Issue 49 Volume 2

Indian Weekender | March 18, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz 1

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Indian New ZealandAucklanders least prepared for disaster, Civil defence saysAucklanders are being urged to take steps to ensure they are ready to respond to an emergency.

Auckland Civil Defence controller Clive Manley says that the recent Christchurch earthquakes provide tragic reminders of the need for Aucklanders to be prepared for a disaster of any kind.

“The situation in Canterbury illustrates how important it is for everyone to have adequate water, food and an emergency plan,” he says.

“In a major disaster, emergency services cannot be everywhere at once and people need to be ready to help themselves by drawing on their own resources.”

A 2008 survey of 8,000 households by Statistics New Zealand revealed that 90 per cent of households with dependent children had not taken steps to ensure they had enough food and water for three days and developed a household emer-gency plan.

Aucklanders were less prepared than the rest of New Zealand, as only one-third [34 per cent] had stored water in case of an emergency, whereas almost half [49 per cent] of Kiwis had done this.

Volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, earth-quakes, storms and flooding are among

the natural disasters which threaten New Zealand’s largest city - home to almost 1.5 million people.

“Aucklanders need to hone their survival instincts and, as the TV commercials say, ‘get ready to get through’,” Mr Manley says.

Get Ready to Get ThruTo be prepared, you need:l A Household Emergency Planl Your family or household need to have a plan in case you are separated before, during or after an emergency.l You need to know how to apply that plan to whichever disasters may strike.l Emergency Survival Kitl Food and water for at least three daysl Battery-powered torch and radiol First aid kitl Supplies for pets.l Getaway Kit if you need to be evacuatedl Essential items from your Emergency Sur-vival Kitl Family documents, such as passports and drivers’ licencesl Personal items such as medication and toi-letries.l More information about preparing for disas-ter is available online at HYPERLINK “http://www.getthru.govt.nz/”www.getthru.govt.nz, including translated advice and resources in a range of languages.

Bank of Baroda announces expansion in NZ

Close on the heels of the formal inauguration of Bank of Baroda NZ’s operations in the country earlier this year, the bank’s management has an-nounced the opening of two new branches.

Bank of Baroda NZ Managing Director Satish Vermani told Indian Weekender last week that the bank’s board had approved the expansion of the bank’s operations with two new branches – one in Auckland and the other in Wellington.

“The second branch in Auckland after our Do-minion Road head office and branch will be either in Papatoetoe or somewhere in South Auckland while we are looking at a new branch in Welling-ton,” Mr Vermani said.

Bank of Baroda Chairman and Managing Di-rector M D Mallya had earlier told Indian Week-ender during his visit to Auckland for the bank’s formal inauguration that following the success-ful early run the bank’s operations had here, it wouldn’t be long before new branches were opened.

Though he had not mentioned a time frame, he had mentioned it would be “soon”. But obviously, the Indian management has been impressed with the its subsidiary’s progress here for having en-couraged its board to give the green light so early.

Bank of Baroda is the first Indian bank to open its doors in New Zealand.

Bank of Baroda India Chairman and Managing Director M D Mallya and Bank of Baroda NZ Managing Director Satish Vermani during the former’s visit to Auckland for the bank’s formal inauguration last month


Indian New Zealand

Rajneel Singh wins Grand Prize for short filmFiji-born New Zealand filmmaker Rajneel Singh has had a whirlwind year of success that has culminated in taking out the grand prize in the 2nd Annual Indian Film Festival’s Western Union Short Film Competition. The competition, which took place over the past three months saw this talented filmmaker winning not only a trip to Melbourne where his winning film was screened at the festival’s Melbourne leg but also a trip to the home of Bollywood, Mumbai, India.

Meenal Maharaj caught up with Rajneel to find out more about his film, his thoughts on Indian cinema and to hear what advice he has for budding filmmak-ers.tell us about your winning film blank spaces.The film was produced as part of the Your Big Break Competition in February 2010. The competi-tion was run by Tourism New Zealand and guided by Peter Jackson and executive producer Barrie Osborne (“The Matrix”, “Lord of the Rings”) and the aim was to find five finalists (out of 1100 entries) to shoot a 3 minute professional short film about how New Zealand is the “world’s youngest country”. My film was about a young man who decides to try and leave his mark on the local landscape of New Zealand which still contains many features that are not yet named.What convinced you to enter the IFF 2011 Western union short Film Competition?My father was the one who brought the competition to my attention when it was advertised on the Indian Weekender. He asked whether any of my films would be eligible for entry into the short film com-petition and I realized that “Blank Spaces” fit the bill. I decided to enter just to see how well the film might place, despite the fact that it doesn’t necessarily have an Indian theme to it. Winning means an introduction to bolly-wood, is that a direction you want to head in?It certainly does, though not in a way that one might expect. With the world financial crisis, many of the sources for financing movies in the West have dried up while places like China and Bollywood is still going strong. At the same time, Indian films are having to compete more and more with English-lan-

guage productions for the same audiences as younger Indians are now very savvy about movies and enjoy watching Hollywood films. So with Indian-film in-vestors needing to reach a broader audience in order to make ends meet, there is huge potential for cross-marketing and investing in overseas productions; for instance an English language feature film shot in New Zealand, but made for Western market. It’s my hope to visit Bollywood and see the lay of the land in terms of sourcing Indian money for a more Holly-wood-type production.You’re definitely not a novice to the film in-

dustry, what advice do you have for others who want to do what you’re doing?Make films. It’s really as simple, but as difficult, as that. The more films you can make, the better you will be at it. Writing, shooting, editing, directing; it’s all about practice making perfect. Expect the film industry to be very difficult, expect to not have a con-stant income or work at times and expect it to reshape the way you live your life, the friends you have and the way you approach the world around you.

And most importantly: jobs are given through ex-perience, not qualifications. Having a degree in film-

making will not get you employed; it may not even get you through people’s front doors. What you will need is a tonne of experience as an editor or writer or director and an impressive showreel; which is why it is important to make films as often as you can. Cast your friends, beg for favors, research on the internet, watch as many movies (both amateur and profes-sional) as you can and make your films.

It’s a very long and very hard road, but if you have the stamina and the talent then you can go very far indeed.And finally, what are your thoughts on the Indian Film Festival 2011: bollywood & beyond? Are there any movies you’re par-ticularly looking forward to? I’m very excited to see such an amazing variety of Indian films screening all over Australia and in Auckland. Between the “Bollywood” and “Beyond Bollywood” sections, the selection of old-fashioned ‘masala movies’ and the new-wave of ‘art films’ is without compare and there’s definitely something to intrigue and excite everyone. It is important that films like these get high-profile screenings outside of India, not only because I think New Zealanders and Australians will enjoy them, but also because Bolly-wood has to reach to a broader audience in order to compete today’s tough film market. I think people will be incredibly satisfied with the films that are on offer and I’m particularly looking forward to seeing “Kabul Express”, “Dabangg” and “Dhobi Ghat” which I’ve heard wonderful things about.

Blank Spaces will be screened alongside other winning short films during the festival. For more information on the festival and for screening details, please visit www.indianfilmfestival.com.au.


Indian New Zealand

Christchurch Update:Indian community continuesto rally around

‘Ethnic diversity has economic benefits’

The Wellington Indian Association and the Wellington Indian Sport club raised just over $20,000 during their annual bazaar (celebrat-ing the culture and food of India ) on March 5. Before the bazaar started, the WIA and WISC had pledged to donate $20,000 to the CCC Mayoralty fund, irrespective of the outcome of the Bazaar.

“We will deliver the $20,000 to CCC Mayor fund and the balance over and above that in its entirety (100 %) once we have a net profit figure. I estimate that to be a further $6,000 = $26,000 total,” Paul Soma, President of the Wellington Indian Association said in a communiqué.

sudima rises to the occasionIn another message to Indian Weekender, Sudima Hotels’ Sudesh Jhunjhunwala said, “Our hotel in Christchurch wasn’t affected by the earthquake and we are fine. As a matter of fact, we have become the hub of accommoda-tion for many of the emergency crews moving to Christchurch.

“We were also able to shelter about 900 people on the day of the earthquake – this has also been reported in the papers and this at-tached tourism website. I am very proud of our team who worked tirelessly in spite of damages suffered to their own houses and properties,” Mr Jhunjhunwala added.

The hotel offered free meals and provided pillows and bedding for the hundreds that wanted to stay the night. A free continental breakfast was also provided the next morning while people waited for the airport to re-open, the Tourism NZ website reported.

British man Peter Johnston and his son Darren were among the many who stayed at Sudima following the earthquake. They were glowing in their feedback of Warren and his staff, telling the New Zealand Herald newspa-per their story.

“They just took us all in – they gave us a blanket and a meal and you slept where you could. The staff and management were abso-lutely brilliant – if that’s hospitality, then that was a bloody good example,” Mr Johnston said.

Indian community provides ‘shoe boxes of Love’ for Christ-churchNational List MP Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi is calling on the generosity of the Indian commu-nity for the Shoe Boxes of Love initiative, de-signed to get care packages to quake affected people in Christchurch.

The boxes are care packages filled with goodies and feel good gifts, some which include personal notes of support, aimed to lift the spirits of the recipients.

“This is a great opportunity for us to show Christchurch residents that we are thinking of them, and doing our bit to help them get through this difficult time” says MP Bakshi.

People are asked to create a Shoebox of Love and deliver it to his Out of Parliamen-tary Office based in Manukau East. The boxes from around New Zealand will be sent to Christchurch and distributed by Rotary and other key support organisations.

Indian residents have been quick to offer support through financial donations and offers of accommodation.

“I have been overwhelmed and humbled by the level of support from our community,” said MP Bakshi, “we cannot underestimate the toll the earthquake is taking on Christchurch resi-dents. They are going to need our support for many months to come.”

The ‘Shoe Boxes of Love’ initiative is based on one that worked successfully in Queensland during the January floods, where over 11,000 packages were delivered to families.

Visit the website HYPERLINK “http://www.shoeboxesoflove.org.nz” www.shoebox-esoflove.org.nz for more information or ideas on what to include in your shoebox.

For further information please contact Ash Kaur at MP Bakshi’s Out of Parliamentary Office on 09 278 9302 or Email: HYPER-LINK “mailto:[email protected]” [email protected]

Have you or community undertaken a pro-gramme for Christchurch? Share it with us by sending your story and pictures, if any, to [email protected]

Mervin Singham with the Minister of Ethnic Affairs, Hekia Parata.

In the run up to the event, Indian Weekender editor-in-chief Dev Nadkarni spoke to Mervin Singham, Di-rector of the Office of Ethnic Affairs, who is based in Wellington, on the role of the office, its programmes to foster better understanding between ethnic com-munities and mainstream New Zealand and what the conference plans to achieve.Excerpts from the conversation: What can the office of ethnic Affairs and the New Zealand government do to in-crease the ethnic share of voice in main-stream media?

The New Zealand Government (including gov-ernment agencies such as the Office of Ethnic Affairs (OEA)) does not have any control over the media. However, OEA recognises the role that media can play in forming public opinion. Therefore, we consid-er it is important that the media increasingly portrays issues related to diversity more fairly, robustly and ac-curately. To achieve this, we have supported Ethnic communities to engage with mainstream media more effectively through workshops and other activities. We have also met with mainstream media to convey the importance of ensuring Ethnic people’s issues are reflected in mainstream media. One such meeting oc-curred in the NZ on Air Symposium where Ethnic communities, Ethnic media and Mainstream media met to discuss these issues and improve collaboration with each other.other than the media, what does ethnic affairs to do to promote acceptance of NZ as a growing ethnic melting pot to the so-called “middle New Zealand”

There is growing evidence that Ethnic diversity has benefits for the economy and social and cultural life in NZ. OEA actively promotes information on the benefits of diversity to the NZ public in order to promote acceptance and respect for diversity. For example, OEA has published a series of case studies on the benefits of diversity in a publication entitled ‘Riding the Wave’ in order to highlight how ethnic diversity benefits businesses. When New Zealanders see how ethnic diversity adds value to our country, it becomes much easier to create an environment of in-clusion for all people, irrespective of national origin, colour or creed.

Another area of focus for OEA, is the development of intercultural competence in NZ. This is important so people from diverse backgrounds can communi-cate more effectively and meaningfully across cul-tural boundaries. This is particularly important in the workplace because workplace integration supports stronger connections with the community as a whole. Strong intercultural competence in the workplace lifts organisational performance through increased productivity and innovation.

When employers recognise these benefits and have the tools to deal with diversity in the work-force, they will be more likely to employ people from diverse backgrounds. This will in turn lead to more employment opportunities for Ethnic communities. The OEA has run numerous intercultural communi-cation workshops with this goal in mind.How can the department help increase interaction between different ethnic

groups so they come out of the silo men-tality that seems to pervade individual ethnic communities?One of the biggest challenges in other countries that are as diverse as NZ is the avoidance of the develop-ment of insular minority communities that are not connected to everyone else. This disadvantages both the host as well as minority communities. The OEA works hard to build strong connections across com-munities to prevent this from happening. We have contributed to Interfaith dialogue and the develop-ment of intercultural awareness in NZ in order to promote the building of these connections that are vital to the health and wellbeing of our society.

The EthnicA Conference in April is one way we contribute to ensuring that Ethnic communities also actively interact with and learn from people of other cultures. We hope this will also encourage the devel-opment of Ethnic community solidarity - an ingre-dient that is essential in avoiding the development of silos within Ethnic communities.What are the biggest challenges facing the ethnic affairs department today?

One of the biggest challenges the Office of Ethnic Affairs has is meeting the huge demand from Ethnic communities for our advice and services. Ethnic communities are comprised of established Ethnic communities, migrants and refugees. Each of these groups has very different needs. There are also immense differences between each individual Ethnic community based on religion, language, culture and identity. The OEA seeks out the most efficient and effective ways of dealing with Ethnic community needs. We focus on dealing with strategic or systemic matters such as employment for Ethnic people or developing leadership capability within Ethnic com-munities rather than dealing with individual requests for support.What is the rationale behind the confer-ence?

The primary goal of the EthnicA Conference is to encourage the development of strong and self-di-rected Ethnic people in New Zealand. The EthnicA Conference is being organised to enable Ethnic people in Auckland to come together to consider a range of topics that are relevant to the future of Ethnic people in New Zealand. We are organising a number of plenary sessions and practical workshops to enable Ethnic people to build their knowledge and aware-ness of issues related to Ethnic diversity. We also want to arm Ethnic communities with the knowledge and skills they need to participate actively in all aspects of public life in New Zealand. It is also important to us that Ethnic communities enjoy the Conference and reflect on the huge contributions they are already making to this country.What do you plan to achieve at the end of the conference?

At the end of the conference, we hope to achieve the goals outlined above. We also want to see the development of stronger bonds of respect and under-standing across different Ethnic communities. This solidarity within the Ethnic sector will be the founda-tion from which Ethnic people can chart the course for their own future in New Zealand.

Conference to discuss ethnic diversity issuesCritical issues about New Zealand’s growing ethnic diversity will be discussed at a national conference on ethnic affairs in April.

The Office of Ethnic Affairs has invited key speakers to take stock of New Zealand’s journey as a diverse nation and consider what this means for the country’s future.

The Minister for Ethnic Affairs, Hon Hekia Parata, will open the conference and will outline the Government’s priorities in relation to ethnic communities.

‘’I’m looking forward to sharing ideas on how to further improve the social, cultural, and economic well-being of ethnic communities in New Zealand,” Ms Parata says.

Addressing key international trends, includ-ing the people’s protests in the Middle East, will be the US Special Representative for Muslim Communities, Farah Pandith.

Ms Pandith, who reports to US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, travels the world staying in touch with community groups and individu-als.

She says the number one issue for Muslim youth is figuring out their identity – how to be modern and Muslim.

The Director of the Office of Ethnic Affairs,

Mervin Singham, says “the conference will provide invigorating discussion. In addition it will also offer practical support and encourage-ment to ethnic communities.”

Mr Singham says “for example, the debate on “Multiculturalism in New Zealand: is it a myth or reality?” will help to prepare ethnic people’s participation in the constitutional debate that the Government has announced. The session on “Enterprising Synergies” in which welfare, immigration and community funding organisa-tions will contribute, will help ethnic organisa-tions to be innovative and self-sustaining.”

He says the Office of Ethnic Affairs is pro-viding an opportunity for people to boost their knowledge and engagement regarding issues that are relevant to New Zealand’s ethnic di-versity. “The inspirational programme is taking place all under one-roof, giving delegates a val-ue-for-money opportunity to access an intense array of ideas.”

The conference is being organised by the Office of Ethnic Affairs, at Alexandra Park, Auckland 1 & 2 April 2011. It is free and open to the public.

See the full programme at www.ethnicaf-fairs.govt.nz

A conference to discuss critical issues about New Zealand’s growing ethnic diversity is being held in Auckland on April 1 and 2. The conference, which is open to the public, will hear from expert speakers both from here in New Zealand and abroad (Details of the conference are elsewhere in this issue).


Indian New Zealand

‘SIT has a natural cultural fit with India’‘Ethnic diversity has economic benefits’

Southland based Southern Institute of Technology plays an important role in building skill capacity in a range of areas in one of New Zealand’s most sparsely populated regions.

Higher numbers of skilled people living and working in the region are vital for its economic growth. Over the years, SIT has been casting its net far and wide across the world to bring a wide range of students through its portals, many of whom settle down in the region after obtaining qualifi-cations in their desired fields, becoming productive contributors to the region’s economy.

SIT has a large contingent of students from India from across its courses and several students Indian Weekender spoke to love the experience of living and studying in Invercargill and Queenstown – where SIT has its campuses besides Christchurch. Many of these students come from rural India and find the easy going and close knit nature of SIT’s campuses comfortably familiar.

“We are a very safe and family oriented community here in Southland,” says Penny Simmonds, SIT’s chief executive. “Having recently travelled to India, I’ve seen how important family is to Indians. We have a strong family focus here at SIT and that’s a good natural fit for people from India.”

As well as the family orientation and the more relaxed and easygoing pace of life than one you would find in campuses in bigger cities, SIT’s sheer range of courses are a magnet for Indians for most of whom education is only the route to leading a bet-ter life.

“We have a good range of programmes at SIT, which are sought after by Indians: computing, business, commerce, digital media and many more are all attractive to Indian students.

Ms Simmonds says SIT is aware that many institutions around the country offer those courses. What differentiates SIT from oth-ers as regards Indian students is the total package that SIT offers.

“It is more than just offering courses. It is important to have more than that. For instance, how you try to integrate students from India into the local community, the importance of a family oriented commu-

nity, the ability to preserve and celebrate the culture back from home,” says Ms Simmonds. “I realised how important fam-ily values and culture are to Indians when I visited India.”

SIT works closely with Immigration New Zealand to assist students to study at the institute in Southland. “We welcome new migrants in the region. We need to build our population and have more skilled people to grow the economy here.”

Ms Simmonds says SIT has been attract-ing older students from India, many of them who come there with families. These are serious students intent with qualifying themselves and then settling down with a new start in life in a new region and a new country.

“With India, there is a natural fit – everyone speaks good English, we share a love of similar sporting activities and of course family orientation is something that is so important to Indians and we also have simi-lar work habits,” says Ms Simmonds

This situation works well for everyone – the student, the institute and the region’s economy, as the students often choose to live and work in Southland after gaining qualifications.

Ms Simmonds says Immigration New Zealand has successfully addressed the visa bottlenecks for students at its New Delhi High Commission and has consider-ably speeded up processes over the past 18 months.

“Obviously a lot more apply for various reasons than we can get here. But it is im-portant not to mislead potential students; it’s a matter of being transparent and telling students what to expect out of their living and studying experience here.”

SIT realises that Southland is not a des-tination with an appeal for everybody. It doesn’t have the trappings of big city life like casinos and neon-lit busy streets. But it does appeal to a growing number of people who are looking for an easier pace, family oriented environment to study, live and work.

And that’s not just the students. “We attract staff from the UK, South Africa, Australia, India and many other countries,” says Ms

Simmonds. “Most come here for the whole-some lifestyle and the family orientation that SIT and Southland offer.”

Though India is an important market and ever greater numbers from India are tak-ing up SIT’s wide range of courses, the institute is also looking at other markets around the world. “We are looking at China and Vietnam in Asia as well as at Europe and South America,” Ms Simmonds says of

SIT’s plans to cast its net wider in coming months and years.

“We are quite focused on growing student numbers – we have always been upfront about that since I took over in 1997. It’s simply because we need a bigger popula-tion of skilled people for the economic growth of a beautiful region the size of Switzerland but with just about 100,000 people.

dev NAdkArNI

Indian students add some spice to the Invercargill community

Penny Simmonds in her office in Invercargill


Indian New Zealand

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Roses are red, but … ?Roses are red, violets are blue . . . . ? This old phrase may be common as ever throughout the world, but for one Auckland family, it certainly is not living up to its colours . . . red roses that is.

For more than five years, Vijay Ramanlal and his family had red roses which always flowered red in their “rose bageecha”.

They had a few rose shrubs of other colours in the garden, but this week, the red rose tree, full of gorgeous red blooms, had an unusual bloom in their midst – a stunning white rose which has had the Patel family stumped.

“Never before this has happened,” Vijay told the Indian Week-ender this week. “It has always bloomed red flowers, we’re really proud of our roses and they are well looked after and add much beauty to our place.

“It’s a mystery, but the white one just adds to the beauty.”

Vijay’s sister, Ramilla, attributes it as a good sign and showering of blessing for her brother who married Freni Vijay Patel a month ago in Auckland.

“It’s a blessing for the couple,” Ramilla said. She said she was aware of hy-brids and different types pf propaga-tion, but was amazed that only a single flower turned white.“The whole tree has bloomed red flow-ers only this whole time.”Ramilla said the white flower had stayed full and bright throughout the week, and had just started losing its petals few days ago.

The family is keen to find out if anyone else can shed some light on the rare occurrence.

Indi King bigger and better than everThis year’s Indi King dance competition is set to be a hit with the addition of a com-plementary event, say the organisers.

The fourth annual dance competition, which will be held on May 7 in Manukau, will feature for the first time the King of kings competition in addition to the regu-lar event.

“After much research, I have decided to hold our 4th annual event at Telstra Clear Pacific Event Centre on the 7th of May,” event founder Yogesh Gounder said.

“I am looking to provide our participants with full glamour and professionalism this year with a large stage and Iifa awards style lighting, for each of them it will be a performance worth remembering,” Yogesh told the Indian Weekender.

Husband and wife teamYogesh and Mum-ta Gounder launched the first Bollywood Male Dance Comp Indi King in 2008 in a small town hall in Auckland. The concept boasts of a title of “The King of The Dance Floor” where the lead entrant wins $1000 cash as first prize.

Four years later, with the event growing each year in relation to talented dancers, supportive sponsors and loyal well wish-ers, Yogesh and Mumta have decided to take Indi King to the next level.Yogesh said the event this year would be

the biggest dance battle of the year where a special edition of complementing event of King of Kings was guaranteed to set the stage on fire.The concept of the Bollywood male dance competition came to Yogesh after the birth of his first son Raul (now aged three years).Having discovered that there was no platform for talented male dancers, Yogesh roped in Mumta as the manager to set up a unique event so that New Zea-landers could enjoy their very own Hrithik

Roshans, Shahid Kapoors and SRKs.

The past three years have been sellout successes for the husband and wife team, therefore with 2010 introducing the birth of their second son Rian (three months), the duo decided upon the King of Kings concept.“King of Kings comes once every three years, it is an additional and complemen-tary event of Indi King where winners of the past three years come together to

compete in the ultimate dance battle for the title of “The Ultimate King of the Dance Floor and a larger prize pool,” said Mumta.

“To make things a little more interest-ing, Yogesh introduced the concept of a wildcard entrant – Sid Krish to compete with Indi King winner ’08 Nav Chand, win-ner ’09 Sanil Singh, Winner ’10 Shamal Prasad. This was decided upon for three main reasons: Positive Attitude, Judges’ Scorecard and Public Demand.

So for the May Indi King event, they have seven entrants, and four for the King of Kings competition.With the couple both working fulltime in the financial sector/banking industry they understand about quality and profession-alism in the public’s eyes.

Says Mumta: “I can be proud of having my name attached to an event that brings glamour and fame to the youth of today and still maintains fairness and enjoyment. Yogesh and I are big fans of all things Bol-lywood.

“Indi King is our way of keeping that alive in the ‘real world’. Through the process we have met so many amazing and talented people which we continue to surround ourselves with. The production crew we have formulated all have strong passion for their responsibilities, these key attri-butes make our event successful.”

Indi King 2010 winner Shamal Prasad flanked by organisers Mumta and Yogesh Gounder.


Indian

Ghazal King Jagjit Singh’s 70th birthday celebrated

New Delhi: Perfect Harmony Productions, a leading name in the world of entertainment, glamour and glitz, created history by celebrat-ing the 70th birthday of Ghazal King Padma Bhushan Jagjit Singh with a unique evening of music featuring Jugalbandi of Gulzaar, Jagjit Singh and Pandit Birju Maharaj. It intends to take this Ghazal Symphony compilation by Jagjit Singh across the US, Europe, Asia and Australia on occasion on Jagjitji’s 70th birth-day.

Titled ‘Tridhara’, the evening was organised by Perfect Harmony Productions at Siri Fort Auditorium, New Delhi, where the legendary Ghazal King was felicitated. The jugalbandi of three legends; Gulzar, Pt. Birju Maharaj and Jagjit Singh was the attraction for all the guests and delhiites present there. During the program Jagjit Singh enthralled the audience with his popular ghazals including; ‘Wo Kaghaz Ki Kashti..’ and ‘Ye Daulat Bhi Le Lo, Ye Shohrat Bhi Le Lo..’.

On the momentous occasion, Ghazal Samrat Padma Bhushan Jagjit Singh said, “I’m happy that Perfect Harmony Productions has thought of multiple unique ways to honour me and fe-licitate me on the occasion of a historic mile-stone in my life! I shall celebrate Year 2011 with 70 live shows and take my music repertoire far and wide.”

Abhinav Upadhayay of Perfect Harmony Productions said, “India’s famed and finest ghazal exponent Padma Bhushan Jagjit Singh’s

legendary vocal repertoire and range along with complete mastery over Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu languages have helped him perfected the art of ghazal gayaki as well as to give well-rounded expression to his rendition of Indian classical music.

We are honored and proud to present on the world stage Jagjit Singhji as India’s goodwill and cultural emissary to spread the magic and melody of ghazals.”

– Santanu Ganguly

India

Resolve Telangana Issue: Baba RamdevYoga Guru Baba Ramdev has called for an immediate and clear statement from the Centre on the Telangana issue.

14th Mar, 2011: Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev on Monday called for an immediate and clear statement from the Centre on the separate statehood demand.

Addressing the gathering at a Yoga camp organized here, the famous guru stated that the call for a separate state has been resounding from across the 10 districts of Telan-gana. Despite this, the Centre has been maintaining silence on the demand, he said.

Pointing out that the call for separate statehood has intensified, Baba Ramdev said that the Centre has to listen to the voice of the people and immediately take a clear decision on the issue.

The Yoga Guru also stated that there should not be any more violence or ill-will in the society due to the separate statehood demand.

On March 11th, Baba Ramdev had opined that smaller states will ensure faster de-velopment and would be more convenient to administer. “Division of the state for the convenience of administration is advisable,” he had added.

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Indian India

Boat clinic for Assam district launched

Guwahati: A full equipped boat clinic, named ‘Numali’, is ready for service in Assam’s Sonitpur district.

The boat clinic has been sponsored by Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) to the Centre for North East Studies and Policy Research (C-NES) as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), an NRL release informed.

The boat will provide health ser-vices to the marginalised river island population of Sonitpur district as part of C-NES – innovative Boat Clinic pro-gramme under National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).

The inaugural function of the launch of ‘Numali’ was held on March 11 near Majuli Ghat, Jorhat, the site at which the boat was built. Senior officials from NRL led by B Ekka, DGM (HR), and C-NES Manag-ing Trustee and eminent writer-jour-nalist Sanjoy Hazarika were present at the launch.

NRL has funded an amount of Rs. 12 lakhs for the boat to support the boat clinic initiative in Assam.

The first installment of Rs. 4 lakhs was earlier handed over by the Manag-ing Director NRL, BK Das, to Sanjoy Hazarika in September 2010.

Lakshmi Puri appointed as uN Assistant secretary-General

New York: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday announced five senior appointments to several United Nations offices, including two deputies to the head of the newly-created entity for gender equality and the empower-ment of women. On the recommenda-tion of Michelle Bachelet, the Executive Director of UN Women, Ban appointed Lakshmi Puri of India and John Hen-dra of Canada to the positions of UN Assistant Secretary-General, accord-ing to the deputy spokesperson of the Secretary-General, Farhan Haq. Puri will serve as UN Assistant Secretary-Gen-eral for Intergovernmental Support and Strategic Partnerships at UN Women. She brings a wealth of experience to the position, including a long career at the UN Conference on Trade and Develop-ment (UNCTAD). She has also worked, in various capacities, for gender equality and women’s empowerment, human rights and peace and security.

sudhanshu Pandey turns prince

Mumbai: Guess who’s just bagged a plum role! Model-turned-actor Sud-hanshu Pandey will soon be seen in Zee TV’s Jhansi Ki Rani playing Yuvraj, the foreign-returned young prince of the Moth province. Sources revealed, “Sud-

hanshu essays the role of a young man who has returned from London, having studied Law there. He is suave, stylish ... a man who has adapted the ways of the Brits and finds himself at home in London rather than in his own country. “As a lawyer, he will be seen involved in the trial of the great Mangal Pandey, fighting the case on behalf of the British”. When contacted, Sudhans-hu said, “I personally enjoy the research and detailing that goes into planning the look, styling, diction and demeanour for such a role. I hope that the audience ap-preciates my work!”.

India Briefs

Is diet responsible for India’s high obesity, heart disease?

Is diet responsible for India’s high obesity, heart disease?The role of diet and eating habits in India’s progressing chronic disease epidemic is unclear but needs to be studied more precisely to establish a coherent relation between the two.

India has the highest prevalence of diabetes in the world. Indian people are also at a much higher risk for cardio-metabolic disorders at younger ages and lower BMI as compared with their Western coun-terparts.

Earlier studies have indicated that demographic changes, urbaniza-tion and changes in dietary patterns contribute to this trend. Although India is still trying to overcome poverty, under-nutrition and com-municable disease on one hand, the emergence of ‘nutrition transition’ due to economic betterment and industrialization is causing cardio-metabolic diseases, especially, in urban areas.

In India, diet varies from region to region. Amidst this “nutrition transi-tion” across the country, noticeable variation is seen among the popula-tion of north and south towards the susceptibility of cardio-metabolic risk factors related to diet. For example, high fat consumption, corresponding to approximately 40 percent of total energy intake, more so in Delhi and Mumbai, indicated that components of Indian diet may be contributing to this risk.

A multi centre pilot study by “India Health” was conducted to investi-gate the connection and correlation between regional diet and chronic diseases. It included men and women between the age group of 35 to 69, who provided lifestyle, diet, and medical histories, blood pres-sure, urine, fasting blood, and other anthropometric measurements such as skin folds, height, weight, waist, and hip circumference.

Two dietary patterns were identified with factor analysis in Delhi, Mum-bai, and Trivandrum, In multiple cas-es models adjusted for age, gender, income, education, religion, marital status, physical activity, alcohol, to-bacco, and total energy intake. As-sociations between regional dietary patterns and abdominal adiposity, diabetes, hypertension, and dyslip-idemia were investigated.

The results showed that more than 80 percent of the participants had abdominal adiposity and around 10 to 28 percent of participants turned out to be diabetics.’ In Delhi region, the “fruit and dairy” dietary pattern was noticed to be positively associated with abdomi-nal adiposity. In Mumbai, the “fruit and vegetable” pattern was in-versely associated with high blood pressure and the “meat and snack” pattern appeared associated with abdominal adiposity. In Trivandrum, the “pulses and rice” pattern was inversely related to high blood

glucose levels and the “snacks and sweets” pattern was positively asso-ciated with abdominal adiposity.

The study concluded that cardio-metabolic risk factors were strongly prevalent in the given population. Across all regions, it was noticed that there was very little evidence of Westernized diet. Dietary patterns characterized by animal products, sweets, or fried snacks appeared to be positively associated with abdominal adiposity. Traditional diets in the Southern region which mainly consisted of more pulses and vegetables showed the prob-ability of lesser risk of diabetes and hypertension.

The researchers felt that for better understanding of risk factors in the given population and the possible means of prevention, a continued investigation of diet, as well as other environmental and biological factors has to be studied further.


Indian


Indian IndiaMaruti Suzuki to promote aspiring engineers

Mumbai: Maruti Suzuki India Limited, India’s leading car manufacturer, is all set to provide a brighter future to a number of young engineer-ing students.

Maruti Suzuki and Society of Automotive Engineers (SAEINDIA) signed an agreement on Monday to support the SUPRA SAEINDIA 2011 competition. This competition promotes young engineering talent for automobile engi-neering and facilitates participants to conceive, design and fabricate formula-1 style sports cars.

The agreement was signed by Shashank Shrivastava, Chief General Manager (Market-ing) Maruti Suzuki and V Sumantran Chair-man, SUPRA SAEINDIA, in the city.

On the occasion, Shashank Srivas-tava, Chief General Manager (Marketing) Maruti Suzuki said, “Just in the past five years

the average age of our car buyers a drop of 10 years For these younger customers, we make youthful and energetic cars, while not compro-mising on the value of fuel efficiency.”

SUPRA SAEINDIA contest originated through the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE International) USA promises a level playing field to budding under graduate and post graduate engineers across India.

The contest provides an opportunity to showcase their skills, understanding and passion for automobiles.

The contest will see 44 teams create their dream cars and test at the renowned Madras Motorsport Club race tracks near Chennai. The winning car will be displayed at Asia Pacific Automotive Conference at Chennai in Oct‘11 and Auto Expo’

R.K. Narayan my favourite Indian writer: ArcherKolkata: Literature lovers in the city had a unique experience of interacting with re-nowned storyteller Jeffrey Archer, as he was here to officially launch his latest novel titled ‘Only Time Will Tell’.

Archer said, “I wanted a new challenge, something that will drive me. My earlier works were different and thus I decided to write this one. I did not know where I will go (the completion of the story) and that was the biggest challenge.”

“Only with this book that even in the last page I was not sure where I will go and end and there will be a twist,” he said.

Speaking Indian authors, Archer said that his favourite writer from the country is R K Narayan.

“He really can tell a story,” Archer said.“I feel that he needs world wide recogni-tion. When I tell people about him they often tell that they do not know about Narayan, but I feel that this is bad.” Archer said.

He said that it is necessary for a writer to stay in a place and grasp the local customs and traditions to compose novels or stories based on that locale.

“No I really need to live here to realize the manners, the customs, you cannot just write in 10 weeks,” he said.

“Everybody reading it will understand that he has popped in for the weekend,” he said.

“Speaking about his rewriting of his famous novel ‘Kane and Abel’ the renowned writer said: “I decided to rewrite it because i feel that if it lasted for 30 years then why wont it last for more 30 years, I want to write it for next generation and generation afterwards,” he said.

His latest book ‘Only Time Will Tell’ spans from World War I to World War II (1920 to 1940).


Indian India

DGCA to check all commercial pilots’ credentials

Indian Navy arrests 61 pirates

India monitoring probe in student’s murder in Australia

New Delhi: Alarmed after the expose of two pilots who procured commercial licence using forged documents, the Directorate General of Civil Avia-tion (DGCA) is now scrutinising the records of all pilots.

Two pilots have already been arrested this month after it was found that they had used fake mark-sheets to get commercial licence.

DGCA chief Bharat Bhushan said criminal pro-ceedings have been initiated against the Air India pilot who was found to have used forged documents in a scrutiny of credentials of pilots after another was arrested earlier this month.

Captain JK Verma was found to have used forged marks-sheet and has been immediately ar-rested.

Bhushan, emphasizing that the DGCA will ensure that all records are checked thoroughly, said only one pilot, Verma, was found to have used forged papers out of the 500 pilots checked so far.

The DGCA will be scrutinizing credentials of over 4,000 commercial pilots in the process.

Under the radar of suspicion are two pilots of Indigo and MDLR Airlines.

The first arrest was made on March 8 when Indigo pilot Parminder Kaur Gulati was apprehend-ed by the Delhi Police crime branch for using fake marks-sheet to procure her commercial licence.

Gulati had come under probe after her wrong landing techniques on several occasions caused damage to the aircraft, the latest being on January 11 when she made a rough landing at Goa airport.

New Delhi: Sixty-one heavily armed pirates were arrested and 13 sailors rescued by Indian Navy from a pirate mother vessel in the Arabian Sea, about 600 nautical miles west of India.

Navy sources on Monday said that the opera-tion was carried out by the force on Saturday night following warning signals received a day earlier.

The pirates and sailors were being brought to Mumbai and Kochi where their nationality will be verified.

The pirate mother vessel Vega 5 was intercept-ed by the Navy’s INS Kalpeni in the sea at 9 pm on Saturday.

Warships Khukri, a missile corvette, and Kalpeni, a water jet fast attack craft, were put on the trail of Vega 5 after naval surveillance aircraft Dornier picked a call from MV Vancouver Bridge that it was under pirate attack on Friday.

Kalpeni closed in on Vega 5 on Saturday night and a gun-battle ensued, during which the pirate mother vessel caught fire.

The navy recovered 74 personnel – 61 pirates and 13 members of the original crew.

The Mozambique-flagged ship was a fishing vessel that was hijacked on December 28.

New Delhi: Terming the rape and murder of an Indian student in Australia as “unfortunate”, India’s External Affairs minister SM Krishna on Monday said the government is monitoring the probe into the case.

“This is a very, very unfortunate incident. We are getting a report from our Ambassador, ” Krishna said.

“We are closely following and monitoring the investigation,” he added.

Twenty-four-year old Tosha Thakkar was raped and killed in northwestern Sydney last week alleg-edly by a storeman and her body was found in a suitcase.

Thakkar was murdered by a “predator who waited until their housemate was away to sexually assault and kill her”.

Stani-Reginald, from Croydon, was arrested late on Friday night and charged with murder.

Meanwhile, the Australian High Commission on Monday extended its condolences to the family and friends of Tosha.

High Commissioner Peter N Varghese had sent a personal message of condolence to Thakkars and also spoken to the family, the high commission in-formed in a statement.

“There is no indication that this awful crime was racially motivated. Our thoughts are with Tosha’s family and friends in India and Australia,” the state-ment said.

Attacks on Indians roiled Australia last year, but the alleged racial crimes had come down of late.

The girl’s rape and murder, however, left every-one shocked as the fear revisited the Indian diaspora.

Media also part of a corrupt society, says veteran journoKolkata: There are two ways for a journalist to choose- the honest and the dishonest, says veteran Journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta.

Thakurta was here on Wednesday speaking at The Bengal Chamber, India’s oldest chamber of commerce, in association with the KKN Group about the increasing corruption in the media world.

Delivering the 3rd of the ‘Think’ series lecture, on the theme ‘Corruption in Indian Media’, he said it is nothing unusual that that there is corruption in media, as the society itself is corrupted and media being a part of the society, is bound to be corrupted.

Citing the example of the movie ‘Citizen Kane’, he referred that there are two ways of success for a journalist-honest and dishonest way.

The honest way being tough and a time con-suming, whereas, the dishonest way is much easier very fast.

Thakurta said that it depends on the journalists

which way they will choose.He said: “We should not forget that still in

remote places, people have more faith in a journal-ist for justice than even the District Magistrate.”

Giving various examples of media houses in-volving in corrupt practices, he emphasised on the insti-tutionalisation of corruption in the Indian Media.

Referring to Julian Assange, he discussed the strength of a jouranlist which can move even the strongest institution of the world like the Government of America.

He said that the world is changing, and the people are becoming more aware of the happenings in the world, thanks to the media.

He said that in the days to come, corruption will slowly come to an end, and this will happen only if the media personnel remain honest themselves.

(Reporting by Arijeet Basu, Photos by Neelan-jan Barua)


Indian Fiji

Air Pacific, Fiji govt gesture for Christchurch

Fiji’s national carrier Air Pacific has thanked the Fijian government for granting a departure tax waiver to pas-sengers selected for

humanitarian flights being offered to New Zealand to support victims of the Christchurch earthquake.

Under the proposed Christchurch humanitar-ian initiative, up to 100 affected Christchurch resi-dents will be invited to spend one week at selected resorts in Fiji, and air travel and accommodation during the seven-day stay in resorts in Nadi will be complimentary.

“Air Pacific is extremely grateful to the Fijian Government and to our colleagues in various resorts here in Fiji for their assistance in this pro-posed humanitarian initiative.”

“This is an effort that was launched by the people of Fiji for the people of Christchurch,”

Samisoni Pareti, spokesperson for Air Pacific said.More information will be released once the ini-

tiative is finalised in conjuction with crisis manage-ment agencies in New Zealand.

Air Pacific and its subsidiary Pacific Sun to-gether fly more than 500 flights per week. The company operates B747, B767, and B737 aircraft to 18 cities in 12 countries.

Destinations include places like Hong Kong, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Western Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and of course Fiji. Air Pacific aircraft bring in over 66% of all visitors who fly to Fiji.

It employs over 950 people, earns gross revenue of F$600 million, and contributes 11% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Pacific Sun operates a combination of ATR 42-500s and De Havilland Twin Otter aircraft on Fiji’s domestic island routes and between Suva, Tonga and Tuvalu as well as between Nadi and Port Vila.

keresI NAuWAkArAWASuva: Suncourt Hardware director Dhansukh Lal Bhikha and former Ministry of Agriculture principal ac-counts officer Suliasi Sorovakatini were remanded in custody earlier this week after five assessors found them guilty of three counts of official corruption.

The pair appeared yesterday before

Justice Sitabarampillai Thurairaja in the High Court in Suva.

Justice Thurairaja passed his verdict after the five assessors unanimously found Bhikha and Sorovakatini guilty of three counts of official corruption each.The assessors found the two not guilty for one count of official corruption each and acquitted them for that count.

The charges relate to Dhansukh Lal Bhikha and others corruptly giving ben-efits to Suliasi Sorovakatini, on account of acts done by him in the discharge of his duties of his office in 2000 and 2001 when the Farming Assistance Scheme was in place. Sorovakatini’s charges relate to him corruptly receiving benefits in the dis-

charge of the duties of his office.

The assessors deliberated yesterday on their verdict for almost four hoursThe defence lawyer objected to them being placed in remand but Justice Th-urairaja stated they were now convicts and would have to comply.The sentencing is at 10am today in the High Court in Suva.

GeorGe rubINeSuva: A long time teacher and educator in the local education sector died in India at the age of 74.

Joan Raj Singh passed away in Gurgaon, New Delhi, India on Friday, March 4.

Mrs Raj Singh had an extensive career in ed-ucation in Fiji where she taught at Dudley High School, Suva Grammar, Marist Brothers High School and the University of the South Pacific. She was born in Rangoon, Burma and grew up all over India where her father was a govern-ment official.

She came to Fiji in 1961 after her post-graduate studies in India when she married Raj Singh whom she met at university.

Among other things, she was extensively involved in curriculum development for senior English and English Literature as Senior Educa-tion Officer in the Ministry of Education.

She also organised and choreographed the numerous Indian dances for the Fiji Indepen-dence Celebrations on October 10, 1970.

Joan Raj Singh was very active in a wide variety of social and philanthropic activities in Suva.

These include serving on the Vestry of the Holy Trinity Cathedral, the organising com-mittees of the Hibiscus Festival, the Secondary Schools Music Festival, and the Flower Show, being a Representative to the Fiji Council of Churches, Treasurer of the Fiji National Council of Women, a member of the Fiji Arts Council and PASEAWA.

But her most significant achievement was as a teacher and mentor to hundreds of young people over the forty years she lived in Fiji.

Suva: A team of plastic and reconstructive surgeons will be in Fijifrom April 11-15.

Their visit was made possible by the Rotary Club of Lautoka in collaboration with its interna-tional body-Rotary International.

The visit will see the team attend to people who otherwise could not afford making a trip overseas for medical treatment which the team would be bringing to our doorsteps.

Arrangements have been made for the two sur-geons, accompanied by two anaesthetists and four nurses from Interplast Australia and New Zealand to perform the treatment procedures on patients at the Lautoka hospital.

President elect of the Lautoka Rotary Club Rick Eyre said the aim of bringing the specialist team to Fiji was to treat the poor and disadvantaged of the local community who do not have the luxury of access to such services.

The Lautoka Club is hosting the visit, and the generous project is funded by Rotary International.

The Interplast team has been coming to Fiji for a number of years now and each time have provided

their services free of charge.Interplast functions from the contributions of

volunteer surgeons and other specialists, provid-ing free surgical and other allied health services to developing Asia Pacific countries, and its expenses are met by charity organisations such as the Rotary Club.

The team travels the region, providing treat-ments to hundreds of needy people throughout the year, and on this trip will be providing reconstruc-tive work for hypospadias, cleft lips and palates and acquired conditions such as burns and scars.

Most people living with deformities and disabili-ties are among the most disadvantaged, not only in Fiji but in the world. They are often unable to have access to such treatments because of poverty, isola-tion and lack of medical expertise in the area.

Mr Eyre said he was proud that Lautoka Rotary was able to be a part of a worthy cause and urged the public to take advantage of such an opportunity.

Appointments for treatment are being taken at the Lautoka Hospital.

– Fiji Sun

Bhikha, Sorovakatini found guilty

Eminent educator passes away in India

Top surgeons to provide free service


Indian Fiji

Suva: Some Fijians in Japan’s earthquake and tsunami-devastated areas have contacted the Fiji Embassy in Tokyo to say they are safe.

The Embassy revealed that an email network-ing was started by the Embassy on Saturday.

The emails solicited responses from Fiji na-tionals in the areas that were affected by the tsunami/earthquake that hit Japan last Friday.

“The email network started with a few cor-respondents being requested by the Ambassador to report their safety status and to send the same request to all Fiji nationals they know to do the same.” As at 10am Sunday March 13, the follow-ing was received:

In Niigata Arnold Kumar reported that he was

safe. In Fukushima, Nilesh Anand of Labasa, re-ported that he was safe.

In Saitama, Emosi Tuqota contacted the Embassy and confirmed he was safe. In Akita rugby player Setareki Tawake confirmed he was safe and he has confirmed the safety of four other rugby players in Akita.

In Fukuoka Dr Don Wilson and family are safe.

“He is also our contact person for Fiji nation-als in the southern parts of Japan,” the Embassy statement said.

In Tokyo all Fiji nationals whose email/phone contacts are with the Embassy were contacted and they reported that they are all safe.

sHIrI LAtA

Suva: Suncourt Hardware direc-

tor Dhansukh Lal Bhikha and

former Ministry of Agriculture

principal accounts officer Su-

liasi Sorovakatini were remand-

ed in custody earlier this week

after five assessors found them

guilty of three counts of official

corruption.The pair appeared yesterday

before Justice Sitabarampillai

Thurairaja in the High Court in

Suva.

Justice Thurairaja passed his

verdict after the five assessors

unanimously found Bhikha and

Sorovakatini guilty of three

counts of official corruption

each.

The assessors found the two

not guilty for one count of offi-

cial corruption each and acquit-

ted them for that count.

The charges relate to Dhansukh

Lal Bhikha and others cor-

ruptly giving benefits to Suliasi

Sorovakatini, on account of acts

done by him in the discharge of

his duties of his office in 2000

and 2001 when the Farming As-

sistance Scheme was in place.

Sorovakatini’s charges relate to

him corruptly receiving benefits

in the discharge of the duties of

his office.

The assessors deliberated

yesterday on their verdict for

almost four hours

The defence lawyer objected to

them being placed in remand

but Justice Thurairaja stated

they were now convicts and

would have to comply.

The sentencing is at 10am to-

day in the High Court in Suva.- Fiji Sun

Fiji nationals in Japan safeDecision on Casino plan soon, says govt


Indian

What kind of times did the Ramayana exist in?

Many western authors also say same thing like Graham Hancock, Eric Von Daniken etc. Right from marvel of building pyramid to perfection or many underwater cities tell us many things. Rightfully Mahabarat and Ramayana has to be coded. The authors simplied the subject which is far more complex.Thanks for sharing this article. Very nice to see Indian authors on this topic and helps get more Indians aware of our rich, lost past.”

-Sundar

Why unnecessarily imagine what times existed. Its about Lord Ram and his values. Why use Ramayana for any other purpose. Please read the purpose of Ramayana in ‘Valmiki Rama-yana’ and ‘Tulsi Ramayana’. Hope Tulisdas and Valmiki did not write Ramayana to be talked about like this. Why do this silly imagination about “True Past” etc...Ramayana is about Lord Ram – about Values. That’s it. Get it?

– Krish

Bank of Baroda starts full-fledged operations

Your bank service is best.-S.S. chauhan

Shivaji and the rebirth of a nation

Shivaji’s contribution to India is massive. The Muslim rulers in India were always looking to invite Afghans (the nearest Muslim majority territory) to invade India whenever the Hindus became strong. During the Maratha ascendancy, they invited Ahmad Abdali to invade India and he savagely destroyed and looted Punjab and other areas.

– Arjun Singh

The fact that Shivaji liberated Punjab after 800 years of Islamic rule is itself commendable and heroic. Forget Punjab, the Marathas had a clear plan to bring back Afghanistan back into the Hindu empire but the coming of the British spoilt their plans as they had to fight three wars against the British. It was just timing for the Hindus as they managed to beat the Muslims totally after all these centuries but Hindu rule over India lasted just 150 years before the Brits grabbed it slowly.

– Sandeep Mahendru

We need to build memorials

This is so timely. What we need is to build memorials to Sivaji so people understand his amazing contributions. Sivaji is one of the few pan-Indian names in the country, from Tamil Nadu to Bengal.

– Sneha Joshi

Shivaji liberated Punjab, but what is the situation now?

Shivaji may have liberated Punjab, but once again most of Punjab has nothing to do with India, and less said about Afganistan the better. The legacy of shame that the Nehru dynasty has brought lingers forever. The Punjab that remains in India is a tiny fraction of what Punjab really was.

-Maninder Singh

Can NZ Hindus kick start a social revival?

Good to see Hindus in NZ getting serious about social revival. In the US, we have a hugely effective Hindu body and now when mainline newspapers want a quote they call them. Hindus in NZ should actively follow that path.

– Anand Patwardhan

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 2 No. 24Publisher: Kiwi Media Group LimitedGroup editor-in-chief: Dev Nadkarni [email protected] editor: Arvind Kumar [email protected] Correspondent: Shobha Rao [email protected] technical officer: Rohan Desouza rohan@ indianweekender.co.nzdesign: Tanmay Desai [email protected] / www.desaign.co.nzAdvertising: Giri Gupta - Ph: 520 0922, Mob: 021 221 1131. Email - [email protected] email original editorial contributions, community notices and pictures to [email protected] expressed in the publication are not necessarily of the publisher and the publisheris not responsible for advertisers’ claims as appearing in the publication

Letters

Ten top stories on iwk.co.nz1 Japan quake: NZ sends rescue team2 Bollywood celebs at Chaska, Epsom

3 Juhi Chawla coming here soon

4 Hindus in Fiji mark Shivratri

5 Local filmmaker nabs top award

6 New Zealand Local filmmaker nabs top award

7 Quake impact on economy and mortgage rates

8 New Zealand Sikhs lifeline to Christchurchs Indian student

9 ‘I was put into sex symbol slot’

10 Celebrating Holi with a touch of Maori

11 Bollywood’s Hitler movie unveiled in Berlin

New Zealand’s Governor-General is currently appointed by the Prime Minister. do you think the holder of the most powerful office in the country should be elected by Parliament?

OpINION pOll:

Yes

75% 0% 25%No Not sure

When a street vendor in the Middle Eastern nation of Tunisia immolated himself in extreme frustration on being unable to gain redress after a raid on his humble enterprise by the country’s authorities, it set of a chain of events that has plunged the entire region into an unprecedented crisis.

It was as though this event was the last straw that broke the camel’s back in the Arab nation. The vendor’s tragic action became a focal point for the pent up frustrations of Tunisians; the spontaneous anti government protests turned violent toppling long reigning President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali who fled the country.

Soon, unrest escalated in Egypt. After eighteen days of raging violence President Hosni Mubarak resigned after mounting pressure from the nation’s armed forces.

The unrest has spread like a contagion to Libya, Bahrain and Yemen, with hundreds of deaths being reported. These countries have enjoyed a reputation as oil rich havens because of the opulent lifestyles of their leaders.

Recent events have however given the lie to that claim proving discontent among the hoi polloi had been simmering for decades and needed all but a nudge before it boiled over claiming hundreds of lives and sending the autocrats and their cohorts packing.

The common thread that runs through all the leaders of these countries is the wealth they have ac-cumulated at their people’s expense, keeping them in perpetual impoverishment.

While revolutions throughout history have been triggered by seemingly innocuous events like the Tunisian’s suicide, they are tipping points that turn the tide in a nation’s history exposing the raw nerve of the long suffering, silent multitudes.

Can this happen in the Pacific region? Let’s look at some of the ingredients that go into such a potentially explosive tinderbox.

For one, these countries are ruled by ironfisted despots – often, political dynasties leaving no room for dissent, debate or the fair distribution of wealth and essential services like education and health-care. Leaders build their power base and personal wealth on a structure that keeps the masses poor, uneducated, disempowered and all too focused on the business of survival.

This last point has become increasingly important for the poor in nations across the world as food prices have spiraled following a cocktail of circumstances ranging from the global financial crisis to climate change and freakish weather.

Add to that bubbling cauldron the fact that the Middle Eastern nations have shared histories as well as shared cultural and religious mores. They are also land locked facilitating an easier transfer of ideology and people.

But probably the factor that has the rapidest multiplier effect spreading such unrest in the most unlikely of places is the proliferation of mobile and online social media.

Both Tunisian and Egyptian protests are believed to have reached a critical point following Twitter and Facebook messages exchanged between citizens, spurring the regimes to pull the plug on internet services.

What has now come to be the “Jasmine revolution” is even reported to have spread to China, where authorities swiftly moved to snuff out even the slightest whiff of dissent.

The geography, social mores, political and economic ground realities and the levels of activism of Pacific peoples is vastly different. It is unlikely that the same drivers that sparked the revolution in the Arab world could drive similar movements in the Pacific.

However, leaders cannot afford to be complacent with that unlikelihood. None of the Arab leaders saw the revolutions coming until the tsunami of protesting citizens hit them from all sides, causing them to flee.

The extent of discontent among people, the deep distrust of politicians and their jetsetting lifestyles at taxpayer expense, their indulgence in corruption, nepotism and routine abuse of power eventually builds to a tipping point.

The ever-rising prices of food, fuel and essentials, diminishing opportunities for employment, worsening living standards brings the cauldron to a boil. All that is required to tip it over is the instant media that today’s communication technologies provide. It is by far the most powerful tool available to the common citizen. And no political leader of any hue anywhere can afford to ignore that.

So there is nothing to suggest that jasmines can’t bloom in our region. - Dev Nadkarni

Could jasmines bloom in our region?


Indian

A study on bias in cricket is long overdue. The sport is data rich – names of bowlers, batsmen and umpires are readily available. Crunch all that data and it won’t be hard to figure out if umpires are handing down tricky decisions based on race, re-ligion and country.

International cricket today resembles a geopo-litical battleground rather than a contest between willow and leather. The latest flashpoint was the high-octane 2011 World Cup game between India and England during which umpires Billy Bowden (New Zealand) and M. Erasmus (South Africa) and TV umpire R.J. Tucker (Australia) ruled an England player not out even after the electronic review system ruled in India’s favour.

The controversy would have died out as the tournament progressed but then Dave Richardson, the stuffed suit at the ICC, reignited it by criticising Indian captain M.S. Dhoni for disputing that deci-sion. Richardson, a servant of cricket’s governing body, was clearly out of line here by blathering off against Dhoni, cricket’s most valuable player.

The fact is that the fine print in the rule book is called into play only when Indian and Pakistani players are involved. In fact, players from the two countries are consistently handed out heavy fines or match suspensions or both while for similar of-fences, players from, say, Australia, England or South Africa get a mere warning or at worst a rep-rimand.

If you are not convinced there is bias in cricket, perhaps you should look at a study on bias in base-ball by Daniel Hamermesh, a professor of eco-nomics at the University of Texas, Austin. Among sports, baseball comes closest to cricket in the manner of play, terminology and gear.

After analysing 2.1 million pitches in Major League Baseball from 2004 to 2006, the study says that the highest percentage of fair calls occur when both umpire and pitcher (bowler in cricket) are white, while the lowest percentage is when a

white umpire is judging a black pitcher. The results showed that in about 1% of the pitches thrown, an umpire was more likely to rule in favour of the pitcher if both were of the same race or ethnicity.

What? A measly 1 per cent? Well, look at what the study says next: At first, this effect may seem trivial, affecting on average less than one pitch per game. The indirect effect--when players anticipate the effect of a biased umpire and strategically alter

their behaviour--may, however, have an even larger impact on outcomes.

Two such situations in cricket can be recalled here. One was the 2008 Sydney game where Aus-tralia, knowing that umpires Mark Benson and Steve Bucknor were handing down a spate of poor decisions against Indian batsmen, went for the of-fensive after being in hopeless situations several times. India lost that match which it could have won.

Again, in a 1978-79 series in Pakistan, Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar observed Pakistani pace bowler Imran Khan consistently overstepping the crease. Gavaskar, who was at the non-striker’s end, pointed it out to the umpires who ignored his pro-

tests, allowing Khan to bowl some unplayable no-balls that were not called. The series, which could have been a close one, became a one-sided contest which India lost 0-3.

Another study by economists Joe Price of Brigham Young University and Justin Wolfers of the University of Pennsylvania showed that during the 13 National Basketball Association seasons from 1991 through 2004, white referees called

fouls at a greater rate against black players than against white players.

Billly’s controversial decision was in fact the second time he went after the Indians in that match. Earlier, he insisted that Zaheer Khan move a step closer to the batsman in order to comply with the fielding restrictions. Billy in fact pointed at a spot with his boot where Khan should stand.

Would he treat an Australian differently? Perhaps he would. This is what former Australian test batsman Matthew Hayden writes in his new book Standing My Ground:

“I used every resource I legally could to enhance my game, and umpires were part of that process. Sometimes they’d drop subtle lines that I

considered important feedback. Bowden, in par-ticular, was good this way. During the match, I’d say to him, What do you reckon? And he’d say, Looking real good, just stay patient. I’d sometimes ask, Is he swinging that much? And he’d say, Oh, it’s just starting to reverse. Billy was brilliant that week.’’

Aren’t you supposed to be neutral, Billy?The bias in cricket is not just white and black,

of course. Bucknor, who is of African origin, had given unfair decisions against Indian players for well over two decades before he was kicked out in 2008. And strangely, Sri Lankan players, who have suffered extreme racism from the Australian Prime Minister down, have, after becoming match officials, penalised Indian players severely while letting off Australian, English and South African players with mere warnings. Ranjan Madugalle and Roshan Mahanama once fined an Indian bowler for over-zealous celebration.

So what’s the way out? Despite India’s aver-sion – in hindsight, justified – for the electronic review system, the way out is better technology and closer monitoring. Bias disappears under two con-ditions: one, when the game’s attendance is high or two, if electronic review technology is used.

There’s a reason for that. When you’re going to be watched and have to pay more attention, you don’t subconsciously favour people like your-self. “When discrimination has a price, you don’t observe it as much,” says Hamermesh.

To be sure, most umpires do not intend to be biased before a game. As the American researchers argue, bad decisions appear to be the result of im-plicit bias -- subtle mental associations that surface when people are forced to make snap judgments.

In the cricket world, with its considerable colo-nial baggage, that bias comes into play too often for comfort. Only fool proof technology can prevent needless controversy. For, clearly, there are a lot of fools out there.

Another International Women’s Day has come and gone. As usual, governments and organ-isations have paid the usual lip service to the importance of integrating women in all walks of life, giving them greater representation in parliaments and as well as a bigger share of voice in other areas of human endavour such as business, managing the environment and com-munity affairs.

But it is not often that a globally renowned organisation comes up with findings supported by hard numbers and statistics, which go to prove that involving women in areas where they are poorly represented not only makes sound economic sense but could also accelerate the world’s hard trudge out of the financial mess it has found itself in over the past few years.

The study has observed that organisations that are able to capitalise on the roles women play as economic actors will most likely have a competitive advantage as the world pulls out of the global recession.

Financial advisory services provider De-loitte, in its recently released report on ‘Gender Dividend’, is making a case for investing in women as they strongly believe that women may well be the dominant source of economic growth in the near future.

Taking cognizance of this fact, Deloitte aims to integrate women into both the workplace and the marketplace, under its new initiative called retention and Advancement of Women (WIN).

Such integration leads to Gender Dividend – a steady benefit that is earned by making wise,

balanced investments in developing women as workers and potential leaders as well as under-standing women as consumers and their impact on the economy and the bottom line. It also re-flects in increased sales, expanded markets, and

improved recruitment and retention of a key talent segment.

Latha Ramanathan, Senior Director, De-loitte Touche Tohmatsu India Private Limited says, “As of June 2010, 29 countries had reached or exceeded the 30 percent mark in women’s representation in parliament; of these 29 coun-tries, at least 24 had used quotas. India with a population of 500 million women does not figure in that list.

“The world over, organisations and gov-ernments are working at policies and enabling institutional arrangements to bring more and more women into the workforce. These include affirmative actions in the areas of recruitment, retention and board level appointments of pub-

licly listed companies, to flexible working ar-rangements and childcare policies.

“It is time, we in India, looked at similar actions to encourage more women to both study and move into the workforce to leverage their

earning potential as also ensuring their conti-nuity in workforce by creating a conducive and supportive work environment at our farms, con-struction sites, offices etc.”

Deloitte emphasises on this positive change that leads to double-digit difference in produc-tivity between those organisations with more women as leaders compared to those with less. Women’s earning power is growing even faster in developing countries, where their earned income grew at a rate of 8.1 percent, compared to the 5.8 percent rate for men. In short, women constitute the largest emerging market the world has ever seen.

Having said that, in BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) labour force participa-

tion rates for women lag those for men, and even when women are working, turnover is higher for women than men or women fail to advance. In other words, leaders continue to overlook and underutilise women as a source of talent.

What may be missing in many of these in-stances is the hard, cold fact that not capitalis-ing on women as workers and consumers has real impact on the bottom line and overall success of an organization. To bring home this reality, investing in women must be taken out of the realm of ideology and into the executive suite, or better yet, the balance sheet. Promot-ing women needs to be viewed as any other business decision—and that involves building a solid business case.

Investing in women should be no different. But the business case is only the beginning. Programs and initiatives will need to follow that promote and support women and a proactive push must be made to include women at every level of an organization.

Ultimately, women must become a seamless part of management—not just a novelty to serve what is erroneously perceived as a niche market. Only by embedding gender diversity into the core decision-making processes of a company can the true Gender Dividend be reaped.

For an organisation to grow, it needs to develop all of its resources, men and women alike. Having both men and women in decision-making roles gives organisations the perspec-tive they need and helps in solving complex problems or innovating.

Comment

rAkesH krIsHNAN sIMHA

dev NAdkArNI

Are cricket umpires biased? You be the judge

Women in business generate more profits

A study of cricketing data is needed to establish if there is implicit bias. Whatever the outcome, only better tech-nology and closer electronic scrutiny of umpires will check poor decisions.

The study has observed that organisations that are able to capitalise on the roles women play as econom-ic actors will most likely have a competitive advantage as the world pulls out of the global recession.

After analysing 2.1 million pitches in Major League Baseball from 2004 to 2006, the study says that the highest percentage of fair calls occur when both umpire and pitcher (bowler in cricket) are white, while the lowest percentage is when a white umpire is judging a black pitcher.


Indian


Indian

Sri Kalgidhar Gurdwara is the largest religious place in New Zealand connected to the Indian Diaspora. This magnificent building is housed in 8.6 acres of prime flat land in the Takanini suburb in Auckland and home to the revered Sri Guru Granth Sahib. This nodal Sikh place of worship has over 8000 devotees visit it over any given weekend thus again making it the most visited re-ligious place in the country. The foundation stone of this temple was laid by the traditional Sikh Panj Piaras in the presence of the then Prime Minister Helen Clark who was a regular visitor throughout her tenure as the leader of the nation. This project was completed in a record time of 2.5 years under the able leadership of Daljit Singh JP. The build-ing houses a modern

stainless steel 220 m2 kitchen and a angar hall on the ground floor and the main assembly hall on the first floor were a congregation in excess of 5000 can assemble and listen to kirtan in the presence of Guru Granth Sahib. There is also a three bed room accommodation for the religious minister apart from cricket, soccer, volleyball and kabadi ground.The official opening ceremony was held on the 13th of March 2005 and ever since its annual anniversary function is celebrated with intense religious fervour around the middle of March. As of today the total assets on this site are about $10Mn and the NZ Sikh Society Auckland which is a registered charitable trust

manages the day to day operations.

Recently the 6th anniversary was cel-ebrated with great religious enthusiasm and fervour. The cel-ebration spanned over a week and every day there was a func-tion culminating in a large function over the weekend where over 8000 people paid obeisance and partook langar in community kitchen as per established Sikh traditions. A noted Sikh scholar and preacher Bhai Pinderpal Singh had specially come all the way from India to interact with the community and share his knowledge and love for the religion. The in house kirtan jatha led by Bhai Jeet Singh Jeet and Bhai Gurpreet Singh Jalandharwala also regaled the audience with mesmerising kirtan and sang hymns from the revered Guru Granth Sahib. After a week long string of religious functions, the celebra-tions were culminated with traditional Indian games like Kabadi, Soccer, Volley-ball. There was also a kabadi competition for young children. In line with the impor-tance the Sikh religion accords to women, a special musical chairs competition was also held for the girls.

Dr. Rajen Prasad, Dr. Jackie Blue and Dr. Paul Hutchinson all parliamentarians also graced the occasion and gave out the prizes to the winners in sport. This annual Kabadi competition is soon finding a place on the international kabadi circuit as two international teams, one from Australia and the other from India had specially flown in to participate. The final trophy was won by the team from India after beating the Australian team. The following local teams participated – Doaba Club, Kalgidhar Club, Sikh Sports Club, Des Punjab, Dashmesh Sports Club, and Waikato Sports club. In the final match the Sikh Sports Club Tauranga wrested the trophy by defeating Kalgidhar Sports Club Auckland in a nail biting 31-27 win. In vol-leyball the final was between Pukekohe Spikers and Kalgidhar Lions in which the team from Puke-kohe won the trophy. In soccer, Massey United de-feated Auckland lions and lifted the trophy.

Prabhjot Kalkat was nominated as the best soccer player and Dilawar Haripuria was declared the best kabadi player. A team of highly trained and specialist umpires and referees were on hand.

The commentary was being done by Jarnail Singh Rahon from Hamilton and the well known Makhan Ali had been flown in specially from India. On the sports field, entertainment scaled a new height when well known Punjabi singer Mangal Hathoor took over the stage. Another high point of the day was the breathtak-ing and fiery display of the famous Sikh martial arts display called Gatka by the group from Tau-ranga referred to as Dashmesh Akhara . A 10 year old boy named Harshbir Singh Samra was the shining star in the Gatka display and left the crowd speechless as he deftly controlled the tra-ditional sword and displayed his talent of using it.

Overall it was day surely etched in the memory of the Sikh community in New Zealand and it ended at 6 PM after all the winners were presented trophies. This has been an excellent endeavour of the management committee to involve the young and old in the celebrations and give it an all inclu-sive community feel to the whole show. It is perti-nent to mention that many non-Sikhs but of Indian origin were participating in the celebrations.

Community

Takanini Gurdwara celebrates 6th Anniversary

People’s Advisory Panel


Indian Community

Dates announced for Howick Ward by-election

Holistic health focus of Hindu conference

A by-election will be held in May following the res-ignation of Howick Ward councillor, Jami-Lee Ross.

The by-election will be conducted by postal vote and Howick Ward residents will receive voting doc-uments from Thursday 5 May, with polling to close at midday on Friday 27 May.

Voters have until midday, Thursday 7 April 2011 to check that they are on the electoral roll or to update their details. The electoral roll to be used for this by-election can be inspected at the electoral office (details below), P a k u r a n g a Library, High-land Park Library, Howick Library and Botany Library.

Enrolment details can also be checked by calling 0800 ENROL NOW (0800 36 76 56), by visiting HYPERLINK “http://www.elections.org.nz/”www.elections.org.nz, at any NZ PostShop or by freetex-ting your name and address to 3676.

Nominations are now sought for the position of councillor and close at midday, Thursday 7 April.Candidates must be nominated on a nomination paper available by:l visiting the electoral office, Independent Elec-tion Services Ltd, Ground Floor, Bledisloe House,

24 Wellesley Street West, Aucklandl phoning 09 973 5212l visiting www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

To be eligible to stand for the position, a can-didate must be a New Zealand citizen who is en-rolled as a Parliamentary elector anywhere in New Zealand.

The Mayor has taken the opportunity of the announcement of the by-election date to pay tribute to new Botany MP Jami-Lee Ross whose resignation as a councillor led to the by-election.

“Jami-Lee has served his community well as councillor. I know he will continue

to be a strong advocate for Howick and the Auckland region in our nation’s parliament,” says Len Brown.

“It’s important that people take part in the demo-cratic process so their voices can be heard on the big issues facing Auckland.

“The council is focused on how we tackle Auck-land’s transport problems, keep rates affordable and turn Auckland into one of the world’s most liveable cities. The new councillor has an opportunity to help shape our region’s future.”

There are approximately 90,000 electors in the Howick Ward.

The Hindu Council of New Zealand and Waiwhetu Marae are jointly organising the second regional Hindu Conference in Lower Hutt, Wellington on Saturday, April 9.

Theme of the conference is “Hindu-Maori Per-spectives on Holistic Health: from Individual and Whanau to Community”.

The conference will discuss Hindu and Maori perspectives on the interdependence of individu-al, family and community for building a healthy society.

Workshop and plenary sessions at the confer-ence will deliberate on two main areas:l Individual health – will discuss how the prac-tices of yoga, meditation, ayurveda and Maori medicine can contribute to enhancing the general, physical, mental and social wellbeing of commu-nities in New Zealand.l Healthy families and communities – will discuss the Maori concept of Whanau (family) comple-mented by the Hindu concept of Vasudaiva Ku-tumbakam (world is one global family).

The session will also draw from the experienc-es of the volunteers from the Hindu Community to build a stronger community.

The conference will hear history of the Waiwhetu marae, the people who make up this community and their perspectives on whanau wellbeing.

Dr Nagendra, the President of Hindu Univer-sity of America and Vice-Chancellor of SVYASA Yoga University (India), will be the keynote speaker at the conference. Dr Nagendra holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and has been a research associate at NASA.

The speakers in this session consist of local practitioners of Maori, Ayurveda and Western Medicine. A quick glimpse at the line up of local speakers:

Dr. Raj Vinod Anand, General Practitioner at Wellington hospital and President of Art of Living Foundation in New Zealand;

Dr. Vijay Senan, practicing psychiatrist in the Wellington region

Prajakta Joshi, an Ayurveda doctor.The conference will also featureYoga for kids – Carpet Ride and Yoga Safari

for 5 to 10 year oldsPre-exam yoga – “how to be an effective test

taker” workshop for youth, featuring Yoga pos-tures, breathing and visualisation techniques to improve the ability to focus. Conducted by Shri. Sou. Riri Trivedi ji who runs her own yoga school in Singapore with specialised yoga programmes for kids.

The conference will be suitable to health practitioners who are interested in holistic view of health, community development practitioners, government agencies that work with families and communities, community volunteers; researchers and academics; students and any members of the public who have an interest in the above stated topics.

Early bird registrations for conference will close on 1st April 2011.

AROGYA (Aotearoa Research Organisation for Generic Yoga and Ayurveda), the health divi-sion of Hindu Council of New Zealand, in partner-ship with SVYASA Yoga University, is conduct-ing a Yoga Instructor’s course in Wellington from 10th to 22nd April. Mohan Tewani and Subhadra Tewani of SVYASA University will travel to Wel-lington to conduct some of the key sessions of the course in Wellington. They will also conduct a Stress Management program in Wellington.

Highlights of the Stress Management pro-gramme are:

35 minutes of practice equivalent to 6 hrs of good sleep.

Helps reduce stress and treatment of ailments such as hypertension, diabetes, asthma etc (stress related).

For more details on the 2nd regional Hindu con-ference in Wellington, or activities of AROGYA – Wellington, please contact:

Dr Rajiv Chaturvedi, Ph: 021 079 5036, Co-ordinator 2nd Regional Hindu Confer-ence. Co-ordinator 2nd Regional Hindu Confer-enceRam Bharadwaj Ph: 021 241 7825 Wellington President, Wellington Regionemail: [email protected] email: [email protected]

Celebrating Holi with a touch of Maori

Holi – the Hindu Festival of Colours – will be celebrated at Rotorua SoundShell (on Memorial Drive) and Village Green, Rotorua on Sunday, March 20.

As part of the festival, a ‘Mehndi Moko’ workshop will be held from 9.30am till 10.30am at the SoundShell for the benefit of the Rotorua public, in particular the arts community.

The workshop will include both Maori and Hindu designs and will be run by Gina Wright, a well known Maori artist.

Recently, Gina Wright was invited by the organisers of the 5th Annual Henna Gathering (25-27 March 2011) at Provi-dence, Rhode Island, USA. Gina has been requested to conduct two workshops on Mehndi Moko at the international gather-ing. It is the first time an artist from New Zealand has been invited for such a gather-ing.

Gina Wright said that the international demand for high quality Mehndi Moko has been overwhelming, and she feels privi-leged to represent Rotorua, Aotearoa on the international stage.

“By holding workshops and classes I have been able to promote this art form to a wider range of people sharing the many benefits of this contemporary adaptation of an ancient art form,” Ms Wright added.

“Despite lack of public funding the mo-mentum of this art form continues to open markets and promote our culture on a scale unforeseen.

The concept of ‘Mehndi Moko’ was born in Rotorua in 2010 during the first Rotorua Holi Festival organised by the Hindu Council of New Zealand, with the bless-ings of elders at the Te Papaiouru Marae, Rotorua.

Last year’s workshop not only brought together two art forms (Mehndi and Ta Moko) but also gave birth to a new phrase – Mehndi Moko.

“It is pleasing to know that an art form born of a cultural exchange here in Rotorua is receiving such recognition and appre-ciation internationally,” said Dr Magesan, General Secretary of Hindu Council of New Zealand.

Those who are interested in attending the Mehndi Moko workshop on Sunday, 20 March need to register their names with either Gina Wright [[email protected]] or [email protected].

There will be a registration fee of $10. Seats are limited and registrations are on a first-come-first-served basis.

Holi is a festival of fun accompanied by folk songs and dances. People celebrate it by covering each other with coloured powder, and drenching with coloured water, in a spirit of merry making. This colourful festival bridges social gaps and differences, bringing people and communities together.

Last year, in addition to Rotorua public, international visitors from Germany, Neth-erlands, France, Belgium, England, Canada and Brazil also participated in the festival.

One of the key objectives of this festival is to encourage youth to not only partici-pate but to also learn to organise festivals at a community level. This Holi festival will be run by youths – mainly teenagers from various communities.

The committee comprises the following: Praneita Narayan, Navneet Nair, Murali Magesan, Deepika Magesan, Valencia Herbert and Gabriella Wright with guid-ance from Dr Meeta Patel and Dr Guna Magesan.

“Given the support this festival is re-ceiving, it is not difficult to visualise the real potential for the Rotorua Holi Festival becoming a permanent Youth festival in Rotorua,” said Ms Praneita Narayan, the co-ordinator of this festival.

The official festival will start at 11am with a Maori welcome. Food and other stalls will open for the public, where Indian food, clothing and craft will be available. A number of dance performances and an Indian dance competition will also take place, followed by traditional Indian games and Holi folk songs. From 2.30 to 3pm, par-ticipants will get an opportunity to indulge in customary revelry with coloured powder and water.

This festival is a smoke-free, alcohol-free and meat-free festival with free entry to the public. Rotorua Holi Festival is sponsored by Rotorua Civic Arts Trust; we sincerely thank our sponsors, supporting organisations and media partners for their support.

For more information: Please email [email protected] or visit our Facebook page www.facebook.com/rotorua.festivals .

The by-election will be conducted by postal vote and Howick Ward resi-dents will receive voting documents from Thursday 5 May, with polling to close at midday on Friday 27 May.


Indian Community

Sachdev, pala in Ethnic People’s Advisory Panel

New book examines Asians’ role in Kiwi society

Leaders of Indian and Fiji Indian origin Jeet Sachdev and Ann Pala have been selected as members of the Auckland Council’s Ethnic Peo-ple’s Advisory Panel.

The entire panel comprises Kudakwashe Tuwe – Zimbabwean; John Hong – Chinese; Ann Pala – Fijian-Indian; Camille Nakhid – Trinidad & Tobago; Jeet Suchdev – Indian; Bevan Chuang – Chinese; Sadiqa Hajee – Bahraini; Kafeba Per-goleze Alvis Mundele – Congolese; Amail Habib – Pakistani; Susan Zhu – Chinese; Asoka Basnayake – Sri Lankan; and Grace Ryu – Korean.

“The diversity of our communities is one of the features that make Auckland such a special place,” Mayor Len Brown said. “More than 180 different ethnicities call Auckland home, giving it a cultural richness and vibrancy second to none.”

“Our strength lies in our variety, in our many different communities; but while diversity brings strength, it also holds within it the possibility of division. The challenge of our new Auckland is to reach out, connect, and genuinely value each other.

“It’s important that our diverse communities

have a mechanism to communicate and engage with Auckland Council, and have a say in the future of Auckland.”

Councillor Richard Northey said, “This group of people represents a wide range of ethnicities, backgrounds, personal skills and experiences and areas of Auckland. With the calibre and competen-cy of these 12 candidates, and their collective ex-perience in community networking and advocacy, we are confident this panel will be an authentic and articulate voice for all the ethnic communities of Auckland.

“They will advise us on, and actively bring to our attention, the issues facing all our ethnic com-munities throughout Auckland now and in the future.”

“We are a city of 1.4 million people, and it is vital that the diverse communities that make up Auckland, be they the rural community, business, Pacific Island people, et hnic communities, people with disabilities or young people, have a means of communicating with the council and its representa-tives,” Mayor Brown said.

Fifteen writers contribute to an important new book, Localizing Asia in Aotearoa, examining the role of Asians in New Zealand’s ethnically diverse society.

The contributors explore the complex picture of past and contemporary interactions between New Zealander and Asian communities. They address questions such as: What kinds of misrepresentations or outright prejudice have characterized interac-tions? To what extent have Asian cultures been known and accepted? Has diversity been understood beyond limiting and potentially distorting oppositional dichotomies?

Edited by University of Otago academics Paola Voci and Jacqueline Leckie, the book contains essays and personal narratives. Various ethnic and national groups are dis-cussed, including Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Asian, Maori and Pakeha.

It is that time of the year to have some fun n frolic and what would be a

better way to do it with some Music and thoda Masti.

Join in to support the new group of musicians with some new and

some known singers who promise to mesmerise you with recent hit

Geets, Sufi andaz, Dhoom Dhadaka and more Dhamal songs.

All this is happening at ‘krazzy tunes - Total Filmy.... tadka

Maarke........’

The entry is only $15 and it’s happening at the Avondale College The-

ater, Victor Street, Avondale, Auckland from 6:30 PM onwards Saturday,

26 March 2011.

So who is with t

his new Funky Desi band? Here’s who:

The new - Kavinesh, Moushumi, Priya & Sashi

The known - Ashish, Kanik & Sneha

The guests - Manju & Viraj

The concert will feature for the first time in a Auckland Bollywood Con-

cert – a Saxophone and Accordion player

The event is bought to you by CFI Events in association with Indian

Weekender.

Contact Ram Iyer on 021-529 982 , 09-827 0559 or HYPERLINK

“mailto:[email protected]”[email protected] to

book your tickets.

Don’t miss ‘Tadka Marke’ next weekend


Indian

It’s official. BollyworX has come to Papatoetoe. With the amazing success of BollyworX in New Lynn and Mt Roskill where weekly classes are run, SPROUT has successfully launched the Bollywood music based fitness phenomenon last month at the ISSO temple in Papatoetoe. BollyworX is SPROUT’s popular weekly group workout for South Asian families.

The ‘Swasth Jeevan’ initiative of Counties Manukau District Health Board has made this physical activity opportunity possible for South Asians in the Manukau area. SPROUT in col-laboration with ISSO temple is providing the weekly BollyworX in Papatoetoe.

BollyworX is a “Work out” based on Bollywood music which will burn calories, build, tone and sculpt muscle, perk up stamina and endurance levels. BollyworX is designed to give an awe-some cardio workout and help in developing balance, posture and core strength and chal-lenge co-ordination and mental agility. Most of all it will make you feel so good that you won’t even realise you’re exercising! No dance experience is required because this is not a dance. BollyworX is not dance but a workout that everyone can enjoy without feeling self-conscious it’s suitable for all ages and fitness levels and you can start anytime. Typically a BollyworX session plays about 10 to 12 songs for workouts.

The many participants who enjoyed the full-body workouts, also got the opportunity to get their weight, hip to waist ratio measured. For those who continue, there will be periodic mea-

surements. During these sessions SPROUT will also organize nutrition sessions and promote active lifestyle. All for free. BollyworX is run by Netfit trained community coaches who are committed to make a difference at the grass roots level.

BollyworX is a registered trademark of Sports Recreation and Outdoors Trust (SPROUT) a grassroots community health organisation which is an action oriented, charitable, volun-tary and non-profitable trust. SPROUT aims to educate, encourage, promote and provide opportunities in sports, recreation, outdoor pursuits and balanced nutrition to achieve greater wellbeing for people of South Asian origin in New Zealand.

A recent health assessment of Indians in Auckland shows that our key health risks are cardiovascular disease (CVD), Type-2 Diabe-tes, Obesity etc and one of the key reasons is a sedentary lifestyle and lack of physical activity. BollyworX is a culturally appropriate program

to help overcome these health risks.

BollyworX instructors Amanda says “The good thing about BollyworX is that it is addictive and on the average calorie burn is from 200-400 calories per one hour class depending on the intensity of the class and of course, how hard you work out.”

Vidya one of the BollyworX instructors says BollyworX appeals to the Indian community as the music is familiar, catchy and whole families can take part. “Even my Mum and people in our community think it’s really easy and they see they can achieve good fitness.

Deepti Masarani is a regular participant at the New Lynn classes says “Frankly, I’m not a gym person but I knew I needed to work out and it was fun and I wanted to continue with it.” The 43-year-old says she’s since introduced several friends to BollyworX. “They thank me all the time and they go regularly now. Its Indian music but I think all cultures can enjoy it.

Community

BollyworX now in papatoetoe

Classfied AdsWanted Experienced tow truck driver for towing cars to Penrose yard Auckland.You can contact us on 021 507097 or 021 351 352. Jeew Or Stephen

What: BollyworX - Get Fit Indian Style

Papatoetoe bollyworXWhen: Every ThursdayWhere: ISSO SwamiNarayan Temple, 10-12 Wentworth Avenue, Papatoetoetiming: 7.45 pm to 8.45 pm

Mt.roskill bollyworXWhen: Every Wednesday Where: Mt Roskill War Memorial Hall, 13 May Road Mt Roskilltiming: 6.30 pm to 7.30 pm

New Lynn bollyworXWhen: Every SaturdayWhere: New Lynn Community Centre, 45 Totara Avenue, New Lynn timing: 11.15am to 12.15 noon

5 Easy tips for Diabetes.

Practice Pranayam ( breathing exercise ) everyday - for classes contact - Aaryan 6223308)

Take 1 tablet of Madhu-nashini along with 1 tab-let of Chandraprabhavati twice a day.

Mix 1 cap (JMJK) Jamun Juice & Amla juice and add 100gm of hot water, drink it twice morning and evening.

Pressing the point under the small-est finger below the life line is the acupressure point for Diabetes.

After meals take a long walk & avoid sleeping after lunch. Eat green vegetables and avoid sweets.

More info: jmjk.co.nz


Indian Community

Success leads to garden project expansion

The former Manukau City Council’s ini-tiative to proactively address deepening health concerns in a large section of the population by promoting healthy eating has proved to be a great success, en-couraging the new Auckland Council to expand the project.

Over the past two, the Manukau Parks Growing for Health – Teaching Garden project has had more than 1000 people involved in its innovative programme.

An alarming 74% of the local popu-lation is considered obese with 12,000 diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and a further 12,000 suspected cases.

Eating a healthy diet of mostly or-ganically grown vegetables can go a long way in providing the required balance to a diet otherwise deficient in fibre and other valuable nutrients that come from veggies.

The Growing for Health project en-courages people to grow their own veggies themselves and then enjoy their health benefits. Project Manager Varsha Belwalkar says, “We provide garden plots, seeds and mentors to teach how to plant, grow and manage vegetable and fruit gardens and encourage people to grow their own kitchen gardens in their homes. And it is free.”

The Teaching Gardens project sup-ports the Let’s Beat Diabetes Gardening

for Health and Sustainability initiative. The model is one of experiential learn-ing of basic horticultural husbandry techniques delivered by paid mentors.

Plots are allocated to an individual or a group to grow vegetables for a season, and participants are taught a range of skills from seed germination through to harvesting. The project is based on two 20-week courses aligned to the winter/summer seasons. The 20-week course prepares participants to grow their own fruit and vegetables at home.

“We started with 4 Gardens – 2 in the Mangere area and 2 in Papatoetoe. The concept was to bring all community to-gether and enjoy the parks -- Extended recreation,” says Ms Belwalkar.

Two more gardens will be developed this year and new programmes will also include cooking classes – free (Vegetar-ian cooking) as also Food Processing as an extension of this programme.

The programme won the award for best project of the council last year.

“We are starting new season – mid March. Please come and join this free programme,” says Ms Belwalkar.

For more information about joining the project call 09 262 8900 extension 5183 or mobile 0274731078. Website: www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

Samaj seeks views on rest homeThe Bhartiya Samaj Charitable Trust plans to set up a rest home spe-cially designed for South Asian commu-nities.

“We intend to fulfill the cultural needs of our respected elders which seems to be missing in the existing rest homes,” says Samaj trustee Jeet Sachdev.

According to the trust’s plans, doctors, nurses and caregivers who understand South Asian languages and are familiar with cultural values will be made avail-able. Home cooked food will be provid-ed and served in the rest home.

“An assurance will be given that there shall be no lack of companionship and

communication as the most common language shall be used so that under-standing each other does not create an issue. They will be entertained with the installation of the popular Indian TV, movies, etc.” Mr Sachdev says.

“Bhartiya Samaj Charitable Trust will consult, collaborate, initiate and sup-port the process of brainstorming on the future of old age nurturing, for our com-munity in New Zealand.”

The Samaj is seeking views of the wider community and has set up a survey page on the following website:

www.surveymonkey.com/s/bhartiyas-amaj


Indian


Indian

Mumbai: Action Director James John is all set to come up with his first movie as a director, titled ‘Rocky- The Slave’.

The film will feature new faces like Preeti Mishra and Islam Qureshi.

Directed by James John and produced by Shobha Barla the film will feature popular B-town names like Shakti Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Pradeep Kabra, Gavin, and Sanjeev Siddharth.

Shakti Kapoor said, “Aboutt 30 years ago I worked in a movie Rocky which was successful and now with the same titled movie Rocky-The Slave is coming and I am acting in this movie too. I hope audience will like it”.

James had directed action scene for movies like ‘Ziddi’, ‘Border’, ‘Daag-The fire’ and ‘International Khiladi’.

James got his name in Guinness Book of world record for his stunt in Ziddi movie as he had jumped from 9th floor.

Speaking about the movie James John said: “As you all know I am a stunt master and you will see more of action in my movie. I have taken fresh faces like Preeti Mishra and Islam Qureshi and with that we have Jackie Shroff and Shakti Kapoor in the main lead.”

James turns director with

‘Rocky- The Slave’

Jealousy rules Bollywood: Kangana

Mumbai: She’s outspoken and not one who’s afraid to rustle a few feathers with her comments. And she was quite in the mood when she came to the sets of ETC Bolly-wood Business.

In a candid chat with host Komal Nahta, Kangana Ranaut confessed that as an out-sider – an actor without industry pedigree – she felt angry at the ones who had it.

“I’m angry at some people in the industry. If the star kids fly a kite, so much is writ-ten about it. And when people like me win international awards, we are ignored. People from the industry send gifts to me-diapersons’ homes, invite them for dinners, send money to them…90% media toh unke chacha, taya, betiyaan aur boyfriend se bhaare huye hain! Outsiders like me are left out because, ‘She’s not blue blood naah’!” fired Kangana.

“No room for love…only jealousy rules Bol-lywood!” she said.

At just 23 years of age, the beautiful Kangs does get very affected by the rumors floated about her.

“I’m just 23 years old. So when people write that are malicious and untrue, that malign me, I do get hurt.” Ouch… The feisty girl still wasn’t done, as Komal realized.

She continued, “Softer feelings like love and compassion are ignored here. Jeal-ousy bahut hain iss industry mein. Kaafi log apna time aur paisa kharch kate hain doosron ke bare mein galat khabar chap-wane mein!”

Taking a cue from her on screen persona of Tanu (from the film ‘Tanu Weds Manu’), Kangana sure still has some acidic com-ments.

bollywood

Aaron KashyapBA, LLBBarrister and solicitorLevel 1, 351 Manukau Road, PO Box 26-596, DXCP 32513, Epsom, AucklandMobile: 0274 857 302 Phone: (09) 6238277 Fax: (09)6235177Email: [email protected]

For all your legal needs


Indian bollywoodJhansi Ki Rani gets her looka-likeMumbai: A quick glance at the picture and you’d think it’s the Jhansi Ki Rani from Zee TV’s ongoing historical saga. But a closer look and you’ll know it’s someone else impersonating the Rani!

So who is this new girl on the block who’s dis-guising herself as the legendary female freedom fighter?

It’s newbie Ishita Vyaas whose uncanny re-semblance to Kratika Sengar has landed her the role of Jhalkari Bai. Well, the current track of the show reveals the entry of a mysterious character who everyone mistakes for the Rani herself!

Will she prove to be of any strategic help to the Rani in combating the British forces? Or is she a mere pawn in the hands of the British who they will manoeuver and manipulate as they plan a conspiracy against the Rani? Whether she’s a positive or negative character remains to be seen!

Speaking of the introduction of Jhalkari Bai, ‘Queen Bee’ Kratika said, “Ishita’s got strong, sharp features ... and an oval face like mine! With the right kind of make-up, she can be made to look very similar to me. She’s passed the real test of re-semblance recently, when some unit members actu-ally mistook her for me!”

Akshay Kumar turns Home Delivery guy

Mumbai: The ‘Khiladi’ of Bollywood,

Akshay Kumar is back in his chivalrous

avatar when he will be seen battering hoo-

ligans in the new television commercial by

Dollar innerwear.The Master Chef notices goons pester-

ing nubiles in his restaurant. After trash-

ing them, Akshay in his inimitable expos-

ing Dollar vest says, “Free home delivery

bhi karta hoon.”The secret of the Master Chef turning

to a home delivery boy after the rough

treatment towards the eve-teasers will be

revealed; once the commercial will be re-

leased on air from the first week of March.

This is for the first time where the

stunts of the film has been directed by

Hong Kong’s eminent stunt co-ordinator,

Ridley Tsui.The action of the commercial film will

mesmerize the audience as the aerobatics

were performed by none other than Akki

himself.Sharing his views on the commercial,

Vinod Gupta Managing Director , Dollar

Industries said, “We are extremely hopeful,

that this commercial too will be well ap-

preciated by the audience just like it’s pre-

decessor. The previous advertisement was

a huge success because of the action syner-

gized with the humour aspect.”He further stated that the advertising

spend for the coming fiscal year will be

Rs.25

Mumbai: Rapper Hard Kaur is is on full swing of popularity these days with her new song ‘Faltu’ from a movie of the same title doing good at the charts.

The song has been specially appreciated by the youngsters as it speaks about their life style.The lyrics of this foot tapping number has been given by Sameer while the music has been composed by music director Sachin-Jigar.

The youth could relate to the whole song, which says “party all night without doing anything and just enjoy”.

If you want to party and have fun then this song is a must to listen, Kaur says, adding that she has sung it very intensely

Hard Kaur in full swing with ‘Faltu’

Mr. perfectionist turns 46

Mumbai: Monday was a very special day for the ‘Mr. Perfectionist’ of B-Town, Aamir Khan. The talented Indian actor turned 46.

Known for his brilliant acting and portray-ing different kinds of characters on screen, Aamir is busy these days shooting a action thriller that is directed by Reema Kagti.

Aamir will be seen sharing the screen space with Bollywood beauty Rani Mukherji.He will also feature in the next film of the thrilling ‘Dhoom’ series titled ‘Dhoom 3’.

And after John and Hrithik, Aamir Khan will now be seen as the bad man in Dhoom 3, which is surely going to be a different experi-

ence for all fans of Rancho from 3 Idiots.

The three leading ladies of B-town, Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra and Katrina Kaif are fighting hard to become the female lead in the Aditya Chopra produced film, oppo-site Aamir Khan who is supposed to sing a song in the film, media reports said.

Besides acting in so many films, Aamir is also busy as a producer with his next ven-ture ‘Delhi Belly’ that will feature Imran Khan, Shenaz Treasuryvala, Rahul Pendkalkar, Vir Das, Kunal Kapoor in the lead roles.The film is all set to hit the big screen on July 1.


Indian


Indianbollywood

The poker-faced actor, who speaks without pitch or tone, holds his tongue firmly in cheek and sometimes chooses to smile. Besides Ang Lee’s film, he, is also playing one of the two villains in Marc Webber’s remake of Spiderman! But the actor of Slumdog Millionnaire and Name-sake does not seem to be excited. He’s been there, done it. Excerpts:You do not seem to be overly excited about these two important happenings in your life. May we ask why?I am basically an actor looking for good roles under good banners in good films. The origins of the pro-ducer do not concern me. The first film I played the lead in, The Warrior was an international produc-tion. Hardly anyone knew me then. The film won several awards and was screened in India much later. It is not the glamour of the banner that attracts me. It is the role. I also worked in A Mighty Heart and New York I Love You apart from Slumdog Mil-lionnaire and Namesake. I recently completed a TV series called In-Treatment, which stars Gabriel Byrne and Debra Wenger. It is a series about thera-pists and patients. So, what’s new?

but you are going to share screen space with Gerard depardieu, one of the greatest actors in the world in Life of Pi. does this not excite you?I feel deeply honoured to share screen space with him, not excited. I think it will be an excellent learn-ing experience. Depardieu is playing Chef, an im-portant character. I am looking forward to my first 3D film to be shot majorly in the ocean with small,

lightweight, RED Epic cameras. Lee says that Life of Pi will change the way people look at the sea. I am honoured to have been chosen by Ang Lee to play the adult Pi in this Booker Prize winning novel. A large chunk of the novel takes place on the sea. I am no longer the age when everything seems exciting.

Are you disappointed when your films do not do well at the box office?It’s normal, isn’t it, for any actor to feel disappointed when his film does not do well? But the disappoint-ment is momentary and you cannot let it get you down. Life goes on and you are constantly working in different films so you look ahead, not behind. So, I concentrate on the assignments I am working in at that point of time. A film is a very intriguing com-modity. No one can tell whether the film is going

to work for the audience or not. Even when every-thing seems perfect on paper, after editing and post-production, the whole thing might suddenly change and the audience reacts to it in a completely different manner. A great deal depends on the strange chem-istry that sustains between a film and its audience.

What about the disaster Hisss turned into?What about it? I do not regret having worked in the film at all because it gave me the wonderful oppor-tunity of being directed by Jennifer Lynch. It was a brilliant experience. The way she saw the story was amazing. The film had marvellous special effects that should have appealed to the audience for shock value. It was a horror film, but it talked about many things like life, death, respect for animals and respect for nature. There were many layers to the

film. You cannot rubbish it just because it did not do well commercially. I was looking forward to other films like Saat Khoon Maaf and Knock Out too. Neither of them turned out the way they were expected to. It’s all in the game.

You are said to be very choosy about ac-cepting films. Why?I am choosy because I cannot afford to repeat myself as an actor. I cannot afford to get typecast though some films have featured me as police officer but the characterizations are different. My name sells because filmmakers and my audience like my acting. I do not have a face that can sell tickets, let’s face it. I tried out a new look in Knock Out and the director liked it. Vishal Bharadwaj presented me very differently as a poet in the public domain and a pervert in private life in Saat Khoon Maaf. I am con-stantly looking for stories that portray me in charac-ters I have not done before. The co-star matters a lot to me too and I am particular about who I share a lot of screen space with especially when some scripts demand more of interaction between and among actors than action and reaction. For me, working with Chitrangada Krishna after a long gap for Yeh Saali Zindagi was a wonderful experience.

We would like you to tick off your personal favourites over your career spanning 25 years or so.Haasil is the first film that established me as an in-dependent actor on the big screen. The others are The Warrior, Maqbool, Life in a Metro, Namesake, Slumdog Millionnaire, Mighty Heart, Billoo, Dil Kabaddi, Saat Khoon Maaf, Thank You and Paan Singh Tomar

‘I cannot repeat myself as actor’ The biggest thing happening to Irrfan Khan’s career as an actor is that he has been roped in to play the lead in Ang Lee’s 3-D screen adaptation of Yann Martel’s Life of Pi. Shoma A. Chatterji pokes him over lunch at a Cairo hotel recently.


Indian bollywood

Punjabi actor Mannat shooting her first Hindi film

Raghuvir’s Hitler unfurled at Berlin

Mumbai: Popular Punjabi actor Mannat is busy shooting for her first Hindi film titled ‘Haule Haule Ho Jayega Pyar’.

With Indian festival of colours, ‘Holi’, round the corner, a Holi song sequence was shot in a village of Punjab recently, which featured the beautiful Punjabi actress.

Mannat said, “We enjoyed a lot, the whole song was very colorful and enjoyable. We don’t find any Holi song in today’s movies but I am happy there is one song in my movie. Director had shot it very beau-tifully. I hope this song will be liked by audiences.”

Mannat will be seen sharing screen space with actor Shakti Anand.

The movie is produced by Rakesh Uppadhaya and directed by Pankaj Batra.

“I am very happy about this movie, it’s a beauti-ful story about a family which is to be shot in Punjab and Canada. Shakti Anand is opposite me besides the other actors like Gulshan Grover, Sunita Dhir, Vikram and Priyanka Shah,” Mannat said.

Berlin: The film ‘Dear friend Hitler’ starring Indian actor Raghuvir Yadav in the role of Hitlar was unveiled in the Berlin Film Festival.

The idea of an Indian actor playing the character of Hitler was appreciated at the Berlin film festival.

Raghuvir Yadav who has played the character of Hitler says: ‘It’s very diffi-cult to play such a multifac-eted character as Hitler.”

“When we took the out-takes of the film to the Berlin Film Festival, the audience was excited at the prospect of seeing such a subject and the character of Hitler played by Bollywood actor,” Anil Sharma, the film’s

producer, said.Interestingly, the

Berlin film festival gave a clear idea of the movie to everyone.

Filmmakers got a chance to clear their misconception about the movie that it’s not about Hitler’s ideology but how his ideology of violence conflicts with Gandhi’s ideology of peace.

Anil Sharma said: “There is no appraisal or reverence of Hitler’s char-acter in the movie.”

The actors of the movie have basically worked on their part of character

rather than highlighting on the controversial facet of the movie.

Mirch Masala to be screened at John F. Kennedy CentreMumbai: Ketan Mehta’s classic film ‘Mirch Masala’ will have a special screening at The John F. Kennedy Cen-tre in Washington DC on Mar 20.

“It’s a moment of great honour and pride for me that film Mirch Masala, considered one of the first truly cross-over films and perhaps the first feminist film on the Indian Diaspora, is selected amongst others to feature portrayal of women in Indian films since the 1960s ,“said Ketan Mehta, who will be present on the occasion in Washington.

The John F. Kennedy Centre is current-ly holding the Maximum India festival featuring the dance, music, cinema, literature, theatre and cuisine of India from Mar 1 to 20.

Ketan Mehta’s movie will be screened on Mar 20 at Terrace Theater.

Mirch Masala is a film about oppres-sion. It’s the story of a feudal village in pre-Independence India and how the powerless of the village—the old men and the women—risk all they have to fight that oppression.

The film comprises of few of the popu-

lar names in Indian cinema: Naseer-uddin Shah, Smita Patil, Raj Babbar, Suresh Oberoi, Benjamin Gilani, Om Puri, Deepti Naval, Ratna Pathak Shah and Supriya Pathak.

“Mirch Masala was a film that cut straight across the social lines. The power of cinema lies in its ability to cut across social barriers. We used meta-phor of Mirch Masala to symbolize the fiery strength of a woman and above all a human being against all forms of oppression. The film portrays the feisty and fiery, uncompromising and strong willed woman who fights to save her dignity against all odds.”

“Kennedy centre enjoys an interna-tional reputation for the quality of films screened at the festival. I am complete-ly thrilled that a film like Mirch masala is selected for screening,” he said.

Apart from the screening of ‘Mirch Masala’, Ketan Mehta will also be a part of discussion on Indian women in films on Mar 15 that will be moderated by actress Nandita Das with Shabana Azmi, Sharmila Tagore, director Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Dilip Basu.


Indian Heritage

‘HOLI’ is not just about colours

Originally Holi festival is known as Utsav of ‘Holika’ or ‘Holikotsav’. It’s also celebrated as spring (vasant) festival in northern In-dia. But Holi is not just about colours as it is quite symbolic of the colourful diversity in India. A closer look at Holi reveals an Indian lifestyle which is so colourful in every way that it comes across as an over-whelming experience to a tourist. But the humble desi takes it for granted as he lives and breathes those colours everyday..

rang barse…Where can we see the daily colours of India. Here’s a glance into the everyday colours: To start with the Indian kitchen, the critical masala dubba has so many colourful spices. What to say about the colourful Indian textiles, regional fashion, colourful designs, patterns etc. For example just one Rajasthani turban has a smorgasbord of colour. What about the colourful make-up on the face of a Kathakali dancer? Want to see more colour…here’s just a random list of colour-ful stuff India is made of - Indian cuisine, Indian thaali, festivals, Indian architecture, landscape, ecology, soil, temple frescoes, folk art, bangles, sarees, duppattas, handicraft, bedding, bridal wear, gems and jewellery, traditional kitchenware, home decor, carpets, the pooja alter, the bazaar…. the list goes on. Even our regional profiles and skin shades are co-lourful. Kitne rang bare hain Bhārat mein. This is the daily Indian holi we see day in and day out.

Holi prācheen kaal se bhārat mein…Traditionally the story of Holi is associ-ated with the devotional story of devotee Prahlad and the demoness Holika. Holi got its name as the “Festival of Colours” from Lord Krishna’s colourful play with his devotees in Mathura where he used to drench them in water and colours. Also, it has mention in early religious works, ancient Indian literature etc. A textual ref-erence to Holi is found in the 7th century Sanskrit drama, Ratnāvali where a scene talks about the townsfolk who are danc-ing at a jetspray of coloured water and coloured talcum powder.

Various references are also found in the

sculptures on the pillars and walls of old temples. A 16th century panel sculpted in a temple at Hampi, the ancient capi-tal of the mighty Vijayanagara kingdom, shows a Holi scene where a prince and his princess are surrounded by maids waiting with syringes to wet the royal couple in coloured water. There are old paintings that depict royal Holi scenes with people merry making throwing the colours of Holi at each other - be it the old Ahmednagar paintings or the traditional Rajasthani Me-wari paintings or even the Bundi miniature art.

Holi ka sandesh…As we all know Holi is connected to the legend of bhakta Prahlad’s devotion to Lord Narayana and how the Lord enabled his escape from death at the hands of Holika. In the words of H.H. Swami Shivananda, the meaning of the story is “… to remind people that those who love God shall be saved, and they that torture the devotee of God shall be reduced to ashes… The call of Holi is

to always keep ablaze the light of God-love shining in your heart. Inner illumina-tion is the real Holi. The spring season is the manifestation of the Lord, according to the Bhagavad Gita. Holi is said there to be His heart. “

Holi ke rang aur gulaal… Originally the making of the Colors of Holi was totally or-ganic. The colors of Holi, called ‘gulaal’, in the medieval times were home made. The main ingredients for gulal were the forest flowers of the ‘tesu’ or ‘palash’ tree. In those days, these, bright red orange flow-ers were collected dried and then ground to fine dust. The powder when mixed with water made a beautiful orange-red dye. This pigment and also ‘abeer’, made from natural colored talc were the ancient colors used during Holi. In fact abeer’s co-lours are derived from flower extracts like that of aparajita, marigold, hibiscus and dopati. They were certainly not harmful as it was naturally good for the skin, unlike the modern day synthetic colours.

From north to south and east to west, In-dia has colours that are so unique that one wonders if Holi is celebrated every day. You will not get such a colourful a country anywhere else in the world. That’s prob-ably why it is termed as a ‘subcontinent’. It is no surprise that India has always been known to the world for its brilliant colours since ancient times. Colours too are heri-tage of India.

Holi ka SMS: Here’s a cool and colour-ful Holi SMS: “Khaa key gujiya, pee key bhaang, laaga k thora thora sa rang, baaja ke dholak aur mridang, khele holi hum tere sang. HOLI MUBARAK”.

Happy Holi everyone. Have a safe Holi.“A closer look at Holi reveals an Indian lifestyle which is so colourful in every way that it comes across an overwhelming experience to a tourist. But the humble desi takes it for granted as he lives and breathes those colours everyday.

rAM LINGAM

Holi means fun. Holi means colours. Holi is one of the oldest Hindu festivals that goes back thousands of years. Like any Indian festival, it is full of meaning. But Holi is not just about colours…


Indian

There is an acute shortage of rental properties in Auckland. Any good property available for rental evokes very good response and landlords get mul-tiple enquiries on listing. With demand exceeding supply, rents are creeping up.

So what are the reasons behind this rising rents scenario? Broadly there are two reasons. The first one is that new house construction activity is very low. Funding to developers is not easily accessible, majority of non banking fi-nance companies collapsed with financial crisis hitting the world economies, banks were never eager to lend to develop-ers earlier also, they are not eager even now. So de-velopment funding has dried up.

The second one is the reduction of tax gains to landlords on hold-ing of investment properties who are thus trying to recoup lost revenue by raising rents. According to one Goldman Sachs economist, one possible reason for rise in rents is that landlords are try-ing to recoup their losses in respect of reduced gains by increasing rents.

The financial crisis started with falling house prices in US. Though the New Zealand situation is different to US, it has created nega-tive attitude in the minds of public about investing in housing. Coupled with that constant media reports, views of differ-ent experts expressing fears that house prices will fall further have only added to disinterest in the minds of public about buying houses. The Government made the things worse by removing depreca-tion allowance and making some other changes to taxation of rental income.

In my column in this paper dated 26.03.10 titled “Tax Working Group rec-ommendations have created uncertainty in property market” I had warned that the timing is wrong to remove depre-ciation allowance on residential house buildings. In that column I had written:

“I have read different comments in re-sponse to articles in media where many people feel that property investors do not do any service to society by invest-

ing in properties and renting them out. It is true that a capitalist invests money for his own profit, but if we look at dif-ferent economies, these are the capital-ists who invest and create employment opportunities for others. Of course they do not do it for charity, but it will be unfair not to recognize their contribution to society. Similarly most of property in-vestors have built property portfolios by working for longer hours, saving money by sacrificing their life style. They are doing a service to society by buying houses and renting those out to those

who cannot af-ford to buy. Even Housing New Zealand is depen-dent on property investors to fulfill the demand for housing.”

Further I wrote, “Everyone needs a roof on his/ her head. New Zealand popula-tion, particularly Auckland popula-tion is growing each day. More and more houses are needed. In case of lack of first home buyers, property inves-tors fill the gap. So Government should avoid making any dras-tic changes.”

But the Govern-ment, not only removed depre-ciation allowance to property inves-tors, but also tightened rules in respect of LAQCs.

This is happening when the interest rates are very low; imagine what will happen to rents when interest rates start climbing.

Reduced tax advantages have reduced the attractiveness of owning rental prop-erties. Considering tight lending criteria of different banks, many of first home buyers are unable to get a loan and buy a house. Low construction activity, lack of interest by property investors in buying rental investment properties is creating a shortage of available hous-ing for rent. The position will keep on worsening, unless corrective measures are taken immediately.

Ravi Mehta is an Auckland based Financial Advisor and can be contacted on [email protected]. A disclosure statement under Securities Markets Act relating to his services is available on request and is free of charge.

Are you covering, or carrying risk? House rents in Auckland – why are they going up and up?

Column

Most people insure their cars and properties against damage and loss, but many neglect to insure their lives and livelihoods. Even those who have thought to protect their lifestyles may not have the levels of cover they need. When was the last time you as-sessed the risks to you and your family?

Life insurance products (sometimes known as ‘risk’ insurance) are designed to provide a backup

plan to hold things together when life turns an un-expected corner.

These products can pay either a lump sum or monthly payments to the beneficiary in the event that the insured person dies, or suffers a critical illness or an illness or accident that prevents them from earning their usual income and maintaining their lifestyle and financial commitments.

If you have answered ‘No’ to any of these questions, then you are likely to be ‘carrying’ some level of risk or, in other words, be underin-sured. Doing a lifestyle check with an insurance adviser will show whether you have the right kind of insurance for your stage of life. We can help you understand the risks you are carrying,

and provide advice on how best to manage these risks within your budget.For further information, please contact:Oliver Pereira – OPM Insurance Services Ltd.Ph. 0800 66 77 92 Faxmail. 021 551 669 Mobile. 021 66 77 92Email. [email protected]

so, can you afford not to have insurance?

tHINk About tHese sCeNArIos…

You or a family member needs to go to hospital to have a major operation (perhaps for breast cancer or heart bypass) – would you be prepared to wait on the public health system for treatment, with little choice regarding the hospital care you would receive?

You are unable to work for six months due to illness or injury – do you have enough savings to see you through without damaging your long-term financial goals?

You or your partner suffers a life-changing and traumatic event such as diagnosis of cancer, a heart attack or stroke, and makes a slow recovery – would you have enough savings to live on during recovery and adjustment without adding financial stress to the situation?

You die suddenly leaving your partner and children behind – would they cope finan-cially without an insurance pay-out?

Yes No

Yes No

Yes No

Yes No

oLIver PereIrA

‘HOLI’ is not just about colours

reCIPeby ruby dhillon

Dum Pukht Mutton BiryaniIngredients4 - cups long grain basmati rice (boiled)500g- diced mutton(boneless)3tbs-Ginger paste3tbs-garlic paste4tbs-lemon juice7tbs-vinegarSalt according to taste5-green chillies2-onions into paste1/2tsp-kesar (saffron),soaked in a little warm milk3-onions sliced along the length20gms Chopped fresh coriander leaves Special Dum Pukht Masala2- daalchini sticks (cinnamon)1tsp-zeera (cumin seeds)4-Laung (cloves)2-Bari elaichi(black cardamom)

Oil for frying

MethodMarinate mutton with ginger, garlic,vinegar,lemon juice, green chillies chopped and salt for an hour

Dry roast the Daalchini, Zeera, Laung and Bari Elaichi ( special dum pukht

masala) in a non stick pan over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes and grind well to a powder. Heat oil in a wok and fry onion paste until golden. Add marinated mutton alongwith marinade and freshly ground special dum pukht masala.Cover and cook until mutton is tender, adding little water and ensuring that the gravy be thick.Slice the 3 onions and deep fry them, keep aside. Pre heat oven to300 F.Take a baking pan spread boiled bas-mati rice at the bottom. Layer the rice with half of the mutton and continue with alternate layers ending with rice on top.Sprinkle saffron on the top and garnish with fried onions.Cover tightly with a lid or foil and place in hot oven for 15 to 20 minutes.Ensure that the lid or foil is sealed air tight and locks in the steam as this is basic to Dum Pukht style of cooking.Serve immediately with raita and chopped coriander.

rAvI MeHtA

The financial crisis started with falling house prices in US. Though the New Zealand situation is different to US, it has created negative attitude in the minds of public about investing in housing. Coupled with that constant media reports, views of different experts expressing fears that house prices will fall further have only added to disinterest in the minds of public about buying houses.


Indian travel

Europe’s fabulous party central, IbizaANMoL trIkANNAd

As the snow in the mountains of Europe melt, people shed their winter coats and boots to signal in the spring/summer shorts and jandals are just what the doctor ordered. Spring might signal new life and new beginnings, but summer clearly is when the cities of Europe come alive to party!

One such sun soaked island seems to provide just that respite. At first, this tiny little island nestled in the Mediterranean seems to be an innocent little para-dise – a tiny airport, the bus takes it own sweet time to arrive, runs once every 2 hours and the people seem to be in no hurry at all. Except, this is the play-ground for Europeans who are young and young at heart alike; this is Ibiza.

Ibiza lies in Balearic Islands chain, an autono-mous community of Spain. It is known the world over as ‘Party Central’, a place to leave your inhi-bitions behind and partake in the riotous nightlife. The island draws many a tourist from far and wide (including New Zealand) who love to frolic in the island sun by day and party all night long. By the way the fact that the party never stops is true, only mere mortals tire out.

A place easier to enjoy than to understand, makes perfect sense as a destination for two twenty some-thing’s – it’s the stuff dreams are made of! There are two main places for tourists wishing to stay ‘central’ to the party scene – Eivissa and San Antonio. Eivissa, also known as Old Ibiza town is about 15 minutes away from the Airport, while San Antonio is 30 minutes away.

A range of transfer options include taxis, buses and even limousines, if that tickles your fancy. We chose ‘San An’(San Antonio), as the locals call it, as it has plentiful accommodation at very reasonable rates. Hostal Rosalia, located very close to where the bus drops you off and is about 5-10 minutes from the beach. The room was clean and affordable at about €60(NZ$120). It also has a restaurant, bar, internet, small pool and a scooter/car/bike hire facility. Note:

Ibiza does not appear to have backpacker dorms, only flats and villas.

My real intention is to attend a performance by the current trend in DJs, David Guetta, who per-forms every Thursday night of the summer at Pacha, a world famous nightclub. The online tickets for the entire summer had already been sold. Never fear, the dozens of scalpers, mostly English, Irish and Australian (crikey, them too!) summer campers who ended up staying longer than they wanted, should or could afford, in San Antonio will surely sell you a ticket, albeit for a premium. We ended up spending NZ$140 for a ticket, which had sold for NZ$90 – and this was a bargain!

Other clubs know the world over and call Ibiza home, include Privilege, Amnesia, Space and Eden. The season typically starts in June and ends in the first week of October. The top producers and DJs have weekly nights, in between tours other international destina-tions around Europe and the world. The concept of Super-Clubs is new to us. Imagine a nightclub with anywhere between 2-4,000 people. Now imagine 6-8 of these packed to the rafters, going off every night of the week! These clubs are not for the faint hearted, if the claustrophobia doesn’t scare you then the price of alcohol and water surely will. A 300 ml bottle of water can cost €10(NZ$20) and a glass of wine €20(NZ$40).

While reading this story thus far, if you have been

fooled into thinking what’s in it for me if I just want the sun and sand minus the noise – the answer still is Ibiza. The government wants to develop Ibiza to cater to a variety of travellers – not just partygoers. And there is more to this island than meets the eye. Far removed from the commercialisation of the party scene, you will see Ibiza in a different light when you realise that large portions of the island are regis-

tered as UNESCO World Heritage sites. The seabed, which has a pecu-liar type of seagrass that supports a diverse ecosystem and Dalt Vila, with its narrow, winding and steep streets, in old Ibiza town, are notable examples. However, this also means that you need to be careful of setting foot on isolated islets as you risk a hefty fine.

The next day we decided to rent a Scooter and set out to explore Ibiza

further. It was probably the wisest investment at €38(NZ$76) per day (you have to pay hefty deposit which is fairly normal) and the cheapest yet most enjoyable way to get around town. Expect to pay €50(NZ$100) upwards at other places. The morning was spent riding around the streets of San Antonio, discovering tiny streets that opened up into beach side areas and crowds of people basking in the sun. A homemade seafood Paella and a chilled pint of Es-trella Damm, a Spanish ‘Cerveza’ (Spanish for Beer), provided the perfect complement to a day out in the

sun and sand. As the afternoon approached, we made our way

into Eivissa, also know as Ibiza town. The ride on the scooter, which refused to go beyond 50kmph on an 80kmph stretch of expressway, was painful! Needless to say, the same goes for the effect the seats caused! However, the sight of a quaint little town and the historic Dalt Vila in clear view made our troubles disappear like the Sangria being served in the street side cafes. Eivissa is abuzz with activity as the sun starts to set. Street side shops, some belonging to the night-clubs selling merchandise, souvenir shops with products that shout out ‘Ibiza’ or ‘Espana’ in varied colours, sizes and fonts and outdoor cafes where people gazing seems to be the norm add to the charm and buzz which sets the tempo for the evening.

The clear turquoise waters also provided excel-lent diving excursions. After making sure we had enough fuel for the day, we made our way to the dive centre we saw close by. It was also the first time I met a Spanish Rastafarian Dive Master. A quick flash of the PADi dive license and a transaction of Euros, we were all tanked up and ready to go. The boat was full of Spaniards, Americans, Russians and now Kiwis; NO, this isn’t the start of a joke! We had a quick revisit of the hand signals as we approached the dive site, donned our wetsuits, masks and tanks and we were ready to take on the deep blue.

The visibility was excellent and we could see the tiny jellyfish blissfully swimming while we steered clear and swam around them to avoid being stung. Some of the divers also saw Paul the Octopus (after ‘Paul’ the German octopus predicted Spain as the Football World Cup winner, all Octopi are named Paul), a few big rays and a school of barracuda. I was more than happy steering clear of these creatures instead checking out the nooks and crannies of the underground rock formations. The place seemed a perfect setting to find a Mermaid, or could have been the nitrogen narcosis setting in!! The afternoon was approaching and in true Spanish tradition, we were due for a Siesta.

JMJKRetail Outlets.West Auckland

Aarkh Foods - 222 Swanson Rd Henderson. Ph:836 7666 Saffron Food - 214 Universal Drive Hender-son. Ph:836 2005 MALABARI SPICE MERCHANT-18 Delta Avenue, Newlynn, Ph: 09 8264549Top-in-Town - 583 Sandringham Rd, Sandringham. Ph:846 9009 Shahnaz Husain Nz - 40 Lincon Road, Phone 09-908 2440

Central Auckland

Khyber Royal Oak - 822 Manukau Rd Royal Oak. Ph:625 1766Yogi Ji’s - 26 Carr Rd Mt Roskill. Ph:624 5757 Top-in-Town - 583 Sandringham Rd Sandringham. Ph:846 9009 Spice Supermarket - 537-539 Sandringham Road, Phone: (09)-815-1748.Payless - 333 Sandringham Rd. Ph:963 6167

East Auckland

Saluja - Unit 13 2 Bishop Dunn Pl Flat Bush. Ph:265 1502

South Auckland

Kwality Baazar - 286 Great South Rd Papatoe-toe. Ph:277 9596 Indo-Sprice - 12E Puhinui Rd Manukau. Ph:277 6007 Rockyz-Manurewa - 154 Great South Rd M-nurewa. Ph:266 6688

Rotorua

Shahji’s Royal Masala - 1122 Eruera Street, Off Fenton Street, Rotorua 3010, New Zealand (07) 348 0280

Wellington Hare Krishna Higher Taste Restaurant - Customhouse Quay, Wellington 6011, New Zealand (04) 472 2233


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Issue 49 Volume 2