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e x c e l l e n c e
Vol.8 No. 27 November 7-13, 2015 60 Cents
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j o u r n a l i s m
New York Edition
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The South Asian Times

e x c e l l e n c e
Vol.8 No. 27 November 7-13, 2015 60 Cents
i n
j o u r n a l i s m
New York Edition
CRASHED RUSSIAN PLANE BLACK

BOX POINTS TO BOMB ATTACK
ISIS has claimed responsibility, Obama backs theory of terror act.
Paris: An analysis of black boxes
from the Russian plane that
crashed in Egypt point to a bomb
attack, sources close to the probe
told AFP on Friday, as Moscow
halted flights to the country.
T he flig ht data and voice
recorders showed everything was
normal until both failed at 24 min
utes after take of f, pointing to a
very sudden explosive decompres
sion, one source said.
The data strongly favors the
theory a bomb on board had
brought down the plane, he added.
Another source said the plane
had gone down suddenly and vio
lently. Meanwhile, British airlines
were scrambling to evacuate pas

sengers in Sharm elSheikh after
cancelling flights to the Red Sea
resort from which the doomed
Airbus had taken off Saturday.
The flight data recorder showed
that everything was normal dur
ing the flight, absolutely normal,
and suddenly there was nothing.
President Vladimir Putin ordered
flights halted on the recommenda

tion from his security chief, the
Kremlin said, although Moscow
had previously downplayed reports
that a bomb caused the crash. At
an emergency meeting, the head of
Russias FSB security service,
Alexander Bortnikov, said it would
be prudent to halt flights for now.
Until we have determined the
true reasons for what happened, I
consider it expedient to stop flights
by Russian aviation to Egypt, he
said. With international concerns
mounting, European airlines pre
pared to bring home thousands of
tourists from the Red Sea resort,
which has been
Exit polls predict photofinish in Bihar

New Delhi/Patna: Bihar's bitterly
contested staggered elections
ended on Thursday evening, with
exit polls sharply split on who
would get to rule the state: the
BJPled alliance led by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi or Chief
Minister Nitish Kumar's Grand

Alliance.
While three of the nine surveys
at the end of five rounds of
polling predicted a clear win for
BJP, and another gave an upper

hand to it, five exit polls forecast
a narrow or clear majority in the
243member house to the Grand
Alliance.
Detailed story on page 18.
Follow us on
Burgeoning
Diwali shopping
online in India
Going green is another trend this
Festival of Lights on Nov 11.
New Delhi/Mumbai: As the nation

geared up to celebrate the festival
of lights, Indian shoppers thronged
online eretailers' websites, herald
ing a new era for shopping during
the festival season in the country
as well as abroad. India's leading e
tailers Flipkart, Snapdeal and
Amazon locked in noholds barred

branding wars to push merchan
dise sales for Diwali season
through the digital world. While
Continued on page 4
Diwali Special Section:
Pages 2962.
Cricket stars descend on America to promote the game

Led by Sachin
Tendulkar and Shane
Warne, 30 top cricket
players of eight Test
playing countries kick
off the 3-match series
Nov 7 in New York to
popularize the game in
America, hoping to
globalize it.
(Photo: Sandeep G.)
Exclusive stories by Jinal Shah
on page 14, 16.
OP-ED 22
DIWALI SPECIAL 29-62
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 52
US AFFAIRS 66
excellence in journalism
November 7-13, 2015
TURN PAGE
U.S. boosts airport security

after Russian airliner tragedy
Washington: US Home land Security
Secretary Jeh Johnson announced Friday
that new airport security measures are
being introduced as a result of the ongo
ing investigation into the Russian airliner
tragedy last wee k on Eg ypt's Sinai
Peninsula. President Barack Obama cited
Thursday the possibility that an explosive
device on board the aircraft caused the
crash of the airbus A321, which took off
from the Egyptian city of Sharm elSheikh
en route to St. Petersburg and on which
all 224 people aboard were killed.

These steppedup measures "will sup
plement US aviation security require
ments currently in place at all of foreign
lastpointofdeparture airports, as well as
the additional security enhancements I
directed last summer at certain foreign
locations," Johnson said. The secretary
explained that while there are no direct
flights between the United States and
Sharm elSheikh, and while the investiga
tion into the crash continues, "precaution
ary security measures" will be increased.

Johnson specified that the enhanced
measures include "expanded screening
applied to items on aircraft, airport
assessments in conjunction with our
international partners, and offers of other
assistance to certain foreign airports
related to aviation and airport security."
"At this time these security enhance
ments are intended only for certain for
eign airports in the (Middle East) region,"
he said.
Obama rejects Keystone XL pipeline project

Washington: US President Barack Obama
denied Canadian energy infrastructure
company a crossborder permit for con
struction of the Keystone XL pipeline, a
proposed project harshly criticised by
environmental groups.
Obama on Friday said he agreed with
the decision of the state department,
which had conducted a sevenyear review
and concluded that the pipe line by
Blind students celebrate Diwali at Kamla Mehta blind school

in Mumbai earlier this week.
TransCanada "would not serve the nation

al interest of the US", Efe news agency
reported.
Construction of the pipeline was to have
transported up to 830,000 barrels of
Canadian "tar sands" crude oil per day
from Hardisty town in Alberta state of
Canada to Steele city in Nebraska state,
US, en route to the US gulf coast refiner
ies. The pipeline "would not make a mean
ingful longterm contribution to our econ
omy," Obama said in a statement.
T he proposed 1,179mile pipe line
would have been the final phase of the
larger Keystone pipeline system, which
has already been transporting Canadian
crude to the US for three years.
The announcement came two days after
the
state
department
denied
TransCanada's request to temporarily sus
pend its review of the company's applica
tion. Obama also said construction of the
pipeline would not lower what the US con
sumers pay at the pump, adding that
gasoline prices have been falling steadily
for several years amid the plunge in glob
al crude prices.
New Delhi Bureau

Meenakshi Iyer
Delhi@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
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Rajasthan High Court & Supreme Court
Contributing Editors: Meenakshi Iyer,

Nilima Madan, Melvin Durai,
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Xitij Joshi/xitijphoto.com
Photo Journalist: Sandeep Girhotra
Burgeoning Diwali shopping online...
Continued from page 1
Bengaluru, Delhi and Chennai emerged top
in terms of online visits from metros,
Ludhiana, Lucknow and Bhopal were top
from the nonmetro cities.
Footwear, men's clothing and accessories
have been top selling categories during this
fashion sale so far. Men's product cate
gories have also witnessed a huge spike in
demand as compared to other fashion cate
gories.
As Diwali inched near, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi launched three ambitious
schemes to reduce the physical demand for
gold and fish out 20,000 tonnes of the
precious metal worth $800 billion lying
idle with households.
The Gold Monetisation Scheme (GMS),
2015 will offer option to resident Indians
to deposit their precious metal and earn an
interest of up to 2.5 per cent; while under
the Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme, investors
can earn an interest rate of 2.75 per cent
per annum by buying paper bonds. Modi
also unveiled the first ever Indian gold coin
& bullion.
In Washington, More than 30 members of
US Congress joined about 1,000 people at
the annual Diwali event on Capitol Hill, the
seat of US legislature, to celebrate the
accomplishments of the Indian American
diaspora.
Diwali promises to be truly a festival of
lights this year with an increasing number
of environmentallyconscious people in the
metros opting for ecofriendly and smoke
less firecrackers.
Made of recycled paper, ecofriendly
crackers do not contain as much chemicals
as conventional firecrackers, and thus emit
less smoke and noise.
All the major metros demand ecofriendly
crackers, while people in villages and small
towns still prefer highdecibel crackers.
According to a recent survey by the
ASSOCHAM, Sivakasi, home to over 9,500
firecracker factories, produces almost the
entire fireworks output of India.
Diwali is celebrated by nearly a billion
people around the world and more than
two million people in the US.
Cartoonist: Mahendra Shah

Art and Design: Vladimir Tomovski
Bhagwati Creations,
Dhiraj Kumar
Web Editor: B.B.Chopra
News Service: HT Media Ltd.
IANS Newswire Services
IANS Washington Bureau
Arun Kumar
arun.kumar@ians,in
Printing: Five Star Printing, NY
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TRISTATE COMMUNITY
November 7-13, 2015
2 Sikhs among 4 IndoCanadians in Trudeaus Cabinet

Ottawa: The Punjabi community
in Canada made history on
Wednesday when two turbaned
Sikhs, among four Indian
Canadians, were sworn in as cabi
net ministers, as 42yearold
Justin Trudeau took oath as the
country's 23rd prime minister at a
grand public ceremony.
W hile 42yearold Indian
Canadian Harjit Sajjan was
appointed defense minister, 38
yearold Navdeep Bains got the
portfolio of innovation, science
and economic development.
Another Sikh, Amarjeet Sohi,
who is not turbaned, has been
sworn in as minister for infra
structure. A former bus driver, he
was jailed in India for two years in
the 1980s. A young Sikh woman,
Bardish Jhagger, who is a first
time MP, has been sworn in as
minister for small business and
tourism. Navdeep Bains, who
played a key role in Trudeau's
e lect ion as the Liberal Party
leader in 2013, has been awarded
with the important cabinet berth.
Harjit Sajjan has been made

Canadas Defence Minister
Bains, who became MP for the
third time last month by winning
from MississaugaBrampton, pre
viously served as parliamentary
secretary to the prime minister in
2005 when he was MP from 2004
till 2011 when he lost.
Considered suave, Bains has
been a distinguished visiting pro
fessor at Ted Rogers School of
Management
at
Ryerson
University in Toronto till now.
New York: Macys will help illumi

nate the joyous holiday of Diwali
as it marks the annual Festival of
Lights in stores around the coun
try through midNovember.
As part of Macys ongoing My
Macys initiative to provide local
lyrelevant products to customers
in specific locations, this year 45
local market stores across the
nation will feature an increased
selection of festive tunics and cel
ebratory apparel. Shoppers look
ing for the perfect festive attire or
Diwali gifts will enjoy a wider
range of styles ranging from
silky solids to jeweltoned, bright
and embellished designs.
Diwali is a special time of cele
bration for so many of our cus
tomers and employees. We join
them in honoring the Festival of
Lights with enhanced product
assortments and special commem
orative advertisements in local
newspapers, said William
Hawthorne, senior vice president
of Diversity Strategies, Macys Inc.
Macys continues to demonstrate
our steadfast commitment to
inclusiveness and local relevancy
in all aspects of our business.
Customers everywhere will find
items perfect for Diwali shopping
and giftgiving options galore for
family and loved ones in all Macys
locations. Shoppers can find gold
and silver fine jewelry keepsakes,
shop for the perfect items to deco
rate and update the home, includ
ing lamps, candles, and silverware,
as well as choose from a wide
Indiaborn firsttime Sikh MP

Harjit Sajjan is Canada's new
de fene minister. A decorated
police and army of ficial, he has
been the first Sikh to command a
Canadian regiment, called the
Duke of Connaught's Own which
is a reserve regiment based in
British Columbia province.
Sajjan has served in Afghanistan
and Bosnia and been twice a spe
cial adviser on Afghanistan. He
assortment of gourmet sweets,

dried fruits and more.
T he 45 se lect stores with
enhanced Diwali merchandise are
located in local markets in New
York, New Jersey, Virginia, metro
Chicago, metro Detroit, metro
Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta,
Los Ange les, San Francisco,
Seattle, Durham, and Santa Clara,
Calif. Macys will also salute and
honor the Diwali festivities with
commemorative local advertising
in publications serving the South
Asian community.
Macys, the largest retail brand
of Macys, Inc., delivers fashion
and af fordable luxury to cus
tomers at approximately 775 loca
tions in 45 states, the District of
Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam,
as well as to customers in the US
and more than 100 international
destinations through its leading
online store at macys.com.
was given the Meritorious Service

Medal in March 2013.
However, Sajjan's nomination as
the Liberal Party candidate from
Vancouver South last year attract
ed controversy when many Sikh
leaders resigned from the Liberal
Party, alleging that the party lead
ership has been 'manipulated' by
hardliner Sikhs of the World Sikh
Org anizat ion. Harjit Sajjan's
father Kundan Sajjan is a board
TWO SURPRISES IN NASSAU

COUNTY ELECTION RESULTS
The winners
Macys celebrates Diwali

with festive attire & jewelry
Navdeep Bains, science & economic development minister,

with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
member of the WSO which is

alleged to have hardline sympa
thies. But Sajjan told CBC last
year: "I am not a member of the
WSO. I've had no negative vibes
from anybody."
In the outgoing government,
Tim Uppal was a turbaned Sikh
but enjoyed the rank of the minis
ter of state.
Herb Dhaliwal was the first Sikh
to become a full cabinet minister
in Canada in 1997, followed by
Ujjal Dosanjh in 2004.
Justin Trudeau, the 42yearold
son of charismatic former prime
minister Pierre Trudeau who is
credited with opening Canada to
new immigrants in the 1970s, led
the Liberal Party to win 184 seats
in the 338member House of
Commons. He is the second
youngest prime minister of
Canada.
Welcoming a record 4 Indo
Canadians getting cabinet berths,
the Canada India Foundation stat
ed that this pave to the way for
brighter IndiaCanada relations.
Madeline
Singas
elected
Nassau
County
District
Attorney
The Losers
Kate Murray
lost District Attorney race
Nasrin
Ahmad:
Anthony
Santino:
Town Clerk,
Town of
Hempstead
Supervisor,
Town of
Hempstead
By Parveen Chopra
Hicksville: Being a first time voter,
besides being a journalist, I watched
with added interest the results of
the Nov 3 local e lections. T he
Nassau County results held two sur
prises for me as well as most poll
observers.
In the only countywide race,
Madeline Singas had caught up
with Kate Murray in the run up to
the District Attorney office. Murray
had strong name recognition as
Hempstead Town Supervisor for 13
years. She was also wellknown to
the Indian community for regularly
hosting Indian national day events
at Town Hall. But Singas not only
won, her victory margin was a com
fortable 14 percentage points. So
what seemed to have worked?

Singas had touted her 24year
record as a prosecutor in Nassau
and Queens and pointed to
Murrays lack of criminal law expe
rience. Singas also promised to
crack down on public corruption.
The scandal engulfing restaura
teur and town concessionaire
Harendra Singh played a role in the
race for Town of Oyster Bay
Supervisor. Ensconced for 17 years
in the seat, John Venditto always
used to win in a landslide. This elec
tion, however, seeking his 10th
term, he was trailing by three score
votes to John Mangelli, who has
never held public office. Too close
to call, the result will be announced
after the 1,400 odd absentee bal
lots are counted.
John
Venditto
was trailing
in Town of
Oyster Bay
Supervisor
election
Elsewhere it was status quo, and

the balance of power between
Republicans and Democrats held. In
Suf folk County, Steve Bellone (D)
won reelection as County Executive
and Democrats retained their brute
majority in the legislature. In
Nassau County, Republicans
retained legislative control as
incumbents held their seats.
In the Town of Hempstead, Tony
Santino was elected Supervisor, tak
ing the of fice vacated by Kate
Murray. Nasrin Ahmad comfortably
retained her Town Clerk seat. Two
years ago, she had become the first
South Asian to be voted into office
in New York State's history.
Sadly, voter turnout was only
about 20 percent in Nassau and
Suffolk county elections.
November 7-13, 2015
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
US LAWMAKERS CELEBRATE INDIAN

AMERICAN COMMUNITY AT DIWALI EVENT
Washington, DC: More than 30
members of US Congress joined
about 1,000 people at the annual
Diwali event on Capitol Hill, the
seat of US legislature, to celebrate
the accomplishments of the
Indian American diaspora.
The annual celebration, which
attracts people and Indian
American organizations from all
over the US, was organized by
Ami Bera and George Holding,
Democratic and Republican co
chairs of the Caucus on India and
Indian Americans.
It provides an opportunity to
meet with members of Congress
and other elected officials to cele
brate the contributions of the
South Asian community in busi
ness, technology, health care,
arts, academics, and much more.
Attendees at the event in the
Great Hall of the Library of
Cong ress, included Senators
Mark Warner and Tim Kaine,
Lawmakers at the annual Diwali celebration on Capitol Hill

both Demo crats, and the
Republican Chairman of the
House Foreign Affairs Committee
Ed Royce.
Diwali is celebrated by nearly a
billion people around the world
and more than two million people
in the US, a media release from
Bera's of fice noted. "This event
celebrates who we are and all our

community has accomplished,"
said Bera, the lone Indian
American Congressman.
"Over the next decade, I look
forward to making DC the hub
for connecting members of the
community not just from the sur
rounding region, but across the
K K MEHTAS ACCOUNTING
FIRM GETS THREAT CALLS
New York: A New York accounting

firm, run by IndianAmericans, has
received threat calls accusing them
of being members of a 'white
supremacist hate group', a media
report said.
K.K. Mehta accounting firm in
Garden city, New York, was flooded
w ith nearly 70 hate calls on
Monday and the callers accused
them of being members of Ku Klux
Klan hate group, the Washington
Post reported on Tuesday.
The Ku Klux Klan is the name of
three distinct past and present
movements in the US run by a
group of people who advocate
extremist reactionary currents
such as white supremacy, white
nationalism, and antiimmigration.
Historically, the group expressed
their opposition through terrorism
aimed at groups or individuals
whom they opposed. The group

has been classified as a hate group
by the AntiDefamation League a
Jewish organization in the US that
claims to be the nation's premier
civil rig hts/human re lat ions
agency.
"It is a matter of concern when
you have so many threatening
phone calls, and some of them are
local," the partner in the firm told
the daily on Tuesday.
The company said they neither
know about the group nor have
any connection with them.
"We do not know anything about
these people. We have nothing to
do with all of them," the partner
and the accountant of the firm
said. Both partner and the account
ant are of Indianorig in and
requested anonymity as they fear
being targeted personally.
Many of the phone calls to the

firm were from the southern US
area codes and one was from New
York, the report said.
It was revealed that the company
was getting threat calls because
their of fice number featured in a
list "leak" that "some Anonymous
associated Twitter accounts initial
ly claimed was phone numbers and
emails of members of the Ku Klux
Klan".
This list was released on Sunday
night. However, the of ficial Ku
Klux Klan twitter account has dis
avowed all the files and said they
will not be releasing the data till
November 5, as was originally
planned. K.K. Mehta accounting
firm, founded in 1978, specializes
in the hospitality and medical
industries. Five Indianorigin peo
ple run the company.
Four held for robberies in Indian residents' homes in Texas

New York: Four men were arrested
for committing burglaries in the
houses of people of Indian and
Asian origin, a media report said.
The police in College Station city
of Texas, on Saturday arrested four
people of South American origin on
the charge of committing robberies
in the area, KBTX.com news web
site reported on Monday.
Police said the group of burglars
used to commit the crimes during
lunchtime. Since September, the
houses of Indian and South Asian
residents in the city were being tar

geted.
"We did a lot of analytical work,
to try and build a pattern of when
they were going to hit, when its
most likely and what neighbor
hoods were most targeted," Billy
Couch, assistant chief of police,
said. Police of ficers patrolling in
the area on Saturday spotted two
vehicles they suspected were being
used for the burglaries. "We were
able to stop one vehicle with three
suspects inside, a second vehicle
sped from the spot but ultimately

crashed into another vehicle," said
Couch.
"An ongoing investigation is try
ing to link them to other crimes
that occurred," he said.
Earlier this year, several burgla
ries were reported in Plano,
Richardson and Frisco cities in
Texas. In each case, the victims
were of Indian and Asian
descent. Police had suspected a
Colombian crime ring of the
burglaries.
Over 1000 people attended the celebration in the Great Hall of the
Library of Congress
country to celebrate our progress
and talk about the future."
"The United States and India
have been building a partnership
to make both our nations safer
and stronger," Bera said.
"T he
IndianAmerican
Community has been playing a
key role in building needed ties
between our two countries, and I

congratulate the volunteers who
worked to make this year's Diwali
celebration in Washington a suc
cess," he said.
"In the coming year, I look for
ward to continuing to strengthen
the bonds between our coun
tries."
Elevenyearold Mira
Modi Sells
Secure Passwords
New York: An
enterprising 11
yearold Indian
American g irl in
New York City has
started her own
business se lling
cryptographically
secure passwords
generated by dice
rolls.
Mira Modi, a sixth
g rader, has her
own we bsite and
generates sixword
Diceware passphrases for her
customers at $2 each.
Diceware is a we llknown
decadesold system for coming
up with passwords. It involves
rolling a dice as a way to gen
erate random numbers that are
matched to a long list of
English words.
Those words are then com
bined into a nonsensical string
that exhibits true randomness
and is therefore dif ficult to
crack. These passphrases have
proven re lat ive ly easy for
humans to memorize.
"This whole concept of mak
ing your own passwords and
being super secure and stuff, I
don't think my friends under
stand that, but I think it's cool,"
Modi told Ars Technica.
Mira Modi
Modi's mother, Julia Angwin,
a veteran journalist and author
of Dragnet Nation, employed
her daug hter to generate
Diceware passphrases as a part
of research for her book.
That is when Modi had the
idea to turn it into a small busi
ness.
For every order, Modi rolls a
physical dice and looks up the
words in a printed copy of the
Diceware word list. She writes
down the corresponding pass
word string onto a piece of
paper and sends it by postal
mail to the customer.
"I think (good passwords are)
important. Now we have such
good computers, people can
hack into anything so much
more quickly," Modi said.
DIWALI SPECIAL
November 7-13, 2015
10
November 7-13, 2015
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
US KERALA CENTER TO HONOR SIX INDIAN

AMERICAN MALAYALEES
Washington:
T he
Indian
American Kerala Cultural and
Civic Center will honor six Indian
American Malayalees for their
outstanding achievements in
their field of specialization or for
their service to the society.
The honorees are: Dr Navin
Manjooran, Dr Sasi K Pillay, Dr
Prem Soman, Dr George M
Kakkanatt, Lee la Maret and
Captain Jophiel Philips.
They will be honored at the
Kerala Centers 23rd annual
awards banquet on Nov 7 at
Worlds Fair Marina in Flushing,
New York.
Consul General of India in New
York, Dnyaneshwar Mulay, will
be the chief guest.
Every year we invite nomina
tions and the committee has to
make a unanimous choice for a
candidate in a category to be
selected to receive the award and
this year is no different from pre
vious years in terms of their
achievements, said Dr Thomas
Abraham, head of the selection
The awards
From top left clockwise: Dr. Navin Manjooran, Dr. Sasi K. Pillai, Dr. Prem
Soman, Capt. Jophiel Philips, Leela Maret and George Kakkanatt
committee. For the last 23 years,
the Kerala Center has recognized
the most outstanding achievers
among the Indian American
Kerala Community and they are
role models for our community,
Sonal Shah honored for

ALS awareness efforts
Sonal Shah
greeted by
Lt. Gov. Kim
Guadagno at
her home on
Oct. 28
(Photo
courtesy:
newjerseyhills.
com)
New Jersey: Basking Ridge resi

dent Sonal Shah received spe
cial local and state recognition
in a pair of ceremonies last
week for her ASL awareness
ef forts. Shah was diagnosed
three years ago w ith amy
otrophic lateral sclerosis (ASL),
also known as Lou Gehrigs
Disease. Despite a progressive
physical toll, she spent the last
yearandahalf pushing for
state legislation that would
establish an ALS Awareness
Day in New Jersey.
A bill, introduced at Shahs
behest
by
state
Assemblywoman
Nancy
Munoz, RSomerset, Union, ulti
mately passed both legislative
houses and became reality
when it was signed into law by

Gov. Chris Christie on Oct. 13.
It designates the third
Wednesday in May as ALS
Awareness Day, and May as
ALS Awareness Month.
T he Township Committee
marked the achievement with a
resolution commending Shah
at its meet ing on Tuesday
night, Oct. 27. The next morn
ing, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno
stopped at Shahs home to
honor her.
The next morning, the lieu
tenant governor visited Shahs
home in T he Hills housing
development. Guadagno pre
sented Shah with a copy of the
bill and several pens that the
governor used to sign it.
said Kerala Centres T hambi

Thalappillil.
This years celebration also
includes an Indian American
entrepreneurs meet and technol
ogy summit for Kerala.
4 Recognition for Outstanding Contribution in Engineering: Dr

Navin Manjooran the Global Director (Energy) for Siemens AG and
is responsible for the entire Siemens energy portfolio. He also
serves as an engineering professor at Virginia Tech.
4 Recognition for Outstanding Contribution in Information
Technology: Dr. Sasi K. Pillay, CIO of the University of Wisconsin
System comprising 26 campuses where he has started several ini
tiatives such as the Innovation Programand Business Intelligence,
while managing a portfolio of shared services totaling $45million.
4 Recognition for Outstanding Contribution in Medicine: Dr. Prem
Soman, Director of Nuclear Cardiology, and Associate Professor of
Medicine, and Clinical and Translation Science at the University of
Pittsburgh Medical Centre.
4 Recognition for Community Service: Leela Maret has been work
ing as a volunteer in many community organizations for the last
three decades.
4 Working as a scientist for last 29 years at New York Citys
Environmental Protection, Maret is also adjunct lecturer in Bronx
Community College. She is the recipient of various Community
awards such as NYC Comptrollers Community Service award, and
two Pravasi awards.
4 Recognition for Service to the Nation: Captain Jophiel Philips is a
Judge Advocate General in the US Air Force. During his recent
deployment, he was awarded the Purple Heart, as well as the
Bronze Star, for his actions in protecting service members from
harm, after an insurgent attack where eight of his comrades died.
Navratri celebrated with gusto

in Frederick, MD
Maryland: A crowd of nearly 1,100
people filled into the Frederick
Indoor Sports Center at 1845
Brookfield Court on Friday to cele
brate the festival of Navratri. Earlier
events were held the past two week
ends in Baker Park, with Fridays
party bringing the festivities to a
close.
The event was the brainchild of a
group of local IndianAmerican resi
dents who formed a nonprofit
organization called 9Rang. Their
goal was to create the largest cele
bration of Navratri in Frederick
Countys history.
Frederick County holds a small
yet vibrant Indian community. They
make up just 1 percent of the coun
Revelers enjoy the Navratri festivities

(Photo courtesy: fredericknewspost.com)
tys total population. But people
came from as far as Northern
Virginia, Washington and Baltimore
to attend the event, they said. On
Friday, the beat was held by famous

Indian musicians Amit and Nila
Patel, who brought in their group
Disha Vrund.
IBA Trustee Mahesh Shah Reappointed to NJ Board of Pharmacy

New Jersey: Governor Chris Christie
filed a direct appointment this week
reappointing Mahesh Shah to the
New
Jersey
Board
of
Pharmacy. Now
entering his sec
ond term, Shah
first joined the
Board in 2010.
T he Board of
Mahesh Shah
Pharmacy, the
oldest professional licensing board
in New Jersey, was established in
1877 to protect the public by regu
lating the dispensing of prescrip
tion medications. The Board com

prises 11 individuals.
Shah is also a trustee for the
Indian Business Association, a state
organization that promotes the
interests of New Jerseys Indo
American population. It is very
important that our community has
a voice at the state level. We are
proud of Mr. Shahs accomplish
ments, said Dhiren Amin, President
of the Indian Business Association.
The IBA will continue promote
qualified candidates for considera
tion on committees, boards, and
commissions he added. Mahesh
Shah thanked State Senator Sam

T hompson. Senator T hompson
encouraged me to serve on this
Board. For the past 25 years, Sam
Thompson has engaged the South
Asian community. We cannot thank
him enough, he said. Shahs col
leagues, IBA Vice Chairman Manher
Shah and Chairman Chandrakant
Patel congratulated Mahesh Shah
on the reappointment. I have a
very close relationship with the
South Asian community and I am
committed to ensuring their partici
pation in State government, said
Senator Thompson.
DIWALI SPECIAL
November 7-13, 2015
12
November 7-13, 2015
Teen Natasha Subhash wins singles and

doubles titles at Atlanta ITF tournament
New York: Indian
American teenager
Natasha Subhash, 14,
from Virginia won the
girls singles and dou
bles titles at the 2015
Atlanta ITF tourna
ment, played on hard
courts at the Life Time
Athletic at Peachtree
Corners. Subhash is the
first player of Indian
origin to achieve the
rare double in an inter
national tennis tourna
ment.
Subhash clinched the
girls singles title in the
International Tennis
Federation tournament
on Sunday, beat ing
Layne
Sleeth
of
Canada, 14, in straights
63, 61, in the final.
Subhash dropped
only one set in the
entire tournament on
her way to the singles
and doubles champi
onship.
Subhash had on
Saturday won the girls
doubles championship
w ith her longt ime
playing partner Ann Li
(USA), 15, defeating Ali
Collins of Great Britain
and River Hart of
Canada in the final, 6
2, 64.
Subhash and Li are
now on a 100 streak
in the doubles, winning
their second consecu
tive ITF tournament,
having clinched the
Pan American title as
well.
Fired for taking a break,

IndianAmerican nurse
sues employer
New York: An IndianAmerican nurse has filed a pregnan
cy discrimination lawsuit against her employer, because
she was fired for taking a break as she was suffering from
nausea, a media report said.
Saijal Sara Shah filed a lawsuit against Maple Creek and
Lutheran Social Services of Michigan, which manages The
Lodge, a nursing home where Shah worked, mlive.com
news website reported on Tuesday.
In the lawsuit filed in the US district court in Grand
Rapids, Shah said she was punished for leaving work to
recover from nausea during a double shift.
On March 15, after working for eight hours, Shah vomit
ed and could not work. She told another nurse that she
had to go home, take medication and she will try to return
to work, her attorney said.
Even though she left a number for her supervisor to call,
she was punished for failing to leave a way to contact her,
her attorney added.
According to the lawsuit, on April 3 Shah was fired for
taking a 15minute break because she was suffering from
mild fever while working in the shift.
A social worker showed up early in the morning and
accused her of sleeping. Shah denied of falling asleep. She
blamed the employer of odding her out because of being
an Indian descent. White workers "were not penalized,
falsely accused of sleeping on the job or targeted as I was,"
the lawsuit said. The nursing home denied all allegations
of Shah being treated unfairly based on her pregnancy or
her race. It said she was suspended for a day for leaving
work and sleeping during working hours.
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
Natasha Subhash (left) with her doubles partner Ann Li
Mistrial declared in
US cop's assault on
Indian grandfather
Washington, DC: For the second time in
less than two months, a US judge
declared a mistrial in the case against
an Alabama police officer charged with
slamming an Indian grandfather to the
ground last February and severely injur
ing him.
US District Judge Madeline Hughes
Haikala declared a mistrial Wednesday
in the case against Madison Police
Of ficer Eric Parker, 27, for assaulting
Sureshbhai Patel after the jury told her
that it was deadlocked despite 'intense
discussions', according to Al.com.
Parker's first criminal trial at the fed
eral courthouse in Huntsville ended Sep
11 with a jury hung 102 in favour of
acquittal, leading to the retrial.
The retrial began Oct 26. The new
jury spent more than three days deliber
ating after receiving the case on Friday
afternoon. But on Wednesday afternoon
it told the judge it had reached an
impasse.
Sisters Lavanya and Melissa Jawaharlal

strike a deal on ABCs Shark Tank
Washington, DC: Indian American sis
ters Lavanya and Melissa Jawaharlal
appeared on the Oct. 30 episode of
Shark Tank on ABC to pitch their
STEM Center USA company and came
away with $200,000 from Shark Lori
Greiner, who will get 20 percent stake
in the company.
STEM Center USA, based out of
Claremont, Calif., is a robotics educa
tional company that works to excite the
next generation of science, technology,
engineering and mathematics leaders
through handson education.
The center has 85 students, with 75
attending yearround. Annual member
ships at the center range from $1,400
to $1,800 or $135 on a monthly basis.
The sisters came out and pitched their
company to the five Sharks on the
show Kevin OLeary, Robert Herjavec,
Greiner, Mark Cuban and guest Chris
Sacca. They asked for $150,000 in
exchange for 15 percent of the compa
ny. W hile we have become more
dependent on technology every day,
fewer and fewer people seem to have
even a basic understanding of how
things work, Melissa said in her pitch.
Lavanya explained that the center
made $300,000. She explained that
Lavanya and Melissa

they discovered a need for a robotics
tool, which they created for upper mid
dle school and high school students. She
added that between creativity and
robotics tools, the revenue was split
$130,000 to $170,000 respectively.
She concluded to say they project to
make $450,000 this year and $3.2 mil
lion in sales in 2016.
Despite their passion, and their opti
mism that the Jawaharlal sisters will
eventually succeed, OLeary, Herjavec
and Cuban were not comfortable mak
ing an of fer. Sacca said he deeply
believes in their mission and of fered
them $150,000 for 25 percent of the

company. He continued, seeking an
understanding of what is the end game
of STEM Center USA.
Melissa responded to Sacca explain
ing the goal is to have a center in every
city, nationwide. She added they needed
assistance from a Shark to expand into
a franchise and take the company to the
next level.
Greiner jumped in and of fered
$150,000 for 20 percent to spice things
up. Lavanya is a student at U.C. Berkeley
studying mechanical and ocean engi
neering, and is expected to graduate
next spring. While she is deeply pas
sionate about robotics and has spent a
good portion of her time devoted to
that, she has also served as the
California executive vice president of
Future Business leaders of America.
Melissa earned her undergraduate
degree in mechanical engineering from
the University of Southern California.
There, she also studied entrepreneur
ship. Her primary research is in space
exploration and has been a design lead
for currently orbiting satellites at the
Information Sciences Institute. She has
also done software optimization for the
U.S. Air Force.
DIWALI SPECIAL
November 7-13, 2015
Dowling College wishes the Indian community Happy Diwali!
14
November 7-13, 2015
CR I CK E T A L L-S TA R S
By Jinal Shah
New York: Joining issue with
former Australian captain Ian
Chappell, Indias master blaster Sachin Tendulkar argues the Cricket
All-Stars T-20 series in America is
meant to have fun and inspire others as well as globalize the game.
Once you retire, doesnt mean
you never pick up a cricket bat. You
are picking up that bat for fun, and
in doing so, if you can inspire thousands, I think there is nothing wrong
in it, he told a press conference
here on Monday echoing Australian bowling legend Shane Warne.
People will always have opinions... doesnt mean its the right
opinion, Tendulkar said ahead of
the 3-match series between Sachins Blasters and Warnes Warriors starting Nov 7.
The matches will feature retired
greats including Ricky Pointing,
Glenn McGrath, Sourav Ganguly,
Virender Sehwag, VVS. Laxman,
Ajit Agarkar, Brian Lara, Wasim
Akram, and Muttiah Muralitharan.
Asked about Chappells criticism of retired cricketers playing
in exhibition matches, Tendulkar
said: The reason for stopping
cricket is because you cannot be
competitive at that level.
But that doesnt mean you stop
enjoying playing cricket, and this
is what we are doing, we are enjoying cricket, he said, adding
the idea behind the all-stars is to
have fun and inspire others.
He also shared his disappointment over those who are not in favor of globalizing the game, something they are trying to achieve
through the All-Stars league.
When I said that we should have
more teams competing (in interna-
tional cricket), people again had

opinions that there should be less
(number of) teams, Tendulkar said.
But we need to find a solution
and work towards it together to
make cricket a global sport and
not just limit to eight or nine countries and be happy with it, he said.
Acknowledging the limitations of
the retired players, Tendulkar said:
I know to play a long series is not
possible but playing three to four
games is definitely possible for retired cricketers so why not use that
enthusiasm in different parts of the
world to globalize cricket and get
people excited about cricket.
Unlike international games,
where there is more at stake,
these exhibition matches, he suggested, will be a great way to interact with spectators.
Not someone to take even the exhibition matches lightly, Tendulkar
quickly added that by no means I
suggest that we are going to take
it easy, neither is he (Warne) going
to take it easy. We are here to play
competitive cricket.
Asked about their vision behind
playing the exhibition matches,
and organizing community clinics where youngsters will get
guidance from some of the finest
cricketers, Warne said it is to inspire the younger generation and
to engage the non-cricket lovers.
For us, here, its about trying to inspire people to play as
much as giving back, he said
noting: Countries where cricket
is played, ICC has invested in infrastructure, and introduced programs in schools.
If we continue to do community clinics and generate interest,
ICC will have to place some sort
of infrastructure here like starting school programs or spend
Photos: Sandeep G.
Cricket All-Stars meant to have fun

and inspire others: Tendulkar
Cricket All-Stars co-founders Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne holding the trophy
that will go to the 3-match T20 series winning team skippered by one of the two.
more money for grassroots cricket and this can go a long way,
Warne added.
The matches will be played
atCity Field, New York, November
7; Minute Maid Park, Houston,
November 11; and Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, November 14.
These exhibition matches will

be complete entertainment package with galas, meet-and-greets,
community clinics, fireworks in
Houston during Diwali - a festive
celebration for cricket fans.
Leverage Agency, sports management firm in New York founded
by Ben Sturner, is producing and

promoting the mega event.
Arya Dace Academy, founded
and headed by Rupal Patel, will
choreograph the Opening Ceremonies for all 3 games.
The South Asian Times is the
Print Media Partner.
Sachin and Shoaib bat for resuming Indo-Pak cricket

By Jinal Shah
Sachin Tendulkar picked Rawalpindi Express Shoaib Akhtar for his team.
The two favor resuming India-Pakistan cricket to improve bilateral
ties between neighboring countries.
fter the drawing ceremony on Thursday,

The
South
Asian
Times asked Shoaib Akhtar
about his views on the
stalled India Pakistan cricket matches. He said, There
have been ups and downs in
our relations but I am sure
and I think Pakistan and India will go to play this year.
Our relations are a roller
coaster but eventually we
will come to a point and sit
together and work it out.
Talking about the love
the two nations have for the
players from Indian crowd,

Indian media and country
loves me, same goes with
Sachin, Pakistanis love him
and Dhoni, Sourav. They
are not just Indian idols but
Pakistani idols too!
Earlier this week, Sachin
Tendulkar too batted for
better ties between neighbors through cricket.
I think that the relations
(between India and Pakistan) need to improve. If
the governments feel that
this (cricket) is the ideal
way to move forward and
the (cricket) boards (feel
so), I do not see any reason
why we should not play, he
said at a press conference

Monday, adding, But if they
(governments) feel it is inappropriate then we have to
abide by them.
When asked about the
hiccups in the proposed
India-Pak series in UAE in
December, Tendulkar said
the ball is entirely on the respective governments court
to take a call on the resumption of bilateral cricket ties.
Both Akhtar and Tendulkar
are set to play together in the
Cricket All-Stars match. The
former Pakistani fast bowler
was picked by Tendulkar to
play in his team Sachins
Blasters.
DIWALI SPECIAL
November 7-13, 2015
16
November 7-13, 2015
CRICKET ALL STARS
CRICKET ALL STARS ROSTERS ANNOUNCED

By Jinal Shah
New York: The suspense is over.

The players are drawn. The dates
have been announced. And the
stage is set for the greats of crick
et to play on American soil begin
ning at Citi Field Saturday, Nov
7.
In a random draw conducted
Thursday in Times Square, Sachin
Tendulkar and Shane Warne
handpicked players for their
respect ive teams Sachins
Blasters and Warnes Warriors.
Both the captains picked from 28
of the worlds finest players to
sell cricket to America.
W hile Tendulkar got Brian
Lara, as well as his Indian former
Indian teammates VVS Laxman,
Sourav Ganguly and Virender
Sehwag (the three had not yet
arrived in New York), Warne
picked Mathew Hayden, Michael
Sachins
Blasters
4 Sachin Tendulkar (C)
4 Virender Sehwag
4 VVS Laxman
4 Brian Lara
4 Saurav Ganguly
4 Mahela Jayawardene
4 Carl Hooper
4 Mohin Khan
4 Muttiah Muralitharan
4 Graeme Swann
4 Curtly Ambrose
4 Shaun Pollock
4 Glenn McGrath
4 Lance Klusener
4 Shoaib Akhtar
Warnes
Warriors
4Shane Warne (C)
4Mathew Hayden
4Michael Vaughan
4Ricky Ponting
4Jonty Rhodes
4Jacques Kallis
4Andrew Symonds
4Kumar Sangakara
4Saqlain Mushtaq
4Daniel Vettori
4Courtney Walsh
4Wasim Akram
4Allan Donald
4Ajit Agarkar
Players were selected for their

teams by Sachin and Shane
Warne by drawing names from
the trophy, which will be given
to the winning team at the end
of the three T20 match series.
(Photos: Sandeep G.)
Vaughan, Ricky Ponting, Jonty
Rho des, and Jacques Kallis
among others for his batting line
up. In the bow ling g roup,

Tendulkar will not have to spar
w ith Pakistans fast bow ler
Shoaib Akhtar and Australian
pacer Glenn McGrath who are on
his side, which includes other
world class fast bowlers and spin
ners. (See full teams list on this
page).
W hile other players were
selected by drawing names from
the trophy (to be given to the
winning team at the end of the
series), Akhtar was picked by
tossing the coin.
Thank God I am not playing
against Tendulkar, he is a brutal
force, said Shoaib Akhtar after
the drawing ceremony.
While most of the Indian play
ers landed on Tendulkar's side,
Ajit Agarkar was picked up by
Warne.
I have played with those guys
in the same team so it will be fun
play ing ag ainst them for a

change, said Agarkar.
There are not too many strate
gies when you come up against
Sachin so we will work it out on
that day, he added when asked
about his strategy against Sachin.
I have played against him most
of my life so nothing really
changes now but I am excited,"
said Ponting when asked about
the captain of his opposing team.
Talking to the media, Tendulkar
said, "It was incredible coinci
dence, both of us (Warne) did not
think it will kick off, Shane said
we can play three T20 games
which will feature the best play
ers of the game, and I thought the
same thing.
We are to popularize cricket,
never thought this would happen,
but we are happy and excited
now. Everybody is talking about
cricket in Olympics, I think this is
the beginning of that."

Australian legendry legspinner
Warne added, "It's the second
most popular sport behind soc
cer, we want to make it global.
We got 30 superstars who made
cricket proud. We love being
together, we want to bring joy to
the people, the people can watch
their heroes and idols close up
this time, I thank all the people
who supported us."
T he g roup of players that
includes Brian Lara, Ricky
Ponting, Wasim Akram, Muttiah
Muralitharan, and Jacques Kallis,
are contracted to play 15 games
over the next three years.
Games will take place on drop
in pitches in huge baseball stadi
ums, in front of what Warne and
Tendulkar hope will be thou
sands of new American cricket
fans and a potential market of
millions.
DIWALI SPECIAL
November 7-13, 2015
18
November 7-13, 2015
INDIA
Bihar battle ends, exit polls split on outcome

New Delhi/Patna: Bihar's bitterlycontested
staggered elections ended on Thursday
evening, with exit polls sharply split on who
would get to rule the state: the BJPled
alliance led by Prime Minister Narendra
Modi or Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Grand
Alliance.
While three of the nine surveys at the end
of five rounds of polling predicted a clear
win for the Bharatiya Janata Party and
another gave an upper hand to it, five exit
polls forecast a narrow or clear majority in
the 243member house to the Grand
Alliance.
Despite the exit poll suspense, leaders of
both the BJP and the Grand Alliance the
Janata DalUnited (JDU) of Nitish Kumar
and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) of Lalu
Prasad claimed they were sure of victory.
"We are hopeful of getting a clear majori
ty," said BJP spokesman Nalin Kohli.
"Although the (exit polls) ranges are close, I
won't arrive at any hasty assessment," he
said, indicating cautious optimism in the
BJP.
Former chief minister Lalu Prasad, howev
er, insisted that the Grand Alliance, which
also includes the Congress, was poised to
win 190 seats.
"The entire backward community of Bihar
Nearly 60 percent of the 1.55 crore electorate turned out to vote in the last of the 57 con
stituencies spread across seven districts.
has voted for us," he told the media in Patna.
"We salute them for this."
None of the exit polls, however, gave
either alliance such a huge victory as
claimed by Lalu Prasad.
While Today's Chanakya gave 155 of the
243 seats to the BJP and its three allies,
NewsXCNX said the JDU and its allies
would get 135 seats. It forecast a mere 83
seats to the JDU, the RJD and the Congress.

In contrast, NewsX said the BJP and its
allies the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), the
Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and the
Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) would
win only 95 seats.
Other exit polls predicted a close outcome.
Any party or combine would need 122
seats to secure a wafer thin majority in the
24 writers, filmmakers return National Awards

Mumbai: In a collective move to
draw the government's attention
to their fears that the country's
"robust democracy might be com
ing apart", 24 filmmakers and
writers, including Arundhati Roy,
Saeed Mirza and Kundan Shah,
returned their national awards.
Countering this, veteran actor
Anupam Kher has decided to lead
a march against such protests.
The 24 celebrities hoped their
"symbolic gesture" persuades the
government "to pay attention to
our fears, that the warp and weft
of our robust democracy might
be coming apart in the current
atmosphere".
Besides Roy, Mirza and Shah,
others who returned their awards
on Thursday were Virendra Saini,
Ranjan Palit, Tapan Bose,
Shriprakash, Sanjay Kak, Pradip
Krishan, Tarun Bhartiya, Amitabh
Chakraborty, Madhusree Dutta,
Anwar Jamal, Ajay Raina, Irene
Dhar Malik, P.M. Satheesh, Satya
Rai Nagpaul, Manoj Lobo, Rafiq
Ellias, Sudheer Palsane, Vivek
Sachidanand, Sudhakar Reddy
Yakkanti, Manoj Nitharwal and
Abhimanyu Dange.
Arundhati Roy joins the students from the Film and Television Institute
of India (FTII) during a protest.
These were also among the 190
signatories to the letter to the
government to pay heed to the
"reasonable" demands of the FTII
students, who ended their strike
after a "protracted struggle of
four months".
A statement released to the
media on Thursday stressed that
this is their way to protest the
government's handling of the FTII
issue.
The 24 signatories pointed out
their disappointment at "how the

ruling party's leaders and sup
porters abused" the 12 filmmak
ers who returned their national
honors earlier, and "belittled their
gesture".
In an article published in the
Indian Express, "The God of Small
Things" author Arundhati Roy
said she was returning her 1989
Nat ional Award for Best
Screenplay to protest "ideological
viciousness" in the country.
243member assembly. The millions of votes

polled in the five rounds of polling from
October 12 about 60 percent of the 66.8
million electorate voted will be counted on
Sunday.
An India TodayCicero exit poll predicted a
hung assembly, with the BJPled alliance
winning 120 seats to 117 by the Grand
Alliance. It gave the BJP alliance 113127
seats and the Grand Alliance 111123 seats.
Four to eight seats could go to other parties.
A Dainik Jagran exit poll said the BJPled
National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would
get a majority with 130 seats as compared
to 97 for the Grand Alliance.
The Times NowCVoter survey gave 122
seats to the Grand Alliance and 111 to the
NDA.
The ABP News gave the BJP and its allies
130 seats compared to 108 to the JDURJD
Congress alliance.
India TVC Voter also predicted 111 seats
to the BJP combine and 122 to the Grand
Alliance.
Earlier on Thursday, nearly 60 percent of
the 1.55 crore electorate turned out to vote
in the last of the 57 constituencies spread
across seven districts: Kishangaj, Purnea,
Araria, Katihar, Saharasa, Madhepura and
Supaul.
Chhota Rajan brought to

Delhi, kept in CBI custody
New Delhi: Longabsconding
underworld don Rajendra
Nikhalje alias Chhota Rajan has
been brought to the national capi
tal from Indonesia, officials said.
Rajan, who was arrested by
Indonesian police on October 26,
reached here in a special aircraft
around 5.30 a.m. at Palam airport
from where he was taken to
Central Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) headquarters, escorted by
special commandos and SWAT
team, police said.
The aircraft carrying Rajan,
along with a team of CBI officials
and others, had departed for
India around 8 p.m. (local time)
from Bali, Indonesia on Thursday.
Rajan, 55, reached CBI head
quarters around 6 a.m. All routes
leading the the CBI headquarters
have been sealed by Delhi Police.
Besides, the security of CBI
headquarters, which is looked
after by the Central Industrial
Security Force (CISF), has been
increased.
Rajan, 55, who has been
Longabsconding underworld
don Rajendra Nikhalje alias
Chhota Rajan.
absconding from India for two
decades was arrested by
Indonesian police on a request of
CBI in Bali on October 26, follow
ing a tipof f by the Australian
Federal Police.
Rajan has been kept in a lockup
in CBI headquarters, sources said,
adding that he will be taken for
medical examination soon.
The mafia don will be presented
before a special CBI magistrate
very soon after his medical exam
ination, who will of ficially hand
over his custody to the investigat
ing agency, sources said.
20
November 7-13, 2015
INDIA
Microsoft announces new partnerships in India

Mumbai: USbased technology
major Microsoft has announced a
string of partnerships, pro
grammes and products claimed
to help Indian organisations and
governments to explore unchar
tered business areas and enrich
customer and citizen experi
ences.
T he new ly launched lo cal
Microsoft Cloud and new devices
will also catalyse digital transfor
mation, the company said.
T he tech g iant, based in
Redmond, California, announced
partnerships with three ecom
merce players Justdial, Paytm
and Snapdeal and launched a
special cloud initiative for start
ups aligned to smart cities at its
first of its kind technology con
ference being held here.
"At Microsoft, we strive to
empower every Indian citizen
and every business and govern
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella with

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.
ment organization to achieve
more," Satya Nadella, the Indian
born chief exevutive of Microsoft,

said at the conference.
BJP MP compares SRK with Hafiz Saeed

Lucknow: BJP lawmaker Yogi
Adityanath has stirred another con
troversy, comparing Bollywood
superstar Shah Rukh Khan with
Pakistani terrorist Hafiz Saeed after
the actor said there was growing
intolerance in India.
The hardline BJP leader said in
Gorakhpur that both Shah Rukh
Khan and Saeed the mastermind
of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack
speak the same language.
"There is no difference in the lan
guage Shah Rukh Khan and Saeed
speak," said Adityanath, who heads
the Gorakhpur mutt in eastern Uttar
Pradesh and is known for his radi
cal views on issues re lated to
Hinduism. Adityanath said if Hindus
stopped seeing Shah Rukh Khan's
movies, "he will be on the streets
like an ordinary Muslim".
The MP's comment came a day
after a BJP leader, Kailash
Vijayvargiya, called Shah Rukh as
the actor is widely known and who
turned 50 on Monday a "deshdro
hi" (traitor).
Vijayvargiya said that his com
ment had been "misconstrued".
Another Hindutva proponent,
Sadhvi Prachi, dubbed the actor a
"Pakistani agent". Shah Rukh Khan
"With the new ly launched

Microsoft Cloud and with Surface
Pro 4, our customers here in
India have the digital technology
they need to seize incredible new
growth and opportunity on a
global scale," he added.
According to the company,
Justdial and Microsoft w ill
explore the use of Bing and
cloudbased analytics to provide
and enhance customer experi
ence.
"Pay tm and Microsoft are
working on three core areas of
partnership. The companies will
integrate the Paytm app and
Paytm Wallet into Cortana to
enable consumers to pay for
their utility bills and carry out
mobile transactions easily. Paytm
will use Office 365 for their mer
chants' inventory and account
management," it said in a state
ment.
"Lastly, Paytm will facilitate

and support Microsoft service
sales via their merchant net
work," it added.
Justifying the partnerships,
Bhaskar Pramanik, chairman,
Microsoft India, said: "Cloud and
mobile technologies are already
galvanising Indian industry. We
will demonstrate that technology
in the hands of brilliant people
can create magic."
Snapdeal w ill work w ith
Microsoft Cloud platforms to cre
ate a digital automotive dealer
ship that is expected to change
the way customers make auto
motive buying decisions.
In addition, Microsoft also said
that startups can now apply for
individual access up to $120,000
(Rs.80 lakh) worth of Azure com
puting to help India's smart cities
explore solutions and run smart
city digital pilots.
Modi launches three

goldrelated schemes
BJP lawmaker Yogi Adityanath.

had said earlier that there "is intol
erance (in India), there is extreme
intolerance ... there is growing intol
erance".
Adityanath said "socalled writers
and artistes" had taken an anti
India stand by returning their
national awards over alleged grow
ing intolerance, and that Shah Rukh
Khan had now added his voice to
this group. He said while he was all
for a free debate on issues, no one
had a right to hurt India's interna
tional image.
Those who did deserved to be
boycotted, the saf fronrobed MP
said. When he was told that Hafiz
Saeed had invited Indians to come
to Pakistan if they found intoler
ance in India difficult to cope with,

Adityanath said: "They can go (to
Pakistan). We also want them to
go." Adityanath has been represent
ing Gorakhpur in the Lok Sabha for
the BJP since 1998. Also head of
the Hindu Yuva Vahini group, he
has sparked many controversies
with his hardline comments.
In June this year, he declared that
those who oppose yoga can leave
India. Adityanath's comments drew
criticism from both the Shiv Sena
and veteran Bollywood actor
Anupam Kher.
Shiv Sena spokesman Sanjay Raut
said: "Shah Rukh must not be target
ed for being a Muslim. He has the
same rights as we do."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launching the

gold schemes in New Delhi on November 5.
New Delhi: Prime Minister
Narendra Modi has launched
three goldre lated schemes,
including a coin engraved with
the images of national emblem
Ashok Chakra and Mahatma
Gandhi on its two sides, in a bid
to put some 20,000 tonnes of
idle gold into productive use.
T he other two schemes
launched here are the gold mon
etization scheme to convert jew
elery and other yellow metal
assets with people into interest

bearing deposits, and the sover
eign bond scheme with an eight
year tenure, while allowing an
exit option after five years.
According to the World Gold
Council, an estimated 22,000
23,000 tonnes of gold is lying
idle with households and institu
t ions in India. T he annual
imports amount to around 850
1,000 tonnes valued at $35$45
billion.
Arundhati Roy returns national award against 'ideological viciousness'

New Delhi: Noted act ivist and author
Arundhati Roy on
Thursday said she
was returning her
1989
Nat ional
Award for Best
Screenplay
to
protest against 'ide
olog ical vicious
Arundhati Roy
ness' in the country.
"I am very pleased to have found (from
somewhere way back in my past) a National
Award that I can return, because it allows

me to be a part of a political movement initi
ated by writers, filmmakers and academics
in this country who have risen up against a
kind of ideological viciousness and an
assault on our collective IQ that will tear us
apart and bury us very deep if we do not
stand up to it now," Roy said in an article
published in a daily.
The winner of the Booker Prize for her
book 'The God of Small Things', Roy won the
national award for the film 'In Which Annie
Gives it Those Ones'. "Intolerance is the

wrong word to use for the lynching, shoot
ing, burning and mass murder of fellow
human beings. Also, we had plenty of
advance notice of what lay in store for us
so I cannot claim to be shocked by what has
happened after this government was enthu
siastically voted into of fice with an over
whelming majority," she further added.
She said she was not shocked by what was
happening in the nation. She termed the
lynching of a man over beefeating rumour
in Dadri in Uttar Pradesh as 'deeper malaise'.

"These horrific murders are only a symp
tom of a deeper malaise. Life is hell for the
living too. Whole populations millions of
Dalits, Adivasis, Muslims and Christians are
being forced to live in terror, unsure of when
and from where the assault will come," she
said. Roy is the latest to join the list of writ
ers, academics and filmmakers protesting
against the "rising intolerance" after the
murder of rationalists and lynching of a man
over beefeating rumours.
FA S H I O N
November 7-13, 2015
21
Daring designers and glamorous celebs

at Gionee India Beach Fashion Week
By Prakash Bhandari
ome of the hottest names

in Indian fashion showcased stylish innovations
in beach, resort and destination
bridal wear at Asias largest fashion extravaganza by the seathe
Gionee India Beach Fashion Week
in Goa over the last weekend.
Destination Brides, Mayyur R
Girotras 1950s-inspired bridal
collection came equipped with
plenty of shimmer and bling,
where stately and dignified actress Richa Chadda confidently
sashayed down as the showstopper in a dazzling deep-red
lehenga, paired with a backless
glittering choli and tulle dupatta,
while celebrities Maria Goretti and Amyra Dastur provided
their support from the front-row.
Renowned designer Rocky Star
brought out an opulent showcase
of glamorous resort wear, with
popular VJ Anusha Dandekar
walking the ramp in a dazzling
all-gold sequined mini.
Sangeeta
Sharmas
ornate
bridal line was inspired by the
grandeur of royal Rajasthan.
Looking like an absolute dream
was Bollywood star Neha Dhupia

who closed the show in a gorgeous red fully-embroidered lehenga, choli and dupatta. Shilpa
Reddys Sleepless Blue Waters
was influenced by lapping sea
waves and crafted using sheer
organza and Chanderi silk. Making a striking entry here was
the lovely Bollywood star Ada
Sharma, who dazzled the ramp
in a panelled gold embroidered
lehenga, silver choli and a shimmering dupatta.
Aakriti Grovers sporty, outdoor line of swim, gym and
beach wear under the label Flirtatious featured blogger Santoshi Shetty as a stunning showstopper entry in white pants and
a cute printed top, along with DJ
Zaedenthe first Indian to play
at leading EDM festival Tomorrowland who strutted down
the ramp in black track pants
and a cool blouson.
Concrete Paradise from the
label Deme by Gabriella, presented by Nail Spa Experience,
featured whimsical silhouettes,
as showcased by effervescent
show-stopper Shibani Dandekar,
who looked stunning in a beige,
backless flowing crpe gown.
Shilpa Reddy Studio - Adaa Sharma with Shilpa Reddy
Deme by Gabriella - Shibani Dandekar with Gabriella
Sangeeta Sharma creation

displayed by Neha Dhupia
Amyra Dastur in
Mayyur Girotra creation
Mayyur R Girotra Couture

- Destination Bridal Wear
22
November 7-13, 2015
GREATER EQUANIMITY
required in
understanding tolerance
In India what is being witnessed is the complete opposite of
intolerance. People are expressing themselves and their views
like never before and their rights are not being curtailed for it.
By Amit Kapoor
raging debate has risen in India about
tolerance or, as some would argue, the
reduction of it in the country. The
hypothesis about tolerance or intolerance
can only be objectively judged on the basis
of requisite data that is in paucity at the cur
rent instance. Debates often on the media
and social media platforms have become
supercharged without any meaningful con
clusions in sight.
A pertinent question to ask is what consti
tutes intolerance? Does it mean an inappro
priate legislation, denial of rights, violent
incidents related to religion and other iden
tities, irresponsible statements by govern
ment functionaries, or just even a plain dis
agreement with others' point of view?
Until now what has been observed is most
ly the fifth point plain disagreement with
others' point of view. Writers, poets, artists
and scientists are expressing their dissent
like never before by returning their awards.
But had there been intolerance their views
and acts would have certainly been muz
zled/ tried to be muzzled. In fact in India
what is being witnessed is the complete
opposite of intolerance. People are express
ing themselves and their views like never
before and their rights are not being cur
tailed for it. That in fact is the basis of dis
sent in any democracy. Of course, individual
incidents in the third category have also
happened violent incidents related to iden
tities like being rationalists, vigilante acts
leading to heinous crimes and the like. The
government's functionaries could have
expressed their views in a more empathetic
manner but this in no way means that there
is erosion in tolerance levels in the country.
For, similar and sometimes even far worse
incidents have happened in the country
before drawing even more extreme views
and inappropriate comments.
There should certainly be caution and rea
sonable dialogue with the government on
the issue by those who feel tolerance levels
of the whole country are going down. The
lack of dialogue between government and
stakeholders is being construed as increas
ing intolerance. Proper dialogue would
ensure that concerns of all stakeholders are
expressed and the measures to tackle such
incidents effectively are taken by the gov
ernments at the central and state levels.
The crucial dif ference compared to the
past is the information flow modern
media, social media and networks which
makes each incident look magnified. While
it acts as a great tool for access to informa
tion and awareness it may and does affect
perceptions about the prevailing state of
affairs and that leads to perceptions about
tolerance or the lack of it in greater meas
ure than was seen before.
While individual incidents can be viewed
OP-ED
as pointers, greater intolerance can be

adjudged only on greater availability and
analysis of data. That raises a question
about improvement of statistical systems in
the country pertaining to crime. What is
required is speedy and accurate updating of
data. Also required is mechanisms to bring
speedy justice to act as a deterrent to perpe
trators of crime in the country. Fast track
movement of such crimes will ensure that
law and order and rule of law strengthens.
On a societal level what is required is
greater equanimity in understanding toler
ance and what is its importance in modern
constitutionally elected states. It is impor
tant that the vast multiplicity of views and
Sonia Gandhi is simply obsessed to win back India for

her son in the 2018 election. Thats what all the
growing intolerance fuss is really about.
WHO'S NEXT
His Holiness the Dalai
Lama or Pope Francis?
By Mamta Mishra
omething disturbing is going on in India
these days where a small, but influential,
group of partisan artists together with
the English media have come to the rescue of
Congress (dynasty) Party chief Sonia Maino
Gandhi. Her opposition party, and its commu
nist and anarchist affiliates, has staged a first
class hate campaign to malign Prime Minister
Narendra Modi.
Sonias relative Nayantara Sahgal (famous
only for being the niece of Jawaharlal Nehru)
helped launch the intolerant India rebellion
brand by returning a prestigious award ironi
cally accepted from the dynasty that oversaw
A silent protest against recent attacks on intellectuals outside New Delhi's

National Academy of Letters
voices is protected as this will lead to
greater sense of security, debate, more rea
soning and more critical enquiry. Tolerance
is important because it is imperative for fos
tering creative thinking. Creative thinking is
the bedrock of critical enquiry that fosters
innovation. So long as one's right to express
ing a point of view is concerned there
should be freedom to express what one feels
like.
Tolerance for others point of view as well
as mutual respect for each other's practices
is important and necessary for not only eco
nomic but also social and human progress.
India's improving stature globally on the
investment front as well as on important
indices like Global Competitiveness Index,
Ease of Doing Business Index will benefit
greatly by ensuring that proper dialogue is
in place between stakeholders of society and
the government at all levels. Also, what is
required is speedy trial for perpetrators of
crimes whose acts risk India's credibility as
a society that in a very large measure has
fostered creative thinking and tolerance for
dissent.
Amit Kapoor is Chair, Institute for

Competitiveness, & Editor of Thinkers.
the 1984 Sikh massacre and the ethnic

cleansing of Kashmiri Hindus in 1989. A host
of other no name, grantfed, dynasty
appointees followed returning their awards in
solidarity with Sonias larger political smear
campaign against one of Indias most popular
leaders in recent times. Next came a few
Indianorigin international celebrities to
answer Sonias call. And Prannoy Roys NDTV
was there all along obediently playing the
lead role of media sponsor in keeping the
story front page.
After 60 plus years of dynasty patronage in
India, Sonia has inherited a long contact list of
personalities she can call on for a favor. One
cant help but wonder who will be next in line.
Maybe politicized Bollywood stars will play a
role in her drama.
It would be unfortunate if His Holiness the
Dalai Lama (a close friend of the Nehru
Gandhi dynasty) were to entertain joining the
choir. And it would not surprise anyone if the
ItalianIndo Sonia were to go so far as to seek
blessing and brand endorsement from Pope
Francis!
More worrisome is her clout to influence
Indias bureaucracy and Indias foreign serv
ice that has reported to her for ten years, to
her husband before, and to her motherinlaw
before that. It is a known fact that Congress

insiders are being asked to join the rebellion
to discredit PM Modi at home and abroad.
This is where, should there be takers, real
potential for damage is possible.
All of this is alarming for the future of
Indias democracy. For a democracy to work
everyone needs to play by the rules and
accept the electoral results. But Sonia
appears to live above the law. When she wins
the electorate is right. When she loses the
electorate is naturally wrong. Her actions of
the past 17 months, since Modi was swornin
PM on May 26, 2014 as Indias 15th Prime
Minister, have demonstrated her contempt
for the Indian electorate. She has disrupted
parliament from functioning, and has made
every attempt possible to distract Modi from
real work to instead play ball with her. Why?
Every Indian, in and out of India, knows the
answer. No matter what the cost to India,
Sonia is simply obsessed to win back India for
her son in the 2018 election. Thats what all
the growing intolerance fuss is really about.
Those in academia, arts, media, and bureau
cracy helping her have their own agenda to
regain lost power since the Hindi speaking,
vegetarian, yoga practitioner with a plan to
bring development to India took of fice 17
months ago. They need Sonia as much as she
needs them. They know if they help her shell
remember to thank them should the intoler
ant India brand succeed in crowning India to
her son.
Whether you personally like or dislike
Narendra Modi is irre levant. T he fact
remains that he won an overwhelming major
ity mandate. Indians, all over the country, and
from around the world, celebrated the change
with high hopes for governance and develop
ment after decades of corruption, intolerance,
and fear of the Congress leader. And despite
facing 17 months of sustained hostility he has
demonstrated the will to remain calm and to
avoid the many set traps to corner him. His
leadership ratings continue to rise in poll
after poll. Indias global rankings have
improved. And he still draws sellout crowds
both at home and abroad.
At a time when India is required to pay
attention to national security, global terror
ism, climate change, and finally a real possi
bility of addressing entrenched poverty, the
prime minister should not have to waste time
fighting off Sonias friends. There is no grow
ing intolerance in India. The facts show the
reverse trend. Freedom of speech has never
been stronger
Indians continue to
argue
whatever,
wherever, whenever.
Mamta Mishra is
Former Director of
World
Literacy
Canada.
DIWALI SPECIAL
November 7-13, 2015
24
November 7-13, 2015
INDIA AT UN
Pictorial journey through history

looks at UN, India's role
India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations,
Asoke Kumar Mukerji, has chronicled India's role at the
UN in his book, India and the United Nations a Photo Journey: 1945-2015.
By Arul Louis
United Nations: When the UN was but a
glimmer in the eyes of Allied statesmen in
1942, preindependence India's involvement
in the idea of a world body began with its
representative, G.S. Bajpai, signing the
"Declaration by the United Nations" in
Washington while World War II rained
death and destruction around the globe.
The arminarm journey of India and UN
has been chronicled by India's Permanent
Representative Asoke Kumar Mukerji in
India and The United Nations A Photo
Journey: 19452015, a volume of nuggets
of historical facts and rare photographs
culled from a trove of over 800,000.
When the UN was born in 1945, India was
still a colony. But with its independence
looming on the horizon and in a premoni
tion of its global importance, it became a
fullfledged founding member of the organi
zation. It was represented on UN flagpoles
by a blue flag with the Union Jack and the
Great Seal with the Star of India, which was
replaced by the Indian tricolor when India
won its freedom in 1947.
Enshrining the promotion of human rights
was India's significant contribution to the
framing of the UN Charter, Mukerji writes.
The Charter was signed in San Francisco
by Ramaswami Mudaliar, the leader of the
Indian de leg at ion to the UN, and V.T.
Krishnamachari, who represented the
princely states. The Charter came into force
on October 24, 1945 creating the global
body, and that day is celebrated as UN Day
every year.
The 374page book, first presented by
Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Secretary
General Ban Kimoon last month, received
wide circulation at this year's UN Day cele
bration recently. Published by India's UN
mission, it comes at a crucial time as
momentum gains for Security Council
reforms and reinforces India's credentials
for a permanent seat on it through its record
of involvement with and service to the UN.
Mukerji told IANS: "It is the first time an
ef fort has been made to give broader
account of India and the UN. As the first
major developing country member of the
UN, India has a unique story to tell."
"There have been ups and down in the
engagement with the UN. The future and
relevance of the UN will depend on its prac
tice of inclusiveness and not exceptional
ism," he added.
Mukerji traces the pioneering role of India
at the nascent UN with New Delhi becoming
one of the framers of the convention against
genocide in a world reeling from its horrors.
It was adopted by the first General Assembly
session in 1946 at London. At the same ses
Amb. Asoke K. Mukerji
India signs the UN Charter, San Francisco, June 26, 1945

sion Mudaliar was elected chairman of the
Economic and Social Council.
In a historic first, Vijayalakshmi Pandit,
the sister of Jawaharlal Nehru, led the Indian
delegation to that session the only woman
to do so. In 1953, she was elected president
of the General Assembly, the first woman to
hold the position.
Hansa Mehta became a member of the
SubCommission on the Status of Women in
1946. Her mark on history was ensuring
that women were recognized in the
Universal Declaration of Human Right by
having the phrase, "all men are created
equal" changed to "all human beings are cre
ated equal", Mukerji writes.
In an instance of early support for China
and a display of solidarity with the Soviet
Union unsuccessfully India, then a mem
ber of the Security Council, voted to replace
Taiwan with China as a permanent member.
As communist forces invaded South Korea
in 1950, the UN mobilized a military force
against them. "India decided not to get

involved militarily but contributed a military
unit, the 60th Parachute Field Ambulance,"
Mukerji writes. Its members earned the title
of "Maroon Angels" by serving not only mili
tary forces, but also civilians and North
Korean prisoners of war. The humanitarian
tradition continues in other hotspots
around the world.
India's long association with armed peace
keeping operations began in 1956 when the
UN created the first such mission, the UN
Emergency Force (UNEF), in the Middle East
after the hostilities of the Suez Crisis.
Since then India has participated in 48 of
the 69 UN peacekeeping missions. Having
sent over 185,000 personnel, it is the
largest overall troop contributor to peace
operations. A special section of the book,
with an introduction by Lt. Gen. Satish
Nambiar (retd.), deals with India's contribu
tions to the UN's militaryrelated operations.
Mukerji succinctly explains key Indian
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his maiden speech at UN

General Assembly in Sept 2014 proposed the idea of an
International Day of Yoga, which was accepted by the
world body and celebrated on June 21 this year.
Indian tricolor was raised at United Nations

on August 15, 1947
positions ranging from the Kashmir issue at
the UN to New Delhi's refusal to sign the
nuclear nonproliferation treaty.
Every major international issue at the UN,
from trade and development to fighting
Ebola and terrorism find a place in the defin
itive chronology. Mukerji notes that India's
involvement predates the UN by decades
when it became a founding member of the
International Labor Organisation (ILO) asso
ciated with the illfated League of Nations.
The ILO became a UN agency in 1946.
And from there the history goes all the
way to the ce le brat ion of the First
International Day of Yoga at the UN this
year and the adoption of the new sustain
able development goals.
UN Secretary General Ban Kimoon inaugurating a Solar Plant in Vadodara,

Gujarat during his visit to India in January 2015.
DIWALI SPECIAL
November 7-13, 2015
26
November 7-13, 2015
ANALYSIS
US ELECTIONS: DECODING THE ROLE

OF INDIAN DIASPORA
Given the small size of their population, the Indian American community will not be a
kingmaker in the American elections (as contrasted with Latinos). However, their inuence
is disproportionate to the size of the population as members of the community
have become major nancial contributors to both parties.
By Uma Purushothaman
Observer Research Foundation
s the US election campaign
g athers steam, India is
watching it with great inter
est not only because of the impor
tance of the IndiaUS relationship,
but also because of the sizeable
Indian Diaspora in the US.
The Indian American Diaspora
has undoubtedly traversed a long
distance from the pioneering, une
ducated and lowskilled Punjabi
farmers of the late 19th and early
20th century to what is now a
highly skilled over three million
strong community. The Indian
American population is the sec
ondlargest immigrant group in
the country after Mexicans. The
US is also home to the second
largest Indian Diaspora globally.
Indian Americans are the wealthi
est (w ith household incomes
almost double of the American
average), most educated and law
abiding ethnic community in the
US, a model minority. Though it
constitutes less than one percent
of the total American population,
it accounts for about ten percent
of all doctors and more than five
percent of scientists, engineers
and IT professionals in the coun
try.
Indian Americans are also a rel
atively young population. The
community is evenly distributed
across the country though there
are more Indians in places like
New York, New Jersey, Texas,
California, and Chicago. The com
munity is also highly organized. It
is important to remember that
most of the community is deeply
engaged with India. A good pro
portion makes regular visits to
India and many send remittances
to India. In fact, the US is the sec
ond largest source of remittances
to India behind West Asia.
W hile their ancestors were
busier in building livelihoods and
rarely showed inclination in get
ting involved in politics, todays
Diaspora is playing an increasing
ly pivotal role in American poli
tics, from community organizers
to local politics, state politics to
politics of Capitol Hill. The num
ber of Indian Americans in high
political offices has been steadily
increasing, whether it is in
President Obamas administration
India has bipartisan caucuses in both houses of Congress the Senate India Caucus and the
Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans.
or in administrations across the
country, including governorships.
Indian Americans have estab
lished several advocacy organiza
tions and political action commit
tees on a wide range of issues of
importance to India. For instance,
the USIndia Political Af fairs
Committee and the Indian
American Forum for Political
Education have done seminal
work in advocating Indias cause.
India has bipartisan caucuses in
both houses of Cong ressthe
Senate India Caucus and the
Congressional Caucus on India
and Indian Americans. The com
munitys political influence has
grown over the years and it has
played a key role in lobbying for
Indian causes on Capitol Hill. In
recent years, Indians have demon
strated their increasing political
influence with the election of
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal
and South Carolina Governor
Nikki Haley.
By and large, Indian Americans,
like most minorities in the US
have traditionally voted for the
Democrats. But there are influen
tial Indian American Republicans
as well. The most notable is of
course Louisiana Governor,
Republican Bobby Jindal, the first
Indian American contender for a
partys presidential nomination.
But Jindal has slipped out of the
top ten contenders and may be
forced to suspend his campaign

soon.
Another Indian American in
these elections is Mary Thomas
who is running to become the
Republican nominee for Congress
from Florida. In fact, some reports
suggest that as Indian Americans
have become wealthier, they are
becoming more conservative and
are leaning towards the
Republican Party. This is evident
from the fact that their financial
contribution to the Republican
Party has been increasing recent
ly. Parties are also beginning to
appeal to Indian Americans. For
instance, George W Bush success
fully reached out to the communi
ty in the 2004 elections, talking to
community leaders and inviting
them to fundraising dinners.
The Indian government woke up
to the emergence of its Diaspora
as an influential political force
much be fore Prime Minister
Narendra Modi took over. A High
Leve l Committee on Indian
Diaspora said in 2001 that for
the first time, India has a con
stituency in the US with real sta
tus and influencean invaluable
asset in strengthening Indias
relationship with the worlds only
superpower They have ef fec
tively mobilized on issues ranging
from the nuclear tests in 1998 to
Kargil, played a crucial role in
generating a favorable climate of
opinion in Congress and defeating

antiIndia legislation there, and
lobbied effectively on other issues
of concern to the Indian commu
nity. But it is a fact that Modis
emphasis on the Indian Diaspora
and his advice to them to become
an extension of Indias foreign
policy has had deep resonance
with the community. It feels a
deeper sense of being connected
to India today and is proud of the
country as is evident from the
enthusiasm of the thousands who
thronged to listen to the Prime
Minister during his public speech
es last year and this year.
While India certainly recognizes
the importance of the Diaspora in
contributing to stronger ties with
the US, interestingly, so does the
US. In January this year, President
Obama announced a new public
private partnership to encourage
Indian Americans to directly
invest in India, thus enhancing
economic relations between the
two countries.
Given the small size of their
population, the Indian American
community will not be a kingmak
er in the American e lections.
However, their influence is dispro
portionate to the size of the popu
lation as members of the commu
nity have become major financial
contributors to both parties.
Despite the US economy doing
slightly better than during the last
elections, outsourcing will be an

issue during the e lect ions.
Another issue of interest for India
is immigration because of the link
to H1B visas. What different can
didates say on these issues will be
closely followed by Indian busi
nesses and high skilled workers.
For instance, surprise Republican
frontrunner Donald Trumps pro
posal to make H1B visas more dif
ficult to acquire has received
enough bad press in India. On the
other hand, another Republican
presidential contender, Marco
Rubio, wants to increase the num
ber of H1B visas. Interestingly, on
foreign policy, the same Donald
Trump has nice words for India,
saying the US has to engage close
ly with India as it is the only coun
try which can check Pakistan,
the worlds most dangerous
country. The leading Democratic
contender, Hillary Clinton, is a
known Indophile who sees India
as a critical part of US grand strat
egy.
While India watches the elec
tions with interest, whether it is a
Republican or a Democrat who
comes to power in the W hite
House, USIndia ties are set to
improve because of bipartisan
consensus in the US that the rela
tionship has to grow stronger in
view of shared concerns and inter
ests in the Indo Pacific. There has
long been a my th among the
Indian strategic community that
Republican Presidents have been
better for India. But it is just
thata myth. Remember, it was
the Republican Richard Nixon
who led the rapprochement with
China and it was the Democrat
John F Kennedy who helped India
during the SinoIndian conflict.
The writer is a Fellow at

Observer Research Foundation,
Delhi (ORF).
About Observer Research
Foundation: ORF was established
in 1990 as a private, not for prof
it, think tank to influence public
policy
formulation.
The
Foundation brought together, for
the first time, leading Indian econ
omists and policymakers to pres
ent An Agenda for Economic
Reforms in India. The idea was to
help develop a consensus in favor
of economic reforms.
DIWALI SPECIAL
November 7-13, 2015
30
LORE & LEGEND
MORE THAN A FESTIVAL

OF LIGHTS
By Nilima Madan
November 7-13, 2015
iwali or Deepavali, the

Hindu New Year festival is
one of the biggest Indian
celebrations and popularly called
the festival of lights. It also sym
bolizes victory of 'good over evil'.
Legend has it that, Lord Rama
was victorious over Lanka's King
Ravana who had ten heads and
who abducted Lord Rama's wife
Sita. Rama brought her back to
his kingdom Ayodhya after an
epic battle w ith Ravana. No
moonlight shone on the day of
return as it fell on 'Amavasya' or
last day of the Lunar month
(Kart ik). So to we lcome and
rejoice Lord Rama and Sita's
return to the kingdom, everyone
placed multiple rows of oil lamps
which is called Deepavali in
Sanskrit, in small earthenware oil
lamps called 'diyas' to illuminate
the path they were travelling.
Crowds lined up the streets that
night to cheer the royals return.
There is more lore about the
significance of Diwali. Jains
be lieve that Lord Mahavir
attained salvat ion and Arya
Samaj believes that Dayanand
Saraswati attained Nirvana on
this special day. Some say Lord
Krishna killed the evil demon
king of Pragjyotishpur to set free
16,000 daughters of the gods.
Since then as a tradition two
days before and two days after
Diwali are religious holidays,
making it a 5day festival. To
name, the first day of Diwali is
Dhanatrayodashi or Dhanvantari
Triodasi, also called Dhan Teras.
Many buy gold on this day. A
lamp is lit for Yama Raj, the Lord
of Death, and people pray for
protection from untimely death.
Naraka Chatutrdashi, or popu
larly called Chhoti Diwali, is the
second day of Diwali and some
lights are placed outside homes.
The third night is Deepavali or
Diwali Amavasya and is the main
day of festivity when Goddess
Lakshmi, precious metals etc, are
worshipped to achieve blessings
for wealth and prosperity. New
Year for some, Padwa and
Govardhan Puja or Bali Padyami
is the fourth day when Lord
Krishna lifted Mount Govardhana
and many perform Govardhan
Puja. The fifth day is Bhai Duj,
also called Bhai teeka or Yama
Dw ithiya Bhag ini Hastha
Bhojanam, when sisters fondly
apply a "tika" on the foreheads of
brothers and pray for their well
being and brothers give them a
gift or token cash money.
These five days are the most
auspicious, adorned with most
colorful art work or Rangoli,
most festive decorations with
lights and fireworks/crackers
that mark a prime time in the
Hindu calendar. During these five
days people mainly worship
Goddess Lakshmi for wealth and
prosperity in the new year, start
new account ing books w ith
prayers and hope to have a suc
cessful business year, organize
social events and family get
The excitement, the bustle, the illumination of Diwali in India is unmatched

by any festival anywhere in the world.
togethers. Children get money
from elders and there are plenti
ful sweets and savories to go
around. Merriment, happy family
time and joy all around is the
theme.
A view away from mythology is
what this festival of lights really
stands for: prayers for new hope,
auspicious beginning of a new
year for businesses, renewed
social friendship and goodwill,
family time, respecting elders by

getting blessings from them, fes
tive mood, most beautiful decora
tions and fancy clothes not to
mention laughter, hugs and love
observed all over India and the
world by Indians.
Diwali is observed in the White
House too and President Obama
has participated in the celebra
tion by lighting the lamps. Many
Indians who have settled in
America are very happy about

this as NRIs have lifted Diwali to
a major community event, which
has been celebrated in Times
Square, annually at South Street
Seaport, and in endless Gala
Nights and very stylishly and
pompously in parties or homes.
There are campaigns afoot to get
Diwali postal stamp issued and
Diwali declared a holiday in the
USA!
(Photo: Mohammed Jaffer)

Times Square or India Square (in Jersey City), the Indian community has lifted Diwali and made it into a major calendar event.
32
November 7-13, 2015
DIWALI RITUALS
HOW TO DO LAKSHMI
PUJA ON DIWALI
A step-by-step guide to worship goddess of wealth
Lakshmi Puja on Diwali
The most important ritual of Diwali is
Lakshmi puja. It is believed that Goddess
Lakshmi visits everyone during Diwali to
bring peace and prosperity to all. Hence,
Diwali is the most auspicious day to worship
Goddess Lakshmi. Traditionally Lakshmi
Puja or Lakshmi Ganesha puja is performed
after sunset. This puja is also known as
Lakshmi Kuber puja.
Date and Muhurat for

Diwali Lakshmi Puja
2015
Date for Diwali Lakshmi puja
November 11
Lakshmi Puja Muhurat
18.0021.00 PM
(Source: Temple Priest Asa Mai temple,
Hicksville)
Complete Lakshmi
Puja Vidhi
1) Place the Kalash:
4 Lay down a new red cloth on a raised
platform (chourang)
4 Place a handful of grains (Wheat or rice)
in the center of the cloth
4 Place a Kalash and fill threefourth of it
with water
4 Now place a betel nut (Paan leaf ), a
flower, a coin, and some rice grains in it

4 Arrange five kinds of leaves or 5 mango
leaves at the mouth of kalash
4 Place a small dish on the kalash and fill
it with rice grains
4 Draw a lotus with turmeric powder (
haldi ) over the rice grains and place the
idol of goddess Lakshmi over it along
with coins (gold or silver coins). You can
also place Shri yantra, if you have.
2) Worship Lord Ganesha:
4 Worship Vighneshwar The remover of
all obstacles
4 Place the idol of Lord Ganesha on the
right (SouthWest direction) of Kalash
4 Place pen, ink and books related to your
business or occupation near it
4 Light a lamp and offer haldi, kumkum,
and flowers to the platform
4 Offer haldi, kumkum, and flowers to the
water that is to be used for the puja.
Invoke the river goddesses to be part of
this water
3) Worship Goddess Lakshmi:
4 Mahalakshmi, The goddess of wealth
and money.
4 Invoke Maa Lakshmi by reciting the
mantras
4 Or simply take some flowers in your
hands, close your eyes, and think of god
dess Lakshmi
4 Place the idol of Lakshmi in a plate and
bathe it with water, panchamrit and then

with water containing some gold orna
ment or a pearl
4 Wipe the idol with a soft cloth and place
it back on the kalash
4 Of fer sandal paste, saf fron paste, per
fume, haldi, kumkum, abeer, and gulal to
the goddess. Of fer a garland of cotton
beads to the goddess
4 Of fer flowers, especially the marigold
flowers and Bel Patra
Ashtalakshmi- Eight forms

of Goddess Lakshmi
A
shtalakshmi represents various forms of

Goddess Lakshmi. Ashta means eight and
Lakshmi means the Goddess of wealth. So
Ashtalakshmi are eights forms of Maa and each of
these form blesses us with a unique form of wealth.
Together these forms are known as Ashtalakshmi or
Mahalakshmi.
Other than money we need many more things to
lead a prosperous life. Ashtalakshmi provides us with
each necessary component of prosperity and makes
us happy in true sense. So the eight forms of
Ashtalakshmi are
1) Dhan Lakshmi or Vaibhav Lakshmi:

Dhan and Vaibhav mean money or income,
which is essential to satisfy materialistic pleasure.
2) Gaj Lakshmi
Gaj means elephant and it symbolizes the wealth
of vehicles. It also represents traveling around the
world.
3) Adi Lakshmi:
Adi means neverending. Adi Lakshmi signifies the
neverending nature of the goddess. It provides
wealth of endless prosperity.
4) Vijay Lakshmi:
Vijay means victory. This goddess symbolizes the

wealth of victory, determination, courage, and confi
dence.
5) Dhairya Lakshmi:
Dhairya means patience. This wealth gives us the
spiritual strength to face good and bad times with
equal ease. Wealth of patience, strategy, planning,
objectivity.
6) Dhanya Lakshmi:
Dhanya means grain. Dhanya Lakshmi provides us
food to sustain life and stay nourished and healthy.
7) Vidya Lakshmi:
Vidya means knowledge. By worshiping Vidya
Lakshmi you can achieve wealth of education, knowl
edge and skills.
8) Santana Lakshmi:
Santan means children. Santana Lakshmi symbol
izes the social nature of man. She blesses you with
wealth of children, legacy, family, friends and well
wishers.
*************
4 Light an incense stick and dhoop

4 Offer sweets, coconut, fruits
4) Worship Kuber The treasurer of the gods.
4 Worship your Tijoori (safe where you
keep money and jewelry) as a symbol of
Lord Kuber
4 Chant Kuber Mantra to please him
5) Perform Aarti
4 Light diya and perform the aarti of god
dess Lakshmi with your entire family
4 After aarti distribute prasad to all
DIWALI SPECIAL
November 7-13, 2015
34
November 7-13, 2015
DIWALI RECIPES
All FOR A SCRUMPTIOUS

DEEPAVALI
Celebrate the festival with traditional sweets and snacks
WHEAT FLOUR MURUKKU
Ingredients
4Wheat flour 1 cup
4Red chilli powder 3/4 tsp
4Jeera/ ajwain 1 & 1/2 tsp
4Asafoetida 1/8 tsp
4Salt as needed
4Oil For deep frying
Method
Steam cook the flour in a clean white
cloth, tied into a bag. You can use your idli
pot and place this bag over the idli plate.
You can use pressure cooker also for
steaming. Keep the bag in a container and
cover and cook without pressure value
(pressure regulator). Steam cook for 1520
mins.
Untie and when it is warm enough to han
dle, break it roughly. Sieve it and use your
hands to break, if there are any lumps.
Heat oil in kadai meanwhile you prepare
the dough. Add red chilli powder, asafoeti
da, salt and jeera. Add a tsp of oil (prefer
ably hot oil) too. Make dough with water. It
should be a stiff yet smooth and non sticky
dough.
Press into coil shape or what ever com
fortable shape you prefer.
Deep fry in hot oil, cook both sides until
crisp and golden brown. Never let oil fume
at any point, regulate the heat now and
then and ensure even cooking of the
murukku. You can press the next batch of
murukku while a batch is getting cooked.
Drain in paper towel.
should be just right. Keep aside for 2030

minutes. Grind sugar to fine powder and
keep aside.
Knead the dough again after some time
and divide dough into 6 equal parts. Roll as
thin as possible evenly with generous dust
ing. With the use of the cutter/ knife cut
out thin strips.
Again cut diagonally to make little dia
monds. Use a thin dosa spatula to take it
out from the rolling board. Dont worry if
everything gets together.
Heat oil in a kadai and when it is hot, gen
tly gather the diamonds and drop in a
sprinkled way as much as possible. Once
you drop in hot oil, the diamonds that got
together will separate as it gets cooked.
KARANJI
Cook in medium flame with constant turn

ing to make sure it is evenly cooked.
Once the bubbles and sound completely
ceases, then take it out from oil and imme
diately add 23 tblsp powdered sugar to it
and toss well to coat everything evenly.
KALAKAND
DIAMOND CUTS
Ingredients :
4Maida/ all purpose flour 2 cup
4Sugar 1/2 cup
4Ghee 1 tsp
4Oil To deep fry
4Salt 1/2 tsp
Method
Mix flour, salt, 1tsp of sugar and ghee in a
bowl. Add enough water to make it a pli
able dough. Dough should not be too soft. It
4Silver or gold foil

42 tbsp lemon juice
Recipe Method
Boil half the milk in a heavy bottomed
pan over medium heat, stirring occasional
ly, making sure not to burn milk. Add the
lemon juice gradually and stir the milk gen
tly. The curd will start separating from the
whey, turn off the heat. Switch off the heat
and let it stand for few more minutes. Drain
the whey using a strainer line with cheese
cloth or muslin cloth. Wrap the curds in a
muslin cloth, rinse under cold water, and
squeeze well. Gather the curds by twisting
the cloth into a firm lump. Take in a plate
and press down. Do not knead.
Put the remaining milk in a heavy bottom
frying pan and boil to half. Make sure to
frequently stir the milk as the milk burns
easily in bottom of the pan. Add the curd
and boil till the mixture thickens and form
a soft dough consistency, stirring continu
ously. Add the sugar and continue to cook,
stirring all the while until the mixture
become waterlessfirm soft lump and start
leaving the pan from sides. This process
takes about 45 minutes to one hour.
Pour it over greased plate. Level it evenly
keeping about half inch thick. Apply silver
foil and sprinkle the chopped nuts and
allow to cool completely. Cut the kalakand
in squares.
Ingredients:
48 cups milk
41 cup sugar
41 tbsp sliced almonds or pistachio
Ingredients :
4All Purpose flour/maida1 1/2 cup
4Rava/sooji/semolina 1/4 cup
4Oil/ghee1 1/2 tbsp
4 Salt a generous pinch
For the Stuffing
4Fried Gram 1/2 cup
4Grated coconut1/2 cup
4Powdered sugar 3/4 cup
4Cashew nuts 1/4 cup
4Cardamom 4
4Oil for deep frying
Preparation of dough
In a bowl or big plate, mix together
maida, oil, rava and salt together. Add
water little at a time and make a smooth

and stif f dough as you make for poori.
Cover it with a damp cloth and keep it aside
for 1 1 1/2 hours.
Let the dough rest. We will prepare the
stuffing
Dry roast fried gram slightly or until it is
hot to touch. Once it cools, powder it
coarsely.
Heat 1/2 tsp of ghee and fry the coconut
until the moisture goes and you get a nice
aroma of fried coconut. You do not have to
turn it brown.
Fry cashew nuts in 1/2 tsp of ghee.
Powder sugar finely along with car
damom.
Now mix together coarsely ground fried
gram, coconut, powdered sugar and cashew
nuts well. Now the stuffing for the karanji
is ready.
Method
Now take the dough, knead it well and
divide it into equal balls. Dusting flour, roll
out a ball into a small poori. Using a lid,
press on the rolled out dough and remove
the excess dough. You will get a perfect cir
cle. In this method all the karanjis will be of
the same size.
Place 22 1/2 tsp of stuffing in the mid
dle of the circle. Now dip your finger in
water and apply it on the edges of half a
circle, so that the karanji will stick well and
the stuffing will not come out while frying.
Now close it and seal the edges well by
pressing it with your fingers. Using a fork,
give a nice design to the karanjis.
Repeat the same process for the rest of
the dough.
Heat oil in a heavy bottomed kadai, when
oil is hot, reduce the heat to medium (to
check if the oil is hot, drop a small piece of
dough into the oil, if it comes to the surface
immediately, then the oil is hot enough to
fry). Drop 23 karanjis (depending on the
capacity of the kadai and quantity of oil
used) and fry both sides until golden
brown.
Place it in a colander or a paper towel to
drain excess oil.
DIWALI SPECIAL
November 7-13, 2015
36
November 7-13, 2015
V OX P O P U L I
Devang Patels first Diwali in USA
idewalks decorated with

colorful designs, lamps shining brightly throughout the
night, children wearing their newest outfits, delicious vegetarian
delicacies offered to Bhagwan,
families coming together and celebrating the beginning of the New
Year. These are the sentiments of
Diwali at the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Robbinsville, NJ.
Devang Patel, who had migrated from India and had visited the
Mandir in Robbinsville, NJ was
overjoyed and could not believe
what he saw. At home, he missed
the festivity of Diwali and did not
know how his first Diwali in USA
would be.
He also felt homesick and

wished he was with his friends
and relatives in India. Not knowing what to do, he called up his
friend who suggested to go to the
new mandir in Robbinsville.
An hour into the mandir and
Devang said, I felt like I was in
India, the joy, the excitement,
the festive atmosphere, the taste
of fine Indian cuisine, the expression of warmth and happiness on every face I saw. I truly
felt at home.
He also learned from the exhibition that Diwali is also a time
of renewal, reflection and resolution. On meeting the Swamis, he
learned that we will experience
joy and peace in all moments of
our lives if we are at peace with
ourselves and at peace with people and things around us. We can
have peace with ourselves by living a God centric life.
The following week, his sons
Ansh and Maan were equally
overjoyed at the childrens Diwali
as they had fun with the dazzling
magic show, rides and games.
Keeping India
link alive
aising five young children

in a small rural Canadian
town in the late 1960s,
my parents somehow managed
to teach us to hold on to our language, diet and traditions. All
five of us can speak Hindi, three
remain vegetarian, four regularly
travel to India, and Diwali is the
time of year when we all get together to eat, pray and argue.
In the next generation of a total of five grandchildren for my
parents four speak Hindi, three
are connected to India through
regular travel, two are vegetarian, and all five know to light a
candle to mark the coming of a
new year on Diwali.
We were taught, and we teach
our children, to be proud of our
heritage as we mix and match our
preferences in a globalized world.

With pride comes strength.
Language and diet were essential pillars of heritage in our
home, and I wonder what the math
will be like for our childrens children. My own son has not been
raised on many fundamentals
(hes a proud Hindu-atheist teenager who has been exposed to the
good and bad in all religions), but
I know it would make me happy
if he passes on to my potential
grandchildren the values of a vegetarian diet, the pride that comes
from speaking Hindi, a love for India, and the happiness and tolerance that is inherent in Hinduism.
Om, shanti, shanti, shanti!
Mamta Mishra
Montreal, Canada
Just another day
n a Diwali day, you look out

of your Boston home and
there is nothing. On August 15, nothing. On Pongal day,
nothing. In places like Mumbai,
the whole of the city would be celebrating for every random event.
What is life without that fun!
For some, Indian festivals

might not be so joyful. For some,
their family might not be so
warm. For some, Indian culture
might not be worth preserving.
But, for a sizable minority, these
points apply and they are the
ones returning to India.
Of course, these all depend onyour personal factors.
Balaji Viswanathan
Boston
They also learned about the

five days of Diwali: Dhan Teras,
Kali Chaudash, Diwali, New Years
Day and Bhai Bhij. Similar celebration takes place at BAPS Mandirs across North America.
Many volunteers work tirelessly to put together the Diwali

celebrations. The inspiration behind their effort was His Holiness
Pramukh Swami Maharaj.
He continually inspires devotees
all over the world to celebrate

their Hindu heritage and customs.
These festivals allow for families
to meet and celebrate the Hindu
festivals and pass on traditions to
future generations.
A devout family lighting Diwali diyas at BAPS temple in Robbinsville, NJ.
Much to miss of
festivities back home
D
iwali is both Festival of Lights and New
Year for Indians anywhere in the world.
But outside India we miss our native
place, fire crackers, rangoli and traditional dress.
With limited supply and government regulations, firecrackers are not available openly even
in Indian markets, which maybe a blessing in
disguise from point of view of safety for children. Also, there is no need to clean up roads/
streets here on the morning after Diwali as
streets and roads are usually a mess in India after a night of celebrations.
There still is one grudge we have. Many
times Diwali falls on a week day and it being
not officially declared a holiday in USA, it limits free available time for working people. The
telephone conversation is main avenue to talk
to friends and family to wish Happy Diwali
while at work.
The family tradition of seeking blessings from
God while going to temples, or praying at home
with elderly siblings and parents remains the
same outside India too. The temple or gurdwara
is the main venue for socializing here, and that
is where the community gets together during
Diwali melas. Young boys and girls are able to
interact at these community gatherings.
For girls and women, getting ready with
makeup, nail design, doing up hair and getting
bedecked in colorful dresses and jewelry at
home or outside is the same as back home in
India. Then they proudly post their photographs
on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, etc. to impress friends and family.
But here the choices for festive dresses and jewelry are also limited and a constraint some times. In
old days back home, we used to spend largely on gold
and clothes as tremendous variety was available.
Here in America, we are forced to do research on the
web and travel to far-flung Indian shopping areas to
look for what we wanted, and given limited time and
resources, we often meet with disappointment.
Vijay Shah
New Jersey
DIWALI SPECIAL
November 7-13, 2015
38
November 7-13, 2015
VOX POPULI
We NRIs have
kept Indian
traditions alive
t is that time of the year, when every
NRI wants to be in India to celebrate
one of the biggest Hindu festivals,
Diwali. Diwali, the festival of lights, was
always one of my favorite festivals since
I was young because of how colorful and
bright the environment is during this
time. My family celebrates the occasion
by visiting the local temple first to wor
ship the shrine of Lakshmi, which they
have made for Diwali. Eating special
sweets, burning of incense sticks, light
ing the home just like any other family.
I came to US 10 years ago, so I have
experienced the Diwali in India and
there is nothing like celebrating Diwali
in India. It is the most amazing feeling
one can experience, celebrating the fes
tival of lights by bursting so many crack

ers, decorating every house in the town
with lights and the joyous environment.
We all miss being in India celebrating
this auspicious festival but I strongly
believe that NRIs are keeping strong ties
with their motherland regardless of
where they are in the world. NRIs are
doing their best to preserve the rich cul
ture of India. So many Indian organiza
tions and communities get together and
put a lot of ef fort every year to make
this time of the year very special to
everyone who is in different parts of the
world, away from home. Parents try to
create the same environment that they
grew up in for their children. We wont
be able to ce lebrate with as much
A festival
for family
bonding
iwali is certainly the
biggest and the brightest
of all Hindu festivals. It's
the festival of lights (deep means
light and avali means a row of
lights) which literally illumines
the country with its brilliance,
and dazzles all with its joy.
The festival, which coincides
with the Hindu New Year, cele
brates new beginnings and the
triumph of good over evil and
light over darkness. While each
faith has its own reason to cele
brate the festival, one of the
most popular stories told is the
legend of Lord Rama and his
wife Sita returning to their king
dom in northern India from exile
after defeating the demon king
Ravana some time in the 15th
century BC.
This festival reinforces our
bonding with our family mem
bers, friends and loved ones.
This is one festival where people
of all age groups, irrespective of
color, creed and caste join hands
and celebrate. It is also the cele
bration of sweets. We always
cook dif ferent sweets during
this festival and distribute them
among family and friends.
An important part of Diwali
festival is Lakshmi Puja. This
puja is carried out by house
holds and especially by the busi

ness community in India. It is
also considered New Year by
business people so much so that
all new accounts are opened on
this day after the ritual of pray
ing to the Goddess of Wealth,
Lakshmi. This Hindu deity repre
sents prosperity, wealth and
good fortune. Diwali Puja is per
formed before the sun sets over
the dark night of amavasya.
Every year, I and my family
celebrate Diwali with lights,
sweets, puja and of fering gifts
and wishes to our family and
friends. Since the time I have
come to USA, I have seen great
celebration on Diwali not only
by people of our community but
people from other cultures and
nationalities also.
Vishwanath Dasma
New York City
grandeur as India celebrates Diwali but

we have adapted a lot. While living in a
country far away from home is difficult,
keeping the tradition alive is a major
achievement to all the Indians living out
side of India. I thank my parents for
passing on traditions and teaching me
the importance of each festival. It has
really made me understand where I am
from and my identity. Our culture is so
unique and beautiful compared to the
rest of the world. It is extremely impor
tant to preserve our roots and pass it on
to the next generation.
I wish everyone a happy and prosper
ous Diwali this year.
Trisha Guduru
New Jersey
Diwali, the
feastival of food!
or others Diwali may be a festival
of lights, but for me its the feasti
val of food! The festival and food
are inseparably connected to each
other. Growing up in India and particu
larly Mumbai, the mecca of all things
food, Diwali was a chance for us to
unabashedly go on a binge eating spree.
It starts with savoring homemade
Diwali specials like Chakli, choraphali,
chivda, and sweets like pedas, burfis,
and the list goes on.
In fact, you know Diwali is round the
corner when you wake up to that heady
aroma that wafts through the house
weeks before the festival. My favorite
Diwali memory goes back to my early
childhood days, when cousins come for
sleepovers. We carefully plan our binge
eating nights. We start with recceing
the kitchen, mark the containers where
the snacks are and wait for elders to
sleep. Then we attack the food and gob
ble up all night. This became an annual
affair almost like a tradition!
Years later, those stories became part
of our Diwali dinner table stories. And
recollecting and laughing over those
memories became a ritual!
Now living in the US, I realized that
Diwali is not the same, even if you make
the same Diwali special meals. It is not
the food but the company you share
your precious food with, matters. As it
is said Food tastes better when shared
with friends and family.
Vicky Mehta
Jersey City
Deepavali festival Annakutt at Edison BAPS

Swaminarayan Temple. (Photo: Vijay Shah)
42
November 7-13, 2015
TRADITIONS
CELEBRATING THE
LIGHT OF ETERNAL LOVE
By Ashok Vyas
hat are we but an exten

sion of our traditions.
Indeed, as NRIs we have
been uprooted from the place of our
birth but we come from that land
which be lieves in Vasudhaiv
Kutumbkam, literally meaning the
whole world is our family.
The idea of family as we perceive
comes to us from our traditions.
The significance of relations and
the sensitive, creative approach to
sustain our relations and celebrate
them reaches us from the vision of
our sages and seers, who could see
beyond the time. Life is all about
embracing truth. The truth of our
being is related to our mode of con
duct and our conduct is guided by
the subtle instructions received by
us from our parents and other fami
ly members. The point is, we have a
vibrant and well defined structure
for experiencing the meaningful
ness of each relationship and to
decorate our lives collectively with
the spirit of Bharat.
How we do that is by respecting
each other and by working with
each other towards bringing out the
best in us. T hat best may be
referred to as soul. We are encour
aged to connect with the light with
in and share that light with the
world through love and compas
sion.
The festival of Deepavali is rooted
in the reference of the arrival of
Lord Rama back to Ayodhya after
the 14 years in exile. It is also relat
ed to the day when Lakshmiji
emerged from the ocean, after the
churning, which involved the partic
ipation of Devas as well as Asuras.
Lakshmiji opted to be with Lord
Vishnu. Vishnu is the one which is
allpervading.
The take home message is, gen
erosity is essential for prosperity.
When we worship Goddess Lakshmi
on the day of Deepavali, that is not
We celebrate Deepavali in an alien land not just to stay

connected with the traditions but also to expose
the next generation with the light and bright
way shown by our sages.
just the external Shri, it is also the
worship of richness within. In fact,
this festival of light is a way to
invoke the spirit of newness, cre
ativity and reverential outlook
towards life.
If living is important, that
which makes our lives meaning
ful is definitely important.
When we light deep
ak
(earthen
lamps)
on
Diwali here, we
connect our
selves with
the uplift
i n g
memo
ries
o f
our
Ashok Vyas
with the artist
who played
Lord Ram in
Sundar Kand
Ashok Vyas and Sheila Vyas with artists from India, who performed Sundar Kand to raise funds for
'Aims for Seva' organization founded by late Swami Dayananda Saraswati
Deepavali celebration in India. We

are born in that tradition, which is
all embracing and it offers us multi
ple ways of participating in the
beauty and grace of the creation.
We miss the beautiful row of lights,
seen on every house in India. We
miss the taste of distinct sweet dish
es, which were prepared in our
hometown. But then festivals offer
us the opportunity to cherish the
eternal sweetness of life.
We work, we earn, we raise our
children, but without inculcating
the value system that defines us,
our life is hollow. Our rich tradition
has festivals like Deepavali to start
afresh on the journey of growth.
Deepavali is celebrated by NRIs not
just to stay connected with the tra
ditions but also to expose the sec
ond generation with the light and
bright way shown by our sages.
When you are happy and in harmo
ny with yourself, you will spread
that joy and march towards a better
world together. On Deepavali, we
pray for the peace, prosperity and
well being of all human beings. I
take this opportunity to greet all the
readers of The South Asian Times
on this glorious festival. May we
live with soulful approach and con
duct ourselves in a way that match
es the great cultural inheritance
that is a part and parcel of our
being. Deepavali is all about
spreading the light of knowledge,
light of love and light of better
understanding about the purpose of
life. May our lives be enriching and
fulfilling.
Author is Program Director, ITV.

Email: insightashok@yahoo.com
44
Nov 7-13, 2015
N AT I O N A L CO M M U N I T Y
IIT Bombay
alumnis
Diwali
Dhamaka
New York: The IIT Bombay
Alumni Association, Greater New
York Chapter organized their first
ever Chapter Diwali Dhamaka celebration organized entirely by 6
IITB spouses and 2 young IITB
alumna. The event at the Deewan
Banquet Restaurant, Piscataway,
NJ on October 24 was attended
by over 100 alums and their
families and friends. The mood
was festive, the music was rocking aided by a lively DJ. Their
very own Sankumani Sarma IITB1990 wowed the audience with a
ghazal performance.
The 20 children were kept entertained by talented organizers kept
with games and scavenger hunt.
(Photo: Vijay Shah)
Jersey City Diwali is glammed up
Preeti Jhangiani, Bollywood & TV actress known for her film Mohabbatein at Diwali celebration at India Square on Oct 21 organized
by Patel Video, Curry On Restaurant, Bhavesh Patel, Rajbhog, Patel Brothers, and others from Jersey City Asian Merchants Association.
Our popular Bingo game was

enjoyed by all. Subodh Batra
IITB-1972 told some great jokes.
After a fabulous buffet dinner,
the crowd was on their feet rollicking to beat music, free form
dancing and Dandiya.
Event organizers Mita Patel, Sonurita Parmar, Vrinda Master, Sunaina Singh, Mala Ganapathy and Bindu Krishna (all IITB alum spouses)
and young IITB alumnas Shweta
Bhandari and Suhani Shorewala
were thanked with token gifts.
Delawares Indian
community keeps
Diwali tradition alive
New Castle: Over 200 IndianAmericans and their friends filled
a hall in New Castle on Sunday
night bringing the cheerful music
and bright colors of their culture
to celebrate Diwali.
The annual event, hosted by the
Delaware Asian American Business Association, brings small
business owners, local government officials and their guests to
have a taste of the holiday.
Vinod Patel, an Indian native
who has lived in the US for 26 years,
said he loves having the large celebration with the association
because it reminds him of home.

We are all American, but this
is important to do, said Patel.
Patel said his children, ages 22
and 17, as well as the other children in the community need to
learn about their culture.
Patels wife, Rekha Patel, said
she always enjoys the brightness
of the Diwali season and how it
is transferred during the celebration to the vibrant saris worn by
the women to the food smothered
in green and red curries.
The bright colors continued on
stage as traditional dancers from
When Ravan became

cynosure of all eyes
The Hindu Jain Temple, Pittsburgh, PA celebrated Vijyadashami / Ravan Dahan on Nov.1 with
hundreds of participants. The 10 feet tall effigy of Ravan was prepared by The South Asian Times
cartoonist / artist Mahendra Shah along with the Temple Vidya Mandir children. Ravan, the arch
villain of Ramayan, became the center of attraction among parents and children during the
half day fun fair before the effigy was put to fire, symbolizing the triumph of good over evil.
the Nrithya Arts dance group

performed. The four women from
Delaware specialize in keeping
the semi-classical dances alive.
But they also try to mix things
up, adding some more modern
music to their set with electric
guitar, bass and drums.
State Rep. Charles Potter said
he has always enjoyed attending
the event with his wife and embracing the culture. He said he
appreciates the continued investment that members of the Asian
American community have

brought to Delaware.
Palash Gupta, president
of the association, said as
the population of Indian
Americans statewide and
in New Castle County continue to grow it becomes
more and more important
to embrace traditions like
Diwali for the next generation to experience. The
event started 14 years ago
with the first Diwali party.
Nrithya Arts dancers perform at the

Diwali party at the NUR Temple
in New Castle on Sunday.
DIWALI SPECIAL
November 7-13, 2015
46
November 7-13, 2015
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
Rajasthan Association of North America,

RANA Celebrates Diwali
Over 600 guests attended the glittering gala celebrations of Diwali
by Rajasthani Community of New York. Surplus of over $50,000.00
were committed to help orphan children in India.
Senior citizens being honored; RANA President Naveen Shah is extreme right.
fter host ing Rajasthan
Mahotsav in April 2015
and continuing in its tradi
tion of bringing the merriment of
traditional Indian festivals to the
tristate area, RANA (Rajasthan
Association of North America)s
Deepavali celebrations Nov 1
was another mega success.
Over 600 people packed the
Grand Ballroom at the Long
Island Marriott and were enter
tained by the music Trio from
India Dhwani, accompanied by

electrifying performances by the
dancers of Sonalee Vyas Dance
Company. Attendees took to the
dance floor and danced to the
pulsat ing beat of Bollywoo d
songs till the wee hours of the
morning.
Naveen C Shah, President of
RANA, attributed the success of
RANAs events to the opportunity
to enrich ourselves from the tal
ent & wisdom which we all bring
to this part of the world.

Attendees also commended his
vision to spread the message of
integration among various com
munities and create awareness
amongst the new generation
about our values, culture, tradi
tions, food and festivities.
Respected members of the
community were presented with
plaques on this evening for their
ef forts in instilling Rajasthani
culture, values, heritage & tradi
Music Trio from India Dhwani, accompanied by dancers of Sonalee

Vyas Dance Company.
tions in the current and future
generations.
Kanak Golia, Vice President of
RANA, informed the gathering
that the focus and objective of
the Diwali event is also to contin
ue RANAs mission towards chari
table and welfare causes.
Comptroller of Nassau County,
George Maragos, and Bollywood
actress Preety Jhangiani were
the guests of honor for the
evening. Three distinguished
Rajasthanis were recognized for

their outstanding achievements
in their respective fields, philan
thropic activities and contribu
tions to religious values and fun
damentals of our tradit ions:
Manju Sharma, MD of Eternal
Heart Care Research Center,
Jaipur;
Rajeev Pandya,
Manag ing Partner of Ashi
Diamonds, NY; Prabha Golia, VP
of Perfume Center of America,
NY.
Diwali fest in Trinidad promotes Indian students at Ohio

cultural multiplicity: Minister
University to host
Diwali celebrations
PortofSpain: The annual Divali

Nagar festival in Trinidad and
Tobago of fers "a dynamic plat
form for deepening of the appre
ciation of our cultural multiplici
ty," according to the Caribbean
nation's cultural minister.
Speaking at the 29th Divali
Nagar's opening ceremony on
Sunday nig ht, Minister for
Community Development, Arts
and Culture Nyan GadsbyDolly
said her ministry is pleased to
support the init iat ive which
encompasses "our religious, cul
tural and artistic traditions."
"Our ancestors demonstrated
unwavering faith and endurance
in the preservation of our rituals.
Through their ef forts, our vari
ous religious customs have sur
vived to contribute to the great
tapestry that is now Trinidad and
Tobago," she said.
GadsbyDolly said the National
Council of Indian Culture (NCIC)
is actively playing "its role in
deve loping
prog ressive
approaches to the management

of cultural and community activi
ties."
Deokienanan Sharma, presi
dent, NCIC, said apart from an
Indian channe l beaming this
year's Divali Nagar worldwide,
several issues of cultural impor
tance have taken shape.
"We are approaching comple
tion of the construction of our
cultural heritage center which
will house an Indian diasporic
library and an IndoCarribbean
Archive documenting the history,
culture and traditions of the East
Indians in the diaspora so that
researchers, students and indi
viduals can access credible infor
mation," Sharma said.
He said when Divali Nag ar
started in 1986 it made a state
ment that "IndoTrinidadian cul
ture was a significant part of the
culture of our country and it
must take its rightful place on
the national stage."
He said new dimensions have
been added to "our programming

as the Miss Divali Nagar Queen
show has been expanded to
include delegates from Canada,
the US and Belize, in addition to
those from Jamaica, Guyana,
Suriname, and of course, Trinidad
and Tobago."
Meanwhile, local Radio 90.5
FM has partnered with India's
Zee TV for this year's Divali
Nagar festivities, November 1 to
9, to take it to worldwide audi
ences said Kiran Maharaj, man
aging director, Radio 90.5 FM.
Maharaj in a statement said the
Indian channel approached Radio
90.5, "to play this role as they
make their footprint in the
Caribbean with Z TV family."
"We chose Divali Nagar as the
opportunity to do this," he added.
The Indian channel and Radio
90.5 are also sponsors of the
NCIC's annual Divali Nag ar
Queen Show where contestants
from six countries will vie for the
Queen title.
New York: The Indian Student

Association of Ohio University
will host Diwali celebrations
featuring traditional dances
and Bollywood music at the
Baker Ballroom on Sunday, a
media report said.
Guests at the event will be
able to learn about the signifi
cance of Diwali and how the
festival of lights is celebrated
in India, the Post, of Ohio
University, quoted student
association president Swathi
Raghu as saying.
Diwali celebration will be
catered by Tadka, a restaurant
in Columbus, association secre
tary Shivam Ag rawal said,
adding the menu will include
traditional Indian cuisine.
T he
Indian
Student
Association does not run the
event for profit, Raghu, who is
a graduate student studying

electrical engineering, said.
They receive the majority of
the
funding
from
the
International Student Union,
she added.
All 300 tickets for the 'Diwali:
Festival of Lights' celebration
have been sold.
According to the Of fice of
Institutional Research, as of
2014 there are more than 100
students from India studying at
Ohio University.
"When you are far away from
home, you tend to be more
homesick during a fest ival
time, so to compensate for that
we gather and get together
with whoever we know and try
to feel like we are at home,"
said Rohit, a graduate student
of electrical engineering at the
US university.
DIWALI SPECIAL
November 7-13, 2015
48
November 7-13, 2015
HOLIDAY LIST
How mainstream is Diwali

acceptance in America?
By Ashok Ojha
iwali is now celebrated in
the White House. This fact
makes the quest ion of
acceptance of Diwali irrelevant.
But a bigger question of treating
this important Indian festival at
par with other major holidays in
USA remains important since the
number of Indian Americans has
increased manyfold in the past
decade. According to an estimate,
Hindus population has reached
beyond 2.5 million in the US.
A majority of US educational
institutions including school dis
tricts believe in building diversity
in their curriculum and support
ing it by declaring holidays on
major festival days. The educa
tion policy of US vigorously pro
motes diversity. To that end
declaring holiday on Diwali day
will serve multiple purposes for
the US school system. It can be a
great way for school districts to
express their respect for the
Indian American community and

their three major re ligions
Hinduism, Sikhism and Jainism.
A number of school districts have
already followed this approach
by declaring holiday on Diwali
day. In New Jersey, the Indian
American populat ion keeps
growing in Central New Jersey,
especially in the counties of
Somerset, Middlesex and Mercer.
Yet, only of handful of school dis
tricts have recognized Diwali by
declaring an of ficial holiday.
Passaic, South Brunswick in New
Jersey is among those few.
In 2011 and 2013, the US
Senate passed a resolution recog
nizing the historical and spiritual
significance of Diwali for Hindus,
Sikhs, and Jains. A similar Diwali
resolution passed both chambers
of Congress in 2007. President
Barack Obama and former presi
dent George W. Bush hosted
Diwali receptions.
In recent years a growth in
Indian population of South Asian
origin is seen in New York City.
People of Caribbean heritage
including those from Trinidad &
Tobago, Guyana, and Surinam
(Left) Diwali is now observed in the White House,

which is a big step towards mainstreaming of the
Indian festival. (top) The Diwali Coalition of NYC, a
group of organizations and temples, and some
elected officials have advocated for the inclusion of
Diwali as a public school holiday, but Mayor Bill de
Blasio rejected the demand earlier this year.
are deeply connected to their
roots and ce le brate Diwali.
Dozens of religious and cultural
organizations, such as ISKCON,
Hindu Center and other organi
zations facilitate Diwali celebra
tions. Yet, NYC Mayor Bill de
Blasio earlier this year refused to
consider Diwali while adding two
Eid and Lunar New Year to
school holidays.
In 2013, the state of California,

also home to a large population
of Hindus, worked with HAF to
declare October to be Hindu
American
Awareness
&
Appreciation Month, highlighting
the importance of Diwali as well
as a number of contributions by
the community.
The school district of ficials
remain hesitant in declaring
Diwali as a holiday. This is as

true as the fact that students of
Indian origin are deprived of
Indian food in most school cafe
teria and students are not
offered opportunities for engag
ing in Indian culture or learning
Indian languages. The issue lies
in the attitudes of the school
board officials. It does warrant a
federal intervention.
5 books to explore during Diwali season

By Sonali Dev
ike all holidays, Diwali is a time for
family, food and contemplation about
faith and culture. And what better way
to contemplate faith and culture than to fall
into a good story?
I know that no story about immigrants
can be complete without exploring dis
placement, isolation and the inevitable
search for identity associated with leaving
home behind. But here are five books that
expand that spotlight stories that look
beyond the battle to fit in and give voice
instead to the universal struggles that
make us human.
The books that illustrate the

Indian-American experience.
Born Confused by Tanuja

Desai Hidier (Push)
I picked up this Young Adult novel because
so many IndianAmerican friends who were
born and raised here insisted that this book
"changed their life." But I inhaled the story
for the gorgeous, richly layered writing that
chronicles the summer of selfdiscovery
between junior and senior year in the life
of Dimple Lala, an IndianAmerican teen
growing up in New Jersey. In turn LOL
funny and chokeontears poignant, it cap
tures all the heartbreak of learning how to
fit in your own skin, embrace your family
with all its quirks, grow into first love and
hold on to a lifelong friendship when it
starts to slip away.
in the comfort of fered by a culture that

puts family above all else but never accepts
its own rules as absolute.
An Isolated Incident by
Soniah Kamal
(FingerPrint)
The Rearranged Life by

Annika Sharma
(Curiosity Quills)
This New Adult Romance is everything the
subgenre strives for: a smart, angsty, com
ingofage story about finding yourself
before finding love. Nithya is an over
achiever who has always embraced the
path her family laid out for her. And then
college, with all its pressures and opportu
nities, opens up her world, and she has to
find the strength to navigate the rules and
reach for happiness beyond the boundaries
she has set for herself.
This lovingly told tale about straddling
two cultures is remarkable for having none
of the anger that characterizes immigrant
fiction.
Instead there's deep insight and delight
Set against the backdrop of Kashmir, the

hot button at the heart of the decadeslong
conflict between India and Pakistan, this is
technically a PakistaniAmerican book. But
it delves into a polarizing issue without tak
ing sides and focuses on people rather than
politics, making it universally relevant. Zari
is in the first flush of adulthood, waiting for
her life to start, when she finds herself
orphaned and alone, living with the Nabis,
an all(Pakistani)American family in subur
ban Washington, D.C.
A Life of Spice by Monica

Bhide (CreateSpace)
Food writer Monica Bhide calls her book a
"torrid romance with food." And it is. Her
food essays don't just catalog her personal
love af fair with food, they document the
larger love story between culture and food.
She breaks the relationship down into its

tiniest building blocks history and tradi
tion, taste and nourishment, commitment
and experimentation and brings it all
together in an exaltation of sustenance, of
belief systems, of culture itself.
Name is Kaur, edited by

Meeta Kaur (She Writes)
This is a compilation of stories about find
ing love as a SikhAmerican woman. Sikhs
were some of the earliest Indians to
migrate to America and have had a pres
ence here for more than a century.
In recent years we've seen a rise in hate
crimes against turbaned Sikhs. Each one of
the stories focuses on love in its various
forms, as a mother, a daughter, a wife, a cit
izen, making this book precious. T he
women speak honestly about faith and val
ues and how it guides them in their lives as
doctors, lawyers and businesswomen. No
matter what your faith, there is no way to
miss the universality of love in every one of
the stories.
Sonali Dev is the author of "The
Bollywood Bride" and "A Bollywood Affair."
This article first appeared in Chicago
Tribune.
DIWALI SPECIAL
November 7-13, 2015
50
November 7-13, 2015
Listings
A Date with Diwali in NY-NJ

This Diwali there is something for everyone from music concerts to DJ night,
from community gatherings to comedy night. Here are some of the
key events in New York - New Jersey area you can pick from.
Femina Miss India, and at private parties for Bollywood superstars like Shah Rukh Khan, the
Bachchans, Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif and many more.
Diwali Mela
NJ 2015
Where:
NJ Expo Ctr - Raritan Center,
97 Sunfield Ave, Edison, NJ 08837
Diwali Light
Up Asia Society
Where: Asia Society,
725 Park Avenue, New York
When: Saturday,
Nov 7-8, 2015, 11:00AM
When: Saturday, November 7,

1:00pm to 4:00pm
Hosted By:
Jayesh Mehta, Aum Events.
Hosted By: Asis Society
Phone: 7327630118
Diwali Mela NJ will include celebrations throughout the day
through cultural shows, display
of Diwali festivities along with
booths and vendors from various Corporate houses viz Airlines, Money Transfer firms, India
Property Show, Media, Insurance,
TV Channels, Phone Cards, Auto
Sales, Banks, Tours, Cruises,
Films, Entertainment and Local
business houses like Boutiques,
Jewelers, Handicrafts, Gifts, Food,
Mithais, Mehendi, Photographers,
DJs, Video, Decors and more.
This two day event also includes
fun filled entertainment throughout the day for people of all ages
5 to 75 years, with professional
entertainment. Prominent elected
officials from local townships and
much more will be there to mingle
with. This Diwali Mela, now in its
8th year, is advertised heavily
through popular media and is expected to draw huge crowds.
Bollywood
Diwali Party
with DJ
Notorious
Where: Pranna, NYC, 79 Madison
Ave, New York, NY 10016
When: Saturday,
Nov 7 2015, 10:00PM
Hosted By: VS Entertainment
If one DJ night is not enough, head
over to Pranna on November 7
where DJ Notorious will play some
of his official remixes including
Mahi Aaja (from the movie Singh is
Bling), Arijit Singh Mashup 2015,
G Phaad ke (from the movie Happy
Ending), Pussy Cat (from Happy
Ending) and more. Also featuring
DJ Ash- Winner of War of DJs
India!!. DJ Ash has played at the
Filmfare Awards, Zoom Holi Parties,
The varied progam includes i) Bollywood and Bhangra Dance with

Bollywood Axion; ii) Indian Music with Raga Kids!; Storytelling
through Movement with Kathak
dancer Parul Shah.
SCA Diwali
party 2015
Telugu Fine Arts
Societys Deepavali
celebrations
Where: East Brunswick
Performing Arts, 200 Rues Ln,
East Brunswick, NJ 08816
When: Saturday,
Nov 07 2015, 4:00PM
Hosted By: Telugu Fine Arts Society
Phone: 7322218017
The annual
Diwali masquerade ball
Where: Lexicon, 226 E 54th St,
New York, NY 10022
When: Saturday,
Nov 7 2015, 9:30PM
Hosted By: DesiSaturdays.Com
Phone: 9084251603
If a quiet family dinner is not your
thing for this Diwali, head to New
York City for a masquerade party
where you can grove to latest Bollywood numbers.
NRI Diwali
Dhamaka
Where: Colden Center, 65-30 Kissena Boulevard, Flushing, NY 11367
When: Saturday,
Nov 7 2015, 7:00PM
A Diwali without laughter is a

Diwali wasted. Indulge in some rib
tickling comedy this Diwali with
Binnu Dhillon, B N Sharma, Karamjit Anmol, Raghveer Boli, Gagan Gill, Riya Singh, Nisha Bano,
Ravinder Mand, and Jaggi Dhu.
Deep Utsav
Where: Somerset Ukrainian
Center, 135 Davidson Avenue,
Franklin Township, NJ 08873
When: Sunday,
Nov 8 2015, 4:00PM
Hosted By:
Shree Hari Entertainment
Phone: 7325010725
Enjoy a memorable evening of Diwali celebration with magnificent
performances by Shree Hari Artist
followed by garba & Diwali dinner.
Diwali Gala
Dinner
Where: Cedar Gardens
Banquet, 661 Highway 33,
Hamilton, NJ 08619
When: Friday,
Nov 13 2015, 7:00PM
Hosted By: Shirdi Sai Dham
Phone: 6099372800
There will be Bollywood dances
and singers. All proceeds benefit
Shirdi Sai Baba temple located in
South Brunswick, NJ, for expansion of the temple.
SCA Diwali
party 2015
Where: Deewan Banquet,
560 Stelton Rd, Piscataway
Township, NJ 08854
When: Friday,
Nov 13 2015, 6:00PM
Hosted By: Saraswati Cultural
Association of New Jersey
SJTA - 2015
Diwali
celebrations
Where: Springville Elementary
School, 520 Hartford Road,
Mount Laurel, NJ 08054
When: Saturday,
Nov 14 2015, 2:00PM
Hosted By: Rajvir Entertainment inc
Hosted By:
South Jersey Tamil Association
Phone: 7186109799
Phone: 8566171117
Spandana
Diwali
Dhamaka
Where: Nash Theater of Raritan
Valley Community College
(RVCC), 118 Lamington Road,
Somerville, NJ 08876
When: Saturday,
Nov 14 2015, 2:00PM
Hosted By: Spandana
Foundation New Jersey
Phone: 9737158944
Celebrate this Diwali with fashion
show by kids and adults, cultural
program by local talent, Spandana star achievement awards for
kids, Spandana service awards for
eminent people. All the proceeds
from the event will be used to issue Spandana Merit Scholarship
for meritorious but poor children.
Crown of
India Diwali
celebrations
Where: Crown of India,
660 Plainsboro Rd,
Plainsboro, NJ 08536
When: Saturday,
Nov 14, 2015, 11:30AM
Hosted By: Crown of India
Phone: 6092755707
Deepavali
Athiradi
Where: The Hindu Temple
Auditorium, Hollywood
Avenue, Flushing, NY
When: Sunday,
Nov 15 2015, 3:00PM
Hosted By: New York
Tamil Sangam
Phone: 9172574763
Enjoy the festive evening with
great performances and enchanting music by Diwagar and others
at the Tamil Sangam Diwali celebrations.
Sparkles
Events Diwali
bash 2015
Where: La Quinta, 350 Lighting
Way, Secaucus, NJ 07094
When: Saturday,
Nov 14 2015, 7:30PM
Hosted By: Sparkles Events
Phone: 6463937931
Diwali
Celebration
at the Met
Where: The Metropolitan
Museum of Art, Fifth Avenue
/82nd Street, NY 10028
When: Sunday, November 15,
2015, Noon to 5:00 p.m.
Hosted By: Metropolitan
Museum of Art Multicultural
Advisory Committee
The celebration will feature an interactive childrens Indian dance
workshop, art making activities,
and a musical dance performance,
Ramayana.
DIWALI SPECIAL
November 7-13, 2015
52
November 7-13, 2015 S P I R I T U A L A W A R E N E S S
The Spiritual
Meaning of Diwali
By Sant Rajinder Singh
Ji Maharaj
he festival of Diwali, or The

Festival of Lights, is a holi
day when families lig ht
lamps, illuminating the night. It
celebrates the return of Lord
Rama and his queen, Sita, to
Ayo d hya, the capital of his
ancient kingdom. They had been
in exile for 14 years. In India, peo
ple celebrate by cleaning and
redecorating their homes, and
shopkeepers use it as the begin
ning of their fiscal year. It is also
the start of Indias winter season.
This is a happy festival when peo
ple gather and enjoy the beautiful
candles that line the roads.
Diwali and other festivals in dif
ferent traditions often use the rit
ual of lighting candles and lamps.
Lighting these also has a spiritual
meaning. It illustrates the impor
tance of lighting the lamp within
usand celebrating the festival
of the light of the soul.
It is the birthright of every
human being to find the festival
of lights of his or her soul and
return to God. All it takes is the
desire to do so. While God has
sent us to this earth, God has also
made a pathway back Home.
However, God has given human
beings free will. We are the ones
who must ask God to take us back
Home. It will not be forced upon

any of us. We must ask. Once we
ask, God will give.
It is like a rich man who
announces that he will share part
of his wealth. He is not going to
hand it out to everyone, whether
they want it or not; he waits for
those who want it to make a
request. Then, he gives. A doctor
who finds the cure for a disease
will not go out and administer it
to unw illing subjects. He
announces that he has the cure,
and those who wish can come to
him for it. Similarly, God has spiri
tual riches available for each of
us. If these riches were disbursed
to someone without his or her
asking, the receiver might reject it
because he or she did not ask for
it, or did not value it. God waits
until we ask. Once we truly desire
knowledge of the soul and the
bliss and love within, God will
help us find it.
We all have the opportunity to
attain the bliss of union with the
Lord. Yet, how few take advan
tage of that opportunity! Many
are born, but few turn within. We
can all attain this happiness. Let
us not be one who misses the
golden opportunity to experience
union with God. Rather than just
engage in lighting candles on
Diwali, let us sit in meditation to
light the candle within us.
The process of meditation is

easy. It is a matter of closing our
eyes, looking within the veil of
darkness in front of us, and still
ing our thoughts for awhile. In
that stillness, the Diwali lamps
w ithin
w ill
shine
forth.
Concentration on that inner light
will pull our soul into the spiritual
realms beyond. It will help us
turn our attention to the soul and
the inner spiritual realms.
Let us not only enjoy the outer
lights of Diwali festivals. Let us
spend time in meditation every
day so that we can experience the
inner lights. That is the true cele
bration of Diwali, so we can expe
rience eternal ecstasy, peace,
and joy.
Let us not only enjoy the outer

lights of the Diwali festival. Let us
spend time in meditation every day
so that we can experience the inner
lights. That is the true celebration
of Diwali, so we can experience
eternal ecstasy, peace, and joy.
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.
For more info, visit www.sos.org
DIWALI SPECIAL
November 7-13, 2015
54
November 7-13, 2015
DIWALI NEWS
No fireworks in
Golden Temple
this Diwali
Amritsar: T he holiest of Sikh
shrines, Harmandir Sahib, popu
larly known as the Golden
Temple, in this city of Punjab will
not be lit up this Diwali in the
wake of desecration of the Guru
Granth Sahib, an official said here.
"Following the incidents of des
ecration of the Guru Granth Sahib
across Punjab, we have decided
not to celebrate Diwali this time,"
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak
Committee (SGPC) president
Avtar Singh Makkar said.
He said there would be no illu
mination of the Golden Temple
and there will be no fireworks dis
play. The Amritsarbased SGPC,
the miniparliament of Sikh reli

g ious af fairs, controls Sikh
shrines across Punjab, Haryana
and Himachal Pradesh.
The SGPC has also urged the
Sikhs not to celebrate Diwali with
fireworks but light only earthen
lamps.
Every Diwali, which is also cele
brated in the Sikh religion as
'Bandi Chhor Diwas' (prisoner lib
eration day), the Golden Temple is
illuminated with millions of lights
and attracts tens of thousands of
devotees.
On Diwali, the sixth guru of the
Sikhs, Guru Hargobind, returned
to Amritsar on being released
along with 52 princes by Mughal

emperor Jahang ir from the
Gwalior prison in 1619.
T his is the third time in 30
years that there will be no Diwali
ce le brat ions at the Golden
Temple.
One of the occasions was in
1984 to protest Operat ion
Bluestar, the army operation to
flush out militants holed up in the
Golden Temple.
Golden Temple, famous for its

Diwali illumination, will not be
lit up this time in wake of
desecration of Guru Granth Sahib.
Discourage use of fire

Now religious feelings trip
crackers: Sisodia to schools
Sivakasi firecrackers
Delhi government has intensified the drive to stop open burning menace to check air pollution.
New Delhi: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister and
Education Minister Manish Sisodia appealed to
educational institutions here to run a "Say no to
crackers" campaign to reduce noise and air pol
lution in the city during Diwali.
He wrote letters to principals of as many as
2,000 educational institutions of Delhi to this
effect.
"In order to discourage use of fire crackers on
Diwali for controlling air and noise pollution,
the Delhi government is conducting a campaign
with the support of all the stakeholders and eco
clubs. Your institution can play a pivotal role in
this campaign," he said.
"Your institution may accordingly organise
awareness programmes like street plays, foot
march, seminars and workshops by encouraging
maximum participation of students."
Sisodia said: "I am sure that your active sup
port and cooperation in making the antifire
crackers campaign successful will go a long way
in reducing pollution levels in the city on
Diwali." This year Diwali or festival of lights will
be celebrated on November 11.
Meanwhile, Delhi Environment Minister Imran

Hussain directed of ficials of environment
department, municipal corporations, NDMC and
Delhi Cantonment Board to intensify drives to
stop open burning menace to check air pollu
tion, an official said.
The minister reviewed the action taken by the
municipal corporations as well as SDMs and
tehsildars and directed them to increase the
vigil in their respective areas especially at odd
hours.
"All the agencies were directed to increase
inspections in the coming days as the pollution
levels are likely to increase on the eve of Diwali
as well as burning of agriculture residue in the
neighboring states," a statement said.
The of ficials of the concerned departments
said they have sensitised the people about the
banning of burning of leaves, garbage and plas
tic by National Green Tribunal.
Officials from the civic bodies informed that
they have prominently displayed the notice
boards in the parks informing the public about
the prohibition of burning in open.
Chennai: Even as the alleged illegal

imports from China have forced the
firecracker industry at Sivakasi in Tamil
Nadu to cut down production, it now
faces the charge of hurting religious
sentiment.
G. Abiruben, president of the Tamil
Nadu Fireworks Manufactures
Association, said district authorities had
told them to respect religious feelings
while producing firecrackers.
"We have received a letter from the
district administration to take into
account the religious sentiments of the
people while manufacturing the crack
ers," Abiruben told IANS. The reference
is to the bursting of crackers with the
images of Hindu gods and goddesses
printed on them.
He said a reply had been sent to the
administration citing a Supreme Court
ruling permitting the manufacture and
sale of such crackers.
Sivakasi, the hub of the firecracker
industry in the country, is located 535
km from Chennai in Virudhunagar dis
trict.
Said Uma Ravichandran, coordinator
of the Tamil Nadu chapter of the Hindu
Janajagruti Samiti: "On Diwali, we pray
to goddess Lakshmi and also burst
crackers with her image.
"The image of the goddess is torn into
pieces and people stamp over it. This is
not good," Ravichandran told IANS.
Countering her, Abiruben asked what
happens to newspapers and wedding
invitations that carry images of Hindu
gods and goddesses?
"Once the newspapers or wedding
invitations serve their purposes, we
throw them out or use it for various
Sivakasi is the hub of the firecracker

industry in the country.
purposes. Similarly is the case with the
crackers that have the images of god or
goddess," Abiruben said.
"Lakshmi Vedi", "Vishnu Vedi",
"Krishna Vedi" are some of the fire
crackers made in Sivakasi. Needless to
say, they do carry the images of god
dess Lakshmi and gods Vishnu and
Krishna.
Incidentally, Lakshmi Vedi has existed
for more than 50 years, and is one of
the popular varieties in the market.
Curiously, both Abiruben and
Ravichandran do not agree to the possi
bility of having the pictures of Hindu
gods and goddesses on the wrapper and
not on individual crackers.
According to Ravichandran, only a
government order banning the manu
facture of such crackers will be effec
tive in protecting the religious senti
ments of the people.
Meanwhile, Abiruben said that fire
cracker manufacturers in Sivakasi were
working only for three days a week due
to lack of orders possibly due to huge
illegal imports from China.
"Normally factories would be running
three shifts now. But production is
restricted to only three days due to lack
of orders," he said.
55
November 7-13, 2015
E-COMMERCE
Bumper Diwali for

e-tailers in India
Ecommerce
generates
$1.2 mn
revenue every
30 seconds:
Study
New Delhi: The global ecom
merce industry generates over
$1.2 million in revenue every
30 seconds with Facebook,
Pinterest and Tw itter con
tributing $5,483, $4,504 and
$4,308 respectively, says an
AssochamDeloitte joint study.
So cial networks are con
tributing significantly to the
growth of ecommerce busi
ness revenue. The maturity of
so cial media and its reach
across the masses and classes
makes it a suitable platform for
online sales, said the study
which was released here on
Wednesday. Social media pages
provide information regarding
new products in the market,
user reviews and ratings of the
product, recommendations,
and information technology
(IT) products.
"Social media also helps e
tailers build brand awareness
by responding to customer
queries. Seasonal sales and
of fers are displayed on social
networks to reach maximum
number of people.
"Etailers have even started to
mot ivate customers w ith
reward points to provide feed
back on the product on social
networks," said D.S. Rawat,
Assocham secretary general.
According to analysts, social
networks increasingly have
direct links to ecommerce
sites, which provide complete
product description, availabili
ty status, pricing and delivery
informat ion, and access to
product reviews and ratings, all
of which help prospective buy
ers to make a purchase.
Social media provides a plat
form for etailers to engage
with customers for advertise
ment, building brand aware
ness, developing a community
of trusted users, spreading
wordofmouth and customer
feedback, the study added.
Amazon India to make

most of Diwali season,
Snapdeal gets a bigger
pie of the Indian market
New Delhi/Mumbai: Amazon.com
Inc could emerge as the biggest
winner from one of India's most
important festive and shopping
seasons, after the etailer offered
steep discounts, swift delivery
and even gold bars to grab mar
ket share.
The monthlong festive season,
which began last week, culmi
nates in Diwali, or the Festival of
Lights, but the first nine days are
considered an especially auspi
cious time to make big purchases.
Analysts say ecommerce firms
in India could make as much as a
quarter of their annual sales dur
ing this period, with the global
experience, logistics network and
deep pockets of Amazon putting
it in a good position to grab cus
tomers from local market leader
Flipkart and smaller firm
Snapdeal.
"Amazon has been closing in,"
said Harish Bijoor, an independ
ent brand expert and business
analyst. "It has global play and is
very nifty in terms of delivery."

India currently contributes the
most new customers to Amazon
outside the United States, the
company said, making growth
there a priority. T he etailer
launched in India in 2013 and
has invested at least $2 billion
(roughly Rs. 12,991 crores), espe
cially in logistics, to avoid being
overtaken by local firms, which is
what happened in China with
Alibaba Group Holding.
According to website analytics
firm Alexa, Amazon's India web
site was now ranked the 6th most
visited website locally and the
83rd most visited site globally as
of October 13, after rising 18
positions over the past three
months. Flipkart is ranked higher

at 5th locally and 79th globally,
but it rose only 8 positions over
the same period.
Etailers have splashed out on
promotions for this year's festive
shopping week as it coincides
with signs that consumer spend
ing is picking up after two con
secutive years of slowing growth
for Asia's thirdlargest economy.
Amazon of fers shoppers next
morning delivery for latenight
orders and the chance to win a kg
(35 ounces) of gold every day for
five days in a country that is a
voracious consumer of the pre
cious metal.
In a statement, it said the num
ber of transactions on the first
day of its "Great Indian Festive

Sale" was a record high, but like
its rivals it declined to give specif
ic figures.
Flipkart also expects its "Big
Billion Days" sale, which cus
tomers can access only through
its smartphone app, to be "the
biggest shopping event of the
year", said Mukesh Bansal, head
of the company's commerce plat
form. Last year, Flipkart's website
crashed during its maiden festival
shopping event.
Bansal said Flipkart had invest
ed in improving its delivery net
work and overall logistics this
year, providing food, beds and
even an ambulance on standby to
keep the business running.
Snapdeal adds 5 percent

market share this Diwali season
New Delhi: Domestic ecom
merce player Snapdeal said that it
has captured another five percent
of the market after it concluded
its 'Ultimate Monday' sale which
it claims was a huge hit this fes
tive season.
"Currently there is no body
which calculates market share in
ecommerce but going by our sta
tistics we have added
another five percent of the mar
ket to our booty," said Snapdeal's
vice president, catego
ry management, Rahul Taneja.
The company had started the
'Monday sale' five weeks back
including this one and every
Monday was specific to a catego
ry except this one where all cate
gories were kept open.
"The 'Ultimate Monday Sale'
was a huge hit with nearly sales
climbing almost ten times versus
usual business days. Nearly
500,000 orders booked by 11
a.m. with more than 10 orders
being booked per second. We did
Employees of Snapdeal sort out delivery packages inside their

company fulfillment center in Mumbai.
not want to hold the consumers
captive to any single platform or
time," Taneja said.
"Nearly five mobiles were being
sold per second and one women's
apparel product was also sold per
second," he said, adding Snapdeal
was ready for this festive season

for the hike in number of cus
tomers.
"We were already working
towards making this festive sea
son better than the previous one.
We have invested nearly Rs.200
million in technology and supply

infrastructure to make sure users
have a glitchfree experience,"
Taneja said.
"The company had built infra
structure to handle 20 times the
number of users that came
onbaord last festive season and
had drawn up a 1.3 million
square feet of warehousing space
with its partners."
Snapdeal said that smartphones,
power banks, grooming appli
ances, winter wear and women's
ethnic wear were the top selling
products, with orders coming
across India, led by Tier 2 cities.
"We have partnered close ly
with sellers and brands to bring
the best offers this Diwali, which
have hit the right chord with cus
tomers. We will continue to make
this Diwali special for our cus
tomers with our excellent logisti
cal and after sales capabilities,"
Taneja said adding that Snapdeal
is going to keep investing as more
and more customers come online.
56
Nov 7-13, 2015
Air & Noise P ollu tion
The Supreme Court of India
refuses to ban firecrackers on Diwali

Reiterates earlier order prohibiting bursting of firecrackers from 10.00 pm to 6 am
he Supreme Court of India has refused to order a

blanket ban on firecrackers on Diwali, and expressed its
displeasure over the central governments failure to carry out its
earlier directive to give wide publicity to the ill effects bursting
crackers has, and the sound and
air pollution it causes.
The apex court bench of Chief
Justice HL Dattu and Justice Arun
Mishra asked the Centre and
other authorities to start publicity campaign both in print and
electronic media on the harmful
impact of firecrackers during the
festival season from October 31
to November 12.
Having directed the central
government to undertake the publicity campaign to educate people,
the court reiterated its earlier
order prohibiting the bursting of
firecrackers during the night
hours from 10.00 pm to 6 am.
However, the Central Government has banned import of Chinese crackers this year.
n a research paper posted on

the website indianenvironmentportal.org.in Chirag Verma and Dhananjay K. Deshmukh
have reviewed the ambient air
and noise quality in India during
Diwali festival.
The review mentions that fireworks contain chemical species
such as sodium oxalate, aluminium, arsenic, sulphur, manganese,
iron dust powder, potassium
During Diwali days the level of

pollutants in the atmosphere rise
tremendously adding to the woes
of the residents who suffer with
several diseases caused due to
the pollution.
Although this is sure that pollution would be caused during the
days near Diwali and soon after
the festival as even the standard
as well as approved crackers produce smoke and cause pollution
but the pollution caused by Chinese and sub-standard crackers
is much more than these crackers.
This Diwali, the Kerala State Pollution Control Board (PCB) wants
the public to focus more on light
and less on noise. The PCB has, in
fact, slapped a ban on exploding
noisy crackers between 6 am and
10 pm during the festival season.
Moreover, the Pollution Control
Board has prohibited the sale and
use of crackers which exceed the
125 decibel noise level. Bursting
crackers within 100 m of hospitals, courts, educational and religious institutions and in confined
spaces too has been banned.
The Pollution Control Board has
asked the public to celebrate the
festival with crackers which give
off more light than noise.
Bursting high decibel crackers

during Diwali celebrations has
become a common practice.
When they are burst together,
the intensity of the noise is intolerable. This also leads to various
health problems, the PCB said.
The Ministry of Environment
and Forests has issued a notification regulating the manufacture
and use of crackers.
Additionally, the Supreme Court,

in a July 21, 2005, order, had issued guidelines regarding noise
pollution, the Pollution Control
Board said:
The Kerala Pollution control Board wants the public to
focusmore on light, less on noise
The Kerala Pollution Control Board has, in fact, slapped a
ban on exploding noisy crackers between 6 am and 10 pm during the festival season
It has prohibited the sale
and use of crackers which exceed
the 125 decibel noise level
Bursting crackers within
100 m of hospitals, courts, educational and religious institutions
and in confined spaces too has
been banned by KPCB.
Review of the ambient air &
noise quality in India during Diwali

perchlorate, strontium nitrate
and barium nitrate etc.
The burning of firecrackers also
produces gaseous pollutants such
as SO2 and NO2, and produce huge
amount of ambient particulates
into the atmosphere that generates dense clouds of smoke.

Studies have been made in several parts of the world to determine the effects of firework activities on the ambient air quality.
Firecrackers during Diwali

emit large amount of poisonous
gases in the air. They deteriorate
the air quality as well as they
cause noise pollution in the society leading to serious health
hazards and disturbance in the
ecosystem.
The aim of this study published
in 2014 was to review the concentrations of suspended particulate
matter, poisonous gases, heavy
metals and noise level during Diwali festival found in various cities of India by previous studies as
well as the information available
from the various State Pollution
Control Boards.
The noise level on the day of
Diwali was found to be high in
residential, commercial and industrial areas particularly during the night time. The fireworks
activity are particularly carried
during the night time and the
maximum noise level reported
in cities during night time were,
Patna - 111 dB , Chandigarh - 77.5
dB, Raipur - 97 dB, Chennai - 121
dB and Mumbai - 103 dB.
The high noise levels particularly during the night violate the
permissible limit issued by CPCB,
the review noted.
Noisy crackers have always
been a threat to children and
pregnant women. Also there is
possibility of loss of hearing due
to noisy crackers.
Bangalore showed 32% reduction in pollution in the year 2013
as compared to 2012 as reported
by Karnataka Pollution Control
Board. The awareness programs
about ill effects of burning crackers to the people as well as school
children have paid off in Bangalore. Strict laws by the government are the need of the hour
to put brakes on the increasing
pollution, the authors say. Some
measures suggested were:
1. Noise levels of crackers must
be checked before they are sold.
2. A team should be formed for
inspecting the firecrackers sold
in the market, supervising the
time limit of burning firecrackers
on night and penalizing the law
breakers.
DIWALI SPECIAL
November 7-13, 2015
58
p l ace s
November 7-13, 2015
This Deepavali travel author Anil

Mulchandani takes us on Ramayana trail
Hampi Hanumans playground
ampi is one of Indias

most enchanting sites it
has breathtakingly beautiful monuments set in dramatic
boulder-strewn countryside by
the Tungabadhra River. Traditionally known as Pampakshetra or
Kishkindha, the monuments are
on both banks of the river Tungabhadra Annegondi to the north
and Hampi to the south. While
most tourists focus on two sides
of Hampi the Sacred Centre with
its beautiful temples and the Royal Enclave, not all make a visit to
sites on the other side of the river
which also have historical and religious significance.
Having seen Hampi before, we

drove northwest from the archaeological site and came to Hittnal
Cross from where a smaller road
led in towards Annegondi. Annegondi is believed to be the Kishkindha ruled by Sugriva. In this
monkey kingdom, Anjanadri hill is
revered as Hanuman. Rishimuka
is another hill associated with Ramayana. The town was an important centre of the region before
the Vijaynagara kings established
Hampi. The Kalyan Mahal is a palace that stands in the center of
the village. A 14th century gateway and temples are nearby. The
old fort encloses rocky hills west
of town. After seeing the village
with its dilapidated monuments,
old temples and bathing ghats, we
enjoyed a view across the river of
Hampis towering temples.
The magnificent settings of the Pampa Sarovar in Hampi
llahabad is a city I always

wanted to visit I had
heard much about its historic buildings and the aura of
devotion at Prayag.
We flew to Varanasi and hired
a car for the drive to Allahabad.
The drive was interesting we saw
boys herding guinea fowl through
farms as a pest-control method,
and carpet weavers at work. About
midway, the driver took us off the
highway to see Sita Samadhi Sthal
at Sitamarhi. This place is worshiped as the site where Sita returned to Mother Earth.
It was evening when we reached
Allahabad and we drove to Prayag
or Sangam. From the national
highway, we took a turn towards
the Yamuna river front where
women perform arati at Saraswati
Ghat by floating diyas, small oilfilled lamps, downstream. Immediately to the west, in Minto Park,
a memorial marks the exact spot
where the British Raj came into
being, when India was taken away
from the East India Company in
1858 and placed under the auspices of the Crown.
(Photos: Dinesh Shukla)
The cave where Shabari prayed everyday awaiting Rama
From here, we drove to see the

Hanuman Temple rising above a
hill. A short distance from here,
Pampasarovar is one of the most
important pilgrimages in the area.
The lotus-covered lake is one of
the five, together with Mansarovar in Tibet, Narayansarovar in
Gujarat, Pushkar lake in Rajasthan
and Bhubaneshwar lake in Orissa
that are especially important for
Hindus to bathe in.
In the Ramayana, Pampa Sarovar is mentioned as the place
where Shabari, a pious devotee of
Rama, prayed faithfully everyday
to see Rama. She lived in the ashram of her guru Matung Rishi
in the place known as Matunga
Parvat in Hampi. Before her guru
Matung Rishi died he told her she
would certainly see Rama. Many
years passed by before Rama
stopped at the ashram on his
journey to Lanka.
She proceeded to feed Rama and
his brother Lakshmana. According to a tale, she kept eating the
fruit before giving them to Rama.
When Lakshmana questioned this,
she said she was tasting them
and only giving the best ones to
them. Rama and Lakshmana were

touched. Shabari suggested that
they seek help from Hanuman
and Sugriva of Kishkindha south
of the lake for finding Sita.
Pampa Sarovar is one of the
places important for followers of
Pushti-marga. The philosopher
Vallabhacharya (14791531 CE),
who founded the Pushti sect, is
said to have bathed here.
At the site a priest told us that
Hanuman stopped at Pampa Sarovar on his way to the Himalaya
in search of herbs to cure Lakshmana in Lanka.
The Sacred Splendor of Allahabad

East of Saraswati Ghat close to the
Sangam loom the huge battlements
of Akbars Fort that look most impressive from the boat. At the main
gates to the fort stands a poorly
restored polished stone Ashoka
Pillar, inscribed with the emperors edicts and dated to 242 BC.
Finally, we descended the mud
banks to the river and negotiated
for a boat. We were soon surroundedby gulls looking for a snack.
As the sunset turned the river a blazing golden yellow, the

boatman told us that Lord Rama
himself praised this spot for its
spiritual powers, which can uplift
mankind and that he is believed to
have stayed at the ashram of the
BharadwajRishi here.
Valmiki and Tulsidas praise this
place in their works. Lord Rama,
Lakshman and Sita crossed the Yamuna River and there is a reference
The sun sets over the Yamuna River
to Lakshman constructing a boat

to cross the river. There are many
places on the banks of the Yamuna
related to the exile period of Shri
Ram like Akshay Vat, Sita Rasoi
(Jasra Bazaar), Rishiyan (the abode
of Rishis), Murka (Hanuman Mandir), claims the boatman.
From Allahabad, the road runs
128km southwest to Chitrakoot,
the pilgrim town along the Mandakani, between Uttar Pradesh and
Madhya Pradesh. According to the

Ramayana, Lord Rama lived on
the Kamadgiri Mountain near the
Mandakini River and it is believed
that his brother, Bharat, came to
this site to entice him to return
to Ayodhya and rule Koshaldesha, the kingdom of the Kaushala
dynasty to which they belonged.
When Rama refused, Bharat asked
for his footwear which he placed
on the throne of Ayodhya.
Idol of Sita at SitaMarhi
DIWALI SPECIAL
November 7-13, 2015
60
November 7-13, 2015
p l ace s
The Temple City of Jamnagar
By Anil Mulchandani
amnagar is called Gujarats

Chhota Kashi because of its
high concentration of temples in and around the city.
On arriving at Jamnagar, we
found a historic city with imposing palaces, minarets, clock towers and temple spires soaring.
Driving around the city, we saw
fortified walls and Gothic-style
public buildings. One of the most

remarkable constructions is the
Willingdon Crescent with a curved
facade marked with arches, along
Chelmsford Market and near the
Darbargadh or old palace which is
rich in stone sculpture.
The crescent-like Chandni Bazaar famous for its bandhani or
tie-dye fabrics is nearby. A short
walk from the market are Jain
temples decorated with striking
murals. We started with the Shantinath Mandir, which is a maze
of brightly colored columns. The
Adinath Mandir has a dome inlaid
with gold and colored mosaic. A
remarkable feature of all the Jain
temples we saw in this part of
Jamnagar is the mosaic of mirrors
above the entrance porch of each
of them. In all Jamnagar is said
to have 30 Jain temples, some of
Beautiful tie-and-dye bandhani Jamnagar is also known for
By Anil Mulchandani
(Photos: Dinesh Shukla)
The Lakhota Lake in the center of the city
them built from marble. A few

minutes from the temple, we saw
the dome of the late-nineteenthcentury Ratan Bai Mosque which
has fine woodwork.
In the morning, we walked
across from the hotel to the Ranmal
or Lakhota Lake, excavated in the
1850s to provide employment and
water to the people of Jamnagar,
with a palace in the heart. In front
of the island palace is an equestrian statue of Jam Rawal, the Jadeja
Rajput who founded Nawanagar
(renamed Jamnagar or the city of

the Jam rulers) in the 1540s. We
crossed the causeway to the palace,
which has some murals and weaponry. Upstairs is a museum showing art and historical artifacts.
The lake is a popular site for
bird viewing we saw flocks of
pelicans, ducks and other birds.
We crossed back to the lakeshore to feed the gulls. At the
northwest of the lake, we saw the
Bala Hanuman temple has been the
scene of round-the-clock non-stop
chanting (Shree Ram, Jay Ram,

Jay Jay Ram) since 1964, for
which feat it is cited in the Guinness Book of Records.
Started on August 1st, 1964,
the chant continues for 24 hours
a day, in shifts, and is still continuing. There are many Shiv
Temples within the city, such as
Badri Kedar Nath, Nilkanth Mahadev Temple and Bhid Bhanjan
Mahadev Temple near the Town
Hall and the Kashi Vishwanath
Temple on the K.V. Road.
The Pilgrims Progress to Nashik
ositioned between the Western Ghats, the Deccan Plateau and the Godavari River
Basin, Nashik has long been known
as one of the holy cities of Hindu pilgrimage it is believed to have been
the home of Lord Rama for many of
the 14-years exile period described
in the Ramayana and the city is located near the source of the Godavari, a river held sacred by Hindus.
The Mughals built Nashik into a
garden city but the Marathas who
came to power in the 1700s on
the decline of the Mughal Empire
focused on building beautifully
carved temples in the city and
along the Godavari.
Over the last few decades, Nashik

has grown from being a temple
town to a major commercial hub
with industrial estates, markets and
hotels but away from the modernity
are hidden wonders like Buddhist
caves hewn into rocks between the
1st century BC and 3rd century AD,
old quarters called Wadas with ornate houses and many temples.
One of the most prominent
temples in Nashik is the Kalaram
Temple built by the Peshwas. It is
more than seventy feet high, built
in black stone, with four doors
that open in all the four directions. It has a top made of thirtytwo tons of gold. Another temple
worth a mention
is the Naroshankar temple, which
was built in the
eighteenth century. With its eleven
foot fortifications
and huge umbrellas surrounding
it on four sides,
it makes one of
the most beautiful temples of Nashik. The sacred
center of Nashik
is Ram Kund. As
Lord Rama is said
The famous Ram Temple
Nashik is home to several holy sites
to have spent many of his 14-year

exile period in Nashik (the city is
said to get its name from the act of
Laxman that made the she-demon
Shurpnakha lose her nose), the
Ram Kund where Rama and Sita are
said to have bathed during their
exile period is a focal point of pilgrimage. Panchwati, situated in the
northern part of Nashik, is said to

have been the abode of Lord Rama
and Sita, along with Lakshman (also
spelt as Laxman). The main draw
for devotees is the Sita Gumpha,
from where Ravana the evil king
of Lanka, kidnapped Lord Ramas
wife Sita. You can enter the cave
with a small ladder hung inside.
For most visitors to Nashik, its

top draw is the Trimbakeshwar
Temple which has ornate carvings along its plinth, walls and
the shikhara houses one of the
12 jyotirlingams that are especially important to Shiva devotees. The nearby ghats are also a
religious draw.
DIWALI SPECIAL
November 7-13, 2015
62
November 7-13, 2015
B O L LY W O O D
Prem Ratan Dhan... all set for date with Diwali
Prem Ratan Dhan Payo sees

Sooraj Barjatya return to direction after nine years, the last time
being Vivaah (2006). While this
family entertainer marks his reunion with Salman Khan, who will
be seen as the lovable character,
Prem, the superstar wont be the
first one to watch his own film this

time around Diwali.
Reason being that Sooraj will
have the first screening of his
forthcoming release for his father
Rajkumar Barjatya and Salmans
father, Salim Khan.Only after the
seniors have shared their feedback, will the filmmaker begin trials for his cast and crew.
Not just that, post the special
screening for their fathers, Salman
will also tentatively hold a special
screening for his Rajshri ladiesBhagyashree and Madhuri Dixit.
The actresses have made their
presence felt when they starred
opposite Salman in two of the biggest Sooraj Barjatya films ever.
Prem Ratan Dhan Payo symbolizes the reunion of the most

awaited actor director duo, Salman
Khan and Sooraj Barjatya, after a
long wait. Whenever this duo is
seen on screen, they create magic and break box office records.
Salman Khan returns to the silver screen after his blockbuster,
Bajrangi Bhaijaan.
The movie which also stars Sonam Kapoor is supported by a
huge ensemble cast and is slated to
release on November 12. A quintessential family film for all agegroups, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo is
Salman Khans next release and
Rajshri Productions and Fox Star
Studios Diwali blockbuster release.
A scene from Prem Ratan Dhan Payo

(Photo: IANS)
Anushka urges
fans for animal
-friendly Diwali
Bollywood diva Anushka Sharma, who has extended her support to various animal rights organizations, has urged her fans for an animal-friendly
Diwali on social media.
The 27-year-old actress took to her Twitter account and shared a pic where she can be seen lying down with a dog and captioned it as, A little
sensitivity makes the world a better place for all.
#AnimalFriendlyDiwali.
The PK actress continued, Compassion & empathy towards animals make our world a better place
Lets have an #AnimalFriendlyDiwali #PAWsitive.
Through her tweets, Anushka has urged people
to reduce the noise and bursting of fire crackers on
Diwali for the sake of animals.
Celebs reveal their

Diwali shopping plans
Esha
Gupta
Im going all easy when
its coming to gifts this
year. Ill be home after
three years so I am planning to take my parents
and my sister out shopping.
Tanishaa
Mukerji
I have been travelling
to various places for work
and whenever I get little
time to spare I utilise it
for my shopping. As I will
be working during the
festive days, my mother
and I have decided to
Tusshar Kapoor
at Ekta Kapoors
diwali party.
complete the shopping in advance

and keep all the Diwali gifts ready.
Of late, I have been addicted to online shopping so I have bought a
few gifts for my friends and I am
sure they are going to love it.
Sonu Sood
Since Im in Dubai for my films
shoot, Im doing my all my shopping for Diwali from here. Im
shooting with Jackie Chan, so Ill
also buy something Indian to gift
him. I love to shop here, which
is why I carry hardly anything
when I visit this place and on the
return to Mumbai, I end up bringing suitcases filled with stuff...
gifts for family and close friends.
Actors Akshat Singh, Salman Khan and Sonam Kapoor during the
Diwali shoot of Prem Ki Diwali for Life OK channel in Mumbai.
Padukone and family

celebrates Diwali,
in ad for now
The new ad by Tanishq shows
us how Deepika Padukone and her
family enjoy Diwali every year, the
same way they have been doing for
years. Monotonous, you say? Wait
till you watch the advertisement
before you jump to conclusions.
In the first place, the advertisement seems like a crib-fest for
Deepika as she whines about all
the bad things Diwali brings like
having to clean the house even before her morning cup of coffee.
The ad slowly takes a turn as
Deepikas mood changes as she

realizes the occasion requires a
group effort. Diwali is a special
event to mark the return of Lord
Ram, Sita and Lakshman from their
14-year exile back to Ayodhya.
The lights lit by the people in the
kingdom are replicated and gifts
are exchanged. You really need to
watch this adorable advert as Deepika Padukone and her melodrama
with her father, Prakash Padukone
while her mother Ujjala Padukone
rolls her eyes is too cute to miss.
Tusshar
Kapoor
I havent really planned my Diwali shopping yet. I am traveling
to Warsaw (Poland), so Ill be doing a lot of Diwali shopping from
there for myself and will also
bring some interesting stuff for
friends and family.
Deepika Padukone and her family in the Diwali ad.
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
November 7-13, 2015
63
SOCAL INDIAN COMMUNITY HAS

GROWN, AND HOW!
GOPIO Chairman Inder Singh profiles the Southern California community in the
run up to the Regional PBD to be held in Los Angeles on Nov 14-15.
outhern California has been
home to the Indian American
community for over 100 years.
However, steady growth in the
Indian community started with the
liberalization of American immigra
tion laws in the late 1960s. At pres
ent, over 250,000 people of Indian
origin live in Southern California.
Several entrepreneurs, business
men, farmers, philanthropists, edu
cationists, doctors, engineers, and
community activists have made Los
Angeles and neighboring cities their
karam bhumi. A major Indian shop
ping center has flourished in
Cerritos/Artesia area. More than
100 stores attract Indian communi
ty from far and wide.
With the increase in population of
Indian immigrants, cultural, reli
gious, social and charity organiza
tions have sprung up. In Los
Angeles area, Federation of Indian
American Associations (FIA) was
started by Inder Singh to celebrate
Indias Independence Day and
Republic Day. India Day celebration
was organized for the first time in
1981 as a day mela in LA. It is now
organized at four places in Southern
California: San Diego, Riverside,
Artesia and San Fernando Valley.
These events attract over 40,000
Indian Americans, showcase Indias
cultural heritage, promote Indian
businesses and provide forum to
many elected officials and aspiring
politicians. Mela style celebration
has become a preferred mode of cel
ebration in SoCal and many other
cities in the US. T his year,
Ambasador Arun K Singh presided
over the IDay celebrations organ
ized by the India Association of Los
Angeles (San Fernando Valley). Ed
Royce, chairman, House Foreign
Af fairs Committee, and other
Congressman are regular guests at
IDay celebrations here.
The region is dotted with over 50
temples, gurdwaras and mosques.
Some religious festivities such as
Diwali, Baisakhi and Janam Ashtami
attract thousands of people.
Baisakhi and Guru Nanaks birthday
are celebrated in LA convention
center. Guru Gobind Singhs birth
day is celebrated every year on
December 25 in LA County fair
grounds in Pomona.
Southern California has also been
home for many Indian religious and
yoga awakening movements.
Krishnamurti
(Ojai
1922),
Paramahansa Yogananda (Se lf
Realization Fellowship, LA, 1925),
Yogi Bhajan (Kundalini Yoga, LA,
1968), and many more found fertile

ground for spreading their respec
tive missions. The SRF at Pacific
Palisades still preserves Mahatma
Gandhis ashes.
California is a farming State. Some
Indian farmers own thousands of
acres of farming land. An Indian
farmer has earned the reputation of
Raisin king of California. The New
York Times calls Harbhajan Samra
as the Okra king of USA. Munger
family of Bakersfield is the largest
blueberry producer in the world.
Dalip Singh Saund, after obtaining
Ph.D in Mathematics from
University of California, Berkeley,
could not get a job commensurate
with his qualifications. His first job
was as a farm worker. Till today, he
makes us proud as the first from
Asian community in America to rise
to be a Congressman.
Over 40% of US motels are owned
by Patels. Even in SoCal, the Patel
community has a fair share of the
hospitality industry. Several Indians
own leading franchises such as
Hiltons, Radisson, etc, here;
hotel/motel owners combined hold
ings are of several billion dollars.
Paramahansa Yogananda founded Self Realization Fellowship in Ls Angeles in 1925.

Dalip Singh Saund was the first person from Asian community to rise to become a US Congressman.
Pradeep K. Khosla is the Chancellor of University of California, San Diego.
San Diego. Hundreds of Indian stu
dents locally and from India are
enrolled in the universities here.
Many Indian Americans are pas
sionate about giving back to the
society and several have donated
their wealth for various educational
projects or worthy causes. Indian
community has established Sardar
Patel annual award of $10,000 at
Regional PBD in Los Angeles is on Nov 14-15
his year, Regional PBD is being held in Los Angeles November 14

15 under Indias Consul General in San Francisco. It is expected
to attract over 1,000 attendees. External Affairs Minister Sushma
Swaraj will inaugurate it and the Indian Government will host the ban
quet dinner Nov 15 for all registrants. Seminar topics will range from
businesstobusiness to Clean Ganga and Swachh Bharat to
Manufacturing and Make in India. The early bird registration fee is
$50. For more information, visit www.rpbdla.org.
B.U. Pate l is one of the highly

respected hoteliers in the area.
A large number of Indian
American physicians are practicing
medicine here. T he famed Dr
Deepak Chopra, author of over 80
books, has his Chopra Center for
We llbeing and residence in
Southern California. Several Indian
American entrepreneurs have multi
plied their operations in here. Uka
Solanki owns many Big Saver Food
stores with an annual turnover of
about $150 million. Sudesh Sood
has over 50 JackintheBox fran
chise restaurants. Zubin Mehta,
Ashok and Vijay Amritraj live in LA.
Pt Ravi Shankas daughter, well
known Sitar player Anushka
Shankar, still lives in San Diego area.
Several Indian Americans hold
dean positions and many are
department chairs in the California
university system. Pradeep Khosla
heads the University of California,
UCLA for exceptional doctoral dis

sertations on subjects related to
India. Padma Shri M.L. Bhaumik has
instituted an annual International
Award of $10,000 at UCLA. Dr.
Awtar Singh established a fully
funded annual fellowship at the
University of California, Berkeley for
a top student from Punjab
Engineering College for graduate
studies.
Indian American Heritage
Foundation has been recognizing
excellence among high school grad
uates since 1987. Started with 8
scholarships, it now gives 22 schol
arship awards with criteria includ
ing the applicants knowledge about
India and Indian American commu
nity. Uka Solanki established the
Yadunandan Center for India
Studies at California State
University, Long Beach. Bhupesh
Parikh and his wife Kumud gifted
$1 million for a Health Sciences and
Technology building at Glendale

Community College, CA. Navin and
Pratima Doshi have established
Doshi Chair of Indian History at
UCLA, another chair for Indic
Traditions at Loyola Marymount
University. They have also estab
lished a chair at California Institute
of Integral Studies. Dr. Mohinder
Sambhi donated $1 million for a
chair in Indian classical music in
UCLA in memory of his late wife. Dr.
Prem Reddy of Victorville, cardiolo
gist and philanthropist, has commit
ted $40 million donation to finance
a medical school in the San
Bernardino County. Dr. Reddy
founded Prime Healthcare Services,
which owns and operates 25 hospi
tals. He also founded Prime
Healthcare Foundation, a charity
that owns six nonprofit hospitals.
The University of California at
Irvine established Shri Parshvanath,
Dhan Kaur Sahota and Swami
Vivekananda presidential chairs for
Jain, Sikh and modern India studies,
respectively in August 2015.
Dr. Ushakant Thakkar and his wife
gifted $1.5 million for setting up
Thakkar FamilyDharma Civilization
Foundation Presidential Chair in
Vedic and Indic Civilization Studies
within the School of Humanities at
University of California, Irvine early
this year. In August 2010, the cou
ple donated $1mllion to Simi Valley
(California) Hospital, for the expan
sion of ER departmentnow called
the Thakkar Family Emergency
Pavilion. Fiberoptics pioneer, Dr.
Narinder Singh Kapany established
a Chair of Sikh Studies at the
University of California at Santa
Barbara in 1998. He endowed a
Chair of OptoElectronics at the
Baskin School of Engineering,
University of California, Santa Cruz

in 1999. He endowed another chair
in 2012 in Entrepreneurship at the
same school. He also established
Satinder Kaur Kapany Gallery of
Sikh Art at the Asian Art Museum in
San Francisco in 1999. The list goes
on. A large majority of first genera
tion Indian Americans are emotion
ally attached to India and constantly
make an ef fort to reconnect with
their Indian roots. These ties to the
roots often translate into charitable
contributions for poverty allevia
tion, healthcare, educational and
other projects undertaken by non
profit organizations. Some of the
leading nonprofit organizations,
which have been regularly organiz
ing events to raise funds in the
United States include AIF, Share and
Care and Sewa International USA.
Several India based organizations,
such as Pratham, Ekal Vidyalaya,
Akshaya Patra, Sankara Eye
Foundation, Child Relief, and Asha
for Education, have established their
units in America and organize
events to raise funds from Indian
Americans. Some Indian Americans
put their faith in individuals, com
munity associations or faithbased
groups and donate their share
towards the development of their
villages, schools, roads and similar
targeted projects back home.
Indian American philanthropists
have one ulterior motive, to
advance human we lfare in the
mother country.
Chairman of GOPIO, Inder Singh
regularly writes and speaks on
Indian Diaspora and is the author of
The Gadar Heroics life sketches of
over 50 Gadar heroes. He can be
reached at indersinghusa@hot
mail.com.
64
November 7-13, 2015
TRIBUTE
NARAIN KATARIA: 19302015
Sanyasi in a suit
By Ashok Vyas
ou can do it. I hear these

words in my head coming
from Narain Katariaji. In my
mental screen I see him he is
smiling, laughing and encouraging
me to write about him.
And I express my inability to
capture the vastness of his contri
bution and selfless dedication that
kept him active till the last day of
his life.
Initially, I used to feel he is miss
ing out on experiencing the beauty
of life and ignoring the bliss hid
den in him by connecting with the
periphery of a great tradition from
the activists point of view.
In response to such ideas, he
would say, You dont know, I am
very spiritual, I have read
Bhagwadgita, I know, what it is.
Yet, I used to feel, he is ignoring
the essence of oneness as is
enshrined in the Vedantic teach
ings.
Well, I visualize him by my side,
right here, where I am typing these
words. When he was sitting by me
on Nov 2, Monday night, I would
nt have imagined that this was his
last night and our last conversa
tion. He was perfectly fine, healthy
and cheerful, resolving that he
would work on becoming a better
communicator.
We had just finished Mondays
Insight Tonight with Ashok Vyas,
live program, at ITV. He told me
on Sunday, I have to read for ten
hours to be able to share meaning
ful information for ten minutes.
You are good.
Sometimes he woudnt hesitate
in saying, People are fools, they
dont see, so much injustice, so
much bias and unfair treatment for
Hindus, they dont see, they dont
speak, oh my God, this kind of
expression was preceded by
details of atrocities against Hindus

in far corners of the world and
narrative about how simple, wor
shiporiented Hindus dont see the
conspiracy hatched against them.
What I found amazing was that
the fire to spread awakening
amongst Hindus was always burn
ing in him. He wanted to make
them aware of their rights and not
be subjugated to misinterpretation
imposed on them by lopsided
notions of secularism.
Each one of us is dif ferent,
of view and in some mysterious

way, people would work together
due to love for the cause and due
to the magnet ic honesty and
integ rity of Narainji. He was
always looking at the big picture.
He was a committed family man,
got married in 1956, raised two
wonderful daughters, was proud of
the accomplishments of his grand
kids, but it was India and situation
of Hindus that would be the focus
of each and every conversation
with him. He lost his life partner
or maybe a friend, a true friend.

He had the capacity to contain
the fire within in such a manner
that often we would see him with a
playful smile. His love for life and
passion for music must have
worked in sustaining his relation
ship with the cheerful aspect of
life. He used to play Banjo. At 85,
here was a young man shouting
slogans and making people around
him say, Bharat Mata Ki Jai on the
streets of Manhattan in the month
of September. This was a recent
Narain Kataria organized and led numerous domonstrations to highlight the dangers of radical Islam to
Hinduism and the world at large.
sometimes bad chemistry of per
sonal communicat ion may be
detrimental to the cause. Narainji
was probably one of the few peo
ple with such a large heart that
people with dif ferent mindsets
would find comfortable space in
his heart. He would not work on
acting as a mediator, he was will
ing to empathize with your point
Bhagwatiji last year but that didnt

af fect his zeal to mount a grand
welcome by collecting people in
front of the United Nations in
Manhattan. He was a regular visi
tor to many religious and cultural
programs, his presence a source of
encouragement for the organizers.
It was like the presence of an
affectionate grandfather or father
occasion of PM Modis visit and he

was present with banners and a
group of people.
I recall his words, I dont have
lot of money, I am nobody, I am
not a big man, but I do it, it hap
pens. I have to wake up every
Hindu. If we stay fearful, we will
die. If I had your kind of command
over language, I would have
changed the world. I was reluc

tant in accepting compliments
from him for my role and would
respond by saying, We do noth
ing, it happens by Gods wish, he
places us in a way that we play the
role that he has assigned for us.
You are a good Hindu, Hindus
think like that, but. He would
talk about radical Islam and how it
poses threat for the simple Hindu
community in India.
He was not after money or
recognition, his focus was clear.
He wanted to mobilize people to
become aware and not let the
smoke screen of false reporting
take away their ability to see the
truth supported by facts.
Sometimes his voice against radi
cal Islam would scare people for
his safety.
Something about his early years
in America , in the words of his
soninlaw, Shyam Bhaya: Narainji
moved to the USA in the early
1970s where, after an initial peri
od of struggle, he joined the law
firm of Cahill Gordon in Manhattan
as a Legal Assistant. He worked at
this firm for over 25 years, and the
quality of his work was recognized
by all his colleagues at the firm. He
retired from there in 1998.
Narainji was a self made man, a
storehouse of power, positive and
cheerful outlook for life. He was
unassuming and applied every
ounce of his energy to serve the
community in his own unique way.
He contributed to the communi
ty by organizing Hindu Unity Day
for the last 20 years in New York.
He cofounded Indian American
Intellectuals Forum and organized
Continued on page 65
Kataria: Oneman army

By Nilima Madan
arain Kataria is a great loss for
the entire Indian community!
Even though death is a certainty,
we want some courageous and perse
vering people to go on living because
you know that they are standalone
heroes who believe in causes and dare
to speak their mind unabated. As pio
neers they do not fear resistance or
reaction. If others do not accompany
them, they walk alone like a oneman
army and soon there is a following.
Kataria ji was a very special person

who connected with all he met with
amicable ease and immediately includ
ed them in his mega email list so that
he had one more person who he could
spread his message to, with his almost
daily missive, which took on critical
topics that could alert, alarm or give
plain facts. Universal Jihad is a threat to
the entire free world, he said, and so
much more. His messages will not be
there any more.
His work in support of Hindus was
remarkable and when he wanted to get
people together all stood by him. His

thinking was clear with high moral
standard and he shared thoughts unin
hibitedly. Humble, truth loving, simple
and calm in demeanor he was admired
for what he had contributed to the
Indian community in his own, yet
unique determined way. As a Hindu
political activist he headed organiza
tions and held events for Hindu Unity
and justice in bringing forth other like
minded personalities together. Quick to
stand up for what was right and rally to
get as many involved by giving his all
relentlessly for all that he stood for

defined him.
Personally, often when we met he
always said, 'Jai Ho' followed by my
name and it was in admiration I would
say the same of him. What followed
always was a friendly conversation with
subtle messages for whatever was cur
rent that needed action or attention.
With his level of dedication and persua
sion it will be a steep task as to how
and who will carry on what he had
begun. He will be missed dearly as God
made only one of his kind.
November 7-13, 2015
COMMUNITY
65
Securing win for Lindsay

Lohan in $60M
shopping app case
New York: Attorney
Ravi Batra has
broug ht
some
respite
for
Hollywoo d
star
Lindsay Lohan and
her brother Michael
Lohan Jr. in their
ongoing legal battle
with Fima Potik.
The Mean Girls
star Lindsay, her
brother and another
business partner
were sued by Potik
for $60 million.
Pot ik alleged the
trio stole his idea for
a fashion app called
Ravi Batra is the Lohans lawyer
Spotted Friend to
launch their own, Vigme. But on tle wannabe trustfund baby who
Wednesday the parties agreed in wants to hang out with Lindsay
a Manhattanc ourt, pending sign and who got himself a lot of ink
off from a judge, to lift a tempo by suing.
Potik had tried in September to
rary restraining order against the
Lohans and Chris Roth, which put the legal battle on hold for
their lawyer, Ravi Batra, claims nancial reasons. Batra blasted
has kept the Lohans from work the move. He said Potik, wants to
say, Sorry, I didnt realize I was in
ing on their business for a year.
Batra told Page Six: Fima has court. I was window shopping at
disobeyed three court orders to Macys. No, you were in court,
pro duce proof that he had a and by the way, heres the bill.
working app by June 2013, some This is a huge civics lesson for
thing he was never able to prove, spoiled little rich brats.
Batra said hes moving for Potik
and he slammed Pot ik as a
celebrity leech and spoiled lit to pay the Lohans legal fees.
Arvind Vora presenting the Shanti Fund 2015 Peace Artwork Calendar to Pope Francis in Vatican in St.
Peters Square. (Photo: Vatican Press)
A gift for a humble Pope

New York: Arvind Vora, a repre
sentative of Jain Faith, presented
to Pope Francis a token gift of
peace artwork by Long Island stu
dents gracing the pages of Shanti
Fund 2015 calendar. It was a bet
ting gift to the Pope who is on a
mission of simplicity (echoing the
Jain principle of Aparigraha mini
mize possessions) and his desire to
bring a peaceful change on our
planet. Mr. Vora felt there is no
better combination than peace art
work by American students and
symbolizing peace icon Gandhi of
India for rest of the world.
The occasion on October 28,
2015 was Pope Francis marking
the 50th anniversary of the turn
ing point in the Catholic Church's

relations with Jews and people of
other faiths by calling for greater
interfaith collaboration in the face
of religious extremism.
In short greetings, a constant
theme of this humble Pope is to
pray for him, alluding to the fact
that he is on an unimaginable spir
itual, social and political missions
on a never visualized global scale
reaching out to religious leaders
of all ancient faiths; speaking out
on behalf of the homeless, the
down trodden and refugees; and
bringing the mightiest political
power to understand reality for
the survival of humanity, e.g.
opening Cuba USA relations. It is
extremely humbling to hear him

pleading others to pray for him
multiple times.
Arvind Vora, a key volunteer of
Shanti Fund for over 20 years and
Chairman of Long Island Multi
Faith Forum since its inception in
1995, has relentlessly worked for
religious harmony and peace pro
motion activities that has led to
missions in Turkey, Kazakhstan,
Indonesia, South Korea and
Vatican. His association at local,
regional, national and global Jain
institutions has helped to deepen
in pract ice the principles of
Ahimsa (nonviolence), Aparigraha
and Ane kantvada all over the
world.
The relevance of Narain Kataria for IndianAmericans

By Ashok Ojha
fierce debate on the issue of intoler
ance is currently going on in India.
The social media has joined the fray
and everyone is encouraged to take a stand.
Many ridiculous arguments supporting
either side are making the round on the
Internet. The issue is also raging among
Indian Americans though we are engaged in
this debate from the periphery.
In USA people of Indian descent, irrespec
tive of which religion they belonged to, are
classified as a minority group. In India, a
Hindu enjoys many social privileges avoid
ing discrimination in the society. In USA the
same person may feel discriminated by
someone in authority, like a police officer. It
hurts when a member of majority communi
ty immediately falls in the category of
minority.
The generation of Indian Americans that
spent four decades in this country didnt
really work towards building a political
voice for the community the way other
minority communities in USA have done.
But Narain Kataria was an exception. He
belonged to Middle Class America, overtly
conscious about his roots. He not only never
shied away from his past Indian identity but
also always asserted it that made him a
known figure in the Indian community in

New York and New Jersey. According to RP
Singh, a senior functionary of Overseas
Friends of BJP, Kataria fiercely fought for
Hindu rights. He was a person who con
sidered that Hindus in India were discrimi
nated for being a majority in India. He dedi
cated his life as a proponent of Hindu
Rights, never missing a chance to attack the
erstwhile Congress governments for their
secular policies. One of the causes Kataria
fought for was injustice done to Kashmiri
Hindus, who were forced to flee their
ancestral home after insurgency took root
in the state.
Kataria was a hardliner. He was a support
er of the BJP led NDA government as long
as it promoted his thought of Hindu India,

a term absent in the Indian constitution.
Kataria ji fought for justice for Hindus,
said one of his associates, Major S.B. Singh.
He was a lively person who enjoyed good
things in life. As soon as he learned that a
Hindu Temple was in danger of demolition,
Kataria would take up the issue and would
nt hesitate to march to Times Square.
Many people fail to see how Kataria pro
tected Hinduism as he was unable to raise
suf ficient funds to strengthen his move
ment. His one achievement was the annual
Hindu Unity Conference, where speakers
like Dr. Subramanian Swami made fervent
appeal for making India a Hindu dominat
ed nation. He formed Indian American
Intellectuals Forum under whose banner he
organized protest marches in New York City
but mostly remained absent from meetings
organized by the Overseas Friends of BJP.
Narain Kataria will be missed by the
Indian communityat least he was instru
mental in raising issues, many of which
remained politically controversial. One may
agree or disagree with what he thought of
Hindus' survival in India:
Hindus clearly see a mortal threat to their
very existence as Hindus. They see this as a
conspiracy to breakup and divide their
country all over again.
Sanyasi in a suit
Continued from page 1
many seminars. He participation in
many TV shows, wrote numerous let
ters and articles, supported many
authors, activists, leaders and artists.
His group of friends was quite large
and he acted as a bridge between
Hindus and Jews in raising voice
against radical Islam. The most impor
tant role that he played was related to
his ability to inspire people and
encourage them to see beyond their
own limited orbit.
What could be our tribute to this self
less man, who was capable of seeing
and generously appreciating the good
ness in them? He was an institution in
himself. He aspired to excellence and
was willing to work hard for it without
any attachment for return. Attached
and detached at the same time. Wasnt
he a true yogi? Perhaps Narain Kataria
was a Sanyaasi in a Suit.
Memorial services and viewing for
Narain Kataria will be held on Nov 7
at 11.15 am at Park Chapel, 2175
Jericho Turnpike, New Hyde park, NY.
66
November 7-13, 2015
US AFFAIRS
Carson catches up with

Trump in poll numbers
Republicans win governor's

races in Kentucky, Mississippi
Louisville, KY: Republican business
man Matt Bevin was e lected
Kentucky's next governor on
Tuesday, marking a setback for
Democrats who had controlled the
office in every election but one since
1971 and underscoring the party's
decline in the conservative US South.
Bevin, who rode Tea Party support
to a narrow victory in a fourway
Republican primary, soundly defeat
ed State Attorney General Jack
Conway, whose late October lead in
the polls evaporated on election day.
Bevin, who has never before held
elected of fice, won with 52.5 per
GOP governors rule in twothirds of states.
cent of the vote, compared to 43.8
Kentucky's more hotly contested race reflect
percent for Conway, according to unof ficial
ed the partisan divide seen nationally over gay
results with all precincts reporting.
Republicans also were successful in securing marriage and President Barack Obama's signa
a second term for Mississippi Governor Phil ture healthcare law in a contest to replace
Bryant, who easily defeated a littleknown Democratic Governor Steve Beshear, who can
not run because of term limits.
opponent in the conservative Southern state.
Washington:
Donald Trump
and Ben Carson
are
running
neckandneck in
the Republican
primary, a new
nat ional
poll
shows.
Trump has 24%
support com
pared to Carson's
23% in a new
Quinnipiac University survey.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio comes in
No. 3 with 14% support, and Texas
Sen. Ted Cruz is No. 4 with 13%.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is next
with just 4% support, followed by
Carly Fiorina, New Jersey Gov. Chris
Christie and Ohio Gov. John Kasich at
3% each, and then Kentucky Sen. Rand
Paul at 2%.
Among Democrats, Hillary Clinton
has maintained her hefty lead with

53% backing to Vermont Sen. Bernie
Sanders' 35%.
The worst news for Clinton comes in
a headtohead with Carson, where
she trails 50% to 40%.
The other headtoheads are closer:
Clinton trails Rubio, 46% to 41%, but
tops Trump 46% to 43%, Cruz (46% to
43%) and Christie (46% to 41%).
Sanders performs slightly worse in
each GOP matchup.
Rubio leads USA Todays strong

GOP candidates rankings
Washington: A good night on the debate stage has
put Marco Rubio on top of USA Todays GOP Power
Rankings for the first time, and it gave Chris
Christie his first taste of the top tier.
Rubio is clearly on the rise after a strong debate
performance, said Kristen Soltis Anderson, one of
the 30 political experts the newspaper surveys
each week for their view of who is the strongest
Republican candidate. Cruz and Christie also did
themselves favors in the debates, she said, but its
still unclear how much the polls move as a result.
Rubio jumped from third to first place in the sur

vey, and Christie moved up from eighth place to
fifth.
Rubio and Cruz are widely regarded to be the
winners of the Oct. 28 GOP presidential candidate
debate and Kasich and Christie also scored some
attention for their debate performances, said Iowa
State Universitys Dianne Bystrom.
Marco Rubio has jumped to No 1 spot in

GOP candidates rankings.
The largest religious group

among Democrats? None.
Washington: People who do not identi
fy with any organized religion (aka the
"nones") comprise the largest chunk of
selfidentified Democrats and those
who lean toward the Democratic party.
And, that number has increased by
almost 10 percentage points since Pew
last conducted a similar study back
in 2007.
As Pew puts it: Religious nones are
now more numerous among Democrats
and Democraticleaning adults than are
Catholics, evangelical Protestants,
mainline Protestants or members of the
historically black Protestant tradition.
Now, contrast that with how the reli
gious af filiation of Republicans and
Republicanleaning breaks out:
While "nones" have increased among
Republicans as well as Democrats, the
growth rate has been far slower and
they remain a far smaller chunk of the
overall GOP landscape than on the
Democratic side.
Much of this change can be explained

by two trends: (1) Millennials are far
more likely than any other age group to
identify as "nones" in terms of religious
affiliation and (2) Those same millenni
als tend to identify as Democrats.
(Among 1829 year olds, President
Obama beat Mitt Romney by 23 points
in 2012.) More young people identify
ing with your party + young people as
the most likely to not affiliate with any
religious organization = a growth of
"nones" for Democrats.
What's more fascinating is that the
Pew study shows, again, the ways in
which partisans are increasingly living
in two separate Americas. Democrats
are secular (or more spiritual than reli
gious), single, racially diverse and live
in cities clumped along the east and
west coast. Republicans are religious,
married, white and live in suburbs and
rural areas largely clustered in the mid
dle of the country.
Jindal edges ahead of

Bush in Iowa poll
Washington: Bobby Jindal, the Louisiana
governor who has been relegated to the
undercard debate throughout the GOP pres
idential race, has edged out former Florida
Gov. Jeb Bush in a new poll of Iowa.
Jindal scored 6 percent support in the sur
vey from Public Policy Polling (PPP), one
percentage point ahead of Bush, though
within the polls 3.9 percent margin of
error.
Still, the uptick for Jindal is broadly
indicative of just how far Bush has fallen
something that has been exacerbated by his
poor showing in last weeks Republican
debate. Bushs team has repeatedly brushed
aside concerns about the candidates poll
numbers, noting that there are still three
months to go until the Iowa caucuses.
From the start of the campaign, Bush was
never expected to fare well in Iowa, and the
data from the liberalleaning PPP indicates
he faces an uphill climb there.
Jindal's 60 percent favorability rating,
meanwhile, is tied for third highest in the
Jindal's team has pushed networks to use

earlystate polling to determine debate
placement, which could elevate him
to the main stage.
state behind retired neurosurgeon Ben
Carson and Sen. Ted Cruz (RTexas).
Jindals campaign has long trumpeted his
chances in the Hawkeye State, arguing that
his Christian conservative positions and
record in the Louisiana governor's mansion
would resonate with the state's voters.
Jindal's team has pushed networks to use
earlystate polling to determine debate
placement, which could elevate him to the
main stage.
November 7-13, 2015
67
SUBCONTINENT
Maldives parliament backs

declaration of Emergency
Pressing Pakistan for

action against LeT, JuD: US
President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom.

Male: The Maldivian parliament has
voted to endorse the declaration of
monthlong state of Emergency in
the archipelago nation.
The members debated on the dec
laration for two hours before voting
to endorse it, Haveeru online
reported.
Anyone who criticises this step is
a traitor to the nation. I call upon
the members to work towards
ensuring the safety and security of
the general public, Fonadhoo mem
ber Abdu Raheem Abdulla, who also
serves as the ruling Progressive
Party of Maldives (PPM) deputy
leader, said.
Opposition Maldivian Democratic
Party (MDP) MPs, however, said the
declaration was evidence of the

presidents incompetence. They said
the declaration contained unconsti
tutional points such as the slashing
to just seven days the 14day notice
given to the vice president before
his impeachment.
Fiftyeight members of the ruling
bloc voted in favour of the declara
tion while 14 voted against it. Three
parliamentarians abstained.
Thed Maldives declared a month
long state of Emergency Wednesday
in what has been extraordinary
security measures following an
explosion on a speedboat carrying
President Abdulla Yameen Abdul
Gayoom and subsequent discovery
of an arms haul.
Washington: The US says it keeps

pressing Pakistan to take steps to
constrain militant groups operating
in the region, particularly the
LashkareTaiba (LeT) responsible
for Mumbai terror attacks and its
political arm Jama'atudDa'wah
(JuD).
"We obviously continue to urge
steps to constrain militant groups
operating in the region, including
these two in particular JuD and
LeT," State Department spokesper
son John Kirby told reporters in
response to a question. "LeT, as you
know, is a designated foreign ter
rorist organization," he said. "We
absolute ly be lieve that taking
actions against them are fundamen
tal to addressing the scourge of ter
rorism. There's no question where
we are on that." Kirby, who was
asked to comment on reported
Pakistani ban on media carrying
images of terrorists, said the US
regularly discussed with all its part
ners the importance of "balancing
the ght against terrorism with the
imperative to preserve civil liber
ties, including freedom of expres
sion and freedom of the press." "So
there's a balance here to be struck,
to be sure. And what I can tell you is
State Department spokesperson John Kirby.

we continue to have these discus
sions with leaders in Pakistan," he
said.
W hile it was for Pakistan to
explain "the reasoning behind its
decisions," Kirby said, "what I can
tell you is we recognize there's a
balance to be struck here between
the ght against terrorism and
media freedom."
"It's a balance that every nation
has to strike. Pakistan should speak
for itself and for why it made this
decision and how it's going to exe
cute this decision."
On former Pakistan president
Pervez Musharraf 's reported

remark that Osama bin Laden was
his and Pakistan's hero, Kirby said
he would let Musharraf speak for
himself about how he feels about
the slain Al Qaeda founder.
"I think it's certainly no secret
how we felt about him, and he's no
longer walking the earth, and that's
a good thing. And the top leader
ship of his organization, many of
them are no longer walking the
earth, and that's a good thing," he
said. "Al Qaeda is absolutely not the
same organization it was under
Osama bin Laden," Kirby said.
68
November 7-13, 2015
INTERNATIONAL
Russian airliner crashes in Sinai, all 224 aboard dead

Cairo/Moscow: A Russian airliner crashed in
central Sinai in Egypt with 224 people on
board, all of whom are presumed dead,
media reports said.
Kolavia flight 7K9268, an Airbus A321,
enroute to St. Petersburg, went off the radar
23 minutes after taking off from Sharm El
Sheikh International Airport. The plane was
to contact air traf fic control in Turkish
Cyprus Larnaca after leaving Egypts air
space, but failed to do so.
It disappeared from radar screens when
travelling at 31,000 ft. The plane started to
drop very fast, losing 1,500m in one minute
before coverage was lost.
That crash was due to a "technical failure"
and was not shot down, pilot Ayman Al
Mokadem, who is heading a committee to
monitor the crash's aftermath, stated.
AlMokadem said that the pilot sensed a
technical failure and reported to the aviation
authorities that he wanted to land at the
nearest airport, Egypt's staterun Al Ahram
news reported.
An aviation team is on their way to extract
the black boxes to determine the reason for
the crash. Rescue workers reported that
they could hear voices as they started recov
ering the bodies from the debris.
The pilot seemed to crash while attempt
ing to land in AlArish's airport in North
Sinai, AlMokadem added.
At least 45 ambulances have been dis
patched to the crash site, a cabinet state
IS outfit downed
Russian plane?
Cairo: The Islamic State terrorist group
has claimed responsibility for the crash
of a Russian plane in Egypt's Sinai, which
killed over 200 people on board, in a
statement posted online.
The Sinaibased group "Sinai State" that
had announced loyalty to the IS said in a
statement posted on Twitter its militants
managed to target the Russian plane and
killed all passengers. It said the attack
was in revenge for Russia's military oper
ations in Syria. A video released by the
group showed that a plane was suddenly
caught on fire and fell down, but the
video cannot be verified for the moment.
US expresses condolences
on Russian plane crash
The Islamic State terrorist group claimed responsibility

for the crash of the Russian plane.
ment revealed.
The plane was carrying 217 passengers
and seven crew members. Seventeen of the
passengers were children. According to the
Russian embassy in Egypt, all on board were
Russian citizens, RT news said in its report.
The crash site was discovered hours later
in a desolate mountainous area of central
Sinai. The Egyptian military said entry to the
site may be difficult due to the volatile secu

rity situation in the area. Large parts of the
peninsula are dangerous due to the pres
ence of militants, with only coastal areas in
the north and south adequately guarded by
security forces.
The crash site is in the Hassana area 35
km south of Arish, the largest city in the
Sinai.
Premature for Syrian opposition

to join talks in Russia: US
Washington: T he US State
Department said that it was pre
mature for Moscow to invite
Syrian opposition to attend
talks in Russia.
Acknowledging having seen
reports that Russians will hold a
meeting between the Syrian
government and members of
the opposition next week, US
State Department spokeswoman
Elizabeth
Trudeau
told
reporters that "We think it's
premature".
"T here w ill be a t ime and
place when the opposit ion
g roups w ill be presented,"
Trudeau said at a daily press
briefing. "We just don't think
we're there yet."
She urged Russia "to focus its
e f forts on ISIL (another
acronym for the Islamic State
militant group) and to use its
influence with the Assad regime
to support a genuine political
transition" in Syria.
"We don't believe we're ready
for the discussions until the
international community can
reach a g reater consensus
about the path forward," the
spokeswoman said.
For now nations involved in
diplomatic ef forts on Syria's
Both the United States and Russia are conducting airstrikes

against the Islamic State (IS) militant group in Syria.
conflict should focus on what
was ag reed on in talks in
Vienna, she said.
The international meeting on
Syria did not pro duce any
agreement over the future of
Syrian President Bashar al
Assad, although key players
found some common ground
over the solution for the war
torn country. After hours of
talks in the Austrian capital, key
players agree to initiate a diplo
matic process to find a solution
to the Syrian crisis.
However, at a joint press con
ference, Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov and US

Secretary of State John Kerry
both acknowledged differences
remain over the future of al
Assad, but saying the gap would
not stand in the way of ending
the war in Syria.
Both the United States and
Russia are conducting airstrikes
against the Islamic State (IS)
militant group in Syria.
T he US, which opposes
Moscow's backing of alAssad,
has been criticizing Russia's
over monthlong airstrikes only
focused on alAssad's oppo
nents, rather than the IS.
Washington: US Secretary of State John

Kerry has extended the "deepest condo
lences" to Russia over the crash of a
Russian passenger plane in Egypt, which
killed 224 people onboard. Kerry spoke
to Rusian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
on Saturday "to express deepest condo
lences to the families and friends of
those killed in the crash in Egypt of
Kogalymavia Flight 9268," US State
Department said in a statement. Kerry
also offered to provide US assistance, if
needed, it added.
Maldives
declares 30day
emergency
Male: The Maldivian govern
ment declared a nationwide
state of emergency for 30 days
this week in view of threats to
national security and public
safety.
Attorney General Mohamed
Anil announced the decision
made by President Abdulla
Yameen, who issued the execu
tive decree based on advice
from the Nat ional Security
Council following the recent
discovery of firearms and explo
sives.
T he security forces have
uncovered plots to use danger
ous weapons, Anil said.
The declaration comes two
days ahead of a mass protest
planned by the main opposition
Maldivian Democratic Party
(MDP), whose leader Mohamed
Nasheed is in jail after a convic
tion under antiterror laws.
T he 2013 Freedom of
Assembly Act has been sus
pended.
Under art icle 254 of
Maldivian constitution, a state
of emergency "may include the

temporary suspension of the
operation of laws and infringe
ment of certain fundamental
rights and freedoms."
The constitutionally mandat
ed 14day notice before voting
on a motion to impeach the
president or vice president has
also been shortened to seven
days.
The ruling party had submit
ted a motion to impeach Vice
President Ahmed Adee b on
October 28.
He is under arrest on suspi
cion of links to an explosion on
the president's speedboat on
September 28. The government
says a bomb targeting the presi
dent caused the explosion.
Another explosion device was
found near the president's offi
cial residence and safe ly
defused by military.
Over a third of the country's
340,000 Muslim population
lives on the capital island Male,
where authorit ies said the
device was found.
DIWALI SPECIAL
November 7-13, 2015
70
November 7-13, 2015
Indian IT spend to reach

$72.3 bn in 2016: Gartner
Mumbai: India's IT spending is
expected to rise by 7.2 percent
in 2016 to reach $72.3 billion,
said leading market research
player Gartner.
"India will continue to be the
fastest growing IT market for
the second year in succession
and will continue growing to
total $87.67 billion by the end
of 2019," said Aman Munglani,
research director, Gartner in a
statement.
India, currently the third
largest IT market in Asia Pacific,
will become the second largest
by 2019 following China, he
said.
Mobile phones, personal com
puters and tablets falling under
the category of devices are
expected to account for almost
33 percent of the overall IT

spend in India, growing at 9.4
percent in 2016, Gartner said.
Gartner India's research head
Partha Iyengar said that in five
years, one million new devices
will come online every hour, and
"these interconnections are cre
ating billions of new relation
ships. These relationships are
not driven solely by data, but
algorithms".
Highlighting the crucial nature
of algorithms, Iyengar added,
"Data is inherently dumb. It
doesn't actually do anything
unless you know how to use it;
how to act with it. Algorithms
are where the real value lies.
Algorithms de fine act ion.
Dynamic algorithms are the core
of new customer interactions."
Nestle says Maggi on shelves

this month, all tests cleared
New Delhi: Nestle India has said
Maggi noodles has cleared the tests
ordered by the Bombay High Court
at three accredited laboratories and
that the effort will now be on to re
launch the popular snack within
this month. "We have received the
results from all the three NABL
(National Accreditation Board for
Testing Calibration Laboratories)
mandated by the Bombay High
Court to test newlymanufactured
Maggi noodles samples," the com
pany said in a regulatory filing with
stock exchanges.
"All the samples of the Maggi
noodles masala have been cleared
with lead much below permissible
limits," the statement said, adding
this has validated their stand, main
tained all along, that the noodles
were and continue to be safe.
Black money: HSBC whistleblower

seeks protection to reveal to India
New Delhi: HSBC bank whistle
blower Herve Falciani said he
was willing to cooperate with the
Indian investigative agencies in
probing blackmoney cases pro
vided he was given protection.
"I have a lot of information
about Indians stashing away
money abroad but for that I need
cooperation and support of the
Indian investigation agencies
towards the safety of whistle
blowers," said Falciani while
addressing mediapersons here
through videoconferencing.
"If I come to India to he lp
investigators, I will be arrested.
I'm not able to share information
because of lack of coordination,"
he added. Asked if he was look
ing for money to share informa
tion with India, he said, "It is not
about the money or becoming
rich. I want to help India in track
ing down the intermediaries."
Falciani is facing charges in
Switzerland of leaking details of
bank account holders in Geneva
branch of HSBC. The French gov
ernment, which later accessed
the list, shared with India infor
mation relating to Indian clients
of the bank. He said that millions
BUSINESS
"We will make our best effort to

commence the sale of Maggi noo
dles masala within this month, as
well as continue engaging with the
states where permissions are need
ed or specific directions may be
necessary." T he company said
Maggi was currently being manu
Banks swallow
$5 billion out of
remittances to India
ndia gains the most from its
diaspora among all countries.
The World Bank estimates
that Indians abroad will send
US$72 billion home this year.
China comes second with US$64
billion in remittances, and the
Philippines is
third at US$30
b i l l i o n .
Pakistan and
Bangladesh
also figure in
the top 10.
Remittances to
India will grow
2.5 percent this
year, up from 0.6 percent in
2014. This is expected to rise
further next year and contribute
significantly to economic devel
opment. But the cost of sending
money home remains high, aver
ag ing 7.7 percent g lobally,
according to the World Bank.
A number of startups are out
to disrupt this space in different
ways. And some of them are see
ing quick traction too on the
HSBC bank whistleblower Herve Falciani.

of crores are flowing out of India,
Russia, Brazil, and Argentina
every year.
"We are at economic war and
informat ion is the only tool
through which we can hold our
ground. For a country like India
it is necessary to protect the
whistleblowers or the insiders
who give information," he said.
The central government had
formed a Special Investigation
Team (SIT) on the directions of
Supreme Court to probe black
money cases. SIT is led by two
former apex court judges
Justices M.B. Shah and Arijit
Pasayat. Earlier in August,

Falciani had written to the SIT
pointing out how the Indian gov
ernment did not appear serious
about pursuing and tracking
down this blackmoney.
In the letter addressed to SIT
head ret ired Just ice Shah,
Falciani had pointed out SIT advi
sor KV Chowdhary had met him
on December 1516, 2014 in
Paris where he (Falciani) had
advised the Indian investigators
to join in and continue the inves
tigation with other countries
rather than work with data alone
to get limited results.
factured at Nanjangud in
Karnataka, Moga in Punjab and
Bicholim in Goa, and that it was
engaging with the state govern
ments of Himachal Pradesh and the
Uttarakhand for commencing pro
duction at Tahliwal and Pantnagar,
respectively.
back of rising remittances to

India and the Philippines.
Instarem, which got a licence
to do remittances from Australia
in November last year, saw its
transfers to India cross a month
ly volume of A$2 million
(US$1.43 mil
lion)
in
September. Last
month it opened
up new corri
dors
from
Australia to the
Philippines,
Indonesia, Sri
Lanka,
and
Sing apore. It aims to be in
Vietnam and Bangladesh by the
end of the year.
The AustraliaSingapore corri
dor is mostly B2B (businessto
business) with a number of start
ups registered in Singapore
using the channel to receive
small ticket payments ranging
from A$1,000 to A$10,000 the
same day. The other corridors
are mostly for individuals.
DIWALI SPECIAL
November 7-13, 2015
72
November 7-13, 2015
SPORTS
Hingis and I complement

each other very well: Sania
Mumbai: With a staggering record of 10
doubles titles in a year, tennis star Sania
Mirza believes that she and her partner,
Swiss veteran Martina Hingis complement
each other very well which has resulted in
the duo clinching their ninth title in 2015.
The unstoppable MirzaHingis pair came
up with another stupendous performance
on Sunday to win the women's doubles
title at the prestigious $7 million WTA
Finals in Singapore.
This is the top ranked pair's ninth title
together this season, having also won in
Beijing, Wuhan, Guangzhou, US Open
(New York), Wimbledon (London),
Charleston, Miami and Indian Wells.
Sania also won at the Sydney
International in January with American
Bethanie MattekSands.
"It was a dream run for me. Never
thought I would win 10 titles in a year but
I was confident on my ability to perform
on each game and it paid off. Credit also

goes to Martina the way she played and
partnered me in the doubles.
We complement each other very well in
all aspects," Sania, who was named brand
ambassador of pain reliever brand, Volini,
said.
When asked about the most memorable
victory this season, the 28yearold named
the title triumph at Wimbledon as the
best, as it was the only Grand Slam title
missing from her kit.
"The Wimbledon victory was the most
memorable one for sure, as I never had
won at Wimbledon earlier. It was privilege
to be a part of every match there. After
being down we came back stronger and
won it, it shows how well we are playing,"
the tennis player, who is married to
Pakistan cricket captain Shoaib Malik,
said.
Speaking on his onfield chemistry with
the 35yearold Swiss veteran, Sania

couldn't keep herself from heaping praise
on her doubles partner.
"Martina is a great champion. She is
such a nice human being. We get along
with each other very well. She at this age
has proved yet again what a player she
has been over the years and still now. I
love playing with her and hope to contin
ue winning more titles along with her,"
she said.
T he current doubles World No. 1
believes that it was really tough to reach
the summit considering the current com
petition in the sport.
"It is tough to be a World No.1 than to
remain in that spot for quite some time.
Being No. 1 is not easy. I had to work hard
wait for this time to be at the top, so it
shows how tough it is to reach at the top
and I am thrilled to have attained that
spot," she said.
Vijender could be India's first pro

world champion: British boxer
New Delhi: Impressed with the
professional debut of Vijender
Singh, top British boxer Amir
Khan fee ls that the former
Olympic medalist could be the
first world champion from India.
Vijender took his first steps in
the gritty world of professional
boxing last month when he
knocked out Sonny Whiting of
Eng land in his de but at the
Manchester Arena.
It was clinical exhibition from
the Haryana pugilist who took
his time to get the measure of his
opponent in the first round
before unleashing a barrage of
lethal powerpacked punches to
wrap up the issue within three
rounds.
"Vijender did well in his debut.
The fight was good. He is learn
ing quickly. He is slowing himself
down and boxing smartly. I think
he he could be the first world
champion from India," Khan told
IANS.
"It is hard to go from an ama
teur boxer to a professional
boxer. There is a lot of difference
between amateur boxing and the
British professional boxer Amir Khan during a press conference

regarding Super Fight in New Delhi.
professional level. The training,
fighting style, scoring system,
every thing is dif ferent. But
Vijender seems to be handling
the changes well. If he continues
to learn and improve, I definitely
feel that he has a great future
ahead of him," he added.
"Obviously, Vijender is a very

good boxer. He is very smart and
clever."
"We need more people like
Vijender and Mary Kom in India.
People like them are an inspira
tion for the youth which helps to
promote boxing in India."
Tennis star Sania Mirza
India eye second

spot on ICC table
ahead of first Test
Dubai: India will have an oppor
tunity to climb to second posi
tion of the International Cricket
Council's (ICC) Test rankings
when they take on South Africa
in the fourmatch series which
starts in Mohali this week.
However, climbing to the
summit will not be easy for the
fifth ranked Indians. Trailing
top ranked South Africa by a
fraction of a point, the hosts
will have to win all four Tests.
On the other hand, South Africa
will vault to 130 points and
India will plummet to 96 points
if the visitors win all four Tests.
The Test rankings may under
go several changes as Australia,
who currently hold the second
spot on the table, host sixth
ranked New Zealand in a three
match series, including the
firstever day/night Test in
Adelaide.
With thirdranked England
and fourthranked Pakistan,
battling for supremacy in the
ongoing Sharjah Test, the top

six sides in the Test arena are
separated by just 26 points on
the ICC Test Championship
table.
If Pakistan wins the final
Test, then they will move mar
ginally ahead of Australia into
second place for the first time
in nearly a decade, while
England will drop behind New
Zealand to the sixth position by
a fraction of a point.
In the case of England win
ning the Test, both sides will
retain their preseries rankings
and points.
The Test Championship table
will then be updated at the end
of AustraliaNew Zealand
series, which means Australia
will have to win the series by 1
0 or better to ensure it stays
ahead of Pakistan (if Pakistan
w ins 20). In this series,
Australia can rise to as high as
110 points, but can also drop
to as low as 99 points.
ENTERTAINMENT
November 7-13, 2015
73
DHWANI: ENTERTAINMENT TRIPLED

Dhwani was formed in 2002 by the trio of Navin, Sarita and Srriram from
Calcutta and has since then, come a long way in its musical journey.
hwani is the only multi

genre and multilingual
vocal group of its kind from
Kolkata, India. Over the years,
Dhwani has built its reputation
for providing pure entertainment
to their audiences through their
breathtaking performances rein
forced by striking costumes and
props, magical special effects,
stateofthe art technology includ
ing wide screen LED projections
with synchronized visuals and
graphics and extremely talented
Indian and International dance
troupes.
Dhwani was formed in 2002 by
Navin, Sarita and Srriram and has

since then, come a long way in its
musical journey.
With more than 1000 shows
behind them today, both across
India and abroad, Dhwanis talent
has touched audiences every
where.
Their music simply pours
forth...whether it is devotional,
classical, western, pop, disco, rock
n roll, folk, multilingual or bolly
wood chartbusters sung in their
inimitable style.
Theyre
different...theyre
Dhwani!
74
November 7-13, 2015
HUMOR
Funny Side by Nury Vittachi
ARREST ME NOW, I AM CARRYING A BAD DRAWING

M
E: This is not a gun. Its a childs draw

ing of Team Rockets bazooka from the
Pokemon cartoon.
AIRPORT OFFICIAL: You do understand
that we have to take all threats seriously,
sir?
ME: Do I get a final phone call?
***
Actually, perhaps airport officials who say
things like this are right.
A man recently tried to rob a bank with a
picture of a gun, I learned last week.
The bank robber showed the drawing to
the teller.
She told him to go to a particular queue.
He got into the line and waited patiently
but was arrested by police before he got to
the front.
***
This news story from Poland was sent to
me by reader Lana Soto, who asked: Is this
the real life? Is this just fantasy?
***
Good question, Lana. A quick check shows
that its a true story, but at the same time its
clear evidence that planet Earth has fallen
down a rabbit hole into Alices Wonderland.
***
I mean, just think about the conversation

that must have taken place at that bank.
ROBBER: Hands up! I have a picture of a
gun.
TELLER: Yes, sir. Please use the Surreal
Transactions Queue on the left.
ROBBER: Oh. Right. Thanks.
W hat w ill police charge him w ith?
Attempted breach of reality perhaps?
***
Note that if an unknown person does this,
he ends up in jail, but if an artist like
Salvador Dali did it, it would be classified as
a priceless act of Performance Art and
another billion dollars would be added to his
net worth.
***
Fear of pictures is a thing now, a colleague
tells me.
A man tried to rob an allnight Tesco
supermarket near Cambridge in the UK with
a picture of a gun earlier this year.
Police arrested him for making threats to
kill.
***
How do you kill someone with a picture?
Unless of course its a really, really bad
drawing, and the person is a sensitive art
lover with a weak heart.
(Look at the weakness of that stroke! I

cant take it! *Dies.*)
***
I called a travel journo who told me sever
al people have got into trouble at airports
for bearing gun pix.
The oddest case was that of a UK man who
was detained at London Heathrow for trying
to get on a flight wearing a Tshirt with an
image from the movie Transformers, featur
ing a robot whose left arm is a gun.
***
Now had airport officials arrested the guy
for having astonishingly bad taste in movies,
I think the whole world would have a
pplauded.
But they detained him as a security risk,
evidently anticipating a scene like this.
FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Run! He has a pic
ture of a Decepticon on his Tshirt.

PASSENGER: Put your hands up or I will
tell you the plot of all four movies.
PILOT: Please! I have children.
***
If pictures and reality are now of ficially
the same thing it means that ancient Greek
scientist Plato (and the many modern scien
tists who agree with him) are right when
they say ideas are the only reality.
Which is kinda cool.
**
To confirm this, I would like all readers to
conjure up a mental image of a lovesick
Taylor Swift banging on my door, demand
ing entry.
I cant hear anything yet, but Im willing to
wait.
Taylor sweetie, I'm ready for you.
Laughter is the Best Medicine
BEST
RATE
FOR
INDIA
AND
PAKISTAN
New York Head Quarter
422S Broadway
HICKSVILLE
NY 11801
5168271010
by Mahendra Shah
Mahendra Shah is an architect by education, entrepreneur by profession, artist and
humorist, cartoonist and writer by hobby. He has been recording the plight of the
immigrant Indians for the past many years in his cartoons. Hailing from Gujarat,
he lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
DIWALI SPECIAL
November 7-13, 2015
76
ASTROLOGY
November 7-13, 2015
Chandigarh, India: +91-172- 256 2832, 257 2874;

Delhi, India: +91-11- 2644 9898, 2648 9899;
psharma@premastrologer.com; www.premastrologer.com
By Dr Prem Kumar Sharma
Stars Foretell: November 7-13, 2015

ARIES: If you have to complete a job in a timely
manner, ensure that you dont
digress and achieve it. You will
need to keep your team mem
bers motivated at work. Financial
concerns will need to be
addressed soon, before they become
too big to handle. Cater to the likes and dislikes
of a family elder, even if you have to compro
mise your style. Romance will be on your mind,
but it may be difficult to find love. If travel is
not your priority this week, postpone it for
some other week.
TAURUS: This is an excellent time to think out

the ways to increase your income.
Keeping a close tab on spending
will leave you with much to
splurge later! Your selfdiscipline
regarding food and drink will keep
you in top physical condition. Soaring
reputation on the work or academic front will
place you a cut above the rest.
You are likely to come into the eyes of those
who matter on the professional front. Family
life will be endearing and tempt you to spend
more time at home.
GEMINI: A discussion with peers in your profes

sion will prove fruitful. If you are
venturing into something new on
the business front, you can expect
the support of some already
established people. Financial gains
are foretold. Past investments will
come in handy now. You enjoy good health by
adopting a fitness regimen. A family member
may question you on something you usually
dont like to discuss. Lover may not be able to
give full time to you. Those planning to move
houses will manage to find a suitable one.
CANCER: You can be pulled up for something

that you are lagging behind in at
work. Arguing with those who
matter will just not be in your
interest, so keep your cool.
Spouse may accuse you of not
doing enough on the domestic front.
Students may not fare too well in academics.
Someone can convince you to settle for a small
er sum for your services, whereas you could
have commanded much more. Some of you can
feel low and fatigued on the health front. Love
life holds some promise.
LEO : Concern for someone close will prompt

you to keep a close watch on his or
her health. Good work of those
working under you is likely to
boost your earning. Professionals
will find a distinct increase in
clientele as their reputation spreads.
You can neglect family by focussing too much
on work. A transfer order is like ly to be
received by some for some other city. Lover can
force you to make a commitment, but take your
time. You feel energetic this week and are ready
to take on much more.
VIRGO: An opportunity for meeting a distant

re lative may come to you and
should not be missed. A ceremo
ny or celebration at home can
keep you in an excited state of
mind. Someone you have a soft
corner for is likely to warm up to you.
A long journey is likely to become interesting as
you find likeminded fellow travellers.
Those planning to buy a property will find it
easy to raise a home loan. Rising prices may
find some reluctant even to spend on the
essentials.
LIBRA: Some new professional avenues are set

to open. Your competence is likely
to bring some lucrative opportu
nities. Good job negotiation is
likely to get some recruited into
a higher salary group. A bonanza
is likely for jewellers and goldsmiths.
Domestic concerns can keep you in a thought
ful mood this week. You may not be entirely
satisfied with the performance of a family
youngster. There is a limit to which you can go
on the romantic front, make it clear to your
lover. A minor infection can trouble some.
SCORPIO: You are likely to enjoy excellent

health. Those suf fering from a
lifestyle disease will find a dis
tinct improvement in their con
dition. You can expect luck to
shine on you at work. Something
that you were apprehensive of is like
ly to turn out favourable. You may host a party
at home for your near and dear ones, so expect
the home front to turn joyous. Some of you can
strike a friendship that may turn into some
thing serious. Meeting folks on leave is likely
for those separated from family.
SAGITTARIUS: A miscalculation on the profes

sional front can cost you dear, if
you are not careful. Competition
at work is likely to stiffen with
the arrival of a young profession
al. You can feel ignored on the
social front and there is nothing much
you can do about it. Your attempts at recreating
the good old weeks on the domestic front may
fail as there will be no takers. Differences may
lead to fights and strain your relationship on
the romantic front. Your penny pinching ways
can be resented by those around you.
CAPRICORN:Those with a medical problem may

not be fully satisfied by the line of
treatment they are being given.
Taking a second opinion will be
a step in the right direction. It is
best to make some lifestyle
changes to save money rather than
become monetarily tight. You hate to inconven
ience anyone, but at times even you cant help
it! Do what needs to be done. Homemakers can
plan on bringing about certain changes on the
home front. Some students can have second
thoughts about the line they have chosen.
AQUARIUS : It will give you an inner satisfac

tion to bring the one you have
been keeping at an arms length,
closer. You can get romantically
involved with someone you have
a liking for and an outing together
cannot be ruled out. An overseas jour
ney is on the cards for some.
Those dealing in real estate can expect to seal a
good deal. Some modifications may have to be
made in a work related issue. Some of you are
likely to fare well in an internal assessment at
work.
PISCES: This is an excellent time to plan a fami

ly outing. Some of you are likely to
get social mileage out of a func
tion that you have organised.
Romantic life promises to be
scintillating as you get lots of
time to be with lover. Changes on
the work front that you are apprehensive about
will not affect you much. Money from various
sources will contribute towards your financial
stability. Those undertaking a long journey will
need to prepare well to avoid hardships en
route. Take up a health activity to keep fit.
Annual Predictions: For those born in this week
7th November, 2015

Ruled planet: Neptune Ruled by no: 7
Traits in you: Being under the influence of Neptune,
you are born to be responsible, affectionate, creative,
reliable and highly emotional. You possess the qual
ity and courage to brave any unfavorable condition
to adapt with it or win over it. You need to work on
your stubbornness to enhance the charm in your
personality.
Health this year: You may undergo various health re
lated issues. You have to take enough stress regard
ing you law matters as they will not be solved easily.
However, you will find peace and happiness because
of financial improvements, improvement in life style,
and spiritual beliefs.
Finance this year: You may receive cash as gifts this
year from your guests and relatives. Your financial
condition would be mediocre with not much loss.
Career this year: You need to listen to others opinions
to get benefited professionally. You will find new and
exciting job offers, which will prove instrumental in
improving your financial position this year. You will
be able to fulfill your long cherished dreams. You may
find your subordinates difficult to handle.
Romance this year: You will find your life romantic
enough and it would add some extra spice to your
life style.
Lucky month: January, May, September, November
8th November, 2015
Ruled planet: Saturn Ruled by no: 8
Traits in you: As Saturn guides you, you have all the
characteristics to be a lively, reliable, efficient, and
temperate person. You are the owner of an attractive
and charismatic personality.
Health this year: you may undergo few minor health is
sues. However, your overall health should remain fine.
Finance this year: You will be able to accumulate
enough money this year as you will be moving to
wards a successful future. You will be benefitted
from any new venture or association.
Career this year: You are appreciated by your col
leagues and ordinates for your hard work and effi
ciency. You will prove to be an excellent resource in
your professional life as you are productive. Howev
er, you need to work on your nervousness and lazi

ness at times. You may require a technology upgra
dation or renovation to improve your efficiency at
work in the middle months of the year.
Romance this year: You will gain lots of love and care
from your spouse or partner. Some of you may find
this year romantic enough to be in a good spirit.
Some may tie their knots.
Lucky month: February, June and October
9th November, 2015

Ruled planet: Mars Ruled by no: 9
Traits in you: Being ruled by Mars, you are endowed
with energy. You are energetic, dependable & organized.
Health this year: This year you will remain healthy.
You may lose things both personally and personally
being emotional. You may visit a distant pilgrimage
to attend an auspicious occasion towards the end of
the year to attain mental health which is contami
nated due to pressure and overload of work.
Finance this year: Your financial condition may im
prove this year thanks to your previous investments.
You need to invest your life time investment intelli
gently so that you need not repent later.
Career this year: You have the ability to make quick
decisions. You are capable enough to get rewards
and appreciation for your efficiency in your profes
sional field. However, you should control your jeal
ousy to improve your personality. You should not try
to do things beyond your capabilities. It may land
you in difficulties.
Romance this year: Your romantic life would be an
excellent one this year as you will be able to clarify
past misunderstanding with your partner.
Lucky month: April, July and October
10th November, 2015
Ruled planet: Sun Ruled by no: 1
Traits in you: Being under the guidance of Sun, you
are active, dynamic, authoritative, brilliant and tal
ented. You have the ability to initiate new ideas and
work on them. However, you need to work on your
stubbornness to become a better individual.
Health this year: You may suffer from joint pain or
high blood pressure this year. Gowever, proper med
ication would help you maintain a good health.

Finance this year: You will find new ways to enhance
your confidence to earn and improve your financial
condition. Your professional journeys will pay off and
you will be successful in your deals this year. You
should invest in a house or selected socks to get bet
ter benefits. If you schedule business trips abroad,
you may find a chance to meet old friends and get
new opportunities to improve your business. You
may end up spending a lot of money in your legal is
sues as they will be stretched more than expected.
Career this year: The following year will bring you
lot of promises and surprises to cherish in your ca
reer. You may get rewards for your work. Your long
cherished dreams may get fulfilled this year.
Romance this year: You will find your spouse or part
ner supportive and understanding enough to help
you in critical situations this year.
Lucky month: January, May, July and November
11th November, 2015

Ruled planet: Moon Ruled by no: 2
Traits in you: As you are ruled by Moon, you are
simple, honest, and cooperative. You are fond of
peace and harmony.
Health this year: You may get worried for your par
ents health and increasing household expenditure.
Finance this year: You may establish new contacts
and partnerships this year. You will get benefitted
from your previous investments. You may gain un
expectedly, which will improve your financial posi
tion much better than expected.
Career this year: You have ample new and innovative
ideas. You are a perfectionist in whatever you do.
However, you have to control your whim and jealousy
to succeed in your life. This year will fulfill all of your
dreams by providing you with lot of opportunities.
Romance this year: You will find your spouse sup
portive enough to your concerns and provide you
with love and affection.
Lucky month: May, July and December
12th November, 2015
Ruled planet: Jupiter Ruled by no: 3
Traits in you: Jupiter signifies ambition, dignity, and
independence. You are blessed with all these char

acteristics and you are kind hearted as well.
Health this year: You may plan for a pilgrimage or a
distant journey to find mental peace and take rest
from your busy schedule, which makes you weak
physically.
Finance this year: This year will be very fruitful for
you in terms of investments. If you want to invest in
the stock market, you will be benefited hugely. This
year is the best time to go for property.
Career this year: You will be enjoying a good posi
tion and respect in your professional life. However,
you should not behave dominant this year. It may af
fect your life negatively. If you are in creativity field,
you may gain lot of recognition and of course mon
ey will follow. You will find help from your near ones
when required. This will be a major boost to your
professional life.
Romance this year: You may plan for a romantic trip
with your partner to a distant place.
Lucky month: March, June and November
13th November, 2015
Ruled planet: Uranus Ruled by no: 4
Traits in you: Being an active, sensible, enthusiastic,
authoritative, and energetic person, you have
enough capability to perform very well in your pro
fessional career.
Health this year: You will find improvements in your
health though working long at office.
Finance this year: Some of you may visit abroad for
business trips as you areplanning to enhance your
business territory. You will get success in you new
ventures and this will make you financially stable.
Career this year: Your intelligence will enable you
create wonders in your profession. However, you
should work on your impatience, whim and stub
bornness. You should plan something to execute
your plans in this year. You will find luck and success
easily this year if you grab the opportunities at right
times. You will find good opportunities by develop
ing new relationships and attachments.
Romance this year: Some of you may get married to
your desired partners this year.
Lucky month: February, May, August and October
DIWALI SPECIAL
November 7-13, 2015
DIWALI SPECIAL
November 7-13, 2015

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The South Asian Times

Vol.8 No. 27 November 7-13, 2015 60 Cents

New York Edition

The South Asian Times

Vol.8 No. 27 November 7-13, 2015 60 Cents

New York Edition

CRASHED RUSSIAN PLANE BLACK

were scrambling to evacuate pas

flights halted on the recommenda

Exit polls predict photofinish in Bihar

Minister Nitish Kumar's Grand

BJP, and another gave an upper

Detailed story on page 18.

New Delhi/Mumbai: As the nation

Amazon locked in noholds barred

Cricket stars descend on America to promote the game

DIWALI SPECIAL 29-62

November 7-13, 2015

U.S. boosts airport security

all 224 people aboard were killed.

ary security measures" will be increased.

Obama rejects Keystone XL pipeline project

Blind students celebrate Diwali at Kamla Mehta blind school

TransCanada "would not serve the nation

New Delhi Bureau

Managing Editor: Parveen Chopra

President: Arjit Mehta

Contributing Editors: Meenakshi Iyer,

Strategy and Marketing

Cartoonist: Mahendra Shah

November 7-13, 2015

2 Sikhs among 4 IndoCanadians in Trudeaus Cabinet

Harjit Sajjan has been made

New York: Macys will help illumi

Indiaborn firsttime Sikh MP

assortment of gourmet sweets,

was given the Meritorious Service

TWO SURPRISES IN NASSAU

Macys celebrates Diwali

Navdeep Bains, science & economic development minister,

member of the WSO which is

what seemed to have worked?

Elsewhere it was status quo, and

November 7-13, 2015

US LAWMAKERS CELEBRATE INDIAN

Lawmakers at the annual Diwali celebration on Capitol Hill

celebrates who we are and all our

New York: A New York accounting

whom they opposed. The group

Many of the phone calls to the

Four held for robberies in Indian residents' homes in Texas

residents in the city were being tar

sped from the spot but ultimately

between our two countries, and I

November 7-13, 2015

November 7-13, 2015

US KERALA CENTER TO HONOR SIX INDIAN

Sonal Shah honored for

New Jersey: Basking Ridge resi

when it was signed into law by

said Kerala Centres T hambi

4 Recognition for Outstanding Contribution in Engineering: Dr

Navratri celebrated with gusto