven development. Similar tactics are used by election manifestos and even advertising campaigns. To call toolkits a plan to wage “social, cultural and economic war” against India is as crazy as the conspiracy theories of QAnon in the US. But just as QAnon cannot be laughed away, nor can the government campaign. Young activists — such as Disha Ravi, a climate campaigner who edited and shared Thunberg’s “toolkit” on social media — are being arrested for somehow being linked to Khalistanis. India’s laws on sedition and unlawful activities have long been misused to harass dissenters. In addition, India is making a fool of itself internationally by linking climate activists with Khalistanis through toolkits in the social media. Every extremist group tries to cash in on existing agitations. Khalistanis support the farm agitation and toolkits for their private ends. That does not make the whole agitation Khalistani. During the 1975-77 Emergency, Naxalite terrorists opposed Indira Gandhi no less than Opposition

support this outrage! Political competition for farm votes means farmers in the north-west get free electricity for pumps. Excessive tubewell irrigation has lowered the water table disastrously. First, drinking water wells ran dry, followed by shallow tubewells of small farmers. Only the deepest tubewells of the richest farmers, using the most electricity and emitting the most carbon, now pump water. Punjab is a low rainfall region Twenty-two-year-old activist Disha Ravi, who was arrested in connection that simply should not grow rice, with a toolkit on the farmer protests but free electricity makes rice that was tweeted by Swedish activist cultivation very profitable while Greta Thunberg, was granted bail by destroying aquifers. The farm agitators insist on guarantees of a Sessions Court in Delhi. free electricity and government purchase of all the rice they propoliticians who were jailed. Did that make all jailed politicians duce. Why does Thunberg support terrorists? Ridiculous! Indira such horrendous environmental Gandhi’s attempt to portray all destruction? Modi’s farm reforms aim to Opposition parties as seditious anti-nationals failed miserably. create a modern agricultural sysVoters voted for the supposed con- tem where farmers switch to less water-intensive perishable crops. spirators and threw her out. Let us return to Thunberg’s fol- This requires massive investment lies. Mohinder Gulati, former in warehousing and cold chains, CEO of the UN’s Sustainable En- plus contract farming to link thouergy for All campaign, says farm- sands of small farms to large proers around Delhi burn 100 million cessors. Crops must be grown, tonnes of crop stubble annually, harvested, transported, stored, and generating 140 million tonnes of processed seamlessly. Gulati says carbon dioxide, 12 million tonnes India annually wastes 67 million of other polluting gases, and 1.2 tonnes of food worth $14 billion million tonnes of particulate mat- which could feed 100 million peoter. Smog in Delhi and neigh- ple. Pre-harvest and post-harvest bouring areas chokes 50 million losses are enormous, and 60 milpeople, closes schools, and causes lion tonnes of carbon dioxide emirreversible lung damage to 2.2 bedded in the waste. Gulati says the creaking governmillion children and many adults. Burning stubble “also destroys the ment system has failed to check nitrogen and carbon potential of this, and needs replacement by “a the soil, kills microflora and fau- competitive, efficient and wellna beneficial to the soil, removes regulated private sector.” But the a large portion of organic matter, farmers insist on the status quo. and unavoidably leads to increased Thunberg, are you listening? None of this can remotely justify use of chemical fertilizers.” Laws have been enacted to stop the arrest and harassment of Disha this practice but the farmers of Ravi and other activists. Linkthe north-west simply refuse, and ing Thunberg and Rihanna with politicians dare not arrest them for Khalistanis has made India a joke fear of losing votes. The farmers globally. Arresting activists now want to earn a few more rupees risks making it a human rights pathrough early sowing of the win- riah. -- Times of India Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiter wheat crop after harvesting the summer rice crop and burning the yar is consulting editor of The rice stubble quickly clears their Economic Times. He has frequentfields. They don’t give a damn ly been a consultant to the World about killing and maiming mil- Bank and Asian Development lions. Yet Thunberg and Rihanna Bank.

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February 26, 2021

Abhilasha Rathi: New President of Maheshwaris By Manu Shah

Boston: It was the day of Diwali 2020 when Abhilasha Rathi made up her mind to helm the Maheshwari Mahasabha of North America (MMNA) for the next four years. She was pleasantly surprised when her name was proposed but mulled over it for a few days. While her husband Bharat and father-in-law Prabhulal Rathi were supportive and left the decision to her, it was her mother in law Draupadi Rathi and daughters Suhani and Shriya, who, she says, encouraged her to take up the challenge. A member of the New England chapter in Boston, this acceptance makes Abhilasha the second woman president in MMNA history after Dr. Seema Rathi. The Maheshwari community, whose origins are steeped in fascinating folklore, hail from Rajasthan. The organization was created in 1983 to preserve the community’s culture and traditions and to connect the Maheshwari community living in the US and Canada. Today, it boasts of 4000 plus members with ten Chapters spread across North America. One of the biggest industrialist families of India, the Birlas, belong to this community. Born in Neemuch, Madhya Pradesh, Abhilasha was raised in Hyderabad, Telangana. After completing her graduation in Commerce, she married Bharat, a software professional, and moved to Boston in 1991. Determined to carve out a career, she enrolled for various courses but eventually gravitated towards Client Server Programming. She is currently the Software Quality Engineering Manager at CVS Health where she oversees QA processes to ensure that the software meets technical, functional, and business requirements. A significant portion of Abhilasha’s work involves leading teams and calls for “collaboration and management skills”, qualities she needs in spades in her new position. Rather than “managing,” she prefers to use the term “serving” the team and enabling their success because when “your team is successful, you’re successful.” One of her favorite quotes by Henry Ford sums up her style of working: “Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress and working together is success.” Aside from her own inclination, Abhilasha traces her community service mindset, in part, to her parents Vijay Kumar and Urmila Taori. She recalls the constant stream of people who would drop in to discuss community matters with her father. In hindsight, she appreciates her mother’s unstinting support for her father’s passion for community work. In a fortunate coincidence, she found a similar sense of social commitment in her husband’s family. These firsthand lessons would be invaluable in forging her own

New MMNA President Abhilasha Rathi.

path for community work. As a teenager, she was actively engaged with the Maheshwari Samaj, Rajasthani Graduates Association and other organizations. After joining MMNA, she served in different roles but repeatedly emphasizes that a position or designation has never been important for her - making a difference is reward in itself. Underlining the benefits of working in the community, she cites the instance of the 2016 International Maheshwari Rajasthani Convention. Although the New England Chapter signed up to be hosts of the convention, the logistics were daunting given that the number of volunteers were limited. As co-convenor, she encouraged members to enroll in the planning and execution and after an 18 month planning period, what crystallized, apart from a successful convention, was an extremely close knit group that is bonded to this day. Abhilasha was also at the frontlines of the 2020 virtual MMNA Utsav. As general secretary for the past four years, Abhilasha worked with President Vikas Bhutada in setting up and maintaining various communication channels so Chapter leaders could collaborate with each other easily. She used her tech expertise to spearhead systematic procedures that helped everyone be on the same page and actively worked with the digital team. These experiences have helped her develop a personal rapport with members of the different chapters that will serve her well in the coming years. Abhilasha is also involved in causes like the Walk for Hunger where she walked 20 miles, not once but several times, to raise funds for the program and the annual Cancer Walk to support friends who are cancer survivors. During COVID-19, she along with MMNA members, supported the cause of food donations to shelters. She has three key takeaways from all these years of volunteering: Be adaptable, persistent and celebrate small wins. Her list of goals for her term as

Indo-American News • Friday february 26, 2021 • www.indoamerican-news.com

MMNA Chairperson Dr. Ghanashyam Das Heda.

president include greater engagement with seniors, more participation by the Rajasthani Abroad Youth Samaj (RAYS)), celebrating festivals like Teej and Gangaur, strengthening current initiatives such as interest free loans to deserving students, matrimonial alliances, providing guidance to entrepreneurs, the women’s wing (Sakhi) and philanthropic efforts like food drives and walks to support causes. The new president also plans to roll out a Professional Networking Group to connect the youth of the community. Abhilasha is looking forward to working with a newly elected National Executive Committee and tapping the board of trustees for their experience and guidance. The NEC comprises the following members: Mukul Rathi (Vice-President), Keshavlal Rathi (Vice-President), Swapnil Laddha (Vice-President), Dr. Rahul Nawander (Vice-President), Praveen Gattani (General Secretary), Swapnil Chandak (Joint Secretary), Lata Maheshwari (Treasurer), and Jitendra Maheshwari (Joint Treasurer) and the Chapter leaders. Chairperson Dr. Ghanshyam Das Heda, a recipient of many awards in podiatric medicine research, continues to head the BOT with Pushpalata Heda, Rajesh Kabra, Sushil Kumar Birla, Hiralal Maheshwari, Narendra Zamwar, Pradeep Kumar Tapadiya, Dev Kishore Maheshwari, Rajesh Rathi and Prabhulal Rathi. With so much on her plate, Abhilasha keeps herself fit with walking, yoga, and Zumba. Her soul is nourished by the Bhagwad Gita and she likes to unwind by donning the chef’s hat and bringing “creativity to her cooking.” Hawaii remains an all-time favorite holiday destination.

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