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Sewa International has been working with the Bhutanese refugee population, in Houston for the last several years.Recognizing that many refugee children needed extra tutoring in order to succeed at school, Sewa set up a satellite offi ce in Los Arcos Apartment to run after school homework classes for elementary school students. Through this program, Sewa Volunteers help more than 40 students on a regular basis.

This holiday season, Sewa International helped to spread the joy of the season in the lives of these children from the less privileged backgrounds. Sewa Volunteers Rahul and Priyanka Rao expressed their desire to celebrate their daughter Meera’s fi rst birthday with the refugee children who participate in the tutoring program in Los Arcos Apartments. Sewa team members facilitated the event

and the Rao family donated money for the Chai pe Charcha bi monthly social event. The family also donated gifts to all the students that attended the event. It was a successful event attended by more than 75 people. Not only was it a unique way for the family to celebrate young Meera’s fi rst birthday, it also celebrated the hard work of all the 45 students who come to the classes conducted by Sewa International.

Sewa provides volunteers

opportunities to work withrefugee families throughstructured programs like Chaipe Charcha, a bimonthly social event, where chai tea and snacks are served. Chaipe Charcha presents a chance for refugee families to discuss their lives in an informal setting with Sewa volunteers.These types of events have been helpful in integratingwith the refugee population aswell as helping to bring more

Sewa International helps volunteers celebrate a unique fi rst birthday

HOMAGE TO FILM DIRECTOR BALACHANDER. Veteran Tamil actress Sachu (Saraswathi) and Anantha Iyer, founder of Tamil Stage Creations, Houston, pay homage to the legendary fi lm director K. Balachaner at a condolence meeting held at Madras Pavilion in Sugar Land on Dec. 29. See Page 10.

Dhoni retiresCaptain Mahendra Singh

Dhoni, on Tuesday retired from test cricket.

The 33-year-old, led India to an unprecedented two World Cup titles (2007 Twenty20 World Championships and the 2011 ODI World Cup

Rahul Rao, wife Priyanka Rao and daughter Meera with Sewa team and guests.

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Held in California every New Year's day, the annual Rose Bowl Parade is a huge part of America's New Year celebrations enjoyed by all cultures in the country. In the parade, there are a series of decorative fl oats on a particular theme. This year's theme is "In-spiring Stories".

Started in 1890, the 126th edi-tion in 2015 will host, for the fi rst time ever, a Sikh fl oat after years of persuasion from the commu-nity in America, which numbers over a million.

Bicky Singh, the founder of SikhLens, reveals, "The historic effort is thanks to eight years of ap-plication, spearheaded by Rashpal

Sikh fl oat at Rose Parade, a historic fi rstDhindsa. This year, our proposal highlighting our Sikh Americans, including 125 years of history and contributions, was on point with the parade's theme."

Bicky also sees this as "another dynamic way to demonstrate this American community's history in America". Indeed, this is an opportunity to fi ght stereotypes attached to Sikhs all across the United States, as the Rose Parade is broadcasted to millions on tele-vision worldwide in more than 100 different countries.

One of the leaders in the cam-paign for the Sikh fl oat, Rashpal Dhindsa, founder of United Sikh Mission, says, "Our fl oat was

a natural fi t for this year's Rose Parade. The Sikh American com-munity has a great story, which includes 125 years of history and contributions." The fl oat will be "centred around an image of the Stockton Gurdwara (the oldest Sikh place of worship in the US), built in 1912, as well as a variety of Sikh American men and wom-en who have committed them-selves to a life of service."

As for the response of the Pun-jabi and Sikh community, Jasjit Singh, executive director of Sikh American Legal Defence and Education Fund (SALDEF), says "There has been a groundswell of support from the entire Sikh com-munity who view this as a unique opportunity to educate an estimat-ed 50million plus Americans who watch the Rose Bowl Parade. This achievement is undoubtedly a breakthrough for the Sikh com-munity in America, for the fi rst

time in our Sikh American his-tory, 125 years of Sikh Ameri-can heritage will be on display at the Rose Parade."

The 126th edition of the an-nual Rose Parade i.e., Rose Pa-rade 2015 presented by Honda will take place on Thursday, January 1, 2015 at 8 am Pacifi c Time with a theme of “Inspiring Stories”. The parade will fea-ture 41 fl oats, 20 bands and 18 equestrian units with approxi-mately 400 horses.

AHMEDABAD: US astronaut Sunita Williams is expected to attend the opening ceremony of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) next month in Gandhinagar.

State fi nance minister Saurabh Patel today said Williams was ex-pected to attend the opening day of PBD (January 7) which will be celebrated as ‘Youth’s PBD’.

“She will accompany external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, who will inaugurate the event. After the inauguration, a plenary session on ‘Bharat ko Jano’ and ‘Bharat ko Mano’ will be orga-nized. Later, there will be delib-eration on ‘Thoughts of Gandhi in 21st century referring to youths,’ he said.

On the following day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will of-fi cially inaugurate PBD at Mahat-ma Mandir. He will also inaugu-rate ‘Dandi Kutir’ near the venue, an offi cial release said.

However, President Pranab Mukherjee, who was scheduled to attend the closing ceremony, is not coming due to health reasons, Patel said; Vice President Hamid Ansari will be the highest digni-tary for the closing ceremony and give away ‘Pravasi Bhartiya Sam-man’ awards.

Sunita Williams to attend PBD


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TOPIC OF THE WEEK

THE LIGHTER SIDE

VOICES

By Sanjay Srivastava

In New Gurgaon, where I live,Christmas is a very significant af-fair. This Christmas too, you mighthave been forgiven for thinkingthat significant sections of an elec-torate that voted for the BharatiyaJanata Party suddenly convertedto Christianity. All over Gurgaon,Resident’s Welfare Associationsorganised Christmas fairs wherechildren sang carols, Santas gaveaway gifts, and people of all ages,dressed in red caps, exchangedChristmas greetings.

Gurgaon’s Christmas is, ofcourse, now a national event andmy description could be applied toDecember 25 goings-on in a num-ber of cities across India. How-ever, when I rang a friend inKerala to wish him “Merry Christ-mas,” he responded that someoneelse had rung him earlier in themorning, saying he was calling togreet him on what might be thelast Christmas in India.

Though said in jest (and in ref-erence to recent anti-Christian vio-lence), this comment sits oddlywith what appears to be uninhib-ited and large-scale participationof non-Christians in Christmascelebrations. Or, does it? Is it pos-sible that we might have, in fact,come to prefer Christmas withoutChristians? The way Christmashas come to belong to all of us isnot without consequences for amulti-religious society.

When I was small, Christmaswas a day that belonged to a spe-cific community. It was, in manycities of North India, referred toas bada din ( big day). “Bada DinMubarak!” was the term I wastaught to use as a greeting, if i cameacross any Christian on Decem-ber 25. I don’t think I came acrossmany and hence the greeting re-mained a pedagogic contrivancerather than customary practice.But what it did teach me, not in aself-conscious ‘secular’ mannerbut as part of casual, everyday life,was that a specific religious dayand a specific religious commu-nity were intertwined and legiti-mate aspects of Indian life.

As a child, because Christmaswas not my festival, I and severalothers around me recognized it asa festival that belonged to anothercommunity, that was as real andlegitimate as mine. In my imagi-nation, Christmas was celebratedby real flesh and blood people whoconstituted actual communities.Their bada din signified somethingas valuable as the festivals that Itook part in. Hindus and Christiansexisted as well-defined commu-nities, but not hostile ones. Thatcommunity was real to me pre-cisely because Christmas andChristianity mapped on to eachother.

In recent times, when Hindushave started to celebrate Christ-mas as their own, we have movedinto an era where a festival of le-gitimate difference has trans-formed into one of a ritual of lei-sure and lifestyle. It becomes con-tiguous with taking a foreign holi-day or buying a fridge.

It need not remind us anylonger of the legitimacy of the

community for whom Christmasis something more than a ‘shop-ping mall festival’ but a fundamen-tal way of defining community life.Celebrating the customs and ritu-als of another community is notitself a bad thing. However, in thiscase it appears that when Christ-mas becomes “our” festival, itironically weakens the ability torecognise, respect and championdifference.

The “mainstreaming” of Christ-mas sits alongside a growing in-difference towards Christians: itis almost as if we can do it as wellas them and don’t really needthem. It, peculiarly enough, signi-fies a time of Christmas withoutChristians.

The invention of Christmas asa shopping festival has a long his-tory in the West, particularly in thecontext of late 19th century Brit-ain. The more recent replicationof this process in India is intimatelytied to shifts in political and con-sumer cultures.

It does, however, have a paral-lel in the 20th century’s manufac-ture of yoga as a lifestyle activityin the West, largely shorn of itsphilosophical bearings. The spreadof yoga in the West did not lead togreater tolerance of Indians andthe popularity of Christmas in In-dia has little to do with an accep-tance of religious differences.

Indeed, it is the context ofsomething quite the opposite: thesymbolic production and consump-tion of different ways of beingthrough consumerism that existsside-by-side with the actual sup-pression of difference. So, whilewe consume Christmas cake, wedon’t seem very bothered by ar-son in churches. We have begunto prefer pre-packaged differ-ence.

It is an odd situation, then, andquite different from when I was achild. Earlier, Christmas was not

a festival of the Hindus but Chris-tians were not identified as an en-emy community. It was not a uto-pia of communal harmony but cer-tainly different. Now, however,Christmas finds vigorous accep-tance among the majority commu-nity — can hardly convey the ear-nestness with which the childrenof my locality sing “Silent Night”— but there are hardly any main-stream murmurs (let alone roars)of protest against anti-Christiansentiments and practices.

I don’t ever remember singing“Silent Night” and may havewaited in vain to ambush a pass-ing Christian (or anyone else) witha bada din greeting, but I also donot recall church burning and ‘gharvapsi’ as normalised activities.

What is at stake is somethingmuch more fundamental than thetiring invocation of ‘secularism’versus ‘fundamentalism.’ Thesecategories may not be adequateto understand a present wheresome sections of the majority com-munity adopt minority rituals butrejects minorities.

When we become ‘shoppingmall Christians’ — the Christmascelebration in my locality endedwith an RWA-sponsored tambola— we forget that a religious festi-val signifies something more thanthe consumption of different com-modities; it is meant to remind usof the different kinds of people insociety.

The current upsurge in Christ-mas celebrations appears, danger-ously, to encourage the sense thatit is our right to celebrateChristianity’s key event on one dayof the year, without taking any re-sponsibility for what happens to itsadherents on the other days whenwe move on to some other formof consumption. — The Hindu

(Sanjay Srivastava is profes-sor of Sociology at JawaharlalNehru University, New Delhi.)

A time for Christmas without ChristiansBy S Gurumurthy

If, as reported, the conversion of 350 odd Muslims in Ved Nagar inAgra to Hinduism is the work of RSS, it is clear that the RSS hasgrown strategic. By a small move that is smart too, the RSS seems tohave triggered a debate on conversions which it has been asking fordecades but evaded by its critics who merely kept abusing the RSS.Hindus are not best known for strategic thinking, save exceptions likeSri Krishna, Chanakya, Chatrapati Shivaji and Mahatma Gandhi. Lackof strategic thinking among Hindus is no surprise because they did nothave any agenda to capture, subordinate and rule the world throughtheir religion, Gods or weapons.

Recently [March 30, 2013] ‘The Economist’ magazine derided India’slack strategic culture as the main impediment to its emergence as aglobal power. The Economist is right. Hindus did not need, and there-fore did not have, offensive strategy against any. Stray strategic think-ing like uniting the Hindus has been a late development in Hindu his-tory. The RSS, which spearheads efforts for a harmonious Hindu soci-ety, has been quite plain about its agenda yet inclusive in its philosophy.It calls this nation, not the Indian state, as Hindu Rashtra. It believesthat Indian Muslims are not heirs of the Arabs, but very much indig-enous in stock. Nor Christians in India, in its view, European descen-dants. Its conviction is that all Indians have the same, not different,forefathers and culture.

On facts and logic, the RSS seems right. Even Muslims, who aregenerally exclusive, never claimed a different ancestry till as late asearly 19th century. In the Census of India in 1901, out of some 6.6crore Muslims living in undivided India, only 3.5 lakh (just 1 in 200) hadclaimed to be heirs of Mughals (Hindu Culture During and afterMuslim Rule: Survival and Subsequent Challenges by Dr. RamGopal. 1994).

The RSS had relied on this logic and fact of common ancestry toseek to assimilate Muslims and Christians into the national mainstream.

Assimilation harmonises. And does not antagonise. SwamiVivekananda told the proselytising religions at World Parliament ofReligions in his final address to them on September 27, 1893, to assimi-late, not destroy. Assimilation is not destruction because it is not con-version. Conversion destroys. Says Nobel Laureate Sir V S Naipaul,“To be converted you have to destroy your past, destroy your history.You have to stamp on it, you have to say ‘my ancestral culture doesnot exist, it doesn’t matter.”

Conversion is destruction of culture, nation and state, while assimi-lation is construction of all the three. Mahatma Gandhi was as plain asthe RSS in his testament Hind Swaraj [1909]. In which after threedecades, he said, he was unwilling to change a comma or full stop --that assimilation of Muslims was the answer to Hindu-Muslim prob-lem. Asked whether the introduction of Mohammedanism had not un-made India as a nation, Mahatma Gandhi said: “India cannot cease tobe one nation because people belonging to different religions live in it.The introduction of foreigners does not necessarily destroy the nation,they merge in it. A country is one nation only when such a conditionobtains in it.”

That country must have a faculty for assimilation, India has everbeen such a country. But, when RSS spoke of assimilation, the ‘secu-lars’, ignorant of what Gandhi or Vivekananda had said or ignoringboth, abused it as communal. The ‘secular’ megaphones were so noisythat they drowned all feeble voices calling for saner debate.

Does it need a seer to say that the people most devastated by con-version are and continue to be Hindus? Undeniably, every non-Hinduin India is a convert from Hinduism. Conversion hits almost exclu-sively only the non-proselytising Hinduism. Therefore, for several de-cades, it is the Hindu outfits which have been demanding ban on con-versions. The Christians and Muslims and, for their ballot papers, the‘seculars’, were opposing.

Now Agra conversions seem to have trapped the ‘seculars’ intodebating the very idea of religious conversions. When the RSS calledfor ban on conversions the ‘seculars’ said it was an attempt to stiflereligious freedom. The ‘seculars’ have been evading this debate fordecades even after the Supreme Court approved the anti-conversionlaws passed by Madhya Pradesh and Orissa Governments in 1967.After the Neogi Committee appointed by the Congress government inMadhya Pradesh had established that innocent tribals were being con-

See Page 8

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By Sharad Amin

Suryakant Amin (my father)was a middle-class business manand was a life-long swayamsevakof RSS and a community volun-teer for social causes. While grow-ing up I heard from him aboutShyama Prasad Mukharji, DeenDayal Upadhyay.

He told me how they couldhave handled some of the criticalissues of Bharat if only they hadchance to serve Bharat Mata in-stead of Congress ruling Indiasince independence for manyyears. He was hoping that patri-otic leaders of Jan Sangh with vi-sion get to serve Bharat Mata.

My father’s health was dete-riorating from 1966 and while hewas in hospital RSS swayam-sevaks and leaders used to visithim in the hospital and talked tomy mother and comfortEd her. Iwas always wondering who thesepeople were and why they werecoming to our home and offeringtheir help.

After my father’s death in 1967,I was busy with my studies anddid not pay much attention toIndia’s situation.

I came to Houston in 1973. Imet Dr. Chandrahans Misra in1978 and found out about Sanghwork in Houston. I was inspiredby my father in childhood with hiswishes to support people whowanted to serve Bharat Mata andrestore the pride of India. I hadonly hope with Sangh people be-cause I had been in contact withthem from childhood and also read

about their views and actions.Meeting Narendrabhai Modi: In 1979, I was visiting India. One

day a man came on a scooter to see me when I was about to leave forVadodra. Since I was in a hurry, I did not pay much attention to him.He left a book for me with his autograph. The man who came to visitme was none other than Narendra Modi and the book he left was hisfirst book in Gujarati “Sangharsh man Gujarat” (Gujarat in Emergency).Narendrabhai must have come across my father’s name in the list ofRSS karyakartas (community workers) in Baroda (Vadodra) district.After that he inquired about my father and found out that he passedaway in 1967. He then asked about the rest of the family, finding outthat my mother was living in Bajuva and my sister was in Vidya Nagar.He visited my sister in Vidya Nagar and came to see me when I wasvisiting Bharat. This is because of the tradition of RSS pracharaks andkaryakartas to keep sampark (contact) with rest of the family even

Amita Amin (right) and Sharad Amin with Prime Minister Narendra Modiwho was then chief minister of Gujarat. (In Gandhinagar, Feb 2013)

How I met Narendrabhai Modi and kept intouch with him for 35 years

See Page 6


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after a karyakarta passes away. RSS karyakartas used to visit myfather when he was in hospital and after his death they would visit mymother and used to comfort her with any kind of help they can provide.

Keeping in touch: After 1979, I used to get greeting cards fromNarendrabhai and got to meet him in 1993 during a visit to Washington,DC for the Global Vision event, held to celebrate 100 year anniversaryof Swami Vivekanandaji’s Chicago address.

In 1996 Narendrabhai came in the team of young politicians fromIndia at the invitation of the Republican Party to observe the U.S.presidential election. That time I took him to Dallas to visit one of theAmdavad karyakarta’s niece and her family. We also had a meeting ofHSS karyakartas at my home.

During his visit in 2000 he visited our house and we had a meeting atmy place. After that I met Narendrabhai every time I visited Bharat.

He always remembers people and their efforts. Till today he re-members my mother’s cooking items such as Dhebra (spinach parotha).

Changing the system with vision and solving big problems withsmall tasks…

My brother-in-law’s pension case was a mess and he was getting arun-around for over 10 years. During my visit in 2010 I took all hispapers with me and requested Narendrabhai to look into the matter;he instructed his PA to get the detailed information about the case.

To my surprise, within one year not only did Narendrabhai get thisproblem resolved but he inquired about the system and causes fordelay and fixed the system for this kind of unusual case where theamount has to be prorated if the term and condition do not quite meetto the requirement. Here is a example of the kind of action which canstop grassroots corruption by citizens as well as government employ-ees.

Last visit of Narendrabhai as CM in Gandhi Nagar:In February 2013, we went to Bharat to attend family weddings and

after everything was over I had only few days available for the thingsI really wanted to do. I attended shakha in Vadodra and visited familyof some karyakarta whom I knew and they were no longer there plusswayamsevak from Gujarat Fertilizer Hiralal Sonagra who used tocome to our house for Guru Dakshina.

Meanwhile, Amita, my wife, showed interest in meeting Narendrabhaiso I conveyed the message to Narendrabhai through a friend. I got aresonse from a secretary that ‘Saheb’ is very busy. I requested themto at least convey the message that “Sharadbhai from US is here andwants to see you”.

I got a reply within 15 minutes that even though he is very busy he

will see you if you can come at 9am in the morning at his GandhiNagar residence. I accepted theappointment. Amita and mycousin and his wife were with us.

My wife asked Narendrabhaiabout his specific plans for womenbecoming self-sufficient in the ad-verse situation of being a widowor from a broken family, living inpoverty, etc. Also she asked aquestion about saving the girl childproject he had initiated and girls’education.

Narendrabhai explained allplans to her satisfaction. She alsospoke of Swami Vivekanada’s vi-sion and how she felt he was shar-ing the same vision for restoringIndia’s pride and empoweringyouth and poor of India.

While I was talking about up-coming 2014 election and askedhis view about election and issuesdear to his heart, he invited me tocome to India in 2014 to have funduring election. I accepted the in-vitation and mentioned that sincehe is not coming to U.S. to visit usthere I will have to come to visithim in Bharat.

He jokingly said, “Your govern-ment is not allowing me there” (hewas denied a visa in 2005). ThenI said our Government will inviteyou to the USA and we will meetyou in U.S. Also I said, “In mynext trip to Bharat after the elec-tion, I will visit you in Delhi.”

Inspired by that visit and con-versation, I decided that I wouldgo to Bharat to campaign forNarendra Modi. I always echo theview of so many friends in US thatNarendrabhai is the only leader in

Bharat with vision and clear goalof serving the nation and restor-ing the pride of India.

Campaign participationthrough GIBV’s India 272 inUS and visit to Bharat for elec-tion in 2014:

Inspired by Narendrabhai’s vi-sion and Mission I became veryactive in campaign activity start-ing from December 2013. In Janu-ary 2014 kickoff the campaign byUnity walk at Makar Sankrantifestival in Houston’s George BushPark. Also participated in refer-ence calling and onceNarendrabhai was declared asPrime Ministerial candidatestarted preparing for Bharat trip.

I went to India in the secondweek of April and campaigned inGujarat with determination to getall 26 seats for Modiji.

After Gujarat campaign I wentto Varansi and campaignEd by vis-iting interior towns near Saeedpurand Gazipur where EkalVidyalayas are running.

It was an amazing experience.I remembered Modiji’s words thatcome in 2014 and you will havefun – even though we travelled in45 degrees C (without an A/Ccar), we had fun. We only toldpeople why they should get outfrom home on the day of electionand vote.

They already knew whom tovote to have better days. Indianvoters were well informed even

in small villages. Grassroots worksof RSS and affiliated communityservice organizations over theyears got paid off this time.People’s expectations were toohigh but they had understandingthat the job to improve Bharat isnot easy at all. One thing peoplecould not doubt is Modiji’s visionand willingness to help people withhonesty and no other agenda butto make Bharat once again “Soneki Chidiya (Golden Bird)”.

Memory of my lifeMost memorable is the recent

experience in New York while wewere waiting on street along with700+ people on a footpath of as-signed street to greet NrandrabhaiModi, PM of India.

We were told that motorcadewill come and we will get to waveto the prime minister but the mo-torcade went directly to Hotel andsome of the youngsters were up-set. From my prior experience andfeeling, I just rushed to calm downeverybody and said “Don’t worry.He will not disappoint us.”

All of a sudden we heard thevoices saying, “Hey look. PM iscoming to meet us”. That wasamazing; people were so happy tohave glimpses of PM and to meethim and shake hands with him.

— Sharad Amin is a veteranorganizer and volunteer for theHindus of Greater Houston,VHP America and HinduSwayamsevak Sangh.

Meeting with Narendrabhai

SEWA INTERNATIONALFamily Services Hotline 832-900-9354

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During the second week ofDecember 2014, while mostchildren were browsing the bestseller books on their portabledevices, students of GreaterHouston Tamil schools (HTS)were working hard to learn thevirtues told by a centuries-oldbook — “Thirukural” -Quintessentially to all times andall climes as well.

Various works of literaturepreaching ethical values andmoral living have been found inTamil language. Among them,Thirukural is the oldest, mostfamous literature and it hasreceived world class scholar’sappreciation; it has beentranslated into 30 different worldlanguages.

Thirukural teaches MoralIntelligence, Empathy, andMoral Courage and enforcespositive thinking (most wantedqualities for our society). Thisbook has 1330 couplets. Thecouplets reflect the vast amountof knowledge in all walks of life:domestic, social, political, andeven spiritual.

The Kural consists of threedivisions, namely Virtue, Wealthand Love. The three parts arepresented further in thirteen sub-parts called “Iyal” and 133chapters called “Athikaram”.Each chapter contains tencouplets, thus totaling 1330couplets in all. Each one of the1330 couplets is noted for itsbrevity and rich meaning.Contemporary poets havecompared each couplet to a tinymustard seed which has sevenseas of knowledge inlaid in it.

Every year, HTS conducts“Thirukural Thiruvizha” tocelebrate “Thirukural” and tocreate awareness among itsstudents. Students of the school,participate in the event and recitecouplets with its meaning.

For each and every correctrecital, the students get $1.Apart from that the students areclassified into different agegroups, and those who recitemore Thirukurals in their agegroup are awarded with trophies(first, second and third place) inthe annual day function.

This year, the competitiontook place on December 13 inKaty Branch located at 20817Westheimer Parkway in Katy.More than 120 students (ages 4to 15) participated and wonnearly $1500 prize money incash. Of them, 10 kids recitedmore than 50 thirukurals, whileone student, PavithraChandrasekaran, recited 235couplets and won $231. It wasso unbelievable to see, even 4-year-olds reciting the century-old couplets and explaining itsessence and meaning.

Several Tamil parents fromoutside of the Tamil Schools sup-ported this event by contributingtheir time as judges or as volun-teers. Without these volunteers,the program would not have beensuccessful to this level.

There were a few generousparents donated money to meetthe expenses of this event.Some parents matched the prize

money for their kids won in therecital. The event wascoordinated and managed by

Sahaya Tamilarasan with helpfrom many volunteers.

Houston Tamil School children show amazing aptitude in reciting Thirukurals

More than 120 students (ages 4 to 15) participated and won nearly$1500 prize money in cash.


COMMUNITY CALENDAR

or call for info.(713) 665-4665

Chandra & David Courtney Tabla and Vocal

Classes in Houston,Mission Bend,& Sugar Land

Visit www.chandrakantha.com

Classesnow ongoing

COMMUNITY CALENDARMakar Sankranti

Sun., Jan 18 @ 10 a.m.Annual celebration of Makar

Sankranti and SwamiVivekananda’s birthday. Picnicsponsored by VHP America(Houston), Gujarati Samaj, EkalVidyalaya and other organizations.At George Bush Park, 16756Westheimer Pkwy (offWestheimer, west of Hwy 6).From 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Kiteflying and other sports. For moreinfo call Girish Naik 281-851-6866or Sharad Patel 713-261-9400.

Arya Samaj SatsangWeekly Havan Satsang every

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

Chinmaya MissionSunday satsangs for adults,

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

Vedanta SocietyVedanta Society of Greater

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

1635 or [email protected]

Gandhi LibraryMahatma Gandhi Library Book

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

Saumyakasi SivalayaSri Saumyakasi Sivalaya is lo-

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

Veerashaiva SamajaVSNA Houston is a group of

families who believe inVeerashaiva dharma (Basavadharma). Monthly Mahamane pro-gram for prayer and discussion onVachana Sahitya followed byPrasada. Contact: [email protected] or JagadeeshHalyal 832-744-4166.

Shiv Shakti MandirSanatan Shiv Shakti Mandir,

6640 Harwin. Open daily 7 a.m.to 8 p.m. All major festivals, as wellas birthdays, naam karan, engage-ment and other ceremonies. CallPandit Virat Mehta 713-278-9099or Hardik Raval 361-243-6539 forpuja or other ceremonies.

Houston NamadwaarA prayer house where the Hare

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

Mar Thoma ChurchTrinity Mar Thoma Church ev-

ery Sunday at 5810 Almeda GenoaRd. Sunday School at 9:15 a.m.Malayalam service at 9:30 a.m. on1st & 3rd Sunday. Adult Bibleclass at 9:30 a.m. English serviceat 10:30 a.m. on 2nd & 4th Sun-day. Call 713-991-1557 or 281-261-4603.

Sri GuruvayurappanTemple

Hours: Mon to Fri 6 a.m. -8a.m. and 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.Weekends & Holidays: 6 a.m. tonoon and 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.Bhajans Saturdays 7 p.m. to 8p.m.; Sundays 9 a.m. to 1 a.m.Special poojas (weekends andholidays) Choroon (Annaprasam)for kids, Thulabharam, VahanaPooja, Nirapara. Temple is locatedat 11620 Ormandy St (77035) Tel:713-729-8994 email: [email protected]

Arsha Vidya BharatiSanskrit classes and special

worship sessions for all ages. At

2918 Renoir, Sugar Land (77479).Call 281-606-5607 or [email protected]. Web: https://sites.google.com/site/avbtexas/classes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

der visit to conduct retreats andlectures. www.houstonvedanta.org or 281-584-0488.

Durga Bari TempleDurga Bari temple is open from

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

Telugu FellowshipTelugu Christian Fellowship

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

‘The Universe Within’Sahaj Marg is a natural and

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

Heritage ClassesAshirwad’s Heritage Classes

in Katy, Cypress and Sugar Landfor kids 4 to 18 yrs - meditation,Yoga, slokas, stories from scrip-tures, Vishnu Sahasranam,bhajans, competitions and fun ac-tivities. Adult meditation classes.Register atwww.ashirwadablessing.org orSri Ravula 281-995-0930.

Hare Krishna DhamHouston’s original Vedic

temple, ISKCON of Houston. At1320 W 34th St. (77018). DailyDarshan & Arati Times: 4.30am,7am, 8.30am, 12noon, 4.30pm,7pm, 9pm. Sunday Festival: 5.30pm to 7.30 pm. Weekly Gitaclasses for adults; call 281-433-

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

Informative programs with doctors,lawyers, politicians and other

newsmakers.Call 713-784-1480

Where Your Opinion Counts

Hosts: Dinkar Chheda, Jagat Kamdar & Subodh Bhuchar

From Page 4verted by allurement, fraud, force, inducement, or fraud€ , the anti-conversion laws were passed. No one could say that any one couldbe converted by such uncivilised means.

Yet the Church challenged the law as stifling the right to professand propagate one’s faith granted under Art 25(1) of the Constitu-tion. The Court threw it out saying “what Article 25(1) grants, by theword propagate, is not the right to convert another person to one’sown religion by exposition of its tenets.

So propagation and conversion are not identical. Propagation ispermitted by law but conversion is not.

Did any ‘secular’ party or leader tell the Parliament that this iswhat the Supreme Court said in 1977? If they did that then they haveto talk against conversion of Hindus too. They only talked againstAgra conversions, not conversions as such. And in line with them, the‘secular’ media screams poor Muslims converted by Hindutva outfits. Undoubtedly both the ‘secular’ parties and the ‘secular’ media havebeen shocked by the Agra development. Why?

For them it has been normal and quite acceptable for poor Hindusto get converted to the only true faiths of the world. They neverimagined that Hindus who believe all faiths are valid for their respec-tive followers would ever convert others to their faith. The ‘seculars’had almost reserved the right to convert only to those religions whichbelieve their God as the only true God and the Gods of others fakeand false and therefore have to be wiped out.

When the ‘seculars’ bowled the full toss of Agra conversions atModi government, Venkiah Naidu promptly seized the opportunity“hitting the ball for a six “ to propose a central law for ban on conver-sions. Now is the Modi government not free to bring a law to banconversions by inducement and fraud, including Agra conversions? Itis. If it does, can the ‘seculars’ oppose it? Cannot. Because if they dothen they cannot fault Agra conversions. If they do not, then theycannot oppose a law that will stop millions of Hindus being convertedthrough inducement and allurement.

What the RSS could not achieve by decades of reasoning andpleading, it seems to have got on a platter by its single act of convert-ing a few hundred Muslims into Hindus and trapping the ‘seculars’ tooppose it.

Indeed a very small price to pay for a very logical outcome namelydebate for ban on induced and fraudulent conversions. The stage isnow clearly set for this mother of all debates.

Tail piece: Ban on such conversions is fully in line with the declara-tion of all world religious leaders on the occasion of the 60th anniver-sary of the Universal Declaration of human rights held in Amsterdamunder the aegis of United Nations on 10th December 2008.

All religions including Hinduism, Buddhism and the two proselytisingreligions Islam and Christianity have signed a declaration that theyshall mutually respect, not deride, each others’ faith. It is not clearlythe Hindu view? They also agreed that the freedom to retain one’sreligion or choose another shall be without coercion or inducement. Isthis not what the RSS has been asking for decades?

— Indian Express

Debate on conversion


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RANCHI: Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) leader Raghubar Dasbecame the first non-tribal to takeoath as the chief minister ofJharkhand.

Governor Syed Ahmad admin-istered the oath of office and se-crecy to Das, 60, at a football sta-dium here on Sunday, Dec 28.

Four ministers -- three from theBJP and one from the AllJharkhand Students Union(AJSU) -- also took oath.

The BJP ministers areNeelkanth Singh Munda, C.P.Singh and Louis Marandi.

Marandi defeated outgoing

Raghubar Das is Jharkhand CMchief minister Hemant Sorenat Dumka. The AJSU rep-resentative in the ministry isChandra PrakashChaudhary.

Prime Minister NarendraModi could not attend theceremony due to a thick fogin New Delhi. Home Minis-ter Rajnath Singh too failedto make it, also due to badweather. A five-time legisla-tor, Das was elected the BJPlegislature party leader Fri-day.

Das joined the BJP in 1980,the year it was formed fol-

lowing the break up of the JanataParty. He has been the JharkhandBJP president twice.

Among those who attended theevent were Chief MinistersRaman Singh of Chhattisgarh andDevendra Fadnavis ofMaharashtra.

Also present were central min-isters M. Venkaih Naidu and NitinGandkari.

This is first time a non-tribal hasbecome chief minister ofJharkhand since it was formed in2000. All previous nine chief min-isters were tribals.

No signs yet of govtformation in J&KSRINAGAR/JAMMU:

There were no signs of eitherPDP, the largest group, or BJP, theclose runner-up, getting the req-uisite numbers to stake claim toforming a new government inJammu & Kashmir as the dead-line set by governor N.N. Vohrafor discussions fast approached.

A team of PDP, which has 28MLAs in a House of 87, led by itspresident Mehbooba Mufti willmeet Vohra in Jammu on Dec 31and discuss with him governmentformation while the BJP is ex-pected to give its proposal onJanuary 1.

PDP spokesman NaeemAkhthar told PTI that the partywas not ready with any solution"as yet" and all options were stillon the table.

"It's a very difficult situationand we are trying our best to con-vert this into an opportunity for thewelfare of the state and endingpolitical uncertainty," he said.

In the middle of continuing po-litical uncertainty, rumors wereagog in the Kashmir valley thatthe 15-member legislature partyof the National Conference (NC)has passed a resolution support-ing PDP, which was denied by NCgeneral secretary Ali MohammedSagar. "We have verbally statedto PDP that in case they want oursupport, they should talk to ourleaders," he said.

PDP patron Mufti MohammedSayeed was holding talks with hisMLAs and workers. "Sayeed con-tinued consultations with the partyrank and file," Akhtar said.

He said Sayeed has been meet-ing party leaders, newly-electedlegislators, senior workers andsome of the members of civil so-ciety in a bid to shape the party'sresponse to the challenge thrownup by the fractured verdict.

Court restores temple committeesHYDERABAD: In a setback to the Andhra Pradesh Govern-

ment, the Hyderabad high court on Tuesday, Dec 30, suspended theorder of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) regime nullifying all existingtemple administration committees in the state.

Putting a full stop to the practice of changing temple committeeseach time there is a change in the political regime at the state level, thebench comprising Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta and JusticeSanjay Kumar said that since these posts were filled up through aprocess of selection, they cannot be held as political posts.

Hence as a consequence, they should be allowed to complete theirtenure irrespective of the change of political regimes at the state level,the bench said and struck down the order of the state in this regard.

The TDP sought to acquire power over the boards by bringing in anamendment to the existing endowments Act. Section 163 was addedto the AP Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions Act for this pur-pose and the HC bench struck down this section terming it illegal.

Veteran editor BG Varghese deadNEW DELHI: A booming voice, genial air, and a gentleman among

journalists: that's how nearly everybody who knew BG Verghese -George to his legion of friends and admirers - would remember him.Except of course those who were at the receiving end of his intensejournalistic scrutiny, his caustic wit and muscular prose. Verghese, ail-ing for the past eight weeks, died in his son's Gurgaon home on Mon-day, aged 87.

There wasn't a mainline newspaper Verghese had not edited: fromthe Times of India, where be began his journalistic career in the early1950s, to The Hindustan Times (1969-75) and The Indian Express(1982-86). Beyond editing newspapers, Verghese authored severalbooks, apart from innumerable 'fact-finding' reports as the chairmanof Editors' Guild: from militant attack on media in Manipur, allegedKunan Poshpora mass rapes in J&K to Gujarat riots in 2002.

Veteran journalist Kuldeep Nayar remembers Verghese from thetime he was the officiating resident editor of the Times of India inDelhi. "After the debacle in 1962, the Mulgaokar committee noted thegovernment had received bad press. It was then decided that the of-fice of the prime minister must have a press advisor. That's how Georgecame to be Mrs Gandhi's press advisor, some time after 1966."

After he left journalism, Verghese emerged as a civil rights activistand worked closely with such doyens of journalism as NikhilChakravartty, Ajit Bhattacharjee, Nayar and Chanchal Sarkar. He wroteextensively on development issues, notably 'Waters of Hope' (1990)and 'Winning the Future' (1994) on the Himalayan watershed.

Sohrabuddin case: Courtclears Amit Shah

NEW DELHI: BharatiyaJanata Party on Tuesday, Dec 30,celebrated the order of a Mumbaispecial court discharging AmitShah in the case concerning hisalleged complicity in "encounter"of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and TulsiPrajapati, as vindication of theirstand that the CBI's chargesheetagainst the party chief was partof the conspiracy to implicatePrime Minister Narendra Modiwhile demanding an apology fromCongress chief Sonia Gandhi. Recalling that he "among the few" whomaintained for 3 years that CBI's case against Shah was a frame-upand was based on "no evidence", finance minister Arun Jaitley saidcharges were filed against Amit Shah at the behest of the previousregime, emphasizing that one vital notation on CBI file gave the gameaway.

The notation had clearly said that the framing Shah was essentialfor implicating Modi, then the CM of Gujarat. He also said that whileCBI's own legal department had opposed the arrest, it was overruledby Ashwani Kumar.

"Shockingly, when the legal department of the CBI opined that therewas no case against Shri Amit Shah, the same was responded to bythe supervisory officer of CBI, putting up a "Note" by observing thatthe arrest of Amit Shah would enable the CBI to get some morewitnesses, particularly police officers since they would then feel in-timidated. He also opined that arresting Amit Shah was a must since itwas necessary to reach the eventual target of investigation of NarendraModi. This note was approved by the Director, CBI, Shri AshwaniKumar," Jaitley wrote on his Facebook.

Jaitley, who praised the judiciary for its independence and criticizedthe CBI for allowing itself to be misused, elaborated on his "frame-up"charge by emphasizing that Shah, then the minister of state for homein Gujarat, was sought to be falsely implicated in the case despite thefact that encounter of Sohrabuddin, a notorious gunrunner who waswanted by police in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, wasdirected by Intelligence Bureau(IB) which works under the Centre.

Jaitley, who protested to former PM Manmohan Singh against Shah'sarrest, said police of states were brought into the picture only whenthe IB concluded that it was possible to arrest Sohrabuddin.


Suite 127

COMMUNITY NEWS

meaningful programs for the refugee community.

Rahul Rao said, “As sponsors of chai-pe-charcha event in December, we participated in a gathering with several children from refugee families who are helped by Sewa. The event saw about 50 kids, most of them between 4-10 years old. The event kept the kids involved in games and activities and was well organized.

“Thanks to Kavita and her team for organizing the event and making chai-pe-charcha a success in community

involvement. We would certainly encourage everyone to participate in community service with Sewa; it has been a rewarding experience for us.”

If you would like to make an important occasion, such as a birthday or an anniversary, meaningful through community service, contact Sewa International. If you want to sponsor an event like this please contact Kavita Tewary at [email protected].

If you are interested in refugee tutoring programs please contact Ruba Alafi fi a m e r i c o r p s - h o u s t o n @sewausa.org

HARDIK VYASYoungest Astrologer in North America

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Astrology & Vaastu Shastra are Science of Nature, and are not related with any religion, caste, or community. It is an Occult Science and gift of nature for the welfare of the people.

Astrologer Hardik Vyas, a famous young face in Vedic Astrology from India is in Houston. Call for guidance on Health, Wealth, Education, Career, Business, Property, Love & Passion, Marriage & Compatibility, Horoscope-Making, Child Problem, Luck & Fortune, Peace & Prosperity, Karma & Economic success.

Vaastu Shastra is an ancient science. Fix an appointment for personal visit to your home, plot, business/offi ce, shop, factory, or hotel. Gain peace of mind and prosperity by doing little changes as per Vaastu Shastra. Simple, Easy, Scientifi c & Aff ordable solutions/remedies to overcome problems in your Horoscope and Vaastu.

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Houston Tamils pay tribute to K. BalachanderBy SESHADRI KUMAR

Tamil Stage Creations of Houston and Bharathi Kalai Manram of Houston held an impromptu meeting in memory of the veteran fi lm director K. Balachander who died in Chen-nai on Dec. 23.

Some of the Houstonians who had met and interacted with Balachander recalled the humble and unassuming nature of the movie genius.

Notable among the speak-ers was Cine artiste Sachu (P.S. Saraswathy) from Chennai who is visiting Houston.

Sachu, who has acted in over 500 fi lms in fi ve different lan-guages, had known Balachan-der since his amateur drama days.

Sachu had the opportunity to felicitate Balachander when he received the Dadasaheb Phalke award. He had sculpted many an artiste, like Kamalhassan and Rajnikant, to name a few, she said.

Balachander lived a “ful-fi lled life” and his loss is big to the fi lm industry, Sachu said. Balachander exhausted almost every available technique in fi lmmaking, sachu said.

She recalled how she man-aged to see a Telugu movie “Ma-rocharitra” made by Balachand-er in a theater in Tirupati on the opening day.

Anantha, founder of Tam-il Stage Creations, who has

staged Tamil plays in the U.S. for many decades considered Balachander his “guru” in the art of theater.

He recalled a few meetings with Balachander and said he had extraordinary memory.

Rajan Radhkrishnan, as a fi lm producer, noted that Balachan-der had an innate excellence in telling a whole story through a song. He was adept in adap-tations and a keen observer as well, Rajan said.

Ganesh Raghu, who had close encounters with Balachander while making the movie “Nan-da” described how he guided him as a “father fi gure.

He was generous in his com-ments even when Raghu was critical of Balachander. No one can surpass Balachander’s ac-

complishments, he said. Padmini Ranganathan, a fan

of Balachander, suggested that Houstonians should do a pro-

gram devoted to Balachander as he has produced many movies with great social themes.

Admirers of K. Balachander who attended the memorial meeting at Madras Pavilion in Sugar Land.

SewaFrom Page 1


COMMUNITY NEWS

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(Standing Left to Right) - Nagan Srinivasan, executive direc-tor, Mani Subramaniam, treasurer, Tupil Narasiman, vice-president, Vivek Natarajan, joint secretary, Raj Thiagarajan, cultural director, Ravi Sethuraman, executive director, Shan-mugam, literary director, Thiru Arumugam, secretary, Senthil Arcot, communications director, (Sitting Left to Right) - Partha Krishnaswamy, past president, Viji Raja, joint literary director, Usha Vasu, joint treasurer Shridar Srinivasan, president, Par-vathi (Sudha) Chandrasekar, joint communications director.

Bharathi Kalai Manram of Houston provides a forum for cul-tural and social interaction with special emphasis on fine arts, lit-erature & performing arts of Tamil speaking people from India. The organization seeks to promote goodwill, understanding and appreciation of the culture of India among all interested persons

Over the last four decades, BKM has hosted many cultural events including classical vocal & instrumental music, film /light music, dance, Tamil theater, literary events etc by well renowned artists from India and local talents as well.

The City of Houston has commended Bharathi Kalai Manram for its commitment to raising cultural awareness and extends best wishes for a memorable anniversary celebration. Annise D. Park-er, Mayor Of the City of Houston has proclaimed August 30, 2014 as Bharathi Kalai Manram (BKM) Day in Houston.

BKM members recently elected its new officers for 2014-15.

BKM elects new officers for 2014-15

Sewa International conducts Yuva for Sewa (YFS) - Summer International Internship annually in India. Here is an excellent opportunity for college going youth to experience a new culture and buff up their resume. The program is in its successful 9th year.

Yuva for Sewa is a summer internship offered by Sewa Inter-national USA that focuses on service projects in India and Carib-bean countries. It is an opportunity for young adults to contribute their time to a larger movement of serving humanity.

The program is designed to actualize the message of Sewa In-ternational USA, which believes that service to humanity is ser-vice to God.

Since its inception in 2006, YFS has provided 52 youth with the opportunity to volunteer their time for different service proj-ects, based on their interests and expertise. Projects are available in health care, education, environmental awareness, women’s em-powerment, rural development and micro-finance.

Interns spend the duration of their internship working with NGOs in the community. They seek to serve and engage in a transformative experience that empowers them, as they strive to make an impact in their chosen field.

In 2015 Yuva for Sewa internship projects are located in the city Bangalore, Karnataka - India. The summer internship will start Monday June 9th and end on Friday August 15th 2015*(Flexible for students whose finals are conflictin with our start date).

All interns will be required to arrive in Bangalore by Sunday June 8th 2015 where the one week orientation program will be conducted. Orientation will include general training about proj-ects and basic cultural information for interns.

After orientation, interns will focus on specific projects and spend the duration of their internship with other volunteers work-ing on the same project. For detailed project descriptions, please visit: http://sewausa.org/projects.

Interested applicants should submit an online application form by April 15th, 2015. Selected applicants will be invited to a phone interview followed by an in-person interview. Successfull appli-cants will be notified by email or phone. Only upon accepting the internship offer, applicants will be required to submit a $450 administration and application fee.

Yuva for Sewa

COMMUNITY NEWS

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PAGE 12 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014

WASHINGTON: Richard Rahul Verma was been sworn in as the US Ambassador to In-dia by Secretary of State John Kerry. Verma, 46, is the fi rst ever Indian-American to be the top US diplomat in New Delhi.

He is scheduled to arrive in India ahead of Kerry’s visit to Delhi next month. US Presi-dent Barack Obama will arrive in late January to attend the Re-public Day Parade on January 26 as the Chief Guest.

He was confi rmed by the US Senate by a voice vote on Dec 9. Verma, who quietly played an important role in the Congressional passage of civil nuclear deal with India, had ad-vocated for strong Indo-US ties when in the administration and recently started “India 2020” project at Centre for American Progress -- a top American-think tank.

The very fact that Verma was confi rmed by a voice vote in a bitterly divided senate with more than fi fty ambassadorial nominations pending, signify the bi-partisan support to In-dia-US relationship.

Verma served as assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs at the State Department in the Obama administration from 2009 to 2011.

He is currently a senior counsellor at Steptoe & John-son law fi rm and the Albright

Stonebridge Group, a busi-ness advisory company, led by former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

Verma will replace Nancy Powell, who resigned in March after a damaging row over the treatment of a junior Indian diplomat, Devyani Khobrag-ade, who was accused by au-thorities in New York of visa fraud and underpaying a do-mestic worker.

The U.S. Embassy in New Delhi is currently headed by a charge d’affaires, Kathleen Stephens.

Verma’s association with Obama goes back to 2008, when he worked on presiden-tial debate preparations for the then Illinois senator.

His parents came to the U.S. in the early 1960s having lived through India’s fi ght for inde-pendence from Britain and par-tition.

Verma is also a Senior Na-tional Security Fellow at the Centre for American Progress, a major Washington think-tank that has close ties with the Obama administration. In prior roles he served as the Assistant Secretary for Legislative Af-fairs at the State Department, from 2009 to 2011 and was a Senior National Security Advi-sor, Counsel and Foreign Pol-icy Advisor to the Senate Ma-jority Leader Harry Reid from 2002 to 2007.

The Ambassador to India is also a former active duty veter-an of the U.S. military, having served in the Air Force from 1994 to 1998 and received, among other decorations, the Meritorious Service Medal and Air Force Commendation Medal, the White House noted.

Early on in his career Verma accumulated experience in di-verse areas of international politics and diplomacy, al-ternatively serving as a Field Representative for the National Democratic Institute in Eastern Europe and on the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Prolifera-tion and Terrorism in 2008.

Verma

Richard Verma sworn in as ambassadorPUNE: A sessions court here has rejected the revision appli-

cation by a 32-year-old US citizen of Indian origin and his NRI parents living in Botswana, Africa, challenging the lower court’s order on maintainability of provisions under the Domestic Vio-lence (DV) Act, 2005 against them in a case fi led by his 27-year-old wife, who hails from the city.

The court of additional sessions judge N G Gimekar also di-rected the magisterial court to expedite the plea by the husband and his parents against certain interim reliefs granted to the wife and to settle the issue of applicability of DV Act.

The couple, belonging to Punjabi Hindu families, was married on December 27, 2010 in Haryana and lived in Chandigarh for a week before going to Botswana on January 4, 2011 to be with the husband’s parents. On January 9, 2011, the husband (name with-held), an MBA graduate, left for the US to join work, his wife, who is BE and MBA graduate, stayed back with her in-laws. She returned to India on January 25, 2011 after complaining that she was being subjected to domestic violence in Botswana and fi led a case here against the trio under the DV Act.

Lawyers, representing either sides, are since debating before the courts various questions of law as to whether the DV Act has any extra territorial applicability and whether the offence alleged to have been committed by a US citizen against an Indian person in Botswana, can be taken cognizance of by the courts in India. The case has been heard at different stages by the magisterial court, the sessions court and the Bombay high court prior to the latest order by the sessions court.

After the wife had fi led a plea on her return to India, a magiste-rial court granted her certain reliefs including an interim main-tenance of Rs 20,000 per month and a restraining order on the husband and the two in-laws from committing any domestic vio-lence. The husband and the in-laws have since appealed against these reliefs and the same is pending consideration before the court.

In a related move, the husband and his parents fi led an ap-plication before the magisterial court arguing that the proceed-ing against them under the DV Act was not maintainable and be dropped. They argued that the husband is a US citizen and, hence, not amenable to the jurisdiction of Indian courts while the parents are NRIs and the act of domestic violence, as alleged, occurred in Botswana. Hence, it is not cognizable by Indian courts.

US citizen, NRI parents face domestic violence charge


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TAMIL CINEMA

Veteran director K. Balachander, who was known in the South Indian fi lm circles as ‘Iyakkunar Sigaram’ (a peak among directors), breathed his last on Tuesday evening, leaving behind a rich legacy of not just fi lm and television work but a long list of technicians and actors he introduced in a career spanning nearly fi ve decades.

The 84-year-old, who was suffering from age-related ailments and was admitted to a private hospital in Chennai last week, was declared dead around 7. 30 p.m. on Dec 23.

K Balachander moved away from hero-centric fi lms

K Balachander (center) with Kamal Haasan (left) and Rajinikanth

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K. Balachander, a Dadasaheb Phalke awardee, was the man who moved the hero-centric Tam-il cinema to story-based, realistic creations with new talent.

K.B. as he is known, introduced and shaped many top stars, in-cluding Kamal Hassan and Ra-jinikanth, and effortlessly adapted himself to the changing world of theatre, cinema and fi nally televi-sion, through his non-conformist ideas and complicated plots.

KB the director gained interna-tional acclaim but his journey ac-tually started with theatre. Born in Nannilam, Kailasam Balachander fi rst dallied with theatre when he directed the play Major Chandra-kanth in 1963, when he worked in the Auditor General’s Offi ce. The play became a runaway hit and, later, also as a movie.

Neerkumizhi, originally a drama, was his fi rst fi lm, and his script for Server Sundaram, was made into a fi lm by AVM starring Nagesh, under the direction of Krishnan Panchu.

The introduction of an unkempt Rajinikanth in the fi lm Aboorva Ragangal would come to be talk-

ed about in the changing Tamil fi lm industry for years to come. He went on to make fi lms starring Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth, including Moondru Mudichu, Avargal and the Beatles’- inspired Ninaithale Inikkum, the songs of which continue to haunt genera-tions of fi lm music lovers.

An admirer of poet Bharathi and a feminist, KB cast his heroines as intelligent, independent and sometimes, even headstrong, indi-viduals. They were cast in typical middle class binds having to fi ght societal constraints — Kavitha of Aval Oru Thodarkathai, Nan-dini of Manathil Uruthi Vendum, Kalki from the fi lm of the same name, or Lalitha, the heroine of Arangetram.

Arangetram, portraying the life of a Brahmin girl taking to sex work to sustain a large fam-ily, shook the Tamil fi lm world. It was in this fi lm that child artiste Kamal Haasan made his debut as an adult, playing the role of the heroine’s brother.

Thillu Mullu, starring Rajni-kanth was a romcom that was a roaring hit, and Bhama Vijayam,

a tale of the ambitions of the middle class, was also a major hit. KB was inspired by social activ-ist M.S. Udayamurthy to make his Unnal Mudiyum Thambi, a fi lm that marked Gemini Gane-san’s return to cinema. Among his political fi lms, industry analysts count Thanneer Thanneer, and Achamilai, Achamilai. Varumai Niram Sivappu narrates the woes of unemployment.

KB was keen on using mu-sic well in his fi lms, and Sindhu Bhairavi starring Sivakumar and Suhasini, with Ilayaraja scoring the tunes was an example of how creatively it could be done. His Ek Duje Ke Liye with Kamal Hassan and Rati Agnihotri, showed that KB could shine outside of Tamil too, as did Mano Charitra, in Telu-gu. His last fi lm was Poi.

He tasted success as a produc-er, as his company, Kavithalaya, emerged as the launch pad for several greats in the industry: for instance, A.R. Rahman made his debut as music director in the fi lm Roja. His golden touch worked well even with his tele-serials, says Kavithalaya Krishnan.

CUISINE

Ingredients: Two 7-ounce cans whole green chile peppers, drained; 8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded; 8 ounces Longhorn or Cheddar cheese, shredded; 2 eggs, beaten; one 5-ounce can evaporated milk, 2 tbsp all-purpose fl our, 1/2 cup milk, one 8-ounce can tomato sauce.Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

(175 degrees C). Spray a 9x13-inch bak-ing dish with cooking spray.Lay half of the chilies evenly in bottom

of baking dish. Sprinkle with half of the Jack and Cheddar cheeses, and cover with remaining chilies. In a bowl, mix together the eggs, milk, and fl our, and pour over the top of the chilies.Bake in the preheated oven for 25 min-

utes. Remove from oven, pour tomato sauce evenly over the top, and continue baking another 15 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining Jack and Cheddar cheeses, and serve.

Peach-jalapeno chutneyIngredients: 5 ripe peaches, pitted; 2

jalapenos, stems removed, diced; 1 tbsp grated ginger; 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp cumin powder, 2 tsp lime juice.Method: Medium dice 3 peaches and

place in bowl and set aside. Purée the re-maining peaches in a blender. Pour mix-ture into a medium saucepan with jalape-ños, ginger, sugar, cumin and lime juice. Bring pan to medium heat and reduce mixture, stirring till thick for about 5 to 6 minutes. Pour diced peaches into saucepan and cook for 3 minutes or until mixture is hot. Remove and set aside.


REVIEW/PREVIEW

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Cast: Ronit Roy, Surveen Chawla, Girish Kulkarni, Tejaswini Kol-hapure, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rahul Bhat, Vipin Sharma. Director: Anurag Kashyap

The fi lm is ugly from the word go, and only gets progressively omi-nous. No, you won't be chomping through your popcorn through this one. You won't have the appetite for it. Remember the saying about the glass half full or half empty? In Anurag Kashyap's 'Ugly' world, not only is the glass completely empty, it's also cracked and about to smash.

Within the fi rst few minutes you have a suicide attempt by an alco-holic mother (gun in the mouth), a father who speaks fi lthy language in front of his child (the child puts her earphones on) and then proceeds to leave her in the car while he wraps up some work, and then the chilling development of the child's kidnapping.

Once the child Kali disappears, everyone's on the hunt. Or so it seems. The mother Shalini (Tejaswini Kolhapure) is either too drunk to decipher the situation or too depressed to care, we don't know. The father Rahul (Rahul Bhat), having incurred bruises on the face is more worried about that he may not get any fi lm work. Shalini's second hus-band Shoumik (Ronit Roy), a high-ranking cop, suspects the father of kidnapping Kali, after all he left the kid in the car.

Ugly is overly cynical, melancholic

The ignition point of every love story is the stretch where the hero and heroine meet – and in Kayal, director Prabhu Solomon gives us a wonderfully orchestrated sequence. Aaron (Chandran) and his friend Socrates (Vincent) have unknowingly abetted a crime – at least in the eyes of the men who bring these two to the local zamindar’s house. We know something is up because, as they enter the house, we hear the same Ilaiyaraaja song (Enge en jeevane) we heard earlier, when Aaron told Socrates that he was waiting to fall in love. But once there, the men begin to beat up Aaron and Socrates. The mix of moods is amazing. Along with this violence, we get comedy – the reason for an old woman’s speechlessness is hilarious, and a batty old man brings the house down with his spaced-out demeanor.

There’s drama as well, involving caste, family honor. And above all, there’s melodrama, when Aaron falls for the servant of the house, Kay-al (Anandhi), and ends up in a situation where he is doused with petrol and she holds the match. It’s literally the ignition point.

There’s a lot to like about Solomon’s movies. He takes on refreshing-ly offbeat premises. He makes earthy stories set far away from the cit-

ies, and he doesn’t subscribe to the notion that stories set in vil-lages are necessarily drenched in blood. His violence is more emotional – he deals with love stories. He uses actors who look like real people, not glammed-up stars who’ve gone de-glam in order to play “villagers”.

Kayal appears to be an at-tempt to tell a story whose beats we are familiar with, the only difference being the setting – the tsunami of 2004. The elements, destiny, even God (as the sun peeking through a cloud) – all have a part to play. And if we’re being really charitable, we could say that this near-mythical struc-ture accounts for the too-easy contrivances – despite being separated, Kayal and Aaron are always just an accidental meet-ing away. But that still leaves us with an enormous problem. The central emotion that’s supposed to drive all this, the great love between Aaron and Kayal, is too wispy to warrant all this drama, which is constantly underlined by a score that just won’t stop. We’re meant to feel their pain, but all we feel is the fi lm strain-ing to be an epic. — The Hindu

Kayal strains hard to be an epic

That the three – Shalini, Rahul and Shoumik had an uneasy equation from an earlier time, adds fuel to the fi re.

Everyone's hurt for various reasons and this seems the perfect time to vent. Of course, the audience is horrifi ed at these ugly characters that morbidly go about their personal agendas, pretending that fi nding the kidnapped girl is their primary concern.

While the characters are lovingly crafted, with their madness and ug-liness disgusting us adequately—the fi lm falters in showing a few key developments. The ransom portion involving Shalini is not convincing at all; neither is Rahul's desperate and unconventional attempt at raising the money.

You have an uncomfortable, queasy feeling in the pit of your stom-ach throughout, whether it's guessing who kidnapped the girl, to the spectacular, even if indulgent, police station scene where the father is trying to fi le a complaint, but the cops are too busy wringing him for his fi lm star ambitions.

But like the fi lm, Anurag crams too much into that one portion, long after the scene has done its job.

The attention to detail in the fi lm is a treat. Rahul's friend Chaitanya, a small-time casting director has an offi ce in Naaz building and wears T-shirts that says, "Prem Rogue”. Rahul's struggling actor barely has money to take care of his family but we spot gigantic bottles of Whey Protein on the kitchen shelf.

The performances by the lead cast — Rahul Bhat, Tejaswini Kol-hapure, Ronit Roy — are extraordinary. The peripheral cast is equally adept.

The sharp dialogue, consistently foreboding background score and superb cinematography are further treats in the movie.

The fi lm is based on true events, and indeed, as Anurag has men-tioned in numerous interviews, there are thousands of children that get kidnapped, never to be found. It's a gruesome reality, which he tries to mirror in this fi lm. But one wishes writer-director Anurag Kashyap had exercised some restraint in making some scenes that are so graphic and morbid. There are ways of implying that a situation has occurred rather than showing it for effect.

Kashyap gives us a fi lm that represents a disturbing refl ection of life. It's a fi lm where there are only villains of varying shades and no heroes. It reminds you of his 2011 fi lm That Girl in Yellow Boots. Still, in the end, Ugly is a fairly gripping fi lm that’s also exhaustingly melancholic and cynical. After all, it is unreasonable to view the world only through smog-tinted glasses! — Sonia Chopra in Sify.com


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MELBOURNE: Australiadrew the third Test against Indiato take an unassailable 2-0 lead inthe four-match series. The homeside declared on 318-9 at lunchon the final day, setting India 384to win in 70 overs.

Virat Kohli (54) and AjinkyaRahane (48) led India's resistanceafter they lost three wickets for19 runs. Captain Mahendra SinghDhoni and Ravichandran Ashwinthen survived a nervous final hourto push India to safety, as theyclosed on 174-6.

On DAY 4 Shaun Marsh strucka key half-century to help Aus-tralia to a 326-run lead over Indiaon day four of the third Test andall but seal the series.

India resumed their first inningson 462-8 and added three runs.

Marsh then hit an unbeaten 62to steer Australia to 261-7 afteropeners David Warner (40) andChris Rogers (69) had built a solidsecond innings platform.Australia

resumed their second innings on261-7 and had been expected tobat aggressively to add runs quicklybefore declaring, but ShaunMarsh and Ryan Harris took theirtime in a 69-run partnership, alsoknowing a draw would be enoughfor Australia to clinch the series.

Marsh was run out for 99shortly before lunch as he at-tempted a rash single to bring uphis first Test century on home soil.

After the break, Harris struckwith the second ball of the sec-ond over to dismiss ShikharDhawan for a duck beforeLokesh Rahul continued his for-gettable Test debut by falling forone to a Mitchell Johnson shortball, following his three in the firstinnings.

Josh Hazlewood then claimedhis first Test dismissal of the Test,trapping opener Murali Vijay lbwfor 11 to leave India 19-3 after 8.2overs.

But Kohli and Rahane stead-

ied the innings to leave Australianeeding seven wickets in the finalsession.

Kohli fell to the first ball afterthe tea break, caught at backwardsquare leg, before ChetshewarPujara was bowled by Johnson for21 while Rahane was caught atmid-wicket off Hazlewood, toleave India on 142-6 with 15 oversremaining.

Both Australia and India scoredhigh in the first innings. In reply toAustralia’ mammoth total of 530,India, heading into day three,trailed by 422. Australia got off toa good start when Ryan Harrisand Shane Watson dismissed theovernight Indian batsmen -Cheteshwar Pujara (25) andMurali Vijay (68) - inside the firsthour of play.

The sizable crowd at the MCGwould have started to sense a veryusual trend, but Virat Kohli (169)and Ajinkya Rahane (147) deniedthe hosts producing a memorable262-run stand for the fourthwicket in just 57.4 overs to helpIndia get close to Australia's firstinnings total.

Kohli and Rahane who startedtheir association in the 12th overof the day, countered the Austra-lian pace attack for nearly twosessions with positive mindset andsome sublime strokeplay. Kohlipunched a fuller one from Harriswith perfect timing towards cov-ers off the eighth ball he faced.An over later, he drove onestraight off Johnson to take hissecond boundary of the day.

Soon after Rahane joined Kohliin the middle, batting becameeasier and runs started to comeat a good pace.

Watson and Josh Hazlewoodwho started their spells in a disci-plined manner, leaked runs as theypulled their lengths back a bit.Harris and Johnson in their sec-ond spells were also taken forsome runs.

Autralia 1st innings 530 allout (Rogers 57, Warner 0, Watson52, Smith 192, Haddin 55, Johnson28, Harris 74; Shami 4 for 138,Ashwin 3 for 134, Ydav 3 for 130)and 2nd innings 318 for 9 decl(Warner 40, Rogers 69, Watson17, Smith 14, S March 99, Harris21, Haddin 13, Johnson 15; Yadav,Shami, Sharma and Ashwin 2wickets each)

India 1st innings 465 all out(Kohli 169, Rahane 147, Vijay 68,Dhawan 28, Pujara 25; Harris 4for 70, Johnson 3 for 135, Lyon 2for 138) and 2nd innings 174for 6 (Kohli 54, Rahane 48, Pujara21, Vijay 11, Dhawan 0, Dhoni 24n/o; Harris, Johnson, Hazlewood2 wickets each)

India hold on to ensure a draw at Melbourne

Ajinkya Rahane (left) and Virat Kohli scored centuries in the firstinnings and steadied the side in the second innings too.

LAUGH IT OFF

Dhoni retires from TestsIndia captain

Mahendra SinghDhoni has re-tired from Testcricket.

The 33-year-old, who madehis debut in 2005and was captainfor 60 of his 90Tests, quit afterIndia drew thethird Test againstAustralia onTuesday, Dec30. He will be re-placed by ViratKohli as captainfor the fourthand final Testagainst Australiawhich starts onJanuary 6 inSydney.

Dhoni has re-tired from Tests

MS Dhoni international recordGames Runs Ave. High Ct Stump

Tests: 90 4,876 38.09 224 256 38ODIs: 250 8,192 52.85 183* 227 85T20i: 50 849 33.96 48* 25 11

Most matches as India Test captainTests Won Lost Drawn Win %

Dhoni 60 27 18 15 45.00Ganguly 49 21 13 15 42.85Azharuddin 47 14 14 19 29.78Gavaskar 47 9 8 30 19.14Nawab ofPataudi 40 9 19 12 22.50Kapil Dev 34 4 7 22 11.76

"in order to concentrate" on the 50 over and Twenty20 formats, withIndia's one-day World Cup defence starting in February.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) called Dhoni"one of India's greatest Test captains". The statement added: "BCCIrespects the decision of MS Dhoni, and thanks him for his enormouscontribution to Test cricket and laurels that he has brought to India."

Known for his penchant to seal a victory with a six, Dhoni's trade-mark "helicopter" shot has amused fans who have also hailed his un-flappable temperament. India's string of test defeats overseas remainsa blot on his captaincy records, though, and the emergence of ViratKohli was seen as an alternative.

Dhoni, rated by Forbes earlier this year as the fifth richest sports-man in the world with an annual brand value of £12.9 million, tookover as Test captain from Anil Kumble in 2008 after leading India tothe inaugural World Twenty20 title in 2007.

India lost only one of Dhoni's first 13 Test series in charge, winningeight - a run that saw them top the world rankings from late 2009 untilthe summer of 2011, a period in which Dhoni also led his team tovictory in the one-day World Cup on home soil.

However, India surrendered their number one ranking with a 4-0whitewash in England, a result that began their poor run away fromhome and after last summer's 3-1 defeat in England, Dhoni hinted hemight stand down as captain. Record-breaking batsman SachinTendulkar tweeted: "Well done on a wonderful career in Test cricket.Always enjoyed playing together. Next target 2015 WC my friend!!"

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar told NDTV: "India will missDhoni big time because he gave a new dimension to Indian cricket.

"Over the last year or so, the pressure of captaincy was probablyaffecting his wicket-keeping. The amount of cricket he was playingprobably told on him."

Changing hair styles of M.S. Dhoni: (clockwise fromtop left) at Lahore in in 2006; during the ICC WorldCup final match in 2007; during a Champions LeagueTwenty20 match at Ranchi in 2013; at Melbourne onTuesday, just before he announced his retirement fromTest cricket.

BACHELOR: A man who has been able to avoid the opportunityof making some woman miserable.

— A man who is said to be foot-loose and fiancee-free.— A man who believes in life, liberty, and the happiness of pursuit.BRIDE: A girl with great prospects of happiness behind her.DIPLOMAT: A man who is able to convince his wife that a fur

coat would make her look fat.GENTLEMAN: A husband who holds the stepladder tightly so

his wife doesn't fall while she's painting the ceiling.HOUSEWORK: What a wife without anyone noticing it until she

doesn't do it.MRS.: A job title involving long duties, light earnings and zero rec-

ognition.

*** We haven't verified this on Snopes, but it sounds legit. Arecent study found that women who carry a little extra weight livelonger than the husbands who mention it.

Deft Definitions

By any name, it’s moneyIn temple or church, it's called donation. In school, it's fee.In marriage, it's called dowry. In divorce, alimony.When you owe someone, it's debt. When you owe the govern-

ment, it's tax.In court, it's fines. Civil servant retirees, it's pension.Employer to workers, it's salary. Master to subordinates, it's wages.To children, it's allowance.When you borrow from bank, it's loan. What you offer after a

good service, it's a tip.To kidnappers, it's ransom. Illegally received in the name of ser-

vice, it's bribe.The question is, “When a husband gives to his wife, what do we call

it?”Money given to your wife is called Duty, and every man has to do

his duty because, wives are NOT Duty free.

RELIGION/ SPIRITUALITYINDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014 • PAGE 17

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Yoga is science, not religionThe United Nations has declared June 21 as International Yoga

Day. But there has been so much misinterpretation over the years,creating several doubts among those who are yet unclear as to whatyoga is, really. Let us therefore to look first at what yoga is not, so weknow exactly what we are celebrating.

Is yoga a system of physical exercise? Is it a religion? Is it belief ingod? Is it about becoming a good or moral person? These are com-mon questions. The answer to all of them is that it is none of theabove.

Standing on your head, or twisting your body into all sorts of pos-tures, is not yoga. Yes, there are yogic practices that involve the body.But fundamentally, ‘yoga’ means ‘union’. It means you have begun toexperience the universality of who you are. Science proves beyonddoubt that the whole of existence is just one energy manifesting invarious forms. If this scientific fact becomes a living reality for you, ifyou begin to experience everything as one, you are in yoga.

Yoga is a science, not a religion. Just as there is a physical sciencefor external wellbeing, yoga is a science for inner wellbeing. Becausethis science evolved in Indic civilisation -- in the land between theHimalayas and the Indian Ocean -- it was identified over time as beingHindu. But terming it as Hindu is akin to saying the theory of relativityis Jewish! Yoga has nothing to do with any creed or faith.

Does it entail a belief in god? No, it does not. Devotion can be apowerful and effective stepping-stone to your ultimate wellbeing. Butdevotion works only if you are a childlike person. If yours is a ques-tioning mind, don’t waste your time on devotion. If you happen toarrive at an overwhelming inner experience where your logic fallsapart, that is different. Then devotion is natural and it can be explo-sive. But don’t try to practise devotion. It won’t work.

The question is, are you looking for solace or for a solution? If youwant solace, belief in anything is fine; it will settle you psychologically.

If you want a solution, that’s different. Yoga is a solution. No beliefsystem is involved. It’s about simply doing what works.

Does yoga entail a value system? No. If you experience yourselfas one with everything, you don’t need any values. That is the beautyof yoga. It is an experiential system. If you experience everyone as apart of you, I don’t have to instruct you: ‘Be good to all.’

Once inclusion happens, nobody needs to teach you morals. Whenyou are in yoga, the need to be good has itself disappeared!

This is also the difference between morality and spirituality. Spiritu-ality is not about trying to fix or prescribe values or morals. Prescribingdoesn’t work in the long run. Only that which is free will live totallyand inclusively. Only that which is free will lasts.

For the first time we have the kind of information technology thatallows us to reach out to the whole world; we are now connected likenever before, at the touch of a button.

In this sense, we are more empowered than even Adiyogi, GautamaBuddha or Patanjali! In such information-rich times, the entire planetof 7.2 billion people can be inspired to turn to this profound science ofinner wellbeing, by creating awareness of what yoga really is. Allthose who have been touched and benefited by yoga could make thishappen. — Speaking Tree

By Kishore Asthana

During the festive Christmasand New Year season, while wedevote so much thought and timeto thinking of gifts for other people,few of us spend any time thinkingabout gifts we can give ourselves.Even those who do so, think onlyin terms of ‘things’ they want topurchase. However, there are somany gifts you can give yourself,which would be more valuablethan anything you can purchase.

Would you believe if someonetold you that there exist almostmagical gifts that can make youlive longer, reduce or even elimi-nate your medical bills, make youpeaceful, increase your popular-ity amongst others, make you per-sonally and professionally moresuccessful and leave a betterworld for your children? Soundslike a dream? But such gifts doexist and are within your grasp.And they are free. Let me list tenof these:

1. The first is exercise. If yougive yourself the gift of exercise– even 15 minutes a day – youwill be healthier, live longer andfeel more alert.

2. Yoga also confers similarbenefits. It also adds a zing toyour step and makes your musclesshed their laziness.

3. Meditation is invaluable. Itconfers many benefits, includinga peaceful mind, calm demeanorand heightened awareness. Si-lence is a powerful gift. The firsttime you experience true inner si-lence, you will want to stay in thisstate forever.

4. The fourth gift you can giveyourself is the gift of learningsomething new. It keeps youyounger and more interested inlife, and you become more alert.

5. Related to this is the gift ofreading. Give this gift not only toyourself but also to your children.

6. Personal hygiene is a greatgift, too. We take this for grantedbut even small things such asbrushing your teeth before sleep-ing can have a great impact onyour well-being. Washing hands,general cleanliness – everythingmatters.

7. Smiling -- you will be sur-prised what a great difference itwill make to your life if you giveyourself this gift.

8. Another such useful gift itthe gift of empathy. This amaz-ing gift broadens your world.

9. Tolerance: We are veryquick to take offence. We haveour prejudices against all kinds ofpeople and things. We divide theworld into ‘ours’, who can do nowrong and ‘others’, who can dono right. Tolerance is the bridgebetween the two.

10. Finally, how about giftingyourself active concern for yourenvironment? This means notonly caring for the environment ina theoretical way but also activelypromoting good practices such aswaste recycling, water conserva-tion, promoting greenery and soon. With this gift, you will not onlyimprove your life but will gift yourchildren a better world.

That’s not all. There are other

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gifts, too, which we can give ourselves. These would be unique foreach person. I am sure we can all think of some of these.

Would it not be great if all of us can give ourselves at least some ofthe above gifts during this gift-giving season? Not only will we be thericher for these, they will make our loved ones richer beyond anymaterial gift we can give them. Just select your own gifts, open themwith your will-power and revel in them for many happy years to come.

Wonderful gifts we can give ourselves

Real conversion is whathappens within

By Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

The purpose of religion is to bring enlightenment to the individual,happiness in society and to move from limited individual identity touniversality and communion with the Divine. At their core, all religionshave wisdom and human values which are universal. Customs andtraditions were moulded by people and their way of life at the time;that is why they are diverse. In terms of their origin, all religions areexpressions of divine inspiration.

The whole idea of converting from one religion to another comesfrom a very narrow mindset — that one is better than the other. Weneed to see things from a broader perspective. Just like different flow-ers come up and blossom in different places according to their climate,different religions arose according to the need of the time and placethroughout history. Similarly, just as a flower gives its fragrance toeveryone equally, the wisdom in this world, from whichever religion itmay be, does not belong only to one community; it is the collectiveheritage of the whole of humanity. Jesus’s message, Buddha’s teach-ing, the knowledge of yoga and meditation are relevant and beneficialto anybody in the world.

Converting religion does not bring salvation. The notion that you willbe closer to God by changing religion is baseless. You get closer toGod by feeling connected, internally. Inner transformation is real con-version. If you really want to convert, convert from violence and frus-tration to a loving and peaceful space within. Religions of the far east— Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Shintoism, Taoism always existed inharmony. Their main goal was uplifting consciousness and giving knowl-edge. Nobody told people that their way was the only way and every-body else would go to hell. In fact, people who think they hold the keyto heaven create hell for everybody.

Due to the cultural diversity in India, religion and regionalism hasbeen a significant factor in politics. Luring poor people to convertingby tempting them with money and other short-term benefits is an actof exploitation and is only done for ulterior political motives. However,people are realising these sinister designs.

We need to educate people to take pride in whichever religion theybelong to while honouring other religions; to broaden vision and deepenroots. This can be done by introducing multicultural, multireligious ele-ments in education. If children grow up knowing a bit about all reli-gions, they develop a sense of respect and belongingness with them.They do not grow up to be fanat-ics thinking that their religion is su-perior and others need to be ‘lib-erated’ and converted.

Our foremost identity is that webelong to One Divinity; we are allpart of one human family. Thencome these identities of gender,nationality and in the end, religion.Conflict arises when instead ofidentifying with Divinity, we iden-tify with divisions. This sense ofidentity with humanness shouldprevail among all other identities.If we are able to focus on thisuniversality, establish this sense ofOneness, then we would haveachieved something great in thiscentury. At a time like this whenreligious polarisation is drivingpeople apart, all that the worldneeds is love and understanding.


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CHENNAI: Karibeeran Paramesvaran can never forget 26 De-cember - it is his birthday, but he has not celebrated it for the past 10years. On Boxing Day morning in 2004 at 8 a.m., he and 10 of hisrelatives had walked down to Nagapattinam beach, just 600 metresfrom his house.

His children - daughters Rakshanya, 12, and Karuyna, 9, and sonKirubasan, 5 - like all children loved playing by the sea.

Paramesvaran was throwing a frisbee to his son when suddenly hesaw Kirubasan's face freeze with fear. As he turned around he saw ahuge wave - the size of two palm trees - heading towards his children.

It is a moment that he has relived time and time again. His voicechokes with emotion as he tells me what happened next.

"I reached out for my son, I held his hand for as long as I could butthe waves were too strong. Eventually he slipped out my hands."

He then pauses for a moment. "I failed my son, as his father Ishould have been able to protect him but I did not."

Paramesvaran was swept away from his family by the waves. Hethought he was going to die, but he somehow managed to cling on to apalm tree for five minutes and survived.

He then rushed home to see if he could find his children. His wifeChuramani, who had been cooking a meal for his birthday, told himthere was no sign of them.

He rushed back to the beach to try and find them. On the railway

RTI request of Jashodaben deniedAHMEDABAD: Information

sought through an RTI by Jashodaben,wife of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,on the security cover given to her hasbeen denied by the Mehsana Police onthe ground that her queries were re-lated to local intelligence bureau whichis exempted under Right to InformationAct.

“The information sought by her(Jashodaben) was related to the localintelligence bureau (LIB), therefore itcould not have been given to her andwe have sent a written communicationabout this development to her,” Super-intendent of Police J.R. Mothaliya of Mehsana district said.

The reply given in writing to her also says the same thing.“The information sought by you (Jashodaben Modi) was related

with the LIB and as per the Gujarat Home Department’s resolutiondated November 25, LIB has been exempted from RTI Act and there-fore the asked information cannot be given to you,” said the letterwritten by the public information officer and Mehsana Deputy Super-intendent of Police Bhakti Thakar to her.

In her RTI request filed before Mehsana Police on November 24,2014, she had sought several documents on the security cover givento her as per the protocol, including the certified copy of actual orderpassed by government about providing security.

She also wanted to know the laws and related provisions in IndianConstitution about security cover given to a Prime Minister’s wife.

Jashodaben, 62, wanted to know the definition of protocol and soughtdetails about what it includes and what other benefits she is entitled to.

She also expressed unhappiness about the current security set up,where her guards travel in government vehicles while she, despitebeing a Prime Minister’s wife, has to travel by public transport.

She said that as former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was killed byher own security guards, she feelS scared of her guards. She askedthe government to make it compulsory for each guard to produce thecopy of deployment order.

Jashodaben, a retired school teacher, lives with her brother AshokModi at Unjha town of Mehsana district. After Narendra Modi wassworn in as Prime Minister on May 26, she was given security byMehsana Police who have deployed 10 policemen, including armedguards, who work in two shifts to protect her.

track, he found the life-less body of his daugh-ter Rakshanya who justa few hours earlier hadbought him a cup of teaand wished him happybirthday. With the littlestrength he had left, hecarried her back to thehouse.

Over the next fewhours, he did the samefor his other daughterand son.

Out of the 11 peoplewho went to the beachthat morning, he was

the only one who survived. Someof the bodies were never recov-ered.

That night, he had and his wifeburied their children. "It is some-thing no parent should have to do,"he tells me.

He wanted to dig a grave foreach of them. But he did not havethe strength, so in the end he bur-ied them all together.

He wanted to throw himselfinto the grave and a few days laterasked his wife to buy him somepoison.

All he could see, he says, wasthe face of his son slipping awayout of his hands. "How could I livewhen the sea had taken all mythree children?" he says.

But 10 years on, he is still here.He has two children now but looksafter many more. The way he hassurvived is by helping others.

In his area alone more than 60children lost their parents and hiswife told him that they had to tryand help them.

Initially they took in four chil-dren - three girls and a boy.

Now they have more than 30children staying with them in theirhome which has been renamedthe Nambikkai (Hands of Hope).

It is full of laughter and life. Asthe children play around her,Churamani tells me: "People saywe have helped them, but reallythey have helped us. Without them,we would have ended blamingeach other for what happened."

Paramesvaran nods his head inagreement. "Ten years on, I haveto keep busy every minute of theday otherwise I see Kirubasan'shand slipping out of mine. Thesechildren have saved my life, I havenot saved theirs."

Some of the children have nowleft.

Vinod, whose grandfather, fa-ther and uncle died, has qualifiedas an engineer. For the first fewyears after the tsunami, he hadnightmares. He could not look atthe sea. He and the other childrenjust talked about who they had lostand asked why. Nobody couldever give then an answer.

"Over time, we all got strengthfrom each other and realised thatwe had to make something out ofour lives. That is the best way toremember those who died," Vinodtells me.

On 26 December this year,Paramesvaran and the childrenhere did not celebrate his birth-day. Instead, they gathered to re-member those who were washedaway and he once again see hisson slipping away from his hands.

Tsunami-hit couple takes care of 30 orphans

IIT-Delhi chief quits over Swamy’s duesNEW DELHI: IIT Delhi director Raghunath K Shevgaonkar has

quit more than two years before the end of his term. A senior IITofficial confirmed the news on Saturday, Dec 27, though human re-source development ministry officials claimed no knowledge.

Shevgaonkar has been under tremendous pressure from the minis-try to accede to two of its demands, IIT sources said. He was report-edly asked to provide the IIT ground for a cricket academy SachinTendulkar wanted to open and also pay nearly Rs 70 lakh to formerIIT-D faculty and now BJP member Subramanian Swamy as his "sal-ary dues" between 1972 and 1991.

Shevgaonkar was opposed to both the demands, the sources said."The director was against a cricket academy opening on the IIT pre-mises. He was of the view that the campus should be used only by thestudents and faculty," a senior administrative staff said, adding thatIITs should not become "an arena for such commercial interests".

IIT Delhi has said that Swamy has not given it the details of hisearnings from the time of his termination as a professor in 1972 toMarch 1991, when he was reinstated following a court order.

Swamy had been demanding his salary dues during the period alongwith 18% interest, which both IIT and the HRD ministry initially re-jected. Swamy then went to the Delhi high court, and last year, itdismissed IIT's plea that his petition should not be entertained.

The ministry changed its stance after the Modi government as-sumed office this year. Recently, it sought the advice of the depart-ment of personnel & training on whether Swamy's case came underthe government's general financial rules and service rules and if hecould be granted 'extraordinary leave' between 1972 and 1991.

The ministry even organized a meeting between Shevgaonkar andother senior IIT officials with Swamy. But Shevgaonkar, the sourcessaid, wasn't in favor of an out-of-court settlement and wanted to pur-sue the legal battle. "The director was of the view that such a settle-ment will create a bad precedent. He also felt that the case had politi-cal overtones," the senior IIT official said.

Teldulkar to work for village electrificationNEW DELHI: Looking for "satisfaction" after retirement, Indian

cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar says he plans to light up lives in villageswhere electricity remains a distant dream even to this day.

"My second innings is more about satisfaction. Many villages don'thave electricity and life there comes to a standstill after sunset. This isone thing I want to change," Tendulkar told 'Star Sports'.

"It is going to require a lot of support and I hope I get it from every-one," said the celebrated player, who recently adopted the PuttamrajuKandrika village in Andhra Pradesh as part of a government initiative.

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NEW DELHI: Union HomeMinister Rajnath Singh on Satur-day, Dec 27, advocated framingof an anti-conversion law andurged all political parties to thinkabout it seriously. “I think that tocheck conversion, an anti-con-version law has to be framed...Allpolitical parties should think overit seriously,” he said.

Talking to journalists on thesidelines of an event, Singh la-mented the rigid stand of theOpposition parties on the issueand also their demand for PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s state-ment on conversion. “Theyshould understand that statementof any Minister was thegovernment’s side,” he added.

However, the National UnitedChristian Forum (NUCF) – com-prising three leading churches ofthe country – on Saturday said itwould “fully support’’ the Gov-ernment in taking appropriateaction against anyone convertingby force or inducement under the

Rajnath wants law to ban conversions, butthree churches oppose it

The National United Christian Forum saida ban on conversions “would amount to adirect attack on individual’s freedom ofconscience to choose one’s faith...”

Pointing out that the secularnature of the Indian Constitutionwith different freedoms was in-cluded after a lengthy debate onthe issue by the founding fathersof modern India, the NUCF saidthe churches “forbid religious con-version by force or by fraudulentmeans’’. The three churches rep-resented in NUCF are the Catho-lic Bishops’ Conference of India,National Council of Churches inIndia and Evangelical Fellowshipof India.

The Forum urged Prime Minis-ter Narendra Modi to remind thepeople that no development cantake place in the country if thereare attempts to disrupt the com-munal harmony. Stating that thecommunity has been in the “fore-front of providing service to thenation’’, the NUCF sought tocounter the allegation of Christiansbeing anti-national and believing ina foreign religion. “Christianity hasbeen on this land for nearly 2,000years.’’

PATNA: After Bhagalpur andMunger, it was turn of BodhGaya where in a village 200Mahadalits converted to Chris-tianity on Christmas Day.

Chief Minister Jitan Manjhi,who himself is from the commu-nity and from the same district,has sought a probe into the event.

About 200 Mahadalits from 40families of Atiya village underPararia panchayat of Bodh Gayablock converted to Christianity onDec 25 at a Christmas functionorganized in a local school by apriest, Brother Rajkishore.

The villagers have reportedlysaid that they have converted toChristianity for their growth andbetterment in life.

However, village head MuniaDevi said she has no knowledgeabout the conversions, “though, afunction was organised in the vil-lage school on Thursday”.

A local official said that the vil-lagers like Dhanesh Manjhi andBhanesh Manjhi have said thatthey had participated in the func-tion on Christmas day to expresstheir faith in Christianity like othervillagers without any “allurement,fear or favor”.

Manjhi, who was in his villagein Gaya district on Dec 25 hassought a report from the districtmagistrate. “I’ve asked the offi-cials to look into it whether it wasforced conversion out of anypressure or allurement or on their

200 Mahadalits convert to Christianity

“already stringent existinglaws’’ of the country.

In a statement, theNUCF said theGovernment’s call for anational ban on conver-sions ̀ `would amount to adirect attack onindividual’s freedom ofconscience to chooseone’s faith and on the free-dom to profess, practiceand propagate the faith ofone’s choice, enshrined inArticle 25 of the Consti-tution’’.

The NUCF listed a series ofattacks on the community: Forc-ing a Catholic school in Bastar toinstall the statue of GoddessSaraswati, forbidding children toaddress the principal with the hon-orific `Father’, burning a churchin Delhi, “provocative call bysome fundamentalists’’ to convert4,000 Christians to Hinduism inAgra, declaration of Good Gov-ernance Day on December 25 to“undermine the importance ofChristmas’’ and calling Christiansanti-national.

Arguing that Christians consti-tute “just 2.33 per cent’’ of thepopulation, the NUCF said Christ-mas is the only holiday that thecommunity has in the entire year.Though the circulars asking edu-cational institutions to organiseevents on December 25 havebeen withdrawn, the Forum citedthe Navodaya circular as an “in-sult’’ to the importance of Christ-mas Day.

own,” he said. “If they have con-verted on their own there is noth-ing wrong in it,” he said, adding thata high-level probe could be orderedif there was any need of it.

Meanwhile, the 42 "Mahadalit"families that converted to Chris-tianity have sought police protec-tion and alleged that several Hinduright-wing outfits have been threat-ening them to return to Hinduism.

In a petition, with two pages ofsignatures, the new converts haveaccused the VHP, the RSS and theBajrang Dal of indulging in intimi-dation to get them back to theHindu fold. The petitioners saidthat they had embraced Christian-ity on their own free will.

According to the petition ad-dressed to the Bodh Gaya SHO, agroup of 30-40 intruders raided theChristan hamlet around midnighton Saturday. But when the vigi-lantes challenged them, the intrud-ers made a hasty retreat.

Shiv Shankar Masih, the firstDalit from the village who em-braced Christianity in 2007 andnow leads the new converts of thevillage told the TOI on Dec 29 thatactivists of the VHP, the BajrangDal and the RSS have been visit-ing the village to issue threats tothe converts.

They have been allegedlywarned that they will lose benefitsof government schemes anddriven out of the village if they didnot come back to the Hindu fold.

‘Ghar Wapsi’ forGoan CatholicsPANAJI: In the midst of a na-

tionwide row over the issue of re-conversion, a senior RSS officialsaid that the organisation waswilling to facilitate the 'GharWapsi' (homecoming, re-conver-sion) of those willing Goan Catho-lics, whose ancestors were forc-ibly converted during the colonialPortuguese era.

Speaking to a select group ofjournalists in Goa, on the sidelinesof a training camp for 15-year-old plus RSS (RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh) volunteers,Sharad Kunte, who heads theSangh's intellectual Wing for thewestern region, also said that theRSS was not actively seeking tore-convert people, but only serv-ing as a facilitator or guide to thosewho wanted to come back intotheir original religious fold.

"If they want to come back, weare ready to welcome them..."Kunte said, when asked about theSangh's position on Hindus whohad been converted by the Por-tuguese centuries earlier.

He spoke about Goa's colonialpast and the conversions to Ca-tholicism, which had taken placeunder Portuguese rule.

"The Portuguese had forciblyconverted thousands of Hindus.(Those converted) are not aroundnow, but their later generationsare..." Kunte said, adding thateven if present day Catholics inGoa, did not wish to re-convert,the RSS has no issues with it.

Goa was a Portuguese colonyfor more than 450 years until itwas liberated in 1961 by the In-dian army.

Under Portuguese rule, a largenumber of Goans were con-verted, often by force by Catho-lic missionaries, according todocumented historical texts. Goahas a population of 1.5 million outof which more than 26 percentare Catholics. Kunte said, “Forthose who want to come back (totheir original religion), we are onlyshowing them the way.”

NEW DELHI: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella pledged support toPrime Minister Narendra Modi's Digital India initiative during theirmeeting here on Dec 26. He is the third American company CEO,after Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook tomeet with the Prime Minister.

Nadella also met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Telecom Minis-ter Ravi Shankar Prasad and discussed modernization and security ofthe government's digital infrastructure, among other issues.

"It was a courtesy visit. Microsoft is the company that is a multina-tional but is operating in India for India and Indian businesses... Inevery meeting of course both 'Digital India' and 'Make in India' are topof mind and for us, top of mind in terms of our contribution to India,"Nadella said after his meeting with Jaitley.

Sources in the Finance Ministry said Nadella had informed Jaitleythat Microsoft was keen on "investing more" in India. Microsoft wantsto collaborate with the government in providing last mile Internet con-nectivity, especially through the Wi-Fi technology, the statement added.

Satya Nadella meets with Modi


SOUTH ASIA

Receiving much criticism regarding the portrayal of Pakistan fromthe local audience, Showtime’s espionage show Homeland has nowalso managed to upset the diplomats who believe that the country hasbeen shown as a "hellhole", reported New York Post.

Pakistan Embassy spokesperson Nadeem Hotiana showed his dis-approval by complaining to the directors, who chose to ignore his views.

Starring Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison, the show which ended itsSeason Four last Sunday was binge-watched by the officials who paidclose attention to the show, making a list of all the loopholes.

Speaking to New York Post, Hotiana said, “Maligning a country thathas been a close partner and ally of the US... is a disservice not only tothe security interests of the US but also to the people of the US.”

He was also upset about the depiction of Islamabad, which is knownfor its lush green landscapes and serene environment.

“Islamabad is a quiet, picturesque city with beautiful mountains andlush greenery,” one source said. “In Homeland, it’s portrayed as agrimy hellhole and war zone where shootouts and bombs go off withdead bodies scattered around. Nothing is further from the truth.”

A known fact, instead of shooting scenes in the capital, Homeland'sIslamabad scenes were shot in Cape Town, South Africa.

The officials also pointed at the tarnishing of the language spoken bythe locals. “Pakistani characters portrayed in the show speak Englishlike Americans would,” a source said. “Also, when the characters inthe show speak Urdu, the accent is far from the local accent. And theconnotations of some of the Urdu words that are used are out of place.”

However, the most glaring misrepresentation noticed by the offi-cials was on the stance of Pakistan toward democracy and its treat-ment of terrorists. “Repeated insinuations that an intelligence agencyof Pakistan is complicit in protecting the terrorists at the expense ofinnocent Pakistani civilians is not only absurd but also an insult to theultimate sacrifices of the thousands of Pakistani security personnel inthe war against terrorism,” a source said.

“Our culture embraces Western society. Pakistan believes in thedemocratic system of voting in our presidents.”

“Pakistanis never embraced the dictators who, in the past, ruled thecountry because they took over the presidency through violent means.

“Homeland makes it seem that Pakistan has contempt for Ameri-cans and its values and principles. That is not true.”

Hotiana said that he wished that producers had given more consid-eration to the details and facts.

“A little research would have gone a long way,” he commented.

Ahmadi man gunned down afterincitement on television show

ISLAMABAD: Gunmen in a Punjab village shot dead a memberof the Ahmadi religious minority on Saturday, five days after a Muslimleader denounced Ahmadis on a popular television show.

Luqman Ahad Shehzad was shot in the back of the head near BhiriShah Rehman village, a small community of Ahmadis in the Gujranwaladistrict, said Saleemud Din, a spokesman of the community.

He is the eleventh person killed for being Ahmadi in Pakistan thisyear. In 1974, a Pakistani law declared them non-Muslims and made itpossible to jail Ahmadis for “posing as a Muslim” or “offending aMuslim's feelings”.

They are often denounced by Muslim clerics and targeted by violentextremists. Some clerics promise that killing Ahmadis earns the killer aplace in heaven and distribute leaflets listing Ahmadis’ home addresses.

On Monday, Muslim leader Syed Arif Shah Owaisi appeared on apopular morning television show hosted by Aamir Liaquat Hussain.“This enemy is a common enemy and is an enemy of all of Pakistan.And this enemy is the sect of Qadiyani,” Owaisi said, using a deroga-tory term for Ahmadis.

“They are the ones blaspheming against the holy prophet (pbuh). Allus Muslims should recognize that enemy.”

Saturday's killing was the second time Hussain's show has hostedreligious leaders denouncing Ahmadis. In 2008, he hosted scholarswho called for the Ahmadis to be killed. Within a day, two prominentAhmadis had been shot dead.

Amir Liaquat Hussain was not immediately available for comment.

Portrayal in Homeland rilesPak diplomats

PERELIYA, Sri Lanka: Apacked train in Sri Lanka that wasswept off the tracks by waves asbig as elephants. A boat patrollingoff Thailand's shore hurled morethan a mile inland. Streets in In-donesia turned into roaring riversthat carried people to their deaths.

Vivid and terrifying memoriessuch as these were recalled Fri-day at ceremonies marking the10th anniversary of the IndianOcean tsunami that left nearly aquarter-million people dead in oneof modern history's worst naturaldisasters.

The Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami wastriggered by a magnitude-9.1earthquake — the region’s mostpowerful in 40 years — that toreopen the seabed off Indonesia'sSumatran coast, displacing billionsof tons of water and sendingwaves roaring across the IndianOcean at jetliner speeds as faraway as East Africa.

Weeping survivors and otherstook part in beachside memorialsand religious services across Asia,while some European countriesalso marked the anniversary, re-membering the thousands ofChristmastime tourists who diedin the disaster.

Pain and hope alike were har-vested from the tragedy.

"There is no need for anyoneto remind us — the sorrow will bethere until I stop breathing," saidKapila Migelratne, a 50-year-oldbusinessman who lost his 14-year-old son and his brother when thetrain they were riding was derailedalong Sri Lanka's shoreline. Morethan 35,000 people in Sri Lankadied in the tsunami, including 2,000in what is regarded as the world'sworst train accident.

In Tamil Nadu, where morethan 6,000 people died, LiguvariyalDaveed — a tsunami survivorwho lost her son, mother and twograndchildren in the disaster —said the fear from that day remainswith her.

In Europe, Swedish Prime Min-ister Stefan Lofven delivered aspeech at a ceremony at UppsalaCathedral, just north of Stockholm,to remember the 543 Swedes whodied. President Joachim Gauck ofGermany, which lost more than500 people, said: "Locals and tour-ists found themselves in a situa-tion in which they had a shareddestiny, a bond which can still befelt today."

Those at a memorial service insouthern Thailand included Euro-pean tsunami survivors, who were

10th anniversary of Tsunami marked by tears

serenaded by a small orchestraand took part in a minute of silenceand a candlelight ceremony. Abouthalf of Thailand's 8,212 dead wereforeign tourists, mostly Europeansescaping the winter cold.

The ceremony was held in theresort area of Khao Lak, next toa police boat that was out at seawhen the tsunami struck and wascarried 2 kilometers inland by thewaves. The boat has become apermanent memorial to the powerof the tsunami.

Many at the memorial ceremo-nies celebrated how people pulledtogether in the wake of the trag-edy, saving strangers and launch-ing a process to build back better.

Thai Prime Minister PrayuthChan-ocha noted that the tragedy"allowed us see the kindness andhelp that came from around theworld that helped us pass throughthe difficult time."

Indonesia's Aceh province,which was closest to the quake'sepicenter, was hit first and hard-est. Initially, the quake toppledhomes and buildings and sent com-munities rushing into the streets inpanic. About 20 minutes later, awall of water up to 33 feet highsurged inland for miles with un-stoppable force, carrying alongtrees, houses, train cars — andthousands of people — in a churn-ing rush.

More than 170,000 people diedin Indonesia alone, about three-quarters of the overall death toll.

Indonesian Vice PresidentJusuf Kalla led a prayer ceremonyin Banda Aceh, the capital of Acehprovince. He and other officialsplaced flowers at a mass gravewhere thousands of unknown tsu-nami victims were buried.

In Sri Lanka, survivors andother mourners took a memorialjourney to honor those lost in thetrain accident.

The Queen of the Sea waschugging down Sri Lanka's palm-fringed southwestern coast,headed from Colombo, the capi-tal, to the town of Matara, about90 miles away, when the tsunamistruck. Waves described by sur-vivors as being as big as elephantsenveloped the train, lifting its carsoff the track into a thick marsh inPereliya village.

The dead included more than400 villagers who tried to escapethe waves by climbing on top ofthe eight-coach train. Only a fewdozen passengers are believed tohave survived.

The memorial ride on Friday

included thetrain's originalEngine 591 andfive restoredcoaches. Theywere decoratedwith Buddhistflags for the oc-casion, and Bud-dhist chantswere playedthroughout thejourney, whichreplicated thetrain's ill-fatedroute. At a me-morial inPereliya, Bud-dhist, Christian

and Hindu rituals were performedand tearful relatives lit candles andoffered flowers. Shanthi Gallage,along with her husband and twodaughters, was riding home on thetrain after a Christmas visit to rela-tives when the waves struck.

She saw her husband alive,trapped under a log, when she setout to find her daughters. Latershe was told that her husband haddied and buried in a mass grave.She found one daughter, but neverfound the other, who was 13.

"I believe that she is alive andsomeone keeping her will returnher to me today," said Gallage,who carries portraits of her hus-band and missing daughter. "Thereare people who tell me to forgetabout it, but I don't talk to themanymore. When I try to give it up,something prompts me not to, andI pray and search for her.

Sri Lankan tsunami survivors pay their respects at a mass grave of 591 train which was hitby 2004 tsunami in Peraliya. Train 591 was tossed up by the waves and its charred images

became an icon of the disaster.

Ex-minister to hangfor war crimes

DHAKA: Bangladesh's warcrimes court on Tuesday sen-tenced a former government min-ister to hang for rape and geno-cide during the 1971 independencestruggle against Pakistan.

Syed Mohammad Kaiser be-came the 15th person to be con-victed of atrocities by the Interna-tional Crimes Tribunal, whichfound him guilty of heading a mili-tia that rounded up and killed some150 people in the nine-month con-flict. The 73-year-old, who uses awheelchair, did not react as thejudge read out the verdict and saidhe would be "hanged by the neckuntil his death".

Lawyers for Kaiser, a formerminister with the Jatiya Partywhich forms part of Bangladesh'sruling coalition, have rejected thecharges and say they will appeal.

The government of Prime Min-ister Sheikh Hasina created theInternational Crimes Tribunal, adomestic court, in 2010. It hasmostly focused on the trials of theleaders of the largest Islamistparty, Jamaat-e-Islami, although aformer minister of the main oppo-sition Bangladesh NationalistParty has also faces death.

Prosecutors said Kaiser hadraised a pro-Pakistani militia thatcarried out a series of murders,rapes and looting. Judge ObaidulHassan said the prosecutionproved "beyond reasonable doubt"that Kaiser had established themilitia, which created a "reign ofterror".

PAKISTANINDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014 • PAGE 21

Millions may lose pre-paid phones

13 die in Lahore fireLAHORE: At least 13 people

have died while a number of oth-ers were injured after a buildingcaught fire at Lahore’s AnarkaliBazaar. An electrical short circuitin the four-storey building was thelikely cause of the fire in the ba-zaar where electronic items, light-ers, and sunglasses are manufac-tured and sold, officials said.

The district coordination officer(DCO) confirmed that at least 12people had died as a result of theblaze. "Most of the people diedfrom suffocation and not from theblaze itself," the DCO said.

He said the fire enveloped theentire building within "four to fiveminutes."

Lakhvi’s detention suspended

ISLAMABAD: In the wake ofPeshawar school tragedy all theparliamentary parties decided onDec 24 to set up special courts tobe presided over by army officersfor trying suspected terrorists.

As the Supreme Court has de-clared in 1999 the setting up of mili-tary courts as unconstitutional andillegal, therefore, the political lead-ership has decided to amend theConstitution so as to provide con-stitutional cover to the proposedspecial courts.

Keeping in view the first twoterms of Nawaz Sharif as primeminister in the 1990s, he is knownfor his penchant for special laws andcourts, including military courts.

However, this time due to the se-verity of the Peshawar school car-nage the leaders of other political

Several amendments needed to set up special courts

parties, who in past adopted clearstance against military and spe-cial courts, had also agreed withhim to set up such courts.

Legal experts believe that thegovernment has to amend sev-eral articles of the Constitutionfor introducing courts of militaryofficers.

First of all the Parliament hasto amend Article 10-A, includedin the Constitution through theConstitution (EighteenthAmendment) Act 2010, whichguarantees fair trial and due pro-cess.

While majority of the peoplewants punishment for terroristsat the earliest, it is also a matter

of concern about how the pro-posed military courts will functionand what mechanism will be inplace to check their misuse.

Through such courts the juris-diction of civil courts, including theSupreme Court and high courts,would be curtailed so as to em-power special courts to try terror-ism-related offences and subse-quently hearing of appeals by spe-cial appellate forums.

“Under Item No 55 of the Fed-eral Legislative List in the Consti-tution of Pakistan the parliamentcould not reduce the powers ofthe Supreme Court and it can onlyfurther enlarge the jurisdiction ofthe apex court,” said ShahnawazKhan, an advocate of the Su-preme Court.

He said that though there wasconsensus among the political par-ties over the issue, any amend-ments to be made in the Constitu-tion were likely to be challengedbefore the apex court.

Legal experts believe only timewould show whether the superiorcourts would agree to surrenderpowers to the special militarycourts or not and what would bethe outcome of these proposedcourts. Legal circles also fear thatsetting up of military courts mightresult in a tussle between the gov-ernment and judiciary.

KARACHI: With the news of gangsterUzair Jan Baloch’s arrest in Dubai byInterpol, shops in some areas of Lyari startedclosing down on Monday much before theusual announcement by Uzair’s men throughloudspeakers. Uzair, 37, has been consid-ered the political face of the Pakistan PeoplesParty in Lyari — a label the PPP is strug-gling to distance itself from.

He tried his luck in politics as an indepen-dent candidate for the seat of Lyari Nazimin the 2001 elections that he lost to HabibHassan, a staunch Pakistan Peoples Partyactivist.

Gangster Uzair Baloch nabbed

Son of a transporter named Faiz Mohammad alias Faizu Mama,Uzair’s forays into crime came soon after his father was killed byMohammad Arshad alias Arshad Pappu’s gang in 2003, as he set outto avenge his father’s murder. Arshad Pappu was a rival of Uzair’sfirst cousin, Abdul Rehman alias Rehman Dakait, who was involved ina long and bitter gang warfare over drugs and land in Lyari with theArshad Pappu gang.

It is said Uzair refused to join Rehman’s gang initially but camearound around the idea later as they shared a common enemy. Uzairwas arrested by the late CID SSP Aslam Khan from his ancestralland in Sujawal in 2003. During his time in the Karachi central prison— a total of two hours — Uzair tended to a few PPP workers whichearned him protection on his release. After his release on parole, Uzairgot involved in social work and opened schools in the area.

But there was a paradox — extortion had become rampant andthrived in the main markets of Lyari as people were too scared torefuse them. With Rehman Dakait’s death in an encounter broughtUzair in the forefront. He was selected unopposed in a decision by allgangs as the new gang leader.

The PPP, which keeps its association with the Peoples Aman Com-mittee non-committal, protected Uzair until 2012. Owais Muzaffar,better known as Tappi, wanted to contest elections from Lyari, whichwas refused by Uzair. The ensuing rift within the PPP-PAC relationscalled for a hastily put together operation in April 2012, which insiderssay was based on completely political reasons. The operation wascalled off after a week and as a result the PPP had to bow to Uzair’sdemands to pick and choose people to contest in the elections of 2013.

However, when it comes to its presence in Lyari, the PAC is almostover, insiders say, with the continuing infighting further fragmenting analready divided house. Wanted in more than 20 cases, including mur-der, extortion and terrorism, what brought his activities to light was thesuo motu notice by the Supreme Court of Pakistan over his involve-ment in the Arshad Pappu murder last year.

Meanwhile, a close aide to Uzair says the PPP is looking for a wayto redeem itself in the area and his arrest is going to be a perfectchance for the party to lay down their demands in exchange for con-trol over an area they lost over a decade ago.

LAHORE: More than 125 mil-lion pre-paid mobile phone usersin Pakistan may lose their connec-tions as telecom operators haveexpressed their inability to re-verify their subscribers within 28days after a brutal Taliban attackon an army school in Peshawar.

Interior minister Nisar Ali Khanset the deadline for the top fivetelecom operators. He said thegovernment did not want "freeavailability" of SIMs to militants.

"We cannot re-verify over 125million pre-paid connections in 28days. If we are forced to, thenwe will have to block the pre-paidSIMs to meet the deadline," saidan official of a cellular company.

He said the operators neededat least 150-200 days to completethe re-verification process. Ac-cording to the Pakistan Telecom-munication Authority, there are atotal of 140 million mobile phoneusers. Of them 125 million are pre-paid and 15 million are post-paid.

A year ago, the PTA had intro-duced biometric verification tocheck the sale of illegal SIMs.However, there are complaints ofunauthorised sale of SIMs.

Telenor Pakistan officialMohammad Aslam Hayat said:“There is no such thing as unveri-

fied SIM. Every mobile operatorhas a record of SIM sales fromits warehouse up to the retail level,where subscriptions are acquired.Against every SIM sold, mobileoperators have necessary data asper the regulatory requirement.”

“The Pakistan Rangers has alsowritten to the PTA that the regionalhead of a cellular company of theSIM found in the use of a terror-ist will be responsible,” an officialsaid, adding the warning has cre-ated panic among the operators.

$532 mln aid packageISLAMABAD: The United

States Congress has notified a$532 million civilian aid packagefor Pakistan under the Kerry-Lugar Act, said US Ambassadorto Pakistan Richard G Olson dur-ing a meeting with Federal Minis-ter for Finance Ishaq Dar.

An official statement issuedhere on Monday said that Olsondiscussed with the minister thebreakup of assistance being givenfor different sectors such as en-ergy, defence against terrorism,economic growth, communitybuilding, education and health.

The finance minister remarkedthat the government should spenda large amount of this assistancefor the rehabilitation of the tem-porary displaced persons (TDPs)of North Waziristan Agency.

The act was passed in the year2009 by the US Congress toauthorise appropriations for fiscalyears 2010 through 2014 to pro-mote an enhanced strategic part-nership with Pakistan and itspeople, and for other purposes.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifaddresses lawmakers from allparties

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad HighCourt (IHC) on Monday, Dec 29, orderedthe conditional release of Zakiur RehmanLakhvi — the alleged mastermind ofMumbai attacks — on the condition thatthe accused submits a security bond worthRs. 1 million.

The court has issued a two-page judge-ment on Lakhvi's release.

Earlier today, Justice Noorul HaqQureshi had presided over the hearing ofa petition filed by Lakhvi, seeking an endto his detention.

Lakhvi was granted post-arrest bail byan anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad on Dec 18. However, thefederal government had extended his detention in the Adiala Jail underthe Maintenance of Public Order ordinance. On Dec 26, Lakhvi hadchallenged his detention in the IHC.

Lakhvi's counsel Rizwan Abbasi had said that the court had previ-ously accepted his client's bail, but it was the administration that haddetained him which was unlawful. He said that granting of bail was anissue of fundamental rights. After hearing the counsel's arguments,the court had suspended Lakhvi's detention.

In New Delhi, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs summonedPakistan's High Commissioner Abdul Basi, and conveyed its concernsover Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi's conditional release.

Basit told the ministry that Lakhvi's release was a judicial matter.The Indian government also expressed concern over the slow pace

of progress being made in the Mumbai attacks trial. Basit again toldthe Ministry that the trial of the accused of carrying out the Mumbaiattacks is purely a judicial matter and that it is in progress.


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