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OXON HILL, Md. - For the fi rst time in 52 years, two spellers were declared co-champions of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday, May 29.

Sriram Hathwar of Painted Post, New York, and Ansun Sujoe of Fort Worth, Texas, shared the title after a riveting fi nal-round duel in which they nearly exhausted the

25 designated championship words. After they spelled a dozen words correctly in a row, they both were named champions.

Earlier, 14-year-old Sriram opened the door to an upset by 13-year-old Ansun after he misspelled “corpsbruder,” a close comrade. But Ansun was unable to take the title because he got “antegropelos,” which

means waterproof leggings, wrong.

Sriram entered the fi nal round as the favorite after fi nishing in third place last year. Ansun just missed the semifi nals last year.

They become the fourth co-champions in the bee’s 89-year history and the fi rst since 1962.

“The competition was after

Ansun Sujoe, of Fort Worth, Texas, and Sriram Hathwar, of Painted Post, N.Y., were named co-champions of the 2014 Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday. Their siblings helped them celebrate the fi rst shared title since 1962.

Rare co-champions become national spelling bee winners

India House Houston organized a spelling bee for local school children on May 31. Standing at the back row from left to right are: Col Vipin Kumar, GM India House (Organizer of the event), Malla Mekela, Infodat International, Inc. (Grand sponsor), Shalu Keswani (Coordinator), Rudy Kainth (Event Judge), Joseph Elkhadem (Event Judge), Dr. Virendra Mathur, Trustee India House, Andy Bhardwaj, Infodat International, Inc. (Grand Sponsor). The winners are Neil Nimmagadda, Kareena Kamal, Neel Maddali, Shweta Nanaware, Nandika Mansingka, Rajyk Bhala, Tanya Roysam, and Kalyanee Nanaware. See Page 3.

See Bee, Page 3

Devotees carry gold-wrapped bricks for the proposed new sanctum for Goddess Mahalakshmi inside the main temple premises at Sri Meenaklshi Temple in Pearland. Story on Page 18.

The death of Union Rural Development Minister Gopinath Munde in a road accident in New Delhi on Tuesday, a week after the Narendra Modi government was sworn in, has come as a huge blow to the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Munde was on his way to the Delhi airport on Tuesday morning to catch a fl ight to his constituency in Beed of Maharashtra to address a victory rally when he was killed in a road accident. Around 6.20

BJP minister Gopinath Munde dies in accident

MundeSee MUNDE, Page 7

PAGE 2 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4, 2014

INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4, 2014 • PAGE 3

YOUNG ACHIEVERS

India House organized its fi rst Spelling Bee Competition on May 31, on its premises.

The contestants ranging from age 8 years to below 14 years ea-gerly participated in this friendly competition. There were two groups - one below 10 years and the other was 10 to below 14 years. Neil Nimmagadda and Nandika Mansingka navigated their way through some very dif-fi cult words to become the cham-pions of respective groups.

Dr. Virendra Mathur, one of the Trustees of India House, and Mal-la Mekala of Infodat International Inc., who also was the grand spon-sor of this event, gave winners of each group a cash prize of $500, a gold medal & a certifi cate.

The 1st runner-up (losing fi nal-ist) in each group got a cash prize of $250, medal & a certifi cate. There were four, 2nd runners-up and they all got cash prize of $100, medal & certifi cates. All the spelling bee contestants received a certifi cate of participation.

All the volunteers who helped in making this competition a huge

Akhil Rekulapelli has his life mapped out. The 13-year-old wants to attend Stanford Univer-sity and become a doctor, prob-ably a surgeon.But he knows it will be a while

before he achieves anything as satisfying as his victory last month in the National Geo-graphic Bee, which came after a close call last year and a lifelong interest in nations, cities, cultures and history.“I probably want to be the head

of a department at a hospital, try to graduate at the top of my class, but I think, right now, this is prob-ably the biggest accomplishment I’ll ever achieve in probably 20, 30 years,” said Akhil, an eighth-grader from Sterling, Virginia. “It’ll be a while.”Akhil outlasted nine other fi nal-

ists and answered all three ques-tions correctly in a one-on-one showdown with his youngest rival, 11-year-old Ameya Mu-

jumdar, of Tampa, Florida.The decisive question: What Af-

rican country is building a new capital called Oyala in the rain forest, 65 miles east of Bata? The answer: Equatorial Guinea.Akhil receives a $50,000 schol-

arship, a trip to the Galapagos Islands with his family and a life-time membership in the National Geographic Society. The winning scholarship was doubled from last year thanks to a donation from “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek, who stepped down a year ago as host of the bee. Broadcast journal-ist Soledad O’Brien hosted this year.Ameya, the runner-up, wowed

the crowd on a tiebreaker ques-tion when he was able to recall the Earth’s precise diameter at the equator — 7,926 miles. He gets a $25,000 scholarship. Tuvya Berg-son-Michelson, of Hillsborough, California, was third and receives a $10,000 scholarship, and Pranit Nanda, of Aurora, Colorado, was fourth and wins $1,000 in cash.

Akhil’s father, Prasad Reku-lapelli, said his son showed an early affi nity for maps — he was able to put together a puzzle of the United States at 18 months old. But after he fell short at the Virginia state bee as a sixth-grader, his parents sought out the services of a coach, Kumar Nan-dur, who has offered free tutor-ing to numerous bee contestants, including the 2010 champion.“He gives me tips and tricks,

like how to stay focused onstage, what are the questions they’re going to ask you,” Akhil said.Akhil fi nished fourth in last

year’s bee — a lucky result, since the top three fi nishers are ineligible to return. Three other Indian American children were in the group of ten fi nalists. They were: Asha Jain, 14, of Minoc-qua, Wisconsin; Krish Patel, 14, of Summerville, South Carolina, and Pranit Nanda, 14, of Aurora, Colorado.

Akhil Rekulapelli wins 2014 National Geographic Bee

against the dictionary, not against each other,” Sriram said. “I’m happy to share this trophy with him.”Sriram backed up his status as

the favorite by rarely looking fl ustered on stage, nodding con-fi dently as he outlasted 10 other spellers to set up the one-on-one

National spelling bee duel with Ansun. The younger boy was more nervous and de-monstrative, no more so than on the word that gave him a share of the title: “feulletion,” the features section of a European newspaper or magazine.“Ah, whatever!” Ansun said be-

fore beginning to spell the word as the stage lights turned red, signal-ing that he had 30 seconds left.

Although they hoisted a single trophy together onstage, each will get one to take home, and each gets the champion’s haul of more than $33,000 in cash and prizes.Gokul Venkatachalam of Ches-

terfi eld, Missouri, fi nished third, and Ashwin Veeramani of North Royalton, Ohio, was fourth. The past eight winners and 13 of the past 17 have been of Indian de-scent, a run that began in 1999 after Nupur Lala’s victory, which was later featured in the docu-mentary “Spellbound.”

Akhil, the winner (left), and Ameya, the runner-up

India House Spellling Bee

success were also given a certifi -cate of recognition for the hard work they had put in. “We were amazed at the intellect of all the participants. They all showed drive and the willingness to learn and better themselves,” said one member of the audience.

In group I the winners were 1. Neil Nimmagadda, 2. Kareena Kamal, 3. Neel Maddali and 4. Shweta Nanaware. In group II the winners were 1. Nandika Mansingka, 2. Rajyk Bhala, 3. Tanya Roysam and 4. Kalyanee Nanaware.

From Page 1

Neil Nimmagadda


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VOICES

THE LIGHTER SIDE

By Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

“What appears is not and whatdoes not, is” This ancient sayingaptly describes the Indian politicalscenario. The Congress-ledUnited Progressive Alliance(UPA) claims to be secular butjust peel a few layers and you willfind that it is steeped deep in com-munalism.

The BJP-led National Demo-cratic Alliance (NDA), on theother hand, which is accused ofcommunalism, does all that it canto get rid of this label and walkthat extra mile.

No doubt scams, price rise, allpervading corruption, negative in-dustrial growth (from +10% to -2.5%) and unemployment playeda major role, but above all it wasthe communal attitude of the partyand its overt tilt towards the Mus-lim minority that derailed the UPA.

India in general and Hindus inparticular are largely secular, yetin this election they voted out allthose parties who espoused secu-larism.

People did not buy into repeatedfear psychosis of the communalbogey. Perhaps, the Congress didnot expect the Hindu majority tojoin together as one voice sincethey have always been divided onlinguistic and caste-based lines.

Soon after assuming the PrimeMinister’s Office, Dr. ManmohanSingh openly declared that minori-ties had the first right on India’sresources, driving a daggerthrough the hearts of Hindus, whohad stood by him. Not once, dur-ing his entire tenure did the PrimeMinister even acknowledge themagnanimity of the majority com-munity. While many complainedthat they were not treated withdignity, sops were doled out forminorities to the tune of thousandsof crores.

Principals were asked to iden-tify minority students and openbank accounts through whichscholarships were given. In somestates ruled by UPA allies, a childgets Rs. 30,000 just for being fromthe minority community.

This created a wedge in theclassroom psyche and causedheartburn to other poor studentsfrom the majority. However, nosuch facilities were extended tothe Hindu minority in Jammu &Kashmir and the North East. Pov-erty and illiteracy have no religion– every religion has poor people.

Giving benefits based on reli-gion is unconstitutional and suchpractises by political parties an-gered people. ‘The Majority Re-port’ a thorough research docu-ment written by two retired IPSofficers (Shri Ram Kumar Ohriand Shri Jai Prakash Sharma)makes an interesting read on thesubject.

Many decisions by the UPAproved destructive for institutionsthat are the foundations for thecountry’s democracy. PranabMukherjee who was the rightfulchoice for the post of PM wasoverlooked. PJ Thomas was ap-pointed as Chief Vigilance Com-missioner in spite of his bad record.

The ruling alliance showed littlerespect towards the Supreme

Court. The government machin-ery through agencies like CentralBureau of Investigation and En-forcement Directorate was madea tool for vindictive politics. Thefirst family was quick to takecredit at every possible opportu-nity but ended up denigrating theOffice of the Prime Minister,which was shocking for the popu-lation.

There are a lot of honest andwell-intentioned people in the Con-gress but they felt suffocated, sadand disheartened at the state ofaffairs, as everything was con-trolled by a small coterie of people.

The proposed Communal Vio-lence Bill presumed that the ma-jority community was always theculprit and its members could bearrested with a non-bailable war-rant.

UPA came up with several suchdiscriminatory laws. The govern-ment also directed public sectorbanks to be liberal while sanction-ing and writing off loans to reli-gious minorities.

The excesses in corruption un-der UPA kept becoming more andmore embarrassing to explain anddifficult to hide. Never beforehave so many files gone missingfrom important offices. It seemsfire had a great affinity for the filesof Congress government – the lastfire accident happened in its lastdays while leaving office.

The UPA also showed utterdisregard for Indian ethos. India,where the cow has been consid-ered sacred since time immemo-rial, silently became the numberone exporter of beef. This notori-ous development came as a bigjolt. Subsidies were liberally givento beef exporters while farmerswere committing suicide.

While minority religious leaderscould be seen often with UPAleaders, Hindu saints were disre-garded, if not hounded.

Moreover, the minorities had fullfreedom to run their places ofworship, but all major Hindutemples were controlled by thegovernment.

The nation witnessed such dis-crimination under the garb ofsecularism. There were morecommunal clashes in states ruledby the secular UPA and its allies.People were fed up of leaders whoread out scripted speeches con-taining the same old rhetoric with-

out delivering on any promises.Rahul Gandhi barely attended

the parliament and was neveravailable during any national cri-sis. In sharp contrast, the convic-tion and confidence with whichNarendra Modi spoke about de-velopment was just the changepeople were looking for. Heproudly proclaimed his faith andexpressed his commitment to theentire nation.

While Congress tried its best toportray him as the perpetrator ofthe 2002 Gujarat riots, it becameclear 10 years later that the Con-gress head of Godhra was con-victed for the train carnage trig-gering the violent episode.

Pictures of Mahatma Gandhifeature prominently on Congresshoardings all over the country, buttwo of his most important ideas –prohibition and banning cowslaughter, have been implementedonly in Gujarat under Modi’s lead-ership.

With a solid record in good gov-ernance, what further endearedhim to the masses was that hespoke from the heart and thus be-came the natural choice for thepeople. Coming from a very poorbackground where his mother wasa domestic help, his rise to the high-est office of the world’s largestdemocracy has instilled hope in thepoor people of the country.

In Indian society, one often findsa lot of adulation for religious lead-ers, cricketers and film stars. Butthe fawning around the Gandhifamily in Congress goes way be-yond. It is not that Congress hasnot done any good at all – theytook some very progressive initia-tives but the volume of wrongdo-ings washed it all away. It is timefor the grand old party to rethinkits strategy, get rid of sycophancyand be true to democracy.

Saffron surge and the secular debacleFirst ball has gone for a six but thisisn’t IPL, it’s a Test match

By Chetan Bhagat

In Mumbai, where I live, I don’t really get invited to many functionsand parties of consequence. I eat too many carbs and sleep too earlyto be invited to Bollywood bashes. My air-kissing is too sloppy forpage 3 soirees. Needless to say, an invite from the Government ofIndia for the oath-taking ceremony of the new PM sent me into a tizzy.

Many asked me what I felt about the ceremony. Here’s my candidtake on it. First, the serious part. There were many, many things rightabout the event. The most incredible aspect was the meaning added towhat is, after all, a ceremonial event.

There were many firsts. Not just politicians and government offi-cials, but people from a cross-section of society were present. Thegathering had spiritual leaders, CEOs, artists, actors, prominent citi-zens and party workers.

What does it mean? Why the big crowd? Is it just grandeur? Theanswer lies in what my mother told me about why Indian weddings arebig affairs. The big wedding, she explained, would make the couplerealize that their union was a big deal, the world was witness to it, andthey, in turn, were accountable to the world now.

Narendra Modi’s gesture of bringing several stakeholders in societyto the event brought in a similar accountability. It is one thing when aminister takes an oath in front of an insider group of politicians, quiteanother when he or she does it in front of thousands of people. Itdoesn’t guarantee integrity. However, it signals what is expected fromthem. While on this, I must say the media using terms like ‘plum’ and‘reward’ to describe allocation of ministries is disturbing. Perhaps it isbecause of past experience, where ministries were given as gifts or‘plum’ fruits to be plucked. However, it’s a job, a very important one. Itis not jaagir distribution.

The second achievement of the event was the subtle but effectivediplomacy achieved. We invited our neighbors. Nearly all SAARCleaders were present, including the Pakistan Prime Minister. Relationswith Pakistan have improved more in the past week than they did inthe last five years.

When I saw our PM Modi sit with the eight-odd national leaders, Icouldn’t help notice one thing. Of all our neighbors, we have the best,most effective, and probably the only real democracy. While the not-too-distant Thailand grappled with a coup, we changed our govern-ment in a peaceful manner.

The event showcased it. Hundreds of MPs were present in thecrowd, each chosen by lakhs of people on the basis of hope and aspi-ration. Even Congress leaders attended. I don’t know how easy it wasfor them, but they kept a smile through the event and met everyonewith grace. It felt nice. We are after all, one country. It’s not perfect,but it is not so bad either. We bash our politics every day. However, theevent allowed all of us to feel a little proud of the fact that somehow, allof us, we make this democracy work. The third important aspect - theministerial allocations - warrants a separate discussion and analysis.However, the fact that the cabinet is compact and younger is a goodthing. So is a larger representation of women.

There were other nice touches. Post event, simple snack counterswere set up. Guests had dhokla, basic sandwiches and cookies alongwith tea in cups that sported the Ashoka lion emblem. This lent a touchof modesty to an otherwise larger-than-life event. No elaborate disheswere cooked overnight, and no grand wedding type counters were putup. It was a big event, but humble.

Was everything perfect? No. Some said the oaths were too long,and repeated four dozen times, seemed even longer. Perhaps the cer-emony is not designed for mass public viewing. Or perhaps we arespoilt now. Perhaps the ministers can take oath like websites. Justaccept the terms and conditions, click the button and get on with it.

Also, with so many important people in a big crowd, security seemedless than what one would expect. Maybe I am paranoid, but we haveto realize that we have many enemies of our democracy. The newgovernment has come after a big success in the elections. But successalso breeds something ugly called envy. Let’s remain careful.

Anyway, these are minor glitches in what was otherwise a greatstart to a new government. Of course, this is a long Test match, andwe have to see the scorecard after a while. But let’s face it. With theoath-taking event, the government has hit the first ball for a six.

The proposedCommunal ViolenceBill presumed that themajority communitywas always the culpritand its members couldbe arrested with anon-bailable warrant.


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By Moeed YusufCRITICS want to know what the prime minister’s trip to India has

achieved. The answer is simple: it has avoided what could have beena much worse start to India-Pakistan ties under Modi. Was it worth it?Absolutely — for not showing up would have played right into thehands of those wishing to use Modi’s ascendance to derail Sharif’scommitment to peace.

But what next? Is the argument that the BJP is much better placedto pursue peace with Pakistan for real? Will Sharif be able to stay thecourse? No. Even if the ‘good Modi’ shows up for Pakistan, he has anumber of internal battles to fight. Topping the list is his bureaucracy.

If he gets caught up with the babus in South Block, he’s done as faras Pakistan is concerned. He is not a foreign policy guy.

This means that unless he signals soon that he will make the Paki-stan portfolio his own, the relevant bureaucracies would be all tooeager to take over.

There’s no pressure on Modi to reach out to Pakistan.

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As for his political team, he’salready made it tougher for him-self by appointing traditionalhardliners on Pakistan to the mostrelevant cabinet and associatedpositions.

Why would Modi take on thebureaucracy? After all he is no lib-eral when it comes to Pakistan.And he has a right-wing constitu-ency he relies on far more thanany Indian leader has ever done.The answer you are likely to getfrom the most optimistic: Modi’spro-business outlook will trumpeverything.

I can understand this when itcomes to relations with China givenwhat Beijing means for the Indianeconomy. It is also clear that Pa-kistan has a compulsion to openup with India.

But for India, Pakistan is notthat important. Even in the bestcase scenario, India-Pakistantrade will be no more than a blipon India’s economic radar — $1-2 billion of additional Indian exportsin the medium term. Of course,taken in isolation, no countryshould forego this. And I am notsaying India will. But when youextend the argument to say thiswill help push ties towardsnormalisation, it doesn’t hold.

There are two problems. First,India knows it can’t see trade inisolation. If it could, it would beideal for Delhi: increase economicties, hold the rest back, and hopethat these other outstanding issueswith Pakistan lose salience overtime. But Delhi realises that Paki-

stan is not ready to let the other issues slide.Sharif may be committed to his India policy and India-bashing may

no longer be very potent in Pakistan. But the outlook, most importantlyin the military, is nowhere near the point that would qualify as a funda-mental departure from the country’s traditional stance on the conflictswith India.

So the equation for Modi reads as follows: progress on trade stillrequires continuing a conversation on other issues that he has no inter-est or compulsion to compromise on.

His country is okay with the status quo and his right-wing constitu-ency doesn’t want to hear the word compromise when it comes toPakistan. In fact, the reality is that India won’t even get what it reallywants on the business front — ie transit rights to Afghanistan andCentral Asia — until Pakistan feels things have moved on other fronts.

Second, and this is only natural, the potency of Mumbai in Indiadwarfs what Kargil managed in the years after that episode. There’s awhole generation of young Indians who see Pakistan as a nuisance.Pakistan equals Mumbai in their minds.

Mind you, even young Indian Muslims have no emotional connec-tion to Pakistan regardless of what our state narrative would have usbelieve. So, there won’t be any serious bottom-up pressure on Modi togo the extra mile with Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Sharif’s dilemma was summed up recently by one ofhis most able ministers in a public talk: commerce ministries won’t beable to run ahead of the others for too long. Sharif will need somethingbeyond economics from Delhi to fend off the naysayers — militaryand non-military. Since it is Modi, that ‘something’ can’t be just prom-ises of more trade and platitudes about the rest.

Only that will leave Sharif politically vulnerable. But precisely be-cause it is Modi, it is going to be difficult for him to provide what Sharifneeds. A brighter outlook is only warranted if Modi proves everythingsaid here wrong.

Or if Sharif is able to internalise Pakistan’s weakness and convincehis civilian and military bureaucracy that the best Pakistan can hopefor is trade concessions and that — given the internal situation and theglobal outlook favouring India’s view on Pakistan — there is no pointcreating a fuss about the rest for the foreseeable future. Neither islikely. — Dawn

The writer is a foreign policy expert based in Washington D.C.

Prime Minister Modi under no pressureto reach out to Pakistan

Pakistan Prime Minister Sharif with Prime Minister Modi in New Delhi


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WASHINGTON: Close on theheels of the spectacular BJP winin the general election, Hindu-American activists in the UnitedStates have for the first time, un-der the banner of a political actioncommittee, publicly endorsed aslate of congressional candidatesin the 2014 US primaries.

Leading the list of candidateswinning support from the HinduAmerican Political Action Com-mittee (HAPAC) is DemocraticCongresswoman Tulsi Gabbardfrom Hawaii, a self-declaredAmerican Hindu, who, HAPACsaid, “has consistently stood by theHindu-American community onevery major domestic and inter-national issue.”

“She has not shied away fromher Hindu faith and identity, hasattending many events in theHindu-American community, hasmet Hindu leaders outside the USand India to share thoughts aboutproblems worldwide, and has in-spired many Hindu Americans tobe proud of their identity,” the com-mittee said, in broadly defining thelitmus test for their support.

Also winning HAPAC en-dorsement are California Repub-lican Ed Royce, chairman of thehouse foreign relations committeeand co-chair of the India caucus,and Democrats Brad Sherman,Joe Crowley, Eric Swalwell, andIndian-American lawmaker AmiBera.

Royce and Sherman were rec-ognized for opposition to house

Resolution 417, a legislation thatHindu-American activists say is ananti-pluralist and anti-India bill thatwould have damaged India-USrelations while masquerading asone that upholds India's diversity.Crowley and Swalwell werepraised for helping push the FBIinto tracking anti-Hindu hatecrimes.

HAPAC also endorsed Indian-American Democratic candidatesManan Trivedi and SwatiDandekar, fighting primaries inPennsylvania and Iowa respec-tively, and state senate majorityleader Ellen Corbett in California.

Without specifically endorsinganyone, it made a special mentionof the much watched race for the17th congressional district in Cali-fornia, which is in the heart of Sili-con Valley, where 2 Indian Ameri-cans (Ro Khanna and Dr Vanilla

Singh) are running against an in-cumbent Mike Honda. Citing thework of each of the candidates forHindu Americans, HAPAC urgedthe community to vote in the "his-toric race".

HAPAC activists acknowl-edged that this is the first electioncycle they have been active in al-though the community has beencontributing to (and thus endors-ing) candidates since the fall of2013.

“With a number of primaryelections coming up on June 3 indifferent states, we felt it wouldbe a good idea to collate all ofthose endorsements together forvoters heading to the polls,” chair-man of the HAPAC board RishiBhutada told TOI. The primarycriteria for endorsement are thecandidates' support for the Hindu-American community and for plu-ralistic ideals, besides standing arealistic chance of winning theirrace, he added.

While HAPAC is nowherenear as powerful as the famedAmerican Israeli Political ActionCommittee (AIPAC), which USpoliticians of every hue try to court,Hindu Americans say theirs is amodest beginning. Data from theCenter for Responsive Politicswebsite opensecrets.org showedHAPAC has raised only around$18,000 to date. But, the moreimportant development was orga-nizing and elevating individual con-tribution into collective action.

Bhutada said he did not see a

link to Indian politics in terms of what Hindu-American PAC is doingwhile presenting the increased community engagement in Americanpolitics as a natural extension of the growing Hindu-American com-munity in the US.

“Of course, with the new government (in India), there is definiteinterest in the community for increased cooperation between the USgovernment and the Indian government, and we hope that occurs,” headded. — Chidanand Rajghatta in The Times of India

Rishi Bhutada of Hindu AmericanPolitical Action Committee

WASHINGTON: With their wins or second place finishes inCalifornia's "jungle" primaries, four Indian-Americans — NeelKashkari, Ro Khanna, Ami Bera and Kamala Harris - are set to com-pete in four key election races in November.

In California's open or "jungle" primaries, top two finishers advanceto the general elections irrespective of their party affiliation.

Kashkari, 48, a former Bush administration official, overcame rivalRepublican Tim Donnelly in the governor's race late Tuesday night.

Neither Republican came close to touching Democratic GovernorJerry Brown, who led all challengers with 55 percent of the vote. Hewill face Kashkari in November, according to Sacramento Bee.

In California's 17th District, known as Silicon Valley, which is theonly Asian American-majority district in the US, Democrat Ro Khannawill take on fellow Democrat Mike Honda, who has been a memberof the House since 2001.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Honda led with 49 percent,followed by Khanna, a former Obama administration official, at 27percent, according to Politico.

Both Republican candidates, Indian American Vanila Singh and JoelVanlandingham, failed to make the general.

Khanna entered the race more than a year ago and grabbed na-tional attention with a team of former Obama campaign staffers andendorsements from big Silicon Valley tech CEOs and a series of bigfundraising hauls, Politico said.

The lone Indian-American House member Democratic Ami Berawill face Republican Doug Ose in California's 7th District in Novem-ber. California's first female Indian-American and African-AmericanAttorney General Kamala Harris easily outpolled her competitors.

In Iowa’s 1st District, Swati Dandekar lost in a crowded race offive aspirants in the Democratic primary as did Mann Trivedi in the 6thDistrict Democratic race in Pennsylvania.

Kashkari, Khanna, Bera andHarris advance in primaries

Hindu PAC backs candidates in races across US

COMMUNITY NEWS

TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE IT HAPPENI welcome the opportunity to learn about your unique goals and needs. Together we can create a strategy designed to help guide you along the path to financial well-being. Call to schedule a consultation today.


Lead Houston is a program held by SEWA every summer which has been successful in helping enthusiastic high school volunteers become bet-ter involved in the greater com-munity while learning more about vast career opportunities and networking with leading professionals in various indus-tries during the summer.

Through this program high-ly motivated students inter-act with community leaders and successful professionals through engaging symposiums and eld visits.

This year the program will introduce students to profes-sionals from a wide spectrum

of industries, and as such, stu-dents will learn about the indi-viduals’ life experience, stories of professional success, social service engagements and other community endeavors.

The four-day program starts on June 14th. Apply today.

Call 713-303-4253 or visit www.houston.sewausa.org/lead-houstonsign-form. Ap-plication deadline is June 07, 2014.

Sewa International in the USA is a 501(c)(3) Hindu faith-based nonprot charity with a chapter in Houston, TX as well as 37 other chapters in 20 metros and 21 states in the United States.

In Houston, Sewa serves as a grass-root organization aspir-ing to spread the message of

service to low income fami-lies: whether it is a disaster or a daily struggle for an average person, committed volunteers of Sewa take that extra mile to ensure that a helping hand and a loving heart is not away from the individuals in need, wher-ever they are and whenever they need it.

Leadership is now. Lead Houston Program 2014.

Mailing address:PO Box 820867 Houston

TX 77282

a.m. at a traffi c intersection, an Indica, driven by Gurvinder Singh, hit Munde’s offi cial car on the rear left side, where he was sitting.

Munde was critical to the BJP’s future plans, especially its ambition of ousting the NCP-Congress government in Maharashtra in the Assembly elections, due later this year. Mr. Munde had transformed the BJP in the State by expanding the party’s support base across a wide section of people, including the backward castes to which he belonged.

It will now fall on senior party leaders from Maharashtra Nitin Gadkari and Prakash Javadekar to maintain the BJP’s support base in the State.

The BJP will also have to grapple with fi lling his slot in the Cabinet. A fi ve-time MLA, Mr. Munde was inducted into the Union Cabinet for the fi rst time. He also held the Panchayati Raj, Drinking Water and Sanitation portfolios.

Widely acknowledged as a grassroots leader, Mr. Munde transcended ideological barriers as his easy and friendly ways endeared him even to his political opponents. This was evident from the rich tributes paid to him by leaders cutting across party lines.

Swami Omakarananda Saraswathi, visiting from Tamil Nadu will give a dis-course in Tamile on “Valluvam Vazhangum Vazhkai Neri and Meenakshi Pancharatnam,” on Saturday, June 7, 10 a.m.- 12 noon at the Cafeteria Hall, Meenakshi Temple.

Sri Swami Omkarananda was born in a traditional Ve-dic family and learnt the Vedas from a very early age.

In his early twenties, greatly inspired by the teachings of Sri Swami Vivekananda, he joined Ramakrishna Tapovanam at Tirupparaithurai, was given Sanyasa by its founder Sri Swami Chidbhavananda, on 4th May 1985 and was named as Sri Swami Omkarananda. His quest for knowledge of Vedanta led him to Sri Swami Paramarthananda, disciple of Sri Swami Dayananda Saras-wati, under whose guidance he studied Vedanta from 1987 to 1994.

On completion of his stud-ies he founded “Sri Swami Chidbhavananda Ashramam” on the banks of river Surabhi Saraswathi or Mullaiyaru at Theni and established the Ve-danta Sasthra Prachara Trust to manage the Ashram. As the Chief Acharya of the Ashram, Sri Swamiji takes Vedanta classes for the Brahmacharis, and conducts regular classes

Swami Omkarananda Saraswathi’s discourse at

Sri Meeankhsi Temple

MundeFrom Page 1

in the Ashram for the benefi t of general public. He conducts regular Jnana Yajnas in India and abroad.

Sri Swamiji has succeeded HH Sri Sri Santananda Swami-gal of Sri Sri Judge Swami-gal Adhishtanam, popularly known as Sri Bhuvaneshwari Avadhuta Vidya Pitham, at Pudukottai.

Sri Swamiji is touring the US at the invitation of the Sringeri Vidya Bharati Foundation. Fur-ther details about his tour can be found at http://svbf.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Swa-mi-Omkarananda-Program.jpg

For Further Information: contact Meena Subramaniam/ Vivek Natarajan: 8179173727/ [email protected]

Sewa International’s Lead Houston program begins June 14


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

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 newBala 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 (off

COMMUNITY CALENDARHwy 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 classesby appointment only. Register atwww.ashirwad ablessing.org orSri 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 Gitaclasses for adults; 281-433-1635or harekrishna [email protected]

Gandhi LibraryMahatma Gandhi Library

Book Club: Meets 2nd Sundayof each month; 12:30 PM at AryaSamaj Greater Houston, 13475

Schiller Rd. Join the discussion ofthe great man’s autobiography –The Story of My Experimentswith Truth. Call Manish Wani713-829-6979.

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.

Guruvayurappan TempleHours: Mon to Fri 6 a.m. -8

a.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 BharatiSanskrit classes and special

worship sessions for all ages. At2918 Renoir, Sugar Land, TX77479.Call 281-606-5607 [email protected]: https://sites.google.com/site/avbtexas/classes

Preksha MeditationNew facilities of JVB Preksha

SALES HELP WANTEDWell-known Houston jewelry store is looking forsaleswomen availabe to start immediately. Must be ableto speak English and Hindi well. Call 713-789-7575

SARGAM SCHOOL OF MUSICSARGAM SCOOL OF MUSIC is offering SHORT SUMMERWORKSHOP in southwest Houston (77083). The workshop willconsist of Hindustani Vocal classical music and light music,harmonium, and keyboard lessons in English for ages 5 and above.Group and solo lessons also available.For information please call MANGALA SANE 281-498-6126. Email:[email protected] Web: Http://Mangal1.cloud.Prohosting.com or www.Zingerbay.comAlso MANDAR SANE - professional accompanist - tabla, dholak,dhole, guitar, available. Professional group of singers for concerts- Hindi, Urdu ghazals, semiclassical, classical Hindi songs. Alsodevotional bhajan group for religious occasions. Call MANGALASANE 281-498-6126.

Meditation Center. Classes for Yoga and Meditation under guidanceby Samani jis and discourses. Located at 14102 Schiller Road (offHwy 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.

Gaudiya MathSri Govindaji Gaudiya Matha at 16628 Kieth Harrow Blvd., Hous-

ton 77084. Satsang every Sunday 5 to 7 pm. Mantra meditation, kirtanand classes on Sanatan Dharma. Vedic Education and Hindi classesfor kids 5-14 yrs. Gita classes noon - 1:30 pm Wednesdays. HanumanChalisa and Ramcharit Manas on Tuesdays 7:30–8:30 p.m.info@sggm. org or 281-499-3347

Sathya Sai centersSathya Sai devotees meet on Sundays from 3:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

at two locations in North and South Houston; Sai Spiritual Educationclasses for children, meditation, study circle, bhajans and service ac-tivities. Call Raghu Amara (North) 832-418-3842 or Ajit Paralkar(South) 281-788-4786. www.saicenterofhouston.

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

Sanatana DharmaDiscussions on confusion between Sanatna Dharma and religion.

To protect, preserve and promote the wisdom of Dharma, the eternal,universal and natural tradition. Call 832 868 5656 (cell).

FEEDBACK

Dear Editor:Hearty congratulations to the Indian people, who got rid of, this

time indirect, foreign rule again. Before the polling, I had the goodfortune of calling several people in India, mostly in Hyderabad, thanksto our good friend, Dr. TRN Rao. What was extremely striking is thetremendous enthusiasm for the NDA this time. After a few calls, Iwas so embarrassed that I could not decide whether I was tellingthem to vote for NDA or they were telling me the virtues of NDA (orrather the evils of the criminals and the self-described ‘secularists’). Ihad to stop calling just to save me that embarrassment.

I also congratulate the new Prime Minister, who has galvanizedand almost single-handedly carried the nation, and his compact (hopeit remains compact) cabinet. One most admirable thing he has al-ready done is inviting the leaders of SAARC countries to the inaugu-ration ceremony of the new government and the immediately follow-ing one-on-one meetings with some of them. That bodes well forgood neighborly relationships and business as never before.

Lot of hard work lies ahead of the new government. Elimination ofcorruption is one of the most sought-after desires of the people. Thereis a lot of entrenchment behind that corruption. The party and govern-ment officials who are used to the bribes and all other unearned good-ies all these decades cannot always be trusted to be with the newgovernment and lose all their extra tax-free income overnight.

I have noticed some such nostalgia for the Congress governmentduring the Vajpayee administration a decade or so ago. People whohave so enthusiastically voted out the corrupt people have to be vigi-lant so their gains will not be nullified quickly. The terrorists and thevested foreign interests will always want to destabilize and embarrassthe new government and people have to be vigilant. Also, there is theever-present regionalism, with so many local parties trying to pull thestrings in favor of their region to the detriment of the overall nationalinterest. Fortunately BJP does not need them in the Lok Sabha nowand hopefully in the Rajya Sabha in the near future. Hope NarendraModi will not allow the regional pulls and pushes.

Last but not the least, the BJP itself has some corrupt elements in it.I wrote several letters to the Indian media before BJP came to powerin Karnataka a few years ago, but what Yeddiurappa’s team had donethere has embarrassed me no end. And I am glad he was voted out of,or removed from, power there. Also you and I know there are lots ofunscrupulous and fair-weather politicians who have flocked and willflock to the ruling party. The people and the BJP leadership have to bevigilant that there is no sabotage from within. If the BJP does notperform it will go the way of Congress and we will have the utterlycorrupt back at the helm again.

Prabhu NarumanchiHouston, TX

An awakened India

IA Chamber annual galaSat., Sept 27 @ 6 p.m.Fifteenth annual gala of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce

of Greater Houston. At Hilton Americas Hotel, 1600 Lamar St. U.S.Senator John Cornyn is the keynote speaker. For info, call 713-624731or [email protected]


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HYDERABAD: India got its29th state on Monday at the strokeof midnight as Telangana comesinto official existence with theswearing-in of a new governmentheaded by chief minister KChandrasekhara Rao.

President’s Rule was revokedin Telangana but remained im-posed in the Seemandhra regiontill TDP chief N ChandrababuNaidu takes oath as CM of thesuccessor state — which will re-tain the name Andhra Pradesh —on June 8 near Guntur.

Central rule had been imposedon March 1 after N Kiran KumarReddy resigned as the CM of

ministers, including his son KTRama Rao and nephew T HarishRao. Last month his party, theTelangana Rashtra Samithi orTRS had won 62 of the 119 seatsin the newly formed TelanganaAssembly.

Mohammed Mahmood Ali,deputy chief minister, took oath inUrdu. Mahmood Ali is an MLCand owns a dairy farm inHyderabad.

Telangana, which comprises 10districts — Hyderabad, RangaReddy, Mahbubnagar, Medak,Karimnagar, Nizamabad,Adilabad, Warangal, Khammamand Nalgonda — will soon have24 districts if Rao has his way.

Prime Minister Narendra Moditweeted his congratulations toRao saying, "India gets a newstate! We welcome Telangana asour 29th state...Congrats to KChandrasekhar Rao Garu on tak-ing oath as Telangana's 1st CM.My best wishes to people for thestate's development journey." Healso said, "Centre assures com-plete support to the people & Gov-ernment of Telangana in taking thestate to newer heights ofprogress."

There was no representativefrom the Centre at Rao’s oath-tak-ing in the absence of a formal in-vite from the new regime inTelangana, due to Rao’s unhappi-ness with the Centre over the or-dinance on the Polavaram project.

On May 29, Telangana wasshut down in a bandh by the TRS,protesting against the ordinancethat, it said, was brought in arbi-trarily by the Narendra Modi gov-ernment – of which TDP is a part– transferring parts of Khammamdistrict in Telangana toSeemandhra.

In retaliation, a TDP leaderwarned the TRS, that the TDPwould demand Hyderabad bemade a union territory if the TRS

Lok Sabha pays tribute to MundeNEW DELHI: The first day of India's new parliament began on

Wednesday, June 4, with a tribute to Rural Development MinisterGopinath Munde who died in a car crash on Tuesday.

Congress party leader Kamal Nath, who was sworn in as interimSpeaker of the Lok Sabha, minutes before the session began, was inthe chair.

The house adjourned for the day after Nath paid tribute to Munde.Ahead of the session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who won the

election on the promise of good governance and development, vowedto deliver after his landslide election win last month.

"I want to assure you that in this temple of democracy, all effortswill be made to fulfil the hopes and aspirations of people," Mr Moditold reporters before entering the parliament on Wednesday morning.He has asked his ministers to prepare their agendas for the first 100days with focus on governance, efficient delivery and implementationof programs.

When the Lok Sabha meets on Thursday, all the newly electedMPs will be sworn in. The house will elect a new Speaker on June 6and the president will address a joint session on June 9. The briefsession is to conclude on June 11 and the chamber will reconvene inJuly for the government to present the budget.

KCR takes oath as chief minister of Telangana

Andhra Pradesh.At around 8:15am Monday,

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS)supremo Rao was sworn in bygovernor ESL Narasimhan, whowill serve as the governor for boththe states. Narasimhan himselftook oath as the governor ofTelangana before administering itto Rao.

After the ceremony, Rao at-tended ‘Telangana FormationDay’ celebrations in Hyderabad,which will be joint capital for bothstates for 10 years, thereafter go-ing to Telangana.

Rao or KCR as he is popularlyknown as, took oath along with 11

doesn’t budge on the project that benefits Seemandhra farmers.Another raging issue is the allocation of employees between the

two secretariats, with those from one state apprehensive of workingfor the other side. A few days back, Rao had said that he would notallow a single Seemandhra employee in the Telangana secretariat.With tensions running high, the government postponed final postings ofofficials.

“We are for cordial relations (with Seemandhra) but there are cer-tain issues to be settled as the two regions separate now,” KTarakarama Rao, son of the TRS chief, told HT.

Sources said the Centre was working a special package for theSeemandhra region and an allocation could be made in the Unionbudget in this regard.

A central government-appointed committee has recommended forTelangana 163 posts of officials from the Indian Administrative Ser-vice, 112 from the Indian Police Service and 65 from the Indian For-eign Service. At present, there are 284 IAS officers, 209 IPS and 136IFS officers working in Andhra Pradesh.

The Centre has provisionally allocated 44 IAS officers to Telanganato facilitate its creation, said sources.

NEW DELHI: Amid an all-round attack on the Akhilesh Yadavgovernment over rape incidents, Samajwadi Party leaders on Wednes-day came up with some strange arguments, saying sometimes whenthe relationship between a girl and a boy comes out in the open, it is"termed as rape".

Two Dalit girls were found raped, murdered and their bodies hungfrom trees on May 29 in Badaun, Uttar Pradesh. In the joint FIRlodged by Sohan and Jeevan Lal Maurya, fathers of the two victims,the accused were identified as Pappu Yadav, Awdesh Yadav and UrveshYadav (all real brothers) of the same village along with their two uni-dentified associates.

"In many places, when the relationship between a girl and boy comesout in open, it is termed as rape. In many places, girls and boys areready (to marry) but honor killings take place. The most saddeningand serious thing is that such incidents are not stopping. These inci-dents happen in other places also but are not highlighted," senior SPleader Ramgopal Yadav said.

SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav said his party's government inthe state was "not insensitive" and was taking action against the cul-prits. "What to do...we are sensitive. We are not insensitive... Strictaction is being taken against culprits. You do your work and let us doour work," he said, when asked to comment on rising cases of rape inthe state where his son is the chief minister.

Mulayam had last month raked up a huge controversy on rapecases when he had publicly said, "Ladke, ladke hain, galti ho jati hai(Boys are boys, they make such mistakes). That doesn't mean thatyou award them capital punishment."

Attacking media for "deliberately" focusing on such incidents onlyin Uttar Pradesh, Ramgopal Yadav said similar cases happened inRajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra but they were not high-lighted. He said strict punishment would be given to those involved inthis crime but society has to work together to put an end to it and tillthat time, "it cannot be stopped fully and it is impossible." He said thesedays one also gets to hear incidents where fathers have raped theirdaughters..."this is (due to) mental disturbance and nothing else."

Yadav said similar incidents have happened in Jhalawar in Rajasthanwhere a lady was raped and later burnt by her assailants. MadhyaPradesh and Mumbai have also witnessed such incidents. "No leadervisited those places but since, media said the two girls (in Badaun)were Dalits, everybody went there and even demanded registration ofa case under the SC/ST Act when the girls belonged to backwardclasses," he said.

Bizarre comments from UPlawmakers in rape case

INDIANS ABROADPAGE 10 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4, 2014

By SESHADRI KUMARCongratulatory messages

and message of goodwill and cooperation continue from U.S. lawmakers to India’s prime minister Narendra Modi.

HouSton area Republican Congressman Ted Poe, a mem-ber of the judiciary committee, and chairman of the Immigra-tion Reform Caucus, has sent a message to Modi extending his congratulations “to you on your recent appointment as Prime Minister of the Republic of India. The completion of a fair and free election of such magnitude is a testament to In-dia’s commitment to democra-cy, a commitment India shares with the United States.”

“As Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonprolifera-tion, and Trade, I am particu-larly supportive of a strong re-lationship between the U.S. and India. To date, our two countries have cooperated on counterterrorism measures, nuclear security, the reduction of trade barriers, and many other initiatives. I am especial-ly supportive of measures to expand U.S. liquefi ed natural gas (LNG) exports to India, in order to strengthen India’s en-ergy security and reduce global reliance on other resources,” Poe said.

“I look forward to work-ing on these matters together in the future, and would like to continue the open dialogue our countries have enjoyed in the past. Please let me knoW if

I can ever be of any assistance to you. Best wishes as you en-deavor to lead India into a new era of prosperity and progress,” Poe said in the letter.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), co-chair of the Senate India caucus, has sent two letters on India’s recent election.

In the fi rst, Sen. Cornyn wrote to Prime Minister Modi, congratulating him on his ap-pointment as Prime Minister of the Republic of India.

“I stand ready to work with you and your government to promote and strengthen the partnership between our two great democracies,” said Sen. Cornyn.

In the second letter to Presi-dent Barack Obama, signed by the co-chairs of the House and Senate India Caucuses, Sen. Cornyn praised India’s free election and highlighted op-portunities for the two counties to work together.

“India’s commitment to de-mocracy continues to strength-en our conviction that the Unit-ed States and India are natural allies in confronting some of the biggest global challenges of the early 21st century,” Sen. Cornyn said.

The letter to President Obama, co-signed by Sen. Cornyn, Sen. Mark Warner, U.S. Rep. Peter J. Roskam and U.S. Rep Joseph Crowley reads:

“India recently held the larg-est election in human history. The free and fair election, in which more than half a billion

people exercised their voting rights, stands as a clear exam-ple of the values of democracy that we in the United States share.

As co-chairs of the Senate and House India Caucuses, we join you in congratulating the Indian people and government on their successful election. As longtime supporters and advo-cates for a deepening partner-ship between the United States and India, we appreciate the efforts by your and previous Administrations in working to sustain, deepen, and expand this relationship. The relation-ship between the world’s old-est and the world’ s largest de-mocracies has grown stronger over the years, and there is bi-partisan support for expanding U.S.-India cooperation going forward.

We continue to believe that the future of our relationship holds extraordinary potential, and we can continue to build upon trust, convergent geo-political interests, and strong people-to-people ties. These attributes offer an opportunity for both our countries to deep-en cooperation to enhance each other’s prosperity, security, and well-being.

India’s commitment to de-mocracy continues to strength-en our conviction that the Unit-ed States and India are natural allies in confronting some of the biggest global challenges of the early 21st century.

We look forward to work-ing with you on United States-

Congressman Pete Olson with Miss America Nina Duvvuri at Macy’s in First Colony Mall in Sugar Land on May 31. Duv-vuri was in Macy’s as its ambassador celebrating Asian Ameri-can Heritage Month. Olson is also circulating for signatures a Texas Congressional Delegation letter to Prime Minister Modi that congratulates him for his victory and invites him to come to Texas.

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India relations in the years ahead.”

U.S. Rep. Pete Olson (R-Sugar Land) said in a letter to Modi: Congratulations on your successful election as the new Prime Minister of India. The US - India relationship is a special partnership of friends, allies, and trading partners. We also share a strong bond between the world’s oldest and largest democracies. ·

As a member of the India Caucus in Congress, I’m com-mitted to improving the rela-tionship between these two great nations. I’m proud to represent one of the most cul-turally diverse and vibrant dis-tricts in America with a strong Indo-American population.

Representing this wonder-

ful district provides me with a unique perspective on Indian priorities both here in America and India.

On a recent trip to India, I had lengthy discussions about the strong partnership between our nations and the mutual benefi ts of the US exporting natural gas to a strong ally of ours in Asia. I will continue to promote these efforts in my role on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and look forward to continuing the strong friendship between our countries.

Again, many congratula-tions on your recent election. I am confi dent that you will serve as a strong leader for your nation.

U.S. lawmakers send congratulatory message to India’s PM

INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, june 4, 2014 • PAGE 11

Rassanubhava 2014Colors, choreography &

synchronization were the highlights of Rasaanubha-va’14, the annual recital of Abhinaya School of Perform-ing Arts, at the Stafford Civic Center on May18, 2014

The artistic director & teacher Indrani Parthasara-thy, well versed in the Pan-danallur style of Bharathan-atyam and also trained in Kuchipudi style of dancing is the daughter of the dance Guru Karnataka Kalathilaka Smt.Radha Sridhar of Ban-galore.

Indrani has to her credit more than 100 solo perfor-mances and has been a per-former in India, UAE and

USA and has been a part of her mother’s dance drama productions.

Indrani established the Ab-hinaya School of Performing Arts in 2001 which is origi-nally based in Katy has now has grown and has branches in Cypress and Pearland.

The annual recital began part one featuring with the junior to intermediate student performances.

Anupama Nagasimha, as-sistant teacher welcomed the guests while senior students Vrinda and Isha introduced the dances.. The curtain rais-er was an invocation dance by Abhinaya graduates Arch-ana, Komal and Prasannah.

The junior students then presented a highly color-ful yet synchronized per-formance maintaining their lines and formations from adavus to jathiswaram.

Besides performing dances they had learnt over the year they also performed dances specially choreographed to popular folk and fusion num-bers.

The students performed with fervor and confi dence in their coordinated costumes.

The senior segment began 4:30 pm. Emceed by senior students Ritvik and Ritika the senior recital had an array of beautifully choreographed traditional classical danc-es like Mallari, Shabdam, Jathiswaram, Padam, Keer-thanams and Thillana.

The highlight of the eve-ning was a surprise perfor-mance by Kavya who pre-

sented a highly energetic power charged solo dance Mahishasura Mardhini.

The students also presented a colorful presentation called Rangoli which featured danc-es choreographed to fusion, semi-classical and folk songs.

The intricate choreography stood out more because of the colorful coordinated special costumes.

The joy and passion for dancing was evident on the faces of the students as they performed. The recital end-ed with a happy note about the student performances by teacher Indrani Parthasarathy

Right, Mahishasura Mardhini

Below, Jathiswaram

Nitya Kalyani

Parashakthi Janani


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American Society of In-dian Engineers (ASIE) had their May luncheon meeting at HESS with the Director of Public Works, City of Houston, Dan Krueger as the featured speaker.

A large gathering of almost 160 engineers from all walks of fi elds was in attendance to hear Krueger and his message to the engineers in Houston.

ASIE, a body consisting of Engineers of Indian origin, organized the event where 33 consulting engineering com-panies sponsored the event, the proceeds of which were dedicated to be spent on schol-arships to deserving students pursuing engineering educa-tion.

American Society of Indian Engineers (ASIE) is a Houston based non-profi t organization established in 1994 with spe-cifi c objectives for engineers, architects, and engineering technicians of Indian origin.

ASIE played a key role in assisting its members by pro-viding opportunities for net-working, career advancement through continuing technical seminars, project management workshops for the past twenty years.

ASIE sponsored thousands of dollars in Scholarships over the past 20 years for much needed support and motiva-tion of young students in the Greater Houston area with en-gineering and architectural as-pirations.

Sekhar Ambadapudi, the current president of ASIE wel-

comed the gathering. He re-iterated the efforts of ASIE in providing networking among various engineers and thanked the Director for consenting to be the featured speaker.

Ambadapudi said that “this year, ASIE will be celebrating its 20th anniversary and we will be hosting a gala to cel-ebrate the occasion” and went on to say that the scholarship program has been working well for ASIE.

Last year, ASIE awarded several scholarships to students in an amount of $10,000. He said all this was possible due to active participation of engi-neering consultants, contrac-tors and suppliers in sponsor-ing the events.

Raj Basavaraju, treasurer, then recognized all the meeting sponsors.

He was then followed by Showri Nandagiri, Vice Presi-dent who introduced Krueger to the audience. He said Krueger, being the director of public works for City of Hous-ton since July 2010 is a very familiar public offi cial among the engineering community of Houston. He said that Krueger directs the operations of one of the larger departments under Mayor Anise Parker, and that he is responsible for oversee-ing the Department’s services to Houston citizens through the planning, operations, mainte-nance, construction manage-ment and technical engineering of the City’s public infrastruc-ture. His Department of Pub-lic Works and Engineering is

staffed with a trained work force of approximately 3,900 employees and operates with an annual budget of approxi-mately $1.2 billion.

Director Krueger in his re-marks commended the efforts of ASIE in organizing the events which help the students with fi nancial assistance.

He reminded the fact that this week was National Public Works Week recognizing the contribution of engineers to the community.

Krueger said engineering was a blend of Math and Sci-ence, and engineers apply these two branches in a most appro-priate manner to assist the com-munity in a variety of ways. He went on to advise the audience that they should always be re-sponsible, innovative and hon-

American Society of Indian Engineers hosts Houston’s public works director

ASIE offi cers with Houston’s Director of Public Works Dan Krueger, center.

est in whatever they do. In con-clusion he told the engineers that they should continue to provide the good service they are providing to the City of Houston.

Sekhar Ambadapudi then presented a plaque to the Direc-tor. Rajesh Tolikonda, Secre-tary, proposed a vote of thanks.

—Dinesh Shah


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Kala Kunj, a local group of arts enthusiasts, organized a fabulous Gujarati musical program — Kavya Sangeet Samaroh 2014 — at the Stafford Civic Centre on May 30. The visiting artists, the very prominent and famous ‘Samanvay’ group with playback singers Parthiv Gohil, Gaurang Vyas, Ankit Trevedi and other 10 artists from India, were the featured attraction. The four-and-a-half hour program was thoroughly enjoyed by a house-full audience. The President of Kala Kunj, Rasesh Dalal, and his team made all-out efforts to make the program successful. Members of the Gujarati community heartily complimented Kala Kunj on presenting such an outstanding program and offered all help in organizing more such programs in the future. Above, Samanvay team with Kala Kunj offi cers. Below, the artists during the performance.

Kala Kunj organizes fabulous program with renowned Gujarati musicians

President Obama hosted the fourth White House Science Fair, which featured extraordinary science projects and experiments from some of America’s most innovative students. Among the two dozen youngsters were Kavita Selva, 14, of Houston and Ananya Cleetus of Pittsburgh, PA.

Kavita, after reading a story in National Geographic about the global shortage of metals and elements used in magnets -- called “rare earths” -- and how important magnets are to objects like motors and wind turbines, set out to design a strong magnet that contains little or no rare materials. She used superconductor tape, a strip of metal tape coated with super-conductor material to develop a strong magnet containing just a small amount of rare-earths. Kavita has already published some of her results with a professor at the University of Houston and earned a place as fi nal-ist in the 2013 Google Science Fair.

Ananya Cleetus, 17, has worked alongside a charity in New Delhi to manufacture and patent a number of her inventions. Her most recent project, a robotic prosthetic hand designed to aid leprosy victims in In-dia, was computer modeled, 3D-printed, wired, sewed, and programmed entirely by Ananya. Her project has earned awards from Yale, Princeton, CMU, Duquesne, and the IEEE -- and Ananya hopes her design will be released to the public soon.

Ananya teaches a fully accredited robotics course at a middle school and was named a National Winner for Aspirations in Computing from the National Center for Women and Information Technology. She drums for her local Marching Band Drumline and hopes to one day double major in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Young scientists visit White House

Ananya & Kavita


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By KRISHNA VAVILALAMr. Prabhat Chander Shar-

ma requested that his inter-view begin with the invoca-tion of Gayathri Mantra.

It is understandable since, he is the President and co-found-er of the Hindu Worship Soci-ety (HWS) which is located at 2223 Wirtcrest Ln, Houston, TX 77055.

Established in 1970, HWS has the distinction of being the very fi rst temple for all Hindus in Houston at the time when Jay store was the only grocery store for all Indians. The Southern Indians broke up from HWS and built their own temple in Pearland which is called Meenakshi Temple So-ciety (MTS).

Mr. Sharma was born on 23rd. January, 1938 in Lahore, Pakistan in undivided India to a physician father, Dr. Banar-si Dass Sharma and mother Promila Sharma. Dr. Sharma was a close associate of Bha-

gat Singh, a well-known revo-lutionary and freedom fi ghter in India’s freedom struggle. Bhagat Singh was tried and ex-ecuted by the British.

Bhagat Singh and his father, Dr. Banarsi Dass Sharma had co-founded an organization called Nav Jawan Sabha for young people to fi ght for In-dia’s freedom.

Dr. Banarsi Dass was a product of National College in Lahore which was home for many freedom fi ghters and rev-olutionaries in those days. The college was not recognized by the British. Dr. Sharma left for heaven in 1941. Mr. P. C. Sharma has inherited some of the revolutionary qualities of his father.

In the aftermath of partition in 1947, Sharma’s family mi-grated to Delhi, India just two months before Independence, and lived in refugee camps. He got free education because of his poverty status, but always

excelled in education. He grad-uated from India’s premium institute, IIT Khargapur in Me-chanical Engineering as one of the top fi ve ranked students.

After working in Calcutta, he

joined Bharat Heavy Electri-cals (BHEL), Hardwar in 1963 and was sent to Leningrad in Soviet Union for specialized training in Hydro Turbines, as a Graduate trainee. He became the Executive Engineer in 1966 and went on to become the Su-perintending Engineer.

Being an activist, he contest-ed and became the Secretary of BHEL Offi cer’s Club which had a number of Russians also as members.

In a club event, when only the Russian anthem was sung and India’s national anthem was not sung, Sharma protested severely to higher authorities, which caught attention of the media and the issue was also raised in India’s parliament.

His superiors in BHEL did not like his activism and made his life miserable by setting un-achievable production targets. That was the time when he thought of leaving BHEL and immigrate to America.

Being the only son, his mother did not like him leav-ing India. Asked why he only considered America, but not Russia, where he got his pro-fessional training, his response was that he came to America for better life and opportuni-ties.

Being her only son, his mother did not want him to em-igrate. But she made the sac-rifi ce and agreed to her son’s desire. Mr. Sharma says that his son thanks him for bringing him to America.

After arriving in Houston In 1974, he joined CE Lum-mus Engineering Company as a draftsman-designer, a job well below his qualifi cations, but soon rose up the ladder and retired as Manager of Mechani-cal Engineering in the company after 30 years of service.

Their children, son, Puneet

Sharma and daughter, Puja Sharma were born in India and raised in America.

Puneet is presently a Vice-President in Modek Engg. Co., but unfortunately their unmar-ried daughter, Dr. Puja Sharma, who was a qualifi ed anesthe-siologist passed away prema-turely.

Sharma candidly confesses that despite all the efforts of the fi rst generation Indians to pass on their culture to their children sooner or later, everybody will be absorbed into the American melting pot, citing the example of his own son who married an American girl.

Sharma was married in 1964 to Jaya Sharma a B.A. degree graduate from Maharani Col-lege in Jaipur. She was born in Simla and raised in Delhi. She is a singer in her own right and sings Bhajans in the temple.

Besides serving the Hindu Worship Society, Mr. Sharma is also a cofounder of Hindus of Greater Houston.

Sharmas enjoy the company of granddaughter, Kiran Shar-ma, 16 and grandson, Garik Sharma now 11, both attending private schools here in Hous-ton.

Indo-American Oral History project is an undertaking of the Foundation for India Studies (FIS), a 501(c3) non-profi t or-ganization registered in Hous-ton, Texas.

Video interviews of the fi rst generation Indian immigrants will be digitized and archived in the Indo-American Oral His-tory collection of the Houston Metropolitan Research Center which is administered by the Houston Public Library.

For information or partici-pation in the project, please contact Mr. Krishna Vavilala @ 713-795-5169 or email: [email protected].

Krishna Vavilala interviewed P.C.Sharma (right) , President of Hindu Worship Society in HCC studio on May 9, 2014.

Hindu Worship Society President Prabhat .C. Sharmaparticipates in FIS Oral History Project

Krishna Vavilala, and HWS President P.C. Sharma begin the interview with a prayer.


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Yes, Go To Your Room Mother, an En Acte production presented by Samskriti, indeed won the hearts of all those who saw it on May 25. A sold out house at the Kaplan Theater, laugh-a-minute writing and repeated applause are proof enough to declare the play as a clear winner.

Parents are old-fashioned.

Go to Your Room Mother — A sizzler & clear winner

Something none of us contemplates in youth. The stubborn mix of bitterness,frustration, unfounded nostalgia that seem to blossom when one is clearly past middle age because of the fear of the future, and the fear of loneliness….

this seems to be the theme of for a comedy that playright Sanjiv Desai has captured it superbly in Go To Your Room Mother, cleverly directed by Vinita Sud Belani, enacted ably by a few theatre enthusiasts from California.

Set in Delhi, one might think the play would sink under the weight of all those cultural references. Surprisingly, good acting and good direc-tion made it very appealing even to the mix of diverse audience.

The beauty of any comedy are the punch lines. They were admira-bly delivered with right timing, pauses and amazing clarity. Of course, a good script, good voice projection and great direction helped all these come together to elicit several laughs. Kudos to Basab Pradhan and Sindu Singh in the lead, Seema Karnik and Rashmi Rustogi as the central characters, Satish Ullal, Ravi Bhatnagar and Ravi Chopra in the cam-eo roles.

It would have been a lot more crisper and shorter but for the lighting glitch-es, transition-related delays between scenes. Interestingly, people did not seem to mind this at all. As I was walk-ing out of the theatre, the audience were still mulling over the great comic ele-ments of the play. One also said, “I can imagine my life with my kids when I visit them.” Overall, nothing but appre-ciation by all.

Finally, as the play narrative mentions it, it sure was a rib-tickling and rip- roaring contemporary comedy about life after kids. Great production en acte’ players. Great presentation very in-novatie choice for the 2014 season by Samskriti. — By A Correspondent

Photo: Navin Mediwala

Celebs are known to be in the lime-light and under constant media scrutiny. While some try to remain as private as possible, others make headlines all the time, either by the statements they make or the controversies they get into.

Naseeruddin Shah, a veteran when it comes to Bollywood and theatre and not one to mince his words. His contri-bution to Hindi fi lms has been immense and an actor like Naseeruddin Shah is hard to come by.

But apart from his acting skills, he’s also known to be candid. In an exclu-sive interview to Times of India, the actor spoke about Bollywood and in particular, Farhan Akhtar.

The actor went on to say about Far-han, “Farhan Akhtar’s fi lms I clearly don’t care for. I liked his fi rst fi lm Dil Chahta Hai. He’s a tremendous person and has so many facets to him.

“Tomorrow I won’t be surprised if I hear that he cooked a 10 course meal to perfection. He sings, acts, produces fi lms and writes, I think it’s great he’s doing whatever he can.

“I’m not a great fan of his acting or his fi lms. But I admire him.” Naseer played Farhan’s dad in his sister Zoya’s fi lm Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.

Not a Farhan Akhtar fan

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Actress Shruti Haasan hasbeen recently linked to crick-eter Suresh Raina. However,her spokesperson denies thereports.

According to reports,Kamal Haasan’s elder daugh-ter Shruti dating Suresh forsometime and both are in aserious relationship. When wecontacted Shruti’s spokesper-son, she immediately denied toreports and claimed that theyare rumors.

“There is no such thingabout Shruti dating SureshRaina. Shruti is very busy with

The grapevinehas it that Ali Fazalis all set to make asplash on the smallscreen Hollywoodstyle. The actor,we hear, is gearingup for a stint on hitTV show Home-

Akshay’s next-level stunts in Holiday Hollywood-bound: Ali Fazal & Sapna Pabbi

land. Wow!While one wonders if he will be typecast considering the scope of

the show, one can be quite thrilled for him and would love to watch himshare screen space with Claire Danes’ Carrie.

And it’s a double delight when another Bollywood star heads overto the gripping sets of the CIA drama. Lucky star #2 is Sapna Pabbi.Remember the girl who played Anil Kapoor’s daughter in 24? Appar-ently, she’s been offered the role of a medical student on Homeland.

work,” said her spokesperson.Raina also tweeted saying, “ Too

many media reports which no one eventries to confirm. This is to clear once& for all. I’m not dating anyone.”

Raina and Shruti deny any relationship

In a bid to raise the bar for ac-tion films made in Bollywood, pro-ducer Vipul Shah roped in a Hol-lywood action director GregPowell for his next film, Holiday– A Soldier Is Never Off Duty,which releases June 6.

The film, directed by A.R.Murugadoss, stars AkshayKumar in the lead. “People weregetting bored of the so-calledsouth style action of flying cars andpeople. Since my film deals withan army officer’s life, we neededaction sequences that were real-istic and did justice to Akshay’simage of an action star," says Shahabout why he chose to bring inPowell, who has been the stuntdirector of Skyfall, the Harry Pot-ter series and many others.

“Greg flew down to India withhis team, which included the stuntboys. He choreographed the ac-tion sequences and rehearsed

them with Akshay,”adds Shah.

Ask him why hechose a Hollywoodstunt director as op-posed to an Indianone and Shah says, “Idon’t think any of ouraction directors areless talented, butworking in Holly-wood gives a personexposure. Theyknow how to take ac-tion to the nextlevel.”

Talking aboutAkshay’s enthusi-asm, Shah says, "Hededicatedly re-

hearsed for the sequences, al-though we all felt he was a mas-ter at it. Some of the stunts weredifficult, yet he did them with greatease."

“I did Holiday because therewas content in it. It is not a typicalAkshay Kumar film where I amdoing fun and comedy all the time.Yes, there is some comic elementin Holiday, but otherwise the filmis a serious thriller. Not manypeople know of sleeper cells -terrorists who blend into societyso well that no one realises theyare terrorists. Sleeper cells werebehind 9/11 and 26/11 attacks. InHoliday, some army officers arehome for a holiday and realise thatthe enemy is not only present atthe border, but there are a lot ofenemies inside the city and village.Holiday is an amazing film onterrorism and how the army triesto capture the sleeper cells.

Veer beats Zaara in IPL final!Let's face it, it can't

get bigger than this. Fortwo big reasons: one, it'sthe Indian PremierLeague grand finale,and two, it's Veer vsZaara this time!

The hit reel couple,Shah Rukh Khan-PreityZinta, who became ahousehold name aftertheir sizzling chemistry inthe 2004 hit Veer Zaara,

Amitabh to release of Dilip Kumar’s bioDilip Kumar’s story

— from an unknownnewcomer to aBollywood super star —is surely an inspiring one.And author Udaya TaraNayar has captured thisstory in a biography of thestar.

While the book wassupposed to be launchedlast year, and got delayeddue to Dilip Kumar’s illhealth, the date for thelaunch is out now. OnJune 9, Dilip Kumar’speers and even younger stars will gather at the biography’s unveiling,which will take place at the hands of Amitabh Bachchan.

A suburban five-star hotel has been booked for the launch and theteam has already begun the prep work for the event. A close aide ofDilip saab’s family, Murshid, says, “The book will be launched by MrBachchan, who has been a great admirer of sir’s craft. Dharmendraji, who is also very close to Dilip saab, will also be present at the eventas will Lata Mangeshkar ji.”

In a coup of sorts, the three Khans — Aamir, Salman and ShahRukh — might also come together at the launch.

It is understood that the three of them are in the city at that timeand have made changes to their schedules to attend the function.

battled it out for the IPL 2014 trophy. Talk about marrying India's twobig obessesions, bollywood and cricket.

While for some Twitter users, it was Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)vs Kings XI Punjab in the IPL final at Bengaluru, for SRK and Preityfans, it was Veer vs Zaara (not quite the same as Veer-Zaara).

In the end, Shah Rukh Khan’s Koklata Knight Riders edged outKings XI by three wickets with four balls to spare. (Kings XI Punjab199 for 4; Kolkata Knight Riders 200 for 7 )An elated Shah Rukh said:"I told my whole family in the morning that Manish Pandey is going towin this match for me."

Pandey led his team to victory with a brilliant 94.

Small films reign

Ever since the Indian PremierLeague (IPL) kicked off in 2008,the first half of the year has seenfewer releases. This year, film-makers had another obstacle —the Lok Sabha elections. Still,Bollywood seems to have col-lected a fair amount at the boxoffice from small-to-medium bud-get films.

“The young actors’ connectwith the youth has played a bigrole. Their willingness to experi-ment is another reason,” saystrade expert Taran Adarsh.

Films like Highway, RaginiMMS 2, Queen, Main TeraHero, 2 States and Heropantihave all done well at the box of-fice. Did the absence of any bigreleases during this period proveto be an advantage for them? “Theindustry, in general, is undergoinga transition. Every few years,there is a power shift. And now,the time has come for the nextgeneration to emerge as the newbunch of box-office movers andshakers,” says Akshaye Rathi,film exhibitor and distributor.

This only means the big budgetprojects have been sidelined fornow; they will come roaring backin the second half.

Ask trade analyst AmodMehra how conducive the box-office environment for these filmsis, and he says the content willdecide their fate. Citing thelacklustre performance of SalmanKhan’s Jai Ho earlier this year,he adds, “If the story manages toengage the audience, it will bringin the money, regardless of whothe stars of the films are.”

A still from 2 States

Pakistan release for Akshay Kumar’s film HolidayThe release of Indian movies

in Pakistan has always seentrouble, but it looks like things aregetting better across the borderfor Bollywood.

In a first, Akshay Kumar-Sonakshi Sinha starrer Holiday:ASoldier is Never Off Duty, willrelease in Pakistan on the sameday that it hits theatres in India— June 6. What makes it moreinteresting is that the film is based

on an Indian Army officer.“It is a great start to a relation-

ship between the two countries.Traditionally, talent from Pakistanwould come down to India, but thiswould be the first time that an In-dian film based on an Army of-ficer would be -releasing in Paki-stan. It is not only good for rela-tions, but also for the businessbetween the countries. I con-gratulate both the countries on this

step,” says the film’s producer,Vipul Shah.

Akshay is a huge draw in Pa-kistan and there was a demandfor Holiday, but fans there werenot sure if it would see a releasethere. Some sensitive scenes havebeen edited to make it a suitablewatch for cross-border audience.The film has been censored byboard members in Lahore,Karachi and Islamabad.


REVIEW/PREVIEW

Cast: Siddharth Gupta,Simran Kaur Mundi, PallaviBatra.

Don't go by the corny name —Kuku Mathur ki Jhand HoGayi —and the misleading poster.In a time where smart titles andpromos often lead to disappoint-ing films, this one turns the trendon its head.

The film has a simple story, anddoesn't pretend otherwise. Kuku(Siddharth Gupta) and Ronnie(Ashish Juneja) are "calony" palswho spend time pretending to gethigh on fruit beer. They buy shoesfrom the neighborhood store,where the shopkeeper convincesthem of the original Nikki (Nike)tag. They're adorable doofuses.

As Kuku struggles to get a col-lege admission, he envies hisfriend who inherits hisgrandfather's garment shop andis "set". A watchman compareshis own life to Kuku's impendingfuture. Things get worse.

Kuku gets a job as a gofer ona shooting set; a portion that hasplenty of laughs. You see the over-age hero chasing the heroine witha 'Like' sign and the song's lyricsgo on about Facebook love. Theheroine, riled that the hero's photois bigger on the poster, insists onhearts detail around her face.

Some misunderstandings and awily Shakuni mama later, Kukuunfriends Ronnie and opens hisown restaurant. But the restau-rant has come at a cost that willbe difficult for Kuku to pay up.

Cast: Raj Kumar Yadav,Patraleka. Director: HansalMehta

It’s difficult to review CityLights that works in parts andtrudges along in the others. Thisofficial remake of UK-Filipino filmMetro Manila, begins with a vil-lage where Deepak (RajkummarRao) and his family are living acontented life (shots of the coupleplaying with the kid againstdappled sunlight). But unexpectedsituations force him to relocate toMumbai with his wife and child.

Once in Mumbai, the film turnsto the ‘simple villager exploited bythe big, bad city’ drone.

They get fooled out of the mea-ger amount they are carrying, andare forced to sleep on the streets.The police station is worse, as thecop plays games on his phonewhile listening to Deepak’s com-plaint.

Further exploitation occurs asthe wife becomes a bar dancer(in a cringe-worthy scene) and thehusband gets a dangerous job.

Quite unexpectedly, the filmchanges to thriller mode. His newjob with a delivery agency involvesdealing with criminals and deliv-ering packages. This portion ofhim getting the job, and gettingtrained is gripping.

Some delightful bits of darkcomedy are insinuated with hissenior (Manav Kaul, superb). Thejob interview scene where he tellsa rehearsed joke, that he himselfdoesn’t understand is priceless!

The senior trains and mentorshim calling him “dheemi gati kifilm” (slow film) for his naiveté.In fact, this quality is the sourceof several amusing moments in thefilm, as he often doesn’t under-stand obvious nudges.

The film may have its flaws butthe performances see you through.Rajkummar Rao gives a master-fully restrained performance asthe character that is constantly avictim of circumstance.

As his wife, Patralekhamatches step and gives a power-ful rendering of the character thatturns from a demure wife to thefamily breadwinner. She too, is avictim of circumstance, but is anabsolute survivor.

Their equation, marked withlove and respect, is one of thefilm’s highlights. The other isDeepak’s uneasy equation with hissenior, heightened by terrific per-formances by Rao and ManavKaul.

The film delights you with itsnuances. Deepak renting out anunder-construction flat for 100

bucks a day (it’s all just brick andstones) and being informed theflat will cost 3 crore once its doneis superb. His hesitation in cross-ing of the roads reflects his dis-comfort with the overwhelmingcity. The dialogue is functionalwith occasional gems like his se-nior referring to poverty as a dis-ease that sticks to the person likea parasite.

Astute editing by co-writerApurva Asrani (who also cutShahid) takes you through thevarious moods of the film.

Director Hansal Mehta whohas just won the National Awardfor the spectacular Shahid, is un-doubtedly an opinionated, fearlessfilmmaker. Here, he is on slushyground mainly because we don’tunderstand what the film is tryingto say. The larger-than-life finaleis surprising in a film with such arealistic texture.

The few songs in the film areaberrations – one is a dance barsong, the other an Aashiqui 2-type romantic number. Thedistractingly misplaced back-ground score is omnipresent, andyou yearn for a few moments ofsilence. The powerful visuals cer-tainly deserved it.

The film doesn’t quite work toits full potential. You might wantto sample it for the story, formi-dable performances and a fewarresting moments.

City Lights: Delightful nuances, great acting

Kuku Mathur ... a genuine Delhi film

Cast: Fahadh Faasil, Dulquer Salmaan, Nivin Pauly, NazriyaNazim, Parvathy. Director: Anjali Menon

In her maiden film Manjadikkuru, writer-director Anjali Menonexplored the theme of homecoming. In her latest offering, BangaloreDays, she looks at the life of a few youngsters in Bangalore who areaway from home.

Arjun (Dulquer Salmaan), Kuttan (Nivin Pauly) and Divya (NazriyaNazim) are cousins, who arrive at Bangalore for various reasons.Arjun lives life on his own terms, Kuttan is a typical techie and Divyais married to Das (Fahadh Faasil), a high--flying corporate executive.The cousins go through turbulent times but it is their affection for eachother that keeps them going.

At close to three hours the film is a bit too long and the story ispretty simple. But there are moments that many viewers can connectwith, which is perhaps the strength of the film. The story goes alongpredictable lines, but it has been packaged in a chic way.

It’s never easy to handle three bright young heroes in a film, butAnjali does it with great elan. The characters and their stories havebeen written and executed in an impressive way.

Fahadh Faasil has his best role of the year so far and is in full form.Nivin continues with his dream run after 1983 and Ohm ShaanthiOshaana. In the film, he is the funniest of them all.

Among the girls, Nazriya is full of life and Parvathy comes up withanother terrific performance. Isha Talwar and Nithya Menen havelimited roles to play, but they are perfect.

Bangalore Days is a young, vibrant film that is colorful and peppy.Grab a box of popcorn and enjoy this trip to Bangalore, the city ofdreams for most Malayalis.

Bangalore Days is a fun ride

There has been aspate of 'The DelhiFilm' in Bollywood offlate. This is one suchbut it's genuine; itcouldn't have been setanywhere else. Thefilm shrugs off pre-tence and takes ourKuku and Ronnie'severyday conflictsvery seriously. You gowith the flow enjoy-ing the Delhi flavorthat seeps in andsoaking in the inter-

esting characters that often serveto worsen the situation.

And the most interesting ofthem all is the wily uncle (AmitSial, superb) who suggests short-cut solutions (usually illegal andmorally quotable) in his sure-footed, smooth manner.

Dialogue has the quintessentialDelhi flavor with words likeCalony (for colony) and kainth(good). A burly character tells agirl Aapka innocent bada stronghai. A car sticker says, WaheGuru is my Commanding Of-ficer.

In a hilarious scene, you havea jagran with bhajan lyrics that go,Welcome maiyya and a bit of rapthrown in. There are Godmen thattalk of faith served "hot and fresh."And the film has the cutest (yetprofound in its own way) take on"enlightment."

Siddharth Gupta and AshishJuneja give consistent, earnest per-formances. Alok Chaturvedishines in his role as the watchman,who plays an important part in thefilm's developments. The film hassome interesting songs, includingthe rap number towards the endthat wonders, Kya Punjabi Baugmein sirf Punjabi rehte hain?

Of course we've had an over-kill of Delhi-based films, and thisfilm only prorogates all the cliches.Still, debut director AmanSachdeva's film is full of inno-cence, charm and fun. A goodoption, especially if you're fond ofthis genre.

Cast: GauravKalai, PravinKishore, Vasanth. Di-rector: HalithaShameem

PoovarasamPeepee — the title re-fers to a toy trumpetfashioned from a leaf— is the kind of filmwe rarely see in Indiancinema, leave aloneTamil cinema. The

An idyllic summer movie

“one idyllic summer” movie, best exemplified by Rob Reiner’s Standby Me. Like that film, this one too deals with a bunch of boys and akilling and a search for the killers, and this ‘adult’ angle is temperedwith the reality of these boys being boys.

There’s classroom comedy. There are friendships, with the atten-dant ups and down. There are knotty negotiations with the world ofgrown-ups — an alcoholic father, the death of an elder. There’s somefledgling romance. There’s even sex. Harish, Kapil and Venu are fas-cinated by a rape scene in a movie shown on television, and later, wewitness the events around a wet dream, which are superbly struc-tured as a counterpoint to the coming-of-age rituals for girls that weusually see in Tamil cinema.

This sort of mix, delicate and textured, needs a sure hand, the kindof skill displayed by Anjali Menon in her stunning Malayalam debut,Manjadikuru, a similar story of kids being kids while dipping a toe intothe world of grown-ups. Halitha Shameem, a first-time director, hasgood ideas and instincts, but her filmmaking isn’t quite there yet. Thescene segues are herky-jerky, and sometimes, there’s no finish to thescenes. Moments like the one between Harish and his grandfather orthe one where Harish and Venu make up after a cold war needed tobe lingered on, but Shameem seems to be in a tearing hurry to get tothe next scene.

And she doesn’t yet know how to stage scenes for maximum im-pact. The stretch where Harish, Kapil and Venu scare the killers withhomemade tricks needed to be near-magical, seen through the eyes ofthese children — it comes off like cheap gags, seen through adulteyes. We sense that all the bits are in place, but they don’t cohereorganically, which is what happens in a great movie. There’s nooverarching mood, thanks to the film’s fondness for straying into hast-ily assembled subplots about sand smuggling and star tortoises.

And yet, this isn’t a film that can be easily dismissed. There aremany funny lines, funny scenes, and when Shameem puts her mind toit, she seems capable of brilliance. The sequences where the kids turninto rogue radio broadcasters are delightful.

Another impressive portion renders religious violence through ani-mation — it’s as if the kids were reading a comic book that spoke ofthese events. And the tree festooned with answer sheets is easily oneof the year’s best visuals. The most surprising aspect of PoovarasamPeepee, whose title and milieu suggest a touch of the rustic, is thecasual incorporation of English. The kids know about Harry Potterand they speak of “forensics” and “presence of mind”. Tamil is usu-ally so valorized in Tamil cinema — and other tongues and cultures sovilified — that these unfussy excursions into a globalized India arerefreshing. There is a mind at work here, and there is a voice. It will beinteresting to see what Shameem does next.

RELIGION / SPIRITUALITYPAGE 18 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4, 2014

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How to meet life as isBy J. Krishnamurti

We find ourselves living in fear of war, of losing a job, if we haveone, in fear of terrorism, of being at the very mercy of inept politicians.How do we meet life as it is today?

How do you meet it? I know how to meet it for myself, but onedoesn’t know how you will meet it. First of all, what is life, what is thisthing called existence, full of sorrow, inept politicians, and all the trick-ery and dishonesty that’s going on in the world? What does it mean tolive in this world as it is? How do we live our daily life, not theoretically,philosophically or idealistically, but actually how do we live our dailylife? If we examine it, it is a constant battle, constant struggle, effortafter effort. What shall we do? It comes down to that.

Can we change our life? To have no conflict at all in our life, is thatpossible? Because conflict is part of violence. This constant struggleto be something, in the world, economically, socially, as well as in-wardly, is the basis of our life.

Can we, living in this world, change ourselves, radically, psychologi-cally transform ourselves, not eventually, not admitting time? For aserious individual, for a really religious mind, there is no tomorrow.There is only the rich worship of today. And can we live wholly thislife and actually transform our relationship with each other? That isthe real issue, not what the world is. The world is us. You are theworld, and the world is you. We are the world with all its ugliness; wehave contributed to all this, we are responsible for all this, for all thecraziness going on.

And if we don’t feel our responsibility for all this—which meansresponsible utterly for ourselves, what we do, what we think, how webehave—then it becomes rather hopeless, knowing what the world is,knowing that we cannot individually, separately, solve this problem ofterrorism. That is the problem of governments: to see that its citizensare safe, protected. If each government were really concerned that itspeople must be protected, there would be no wars. But apparentlygovernments are thinking only of party politics, of their own power,position, prestige—you know the whole game.

So can we, not admitting time, that is tomorrow, the future, live insuch a way that today is all-important? That means one has to be-come so extraordinarily alert to our reactions, to our confusion—worklike fury on ourselves. That is the only thing we can do apparently.And if we don’t do that, there is really no future for us. Apparently theordinary people in the world don’t seem to care. Those who are intel-lectually, scientifically, involved in the production of armaments don’tseem to care; they are interested only in their careers, in their jobs, intheir research.

And the tragedy is that we don’t seem to care either. We don’tseem to get together, think, work together. We are only too willing tojoin institutions, organisations, hoping that they will stop wars. Theyhave never done it. It is the human heart, the human mind, that isinvolved in this. And if we care and our daily life is lived rightly, if eachone of us is aware of what we are doing daily, then I think there issome hope for the future. Courtesy: KFI

By Ranjana Narasiman

We call HER by many names— Padmavathi, Devi, Thaayaar,Mahalakshmi and more... ourGoddess Lakshmi in the form ofMoolavar, the installed deity at SriMeenakshi Temple’s mainsannidhi and in the form ofutsavar, the procession deity whosat majestically today, on a deco-rated podium at the newly reno-vated Ganesh Temple.

She presided over the goldwrapped bricks which are to beused to build her a new sanctumwith vimanam at the main templeso that her devotees can worshipher with more pomp and splendorbefitting her majesty.

This Lakshmi Puja was the in-augural puja for the Main TempleRenovation Project (MTRP).

Over 300 devotees sat in frontof Sri Lakshmi who received allthe fruits and flowers and home-made prasadams brought by themwith utmost love for Her.

It was a beautiful day when thesun’s rays seemed to be piped inthrough the skylight, illuminatingHer and in turn She radiated thatenergy to her devotees who verydevotedly recited the 1000 plusnames of Her, some from rotememory and others by readingfrom the word document with hernames cleverly projected on thescreen.

The hall was charged with de-votion as the priests (SreedharanRaghavan and ManickasundaramBhattar) ended the puja with anarchana using golden Lotus flow-ers specially made for the God-dess who gives us the wealth tosustain ourselves on this earth.

After the Maha Aarathi, sanc-tum sponsors carried one gold-

Inaugural pooja for Lakshmi sanctum at MTS

wrapped brick each in a proces-sion with the goddess from theGanesh temple to the main templeand placed it at the spot wherethe new sanctum is being con-ceived. After a grand aarathi forall the presiding deities, thepradhana murthis — Meenakshi,Sundareshwarar andVenkateshwarar, the devoteeswere invited to lunch at the youthcenter.

It was a very satisfying expe-rience for all the board members,organizers, priests, staff, volun-

After the Maha Aarathi, sanctum sponsors carried one gold-wrappedbrick each in a procession with the goddess from the Ganesh temple to themain temple and placed it at the spot where the new sanctum is beingconceived.

teers and devotees to be a part ofthis grand event.

The fact that the golden brickswere a sold-out event is testamentto our love for the Goddess andour longing for her to have a splen-did abode and an auspicious startto the Main Temple RenovationProject (MTRP).

MTS chairman Dr.Vaduganathan thanked the Fundraising committee for the suc-cessful start to the MTRP effortand the event coordinator andMTS secretary SrikanthVenugopalan thanked all the vol-unteers, devotees and board mem-bers for the team effort in makingthe event successful.

Happiness in unhappinessBy Tejinder Narang

In moments of happiness, a doubt flashes whether this joy will sur-vive. “Áchchhe din ayenge” is a whiff of happiness, but what if theydo not? Efforts and worries in pursuit of happiness make life uneasy.

A healthy person may not be wealthy, diminishing the cheer. Fur-ther, “sukh” soon changes to “dukh” and vice versa. Hence happinessin unhappiness.

Karmic principle mandates that human body be an abode of bothpleasure and pain. Thus, expectation of lifelong bliss is hyper delusion,because life is not designed that way. For example, an automobile canrun slow or fast but it cannot fly because it is not structured to beairborne.

People chase god men or perform austerities for riddance of dis-ease, acquisition of wealth, position, comforts, relationships, etc.

Their presence may soon lead to ego, jealousy, losses, betrayal,disputes, etc. Is obsessing for happiness wrong? Certainly not. How-ever, non-acceptance of unhappiness is “the wrong” and painful.

Neither the purpose of god men nor religiosity is to make this worlda heaven. Neither this world is nor can be a paradise despite presenceof spiritual saints, scripture sermons and offering of prayers. Theymerely make this existence a tolerable habitat.

“Nanak dukhiya sab sansar, so sukhiya jo naam aadhaar (all in thisworld are unhappy except those who have abiding faith in His word),”said Guru Nanak.

Man has to accept fait accompli of His inscrutable will so that ad-versity is borne with ease.

Unhappiness shadows happiness all the time. In utter helplessness,man survives by “acceptance” alone.

Joy of discoveryAt times you have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the

wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful.What you'll discover is yourself. — Alan Alda

She knew this transition was not about becoming someone better,but about finally allowing herself to become who she'd always been.— Amy Rubin

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new land-scapes, but in having new eyes. — Marcel Proust

Sometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere and in themiddle of nowhere you find yourself. — Anonymous

In life, you will discover the greatest challenge of all time is to findout who you really are, and the second greatest is being happy withwhat you find. — Chee Vai Tang

One monk has left home but is not on the way, the other monk hasnever left home, but is on the way. — Zen saying

Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to losesight of the shore. — André Gide

No great discovery was ever made without a bold guess. — IsaacNewton

What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out,which is the exact opposite. — Bertrand Russell

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MUMBAI: In an attempt to contain protests over objectionableposts on a social networking site about Chhatrapati Shivaji, DrBabasaheb Ambedkar and the late Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray,the Maharashtra police have decided to take action even againstthose who 'like' the controversial posts.

Those who 'like' such posts will be booked under the InformationTechnology Act and under the Code of Criminal Procedure, theNanded police have said. A person could face three to five years injail if convicted under Section 66 (a) of the IT Act (punishment forsending offensive messages through communication service, etc).

The police are still to trace the Internet Protocol address of theperson (yet unidentified) who posted the material online but are notruling out the possibility that a proxy server may have been used.Cases against unidentified persons have been filed in Mumbai, Nerul,Pune, Nashik, Yeola, Aurangabad, Satara and Sangli. Cops havealso applied Section 295A IPC which deals with deliberate andmalicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings.

The probe of the case filed at Mulund police station in Mumbaihas been taken over by the Mumbai police's cyber crime investiga-tion cell.

"Three pages about these objectionable posts were created onFacebook. We have blocked all of them. Police are also taking helpfrom the computer emergency response team (CERT). Besides, aletter has been sent to Facebook to give details about the personswho created the pages," said Deven Bharti, inspector general ofpolice.

There were protests across Maharashtra over the weekend af-ter the posts containing allegedly derogatory references were spot-ted. While protesters in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad went on therampage on Saturday, traffic was held up at the Khalapur toll plazaon the Mumbai-Pune expressway for about a half hour on Sunday.

Be careful about what you ‘like’Revolt brewing in Maharashtra CongressMUMBAI: A fortnight after

the Congress's near whitewash inMaharashtra in the Lok Sabhaelection, an open rebellion has bro-ken out against the party leader-ship, particularly CM PrithvirajChavan.

In a two-page letter to Con-gress president Sonia Gandhi, in-dustries minister Narayan Ranehas warned that the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance will take power in thecoming assembly elections ifChavan is not immediately sacked.

Rane said he recently metSonia, her political secretaryAhmed Patel and AICC generalsecretary Mohan Prakash with hiscomplaints.

"I submitted to them a blueprintfor the assembly polls, but it wasseemingly ignored," Rane toldTimes of India on Monday, June2, expressing "unhappiness" withthe Congress leadership.

He is the first state cabinet min-ister to openly come out in pro-test, although reports suggest thatagriculture minister RadhakrishnaVikhe Patil and water conserva-tion minister Nitin Raut too arepeeved with Chavan's leadership.

In his letter to Sonia, Rane al-leged that the "decision-makingprocess is appalling" underChavan, who takes "no decisionson crucial issues before him".Proffering reasons for theCongress's defeat in the LokSabha election, he said the partyand its ally NCP will lose badly inthe assembly polls, due aroundOctober, if Chavan is not removed.

Chavan has been attacked of-ten by his cabinet colleagues andother for his "unhurried pace ofdecision-making". On Sunday,deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar,

who has hit out at Chavan repeat-edly in the past, censured the CMat a press conference while sit-ting next to him. Pawar said therehas been "no change in the deci-sion-making process (in the gov-ernment) even after the Lok Sabharesults".

Rane said he expected achange in the state leadership af-ter the general elections, when theCongress won just two seats, butthe party does not seem keen tooust Chavan.

"Congress lost the Lok Sabhaelection in Maharashtra. It is allset to lose the assembly polls too,"Rane said. Asked if he will quitthe party, he said he was unde-cided. "I will decide soon, whilethe monsoon session of the statelegislature is going on. All optionsare open."

A former Shiv Sena leader andan ex-chief minister, Rane joinedthe Congress in 2005. "I waspromised the CM's post by theparty within six months. But it didnot keep the promise," Rane said."Between 2005 and 2014, the stateleadership was changed twice.Vilasrao Deshmukh was replacedby Ashok Chavan after the 26/11attacks. And Ashok Chavan wasreplaced by Prithviraj Chavan inthe wake of the Adarsh contro-versy."

Pitching himself as an alterna-tive for the top seat, Rane said hehad successfully led the Congresscampaigns in assembly and LokSabha elections in the past. "I havethe qualities to lead the state. ButI am ignored."

Narayan Rane

NEW DELHI: Priyanka Gandhi has urged the government to with-draw her family's security exemptions at airports, a day after reportsthat the government may take her husband Robert Vadra off the no-frisk protocol that he enjoys as part of the Gandhi family.

In a letter to the chief of Special Protection Group, Priyanka said,"Since the government is now reportedly considering the removal ofhis (Vadra) name, I would like to inform you that I do not feel it will becorrect for my children and me to avail of the facility of exemption ofthese checks while entering or exiting the airport when we are alltravelling together."

The issue pertains to Vadra being exempt from frisking because ofhis association with the Gandhi family which is an SPG protectee.However, the privilege is only when he is travelling with the family andhas to undergo normal checks when he travels alone.

Priyanka's letter suggests that she has sought withdrawal of ex-emption when the family is travelling together. "It is only right for us togo through the normal channel at the airport and be frisked etc... asyou will appreciate that it makes no sense for a family travelling to-gether to fall under different categories of exemption," she said.

Priyanka said, "His inclusion on that list came about at the instanceof your predecessors in the SPG/Delhi Police and not upon any re-quest by either of us who were informed after the fact. It was doneostensibly to facilitate the coordination of the two separate agencies atthe airport when we travelled together."

The stress appears designed to quell the BJP's campaign to makean example of the Gandhi family's son-in-law as a privileged individualunder the Congress government. Vadra has been a key part of BJP'sattack on Congress, with Narendra Modi raking up the alleged irregu-lar land allotments by Congress-ruled states to him as a sign of corrup-tion in the first family.

Priyanka also requested the SPG chief that her security detail atairports be discreet and unobtrusive. "Request you to ensure that whenwe are entering or exiting boarding gates, there is no disturbance topassengers... Request security detail to behave in a manner that isdiscreet and strictly unobtrusive," the letter said.

Priyanka seeks withdrawal ofsecurity exemptions to family

Muslim techie beatento death in Pune

A young IT professional waskilled, allegedly by members of aradical Hindu outfit, as he wasreturning home Monday night, af-ter derogatory pictures of Shivajiand Bal Thackeray uploaded onFacebook triggered communaltension across the city over theweekend, police said.

Police identified the victim asMohsin Sadiq Shaikh, a 24-year-old from Solapu, who worked asan IT manager with a private firmin Pune. They said seven people,aged between 19 and 24 years,have been arrested. They wereassociated with the Hindu RashtraSena, a radical outfit active in thestate, police said.

The Crime Branch also calledHindu Rashtra Sena chiefDhananjay Desai for questioning.He was later arrested in connec-tion with an earlier case at PuneCantonment police station, relat-ing to distribution of objectionablepamphlets in March this year.

Shaikh was reportedly as-saulted near his rented home inBankar Colony, Hadapsar, as hewas returning with a friend, Riyaz,after offering namaz at a masjid,around 9 pm.

Riyaz alleged that Moshin wastargeted because he was wear-ing a skull cap and had a beard. “Iran from the spot and called hisbrother Mobin for help. However,by the time Mobin came, Mohsinwas badly beaten up and the as-sailants were about to leave,” hetold The Indian Express.

Kejriwal gets bail in defamation caseNEW DELHI: Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and

two other AAP leaders were on Wednesday granted bail by a Delhicourt in a criminal defamation complaint filed against them by an ad-vocate after they furnished personal bond.

Metropolitan Magistrate Muneesh Garg released Kejriwal, AAPleaders Manish Sisodia and Yogendra Yadav on bail. Kejriwal, Sisodiaand Yadav, through advocate Rishikesh Kumar, furnished a personalbond of Rs 10,000 each. The court has now fixed the matter forAugust 16. The court had earlier summoned them on the complaint ofadvocate Surender Kumar Sharma under sections 499, 500 (defama-tion) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC. It had said there wasprima facie material to summon the accused. “The press release pub-lished in newspapers as well as testimonies of witnesses reflect thatdefamatory remarks were published in the newspaper which affectedthe reputation of complainant in the society and lowered his reputationin the eyes of other members of the society,” the court had said.


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Kharge to lead Congress in Lok SabhaNEW DELHI: In a surprise move,

Mallikarjun Kharge, a senior leader fromKarnataka, was named the Leader of theCongress in the Lok Sabha, in a race in whichhe has pipped veteran Kamal Nath to lead a44-member group.

The nomination of Kharge, a Dalit leaderand a second term member from Gulbarga,was made by Congress President SoniaGandhi, who has brushed aside demands thateither she or her son Rahul take over asleader of the party in the Lok Sabha, whocould be recognized as the Leader of theOpposition.

Congress got 44 seats in the Lower House this election and to berecognized as the main Opposition, a party has to get at least 10 percent of the total strength of the 543-member House – that is 55 MPs.

Congress could have Leader of the Opposition if the Speaker re-laxes the rules or recognizes the entire UPA as a block, which has 56MPs. Kharge said his party would not function as an “opposition foropposition sake” and its approach would be “issue-based”.

Earlier, the name of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi wasdoing the rounds for the post, as the majority was in favor that eitherRahul or Sonia occupy this post.

Kharge, a low-profile leader, was Railway Minister in UPA II. Hewas elected to the Karnataka Assembly 9 times and had functionedas the Leader of the Opposition there.

Besides his seniority, the fact that Karnataka has sent the largestcontingent of nine Congress MPs to this Lok Sabha polls, also seemsto have gone in his favor.

Meanwhile, the party suspended Rajasthan leader Bhanwar LalSharma, who had called Rahul Gandhi 'MD of Congress circus'. How-ever, undettered by the action, Sharma continued with his attack anddescribed Rahul as a person who lacked intelligence. Speaking to TimesNow, the rebel Congress MLA claimed that he had the backing ofother leaders as well.

Sharma, a sixth term legislator from Churu district's Sardarshaharconstituency, demanded the party introduce internal democracy tochoose new leaders. “People around Rahul are jokers and parachuteleaders who were thrust in the organization and on the workers fromthe top. Party leaders need to be elected in a democratic manner.” Hesaid Rahul had surrounded himself with English-speaking sycophants.

Earlier, former Kerala minister T.H. Mustafa was suspended fromCongress for calling Rahul Gandhi a "joker" and saying that he shouldbe removed if he does not resign.

Mallikarjun Kharge

NEW DELHI: Ruling outjoining the National DemocraticAlliance (NDA) Tamil NaduChief Minister and AIADMKgeneral secretary J. Jayalalithaa,however, kept the door open forsupport to the Narendra Modigovernment in the Rajya Sabha,where the BJP has no numbersto be anywhere near a simple ma-jority to ensure passage of Bills.

After a 50-minute-long meet-ing with Modi in Delhi, Jayalalithaamaintained that the issue of for-mal association of her party withthe NDA does not arise, as theBJP-led grouping has more thana simple majority in the Lok Sabha.

Jayalalithaa submitted a 64-page memorandum listing variousissues of concern to the State andsought help from the Centre. Shesaid that Modi, who had servedthree terms as Chief Minister un-derstands problems of States andshe was hopeful that he would dothe needful to redress the griev-ances of Tamil Nadu.

One of the main issues sheraised pertained to the need toexpedite the supervisory commit-tee for raising the water level inMullaperiyar dam. She alsoflagged the issue of power short-age in the State.

The memorandum includedother issues like Sri LankanTamils, restoration of the tradi-tional fishing rights of Tamil Nadufishermen, grant of the DigitalAddressable System license forthe Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TVCorporation, infrastructure, spe-cifically power, urban infrastruc-ture, Metro Rail, transport and in-

dustrial infrastructure, modernisation of the police force and declara-tion of Tamil as an official language.

The Chief Minister explained briefly about the important issues,which are crucial to protecting Tamil Nadu’s interests and to ensurerapid development of the State.

Jayalalithaa also called on Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley anddiscussed financial issues relating to the State with him and seniorofficers of the Ministry of Finance. She was accompanied by theChief Secretary and other senior officers of the State.

The Union Minister for Communication Technology and Law andJustice Ravi Shankar Prasad called on Jayalalithaa.

Jaya meets Modi; discusses Cauvery, Mullaperiyar

Jayalalithaa gave Modi a list of issues of concern to Tamil Nadu.

China’s foreign minister to visit India NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday said the visit of Chinese For-

eign Minister Wang Yi to national capital from June 8 as Special En-voy of the President will provide further momentum to India-ChinaStrategic and Cooperative Partnership.

“The objective of the visit is to establish contact with the new Gov-ernment of India. The visit is an important element of the Year ofIndia-China Friendly Exchanges and will provide further momentumto the India-China Strategic and Cooperative Partnership,” ExternalAffairs Ministry said in New Delhi.

Wang, a seasoned diplomat, will interact with his Indian counter-part Sushma Swaraj. China has expressed keen interest in establish-ing high-level contacts with India’s new leadership at the earliest tostep up engagement in political, trade and economic areas.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang was the first foreign Head of Govern-ment to call Narendra Modi after he took over as Prime Minister. Liconveyed his government’s desire to establish robust partnership withthe new government in his call to Modi, who expressed keenness towork closely to deal with any “outstanding issues”.

PAKISTANINDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4, 2014 • PAGE 21

Security fears dog polio drivePESHAWAR:

Pakistan launched afresh polio vaccina-tion drive in its res-tive tribal belt Mon-day, but officialswarned that nearly370,000 children arelikely to miss out be-cause of securityproblems.

At the start of May, the World Health Organization (WHO) de-clared a global “public health emergency” after new polio cases be-gan surfacing and spreading across borders from countries includingPakistan.

Pakistan’s seven semi-autonomous tribal areas along the Afghanborder are the epicentre of the country’s polio cases and the govern-ment has set up checkpoints to ensure anyone leaving the belt isimmunised.

A three-day vaccination drive began on Monday in four tribal ar-eas, a senior government official in Peshawar, the region's main city,told reporters, with more than 620,000 youngsters on course to re-ceive polio drops. But the official, speaking on condition of anonymity,warned that children in three of the four targeted areas “would not beable to receive polio drops because of the militancy and opposition tothe immunisation”.

Violence has badly hampered the campaign to stamp out polio inPakistan, where militant groups with strongholds in tribal areas, in-cluding the Pakistani Taliban, see vaccination campaigns as a coverfor espionage. “A total of 369,039 in three districts would not receivepolio drops because of the law and order situation,” the official said.

The three districts in question are North Waziristan, South Waziristanand Mohmand, the official said. Part of the fourth district, Khyber,would also be affected.

Pakistan is one of only three countries where the crippling diseaseremains endemic, and is responsible for 80 percent of polio casesdiagnosed around the world this year. Fifty-six people including healthworkers and police officials providing security have been killed in mili-tant attacks on polio teams in Pakistan since December 2012.

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KARACHI: Commercial ac-tivities in Karachi were at a stand-still on Wednesday, June 4, afterMuttahida Qaumi Movement(MQM) chief Altaf Hussain wastaken into custody the previousday for interrogation in the UK,DawnNews reported.

Roads wore a deserted lookand public transport was scant.Petrol pump stations and shopswere also closed.

A large number of MQMworkers, members of the party’sRabita Committee and membersof Sindh and National Assembliesparticipated in the sit-in protest atKarachi’s Numaish Chowrangi.

The protest began at 7 pmTuesday evening and the protest-ers continued with their protest thismorning. They vowed to continuewith the protest unless they heardHussain's voice.

MQM workers in other citiesof Pakistan also staged protestsagainst the arrest of the MQMchief.

Karachi Transport Ittehad(KTI) President Arshad Bukhari

Karachi on edge after Altaf Hussain’s arrest in Londonsaid the association would reviewthe law and order situation in thecity before deciding whether to runpublic transport services.

The city had descended intochaos and panic as soon as thenews of Hussain’s arrest onmoney laundering charges cameTuesday afternoon.

Within minutes of the news,panicked shop-keepers and mar-ket stall owners rushed to closetheir businesses for fear of vio-lence, residents said.

Meanwhile, London policehave asked for names of threepeople who will be allowed to meetwith arrested Muttahida QaumiMovement (MQM) chief AltafHussain, DawnNews reported.

The names can be of peoplewho are either related to Hussainor are his friends.

The development came hoursafter MQM leader Wasay Jalilclaimed that although the Londonpolice wanted to question Hussainin relation to money laundering, hehad been moved to a hospital onaccount of ill health.

Doctors will carry out a num-ber of tests on Hussain, Jalil hadalleged that after those, the policewas likely to decide on how toproceed.

Jalil further said that the MQMwas in cooperation with the Brit-ish police over its investigations inmatters relating to alleged moneylaundering and the murder ofImran Farooq.

Hussain's residence was sealedafter the search of his Londonhome was concluded by the Brit-ish police.

The search was carried out by40 personnel of the police, includ-

ing members of the forensic team.DawnNews quoted London

police as saying that six person-nel of the police were still presentat Hussain's residence.

Police moreover said that theresidence will be handed over tothe MQM chief after he gets bail.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifand Interior Minister ChaudhryNisar Ali Khan spoke to Gover-nor Sindh Ishratul Ebad on tele-phone today and inquired after thehealth of the MQM chief.

The two assured Ebad of thefederal government's full coop-eration on the matter relating toHussain's arrest and his ill health.

The premier said Hussain wasa Pakistani citizen, adding that thegovernment would do everythingin its power to safeguard theMQM chief's ineterests.

The two also prayed forHussain's health.

Hussain was arrested by theBritish police on Tuesday on sus-picion of money-laundering.

He was arrested in northwestLondon where he has been livingin self-imposed exile since 1992.

Police in Britain do not namesuspects until they are charged.But when asked about Hussain,the Metropolitan Police said a 60-year-old man had been detainedat a residence in northwest Lon-don on Tuesday morning.

Hussain gained British citizen-ship in 2002 after leaving Pakistanwhen a military operation waslaunched to end ethnic unrest inKarachi. His residence in Londonwas previously raided on suspicionof money-laundering in 2012 and2013 by British police.

Altaf Hussain

Why the protests?asks Imran

ISLAMABAD: PakistanTehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief ImranKhan on Wednesday said that theMuttahida Qaumi Movement(MQM) should not punish thepeople of Pakistan for an actioncarried out in London by the Brit-ish government, DawnNews re-ported.

He said that the party shouldhold protests over the arrest ofMQM chief Altaf Hussain in theUnited Kingdom instead.

Khan said the UK had arrestedone of its citizens on charges ofmoney-laundering, adding that itmade no sense for the MQM tostage its protests in Karachi.

The PTI chief said he fully un-derstood “the anguish of the MQMworkers” but asserted that it was“absolutely unjustified for them tobring Karachi to a standstill anddisrupt the lives of the people” ofthe city when it is the British au-thorities who have taken legal ac-tion against a British citizen.

He said that the MQM had noreason to paralyse day to day lifein Karachi, adding that the Sindhgovernment should not take partin MQM's protests and should in-stead work on managing the situ-ation. The Sindh governmentshould focus on “ensuring safetyof the citizens of Karachi” andmaking certain that “their lives andthe businesses of the city are notbrought to a standstill”.

Russia lifts Pak arms embargoMOSCOW: Russia has lifted its embargo on arms supplies to Pa-

kistan and is holding talks on supplying Islamabad with combat heli-copters, the head of state-owned Rostec, Sergei Chemezov, saidMonday, the ITAR-TASS news agency reported.

“Such a decision has been taken. We are holding talks on supplyingthe helicopters,” Chemezov said, adding that the negotiations wereabout Russian Mi-35 Hind attack helicopters.

Russia has long been the largest supplier of arms to India, which isthe world's top arms buyer.

But Moscow's move to supply Islamabad came as New Delhi isseeking to modernise its armed forces' ageing hardware and has re-cently chosen to buy arms from Israel, France, Britain and the UnitedStates.

Leading Russian defence commentator Pavel Felgenhauer said thelifting of the embargo that had been in force since the Soviet era markeda sea change in Russian policy on arms sales, which until now havebeen focused on India amid difficult relations between New Delhi andIslamabad.

“This is an important, key change in Russian policy in the region,”he told AFP.

“The sale of arms to Pakistan will abruptly worsen our relationswith India, the main buyer of our arms... This risks dismantling ourcooperation with India,” Felgenhauer said.

Militant sentenced to 25 years in jailPESHAWAR: An anti-terrorism court on Tuesday convicted a

member of a Bara-based proscribed organisation in a case of posses-sion of suicide vests, hand grenades and other objectionable items andsentenced him to 25 years of rigorous imprisonment.

The judge Abdur Rauf Khan ruled that the prosecution had provedits case against the accused, Fazal Malik, resident of Tirah Valley inKhyber Agency, who was arrested red-handed from a residence atHassan Garhi area on July 16, 2013.

The judge acquitted the two other accused identified as Humayunand Iqrar Gul due to lack of proper evidence.

The judge also issued arrest warrants of two absconding accusedin the case, namely Qari Iqbal and his wife, Sadia.

Jamaat leader tries to save child, drownsBALAKOT: Deputy Chief of Jamaat-i-Islaami Karachi Ameer

Nasrullah Shaji drowned in River Kunhar on Monday in an attempt tosave a child from drowning near Balakot, DawnNews reported.

The incident occurred when a 10th grade student Sufyan, who wassnapping pictures, slipped and fell in the river.

According to the police, Nasrullah witnessed the accident and jumpedin the river to save the child, but drowned as well.

Volunteers recovered the body of the drowned child, but efforts arestill underway to retrieve the body of Nasrullah.

Nasrullah, the principal of a private school in Karachi, had broughtthe students to Balakot on a study tour. The JI vice president was alsoelected as a member of the Sindh Assembly on a party ticket.


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We as a community have to realize that every single one of us is responsible for this and should take some steps to reduce our carbon foot print. Trees, as everyone knows, are extremely useful in purifying our natu-ral environment. We as a community can also help the city plant trees at locations in Houston and surrounding areas.

Houston Maharashtra Mandal (HMM) President Megha Ozarker says that we, as residents of Houston, cannot change the city landscape in a day or month but we to-gether can take small baby steps to make a difference in the long run.

HMM Members successfully planted 14 trees in Eagle Sky Park on May 31 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 noon. HMM Members dug fourteen 2-foot-deep holes to plant big 7-foot trees. This event is called Vruksh-aropan or tree plantation in Maharashtra. People in Maharashtra organize this type of event but with smaller trees. The task of digging holes at some spots was diffi cult but the enthusiasm, cold drinks, and Bolly-wood/Marathi music made the tough task a bit easy. HMM is proud of this dedication of our members to help out the community, Ozerkar said.

Special thanks to Shrikant Sane, Praful and Manisha Joshi and their two daughters, Sandeep and Vaishali Bhalerao with their in-fant son, Prakash and Nirmala Dusane, and Ravi and Megha Ozarker with their son. It was a pleasure to see Sandeep’s infant son trying to plant the massive tree. Praful’s daughters and Ravi’s son also helped their parents consistently and will receive volun-teer hours certifi cate from HMM.

June 5 is World Environment Day. On that day HMM urges everyone to make an attempt to take some action to reduce their carbon footprint and save our forests. HMM members said they will regularly come back to Eagle Sky Park to check on the progress of the trees they have planted.

Houston Maharashtra Mandal celebrates Vruksharopan and World Environment Day



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