PerioDiCAL

INDEX
Letters to the Editor......................................A2
People................................................................A3
Immigration..................................................A30
Business........................................................A13
Magazine......................................................A16
Pages: 32+4=36
Friday, August 19, 2016 Vol. XLV No. 47 www.rediff.com (Nasdaq: REDF) $1
International Weekly Newspaper Chicago/Dallas Los Angeles NY/NJ/CT New York

The American who

fought for India’s freedom
Samuel StokesÊ forgotten legacy

COURTESY: ASHA SHARMA

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A2 47 LETTERS
T
Wake up,
he article on Priscilla Parames-
waran (‘We need Trump to shake
up America: GOP activist,’ India
Abroad, July 22) reveals the naive and
misguided thinking of desis who sup-
port Donald Trump.
America
How can anyone, who has not been
on Mars for the last year, not see
through this fake, narcissistic, racist,
sociopath that is going to make
America hate again!
She is excited at the prospect of the
change that Trump promises to bring.
But all change, just for the sake of
change, is not necessarily good. Hitler
promised change too.
On the other hand, people who sim-
plistically label Hillary Clinton as sta-
tus quo, just because she continues the
Democratic line, fail to realize that she
has been a change agent for the 40
years — positive change that makes life
better for the common man.
Parameswaran repeats the worn-out phrase: ‘Illegal immi-
grants are taking jobs from legal immigrants,’ something that
has been proven totally wrong time and time again.
And she says that there is no glass ceiling for women in
Trump’s organization. Of course there isn’t, because Trump’s
fondness for women relies exclusively on their looks, something
he proudly admits.
She is impressed that Trump ‘has built his business empi-
re.’ But he has done so by leaving a trail of hundreds of lawsuits,
unpaid workers, and innocents cheated of their life savings.
Throughout his campaign Trump has made outrageous state-
ments and viciously attacked any and all who got under his thin
skin. That someone like Trump, who is an international dis-
grace, can beguile an apparently educated person like
Parameswaran speaks more of his abilities as a con man than
his ability as a leader.
Like Trump once said, ‘I could shoot somebody on Fifth
Avenue, and I wouldn’t lose any votes!’
Jehangir Mistry
Sugar Land, Texas
II
‘D
onald Trump: A Dangerous Mind’ (India Abroad, Au-
gust 5) was interesting to read. The idea that Clinton
is a liar, or a crook, as most Trump supporters — and
Trump himself — claim has no factual basis. The Republicans
have been trying to get her for almost 50 years. Every time they
have investigated her they have come out empty.
Even the last charge by FBI Director James Comey was not
prosecutable.
After all the hammering, she has only become stronger and
more determined to work for the causes she believes in.
Trump’s whole adult life has been one of lies, deceit, cons,
scams and outright deceptions at all levels. His racist com-
ments, misogynistic messages and his abuse of people have
increased since he declared his candidacy.
The question is — why is Trump a favorite of at least 30 to 40
percent of Americans?
Some of it is because of their dislike and hate for Clinton.
Oops!
T he report ‘Pramila Jayapal’s primary triumph makes her front-runner to
win Seattle seat in Congress,’ India Abroad, August 12, was unfortunate-
ly published without crediting the photographer.
It was shot by Jin-Ah Kim, the photographer for the Washington State
Senator’s campaign for Congress.
We regret the inadvertent omission.
We reserve the right to edit Letters to the Editor.
Then there is the significant minority
enamored by him.
As far as racism and prejudice go,
they are in all of us to some degree.
They are part of the culture and envi-
ronment we grow up in. Some of us
slowly become aware of it and become
relatively unbiased.
Indians living in India see racism and
biases all over. India, in fact, has been
rated as one of the most racist countries
in the world. It is still split among its
various religious, caste, state and lan-
guage lines.
Many Indians come here with the
same baggage. Years ago, I’d received a
call from someone who told me he was
from a certain Hindu sub-caste; when I
told him I did not practice or subscribe
to it, he hung up. I hope the children of
these Indians grow up with a different
set of values.
This brings me to my point. Clinton
represents the secular world while Trump a bigoted one. The
Indian community has to decide which one to vote for.
Wake up, America. Another Hitler is on the way
Dr Yogendra Upadhyay
Roslyn Heights, New York
III
I
hope ‘Donald Trump: A dangerous mind’ (India Abroad,
August 5) will scare enough people to vote for Clinton.
Trump has made it possible for more people to be openly
bigoted and that bodes ill for all brown-skinned folks.
I also worry about giving nuclear codes to a thin-skinned guy
like Trump.
I am glad that Trump wants to renegotiate trade deals to
make them more favorable to the United States, but consider-
ing how short-tempered and unpredictable he is, I worry about
him creating a trade war that has the potential to decimate the
markets and plunge the entire world into a recession, if not a
depression.
I have read a lot of quotes on Trump, but what resonates
most with me is the one by former mayor Michael Bloomberg,
another New York billionaire, who is Independent: ‘I’m a New
Yorker, and I know a con when I see one.’
Also, Trump, obviously, did the wrong thing by picking a fight
with a Gold Star family like Khizr and Ghazala Khan’s, but I am
not convinced that the incident was a game-changer. This was
not the first time he made outrageous comments. I suspect that
every time he does so, it excites his base; they don’t care if the
establishment politicians are offended by his remarks. If any-
thing, it pleases them.
This year a lot of people want an anti-establishment
candidate to win. Right now, Clinton is leading the polls, but
the election is still about three months away and a lot can hap-
pen by that time. I suspect that just before the polls Wikileaks
will come up with dirt that could destroy her candidacy. So,
while I support Clinton, I am mentally ready for Trump, God
forbid!
Pradeep Srivastava
Albany, California
 A3
PEOPLE
India Abroad
August 19, 2016
Served by
Aarthi
A
arthi Sampath was only a col-
lege student when she first
became a fan of Chopped. The
challenge of the reality cooking show
seemed almost impossible. “I put it up
on my vision board that someday I
would make my skills so strong that I
could be on that intimidating game
show,” she told Mid Day.
It worked. She won the episode of
Chopped that aired August 9.
The show has four chefs competing to
create a three course meal using ran-
dom ingredients provided to them to
FACEBOOK.COM/AARTHI SAMPATH
Aarthi Sampath was part of Vikas Khanna’s
core team when he cooked for Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi last year.
test the contestants on speed, creativity
and presentation. And Sampath appro-
ached it with the same skill, instinct and
creativity that have taken her from
experimenting in her parents’ kitchen in
Mumbai to the Taj Hotel Group to now
being the Chef de Cuisine at Vikas
Khanna’s Michelin-star winning restau-
rant Junoon in New York City.
‘Firstly, I feel relieved,’ Sampath said
in a statement immediately after. ‘It was
one of the toughest things I have done
in my life. Cooking a dish in 20 minutes
and then being subject to criticism is
not easy. I feel accomplished and I am
so excited for this new journey I am
going to start. I feel like I am one step
closer to my goal of inspiring women in
India and across the globe.’
MINDY AT THE MOVIES
M
indy Kaling, as we always knew, has big plans and knows how to
go for them. And we love her for it.
The writer-producer-actress behind The Mindy Project
revealed at Hulu’s Television Critics Association press day, August 5, that
she had just finished writing her first feature film.
“I don’t have a name for it. I’m bad at naming things, that’s why my
show is called ‘The Mindy Project’,’ ET Online quoted her as saying.
The movie is reportedly completely different from her Hulu show: ‘I
always thought the first thing I’d do (for the big screen) was a romantic
FREDERICK M BROWN/GETTY IMAGES
comedy and what I realized was we write that so much on (The Mindy
Project) that I kind of decided that, you know what, I’m going to save
that stuff for the show and this is about something completely different.’
She added, ‘It’s inspired by movies I love, like Broadcast News.’
Since Kaling said she would only have a small part in it, we will bank
on see more of her in Ocean’s Eight, a female-centered spin-off of the
Ocean’s Trilogy.
According to Deadline, Kaling will be part of a cast that is expected to
include Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Rihanna, and Mindy Kaling and executive producer Matt Warburton speak onstage at
Helena Bonham Carter. The Mindy Project panel discussion during the Hulu portion of the 2016
Television Critics Association Summer Tour in Beverly Hills, August 5.
We can’t wait!
B Kids with causes
e it celebrities million volunteers and
like Karan Brar supporters working tire-
(Bunk’d, Diary lessly to eliminate these
Of A Wimpy Kid) or diseases. AHA funds inn-
budding artists like ovative research, fight for
Ananya Tawde, there is stronger public health po-
something very special licies and provide lifesav-
about kids who ing tools and information
embrace causes with a to save and improve lives.’
passion. Meanwhile, Karan is
Ananya has founded using his fame — along
FACEBOOK.COM/ANANYA.ARTFORTHEHEART
a non-profit organiza- with Paris Berelc (Lab
tion with the intent of Rats: Elite Force, Invisible
MATT WINKELMEYER/GETTY IMAGES
using her talent and Sister) — to support The
passion for community School Fund, a crowd-
service. Through her funding site for scholar-
art, she has so far ships for high-achieving,
donated $2,500 to low-income students in
Cincinnati Children’s the developing world. The
Hospital Medical Disney stars are calling it
Center’s Heart One of Ananya Tawde’s early contributions. Disney star Karan Brar.
the #GetSchooled cam-
Institute. paign.
‘The American Heart Association is the nation’s oldest, largest ‘I know sometimes we all complain about school, but when you
voluntary organization devoted to fighting cardiovascular dis- imagine not being able to go at all — no chance at graduation,
eases and stroke,’ Ananya says on the Art for the Heart web site, college, having your choice of career? That’s just tragic,’ Brar said
explaining why she chose AHA and the Cincinnati Children’s in a statement. ‘We can’t eliminate school fees today, but we can
Hospital as her cause. ‘The organization includes more than 22.5 at least help some people stay in school for another year.’
H
ari Parameswaran and Vijay Siddharth were trailing till the but, Hari says, “I find medicine boring.”
third round of the History Bowl held at International What he did like about going for the competition two years in a
History Olympiad in Oahu, Hawaii, last month. row is meeting new people — from Canada, Japan, South Korea,
Hari, from Beaverbrook, Ohio, and Siddharth, from Singapore, China, Hong Kong… And then they were on board the battleship
representing India in the Junior Varsity level of the tournament, USS Missouri.
were the underdogs against a formidable team from Canada — and Vijay and Hari also won the silver in the Hextathlon, an event
were showing it. And then came the rapid-fire questions in the where history questions show up in the form of crossword clues and
third round. And Hari’s answer — ‘oracle bones’ — to a question puzzles. Vijay also won the Battery, a test of about 400 multiple
about augury in China, made things choice questions. Hari placed seventh
even, with Vijay following up with in that event.
The history buffs
an answer about a writing form Among the winners of the other
(essays), which made the team unas- contests were Shiva Oswal from
sailable and the International California, and Eshaan Vakil from
History Bowl World Champions. Nevada, in the Middle School catego-
Hari said he could have done bet- ry. Shiva was part of the team that
ter since there were other competi- won second place, Eshaan in the one
tions during the Olympiad, too. that came in third.
While Hari is into Geography, plays While the main competition was
a mean piano, and is active in the fun, Rajesh said, the duo enjoyed win-
pool and on the tennis court, his ning a small, unofficial family tourna-
own interest leans toward applied ment, too, though the children are not
math — something like his father allowed to participate for the first half
Rajesh, an engineer. of the contest.
His mother Lakshmy is a doctor Second was Nandini Vijayaraghavan
and her son — Vijay.
The champions Hari Parameswaran, left,
— P Rajendran
and Vijay Siddharth, right.
COURTESY: RAJESH PARAMESWARAN
A4 NEWS SPECIAL/STANDING WITH THE KHANS

‘Trump is a wealthy man and

India Abroad August 19, 2016

forgets what sacrifice means’

G urpreet Singh came to
America from India
when he was 9.
He joined the Marines when
he was 17.
And he died for the country he
had always considered his own
when he was only 21.
Marine Corporal Gurpreet
Singh was martyred in Afg-
hanistan in 2011. It was his sec-
Gold Star parents Nirmal Singh and Satnam Kaur tell Ritu Jha
ond deployment, a voluntary
one.
how hurt they are by Donald Trump’s treatment of
Today, as many in the country
his son gave his life for question
another Gold Star family, Khizr and Ghazala Khan.
the patriotism of those like him,
Nirmal Singh and his wife
Satnam Kaur feel an unbearable sadness, a
feeling they share with Khizr Khan and his
wife Ghazala, who lost their son, Captain
Humayun Khan, in a car bombing in 2004 in
Iraq.
Singh, 55, who lives in Antelope, California,
tells India Abroad that watching Republican
Presidential nominee Donald Trump criticize
the Khans deeply hurt them, too: “They are
Gold Star family, too. We are like the same
family. It doesn’t matter that we belong to
another religion or country. We are one fam-
ily.”
“Trump doesn’t like Muslims or people
from other countries or minorities. He is a
wealthy man and forgets what sacrifice
means,” he adds.
Singh is referring to Trump’s idea of a sac-
rifice after Khizr Khan rebuked him at the
Democratic National Convention saying,
‘You have sacrificed nothing and no one.’
Trump’s response to that, on ABC, was, ‘I
think I’ve made a lot of sacrifices. I work very,
very hard. I’ve created thousands and thou-
sands of jobs — tens of thousands of jobs,
built great structures. I’ve had tremendous
success. I think I’ve done a lot.’
Singh tells India Abroad that it is evident
that Trump doesn’t understand sacrifice “if
you see what sacrifice he did and our family
did for the country.”
Asked if is angry with Trump,
Singh said, “I am not angry. I
don’t want to play a game… (But)
anyone running for President
shouldn’t be saying that. There
are too many kids who join the
Marines and belong to different
religions and come from differ-
ent countries. I know many
Indian-descent children who are
in the Marines and they feel it’s
an honor serving the country.”
Singh, who is a naturalized US
citizen, adds, “My son, even
though he was born in Punjab,
India, came here… (and) always
considered himself an American.”
F or Singh and his wife, their son’s memo-
ries live and breathe in their home. “We
have his room the way he left it,” Singh says.
“I got a curtain matching the Marine’s colors
— blue, white and red — custom made in
India for his room. His Marine cap that he
left in his car is still there.”
Singh also has Gurpreet’s car. He recalls
how he wanted to buy his son a Toyota
Camry, but Gurpreet wanted to buy a white
Chrysler with his own earnings. “I did not sell
the car and we are not going to sell it,” Singh
says. “It’s our memory. I have my own car. I
drive his car only when we go to the veteran
programs. His car... it’s precious.”
There are many Gold Star families in the
area. “We occasionally meet and talk with
each other and go to events, and it’s an
honor.”
Singh, who runs a trucking company, says,
“There are millions of immigrants like me…
(but) we are known in the community
because of him.”
Warring pride and grief, he adds, “He was
my courageous son. Whatever happened is
hard for the family. He left us behind. And if
Marine Corporal Gurpreet Singh’s, inset, parents — Nirmal Singh and someone starts teasing (that wound), it is
Satnam Kaur, above — have kept his room like he left it. not good.”

‘Humayun Khan serves as a reminder’

Many answer Kishan Putta’s call to support Captain Khan’s Gold Star
parents with a vigil at Arlington Cemetry. Aziz Haniffa reports.

Many of those who gathered at the vigil showed their support with
notes for the Khans.
O
n the initiative of Kishan Putta,
a second-generation communi-
ty and political activist from the
District of Columbia, more than two
dozen second generation South Asian
Americans and a few elders like Floyd
Mori, head of the Asian Pacific
American Institute of Congressional
Studies, met at the Arlington Cemetery
August 7 to pay their respects at Capt-
ain Humayun Khan’s grave and show
support for his parents, Khizr and Gha-
zala Khan.
In a Facebook post a few days earlier,
Putta, had said, ‘With the events of the
last week, we realized we live right here
and have the opportunity to not only
show our support online (to the Khan
family), but in person — together.’
He called on his friends to spread the
word, bring others and also ‘bring flow-
ers or letters to leave for the family,’ ad-
ding that ‘this is not about politics — it
is about standing together.’
“We came together as Americans of
different religions, ethnicities, races,
genders, and orientations — many of us
meeting for the first time,” Putta told
India Abroad. “The whole idea was to
stand with his courageous family. No
politics were discussed, but we all felt
how important it was to show solidari-
ty... at a time when they and too many
others need support. We left notes and
flowers — adding to the many tributes
at Captain Khan’s grave.”
Putta said he left his pocket Consti-
tution — “I’ve had it for many years for
others to flip through” — book-marked
to the section on ‘equal protection’ that
Khizr Khan spoke of.
“Our people’s equality and our diver-
sity are our greatest strengths,” he said.
“Our message was that if you want to
make this country and world greater —
please work to unite us and please try
your hardest to not divide us.”
Putta said many tourists from across
the country and the world who were
visiting the cemetery that day gathered
around the group and voiced their sup-
port for the Khans.
H abeeb Syed, a Pakistani-American
attorney, told India Abroad, “I
moved to Washington, DC about one-
and-a half years ago, but this was my
first visit to the Arlington Cemetery.”
4Page A5
India Abroad August 19, 2016 NEWS SPECIAL/STANDING WITH THE KHANS
A moment from the vigil.
‘Humayun Khan
serves as a reminder’
3Page A4
“Unfortunately, the importance and gravity of the sacrifice of our sol-
diers is often lost in the politics and our dwelling on the casualties of
civilian populations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. Seeing the vast-
ness of Arlington Cemetery and the families visiting the graves was a
good reminder that the soldiers buried alongside Humayun Khan are not
part of those politics; they were men and women much braver than I,
giving their lives to protect our country,” he said.
California born and educated Syed, who serves on the executive com-
mittee of OPEN-DC, an organization fostering entrepreneurship among
the Pakistani community, and is also involved with the Muslim Bar
Association and the South Asian Bar Association did not know Putta. He
was invited to the event by a mutual acquaintance.
“I joined Kishan because Humayun Khan serves as a reminder that not
only does the immigrant community of the United States come to this
country to seek a better life, but that those immigrants and their descen-
dants are also an essential part of America’s fabric, make important con-
tributions towards what makes this country great, and will be an essen-
tial component in forging our country’s future,” he added.
M ori, a Japanese American who had seen his Gold Star mother’s grief,
told India Abroad, “My mother was an immigrant who was not
allowed to be a citizen of the US at the time she sent her two sons off to a
war. One went to Europe as the War ended and he came back safely.”
“Her oldest son and apple of her eye was sent to the Pacific to help
bring peace to Japan when the War ended there. His last letter home
indicated that he was going to continue his college studies at Harvard.
He was killed in a plane crash a month later before he was able to return
home.”
“I saw first hand the grief of a mother who lost her son. It was a quiet
grief for many years until a religious belief changed that grief to hope.
The Mormon religion, which teaches that families are eternal, gave her
the hope to be reunited with her son some day. She happily and proudly
became a citizen of the US when legislation was passed that lifted the bar
of Japanese immigrants from becoming citizens. She lived a full life of 95
years and I believe that she is enjoying the company of two of her sons
and her husband.”
Having seen the grief a mother experiences with the loss of a son, Mori
said, “I felt a desire to give comfort and respect to the Khans after Mrs
Khan had been ridiculed by Trump. When I heard that there was going
to be a vigil at Captain Khan’s gravesite at Arlington, it was a time when
I could go and pay my respects and also pay honor to Mr and Mrs Khan
who so strongly spoke out about their mistreatment at the hands of this
candidate.”
“Sacrifice is part of paying the price of freedom and those who have sac-
rificed family members in the name of freedom should be honored and
revered and not belittled by somebody who has no understanding of
what this kind of sacrifice means. To deride somebody of their heritage
or culture has no place in this nation where all are to be treated as equal,”
Mori said.
“The Khans and the Moris are of different hue, skin and religion that
may differ from many others. Yet their sacrifice and grief are as real and
as important as others who have given the ultimate sacrifice of self or
family. So the Khans and the Moris have much in common to be proud
and to reject misdirected political rhetoric.”
Why I, a woman tech-entrepreneur,
and immigrant, am voting for Hillary
VINITA GUPTA
H
illary Rodham Clinton is a decent human
being, hardworking, and refuses to feel sorry the home, some of us have a boiling ambition and
for herself. I am a woman of color from a
similar era, with an accent, and a successful entrepre- has worked non-stop while being a mother and wife.
neur of Silicon Valley. I have fought the subtle battles
that women of our generation have fought. Hillary is
presidential material and will get the job done, plus
her flaws pale in comparison to those of her main
rival in this race.
Recently FBI director James Comey recommended
no criminal charges against Hillary Clinton, in han-
dling of classified information in private emails when
she was Secretary of State. She was “extremely care-
less,” but found no “intention-
al misconduct or indications
of disloyalty to the United
States or efforts to obstruct
justice.” Comey is a man of
integrity on all counts. He
concluded the same as most
Americans did.
Raising my own daughters
has made me keenly aware of
how American culture treats
girls differently from boys. I
was born in India, the second
of three daughters. My hus-
band and I have two ambi-
tious daughters, now in their
20s, born and brought up in
the US. Girls in the US are
praised for making everyone
else happy. They quickly learn
that thanking others profusely
for the smallest things, smil-
ing even when there is no rea-
son to do so, helping around
grandparents and studying Hillary Clinton in Florida August 8.
the house, spending time with
diligently will earn them
acceptance. Girls get harsher and more persistent
criticism than boys for being impolite or less consid-
erate.
However “boys will be boys.” Boys are not expected
to be docile or to help with the housework.
Girls settle down as compliant home makers while
boys grow up to earn a living.
The economic power of men further tips the scale in
their favor and they have much louder voice in mar-
riage, and the cycle continues.
Boys can be brash, bullying or boorish and their
behavior is not just tolerated but admired, as is the
case with Donald Trump.
I started my own successful technology company in
Silicon Valley. My husband had started his own com-
pany five years earlier. We were both ambitious, hard
driving with two startups and then two public compa-
nies, while raising our daughters. One can easily
understand how hectic our lives must have been.
My husband helped at home more than most men,
but I still did more than half of the housework in
addition to hiring, firing and managing domestic
help. I was the one who had to get up in the middle of
the night whenever the babies cried. When the sec-
ond baby arrived, I was a sleep-deprived zombie for
months.
I would bet that Hillary was the same way. No
woman working full time should have to endure this.
Men must participate in night duties and be reason-
A5
able, if we expect more women to break the glass ceil-
ings.
Even when we take on more of our share of work in
want to do it all. Hillary is an ambitious woman who
Hillary has been vehemently criticized by some for
tolerating Bill’s affairs. Let me offer a point of view.
Most ambitious women also want to have a family,
live a full life, and are willing to work at it. Hillary
kept her marriage together through Bill’s infideli-
ties. She has been ridiculed when she denied his
affairs, perhaps because she wanted to believe him.
Sometimes denial is a way to protect the status quo.
If she forgave her husband, that was her greatness.
Blaming the victim is
another form of gender bias
that women have historical-
ly experienced. To my sur-
prise, Donald Trump who
had an affair while being
married to his first wife, and
married three times, is con-
sidered an okay man by
American standards!
An incident that does both-
er me is that at times Hillary
has exaggerated; in 2008 she
told a tale of landing under
sniper fire in Bosnia, which
turned out to be untrue. This
was insignificant, yet my ide-
alism demands better from
our President-to-be.
Yet she has powerful posi-
tives going for her. Hillary
has worked tirelessly to
advance ‘our’ agenda; to help
underserved and disabled
CHRIS KEANE/REUTERS
children and provide afford-
able childcare for women.
She is an experienced
diplomat who understands the global landscape,
when to compromise and when not to. She was the
senator in New York at the time of 9/11. She pushed
to get $20 billion funding from the then president
George Bush to rebuild the city, and got approved sig-
nificant additional medical support to the first
responders who came down with asbestos poisoning
and respiratory diseases.
She took the helm as Secretary of State and trav-
elled to more than 100 countries, meeting our allies
and our adversaries, educating them and exchanging
ideas. As a result we extricated ourselves from several
crises. President Obama’s job would have been much
more difficult without her statesmanship.
Hillary as the first woman to be a Presidential
nominee in the US will certainly leave her legacy
behind for her perseverance, compassion and inner
strength. I cringe, when I think how she will be sub-
jected to the ugliest political invective and insults in
our history, partly because she is a woman. It is time
we stop castigating Hillary and give her the opportu-
nity to lead our nation and uphold and elevate
American values.
Vinita Gupta is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, the
first Indian-American woman to take her company
public.
This piece was first published on The Huffington Post
and has been reprinted with the author’s permission.
A6 NEWS & COMMUNITY India Abroad August 19, 2016

Sanchez jibe at Obama hands Harris the advantage

AZIZ HANIFFA aired on Univision 19 in Sacramento last

U
month, The Los Angeles Times reported
nited States Congresswoman that Sanchez, noting that Obama and
Loretta Sanchez, who repre- Harris have been longtime friends,
sents Orange County in claimed that race was also a factor in his
southern California, and is endorsement.
engaged in a high-profile US During the interview, the Times noted,
Senate race with state Attorney General Sanchez, speaking in Spanish, said, ‘I
Kamala Devi Harris, in yet another faux think they have, what he said they have, is
pas, this time with racial overtones, has a friendship of many years. She is African
implied that President Barack Obama’s American, as is he. They know each
rousing recent endorsement of Harris was other through meetings.’
because they are both black. Bitter at the Democratic National
Harris, who is of Indian and African Committee, which had put out Obama’s

the primary, June 7, for the open US Senate Kamala Devi Harris
American parentage, barnstormed through
seat being vacated by retiring Democratic
Senator Barbara Boxer. She almost immediately received
endorsements from Obama and Vice President Joe Biden,
much to Sanchez’s chagrin.
In the primary, Harris received 40.3 percent of the vote,
burying all the other 33 Democratic and Republican candi-
dates vying for the seat. Sanchez received only 18.5 percent of
the vote.
By virtue of the fact that Sanchez came in second, she and
Harris will face each other in the November 8 general election
GARY CAMERON/REUTERS Loretta Sanchez
consensus
among political analysts, may have sealed her fate of having
an outside chance of defeating Harris.
In an interview for the public affairs show Conexion that
Sanchez’s gaffes
and Biden’s endorsements of Harris, she
MIKE BLAKE/REUTERS
also said, ‘I don’t know why the leadership
of the party did not want a Latino — they did not speak with
us. They chose (Harris) from the beginning.’
The incensed Harris campaign reacted angrily, with Juan
Rodriguez, Harris’ campaign manager, saying that ‘at a time
when there is so much divisive rhetoric flowing through our
politics, it’s especially disappointing to see a Democratic
member of Congress make those comments.’
Quickly on the defensive, Sanchez released a statement sa-
ying, ‘In no way did I imply or intend to imply that President
Obama endorsed Kamala Harris for racial reasons. I was

according to California’s relatively new voting system where
only the top two vote-getters of any party battle it out in the
general.
Sanchez, a 10-term Congresswoman, who is trailing Harris
by three to one in fundraising, in a statement released by her
campaign, following Obama and Biden’s endorsements of
Harris, had said, ‘I am disappointed that President Obama
chose to endorse in an historic Senate race between two
Democrats.’
‘I would think the leader of the Democratic Party would be
focused on defeating Donald Trump and supporting Dem-
ocratic Senate candidates against Republicans,’ she had com-
plained. ‘I believe that California voters are deeply concerned
about the entrenched political establishment which has failed
to work for them. Yet, it has been clear for some time that
the same political establishment would rather have a corona-
tion instead of an election for California’s next US Senator.’
I
n May 2015, Sanchez, while speaking to a group of
Indian Americans, trying to make a joke of confus-
ing American Indians with Indian Americans,
tapped her hand to her mouth in an imitation of a Native
American ‘war cry,’ that left one group angry and the
other embarrassed. The very next day, she had to convene
a press conference to apologize.
Last December, after the terrorist attack in
San Bernardino, she angered Muslim Americans when
she told Larry King that 5 to 20 percent of Muslims sup-
port an Islamic Caliphate in accordance with Sharia law
as ISIS is trying to establish.
Sanchez compounded the anger of Muslim groups
when she argued that the figures she had mentioned had
not been repudiated by any respected and credible
research group, resulting in Muslim organizations in
California, saying they would not support her in the elec-
tion.
stating the fact that the endorsement was based on their
long-term political relationship.’
Her remark and her other gaffes may have embarrassed
her Indian-American supporters in Orange County, many of
whom had earlier expressed support for her, saying she was
always there for them, unlike Harris, who solicited their sup-
port only when she wanted to raise funds for her
campaign coffers.
Some of her Latino base — that comprise 38.8 percent of
Californians, although of different races and not all
Mexican American as is Sanchez — are reportedly shifting to
Harris along with the African-American population, who
comprise 6.5 percent and the 15 percent Asian population,
along with the majority 73 percent white population.
If either of them is elected in November, they would create
history with Harris becoming the first African/Indian-Am-
erican US Senator from California and the first Indian-
American and only second African-American US Senator.

B ut with her latest gaffe, Sanchez, who suffers from an Sanchez, if elected, would be the first Latina US Senator

Kesha Ram loses Vermont Lieutenant Governor primary

acute case of foot-in-mouth syndrome, according to the from California.

AZIZ HANIFFA erstwhile Democratic Presidential candidate cost of higher education and of health care, youngest ever; even at 30 she remains the
United States Senator Bernie Sanders, will but had also showed interest in development youngest state representative — Ram was

F
our-term State Representative Kesha
Ram, who turned 30 August 2, was
denied the perfect birthday gift she
was hoping for when her bid to be Vermont’s
first woman and colored Lieutenant Govern-
or suffered an ignominious blow in the
Democratic primary August 9.
State Senator David Zuckerman, 44, who
represents the Chittenden district — the
same district Ram represents in the House
— easily romped home the winner with 44
percent and 31,018 votes.
House Speaker Shap Smith, 50, came in
second with 38 percent and 26,568 votes,
and Ram a distant third with 17 percent and
12,129 votes.
The anti-establishment Zuckerman, who
was buoyed by a strong endorsement from
be the first working farmer in Vermont to
be elected Lieutenant Governor if he beats
Republican Randy Brock in the November
general election.
Brock, a Swanton resident, former state
auditor and state senator, ran unopposed in
the GOP primary.
All three Democratic candidates were stro-
ng progressives, but Smith’s platform, accor-
ding to the Burlington Free Press was more
moderate than Zuckerman or Ram.
Zuckerman had made marijuana legisla-
tion a platform issue and included climate
change as a focus of his campaign.
Ram’s top focus was affordable child care
and housing for working families, the Free
Press noted.
Smith focused on affordable housing, the
and revitalization initiatives for Vermont
towns that were welcomed by the private
sector and commercial real estate investors.
The Free Press quoted Dustin Tanner of
Fairfield, who was up at 6 am placing yard
signs for Zuckerman, as saying that he was
‘going to send Kesha a gift basket,’ explaining
that if she had taken some of Smith’s moder-
ates that would have made a difference.
R am, the daughter of an Indian-
American father — now deceased —
and a Jewish- American mother, was born
and raised in Santa Monica, California. She
moved to Vermont to attend the University
of Vermont and then made Vermont her
home.
Elected to the House at the age of 22 — the
obviously disappointed that she came in last.
When the results started coming in while
she and her mother Michelle Jacobson and
her supporters were at a campaign watch
party at Halvorson’s Cafe on Church Street
in Burlington, and it became evident that
her bid for higher office was not to be for
now, Ram put up a brave front.
She said she had run ‘an incredibly opti-
mistic and positive race knowing that we
were going in with less name recognition
and just a lot of heart and soul.’
‘I think the results support that,’ she added.
‘I have deep and meaningful support that
I’m really grateful for.’
Sanders’ endorsement of Zuckerman was a
huge blow for Ram, who remained an ardent
4Page A8
India Abroad August 19, 2016 NEWS & COMMUNITY A7

Desi groups raise $70,000 for Dallas’ fallen

AZIZ HANIFFA department plays in ensuring the security
of the business community, and in partic-

I
ndian-American business, communi-
ty, religious and cultural organizations
in Dallas and the greater Dallas met-
ropolitan area raised over $60,000 for the
‘Assist the Officer Foundation’ in the after-
math of last month’s deadly ambush that
killed five police officers and left several
wounded.
Leaders of the organizations met with
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and Executi-
ve Assistant Police Chief David Pughes to
make the donation, which greatly moved
Rawlings and Pughes.
‘This is more than generous,’ Rawlings
said. ‘I have such respect for the Indian
community.’
‘This,’ he remarked, ‘shows your support
to all of us.’
The coalition of groups was led by the
United States-India Chamber of Comme-
rce that donated $30,000. Indian-American business, community, religious and cultural organizations in Dallas and the greater Dallas
The other groups — the North Texas- metropolitan area met with Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, fifth from left, and Executive Assistant Police Chief David
based India Association of North Texas, Pughes, second from right, to make the donation.
the DFW (Dallas-Fort Worth) Hindu
Temple Society (Ekta Mandir), the Karya Siddhi Hanuman
Temple, the Dallas Indian Lions Club, the DFW Gujarati
Samaj and the Jain Society of North Texas — each con-
tributed $5,000.
US-India Chamber of Commerce Founding Chairm-
an Ashok K Mago led the presentation along with USICOC
President Mahesh Shetty.
‘We appreciate the protection you give us, and we wanted
to recognize what you do for us every day,’ Mago to-
ld Rawlings and Pughes.
The day after this presentation, August 3, the 7-Eleven
DFW Franchisee Owners Association, led by its president
Raj Singh, donated $10,000 to AOF.
“I have had the privilege of serving on the Dallas Police
Community Support Coalition and have worked with sever-
al Dallas police chiefs for the last 25 years, representing var-
ious interests of the Indian-American community,” Mago
“All of them have always been accessible to listen to our
suggestions and concerns. I have developed a deep appreci-
ation for all that the Dallas police does to protect the inter-
ests of our community and how much thought they put into
their policies and procedures.”
“To be a police officer is not an easy job,” Mago said. “In
Dallas, the community and law enforcement officers have
always worked together to maintain peace and security for
all the citizens of Dallas. When this unfortunate tragedy hap-
pened, we all felt it was extremely important for the Indian-
American community to show its support for the families of
the fallen officers by providing some financial assistance.”
“It is important for the community to provide support to
the brave officers of the Dallas PD all the time, but it
becomes imperative to extend not only moral but financial
help during such a tragic time,” he added.
“The US India Chamber of Commerce of Dallas-Fort
ular our retailers,” Shetty said.
Representatives of the other Indian-
American organizations echoed Mago
and Shetty’s sentiments and said more
donations would be forthcoming.
“When the time came to extend a help-
ing hand to the officers in blue who do so
much for us every day, members of
the Dallas Indian Lions Club decided
immediately to donate $5,000 for
the families of the fallen officers,” Anil
Sharma of the Dallas India Lions Club,
which has been serving the local commu-
nity since 1985 and has contributed more
than $600,000 to different charities,
told India Abroad
“DFW Hindu Temple in Irving has
been supporting the Irving police depart-
ment and various metrolpolitan commu-
nity organizations for 25 years,” Kishor
Fruitwala of the temple said. “Hence, it
was natural for us to extend our sympa-
thy and support to the families of the
Dallas police officers, victims of an
extremely tragic incident.”
“With the safety and security they provide,” Atman Raval of
the DFW Gujarati Samaj pointed out, “it allows the commu-
nity to live in peace, assuring our safety.”
“This is our way of reciprocating our friendship and sup-
port to the families of the police force of Dallas,” Neerav
Dalal of the Jain Society of North Texas said.
“The Karya Siddhi Hanuman Temple wanted to appreci-
ate, applaud, and acknowledge the selfless service of the fall-
en police officers,” Prakasarao Velagapudi said. “Our congre-
gation wanted to stand by with the grieving families and
assist them to recover from their devastating loss of the
beloved members of the families.”
“We strongly believe that a community united by ideals of
compassion has incredible power,” Indu Reddy of the India
Association of North Texas said. “Small acts multiplied by
bunch of small groups of thoughtful committed citizens can

Sikhs in Union City rattled by mystery vandalism

told India Abroad. Worth recognizes the critical role that the Dallas police change society.”

RITU JHA the number of the man’s car, and none of India Abroad. “We continue to have a stro- “We completely understand how upsetting

T
he desecration of a Sikh holy book
by likely an Indian man in a Union
City park in California in the pres-
ence of Sikh seniors is not a hate
crime, Union City police chief Darryl C
McAllister told India Abroad.
The incident occurred about 7 pm August
9 at the Contempo Park in Union City.
“The facts clearly substantiate that no law
was broken at all,” Chief McAllister told
India Abroad in an email.
As a group of Sikh elders met in the park
— which they do regularly — a man entered
the park, stood near the men and then start-
ed to rip apart a book he had brought with
him. He made no threats, said virtually no-
thing, then walked away after tossing the to-
rn pages of the book to the ground,
McAllister said.
The man then retreated to a car nearby
and drove away. None of the witnesses noted
them had seen him before.
“The guy spoke in Punjabi,” Sikh commu-
nity leader Sarabjit Cheema told India
Abroad.
“He was a crazy, sick, man, I would say,
from around the area,” Cheema, a school
board member for the New Haven Unified
School District in Union City, added.
The book he ripped pages from was the
Sukhmani Sahib Gutka, a Sikh prayer book,
a smaller version of the Guru Granth Sahib,
the Sikhs’ holiest book.
At first, the Sikh seniors did not under-
stand what was going on, then three seniors
grabbed the man who shook them off and
fled, Cheema said.
“He left his shoes behind and had a car.
Some people in the park have shot a video
and we are waiting for the police to catch
hold of this man,” Cheema added.
“I understand the incident in the park has
generated concern,” Chief McAllister told
ng, engaging relationship with our Sikh co-
mmunity here in Union City, and as we do
on all issues we’ve worked on together, we
completely understand and empathized
with how insulting the incident in question
must be for those who witnessed it happen.”
“The reality is, however, in terms of legali-
ty, we are very much limited in our approach
to dealing with the situation,” he added.
“Again, while we stand shoulder to shoul-
der with our Sikh community in denouncing
anyone’s acts or gestures to offend the beliefs
of others,” the police chief said, “the fact is
that no laws were broken in this case and our
approach to handling the situation must be
consistent with both the facts and the laws.”
“While the man’s behavior may violate the
laws of other nations, the First Amendment
of the United States Constitution allows for
free expression, even of this nature, even if it
insults, dishonors, or defiles the beliefs of
others,” McAllister said.
this is for those whose religious tenets have
been insulted,” he conceded. “While our legal
options are limited to the facts, our intent is
to do what we can to promote a feeling of sa-
fety and solidarity to our entire community.”
“We have asked that anyone who may kn-
ow the identity of the man to contact us with
the information so we can at least attempt to
speak with him about the incident, as a mat-
ter of due diligence and to confirm there are
no other aspects of the incident about which
we are unaware,” McAllister said.
“What happened is shocking for the whole
community, that it could happen here in our
backyard,” Cheema told India Abroad.
“We can’t say it’s a hate crime,” she said,
“but this is someone who wants to meddle
with the peaceful environment in Union Ci-
ty.” The city has a large Sikh population.
“We had a community meeting,” Cheema,
who has lived in Union City since 1991, said.
“We need to be more prepared now.”
A8 NEWS & COMMUNITY
Cow vigilantism: US alerts India about concerns
AZIZ HANIFFA
T
he Obama administration has made
clear its concerns to India over cow vi-
gilantism and violence against the mi-
norities, whenever New Delhi has been slow
to respond to such violations of religious
freedom.
Rabbi David Saperstein, the administra-
tion’s point man for international religious
freedom, recalled that when President Oba-
ma ‘traveled to India, he gave a major public
speech (at Siri Fort in New Delhi January
27, 2015) in which he was very clear about
the need for religious freedom in India that
could be exercised without people being
subject to violence, urging the government
to ensure that all people were able to safely
live out their religious lives.’
Consequently, Saperstein asserted, ‘We ha-
ve been clear in our engagement with India
about our concerns about those times when
the government has been slow to react when
violence has taken place, and some of those
controversies over the cows are an example
of that,’
At a briefing that followed the State Dep-
artment’s unveiling of its annual 2015 report
on International Religious Freedom, Sape-
rstein argued, ‘There have been other times
where Prime Minister Modi has spoken out
very forcefully about the need to protect reli-
gious freedom for all and the security for all.’
‘So I think we’ve been clear about our view
of what is needed and our willingness to be
supportive in confronting the challenges
to religious freedom that need to be add-
ressed there and when the government’s be-
en slow to react, urging them to be more
assertive on that, et cetera,’ he reiterated.
Continuing to quote Modi’s assurances,
Saperstein said, ‘When he has promised to
ensure that everyone has the — I’m quoting
him now — the “undeniable right to retain
or adopt religions of his or her choice with-
3Page A6
supporter of the Senator throughout his Pre-
sidential campaign. On the eve of the elec-
tion Ram had strong endorsements from
Emily’s List, Democracy in America and for-
mer Vermont governor Madeleine Kunin,
but it didn’t give her much traction as did
Sanders’ endorsement of Zuckerman.
On the day of the primary, Kunin made a
strong pitch for Ram, saying, ‘I have known
Kesha since her days as a student at the
University of Vermont. We developed a frie-
ndship and since that day, she has continued
to impress me. I’d the honor of speaking at
her 30th birthday party recently, and I told
the crowd, “Anyone who has gotten to know
Kesha is impressed. She is only 30 years old,
but she has the wisdom of someone much
older and has the enthusiasm and optimism
of someone much younger than 30’’.’
Ram, the former governor argued, ‘has
been an effective legislator for Vermont in
these last eight years, working hard to finish
what was started of our progressive agenda
for our working families.’
‘She’s the best candidate to keep advancing
Digvijay Nath Tiwari, the commander of a Hindu nationalist vigilante group established to protect cows,
with animals he claimed to have saved from slaughter, in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, August 8.
out coercion or undue influence,” this is
responding to some of the attacks on
Christians because they are seen as prosely-
tizing and encouraging others to convert.’
‘We’ve been clear and consistent in our
messages about the things that we think are
most helpful for the stability of the region
and the stability of the country,’ he added.
‘We’ll continue to be supportive of those
efforts where he is acting in accordance with
the international obligations of India in
these regards.’
Saperstein — an ex-officio member of the
US Commission on International Religious
Freedom, established and funded by
Congress, whose commissioners have always
been denied visas by India to visit the coun-
Kesha Ram loses Vermont Lieutenant
try and investigate allegations of human
Governor primary
our progressive agenda,’
Kunin declared.
‘Democracy for America was
proud to support Kesha when
she beat the odds at just
21 years old to earn a seat in the
legislature, and we’re just as ex-
cited to back her now in her bid
to serve as Vermont’s next Lie-
utenant Governor,’ Democracy
said about the national grassro- Kesha Ram
for America Chair Jim Dean
ots progressive organization’s endorsement
of Ram. ‘In Montpelier, Kesha has consis-
tently stood up to establishment insiders
and powerful special interests to fight
for Vermont’s children and families. As a
Vermont-based national political organiza-
tion, we’ve seen Kesha’s fierce advocacy for
the people of our state in the legislature and
our members in the Green Mountain State
and across the country can’t wait to see her
CATHAL MCNAUGHTON/REUTERS
rights and religious freedom violations —
was responding to tough questions from an
Indian-American journalist who publishes
the Indian American Times newspaper that
India was apparently indifferent to concerns
of discrimination and violence against the
minorities, with cow vigilantism being the
most recent manifestation.
‘This is a new thing — Muslims being att-
acked in India for the beef ban, cow slaugh-
ter, and most of the cases, it is some other
kind of meat,’ the journalist told Saperstein.
‘The second is NGOs facing what has been
going on with their money coming in. If they
aren’t exactly catering to the whimsical dire-
ctions or directives of the Modi government.’
‘When you talk about all this ISIS and
ISIL, these are people who are doing geno-
bring that same fighting spirit
to the Lieutenant Governor’s
office.’
Ram, who was hosted at three
fundraisers by the Indian-Ame-
rican community in Los Angel-
es, San Francisco, and Washin-
gton, DC, in a recent interview
with India Abroad, had been
bullish about her chances to be
elected the first Indian-Ame-
rican and colored Lieutenant
Governor of Vermont, but had said she
wanted all the support from the Indian-
American community too in order to prevail
in the primary.
Of Zuckerman, she had said, “He’s my
major opponent,” and acknowledged that si-
nce he is also a state legislator he too “has
name-recognition.”
“We both start out roughly at the same
place,” she had said. ”I have a real opportuni-
India Abroad August 19, 2016
cide. (But) they are not governmental,’ the
journalist noted. ‘And you’ve invited Prime
Minister Modi here in two years four times.’
For all Washington’s entreaties and con-
cerns, the journalist asked, ‘Are they just sit-
ting there in Delhi and laughing at your
report if there is no follow-up action to do
something about this?’
S aperstein was also peppered with ques-
tions about religious freedom in the US
and asked about his ‘assessment of Donald
Trump’s call for banning all Muslims tem-
porarily from entering the US’ and how it
squared ‘with the traditions of religious free-
dom in this country?’
In response, he said, ‘In terms of Donald
Trump, that’s obviously beyond the purview
of this (briefing). The administration has
spoken clearly about the concerns, putting
aside from who they emanate from, about
the concerns of singling out any group for
different treatment because of their religious
identity or their religious — their pea-
ceful religious practices here.’
‘That would apply in the US as it would el-
sewhere,’ he said. ‘Those are universal rights;
they’re enshrined in our Constitution.’
Asked if Trump’s remarks make it harder
when the US calls for religious freedom else-
where,’ he said, ‘I truly think that countries
across the globe — and I travel now to many
countries of very different religious majority
populations — they see clearly the basic Co-
nstitutional, institutional constraints again-
st violations of religious freedom in the US,
and I believe deeply in America’s promise…
to be a model about treating all people equ-
ally without regard to religion.’
‘So I think that that is clear and that is not
tarnished by the statements here. No matter
who is elected,’ Saperstein said, ‘the institu-
tions of the US, Constitutional restraints will
ensure that we continue along the line we
have for the last 200 years.’
ty to build my name recognition, and I am
traveling the state more and I have a deep
well of support.”
During an appearance at the Indian Emb-
assy in Washington, DC, Ram noted, ‘Verm-
ont has never sent a woman to Washington,
period. So, Lieutenant Governor is a great
position to make a difference and figure out
what the future is for a candidate like myself
and people who are blazing trails all over the
country.’
Ram, who served as a public engagement
specialist for the City of Burlington Commu-
nity and Economic Development Office
although initially saying that she would
remain in her city government job even as
she sought higher political office, a few
months ago, has resigned this position.
Prior to joining municipal government,
she was legal director, Women Helping Batt-
ered Women, assisting victims of domestic
violence in the courtroom and throughout
family and criminal legal proceedings.
Ram also taught preschool, and currently
serves on the boards of the Center for Whole
Communities, Emerge Vermont, and the
University of Vermont.
India Abroad August 19, 2016 SPECIAL A9

One of the several times Shah Rukh

Khan was detained at an US airport
was at the Westchester County
Airport in April 2012 when he was
invited to speak at Yale University.
‘They (immigration officials) always
ask me how tall I am and I always lie
and say 5 feet 10 inches. Next time I
am going to get more adventurous.
(If they ask me) What color are you, I
am going to say white,’ he had said
in his speech later.

PARESH GANDHI

I Why SRK?!!
t happened again.
Shah Rukh Khan landed at the Los Angeles
International Airport and when he got into the
immigration line the system flagged his name
and he was held up for further questioning.
It is not known how long Shah Rukh was
stopped at the airport. The only information
about this happening was a tweet by the
Bollywood star where he acknowledged that he
understood the need for security considering the world we
live in.
He then added, ‘but to be detained at US immigration
every damn time really really sucks.’
I feel for Shah Rukh Khan, and more so because as a
United States citizen I hope that my country will be fair to
all visitors.
It is known that in the post-9/11 scenario US immigra-
tion officers have become extra vigilant. And I am ashamed
to state something else. It is widely believed that they often
tend to single out people with Muslim sounding names.
This is at least the fourth time Shah Rukh Khan has been
held up for extra questioning at a US airport. And the irony
is that after each such incident he has been allowed to enter
the US.
He was stopped once when he landed at the Newark
Liberty International Airport as he headed to Chicago for
an event.
Reports then indicated that he was held at the airport for
approximately two hours. At that time a spokesperson for
the immigration services told me he was stopped for a ‘rou-
tine’ check and it lasted less than an hour.
Another time Shah Rukh was traveling to Los Angles
from London, when he stopped to switch flights in Toronto.
Visitors entering the US via Toronto have to go through
immigration check at the Canadian city’s airport. And so
Shah Rukh was stopped there.
And in April 2012 when Shah Rukh was invited to speak
at Yale University, he was questioned for an extended peri-
od of time at the Westchester County Airport.
It is unfortunate that a person traveling to the US after a
long trip has to spend time answering questions from
Shah Rukh Khan was once again — this was at least
the fourth time — detained at an US airport.
‘I feel for Khan, and more so because as a US citizen I hope that
my country will be fair to all visitors,’ says Aseem Chhabra.
immigration officers, who often appear to be rude or
abrupt. But to be stopped four times crosses the line.
People have speculated about why Shah Rukh may have
been stopped so many times. Some friends have suggested
that perhaps his name matches that of another person on
the US immigration watch list. To me this is conjecture.
What I am surprised about is that the Indian government
and the Indian embassy in Washington, DC have not dealt
with this issue in the past. No Indian citizen should be
humiliated by the US authorities. And Shah Rukh Khan
happens to be one of India’s most well-known citizens.
After the news of Shah Rukh being held up at LA airport
broke out, former Indian ambassador to the US Nirupama
Rao said in a tweet: ‘I don’t think we can question the cus-
toms and border protection laws of any sovereign country.
Live and learn.’
I know Rao and I respect her. But I beg to differ with her.
I think it is precisely the Indian embassy’s responsibility to
raise this question with the State Department, as well as
the Department of Homeland Security and ask why its
Citizenship and Immigration Services group has singled
out Khan so many times.
It should be the role and responsibility of the Indian
embassy, the Indian ambassador and India’s external
affairs minister to take up cases of Indian citizens, especial-
ly when it is an exceptional situation.
Earlier this week, India’s External Affairs Minister
Sushma Swaraj responded to a tweet by a man whose new
wife had lost her passport, so she could not accompany him
on their honeymoon. Swaraj suggested she would step in to
help the couple. In the last two years she has helped out
countless Indians stranded in different countries.
I do not know what Khan’s politics are or what party he
votes for. But he is an Indian citizen. Swaraj and her gov-
ernment have to explain to the US authorities that this is
perhaps a case of mistaken identity.
Shah Rukh Khan is an actor and as far as it is known, he
is a responsible citizen of India. It is really ridiculous that
he is singled out each time he tries to enter the US.
PS: I just saw this tweet from Assistant Secretary of State
Nisha Desai Biswal: ‘Sorry for the hassle at the airport,
@iamsrk - even American diplomats get pulled for extra
screening!’
I don’t know if this is an official apology, but Nisha is of
Indian origin and she knows who SRK is!
Aseem Chhabra has lived in America for 35 years.
A10 INDIA SPECIAL/AN INCREDIBLE STRUGGLE
After the
world’s
longest
hunger
strike
After her lone fight for 16 years,
Irom Sharmila has only the state
machinery to keep her safe from
the public whose cause she
championed all this while.
Chitra Ahanthem reports from
Manipur on the end of the fast
and its aftermath.
T
he moment when Irom Sharmila was to break her
16-year-old fast in the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute
of Medical Sciences complex in Imphal, Manipur,
a few meters away from the hospital room where
she had been kept in custody, was emotional — one she
described as “a moment I will never forget in my life.”
She asked for honey, which she put in her palm and
looked at for a long while — the tears streaming down her
face — even as she haltingly brought her face near to it.
As the cameras went into a frenzy, she took a drop of
honey from her palm and put it in her mouth, making a face
as she felt the taste.
Much before the moment of breaking her fast of 16 years,
unending drama unfolded at the complex of the court of the
chief judicial magistrate (Imphal West).
T he first part of the drama was, of course, the frenzy
caused by the media that swooped down to get the best
pictures and visuals of Irom Sharmila being taken inside
the court. The frenzy was such that she had to be physically
lifted inside the court complex by women personnel of the
state police once she alighted from the ambulance that had
brought her.
Inside the court room, when Lamkhanpau Tonsing, the
chief judicial magistrate (Imphal West), brought up the
case of the State of Manipur vs Irom Sharmila, she stood
up and in a determined voice reiterated her decision to
stop her 16-year-old hunger strike, mentioning that her
fight against the imposition of the Armed Forces Special
Powers Act would continue, but that she had decided to
change her strategy by breaking her fast and making a
foray into politics.
When she was told that she would have to plead guilty to
the charge of suicide against her, she said, “How can I plead
guilty if I am not wrong?”
Sharmila also sought the magistrate’s permission to addr-
ess the media. Her only rider was that the media be seated
in a room so she could speak to everyone.
She was then asked to furnish a personal bond, following
which the proceedings went on for more than an hour as
witnesses were still to depose.
At some point of time, two batches of four people — who
were involved in criminal cases ranging from murder to be-
ing caught with arms in their possession — were also brou-
ght into the packed court room while medical and police
personnel gave their testimonies.
When a restless Irom Sharmila requested a speedy proce-
ss, the defense lawyer asked her in a curt demeanor, “Do
you want to be free today or do you want to come back ano-
ther day?”
When Sharmila replied, “I want to be free today,” he shot
back, “Then you will have to wait for all of this to be over.”
By the time the court was in the process of preparing the
formalities of freeing Irom Sharmila, it had been agreed
that she would address the waiting media.
T he second act of the drama unfolded as she was brought
before the media, which literally pounced and stepped
‘I have become akin to Abhimanyu
caught in the chakravayuh, unable to
find a way out. If the public is angry with
my decision and resent it, you can kill
me like Gandhi and Jesus Christ was
killed. Let my blood wash away all their
dark emotions and negative feelings.’
India Abroad August 19, 2016
Irom Sharmila speaks to the
media outside a prison hospital
in the northeastern city of
Imphal, India, August 20, 2014.
REUTERS
on one another to be in ‘breaking news’ mode.
She was to speak while seated at a bench with a ‘table’ that
had been literally assembled from its old broken version
placed before her. The ‘table’ had mikes and recorders
placed on it, but in a matter of a few seconds, everyone was
climbing and leaning on it, making the ‘table’ groan and
creak ominously besides tilting towards Sharmila.
Seated beneath the table and less than an arm’s length
from Irom Sharmila I could not hear the few sentences that
she was able to speak while the assembled media nearly
came into blows.
Irom Sharmila had to be whisked off, which meant that
thanks to the media behavior, her freedom and the moment
of her fast coming to an end was postponed some more.
T he third act of the drama was when representatives of
women’s groups in Manipur, who have rallied around
Irom Sharmila every time she was released every year, start-
ed venting their anger and unhappiness over her decision.
‘She should have continued her protest.’
‘She should have consulted us.’
‘She should have thought about the struggle that we have
undertaken against AFSPA before she even took her fast.’
By this time, journalists reporting the story had taken the
brief address Irom Sharmila had given to the media and
taken it out of its context. Her statement that she would
want to contest elections against Manipur Chief Minister O
Ibobi and that she would repeal AFSPA when she became
chief minister was reported as ‘I want to be chief minister
and repeal AFSPA.’
B
y 3 pm, the next act had moved to the Jawaharlal Nehru
Institute of Medical Sciences where security was tight
but the media throng was a bit more organized.
4Page A11
India Abroad August 19, 2016 INDIA SPECIAL/AN INCREDIBLE STRUGGLE A11

3Page A10

News then started to trickle in After the world’s longest had been (the official has since
retired), angry residents of the
neighborhood stormed the

hunger strike
that the formalities for Irom ambulance she was in and forced
Sharmila’s release were being her to change her plans.
completed and she would addr- What irony that after her lone
ess the media. fight against the establishment
So she came, appearing in pub- all these long years she has only
lic for the first time without the the state machinery to keep her
nasal tube that had been her con- safe from the public whose cause
stant companion for the past 16 she championed all this while.
years. Surrounded only by the She was escorted to the JNIMS
media and security personnel, to stay under police protection,
she first addressed the gathering free at last from the State, but not
repeating that her fight against free from the anger of the public.
AFSPA would continue and that
breaking her fast was a change in
strategy. T wo days after Iron Sharmila
broke her fast, she looked

‘Every year when I am set free

content and at peace with her
decision, regardless of the strong

for some time, people come

reaction of civil society groups

to greet me. It is like I am a

led by women.
August 11, visiting time in the

spectacle to be seen with

ward in JNIMS that had been
home to her all this while was

curiosity and then forgotten.’

still being restricted as a security
measure and keeping in mind the
need for Sharmila to rest. But she
patiently met media and well
wishers in turn.
“I am a true revolutionary. I do Asked how she was taking the
not want to be kept on a pedestal. strong reaction to her decision to
Sixteen long years, I have been end her fast and the action of
given the name Iron Lady while various people who forced her to
everyone else stays content that I give up her plans of taking shel-
am on my fast,” she said. ter in the house of a long-time
“Many are saying that politics supporter, all she had to say was
is dirty, so why should I take it CHITRA AHANTHEM it, “could be because of the mis-
up? I ask you this — can politics Irom Sharmila's mother Shakhi Devi, left, has not met her youngest daughter for over 11 years. On right is Sharmila's brother. understandings over my new
be dirty on its own? Isn’t society step in decision.”
a part of the dirt associated with politics?” she asked. this to say: ‘His governance Largely unnoticed by the media, a
‘If 20 like-minded people emerge as candidates for the deals with violence and his few people have reached out to
elections, we can bring about a change. I want to contest only concern is for the happi- Sharmila on a personal level. One
the elections against Chief Minister Ibobi. I want to be CM, ness index of nations. He is a deeply special since it came from
so I can repeal AFSPA,’ she added. native from the place of Ukhrul, a hill district of Manipur. “I
Commenting on her earlier statement that she had not Gandhi. Why cannot he govern would like to stay in different parts of
got the kind of support that she was expecting for her cause, with non violence?’ Manipur and discuss AFSPA, try to
Irom Sharmila said, ‘Every year when I am set free for ‘Are you a woman in love?’ build a hill and valley common
sometime, people come to greet me. It is like I am a specta- one journalist asked. ‘Isn’t that ground,” she said.
cle to be seen with curiosity and then forgotten. When I first a matter of my personal Medical staff attending to Sharmila
started my fast, the public said I was insane to do it. These choice?’ she responded. ‘Isn’t said her vital signs were normal and
long years, I remained cut off from everybody. I have to be that normal?’ that apart from rice water she was
free now.’ When it came to the also now being fed half cups of
Her statements included the following: moment of Irom Sharmila Horlicks and a mostly liquid oat mix
‘If there had been a massive public support over my fast, breaking her fast, there was no throughout the day.
AFSPA would have been repealed then. The narrative of my one to do the honor of the But even as young people are begin-
fast has in fact been misinterpreted. While I was fasting till symbolical act of offering her ning to talk about rallying behind
the time AFSPA would be repealed, it is being described as the honey even though she Irom Sharmila, a few meters away
an indefinite fast.’ had announced her desire for from the ward in JNIMS, the mem-
‘The martyrdom of Irom Sharmila is not what I want. I young students to be present bers of SAKAL (Sharmila Kanba

When Irom Sharmila wrote a rare every time she was released annually,
have become akin to Abhimanyu caught in when she broke her fast. Lup), which had taken up the respon-
the chakravayuh, unable to find a way out. If the public is When she did break her fast sibility of caring for Irom Sharmila

appeal to the people of Manipur

angry with my decision and resent it, you can kill me like she did it alone just as she was
Gandhi and Jesus Christ was killed. Let my blood wash alone when she first began her besides taking up other campaigns of
away all their dark emotions and negative feelings.’ fast in 2000. The only differ- relay fasts announced August 11 that
‘I do not want to be seen as a goddess. I am human and I ence was the media scrum that the group was disbanding since it had
want to be treated like one.’ asked her to speak in Hindi no purpose with Sharmila giving up
In response to media queries on her future course of and English or repeat the act her fast, a sign that civil society
action, including where she would stay, Irom Sharmila of breaking her fast so they groups were in no mood to reconcile
replied that she would not go back to her house as she want- could get ‘proper visuals’ and to her decision.
ed to honor her earlier promise to her mother that she ‘proper bytes.’ Does all of that discourage
would come back only after AFSPA was repealed. Sharmila?
‘I want to stay at an ashram, but it will take a few days to
take a final decision,’ she said.
Asked what she had to say to the people of Kashmir who
The last bit of the drama
unfolded as this report was
being written. When Irom
Not at all. For even as vocal civil
society groups have been vociferous
in their disapproval, there are people
have been protesting against AFSPA, she said, ‘Let the peo- Sharmila was being escorted to from Manipur and elsewhere who
http://bit.ly/2aM6iNC
ple of Kashmir get their right to self determination.’ the home of a former health have written to her, come in to meet
For Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Irom Sharmila had official under whose care she and check up with her.

A12
INSIGHT
India Abroad
August 19, 2016
Why August 9, 1953 casts a dark
shadow over Kashmir
I
t was on this fateful day, August 9 in 1953 that the
Indian State sowed the proverbial wind in Kashmir and
the country continues to reap the whirlwind for the
past 63 years.
Precisely, on the night between August 8 and 9, 1953
Sheikh Abdullah, political anchor of J&K’s accession with the
Indian Union, was unceremoniously removed from power
and put behind bars; causing a tectonic emotional breach
and setting off disastrous fault lines
MOHAMMAD
between Srinagar and New Delhi.
Down that fateful line today, the lat-
SAYEED MALIK
est unabated bloody flare-up in the
Valley, following Burhan Wani’s killing
on July 8, is a grim reminder that the
accumulated anger and simmering
alienation, now with a sharper hostile
edge, are not going to go away unless addressed concretely.
Over the past six decades the situation has got compound-
ed for want of meaningful engagement, pushing farther the
goal posts on both sides.
In 1953, New Delhi’s indefensible action to oust and im-
prison someone who then was the local face as well as the
tallest symbol of the accession of the country’s only Muslim-
majority state, against the (communal) run of events on the
subcontinent, turned out to be a bad bargain in the long run:
Undermining India’s moral legitimacy in its Kashmir case
for the sake of a questionable political gambit to artificially
force the pace of the state’s ‘integration’ with the Union and
‘managing’ (manipulating?) its local affairs.
Ironically, with this one fell swoop J&K’s Constitutionally
guaranteed special status was rendered hollow and reduced
to fiction; as if to match Pakistan’s unabashed annexation of
the so-called ‘liberated’ Kashmir across the Line of Control,
with the Islamabad-based Kashmir affairs secretary enjoying
over-riding authority to hire and fire the notional ‘president
of Azad Jammu & Kashmir’.
On this side of the LoC, one of the architects of the acces-
sion, Sheikh Abdullah, had come to be seen by New Delhi
as a stumbling block in the ‘process of integration,’ in less
than six years’ time. His forced exit virtually wrote the epi-
taph to his celebrated role as a ‘patriot.’ Overnight he
became a ‘traitor.’
Locally, the message was loud and clear: Time for a
‘Kashmiri-Indian’ to rule this state was over; now on only
UMAR GANIE
‘Indian-Kashmiri’ would get that accreditation. And it has
been so ever after.
Even Sheikh Abdullah returned to his downsized throne
22 years later only after his ‘conversion.’
As history would show, this miscalculation virtually gift-
ed Pakistan an unearned opening for its proxy presence on
this side of the LoC after its near eclipse from the arena in
the turbulent fallout of the (1947) tribal invasion.
Sheikh Abdullah’s arbitrary overthr-
ow, perceived as a brazen assault on the
popular local sentiment he symbolized,
resulted in intractable complications on
the ground as well as vitiating the exter-
nal dimension of the Kashmir dispute to
India’s disadvantage.
Accumulated discontent, since 1953,
occasionally burst into the open, over one immediate issue or
the other. The latest being the post-Burhan Wani upheaval.
The familiar pattern has been that after dousing the flames
of unrest New Delhi invariably goes to sleep, letting the grass
grow under its feet; until the next round of firefighting.
As a result, the emotional/political distance between
Kashmir and the rest of India has been growing in inverse
proportion to the considerably shortened physical travel-
ling time between Srinagar and New Delhi by road, air and
now partly by rail too.
On the other hand, the almost defunct symbolism
(between 1947 and 1953) of the decrepit ‘Srinagar-
Rawalpindi road,’ the Valley’s only surface link with the rest
of the world till 1947, resonates louder after each round of
this cyclic unrest; lately in its strident ‘Azadi’ mode.
T ill he was alive, Sheikh Abdullah’s unrivalled leadership
across the spectrum served both, as the sword arm and
the shield of Kashmir’s popular politics.
After his demise on September 8, 1982, the disintegrated
legacy is claimed (or usurped) by political actors across the
democratic divide — mainstream and separatists. Even so,
none of his successors from within the Abdullah dynasty and
their rivals has been able to replace him effectively.
They can only float over the crest of an occasional wave of
unrest but cannot control it.
Sheikh Abdullah alone had the capability and ability to co-
ntain/neutralize the toxic effects of post-1953 alienation or
that of his own misrule. Credibility with legitimacy of moral
authority was the USP of his leadership that went into his
grave along with his body.
Not that he had forgiven those who tormented him from
1953 to 1975 and consigned him to 22 years in the political
wilderness. His autobiographical account leaves nothing to
doubt on that score. Yet he chose to retain his own vital
stakes in that forgettable past.
Between 1947 and 1953, Sheikh Abdullah was exhibited on
the world stage as the living symbol of India’s moral legitima-
cy in Kashmir. His towering personality at the local level
dwarfed every other feature on the political landscape.
However, the inverted logic of ‘1953’ dictated loss of that
moral high ground.
No doubt that Sheikh Abdullah’s relationship with New
Delhi towards the fag end of his first innings (1947 to 1953)
was fouled by mutual distrust over various issues, including
that of the demarcation of Centre-state relations in the con-
text of India’s commitment to the Maharaja on greater inter-
nal autonomy for his state.
Even so, the Delhi Agreement of 1952, formalizing a broad
framework of distribution of powers between Srinagar and
New Delhi was concluded with Sheikh Abdullah at the helm.
The job done, Sheikh Abdullah found himself thrown
behind the bars shortly thereafter.
O ver six decades later, today, the political appeal of the ac-
cession as well as the ‘autonomy’ has drastically dimini-
shed, almost vanished. In 1947, the accession of the Muslim-
majority J&K state was convincingly acclaimed as the logical
culmination of the ‘affinity of ideals’ — democracy and secu-
larism versus Pakistan’s two-nation theory.
The political landscape has since changed — beyond recog-
nition. Now there is a head-on collision between forces
spearheading Kashmiri discontent and those perceived to be
conniving in New Delhi’s callous unresponsiveness, irrespec-
tive of the ideological complexion of the regime at the helm.
Sheikh Abdullah was able to maintain that tricky balance
between steam letting and explosion of anger.
Generational changes between 1953 and 2016 were accom-
panied by gradual withdrawal from committed positions at
both ends of the game, stridently after Sheikh Abdullah’s
demise in 1982: New Delhi brazenly backtracking from its
committed position on restoration of the usurped (greater)
autonomy and the dominant sentiment in the Valley moving
away from its emotional commitment on the accession.
The first generation with Sheikh Abdullah in the lead fou-
nd itself entrapped in a vicious situation after 1953. He led a
22 year-long largely peaceful but very effective political resi-
stance demanding ‘plebiscite’ (1953 to 1975) until the Kash-
mir Accord that enabled his return to power but left estran-
ged local aspirations dissatisfied for want of any substantial
concession in return.
The succeeding (leadership) generation either acquiesced
or found itself helpless to check New Delhi’s growing shadow
over the local political landscape until it became the ultimate
deciding factor. Erosion of the state’s constitutional autono-
my was now matched by corresponding political encroach-
ment on the ground at the expense of the public standing of
the local political class.
The deteriorating equation reached its logical conclusion
by the time the third generation (post-1990s) arrived on the
scene. By that time even the remnants of the political ‘auto-
cut’ of the Sheikh Abdullah era had also ceased to function.
It was the reversal of all that had happened between 1947
and 1953 when the tribal invasion from Pakistan was resisted
with popular local support and unarmed Kashmiri staked
their lives to stem the advance of Pakistani invaders until the
arrival of Indian forces.
The third generation of the post-1990 era found itself on a
totally opposite course: Groups of Kashmiri youth flocking to
Pakistan and returning with weapons after getting arms
training across the Line of Control. Something that was
unimaginable even till a long time after ‘1953’.
Even a major historical tragedy like ‘August 9, 1953’
remains shrouded in mystery.
Who played what role and why is not yet fully revealed
because the dramatis personae were reluctant to part with
the full facts known to them. Even Sheikh Abdullah’s own
account is less than convincing.
Yet the event will go down in Kashmir history as a political
watershed, for better or worse.
Mohammad Sayeed Malik is a veteran commentator on
Kashmir affairs.
India Abroad August 19, 2016
NY/NJ/CT T1

How a NYU Tandon team is

Ashwin Raj Kumar, left, and Sai Prasanth
Krishnamoorthy with the affordable
wearables they developed.

devising a smarter way to

the past,’ Kapila said.
Inset, Professor Vikram Kapila.
‘The medical community
acknowledges that while the

rehabilitate stroke patients

central nervous system is
highly adaptive and has the
ability to regain functions om NYU and his bachelor’s degree
with concerted effort, a from the National Institute of
patient must assiduously Technology in Tiruchirappalli.
practice those regained Krishamoorthy of Andhra Pradesh
skills.’ matriculated from the Amrita
A CORRESPONDENT

PHOTOGRAPHS: ENGINEERING.NYU.EDU
‘This makes stroke rehab a Vishwavidhyapeetham University in
long and sometimes trying Bengaluru, Karnataka.

A t New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering

a team of students — guided by Vikram Kapila, NYU
Tandon Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace
Engineering — is using smartphones to improve the ardu-
ous and repetitive process patients must typically undergo to
relearn the basic skills they lose after suffering a stroke.
‘The centerpieces are wearable mechatronic devices: A jac-
ket to measure arm placement, a glove to measure wrist and
finger placement and finger joint angles, and a finger trainer
built of hand-friendly, compliant material,’ the school ann-
ounced. ‘All are connected inexpensively by a smartphone.’
When a patient performs an exercise assigned by a physi-
cian or physical therapist, microcontrollers quantify the
action — measuring grip strength, for example — and dis-
play that information via the smartphone to both the patient
and medical provider.
‘Rather than mindlessly repeat the exercise, patients
engage in a virtual reality game that allows them to observe
the performance of the unaffected side of the body and
mimic the same performance on the affected side,’ the
school added.
‘Smartphone-integrated stroke rehabilitation is a marked
improvement over the conventional treatment programs of
ordeal. Providing patients
with immediate feedback
and placing that feedback in
the context of a virtual reali-
ty game that they can use
within their own homes is
definitely encouraging and
motivational he added.’
Using smartphone technology also allows
stroke survivors to make great strides within
their own homes. Not being rendered
dependent on caregivers and therapists in a
clinical setting boosts morale and motivates
the patients to continue rehabilitation, the
researchers believe.
ILangone’s
n addition to Kapila, who oversees NYU Ta-
ndon’s Mechatronics Lab, Dr Preeti Raghavan of NYU
Rusk Rehabilitation Ambulatory Care Center hel-
ped Ashwin Raj Kumar and Sai Prasanth Krishnamoorthy,
the students who helped transform the original idea into a
working prototype.
Raj Kumar of Tamil Nadu received his master’s degree fr-
The team recently took third place
in BMEidea, the nation’s leading
competition for biomedical and bio-
engineering students, the school said,
noting that the entries — each of
which must pioneer a health-related
technology that addresses a real clin-
ical need — are judged on technical,
economic, and regulatory feasibility; contribu-
tion to human health and quality of life; techno-
logical innovation; and potential for commer-
cialization.
NYU Tandon Dean Katepalli R Sreenivasan
said, ‘This is a testament to both the fine quality of
our aspiring engineers and NYU’s commitment to
invaluable cross-disciplinary research that allows tech-
nology to be used in service to society.’
Next steps for the students include forming a company
with the patent-pending technology and launching a startup
at the NYU Tandon new-business incubators. They are cur-
rently refining their prototype and expect to shortly begin
working with several patients from around the world, includ-
ing their native India.
T2 NY/NJ/CT

50 years after M S Subbulakshmi performed at the UN

India Abroad August 19, 2016

A CORRESPONDENT Mission, Ambassador Syed Akbaru-

ddin, India’s envoy to the UN, revea-

A
mong the many Indian led. The exhibition opens August 15
Independence Day activities and will run through August 19.
taking place in the Tristate The concert aims to ‘perpetuate the
area — several with the support of memory of not only one of the great-
the Indian consulate in New York — est musicians India had ever pro-
probably the most high-profile one duced but that of a great-
was to be A R Rahman’s concert at est soul who lived a life of
the United Nations August 15. philanthropy and goodwill
The Oscar and Grammy-winning for all humanity,’ S S
composer will pay tribute to legend- Badrinath, chairman emer-

JAMIE MCCARTHY/GETTY IMAGES

ary Carnatic vocalist M S Subbula- itus, Sankara Nethralaya,
kshmi at the world body’s iconic Ge- the trust that is supporting
neral Assembly. the event, told the media.
Rahman will be only the second The trust’s president S V
Indian artist after Subbulakshmi to Acharya added in the state-
perform at the UN after she was ment that it plans to create
invited for a performance 50 years a ‘Chair for Music’ in
ago. Subbulakshmi’s name at an
She had been invited by the then American university.
UN Secretary General, U Thant, and The concert promised to be the
the then Chef de Cabinet, C V high point of the Independence Day
Narasimhan, to perform at the world celebrations that day, which would
U N PHOTO/P A S

body’s headquarters in 1966. include a flag-hoisting ceremony in

Commemorations to mark Subbul- the morning and India’s Consul
akshmi’s birth centenary also include General Riva Ganguly Das ringing
a photo exhibition at the UN head- M S Subbulakshmi in the General Assembly for the UN Day Concert in 1966. the closing bell at NASDAQ, a tradi-
quarters by India’s Permanent A R Rahman, inset, will be only the second Indian artist after Subbulakshmi to perform at the UN. tion of many years now.

A Hindu Heritage Day The key to

in New Jersey Raritan, a road
A CORRESPONDENT in Secaucus
T
he inaugural Hin-
du Heritage Day
in New Jersey —
organized by the NJ
chapter of World Hindu
Council at the North Br-
unswick High School —
drew more than 900
attendees from the COURTESY: SHREE SWAMINARAYAN TEMPLE LOYADHAM
Tristate area in a festive Charles McMullin, right, mayor of Raritan in
celebration. Somerset County, New Jersey, attends the sec-
Though the event fea- ond anniversary celebration of the Shree
tured 11 nonprofits, alo- Swaminarayan Temple Loyadham. The mayor,
ng with Indian clothes who was there with his family, addressed the
and cuisine, the organ- assembly and then presented Swami Shree
izers felt the main attr- Ghanshyam Prakashdas, the founder of the
action was the cultural temple, with the key to the town of Raritan.
program, in which over
Performers at the Hindu Heritage Day. COURTESY: VHPA 250 students perform-
ed 30 pieces.
‘While some students performed classical music and dance, others recited The 15th anniversary of the Swaminarayan Temple
poems and sang traditional hymns,’ the VHPA said. ‘One group even performed of Secaucus, New Jersey, was marked by Penhorn
a play in Sanskrit.’ Avenue being renamed ‘Swamibapa Way’ to honor
For adults, theater groups performed plays and Swami Adhyatamananda Muktajeevan Swamibapa, the religious leader who
delivered a seminar on stress relief. was the first to bring the Swaminarayan sect to the
‘VHPA wants to engage second-generation youth and their families to con- United States in the late 1970s.
The honorary renaming took place August 7 in the
TWITTER.COM/SGADINAIROBI

nect with their heritage, and also give them a platform to exhibit their talent
and skills,’ Brahm Sharma, president, NJ Chapter, VHPA, told the media. presence of the sect’s spiritual leader, Secaucus
Arun Joshi, another main organizer of the event, added, ‘By making HHD an Mayor Michael Gonnelli, Secaucus Councilman
annual event, we want to help the public understand Hindu values and differ- Rob Constantino, Secaucus Councilwoman Susan
ent aspects of Indian tradition.’ Pirro, and Hudson County Sheriff Frank Schillari.
The organizers hoped that in the coming years the event look would draw an
more diverse crowd, especially youth and those unfamiliar with Hinduism.
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 A13
Be warned! Bad times
BUSINESS
ahead for Indian economy
With Parliament greenlighting GST, India has begun the process of passing
India Abroad
August 19, 2016 what many think is its most important economic reform in two decades. But we
can’t expect many more reforms, and none the size of GST, warns Aakar Patel.
The Goods and Services Tax is aimed to

I ndia has begun the process of passing

what many think is its most important
economic reform in two decades.
simplify indirect taxation in India.
After this, what exactly are the big bang
reforms left to be legislated in a country
which is no longer socialist, wonders Aakar Patel.
The Goods and Services Tax will simplify
indirect taxation in India and some think
merely this simplification would add a
couples of points of economic growth. Ot-
hers disagree, but all believe that this is a
key reform. Automation has even begun hitting servic-
What other reforms can we expect? es jobs.
Not many and none the size of GST. Mohandas Pai, formerly of Infosys, says:
If the expectation was that the Narendra ‘I think in the IT sector, may be 10 percent
Modi government would legislate dramatic minimum of incremental jobs that are cre-
change, this expectation has been let down. ated will disappear. That means every year
The GST bill being pushed as a big reform if they create 200,000 to 250,000 jobs,
is the idea of the previous Congress govern- 25,000 to 50,000 jobs will disappear.’
ment and had actually been opposed by According to him, middle-level managers
Modi as chief minister. account for 10 percent — or 450,000 peo-
When he won the general election, he ple — of the 4.5 million strong IT industry
changed his position and I think that is very in India. Half of them (225,000) would lose
good and wise politics. jobs over the next decade as their work
In an interview to The Wall Street Journal would get automated.
some time ago, Modi said he himself did There are today lots of people (who are
not know what big reforms remained to be middle-level managers) earning between
SIVARAM V/REUTERS
legislated in India. He said: ‘When I came Rs 3 million and Rs 7 million (per annum).
to the government, I used to sit down with Half of them will lose their jobs in the next
all the experts and ask them to define for 10 years, Pai said.
me what is the “big bang” for them,’ Modi This is very bad news for Indian cities like
said. ‘Nobody could tell me.’ Bengaluru, Mumbai, Gurgaon, Pune and
He said much of the reform now concer- Hyderabad. Service-sector jobs have been
ned the states and he would look to states to the backbone of growth in these cities.
further liberalize labor laws, an area seen as Automation of service jobs means that this
crucial and contentious. work will no longer need to be sent to India.
‘Labor reform should not just mean in We will need to figure out new ways of
the interest of industry,’ Modi said. ‘Labor keeping our urban middle class youth
reform should also be in the interest of the employed, something that we have not had
laborer.’ These words show that Modi is a problem doing in the last two decades.
cautious. Service sector jobs through English were
I think the prime minister is absolutely ri- the easiest way for the poor to enter the
ght. What exactly are the big bang reforms middle class. Entry level jobs vanishing will
left to be legislated in a country which is no mean this social mobility will end.
longer socialist?
Both the ruling party and the Opposition
stand in favor of liberalization. The fact is
that not much remains to be liberalized.
W e should expect that the social unrest
that is currently in the smaller cities,
like the agitation of the Patidars in Gujarat
and the Jats in Haryana, will intensify. I do

B ut if this is so, and not much legislative

change is to be anticipated, what does
that mean for our economic growth?
not think the government is preparing the
population to face these facts.
The picture being painted is extraordin-
I believe that the present rate of 6 or 7 pe- arily rosy and the various episodes of un-
rcent will not be exceeded in the medium rest are being explained in localized fash-
term, meaning the next decade or so. And ion rather than the building up of a nation-
the passing of time will make maintaining al crisis.
even this growth rate more difficult because Modi would do well to explain the nature
the base will become larger. of the task that remains for his government
We should not expect 10 percent growth in terms of legislation. And he should
simply because no big change is on its way explain more clearly that no more ‘big bang’
and in the absence of big change things will reforms should be expected and that any
continue the way they are. change that will now come will be largely
The state of economic growth in the out- externally forced upon India.
side world is not favorable to India. Things We have a very difficult period ahead of
are slowing down and jobs are disappearing us. Fortunately, we have a popular govern-
faster than ever in history. For a long period ment and a popular leader who is ideally
we had anticipated the loss of jobs in man- placed to take us into confidence.
ufacturing.
This is now happening because the cost Aakar Patel is Executive Director, Amnesty
of borrowing money is lower than employ- International India. The views expressed
ing labor, and so labor is being substituted. here are his own.
A14 BUSINESS
Why house sellers need to
know India’s Finance Act 2014
AN SANDEEP
SHANBHAG SHANBHAG
I have an apartment in India that I have recently
rented out. The rent is a very nominal Rs 15,000
($225) per month. The money is being credited to
my Non Resident Ordinary account and is being
used by my parents for day-to-day requirements.
Am I liable to pay any tax in India now that I
have started receiving rent?
If so, would I also need to file a tax return? I do
not have any other income in India.
— Pashupati
Though normally rental income is taxable, in
this particular case, since the total rent for the
year at Rs 180,000 ($2,700) is less than the basic
income threshold of Rs 250,000 ($3,750) below
which tax is not payable, you would have no lia-
bility to pay tax. Consequently, you do not need to
file a tax return either.
However, note that the tenant, by law, has to
deduct tax at source on the rent (regardless of its
amount). If that happens, your only recourse to
get back the tax is to file a return and claim
refund of the tax deducted.
I stayed outside India starting June 19, 2007
and returned to India June 13, 2016. I am consid-
ering myself as RNRO based on the clause where
the number of days spent in India in the previous
seven years should be less than 729 days since I
was in India in the last 7 years for much less num-
ber of days. Is that right?
— Karunakara
Incidentally, it is Resident Not Ordinarily Resi-
dent and not RNRO. One gets the RNOR status
if one is an NRI in nine out of the previous 10
years or has been in India for a period of 729 days
or less in the previous 7 years.
Based on the data provided by you, from finan-
cial year 07-08 till FY 15-16, you have been a
Non-Resident Indian in nine years. Hence, you
will get RNOR status for two years i.e. FY 16-17
and FY 17-18.
I had an ancestral house in India, which I sold
recently. The sale has resulted in me earning a
substantial amount of Long Term Capital Gains. I
understand that such LTCG can be saved by
investing in another property. However, I do not
wish to put the entire money back in another
A N Shanbhag is an investment consultant and author of In the Wonderland of Investment; How to Convert a
Taxpayer into a Taxsaver; NRI Investment Guide. This article does not constitute tax or legal advice. Consult your
tax or legal advisor before making tax- or legally-related investment decisions. The authors may be contacted at
wonderlandconsultants@yahoo.com.
India Abroad August 19, 2016
Rajan’s parting note
property. It would be much more convenient if I
could buy two or even three smaller apartments
so that later I can bequeath them to each of my
three children equally. Can an individual avoid
LTCG tax by investing in two or more flats upon
earning LTCG from sale of property?
— Bhargava
As per the words used in the law, exemption
from paying LTCG tax was available if the LTCG
was invested in a residential house.
There was a flood of litigation revolving around
the meaning of the word ‘a’ and the judiciary pro-
nouncements were contradictory and inconsis-
tent with one another. Additional ambiguity
arose because of faulty language used in the leg-
islation, which made it possible to claim the ben-
efit even on a house purchased abroad.
The Finance Act 2014 has addressed these
issues in one stroke by replacing the phrase ‘pur-
chased a residential house’ with ‘purchased one
residential house in India.’ So, now the exemp-
tion is available only for one property purchased
using the capital gain money. Note that the entire
capital gain amount needs to be invested for full
exemption. If part is invested, the exemption
would be proportional.
Moreover, such property has to be situated in
India.
1. I have a house in India that I have given out on
His
lease. In the contract for the lease, I have under-
taken to do house repairs and maintenance every
two years. Can I claim the expense on repairs as a
legacy
deduction against the lease rent?
2. Also, depending upon my income level, I have
been filing my tax return. Some years I have not
filed my return as my income was below taxable
limit. Can this — filing one year’s return and not
filing in another year — raise suspicion or is it per-
missible?
— Pranav A look at the
You can claim a standard deduction of 30 per- performance of
cent of the lease rent every year, irrespective of some key indicators
whether you carry out any repairs in that year over the tenure
and the amount spent thereon. There is no addi- of Rajan as
tional deduction over and above this one for RBI governor
repairs per se.
If you have a housing loan, then the entire
interest payable is also deductible.
If the resultant figure, after addition to your
other income taxable in India, is less than Rs
250,000 you need not file tax returns. However,
it is better to file returns to maintain continuity.
Filing one year’s return and not filing in another
year is well within your rights.
Can an individual resident in India invest in a
mutual fund abroad that deals in the commodity
market?
— Gupte Manishi
Up to $250,000 per year may be invested by an
Indian resident in any overseas financial asset. It
needs to be an upfront investment and not pay-
ment of margin money. As long as this condition
is satisfied, the same is allowed. All data are the latest
available
Sources: RBI,
Bloomberg, Capitaline
Compiled by BS
Research Bureau
India Abroad August 19, 2016 A15
 A16 Satyanand ‘Samuel’ Stokes, and his wife, with
their daughter, Satyavati, center. He named his
children Prem Chand, Pritam Chand, Tara Chand,
Champavati, Savitri, Satyavati and Lal Chand.

Though he was an American his fierce de-

nouncement of imperialism and absolute id-

MAGAZINE entification with Indians had a deep impact.

His unequivocal support of Gandhi thr-
ough these years was valuable to the cause.
India Abroad He had full faith in Gandhiji and believed
August 19, 2016 that he was the only one who could lead
India to independence, so he gave his who-
lehearted support to him and urged others
to do the same.
What was Stokes’ friendship with C F And-
rews (Gandhiji’s friend and a Christian mis-
sionary who supported India’s freedom)
like? How did they become friends and how
did Stokes become associated with Gandhiji?
Stokes knew Andrews for a long time. An-
Samuel Stokes was the drews lived in Delhi, but used to come up to
the hills to escape the heat of the plains and
only American to be that is where he met Stokes. Both men were
very much alike in their thinking, so it was
imprisoned for India’s easy for them to become friends.
It was Andrews who brought Gandhiji and
freedom struggle, Stokes together. It was at the time when Sto-
kes was fighting against begar in the hills.
but his contribution Gandhi came to know about Stokes and his
to the country was far work through Andrews.
In September 1920, when the viceroy of
more transformational India, made a trip to Baghi in the interiors of
Himachal Pradesh, thousands of poor villag-
than that. ers were called upon as begar to serve him.
The villagers were in the midst of sowing
On the eve of India’s winter crops, so it was hard for them to get
away at this time. Stokes was greatly troubl-
70th Independence Day, ed to see the plight of the people and wrote
an article ‘The Viceregal Trip’ describing th-
his granddaughter eir situation.
The article was published by Gandhi in Yo-
Asha Sharma tells ung India and drew national attention. It
Archana Masih/ also brought Stokes closer to Gandhi.
Can you elaborate on Stokes’ relationship
India Abroad about his with Gandhji?
A long-abiding friendship was forged bet-
extraordinary life. ween the two men during the early years of
the Non-cooperation movement when Stok-
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY: ASHA SHARMA es worked closely with Gandhi, travelled and

THE AMERICAN
toured with him, gave speeches in support of
hen Samuel Stokes left his program and lived in the Sabarmati

W
home in Philadelphia, Ashram with him.
Pennsylvania, and set Their friendship sustained through life ev-
sail for India aged 22, en though they did not meet much in later

WHO FOUGHT FOR

his parents had hoped years. Gandhi and Stokes did not always
he would return home agree with each other, but this did not affect
after a year or two. But this did not happen. their relationship. If anything it brought
Instead, Stokes made India his home. them even closer as they could discuss their
A young man from a wealthy American differences without any reservation.
Quaker family, he had come to India to Stokes always felt that Gandhi was one of

work for a home for the leprosy-afflicted in
1904 and went on to become an active par-
ticipant in India’s struggle for freedom.
The brutality of the Jallianwala Bagh
massacre in April 1919 drew him into the
freedom movement.
Stokes worked closely with Mahatma Gan-
dhi and took part in the Non-Cooperation
Movement. He was imprisoned for six mont-
hs for sedition in the Lahore jail and refused
bail, the only American to be jailed in India’s
struggle for Independence. The British CID,
in fact, maintained a special file on him.
He also fought against begar or forced lab-
or that the British exacted out of Indians,
which was finally abolished.
Stokes wore Khadi, married an Indian, le-
arnt Sanskrit, became a Hindu, set up a sch-
ool and introduced apples to Himachal Pra-
desh. The Himalayan state’s most famous
produce owes its origins to the apple cut-
tings Stokes had brought from America to
persuade farmers to start apple cultivation.
INDIAÊS FREEDOM
Stokes renamed himself Satyanand and
never went back to America after a trip he
made with his wife in 1914. His family still
maintains roots with Kotgarh in Himachal
Pradesh where Stokes started it all.
Stokes, who was born on August 16, 1882,
didn’t live to see India gain freedom. He died
in 1946 and was cremated in the hills he
loved so dearly.
The letters and articles he wrote are pre-
served in the Nehru Memorial Library.
There is also a picture of him on its walls, but
his contribution has largely been ignored.
A few years ago, his granddaughter Asha
Sharma, wrote a biography on Stokes, An
American in Khadi (Penguin Books India).
An American edition of the book, titled An
American in Gandhi’s India (Indiana Univ-
ersity Press) was published in 2008.
The author, who divides her time between
California — where her children live — and
Himachal Pradesh, tells India Abroad about
Stokes’ extraordinary life and wonders why
he is hardly remembered in India.
What was Samuel Stokes’ contribution to
India’s freedom?
His contribution to our freedom was very
substantial.
He was very active in the first Non-Coope-
ration Movement and worked closely with
Mahatma Gandhi, Lala Lajpat Rai, Motilal
Nehru, C R Das and other national leaders.
He wrote articles, gave speeches and organ-
ized meetings.
the ‘greatest and noblest of men — both sim-
ple and profound.’
‘I doubt if there is such another in the wor-
ld today.’ he wrote in 1921. ‘He stands for the
noblest in our nature. He often said that his
association with Gandhi was the part of his
life of which he was most proud.
Gandhi in turn held Stokes in high regard
and spoke of him as an example to others.
‘Non-co-co-operators worship Andrews,
honour Stokes,’ he said.
He also admired Stokes’ courage of convic-
tion and his love for India. ‘He has made
India his home in a manner no other Am-
erican or Englishman has,’ Gandhi wrote in
Young India at the time of Stokes’ arrest.
He also took to khadi as a response to the
Mahatma’s call?
Yes... In fact, he took to wearing khadi in
the presence of Gandhiji when he put his
own clothes in a fire lit by Gandhiji in
4Page A17
THE MAGAZINE
India Abroad August 19, 2016
3Page A16
Bombay on 31st July 1921.
Thereafter, he embarked on a tour of UP
with Gandhiji dressed in khadi coat, dhoti
and cap. From then on he always wore kha-
di. His wife and children did the same.
He and his family also took to spinning
(threads) everyday.
As his biographer, what do you find ext-
raordinary about his life?
His life was extraordinary in many ways.
The most remarkable trait of his personality
was perhaps his empathy for those who nee-
ded help. For example, when his father gave
him money to start a business, he used it to
start a Neighborhood House in Philadelphia
where the poorest boys of the area were ta-
ught skills like carpentry so that they could
earn a living.
It was the same when he came to India. He
was always willing to share what he had with
those who had less.
His intolerance of any kind of discrimina-
tion and injustice and his quest to remedy it
wherever he found it led him to fight aga-
inst begar and join India’s freedom struggle.
Your mother was his eldest daughter. What
stories did she tell you of your grandfather?
My mother did tell me many stories about
her father, which reflect the kind of person
he was. I have included all this in the book.
For example, she told me that she and her
brothers and sisters always dressed very sim-
ply, just like the other village children.
She said her father would not encourage or
even allow his daughters to wear fancy clo-
thes or jewelry because the village girls could
not afford to wear them.
‘How would they feel seeing you dressed
up in such finery?’ he would tell them.
Did he speak Hindi well?
Yes, he spoke Hindi well even though his
accent remained foreign. In fact, he started
learning the language soon after he arrived
THE AMERICAN WHO FOUGHT
FOR INDIAÊS FREEDOM
in India in 1904 to work in a leper home in
Subathu in the Simla Hills.
The motivation came from his desire to
interact with the patients at the Leper Home
and with other locals who only spoke in the
pahari dialect or in Hindustani. Knowing
the language helped him in coming closer to
the ordinary people.
He was a great advocate of Hindi and enc-
ouraged his children to speak in Hindi
rather than in English. He himself spoke
with them in Hindi. He was
also in favor of first making
children proficient in Hindi
and only then teaching them
other languages like English.
In his own Tara School in
Kotgarh, all teaching was
done in Hindi for the first few
years. English was introduced
only in the 4th, 5th class.
He also learnt Sanskrit in
his later life. His interest in
Sanskrit grew from his interest in Indian
religious philosophy. After studying the
English translations of the Upanishads he
wanted to study the original texts and hence
learnt Sanskrit.
Did he like being called by his Indian name
Satyanand or was he called Samuel too?
I do not know if he liked being called Saty-
anand or not, but I presume he must have.
In my interviews with his contemporaries
in Kotgarh, I saw that he was addressed in
different ways — Sahibji, Stokes Sahib, Saty-
anandji and even Mr Stokes. For the locals,
the affectionate name for him was Sahibji.
Did he miss anything about Philadelphia?
COVER STORY
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY: ASHA SHARMA
He did miss Philadelphia especially at first
— not the place so much as his family and
friends. In his early letters he often wrote of
how home-sick he was and wanted to meet
everyone.
This changed with the passing of time and
his involvement in his work. But he remain-
ed connected with his American roots throu-
gh his correspondence with his mother.
What was it about India that never made
him never want to leave? I believe he never
went back to America after
making one trip with his wife
very early on in their mar-
riage.
He seemed to have fallen in
love with India and its people
from the time he landed here.
When he left home in
Februray 1904, his parents
had hoped that he would
return home after a year or
two.
But this did not happen as within months
of his living in India he decided to remain
here permanently. While the beauty of the
Himalayas was a strong attraction for him, it
was the simple, trusting pahari people who
truly won his heart.
He did go back to America a few times du-
ring the early years, but after his marriage in
1912, he went only once. He was keen for his
wife to get to meet and know his mother and
other members of his family when he took
her and their infant son to Philadelphia for
an extended visit in early 1914.
They stayed there for about a year-and-a-
half. He could never return to Philadelphia
A17
Above, this family portrait of Samuel Stokes, his
wife Agnes and their first born, Prem Chand, was
shot in Pennsylvania.
Left, Stokes’ wife and son with his mother Florence
Spencer Stokes in Philadelphia. They never went
back to America after the trip they made in 1914.
Below, Stokes’ granddaughter and biographer
Asha Sharma, who divides her time between
America and India.
after that. He was too involved with Indian
affairs, both national and local. Also travel-
ing with his large family was unaffordable
for him. But his mother came to India twice
to visit him.
His brother also came a couple of times.
How has India preserved and honored his
memory and contribution to the freedom
struggle?
Hardly. Only his photograph hangs in the
Nehru Memorial Museum and Library in
New Delhi beside those of other national
leaders of the freedom struggle. As a result,
the younger generation do not know much
about him at all.
This is perhaps due to the fact that he
passed away just before India became inde-
pendent. Even in his lifetime very little was
known about my grandfather’s life even
though he had done so much for the country.
Most people knew he introduced the
American Delicious apples in the Simla
Hills, but that is about all. Even the family
did not know much about his other accom-
plishments. We had heard, of course, that he
knew Gandhiji well and went to jail during
the freedom struggle, but that is all.
There were occasional articles, but they
did not add too much. When I began
researching the book, I discovered a wealth
of information about his life — the hardships
he went through and the sacrifices he made
in the service of the country.
I hope that he will get his due recognition.
How and when that will happen I do not
know. But I do know that many of those who
have read his life story are over-awed and
feel the richer for having read it. They invari-
ably ask why there is no mention of him any-
where among other freedom fighters.
What drew him to be a part of India’s strug-
gle for freedom?
The brutality of Jallianwala Bagh and the
4Page A18
A18 COVER STORY
3Page A17
treatment of Punjab in its aftermath affected
him deeply and made him join the struggle
for freedom from British rule.
Stokes responded to the call for the Non-
Cooperation Movement. Do you have any let-
ters by him that reveal what it must have been
in those days?
He made a compilation of excerpts from
his letters for his children and grandchildr-
en, which give a fare account of his life in In-
dia. They reflect his thinking and also desc-
ribe the situation in the country at that time.
About how was it being an American fight-
ing for India’s freedom?
He identified himself as an Indian, so this
was not an issue.
I understand he was a prolific writer.
He was a prolific writer. He wrote letters,
journals, newspaper articles as well as a nu-
mber of books. What struck me most was his
determination and truthfulness in all he did.
There were no compromises in his life. He
was very hardworking and continued to
work till the end of his life — even when he
was in poor health.
His papers are with members of the family
and some are also in the Nehru Memorial
Museum and Library, New Delhi.
Was he the only foreigner to be imprisoned
for sedition in India’s struggle for freedom?
What were his days in prison like? I under-
stand he refused to be put in a cell set aside
for Europeans.
I do not know about other foreigners, but
he was the only American to be imprisoned
during India’s freedom struggle.
It is true that he did not want to stay in a
European cell. He said he was an Indian and
wanted to be treated as such. He requested
for a change of his cell, but the administra-
tion did not agree.
He had arrived in India as a Christian mis-
sionary to work in a leper home and spread
the word of Christianity, but ultimately con-
verted to Hinduism. What brought about
that transformation?
One of the chapters in my book is titled
‘Came to teach and stayed to learn.’ It des-
cribes his spiritual journey. Though he spent
the greater part of his life fighting for justice
and the rights of the common man, he was
also a seeker of truth.
In that sense his life was also a spiritual
journey in which he was willing to take the
best of what he found along the way. Thus,
when he discovered that there was a lot to
learn from ancient Hindu scriptures he
began to study these in earnest. He even
learnt Sanskrit so that he could read some of
the original texts in the language.
There was no conflict in his mind about
religion as he found much in common bet-
ween Vedanta and his own Quaker beliefs.
His conversion had more to do with his fam-
ily and social concerns than with religion.
Did he build a temple? Is it still there?
Yes, he built a temple near his home in Ko-
tgarh. It is called Paramjyotir Mandir.
It is a small, simple, temple built in keep-
ing with local architectural style. The temple
has wooden panels engraved with shlokas fr-
om the Vedas engraved on them.
It was Stokes’ hope that the temple would
become ‘a means to show the way to those
looking for peace and internal strength, mo-
re so during times of difficulties and trials.’
A mural of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. This brutality and the treatment of Punjab in its aftermath
affected Samuel Stokes deeply and made him join India’s struggle for freedom from British rule.
THE AMERICAN WHO FOUGHT
FOR INDIAÊS FREEDOM
‘It is my prayer that the temple and this lit-
tle booklet may bring peace to many,’ he
wrote when the temple was completed.
Stokes brought apples to Himachal and br-
ought in a revolution. How difficult was it for
him to do this? How is he remembered by the
orchard-owners and farmers there?
He was struck by the extreme poverty of
the local people and wanted to help them in
whatever way he could.
Once he settled in the area, finding a solu-
tion to the poverty of the people became a
top priority for him. The answer to his sea-
rch came in the form of apples.
Some British variety of apples were already
growing in the region, but they were not go-
od in taste and were not popular, so he knew
he would have to find a new strain of apples,
which would be commercially viable.
During a visit to Philadelphia in 1914 he
studied apple growing in America and also
brought some apple cuttings with him on his
return, which he planted near his house. In
the following years he imported and experi-
mented with over 33 varieties of apples to
determine which would be most suitable for
the area.
Finally, he selected the American Delicious
variety, which had already proved to be a su-
ccess in America. He first planted the trees
on his own land and only when he was satis-
fied with the results did he encourage others
to do the same.
But persuading farmers to switch to apples
was not easy because of the long gestation
period of apple trees, and though he distrib-
uted free saplings and offered to help the
farmers to grow and nurture them, their res-
ponse was very discouraging.
But he persisted in his efforts and slowly
the people began to be convinced. Once the
apple trees started bearing fruit, there was
no turning back and many farmers became
enthusiastic about growing apples. The rest
is history!
Is there a statue/memorial in his remem-
brance in Kotgarh? How have his memories
and his contribution to India been preserved
and remembered?
A Stokes Memorial Farmer’s Community
Centre was built in Kotgarh in 1974. A bust
of Stokes was installed in it subsequently.
Are there any family anecdotes about him
that you can share?
We were always hearing stories about him
like the time he lived as a sadhu in a cave and
had two snakes as pets and when he slept in
the cremation ground one night to prove to
the villagers that they should not be afraid of
the dead.
How does the American part of the family
remember him?
The American branch of the family reme-
mbers him with great pride and affection.
Some distant cousins have visited Kotgarh.
How is he best remembered by family and
the families of acquaintances that knew him
or knew of him?
I have heard of the free dispensary he ran
in his house and of the way he tried to edu-
cate people about basic health care; of
instances when he rushed the critically ill to
Simla… or brought in specialists doctors fr-
om the plains to fight epidemics in the area,
THE MAGAZINE
India Abroad August 19, 2016
VAIHAYASI PANDE DANIEL
all at his own expense.
What was forced labor in those days like
and how did it move him so much to be a part
of the campaign to end it?
He was largely responsible for getting beg-
ar or impressed labor abolished in the Simla
Hills. Begar was a system under which villa-
gers were obliged to provide services to trav-
eling officials and others either free or for a
pittance. The practice was not only demean-
ing for them, but it also affected their liveli-
hood as the farmers were often called in for
begar during planting or harvesting times,
and they lost their crops in the bargain.
Some begar, like the dak begar was dread-
ed most by the villagers as they had to walk
long distances in the cold and snow to dis-
tribute letters in different villages and many
villagers lost their lives.
When Stokes saw this injustice he decided
to fight it tooth and nail. He criticized the
practice in the press and complained against
it to the British administration. When des-
pite all his efforts no action was taken, he
decided to get the villagers together and
protest against the injustice.
This organized resistance to the practice —
a kind of Satyagraha was Stokes’ first battle
against the British administration and
brought him into the limelight and drew the
attention of Mahatma Gandhi and other
Indian leaders.
Would you have any idea of how the British
in India thought of him?
Some Britishers admired and respected
him. Others couldn’t stand him. He had ma-
ny British friends and could count on their
support when it came to getting any kind of
help for the local people.
However, the British administration had
very early noted his empathy for Indians and
had kept a watch on him. The CID had a
special file on him even though he did not
know about it. n
THE MAGAZINE
India Abroad August 19, 2016
I t is a wet morning. We are on our way to
the Lower Circular Road Cemetery in
central Kolkata to look for Charles Freer
Andrews’ grave.
A priest from Cambridge, C F Andrews came
to India to teach philosophy at St Stephen’s
College and diligently supported India’s strug-
gle for freedom.
To Kolkatans, the Lower Circular Road
Cemetery is mostly known for the graves of the
poet Michael Madhusudan Dutt and his wife
Henrietta Sophia White.
“Very few in this city are aware that it also has
the grave of C F Andrews,” Ashim Kumar
Biswas, the cemetery secretary, says as he leads
the way. “While Michael Madhusudan Dutt’s
grave draws the maximum number of visitors,
not many visit Andrews’s grave.”
“In my long career here, I haven’t seen much
activity around this one,” he says, pointing to
Andrews’ tomb that has the the inscription:
The friend of the poor.
Many Englishmen came to India during the
British Raj. Some fell in love with the country
and stayed back. History remembers only a few
of them, says Professor Susanto Das, former
head of Rabindra Bharati University’s history
department.
Of them, C F Andrews, a priest from the
Church of England, an educator and social
reformer, shines brightest.
In 1904, Andrews joined the Cambridge
Mission to Delhi and arrived there to teach at
St Stephen’s College. Some years before my
visit to the cemetry, St Stephen’s alumni
installed his bust by his grave.
Andrews taught at St Stephen’s for 10 years
and became friends with many of his Indian
colleagues and students.
Touched by the social and cultural injustice
inflicted upon the Indians by the British, he
became a part of the social and political move-
ments of the day, and championed the causes
of the laborers, railway workers and other
downtrodden.
With his connections among influential peo-
ple in England, he tried to arouse public opin-
ion against the atrocities inflicted upon the col-
onized people in India, Fiji, South Africa and
other parts of the British empire.
His love and compassion for the poor earned
him the affectionate title, Deenabandhu,
friend of the poor.
A ndrews first met Gandhi in Durban in
January 1914, an encounter encouraged
by Gopal Krishna Gokhale, one of the greatest
leaders of his time.
Both men developed a strong bond. Andrews
was deeply influenced by the Gandhian doc-
trine of ahimsa, says Gandhian Sailesh Kumar
Bandyopadhyay.
Andrews was a key force at Gandhi’s ashram
in Natal and help the publication of the maga-
zine, The Indian Opinion.
He also convinced Gandhi to return to In-
dia from South Africa and initiate a move-
ment against British oppression in his mo-
ther country.
He then took upon himself the task of int-
erpreting Gandhi to the West. He kept open
the possibility of a dialogue between the Indian
leaders and the British government, says
Bandyopadhyay.
In a lecture delivered at the National Army
Museum, London, on September 18, 2006,
lawyer and columnist T Sher Singh said: ‘In my
readings on C F Andrews, I repeatedly came
COVER STORY A19
The Englishman
across people — in India, in England, in differ-
ent parts of the world — who amazingly, over
and over again, compared him to St Francis of
Assisi.’
‘My favorite quote on Andrews,’ Sher Singh
added, ‘is from Sir Gordon Guggisberg, who
served as the British governor of the Gold
who was Coast (present day Ghana), and later of British
Guyana. Sir Gordon met with him, had discus-
sions with him on various thorny issues, they
had lunch together, and then, Sir Gordon saw
more Indian him off at the door.’
‘As the taxi drove away carrying Andrews —
an eyewitness describes this graphically — Sir
Gordon gazed after it with bowed head and
than Indians fixed eyes... he breathed deeply (and said): “I
feel as though I had been honored to give lunch
to Our Lord”.’
Buried in a Kolkata cemetery is an A ndrews decided to be a part of Rabin-
dranath Tagore’s Visva Bharati, an educa-
tional institution that was Gurudev’s brainchild,
Englishman who served India well after he met the poet in London in 1912.
He was floored by Tagore’s poetry when he
during her freedom struggle. heard them for the first time at William
Rothenstein’s house in London, the poems read
Indrani Roy rediscovers Charles Freer no less by the acclaimed poet, William Butler
Yeats. Tagore’s poetry had such a profound
Andrews, a close friend of both Gandhi and influence on Andrews that he roamed around
London streets reciting On the sea shore of the
Tagore and a benevolent force that neither world like a man possessed, the late writer
Pramathanath Bishi wrote in his book, Purano
Indians nor the British could ignore. Sei Diner Katha.
After Tagore won the Nobel Prize in 1913,
Visva Bharati saw the arrivals of many foreign-
ers, but of them Andrews stood out for the
uniqueness of his character, Bishi said.
In Santiniketan, Andrews was everyone’s dar-
ling, Bishi, who had the privilege of working
with the clergyman, wrote.
His presence at Shantiniketan will be written
in gold forever, says Sabujkoli Sen, a senior pro-
fessor at Visva Bharati. “When he and Tagore
met for the first time in London in 1912, it was
love at first sight for both,” she told India
Abroad.
After he arrived at Visva Bharati in 1914 with
his friend W W Pearson, Andrews worked
closely with Tagore in the making of Visva
Bharati and travelled widely with the poet in
India and abroad. He also translated many of
Tagore’s works into English.
Andrews was a soul besotted with the cause of
the poor, Bishi wrote. He would give away
money, food, even his clothes for charity. His
heart wept for the downtrodden.
When Andrews wrote his life story, What I
Owe To Christ, he earned a lot of money. ‘He
soon got rid of that wealth by providing for the
education of one of our associates at Oxford
University,’ Bishi recalled.
Andrews was Tagore’s constant companion —
he would read out newspapers to Gurudev or
ferry him around Santiniketan in a rickshaw.
In the initial years at Visva Bharati, many par-
ents did not pay the education fees on time and
Andrews was entrusted with the task of collect-
ing money from them.
On hearing that a sahib would be coming to
ask for the dues, many parents would get
scared. But in came Andrews, clad in a dhoti
and kurta, with kind eyes and a golden heart.
The defaulting parents saw in him a friend, and
A bust of C F Andrews at the Lower Circular Road Cemetery in Kolkata. not a collector.
Andrews had died here in 1940. Years later, alumni from St Stephen’s College, New Delhi The dues, therefore, hardly got cleared,
— where he once taught philosophy — installed this bust. Bishi wrote.
ABHIROOP DEY SARKAR
4Page A20
A20 COVER STORY THE MAGAZINE
India Abroad August 19, 2016

3Page A19

Andrews worked in tandem with Tagore

when he initiated the Brati Balak Sangha, an
indigenous form of the Scout Movement and
The Englishman who was
a health cooperative movement to uplift the
condition of the tribals, especially Santhals,
in and around Visva Bharati.
more Indian than Indians
A ndrews was ‘Charlie’ to both Gandhi and
Tagore. The unifying force that brought
Gandhi and Tagore together on a common
platform, the duo’s ideological and political
differences notwithstanding.
In Gandhi, Andrews saw a leader with en-
ormous potential to free India from the clu-
tches of British rule, whereas in Tagore, he
saw unparalleled creativity that could make
age-old conventions stand on their head.
“What fascinates me most about Andrews
is that though he arrived in India with an
aim to propagate Christianity, he fell in love
with this country and its people,” historian
Chittabrata Palit tells India Abroad, noting

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
C F Andrews, back to the camera, with Mahatma Gandhi, left, and
Rabindranath Tagore in Santiniketan, 1925.
He was ‘Charlie’ to both Gandhi and Tagore.
India marked Andrews’ memory and contributions with a postage stamp, inset.

He divided his time between Tagore’s Visva Bharati and When Mahatma
Gandhi’s Sabarmati Ashram. Dwijendranath Tagore,
was taken ill and passed away on April 5 that
Gandhi visited the
year. In those final days at a Calcutta hospi-
ailing Andrews in

Tagore’s eldest brother, called Andrews the ‘essential

tal, C F Andrews refused to receive special
treatment. He wanted to die among the co- Kolkata in 1940.

hyphen’ that linked Rabindranath and Gandhi.

mmon people, says Professor Sabujkoli Sen,
those whom he worked for all his life.
A few days after Andrews’ death, Tagore
paid tribute in a song:

that both Gandhi and Tagore had a huge
influence on him and they expedited the
process of his ‘Indianization.’
Andrews arrived in India at a time when
the people were desperate for freedom from
British rule, adds Professor Susanto Das.
One of the few Englishmen who courted
arrest for taking part in the non-cooperation
movement, many Indians believe Tagore
gave him the title Deenabandhu.
“He was named thus by the indentured la-
borers of Fiji whose cause he fought for,” cla-
rifies Professor Sabujkoli Sen.
In India, he divided his time between Tag-
ore’s Visva Bharati and Gandhi’s Sabarmati Prem eshechilo nisshobdo chorine
Ashram. Dwijendranath Tagore, Tagore’s el- Prem eshechilo
dest brother, called Andrews the ‘essential Tai swapno mone holo tare
hyphen’ that linked Rabindranath and Gan- Dei ni tahare ashon
dhi, Professor Sen adds. Loosely translated, it reads:
In 1925 and 1927, he was elected president Love came to my life
of the Trade Union Congress. As a crusader Walking softly, silently
against untouchability, he also worked with Love came to my life
Dr B R Ambedkar in formulating the Harij- I mistook him for a dream
an (Dalits) demands in 1933. Didn’t care to greet him
After taking an active role in India’s fight
for freedom, Andrews returned to England On the day Andrews died, Gandhi decla-
in 1935. red: ‘I have not known a better man or a bet-
On his next visit to Calcutta in 1940, he ter Christian than C F Andrews.’ n
GANDHIASHRAMSEVAGRAM.ORG
THE MAGAZINE
India Abroad August 19, 2016
In Gandhi’s lap at Sabarmati
Ashram in Ahmedabad,
Gujarat.
Below, the cottage which was
home to Mahatma Gandhi.
To Gandhiji, wherever he is
O
ne of the best things about the
Sabarmati Ashram meets you
At Sabarmati Ashram, some come to pay homage,
even before you can enter its small
gate. It is a red post box, yes, the
some for peace and some to deal with life’s blows.
same cylindrical tin box that we stopped Bapu’s memories, Archana Masih finds,
noticing on Indian roads a long time ago.
This one in a corner of the parking lot than- have a special meaning for each of them.
kfully looks red and not a rusty brown. A
board next to it says that letters posted here
will have the post mark of the charkha, the
Mahatma’s spinning wheel. A picture of this
postal stamp is placed alongside the notice.
Each time I have come here, I have kicked
myself for not having a postcard or stamp to
post a letter in that post box. The library and
shop at Sabarmati don’t sell stamps, even
though they stock postcards. I wonder why,
because that red post box outside serves no
purpose, when there are no stamps to buy.
While we are with handwritten letters; in-
side the ashram are pictures of letters sent to
Mahatma Gandhi.
One of them just has this address: ‘Gandhi-
ji jahan ho wahan’ — Gandhiji wherever he
is — and I try to imagine the different things
Gandhi must have meant to different people at that time
when India fought for its freedom. The power he had over
India’s masses and the hope people had of him.
It also makes me think about what brings people to this as-
hram on the banks of the Sabarmati where he spent 12 years
of his life. From where he took off on the Dandi March, at the
advancing age of 61, trekking 24 days and over 230 miles to
the coast of Gujarat, to defy the British monopoly on manu-
facturing salt.
Gandhi never returned to Sabarmati. He had vowed that
he would only come back after India won its freedom, but
that promise remained unfulfilled. Five months after India
was free, he was assassinated in another ashram in Delhi.
I n a political culture that exalts our leaders as deities, we
often forget that great men like Gandhi were humans too.
They fought against colonial tyranny with wisdom, courage,
their own shortcomings but had a deep understanding of
India, drawn by journeying miles upon miles, meeting and
mingling with India’s people.
That was where Gandhi’s appeal lay — in his ability to have
conversations with admirers and detractors. That is why
there has been no mass leader like him — and that is what
continues to draw ordinary Indians to Rajghat or Sabarmati.
‘To other countries I may go as a tourist, but to India, I
come as a pilgrim,’ said Dr Martin Luther King, who drew
much of his inspiration from Gandhi.
Which great leader will say this about another Indian
leader in time to come, I wonder.
A t the Sabarmati Ashram that evening, I meet pilgrims of
a different kind. Some who have come to see and feel the
place where Bapu lived, setting his own rules that had to be
adhered by all.
“He fasted as penance if others broke rules of the ashram.
Imagine how guilty that person must have felt. He gave up a
£4,000 to £5,000 legal practice to do what he believed in,”
says Lata, with a Masters in Gandhian Thought, spinning a
charkha on the verandah of the cottage where Gandhi lived.
The ashram also houses Gandhiji’s own charkha.
“There are 35,111 letters by Gandhiji; we read one every-
day,” she tells a visitor in a suit, sitting cross-legged in front of
her, discussing Gandhi’s philosophy. His chauffeur wearing a
white uniform stands beside him.
Two girls request if they can get a selfie while spinning the
charkha and she obliges, telling them how to weave thread.
Families and school children walk about, surveying the
ashram, which has cottages, open grounds and a museum
COVER STORY A21
PHOTOGRAPHS: RAJESH KARKERA
designed by eminent architect, the late
Charles Correa.
Others have come just to be at peace in a
place surrounded by lush green trees and a
bed of cool grass. Some have come for an
evening walk.
Mayur, a young lad sat by Bapu’s statue,
gazing at the river front. He had been sitting
there for hours, all by himself. Upset with his
grade 12 marks, he had come for some quiet
time. “I have got 68%, but the cut off is 70%
for the college I want,” he says, voicing the
common angst of Indian students as they
compete for college seats.
This was only his second time at the
ashram; the last time he was here, he was a
child — when the results came he couldn’t
think of any other place to go.
We give him a pep talk, telling him that life
is not a sum of percentages and he gives us a
brave smile, but continues to sit, finding sol-
ace at Gandhi’s feet.
Harshit Sakhidas, a student standing be-
side Gandhi’s statue, is here every evening.
He comes to the city every morning by train
from neighboring Surendranagar to attend class. In the
evening, a friend gives him a ride to the ashram, where he
spends an hour or so before it’s time to catch the evening
train back from Sabarmati station, a short walk away.
Two women have come after attending music classes. “It’s
so peaceful here,” they say.
Poorvi, a fine arts student, says she is meeting a friend. “Ah-
medabad doesn’t have many places to hang out, though so-
me hookah bars have opened. I like to come here because it’s
quiet,” she says, telling me that the city is very safe for girls.
Behind Hriday Kunj, Gandhi’s cottage, there is commo-
tion. Led by a security guard, two, three people are trying to
coax a baby cobra from its hiding place, striking a blow with
a bamboo pole, each time its body comes into view.
Rajesh, my colleague, tries to stop them and calls the snake
helpline. No one answers after repeated calls. The snake goes
into hiding again and the status quo remains till we leave.
On the way out, we meet a young couple hastily making th-
eir way in with suitcases and bags.
“Coming straight from the airport?” I ask.
They say, no; they are on the way to the airport instead.
“We didn’t want to leave without seeing Sabarmati Ashram,”
says the man, hurrying his wife to Gandhi’s cottage before it
closed for the day. n
A22 SIBLING LOVE THE MAGAZINE
India Abroad August 19, 2016

I love my brother.
Not Raksha Bandhan.
The notion of going begging to

A
pparently a barn owlet will squawk less if it mother, who only had a Rs 10 note, which she said Tara
knows its sibling is hungrier, taking up its own could keep if she whacked him twice. It was a teaching
cause only after its sibling has been fed. Isn’t that
sweet? Barn owlet siblings are just precious.
a man for protection made moment: Showing Tara that there is no such thing as a free
lunch, and schooling her in the art of persuading someone
They sound like atypical siblings, though if Mitali Saran green around the to get on board with an idea that is not necessarily in their
you’ve ever watched piglets fight over access to a sow’s teats, self-interest.) What can I tell you, once a sibling, always a
you know the meaning of cutthroat competition. gills, so now she and her brother sibling.
My own siblings are a huge pain in the posterior, have Tara is a much better sibling to her younger brother and
authored some of my strangest and deepest wounds, and have their own tradition — they sister: When her three-year-old sister attempted to blow
cannot be counted on to pipe down with the squawking just out her birthday candles by sitting very still and going
because I’m hungry. However, I do love them to bits, and will exchange rakhis and pledge to ‘Ffffffffffffffffttt’ many times with no result, Tara stepped in
methodically disembowel anyone who messes with them. and helped. In her place I’d have started eating the cake. Or
Raksha Bandhan is the only Indian tradition I know of — support each other. at least squawking loudly. n
not that I know much, having been raised by cultural
wolves — that is dedicated to the sibling relationship. Illustration: Dominic Xavier Mitali Saran is a Delhi-based writer.
Except that it’s not, really. If it were dedicated to siblings, By arrangement with Business Standard
every sibling would tie rakhis on every other sibling. In its
present form, Raksha Bandhan is dedicated to the same old
paternalistic relationship between men and women that so one-way nonsense. I am now my brother’s well-wisher and
many of our cultural traditions are dedicated to. protector, and he mine.
So, while I love my brother, I disapprove of Raksha I inaugurated this solemn vow by offering his daughter
Bandhan. The notion of going begging to a man for protec- five bucks to whack him on the bum without incurring his
tion makes me green around the gills. A holiday in the serv- wrath. (I didn’t have change, so I borrowed it from Tara’s
ice of women worshipping men with sweets, and
men showering material largesse on women
makes me hurl. The whole thing is, I contend,
a lousy idea that feeds right into all our worst
gender assumptions (women are weaklings
in need of paternalistic protection). We
tend to defend cultural tradition from cri-
tique, but there’s nothing innocuous
about culture. It reflects and further insti-
tutionalizes behavior.
For some years in my young adulthood I
enjoyed rakhi as a sort of social occasion.
By the time it started to bother me, my
brother was out of the country, where he
stayed for years and years, so I never
really had to confront the beast.
But he’s back now, so I sent him a
message stating that the cul-
tural assumptions behi-
nd Raksha Bandhan are
not to my taste, and pro-
posing the following alte-
rnative: We exchange rak-
his, and ditch all commer-
cial transactions. That’s mo-
re in line with celebrating ge-
neral fellow feeling among
siblings.
When my sister returns to live in
India, which should be approximately
the same day that pigs start to fly, I
will propose the same thing to her.
So, now I have a nice flame-colored
rakhi on my wrist, he does too,
and we have pledged to sup-
port each other. Nobody
has yet said anything
about toning down
the squawking, but
at least we’re doing
away with the
 THE MAGAZINE MARQUEE A23
India Abroad August 19, 2016

FROM FESTIVALS H
ollywood dreams are everything to a film aspirant, and it
looks like Meera Menon has walked the first of many miles
to fulfill hers. Her latest film, Equity, premiered in all major
theaters in New York and Los Angeles July 29.

TO THE BOX-OFFICE
Starring Anna Gunn (Breaking Bad), James Purefoy and Alysia
Reiner (Orange is the New Black), it has brand equity in recognizable
faces. A big leap from Menon’s first film.
Farah Goes Bang (2013) was a comedy about three girls who are on
the road, campaigning for John Kerry. It met with a fair amount of crit-
Meera Menon’s Equity is now in theaters and she tells ical success and did fairly well on the film festival circuit.
“I was always writing a lot, what with my Fine Arts degree,” Menon
Ruchi Sharma about her journey from a crowd-funded first tells India Abroad. “I worked on Farah Goes Bang right after I graduat-
ed. The best part about making it was that we actually raised the money
film to a film purchased by Sony Pictures. for it thorough crowd-funding, and showed it at festivals that we could
afford. It gave me a better space and some degree of visibility, and then
I landed Equity.”
Menon scooped up the Nora Ephron Prize for a groundbreaking
female filmmaker at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2013 with Farrah
Goes Bang.
“I got in touch with the producers of Equity after the success of Farah
Goes Bang at the Tribeca Film Festival, and subsequently, was hired to
direct it,” she says. “We started out with Equity not even expecting it to
come this far.”
A Wall Street drama is almost always a draw, and when Sony Pictures
purchased the movie at the Sundance Film Festival where it showed in
January, it guaranteed a big release.
Equity is a female-centric movie about a Wall Street analyst —
Tribeca called it the first woman-driven Wall Street film — who is lead-
ing the public offering for a tech company. This is the next big step of
her career, and the highlights are the competition trying to undermine
her and cut into her share of success. A tight
plot and some good performances are what
take it to the next level.
Asked if she thought that not having a
strong male lead — the strong female protag-
onist is still not run-off-the-mill in
Hollywood, and often viewed as a risk —
would impact its commercial success, she
adds, “I think people are always interested in
Wall Street movies, which makes me believe it
NICHOLAS HUNT/GETTY IMAGES

will do well. Add to that money, power, greed

and ambition, and I think there’s definitely an
appetite for that kind of a story. My hope is
that it will translate into box-office success.”

From left, director Meera Menon and actresses Sarah Megan Thomas and Alysia Reiner discuss Equity at the
A
Jersey girl, Menon was always associated
with the Kerala film industry through her
ROBIN MARCHANT/GETTY IMAGES

father. Vijayan Menon migrated to the United

AOL headquarters in New York City July 28. States over three decades ago and felt the deep
loss of Malayalee cinema. So, he began work-
ing as a producer and event organizer, head-
Meera Menon
ing up Tara Arts, a company that brings
movies and artistes to this part of the world
from his home state.
“I grew up with Mammooty Uncle and
Mohanlal Uncle as frequent visitors at our home.
Cinema was always part of my life, from ever since I
can remember. Creative endeavor sort of runs in the
family,” Menon says.
With a degree in Art History and English, Menon
worked in the art world in New York City for a while
before deciding to try a hand at film direction.
Asked if she was nervous about such a big release,
she says, “Not really. I’ve done the bulk of the hard
work and sweating bullets before it released at
Sundance. This movie has exceeded all my expecta-
tions. I’m happy for it. Now, I’m along for the ride and
enjoying it immensely.”
What does this kind of commercial exposure mean
for her?
“Well, it certainly opens up a whole new world of
opportunities for me. I now have better agents and
managers who will be positioning me better. I am
working on films with other writers too, and I will
always continue to pursue projects that are more
interesting and different. I want to focus on the cre-
A scene from Equity. The Wall Street drama was purchased at the Sundance Film Festival. ative side of things, always,” she says. n
A24 TRIBUTE
A cultural warrior rests his case
L
inguistics, English studies, and India
Studies have lost one of their most
charismatic leaders.
Professor Braj Behari Kachru success-
fully challenged the orthodoxies of the
English establishment on both sides of
the Atlantic (the British Council, TESOL), including
the ‘sacred linguistic cow’ of the native speaker,
which looked upon non-native varieties as erroneous
approximations of standard English.
He argued for a pluralistic, socially realistic view of
the English-using world, known as the ‘Three Circles
of English’ paradigm, where each circle has different
contexts, uses and users. The inner circle consists of
the native speaker varieties, the second language var-
ieties are the outer circle, and the foreign language
varieties comprise the extended circle.
Through half a century of meticulous scholarship
and energetic advocacy, Kachru demonstrated that
the non-native Englishes such as Indian English, Ni-
gerian English, and Singapore and Filipino English
were rule-governed systems, shaped by natural evo-
lutionary processes of second language learning and
multilingual creativity, and vibrant expressions of
distinct cultural identities. It is irrelevant to judge
them with reference to native speaker norms.
Kachru emerged as the world’s leading authority
on English as a global language. Today, ‘World Eng-
lishes,’ the field of study he pioneered and dominat-
ed, is a burgeoning discipline, with a worldwide following.
Kachru was an influential authority on sociolinguistics,
multilingualism, South Asian linguistics, applied linguistics,
and his native language, Kashmiri, as well. He wrote well-
researched, comprehensive surveys on language in South
Asia for numerous international reference works. He organ-
ized the first conference on South Asian Languages Analysis
in 1978; SALA is now a major international conference series
for South Asian linguists.
In his research, he showed how South Asian languages
have been shaped by a history of multilingual give and take
with one another and with the lingua francas, Sanskrit,
Persian, and English. There is, therefore, a common core in
the sound system, vocabulary, grammar, and culturally root-
ed modes of expression, such as greeting, which bridges the
otherwise baffling diversity.
He studied the communicative rationale for the wide-
spread use of language mixing or hybrid languages (for exa-
mple, Hinglish) all across South Asia. He described choices
that speakers make based on the range of valued roles they
make available. He was concerned with the ‘killer’ effect of
the hegemonic languages on regional, minority and tribal
languages of South Asia.
P rofessor Kachru authored and edited over 25 books and
numerous research papers.
He was author of The Indianization of English, The Alche-
my of English, Asian Englishes: Beyond the Canon, A Refe-
rence Grammar of Spoken Kashmiri, A History of Kashmiri
Literature, and co-author of other important works.
He edited or co-edited The Other Tongue, The Handbook of
World Englishes, World Englishes: Critical Concepts, Asian
Englishes, Language in South Asia, Dimensions of Socioli-
nguistics in South Asia, Issues in Linguistics, Cultures, Ideo-
logies, and the Dictionary, among other titles, which have
become standard reference works.
He was associate editor The Oxford Companion to the Eng-
lish Language and contributor to the Cambridge History of
the English Language, and other volumes.
PROFESSOR BRAJ B KACHRU
MAY 15, 1932- JULY 29, 2016
COURTESY: S N SRIDHAR
Linguistics Professor S N Sridhar
pays tribute to one of the most
charismatic leaders of
Linguistics, English studies,
and India Studies.
The Collected Works of Braj B Kachru have been published
by Bloomsbury, London, in three volumes so far.
With Larry E Smith of the East-West Center, Honolulu, he
co-founded and co-edited the journal World Englishes (now
in its 35th year) and co-founded the professional organiza-
tion, the International Association for World Englishes
(IAWE), serving as its president from 1997-99.
In his vast research, publication, advocacy, and institution-
building enterprises, he worked closely with his brilliant wife
and colleague, Professor Yamuna Kachru, who was an
authority on Hindi grammar and English discourse — hon-
ored by the President of India — and who died in 2013.
Professor Kachru’s other major collaborators were
Professor Kingsley Bolton of Singapore, as well as many stu-
dents, who have made their names as distinguished scholars
around the world.
K achru was also a gifted administrator. In a distinguished
career spanning nearly half a century at the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, one of the leading public
universities in the US, he served as head of three academic
units. Under his leadership (1968-79), the Department of
Linguistics blossomed into a vibrant, multi-faceted research
center, and came to be ranked as the third leading depart-
ment in the nation.
His pluralistic vision ensured that its faculty comprised
cutting edge Chomskyan theorists as well as Classical schol-
ars, experts on non-Western languages, Asian and African,
THE MAGAZINE
India Abroad August 19, 2016
Professor Braj Behari Kachru, left, with Prince Philip
at Buckingham Palace.
Kachru was born in Srinagar and educated at the University
of Allahabad, the Deccan College in Pune, and the University
of Edinburgh.
He was the Professor of Linguistics, Jubilee Professor of
Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Center for Advanced Study
Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
He breathed his last in Urbana.
He and his wife are survived by their daughter, Amita, a
physician in California; son, Shamit, a professor of physics at
Stanford, and two granddaughters, Sasha and Ila.
and applied linguists.
He insisted that linguists should address not only
the structural and theoretical aspects of language but
also their social and cultural dimensions. He encour-
aged the study of linguistic theory with its applications
to areas, such as, second language teaching, discourse
structure, and analysis of literature. He championed
the teaching and scientific study of non-Western
(Asian and African) languages, and the dynamics of
multilingualism.
Subsequently, as Director of the Division of English
as an International Language (1985-91), he transfor-
med it from a service unit into an innovative research
entity. Finally, as Director of the university’s presti-
gious Center for Advanced Study comprising many Nobel
laureates, he redefined its mission and gave it expanded vis-
ibility and influence (1996-2000).
K achru held many influential offices and received many
prestigious honors. He directed the Linguistic Institute
of the Linguistic Society of America in 1978. He was Sir Ed-
ward Youde Memorial Fund Visiting Professor at Hong
Kong University (1998) and a Visiting Professor at National
University of Singapore; an Honorary Fellow of English and
Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, and President of
the American Association for Applied Linguistics (1984) and
the International Association for World Englishes (1997-99).
His book, The Alchemy of English: The Spread, Functions
and Models of Non-Native Englishes, was conferred the En-
glish Speaking Union of the Commonwealth prize for the
best book on English. He was a sought after keynote speaker
at universities and professional conferences all over the US,
India, and Asia.
Kachru was a larger-than-life figure who left an indelible
impression on everyone he met, from students to luminaries
in the field. He was an encyclopedic and meticulous scholar,
a critical but respectful admirer of tradition, an open-mind-
ed integrator of scholarship from every culture — African,
European, and American—an imaginative institution buil-
der, and a confident, fearless, visionary intellectual. He was
also an inspiring teacher, passionate public speaker, a caring
mentor, a supporting colleague, and a charismatic raconteur.
At Urbana, he and Yamunaji were an institution. They
trained generations of well-rounded linguists. These beloved
gurus are now, in the words of Abhinavagupta, the greatest
of Kashmiri scholars whose millennial anniversary we cele-
brate this year, kiirti maatra shariira (present only through
their fame), but they will be missed by their world-wide,
extended family of scholars and students. n
S N Sridhar is Distinguished Service Professor of Linguistics
and India Studies, and director of Mattoo Center for India
Studies, Stony Brook University, New York.
THE MAGAZINE BREAKING THE BOLLYWOOD CYCLE A25
India Abroad August 19, 2016

ÂI GET REALLY
Your films often travel the international film festival circuit.
How are films coming out of India being viewed?
The films that go to the film festivals are very different from the
films that are released in India.

RIDICULOUS
In India, the Bollywood audience is the primary one.
Overseas, small films like Titli and Masaan make a big impact.
Titli was actually produced by a Korean-American woman. It
has been to some 15 international film festivals where films like
that are appreciated and received well.

SCRIPTS EVERY
The West is just waking up to the fact that there are cinemas
other than Bollywood in India.
Do you think it’s necessary to find a balance between commer-
cial and art cinema for a longer career?
It depends on what you want out of your career.

SECOND WEEKÊ
There are several people who don’t care about the labels of the
film industry; they just want to keep working and in good films.
Actors like Sanjay Mishra, who did Masaan, is in every sec-
ond film because he believes that the more he works, the
better he will be as an actor. That’s his approach towards
his work.
The struggles and successes of a There are other actors who are selective and are
happy doing one or two films in two or three years.
new generation of actors — who Do you challenge yourself by choosing different
kinds of roles?
straddle mainstream and indie films I just want to experiment. I just want to have a
good time doing the work that I love to do. That’s
— are transforming Indian cinema. the only thing I think everybody should do.
Unfortunately, the industry is very stuck up and
In the fifth of an India Abroad doesn’t let people experiment. Even superstars are
restricted because the audience is so hung up on seeing
series on these gamechangers, them in a particular way.
The press asks you dumb questions about why you took a
Richa Chadha speaks with chance. I don’t really care; I like doing what I do.
What do you consider your most challenging role?
Jahnavi Patel/India Abroad. Masaan was a difficult role because it was very restrained.
Gangs Of Wasseypur was also difficult because you had to act
a certain age and play this gavar (bumpkin) woman.
You have a wide range as an actress, but do you fear being
stereotyped in the commercial Bollywood space?

W
hen we connect over the phone for the scheduled
interview, Richa Chadha isn’t keen to talk about How am I being stereotyped if I am doing a wide range of
movies. Somewhere between the artist and the work? How am I being stereotyped if I am doing Cabaret?
publicist, and the journalist and the publicist a In the commercial space, people are yet to experiment with
message or two has evidently been lost. you...

I am satisfied, not
“I do interviews (about movies) every day; they don’t interest But Cabaret is a commer-
me,” the actress tells India Abroad, noting that her focus at the cial film with nine songs.

content. This makes

moment is the NGO Purnata and the crowd-funding platform Who cast me in that?
Ketto’s campaign to rescue girls trapped in trafficking and Mahesh Bhatt. He makes

me want to work
prostitution. commercial films, so how am
Eventually though, we pick our way through the confusion and I being stereotyped?

harder and get to

settle into a rather candid chat. Your role in Cabaret (the
film’s release has been delay-

where I want to be.

You are an outsider in the film industry who made it on her own. ed by months) is something
How tough was it? Are you content with your journey so far? not too many people would
I am satisfied, not content. This makes me want to work harder have imagined you in…
and get to where I want to be. I liked the story. Pooja (Bh-
Having said that, it never really ends; the struggle continues att, director) was like ‘Let’s
every day. experiment, let’s have some fun,’ and I was like, okay, sure.
It is very difficult if you aren’t from the industry. Earlier, we That’s about it. That’s the only thing I thought about when
just had the first generation. Now, we have grandkids and all signing the film.
kinds of people who are born into the industry. One has to just I am happy I did it. It was a challenge for me, something new
deal with that. and different to do.
Movies where you had better roles, like Masaan, haven’t been I don’t care about how people are used to seeing me — that is
seen as much as films where your role was smaller, like Goliyon Ki their problem. They make little compartments in their heads

Richa Chadha at the

Raasleela Ram-leela and Sarbjit. Do you find that unfair? and they want to fit everybody into that, but I don’t really abide

Masaan photocall
Masaan was released in a certain number of screens; it was by it.
during the Cannes Film
intended to be released on the scale that it was. It is probably the What was it like working with Pooja Bhatt? She’s said to be a
Festival last year. She
most widely watched Indian film overseas in recent times and that very strict taskmaster.
was on the Cannes red
was the market for the film. It released in France, Germany and, She is tough to work with because she’s a perfectionist and she
later, in Italy. We have been travelling to do promotions. Last year, carpet this year too wants everything done properly and in her way and in time. But
we went to France to promote the film after I debuted at Cannes. with Sarabjit. I had fun and I learnt from that experience. I think I can handle
I was very satisfied with the way the film was received interna- a commercial film now.
tionally. You are now also part of an international production. Can you
About Sarabjit, a large part of my role was edited out. It’s up to tell us about your experience of working in Love Sonia?
the filmmaker. Maybe they thought that the film would be better It was a great experience.
if they shorten the length. I think they had me in mind when they were writing that par-
As for Ram-leela, I did it pretty early on in my career for the love ticular character. I am happy I am part of it because it has a great

4Page A26
of Bhansali (director Sanjay Leela Bhansali).
I have no regrets. I don’t think it is unfair at all.
TRISTAN FEWINGS/GETTY IMAGES
A26 BREAKING THE BOLLYWOOD CYCLE
3Page A25
cast and story. I see big potential in this
film.
Was it this dive into the horrors of sex
trafficking in Love Sonia that led you
to start the campaign to rescue girls tra-
pped in trafficking and prostitution?
Actually, both things happened arou-
nd the same time. I was already work-
ing on this (the campaign) before I sig-
ned Love Sonia. I am going to reach
out to the film also to see if they can, in
any way, help with the campaign.
You have said you always wanted to
put your popularity to use for causes…
I’ve lots of things that I’d love to do. I
think everybody who has some kind of
power gets into causes. Some people fi-
ght for sports and equality, some peop- ÂI GET REALLY RIDICULOUS
SCRIPTS EVERY SECOND WEEKÊ
le for women’s education... lots of cele-
brities in India do lots of good work.
I am starting with this (the KETTO-
Purnata campaign) because I think it
is an urgent matter.
These girls must have a place to
A scene from
stay. What happened to them is not
the celebrated
their fault — they were abducted or
Masaan.
taken away. One girl was abducted and
sold at the age of six. Then she was
groomed till she was ready and her
puberty was auctioned at 12. That’s a
horrifying thing for you and me to hear.
This will continue to happen unless
we do something to rehabilitate them,
reintegrate them into society and get
them a place and a shelter where they
feel safe.
They had issues trusting me to even
talk to them because whoever they’ve
met and trusted has stabbed them in
the back.
How are you going about the cam-
paign?
There are four girls living in the she-
lter. I know 12 more girls who want to
leave the sex trade and stay there, but
the current accommodation is not eno-
ugh. That is why we started the cam-
paign, so that they could live in a better place where they
would feel safe and we could allot somebody for their securi-
ty. A place where they can have dance lessons and embroi-
dery lessons, so that they are trained.
That is why this campaign was started — to accommodate
a higher number of girls.
It is interesting that both Freida Pinto and you — both com-
mitted to the cause of empowering girls — are in Love Sonia.
What was it like working with her?
It was great. She’s a lovely girl. She’s one of the first break-
out stars from India. Her story is like a dream story. I have
been to Los Angeles where I have seen that she is a well-
respected actor and celebrity.
I am really happy that we could collaborate on this produc-
tion together.
You’re also doing Jia And Jia with Kalki Koechlin…
We worked on the film together and became good friends.
She is a lovely girl, very hardworking, very bright. There’s al-
ways a lot to learn from her. I had great fun working with her.
Have you ever watched a film by your contemporaries and
wished you were in it?
Several times. It happens when you think you can do
something differently or better. I am sure people watch my
films also and think they could have done it better.
Any recent film you wish you had done?
I had that feeling when I watched Queen. I thought it was
an interesting character to play; I wish I could have done it.
(Just to clarify) Kangana’s character?
Which other character could I have played in Queen?
Richa Chadha in
INSTAGRAM.COM/LOVESONIAMOVIE
Even Lisa Haydon’s character was good.
I am sure, but why would you think I would want to play
Lisa’s character and not Kangana’s?
Actually, Kalki (who we interviewed for this same series —
India Abroad, August 12) said she wanted to play Lisa’s
character…
(Interrupts) Don’t ask obvious questions.
Have you ever been offered a truly bizarre part?
I get really ridiculous scripts every second week.
It’s not for the people out there to
judge celebrities for what they wear.
It really makes no difference to the
world how somebody dresses,
what they wear, how they wear it,
how they look, whether they’ve
gained or lost weight, whether they
have wrinkles or stretch marks. It
doesn’t matter to the world in the
larger scheme of things.
THE MAGAZINE
India Abroad August 19, 2016
People always try to blow you away
Love Sonia. by saying we’ll send the film to festivals
or we’ll get a good release or we’re get-
ting a good cameraman, choreogra-
pher... they try to lure you. The indus-
try is full of people who will lie to peo-
ple to get what they want.
Will you still take up supporting
roles?
Depends on several things. I don’t
really look at roles like supporting or
side or central or negative because if I
did, I wouldn’t have a career. Gangs Of
Wasseypur would not be an ideal laun-
ch for most people. It is because of that
film that I have a career at all.
But then, actresses would not be very
comfortable doing a role like Fukrey
because it’s a negative part.
What do you think of the pay dispari-
ty between male and female actors?
Once again I have to answer a ques-
tion I must have answered a million ti-
mes, but I’ll do it.
Actors like Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir
Khan and Salman Khan get paid what
they do because they can guarantee you
a certain opening. Bollywood works
like that. Which is why if Deepika
(Padukone) is a huge star, at her level,
she will be paid on par with her male
contemporaries because she is as popu-
lar and successful.
The same goes for Kangana or Anus-
hka (Sharma) or anyone at that level.
Unfortunately, or fortunately, I’m not
in that league, so I don’t really have to
worry about pay disparity.
I don’t think it happens to me at any
level in any case.
I think it’s how popular you are, in
terms of your box office opening, that
decides what you get paid.
As a celebrity, you’re always under
media glare, always judged for every-
thing from the way you dress to the
way you conduct yourself. How do you
deal with the pressure?
Everyone deals with it.
It’s not for the people out there to judge celebrities for what
they wear. It really makes no difference to the world how
somebody dresses, what they wear, how they wear it, how
they look, whether they’ve gained or lost weight, whether
they have wrinkles or stretch marks. It doesn’t matter to the
world in the larger scheme of things.
It’s the people who react so shockingly and badly, who post
negative comments on social media who should be asked
why they are so jealous of people who are successful or at the
top and why they are constantly trying to put them down.
It’s a question society must ask itself. Actors know that they
are always in the limelight and it’s a tough job.
How do you cope with failure? What keeps you motivated?
There is no failure.
I have bad days every now and then, everybody does,
because you’re PMSing or have a fight with your boyfriend
or whatever you’re going through. You have bad days off
and on but I really think there’s no failure, especially in our
business.
Unfortunately, our film industry is suffering at the hands of
piracy. Till that stops, there’s no measure of success or failure
because we’re losing more than three times the money to
films being watched on tablets.
A film not doing well at the box office is really not the
measure of anything.
Every film has its own destiny. The most well marketed
films sometimes bump very badly at the box office, and
then there are small films that make a wonderful noise and
do well. n
 THE MAGAZINE
India Abroad August 19, 2016
100% Happier
Meenakshi
Bhattacharjee
recommends stress
management with
yoga
W
hen yoga was first cre-
ated hundreds of years
ago, practitioners did-
n’t have the benefit of
modern science to
explain why it worked. They just knew it
did. Today, we depend on science to help
us understand how yoga gives us relief
from many health problems. One of the
biggest ones is stress. Each day our lives
are filled with change. Some are dramat-
ic, others are more subtle. Then there are
the changes we choose.
These events, whether positive or nega-
tive, are “stressors.” They trigger con-
scious and unconscious thoughts, emo-
tions, feelings and, subsequently, behav-
ior. Your response, which is based on an
inner belief you may or may not be aware
of, can be healthy — taking a walk, medi-
tating, getting a massage, or visiting a
counselor.
It can also be unhealthy — overeating, obsessing, becom-
ing self-deprecating or isolating oneself from the world. By
reducing perceived stress and anxiety, yoga appears to
modulate stress response systems. This, in turn, decreases
physiological arousal like reducing the heart rate, lowering
blood pressure and easing respiration. There is also evi-
dence that yoga practices help increase heart rate variabil-
ity, an indicator of the body’s ability to respond to stress
more flexibly.
Understand body’s response to stress
One needs to understand how stress typically affects the
body to begin changing the way you react to stress. If your
mind interprets a stressful event as an emergency threat,
it triggers an immediate response in the autonomic nerv-
ous system.
This stress response kicks in and activates the sympathet-
ic nervous system. The body is flooded with hormones like
cortisol and norepinephrine, which heighten the senses,
increase heart rate and blood pressure and focus the brain’s
activity.
The parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsi-
ble for physical relaxation and emotional calm, becomes
overwhelmed by this sympathetic response. When the
sympathetic nervous system is in charge and the parasym-
pathetic is overburdened, you begin to respond with ener-
gy and focus, but also with anger, abrupt behavior, anxiety
and aggression.
Humans developed this primal reaction, known as fight-
or-flight, so they could effectively fight off or flee from life-
FOR YOUR HEALTH
DINUKA LIYANAWATTE/REUTERS how you typically react to stress in your life.
threatening danger. This important survival mechanism is
useful when you need to slam on the brakes to prevent a car
accident or run away from an attacker. But it overlooks
most of the conflicts and challenges we face day today.
While it’s easy to view life’s hassles as a threat to your
expectations, sense of control or ideals, it’s better for your
health to temper that perception and instead see each
stressor as a challenge you can handle. Even if an emer-
gency exists entirely in your imagination, or if the threat is
only to your feelings, it can still trigger the fight-or-flight
stress cycle.
Over time chronic stress takes a toll on the body and
brain, leading to all kinds of health problems, including
insomnia, depression, chronic pain, and cardio vascular
disease.
When stress strikes and you adopt the challenge
response, your nervous system will respond differently.
Once the challenge is successfully met, the parasympa-
thetic nervous system goes back to normal, bringing you
back to the everyday state of balance. In other words, if
you generally handle stress well, your parasympathetic
nervous system, not your sympathetic, is in charge of
increasing the readiness to face stressors. That may sound
like a trivial detail, but the consequences for the mind and
body are significant.
The yoga process
Scientists have long known that with every inhalation,
the nervous system shifts a bit toward sympathetic activa-
tion, and the heart beats faster. With every exhalation, it
shifts toward parasympathetic activation, and the heart
beats gets reduced.
A27
People whose heart rate differs widely
between inhalation and exhalation are said
to have high heart-rate variability which is
a good thing. It means that the nervous
system has the flexibility to go from an
active state to a relaxed state quickly, and
that the SNS does not have unhealthy con-
trol over the body.
A lot of research on heart-rate variability
and yoga provides evidence that the prac-
tice can help many people in their quest
for healthier stress responses. After yoga
practice, participants weren’t just more
relaxed; they were in a state of autonomic
balance and flexibility driven by the
parasympathetic which is exactly the type of
balance and flexibility that predicts greater
resilience to stress.
Aerobics is also a common method of
exercise but it cannot trigger a stress
response in the body as yoga does. With
yoga practice the physical demands are
met with mindfulness and steady breath-
ing, and the nervous system responds dif-
ferently. It maintains activation while
keeping an underlying sense of calm. It
remains skillfully engaged but without
going into full-fledged fight-or-flight
mode.
Paying attention to how your body and
mind react to the “stress” of the paschimot-
tan asana, or any pose, offers clues about
By training yourself to actively observe, while staying calm
in poses, you will be able to do the same thing when diffi-
cult sensations, thoughts, or emotions arise in the face of
stress. Instead of going into your habitual reaction mode,
you’ll notice what’s happening while staying present
enough to choose an appropriate response.
When it comes to transforming your own response to
stress, it’s tempting to search for that one pose or breath-
ing exercise that will work its magic. But there isn’t one
magic pose.
The process is a gradual exploration rather than an easy
solution. If you’re practicing yoga every day, you’re prepar-
ing for what life brings. You don’t have to have a strategy
for what yoga technique you’ll use in a difficult situation.
When challenges arrive, they will begin to flow through you
but not overwhelm you and it doesn’t catch us unawares.
We’re prepared to meet it and don’t get stressed out.
This is the real story of how yoga can help you manage
stress. It doesn’t just provide ways to burn through stress.
Or escape from it. It doesn’t only offer stress-reduction
techniques for anxious moments. It goes deeper, trans-
forming how the mind and body intuitively respond to
stress. Just as the body can learn a new standing posture
that eventually becomes ingrained, so the mind can learn
new thought patterns, and the nervous system can learn
new ways of reacting to stress.
The result: When you roll up your mat and walk out the
door, you can more skillfully take on whatever life brings. n
Meenakshi Banerjee Bhattacharjee is a faculty fellow and
executive director of Applied Algal Research at Rice
University, Houston, Texas.
A28
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Continued on Page A29
India Abroad August 19, 2016
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A30
USCIS expands provisional waiver
CONRAD E. POLLACK,
to help family of US citizens
ALLEN E. KAYE, NELSON A. MADRID
Attorneys at Law
Pollack, Pollack, Isaac & DeCicco, LLP.
ALLEN KAYE
IMMIGRATION: Family visas, work visas, EB-5 visas, naturalization and citizenship, consular
processing, immigrant visa waivers, H-1B visas, L-1 visas, O-1 extraordinary ability visas, labor
certifications (PERM), removal proceedings (deportation defense), asylum, and federal appeals.
The Republican National Convention wrapped up with
Please Contact Conrad E. Pollack: cep@ppid.com, Allen E. Kaye: aek@ppid.com
Our staff is fluent in Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Marathi and Gujarati. Donald Trump formally accepting the party’s nomination
for president. During his one-hour plus speech, Trump
painted a doom-and-gloom picture of America and offered
Allen E. Kaye is also available for appointments in New Jersey
himself as the candidate who could restore law and order.
Tel: 212-233-8100 • www.ppid.com
225 Broadway, Suite 307, New York, NY 10007
Trump entered the general election with the same anti-
immigrant rhetoric and fearmongering tactics he used
throughout the primaries, minus the assumption that some
immigrants are good people. The candidate, who’s played
Law Offices of
into people’s prejudices, once again falsely associated un-
L. NAGANANDA, LLC. documented immigrants with higher crime rates (immigra-
B.Sc, LL.B, B.S.(Acctg-NY), J.D. (Hon.)
tion is actually associated with lower crime rates); said
Syrian refugees are dangerous and are not screened before
ACA, AICWA, ACS, CA (Can), FCMA (UK), CPA.
www.nagalaw.com entering the country (refugees are vetted by multiple US
Admitted NY, NJ, India, US Supreme Court, Member AILA
federal agencies); and repeated that immigration lowers
V. VIKRAM VENKATARAMANI, CPA American wages and raises the unemployment rate (immi-
B.S. (Operations Research & Industrial Engineering - Cornell)
grants both contribute to the economy and create new com-
panies and jobs that grow the economy). Trump’s solution:
CPA (NY &NJ) Member AICPA
www.vvvcpa.com
build a wall along the US-Mexico border. However, a
Gallup poll recently found that ‘significantly more Repub-
licans favor a path to citizenship than support building a
200 Middlesex-Essex Tpke # 302, Iselin, NJ 08830-2033
Tel: (732) 283-4700 Fax: (732) 283-4919
IMMIGRATION, USCIS, DOL AUDITS, WILLS, CORPORATE, border wall or deporting illegal immigrants.’
REAL ESTATE, FAMILY LAW, ESTATE PLANNING, FBAR, Commentators have noted that Trump’s speech echoed
PERSONAL & CORPORATE TAX, ACCOUNTING, IRS AUDITS more of Richard Nixon’s lawlessness tone, rather than
Ronald Reagan’s theme of renewal.
Suresh H. Dalal
ATTORNEY AT LAW
The Economics of Immigration
Discussions on immigration in the United States often
Immigration (All Matters) • Real Estate & Business consist of heated outbursts based on a multitude of pas-
sionate and unreasonable positions. Whenever the topic
Closings • Divorces • Business Incorporations • Personal
of immigration comes up, it seems like the most extreme
Injury & Accidents • Landlord-Tenant • Wills
200 Middlesex Turnpike, Suite 106
rhetoric, on both sides of the issue, ends up garnering the
most attention. But on July 13, Ann Saphir and Terry
Iselin, NJ 08830
(732) 283-7400 • Fax: (732) 283-5092 Wade reported for Reuters (Fed policymakers say immi-
OVER 20 YEARS EXPERIENCE IN IMMIGRATION MATTERS
gration key to leaving rut of slow growth) on a point that
perhaps all sides of the immigration debate can support:
positive immigration growth leads to economic growth.
Though opponents of immigration reform often use
stereotypes and fearmongering to try and show that any
positive economic benefit resulting from immigration is
offset by the consumption of public benefits, this is just
For not true. The economic benefits of immigration reform
have been well-documented by the American Immigration
Council. And just last week, two regional Federal Reserve
Display Ads In Bank presidents, from Dallas and Minneapolis, not politi-
cians or advocacy groups, stated clearly and unequivocally,
that continued immigration growth is a key factor to eco-
nomic growth in the United States. As Minneapolis Fed-
eral Reserve President Neel Kashkari said, ‘If we have a
population that’s not growing, it’s much harder to have
INDEX
Letters to the Editor.....................................A2
People...............................................................A3
economic growth.’
Immigration.................................................A54
Business.......................................................A46
Magazine......................................................M1
Sports............................................................A52
Pages: 56+16=72
In this year’s presidential race, both political parties
‘HE CAME, claim that they will grow the economy and put people to
work. Certainly this result would be good for all Ameri-
HE SPOKE, cans. But, as Saphir and Wade reported, the Federal Re-
HE WON’ serve does not believe that low interest rates alone can
sustain economic growth; population increases must also
be a part of the equation. According to the US Census Bu-
reau report released in December 2015, seven states saw
population declines or zero growth, and with that, negative
economic growth Saphir and Wade note that, ‘Fed officials
increasingly believe the US economy’s long-term growth
potential may have fallen to around 2 percent, well below
the historical norm, and many, including Fed Chair Janet
STEPHEN LAM/REUTERS
To subscribe 1-877-INDIA-ABROAD (1-877-463-4222) www.indiaabroad.com/subscribe
Yellen, have lately suggested that only structural changes
beyond the central bank’s purview can lift growth higher.’
If we are going to get more Americans back to work and
ADVERTISEMENT
lift up the middle class as both parties claim they will do,
a real discussion about the true value of immigration to
the US economy must happen. Economic growth is good
Call Toll Free: for everyone, regardless of your opinion about immigra-
tion. So let’s stop the overheated outbursts and focus on
creating immigration policies that will help us all.
(877) 463.4222 Thanks to Matt Maiona, AILA Member, for allowing us
to share his blog with our readers:
WASHINGTON -Those championing immigration reform
have already begun to lay the groundwork for a new push
India Abroad August 19, 2016
in Congress, predicting the Hispanic vote could have a
game-changing impact on this year’s presidential election.
If Hispanic voters turn out en masse to oppose Republi-
can Donald Trump and his stand on immigration, the No-
vember outcome could look a lot like 2012, but on steroids,
some predict.
Within hours of the 2012 election results, conservative
leaders were calling for the party to be more welcoming to
the nation’s fastest-growing voting bloc, who overwhelm-
ingly supported President Barack Obama after Republican
candidate Mitt Romney supported a controversial ‘self-de-
portation’ platform.
‘I think we’ll make a run at it one way or another in 2017.
It’s just a question of what we’ll be running at.’
Benjamin Johnson, American
Immigration Lawyers Association
That didn’t appear to be a concern in Cleveland on the
first night of the Republican National Convention. The
GOP demonstrated its tough stance on immigration when
one of the first speakers was the family of border patrol
agent, Brian A Terry, who was killed in a shootout linked
to a botched gun-smuggling sting known as Fast and Fu-
rious. Terry’s brother and sister told the crowd inside the
Quicken Loans Arena that the Obama administration had-
n’t done enough to stop illegal immigration.
‘Only one candidate is serious about border security, and
that’s Donald Trump,’ said Kent Terry.
Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have made im-
migration a major part of their campaign. Trump has pro-
posed deporting 11 million immigrants living in the US
illegally and building a wall along the US-Mexico border.
Clinton said she would introduce an immigration overhaul
in her first 100 days in office.
More than 27 million Hispanics will be eligible to vote in
the 2016 election, according to the Pew Research Center,
nearly half of them millennials, reflecting the potential im-
portance of the young US-born Latino people in the election.
Recent polls show Trump has little support among His-
panics. Eighty-two percent of Hispanic voters have an un-
favorable view of Trump, according to the poll by
Telemundo, NBC News and The Wall Street Journal. A
Univision television network survey found that 77 percent
of Hispanics had an unfavorable opinion of Trump.
Trump has called Mexican immigrants criminals and
rapists. He criticized the nation's only female Hispanic
governor and accused a US district judge of being biased
against him because the judge was of Mexican descent.
‘If Hillary Clinton wins the election with huge support
from the Latino community, I think the Republicans are
going to have another critical, introspective moment where
they recognize that some of the angry rhetoric during the
campaign is on a collision course with the demographic re-
alities of the future,’ said Benjamin Johnson, executive di-
rector of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
Some Republican senators, including Lindsey Graham,
R-SC, have raised the idea of reconstituting the so-called
Gang of Eight, a bipartisan group of senators who wrote
immigration legislation that included a citizenship oppor-
tunity for millions of people in the United States illegally.
If Democrats regain the Senate, Chuck Schumer, D-NY,
another member of the Gang of Eight, is expected to be the
Senate majority leader.
(To be continued)
Allen E Kaye, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Queens
College of the City of New York, Columbia Law School
(JD) and New York University Law School (LLM), is the
President of the Law Offices of Allen E. Kaye and Asso-
ciates and Of Counsel to Pollack, Pollack, Isaac and De-
Cicco. He is a past National President of the American
Immigration Lawyers Association and Co-Chair of the
Immigration Committee of the Queens County Bar As-
sociation. He has been selected by Martindale-Hubbell
as a 2014 'Top Rated Lawyer' in the practice of Labor
and Employment (for Immigration) and the 2017 Edi-
tion of The Best Lawyers in America. Questions for pub-
lication may be sent to Mr. Kaye at 225 Broadway, Suite
307, and New York, NY 10007 or by email at
AllenEKaye5858@gmail.com or aek@ppid.com
India Abroad August 19, 2016 A31
 Bulletin Board
Immediate Vacancies For:
FRIDAY, August 19, 2016 INDIA ABROAD www.indiaabroad.rediff.com Help wANteD
Following positions in up scale
ReQuIReD Full-tIme
Indian restaurant in Upstate NY.
experienced server & tandoori chef
in Minnesota. Good salary & accommodation.
Appetizer Cook - Must have at least 1
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sweet cHeF year experience
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To advertise in the Bulletin Board call (646) 432-6033/6060 (602) 465-5728 and Wine and Beer
Food Runner - with 1 year experience

(203) 722-6979
ANNOuNcemeNts
Q: ANY QuestIONs On Islam? Call:
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Ms. Patel (General Manager)
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(319) 241-1480 ReAl estAte: INDIA
ReQuIReD cuRRY cOOK FOR sAle
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call (917) 518-4331 email: gptech95@gmail.com

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