March-April - The Indian Down Under

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Facebook phenomena

The Indian Down Under PO Box 99 Thornleigh NSW 2120 Ph (02) 9875 2713 Mobile: 0414 155 402 Email: [email protected]

VOL 26 No. 2Print Post Publication No. 23572300014

Annual Subscription incl. postage & handling $17Newsagencies $1 inc GSTMarch - April 2014

Inside this Issue:9: Rekha Bhattacharjee

analyses Kejriwal and his

outfit Aam Admi Party on the

eve of the Indian elections

19: Its Jhappi time with

India

27: Neeru Saluja attends an

Indian pageant of beauty

mixed with brain and brawn

47: Manifest your destiny

with positive thinking

How Facebookhas transforemd social

scene and its prosandcons...- story Page 8


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Congress party awaits emasculation

Editor's Letter

March-April 2014 THE INDIAN DOWN UNDER 7

Editorial/Advertising Enquiries: 02 9875 2713Postal Address: PO Box 99, Thornleigh NSW 2120.

Email: [email protected]: www.indiandownunder.com.au

EDITORIAL

Principal Editor: Vijay Badhwar

Associate Editor: Neena BadhwarNorth America : Parveen Chopra

Correspondent

Sports Editor: Kersi Meher-HomjiDelhi Reporter: Ritu Ghai

WRITERS

Third Eye: Rekha BhattacharjeePolitical Columns: Karam Ramrakha, Mallika GanesanFilms and Art: Neeru Saluja, Abhishek Sood,Monica Daswani, Sumi Krishnan, DevakiParthasarthy, Neena Badhwar, Rekha Rajvanshi,Manju MittalBody-Mind-Spirit: Dr Sunder Das, KanakaRamakrishna, Faith Harper, T Selva, Dilip MahantySport: Kersi Meher-Homji, Dilip MahantyFiji Diary: Karam RamrakhaCookery: Promila GuptaChildren Section: Esther Chaudhary-LyonsClassical Music: Sumi Krishnan, Kris Raman,

Lokesh VarmaTravel: Vijay Badhwar, Kris RamanHumour: Melvin Durai, Santram BajajSeniors Column: Santram BajajBeauty: Devaki Parthasarthy, Ritu GhaiCommunity: Neena Badhwar, Kersi Meher-Homji,Vijay Badhwar, Sumi Krishnan, Neeru Saluja,Savitha Narayan, Manju MittalPhotographers: Neelesh Kale, Raj Suri and JordanAnjaiyaGraphic Design: Nayanesh Gandhi,Dinesh Verma,Dhiraj Kumar,Bharat Bhushan Chopra/Bhagwati Multimedia

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Its election time in India April 7 toMay 12 - time for non-stop rallies,discussions and sloganeering, when

all else stops and nothing other than theparties and candidates is talked about,more loaded with cynicism than hope,more about a lesser evil among politi-cians than a dedicated soul who couldgenuinely uplift India and its masses.

The whole country is abuzz withenergy the cities and the countrysidealike, ordinary people suddenly feelingempowered that they also matter. Thelargest democratic election on earthengages some 414 million voters from a

population of more than 1.2 billion peo-ple.

The frontrunner for the post as

Indias next Prime Minister is BharatiyaJanata Partys (BJP) Narendra Modi.PM Manmohan Singh said that electionof Modi will be disastrous for Indiawhile his own inaction against rampag-ing corruption in India has been disas-trous for the Congress party and thecountry, most people feel. Modis clos-est opponent, Rahul Gandhi ofCongress, although not yet declared as a

prime ministerial candidate, is milesbehind, presumably being groomed forlater elections than the current one. Hedoes not yet possess the stature or thefamily charisma to take on the reins ofthe vast and complex India that is nowyearning for a change. There are manyothers who are craving for the PM posi-tion by default the likes of MulayamYadav and Nitish Kumar, evenJayalalitha and Mayawati.

The only freshness in the forthcom-ing election in the rather tainted Indian

politics is provided by a newly formedoutfit, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), led byan IITian and a former bureaucratArvind Kejriwal. His outcry for a cleanand transparent governance led to an

unprecedented success in the recentlyheld state election in Delhi by winning28 seats for the first time party that wasable to form a government, albeit withoutside support from Congress (whichin turn wanted to keep BJP out of

power the saffron party had emerged

the single largest party in the assembly).This astounding success of AAP wouldhave fuelled the partys ambitions for ashot at the Lok Sabha elections. Lackingresources, however, it had to gambleaway its state government role, knowingfully well that it could win back the

state in its own right with an outrightmajority when the re-election wascalled. The major parties, especiallyBJP, are now worried as AAP is

preparing to field some 300 candidatesfor the Lok Sabha elections, plausiblyexpecting to win between 40-60 seatsand spoiling the chances of some noted

politicians who are perceived to be cor-ruption-ridden.

AAP is, however, feeling the pinchfrom none other than its former guidinglights Anna Hazare and Kiran Bedi

who share a similar vision of a corrup-tion-free India but oppose being within

politics on principle. They are nowironically supporting TrinamoolCongress supremo Mamata Banerjeeand BJP to deliberately chafe Kejriwal.

As the saying goes, God save mefrom my friends, from my enemies Ican defend myself, BJP is also tornwhile ingratiating with both Shiv Senachief Uddhav Thackeray and hisestranged cousin Raj Thackeray (whoformed his own Maharashtra NavnirmanSena). And even within the party thereis generational warfare (senior leaderAdvani has never been in favour ofdeclaring Modi as the partys PM candi-date, and Advani protgs like Sushamawaraj are also smarting). It is surpris-ing that the BJP is not openly nettingfor coalition partners, rather opting todo it alone on the regional scene when itis an open secret that it may only winsome 200-220 seats, well short of the

272 required to form a government.AAP has changed the political equa-

tion in the forthcoming elections signifi-cantly, bringing a single, nonetheless, acritical issue of corruption to the fore.Although it lacks the infrastructure of alarge party to contest the election coun-trywide, its commitment and dedicationand the people support well makes upfor the weakness. Although it ran theDelhi Government for a mere 49 days,it impressed Delhiites with its enthusi-asm and commitment. The BJP,

although the party with the maximumnumber of seats in Delhi, may well rueits non-commitment to do the same - afour to five month investment goneastray - that could have won it a largertally at the hustings.

Visit us at :

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A measure of the likelihood of Narendra Modi becoming the next PM of India is

US envoy Nancy Powell visiting him in Gandhinagar ostensibly to make amends for

US denying him a visa for his governments role in anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat.

The largest democratic election on

earth engages some 414 million voters

from a population of more than

1.2 billion people.

But BJP-led front also expected to fall short of the 272seats needed in Lok Sabha to form a government after

the April-may general elections in India.


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8 THE INDIAN DOWN UNDER March-April 2014

COMMUNITY

By Neena Badhwar

It has been 10 years since a Harvardsophomore named Mark Zuckerbergcreated a website called The face-

book.com to let his classmates find their

friends online.He did not know that he had created a

social phenomenon which has become anintegral part of our lives.

Facebook just did not become theFace but also our Body, Soul, Mind,Family& friends and life as we foundlong lost friends, some meeting throughFacebook after 30 or 40 years. We start-ed to make connections with people,things that we pined for, remembered andshared cherished moments of our lifethrough Facebook. We got the opportuni-ty to sit and connect and create a socialnetwork as each one of us, throughFacebook, refriended, befriended anddefriended as per our needs and it gave usall a new perspective on life and its mun-dane existence.

Thanks to Mark Zuckerberg whochanced upon this idea which has madehim a multi-billionaire in a matter of adecade when he started it at the age of a21. The reason was that he liked a girl incollege who ignored his advances and hecreated a simple program of like a personout of the two based on their features, agirl in his case.

He called it Facemash and linked itto the university computer which crashedjust in a matter of one afternoon. Somuch was the traffic.

Obviously he was taken to task by theadministration but he had realised that theidea was superb and he dropped out of

college and moved out with a few like-minded friends to work on the softwarethat he called Facebook.

Did he know that it would become sopopular, says Mark about i ts current 1.23billion users, No way I remembergetting pizza with my friends one night incollege shortly after opening Facebook. Itold them I was excited to help connectour school community, but one day some-one needed to connect the whole world."

An article suggested that Facebookhad reduced the six degrees of separationdown to four due to its networking by itsover billion users. The six degree of sep-aration theory was coined in 1929 by aHungarian author Frigyes Karinthy thateveryone and everything is six or fewer

steps away, by way of introduction, fromany other person in the world. Well,Facebooks user network is growing sofast that soon we will be Face to Facewith everyone in this world.

Facebook is currently worth 160 bil-lion dollars as it turned 10 on February 4and its founder 29-year old MarkZuckerberg made $3.4 billion in the firstfive weeks of 2014. He said Facebookhas been successful because it puts peoplebefore profits.

Though easier to use than many othersocial network systems and user friendlyas we amass friends and likes throughFacebook, many say that Facebook hasunleashed some deep seated psychologicalundercurrents that were not normally onthe surface to do with socialising and howwe, as humans, behave and how our mindworks.

The Indian community in Sydney hascreated a great social network on

Facebook and through it we are betterinformed, motivated, inspired as we shareour lives, our photographs, experiences,events and the rest. It even makes uscompete with each other some showingoff with their social engagements, otherstheir travels, some others their achieve-ments and hobbies and interests. The phe-nomena of Selfie also started, thanks toPresident Obama.

There are many who start the day forus with daily affirmations, prayers, pic-tures of gods and goddesses, some withsayings while others put on their favouritevideo clips or old Bollywood songs.

Facebook can be addictive as well andone has to move away from it to take a

break. A breather is also necessary whenan argument starts with comments that alldont agree with. Facebook has broughtout debates, issues and comments that canhave a polarising effect. Take heart, mostof the issues on Facebook die anyway asnew issues emerge in this busy world oftoday.

Facebook has generally been good butat times it has created issues that wenever ever knew before it came into ourlives. They are, at times, quite subtle aswe get sucked into playing the games ofthe mind without realising the effect theycan leave on us.

While the pros are many, yet there aresome negative sides to Facebook. ASydney guy said that he did not want toput his social life on Facebook anymoreas at times it rather created differenceswith his other friends who for some rea-son were not a party to his views.Another person said she has stopped lik-ing the posts of two people who are herfriends but are enemies with each otherbecause that created friction and differ-ences. Some use Facebook as a platformto express issues they are having withtheir friends. At times the comments havebecome gossipy.

Facebook also brings jealousy in peo-ple who see others appearing to be enjoy-ing life a lot more showing off throughposting pictures of what they are up to.Facebook does bring out insecurity

among people. One person pointed outthat what looks good in picture may notactually be as good as it seems.

One person went as far as saying thatFacebook was causing insecurity, hurtand even jealousy and depression having

caused friction amongst many long-timefriends. He said that he was sick of it andwould not like to use it anymore. Thenthere is another one who said thatFacebook was taking too much of hertime and life and that she had decided togo off it.

Facebook can be a self-promotionexercise as people compare who is morepopular due to more likes they get.

It is funny to note that Facebookoffers boosts to your posts if you paymoney that ranges from $6 to $110. Thisis based on the number of people wholike your page that could range from 2000to 46,000 views depending on the amountyou pay. No wonder some have hundreds

and thousands of likes.There are many drawbacks in

Facebook. What about fake accounts by aperson who befriends you by claiming tobe someone else you may actually like.Another fake is when people createaccounts in the name of some well knownperson and manage the account. Forexample, an Amitabh Bachchan can havesix accounts and the users do not knowwhich one is run by the actual Mr A B.

This new way of socialising has creat-ed new behaviours in all of us. At timeswe dress up just for the sake of being onFacebook. And what about people at afunction who are constantly clicking forFacebooking. Some are uploading rightthere at the event.

One may not want to be seen onFacebook, yet your friends take your pic-ture and plaster you all over the cloud.Now there are common paparazzi chasingus with thei r iphones or cameras that wehave to be beware of.

Do we even think for a moment thatwe have not enjoyed the moment, thepresent, for our own memory. Rather weare in a flurry capturing it through thecamera for the sake of Facebook. Arecent US study found that memoryimages leave longer lasting impressionsthan the camera images. The memoryshuts off as the mind is not able toprocess the sheer volume of digital pic-tures. So in future, from personal memo-

ries it is difficult to access and reminisceabout them. Pretty profound isnt it.In January this year, a research,

although not peer reviewed, said thatFacebook users will lose interest inFacebook over time as their peers lose

interest. If the model is correct that itsgrowth will eventually come to a quickend, much like an infectious disease thatspreads rapidly and suddenly dies, sayPrinceton researchers who are using dis-eases to model the life cycles of socialmedia.

For the time being 1/7th of theworlds population who are usingFacebook, life to them without Facebookis unbelievable as it is the biggest socialdriver on the internet which is growingby the day. But the study predicts thatFacebook site will lose 80 per cent of itspeak user base between 2015 and 2017.

How long will Facebook remain topdog in an increasingly crowded socialmedia landscape? Zuckerberg shares histhoughts: Today, social networks aremostly about sharing moments. In thenext decade, theyll also help you answerquestions and solve complex problems.

Today, we have only a few ways toshare our experiences. In the next decade,technology will enable us to create many

more ways to capture and communicatenew kinds of experiences. Facebook hascreated a new way of socialising and net-working and looking at the world with adifferent perspective. Perhaps it isexpanding our brain and helping us toexplore our own psyche in a new way andhence helping us evolve in this new ageof internet.

In the end, common users like us cre-ate the demand and ask the unthinkable.The programmers are there only to makewhat we as public ask for.

We may soon get sick of Facebookbut we are already asking how we canconnect to each other in a more holisticfashion than what Facebook provides.Who knows someone like Zuckerbergmay create holographic software for peo-ple to connect with each other on totallynew level of human invention. It is yet tobe seen as technology races human beingsto new realms!

The Indiancommunity inSydney hascreated a greatsocial networkon Facebookand through itwe are betterinformed,motivated,inspired as weshare our lives,

our photo-graphs,experiences,eventsand the rest.

Facebook has reduced the six degrees of separation down to four due to its

networking by its over billion users.


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By Rekha Bhattacharjee

There is a long and fascinating history

behind India's capital city. FromIndraprastha of 400 BCE to Luteyns'

New Delhi, the teeming northern Indianmegapolis has been through seven majoravatars and numerous rulers. In the historyspread over three millennia, Delhi may haveseen majestic Moghuls and splashy Sultansbut never before Arvind Kejriwal, a rulerwho galvanised Dilliwalas so much.

The nationwide polarisation for andagainst the enigmatic politician has accentu-ated even further with the sudden resigna-tion of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) gov-ernment in February.

AAP leadership has come under heavycannon-fire from, besides Congress andBJP, the electronic and print media. Phraseslike designed martyrdom, well-choreo-graphed harakiri and scripted drama are

being used by the well-heeled media bossesto describe Arvind Keriwal's resignationafter failure to push his Jan Lokpal Billthrough the Delhi Assembly.

Action against Mukesh AmbaniAmong the many controversial decisions

taken by the Kejriwal government, thealleged First Information Report (FIR)against the richest Indian on the planetMukesh Ambani has been in the news head-lines for a while now. The AAP govern-ment has reportedly directed the ACB to filethe FIR against the Reliance chief MukeshAmbani, Petroleum minister M VeerappaMoily, former Union minister Murli Deoraand retired director general of hydrocarbonsVK Sibal.

Both Congress and BJP have reacted

sharply after the AAP government madeannouncements of the FIR against MukeshAmbani and others but without namingthem.

Media criticismThe day Arvind Kejriwal took oath as

the Delhi Chief Minister, it was obvious toall that AAP government would not lastlong. While the die-hard AAP supporters

are preparing for thefuture 'battles', somewell-respected media

commentators have beenscathing in their criti-cism of the party whichgoverned Delhi for amere 49 days.

Outlook Group's editori-al chairman Vinod Mehta isamong those who haveexpressed 'disappointment' overthe quick exit route adopted by ArvindKejriwal

"This is the end of a dream. The revolu-tion has debarred itself. Instead of findingways and means to govern, Kejriwal quit atthe drop of a hat. This gamble willboomerang on him. The urban middle classwill view the party as reckless dema-gogues."

"Their first instinct is to resign. It can-

not be my way or highway. They should tryand find a way thorough compromise. Thegreat hope in Indian politics has comecrushing down," Vinod Mehta mourned.

The veteran journalist is in no mood toaccept it as a principled stand. "If therewere differences on the bill they shouldhave tried to iron them out. They shouldknow they cannot fight the Ambanis fromthe streets of Delhi or from the Ramlilaground," Vinod Mehta added.

'Kejriwal is an escapist'CNN-IBN editor-in-chief Rajdeep

Sardesai agrees with his senior colleaguewhen he said: "Kejriwal always looked toresign from the first day. He took a hugegamble. The critics will call him an escapistand that he ran away from responsibilities.Kejriwal will believe that he will have ahalo of martyrdom on the issue of JanLokpal. This was a jump to the nationallevel in view of the Lok Sabha electionsahead".

"He needed an aam aadmi issue to gal-vanize support and the Jan Lokpal Bill gavejust that. The urban middle class is alreadyquestioning this recklessness. Only peoplebelow a certain income level are still sup-porting him. He wants to keep the left ofcentre space occupied by trying to fire offthe shoulders of Mukesh Ambani. The realtarget is Lok Sabha. Kejriwal's politics is ofturbulence to capture the Indian mind-space," Sardesai said in one of his channel'sdiscussions.

Future courseArvind Kejriwal critics may accuse him

of milking his brief tenure for all its grand-standing potential but those who havereposed faith in the AAP are optimisticabout the future course this party wouldtake. By shaking the well-entrenched politi-cal interests to their very roots, AAP has

met the expectations of their constituentsand some media commentators.

"It could be argued that Arvind Kejriwaland the AAP have successfully mobilizedpopular anger against government arro-gance, inefficiency and corruption," readsan editorial in Indian newspaper TheTelegraph penned after Kejriwal became theDelhi CM. "The result is a potent force thathas shaken the existing structures of Indian

politics," the opinion piece further says.Kejriwal's legacy and achievementsEven though Kejriwal and Co are

preparing to take on their much larger (andnervous) foes in the Parliament elections, anumber of opinion pieces are already talkingabout AAP 'legacy'. The former Delhi CMhas changed the politics of India forever inmany ways. One of the most significantchanges, which we have already witnessedis the reluctance on the part of the main-stream parties to nominate candidates withcriminal records.

The social scientists, media commenta-tors, well-entrenched political interests and,more importantly, the common man on theIndian streets have all been enthralled (orappalled) by the emergence of this phenom-enon called Arvind Kejriwal and his unique-ly named outfit Aam Aadmi Party.

Mercurial rise of KejriwalThe mercurial rise of Arvind Kejriwal

and his political formation has made all theabove-mentioned sit up and take notice forthe simple reason that he has given hope tothe ubiquitous 'aam aadmi' who had all butgiven up on the Indian political and admin-istration systems. The AAP phenomenonhas assumed power in spite of the corrosivecynicism the Indians have been nurturingfor all these decades.

The recent elections for the DelhiAssembly undoubtedly mark a watershed inconducting Indian politics and campaigningfor elections for so many reasons.

While Kejriwal and Co have debuted ina spectacular manner, they need to tackle

the herculean task of what is being seen as averitable explosion of their electorate'spent-up aspirations. It would be a good ideato try to wrap mind around the last month'shappenings and try to work out what iscooking up in the great social laboratory

that is India.

Kejriwal's political modelThe political model designed by

Kejriwal thrives on challenging the cyni-cism. Whether AAP can deliver this andother promises or not, only coming monthswould be able to tell but the debate trig-gered by the Delhi election results is capti-vating the whole India. It is interesting tonote how some leading social scientists look

at the unfolding of a movement which isthreatening to change the complexion ofIndian politics for all times to come.

Revolt against babucracyIts a revolt against officialdom and

highhandedness, sociologist and authorDipankar Gupta said of the public supportfor the AAP. Its the same kind of thingyou saw in Tahrir Square and Tunisia, butnot against one dictator. Its against 1,000tyrants that parade around in the garb ofdemocracy. The AAPs single biggestachievement has been to change the moodof significant sections of the country,Pratap Bhanu Mehta, president of NewDelhis Centre for Policy Research writes.

"The AAP ideology, in short, apotheo-sises non-thought. The fact that its appeal isto a moral sense and not to the intellect isnot accidental. It is intrinsic to its ideolo-gy," the well-known columnist PrabhatPatnaik writes in The Indian Express.

"I consider this not only wrong but alsofundamentally anti-democratic (notwith-standing all its celebration of the aamaadmi). What is more, it is the antithesisof the Left position, which apotheosisesthought," he further writes.

Ideology is not the only stumbling blockbothering those who would like AAP tobecome a viable alternative of the estab-lished political parties. It is becomingincreasingly hard for 1968-born ArvindKejriwal, and his totally inexperiencedteam, to address the aspirations (and griev-ances of course) of the Delhi electorate.

The voters belief that Arvind Kejriwal

has some kind of magic wand is fueling theexpectations which are impossible toredress. The status quoists must be salivat-ing over such scenarios but if Kejriwal andCo fail to consolidate their Delhi gains, itwould be nothing but a national tragedy.


The Third Eye by Rekha Bhattacharjee

Analysis

The social scientists, media commen-

tators, well-entrenched politicalinterests and, more importantly, the

common man on the Indian streets

have all been enthralled (or appalled)

by the emergence of this phenomenon

called Arvind Kejriwal and his uniquely

named outfit Aam Aadmi Party.


10/60

Bangalore: A day after the BJP

fielded Narendra Modi as its candi-

date from Varanasi, Aam Aadmi

Party leader Arvind Kejriwal

March 16 declared that he wasready to contest against Narendra

Modi in the Lok Sabha polls.

BJP, meanwhile, was in a jubi-

lant mood, saying Modi's candida-

ture in the Hindu holy city will

help it win a majority on its own in

the election. Kejriwal told a elec-

tion rally in Bangalore that he

would take a decision on Modi

only after knowing the response of

the people of Varanasi on March

23. Underlining that it was "impor-

tant to defeat Modi", the former

Delhi chief minister said: "It is a

very big challenge. It is not a small

challenge... I am ready to accept

this challenge." Stating that the

political establishment has becomea symbol of corruption, communal-

ism and rising food prices,

Kejriwal said it was important to

defeat the top leaders of both the

BJP and the Congress. "We are

fielding Kumar Vishwas (popular

poet) to defeat Rahul Gandhi from

Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. Sensing

defeat, Congress leaders are

already causing trouble to Vishwas.We are not going to buckle and

Vishwas is bold enough to take on

Rahul," Kejriwal said.

Challenging Modi's claims of

Gujarat's economic development,

Kejriwal dished out facts and fig-

ures to show that this was not true

and that Modi had spread "white

lies".He said that contrary to

claims, corruption was rampant in

Gujarat and 800 farmers had com-

mitted suicide in Gujarat since

Modi took power in 2001. On

March 15, AAP declared its sixth

list of 55 candidates for Lok Sabha

polls including prominent party

leader Shazia Ilmi, alleged Maoist

conduit Soni Sori and ex-IPS offi-cer officer Kanchan Chaudhary

Bhattacharya. The AAP, which

plans to contest between 350 to 400

Lok Sabha seats, has so far

declared 242 candidates.


India

New Delhi: A survey by a lead-

ing US think tank has found that

Indians expect the BJP to do a

better job in facing the various

challenges faced by India.

The survey by Pew Research

Centre also suggests that BJP

prime ministerial candidate

Narendra Modi is more popular

than Congress vice-president

and putative PM candidate

Rahul Gandhi.

Indians by a margin of more

than three-to-one, would prefer

the BJP to lead the next Indian

government rather than the

Congress, according to the poll.

Seven-in-ten Indians are dis-

satisfied with the way things are

going in India today.The Pew survey results are

based on face-to-face interviews

with 2,464 randomly selected

adults across India between Dec

7 and Jan 12.

Dissatisfaction with recent

developments in India is

remarkably widespread among

both BJP supporters and

Congress backers across all

demographics. The support for

a BJP-led government is

strongest in north India..

Roughly eight-in-ten Indians

(78 percent) have a favorable

view of Modi, compared with16 percent who hold an unfa-

vorable view. Modi's support is

especially high in the North,

and he is seen favorably in both

rural and urban areas and

among high and low income and

well educated and less educated

Indians.Rahul Gandhi is seen favor-

ably by 50 percent of those sur-

veyed and unfavorably by 43

percent, the survey said.

New Delhi: Asserting that "we are battle ready and

we are going to win", Congress vice president

Rahul Gandhi said in his first TV interview some

weeks ago that he was not thirsting for power but

was out to "change the system" that would open up

opportunities for young people, empower womenand make India a manufacturing hub of the world.

He also accused Modi government of "abetting and

pushing" the 2002 riots.

In the interview with Arnab Goswami, editor-

in-chief of TIMES NOW news channel, Gandhi

said he did not choose to be born a Gandhi but was

a "serious politician" who stood for "opening up

the system" and the election this time would be

fought between those who want "deepening of

democracy" and those who stood for "concentration

of power".

He deflected pointed questions thrown at him

regarding corruption by Congress party govern-

ments, but said that "anyone who does any act of

corruption will be punished". But he sidestepped

questions on why the Congress failed to act against

former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan

or Himachal Pradesh chief minister VirbhadraSingh who had been implicated in corrupt deals.

Gandhi described Aam Aadmi Party leader

Arvind Kejriwal as "a leader of an opposition party

like many others."

"There is absolutely nothing I am scared of,"

Gandhi said in between volley of questions related

to Modi but avoided answering a question on

whether he would agree to a direct debate with

Modi. "We are debating the issues everyday..." he

said plainly.

Several times in the interview, Gandhi, 43, said

his focus was on empowering people, particularly

women, bringing in youngsters in Congress and

taking everyone together.

The Congress scion said that he was not "driven

by the desire for power" and was an "anomaly in

the environment" he was in.

"The BJP has prime ministerial candidate, theBJP believes in concentration of power in the hands

of one person, I fundamentally disagree with that, I

believe in democracy, I believe in opening up the

system. I believe in the RTI, I believe in giving

power to our people. We have fundamentally dif-

ferent philosophies," he said.

Gandhi also acknowledged that "some Congress

men were probably involved" in the 1984 anti-Sikh

riots that followed the assassination of then primeminister Indira Gandhi. Asked if he would apolo-

gise for the riots, Gandhi veered away from the

topic. Gandhi also dwelt on the pain of the circum-

stances in which he grew up.

In my life, I have seen my grandmother die, I

have seen my father die, I have seen my grand-

mother go to jail and I have actually been through a

tremendous amount of pain as a child when these

things happen to you. I don't actually keep invok-

ing my family name, I have mentioned my family

name once or twice and then people report that,"

Gandhi said.

He said that "every single thing" he has done in

his political career has been to bring in youngsters.

"I am absolutely against the concept of dynasty."

Gandhi said India has to look at manufacturing .

We have already set up the corridors north, south,

east and west, how we can take the energy of theIndian people and build a manufacturing super-

house. I want to put India on the manufacturing

map, I want to make this the centre of manufactur-

ing in the world. I want to make this place at least

as much as a manufacturing power as China."

BJPs prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi (seen here admir-

ing his own wax figure in Mumbai flanked by party President

Rajnath Singh) is gaining ground as the most popular leader.

Arvind Kejriwal (right): Within a week of starting a membership drive,

AAP made one crore members all over India. Congress vice-president gave his first

interview to Times Now

Kejriwal ready to fight

Modi in Varanasi

We're battle ready and going to win:

Rahul Gandhi

BJP frontrunner in Lok Sabha polls: Surveys suggestBJP led front is likely to get 200-236 seats falling short of majority to form government)and C ongress led front about 100 seats.

Meanwhile, another survey done by ABP News-Nielson opinion

poll in February has predicted BJP-led NDA front-runner in Lok

Sabha polls. It is likely to bag 236 seats with the main party getting

217 seats. The Congress will be reduced to double-digits at 73 of

the 92 seats projected for the UPA, while the Aam Aadmi Party is

likely to get 10 seats, the survey said.

While the Left parties are projected to get 29 seats, others are

likely to collect 186 seats, according to the opinion poll conducted

in 129 constituencies with 29,252 respondents during Feb 4-15.

The projection said BJPs prime ministerial candidate Narendra

Modi was the most preferred face with 57 percent of respondents

backing him. Just 18 percent backed Rahul Gandhi, while Arvind

Kejriwal was a distant third with just 3 percent backing.

Projected results


11/60


Vrindavan to get India'stallest temple

Was Malaysian flight hijackedfor 9/11-type attack in India?

Vrindavan: A project for building a 70-

storey temple, billed to be the tallest shrine in

the world, was inaugurated here coinciding

with the Holi festival.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh

Yadav participated in the foundation stonelaying ceremony of the skyscraper temple

'Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir' on March

16. The project will cost more than Rs 300

crore and Iskcon is hoping to conclude the

temple construction within the next five years.

Calling it a historic moment for Mathura-

Vrindavan, Yadav said the project exempli-

fied the goodness of religion. He also prom-

ised to extend full support to the project. The

project was first conceived by the devotees of

the International Society for Krishna

Consciousness (Iskcon ) Bangalore.

The proposed 'Chandrodaya Mandir', a

213 metres high temple is expected to mark

Vrindavan, where Hindu deity Krishna is said

to have spent his childhood, on the world

spiritual map.

The temple, which will be the tallestshrine in the world when completed, aims to

imitate Vrindavan of Krishna's times as

spelled out in the ancient texts. Being built in

the heart of Vrindavan, Iskcon will recreate

the verdant forests of Braj, where Krishna is

said to have engaged in his favourite pas-times.

The ISKCON temple will cost

Rs 300 crore and be ready in 5 years.

New York: Was Malaysia Airlines' Flight

370 hijacked with the chillingly murderous

intent of crashing it into a high-value building

in an Indian city in a re-run of al-Qaida's

9/11 attack on the US? And if the plane didn't

crash, where is it now? A week after theplane was thought to have crashed, its disap-

pearance has turned from increasingly myste-

rious to deadly sinister.

Malaysia turned the search into a criminal

investigation on March 15, after its prime

minister declared that the plane had been

deliberately diverted from its planned route

from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The plane

then flew as much as seven hours to an

unknown destination.

Worse, Strobe Talbott, who was deputy

secretary of state in the Bill Clinton adminis-

tration and remains an informed and influen-

tial voice in the US capital, tweeted:

"Malaysia plane mystery: Direction, fuel load

& range now lead some to suspect hijackers

planned a 9/11-type attack on an Indian city."

Malaysia's PM Najib Razak said his gov-

ernment would seek the help of other govern-

ments across a large region of Asia in trying

to find the plane. Malaysian authorities later

released a map showing that the last satellite

signal received from the plane had been sent

from a point somewhere along one of two

arcs spanning large distances across Asia.

This map shows two red lines represent-

ing the possible locations from which Flight

370 sent its last hourly transmission to a satel-

lite at 8.11am on March 8 more than sevenhours after it took off from KL and when the

plane would most likely have been running

low on fuel.

Najib said a satellite orbiting 35,800km

over the middle of the Indian Ocean received

a transmission that, based on the angle of

transmission from the plane, came from a

location somewhere along one of two arcs.

One arc runs from the southern border of

Kazakhstan in Central Asia to northern

Thailand. The other runs from near Jakarta,

Indonesia, to the Indian Ocean.

"These movements are consistent with

deliberate action by someone on the plane,"

Najib said. He noted that one communications

system had been disabled as the plane flew

over the northeast coast of Malaysia. A sec-

ond system, a transponder aboard the aircraft,

abruptly stopped broadcasting its location,

altitude, speed and other information a few

minutes later, at 1.21am, while the plane was

one-third of the way across the Gulf of

Thailand from Malaysia to Vietnam.

India


12/60


India

India born Satya Nadella

reinventing Microsoft as CEONew York: Even a schoolboy can

tell you that Microsoft may still be

minting money but in terms of inno-

vation and gaining an edge, Apple,

Google and Facebook have long

surpassed the worlds largest soft-ware company.

So, after Indian American Satya

Nadella took the helm earlier this

year, Microsoft watchers, along

with consumers, are eager to see

what dramatic changes he has up his

sleeve. In an interview with the New

York Times, Nadella hinted at some

of what he intends to do as CEO of

the company founded by Bill Gates.

"Longevity in this business is

about being able to reinvent yourself

or invent the future. In our case,

given 39 years of success, its more

about reinvention. Weve had great

successes, but our future is not about

our past success. Its going to be

about whether we will invent thingsthat are really going to drive our

future," Nadella states in the inter-

view.

Nadella reveals that he isn't big

on people who say, "this is how we

do it." He believes that to be a dan-

gerous trap. Rather, one should take

valuable experience and apply it to

the current context and subsequently

raise standards. In other words, use

what you know and make the com-

pany better, he feels. He admits that

Microsoft has done well thus far, but

now its time for innovation and fos-tering new growth. "Culturally, I

think we have operated as if we had

the formula figured out, and it was

all about optimizing, in its various

constituent parts, the formula. Now

it is about discovering the new for-

mula," he adds.

This kind of change will not

occur overnight or because the orga-

nizational chart was shuffled around.

Instead, Nadella believes Microsoft

employees need to own an innova-

tion agenda and collectively share

that vision.Nadella's goal is to reinvent.

What could that mean? What does

Nadella have planned? We will like-

ly get our first glimpse at what

Microsoft has in store for us at the

company's upcoming BUILD 2014

Developer Conference in April.

Satya Nadella being introduced as CEO by Bill Gates

The famed carnival in Rio deJaneiro, Brazil, had a boisterousrun from Feb 28 to March 4. The

Sambadrome parade is the mostcolorful event on earth withSamba girls dancing in barely-there thongs and bikinis alongwith giant tableaus on display.However, the Lord Shiva tableauthis time was the surprising ele-ment of the parade. But then heis the ultimate non-conformist!

Blame it on Rio,

not Lord Shiva

India to withdraw

pre-2005 currency notes

Khobragade re-indictment

can hurt relations: India to US

Mumbai: Indian Currency

notes issued before 2005 will be

completely withdrawn from cir-

culation by the end of the cur-

rent financial year ending

March 31, the Reserve Bank of

India (RBI) has said.The central bank said from

April 1, 2014, public would be

required to approach banks for

exchanging these notes. Banks

will provide exchange facility

for these notes until further

communication, the RBI said

in a statement.

The central bank stated that

public can easily identify the

notes to be withdrawn as those

issued before 2005 do not have

the year of printing on their

reverse side.

RBI has also clarified that the

notes issued before 2005 will

continue to be legal tender. This

would mean that banks arerequired to exchange the notes

for their customers as well as

for non-customers.

From July 1, however, to

exchange more than 10 pieces

of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes,

non-customers will have to fur-

nish proof of identity and resi-

dence to the bank branch in

which she/he wants to exchange

the notes.

The Reserve Bank has

appealed to the public not to

panic. They are requested toactively cooperate in the with-

drawal process, the statement

said.

On Thursday, RBI Governor

Raghuram Rajan clarified that

the order to withdraw all cur-

rency notes printed and issued

before 2005 was not a demon-

etisation measure and became

necessary to neutralize the fake

currency in circulation. The

post-2005 notes have better

security factors.

On black money, bankers say

that the process could have

implication on unaccounted cur-

rency in circulation. Although

all banks have been asked tofreely exchange currencies,

bankers say that RBI norms

require that every transaction

over Rs 10 lakh has to be

reported to the authorities as a

part of global anti-money laun-

dering norms.

New Delhi: Expressing its dis-

appointment over the US re-

indicting DevyaniKhobragade, formerly posted

in Indian consulate in New

York, on visa fraud charges

and calling it an unnecessary

step, India Saturday said that

any step taken consequent to

the decision would hurt efforts

on both sides to build a strate-

gic partnership between the

two countries.

Sources in New Delhi said

the second indictment takes

the situation back to where it

was earlier this week before a

US court quashed the first indictment

of Khobragade on the ground that she

had diplomatic immunity.

The MEAs official spokesperson

Syed Akbaruddin said that as far as

India was concerned, the case has no

merit and now that Khobragade has

returned, the court in the US has no

jurisdiction in India over her and the

government will therefore no longer

engage on this case in the US legal

system. The 21-page new indictment,

filed by the office of US attorney

Preet Bharara (an Indian American),

said the diplomat knowingly made

multiple false representations and pre-

sented false information to US author-

ities in order to obtain a visa for a per-

sonal domestic worker.

Court picks holes

in Tejpal's CCTV

defencePanaji: FormerTehelka editor-in-

chief Tarun Tejpal's

defence - the CCTV

footage outside the

elevator - does not

hold water, the

Bombay High Court

bench said here

Friday while reject-

ing his bail plea in a

sexual assault case.

Justice Utkarsh

Bakre said at this

stage the CCTV

footage "does not

help the applicantprove his innocence". Tejpal, who has been

accused of raping a then junior employee in an

elevator in a hotel, has claimed in his earlier

statements to the media that the CCTV footage

alone was enough to prove his innocence.

Nirbhaya gang-rape:

Delhi court upholds

death sentencesNew Delhi: The Delhi High Court has upheld the deathsentences awarded to four convicts in the Dec 16, 2012

gang-rape. A division bench of Justice Reva Khetrapal

and Justice Pratibha Rani also dismissed the appeals of

four convicts challenging the trial court verdict awarding

them the death penalty.

The trial court had Sep 13, 2013 awarded death sen-

tences to Mukesh (26), Akshay Thakur (28), Pawan

Gupta (19) and Vinay Sharma (20).

A 23-year-old physiotherapy intern was gang-raped

and brutally sexually assaulted by six men, including a

juvenile, in a moving bus.

The accused then threw her and her male companion

out of the vehicle, stripped of clothing, to die by the road-

side on the cold December night.

The woman died of grave intestinal injuries Dec 29,

2012 at Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital, where shewas airlifted for specialized treatment. One of the six

accused was found dead in a cell in Delhi's Tihar Jail. A

juvenile involved in the crime was Aug 31, 2013 sent by

the Juvenile Justice Board to a reform home for three

years, the maximum term under the juvenile law.

Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade (seen

with her father after returning to India),

whose arrest in New York led to

an India-US spat. Tarun Tejpal is

accused of rape by

journalist who worked

for his Tehelka

newspaper.


13/60

India

Film stars and sundry celebrities have alwaysadded color to Indian politics, but this generalelection is seeing lot of them in the fray. Here is

a list of some of them, and the Lok Sabha seats theyhave been nominated by respective parties.

Raj Babbar: Ghaziabad, CongressNagma: Meerut, CongressMoon Moon Sen: Bankura (WB),Trinamool CongressMohammed Kaif: Phulpur (UP), Congress

Bhaichung Bhutia: Darjeeling, TMCRavi Kishan: Jaunpur (UP), CongressKirron Kher: Chandigarh, BJP

Gul Panag: Chandigarh, AAPChandan Mitra: Hooghly, BJP

Bappi Lahiri: A seat from West Bengal, BJPMedha Patkar: Mumbai NorthEast, AAPRaj Mohan Gandhi: East Delhi, AAP

Mithun Chakraborty: Trinamool nomineefor Rajya Sabha

New Delhi: FinanceMinister P. Chidambaram

cut indirect taxes on cars

and mobile phones in aneffort to revive growth in

an interim budget present-ed to parliament onMonday for the fiscal year

2014/15.

The government'sterm ends in May and the

measure was necessary to

cover expenditure until anational election is com-

pleted and a new adminis-tration installed.

Chidambaram said

India's economy, the 11thlargest in the world, had

stabilised and was showing signs

of turnaround. His speech wasmarred by protests over the pro-

posed division of a southern

state.GROWTH

GDP expansion in thirdand fourth quarters of 2013/14

estimated at 5.2 percent. Growth

for the whole year expected at4.9 percent.

FISCAL DEFICIT

Fiscal deficit seen at 4.6percent of GDP in 2013/14,

below target of 4.8 percent.

Fiscal deficit projected at4.1 percent of GDP in 2014/15

Says need to bring downthe deficit to 3 percent of GDPby 2016/17

CURRENT ACCOUNT

DEFICIT

Current account deficit for2013/14 estimated at $45 billionfrom last fiscal year's $88 bil-

lion.

Forex reserves to rise by$15 billion by end of 2013/14

PRIVATISATION

Target from stake sale instate run firms for 2013/14

revised to 258.41 billion rupees

Target for 2014/15increased to 569.25 billionrupees

SPENDING

Plan expenditure for2014/15 seen at 5.55 trillion

rupees, the same level as the

previous fiscal yearNon plan spending esti-

mated at about 12.08 trillion

rupees in 2014/15SUBSIDIES

Total spending on food,fertilisers and fuel at 2.5 trillion

rupees in 2014/15Food subsidy estimated at

1.15 trillion rupees, fertilisersubsidy at 679.71 billion rupees.

Petroleum subsidy seen at

634.27 billion rupees versusrevised figure of 854.8 billion

rupees for 2013/14.DEFENCE

Spending raised to 2.24trillion rupees in 2014/15, up 10percent year on year.

EXPORTS

Merchandise exports seenat $326 billion in 2013/14, up

6.3 percent year on year.

Agriculture exportsexpected to touch $45 billion in

2013/14, up from $41 billion in2012/13

TAX PROPOSALS

No major change in taxrates

Cut excise duty on smallcars, two wheelers, commercialvehicles to 8 percent from 12

percent

Recommends excise dutyreductions on larger vehicles

Restructure of factory gatetax for mobile handsets

BANKS RESTRUCTURING

Govt to provide 112 bil-lion rupees capital infusion in

state run banks in 2014/15

Propose to set up publicdebt management office to start5work from 2014/15

Hidden hand trying to

sabotage peace talks with

Taliban: NegotiatorIslamabad: Mohammad Ibrahim, leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami and a

senior member of the Pakistani Taliban dialogue, Sunday said a "hid-den hand" is trying to sabotage the upcoming peace talks between the

Pakistan government and the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Ibrahim said the venue and date for the peace talk are yet to bedecided and consultations could take place in Mahsud tribal area in

South Waziristan, the News International reported.He also added that the Taliban was further investigating about the

Ahrar-ul Hind (earlier a part of TTP) which claimed responsibility for

the bomb attacks in Peshawar and Quetta March 14.

Hyderabad: India has the potentialto become the third largest aviationmarket by 2020 and the largest by2030, said a report by FICCI-KPMG.

There is large untapped potentialfor growth due to the fact that accessto aviation is still a dream for nearly99.5 percent of the country's popula-tion, said the report released at'Indian Aviation 2014' Thursday.

According to the report, theIndian civil aviation industry is on ahigh growth trajectory, albeit withminor hiccups.

"The industry has ushered in anew wave of expansion driven byLow Cost Carriers (LCC), modernairports, FDI in domestic airlines,cutting edge IT interventions and agrowing emphasis on No-FrillsAirports (NFA) and regional connec-tivity," said the report.

One of the top 10 in the world,the size of India's civil aviationindustry is around $16 billion.However, the paper says, this is afraction of what it can actuallyachieve.

"In view of the enormous growthprospects of air traffic and substan-tial investment projections, Indianaviation market offers significantlong term opportunities for globalaviation players," said SidharthBirla, president of FICCI.

The report notes that the nextgeneration of aviation growth inIndia will be triggered by regionalairports. At present, there arearound 450 used, unused or aban-doned airports and airstrips spreadall over the country.

It pointed out that many Indianstates, especially in Eastern India,have started taking pro-active meas-

ures to promote air connectivity.

These initiatives include reduction inSales Tax on ATF, development ofno-frills airports, promotion of avia-tion academies and supportive poli-cies for airlines and tourism.

It praised West Bengal forbecoming the first large state in thecountry to declare zero percent salestax on ATF at its regional airportsand 15 percent Sales Tax on ATF

used by additional flights started at

its metro airport in Kolkata."A lot more needs to be done, as

several tier 2/3 cities are still uncon-nected or underserved. Theseinvolve relaxation on regulations,revising the security requirements,allowing domestic code sharing, pro-viding free or discounted utilities andconnecting infrastructure," said thereport. "India is blessed with a greatgeographic location, a large upward-ly mobile middle class and immensetourism opportunities. We have justtouched the tip of the aviation ice-berg," says Amber Dubey, partnerand India head of Aerospace andDefense at global consultancyKPMG.

Islamabad: Former Pakistan presi-dent Pervez Musharraf, facing trialfor high treason, has in an applica-tion before a special court accusedhis erstwhile officers as co-conspira-tors for the imposition of Emergencyon Nov 3, 2007, a media report said.

If the plea is accepted, it wouldimplicate a number of high-profilecivilians and armed forces personnelin the treason trial, the Dawn report-ed March 16.

Musharraf's application recentlyfiled with the special court said thecivilian leadership and the militaryauthorities who allegedly abettedhim in the imposition of Emergency

on Nov 3, 2007, should also be triedalong with him. Musharraf said heimposed the Emergency after con-sulting the then prime minister, thegovernors of all four provinces andthe chairman of the joint chiefs ofstaff committee, the chiefs of thearmed forces, the vice-chief of armystaff and the corps commanders ofthe Pakistan Army. "It is, therefore,imperative for this honourable courtto seek the names of the above offi-cials and supply the same to theaccused... to try all the accusedtogether. In the face of such omis-sion, the trial shall stand vitiated,"Musharraf said in his application

before thespecial court,according tothe Dawn.The applica-tion claimedthat theEmergencywas imposedwith the con-sent of then

prime minis-ter Shaukat Aziz, then Punjab gover-nor Lt. Gen. Khalid Maqbool, Lt.Gen. (Retd.) Ali Jan Orakzai,Governor Jan Mohammad Yousaf ofBalochistan, and Sindh governor

Ishratul Ibad.The former president also named

Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, untilrecently the Pakistani Army chief,who was vice chief of army on Nov3, 2007, the plea stated.

Some celebs in poll fray Highlights of India's2014-15 interim budget

India has potential to be largestaviation market: Report

Musharraf drags former

Pakistani top guns into trial


P. Chidambaram entering parliament

building to present UPA

governments last budget.


14/60


Community

The Namaskar was always crisp, authoritative and

welcoming. The opinions were strong, yet flexible,

open to logic and research. Patience with people,

who insisted their point of view was the only one, was lim-

ited and the tone was abrasive. This was an exact mix to

spark discussion, challenge ideas, educate people in a new

perspective that Dr Deepak Malhotra did best for over 20

years when he pioneered and hosted the Community

Forum on Voice of India-Monika Geetmala FM 89.7 in

Sydney.

Seems strange that I have to use was when talking of

Deepak who energised, animated and ruffled many feath-

ers. Yet, he kindled a heart that was kind, understanding

and generous, though equally hard on himself as he was on

corrupt politicians, doctors or inept cricketers especially

from India.

Dr Deepak Malhotra passed away peacefully on 12th

December 2013, aged 68, surrounded by his partner Alex,

Sister Neeraja and friend Anne.

Deepaks life traversed a brilliant career spanning over

four decades during which he worked as a medical doctor,

fighter jet pilot in the Indian Air Force, then again as a

doctor in his newly adopted home in Australia over 40

years ago. Here, he pioneered talk-back radio for the

Indian community and, for himself, an acting opportunity

in Bollywood.Dr Malhotra worked as a public hospital chief superin-

tendent and helped numerous Indian origin doctors find

their feet as he helped them gain employment at a time

when India was distant and foreign in the Australian psy-

che. Some of those Dr Malhotra helped relate anecdotes as

he argued with authorities when they refused to recognise

Indian doctors for employment, and used charm and per-

suasion to get them employment in public hospitals.

I knew Deepak for over 13 years and we shared many

hours talking about everything under the sun. Yet, I

believe he remained an enigma to me as he did to others

who knew him for more years than that. He was a private

person keeping the inner workings of his mind to himself,

revealing it in niggardly helpings to some at different

times. For someone who opined freely and abundantly on

everything, he, himself, remained stingy with sharing own

details that he revealed slowly as time lapsed into a trust-

worthy relationship.Deepak Malhotra grew up in Madhya Pradesh, son of a

defence officer who was a personal physician to Indias

first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. He gained entry

into the prestigious Armed Forces Medical College in Pune

and predictably joined the Indian Air Force. He was proud

of the fact that he participated in the Indo-Pak hostilities of

1971 and remained a committed Indian decrying the

malaise of corruption, lethargy and wasteful excess of reli-

gious practice while millions starved in India.

He moved to Australia in 1973 and commenced life as

a factory worker briefly and eventually worked as a med-

ical doctor. He saw the influence of mainstream Australian

radio and realised the powerful impact it could have on

making and changing opinions and decided to use this to

educate and entertain a small Indian subcontinent popula-

tion in the 1990s.

Deepak started broadcasting on Ethnic Radio, the pre-

cursor to SBS, and was discovered by Vikram Sharma who

cajoled him into joining his fledgling Voice of India in

about 1993. This led to the introduction of the Community

Forum, a unique talkback programme for people who

shared English and Hindi as a language. The style was nat-

ural, unpretentious, spiced with opinions that hooked the

listeners and language free from laboured design that

everyone could relate to. Deepak exuded a certain honesty

that was transparent, his wit was edgy and humour that

was frequently directed at himself that his listeners

enjoyed. Those were the days sans the internet and peoplewere hungry for news, music and connection and he pro-

vided all this as a voluntary service, spending both time

and money, getting paid 0 dollars wages, as he liked to

highlight.

In 2001, he landed a role as Steve as Aamir Khans

manager in Sydney in the hit Dil Chahata Hai. While this

was a small role Deepak enjoyed joking about the large

role and the impact it had on his co-stars Khan and

Pretty Zinta. He barraged the listeners for weeks, tongue-

in-cheek, with how his Bollywood career was shaping up

and many flocked to cinema halls just to see the Sydney

star in his new role in Bollywood. He, himself, did not

watch the movie for months after release.

Around that time he also did an expose for Channel 9

when he, reportedly, wore a hidden camera and attended

education dinners provided at expensive locations for

doctors in Australia by leading pharmaceutical companies.

This blew the lid on how doctors were being enticed to

prescribe medications, being pushed by the pharmaceutical

companies. This led to changes in the way such expenses

were handled by the industry.

Perhaps not so well known is the fact that Deepak

developed the concept of the My First Health Record or

Blue Book for recording childrens immunisations while

working as a superintendent at the Liverpool Hospital. This

was adopted by the NSW health system and helped

improve vaccination rates. As every parent knows, this is

an invaluable document for childrens admissions toschool. He also voiced his unhappiness at hospitals being

headed not by doctors but by bean counters.

Deepak continued to deny the existence of God, and

remained an atheist, as the concept could not explain the

dispensing of injustice when innocent childrens lives were

shortened and the corrupt led long and happy lives. He was

consistent in his tirade of religious hypocrisy and even

wrote to the Vatican on the question of innocent children

being punished, for no fault of theirs, with ill health and

poor quality of lives. Deepak hated the ostentatious dona-

tions to temples while millions starved and could not rec-

oncile to this contradiction, especially in the Indian con-

text. Deepak Malhotra touched thousands of peoples lives

and helped many people achieve their potential and

expanded the role of Indian media in Australia. He was

quite a character, loved by most, despised by many and

unthanked by some that he helped provide a direction and

livelihood.

While Deepak believed there was no after-life and once

dead we were just ash, I would differ as I feel him to

continue to live around us and inspire us to carry on the

good work that he had commenced.

Manbir Kohli of Voice ofIndia Monika Geetmalapays a tribute to a friend

and compatriot ...


15/60

Community


By Vijay Bahdwar

Tastes & Traditions is not

your average cook book;

much more than a few

recipes and cooking, it is rather a

description of a complete culture,

rituals and traditions observed in

Kerala. Beginning with a legendary

tale of Parasurama of how Kerala

was created, the story telling con-

tinues throughout the book, punctu-

ated by genuine recipes as taught by

a mother to daughter.

It was the idea of Leelamony

Pillai, a prominent member of the

Australian-Indian community who

was brimming with nostalgia about

her culture and traditions that she

wanted to share in the multiculturalAustralian landscape, a teacher by

profession who is no longer with us

today. Her co-author Teresa George

traversed the whole dream of writ-

ing the book with Leelamony, who,

she says, was still jotting down

recipes for our book a day before

her death. The book celebrates a

life lived, writes Teresa.The rich tapestry of Indian cul-

tures is so diverse that it sometimes

jolts an outsider from stereotyping:

that the Nairs in Kerala, as

Leelamony writes, are matrilineal,

that a Nair husband marries into his

wifes family and the children take

the mothers family name. There

are other facts the book describes,

from architecture to martial arts to

the namkaran and wedding cere-

monies that the readers will find

interesting.

Kerala is a land of aromas,

famous for its spices that attracted

the Europeans as early as 1498

when Vasco da Gama arrived on its

coast. Even before the Europeans,the spice trade was prevalent among

traders from the Middle East who

knew about the heavenly aromas of

spices in cooking as well as their

magical properties as preservatives.

Pepper is called king of spices in

the Sanskrit texts dating back to

1000 BC, writes Ian Hemphill,

Australias leading herb and spice

expert who has written a glowing

Foreword for the book.

Cooking in Indias south is

dominated by spices like pepper,

cloves and cardamom, as well as

coconut and tamarind that provide a

delicious sting while keeping the

food light on the palate unlike the

creaminess of rich North Indian

recipes. The book provides more

than 80 recipes for Kerala cuisine

for all occasions, from simple

household meals to foods for special

occasions and festivals. Leelamony

seeks the hands behind every dish,

their stories and cultural contextthat truly add spice to the book.

The recipes include the popular

idli-sambar and dosa to rasam and

payasam, including cooks tips and

variations with every recipe that

allow improvisation to suit particu-

lar tastes.

Tastes & Traditions is a richly-

woven book enlivened by some

amazing photographs of fruit sell-

ers, plants and the food prepara-

tions. The photograph of a turmeric

bath ritual in Vandimala Temple is

a scene to behold.

As we live in a distant land, our

traditions and culture are bound to

dilute with coming generations. The

book is a timely repository of therichness of a culture as reminisced

by a nostalgic first migrant.

Teresa Geroge, co-author of the book.

'Tastes & Traditions' is by the late author Leelamony Pillai who was brimming with nostalgia about herculture and traditions in Kerala that she wanted to share in the multicultural Australian landscape.

Tastes & Traditions: Stories of Food, Family, and

Culture from Indias Spice Coast

By Leelamony Pillai & Teresa George

Published by: FC Productions

Herbal soups were traditionally prepared dur-

ing the monsoon months to ward off colds

and fevers. Made from a blend of spices and

Ayurvedic herbs, it was taken on an empty stomach

in the morning or at night. A rotation of herbal

soups was served every three days to ensure variety

in the diet. A special red rice called Njavara is used

in this Kanji. Njvara rice has been cultivated in

Kerala for centuries. It is used in religious cere-monies and therapeutically. Marunnu Kanji has been

mentioned in ancient Ayurvedic texts as a nourish-

ing soup consumed to boost bodys immunity.

1 litre water

cup Njvara rice

A pinch of coriander seeds,aniseed, fenugreek seeds, mustard

seeds, dreid ginger pieces, car-

damom, cloves, nutmeg

teaspoon Ayurvedicherbs

1 cup coconut milk

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon ghee orcoconut oil

1 small onion, thinlysliced

Place water, rice, spices andAyurvedic herbs into a pot and bring to

boil. Lower the heat and simmer until the

rice is fully cooked. Add more water if the mix-

ture becomes thick. Add coconut milk. Simmer for

5 minutes. Add salt and stir. In a frying pan, heat

ghee. Add the sliced onion. Saute until the onion is

soft and carmalised and add to the soup. Mix well.

Remove from the heat. Set aside for 10 minutes.

Transfer to a serving bowl. Ayurvedic herbs such as

Curcuma Longa, Cardiyospermum Halikakabam,

Boerrhavia diffusa or Hog Weed, Sida rhombifolia

roots, Strobilanthes ciliatus, Puthirichundu,Changlam piranda and Caraway seeds, Indian basil

Tulsi, Mint are used that can be bought at Indian

shops as a herb mix in Sydney.

Marunnu Kanji

Medicinal Rice soup recipe from the book

Young bride Leelamoni with Dr Pillay


16/60


Community

This year Indian line-up in

Short+Sweet Theatre

Festival was quite impres-

sive thanks largely to Aishveryaa

Nidhi whose ITC Abhinay School

of Performing Arts (ASPA) with

four plays has delivered a bumper

performance. The plays with

Indian cast and themes included

subjects of racism, revenge, a

Tuk Tuk ride and even a 10-

minute Bollywood bonanza.

Aishveryaa Nidhi showcased

Bollywood in 10 minutes consist-

ing of dance, colour, glamour as

her dancers created a Bollywood

hungama in the otherwise normal

mainstream theatre of Short +

Sweet Theatre Festival.

ASPA actor and member Ravi

Chanana was quite impressive in

Oh! India as the tuk tuk driver

and got an applause on the last

day. Marcelle Wever was excel-

lent in her role of a frustratedAussie tourist stuck in the traffic

in India on a tuk tuk. Oh! India

came second in the Audience

Choice. The play is about a

young Aussie woman touring

India and when she hires a charis-

matic tuk-tuk driver in Delhi, the

journey ends up far richer and

more relevant than her intended

destination thanks to both the

actors. Young Shourya Nidhi

directed Ravi Chanana, Marcelle

Wever, Arnie Dhamoon with

music by Kiran Pradhan and co-

direction was by AishveryaaNidhi.

Another attraction in Week 6

of S+S was writer director

Ridwan Hassims play The Job

Hunter - a bizarre and provoca-

tive comedy where a Muslim

woman applies for a job at a Nazi

agency - and is produced by

Abhinay School of Performing

Arts. Here Barry Walsh plays

Wolfgang, a passionate German

Nationalist Socialist, who works

at the Nazi job agency, interviews

Amina (Emily Ward), a devout

Palestinian Muslim when he isforced to confront his status quo.

Aishveryaa, who is normally

great with acting, this year direct-

ed the play Irish Stew in Week

8. It is about an old couple -

Lauretta and Carlton - getting on

in years, both losing their faculty

to do with language. But years

ago they made a decision to not

rage against it. So, physically

agile but mentally short a few key

nouns, they let it take as long as it

does to find the shoe Lauretta

keeps asking for. And amidst all

the false starts that are oh-so-common now, they remain

patient and loving.

Written by Cary Peppers from

USA, featuring Owain James as

Carlton and Ann Elbourne as

Lauretta, Irish Stew made it to

Peoples Choice Showcase Finals

and then came second . Said

Aishveryaa, It s been great for

India although it was hard to

organise four entries by Abhinay.

Bollywood ne tau bus dhamaal hi

jama diya in Short + Sweet

Arun Goel, Consul General of

India in Sydney who came to seeThe Irish Stew, said, It was an

excellent play and I am impressed

with Aishveryaas theatre work, a

genre that I only got introduced to

in Sydney by her.

And we must support efforts

by such talented people and

appreciate how they are breaking

barriers and trying out in the

mainstream theatre.

Around 300 people turned up in Sydney a week

before the actual festival of Holi as this dar-

ling festival of India brings smile on every-

ones face and they get truly excited by the colours

and its spirit.

It was organised solo by Manju Mittal and that too

for a charitable cause, proceeds of which are going to

the Heart Centre of Children Research Institute asso-

ciated with a Melbourne hospital.

Chief guest Michelle Rowland was represented by

Aisha A.K., who read her message which praised the

Indian community and its contribution and how the

festivals such as Holi bring in true multicultural joy-

ous occasions for the rest of us to celebrate along with

you. Food included Traditional Holi favourites such

as Gujjia and Thandayee.

Parramatta MP Geoff Lee also enjoyed the festi-

val as he proudly carried a huge yellow colour tikka

on his forehead. He said, It is nice to be here and

share Holi celebrations with members of the Indian

community.

There was plenty of Holi fun, dances, songs with

Sydney dancers entertaining all. Also, as the mood

with Holi goes, humour and poetry was recited by

some local poets. People mingled and painted each

other with colours as film maker Ana Tiwary covered

the event for ABC TV and recorded it for posterity.

Abhinays plays make a mark at Short + Sweet!

Holi Milan in Sydney

Director Shourya Nidhi with Marcelle Wever and Ravi Chanana in

Oh! India

Owain James and Ann Elbourne in The Irish Stew

Promotion of Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawla starrer Gulab

Gang was organised in Liverpool and Harris Park, Sydney with

red carpet premiere of the movie held at Burwood Greater Unioncinema in March as Maxine Salma and her friends are beating

Sahil Sood dressed in pink attire like the role played by the actors

in the movie who pick up the baton to beat the ills

out of the Indian society.

Manju Mittal dabbed in colours by Divya Dhingra and her mum Judy

Colours of Holi


17/60

Community


Indo-Australian filmmaker Kush Badhwar is a quiet

achiever. He was at the world famous film festival

Berlinale recently with his documentary Blood Earth,

a remix of protest songs by tribals in Odisha - a voice

otherwise drowned by the stamping of multinationals in

the area.

The art-documentary depicts the struggle of the weak

against the powerful, their sequestered lives being over-turned by bauxite mining and smelter plants. Despite the

trampling of their lives in the remote bush areas of

Odisha, India is indifferent to their plight, the clamour of

national growth being the only voice heard.

Blood Earth, began by Taru Dalmias Word Sound

Power, founded in 2010 in association with the rapper

and New York producer Chris McGuiness. Taru

Dalmias raps are his main outlet for his socio-political-

ly charged rhymes. The documentary started in earnest

in 2011 to document and remix protest songs by the trib-

als.

Dalmia, McGuiness and Kush Badhwar travelled to

the tribal village of Kucheipadar in southern Odisha

twice over a two-year span to work on Blood Earth.

Says Dalmia, When we went in 2011, it was tough

to get access and even communicate properly with the

people there. We just didnt want to get bytes and create

a documentary, but also have an honest piece of art that

reflects the sentiment of those people.

Armed with Midi controllers, mics and recorders,

Blood Earth includes four dub-meets-Oriya-tribal-folk

songs titled Back Against the Wall, Unity, Poisonand Go Away. Kush Badhwar, who completed his

early education and degree in media/films from

Macquarie University in Sydney, says, We did exhibit

the first version in Delhi in 2011, but the second time

around, we were becoming more adept at understanding

the complex moral issues.

Word Sound Power screened the documentary in

October 2013, at the Experimenta Film Festival in

Bengaluru, where it won the Adolfas Mekas award.

One of the organisers from the Berlinale were there

at Experimenta and she asked us what we wanted to do

with this film next. Thats how we got this opportunity to

screen the film at Berlinale, Kush Badhwar says.

Blood Earth was screened as part of the Forum

Expanded section of the festival which is informally com-

petitive to gain an award. The documentary will soon be

released online in its entirety.

World Sound Power is also working with Dr. Das

who has remixed four tracks from Blood Earth for an

EP, which will also be released later in the year. Blood

Earth was Word Sound Powers second project, follow-

ing a nine-track collaboration with Dalit Sikh Bant Singhtitled The Bant Singh Project in 2010.

Kush Badhwar is not new to Berlin film festivals. One

of his early works as a student at the prestigious Pune

Film and Television Institute (FTI) a film titles Reprise

was screened at the international student festival

Sehsuechte in Berlin in 2009. He will now be working on

Word Sound Powers next project, a yet-to-be-titled doc-

umentary/collaboration featuring Telangana Naxal

activist and poet Gaddar.

Localartist RoshniDennis,betterknownasStellaRhymes,haswrittenamovingsongdedicatedtoEarthHour,aworld-widemassmovementthathelpstheworldtar-getclimatechange.OnMarch29at8:30pm,millionsofpeople,householdsandbusinessesacrosstheworldareswitchingofftheirnon-essentiallightsforonehourtocelebratetheircommitmenttocreateasustainablefuturefor

theplanet.StellaRhymesisanaspiringsinger,rapperandsongwriterfromWentworthPointwhotookontheinitiativeanddecidedtodedicateasongforagreatcause.TheSouthIndianbeau-ty'sEarthHoureventmarksthedebutlaunchofhersingleLullabyatElevenNightclubinPaddington.Thetimingcouldnotbemoreper-fect.

Shesaid,It'sasongIwroteabout lettinggoandputtingtobedourfirst worldproblems,rememberingwhowereallyareandre-estab-lishingandmaintainingaglobal connectionwitheachotherandourplanet -whichIfeelalignswellwithEarthHour'sthree-foldmis-sion.TheinauguralEarthHourwasheldinSydney.2.2millionSydneysiders

and2,100businessesparticipated.Thisyear,EarthHourAustraliahasaskedthefocustobeonprotect-ingthefutureoftheGreatBarrierReef.

Berlin festival screens Indo-Aust documentary

Roshni Dennis

Kush Badhwar wielding the camera. Blind village bard who sings songs made on the spot.


18/60



19/60

Community


By Neena Badhwar

Jhappi or Japphi, as they say in trueblue Punjabi, is a loving hug hasbeen chosen as a theme to mark the

time for Indian tourists to embrace NSWas their tourist destination.

The Indian visitors to Australia are onthe rise, their numbers being on a steadyclimb having increased by 9.4 per cent in2013 than the year before. Indian touristsare now among the top ten nationalitiesvisiting Australia.

Destination NSW has embarked on astrong marketing campaign with the sloganJhappi time to woo the Indian tourists.The advertisements for the campaign havebeen created and filmed right here inNSW, featuring the Indian communityDown Under and using stories that expressa longing to hug families and relativesand have a great time while visiting NSW.

Visiting family and relatives is thebiggest reason the 164,000 Indian visitorsto Australia gave when they visited lastyear. This earned NSW AUD 183 millionin revenue as each visitor on average spent$2315 on travel, stay and visiting touristattractions that included sightseeing, eatingout, shopping for pleasure and even goingto the beach. Of the total number of Indiantourists to Australia, NSW attracted almosthalf of them 77,700 visitors who stayedmostly at home with friends or relatives.These visitors are expected to rise to333,000 Australia-wide by 2020 almost a100 per cent increase.

Destination NSW CEO SandraChipchase, just after a day in India, felthow important family relationship and val-

ues were for Indians. She started lookingfor a catch phrase and asked ParamjitBawa, Manager, Destination NSW inMumbai office, Give me a word thattruly describes a hug .

He came up with a few words butJhappi is the one that struck me as themost appropriate. It sounded to me as aword which is quite close to the wordhappy, Sandra says.

And when I came back here andtalked to my team and Anupam Sharmawhose company Film and CastingTemple we used for creating Jhappi timeads he loved the idea and was quite

excited about it. We put in all our time,effort and money in creating the campaignto help not just the tourism but help bettercultural ties with India, she says.

The Jhappi time campaign waslaunched at the Museum of Contemporary

Arts by NSW Premier, BarryOFarrell, on February 11. He

said, Almost 60 per cent of thevisitors visited NSW for thefirst time, visiting family andfriends. This can help growother industries such as finan-cial services, infrastructure,location education, tourism,major events, film and creativeventures. And we know that thiscan help grow culturalexchanges between NSW andIndia. We already have sisterstate relation with Maharashtraand are planning to do the samewith the state of Gujarat. I amdelighted that NSW has takenthe tourism lead with Jhappitime to encourage people from

India to visit family and friendsin NSW. Jhappi time will help

people share activities and NSWattractions with families andfriends.

NSW Minister for Arts,George Souris, was happy to tryout some Bollywood gestureswith the dancers on the harbourlaunching the campaign. He said,Jhappi time campaign will benefitthe Indian visitors and help doublethe traffic by 2020 with all theactivities on offer for consumersthrough various link ups with travelsites.

Sandra Chipchase, excited about

the campaign, and how the localIndian community got involved,says, They were superb and just sogenerous and supportive. The com-munity at large can now help pro-mote the Jhappi time ads. It is anopportunity for everyone settledhere to invite friends and familyover and be able to show how theylive, study, enjoy great outdoors,food and our great tourist attrac-tions. As you know Sydney wasvoted as the safest city in the worldand a tourist attraction.

About 77,000 of the total164,000 tourists to Australia fromIndia came to NSW and spentaround AUD 183 million here. With

Jhappi time we plan to increase it by afurther 10 per cent. We have tried to addvalue by giving offers through varioustravel agents, through packages and afford-able accommodation. With Jhappi timeyou can send digital cards to families and

friends encouraging them to visit our

state, she says. With well known Indiancommunity members acting in the Jhappitime ads Aishveryaa Nidhi, Zenia Starr,Lucky Singh, Mala Mehta, Balbir Singhand Dilip Rao, they will act as the culturalmagnets to drive the true message of

Jhappi back home. And for Sydneysiders

who want their friends and relatives to visitthem, visit: http://www.sydney.com/jhap-

pi-time. There is a lot of information andguidance for a Jhappi time in NSW with

plenty of holiday ideas and deals on quitean interactive and friendly site.

AishveryaNidhi,Sukhraj

Deepak,NitinandDimpleG

ursahaniinanotherad.

Anupam Sharma, NSW Minister for Arts George Souris, Sandra Chipchase - CEO Destination NSW and Premier Barry

OFarrell with Bollywood dancers at the launch of the Jhappi time campaign Feb 11 to promote tourism from India.

LuckyandBalbirSingh,AmbikaAsthanaan

dJerrickAdairinJhappiadcampaign


20/60


Philanthropy

By Neena Badhwar

The worlds 85 richest individuals now own asmuch as the poorest half of the 7 billion global

population, according to a report released byOxfam recently.

The leading anti-poverty charity called on the glob-al economic elite gathering in Davos this week for theWorld Economic Forum to counter the growing tideof inequality and prevent a static future in which onlythe rich have access to the best education and health-care.

It is staggering that in the 21st century, half of theworlds population own no more than a tiny elitewhose numbers could all sit comfortably in a singletrain carriage, said Winnie Byanyima, OxfamExecutive Director.

While Mukesh Ambani at US $21.5 billion wasranked at 22 Lakshmi Mittal was ranked at spot 41with an estimated wealth at $16.5 billion according toForbes Rich List 2013.

Other Indian in the list are Azim Premji 11.2 bil-lion at spot 91; Dilip Shanghvi $9.4 billion at spot116; Shashi & Ravi Ruia $8.5 billion on spot 131;Hinduja Brothers $8.3 billion on spot 136; KumarBirla $7.9 billion at spot 150; Savitri Jindal & Family$7.6 billion at spot 155; Sunil Mittal & Family $6.8billion at spot 173; Shiv Nadar $6.5 billion at spot 182with Mukesh Mabanis brother Anil Ambani waydown at spot number 233 with his $5.2 billion.

Australias rich who made it to the list in the top100 are Gina Rinehart with her $17 billion ranked 36and Rupert Murdoch & family at $11.2 billion rankedat 91. Others are Ivan Glasenberg $6.7 billion at spot

175; James Packer $6 billion at spot 198; AndrewForrest at spot 211 with $5.7 billion and Frank Lowyat $5.3 billion on rank 229.

U.S. leads the list with 442 billionaires, followedby Asia-Pacific (386), Europe (366), the Americas(129) and the Middle East & Africa (103). Carlos Slimis once again the worlds richest person, followed byBill Gates. Amancio Ortega of Spanish retailer Zaramoves up to No. 3 for the first time.

Forbes has also valued the fortunes of the wealthydespots, dictators and royals but has listed them sepa-rately as they do not truly reflect individual, entrepre-neurial wealth that could be passed down to a youngergeneration or truly given away. Obviously the rich listof Indians who have deposits in Swiss banks of moneyobtained through corruption, shady deals

Documents

March-April - The Indian Down Under