Indian January 27, 2012 Volume 3, No. 19

For Free distributioN

www.iwk.co.nz

New Zealand’s first Indian weekend magazine

The Pulse of Kiwi Indians

Vidya balan sizzles

Bollywood | 26Kiwi indian it

firm goes global

New Zealand | 2

in association with

PRESENT

A SPLENDID EVENING OF GHAZAL & GEET WITH RENOWNED SINGERS

ROOPKUMAR & SUNALI RATHODLIVE IN CONCERT

FRIDAY 3rd february 2012 at 7:30pm(Gates open 7pm)

PERFECT HARMONYPRODUCTIONS

EVENT CATERING

GRAPHIC DESIGN & PHOTOGRAPHYSILVER SPONSOR

EXCLUSIVE MEDIA PARTNER

GOLD SPONSOR

LOGANCAMPBELL CENTRE

- ASB SHOW GROUND

217 Greenlane West

Greenlane, Auckland

Tickets also available at -

BOOK AT

www.iticket.co.nzor Ph: 09 361 1000

or 0508 ITICKET

VIP $100*A Reserve $80*B Reserve $65*C Reserve $45*D Reserve $35*

* plus service fee

EVENT MANAGED BY

EVENT ACCOUNTANT

ABC Entertainment & Perfect Harmony Productions Pvt Ltd Presentation • For more details contact Ram Iyer 021 529982 or visit www.cfievents.info

F O T O G R A P H I C S

F O T O G R A P H I C S

Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai

PRINT SPONSOR

SUPERHITS OF ROOP KUMAR RATHOD

Tujhme Rab Dikhta Hain (Film : Rab Ne Banadi Jodi)

Tere Liye (Film : Veer Zara)

Maula Mere (Film : Anwar)

To Chaloon (Film : Border)

Sandese Aate Hain (Film : Border)

Dilko Tumse Pyaar Hua (Film : Rehna Hain Tere Dil Mein)

Zindagi Maut Naa Banjaye (Film : Sarfarosh)

Barso Re (Film : London Dreams)

2 Indian Weekender | January 27, 2012 | www.iwk.co.nz

IndianIndian New Zealand

Shop 2, Heards Building, 168 Parnell Rd, Parnell, Auckland SK13, Sylvia Park Shopping Centre | K20, Westfield Albany Shopping Centre

www.osim.co.nz 09-366 6633

New Product

If you have reached retirement age, you almost certainly have some degree of arthritis in your body.Rheumatoid Arthritis symptoms include joint pain, swelling, inflammation, muscular aches and pains, deformed joints, fatigue, tiredness, exhaustion, stress and depression.

Foot Massage is a natural treatment that can help you to loosen tension that has built up around the muscles, which are often sore and tender.

Reflexology helps to break down uric acid deposits and impurities on your feet, and while your feet is stimulated, blood circulation is improved which helps to transport those impuri-ties back to your kidney.

Foot massage stimulates the immune system which as another symptom of rheumatoid arthritis has been suppressed. Foot massage also helps to remove some of the toxins built up inside the patient’s body.

OSIM uSqueez Fit foot massager combines intense kneading, vibration and rolling reflexol-ogy massage in one, it massage your calves, ankles and feet all at once.

Now you can enjoy this foot massager with your family every day, at your own convenience and comfort, at $20/week (interest free finance, see store for details).

Kiwi indian IT firm lists on German bourse

A company founded by Kiwi Indian IT en-trepreneur Manas Kumar in a bedroom eight years ago with just $10 start-up capital has now been listed on the Frankfurt Stock Ex-change.

Joining just seven of New Zealand’s largest construction, dairy and telecommunications companies listed on the Deutsche Boerse, Op-timizer HQ began trading on November 30. Expected to trade at 0.10 Euro, its share price rose to 0.40 Euro in just six hours.

I had no money and worked every hour I could, in the end there was little point in going home so I’d just find somewhere to sleep in downtown Auckland before my next shift started

Mr Kumar says he was determined to make a better life for himself. With just $10 that he used to buy a domain name, Optimizer HQ was born in the bedroom of his Auckland apartment. His flagship product was an email marketing solution that allows businesses to communicate with their customers and grow their relationships.

With international clients such as Harvard University, Burger King, Pfizer and Footlock-er, and local customers like the New Zealand Police and New Zealand Post, Optimizer HQ currently employs 11 staff and is looking to expand further.

“In the last 18 months Optimizer HQ has grown to the point which I could never have imagined back in 2003 when I set out on this incredible journey,” says Mr Kumar.

Optimizer HQ was established in 2003 as a web development company and now provides a raft of groundbreaking technologies to busi-nesses who want to find and grow their cus-tomer base in the online market.

Founder Manas Kumar immigrated to New Zealand from India to embark on a pro-fessional cricket career.

Mr Kumar says his dream was short-lived and he was forced to swap the cricket pitch for a role behind the counter at a fastfood chain.

“I had no money and worked every hour I could, in the end there was little point in going home so I’d just find somewhere to sleep in downtown Auckland before my next shift started.”

After listing on the German stock exchange, Optimizer HQ has acquired an Auckland

based motion graphics company.

Desaign, an Auckland-based animation, is the company’s new purchase. And there’s

more to come – the company plans to make a series of announcements over the next few

weeks related to funding, Mr Kumar said.

Desaign director Tanmay Desai said he was over the moon

and that it was a step in the right direction, with Desaign

helping to explain what Optimizer HQ was doing.

“It’s quite a good partnership there … and Manas is quite

a visionary leader so it’s really good to be a part of the team.”

Tanmay Desai is the original designer of Indian Weekender

and was associated with the publication for more than two years

after its launch.Since listing the company had had investment interest from

the likes of fund managers, Mr Kumar said, with a series of

funding announcements to be made in the next few weeks.

Optimizer acquires Auckland design firm

“Just last year we were delivering about 300,000 emails per month, which I was really happy with. Now we’re sending more than 400 million emails and expect to hit the one billion mark by next June.”

Mr Kumar says listing on the Deutsche Boerse is the beginning of a new era for the company and one that allows it to showcase its technologies on the world stage.

“This was such an important step for us as a company and one which we’re naturally in-credibly proud to have achieved,” he says.

“And just as the growth of Optimizer HQ has been a rapid one, the listing was rapid too - we achieved the listing in just 47 working days,” says Mr Kumar.

At 31, Mr Kumar is the second youngest chief executive in the world to be listed on the Deutsche Boerse, behind Puma’s Jochen Zeitz.

The Indian Kite Festival 2012 organised by Vaishnav Parivar was once again, like in pre-vious years, extremely successful this year in spite of the bad weather.

The Festival was to be held on January 7 but had to be called off due to heavy rain on that day. Yet so many people from Whanga-rei to Hamilton called Vaishnav Parivar and Radio Tarana enquiring about the event. Re-sponding to such public interest Vaishnav Parivar decided to hold the 2012 Kite Festival on the following Saturday, January 14.

That day too started with rain and again threatened the festival but the weather slowly cleared by midday and the event got under way in true festive style. One had to admire the dedication and perseverance of the organ-isers and volunteers who set up the scene and were ready to kick off as soon as the weather cleared.

Drawing and colour competition, free face painting and fun rides were some of the highlights of the 2012 Festival. Children and adults had great fun and enjoyment. There was something for everyone. Indian food, colour-ful kites and dancing to the tune of DJ music kept everyone entertained.

Senior citizens mingled in the crowd and those who did not partake in kite flying or other entertainment were busy socialising with family and friends. The climax of the Festival was the drawing of the Raffle. The first prize of one return air ticket to India sponsored by Eco Travels of Mt Albert was won by Mrs Anila Shah.

In thanking all their sponsors, supporters and participants especially the Lion Founda-tion, ASB Bank and Eco Travels, Vaishnav Parivar promised to hold a bigger and much improved Indian Kite Festival in January 2013.

Indian kites Fly against all odds

Dev NaDkarNI

Indian Weekender | January 27, 2012 | www.iwk.co.nz 3

Indian

Professional Financial Solutions Ltd

40 A Fowlds Ave, Sandringham, Auckland

Ph: 09 846 9934 Email: info@pfsl.co.nz

www.professionalfinancial.co.nz

FEATURES SERVICES

- Upto 95% Home Loans

- Business Loans

- Life/Trauma/Medical Insurance

- Redundancy/Mortgage Protection Insurance

- KiwiSaver/Retirement Saving Scheme

- Rental Property Returns/LTC setup

- Small Business Tax Returns

- Information on Wills and Trusts

CALL US TODAY TO DISCUSS YOUR FINANCIAL NEEDS

Ravi Mehta

021 181 0076

Rohit Takyar

021 172 8962

Accredited member of

Mortgage Brokers | Insurance Brokers | Financial Advisers | Tax Consultants

Professional Financial Solutions provides the best advice on all financial matters

“We not only provide great home loans but

also advise you on how to repay them faster”

A disclosure statement as required under Securities Act 1988 is freely available on request

Ravi Mehta is an Authorised Financial Adviser who can offer you Financial Planning Services

Indian New Zealand

A moving, personal tributeLong time associate, friend and legal luminary Thakorbhai Parbhu spoke engagingly about Sir Anand at the evening, peppering his address with little known anecdotes that revealed many biographical and personal facets of the Governor General. Excerpts:

“Your connection with the Indian community goes back to your late Father – Dr Sati as he was affectionately called. He practised at 201 Ponsonby Road. He originally came from Fiji and on completion of his medical degree was supported by the Indian Association for residency in New Zealand. He was one of our first Indian doctors in New Zealand.”

“You are the by-product of a good family. Your late father and your mother Taraben were respected stalwarts and great supporters of the Indian community. You married a lovely girl – Lady Susan, a Legal Executive from the law firm of Cairns Slane & Co. and you both raised your lovely family.”

“My personal reflections over all these years are the dinner parties at our place, your place and your parents’ place; too many to mention. You and Lady Susan attended by grand-daughter Shaila’s first birthday at May Road Hall.”

“The hockey game you organised with the Justice Department and my tea, our frequent meetings in the Law Library and the dinner at your unit in Freeman’s Bay with David Lange who lived around the corner in Wellington Street are still fresh in my mind.”

“I try to keep in touch with your movements at the local gymnasium which you attend with our mutual friend Norman Elliott.”

“Your nature, disposition and character, your amiable attitude, your ability to relate to all ethnicity, your friendship and contact with people and organisations has made you a likeable and acceptable person in fitting with your high office. You have been a great bridge builder in New Zealand with the various communities.”

“Your dignity in difficult circumstances has stood you well. In the position that you have attained you have brought honour and respect to the Indian community not only in New Zealand but throughout the world.”

“You have walked into the pages of New Zealand history.”

Remembering a dear mate…

there were fewer than 10000, now there are more than 100,000 making Indians the second largest ethnic Asian group. The participation of Indians is huge. When I joined law, Indian lawyers could be counted on one hand now there is a whole roomful and more,” he added.

While being Governor General, he had the occasion to attend several functions with “an Indian dimension” throughout the country, he said. Among these he recalled Diwali in many parts of the country, the diamond jubilee of the Wellington Indian Sports Club, the 85th anniversary of NZICA in Palm-erston North and the NZICA Womens Conference in Wel-lington in 2008 that Lady Susan inaugu-rated.

Touching upon relations between Indian and New Zealand, Sir Anand acknowledged the current negotiations on the free trade agreement and the commitment of Prime Ministers John Key and Manmohan Singh. He said there was “real substance” in the negotia-tions and that the relationship between the two countries “ was becoming closer in a substan-tive way”.

Sir Anand described the Pravasi Bharatiya Award that was presented to him at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi was one of his most cher-ished. While it made him proud of his Indian heritage, it also reflected the greatness of a

country like New Zealand where it was possi-ble for a person of Indian, whose grandparents and parents were migrants, could stand proud with achievements as lawyer, judge, ombuds-man and finally as Governor General.

He said he looked forward to “restore the spontaneity and relative anonymity that comes out of stepping down from office.” He was car-rying a multitude of memories with him, he added, many of these were shared closely with

the Indian community.NZICA General

Secretary Raj Thandi said, “Sir Anand is a great New Zealander and distinguished com-munity leader. He is a fine example of a New Zealander who made good through hard work and a commitment to realising high goals.

“The Association was very proud to honour Sir Anand and his wife, Lady Susan. A special plaque, designed by myself was presented to Sir Anand that symbolised the respect that he deserves.”

About 200 members and guests, including representatives of the New Zealand Govern-ment attended the function. Sir William Birch, a former New Zealand Minister of Finance, Ramesh Patel, a New Zealand Olympian, Judge Ajit Singh, Auckland City Councillor Des Morrison and Member of Parliament Kan-waljit Singh Bakshi also attended the event among several other community luminaries.

New Zealand

The Chinese Year of the Dragon will be cele-brated at Parliament on 8 February 2012 at an event hosted by the new Minister for Ethnic Affairs, Hon Judith Collins.

The dragon is considered to be the mighti-est of the 12 Chinese zodiac signs and fes-tivals welcoming the auspicious year are expected to be especially well attended and embraced.

Prime Minister John Key will join around two hundred people at the function.

They will witness the traditional lion dance, in which Mr Key will place a red enve-lope in the lion’s mouth as a symbol of good luck, prosperity and to dispel evil spirits.

The Director of the Office of Ethnic Affairs, Mervin Singham says celebrating cultural festivals such as Chinese New Year reflects New Zealand’s strong and positive re-lationship with its ethnic communities.

Ms Collins says the Chinese community

adds strength to the New Zealand economy through its entrepreneurial spirit and its links back to the economic power house of the Asia Pacific region.

“The traits associated with this year of the Dragon include being innovative, enterpris-ing, flexible, self-assured, brave, and pas-sionate. These are exactly the traits that all of us need to build a bright and prosperous future.”

2012 also marks the 40th anniversary of New Zealand’s diplomatic relationship with China.

It is a relationship that was cemented when New Zealand became the first western nation to negotiate a Free Trade Agreement with Beijing in 2010.

Mr Singham says engaging with ethnic communities helps inform New Zealand’s relationship with its trading partners and fosters trade links and economic growth.

Year of the Dragon in Parliament

Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa (SEL) are rocking Bollywood with their refreshing sound and have made a habit of delivering hits. They have composed fusion music and Indian rock for over fifty soundtracks across four languages and scored music in more than 48 Bollywood films, won over 20 prestigious national and international awards – next only to Oscar winning music composer, AR Rahman.

A non-film background notwithstanding, S-E-L stand out mainly because of their un-derstanding of script requirements and con-temporary musical tastes.

Their latest stupendous success of “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara” stands testimony to their style. “It is an exhilarating feeling and the success of ZNMD on the 10th anniversary of “Dil Chahta Hai” and our 15 years has an almost spiritual feel to it. It is like another take off point for us to prepare for the years to come so that we can keep creating good music,” says Shankar Mahadevan.

Their success owes to several contribut-ing factors, among which are the adoption of interesting musical instruments and sounds as part of their Orchestral palette, introduc-

tion of new voices weaned on immensely popular TV musical talent shows and an obsession for the perfect “feel‟ for the movie scene necessitat-ing the segue into a song sequence.

Fresh from a sold-out debut at London’s Royal Albert Hall, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy will lead a ten-piece band including Indian’s premier drummer, Darshan Doshi, in an extravagant performance of their greatest soundtrack moments including:

Kajra ReSalaam-e-lshqUff Teri AdaRock OnMitwaKabhi Alvida Naa Kehna45 number one songsMore than 60 original soundtrack albumsMore than 20 film industry awardsA groundbreaking union of classical, rock

and electronic craft

The worldly approach and vast musical vocabulary of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy has long transcended the richness of Indian culture to invoke and engage with the broader world. Now, for the first time, experience their ec-static energy in performance on this historic New Zealand stage debut as the three Kings!!!

What-when-where?Dates & Times: Friday, 24 February 2012,

19:30 - 23:00 PM Location: Telstra Clear Pacific Events

Centre, Auckland Tickets available at Yogiji's Food Mart - Carr Road, Mt. RoskillAuckland Indian Sweets - Otahuhu

Auckland Indian Sweets - Dominion RoadVastra - PapatoetoeTicket Direct Website - www.Ticketdirect.

co.nzOr contact Agastya on 021 033 3333Proudly sponsored by: Pan World Travel

Mangere, Vastra (Papatoetoe), Rockkyz Minimart - Papatoetoe, Immigration Advice NZ Ltd - (Saif Shaikh) and Indian Weekend-er!!!

Parking & Transportation: There are 700+ parking spots at the Event Centre. In addition there is a proper access to the venue from all corners of Auckland due to the motorway con-venience.

Get ready for the three kings of Bollywood

4 Indian Weekender | January 27, 2012 | www.iwk.co.nz

Indian New ZealandIndian

Available In All Leading Indian Outlets,

Foodtown, Countdown & Pak n SaveChai vending machine is also available for purchase or rentIdeal for Restaurant, Takeaway, Offices, School, Institutes, Workshop, Community center, Shopping Mall, Food court

For further queries contact:Ph: 021 255 0438, kotak@xtra.co.nz, www.chaigold.co.nz

Packing for Chai GoldPacking for Chai Gold Lemon Tea Sweetened & Lite Lemon Tea Sweetened & Lite

I n s t a n t P r e - M i xI n s t a n t P r e - M i xEasy to make, Instant – JUST ADD 200 ml HOT WATEREasy to make, Instant – JUST ADD 200 ml HOT WATER

Sweetened & Unsweetened

Tea Available in Masala, Ginger, Cardamom &

New Lemon Tea & Masala Coffee

100% NATURAL, NO ADDED PRESERVATIVES

1. Western Union also makes money from currency exchange. Subject to applicable taxes, if any. 2. Funds may be delayed or services unavailable based on certain transaction conditions, including amount sent, destination country, currency availability, regulatory and foreign exchange issues, required receiver action(s), identification requirements, Agent location hours, differences in time zones, or selection of delayed options. Additional Restrictions may apply. See Send form for details. 3. Network data as of 31 March 2011.

Send money from $151, and rely on it arriving within minutes2 - at any one of 71,0003 locations throughout India.

Money Transfer fees1 to India

Amount (NZD) Fees1 (NZD)

$0 - $500 $15

$500.01 - $1,000 $17.50

$1,000.01 + $20 westernunion.co.nz

WES

2247

/IW

1

WES 2247 India Pricing Print Ad_IW.indd 1 7/06/11 5:29 PM

The Department of Labour is reminding employers that the law now requires them to keep signed written employment agreements for all their staff.

Since 1 July all employers are required to keep signed copies of employment agree-ments or current terms and conditions for all employees, or they may face a penalty.

“Employment agreements are required for all employees no matter when they started work,” says Annie Newman, the De-partment’s Acting Chief Adviser of Employ-ment Relations.

“This affects all employees including those hired on a verbal agreement or employ-ees who do not have current written agree-ments in place,” says Ms Newman.

“Having a clearly written employment agreement helps reduce the risk of misun-derstandings and there are some provisions that must be included in employment agree-ments,’’ she says.

They must include the name of the em-

ployer and employee, a description of the work to be performed, the place of employ-ment, times the employee is to work, the wages or salary, and an explanation of ser-vices available for solving problems.

“It’s the employer’s responsibility to maintain and keep an up to date copy of each employee’s agreement and provide a copy of the agreement if an employee requests it,” Ms Newman says.

The Department of Labour has developed an Employment Agreement Builder to help employers through this process.

Failure to ensure an employment agree-ment is in place for all employees may result in a labour inspector taking a penalty action against an employer.

This involves a seven-day notice period to rectify the breach and if this isn’t com-plied with then penalties may be sought in the Employment Relations Authority of up to $10,000 for individuals and $20,000 for companies.

Employers must keep staff

Aucklanders and visitors will soon be able to enjoy enhanced and expanded Wi-Fi services, offering more wireless coverage and faster access to the internet across central Auckland and its fringes.

Auckland Council has entered a partner-ship with Tomizone, Australasia’s largest Wi-Fi services provider, which will see network expansion start immediately.

The expansion will offer economic devel-opment benefits to the region and provide an important service to visitors to Rugby World Cup and beyond.

“With 85,000 visitors expected during Rugby World Cup and more than 200,000 ex-pected from next year’s cruise season alone, visitors to Auckland will be able to step off their plane or ship and immediately access information about Auckland. For Auckland-ers, it means more and better wireless inter-net access for portable devices such as iPads,” says Len Brown.

The Wi-Fi zone will expand into areas such as Kingsland, the entire length of Queen

Street, Britomart and Queens Wharf, lower Parnell, northern Ponsonby Road, Mt Eden Village, Onehunga, key rugby training areas and selected transport hubs around Auckland.

The network will remain in place follow-ing Rugby World Cup and continue to expand to other parts of Auckland with re-investment of profits from the service.

“Auckland Council will retain control of the content, which gives it a flexible platform for the future,” says the Mayor.

Service will be offered at a guaranteed dis-count to benchmarked market rates, with free access provided to a number of websites offer-ing information about public services, RWC activities, tourism and transport services.

“This enhanced network coverage will be attractive to residents and our international visitors who want to use their Wi-Fi gadgets to roam around the city,” says Tomizone Ex-ecutive Director Steve Simms. “Many of our visitors will want to use their roaming account from providers such as Skype, iPass and Boingo which they can do on this network.”

Wi-Fi expansion for Auckland

New Zealand

Diversity forum will focus on mediaA multi-media study about Paul Henry and Hone Harawira is being presented by Wellington’s Centre for Applied Cross-cultural Research at next month’s 2011 New Zealand Diversity forum jointly hosted by the Human Rights Commission and the Hamilton Multicultural Services Trust.

Its work examines the intense public ar-guments around comments made by promi-nent media figures in 2010, such as Henry’s deliberate mispronunciation of an interna-tional dignitary’s name and then repeatedly laughing about it, and Harawira’s alleged racist comments about Pakeha. The forum will also include activities that tackle race

relations priorities identified in this year’s Race Relations Report, and feature the pre-sentation of the Annual Diversity awards. A parallel youth forum is being held at the same time.

The New Zealand Diversity Forum 2011 is being held at Hamilton on 21-22 August Also on the programme on Sunday at 3.30-5.00 pm is a forum on “Community Media and Diversity” hosted by the Community Access Radio Waikato Trust.

Attendance on Sunday and for individ-ual forums is free. If you are attending for half a day or more on the Monday the regis-tration fee is $50.

Leading community leader and respected and long time member of the Auckland Indian As-sociation, Kanu Patel, has been honoured with a Queen’s Service Medal in recognition of ser-vices to the Indian community during the New Year’s awards.

“In receiving the Queen’s Service Medal in recognition of my services to the Indian community, I thank my late father Chhagan-lal Gosai and the incredible team of volunteers who give their selfless services to the Indian community without any recognition,” he told Indian Weekender.

“My father worked hard for the community all his life and was the founding Trustee of Jalaram Temple in Leicester, UK, and was also instrumental in building a temple in our village in India,” Mr Patel said.

Outlining the influence of his father during his younger days Mr Patel said, “Two key values my father instilled in me at an early age were honesty and credibility. To him they were the pillars of living a successful life and more important than wealth.”

Mr Patel praised the volunteers who have worked selflessly to make the Auckland Indian Association what it is today. “The Auckland Indian Association and Mahatma Gandhi Centre have been blessed with committed vol-unteers and officers. Many have given longer service to the community than I have. I just happen to have a leadership role and my servic-es have been recognised by the New Zealand Government,” he said.

“My greatest satisfaction has been seeing the Indian community, and many others, enjoy-ing the Mahatma Gandhi Centre facilities and the spiritual blessings they receive at the Radha Krishna Temple.”

Commenting on the future, Mr Patel said, “There is much more to be achieved but we will leave future vision and goals for another time.

Kanu Patel honoured with QSM

The Auckland Region-al Migrant Services (ARMS) Charitable Trust has recently com-piled a list of Hindu places of worship in Auckland. According to the 2006 census, Hindus were the second largest faith-based community in New Zealand, with Manukau once dubbed “Hindu capital of New Zealand” by a former Mayor of the city. Here’s the list of Hindu places of worship in the Auck-land area:

Hindu temples in Auckland

Bharatiya Mandir,252 Balmoral Road, Sandringham. Tel: (09) 846 2677

Subramaniyam Temple41 Stanhope Rd, Ellerslie. Tel: (09) 263 8854

Radha Krishna Temple145 New North Rd, Eden Terrace. Tel: (09) 379 4463

Sri Ganesh Temple4 Dent Place, Papakura. Tel: (09) 298 8640

Shri Radha Giridhari Mandir (ISKCON)1229 Coatsville-Riverhead Hwy 28. Tel: (09) 412 8075

Shri Swami Narayan Mandir (BAPS)21 Barrhead Place,Avondale. Tel: (09) 828 2277

Ram Krishna Mandir25-27 Onslow Rd, Papatoetoe. Tel: (09) 278 6341

ISSO Swaminarayan Hindu Temple10-12 Wentworth Avenue, Papatoetoe. Tel: (09) 277 5756

NZ Thirumurugan Temple174a Marua Court, Marua Road, Ellerslie. Tel: (09) 525 1026

Papatoetoe will be celebrating 150 years since becoming a separate entity (in local body terms) throughout 2012.

An organising committee for the 150th celebrations made up of local community representatives and chaired by Gary Troup has been formed. It will be encouraging the local schools, organ-isations, churches, temples and individu-als to participate in some way and have their celebrations ad-vertised in a Calendar of Events which will be shared within the Papatoetoe commu-nity.

For many it may be a special celebra-tion held each year that could have a Papatoetoe heritage aspect as well e.g. the Papatoetoe Hunters Corner Bowling Club and the Methodist Church celebrate 100 years in 2012. The or-ganising committee is planning to get a DVD put together showing various aspects of Papatoetoe’s heritage which could also be shown. A website has been established. www.papatoetoe150.co.nz

A Crest has been designed based on the former Borough and City of Papatoetoe crests. The design is an interpretation of the name of Papatoetoe, which means ‘an un-

dulating area where the Toetoe was the pre-dominant feature’. The Toetoe is represented by the formalised fronds in the centre of the Crest.

The ‘undulating area’ is suggested by the undulating line dividing the main colour scheme of purple and gold, which are the

Papatoetoe colours. The wheat sheaf is included as the main crop produced by farmers was wheat. The plough symbol-ises the pastoral and agricultural aspects in which the district has always been in-terested.

The waka (canoe) on rollers, commem-orates the famous portage from the Waitemata to the Manukau Harbours perpetuated by Portage Road. The motto ‘Kia Mahi Tahi’ at the top of the crest means ‘let us work together.’ The

dates 1862-2012 represents 150 years since Papatoetoe became a separate district in local body terms.

The committee is also interested in col-lecting photographs and/or film footage of Papatoetoe events over the years from per-sonal collections that can be displayed or used throughout the year.

Papatoetoe Celebrates 150 years

Papatoetoe Hunters Corner Bowling Club and the

Methodist Church celebrate 100 years in 2012. The

organising committee is planning to get a DVD put together showing various aspects of Papatoetoe’s

heritage

Under construction : Shri Shirdi Saibaba Temple 12-18 Princes Street, Onehunga. BHOOMI PUJA - 4th February 2012

Indian

Make this Valentines daya special one for the one u Love.

3/875 Dominion Rd, Auckland Ph: 09 629 3333172 Great South Rd, Papatoetoe Ph: 278 6000

www.sonasansaar.co.nzOpening Hours:

Mon - Fri: 10.00am - 5.00pm • Sat: 10.00am - 4.00pmSun:11.00am - 4.00pm

Huge selection of rings under $199.

The Rotorua-based recently estab-lished Maori Research Institute will lead a Maori delegation to India to attend the Fourth International Con-ference of the Elders of Ancient Tra-ditions and Cultures to be held from March 3 to March 7 at Haridwar, India.

The conference is organised by the International Centre for Cultural Studies (ICCS) once in three years. The previous conferences were held at Mumbai (2003),a Jaipur (2006), and Nagpur (2009) in India.

The conferences have served the purpose of bringing together members of diverse traditions and cultures across the globe with a common thread best described by the “Mitakuye Oyasin” – We are all related.

“This is indeed an initiative that helps bring the wisdom of ancient peoples and cultures to the fore, and we would like to support such an international gathering of different cultures,” said Malcolm Short, Di-rector of Maori Research Institute and the leader of the delegation from Aotearoa New Zealand.

The theme of this fourth confer-ence is “Nourishing the Balance of the Universe”. Delegates from over 50 countries are expected to attend this conference.

The conference organisers have requested Dr Guna Magesan, a senior scientist with the Maori Re-search Institute, to identify one Maori Elder who is very much re-spected in the Maori community

and who has done good work for the revival of Maori tradition. The conference organisers aim to award a Maori Elder with an honorary degree from the Research Institute of World’s Ancient Traditions, Cul-tures and Heritage (RIWATCH Uni-versity).

Dr Magesan feels that the Maori community should identify and nominate a Maori Elder for the honour. Emails have already been sent to a number of mailing lists. The last day for nominations (with

their resume) was January 20, 2012. Up to 5 selected resumes will

be sent to the conference organis-ers and the final decision will be made by the conference organisers in India.

The conference coordinator, Prof. Yashwant Pathak, said that the conference organisers will award an honorary degree to one well respect-ed Elder from each continent. They have already identified elders from South America, Europe, and North America.

Prof Pathak said that the organisers are keen to recog-nise a Maori Elder from New Zealand, because the Maori community, in spite of many adversities, is socially, cultur-ally and politically active; and at the world stage, Maori community is a role model for other ancient cultures that have struggled to maintain their identity.

P r e p a r a t i o n s for the Maori del-egation going to the conference are going well. In addi-tion to the interna-tional conference, the delegation will also attend two business meetings

in New Delhi and Mumbai. They will also visit places of tourist inter-est in New Delhi and Rajasthan, and the Taj Mahal in Agra. The delega-tion is made up of people from all walks of life – academics, kaumat-uas, artists, business leaders, etc.

The Maori delegation will be supported by two Hindu commu-nity members, Dr Rajiv Chaturve-di and Dr Guna Magesan from New Zealand. This delegation is thus symbolising Hindu Maori

whakawhanaungatanga (kinship). “This is an opportunity for Maori

business community to start linking with Indian business community at the grass root level,” Dr Magesan said. This is important in view of the Free Trade Agreement between New Zealand and India in pipeline.

This is only a start. We hope to have more business delegations with time to come.

For further information regard-ing conference, please visit website of ICCS www.iccsus.org

Maori Research Institute leads India delegation

Dr Guna Magesan discusses travel plan with Mr Malcolm Short, leader of the Maori delegation to India

Welsh Immigration & Studies

John Vikrant(B.com., M.B.A)

Immigration & Education AdvisorLicensed by Immigration New Zealand

Member of NZAMI

FREE IMMIGRATION

ADVICE

Welsh Immigration & Studies

IMMIGRATIONADVICE

MIGRATION TO NZ & AUSTRALIA

Ph: 09-6201421 Auckland CBD Branch:Suite 703, level 7, Dingwall Building, 87 Queen Street, Auckland CBD

Mt. Roskill Branch:358 Mt. Albert Rd, Mt. Roskill, Auckland, Mobile: 021-251 1848

John Vikrant(B.com., M.B.A)

Immigration & Education AdvisorLicensed by Immigration New Zealand

Member of NZAMI

New Zealand

This is an opportunity for Maori business community to start linking with Indian

business community at the grass root

level,” Dr Magesan said. This is important

in view of the Free Trade Agreement

between New Zealand and India in pipeline.

6

Indian

ClASSIFIed

BUDGET CONTRACTORS LTD.

Vipassana Centre is organising an introductory meditation course for children between the ages of 8 and 12 years, on Saturday, February 18, 2012, from 9.00 am to 4.30 pm, at a location in Onehunga, Auckland.

Children learn Anapana, which is a technique of the observation of natural, normal respiration as it comes in and goes out. The Anapana technique:l Is simple yet scientificl Is morality-based but non-reli-

giousl Uses a natural object to focusl Is non-commercial

The aim is to let children experi-ence the benefits of meditation.

Regular practice of Anapana technique gives many benefits, in-cluding:l Improved concentration and

memory l More self-confidence l Greater capacity to study

l Ability to deal with agitation, fears, anxieties and pressures

l Increased goodwill for others

Meditation sessions are com-bined with discussion, creative activities, and games in smaller groups.

Courses are run solely on the basis of voluntarily offered dona-tions.

Please visit website www.chil-dren.dhamma.org, for more infor-mation.To enroll for a course please l go to website www.medini.

dhamma.org and click on “Apply for a course” tab on left menu and scroll down to “Teen-agers' & children's courses” section and click on “Apply” or

l contact on the phone number 630 7009 or email info@medini.dhamma.org

Vipassana for Auckland kids Prof. Prasanta Bhanja,

a professional musi-cian from one of the world's oldest traditions of music, will present a sitar concert on Sunday, January 29, at Linton Park Community Centre (16 Kamahi Place, Puke-hangi, Rotorua) from 4.30 - 6.00 pm for the public.

He will be accom-panied by his wife, Tulu Bhanja, on the tamboura (stringed drone) and on the tabla by one of New Zealand's leading tabla players, Sharanpal Singh.

The concert will consist of a short introduction to the history and aesthetics of Indian classical music, followed by approximately an hour-long performance.

During his previous visits to New Zealand, Prof. Bhanja performed to critical acclaim in both the North and South Islands. During this time, apart from public concerts, he was invited to teach the fundamentals of Indian classical music to students of Western classical music. Prof. Bhanja was then hosted by various institutions including Auckland University, Wellington Conservato-rium of Music, Massey University, and Otago University (as a William Evans visiting fellow).

"We are grateful to have an artist of such calibre performing in Rotorua," said Murali Magesan, a member of Hindu Youth New Zealand and coordinator of this pro-gramme.

Prof. Bhanja has dedicated his professional life to teaching and performing Indian classical music on the sitar. In the current visit to New Zealand, Prof Bhanja is inter-ested in performing for all audienc-es, particularly to those who want to understand more, and want to learn to appreciate this wonderful form of music.

Originally trained by his father, the late Pandit Sushil Bhanja, who was himself a student of the re-

nowned Ustad Allaudin Khan, Prof. Bhanja became a part of the Faculty of Music at Visva Bharati University – Santinik-etan, West Bengal. This Univer-sity was founded by the famous Hindu poet and Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore.

Prof. Bhanja has travelled to and performed in many coun-ties around the world including Switzerland, France, Germany, USA, and Sri Lanka.

His wife, Tulu, is also a very accomplished painter. She will be bringing over a selection of her paintings and drawings to exhibit in Rotorua.

Prof Bhanja's visit to Rotorua is sponsored by the Hindu Council of New Zealand.

People may know the venue by the name Rotorua West Bowling Club, where “Health for Humanity” Yogathon was organised.For more information, please contact

Murali Magesan 07 350 1336; Mob: 021 034 5621; Email: hindu.nz@gmail.com

Time and date of sitar perfor-mance: Sunday, 29 January 2012, 4.30 - 6.00 pm

location: Linton Park Com-munity Centre (16 Kamahi Place, Pukehangi, Rotorua)

entry: Free, seating allows for 120 people (first come first served)

Sitarist to perform in RotoruaProf. Prasanta Bhanja and his wife Tulu Bhanja

l Concrete Laying l Driveways l 4 ton Digger l Tipper truck Hire l Fencing l Retaining Walls

l Earthworks l Farm works l Labour Supply l Landscaping supplies

For all your outdoor property needs ! lowest prices ever !

Call Parm – 0212773302 Or Garry – 0212423246For your free quote today ! www.budgetcontractors.co.nz

Following reports of rashes caused by stings from microscopic jellyfish, Auckland Regional Public Health Service is advising swimmers to take care at Hauraki Gulf beaches.

The microscopic jellyfish – or hydro-medusae – can cause a red, raised, itchy or painful rash, also known as sea bathers erup-tion, which tends to mainly affect areas that have been covered by a bathing suit or clothes, rather than uncovered areas.

The jellyfish, which are transparent and too small to be seen, get caught inside swimwear. As the bather leaves the water the jellyfish become trapped and sting the areas covered by their swimwear. A tingling sensation is often noticed first. Over several hours, the rash de-velops.

Medical Officer of Health, Dr Simon Baker says, “The only guaranteed way to prevent being stung is to avoid bathing at affected beaches. We have had reports from Long Bay, Milford and Takapuna beaches, although it is likely that this problem extends all along the Hauraki Gulf”.

Auckland Regional Public Health Service recommends:

The only certain way to prevent being stung is to avoid swimming at affected beaches, and to swim in a freshwater swimming pool instead

Do not wear large baggy clothes into the water (but still stay Sunsmart)

After swimming, remove your swimwear as soon as possible and then shower if you can – especially the area that was covered by your swimwear Don’t towel the area before shower-ing – this will just set off the stinging

If you develop a rash, have a shower, and get into cool loose clothing. Calamine lotion may help

If the rash persists, visit your local pharma-cy – mild steroid creams like hydrocortisone can be helpful, as can antihistamine tablets

If problems are severe or persist or worsen, see a doctor

Don’t put the swimwear back on until laun-dered properly, as the jellyfish can still sting even after they are dead. Until 2008 these rashes were thought to be caused by sea lice. However, sea lice tend to bite exposed areas of the skin while the jellyfish normally sting underneath swimwear. Jellyfish numbers in-crease in periods of warm weather.

Beachgoers warned on jellyfish

New Zealand

2012 is upon us. I’m looking forward to another busy year as we focus on the issues that matter for our community, and for all Kiwis - a stronger economy and more jobs, better frontline health and education ser-vices, a safer New Zealand, and rebuilding Canterbury.

We campaigned on some important poli-cies and our new Cabinet will get to work straight away.

It’s a privilege to be voted in by New Zealanders for a second term of Govern-ment. National has the skills and experience to provide the strong and stable Government New Zealand needs over the next three years.

The global financial environment remains stormy but National is getting our books in order. We’ll halve the Budget deficit next year and return to surplus in 2014/15 as promised during the election campaign.

Work is underway on extending the suc-cessful mixed-ownership model. The Gov-ernment will offer a minority stake to inves-tors in four state-owned energy companies, and reduce its stake in Air New Zealand, while retaining majority control. Mums and dads will be able to buy shares in these companies. This will free up $5 billion to $7 billion to invest in new assets, such as build-ing schools designed for the 21st century, while reducing debt.

As promised, National is continuing our work on welfare reform. In 2012 we’ll keep building a system that focuses on what people can do. We’ll provide support, training, and opportunities to get Kiwis back into work and away from long-term benefit dependence.

The Canterbury earthquake last Febru-

ary claimed many lives, and left so many grieving. It created widespread devastation and Cantabrians need and deserve all our support. National remains committed to re-building Canterbury and we’ll focus the re-sources needed to make this happen.

National is delivering high-quality, modern public services in health, educa-tion, and law and order for families. We’ll maintain a cap on staff in core government administration, continue to modernise the way public services are delivered, and find savings to put into the front line. That means more elective operations and less waiting in our hospitals, more opportunities for children in our schools, and better policing on our streets.

After a refreshing break with family and friends I’m looking forward to getting stuck in and continuing to build the brighter future our community and all New Zealanders deserve. I hope you and your family have a happy and successful 2012.

Looking forward to the year aheadkaNWaljIt SINgh BakShI

In 2012 we’ll keep building a system that focuses on what people can do. We’ll provide support, training, and opportunities to get Kiwis back into work and away from long-term benefit dependence

ADVERTORIAL

Indian

The

Bes

t R

etai

l Sho

ps o

n Q

ueen

Str

eet

Pric

ed fr

om $

195,0

00

Plu

s G

ST

A D

IAM

ON

D O

F

TH

E F

IRST

WA

TE

R

Que

en S

tree

t Auc

klan

d ha

s be

en N

ew Z

eala

nd’s

mos

t flo

uris

h sh

oppi

ng

dest

inat

ion,

and

Que

ens

Lane

will

soo

n be

com

e th

e he

art

of it

. The

loca

tion

is a

t th

e ce

ntre

of C

BD w

here

exc

iting

ent

erta

inm

ent

optio

ns, w

orld

-cla

ss

educ

atio

n in

stitu

tions

, city

cou

ncil,

luxu

ry a

part

men

ts c

an b

e fo

und,

and

tee

ms

with

tho

usan

ds o

f sho

pper

s an

d to

uris

ts o

n an

y gi

ven

day.

Que

ens

Lane

will

offe

r 42

luxu

ry r

etai

l sho

ps w

hen

the

deve

lopm

ent

is

com

plet

ed, a

nd is

des

tined

to

draw

vis

itors

in d

rove

s.

Yo

u a

re w

elc

om

e t

o s

che

du

le a

sit

e t

ou

r b

y

ap

po

intm

en

tO

pe

n d

ail

y 1

0am

- 4

pm

396 Q

ue

en

Str

ee

t, A

uck

lan

d

Bay

leys

Rea

l Est

ate

Ltd

. Lic

ense

d u

nd

er t

he

RE

A A

ct 2

008.

Mil

lie

Lia

ng

(Inve

stm

ent

& S

ales

) 02

1 96

8 12

8 |

09

375

844

0m

illie

.lian

g@ba

yley

s.co

.nz

Jam

es

Ch

an

(A

sia/

Paci

fic D

irec

tor)

02

1 93

4 05

4 |

09

375

845

8ja

mes

.cha

n@ba

yley

s.co

.nz

You

are

cord

ially

invi

ted

to jo

in u

s at

396

Que

ens

Stre

et, A

uckl

and

Inve

st N

ow!

In

you

r Fa

mili

es fu

ture

Whe

ther

you

are

an

*Inv

esto

r*

Occ

upie

r3

Dia

mon

d ra

ted

prop

erty

in

vest

men

t op

tion

s*R

etai

l*O

ffice

*Res

iden

tial

Que

ens

Stre

et s

ide

Reta

il

The

lane

Ret

ail A

rcad

e

May

oral

Dri

ve s

ide

Reta

il

Que

ens

Stre

et re

tail

arca

de e

ntra

nce

Mohanan began his professional career as a primary school teach-er in India in the mid 80s. From this experience he grew to realise how crucial the early years are in deciding a person’s character. It was this realisation coupled with a revelation from his church pastor in 2008 that spurred him to pur-sue a career working with young-er children as an early childhood teacher.

“Put simply; I see my career choice as a spiritual mission... I have always believed in the fa-mous quote “if your wealth is lost, nothing is lost; if your health is lost, something is lost; and if your character is lost, everything is lost.”

In 2009, Mohanan attended an NZTC information evening held in Kochi City. It was here he spoke to NZTC’s Marketing Manager for India, Sanil Haria. Mohanan was impressed by the quality of

education and practical experi-ence NZTC’s programs offered and Sanil assisted him to enrol in the one-year Graduate Diploma of Teaching (Early Childhood Edu-cation). Mohanan chose to study via NZTC’s unique online learning environment, NZTC Online, which would enable him to study from

Napier, New Zealand- where his 23-year old daughter lived- as well as offering him the flexibility of fit-ting study around his field practise placements.

Mohanan says the College was there for him every step of the way: “New Zealand Tertiary Col-lege supported me well to adjust with every new, challenging situa-tion. The lecturers help motivated me to explore the world literature and relate it to my own recent ex-perience and my visiting lecturer for field practice placements thor-oughly supported and encour-aged me.”

From his studies and practical experience Mohanan has learnt the importance of child-centred care and child-directed educa-tion: “A teacher needs to nour-ish cognitive, emotional, social, physical, linguistic and spiritual domains. Role-modelling is an im-portant aspect of effective teach-

ing. The methods of teaching should be interesting to children. The teacher’s approach should evoke children’s curiosity and self learning skills.”

Mohanan completed his home centre field practise at Kidspace Quality Early Learning Centre in Napier. Despite men in early childhood being scarce, Mohan-an was warmly welcomed in the centre. Some parents told him openly that they were happy to see a man in early childhood and some children seemed to have a more natural emotional attach-ment to men: “Quite interestingly a few infants who were not ready to settle with female teachers got easily settled with me in my home centre.”

He hopes to use what he has learnt at NZTC to promote the im-portance of early childhood edu-cation in global context, alongside his Christian faith. He believes

Mohanan Koodathinkal from Kerala in Southern India, completed his early childhood teaching qualification last year through New Zealand Tertiary College (NZTC) in New Zealand.

International male Indian early childhood graduate shares his experiences

New Zealand

International male Indianearly childhood graduate shares his experiences

Mohanan Koodathinkal (left), from Kerala in Southern India, completed his early childhood teaching qualification last year through New Zealand Tertiary College (NZTC) in New Zealand.

Mohanan began his professional career as a primary school teacher in India in the mid 80s.From this experience he grew to realise how crucial the early years are in deciding a person scharacter. It was this realisation coupled with a revelation from his church pastor in 2008 that spurred him to pursue a career working with younger children as an early childhood teacher.

Put simply; I see my career choice as a spiritualmission... I have always believed in the famous quote if your wealth is lost, nothing is lost; ifyour health is lost, something is lost; and if your character is lost, everything is lost.

In 2009, Mohanan attended an NZTC information evening held in Kochi City. It was here he spoke to NZTCsMarketing Manager for India, Sanil Haria. Mohanan was impressed by the quality of education and practical experience NZTCsprogramsoffered and Sanil assisted him to enrol in the one-year Graduate Diploma of Teaching (Early Childhood Education). Mohanan chose to study via NZTCsunique online learningenvironment, NZTC Online, which would enable him to study from Napier, New Zealand- where his 23-year old daughter lived-as well as offering him the flexibility of fitting study around his field practise placements.

Mohanan says the College was there for him every step of the way: New Zealand TertiaryCollege supported me well to adjust with every new, challenging situation. The lecturers help motivated me to explore the world literature and relate it to my own recent experience and my visiting lecturer for field practice placements thoroughly supported and encouragedme.

From his studies and practical experience Mohanan has learnt the importance of child-centred care and child-directed education: A teacher needsto nourish cognitive, emotional, social, physical, linguistic and spiritual domains. Role-modelling is an important aspect of effective teaching. The methods of teaching should be interesting to children. The teacher sapproach should evoke children scuriosity and self learning skills.

Mohanan completed his home centre field practise at Kidspace Quality Early Learning Centre in Napier. Despite men in early childhood being scarce, Mohanan was warmly welcomed in the centre. Some parents told him openly that they were happy to see a man in early childhood and some children seemed to have a more natural emotional attachment to men: Quite interestingly a few infants who were not ready to settle with female teachers got

easily settled with me in my home centre.

men and women from all cultures and countries need to be repre-sented in early childhood edu-cation. “I congratulate NZTC for bringing student teachers with different experiences to New Zealand and for leading them to post modern concepts of edu-cation. I believe I have found the right path.”

Mohanan says that anyone wanting to be an early childhood teacher will need to have a loving and respectful nature and a calm and caring attitude.

New Zealand Tertiary College is a privately owned tertiary insti-tution specialising in high quality early childhood education quali-fications based in Greenlane, Auckland. Programs range from the six-month Certificate in Early Childhood Education (Introduc-tion) to the two-year Master of Education (Early Childhood Edu-cation).

If you are interested in mak-ing a difference to the next generation through a career in early childhood education like Mohanan, please contact Sanil on (09) 520 4000 or email inter-national@nztertiarycollege.ac.nz to discuss your options. NZTC’s website www.nztertiarycollege.ac.nz, is continually updated with information.

8 Indian Weekender | January 27, 2012 | www.iwk.co.nz

Indian

ADVERTORIAL

Indian

Maha Shiv Darshan – celebrating Shiva Ratri 2012The free programme “Maha Shiv Darshan” is open to the public on the 23rd of January 2012 from 9am-8pm at the Indian Cultural Hall, 48 Kemp Street, Kilbirnie in Wellington and the 5th of February 2012 from 7am-7pm at the Shiv Mandir, 54 Holmes Road, Manurewa in Auckland.

New Zealand

Indian

Lowest Prices Guaranteed – find a cheaper price and we’ll beat it by

up to 10%.*

6 months interest free on purchases $250 or more^

with

Gem Visa card.

Work & Income Quotes welcome.

Open late, 7 days, nationwide.See warehousestationery.co.nz for

nearest store.

Why Warehouse Stationery is New Zealand’s leading Back to School retailer:

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO GET BACK TO SCHOOLBiggest

range.Lowestprices.

WH

S1

12

0

Terms & Conditions: *If you happen to find the same product advertised cheaper, we’ll beat it by up to 10%; 5% on laptops, desktops, netbooks, computer accessories, printers and prepaid postal.

Excludes gift cards, vouchers and phone cards. Please refer to full terms & conditions in store. #Offer ends 22 January 2012. Voucher must be activated by 18 February 2012. Credit expires on 31 March

2012. Limit 1 voucher per customer. ^Credit and lending criteria, $48 establishment fee and $48 annual fee apply. Gem Visa is provided by GE Finance and Insurance trading as GE Money.

SCHOOL STATIONERY

LUNCHBOXES & DRINK BOTTLES

SCHOOL BAGS & PENCIL CASES

TECHNOLOGY

2

G

B

R

A

M

3

2

0

G

B

H

ard

D

riv

e

A

M

D

D

ual C

ore

P

ro

cessor

14"

D

is

pla

y

$1 MILLIONMUSIC GIVEAWAY

Our gift to you. Get a $10 Bandit.FM music voucher when you spend $50 or more.

MILLIONS

OF TRACKS

TO CHOOSE

FROM

Get in quick, only available while stocks last.

Mumbai: Citi India, a premier locally-embedded financial institu-tion, on Wednesday awarded nine first year management students from the leading business schools in the country with the Citi Woman Leader Award 2011-12 and named nine others as runners-up.

This initiative, now in its second year, aims to identify young talent and promote future women leaders.

Candidates are selected on the basis of demonstrating exemplary Leadership skills during their fresh-man year in college along with a strong academia and active partici-pation in extracurricular activities.

The winners are awarded con-gratulatory certificates, trophy and reimbursement of their second year tuition fees.

Pramit Jhaveri, CEO, Citi India said, “We have very clearly recog-

nized diversity as an extremely im-portant imperative and initiative for Citi India."

Nominations for the Citi Woman Leader Award are invited for second year MBA students from the nine premier business schools in India including, Indian Institute of Man-agement at Ahmadabad, Bangalore, Calcutta, Lucknow, Kozhikode, FMS (Delhi), XLRI (Jamshedpur), Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Manage-ment Studies (Mumbai) and S P Jain Center of Management (Mumbai).

The nominees go through a rigor-ous three-phased selection process, which involves nominations from the Deans of each school as a first step. These students are then inter-viewed by members of the senior management team at Citi India.

The final shortlisted 18 students attend a specially created assess-

ment center designed and conducted by leading consulting firm, Accen-ture which is followed by a final round of personal interviews at Mumbai.

Explaining the objective of the Awards, Citi Human Resources Officer, South Asia, Stephen Cronin said, "The Citi Woman Leader Award, a first-of-its kind initiative in the Banking industry in India, is aimed to promote encourage young women leaders enter the Indian workforce. "We believe promoting diversity at the entry level gives us the opportunity to nurture and grow talented young women professionals who will take on larger board room roles in the years ahead.”

“At Citi India, 40% of our junior to middle level managers compris-es of women professionals,” said Cronin.

Citi honours future woman leaders

India

Jaipur: The grand dame of American talk show Oprah Winfrey is over-whelmed by her Indian odyssey and disputing her own earlier statement as quoted in media, she says she wants to come back again and again.

She also called India the greatest show on earth speaking to TV journalists in interviews on the sidelines of the Jaipur Literature Fes-tival.

A day ago she said the visit to India is overwhelming but also her first and the last. But she said something different to news channels a day later in interviews aired.

"You cannot see India in one week, or two weeks. It is complex. It is the greatest show on earth," she told in one interview.

"India I will be back again and again," she said, hugely compliment-ing the people of the country.

In another public chat at the JLF with TV host Barkha Dutt, she said: “What I will take with me is the calmness. Even though there are lots of people still there is a genuine respect."

“The biggest thing that people just don’t talk religion here, they live it,” she added

She said the vision of a woman in sari on a camel had hounded her in USA and that inspired her to come to India. From her Indian experi-ence, she said she believes that "this is a country that has no respect for nursing homes because here Indians take care of their family."

The talk show queen who strongly believes in education said: "For me education is the most important thing in this world because it opens the door of opportunities. I really appreciate educating girls.”

Talking about real freedom, she said: "The greatest freedom in the world is the vision for freedom, is that you get to decide for yourself what to do with your life and that’s what real freedom is.”

Speaking on author Salman Rushdie’s cancelled visit to the Jaipur Literature Festival she said: "I try to stay out of political decisions made by other people for whatever reasons, it doesn’t bother me because I was coming for my own reason my own agenda.”

“When I heard that he was coming I was excited and then when I heard that he wasn’t coming I thought, well whoever made that deci-sion, made that decision for reasons as they saw of it,” she continued.

She is in India for her new show ‘Oprah’s Next Chapter’ in which she would travel around the world, interviewing celebrities, news-mak-ers and others.

India is the greatest show on earth: Oprah

Indian

At ANZ, we value the Indian community and its unique contribution to New Zealand. What’s important to you, matters to us. And we’re reaffirming that commitment with friendly and helpful Indian staff in

our branches and contact centres, our dedicated International Banking Services team and our Indian Business Managers, all of whom wish you the very best on this proudest of days.

The team at ANZ wishes you a happy Republic Day.

indianbanking@anz.com0800 744 485

ANZ National Bank Limited anz11134

Early this year, the Indian Posts and Tele-graphs department honoured a simple, be-spectacled, dhoti-clad Indian who has never spoken a single word for more than 60 years. Sporting horn rimmed glasses and with his thinning wisp of hair crowning his balding pate, the man, always wearing a checked coat, has been immortalised on a postage stamp.

The man is one of India’s most well recog-nised cartoon characters: legendary cartoon-ist R.K. Laxman’s Common Man. Featured in every single “You Said It” cartoon on the front page of what is today the world’s largest selling English newspaper, The Times of India, Lax-man’s Common Man has been a silent specta-tor to the goings on in the rough and tumble of

Indian life since 1951.The postage stamp is

among a string of great national and interna-tional honours that have come the way of India’s greatest ever cartoonist. Among the big awards he has received are the na-tion’s second biggest – the Padma Vibhushan – and the Ramon Magsaysay Prize, often called the Nobel Prize of the east. His ardent fans, of which there are millions, have been expecting India’s top honour, the Bharat Ratna, to come

his way for a few years now.

I’ve had the good fortune to know Laxman closely for many years – first, because my father was a long time col-umnist and writer with the Times of India and second because he had a home in the same street that I lived in the city of Pune. For many years, he would spend week-ends away from the bustle of Mumbai, where he lived and worked, and dash of to the more salu-brious climes and

relaxed pace of Pune – which is where we would meet for a long walk followed by a round of Scotch nearly every weekend.

V i s i t i n g Laxman during my visit to Pune last month was differ-ent. The maestro,

now 90, has been ailing for several years and lives permanently in Pune. A severe stroke about a year ago has left him without speech – like the Common Man, his uncommon creator is now silent. I spent a couple of hours with him and his genial wife Kamala and he conversed with me scribbling words on a notepad. His wit is still razor sharp and he is quite cogent and lucid but for his ability to speak.

When he turned 90 last year, the Laxmans’ elegant Pune home played host to a legion of his well wishers and fans beginning from the President of India, Pratibha Patil, to chief minis-ters, political heavyweights – almost all of whom he had taken potshots at on the front page of the Times of India – industrialists, academics down to the common man in the street.

A few years ago, Symbiosis, one of India’s most forward looking tertiary educational institutions erected a ten-foot statue of the Common Man on its premises in Pune, which is today quite a tourist attraction for visitors

to the city. The new postage stamp will now take the visage of the famously silent Common Man on to countless letters, postcards and en-velopes around India, bringing a smile on the faces of millions of recipients – and fans of the master cartoonist.

Dev NaDkarNI

Visiting India’s most Uncommon ManIndia

Indian India

Call Shell 021 297 3259 Zulfi 021 915 329

* Taxes may vary for different cities and are subject to FX variation and seat availablity + other terms and conditions apply (travel dates, etc.)

Unit O, 8 Bishop Lenihan Place, East Tamaki

Ph: 09 272 3522 or 272 3544Fax: 09 272 3577

Email: travel_shop@xtra.co.nz www.travelshopnz.co.nz

From Auckland to Indian Subcontinent

2011 Early bird Special Air fares SALE ends soon

Hurry before it’s

too lateFares starting from:

Inclusive of taxes

taxes may vary for different cities and are subject to FX variation+other terms and conditions apply (travel dates, etc)

1749*

*

Fantastic Fares from

$1599*

Travelling period 1st Feb-31st August 2012

YOUR ONE STOP GROCERY SHOP WITH A FRIENDLY SMILE

SPECIAL DISCOUNTS FOR STUDENTS

822 Manukau Road, (Next to KFC), Royal Oak, AucklandPh: 09 624 1365 / 625 1766 Fax: 09 624 1366 www.khyberspice.co.nz

ALMONDS WHOLE $9.99 KG

AMUL GHEE 1 LTR $12.99 EA

MAAZA MANGO DRINK 1 LTR - 3 FOR $4.99 EA

CHANA DHAL $2.50 KG

MASOOR DHAL $2.50 KG

TOOR (ARHAR) DHAL $3.50 KG

RED KIDNEY BEANS (RAJMAH) $3.99 KG

AND ENTER INTO DAILY LUCKY DRAW TO WIN TICKET FOR THE ROOP KUMAR RATHOD ‘S CONCERT AND 1 DVD FREE

SPECIALSMILK

POWDER ON SPECIAL

CATCH SpICES 4 FOR $4.99

INDIA GATE ( Rozana) BASMATI RICE 5 KG $12.50

CANOLA OIL 5 LTR $ 14.99 EA

SNACKS ( Mopleez/Bikaji/Garden) 3 FOR $4.99

TOpS OR DIAMOND pICKLE 1 KG $4.99EA

FROZEN VEGETABLES 3 FOR $4.99

READY TO EAT CURRIES ( MOTHERS) 3 FOR $4.99

MANGO pULp 3 FOR $8.99

BIRYANI RICE 5 KG $8.99

MTR OR AMUL BADAM DRINK 3 FOR $4.99

GIRNAR TEA JAR 1 KG $ 9.99 EA

INDIAN WHEAT FLOUR 10 KG FROM $10.99

ROOH AFZA $4.99 EA

LOOSE GHEE ON SPECIAL

ROOP KUMAR & SUNALI RATHOD LIVE IN CONCERT

BUY GROCERY FOR MORE THAN

14 Indian Weekender | January 27, 2012 | www.iwk.co.nz

Indian India

Kolkata: Trinidad and Tobago is wooing the Bollywood film indus-try to shoot their film on its exotic locales while pitching its own oil and natural gas and LNG to the Indian government.

“We are looking for market in India. We are offering oil and natural gas and our expertise on the same. India needs LNG (liq-uefied natural gas), they can get more energy from us,” Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said last week.

Trinidad and Tobago has made a transition from an oil-based economy to one based on natural gas and about half of the country's natural gas production is converted into liquefied natural gas (LNG) at the Atlantic LNG facility in Trini-dad and exported, making it the fifth-largest exporter of LNG in the world .

The Prime Minister, who spoke ahead of a dinner Tuesday night at the Bengal Chamber in Kolkata hosted by the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO), said her country is wooing the Bol-lywood film industry and her repre-sentatives are in Mumbai.

“We are offering several in-centives as part of our policy. We want the Bollywood film making

industry to go there (Trinidad and Tobago),” she said.

According to its official policy, for the prospective film producer, Trinidad and Tobago not only pitches its location sites but also a pre and post production facilities with key incentives to film compa-nies who select TT for their produc-tion, including a rebate programme.

Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who is now touring India and began with the attendance at Jaipur at the NRI and PIO meet known as the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas as the chief guest this year, said she is looking for collaborations in Information Tech-nology, maritime industry, fashion and education.

She harped on fashion industry and lauded the strides in India in the sector.

Known for her strong support to women’s cause worldwide, the first woman prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, said India is like the grandmother since a major section of the population there had its origin in India.

Trinidad and Tobago foreign minister Surujrattan Rambachan said the prime minister has set upon herself the task of connecting glob-ally for women issues.

People of Indian origin (east

Indians as they are known) con-stitute about 42 to 45 per cent of the total 1.3 million population of Trinidad and Tobago.

Indians had gone there as in-dentured labourers after abolition of the slavery system in erstwhile British colonies in 1838.

On 16 Nov 1844, the Indian Government legalised emigration to Jamaica, Trinidad and Demer-ara (Guyana).

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is touring Kolkata to visit the Kolkata Memorial Monu-ment by the Ganges from where her ancestors had set sail for Trinidad and Tobago in the middle of the 19th Century as indentured labour-ers.

She is also visiting her ances-tral village of Bhelupur in Buxar district of Bihar later in the day, though she said she is not too sure of the exact place.

Meanwhile, the Global Organi-zation of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) top officials like Sunny Kulathikal and Mridul Pathak said they are trying to strengthen the or-ganization’s activities globally.

Malay Mishra, Indian High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago, urged GOPIO to be more active in the Caribbean nation.

Trinidad woos Bollywood, pitches LNG

Kolkata: While reports of farmers' suicides in West Bengal rattle the new government, there is a silver lining in the commitment of a giant multinational to procure more pota-toes from its growers in the state.

Food and beverage major PepsiCo India on Thursday said the company has increased its potato procurement from farmers in West Bengal to 60,000 Metric Tons in the present year as compared to 22,000 Metric Tons in 2010.

To witness such a stupendous i m p r o v e m e n t , the company did myriad farming programme in the villages of West Bengal on Hoogh-ly-Burdwan dis-trict border.

Jaideep Bhatia, Vice President-A g r o n o m y , PepsiCo India said: "PepsiCo India is the largest procurer of potato in the country and it has not just given more opportunity to potato farmers but also worked in close partnership with the farming community with a vision of creating a cost-effective, localized agro-base in India by leveraging its access to world class agriculture.”

PepsiCo India’s farming programme in West Bengal currently operates in six districts – Burdwan, Hooghly, Bankura, Birbhum, Howrah and Midnapur West.

The company on Thursday organized a media visit to one of the villages- Panpara-

which is on the border of the Hooghly and Burdwan districts, to offer a glimpse of the collaborative farming initiatives.

The company said it provides technical and financial support to more than 10,000 farmers for potato cultivation.

Talking about this initiative, Jaideep Bhatia said: "The farmers do not have the capital to invest; we want to help them at each and every level such as in land prepa-ration, transport, technology transfer etc.”

It also picked up the initiative to educate the farmers.

The com-pany’s aid is not limited to its cultivation only; it has spread its helping wings to other sec-tions as well like running a computer train-

ing center for children, organizing health awareness programme for children and campaigns for HIV+/AIDS awareness. The farmers seemed happy in Burdwan.

“Weather is the only problem that we are facing but thanks to PepsiCo we are informed of the weather forecast through SMS (short messaging service) after every 8 hours,” said Amar Kumar Nayek, a potato grower in Burdwan.

“If potato production in West Bengal has to be increased then companies like PepsiCo should take the initiative and come forward to help” he said.

Pepsico initiative boosts Bengal potato growers

Kolkata: Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (M&M), India’s leading SUV manufacturer, on Wednesday un-veiled the Mahindra XUV5OO at Kolkata.

The XUV5OO is Mahindra’s first global SUV platform, with significant inputs in styling and development from customers across the globe.

The XUV5OO will now be open for bookings for limited period of 10 days only, starting Jan 25.

The bookings for the XUV500 will now extend to 19 cities in India, namely Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Hy-derabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh/Panchkula, Ludhiana, Jallandhar, Patiala, Kochi, Trivan-drum, Calicut, Trissur, Coimbatore, Nagpur and Nasik.

The XUV5OO price range starts at ex-showroom Kolkata - Rs. 11.3 Lacs for the W6 model and Rs. 12.66 Lacs for the W8 2WD model.

Pawan Goenka, President, Au-tomotive & Farm Equipment Sector, Mahindra & Mahindra said, “The launch of our first global SUV plat-form, the XUV5OO is another proud moment in our automotive journey. I am confident that the XUV5OO will prove a worthy contender and find

favour in the West Bengal market”.Ashish Malik - Sr General

Manager, Marketing – SUVs, Auto-motive Division, Mahindra & Ma-hindra Ltd. said, “The XUV5OO is our first global SUV that has been

completely designed and developed around the global customer, with extensive product validation and testing done across Europe, Austra-lia, South Africa, and India."

The XUV5OO is powered by a state-of-the-art 2.2litre mHawk diesel engine which delivers a power-packed 140bhp with 330Nm torque.

The 2.2litre engine is meshed with a 6-speed transmission and the 5th generation Variable Geom-etry Turbocharger which takes the XUV5OO from 0-60kmph in a mere 5.4 seconds.

The XUV5OO gives up to 15.1 kms per litre (ARAI-certified).

Mahindra launches new SUV

TelstraClear Pacific Event Centre, Manukau

Doors open 6.30pm | Tickets available at Yogijis Food mart, Auckland Indian Sweets, Vastra - Papatoetoe and ticketdirect.co.nz

Ticket Prices: $55, $65, $80, $100, $125, $150

Sponsors Media Partners

Official Photographer Official Print SponsorOfficial Caterer Supported by

Event Managed by

andRockgardenEntertainments

WINNERS of Entertainers of the year 2011 Award

PRESENTS

Contact Saif @ 021 144 6641

Pepsico initiative boosts Bengal potato growers

Mahindra launches new SUV

16 Indian Weekender | January 27, 2012 | www.iwk.co.nz

Indian

From the Editor

Indian Weekender is published by Kiwi Media Group, 98 Great South Road, New Market and printed at APN Print, Ellerslie, Auckland Copyright 2010. Kiwi Media Group. All Rights Reserved.

Indian Weekender Volume 3 No. 19Publisher: Kiwi Media Group LimitedGroup editor-in-chief: Dev Nadkarni dev@indianweekender.co.nzOnline editor: Arvind Kumar arvind@indianweekender.co.nzChief Technical Officer: Rohan Desouza rohan@ indianweekender.co.nzDesign: Sonata Design Ltd - sonatadesignnz@gmail.comAdvertising: Giri Gupta - Ph: 520 0922, Mob: 021 221 1131. Email - girigupta@xtra.co.nzAccounts & Admin: Chetan - Email: accounts@indianweekender.co.nzPlease email original editorial contributions, community notices and pictures to editor@indianweekender.co.nzViews expressed in the publication are not necessarily of the publisher and the publisheris not responsible for advertisers’ claims as appearing in the publication

Almost Religion is the currency of politics in India. Without religion and caste no politi-cal party can ever grab the attention of the voting public before an impending election. Creating or engineering religious issues out of thin air before an election is an old trick politicians have repeatedly used – but the sad fact is that even after six decades of independence, masses of people are still fall prey to such trickery.

Politicians, their lackeys and individuals who are after cheap publicity think nothing of wading into even a mere whiff of a controversy, making mountains out of molehills simply because of the publicity it generates and their grossly erroneous belief that it polarises people enough to strengthen their support base. Creating an ‘us versus them’ schism is their only stratagem to get the flock together – or so goes their belief.

In two instances last week the Indian government decided to wade into events it would probably not have bothered to even consider had it not been for state elections which are round the corner. Its hasty, poorly though out stands on the controversy gen-erated at the literary festival at Jaipur – where British author of Indian origin Salman Rushdie was to have delivered an address – and TV host Jay Leno’s show in which he made a reference to the Golden Temple have proved once again that Indian politi-cians have a long way to go in separating real life issues confronting people as against peripheral but emotional ones that they believe deliver votes.

While there was no need whatsoever for the government to wade into these issues in the first place, it did so with gusto simply because there is an election at hand. In the process, it has not only tainted itself but Indians in every part of the globe as being hypersensitive, highly intolerant fundamentalists who have neither the intellectual capacity nor the broad outlook to take a different point of view in their stride.

Its stand on the Rushdie affair has been rightly compared to the authoritarian Chinese government’s style of clamping down on free thought and free speech in that country. Minister Vayalar Ravi’s ill-considered missive to the United States govern-ment on the Jay Leno affair got the curt response it so richly deserved. The Indian government has exposed itself as being a mercenary guardian of narrow minded, intolerant religious zealots, which receives its payments in votes. And India prides itself as being the world’s largest democracy.

The Indian ethos is one of the world’s most tolerant. India has been a melting pot of a range of religions, denominations, castes and creeds, which has not just survived but thrived over millennia. It has been the cradle of the eastern world’s four great religions, all of which have always lived in harmony, adopting one another’s practices and mores seamlessly.

But every society has its fringe groups who are big on bluster but essentially small in numbers. But it is common for the typical Indian politician to fall for the bluster, ignoring the silent but eminently sensible majority and jockey themselves to don the mantle of the great saviour of these intolerant, extreme, fringe groups and individuals who thrive on the pyrotechnics that controversies invariably generate.

The vast majority of people are only interested in getting on with their lives. A con-troversial author speaking at a literary festival or a highly popular television satirist making a passing comment can hardly affect their every day lives. But politicians taking up cudgels on behalf of the intolerant, publicity hungry lunatic fringe is what can severely affect their daily lives in many ways – something that the Indian political class fails to grasp.

By wading into such non-issues and needlessly glorifying them with their involve-ment merely for achieving their narrow political ends, Indian politicians are doing a disservice to Indians not only in India but all over the world in an increasingly globalised society.

The past week’s events have shown that the Indian politician and the government actually sponsors a narrow, sectarian mindset that is hardly representative of most Indians around the world.

- Dev Nadkarni

Sectarian politics affects Indians globally...

Cricket

A first of its kind T20 cricket tournament is soon to be played in New Zealand. The tournament would provide a platform for domestic and overseas players to compete against quality opposition and the under-21 age group is a catalyst for promoting players to the National team.

The title sponsors for the tournament will be Dunar Basmati Rice and the tour-nament will be called Dunar Cup. Dunar is marketed exclusively by Super Foods based in Auckland. George the Managing Director is a keen sports enthusiast and is very pas-sionate in promoting young talent and cricket in New Zealand. The Media partner for the tournament is Humfm 106.2. Through this partnership Humm 106.2fm aims to promote and give extensive coverage of this tourna-ment and help build more demand of the sport amongst the younger generation. They are taking this as a step forward in lifting the profile of cricket within our community and have full confidence in the sport growing even bigger in years to come.

There will be a total of 16 games this year with an opening ceremony and a Prize giving after the Finals. There will be Man of the Match, Best Batsman, Best Bowler and Player of the tournament.

The People involved in St Johns Cricket & Events NZ Ltd have the experience of or-ganising and managing international cricket events in India, Sri Lanka, Dubai, Doha and Singapore. They also are experienced cricket coaches having played and coached first class

teams in India. This tournament was conceptualised to provide opportuni-ties for local and overseas under-21 age group cricketers to have more expo-sure and showcase their talent.

This tournament is being conducted by St Johns Cricket & Events NZ Ltd in partner-ship with Auckland Cricket Association. The teams will be playing in coloured clothing and the matches will be played with white balls. Auckland cricket will be providing of-ficial umpires and scorers for all games.

The tournament will be held from 29th January 2012 to 3rd February 2012 at Waikaraka Park, Onehunga in Auckland. It will then be an annual event with more over-seas teams and other New Zealand provincial teams participating in future. Participating teamsAucklandHyderabad Colts (India)delhi (India)Hutt Hawks (Wellington)Northern districts (Composite)Title Sponsors dUNARMedia Partners Hummfm 106.2 Indian Weekender

St Johns Cricket & Events NZ Limited in As-sociation with Auckland Cricket Association

U-21 T20 Cricket tourney in NZ

IndianMedia Partner

Indian

Follow the herd mentality skews Indian education

Our country maybe celebrated on the world stage for introducing a clan of incredible artists in various fields of liberal arts ranging from literature and music to philosophy and theatre but humanistic disciplines that were once synonymous to those ‘great’ and ‘intellectual’ no longer seem to be a lucrative preference for the young scholars.

Instead, they are considered as an alternative for those unable to digest hefty laws of physics or mind-bog-ging compounds of chemistry. The bygone year left so much awakening and self-realisation in the country but still a substantially large chunk of citizenry remains crippled with herd mentality while charting a future career. It seems the country has gone gaga over engineering. Almost every second student, regardless of interest and appetite for the subject, opts for engineering at the graduation level.

Although, there is dearth of pub-licly available data dealing in this matter but whatever little statis-tics could be procured, they point towards a not-so-pleasant facet. A study conducted by Duke University in 2008 said that in India 3,50,000 engineers graduated in 2004 whereas in United States and China merely 70,000 and 60,000 did so. Worse, for every one million citizens, India pro-duced only 200 technology special-ists as opposed to United States and China, which produced 750 and 500 respectively. Keeping in focus the present wretched state of engineering

in the country, the figures, undoubt-edly, must not have improved.

Jatin Chawla, an eminent edu-cationist and Director of the Centre for Career Development (CCD) New Delhi, said, “A lot of students think about engineering because others are also thinking of the same and it is prestigious to do it. Understand if you are really interested in doing something technical or working in manufacturing or better still research and development, then decide about engineering.

“A number of students just take up engineering after intermediate and work in computer programming area or do Masters in Business Adminis-tration (MBA) and become manag-ers. They must think properly before deciding upon this”, added Chawla who has been doing a number of ca-reer-oriented shows on television and writes for various newspapers and magazines on the same issue.

Unfortunately, the ‘rat-race’ is further beguiled by mushrooming of various private colleges across the country. These colleges have no merit criterion for admissions and one is good to be tagged as an engineer just by paying a lofty amount of fees.

Ranjan Banerjee, Dean (Research and Development) of IIT Bombay in his book ‘Engineering Education in India’ indicates the trend in recent few years whereupon the brightest students opt for engineering after the intermediate and how has this resulted in significant unemployment

among graduating engineers despite a spurt of engineering colleges, mainly in the private sector.

Moreover, the commercialisation of education through coaching insti-tutions specialized only for engineer-ing competitive exams, especially the one for Indian Institute of Technol-ogy (IIT), have only worsened the situation. Kota, the hub of coaching centres, alone has a record of more than 40,000 students joining it an-nually in hopes of making to an elite engineering college.

Abhishek Gambhir, a first-year student of Computer Science Engi-neering from IIT Ropar said, “Nowa-days people don’t want to become engineers. All they want is to become IITians. However, one should realise that it is more important to have an inclination for engineering itself than an inclination for IIT. Only if you have the former, you must opt for this field.”

Interestingly, youngsters are driven towards this mad rush despite lack of job opportunities and certain-

ly without any scope for fame. Since the recession hit the country, only a handful of engineering graduates from reputed colleges are picked up by companies for a handsome salary. Those from mediocre private col-leges largely remain unemployed. As far as the fame quotient lies, there has hardly been any engineer who has earned himself a name amongst the who’s who of this mad-after-celebrity country. The most deplorable factor that can be attributed for the miser-able situation is the orthodox thought process of the country that is deemed to be an emerging super power. The society hasn’t evolved to a point where it can recognize or easily accept a male pursuing a liberal arts course. Certain professions have been linked to either genders and people find it difficult to deviate from the set guidelines.

While technical professions like engineering and medical are assumed to be for males, those involving finer skills like literature, painting etc. are believed to be for their female counterparts. This is precisely the reason behind why apart from Birju Maharaj; the world has not witnessed any acclaimed male Kathak dancer from India.

The splendid fabric of Indian history is replete with myriad artis-tic tints. To its making have gone the mellifluous music of Tansen, the lit-erary works of Tagore, the stupefying Kathak of Shambu Maharaj and great philosophies of Swami Vivekananda,

among others. The country indeed has a remarkable legacy of liberal arts, which is fast being eroded with the upcoming trend of ‘engineer-o-mania’.

Unfortunately, those who try to break free from the web of illusions the society has weaved, are criti-cised and discouraged to the point where they are completely shattered and broken. Very few go ahead to become the likes of great men who have earned themselves a reputation in liberal arts field.

Sagar Sachdeva, a student of English Literature in Sri Ven-kateswara College, Delhi University said, “Deciding to take up Literature as a subject for college studies meant a long struggle to convince family members. Even in class, boys are in minority. Though I was able to per-suade my parents to allow me to take up this course, there are many others who want to do it but still don’t get an opportunity to pursue it because of their parents or other so called ‘prac-tical reasons’.”

While education should primar-ily be seen as a value addition, exist-ing competition makes it impossible not to attach monetary expectations accrued from professional compe-tencies. However, whether running behind engineering to stay ahead of rat race will serve any purpose other than a life-long frustration of doing something one never believed in, is a larger dilemma, some are equally battling with.

As large number of youngsters aspire to be ‘engineers’ despite lack of interest and appetite, the respect and charm associated with liberal arts courses is fading amidst the blind race. Vatsal Verma explores the trend that was fodder for films like 3 Idiots

Comment

Almost quarter of a century after carrying out the coups in Fiji, Rabuka has thought it fit to repeat his apology for what he did in 1987. His reason seems to be that he has not apologised to Fiji as a whole as his earlier apologies were to indi-viduals and groups.

Somehow he also seems to feel that as the nation prepares for a return to democracy it is appro-priate to offer an apology again. I cannot see how the apology is rel-evant to Fiji returning to democracy or how it can help the country in any way. It just helps to remind every one that Rabuka is still around. Perhaps that is what he wanted as he may have some hopes of getting back to public life.

Some want him to tell who was behind him in 1987 making him do the wrong things he did. I suppose that would make him an innocent victim who was carrying out the evil orders of his superiors (chiefs) like the loyal and obedient soldier that he was. But was he ever such an obedient soldier?

The commander of the army at that time, Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, wanted to court martial Rabuka for disobeying orders. Rabuka, in turn, dismissed the commander and another officer who was superior to him and seized power by over-throwing the elected government. The coups were supposed to have

been carried out for the benefit of the Fijians and the Fijian people be-lieved him and adored him for what he did. He enjoyed their adulations and basked in the glory. Who really benefited from the coups, though?

The then Lieutenant Colonel, who was facing court-martial, became the Major General. Rabuka became the darling of the Fijian people and he could do nothing wrong. Even when he dismissed the Governor General, Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau, a high chief, there was not a murmur from anyone.

Till then Fijians used to be very subservient and obedient to the chiefs but now no chief was equal to Rabuka for them. Soon he was made a life member of the Great Council of Chiefs. A few years later, in 1972, when elections were held he became the elected Prime Minister. His popularity was such that able, sincere and dedicated leaders like Kamikamica stood no chance against him and he got elected again.

The one thing that he failed to gain was a knighthood though perhaps in that hope he agreed to revise the racist constitution he had promulgated and gave back the Indians the rights that he had taken away from them. Fiji was readmit-ted to the Commonwealth but by now his popularity with the Fijian people had declined.

The majority of Fijians realised that they had not benefited from the coups. So many of them withdrew their support for his SVT party and supported other parties, including the Fiji Labour Party, in the 1999 general elections. After the defeat of his party Rabuka withdrew from active politics.

Meanwhile, the Indian popu-lation, which was fifty per cent in 1987 became reduced to less than forty per cent. The Indians who fled the country in fear suffered many hardships before they were able to settle down in a new country.

Apart from the Indians there were also others who suffered from the coups of 1987. The Pacific Is-landers who were classified as Fijians at independence became ‘Others’ (which was mainly Euro-peans and part Europeans). Their ancestors were brought to Fiji to work as labourers before Indians were brought as indentured labour-ers and they were unhappy that they were no longer accepted as Fijians though Fiji was the only home they had known.

(On the other hand, people who were classified as ‘Others’ before and were happy about it till then wanted to be known as ‘Fijian’ now Being Fijian offered many advan-tages in the racist constitution of 1990. A well publicised case was that of Jim Ah Koy).

The Royal Fiji Military Forces, which was highly regarded until 1987 and held in great esteem, lost its reputation. The Methodist Church which was greatly admired for the brave and selfless work its missionaries did in stopping can-nibalism and spreading literacy throughout the islands now was re-garded with suspicion as it support-ed the coup and Rabuka continued as a lay preacher.

So did the Great Council of Chiefs, which had been a revered institution since the 19th century. It was with the support of the chiefs that the Methodists were able to Christianise the islands. But now it seemed to be far from Christian as it supported the coup and many of the Fijian clerics preached that being nasty to the Indians was sanctioned by the church.

Fiji, which was then the most advanced country of the South Pacific became an outcast. It was expelled from most international forums like the Commonwealth and it suffered in many ways as a result.

Professional like doctors and teachers found it easier than most others to migrate and they were the first to leave. As there was an exodus of these people, those who were left behind suffered even more. Hospitals had few doctors and schools had a shortage of

teachers. The progress Fiji had made in the seventeen years after independence came to a standstill. The capital, Suva, became a ghost town and the businesses struggled to keep open.

Most of the people who left Fiji, however, after their initial struggle, seem to have settled down happily in the new country of their choice. They seem to have established their own networks like mandalis, Fiji shops and social groups.

I have not been to Fiji for many years but I am told that there is a lot of poverty there and people are suffering because of it. If Rabuka is genuinely sorry for what he did and wants to make amends what he could do is to help the people in Fiji as he has amassed a lot of wealth when he was in power. (One of the first things his elected government did was to raise the salaries of all parliamentarians. All the members of parliament were happy about it and the only person to object was the Labasa member, Charanjeet Singh).

Former residents from Fiji who are in New Zealand are trying to help the people in Fiji by having a fund raising concert in Auckland. There are many ways Rabuka can help the people there. That would be better than wasting money on advertisements in newspapers re-peating his apology.

PaDmINI gauNDer

Rabuka’s apology more about ulterior motives than sincerity

The theme of the movie 3 Idiots was a strong comment on India's education system

Indian

New Delhi: Social activist Anna Hazare has written yet another letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reminding him that nation was "betrayed" by the government which came up with a weak Lokpal Bill.

He urged the Prime Minister in a letter on Sunday to show courage and rise to the occa-sion to fight corruption with a strong law.

He called the bill that was passed in Lok Sabha as one of a fraud enacted on the Par-liament and said "if such an act could be per-formed by the government then the future of parliament and democracy would be indeed bleak."

Anna wrote in Hindi that read like: "You are now 80 and this country has given you ev-erything. Now it is asking you for something. It is asking you to come up with a strong Lokpal to fight corruption. You had shown courage in the case of nuclear deal and had

put the government at stake which was wrong. Show the same courage for Lokpal."

He also pointed out the issue of black money and the scams in land acquisition by duping of the farmers by land sharks and prop-erty dealers.

Anna letter came after a gap owing to his illness. The self-styled Gandhian has now re-cuperated from his illness that had forced him to go for hospitalization.

In what is seen as the ruling Congress party's orchestrated and pre-planned strategy of creating chaos in the House thereby stalling passage of the Lokpal Bill, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned sine die at midnight on Dec 29 leaving the anti-corruption ombudsman law in limbo. The bill was, however, passed in the Lok Sabha earlier.

The extended session of Parliament ended thus without a Lokpal Bill being passed.

Govt betrayed all: Anna to PM

New Delhi: India's legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev was "ashamed" by the perfor-mance of the cricket team Down Under in the ongoing Test series against Australia and said every aspect of the game has gone wrong for the Indians.

"As a cricketer, I feel ashamed by the Indian team's performance. They are not playing well and have gone wrong in every aspect of the game," said the 1983 World Cup winning skipper here.

"However, it is unfair to call them names as this is the same team that was world no. 1 only about six months back and was doing well. These are the same players who have made us proud so many times in the past. But now if they are not doing well, what can be said?," added Kapil.

Kapil refused to hold Twenty20 cricket re-sponsible for the debacle.

"The team was playing T20 and one-day cricket even a year or six months back and were still performing well in Tests, so I don't think it is fair to hold the shorter versions of the game responsible for the team's show in Australia," he said.

The 53-year-old all-rounder there should not be any change in the team for the fourth

and the final Test in Adelaide. "In the middle of the series, I don't think

there should be any change in the team. They are a good side. I just hope that they can put their head together and play as a unit. We should back our team when the chips are down. "In the middle of the series, I don't think there should be any change in the team. They are a good side. I just hope that they can put their heads together and play as a unit. The team just needs to believe in itself and the captain must also believe in his side and look after himself as well as his team. It should try to script a comeback and we must all support the players in their endeavour," he said.

Kapil said it was time for the fans to back the team.

"Yes, India have played very badly and we are all unhappy, but let's talk about them only after the series," Kapil said.

Kapil said criticisms of some of the seniors players were unwarranted. "It is unfair to call them names as this is the same team that was world No.1 only about six months back and was doing well. These are the same players who have made us proud so many times in the past. But now if they are not doing well, what can be said," said Kapil.

Abuja: At least one Indian is killed and several others, including two small children, were injured in the violence in Nigerian city of Kano on Jan 20 that left more than 150 dead.

The Indian High Commission in Nigeria in capital city Abuja said a 23-year old Indian national identified as Mr Kevalkumar Kalidas Rajput has lost his life in the attacks carried out by by Islamist sect Boko Haram.

"The unfortunate deceased belonged to Devgad Baria, Sanchagalo, Dahod in Gujarat state. He carried Indian passport Number J 0296137 issued on March 30 2010 by RPO Ahmadabad and worked for Kano-based company M/s Relchem since March 2011," the

High Commission said in a press release. He and two of his co-employees Mr Hari

Prasad Bhusal and Mr Raj Singh (both Nepali nationals) lost their lives when their car appar-ently entered a zone of hostilities.

The High Commission said the parents of Rajput have been informed.

It said it has also learnt that six other Indian nationals, including two small chil-dren, belonging to two families have received injuries from falling shrapnel and debris.

They are being treated in Kano hospitals. The High Commission has reiterated its

earlier advisory and requests to Indian nation-als to register themselves with the Mission.

Indian killed in Nigeria violence, UN condemns attack

Kolkata: While the World Bank has reduced India's economic growth to 6.8 % for this fiscal from 8.2% in 2011-12, Asian Develop-ment Bank (ADB) expected that the growth would be higher than 7% in this calender year.

Addressing the 'Look East' Econom-ic Summit 2012, Kolkata, Managing Director General of ADB Rajat M Nag said on Friday, "Despite the fragile economic situation in Euro zone we are confident that the eco-nomic growth of India would be higher than 7 percent."

According to Asian Development Outlook 2011 (ADO 2011), the annual economic pub-lication released in September last year by ADB, the forecast is of growth of 7.9 and 8.3 pct for FY11 and FY12 respectively which was contrasted with their April projections of 8.2 and 8.8 pct for the two years.

Nag clarified that the Euro zone economic

exigency has impact on India's growth sce-nario that finally downgraded the market.

Earlier this year, the World Bank has trimmed the growth projection of India to 6.8% for this fiscal year.

On Wednesday, the Bank has released its Global Economic Prospects and warned the developing countries to get prepared to face economic uncertainty and downturn as the world has entered in a serious situation.

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukher-jee on Thursday said that the growth rate would be around 7.2 percent during the current year.

He said, "Due to current uncertainty in global economy with Euro zone crisis still un-resolved and volatility in international com-modity prices especially fuel etc, this is a very challenging year for all of us and we have to work together to meet these challenges."

ADB expects above 7% India growth

Amritsar: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh started his election campaign trail in Punjab on Saturday and said under the rule of Shiro-mani Akali Dal (SAD), the state has lost its top spot in India.

Addressing a rally in Amritsar, Singh said: "It is because of the negligence of the Akali Dal that Punjab has lost its spot as India's top state."

Punjab lost top spot in India: PM

AT ECONOMICAL PRICES

PRICES TAILORED TO SUIT YOUR BUDgET

VENUE AVAILABLEFOR BIRTHDAY PARTIES& PRIVATE FUNCTIONS

SPECIAL DISCOUNTS ONCORPORATE FUNCTIONS &

OUTDOOR CATERING

CHRISTMAS PARTY’STHREE COURSE MEAL

FROM $30*pp

CALL US TODAY TO FIND OUT MOREON THESE gREAT DEALS

P : 09 528 3856 E: INFO@JEWELOFINDIA.CO.NZ

* Terms and Conditions apply

Valentine'sRomanticSpecial dinner

THREE COURSE MEAL FOR TWO AND A BOTTLE OF HOUSE WINE $60 ONLY

3/33 Tamaki Drive, Mission Bay

Ph: 09 528 3856

l Booking Essential l Ample Parking Available

AUTHENTIC INDIAN RESTAURANT

I feel ashamed by the Indian team's performance: Kapil

"Punjab is ruled by a government which does not do justice to the hard work and capa-bility of the people here," he said.

The PM also played up the electricity crisis and unemployment issue in Punjab.

He also took up the Lokpal issue for a 'corruption free' India and said: "We are for a strong Lokpal in the country."

Punjab will go to single phase poll on Jan 30.

Punjab, with 1.74 crore voters, is spread across 117 assembly constituencies.

India

Indian Weekender | January 27, 2012 | www.iwk.co.nz 19

Indian

New Delhi: Musician and artist Yoko Ono has said she was not re-sponsible for the break up of iconic English rock band The Beatles.

Ono was in India to host her first art exhibition in the country.

She has always captivated the at-tention of her fans for being the wife of The Beatles' singer-songwriter John Lennon.

In fact, it is often alleged that Ono was respon-sible for the break-up of The Beatles.

However, Ono negated such claims and said that she was made a 'scapegoat'.

"I do not know, but they (The Beatles members) did not have anybody to put the blame. I was the easy target...yes, scapegoat..being an Asian is one and being a woman.. the com-bination you know was pretty disas-trous," Ono told NDTV.

The 79-year -old artist said that the presence of John Lennon had helped her to cope up with the situ-ation.

"I had John with me and he was very supportive and protective about me. If John was not there it would have been a difficult situa-

tion... and when John passed away, it was then that the real difficulties started to happen," she said.

New Delhi is hosting the first art exhibition of musician and artist Yoko Ono in the Indian soils as she dedicated her show to the women of the country.

The exhibition titled 'Our Beautiful Daugh-ters' opened on Thursday night at Vadehra Art Gallery and will showcase 20 art projects to the people of India.

Her art works including the famous 'The Wish Tree', will be ex-hibited at different venues including schools, hospitals, consulates, book

shops.Ono told BBC that the exhibi-

tion is "dedicated to the women of India".

This is Ono's first visit to India after the death of Lennon.

Earlier, she had visited the country along with her husband.

Ono promised to her Indian fans that she will again comeback to India in future years.

"I will come back," she told re-porters.

Didn't break Beatles: Yoko Ono in India

Mumbai: Universal Music India unveiled Katyanchi Makhmal, a Marathi ghazal album that brings artists like Dilip Pandharpatte, Sud-hakar Kadam, Suresh Wadkar and Vaishali Made together for the very first time.

The album was launched by music directors Yashwant Deo and Ashok Patki in the presence of Dilip Pandharpatte, Sudhakar Kadam, Suresh Wadkar and Vaishali Made here on Monday.

This album comprises of 9 ghazals each of different moods and styles.

Suresh Wadkar has lent his me-lodious voice for “Kalena Kasa Ha Jagavegala Mi” and “Gau Naye

Kunihi Ratra Ashi Hi Virani”. Both songs are extremely unique in their own way and will surely appeal to the listeners.

Vaishali Made on the other hand has sung “Kiti Savrave Kase Savrave, “Ghav Ola Jarasa Hota”, “Dur Gelya Fulatalya Wata”, “Hasu Umatale Dukh Bhogata…Gammant aahe” that elicit a pure combination of compositions, lyrics and singing.

Talking about the album Suresh Wadkar said: “The album is a record that everyone can relate to and is very close to my heart. It was a great expe-rience to have worked with Vaishali Made, Dilip Pandharpatte, Sudhakar Kadam. I am sure the listeners will enjoy this album very much.”

Vaishali Made said, “It's a great achievement for me to have sung 3 ghazals with Suresh Wadkar ji. I've always wanted to work on a ghazal album and this record is like a dream come true. I would like to thank the entire team for making this pos-sible.”

On this occasion, Mandar Gupte, CFO, Universal Music India said, “Marathi Ghazals are catching up with the audience as one of the most popular genres in recent times. We are most confident that with these ghazals in the serene voices of Suresh Wadkarji and Vaishali Made, the audiences will love to listen to 'Katyanchi Makhmal' again and again."

Suresh Wadkar sings Marathi ghazal

SUNDAY NEWS 29 MAY 2011 3NEWS

Make yourself the newest addition to our success stories“I have been using this product on my hair for a month now and I am very pleased and feeling so much better in myself and years younger.”

Clair – Christchurch“I have gained back all the confi dence that I had lost, this tonic makes all your hair feel all healthy and soft again.”

Matthew – Christchurch“After using Healthy Hair Tonic my friends have told me I look wonderful.”

Nicole L – USA“I am really impressed with the service and friendly manner of all the staff. I am very happy so far.”

Nick“After using 4 bottles of the Healthy Hair Tonic I thought” oh no, this is not working, then I kept using it and all of a sudden my friends and family started to notice that the appearance of my hair was now lustrous and healthy looking.’’

A.H.“After two months I am very happy with the hair tonic, I would recommend it to all my friends.”

M.M.“ Very good product and I’m pleased it is natural and has no side affects. The staff are friendly and professional.” I.M.“I am very satisfi ed with the product and intend to continue to use it. Thanks so much for all your support. You guys are fantastic.”

Nathaniel“Hi, the Healthy Hair Tonic is pretty amazing stuff. Thanks again.” J.P. – Japan

... Come SeeThe Specialists

• Provides nutrition for healthy hair

• Supports the circulation to the hair follicles and roots

• Can help strengthen weak hair follicles and hair roots

• Has been used successfully for over 25 years.

• Backed up by very happy clients

• 100% natural ingredients

• Exhibits no side effects

• Fast acting formula

• Proudly made in NZ

• Developed with no animal testing

• No surgical procedures

• No wigs, toupees or other gimmicks

When Your Hair Is Losing Ground ...Our Promise to You“We are so confi dent in our Hair Support System that you will be extremely happy both with our service and our Healthy Hair Tonic that if you can fi nd a product that works better and faster than the Healthy Hair Tonic, we will give you 6 months supply of the Healthy Hair Tonic absolutely free*”

*(Conditions Apply)

Dr Raj Sidhu, Founder SRS Hair Clinic

Dr Sidhu is an accredited practitioner of Ayurvedic medicine, with more than 25 years of experience in tailoring complementary therapies

for the unique health needs of individuals.

SRS HAIR CLINICCall 0800 348 616 NOW

www.srshairclinic.co.nz15 St. Benedicts St Auckland (09) 379 6161 596 Ferry Rd Christchurch (03) 348 6161

Nourishing & supporting

optimum fullness, help

strengthen weak hair

follicles, nutrients provided

/ toxins removed, healthy

lustrous hair again

Talk To The Leaders In Hair TreatmentProviding Over 25 Years Of Excellence In Service And Support

All Testimonials are available to be viewed at our Clinic.

TAP

S P

P99

07

MPs’ gang tackleRugby team fronts up to help out troubled town

BY NEIL REID

Parliamentary team ring-in and former All Blacksand Blues half Junior Tonu’u fires out a pass.

It’s crunch time for Maori Party MP TeUruroa Flavell.

‘Our boys arekeen tosmash you.’Local shopkeeper

POLITICIANS have often displayedsome fleet footwork down thecorridors of the Beehive.

But yesterday MPs showed differ-ent side-stepping skills on a ruralrugby field in the heart of Tuhoecountry, as they put their bodies onthe line to tackle gang violence.

Blood was spilled, shoulderscrumpled and various muscles andligaments tweaked as the Parliamen-tary All Stars XV faced off against anInvitational XV at the MuruparaRugby Club.

The Parliamentary team – stackedwith MPs, political advisers and a‘‘ring-in’’ ex-All Black – won 26-12.

But the scoreline didn’t matter.What did was raising money for theTe Hau O Te Ora charity, set upfollowing the 2008 slaying ofMurupara teen Jordan Herewini by aMongrel Mob member.

Jordan, 16 – who wasn’t a gangmember – had been wearing hisyellow school PE shirt at the time ofhis death. Yellow is the colourassociated with the Tribesmen gang,while rival Mongrel Mob memberswear red.

Maori Party MP, Te UruroaFlavell – whose Maori electorateencompasses Murupara – said what-ever pain he and his team-matesendured was worth it.

‘‘If guys have bruises or whatever,it is all worth it,’’ Flavell told SundayNews.

‘‘This cause is fairly personal tome. I knew Jordan. There have beenhuge gains made by Te Hau O Te Orasince it was set up to try and workwithin the community to addresssome of the issues.

‘‘We are showing that there issupport from Parliament for placeslike this and real-life issues.’’

Flavell’s teammate, ex-All BlackOfisa Tonu’u, added: ‘‘Just like AllBlacks, with MPs everyone wants totake their head off on the rugby field.

‘‘But it was worth it, raising some

money for Murupara. We have beenhosted on a marae and while wewere there they gave us a back-ground of why we were playing.

‘‘It’s a good cause – a lot of us havefamilies and we cherish our chil-dren.’’

Parliamentary XV debutantGareth Hughes – the first GreenParty MP to play for the side – said hewould wear his post-match scars andniggles with pride.

‘‘I am sore, very sore. But it’scertainly good to raise money for thelocals here,’’ he said. ‘‘Murupara is atown that has been through sometroubles over the past decade.’’

Te Hau O Te Ora – ‘‘the breath oflife’’ – was set up to try to rid the townof gang-related crime and providethe Bay of Plenty town’s youngsterswith a safe environment.

Jordan was twice run over by astolen ute driven by MongrelMobster Quentin Pukeroa, laterjailed for life after being found guiltyof murder.

Te Hau O Te Ora chairman PemBird, also president of the MaoriParty, said: ‘‘On January 25, 2008, ayoung man who attended the schoolhere was slain. It happened in anencounter with a gang. Our responseto that cruel slaying as tangatawhenua was to establish ourselvesaround a traditional custom wherethere is an obligation to take care of,look after and preserve the well-being and sanctity of human life.

‘‘We want a huge sense of com-munity well-being and wellness.People come into the world for apurpose. To have that taken away ina callous way, reduces humanity to

something of no value.’’The scene was set for yesterday’s

match about three hours before kick-off, when Labour MP Damien O’Con-nor, co-captain of the Parliament AllStars XV with National’s ChrisTremain, was told by a local shop-keeper: ‘‘Watch out for our boys, theyare keen to smash you guys’’.

O’Connor, Tremain, Flavell andHughes were joined by fellow MPsTodd McClay, Michael Woodhouseand Chester Burrows. The side wascoached by former All Black RichieGuy, with assistance from MPs PaulQuinn – a former New Zealand Maoristar – and Parekura Horomia.

The Te Hau O Te Ora InvitationalXV was spearheaded by ex-AllBlacks hooker Hika Reid. The sidealso featured veteran Maori rightsactivist Ken Mair.

Tolley talkstough overpreschoolONE in four Pasifika children andone in five Maori children insome parts of New Zealand arenot getting any kind of formalearly childhood education beforethey start school, EducationMinister Anne Tolley told theEarly Childhood Council’s annualconference in Wellingtonyesterday.

She also said taxpayerinvestment in early childhoodservices had trebled over thepast five years to about $1.4billion but participation hadincreased by only about 1%.

Tolley said the reasons somany young children weremissing out on early learningopportunities were varied andcomplex but the governmenthoped to address the problemthrough a $91.8 millionprogramme which would createplaces for an extra 3500children in high-need areas.

Tolley said the EducationMinistry was working closelywith families and communitiesto establish the reasons for lowparticipation and then work outthe best ways to reach out tofamilies and get those childrenthe support they need.

‘‘It might be building newcentres to fill obvious gaps inservices, supportingcommunities to establish theirown more culturally focusedservices, or looking at projectsto engage with families in theirhomes.

‘‘In some areas it’s almostworking street by street,’’ theminister said.

‘‘The programme is abouthelping communities to developtheir own solutions, and offeringflexible options to ensurefamilies can easily access earlychildhood services that meettheir needs.’’

She said that as well asincreasing participation, theearly childhood sector must alsomaintain a high standard ofservices.

Your Treatment

*

* Ends Feb 15th 2012

India

I was the easy target...yes, scapegoat..being an Asian is one and being a woman.. the

combination you know was pretty disastrous

SRS Hair Treatment Clinic offers you the Healthy Hair Tonic, an effective formula, proven over de-cades in Europe and made primarily of Himalayan herbs, 100% natural ingredients that exhibit no side effects.

When applied to the scalp, Healthy Hair Tonic nourishes the hair roots and supports the circulation of the blood, particularly the circulation to the hair follicles. This means that the nutrients necessary for healthy hair are able to be provided to the hair roots, with toxins and sediments being removed, which

enables the body to open up the pores, ensuring the appearance of healthy lustrous hair.

SRS also provides a non-invasive hair analysis to assess specific factors and the condition of your scalp to gain insight into the problem. This in fact may be contributing to the condition and appear-ance of your hair.

According to Claudia Sidhu, “We have people fly-ing in from all over New Zealand to simply attend one of our Hair Analysis Consultations.” Our Healthy Hair tonic also calms scalp redness, itchiness, oili-

ness, and flaky scalp. The SRS Hair Treatment Clin-ic specializes in Ayurveda which is India’s traditional natural system of medicine and healing, providing complementary therapies tailored to an individuals unique health needs. Healthy Hair tonic is a unique formula to nourish and strengthen weak hair follicles and help to remove toxins and sediment around the hair roots to maintain healthy lustrous hair.

To book an appointment, call now on (09) 379 6161 or visit our website.

20 Indian Weekender | January 27, 2012 | www.iwk.co.nz

IndianIndian

The independent republic of India was of-ficially born on the January 26, 1950, after 89 years of British rule. However republi-can values have been home to Indians since 2000 BCE. While the President of India gets a 21-gun-salute on the 26th of January every year, it wouldn’t be unceremonious to give a similar gun salute to all those erstwhile repub-lic states and confederations that existed in ancient India. The republics of ancient India clearly show that India practiced good old re-publican values in the form of ‘gana rajyas’ and the ancient Indian society was a ‘gana tantra’ at its best.

A republic is one where absolute power does not lie with one individual or a monarch. In a republic there is “liberty and justice for all” irrespective of a minority. The Vedic liter-ature, Jain and Buddhist texts show to us that ancient India was ruled by councils of think-ers and learned men. We even find instances of kings ruling under a republican influence guaranteeing justice to all. Though India had numerous kings and queens, they did not have absolute power as a monarch would. Not all kings were from a royal bloodline or ruled by divine right. Many were even elected kings.Why we forgot about the old Indian repub-lics…

Because of the political slavery that started with the invasion of India by the Mughal Babur in 1526 CE till the end of British im-perialism in 1947, Indians forgot where they came from. Historical research has finally uncovered that ancient India was a knowledge society and had republics since ancient times. Another reason for this historical amnesia about republics in ancient India is the thought

that republicanism started only after the French revo-lution when monarchy was given a serious toss.

A number of states in ancient India had republi-can forms of government. Between 2000 BCE and 400 BCE a number of republics flourished in India’s river based civilisation especially in the Gangetic plains of present day Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.So where do we get this information about the old republics in India?

The republican forms of government are known to us mainly from the surviving Bud-dhist and Jain religious texts, Greek sources, Sanskrit epics and ancient text books on poli-tics. Greek writers about India such as Mega-sthenes and Arrian describe many of the states having republican governments like those of Greece. These ancient texts refer to a number of states having gana sangha, or council-based governance, as opposed to monarchies.Some examples of old Indian republics…

We learn about the rise of republics before the rise of the great Gautama Buddha. We had a Videhan republic, Vajjian republic and so on, we learn from the ancient texts. Another oft-mentioned example is of the sixteen maha-janapadas (republics) according to the Bud-dhist text Anguttara Nikkaya and the Jain text Bhagavati Sutra.

A Lichchavi confederacy republic accord-ing to Jataka stories had as much as 7707 chiefs or counsels (Rajans as they called them). A Buddhist document says Lichchavis had 500 Rajans and a commentary suggests that the chiefs governed in turns. It was the

same Lichchavi republic from where the mother of Jain Thirthankar Mahavir originated.

There is also an example of a republic in the ‘Vajjian/

Vrijjian union’, which had Vaishali (in what is now Bihar), as its capital around 600 BCE. About this Vajjian union, it was the great Lord Buddha who said to his chief disciple Ananda thus: “For as long, Ananda, as the Vajjians will assemble regularly and assemble frequently surely growth is to be expected for the Vajjians not decline.”

At the time of Alexander’s invasion in 327 BCE into the regions of ancient Afghanistan, the states of Arut and Balhika were afflu-ent republics. These republics later became allies of the great Chandragupta Maurya (320 BCE–298 BCE). Though Chandragupta Maurya conquered almost the entire subcon-tinent, some of his annexed areas continued to function as republics and returned to being republics after the fall of his empire. Another case in point is Madra desh in northwestern India, which survived as a republic until the 4th century CE.How did the republic work …

While the word for a republic was sangha or gana as in the “Bharatiya gana-rajya”, some were sovereign in their origin with no allegiance to any external authority. Though they were not all of the same type, they had certain features common to all. Each had its council assembly or parishad where people’s representatives were present from different age groups.

The Indian historians R.C. Majumdar,

H.C. Raychaudhuri and Kalikinkar Datta in their seminal work ‘An Advanced History of India’ (1946) mention that,

“Besides the Rajan, there were other func-tionaries styled uparajan (vice-counsel), Se-napati (general), Bhandagarika (treasurer) etc. Tradition points to the existence of a succession of officials for the administration of criminal law in the Vrijjan state – the Vi-nishaya mahamudra (deciding magistrates), Vyavaharika (lawyer-judge), Sutradhara (canonist), Ashtakulika (representative of the eight clans), Senapati (General), Uparajan (Vice-counsel), and Rajan (Consul)”.

Even today we can see the surviving village panchayats for whom the government of India has a dedicated ministry of Panchaya-ti Raj has republican values as its core. In his famous minute of 1830, Sir Charles Metcal-fe, the then acting governor-general of India wrote:

“The village communities are little repub-lics, having nearly everything they can want within themselves, and almost independent of any foreign relations …”

In a republic society, legislation and law making is a collective effort of thinkers and ancient India was no exception. While a re-public evolved as a remedy and revolution to monarchy in Europe, the concept and practice of a republic was integral to the Indian system of governance with or without a monarch. In fact, the 26th January gana-tantra divas (re-public day) celebrations should can also be seen as a continuation of the republican values in the long and chequered history of India.

Ram Lingam blogs his insights on India and Indian culture at www.indiasutra.co.nz

Fijiheritage

INDIA GATE

PRESENTS

In Celebration of Romance

Come Join us for a night of music, food and

most importantly LOVE,

with

Pop singer, Composer, Lyricist

and companyNZ’s ShriramAfter successful shows in India, USA and Australia he is BACK

India Gate Restaurant, 380 Manukau Road

February 14th, 2012

7:00 PM onwards

Tickets Each: $ 50

(Includes 3 course dinner and live concert & Belly dancing)

SPOT PRIZES & ROCK TO BEAT BY DJ DEV

Contact: Shivani Arora on 021 870012 or 0800 INDIA GATE for booking

LIMITED SEATS HURRY

LOVE is in the air...T ke s

ict

$ 50

Pehla Nasha

HUMM FM & AB INTERNATIONAL

Valentines Day

And you thought only modern India was a republic!ram lINgam

One of Bollywood’s most popular and enduring male voices, Sonu Nigam, is soon winging his way here to Auck-land.

Sonu is an amazing artiste and a performer par excellence who can en-ergise an entire stadium with his mere presence. His voice has enraptured his millions of fans in every corner of the globe. Small wonder that he is often re-ferred to as the undisputed king of Bol-lywood musicians.

He continues to surprise his fans with his versatility. For example he sang the main song in the film Tees Maar Khan in as many as 54 different voices.

Having won every major award in India for his dozens of unforgettable soulful renditions, Sonu is now truly an international star, showing that good music knows no geographical boundar-ies.

He collaborated with pop diva Britney Spears on her track “I wanna go” to produce a desi remix version. Britney said she was excited about the collaboration and that Sonu’s voice added a different feel to the song.

The youth icon has a following of more than 2.5 million on his FaceBook fan page. He recently was conferred the MTV Youth Icon award in 2011.

So, Auckland, are you ready for Bol-lywood’s greatest musical heartthrob?

Get ready for Sonu, Auckland!

Indian Weekender | January 27, 2012 | www.iwk.co.nz 21

Indian

* Taxes may vary for different cities and are subject to FX variation and seat availablity + other terms and conditions apply (travel dates, etc.)

And you thought only modern India was a republic!

Fiji

Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has sought to clarify ques-tions regarding the Amendment to Public Order Act at a recent media conference in Suva.

“We have, in the past couple of days, seen a number of statements being made by individuals and couple of organisations—including a number of media outlets in New Zealand—on the amendments to the Public Order Act.

“Unfortunately, after an analysis one could come to the conclusion that those parties in New Zealand are being obtuse…. Because if you look at the amendment to the Public Order Act, it is not in any way dif-ferent—from a legal and philosophi-cal perspective—to many other laws that exist in many other countries.

“It is also unfortunate the New Zealand media seems to assess Fiji in isolation, but…they should look at other countries and other laws, in particular in countries like Aus-tralia.

“As the Prime Minister pointed

out when he spoke on January 6, the Public Order Act (Amendment) Decree, is in fact far less onerous than what you have in other coun-tries.

“We’ve highlighted, for example, that if you are a suspect, if there is reasonable suspicion that you could be somebody engaged in terror, then they can actually control your move-ment, they can tell you to stay in your house, they can actually put a tracking device on you.

“The Public Order Act (Amend-ment) Decree does not go that far, does not do that at all.

"What also needs to be appreci-ated is that Fiji has a recent history where violence has emanated because of various politicians and religious organisations that have upped the ante as far as ethnic, racial and religious vilification has been concerned. This in fact has led to violence….

“I urge those media organisa-tions to put things into context and not be hypocritical—to be transpar-

ent in their own analysis, to look at Fiji’s history, what has been our history and how we are trying to address this in order to have proper, open and frank consultations.”

“Ordinary Fijians, who had been previously intimidated by the tactics of those…people who have used vilification, who have used violence to silence any liberal thinking, these people will now be given the op-portunity to be able to voice their opinion.

“This is what the legal frame-work creates and this is what needs to be appreciated.

“There is no point to talk about common and equal citizenry, there is no point in talking about having proper consultation, when people will live under the fear or threat of demagoguery or being threat-ened….”

“The Bainimarama Government is focused on the future. The Prime Minister announced consultations will commence in February. There is going to be further details about those consultations forthcoming. We have the electronic voter registration about to commence. And we have written to all missions in Fiji, as we had a meeting with them two days prior to the Christmas holidays…asking if they want to participate in this process.

“We are all Fijians, and need to work together to look to the future and urge those who are trying to make political malice out of some-thing, which there is not much merit in, to stop doing that and focus on our future. Let’s talk about the real issues.”

Khaiyum clarifies on PER amendment

For enquiries please contact Sunita0800 999 018 or 021 187 3391

info@milanevents.co.nzwww.milanevents.co.nzauckland, New Zealand

Fiji’s government has announced it will launch infrastructure bonds in the domestic capital markets this year. This is primar-ily with a view to finance the in-frastructure projects outlined in this year’s national budget.

The government’s plan is to raise F$195 million this year through the issuance of the Fiji Infrastructure Bond, with ma-turities ranging from two years to 15 years, according to a news release. The new bonds are set to replace the existing Fiji Develop-ment Loan bonds.

Key capital projects that the

bonds will help finance include the construction and mainte-nance of roads, upgrading of ports and jetties, continuation of the rural electrification projects, upgrading of school buildings and classrooms, upgrading and maintenance of hospitals around the country; and purchase of new medical equipment as well as de-velopmental projects in Fiji’s ad-ministrative divisions.

The investment opportunity is open to the general public includ-ing individual retail investors, Provincial Councils as well as in-stitutional investors.

Fiji to float infrastructure bonds

Group to attend first Fiji-India Joint Trade Committee meeting

Suva: A high-powered trade delegation from India will visit Fiji at the end of this month to explore investment and business opportuni-ties here.

The 15-member delegation which includes government offi-cials and private sector representa-tives will attend the inaugural Fiji-India Joint Trade Committee (JTC) meeting which will be hosted by the Ministry for Industry and Trade.

Minister for Industry and Trade, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said the visit

by delegation is an indication of Fiji’s growing influence as a hub in the South Pacific.

He has also urged local entre-preneurs to take full advantage of the opportunity to do business with foreign investors.

The Indian delegation will meet with their Fijian counterparts on January 30 in Suva and on January 31 in Nadi.

Similar delegations from USA, Canada and Korea had visited Fiji last year with the aim to consider Fiji as their next investment and business destination.

Fiji hosts high-level Indian Trade delegation

Kiribati officials have requested technical assistance from the Fiji government’s Ministry of Labour to undertake their Labour Reform agenda in the fields of Occupa-tional Safety and Health (OSH) and Labour Inspection procedures.

In response, Fiji has proposed a Memorandum of Understanding to be signed between the Ministries of Labour of Fiji and Kiribati for the Fiji Ministry of Labour to provide Technical Assistance for the period starting this month through to De-cember 2013.

According to the MOU, Fiji will provide assistance in labour inspec-tion system review and design of

modern labour inspection system; training and development; overarch-ing labour reform – Review of ex-isting labour policies, labour laws, labour market institutions, values and practices; presentation of draft policies, laws and proposed institu-tions as recommendations to rel-evant stakeholders for consultations; and facilitate promotion and imple-mentation of approved new labour policies and laws for the Kiribati government and relevant stakehold-ers.

The consultation to be provided is turn key and to be completed in a tight time frame of 12 months.

Kiribati invites Fiji expertise on labour reform

Due to the incessant rains in Fiji, the villages and settlements in the lower lying areas around Nadi are under water and the situation will likely worsen if the rains continue as fore-casted.

Ramakrishna Mission, Fiji is mobilising to begin primary relief by distributing essential ration parcels to the affected people as soon as they can be reached. Cooked food will be distributed if necessary.

After the mission’s extensive 2009 flood relief services it created an emergency relief fund and have FJ$6084 to start-off the current relief services. “However, addition-al funds are needed to assist the af-fected people,” says a Mission com-muniqué sent to Indian Weekender.

“We invite you to come forward to support this relief service by do-nating funds which will be used to purchase relief materials for distri-

bution.“You may send us a cheque or

direct deposit into our following Relief Account. Please inform us of your donation by email (rkmfiji@gmail.com) so that we can send you the receipt,” the communiqué says. The funds can be transferred to the mission’s account at Westpac Bank’s Nadi branch Account No. 9802076475. BSB039004 Swift No. WPACFJFX

Fiji mission appeals for flood relief

JoIN US foR A SUmPTUoUS INDIAN BUffET At Visaya Restaurant and Bar

9th march, friday 2012$45 per person 6.00 pm to late

w w w . s u d i m a h o t e l s . c o m 0 8 0 0 S U D I M A ( 7 8 3 4 6 2 )

B O O K I N G E S S E N T I A L

Indian

Mumbai: Prateik, the star of Ekk Deewana Tha, has turned out to be quite a Twitter specialist.

Lately, he’s been highly active on the micro-blogging site, sending regular updates for his fans.

Fans have been getting a lot of information from the star himself on the activities of the Ekk Deewana Tha team.

The inauguration of the Reg-istration for the Bone marrow Donation camp received a huge response thanks to the Prateik’s regular tweets through which he

updated his fans on the minute details of the camp and the cause.

The different aspects of the movie like the trailer launch, the movie tracks etc. have received more importance from the audi-ence with Prateik tweeting about each and every element of the movie.

His tweet, “humming HOSANNA as I prepare for a busy Monday... Makes it so easy”, has definitely made a number of his followers hit the ‘Hosanna’ play button a lot more times.

PrateikturnsTwitter expert

Kailash Kher speaks to correspon-dent Papri Chanda about his latest album Kailasa Rangeele.

What is Rangeela all about?Rangeela is about life, about love and about the celebration of life.

How many songs are there in the album?There are eleven tracks in the album.

A song ‘Tu kya jaane’ from the album which is already topping music charts...Yes, people are liking it, loving it. It is a song which reflects the anger inside you. It is about love. When you are in love you are not simply in love, you share so many shades of emotions in a particular moment. This song is also the same. It will make you love, hate, laugh, cry, cheer up.

Amitabh Bachchan has lent his voice to your album. How was the experience?It was a fantastic experience. He has sung a song for us in KBC. We requested Amit Ji to sing for our album. He agreed and that's how it

happened. We all just loved it.

Your two year old son Kabir has been featured in the album. Tell something about that.Kabir is a very good child. He is

God’s gift to us. When we were making this album he was with us all the time. So one day we decided to grab him and put him in front of the microphone. It is only a 25-30 sec shot in the album.

Youths connect more to your songs. Why?Youths have got something new after a long break with my album...thoughts were different; the songs had more depth in it. They are able

Rangeela is about life and love: Kailash

to connect with their situations and the different phases of life which they go through.

Who is your inspiration behind such soulful music?Inspiration is not a particular thing or person. It is the nature’s beauty, soul’s purity. But mainly God’s cre-ation inspires me a lot and I can vi-sualize it in each and every object made by him.

How much has your family been supportive in these 10 years of your career?During my initial years, my family did not support me as they did not want me to come in this musical world. But gradually when I was trying to establish myself and results were seen, they slowly re-united.

Why is that you don't do too much playback singing these days?I sing for films but not that

much; because people may get bored by my songs (laughs).

Are we going to hear you sing Bengali songs?Yes, I’m thinking of doing an album on Rabindra Sangeet and Nazrul Geeti in the near future.

Which is your favourite track?‘Ye jo desh hai tera’ from Swades and ‘Saiyaan’ from my album.

Bollywood

IndianIndianBollywood

To find out more about the genuine stockist of Shahnaz Husain Products in your area, call us.

Shahnaz Husain - The Ayurvedic Beauty Clinic 40 Lincoln Road, Henderson, Auckland. P : 09 9082440 E : info@shahnaz.co.nz www.shahnaz.co.nz

Gift Vouchers Available

Usually $80

NOW $60 only

Skin Care in SummerTips to look after yourself during summer

The bright summer sun brings with it new skin problems, namely “sun damage”. Human skin is very sensitive to the sun and if not protected, brown spots, wrinkles and dehydration will damage the skin.l The sun activates the skin ageing process. In addition,

overexposure to the sun can bring chronic damage, which in turn may lead to skin cancer. More than 90 % of all skin cancer is caused by sun exposure. We are exposed to the sun, directly or indirectly, nearly every day.

l We often see women with higher hyper-pigmentation and more wrinkles on the left side of the face than on the right. This is driver damage. You need to remember that a window does not protect the skin and you may be receiving more sun that you realize.

l How can we safely protect the skin, yet get some sun that we all need for good health?

Here are a few precautionary steps you can take;Do not sunbathe, but try to get a little sun in the early morning or late afternoon.

Avoid sun exposure especially between 9am – 5pm, the peak hours for harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation.When outdoor during time of strong sunshine, use sunscreen.

When you must be exposed to intense sunlight, wear protective clothing such as long pants, long sleeved shirts, broad brimmed hats and UV – protective sunglasses.

SHAHNAZ HUSAIN SUN PROTECTION PRODUCTS:1. SHAHnAz ForeVer SPF 30 MoISTUrISer ( $ 12.50 ) Specially designed to provide broad spectrum protection

against UVA and UVB radiation, the formulation offers total protection from sun damage and moisturise depletion. Containing natural rehydrants and emollients, it nourishes the skin and also provides intensive moisturisation. easily absorbed, it keeps the skin soft, radiant and youthful, with an even colour.

2. SHASCREEN – AyURvEDIC SUNblOCk lOTION( $ 35.00) This formulation contains herbal ingredients to absorb the

harmful ultraviolet rays. A unique blend of natural botanical extracts, it helps in counteracting the drying, burning and the ageing effects of the sun.

3. SHABloCk – AYUrVeDIC SUnBloCk CreAM ( $ 39.00 ) The formulation is enriched with herbal ingredients that have an

in-built resistance to ultraviolet radiation. It provides the skin with an intensive moisturising system, protecting it from sun-damage and making it soft and smooth.

TREATmENTSAs a response to precise and individual requirements, Shahnaz Husain Group offers wide and varied ranges, specially designed to provide ideal skin, hair and body care. experience the unique benefit of an integrated system of clinic care and product excellence

There are a few customised and specialised treatments available for sun damage or pigmented skin available at Shahnaz Husain.

Ayurvedic Full Body Massage, Eyebrow and Upper-lip threading

Usually $115

NOW $95 only

Diamond Polishing Facial, Face Bleach, Eyebrow and

Upper-lip threading or waxing.

Customised Waxing Specials

Summer Special

Bring this advertisement when you book in an appointment and get 20% off the original price.

&

YAADON KIBAARAAT

in association with Creation Group NZ LtdProudly Presents

18th Feb 2012 Time: 6.30pmVenue: Avondale College Auditorium, Victor Street, Avondale

Tickets Available at Bake N Beans, Panworld Travel - Sandringham, Relianz Forex - Dominion Rd. For more info contact : Arif - 021 33 95 19

Ticket Price: $10, $15 & $25 (Limited)

0508 396842 or 09 444 6762info@exoticholidays.co.nz • www.exoticholidays.co.nz

Singers : Arif, Joseph, Viraj, Shymal, Vidya,Vibha,Saima, Indra, Raema, Sunaina, Shrisha, Guncha

Exclusively Print Media Sponsor Exclusively Catering Sponsor

Pulse of the Kiwi-Indian Community

521 SANDRINGHAM ROAD,SANDRINGHAM, AUCKLAND09 815 3595

Auckland’s No.1

Live OrchestraMumbai: What is common between Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif?

Well, besides the fact that both are Bol-lywood superstars and have a fan follow-ing of millions from across the world, they are also the top role models for kids in the country.

In 2009, Katrina Kaif walked the ramp for Barbie and became a true inspiration to millions of girls with the launch of a doll.

Continuing with the legacy of giving ‘kids’ a license to dream and discover a world with endless possibilities, leading toymaker Mattel Toys is out with a new plan.

This New Year 2012, Bollywood icon and captain of Hot Wheels Team Xtreme Hrithik Roshan will paint the town 'blue' with the nouveau chic collection for boys across all ages by designer Narendra Kumar.

Inspired by the Indian superhero himself, the collection will be showcased at the "Hot Wheels Team Xtreme: Buckle Up!" show at the upcoming Kids Fashion Week on 17th January.

Team Xtreme is expected to don the “racer” avatar of Hrithik as captured by ace photographer Daboo Ratnani .

Hrithik becomes Hot Wheels captain

“PRECAUTION : The Shahnaz Husain Group faces a serious problem of fake products, being marketed by unscrupulous people, who are trying to derive illegal benefit from the renowned Shahnaz Husain brand name, thus taking unauthorized and illegal advantage of the Shahnaz Husain brand value and demand for products. So the next time you visit your beauty therapist for any face or hair treatment who uses Shahnaz Husain products make sure you check the packing of these products which reads as Shahnaz Husain International or call us at the below phone to find out if your beautician holds our genuine products or not. “

H I T T I N G T H EC I T Y O F S A I L S

SUNIDHIChauhan

New Zealand Tour 2012Friday 22nd June 2012

Logan Campbell Centre, GreenlaneTime 8:30 PM

CALL: DAVE027 200 7368

Free to Mobile: 09-215 4874

DesiGIRL

our

26 Indian Weekender | January 27, 2012 | www.iwk.co.nz

IndianIndian

You have emerged as the new ‘Hero’ of Bollywood post The Dirty Picture. How do you feel?Really film-making is team effort. It is very elating when people give the actor credit for the success of a film. So I will also not refuse to it. But I think it is team effort and I am hoping that the success of The Dirty Picture will help me get a chance to work with more good directors and good teams; so that I can continue my performance level.

Your Dirty Picture dialogue says a film runs only on three things-entertainment, entertainment and entertainment. What does Kahaani have that will make it run at the box office?See, there are different levels of enter-tainment. Even now I will say films only run on three things-entertainment, en-tertainment and entertainment-and you have to watch Kahaani to find out what kind of entertainment is there in the film. It’s a mystery. So it’s very different.

Tell us about your transforma-tion from a boombat avatar to that of a pregnant woman searching for her husband.Dirty hone ka yeh hi nateeja hota hai. I am just kidding. As you said in Kahaani I play a pregnant woman and it’s a mystery. But I can’t say anything more at this point about the film. None-the-less, I enjoyed playing a pregnant woman. I am

glad that I am getting the opportunities to essay different characters. I am fortu-nate that I am getting to play characters like Sabrina (No One Killed Jessica), Silk (The Dirty Picture) and Vidya Bagchi (Kahaani).

Do you think the films you signed in the earlier part of your career were mistakes?I don’t take them as mistakes but learn-ing experiences that didn’t turn out very well. I think if at all they can be called mistakes, they were very important for me to commit so that I can reach here. It’s because of those films, you are calling ‘mistakes’, I realized what kind of work I actually enjoy doing, where I can put my heart-and-soul.

So now that you are being ac-knowledged as an actor who can pull off a film on her own shoul-ders, are you refusing hero-ori-ented films? No, not at all. It’s God’s grace that my films have worked. But I like always say, it depends on the role and the overall film that’s being offered to me. I am a very greedy actor. I want to play differ-ent people, I want to do different kinds of films. So even if the man or the hero is the central protagonist, as long as I have enough to do, I am more than happy. Also let me clarify, money is more than welcome. Maine roles ke bare mein toh

keh diya. But as for money, the more the merrier.

When did you actually realize that you want to be an actor?I think when Ek Do Teen (song from Tezaab, 1988) was released, tab mujhe Madhuri Dixit ka bhoot chara tha. I used to stand in front of the mirror and dance all the time. I wanted to be Junior Madhuri Dixit.

There is a buzz that you are planning to settle down at the end of the year now that your career has reached a peak…Why? Career is doing well…I am happy…emotionally, mentally I am in a very happy space. I am not at all think-ing of marriage as of now. Uska bhi waqt aayega aur zaroor aayega (Time for that will come and surely). I believe in the institution of marriage. So I won’t post-pone it for too long; but filhal ke liye taal rahi hoon (For now delaying it). There was a news that you were in New Zealand with Siddharth Roy Kapoor (boyfriend) re-cently where you escaped a mild earthquake. Is that true?Earth toh aab yahan quake ho raha hai. (Laughs) No, I do believe there was an earthquake in Christchurch. But I wasn’t there. So obviously I escaped it like the whole lot of people who weren’t there. But all of it was a bit dramatized.

BollywoodAfter roping in the hottest stars of the in-dustry to burn the stage with their stellar dance acts over the years, the world’s biggest viewers’ choice award - Zee Cine Awards 2012 is proud to announce that Bollywood’s “Silk”iest leading lady is all set to rock the stage at the glitzy ceremony in Macau this year.

Following the announcements of SRK & Priyanka Chopra as hosts and Shahid Kapoor’s dancing tribute to Dev Anand, the latest addition to the glitzy star perform-ers’ list will be the current darling of Bollywood – Vidya Balan!

After her universally applauded performance in this year’s runaway hit ‘The Dirty Picture’, Vidya’s oomph quotient has shot through the roof and the actress has been brought on board to raise a toast to India’s south-ern sirens at ‘Pan Bahar presents Zee Cine Awards 2012’.

As Balan per-forms to a medley of chartbusters from

southern cinema, her moves will bring out the unmistakable flavor and inimitable style of the dancers from south Indian cinema. Burning down the stage with the raunchy ‘Naka Muka’, Vidya will finish the perfor-mance with a flourish, shimmying to her own ‘Ooh La la, Ooh La La‘ ditty.

“My performance this year at Zee Cine Awards 2012 will be inspired by the im-

mensely entertaining styles of some of the most iconic southern sirens

including Silk. Let’s hope the audience has as much fun

as I do when I perform live at The Venetian Macao!” said Vidya.

Vidya is also a hot contender in the list of nominees for

Best Actress at Zee

Cine Awards ’12 for her no-holds barred per-formance in The Dirty Picture. Giving her stiff competition for the trophy are Priyan-ka Chopra for Saat Khoon Maaf, Kareena Kapoor for Bodyguard, Kangna Ranaut for Tanu Weds Manu and Katrina Kaif for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. The actors vying for the Best Actor award this year will be Hrithik Roshan for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Ajay Devgn for Singham, Shah Rukh Khan for Don 2 and Ra.One, Salman Khan for Bodyguard and Ranbir Kapoor for Rockstar.

Hosted by the Don-2 duo - Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra - Zee Cine Awards 2012 will be held at Asia’s leading destination for business, leisure and enter-tainment, The Venetian Macao.

Since its inception in 1998, Zee Cine Awards has emerged as the biggest tribute

paid to the world's largest film in-

Vidya to setmercury soaring at Zee awards

dustry and has attracted stalwarts of both Indian and international cinema.. The awards will attract 600 million viewers to television screens the world over when it is telecast on Sunday, February 12 @ 19:30 Hrs SGT onwards only on Zee TV Asia Pacific.

While Vidya Balan is still basking in the success of The Dirty Picture, the actor is ready with her next release Kahaani, where she plays a seven-month pregnant woman who comes to Kolkata from London in search of her husband. Correspondent Sreya Basu catches up with the actor after the launch of the First Look of the film in Mumbai

‘I had wanted to be junior Madhuri Dixit’

Vidya to setmercury soaring

ADVERTORIAL

FAITH, SECT, RELIGION are terms always associated with the spiritual journey leading to the Supreme Godhead. Although seemingly different in the practices, all the religions advocates similar principles for revival if the spirit towards divinity. The Swaminarayan Faith is a remarkable blend of the spiritual essence of Hinduism with universal principles of other religions of the world. Lord Swaminarayan, Founder of the faith has propagated a code of conduct based on universal spiritual principles in a unique creed that cultivates the mind and moulds the spirit towards divinity. During the manifestation of Lord Swaminarayan,

He consecrated the entire humankind with Four boons to His followers in the form of blessings from His Guru Ramanand Swami thus, 1) Let me suffer million times but not my devotee even a bit. 2) My devotee shall never go hungry even if he is the victim of seven famines. 3) I shall take my devotee to the abode of God –

Akshardham at the end of his mortal life. 4) I shall be present on this earth eternally through the God-Ordained Saint who has renounced women, wealth and fame. He always said, 'The objective of My manifestation in this world is to cultivate Service and Devotion.' Service unto Humanity and Devotion unto God are the two goals which every follower of Lord Swaminarayan followed. In a nutshell, He was the propagator of Nishkam-Dharma, the spirituality of desirelessness. He initiated 500 Paramhansas (saints) in one night at the age of 21. He was the mentor of millions of persons who had never visualized the happiness that was to be their domain. Most of them were uneducated warriors and farmers. He conquered sword wielding warriors not by wielding sword but immersing them in His divine love.

Legacy of this tradition was started with first ascetic saint by manifestation of Mool Akshar Murti Gunatitanand Swami, The man unbound by three physical bodies, the personality beyond material world and virtues. He was the incarnation of ‘Akshar Brahm’ where Lord Swaminarayan Himself declared that He was the embodiment of Parbrahm. He was the absolute aide of Lord Swaminarayan. Guruhari Shastriji Maharaj was Second ascetic saint in the legacy who initiated dual worship of Shri Akshar Purushottam doctrine, the essence of Swaminarayan sect. This dual

worship helps the mankind to understand the intricacies of spirituality of pleasing Parbrahm with help of Akshar. A pupil needs teacher to accomplish the academic goals. Similarly, any disciple needs Akshar as his guide to realize his spiritual goal. Shastriji Maharaj built five

great temples during the period of His manifestation on earth. These five temples are the pinnacles of accomplishments in the history of Shri Akshar Purushottam upasana. At the end of His mortal life, He initiated Guruhari Yogiji Maharaj as His successor, the manifestation of Sakar Brahm. Guruhari Yogiji Maharaj, the ultimate model of devotion and humility, inspite being head of Akshar Mandir at Gondal, He was found in kitchen in the wee hours of morning , noon and night.

For Yogiji Maharaj, tolerance was the synonym and devotion was intrinsic. Insults were His eulogy and treated one as the offering from the Lord. In the legacy of this prophecy, Yogiji Maharaj initiated Prabhudasbhai as H.D.H Hariprasad Swamiji Maharaj, the present & fifth spiritual successor of Aksharpurushottam Upasana, is widely known as the most secular saint in the contemporary world. Guruhari Swamiji identifies all with Yogiji maharaj and that reason he is acclaimed as a universal saint who strives to cultivate humanity, devotion and harmony in an individual, in the family, in the society, nation and world. His dictum is, “O Lord, whether the other person becomes Atmiya (Spiritually Harmonious) or not, but please make me Atmiya” Thus cultivating the concept of Suhradbhaav within

the society. Under His constant guidance and divine prowess, today there are hundreds and thousands devotees live a pious life, free of addiction and vices, proving to be an ideal model for generations to come. His life and

work could be more justified when we navigate through the activities inspired by Him. H.D.H. Hariprasad Swamiji Maharaj is coming to bless the community of New Zealand in February and He will be blessing us all in general function arranged at Mahatma Gandhi Centre on 11th February. On this auspicious occasion, Yogi Divine Society (NZ) Inc., takes a privilege to invite you, your family and friends to meet Him in person, listen to His divine discourses and to feel His blessings, thus inspiring us all to live prosperous, divine and happy life. Jay Swaminarayan.

H.D.H Hariprasad Swamiji coming to New Zealand

Indian Weekender | January 27, 2012 | www.iwk.co.nz 29

Indian

What is a common denominator for film, music, fashion and virtually every other manifestation of pop culture—whether Holly-wood, Bollywood, New York, Paris, Tokyo or London? Correct answer: beautiful women in alluring poses.

Stunning Indian American actress Noureen DeWulf understands this fact as well as anyone, and she has graced her share of magazine covers, posed for publicity photos, and accommodated the desperate throngs of photographers on red-carpet runways. In 2007, Maxim magazine named her to its highly pub-licised “Hot 100” list of the most beautiful women in the world.

But DeWulf, 27, has also combined her acting talent, range and commitment to become one of the most active and sought-af-ter television and film actresses in Hollywood today. Since her 2005 debut in the musical film West Bank Story, DeWulf has appeared in 18 theatrical and television movies, plus 13 TV series and mini-series, often in multiple episodes. Her latest release is Breakaway, a comedy about an Indian Canadian hockey team. The animated film Zambezia is due out shortly. She also performs in im-provisational theater in Los Angeles.

“I put a lot of pressure to keep working,” DeWulf said to the radio-interview program Mr. Media. “And when I’m not working, my agent books three auditions a day…I’d rather go to the set and work.”

Her acting roles also dem-onstrate a remarkable scope. DeWulf has played a Pales-tinian cashier working in a falafel shop (West Bank Story), a girlfriend with an attitude and a pronounced Indian accent (Ghosts of Girl-friends Past), Jennifer Lopez’s friend and pet-store employee (The Back-up Plan), and a recurring role as a nurse in the TV hospital series, Hawthorne.

Many fans of the TV spy comedy-drama, Chuck, fondly recall her epic martial arts battle in a yogurt shop with co-star Yvonne Stahovski.

In the 2010 film, The Taqwacores, which deals with the unlikely subject of Muslim punk rockers in Buffalo, New York, DeWulf plays the role in a burqa, even as her charac-ter, Rabeya, challenges religious orthodoxy at every turn. Despite DeWulf’s covered face,

said the film’s director to the British film blog EatSleepLiveFilm, “She outshines the burqa. When I see it now, I don’t see the burqa, I see the person. She knocked it out of the park.”

“It is challenging and hard to not accept all the stereotypical roles that get thrown your

way,” DeWulf said to the online entertainment magazine Buzzine. “For me, I’ve been really, really lucky because I have been able to play a lot of different parts.”

DeWulf was born in New York City to Gu-jarati parents from Pune and grew up in Stone Mountain, Georgia. She is fluent in Hindi, Urdu and Gujarati.

DeWulf quietly nurtured the dream of becoming an actress as a child, even though she wasn’t permitted to take theatre classes. At Boston University’s School of the Arts in Massachusetts, however, DeWulf threw herself into theatre courses and joined an acting company in Atlanta, Georgia during summer breaks.

In 2005, without any friends, connections or agents, she moved to Los Angeles.

“I was really nervous to come out here,” she told Buzzine. “You put your-self out there and perhaps you fail, then you have no job. I was kind of hesi-tant, but I made the leap of faith.”

She addresses the con-tradictions of her strict upbringing and her Hol-lywood persona with re-freshing candour. “Ironi-cally, it was because I was raised as a Muslim in the South, that I realised the value in being true to who

you really are,” she said to the fashion and en-tertainment magazine Details. “I’ve just got so many things going on inside.

I don’t know how to resolve all of them other than being true to who I am.”

DeWulf is frank in acknowledging that many of her film roles are not easy for her family to cope with. “But as I work in more roles, I think my parents are understanding it’s not me doing those things, but the character which I’m portraying,” she said to SAPNA, the magazine for South Asian American women and desi girls.

At the same time, she observed, “I love my heritage both as someone who grew up as a Muslim and as an Indian—it’s part of who I am and I would never deny it.”

A desi girl in HollywoodNoureen DeWulf, an Indian American actress, is currently making waves with her looks and acting talent, reports Howard Cincotta

Saturday March 3, 2012, 7:00pmEpsom Girls Grammar

Silver Road, Epsom

www.mrworldnz.comContest of Body and Brain

For more details contact:Tanya Mehra - 0211598016

Presented By:

Media partners:

Sponsers:

Sha’ewww.shae.co.nz

Bollywood

She came. She set the battle-field ablaze with her bravado. She conquered. Kratika Sengar blew your mind away as the sword wielding Rani Laxmibai in Zee TV’s his-torical drama Jhansi Ki Rani, charging away on horseback and fighting with unmatched zeal for her soil.

Having inspired millions of girls across the country with her impressive portrayal of India’s most revered female freedom fighter, Kratika went missing from the tube as Jhansi Ki Rani drew to an exciting finish in June 2011. She’s back now, with a bang, playing the lead opposite actor Gurmeet Chaudhry in Zee TV’s next primetime offering ‘Punar Vivah’.

Punar Vivah is a mature, progressive show that sensitively captures the journey of a man and a woman, who having faced a debacle in their first attempts at marriage, are brave enough to give life a second chance. The show delves into the dynamics of re-marriage, showcasing the trials and tribulations that are a part of re-adjusting to a second life partner.

What makes the re-marriage even more chal-lenging is the fact that the man and the woman in question are both parents to young children.

Will the two be able to bring hap-piness to each others’ lives and feel com-plete once again? Will the two feel the same i n t e n s i t y and excite-ment that they had experienced in their first brush with

love? Will their children be able to come to terms with the idea of having a new parent enter their lives? Only time will tell!

Speaking of her new role, Kratika said, “I received immense appreciation for the role of Rani Laxmibai so much so that people still rec-ognize me as Jhansi Ki Rani in public places, months after the show has gone off air. After having essayed such a formidable historical figure, it’s very interesting to be playing the mature role of a contemporary Indian woman Smriti who is the mother of a young child and on the threshold of a re-marriage. The idea of giving life a second chance and attempting to find happiness all over again is what appealed to me the most. I’ll give the role my best shot and I hope the audience accepts me as Smriti and gives me as much love as they did when I played Jhansi Ki Rani.”

Jhansi Ki Rani Kratika back in ‘Punar Vivah’

LiveDJ

entryfree food

stalls

presents

in associationwith

holifestival of colours

Let the colours splash happiness in your life

TelstraClear Centre25 February, 2012

10 am Onwards

For Stall Bookings call Ronny 021-461062 | 09-8497000events@hummfm.com

freeparking

Media Partner Contributor to Event Organised By

in association with

PRESENT

A SPLENDID EVENING OF GHAZAL & GEET WITH RENOWNED SINGERS

ROOPKUMAR & SUNALI RATHODLIVE IN CONCERT

FRIDAY 3rd february 2012 at 7:30pm(Gates open 7pm)

PERFECT HARMONYPRODUCTIONS

EVENT CATERING

GRAPHIC DESIGN & PHOTOGRAPHYSILVER SPONSOR

EXCLUSIVE MEDIA PARTNER

GOLD SPONSOR

LOGANCAMPBELL CENTRE

- ASB SHOW GROUND

217 Greenlane West

Greenlane, Auckland

Tickets also available at -

BOOK AT

www.iticket.co.nzor Ph: 09 361 1000

or 0508 ITICKET

VIP $100*A Reserve $80*B Reserve $65*C Reserve $45*D Reserve $35*

* plus service fee

EVENT MANAGED BY

EVENT ACCOUNTANT

ABC Entertainment & Perfect Harmony Productions Pvt Ltd Presentation • For more details contact Ram Iyer 021 529982 or visit www.cfievents.info

F O T O G R A P H I C S

F O T O G R A P H I C S

Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai

PRINT SPONSOR

SUPERHITS OF ROOP KUMAR RATHOD

Tujhme Rab Dikhta Hain (Film : Rab Ne Banadi Jodi)

Tere Liye (Film : Veer Zara)

Maula Mere (Film : Anwar)

To Chaloon (Film : Border)

Sandese Aate Hain (Film : Border)

Dilko Tumse Pyaar Hua (Film : Rehna Hain Tere Dil Mein)

Zindagi Maut Naa Banjaye (Film : Sarfarosh)

Barso Re (Film : London Dreams)