Volume 1 Issue 11

1Indian Weekender | August 7, 2009 | www.iwk.co.nz

Indian

Religion and Politics | 10

Indian

Tribute | 23

August 7, 2009Volume 1, No. 11

Paresh Rawal on NaseeruddinShah

New Zealand’s first Indian weekend magazine

At a glance

Today’s Exchange Rates

Exports show India’s potentialTrade statistics released last week show the increasing importance of India as an export market for New Zealand. Meanwhile, a leather indus-try trade delegation is due here from India. Page 4.

Hindu rituals for JackoThe last rites of singer Michael Jackson were performed in Kerala, according to Hindu customs, presum-ably to put his restless soul to rest after reports that many people had seen the singer’s ghost. Page 7

Who you calling Third World?India’s corporate raiders splashed out over $50 billion last year to acquire some of the hallowed corporations of the West. Sixty-two years after independence, India is poised to be the world’s single largest investor.Page 14

Preity Zinta resurfacesAfter a long vacation in several countries, the adorable star is back. She talks can-didly about her break up, the terrible perfor-mance of her Twenty20 team and how the media took her for granted. Page 25

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Masterimage-maker | 27

Fiji and the Church Manohar Kulkarni

2 Indian Weekender | August 7, 2009 | www.iwk.co.nz

Indian New Zealand

The New Zealand government has launched a new business migration scheme which aims to boost economic performance by making New Zealand more attractive for business and entre-preneurial migrants.

Attracting the right business migrants was identified as a high priority initiative at the recent Job Summit and the new government scheme has been announced by Economic Development Minister Gerry Brownlee and Immigration Min-ister Dr Jonathan Coleman.

“This fresh approach will ensure we bring more investors, connect them with existing business networks, and create real jobs for New Zealanders,” Economic Development Minister Gerry Brownlee said.

Announcing the new policy, Dr Coleman said that since 2005 there has been a significant drop off in business migration investment due to unrealistic investment expectations and English language requirements.

The new policy package is designed for mi-grants who want to invest or set up a business in New Zealand and gain permanent residence.

“For investor migrants the previously exist-ing three categories are streamlined to two, with more realistic requirements for capital, language skills and time spent in New Zealand annually, as well as a far greater flexibility in terms of in-vestment vehicles,” he said.

For entrepreneurial migrants the new policy

introduces a new Entrepreneur Plus category, which complements the existing Entrepreneur category. Entrepreneur Plus offers a faster path to residence for applicants who create at least 3 fulltime jobs and invest $500,000 in their busi-ness.

The ministers used the launch of the re-vamped scheme to score brownie points on the failure of the Labour government to make the business migration policy work. “The last gov-ernment’s business migration policies have not attracted investment. Since 2007, there have only been 23 migrants brought to New Zealand through Labour’s business migration policy. Business migration needs to be urgently ad-dressed, and stakeholders’ feedback has been extremely positive regarding this new package,” Dr Coleman said.

Jeremy Moon, who was a chair at the Prime Minister’s Job Summit, and said the scheme was a “win win”.

“Business leaders suggested this idea during the Job Summit as something that could be highly effective for little cost. I back the idea because the more investment and entrepreneur-ship we can get in New Zealand the better,” Mr Moon said.

The new Investor policy came into effect on July 28 and the Entrepreneur Policy will be ef-fective from November this year.

See advertorial on page 20.

New business migrant scheme launched

Auckland businessman Peter Goodfellow is the new president of the National Party. The National Party’s board of directors elected him earlier this week. Mr Goodfellow is a longtime member of the National Party, and has been involved with the party for many decades since the 1970s.

Speaking on TVNZ’s Q+A programme shortly after his election as president, the Mr Goodfellow said he wanted to use his long association with the party and his commercial skills to “ensure that we go into 2011 with a good headstart.”

He replaces Judy Kirk, who he said, “has left a huge legacy and has achieved outstanding results for the Party.” He said he was honoured to have been elected and that he was looking forward to carrying on the great work undertaken by Mrs Kirk.

One of the primary roles of the party president is to support the Prime Minister to ensure that the board and the party are right behind him.

Asked if the party was facing a difficult times with funding, Mr Goodfellow said that was not the case but added that it was an expensive business to run elections. Part of his role, he said, was to ensure that the party was well funded for the next campaign for elections in 2011.

“I am looking forward to working with such a

popular and inspirational Prime Minister as John Key, as well as my fellow board members who I would like to thank for their support,” he said.

“An important part of my job will be to get out in the regions to meet with our members and en-courage their feedback and I am keen to begin that process as soon as possible.”

National Party delegates also voted three new members on to the Board of Directors: Alastair Bell, Kate Hazlett and Pat Seymour.

Alastair Bell who was recently re-elected Northern Regional Chairman of the National Party. Mr Bell, who is known to be hard working, soft spoken and a good listener has substantial fol-lowing and support from within the National Party.

He shares a close connection with the growing ethnic population of New Zealand and is fully aware of the importance of the support of these groups.

He was a senior political advisor to former Prime Minister Jenny Shipley.

He is known to have his ear close to the ground and media reports suggest that he is the man to watch as a rising star of the party.

Indian Weekender wishes him luck and con-gratulates him on his elevation to the Party Board.

National party has a new president

NeW MAN IN : John Key and Peter Goodfellow the new president during the conference and (right) Alastair Bell was re-elected Northern Regional Chairman


Indian New Zealand

Deepak Vohra, currently the Ambassador of India to the African nation of Sudan, has been appointed as the High Commissioner to New Zealand, the Government of India has an-nounced.

Mr Vohra, who will be based at the Indian High Commission in Wellington, is expected to take up his assignment shortly. The post had fallen vacant after the previous High Commis-sioner Kadakath Pathrose Ernest finished his tenure in April this year.

Mr Vohra has earlier has held diplomatic posts in several countries including in the Spanish capital Madrid and in Armenia. He was also the joint secretary in the ministry of external affairs of the Indian government. He has, in the past, been a TV personality and has hosted a popular breakfast TV show on Doordarshan.

– Indian Weekender news desk

New Indian High Commissioner

An Indian filmmaker, who has worked with some of the big names in India’s movie scene, is set to embark on his first venture in New Zealand.

Sreeman Myadam, of Auckland, will start shooting for his short film, yet to be titled, in Auckland on August 14-15.

Sreeman, who has been in New Zealand for one-and-a-half-years, has worked as assistant to director Nagesh Kukunoor for Hyderbaad Blues and with Posani Krishna Murali as assistant director for several Kannada films.

The movie is about a young man who finds it difficult to move on with his lonely life due to a tragic loss, when suddenly someone from his past comes along to help him with his struggles.

The focus of the movie is hope and not to give up on life no matter what, says Sreeman.

The short film is produced by Rahul Sirigiri of Link 2 Services (NZ) Ltd.The cast includes: hero - Rakesh Rathee; second heroine - Sufia Ali; assistant director - Sufia.

Director/ screenplay: Sreeman Myadam. The actor for the heroine’s role is yet to be confirmed.Sreeman says he hopes to launch the 15-minute movie in September after finalising the editing

process in India where he will also finalise a deal to direct a Bollywood movie (Hindi) with Lakshmi Raja Films, India, produced by Kosaraju Rajendra Babu.

The script and cast for the Bollywood movie are yet to be finalised.Sreeman, 28, says he hopes most of the shooting for his future project will involve Auckland.

Watch this space.

Indian filmmaker to shoot in Auckland

You no longer need to be glued to your PC or laptop to access your favourite Kiwi Indian website. On August 15, coinciding with India’s 62nd independence day, your favourite Kiwi Indian website, www.indianweekender.co.nz will be available for easy access on your smart mobile phones.

That’s mobile azaadi for you.The lite, fast-loading mobile version has been especially designed for readability on the

small screens of smart mobile phones. You will be able to access your favourite stories and content and an increasing number of interesting special offers on indianweekender.co.nz from anywhere.

Regular visitors to indianweekender.co.nz would have also noticed that the website is now update every day – so there’s something new to read, see and do every day. And yes, it’s also available on the new short and sweet url www.iwk.co.nz.

Also, with such an overwhelming response to our fortnightly e-newsletter and numer-ous requests to make it more frequent, we are pleased to announce that our growing numbers of subscribers will start receiving the Indian Weekender e-newsletter every week, starting August 15.

If you haven’t already registered to receive the e-newsletter, please visit the website and do so – it’s a simple one step process. And you automatically go into the draw to win a growing list of prizes. Join the thousands of Kiwi Indians – and Indians from other parts of the world – who have registered since the website went live just two months ago.

Mobile Azaadi:indianweekender.co.nz goes mobile!

Indian Weekender is New Zealand’s fastest growing Kiwi Indian newspaper.

We are looking for motivated Advertising Sales Consul-tants to join our dynamic team on a part-time basis for the following territories:

- south Auckland

- Central Auckland

- West Auckland

You must have excellent communication skills, a great personality, your own vehicle, computer literacy and access to the internet.

Experience in working with the Indian business community is a defi-nite advantage.This role is ideal for someone wanting to work from home or to supplement their existing income.

You will be assigned your own territory to work in and given as much help and support as needed to succeed.

Please send your application to Reggie singh, sales & Marketing Manager.

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IndianPart-time Advertising sales Consultants


Indian New Zealand

Trade statistics released last week by the Wel-lington Regional Chamber of Commerce show the increasing importance of China and India as export markets for New Zealand.

“China is now ahead of Japan as the third largest country of destination for exports, behind Australia and the US. Exports to China in the 12 months ending June were 62% higher than the previous year compared with a 7.5% increase for New Zealand’s exports overall,” head of the chamber Charles Finny said.

“Annual exports to India have doubled in the last twelve months. India is now our 13th largest export market. In the previous year it wasn’t even in the top 20.

“It is highly likely that we will see further growth in the trade and business relationship with both these countries. The Free Trade Agreement we signed with China last year is now well established and New Zealand and India have commenced their own FTA negotia-tions.

“While the growing trading relationship with China and India is welcomed, we must not neglect our traditional trading partners. These include the US and Japan - the world’s first and second largest economies.

“New Zealand and Japan have an investi-gative study pending on the benefits of a free-trade deal and the US is in negotiations with

New Zealand and other countries to establish a Trans-Pacific free trade area.

“The rise of China and India as global traders will hopefully provide an impetus to fast-track these negotiations.

“New Zealand’s economic recovery is likely to be export-led and growth in exports will be what sustains New Zealand’s economic perfor-mance in the longer run.

“The Chamber is keen to see exports in-crease their contribution to the Wellington re-gional economy and is part of a collaboration with EMA Central and Export New Zealand to help achieve this,” Mr Finny concluded.

- Indian Weekender news desk

Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism John Key today launched a new campaign encourag-ing Kiwis to invite their overseas relatives and friends to visit New Zealand.

The ‘Great Kiwi Invite’ campaign, run by Tourism New Zealand, aims to increase the number of visitors to the country at a time when global economic conditions mean fewer people are travelling the world.

“New Zealanders are known as great travel-lers, and as a result so many of us have connec-tions overseas,” Mr Key said.

“Whether it’s friends, family or people we’ve met during our travels, I want to encourage Kiwis to make contact with those people through the new campaign and invite them to visit New Zealand.”

New Zealanders will be able to go online towww.thegreatkiwiinvite.co.nz and send a per-sonal animated invitation to someone overseas.

When the invitation is accepted, the person will go into a draw to win one of 15 trips for two to New Zealand, flying from any Air New Zealand port.

“Tourism is a major economic driver and has the potential to help get the country through the recession in good shape.

“Kiwis can play a part in getting people to visit New Zealand, boosting tourism numbers and providing positive spin-offs for everything from hotels and attractions to cafes and taxis,” Mr Key said.

The launch of the campaign comes as the 100% Pure New Zealand campaign celebrates its 10th anniversary.


A delegation of 13 Indian leather products and footwear ex-porters is visiting New Zealand later this month. A buyer-seller meet with the group and a chance to look at serious business opportunities is being held at the Stamford Plaza Hotel, Albert St, Auckland, on Monday, August 31. Registra-tions will begin at 9am, and the event will run until 5pm. It will be followed by a cocktail function from 5pm to 7pm.

The event is organised by Wellington-based consultancy Global Village and is supported by the High Commission of India, New Zealand.

New Zealand’s trade ties with India are on the upswing. India is a huge economy and the two countries are coming closer to that Free Trade Agreement. This event is a chance for businesses from the two countries to write a part of that emerging story early on – and do some serious and successful business, say the organisers.

Raga D’silva, Director, Global Village Unlimited, a NZ based consultancy that is managing the event for the Council for Leather Exports, India, says “New Zealand’s leather

imports increased by a tremendous US$110 million in just five years, up from US$140 million in 2002 to US$250 million in 2007. That’s growth of 11.5 percent a year, and there’s more to come. The delegation arriving from India will have just completed similar deal-ings in Australia are serious about doing business with quality New Zealand partners. It is a great opportunity for NZ importers, exporters, retail shop owners, traders to attend the show and meet the delegation face to face”.

For more information contact: Raga D’silva Director Global Village Unlimited 2007 Limited +027 680 6557 [email protected]. Those interested in meeting up with the delegation and discussing business opportunities can register at http://www.globalvillageunlimited.com/events/clebsm/default.asp#register

Export figures show India’s growing importance

Indian leather product exporters coming to NZ

PM launches ‘Great Kiwi Invite’ tourism campaign

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Indian New Zealand

The Warehouse, New Zealand’s largest retailer now with 86 stores nationwide and its recently launched online store, has opened its first smaller store format - The Warehouse Local - with plans to roll out the regionalised concept nationwide.

The Warehouse chief executive, Ian Morrice, said his team is excited about the new offering, “We have developed a solution to give more New Zealanders across the country better access to great products, well known brands and of course low prices. The compact format of The Warehouse Local enables us to do this and we plan to roll out around 15 local stores over the coming years.”

Morrice added, “The Warehouse Local delivers low prices, a wide range of products and services, and convenient shopping to smaller town residents. The more compact store format offers a range of top selling product categories including fashion, home and garden, music and DVDs, and household consumables, tailored to the local customer needs. Research carried out with 600 residents of Mosgiel determined the range and choice of products in this first store.”

On July 23 the company opened its first The Warehouse Local in Mosgiel, near Dunedin. The store opening, and the jobs it has created, comes as a positive boost for the community after a year of significant job losses.

The Warehouse has employed Dunedin locals to fill three of the six store management and super-visor roles in its Mosgiel store, and all of the 22 service staff from the small community.

Manukau Mayor Len Brown says the Manukau City Council is launching a rare op-portunity for ‘mum and dad’ retail investors to invest in the city’s in-frastructure, through a Bond Issue for up to $90 million.

The council is taking this step to diversify its funding sources and to provide more funding certainty, Finance Direc-tor Dave Foster says.

“This funding will help us provide the assets, services and facilities needed to shape Manukau – and ultimately the greater Auckland region – for the benefit of our residents and businesses,” Mr Foster says.

The council has taken the formation of the new Auckland Council into account when decid-ing on the bond issue and has approval from the Auckland Transition Authority, given the bonds are for four and six years and therefore extend beyond November 2010, when the Auckland

Council comes into existence.“This is an exciting initiative, and provides

a new opportunity for the wider community to invest in the city’s growth and development in the long term.”

The offer will be open from 22 July to 30 September 2009, and has a minimum investment for each series, of $10,000 and amounts of $1000 after that.

The bonds are secured over the rates of the city through a Debenture Trust Deed. They will have first ranking priority (except in limited circumstances where the law may decide other-wise), alongside other council debt secured under the trust deed.

A detailed description of the security, includ-ing the possible effect of the Auckland regional governance reorganisation on the security, is set out in the Investment Statement.

BNZ Capital, a division of Bank of New Zealand, is the arranger of the bond issue.

The Investment Statement and the current Rate Card are available from Manukau City Council, BNZ Capital and Link Market Services.

– Indian Weekender news desk

Manukau Mayor Len Brown says a joint venture to develop a new hotel at Auckland Airport in time for the 2011 Rugby World Cup is positive for the Manukau region.

Accor Hospitality, Tainui Group Holdings and Auckland International Airport today signed a deal to build a new 4-star, 260-room Novotel hotel at Auckland Airport.

“Auckland Airport is a progressive company and as a shareholder, our council sees this venture as a significant opportunity for development of the gateway to New Zealand,” says Mr Brown.

“We are going through some difficult eco-nomic times and this venture presents remedy to the recession by providing jobs particularly in

the construction sector. “Tainui has important ties to our region, and

it is pleasing to note the significant investment they are making in our city.

“This is an exciting initiative. The design and architecture is elegant and will include subtle ref-erences to New Zealand culture and heritage. It will provide a unique experience for visitors.

“Manukau is the gateway to New Zealand and this will add value for our region and for tourism looking to the future. Manukau City Council is supportive of this venture and we look forward to working with the partners to see this project through,” says Mr Brown.

Council launches bond issue

Manukau City Council supports new hotel venture

New Local Format For The Warehouse

Asia:NZ/Cathay Pacific has announced a Diwali short story competition which could win partici-pants a trip for two to India!

The Diwali Festival of Lights -- one of India’s best-loved festivals – celebrates its eighth anniver-sary in Auckland and Wellington this October.

To mark the occasion, the Asia New Zealand Foundation and Cathay Pacific invite you to test your writing skills and be in to win a trip for two to India.

The rules are simple – all you have to do is write a short story of up to 800 words which includes the following four words: “Diwali”, “homecoming”, “lamington”, and “Cathay Pacific”.

There will be one national winner, whose name will be announced at the Auckland Diwali Festival of Lights, to be held on October 10-11 at the Eastern Viaduct. (The Wellington Diwali Festival will be held on October 18 at the TSB Bank Arena.)

Organised by Asia:NZ in partnership with Auckland and Wellington City Councils, the Diwali

Festival is a celebration of the sights, sounds, fashion and food of India.

Diwali, also known as Deepavali (literally “a row of lamps”), is perhaps the most important and ancient of the Indian festivals.

The rules are simple and some of them are:• Your entry must be your own work and no more than 800 words• Your story must contain the following words: “Diwali”; “homecoming”; “lamington”; and “Cathay Pacific”.• You must be 18 or over and resident in New Zealand.

Your entries must be imaginative and stylish writing.

The prize is an economy class return trip for two to Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai or Bangalore, flying Cathay Pacific.

For more information, email: [email protected]

Diwali short story competition launched


Indian India

Mumbai: Former First Lady and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton began her first visit as an American diplomat to India, with a stopover in Mumbai. While in Mumbai she stayed at the tower wing of the Taj Mahal Hotel, in a show of solidarity to the victims of the November terror attacks.

Ahead of her visit, Clinton said president Barack Obama’s administration was “going to do everything we can to broaden and deepen our en-gagement” with the UPA government.

Clinton had also said, “We are starting a strate-gic dialogue between myself and the new minister of external affairs.”

In Mumbai she interacted with various business heads, visiting SEWA (Self Employed Women’s Association), had an interactive session with college students at St.Xaviers College, and paying tributes to martyrs of the November terror attacks.

On Sunday she left for New Delhi. She held meetings with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, External Affairs Minister S.M.Krishna, Chairper-son of the ruling Congress Party Sonia Gandhi, and the aging leader of the opposition L.K.Advani.

A major achievement of her visit was the signing of the defence deal that would take a major step towards allowing the sale of sophisticated U.S. arms to India, senior U.S. officials said.

Known as an “end-use monitoring” agreement and required by U.S. law for such weapons sales, the pact would let Washington check that India was using any arms for the purposes intended and was preventing the technology from leaking to others.

Ms Clinton’s visit also highlighted two other very important issues – climate change and terror-ism, areas where both the countries don’t see eye to eye.

Her meeting with Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh was not hunky-dory as the minister out-right rejected US suggestions that India should accept worldwide legally binding caps on the pro-duction of greenhouse gases. He was on the defen-sive probably to preempt any binding to a possible successor to the Kyoto Protocol being drawn up at the Copenhagen Climate Conference in December.

In her talks with Dr.Manmohan Singh, Clinton has extended an invitation for him to make a state visit to Washington on November 24, a State De-partment official said.

The official also added that Dr. Singh would be the first foreign leader to make a state visit under U.S. President Barack Obama, another mark of the relationship’s importance to the United States.

Clinton also addressed students of Delhi Uni-versity during which she said that combating ter-rorism and extremism was the number one chal-lenge for all countries, and that this issue should be tackled in a democratic manner.

- All India stories by India correspondent, Shobha Rao

Hillary Clinton visits Mumbai, New Delhi

Patna: The solar eclipse on July 22, was one of the longest in this century lasting 6 minutes 39 seconds. It was visible across South East Asia and the Western Pacific. The eclipse was especially significant since it is happening in the International Year of Astronomy globally.

Taregana, a little hamlet in the state of Bihar was identified as one of the best places to view the eclipse. Taregana already has an ancient connection with as-tronomy, having been one of the two places used by 6th century Indian astronomer-mathematician Ary-abhata for his celestial studies.

Hundreds of researchers, scientists, astrophysi-cists and amateur astronomers converged on this sleepy hamlet, which had geared up for the occasion by converting a school into a dormitory for visitors. Scientists from US space agency NASA, Britain, Italy, Germany, France, as well as from the Tata Institute for Fundamental Research (TIFR) and the

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) were there to watch the phenomenon.

The Bihar State Tourism Development Corpora-tion set up a special counter at Taregana to provide all possible facilities. The departments concerned were assigned the tasks of setting up temporary public toilets, repairing the road, providing round-the-clock power supply as well as bringing out a pamphlet on the village.

India has taken special interest in this event, as the data gathered during the solar eclipse will form the basis of the launching of the new satellite ‘Aditya’ (meaning the sun in Sanskrit). The new satellite would help study the sun and its effects on the earth’s weather.

Aditya which is expected to be launched in 2012, with a life expectancy of ten years, is billed as the most advanced satellite since 1995.

Taregana shines in the eclipse


Indian

bRIeFs

India

Cheating students, forgiving judgeNew Delhi: A metropolitan magistrate in New Delhi acquitted all 33 students who were caught cheating in an examination. The reason: he did not want to ruin the careers of the youngsters, all of whom are in their early twenties.

The college authorities had called in the CBI, when all 33 had submitted identical answer sheets and had scored similar marks. The students were accused of receiving answers on their mobile phones, while taking an exam at the Delhi Engineering College in 2005.

The magistrate stated that they were all an age where “their capacity for understand-ing is still developing. I do not see any positive impact by sentencing these youngsters,” he said.

Instead he pulled up the young people’s parents for failing to instil the right values in them. “These parents do not have faith in fair means and the fairness of the system,” he noted.

Hindu rituals for Michael JacksonThiruananthapuram: The last rites of singer Michael Jackson were performed on the banks of the Nila river in Kerala, according to Hindu customs, presumably to put his rest-less soul to rest after reports that many people had seen the singer’s ghost.

A group of three US nationals performed the rites at the Nava Mukunda temple on the new moon day of the Malayalam month of Karkkadakam, which fell on July 20 this year. It is one of the holy days on which people in Kerala perform rituals for the dead.

The American trio who claim to be Hindu converts, took part in the twenty minute ritual after taking a dip in the holy river amidst the chanting of Sanskrit shlokas.

First women in border security ForceChandigarh: The Kharkan camp of the Border Security Force (BSF), 15 km from this Pun-jab town, saw history being made on its passing out parade, as it inducted 178 women constables into its ranks, so far which had been the sole reserve of men cadets only.

In addition to their rigorous 36-month training the new recruits will be given an addi-tional two week specialised advanced combat training before they take up their assign-ment along the 553-km-long fenced India-Pakistan border in Punjab. The recruits will be the first women to be deployed along the international border.

Home Minister P. Chidambaram specially flew in to take the salute of the new recruits of the BSF.

“It is a great privilege to be here. There are many constables in the country but no one can take away from you the special pride, as you are the first batch of women constables in the BSF. You all have an important role to play,” Chidambaram told the proud women recruits.

Mumbai: Last week saw the passing away of three talented women who had each carved a niche for themselves in their fields.Gangubai Hangal

Gangubai Hangal, doyen of Hindustani vocal music of the Kirana Gharana passed away on 21July Tuesday at Hubli, Karnataka. She was 97 years old, and had been suffering from chest con-gestion and related complications.

Gangubai who mesmerized audiences with her melodious voice, was born to a celebrated vocal-ist of carnatic music. She learned classical music from Krishnacharya and Dattopant Desai. Later, she studied music under Sawai Gandharva.

Diagnosed with bone cancer in 2002, she battled the disease with her never-say-die attitude and continued to teach music to students who came to her from all parts of the country.

She was honoured with many international and national awards including the Karnataka Sangeet Nritya Academy Award in 1962, Padma Bhushan in 1971, Padma Vibhushan in 2002, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1973.Leela Naidu

Leela Naidu, actress who was once listed by Vogue magazine as one of the 10 most beautiful women in the world passed away on 28 July at Mumbai following a prolonged illness. She was 69.

Born to an Irish mother and an Indian father, Leela Naidu was crowned Miss India in 1954. Her chiseled features made her a classical beauty and she made her film debut in 1960 with director Hri-shikesh Mukerjee’s Anuradha. The film didn’t do well at the box office, but got the National Award for best film and a nomination for the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, 1961. and she got criti-cal acclaim.

Leela had not done large body of work but is remembered for her unorthodox roles in films like

Yeh Raaste Hain Pyar Ke (1963), based on the famous K M Nanavati vs. State of Maharashtra court case. In the same year, she was offered a role in the first Merchant Ivory Production “The Householder”, which was directed by James Ivory.

After marriage to Biki Oberoi of the Oberoi hotel group she settled for matrimony, before re-turning to films with Shyam Benegal’s Trikaal in the late 80s. She later divorced Oberoi and married literateur Dom Moraes.

Film maker Shyam Benegal reminisces “she was the most gorgeous woman and an absolutely wonderful human being’” while journalist Jerry Pinto who has written a book on Naidu describes her as a lady with grace and impeccable manners.

Maharani Gayatri DeviMaharani Gayatri Devi, 90, died last Wednes-

day at the Ja hospital in Jaipur after persistent breathing problems.

Known to her friends as “Ayesha”, the young Maharani caused a minor sensation in India when, in 1940, she married for love rather than by paren-tal decree, to become the third wife of the dashing Maharaja of Jaipur.

In 1962 she created a very different sensation when, as the Republic of India’s first princess to stand for parliament, she won her seat by the largest landslide ever recorded. A decade later she won international sympathy when she was impris-oned for six months during the period of Indira Gandhi’s notorious State of Emergency.

Princess Gayatri Devi was born in London on May 23 1919, the fourth child of the ruler of Cooch Behar State in eastern India.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh mourned the death of Gayatri Devi, the erstwhile maha-rani of Jaipur who was once considered one of the world’s most beautiful women, and called her a close friend and an exceptional human being.

- Shobha Rao

India loses three great women who were legends in their lifetimes


Indian


Indian Fiji

Suva: The Fijian traditional system of ‘ker-ekere’ or borrowing is being blamed as one of the reasons why small village-based farming efforts do not succeed commercially, reports Fiji Live.

In a paper presented at the recent Fiji Eco-nomic Update, held at the University of the South Pacific in Suva, Professor Ron Duncan of the National Australian University said the ‘kerekere’ system posed difficulties in the vi-ability of indigenous farming businesses estab-lished within Fijian villages.

‘Kerekere’ is the Fijian custom of borrowing from kinsmen. It is shameful for a Fijian not to give something that is asked for within the ‘kerekere’ system.

“Attempts to overcome this difficulty through the formation of joint-management groups within the village do not appear to have been successful, as they have proven prone to governance problems,” Duncan said.

“There is still belief in some quarters in the viability of village cooperatives, but experi-ence is such as to not inspire much confidence in this form of enterprise.”

Professor Duncan’s paper discussed the failure of agricultural policymaking in Fiji.

It paid much attention to prevalent govern-ment policy support and focus on state-driven large-scale commercial agricultural enterpris-es which often left out small scale agricultural activities in Fijian villages.

“The poor policies and projects that have been implemented by various governments appear to have their roots in poor understand-

ing of the economic, cultural and social envi-ronment in which they are to be implemented,” Duncan said.

He said small village commercial efforts would need to reach a point of effective man-agement and control before they could realise commercial success.

“Experience of management groups among Maori tribes in New Zealand has seen greater success, where the need to ensure good gover-nance and efficient management groups struc-tures seems to have been realized.

“Until this point is reached in Fiji, joint ven-tures between villagers and non-indigenous entrepreneurs might offer a better means of ‘quarantining’ village businesses from onerous cultural and social obligations,” Mr Duncan said.

www.pacificbusinessonline.com

Suva: Fiji’s leader Commodore Frank Bainima-rama says the warning by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) to suspend Fiji will not distract him from the roadmap he has outlined for the country.

Commodore Bainimarama told FijiLive that he was not moved at all.

“People have tried to change us from the last 18 months but what we have set out to do, will not change,” he said. However, he said the government has not received any letter from the CMAG to inform him of their decision.

The Commonwealth renewed a warning to Fiji yesterday that it would be suspended from the grouping in September, if it failed to commit to holding new elections by next year following the 2006 coup.

In March, the Commonwealth gave Fiji a six-month deadline to restore democracy, three years after military leader Bainimarama over-threw the elected government.

In a statement agreed after seven hours of talks, ministers called for Fiji to inform it in writing by 01 September that it would hold elec-tions by October 2010. ”In the absence of such confirmation, Fiji will be fully suspended on that date,” they said.

There had been some signs that the CMAG would agree to suspend Fiji immediately, but the nine-member group has to agree by consensus, meaning any one country can block a decision.

Informed sources told AFP the ministerial group was split down the middle, with countries including New Zealand in favour of suspension, but others including Malaysia, which chairs the CMAG, against.

Fiji has already been banned from Common-

wealth ministerial meetings due to the coup. The action came after Bainimarama ignored a dead-line to hold elections by March this year.

Commodore Bainimarama has since issued a roadmap to elections in 2014, which includes a new constitution that assures racial equality and reforms that will address the country’s coup culture. If full membership were suspended, technical aid such as training that it still receives from its fellow countries would also be halted.

The Commonwealth, a grouping of 53 former British colonies, dependencies and other territo-ries, suspended Zimbabwe in 2002, but President Robert Mugabe then unilaterally withdrew. It has twice suspended Pakistan.

- www.pacificbusinessonline.com

Fiji’s leader unflinching in face of Commonwealth threat

‘Kerekere’ bad for Fijian business, says Professor


Indian Viewpoint

The latest political crisis to hit Fiji involves a monumental face-off between the military on one side and the Methodist Church, fronted by paramount chief Ro Teimumu Kepa, on the other. Many here will be wondering and dan-gerously speculating about the potential fallout from this unseemly fracas. This article attempts to discuss some of the main issues involved in traditional Fijian politics that have surfaced in this case.

It is no secret that what is seen as the tradi-tional Fijian system is predicated on 3 pedestals: the lotu, matanitu and vanua (church, govern-ment and a social-cosmological morph). The concept of vanua is often misunderstood and misused by opportunists especially in the politi-cal domain.

Renowned academic Steven Ratuva says the term vanua refers to a conglomeration of three forms of inter-relationships: the territorial sphere (qele), social kinship (veiwekani) and the cos-mological dimension (yavutu and vu) (Ratuva, Suva, April 2, 2002). That’s the best attempt at defining this nebulous concept, which also un-derpins the Bainimarama-Methodist rift in Fiji.

The lotu (church) is very much a part of Fijian life. Its original spiritual role was modified by early missionaries to educate the “natives” to conform to a “civilized” way of life. This social role was later complemented with the soli and fund-raising, so that the church’s eco-nomic agenda could be met. And as enlighten-ment dawned on the political significance of the church, pastors joined the queue to political prominence.

The matanitu, on the other hand, encom-

passed governance and government. At the centre of this concept lay the traditional chief and the chiefly system. Fijian confusion and politi-cal instability can be largely explained through the fact that Fijian chiefs no longer run central government as envisaged by the architects of newly-independent Fiji. The Fijian has had diffi-culties separating matanitu from central govern-ment. That’s why it has been so easy to mobilize Fijians to topple democratic governments.

The lotu and matanitu that had once been complementary forces became one after the 1987 coup. Rabuka central-ized the role of the Methodist church and Manasa Lasaro in particular to cushion his precarious post-coup hold on power. It was Lasaro who led the infamous Sunday Ban campaign. The church thus became an integral part of national politics and gov-ernment.

As power politics began to be played out ruthlessly using the lotu and matanitu, there were many disciples who watched and learnt with height-ened personal ambitions. It is no secret that an aspiring Fijian politician had to have the active support of his church as there is no better mo-bilizing point given the religiosity of the Fijian polity.

Pumping the pulpit and beseeching divine assistance does help churn up adrenalin and channel minds towards votes that are mark-edly different from the informed choice vote of

true democracies. The patronage of the pastors became so important that they began to be re-warded with plum political positions.

Manasa Lasaro and Tomasi Kanailagi, two powerful former heads of Fiji’s Methodist Church, were recipients of such gifts. These are the two men who Bainimarama wants removed from the church scene as they played key roles in openly politicizing the church. Bainimarama also sees them as potential rallying points for a groundswell against his regime.

Lasaro was a key figure in the coup of 1987 and Kanailagi rallied the clergy behind Speight-supporters in 2000. He was a key man in the Qarase government. Further-more, Lasaro executed a coup within the Methodist church in 1989 and alleg-edly followed that up with a high-command support-ed attempt to brutalize his foe at his farm in Pacific Harbour. That is the other

outstanding reconciliation within the haloed halls of the church.

Bainimarama is concerned about the distort-ing role played by the church in politics, hence his demand to remove the 2 pastors from the hierarchy. The church high command disagreed and attempted to rope in the traditional matanitu as the central government was unexpectedly un-accommodating.

Its wily strategists obtained the support of the highest chief in Fiji at present, Ro Teimumu

Kepa, the Roko Tui Dreketi. She was still smart-ing from her ouster from government, and made for a highly useful ally as the forthcoming annual church conference had been strategically sched-uled to be hosted by her village, Lomanikoro.

The aim was to use the resilient lotu/matani-tu link to daunt the Commodore. It failed, and Bainimarama remained resolute. In an interest-ing twist, the Vunivalu of Rewa, traditionally the main bulwark of the Roko Tui Dreketi, declared, “It is time for the vanua, church and the matanitu to draw their own respective lines across which the other two must never encroach” (FT 27/7/09).

He tried to minimize the significance of his apparent opposition to the stance taken by his paramount chief by adding, “In the process of involving the vanua, members of the Methodist Church and political party leaders managed to drag the Roko Tui Dreketi into the fray in a vain attempt to change the government’s stand on the cancelled Methodist conference.”

Attempts to delink the lotu from the matanitu continue, but the fallout would be difficult to predict. Should the church be separated from the government? Why? How will this affect the vanua and does the changing vanua need further changes to assist Fijians in a rapidly chang-ing environment? These are questions that Fiji is grappling with. And the answers might be divinely inspired, but they will need genuine human effort to deliver.

The opinions contained here are Subhash Appana’s own and not necessarily shared by any organizations that he may be affiliated with, both here and overseas.

- Email: [email protected]

The Fijian Church ConnectionsubHAsH APPANA

As power politics began to be played out ruthlessly using the lotu and matanitu, there were many disciples who watched and learnt with heightened personal ambitions.


Indian Fiji

Suva: Fiji’s economic performance is linked to the tourism industry, ANZ Bank’s general manager for Fiji Robert Bell said. Tourism was an important foreign exchange earner for Fiji, which contributes to foreign reserves. Mr Bell made the comments while handing over a cheque to the Tourism Forum organising committee. He said it was also one of the largest employers and developers for local staff.

“The current operators have also proven to be very resourceful and resilient despite difficult local and global conditions over the last three years,” he said. “ANZ through its tourism specialist team has been a long term supporter of tourism in Fiji and around the Pacific.

“Tourism will remain one of the key ANZ focus going forward.” ANZ Bank became the major sponsor for the Fiji Tourism Forum to be held on August 14 at the Intercontinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa.

Mr Bell said ANZ believed significant growth could come from further tourism development and marketing. Forum planning committee chairman Damend Gounder said that this years’ Forum was probably the most important of recent times as the industry had to discuss and determine strategies for a very challenging economic and competitive environment.

“Destination Fiji still maintains its flavour within our source markets, however, as the industry looks for consolidation and growth the leaders within the tourism industry will need to suggest new ways of moving forward,” he said.

Meanwhile, Tourism Fiji in co-operation with the Fiji Islands Backpackers Association has de-clared August as Backpackers/Flashpackers Month. This initiative will be supported by extensive advertising and promotion in key markets Australia and New Zealand.

Air Pacific will take part with attractive airfares for this growing youth market. The recent 20% devaluation of Fiji dollars provides a unique opportunity to encourage tourists to the Pacific’s most popular destination.

www.pacificbusinessonline.com/ South-pacific.travel

Suva: Cutbacks made to the faculty and units at the University of the South Pacific (USP) have enabled the institution to save $5.4million (US$2..6 million), reports Fiji Times.

USP vice-chancellor Professor Rajesh Chandra said the strategy has been helpful because the university ended the year with an operational surplus.

He said he was hoping to have an opera-tional surplus of about $6million (US$2.9 million) this year.

“The approach taken has been to ensure that there are fundamental changes to our structure, process and activities so that the university becomes more sustainable for the future,” said Professor Chandra.

He said the university would continue to reform its systems and process.

“Various reviews are being made and we should know as a result of the reviews, what further changes are needed,” he said.

The academic said there were plans to make major changes to our academic pro-grams, converting them to credit points, sharing more common courses, introduc-ing four new generic courses, changing the names of some programs and put more em-phasis on flexible learning and teaching.

“The university now has a new strategic plan.

“As part of that, significant improvements are being made to improve the quality of learning and teaching through better facili-ties.

“The USP bandwidth, for instance is being increased,” said Professor Chandra.


Tourism a key player in Fiji economy

USP costs drop $6m

Nadi: Fiji national carrier Air Pacific managing director John Campbell has announced it will intro-duce a new service between Apia, Samoa and Honolulu starting in September. The flight will begin operation on September 11 with Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Mr Campbell said the new flight will add a third weekly Apia-Nadi service and will make travel throughout the South Pacific easier.

“For Samoans, access to Honolulu and the mainland United States will now be more affordable and convenient,” he said. “Air Pacific’s flights to Apia have been successful and the extension to Honolulu is important for both business and leisure travelers. “We have a substantial presence in the region and are happy to be able to increase our services to Samoa.”

The new service will have eight seats in Tabua Business Class and 152 in Pacific Voyagers Class. The route between Fiji and Samoa serves as an important link for government, business and students, as well as serving the tourism industry in the Pacific Islands.

Mr Campbell added the northbound schedule for the new flights provides excellent connections from Sydney, Brisbane, Auckland, Tonga and Suva. The southbound flights will provide easy con-nections back to Suva. Air Pacific also operates non-stop flights from Nadi to Apia on Sundays and Tuesdays and from Nadi to Honolulu on Sundays.


Air Pacific unveils new route


Indian

I was lost in this world when my mother passed away and it is Ashish who showed me the right path towards love and light. She is a lady who means a lot to me and I always look upon her for guidance. She is a very humble and a noble person and always willing to help people in times of need. I am very grateful to her for giving light in my life and teaching me to go with the flow.

- Mahiyar, Wellington

Message & LettersIndian

From the Editor

Indian Weekender is published by Kiwi Media Group, Unit O, 8 Bishop Lenihan Place, East Tamaki, Manukau 2013 and printed at APN Print, Ellerslie, Auckland Copyright 2009. Kiwi Media Group. All Rights Reserved.

Indian Weekender Volume 1 No 11Publisher: 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: Reggie Singh - 021 160 6704, [email protected] or Giri Gupta - 021 221 1131 Please email original editorial contributions, community notices and pictures to [email protected] expressed in the publication are not necessarily of the publisher and the publisher is not responsible for advertisers’ claims as appearingv in the publication Please send us your name, street address and phone number along

with a cheque for $30 payable to Kiwi Media Group and mail it to Unit O, 8 Bishop Lenihan Place, East Tamaki, Manukau 2013. The amount would cover the costs of mailing and handling 26 issues.

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Shadow of terror at our doorstep

Indian Independence Day message fromHon. John Key, Prime Minister of New Zealand

I hope you and your family enjoy celebrating Indian Independence Day. As well as being an important day in Indian history, it’s also a chance to recognise our growing links with India, and the con-tribution Indian New Zealanders make to New Zealand.

Our country is an increasingly diverse and vibrant nation and the National-led Government wants all New Zealanders to play a part in our communities.

I value the strong relationship that National has with our Indian communities. We are working hard to ensure your voice is heard at the highest levels of Government.

We have listened to your concerns about law and order and have acted. We are taking a number of steps to make our neighbourhoods and communities safer. This includes putting 600 more police on the beat, equipping all police districts with tasers, and putting victims first with the Offenders Levy. We are also introducing tougher sentencing, parole, and bail laws.

We are ensuring you have better access to healthcare, which is why we’re putting more funding into frontline health services. Shortly we will begin building new elective-surgery super centres to reduce hospital waiting lists. And we are signing up the first graduate health professionals to our voluntary bonding scheme to get more doctors, nurses, and midwives working in hard-to-staff areas.

We want to help your children climb the ladder of opportunity. We are introducing Na-tional Education Standards to ensure every child learns to read, write and do maths and that their progress is reported to parents in plain English. We have also launched a $152 million Youth Opportunities Package to help 16- to -24-year-olds get the work experience, training, and education opportunities they need to develop themselves and make the most of their future.

New Zealand is building stronger ties with our Asian neighbours. National recognises the important role India plays in the Asian region as an emerging economic superpower and the opportunities this presents for us.

The National-led Government is about to start negotiations with India on a proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA). An FTA with India would allow Kiwi and Indian businesses to build stronger trade and investment relationships.

I am ambitious for New Zealand and its future. Our country is a strong, diverse, and vibrant nation and National is committed to making it a better place for you and your families to live, work, and celebrate the good things in life – such as Indian Independence Day.

dev’s View

Brotherly love from beyond

I just happened to read the article “Broth-erly Love From Beyond” on-line in the Indian Weekender. I would like to share the following thoughts about Ashish whom I have known for over two years. Ashish Mehta radiates inner strength and composure more than anything else. She does not feel proud to be one chosen to pass on messages from the Higher Realms to those on the earthly plane. She always maintains that all those who send messages from beyond send love more than anything else. I feel that this is something that needs to be emphasised. More so in the world of today where persons have totally forgotten to give the most important thing that their family members and friends need – a sense of being loved, knowing that you are being loved, appreciated and cared for. It is also worthwhile to note that though her sojourn with auto-writing started subsequent to her brother’s demise, she does not receive messages directly from him. Her link is with the Spiritual Masters at a Higher Plane. Hence, I feel that the mes-sages would be useful not only to her immedi-ate family, but for mankind in general. Ashish always maintains that ultimately one has to go through whatever is destined because of ‘karma’ from past lives, however much one may pray or however much spiritual knowledge one may acquire. I am grateful to God Almighty that He has led me to someone like Ashish from whom I receive guidance and encouragement.

- Shahrukh Tata

Why the Greeks never came back to India

Alexander invaded but couldn’t even dream of conquering the vast country. Excellent research work it logically concludes as to why the Mace-donians didn’t continue their warfare in India. Fear of the larger kingdoms in the interior of the country held Greeks in terror and they beat a hasty retreat, more so when a small kingdom put such a brave fight and almost killed Alexander. But for the promise from Puru history would have been different, in fact it is, but biased histo-rians and filmmakers subvert the truth.

- HK

Immigration and help for SMEsCurrent environment for the persons on work permit or in the process applying for a work permit is not promising at all. I operate a busi-ness close to the Wellington Immigration office and come across many astonishing stories of people who have been employed and are on a work permit but have been refused a renewal as the NZIS aims to send back the persons with work permits and force the employers to recruit locals.

- A Sheriffdeen

Those of us who have lived in India or for that matter anywhere in South Asia in the past two decades are all too familiar with rigorous security routines at airports, railway stations and many public places, despite which terrorists have struck time and again with impunity.

So far, perhaps Australasia is the only continent that has remained free of the fears of terrorism though the presence of ragtag outfits has been suspected in Australia over the past few years. Last week’s raids in Australia on suspected terror cells, however, have sought to confirm those fears.

Our geographic isolation and relative low profile in world affairs no longer guaran-tee of our safety. With increased vigilance in countries where they have been active so far, it is natural that terror organisations will look at newer theatres of action such as Australia and New Zealand where the guard has always been low. After all, what terror organisations look for is grabbing world headlines to spread their terror. Australasia and the Pacific Islands are sitting ducks for their increasingly sophisticated operations.

Our safety, therefore, can no longer be taken for granted. The terror cells across the Tasman allegedly had plans to attack Australian military installations presumably because of Australia’s involvement in Iraq and in fighting fundamentalist ideology-led forces in Afghanistan-Pakistan.

If Australia’s involvement in the Afghan conflict won the terror cells there a ‘ fatwa’ from their overseas masters to carry out attacks on Australian soil, it is not impossible that we in New Zealand could also be in their crosshairs – especially since our govern-ment has now committed our armed forces for missions in Afghanistan.

At the risk of sounding alarmist, it is important to say that we in the region need to step up our alertness to security matters now more than at any other time: last week’s events in Australia show that the shadow of terror is well and truly at our doorstep.

This week a former New Zealand Member of Parliament was convicted on bribery and corruption charges. The event has widely been seen as a blot on the country’s squeaky-clean image that has earned it the second spot in the global Corruption Perceptions Index. Though a third of India’s MPs have serious criminal charges slapped against them, one almost never comes across a conviction. Small wonder, then, that India ranks 85th in the index. Numerous studies have shown the direct link between corruption and the unequal distribution of wealth. India is a prime example (see accompanying comment). That’s food for thought on the eve of the country’s 62nd Independence Day.


Indian

deV NAdKARNI

Comment

India’s stark contrasts will linger for decades

PAdMINI GAuNdeR

Wiping out communalism from schools is a job the interim government can and should do. The 1969 Education Commission rec-ommended this but the elected governments hesitated to do this for fear of antagonising the communal organisations involved and thereby losing their electoral support. So after 40 years there are few government schools and communalism persists as the voluntary agencies run most of the schools. This stands in the way of integration.

The 1969 commission recommended govern-ment takeover of these communal schools and at in-dependence the government had a plan to take them over. But free education was made an election issue by the National Federation Party in 1972 and after that the government decided to gradually abolish fees and takeover of communal schools was forgot-ten. Nobody questioned the government on this im-portant policy change.

Some of the voluntary organisations would not agree to give up control of their schools to the Min-istry of Education even if the government threatened to stop grants. One good example is the Roman Catholic Mission, which has been refusing to have non-Catholic teachers in positions of responsibil-ity. Another example I can think of is the Satya Sai Organisation, which has recently started a school in Lovu near Lautoka. It imparts value-based education and also teach Fijian and Hindi to all children. I am sure they would not want to give up their control at any cost.

On the other hand the Methodist Church had offered to hand over all its village schools to the government in the 1930s. It was the then director of education, James Russell, who refused to take over these schools, resulting in their being handed over to local committees when the mission relinquished control. This led to a deterioration in standards, which contributed to the Fijian education problem of later years. The village schools no longer provided a sound base for the children’s education as they used to do under the mission.

The 1969commission saw education as the foun-dation for building an integrated Fiji. It made rec-ommendations with this in mind. The foremost rec-ommendation was wiping out communalism from schools via the gradual abolition of the voluntary system by having more government schools. The government decided to take over communal schools if the committee that ran the school was agreeable to the takeover. It also decided to amalgamate schools wherever there was duplication.

Although there was no objection raised when the government made these announcements, there was no support for such policies, especially from the vol-untary agencies which ran the schools. No one came forward to request government takeover unlike in the 1930s, for instance, when the Indian leaders were constantly demanding government takeover. So the voluntary system continued, with communalism getting more and more entrenched.

Perhaps now is the time to have more government

involvement in schools and abolish the voluntary system and put an end to communalism in schools. Although there will be initial resistance, once it is done there will be support for such a policy as it will reduce the cost of education to the parents. From 1973 there has been fee free education in primary schools but the cost of education has steadily gone up. The committees that ran schools found various other ways of extracting money from the parents – for example, building fees, library fees, sports fees etc.

More government involvement would also make it easier to introduce policies like teaching Fijian to all the children. It would be easier to introduce other multicultural activities like Fijian legends and stories from Indian epics. Schools should also teach the history of Fiji as a compulsory subject for all chil-dren. These would help them develop a strong sense of identity with the nation and a deeprooted loyalty.

More government involvement will also mean no wastage of money, time and effort in fundraising ac-tivities as it is a feature of almost all non-government schools today. As the schools are classified according to the number of students and the salary of the princi-pal/head teacher is based on this criterion committee schools after independence concentrated on increas-ing the rolls without worrying about the standards. Wiping out the voluntary system would mean an end to such adverse policies. It would reduce wastage and although there will be initial opposition to some of these policies, once the benefits become evident

there will be support from the parents.These are all things that can be done by the

interim government while an elected government would be more hesitant to embark on such reforms. This is extremely important for building an inte-grated nation where children primarily identify with the country rather than their ethnic group, religion or community. Education is most important for build-ing a united Fiji.

In 1999, I published a book, ‘Education and Race Relations in Fiji, 1835-1998’. In it I said: “Fiji, as we know it, is being given a second lease of life. There is a new Constitution in place which promotes multi-culturalism. But we now know from experience that a Constitution is only a piece of paper that can be ab-rogated or put aside by a military strongman or even a civilian dictator. The only thing that can prevent such a situation from arising is the collective desire of the people to have a peaceful democratic country. Children of Fiji should be educated towards it. The only education that can promote this goal is multi-racial, multi-cultural education”.

A few months after the book was published, in May 2000, the People’s Coalition government was overthrown in a civilian coup, proving my prediction right.

Education still remains the key to Fiji’s ethnic and political problems. To have a stable democracy in the country education policies should be given high pri-ority.

Up until the mid 1980s, the western world firmly believed that India had missed the bus. Compared with the scorching growth rates achieved year after spectacular year by the Pacific Rim countries – col-lectively called the Asian Tigers – India seemed an utterly slothful behemoth that had failed to reform its age-old thinking on all fronts. It was dubbed ‘the slumbering elephant’ and the question that was asked by economists and academics at all forums concerning India was ‘Can the elephant dance?’

Just about two decades after the first economic reforms were ushered in by then finance minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, the slumbering elephant not just began to dance – it was on a roll, determined to close the gap with the tigers. Investment pundits began to make fortunes not just investing in the country’s booming stock markets but also writing books on ‘how to ride the elephant’.

India today is among the 15 wealthiest nations in the world and the world’s second fastest growing economy.

In many statistical indices, India has already left some of the Tigers far behind. So, it is no longer the Asian Tigers that are the yardstick of comparison for India today: no discourse about India is complete without comparing its achievements with those of China, which has had a nearly two decade head start on the road to economic reforms – and more recent-ly, Brazil and Russia (the four now acronymed as the BRIC quartet).

But there are a few important differentiators that set India apart: for one, India is the world’s largest democracy with most of its institutions – particularly a robust legal system and a free media – functioning in a manner the rest of the world understands and can deal with. Second, it has a rapidly growing middle class that almost equals the entire population of the US. Third, despite long decades of stifling bureau-cracy, it has a very nimble and highly resourceful entrepreneurial class, and lastly, it has a large popu-lation of English-speaking, trainable, technically qualified workforce used to working in the most de-manding of conditions.

Indeed it is this last differentiator that has brought the world to India’s door for information technology

related services. India has registered blitzing growth in the technology sector with every major global player having some sort of presence in there. India’s technology sector brand equity and image has grown so strong that it is considered a corporate necessity to have an India strategy. Employees at global financial and technological majors are vying for stints in India as something to bandy about in their CV.

That growing inflow of expatriates seems to be matched with the number of Indian entities going out into the world acquiring businesses in the US, Europe, South East Asia, Africa and even Oceania. While Indian IT firms have been acquiring technol-ogy set-ups around the world for some years now, pharmaceutical, telecom, steel and infrastructure companies are leading the new brigade of Indian companies going overseas on acquisition sprees (see Rakesh Krishnan’s accompanying article).

Perhaps the best showpiece of the reforms process is the incredible growth in India’s telecom sector – an excellent testament to what the opening of markets, deregulation and dismantling of over-weening governmental control can achieve. From being one of the most-controlled telecom regimes in the world, India has turned itself into one of the most liberal markets with the cheapest cellular and fixed line call rates anywhere – all in a matter of just half a decade.

India’s pace of growth would have been faster had it been matched with the growth in its infrastruc-ture. A woeful lack of investment in infrastructure over the decades since independence by successive governments, that were beholden to archaic socialist principles proved a gigantic obstacle in its path. With all-round reforms in the past ten years, the country has sought to correct this with speedy implementa-tion of projects throughout the country, but it still has a long way to go.

Power generation, freight handling capacity, airports, urban infrastructure, water and sanitation are all struggling to keep up with India’s high paced economic growth rate, having suffered decades of utter neglect. There is so much catching up to do that Indian leaders are under tremendous pressure to fob off any attempts by the international community

to get India to toe the line on global environmental regimes that have to do with carbon emissions.

Yet, the economic fruit brought in by all that im-pressive growth of the past decade have been slow to percolate down to the lower rungs of India’s complex societal ladder. Grinding poverty and hunger, poor healthcare, a growing HIV/AIDS problem (the country has the second highest population with that syndrome), child labour, illiteracy, besides other developmental problems continue to plague poorer sections of society, though statistics show that more of the ‘poor’ are graduating to ‘middle class’ every year.

Despite the country’s murky politics and notori-ously corrupt polity and bureaucracy, over the years, subsequent elections have demonstrated the Indian population’s innate capacity for self-correction. It has brought down governments with the same élan and fervour that it has elected them, earning it plau-dits as a fast maturing democracy, in spite of its massive problems – many of them systemic.

But the geopolitics of the South Asian region has made increasingly challenging demands on both India’s polity and economic development. Over the past 20 years or so it has suffered repeatedly at the hands of global terrorism.

Because of its large population, India ranks low in most global economic and developmental indices. It may be the world’s twelfth wealthiest nation, but it trails even comparatively tiny Pacific islands nations like Fiji, Samoa and Tonga in the human develop-ment index rankings. Any achievements that India makes are rendered meaningless simply because of its inordinately large population that forms its de-nominator.

India’s former scientist-President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam came up with a strategy to change all that by the year 2020. He presented a blueprint to the gov-ernment about turning the country into a developed nation in the next eleven or so years. By all indicators, India seems to be on the right track – but whether it will achieve that lofty ideal by 2020 almost entirely depends on the one commodity that has always been in great short supply: the political will to weed out corruption and work for the greater national good.

For many, India’s social, cultural and political complexities are a challenge to fathom, given the country’s long history, sprawling geography and a bewildering multiplicity of cultures. For those trying to make sense using hard data and statis-tics, the challenge does not become any easier – it paints a picture of extreme contrasts, like no other country in the world.

Consider this: People of Indian origin are the highest income-earning single ethnic group in the United States and there are over 50 dollar billion-aires in India, yet half of India’s 1 billion people live on less than one dollar a day. India is the twelfth wealthiest country in the world in terms of GDP, has foreign exchange reserves of about US$ 267 billion (sixth highest in the world), yet its per capita income is just barely higher than that of sub-Saharan Africa (less than even many Pacific island countries).

India is a nuclear power with satellite and lunar vehicle launching capabilities, yet over half its population has no access to treated drinking water. The country produces more graduates than any other every year, yet nearly forty percent of its population is illiterate. Its IT skills are sought after all over the world, yet it has among the lowest PC penetrations anywhere.

All that points to a very skewed distribution of wealth – a thing that worries many international agencies. But the number of those who believe India’s economic reforms will close these huge gaps over time is rapidly rising.

Growing steadily at a rate of about 7.5 percent in the mid to late first decade of this century, India’s economic progress is thought to have reduced poverty by 10 percent. Even with an in-flation rate of 11 percent and a budget deficit of nearly 7 percent of GDP, international investors are still placing their bets on India given its innate strengths: flourishing democracy, rapidly growing middle class and large pool of trainable human resources.

Yet, it will be years – perhaps decades – before India’s stark contrasts go away.

The lumbering Indian elephant’s amble has picked up great momentum these past few years. But the deadweight of a decades old socialist legacy – red tape and corruption – have remained a drag. It will be years, perhaps decades, before the fruit of progress and development reaches the country’s bottom rung.

Contrasts and contradictions

Children can save Fiji – if we give them the right tools


Indian

Who you calling Third World?India’s corporate raiders splashed out over $50 billion last year to acquire some of the hallowed corporations of the West. Sixty-two years after independence, India is poised to be the world’s single largest investor.

Sue H., a Howick-based store owner, travelled to India 10 years ago on an extravagant tour that took her to the palaces, forts and luxury hotels of India. “It’s a unique country and I want to take my children there next time,” says the New Zealand resident.

However, Sue won’t be showing her children glimpses of India’s past glory. And forget about walking tours of Nariman Point; there’ll be no shopping at the glitzy malls bigger than some Auckland suburbs; she’ll also give a miss to the massive space launch facilities in south India and the vast IT complexes of Hyderabad.

No, Sue wants to expose her young impres-sionable children to the “other side” of India. “I want them to see how the poor live there, so they can realise what a wonderful country we have back here,” she says.

Thomas W., a Belmont businessman, says New Zealand youth should look at the way India’s poor live so they can better appreciate the quality of life available in New Zealand.

A TV3 news crew traveled to New Delhi to check out the Commonwealth Games prepara-tions and the opening shot was of – you guessed it – a slum. No sports stadia were shown. Delhi’s famous boulevards were given a miss. The re-porter then led the chief-de-mission of the New

Zealand contingent into commenting on whether the poverty of India would affect Kiwi athletes. Imagine, nothing about the smog, weather or traffic. “Are the athletes being prepared to adjust to the extremes of wealth and poverty they’ll see in India?” she asked. The chief-de-mission said, “Yes, the athletes are being conditioned to handle it and will be given counselling.” Athletes, such softies?

So let’s get the record straight. Is India a poor country? Why not let the facts answer that ques-tion? Why publish reams of articles when the facts will tell you what the TV channels won’t. Let’s start with a flashback.

On February 2, 2007, the country erupted in celebration when the Tata Group won a bid for Corus – the Anglo-Dutch descendant of British Steel – for more than $19 billion. Not since that mid-summer day in June 1983 when Kapil’s Devils won the cricket world cup had India seen such scenes of jubilation and patriotic fervour. Headlines spoke of empires striking back, while pundits and industrialists said India had at last arrived as a world power.

The deal followed just a few months after the world’s largest steelmaker Mittal Steel’s $51 billion takeover of Luxembourg-based Arcelor ended five months of corporate battles, an acqui-

Independence day special

RAKesH KRIsHNAN


Indian

sition that created the largest steel entity. Owner Lakshmi Mittal’s triumph in the takeover saga stoked Indian national pride in a big way, even though he didn’t own a single steel plant in his own country.

And if the Tatas were in overdrive, could the Birlas be far behind? Ten days after Tata’s multi-billion-dollar acquisition, the Aditya Birla group announced an agreement to acquire Novelis Inc, the largest flat-rolled aluminium maker in the world, for $9.5 billion. The US-Canadian company operates 36 manufacturing locations in 11 countries and has around 12,500 employees.

The takeover fever that gripped India Inc two years ago shows no sign of ebbing. The deal street is buzzing with companies announcing takeovers or mergers on a daily basis. Almost every listed company is on the prowl – at home

as well as abroad – looking for suitable prey. By one estimate, 60% of India’s top 200 companies are looking at foreign acquisitions.

As the value of overseas bids by Indian firms soared to $50 billion in the first 11 months of 2008, the takeover of Western companies by Indians has struck people in India as evidence of a delicious reversal of fortune: a once-proud civilisation, having fallen to the humiliations of colonisation, is now buying out the hallowed cor-porations of the West.

Grant Thornton, a global consultancy firm, says the number of outbound deals has far ex-ceeded the domestic ones. India is thus a net ex-porter of capital. For comparison, the amount of money India invests abroad is more than half the annual GDP of New Zealand.

The US remains a favourite destination for

Indian companies. According to the Indian Com-merce Ministry, from 2004 and 2007 Indian companies created 300,000 jobs in the United States.

India retains its position as the No.2 foreign employer in the UK, after the US. This year Indian investors created 4149 new jobs, with 108 new projects. The most important acquisition in recent times has been that of Axon Group by HCL Tech for $1 billion.

India also replaced Japan as the largest Asian supplier of foreign investment projects in the UK this year, with significant investments in IT, life sciences and advanced engineering. In fact, the first mayor of London Ken Livingstone said he “would not be surprised if India took over a large share of the British economy”.

Singapore and The Netherlands are major beneficiaries of Indian investment; Egypt has re-ceived $1.3 billion; and Vietnam will get a $7.8 billion steel plant from Tata.

The Pacific region has so far been outside the orbit of India Inc because of the small size of the market represented mainly by Australia and New Zealand. However, last month it was reported that oil giant HPCL may take over 230 Shell stations in New Zealand. However, that will happen only if Kiwis overcome their fear of investment that doesn’t come from Australia, the UK, Canada or the US.

Indian companies have many good reasons for gobbling up companies abroad. For drug makers like Dr Reddy’s, buying the marketing division of an American pharmaceutical firm is a way to buy instantly, rather than build labori-ously, a sales force. For an automaker like Tata Motors, acquiring Daewoo of Korea quickly in-jected expertise in heavy trucks.

While earlier the Indian market was big enough to accommodate everybody and his uncle, the saturation levels are being reached in several industries. Bharti Telecom, which adds

around seven million subscribers a month in India, is seeking a 49 per cent stake in South Af-rica’s MTB in a $78 billion merger deal. This will help it move into the vast untapped markets of Africa (before Vodafone gets a foothold).

As ever more acquisition deals are an-nounced, most of them smaller and less contro-versial, a kind of takeover nationalism is emerg-ing in India. A survey published by the Chicago Council on Foreign Affairs concluded that Indians see their country as second only to the United States in its influence in the world. They also expect the global sway of the United States to wane over the next 10 years while the power of India continues to rise.

India’s foreign takeovers effectively symbol-ise the former subject’s becoming master. When Jamsetji Tata sought to stay in a British-run hotel in Mumbai in colonial days, he was refused because he was an Indian. He resolved to start his own Taj Mahal Hotel, which opened in 1903 with German elevators and English butlers. And now, as a fast-growing hotel chain, the Taj has taken control of Western properties like the Pierre in New York, the W in Sydney and – most poeti-cally, perhaps – the St. James Court in London.

Actor Amitabh Bachchan puts things in per-spective: “A pulsating, dynamic new India is emerging. An India whose faith in success is far greater than its fear of failure. An India that no longer boycotts foreign-made goods but buys out the companies that make them instead.”

So who you calling Third World? Rakesh Krishnan is a features writer with

Fairfax New Zealand. He has previously worked with Businessworld, India Today and Hindustan Times, and was news editor with the Financial Express.



Indian


The gentle azure waves of the Arabian Sea lapped lazily at the shores of Kannur, a sleepy hamlet in Kerala. It was August and the clan had gathered there for a wedding in the family. As always it was a virtual family reunion. While some children of the family played hide and seek in the old house finding interesting hiding places, others gathered around the elderly ladies of the family who were exchanging notes and also regaling kids with reminiscences of their childhood. “ I still remember the day India got independence” said Amma (my mother). “I was 10 years old then and up to my knees in slush planting paddy. It was raining cats and dogs and my kodai (umbrella made of woven palm leaves) was leaking like a sieve. It was windy and I was shivering from the cold.

Around midday I saw a rickety old jeep trun-dling along the wet dirt track.A man perched precariously on the slippery bonnet was an-nouncing in Malayalam “ladies and gentlemen, rejoice and be proud, India is now free. We are all now the citizens of a free India – Vande Mataram” – and we all stopped what we were doing and listened.” “Then what did you do?” piped a small child (one of my cousins). “What did I do? … actually what could I do? The paddy planting had to be completed that day itself, so I bent down again, the umbrella resting between my shoulder and neck and went back to what I was doing”.

Though a promising student, my mother was taken away from school to care for her younger siblings as childcare services were unheard of then. She got married, had children and contin-ued to shower her care on us her children. Three decades is what it took before my mother could get her freedom from these chores and responsi-

bilities … only after I, her son started working. But millions of mothers across the country still do not have that freedom. Their umbrellas still leak, their sisters and daughters are still to be married, their sons yet to get jobs …

Their struggle for independence still continues … “You don’t really have to try to teach me. My mom doesn’t mind if I don’t get first rank in school. So please teacher don’t force me to study. If you really love me, just give me a hug.

My mother doesn’t have time for that, that’s why she sent me here.” This was my eight-year-old niece to her class teacher. The teacher in turn told my sister. My sister cried for hours on end. She took a week off from work and sat at home hugging and pampering her children all the time.

A middle class Indian family cannot be run on a single income alone these days. So my sister still gets up at 5am, prepares breakfast, readies the children for school and rushes to catch the 7.15 fast local so she can get to work on time. She still does not get time to hug her children. This is one freedom she has had to struggle

for all her life. Trying to beat the inflation and maintain a reasonable standard of living is

one of the biggest struggles in India today. Here again my sister is more fortunate than most. For countless families across India the struggle

to make ends meet goes on … . “We are worried about Karthik’s educa-tion” my sister-in-law complained. The stan-dard of teaching in his school is really plum-meting. The teachers don’t seem to know anything. I just don’t know what to do.”

Education is en-shrined as a funda-mental right in our constitution and is often flaunted as one of our achievements by politicians. Yet quality education is still not available even to people who can afford or are willing to pay for it. Sadly, the best brains in the land do

not choose teaching as a profession or career option because of the ridiculously low scales of pay. Even those who end up as teachers do so not out of any love for teaching but for want of better options. Meanwhile the next generation ‘Simbly’ ‘Rite’ ‘Rong’ things in their notebooks and illiterate but considerate mothers feel glad at the little red

tick marks made by literate but unconcerned

teachers. Literate mothers who can afford it send their children to better schools in big cities or better still … overseas. Bringing quality educa-tion to every child of the country is yet another struggle where we have miles to go. “If my first son was alive he would be fifty years now. But what is the point in talking about that now”.

My Chitti (maternal aunt) was referring to her first born child who died at childbirth. She was 17 then. If she had had the right medical attention, her first born would have been alive now. Chitti lost one more child before she had one who lived to call her “Amma”. The trauma of losing two children in succession and having to wait a long time before a child would grow to call her “Amma” left an indelible mark on her personality.

“I did not want to have a lot of kids but when the first two died, I prayed to God … Please give me my own children” … and God seems to have heard her cries. She had seven children in the next 15 years before she stopped bearing chil-dren. But millions of mothers still lose their first child due to lack of proper medical attention. Millions do not know how not to have children and millions do not have anyone to advise them to stop. Freedom to choose the number of chil-dren is another struggle which is far from over. The battle continues … 15th August 1947 was neither a beginning nor an end for my family. For

millions of families it was not even a mile-stone. The freedom struggle is still being fought on several fronts and many levels. Over the past sixty odd years we have won some and we are yet to win others.

- Rajesh Krishnamurthy

For many Indians the struggle for freedom continues


Indian Community

Arts, Music, Dance, Theatre and Culture are inte-gral to the lives and well being of all New Zealand-ers. The arts reflect and define who we are. Artistic expression enables each of us to celebrate our own culture and heritage as well as our shared New Zealand culture and heritage.

Ravi Kambhoj, Founder director and promoter of the Wellington-based Urban Fusion Trust says there are a lot of cultural events happening in the country but they are all working in isolation and that there is a need and scope to bring these cultures to-gether and create an “atmosphere of fusion”.

“The purpose of the trust is to encourage, promote and support the arts, music, dance and theatre in New Zealand for the benefit of all New Zealanders,” he says. One of the cornerstones of making this a reality is by recognising New Zea-land’s cultural diversity and celebrating the arts, music, dance and theatre of ethnic communities.

The trust works toward bringing to the New Zealand public exciting arts-based events in the near future. It is also looking for Artistic talent in various communities who would like to showcase their cre-ative abilities (solo, group or a band) and do not have the recourses to do so.

UrbanFusion Trust plans to give a platform to perform (venue, marketing, audience, etc) and wherever possible raise funds to promote the talent.

It has already held some successful events like Greek and Mexican Mix, Indian and Arabic Mix, Bollywood Fever, Indian and Latin Mix.

There are a number of events lined upfor August: 14th - Bollywood Fever: Independence Day special.It’s been 62 years since India got its Independence on August 15, 1947. There will be plenty of Bolly-wood music and dance at this event.Venue – Fusion Bar, 24 Taranaki Street, Wellington.Door Charge- $10.00.

15th - Afro Latin Extravaganza A beautiful mix of African and Latin beats with live performances.Venue – Fusion Bar, 24 Taranaki Street, Wellington.Door Charge- $10.00.

22nd – Greek Night OutLive performances and Music all night long.Venue – Fusion Bar, 24 Taranaki Street, Wellington.Door Charge- $15.00 only. ($5.00 will go toward fundraising for ‘DINAMI’ Dance Group)

28th – Hafla-Arabian NightsPresenting ‘Snake Charmer Belly Dancers’- Venue – Fusion Bar, 24 Taranaki Street, Wellington.Door Charge- $10.00.

29th - Sambalada FunkBrazilian Groove - Live music and dances all night long.Venue – Fusion Bar, 24 Taranaki Street, Wellington.Door Charge- $10.00.

For more information:www.urbanfusion.co.nz


Komputer Kooks, a group of Wellington East Girls’ College information technology students, are helping other girls from their school, and also their parents.

The students offer help to fellow students who need assistance with computers during school hours, and help students’ parents from 3.30pm till 5pm every Wednesday.

Their parent tutoring classes have proved a hit. Each week a Kook is given a parent to tutor in the ways of information technology.

The programme helps students connect with parents on a different level. It also allows parents to see how dedicated the Kooks are.

`̀ We all love tutoring the parents,’’ said 2009 technology prefect Jayna Patel.

`̀ It is really great to feel that you are helping them, and it gives you the chance to get to know them in a different way.

`̀ We didn’t think we knew enough to teach them, but we found out that we did, so that’s pretty cool, too. It is really empowering.’’

During school time, the Kooks run an elective

information technology class once a week for junior students.

Komputer Kooks are being run this year by Jayna, with assistance from the head of department of information technology, Cris Roughton, and the other two IT teachers, Timothy Harford and Julia Flanagan.

The Kooks were started early last year by a group of year 12 and 13 girls skilled in computer technol-ogy. Since then, they have become well-known throughout the school.

They are hoping to soon have their own web page connected to the school website.

Their IT skills help the Kooks at the end of each school term when they put together a slide-show of pictures of events and girls from throughout the term.

The Kooks recently took part in the Wellington Regional Tech Hui ‘09, at Samuel Marsden Colle-giate.

(From The Wellingtonian)- Lucy Mitchell

Wellington events outfit celebrates cultural diversity

Kooky for Komputers

KooKy GIRLs: Chandni Patel (left), Neelam Bhika, Reda Jawed, Janaya Soma and group leader Jayna Patel.


Indian


Indian

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

Community

Auckland’s innovative theatre group Prayas is set to stage their own play at the end of August.

After performing plays by others, director Amit Ohdedar has written Khoj – the Search, a comedy that explores the migrant dilemma.

Prayas collected tales from migrants that Ohdedar wove into a comedy-drama.

Khoj – The Search, an English language play, tells the story of Jamshed, who leaves India for New Zealand and tries to make a new life here, while his parents in Mumbai pine for him.

In Auckland, he has found a few friends and possibly love, but he is challenged by many prob-lems, the main being the toilet; sitting versus squatting. This affects various aspects of his life, leading to the threat of being fired, therapy, legal advice and even hypnosis.

Ohdedar was inspired by the best-selling author Rohinton Mistry’s collection of short stories, Tales from Firozsha Baag.

He was touched by the story of a Parsi migrant in Canada trying to come to terms with the difference in culture and lifestyle.

“Khoj raises some serious questions through humour. Jamshed’s ‘toilet issues’ are used as a metaphor for adapting to the adjustment issues in a new country,” Ohdedar said.

The play includes highly visual dance se-quences to underscore the tale.

For the first time, perhaps, Prayas combines traditional Indian dance with the Maori poi dance.

Prayas earlier plays, Charandas Chor and The Terrace, were well received when performed and

the idea of doing their own has been a challenge.“It was an ambitious thought,” Ohdedar said.He worked with co-writers Sananda Chatter-

jee and Poorna Prakash with the help of drama-turge Fiona Graham.

Khoj – The Search runs at TAPAC, the Auck-land Performing Arts Centre, 100 Motions Road, Western Springs, from August 27 to 30.

Book tickets at www.tapac.co.nz and for more visit www.prayas.co.nz

- Michael Field

Prayas’ Khoj to stage this month

Breaking boundaries: Shrividya Ravi plays Parvati in Anand: Joy in Motion, Indian dance maestro Vivek Kinra’s celebration of 20 years of successful performance in New Zealand.

Anand promises to be a joyous event transcending cultural boundaries. It will showcase Kinra’s choreographic work and features the mesmerising dance drama fShiva Geeti Mala Ravi will be joined by the dancers of the Mudra Dance Company.

Anand, which will feature colourful, hand-painted sets and music created and recorded in India, will be at the Memorial Theatre, Victoria University from July 30 until August 2.

Shri Shirdi Sai Baba Sansthan NZ Inc. will be performing Mata Chowki on August 22 at the Mahatma Gandhi Centre, Eden Terrace, Auck-land.

Mata Chowki is a programme which includes divine and melodious bhajans and keertans to Maa Durga. The bhajans and keertans will be sung with devotion by Sri Pramod Kapur, Indu Kapur and their group. The programme begins with Lord Ganesh vandana and sankalp by the Mata Puja sponsors. Sansthan will be arranging Bhent

(offering of puja coconut and Mata Chunari to Devi Durga) for the convenience of the devotees to buy at the entrance of the hall.

The programme is also clubbed with Sai Nama Smaran and Shej Aarati. Maha Prasad will be arranged widely to all the devotees present. The donations and the collections of the event will proceed towards the construction of the Shirdi Sai Baba temple at 11 Brick Street, Hen-derson, Auckland. All are requested to attend the occasion with their families and friends to seek the blessings of Maa Durga & Sai Baba.

The Sansthan also celebrated the Mata Chowki programme last year in September 2008. Around 2000 devotees attended the function which was a grand success.

Shirdi Sai Baba bhajans and aarati is regular-ly performed at Mt Roskill War Memorial Hall, 13 May Road, Mt Roskill. For further informa-tion, please contact the President of the Sansthan, Hari Gangisetty on (09) 630 5817 or Bhaskar Reddy, the secretary on (09) 846 9271 or long on to www.shirdisaibaba.org.nz

Vivid Indian revelry

Sai Baba Sansthan to perform Mata ChowkiThe Hindu Elders Foundation, a division of the Hindu Council of New Zealand has announced the first Hindu Elders Conference on Saturday, October 3, 2009. The theme of the conference is “Old is Gold”.

The Hindu Elders Foundation works toward building a stronger and more dynamic Elders network that is based on principles of the Sanatan Dharma (the universal or eternal law).

Social services, community cohesion, spiri-tual growth, culture, non-violence, preservation of tradition by bridging the generation gap are some of the guides toward this noble work.

For any country the true wealth is in the wisdom and experience of its Elders. This con-ference will focus on positive ageing of our elders, and health and wellbeing. The confer-ence will also deliberate on social issues, for example, stresses of settling in a new country at a later stage of life, acculturation and living in a modern country like New Zealand with tradi-tional values.

The conference aims “to facilitate and empower the community so that the Hindu elders live with confidence, and be productive and par-ticipating citizens of New Zealand. It will also create awareness about opportunities for Elders.

It will also create awareness about opportu-

nities for elders to channel their energy toward contributing to the social cohesion, family unity, community strength and economic prosperity of our country,” said Pravin Patel, the coordinator of the 1st New Zealand Hindu Elders Confer-ence.

The conference will provide an opportunity for Elders and their families to network and discuss any concerns with government agencies and service providers, participate in and contrib-ute to the discussions that would give positive outcomes for the benefit of New Zealand society.

The Hindu community in New Zealand is well established in professional fields, business-es and farming. The Hindu Elders contribute to the New Zealand community by sharing their tremendous wisdom and wealth of experience.

Positive responses have been forthcoming from NGOs, government agencies, Members of Parliament and elders of the community. Members of the Foundation are looking forward to a successful conference.

For more information, please contact: Pravin Patel, conference coordinator 0211646468 or e-mail [email protected]


Elders’ conference in October


Indian Community

The Academy of Bharatnatyam was established in 1999. On the July 4, the Academy put up a programme called “Kandhanin Perumai”, where 20 students participated in it. The evening was a grand success as some people felt they hadn’t seen enough and asked the dancers to perform all the items again.

It started with the Pushpanjali, an invocation to Lord Shiva, which was followed by Subra-manya Kavuthuvam – a prayer to Lord Muruga or Kandhan. The child-performers were Aditi Ramalingam, Thushara Pears, Kanchana Pears, Varsha and Disha Gomathinayakam, Malini Malur and Gowri Prabhakaran.

The footwork and coordination by these dancers who performed for the very first time on the stage was excellent. The same dancers con-tinued with Aurmugamana Porul, a semi-clas-sical dance depicting the six Karthekai Pengal with the inclusion of three more Murugans for this dance. They were Aruni Ramalingam, Anuja and Kumarini Pears. These children are as young as seven years old and to face an audi-ence of 700 for them must have been a mammoth task.

The senior girls then performed the Shringa-ra Velan that extols the beauty of Lord Muruga. The dancers were, Siddhi Ayyar, Sucheta Raj, Ragini Vijayakumar, Shruti Iyengar, Kalyani Nagarajan Neelan Hari, Karishma Hari as well as Aruni Anand. The audience was amazed at the beauty of the dance, and were at a loss for words.

The highlight of the programme was however, the Varnam in Poorvikalyani Ragam and in Adi Talam. The senior girls showed their meticulous footwork and precise coordination both in Abinaya (facial expression) as well as in

Adavu (foot work)thus prooving once again the hard work and sincerety that has gone towards the making of this programme.

After the interval the Thillana, the Kavadi Chindu and the Ball dance as well as the Andi Maygudhadi a padam performed by Mrs. Sunder was all worth watching once again as spoken by the audiences after the event.

The climax was the six temples depicted in the dance that was choreographed by Mrs Sunder and in which all dancers took part and was beautiful and enthralling for some felt that they had visited all those temples that evening and brought tears to their eyes when they beheld the beauty and the colours along with the music and the stage decorations that enhanced the item.

On the whole the evening was a grand success and some said that the Academy has set up a bench mark for other schools to follow suit in future. Priya Vijay as the evening’s MC had done a remarkable job and has a very bright future ahead of her in this field.

- Ram Lingam

Kandhanin Perumai Dance drama on Lord Kartikeya’s glory has the audience asking for more

Immigration New Zealand has just released a NEW Business Investment Category Policy applicable from 27 July 2009. This is an exciting policy and the main changes are a lower English Language requirement and a reduction in the investment funds required.

The new business policy appears to woo rich Asian investors back to New Zealand after the last huge influx of business migrants from 2000 to 2002 years. This new Migrant Investment Policy has two sub-categories. These are: • Investor 1 Category • Investor 2 Category

New Business Investment Category PolicyAdvertorial

Key requirements

Maximum ageBusiness experienceInvestment funds

Settlement funds

Principal applicant’s English language

Family member’s English languageMinimum time in New Zealand

Health and character

Investor Plus (Investor 1 Category) No requirementNo requirementNZ$10 million invested in NZ for three yearsNo requirement

No requirement

No requirement

73 days in NZ in each of the last two years of the three-year investment period

Investor (Investor 2 Category)

65 or youngerMinimum of three yearsNZ$1.5 million invested in NZ for four yearsNZ$1 million (transfer not re-quired)An English speaking background, or an International English Lan-guage Testing System (IELTS) test report with an overall band score of three or more, or a competent user of EnglishSame as principal applicant or pre-purchase ESOL tuition146 days in NZ in each of the last three years of the four-year invest-ment period

The table above shows that there are no requirements for Age, Settlement Funds and English Require-ments when an Applicant has $10m NZD to invest in New Zealand. In comparison to the previous policy, this policy is much more attractive. Although for the other category (Investor 2 Category) there are certain re-quirements, however, INZ has lowered IELTS Band from 4 to 3, as well as Business Experience requirements from 4 years down to three years. Of course, the Investment Funds has also been reduced from $2.5m - $1.5m.

Yet, the Application process for these two categories are different, under Investor Category 1, Applicants can submit their application to INZ without having to go through EOI selection, as long as you have evidence to show that you have the required investment funds. Applicant can apply under Investor 2 Category will need to have a minimum of 20 points and meeting the described minimum requirements.

In Summary, the process is much more complicated than what we have described here. APEC Immigra-tion is running a free seminar for clients who may want to know more about this NEW POLICY, we will explain to you in detail regarding both categories under Investor Migration Policy and answer any questions you may have for any immigration matters.

Please refer to page 16 for more details.

Applicants under both categories must meet health and character requirements.

Applicants under both categories must meet health and character requirements.


Indian Community

The biggest dance talent show of the year is here, and it promises never-seen-before hungama on stage in Auckland.

The Bollywood High School Dance Compe-tition (Second Decade) at the Logan Campbell Centre on August 22 will be remembered for a long time, says organizer Binesh Sumer.

The show, now in its 11th year, will open up with a special tribute to Michael Jackson who died in Los Angeles on June 25.

A 20-member troupe will perform to special lighting effects and music to remember and honour the King of Pop.

And the crowd and participating schools will also have to a chance to be part of a Bol-lywood movie (Pump Up The Mandali), the dance and crowd scenes of which will be shot during the show.

Pump Up The Mandali is the first feature length Bollywood movie being made in New Zealand and Fiji using the Fiji Hindi language.

“You’ll have to see it to believe what will be happening on the night,” said Sumer, himself a long-time entertainer and who now runs the Desi International Showbiz Ltd.

“I can guarantee a very high-energy show which will be loved by all.

“There will be fierce dance battles, heart pounding action which will surely set your pulse racing.

“It will be the show of all shows – a real dhamaka.”

The competition, which has this year attract-ed 30 high schools, has a whopping $12,000 prize pool.

De La Salle College, the defending cham-pions, will be returning for another shot at the crown, as will runner-up Pakuranga College and Lynfield College.

All participating schools will be given $200 each this year to help with their preparations and the winner will receive $3000 plus trophy

on the night. First runner-up picks up $1500 plus trophy, and $750 plus trophy for the second runner-up.

Sumer, who has been involved in the enter-tainment industry for more than 20 years, the competition had always provided a grand stage for a host of young talent who were eager to strut their stuff.

“It’s not just Indians, but all races get in-volved and have a great time – it’ll be just bigger and better this year.”

Participating SchoolsAlfriston College, Botany Downs Sec-

onday School, Diocesan Girls, James Cook High, Kelston Girls High, Lynfield College, Marist College, Mt Roskill Grammar, Pakuran-ga College, Papatoetoe High, One Tree Hill College, Rutherford College, Westlake Girls, Kelston Boys High, Southern Cross, Avondale College, De La Salle College, Rosehill College, Howick College, Waitakere College, Mt Albert Grammar, Macleans College, Hamilton Girls High, Manurewa High, Onehunga High, Glen-field College, Otahuhu College.

Tickets, costing $25 flat, are available at: West Auckland: Arakh Food and Spices,

Rhythm Video, Super Star Video. Central: Bharatiya Video, Auckland Indian Sweets and Snacks, Century Video and Yogiji’s. Mt Roskill: Soman’s Video. South Auckland: Auckland Indian Sweets and Snacks, Monument Video, Century Video, Indian Sweets and Video. Papa-toetoe: Valley Fresh, Sonam’s Video. Panmure: Valley Fresh, Sonam’s Video. North Shore: Jas-sal’s Mixed Masala; and all partcipating high schools.

Bollywood High School Dance Competi-tion – Second Decade, Logan Campbel Centre, Greenlane, Auckland, August 22. Tickets $25, Binesh Sumer can be contacted on 021496321.

- Arvind Kumar

Showman Viraf Todywalla is at it again – per-forming on stage, that is.

And this time it’s all for a good cause – to raise funds for Heart Children New Zealand Inc.

Todywalla and his troupe will be part of the Namaste New Zealand Multicultural Musical Extravaganza Nite set to be held in Pakuranga on Saturday, August 29.

The multicultural show, which will also feature Maori, Indian and Salsa performances, is part of efforts by staff of Farmers Botany Down store store to raise funds and celebrate the iconic Kiwi store’s 100th year of service.

It is also expected to feature up and coming local Indian entertainer Ashish Ramakrishnan.

Dance performances are by V4U Entertain-ments (Bollywood/Bhangra), KRAZY KIDZ (Rocker Stars), Monisha School of Dance (Indian Classical), DJ Kunal (Michael Jackson), Gina & Team (Salsa), Azhar Adam (Break Dance), Natasha & group (hip hop / islander fusion), Karishma & Samoa Group (fusion), Jay (Hip Hop), Romeo (Jazz), Shaniel Singh ( Bollywood) etc.

Singers: Ashish Ramakrishnan, Rachit Bhatia, Viraj Maki, Gina Te Whata,

Sanya Minocha etc.Todywalla, better known as the man behind

the V4U Entertainment, is a former staff member of Farmers Botany.

“I worked there for six years, and this time I was approached by staff there to help out – I am most happy to as it is all for a very good cause,” said Todywalla, who himself features in numer-ous stage performances throughout the year in New Zealand.

His most recent outing was as a judge and guest performer in the Indi King 2009 at the Dorothy Winstone Centre in Auckland.

And currently he is heading the choreography for the stars of Pump Up The Mandali, a full-length Bollywood film being made in Auckland.

Tickets for the show, to be held at Edgewater College, Edgewater Drive, in Paukranga, are $10 and $20 for VIP seats.

Tickets available at Farmers Botany Downs, and also from Viraf Todywalla on 09 576 9399 or 021 0424245. Also at Moshims Pakuranga and major video shops. For more info Call: 2729880 / 5769399 / 021 0424245

- Arvind Kumar

Over 10,000 Sikhs visit the Takanini Gurudwara every month, making it Sikhism’s nodal place of worship in New Zealand. This grandeur and opu-lence of this impressive monument that stands on a sprawling 8.6 acres of land is worth seeing. It is the culmination of many years of dedicated effort by the Sikh community of Auckland under the guidance and leadership of then president S. Daljit Singh, JP and Secretary S. Pargat Singh along with Manpreet Singh and Rajinder Singh.

This is one of the biggest Sikh Temples outside India and was dedicated to the Sikh community on Baisakhi day (March 13) 2005. A visit to this Gu-rudwara is an unforgettable spiritual experience and there is a free community kitchen (langar) operat-ing on a 24/7 basis 365 days a year. It is pertinent to mention that Sikhs were one of the first Indian immigrants into New Zealand in the late 1800s and Takanini Gurudwara bears testimony to their sheer perseverance and resilience.

Recently, noted Sikh preacher Bhai Ram Singh Ankhi was honoured by the New Zealand Sikh Society and the Supreme Sikh Council of New Zealand for his religious preachings at Gurdwaras Takanini and Otahuhu during a full house ceremo-ny.

A robe of honour (Siropa) was presented on behalf of the gathering by Baba Tejinder Singh (Akhand Kirtani Jatha), the father of S. Kharag Singh, a well-known Sikh golfer. Sikh business-

men Avtar Singh Tari and Manohar Singh presented Bhai Ram Singh Ankhi with a shawl as a mark of respect.

The NZ Sikh Society and the Supreme Sikh Council also gifted a cheque of $1000. The preacher felt humbled by all this respect bestowed upon him and thanked the President of the NZ Sikh Society, Rajinder Singh. He also specially thanked Daljit Singh, JP, head of the Supreme Sikh council who has been a tireless worker for the cause of Indians in general and Sikhs in particular.

For more info about the Gurudwara Sahib or the NZ Sikh Society, please contact Daljit Singh, JP, on 021803512 or email him [email protected]

-Indian Weekender news desk

A cause for little hearts

AAJA NACHLe: Dancers Perrit Naik and Nazneen Daruwalla will also be part of the action at Edgewater College on August 29 and (right) Monisha, of Monisha’s School of Dance, will be one of the key performers at the Namaste New Zealand musical extrava-ganza in Pakuranga on August 29.

Sikh Society Honours Bhai Ram Singh Ankhi

School Bollywood competition this month

HoNouRed: Bhai Ram Singh Ankhi being honoured


Indian

Rdb CoNCeRt CoNFIRMed FoR A FuLL PAGe IN boLLyWood


Indian bollywood

Naseeruddin Shah turned 59 recently. Though Naseer did not celebrate his birthday this year, he has promised all his friends and well wishers that he would celebrate his 60th birth-day next year on a grand scale. Paresh Rawal, who considers himself the Eklavya of Naseer-uddin Shah, pays his tribute to his friend and guru Naseeruddin Shah tells JYOTHI VEN-KATESH in a telephone conversation that it is a pity that Indian Cinema has not yet exploited Naseeruddin Shah’s potential as an actor till date

Over to Paresh Rawal “It was dream come true for me as an actor to work under the direction of Naseerbhai in his maiden film as a director. It was like vis-iting paradise. His perception of the scene is exciting. What I want to tell people is that one should not write him off as a director or judge him by just one film that he has direct-ed, just because the film did not do well at the box office. As is evident on the stage when he directs all his plays, Naseerbhai is very excit-ing as a director.

“I would call Naseerbhai a complete gan-gotri as an actor. It isn’t just the way he acts but the way he pursues his profession. Can you beat it, he actually had the guts to go away to USA just to do a miniscular role in Brooke’s production for one whole year, just to see whether the rules that he follows as an actor are applicable and to be with the master of the stage. Any one can deliver a good performance but that shows his attitude, as an actor, which I am afraid not many have.

“I think not only me but there are several Eklavyas for Naseerbhai, because there is so much to learn from him, like his dedication, his passion and the truth as far as acting is concerned. The best thing about Naseerbhai is that he is not just superb as an actor but his acting can even turn into an experience. I have seen even people who do not have even an iota of talent interfering on the sets with other co-actions and director but you wish that Nas-eerbhai would interfere on the sets but he does, because he is such a thorough professional.

“I have come across in my career very few actors jinke muh pe jo hain wohi unke dil pe bhin hain. There is hardly any differ-ence between his vichaar and vani. If you ask me what I do not like about Naseerbhai is his tendency to get very disheartened very fast. I still feel that even if he is angry, his anger is very justified because his ire is towards indis-cipline, stupidity and what’s more inadequacy at things which happen around him on the sets. Also I do not like his nature of trusting people very easily, quickly and impulsively. He falls for the bait when people talk to him pyaar se. However, it is because of this every nature that al of his friends came forward to be part of his project when he decided to turn a director.”

“Among the films of Naseer which I trea-sure as an actor till date are Sparsh, Godhuli, Manthan, Chakra and Firaque. Every perfor-mance of his is memorable. It is a pity that the Indian Cinema has not been able to exploit his potential as a tremendous actor. I think it would be a gross injustice to the future genera-tion and the fraternity of actors if Naseerbhai

does not preserve his entire body of work on DVDs. It becomes his duty so we can observe and do whatever we can do. I am dying to act in a film with him after a long time, after Ma-harathi and Firaque”.

Ekalavya pays respects to his DronacharyaParesh Rawal on Naseeruddin Shah


Indian bollywood

It is rare at most nightclubs but a common sight at Club Nachle, 489 Khyber Pass, Newmarket, to see a largely female majority enjoying themselves.

Club Nachle, and their ‘Ladies In Free’ policy has been very successful, as the Bollywood themed nightclub enjoys unprecedented success in Auckland’s highly competitive Auckland nightclub scene.

Nightclub operators, Anup Nand and Steve Larsen, believe that the entry policy has led to a high number of regular female patrons and this has helped create a unique, colourful and fun atmosphere in a female friendly environment.

Their DJ’s are considered some of the best in Auckland and there’s something for everyone as far as music goes.

While other Bollywood Nightclubs have struggled to maintain their female attendance, Club Nachle has been pulling them in with great music, a relaxed and social atmosphere, and one of the most extravagant LED lit Dance Floors in Auckland.

It also helps when you’re so conveniently located in Newmarket, close to motorway exits and the CBD, not to mention AUT and the University of Auckland.

There are tons of new patrons from all walks of life here every Saturday so there are always new people to meet, party and hangout with. Everyone is friendly, approachable and ready to mingle.

Club Nachle is located on the top floor of the Carlton Pub on the corner of Broadway and Khyber Pass in Newmarket. Ladies are in for free before 1:30am however Club Nachle tends to fill up quick so it is a good idea to get in quick.

Club Nachle is an R18 nightclub so Photo ID is required and there is a $10 cover charge for the guys.

- Reggie Singh

Ladies Rule at Club NachleADVERTORIAL

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www.iwk.co.nz

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by typing in just


Indian bollywood

Where have you been all along?I was working hard for the last two years and the IPL was taking a major part of my time. Later, the venue suddenly shifted to South Africa and I had to fly back to Mumbai all the time to complete my shooting. The constant shuttling around took its toll on my health and I fell ill. I felt I desperately needed a break and I took one. I went on a holiday to Paris, London and L.Adid it give you your much-needed break? Well, it definitely made a different. I caught up on old friends, who were looking forward to meet me. I also went out shop-ping and bought many clothes for myself. I also met my brother

and his family so there was family bonding as well. Besides, I underwent a brief training in different kinds of dancing to keep in shape. the buzz about your break-up with Ness Wadia has been doing the rounds for a long time now.Of course, I have gone through a break-up, but that is personal. The only reason I am speaking to the press about what is happening in my life is that I am linked with the wrong men. I have a lot of respect for the person whom I have been with for so long and hence do not want to discuss. Now, my priority is to work hard so that that people start discussing more about my professional life rather than my personal life.Has the break-up made you a bitter per-son? I have no bitterness for the person with whom I have shared my life for so long. It will be unfair to say so. You feel bitter when somebody has wronged you. Here Ness has not wronged me. It is just that we decided not to go ahead with the relationship. What I shared was a relationship with him and friendship was a part of it. I have learnt a lot through this re-lationship. I have also matured in the process. Since I have always conditioned my mind to think posi-tively, I am taking this in a positive light. I am aware of the fact that life can be unpredictable and full of twists and turns. The best approach is to retain what gives you happiness and forget the rest. There is no point dissecting it.but why have you become so media shy?

I have my own privacy limits. I can invite people to my home but definitely not to my bedroom.but then you were also called a home breaker?I was unaffected by that because I alone was aware of the truth. I also realized that the media was taking me for granted. They were either writing about my broken heart or calling me a home breaker. I decided that the best answer to this was to withdraw into silence. I needed my space. For those who want to know how I am, I am fine.do you intend to continue your association with the IPL? Yes but now I will shift my profes-sional focus to acting. I will only be there for the matches as opposed to being constantly involved with the IPL activities. In the first two years, I was completely committed to IPL.so which are your forthcoming films on the anvil?I am on the verge of signing two new films with very big banners. Prior to that, Main Aur Mrs Khanna with Salman Khan is due for release. Though I have a cameo in the film, it is an interesting role.

‘The media took me for granted’Priety Zinta has been going through arduous times. With her IPL-team going for a toss, followed by her break-up with long time beau, Ness Wadia, life suddenly seemed to be grim for this otherwise bubbly and chirpy Preity. Now, putting away all this behind her, Preity is all set to start life afresh, after a long holiday.


Indian

From one year to the next, things happen and life changes. People get married, have babies, get sick, get better, move house, start new jobs or are made redundant, go overseas, retire from work……you get the idea.

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 assessed the risks to you and your family?

What’s going on in your life right now deter-

mines the type of life insurance you need and the cover levels that you require.

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.

So, can you afford not to have insurance?

THINK ABOUT THESE SCENARIOS…

You or a family member needs to go to hospi-tal 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? Yes No

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? Yes No

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? Yes No

You die suddenly leaving your partner and children behind – would they cope financially without an insurance pay-out? Yes No

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. Your insurance adviser can help you understand the risks you are carrying, and provide advice on how best to manage these risks within your budget.

The above information has been provided to serve only as a guideline to assist in evaluating your insurance needs. You are encouraged to do your own research before arriving at any deci-sions.

For further information, please contact:Oliver Pereira – OPM Insurance Services Ltd.

Ph. 0800 66 77 92 | Faxmail. 021 551 669 | Mobile. 021 66 77 92

Email. [email protected]

Finance

Manage your debt intelligentlyRAVI MeHtA

oLIVeR PeReIRA

Different people have different attitudes towards going into debt. Some people are conservative and hesitate to take even home mortgage whereas there are some who will take all the loans, which are offered to them.

One can have many types of debt, hire pur-chase, deferred payment purchase, car loan, credit card, mortgage, student loan, etc. There are many institutions in the market that have money and are always looking for creditworthy customers to lend. Do not be overjoyed if you receive a letter advising you that you have been pre approved a credit card or a personal loan.

The organisations/lending institutions are there to make money by earning interest on the loans made to you. They do not and are not under any obligation to advise you if you are making the right decision.

You should remember that getting into debt is very easy but it takes lot of hard work, planning and discipline to get out of the same. So before getting into debt, you should consider carefully about the likely effects on your life style. There is no clear-cut answer as to whether you should get into debt or not, but should consider the discussed hereunder before getting into it.

There are certain assets which depreciate in value with time. Broadly you should avoid borrow-ing for these assets. Likes of these are cars, TVs and other consumer durables. You should try to pay as much down payment as possible and repay the loan as fast as you can if you need to borrow to finance the purchase of these items. By the time most of hire purchases are paid off, the value of item is reduced significantly.

On the other hand, there are some other assets whose values go up with time. That means, though we are paying interest on the same, the values go up and are enough to cover the money lost in terms of interest payments. Most common example is housing mortgage. The house prices normally ap-preciate in value over period of time (It does not

mean, they can never lose in value).But normally the interest cost is offset by capital

appreciation and savings in rent which otherwise would have been paid. Over a period of time, the loan is repaid and house is an asset which would have gained in value unlike a car or other consumer durable which would have lost in value.

Similarly there are some debts on which interest is a tax deductible expense, like the case of invest-ment property. In these cases it may be beneficial to get into debt. But it does not mean one should get deep into debt which may become a problem to service in future

.What should one do, if one is already in debt? Which debt should be retired first?

The answer is the debt which has got higher interest cost, after tax adjustments should be paid off ahead of other debt. Credit cards, expensive hire purchases should be paid ahead of home mortgage which normally carries lower interest rate than other types of debt. Again if you have mortgage on the house you are living in and the investment prop-erty. It is the mortgage on own house which should be repaid first as interest cost on investment prop-erty is tax deductible expense.

Should one retire debt faster or should one save?

First of all there should be savings to cover ex-penses for emergency. After that the priority should be given to get rid of debt.

Which debt should be repaid first depends upon what sort of interest is being charged. If it is a student loan which is interest free in NZ, the answer is there shouldn’t be any urgency to pay that off. Instead minimum required repayments should be continued with.

If the tax adjusted interest to be paid is lower than the after tax return on savings, it makes sense to save than to use the income to retire debt faster. But one must take care about the risk involved in

investments. If it is risky to invest separately, one should use the savings to retire debt faster. The common example is if you are in 33% tax bracket and you are having a mortgage at 6% interest you are better off in repaying it faster by using your savings rather than putting the money into invest-ments which will give you 9% return before tax. If you earn 9% on any investment, the return after tax will be only 6%; there will be some investment risk as well.

But it is not always the case. Sometimes there are savings instruments which have additional ben-efits like Kiwi saver and most of employer spon-sored superannuation schemes. In those cases, there is contribution from employer and from IRD (in Kiwi saver). Normally the total return will be more than the cost of debt.

So it makes sense to make the contribution to these schemes ahead of paying the debt faster, con-tribution to these is normally very small to make full use of employer/IRD contribution.

Is debt consolidation into home mortgage a good idea?

Certainly it is, as normally home mortgage in-terest is cheapest. But there are always the dangers. First danger is one is putting his house at risk by having bigger mortgage and any failure can lead to mortgagee sale.

The second is there is temptation to go into short term debt again. What will happen, when the debt is consolidated, the borrowing capacity in terms of repayments one can afford increases and as such there is tendency to take more loans/hire purchases resulting in increased debt. So if someone wants to consolidate short term loans into housing mort-gage, one needs to be much disciplined.Is it good idea to take student loan?

Education is one’s greatest asset. Normally, it enhances job prospects and increases income. In New Zealand, Government student loan scheme is interest free. If you have money, you should put it in

interest bearing account or pay off other debt, but should make full use of student loan scheme. What is the best way to repay house mortgage faster?

There are different ways. Remember there is no magic that can reduce your mortgage term from 30 years to a shorter term. It is your increased repay-ment which reduces your loan term.

If you have a loan of $300000 at an interest rate of 7% per annum, your weekly EMI is $460 (30 years), $489 (25 years) $536 (20 years), 621(15years)

But normally, you may not like increasing your fixed commitment by choosing a term of 15 years instead of 30 years although you have capacity to repay it in 15 years. Then the other way is to save separately and pay lump sums.

But the best way to repay your mortgage faster is to make use of revolving credit facility.

The revolving credit facility is offered by dif-ferent names by different financial institutions. The main feature is that it is a transaction cum deposit cum loan account in one account. All the incomes are direct credited to account and all expenses in-cluding minimum mortgage payment come out of it. Whatever is savings left automatically is left in the account resulting in loan being repaid. But whatever is left can be withdrawn as and when needed. Here it is worth pointing out that revolving credit facilities carry floating interest rate, so the full loan should not be kept on revolving credit; the loan structure should be carefully structured in ac-cordance with financial advice from experts.

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. For further information, please visit website

www.professionalfinancial.co.nz

Have you done a lifestyle check lately?


Indian Personality

Stunning good looks – and the man behind it

The other day we were watching the kids play dumb charades and eventually the discussions moved around to the Hindi films and film in-dustry. Someone commented on how beautiful Madhubala looked in movies while others com-mented on the way Waheeda Rehman looked in Guru Dutt’s movies. All this lead to a heated debate around directors, who made heroines look so beautiful. In all that we actually forgot the one person responsible for these stunning good looks of the heroines – the cinematographer!

Neeta Vale, our host, commented that her dad was a cinematographer and an award winning one at that! This took me by surprise. Here was an opportunity to meet one of the silent greats of the movie world. Rarely does a cinematographer, editor or dubbing editor get recognition for their work. We hardly award the technicians with the highest National award in the Film fraternity – the Dadasaheb Phalke Lifetime achievement award. Manohar Kulkarni, Neeta’s dad, won this presti-gious award in 2008 and is the first cinematogra-pher to win this coveted award, with the excep-tion of Nitin Bose who won in 1977, but he was a writer, director, producer and a cinematographer. I immediately seized the opportunity to talk to Mr Kulkarni and get a glimpse of his journey in cin-ematography!

Born on 25th December 1923 in Mumbai into the Kulkarni family, a family full of Doctors, Manohar Kulkarni was different from his other siblings. Even in school he was interested in photography and filming the sports events. This interest led him to attain full-fledged training in cinematography. And against the wishes of his family, he joined the film industry. Unlike the fans and respect which film fraternity artists get today, in those days, it was an industry shunned by the

society at large and anybody joining this industry was considered as a failed individual in life! This however, did not deter the young Manohar. He wanted to fulfill his dreams of being an ace cin-ematographer, and pursued this dream seriously.

Mr. Kulkarni joined the film industry around 1944-45, but his first big break came in 1947 when Colonel Gandhi took him to Pakistan, where he filmed his first documentary “The Birth of Paki-stan,” which earned him quite a reputation. On his return he got his first feature film – Bedard (Sadabahar productions). In those days, there were no independent production houses but film studios hired the artists and the crew. He did a couple of films for production houses in Patna which included Pyar zindagi hai and a few other films.

He also did several Marathi films. It was a challenge to do the films as the sets, costumes were elaborate and the artists very particular about their appearance. Shahu Modak, Jeevan, Trilok Kapoor , Sulochana, were some of the famous artists in these films. Recalling an inci-dent Mr Kulkarni remarked that the late Trilok Kapoor, famous for his role of “Shiva” in Hindi films, used to dangle a real live snake around his neck for authenticity. During one such shooting, a close up shot was required and as the camera started rolling and Trilok Kapoor finished his lines, the snake decided to move over to the camera and came very close to Mr Kulkarni, but Trilok Kapoor managed to get the snake away.

Mr Kulkarni recalls that Ashok Kumar was a true gentleman and had a very thorough under-standing of the film making process. With Ashok Kumar he did films like Uljhan, Kala Admi and also the famous Pehli Tarikh. The song “Aaj Pehli Tarikh hai” has become famous over the years

and is regularly played on Radio. He would often help the directors understand the difficulties faced by cameramen while using close-ups or long shots. Mr Kulkarni regrets that during his time there were no light meters or colour films in the earlier days and it was very difficult to film in the era of black and white films. Today an art director can separate the colour easily. In those days, care had to be taken if the background was white and

the artist hair was white, the use of backlight was necessary to highlight hair which was always a challenge for cinematographers.

Apart from the films, Mr Kulkarni did several documentaries and film promos as they fetched quite a steady income. Among his notable docu-mentaries are Kokan – Paradise of Maharashtra, Goa – Yesterday & Today and Tibet – Roof of the world , which captured the life and culture of Tibet, for an American production. An interest-ing incident about Goa – yesterday & today, is that it was filmed by both Films Division and Mr Kulkarni. Even though the government’s Films Division had some of the best resources available at their disposable, Mr Kulkarni’s film was better in terms of presentation and won the Films Divi-sion recognition and award.

Mr Kulkarni also specialised in Medical shoots and did several films on open heart surgery, cancer operations, ENT operative practices for noted doctors. It was challenging to shoot these films in those days as the blood has to be seen in the correct shade of red or it would be seen as pink when over exposed and brown when under exposed. Filming in the operation theatre for long hours of operation in silence was a test in itself. Mr Kulkarni also did several documentaries for

pharma companies. Mr Kulkarni’s brother R N Kulkarni was the

erstwhile Mayor of Mumbai. Manohar Kulkarni was married to Smt Mangala Kulkarni and had 3 children; Deepak, Geeta and Neeta. Unfortunate-ly, Mr Kulkarni has lost both his wife and his son now. The loss of his son took all his interest away and he reduced his involvement in cinematogra-phy. Today, he reminiscences the good old days and fondly remembers the best director of them all, V Shantaram. His work was finally acknowl-edged when the National committee for awards decided to reward him for his lifetime dedication to cinematography and awarded him the ‘Da-dasaheb Phalke lifetime achievement award’ in 2008. He received the award at the hands of thes-pian Dilip Kumar.

It was a pleasure to meet Mr Kulkarni in Auckland at their daughter Neeta Vale’s resi-dence. Rarely, do we get to meet such personali-ties who are responsible for making such visual treats and make the hero’s look so macho and heroine’s so beautiful on the celluloid. Though Manohar Kulkarni has retired now from his craft, his work will remind us of his contribution to the film fraternity. As they say – a picture can speak thousand words and remain in memory forever!

Prashant Belwalkar catches up with veteran cinematographer of yesteryear Manohar Kulkarni who is visiting Auckland


Indian


Indian


Indian

WeeKeNdCUISINE

Recipe by Ruby dhillon Recipe by shri desai

Heat butter in a pan, add garlic paste to the butter followed by ginger paste and cook for a minute. Add Cashew nut paste and again cook it for a minute.

Make a puree of these tomatoes in a mixer then add this puree to the butter masala.

Give it a boil and let it cook for another 2 to 3 minutes before you add sugar, garam masala, salt, kasuri meth, red chilli powder.

Mix and cook for a minute, then add paneer to it.

Stir and cook for a minute or two.

Add cream and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.Serve hot with rice or paranthas.

Mix all ingredients together (including one of the suggested spice of your taste) until a smooth paste is formed

Heat a non stick pan and add some oil or butter

Place one large ladle of the mixure

Turn after few minutes or till the surface is turns golden brown.Repeat with other side.

Serve with a sauce of your liking and some fresh green salad

500 grams- Paneer cut into cubes1tbs- Ginger paste1tbs- Garlic paste800gm- Chopped tomatoes 2tsp- Red chilli powder1tsp- Kasuri methi1tbs- Sugar2tsp- Garam masala powder1tbs Cashew nut pasteSalt according to taste150ml- Cream2tbs- Butter

500 Gms boiled and mashed potatoes400 Gms of any frozen vegetables of very small cut3 #6 Eggs-Whisked well4 Tbsp of Self raising flourSome oil or butter for pan frying1 tsp of Spice of your taste- Mas-ter food’s Cajun/ Sweet and Sour or Italian herbsSalt – To taste

5 easy tips for Cough and Cold

By Swami Ramdevji

1. Practise breathing exercises (pranayam) everyday, especially Kapal-bhati and Anulom-Vilom for at least 15 mins each in the morning and evening.

2. Take Ramdevji’s Chyawanprash twice a day which helps build up your immune system to help with cough and cold.

3. Drink 100% Amla juice and 100% Aloe vera juice with hot water twice a day.

4. Avoid fizzy drinks, ice creams etc. as they can be very harmful in this situation.

5. Make sure you wash your hands before and after eating anything.

Next issue:- Psoriasis and eczema

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Ingredients: Ingredients:

Method: Method:

Paneer Makhani Pasanda Corn Fritters


Indian Heritage

August 14 this year is Gokulāshtami or Krishna Janmāshtami. Gokulāshtami is a very auspicious day for the Hindus across the world. Gokul is the name of the place where Lord Krishna was brought up. It is the birthday of Lord Krishna – the most widely recognised Hindu gods, wor-shipped as the eighth incarnation of Vishnu and as the supreme deity. ‘Krishna’, apart from the well-known meaning ‘ the dark one’, also has another meaning - ‘the attractive one’. Krishna comes from the Sanskrit root word ‘karsh’ which means ‘to pull’, ‘to attract’. According to Adi Sankara’s commentary, Krishna is the 57th name of Vishnu and means the “Existence of knowledge and Bliss.” Many scholars have ac-cepted that Lord Krishna lived on earth 5000 years ago in the period between 3200 BCE and

3100 BCE.How is Gokulāshtami celebrated?

On the auspicious day of Gokulāshtami, Hindu households and devotees decorate their houses as if there is a birthday party, imprint a child’s footprint from the door to the prayer room signifying the coming of Baby Krishna into their homes and prepare sweets as offering to the Lord. Butter which is believed to be Lord Krishna’s favorite is also offered. Seekers of truth observe fast throughout the day and break the fast at midnight when the Lord is believed to have been born. This is followed by devotional songs on the Lord.

The Lord’s childhood pranks and leelas are made popular in the western state of Maharash-tra by people enacting Krishna’s childhood at-

tempts to steal butter and curd from earthen pots beyond his reach as mentioned in the Lord’s bi-ography the Srimád Bhāgavatam. In the course of these celebrations called Dahihandi, which is part sport and part ritual, a butter filled pot is suspended high above the ground and groups form human pyramids to try and reach the pot and break it. There is also a cash prize attached to the event. The prize depends on the height of suspension of the pot. Significance of Lord Krishna

The incarnation of Krishna represents the descent of the infinite to the finite material world. Even his costume has a deep significance for the devotee. The symbolism of Lord Krishna in his costume as found in many artistic images around the world is described by Swami Chin-

mayananda as ‘The ever smiling Lotus-eyed Krishna, with a garland of flowers around His neck, is described as being blue in colour and wearing yellow clothes. Blue is the colour of the infinite and whatever is immeasurable can appear to the mortal eye only as blue, like the sky and the ocean. Yellow represents the earth. Anything buried in the earth gathers a yellow hue. Hence, the finite blue form of Krishna clothed in yellow appropriately suggests the pure infinite Consciousness. The one infinite Reality has become the world of endless forms. There-fore, every form in the universe, in a sense, is but a representation of a primeval Truth.”

Happy Gokulāshtami.- Rām Lingam

Krishna Janamashtami is observed as the birth day of the 8th Avatar of Lord Vishnu, on the 8th day of the dark half Hindu month of Shraavana. Krishna is famous for many things, one of the most well known is Bhaga-vad Gita, which is the conversation between Krishna and Arjuna before the great Battle of Kurukshetra and is considered as a philo-sophical and literary classic of all times.

Refer to the Gita Upadesam picture. There is a chariot between the two armies in the battle field of Kurukshetra. Arjuna (passenger) is seated at the back. Lord Krishna (charioteer) is driving the chariot. He is holding the reins, which are control-ling the horses that are leading the chariot. Collectively this composes one full picture of the chariot. But what does this all signify? This picture is symbolic of our inner instru-ments to train the mind and senses. Here is a meaningful description:

1. Chariot: Sarira (physical body), the in-strument through which the Self, intellect, mind, and senses operate.

2. Charioteer: Atma (Self, sometimes referred as Higher Intellect or Buddhi), leading the chariot, supposed to be the wise giver of instructions to the mind.

3. Passenger: Jivi (Individual Soul, the em-bodied Atma), always the neutral witness.

4. Horses: Indriyas (Senses), (eyes-vision,

ears-hearing, nose-smell, tongue-taste, skin-touch), through which we relate to the external world by perception and action.

5. Reins: Manas (Mind), through which the senses receive their instructions to act and perceive.

6. Roads: The countless objects of the senses in the world and our memory

7. Wheels of the Chariot: Right effort8. Destination: “Perfection” or “Self Real-ization”

9. Kurukshetra Battlefield: Inner battle-field of mind, the only place where one can confront and vanquish the Inner Demons.

10. Two Armies: Kauravas (Demonic nature) and Pandavas (Divine nature)

11. Who’s driving your chariot? Mostly we don’t let the charioteer on duty. The reins (mind) are f lapping around freely without the proper inner guidance and not giving in-struction to the horses (senses).

Hence they wander freely down any road they feel like in response to their past memories (Chitta). The chariot (body) takes a beating, the horses (senses) get tired, the reins (mind)) get worn, and the charioteer (Intelligence) gets lazy.

The passenger is completely ignored.

12. Put the charioteer back on the job: Retrain the charioteer (Intelligence) to pick up the reins (mind) and start giving some positive direction to the horses (senses). This training is called Sadhana (spiritual practice).

13. Allow the charioteer to serve the pas-senger: When the charioteer (Intelligence) becomes more stabilized in being back on the job, there is an ever increasing aware-ness of the fact the entire purpose of the chariot, horses, reins, and charioteer, are to serve as instruments for the passenger, the true Self.

The Mahabharata is still going on within us, the fight between our demonic and divine qualities. In this conf lict, Krishna (Self, Atma, Higher Intellect) is ever on the side of Dharma (Righteousness). If you seek to have the Lord on your side as your guide, equip yourself with the divine nature, the qualities of Dharma. This chariot is to be driven right to the Destination (Perfection, Self Realization). Horses may dash down the chariot into a ditch if they are restive, tired, unwilling, and cannot see the road properly.

We can invoke Divine Guidance in us as our personal Charioteer to assist us throughout every battle we must fight with inner demons

Visit www.iwk.co.nz for furtherreading on this subject

The Significance of the Chariot with Krishna and ArjunaRAVINdeR GRoVeR

GokulashtamiThe birthday of the Lotus-eyed Lord


Indian

Documents

Volume 1 Issue 11