India Herald 121014

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Hardeepak Singh Munday; left; Vipul Anand; Dianne Wilson, Texana Board Chair; George Patterson Texana CEO; Jasmin Patel, Chairman IAF and Minal Shah.

Texana Center’s Board of Trustees had an element of ex-citement added to their recent board meeting when members of the board of the Indo Ameri-can Forum presented a check for $2,000 to Texana.

The Indo American Forum

Texana receives $2,000 donation from the Indo-American Forum

of Fort Bend (IAF) is a local organization that represents the growing Indo-American com-munity as a positive and repre-sentative force that contributes to fostering a bond between Indian Americans and other neighboring communities. They encourage involvement in the community and support-ing humanitarian causes.

George Patterson, CEO said “Texana Center is delighted to have been chosen by the Indo American Forum for this gift. We value the diverse popula-tion in Fort Bend County and are pleased to see this type of participation in our communi-ty. Contributions like this help to enhance the services that Texana Center provides”.

See Crystals of India, 2

Priti Singh, Shaila Patel, and Raj Malani at the luncheon.Fashion and fun for a great

cause! Pratham Houston’s annual luncheon at the Junior League on December 5 raised over $158,000 for Pratham’s Beauty Entrepreneurship Program.

Asha Dhume and Annu Naik co-chaired the event attended by 270 guests supporting Pratham, an organization dedicated to improving the quality of education for

underprivileged children and youth in India.

Before the program, ladies pampered themselves with a complimentary make-up session from Saks Fifth Avenue, sampled new fragrances from Dolce and Gabbana, and kicked off their holiday shopping with handbags and jewelry from

Pratham’s holiday luncheon raises $158,000

See PRATHAM, Page 13

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COMMUNITY NEWS

India Culture Center Houston held the election for the new Board of Directors on December 7. The Election Committee members were Jawahar Malhotra, Girish Pandya and Sam Merchant.

The elections were unanimous for the seven positions and the following individuals were elect-

ed for the 2-year term: Jasmeeta Singh, Col Raj Bhalla, Charlie Patel, Harshad Patel, Nirmala Patel, Sapna Shah and Saundarya Sohoni.

President Charlie Patel, in his remarks to the General Body, was appreciative of the support from donors, sponsors, vendors and the

media.He highlighted the year-long

partnering events which ICC was involved during 2014. The next Signature event of ICC is India Fair - celebration of India’s Re-public Day which will be held on Saturday, January 31, 2015.

Seated (from left) Nisha Mirani, Sapna Shah, Jasmeeta Singh, Falguni Gandhi, Nirmala Patel. Standing (from left) Raj Bhalla, Sam Merchant, Harshad Patel, Girish Pandya, Charlie Patel, Girish Naik, Rajiv Bhavsar, He-mant Patel, Saundarya Sohoni, Ajit Patel.

India Culture Center elects new board of directors

Participants and patrons of Kavita ki Shaam. (Right) Eesha Dhairyawan who sang a “veer ras” song Chhodo kal ki baatein to open the Kavita ki Shaam proceedings, is congratulated by K.D. Upadhyaya (left) and ICC president Chandrakant (Charlie) Patel. Photos: Sanjay Sohoni

The fourth Kavita Ki Shaam, an annual event to celebrate the Hindi language, saw 17 Hindi afi cionados and amateur poets present their works as well as works of famous Hindi poets at Madras Pavilion on Friday, December 5. This was the fourth evening of Hindi poetry and was organized by the Houston chapter of the International Hindi As-sociation (IHA).

The evening got off to a sonorous start with young Eesha Dhairy-awan, 8, singing a ‘veer ras’ song — Chhodo kal ki baatein. She was tuneful, and kept to the rhythm on the karaoke track perfectly.

Her performance was followed by Jasmeeta Singh who sang a ghazal - Bhoolnay wale se. Then came Dr.. K. D. Upadhyaya, a heavy hit-ter, who is a fl uent and lucid speaker and can fi re off funny couplets with ease. After a three or four minute warm-up, he turned his wrath on a rather soft target for his veer ras presentation. He slammed Jama Masjid’s Shahi Imam Syed Bukhari who invited Pakistan Prime Min-ister Nawaz Sharif, but not Narendra Modi, to his son’s ‘coronation’ as the next Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid. It seemed, though, that the piece would have played better in Delhi than it did that evening.

Upadhyaya was followed by Om Prakash Gupta, who is also a heavy-weight in the realm of Hindi literature in Houston. It was the sixth death anniversary of his father’s passing, so his mood was somber. His poem, Kabhi Bhagwan bhi hote hain lachaar bade, was well received.

Meera Kapur recited two poems by her late father Shamlal Khanna — Rath hai shareer mera and Jeevan ka apmaan na karna.

Neera Vipin wanted to revive her memories of growing up in rural India with her Jeevan baahon mein baandh sakoon. Her recitation, in a strong, mellifl uous voice, was enchanting and very well appreciated.

Sangeeta Pasrija, a cofounder of IHA, recited some short poems of hunmorist Surendra Sharma and then introduced a visitor from Mem-phis, Dr. Sunny Anand, who she happened to meet in Austin.

Dr. Anand who is an MD, is also a poet and essayist; he readily agreed to come to Houston for this Kavita ki Shaam. He presented two poems that were rather raunchy which a surprised audience found thoroughly entertaining.

His presentation, Do Haadse (two episodes), described the plight of a rather imperious matriarch who applies Bengay instead of Prepara-tion H in the fi rst one. The second episode, Multan se aaye thay Khan saheb, was a scatological description of the embarrassment of a man who had to rush to the bathroom but couldn’t loosen the naada (string) of his salwar (pajama) in time.

Then Anand got serious with his Ek jaagti jyot nirantar which la-mented the futility of one-upmanship and stressed cooperation and love.

Rajiv Bhavsar, a past president of the ICC, recited some poems of Harivanshrai Bachchan; Dilip Kanabar, of Masala Radio, spoke about pati-patni and their courtship in a Mumbai chawl. Sarita Mehta, who teaches Hindi at Rice University, paid homage to Mother and God and another poem about dreams.

Nausha Asrar, another heavyweight, sang a lok ghazal - Man ke veena ki tar hai. He was followed by Devika Dhruv with poems in a devo-tional strain, Krishen Sharma with light-hearted humorous poems, Farha Iqbal, with three presentations of Urdu shayri, ghazal and nazm. Sanjay Sohoni’s Sanjaybhai poetry on Facebook and current astitvavaad rand very true.

Fatehali Chatur recited some funny poems by Surendra Sharma. Chatur, who as emcee did a masterful job of keeping the program fl owing smoothly, followed up every presentation with either a funny observation or an enhanced bio of the presenter.

Darshak Thakkar of Krishna Sounds operated the sound system fl awlessly. Over 130 people attended the program and enjoyed the food by Madras Pavilion. Most of them stayed to the end. Swa-tantra Jain, Dr. Barkat Charania and Manohar Gidwani presented mementoes to the participants. It was a special evening for IHA cofounder Swapan Dhairyawan — he had a surprise birthday cake waiting for him at the start and his daughter Eesha gave a melodi-ous start to the evening.

— Rajeev Gadgil

4th annual Kavita ki Shaam


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TOPIC OF THE WEEK

THE LIGHTER SIDE

OBITUARYJustice V R Krishna Iyer

By Swapan Dasgupta

There are few obvious similari-ties between Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and his predeces-sor Dr Manmohan Singh.

Indeed, the reason why theelectorate chose Modi so resound-ingly was because his personalityand style were in sharp contrastto a man who remained an “acci-dental Prime Minister” through-out his long, 10-year tenure.

However, there is one areawhere the styles of the two con-verge: neither is inclined to makecasual utterances. This was easierfor Singh who was naturally taci-turn and avoided large public ral-lies where working up the crowdis both an occupational necessityand hazard.

Yet despite being the BJP’sone-man army during election sea-son and the face of India that ev-ery foreign leader of consequencewants to interact with, Modi hasbeen remarkably measured withhis public utterances.

He has sent out clear andstrong signals to his ministerial col-leagues that he does not wish hisGovernment to be embarrassed bycasual remarks that are made im-pulsively and recanted thereafterwith red faces.

By and large, and despite theattempts of wicked TV anchorsto accord a literal meaning to thePrime Minister’s mythological al-lusions at a hospital inaugurationin Mumbai on October 25, theModi Government has been freeof any major verbal mishap.

This can also be attributed tothe work-more-talk-less-and-don’t-party mantra that hasdrained Lutyens’ Delhi of sala-cious gossip.

Under the UPA, there was anavalanche of real or tittle-tattle in-formation and the BeautifulPeople of Delhi were assiduouslywooed and cultivated by the Con-gress’ inheritor brigade.

Why, there was even a Minis-ter who, for all practical purposes,attended every diplomatic partyand released every new book intown.

Today, even the Minister fromGoa — a State that prides itselfon sun and fun — conducts him-self with monastic aloofness, awayfrom every hint of frivolity.

By contrast, the Modi Govern-ment has so far heralded unhappydays for news traders and profes-sional lobbyists.

Apart from the informationclampdown on the movement offiles and the strictures againstloose talk, The Telegraph has re-ported that there will be few con-vivial garden parties this winterhosted by Ministers and politicalfunctionaries where hacks, dalals,socialites and gatecrashers willrub shoulders over kebabs andBloody Mary.

In the first week after the ModiGovernment was sworn in, a vis-iting American dignitary told mesmilingly of the astonishingly largenumber of people he had met whowere allegedly on first name termswith the Prime Minister.

If he were to return with Presi-dent Obama’s delegation for Re-

public Day, hewould perhapsnow expressequal astonish-ment that theirnumbers hadshrunk dramati-cally in eightmonths.

The point issimple. Thosewho believedthat a new BJP-led Governmentat the Centrewould witness acontinuation ofthe ‘happy days’of the previousdispensationhave beenforced to revisetheir assess-ment. A pall ofdrabness hasn’tsuddenly de-scended onLutyens’ Delhi.

A culturemarked by indo-lent lunches andendless roundsof networkingparties havebeen replacedby a nose-to-the-grind workculture, with sig-nals emanatingfrom the verytop. Had thePM chosen tobecome a care-free, party ani-mal, the rest ofpolitical Delhiwould havetaken the cuefrom him. In-stead, the cul-ture of a 12-hour plus work-ing day, begin-ning as early as8.30 am and of-ten ending aslate as 9.30 inthe evening hasleft both Minis-ters and babustoo exhaustedfor mindlesssocialising.

A CabinetMinister who isthe target ofmedia derision

Modi is no ‘accidental Prime Minister’

In the Modi administration, aculture marked by indolent lunchesand endless rounds of networkingparties have been replaced by a

nose-to-the-grind work culture, withsignals emanating from the very top.proudly told me what the peon remarked to thedriver: “The previous Minister hardly ever came tothe office; this one doesn’t want to leave.”

Maybe the affable M Venkaiah Naidu wasn’tnecessarily being jestful when he complained ofModi neither sleeping nor allowing his colleagues tosleep.

Cynics aren’t wrong in suggesting that Indiadoesn’t care if ministers party and network, as longas they get the work done. In principle there is noth-ing to complain about deft time management or eventhe European obsession with quality leisure timeand weekends off.

However, any such idea in the Indian contexthas to be viewed against the backdrop of the chaltahai culture that has permeated into nearly everysphere of public life, and particularly the govern-ment.

India is in need of a jolt, perhaps even a kick inthe butt, to get back into doing what it should bedoing and, at the same time, clearing up the accu-mulated backlog of years of a “Hindu rate” of pro-ductivity.

True, a Government does not run on faster clear-ances alone. It needs ideas, particularly ideas thatdisrupt the unending continuity of mediocrity. Suchreforms won’t necessarily come about because aset of diligent Ministers clear files speedily and withfull application of mind. There is admittedly a bigdifference between an efficient Minister and a re-forming Minister.

In the long run, India needs a reforming Cabinetthat can inject dynamism into governance and bringthe Indian State into the 21st century. In the shortterm, however, the country could do well to have acobweb-free Government that takes decisions onmerit and not out of collateral considerations.

History will be the ultimate judge of Modi’s abil-ity to drive India in a new direction. Six months intothe exercise, let’s give him full marks for effort andapplication. And at least he has managed to bringLutyens’ Delhi back to earth. — The Pioneer

Former Supreme Court Justice V.R.Krishna Iyer, passed away in Kochion Dec 4. He turned 100 on Nov 15.

No judge of any Supreme Courtin the world has left his mark onhumanitarian jurisprudence as Jus-tice V.R. Krishna Iyer did in theshort span of a little over sevenyears in the Indian SupremeCourt.

Appointed to the SupremeCourt in July 1973, within a fewmonths of the Union government’ssupersession of three judges of theSupreme Court for their verdictagainst the government and Par-liament in the KesavanandaBharati case, the general publicexpected that Justice Iyer wouldtoe the government line.

At the same time, because ofhis earlier communist associationin Kerala, his appointment waslooked upon with deep suspicionby the legal fraternity.

But with his unshakeable inde-pendence and commitment to thecommon man and human rights,Justice Iyer disappointed the gov-ernment and surprised his critics,who later became his admirers.He developed in his judgments acreative jurisprudence in which thehallmarks were his passion for thecommon, helpless and indigentman.

His decision in Sunil Batra vsDelhi Administration in 1978 toreform the jail conditions of con-victs remains a landmark.

His profound humanitarian ap-proach to the death penalty inRajendra Prasad vs Uttar Pradeshin 1979 was followed by LordLeslie Scarman in the Privy Coun-cil case of Riley vs Attorney Gen-eral of Jamaica in 1982.

Immediately after his appoint-ment, he resisted governmentalpressure to impose an uncondi-tional stay of the Allahabad HighCourt judgment in 1975 disquali-fying Prime Minister IndiraGandhi.

This judgment has been de-scribed as the finest hour of theSupreme Court by his most vehe-

ment critic, H.M. Seervai.Many years later, Justice Iyer

revealed the pressure under whichhe was put to decide in favour ofIndira Gandhi.

On the day of the high courtjudgment in June 1975, then LawMinister H.R. Gokhale telephonedhim and wanted to personally meethim, obviously to influence him togrant an unconditional stay of thejudgment of the high court.

Justice Iyer told him on thephone that as the prime ministerhad engaged an advocate (laterN.A. Palkhivala), the appealshould be filed in the SupremeCourt registry and there was noneed to meet him.

It was the conditional stay or-der of disqualification made by himthat led, among other factors, toIndira Gandhi’s drastic step ofimposing the Emergency.

Justice Iyer’s method of writ-ing judgments with deep passionand flowery language irritatedmany persons, including judges ofthe Supreme Court like JusticeV.D. Tulzapurkar, who criticisedhis language as being “prefaces,perorations, sermons and philoso-phies which have no proper placein judicial pronouncements”.

To others, however, his judg-ments were a breath of fresh airfrom a crusader in the name ofthe poor and depressed.

His great admirer, JusticeMichael Kirby of the AustralianHigh Court, has said: “One is leftwith the strong conviction thatthis is a man who throughout hislong life remained forever young.He still champions the causes ofjustice even after retirementwith the optimism and idealismof youth.

“I can say without hesitationthat such deep wellsprings do notalways endure over so long withdistinguished legal and judicialjourney.”

This writer initially doubtedthat Justice Iyer had judicial im-partiality because of his back-ground. But over the years, Iwas fascinated by the sincerityin his judgments and severalmeetings I had with him after hisretirement.

In June 2009, he inscribed hisbook, The Majesty of the Judi-ciary, to me with the movingwords, “Fight for justice till thelast breath. I will be with youstrong though old — V.R.Krishna Iyer”.

The writer, senior advocate,Supreme Court of India, isformer solicitor general andadvocate general ofMaharashtra


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Indian History Awareness andResearch (IHAR), an initiative ofArsha Vidya Satsanga (AVS), isbringing renowned public scholarRajiv Malhotra again to Houston.

Arsha Vidya Satsanga aims toestablish the cultural self-identityof the people following SanatanaDharma through the study of theVedas, allied texts, Sanskrit, childeducation and Indian History.

IHAR is an initiative of AVSthat supports and promotes re-search into Indian History,Dharmic traditions and modernissues that influence their under-standing and practice in a global-ized world.

AVS brought Rajiv Malhotra toHouston in 2011, and his talk onGlobal Nexuses Undermining In-dia was a full audience event thatcreated waves within the Hous-ton Indian community.

The lecture by Rajiv Malhotraon Western Dichotomy to-wards Dharma: Appropriate,Assimilate, Reject and Vilifywill highlight the hypocrisy in theapproach of western institutions toselectively appropriate ideas fromDharmic traditions that are alignedto their ideology without providingacknowledgement of the originalsource; while at the same viciouslyrejecting ideas that are not in con-formance to their norms by vilify-ing and slandering them.

This is particularly important inour current times as we have seenseveral examples of western lit-erature that seemingly provide aderogatory portrayal of spirituallybased Dharmic traditions and prac-tices that have been carefully cul-tivated and nurtured over several

Lecture by history scholar Rajiv Malhotracenturies.

The debate onHindu ChristianInterface: Pro-mote confor-mity or Pre-serve Diver-sity? featuringRajiv Malhotraand ChristianEberhart will de-bate the merits oftwo narratives; aproselytizing nar-rative that em-phasizes confor-mity and belief ina singular ideol-ogy as opposed to non-proselytizing eastern narrative that supports aplurality of ideas from various traditions.

The Hindu-Christian interface is particularly poignant in this con-text as many Hindus have made their homes in countries deeply rootedin Abrahamic traditions.

The lecture and the debate will be featured at the India Houseon Saturday December 13th. between 4 and 7 PM. It is a freeevent, and refreshments will be followed after the event.

In addition to the above, the Hindu Temple of Woodlands will alsofeature a lecture and workshop by Rajiv Malhotra on Sunday, Decem-ber 14th at their location in Woodlands, TX.

The workshop is on How to be an Intellectual Kshtriya, while thelecture is on Indian American and the Indian Grand Narrative.

There is a suggested donation of $100 for the workshop.Rajiv Malhotra is an eminent Indian-American researcher and pub-

lic intellectual on current affairs, world religions, cross-cultural encoun-ters and science. He is the author of Breaking India, Being Differ-ent, the chief protagonist of Invading the Sacred and the latest re-lease Indra’s Net.

A scientist by training, Rajiv is the chairman of board of governorsof Indic Studies at University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.

Dr. Eberhart is the director of religious studies at the University ofHouston, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. Dr. Eberhartgrew up in Germany, has a Masters degree in Theological Studiesfrom Harvard and a PhD from the University of Heidelberg.

To date, he has published four books with a fifth in press titled Whata Difference a Meal Makes: The Last Supper in the Bible andChristian Church.


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Global Organization for Divin-ity and Namadwaar will conductits annual grand celebration ofbhakti and Bhagavata Dharma,from December 21 to 27 this yearthrough a 7-day “Madhura Utsav”(sweet celebration). The Utsavwill be filled with celebration ofBhagavan through song, danceand listening to His stories througha 7-day “Sri Krishna Leela” dis-course series by Sri Ramanujamji,disciple of His Holiness Sri SriMuralidhara Swamiji.

Daily daytime events will beheld at Namadwaar PrayerHouse located at 3642 Bailey Ave,Manvel TX 77578, while theevening Bhagavatam discoursewill be held at Sri MeenakshiTemple Kalyana Mandapam inPearland.

Daily events through the day (at

Houston City Council voted unani-mously to confirm Mayor AnniseParker’s appointment of Gitesh Desaito the General Appeals Board, for aterm to expire January 2, 2017.

“I’m looking forward to this position.It matches my background and my ex-perience and education.” Desai said af-ter his appointment was approved.

Council Member Oliver Penningtonthanked Desai for volunteering to serveon the board. “We need people like youwho will agree to apply your expertisefor the benefit of the city,” saidPennington.

Namadwaar’s 5th Annual Srimad Bhagavata Mahotsava to be held Dec 21-27

Namadwaar) include chantingThiruppavai (6 am), completeSrimad Bhagavata MoolaParayana of 18000 slokas in 7days (7am-2pm), Procession of SriKrishna-Sri Radha in differentvahanas (9:30 am), Ashtapadikirtan-Sampradaya bhajans withSri Jayadeva’s Gita Govindam (1-4pm) and Divya Namasankirtanam (9:30 pm).

The evening program (Dec 21-27) will begin from 5:30 pm atMeenakshi Temple with the“Madhura Natyam” segmentwhere various Houston danceschools will offer their talent toLord Krishna through perfor-mances. This will be followed at6 pm by the highlight event – SriKrishna Leela (discourse in En-glish on the 10th canto of SrimadBhagavatam) by Sri Ramanujamji.

Sri Ramanujam ji, who has vis-ited the Houston area severaltimes before, is an excellentspeaker who has absorbed the in-tricate essence of our scripturesdirectly from his Master. His in-sightful discourses throw beauti-ful, meaningful, practical light onthe subtle aspects of bhakti andour Sanatana Dharma. His dis-courses on Srimad Bhagavatamare brilliant and instill in us lovefor Bhagavan, love for the path ofbhakti and love for this greatPurana itself. Add to this the factthat this year’s discourses will fo-cus in detail on Sri Krishna’s ever-new, refreshing and deeply signifi-cant leelas, and the whole eventbecomes doubly sweet.

Everyone is welcome to par-ticipate in this unique celebration.All events are free and open to

the public. Mahaprasad will be served.Apart from the above-mentioned daily events there will also be

special events on certain days at Namadwaar, such as Radha Kalyanam(Dec 27, 9 am), Govinda Pattabhishekham and Anna Koototsav (Dec25, 9 am) and Nandotsavam (Dec 24, 1:30pm).

Prasadam and flower sponsors are welcome.If you find this divinecause worthy of your generosity, call 281-402-6585.

Global Organization for Divinity (G.O.D.) and Namadwaar PrayerHouse aim to promote peace, harmony and universal love amid cul-tural diversity. They are involved in several spiritual, cultural and socialactivities in the Houston area. For more information call 281-402-6585,email [email protected] or visit www.godivinity.org.

Desai on Houston’s General Appeals Board

The board is comprised of ten members and its general powers andduty are to interpret the provisions of the Building Code in appeals ofdecisions by the Building Official, to settle possible jurisdictional dis-putes between Plumbing, Electrical and Air Conditioning Appeals Boards,to determine the suitability of alternative types of construction otherthan those relating to Air Conditioning, Plumbing and Electrical and tomake recommendations to the Mayor for amendments to the City ofHouston Building Code.

Desai is a licensed professional engineer employed by Wood GroupMustang and has been involved in community affairs for many years.He is a past president of the Indian American Political Action Commit-tee of Greater Houston and currently serves on its Board.

COMMUNITY NEWS INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2014 • PAGE 7

By Deepak R BhattI had an opportunity to visit

with my family on December 3, 2014 “Beyond Bollywood – Indian Americans Shape the Nation”, at National Museum of Natural History of Smithso-nian in Washington DC.

The groundbreaking exhibi-tion showing at NMNH from February 27, 2014 to August 16, 2015 explores the heritage, daily experience and numer-ous, diverse contributions that Indian immigrants and Indian Americans have made to shap-ing the United States.

From the builders of some of America’s earliest railroads and farms to Civil Rights pio-neers to digital technology en-trepreneurs, Indian Americans have long been an inextricable part of American life.

Today, one out of every 100 Americans, from Silicon Val-ley to Smalltown, USA, traces his or her roots to India. Break-throughs in business, the arts, medicine, science, and tech-nology, and the fl avorful food, fl amboyant fashion and yoga of India have become a central part of our national culture.

Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation, created in collaboration with the Smithsonian’s Asian Pacif-ic American Center, explores the Indian American experi-ence and the community’s vital political, professional, and cul-tural contributions to American life and history.

The exhibit is on the sec-ond fl oor covering about 5,00 square feet having 7 sections. Indian Americans are less than 1 percent of US population ac-cording to 2010 census data; but they have achieved a lot and have also contributed a lot to their adopted land. Ameri-ca gave them opportunities to prosper and progress and in return they gave back to the community wherever they lived.

This is a fi rst part of Indian American Heritage Project and more to come in future. It is a collaboration of Smithsonian, a premier museum organization of USA, and Indian American community.

Smithsonian has a much bigger plan - it is not going to keep the exhibition within its walls in Washington DC, but taking it around the whole country from now until 2020.

The exhibit is mainly photo-based and with a few artifacts. Noticeable artifacts are: a dress designed for a First Lady by Nadeem Khan, 7th genera-tion costume designer, and a gazebo type worship place showing people of many faiths doing prayers and meditation.

In one section, Chirag Bhak-ta has shown family life of a motel owner and hardship they faced in early days.

I was surprised and little disappointed on why only few artifacts when Smithsonian has a very extensive collection of

Indian artifacts. Houstonian and author Chi-

tra Divakaruni is also featured in the exhibition.

My only explanation is that as this is going to be a moving exhibition through the whole country for long time, it is dif-fi cult to get artifacts on loan. I would rate the exhibition as of average quality.

The exhibit is not a showcase of only hard working talented Indo-Americans but it also pays homage to mainstream Americans who worship talent and give respect to the dignity of labor to prove that this is the land of meritocracy.

While coming to the end of the exhibition, I was reading a plaque showing who made it possible. It was a very pleasant surprise to me to read names of Kanu R Shah and his wife

Daksha K Shah as one of main donors. We were in the same school in rural India. Kanubhai was 3 years senior to me and Dakshaben was one year junior to me.

Kanubhai’s father Ramanlal Shah was our Gandhian type dedicated teacher. Even though I have not met Kanubhai since we both left India long time ago, I was still thrilled to know about him and for leaving his mark by making this project a reality.

The exhibit is a representa-tive of stories of Indo-Amer-icans from the Silicon Valley to Smalltown USA. Now it is woven into a larger story of the nation. It is a mosaic of all stories. The important message is not how much they accom-plished in such a short time; but since when they came and how

Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans shape the nation

they became a part of shaping the NATION. This is just a be-ginning and much bright future lays ahead. Future immigrants

and US born Indo-Americans will carry the torch forward that will shine much brighter.

Congressman Dr. Dalip Saund (1957-63) with senators Kennedy and Johnson


COMMUNITY CALENDAR

or call for info.(713) 665-4665

Chandra & David Courtney Tabla and Vocal

Classes in Houston,Mission Bend,& Sugar Land

Visit www.chandrakantha.com

Classesnow ongoing

COMMUNITY CALENDARExpress Children’s

Theatre - LittleScrooge

An adolescent boy strikes it richby inventing a popular phone appbut loses sight of what really mat-ters in life. Based on the Dickensclassic. Showing Saturdays at2 p.m. on December 6, 13, 20,2014 at Express Children's The-atre at Northwest Mall. To re-serve a private weekday perfor-mance at the theater for yourgroup (30 persons minimum) call713-682-5044.

Lecture by RajivMalhotra

Sat., Dec 13; 4 to 7 p.m.Lecture by Rajiv Malhotra on

Western dichotomy towardsDharma: Appropriate and as-similate, reject and vilify. Also adebate on Hindu-Christian Inter-face between Rajiv Malhotra andChristian Eberhart. Sponsored byIndian History Research andAwareness of Arsha VidyaSatsanga. At India House, 8888West Bellfort. Admission is free.Q&A followed by refreshments.For info, call Prasad 281-818-7824or Subroto 713-302-2516.

Lecture on YogaSat., Dec 13 @ 5 p.m.Yoga: The Art of Stress-free

Life by Swami Mahesh at ShriRadha Krishna Temple, 11625Beechnut. Swami Mahesh willdiscuss Asana, Pranayama, relax-ation and meditation. All are wel-come. For further info call templeat 281-933-8100 or visitwww.SRKT.Org.

Arya Samaj Satsang

Durga Bari temple is open from9 to 11 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. Mon.thru Sat. Sandhya aarti at 6:30p.m. Temple closes at 7 p.m. Sun-day special from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.Puja services - Priest BishnupadaGoswami 281-597-8100 Temple islocated at 13944 Schiller Rd (offHwy 6 bet. Bellaire & Westpark).Call Ganesh Mandal at 713-797-9057 / 832-423-8541.

Telugu FellowshipTelugu Christian Fellowship

meets every third Saturday of themonth at Triumph Church, 10555W. Airport Blvd., Stafford TX77477 at 6:30 p.m. Join us for atime of praise, worship and fellow-ship. Worship is in English. CallChris Gantela 281-344-0707, orRev. V. Gurrala 281-997-0757.

‘The Universe Within’Sahaj Marg is a natural and

simple system of heart-centeredmeditation and spiritual practicethat helps one realize the utimatepotential within oneself. The medi-tation is available to anyone whowishes to practice. Weekly medi-tation sessions held throughout theHouston area. Web: www.sahajmarg.org Email: [email protected].

Heritage ClassesAshirwad’s Heritage Classes in

Katy, Cypress and Sugar Land forkids 4 to 18 yrs - meditation, Yoga,slokas, stories from scriptures,Vishnu Sahasranam, bhajans, com-petitions and fun activities. Adultmeditation classes. Register atwww.ashirwadablessing.org or SriRavula 281-995-0930.

Hare Krishna DhamHouston’s original Vedic temple,

ISKCON of Houston. At 1320 W34th St. (77018). Daily Darshan& Arati Times: 4.30am, 7am,8.30am, 12noon, 4.30pm, 7pm,9pm. Sunday Festival: 5.30 pm to7.30 pm. Weekly Gita classes foradults; call 281-433-1635 orharekrishnadham @gmail.com

Gandhi LibraryMahatma Gandhi Library Book

Club: Meets 2nd Sunday of eachmonth; 12:30 PM at Arya SamajGreater Houston, 13475 SchillerRd. Join the discussion of the greatman’s autobiography – The Storyof My Experiments with Truth.Call Manish Wani 713-829-6979.

Saumyakasi SivalayaSri Saumyakasi Sivalaya is lo-

cated at Chinmaya Prabha, 10353Synott Road, Sugar Land, TX77478. Temple timings: Monday toFriday: 9:00 AM - 12:00 Noon and5:00 - 8:00 PM Saturday and Sun-day: 8:30-2:00 PM and 5:00 - 8:00PM. Contact Bharti Sutaria 281-568-1690 or Jay Deshmukh 832-541-0059 or visit www.saumyakasi.org.

Veerashaiva SamajaVSNA Houston is a group of

families who believe inVeerashaiva dharma (Basavadharma). Monthly Mahamane pro-gram for prayer and discussion onVachana Sahitya followed byPrasada. Contact:[email protected] or

Jagadeesh Halyal 832-744-4166.

Shiv Shakti MandirSanatan Shiv Shakti Mandir, 6640 Harwin. Open daily 7 a.m. to 8

p.m. All major festivals, as well as birthdays, naam karan, engage-ment and other ceremonies. Call Pandit Virat Mehta 713-278-9099 orHardik Raval 361-243-6539 for puja or other ceremonies.

Houston NamadwaarA prayer house where the Hare Rama Hare Krishna Maha-man-

tra is continuously chanted. Weekends: 8-11 AM & 4-7 PM, Week-days: 7-8 AM & 6-7 PM. Weekly “Gopa Kuteeram” children’s heri-tage classes and Srimad Bhagavatam classes. Call 281-402-6585;visit www.godivinity.org (Global Organization for Divinity).

Mar Thoma ChurchTrinity Mar Thoma Church every Sunday at 5810 Almeda Genoa

Rd. Sunday School at 9:15 a.m. Malayalam service at 9:30 a.m. on1st & 3rd Sunday. Adult Bible class at 9:30 a.m. English service at10:30 a.m. on 2nd & 4th Sunday. Call 713-991-1557 or 281-261-4603.

Sri Guruvayurappan TempleHours: Mon to Fri 6 a.m. -8 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Week-

ends & Holidays: 6 a.m. to noon and 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. BhajansSaturdays 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Sundays 9 a.m. to 1 a.m. Special poojas(weekends and holidays) Choroon (Annaprasam) for kids,Thulabharam, Vahana Pooja, Nirapara. Temple is located at 11620Ormandy St (77035) Tel: 713-729-8994 email: temple@ guruvayur.us

Arsha Vidya BharatiSanskrit classes and special worship sessions for all ages. At 2918

Renoir, Sugar Land (77479).Call 281-606-5607 or [email protected]. Web: https://sites.google.com/site/avbtexas/classes

Preksha MeditationNew facilities of JVB Preksha Meditation Center. Classes for Yoga

and Meditation under guidance by Samani jis and discourses. At 14102Schiller Road (off Hwy 6 bet Bellaire and Westpark - 77082). Tel281-596-9642.

Patanjali YogpeethFree Yoga Classes every Sat/Sun at Arya Samaj from 8 am to 9:30

a.m. Call Anil 281-579-9433. For other free classes, call Indra 281-537-0018. For Yoga/Herbal products, call Shekhar 281-242-5000. Web:www.pyptusa.org and www.DivyaProducts.com.

Sadhu Vaswani CenterSadhu Vaswani Center of Houston holds regular Satsang on 3rd

Thursday of the month and daily Arti at 7.30 p.m. Call 281-463-0379or e.mail [email protected]

Sathya Sai centersSunday program held at two locations (North Houston: 12127

Louetta Rd, Houston; South Houston: 246 Fluor Daniel Dr, Sugarland,TX, 77479) from 3:00 pm to 5:30 pm. Sai Spiritual Education classesfor children; study circle for adults. Service programs - food distribu-tion & food drives; nursing home visits, tutoring at schools etc. Con-tact Sanjay Gupta (North) 832-687-6766 or Sondip Mathur (South)832-215-8675 www.sairegion10.org.

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

ton 77084. Satsang Sundays 5 to 7 pm. Mantra meditation, kirtan,Sanatan Dharma classes. Vedic Education and Hindi classes for kids.Gita classes noon - 1:30 pm Wed. Hanuman Chalisa and RamcharitManas on Tue. 7:30–8:30 p.m. [email protected] or 281-499-3347.

Weekly Havan Satsang everySunday from 10 a.m. to 12 noon.DAV Sanskriti School Sundays 10a.m. to 12 noon. - Havan, Hindiand Naitik Shiksha classes. DAVMontessori School for ages 2 to 7years. Call Arti Khanna 281-759-3286. Free Yoga classes on Sat.Sanskrit & Upanishad classesTue. 6-8 p.m. At 14375 SchillerRd. (bet Westpark & Bellaire offHwy 6). 281-752-0100.

Chinmaya MissionSunday satsangs for adults,

youth, and children. A unique BalaVihar program for each grade,from PreK to Grade 12. Satsangsin two sessions between 8:35 a.m.- 10:15 a.m. and 11:20 a.m. -1p.m. Bala Vihar students cantake shloka, bhajan and orchestraclasses or language classes forHindi, Telugu, Marathi, andGujarati. Located at ChinmayaPrabha, 10353 Synott Road,Sugar Land, TX 77498. Newmembers may visit the welcomedesk between 8 a.m. - 8:45 a.m.or 10:15 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Visitwww.chin mayahouston.org orcall Bharati Sutaria 281.933.0233.

Vedanta SocietyVedanta Society of Greater

Houston, 14809 Lindita Drive(77083) has classes every Sun-day from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.on Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, 1st& 3rd Sunday; Bhagavad Gita,2nd Sunday; on works of SwamiVivekananda, 4th Sunday; HolyMother Sarada’s Gospel, 5th Sun-day. Swamis of Ramakrishna Or-der visit to conduct retreats andlectures. www.houstonvedanta.org or 281-584-0488.

Durga Bari Temple

Open Forum Radio ProgramKGOL 1480 AM • Saturdays 4 to 6 p.m.

Informative programs with doctors,lawyers, politicians and other

newsmakers.Call 713-784-1480

Where Your Opinion Counts

Hosts: Dinkar Chheda, Jagat Kamdar & Subodh Bhuchar

HELP WANTEDMotel (Independent) requires reliable

night-shift manager fromJanuary 1, 2015 to Feb 1, 2015.

Apply in person at7443 Cullen Blvd, Houston, TX 77051.

Ask for Ashokbhai.

Send brief details of your program for free publica-tion in India Herald.

Email to editor@ india-herald.com

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ASSISTANT MANAGERAssistant Manager needed.

Requirements: Must be punctual andwilling to learn. Experience a plus but will

train the right candidate. Good pay.Family atmosphere is provided.

This is a long term position.Call Kamal 832-390-1713 or

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Tel/Fax: (212) 242-1677Dakshini R. Senanayake, B.S., LL.M.Licensed by the Supreme Court of New York

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NEW YORK: Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi,Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal said that Madison SquareGarden congregation is not a sign of good foreign policy as PrimeMinisters should not go abroad for “entertainment value” but hardcorediplomacy.

Kejriwal addressed about 200 students and faculty at ColumbiaUniversity at a closed-door event organized by its School of Interna-tional and Public Affairs during his whirlwind trip to the city on Sunday,Dec 7.

A report in digital news outlet Quartz quoted Kejriwal criticizingModi over his foreign policy, saying politicians should go abroad forsubstantive policy.

“Large number of people turning up at Madison Square Garden isnot foreign policy; it was an event. Our prime minister doesn’t gothere for entertainment value… Hardcore diplomacy needs to be dis-cussed,” the Quartz report quoted Kejriwal as saying.

“In Japan, nuclear issue wasn’t even touched upon. It was thework of the PR company of our prime minister and the PR companyof the Japanese prime minister,” he said.

Columbia student Casey Tolan tweeted that Kejriwal told studentsthat Modi’s Japan visit was not successful and politicians should notgo abroad “for rock star evenings” but for substantive policy.

On the issue of black money, Quartz report quoted Kejriwal assaying that assurances by the Modi government to bring back blackmoney turned out to be “a false election promise”.

“It was just not doable”, he said, “and Modi has not taken even asingle step to bring money back”.

He added that the government has not made the black money listspublic, since “it has names of some who have funded the party,” theQuartz report said.

Kejriwal addresses students in NY

OSLO: Indian child rights cam-paigner Kailash Satyarthi and Pa-kistani education activist MalalaYousafzai have received theNobel Peace Prize awards.

The Nobel committee de-scribed both laureates as "cham-pions of peace".

Yousafzai said she was thereto stand up for the rights of for-gotten and frightened children, andraise their voice rather than pitythem.

Satyarthi said receiving theprize was "a great opportunity" tofurther his work against child sla-very.

Yousafzai and Satyarthi re-ceived their awards from thechairman of the Norwegian Nobelcommittee, in the presence ofKing Harald V of Norway.

They delivered their Nobel lec-tures during the award ceremony.

In her speech, Yousafzai saidthe award was not just for her: "Itis for those forgotten children whowant education. It is for thosefrightened children who wantpeace. It is for those voicelesschildren who want change.

"I am here to stand up for theirrights, raise their voice. It is nottime to pity them. It is time to take

action so it becomes the last timethat we see a child deprived ofeducation."

It was a day when Indian sarisand Pakistani shalwar kameezblended with finely cut Westernsuits.

It was a moment when the bestof musical traditions from Eastand West filled the elegant OsloTown Hall - a stirring Raga forPeace, South Asian Qawwali, ahaunting rendition of Oh HolyNight.

But the voices which resonatedmost loudly were those of theNobel Laureates.

Kailash Satyarthi ended hisNobel lecture with "Let us March!"and Malala Yousafzai declared'Let us begin today!" Both see oneof the world's most distinguishedhonours as a weapon in their fightfor every child's right to be edu-cated, and not to work in child-hood.

Nobel organisers say therehave never been such standingovations or so many accreditedjournalists. But will this prize doeven more to achieve the goals ithas honoured - to championchildren's rights?

Yousafzai, 17, was shot in thehead by Taliban gunmen in Octo-ber 2012 for campaigning for girls'education and now lives in the UK.

She is the youngest-ever recipi-ent of a Nobel prize.

She said she had brought othergirls with her to Oslo with similarstories, among them two class-mates shot alongside her by theTaliban.

Yousafzai said she was dedi-cating the prize money to theMalala Fund, "to help give girlseverywhere a quality educationand call on leaders to help girls likeme..."

"I will continue this fight until Isee every child in school," she

added. "I feel much stronger after the attack that I endured, becauseI know, no-one can stop me, or stop us, because now we are millions,standing up together."

Jump media playerMedia player helpOut of media player. Pressenter to return or tab to continue. Malala Yousafzai: "If I can serve mycountry best through politics and through becoming a prime minister,then I would definitely choose that"

In his speech earlier, Satyarthi said he was "representing the soundof silence" and the "millions of those children who are left behind".

He said he had kept an empty chair at the ceremony as a reminderof the children without a voice.

"There is no greater violence than to deny the drea of our children,"he said. "I refuse to accept that the shackles of slavery can ever bestronger than the quest for freedom," he added, to applause.

Nobel committee chairman Thorbjorn Jagland stressed the impor-tance of education, saying: "The road to democracy and freedom ispaved with knowledge."

Jagland praised Satyarthi's work campaigning against child labour,often at great risk to hielf. He also lauded Yousafzai's efforts to pro-mote education despite threats from the Taliban, saying: "Her courageis almost indescribable".

Indian and Pakistani leaders congratulated the laureates.Pakistani radio quoted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as saying: "The

dream of Malala regarding girls' education shall be realised."His Indian counterpart Narendra Modi tweeted: "The entire nation

watches the ceremony in Oslo with great joy & immense pride. Con-gratulations @k_satyarthi! "I also congratulate the young MalalaYousafzai for the momentous achievement."

Through the efforts of Satyarthi, 60, tens of thousands of childrenhave been rescued from hazardous industries.

He has endured death threats for his work, and two of his col-leagues were killed.

Yousafzai and Satyarthi were jointly awarded the 2014 Nobel PeacePrize "for their struggle against the suppression of children and youngpeople and for the right of all children to education".

They have split the $1.4m (£860,000) prize money.

Satyarthi and Yousafzai receive Peace Nobel

Furore over conversion of MuslimsAGRA: India's opposition politicians have protested inside parlia-

ment against the alleged mass conversion of about 200 Muslims toHinduism in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

Opposition MPs on Tuesday attacked the conservative HinduBharatiya Janata Party over the conversions in Agra city, reportedlyunder allurement by groups linked to the ruling party's ideological par-ent, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

In a controversial ceremony, Bajrang Dal and Dharam JagranSamanvay Vibhagh, an offshoot of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh(RSS), converted over 200 people from 57 Muslim families into Hin-duism. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is the ideological mentorof the ruling-BJP.

The ceremony saw chanting of priests while the converts, wearingskull caps, performed havan. After the ceremony, vermilion dots wereapplied on their foreheads. The groups that performed the mass con-versions claim that the families were originally Hindu and converted toIslam around 30 years ago. "About 30 years ago, their forefathers hadconverted to Islam. Now they realise their interests are protected byHindu religion so they have returned," said Ajju Chauhan, a BajrangDal activist.


Suite 127

RELIGION

Last week’s events of dis-tinctive religious importance led the devotees of Sri Meen-akshi Temple to a state of bliss. These notable events attracted hundreds of devotees to the temple.

Ayyappa Pooja (Nov29- Dec 7): As the special Ayyap-pa Pooja during the season of Mandalam continued, numer-ous Ayyappa devotees who have taken the vow to observe penance fi lled the sannidhi in the evening hours . The priest, Sri Parameswaran’s unique style of tantric rituals and the energetic chenda players in-vigorated every evenings throughout the season.

Karthikai deepam ( Dec 5): As the full moon

rose in the east in conjunc-tion with the constellation Karthikai (Pleiades) (which appears as a group of six stars in the shape of a pendant), rows of earthen oil lamps were lighted up in the temple premises.

It was a gorgeous scene against the background of the surrounding darkness. Karthikai deepam is an annual Hindu social tradition ( some-what similar to Diwali) espe-cially in the Southern regions of India to pay respect to Sri Subrahmanya (Sri Karthikeya, Murugar, Shanmukha).

According to the legend, the six stars represent the six ce-lestial women (Karthigai pen-gal) who reared the six babies originated from the sparks of Lord Shiva. The babies were then fused as one baby by Sri Parvathy (thus Subrahmanya got the name Shanmukha). Lighting up the lamp in each household on this day of Karthikai is also considered as a way to welcome and extol the Lord as our protector against all evil elements of the world.

Maha Sathyanarayana Pooja (Dec 6)

Worshipping Sriman Na-rayana (Sri Venkateswara) in Sathyanarayana pooja in an easily understandable format is a time honored tradition cre-

ated for the families in several regions of India.

Sri Meenakshi Temple con-ducts Sathyanarayana pooja at regular intervals throughout the year or on special request for those who have the desire to continue their family tradi-tion. In addition, annually, MTS organizes this pooja for the welfare of the community at large. Maha Sathyanarayana Pooja (see right) was an event organized to accommodate the participation of large number of people. Considering its mag-nitude such an event could be conducted only once in a year. It was attended by an over-whelming number of families. The priests Sri Pawankumar Sribhashyam and Sri Sriman Narayana Charylu , conducted the ritual to the full satisfaction of all the participants. Their familiarity and experience in the rituals and worship could be noticed in every aspect of the event.

The unique characteristic of this pooja is reading and listen-ing to the set stories. The sto-ries involve the origin of the pooja, the benefi ts of it, and the potential mishaps that may occur with the careless perfor-mance of the pooja. Sri Sathy-anarayana katha (narrative) are extracted from Skandha Purana, Reva kAnda. It was Suta Maharshi who narrated these stories, to the Rishis in Neimishaaranya. Innumerable families left the temple after sharing the prasadam with full satisfaction.

Ekadasha Rudra Japam and homam ( Dec 7)

The month of Karthigai is also considered auspicious for the worship of Shiva.

Ancient Acharyas like Adi Sankara, Bhatta Bhaskara, Vishnu Suri -to name a few - have written elaborate com-ments on Sri Rudram. This re-markable Vedic homage to Sri Rudra (Sri Shiva) appears in the 4th canto , within the seven cantos of Yajurveda samhitha. The signifi cance of Sri Rudram has been mentioned by the

Hindu seers who emphatically encourage perseverance in prayers throughout our lives as a solution to counteract all the ill effects we may face. Based on its importance, reciting Sri Rudram is commonly applied in many rituals since each man-tra in it has deep spiritual sig-nifi cance.

Among the sources of learn-ing, Vedas are considered supreme; in the Vedas, Sri Rudram is the supreme; and the most important Panchak-

shari mantra ( Namashivaya) is located at the center of Sri Rudram which is the core es-sence describing the eternal truth ( paramatma swaroopam). Scholars honor Rudra Adhya-ya ( reading Sri Rudram) as one of the primary instruments for attaining liberation from mun-dane cycle of rebirths.

Ekadasha Rudram chanting that was followed by homam (havan) conducted at the sanni-dhi of Sri Sundareswarar (Sri Shiva) at MTS was a blissful

experience. Many trained individuals

from Sringeri Vidya Bharathifoundation of Greater Houston joined the priests Sri Manicka Bhattar, Sri Kalyana Sundaramand Sri R.K. E. Parameswaran in the recitation in proper pho-netic intonation (swaram) thatwas maintained throughout the 4 hour long ritual.

.—By CHITTOOR .K. RAMACHANDRAN

Below, Rudra Japam.

The month of Karthigai rekindles light of hope among devotees at MTS


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Originating from India’s Deccan Plateau, a large geo-logic formation that comprises most of the southern part of the country, the exhibition features a never-before-seen collection of almost 50 of the most beau-tiful and most perfectly formed natural mineral crystals ever found anywhere in the world.

The beds of basalt rock, within which these crystals were formed and found, were created by massive lava fl ows from enormous volcanic erup-tions that occurred more than 65 million years ago. Some paleontologists speculate that these massive volcanic erup-tions may have even accel-erated the extinction of the dinosaurs at the end of the Cre-taceous period.

For this exclusive engage-ment, the temporary exhibi-tion hall at the HMNS at Sugar Land will be transformed into a jewel box that will highlight these exquisite mineral mas-terpieces in a setting more befi tting an installation of the crown jewels—made complete with dramatic lighting and cus-tom display cases.

The pieces on display in Crystals of India represent the “best of the best” and were high-graded from a collection that has been painstakingly as-sembled over the last several

Crystals of India exhibit opens at HMNS at Sugar Land Dec. 12

decades. These beautifully crystal-

lized, natural mineral speci-mens (fi ttingly dubbed “The Flowers of the Mineral King-dom”) were carefully exca-vated from quarries throughout India over the last half cen-tury. It is safe to say that tens of thousands of quarry work-ers blasted apart—and picked through—billions of tons of rock, by hand, in order to pre-serve these breathtaking min-eral treasures for our visitors to enjoy.

Crystals of India is orga-nized by the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

Local support is provided by the City of Sugar Land, and Sudha Chittaluru, M.D (Inter-nal Medicine) - First Colony Primary Care.

Tickets for Crystals of India are now on sale and may be purchased online.

For more information, vis-it the museum’s web site at www.hmns.org or call (713) 639-4629. Discover the Crystals of India at the Houston Museum of

Natural Science at Sugar Land, on exhibit from Dec. 12, 2014 – May 5, 2015.


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local boutique vendors. Guests learned more

about Pratham’s innovative programs through a video that shared the amazing stories of several Pratham benefi ciaries whose lives have been transformed by the organization’s award-winning educational and vocational programs.

Marie Goradia, the President of Pratham Houston, also shared heartfelt words that painted vivid pictures of how Pratham’s programs, “Give Girls a Chance, Empower Women, and Unleash their Potential.”

In addition to a scrumptious lunch, guests were treated to an inspiring address from Ingrid Vanderveldt, Chairman and CEO of Empowering a Billion Women by 2020.

Vanderveldt shared a touching personal story that highlighted the importance of building a young girl’s confi dence, which parallels Pratham’s efforts to empower women through the Beauty Entrepreneurship Program. The Program provides a 3-month training in salon services after which students can choose to work in parlors or start their own salons with Pratham’s support.

To date, the program has enabled 409 beauty micro-enterprises to be started including 247 beauty parlors and 162 door-to-door services.

The fabulous event concluded with a spectacular fashion show by Project Runway winner Chloe Dao who dazzled the crowd with her sophisticated line.

The eloquent emcee Sapna Singh thanked everyone for their support and reminded guests to save the date for another wonderful event – the 20th anniversary Pratham Houston gala on April 25, 2015.

To learn more about Pratham’s programs, please visit www.prathamusa.org.

— Meenu Mangal.

PrathamFrom Page 1

Front Row L-R : Chloe Dao, Marie Goradia, Asha Dhume. Back Row L-R : Sapna Singh, Leena Shah, Ingrid Vanderveldt, Annu Naik.

Left, Sitting L-R Vinita Gupta, Chairperson, Apex; Vijay Goradia, Founder Pratham USA; Lillie Robertson, Gala 2015 co-chair; Nancy Thorington; Standing L-R Lynt Graft; Ingrid Vanderveldt, Chairman and CEO Empowering a Billion women by 2020; Marie Goradia, President Pratham Houston; Steve Thorington.


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Muhammara is a traditional red pepper spread originating from Syria made with a beguil-ing blend of red peppers, walnuts, olive oil, pomegranate molasses, and a handful of other ingredi-ents.

Ingredients: 2 red bell peppers, 1 cup walnuts, toasted; 1 clove garlic, roughly chopped; juice of 1/2 lemon, 1/4 cup bread crumbs, 1 Tbsp pomegranate molasses*, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1/2 tsp red pepper fl akes, sprinkle of cumin, 2 Tbsp olive oil.

Method: Place a rack at the top of your oven and preheat your broiler. Cut peppers in half and remove stems and seeds. Line a baking sheet with tin foil and place peppers on it, skin side up.

Broil peppers until skins are charred. This will vary greatly based on your broiler. (Mine takes about 15 minutes.) Remove from oven and, using a pair of tongs, place the peppers in a large ziploc bag. Seal and set aside until pep-pers are cool enough to handle, 10-15 minutes.

Once peppers are slightly cooled, peel off and discard the charred black skins. It’s OK if some bits of skin still cling to the pepper.

Add roasted peeled pepper halves to the bowl of a food pro-cessor along with all ingredients except for olive oil. Blend to

Muhammara - Red Bell Pepper Spread

combine, streaming in the olive oil. You can blend for less time to leave the dip a bit chunky, or puree for longer until completely smooth.

Scrape into a serving bowl. Serve with pita bread or lettuce leaves or use as a spread on sand-wiches, etc.

Peas and potato Ingredients: 1/2 lb potatoes, 1

cup cooked green peas, 3 tbsp oil, 4 cloves, 2 small pieces of cinna-mon, 1/2 cup chopped onions, 6 green chillies, or to taste, slit; 1/ 2 tsp turmeric powder, 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes, 2 tbsp besan, salt, fi stful of chopped cilantro.

Method: Boil, peel and cut po-tatoes into 2 cm cubes. Heat oil, add cloves and cinnamon. After few seconds, add onion and green chillies. Fry till onions are light brown. Add turmeric powder and tomatoes. Cover and simmer till the tomatoes are soft. Add 1 ½ cups of water, potatoes, peas and salt. Mix besan with ½ cup water and add to the bhaji. Allow to boil, lower heat and simmer for 5 min-utes. Sprinkle coriander leaves on top. Serve hot with puri/chapati.

Masaledar Nariyal Lauki

Ingredients: 1” ginger, 3 tbsp chopped onions, 1 cup grated fresh coconut, 1” cinnamon stick, a pinch of hing, 8-10 pepper-corns, 2 tbsp oil, 2 tbsp tamarind pulp, 4 - 6 cloves, 3 whole red chillies, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, a few curry leaves, 2 tbsp coriander seeds, 1 tbsp cumin seeds, 1 medium size bottle gourd (lauki,doodhi), salt to taste.

Method: Peel and wash lauki. Cut into 3/4-inch cubes. Dry roast coriander and cumin seeds.

Make a paste of roasted cumin seeds, coriander seeds, peeled ginger, garlic, whole red chillies, peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon, turmeric powder and scraped co-conut (keep one tbsp of scraped coconut for garnish.) Keep the paste aside.

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds. Once they begin to crackle, mix in curry leaves and cut onions

and hing. Stir fry for two minutes and mix in lauki.

Stir fry for 5 minutes. Mix in the masala and coconut paste, dis-solved in 1-1/2 cup of water. Stir and bring to a boil.

Mix in tamarind pulp in the gravy. Add salt and mix well.

Serve hot garnished with grated coconut and chopped cilantro.

Banana ChutneyIngredients: 6 ripe Bananas,

3/4 cup Vinegar, 3 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp of Cinnamon powder, 2 ground cloves, 2 big cardamoms (Moti Elaichi), 1/2 tsp red chilli powder, 1-1/2 cups of Sugar, 4 tsp raisins, 4 tsp blanched Al-mond.

Method: Peel and chop ba-nanas.

Cook with vinegar to a pulp and then stir in sugar until it dis-solves.

Remove from the fi re, mix rai-sins, almonds, salt, chilli powder and ground spices. Cool, stir and pour into clean jars and cork tightly. Serve after 2 days.

Cast: Siddharth, Prithviraj, Vedhika. Director G. Vasanthabalan’s Kaaviya Thalaivan transposes the bare

bones of Amadeus into the world of Tamil theatre in the pre-Indepen-dence period. In that fi lm, we saw the court composer Salieri as a hard-working musician who did things by the book, and he could never transcend mediocrity – and when he laid eyes on the gifted Mozart, to whom composing came as easily as breathing, he couldn’t accept the “injustice”, as he saw it. He vowed to destroy Mozart. Here, Prithvi-raj (as Gomathi) plays the Salieri part, which means that this is really his story – and once again Siddharth plays the lesser role. His Kaali is the Mozart equivalent. He sees a senior actor (Bhairavan, played by Ponvannan) mugging on stage and remarks, contemptuously, that the performance isn’t any good because it’s about projecting the actor rather than the character.

Kaaviya Thalaivan, in a way, is the story of the transformation of a decent man into a monster, simply because fate has dealt him a bad hand, and making things worse is the fact that Kaali’s presence is a constant reminder of what he can never be. The foundation, thus, is in place for rock-solid melodrama – and this is the kind of fi lm, and the kind of period, where melodrama actually fi ts in.

But Kaaviya Thalaivan doesn’t come close to fulfi lling its potential. For one, the period setting isn’t terribly convincing, despite a lot of nifty little touches. You probably cannot be too truthful to the era when you are making a movie for an impatient modern-day audience. A key scene has Kaali demonstrating his involvement with his work by cor-rectly interpreting the meaning of a verse by Arunagirinathar, but on stage, we don’t hear this kind of Tamil – we hear colloquial-sounding couplets with easy rhymes. It’s the same with the music. The sing-ers sound lighter, more contemporary, even while rendering bits like Kaayadha Kaanagathe, which was immortalised on screen by T. R. Mahalingam – again, a voice that would most likely make the audience collapse into giggles.

The characters keep us at a distance. With the exception of Gomathi, to an extent, we never really get into their heads. We don’t get any scenes of Kaali and Gomathi interacting on a personal level, so the latter’s increasing animosity and the former’s relentless niceness feels contrived. The questions keep coming. Why isn’t the arc of Vadivu (Vedhika, who’s surprisingly effective) falling for Kaali more convinc-ingly traced out, and how does she reach the point in her worship of him that she’s willing to bear his child after he has insulted her? Why not devote a little more time to the revelation that Bhairavan is a wom-aniser, so that this development effectively informs the scene where Kaali is practically kicked out of the troupe, owing to his love affair?

Siddharth and Prithviraj have their moments, but they struggle with ill-defi ned parts, and with events that are predictable in the extreme. Vasanthabalan sets up these prolonged scenes that are intended as nail-biters, but everyone in the audience knows the answer. There is no denying Vasanthabalan’s desire to make “good cinema,” but like his other fi lms, Kaaviya Thalaivan makes us give him an A for effort,even as we rummage down the alphabet when it comes to aspects of the execution.

High court refuses to stay release of LingaaThe Madras High Court on Tuesday, Dec 9, refused to stay the re-

lease of Tamil superstar Rajinikanth’s Lingaa as sought by a civil suitand further adjourned the case to December 12.

M/s Balaji Studios claimed that the storyline of Lingaa was in line with that of Telugu fi lm Indra, and that the storyline, dialogues, scene sequence and characters of Lingaa was the infringement of Indra, for which it had the remake rights in Tamil.

The petitioner contended that producers of Lingaa “intentionally”adopted the main story base of the Telugu fi lm and have also cast the same characters, and scripted and arranged same scene sequences.

The Madurai bench of the High Court had on December 3 dismissed a similar plea by Ravi Rathinam, a fi lm maker, saying merits of the rival claims cannot be investigated in summary proceedings in a writ petition. Ravi Rathinam had alleged then that the storyline of Lingaa was same as that of his 2013 movie Mullai Vanam 999.

Kaaviya Thalaivan doesn’t live up to its potential


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Cast: Naveen Kasturia, Mayank Tewari, Aditi VasudevA tiny apartment, two roommates — men who still think they’re

boys — trying to write the next Hindi blockbuster. They struggle to pay the rent and try to score with the next cute girl. This may sound like a generalization, but it’s a reasonably accurate image of a large populace of fi lm industry strugglers that stretches between Lokhandwala and Versova in Mumbai’s Andheri West area.

You’ll see them in suburban coffee shops - well turned out, talking about auditioning for a second lead that’s actually a one-scene-long role, hunched on the laptop and writing for hours together, networking, sharing, and determined to make it big.

Dulal (Naveen Kasturia) and Mainak (Mayank Tewari) have just been commissioned to write a blockbuster script for the launch of producer Sweety Kapoor’s son. While the father (Razak Khan) is an

The fi lm begins with a terrible opening scene where a few men in or-ange are smashing someone’s head through a windshield, while putting a bullet in another person’s head (shown to us in detail, in slow-mo). In another corner of the world, we see Ajay Devgn playing the ‘Good Guy’. So in a montage spanning a few minutes, we see him meditate, lend his umbrella to school-going kids, rescue a snake, help a pregnant lady, and so on. He’s working as a waiter in Pune and arrives to Mum-bai for a holiday. Once in Mumbai, the mild-mannered fellow is beaten up. He’s confused.

The fi lm often shows us a literal representation of a character’s con-versation, through cartoons. There’s an attempt to include a funny line in each conversation, leading to serious over-kill, as most of the jokes are lame anyway.

But the truly inane stuff happens in the serious scenes — when two criminals are talking about “insaaniyat”, and one asks the other to help him out in a life-and-death situation when they’ve only just met. The action is omnipresent and gratuitous. While some of it is standard stuff, here it crosses the line into extreme violence. You see a knife piercing someone’s beating heart, swords piercing through fl esh, a knife being shoved in someone’s mouth, and so on.

The violence and bloodshed gets so raw, you’d rather look away. Action Jackson is clearly stuck in a time-warp — this is a fi lm where

the villain is named Xavier, has a bald head, a brown scar, and one bad eye (stark white contacts, if you please). His sister, equally villain-ous, has a background sound attributed to her — the bhootni laugh from Ramsay fi lms. (The fi lm is worth checking out, just for this un-intentionally comical intrusion). That the role is played by debutante Manasvi Mamgai (a former Miss India) makes it far more interesting than intended. The lady can do a mean bad act, has great screen pres-ence, and is a fabulous dancer. The latter is a crucial aspect in a Prabhu Dheva movie, as the songs are the fi lm’s highlight, certainly true of Action Jackson. Indeed, the songs are superb and are choreographed brilliantly.

The cast is fabulous and Ajay-Sonakshi’s chemistry is super-fun to watch. Even individually, the two are in form, giving smooth perfor-mances and folding in plenty of humour along the way.

Ajay Devgn, referred to as superman in the fi lm, dances, smashes baddies to music beats, mouths silly dialogue, fl ies out of fi re with the heroine in tow, and kills at least a hundred people. No one plays the urban, ditzy girl like Sonakshi Sinha and she’s superb in the humorous scenes.

The fi lm is worth a watch strictly for the cast and the songs. That’s if you’re willing to endure the unbelievably long and violent fi lm for that. Clearly, Prabhu Dheva (Wanted, R…Rajkumar, Rowdy Rathore) is in no mood to let go of the stale Bollywood formula. And as the audience, you can either play along or move on!

Sulemani Keeda: Like life, a tragicomedy

Action Jackson: Extreme violence

old-school industry guy who compares writers to cooks, the son Gonzo (Karan Mirchandani, hilarious), wants to do something “different”. Such that he bans our writers from addressing the main characters as hero, heroine and villain.

Unfortunately, that’s where his out-of-the-box quest ends, and the 35-year old actor decides he wants to make a fi lm where he’s a college kid with two girls (one hot, one tomboy) in love with him, recreating the Kuch Kuch Hota Hai story.

While Mainak is willing to compromise where the producer demands it, Dulal fi nds the desire of the producer’s middle-aged son to play a college kid too much to take.

In any case he’s distracted by his attraction to Ruma (Aditi Va-sudev), a friend with whom he whines about there being only tragedy in his love life. Romance develops over sweet, playful ban-ter.

We see the glory and fun in Mainak and Dulal’s struggle, but

then it gets a bit too repetitive. But there is much to cheer about as well. The scene where the consistently unkempt Mainak hopes to get laid, and asks the woman he has dropped off if he can come up and use the loo is hilarious.

The fi lm pokes fun at its characters as much as the fi lm industry (es-pecially the notorious father-son producer duos) that keeps fi lms such as this on the periphery. Sweety Kapoor’s character is hilarious because it’s such an accurate representation. When Mainak dares to ask about his dues as a writer, the producer takes it as a personal insult and asks him, “Pyaar, izzat aur dua kaafi nahin hai?”

The performances by the lead and peripheral cast are the fi lm’s high-light! The songs and background score are a treat incorporating the harmonium in one scene and jazz-y music in the other.

Dialogue is funny and insightful, except when it becomes unnec-essarily crude, even sexist. Director Amit V Masurkar’s indie slacker comedy hits home for the most part as it is gives us these fl awed, real characters that we laugh at and laugh with. We emotionally invest in their everyday tragedies and smile at their comical solutions. In that sense, the fi lm is rich, complex and tragicomic as life itself. Go for it!


SPORT

Lata Mangeshkar ... crossed85 this September 28. She maybe Latadidi to today’s ‘insiders’,and Lataji to younger fans, but tous her contemporary fans, shewas always Lata. There wasLata, Asha, Geeta, Shamshad etc.and there was Rafi, Kishore,Manna and Talat etc. So wheredoes one begin about ‘Lata’?

Obviously with her songs. Andthere’s the rub. If I start listing myfavourite Lata songs, I’d run outof space for this column. Listingmy favourite Lata songs would bea book. The songs I include willprovoke strong reactions not aboutwhy I included a particular songbut why I DIDN’T include manyother songs.

The Mangeshkars have beenthe First Family of India’s Hindifilm songs. When Lata’s father,Deenanth Mangeshkar, a suc-cessful actor and singer onMarathi stage died in April 1942,Lata was not 13 yet, but beingthe eldest, she became thefamily’s bread earner.

Chronological details aside (shegot her first break in early 1940s),her first big – I mean huge - hitscame in 1949 - Raj Kapoor’sBarsat with Nargis, MehboobKhan’s Andaz with Dilip, Raj andNargis and Mahal with AshokKumar and Madhubala.

What an array of hit songs!Gems from Barsat (Jiya BekararHai, Mujhe Kisise Pyar Ho Gaya,Barsat Me, Hawa Me UdataJaye, Jiya Bekarar Hai), Andaz(Koi Mere Dil Me, Meri Ladlee,Utahye Ja Unke Sitam), thecrown was reserved for AyegaAnewala, the haunting song fromMahal.

It can still haunt you once youstart humming it any time of theday, but especially mornings. Andeven today it just doesn’t go away.It was alleged at the time thatLata was, in her attempts to re-place Noor Jehan was imitatingher. She succeeded beyond belief.After Ayega Anewala, a haunt-ing song became a must in eachsuspense thriller.

That haunting melody of Ayegawith a Noor Jehanish flavor

ahead.”He was right. However, when

I look back at Lata’s songs, it doesNOT bring misery, only joy andexcitement.

Selecting favourite Lata songsis a labour of love, frustration andpain. It is frustrating to decidewhich ones to leave out. It is pain-ful because excluding any song ispainful. Such is the quality of hersongs. There are so many equallygood Lata songs and far betterthan any songs today. How do youchoose between Kadar Jane Na(Bhai Bhai-Madan Mohan) andSaiyaan Beimaan (Guide-SD Bur-man), between Jise Tu Kabool KarLe (Devdas-SD-1955) and NaMano, Na Mano (Gunga Jumna-Naushad-1961)? But one thing iscertain. No list of Lata’s bestsongs can be complete withoutAyega, Ayega, Ayega (Mahal-Khemchand Prakash-1949).Ayega is iconic and so is PyarKiya To Darna Kya, both filmedon Madhubala.

What separates Lata as wellas her contemporary singers(Asha, Rafi and to some extentKishore) from today’s singers isthis. Lata and her contemporarysingers blended their voices to fitthe onscreen person. Think ofTera Jana (Anari-1959) and thenMora Gora Ranga Layee Re(Bandini-1963) both on Nutan buthow different Lata sounds fromAnari to Bandini and yet so Nutan.Today’s Hindi film singers don’tdo that. Even Sharda (TittaleeUdee-Suraj-Shanker-Jaikishen-1966) couldn’t do that.

Lata was the best in her voicemodulation to fit the actress. It isa mark of a genius, a word notused sparingly enough. The mu-sic director can’t go beyond thesinger’s talent and knowledge. He/she has to do everything to helpthe singer showing how andwhere a tune can be embellishedand how. That assumes ability/tal-ent of the singer. Beyond that, theactual singing is up to the singer.It is here that Lata showed hermettle repeatedly, for years.

Take most of her songs rightup to when she lent her voice toMadhuri Dixit starting with RamLakhan (1989). The range and thelength are both going to be unpar-alleled like Tendulkar’s centuries.No wonder both are Bharat Ratnaholders.

My choice of favourite Latasongs is (like anyone else) goingto be arbitrary as in subjective. Noany particular - chronological orotherwise – order either. This isnot my Lata Geetmala either.There is no number one and num-ber sixteen. I already wrote aboutAyega Anewala from Mahal. Thislist is of equal favourites. No firstsand last or most and least.

So, the other song that hashaunted me (NOT from a sus-pense film) is Dheerese Aja ReAnkhiyana Mein from Albela(1951). To me, even today, thewhole song sounds like somebodysinging in my dream. This beauti-ful composition by C. Ramchandrawas perhaps inspired by his ro-mantic feelings for Lata.

It touched me personally be-cause at one point when Lata sings

haunts me today and will alwaysbe one of my favourite Latasongs.

Three big hits in a year wereenough for Lata’s career to zoomto heights never scaled by NoorJehan. After that, anyone tryingto replace Lata was a goner.

Noor Jehan, the reigning queen,was the first goner – gone to Pa-kistan. Geeta Dutt? Gone ….tosing bhajans and cabaret numbers.Shamshad Begum? Gone….toquawalis and second string char-acters. Sudha Malhotra? Nevergone because she was never athreat. Suman Kalyanpur? Gone... to poor music director’s Lata;Vani Jairam? Gone, thank God.Sharda? Only in Shanker’s (as inShanker-Jaikishen) dreams.

Thinking about Lata’s manybeautifully sung song, come twofrightening thoughts. One is whatif ... what if Lata was never bornor was not a singer.

All those songs that we’ll sa-vor forever would have been sungby the likes of Suman Kalyanpur,Sudha Malhotra or worse, the ‘BolRe Papihara’ Vani Jayram.That’s frightening.

The second frightening thoughtis that the younger generation thathas grown up on Hindi songs sungby a totally different generation ofsingers (to put it mildly), will thinkof Lata and Asha the way mygeneration thought of K.L. Saigal,Noor Jahan and ZohrabaiAmbalawali. The music is alreadydifferent. All taal , no sur.

In fact, the same taal for onesure. Taal louder than the surs -surs that are Asurs. Our musicwas like a feast of rich food.Today’s Hindi film songs soundlike hamburger in a chapati; andtoday’s Hindi film lyrics seem tohave been written by JustineBieber and Miley Cyrus - gonefrom everlasting to never-lasting.

My generation’s nostalgia iscentered on so many meaningfulsongs, like the lyrics of Jab SeBalam Ghar Aye…Jiyara MachalMachal Jaye; Pyar Kiya ToDarna Kya; Aaj Phir Jeene KiTamanna Hai Aaj Phir Marne KaIrada Hai.

To imagine that the 1990s fanswould be as nostalgic about CholiKe Peeche Kya Hai (1993 –Khalnayak) is to experience thefall from the sublime to the ridicu-lous. This generation is living in afamine and doesn’t even know it.Worse still, they don’t seem tocare. Announcing her retirementin 2013, she said, “"There aremany changes in music in recenttimes ... I am not enjoying singingoff late. It is better to stay awayfrom song.”

My late great father once toldme: ‘Don’t live in the past. Noth-ing but ghosts there’.

I said, “I can’t forget you andAai and your parents.”

He said, “I’m not asking you toforget us. I’m saying don’t live inthe past; because by the timeyou’re sixty, 50% of the peopleyou’ve known since your child-hood or those very close to youwill have died. It could even be aworld without 75% of suchpeople. So looking behind will onlymake you miserable. Always look

MUSINGS By GadflyIn Lata Geetmala, there’s no # 1 & no # 16

the words Nindiyaaaa Aja Re Aa Ja, she takes a short taan at the endof that word Nindiyaaaa. It always reaches my gut. Music is the lan-guage of the heart. It can’t be fully explained. This sort of thing mayhave happened to others from some other piece of music. It may notmake sense to anyone. If not, I may be the only one to have beenaffected by a song that way. Won’t be the first time. And won’t be thelast. — Send responses to [email protected]

Lata Mangeshkar in her 70sand (below) in her 20s.

ADELAIDE: Captain Michael Clarke fought through pain to slam128, while Steve Smith also produced a career-best hundred againstIndia’s hapless bowling attack as Australia piled up a mammoth 517for seven to take control of the first cricket Test on a rain-truncatedsecond day, here on Wednesday, Dec 10.

Clarke defied a back injury, which had forced him to leave the fieldyesterday, to notch up his 28th Test ton and combined with Smith (162not out) to steer Australia to a commanding position on a stop-startday. It was a frustrating day for the Indians as they leaked runs andmanaged to garner just one wicket at the fag end of play by getting ridof Clarke with debutant Karn Sharma providing the breakthrough.

The Indian pace bowlers were far from impressive as they bowleda poor line and length and seldom troubled the Australians. Clarke,despite the back injury, managed to play his shots effortlessly, pre-sented too often by loose deliveries by a rather listless attack.

Smith, on the other hand, continued his good form to clinch his fifthTest century and was undefeated on a career-best 162 when playwas called off early due to fading light and rain interruptions.

David Warner hit a sparkling 145 from 163 balls got the hosts off toa flying start at a sun-drenched Adelaide Oval, and though India cap-tured a flurry of late wickets, Steven Smith added an unbeaten 72after tea to push Australia to 354-6 at stumps on day one.

A day that began solemnly with a slew of tributes to Hughes endedwith grave concerns over the fitness of Clarke, who retired hurt on 60with a lower back injury. Virat Kohli, who replaced the injuredMahendra Singh Dhoni as captain, endured a tough debut.

Warner's dismissal, caught in the deep after slogging debutantlegspinner Karn Sharma, saw Smith and all-rounder Mitchell Marshadd another 87 runs before the latter was caught in the slips off thebowling of paceman Varun Aaron.

Australia 1st innings 517 for 7 (Rogers 9, Warner 145, Watson 14,Clarke 128, Smith not out 162, Marsh 41, Haddin 0, Lyon 3; Shami 2for 120, Aaron 2 for 136, I Sharma 1 for 85, K Sharma 2 for 143)

Australia pile up mammoth total

Skipper Michael Clarke came back from injury to complete a century

RELIGION/ SPIRITUALITYINDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2014 • PAGE 17

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By Prateek Pathak

Occasionally, I have discoveredthat Hinduism does not find men-tion in listings of religions in west-ern publications. Though Bud-dhism made its presence felt in thelists, Hinduism – believed by someto be the founding religion of Bud-dhism - was ignored. What couldbe the reason?

About one billion people acrossthe world are Hindus. Hinduismis alive and vibrant. There ishardly another sect of people whoare as ’religious’ or have so muchfaith in the Divine. Yet, what theyrevere and hold dear is often con-sidered only “a way of life.”

Some argue that “dharma” - asHindus refer to their religion - can-not be translated as a religion be-cause dharma, according to Bud-dhism, is a code for living life.

To put it bluntly, since the othermajor religions find themselvesgreatly privileged socially intoday’s world, they cannot affordto share space with Hinduism.

Everyone has a right to theirreligion - the formal, structuredface of spirituality - so why doonly Hindus have to contend witha "way of life"?

Before we go any further, let’slook at the definition of religion.Unfortunately, there is no clear-cut definition. There is, however,an implicit understanding that re-ligion is about the mysterious ori-gin of our universe, about its cre-ator, about God, and about a moralguideline for our lives.

The word ‘religion’ comes fromthe Latin word "re-ligare", whichmeans, to bind back. One couldassume that it means somethingthat binds the human being backto the Creator, or God.

That definition definitely makesHindu dharma a religion. In fact,it is the original, and the most an-cient, religion. Many thousands ofyears ago, the Indian rishis inquiredinto the truth of this visible world.They postulated criteria for ‘truth’and came to the conclusion thatone invisible, conscious essencewas the only true ‘thing’ perme-ating everything in this apparentuniverse, and beyond.

The question is “Why”?By Rred Bred

One of the toughest questions we hear today is, "Why?" In life'spathway, we look at the good and the bad, always with the samequestion, "Why?" We see the pain, the hurt, and the suffering in today'sworld. We ask ourselves, "Why?" We see men's trials, the tempta-tions, the injustices, the cruelties, the unfairness, the inequities, and weask, "Why?"

We see some men conquer their fears and overcome great ob-stacles. We see lowly men rise to prestigious positions. We see otherswho falter and can't keep a job or their self-respect. "Why?"

We see the joy in a parent's eyes as they view their first born child.We see the hurt in the eyes of the parents of a stillborn. "Why?" Wesee the joy in the family whose loved one has survived a major illness.We see the pain in the family whose loved one didn't survive.

I don't have an adequate answer to this age-old question, but Iwould offer some insight, which will help you deal with the question.

It matters not whether we ask "Why?", of the good or the bad. Weneed to share of our burdens, as well as our rejoicings. We need tolearn to trust. We need to have a strong faith. We need to remember,there is a sun even when it's not shining. We need to believe in love,although we not feel it. We need to reach out to others, although it is torisk involvement. We need to try, even though trying could bring fail-ure. Even to live means we must die.

So, be honest with yourself. Expose your feelings. Ask questions.God is big enough to carry you when you can't walk the pathwayalone. You will know when you share of yourself that your burdensare divided. You will also know when you give of yourself, you willreceive a double portion in return.

Remember, life is for living. Give it your best. Each of us has but ashort time here on earth to know, "Why?"

They called it Brahman (frombig, expanding) or simply Tat (that)and postulated that it was eternal,infinite, unchanging, true, aware,blissful and the invisible basis ofeverything, including our own per-son. So basically, we are thatBrahman.

Our essence is That. Only, weare born blind to this truth and thepurpose of life is to realise it. Fur-ther, ancient Indian scriptures givemany methods for achieving thisSelf-realization or God-realization.

Now, when western religionsappeared on the scene, they lim-ited this vast, all-pervading Brah-man to a “God” who is personal,male, separate from his creation,and with strong likes and dislikes.

There are indeed significantdifferences between theAbrahamic religions on one side,and Hinduism on the other. TheAbrahamic religions come as afixed ‘belief system’, which meansthat blind belief is required in dog-mas, which have no chance to beverified. Hindu Dharma, on theother hand, is based on a genuineinquiry into truth, which meansthat there is no need to accept anyclaim that does not make sense.

Now, religion is also defined as‘belief system’. In that case, theAbrahamic religions easily qualify.However, there is a contradiction.On one hand, religions claim to tellus about the truth, and on the otherhand, we have two different, un-verifiable ‘belief systems’ aboutthis truth.

They can’t be both true andthere is a chance that none ofthem is true, because they con-tradict human intelligence. It cer-tainly does not make sense thatthe absolute, eternal truth is a storyabout a God who is heavily biasedtowards one group (which one?)of humanity.

So here is where HinduDharma comes in again. It is thebest possible ‘belief system’ thatis not based on dogmas, but basedon knowledge and direct experi-ence. It is open to scientific vali-dation. It is possible to know thatthis manifold manifestation is per-meated by one energy or aware-ness.

So the Hindu claim that all, in-cluding the human being, is divine,because all is ultimately Brahman,is - in all likelihood - true. TatTvam Asi or ‘You Are God’, ishowever fiercely rejected as her-esy by the Abrahamic religions.

So does it follow that those re-ligions even resist the truth? Couldre-ligare “bind back” be better in-terpreted as “holding the individualback from realizing his onenesswith the Absolute”? This conclu-sion may actually not be off themark, especially if one sees howmuch effort goes into denigratingHinduism.

Every school kid in the worldis taught that Hinduism is weird.Not only school kids, at the uni-versity level, too, there is clearlyan attempt by western academ-ics (and that includes western ori-entated Indians) to aggressivelydespise Hinduism.

An Analysis of Hinduism Stud-ies in America gives ample proofof how outrageously Hinduism isportrayed and how benign the ‘re-vealed’ religions are.

Or do they denigrate Hinduismas they know that it has the ca-pacity to trump the western beliefsystems and undermine theirpower if only there were a genu-ine debate on what we can knowabout the truth?

However, running down Hin-duism for too long seems to havenow backfired. Hindus realize thattheir tradition cannot possibly beas bad as it is made out to be.They reacted first in the US andgot the syllabus in US schools andcolleges changed. Slowly in India,too, the awareness that HinduDharma actually stands tallamong religions, is growing.

So, is Hindu Dharma a religion?Well, if religions are about the truth,then Hindu Dharma ( Buddhism,Jainism and Sikhism as its off-spring) is the best religion. How-ever, if religions are meant to pre-vent the individual from realizingthe truth, then Hindu Dharma isnot a religion.

Hindu Dharma needs to takeits rightful place on top among thereligions. So far, the two big ‘be-lief systems’ have dominated the

scene and each one declared itself as the ‘only true religion’, evencalled itself ‘universal’, for the sole reason that both storm all over theworld trying to impose their dogmas. Hindu Dharma should appropri-ate the ‘universal’ tag for itself as it is naturally universal. Everyoneand all are included in Brahman.

Many Hindus will probably baulk now and call such advice unac-ceptable: “No, we are not chauvinistic. Even if others are, we are notlike them.” But is it not true? And is Hindu Dharma not about beingtruthful and fearless and helpful to others?

Many in the west feel oppressed by mandatory belief in dogmas,and leave the Church. They opt for atheism, as for them, anythingmetaphysical is intrinsically connected with the Church. Some, mostlyeducated people, discover Buddhism.

Hinduism unfortunately is not an option for most, as it is projected tobe weird. Only a few discover its value and stand by it. If Hinduswould be forthright about the profound insights of their rishis, HinduDharma would surely spread across the world (as it did in ancienttimes), throughout Asia. Of course, Hindus would need to know atleast the basics of their dharma and do some sadhana for refiningintellect and character, to be able to see that Hindu Dharma is, indeed,the best of religions.

Hinduism, not just a way of life

Points to Ponder*** I am in competition with no one. I have no desire to be better

than anyone. I am simply trying to be better than the person I wasyesterday.

*** Some daily improvements are the key to staggering long-termresults.

*** The bad news: There is no key to happiness.The good news: It is not locked.*** Never let a stumble in the road be the end of your journey.*** Knowing when and how to say what should be said is a sign of

wisdom.*** A popular and well-admired person is not necessarily a consci-

entious, moral person.*** Arrogance and impulsivity blind the eye of the mind.*** Think first before you express your opinion. Have a second

thought before you make a decision. *** True charity is when a part of you was given away otherwise

it’s just one of your tax deductibles.*** Nothing is to be gained by arguing with fools. Nothing can be

gained by reasoning with ignorant people.


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Pak baby boy gets new faceCHENNAI: Arshad Ali and Raziya Arshad, a couple from Paki-

stan, sank into depression when their son was born with a severe cleft(a gap in the soft tissue and bone on his face). They loved their sonNoman Ali, but couldn’t bear it when their relatives shunned him be-cause of the facial deformity.

Help came from India, when a senior surgeon from a private hos-pital in the city performed complex facial reconstruction surgery onthe 18-month-old boy. Noman was born with a severe face defectcalled bilateral Tessier’s facial cleft which began in his mouth andextended all the way to his nose and eye sockets, affecting his vision.He did not have a left eye since his birth and his right eye was dam-aged because of the absence of eyelids.

Doctor S. M. Balaji of Balaji Dental and Craniofacial Hospital,who performed the surgery said, “The baby could not eat properly,see or talk due to the cleft. The condition is caused due to the absenceof a gene as also the lack of proper protein supply that helps in tissueand bone formation in the face.” Children born with such a deformitysuffer immense difficulties in developing weight, speech, breathingand speaking.

Noman was referred to India two weeks ago through a seniorPakistani surgeon, Dr Asif Arian, who is President of Asia PacificDental Federation.

“In a procedure that lasted four hours, we initially redirected thetears, which were pouring out due to the lack of eyelids, into the nose.Then we reconstructed his eyelids, palette and lip,” said Dr Balaji.The surgeons ensured that the child could blink and said that he hasregained 50% vision in his right eye. The doctors placed an artificialprosthesis in his left eye to give the face a more normal appearance.“In six months we will perform another procedure to ensure bonegrowth, so the tissue around it can fuse well,” said the doctor.

Arshad, the baby’s father said, “It was very difficult to bring upNoman in a surrounding where everyone avoided looking at him. Myson can now have a normal childhood, thanks to the doctors here.”

Dr Balaji said that consanguineous marriage and radiation expo-sure during pregnancy can cause such anomalies in babies.

Jaya rules in Tamil Nadu by remote control!

Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneeraselvan with AIADMK partychief and former chief minister J. Jayalalithaa

3 Indian teachers in runningfor Global Teacher Prize

LONDON: Three teachers from India, one from Kolkata and twofrom Gujarat, have made it to the final shortlist for a $1 million GlobalTeacher Prize.

The shortlist that includes top 50 exceptional teachers from acrossthe world were finalised selected from nearly 5,000 nominations from127 countries for the Varkey Foundation instituted by a UAE-basedNRI educationist.

The Indian teachers among the global top 50 include Kiran BirSethi, who teaches at the Riverside School in Ahmedabad; Hira Prasad,who is from Birla High School Junior Section in Kolkata, and BijalDamani of S N Kansagra School in Rajkot.

The winner of the prize will be announced at the Global Educationand Skills Forum in Dubai on March 16, 2015.

The Foundation said, “One innovative and caring teacher who hasmade an inspirational impact on their students and their communitywill receive the reward of a lifetime. Teachers currently teaching chil-dren in a compulsory setting or between the ages 5-18 are eligible”.

So what will set the winner apart from the rest?“Recognition of a teacher’s achievements in the classroom and

beyond from pupils, colleagues, head-teachers or members of the widercommunity will be an important factor. The panel will look at how heor she prepares her students to be global citizens in a world wherethey will meet people from many different religions, cultures and na-tionalities”.

“The thousands of applications we received from all around theworld is testimony to the achievements of teachers and the enormousimpact they have on all of our lives,” said India born Sunny Varkey,founder of the UAE-based Varkey GEMS Foundation.

Apex court: Take action against MeiyappanNEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday, Dec 9, insisted

that action must be taken against suspended BCCI president N.Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan in the IPL spot fixingcase. The court also gave time to the BCCI till 2 pm to come up withsolutions and the proposed action against Chennai Super Kings andMeiyappan.

“Want action against Meiyappan. What can be done to decide quan-tum of punishment? We don’t want to bypass BCCI, announce puni-tive measures,” the Court said on Tuesday.

The apex court gave Srinivasan four options if he along with cricketboard did not want the court to issue adverse orders. The optionsgiven to Srinivasan were: 1) Srinivasan to withdraw from BCCI 2)New committee should be formed to take action against those namedby the Mudgal panel 3) BCCI governing council should take action 4)Mudgal panel should take action

According to PTI, Supreme Court objected to Srinivasan attendingTamil Nadu Cricket Association meetings despite stepping aside ascricket administrator. Srinivasan admitted it was a mistake and said heshould not have attended the meetings.

CHENNAI: AIADMK chiefJ Jayalalithaa may have been dis-qualified as an MLA, but chiefminister O Panneerselvam said inthe assembly that it was his partychief who was running the gov-ernment in the state.

Jayalalithaa was unseated aschief minister after her convictionin the Rs 66 crore disproportion-ate assets case. But

Panneerselvam, who took over thepost, has refused to occupy heroffice and take her seat in theassembly.

AIADMK leaders have timeand again reiterated thatJayalalithaa is the people's chiefminister despite her conviction.During his speech in the assem-bly, Panneerselvam made re-peated references to Jayalalithaa

as the people's chief minister,thereby making it clear and loudwho is the boss.

Replying to CPM leader ASoundararajan's charge that lawand order had deteriorated in thestate, Panneerselvam said thegovernmentof the day, function-ing under Jayalalithaa's leadership,was a perfect example of a goodadministration.

Crimes committed by peopleowing to personal vengeance andfamily disputes could not be citedto claim deterioration of law andorder, he said. Only when the gov-ernment fails to act against thosewho break the law, can one levelcharges of failure of administra-tion, he said and added that theattack on the office of Tamil dailyDinakaran in Madurai during theDMK government was one suchexample.

Three employees of the news-paper were charred to death in theincident.

Panneerselvam also announcedan interim relief of 1,000 a monthto 1.15 lakh transport corporationemployees with effect from Janu-ary 1, 2015. Since a case waspending in the court with regardto wage revision, the governmentwas not able to take a final deci-sion on the hike, he said. The payrevision was to come into effectfrom September 1, 2013.Ban loudspeakers from

mosques, says VHPMUMBAI: Weeks after the

Devendra Fadnavis governmenttook steps to ban cow slaughterin the State, the Vishwa HinduParishad has stepped up its de-mand for the ban of loudspeakersin mosques across Maharashtra.

The outfit claims that the soundof azaan (Muslim call of prayer)is a major cause of noise pollutionand will request the State govern-ment to implement laws curbingthe use of loudspeakers inmosques.

“The year-long noise pollutioncaused by mosques is overlooked.But people are going to court toban the use of loudspeakers dur-ing Hindu festivals like Ganapatiand Navratri which have a lim-ited duration,” said VyankateshApdeo, VHP central committeemember, on Tuesday.

It has demanded that the man-agement of the four major temples—Siddhi Vinayak Temple(Mumbai), Sai Baba tempe(Shirdi), Vitthal Mandir(Pandharpur) and the TuljaBhavani Mandir—should behanded over to Hindu trusts. Cur-rently, the four temples are directlygoverned by the State.

“The money earned throughdonations to these temples shouldbe used only for the welfare ofHindu society,” Apdeo said.

The VHP also has plans toorganise campaigns against tele-vision shows and beauty conteststo protest against “vulgarity” andwhat they feel is the “denigration”of women.

VHP’s demands are going tobe put forth on August 14, whenthen organization will hold a ViratHindu Sammelan in Mumbai tomark 50 years of its founding.

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NEW DELHI: India orderedstate governments to halt the op-erations of all unregistered, web-based taxi companies on Tues-day, Dec 9, after a female pas-senger reported she was rapedin New Delhi by a driver con-tracted to U.S. cab companyUber.

The Delhi transport depart-ment said it ordered Uber tocease operations on Monday bypost. “Easy Cab, Mega Cab,Meru Cab, Chanson Cab, Yo Caband Air Cab are licensed with theTransport Department for oper-ating radio taxis in the NCT ofDelhi,” a Transport Departmentnotification said.

“Such service providers whichare not licensed ... are prohibitedto operate till they get themselvesregistered,” Home MinisterRajnath Singh told parliament,where several lawmakers grilledhim over the lack of women’ssafety in the capital.

The case has caused uproarin India after it emerged that thesuspect had previously beencharged for rape but had obtaineda character reference signed bya police officer that was forged.

The 26-year-old from Delhitold police she dozed off in thetaxi and when she woke up thevehicle was parked in a secludedpart of the capital. Police said amedical examination had backedup her allegation. The driver ofthe taxi was arrested on Sunday.

The woman, who works in fi-nance, told police she called thetaxi on Friday evening, after din-ing at a restaurant.

She alleged that after rapingher, the driver warned her shewould be hurt if she raised thealarm. He then dropped her offnear her home.

The driver later abandoned thetaxi and returned to his home inneighbouring Uttar Pradesh statewhere he was arrested, policesaid.

Singh’s comments came afterNew Delhi’s transport divisionbanned Uber and other similarweb-based taxi providers that areunregistered. A public notice onTuesday stated only six radio taxicompanies will operate in NewDelhi.

Delhi police said Uber hadfailed to run background checkson the driver, who was held threeyears ago on suspicion of rapebut later acquitted.

The arrested driver, ShivKumar Yadav, appeared in courton Monday and was remandedin custody for three days. Yadavhad obtained a reference from the

Delhi Police, but the deputy com-missioner of police for north DelhiMadhur Verma told Reuters it wasforged.

Verma also said the police hasregistered “a case against Uber forcheating its customers and violat-ing government orders”.

India’s central bank had earlierrapped Uber for violating thecountry’s credit card payment sys-tem by using a so-called one-stepauthorization process while theregulator requires a two-step pro-cedure. Uber later complied, call-ing the requirement “unnecessaryand burdensome”.

A Uber representative said thecompany had not been officiallynotified of a ban in New Delhi andwould issue a statement later onTuesday. It was still possible to hailan Uber taxi in Delhi using thecompany’s smartphone app.

Uber driver Satish Kumar, whohas been associated with the com-pany for 11 months, told Reutershe works for another travel com-pany that is enrolled with Uber. Hewas unaware of the ban.

“We will only consider a banonce our app stops working,” saidKumar, whose company pays 20percent of the fare to Uber.

“If it is banned, we will sufferlosses. It is up to the authorities todo the checks. Why blame thecompany and make others suf-fer?” he asked.

POLICE RED-FACEDA residential verification certifi-

cate allegedly issued by the DelhiPolice to the Uber cab driver ac-cused of raping a 27-year-old lastweek kicked up a controversy onMonday, with Commissioner B.S.Bassi calling it “fake”.

The Hindu has accessed thesaid certificate, allegedly issued bythe Office of the Additional Com-missioner of Police of South-EastDistrict to Shiv Kumar Yadav inMay, from sources in the DelhiGovernment’s Transport Depart-ment.

The tussle between the two hasexposed a loophole, not to men-tion dereliction of duty, in the veryprocess that the latter followswhen it comes to verification ofantecedents. The system alreadysuffers from lack of adequateguidelines governing safety stan-dards in privately-owned commer-cial vehicles.

“It was on our file and is a per-fectly legal document, given thefact that it was forwarded to usby the local police in response toour request for verification,” saida Transport Department official,dismissing Mr. Bassi’s claim that

the certificate hadbeen forged by Yadavand submitted directlyto the Transport De-partment.

According to asource in the Depart-ment, the local policehad been asked toverify Yadav’s physi-cal presence at the ad-dress provided “to thebest of their ability”.Instead, the policecleared Yadav onlyafter checkingwhether he had any

India bans Uber, other web-based taxis

58% vote in 3rd phase of J&K election

SRINAGAR: Ignoring callsfor poll boycott and braving thecold weather, 58 per cent of theelectorate on Tuesday exercisedtheir franchise in 16 constituenciesof Jammu and Kashmir.

Barring stray incidents, votingended peacefully in all the 16 As-sembly constituencies that wentto polls.

A senior Election Commissionofficial told IANS in Srinagar thatvoting ended without any majorincident of violence at all the 1,781polling stations in the 16 constitu-encies of Baramulla, Badgam andPulwama districts in the KashmirValley.

As many as 138 candidates,including Chief Minister OmarAbdullah, senior Ministers AbdulRahim Rather, Ghulam HassanMir and Taj Mohiuddin, are in thefray.

Tight security arrangementswere made in the aftermath of theDecember 5, 2014 terror attacksin the Valley, in which 21 peoplewere killed.

Braving terror threats, separat-ist poll boycott call and winter chill,voters came out in large numbersto exercise their franchise at al-most all polling stations. Only inthe traditional strongholds of theseparatists like Sopore inBaramulla and Tral in Pulwamawas the polling low.

Balloting ended at 4 p.m.

Pact on Indian maids with Saudi ArabiaRIYADH: The Saudi Arabia government has approved an agree-

ment for recruitment of Indian domestic workers including maids.The council of ministers on Monday approved the Saudi Arabia’s

agreement with Delhi, Arab News reported on Tuesday, Dec 9.“The agreement aims to protect the rights of domestic workers as

well as their employers and regulate the contractual relationship be-tween the two parties,” said Haj minister Bandar Hajjar.

The agreement also aims at organising the recruitment process andcontrolling the cost of recruitment in both countries.

“It stipulates that such domestic labour shall have no criminal records,be trained in specialised centres in household work and educated onthe kingdom’s customs and traditions as well as the terms and condi-tions of the employment contract,” Hajjar said.

Google launches Chromecast in IndiaNEW DELHI: Almost one and a half years after its global debut,

Google has finally made Chromecast, its media streaming device, avail-able in the Indian market.

Chromecast will be sold in India at Rs 2,999 through e-commercemarketplace Snapdeal starting December 10 midnight, coinciding withGoogle’s GOSF shopping festival. The device is sold in the US at $35(Rs 2,165 approximately). The device allows users to stream contentfrom video services like Hulu, Netflix, Google’s YouTube and contentfrom Google Play (Netflix and Hulu don’t work in India).

In India, Chromecast currently supports YouTube and Google PlayMovies. In a promotional launch offer, Airtel and Eros are offeringChromecast customers some special subscription offers. Eros Nowwill give Chromecast customers free access to their full catalog ofcontent for two months. This includes popular Bollywood and regionalmovies, as well as music, and TV shows on-demand. Airtel is offeringexisting customers who buy a Chromecast, free data up to 20GB permonth for 3 months. New Airtel customers can have activation chargesof Rs 1000 waived.

criminal cases registered againsthim at the local police station inAmbedkar Nagar.

The said certificate mentions asmuch with a line at the end of thecertificate stating “This certificateis based on the record check only.The factum of his residing at thegiven address has not been veri-fied by conducting filed enquiries”.

“Usually, the process consistsof physical verification, in additionto enquiries from neighbours andother local residents about theseeming character of the appli-cant,” admitted a senior policeofficer.

“Clearly, neither was done inYadav’s case. In fact, his ante-cedents were not run through ourcentralised Criminal RecordsOffice’s database. Had that beendone, his involvement in a previ-ous rape would have been ascer-tained instantly. That the local po-lice issued the certificate withoutadequate effort becomes clearsolely in this respect.”

The suspect, Shiv Kumar Yadav, appeared in court on Monday.

PAKISTANPAGE 20 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2014

ISLAMABAD: The SupremeCourt on Tuesday dismissed all pe-titions seeking the disqualification ofPrime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Three identical petitions had beenfiled by Pakistan Muslim League -Quaid (PML-Q) chief ChaudhryShujaat Hussain, Advocate GauharNawaz and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Ishaq Khakwaniwhich stated that PM Nawaz hadlied on the floor of the NationalAssembly on the issue of arbitra-tion by the army.

Nawaz had told the parliamentthat it was Pakistan Awami Tehreek(PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri andPakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI)chairman Imran Khan who had re-quested a meeting with Army ChiefGeneral Raheel Sharif in order tobroker a settlement with the gov-ernment over the political crisis inthe country.

Nawaz had said he gave permis-sion for the army chief to engagethe two leaders and play the role ofa mediator.

However, Imran and Qadri hadcategorically rejected the premier'sstatement that they had invoked thearmy's help, and had slammed thepremier for 'lying to the nation'.

Supreme Court dismisses petitions against Sharif

The military had later issueda short statement saying that itwas playing the role of facilita-tor in the ongoing political crisisat the behest of the government.

A seven-member largerbench of the apex court, headedby Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk,was hearing the case today.

During the hearing, counselfor Chaudhry Shujaat and IshaqKhakwani Irfan Qadir con-tended that PM Nawaz's state-ment in the Parliament had beendenied by the Chief of ArmyStaff (COAS).

The premier's speech in Par-liament was also read out in thecourt. The bench observed thatthe premier had not made a di-rect reference to the army andhad only endorsed the opinion ofInterior Minister ChaudhryNisar Ali Khan.

The bench noted that Direc-tor General Inter Services Pub-lic Relations (ISPR) Major AsimBajwa had not explicitly men-tioned the premier’s name in histweet and had referred to thegovernment asking the army toplay a facilitative role for reso-lution of the political crisis in the

country.The bench said 'government'

could suggest any member of thefederal cabinet.

The court asked Attorney Gen-eral Salman Butt whether DGISPR had held a press conferencelater where he had mentioned thepremier's name. Responding tothis, Butt said that the matter hadonly been confined to Twitter.

The court said it could not or-der the trial of PM Nawaz underArticles 62 and 63 of the Consti-tution as there was a Parliamentin place, adding that it could onlydo so if elections were in process.

In the existing situation, it said,the matter had to be forwarded toNA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq and thento the Election Commission ofPakistan (ECP), adding that thecourt was not the right body to beapproached on this.

The bench was not satisfiedwith the petitioners' claims that thePM had lied in the National As-sembly. It also said that the peti-tioners could not seek thepremier's disqualification as thematter did not concern them. Thecourt ordered the dismissal of allpetitions seeking Sharif's disquali-fication.

LAHORE: Outlawed militant group Jundullah claimed responsi-bility for killing a polio vaccination team member in Faisalabad on Tues-day, Dec 9.

Ahmed Marwat, who claims to be the spokesman of Jundullah,said polio workers would always be on the group’s hit list throughoutPakistan and that it would continue carrying out attacks on them.

The attack — the latest of many on the teams — occurred in aresidential area of Faisalabad in Punjab, where workers wereimmunising children on the second day of an anti-polio drive.

Mohammad Sarfaraz, 40, was a schoolteacher working as a volun-teer in the campaign, senior police official Ali Waseem said.

“Gunmen on a motorcycle fired six shots and he died on the spot,”Waseem said. Doctor Rana Waqar Sadiq, a senior health official, con-firmed the killing of a member of his polio team.

Pakistan is one of only three countries where polio remains en-demic. Attempts to stamp it out have been badly hit by opposition frommilitants and attacks on immunisation teams that have claimed 67 livessince December 2012.

The militants claim that polio vaccination is a front for espionage ora conspiracy to sterilise Muslims.

Taliban insurgents had also claimed the killing of two policemenassigned to protect an immunisation team a day before.

Mohammad Khorasani, main spokesman for the Tehreek-i-TalibanPakistan, on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the killing of two po-licemen in northwest Pakistan the day before.

They were killed in the town of Buner near the Swat Valley whileon the way to protect a polio vaccination team.

“Police are our target and both the men were killed because theywere from the police force,” Khorasani said by telephone from anundisclosed location.

Polio worker shot dead in Faisalabad

A health worker in administers polio vaccination to a child in Punjab.

Malala invites 5 ‘inspiringgirls’ to Nobel ceremony

KARACHI: Malala Yousafzai, the young campaigner for girls’education, has invited five inspiring girl champions to join her at theNobel Peace Prize ceremony, a press statement from the Oslo-basedMalala Fund said on Monday.

For this first-ever Nobel Peace Prize ‘Girl Delegation’, Ms Yousafzaiwill be joined by Shazia Ramzan and Kainat Riaz, her school friendsfrom Swat who got shot along with her in an attack in 2012; KainatSoomro from Sindh, Mezon Almellehan from Syria and Amina Yusuffrom Nigeria.

The young women will be her special guests when she receives theaward at the ceremony to be held on Wednesday.

“Though I will be one girl receiving this award, I know I am not alone voice,” the statement quoted Ms Yousafzai as saying.

“This Nobel Peace Prize is for all girls everywhere who want edu-cation. These courageous girls are not just my friends, they are nowmy sisters in our campaign for education for every child,” she added.

Commenting on the invitation, Shazia Ramzan said: “I am very happythat Malala is receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. This is an honour forMalala, for all Pakistani people and for education. Thank you, Malala,for letting us share this special moment with you, our friend.”

Her friend Kainat Riaz said: “I am very excited that I am going toOslo. I so wanted to be there when Malala receives the Nobel PeacePrize. I will always support her. This is a big honour for her, for us andfor Pakistan.”

On Oct 10, the Norwegian Nobel Committee named MalalaYousafzai and Indian children’s rights activist Kailash Satyarthi as the2014 Nobel Peace Prize Laureates in recognition of their struggleagainst the oppression of young people.

According to AFP, visitors to the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo cancatch a reminder of the very different circumstances that led to MalalaYousafzai’s rise in the international spotlight. The centre has on loanthe uniform the then 15-year-old Malala was wearing in 2012 when aTaliban militant shot her on a school bus. “My school uniform is veryimportant to me.... The day I was attacked I was wearing this uni-form. I was fighting for my right to go to school,” she said in a state-ment as the uniform was handed over to the centre on Friday.

Sanaullah presentsproof of innocenceFAISALABAD: Pakistan

Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Rana Sanaullah stageda symbolic court in front of report-ers in Faisalabad on Tuesday, Dec9, and presented several of thesuspected men alleged to havekilled Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf(PTI) activist Haq Nawaz in vio-lent protests Monday.

Sanaullah brought his guard,Nadeem Mughal, before report-ers and held up a picture of thegunman, asking those present todraw a comparison betweenMughal and the man seen firingon TV.

He said PTI Chairman ImranKhan's party had implicated morethan 300 men in the first informa-tion report (FIR), including severaltop PML-N leaders.

He added that PTI's FIR im-plicated Imtiaz s/o Siraj as the manwho had fired on PTI workers.Sanaullah said the Punjab policehad found the suspect and, withan air of drama, Imtiaz was alsobrought in front of reporters for a

comparison with the shooter's image.The PML-N leader said that by implicating an innocent man, Imtiaz,

PTI was trying to protect the actual murderer of Nawaz. He said thePunjab police would find the perpetrator, and for that several PTIworkers will also be questioned, he said adding that the PTI has al-ready been informed in this regard.

Clarifying his position again on PTI claims that Nawaz was shot byhis family's guard, Sanaullah said TV channels caught that man liveand National Database Regulatory Authority (Nadra) would soon iden-tify him.

He alleged that PTI workers took the body of Nawaz by forcefrom the hospital and brought it to his home on the orders of ImranKhan and PTI's leadership, adding that he would pursue a legal actionagainst them.

The PML-N leader said Faisalabad was at peace by 11am on De-cember 8, and that it was Imran Khan and his men who disruptedpeace of the city.

Sanaullah alleged that part of Imran's Plan 'C' was to get PTI activ-ists killed on their way to different cities.

Sanaullah did however admit there was a possibility of a militantorganisation being behind the Faisalabad violence, given numerouslooming threats.

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