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New Delhi, India Volume 04 Issue 10 July 2016 ` 100 www.nriachievers.in

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WATER WATER EVERYWHERE...…NOT A DROP TO DRINK

MAHESH GUPTA CMD - Kent RO Systems Ltd.

IMPORTANT DAYS

LeTTeRS MATTeRTHANKS FOR MAKING MY ENGLISH BETTER!

Hi! I have been reading your magazine “NRI Achievers” regularly since 2014. It has been my one of my main sources for polishing my English, as your month-ly is so rich with vocabulary as well as how the sentences are constructed and used. This is one reason why I have been sharing the e-version of your magazine in my friends groups, who are also getting increasingly interested enough to read it regularly. Now I have a few thoughts on the content part. It is my feeling that NRI Achievers is slowly losing its charm as a ‘magazine with multi con-tent’ which can satisfy all kinds of readers whether they are politics, sport, science, cuisine, lifestyle or healthy-living aficionados. Sometimes your is-sues lack on current affairs. Its fine that you strive to caters to the needs of a specific category, but even than you ought to gradually increase the heft of your magazine by adding more pages, making space for more topics, issues and discussions. This time you had a cover feature on an Indian achiever who had changed the definition of pure water in India – the man behind Kent RO, Mahesh Gupta. And the quote, ‘Sankalp Karo, Vikalp Mat Dhoondo’ is so inspiring that I have made it my way of life and if at all I take any work in hand, I never look for excuses, and the whole con-cept of my working has now changed. Thank you for making me an all together different person post your July issue. Next month is Olympic month and India is participating with its biggest ever contingent. Please think of giving it enough coverage. Thanks Vijendra Kumar Kaushik, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh

DATE COUNTRY DAYAugust 1 Benin Independence Day

August 1Japan International Cooperation Agency

JCIA Foundation Day

August 1 SwitzerlandFoundation of the Swiss Confederation

August 2 Macedonia National dayAugust 5 Burkina Faso Independence DayAugust 6 Bolivia National dayAugust 6 Jamaica Independence DayAugust 7 Cote d’ Ivoire National dayAugust 9 Singapore National dayAugust 10 Ecuador Independence DayAugust 17 Gabon National day

August 17 IndonesiaProclamation of Independence

August 19 Afghanistan Independence DayAugust 20 Hungary National dayAugust 24 Ukraine Independence DayAugust 25 Uruguay Independence DayAugust 31 Kyrgyzstan Independence DayAugust 31 Malaysia National dayAugust 31 Trinidad & Tobago National day

July 2016

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EDITORCHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

CHIEF ADVISORADVISORS

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he monsoon month of July brought much needed rain, a boon to many but a bane for some. With India's met-man confident of weathering monsoon deficits abundantly, it might certainly be good for agricultural, but floods are wreaking havoc in the states of Bihar and Assam, and the urban infrastructure in some Indian metros has time and again proved to be woefully inadequate – placing a

huge question mark on how much more these citadels need to be 'smartened' in order to meet the most basic expectations of their citizens, and begging the question why still have no strategies to combat the ritual flooding of some riverine states that’s become an annual woe.

On the international stage, world-media's Brexit frenzy of last month has by and large abated and the UK now has a new PM in Theresa May – one of whose first acts was to appoint Indian-born MP Alok Sharma as Under Secretary of State responsible for Asia & Pacific. In the US, both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump won their respective nominations, and coming months would indeed prove inter-esting to see how and which way our diaspora swings, as the American election fever hets up. PM Modi embarked on path-breaking 4-nation tour of Africa – where his focus was sharply on strengthening Afro-Indian connects, economic outreach, combating terror, food-security, and last, but not least, defence-diplo-macy – boosting India's position in the Indian Ocean Region as a key security provider for countries in this ambit. A game pretty well played.

On the domestic front, parties of all shades and hues are gearing up for an upcoming 2017 election to the state assembly in Uttar Pradesh – rallies are

planned, banderoles are being unfurled, and various 'social-engineering' strategies are be-ing contemplated. The monsoon session of Parliament apropos went quite smoothly, and wonder of wonders – the long pending GST – or the goods and services tax bill that aims to clean up India's complicated taxation laws and bring the entire country under one pre-dictable and uniform legislation – passed muster and was cleared by the Upper House, catapulting India instantaneously bang into the centre of the global economy. By far the biggest-ticket reform to come after the 1991 economic liberalisation regime ushered in by Dr. Manmohan Singh – GST will turn India into one mammoth common market, leading to a much greater ease of doing business. Definitely a feather in the cap of the NDA gov-ernment, and kudos to Modi for pushing it through.

Those were the most important milestones of July. Now let’s see what lies in store for you in our August issue of NRI Achievers. Our Cover Feature has an 'Indiaspora' focus, bring-ing you profiles and features of some movers and shakers of Indian origin. Realpolitik re-ports on Modi's Africa overtures, where he has sought to counter China's growing influence and position India as a key Indian Ocean player and Africa's best friend both in need and deed. Real Estate takes a look at the new National Building Code, and presents an analysis on what will be needed for India to succeed in building smart cities. Heritage charts the his-tory of the Hyderabad Nizams and their Deccan Empire, while Travel & Destinations takes you on a trek through the great Indian North East. Chanakya Neeti continues with another instalment, while Diaspora News brings you stories from across the globe. And as usual, news on milestone happenings are all clustered into our various 'newsy' heads – News Scan, Business Buzz, PSU Buzz, et al. What's new is good news – from this issue, we bring you a new column – by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev – India's best known irreverent sadhu, yogi and mystic who breaks all stereotypes of godmen … starting with his vision for India.

With Raksha Bandhan and Janmashtami both occurring in August – not to mention the world's biggest sports mega-event – the Rio Olympics just about to start, we wish our read-ers a great festive season ahead, apart from wishing India's biggest ever contingent that's Rio-bound to participate in the Olympics all the very best for improving on their medal tallies. And for those of us who are into political star-gazing, there will surely be enough grist for the windmill in the coming month. So go ahead and have another great month ahead, until we come up with our next issue...

T


August 2016 www.nriachievers.in8

In a positive move meant to strengthen ties of NRI’s/PIO’s with India and spur them to work for their country of ori-gin, PM Narendra Modi has sought to expand the purview of the PBS (Prava-si Bhartiya Samman) awards. Now the work done and laurels achieved by NRIs/PIOs who have contributed to India’s economic growth and develop-ment will also be recognized. Vikas Swarup, India's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, has said, “The addition

is meant to recognize contributions of both NRIs and PIOs including organi-zations, to development programs in India and through philanthropy for bet-terment of life in India. Thirty (30) such awards will now be given on a bi-annual basis, and the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (PBD) will be celebrated every alternate January 9 from now on.” A panel led by the Vice President of the Republic has been entrusted to make nominations on its own for at-least 6

MODI INSPIRES DIASPORA TO WORK IN INDIANZ REJECTS 3,864 INDIAN

STUDENT VISASNew Zealand has denied visas to thou-sands of Indian students after immigra-tion authorities determined that most of the applicants “were not really coming for studies,” according to a media report. According to figures provided under the Official Information Act, 51 institutions – including half of New Zealand’s poly-technics, have experienced visa decline rates of more than 30% for Indian stu-dents. At most of these institutions,

more than half the applications are be-ing turned down and at one such in-stitution the decline rate is as high as 86%, according to Radio New Zea-

land. The data is for the period Decem-ber 2015 to May 2016, and covers only institutions with at least 10 visa applica-tions from Indian students. They show that Immigration New Zealand has turned down 3,864 visa applications and has approved 3,176 during the period mentioned. Immigration New Zealand says that most applications declined were because it believed that the appli-cant was not really coming to study, or because it felt that they did not have ad-equate money to support themselves.

Khalaf Al-Harbi is a liberal columnist and a thinker from Saudi Arabia. His views and objective columns on various issues are a big hit and are widely read and discussed across the world. In his latest column in the 'Saudi Gazette', he heaps praises over India, describing it as the 'most tolerant nation on earth.' In his column titled 'India - A country that rides elephants,' Khalaf Al Harbi writes: "In India, there are more than 100 reli-gions and more than 100 languages. Yet, the people live in peace and harmony. They have all joined hands to build a strong nation that can produce every-thing from a sewing needle to the rock-et which is preparing to go to Mars. I

must say that I feel a bit jealous because I come from a part of the world which has one religion and one language and yet there is killing everywhere.

INDIA MOST TOLERANT NATION IN THE WORLD

INDIA PLANS E-VISAS FOR ANOTHER 36 COUNTRIES

The e-visa scheme launched in No-vember 2013 has proven to be ex-tremely popular with inbound tour-ists. Building further on this suc-cess, the Union tourism ministry wants India to extend online visas to 36 more countries to include Iran, Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Maldives, Italy, Nigeria, Turkey, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan and Morocco, to mention a few. The proposal has gone for initial approval by the min-istry of home affairs. If accepted, 186 countries will now be able to access online visas to travel to India.

A 20-year-old Sikh was kicked out of an overnight queue to watch the Wimble-don as he apparently made other people around him “uncomfortable“. The tennis-lover then took to Facebook last week to voice his anger at being thrown out and claimed it was an act of racism, cases of which have been on the rise in the wake of Brexit. “Kicked out of the overnight camping line for Wimbledon's centre court 'because you make some people around you uncomfortable, so we're gonna have to report you and ask you to leave immediately , sir',“ he wrote, add-ing, “Post-Brexit racism and the overt

rise of neo-fascism. Please advise how best to report this.“ The youth was al-lowed to enter the ground after re-queu-ing in the line a few hours later and made an official complaint about his treatment. A Wimbledon spokesperson said:

YOUNG SIKH KICKED OUT OF WIMBLEDON QUEUE

News Scan


www.nriachievers.in 9August 2016

persons for the awards. This would definitely impact positively on our diaspora and motivate them towards philanthropic work in India.

Britain’s June 23 vote to leave the Euro-pean Union may have upset millions, but there is also a cautious optimism that the crisis caused by severe shortage of chefs in the country’s 4 billion-pound curry industry will be eased through recruit-ment from the Indian subcontinent. It was an explicit promise of the 'Vote Leave' camp during the referendum campaign that leaving the EU would res-cue the industry crippled by visa rules which make it difficult to hire chefs from India. Industry bodies say that every week two restaurants have been closing down due to the crisis. “We hope there will be a more flexible system to recruit chefs from abroad, but it will take at least two-three years. Also, the minister who introduced the tough restrictions –

Theresa May – is now the new PM. So let’s wait and see,” says celebrity chef Cyrus Todiwala. Visa restrictions in-clude a higher salary threshold that not many owners can afford to pay. Manoj Vasaikar, owner of three restaurants in London, says: “Besides the chefs crisis, I am also seeing a curtailment in spend. There was uncertainty before the refer-endum and now it is worse. If people have less disposable income as a result of Brexit, why will they come to restau-rants after it actually happens?”

India’s pharmaceutical exports con-tinued its lead over China in 2015, with Indian exports growing from US$ 11.66 Billion to US$ 12.54 Bil-lion in 2015, recording a growth of 7.55%. In comparison, China had increased its exports of Pharma products from US$ 6.59 Billion to US$ 6.94 Billion, showing a growth of 5.3% for the same period. India has moved ahead of China in almost all important markets such as the US, the European Union and Africa. India’s exports of Pharma products to US jumped from US$ 3.84 Billion

to US$ 4.74 Billion, a growth rate of 23.4% as against China’s exports to the US which moved from US$ 1.16 Billion to US$ 1.34 Billion for the same period, a growth rate of 15%. India has also maintained its lead with EU and Africa, recording ex-ports of US$ 1.5 Bn and US$ 3.04 Bn respectively.

Around 10,000 Indians who were work-ing in Saudi & Kuwait recently laid off. Workers staged a public protest in Jeddah at the weekend to demand seven months of unpaid wages at construction firm Saudi Oger and about working conditions in Saudi Arabia. Companies in Saudi have been struggling to pay foreign workers and have laid off workers, leaving many with no money for food. The Indian con-sulate and community distributed almost 16,000 kg of food to meet their hunger,

Swaraj said the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia has been directed to serve food to them and that she was monitoring the situation on an hourly basis.

LA FÊTE EN FRANCEThe French National Day, aka “Bastille Day,” was celebrated on July the 14th across France and several other francophone nations. The day commemorates the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789, an important and key event that's part of the lore of the the French Revolution which had erupted two days earlier, as well as a part of the Fête de la Federation, which celebrated the unity of the French people on 14 July 1790. This year saw celebrations being held throughout France. The oldest and largest regular military parade in Eu-rope was held on the morning of 14 July on the Champs-Elysées in Paris with the President of the Republic, along with other French officials and foreign guests in attendance.

MED TOURISM IN STRIDE WITH INDIA’S DEVELOPMENT

India is seing reasonable success in promoting itself as an anchorage for medical tourism. With its tens of thousands of skilled physicians and nurse practitioners, and no language barrier, inward medical tourism into India is doing well. India's econom-ic boom has seen medical facilities & infrastructure coming up over the last two decades in the country that rival the very best in western medical care. The past few years have also seen a quantum jump in the number of visas given to patients. India's initiative of extending e-visas to pa-tients seeking prolonged treatment has also given an immeasurable boost to the sector.

UNEMPLOYED INDIANS IN SAUDI FACING 'FOOD CRISIS'; SWARAJ EXTENDS HELP

UK CURRY RESTAURANTS CAUTIOUS OVER BREXIT PROMISE

INDIA MAINTAINS PHARMA SUPREMACY OVER CHINA

News Scan

NRI Achievers News Network



A smartphone-sized acoustic device, 'Muzo' promises to do a lot of things that could convenience users. It at-taches to flat surfaces and applies anti-vibration technology to reduce sound vibrations, minimizing intrusive sounds. In its 'sleep' mode, it pairs with its smartphone app on your device to create a silent environ-ment. You can use the app to create a calming soundscape by combining sounds like rainfall, crackling fireplaces, a flowing brook and many such more. Muzo will also wake you up by generating soothing sound waves and since it uses vibration technology, it could use ob-jects in your room, including your wooden desk and wardrobe as a music box. And finally , in 'secret' mode, Muzo will use its sound-masking ca-pabilities to keep your conversations private even from people seated a few feet away. The best part is that this technology works dynamically and adapts from place to place, and across various noise levels. Learn more about Muzo @ celestialtribe.com.

MUZOVolkswagen India plans to introduce a new Polo GTI later this year. This three-door hatch is basically a performance-oriented version of the existing hatch-

back. Powering the Polo GTI is a 1.8-litre four-cylinder turbocharged unit, which is capable of serving 187 bhp of power and 320 nm of torque. This hot hatch can touch a 100 kmph from stand-still in mere 6.7 seconds. Besides a more powerful engine, the new hatch also gets some subtle design updates on the exterior, and several new features

inside the cabin. Expected to be launched by end 2016, market intelligence has it that pricing will be in the INR 18 Lakh range.

NEW VOLKSWAGEN POLO GTI

The Piaggio Group is all set to expand its offerings in the Indian scooter segment with its brand 'Aprilia,' with the Italian company announcing that it intends to introduce the Aprilia SR 150 this August itself. The new scooter is expected to bear a price-tag of INR 65,000.

PIAGGIO TO EXPAND SCOOTER PORTFOLIO

Motorola has plotted a new direction with the Moto Z – incredibly slim, mod-ular, and packing true flagship-level horsepower. At just 5.2 mm, the Moto Z is the thinnest flagship phone we've ever

seen, and it's just stunning. The friendly curves and sloping back are gone, leaving us with something more an-gular and elegant. Honestly, it is the larger view of users

that a phone this thin would feel insub-stantial, but Motorola has dodged that issue as well. Aside from the Gorilla Glass covering its 5.5-inch, quad HD AMOLED display, the Zee's body is crafted entirely of metal, lending it an air of rigidity. Mo-torola is so sure of itself that the Z series lacks headphone jacks as well, even though its thicker body could definitely have accommodated one. An improved 21-mp rear camera makes up for Z Force's heftier dimensions.

MOTO Z AND Z FORCE: THE MOTO REVOLUTION

SAMSUNG GEAR FIT 2: A COMPLETE FITNESS TRACKERWith Samsung going all out to get as many people as it can onto its hardware ecosys-tem, their new Gear Fit 2 wristband works with all phones running newer versions of Android, has built-in GPS, and tracks a boat-load of fitness activities. The GF2 has a bright, colour-

ful display – a 1.5-inch Super AMOLED touch screen. It has opted to display all

data vertically on the band, which means you don’t have to twist your wrist to read things like notifications, though it is a mite tough to see outdoors. The GF2 can

track almost all fitness ac-

tivity except swimming. The one and only reasons why one hesitates to call it the best-in-its-class are inconsistent bat-tery life, its barely-visible display out-doors, and the fact that it only works with Android phones, unlike, say, a Fitbit or Garmin or Microsoft Band 2. But if those things aren’t deal-breakers, then the Gear Fit 2 is a strong choice indeed.

The all-new Splendor iSmart, with its new, 110 cc motor is Hero MotoCorp’s first indigenously devel-oped product since it’s split-up with Honda. Here’s a quick impression. The bike has become synony-mous with the Hero brand, and is in fact the largest selling motorcycle in the world. The bike’s design draws a lot of inspiration from its 150 cc cousin, the Xtreme – headlamp designs, the tail light and split grab rail.

HERO SPLENDOR iSMART 110: THE GEN NEXT BIKE

Product Scan

NRI Achievers Business Network



Noted Dairy firm 'Kwality Ltd.' has raised INR 300 Cr from private equity firm KKR India and secured an additional capital com-mitment of INR 220 Cr to fund its expansion plan and repay debt. “Kwality Ltd., has received capital commitment of up to INR 520 Cr via structured finance from KKR India … to fuel its aggressive growth

plans as the company continues to rap-idly shift its business model towards B2C

retail segment,“ the com-pany said in a BSE filing. When contacted, Kwality Director Sidhant Gupta said the company has al-ready raised INR 300 Cr from KKR India and the

remaining amount would come into the company at a later stage.

Boeing Corporation is sounding very bullish indeed on the Indian aviation sector – the fastest-growing aviation market in the world, in terms of pas-senger traffic. It said on the 19th July that the country will need 1,850 new aircraft worth an estimated US$ 265 billion over the next 20 years. The Seattle-based aircraft-maker had last year predicted a demand for 1,740 new aircraft valued at US$ 240 billion for the same time-line. This upwards revi-sion of its perception of rising demand for aircraft in India, it feels, will be driven by single-aisle planes according to Dinesh Keskar, senior vice president for Asia Pacific and India, Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

INDIA WILL NEED AIRCRAFT WORTH US$ 265 BN: BOEING

KKR TO INVEST UP TO INR 520 CR IN KWALITY

Private equity firm TPG has invested US$ 33 million (INR 224 Cr) for a ma-jority stake in Bengaluru based Rhea Healthcare, which operates a network of mother & child care centres called 'Motherhood.' Rhea Healthcare was founded by Dr. Mohammed Rehan Say-eed, a cardiac surgeon who was trained at the Cleveland Clinic, a leading US not-for-profit academic medical centre. “This latest investment reinforces our sector focus on healthcare in India and globally,” says Puneet Bhatia, MD and country head for TPG India.

TPG INVESTS INR 224 CR IN HEALTHCARE CO

Reliance Industries Ltd., will infuse yet another INR 15,000 Cr into its telecom arm 'Jio' through a rights issue. “We wish to inform you that the Board of Directors of the company, at their meeting held on July 14 have approved the further issue of 1,500 Cr equity shares with face value of INR 10 each, aggregating to INR 15,000 Cr, to existing equity shareholders of the company on rights basis,” said the company in a regulatory filing. The issue is ex-pected to be launched and completed over the next three months.

RIL TO PUMP IN INR 15000 CR IN JIO VIA RIGHTS ISSUE

The Indian Hotels Com-pany, which runs the Taj chain of hotels in India and abroad, has sold its 273-key hotel property in Boston to AS Holding, a consortium of US-based real estate funds, for US$ 125 million (about INR

840 Cr). Taj will however con-tinue to manage the 90-year-old luxury hotel overlooking the picturesque Boston Public Garden. IHCL, in which the Tata Group owns nearly 39%, will use the sale proceeds to

pare it’s over INR 4,000 Cr debt.

The Titan Company, part of the salt-to-steel conglomerate Tata Group, is investing INR 357 Cr for a 62% stake in online jewellery retailer 'Caratlane,' it appears. The announcement, first made in a filing to the BSE in May, but gave no details. 'Caratlane'

is being valued at INRs 575 Cr.

TAJ SELLS BOSTON HOTEL TO US GROUP FOR INR 840 CR TITAN BUYS 62% IN E-TAILER 'CARATLANE' FOR INR 357 CR

The Government of India has revealed that it has sanctioned a sum of INR 22,915 Cr towards a fresh tranche of capital infusion into 13 PSU banks in-cluding the SBI and PNB, as part of its recapitalisation drive to help them be able to lend more. This funding is part of the INR 70,000 Cr plan announced by the government last year, for which funds had already been allocated in the 2016 budget.

GOVT ALLOCATES INR 22,915 CR FOR RECAP OF 13 PSU BANKS

Business Buzz

NRI Achievers Business Network



Reading West MP Alok Sharma has been appointed as Under Secretary of State at the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, with re-sponsibility for Asia and Pacific. Sharma is a qualified chartered ac-countant, and has worked as a cor-porate finance advisory holding senior roles based out of London, Stockholm and Frankfurt before taking to politics. He is currently a governor of a local primary school in Reading and also the Vice Chair-man for BME communities and Co-Chairman of Conservative Friends of

India. Following his appointment Alok Sharma said: “I am honoured to have been

appointed by the Prime Minister as Minister for Asia and the Pacific, hugely important parts of the world that are crucial for the UK’s prosper-ity and security. Britain is a truly great country and I will work tire-lessly to ensure we continue to thrive and prosper on the world stage ... and I look forward to working closely with my new colleagues and counterparts across Asia and the Pacific, with par-ticular focus on strengthening com-mercial ties, increasing investment opportunities in both directions and

promoting human rights in the region.”

INDIAN-BORN BRITISH MP IS NEW UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE

Switzerland, the world’s largest offshore financial cen-tre of yore, is losing its jazz and mojo for some multi-national firms. With international regulators cranking up scrutiny of the industry, profit margins are tapering off. Gopichand Hinduja, the eldest among three In-dian billionaire siblings based out of London, says it is his belief that Switzerland’s importance as a global banking hub would tend to shrink, with increased tax transparency. People are now looking for new options in the Gulf countries and other havens to place their assets. According to Gopichand, people are now ex-ploring the newer havens, as Switzerland seems to have failed in maintaining it's pre-eminent position of im-portance in the private banking sector. The no- ques-tions-asked Swiss banks are now being increasingly questioned thanks to the newly emerging system of bank-data exchange between Governments. Coming from no less a person than Gopichand Hinduja, co-owner of the Hinduja Group, a globe-spanning indus-trial conglomerate active in the domains of automo-biles, finance, media and energy just to mention a few, this statement does have some substance and will be taken seriously across the board by international busi-ness moguls.

SWITZERLAND NO LONGER WORLD'S BANKING HUB

Indian-Americans largely lean towards the Democratic Party, but there are always exceptions like Shalabh 'Shalli' Kumar, an Ambala-born Indian-American Punjabi industrialist from Chicago. After creating a stir some years ago by putting together a trip for US lawmakers to meet

Narendra Modi when he was persona non-grata in Washington, Kumar has made a splash at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland by pledging a US$ 1.1 million contribution to the Trump campaign.

PIO PLEDGES US$ 1 Mn TO TRUMP

UK based NRI BUSINESSMAN Dr. Rami Ranger, CBE, received an honorary doctorate from the University of West London at their annual gradu-ation ceremony held at the iconic grounds of Wembley Stadium on the 21st of July 2016. He was given this honour in recognition of his serv-ices to business, philanthropy and promotion of social cohesion in Britain. The doctorate was con-ferred upon him by the Chancellor Laurence Gel-ler, CBE, and Vice Chancellor Professor Peter John of the University of West London.

DR. RAMI RANGER HONORED

Diaspora News



The Gulf Business Card Directory, a unique product of Doha-based advertis-ing and event Management Company 'Mediaplus,' was released at a glittering function held at Muscat. Suroor Rahman, the MD of TOPAD Advertising, released the directory by handing over a copy to Mustafa Keethadath, the director of Ker-ala-based 'Happy Homes.' Addressing a packed crowd at the ceremony, Mediaplus

CEO Amanulla Vadakkangara explained the idea of the business card directory and observed that it was effective and useful in connecting people on a large scale. The Gulf Business Card Directory has become one of the most sought after tool for de-veloping intra-gulf businesses especially in the SME sector. The whole directory is available online at www.gbcdonline.com. A mobile application launched earlier this

year has increased the scope of this pub-lication. The directory facilitates the busi-ness community to interact among them-selves for concluding mutually rewarding deals, and contains the business cards of both individuals and establishments that can be a ready reference of all leading business concerns in the region.

GULF BUSINESS CARD DIRECTORY RELEASED IN OMAN

An international convention of people of Indian-origin in the US has de-manded voting rights for Indian citizens living outside India and Rajya Sabha seats for NRIs. “The Election Commission of India should finalize the procedure for electronic voting before the next general elections take place

in India,” the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) said in a resolution passed during its annual convention in New York that took place last month. “There are 10 million NRIs who have no representation in the decision making process in the country of their citizenship,” it said. “We urge the Government of India to nominate a few prominent NRIs as members of the Rajya Sabha to reinforce and further integrate bonds between India and the overseas Indian community,” Over 200 delegates from 20 countries participated in convention. Noting that while many NRIs want to support their alma maters, set up schools and colleges in their villages and towns, and support social and environmental causes, they face major hurdles in doing so. “The clearance process through the Home Ministry is time consum-ing and needs to be streamlined, made more efficient,” it said.

GOPIO SEEKS VOTING RIGHTS AND RAJYA SABHA SEATS FOR NRIS Indian-American professor Dr. Kinshuk, who goes by

a single name and who possesses a diverse set of aca-demic expertise in the field of science and technology, has been named the Dean of the University of North Texas College of Informa-tion in the US. He holds a bachelor’s degree in me-chanical engineering from University of Rajasthan, a masters in mechanical computer aided engineer-ing from Strathclyde Uni-versity in Scotland, and a doctoral degree from England. Before taking the charge as the Dean, he has served as an associate dean at Athabasca University in Alberta, Canada, where he helped lead the Faculty of Science and Technology. Prior to this, he has served as a director in the School of Computing and Information Systems. Kinshuk also served as Industrial Research Chair in Adaptiv-ity and Personalisation in Informatics for the Nation-al Science and Engineering Council of Canada. Finley Graves, Provost and Vice President for academic af-fairs at UNT, states that: “Dr Kinshuk brings with him great leadership and research experience.

DR. KINSHUK NAMED US UNIVERSITY DEAN

Diaspora News

NRI Achievers News Network



BHEL (Bharat Heavy Electricals Limit-ed) has been conferred with the PSE Excellence Award 2015 for Human Re-source Management Excellence and for R&D, Technology Development & In-novation, in the Maharatna & Navratna CPSEs Category by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC). The awards were received by Mr. D Bandyopadhyay, Di-rector (HR), BHEL.

ExcEllEncE AwArd for BHElAPPoInTMEnTS

OVL (ONGC Videsh Limited) has received the 'India Risk Man-agement award' in the public sector unit of the year category, at the third edition of The India Risk Management Awards, recog-nising the understanding and practice of risk management at ONGC Videsh.

The Powergrid Corporation of India Ltd., was awarded with the CSR Excellence award for excellent work done in the area of rural develop-ment under their CSR initiative. Anant G. Geete, Minister of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises, handed over the award at a function in New Delhi.

Dr. M Ravi Kanth, CMD, received the CSR Excellence Award 2016 for HUDCO. The award was given away by Anant Geete, Union Cabinet Minister for Heavy Industries & Department of Public En-terprises.

Dr. Anoop Kumar Mittal, CMD of the National Building Con-struction Co., has been conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award 2016, awarded by Construction Times at the “Construction Times Builders Award - 2016” ceremony held recently in Mumbai. Dr. Mittal had assumed the office of CMD at NBCC in April 2013 and has since then been responsible for achieving many mile-stones for the company including the Navratna status.

oTHEr AwArdS & AwArdEES

Utpal Bora has taken over charge as the Chairman and Managing Director of Oil

India Limited (OIL). Bora has an experience of over 33 years in the energy & petro-leum sector. He has previ-ously served in various ca-pacities at the ONGC Ltd. including OVL, ONGC's in-

ternational branch.

Dr. Guruprasad Mohapatra, IAS Officer of Gujarat Cadre (1986 Batch), who serves as an Additional Secretary to the Government of India, has taken over as the Chairman of the AAI (Airports Au-thority of India) recently.

Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi took over as the new Chairman of Central Board of Secondary Exami-nation (CBSE). Sharing the vision of CBSE in school edu-cation, he empha-sized on the need for improving quality of

education in schools across the country with ample thrust upon teacher quality to sustain improvement in the standard of education.

The latest Fortune 500 list, which counts the world's biggest companies in revenue terms, has seven Indian companies in it, including four PSUs. The list is topped by retail giant Walmart, with India's state-run Indian Oil Co being ranked the high-est-rated Indian firm at position 161. Other In-dian companies in the list are the State Bank of India, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum

from the public sector; and Reliance Industries, Tata Motors and Rajesh Exports from the private sector. State-

run firm ONGC, which was on last year's list, is out this year,

while private gems and jew-ellery major Rajesh Exports has debuted in the list, grabbing the 423rd posi-tion. IOC is the highest-

ranked Indian firm with rev-enue of US$ 54.7 billion, though

it has slipped down from its 119th position last year.

foUr PSUS fIGUrE In forTUnE 500 lIST AIr IndIA To rEcrUIT 415 SEnIor TrAInEE PIloTS

NRI Achievers Corporate Network

Air India has invited applications for re-cruitment to the post for Senior Trainee Pilot with A-320 Endorsement. The candidates eligible for the post may apply through the prescribed format on or before August 1, 2016. There are 415 Posts for Senior Trainee Pilots with A-320 Endorse-ment on Fixed Term Contract.

PSU Buzz



THE UBIQUITOUS NON RESIDENTTHE WIZARDS OF

BANKING & FINANCEIN THE laTE 60S aND EaRly SEvENTIES, wavE UpON wavE Of EDUcaTED yOUNg INDIaNS, IN aBjEcT DISIllUSIONmENT wITH THE SNaIl’S pacE Of gROwTH aT HOmE, lEfT INDIaN SHORES IN SEaRcH Of a fUTURE ElSEwHERE. THIS acT Of THEIRS fOR SEEkINg a BETTER lIfE waS lOOkED UpON aS aN acT Of BETRayal IN SOmE QUaR-TERS. “BRaINDRaIN !” ScREamED THE papER HEaDlINES Of THaT TImE. pOlITIcIaNS Of all HUES aND SHaDES RUED THE facT THaT THE ENORmOUS SUmS Of mONEyS SpENT ON THEIR EDUcaTION By THE STaTE HaD gONE TO waSTE … THESE wERE DOc-TORS, ENgINEERS, TEacHERS aND maNy OTHER pROfESSIONalS THaT THE cOUNTRy NEEDED BaDly TO fORm THE RIgHT fRamEwORk fOR gROwTH. THERE waS DESpaIR all ROUND. S RavI paINTS aN EvOcaTIvE pIcTURE Of THE DIaSpORa ScENaRIO OvER THE yEaRS aND cHERRy pIckS TO pROfIlE SOmE Of THE NOTaBlE acHIEvERS ...

Prem Watsa

Cover Feature





he western world chose to ac-knowledge these young guests, giving them the untrammeled freedom to innovate and thrive, and thrive these young voyagers to distant lands did, through sheer gait and hard work rising up to the very top in their respec-tive adoptive countries. We, ap-

ropos, will focus here on people who made it big in the allied domains of international finance, monetary policy and banking. There have been numerous names of achiev-ers who got polished in India, then went on to shape up their careers abroad and rise to the top ranks. A few of these known names are Anshu Jain of Deutsche Bank, Victor Menzes of Citibank, Jay Sidhu of Sovereign Bancorp, Rana Talwar of Standard Char-tered, Aman Mehta of the HSBC, and Vikram Pandit of Citigroup Inc. And then there are some other top-notch bankers and financial bigwigs who are lesser known, given their consciously-kept low-profile, and those who are still clattering up the hi-erarchy – like Sanjiv Das of First Data Corp., Purna R Saggurti of the Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and V Shankar of Gateway Partners (formerly with Standard Chartered PLC).

However, not all of them have chosen to remain away from their motherland. With the era of liberalization and the permit-raj dispensation dwindling away … new winds

T

aditya Puri

romesh sobti

Indiaspora





have began to blow over the Indian financial landscape. The young men who were once berated as deserters now hear the call of the mother and return in droves. They bring with them the dynamism and discipline of the western world … and that coupled with their boundless love for the motherland workes like magic. So did the saga of the return of the NRIs be-gin, who have helped reshape the In-dia story. Here is a list of a few of such exceptionally talented Indians who have made India proud …

aDITya pURIPuri has been a Managing Director of HDFC Bank Ltd., since September 1994 and also serves as its Chief Ex-ecutive Officer. Prior to this assign-ment, he was the CEO of Citibank Malaysia from 1992 to 1994, and has nearly 40 years of experience in the banking sector in India and abroad to his credit. He has contributed signifi-cantly to enable the Bank scale phe-nomenal heights under his steward-ship. During his tenure, he has led the Bank through two major mergers in the Indian banking industry i.e., merg-er of the Times Bank Limited and the Centurion Bank of Punjab Limited with HDFC Bank Limited. The subse-quent integrations have been smooth and seamless under his inspired lead-ership.

pREm waTSaPrem, popularly known as the War-ren Buffett of Canada, founded Toron-to-based financial services firm Fairfax Financial Holdings in 1985, and re-mains its chairman and CEO. Fairfax now maintains property and casualty insurance and reinsurance interests across four continents and holds stakes in numerous companies, including IBM and phone maker BlackBerry. He also owns a stake in Fairfax India, a publicly traded subsidiary investing in Indian businesses (which has so far

dr. raghuram rajan

Vinod Khosla

Cover Feature



invested approximately US$ 370 mil-lion into Indian enterprises). He strongly believes in the philosophy of “doing good by doing well'.

ROmESH SOBTISobti has been the Managing Direc-tor and CEO of IndusInd Bank Ltd., since February 1, 2008. He has 33 years of banking experience in large state owned and multinational banks, including ANZ Grindlays Bank plc., and the State Bank of India. He has served as an Executive Vice President – Country Executive, India and Head – UAE and Sub-Continent at the ABN AMRO Bank N.V. His responsibilities have included consumer & commer-cial businesses in India, Pakistan and oversight on UAE support.

DR. RagHURam RajaN'Rockstar Rajan' is currently the 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank of In-dia. Prior to this he was the Chief Eco-nomic Advisor in the Ministry of Fi-nance, Government of India., and the Eric J Gleacher Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University

meet Javed Khan, an Indi-an-born Muslim who heads the security at the largest Hindu temple in

the United States. Throughout the world there exist many local, regional, nation-al and international interfaith initiatives; several are formally or informally linked and constitute larger networks or fed-erations. But some initiatives are also at personal levels. One such small but re-ally significant initiative is the appoint-ment of an Indian-Muslim as head of the security at the largest Hindu temple in the United States of America.

Javed Khan heads the security at the Indianapolis Temple, which is said to be the largest Hindu shrine in the US. Lt. Javed Khan was appointed as the Direc-tor of security for the temple, an institu-tion that has been in existence for sev-eral years but which had held its opening ceremony only in 2015. On his appoint-ment, Lt. Khan says that it all started a few years ago, when he married off his daughter to a Telugu boy at this selfsame Hindu temple, after which he began get-ting to know more and more people at the temple. "We are all Indians. Half my

family is Hindu. I do not believe in this Hindu-Muslim thing … and I am just doing my duty. I am not doing anything special or extraordinary," says Khan, also adding "My message is this – we are all one. We are all the children of God. There is but one God and then there are different forms and names that we choose to worship".

Many of the temple visitors tend to think of him belonging to the Hindu faith. According to Ravi Pattar, the Chairman of temple's Board of Trustees, "He (Khan) provides us security on the weekends and at major events".

Khan settled in Indiana in 2001, a year after he migrated to the United States. He had been coming to the US since 1986 for participating in various martial arts championships. A Muslim protecting a temple is unheard of in these days and times. It sends a strong message of inter-faith cooperation and social harmony at a time when rhetoric on religious intol-erance is on the rise worldwide.

javED kHaN

HIS TaSk IS SEcURINg THE INDIaNapOlIS TEmplE

A. SrivastavaThe author, an IITian is an Engineer by training & a citizen journalist by passion. He takes inter-est in stories of a quirky nature that involve the

diaspora in their different countries of adoption.

Indiaspora



of Chicago’s Booth School. Between 2003 and 2006, he was the

Chief Economist and Director of Re-search at the IMF (International Mon-etary Fund). He is known to be a die-hard pragmatist, which is reflected in his various papers, especially the con-troversial piece of writing, ‘Has Finan-cial Development Made the World Riskier?’. Though initially ridiculed, he was later commended abundantly for predicting beforehand the US eco-nomic crisis of 2008. His straightfor-ward and practical approach has been instrumental in battling inflation which had relentlessly plagued India when he assumed the role of RBI Gov-ernor.

vINOD kHOSlaKhosla is an entrepreneur, investor & technologist. In 1982, he co-founded Sun Microsytems and served as its first chairman and CEO till 1984. Thereaf-ter he became a recognised venture capitalist, with several successful early-stage investments. He formed his own venture capital firm 'Khosla Ventures' in 2004. He also invested in an Indian microfinance company 'SKS Microfi-nance,' which offers small loans to poor women in rural India. He has committed around US$ 450 million of his personal wealth to various “green” initiatives like ethanol factories, solar-power parks, et al. His green investing has made him immensely popular in the media globally.

vISHwavIR aHUjaAhuja is the Managing Director and CEO of RBL Bank Ltd., and is an ac-complished Banker with a career span-ning 29 years. Prior to joining RBL Bank, he was the Managing Director & CEO of the India operations of the Bank of America, from May 2001 to August 2009. During his tenure the Bank of America was rated as the 'Best Foreign Bank in India', 'Most Efficient bank in India (across the entire Industry)' and

S RaviThe author is a practising CA with over 26 years of experience. He has

served on the boards of more than 36 companies across sectors, including

Public Sector Banks and PSUs

was rated amongst the top 2 in Credit Quality by Ernst & Young Financial Ex-press survey in 2008 and 2009. During his long stint at BoA, he has had assign-ments in the USA, Hong Kong and all four Regional Offices in India.

alka BaNERjEEAlka Banerjee, known as the Queen of the equity cult, reached American shores in 1994. She is the Managing Director – Product Management at Standard & Poor’s 'Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI)'. She heads up S&P DJI’s Product Management Group, which has global responsibility for the com-mercial success of each of S&P DJI’s product lines: US Equity, Global Eq-uity, Fixed Income, Commodities, Real Assets, Strategy, and Custom in-dices, as well as Data. Since Septem-ber 2013, she has also been serving as the CEO of Asia Index Private Limit-ed, a joint venture between S&P DJI and the BSE of Mumbai, India’s pre-mier stock exchange. In 2015, she was recognized as one of the twenty most influential global Indian women by The Economic Times, one of India’s leading newspapers.

SRINIvaSaN paRTHaSaRaTHySrinivasan is a Senior Executive Vice President and the Chief & Appointed Actuary of HDFC Life, with 18 years of experience in Life Insurance and Pensions both in India and the UK. He was one of the two candidates from Asia to be selected by the Pres-ident of Institute of Actuaries, UK, in the year 2000 to work for Watson Wyatt, UK, where he provided a range of consultancy services to cli-ents on various aspects of company pension schemes. He then moved on to work with Aviva UK where he worked in different areas including pricing, reporting and stochastic modelling, before being seconded to Aviva India.

This trend of Indians returning from

abroad to work here has picked up pace with the widening recovery trend in the country's economy. NRIs are in demand as they have gained experi-ence in developed markets. Generally, they are considered to have worked in a more professional environment, where ownership and decision-mak-ing has been encouraged. In addition to this, they have a good understand-ing of the cultural differences between India and other developed markets. Today's new-age employers value the international experience and exposure NRI's bring with them. It is perhaps now more feasible to imagine the fruc-tification of the spiralling aspirations of the Indian Dream.

sriniVasan Parthasarathy

Cover Feature



Indiaspora

SHalaBH “SHallI” kUmaR

DON'T jUST BE HUmaN, BE a HUmaNITaRIaN

Having his roots in the Ambala district of Haryana, Shalli, as Shalabh Kumar is best known to those who know him, is an expatriate Indian American entrepreneur, industrialist and a philanthropist who is based out of Chicago in the US. The tycoon, apart from being active philanthropically, is also a bour-geois interpreter, kinship mover-and-shaker and a political donor to boot. A conservative commentator, he is a community activist who often hits the news for his stands on various issues. NRI Achievers profiles this remarkable man, who has made it all by himself in his life ...

Having graduated from the Punjab University in 1965, Shalabh Kumar is also an alumni of the Punjab Engi-

neering College Chandigarh, with a BS in electronic engineering that he com-pleted in 1969. It was from here that he cultivated his passion for electronics. In the US, Kumar went to the Illinois Insti-tute of Technology, where apart from academics, his key role in organising an exhibition of rare vintage photographs of Indian freedom fighters like Subhash

Chandra Bose, Chandrashekhar Azad and Sahid Bhagat Singh for the first ever time won him accolades.

He was instrumental in eventuating a company called “AVG Advanced Tech-nology,” an enterprise that is into auto-mation controls, semiconductors, tele-communications, thick-film hybrids, as also into electronic component manu-facturing and distribution. Shalabh Ku-mar Kumar is the Chairman and CEO of the AVG Group of Companies, head-quartered in Chicago with operations

across the globe. He has also served sev-eral multinational companies in lead management roles – notably Circuit In-ternational Inc, Microfast Controls Corp, Electronic Support Systems, PEC Reliance, Lika Tandy Corporation, Mc Technologies, and Hi-Tech Systems Corporation.

Shalabh Kumar has, since his migra-tion to the US in 1969, been politically active in the diaspora community. While during initial years he was a sup-porter of the Democrats, a coincidental



meeting with President Ronald Reagan and Jack Kemp impressed him so much that he jumped ship to evolve into a staunch Republican. Adding his stand-ing and heft within the Indian-American community to Republican politics in 1983, he threw his weight behind Don Totten, Reagan’s mid-west campaign manager, successfully converting a sig-nificant segment of the community to form the first ever Indian American Re-publican organization in the US. He has also served on Reagan's Small Business Advisory Council during the early eight-ies, apart from heading the Indian American Advisory Council of House Republican Conference, US Congress (Parliament).

During 2011-12, right after the Bin Laden affair in Abbottabad, Pakistan, Kumar became an active citizen lobbyist and power-broker on Capitol Hill, sup-porting Texas Congressman Ted Poe’s bill to cut-off all foreign aid to Pakistan. The bill was subsequently passed in Au-gust 2012. Kumar is also credited with founding the National Indian American Public Policy Institute (NIAPPI), a think-tank focusing on issues relevant to Indian Americans. Apropos NIAPPI and Kumar even had the uncanny fore-sight to take a high level Congressional & Business delegation in March 2013 to visit the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, and invite him to the United States. Modi, who was back then subject to 'diplomatic isolation' by the US Administration, literally swept the India General Elections in 2014 to be-come the Prime Minister.

Asked by the Indian electronic media his motives about this venture, Shalabh Kumar described Modi as his idol, who would architect a great future for India and US-India relationship. The Hindus-tan Times while reporting on this 'ad-venture' of Shalabh Kumar, ended up describing him as 'the Punjabi Tycoon, the biggest supporter of Modi in the US.'

Kumar, energetically active in his self-assumed role of India lobbyist, has also been instrumental in raising voice

against efforts to make legislation that is perceived to be detrimental to Indian interests. In 2014 for instance, it was Shalabh Kumar and Ramesh Patel, the Chairman of the FIA-Tristate NY (Fed-eration of Indian Organizations), who were instrumental in preventing the 'S-744' bill passed by US Senate to be taken up by the House of Representa-tives. The S-744 Bill, it was felt, would adversely affect the economies of both India and the US, by putting uncalled-for restrictions on Indian IT profession-als working on temporary work-visas in the US. The S-744 was also unequivo-cally opposed by US Chamber of Com-merce.

Kumar has been closely working since the early eighties with Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the US House, and even ran the Gingrich Presidential Cam-paign in Scott County, Iowa in 2012. Of late, galvanized by the Republican Jew-ish Coalition (RJC), Kumar is engaged in forming a Republican Hindu Coali-tion (RHC), with Newt Gingrich as the honorary Chairman, and with support from the leadership and members of the US Congress as well as the RNC. Con-gressmen Ed Royce (Chairman, Foreign Relations Committee), Pete Sessions (Chairman, Rules Committee) and George Holding (Co-Chair of the India Caucus) are leading the effort.

So whatever he does, Shalabh Kumar is 'big' news – even if it be his son’s wed-ding. January 2011, his son Vikram Aditya tied the knot with Pooja Chit-gopekar (2007 Miss Earth India). This 'Big Fat Indian Wedding' was touted as the biggest ever wedding extravaganza to take place in NZ history, featuring 9 helicopters forming the “Barat,” and a musical extravaganza that extended into 3-days – with Daler Mehndi, RDB Rhythm Dhol Bass of Canada and UK, and dance group Signature (of 'Britain has Talent' fame) from the UK.

He hit the news once again just last month, when he became a public sup-porter of Don Trump’s candidature in the upcoming 2016 US Presidential Elections. Kumar's reading of Trump’s stance on Pakistan is positive, and well, he thinks that Trump could well prove to be the most Pro-Indian President that the US could have. Kumar views about Newt Gingrich's calls for increased scru-tiny of American Muslims and increased surveillance on mosques in the United States are also laudatory, views that have largely been getting negative press as 'Islamophobia.' The Hill, an American publication, quoted Kumar as specifi-cally saying: “The policy setting is that we need to have a lot of scrutiny. I to-tally agree with [former Speaker] Newt Gingrich ... Mosques ought to be moni-tored, ... vetting should take place. ... If you need to profile, what is the fuss?”

Shalabh Kumar was also in the news for his more recent pledge of US$ 2 Mil-lions to Trump’s campaign from his own personal kitty, which would in fact be part of some US$ 10 million which the RHC and its members plan to donate to GOP candidates over the year, as it pushes Republicans to compete for the majority of Indian-Americans, who tra-ditionally have been seen to lean towards the Democratic Party.

Have no doubt, Shalabh “Shalli” Ku-mar probably has more aces up his sleeve, and is likely to be in the news more often as momentum gathers on the race to Presidenthood in the United States of America.

Cover Feature



SUNNy vaRkEy

a vISIONaRy IN THE mISSION mODE

1957 born Sunny Varkey, a non-resident Keralite from India, is a well-known Dubai-based entre-preneur and education philanthropist. He is both the founder and chairman of global advisory & educational management firm 'GEMS Education,' by far the largest operator of private 'kindergar-ten-to-grade-12' schools in the world, with a network of over 130 schools in more than a dozen countries. He also chairs the umbrella organisation 'Varkey Group,' and is founder and trustee of the philanthropic Varkey Foundation. Recognising his contributions, India had honoured him with a Padma Shri in 2009, and as of 2012, Varkey is also a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. NRI Achievers features and profiles this remarkable man for your reading pleasure ...

Sunny Varkey was born to Kera-la Christians Mariamma and KS Varkey, who were both teachers and educators. Their

sincerity and dedication to the cause of educating and nurturing young minds found reflection in Varkey's psyche right from infancy. As a two year-old tot, Var-key moved with his parents to then un-developed Dubai in 1959, where his fa-ther had taken up an assignment for the British Bank of the Middle East. It was a time when Dubai had no electricity, water or schools. KS and Mariamma Varkey's passion for teaching found manifestation in their initiative to teach English to local Arabs. They opened a small coaching centre in Bur Dubai, to groom locals in the intricacies of the English language for a monthly tuition fee of INR 25 – Indian currency was ap-ropos legal tender in Dubai that time. A tutorial college with no name, it was simply known by word-of-mouth as the 'Varkey's school'. So successful were they that even members of the royal family were among their students. Their unstinting effort ultimately culminated in the founding in 1968 of a school – 'Our Own English High School', to cater to the boom spurred by the 1966 discov-ery of oil in the Gulf, which brought in wave after wave of foreign workers, in-cluding many from the Indian subcon-tinent. With demand for English-lan-

guage education spiralling, the school was in retrospect but a natural conse-quence. More about that later, let us now get back to our protagonist ...

When he turned four, Sunny was sent back by his parents to Kerala to get a well-rounded education. Enrolled with the Infant Jesus School – a Catholic boarding school in Kollam city, enter-prising Sunny soon took his first tenta-tive steps in creating wealth, if only to bolster his pocket money. At the young age of 11, he sold fresh fruits by the roadside to augment his allowance. It was not until 1970 when he and elder

sister returned to Dubai, where Sunny completed his O-Levels from the St. Mary's Catholic High School there, be-fore he was packed off to the UK to pur-sue his A-Levels at the Bembridge School. His sojourn all of a year, and he returned to Dubai to complete his A-Levels at the British Council over there. The year was 1977.

Sunny had found gainful employment with the Standard Chartered Bank; and also had his fingers in a few more pies – a small trading company and a main-tenance firm; becoming the part-owner of the Dubai Plaza Hotel, making an en-try into the healthcare sector, and in-volved in the affairs of at least another six companies. All was well until some three years later when an ultimatum from the Dubai authorities arrived. One fine evening Varkey comes home to find his parents in a depressed state of mind. They had received yet another missive from the Dubai Municipality (there had been several such letters earlier as well) unequivocally telling them either to construct a purpose-built facility for their school or close it down. Getting on in years, his parents felt they could no longer cope, and had decided to shut down the school, which had under 400 students at the time. Varkey decides to take a hand, and tells them he would purpose-build a facility for the school if they permit him to run the school his

Indiaspora



way, without interference. Deal done, and he takes over operations, and soon enough finding his task quite a handful, dumps his other businesses to concen-trate on expanding the education busi-ness. Armed with the foresight that the Gulf education scenario was poised for explosive growth, Varkey goes the full monty by opening many new schools, offering quality education under multi-ple curricula – Indian CBSE & ICSE, US, British, and later also the International Baccalaureate Programme.

His schools thrived and soon grew into strong and close-knit network of educational institutions in the GEC states. Sunny, still dissatisfied with his handiwork, takes the step of setting up GEMS (Global Education Management Systems) in 2000, an advisory and edu-cational management firm, as a precur-sor for worldwide expansion. The first GEMS schools abroad came in 2003, first with the Sherborne House School in Hampshire followed by Bury Lawn School in Milton Keynes, both in Eng-land. Very soon, the Sherfield School also in Hampshire, came under the GEMS umbrella, with Sunny Varkey not stopping just there, he went on to ac-quire another 10 schools in England, mainly in the north.

On the India front, the advent of the first schools run by GEMS came in the year 2004, and Varkey continued to add

more schools in the subcontinent, also purchasing a controlling interest in In-dia-based Everonn Education, which today is jointly managed by the Varkey Group and GEMS. Subsequently his se-rial entrepreneurship took Varkey to Kenya, Uganda, Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Singapore, the US, Switzerland and some other corners of the globe as well, making GEMS the largest operator of private 'kindergarten-to-grade-12' schools in the world, with over 130 in-stitutions functioning in over a dozen countries as of 2014.

He attributes his success to faith in God and sheer hard work. “I make deci-sions on the spot,” he says. “When I go home with a problem I dwell on it for maybe 15-20 minutes, decide on a solu-tion and implement it immediately. Af-ter the deed is done, I don't regret my decision, whether it is right or wrong. A businessman must accept gains and losses with equanimity,” he avers. “To-day, as in the olden days, Dubai is a place where when you see an opportunity, and if you have the courage, you take it," he asserts.

His phenomenal successful in the do-main of education has earned Varkey many accolades as well as immense wealth, pushing him into the A-List of Asian billionaires. Varkey is married and lives in Dubai. His two sons – Dino and Jay – have chosen to take up leader-

ship roles in GEMS, giving Sunny the elbow and headroom to focus and pur-sue his philanthropic bent of mind, and occupy himself with the affairs of his not-for-profit foundation. Varkey's sister Susan Mathews runs pre-schools, with his wife and octogenarian mother work-ing behind the scenes, oft posing tough questions about his endeavours. Sunny's personal interests outside of work in-clude a passion for keeping physically fit, and custom-made fashionable at-tire.

Sunny Varkey, at 58-years today, re-cently took a step that put him in the same league as fellow Indian and chair-man of Wipro Azim Premji and Face-book founder Mark Zuckerberg, when he signed Bill Gates' “The Giving Pledge,” committing to give away more than half of his personal wealth for helping teach-ers around the world. “I am delighted to sign the Giving Pledge. It was indeed fortunate that I grew up in a family where charity ran in our blood, in-grained in us from a very early age. I recall, even when my father earned some small amount, a large portion of it was shared with the community we lived in, sometimes at the cost of our own com-fort,” says Varkey. “To this day, our un-derlying philosophy remains that good giving 'pinches', meaning that the sacri-fice you make has to be felt. Therein lies the appeal of the Giving Pledge to my family. I have also always believed that education is the key to fixing so many of the world's great problems: violence, poverty and health," he adds.

The Giving Pledge was founded by American magnate Warren Buffett and Microsoft founder Bill and his wife Melinda Gates, to help address society's most pressing problems by inviting the world's wealthiest individuals and fam-ilies to commit to giving more than half of their wealth to philanthropic and charitable causes. Varkey joins some 136 billionaires from around the world who have signed the pledge, including Richard Branson, chairman and found-er of Virgin Group and Ted Turner, founder of CNN.

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fROm THEaTRE TO Tv pRODUcER TO mEDIa pERSONalITy

SaBa ZaIDI aBDI

Saba Zaidi Abdi is a familiar name to those of us who belong to an earlier generation, when almost every second drama programme on television would have her indelible stamp on it … during the heydays of Doordarshan, India's state-run terrestrial public broadcaster prior to the big channel boom that saw the advent of satellite TV and myriad private channels vying for an elusive pie in the sky, Saba was a Drama Producer with DD. She has numerous landmark productions to her credit … not to mention her foray into quality cinema and involvement in productions of doyens like Satyajit Ray, Shyam Benegal and MS Satyu. She migrated to Australia some three decades ago, and is today well-known in media circles down under, and almost everywhere the Indian Diaspora is present. NRI Achievers treats you to a slice of life of Saba Zaidi, Abdi – a personality beyond compare ...

a television career has always been centrestage on Saba Zaidi Abdi’s antenna. Be it produc-tion, direction, or chairing a

landmark DTH platform offering Indian channels in lands foreign, TV has been one medium Saba has always stayed tuned and attuned to. These days, at the helm of her own Australian media firm 'Nuvera Me-dia,' she has forged a partnership with 'Fetch TV,' bringing a whole lot of home-grown telly to the South Asian diaspora community. Referring to it, Saba says she is literally living her dream and enjoying it enormously.

Born into the family of Maulana Hali that has served Urdu literature for seven generations and the daughter of eminent poet & writer Prof. Sajida Zaidi, Saba in-herited a passion for Urdu poetry and lit-erature at a young age. This passion has manifested itself in all her future endeav-ours, and continues to this day, where she is actively promoting Urdu Theatre in her country of adoption.

Saba, after she graduated from the Ali-garh Muslim University and subsequently the National School of Drama in Delhi, had taken to working as a TV producer for several years with Doordarshan, India's National Broadcasting house, making and directing countless telefilms and teleplays, not to mention producing numerous doc-umentaries focusing on literature, fine arts, performing arts and personalities. She had

even tried her hand at designing for films, in the productions of renowned Indian directors like Satyajit Ray, Shyam Benegal and M S Sathyu.

Quite early on in her career, Saba earned much recognition for her creativity and talent, winning many national and inter-national awards for her drama produc-tions and becoming a household name during her 13-year long association with Indian media and film. No less adept with single and multi-cam set-ups and equally comfortable with both video and film for-mats, she has many a classic to her credit. Almost all her programmes were made for and broadcast on the national network. Saba has to her credit some path-breaking films like the “Story of Indian Diamonds”, “Riots Post Mrs Gandhi’s Assassination”, the “Raza Library”, “Brecht and His Im-pact on Indian theatre,” and coverages on “Film Festivals of India” among others. Also to her credit are live OB's of nation-al and international events like Beating Retreat & Republic Day ceremonies, Apna Utsavs, Mrs Gandhi's Death Anniversary Music Concerts, the Bolshoi Ballet open air coverage, live broadcasts of the Festival of India Moscow 1987 Opening Ceremo-ny and Inaugural Ceremony of the Festi-val of USSR in New Delhi 1988, to men-tion a few.

When Saba migrated to Australia in 1989 with her husband, her career took a nose-dive. “There were hardly any oppor-

tunities here in Australia. I was supposed to start afresh. There was a preference for people who were groomed here, so my confidence level dropped. It was a tough phase for me and nothing was going in my favour. Wherever I applied, the first ques-tions they would ask me was what level of expertise a person has while working in India ? What do I know about Australian culture, etc. For a person new to a country it takes time to get familiar with the condi-tions,” shares Saba.

She then decided to embark on short industry courses like ‘The Producer, the Market, and the Audience’ and ‘The Mar-ket, the Law and Business Essentials’ from the Australian Film Television & Radio School, Sydney; and also did a masters in Journalism from the University of Tech-nology Sydney with a special focus on her first love — TV Journalism.

“I am happy that the perspective of the western world towards India has now changed. The South-Asian community's level of comfort in Australia has also in-creased,” adds Saba. She avers that as the community grew she realised that people were curious to see stories from the other side. “I then realised there is a need to do something to connect the community. There was only one community newspaper and one radio programme, which used to run once a week for an hour. Job oppor-tunities in media were limited. That was when we conceptualised the idea of a South

Cover Feature



Asian media setup in Australia,” says Saba.

Saba set about work, toiling to establish South Asian media in Australia, and in 2000 became the founding director and CEO of Vision Asia, the first ever inde-pendent DTH platform on the continent offering Indian TV channels in Australia and New Zealand – thus linking the South Asian communities in Australia and New Zealand with the Indian subcontinent. “As satellite TV was getting popular, we thought of bringing Indian television chan-nels here and approached Foxtel for that. That was how Vision Asia came into being. Later on, we met some people in Delhi and told them we want to introduce some pri-vate channels to Australia. They showed

interest and we launched Zee Life in 2002. We brought eight channels in Hindi, Gu-jarati, Punjabi and Bengali. Though it took us some time to build our clientèle, the feedback was really good,” says Saba.

Eight channels and eight years later, Vi-sion Asia went on to become the market leader and the only successful South Asian Subscription Television platform in Aus-tralia and New Zealand. Having satisfacto-rily building up that business, Saba divested it four years ago, and in association with Fetch TV launched the first state-of-the-art South Asian IPTV service, on a dynamic mainstream platform that was much larger in scale, taking the first step in leading South Asian media into future technologies.

“In November 2010, as the founder, pro-

moter and director of Nuvera Media, I en-tered into a strategic partnership with Fetch TV to launch three South Asian subscrip-tion TV packages in Australia, atop Fetch TV’s IPTV platform and TVOD service for South Asian movies. The two current pack-ages, viz. Hindi and Pakistani, offer 13 ma-jor Hindi and 4 major Pakistani channels of various genres of GEC, news, movies, lifestyle and music. Recently, we have launched the Tamil and Telugu Sun Pack with 8 channels. We are also working on a Sri Lankan package,” she says.

“We have selected only the premium channels and the best quality content avail-able from South Asia Fetch TV,” she adds. “You don’t need a satellite dish or any spe-cial cable device to install Fetch TV, as all that is needed is a broadband connection and set top box that delivers content straight to the TV. It does this without im-pacting the normal internet connection or download quotas, and because it doesn’t touch the open internet, the quality is the same as that of any normal TV service. The set top box also allows pausing, re-cording and rewinding live TV, and can store over 500 hours of recordings,” she says, adding that the basic package is avail-able from iiNet at a mere AU$ 29.95 a month with no installation charge, with the South Asian packages being available for an additional AU$ 19.95 a month each. “The media industry is now established, but there is still a need for people to come forward and work sincerely for the welfare of the community,” says Saba.

Besides the strategic alliance with Fetch and her other media initiatives, Saba is nowadays actively involved with Sydney Theatre, having recently launched the ‘Adakar Theatre & Cultural Group’ as its founding Artistic Director, along with like-minded theatre enthusiasts. After her Urdu adaptation of Molière’s comedy ‘The Miser’ (Kanjoos), became a runaway success, she is currently at work in adapting Girish Kar-nad’s celebrated play ‘Wedding Album’ for the Sydney stage. Saba is also actively in-volved with and supports several commu-nity organizations in Sydney.

Indiaspora

NRI Achievers Bureau Network



PM Narendra Modi's historic four nation tour of Africa (July 7th to July 11th) was in essence a sincere attempt to add a new dimension to his government's motto of making India a leading global power. The tour succeeded

in large measure – by strengthening bilateral relations, enhancing India’s strategic, economic and soft power aspi-rations, and bringing India closer to Africa. NRI Achievers bring to readers a reading of this initiative...

THE AFRo oUTREACHMoDI'S RENDEZVoUS WITH

AFRICA PUTS INDIA UPFRoNT

Right from the time he assumed office, Prime Minister Modi has oft been lauded for opening up new vistas for India, with his set-

ting foot on countries that have almost forgotten what it means to receive an In-dian leader. For instance, Modi's visit to Kenya and Mozambique took place after 35 and 34 years of time span since an Indian PM had visited them. Though Manmohan Singh also visited South Africa in 2013 as Prime Minister, it was more in the context of a BRICS Summit than any exclusive bi-lateral visit to further one-on-one coopera-tion. Modi, on the contrary, by undertak-ing dedicated bilateral missions to key na-tions of southern Africa, has signalled that he values these countries intrinsically for what they are.

While this visit came after two plus years of his assuming office, it would indeed be wrong to presume that Africa has been off his radar – recall that it was only last year that Delhi hosted the 3rd India-Africa Fo-rum Summit (IAFS-III), when for the first time ever all 54 Heads of State/Government of African countries, as well as the Presi-dent of African Union were present. The PM’s visit followed closely on the heels of two high-ranking visits – the first by Vice-President Hamid Ansari to Morocco and Tunisia in North Africa from the 30th of May to the 3rd of June; and the second by President Pranab Mukherjee to Ghana, the Ivory Coast and Namibia in West Africa, between the 12th and 17th of June. Modi’s visit to South and East Africa was very much a part of this chronology, and repre-sents a sincere attempt by India to reach out

to all parts of the Dark Continent.The sum and substance of PM Modi’s

Africa tour may be condensed into a few succinct paragraphs, which are presented here without much ado. The first has to do with strengthening India Africa connects. At every stop, Modi supplicated India’s past links with the continent and the shared ex-perience of struggle against colonial pow-ers. Modi has also rooted for future coop-eration in the face of competition from

China. In Mozambique, Modi offered to share India’s expertise in agriculture infra-structure. He also noted that healthcare was a sector where India’s capabilities would match the needs of Mozambique. In Tan-zania, Modi offered US$ 500 millions of concessional credit for water-supply con-nections to 17 cities, in addition to an exist-ing US$ 100 million. The prime minister also offered assistance in public health, with the supply of Indian medicines and equip-ment. In South Africa, Modi sought a part-nership between businesses of both coun-tries which, he says, could give new shape to India-Africa partnership and drive it to new levels. The other important aspect of

the connect – our Diaspora. Modi ad-dressed meetings of Indian communities in all four countries, underlining the links between Africa’s east coast and India’s west coast and their common connect across the Indian Ocean.

The second important aspect of Modi's visit was economic outreach. Economics – commerce and trade have always been one of the key dockets when India interacts with Africa. But here too what incredible Mr. Modi did was to flagship the ‘Make in India’ campaign that excited the whole of Africa. With the Chinese economy sinking and its absorption rates for African miner-als at a new nadir, African governments and people are on the lookout for an alter-native big Asian power that can generate steady export revenues for them, and also help them industrialise. India seems to punch the clock as the best surrogate to many Africans as a preferred, democratic partner whose outreach is not totally state-driven and whose private sector is increas-ing its footprint on the continent. The Prime Minister’s personal interest in con-necting Indian agribusinesses with African nations for food security, and accent on joint exploration and harnessing of energy sources is a big draw in Africa.

Some sardonic sections of the Western commentariat seek to club India into the same category as China, as a mineral-grab-ber that is out to loot Africa and denude it of its vast natural wealth. These critics question India’s real intentions in befriend-ing African nations. Modi needs to dis-prove these cynics by not only offering more novel schemes to bring Indian techni-

Real Politik


August 2016 www.nriachievers.in32 NRI ACHIEVERS32

Real Politik

cal and educational expertise to Africa, but also show how well-hooked India and Af-rica are in the twenty-first century. We need export markets as we industrialise, and Africa has the youthful demography and the rising purchasing power that will eventually take our two-way trade to prom-inence. It is wise to understand that we will be handicapped unless Africa grows in wealth and power. And without Africa on our side in dealing with the series of mega-crises that confront this planet, we possibly may never metamorphose into that great power in world politics that we so desire to be. Our fates are thus convolute not mere-ly due to geography, identical views at the United Nations or common historical ex-periences as colonised people, but also due to the fundamental complementarities of the future that awaits both sides. So while China has been heralding its South-South cooperation model as a resounding success in Africa, the absence of a human resource component, a transparency element, and a social sector or democracy angle in that model seems to suggest that India has an indispensable place on the continent. Es-pecially so as we already occupy a rather special place in the hearts and minds of the African people, going back to centuries.

The third aspect to Modi's Africa sojourn is his adeptness in building personal empa-thy with African leaders. Personal connects with leaders has been a key facet of Modi’s diplomacy ever since coming to office in 2014. Of the four countries visited, three have had elections in recent years — Kenya in 2013 bringing president Uhuru Keny-atta to power, Mozambique in 2014 that elected president Filipe Nyusi and Tanzania in 2015 that saw president John Magufuli assume office.

Modi had met Kenyatta and Nyusi last year while this was his first meeting with Magufuli. The Indian PM invited the Tan-zanian president to visit India, which was accepted. South Africa’s Jacob Zuma is better-known to the prime minister, given that he has met and conferred with him on several occasions, like the annual Brazil-India-Russia-China-South Africa (BRICS) meetings and during the India-Africa sum-mit last year.

Terrorism was a topic that figured in all the key discussions PM Modi had with Af-rican leaders. In fact, dog-earing a consen-sus on terrorism was a vital theme that took up some heavy-duty confabulations, mo-reso with Africa seeing its own fair share of the problem, what with the threat from the Sunni Islamic State in the north of Libya and Tunisia to the Boko Haram, which draws its ideology from the Al-Qaeda in West Africa.

Make in India. India's new mantra invit-ing the world to come to India and manu-facture there had its own pre-eminent place on Modi's agenda as well. During his visit to South Africa, Modi invited defence busi-nesses to set up manufacturing bases in India, which could service the domestic requirements of India and South Africa as well as export to third countries.

Food security. India signed a long-term agreement for the import of pulses from Mozambique. Mozambique grows the com-modity without much consumption. The pact will help India tide-over the shortage of pulses in the country that has led to un-even spikes and spurts in the prices of dal. Significant given it was only last month that India’s cabinet had cleared a proposal to enter into an agreement with Mozambique for importing 100,000 tonnes of pulses in 2016-17, with an option to scale it up to 200,000 tonnes by 2020-2021.

Securing the east coast. One of the hall-marks of Mr. Modi’s foreign policy has been an emphasis on defence diplomacy to boost India’s position as a nett security provider for fellow developing countries. Ergo, the choice of the four African nations on his itinerary this time was no coincidence, but possibly part of a well-thought-out doctrine to give primacy to the Indian Ocean Region

(IOR), whose westernmost edge is defined by these countries. The east coast of Africa is the flank to which India’s expanding na-val and commercial strategy needs to be aligned with, if it is to emerge as a shaper of stability and peace in the IOR. It is therefore noteworthy that Modi’s govern-ment has purposefully re-initiated a serious defence dialogue with Mozambique in 2015, after years of neglect. I recall meeting the Deputy Minister of National Defence of Mozambique, Patricio Jose, earlier this year when he said to me that they “eagerly look up to India” to enhance their coastal surveillance, military training and mari-time security capabilities. Seen from this perspective, it now seems that Modi’s mega-modernisation project of ‘Sagar Mala’ - which involves coastal area development, port infrastructure advancement, connec-tivity and sea-based industrial synergies, is not merely a domestic policy priority but is in fact interlinked to our strategic drive to be the defence and logistical partner for Africa’s eastern coast.

Modi has already been to Mauritius and Seychelles — two pivotal African countries off the mainland — and ramped up India’s security assistance to them. Now, by draw-ing in the countries of east Africa into a trustful embrace where they can have faith in India to share and transmit sensitive tech-nology and know-how in intelligence, re-connaissance and training, he is making a proactive push to be not merely an econom-ic actor on the continent but also a political one. The message sent out by the Prime Minister and his team to the continent was that “we are not here to exploit” and “we want to be partners in development.”

NRI Achievers Bureau Network



Complimenting the Modi government's em-phasis on real estate and construction sector re-forms, the updated and revised National Build-ing Code 2016 (NBC 2016) that is set to be unveiled later this year will bring out the state-of-the-art and most con-temporary version of the building code, dealing with futuristic develop-ments. Have a look on the impact this legisla-tion is likely to have on the realty scenario ...

The national building code is meant to help regulate building construc-tion in the country, lay down a set of minimum provisions for build-

ings, designed to protect the safety of pub-lic with regard to structural efficiency, fire and earthquake hazards, health aspects etc., including environmental concerns. It mainly contains administrative provisions, development control rules and general building requirements, as well as stipula-tions regarding building materials, struc-

tural design and construction, plumbing services, landscaping, signage and outdoor displaying structures etc.

The NBC 2016 will provide detailed guidelines on construction management and come up with comprehensive regula-tion and certification of the structural safety of buildings, with a series of im-provements in the safety provisions to meet the challenges associated with the new trend of building high rise buildings, including super-tall structures and mixed-

used developments such as malls, multi-plexes and integrated townships. The new and revised code will give an overall direc-tion for practical application of the provi-sions of different specialised aspects of spatial planning, design and construction, creation of services, et al., proposing an integrated approach for utilising appropri-ate knowledge and experience of qualified professionals, right from conceptualisa-tion through construction and completion stages of a building project during its en-

Real Estate

NATIONAL BUILDING CODE 2016 A REGULATORY BOOST TO BUILDING CONSTRUCTION



tire life cycle.NBC 2016 compliments the govern-

ment's ambitious mission of 'Housing for All' that has a special focus on low-cost affordable-housing. The new code has de-tailed provisions for use of pre-fabricated technology for speedier construction with quality, to meet the acute housing shortage that plagues India. Further, to check project delays the code focuses on 'Stream-lining Procedure for Real Estate Projects' (SAPREP) through single window con-cept. It incorporates suggestions mooted by the SAPREP panel constituted by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Al-leviation, as part of Model Building By-laws. The revised code also has a renewed focus on an integrated approach to get maximum benefit from the building and its services in terms of timely completion and cost-effectiveness with quality.

Dovetailing well with the Modi govern-

ment's other relevant missions 'Accessible India, Empowered India', the 'National Policy for Persons with Disabilities' and the 'UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities', the national building code has for the first time ever made elab-orate provisions for making buildings and public places to be accessible to millions of disabled and elderly persons. The code for a barrier-free built environment will be applicable to all forms of public housing undertaken by government and private builders.

In view of the growing popularity of green/sustainable buildings, NBC 2016 promotes ecologically appropriate prac-tices, the use of eco-friendly construction materials, conventional and alternative technologies, reduction of pollution, pro-tection and improvement of the local en-vironment, and the application of socio-economic considerations towards the

creation of sustainable human settlements. With a view to boost sustainability, the building code has, also for the first time, included provisions for glazing in build-ings with respect to their effect on energy, lighting (natural and otherwise) in the building, and the selection and manifesta-tion of glass with respect to safety. It will also focus on energy conservation, use of solar energy and efficient lighting.

Keeping pace with the era of smart-homes and smart-cities, NBC 2016 has come up with a new chapter on 'Informa-tion & Communication Enabled Installa-tions' with general guidelines for planning and provision of ICT (information and communication technology) services in the building and execution stages. Also, in view of the growing significance of property management, once again anoth-er first is the addition of a new chapter on 'Asset Facility Management.' Other new additions include use of escalators, mov-ing walks and solid waste management.

The building code was first formulated in 1970 and subsequently revised in 1983 and 2005, It is implemented through mu-nicipal corporations, local urban bodies, public works departments and other con-struction wings and agencies. Tyis new NBC 2016, a revised version of NBC 2005, will turn out to be a game changer in reg-ulating building construction to be in line with the contemporary trends and ad-vancements in the sector, taken together together with the new age reforms in the real estate and construction sector that are being ushered in.

Vinod BehlThe author is a senior media

professional & the consulting editor of NRI Achievers magazine. He may be

reached at: [email protected]

Real Estate



THE RIO OLYMPICS

THE VERY BEST OF THE INDIAN SQUAD

Rio Olympics



Carrying the hopes of billions of Indians, the Indian Olym-pic Association (IOA), has sent one of the largest ever

contingents of around 120 members to participate in the worlds biggest sports carnival, the Summer Olym-pics in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Bra-zil, beginning from August 4 and coming to a close on August 21. From the hockey pitch to the badminton and tennis courts, from wrestling to archery and shooting, there are real medal prospects among India's men and women's teams. Besides the 12 member squad for shooting, medals may also have been predestined for our tennis, archery, badminton, box-ing and hockey teams. All eyes will also be on the wrestling mat at Rio, where Yogeshwar Dutt will try his mettle to improve on the metal of his last silver.

Abhinav Bindra will lead the squad bearing the Tricolor at the opening cer-

emony. Apropos the most encouraging aspect of India's participation at Rio is the number of women participants – 43%, accounting for 52 members of the 120 member squad. Given the unprec-edented largeness of the group, it is not surprising that most of the members are first timers. A mere 35 athletes from the squad have represented India at the Olympics earlier, which puts first tim-ers at 70.34% of the contingent. Among

Sports Scan



the first timers, it will be the maiden appearance for 23-year-old Gita Kar-makar, woman gymnast from India who created history a few days ago. In table tennis, India will see four pad-dlers taking part for the first time, and it will be only the second time in the history of the Games that the Indian women's hockey team will be seen in action at the Olympics. Lalita Babar, Dutee Chand, Anirban Lahiri, Kidambi Srikanth, Jitu Rai would also give their debut appearance in various other cat-egories of the games. Dutee Chand, in

an interview recently said, “Abhi to bas shuruat hai, medal lane ki koshish karungi.” On one hand where a number of players would be representing the nation for the first time, there are ex-perienced players like Abhinav Bindra and Yogeshwar Dutt, who would be representing India for the last time in the Olympics. We of NRI Achievers wish the Indian squad all the very best for their performance at the World sports feast, the Rio Olympics.

Rio Olympics

NRI Achievers Sports Network



HERE IS THE lIST OF All pARTICIpANTSSports Men Women Total EventsTotal 67 54 121 66

SpORTS- ARCHERY, EVENTS- 3Men- 1 EventAtanu Das Men's individualWomen- 3 EventBombayla Devi Women's individual & Women's teamDeepika Kumari Women's individual & Women's teamLaxmirani Majhi Women's individual & Women's team

SpORTS- ATHlETICS, EVENTS- 21Men- 20 EventDharambir Singh 200 mJinson Johnson 800 mMuhammad Anas 400 m & 4 × 400 m relayAyyasamy Dharun 4 × 400 m relayMohan Kumar 4 × 400 m relaySumit Kumar 4 × 400 m relayMohammed Kunhi 4 × 400 m relayArokia Rajiv 4 × 400 m relayThonakal Gopi MarathonKheta Ram MarathonNitender Singh Rawat MarathonBaljinder Singh 20 km walkGurmeet Singh 20 km walkIrfan Kolothum Thodi 20 km walkSandeep Kumar 50 km walkManish Singh 50 km walkRenjith Maheshwary Triple jumpAnkit Sharma Long jumpInderjeet Singh Shot putVikas Gowda Discus throwWomen- 17 EventDutee Chand 100 mSrabani Nanda 200 mTintu Luka 800 mNirmala Sheoran 400 m & 4 × 400 m relayLalita Babar 3000 m steeplechaseAshwini Akkunji 4 × 400 m relayDebashree Majumdar 4 × 400 m relayJisna Mathews 4 × 400 m relayM. R. Poovamma 4 × 400 m relayAnilda Thomas 4 × 400 m relayO. P. Jaisha MarathonKavita Raut MarathonSudha Singh Marathon & 4 × 400 m relayKhushbir Kaur 20 km walkSapna Punia 20 km walkManpreet Kaur Shot putSeema Antil Discus throw

SpORTS- BADmINTON, EVENTS-4Men-3 EventSrikanth Kidambi SinglesManu Attri DoublesB. Sumeeth Reddy DoublesWomen-4 Event

Saina Nehwal SinglesPusarla SindhuJwala Gutta DoublesAshwini Ponnappa Doubles

SpORTS- BOxINg, EVENTS-3Men-3 EventShiva Thapa BantamweightManoj Kumar Light welterweightVikas Krishan Yadav Middleweight

SpORTS- FIElD HOCkEY, EVENTS-2Men-16 EventSurender Kumar Men's tournamentDanish Mujtaba Men's tournamentV. R. Raghunath Men's tournamentAkashdeep Singh Men's tournamentChinglensana Singh Men's tournamentHarmanpreet Singh Men's tournamentKothajit Singh Men's tournamentManpreet Singh Men's tournamentRamandeep Singh Men's tournamentRupinder Pal Singh Men's tournamentSardara Singh Men's tournamentP. R. Sreejesh (C & GK) Men's tournamentS. V. Sunil Men's tournamentNikkin Thimmaiah Men's tournamentS. K. Uthappa Men's tournamentDevinder Walmiki Men's tournamentWomen-16 EventSavita Punia (GK) Women's tournamentDeep Grace Ekka Women's tournamentDeepika Thakur Women's tournamentNamita Toppo Women's tournamentSunita Lakra Women's tournamentSushila Chanu (C) Women's tournamentLilima Minz Women's tournamentRenuka Yadav Women's tournamentNikki Pradhan Women's tournamentMonika Malik Women's tournamentNavjot Kaur Women's tournamentAnuradha Devi Women's tournamentPoonam Rani Women's tournamentVandana Katariya Women's tournamentPreeti Dubey Women's tournamentRani Rampal Women's tournamentavita Punia (GK) Women's tournament

SpORTS- gOlF, EVENTS-2Men-2 EventShiv Chawrasia GolfAnirban Lahiri GolfWomen-1 EventAditi Ashok Golf

SpORTS- gYmNASTICS, EVENTS-1Women-1 EventDipa Karmakar Artistic

SpORTS- JUDO, EVENTS-1Men-1 EventAvtar Singh Men's −90 kg

Sports Scan



SpORTS- ROwINg, EVENTS-1Men-1 EventDattu Baban Bhokanal Men's single sculls

SpORTS- SHOOTINg, EVENTS-11Men-9 EventAbhinav Bindra 10 m air rifleGagan Narang 10 m air rifle, 50 m rifle prone & 50

m rifle 3 positionsKynan Chenai TrapMairaj Ahmad Khan SkeetPrakash Nanjappa 50 m pistolJitu Rai 10 m air pistol, 50 m pistolChain Singh 50 m rifle prone, 50 m rifle 3 positionsGurpreet Singh 10 m air pistol, 25 m rapid fire pistolManavjit S. Sandhu TrapWomen-3 EventApurvi Chandela 10 m air rifleAyonika Paul 10 m air rifleHeena Sidhu 10 m air pistol & 25 m pistol

SpORTS- SwImmINg, EVENTS-2Men-1 EventSajan Prakash 200 m butterflyWomen-1 EventShivani Kataria 200 m freestyle

SpORTS- TABlE TENNIS, EVENTS-2Men-2 EventSharath K. Achanta Men's singlesSoumyajit Ghosh Men's singlesWomen-2 EventManika Batra Women's singlesMouma Das Women's singles

SpORTS- TENNIS, EVENTS-3Men-2 EventRohan Bopanna Men's doublesLeander Paes Men's doublesWomen-2 EventSania Mirza Women's doublesPrarthana Thombare Women's doublesMixed doubles EventS. Mirza & R. Bopanna Mixed Double

SpORTS- wEIgHTlIFTINg, EVENTS-2Men-1 EventSathish Sivalingam Men's −77 kgWomen-1 EventSaikhom Mirabai Chanu Women's −48 kg

SpORTS- wRESTlINg, EVENTS-8Men-5 EventSandeep Tomar -57 kgYogeshwar Dutt-65 kg Men's freestyleNarsingh P. Yadav-74 kg Men's freestyleRavinder Khatri −85 kgHardeep Singh −98 kgWomen-3 EventVinesh Phogat−48 kg Women's freestyleBabita Kumari−53 kg Women's freestyleSakshi Malik−58 kg Women's freestyle

Rio Olympics

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SADHGURU JAGGI VASUDEVMAN, MYSTIC & VISIONARY

“How deeply you touch another life is how rich your life is ... the greatest thing that you can do in life is to live to your peak and to set an example that there is a way to live beyond all limitations ... this life for me is an endeavour to help people experience and express their ultimate nature ... it is … also … an endeavour to help people experience and express their divinity … .” – Sadhguru

Sadhguru – sant, sadhu, seer, mystic, visionary – much has been written, said and broadcast about this self-realized Indian yogi, who apropos

is also a prolific writer and teacher, waxing eloquent on myriad topics and themes. There exists a whole treasure trove of infor-mation on him in the public domain, from features and profiles to his discourses and writings, from media interviews and con-

versations to talks given at various world fora – he certainly is no stranger to many of us. Founder of Isha, a group of globe-span-ning non-for-profit organisations that offer yoga and wellness programmes to people from across the world, Sadhguru is based out of Coimbatore, India; while maintaining a presence in the United States and Great Britain, Lebanon and Singapore, Canada, Malaysia, Uganda, China, Nepal and Aus-tralia. His Foundation's deep involvement in serious social and community develop-ment activities has won it much acclaim, like

the special consultative status it enjoys with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

Sadhguru was born in Mysore, Karnataka, on Tuesday the 3rd September 1957 to Su-sheela and Dr. Vasudev, an ophthalmologist with the Indian Railways. Jagadish, the youngest of four siblings, or Jaggi as has come to be known, evolved a deep interest in the workings of nature at a very young

age. Snake-catching and truancy came naturally to him during his school days, even as he forayed frequently into the woods and jungle nearby, with sojourns sometimes lasting up to three days at a time. And in youth, his blunt clarity in life earned him the unenviable job of unofficial counsellor to problem-prone mates. But it was a chance encounter with Malladihalli Sri Raghaven-dra Swamiji when Jaggi was all of 12 years, as it turns out later, the watershed event that changed his life making him what he is to-day. The Swamiji takes Jaggi under his wing

then, teaching him a set of simple yogasanas that Jaggi religiously maintained and prac-tised … “without a single day's break, this simple yoga that was taught to me kept hap-pening, leading to a much deeper experi-ence later.”

Schooling over, Jaggi Vasudev went to Mysore University and graduated with a bachelor's degree in English Literature. This was the time he developed a fascination for

motorcycles, and indulged in its logical cor-ollary – travelling places on one. Chamun-di Hill for him and his friends was an oft frequented haunt, where they rendezvoused and took off on long nocturnal drives. Jag-gi Vasudev has apropos travelled extensive-ly to many nooks and corners of our country astride his motorcycle in his lifetime. This new-found passion and wanderlust egged him on “to earn some quick money,” and just ride off somewhere at every whim. His at-tempts to put this plan into action saw him taking up a whole bunch of profitable busi-

Indian mystics



nesses soon after graduation – a poultry farm, a brickworks and a construction busi-ness are well worth mention here.

The year was 1982 and Jaggi had just turned 25. One fine September day, some-thing in him drove him to ride up Chamun-di Hill ... and there he sat alone still as the rock he was perched on, when all of a sud-den, an overwhelming spiritual experience assailed him. Sadhguru tells us about it: “Till that moment in my life I always thought this is me and that's somebody else and something else. But for the first time I did not know which is me and which is not me. Suddenly, what was me was just all over the place. The very rock on which I was sitting, the air that I breathe, the very atmosphere around me, I had just exploded into every-thing. That sounds like utter insanity. This, I thought it lasted for ten to fifteen minutes but when I came back to my normal con-sciousness, it was about four-and-a-half-hours I was sitting there, fully conscious, eyes open, but time had just flipped.”

Six weeks passed before Jaggi simply left his businesses to a friend and took off on a motorcycle on a soul-searching expedition, travelling wherever his fancy took him … virtually leading the life of a nomad, in an attempt to grasp that elusive trigger which had led to his mystical experience. A year of travel and meditation passed by before Jaggi came to a conclusion – he would teach yoga to share his inner experience with oth-ers. His first class happened in 1983 at Mys-ore, with just seven participants. Over time, he took his yoga classes all across Karnataka and to Hyderabad, travelling from class to class on his ever-present and ubiquitous mo-torcycle, living off the rental proceeds of his poultry farm, and refusing to take any pay-ment for the classes – any collections that came from participants he would donate to a local charity on the last day of class. Jaggi Vasudev had taken the first step to become Sadhguru, as he is affectionately known to-day to his followers and well-wishers.

What transpired from then on till now is a rather amply well-documented story – on how the first ashram in the Velliangiri foot-hills came about to the gradual expansion of Isha to become a world-girdling organisa-tion with millions of followers, volunteers

and devotees who have pledged their life-times to full-time work with the various Isha endeavours ... the Dhyanalingam, the Linga Bhairavi temple, the Adi-Yogi Aalayam – its all very much there in the public domain, which spares us the need to delve into it. After all, google’s your friend, just go ahead and google it! We, instead, shall tentatively explore and glean a few subjective aspects aspects of Sadhguru from that ocean of ma-terial available about him in media archives – some of them insightful and some simply anecdotal – to better understand the man, the mystic, the visionary and seer – and at-tempt getting a bit more closer to him through the effort…

The Sadhguru, at the very first sight, while he surely defies any stereotype of godmen or spiritual gurus, comes across as a man who loves all good things in life. “Oh, you are still using that Apple 4,” he quips to a journalist using it to record the tête-à-tête. This by the way is the real Jaggi Vasudev – modern day tech-savvy yogi and mystic who takes pleasure riding sports bikes, plays golf and, of course, is at home with modern gadgets. “If your idea of a guru is from a calendar, who has candy-floss beard and a

constipated look on his face, then definitely I am not that. If someone has to be a guru he has to be contemporary, otherwise what sense will he make to modern day people,” he questions. And narrating how he reacts to people who often ask why he drives his own car or flies a helicopter when yogis in ancient times just used to walk, he says: “I tell them that in those days everyone used to walk, not merely the yogis !”

Sadhguru, who is known to hold radical views on a whole range of issues, is however quite vocally disapproving and anxious about every aspect of our lives getting bla-tantly commercial. “For me, health, educa-tion and spirituality should never be com-

Metaphysical Musings



mercialised. Unfortunately, the first two have already succumbed to commercialisa-tion, and now it’s slowly creeping into the spiritual sphere as well.”

Passionate about sports, Sadhguru is of the view that sport is a path to spirituality as well. This conviction of his has found ample expression in the path his foundation adopt-ed decades ago, when they promoted an an-nual sports-focused event called ‘Gramot-savam’ in the Coimbatore district of Tamil-nadu. “It all started some 24 years ago when we set up a yoga centre near Coimbatore. We thought we would teach yoga in the sur-rounding villages. On the first day, about 150 people came and after the programme, we served them meals. Next day, only 70 people turned up. When I asked the reason, I was told that many people have reserva-tions about eating with certain caste mem-bers. I realised the 1,000-year-old caste prac-tice was not going to go away in a day. So, instead of the afternoon meal, I made them play together. No scripture, after all, says you should not play together.”

In due course, his experiments with sport have only strengthened his convictions –

sport was indeed a powerful medium that overrides caste and religion barriers to bring people of all ilks together. “I observed this is America, where till the late 1960s many whites hated the blacks, but loved to have Magic Johnson’s photo in their bedrooms,” recalls Sadhguru. By the same logic the Isha promoted Gramotsavam reveals yet another another spin-off – it has in a sense become a liberating activity for village women, who according to the mystic have never played a game since they were eight or nine years of age. “Today, even a 73-year-old grandmoth-er walks onto the throwball court to the ap-plause of thousands of spectators. This is indeed liberation ... .”

As far as mystics go, Sadhguru Jaggi Vas-udev has consistently defied every precon-ceived notion you might hold about spirit-ual leaders. He admits to being as comfort-able walking barefoot in the Himalayas to riding a BMW motorcycle on the highways or skimming hilltops in a helicopter. So it's really not all that unusual to see him spend lunch hour playing a game of frisbee with Isha volunteers, or writing a poem on the nature of money ... in the handmade paper journal he always carries around with him. His schedule is often an eclectic mix – rang-ing from addressing a gathering at the World Economic Forum in Davos to conducting an ‘Inner Engineering’ yoga programme in London. Recollecting the resentment of some people the first time he was invited to speak at the World Economic Forum, Sad-hguru says, “I met a few people who ques-tioned what a mystic was doing there. I told

them that whether you make computers or software, the most essential business is hu-man well being, and that's my business too.”

Closely attuned as he is to the business world, he is much critical of CSR efforts by corporates. “CSR has become a guilt-wash-ing process. Instead, why can't companies structure their businesses such that it ben-efits the world and its people?” he asks. His logic is rather simple – Instead of letting your money lie idle in a bank account, why not use it to set up a new business with lower profit margins, but offering more widespread services? If you are good at it, your venture will expand and grow with more people benefiting from it, and it might just do away with the need for charity. “No-body likes receiving a dole – it's not in the human dignity to do so. People may accept it because they are desperate, but nobody is happy to be at the receiving end of charity” he says. “Once you nourish a plant, you don't have to worry about what it will create because it will blossom all over the place, whether you like it or not,” is his view.

Well, much much more can be written about Sadhguru and his extraordinary ap-proach to living and dying. I am in fact ac-tually very tempted indeed to pen a piece that will take off from Sadhguru’s views on ‘the art of dying,’ but I will reserve it for some other time. That said and done, it is not my intention to write a hagiography, but instead point to the truism that the life Sad-hguru Jaggi Vasudev has led reads like a well-structured life-manual for good living. And yes, Sadhguru ... he is a strange man — a very strange man indeed — but ... he's for real.

Suchindran ChakravarthiThe writer is a technocrat who dabbles in

Journalism print & Broadcast photography & creative visual arts.

Indian mystics



SADHGURU'S VISION FOR INDIAIt is indeed providence we need to thank for this column by Sad-hguru enriching our magazine, which actually happens to be the culmination of a chance encounter between two patients in a Ko-vai (Coimbatore) hospital … our senior editor and the Swami at Isha responsible for English publications. So here we are – a col-umn penned by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev – self-realised yogi, mod-ern mystic and prolific author, the man behind the Isha Founda-tion. What does India need in the next 10-15 years ? Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev puts forth and shares his vision for India.

I don’t want to impose my vision on everyone. All I am saying is, every human being is aspiring to live well, and whichever way they are aspiring,

that should happen to them. They don’t have to live the way I think they should live. But definitely our aspirations should not be crafted on western models because they are not sustainable. Western coun-tries are managing it because their popu-lations are in a certain way. The land to population ratios in United States and in our country are a completely different game. For example, today the average

amount of water that is available for one Indian citizen is only 25% of what we had in 1947. They say by 2050, it will be 15%. So our ideas of well-being have to change. We cannot dream to create our vision or build a nation just like some other coun-try. We have to adjust our vision as it is needed for us, as it will work for us.

“Today, India is on the threshold of an economic upsurge. Various things that we did not even dream were possible for a larger segment of the population could be possible in the next few years – if we han-dle things right. Large segments of the population could benefit hugely. We are

right on the threshold, and if we handle the situation smartly, we can be a tremen-dous power because we are a population of 1.3 billion. A population of 1.3 billion with the necessary intellect, is as good as anything can be. If we handle ourselves right, we can be a tremendous power.

“Power does not mean, 'Will we have the biggest army in the world ?' Power means if they want to live well, everyone looks at you for guidance. This culture has always had this power. People always looked east when they thought of living well. So this is not empty talk. This was

there but the culture has fallen. One must understand, this happens to all cultures. There will be peaks and there will be downtrends. If we as a generation have any sense, we have to pull it up. It does not happen free of cost, everyone has to work for it.

“Every individual, whatever sphere of life he is in, whatever responsibility he holds, whatever influence he has, has to stand up and make that happen in his area. Just the governments cannot do this, some other leader cannot do it. Every hu-man being has to do it.

“A vision for India is not about what I

think or what you think. What people need is what needs to happen. Right now, what people need is at least reasonably decent levels of living. So the most impor-tant thing is nourishment, which must happen. Today, sixty percent of the Indian population is considered malnourished – even the reasonably well-to-do – be-cause their skeletal systems are not grow-ing to full size. If your body does not grow to full size, your brain will also not grow fully. We are producing an underdevel-oped humanity, which is a very great risk for the future. If you have 1.3 billion peo-ple, healthy, active, focused and trained for something, you can make a miracle out of it. But if you have 1.3 billion people unhealthy, undernourished, uneducated, unfocused and uninspired, you have a major disaster on your hands.

“Are we going to turn this population – which is the youngest population on the planet in terms of nations – into a possi-bility, or are we going to turn this into a disaster? We are going to determine that in the next ten to fifteen years’ time. And every human being who breathes on this land has to participate in making this hap-pen in whichever way he can do it. That is my vision: to draw as many people as possible to actively participate in this, in whichever way possible.

“Because if this time passes, it may be too late.

“If you sit on the threshold for too long, you will be run over by someone else.”


EVERy INDIVIDUAl, wHAtEVER SpHERE OF lIFE HE IS IN, wHAtEVER RESpONSIbIlIty HE HOlDS, wHAtEVER INFlUENcE HE HAS, HAS tO StAND Up AND mAkE tHAt HAppEN IN HIS AREA


August 201648

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¥æ¿æØü ¿æ‡æ€UØ °·¤ °ðâè ×ãæÙ çßÖêçÌ Íð, çÁ‹ãô´Ùð ¥ÂÙè çßmžææ ¥õÚU ÿæ×Ìæ¥ô´ ·Ô¤ ÕÜ ÂÚU ÖæÚUÌèØ §çÌãæâ ·¤è ÏæÚUæ ·¤ô ÕÎÜ çÎØæ. ×õØü âæ×ýæ’Ø ·Ô¤ â´SÍæÂ·¤ ¿æ‡æ€UØ ·¤éàæÜ ÚUæÁÙèçÌ™æ, ¿ÌéÚU ·¤êÅUÙèçÌ™æ, Âý·¤æ´Ç ¥ÍüàææS˜æè ·Ô¤ M¤Â ×ð´ Öè çßEçß�ØæÌ ãé°. §ÌÙè âçÎØæ¡ »éÁÚUÙð ·Ô¤ ÕæÎ ¥æÁ Öè ØçÎ ¿æ‡æ€UØ mæÚUæ ÕÌæ° »° çâhæ´Ì ¥õÚU ÙèçÌØæ¡ Âýæâ´ç»·¤ ãñ´ Ìô ×æ˜æ §âçÜ°, ç·¤ ©‹ãô´Ùð ¥ÂÙð »ãÙ ¥ŠØØÙ, ç¿´ÌÙ ¥õÚU ÁèßæÙæÙéÖßô´ âð ¥çÁüÌ ¥×êËØ ™ææÙ ·¤ô, ÂêÚUè ÌÚUã çÙÑSßæÍü ãô·¤ÚU ×æÙßèØ ·¤ËØæ‡æ ·Ô¤ ©gðàØ âð ¥çÖÃØQ¤ ç·¤Øæ. Âðàæ ãñ v| ¥ŠØæØô´ ßæÜè '¿æ‡æ€UØ ÙèçÌ' ·¤æ ÀÆUæ ¥ŠØæØ. ãÚU ¥´·¤ ×ð´ ã× °·¤ ¥ŠØæØ ÂÚU ÙÁÚU ÇæÜÌð ãñ´.v. Ÿæß‡æ ·¤ÚUÙð âð Ï×´ü ·¤æ ™ææÙ ãôÌæ ãñ, mðá ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñ, ™ææÙ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ×æØæ ·¤è ¥æâçQ¤ âð ×éçQ¤ ãôÌè ãñ.By means of hearing one understands dharma, malignity vanishes, knowledge is acquired, and liberation from material bondage is gained.w. ÂçÿæØô´ ×ð´ ·¤õßæ Ùè¿ ãñ, Âàæé¥ô´ ×ð´ ·¤éžææ Ùè¿ ãñ, Áô ÌÂSßè ÂæÂ ·¤ÚUÌæ ãñ ßô çƒæÙõÙæ ãñ, Üðç·¤Ù Áô ÎêâÚUô´ ·¤è çÙ´Îæ ·¤ÚUÌæ ãñ ßã âÕâð ÕÇ¸æ ¿æ´ÇæÜ ãñ.Among birds the crow is vile; among beasts the dog; the ascetic whose sins is abominable, but he who blasphemes others is the worst chandala.x. ÚUæ¹ âð çƒæâÙð ÂÚU ÂèÌÜ ¿×·¤Ìæ ãñ, Ìæ�Õæ §×Üè âð âæÈ¤ ãôÌæ ãñ, ¥õÚUÌð´ ÂýÎÚU âð àæéh ãôÌè ãñ, ÙÎè ÕãÌè ÚUãð Ìô âæÈ¤ ÚUãÌè ãñ.Ashes to polish Brass; tamarind to clean copper; for a woman her menses; and a river its flow.y. ÚUæÁæ, Õýæ±×‡æ ¥õÚU ÌÂSßè Øô»è ÁÕ ÎêâÚUð Îðàæ ÁæÌð ãñ´, Ìô ¥æÎÚU ÂæÌð ãñ´, Üðç·¤Ù ¥õÚUÌ ØçÎ ÖÅU·¤ ÁæÌè ãñ Ìô ÕÕæüÎ ãô ÁæÌè ãñ.The king, the brahmana, and the ascetic yogi who go abroad are respected; but the woman who wanders is utterly ruined.z. ÏÙßæÙ ÃØçQ¤ ·Ô¤ ·¤§ü ç×˜æ ãôÌð ãñ´, ·¤§ü â�Õ‹Ïè Öè ãôÌð ãñ´, ÏÙßæÙ ·¤ô ãè ¥æÎ×è ·¤ãæ ÁæÌæ ãñ ¥õÚU ÂñâðßæÜô´ ·¤ô ãè Â´çÇÌ ·¤ã ·¤ÚU ÙßæÁæ ÁæÌæ ãñ.The wealthy will have friends around them, and relatives too. Only the rich fellow is called a man, and only the affluent are respected as pandits.{. âßü àæçQ¤×æÙ ·¤è §‘Àæ âð ãè Õéçh ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÌè ãñ, ßãUè´ ·¤×ô´ü ·¤ô çÙØ´ç˜æÌ ·¤ÚUÌæ ãñ, ©âè ·¤è §‘Àæ âð ¥æâ Âæâ ×ð´ ×ÎÎ ·¤ÚUÙð ßæÜð ¥æ ÁæÌð ãñ´.As is the desire of Providence, so functions one's intellect; one's activities are also con-trolled by Providence; and by the will of Providence one is surrounded by helpers.|. ·¤æÜ âÖè Áèßô´ ·¤ô çÙÂé‡æÌæ ÂýÎæÙ ·¤ÚUÌæ ãñ, âÖè

ÎêâÚUô´ ·¤è çÙ´Îæ ·¤ÚUÙð ßæÜæ âÕâð ÕÇ¸æ ¿æ´ÇæÜ ãñ




Áèßô´ ·¤æ â´ãæÚU Öè ·¤ÚUÌæ ãñ, Áæ»Ìæ ÚUãÌæ ãñ ÁÕ âÕ âô ÁæÌð ãñÚ, ·¤æÜ ·¤ô ·¤ô§ü ÁèÌ Ùãè´ â·¤Ìæ.Time perfects all living beings as well as kills them; it alone is awake when all others are asleep. Time is insurmountable.}. Áô Á‹× âð ¥´Ïæ ãñ ßô Îð¹ Ùãè´ â·¤Ìæ, ©âè ÌÚUã Áô ßæâÙæ ·Ô¤ ¥ÏèÙ ãñ ßô Öè Îð¹ Ùãè´ â·¤Ìè, ¥ã´·¤æÚUè ÃØçQ¤ ·¤ô ·¤Öè °ðâæ Ùãè´ Ü»Ìæ ·¤è ßã ·¤éÀ ÕéÚUæ ·¤ÚU ÚUãæ ãñ ¥õÚU Áô Âñâð ·Ô¤ ÂèÀð ÂÇ¸ð ãñ´ ©Ù·¤ô ©Ù·Ô¤ ·¤×ô´ü ×ð´ ·¤ô§ü ÂæÂ çÎ¹æ§ü Ùãè´ ÎðÌæ.Those born blind cannot see; likewise blind are those who are in the grip of lust. Proud men have no perception of evil; and those bent on acquiring riches see no sin in their actions.~. Áèßæˆ×æ ¥ÂÙð ·¤×ü ·Ô¤ ×æ»ü âð ÁæÌæ ãñ ¥õÚU Áô Öè ÖÜð-ÕéÚUð ÂçÚU‡ææ× ·¤×ô´ü ·Ô¤ ¥æÌð ãñÚ ©‹ãð´ Öô»Ìæ ãñ, ¥ÂÙð ãè ·¤×ôü âð ßã â´âæÚU ×ð´ Õæ´ÏÌæ ãñ ¥õÚU ¥ÂÙð ãè ·¤×ô´ü âð Õ´ÏÙô âð ÀêÅUÌæ ãñ.The spirit soul goes through its own course of karma and it itself suffers the good and bad results accrued thereby. By its own ac-tions it entangles itself in samsara, and by its own efforts it extricates itself.v®. ÚUæÁæ ·¤ô ©â·Ô¤ Ùæ»çÚU·¤ô´ ·Ô¤ ÂæÂ Ü»Ìð ãñ´, ÚUæÁæ ·Ô¤ Øãæ¡ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð ßæÜð ÂéÁæÚUè ·¤ô ÚUæÁæ ·Ô¤ ÂæÂ Ü»Ìð ãñ´, ÂçÌ ·¤ô Â%è ·Ô¤ ÂæÂ Ü»Ìð ãñ´, »éL¤ ·¤ô ©â·Ô¤ çàæcØô´ ·Ô¤ ÂæÂ Ü»Ìð ãñ´.The king is obliged to accept the sins of his subjects; the purohit suffers for those of the king; a husband suffers for those of his wife; and the guru suf-f e r s

for t h o s e

of his pu-pils.

vv. ¥ÂÙð ãè ƒæÚU ×ð´ ÃØçQ¤ ·Ô¤ Øð àæ˜æé ãô â·¤Ìð

ãñÚ- ©â·¤æ ÕæÂ ØçÎ ßã ãÚUÎ× ·¤Áü ×ð´ ÇêÕæ ÚUãÌæ ãñ, ©â·¤è ×æ¡ ØçÎ ßã ÎêâÚUð ÂéL¤á âð â´» ·¤ÚUÌè ãñ, âé‹ÎÚU Â%è ¥æñÚU ßã ÜÇ¸·¤æ çÁâÙð çàæÿææ Âýæ# Ùãè´ ·¤è.A father who is a chronic debtor, an adulter-ous mother, a beautiful wife, and an unlearned son are all enemies (in one's own home).

vw. °·¤ ÜæÜ¿è ¥æÎ×è ·¤ô ßSÌé Öð´ÅU Îð ·¤ÚU â´ÌéC ·¤ÚUð´, °·¤ ·¤ÆôÚU ¥æÎ×è ·¤ô ãæÍ ÁôÇ¸·¤ÚU â´ÌéC ·¤ÚUð´, °·¤ ×ê¹ü ·¤ô â�×æÙ Îð·¤ÚU â´ÌéC ·¤ÚUð´, °·¤ çßmæÙ÷ ¥æÎ×è ·¤ô â¿ ÕôÜ·¤ÚU â´ÌéC ·¤ÚUð´.Conciliate a covetous man by means of a gift, an obstinate man with folded hands in salutation, a fool by hunouring him, and a learned man by truthful words.vx. °·¤ Õð·¤æÚU ÚUæ’Ø ·¤æ ÚUæÁæ ãôÙð âð Øã ÕðãÌÚU ãñ ·¤è ÃØçQ¤ ç·¤âè ÚUæ’Ø ·¤æ ÚUæÁæ Ùæ ãô, °·¤ ÂæÂè ·¤æ ç×˜æ ãôÙð âð ÕðãÌÚU ãñ ·¤è çÕÙæ ç×˜æ ·¤æ ãô, °·¤ ×ê¹ü ·¤æ »éL¤ ãôÙð âð ÕðãÌÚU ãñ ·¤è çÕÙæ çàæcØ ßæÜæ ãô, °·¤ Â%è ãôÙð âð ÕðãÌÚU ãñ ·¤è çÕÙæ Â%è ßæÜæ ãô. °·¤ Õð·¤æÚU ÚUæ’Ø ×ð´ Üô» âé¹è ·ñ¤âð ãUæð´? °·¤ ÂæÂè âð ç·¤âè àææç‹Ì ·¤è Âýæç# ·ñ¤âð ãô? °·¤ ÕéÚUè Â%è ·Ô¤ âæÍ ƒæÚU ×ð´ ·¤õÙâæ âé¹ Âýæ# ãô â·¤Ìæ ãñ, °·¤ ÙæÜæØ·¤ çàæcØ ·¤è çàæÿææ Îð·¤ÚU ·ñ¤âð ·¤èçÌü Âýæ# ãô.It is better to be without a kingdom than to rule over a petty one; better to be without a friend than to befriend a rascal; better to be without a disci-ple than to have a stu-pid one; and better to be without a wife than to have a bad o n e .

How can people be

made happy in a petty kingdom? What peace can we

expect from a rascal friend? What happiness can we have at home in the

company of a bad wife? How can renown be gained by instructing an unworthy dis-ciple?

vy. àæðÚU âð °·¤ ÕæÌ âè¹ð´, Õ»éÜð âð °·¤, ×é»ðü âð ¿æÚU, ·¤õßð âð Âæ´¿, ·¤éžæð âð Àã, ¥õÚU »Ïð âð ÌèÙ.Learn one thing from a lion; one from a crane; four from a cock; five from a crow; six from a dog; and three from an ass.vz. àæðÚU âð Øã ÕçÉ¸Øæ ÕæÌ âè¹ð´ ·¤è ¥æÂ Áô Öè ·¤ÚUÙæ ¿æãÌð ãô °·¤çÎÜè âð ¥õÚU ÁÕÚUÎSÌ ÂýØæâ âð ·¤ÚÔÚ.The one excellent lesson to learn from a lion is that whatever a man intends doing

should be done by him with a whole-heart-ed and strenuous effort.v{. Õéçh×æÙ ÃØçQ¤ ¥ÂÙè §ç‹ÎýØô´ ·¤ô Õ»éÜð ·¤è ÌÚUã ßàæ ×ð´ ·¤ÚUÌð ãé° ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ·¤ô Á»ã, â×Ø ¥õÚU Øô‚ØÌæ ·¤æ ÂêÚUæ ŠØæÙ ÚU¹Ìð ãé° Âê‡æü ·¤ÚUð.The wise man should restrain his senses like the crane and accomplish his purpose with due knowledge of his place, time and ability.v|. ×é»ðü âð ¿æÚU ÕæÌð âè¹ð´... âãè â×Ø ÂÚU ©UÆðÚ, ÙèÇÚU ÕÙð´ ¥õÚU ÜÇ¸ð´, â´Âçžæ ·¤æ çÚUàÌðÎæÚUô´ âð ©ç¿Ì ÕÅUßæÚUæ ·¤ÚÔÚ, ¥ÂÙð ·¤C âð ¥ÂÙæ ÚUôÁ»æÚU Âýæ# ·¤ÚÔÚ.To wake at the proper time; to take a bold stand and fight; to make a fair division (of property) among relations; and to earn one's own bread by personal exertion are the four excellent things to be learned from

a cock.v}. ·¤õßð âð Øð Âæ´¿ ÕæÌð âè¹ð´... ¥ÂÙè Â%è ·Ô¤ âæÍ °·¤æ´Ì ×ð´ Âý‡æØ

·¤ÚÔÚ, ÙèÇÚUÌæ, ©ÂØô»è ßSÌé¥æð´ ·¤æ â´¿Ø ·¤ÚÔÚ, âÖè ¥ôÚU ÎëçCU ƒæé×æØð´, ÎéâÚUæð´

ÂÚU ¥æâæÙè âð çßEæâ Ùæ ·¤ÚÔÚ.Union in privacy (with one's wife); bold-ness; storing away useful items; watchful-ness; and not easily trusting others; these

five things are to be learned from a crow.v~. ·¤éžæð âð Øð ÕæÌð´ âè¹ð´... ÕãéÌ Öê¹ ãô ÂÚU ¹æÙð ·¤ô ·¤éÀ Ùæ ç×Üð Øæ ·¤× ç×Üð Ìô Öè â´Ìôá ·¤ÚÔÚ, »ãUÚUè Ùè´Î ×ð´ ãUæð´ Ìô Öè ÿæ‡æ ×ð´ ©Æ Áæ°´, ¥ÂÙð Sßæ×è ·Ô¤ ÂýçÌ Õðçã¿·¤ §×æÙÎæÚUè ÚU¹ð´, ÙèÇÚUÌæ.Contentment with little or nothing to eat although one may have a great appetite; to awaken instantly although one may be in a deep slumber; unflinching devotion to the master; and bravery; these six qualities should be learned from the dog.w®. »Ïð âð Øð ÌèÙ ÕæÌð´ âè¹ð´- âÎèü-»×èü ·¤è ç¿´Ìæ Ùæ ·¤ÚÔÚ, ¥ÂÙæ ÕôÛææ ÉôÙæ Ùæ ÀôÇ¸ð´, âÎæ â´ÌéC ÚUãðÚ.Although an ass is tired, he continues to car-ry his burden; he is unmindful of cold and heat; and he is always contented; these three things should be learned from the ass.Áô ÃØçQ¤ §Ù Õèâ »é‡æô´ ÂÚU ¥×Ü ·¤ÚUð»æ ßã Áô Öè ·¤ÚUð»æ âÈ¤Ü ãô»æ.He who practices these twenty virtues shall be-come invincible in all his undertakings.

Source: www.hindisathityadarpan.com

Chanakya Neeti



Cineppets

Sania Mirza is a name synonymous with the sport she excels in – Tennis. Salman the Khan recently released the tennis star’s autobiography in Mumbai. 'ACE AGAINST ODDS' is the story of this iconic Indian player who overcame incred-ible odds to get to the top of her sport. Sania writes with candour of the hardships along the way, of the physical and emotional trauma caused by injuries and medical proce-dures, of the friends and partners who became her mainstay along with her family, about the pressures of constant pub-lic scrutiny and last, but not least, the politics and heart-breaks that inevitably accompany success. Salman Khan said “Sania has been an inspiration to a lot of young girls today. It’s her undying spirit with which she keeps going is what makes her special.” The book 'ACE AGAINST ODDS' is published by HarperCollins India.

SALMAN LAUNCHES AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SANIA MIRZA

Lesle Lewis has done it yet again by re-inventing Bollywood in his own unique & inimitable style. This time, the Tap Res-to Bar at Saki Naka resonated with the sound of his music, with over a 1000 youth singing along at Lesle's Live Perform-ance, which showcased contemporary & nostalgic Bollywood hits with a plethora of high energy international background scores ranging from rock, salsa, jazz, pop & EDM – numbers with ageless appeal to one and all. From Dum Maaro Dum, Roop Tera Mastana, Yaaron Dosti, Pari Hoon Main, Jaanam Samjha Karo and a Sa Ni Dha Pa, to today's fare and much more.

SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER WITH LESLE LEWIS LIVE

A young man from Hyderabad – Rohit Khandelwal – has created his-tory, he is the first Indian to wrest the coveted title of Mr World 2016 from Asia. He puts 46 participants from across the world behind him in the race for Mr. World, bringing immeasurable honour to India. The event was judged by a reputed panel of judges comprising experts from various countries. After several rounds of sub-contests, including Mr World Talent, Mr World Sports Event and Mobstar People's Choice Awards, he was adjudged Mr World 2016 at a grand ceremony held on July 19 at Southport Theatre, Floral Hall, The Promenade, Southport (UK). He has also won the Mr World Multimedia Award at the event and a cash prize of US$ 50,000. Winning the pageant was important to him as no one else from the country has brought the title home so far. Rohit says: “My parents had tears in their eyes and said that I've made them proud. I gave my best in every round. For instance, I performed to Malhari (from Bajirao Mastani) in the talent round. Though it was a short act, I actually learnt sword fighting for it. In those 10 days that I spent with my co-contestants, I made a lot of friends. They liked my attitude and voted for me. The fact that I've been actively involved in causes and have conducted workshops gave me an edge over others.

INDIA'S ROHIT KHANDELWAL IS MR WORLD 2016

NRI Achievers Mumbai Bureau


www.nriachievers.in 51July 2016



Silver Screen

The affable actor who has come to in his own right up the ladder of success after his humble debut with Karan Johar’s THE STU-DENT OF THE YEAR and proved his mettle in films like MAIN TERA HERO, HUMPTY SHARMA KI DULHANIYA, BADLAPUR, ABCD 2 and DIL-WALE tells NRI Achievers that though he finds the process of acting very boring, he finds it is very much worth it.

VARUN DHAWANA STAR ON HIS OWN STEAM

l What is your latest film Dishoom about ?

The action adventure film is based on just a one line. What happens when In-dia's top batsman goes missing in the Middle East and two cops from either side of the Arabian Sea set out for a 36-hour man hunt for him.l What is your role in the film ?

Play Junaid Ansari, a rooky cop, who is on the trail of the cricketer. To prepare for my part in the film, I had to undergo three months of strenuous physical training.l What is Akshaye Khanna doing in the film, which is a sort of comeback for him as an actor ?

Akshaye Khanna, who was last seen in GALI GALI CHOR HAI is all set to make a comeback with DISHOOM as the main antagonist. His role will be that of a flamboyant smart-talking vil-lain, who rattles off one wisecrack after another. Though Akshaye has previ-ously played villainous roles, in this film he will be garbed in a flashy, slightly over the-top wardrobe, as an Afghan man.



Silver Screen

Jyothi VenkateshThe writer is a well-known &

established film critic.

l Whose idea was it to cast Akshaye Khanna in Dishoom ?

It takes a lot of courage for a director to take a decision to cast an actor who is unwilling to take up roles in films. It was my brother and director Rohit’s idea to cast Akshaye Khanna in the film, be-cause he felt that he will be perfect for the role. Rohit even went out of the way to go to Akshaye’s house several times to convince him to be a part of the film.l What is Sajid’s contribution to the song Sau Tarah Ke in DISHOOM ?

Sajid Nadiadwala’s contribution to the song Sau Tarah Ke in DISHOOM has been immense. It was more like a theme song in the beginning. He suggested it be made into a complete song. A film like DISHOOM could only be produced by Sajid. He has that sensibility.l How was the experience working with Jacqueline Fernandez for the first time?

We shot in Morocco, Abu Dhabi and the Middle East. I knew John earlier as he had worked with my brother in DESI BOYZ. It was for the first time that I shot with Jacqueline, who is very chilled out. l Can you go on a flashback on your career ?

After doing my Business Administra-tion at Nottingham, I came to India, became an assistant director and then started learning from Barry John and even directed three short films. I showed to Karan the short film ADRENCHROME in which I had acted. He liked it and asked me to audition for STUDENT OF THE YEAR which he was planning to direct himself. To prepare me and Sid-harth Malhotra, Karan sent us to Pine-apple School of Dancing in London.l Was acting always in your mind even when you were a kid ?

Till I obtained training in acting for two years from Barry John when he shifted from New Delhi and set up his acting school in Mumbai, I did not know how difficult it would be as an actor, be-cause an actor’s life isn’t just about glam-

our. I went through the grind by being part of several plays that Barry conduct-ed as part of his acting curriculum. Barry Sir knew that I wanted to act in films eventually and hence he encour-aged me a lot to be well versed in not only acting but also dancing and body-building by going to the gym. I learnt

Street Jazz from Shiamak Davar and dancing from Sanjay Yadav. It was sweet on the part of Prashant to offer to teach me gym training, without even taking a paisa from me.l What is your basic approach to act-ing?

I hate makeup because though I am an actor, I find the process of acting very boring. I feel that it is very taxing to por-tray and project emotions on the screen. I also feel that the working hours for an actor are crazy but then at the end of the day, frankly I feel that acting is worth it.l Why did you prefer to be launched by Karan Johar instead of by your own father David Dhawan ?

I confess that I did not want to work with father, because I would not have

been able to learn in that case from him. My father has to his credit as many as 40 films, but unlike Karan Johar or Yashji who launch new faces, my dad hasn’t launched even one single new face. I am glad I made my debut with Karan Johar’s STUDENT OF THE YEAR. Dad and Karan do not even know each other so-cially because both their schools of films are different. Dad was happy when I told him that I had joined Karan’s unit as an AD.l You acted with your father in MAIN TERA HERO after you delivered a hit in STUDENT OF THE YEAR. Why did you not like to piggyback on his name before ?

I am very practical and feel that cin-ema is no one’s birthright and hence I feel that I should come up on my own without piggybacking on my father’s brand name. People felt that David Dhawan ka beta tho comedy karega but I wanted to be an actor, not just some-body’s son. I’d like to do something edgy, because I get a kick by doing what people do not at all expect from me. I am proud of being the son of David Dhawan, who is a self made man. I knew that if I do not slog it out on my own, as his son I can go to any producer’s office, get a cup of coffee but will not bag a film, just because I am his son.l What was your father’s reaction ?

I am proud of my father and happy that he had stoically told me to make it on my own steam and not to expect him to launch a film for me, especially since even my elder brother Rohit had bagged his debut film as a director on his own steam. l What next ?

After DISHOOM, I am working in Karan Johar’s Shashank Khaitan direct-ed BADRINATH KI DULHANIYA and Sajid Nadiadwala’s JUDWAA 2.



THE FALL OF HYDERABAD

1948

H yderabad in later times became a princely state under British rule. The Nizams had during their 224-

year reign, assiduously developed their em-pire – they established railways, an airline service, postal and telecommunication sys-tems, and even a radio broadcasting system. With its own currency and a stable econo-my, a robust education system and good civic services, Hyderabad Deccan was, for all practical purposes, an independent country. With 16 million subjects and cov-ering more than 215,000 sq.kms, the state was bigger than today's Bangladesh and Sri Lanka combined.

It prospered. 1911 saw the state ruled by it's 10th ruler, Nizam Sir Mir Osman Ali Khan Siddiqi Bayafandi Asaf Jah VII, who

20th August, 1671. A son was born to Au-rangzeb's favoured general Ghaziuddin Khan Siddiqui Feroz Jung, who had commanded the siege and capture of the famous Golconda fort. The child was named 'Mir Qamaruddin Khan Siddiqui,' and grew up to serve his emperor as well. In 1724, Qamaruddin was sent to the Dec-can to replace an existing viceroy who had fallen out of favour, and Qamaruddin had to wage war with him to take up his new assignment. He won. As a reward, he was bestowed the title of ‘Asaf Jah’ (one equal of Asaf, prime minister of King Solomon). Over time, with his devout loy-alty to the Mughal court and his hard work in the Deccan, Qamaraduddin earned the title 'Nizam-ul-Mulk, Asif Jah I', to become the first Nizam of Hyderabad. Vikramjit Singh Rooprai tells the story of Hyderabad and its Nizams, in this glimpse into Deccan's History ...

was highly respected. He supported the British during WWI and contributed large sums of money, he even gifted several air-crafts to the RAF which bore his mark, and were known as the 'Hyderabad Squadron.' Financially strong, he established the Hy-derabad Bank (today the State Bank of Hy-derabad) to manage the 'Osmania Sikka.' During his period, Hyderabad was the only state allowed its own currency.

Then came a day in the August of 1947, when the British decided to move out of India and leave the princely states to decide their own fate. The Nizam chose to declare 'independence' and refused to join India or Pakistan – approaching the crown for grant of dominion status – implying that British India be partitioned into the Dominions of

India, Pakistan and Hyderabad. The British turned down his proposal, influenced by the results of the 1936-37 Indian elections where Jinnah had tried to create an Islamic State centred around the Nizam. This cam-paign, which was not supportive of the idea of democracy, suffered a major defeat hand-ed to it by the Congress with support from the Hindu Mahasabha and Arya Samaj. This British rejection of Hyderabad’s inde-pendence bid was also fuelled by fears of Balkanization.

Partition saw communal riots erupting across the subcontinent, also engulfing Hy-derabad. The Nizam deployed Razakars and Deendars, his islamic militia responsible to restore law and order. The Razakars how-ever turned hostile towards Hindus soon

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after partition, indulging in mass kidnap-pings, rapes and killings of non-muslim Hyderabadis, and hindus started fleeing Hyderabad. The communist rebels from the Telangana Rebellion rose in support of the people, joined forces with the Andhra Ma-hasabha and fought the government, lead-ing to even more bloodshed with killings of muslims in the state. All this was taking place when Hyderabad had signed a 1-year standstill agreement with the Dominion of India, whereby India would not invade Hy-derabad or interfere in its affairs as long as Hyderabad does not join the Dominion of Pakistan.

By mid 1948, however, it was found that Hyderabad was not only importing arms from Pakistan, but had also stationed a bomber squadron near Karachi to take ac-tion if India invaded Hyderabad. The state had also passed 200 million rupees to Paki-stan through the Bank of England, against which India had to take a stay, and it is said that this matter remains pending even today. Hyderabad banned Indian currency and the import of ground-nuts, beefed-up their ir-regular army of Razakars to 200,000, and prepared for an all-out liberation battle, with arms supplied by Pakistan, Portugal (via Goa) and an Australian company. The Ra-zakars, meanwhile, were getting increas-ingly out of control. On the 6th of September 1948, the Indian police post near Chillakallu was fired upon and when Indian soldiers came to investigate, they were also fired upon by the Razakars. Indians were forced to send backup, which met with stronger opposition from the 1 Hyderabad Lancers. An Indian army unit of Poona Horse then chased the Razakars to Kodar and forced the surrender of the state garrison.

This incident added fuel to the fire for Sardar Patel, then defence minister of India, who was in favour of annexing Hyderabad outright. Lt. General Eric Goddard of the Southern Command was asked to prepare a plan and the Indian Army moved out from Vijaywada and Solapur. Codenamed Operation Polo, this campaign became fa-mous as the 'Hyderabad Police Action.' On 13th September 1948, the first battle was fought at Naladurg Fort on the Solapur Se-cundarabad Highway. The first day ended

with heavy casualties for the Hyderabadi forces. By the next day, Indians had cap-tured towns like Aurangabad, Osmanabad and Rajasur. Day 3 and 4 were equally pain-ful for Hyderabad and by the evening of Day 4, the Nizam had ordered his PM Laiq Ali to resign. By the next morning, the en-tire cabinet of Hyderabad had resigned, and within a few hours a messenger was sitting in the office of India’s Agent General to Hy-derabad, Shri K.M. Munshi. At 4pm, Mun-shi reached the Nizam’s office, who said,

“The vultures have re-signed, I don’t know what to do now”. Mun-shi advised him to order a 'cease-fire' to ensure public safety and stop further damage.

By 5pm on the 5th Day – 17th September – with India already in possession of most of Hyderabad and the Ra-zakars reduced to a few hundred, the Nizam an-nounced a cease-fire, signalling his surrender. At 4pm on the 18th September 1948, Major General (later Army Chief) Joyanto Nath Chaudhuri led a small unit into Hyderabad, where Major General Syed Ahmed El Edroos surrendered on behalf of the Hy-derabad State Forces.

5 days later, on 23rd September, the Ni-zam reached Hyderabad Radio Station and addressed his subjects: “In November last [1947], a small group had organized a qua-si-military organization and surrounded the homes of my then Prime Minister the Na-

wab of Chhatari, in whose wisdom I had complete confidence, and that of Sir Walter Monkton, my constitutional Adviser. By duress they compelled the Nawab and oth-er trusted ministers to resign and forced the Laik Ali Ministry on me. This group, head-ed by Kasim Razvi, had no stake in the country nor any record of service behind it. By methods reminiscent of Hitlerite Ger-many they took possession of the State, spread terror ... and rendered me complete-ly helpless.”

Mir Laik Ali, held partly responsible for this act, was kept under house arrest in Begumpet. He escaped to Pakistan in 1950 and lived on to serve as a high ranking official in the Pakistani govern-ment. He died in New York in 1971, and now rests in Medina.

Hyderabad was merged into India and Mir Osman Ali Khan Bahadur maintained the title 'Nizam of Hyderabad' till 1950, af-ter which he was known as the Rajpramukh

till his death on 24th February, 1967. He had wanted to be buried in the Mosque op-posite King Kothi Palace, and his funerary procession was the largest that India had ever seen. During his lifetime the Nizam had 7 wives, 42 concubines, 34 children and 104 grandchil-dren. He was portrayed on the Times Magazine cover in February 1937 for being the world’s richest man, with a worth equivalent to 2% of the then US economy and double that of the then

Indian treasury. The State of Hyderabad was first split into Andhra Pradesh, with some portions going to the Karnataka and the Bombay state, which was later further bifurcated into Maharashtra and Gujarat. And as late as in 2014, Telan-gana State was also carved out of Andhra Pradesh.

Vikramjit Singh RoopraiThe writer is a heritage lover and

activist who found it fit to leave a lucra-tive career in IT to take up the promotion

of the heritage and cultures of India.

Heritage



Destinations

The tiny Maruti 800 labours up the winding roads of Kohima. It is a Sunday and most of the city is closed. Beautiful people dressed in their Sunday best emerge from the lanes after the mass at the churches end. We make our way up, to the top of

Aradura Hill. Few hours ago, the train from Delhi had brought me to Dimapur, a station in Nagaland.

Kohima is the first stop of this maiden visit of mine to India's beautiful and picturesque Northeast. A few more

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twists and turns and we are at a soaring Catholic Cathedral. Up here, away from the hustle and bustle of the growing city, I am in a virtual state of bliss. The North-east springs its first surprise when I see jewel like pink flowers blooming all over, adorning the tall trees. Cherry Blossoms – popularly known in Japan as Sakura flowers. Here on the hill, the tranquillity

is in total contrast to those times of yore, when fierce battles of the Second World War were fought here between British Indian and Japanese troops. This Cathe-dral was built by the Japanese people to honour all the brave soldiers who died here. Just beyond, on the edge of the hill with the city spread out below, I am treat-ed to a flaming and spectacular sunset.

The next day, I head out into the city. The city is gridlocked with traffic jams, characteristic of a working day. But the traffic is disciplined – restricted to single lanes from opposite sides, with the emp-ty middle lane reserved for emergency and security forces vehicles. Yes, the pres-ence of security forces is a constant re-minder that fuels hopes of things soon getting better.

We turn off the main road to arrive at another serene oasis – the Garrison Hill. This is the Kohima War Cemetery, the final resting place of more than 1420 Commonwealth soldiers including 330 Indians, who died during the Kohima Siege of the spring of 1944. Walking among the immaculately maintained gravestones and reading the moving in-



The Author is a history buff who has a passion for

travel photography

scriptions on the gravestones of mostly young brave men is heart rending. Today the soothing blanket of green grass and flowers seem to comfort the traumatised souls. The WWII memorial is another reminder of the absurdity and futility of war.

In the afternoon, I leave for the nearby Naga Heritage Village of Kisama, where the annual Hornbill Festival takes place during the first week of December every year. A time for all the tribes of Nagaland to come together and showcase Naga-land’s culture and beautiful diversity.

All good things come to an end. And so did my time in nagaland. So after soaking in some Naga culture, it was time for me to move on. Next on my agenda was a visit the famous Kaziranga Nation-al Park – home to the Great Indian One-horned Rhinoceros. I go back to Dimapur

through the tall grass I espy some rhinos munching in the abundant grasslands and wading in the swamps created by the Brahmaputra. The driver and the guard are experts and help spot elephants, wild buffaloes and birds too.

Refreshed with culture and wildlife, it was again time for me to move ahead, this time to head out to Scotland of the East. Catching a bus to outskirts of Guwahati, I take a shared taxi to Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya.

The name Shillong conjures up images of waterfalls, dew fresh meadows, lakes and beautiful people. On the way, I stop-over to take a quick look at the Umium Lake. In Shillong, Police Bazaar is the nerve centre and home to hotels and shops. It seems the whole town has de-scended here on a chilly winter afternoon. I walk the streets enjoying the views and getting smitten with the sharply dressed pretty girls of Shillong.

The Meghalaya Tourism office runs day-trip buses to attractions around Shil-long. I take the opportunity to visit Cher-rapunji, hoping to get all wet – but too bad for me, it is as dry as Marathwada. I duck through the Mauwsmai Caves with its hanging staglacites, and enjoy the per-petual roar of the Seven Sisters and Nohsngithiang waterfalls. The next day, I cross a river via a living root bridge formed by training roots of trees to span the entire breadth of the river. Nearby, I am in a flower-filled wonderland called Mawlynnong, which is Asia’s Cleanest Village. Walking through the flowery lanes, I wondered why we can’t make all our cities this clean.

All in all, it has been a wonderful trip. Getting to know the friendly and beauti-ful people of the Northeast has been a great revelation. The trip has introduced me to our very own paradisical wonder-land nestled in India's Northeast. In the coming years, we hope to get to know each other even better, as I travel to the region again … and again.

to catch a train to Jorhat in Assam. From there, buses available that go upto Ko-hora, which is a base from where we can explore Kaziranga. It has hotels and re-sorts to suit all budgets.

Come next morning, it is time for jun-gle safari. This is the tea country of As-sam, and the road leading to the Western Range of the Sanctuary is lined with lush green, glistening tea gardens. Soon we are bouncing along in the bountiful jun-gles of Kaziranga. Afar in the distance,

Destinations

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Nri Achievers, Nri Achievers Magazine

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