18 Vol 5 Epaper

Vol.5 No. 18 August 18-24, 2012 60 Cents Follow us on TheSouthAsianTimes.
info
SPECIAL EDITION CELEBRATING THE
66TH INDEPENDENCE DAY OF INDIA
Religion 15 Bollywood 19 London Olympics 24 Spiritual Awareness 30
NEW YORK EDITION
Sahara Group
buys NY's Plaza
Hotel for $570 M
Business,
Page 23
Arizona don named
dean of Pace
University School
National
Community,
Page 8
Tulsi Gabbard: First
Hindu in race for US
House
Immersion in
another culture:
China diary
Travel,
Page 16
Vol.5 No. 16 August 4-10, 2012 60 Cents Follow us on TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Olympics: Saina in semis,
Paes-Sania in quarters,
Vijender in boxing quarters
Gagan Narang with bronze lone medalist so far.
London: Champion shuttler Saina
Nehwal rewrote history by becoming
the first Indian to cruise into the
Olympics badminton semi-final while
the crack mixed doubles tennis combi-
nation of Leander Paes and Sania Mirza
stormed into the quarter finals at the
London Games here Thursday.
So, Indias medal hopes are alive after
Gagan Narang opened the countrys
account with a bronze in the men's 10-
meter air rifle event.
The fourth seeded Saina won 21-15,
22-20 over former World No.1 Dane
Tine Baun at the Wembley Arena,
before Leander-Sania blazed past the
formidable Serbian pair of Nenad
Zimonjic and Ana Ivanovic, 6-2, 6-4 at
Wimbledon court.
Vijender Singh entered the quarterfi-
nal of the men's boxing 75 kg category
with a close 16-15 points victory over
his US opponent Terrel Gausha. A
bronze medalist in the Beijing Asian
Games four years ago, he will take on
Uzbek Abbos Atoev in the round of last
eight Monday.
Inspired by Saina' s performance,
Parupalli Kashyap played his heart out
against top seed Lee Chong Wei of
Malaysia but in the end lost the men's
singles quarter final 19-21 and 11-21.
However, before Saina took to the
court, India's date with the Olympics
began with a double heartbreak
Thursday as highly-rated double trap
marksman Ronjan Singh Sodhi failed to
make the final while pugilist Jai
Bhagwan fell by the wayside in the pre-
quarterfinals.
Saina would now face reigning
World Champion and top seed Wang
Yihan for a place in the final. The
Chinese has a 5-0 record against the
Indian, but Saina's superb form in the
competition is encouraging. If she
loses in the semis, Saina would go for
bronze medal play-off and bring the
country its first Olympic medal from
the sport. Continued on page 4
Shuttler Saina Nehwal and (left) shooter
Gagan Narang
Team Anna calls off fast,
to enter politics
New Delhi: Social activist
Anna Hazare and his team
have announced they would
call off their indefinite fast
against corruption and pro-
posed forming a "political
alternative" as an answer to
an "unresponsive" govern-
ment.
Making the announcement
to thousands of flag-waving
cheering supporters, Hazare
said he and Team Anna, as
Continued on page 4 Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal on fast
Community excited over 1st India
Day Parade on Long Island
By Parveen Chopra
Hicksville, NY: The Inaugural India Day
Parade of Long Island on August 11 now has
a Grand Marshall in Bollywood superstar
Vinod Khanna even as it continues to garner
endorsements from officials and has lined up
big-ticket sponsors.
The Indian community is united and excit-
ed about the parade to celebrate India's 66th
Independence Day in style in Hicksville with
the theme "Celebrating Democracy and
Unity."
The parade has full support from the office
of County Executive Ed Mangano and Town
of Oyster Bay Supervisor Jon Venditto, the
town in which the parade venue falls.
The Grand Marshall Vinod Khanna will be
joined at the parade by Ambassador Prabhu
Dayal, Hon. Mangano, Supervisor Venditto
and Grand Sponsor Harry Singh of Bolla
Oil. Many other prominent officials, political
leaders and judges will also march in the
parade. More than 30 community organiza-
tions are participating.
The 3-day celebratory event commences
with the Parade on August 11 starting at 1.00
p.m. from Patel Brothers Plaza as thousands
walk one mile north on Broadway displaying
colorful banners and waving Indian and
American flags. Continued on page 4
Bollywood superstar Vinod Khanna
will be the Grand Marshall.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info Vol. 5 | No. 18 | August 18-24, 2012 | 60 Cents Follow us on
The South Asian Times
Astrology 74 Spiritual Awareness 76 Humor 75
Congr atul ati ons on the
6 6 th i nde p e nde nCe day of i ndi a
Excellence In Journalism
CG Prabhu Dayal
rings Nasdaq Bell
on 15th August
India Day Special,
Page 5
First India Day Pa-
rade of Long Island
a grand success
India Day Special,
Page 16-22
Sunita Williams
greets Indians
from space
India Day Special,
Page 26
Why I love
my India

India Day Special,
Page 46
National Community 68 Religion 15 Bollywood 19 London Olympics 24 Spiritual Awareness 30
NEW YORK EDITION
Sahara Group
buys NY's Plaza
Hotel for $570 M
Business,
Page 23
Arizona don named
dean of Pace
University School
National
Community,
Page 8
Tulsi Gabbard: First
Hindu in race for US
House
Immersion in
another culture:
China diary
Travel,
Page 16
Vol.5 No. 16 August 4-10, 2012 60 Cents Follow us on TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Olympics: Saina in semis,
Paes-Sania in quarters,
Vijender in boxing quarters
Gagan Narang with bronze lone medalist so far.
London: Champion shuttler Saina
Nehwal rewrote history by becoming
the first Indian to cruise into the
Olympics badminton semi-final while
the crack mixed doubles tennis combi-
nation of Leander Paes and Sania Mirza
stormed into the quarter finals at the
London Games here Thursday.
So, Indias medal hopes are alive after
Gagan Narang opened the countrys
account with a bronze in the men's 10-
meter air rifle event.
The fourth seeded Saina won 21-15,
22-20 over former World No.1 Dane
Tine Baun at the Wembley Arena,
before Leander-Sania blazed past the
formidable Serbian pair of Nenad
Zimonjic and Ana Ivanovic, 6-2, 6-4 at
Wimbledon court.
Vijender Singh entered the quarterfi-
nal of the men's boxing 75 kg category
with a close 16-15 points victory over
his US opponent Terrel Gausha. A
bronze medalist in the Beijing Asian
Games four years ago, he will take on
Uzbek Abbos Atoev in the round of last
eight Monday.
Inspired by Saina' s performance,
Parupalli Kashyap played his heart out
against top seed Lee Chong Wei of
Malaysia but in the end lost the men's
singles quarter final 19-21 and 11-21.
However, before Saina took to the
court, India's date with the Olympics
began with a double heartbreak
Thursday as highly-rated double trap
marksman Ronjan Singh Sodhi failed to
make the final while pugilist Jai
Bhagwan fell by the wayside in the pre-
quarterfinals.
Saina would now face reigning
World Champion and top seed Wang
Yihan for a place in the final. The
Chinese has a 5-0 record against the
Indian, but Saina's superb form in the
competition is encouraging. If she
loses in the semis, Saina would go for
bronze medal play-off and bring the
country its first Olympic medal from
the sport. Continued on page 4
Shuttler Saina Nehwal and (left) shooter
Gagan Narang
Team Anna calls off fast,
to enter politics
New Delhi: Social activist
Anna Hazare and his team
have announced they would
call off their indefinite fast
against corruption and pro-
posed forming a "political
alternative" as an answer to
an "unresponsive" govern-
ment.
Making the announcement
to thousands of flag-waving
cheering supporters, Hazare
said he and Team Anna, as
Continued on page 4 Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal on fast
Community excited over 1st India
Day Parade on Long Island
By Parveen Chopra
Hicksville, NY: The Inaugural India Day
Parade of Long Island on August 11 now has
a Grand Marshall in Bollywood superstar
Vinod Khanna even as it continues to garner
endorsements from officials and has lined up
big-ticket sponsors.
The Indian community is united and excit-
ed about the parade to celebrate India's 66th
Independence Day in style in Hicksville with
the theme "Celebrating Democracy and
Unity."
The parade has full support from the office
of County Executive Ed Mangano and Town
of Oyster Bay Supervisor Jon Venditto, the
town in which the parade venue falls.
The Grand Marshall Vinod Khanna will be
joined at the parade by Ambassador Prabhu
Dayal, Hon. Mangano, Supervisor Venditto
and Grand Sponsor Harry Singh of Bolla
Oil. Many other prominent officials, political
leaders and judges will also march in the
parade. More than 30 community organiza-
tions are participating.
The 3-day celebratory event commences
with the Parade on August 11 starting at 1.00
p.m. from Patel Brothers Plaza as thousands
walk one mile north on Broadway displaying
colorful banners and waving Indian and
American flags. Continued on page 4
Bollywood superstar Vinod Khanna
will be the Grand Marshall.
I
n
d
ia
celebra
tes
6
6
th
I
n
d
epen
d
en
ce
D
a
y
w
ith
vig
or
I
n
d
ia
celebra
tes
6
6
th
I
n
d
epen
d
en
ce
D
a
y
w
ith
vig
or
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh addressing the Nation for the 9th consecutive time on the occasion of
66th Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort in Delhi on August 15.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh fe-
licitated the 6 Indian medal winners at
London Olympics at a function in New
Delhi on August 17. Minister of State
for Youth Affairs and Sports, Ajay Mak-
en, UPA Chair person Sonia Gandhi and
Smt Gursharan Kaur are also seen.
But prime minister and president s speeChes Betray anxiety
over slowing eConomy and anti-Corruption protests.
New Delhi: India and Indians everywhere celebrated
the 65th anniversary of Indias independence with gusto
at parades and special functions unfurling the tricolor.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh unfurled the
national flag and addressed the nation for the ninth
consecutive year from a closed enclosure from the
ramparts of Red Fort in Delhi.
Dignitaries, guests and school children, who were
present in large numbers, cheered loudly and sang
the national anthem with vigor both at the beginning
and end of the event. Numerous balloons were re-
leased after the PMs speech concluded.
Security agencies left no stone unturned to ensure
an incident-free Independence Day celebrations in
Delhi even though there was no specific intelligence
input about a possible terror strike.
In all Indian state capitals also the day was celebrat-
ed with traditional pomp and show. News kept coming
from across the world also of Indian missions and com-
munities celebrating Indias 66th Independence Day.
Continues on page 6
This issue of the SATimes is India Day Special.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info August 18-24, 2012
5
August 18-24, 2012
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
India Day Special
New York: As in previous years,
NASDAQ invited Ambassador
Prabhu Dayal, Consul General of
India, to ring the Opening Bell on
Wednesday, August 15, 2012 to cele-
brate Indias 66th Independence Day.
The NASDAQ billboard flashed the
Indian tri-color with accompanied
words 'NASDAQ Celebrates Indias
Independence Day - August 15,
2012.
During his brief speech,
Ambassador Dayal said that he was
highly privileged and honored to have
been invited to ring the NASDAQ
Bell on the eve of Indias
Independence Day. This, he said, indi-
cates the ever growing relationship
between NASDAQ and India. He also
said that he was privileged to have
been invited to ring the NASDAQ
Closing Bell in 2009, 2010 and 2011
for celebrating Indias Independence
Day. Stating that this gesture of NAS-
DAQ is a recognition of the fact that
India has become a global power-
house, he added that Infosys,
Cognizant Technologies,
MakeMyTrip.com, Rediff.com. and
Sify Technologies Ltd. are all mem-
bers of the NASDAQ 100 Index
which is one of the most prestigious
and widely followed indices of the
world.
Referring to the global financial
meltdown of 2008, which has far
reaching consequences, Ambassador
Dayal said that in a globalized world
such developments have ramifications
beyond borders and, therefore, would
need to be tackled through coordinat-
ed global action.
With regard to infrastructure devel-
opment and investment in India,
Ambassador Dayal said that the
Government of India is pursuing poli-
cies which encourage investment in
infrastructure and expressed his confi-
dence that NASDAQ will continue to
focus the interest of investors on the
opportunities provided by India and
thus play a positive and helpful role in
the growth of Indian economy. The
ceremony was attended by the
Consulate officials as well as mem-
bers of the Indian community.
Ambassador Prabhu Dayal ringing the bell
AmbassadorHardeep Singh Puri,
Permanent Representative of India to UN
unfurled the national tricolor at the
Permanent Mission premises and read
out salient excerpts from President
Pranab Mukherjees address to the
nation. The brief and impressive ceremo-
ny saw a well-attended turn out of over
150 guests including prominent members
of the Indian American community, sen-
ior Indian officials of the United Nations,
Indian Army and Police officers on depu-
tation to the UN, in addition to officials
from PMI and the Consulate General of
India, New York and their families.
Ambassador Vijay Nambiar, the special
adviser on Myanmar to U.N. Secretary-
General also graced the occasion.
Ambassador Dayal with Indian community members
Consul General Prabhu Dayal
invited to ring opening bell
at NASDAQ on Aug 15
New York: The Consulate General of
India, New York hosted a Reception on
15th August 2012 to mark the 65th
Anniversary of Indias Independence.
About 250 guests, including prominent
members of the Indian-American commu-
nity and local dignitaries such as
Ambassador Frank G. Wisner, Ambassador
Manjeev Singh Puri, Deputy Permanent
Representative of India to the United
Nations, and other community leaders
attended the celebrations.
Warmly greeting and welcoming the
guests, Ambassador Prabhu Dayal, Consul
General of India, read out excerpts from
the President's message delivered on the
eve of the Independence Day. The full text
of the Presidents speech was read out earlier
to all members of the Consulate. During his
speech, Ambassador Dayal said that the Indian community
in the USA has been contributing immensely to the friend-
ship between India and USA. The vibrant community has
also been organizing functions in various parts of USA to
commemorate Indias Independence, he added.
Ambassador Frank G. Wisner, in his remarks said that he
had the privilege of serving as US Ambassador to India
from 1994-97 and since then, relations between the two
countries have increased manifold in various fields, such
as political, economic, defense, science & technology, etc.
He also lauded the Indo-American community for its con-
tribution in furthering relations between the two countries.
Ambassador Manjeev Puri, Deputy Permanent
Representative of Indian Permanent Mission to the UN, in
his address said that during the last 18 months of Indias
UN Security Council membership, India and USA have
been working very closely in various fields.
Other prominent Indian-American community leaders
who addressed the gathering included Dr. Thomas
Abraham, Chairman, Global Organization of People of
Indian Origin Inc., Mr. Ramesh Patel, President Federation
of Indian Association, Mrs. Ranju Batra, President,
Association of Indian Americans. Leaders of Regional
Associations and media heads also addressed the audience.
Ambassador Dayal, along with the dignitaries and
prominent Indian-Americans representing various associa-
tions and fields jointly cut the cake in celebration of this
joyous occasion.
I-Day celebrated at New York Consulate
Ambassador Dayal along with prominent Indian Americans
cut the cake on the joyous occasion
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7
August 18-24, 2012
India Day Special
New Delhi: India's economic growth has
been hurt due to lack of political consen-
sus on many issues, Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh declared.
Addressing the nation on India's 66th
Independence Day, Manmohan Singh also
vowed to battle corruption while ensuring
that sincere officials were not affected by
baseless allegations of wrongdoing.
In a speech directed primarily at the
domestic audience, the prime minister --
making his ninth speech from the Red Fort
-- made no reference to Pakistan or any
other country.
The prime minister said India was
unable to create the environment for rapid
economic growth "because of a lack of
political consensus on many issues".
"Time has now come to view the issue
which affect our development processes as
matters of national security."
The economist-turned-politician, who
became prime minister in May 2004, did
not dwell on the issues that were eluding a
political consensus.
Again, without elaborating, he referred
to "domestic developments which are hin-
dering our economic growth".
Despite 20 years of widely acclaimed
economic reforms, the political establish-
ment is still divided on certain growth
issues. In recent times, the government has
faced flak from the opposition on allowing
foreign direct investment in retail trade,
strongly favored by the US.
Speaking a day after yoga guru Baba
Ramdev ended his fast against corruption
and black money, the prime minister said
his government would take steps to battle
corruption.
"We will continue our efforts to bring
more transparency and accountability in
the work of public servants and to reduce
corruption," he said, reading out a pre-
pared speech in Hindi from a bullet proof
cubicle. "But we will also take care that
those measures do not result in a situation
in which the morale of public functionar-
ies... gets affected because of baseless alle-
gations and unnecessary litigation."
He hoped that the Rajya Sabha would
soon pass the Lokpal and Lokayukta bills
already cleared by the Lok Sabha.
India, he said, cannot escape the global
economic crisis. But the country's GDP
growth would still be "a little better" than
last year's 6.5 percent. The 12th Five Year
Plan would lay down measures to increase
the economic growth rate from 6.5 to 9
percent in the last year of the Plan, he
added.
In a reference to Assam, where ethnic
violence claimed over 70 lives, he said
authorities were doing everything possible
to provide relief to everyone.
Manmohan Singh also outlined his gov-
ernment's successes. He said almost all vil-
lages had been electrified, and the govern-
ment's target was to provide electricity to
every household in India in the next five
years. The government was also formulat-
ing a scheme to give away free medicines
through government hospitals and health
centres, he said.Over the next five years,
eight crore Indians will be taught skill
development by a specialized agency to
cope with the needs of an expanding econ-
omy, he added.
Communal harmony has to be main-
tained at all costs... The incidents which
occurred in Pune in the beginning of this
month point to the need for much more
work to be done in the area of national
security."
Manmohan Singh concluded his speech
on a positive note. "No power in the world
can stop our country from achieving new
heights of progress and development."
Manmohan Singh addressing the nation on India's 66th
Independence Day from Red Fort
Manmohan moans lack
of consensus
New Delhi: President Pranab
Mukherjee made a veiled attack at
"endemic" protests against corrup-
tion warning that the country
would be "flirting with chaos" if
its democratic institutions come
under an assault.
Addressing the nation on the eve
of the 66th Independence Day,
The President said when authority
becomes authoritarian, democracy
suffers "but when protest becomes
endemic, we are flirting with
chaos."
"Democracy is a shared process.
We all win or lose together.
Democratic temper calls for digni-
ty of behaviour and tolerance of
contrary views. Parliament will
live by its own calendar and
rhythm.
"Sometimes that rhythm sounds
a bit atonal but in a democracy
there is always judgment day, an
election. Parliament is the soul of
the people, the atman of India. We
challenge its rights and duties at
our peril," Mukherjee said.
He said he was saying this not in
a spirit of admonition but as plea
for greater understanding of exis-
tential issues that lurk behind the
mask of the mundane.
"Democracy is blessed with a
unique opportunity for redress of
grievance through the great insti-
tutions of accountability -- free
elections," Mukherjee said.
Mincing no words in underlin-
ing the dangers in undermining
institutions like Parliament, he
said legislation cannot be
wrenched away from legislature or
justice from judiciary.
The President' s comments
against the backdrop of anti-cor-
ruption protests of Anna Hazare
and Ramdev came in his maiden
address to the nation on the eve of
66th Independence Day.
Mukherjee said, "anger against
the bitter pandemic of corruption
is legitimate, as is the protest
against this plague that is eroding
the capability and potential of our
nation. "There are times when
people lose their patience but it
cannot become an excuse for an
assault on our democratic institu-
tions," he said without referring to
either Hazare or Ramdev.
The President, a veteran parlia-
mentarian, said the institutions
were the visible pillars of the
Constitution and if they crack,
then the idealism of the
Constitution cannot hold.
In his address, the President said
if Indian economy has achieved
critical mass, then it must become
a launching pad for the next leap.
Referring to last month's horrific
violence in Assam, Mukherjee
said that minorities needed solace,
understanding and protection from
aggression. "Violence is not an
option; violence is an invitation to
greater violence," he underlined.
Although India won only six
medals at the London Olympics,
sportspersons had done the coun-
try proud, Mukherjee said. "The
number of trophies may not be too
large but it is a remarkable
improvement upon the last count,"
Mukherjee said.
"Four years later, when I hope to
address you again, I am sure we
will celebrate a medals spring!"
President Pranab Mukherjee laying wreath at the Amar Jawan Jyoti
at India Gate in New Delhi
Chaos if protests become endemic: Pranab
BJP terms PM's speech
disappointing
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) termed Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh's Independence Day speech as "dis-
appointing" and lacking direction on issues
facing the country, while Gujarat Chief
Minister Narendra Modi said he should
have specified the policy on infiltration
from Bangladesh.
BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said
that prime minister' s speech failed to
inspire people.
"It was a disappointing speech... PM's
speech was completely listless and a speech
which did not instil new confidence in the
nation. The speech did not give any direc-
tion on the issues the nation and the people
of the country are facing - price rise, infla-
tion, corruption, black money, slowing
economy, monsoon deficit and drought. It
did not address any of these issues," he
said.
Speaking in Junagadh in Gujarat, Modi
said people wanted to know government's
policy towards infiltration from
Bangladesh, contending that this was
becoming an issue of concern.
Modi also accused the prime minister of
dual standards about the ethnic violence in
Assam and subsequent violence during a
protest rally in Mumbai.
8
August 18-24, 2012
India Day Special
I-Day in Frames
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inspecting the Guard of Honor at Red Fort
New Delhi: Rain played the perfect tease,
drizzling just a little for a couple of min-
utes on a hot sultry evening as President
Pranab Mukherjee hosted his first 'At
Home' reception and injected a popular
touch to his presidency by dismantling the
barriers between the VIPs and other invit-
ed guests.
Ministers, politicians, diplomats,
socialites and journalists were among
more than 500 guests invited at the recep-
tion held on the sprawling lawns of
Rashtrapati Bhavan on the occasion of
India's 66th Independence Day. The cere-
monies played by the clock.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,
United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chair-
person Sonia Gandhi, Vice President
Hamid Ansari and Lok Sabha Speaker
Meira Kumar sat under a maroon canopy
waiting for the president to arrive.
It looked like it was going to rain any
minute and it drizzled also a bit as
Mukherjee, elegantly dressed in a black
sherwani, arrived at 6 p.m. sharp.
The army band played the national
anthem, with assembled guests standing at
attention as a mark of respect.
Accompanied by senior aides, Mukherjee
went around greeting the guests with fold-
ed hands.
After the national anthem, the barriers
that divided the so-called VIP guests -
ministers, ambassadors and senior diplo-
mats - and other invited guests were done
away with, letting everyone greet
Mukherjee.
This small gesture signalled Mukherjee's
style of bringing a popular touch to his
nascent presidency.
In the last few At Home receptions host-
ed by his predecessor, the VIPs and other
invited guests were segregated, leaving
those outside the hallowed category in a
sulk.
This time, the interaction was more ani-
mated and the atmosphere was more
cheerful despite an intensely humid
evening.
Gandhi, who could not attend the last 'At
Home' reception as she was away abroad
recuperating from a surgery for an undis-
closed medical condition, looked quite
serene dressed in a cream white sari.
Among the ministers who were found
chatting frequently with invited guests
were Law Minister Salman Khurshid,
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram,
Commerce and Industry Minister Anand
Sharma, Minister of State in the Prime
Minister's Office V. Narayanasamy and
Power Minister M. Veerappa Moily.
Justice Mohit S. Shah, Chief Justice, Bombay High Court, inaugurated a unique
exhibition on the history and heritage of the Bombay High Court, in Mumbai
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh paying homage at Raj Ghat
President Pranab Mukherjee with Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh and other dignitaries at the 'At Home' function at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Dignitaries coming out from the Red Fort after the Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh's address to the nation in Delhi
A popular touch to
President Pranab's reception
9
August 18-24, 2012
India Day Special
Omar asks
separatists to
abjure violence
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief
Minister Omar Abdullah again urged
separatists to join the dialogue
process for lasting peace in the state.
Addressing the main Independence
Day parade at Bakshi Stadium here,
Abdullah asked the separatists to
abjure violence for the state's overall
development.
The chief minister said neither vio-
lence nor development would resolve
the Kashmir problem, which needed a
political resolution.
The official functions connected
with the 66th Independence Day of
the country passed off peacefully in
summer capital Srinagar and else-
where in the Kashmir Valley.
The chief minister took salute at the
parade in which smartly turned out
contingents of state police, paramili-
tary forces, fire and emergency serv-
ices and school children participated.
Abdullah unfurled the national flag
at the stadium. Referring to his stand
on the revocation of the Armed
Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA),
Abdullah said: "To a large extend the
militancy related incidents have come
down over the years.
"It is our endeavor to reduce the
footprints of the security forces in the
state. I can with pride that all schools
have been vacated by the security
forces."
He added that 250 "other buildings
under the occupation of the security
forces have also been vacated".
"More than 40 bunkers have been
Kites fill Delhi skies in
spirit of freedom
New Delhi: The spirit of freedom scaled colour-
ful heights in the skies of the capital throughout
Wednesday when thousands of professional and
amateur kite fliers took to the rooftops and
streets to celebrate the Independence Day ritual
of kite-flying.
"Kite flying as a tradition is much older than
the Olympics. In the capital, kite flying as a pub-
lic sport goes back much before Independence
Day, almost 80 years before the country freed
itself from the British rule. Now, it is a dying
tradition because the present generation does not
know how to fly kites," Sudhir Sobti of Delhi
Tourism and Transport Development
Corporation said.
Delhi Tourism organized a day's kite flying
festival at the Garden of Five Senses at Mehrauli
in the capital, where kite fliers from old Delhi,
the birth place of the tradition, came to show off
their skills of flying multiple kites on a single
thread."The high point of the festival was flying
100 kites on one thread by Bhai Miyan and his
sons," Sobti said.
The Delhi Tourism official said: "The idea of
the government was to revive the old tradition,
keep new fliers updated about the tradition and
initiate novices."
Delhi Tourism, which has been hosting the
Independence Day kite festival for the last two
years, will organise a kite festival at India Gate
in November, Sobti said.
Kite flying as a tradition grew out of Old
Delhi where artisans still make a variety of
kites. The oldest and biggest kite market is at
Lal Kuan in the old city, where "patangbaazi"
began as a sport. Some historians say the tradi-
tion dates back to the days of the Mahabharata.
Kites were not only used for receiving messages
but also for measuring distances during war.
Kite fighting is the most exciting feature of
flying kites. The Indian fighter kites are crafted
from thin paper that can take on the wind to
scale heights. The thread which hoists the fight-
er kite is strengthened with crushed glass, egg,
pigeon droppings and wax so that it cannot be
snapped cut by rival kites.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit kick-starts a kite-flying competition
Patriotic fervor marks I-Day
celebrations in Andhra
Hyderabad: Patriotic fervor marked the 66th
Independence Day celebrations across Andhra Pradesh.
The main official celebration was held at Secunderabad
Parade Grounds in the state capital where Chief Minister
N. Kiran Kumar Reddy unfurled the national flag and
reviewed the colorful passing out parade by police contin-
gents.
In an open top jeep, he went around the sprawling
grounds to reviewed the contingents of police, Scouts and
Guides and NCC amid tight security.
Various welfare and development schemes of the gov-
ernment were highlighted by tableaux of different depart-
ments. Kiran Kumar Reddy gave away awards to merito-
rious policemen.
Addressing the gathering, the chief minister announced
that an additional 30 lakh acres of land would be
irrigated under 'Jalayagnam' programme over
next two years. The ambitious programme has
already irrigated 21 lakh acres.
Kiran Kumar Reddy said the state had urged
the centre to link Mahatma Gandhi National
Rural Employment Guarantee scheme with irri-
gation so that farmers can benefit from it.
Listing out various welfare schemes like Rajiv
Arogyasri, Indiramma Housing, fee reimburse-
ment, free electricity to farmers and Re.1 a kg
rice, the chief minister said he was visiting every
district to personally monitor their implementa-
tion.
"My government is committed to provide a
transparent, accountable and honest administra-
tion," he said.
Assembly speaker N. Manohar hoisted the national flag
in the assembly premises. Legislative council chairman
Chakrapani did the same in the council building.
State Congress chief Botsa Satyanarayana hoisted the
flag at party headquarters Gandhi Bhavan in the presence
of the Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy and Deputy
Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha.
Main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) also cele-
brated the day at its headquarters NTR Trust Bhavan. The
leader of opposition N. Chandrababu Naidu unfurled the
national flag.
Y.S. Vijayamma, honorary president of YSR Congress
Party, hoisted the tricolor at the party office.
The celebrations were also held at the offices of TRS,
BJP, CPI, CPI-M and Lok Satta.
Fruits of independence
yet to reach the poor:
Akhilesh
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief
Minister Akhilesh Yadav hoisted
the tri-color and vowed to devel-
op the state within a stipulated
time. Addressing a gathering after
hoisting the national flag, Yadav
said his government was commit-
ted to the welfare of the poor, the
downtrodden, the weaker sections
and the oppressed.
"Serious work has been initiated
by our government. Very soon
people will be able to gauge the
difference from the past," he said.
Pointing out that the govern-
ment had prioritized the power
and infrastructure sectors, the
chief minister said efforts were on
to connect all district headquar-
ters with four lane roads.
Earlier, hoisting the flag at his
official residence, the chief minis-
ter said the fruits of independence
were yet to reach the poor.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav
Andhra Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy inspecting a
Guard of Honor at Secunderabad Parade Grounds
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah
hoisting the Indian tri-color at Bakshi Stadium
removed from Srinagar city. Perhaps nobody hoped we
could remove the bunker from Lal Chowk. Ten battalions
of the CRPF have already been de-inducted and sent back.
"We are slowly implementing the rehabilitation for those
who want to return back without guns and the policy is
producing encouraging results. This policy is only for
those who return not to join militancy, but live peacefully.
"Talks on AFSPA are going on. I regret so far we have
not reached a stage when AFSPA can be removed perma-
nently. Talks are still going on and I am satisfied we these
talks.
"I can say with surety that the revocation of AFSPA
would take place during our tenure in office."
Official parades and cultural programs were also held at
various districts in the valley to mark the Independence
Day. Few public and private vehicles plied on the city's
roads.
10
August 18-24, 2012
India Day Special
Mamata asks
Maoists to lay
down arms
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief
Minister Mamata Banerjee prom-
ised an attractive rehabilitation
package to Maoists who lay down
weapons and return to mainstream.
"I appeal to the Maoists to lay
down arms. We will ensure that
those who surrender will be ade-
quately rehabilitated and provided
jobs, " Banerjee said in her
Independence Day speech here.
Breaking with a tradition in place
since 1948, the city witnessed a
full-fledged Independence Day
pageant after Banerjee shifted the
venue of the celebrations from the
government headquarters at the
Writers' Building to Red Road in
the heart of the city.
Banerjee hoisted the tri-color and
inspected a guard of honor as hun-
dreds witnessed the event.
The celebrations involved color-
ful tableaux presentation by gov-
ernment departments and march
past involving Kolkata Police, West
Bengal Police and Rapid Action
Force besides school students.
Banerjee promised that law and
Gehlot highlights welfare
schemes on I-Day
Jaipur: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok
Gehlot on Independence Day said his govern-
ment is committed to the welfare of people in
every section of the society.
"My government's efforts are to provide a
transparent and responsive government," said
Gehlot while unfurling the national flag at the
state-level ceremony in Jaipur's Sawai Man
Singh Stadium here on the occasion of the
66th Independence Day.
"We have, from today, launched a free vet-
erinary medicine scheme in the state," Gehlot
said while highlighting various government
schemes.
Addressing a large gathering, Gehlot said
the government would take appropriate steps
in the districts passing through a drought-like
situation. "We are working towards the devel-
opment of the state," he said.
"We have provided jobs to over 70,000
youths in three years. We plan to give over
1.4 lakh jobs to educated youths this year.
Besides, we have launched an unemployed
allowance scheme," Gehlot said.
The chief minister said his government had
also launched the Chief Minister BPL Awas
Yojana under which every year, 100,00 hous-
es would be provided to the below-poverty
line (BPL) families living in urban areas.
"Work on the Metro rail project in Jaipur is
going at full speed and the first phase is likely
to be completed by June 2013," he said.
"Construction of the 3,300-km road net-
work to connect villages will start soon," he
said.
The chief minister also honoured 38 police
and government officers on the Independence
Day.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on 66th Independence Day
Low key I-Day celebrations in Maharashtra
Mumbai: Maharashtra celebrated
Independence Day in a sombre mood
amid flag hoisting ceremonies and
singing of national anthem at most
places in the state.
The celebrations were subdued and
kept low key due to the death of
union minister and former chief min-
ister Vilasrao Deshmukh. In
Mumbai, Chief Minister Prithviraj
Chavan hoisted the tricolor at the
state secretariat Mantralaya.
Governor K. Sankaranarayanan
unfurled the national flag at Council
Hall in Pune. Deputy Chief Minister
Ajit Pawar, socialist Dr. Mohan
Dharia and legislators were also
present.
Maharashtra Pradesh Congress
Committee president Manikrao
Thakre hoisted the national flag at
Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan in Mumbai.
Schools and colleges in Mumbai
and other towns also hoisted the
national flags and celebrated the day
with patriotic fervor. Members of
housing societies also marked the
day by unfurling the tricolor.
Kullu (Himachal Pradesh): In the run up to assembly
elections, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar
Dhumal announced sops for government employees and
pensioners."The government will provide 7 percent dear-
ness allowance to all state employees and pensioners due
from January," he said in his Independence Day speech
here. "This will cost Rs.350 crore to the state exchequer."
He announced enhancement in social security pension to
Rs.450 a month from Rs.400. "It will be effective from
September 1 and would benefit about 300,000 beneficiar-
ies."For daily wagers, Dhumal announced the increase in
salary of daily wagers from Rs.130 to Rs.150 and daily
allowance of Home Guard volunteers from Rs.200 to
Rs.225. Both will come into effect from Sep
For the welfare of police force, the chief minister
announced that all constables completing 20 years of serv-
ices will be designated as honorary head constables. For
students, Dhumal announced a cash award of Rs.31,000 to
the students belonging to the state admitted to IIT/IIM,
besides an annual scholarship of Rs.15,000 to 2,000 girls
ranking at top 2,000 positions in Class XII examination of
the Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education.
On the occasion, the chief minister launched the netbook
distribution scheme under which 4,000 toppers of matric
will be provided notbooks. He announced to provide 50
percent subsidy on wheat seed and fodder to the drought-
hit farmers.Though elections to the 68-member assembly
are due in December, they are likely to be held in
November.
No electricity, no vote:
Nitish Kumar
Patna: In a piece of good news for
the millions of power-starved in
Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar
announced that he will not ask for
votes in the 2015 assembly elec-
tions if his government fails to pro-
vide electricity to the villages.
"I will not ask people to vote for
us in the next state assembly polls if
we fail to provide electricity to each
village in Bihar by 2015," Kumar
said at an official function to mark
Independence Day here.
Kumar said electricity has
become the main focus of his
Janata Dal-United -led government.
"We have been working seriously
on the electricity front to provide it
to all in next few years," he said.
Kumar said the state government
had already demanded its share in
an upcoming thermal power plant
of the National Thermal Power
Corporation in Barh in Patna dis-
trict. Besides, his government has
cleared other power projects in the
private sector in the state, he said.
By promising electricity to all in
Bihar, Kumar has sent a message of
hope to the people, majority of
whom are still living in the lantern
age due to shortage of power in the
state.
While Bihar' s daily power
requirement is between 2,500 and
3, 000 MW, the state produces
merely 100 MW, said a BSEB offi-
cial, who did not want to be named.
The central government supplies
1, 100-1,200 MW power to the
state. Bihar is facing a deficit of
over 1,200 MW, they said.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar
Maharashtra Chief Minister
Prithviraj Chavan
Himachal
Pradesh Chief
Minister Prem
Kumar Dhumal
unfurling the
tri-color
order situation in the state was under control and
warned people against indulging in violence.
"Riots cause unnecessary loss of life and property. It
disturbs peace and retards growth and development,"
she said.
"On this auspicious day let us all pledge that we will
sternly deal with murder, rape and other atrocities espe-
cially on women." Banerjee reiterated her government's
commitment to restore the lost glory of West Bengal.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee
hoisting the tri-color
Dhumal announces sops on I-Day
12
August 18-24, 2012
India Day Special
Chandy
announces
welfare meas-
ures on I-Day
Thi ruvanant hapuram:
Kerala Chief Minister
Oommen Chandy on the
Independence Day
announced a series of wel-
fare measures, among them
free treatment for poor
women and children in all
government hospitals
Thursday onwards.
"The entire treatment will
be free and will include trav-
el expenses to and from the
hospital. Pregnancies and
other ailments would be cov-
ered," said Chandy while
addressing the Independence
Day parade here.
He also said the Right to
Services would become
effective Nov 1 where select
services such as issuing of
certificates would have to be
provided within a specified
time period. Also, from the
next fiscal, all social pen-
sions will be credited to the
bank account of the person
concerned, Chandy said.
In six months, all backlog
vacancies for the physically
challenged, the Scheduled
Castes and the Scheduled
Tribes would be filled, he
said."My government will
see that all have a home and
access to clean drinking
water," he said.
"Through two new
schemes my government has
launched, an estimated four
lakh unemployed youths will
be able to stand up on their
feet through self-employ-
ment programmes," Chandy
said.He said Kerala, which is
dependant on eggs and milk
from other states, would be
able to meet its requirements
through increased produc-
tion. "We are also confident
that we will be able to
change the quality of educa-
tion here through state-of-
the-art institutions," said
Chandy.He also said that
anyone taking the law into
his or her hands would be
dealt with seriously.
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy
inspects the guard of honor
Karnataka celebrates
Independence Day
Bangalore: Karnataka cel-
ebrated the 66th
Independence Day with
flag-hoisting, singing of
national anthems and
march past by security
forces and children.
Patriotic fervor and cul-
tural fiesta marked the day
across the state, with thou-
sands from all walks of life
participating. In Bangalore,
Chief Minister Jagadish
Shettar unfurled the tri-
color and received the
guard of honor at the Field
Marshal Manekshaw
parade ground amid cheers
by about 8,000 people.
Flower petals were show-
ered on the ground from a
low-flying helicopter of the
Indian Air Force.
The gathering included
hundreds of youths sporting
colourful dress, waving the
national flag and singing
patriotic songs in unison.
Shettar went around the
parade ground in an open
jeep greeting the people
and saluting the men and
women in uniform on a
partly cloudy day.
Shettar, who became
chief minister July 12, wit-
nessed an impressive march
past by the Karnataka State
Reserve Police, Rapid
Action Force, Railway
Police Force, Home
Guards, fire brigade,
National Cadet Corps, traf-
fic wardens, Bharat Scouts
& Guides, Seva Dal volun-
teers and about 1,000 boys
and girls from schools
across the city.
About 2,000 police per-
sonnel were deployed in
and around the ground to
provide security. After
Shettar's speech, the cheer-
ing crowds were treated to
an hour-long cultural pro-
gram including a judo con-
test. A theme on the first
Indian freedom fighter Rani
Abbakkadevi, enacted by
about 650 boys and girls
from a city school in a song
and dance form, was
watched in rapt attention
and drew huge applause.
Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar delivering his address
after unfurling the tri-color
Efforts on to revive terrorism
in Tripura: Sarkar
Agartala: Surrendered militants,
separatist outfits and a section of the
opposition are conspiring to revive
militancy in Tripura, Chief Minister
Manik Sarkar said.
"Although the Bangladesh govern-
ment is pro-active to flush out base
camps of northeast militants, efforts
are on to send tribal youths across
the border to take arms training,"
Sarkar said after unfurling the tricol-
or at the Assam Rifles ground here.
"Though terrorism has been tamed
in Tripura, a section of political lead-
ers are trying to revive it to get polit-
ical mileage. These political forces
are also using surrendered terrorists,"
he said in his speech to mark India's
Independence Day. A CPI-M leader,
Sarkar said that in recent years, 93 to
96 percent people had voted during
elections. He said India was sought
to be ruled by a nexus of politicians,
top bureaucrats and corporate man-
agers.
Taj city celebrates Independence Day
Agra: The Taj Mahal city cele-
brated Independence Day with
visible enthusiasm but events
organized by political parties
drew poor crowds.
Such passion and fervor had not
been witnessed in Agra for many
years, thanks to the cooling rain-
bearing clouds. All colleges and
government buildings were deco-
rated and lit up. Schools hoisted
the national flag.
The day began with a race from
Agra's Eklavya Sports Stadium.
"After several years we had
such lovely weather. Many of us
will take a run on the Yamuna
Expressway later in the day," said
insurance agent Sudheir Gupta.
At the Taj, there was a big
crowd waiting to get entry. The
17th century monument to love
has seen unprecedented rush since
the Yamuna Expressway opened.
With the Yamuna flowing in all
glory, the Taj Mahal provided a
breathtaking spectacle.
NCC cadets in colleges joined
parades in smart outfits. Fashion
institute students went around the
city on motorcycles to demon-
strate their patriotic fervour.
At St Peter's College, eminent
homeopath R.S. Pareek hoisted
the tricolour while the students
gave powerful musical drama pre-
sentations.
The Indian flag fluttered on
buildings and vehicles as loud-
speakers blared patriotic film
songs.
A media house organized "Ma
Tujhe Salaam" to promote the
singing of the national anthem.
People were persuaded to halt
for 52 seconds wherever they
were at 10 a.m. at the hooting of
the siren -- to sing the anthem.
Tamil Nadu should
grow at 11 percent: Jaya
Chennai: Tamil Nadu should record a
11 percent economic growth, Chief
Minister J. Jayalalithaa said while
asking India to protects the Tamils in
Sri Lanka.
Unfurling the national flag for the
12th time in her political career on
Independence Day, the chief minister
said: "Tamil Nadu should grow at a
rate of 11 percent or more."
She said the state should log a
growth of 20 percent over the expect-
ed Indian economic growth over the
next 10 years.
To develop the human resource
pool, Jayalalithaa said the govern-
ment was offering incentives such as
a free cycle, lap tops, cash incentives,
books and others to school students.
She said new engineering colleges
had been sanctioned and Rs.100 crore
allotted to improve infrastructure in
government colleges. She said over
100,000 vacancies would be filled in
various government departments.
Jayalalithaa said the government
was taking several steps to end power
cuts in the state. Jayalalithaa, who
came to power last year, said 3.5 mil-
lion mixies and grinders, 170,000
cows and 680,000 goats would be dis-
tributed free to the needy during the
current fiscal.
She said the Karnataka govern-
ment' s decision not to release
Cauvery river water led to cuts in
short term paddy crop acreage.
The chief minister urged the cental
government to take effective meas-
ures to protect the Tamil community
in Sri Lanka. Later, Jayalalithaa dis-
tributed the Kalpana Chawla Award
for bravery to two women and sweet
packets to differently-abled children.
Independence Day was celebrated
across the state as district collectors
unfurled the tricolor. In many schools,
students turned out for the event with
miniature Indian flags pinned on their
uniforms.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa at the I-Day celebrations
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar inspects the parade
14
August 18-24, 2012
India Day Special
Midnight tryst with peace
- on India-Pak border
Attari (Punjab): As the midnight
hour approached, Indians and
Pakistanis faced each other across
the border holding candles to rein-
force the spirit of harmony and
shared heritage in troubled times.
It was to celebrate the birth of
one nation and 66 years of inde-
pendence from British rule for
another.
Pakistan celebrates Independence
Day on Aug 14, India a day later.
Citizens from both sides make a
tryst with peace at this border
checkpost every year on the mid-
night of Aug 14-15.
About 100 people gathered at the
road border, about 30 km from
Amritsar, shouting slogans like
"Hind-Pakistan Maitri Zindabad",
"Pakistan Zindabad" and
"Hindustan Zindabad".
Another slogan which rent the air
was "Bhai ko bhai se milne do" (let
the brothers meet).
The crowd, including women and
children, cut across all age groups.
Troopers on both sides had decorat-
ed the respective sides of their bor-
der posts to mark the occasion.
"Every year during the midnight
of Aug 14-15 people from India
and Pakistan place their candles on
ground zero (on the border) to
express their solidarity for each
other," an official said.
Sweets are exchanged and so are
greetings. "Pakistani soldiers send
us sweets like ladoos on Aug 14
and we give them sweets in
exchange. The exchange also hap-
pens on Holi, Diwali and other fes-
tivals," said the official.
The candlelight vigil saw the par-
ticipation of the cast of upcoming
film "Kyaa Dilli Kya Lahore",
unveiling the first look along with
the trailer.Those present were actor-
turned-director Vijay Raaz, Manu
Risihi, Raj Zutshi, Vishwajeet
Pradhan and producer Karan Arora.
A daily feature on the border is
the beating retreat ceremony,
watched by large cheering crowds
on both sides. The formal ceremo-
ny marks the closure of the gates.
The patriotic spirit rules stronger
Aug 15, making it more special.
Children and women swayed to
the tunes of popular songs like
"Rang De Basanti" and "Suno Zor
Se Duniya Walon". On the other
side, songs such as "Sabse Pyara
Hai Mera Pakistan" were played.
Independence Day celebrations at the Wagah border; children during
the festivities on India-Pakistan border
A walk into Jallianwala
Bagh on I-Day
Amritsar: It's been over 90 years since
British troops led by Brigadier Reginald
Dyer fired at unarmed Indian protesters at
the Jallianwala Bagh here. But walking
through the narrow passage, leading to the
now clean, green and well-maintained park
whose walls still bear the bullet-marks, man-
ages to evoke a connect.
As you step through the only entry to the
park, a stone plaque there reads - "This is the
place where the bullets were fired from."
You can almost visualize the scene from
April 13, 1919. Hundreds of people still
come to visit the historical site, located in a
congested area near the holy Sikh shrine
Harmandar Sahib, popularly known as
Golden Temple. And on the 66th
Independence Day, it was no different at the
place, now a national memorial spot.
"The Jallianwala Bagh massacre was one
of the most tragic incidents in Indian history,
so the place is certainly very important in
context of the nation's independence. It is
very heart-wrenching to see the bullet marks
and makes us realise the sacrifices behind the
freedom we have today," Hema Upadhyay, a
tourist, said. It is hard to think how, from a
lane, where even three people can't walk side
by side comfortably, one man managed to
perpetrate a massacre, leaving a reported 379
dead, and over 1,100 injured.
For several youngsters, the site takes them
back to their history books, but the experi-
ence of seeing the bullet marks and "the
well" in which several people jumped to their
death to escape bullets, is all together differ-
ent. The bullet marks are clearly visible as
they have been highlighted on the walls, and
the 'Martyrs' Well' is covered by a steel net.
"It's something we have been reading about
in our history textbooks since childhood.
Going there is truly an overwhelming experi-
ence. It makes us realise what people had to
go through to get us independence," said a
college student named Ritika.
Neeta Sharma, a housewife, says once you
enter the Jallianwala Bagh, "you automati-
cally go back into the history and start imag-
ining what the atmosphere would have been
like on that fateful day."
According to an administration source at
the Jallianwala Bagh, most tourists come
here during the weekends or on holidays.
"You can say if 100,000 people come to
Golden Temple, double the people come to
see the Jallianwala Bagh," the source said
when asked about the general crowd at the
spot at any given point of time.
"A lot of tourists come from Maharashtra
and down south. Many choose to first visit
the Golden Temple and then they come to the
Bagh, roam around, rest and also learn about
the history. The people are still eager to
know what happened here exactly," added
the source.
Freedom acquiring new
meaning for thinking India
New Delhi: Freedom as an idea is no
longer what it was 65 years ago when
India emerged from the shackles of British
domination at the stroke of midnight Aug
15, 1947. Today, it is an exercise in intro-
spection on how much ground we have
been able to cover towards being a sus-
tainable, sovereign, fair, thinking and
developed nation, as envisaged in the
manifesto of a free India.
It is a not a question of freedom move-
ment any more; it is how people manage
their own affairs, says freedom fighter
Rameshwar Dayal. "For the first few
years, it was well, particularly during
emergency when everything was on time.
Deterioration set in soon after emer-
gency," Dayal said.
The freedom fighter spent six months in
jail - three months in Delhi and three in
Lahore - in 1942 for taking part in the
protest march in the capital, when he was
a student of Class VII at a gurukul.
Dayal advocates "reforms from top-
down". "The crusade against corruption is
right, but you cannot clash with the gov-
ernment. The solution has to come about
with dialogue. Corrupt officials have to be
given a time-frame to reform or should be
dismissed. Action should be instant. The
good aspects of emergency have to be
adopted once more," he said.
Writer and language activist Namita
Gokhale says "India is a republic of
ideas". "In a diverse and plural society like
ours, real independence comes from co-
dependence and the ability to respect and
accommodate differing points of view,"
Gokhale said.
Younger Indians like 30-year-old entre-
preneur and gallerist Anubhav Nath, the
brain behind the Tihar Art Project, say
post-2000, the opening of opportunities in
the country has been phenomenal. "This is
like a phoenix. What we are seeing right
now is tomorrow's history being made
today," Nath said.
"The country is maturing at 65, becom-
ing a senior citizen. The people of this
country are astute. The corruption crusade
is good but the people involved in it have
vested interest. We need freedom from
both," Nath said.
Freedom for professor Simi Malhotra of
Jamia Millia Islamia is "basically about an
important historical and symbolic signpost
in our lives". "We need to move beyond
this symbolism of freedom and translate it
in our everyday lives and see to it that it
extends to the margins of the society,"
Malhotra said.
Malhotra said the "principally and prac-
tically all players in the society have a big
role to play in making the government
accountable".
Happy Independence Day India!
The world welcomes India's amazing new President, Hon. Pranab Mukherjee....
14
June 30-July 6, 2012
Chief Guest Mr TV Mohandas Pai, who will lead a workshop
on philanthropy, and others who will present workshops
at the Konkani Sammelan.
Creative Writing Workshop
Shobhan Bantwal
Award Winning Author
S
hobhan Bantwal is an award-winning
author of six published novels, includ-
ing ' The Full Moon Bride' and ' The
Unexpected Son'. She is also a freelance
writer featured in publications such as
The Writer Magazine, India Abroad, India
Currents and New Woman India. Her
books deal with social-moral issues and
offer a peek into a side of Indian culture
that has rarely been dealt with in fiction
books. Two of her short stories won hon-
ors in national fiction contests sponsored
by Writers Digest and New York Stories
magazines. She has written plays for pre-
vious Konkani Sammelans. She works as
a Supervisor at NJ Dept of Labor.
Konkani Samskara
Raghuchandra Bhat
Founder Puja123.com
R
aghuchandra Bhat was born in a fam-
ily of priests. They are the hereditary
priests for the Laxmi Venkatesh temple in
Gerosoppa (Karnataka).
In 1975 he joined a vedic school named
Shri Shrinivas Nigamagama Patshala,
Mangalore managed by Samsthan Kashi
Math, Varanasi. There, he was exposed to
the (partially Krishna Yajurveda) ancient
Gurukula system. After graduation in
1978, he came to Mumbai, where he start-
ed his consulting practice and conducted
pujas, taught Sanskrit, prayers and slokas
to children.
In 1999, he conducted the installation
ceremony of Hanuman, Ganesha and also
S h i k a r
Prathistapana at
Badarikashramas
India center in
Madihalli. In
2000, he was
invited to join
Badarikashrama
in California as
their full time priest, serving the Bay area
community.
In 2001, he joined the Hindu temple of
Wisconsin, Pewaukee as its founder
priest. He helped install all the deities
and worked on building a large devotee
base. He left in 2006, to found his inde-
pendent consulting practice puja123.com.
Raghuchandra Bhat is proficient in
Hindi, English, Marathi, Kannada &
Konkani languages.
Hinduism
Swami Shantananda
Chinmaya Mission Tri-State Center,
Cranbury, NJ
S
wami Shantananda is a senior disciple
of Swami Chinmayananda. He com-
pleted his spiritu-
al studies at
S a n d e e p a n y
Sadhanalaya in
Mumbai (1978),
and then spent
two years in
retreat in the
Himalayas.
Mesmerized by
Pujya Gurudev,
Swami Shantananda (then Br. Raghavan),
went to serve the Master for almost two
years as his traveling secretary. After
completing his Vedanta course in
Mumbai, Swamiji traveled to Taiwan
where he successfully managed his own
business while teaching Vedanta part-
time.
He has been instrumental in building the
Chinmaya Mission in Hong Kong, Taiwan
and other parts of the world. Since 1992,
when he was given Sannyas by Gurudev,
Swamiji has dedicated his life to the full-
time teaching of Vedanta in the
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York
area. Swami Shantananda is an erudite
scholar and gifted speaker. His indefatiga-
ble energy and razor-sharp intellect are
coupled with a modern mind. In 2001,
Swamiji undertook and completed 50
Geeta Gnana Yagnas all around the world
as his personal tribute to Pujya Gurudev.
Chief Guest
T.V. Mohandas Pai
Chairperson, Manipal Universal
Learning, Ex-CFO Infosys
T
.V. Mohandas Pai is the Chairperson of
Manipal Universal Learning, a global
educational services corporation & advisor
to the Manipal Education & Medical Group.
Mr Pai received a B.Com from St Joseph's
College in Bangalore and a law degree from
Bangalore University and is a fellow of the
institute of chartered accountants. He joined
Infosys in 1994, was elevated as a board
member in 2000, and served as CFO of
Infosys (1994-2006). He was the most
influential, admired and widely emulated
CFO in India. He then became chief of
human resources, education & research at
Infosys.
He is a member SEBI (Securities and
Exchange Board of India) and served in
various capacities in financial institutions.
He conceived and operationalized
Akshaya Patra Foundation in 2000, which
was designed as a mid-day meal program
for school going children. Today it feeds
1.2 million each day in 8,000 government
schools across 9 Indian states with Rs.100
crores revenue each year.
Mr Pai has made personal contributions to
enhance the educational infrastructure at
several government schools and educational
institutions. His generous donations enabled
the establishment of many computer labs in
several educational institutions across India.
He has contributed for the farmers educa-
tional program in Karnataka and teachers
training programs for government schools.
He gives an incredible 40 percent of his
income to social causes and charities each
year. In some years, he has given his entire
salary (estimated to be Rs. 3.5 crore) to
charity. He says, "I give because you cannot
make an island of prosperity amid rampant
poverty."
He is one of the biggest contributors to the
World Konkani Center in Mangalore. After
retiring from Infosys, he has decided to
devote his time for furthering education and
for social causes in India.
Workshops on Entrepreneurship
Ajit Prabhu
CEO of QuEST Global
A
s the co-founder, CEO
& co-chairman, Ajit
Prabhu provides the vision
and strategic direction for
QuEST Global. QuEST
was founded in 1997 to
develop expertise in the
engineering services out-
sourcing space.
Ajit is a Six Sigma
Greenbelt certificate hold-
er. He gained practical
experience at GEs
Corporate R&D Center, in
Schenectady, NY, while
working on power genera-
tion, aircraft engines,
appliances and locomotive
related engineering prob-
lems.
He is a Fellow of the
Royal Aeronautical
Society, UK.
Vinodh (Vin) Bhat
Co-founder & CEO, Saavn
V
inodh (Vin) Bhat is a
cofounder and the
CEO of Saavn (South Asian
Audio Visual Network), a
consumer media and tech
company, which is the
largest digital rights holder,
packager and distributor of
Bollywood movies and
music. Today, Saavn
includes Saavn.com as well
as its Saavn Chrome,
Android and iPhone/iOS
applications.
Vin Bhat began his career
at the investment bank
Donaldson, Lufkin &
Jenrette (DLJ), advising and
financing media, telecom &
technology companies such
as Voyager, Earthlink,
AT&T, @Home and
Akamai. He then co-found-
ed and served as the
Director, Sales & Business
Development at Simile, a
media software and services
company that advised the
business units of Time
Warner, McClatchy, Scripps
and Hearst.
Saavn.coms content is
available and programmed
in over 19 million Time
Warner, Cox, Rogers,
Virgin and other digital
cable homes, on over 30
Internet services such as
iTunes, Amazon MP3 and
Rhapsody, and with all
major wireless carriers
including Verizon Wireless,
AT&T, and Rogers. In addi-
tion, the company reaches
over 3M consumers through
its own direct web sites
such as Saavn.com and
Smashits.com, mobile
applications and services
every month. Saavn is
based in New York, with
offices in Boulder, CO,
Sunnyvale, CA and
Mumbai, India.
Ranjit Date
President and Joint
Managing Director,
Precision Automation and
Robotics India (PARI)
D
r. Ranjit Date received
his Engineering
degree with honors at
College of Engineering,
Pune, and then a Graduate
& Doctoral degrees from
Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute, NY. Ranjit was,
in 1991, the youngest per-
son to receive a doctorate
in this field at RPI.
After earning a doctorate
he returned to India. He
hoped to help automate
factory assembly lines in
his home country. His
company, Precision
Automation and Robotics
India (PARI), has done
that.
Ranjit is responsible for
the vision, business direc-
tion, and mentoring at
PARI. He is also responsi-
ble for building the PARI
brand and formulating
growth strategies.
PARI is amongst the
largest global automation
companies with over 850+
employees and 8 facilities
worldwide. Its solid engi-
neering strength enables
PARI to be a complete
"Solution Provider", from
conceptualizing, designing,
manufacturing, implement-
ing and supporting
advanced factory automa-
tion systems. More recent-
ly it has begun selling
robots to western manufac-
turers like Caterpillar, Ford
and Chrysler.
Ranjit is a tennis and golf
player. He enjoys traveling
and sports. He has visited
past 4 Olympic Games and
is looking forward to
London in 2012.
Thousands
thronged Broadway
in Hicksville to
witness the first
annual parade
celebrating Indias
Independence Day
with Bollywood star
Grand Marshall
Vinod Khanna,
Indian Consul
General Prabhu
Dayal and Nassau
County Executive
Ed Mangano
leading the parade..
16
I ndi a Day S p e ci al
Hicksville, NY: The inaugu-
ral India Day Parade of Long
Island was held in the newest
Little India Hicksville on Au-
gust 11 and attracted an estimat-
ed 15,000 people from Indian
communities scattered in this
upscale suburb of New York.
The parade celebrating In-
dias 66th Independence Day
was led by Bollywood actor
Vinod Khanna, Grand Mar-
shall, Nassau County Execu-
tive Ed Mangano, other elected
offcials such as Supervisors
of Town of Hempstead and of
North Hempstead, Kate Mur-
ray and Jon Kaiman respec-
tively. India was represented
by New York Consul General
Prabhu Dayal.
There were over a dozen
foats, a marching band and
many other groups walking
down the parade route lined by
onlookers. Overall, 100 com-
munity organizations of the
area participated cutting across
religion, politics or region of
origin in India, according to
the event organizers. The pa-
rade started from Patel Broth-
ers Plaza, and winded down
Broadway a stretch dotted by
Indian owned eateries, stores
and offces, some of which of-
fered free water, soft drinks for
all and even bangles to ladies.
August 18-24, 2012
Indians have this big hearts, Grand Marshall Vinod Khanna seems to be gesticulating.
The enthusiasm of the surging crowdswaving Indian flags, shouting slogans
and singing patriotic songs had to beseen to be believed.
The traditional lamp lighting ceremony at the beginning of the parade.
(right) Linda Mangano is thrilled waving the Indian tricolor.
By Parveen Chopra
with Vikas Girdhar
1st India Day Parade in
Long Island creates history
14
Shobhan Bantwal
S
Konkani Samskara
Raghuchandra Bhat
Founder Puja123.com
R
to children.
S h i k a r
Prathistapana at
Badarikashramas
India center in
Madihalli. In
2000, he was
invited to join
Badarikashrama
in California as
community.
Konkani languages.
Hinduism
Swami Shantananda
Cranbury, NJ
S
pleted his spiritu-
al studies at
S a n d e e p a n y
Sadhanalaya in
Mumbai (1978),
and then spent
two years in
retreat in the
Himalayas.
Mesmerized by
Pujya Gurudev,
time.
Chief Guest
T.V. Mohandas Pai
T
Infosys.
poverty."
Ajit Prabhu
CEO of QuEST Global
A
& co-chairman, Ajit
QuEST Global. QuEST
sourcing space.
Ajit is a Six Sigma
experience at GEs
lems.
Royal Aeronautical
Society, UK.
Vinodh (Vin) Bhat
V
cofounder and the
music. Today, Saavn
applications.
Donaldson, Lufkin &
AT&T, @Home and
and Hearst.
Sunnyvale, CA and
Mumbai, India.
Ranjit Date
President and Joint
Managing Director,
D
his Engineering
company, Precision
that.
growth strategies.
PARI is amongst the
ing and supporting
and Chrysler.
London in 2012.
17
The parade culminated near the Asa Mai Hindu
temple where a review stand was erected for digni-
taries. Afterwards, music and dance performances
entertained the assembled crowds all evening from
the stage erected in the nearby parking lot.
Wearing a beige kurta and white dhoti, the tall Vi-
nod Khanna cut a dapper fgure. In his brief remarks
from the review stand, he said, India has come a
long way but still has a long way to go. He added
that nonresident Indians have contributed to Indias
progress and should continue to do so.
Since the parade date came within days of the
Wisconsin gurdwara shooting, messages to re-
move misunderstanding about Sikh identity were
very visible, also highlighting their contributions
to Indias fght for freedom from the British.
The success of the parade, which will now
become an annual calendar event, owes itself to
the planning and hard work of conveners includ-
ing Bobby Kumar, Animesh Goenka, Harendra
Singh, Kamlesh Mehta, Gobind Munjal, Lal Mot-
wani, Indu Jaiswal and Mohinder Taneja.
Air India, Patel Brothers and Harry Singh of Bol-
la Oil were the main sponsors of the event.
Lauding the organizers efforts, said Nitin Vora,
Past President of Federation of Indian Associations
(FIA-Tristate), What a gala display of Indian cul-
ture at the frst India Day Parade organized by all
India loving and respecting volunteers from Long
Island. I know the tremendous work that goes in or-
ganizing this kind of an event. He was also happy
to watch second generation youngsters participat-
ing in the cultural programs with enthusiasm.
The weather gods cooperated despite forecast
of thundershowers. In fact, sun was too strong for
some. Many of the parades onlookers were of non-
South-Asian descent--some even had beach chairs
set up along shadier parts of the route and next to
stores to watch the foats go by.
People on the foats sang along loud and proud to
the blaring religious hymns and popular songs.
At the beginning of the route (Patel Brothers), free
kulf and coconut water were being distributed. Small
businesses along the parade route seemed especially
busy as they gave out material promoting themselves.
Even as the dignitaries were still watching the pass-
ing parade from the review stand, the huge stage at the
parking lot came to life. National Anthems of India
and America were sung with everybody joining in. The
audience took great joy in watching DJ Kucha call up
the town supervisors and community leaders on stage
and teaching them bhangra steps. Meanwhile the food
and other stalls were doing brisk business.
Hicksville, in the middle of Long Island and well
connected by Long Island Rail Road to Manhattan,
some 30 miles away, has become a magnet for Indian
families trying to escape the cramped living in nearby
Queens and other city areas. This Little India is be-
coming big on the map of Indian America.
August 18-24, 2012
Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano, second Grand Marshall besides Khanna, rising to climb on to the stage.
Vinod and Kavita Khanna, Hon. Mangano,
and CG Prabhu Dayal are joined by Kate
Murray, Indu Jaiswal and other marchers.
Consul General Prabhu Dayal speaking
from the Parade Review Stand.
18
August 18-24, 2012
India Day Special
By Vikas Girdhar
A
day before the first annu-
al India Day Parade in
Hicksville, for which he
was to play the starring role of
Grand Marshall, Bollywood actor
Vinod Khanna addressed organiz-
ers and the media.
Khanna, whom many people
present grew up watching in the
70s and 80s Hindi movies,
acknowledged the honor of being
selected as a Grand Marshall for
the parade and appreciated how
America has encouraged the
flourishing of Indian values since
its independence in 1947.
Said Khanna, Having a parade
like this in America speaks vol-
umes about the Indian communi-
ty over here. I dont have to say
how well youve done or how
proud you have made India. The
most lovely thing that I see in the
Indian community and the chil-
dren here is that you have kept
our culture alive.
He cited the statistic that
Indians have the highest per capi-
ta income in all of America.
Its a great achievement for all
the businesspeople and profes-
sionals. But you have also kept
all the traditions of India alive.
The arts and cultureI see more
kids here performing
Bharatanatyam than in Mumbai.
Celebrating independence is the
most wonderful thing after so
many years of British rule that we
had in India. We have gained
independence and we have come
a long way but there is still a long
way to go. I think one of the
major factors of India suddenly
becoming a world economic
power is because of the NRIs
who have sent so much money
back home.
Khanna said that India being
mentioned in the same breath as
other economic powers was not
the case even 15-20 years ago.
Many families at the time were
struggling to make ends meet but
nowadays, the job growth and
appeal of making money back in
India is significant.
Today there is enough oppor-
tunity for youngsters to come and
visit but then also wanting to set-
tle back in India and to continue
to the Indian economy and devel-
opment. I never thought in my
lifetime I would see a time
like this.
Grand Marshall Vinod Khanna (sitting, third from left) at a meeting with parade organizers and media.
Grand Marshall Vinod Khanna
lauds NRIs' role in India's progress
India Day Parade Hicksville
After a job well done, parade working committee members letting their hair down.
The lead India Day Parade float: Incredible India indeed in
Hicksville.
People came to the parade
dressed colorfully.
Vinod Khanna, accompanied by Kamlesh Mehta, waving to the
crowd from Review Stand.
Rob Walker, (right) Chief Deputy Executive of Nassau County,
made a fleeting appearance.
DJ Kucha (fourth from right) had fun inviting dignitaries and
organizers to the stage.
A citation from New York State was given to
Patel Brothers, main parade sponsor.
WE SERVE WITH OUR
PERSONALIZED SERVICES FOR:
Business Checking Accounts
Certificate of Deposits
Free Rupee Remittance To India
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20
August 18-24, 2012
India Day Special
PRIDE RIDES RIOT OF COLOR
Patel Brothers was the main sponsor of the parade, and put up their float,
which also promoted their Swad brand.
Bolla Oil, another big sponsor of the parade, did not need a float, they paraded their oil tanker.
The Rajasthan Association of North America (RANA) put up their own cultural float.
Posing with it on the left is Haridas Kotahwala, RANA President.
Lal Motwani and Jessica Taneja leading the parade followed by the
Nassau County band as waving Indian and American flags intermingled.
Harry Singh (with the mike) of Bolla Oil brought
along his own dholak man.
Indus American Bank had to participate, they have their branch situated
right on Broadway in Hicksville.
Commercial real estate tycoon Darshan S. Bagga put up a float to remove
misunderstanding about Sikhs and highlight their role in freedom struggle.
22
August 18-24, 2012
India Day Special
Dance and song performances by a variety of groups continued
all evening. Bolly Arts was the most prominent group.
FUN FOOD FIESTA
The swelling crowds enjoyed themselves fully as the
entertainment program unspooled.
National Anthems of India and America were sung from the stage,
with everybody joining in.
Members of the Rotary Jericho Sunrise club posing for a photo.
Stalls carrying food and knick-knacks did brisk business. At the parade starting point, Patel Brothers offered free refreshments
Local officials of Air India, the national airline,
manning their stall at the fair that followed the parade.
Queues formed at AW Mobile stall to spin the
wheel to win free gifts.
Youd expect free water and soda at a mass Indian event,
but a variety store along the parade route on Broadway
also gave away colorful free bangles.
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24
August 18-24, 2012
India Day Special
Nassau County celebrates
Indias Independence Day
By Vikas Girdhar
Mineola, NY: Commemorating the
66th Independence Day of India,
Nassau County Executive Edward P.
Mangano welcomed prominent com-
munity members, Indian-Americans
and special honorees to the Theodore
Roosevelt Executive and Legislative
Building for a joyous celebration and
flag hoisting on the morning of
August 15. The same night, the
dome of the prestigious building,
seat of the Nassau County, was illu-
minated with the orange, green and
white colors of the Indian flag.
Mangano, assisted by the collec-
tive efforts of the crew of India Day
Parade in Hicskville, Long Island,
and the National Federation of
Indian American Associations
(NFIA), hosted the event. The
bringing in and presentation of the
Indian and American flags in a grand
way was led by Champakbhai
Parikh, who has served that role for
ten consecutive years and also done
the same for ceremonies at the
Ganesh mandir in Flushing and the
Gujarati Samaj. NFAI President Lal
Motwani and Chairman of the
Independence Party of Nassau
County Bobby Kumar, gave both a
historical context to the event and an
appreciation of those who came and
made it possible.
Indu Jaiswal and Kamlesh Mehta,
Director of Business and Economic
Development in the county and a
founder of the India Day Parade in
Long Island also addressed the
assembly. Prof. Parveen Chopra pre-
sented the Vote of Thanks and
thanked all major sponsors of the
India Day Parade on August 11.
Those sponsors include Patel
Brothers, Bolla Oil, Bolly Arts, Air
India, MetLife, Kingfisher Airlines,
Antuns Caterers, BP, Doshi
Diagnostics, Friends of Good
Health, Habib American Bank, Sikh
Organization of New York and The
South Asian Times.
Mangano acknowledged that the
Indian-American community has
played a very important role in the
growth of Nassau County and
America. He said that he is delighted
that the community has been able to
maintain its heritage, culture and tra-
ditions while assimilating with the
culture and life of America.
Today we celebrate independence
and its really a great testament to
Champakbhai Parikh and the group flag march holding tricolors.
Nassau County Executive Honorable Ed Mangano hoisting the flag of India.
Inder Bindra, co-founder of
Nargis Dutt Memorial
Foundation, was honored with a
citation by Hon. Mangano. Bobby Kumar introduced County Executive Edward P. Mangano
County Executive Edward P. Mangano spoke before the large crowd. Hon. Ed Mangano making an expansive gesture.
25
August 18-24, 2012
India Day Special
your love of India, said Mangano. We gather
together on a work day and we are here for the
most important thing that we have in the
United States and that is freedom, independ-
ence and diversity. Jai Hind!
Mangano was also one of the three Grand
Marshalls this past weekend at the first ever
India Day Parade in Hicksville attract over
12,000 people from all walks of life. The other
two were Bollywood star Vinod Khanna and
Harry Singh of Bolla Oil.
One of the three special honorees during the
event was Inder Bindra, who started an elec-
tronics business known as M&B Appliances
and Odeon Distributers. He also co-founded
the Nargis Dutt Memorial Cancer Foundation
of New York, which continues to pursue its
goal of providing cancer care to every level of
Indian society through non-profit organizations
in India. The second honoree was Dr. Kishore
Kuncham, Superintendent of Freeport Public
Schools, the first Indian-American in New
York State to ever hold that position. Dr.
Kuncham expressed his thanks and acknowl-
edged the important of independence but also
said India needs to focus on working on other
societal factors for a better future.
We need to eradicate issues such as poverty,
disease, corruption and other things, said Dr.
Kuncham. Lets reflect upon these to create a
better future. Im very proud to be Indian-
American and standing before you. God bless
America and God bless India.
The third and final honoree was Dr. Runi
Mukherji-Ratnam, Chair of the Psychology
Department and Director of the General
Education program at SUNY College at Old
Westbury. She is also the President and found-
ing member of the South Asian Council for
Social Services. After the honorees spoke, two
patriotic dance performances were organized
by Bolly Arts, a premier institution preserving
and promoting India culture among the
younger generation of Indian Americans.
The event was emceed by Suchita Chadha,
the National Director for South Asian
Recruiting at MetLife. Breakfast and refresh-
ments were provided by Rajbhog in Hicksville.
All three honorees, organizers and esteemed community members posing for a group picture.
Bolly Arts dancers performed after the speeches.
Bolly Arts Sunita Sadhnani (right) and performers posing with Hon.
Mangano and Kamlesh Mehta.
The elaborate flag hoisting ceremony was
conducted by Champakbhai Parikh.
Dr. Runi Mukherji-Ratnam, Chair of the
Psychology Department and Director of the
General Education program at SUNY
College at Old Westbury, was also honored.
Dr. Kishore Kuncham, Superintendent of
Freeport Public Schools, was honored.
14
Shobhan Bantwal
S
Konkani Samskara
Raghuchandra Bhat
Founder Puja123.com
R
to children.
S h i k a r
Prathistapana at
Badarikashramas
India center in
Madihalli. In
2000, he was
invited to join
Badarikashrama
in California as
community.
Konkani languages.
Hinduism
Swami Shantananda
Cranbury, NJ
S
pleted his spiritu-
al studies at
S a n d e e p a n y
Sadhanalaya in
Mumbai (1978),
and then spent
two years in
retreat in the
Himalayas.
Mesmerized by
Pujya Gurudev,
time.
Chief Guest
T.V. Mohandas Pai
T
Infosys.
poverty."
Ajit Prabhu
CEO of QuEST Global
A
& co-chairman, Ajit
QuEST Global. QuEST
sourcing space.
Ajit is a Six Sigma
experience at GEs
lems.
Royal Aeronautical
Society, UK.
Vinodh (Vin) Bhat
V
cofounder and the
music. Today, Saavn
applications.
Donaldson, Lufkin &
AT&T, @Home and
and Hearst.
Sunnyvale, CA and
Mumbai, India.
Ranjit Date
President and Joint
Managing Director,
D
his Engineering
company, Precision
that.
growth strategies.
PARI is amongst the
ing and supporting
and Chrysler.
London in 2012.
26
28
August 18-24, 2012
India Day Special
New York: History of sorts was made when for
the first time in 65 years since India gained
freedom, an astronaut Sunita Williams
greeted Indians around the world from space.
This event was made possible with meticulous
planning and timely coordination by NASA
authorities between Long Island teen Riti
Sunshine Bhalla and the Indian American astro-
naut.
"Thank you, Riti Sunshine for inviting me to
join in your Indian Independence celebration,"
said Williams, while displaying the tricolor flag
of India on board the International Space
Station. "I wish India a very happy
Independence Day for August 15. India is a
wonderful country and I am very proud to be a
part of India," the astronaut said in her video
message, telecast on 80 national and regional
TV channels in India and watched by over 100
million viewers across the country. She also
gave a guided tour of the Space Station to the
people of India.
Five years ago, we started an annual TV pro-
gram with the intent to pay homage to the free-
dom fighters who gave up their lives so India
could be free. This year, we are dedicating our
Independence Day Special to Sunita Williams,
who has made a billion people of India so
proud, said Riti Sunshine, 18, a student of New
York University. Bhalla started her annual
Independence Day program in 2008, when she
was only 13 years old.
The unique celebration of the 65th anniver-
sary of Indias independence in the International
Space Station was the brainchild of Riti
Sunshine and her father Varinder Bhalla, pro-
ducer and director of the program. The author-
ities at NASA Johnson Space Center were most
helpful in making this event possible, said an
ecstatic Bhalla. Several American public offi-
cials, appearing as guests on the program, felici-
tated Williams in space and commended her
achievements. Im proud to claim her a daugh-
ter of Massachusetts, said Governor Deval
Patrick. Congressman Steve Israel called
Williams a perfect example of an Indian
American role model. As an astronaut for
NASA, she has literally gone above and beyond
and I am so proud of her.
US Senator Bob Menendez remarked, Today
we also celebrate the contributions of Indian
Americans to this great nation, specifically the
contributions of Astronaut Sunita Williams to
Americas space program.
Sunita Williams greeted Indians and thanked Riti Bhalla (right)
for inviting her to the annual celebration.
Its a great honor for me to be on the
same program and share the same air space
as Sunita Williams, Shah Rukh Khan told
Riti Sunshine Bhalla.
Dr. Deepak Pandya, father of
Sunita Williams, and Massachusetts
Governor Deval Patrick with
Riti Bhalla in Boston.
Riti Bhalla made Sunita
Williams I Day message
from space possible
30
August 18-24, 2012
India Day Special
The Space Odyssey
This year will go down in Indias history as a milestone one when the nations scientific community
touched the skies with glory, literally. It was in this year that Indias space and missile scientists
made the nation proud with the twin successful launches of its all-weather Radar Imaging Satellite
(Risat-1), that can be put to both civilian and military use, and the 5,000-km long-range
Agni-V ballistic missile that can reach targets deep inside Chinas northern parts and the
whole of Pakistan. Come, be part of the Indian space odyssey mission
F
rom the days of having a
church as control room, the
bishops house as office, a
bicycle as ferry, naked eyes to track
the smoke plume at Thumba in
Kerala, and converting a toilet into
a satellite data receiving center in
Bangalore, the Indian space
odyssey has come a long way to
launching lunar probes, working on
a Mars mission and ferrying foreign
satellites into orbit.
Today, India is reckoned as a seri-
ous emerging player in the global
satellite launch and manufacturing
industry and the market leader in
vending images sent by its remote
sensing/earth observation satellites.
Ferrying 27 foreign satellites till
date, ISRO, in August 2012, would
carry an 800 kg French satellite
(the heaviest foreign payload to be
carried by an Indian rocket), signal-
ing the increased confidence in the
space agencys PSLV rocket. The
space agency has also jointly built
two heavy satellites the 3,453 kg
W2M and the 2,541 kg Hylas
for the French agency EADS
Astrium.
On its own, India uses its satel-
lites for civilian (earth observa-
tion/remote sensing, communica-
tion, meteorology) and defense pur-
poses. Recently, the government
told Parliament that communication
satellites for Navy and Air Force
would be launched within a two-
year timeframe.
The high point in Indias space
odyssey was its moon mission in
2008 when it launched
Chandrayaan-1. Chandrayaan-2, a
joint lunar exploration mission with
the Russian Federal Space Agency,
is slated for launch in 2014.
But the achievements that ISRO
started notching up in rocket and
satellite launches since 1990s were
due to the trials and tribulations
that its founding fathers underwent
while laying the building blocks.
Though ISRO has been flying
sounding rockets (experimental
rockets) from Thumba since 1963,
its efforts to launch a rocket with a
heavier payload actually started
with Satellite Launch Vehicle-3
(SLV-3) in 1980.
However, by that time, ISRO had
already built and launched two
satellites the 358 kg Aryabhatta
and the 444 kg Bhaskara-1.
After Bhaskara-1, the Indian
space agency built the APPLE com-
munication satellite that laid the
ground for the INSAT series satel-
lites possessing multiple capabili-
ties telecom, television, meteor-
ological and imaging.
However, success started smiling
at ISRO from INSAT-1B onwards
which, according to Rao, ushered in
the communication revolution in
India. There was no looking back
for the space agency on the satellite
side. From one-tonne satellites, the
INSAT series started growing in
weight to become three-tonners and
ISRO later started making satellites
for others.
Scientists at the Vikram Sarabhai
Space Centre (VSSC) in
Thiruvananthapuram during those
times were, however, toiling to get
their rocket right, as the SLV and
Augmented SLV (ASLV) missions
gave mixed results.
The one GSLV rocket fitted with
an indigenous cryogenic engine
failed during a flight. The failure of
a second GSLV rocket in 2010
forced ISRO to apply the brakes on
GSLV to take a detailed look at
its heavy-rocket program.
Indias journey in missile tech-
nologies has been one roller-coaster
ride, punctuated with efforts at iso-
lating the country from obtaining
critical dual-use technologies for
conducting its only two nuclear
tests in 1974 and 1998.
Effectively, Indias entry into
missile development to provide it a
credible second-strike option and
deterrent to any nuclear adventure
that its adversaries in the neighbor-
hood could attempt happened only
in 1983 when Dr. A.P.J. Abdul
Kalam was roped in to pioneer the
Integrated Guided Missile
Development Program (IGMDP).
The IGMDP was successfully con-
cluded in 2007.
But its first step was the 150-km-
range, single-stage, liquid-pro-
pelled, surface-to-surface Prithvi
missiles test in February 1988. The
single-stage, solid-fuel 700-900-km
range Agni-I test quickly followed
in May 1989. The Missile
Technology Control Regime
(MTCR) did slow down the Indian
missile program but did not cripple
it in any way. India continued its
march and here we have Agni-V,
with all its three stages powered by
solid propellants, as a game-
changer for India.
The march was ably aided by
DRDOs consortium approach
that roped in many of its own labo-
ratories to work on specific tech-
nologies, private industries that
produced components through
technology transfers and universi-
ties that collaborated on projects to
infuse new thinking. The success
story continues.
Travel in Time
1962 The Indian National
Committee for Space Research is
set up by Department of Atomic
Energy, and work begins on
building Thumba Equatorial
Rocket Launching Station
(TERLS).
1963 First sounding rocket is
launched.
1965 Space Science and
Technology Center is established
in Thumba, Kerala.
1968: Experimental Satellite
Communication Earth Station is
set up in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
1969 The Indian Space
Research Organization (ISRO) is
formed under Department of
Atomic Energy.
1971 The Satish Dhawan Space
Centre is formed in Sriharikota,
Andhra Pradesh.
1972 Department of Space is
established and ISRO brought
under DOS. ISRO Satellite
Centre is established in Bangalore
and the Space Applications
Centre is formed in Ahmedabad.
1976 First Indian satellite
Aryabhatta launched.
1979 Bhaskara-1, an earth
observation experimental satellite
is launched. First experimental
launch of Satellite Launch
Vehicle (SLV-3) carrying Rohini
satellite. Satellite is not placed in
the orbit.
1980 Second experimental
launch of SLV-3 with Rohini
satellite. Mission successful.
1981 First developmental
launch of SLV-3.
1982 Launch of Insat-1A com-
munication satellite by an U.S.
rocket.
1983 Second developmental
flight of SLV-3 places Rohini
satellite in orbit. Insat system is
commissioned with the launch to
Insat-1B satellite.
1984 First Indian astronaut
Rakesh Sharma enters Russian
space station Salyut 7.
1987 First development launch
of Augmented SLV (ASLV) with
satellite SROSS-1. Mission fails.
1992 First successful launch of
ASLV placing SROSS-C satellite.
Launch of Insat-2A the first
satellite of the indigenously-built
second generation Insat series,
followed by series 3 and 4.
1996 Third developmental
flight of PSLV with IRS-P3.
1999 PSLV carries foreign pay-
loads (Korean and German satel-
lites), along with ISROs satellite
Oceansat.
2001 Successful launch of
heavy rocket Geosynchronous
Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV)
with GSAT-1 satellite.
2004 Launch of Edusat by
GSLVs first operational flight.
2005 Second launch pad at
Sriharikota. Launch of Cartosat-1,
Hamsat by PSLV.
2007 Launch of Cartosat-2 with
Space Capsule Recovery
Experiment and two foreign satel-
lites and successful recovery of
the space capsule.
2008 Launch of Israeli satellite
Tecsar by PSLV. Launch of 10
satellites by a single PSLV two
Indian and eight foreign. Indias
first moon mission Chandrayaan-
1 by PSLV is planned.
2009 Launch of Radar Imaging
Satellite (Risat-2) and Anusat
from Anna University (first satel-
lite from an Indian University) by
PSLV.
2010 Failure of two GSLV mis-
sions. Launch of Cartosat-2B,
STUDSAT and three small for-
eign satellites by PSLV.
2011 Launch of Resourcesat-2
and two small satellites by PSLV.
Launch of GSAT-12 by PSLV.
Launch of Megha Tropiques and
three small satellites by PSLV.
2012 Launch of Risat-1 by
PSLV.
32
August 18-24, 2012
India Day Special
I
ndias Unique Identification (UID)
project, touted as the worlds biggest
social project, is still years from com-
pletion but is certainly regarded as the
mother of all government projects. So
massive is the project's scale that many
around the world are watching closely to
see whether it can meet its objectives.
Aadhaar (which means foundation), a
public scheme similar to social security
number in the US, was launched by
Nandan Nilekani, a software billionaire of
Infosys fame. He intends to create a
national biometric database ten times larg-
er than the worlds next-largest biometric
database. The aim is to bridge the gap
between the extraordinary economic dis-
tances between those who have benefited
from Indias boom of the past two decades
and those who have not.
Under the scheme, Unique Identification
Authority of India (UIDAI) captures bio-
metric details (fingerprints, photo and iris)
of 1.2 billion people. With the information
gathered, the government hopes to issue a
unique 12-digit Aadhaar ID number to
every man, woman, and child. If success-
ful, India will build a major new piece of
technological infrastructure for a modern
economy, while fundamentally transform-
ing the way residents interact with their
government.
Currently, each governmental depart-
ment works in isolation, maintaining its
own separate databases and records. Over
time, systematic corruption and misman-
agement have populated these databases
with fraudulent information. The Indian
departments handling social support pro-
grams are often the most abused.
The root cause to uneven distribution is
the lack of most basic verifiable identity
documents. Hundreds of millions of
Indians are virtually invisible to the state.
They have no ID. They may have ration
cards or election cards but no real identifi-
cation.
Many see Aadhaar as a potential game-
changer in India, bringing the country's
poorest citizens into the mainstream,
reducing waste while ensuring federal
welfare money reaches those who need it
most. If handled right it could change the
face of India.
However skeptics see a threat of state
intrusions, or detect patriotic vanity. There
are concerns over its cost, discrepancies in
data collection, implications for national
security and fears that the data could be
misused. There are questions on who will
have the access to the data?
Proponents of the project argue that it
will lead to a fairer and more equitable
distribution of public benefits by stream-
lining the Public Distribution System and
plugging leakages in it. The proponents
also believe that Aadhaar will open doors
for financial services especially in rural
areas.
If the government is able to implement
the Aadhaar scheme, India will jump two
steps ahead from no ID to online ID.
Update
Since its launch in 2010, nearly 200

million UIDs have been generated. The
goal is to cover half the population by
2014.

The second phase of the Aadhaar
project is beginning.

Delhi government officials have
detected a large number of fraudulent
enrolments in the first phase of Aadhaar
that ended in February after registering
1.3 crore people in the city.

Indias Market regulator Securities
and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
allows Aadhaar as valid address proof for
investors.

The UID has also tied up with state-
owned banks to enable migrant workers to
transfer money from the cities to their
families in the villages, using their UID
numbers.
Iris scan and fingerprints capture: India is going from no ID to online ID.
Inclusive India:
creating a billion
identities
T
he Indian economic policy after
independence was influenced
by t he col oni al experi ence,
which was seen by Indian leaders as
exploitative, and by those leaders'
exposure to British social democracy
as well as the progress achieved by the
planned economy of the Soviet Union.
Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime
minister of India, along with the statis-
tician Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis,
formulated and oversaw economic
policy during the initial years of the
country's existence.
They expected favorable outcomes
from their strategy, involving the rapid
development of heavy industry by
both public and private sectors, and
based on direct and indirect state inter-
vention, rather than the more extreme
Soviet-style central command system.
The rate of growth of the Indian
economy in the first three decades
after independence was derisively
referred to as the Hindu rate of growth
by economi st s, because of t he
unfavourable comparison with growth
rates in other Asian countries.
Since 1965, the use of high-yielding
varieties of seeds, increased fertilizers
and improved irrigation facilities con-
tributed to the 'Green Revolution' in
India, which improved the condition
of agriculture by increasing crop pro-
ductivity, improving crop patterns and
strengthening forward and backward
l i nkages bet ween agri cul t ure and
industry.
However, it has also been criticized
as an unsustainable effort, resulting in
the growth of capitalistic farming,
ignoring institutional reforms and
widening income disparities.
Subsequently, the Emergency and
Garibi Hatao concept by which the
income tax levels at one point raised to
a maximum of 97.5%, a record in the
world for non-communist economies,
started diluting the earlier efforts.
In the late 1970s, the government led
by Morarji Desai eased restrictions on
capacity expansion for incumbent
companies, removed price controls,
reduced corporate taxes and promoted
the creation of small scale industries in
large numbers. However, the subse-
quent government policy of Fabian
socialism hampered the benefits of the
economy, l eadi ng t o hi gh fi scal
defi ci t s and a worseni ng current
account.
The collapse of the Soviet Union,
which was India's major trading part-
ner, and the Gulf War, which caused a
spike in oil prices, resulted in a major
balance-of-payments crisis for India,
which found itself facing the prospect
of defaulting on its loans.
India asked for a $1.8 billion bailout
loan from the International Monetary
Fund (IMF), which in return demand-
ed reforms. In response, Pri me
Minister Narasimha Rao, along with
his finance minister Manmohan Singh,
initiated the economic liberalization of
1991. The reforms did away with the
Licence Raj, reduced tariffs and inter-
est rat es and ended many publ i c
monopol i es, al l owi ng aut omat i c
approval of foreign direct investment
in many sectors.
India had progressed towards a free-
market economy, with a substantial
reduction in state control of the econo-
my and increased financial liberaliza-
tion.
Thi s has been accompani ed by
increases in life expectancy, literacy
rates and food security, although urban
residents have benefited more than
agricultural residents.
Indi a' s agri cul t ural economy i s
undergoi ng st ruct ural changes.
Between 1970 and 2011, the GDP
share of agriculture has fallen from 43
to 16 percent. This isn't because of
reduced importance of agriculture, or a
consequence of agricultural policy.
This is largely because of the rapid
economic growth in services, industri-
al output, and non-agricultural sectors
in India between 2000 to 2010.
India achieving:
The elephant isn't tired yet
Goldman Sachs predicted that India's GDP in current prices would overtake that of
France and Italy by 2020, Germany, UK and Russia by 2025 and Japan by 2035,
making it the third largest economy of the world, behind the US and China.
34
August 18-24, 2012
India Day Special
P
oised to become a US$ 225 billion
industry by 2020, the Indian infor-
mation technology (IT) industry has
played a key role in putting India on the
global map. The IT-BPO sector has
become one of the most significant growth
catalysts for the Indian economy. In addi-
tion to fuelling Indias economy, this
industry is also positively influencing the
lives of its people through an active direct
and indirect contribution to various socio-
economic parameters such as employ-
ment, standard of living and diversity. The
industry has played a significant role in
transforming Indias image from a slow
moving bureaucratic economy to a land of
innovative entrepreneurs and a global
player in providing world class technolo-
gy solutions and business services,
according to National Association of
Software and Service Companies (NASS-
COM).
The workforce in Indian IT industry will
touch 30 million by 2020 and this sunrise
industry is expected to continue its mam-
moth growth, expect various industry
experts.
Furthermore, NASSCOM said that the
domestic IT-BPO revenues excluding
hardware are expected to have grown at
almost 16 per cent to reach US$ 17.35 bil-
lion in FY2011. Strong economic growth,
rapid advancement in technology infra-
structure, increasingly competitive Indian
organizations, enhanced focus by the gov-
ernment and emergence of business mod-
els that help provide IT to new customer
segments are the key drivers for increased
technology adoption in India.
India will see its number of internet
users triple to 237 million by 2015, from
81 million registered in September 2010,
according to a report titled 'Internet's New
bn' , by the Boston Consulting Group
(BCG). BCG said Internet penetration rate
in India is expected to reach 19 per cent
by 2015, up from the current seven per
cent.
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
(TRAI) is targeting a 10-fold increase in
broadband subscribers to 100 million by
2014. The country has 10.29 million sub-
scribers now. "We will have 100 million
broadband subscribers by 2014," J.S.
Sarma, Chairman, TRAI said.
The Growth Story
India is a preferred destination for com-
panies looking to offshore their IT and
back-office functions. It also retains its
low-cost advantage and is a financially
attractive location when viewed in combi-
nation with the business environment it
offers and the availability of skilled peo-
ple.
In 2010, the domestic BPO market was
worth US$ 1.1 billion. The firm predicts
that the domestic BPO market would
reach US$ 1.69 billion in 2012 and
increase to US$ 2.47 billion by 2014.
Road Ahead
The Indian information technology sec-
tor continues to be one of the sunshine
sectors of the Indian economy showing
rapid growth and promise.
According to a report prepared by
McKinsey for NASSCOM called
'Perspective 2020: Transform Business,
Transform India', the exports component
of the Indian industry is expected to reach
US$ 175 billion in revenue by 2020. The
domestic component will contribute US$
50 billion in revenue by 2020. Together,
the export and domestic markets are likely
to bring in US$ 225 billion in revenue, as
new opportunities emerge in areas such as
public sector and healthcare and as geog-
raphies including Brazil, Russia, China
and Japan opt for greater outsourcing.
Information
Technology Indias
sunshine sector
T
he Indian biotechnology sector is one
of the fastest growing knowledge-
based sectors in India and is expected
to play a key role in shaping India's rapidly
developing economy. With numerous com-
parative advantages in terms of research and
development (R&D) facilities, knowledge,
skills and cost effectiveness, the biotechnol-
ogy industry in India has immense potential
to emerge as a global key player.
The Indian biotech industry grew threefold
in five years to report revenues of US$ 3 bil-
lion during 2009-11, a rise of 17 per cent
over the previous year, according to the
eighth annual survey conducted by the
Association of Biotechnology-Led
Enterprises (ABLE) and a monthly journal,
BioSpectrum.
India has many assets in its strong pool of
scientists and engineers, vast institutional
network, and cost effective manufacturing.
There are over a hundred national research
laboratories employing thousands of scien-
tists. There are more than 300 college level
educational and training institutes across the
country offering degrees and diplomas in
biotechnology, bio-informatics and the bio-
logical sciences, producing nearly 500,000
students on an annual basis.
India is recognized as a mega bio-diversity
country. Biotechnology in India offers
opportunities to convert the biological
resources into economic wealth and employ-
ment opportunities. Innovative products and
services that draw on renewable resources
bring greater efficiency into industrial
processes, check environmental degradation
and deliver a more bio-based economy.
In fact, India has been ranked among the
top 12 biotech destinations worldwide and
third largest in the Asia-Pacific region.
Key segments in the Indian biotechnology
industry:
Bio-pharma
Bio-services
Bio-agri
Bio-industrial
Bio-informatics
Market Size
The biopharma sector contributed nearly
three-fifth to the total industry's revenues at
US$ 1.9 billion, a rise of 12 per cent, fol-
lowed by bioservices at US$ 573 million and
bioagri at US$ 420.4 million. The remaining
revenue came from the bioindustrials and
bioinformatics segments, US$ 122.5 million
and US$ 50. 2 million, respectively.
Biopharma and bioservices sectors con-
tributed 63 per cent and 33 per cent, respec-
tively, to the total biotech exports. The bioa-
griculture, bioindustrials and bioinformatics
sectors remained focused on domestic opera-
tions, bringing in nearly 90 per cent of their
revenues from India. While the industry,
spanning bio-pharma and agri-biotech,
accounted for US$ 3 billion, the equipment
and ancillary segment contributed around
US$ 1 billion.
Biofuels would also offer a huge growth
opportunity in biotech, according to Kiran
Mazumdar Shaw, Chairman and Managing
Director, Biocon.
Investments
Investments, along with outsourcing activ-
ities and exports, are key drivers for growth
in the biotech sector.
FDI up to 100 per cent is permitted
through the automatic route for manufactur-
ers of drugs and pharmaceuticals.
According to data released by the
Department of Industrial Policy and
Promotion (DIPP), the drugs and pharma-
ceuticals sector has attracted foreign direct
investment (FDI) worth Rs 42,745.26 crore
(US$ 7.61 billion) between April 2000 and
January 2012.
Road Ahead
India is already being globally recognised
as a manufacturer of economical, high-quali-
ty bulk drugs and formulations. With a huge
base of talented, skilled and cost-competitive
manpower, and a well developed scientific
infrastructure, India has great potential to
become a leading global player in biotech-
nology.
Protein and antibody production and the
fabrication of diagnostic protein chips are a
promising area for investment. Stem cell
research, cell engineering and cell-based
therapeutics is another area, wherein India
will cash in its expertise.
India has the potential to become a major
producer of transgenic rice and several
genetically modified (GM) or engineered
vegetables. Hybrid seeds, including GM
seeds, represent new business opportunities
in India based on yield improvement.
The country offers a suitable population
for clinical trials because of its diverse gene
pools, which cover a large number of dis-
eases. Cost effectiveness, competition, and
increased confidence on capabilities and
skill sets have propelled many global phar-
maceutical companies to expand their own
clinical research investment in the nation.
Some other potential areas of development
include medicinal and aromatic plants, ani-
mal biotechnology, aquaculture and marine
biotechnology, seri biotechnology, stem cell
biology, environmental biotechnology, bio-
fuels, biopesticides, human genetics, genome
analysis, and others.
Biotechnology
sector - India emerges
key global player
36
August 18-24, 2012
India Day Special
By Hardeep Singh Puri
I
am bullish about India. I gen-
uinely believe that as the
worlds largest democracy,
our future and its trajectory will
be moving ahead positively, not
only because we will slowly but
surely become the worlds second
largest economy but also because
we are a country which has suc-
cessfully transformed from a
colonial economy of 190 years.
We have a good story to tell. We
have transformed into a vibrant
secular economy which, in terms
of mainstream global values, has
a lot to put on the table.
Sometimes last year, a former
Prime Minister of an ASEAN
country said at the Hindustan
Times conclave in Delhi that
India could grow faster and be
like China only if it was a little
less democratic. Now, I am not
aware that democracy and eco-
nomic growth are commodities
that you choose from. So, any
theme on India as the next fron-
tier will have to start with the
acknowledgement that India is a
democracy, and will always con-
tinue to be a democracy, even if it
means a few percentage points of
GDP growth less.
I am quite bullish on this.
There is a banker who wrote an
article recently that basically you
have a choice of growing between
7 to 10% a year. If you get all the
public policy choices right, in
other words, if you get the gover-
nance right, you will grow at 10%
and if we botch up all the gover-
nance decisions, we will still
grow at 7%. Now, to me, I think
the strength of our democracy is
such that we have no option but
to also get the governance right.
Let me explain why I say that.
Point one in India, given our
democratic politics, you cannot
decouple democracy from the
nature of coalition politics we
have. There is no point pretend-
ing that we can go down any
other road. The choice is not
between public policy decisions,
which make for social inclusive
growth and the free play of mar-
ket forces. That is not a choice.
We will have to go down the path
of inclusive growth, because
unless we can carry all segments
of our population with us, the
process of economic growth and
democracy on which it is cen-
tered, will not be able to deliver
the outcomes that we are seeking.
Where are we headed? I have
absolutely no doubt that we will
grow at 7 % to 8% at the very
least, in the coming few years,
starting immediately in 2012-
2013. Why is there so much
gloom? You would have seen an
article in The Economist, which
talks about the fading of the
Indian magic. There is some con-
cern which I found resonating,
when I was addressing some
investment bankers in Manhattan,
anxiety that we may lapse back
into what is called the Hindu rate
of growth. Why is there this anx-
iety, because in the last quarter,
quarter on quarter growth was
only 6.1%. For the simple rea-
son: between 2010-2011, the
Reserve Bank of India raised
interest rates on 13 consecutive
occasions, which led to a squeeze,
and now that process is being
reversed. So I have no doubt that
all this anxiety about a relapse
into Hindu rate of growth is mis-
placed. We already have state-
ments from the Finance Minister
saying that we are going to be
taking some tough decisions.
What are the kind of reforms
we need? Clearly, not the
reforms that foreign investors in
India keep clamouring for, which
are the short-term decisions
which they find lucrative from the
point of view of maximizing
returns on their investments. The
reforms which we need are those
which will make for longer term
sustainable growth in India.
What do I have in mind? These
are issues such as of our raising
agricultural productivity, better
targeting of subsidies, making
projects in infrastructure viable
etc. We will have to continue with
a programme of subsidisation but
will have to ensure those subsi-
dies are targeted.
They have to reach and serve
the purpose for which they are
instituted, not to result in wasteful
expenditure.
Why I am bullish about India
Excerpted from the speech Ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri,
Permanent Representative of India to the UN in New York, gave at India:
The Next Frontier conference in March 2012 at the Harvard
John F. Kennedy School of Government, Boston.
14
Shobhan Bantwal
S
Konkani Samskara
Raghuchandra Bhat
Founder Puja123.com
R
to children.
S h i k a r
Prathistapana at
Badarikashramas
India center in
Madihalli. In
2000, he was
invited to join
Badarikashrama
in California as
community.
Konkani languages.
Hinduism
Swami Shantananda
Cranbury, NJ
S
pleted his spiritu-
al studies at
S a n d e e p a n y
Sadhanalaya in
Mumbai (1978),
and then spent
two years in
retreat in the
Himalayas.
Mesmerized by
Pujya Gurudev,
time.
Chief Guest
T.V. Mohandas Pai
T
Infosys.
poverty."
Ajit Prabhu
CEO of QuEST Global
A
& co-chairman, Ajit
QuEST Global. QuEST
sourcing space.
Ajit is a Six Sigma
experience at GEs
lems.
Royal Aeronautical
Society, UK.
Vinodh (Vin) Bhat
V
cofounder and the
music. Today, Saavn
applications.
Donaldson, Lufkin &
AT&T, @Home and
and Hearst.
Sunnyvale, CA and
Mumbai, India.
Ranjit Date
President and Joint
Managing Director,
D
his Engineering
company, Precision
that.
growth strategies.
PARI is amongst the
ing and supporting
and Chrysler.
London in 2012.
Gandhiji fought
all his life against
ghetto mentalities,
against the narrow,
myopic confines
of imagined
histories, he sought
a cross pollination of
minds, the freedom
of democratic
debate, the jousting
of ideas - never to
forget the connec-
tivity that ties us
with the rest of
the human race.
An abridged version
of the 29th Annual
Mahatma Gandhi
Memorial Lecture given
by Indian Ambassador
to US Nirupama Rao
on June 21, 2012 at
University of California
in San Diego
38
How Gandhi remains relevant
in 21st century world
I
have refected considerably on what I should
choose as the theme of my talk today. I know
that the thoughts and values expressed with
boundless truth and conviction by Gandhiji are
well known to a vast cross-section of thinking
humanity today. In the troubled world we live in,
where we are constantly searching for answers
to the challenges that face so many regions, the
talisman of non-violent action, and the passion-
ate advocacy of inclusiveness, tolerance, cultural
sensitivity, respect for diversity, and the under-
standing of the multiple identities that constitute
each and every one of us today, all Gandhian val-
ues, are precious legacies which we must con-
stantly uphold. I know the impact that Gandhiji
had on lives here in America too.
I thought I should highlight a few points rel-
evant to contemporary life in my talk today. All
of them draw their inspiration from Gandhiji.
The frst is awareness, which I see as ridding
oneself, of what Rabindranath Tagore called
the sheath of self and to realize the infnite
reserves of goodness and compassion that ex-
ist within the human mind. It is understanding
the strength of the spiritual reserves within us
that instinctively make us bond with our fellow
human beings. When we see the divisions and
frontiers that divide humanity today, we must
understand that the power to overcome them
can only come from within ourselves. We often
think of our lives as confned within ourselves,
tied to our individual existences, and overlook
the deeper and higher life in each and every one
of us. Gandhiji sought to awaken us to those
reserves of inner strength. That message is still
relevant for the world of today.
The second point is about connectedness and
connectivity and understanding of the meaning
of pluralism and diversity. Parochialism and
closed mindsets lead us forth into violence and
confict. A decade ago, while delivering the
Neelam Tiruchelvam Memorial Lecture in Co-
lombo, Sri Lanka, the celebrated writer Ami-
tav Ghosh talked of creating an archipelago
of hope with sanctuaries that remain stub-
bornly open to the fow of opinions, stubborn-
ly hospitable to imagined enemies, stubbornly
resistant to the foodwaters that seek to grind
all forms of life into uniform grains of sand.
Gandhiji fought all his life against ghetto men-
talities, against the narrow, myopic confnes of
imagined histories, he sought a cross pollina-
tion of minds, the freedom of democratic de-
bate, the jousting of ideas - never to forget the
connectivity that ties us with the rest of the
human race. Our survival can only rest on the
recognition of that connectivity, a recognition,
as Edward Said once said, of the other echoes
that inhabit the garden.
The third point is communication: and com-
munication, as Gandhiji willed it, has to rest
on openness, transparency, and truth. It has to
rest on education. It must involve the imagina-
tive use of technology, including social media,
as we saw being used by young Egyptian blog-
gers during the Arab Spring. We share, as hu-
mans, the fundamental urge to learn and share
(communicate) and prosper. We live today in
a world of Internet search engines and col-
laborative systems of knowledge like Wikipe-
dia. Gandhiji was certainly an activist for free
knowledge. He reached across geographical
and political frontiers in an instantly appealing
and comprehensible way: in the manner of all
great communicators, as a votary for develop-
ment, as a practitioner of peace.
The fourth point is about synergy and cooper-
ation. Today, as the world flls with talk about the
rise of Asia, and countries like India and China,
Gandhiji would have been a tireless advocate
of regional cooperation and the pooling of indi-
vidual capabilities for collective progress and
advancement of our region, the Asia-Pacifc
world. He would have been also a passionate
supporter of the Nalanda University project, a
global institution of higher learning, enabling
us to rediscover that pride in our heritage as
Asians, and in our soft power and civilizational
infuence, mixing, as Jeffrey Garten says, na-
tionalities and cultures. Today, we have very
few Asian universities that rank in the worlds
list of top educational institutions. Gandhiji
would have strongly espoused the idea of an
Asian university as a great intellectual center,
incubating ideas for common development,
and innovative research. Nalanda is such a
project, and its resurrection is of fundamental
importance as we craft a future that is full of
energy and a sense of direction.
Finally, there is remembrance. And stand-
ing here as I do, on Californian soil, among
so many of you from the Indian American
diaspora, I cannot help but remember that next
year, we will mark one hundred years of the
launch of the Gadar Movement by the Gadar
Babas, a group of almost 8,000 brave and self-
less Overseas Indians who set forth from here
for India, to help the cause of freedom in our
motherland. To remember them is to remem-
ber the spirit of sacrifce, the tapasya, as Gu-
rudev Tagore calls it, in which they gave up
their lives selfessly, fghting the injustice of
colonial rule, to safeguard the future of mil-
lions of our countrymen. We must not forget
them, or the cause of a secular, free, India, for
which they fought and laid down their lives.
I would like to conclude by saying that India
remembers Gandhiji in myriad ways - as the
father of our nation, as the enabler of our free-
dom, as the fount of our pride in our identity as
a peace loving, nonviolent country and a secu-
lar democracy, as a healer of divides, as a per-
sonifcation of truth, strength, faith and cour-
age. Our diplomacy in the world also bears the
imprint of, and draws inspiration from Gan-
dhiji. He is our philosopher, our guide, the
good boatman, as his grandson Rajmohan
Gandhi says, as we connect with the world,
ever relevant, evergreen, a 21st century leader
for our times. To quote Faiz Ahmed Faiz, he
lives, among us, reminding us of our responsi-
bilities as human beings on a fragile planet, in
what is an ageless life .
August 18-24, 2012
A still from Richard Attenboroughs 1982 film Gandhi
starring Ben Kingsley in title role.
By Nirupama Rao
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42
August 18-24, 2012
India Day Special
A
merican author Mark
Twain once said, India is
the cradle of the human
race, the birthplace of human
speech, the mother of history, the
grandmother of legend, and the
great grandmother of tradition.
Our most valuable and most con-
structive materials in the history of
man are treasured up in India
only.
In her book Portraits of a
Nation: History of Ancient India,
Kamlesh Kapur, a renowned edu-
cator and scholar based in the US,
states that India was to pan-Asia
what Greece was to Europe, the
mother of civilization.
In an earlier era, India was
responsible for many architectural
marvels, scientific wonders, edu-
cational systems, progress in
astronomy, and contributions to
the world culture, which led to the
progress of mankind.
Science and mathematics
Mathematics in India has a very
long and hallowed history. Ganit
(Mathematics) has been consid-
ered a important subject since
ancient times.
Concepts of zero and infinity
were born here. The earliest writ-
ten reference of zero (Sanskrit
word for zero is Shunya) is found
in the ancient Sanskrit texts and
explained by Pingala in his
Chhandah Sutra of the second cen-
tury. Algebra and calculus also
originated here. Quadratic equa-
tions were by Sridharacharya in
the 11th Century. T he value of pi
was first calculated by Budhayana,
and he explained what is now
known as the Pythagorean
Theorem. Recently British schol-
ars officially published that
Budhayana's works dates to the 6th
Century which is long before the
European mathematicians. The
largest numbers the Greeks and the
Romans used were 106 whereas
Indians used numbers as big as
1053.
Atomism
Historically, the earliest refer-
ences found to the concept of
atoms were in ancient India in the
6th century BC. Ancient Indian
(Hindu) texts abundantly talk
about the concept of "anu" and
"parmaanu" (Sanskrit words for
molecules and atoms respectively)
and how energy resides within
each and every atom of the uni-
verse. References to atoms in the
West emerged about a century
later.
Astronomy
The earliest references to astron-
omy are found in the Rig Veda,
which are dated 2000 BC. The cal-
culation of occurrences of eclipses,
determining that sun was a star and
determination of number of planets
under our solar system.
In some instances, astronomical
principles were borrowed to
explain matters pertaining to
astrology, like casting of a horo-
scope. Apart from this linkage of
astronomy with astrology in
ancient India, science of astrono-
my continued to develop inde-
pendently, and culminated into
many original findings.
The decimal system in
Harappa
The famous French mathemati-
cian, Laplace, said, The ingenious
method of expressing every possi-
ble number using a set of ten sym-
bols (each symbol having a place
value and an absolute value)
emerged in India. In India a deci-
mal system was already in place
during the Harappan period as
indicated by an analysis of the
Harappan weights and measures.
What we use as the modern deci-
mal system was compiled in its
entirety in India, even though other
cultures had introduced some fea-
tures of the numeric system
beforehand.
General education system
The education system in ancient
India comprised Gurukuls, which
literally meant teachers family.
India was one of the few countries
where knowledge was system-
atized and where provision was
made for its imparting at the high-
est level in remote times.
Whatever the discipline of learn-
ing, whether it was chemistry,
medicine, surgery, the art of paint-
ing or sculpture, or dramatics or
principles of literary criticism or
mechanics or even dancing, every-
thing was reduced to a systematic
whole for passing it on to the
future generations in a brief and
yet detailed manner. University
education on almost modern lines
existed in India as early as 800
B.C. or even earlier. The learning
or culture of ancient India was
chiefly the product of her her-
mitages in the solitude of the
forests. Indian civilization in its
early stages had been mainly a
rural, sylvan civilization.
Universities
The world's first University was
established in Takshila in 700 BC.
More than 10,500 students from all
over the world studied more than
60 subjects. The University of
Nalanda built in 4th century BC
was one of the greatest achieve-
ments of ancient India in educa-
tion. Started by Kumar Gupta in
5th and 6thcentury, Nalanda one
of the largest at that time flour-
ished for almost 800 years from
500-1300 A.D. It was situated in
the modern day state of Bihar.
Students from foreign lands such
as Tibet, China, Japan, Korea,
Sumatra, Java and Sri Lanka came
for higher learning.
Language and Literature
Sanskrit, a historical Indo-Aryan
language, is the oldest language in
the world. Scholars like Voltaire
and Kant believed that Sanskrit
was the root of all Indo-European
languages. Sanskrit and related
languages have also influenced
their Sino-Tibetan-speaking neigh-
bors to the north through the
spread of Buddhist texts.
Vedas- later compiled and writ-
ten by Veda Vyasa- are the oldest
and the longest texts of mankind.
Post Vedic literature is vast and
varied the epics Ramayana,
Mahabharata and of curse
Bhaagvad Gita, etc.
Medicine and health
India is known for its oldest
medicine system- Ayurveda.
However not many know about
Indias contributions to modern
medicine and surgery. Sushruta, a
medical scholar and practitioner,
lived 2000 years ago, in the
ancient Indian city of Kasi, now
called Varanasi. His work is com-
piled in a collection called
Sushruta Samahita in which he
describes over 120 surgical instru-
ments, 300 surgical procedures
and classifies human surgery in 8
categories.
Sushruta is also referred to as the
father of plastic surgery and cos-
metic surgery since his technique
of forehead flap rhinoplasty
(repairing the disfigured nose with
a flap of skin from the forehead).
Ayurveda means knowledge for
long life. In its broader perspec-
tive, it is a philosophy, which deals
with the quality of life. Despite the
advent of allopath medicine,
Ayurveda has its own system of
medicine and over the years,
Ayurvedic spas have hugely
become popular. People from
many western countries including
USA have adopted / altered their
lifestyles according to the princi-
ples of Ayurveda.
Yoga
Yoga, a primeval Indian art, is
meant for the enlightenment of
spiritual intelligence and achieve-
ment of physical fitness. Rooted in
the Patanjalis Yoga Shastra,
Yoga aims to bring a union or
merger of ones soul and body for
perfect repose, peace and self-
enlightenment. Based on the meta-
physical thinking of Indian culture,
yoga has travelled to the west and
has become a rage in US and UK.
Technology
Metallic artifacts discovered in
the Indus-Sarasvati region and the
north plains of India prove that
metallurgy was in an advanced
stage here about seven millennia
back. Steel was an Indian specialty
for centuries. The famous
Damascus steel swords, now found
in museums across Europe, were
made from imported Indian steel.
Ship building and navigation
A panel found in Mohenjodaro
depicts a sailing craft, and thou-
sands of years later Ajanta murals
also depict a sea-faring ship. The
science of shipbuilding and navi-
gation was well known to ancient
Indians. Sanskrit and Pali texts are
replete with maritime references,
and ancient Indians, particularly
from the coastal regions, were hav-
ing commercial relations with sev-
eral countries of across the Bay of
Bengal like Cambodia, Java,
Sumatra, Borneo, and even up to
China.
The art of Navigation was born
in the river Sindh 6000 years ago.
The very word Navigation is
derived from the Sanskrit word
NAVGATIH. The word navy is
also derived from Sanskrit 'Nou'.
An artist's impression of an operation being performed by Susruta,
who also developed plastic surgery.
India's urban civilization is traced to Mohenjodaro
and Harappa, now in Pakistan, where planned urban
townships existed 5000 years ago.
Nalanda University, the oldest university in the world is being
restored. Five countries - Japan, China, Singapore, Thailand and
India - are undertaking the mission of building the new Nalanda.
The Mother of Civilization
44
August 18-24, 2012
India Day Special
Indias real gift to the world is ethereal
Ever since Vedic seers proclaimed, Aham Brahmasmi (I am Brahman or the
Absolute), India has oriented its entire existence around the goal of realizing God
within, devising various means to achieve it. It is this that will guide humanitys
future evolution, according to sages ancient and modern. Here is a compilation of
thoughts from wise Indians and Indophiles.
M
editation never died in this
count ry. Somet i mes above
ground, somet i mes under-
ground, but its river has remained flow-
ing constantly, eternally. It flows today,
it will flow tomorrow also and that is
the only hope for man If this country
has given the world anything, it is only
meditation. Then whether in the form of
Patanjali or in the form of Mahavira or in
the form of Buddha or in the form of
Kabir or in the form of Nanak names
may have been changing but the contri-
bution has not...
Osho
I
believe that the civilization India has
evolved is not to be beaten in the
world. Nothing can equal the seeds sown
by our ancestry. Rome went; Greece
shared the same fate; the might of the
Pharaohs was broken; Japan has become
westernized; of China nothing can be
said; but India is still, somehow or other,
sound at the foundation.
Mahatma Gandhi
C
ivilizations have arisen in other
parts of the world. In ancient and
modern times, wonderful ideas have
been carried forward from one race to
another... But mark you, my friends, it
has been always with the blast of war
trumpets and the march of embattled
cohorts. Each idea had to be soaked in a
deluge of blood..... Each word of power
had to be followed by the groans of mil-
lions, by the wails of orphans, by the
tears of widows.
This, many other nations have taught;
but India for thousands of years peace-
fully existed. Here activity prevailed
when even Greece did not exist... Even
earlier, when history has no record, and
tradition dares not peer into the gloom of
that intense past, even from until now,
ideas after ideas have marched out from
her, but every word has been spoken
with a blessing behind it and peace
before it. We, of all nations of the world,
have never been a conquering race, and
that blessing is on our head, and there-
fore we live...!
Swami Vivekananda
I
ndia has all along been trying experi-
ments in evolving a social unity within
which all the different peoples could be
held together, while fully enjoying the
freedom of maintaining their differences.
The tie has been as loose as possible, yet
as close as circumstances permitted. This
has produced something like a United
States of a social federation, whose com-
mon name is Hinduism.
Rabindranath Tagore (Indian poet
& philosopher)
A
nother important Vedantic concept
is that all human beings, because of
their shared spirituality, are members of
a single family. The Upanishads have an
extraordinary phrase for the human race,
Amritasya putrah (children of immor-
tality), because we carry within our con-
sciousness the light and the power of the
Brahman regardless of race, color, creed,
sex, caste or nationality. That is the basis
of the concept of human beings as an
extended family Vasudhaiva kutum-
bakam.
Dr. Karan Singh (Indian diplomat
and politician)
W
hen I read the Bhagavad Gita and
reflect about how God created this
uni verse, everyt hi ng el se seems so
superfluous.
Albert Einstein
I
f I were asked under what sky the
human mind has most fully developed
some of its choicest gifts, has most
deeply pondered on the greatest prob-
lems of life, and has found solutions, I
should point to India.
Max Mueller (German scholar)
A
fter the conversations about Indian
philosophy, some of the ideas of
quantum physics that had seemed so
crazy suddenly made much more sense.
Werner Hei senberg (German
physicist)
M
other India is in many ways the
mother of us all. Nothing should
more deeply shame the modern student
than the recency and inadequacy of his
acquaintance with India.... This is the
India that patient scholarship is now
opening up like a new intellectual conti-
nent to that Western mind which only
yesterday thought civilization an exclu-
sive Western thing... Perhaps in return
for conquest, arrogance and spoliation,
India will teach us the tolerance and gen-
tleness of the mature mind, the quiet
content of the unacquisitive soul, the
calm of the understanding spirit, and a
unifying, a pacifying love for all living
things.
Will Durant (American philoso-
pher)
I
t is already becoming clear that a
chapter which had a Western begin-
ning will have to have an Indian ending
if it is not to end in self-destruction of
the human race.
At this supremely dangerous moment
in human history, the only way of salva-
tion is the ancient Hindu way. Here we
have the attitude and spirit that can make
it possible for the human race to grow
together into a single family.
Arnold Toynbee (British historian)
I
t (India) is not only a country and
something geographical, but the home
and the youth of the soul, the everywhere
and nowhere, the oneness of all times.
Herman Hesse (German poet and
novelist)
A
ccording to me, the influence of
Sanskrit literature on our time will
not be lesser than what was in the 16th
cent ury Greeces i nfl uence on
Renaissance.
One day, Indias wisdom will flow
again on Europe and will totally trans-
form our knowledge and thought.
Arthur Schopenhauer (German
philosopher)
T
he writers of the Indian philosophies
wi l l survi ve, when t he Bri t i sh
dominion in India shall long have ceased
to exist, and when the sources which it
yielded of wealth and power are lost to
remembrances.
Lord Warren Hasti ngs (fi rst
Governor General of British India)
W
e of the Occident are about to
arrive at a crossroads that was
reached by the thinkers of India hun-
dreds of years before Christ.
Heinrich Zimmer (German histori-
an & Indologist)
T
he Hi ndu geni us i s a l ove for
abstraction and, at the same time, a
passion for the concrete image. At times
it is rich, at others prolix. It has created
the most lucid and the most instinctive
art.
It is abstract and realistic, sexual and
intellectual, pedantic and sublime.
It lives between extremes, it embraces
the extremes, rooted in the earth and
drawn to an invisible beyond.
Octavio Paz (Mexican Nobel Prize
laureate in Literature)
A depiction of kundalini awakening at the opening ceremony of the Delhi Commonwealth Games last year.
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46
August 18-24, 2012
India Day Special
WHY I LOVE MY
For some, love has different meanings...
By Meenakshi Iyer
I
n my midlife,
having wit-
nessed --and
remembered-- at
least two decades of
the tricolor being
unfurled from the
minarets of
Lutyens Delhi, and
colorful kites enveloping the sky all over
the Capital, the 'I-Love-My-India' thought is
like a wire-trap to me.
With every passing year, it is a great time
to hear same 'desh bhakti' songs and watch
same patriotic movies as you switch over
from one movie channel to another (with
'Gandhi' being a pet flick among channel
wallahs and 'Border' being the second-best)
that you have been watching since your
mother used to spoon-feed you over an
emotional 'Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo' from
Doordarshan!
Meanwhile, the nation stumbles along ...
rampant corruption, trillions of black money
stashed abroad, slowing economy and
increasing inflation...
Amid economic gloom comes 66th
Independence Day (only to be forgotten a
week later). We do get patriotic, on an annu-
al basis though!
Still, I love my India, because a handful of
Indians have made the nation proud at just-
concluded London Olympics, with the best-
so-far six medals' tally (and a solace in
Pakistan not even figuring in the 200-plus
countries' list, while Pakistanis are taking
solace that in hockey they finished higher
than us); the nation has got fresh heroes
(and advertisers a fresh lease of blood!).
I love India because despite the failure of
the civil society movement (read Team
Anna, or India Against Corruption, India
United Against Corruption.. .End
Corruption... choose your pick), there is
hope flickering, of a corruption-free India,
when the Ombudsman (Lokpal) will be
appointed who will wield the 'honest' stick
against those who are busy looting the
nation (though a Uttar Pradesh minister has
another formula: Work for the people and
you can steal a little!)
I love my country because despite the
crime graph against women touching new
highs (Assam girl molestation LIVE is fresh
in memory), we do have a National
Commission for Women, which keeps a
check against the monsters-on-roads and an
active police machinery that comes into
effect the moment crime is committed (min-
isters, high-net worth individuals and self-
made gentlemen and sons are foten an
exception!).
I love India because despite a poor or
failed monsoon, the government of the day
is able to feed one billion and 20 crore plus
of us on a daily basis. No matter if millions
of tons of foodstock goes waste or middle-
men make moolah while farmers commit
suicide, we get our dal-roti, and occasional-
ly burgers, pizzas too!
Some future Independence Day, I hope,
will usher us in a new world where on the
corruption index, we will figure last and on
Olympics, first (No typo here...)
Difficult to produce Olympics level
players with such sports infrastructure.
Indian jugaad is a separate story though.
Cautious celebration and skepticism
By Vikas Girdhar
I
ll get head-on into
what I believe is the
heart of the matter. It
is important to do some
reflection while celebrat-
ing Indias independence
day. While we Indians
and NRIs bask in the
glory that India is a sov-
ereign nation since 1947 and forging its
own destiny, I look beneath the surface
and see lots more to strive for.
Independence from British rule will
always remain a reason to celebrate with
throaty hoorahs year upon year, but what I
would like to see a bit more of is declaring
independence from cruelty, corruption and
discrimination. In this day and age, social
ills and economic iniquity are the gnawing
factors that we need to eradicate. As a col-
lective, Indians can pat themselves on the
back for winning freedom. But what have
we really accomplished if the individual
himself cannot be considered truly free of
factors that make any society in any cul-
ture ghastly and revolting?
Perhaps my perspective this year around
is a bit skewed; who can blame me?
Consider the ignorance exhibited less than
two weeks before Indias Independence
Day at the Sikh temple in Wisconsin. I
think of that horrific event as soon as I
catch myself getting too excited about 15th
August this year because, lets face it,
society is still rife with bouts of discrimi-
nation (gender, racism, etc.) that when
overcome should in itself be a cause for
celebration. What guarantee is there that
the individual himself will ever attain per-
sonal independence from the factors that
contribute to a societys filth?
The easy answer here is to seek to edu-
cate everyone in the right way as much as
possible. That only goes so far, in my
opinion. We cant, for example, change the
way people are brought up or their person-
alities. Does this mean were forever
doomed and should grin and bear it? I
wouldnt go to that extent but we can sure-
ly strive to improve ourselves. Charity
begins at home, as they say.
If we Indian Americans are heartily cel-
ebrating Indias independence, we need to
take a long and hard look at that society.
While I was born and have grown up here
for all of my life, I have numerous ties to
India.
One of those ties is my cousin, who
detailed one particularly disturbing situa-
tion in her Facebook status: a woman who
was attacked late at night was able to fend
off the man attempting to assault her and
should be applauded for her courage and
strengthexcept that that is not the case.
Instead, her motives for being out so late at
night to begin with are questioned.
Why is that the concern on the forefront
of peoples minds? Its these types of inci-
dents that highlight the necessity of a soci-
etal self-improvement and mass cleansing
of the ugly aspects of human nature.
This Independence Day, jump high for
the well-deserved joy that comes from the
nations freedom.
I would advise, however, to not jump so
high that you lose sight of the same prob-
lems that will be here when you come
back down.
Satyamev Jayate TV show struck a chord with Indian audiences because it exposed the
persisting social and economic ills 65 years after Independence.
47
August 18-24, 2012
India Day Special
1857 First Indian war of inde-
pendence that began as a mutiny
of sepoys of the East India
Companys army on 10 May
1857, in the town of Meerut, soon
escalated into other mutinies and
civilian rebellions largely in the
upper Gangetic plain and central
India. The uprising sparked off
when the sepoys were forced to
bite the cartridges of the rifles to
open to release the powder. The
cartridges were greased with tal-
low derived from beef or lard
derived from pork, which was
offensive to both Hindus and
Muslims.
1885 Indian National Congress
formed by Indian and British
members of the Theosophical
society movement, and most
notably Allen Octavian. The idea
was originally conceived in a pri-
vate meeting of seventeen men at
the theosophical convention held
at Madras in December 1884.
1915 After fighting a long battle
of racism, prejudice and injustice
against the British government for
fellow Indians in South Africa,
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
returned to India.
1919 Gandhi supported the
Khilafat movement -a worldwide
protest by Muslims against the
collapsing status of the Caliph, the
leader of Muslim religion. The
same year saw the gruesome
Jalianwala Bagh massacre where
Brigadier-general Reginald E.H.
Dyer opened fire on a congrega-
tion of 15,000 to 20,000 people
assembled. According to figures
released by government of India,
there were 379 casualties and
1000 wounded.
1921 Gandhi rose to power with
his principles of satyagraha and it
is this year that he launched a civil
disobedience movement
1922 Fearing that the move-
ment was about to take a turn
towards violence after the violent
clash with the police officers in
the town of Cauri Chaura in Uttar
Pradesh, and convinced that this
would be the undoing of all his
work, Gandhi called off the cam-
paign of mass civil disobedience
1928 Murder of Lala Lajpat Rai
and subsequent revolutionary
activities
1930 The most significant
organized challenge to British
Empire was the Dandi salt March
known as salt satyagraha that
began on March 12, 1930. It was a
direct action campaign of tax
resistance and nonviolent protest
against the British salt monopoly
in colonial India, and triggered the
wider Civil Disobedience
Movement.
1937 Provincial Autonomy
begins with Congress winning
power in many states. The same
year saw World War II breaking
out, which affects India too.
1942 The Quit India Movement.
The year also saw the rise of
Subhas Chandra Bose. Popularly
known as Netaji, Bose was a
fierce and popular leader and also
president of Indian National
Congress in 1937 and 1939 and
founded a nationalist force called
the Indian National Army (INA).
1946 INA men tried. Muslim
League adamant about separate
statehood for Pakistan.
1947 India gains independence
from the British. Freedom on the
Midnight of August 15.
Nation building: But the bifur-
cation of the country into India
and Pakistan led to violent clashes
between Hindus and Sikhs on one
side and Muslims on the other.
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru
invited Mountbatten to continue
as Governor General of India. He
was replaced in June 1948 by C.
Rajagopalachari. Patel took on the
responsibility of bringing into the
Indian Union 565 princely states.
The Constituent Assembly com-
pleted the work of drafting the
constitution on 26 November
1949; on 26 January 1950 the
Republic of India was officially
proclaimed.
The Constituent Assembly
elected Dr. Rajendra Prasad as the
first President of India, taking
over from Governor General
Rajgopalachari. Subsequently,
Goa, Pondicherry and Sikkim
were brought into the Indian
Union.
An artists representation of the massacre
in Jalianwala Bagh, Amritsar.
Mahatma Gandhi in 1918, at
the time of the Kheda and
Champaran Satyagrahas.
Freedom struggle:
A Timeline
By Shiv Chopra
I love my
India
yes, it is
an expression
and a feeling I
share with
many Indians I
come across
here in New York. Even though
being here in America you tend
to forget about India, but every
year, 15 August comes around
you cant help but remember
everything you love about India.
As a child I remember how
every evening I would play hide
and seek or football (not the kind
known in America) with my
friends in Delhi. I could freely
go to my friends house, knock
and play without scheduling an
appointment over the phone. I
also remember how joyously we
celebrated our holidays like Holi
and Diwali. I also remember
everyone crowding around the
TV to watch cricket matches. But
what I remember most of all is
my whole extended family ever
so large yet ever so close. I
remember the amazing Indian
hospitality; even if I were a
stranger at somebodys house, I
would be offered food. I still
crave the delicious food like
malai chicken tikka, poori chane
and dal makhni I had at eateries
there. These are available here
too, but not as tasty or flavorful.
Not everything I remember
about India is good. I remember
seeing a person pulled over by a
cop for jumping a red light and
getting away by bribing. I
remember the power outages
sometimes lasting days on days. I
remember the traffic jams, horns
going off left, right and center.
The overfilled buses sometimes
with people sitting on the roof.
The inflation going through the
roof. There seemed to be no end
to these problems and probably
wont be for a while.
Yet, I love my India because
Indians always manage, always
pull through.
We can choose to live wherever
we want but we cannot forget
where we came from. Just like
you can choose your friends but
your family is given to you.
Yet, I love my India
Craving the malai chicken tikka, poori chane and dal makhni one
had at eateries in India.
48
August 18-24, 2012
India Day Special
THE CONTRARIANS
Erupting India: Voice of Demographic Dividend
By Namit Narain
I
ndia is a
nation with
the second
largest popula-
tion on this
planet where
every 7th per-
son is an
Indian. The Demographic Dividend
is a window of opportunity in the
development of a society or nation
that opens up as fertility rates
decline, and faster rates of econom-
ic growth and human development
are possible when combined with
effective policies and markets. The
young working class (Demographic
Dividend) of India will provide 2%
per annum of economic growth to
Indias per capita GDP in the next
two decades.
This year Indian economy fell to
its slowest growth in almost a
decade, according to government
published documents. It is likely
that Indian economy might fall to
5.3% of growth rate as compared to
6.5% a year before and 8.3% in
2010. With this slow rate of growth
the Indian government has certain
questions to answer to its erupting
India.
What made the investments
shrink in the private sector? Was it
the coalition government and lack
of one voice?
Despite the furious uprising
on the Jan Lokpal Bill, what
answers can government give to it
citizens that this bill is not a solu-
tion to avoid corruption?
Did the government buy the
media in India?
There have been umpteen
multi-crore scams in the govern-
ment, where went the money of the
tax payers?
My major question is what
significant efforts have been made
in the field of Education and
Healthcare? If yes, what are the
major touch points?
What can bring the food and
oil prices down to impede the infla-
tion rate?
Last but not the least, what
makes the current leader of India
speak for its nation and to its
nation?
Todays young generation seeks
some answers and need a major
shift with solid decision making
process for further growth by liber-
alization of the Indian Economy.
Business like retail, manufacturing,
aviation, Internet, and Insurance,
which need more capital, needs a
major shift to create more jobs and
cash flow to pump up the Indian
economy. In the past we have seen
some major backlogs of decisions
and a struggle for the Indian gov-
ernment to pass some unpopular
measures because of the opposition
from its coalition partners and
political rivals.
Lately, when the rupee is falling,
investment is down and inflation is
rising, and deficits and scams are
eating away government reserves,
Indian Demographic Dividend is
erupting. While recent worries in
the economy keep piling up, there
has been no major decision taken in
the past few months to boost the
economy.
There is a question for you, Mr.
Prime Minister, Do you sleep well
in the night? If not, get some pills
without asking your coalition gov-
ernment and get well soon. When
you say that government will take
some unpopular decisions, my sug-
gestion to you Mr. Prime Ministers
is that, dont hurt Indian Janta.
Try to have guts to take some risk
and bring some reforms even if it
hurts your coalition and partners.
Please consider the Demographic
Dividend as a dividend and not as a
liability, since it is ready to pump
its blood and sweat if you or your
government can bring up with some
major liberal reforms in the econo-
my for a long run success. I am
sure you realize that India needs
such reforms every decade like the
one in 1991 brought by you itself.
I want to share some lines to you
and my fellow citizens of India,
which inspire me and make me a
proud Indian. These lines are by
Rabindranath Tagore:
Where the mind is without fear
and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been
broken up into fragments by nar-
row domestic walls;
Where words come out from the
depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches
its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of rea-
son has not lost its way into the
dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward
by thee into ever-widening thought
and action --
Into that heaven of freedom, my
Father, let my country awake.
--Rabindranath Tagore
The author is Vice President,
Strategy and Business
Development, The South Asian
Times.
Camel rate of growth now? While recent worries in the economy keep
piling up, there has been no major decision taken in the past few
months to boost the economy
A public awakening is long due
By Vijay Badhwar
T
here i s
oft en a
compari-
son made
between China
and India, the
t wo fast est
g r o w i n g
nations in the world, the eco-
nomic giants of Asia on whom
the world depends to sell their
raw materials. While there is
amazement at Chinas infra-
structure development, which
spurs discussions on how large
power plants are constructed one
a week, efficient road networks
and super fast trains extended to
nooks and corners of the coun-
try, there is disappointment at
Indias lackadaisical approach
on adequate energy production
and efficient delivery structure.
Mega power failure this month
that plunged most of north and
eastern India in darkness for
whole days is an embarrassing
incident that cannot be easily
sidelined with little consequence
to the minister (Sushil Kumar
Shinde) who was rather promot-
ed from Power to the important
Home portfolio in a major cabi-
net reshuffle.
There were traffic jams on
roads; the trains came to a halt
and the passengers were trapped
inside the Delhi Metro; the busi-
ness and i ndust ry came t o a
standstill as the West Bengal
Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee
declared a holiday.
Six hundred million people
were affected across 20 states.
But a Delhi journalist sadistical-
ly reported that life was not
seriously disrupted as most of
the people in India still used
kerosene lamps!
The power outage was caused
by, according to the minister,
overdrawing of electricity by
Uttar Pradesh. It is akin to plug-
ging too many heaters in one
power point/circuit which blows
a fuse. But this was a big fuse
indeed that blacked out a big
part of India.
India is the seventh largest
power consumer in the world. Its
efficiency in energy production
cannot be estimated as nearly 30
per cent of the power produced
is lost by theft.
The rest is highly subsidized
for farmers who consume nearly
22 per cent of the supply and the
domestic sector that uses 24 per
cent. The industry makes up for
the losses incurred from subsi-
dies.
While India has a variety of
power plants thermal (coal and
gas), hydroelectric and nuclear,
the cheapest production is from
gas-fired plants. But one such
plant in Dabhol by Enron sup-
plies the most expensive elec-
tricity in India mired by allega-
tions of bribery during the times
of Narasimha Rao government.
Another experiment in Jaitapur
in Maharashtra of six nuclear
plants each of a capacity of 1650
MW is underway with French
collaboration and, once complet-
ed, will address power shortage
in India to a large extent.
Indias development is hin-
dered by widespread corruption
and skullduggery in every proj-
ect, be it communication, mining
or infrastructure development.
But, unfortunately, even the gen-
eral public has become numb to
the pain as lately it is hardly
paying heed to clarion calls for
action by Anna Hazare and Baba
Ramdev. A public awakening is
long due.
The author is Editor of The
Indian Down Under, Sydney.
A mega outage plunged most of north and eastern india in darkness.
But a Delhi journalist sadistically reported that life was not seriously
disrupted as most of the people in India still used kerosene lamps!
14
Shobhan Bantwal
S
Konkani Samskara
Raghuchandra Bhat
Founder Puja123.com
R
to children.
S h i k a r
Prathistapana at
Badarikashramas
India center in
Madihalli. In
2000, he was
invited to join
Badarikashrama
in California as
community.
Konkani languages.
Hinduism
Swami Shantananda
Cranbury, NJ
S
pleted his spiritu-
al studies at
S a n d e e p a n y
Sadhanalaya in
Mumbai (1978),
and then spent
two years in
retreat in the
Himalayas.
Mesmerized by
Pujya Gurudev,
time.
Chief Guest
T.V. Mohandas Pai
T
Infosys.
poverty."
Ajit Prabhu
CEO of QuEST Global
A
& co-chairman, Ajit
QuEST Global. QuEST
sourcing space.
Ajit is a Six Sigma
experience at GEs
lems.
Royal Aeronautical
Society, UK.
Vinodh (Vin) Bhat
V
cofounder and the
music. Today, Saavn
applications.
Donaldson, Lufkin &
AT&T, @Home and
and Hearst.
Sunnyvale, CA and
Mumbai, India.
Ranjit Date
President and Joint
Managing Director,
D
his Engineering
company, Precision
that.
growth strategies.
PARI is amongst the
ing and supporting
and Chrysler.
London in 2012.
Taking note of the
ground reality in
China on a visit
there last month,
t he SATi mes
contributing editor
draws comparisons
with the ground
reality in India,
highlighting what
the Dragon has to
teach the Elephant.
50
D
uring my three week trip to Fujian
province last month I found clear
evidence of Chinese will to address
some basic issue with long term strategies.
Fuzhou, the capital city of Fujian province is
not a big city but it refects high civic sense
of its people and the local government. The
city is clean and the local administration
has provided civic amenities comparable
to any other city of international standard.
The police are not a common sight as it is in
USA and Indian cities. People in general are
peaceful who spend their leisure time out-
doors in summer. Local folks relaxing in the
parks and families enjoying in the open are
common sights. They drink and dance in the
open while using their mobile devices. Chi-
na appears to be coping with modernization
very well. Western style shopping malls are
common even in smaller towns like Yongan,
which is three hours drive from Fuzhou. I
visited some glittering shopping centers in
Yongan where basement foors were the
most crowded areas. Necessary household
goods and groceries are sold in the basement
malls catering to middle class people. The
shopping plaza was well managed with civic
sense visible everywhere. Even the street
shops are sparkling clean, spacious and
add to the beauty of the city. The Chinese
counterparts of some of the best shopping
areas in Delhi and in Mumbai are more ef-
fciently managed and maintained. In my
opinion city folks and civic governments of
Indian cities have plenty to learn from their
Chinese counterparts. I was told by my Chi-
nese friends that most of the civic amenities
and infrastructures, such as roads, fyovers
all over China were constructed in recent
years. A road journey from Yongan to Fu-
zhou took many hours fve years ago, but
the new highways and tunnels have cut that
travel time to just about three hours, they
said. The highways are punctured with rest
areas built in American style. The rest areas
comprise shops, restaurants and clean toi-
lets. Again, India needs to take a few lessons
from China where public toilets are pro-
vided by the government while Indians face
miserable conditions at public places in the
absence of clean toilets. It is not an exag-
geration to say that Indian government and
administrations at all levels have shame-
lessly failed to provide basic facilities of
water and toilets for its people. The Chinese
are very proud of their ancient history and
traditions. So are Indians. The difference is
China proudly displays its heritage, culture
and language nationally and internationally.
China is aggressively promoting its lan-
guage, culture and heritage abroad. Teach-
ing and promotion of Chinese language is
strongly supported by the Chinese govern-
ments. India lacks even symbolic displays of
its language and culture abroad.
People of Indian origin seem profcient
in disagreeing with each other. The Indian
government has done good work in dividing
its people on language issues. We are strug-
gling to fnd common ground to have a unit-
ed voice internationally. Indian government
must move beyond providing lip service to
its national language, Hindi. If it wishes to
compete with China it has to learn how to
display its heritage, culture and language.
India has yet to get rid of its colonial mind
set when it comes to promoting its national
image. China seems to have adopted a clear
cut goal to win friends and supporters. When
I was in China, Beijing was hosting a sum-
mit on African-China cooperation. The goal
of this highest level conference was to in-
troduce economic opportunities in Africa to
Chinese investors. Representatives of big
and small African nations were trying to at-
tract Chinese businesses and investors at the
conference. Chinese media is government
controlled. However, international enter-
tainment channels are available for public.
CCTV runs more than dozen channels in-
cluding the English news channel as well as
channels in Spanish and Arabic languages.
The Chinese government is following
the model of Voice of America and BBC
for projecting Chinese perspective on cur-
rent affairs and politics. The country has its
own versions of YouTube and Facebook,
because these global platforms are banned.
Many people are not happy about it but most
of them are moving ahead while Chinese
internet sites catering to young people are
enriching themselves and trying to com-
pete with their Western counterparts. On the
media front Indian citizens might be more
savvy but the Indian government is marred
by monumental scandals and corruption. It
is said that India and China compete with
each other in corruption. The common folks
in China are struggling to get high paid jobs
while the elite of the country is getting enor-
mously rich. In both countries, private en-
trepreneurship seems to be booming which
could be a driving force for their economic
growth. Lastly, China is fexing its muscle
in the international arena. It is in no mood
to comprise on territorial claims with other
countries. Chinas stern foreign policy is
geared towards infuencing other super pow-
ers while its economic policy aims at enrich-
ing its business people and investors. It is
ready to do business with India, however,
baggage of the past is hard to forgot.
August 18-24, 2012
The author learning to make dumplings Witnessing a Tea Ceremony
By Ashok Ojha
Why China is progressing
faster than India
14
Shobhan Bantwal
S
Konkani Samskara
Raghuchandra Bhat
Founder Puja123.com
R
to children.
S h i k a r
Prathistapana at
Badarikashramas
India center in
Madihalli. In
2000, he was
invited to join
Badarikashrama
in California as
community.
Konkani languages.
Hinduism
Swami Shantananda
Cranbury, NJ
S
pleted his spiritu-
al studies at
S a n d e e p a n y
Sadhanalaya in
Mumbai (1978),
and then spent
two years in
retreat in the
Himalayas.
Mesmerized by
Pujya Gurudev,
time.
Chief Guest
T.V. Mohandas Pai
T
Infosys.
poverty."
Ajit Prabhu
CEO of QuEST Global
A
& co-chairman, Ajit
QuEST Global. QuEST
sourcing space.
Ajit is a Six Sigma
experience at GEs
lems.
Royal Aeronautical
Society, UK.
Vinodh (Vin) Bhat
V
cofounder and the
music. Today, Saavn
applications.
Donaldson, Lufkin &
AT&T, @Home and
and Hearst.
Sunnyvale, CA and
Mumbai, India.
Ranjit Date
President and Joint
Managing Director,
D
his Engineering
company, Precision
that.
growth strategies.
PARI is amongst the
ing and supporting
and Chrysler.
London in 2012.
Rubin Museum in NY honors Indias first female photo journalist,
Homai Vyarawalla, with an exhibition of her legendary shots.
Nehru releasing a dove, sign of peace at a public function
at the National Stadium in New Delhi; mid 1950s
The ashes of Mahatma Gandhi
being carried in a procession,
Allahabad; February 1948
Jacqueline Kennedy feeding Urvashi,
the baby elephant at Teen Murti House,
Indira Gandhi is also seen; 1962
Queen Elizabeth II at a fashion
show organized by the wives of
diplomats at the Central Cottage
Industries in Delhi; 1961
Ho Chi Minh, President of North
Vietnam being escorted by Pandit Nehru
and Dr. Rajendra Prasad; 1958
The Dalai Lama in ceremonial dress enters India
through a high mountain pass. He is followed by
the Panchen Lama, Sikkim, India; 1956
Dr. Helen Keller, who was calling
on President Dr. Rajendra Prasad
at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, being
greeted by Prime Minister Nehru
who had come to see her; 1955
Queen Elizabeth II
examining a gigantic
garland presented to
her in Madras; 1961
52
S AT i me s S p e ci al
Independence through a candid lens
T
he Rubin Museum of
Art is presenting Can-
did: The Lens and Life
of Homai Vyarawalla, an exhi-
bition celebrating Indias frst
female photojournalist, whose
iconic images of the events sur-
rounding Indias independence
in 1947 from British rule en-
deared her to the Indian people.
An employee of the Brit-
ish Information Services from
the 1940s1970, Vyarawalla
chronicled a nation in transi-
tion, while also capturing can-
did portraits of world leaders
for prominent publications in-
cluding Life and Time. She was
hailed as a pioneer in her feld
and her recent death at age 98
generated tributes from around
the world. She was bestowed
Padma Vibhushan, Indias sec-
ond highest civilian honor.
Homai Vyarawalla began
working as a photojournalist
in 1938, earning one or two ru-
pees per photograph from the
Bombay Chronicle to capture
images of daily life in Bom-
bay. She learned photography
skills alongside her husband,
Maneckshaw Vyarawalla.
Vyarawalla created rich vi-
sual images that were to be-
come iconic representations of
India, its leaders and its people.
The Rubin show presented
some of the many images from
Vyarawallas extensive career
including important historical
events, such as the meeting of
Gandhi and the Congress Com-
mittee to determine the vote for
the 1947 plan to partition India
and Pakistan into two countries,
the frst Independence Day
celebration and fag hoisting
ceremony at Red Fort; and the
departure from India of Gov-
ernor General Lord Mountbat-
ten. Vyarawalla was also pres-
ent during the visits of many
world leaders and dignitaries
including Jacqueline Kennedy;
Helen Keller; Queen Elizabeth;
Ho Chi Minh and Zhou Enlai,
Chinas frst prime minister un-
der Mao Zedong, often captur-
ing them in lighter moments.
She also documented the Dalai
Lamas arrival in India, in addi-
tion to funerals of important po-
litical leaders, such as Mahatma
Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and
Lal Bahadur Shastri, the second
prime minister of India.
The exhibition is open for
public viewing until January
14, 2013.
August 18-24, 2012
Felicitation to the Community on
Independence Day
Habib American Bank
Branch Locations:
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th
Avenue 110 East 9
th
Street AL 10
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www.habibamericanbank.com
Building Relationships
54
August 18-24, 2012
India Day Special
In an interview with The South Asian Times, 92-year-old freedom fighter Chimmanlal Jain reflects upon
some episodes from Indias struggle for independence which include spending close to three years in
jail for attempting to set a bomb factory afire and converting dreaded dacoit from Chambal - and
expresses hope that mistakes made soon after Aug 15th 1947 shall be rectified in his lifetime.
By Hiral Dholakia-Dave
Circa 1930: In a small nondescript
village, 25 kilometers from the city
of Agra, a 10 year old school boy
doesnt think twice before joining a
bunch of kids who go around pick-
eting at liquor stores. Sharab galat
hai aur band karna hai mann mein
bus yehi ek baat baith gai thi (that
liquor is bad and its consumption
and sale should be stopped was all
that we had in mind), says
Chimmanlal Jain. When police
would resort to beating to stall the
demonstration the children would
run off and return soon. This zeal
and spirit was contagious.
Mahatma Gandhis anti-liquor cam-
paign was a precursor to his
Swadeshi andolan followed by Quit
India movement in 1942.
As a youth Jain developed mind-
set of a violent rebel. I went to a
factory where bombs were being
made with the intention of setting it
on fire. Instead I got hurt badly in a
bomb blast out there, was arrested
by the British and sent to jail for 2
years and 8 months, he says.
He was sent to a special jail for
freedom fighters in Agra along with
his compatriots from Dehradoon,
Jhansi and Agra. It was here that he
got introduced to Gandhis ideolo-
gies through this writings and read
up a lot including works of Leo
Tolstoy and Ruskin who influenced
Gandhijis ideologies.
During the prison stay Jain also
got the opportunity to meet several
prominent leaders including Ram
Manohar Lohiya and Jay Prakash
Narayan.
He was released in 1945. Oldest
of six siblings, he decided to get
married only after India gained its
independence, which it eventually
did two years after.
Later he, along with his wife
Kapooridevi two daughters and a
son left their home and dedicated
13 years of their lives working on
field for Vinoba Bhaves Bhoodan
campaign.
A staunch Gandhian by then, he
was one of the firsts to join Jay
Prakash Narayans call for Total
Revolution in 1970s. Former Indira
Gandhi proclaimed national emer-
gency and the police were ordered
to arrest the protestors and thrash
them. Jain was among them. He
challenged the police inspector that
if you thrash me and I retaliate
than I am not a Gandhian.
In 1972, he was honored by
Indira Gandhi with a Tamra Patra
for badi saza (long time spent in
prison as a freedom fighter).
Post independence Jain also
devoted lot of his time and
resources reconverting Muslims
into Hindus. Over a period of five
years he has reconverted 1430
Muslims from Rajasthan, Uttar
Pradesh and Haryana and spent
over a 1,00,000 rupees from his
own pocket for the same.
Jain also shares the credit of con-
verting and bringing an infamous
dacoit from Chambal into the main-
stream. Despite his family respon-
sibilities, he ventured into the
treacherous ravines of Chambal on
his own, spoke to the dacoit
Ramavtar Gujjar and convinced
him to surrender to the police. The
times were different then, they
were social rebels, he says.
When asked about his views on
India today he says, The trouble
began ever since the Congress
Party resorted to undue Muslim
appeasement. That was the biggest
mistake made. India gained its
Republic status in 1950 and two
years later the country saw its first
independent election. Then
onwards our faults started coming
to fore. The laws were made by the
British to subdue Indians, no
changes were made those laws
despite gaining freedom. With
Sardar Patel no more, the reigns of
the nation were handed over to
Jawaharlal Nehru completely and
the biggest mistake he made was
going to the United Nations over
the Kashmir issue. If at all,
Pakistan should have gone. Nehrus
that move cost us millions and loss
of more than 40000 precious
livestill date. That includes my
bright and promising grandson
Lieutenant Gautam Jain, who got
killed in Kashmir fighting the ter-
rorists at just 21 years of age. The
Congress Party today uses just the
name though its views are diametri-
cally opposite to the ideals on
which it was formed.
Expressing disappointment with
the generation today Jain says, It
seems like everyone is simply con-
cerned about his personal gains. Our
lives have become self-centered.
People are least bothered even
about their neighbors leave alone
their city or the nation. The freedom
of this country has been taken for
granted. Fortunately people like
Anna Hazare are trying to awaken
the mass consciousness. People
should come forward and support
such efforts wholeheartedly.
Chimmanlal Jain (center) with Anna Hazare. A firebrand speaker, he was invited by Anna to come
and share the dias. Anna Hazare touched his feet on the stage and commended him for his ideals
and life long struggle and uncompromising attitude.
Service to nation was our
only motto in life
56
August 18-24, 2012
India Day Special
Gadar Spirited effort from
foreign shores to free India
Originating in the Pacific coast of America, Gadar (meaning revolution) Party
is an important landmark in the history of Indian freedom struggle. The 100th
anniversary of Gadar movement falls in 2013.
By Inder Singh
T
he Gadar Movement was a
saga of incredible courage,
valor and determination of
overseas Indians to free India
from the shackles of British slav-
ery. Indians had come to Canada
and the US for economic oppor-
tunities or for higher education.
Instead, they imbibed the fire and
zeal of revolutionaries and
became trailblazers of freedom
struggle for India. They may have
lived ordinary lives but they left
an extra-ordinary legacy.
At the dawn of the twentieth
century, Indians started coming to
Canada and the United States for
economic opportunities. As the
number of immigrants increased
in Canada, the locals felt threat-
ened by labor competition from
the hardy and willing Indian
workers. Fear of labor competi-
tion led to racial antagonism and
demands for exclusionary laws
against cheap foreign Asian
workers. In 1908, the Canadian
government imposed restrictions
on new immigrants, which virtual-
ly ended immigration of Indians to
Canada.
In the US too, they started fac-
ing widespread hostility. The pent-
up frustrations of the white work-
ers manifested in violence against
Indian workers, vandalism of their
belongings and hatred of their reli-
gion, lifestyle and living. Like
Canada, the United States enacted
Asian exclusionary laws in 1917
to bar Asians emigrating to the
United States.
Many students from India had
come for higher education. But,
upon graduation, most of them
were not able to get jobs commen-
surate with their qualifications.
The Indian students attributed dis-
criminatory hiring practices to
their being nationals of a subjugat-
ed country. Lala Har Dyal, a pro-
fessor of Indian philosophy at
Stanford University, was identi-
fied with nationalist activities in
the United States. He inspired
many students studying at the
University of California, Berkeley
and channelized their pro-Indian
and anti-British sentiment for
independence of India. Two of his
many student followers, Katar
Singh Sarabha and Vishnu Ganesh
Pingle later played prominent
roles in the Gadar movement.
Dyals fervor for Indias freedom
spread beyond the university cam-
puses to Punjabi farmers and
laborers who had already been
victim of racial attacks, discrimi-
nation and repression from the
host community.
On April 23, 1913 (End of May,
per Prof Harish Puri in Ghadar
Movement; June 2, per Jagjit
Singh in Gadar Party Lehar), at a
meeting in Astoria, Oregon, Har
Dyal and others passionately
spoke for throwing the British out
of India. It was at this meeting
that Hindustan Association of the
Pacific Coast was formed with a
major objective to liberate India
from British colonialism with the
force of arms and help establish a
free and independent India with
equal rights for all. Sohan Singh
Bhakna was elected President,
Har Dayal as General Secretary
and Kanshi Ram as treasurer. Har
Dayal provided leadership for the
newly formed association and was
the central figure and the force
behind the new organization.
The headquarters of Hindustan
Association was established in
San Francisco from where a mag-
azine appropriately titled Gadar
was launched for free distribution
to promote the aims, objectives
and activities of the organization.
Gadar was sent to Indian revolu-
tionaries in India, Europe,
Canada, The Philippines, Hong
Kong, China, Malaysia,
Singapore, Burma, Egypt, Turkey,
and Afghanistan. The visible
effects of the Gadar publications
started to manifest in India and
abroad. Many committed volun-
teers opened branches of the
Gadar party in other countries.
The Gadar magazine became very
popular among Indians and over a
period of time, the Hindustan
Association of the Pacific Coast
itself became known as the Gadar
Party.
The British government used
every means to stop the circula-
tion of Gadar and other such pub-
lications, particularly in India.
They hired agents to infiltrate the
Gadar party and watch their activ-
ities. Under pressure from the
British Indian Government, Har
Dyal was arrested by the U.S.
Government, but later released on
bail on March 24, 1914. Har Dyal
jumped the bail and left for
Switzerland and from there, he
went to Germany.
Indians in Canada were unhappy
with the new laws, which effec-
tively prevented Indian immigra-
tion from India. An enterprising
Indian in Singapore, Gurdit Singh,
chartered a Japanese vessel
Komagata Maru and brought 376
passengers in May 1914, after
complying with the Canadian
exclusion laws. The Canadian
government refused disembarking
of the ship at Vancouver. After a
two-month legal wrangling, only
24 passengers were allowed to
immigrate and the ship was forced
to return to India on July 7. The
action of the Canadian govern-
ment created bitterness, frustration
and vengefulness not only among
the passengers but also among the
Indian people in Canada and the
US.
On the ship reaching Calcutta on
September 29, 1914, the British
Indian police opened fire on them
when they refused to go to Punjab,
resulting in several fatalities. The
police also arrested over 200 pas-
sengers and put them in Jail. The
brutal treatment of the returning
passengers generated a wave of
resentment against the British
government and encouraged more
Indians in North America to join
the Gadar party.
In August 1914, World War I
broke out. Germany offered the
Indian Nationalists (Gadarites)
financial aid to buy arms and
ammunitions to expel the British
from India while the British
Indian troops would be busy fight-
ing war at the front. The Gadarites
drew plans to infiltrate the Indian
army and excite the soldiers to
fight not for the British but
against the British Empire and
free India from the shackles of
British imperialism. The Gadarites
inspired an estimated 8,000 thou-
sands overseas Indians to go to
India to launch a revolution.
Before leaving for India, the
Gadarites had hoped that Indians
were ready for a revolution. They
however found that the Indian
political leadership openly and
willingly co-operated with the
British. Many Gadarites including
Sohan Singh Bhakna, president,
and Kesar Singh and Jawala
Singh, vice presidents, were taken
captives on reaching India while
Kartar Singh Sarabha, V.G. Pingle
and several others were able to
evade arrest. An estimated 3000
overseas Indians were intercepted;
more than 300 were put in jails
while many more were restricted
to their villages.
Kartar Singh Sarabha and other
Gadarite leaders worked with all
those forces that were working to
liberate India. They made alliance
with well-known revolutionaries
in India such as Ras Behari Bose.
They organized meetings to plan
for the revolution, procure arms
and arrange funds to carry out
propaganda and other activities.
Since many Gadarites were retired
military soldiers, they tried to
infiltrate into various units of the
armed forces. But, most of the
plans of the Gadarites either failed
or were foiled by the British
agents and by the end of February
1915, most of the Gadar activists
were taken captives.
The Gadarites were prosecuted
by the Special Tribunal. As many
as 46 including Kartar Singh
Sarabha and Vishnu Ganesh
Pingle were given death sen-
tences, 69 were imprisoned for
life and 125 were given varying
terms of imprisonment. In the San
Francisco Hindu German
Conspiracy Trial (1917-18), 29
Hindus and Germans were con-
victed for varying terms of impris-
onment for violating the American
Neutrality Laws.
The Gadarites did not hesitate to
make any sacrifice for the cause
of freedom, dignity and prosperity
of their motherland. They fought
valiantly for their cause and left a
major impact on Indias struggle
for freedom. The heroism,
courage and sacrifices of the
Gadarites inspired many freedom
fighters to continue their mission.
Former President K. R.
Narayanan, in his speech for the
90th anniversary celebration event
in Fremont, California, wrote, In
the evolution of Indias struggle
for independence, the Gadar
Movement constitutes an impor-
tant landmark. Countless daring
and intrepid people participated in
that movement, set the goal of lib-
erating our country through armed
struggle, faced untold misery and
hardships in pursuit of their objec-
tive and even made the supreme
sacrifice of laying down their
lives.The 100th anniversary of
Gadar Movement falls in 2013.
India and overseas Indians should
pay fitting and well deserved trib-
ute to Gadarites and Gadar mar-
tyrs.
Inder Singh is Chairman of
Global Organization of People of
Indian Origin (GOPIO).
Lala Har Dyal (1884-1939)
gave the movement its zeal and
intellectual force.
Kartar Singh Sarabha (1896
1915), a leading luminary of the
Ghadar Party, was executed at
Lahore for his role in the
Ghadar Conspiracy.
Some Gadar movement members in a photograph
from 1913, California.
14
Shobhan Bantwal
S
Konkani Samskara
Raghuchandra Bhat
Founder Puja123.com
R
to children.
S h i k a r
Prathistapana at
Badarikashramas
India center in
Madihalli. In
2000, he was
invited to join
Badarikashrama
in California as
community.
Konkani languages.
Hinduism
Swami Shantananda
Cranbury, NJ
S
pleted his spiritu-
al studies at
S a n d e e p a n y
Sadhanalaya in
Mumbai (1978),
and then spent
two years in
retreat in the
Himalayas.
Mesmerized by
Pujya Gurudev,
time.
Chief Guest
T.V. Mohandas Pai
T
Infosys.
poverty."
Ajit Prabhu
CEO of QuEST Global
A
& co-chairman, Ajit
QuEST Global. QuEST
sourcing space.
Ajit is a Six Sigma
experience at GEs
lems.
Royal Aeronautical
Society, UK.
Vinodh (Vin) Bhat
V
cofounder and the
music. Today, Saavn
applications.
Donaldson, Lufkin &
AT&T, @Home and
and Hearst.
Sunnyvale, CA and
Mumbai, India.
Ranjit Date
President and Joint
Managing Director,
D
his Engineering
company, Precision
that.
growth strategies.
PARI is amongst the
ing and supporting
and Chrysler.
London in 2012.
58
The free spirit of Mumbai
Following World War I, which saw large
movement of India troops, supplies, arms and
industrial goods to and from Bombay, the city
life was shut down many times during the Non-
cooperation movement in the 1920s. In the
early 1930s, the nationwide Civil disobedience
movement against the British Salt tax, sparked
by Mahatma Gandhis Dandi march, spread to
Bombay. Vile Parle was the headquarters of the
movement in Bombay under Jamnalal Bajaj.
The Royal Indian Navy Mutiny of 18 Febru-
ary 1946 in Bombay marked the frst and most
serious revolt by the Indian sailors of the Royal
Indian Navy against British rule.
One of the main forces behind the civil dis-
obedience movement in Mumbai was Mahat-
ma Gandhi who arrived at Mumbai in 1915,
along with Kasturba by SS Arabia from South
Africa via London. Narottam Morarji, J. B.
Petit, Bhalchandra Krishna, B. G. Horniman,
Revashanker Zaveri and Maganlal Gandhi took
a launch to reach the steamer to welcome Kas-
turba and Gandhi. A garden party in honor of
Kasturba and Gandhi hosted by Gurjar Sabha
at Mangaldas House in Girgaum, M. A. Jinnah
presided over the meeting praising the work
of Mahatma Gandhi in the cause of not only
indentured Indians in South Africa but also
of the motherland and Hindu-Muslim Unity,
and Kasturba for standing by her husband.
Revashankar Jagjeevan Jhaveris mansion,
Mani Bhavan became an important base for
Gandhis movements in Mumbai including his
part in the Swaraj movement. Gandhis asso-
ciation with the spinning wheel began in 1917,
while he was staying at Mani Bhavan, where
he met a carder and got him to card slivers of
fne cotton. Gandhi started a spinning class in
Mani Bhavan with himself as the main pupil.
We started our tour of Mumbai at the Mani
Bhawan, which houses a library with Gandhis
statue, staircase lined with photographs depict-
ing events from the life of Gandhi, and a hall
full of photographs and documents. The roof-
top is where he was arrested on Jan 4, 1932.
From Mani Bhavan, we proceeded along the
Laburnum Road to the Gowalia Tank and August
Kranti Maidan), a park in central Mumbai where
the climatic Quit India rebellion was promulgat-
ed in August 1942 by the Congress in a public
meeting at Gowalia Tank. Mahatma Gandhis
Quit India speech at the August Kranti Maidan
in 1942 mobilized a huge Civil Disobedience
movement as the British refused to grant inde-
pendence till the World War was over.
From the maidan, we hired a taxi and drove
to Appolo Bunder where Gandhi alighted when
he returned by steamer from South Africa. The
Gateway of India is the star attraction of this
seaside boulevard. Commemorating the visit
of King George, accompanied by Queen Mary,
in 1911 when they stepped ashore at Apollo
Bunder, this monumental gateway was com-
pleted in 1923-4 by architect George Wittet
who built many of Mumbais great buildings in
an eclectic style incorporating the Indo-Sarace-
nic style of blending Hindu and Islamic archi-
tecture that grew in Gujarat in the 15th and 16th
century, the imposing Deccani Islamic architec-
ture of Bijapur and Victorian Gothic features.
From the Gateway of India we walked past
the Art Deco Dhanraj Mahal to Regal Circle,
which has a fne collection of colonial buildings,
and crossed the road to the Chhatrapati Shivaji
Maharaj Vastu Sanghralaya (Prince of Wales
Museum). This museum is housed in a building
founded to commemorate the visit of the Prince
of Wales in 1905 and was opened only in 1822-3.
From the museum gate we followed MG
Road to the entrance of Jehangir Art Gallery,
one of the most important commercial galler-
ies in Mumbai. On the opposite side of the
road is the large National Gallery of Modern
Art. Both house exhibitions. Continuing on
MG Road we came to the Hutamata Chowk
or Martyrs Square named for the shooting
of peaceful protestors asking for independent
statehood for Maharashtra in 1960. This square
has the Flora Fountain, one of Mumbais prin-
cipal landmarks, with the statue of the Roman
Goddess Flora erected in 1899 as a memorial
to Sir Bartle Frere who was the governor dur-
ing Mumbais urban planning in the 1860s.
From the west end of Hornimun Circle we
followed Perin Nariman Street to Nagar Chowk
beyond which is the Chhatrapati Shivaji Ter-
minus (Victoria Terminus) that the people of
Mumbai still call VT Station. One of the grand-
est railway stations in the world, this remarkable
and elaborate example of Indo-Gothic architec-
ture in Mumbai was opened in 1887 to celebrate
the golden jubilee year of Queen Victoria, more
than three decades after the frst train ran from
this terminus to Thane. The building designed
by SW Stevens has a huge central dome sur-
mounted by a statue, Progress by Thomas Earp
that was executed by Bombay School of Art,
Corinthian columns, spires and minarets. The
ticketing hall inspired by St Pancras Station has
stained glass, glazed tiles and arches.
From VT Station, we took a taxi to the
eight-lane Netaji Subash Chandra Road called
Marine Drive which was built in the 1920s on
reclaimed land. The pavement along the sea is
a popular promenade of Mumbai leading from
Nariman Point to Chowpatty Beach, alive with
streetfood vendors and amusements for chil-
dren, with Art Deco apartment blocks lining
the opposite side of the road and Taraporewala
Aquarium which is one of Indias most visited
aquariums. The lights along the promenade
which arcs along the sea towards Malabar Hill
have given it the nickname `Queens Neck-
lace at night. This strip of coastline was the
site for many Quit India rallies in the early-20-
th century when Mumbai was at the forefront
of the Freedom Struggle.
August 18-24, 2012
The last British troops to leave India, passed through the arcade of the Gateway of
India in Bombay on 28 February 1948, ending the 282 year long period of the British.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (C.S.T), historically called
The Victoria Terminus, at Mumbai
By Anil Mulchandani
Photos by Dinesh Shukla
M
umbai or Bombay
grew into a major
city when the East
India Company leased all the
seven islands in 1668 and de-
veloped them to become their
headquarters in India in 1672.
In the early-20th century,
Mumbai was the hotbed of the
freedom struggle. In the 1870s
and 80s, the movement began
under nationalist, Dadabhai
Naoroji and The Bombay Mill
owners Association formed in
order to protect interests threat-
ened by possible factory and
tariff legislation by the British.
The foundation of the Indian
National Congress in 1885 was
one of the most important po-
litical events in Bombay. Bal
Gangadhar Tilak was a popular
leader of the Indian Indepen-
dence Movement in Bombay
in 1904-05 becoming an iconic
fgure with his slogan, ``Swaraj
is my birthright.
On 22 July 1908, Tilak was
sentenced to six years impris-
onment, which led to huge
scale protests in the city. The
Bombay Chronicle was start-
ed by Pherozeshah Mehta, the
leader of the Indian National
Congress, in April 1913,
which played an important
role in the national movement
till Indias Independence. The
most important event in Bom-
bay early in 1915 was the visit
of Mahatma Gandhi to Bom-
bay. When the All India Home
Rule League was inaugurated
by Annie Besant at Chennai
(then Madras) in September
1916, Tilak started Home Rule
League at Bombay in May
1916 to bid for support of the
mill workers in Bombay. Lord
Willingdon convened the
Provincial War Conference
at Bombay on 10 June 1918,
whose objective was to seek
the co-operation of the people
in the World War I measures
which the British Government
thought it necessary to take in
the Bombay Presidency. The
conference was followed by
huge rallies across the city.
Bombay was the main cen-
ter of the Rowlatt Satyagraha
movement started by Mahatma
Gandhi from February April
1919. The movement was start-
ed as a result of the Rowlatt
Act, which indefnitely extend-
ed emergency measures during
the First World War in order to
control public unrest.
14
Shobhan Bantwal
S
Konkani Samskara
Raghuchandra Bhat
Founder Puja123.com
R
to children.
S h i k a r
Prathistapana at
Badarikashramas
India center in
Madihalli. In
2000, he was
invited to join
Badarikashrama
in California as
community.
Konkani languages.
Hinduism
Swami Shantananda
Cranbury, NJ
S
pleted his spiritu-
al studies at
S a n d e e p a n y
Sadhanalaya in
Mumbai (1978),
and then spent
two years in
retreat in the
Himalayas.
Mesmerized by
Pujya Gurudev,
time.
Chief Guest
T.V. Mohandas Pai
T
Infosys.
poverty."
Ajit Prabhu
CEO of QuEST Global
A
& co-chairman, Ajit
QuEST Global. QuEST
sourcing space.
Ajit is a Six Sigma
experience at GEs
lems.
Royal Aeronautical
Society, UK.
Vinodh (Vin) Bhat
V
cofounder and the
music. Today, Saavn
applications.
Donaldson, Lufkin &
AT&T, @Home and
and Hearst.
Sunnyvale, CA and
Mumbai, India.
Ranjit Date
President and Joint
Managing Director,
D
his Engineering
company, Precision
that.
growth strategies.
PARI is amongst the
ing and supporting
and Chrysler.
London in 2012.
60
Ranchi s Raj relics
They made Ranchi the summer capital of the
Bihar provinces and Netarhat became a hill sta-
tion retreat with a prestigious public school. Af-
ter independence, the relatively cooler climes of
the Chhotanagpur Plateau continued to attract
people from Kolkata and Patna. Today, Ranchis
main attractions are the spectacular waterfalls
making base in this capital city of Jharkhand and
the picturesque villages of the tribal groups that
take pride in their independent spirit.
We arrived at Ranchis Birsa Munda Airport
and drove to the Tribal Research Institute on
Morabadi Road. The institute has a museum of-
fering an insight into the cultures of 32 tribal
groups including information about their history,
customs, performing arts and religious rituals,
and exhibits like weapons, musical instruments
and arts. The Ranchi University too has a mu-
seum collection of archaeological fnds of the
Chotanagpur plateau, which covers Jharkhand
and neighboring areas of Andhra, Orissa, West
Bengal and Chhatisgarh, and also of the Anda-
man & Nicobar Islands.
From here we drove to the Gossner Evangeli-
cal Lutheran Church which was established at
Ranchi in the 1800s and housed in its present
building from 1919. The missionaries returned
to Ranchi after the mutiny and established An-
glican and Catholic churches in Ranchi. The
Lutheran church is especially impressive.
As evening approached, we drove out to
Ranchi Hill, which locals seem to know better as
Pahar Mandir because of the temple on the sum-
mit. After climbing what seemed like hundreds
of steps, we came to the terrace on the hilltop
which offers a panoramic view of the city includ-
ing the attractive Ranchi Lake and surrounding
hills. The Ranchi Lake excavated in 1842 by the
British offcers is near the foot of the hill and
centrally situated in the city is a popular recre-
ational spot. Another attractive water body is
Kanke Dam near which is a Rock Garden featur-
ing fgures made from the natural rocks of Gonda
Hill, artifcial waterfalls and amusements.
After the sunset, we walked around bustling
areas like Main Road, Upper Bazaar and Sainik
Bazaar. We picked up tribal ornaments, Dokhra
handicrafts, woodwork and other handicrafts and
tried some Jharkhandi food including monsoon
season mushroom curries, ending with Bengali,
Odiya and Bihari sweets on the Main Road.
The next morning, the driver took us out to the
Hazaribagh Road to see the Birsa Munda Zoo-
logical Park at Ormanjhi, about 20 minutes out
of Ranchi. The zoo is pleasantly situated and the
highlight is the great one-horned Indian rhino in
a naturalistic setting of marshes and grasses. We
continued to Hazaribagh, which was a cantonment
from 1790 to 1884 and gave birth to a planned
city with Boddam Bazar as the center. British set-
tlers built large bungalows in this town near the
Hazaribagh forests that provided them with tiger,
leopard and deer shooting opportunities. The Haz-
aribagh Central Jail housed many leaders of the
Indian freedom movement, including Dr. Rajendra
Prasad, who became the frst president of India and
Jayaprakash Narayan was put under arrest in this
jail during the Quit India Movement of 1942. His
escape from this high security prison and the sup-
port he received from the local people is one of the
legends of the Indian Independence movement.
For tourists, Hazaribaghs main claim to fame
is the Hazaribagh Wildlife Sanctuary. This sanc-
tuary largely comprises sal forests in the upper
Damodar river valley and has a sizable list of
mammal species including sloth bear, leopard,
sambar, spotted deer, nilgai, etc. As this is a vital
wildlife corridor connecting Palamau Betla with
the forests around Ranchi and the Dalma hills,
elephants and tigers are known to come in from
the Betla National Park, among the frst nine
Project Tiger notifed reserves in India and the
site of one of Indias frst tiger census in India.
August 18-24, 2012
Ranchi cityscape
A tribal haat in Jharkhand
Ranchi church
By Anil Mulchandani
C
elebrations rocked
Ranchi when Jharkhand
was carved out of Bihar
as Indias 28th state on 15th
November 2000, the birth anni-
versary of freedom fghter Birsa
Munda who is revered as god in
the tribal-dominated areas of
Jharkhand for his work as one
of the freedom fghters in the
Indian struggle for indepen-
dence against British colonial-
ism and his movement to assert
the rights of the Munda tribal
people as the real proprietors
of the soil and the expulsion of
middlemen and the British.
Ranchi and the forests of
Hazaribagh have been closely
associated with the indepen-
dence movement from the
1857 Mutiny to the initiatives
of Birsa Munda, struggles
that embody the independent
spirit of Jharkhands tribal
communities. The tribal rebel-
lions from the Chhota Nagpur
Plateau which now comprises
Jharkhand posed a signifcant
challenge to the British during
1857. It began with a mutiny
of the `sepoys at Hazaribagh
on July 30 and soon engulfed
the tribal heartland of Chhota
Nagpur. A detachment of the
Ramgarh regiment sent to dis-
arm the Hazaribagh mutineers,
defed orders and marched
back to Ranchi under the lead-
ership of Jamadar Madhav
Singh and Subedar Nadir Ali
Khan. They were joined by
the Hazaribagh rebels and on
reaching Ranchi, Jaimangal
Pandey joined the forces with
his entire battalion. Units from
Hazaribagh, Ramgarh, Purulia
(Manbhum), and Singhbhum
marched towards Ranchi and
attacked British bungalows
and offcial buildings, looted
the treasury, destroyed gov-
ernment records, and releas-
ing prisoners from jails while
marching to Ranchi. At Ranchi,
they made base and began to
mobilize support from differ-
ent areas. By end August, the
military leaders also called a
political conference at Ranchi
to resolve potential issues and
deliberate on the future course
of action. Unfortunately, the
sepoys broke into factions.
Despite all the protests
against the colonial system,
Jharkhand was the preferred
summer destination of the
British offcers resident in Bi-
hars capital, Patna, because
of its coolerelevation between
2000 and 3000ft.
Photos by Dinesh Shukla
14
Shobhan Bantwal
S
Konkani Samskara
Raghuchandra Bhat
Founder Puja123.com
R
to children.
S h i k a r
Prathistapana at
Badarikashramas
India center in
Madihalli. In
2000, he was
invited to join
Badarikashrama
in California as
community.
Konkani languages.
Hinduism
Swami Shantananda
Cranbury, NJ
S
pleted his spiritu-
al studies at
S a n d e e p a n y
Sadhanalaya in
Mumbai (1978),
and then spent
two years in
retreat in the
Himalayas.
Mesmerized by
Pujya Gurudev,
time.
Chief Guest
T.V. Mohandas Pai
T
Infosys.
poverty."
Ajit Prabhu
CEO of QuEST Global
A
& co-chairman, Ajit
QuEST Global. QuEST
sourcing space.
Ajit is a Six Sigma
experience at GEs
lems.
Royal Aeronautical
Society, UK.
Vinodh (Vin) Bhat
V
cofounder and the
music. Today, Saavn
applications.
Donaldson, Lufkin &
AT&T, @Home and
and Hearst.
Sunnyvale, CA and
Mumbai, India.
Ranjit Date
President and Joint
Managing Director,
D
his Engineering
company, Precision
that.
growth strategies.
PARI is amongst the
ing and supporting
and Chrysler.
London in 2012.
62
Historic coastal
city of Calicut
Kerala Simham or the Lion of Kerala be-
cause of his initiatives to resist British impe-
rialism from 1793 till his death in 1805. He
fought two wars to resist British intervention
in the domestic affairs of Kerala including the
issue of who was to be master of Wayanad.
This city was also witness to several
movements as part of the struggle for Indian
independence from the British. This was
the venue for the meeting of the Congress
in 1904 with C. Vijayaraghavachariar in the
chair. A branch of the All India Home Rule
League founded by Annie Besant also func-
tioned in the city. K. P. Kesava Menon was an
active member of the Home Rule Movement
in Kozhikode. In 1916, K.P.Kesava Menon
staged a walk out of the Town Hall when
he was denied permission by the Collector
to address the meeting in Malayalam. Two
publications, the Mathrubhumi and Al Amin
launched in the 1920s by Sri K.P.Kesava
Menon and Muhammad Abdur Rahiman
respectively fostered the spirit of National-
ism. On May 12, 1930, following Mahatma
Gandhis Salt Satyagraha, independence ac-
tivists assembled at Calicut beach under the
leadership of Muhammad Abdur Rahiman
to break the Salt laws and were attacked
by the police injuring more than 30 people
with K.P.Krishna Pillai and R.V.Sharma de-
fending the National fag from forcible sei-
zure by the police. In the 1930s, All Kerala
Political Conference in September 1932 was
held in the city during which four hundred
delegates were arrested. Mrs. L.S.Prabhu of
Thalassery, who courted arrest during the
conference, was ordered to surrender all her
gold ornaments including the tali or mangal-
sutra received nationwide condemnation.
Calicut was also a major centre for the rising
Communist Party of Malabar in 1939 and
the Quit India Movement.
Today, Kozhikode is an important trading
center for timber and tiles and a commercial
city for the northern districts of Kerala.
We asked local directions for the Moplah
quarter where the Malabari Muslims have
their fnest mosques. We drove frst to the
Kuttichara mosque, which the locals told
us dates to the 15th century. The mosque
is unique in belonging to the traditional
Kerala style of architecture rather than the
Middle Eastern style that is prevalent in
more recent mosques of Kerala.
We drove out of the area to the Pazhas-
siraja Museum, located at East Hill. This
museum is managed by the State Archaeo-
logical Department. The museum is best
known for its copies of original murals,
models of temples and megalith monu-
ments of Kerala. The museum has infor-
mation and artifacts regarding the life of
this royal who deifed British imperialism.
We drove next to the Kozhikode Art Gal-
ley, which has an extensive collection of
paintings by Raja Ravi Varma, Raja Raja
Varma, and other Indian artists, besides wood
sculptures and ivory carvings. The Krishna
Menon Museum has a section in honor of
the great Indian leader V.K. Krishna Menon,
the Kerala statesman who became an impor-
tant fgure in Indian political history.
The Tali temple is an interesting example of
the traditional Keralan architectural style, us-
ing laterite walls and wooden roofng. There
are two important shrines here, one dedicated
to Narasimha and the other to Krishna. The
Zamorin built the temple in the 14th century
as part of his palace complex. The temple
is famous for the Revathi Pattathanam, an
annual competition of educational skills.
August 18-24, 2012
Calicut beach
Zamorin of Calicut with Vasco da Gama
Malabari mosque architecture in Calicut
By Anil Mulchandani
C
alicut, now better
known as Kozhikode,
is a historic coastal
city that was once one of the
wealthiest kingdoms in India.
A port that exported spices,
ivory, timber, and cloth (Calico
textiles derive their name from
Calicut) it prospered and grew
into an important city. The me-
dieval rulers, titled the Zamor-
in, forged important trade links
with the Arabs and the Chi-
nese, in an era when Europe-
ans were unable to access the
Malabar Coast because of the
Ottoman domination of the
Red Sea that fell on the sea
route. By doing this, they es-
tablished Kozhikodes monop-
oly over the international spice
trade from the Malabar Coast.
The Zamorins were reputedly
one of the wealthiest rulers of
India and had a rich cache of
gold and pearls. Marco Polo
described the Zamorins terri-
tory in 1320 A.D. as the great
province of Malabar.
Ibn Batur relates the won-
ders of Calicut and Quilon
and eulogies the riches of the
Muslim merchants of the 14th
century. The greater part of
the [Muslim] merchants are so
wealthy that one of them can
purchase the whole freightage
of such vessels as put in here
and ft out others like them, he
wrote on one of his six visits to
the Zamorins capital.
Life in Kerala changed when
the Portuguese, led by Vasco
Da Gama, landed at Kappad
near Kozhikode in 1498 and
1502 A.D. His attempts to
forge ties with the Zamorin
failed and the Portuguese
turned their attention to Co-
chin. The Zamorin, fearing his
trade monopoly was at an end,
launched an offensive against
the Raja of Cochin. The Portu-
guese supported the Raja and
beat back the Kozhikode forc-
es. The Zamorin was forced to
accede to Portuguese demands.
In the 18th century, the Sultans
of Mysore invaded Kozhikode.
The Zamorin realized victory
was impossible and as Sultan
Hyder Ali refused offers of
peace, he immolated himself
and his family. The Sultans
were driven out by the East In-
dia Company who made Ma-
labar, including Kozhikode, a
province ruled directly by the
British Empire.
One of the key attractions of
Kozhikode is the museum ded-
icated to Pazhassi Raja, called Photos by Dinesh Shukla
64
August 18-24, 2012
India Day Special
The Reel' Patriotism
Moving away from the trend of simply showcasing rival nations in the patriotic movies,
the Indian film industry has chosen more peaceful and subtle ways of putting across the
message. The young Indian generation treats patriotism in their own way. SATimes takes
a peek into new generation films that have redefined patriotism for us
Top 10
patriotic
songs
1. Insaf ki dagar pe, bach-
chon dikhao chalke; Yeh
desh hai tumhaara, neta
tumhi ho kal ke...
Movie: Ganga Jamuna
(1961)
2. De Di Hume azadi,
bina khadig bina dhhal,
Saabarmati ke Sant tu ne
kar diyaa kamaal
Movie: Jaagruti (1954)
3. Aye Watan, aye
watan... hum ko teri kasam,
Teri rahon mein jaan tak
luta jayenge..!
Movie: Shaheed (1965)
4. Aye mere pyare watan,
aye mere bichchde
chaman,Tujhpe dil qurban!
Movie: Kabuliwala
(1961)
5. He Preet jahan ki reet
sada, main geet wahan ke
gaata hoon, Bharat ka
rehne wala hoon, Bharat ki
baat sunaata hoon..!
Movie: Purab Aur
Pachhim (1970)
6. Dulhan chali ho pahen
chali teen rang ki choli...
Movie : Purab Aur
Pachhim (1970)
7. Apni azadi ko hum har-
giz mita sakte nahin, Sar
kata sakte hain lekin sar
jhuka sakte nahin
Leader (1964)
8. Kar chale hum fida
jaan-o-tan saathiyon, Ab
tumhare hawale watan
saathiyon!
Movie: Haqeekat (1965)
9. Yeh jo desh hai tera,
swadesh hai tera...
Movie: Swades
10. "Jine Naaz hai hind
par who kahan hai...!"
Movie: Pyaasa (1957)
Rang De Basanti
N
o list on
patriotic
films is
complete with-
out this
R a k e y s h
O m p r a k a s h
Mehra classic.
This coming of
age film started
a trend of sorts
for the numer-
ous peaceful protests at India
Gate that took place after the
film was released. A story of
five carefree youngsters who are
jolted to reality after a friends
death redefined the way we
youngsters perceived patriotism.
Starring Aamir Khan, Kunal
Kapoor, Sharman Joshi,
Sidharth and Soha Ali Khan, the
film dealt with issues like cor-
ruption and other loopholes in
the society.
A Wednesday
S
et in the after-
math of the 7/11
attack in
Mumbai, which crip-
pled the city due to
bomb blasts in the
locals, the film showed
the other side of the
Indian.
The film showcased
that India was no
longer willing to be at
the mercy of a hapless
government. Starring
Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam
Kher, the film was written and direct-
ed by debutant filmmaker Neeraj
Pandey.
Mission Kashmir
K
a s h mi r ,
the pris-
tine valley
and the outlawed
youth were beau-
tifully captured in
this Vidhu Vinod
Chopra film.
Chopra, who
spent his child-
hood in Kashmir,
showcased the
story of the locals
and how terrorism
had tarnished the
image of an otherwise peaceful
state. The film captured the patri-
otic Army officers (Sanjay Dutt)
desperate attempt to get back his
outlawed son (Hrithik Roshan)
home and the inner conflict that
he has to go through to choose
between his country and his
family.
Chak De! India
S
hah Rukh Khan played a
fallen hockey hero who
makes a comeback to coach
the Indian womens hockey team.
The film also established the fact
that when it came to protecting the
honour of ones country religion
took a backseat. The film had a
muslim hero, accused to giving
away a winning match to Pakistan,
resurrecting his career and the
nations honour.
Kahaani
Y
es it was a thriller and
story of a pregnant Vidya
Balan looking for her
lost husband in the streets of
Kolkata. But the film had an
underlying theme of patriotism
where a woman is specially
trained by the intelligence to
eradicate a dreaded terrorist from
the face of earth.
Lakshya
H
rithik Roshan played a
reluctant soldier who
was initially clueless
about hi s l i fe and how hi s
inclusion in the Indian army
and Kargil war changes his per-
cept i on about l i fe and hi s
country.
Dus
I
ntelligence agents never
looked so hot. Sanjay Dutt,
Abhishek Bachchan, Zayed
Khan and Shilpa Shetty played
officers of the Anti Terrorist
Squad who put their country
before their family. The plot
revolved around ATS officers fly-
ing to Toronto to arrest a dreaded
terrorist Jamwal who no one has
seen before and who had plans to
assassinate the Indian Prime
Minster who was there on a visit.
A high octane thriller, the film
was popular for its music and
stellar performance the star cast.
Sarfarosh
O
ne usually doesnt go
wrong when there is
Aamir Khan and
Naseruddin Shah in a film
together. John Mathew Mathans
film on cross border terrorism
had Shah playing a ghazal singer
who was also a secret ISI agent.
Aamir played ACP Rathod who
is a righteous cop whose family
goes through trials after his
brother is killed by a terrorist
group.
The film dealt with the strain
relationship that India and
Pakistan shares but the entire
issue was dealt in the most realis-
tic manner. There was no chest
thumping screaming jargons
about mother land here...
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Naperville, IL: Veggie Fest Chicago,
one of the largest vegetarian festivals in
North America, impressed organizers, ven-
dors and visitors yet again when it broke all
previous attendance records as more than
25,000 people focked to the grounds of the
Science of Spirituality Meditation Center in
Naperville, Illinois on August 11 and 12.
The gorgeous Chicago weather encour-
aged the large crowds to come early and
stay late to enjoy more than 100 vendor
booths, experts speaking on health, nutri-
tion and spirituality, an extensive interna-
tional vegetarian food court, live cooking
demos, meditation classes, exciting chil-
drens activities and great live music by lo-
cal bands. Admission was free with Science
of Spirituality its principle sponsor.
On both days, people thronged the food
courts, danced to the music and attended
the many talks and demos Veggie Fest has
become noted for. Vendors busily served
the thousands of people coming to their
booths many making record sales.
Were thrilled with the incredible turn
out this year, said event coordinator Jona-
than Kruger. Its great to see so many peo-
ple coming out for a weekend in celebration
of vegetarianism and spirituality.
Highlighting the weekends festivities
were the keynote talks by His Holiness
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj, a world re-
nowned spiritual Master and head of Science
of Spirituality, drawing audiences of over
2,000 people with overfow crowds gather-
ing around the grass outside the main tent.
On Saturday, during his talk, Meditation
as Medication for the Soul, the spiritual
Master spoke not only about the benefits
of a vegetarian lifestyle, but also about re-
building the health of our body, mind, and
soul through meditation, and how medical
research has proven that those who medi-
tate and pray heal faster.
Saturday also saw the release of Sant Ra-
jinder Singh Ji Maharajs latest book, Med-
itation as Medication for the Soul which
presents the proven benefts of meditation
for spiritual, physical, mental, and emo-
tional health; for improved brain function
and performance; achieving balance and
wellness; and also for pain management.
During his second keynote address, Spir-
itual and Physical Health through Vegetari-
anism, he began by recalling how vegetari-
anism has become more popular with the
increased focus on health and nutrition. He
then explained we need to understand that
we are more than just the physical body we
have an emotional, mental, and spiritual self
also and we need to have an experience of
our soul in order to grasp this truth.
Festival-goers enjoyed a special treat
when long-time vegan Miss Chicago, Maris-
sa Buchheit, took to the entertainment stage.
All the bands proved popular and the sea of
cheering fans begged the young kids rock
and roll band, Live Wire, for an encore.
Theres something for everyone here! My
kids had a blast and even my non-vegetarian
husband is having a great time, said one fan.
Another new record was set with large
numbers pledging to take the Vegetarian
Challenge, an initiative encouraging people
to drop meat, fsh, chicken, and eggs for one
week in exchange for a vegetarian lifestyle.
As Veggie Fest drew to a close on Sunday
beneath a light drizzle, the crowds slowly dis-
persed, reluctant to leave the food, music and
fun. Vendors commented on the great turn out
and visitors talked about the friendly people, the
family feeling, and delicious food they enjoyed.
Many said they couldnt wait until next year.
For more information about Veggie Fest,
visit www.veggiefestchicago.org. For infor-
mation about Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Ma-
haraj, including his schedule, visit www.
sos.org or call 630.955.1200.
Record-breaking crowds attend Naperville Veggie Fest
More than 25000 people attended the fest
Release of Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharajs latest book,
Meditation as Medication for the Soul
On both days, people thronged the food courts, danced to the music
and attended the many talks and demos at Veggie Fest
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj with his new book
The event had activities of interest to all age-groups Visitors attending Sant Rajinder Singh Jis talk on benefts of vegetarianism
The highlight of the Veggie Fest
on the grounds of the Science of
Spirituality Meditation Center
in Chicagoland was the keynote
talks by Sant Rajinder Singh Ji
Maharaj, head of Science
of Spirituality.
70 Tristate Community
August 18-24, 2012 TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Unforgettable cultural enrichment and
entertainment experience
Hauppauge, NY: The Hyatt
Regency Hotel at Hauppauge in
Long Island came alive August 12
as visitors came from all over to
celebrate India Fest 2012 organ-
ized by the India Association of
Long Island (IALI). The hotel
with its beautiful panoramic
views was jam packed within the
first hour with thousands of peo-
ple; the full day crowd was esti-
mated to be over 10,000.
Tony Avella, NY State Senator,
Ed Mangano, Nassau County
Executive, Jon Kaiman,
Supervisor Town of North
Hempstead, Catherine Green
from office of Suffolk
Countywere among the digni-
taries present, while support also
came from Congressman Steve
Israel, elected officials of Nassau
and Suffolk counties, and Towns
of Hempstead and North
Hempstead.
Celebrity entertainers showcas-
ing the event included: Manu
Narayan, singer, actor and musi-
cian, star of Bombay Dreams
and The Love Guru and
Chandan Kaur, Miss India USA
2011. Fashion show by Rose
Boutique featured costumes from
the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion
Week in Delhi. The evenings fes-
tivities featured more dancing,
melodious Bollywood songs by
Nipun Marwaha and a raffle.
Upon entering the lower level
of the hotel, festival attendees
were drawn to the multiple richly
decorated stalls with vendors fea-
turing Indian jewelry, designer
clothing and handbags. The grand
ballroom was filled with thou-
sands of guests who came from
all over New York not just Long
Island. The deep magenta, yellow
and green colors in the saris were
showstoppers. Kids enjoyed spe-
cial activities like kids rides, Face
Painting, Henna and Tattoos.
IALI also honored community
leaders: Sudhir Vaishnav, Ramesh
Raja, Chandra Mehta, Manmeet
Lamba, Tina Shah, Perry Walia
and Bawa Rajinder Singh Lalli
for their humanistic and philan-
thropic ideals and community
service. Students Ankit Shah and
Shruti Parekh were acknowl-
edged for academic achievements
and service to community.
Sponsors honored on stage
included SBI, Kingfisher
Airlines, Hyatt Regency Hotel,
Mr. Ramesh Goel from Atlantic
Partner Financial Group, and var-
ious media partners.
Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano speaking at the
India Fest 2012.
Hon Ed Mangano posing with Manu Narayan, star of
Bombay Dreams fame
Sudhir Vaishnav of Sahara TV
was among the honorees.
Photos: Vaaho and Irwin Mendlinger
Kitty Jain (seventh from right) of Rose Boutique with models of her fashion show, along with Miss India USA 2011 Chandan Kaur
and IALI organizing Committee members Dr. Ranu, Darshan Ranu, and others.
Honoree Ramesh Rajapur, Vice
President of State Bank of India,
New York.
IALI President Dr. Sukhvinder Ranu receiving citation from
Nassau CE Ed Mangano.
Members of Executive Council of IALI at the opening ceremony of India Fest.
Kamlesh Mehta, Chairman, The South Asian Times, receiving
bouquet from CE Ed Mangano and NYS Senator Tony Avella.
IALI India Fest
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US Affairs 73
Paul Ryan as running mate of
Romney has energized conservatives
Washington, DC: Mitt
Romneys selection of
42-year old Paul Ryan, a
7-term congressman
from Janesville,
Wisconsin has raved up
the campaign in run up to
the November election.
Ryan is the Chairman of
the House Budget
Committee and a senior
member of the powerful
House Ways and Means
Committee. He is probably best
known for putting forward the
Ryan budget, (a.k.a. "The Path to
Prosperity") for 2012, which drew
high praise from fellow
Republicans and negative reac-
tions from Democrats.
Variously described as among
the GOPs brightest young stars
and the GOPs No. 1 ideas guy,
Ryans focus on fiscal austerity in
his budget plan and his wealth of
knowledge on fiscal and health
care matters bolsters Romneys
argument that his presidency
would be all about the economy
and would likely excite parts of
the Republican base who are fans
of the young and eloquent Ryan.
Also, Ryan was a natural fit with
Romney when he campaigned for
the future nominee in Wisconsin,
which led to further speculation
that Ryan could be Romneys
choice.
President Obama already lit a
fire under religious conservatives
when he announced his support of
same-sex marriage, and Ryan is
an effective speaker who would
bolster Romneys argument that
the election is about the economy.
Ryan does have plans he has put
forth to help start the economy
again, and would provide cover
for Romney, who has been
accused recently by conservative
writers for not having detailed
plans to get the economy moving
again.
Mitt Romney with Paul Ryan
Somber interfaith memorial for Gurdwara shooting
victims in Washington capital area
Washington, DC: Hundreds from many different faiths
gathered in solidarity on Saturday for an act of healing at a
vigil organized by the Siva Vishnu Temple and the United
Hindu Jain Temples of Washington, D.C. and cosponsored
by the Hindu American SevaCharities. The memorial for
the victims of last weeks shooting at a Sikh Gurudwara in
Oak Creek, Wis. was held at the Sri Siva Vishnu Temple in
Lanham,Md. We all share the sorrow of our Sikh brothers
and sisters at this time of need, said Dr.Suryanarana
Siram, chair of the board of trustees of SSVT. We must
pull together as one community.
Events like these bring all religious people together to
show support and solidarity, added Mythili Bachu, presi-
dent of the United Hindu Jain Temples of Washington D.C.,
which has 14 temples in the surrounding area. It also pres-
ents an opportunity to educate the community and take us
out of ignorance. The Obama Administration has done a
superb job. Its a comfort to know that they are just there.
Indian ambassador to the United States Nirupama Rao
spoke at the event, citing President Barack Obamas out-
reach to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh following
the tragedy. Gautam Raghavan, associate director of the
White House Office of Public Engagement repeated the
presidents thoughts and prayers and Lt. Ravi Chaudhary
reflected on the important role Sikhs have played in
defending America. Maryland AttorneyGeneral Douglas
Genslar commended the Sikh communitys response to the
tragedy, calling it a teaching moment one that shows
how to respond to hatred with nonviolence, peace and love.
Representatives from Governor Martin OMalleys office
and the Maryland state legislature joined Attorney General
Genslar, sharing their sympathies and comforts too.
Shekar Narasimhan of Dunn Loring, Va., a former trustee
of the SSVT and a board Member of the Hindu American
Seva Charities said the event brought together representa-
tives from a variety of religions Hinduism, Jainism,
Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Zoroastrianism, and the Bahai
faith as well as senior representatives from the White
House, Pentagon, Indian Embassy, Maryland state govern-
ment and the Lanham Police Department.
Throughout the event, community leaders talked about
the importance of understanding the different faiths that
exist freely in the U.S. The Interfaith Conference of
Metropolitan Washington distributed literature about the 11
most prominent religions in the United States, including
those represented at the event.
The event culminated in a viewing of excerpts from the
PBS documentary, The Asian and Abrahamic Religions: A
Divine Encounter in America. Jerry Krell, filmmaker of
the documentary, prayed with others in the audience.
Officers from the Lanham Police Department shared their
prayers as well, urging the community to play their part by
remaining alert and reporting any suspicious activity.
Bel Leong-Hong, chair of the Democratic National
Committees Asian American Pacific Islander Caucus, was
touched by the interfaith gathering. It was a moving expe-
rience, said Bel Leong-Hong.
Community members stand to honor victims of the
shooting at a Sikh gurudwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.
(Photo : Ashwani Ramamurthy, Volunteer, SSVT)
Arsha Vidya Gurukulam,
P.O. Box 1059, Saylorsburg, PA 18353
Phone: 570-992-2339 Ext. 210/234/241
e-mail:avp@epix.net * website: www.arshavidya.org
You are cordially invited to attend
with family and friends
Concert by :
Pandit Mukesh Desai
Dignitary Address :
Mr. Deven Sharma
Formerly President: Standard and Poors
Anniversary Address:
Sri Swami Dayananda Saraswati
The Creation is the Creator
Question-Answer
Session with
Swami Dayanandaji
(after lunch)
Arsha Vidya Gurukulams
Sunday, August 19,2012 9:30 a.m. 2:00 p.m.
At the Gurukulam Campus
26th Anniversary Celebration
Program
Banquet Lunch
Childcare Provided
74 Astrology
By Dr Prem Kumar Sharma Chandigarh, India: +91-172- 256 2832, 257 2874; Delhi, India: +91-11- 2644 9898,
2648 9899; psharma@premastrologer.com; www.premastrologer.com
Stars Foretell: August 18-24, 2012
August 18:
Governed by number 9 and the planet Mars.
You are adventurous, sensitive, courageous,
systematic and dashing. You are full of enthu-
siasm and very helpful, but you need to control
your tendency to behave impatient, short tem-
pered and shy at times. This year you should
expect new assignments and would hold posi-
tion of important responsibilities. Your finan-
cial position stabilizes as past investments start
raking profits. Improved finances bring in
prosperity and happiness at domestic level.
Good year for girls and women as far as ro-
mance is concerned. Some gains through in-
heritance or expensive gifts from relatives can-
not be ruled out. Frequent travel would be un-
dertaken bringing good monetary rewards.
Distant journey maybe overseas for some later
in the year. Avoid lending or borrowing mon-
ey. August, November, February and July will
be highly significant.
August 19:
Ruled by number one and the Sun. You are ac-
tive, confident, intelligent, original and helpful
person. You possess a strong willpower and
you always strive to stay ahead of others, but
you need to control your tendencies towards
behaving introvert, fickle-minded and careless
at times. The coming year would bring you fi-
nancial gains and happiness. You shall leave no
stone unturned to achieve your goals. Busi-
nessmen will venture into new and more prof-
itable avenues. Investment in stocks and real
estate would be highly beneficial. Property dis-
putes if any would get settled to your satisfac-
tion. Health of your spouse would be a matter
of concern. Increase in your medical expenses
seems likely. Time spent with friends would be
worthwhile, as they would be supportive to
your concerns. Meditation and Yoga will prove
to highly rewarding especially for spiritual as
well as physical gains. Renovation or new con-
struction towards the yearend. Expecting
mothers need to take care of their health. Au-
gust, November, March and April will be
eventful.
August 20:
Influenced by number 2 and the Moon. You are
confident, emotional, imaginative, simple and
warm hearted. You enjoy enormous respect
amongst your friends, but you need to check
your tendency to behave stubborn, vindictive
and lazy at times. Although there would be im-
provement in your financial position, saving
would not be as expected. Sudden unforeseen
expenses would always keep you in a financial
crunch. Increase in responsibility or a change
in job for some. New foreign contact or a fi-
nancial transaction will bring handsome re-
sults. A sudden influence of a spiritual person
will have a deep impact on your personality.
Spouse will be understanding and provide you
with love and affection. Ancestral gains for
some. Watch out from acquaintances who be-
have extra friendly. Friends will be supportive
and helpful. New romance for those unattached
adds a zing to their dull life. The months of Oc-
tober, February and June will prove to be sig-
nificant.
August 21:
Ruled by number 3 and the planet Jupiter. You
are energetic, ambitious, dignified, and kind-
hearted person. You are a good listener and an
able administrator and you have an ability to
handle things perfectly even under pressure,
but you need to control your tendency to dom-
inate and behave stubborn at times. This year
your employer would appreciate your confi-
dence and enthusiasm. You would be able to
accomplish many tasks that you earlier thought
as impossible. Monetary benefits would accrue
from new contacts. Pleasure trips or friendly
get-togethers will be exciting and intellectual-
ly stimulating. Family members will be sup-
portive and friends will be helpful. Minor do-
mestic tensions and stress will bother you.
Health needs extra care therefore be careful of
what you consume. The months of October,
January and April will bring desired results.
August 22:
Influenced by number 4 and the planet Uranus.
You are active, practical, enthusiastic, coura-
geous and highly philosophical person. You are
very proud of your traditions, culture and ritu-
als. You are highly religious and possess a very
sharp mind, but you need to check your ten-
dency to behave impatient and stubborn at
times. Your communication skills and charms
would impress those around you. Your income
would improve, but your expenses would be
erratic which would make it extremely difficult
for you to save. New romance for those unat-
tached, but your work is likely to suffer if you
keep fantasizing about this special person. You
should not let anything interfere with your ca-
reer objectives if you desire to achieve your
goals. Elders and children in the family will de-
mand lot of your attention. Doctors and
lawyers can look forward to a remarkable year.
The months of September, December, Febru-
ary and June will be significant.
August 23:
Governed by number 5 and the planet Mercury.
You are intelligent, sharp, sensible, business ori-
ented, dignified, original and dashing person.
People perceive you as a very warm and friend-
ly person, but you need to check your tendency
to behave restless and impatient at times. Fi-
nancially a very favorable period starts this
year, but you should avoid getting involved in
conflict with loved ones. You would make fi-
nancial gains through sale of property, accrual
of rent, dividends or interests. This is also a
good time to invest in long-term investments
and speculations. Children would be a source of
immense happiness and win laurels in their
fields. Pilgrimage or a distant journey will be
high on your cards. The months of November,
March and August will be highly significant.
August 24:
Ruled by number 6 and the planet Venus. You
have a pleasant personality, sharp memory and
you are very fond of worldly pleasures. You are
very methodical, emotional and helpful per-
son. You make your plans and stick to it, but
you need to control your tendency to behave
moody, timid and spendthrift at times. This
year businessmen would expand their ventures
into new and more profitable avenues. You
would do extremely well if you deal in real es-
tate, but expect some opposition to arise from
partners. New romance for some, so make the
best of it. Meditation and Yoga should be prac-
ticed for spiritual as well as physical gains.
Some exhilarating news from your children
will bring happiness later in the year. The
months of August, January and May will be
highly eventful.
Annual Predictions: For those born in this week
Taurus: This week you would make extra
money through your own creative
efforts. You would have some
good ideas and your ability to
discuss those with people who
can provide assistance would help
you in your situation. Your energy
would be high and competitive games and out-
door activities would attract you. Your love life
would blossom as you receive gifts and pres-
ents. Great period to go out for shopping of
expensive jewelry and items. Residential moves
would be beneficial.
Aries: This week your personality would
attract lot of attention. Use your
intelligence to extract favours
from others. New project would
be alluring, but govt. rules and
regulations would pose hin-
drances. Your spouse would love you
and take care of you a lot. Try not to over-
spend on visitors and guests, although gifts
and presents during this period would be plen-
ty. Your ability to stand out in a group will
bring you popularity and recognition.
Sagittarius: This is not the good period to enter
financial agreements. Disagreements
with partners would make it difficult
for you to carry out your plans.
Although you would get substantial
time with your beloved but your rela-
tionship would suffer due to arguments
and silly contradictions. This temporary phase
would soon be over until then you need to spend
maximum time with friends, go out for a vacation or
do things that will keep you relaxed. It would also
be wise to meet experienced people who will broad-
en your awareness concerning your career goals.
Capricorn: Any renovation or decoration that
you carry out this week should be
done with the approval of others.
You would also improve your rep-
utation if you help those who are
under extreme mental pressure.
Your convincing power would have a
deep impact and people would praise you for
your efforts. Your moneymaking ideas would be
highly lucrative. Deals related to land, home, and
property would bring gains. Recognition and
rewards for creative Capricornians during this
period are certain.
Aquarius: Opportunities to travel outstation
for business cannot be ruled out.
Your hectic work schedule
would put you under stress
therefore it would be essential
for you to seek help from others.
You might even feel depressed and
irritated but it would only be a temporary
phase. Participate in activities that would pro-
vide you with entertainment, little adventure
and knowledge. Losses are likely if you invest
on the advice of dubious individuals.
Pisces: This week some arguments could ruin
your mood. Take your time before
making any crucial decision. Do
not make hasty decisions or you
could blow situation out of pro-
portion and ruin a long lasting
relationship. Be careful not to get
involved in easy money making schemes.
Gambling certainly is not on your cards. You
should try to put some extra time and energy
into learning additional knowledge and skills
that will help you in your career.
Cancer: Unexpected changes regarding finan-
cial and legal matters would be
favourable. As your energy
would be high, you would be
able to achieve more than what
you expect. Although office pres-
sures would increase during this peri-
od, you still would be in a glorious and ener-
getic mood. Little time for meditation and yoga
would be important for mental as well as physi-
cal gains. Do not neglect your beloved no mat-
ter how hectic may be your work schedule.
Gemini: This week you would accomplish a
lot through joint efforts. You
would take a position of a leader
and guide others to success.
Your co-workers, colleagues
and seniors would notice your
ability, which would work to your
advantage. Spouse would be caring and pro-
vide you with love and affection. Go for social
events that would improve your social circle.
Added knowledge that you acquire during this
week, will give you advantage in your career.
Leo:Good period to sign new business deals
and alliances. Businessmen and
investors would see past invest-
ments reaping profits. Good
week to call important people
over to your place, as you would
gain valuable information and knowl-
edge. You would also have little free time to
yourself, which you should spend in helping
those who are incapable of taking care of their
personal affairs. Opportunities to travel to a
distant place for some.
Virgo: A highly result oriented week,
where effort s bri ng desi red
goals. Your career would get
a boost, as you would be able
t o gat her smal l part -t i me
projects to increase your earn-
ing ability. Problems in your per-
sonal life would enlarge much beyond
your expectations, if you were not open
about how you feel. Use your intelligence
and charms to attract attention at social
get-together.
Libra: Your career and your earning abil-
ity would take an upward
climb and your position
would strengthen amongst
your peers. Your original
ideas would win acceptance
from others, and people would seek your
advice. However, you would be overly
tired and need extra rest towards the
weekend. Do not trust people with impor-
tant information.
Scorpio: This week you would have influen-
tial and experienced people
around you who would con-
stantly be a source of inspira-
tion and support. You need to do
things that would improve your
health since your body would be
highly receptive to change. Sudden good news
later in the week brings happiness and cheers
for the entire family. Travelling will not be as
beneficial as expected. Children and spouse
will be demanding.
Humor 75
I
ndia is basking in the glory of its
most successful Olympics cam-
paign ever, with four of its ath-
letes going home with bronze
medals, two with silver medals, and
one with Usain Bolt's autograph.
India' s Sports Minister Ajay
Maken congratulated the Olympic
team on their "super success" at the
London Olympics. "At a single
Olympics, you have won more
medals than at the previous three
Olympics combined," he said.
"Thanks to you, we have gone from
winning 20 Olympic medals in our
history to 26, which means that
India, in terms of world ranking, is
now well-ahead of Michael Phelps."
His reference to Phelps was a
deliberate response to critics who
had compared the American swim-
mer' s all-time record haul of 22
medals to that of India, whose ath-
letes in previous decades would win
a single medal at each Olympics
with such regularity, many Indians
believed there was a quota system in
play. "It was never a question of
whether we would win one medal,"
said sports historian Abdul Ibrahim.
"It was always a question of who
would win that medal."
Indian sports fans had brushed
aside the comparison to Phelps, say-
ing it didn't bother them at all, but
soon after wrestler Sushil Kumar
won a silver medal, the 26th in the
country' s history, thousands of
ecstatic fans poured into the streets
of New Delhi, some of them waving
signs that said "Sorry, Michael
Phelps you'll never catch India!"
and "India leaves Michael Phelps in
the dust."
Kumar also won a bronze medal at
the Beijing Olympics, making him
the first Indian to win multiple
medals in an individual event. Indian
athletes recorded several other firsts
in London: Saina Nehwal became
the first Indian to win a medal in
badminton, Mary Kom became the
first Indian woman to win a medal in
boxing, and tennis players Leander
Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi became
the first Indians to run victory laps
after each other's loss.
"Even those who did not win
medals gave it their best effort and
made us proud," Maken said. "Two
of our athletes reached the final in
discus throw, two of our boxers
came within one victory of winning
a medal, and our field hockey team
well, they were on time for all six
matches."
India has now won six medals in
boxing and wrestling in its history,
and would have won many more,
experts believe, if not for Gandhi's
messages of nonviolence. "When
Mary Kom won her medal in box-
ing, an American friend said to me,
' Gandhi must be rolling in his
grave,'" Ibrahim recalled. "And I
said, 'Well, it's a good thing that he
was cremated.'"
India even did well in a speed
event in London, with Irfan
Kolothum Thodi finishing in the top
ten in the 20 km walk. A confident
Thodi, who broke the Indian nation-
al record, threw out a challenge to
Usain Bolt, the fastest man in the
world: "You might be able to outrun
me, Usain, but I can out-walk you.
Just organize a walk. Anywhere, any
place, I am ready for you."
India' s medal winners were
promptly rewarded with cash
awards and promotions. Many of
the country's top athletes support
themselves through government
jobs. Kumar, the wrestler, works for
Indian Railways, where he appro-
priately enough takes care of pins.
Kom, a five-time world boxing
champion, is a Deputy
Superintendent of Police. She is
occasionally called upon to interro-
gate suspects, but they usually con-
fess before they get to meet her.
Sports Minister Maken was in
such a celebratory mood after the
Olympics that he even extended
warm wishes to Madhura Nagendra,
the Olympic gatecrasher who
walked with the Indian team at the
opening ceremony. We did so well
at the London Olympics that we
have invited her to walk with us
again in four years."
India enjoys most successful Olympic Games ever, and how!
Humor with Melvin Durai
After wrestler Sushil Kumar won a silver medal, the
26th in Indias history, ecstatic fans poured into the
streets of Delhi, some of them waving signs that said,
"Sorry, Michael Phelps you'll never catch India!"
Phelps individual record haul is 22 medals.
W
hen most people suc-
cumb to their baser
nature and want to retal-
iate, violence becomes the norm.
But when someone is responding
nonviolently, it is so unusual that
others notice it. They see that we
remain calm, cool, and collected in
the face of the day-to-day quarrels
in which people are engaged and
realize we have some special qual-
ity. This often leads them to ask us
how we can be so calm in the face
of other peoples violence. We can
then take the opportunity to tell
them that we are leading a life of
meditation and ethical living
which is resulting in inner spiritual
experiences. We are able to
explain to them the benefits of a
nonviolent way of life in keeping
our mind and emotions calm and
explain how it has a beneficial
effect on our health. We can talk
about how we experience less ten-
sion resulting in less stress-related
ailments. We can talk about how
such a way of life helps us get
along better with people in our
family, in our neighborhood, and
at our jobs. We can explain that
when we do not take revenge, the
person who attacked us eventually
comes around and befriends us.
Such an example is powerful. One
by one, others will see the benefit
of leading a nonviolent way of life.
Similarly, we can be a model of
truthfulness. It has become all too
common for people to be dishon-
est. Dishonesty takes many forms.
Some people think their dishon-
esty is harmless, such as stealing
from their boss or company at
work, borrowing money from their
friends or family on the pretense
of paying it back but never paying
it back, telling a small lie, or being
deceitful. It is rare in this day and
age to find someone who is truth-
ful and honest.
When people see someone being
honest, it is so rare that others take
notice of it. They say, Wow, look
at that person who admitted to
making a mistake, or who returned
money they found that was not
rightfully theirs. That person has
guts! That person has strong
morals and convictions! The
result is that others respect the
honest person and say, I wish I
could have such bravery to own up
to my mistakes. This alone may
make others ask us how we have
such moral fortitude. At that point
we can explain what is giving us
the strength to be honest. We can
explain how we meditate and see
the Light of God within. We can
explain how we realize that God
within knows whatever we do. If
God sees everything, there is
nowhere we can hide from God.
Thus, how can we fear the judg-
ment of other people, when God,
the Source of all, knows what we
have done and has forgiven us and
requested us to do no more?
Hazur Baba Sawan Singh Ji
Maharaj used to tell people that
they are forgiven if they do no
more. We are all human. We are
bound to make mistakes. The key
is that having made a mistake and
acknowledging it, we make
amends so that we do not repeat
that mistake.
If we are honest, we will earn the
respect of others. Then, when we
talk about the value of a spiritual
life, others will see that we are
leading such a life and they will be
more inclined to want to do the
same.
Many are egotistical. They think
too much of themselves. They
boost themselves up at the expense
of others. They brag about how
great they are. They present them-
selves as being better than others.
It is noticeable when someone is
humble. When we see others who
are realistic about themselves,
accepting their talents as well as
their faults in an honest way, it is
noticeable. When we find that
someone treats others with equali-
ty and respect, it is noticeable. In a
world where there is so much big-
otry and prejudice, it is refreshing
to find someone who loves all peo-
ple as equals. When we see some-
one who gets along with many
people, we, in turn, have great
regard for such a person, and we
want to find out his or her secret.
We ask how is it that that person is
accepted by people of all national-
ities, religions, countries, or walks
of life in such a positive way.
When that person explains that
through meditation he or she sees
the Light of God shining in all
people and sees all as one family
of God, others are impressed.
Others see that we have a life with
less turmoil and more friends.
They see that we are even-keeled
and calm wherever we go and are
not afraid to be with people who
are different from us. They, too,
want to lead a life with a wider
range of tolerance and friendship
and they are inspired to be like us.
We find many are selfish.
Selfishness is rampant in all
spheres of life. Why is it sensa-
tional when it is reported in the
news that someone did something
giving and selfless? It is such a
rare quality that it often makes
front page news. We hear of peo-
ple who do not have a lot of
money but give generously to oth-
ers. We find people donating their
time to help others. We read of
people who donate a kidney to
save someone elses life. Some
people help the poor, the needy,
and the downtrodden. These self-
less acts have an effect because
most people tend to think first of
themselves. If people see we are
giving and caring, they admire us.
They see that we have a big heart.
They see the joy we get from giv-
ing. They too want to partake of
such joy. When they ask us how
we can be so giving, we can point
to our life of meditation in which
we see that we are all part of one
family of God. They will learn that
we treat all as one family, and that
we give because we consider all as
brothers and sisters in the Lord.
They realize that our giving comes
from a place of love, in which we
feel joy in helping others. The joy
that we get from giving is conta-
gious and others want to lead such
a life as well.
People see that by leading a veg-
etarian lifestyle we enjoy better
health. They find that we have
more energy and more stamina.
They see that we are less afflicted
with the diseases caused by eating
meat. They see the vegetarian diet
makes us calmer and more bal-
anced. When they see the benefits
we experience, they too may be
inspired to adopt such a vegetarian
or vegan lifestyle.
Some people drink alcohol and
take drugs. In many places of
work, Friday is a time in which
people meet for Happy Hour.
There, they engage in drinking to
feel good. There are numerous tel-
evision commercials for beer and
wine, depicting the happiness peo-
ple experience by drinking. In pri-
vate circles, people speak of how
good they feel when they get high
on drugs. There is a tremendous
drug culture in modern societies.
People seem to feel they cannot be
happy without alcohol or drugs.
But we all know that that happi-
ness is temporary and comes at a
high price. They may feel good for
a few minutes, but later they feel
sick to their stomach. They may
get addicted and require more and
more to make them maintain their
high. Drugs and alcohol lead to
impaired judgment and poor motor
skills, which in turn can lead to
deadly car accidents. People turn
to crime to get money to buy drugs
and alcohol. This leads to people
getting hurt and those perpetrating
the crimes going to prison. In
some cases drugs and alcohol lead
to disease and death.
When people see that we are
happy and blissful without drugs
and alcohol, they ask us how we
can feel so good. We can then
explain that meditation gives us a
natural state of intoxication. We
can explain how the sweet nectar
of the divine Wine within provides
more intoxication than any intoxi-
cation which outer drugs and alco-
hol can give us. We can talk about
how we get this divine bliss within
that lasts twenty-four hours. There
is no hang-over. There are no side
effects. We do not pass out or get
sick. We do not have to steal from
anyone to get this bliss. We do not
have to cause car accidents or
commit crimes. Rather than lower-
ing our consciousness through
drugs and alcohol, we are raising
our consciousness to spiritual
heights and even attaining God-
consciousness. The joy people see
we have in our lives will inspire
them to also want to partake of
that sweet honey within.
When people who see us medi-
tating notice a change in us, they
are also inspired to experience the
same change. They see that medi-
tation makes us calmer and more
balanced. They see that we are
able to deal with the challenges of
life in a much more even manner.
They see that even though every-
one goes through the challenges of
financial problems, health prob-
lems, relationship difficulties, and
other challenges, we sail through
them much more easily than most
people. This makes people wonder
what secret we hold that helps us
face lifes struggles with more for-
titude.
Finally, when they see how
blissful and intoxicated we are
without the use of unnatural means
such as drugs and alcohol, they too
want such happiness. Just like the
princess who saw the joy that peo-
ple had when they tasted the
sweetness of honey and how they
wanted to share that delicious taste
with others, people will see the joy
we experience from meditation
and they will want to enjoy that as
well.
I am reminded of a verse by Sant
Darshan Singh Ji Maharaj which
says:
Who has said that you must
drink in secret?
This is divine Wine that you
must share with others.
While drinking this Nectar, for-
get the sorrows of life and the
pains of the world.
And hum songs of beauty and
love.
We can appreciate what a bless-
ing it is to have a Master and to
receive the spiritual teachings
from him. This is a valuable gift
that actually is sent to us by God
through the Masters. God wants
each of us to have the gift. If we
are lucky enough to receive such a
gift from a Master, we should
treasure it and put it to use. We
should make the best use of the
gift by spending time in medita-
tion. Let us enjoy the divine honey
of the Light and Sound within. Let
us then travel on the divine nectar
back to the Lord.
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj
is an internationally recognized
spiritual leader and Master of
Jyoti Meditation who affirms the
transcendent oneness at the heart
of all religions and mystic tradi-
tions, emphasizing ethical living
and meditation as building blocks
for achieving inner and outer
peace. www.sos.org.
Having a master is a blessing
Concluding part of the discourse 'Sharing the divine honey'
By Sant Rajinder Singh
Ji Maharaj
We can appreciate what a
blessing it is to have a
Master and to receive the
spiritual teachings from
him. This is a valuable gift
that actually is sent to us by
God through the Masters.
God wants each of us to
have the gift. If we are lucky
enough to receive such a gift
from a Master, we should
treasure it and put it to use.
76 Spiritual Awareness
SATSANG IN AMITYVILLE
Sunday, September 2, 3:00PM
Meditation: Journey to Realms of Light

United Palace Theater, 4140 Broadway (175th St.), NY 10033
Science of Spirituality Meditation Center
79 County Line Road, Amityville, Long Island, NY 11701
His Holiness
sant rajinder singh ji maharaj
In New York
SATSANG IN AMITYVILLE
FRIDAY, AUGUST 31, 2012, 8:00PM
saccao Kja,anao kI Koaja
Sachey Khajanae ki Khoj
SATSANG IN WASHINGTON HEIGHTS
Saturday, September 1, 6:00PM
Key to Spiritual Wealth and Happiness
English, with simultaneous translation into Spanish
Naamdan* following the talk
*In-depth instructions for meditation on the inner Light and Sound
English. Naamdan* following the talk
888.666.1990 NYinfo@sos.org
www.sos.org www.sos.org/usa/tristate


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