India Herald july92014

India HeraldWeb: www.india-herald.com • Email: [email protected] • Tel: 281-980-6746

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The Janmashtami cele-bration, birthday of Lord Krishna, by Hindus of Greater Houston (HGH) has reached a milestone as the celebration marks the 25th anniversary this year.

The community-wide event will be held at the George R. Brown Convention Center on Saturday, August 23, 2014 in a bigger hall with 135,000 square feet of space, which can accommodate over 10,000 people.

The event will be free and open to all. It presents a perfect opportunity to invite neighbors and colleagues to showcase the rich Hindu culture. HGH, which strives to bring all the Hindus together, has planned special programs for all ages to make this event appeal to a wide section of the community.

HGH has invited a very special guest, Sri Saurabh Raj Jain, an extremely popular television actor of India who plays the role of Lord Krishna in the TV serial “Mahabharath” for the Janmashtami celebrtion this year. It will be a rare opportunity to meet such a great personality

The live garba / dandia

Silver Jubilee Janmashtami packed with exciting events

singing group is specially being fl own in from India which includes the famous Sajda sisters, and lead singer Anita Pandit, who shot to fame in the X Factor talent program on Indian Television.

To add to the diversity, the well known Kirtan (congregational chanting of sacred mantras accompanied by music) singing group, “the Mayapuris”, will also perform at the event.

A traditional welcome will include breathtaking Rangoli (decoration) with ice, depicting Lord Krishna, his beloved cow and a lotus fl ower. This will be

Saurabh Raj Jain as Lord Krishna in the TV serial Mahabharat.

Indo-American Association in collaboration with Sri Meenakshi Temple, Bharati Kalai Manram, and Hindu Temple of Woodlands presents Ballet Durga: Resplendent Glory of the Divine Mother, on Saturday July 19, 8 p.m., at Brown Theatre, Wortham Center, Houston.

The stage rendering of DURGA by a group of 25 male and female dancers led by India’s danseuse celeb Hema

Malini is a humble offering to the Divine Mother.

The worship of God as theUniversal Mother is the purest form of love. The exalted role ofthe Divine Mother in creation,and her boundless mercytowards her children have inspired the great Hindu Sagesto sing her glory with devotion.

The sacred Hindu text forworship of Divine Mother is Devi Mahatmaya. The choreography

See DURGA, Page 11

IMS PRESENTS SITAR RECITAL

Indian Music Society of Houston presents a concert by Ustad Shahid Pervez Khan, India’s fi nest sitar exponent. On Saturday, July 19, at 4 p.m. at the Jones Hall of Univ. of St. Thomas, 3901 Yoakum.

Tickets $25 at www.tickets2events.com

NEW DELHI — Dozens of Indian nurses who had been stranded in Iraqi territory held by Islamic extremists were greeted with hugs and fl owers Saturday as they returned home to southern India aboard a special fl ight. The 46 women had been holed up for more than

a week in Tikrit, where fi ghters of the Islamic State group have taken over. The nurses had been moved to a new area under theextremist group’s control, and fi nally crossed over late Friday into Irbil, in Iraq’s largelyautonomous Kurdish region.

46 Indian nurses stranded in Iraq return home

An Indian nurse, who was among 46 nurses stranded in territory held by Islamic extremists in Iraq, kisses her nephew upon arrival at the airport in Kochi, India, Saturday, July 5.

See Page 11

a perfect picture spot for all friends and families to make the event memorable for years to come.

HGH is also working on a few other specials for this event and will announce them shortly.

Other items such as children’s costume contest, booths by various organizations, beautiful decorations, delicious and ample Indian snack foods, and more will be part of the celebration as in the past.

HGH will also release a special 25th anniversary souvenir with interesting articles about Houston Hindus. For advertisements and article submissions, contact Ravi Sharma 303-589-0053.

Visit www.hindusofhouston.org for more information or contact Chairperson Partha Krishnaswamy (713-962-8523) for event details, Sharad Amin (713-854-0633) for sponsorship / donation opportunities, Richa Dixit (832-451-7206) for volunteer opportunities, Sheetal Rathi (281-597-8794) for costume contest, or Charlie Patel (832-423-7979) for booth information.

PAGE 2 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 2014

Dr Latha Ramchand, Dean of the C. T. Bauer College of Busi-ness at the University of Hous-ton, conducted a follow-up ses-sion for her talk “Mapping Your Future” originally delivered on November 13, 2013 at the Hess Club. Indo-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Hous-ton (IACCGH) also opened it up to women who had missed the previous session and wanted to be part of this “ mentoring circle” event sponsored by Shell.

The Dean’s talk centered on the topic of taking a strategic ap-proach to planning your career. She emphasized the following points:

Follow your heart: While things change and plans must be fl exible, we must start by al-lowing our strengths to inform our career choices. A personal SWOT analysis provides a good starting point. Our passions must ultimately speak to our ‘jobs.’

The power of strategic net-works: Networks are critical and rather than letting the event in our life dictate our networks, we must cultivate networks based on our passions and goals.

List your challenges: Finally we must be clear about our chal-lenges and tackle them head on, whether they are personal habits we need to get rid of, or educa-tion and credentials we need to acquire so we achieve our goals.

Track your progress: Like the way we depend on GPS sys-tems anymore to track our desti-nations and road maps, we must think about career goals in an analytical manner and map out steps to get there, recognizing that there might be traffi c jams not to mention ‘detour’ signs we may have to allow for.

IACCGH President Sanjay Ramabhadran welcomed the guests and the men left the room before the session began. Board member Joya Shukla chaired the event and can be contacted at [email protected] for more information on future events.Srimoyee Bhattacharya, a par-ticipant, said Dr Ramchand’s talk “familiarized me with vari-ous tactics that I can use to im-prove myself on a regular basis. I will look forward to attend more similar events in future.”“She stressed that one should strategize networking and must

COMMUNITY NEWSBusiness school dean Latha Ramchand gives tips on ‘mapping your future’

work towards creating/expanding networks that will help in reaching professional/personal goals. Overall, it was a great workshop which pushed me to think about my goals and strategize them properly in order to achieve them” Bhattacharya added.

Dr. Latha Ramchand (left) and with Indo-American Chamber of-fi cers and participants of the “mentoring circle” event at the Hess Club. The seminar was sponsored by Shell. Photo: Bijay Dixit

INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 2014 • PAGE 3

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COMMUNITY NEWS

SAN ANTONIO: Continuingwith the tradition of offering freemedical services to the local popu-lation, where the annual conven-tion is being held every year,American Association of Physi-cians of Indian Origin (AAPI) or-ganized its annual CommunityHealth Fair in San Antonio, TX onSunday, June 29.

AAPI’s 32nd annual conven-tion, attended by nearly 2,000 del-egates from across the nation con-cluded here.

Hundreds of homeless peoplelined up bright and early on Sun-day morning to avail themselvesof a unique opportunity for freemedical checkup offered by Medi-cal Missions and Community Ser-vice Committee of AAPI at theirdoor steps during the third annualhealth fair organized at “Haven forHope,” a homeless shelter in SanAntonio downtown.

Participants filled out the historyquestionnaire and signed the liabil-ity waiver before going for medi-cal services provided by severaldedicated AAPI members.

“We offered vital signs mea-surement, blood tests for total cho-lesterol, HDL, sugar andnoninvasive hemoglobin and con-sultation with primary care andvarious available specialists in-cluding internist, pediatrician,pulmonologist and critical care,urologist, obstetrician and gyne-cologist, anesthesiologist and pa-thologist,” Dr. Nitin Shah, an or-ganizer of the clinic here and a pio-neering AAPI leader said.

“Having more specialists could

AAPI holds free health fair in San Antonio

have benefited several patients as there was a need for many moremedical and surgical specialists like general surgeon, gastroenterolo-gist, ophthalomologists,” he added.

“Once again, these AAPI members have showed their dedicationby conducting the free Community Health Fair, so well organized bythe host city of San Antonio,” Dr. Ravi Jahagirdar, President of AAPI,while praising the efforts of AAPI members in reaching out to thelocal community during the Convention, said.

Describing them to “role models in selfless service for the youngerAAPI generation,” Dr. Jahagirdar wished “them continued success.”

Lauding the initiative of the AAPI delegates, inspired by AAPI’smission, Dr. Jayesh Shah, immediate past-President of AAPI, stated,“AAPI is built on Core Value of Service.”

And he commended “medical student, resident and fellow sectionand community service committee for continuing this tradition of ser-vice by bringing health care to needy and poor and the homeless pa-tients of San Antonio.”

Dr. Nitin Shah praised the volunteers of Haven for Hope, led byLuke and Annette, who did a stellar job, coordinating all the arrange-ments. They also secured donation of Blankets, undergarments, socks,muffins, and fruits etc. for the participants. “There was no charge forAAPI to use the facility. Their help was invaluable!” Dr. Shah said.

Dr. Sudhir Gogu, Dr. Nick Shroff, Dr. Nitin Shah, his wife Mrs.Kinna Gandhi and the Jagirdar family, including Dr. Jaishree Jagirdar,her husband Sudhir and daughter Sima were present for during theentire half day, helping at various stages of the Clinic.

The health fair offered vital signs measurement, blood tests for totalcholesterol, etc and consultation with primary care and other specialists


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VOICES

THE LIGHTER SIDE

A Stronger AadhaarFor weeks now, the fate of Aadhaar, the UPA’s ambitious biometric

ID program, has looked uncertain. The Narendra Modi governmentscrapped the cabinet committee on the Unique Identification Authorityof India (UIDAI), which issues Aadhaar numbers, earlier this month,touching off speculation that the programme might be relegated. Then,an inter-ministerial meeting last week reportedly discussed mergingAadhaar with the National Population Register, a similar biometric IDscheme with a distinct mandate, conceived by the previous NDA gov-ernment, ostensibly to avoid duplication in data collection.

But now, with the prime minister seeking the speedy achievementof a hundred-crore enrolment target and a fresh impetus to Aadhaar-linked direct benefits transfer schemes, which had been flagging underthe previous government, that misconceived union has fortunately beenput off. It is encouraging that the government appears committed togiving Aadhaar a chance to grow and realise its full potential, despiteits close identification with the UPA regime. The program’s utility liesin its promise to effectively target social entitlement programs to thosewho need them most but are left out of the welfare system becausethey lack the stamp of officialdom to prove they are the intended ben-eficiaries of subsidies and benefits. In addition, Aadhaar can help thestate cut down on the impersonation and duplication in muster rolls andbeneficiary lists that lead to leakage and corruption in social assistanceinitiatives from the PDS to the MGNREGA.

Accused of duplicating the efforts of the NPR and criticised by civilsociety groups concerned about the possibility that such data might bemisused by the government, Aadhaar has faced setbacks almost sinceits inception. In its last months in power, even the UPA seemed to loseits appetite to defend the transformative program it spearheaded, aban-doning direct transfers for LPG cylinders. However, many of the ques-tions that still hang over it — for instance, its privacy implications —might be resolved if it were given a clearer definition in law. The BJPis complicit in Aadhaar’s uncertain legal status — the UPA was forcedto rely on executive orders because the UIDAI bill was held up by theYashwant Sinha-headed standing committee on finance. Now that theModi government has moved towards taking ownership of the pro-gram, it must work to give it the statutory backing necessary to build astronger Aadhaar. — Indian Express

Shadowboxing in Indo-U.S. TiesSomething always seems to come in the way of India and the United

States finding the groove in their relationship. Attempts by the twosides to inject some enthusiasm into bilateral ties despite the spat overthe diplomat Devyani Khobragade and the U.S.’s past coldness to-ward Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue of the Gujarat riots,seem jinxed. The revelation that the U.S. National Security Agencyhad sought and received official permission to put the Bharatiya JanataParty under surveillance in 2010 is the latest hiccup. It overshadowedthe visit by Republican Senator John McCain, chairman of the HouseCommittee on Foreign Affairs. It is not clear what methods of surveil-lance were used, and which individuals in the party were being tar-geted. That this was four years before the BJP became the rulingparty makes it curiouser. There is nothing too surprising in the disclo-sure. Virtually every country spies on every other, and spares no oneof any importance. Espionage is among the oldest professions. Only,the methods have become more advanced and a country’s resourcesdetermine how advanced its technologies are. It is just that the U.S.gets outed more frequently than any other. Describing the surveillanceas “unacceptable”, India summoned senior U.S. diplomats to tick themoff. But New Delhi cannot in all honesty say that it does not spy onpolitical parties in other countries, or even within. So the protest shouldnot be mistaken for a moral stand that there should be no espionage.

Though the Obama administration has made it clear that the PrimeMinister would receive a red-carpet welcome in Washington in Sep-tember, the cancellation of a visa to Modi when he was Chief Ministerhas not been forgotten. From all the outreach to India’s South Asianneighbors, and to China, Russia, France and Singapore, New Delhiseems to be sending out the message that its foreign policy prioritiesare different from its predecessor’s. Assistant Secretary of State NishaBiswal’s visit to make contact with the new government was upstagedby the high-profile arrival of the Chinese Foreign Minister. But goodU.S.-India ties are in the “enlightened national interest” of both sides.A way must be found to break the ice before the September Washing-ton summit. — The Hindu

By Laura Wides-Munoz &Paul WisemanThe Associated Press

Kelly Parker was thrilled whenshe landed her dream job in 2012providing tech support for Harley-Davidson’s Tomahawk, Wiscon-sin, plants. The divorced motherof three hoped it was the begin-ning of a new career with themotorcycle company.

The dream didn’t last long.Parker claims she was laid off oneyear later after she trained herreplacement, a newly arrivedworker from India. Now she hasjoined a federal lawsuit alleging theglobal staffing firm that ranHarley-Davidson’s tech supportdiscriminated against Americanworkers — in part by replacingthem with temporary workersfrom South Asia.

The firm, India-based InfosysLtd., denies wrongdoing and con-tends, as many companies do, thatit has faced a shortage of talentand specialized skill sets in the U.S.Like other firms, Infosys wantsCongress to allow even more ofthese temporary workers.

But amid calls for expanding thenation’s so-called H-1B visa pro-gram, there is growing pushbackfrom Americans who argue theprogram has been hijacked bystaffing companies that importcheaper, lower-level workers toreplace more expensive U.S. em-ployees — or keep them fromgetting hired in the first place.

“It’s getting pretty frustratingwhen you can’t compete on sal-ary for a skilled job,” said RichHajinlian, a veteran computer pro-grammer from the Boston area.“You hear references all the timethat these big companies ... can’tfind skilled workers. I am a skilledworker.”

Hajinlian, 56, who develops hisown web applications on the side,said he applied for a job in Aprilthrough a headhunter and that thepotential client appeared inter-ested, scheduling a longer inter-view. Then, said Hajinlian, theheadhunter called back and saidthe client had gone with an H-1Bworker whose annual salary wasabout $10,000 less.

“I didn’t even get a chance tonegotiate down,” he said.

The H-1B program allows em-ployers to temporarily hire work-ers in specialty occupations. Thegovernment issues up to 85,000 H-1B visas to businesses every year,and recipients can stay up to sixyears. Although no one tracksexactly how many H-1B holdersare in the U.S., experts estimatethere are at least 600,000 at anyone time. Skilled guest workerscan also come in on other typesof visas.

An immigration bill passed inthe U.S. Senate last year wouldhave increased the number of an-nually available H-1B visas to180,000 while raising fees and in-creasing oversight, although lan-guage was removed that wouldhave required all companies toconsider qualified U.S. workersbefore foreign workers are hired.

The House never acted on themeasure. With immigration reform

considered dead this year in Con-gress, President Barack Obamalast week declared he will useexecutive actions to address somechanges. It is not known whetherthe H-1B program will be on theagenda.

Facebook CEO MarkZuckerberg is among the high-pro-file executives pushing for moreH-1Bs. The argument has longbeen that there aren’t enoughqualified American workers to fillcertain jobs, especially in science,engineering and technology. Ad-vocates also assert that some visaholders will stay and become en-trepreneurs.

Critics say there is no across-the-board shortage of Americantech workers, and that if therewere, wages would be rising rap-idly. Instead, wage gains for soft-ware developers have been mod-est, while wages have fallen forprogrammers.

The liberal Economic PolicyInstitute reported last year that onlyhalf of U.S. college graduates inscience, engineering and technol-ogy found jobs in those fields andthat at least one-third of IT jobswere going to foreign guest work-ers.

The top users of H-1B visasaren’t even tech companies likeGoogle and Facebook. Eight of the10 biggest H1-B users last yearwere outsourcing firms that hireout thousands of mostly lower- andmid-level tech workers to corpo-rate clients, according to an analy-sis of federal data by Ron Hira,an associate professor of publicpolicy at Rochester Institute ofTechnology. The top 10 firms ac-counted for about a third of theH-1Bs allotted last year.

The debate over whether for-eign workers are taking jobs isn’tnew, but for years it centered onlow-wage sectors like agricultureand construction.

Last month, three tech advo-cacy groups launched a labor boy-cott against Infosys, IBM and theglobal staffing and consulting com-pany ManpowerGroup, citing a“pattern of excluding U.S. work-ers from job openings on U.S soil.”

They say Manpower, for ex-ample, last year posted U.S. jobopenings in India but not in theUnited States.

“We have a shortage in the in-dustry all right — a shortage offair and ethical recruiting and hir-ing,” said Donna Conroy, directorof Bright Future Jobs, a group oftech professionals fighting to endwhat it calls “discriminatory hir-

ing that is blocking us from com-peting for jobs we are qualified todo.”

Infosys spokesman Paul deLara responded that the firm en-courages “diversity recruitment,”while spokesman Doug Sheltonsaid IBM considers all qualifiedcandidates “without regard to citi-zenship and immigration status.”Manpower issued a statement say-ing it “adopts the highest ethicalstandards and complies with allapplicable laws and regulationswhen hiring individuals.”

Much of the backlash againstthe H-1B and other visa programscan be traced to whistleblower JayPalmer, a former Infosys em-ployee. In 2011, Palmer suppliedfederal investigators with informa-tion that helped lead to Infosyspaying a record $34 million settle-ment last year. Prosecutors hadaccused the company of circum-venting the law by bringing inlower-paid workers on short-termexecutive business visas insteadof using H-1B visas.

Last year, IBM paid $44,000 tothe U.S. Justice Department tosettle allegations its job postingsexpressed a preference for for-eign workers. And a Septembertrial is set against executives at thestaffing company Dibon Solutions,accused of illegally bringing in for-eign workers on H-1B visas with-out having jobs for them — a prac-tice known as “benching.”

In court papers, Kelly Parkerclaims that she was given positivereviews by supervisors, includingat Infosys, which she maintainsoversaw her work and the deci-sion to let her go. The only com-plaint: Her desk was messy andshe’d once been late.

Neither Parker nor other work-ers involved in similar lawsuits andcontacted by The AssociatedPress would discuss their cases.

Parker’s attorney, DanKotchen, noted that the case cen-ters on discrimination based onnational origin but said that “hiringvisa workers is part of how theyobtain their discriminatory objec-tives.”

Infosys is seeking a dismissal,in part on grounds that it neverhired or fired Parker. Parker washired by a different subcontractorand kept on, initially, after Infosysbegan working with Harley-Davidson.

A company spokeswoman saidInfosys has about 17,000 employ-ees in the U.S., about 25 percentU.S. hires. In filings to the U.S.

Backlash stirs against foreign worker visas

See Page 8


INDIANS ABROAD

Indian Music Society of Houston PresentsA 501 ©(3) Organization Promoting Hindustani Classical Music

India’s Finest Sitarist — Ustad Shahid Pervez Khan

Saturday, July 19 @ 4 p.m.Jones Hall, Univ of St. Thomas

Ticket: $25

Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan comes from six gen-erations of sitarists. He is one of the leadingexponents of the Etawah Gharana. He wastrained by his father and guru, Ustad Aziz Khan.He is one of India’s most celebrated musicians,praised especially for the vocalistic phrasing ofhis raga improvisations.

IMS Programs are partially funded by a grant from Houston Arts Alliance.Programs are subject to change for reasons beyond the control of IndianMusic Society of Houston.

For tickets: Govind 713-922-2501 • Suresh 281-935-4653 or online www.tickets2events.com

3901 YOAKUM Blvd

Gouri Sankar Karmakar on Tabla

Can women have it all?Kardashian jumped into a debate sparked

by the CEO of Pepsico Indra Nooyi, wholast week told an audience that the idea thatwomen can perfectly juggle work and fam-ily commitments is nonsense.

The reality star, speaking to CNBC, saidthose comments are not really very positive.

“My mom taught us girls that we couldhave it all,” said Kardashian, who recentlycelebrated the first birthday of her daughterNorth with husband Kanye West.

Nooyi’s comments took the opposite viewof the “Lean In” case made by FacebookCOO Sheryl Sandberg, who argued in herbestselling book that women can work hardat their careers with nary a compromise tohome life.

Nooyi said it’s a real struggle to raise kidsand climb the corporate ladder, and she saidshe herself had only managed to do it suc-

Kardashian

Nooyi

cessfully with help from family, friends and, in her case, co-workers.Kardashian found that viewpoint discouraging: “If anyone really feels

like they can’t do it all, I feel it’s a little bit discouraging to say that,[and] even if I couldn’t and it wasn’t possible, I would try,” she said.

NEW YORK: Four India-bornAmericans were recognized fortheir contributions to the US alongwith 36 other people in the annualGreat Immigrants tribute in NewYork on the American indepen-dence day.

The July 4 event was sponsoredby the Carnegie Corporation, afoundation started by AndrewCarnegie, a Scottish immigrantwho spearheaded the expansionof the American steel industry inthe late 19th century; in 1911 tohonour immigrants’ contributions.

As it has every year since 2006,the Corporation is honoring a groupof distinguished immigrants andtheir achievements in its “Pride ofAmerica” full-page public servicead in The New York Times. TheCorporation also salutes new andaspiring citizens on the website atgreatimmigrants.carnegie.org

“We owe the vitality, theprogress and the hope we all havefor the future of this nation to thecontributions that each and everycitizen has brought to the banquettable, including those who havecome as immigrants, either re-cently or in the distant past,” saidVartan Gregorian, President ofCarnegie Corporation of NewYork and a naturalized citizen.“Andrew Carnegie was perhapsthe best export of Scotland to theUnited States who subsequentlybecame one of the champions ofAmerican democracy and philan-thropy.”

The Indian-Americans honored

this year, according to the WallStreet Journal were: comedian andactor Aasif Mandvi, MicrosoftCorp chief executive SatyaNadella, Carnegie Mellon Univer-sity president Subra Suresh andformer president of the Universityof West Georgia, Beheruz Sethna.

Born in Mumbai in 1966,Mandvi moved with his family firstto Britain, before moving to the USwhen he was 16. He found fameas a correspondent on “The DailyShow”, where he was known forhis satire on issues including theMiddle East and South Asia.

4 Indians honored for their contributions

Nadella Sethna

Born in Hyder-abad, Nadella stud-ied electronics andcommunication en-gineering at theManipal Institute ofTechnology in Indiabefore heading tothe US in the 1980s.

Suresh, who is anengineer and scien-tist, was born inChennai and movedto the US to work

on a postgraduate science degree,graduating in 1979. He is the ninthpresident of the Carnegie MellonUniversity.

From 2010 to 2013, he servedas director of the National ScienceFoundation. Appointed by USPresident Barack Obama, he ledthe federal science agency in itsmission to advance the fields ofscience and engineering research.

Sethna was born in India in1948 and served as the sixth presi-dent of the University of WestGeorgia - the first Indian-Ameri-can to lead a university in the US.

Sikh group funds education for poorstudents in Punjab

WASHINGTON: A US-based Sikh organization has raised$3,30,000 to fund scholarships for bright but poor students to acquirehigher education in Punjab.

Sikh Human Development Foundation (SHDF) organized a fundraising programme which was attended by Sikh-Americans from acrossthe US. The chief guest of the event, Surender Singh Kandhari, aDubai-based business tycoon, announced a donation of $1,00,000.

"Education is the most important treasure that any young man canpossess and we are privileged to be in a position to help those in needin Punjab. It is our duty to do so. Good education helps in breaking thecycle of poverty. Giving is a virtue and it is a blessing that we are beingasked to give," he said.

"This is also the largest donation ever received by the diaspora com-munity for higher education for students in Punjab. In Indian rupees,this is a little over two crores. And this certainly will have a significantimpact on the future of Punjab," said Dr Rajwant Singh, outreach di-rector of the Foundation.

The foundation has so far provided 3,418 scholarships, including 537for the current academic year.

"More than 1,100 of these children have already graduated andbecome doctors, engineers, scientists, computer, experts and the like.Many are working in companies like IBM, Microsoft, Infosys, IndianSpace Center and other good companies," said foundation's chairmanGajinder Singh Ahuja.


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By Sanchali BasuIf NABC (North American

Bengali Conference) 2014 was asnapshot of things to look forwardto in 2015, we are in for a big treatin Houston in 2015. Orlando,Florida held the NABC 2014 atthe Hyatt Regency Hotel withgreat gusto and enthusiasm fromJuly 4-6. Bengalis from all overthe world assembled in large num-bers to celebrate the annualBengali conference which hasmade it through 34 years success-fully.

The evening of July 4 startedwith the opening ceremony orga-nized by renowned Bharatnatyamexponent Thanakamani Kuttyfrom Kolkata. As registrants stilltried to check into their hotel roomsand collect their registration

badges, vendors ranging from jew-elry, saris, clothing, books, music,DVDs, real estate, banks, TV sta-tions, handicrafts etc. were settingup their stalls in anticipation. Onthe main stage Kanchan Mullickrocked the stage with his stand upcomedy act. Bangla bandChandrabindoo who incidentallywill be performing in Houston atthe TSH program Barnali atDurgabari on July 18 ended theday's proceedings.

The conference packed withbusiness forums, movie screen-ings, university reunions, youthprograms, dramas, music anddance programs had something tocater to every taste and Bengaliswere excited to reconnect with oldfriends and acquaintances. Thesecond day had artists from India,

Prelude to NABC 2015 in Houston

UK and the US performing on 2different stages and went on intothe early hours of the morning withclassical music programs and dra-mas.

The Govt. of West Bengal wasrepresented by principal secretary,Rajiva Sinha, IAS and handicraftsby Bengal artisans were show-cased in the Biswa Bangla booth.NABC 2015 Houston's booth hadopened in the meantime and wasdrawing large crowds with its dis-play of the theme song, marketingvideo and cleverly arrangedKaraoke singing. With ambitious,lofty plans of staging and settingthe NABC 2015 apart from yes-teryears, with its trailblazing ideas,Houston definitely wants to cre-ate an impact and make it a hardact to follow.

In keeping with the theme ofNABC 2015, “Celebrate our heri-

tage and embrace the change”, the goals are set to be accomplishedby working with various different organizations to highlight the gran-deur, artists, crafts, culture and folklore of Bengal and also help witheducation, business entrepreneurship and rehabilitation of the Bauls(singing minstrels) of Bengal.

In association with the Tagore Society of Houston (TSH), NABC2015 expects to raise funds to give back to the local and Bengal com-munity. With a strong supportive WB Govt., a Baul village can be setup in the Birbhum district of WB and the Tagore Center for visual andperforming arts can be built in the museum district of Houston.

The last day of the conference was bittersweet with things wrap-ping up, leaving an emptiness in the heart and at the same time animmense anticipation for the next one. The baton was handed over tothe Houston group.

Sadhana Sargam, Bappi Lahiri and KK kept the audience going tillway past midnight. Houston's registration booth succeeded in getting alot of attendees registered for NABC 2015.

The website is now officially open to register online atwww.nabc2015.org and Hilton of the Americas hotel rooms (connectedto the convention center) can be reserved at a discounted rate afterregistration, while they last. NABC 2015 will be held in Houston fromJuly 10-12 at the Houston George Brown Convention Center.

Attendees from Houston in front of their booth. The next NABC will beheld in Houston July 10-12 at the George R Brown convention center.

Sim Bhullar, first Indian in NBAWASHINGTON: Sim Bhullar has become

the first player of Indian-origin ever to be partof the National Basketball Association (NBA).Bhullar, 21, a centre from New Mexico StateUniversity, has signed a summer contract withthe Sacramento Kings, which, incidentally ismajority owned Indian techie, Vivek Ranadive,founder of Tibco Software.

Although he may not end up playing for theKings when the 2014-2015 season begins laterthis year, he will be on the roster, and that marksan historic first for Indian American athletes.

Bhullar, 7.2 feet tall, has parents hailing from Punjab. He provedadept at playing in the paint, averaging 7.8 rebounds, 3.4 blocks, and10.4 points per game in his two-year career in the New Mexico state.Those numbers may not jump off the page, but they are solid and pointtowards significant potential in the big leagues.

Bhullar’s younger brother Tanveer is also playing college basketballat New Mexico State and hopes to join the NBA as well in the nextyear or two.

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A combination of teach-ing, research and community service has made Shainy Var-ghese a gem to her students and colleagues in the Uni-versity of Houston-Victoria School of Nursing and to her patients in Stafford.

Appropriately enough, Var-ghese, a UHV assistant profes-sor, is one of the recipients of the Nurses.com Texas GEM awards. The award stands for Giving Excellence Meaning. She is the fi rst UHV faculty member to receive the award.

“The award is amazing rec-ognition for her and the uni-versity,” said Kathryn Tart, dean of the UHV School of Nursing. “Dr. Varghese has touched a lot of people through her teaching and tire-less work as a pediatric nurse practitioner. I am so proud of her accomplishment.”

Varghese’s award came in the Home, Community and Ambulatory Care, one of six categories. Varghese and the fi ve other Texas winners ad-vanced to the national contest to compete against nurses from other regions. The na-tional winners will be an-nounced later this summer.

Readers of Nurse.com an-nually nominate exceptional nurses they work with who deserve to be considered for a GEM award.

Judges review and evalu-ate the nominations and nar-row them down to regional fi nalists. In the Home, Com-munity and Ambulatory Care category, three regional fi nal-ists were named: Varghese; Kalinda S. Longino, clinical coordinator for Methodist Mansfi eld Medical Center; and Dana Tian, clinical nurse for the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

“I knew I was a fi nalist, but I never thought I would win the award,” Varghese said. “I had to read the email about the winner a few times because I didn’t think it was intended for me. It fi nally sunk in a lit-tle while later. I was never ex-pecting to win. Even becom-ing a fi nalist was a surprise.”

Varghese said what may have impressed the award judges is her community in-volvement. She said her great-

UHV assistant professor wins nursing excellence award

est contribution is starting a nurse-managed clinic, which has improved access to prima-ry care in Fort Bend County.

“Not everyone is qualifi ed for Medicare; some families fall in the cracks,” Varghese said. “I provide medical care to whoever is in need. It usu-ally is uncommon for a nurse practitioner to start a clinic.”

Varghese said she wanted to do something different when she opened the clinic in 2010 with a collaborating pediatri-cian. She also visits schools to promote the importance of im-munization.

“I’m a quiet person, but I’m ambitious inside,” she said. “I have my goals, and I try to at-tain them. That really aided me in my own education, as

Varghese

I pushed myself to get higher degrees. Starting a clinic was so hard in the beginning, but it’s so rewarding now. I like interacting with children. A lot of them don’t have a mentor or role model because they come from broken families. Talking to them or giving them a pat on the back, gives me a lot of sat-isfaction.”

Varghese earned a bachelor’s degree from the M.G.R. Medi-cal University in India. She ob-tained her Master of Science in Nursing Pediatric Nurse Prac-titioner from the University of Texas Houston Health Science. She earned a doctorate in 2009 from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.

Varghese started as a visiting professor at UHV in 2007 be-

fore permanently joining the faculty in 2009. Her research specialty is telehealth. In 2012, she won a UHV Research Grant Award for her project,

“Integrating the Virtual World of Second Life into Pediatric Nursing Curriculum.”

In 2012, Varghese was hon-ored by the Good Samaritan Foundation with an Excel-lence in Nursing Bronze Med-al for her work as a pediatric nursing educator.

Varghese credited Tart for

encouraging her to come to the forefront and take on new projects.

“Dean Tart has been an in-fl uential factor in my success,” Varghese said. “I also want to thank my fellow nursing fac-ulty members. We encourage each other a lot.”

For more information about the UHV School of Nursing, visit www.uhv.edu/nursing or call 877-970-4848, ext. 4370.


COMMUNITY CALENDAR

or call for info.(713) 665-4665

Chandra & David Courtney Tabla and Vocal

Classes in Houston,Mission Bend,& Sugar Land

Visit www.chandrakantha.com

Classesnow ongoing

Bhagwat Katha byAcharya Mridul

July 18 - 25Acharya Mridul Krishna

Goswami ji of Vrindavan, India,will narrate Shrimad BhagwatKatha att Shrinath Ji Haveli, 11715Bellfort Village Dr. Katha will startat 6 p.m. on Friday, July 18, withKalash Yatra. From 3:00 p.m. to6:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sun-day and from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. onweekdays. Dinner prasad dailyafter Katha. Sponsored by BankeBihari Pariwar of Houston. Forinfo, call 281-491-5814 or [email protected]

ASIE meetingThurs., July 17 @ 6:30 p.m.American Society of Indian

Engineers meeting on “Use ofFlares in Petrochemical Industry.”John Ehlig of Zeeco Inc. is thespeaker. Free event for members.

Non-members and at-the-doortickets without RSVP: $15 perperson. Send RSVP to [email protected] by July 14.

I-Fest 2014Sat., Aug 16 @ 2 p.m.

ICC Houston celebrates IndiaFest 2014- India’s 68th Indepen-dence Day at the Stafford Cen-ter, Cash Rd. from 2 p.m. to 10p.m. Free event, free parking &musical concert. For info callEvent Chair 281-217-7330.

IA Chamber galaSat., Sept 27 @ 6 p.m.

Fifteenth annual gala of theIndo-American Chamber of Com-merce of Greater Houston. AtHilton Americas Hotel, 1600Lamar St. U.S. Senator JohnCornyn is the keynote speaker. Forinfo, call 713-624-7131 [email protected]

Arya Samaj SatsangWeekly Havan Satsang every

Sunday from 10 a.m. to 12 noon.DAV Sanskriti School Sundays 10a.m. to 12 noon. - Havan, Hindiand Naitik Shiksha classes. DAVMontessori School for ages 2 to 7years. Call Arti Khanna 281-759-3286. Free Yoga classes on Sat.Sanskrit & Upanishad classes Tue.6-8 p.m. At 14375 Schiller Rd. (betWestpark & Bellaire off Hwy 6).281-752-0100.

Chinmaya Mission -Summer scheduleOne Session from 6/15 to 8/24;

No classes in July. Sundaysatsanga for adults and Bala Vihar(PreK to Grade 11) from 10:50AM to 12:30 PM at ChinmayaPrabha, 10353 Synott Road, SugarLand, TX77498. Enrolling for new

COMMUNITY CALENDARBala Vihar year. New membersvisit welcome desk 10:15-10:45a.m. Visit www.chinmayahouston.org or call Bharati Sutaria 281-933-0233

Vedanta SocietyVedanta Society of Greater

Houston, 14809 Lindita Drive(77083) has classes every Sun-day from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.on Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, 1st& 3rd Sunday; Bhagavad Gita,2nd Sunday; on works of SwamiVivekananda, 4th Sunday; HolyMother Sarada’s Gospel, 5th Sun-day. Swamis of Ramakrishna Or-der visit to conduct retreats andtalks. www.houstonvedanta.orgor 281-584-0488.

Durga Bari TempleDurga Bari temple is open from

9 to 11 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. Mon.thru Sat. Sandhya aarti at 6:30p.m. Temple closes at 7 p.m. Sun-day special from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.Puja services - Priest BishnupadaGoswami 281-597-8100 Templeis located at 13944 Schiller Rd (offHwy 6 bet. Bellaire & Westpark).Call Ganesh Mandal at 713-797-9057 / 832-423-8541.

Telugu FellowshipTelugu Christian Fellowship

meets every third Saturday of themonth at Triumph Church, 10555W. Airport Blvd., Stafford TX77477 at 6:30 p.m. Join us for atime of praise, worship and fel-lowship. Worship is in English.Call Chris Gantela 281-344-0707,or Rev. V. Gurrala 281-997-0757.

Sahaj Marg MeditationSahaj Marg (Natural Path)

Meditation and Spirituality (www.sahajmarg.org) A natural, simplesystem of Raja Yoga meditationand spiritual practice. Weeklysatsangs held in the Houston area.Email Radheshyam Miryala, MDat meditate_ [email protected] or meditate.galveston@gmail. com.

Heritage ClassesAshirwad’s Heritage Classes

in Katy, Cypress and Sugar Landfor kids 4 to 18 yrs - meditation,Yoga, slokas, stories from scrip-tures, Vishnu Sahasranam,bhajans, competitions and fun ac-tivities. Adult meditation classes.Register at www.ashirwadablessing.org or Sri Ravula 281-995-0930.

Hare Krishna DhamHouston’s original Vedic

temple, ISKCON of Houston. At1320 W 34th St. (77018). DailyDarshan & Arati Times: 4.30am,7am, 8.30am, 12noon, 4.30pm,7pm, 9pm. Sunday Festival: 5.30pm to 7.30 pm. Weekly Gita

classes for adults; call 281-433-1635 or [email protected]

Gandhi LibraryMahatma Gandhi Library Book

Club: Meets 2nd Sunday of eachmonth; 12:30 PM at Arya SamajGreater Houston, 13475 SchillerRd. Join the discussion of the greatman’s autobiography – The Storyof My Experiments with Truth.Call Manish Wani 713-829-6979.

Saumyakasi SivalayaSri Saumyakasi Sivalaya is lo-

cated at Chinmaya Prabha, 10353Synott Road, Sugar Land, TX77478. Temple timings: Monday toFriday: 9:00 AM - 12:00 Noon and5:00 - 8:00 PM Saturday and Sun-day: 8:30-2:00 PM and 5:00 - 8:00PM. Contact Bharti Sutaria 281-568-1690 or Jay Deshmukh 832-541-0059 or visit www.saumyakasi.org.

Veerashaiva SamajaVSNA Houston is a group of

families who believe in Veera-shaiva dharma (Basava dharma).Monthly Mahamane program forprayer and discussion on VachanaSahitya followed by Prasada. Con-tact: [email protected] orJagadeesh Halyal 832-744-4166.

Shiv Shakti MandirSanatan Shiv Shakti Mandir,

6640 Harwin. Open daily 7 a.m.to 8 p.m. All major festivals, as wellas birthdays, naam karan, engage-ment and other ceremonies. CallPandit Virat Mehta 713-278-9099or Hardik Raval 361-243-6539 forpuja or other ceremonies.

Houston NamadwaarA prayer house where the Hare

Rama Hare Krishna Maha-man-tra is continuously chanted. Week-ends: 8-11 AM & 4-7 PM, Week-days: 7-8 AM & 6-7 PM. Weekly“Gopa Kuteeram” children’s heri-tage classes and SrimadBhagavatam classes. Call 281-402-6585; visit www.godivinity.org(Global Organization for Divinity).

Mar Thoma ChurchTrinity Mar Thoma Church ev-

ery Sunday at 5810 Almeda GenoaRd. Sunday School at 9:15 a.m.Malayalam service at 9:30 a.m. on1st & 3rd Sunday. Adult Bibleclass at 9:30 a.m. English serviceat 10:30 a.m. on 2nd & 4th Sun-day. Call 713-991-1557 or 281-261-4603.

Sri GuruvayurappanTemple

Hours: Mon to Fri 6 a.m. -8a.m. and 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.Weekends & Holidays: 6 a.m. tonoon and 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.Bhajans Saturdays 7 p.m. to 8p.m.; Sundays 9 a.m. to 1 a.m.Special poojas (weekends andholidays) Choroon (Annaprasam)for kids, Thulabharam, VahanaPooja, Nirapara. Temple is locatedat 11620 Ormandy St (77035) Tel:713-729-8994 email: [email protected]

Arsha Vidya Bharati

Sanskrit classes and special worship sessions for all ages. At 2918Renoir, Sugar Land, TX 77479.Call 281-606-5607 [email protected]. Web-site: https://sites.google.com/site/avbtexas/classes

Preksha MeditationNew facilities of JVB Preksha Meditation Center. Classes for Yoga

and Meditation under guidance by Samani jis and discourses. Locatedat 14102 Schiller Road (off Hwy 6 bet Bellaire and Westpark - 77082).Tel 281-596-9642.

Patanjali YogpeethFree Yoga Classes every Sat/Sun at Arya Samaj from 8 am to 9:30

a.m. Call Anil 281-579-9433. For other free classes, call Indra 281-537-0018. For Yoga/Herbal products, call Shekhar 281-242-5000. Web:www.pyptusa.org and www.DivyaProducts.com.

Sathya Sai centersSunday program held at two locations (North Houston: 12127

Louetta Rd, Houston, TX 77070, South Houston: 246 Fluor DanielDrive, Sugarland, TX, 77479) from 3:00 pm to 5:30 pm. Sai SpiritualEducation classes for children; study circle for adults. Service pro-grams - food distribution & food drives; nursing home visits, tutoringat schools etc. Contact Sanjay Gupta (North) 832-687-6766 or SondipMathur (South) 832-215-8675 www.sairegion10.org.

Sadhu Vaswani CenterSadhu Vaswani Center of Houston holds regular Satsang on 3rd

Thursday of the month and daily Arti at 7.30 p.m. Call 281 463 0379or e.mail ramolaj@ aol.com

FEEDBACK

Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said it has morethan 22,000 employees with valid temporary work visas, some not inthe U.S.

Stanford University Law School fellow Vivek Wadhwa, a startupadviser, said firms are so starved for talent they are buying up othercompanies to obtain skilled employees. If there’s a bias against Ameri-cans, he said, it’s an age bias based on the fact that older workersmay not have the latest skills. More than 70 percent of H-1B petitionsapproved in 2012 were for workers between the ages of 25 and 34.

Norm Matloff, a computer science professor at the University ofCalifornia, Davis, agreed that age plays into it — not because olderworkers are less skilled but because they typically require higher pay.Temporary workers also tend to be cheaper because they don’t re-quire long-term health care for dependents and aren’t around longenough to get significant raises, he said.

Because they can be deported if they lose their jobs, these employ-ees are often loath to complain about working conditions. And evenhalf the standard systems analyst salary in the U.S. is above what anH-1B holder would earn back home.

Jennifer Wedel of Fort Worth, Texas, publicly challenged Obamaon the visa issue in 2012, making headlines when she asked him via apublic online chat about the number of foreign workers being hired —given that her husband, a semiconductor engineer, couldn’t find work.

Wedel said her husband eventually found a job in the health careindustry, taking a $40,000 pay cut.

“It’s a slap in the face to every American who worked hard to gettheir experience and degrees and has 10 or 15 years of experience,”she said, adding that firms want that experience but don’t want to payfor it. Put simply, she said: “It’s all about the money.”

From Page 4

Stir over foreign work visas

Dear Editor:This refers to Pritish Nandy’s opinion piece “ Achhe Din Ayenge”

and “Tharoor-Aiyer sparring” (India Herald, 18 June 14). It was in-deed “just ‘time pass’ “ reading these two pieces, except that the firstone struck me as too optimistic and the second one too purposeless.

Mr. Nandy sees an “end of dynastic politics”. Just one family andits servants temporarily lying low is not the end of dynasties. Thereare still Yadavs (Lalu and Mulayam), Karunanidhis, Nijalingappas anda new one now - KCR and his two sons occupying 3 cabinet positionsof 11 and the daughter waiting for the 4th when the cabinet expands inTelangana, just to mention a few. Nandy is too optimistic about cor-ruption ending, inspection raj ending, Indian money stashed secretlyabroad returning overnight etc., mentioning at the same time ‘covertdeals’ the unscrupulous politicians are trying to strike. The fair weatherfriends, who have suddenly developed a liking for Modi and waitingfor their own strike at the opportune moment have to be watched too.

The ‘time-pass’ of Tharoor-Aiyer sparring reminds me only thatTharoor is comparatively a newcomer to Indian politics and is not yetcontaminated by dynastic influence, whereas Aiyer has always beenfull of mud.

Prabhu NarumanchiHouston, TX

Pritish Nandy is too optimistic


INDIA

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NEW DELHI: The crowningof Prime Minister NarendraModi’s closest confidant AmitShah as the new Bharatiya JanataParty president capped a phenom-enal and rapid rise for the party’skey election strategist who craftedan unprecedented victory in UttarPradesh.

In the process, the controver-sial yet politically suave Shah, 50,

Master strategist Amit Shah to lead BJP

scripted history by becoming theyoungest president of the party inwhich veterans have called theshots since its inception.

Home minister Rajnath Singhon Wednesday announced that hewas stepping down as the BJPpresident and declared Shah as hissuccessor.

Addressing a news confer-ence, Rajnath Singh lauded Amit

Shah’s “management skills” andcredited him with the BJP’s suc-cess in Lok Sabha election inUttar Pradesh.

Considered an invaluabledeputy to any neta, he has takenless than a year to catapult him-self from a Gujarat BJP strongmanto the party’s supremo on the na-tional stage.

Most leaders in the BJP agreethat Shah, who was associatedwith the RSS in his early days, hasearned every bit of his success.

What worked eventually infavour of Shah was his extra-or-dinary political performance in UPwhere as BJP’s general secretaryin-charge he led the party to adream run wresting 71 of the to-tal 80 Lok Sabha seats in the po-litically crucial state.

Together with Apna Dal, a newally which Shah got on board, theBJP won 73 seats in the state leav-ing a handful for the ruling SP andthe Congress in the state.

Shah’s organizational skillscame in handy for the BJP in bor-dering Bihar as well where theparty forged alliances with the

LJP and OBC strongman Upender Kushwaha to score a staggering22 alone and 31 out of 40 seats with allies and reducing the state’sincumbent JD(U) government to a virtual naught.

With his master act of scripting LJP leader Ram Vilas Paswan’sreturn to the NDA fold after over a decade since Godhra riots, Shahmanaged a massive political makeover for his boss Modi, who hadlong been denounced by Paswan for the 2002 Gujarat riots.

That apart, Shah’s poaching of LJP and Kushwaha who had beeneager to ally with the Congress, forced political realignments in Biharwith the JD(U) and Lalu Prasad’s RJD coming together to face theBJP’s new political challenge.

UP, Bihar and Gujarat put together, Shah’s stamp was visible in halfof the total number of seats the BJP won in the 16th Lok Sabha elec-tions, driving the party to its best-ever performance under the Modi-Shah combine.

Political acumen apart, Shah’s controversial past has continued tohaunt him until lately. Accused of fake encounters involving SohrabuddinSheikh, Tulsi Prajapati among others, Shah spent three months in theSabarmati jail before he secured bail in 2010.

The bail cleared the hurdles in the way of Shah’s imminent rise inthe BJP where he enjoys complete trust and backing of Modi.

Shah was elevated as BJP’s general secretary in-charge of UPwhere he had less than a year to deliver as LS polls drew near.

He executed his brief to perfection, eventually beating competitionwithin the BJP to emerge as party president ahead of state elections inHaryana and Maharashtra this year and Jharkhand and J&K nextyear. Shah’s appointment reflects BJP’s urge to consolidate its elec-toral gains further and expand its national footprint.

His rise equally marks a generational shift in the party which ismore ready than ever to trust youngsters over veterans.

Outgoing BJP chief Rajnath Singh congratulates Amit Shah. Lookingon is Prime Minister Narendra Modi (center).

Onion shortage after best harvestPACHORE WANI: Indian farmer Ranganath Watpade made a

killing last year by putting off selling his onions until four months afterhe harvested them. This year, the same trick has backfired.

The country has produced a record harvest, but many farmers inthe onion bowl of Maharashtra have lost a large share of their cropdamaged in storage, adding to the country’s inflation woes.

A doubling in retail prices across major cities is especially troublingfor staples such as onions, an ingredient that is present in just aboutevery Indian meal.

Unseasonal weather, hoarding and price manipulation have in thepast led to dramatic price rises, and the new administration of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi is anxious to avoid the political fallout thathas hit other governments over the cost of the food.

Supply shocks like these complicate the government’s task of bat-tling weak growth and inflation. It also underlines the irony of highfood costs in India, which after China is the world’s biggest fruit andvegetable producer.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s budget on Thursday will have tonavigate through these issues as he must address inflation while steer-ing away from populist measures such as food and fuel subsidies.Annual wholesale prices in May rose to a 5-month high of 6.01 per-cent.

Importing onions would be the only effective way to curb soaringprices, agriculture experts say, but similar steps in the past have failedto ease supplies.

Prices are unlikely to calm before December. Planting of the newseason crop has been delayed by scorching heat and subdued rainfall,blunting the affect of emergency measures by the government aimedat getting supplies to market and keeping a lid on prices.

“At the time of storage the bulbs looked good, but as I started pull-ing them out last week I realized that the ones at the bottom of theheap were rotten,” said Watpade, 62.

In spite of the experience in Watpade’s village, India’s onionproduction was estimated at a record 19.3 million tonnes in the yearending June 30, up nearly 15 percent from the previous year. But thathas been too little to calm prices.

Talks with UAE on strategic oil storage leaseNEW DELHI: India is in talks to lease part of its planned strategic

storage to United Arab Emirates’ state oil company ADNOC, twogovernment sources said, as New Delhi moves to protect its economyagainst crude price shocks and supply disruptions.

India, the world’s fourth largest oil consumer, imports about 80 per-cent of its oil needs and is building emergency storage capacity tohedge against energy security risks, Reuters reported.

India had initially planned to fill the oil storage without overseasparticipation, but it is now drawn to deals similar to those that the AbuDhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) struck earlier with Japanand South Korea.

Such a deal would take into account India’s growing role as a re-gional refining hub. The South Asian nation imports around 16 milliontonnes of crude a month - more than it consumes - and exports abouta third of that as refined products.

“Final details of the plan are yet to be worked out but they (ADNOC)have said they can take up to 2 million tonnes capacity,” said one ofthe sources, referring to a recent meeting between ADNOC repre-sentatives and Indian officials. This source said Kuwait had also showninterest in leasing part of the Indian storage space but that “talks withADNOC are at an advanced stage”.


INDIA

In a marked departure from past Rail Budgets, the NDA government, in its fi rst year, has refrained from announcing a bouquet of sops, focussing in-stead on measures like private investments — both domes-tic and foreign — to bring the Railways back on track.

Having already effected a 14.2 per cent increase in pas-senger fares and 6.5 per cent increase in freight rates last month, no fresh revision of fares was announced. Instead, the government proposed pri-vate and Foreign Direct Invest-ment (FDI) and Public-Private Partnership (PPP) to meet the resource crunch.

Presenting his fi rst Rail Bud-get on Tuesday, Railways Min-ister D V Sadananda Gowda said the FDI policy will be tweaked to allow foreign in-vestors to park their money in the rail sector. The hitherto unremunerative PPP policy will also be changed to make it more attractive for private companies. The minister ut-tered the term “PPP” 12 times in various contexts related to increasing earnings.

Gowda said the manner in which the Indian Railways has been governed would not work anymore. He said in the past Railways’ investments had been “misdirected” and the “tariff policy adopted lacked rational approach”.

He made it clear that since the department does not have any funds, he had decided to go for a “near Plan holiday”. “I am sure my esteemed predecessors were aware of this precarious situation. But they, however, fell prey to the nasha (intoxi-cation) of claps in the House when they announced these projects,” said Gowda.

The government did not an-nounce any new projects. In-stead, funds have been allocat-ed for ongoing projects which are either in advanced stages of completion or are required for capacity building. Thirty such projects needed for capacity augmentation have been listed, for which the Railways has set aside Rs 2,200 crore. These do not include the works accord-ed “national project” status, funded through gross budget-ary support. There are a total of 362 ongoing projects.

The number of surveys for new lines has been restricted to 18, doubling and gauge conver-sion to only 10 lines. However, Gowda announced 58 new trains, over and above the new trains already announced in the Interim Budget in February.

The Plan outlay of Rs 65,445 crore, an increase of Rs 6,086 crore over the revised estimates of Rs 59,359 of 2013-14, is the highest ever. The allocation to sanitation-related activities has been hiked by 40 per cent and safety-related upgrade by 12 per cent over the previous bud-get.

Gowda indicated that the Railway Board may see struc-tural changes as its current structure is “unwieldy”.

“It is unheard of — a busi-ness that has a monopoly, that has a nearly 125 crore customer base, that has 100 per cent sale on advance payment, but (is) still starved of funds,” said Gowda. He said he had heard this said “by someone,” but did not understand its full meaning till he took a look at the Rail-ways’ books.

While the operating ratio (money spent to earn every Rs 100) deteriorated to 93.5 per cent by the end of 2013-14 fi scal, the Railways Ministry hopes to achieve an operating ratio of 92.5 per cent by the end of this fi scal. Interestingly, the UPA’s interim budget had pegged the operating ratio at 90.8 per cent.

In his fi rst reaction to the Rail

Budget, Prime Minister Naren-dra Modi said, “This Budget strengthens institutional mech-anism. It focuses on transpar-ency and integrity. It shows the important role of Railways in India’s development journey.”

In keeping with the BJP’s election manifesto, Gowda said work will begin on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train corri-dor, for which a token Rs 100 crore has been allocated. This is part of the “Diamond Quad-rilateral” of high-speed trains. The total investment required for one corridor is estimated to be about Rs 62,000 crore. The Railways Ministry plans to raise a part of the funds through the PPP and FDI routes.

There are also plans to run semi-high speed trains (160-200 kmph) in short distances on nine identifi ed routes, like Del-hi-Agra, Delhi-Chandigarh and Mumbai-Goa, Delhi-Kanpur

Indian railway budget breaks new ground: Fewer sops; focus on improving services

and others.The new measures an-

nounced are relatively low cost and include many ideas that the Railways has been trying out in the past. All major stations and many important trains will have

wi-fi connectivity. Stations will get solar power with the help of private participation. Some pil-grimage circuits will get new dedicated trains. But more than the new proposals, the focus is on improving existing services.


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DurgaFrom Page 1of Ballet Durga is based on the Charitas (stories) from this text as well as the common folklore of Sati, Parvati, and Durga, in that order.

In Act 1 of the ballet, Hema Malini portrays the manifestation of Divine Mother as Sati; in Act

2 as Parvati; and in Act 3 as Durga, the Adi Shakti (eternal power) that combats demons who threaten the stability of the cosmos.

Sati, Parvati, Durga, Kali, Chandika are different aspects of one and the same goddess-the consort of Shiva, who takes birth again and again to protect creation.

Dazzling costumes, elaborate lighting plots, meticulous choreography using multiple classical and contemporary Indian dance styles, and soulful devotional music by celebrated Ravindra Jain make the two and a half hour Ballet DURGA an artistic and spiritual treat. It is like watching a mythological fi lm live on stage!

The Indian government organized an Air India plane to fl y the nurses home from Irbil. After a brief refueling stop in Mumbai, the plane landed in Kochi, in the nurses’ home state of Kerala.

Outside Kochi’s airport, hundreds of friends and relatives of the women greeted them with hugs and fl owers. The nurses all looked exhausted and emotional, with one hugging her young nephew tightly.

Just a day after 46 Indian nurses returned home safely from militancy-hit Iraq, two UAE-based businessman have offered them cash assistance and jobs in their chains of hospitals in the country.

Dr BR Shetty, CEO and managing director of the Abu Dhabi-based NMC Healthcare

Group, and Dr Azad Moopen, chairman of Aster DM Healthcare, have both stepped in to assist the nurses who hail from the southern Indian state of Kerala.

“The NMC Group has extended an open invitation to all the nurses who had been struggling in Iraq for several days. If you’d have seen their plight in Iraq, you’d understand why we extended them this offer to work in any of the NMC Group hospitals in India, UAE, Nepal, or Egypt,” Dr Shetty told Emirates 24|7.

“The Kerala government too has offered them jobs in the government hospitals there,” he added.

Aster DM Healthcare’s Dr Moopen, on the other hand, has offered the nurses jobs with the Aster group in India and GCC, besides offering Rs25,000 (about Dh1,500) each to help cover any immediate debt.

NursesFrom Page 1

Indian nurses arrive at Kochi airport in Kerala



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With much pomp and cer-emony, Rath Yatra was cel-ebrated at Durgabari on June 29th. Well attended by more than 1000 people, this year marks the 3rd year in a row and it’s fast becoming a tradi-tion at Durga Bari.

People fl ocked to the tem-ple early morning that day and waited patiently as Mahama-hopadhyay Dr. Bishnupada Goswami of Durga Bari, Sri Srikiran Narayanam from In-dia Cultural Center and Tem-ple, Memphis and Dr. Amrit Achari from Durga Bari con-ducted the Puja.

After the Puja, Pahandi Bije started, in which the deities were brought from the temple on to the Rath. This was com-pleted with the help of several eager devotees who were de-lighted having the chance to hold the deities.

After all the deities in-cluding Nrushingha and Lord Ganesh were situated prop-erly on the Rath, a ceremonial King Indradyumna, Dr. Raghu Dass performed the Chhera Panhara(brooming) ceremony to cleanse the path of prog-ress for the Rath. Kirtan, led by Sripad BV Tirtha Maharaj from Sri Govindji Gaudiya Matha, Chants of Maha Man-tra and Jai Jagannatha fi lled the air as devotees started pull-ing the Rath.

With great enthusiasm, the devotees pulled the Rath three times within the temple prem-ises to symbolize the journey of Lord Jagannatha, Lord Bal-abhadra and Devi Subhadra to their aunt’s house (Gundicha Temple). Once the Rath pull-ing was complete, devotees made a bee line to climb onto the Rath to see their beloved Lord and have a chance to touch them and do pradak-shina around the singhasana of the deities.

After that it was time for the devotees to get to Kala Bhavan to get lunch Prasa-dam, which was prepared so lovingly by Durga Bari volun-teers.

Then on July 5th, Bahuda Yatra or Return Rath Yatra was celebrated. Bahuda Yatra is the return journey of Lord

Jagannatha, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra from their Aunt’s house to the main tem-ple.

It is signifi cant in the sense that it completes Rath Yatra. This is the only day in the year when Rasgulla is offered to the Lord.

As per the rituals in Puri, Rasgulla is offered by Lord Ja-gannatha to Goddess Laxmi to enter into the temple.

Char Dham Hindu temple and Houston Durga Bari Soci-ety are truly grateful to all the devotees and volunteers for participating in the festivities and making it a grand success.

For more information please visit, http://greaterhoustonra-thyatra.org or http://skaifoun-dation.

Bahuda Yatra: Return of the chariot

Devotees bring the chariot back after the yatra at the Durgabari Temple complex.


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A Hearty Invitation to all Hindu Devotees to celebrate

Shraavan Maas — July 27 to August 25

Sanatan Shiv Shakthi Mandir is located at 6640 Harwin Dr. Note: We do not have any other Temple at 5645 Hillcroft Ste: 701

Let us Celebrate Shraavan Maas The First Jyotir Lingam, a Replica of Bhagvan Somnath & Maa Shri

Umiyaji, in Houston. Please Come with your family and Friends and pray at Our New Temple.

• Mahapuja Every Monday at 5:00 PM. Arati 7:00 pm. • List your name for Pooja with the Priest. Abhishek will continue

for the whole day. • For Mahapooja, a donation of $201.00 is appreciated, Abhishek

during daytime a donation of $21.00 is appreciated. • Please bring Milk for Abhishek & Prasad is welcome. • Shravan Maas starts from Sunday, July, 27, 2014 and ends on Som-

vati Amavasya, Monday,August 25,.2014. • Full Prasad will be served after Arati Donate generously for the New Temple. No donation is big or small

for the Temple.

On all Mondays of Shravan Maas that is July 28, August 4, 11, 18 & 25 there will be di erent Shringar Darshan of Mahadevji. Yajman or Donation is welcome for Shringar Darshan & Mahaprasad Daily Pooja is open for everyone.

Devotees willing to sit in Havan & Pooja may give their names to our Priest Shri Hardik Raval

Tel: 361-243-6539 or 713-278-9099

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Dhanush in Tanu Weds Manu 2Tamil super star Dhanush debuted in

Bollywood last year with his outstandingperformance in Aanand L Rai’sRaanjhanaa. We all know that Aanandand he are like family, so much so thatDhanush also rented out a place in the samebuilding where Aanand lives and continuesto look up to him as a mentor.

Reports claiming that Aanand does nothave rights to make the sequel of TanuWeds Manu are false and the film is verymuch on track. Aanand starts shooting thefilm in September in Lucknow. While the sequel has R Madhavan andKangana Ranaut in lead roles, it is learnt that Dhanush will be doing acameo in the film. For Aanand, having Dhanush in the film, in anycapacity, is more a personal than a professional need, as he is deeplyattached to him. While all the details are still being finalized, Dhanushcould either be doing a cameo or a performance in a song.

Rani Mukerji is all set to play acrime branch officer inMardaani. And the actor has puther best foot forward to portray acop in the film. The actor had metMumbai crime branch chiefHimanshu Roy in December lastyear to understand the nitty-grittyof the job. Rani tried to under-stand their body language, the waythey talk, job profile and the man-ner in which they probe cases.

And now, after watching thetrailer of the film, senior policeofficers have called the actor toappreciate her performance. Aspokesperson of the movie con-firmed that crime branch officials

from across the country had calledto applaud Rani’s portrayal of acop.

Rani says, “The response to thetrailer has been exceptional. It hasbeen overwhelming.”

Mumbai police applaud Rani’s Mardani

Legendary Bollywood lyricistand Urdu poet, the late SahirLudhianvi, penned some of themost memorable Hindi film songs,such as Abhi na jaao chhod kar,Main zindagi ka saath nibhata(both Hum Dono, 1961) andMain pal do pal ka shayar(Kabhi Kabhi 1976).

Besides his evergreen songs,Ludhianvi was also known for hisromantic relationship with authorAmrita Pritam. Now, this lovestory will soon be chronicled in anupcoming film, in which actorIrrfan Khan will play the lead role.

“Irrfan has already given hisnod to the project. The film hasbeen tentatively titledGustaakhiyan, and the pre-pro-duction work is currently goingon,” says an industry insider.

Reportedly Priyanka Choprahas been approached to playPritam. “The makers want to cast

Irrfan Khan to play legendary lyricist

an actress who can hold her ownin front of an actor of Irrfan’s cali-bre,” adds the insider.

While producer Ashi Dua re-mains non-committal, Irrfan con-firms the news saying, “I signedthe film about a month back. Ithas a beautiful story, and the roleof a lifetime. Once I wrap up theJurassic World shoot, I will startwork on this film. That will mostlikely start around the year-end.”

Sahir Ludhianvi

Harvard professorsues Anurag Kashyap

Anurag Kashyap

It was recently reported thatfilmmaker Anurag Kashyap hasbeen taken to court by SiddharthKara, a professor of Havard Uni-versity and an author.

Kara has filed a defamationand copyright infringement caseagainst Kashyap and several oth-ers. In the lawsuit, Kara allegesthat the script of the film Sold,“has several substantial similari-ties to unique and creative ele-ments present in my (SiddharthKara’s) script and book (Sex Traf-ficking: Inside the Business ofModern Slavery).”

Kara has said that Anurag readhis script, and later helped thefilm’s production team to findshooting locations in India. How-ever, Kashyap, the 41-year-oldfilmmaker, has hit back stronglyat Kara’s comments and said, “DrKara is delusional. When I don’tsteal anyone else’s script, whywould I pass someone’s script tosomeone else to steal?”

Kara has named producerGuneet Monga and actor NanditaDas alongside the film’s directorJefferey D Brown and producerJane Charles, in the case. The filmrevolves around human traffick-ing, and parts of it have been shotin Kolkata.

“I guess Dr. Kara has probablywritten only one thing in his lifeand he thinks no one else in theworld would be working on thesubject of human trafficking. Heis just desperate to find some con-nection to all films based on thesubject,” said Kashyap, explain-ing his side of the story. The casehas been filed in Delhi High Court.

Sweet, single and sassy

The barely 21 but street-savvyAlia Bhatt says that she wants tobe the face outside every beautysalon in town.

Three hits: Student of the Year(2012), Highway (2013) and 2States (2014) — Mahesh Bhattand Soni Razdan’s youngerdaughter has had the best run everby a debutant in recent times. It isa heady mix — young, in Mumbai,in the movies, and getting success,isn’t it?

“It can be, but I steer clear ofit,” she says. “It’s simple. Keeplooking at what you have to do,not what has been done. I like tohave a long-term perspectivewhich is, slog at work and, possi-bly, when I am ready to get mar-ried and have children and all, getinto producing films. That’s mygoal.”

After her debut in Student ofthe Year, many said she was theGen Next eye-candy, but just asmany were smirking over her non-existent acting skills. But with hernext film, Highway, Alia silencedthem all. “I knew it was going tohappen,” she says, barely conceal-ing her glee. “And it was a very

good feeling to give it back. I amhere to work hard and do asmany unique films as I can.”

But more than anyone else, Aliasays she relies on her instinct tochoose roles. “I decide quickly. IfI think a lot about a certain film, itmeans I haven’t connected withit and it’s a no. Only if I am choos-ing between two scripts at thesame time, I could take time todecide.”

Elder sister Shaheen who is “awriter, a make-up artist and an ani-mal lover all rolled into one” seemsto be her pillar of strength. Askedif she gets her traits from her fa-ther and if he is a big influence onher, pat comes her reply. “Possi-bly, but more than him it’s got tobe Shaheen. We are both on thesame page. My father is a distin-guished man and a heavyweightfilm personality, but he can berather filmi too. He is super intel-ligent so it can be overwhelmingto be around him at times.Shaheen and I understand eachother better. She is someone whocan ask me to keep the crown outbefore getting home,” she smiles.

She is all excited about her nextrelease (July 11) with VarunDhawan, Humpty Sharma KiDulhania, a definite ode to YashChopra’s Dilwale Dulhania LeJayenge. “I grew up onBollywood films. A little bit of Hol-lywood maybe, but honestly I amcatching up on those only now,”she admits. “Dilwale... was a bigdraw for me as for everyone ofthat generation. Nowadays, a lovestory is tucked away somewherebetween an action film or a thrilleror a comedy. “I said yes the mo-ment it was offered.”

Ranbir Kapor says he is blessedLast year, they came together

for the first time after a much-publicized break up to star in theblockbuster Yeh Jawaani HaiDeewani. And now, RanbirKapoor and Deepika Padukoneare set to team up again in ImtiazAli’s next.

They still manage to be suchgood friends. “We are mature in-dividuals besides being greatfriends. We have gotten over thepast. A lot has been said and writ-ten about it for the last sevenyears. We have already done afilm together, which was success-ful and people really appreciatedour chemistry. This was despitethe fact is that we were workingtogether after our break-up,” saysRanbir.

The Kapoor son is happy thatDeepika has become “such ahumongous” star.

He says, “I am very blessedthat I can work with an actor likeDeepika, because she adds somuch to a film with her beauty,mind, talent and sheer presence.I am grateful that I’m getting anopportunity to work with her.”

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REVIEW/PREVIEW

The greatest on-screen villainin the world, Pran, passed awaylast year on July 12 @ age 93. Ihad paid tribute to his extra-ordi-nary talent in two columns longbefore that. Upon his demise, Iwrote a third tribute (IH - July 17,2013 - Above All….PRAN!).

In it, I wrote: “It saddened meto read the words ‘prolonged ill-ness’ associated with his demise.He didn’t deserve that.

I wondered why God madesomeone like Pran go thru almosta decade in wheelchair and thesuffering of a prolonged illness....one of the most decent and dig-nified human beings ever to gracethe face of this earth didn’t de-serve a month-long stay in a hos-pital.”

Judging from the followingemail from his daughter, PinkyBhalla, (like father, like daughter),I needn’t have been sad.

Dear Gadfly,Thank you for mailing the

article to us at my father, the lateMr.Pran’s address. Thank youalso for the kind words and ap-preciation of my father and hiswork, in your articles.

He was, indeed a Legend.His qualities, his skill and hisexemplary passion and love forhis work, are known to all.

We are proud to be his chil-dren and the love, care, guid-ance and right thinking he gaveus, is unparalleled.

He passed away in July2013, but up until 6 to 8 monthsbefore that, we were celebrat-ing Diwali together. He wasshowing us card tricks, recitingpoetry, remembering his dia-logues, entertaining us and hisstaff and doing much more.

So, please do not be sad thathe was unwell for a long time.It was not a prolonged illness,and every so often, he wouldimprove in hospital, springback, and be home.

He was a fighter, his grip sostrong that the staff in the hos-pital, would remark “SherKhan abhi bhi Sher Khan hai’.We could not give up on him ashe would never let us give upon anything.

I am enclosing a picture of aposter put up, on his receivingthe Dada Saheb Phalke Award,by the residents of his building.

We celebrate his life,but miss him a lot.

Best regards,Pinky Bhalla

Well said, Mrs. Bhalla. Youspoke for and to millions of Pran’sfans all over the world. Indeed,we all will miss him a lot. And,indeed we’ll celebrate his life ....going back to his films ... over andover again and again.

In his work, he was ‘AboveAll’ the life of every film he wasin. In death, he continues to towerover all stars all over the world.And as a human being, he stoodtall.

Where Pran is concerned, thereis no such thing as ‘hyperbole’. Infilms outside India, there werehardly clear lines between roles –hero, villain, heroine etc.

There are/were character ac-tors/roles. In Hindi films and someof India’s regional films, roleswere more clearly defined likecomedy, item numbers etc. anddesignated roles like villains, he-roes and heroines, cabaret danc-ers, comedians.

In today’s Indian films, thereare more character roles than vil-lains though villains still play theirpart in some.

But never in the history ofHindi, Indian or any films in theworld, did anyone rule the roostas villain as Pran did.

The likes of Yakub, RadhaKishen, K.N. Singh, Jeevan,Madan Puri etc. and later PremChopra, Vinod Khanna andShatrughan Sinha, Ajit who wentfrom hero to character actor(Naya Daur and Mughal-e-Azam) to villain and some othersfrom the Film Institute of Indiawere always there.

However there were the rolesfor Pran and the rest to be dividedbetween others.

Such was the vast gulf of stan-dard and depth between Pran andothers. That gulf later spread intonon-villainish/character roles.Pran’s good guys were distinctand stood out as strong counter-point to the hero.

And sometimes, because theactor in lead role/s was barelyknown (like Navin Nischol), Prancarried the film. Does anyone re-member Yakub or K. N. Singh orMadan Puri or Prem Chopra in acharacter role?

Shatrughan Sinha and VinodKhanna later transitioned intoleading men but we don’t remem-ber any memorable characterroles by any of the above. Pranstood out no matter what role he

MUSINGS By Gadfly

played and nomatter howsmall, in screen-time that rolewas, be it hismini-cameo –hardly 4-5 sec-onds – in BimalRoy’s Devdas(during Vyjaya-ntimala’s intro-ductory dance

‘Ab Aage Teri Marazee) or -years later - the heart-tugging onein Shaheed?

All his roles – big and small,villain or character – repeatedlyproved that the words ‘Above All,PRAN, could apply only to Pran,no one else, ever.

Cricket may change its rules,may create shorter boundariesthus leading to more Sachins as inSachin Ramesh Tendulkar. Yet, nomatter how much films and TVchange all over the world, there isNOT going to be another Pran.That is the only case where factsbecame legend without embellish-ment.

One day, a book will be writtenanalyzing Pran’s roles and his in-terpretations, role by role, film byfilm and the Film and TelevisionInstitute of India in Pune will pre-scribe that book as part of its act-ing curriculum.

Finally, on a website, ‘A Glow-ing Tribute to “The Villain of theMillennium” PRAN, the legend ofHindi cinema’ (http://w w w. p r a n s i k a n d . c o m /family.html), I found a letter writ-ten to Pran (perhaps sometime in2012) by a 20-year old, along witha beautiful poem, both worth re-peating here.

Respected Pran Sahab,I am 20 years old and great

fan of yours. I have been watch-ing your movies since when Istarted watching movies. I haveimmense respect for all the art-ists of golden age, especiallyyou. The charm and magic youbring in movies can’t be ex-pressed. I am a small poet andtried to convert my feelings intopoem.

By Aayush ‘Charag’

You won’t find this kind of tribute- by a fan, no less - for any actoror actress anywhere in the world. There is something culturally Indianabout this kind of appreciation that goes beyond a fan’s adulation. It isinspired.

That poem says it all for me. The only thing better than that poemwould be that book on Pran’s roles. — Send responses [email protected]

Cast: Vidya Balan, Ali Fazal, Supriya Pathak, Tanvi Azmi, ArjanBajwa, Zarina Wahab. Director: Samar Shaikh

What if the piping hot Hyderabadi Mutton Biryani you were ex-pecting turned out to be some Hyper Bad Mutter Pulao served cold?Bobby Jasoos is not Hyderabadi, the case is bloodless, and the meatnon-existent. All you get is flavored rice. It might as well been set inMylapore. At least, Balan would have made sure the thayirsaadhamwas authentic. And finally, we would have had a mainstream Hindiheroine who got her Tamil right.

As solid as Balan is, the Hyderabadi dialect is strictly filmy, tameand watered down for the masses.

The flavour here, however artificial, is the saving grace of BobbyJasoos. There are so many characters you will remember, little nu-ances that will make you smile and enough light-hearted moments,especially during the unlikely romance between Bobby and Tasavvur(Ali Fazal in a breakout role) that keep us hooked. Watch out for theantics of Bobby’s partners in crime-solving (Prasad Barve especiallyis quite funny) and a very earnest Balan goofing around in differentdisguises. The feel-good really works, for a while.

But the investigation is mostly harmless and the stakes are so lowthat even Famous Five seems too grown-up in comparison. Becausethough she behaves like one, Bobby Jasoos is not 13; she is 30.

Bobby Jasoos is a mystery film that decided to undergo a changeof heart to become a family film. And the climax is a frustrating let-down because it makes you question all the stakes in a half-decent,almost intriguing set-up.

The absence of clear danger is not concealed well enough and thered herrings employed to infuse faux urgency in the case turn out to beplot-holes that remain wide open.

For most of its running length, it did seem like Bollywood was tryingto give us a genuine middle-class feminist heroine here (once againthis year after Queen). But for all the feminist subtext, the film losesthe plot where it matters most. It trades in its feminist core for old-school Bollywood family values. And the box office, of course.

Because it’s all about loving your father, even if he has been aninsensitive, unapologetic male chauvinist all his life. Even at the endduring their tearful reunion, he’s telling her she can’t take care ofherself.

Why would he ever need to apologise or admit he was wrong whenshe has already said that she has understood that he wasn’t arrogant,he just cared for her. Just the licence fathers need to claim that it’s notthat they don’t value their girl child’s freedom, they just worry moreabout her… and hence, don’t need to apologise.

And here we thought Bobby Jasoos was going to be a full-on femi-nist heroine. — Sudhish Kamat in The Hindu

Bobby Jasoos: Much ‘ada’about nothing

Cast: Jayam Raja, Manu, Adhiti, Aakrithi, Akshathy, Aapthi,Malavika Wales. Director: Guru Ramesh

Guru Ramesh has imagined a horror flick around a gigantic snakeon the prowl inside a zoo, in which the snake rarely misbehaves: itbites a zoo-keeper on his right shoulder before he manages to escapeits clutches. Despite the emotional set-up — four hearing- and speech-impaired children have lost their way inside the zoo with a giant snake— it’s a bummer, from start to finish.

Despite the presence of the menacing snake, what the film missesare those gasp-inducing moments and the constant heightening of ten-sion that made movies such as Jaws and Anaconda.

However, in this film, tension is almost non-existent.The search party anticipates that the kids might try to scale the wall

and rush to turn off the electricity. ESIN is so poorly sequenced that ittests your patience.

Also, the film feels populated with too many unnecessary charac-ters snuck into the narrative in the hope that they will liven things up:there is a zoo keeper (Nithin Sathya) leading the search party, keen onconstantly cracking jokes, knowing well that the four kids are in harm’sway, a couple of funny thieves, an animal rights activist protesting thekilling of the snake and, this is getting boring now, a ‘loose, immoral’female journalist, ready to pounce on sensational news. But the manycharacters do the opposite: they dilute the drama. It’s a film that hadpotential on paper, and it could have been so much more. Sadly, it’s allbeen blown away.

Enna Satham ... It’s boring

Tribute to Pran on 1st death anniversary


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SPORTThe Story of Mahatma Gandhi - IV

Gandhi Jayanti 2014Gandhi Jayanti, cel-

ebrated as 1000 Lights ForPeace. Saturday, October 4,2014 at Jones Plaza Down-town – Free Parking* Edu-cate your children aboutGandhi ji by having themparticipate in Speech, Essay,Poster or Multi-media con-tests. To register for thesecontests and more informa-tion visit www.gandhilibrary.org

Gandhi returns home after passing bar exam Lord’s bicentenary match:MCC beats Rest of WorldGandhi arrived in Pretoria to

plead in the Abdulla lawsuit.Even while he was working onit, he found time to call a meet-ing of the Indians in Pretoria.This he did with the help of TyebHaji Khan Muhammad, an in-fluential Indian merchant. Onlya handful of Indians attended.It was the first time Gandhi hadaddressed a meeting. Now readon:

“There is too much divisionamong us,” he said. “Why shouldwe be kept apart by differencesin birth, family, caste, and religion?Let us form a league, represent-ing every group, and keep theGovernment informed of our dif-ficulties and our needs.”

The audience listened to himwith great interest. It was decidedto hold regular meetings of all theIndians in Pretoria. Meanwhile,Gandhi was entrusted with thetask of translating into English allthe correspondence betweenDada, Abdulla & Co. and the ri-val party.

After studying all the facts, hewas convinced that his client’sclaim was just. He knew, however,that if the case was taken to courtit would drag on for a long time,so he called together representa-tives of both parties.

“Why don’t you choose a goodman, whom you both trust, to ar-bitrate between you?” he said.The parties listened to him withgreat attention. They were aston-ished at this new idea. This youngman was not the kind of lawyerthey were familiar with; they ap-preciated his stand and agreed tohis suggestion. An arbitrator wasappointed, and he gave his awardin favor of Gandhi’s clients.

Although they had won, Gandhipersuaded his clients to be lenientwith their opponent. They agreednot to demand the money due allat once, but in easy installmentsspread over a long period. Bothparties were happy over thesettlement. Gandhi’s first successas a lawyer was not a crushingvictory over an opponent, but thetriumph of good sense and hu-manity.

In the Orange Free State, Indi-ans had been deprived of all theirrights by a law enacted in 1888.They could stay there only if theydid menial work. Traders weresent away with nominal compen-sation. Under a law passed in1886, Indians who wanted to livein the Transvaal were forced topay an annual poll-tax of £3 perhead.

There they were not allowedto own land except in certain lo-cations. They had no freedom tomove about. If they wanted to goout of their houses after 9 p.m.,they had to carry a permit withthem. They were not allowed touse certain highways at all.Gandhi felt humiliated at the wayIndians were treated there.

He thought it was his duty todefend their rights and removetheir grievances. He often wentout for an evening walk with anEnglish friend, Mr. Coates, and herarely reached home before 10p.m. He had obtained a letter fromthe State Attorney allowing him

to be out of doors at any time with-out police interference.

One evening Gandhi was alone,walking at his usual brisk pace,when he was suddenly attackedand knocked down. He was in-jured. He struggled to his feet toface a police constable.

“That will teach you to obeythe law,” shouted the policeman.“No Indian has the right to walkpast the President’s house. Didn’tyou know that?” The policemankicked him.

“Gandhi, are you hurt?” askeda familiar, friendly voice. It wasMr. Coates. He happened to bepassing that way when he sawGandhi being attacked. Mr.Coates warned the policeman.“This man is my friend and a dis-tinguished lawyer,” he said. “If hebrings a complaint against you, Ishall be his witness.”

Then he turned to his friend andsaid, “I am very sorry, Gandhi, thatyou have been so rudely as-saulted.”

“You need not be sorry,” saidGandhi. “How is the poor man toknow? All colored people are thesame to him. I have made it a rulenot to go to court in respect ofany personal grievance.”

“Just like you,” said Coates,who was still very angry at thepoliceman’s behavior. Coatesturned again to the policeman andsaid, “You should tell an Indianpolitely what the regulations are -

not knock him down.”“Never mind,” said Gandhi. “I

have already forgiven him.”Now that the Abdulla case had

been settled, Gandhi thought therewas no need for him to stay on inSouth Africa. Towards the end of1893 he went back to Durban tobook his passage to India. Abdullaarranged a farewell party in hishonor.

While going through the news-papers that day, Gandhi was sur-prised to read that a bill was pend-ing before the Natal LegislativeAssembly which would depriveIndians of their right to elect mem-bers to the Assembly. He broughtthis to the notice of the peoplegathered there for the party.

“What do we understand aboutsuch matters?” Abdulla Seth said.“We only understand things thataffect our trade.”

“This bill, if it passes into law,will make our lot extremely diffi-cult,” Gandhi said gravely. “It isthe first nail in our coffin. It strikesat the very root of our self-re-spect.”

The Indians now realized whatwas at stake; but they were un-able to decide what to do. Theyrequested Gandhi to postpone hisdeparture and help them. Heagreed to stay on for anothermonth and organize resistance tothe new bill. Late that night theIndians held a meeting in AbdullaSeth’s house under the presidencyof Seth Haji Muhammad, the mostinfluential Indian merchant there.

They resolved to oppose theFranchise Bill with all theirstrength. Telegrams were sent tothe Speaker of the Assembly andthe Premier of Natal requestingthem to postpone further discus-sion on the bill. The Speakerpromptly replied that the discus-sion would be put off for two days.

The Natal Indians then drewup a petition to the LegislativeAssembly pleading against the bill.This was followed up by anotherpetition to Lord Ripon, the thenSecretary of State for the Colo-nies. This was signed by more thanten thousand Indians. Copies ofthe petition were circulated inSouth Africa, England, and India.

There was much sympathy forthe Natal Indians’ plight, but thecampaign had started too late tostop the bill becoming law. How-ever, the campaign did do somegood.

For the first time, the people ofIndia came to know of the condi-tions in Natal. An even more im-portant result was the new spiritthat now awakened the Indians inSouth Africa.

— To be Continued

Gandhi was not just intohis law practice but alsogave time to social issues,especially those relatingto the way Indians weretreated in South Africa.His first success as alawyer was not a crushingvictory over an opponent,but the triumph of goodsense and humanity.

Shane Warne had his hand bro-ken by a Brett Lee beamer as theMCC beat the Rest of the Worldby seven wickets in a Lord’sbicentenary celebration match.

Rest of the World captainWarne was hit by his former Aus-tralia team-mate in the final overof his side’s 293-7, in which India’sYuvraj Singh struck 132.

Aaron Finch led the MCC re-ply, blasting 181 from 145 balls.

Sachin Tendulkar made 44 andBrian Lara 23 before Finch fin-ished the match with a six with 25balls to spare.

The match was played to mark200 years of cricket at the cur-rent Lord’s ground, the third totake the name of businessmanThomas Lord, who founded theoriginal Lord’s venue in 1787.

“It was a great day and a fan-tastic atmosphere,” said leg-spin-ner Warne, who took 708 Testwickets.

“I haven’t seen Binga [Lee]for a while, so it was nice of himto say hello and put me out for sixweeks. He didn’t mean it, it’s justone of those things that happens.”

Warne arrived at the creaseafter Yuvraj rescued the Rest ofthe World from 68-5, a collapseinduced by Pakistan off-spinnerSaeed Ajmal’s 4-9. Ajmal’s vic-tims included former England bats-man Kevin Pietersen, who wasstumped for 10.

With Ajmal’s brilliance threat-ening the spectacle, he was with-drawn, allowing Yuvraj to rebuildwith stands of 131 with PaulCollingwood (40) and 84 withPeter Siddle (33 not out).

When Yuvraj fell to the bowl-ing of MCC captain Tendulkar,Warne came to the crease andsuffered the blow that would pre-vent him from taking the field inthe second innings, with the 44-year-old appearing on the dress-ing-room balcony with his hand inplaster.

Without him, the Rest of theWorld were punished by Austra-lian Finch, who added 107 for the

first wicket with Tendulkar, then67 for the second with Lara.

When Lara edged Collingwoodbehind, the former England all-rounder bowled Rahul Dravidwith the next delivery.

West Indies batsmanShivnarine Chanderpaul survivedthe hat-trick ball and supportedFinch in an unbroken stand of 122.

MCC 296-3 in 45.5 overs (Finch 181 n.o., Tendulkar 44, Lara23, Chanderpaul 37; Collingwood2 for 25) beat Rest of the World293-7 in 50 overs (Gilchrist 29,Sehwag 22, Pietersen 10, Yuvraj132, Collingwood 40, Siddle 33;Ajmal 4 for 45, Lee 2 for 55)

The teams:MCC: S. Tendulkar, A. Finch,

B. Lara, R. Dravid, S. Chander-paul, C. Read, D. Vettori, B. Lee,U. Gul, S. Ajmal, S. Tait.

Rest of the World: A. Gil-christ, V. Sehwag, T. Iqbal, K.Pietersen, Yuvraj Singh, S. Afridi,P. Collingwood, P. Siddle, T. Best,S. Warne, M. Muralitharan

The match was part of celebrations to mark the Lord’s bicentenary

South Africa win 1stODI in Sri Lanka

Hashim Amla’s 13th ODI cen-tury and a 151-run stand with cap-tain A.B. de Villiers led South Af-rica to a convincing 75-run win inthe first ODI against Sri Lankaon Sunday, July 6.

Amla scored 109 includingeight boundaries to take the Pro-teas to 304 for five in 50 oversafter electing to bat first at the R.Premadasa Stadium. de Villiersmade 75 off 70 deliveries includ-ing five boundaries and a six.

Legspinner Imran Tahir tookthree wickets while seamers RyanMcLaren, Dale Steyn and MorneMorkel took two wickets each todismiss Sri Lanka for 229 in the41st over.

Kumar Sangakkara top scoredwith 88 for the home team.

The second one-day interna-tional will be played in Pallekeleon Wednesday.

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Shariat courts held illegalNEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday, July 7, ruled that

Shariat courts did not have any sanction of law and that fatwas couldnot be issued to trample upon rights of individuals.

A bench led by Justice C K Prasad held that such institutions can-not issue diktat affecting the rights of the people and their decrees willbe invalid and also illegal.

While refraining from issuing a blanket order prohibiting parallelcourts run by institutions like the Darul Qaza and Darul-Iftaa, the benchmade it clear that fatwas cannot be used to punish innocent people.

“No religion, including Islam, encourages people to punish inno-cents through decrees not sanctioned by law,” it said.While there wasno obligation on people to abide by their directives, clerics or institu-tions can issue fatwas only if parties approach them for adjudicationof disputes, it said.

The case on hand was an “eye-opener” wherein a Muslim girl hadto desert her husband because a fatwa directed her to live with herfather-in-law who had allegedly raped her. While reserving its verdicton the petition by advocate Vishwa Lochan Madan, the bench hadearlier observed that fatwas issued by Muslim clerics were a “matterof faith and choice” and it would be difficult for a court to issue blan-ket orders on banning them. It had said that a court can interfere onlywhen somebody’s rights are violated by these decrees.

“Which law gives power to issue fatwa and which statute givespundit power to make horoscope? Court can only say that the statewill protect those subjected to suffering due to fatwa…These are arepolitical and religious issues,” it had said.

Madan in his petition had challenged the constitutional validity ofShariat courts for allegedly running a parallel judicial system in thecountry. Madan claimed that Darul Qaza and Darul-Iftaa function in52 to 60 districts which have a sizeable Muslim population. He saidMuslims cannot contest these decrees or fatwas, and alleged theseinterfere with the life and liberty of citizens.

NEW DELHI: Britain’s Chan-cellor George Osborne and ForeignSecretary William Hague havebegun a two-day trip to India. Theyare looking to open up investmentopportunities for UK firms inIndia’s defence and infrastructuresector, and attract Indian invest-ment into Britain.

The visit comes as a new gov-ernment led by Narendra Modi hastaken charge in India - Asia’s third-largest economy. Modi is widely

UK ministers on 2-day visit

expected to announce new re-forms to boost economic growth.

“I believe a stronger relation-ship with Britain will help deliverthe new economic policy of theIndian government,” Osbornesaid in a speech in Mumbai.

“Prime Minister Modi is seek-ing more investment in India’seconomy - and I want Britishcompanies to provide it, and theBritish government to support it.”

Meanwhile, Osborne also an-

Chancellor George Osborne and Foreign Secretary William Hague arethe latest high-profile foreign leaders to visit India after the elections

Couples in hotel trystsmade to marry

PATNA: Police in Bihar arereported to have married off twocouples caught having trysts in ahotel under assumed names.

“We went to the hotel in searchof a runaway couple. Instead, wefound these two couples regis-tered as married under falsenames,” Bhagalpur Town PoliceInspector Kanhaiya Lal told TheHindustan Times. They had beenbooking hotel rooms in the townfor assignations for some time, itseems. Officer Rita Kumari “con-vinced the lovers that the onlyway to escape the stigma attachedto being caught in such a mannerwas to get married”.

One young couple was a rail-way clerk from neighboringAmarpur and a student at awomen’s college in Bhagalpur.The other - a local man and a girlfrom nearby Banka - are relatedby marriage. The two weddingstook place at the KupeshwarnathAnnapurna Temple opposite thepolice station.

“It was a simple wedding cer-emony performed according toHindu rituals. Relatives of the twocouples were present. No dowrywas given or taken, making it anideal marriage,” said InspectorLal. The paper did not record thereaction of the couples or theirfamilies.

Freed sailor recounts ordeal

nounced that Indian pharmaceu-tical company Cipla is to invest upto £100m in the UK.

India’s economy has struggledin recent years with rising pricepressures and problems with bu-reaucracy and corruption. Thathas hurt the confidence of foreigninvestors looking to invest in In-dia.

However, a landslide win forthe Modi-led Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) in the recent generalelections has sparked hopes of arevival in India’s economy.

Both foreign and local inves-tors have been hoping that Modiwill introduce fresh reforms andboost investment in key sectors tohelp spur growth.

As a result, various countrieshave been keen to boost ties withIndia’s new government and openup opportunities for their busi-nesses.

“It’s great to be here at a timewhen the excitement about theIndian economy, and the optimismabout the prospects for futuregrowth, are palpable,” Osbornesaid. “And the excitement here ismatched by new confidenceamong international investors inthe future of the Indian economy.

“It is a measure of the ambi-tion and drive and pace of the newgovernment of prime ministerModi, that this complete turn-around in sentiment about the In-dian economy has been achievedin just seven short weeks, sincethat stunning election victory.”

The visit by Britain’s two se-nior ministers follows a series ofother high-profile visits to India -including those by the French For-eign Minister Laurent Fabius,Russia’s Deputy Prime MinisterDmitry Rogozin and China’s For-eign Minister Wang Yi.

From an early age, the glamor of themerchant navy had charmed AmanSharma. So when he joined the trade hewas fully aware of the hard slog ahead.But no amount of ambition had preparedAman for the ordeal that awaited himwhen he embarked on his maiden voy-age.

In November 2010, Aman was sailingon the ML Albedo along with a 23-mem-ber crew, when the vessel was hijackednear the Gulf of Aden by Somali pirates.Aman was barely 19 then. After several diplomatic efforts, the Indiangovernment managed to secure his release in June, with the help ofUnited Nations mediators, after almost four years in captivity.

His resilience had Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari felicitat-ing him on the fourth International Day of the Seafarer on June 25.

“As months passed, I thought I would never see my family again,”said Aman, a resident of Kangra in Himachal Pradesh. Aman had thehorrifying experience of watching his fellow Indian sailor Raju Prasadbeing shot dead by the pirates. That’s when he realized that he had toplay along with the pirates to survive.

“They did not seem too happy with India. After I saw Raju die, Ihad to do something. I tried winning their trust by volunteering to dochores for them like washing clothes and cooking food,” says Aman.

He shared his memory card with the pirates and showed themHindi films, learnt the Somali language, chatted with them for hoursand willingly recited Koranic verses (the pirates intended to converthim into Islam). On many occasions, he also participated in their drugbinges. The pirates were eventually won over by his poise.

“I didn’t mind if I turned into a drug addict. I told my fellow sailorswe cannot recover the lost time. We should do whatever it takes tostay alive,” said Aman. Initially, though, the pirates tortured him — hishead was once struck with the butt of a rifle and when he fell on hischest his hands were tied behind his back.

When he lost consciousness, the pirates whipped him with a belt.His nails were also pulled out on another occasion.

Aman also received little help from unlikely sources. He credits hissafety in the crucial last 10 months to one of the “investors” - peoplewho provide food, diesel and other amenities to sustain the hijackedvessel. “She was a Somali woman. She said her son’s face resembledmine, so she protected me,” Aman told The Hindu.

Now, looking to re-launch his life and career, Aman has some prac-tical advice for youth interested in the field. “Avoid brokers or agents.Always go through the authorised government agency,” Aman warns.

Retailers seek official industry statusNEW DELHI: Ahead of the Budget, retailers have asked the

government to grant industry status to the sector which is estimated toattain a size of Rs. 47 trillion by 2017. “The Indian retail market islikely to reach Rs 47 trillion by 2017 and is also the fifth largest marketglobally. It is high time the government takes this fact into account andaccords an official status of industry, something most retailers havebeen expecting for a while now,” Woodland Managing Director HarkiratSingh said.

Tata firm Infiniti Retail CEO Ajit Joshi said, “Industry status toretail will help all retailers as they will get financial sops from thegovernment. It will also help employees.”


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MBBS seat costs Rs 1 crore in Tamil NaduCHENNAI: Private medical colleges in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry

charge up to Rs 1 crore as capitation fee for MBBS courses, says aPIL which wants Madras high court to ask state and Central govern-ments to form statutory committees to curb the racket.

Tamil Nadu and its neighboring Union territory of Puducherry ac-count for more than 50 medical colleges, half of them run by the gov-ernment. The first bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Satish KAgnihotri and Justice M M S Sundresh has ordered notices to theCentre and the state.

The PIL by M Swaminathan said that while admission process andfee structure were as per rules in government colleges, the privateunaided institutions charged up to Rs 1 crore for medical seat.

Shady deals are struck, all ethics are thrown to the winds and hugeblack money transactions are done in MBBS admission profess, ac-cording to the PIL said.

It said the errant colleges conducted their own farcical entrancetests by supplying both question papers and answer keys to studentswho had paid capitation fees.

It said even the CBI had not properly conducted a probe into theracket. The CBI had not booked any purchaser and sellers of medicalseats involving huge black money, it added.

Describing it as mother of all maladies, it said private medical col-leges and deemed universities were the biggest culprits.

The PIL wanted the court to ask the state and central governmentsto constitute committees to monitor medical education admissions andcurb the practice of capitation fee collection.

“If capitation fee and profiteering are to be checked, the method ofadmission has to be regulated so that the admission is based on meritand transparency, and students are not exploited,” the PIL said.

NEW DELHI: The NarendraModi government has asked theUnited Nations Military ObserverGroup in India and Pakistan(UNMOGIP) to vacate the gov-ernment bungalow housing its of-fice in the heart of the Capital, ina sign of its toughening stand to-wards the UN mission.

The Indian Express said SouthBlock has asked the UNMOGIPto vacate the bungalow — 1AB,Purana Qila Road — which hasbeen serving as its office for thelast four decades.

The government accommoda-tion — a Type VII bungalow,about 7,000 square feet — wasallotted to the UN mission “freeof charge”.

The UNMOGIP’s role hasbeen overtaken by the SimlaAgreement and the consequentestablishment of the Line of Con-trol. New Delhi is of the view thatthe UNMOGIP has “no relevanceor role to play whatsoever”.

The UNMOGIP, establishedunder a UN Security CouncilResolution, was meant to super-vise the ceasefire line establishedunder the Karachi Agreement ofJuly 1949.

The government’s decision isbeing seen as a move to conveyDelhi’s desire to not engage withthe UN mission in Delhi.

“They should stay in Srinagarand do what they want. In casethey want to be stationed in Delhi,they should hire premises in a pri-vate property and not occupy thegovernment accommodation,”said a senior official requestinganonymity.

When contacted, UNMOGIP’s Military Information Of-ficer Major Tomas Malm, who isbased in Srinagar, confirmed thatthe government has asked them

to vacate the premises. “UNMOGIP’s response is to relocate to an-other location in Delhi,” he said. Asked if they have been told thereason for this directive, he said, “The Indian authorities’ reason isunknown to UNMOGIP.”

When asked if the move reflected New Delhi’s stand towardsUNMOGIP, he said, “You have to ask the Indian government regard-ing their attitude towards us”.

According to a source familiar with the arrangement between SouthBlock and UNMOGIP, the bunglow “was allotted to the UNMOGIPas part of a gentleman’s agreement between Indian officials and theUN mission over 40 years ago.

It was meant to be a short-term arrangement, and the UNMOGIPofficials were supposed to move to a private hired accommodation.But that never happened.”

Even as South Block officials are yet to get the property vacated,the Ministry of External Affairs’ finance department has told themthat it will not be able to provide budgetary support for such “goodwillgestures”.

UN mission has ‘no role’; asked to vacate premises Sharp reaction to Shariat rulingThe Supreme Court’s verdict on Monday declaring that a Shariat

court has no legal sanction drew sharp reactions from Muslim clericswho said that the Constitution allows them the right to work and actaccording to Muslim personal law.

Zafaryab Jilani, member of the Muslim Personal Law Board, said,“We are not doing anything parallel to the judicial system and we don’tsay that any order passed by a Qazi is binding on all. Our sole motto isto resolve a matter with the consent of two parties involved in accor-dance with Shariat.”

Khalid Rasheed Farangi, a Muslim cleric, said, “Indian Constitutionhas given us the right to act and work according to our Muslim per-sonal law. One must also keep in mind that Shariat ApplicationAct,1937, has very clearly said that in those cases in which both par-ties are Muslims and the matter is related to nikaah, talaaq, zihar, lian,khula and mubaraat, the decisions will be taken in light of the Muslimpersonal law,” he said, adding that the verdict needs to be studiedproperly before a final statement can be given.

Maulana Mohammad Sajid Rashid, President of Kul Hind ImamAssociation, said the plea filed in the apex court is itself wrong as it isa religious matter. “If a person is practising a religion, he/she has tofollow its preachings. A Muslim who does not follow the Sharia is nota true Muslim,” he said.

Maulana Anisur Rehman, member of Imarat Shariah, Patna, how-ever, agreed with the apex court ruling, saying that the judgement isnot wrong and it is not going to hinder the functioning of Shariat courts.

“For arbitration, when two parties or people consensually approachthe Shariat court, it is lawful. The Supreme Court is not wrong, but Ineed to go through the entire verdict properly,” he said. Disapprovingof a Shariat court issuing fatwa and order against a person who is notbefore it, the Supreme Court today said it has no sanction of law andno legal status.

Mizoram agog after UFO sightingAIZAWL: A bright bluish light streaked through the sky towards

the west and lit up the night sky before breaking into a handful ofpieces and disappearing into the clouds with what sounded like thun-der. This happened around 8.30 pm on Monday, July 7, and ever sinceMizoram is buzzing with speculation over what it was.

“It came really fast. It was blue and flew high in the sky. Then itsuddenly split into maybe five or six pieces and disappeared. and thenthere was the explosion. I immediately grabbed my camera in case itcame back and waited for an hour but it did not. It’s the strangestthing I have ever seen,” said Alfred Vanchhawng, a journalist whosaw what is largely believed to be a meteor.

Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp began buzzing with eyewitnessreports from across the state that all said the same thing: the blueobject flew fast towards the west and was visible for five seconds ormore before exploding. Some in Aizawl and towns and villages to thewest and south described the explosion as thunder.


BANGLADESH / SRI LANKA

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Ban on NGO news conferencesSri Lanka has banned civil activist groups from holding news con-

ferences and training for journalists, with the organisations rejectingthe move as unconstitutional.

JC Weliamuna, a lawyer from the Civil Society Collective, an um-brella organisation, said on Wednesday that the defense ministry’s or-der is “absolutely unconstitutional” and violates the public’s rights offreedom of association and expression.

He called it a “continuation of threats on civil society.”A defense and urban development ministry notice dated July 1 or-

dered nongovernmental organisations to desist from conducting “pressconferences, workshops, training for journalists and dissemination ofpress releases,” saying such acts are “unauthorised” and “beyond theirmandate.”

Groups received the notice on Monday, and the Associated Pressnews agency saw it on Wednesday. Weliamuna told reporters that thedirective was not based on any legal provision. “This is a directive ofsome public servant and no one is bound by this,” he said.

Sudarshana Gunawardana, also from the collective, said, “We re-ject this announcement. It’s an illegal document made going beyondthe mandate and hence we challenge it.”

US State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said in a statementthat the “order undermines Sri Lanka’s proud democratic traditions,including freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.”

Last month, corruption watchdog Transparency International SriLanka accused the government of disrupting the group’s training pro-gram for journalists from the country’s former civil war zone, accusingparticipants of being agents for the defeated Tamil Tiger separatists.

The training on corruption-related investigative reporting was forethnic Tamil journalists from the country’s north and east.

The journalists, however, were evicted from two training venues,Transparency International said, adding that the participants were alsoforced out of their hotel at night. The defense ministry rejected theallegation of disrupting the training. Sri Lanka’s military has been ac-cused of excessive interference in civil matters since the country’squarter-century civil war ended five years ago.

Migrants vent furyat Australia

GALLE (Sri Lanka): SriLankan migrants aboard a boatthat was controversially turnedback mid-sea by Australiaslammed Canberra on Tuesday,claiming they were abused, givenlittle food and treated “worse thandogs”.

The group of 41 migrants, in-cluding four women and nine chil-dren, appeared in a court in thesouthern Sri Lankan port city ofGalle, where most were grantedbail on charges of illegally leavingthe country.

As anxious relatives waitedoutside the colonial-era building,magistrate Umesh Kalansuriyagranted bail to 27 of the group,remanded five into custody anddischarged the children.

Some of the women — onecarrying a two-month-old baby —wept and clutched their children’shands as police told the magistratethat the group had broken immi-gration laws, a charge that carriesa maximum penalty of two years.

Australia has come under fireover the transfer, with expertswarning that repelling migrantsafter screening them as potentialasylum-seekers at sea appearedto be inadequate under interna-tional law.

Some of the group told AFPthey had been trying to reach NewZealand where they hoped to findwork, while some of their relativessaid they were heading to Austra-lia — the confusion perhapsprompted by people smugglers,who have been known to misleadmigrants about their final destina-

tion. Another migrant said they were racially abused and deniedmedication, while some attempted a hunger strike to protest theirtreatment.

“They kept on saying ‘You f..ing Sri Lankan, go back to fucking SriLanka’,” said the man, who declined to give his name.

He said he was also refused medicine for a rash he had developedduring the sea journey in a small fishing trawler.

Another unnamed passenger said they were given food past theirexpiry date, adding: “They treated us worse than dogs.”

Bangladesh and India on Tuesday welcomed an international courtruling which established their new sea border, ending a decades-longdispute over the resource-rich area.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister Mahmood Ali hailed the ruling an-nounced Tuesday by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hagueas a “victory and a win-win situation for both sides”.

The court drew a new maritime border that awarded Bangladesh19,467 square kilometres (7,516 square miles) of sea area out of a totaldisputed area of 25,602 square kilometres, the minister told reporters.

“It finally resolves peacefully and in accordance with internationallaw a problem that had hampered the economic development of bothstates for more than three decades,” he said in Dhaka.

The minister said the ruling would enable Bangladesh to push aheadwith exploring for gas and other resources in the Bay of Bengal, andalso allow its fishing industry to flourish.

India also hailed the decision, saying it paved the way for furthereconomic development between the two countries.

“We believe that the settlement of the maritime boundary will fur-ther enhance mutual understanding and goodwill between India andBangladesh by bringing to closure a long-pending issue,” said foreignministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin.

Bangladesh in 2012 resolved a sea border dispute with Myanmarwhich had been a frequent flashpoint between the two nations.

The maritime disputes had almost dashed Bangladesh’s plan to in-vite foreign companies to explore for hydrocarbons in the resource-rich Bay of Bengal after Myanmar and India objected to some of thesea blocks being offered.

Although Bangladesh’s energy ministry later redrew some of theblocks, it only attracted limited interest from foreign firms largely dueto the disputes.

Delhi, Dhaka hail court ruling

DHAKA: Bangladesh cricket authorities suspended star all-rounderShakib Al Hasan for six months because of his “severe attitude prob-lem”, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassansaid. the board had unanimously decided to suspend the 27-year-oldfrom “all kinds of competitive cricket” for the next six months.

He will also be barred from playing in any cricket leagues abroaduntil December next year, the president said.

“He has a severe attitude problem, which is unprecedented in thehistory of Bangladesh cricket,” Hassan told reporters. “We think thathis behavior is such that it’s directly impacting the team.”

The suspension came as Shakib reportedly threatened to quit inter-national cricket after he was called back to Dhaka before an appear-ance in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) Twenty20 tournament.

Star all-rounder Shakib suspended

PAKISTANINDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 2014 • PAGE 21

Qadri dares govt to call army

Woman tries to implicate husband in terror caseLAHORE: North cantonment police on Tuesday, July 8, arrested

a woman and her neighbor for making a hoax call about the presenceof a suspected terrorist in a Lahore-bound flight coming from the UAE.

Cantonment police said they received a call late on Monday from awoman, Sonia, who claimed her husband, Dildar, was arriving here bya private airlines flight from Muscat, carrying explosives.

Alarmed by the call, the police passed on the information to theAirport Security Force that took Dildar into custody as soon as theflight from Muscat landed at Lahore airport. However, despite a thor-ough search of Dilbar and his luggage no explosives were recovered.

Meanwhile, the Cantonment police arrested Sonia who confessedto have made a hoax call to the police in connivance with her neighborKashif to implicate Dildar in a terrorism case. She also confessed thatin the absence of her husband she had developed relations with Kashifand they both wanted to get rid of Dildar, who worked as a labourer inMuscat. The police also arrested Kashif.

Police said the duo was also involved in a similar incident in whicha hoax call was made to Lahore Railway Station about the presenceof a bomb there. Two separate cases have been registered against thesuspects with Sarwar Road police and Railway police.

North Cantonment SHO Shabbir Husain told Dawn a police teamwas formed to arrest the suspects. He said the police were investigat-ing whether the duo had any links with any terrorist organization.

LAHORE: Pakistan AwamiTehreek (PAT) chief Dr TahirulQadri says his movement forchange of the governance systemwill not drift away even if the rul-ers call in the army to check it.

“The movement for change willcontinue even if the armed forcesmartyr a couple of thousand Pa-kistanis, including me,” Qadri saidon Tuesday, July 8, when askedto comment on reports that thegovernment was considering tocall the army under Article 245 insupport of the civil administrationfor tackling any law and order situ-ation in major towns in the wakeof the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’slong march and PAT’s call forrevolution.

Reluctant to give a final datefor the revolution call, he told agroup of reporters here on Tues-day that consultations within thePAT and with other parties werecontinuing and a final decision inthis respect would be madeshortly.

Asked if his party was optingout of electoral politics, Qadri saidit would take part in the electionsbut only in the post-revolution sce-nario, after cleansing the incum-bent system and making constitu-tional changes to check the entryof the corrupt into the power cor-ridors. “Elections will be the laststage in the revolution.”

Qadri insisted that his revolu-tion was constitutional and demo-

cratic in its entirety and it couldnot be interpreted as subversionof the Constitution.

He argued that the social con-tract between the citizens and thestate stood null and void after therulers failed to implement the first40 Articles of the Constitution thatpertained to granting rights to thecitizens.

“By desecrating the first partof the Constitution (40 Articlesplus preamble), how can the rul-ing classes expect from the ruledto respect the latter part of theBasic Law (240 Articles that dealwith the system to run the coun-try and its institution).”

About the funds for politicalactivities of PAT, he claimed thatthese were generated by annualmembership fees as well as do-nations.

Dr Tahirul Qadri

PCB wants status of 100 judges restoredISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) instituted a

much-delayed petition before the Supreme Court on Tuesday, July 8,seeking review of the July 31, 2009 judgment that sent over 100 supe-rior court judges packing. This is the fourth attempt to move such apetition. Previously, Gen. Pervez Musharraf had filed a petition, whichwas dismissed by a 14-judge bench, headed by former chief justiceTassaduq Hussain Jillani, on Jan 30 this year for “presenting irrelevantprecedence” and being time-barred.

Later, in a detailed order, the Supreme Court explained that the July31 verdict underpinned a strong urge to turn a new leaf; towards con-stitutionalism and rule of law and steering clear of mistakes in history.

The Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) had moved asimilar petition, which was returned by the Supreme Court office. Anappeal against the decision is currently pending before court.

On Jan 25, 2010, while hearing review petitions moved by affectedsuperior court judges who faced contempt proceedings as a conse-quence of the July 31 verdict, the Supreme Court ruled that the verdictwas considered a triumph for democratic principles and a denuncia-tion of dictatorship. The detailed verdict, authored by former JusticeJaved Iqbal, notes that had the superior judiciary not gone down thePCO route, the course of Pakistan’s political and judicial history wouldhave been different.

Arsalan to get Imran’s nomination formISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) de-

cided on Tuesday, July 8, to provide a copy of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan’s nomination forms for the Elections-2013 to Dr Arsalan Iftikhar, the son of former chief justice IftikharMohammad Chaudhry.

Arsalan has recently relinquished the post of vice chairman ofBalochistan’s Board of Investment after Imran Khan’s allegation thatthe post was given to him as a reward for favours his father had doledout to the PML-N during the polls.

The ECP decision came a day after an application seeking the docu-ments was moved by Arsalan. He intends to seek proceedings fordisqualification of Imran Khan from retaining his National Assemblyseat for alleged concealment of facts about his children in the nomina-tion forms.

An ECP official said nomination forms of all politicians who hadcontested the elections were public documents and anyone could geta copy of them.

The forms have been placed on the commission’s website to en-sure transparency and invite objections to provision of false informa-tion or concealment of facts, which are corrupt practices.

About the accusation levelled by Arsalan that Imran Khan hadconcealed that he was the father of a girl, the official said the ECPwould take up the matter when it came to it through the speaker of theNational Assembly.

PESHAWAR: The KhyberPakhtunkhwa health departmentis facing an uphill task of cateringto the needs of the internally dis-placed persons in NorthWaziristan Agency and is sendinga proposal to the army to allowthe international humanitariangroups to the districts where theyhad taken temporary shelter.

Imran Khan had already askedthe army to give access to the re-lief organisations to Bannu andother districts to provide good fa-cilities to the people, officials said.The provincial government is alsosending a proposal to the army inthis regard, they said. The mas-sive displacement could causehealth problems if we didn’t getassistance immediately, they said.

“We have already requested thefederal government and the armyto allow the international humani-tarian groups to provide betterhealthcare facilities to the uprootedpopulation,” a senior health offi-cial said.

According to him, the provin-cial government was taking allpossible measures to ensure thatdisplaced population got adequatehealth cover. In this connection,the directorate of health Fata hadagreed to hand over the servicesof 29 health staffers, includingdoctors and paramedics of theNorth Waziristan, to the provincialhealth department.

The services of these displacedemployees would be utilised tostrengthen the health facilities in

Concern over polioin displaced kidsLAHORE: Amid fears that

the displaced children of NorthWaziristan may cause country-wide spread of the poliovirus, aWorld Health Organization(WHO) report reveals that 26,438of the kids could not be accessedfor immunisation against this crip-pling disease during the last three-day drive.

“As many as 8,051 childrenwere not available whereas 17,583refusal cases meant the familiesstill believed that the anti-poliovaccine was not safe for them,”said the report.

Initially, the WHO had reported67,205 missed children at the endof the three-day special drivelaunched to target the under-fivechildren in the huge population onthe move — 44,761 not availableand 22,444 refusal cases. Later,the health workers managed ac-cess to many of those missed inthe next few days.

The OPV campaign was par-ticularly conducted in Bannu, D.I.Khan, Lakki Marwat, Tank,Karak and Hangu besides high-risk union councils. The total tar-get children were 581,463.

KP health dept overwhelmed by needs of IDPs

Government officers verify identities of displaced Pakistanis fleeing amilitary operation against Taliban militants in the North Waziristan tribalagency at a registration centre in Peshawar.

the areas where displaced fami-lies were staying, he said. TheKhyber Pakhtunkhwa govern-ment on Tuesday releasedRs50million to send medical sup-plies to the health facilities in IDP-hosting areas, he said.

The existing health facilitieswere enough to treat the patientsbut they required medicines andsupplies of surgical disposableitems, they said. According tothem, dozen of organisations hadplaced applications with the gov-ernment seeking permission toprovide healthcare services to thepeople but the authority to issuethem no-objection certificate wasthe domain of the federal govern-ment and the army.

Senior officials said that it wasthe sole responsibility of the fed-eral government to put in placehealthcare facilities for the popu-lation of North Waziristan Agency,because it directly ruled Fata. Theprovincial health department wasfully committed to serve the peoplebut they didn’t have the desiredresources and desperately re-quired assistance by non-govern-ment relief bodies.

The World Health Organisationhas been urging the governmentto strengthen the health facilitiesin Bannu, Karak, Lakki Marwat,Dera Ismail Khan and Tank toprotect the displaced people fromdeveloping serious health compli-cations. Living with little accessto clean drinking water and sani-tation facilities, they are prone to

skin, food and water-borne dis-eases.

Health facilities from these ar-eas recorded cases of diarrhoea,scabies and leishmaniasis etc,which could be prevented throughessential drugs. Many health fa-cilities also required some repairand structural work to enable themto cope with the load of patients.

The provincial government hasalso been sending a team of 18doctors to provide healthcare tothe displaced people in the localfacilities.

Presently, a team fromHayatabad Medical Complex isproviding healthcare to the peoplein Karak and Bannu. Anothergroup of doctors from the KhyberTeaching Hospital will soon re-place the team in the two districts.

Miramshah mostlycleared, says ArmyISLAMABAD: Major Gen-

eral Zafarullah Khan on Wednes-day said that 80 per cent ofMiramshah has been cleared dur-ing the North Waziristan opera-tion, adding that outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan commanderHafiz Gul Bahadur, if spotted,would be eliminated without anydelay.

The general further said thatevidence of Al-Qaeda’s presencein the region was found and thearmy was still facing oppositionfrom some areas.

The army official maintainedthat the civilian population was nottargeted during the operation. Thisinformation, however, could not beindependently verified.

The general acknowledged thatforeign and local militants wereresiding in the area.

Bahadur is known to have linkswith notorious militant groups intribal North Waziristan, includingthe Haqqani network.

RELIGION / SPIRITUALITYPAGE 22 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 2014

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Mercy, the hardest spiritualchallenge

By Marguerite Throphil

The word mercy can mean kindness or help given to people whoare in a bad or desperate situation; or mercy is a good or lucky fact orsituation; but most significantly, it is kind or forgiving treatment of some-one deserving of harshness or punishment.

Extending mercy toward someone over whom we hold power, of-ten someone who has hurt or harmed us, lets us set aside normalquestions and feelings of fairness, blame, justice, or revenge.

All traditions teach about the quality of mercy – whether we chooseto put the teaching into practice is entirely up to us as individuals,communities or societies. Mercy, it would appear, being so enmeshedin the awful pain through which it needs to be offered – is one of thehardest spiritual challenges, and we have hundreds if not thousands of‘valid’ reasons to prevent us from extending it.

I offer here a story from the Middle East shared by a Lebaneseteller, when a group was discussing the true life story of Azim Khamisa,who not only forgave the shooter of his son, but who, with the youngkiller’s grandfather, educates young people about non-violence, andwho is working to rehabilitate the young man himself.

The traditional story tells of a sheik who lived in a desert. One darknight he was sitting at the opening of his tent, unable to sleep, over-come with unbearable sadness; his eldest son had been killed a fewdays earlier. Suddenly, through the night, a stranger came running byand fell at the feet of the sheikh. “O Sheikh, save me. My enemieschase me to kill me. I am exhausted and cannot run any more. All mencall you good. Let me stay in your tent for one night.”

The sheikh bid him enter, treating the stranger as his honoured guest.After eating and drinking, the man lay down to sleep. Very early thenext day, the sheikh gently woke the stranger, handing him a bag ofgold. “Friend, I hope you slept well. The food has given you somestrength, but you must flee before the sun rises. My best horse isreadied for you.”

stranger froze. His face reflected a struggle going on in his mind.Then suddenly he fell at the feet of the sheikh. “O good and noblesheikh! You saved my life; you offer me help. But I now need to tellyou – I’m the one who killed your son. I cannot go from here. You cankill me; I am ready for this.”

The sheik was shocked. He sat down with his head in his hands.Finally he drew out some more gold and gave it to the man, saying,“Here is enough gold to start a new life. Take this and go. I will not killyou. You have been noble enough to confess. How can I be less nobleto refuse to forgive you? The thought of revenge had been burning inmy mind. Go away and take this terrible feeling of vengeance awayfrom me. Only then will my son rest in peace. May God forgive usboth – you for murdering my son and me for keeping revenge andhate in my heart.”

To extend mercy is not easy. Yet without mercy, the world would bea harsher place. When we think of the grace we have received — ofall of the times that we have, mercifully, not gotten what we deserved— we might desire to extend the same gift to others.

By Meena Om

The Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath recently unwittingly stirred up acontroversy by saying that the Shirdi Saibaba ought not to be regardedas a Bhagwan — presumably because no one knows if he was Hinduor not. One wonders if this really matters, when we all need to bemoving towards Oneness.

Everyone needs some kind of spiritual support to get through life.So, does it matter if someone gets it by placing faith in Sai Baba orsome other master?

People will follow someone or something so long as it works forthem; it’s trial and error. With due respect to the Shankaracharya ofJyotirmath and any other custodian of ‘Hindu Dharma’, let’s face thefact that people would have approached them too if that helped themin any way.

The question arises, as to what use are discourses given on Vedasand Upanishads when they are unable to address the fact that humanrelationships are deteriorating and instances of violence and abuseagainst women continue to rise?

Why has no guru come out to address these issues substantively?Even in the Mahabharata, learned men, revered custodians of so-called dharma, stayed put in their seats in Dhritrashtra’s court whenDushasana dragged Draupadi by her hair in court and humiliated her.

‘Hindu’ is a geographical term; it is not the name of a religion.Hindus were known to live in sync with Nature and this was their wayof life, truly spiritual.

The sun shines and exudes heat and energy; it has been doing sofor ages; it is sanatan, eternal.No individual, faith leader or religion canlay claim to the Sun. That which is sanatan is not the property of anyone cult or religion.

Everything on this planet is composed of pancha tattva, the fiveelements — earth, fire, air, space and water. These are sanatan. Let’srevere, respect and worship Nature.

Strive to be comfortable and in tune with universal energies be-cause you are a product of these energies, the five elements whichare manifest in each one of us.

The basic guna of every human being is to act according to Nature— which is whole and complete – something that is perfect for natu-ral evolution of all species and expansion of the Universe. One has to

be part of this magical and divine cosmic play and this is the highest joyof being human.

We are here to celebrate life according to laws of Nature, enhanc-ing each other towards growth, glory and grace. Religions created byus pale in significance before this most spectacular, grand and won-derful eternal divine cosmic play.

Kabir Das said: “You collect stones and build a mosque and on itstands the mullah and recites his prayers loudly; is the Khuda hard ofhearing?”

“If by worshiping a stone you can find Hari, then I will worship themountain itself; better to worship the grindstone...

“Time sieves out all imperfections. Such is cosmic play. Time is agreat sieve.”

When cosmic messages come, they reach only those who are con-stantly tuned in to the Universe’s frequency.

With time, those who are not tuned in to universal energies, or haveeven an iota of imperfection, falsehood, and ego – get sieved out.Whoever remains, however few, are the ones who are constantlyworking to stay tuned — the true recipients of the eternal – sanatanknowledge. Time is eternal, sanatan, and that which is eternal stayswith time.

Hindu, Muslim ... does it matter?

Belief and trust are two arevery different things; while beliefis directed towards an object, trustis an inner quality, says Osho.

The difference between beliefand trust is immense. Belief is di-rected towards an object.

You believe in A or B. It canbe a person or a book or a con-cept or a philosophy.

Belief is objective; there is anobject to it.

Trust has no object. You don’ttrust A or B. Trust is a quality. Ithas nothing to do with any object.Beliefs are bound to be disturbed,will be disturbed, and it is good thatthey are disturbed; otherwise youwill be caught in them.

Unless you lose all belief inbeliefs, trust will not arise, becauseit is a totally different dimension.Abelief is looking outwards to some-body else as a redeemer. Chris-tians believe in Christ and Bud-dhists believe in Buddha. They arelooking towards somebody as ifhe is responsible.

Nobody is responsible for youexcept yourself. Trust is not di-rected outwards.

Trust is simply an inner quality,like the fragrance of a flower,indirected; it is simply there. No-body can take your trust awaybecause, in the first place, younever put it in anybody.

The real master never createsa belief and pseudo masters al-ways create belief. In the nameof trust, they create belief. Thereal master destroys beliefs.That’s why Zen people say,‘If youmeet the Buddha on the way, killhim.’ They are saying to kill thebelief in Buddha so your own trustis freed from all objects.

Trust is a quality of your heartas intelligence is the quality of yourmind. And the less cluttered youare with beliefs, the more you willfind trust arising,

Surrendering to a master is notreally surrendering to a master; itis just taking the help of a masterso that you can surrender to your-self.

The master is just a mirror: hereflects you. But carrying anygrudge, any scar in the mind, isbad, because that will affect yourfuture. That means you are notyet free from that experience.Always remember: the past hasto be dropped every day.

And sometimes it happens thateven the wrong routes that youfollow may bring you to the rightroute.

Wrong persons whom you arewith may help you to search forthe right person; because to seethe false as the false is a greatstep towards knowing the true as

the true. So ultimately,when onelooks back and considers every-thing, all fits perfectly well. Thosewho cheated you and those whohelped you — you have to begrateful to all of them.

Jesus says, “Judge ye not.”Never judge people. Whatsoeverthey can do, they are doing. What-soever you can take, learn, expe-rience, you should take, learn, ex-perience, and move — unless youcome to a place where you canreally disappear and there is noneed to move anywhere else.That door comes, but one has toknock on many doors before thatdoor comes.

Once upon a time,a man wentto seek and search.

He asked the first man outsidethe town,sitting under a tree ‘Howto find a master?’

The man described him, say-ing “These are the signs. He willbe sitting under such and such atree, he will have certain eyes,such and such a vibe”... and allthat. The man was happy — nowhe had a criterion — and for 30years he searched. He cameacross many masters, and he be-came disillusioned and frustrated

— so much so that he turnedback home; he said ‘It is all non-sense.’

He met that old man — nowhe was very old — when he wasentering the town.

Suddenly he was surprised:“This is the tree that he described,this is the vibe.”

He looked into the eyes of theold man and the old man startedlaughing. This was the laughterand these were the eyes!

He said, “But why didn’t youtell me before? Why did I have togo into such suffering and a night-mare for 30 years?”

The old man said, “I told you, Idescribed everything, but youdidn’t even look at the tree! Youwere not ready. These 30 yearshave not been a waste; they haveprepared you.

“Now you can see the tree, youcan look into my eyes and you canfeel the vibe. I am your master.You have come home. The goodand the bad, the false and the true— they all help.”

This game of life is really para-doxical. So whenever you cancome, come back — you may findthe tree here.

What is belief? What is trust?



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