Asian Culture

Issue: 10 21st May 2014 - 20th June 2014

135Page No.

The British Indian Awards were taken place inSolihull, Birmingham on Friday 16th May at the St. JohnsHotel in Solihull presented by BDO and organised byOceanic Consulting, attended by many professions anddignitaries.

The evening, sponsored by accountant BDO BinderHamlyn, honoured the success and achievements ofBritain’s Indian individuals, groups and business people.The evening was one of recognition and celebration,which highlighted the significant role Indian’s play incontributing to a better Great Britain.

Arbinder Chatwal, Head of India Advisory Services,BDO LLP commented: “Congratulations to all the winnersand finalists, who demonstrate an impressive mix ofdedication, hard work, integrity and creativity. BDO isreally pleased to see the achievements of the Indiancommunity in Britain today being recognized and we areproud to be part of a ceremony that puts the spotlighton the very best in Indian talent.”

Over 400 people attended the glamorous event,including host DJ Neev of Kiss FM. Singer and songwriterIndiraa showcased her talent by performing her latestsingle India on stage, also entertaining the guests, withsix number one smash hits single, was Navin Kundra.

Award winners included Businessman of the Year,which went to Jindy Khera of catering firm KTC inBirmingham. Best in education winner was ProfessorMonder Ram from Birmingham University Best inAccounting went to Andeep Kumar Mangal of localaccountancy practice Thapers while the Best in Sportwinner was Yan Dhanda, an England under-16international footballer currently on the books ofLiverpool.

One of the winners of the night was awarded toKeaton Samra for the Young Achievers Award. Havingstarted his passion of Karting at Rye House’s CadetAcademy in Hoddesdon at the age of 6, Keaton hasproved that he could become the future British KartingChampion! Keaton took his MSA ARKS test at the age of7 years and passed with flying colours. He achieved100% in his theory test and completed seconds earlierthan required, since starting Karting in September 2008;Keaton has impressed various business owners enoughfor them to sponsor Keaton when he was only 6. WhiltonMill Ltd was one of these. Keaton's father wasapproached by Luke Hines (GT Driver/Champion) fromZip Kart/Grand Prix Racewear (GPR) who is based atthe Silverstone circuit, once he heard that an 8 year oldwas competing against the best in the country in theHonda Class at Cadet Level. Keaton was only 8 and yetfinishing in the top 20 and best finish of 18th, this wasthe start to his first year of competitive racing.

Keaton now karts at Whilton Mill and Kimbolton atClub Level and on various National circuits as part theFormula Kart Stars British Championship. Keaton has alsoachieved the 2013 East Anglian Champion Award,Midlands Champion award, and 10th seed in the UKafter finishing 10th in 2013 British Karting Championship.As well as recognising the achievements of Indian menand women at the forefront of their communities andindustries, the event also raised money for the officialcharity partners The Well Foundation, whose aim is toprovide accessible clean water around the world.

British Indian Awards 2014

Cont. Page No. 4

SuccessfulAsiansShreeNarendraModi

Event Detail: Page No.20

Hindu Temple to host Police Surgery12Page No.

Page No. 4

Page No. 6NeighbourhoodChampions Conference

Page No.20Asians Reach the Rich List

Page No. 3

www.asianculture.info 21st May 2014 - 20th June 2014

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2In the Month of May wefinally witnessed the hottemperatures in the UK.This means more timeoutdoors with oursunshades, suntan, summerclothes and of coursethose tasty barbecues.Talking of food, very soonAsian Culture will be

launching a specialedition of mixedrecipes for you totry, by a very well

known chef based inwest London.

So whether you like Punjabi, Gujarati, Pakistani foodor want to learn new dishes such as Indo Chinese or Parsidishes then watch this space launching very soon.Finally the Indian elections completed on 12th May andthe new Prime Minister of India was announced on 16th

Editor’s Say…

Editor: Kajal Sehmi

Chief Editor: Mr. Brij Mohan Gupta (MBE)

Media Adviser: Kuldeep Shekhawat

Event Reporter: Soonoo Malkani - London

Bipin Patel - Leicester

Photographer: Sagar Patel

Blogs: Nikhil Parmar, Nikhita Parmar

Urmi Sheth Ohri

Yagnesh Patel, Manish Gohil,

Kalpesh Patel, Nitin Shah

Publisher: Jobcal Solution Limited

Designer: Mehul Parmar

May. Asian Culture would like to congratulate MrNarendra Modi on his win and look forward to bigimprovements in India. Read on our Successful Asians'Edition on the man himself who upon hearing his win, leftto seek blessings from his Mother in Gujarat.

On the topic of Mother, I would like to personallythank our readers and supporters for their immensesupport during this month as we completed one year ofour Dear Mother Madhuben Keshavlal Parmar's deathanniversary.A year has flown very quickly and it only felt likeyesterday when She ended her call with her favouritewords 'Jai Gurudev Dikra'.On behalf of Asian Culture and Siddhashram ShaktiCentre, Thank You for your kind words.

Om Shanti

Kajal SehmiEditor for Asian CultureTV Presenter for MATVRadio Presenter for 1035mw

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Contact TIASfor advice onVISA APPLICATIONS

Cont. From Page No.1

- Anita Sharma

www.asianculture.info21st May 2014 - 20th June 2014 5

On the date of Friday 16th May 2014, Asians fromaround the world particularly the Indians, waited for themoment when the next Prime Minister was announced forIndia. For many it was not a surprise but a huge relief towitness the win of 282 of 543 parliamentary seats by MrNarendra Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The Indian general election of 2014 was held toconstitute the 16th Lok Sabha electing members ofparliament to all 543 parliamentary constituencies ofIndia. Running in nine phases from 7 April to 12 May2014, this was the longest election in the country's history.

According to the Election Commission of India, 814.5million people were eligible to vote, with an increase of100 million voters since the last general election in 2009making this the largest-ever election in the world. A totalof 8,251 candidates contested for the 543 Lok Sabhaseats. The average election turnout over all nine phaseswas around 66.38%, the highest ever in the history ofIndian general elections.

The result of election was declared on 16 May, fifteendays before the 15 Lok Sabha completes its constitutionalmandate on 31 May 2014.The counting exercise was heldat 989 counting centres. The National Democratic Allianceemerged as the majority coalition, winning 336 seats, andthe BJB as the single largest party, winning 282 seats. TheUnited Progressive Alliance won 59 seats, and theCongress, 44.

On Friday 16th, when it became clear that NarendraModi is the inevitable winner of the 2014 elections, the63-year-old went to seek blessings from his motherHiraben, in Gandhinagar. She fed him sweets and offeredhim blessing as they sat outside on her porch with children,well-wishers and the media looking on.

India's incoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi hasalso been greeted by hundreds of jubilant supporters ashe arrived in New Delhi from his home state of Gujarat.

The day after leading the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) to a landslide election victory, Mr Modi was mobbedby hundreds of flag-waving supporters at the capital'smain airport before waving to hundreds more who linedthe streets on his drive to the city centre.

At BJP headquarters, Mr Modi congratulated grass-roots campaigners who showered him with pink rose petals.

He also met other party leaders and was expectedto start discussions about forming a cabinet.

BJP officials said Mr Modi would not formally takeoffice until after Tuesday. The win has given India its firstparliamentary majority after 25 years of coalitiongovernments, with BJP claiming six times more seats thanthe Congress party. Outgoing Prime Minister ManmohanSingh was magnanimous in his final address to the nationon Saturday, wishing the incoming government success.

In a televised message, Mr Singh said he wasconfident about the future of India.

"I firmly believe that the emergence of India as amajor powerhouse of the evolving global economy is anidea whose time has come," he said. In his home state ofGujarat, Mr Modi told supporters he was confident of thefuture. "I want to make the 21st century India's century. Itwill take 10 years, not very long," he said.

"India is our mother. How can we watch our mothercry?" In his speech, the prime minister-elect pledged tomake good governance and development cornerstonesof his administration. "People used to believe that youcouldn't run an election on the basis of development, thatto win an election you had to hand out scraps to people,"Mr Modi said. "Modi will be PM with the BJP winning,that's been decided, but I am thinking ahead.

"Those politicians who don't believe in development,who ran away from development during the election, theytoo will accept development as an election platform in thecoming days."

Mr Modi has promised "good days are coming" in hisfirst reaction to the historic victory by the BJP. "India has

won. Good days are coming," Mr Modi wrote on Twittershortly before he went to seek blessings from his mother.

However, the leaders of the Congress party, Soniaand Rahul Gandhi, told reporters "We understand thatvictory and loss is part of democracy, we respect thisdecision. I take responsibility for this defeat."

Senior Congress leader and spokesman Rajeev Shuklatold reporters the party was ready to sit in opposition.

"Modi promised the moon and stars to the people.People bought that dream." British Prime Minister DavidCameron congratulated Narendra Modi on Friday on hisvictory in India's elections, saying he wanted to work withthe Hindu nationalist. Britain effectively imposed adiplomatic freeze on Mr Modi for 10 years over anti-Muslim violence in his home state of Gujarat in 2002, butreinstated relations with him in 2012 as part of a generalbid to boost ties with India.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague also sentcongratulations to Mr Modi and said he would "lookforward to forging an even closer partnership with Indiain the months ahead."

"The UK has strong ties with India and the BritishGovernment looks forward to working with the new IndianGovernment to build on this relationship and deliversecurity, growth and prosperity for both our nations," MrHague said in a statement.

Outside BJP party headquarters in New Delhi, jubilantsupporters banged drums, lit firecrackers and wavedflags as results showed Mr Modi ahead in both the seatshe is contested in Gujarat and the holy city of Varanasi.

Crowds roared "Hail Modi, Hail Modi" outside BJPparty headquarters in Ahmedabad, which is the main cityin Gujarat state where Mr Modi has been chief ministersince 2001.

Since being named as his party's candidate lastSeptember, Mr Modi has flown 300,000 kilometres andaddressed 457 rallies in a slick, presidential-stylecampaign that has broken the mould of Indian politics.

Analysts say Mr Modi has outclassed Mr Gandhi, 43,while promoting his pro-business record as chief ministerof Gujarat.

Mr Singh has already said goodbye to his staff aftera decade in office, which commentators say hasbeen marked by mounting policy paralys is .Mr Modi's mantra of development has won overmany voters who were initially skeptical about his Hindu-centric ideology and hisrole in sectarian riots in Gujarat in 2002.

The riots resulted in thedeaths of more than 1,000people, mainly Muslims. MrModi has denied anywrongdoing and a probeordered by the SupremeCourt found he had no caseto answer. Mr NarendraModi was born on 17thSeptember 1950 asN a r e n d r aD a m o d a r d a sModi into alower middleclass family inGujarat but hehas risen to beone of India'sm o s tcontrovers ia land powerfulpoliticians. He isalso the 14th and currently ChiefMinister of Gujarat though he isexpected to resign soon to take upthe office of Prime Minister.

Modi was a key strategist for the BJP in the successful1995 and 1998 Gujarat state election campaigns, andwas a major campaign figure in the 2009 generalelections, eventually won by the Indian National Congressled United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

He first became chief minister of Gujarat in October2001 after the resignation of his predecessor, KeshubhaiPatel, and following the defeat of BJP in the by-elections.In July 2007, he became the longest-serving Chief Ministerin Gujarat's history, at which point he had been in powerfor 2,063 days continuously. He is currently serving hisfourth consecutive term as Chief Minister.

Modi, the son of a tea seller from one of India’s lowercastes, grew visibly emotional when he spoke of thepeople of his home state, where he grew from a boy ina small village to the four-term chief minister.

“You people of Gujarat are mymother and father. You have raisedme. While I serve Mother India, Iwill also worry about you,” he said.“You are my energy, you are myinspiration, you are my strength.”

Meanwhile in the capital, New Delhi, Modi’ssupporters celebrated in the streets, setting off fireworks,dancing and singing. But the Congress Party headquarterswas almost deserted, with security officials and mediaoutnumbering workers. The mood was somber.

Mr Modi has steered Gujarat state as chief ministersince 2001 and is seen as a no-nonsense leader and haspledged to strengthen decision making, boost investmentin industry and infrastructure.

He is hated by some since the2 0 0 2 sectarian riots in Gujarati n which 1000, mostlyM u s l ims, were massacred.H e has been cleared ofinvo lvement but has

refused to apologisef o r loss of life. Mr Modi's

outlook is guided bycivil ization identity of

India, defense of Indiaand an Indian world

view, not a European one.As Prime Minister he'llbe in charge of 1.25

billion people.

Successful Asians –Narendra Damodardas Modi


A very successful Conference of NeighbourhoodChampions was held on 26 March at the Kadwa PatidarCentre in Kenton, Harrow. The turn-out was excellent aswere the exhibits from various partners such as the FireBrigade, Harrow Police and much Council led services tobenefit the public and help enhance safety. Refreshmentswere plentiful and organised well.

Neighbourhood Champions flocked from differentparts of the borough to provide valuable feed-backregarding what they had encountered during the courseof work on their own patch. Information-sharing andpooling of ideas/experiences at each table with the helpof a facilitator was encouraged. People from all walksof life and many members of our diverse communitiesattended. The evening simply flew!

We had the pleasure of having the Fire BoroughCommander, Richard Claydon; join as our 1000thNeighbourhood Champion along with a team of tenFiremen. The Leader of the Council, Cllr Susan Hall, had

the honour of enrolling him. The NeighbourhoodChampion initiative had been launched by her and shewas delighted to see it grow and flourish in our boroughand help to keep down crime.

It was very rewarding to have the BoroughCommander of Harrow Police, Chief SuperintendentSimon Ovens, give a talk on the huge impact thatNeighbourhood Champions had made in the fight againstcrime. He stated, unequivocally, that they had played abig role in helping reduce crime throughout the boroughas they were the "eyes and ears" for the local Police andalso for the Local Authority. He was keen to see manymore recruited on streets that still needed NeighbourhoodChampions. He could not thank them enough for theircontributions. It was very encouraging for volunteers

giving up their time to perform this valuable service tohear so much praise from our top cop. He also gave usstatistics for crime which had fallen quite substantiallyduring his first year in this borough.

He did, however, point out that much remains to bedone and that the Neighbourhood Champions were aninvaluable asset who would help him realise his vision tomake Harrow the safest London Borough over a periodof three years. We were currently sixth in London andwere about to beat Bexley's safety record. After which,he hopes we will overtake his own borough Merton andbecome number four. Please contact Harrow Council ifyou wish to join and become a Neighbourhood Champion.It is a very worthwhile initiative.

It was particularly good to hear that the Council'sNeighbourhood Champions web-site was beingdeveloped substantially and that much more usefulinformation would be available making this resource evenmore effective in its delivery.

Neighbourhood Champions Conference KP.

The Zoroastrian Centre in the heart of RaynersLane, hosted a Story-telling session, based on the"GOOD LIFE”, on the evening of 7th May. Speakerswere Rohinton Munshi representing the Zoroastrians andRabbi Danny from Pinner Orthodox Synagogue. Theyboth had interesting and thought-provoking stories totell. This was the fourth in our annual series on the GoodLife. Last year we had stories from the different FaithGroups based on "the BIRTH STORIES”. Our next sessionwill be held by the Bahais in the Quaker House inRayners Lane.

Many members attended and listened attentivelyto their accounts. Tea and refreshments were kindlyprovided by the Zoroastrian Centre. We missed havingtheir President Malcolm Deboo in our midst as he wasbusy receiving their High Priest who had arrived fromUdwada.

After this, we met in the foyer and sat down to alively discussion about what we had learnt from thesestories. We all felt how amazing it is that so muchcommonality exists between our different Faiths. Itseemed clear to us that we all belong to ONE family--

the family of mankind ---and felt very fortunate to bebrought together and learn from each other's faiths.Our grateful thanks to the Zoroastrian Trust Funds ofEurope for their hospitality and love, in particular toRatan Buhariwala who looked after the arrangementsfor the evening along with Rohinton Munshi.

The Sikh Association led the Vaisakhi celebrations,under the guidance of Cllr Kam Chana. The event washeld in a marquee in the grounds of the temple andmany community groups turned up to make the occasiona happy one. Prospective Conservative ParliamentaryCandidate for Harrow West, Hannah David alsoattended and participated very bravely in an itemduring the GUTKA presentation!

Many groups who took part in these celebrations.It was a real pleasure to see performers in colourfulcostumes representing their particular community. TheSikh Association presented a host of performances andconducted as well. They provided us with movingShabads from the Guru Granth Sahibji, excellent Tabla

playing, energetic Bhangra dancing as well as GUTKAperformances which were amazing. Other performersincluded the Indian Association of Harrow, VediccaLondon Group, The Tamil Association of Harrow,Harrow Bengali Association and HAMA.

The Mayor of Harrow, Cllr Nana Asante, MayoressAwula Serwah, Honorary Alderman Keith Toms, GLAmember for Harrow and Brent, Navin Shah, Guruji DrParmar of International Siddhashram Centre, Presidentof Pakistan Society of Harrow, Ghazanfar Ali Chhattaand many other local dignitaries attended and enjoyedtheir evening.

Tasty vegetarian food was provided by theSwaminarayan Temple and enjoyed by all along withhot cups of tea served by volunteers. This was muchappreciated by all.

Vaisakhi Event

Good Life


The Annual General Meeting of the Harrow InterfaithCouncil was held on 29 April in the Members' Lounge ofthe Civic Centre, Harrow. It was a good turn-out andbegan with a welcome speech by the Chair, PunithaPerinperaja, followed by a report by the Secretary, PatStevens. Honorary Treasurer, Rohinton Munshi gave a

detailed analysis of our financial status and hasrecommended we attract more corporate members.Membership Secretary Michael Carmody for the pastdecade, had decided to step down and serve locally inhis own area. He was presented with a token of our esteemand was visibly moved. Samia Malik attended on behalfof Harrow Council and received thanks for the supportgiven to us by our Local Authority.

Since this is a rather special year, being our 30th, theChair requested the senior management team to pleaseremain and not step down in order to ensure a goodpresentation from HIFC.

Voting cards were given out. Happily we returned ourChair Punitha Perinperaja and her Vice Chair along withour Hon. Treasurer and Secretary. We were lucky to retainthe services of Varsha Dodhia and Ummi Merali who aremost helpful. Ummi has been instrumental in constructingour web-site and is a great team player.

We elected members from various Faith Groups andthe corporate sector as committee members and lookforward to a wonderful year ahead. The Chair thankedus and made closing comments inviting us to partake in therefreshments laid on. A rather pleasant and successfulAGM and a tremendous 30 year celebration of theHarrow Inter-Faith Council later this year. Watch this space!

A meeting of the Rayners Lane SaferNeighbourhood Panel was held on Saturday, 26April at Churchill Court, North harrow. Some of ourmembers were unavailable on this occasion, manybusy campaigning for the local elections which arebarely a month away!

Sgt Paul Culver gave us useful information ofthe state of play in our Ward. We were verypleased to see the reduction in crime, in particularresidential Burglaries. We meet on a quarterly basisand find out exactly what has been occurring in ourlocal neighbourhoods on our Ward and settingpriorities accordingly.

The Crime Statistics for March 2014 had beenpublished and it was rewarding to see Rayners Laneas one with a "low" sticker on it. West Harrow hasmade great strides as well. This is most helpful aswe are almost adjoining.

Pinner South, where our Jewish Moriah School isbased also is recorded as” low" in crime. Our thanksto all the teams who have worked so hard to makethis possible.

Days of action continue throughout the boroughfrom time to time and have brought excellent results.The Rayners Lane team have worked very hardholding Street Surgeries and briefings which thepublic find most useful. PCSO John Duggan andPCSO Lisa Donoghue presented excellent crimeprevention advice to a vulnerable group of around80 seniors at the Zoroastrian Centre in Rayners Lanewhich was much appreciated.

We are extremely sorry to learn that ourSergeant Paul Culver will be retiring and leaving ussome time in July. He has served in the MetropolitanPolice Service for 30 years. Paul has been such ahelpful and friendly face and will be sorely missed.We wish him a very happy retirement and goodhealth. Our good wishes will follow him wherever hegoes!

AGM Safer Neighbourhood

The Mayor of Harrow, Cllr Nana Asante held aspecial Thanksgiving Service in the Council Chamber onSunday, 13th April. It happened to be Palm Sunday. TheChamber was filled to capacity with dignitaries fromother boroughs including Mayors and ex Mayors ofHarrow. The Mayor thanked everybody profusely forthe warm reception she had received at every eventthroughout her Mayoral year and had found it a verymoving experience.

She was accompanied by the Mayoress AwulaSerwah and Leader of Harrow Council, Cllr Susan Hallwho read out lessons. The Service was beautifully led bythe Mayor's Chaplain, Reverend Suzanne Nti. ReverendShaun Lambert of Stanmore Baptist Church read a homily,emphasising the sacrifice Jesus made for the world,reminding us of our duty.

We were treated to inspirational singing by theWillesden New Testament Church and the Harrow

Thanksgiving

Community Choir, who made us feel so proud. Everybodypresent felt so moved and uplifted by the feelingconveyed powerfully through their singing praises of theLord. This was particularly impressive as we were a weekfrom celebrating Easter. The Mayor wished to convey themessage of Christianity.

It was delightful to see how well the event wasattended, by people from all walks of life, differentcommunities representing Harrow's rich diversity and allage groups, especially young ones. Harrow InterfaithCouncil was well-represented along with many Faithgroups and community members who had given up theirSunday to be at this special event.

This was followed by a Reception in the Members'Lounge. Everybody thoroughly enjoyed the fare and thefeeling of friendship and camaraderie. It turned out tobe a very happy and joyous occasion for all those whoattended and a momentous day for our Mayor to cherish.

watch every mondaySpiritual LIVE Show

Every MondayFrom 8.30pm to 9.00pm BST

SPIRITUAL LIVE ON SKY 793- MATV

with Gurudev Dr. Rajeshji


54th Gujarat Foundation Day Reception & Achieve-ment Awards Ceremony Members’ Dining Room, House ofCommons, Palace of Westminster

Thursday 1st May 2014 from 7:00pm – 9:30pmNotable guests confirmed: the Rt Hon Hugo Swire MP

(Minister of State) and His Excellency Mr Ranjan Mathai,Indian High Commissioner in London

Priti Patel MP, the Prime Minister’s UK Indian Diaspo-ra Champion, is hosting the first ever Gujarat FoundationDay celebrations in the Palace of Westminster. As an MPof Gujarati origin, she is proud to host this event and tocelebrate the outstanding achievements and contributionsof the Gujarati community to the UK and around theworld. This event is the first of its kind and isbeing hosted in partnership with theNa- tional Congress of Gujara-ti Organisations (NCGO)

UK – the voice of 104member organisations.

As the Indianstate of Gujarat wasestablished on 1stMay 1960, celebrat-ing this special foun-dation day is very

important to Britain’sGujarati population. To

hig hlight the significance ofthis event, over 200 high-profileguests – primarily Gujarati communityleaders in the UK – have been invited to celebrate andto listen to keynote speakers, which includes the Rt HonHugo Swire MP (FCO Minister of State with responsibilityfor India) and representatives from the Indian HighCommission in London. The evening will also feature acultural Gujarati demonstration and an awards ceremonyto recognise the achievements of notable members of theBritish-Gujarati community.

In the lead up to the event, Priti said, “As an MP ofGujarati origin, I am proud to host the first ever Gujaratfoundation day celebrations in UK Parliament. This majorevent not only commemorates the founding of the state ofGujarat 54 years ago, but it is a celebration of thetremendous contributions the Gujarati community makes

to our British way of life. This is a historic and specialevent and I look forward to sharing it with membersof Britain’s Gujarati community.”

Sharad Parikh, President of the NCGO, added,“It is with immense pride the National Congress ofGujarati Organisations (NCGO UK) holds this cele-brations in the Palace of Westminster. We arecelebrating not just the birth of the State of Gujaratbut the continued success of Gujarat. We are at theforefront of British society in education, self-employ-ment, voluntary work and an adherence to law andorder. NCGO is privileged that almost all the majorBritish Gujarat organisations are affiliated with it.

Over the last 28 years our organisation hasmade considerable contributions in defending thejust rights and interests of the Gujarati community in theUK and also enriching Britain's culture, social, economicand political life. With what has been achieved over theshort time span, it makes us confident that the Gujaraticommunity will continue to make an increasing contribu-tion to the Britain of tomorrow.”Note to editors : Please note that numbers are limited forthis event and participation is by invitation only. Mediarepresentatives are required to register in advance bycontacting Benjamin Maynard in the Office of Priti PatelMP at [email protected] or on 020 72193528.

National Congress of Gujarati Organisations UKhttp://www.ukncgo.org/index.htmlThe NCGO is a not-for-profit organisation that is not

political party-affiliated and non-sectarian in religion. Itsobjectives are:

• To inform, advise, involve and represent the Gujaratispeaking population of the United Kingdom on all issueswhich affect them and generally to work for their social,economic, educational, cultural, linguistic and religiousadvancement

• To act as a national forum and central organisationto assist the Gujaratis in the dealings with statutory andvoluntary organisation

• To undertake activities aimed at promoting theinterests and meeting the need of the Gujaratis

• To work for a society based on the principles ofsocial justice and equal rights and opportunities for all

• To support, by lawful means, the claims of everycitizen to the right to enjoy base civil liberties and

• To foster a better understanding and relationshipbetween the various communities and organisations

The Prime Minister’s UK Indian Diaspora Champion to host thefirst ever Gujarat foundation day celebrations in UK Parliament


The Unity of Faiths Foundationscongratulates Shri Narendra Modi onbecoming the Prime Minister of India andleading the largest democracy in the world.

We at The Unity of Faiths Foundation arevery honored to be working with the PrimeMinister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, forour all India project; spreading Unity overthe oncoming years to the billion people fromthe many backgrounds and cultures withinIndia, and also globally.

The Unity of FaithsFoundation

congratulatesPrime Minister

Shri Narendra Modi

A special thanks to Shri Ram Jethmalaniour Indian Global Ambassador, Dr MNKrishnamani, Ms Pareena Swarup ourfoundation lead in India, Mr SandeepSingh & Dr. Shamender Talwar & AnnaPrior (Co-founders)

21st May 2014 - 20th June 2014www.asianculture.info10

LIVE SHOWS ON SKY 793

Zile Huma, a well known singer and youngestdaughter of Madam Noor Jehan passed away in Lahoretoday. According to details, the singer died in a privatehospital on Friday morning. Few days back, she wasadmitted in ICU in critical condition due to diabetes andkidney failure. The doctors said that her leg was alsoamputated during her treatment.

Zile Huma was born in Lahore on February 21, 1944.She was the youngest of the three children of Noor Jehanand Shaukat Husaain Rizvi. The late singer was marriedto a jeweler Aqeel Butt. The couple had three sons anda daughter.

In 1990s, Zile Huma started her music career. She gotformal education in music from Ghulam Muhmmad. Duringher music career, she also released an album to paytribute to her late mother.

Zile Huma

C:\Users\ccooper\Documents\texture contrete frame.png

21st May 2014 - 20th June 2014 www.asianculture.infowww.asianculture.info 11

Siddhashram Shakti Centre is opening the doors tothe public for free TB tests as part of a London-widestudy. As part of creating awareness for tuberculosis,Public Health England is currently running a study into anew test for the illness especially for those who havebeen travelling to a country with high tuberculosis rates.Anyone who has travelled within the past five years canbe tested for free.

Research assistant Louise Cross, who has been testingmembers of the temple for the past two months, said: “Iam really impressed with the response we have had sofar. “The main reason we are trialling a new test forlatent TB is because cases are increasing rapidly amongpeople who have been exposed when they havetravelled abroad.”

Founder of the temple, Gurudev Dr Rajeshji said.“For me this temple is here for the whole community touse as well as being a place of worship. “We decidedto let the screening take place here to because we wantto make sure it is as easy for people to get tested.”

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the most deadly infectiousdiseases in the world. Each year it kills 1.4 million peoplewith nearly another nine million suffering from thedisease, mainly in developing countries. TB usuallydevelops slowly. Your symptoms might not begin untilmonths or even years after you were initially exposedto the bacteria. In some cases the bacteria infect thebody but don't cause any symptoms, which are knownas latent TB. It is called active TB if the bacteria causesymptoms. The test involves taking a small amount ofblood and results are then forwarded on to the patientand their GP. Anyone who may have travelled tocountries including India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China,Haiti, Indonesia, Iraq, Pakistan, Thailand and large partsof the African continent can get tested.

Those interested in gettingtested can do so at the templeevery Tuesday and Thursday from12pm to 2pm and people can callthe temple on 0208 426 0678.

TB tests atSiddhashram Shakti Centre

Today I want to share some of the "Secrets of Success"that elude the vast majority that want it. Let's start bytalking about money as a measure, although it is clearlynot the only measure it is a great one to use as it solvesmost problems at the bottom of the ladder.

There are only 1400 Billionaires and 12 MillionMillionaires on this planet, Less than 300,000 live in theUK yet London is the biggest city of choice for the Megarich ... 4,224 multi-millionaires, defined as individualsworth more than $30m (£19m) each, according to analysts.

We live in a time where, despite much media doomand gloom, more millionaires are being created each daythan ever before in history. The question I get asked is"What does it take". The question I ask is "Are YOU willingto BE and DO what it takes to have it all?"

Over the years I have attended dozens of seminarsaround the world and interviewed many millionaires anda few Billionaires too... and it still amazes me how SIMPLEsuccess is when we strip away the personal journey.

It's the Entrepreneurs and Visionaries in this world thatcreate these inspiring results. Most often they do not setout to be Millionaires but rather they get excited,obsessed and consumed with an idea that can make adifference, add value and improve the lives of others,with single minded determination, they never stop chasingtheir dreams. What makes them tick, what makes them special isinteresting; they see things differently to the masses. Theysee things before they happen, they are DREAMERS,courageous, willing to be different, often judged andmisinterpreted, seldom understood. The ability to believeversus doubt, be positive versus negative, possible versusimpossible, constructive versus destructive, solution versusproblem oriented. They WORK HARD, dawn to dusk, study their crafthard, play hard and make sacrifices average people arenot willing to make.... and the people will say it was easyfor them. They ALL take care of their MIND, Most take care oftheir BODY and many nurture their SPIRIT, of course thereare always exceptions to all rules but here I tackle thethemes I myself have noticed in the ones I have met. To succeed you have to be at your best, PeakPerformance is high on their list of skills. They areconsistent, persistent and committed. An ATTITUDE of MUSTDO rather than just CAN DO, over riding the natural traitsof failure... lazing around, procrastinating, watching TV,drinking beer every week etc. Contrary to most beliefs, Entrepreneurs HATE high risk,they play the games they know they can influence andwin in. they maximise their odds of success. The risk is indoing nothing and living average, the evidence is allaround us and overwhelming. The vast majority of peopleretire flat broke and living on less than they were used toliving on. M a k i n g money is a bi product ofdoing what they love doing, it’st h e journey thatexc i t ed them, not justthe end goal.

THE

S U C C E S SFOR

MULA = Innovation and Entrepreneurship can solve allglobal problems They are Dynamic, Charismatic and Confident, theirConviction is mesmerising, they can put people under their"spell" with their passion. Their RelentlessEnthusiasm, Obsessive work ethic, Unquestionable SelfBelief and Confidence make them attract the right peopleand circumstances to win.

Their value system governs their life, strong ethics,values, beliefs and the ability to influence others; theyunderstand it's a team work that makes the dream work. People often criticise and mock them but that's ok astheir dream is for them also, they will see it later, theywill eventually come around, explore and find somethingfor themselves to help them and they will say ‘’Thank you,I was wrong,’’ although this part is often not public. Always an element of "LUCK", right time, tight place,and right people. L.U.C.K reads... Labour UnderConstructive Knowledge. The Truth is if you focus onanything enough you can master it. Money alone did not make them happy, it may havedriven them initially but once money was handled theirability to make the world a better place is multiplied. Scientifically it is "Impossible" for a Bee to fly, yetthey do. Humans are often limited by their own limitingbeliefs and perceptions of "reality". "A Bumble bee fliesbecause it doesn’t know it can’t". Ambitions grounded in reality I think is the key. Sayingyou will be a Doctor in four weeks from scratch is silly,that's not what I mean when I talk about anything beingpossible and dreams can come true. What I mean is thatif you really want something bad enough, over time andwith the right coaching, mentoring and guidance, anythingis possible. Being Stubborn and naive means you do things mostdo not, these are also traits often seen in successful people.Millionaires are great Motivators and they Inspire peopleto Be, Do and have more. They care about others andwant to help people see things the way they see them.They see a way, find a way or create a way. Allentrepreneurs are dreamers, they never retire, and theymove on to pursue different passions.The crazier the dream the better the journey.

My journey started 19 years ago when I read a bookthat would take me on a journey that I could noth a v e imagined. I now coach people all overthe world on how to master themselves, theirt h o u g hts, emotions, feelings andactions so thatt h e y can livet h e i r b e s tlife.

Iwould like t og i v e you a

g i f t f o rreading this article

through. a copy ofthe book that got

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Success AlwaysKalpesh Patel x

SECRETS OF SUCCESS


Hindu temple to host police surgeryInternational

S i d d h a s h r a mShakti Centre andlocal Police officerswill be launching acampaign once amonth to discusscrime and anti-social behaviour.

The Templebased onPalmerston Road inHarrow andWealdstone willbe conducting apolice surgery onthe first Tuesday ofevery month. Thesurgery will aim tocreate awarenessof the crimes that are taking place inmany areas and advise members of thepublic on how to remain alert.

Borough commander Simon Ovenssaid: “There are parts of the communitythat for cultural reasons are sometimesreluctant to talk to the police. “By havingthe monthly surgery here we will be ableto talk to people in a place they feelcomfortable and can talk to an officer inconfidence.

“We’re very grateful to be able towork with the temple and have thesurgery here.” The Founder of ISSC, DrRajeshji Parmar stated ‘‘It’s important tous the temple is used by the wholecommunity and we hope people will bemore comfortable to come here andspeak to police if they have a problem.”

The latest crime figures for ResidentialBurglary in London show a 10.8% dropfrom 60,353 to 53,847 in 12 months (till

April 2014) with an increase of 15.1%from April 2013 to April 2014 inDomestic Crime from 49,041 to56,470. The total number of crimesfrom 12 months to April 2013 was765,938 as opposed to the 9.1% dropfrom 12 months to April 2014 with afigure of 696,411.

Although it is a fair drop innumbers, crime is taking placeeveryday regardless of where andhow. All ages can be effected and thepolice are spreading protectioneverywhere to help those in need. ThePolice will also provide private andconfidential interaction if required, toprotect one’s identity.

If you would like to get involvedor require more information, contactthe Temple on 0208 426 0678 ordirectly via Asian Culture. (Our detailsare found at the front inside page).

Shri Nirodbaran once wrote to SriAurobindo' "Please give me some necessaryinstructions, not depending on my notes, as towhat should be done. If I have seen the tail itmust lead me to the head!

Sri Aurobindo replied (26 March 1937):“There is nothing to do but to go on

concentrating and calling the Presence within andwithout you, the opening, the power to receive andlet it come. The more the mind falls quiet during or asthe result of concentration, the better (no other thought inor out). But no need to struggle for that, must come of itselfby the concentration."

Shri Udar Pinto states: "I joined the Sri AurobindoAshram in 1937 and since then I have tried to do His Yogaas best I could by reading the very fine books He haswritten on this matter. But after about 25 years or moreof this effort I was not at all sure that I had reachedanywhere and so one day I told this to our Sweet Motherand asked Her if I was doing the Yoga correctly. I reallyhoped for Her Blessings to help me do it correctly but Igot a shock when She said that I was doing it all wrong.I was nonplussed and asked Her what I should do and Sheanswered, smiling: 'Why do you want to do the Yoga anddo it all wrong?' I said: `Then what to do?' She replied: 'Iwill do the Yoga for you! You can stop all you are doingand let me do it. I have come down on earth to make thingseasy for you so why should you try when I am here to doit?' I asked 'What then is my part?' `Just give yourself tome and I will do it all for you and you just go on doingthe work you are doing for me.' I accepted at once and I

shook the hand of the Mother asa sign of the contract weformed that day.

"But then I found thatgiving oneself to TheMother is easy to say butso difficult to do and so Iasked Her how to do it. Shesaid: 'In the morning when

you get up what do you do?'I said I do my toilet and get

ready for my bath. But Sheasked for detail and I said I started

with brushing my teeth. Then She asked:'But what do you think of or dream aboutwhen you brush your teeth?' And I saidthat it was such a usual thing to do that Ifound nothing to think about or to dreamabout. Then She told me what I should doduring each act of my toilet, my bath, mybreakfast, etc. She said, 'Feel mypresence very much with you. Make medo with you the things you are doing. Talkto me, discuss with me the best way ofdoing what you have to do. While eating,let us together find the wonderful tasteof what we are eating. You will see howwonderful will taste even a slice of breadit you eat it with me, together, enjoyingits taste.' So now I try to do this and it haschanged my whole life and has madeeverything so beautiful and full of joy."

How to do Yoga?

Cont. InNext Issue

- Article from: “Correspondences, Interviews andConversations with Sri Aurobindo and The Mother”

C:\Users\ccooper\Documents\texture contrete frame.png

21st May 2014 - 20th June 2014 www.asianculture.info 13


The much anticipated film starring Superstar Rajnikanth will berocking the global box-office this May. The film will introduceviewers to a new cinematic experience for the first time on the

Indian screen. The film has been shot using “first motion capture”technology. The technique is known as photo-realistic 3D animation. Thebudget accorded to the project was over Rs 125 Crs. The project washelmed by Rajnikanth’s daughter Soundarya. KOCHADAIIYAANinvolved over 200 technicians from abroad and India. The world famousPinewoods Studios was also used to shoot important sequences. JamesCameron’s AVATAR was made with the same technology. However, tocompare KOCHADAIIYAAN with its Hollywood counterpart would notbe justified. Hollywood makes these ventures with budgets ranginganything above Rs 3000 crs and employs a large group of technicianswhich works over a period of 3-5 years. Instead, this should be seenas a huge step forward in technological advancements within Indiancinema. The film trade is expecting KOCHADAIIYAAN to break manyrecords on it releases.

Bobby Deol To Make AComeback With BICHHOO 2

Bobby Deol last set of certified hits were way back in thelate 1990’s – Abbas-Mustan’s SOLDIER and Rajiv Rai’s GUPT. Hissolo-career gradually fizzled out. However, filmmaker

Guddu Dhanoa who is well known for his actionerssuch as ZIDDI and SALAAKHEN, is all setto make a sequel to his 2000 directed filmBICHHOO. Though the film was not a major successat the time, Dhanoa has found a right scriptwhich will take the sequel forward. Bobby Deolhas been signed to play the main lead. A freshfemale face is been scouted for to staropposite Deol. BICHHOO was acomplete remake of the Hollywood hitLEON starring Gary Oldman. Dhanao’sAFLATOON starring Akshay Kumar, was alsoheavily inspired by the same Hollywood hit. CanBobby reclaim his solo-status at the box-office? Now that is a million dollar question !

The AGNEEPATHfame directorKaran Malhotra,

has apparently ropedin Akshay Kumar andthe SOTY charmer

Sidharth Malhotra forhis next project. The film in

question is said to be an official remakeof the Hollywood martial arts hit

WARRIOR starring Tom Hardy and JoelEdgarton. The project is likely to be co-produced by Karan Johar and Endemol

Productions. This will be the first time that Akshay will be workingunder the Dharma Productions banner.

Ajay Devgan is all set with his next directorial ventureSHIVAY. The actor will produce the film under his homebanner. SHIVAY is still under pre-production stages and is

being planned as a big budget action flick.Devgan’s last offering as a director was U MEAUR HUM starring KAJOL. Though acommercial failure, Devgan received a loto f critical appreciation for his first

effort as a filmmaker.I t ’ s unlikely that Kajolwill be seen as thefemale l e a doppos ite Ajay.Meanwh ile, thep r o d u c t i o n stage ofSINGHAM 2, is a l m o s tproceeding at a fast pace. AjayDevgan will once again reprise hisrole as the fiery i n s p e c t o rBajirao Singham.

Ajay Devgan To Wield TheDirector’s Baton For SHIVAY

Armaan Jain – RajKapoor’s GrandsonTo Make His Debut

Saif Ali Khan has taken theresponsibility of introducingRaj Kapoor’s grandson,

Armaan Jain. The film in question isLEKAR HUM DEEWAANA DIL, whichwill also mark the directorial debutof Arif Ali, brother of filmmakerImtiaz Ali. The trailer was launchedrecently with a lot of fanfare.Armaan’s facial features seem a

cross between Raj Kapoorand Mama Rajeev

Kapoor. Armaan’smother Reema, isdaughter of the latelegendary showmanRaj Kapoor. Saif AliKhan is co-producing this filmwith his partnerDinesh Vijan. Oneexpects great music

from LHDD since ARRahman is handlingthe musical affairsof the project.

Saskhi Khanna – The New Star Kid In The Waiting

With Bollywood currently bombarding the industry with star kids, It seemsveteran actor Vinod Khanna’s son Saskhi Khanna, is also gearing upto try his luck in the showbiz industry. There were talks that filmmaker

Milan Luthria was going to launch Saskhi in his upcoming venture. However, itsseems that project has gone to Arjun Kapoor. Unlike his elder step-brothersAkshaye and Rahul, Sakshi has opted for a physical transformation. The kid isbusy developing his six-abs packs. Apparently, the musically blockbusterAASHIQUI 2 was offered to Saskhi by Mahesh Bhatt. But due to unknown reasons,the project went to Aditya Roy Kapur. Many top line producers are currentlyvying to sign up this latest Khanna on the block. However, it seems Saskhi is stillwaiting for the correct launch pad.

Vivek Oberoi in SanjayGupta’s MUMBAI SAGA

Vivek Oberoi will reportedly essay a roleinspired by senior Mumbai Police inspector and encounterspecialist Vijay Salaskar who was

killed in 26/11 attacks. Vivekdelivered one of his career bestperformances in Sanjay Gupta’sSHOOTOUT AT LOKHANDWALA.However, the relationshipbetween Gupta and Vivek turned

bitter when thelatter opted out ofSHOOTOUT ATWADALA. Recently,both hugged andmade up at a partyand chose to leave theirdifferences behind.MUMBAI SAGA willcomplete SanjayGupta’s trilogy on theMumbai’s high profilepolice encounters.

21st May 2014 - 20th June 2014 www.asianculture.info 15Anil Kapoor and Indra KumarTeaming Up Once Again

Anil Kapoor and filmmaker Indra Kumarhave shared a professional relationshipsince the 1980’s. MOHABBAT and KASAM,

both starring Anil Kapoor were produced byIndra Kumar. Known as the “Hit-Maker” of the1990’s, Kumar went on to direct the 1992blockbuster BETA which also featured Kapoor andMadhuri Dixit. Even though, their last outingtogether – RISHTEY (2002) failed to reach thesame heights, Indra Kumar is in talks with Kapoorwith a possible project. The script is said to be amasala fare with the usual dose of drama, romance and comedy. �After tasting mega successwith his adult comedy GRAND MASTI, Kumar’s upcoming film SUPER NAANI, will be his next offeringthis summer. SUPER NAANI is a screen adaptation of the successful Gujarati stageplay BAA AE MAARI BOUNDARY. Rekha is portraying the role made famousby the veteran Gujarati actress Padma Rani.There are

talks thatHollywood

actress EmmaWatson mayf e a t u r ea l o n g s i d eSushant SinghRajput inShekhar Kapur’smost ambitiousIndian filmPAANI. A bigannouncement isexpected verysoon. VeteranH o l l y w o o dactor JohnTravolta is alsoin talks to playa key role.Hrithik Roshan was originally chosen to play the lead before the role wentSushant. PAANI has been in the news for many years. Kapur had beentrying hard to find a producer to fund his dream project. Finally, It wasAditya Chopra who showed a keen interest in producing this venture, whichis being touted as India’s very own CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON.

Emma Watson In Shekhar Kapur’s PAANI ?

It’s a known fact that Hindi film heroinesare paid a bomb to feature in films madedown South. So why would Sonakshi be

left behind ? Her first Tamil film LINGAAwill have the big man himself – MegastarRajnikanth. The film is being helmed by oneof India’s finest filmmakers KS Ravikumar.The music is being composed by ARRahman. Initially, Rajnikanth was notcomfortable with the idea of romancingSonu on the big screen, since her fatherShatrughan is a very close friend of theMegastar. However, the awkwardness wasdispelled on the very first day of the shoot.Infact, the unit members were all praise for Sonu’s professionalism considering Tamil was acompletely new language for her. Expectation are also sky-high for her next release HOLIDAYco-starring Akshay Kumar.

Sonakshi SinhaShoots For HerFirst Tamil Film

BollywoodGupshup

By- Yagnesh Patel

With big films set to releases after the conclusion of theon-going Indian Premiere League Cricket, small films were“squeezed-in” during the months of April and May. 2 STATES

has turned out to be a lucrative investment for its producers Karan Joharand Sajid Nadiadwala. The film has grossed over Rs 104 Croresdomestically, at the time of going to press. The Hollywood biggie THEAMAZING SPIDERMAN 2, left no chance for small films to survive evenone day. The film has become the “highest grossing weekend opener”for a non-Indian film with a gross of over Rs 50 Crores. KAANCHI,PURAANI JEANS, YEH HAI BAKRAPUR, MASTRAM, KOYELAANCHAL,MANJUNAATH, KHWAAB were all non starters at the ticket counters.Only HAWAA HAWAAI managed find a niche audience and criticalacclaim. Hopes are now on THE XPOSE starring Himesh Reshammiya,HEROPANTI marking the debut of Tiger Shroff and KOCHAIIDAYAANfeaturing Rajnikanth.

Kya Hit Kya Flop ! KHUDGARZ was the directorial debut ofactor Raakesh Roshan. The film wasoriginally written with Jeetendra and

Kamala Hassan in mind. However, since Hassanshowed no interest in the project, Roshan did awaywith the Tamilian character. He rewrote thecharacter as a Bihari Babu and signed ShatrughanSinha instead. The story was based on JefferyArcher’s novel KANE & ABEL. Sri Devi wasapproached for the role eventually played byBhanu Priya. Govinda and Neelam were addedto the cast in order to attract the youth audience,both were a huge craze back then. This was a“make or break” film for Raakesh Roshan. He hadvirtually mortgaged all his assets to finance thisfilm. Luckily for him, KHUDGARZ turned out to beone of the “biggest hit” of the year. Subsequently,the film was remade successfully in other regionallanguages also.

Did You Know ?

RememberingVeteran Actor Sudhir

Bhagwandas Mulchand Luthria known as Sudhir, passed away after battling prolongedillness. Sudhir was a regular feature of films made during the 1970’s and 1980’s. Hismost memorable role is difficult to quantify. However, one will always associate him with

hits like HAQEEQAT, HARE RAMA HARE KRISHNA, KHOTEY SIKKEY, DEEWAAR, SHAAN andSATTE PE SATTA. Sudhir was also the uncle of filmmaker Milan Luthria. May his soul rest in peace.

21st May 2014 - 20th June 201416 www.asianculture.info

Southbank Centre celebrated the 5th year ofAlchemy, the annual festival that showcased from the UKand South Asia with the best in music, dance, literature,comedy, fashion, art and design

Alchemy is a high profile, large scale event that takesover the whole Southbank Centre site. The South Asianculture, brought a mix of dance, music, talks and debatesto the Southbank Centre exploring the culture of India,Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and taking acloser look at their relationships and influence on theUK and vice versa. Festival-goers witnessed cutting-edge music, a huge range of free workshops, classesand Bollywood films. A special show from AnoushkaShankar was celebrated to mark the fifth birthdayof Alchemy.Having sold out Queen Elizabeth Hall inboth 2011 and 2013, Anoushka Shankar moves intoRoyal Festival Hall.

Flavours of India, an integral part of Alchemyturned the Southbank Centre Square into a bustlingmarket, celebrating the wonderful food cultures ofIndia and South Asia. All regions of South Asia; thedeep heritage and living expression of a continentthat has been shaped by countless influences,exchanges, distinct climates and a kaleidoscope ofdifferent identities were present in the marketcelebrating the diversity and rich cultural traditions of theIndian subcontinent, with food taking centre stage.

Nina Rajarani led this beginners' introduction to theIndian Classical dance form bharatanatyam and on thesame day Jham! a fresh, youthful, contemporary dancework performed by a cast of eight performed attractinghundreds of views. The piece was brought together by therhythmic, syllabic, vocally percussive South Indian styleof solkattu and the immediately familiar modern style ofbeatboxing. The title, Jham!, is one of the syllables usedin solkattu, and also conjures up a musical jam –improvisation and collaboration. This upbeat, energeticwork highlighted the rhythms and play between theancient and the modern.

Saad Haroon weaved stories and stand-up comedyin his new solo show FACTORY LIFE. FACTORY LIFE tookthe most integral moments in Haroon's past and broughtthem together in 90 minutes of non-stop hilarity. His uniquetake on what life was like growing up in Pakistan, and thetrials and tribulations that a young Muslim boy from aconservative community must undergo on his quest tobecome one of Pakistan's top comedians inspired manyleaving them in laughter.

The story of Bollywood's first female action hero.Hailed as the must-see show at the Melbourne Festival in2013, this musical and cinematic celebration of FearlessNadia was a rip-roaring adventure into classic Bollywoodcinema. Her name said it all: Fearless Nadia (aka

Perth-native Mary Evans) was one of thebrightest lights of 1930s and 40s Bombaycinema. A former circus performer, she cameto dominate India's silver screens with her

roguish charm, beauty, and swashbuckling,death-defying stunts. She was the starof Hunterwali, one of the early smash-successesof Bollywood cinema, and for two decades

was an icon of Indian cinema. Twelve acclaimed musicians,including guest master musicians from India on tabla,shenai, sarangi and dholak, performed a live score to amontage of Fearless Nadia's iconic and rarely screenedfilm Diamond Queen (1940).

Mr Amithabh Bachchan quoted 'An excellent tributeto her and the cinema of thetime... Pretty darn awesome!An innovative idea, playedout to perfection.' NikeshShukla's novella The TimeMachine was sincerely adeeply moving cookingmemoir. Losing a parent is oneof the hardest things anyonecan go through. After Nikesh'smother's death he found thelast of the food she hadcooked in the freezer. Notknowing the recipes he faceda dilemma: to eat it and tastehis mother's cooking for thelast time, or to save it.

Fearing the homemadeGujarati food of his youthwould be lost; he decided toteach himself to cook like hismum. He experienced a

moment created by the smell of cumin and coriander, thesound of frying onions over Bollywood music and the sightof the spices dancing on the flames – it was like his mumwas alive again. He set on a journey to rediscover therecipes.

The Time Machine is the story of remembering parents,legacy and good food. In this unique staging, while Nikeshcooked his mum's recipes for the audience, readersperformed The Time Machine. Proceeds from this show goto Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation. Nikesh is the authorof Kabadasses and Coconut Unlimited which wasshortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award. Bend It... wasa 20-minute collision between football andbharatanatyam dance. The show was performed by acast of dancers and musicians and completed with fouls,injuries, slow-motion replays and the ultimate heart-stopping goal.

A day of wide-ranging events discussing Pakistan wasnarrated by author Kamila Shamsie. The extent to whichPakistan is a country viewed by outsiders through the filter

Diversity at Alchemy

Other Shows27th July 2014 - Watersmeet Theatre, Rickmansworth, WD3 1EH

6th Sept 2014 – Fairfield Halls, Croydon, CR9 1DGContact:

Yogesh: 0208 949 3594 ; Madhu 0208 397 7359Ranjan 07903 372330 ; Nayan: 07976 299502

Design & Build

With gratitude andbest wishes from:KB Design & Build

21st May 2014 - 20th June 2014 17www.asianculture.info

of terrorism and extremism became evident a few yearsago when media outlets around the world, including UKTabloids declared that Karachi Fashion Week was strikinga symbolic blow against the Taliban. The finest thing aboutthese headlines was the satirical backlash they inspired,not least the twitter account @FAT_Pak (FashionistasAgainst Taliban, Pakistan).

A series of events about a Pakistan which can't beviewed through a single filter, covering topics such assatire, film, cricket and the Pak-Sino relationship wereconducted throughout the festival. Commentators onPakistan, both internally and externally, have writtenmillions of words on the Indo-Pak and Af-Pak relationship,but the most interesting of all the regional abbreviations– Sino-Pak – remains comparatively unexamined.

After Partition, India got democracy and Pakistan gota sense of humour – and both sides of the border areconvinced they have the better end of the deal. Historyforgets which Pakistani made this statement, but satire hasbeen a much-valued part of Pakistan's cultural life throughits democracies, dictatorships and the grey areas inbetween. Between the time of the TV comedy sketchshow 50-50 in the 1980s to the satirical pop videosof Beygairat Brigade (Dishonourable Brigade) in the lastthree years, humour in Pakistan has become much darker,and edged with despair.

The novelists Maha Khan-Phillips and Moni Mohsinread from their comic work, while also discussing withKamila Shamsie what made them laugh in Pakistan, andwhen the jokes are hardest to come by. Artists DavidAlesworth and Adnan Madani shared their impressions ofthe Karachi art scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Even as democracy returned and MTV arrived, in theart schools the 'burger' kids of Clifton and students fromthe growing north of Karachi were encouraged to respondto the visual culture of the city. The urban landscape, craftand commerce and high and low artistic forms became arich field for enquiry. For a brief but influential decade,

a cosmopolitan group of artists collaborated, taught, andleft a legacy which remains formally undocumented.

David Alesworth is a visual artist, landscape designer,and teacher who has lived and worked in Karachi andLahore for more than twenty years. Adnan Madani is anartist and writer who lives in Karachi and London. Hewrites on a range of topics related to Pakistanicontemporary art and art theory.Chair: Nada Raza is anassistant curator at Tate Modern with a focus on SouthAsia. Terrorist attacks, corruption, political aspirations,glossy hair, factionalism, growing religiosity, capitalistaspirations, battles with India, the marginalisation ofwomen, hope and despair: the story of Pakistan and thestory of Pakistani cricket overlap each other in so manyways it might convince a successful captain of the nationalside that he is fated to be the successful captain of thenation. As Pakistan's international players enter their sixthyear in exile from their home ground, which no other sidewill now visit, what does cricket in Pakistan tell us aboutthe nation itself? Osman Samiuddin explained in adiscussion with Kamila Shamsie. In the last few years, filmssuch as Zinda Bhaag, Slackistan,Ramchand Pakistan, MeinHoon Shahid Afridi, Waar and Khuda kay Liye havegenerated considerable hype about the New Wave ofPakistani cinema.

Detractors claim that the drought of the preceding 25years makes a few drops of water look like a wave.Meenu Gaur, director of the movie Zinda Bhaag (the firstentry Pakistan has ever submitted for the Oscars)discussed the view from within the industry with HammadKhan (director of Slackistan and Anima State) chaired byRachel Dwyer, Professor of Indian Cultures and Cinemaat SOAS.

Indian stage screen actor Naseeruddin Shah togetherwith his wife and daughter, Ratna Pathak and Heeba Shahperformed a fun reading of Vikram Seth's Beastly Tales :a modern, rhyming version of Aesop's Fables. Familiarcharacters took their place beside a newly minted gallery

of individuals who were quirky, witty and fun. The CitizensArchive of Pakistan brought together a wealth of personalstories, memories and objects. Whether exploring thebuilding of a nation, the drawing of a religious line, thevoice of the collective or the experience of an individual,these items included a range of critical perspectives onPartition and considered what it meant to revisit this historytoday.

The Citizens Archive of Pakistan (CAP) is a non-profitorganization dedicated to cultural and historicpreservation and educational outreach, operating inKarachi, Lahore and Islamabad. It seeks to educate thecommunity, foster an awareness of Pakistan's history andinstil pride in Pakistani citizens about their heritage byengaging diverse generations and communities in tellingand documenting Pakistan's rich history and in imaginingits future. Exhibition designed and curated by Onkar Kularand Sanam Maher. Supported by the British Council.Alchemy Fashion focused on the underground design andurban fashion scene in Pakistan. The evening kicked offwith a documentary by filmmaker William Williamson onyouth culture and how it's influencing fashion in Pakistan,produced in collaboration with Dazed Digital and TheDoll. This was followed by a catwalk show presentingsome of the most interesting designers to come out ofPakistan, in partnership with the British Council.

Alchemy Festival commenced on Thursday 15May 2014 - Monday 26 May 2014 attracting thousandsof visitors in the UK, to witness the diversity between theSouth Asian Culture. It was taken place at London's hubof cultural arts, The Southbank Centre which wasannounced in March 2013 that it's set for a Â£100 millionrevamp that will see the 1960s design finally move intothe 21st century with a proposal that includes a floatingglass pavilion, two more roof gardens, a space forriverside arts and a large pedestrian area.


Address: Poet’s Corner 74-76 Station RoadHarrow Middlesex HA1 2SQ

T: 020 8416 7004F: 020 8416 7005

On Sunday 18th May, a remembrance was held atSiddhashram Shakti Centre to mark one year of thedeath of our Mother, Late Madhuben Keshavlal Parmar.

The family of the divine temple gathered togetherfor a Shradhanjali (Tribute) and paid respect withbhajans, holy chanting of the Hanuman Chalisa led byArti. Many vocalists attended and contributed bydedicating beautiful bhajans in Gujarati and Hindidedicated to Madhuben. We were honoured to haveclassical singer Mrs Kankana Banerjee, a name that isused widely in Indian households, to perform sweetmusic in the name of Lord Krishna. Thereafter continuous

bhajans were sung by Mahant Shri Shipra Giri Bapu,Bhupendra Pandya, Mickey Sethi, Ameer Khan andHaridan Gadhvi. Artists from India were Mohanbhai,Gaurav Patel and Kamlesh Ustad. Tabla was performedby Sandeep Raval and Nikhil Parmar with manjiraperformed by Ravi Vegad.

Family members offered Thaal and Arti to Madhubenwith a remembrance speech by Shri Rajeshji. The bhajansended with Prasad in the way our Mother would havewanted.

Late Madhuben K. Parmar was the Manager ofInternational Siddhashram Shakti Centre (Valsaad, India)

Rememberence for Late Madhuben Keshavlal Parmar

where she managed staff and fulfilled duties of theAshram independently. She welcomed everyone withPrasad and Her blessings and never failed to smile.

On the early hours of Saturday 18th May 2013,She was taken to the heavenly abode also known asSiddhashram. We love and miss our Mother and cannever be replaced by another.

On behalf of Siddhashram Shakti Centre, Ipersonally thank you for your warm tributes and kindmessages, throughout this past year.

-JAI GURUDEV

www.asianculture.info 19

Living in London is like running an endlessmarathon and a Londoner just anotherbusybody in the massive ant brigade. Lifesprints ahead even before one realizes life.In some sense the life is quite similar to anyother urban city of the world, but what isremarkably different and striking is itsunique attitude. 9 million peoplereside in the city andspeak close to 300languages, yet thecity has its ownidentity. Londonway of life is infectious andirrespective of where one comes from,almost instantly one becomes a part ofthe herd. The internal operating system by defaultbecomes compatible to the London way of life. Life runson auto pilot, and at the same speed as the undergroundtube one boards every day to work and back, always ontime, super-fast and rarely out of service.

Boss, ‘I think, am going to be off sick next week fortwo days’! Yes, true enough nothing spontaneous isexpected nor appreciated; dinners are planned monthsin advance and holidays a year in advance. So, peoplelike me can never manage a single holiday becauselastminute.com syndrome in my life leaves me with no otheroption, by the time I decide to head out, all the rooms arebooked and the cheap fares taken. Firstly, I can neverdecide where I would like to go 50 weeks later andsecondly how on earth am I to sustain a state of superexcitement for that length of time? So, just like that Idecide to float around in my own dreamy milky way assome lost meteorite not to mention my two constantcompanions- stress and disappointment.

I, sometimes wonder if making spontaneous decisionsand living life in moments is in the Indian DNA and is itpossible to be well planned for everything, every time?Well, people here certainly are and their life’s calendarincluding the funeral is all sorted-either you fit inor you wait.

The other characteristic of the Londonlife is that the city does not talk on weekdaysand on weekends it’s spirits lift up. However,what is particularly intimidating is thedeafening silence of the daily commuters.During the peak hours the train

carriages are

p a c k e d with peopleyet the silence isoverwhelm ing no onee n c o u r a ges norapprecia tes apleasant smile or agreeting. T r u e

enough, if silence was ever louder than words, it is onlyhere- it screams loud- ‘Do not talk to me’.

If there is ever any loud voice that piercesthrough the silence it is that of some

immigrant or not so well bredwhite individual talking veryloud on the phone or to his

companion. There is nostopping him, his pitch is

loud andexclamationseven louder.So amidstuncomforta

ble stares and frownsthe screaming individual stands alone, as

everyone start moving further down the carriage.On the other hand the loquacious Indians generally

used to being very verbose in their speech find this culturaldifference hard to comprehend. Back home the day startswith multiple conversations with all and sundry from themilkman, the driver to the neighbours. The constant chatter,blaring tunes of Chamak Chalo, the incessant honking ofthe cars, the hustle and bustle in the household and themayhem on the streets truly mark the beginning of a newday. Hence, verbosity comes very naturally to Indiansafter all the Indian languages are built on phonetic scripts.The culture encourages freedom of speech, addas, openforums and arguments over cups of tea and suddenly todiscard the penchant for speaking and resign to a life ofsilence and etiquette is nauseating. The seasoned well todo NRI, is quick to adapt and behaves no different thanany other Londoner.

The food scenes in London are predictable everyoneis gripping finger food as they go about their daily lifeon weekdays and a lavish spread limited only forweekends. Hot Indian breakfast and even hotter mealsfor lunch and a spicy three course alternative for dinnerdeliciously cooked and served to you is a luxury only thequeen can afford. Cereal for breakfast, sandwiches andsoups for lunch and a mere cheesy main course for dinneris not really a tempting option for the foodie Indian, soone ends up spending all the spare time cookingelaborate Indian cuisines. It is true, food habits can neverchange, they only adapt a little.

The trouble is that we are not a Yes or No nation andnothing is black and white, there is always that grey areawhich defines the chaotic and mystical

Indian way oflife. However,w h i l s tretaining theessence of thesoil there aremany aspectsthat need to

change. Ana v e r a g eIndian talksfar toomuch forvery littleproductivity. Mosttimes hecontinues

to talk evenafter the audience has stopped

listening. He lives to eat to the point of being unfit andunhealthy. Indian soul spends all his life juggling betweenexpectations, emotions, and duties, to an extent that heforgets his own wellbeing.

The oversensitive, argumentative, passionate Indianlives a fuller life but almost always carries undue stress.Thetrend is slowly changing, over the years, a Global Indian

EFFERVESCENT INDIAN IN LONDONsoul is absorbing and adapting to the niceties of othercultures whilst retaining his Indian Identity. He happilysettles down to listening to Bollywood tunes on hisheadphone shutting the lonely world behind him, enjoyshis spicy chutney tikka sandwich for lunch, works hard andworks out even harder. He willingly spends a little moreto fuel his prompt holiday spirit. He may still fail to makelong term plans for simple things like holidays and dinnersyet is wise when it comes to planning finances for life orretirement.

Many things are changing and many cannot, but onething is for sure- ‘Living life in moments and for others’ isin the Indian DNA.

UK Immigration - The Mayor of London BorisJohnson has asked the U.K govt. to grant immigrationamnesty to illegal immigrants. Nobody is aware of thefact that how many illegal immigrants are there. Mr.Cameron promised to cut in to 'Tens of thousands' bythe year 2015 if he won and became Prime Minister.

Further the UK home after the govt departmentwhich is responsible for Immigration has opted for aComputerized checking System. The program knownas E-Borders had been launched. The Scope and thescale of the project limited and renamed BorderSystem Program. This Program announced in 2003. Itwas the brainchild of Tony Blair that could checkpeople from entry and leaving country.

UK Immigration has announced to bring an end toTier 1 (General) visa extension from 6th April 2015other initially this visa opened in 2008 which allowedskilled migrates in UK to work which lasted for twoyears

Canada Increases Intake Under the FederalSkilled Worker Program

On May 1, 2014, the Government of Canadaimplemented major changes to the Federal SkilledWorker Class. Under new policy, the Minister ofCitizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism willsubstantially increase the cap of annual applicationsto 25000 in the reference year with 1000 applicationsin each of the 50 new High Demand Occupations.

“This represents outstanding economicopportunities for many candidates who valueCanada’s high stature in the global migration market”says Attorney Colin Singer, Managing Partner ofimmigration.ca and Global Recruiters of Montreal –grnmontreal.com

The announcements will also affect the FederalSkilled Trades Program and the Federal ExperienceClass. Canada Immigration Minister Chris Alexandersaid that he will announce new pilot scheme in a coupleof months. Which will allow foreign nationals to gainCanadian permanent residence visas but on the otherhand they would need to invest more than twice theamount’ under Immigrant Investor Program (IIP).

For UK, Canada & Europe Immigration pleasecontact Baljinder Singh Rathour - Director LIIEImmigration on 02085828713 or 07931242466(What’s up) or email [email protected].

Immigration News

Asians Reachthe Rich List

A UK tabloid has confirmed that Britain’s richestpeople are wealthier than ever before with acombined fortune of almost £520bn. Wealth expertPhilip Beresford, who compiled the list, said he hadnever before seen such a "phenomenal" rise inpersonal fortune. Tycoons the Hinduja brothers weretop with a joint fortune of £11.9bn. Srichand andGopichand Hinduja replace Arsenal FC shareholderAlisher Usmanov at the top of the annual list.

London-based brothers Srichand and GopichandHinduja co-chair the Hinduja Group, a multinationalconglomerate with a presence in 37 countries andbusinesses as diverse as trucks and lubricants tobanking and healthcare.

Younger sibling Prakash, along with his son Ajay,looks after the banking interests from Geneva. InIndia, where youngest sibling Ashok lives, they arebest known for Bombay Stock Exchange-listed IndusInd Bank and truckmaker Ashok Leylandthat is overseen by Gopichand's son Dheeraj.

A new 1,040 megawatt power plant in southernIndia, earlier stalled due to regulatory hurdles, is dueto start operations in June. Lubricants arm Gulf Oil,which bought US-based Houghton International formore than $1 billion in 2012, is preparing to list thecombined unit this year.

Brothers sold a 49% stake in Saudi-basedlubricants maker Petromin for over $300 million lastyear. Family's showpiece asset is the 67,000 sq. footCarlton House Terrace, a heritage mansion in London,which sits on the site of a former palace nearBuckingham Palace; it is now valued at an estimated$500 million.

Mr Beresford said: "The richest people in Britainhave had an astonishing year. While some maycriticise them, many of these people are at the heartof the economy and their success brings more jobs andmore wealth for the country."

Other Asians who have made it to the list are theretailers of Boohoo.com owned by Mahmud Kamaniwith a fortune of £300m.

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