A.R. Rahman's Journey to the Oscars - International Indian

THE INTERNATIONALndianEST: 1992 The Region’s Oldest, AuthoritativeMagazine of Gulf Indian Society & History10taking indiancontemporarydance overseasby: Sarina MenezesCONTENTSFEATURES16 british asianwomen: forgetthe stereotype!by: Sarina Menezes‘‘Asian women are meek, submissive, andhave no control over their future!’’24 india these daysby: Ashok Dongreindia is becoming a country full of smartpeople, from the naive variety to theseasoned ones.26 india: wherethe living is easyby: Shyamola KhannaEarlier, everything that an out-of-townertouched appeared to him to be cheap incomparison to wherever they were comingfrom!34 slumdog millionaireby: Prem Souri KishoreWhat a movie! It walked away with eightOscars, but the spin-off for Bollywoodmaybe much more than the golden statuesit picked up.36 india’s mozartfrom madrasby:Andrea MathiasTII takes a look at A.R. Rahman, the manbehind the music of the sensationalfilm Slumdog Millionaire!40 friends:how we keep themhow we loose themby: Frank RajTII’s continuing ‘Desh Aur Diaspora’ series,takes a look at one of the most fascinatingaspects of our lives.47 the magic ofa healingtouchby: Debasree S.“The strength of awoman can carry theweight of the world”53changing timesof hindi radio stationsin UAEby: Muaz ShabandriWith the UAE having one of the world’shighest ratio of vehicles to population,radio listenership is more dependent ontraffic patterns.56 raising childrenaway from homeby: Urmila SantoshNurturing young minds with a sense ofbelonging.64 economy perilsfor indian americansby: Prem Souri KishoreUnemployment is rising and real estatevalues are sliding even more rapidly It’srecession in America, Deep Recession.92 What’s in storefor 2009? Quesera, sera or can weanticipate?by: Raj NairObama knows his economics. He is willing tonegotiate rather than fight avoidable wars.TRAVEL50 london callingvegetarians!by: Monica ShawOlympic fever is spreading and today’sLondon is better than ever for healthconscious,veggie-minded travelers.COLUMNS45 the denialsyndromeby: Sreeram ChauliaFor the truth to emerge from thecobwebs of denial, India must act.72 the trail ofright terrorby: Vishal AroraThe Indian government seems to beshying away from giving it the seriousnessrequired.80 obama’sstimulus packageand what to doabout itby: Prabhu GuptaraWill President Obama’s historicallyunprecedented stimulus package ofover $800 billion work?POLITICS82 indianamericans andbarack obamaby: Davita MaharajThe meaning of his victory to Indians86 breaking alog jamby: Ikram Sehgalwhy is India attempting to isolatePakistan as “a failed State” in themaking?INVESTMENT70 what adifference a yearhas madeby: Archisman DindaSuddenly people are going back totheir roots and frugal living is cool.76 how to investPersonalfn is an eight year oldMumbai headquartered company,and offers unbiased, expert adviceto help you plan and structure yourfinancial goals.FASHION88BuZz WoRd90 • jet airways chairmannaresh goyal honoured at theprestigious cnbc tv18india business leader awards• cellucom india retail privateltd partners withspice group91 • rajiv gandhi universityof health sciences vicechancellor visits gulf medicaluniversity & gmc hospital &research centre, ajman• resilient indian economyoffers nris better investmentopportunities than ever, saysnew ceo of uti internationalIN EVERY ISSUE...2 editorial 60 motor mamla6 letters 75 TII hall of fame8 humor 95 TII central59 view point 96 future questsunset catwalk andpoolside frolic

THE INTERNATIONALIndianEST: 1992 The Region’s Oldest, AuthoritativeMagazine of Gulf Indian Society & HistoryPUBLISHERSProf. Prabhu GuptaraSantosh ShettyFOUNDER EDITORFrank RajCONTRIBUTING EDITORSErik Raj HaddenPrem Souri KishoreBenjamin H. ParkerPeter Souri RajVishal MangalwadiTRAVEL EDITORShana Raj ParkerMANAGER PRChristine DeSouzaCREATIVE DIRECTORBalan IyerGRAPHIC ARTISTMelany CaguindaganPHOTOGRAPHERBenjamin H. ParkerINTERNATIONALCORRESPONDENTSCANADA Rubina JacobSINGAPORE Amita SarwalUKRudy OtterSarina MenezesUSA Prem Souri KishoreBAHRAIN Narang ShahOMAN Rahul DevQATAR Ada PillaiINDIADELHI Vishal AroraCHENNAI Daniel BenjieHYDERABAD Shyamola KhannaMUMBAI Navin TauroKOLKATA Archisman DindaDIRECTORRaina Raj HaddenCOUNTRY HEAD INDIAFeroz ShahCirculation 25,000 copies(Publisher’s figure)BPA Worldwide Business Publication AuditMembership applied for February 2008BPA Worldwide Accepted Application6The International IndianLETTERSPAKISTAN IS WAITINGYour editorial: Is India the last bastionof great social injustice? (TII 16.6)was a great article. Unfortunately,good writers and thinkers todaymust effectively interact with readersthrough blogs and social events. Pleasestart blogging these wonderful articles,in your magazine otherwise TII willnever reach the right audience...After 60 years, the 10% Hindupopulation of Pakistan has dwindleddown to less than 2% while 10% ofMuslim population of India has almostdoubled to 20% , in proportion with thenational average. Most of the PakistaniHindus have migrated to India, whilealmost all the Indian Muslims who werenot cut by the geographical divisionhave remained intact as Indians, despitediscrimination and alienation..The absence of a moderating force haspushed Pakistan into the grip of Islamistswhile Hinduism in India has done theremarkable job of severing the umbilicalcord between Muslims and Mullahs. AnIndian Muslim might be economicallyand politically weaker than his Pakistanicounter part but definitely commandsmore respect in the world and knows howto play by the rules of the game.Today, the people of Pakistan are fed upDIASPORA INDIANSI am a regular reader of TII andappreciate your coverage of race/casteissues in India and the Diaspora. Withreference to your article, “Are DiasporaIndians different?’’ (TII 15.6) I can’tunderstand how any Indian can sayhe has never felt any prejudice in themarketplace. Either he or she wants toplay it safe or is unaware of realities! Aslong as competition exists, discriminationby race / color will exist. Indians mustdeal with prejudice along with otherAsian/African expatriates. This isan issue TII should address regularly.Such discrimination is intertwinedwith the “Allah + Army” combo and theyare eagerly looking out for an opportunityto get out of the mess. In fact, mostPakistani intellectuals welcome the vulgarassault of Indian media accepting it asa necessary anti-dote. But, that shouldNOT be misinterpreted as their beingdisillusioned with Pakistan. The desireto see their nation strong and prosperousis “deep rooted” in every Pakistani heartjust like Indians feel for India.India cannot continue to keep it’s“outdated” mindset against Pakistan.We too don’t have an answer for the“roti, kapda, makaan” dream of our1.2 billion population. It’s a dormantvolcano that can erupt. Jingoisticslogans like “Bharat mata ki, jai!” ispushing our neighbours towards Chinaand creating an aversion for India in theSAARC region.India should gracefully accept the bitterreality that Pakistan is a strong andsovereign nation and will NEVER getcowed down by India. Pakistan is readyfor a “real” dialogue. It is anxiouslywaiting. India should accept to “liveand sleep” with the enemy. Indiamust remove the barriers. Pakistan iswaiting.R.AlamshaDubai, UAEThe two best letters to the editorwill win exquisite gifts fromLiali Jewellery.Email your letter to:frankraj@eim.aeEditor: The International Indianwith opportunities, resentment andexploitation in the workplace. But weshould remember that prejudiced peoplealso come from our own countries andare no less guilty than folks from thisregion or the West, or even people ofany other color. There are plenty ofpeople out there who pretend they faceno prejudice. But the fact is every dayis one of struggle for all disadvantagedindividuals who are powerless to standup for their dignity for the fear of losingtheir livelihood.Sunil IyengarDoha, Qatar

DANCETAKING INDIANDANCECONTEMPORARYOVERSEAS!th16ANNI V ERSARY“Indian classical and folkdances are aestheticallybeautiful. However inIndian choreography classical and I folk constantly dances are aesthetically beautiful. However in choreography I constantly borrowfrom borrow the mudras, from forms the mudras, and shapes that come naturally to most Indian dancers.forms and shapes that comenaturally to mostIndian dancers.”Terence Lewis (middle )with his dance troupeby: Sarina MenezesIndian Contemporary Dance has a relatively short history. Since theperception of ‘contemporary’ can vary from dancer to dancer, thisdance form cannot be defined as or within the classical dance stylesof India. However, the growing awareness of contemporary issuesaround the world, has led a few dancers into the realm of contemporarydance through the exploration and use of different dance styles.Terence Lewis, 33, is one such artiste – creative, intelligent,determined and inspirational –he expresses himself through his passion- contemporary dance! He also represents the modern youth of Indiawho are willing to carve a niche and take Indian contemporary danceto all the ends of the world.His first performance was at the age of 6 and the attention he receiveddrew him towards the performingarts, making the stage his home,and dance, his second language.Says Terence, “I consider myselfblessed because I love what I doand also get paid for this talentand gift.”With roots in a humble,Christian family, Terence isthe eighth child of his parentswho always taught him never tocomplain but to relentlessly pursuea lucrative career. He initiallystudied Microbiology at theprestigious St Xavier’s College inMumbai and later graduated witha Bachelor’s degree in Psychologyand Sociology. He holds a diplomain Hotel Management and acertificate in Fitness Training fromProgressive Fitness USA.We asked Terence to share hispassion, journey, dreams, desires andwhat it means to him to take IndianContemporary Dance overseas.Q: What is Contemporary Dance?A: Contemporary Dance speaks the language of today and is an organicand natural movement to express all kinds of emotions. Possibilitiesbeing endless, contemporary dance can be used to highlight a situationor even relive a moment. The choreographer and dancer have to besubtle in expressing the subject through their body and movements.The viewer/audience has to be discerning to read between the lines.Q: How do you use Indian dance forms in your choreography?Indian classical and folk dances are aesthetically beautiful. However inchoreography I constantly borrow from the mudras, forms and shapesthat come naturally to most Indian dancers. The trick is in taking only10 The International IndianThe International Indian 11

BIG FAT INDIAN WEDDING? NO!The International Indian Wedding!a part of it and using anotherbody language. You mix it withtechnique that is diametrically theopposite and you have somethingthat is completely unique.Q: Where do you draw yourinspiration from?A: Indian Contemporary Dancehas a lot to offer thanks to Yoga,Kallari, Folk and Indian classicaldance forms. The country’sdiversity and patterns of people’slives also provide a wide scopeto develop contemporarydance. The energy of a city likeMumbai has something to offerand inspires me a lot when Ichoreograph. ContemporaryDance to me is an idea, a thoughtin motion - from abstract toreal, it offers a wide palette andcomplexity, people and situationsinspire and motivate me to createdance and movement.th16ANNI V ERSARYCity life and the many contradictionsthe country offers, our struggles as adeveloping nation; the several things thatneed change gives room for an individualto ask questions and these questions takethe shape of my dance. It makes methink and in turn the viewer is inspired ormotivated to think....this is what largelyforms the basis of my choreography.Q: Have you had any formal trainingin dance?A: I did two years of HindustaniTerrence Lewisclassical and one year of westernclassical singing as a child. I wasenamored with Indian classical dance and did Kathak for three yearswith a nondescript teacher. At 13, I was spotted by my first teacher, adancer trained in the US who trained me for two years in Jazz Ballet.A busy academic life led me to abandon training for a long time but alsoleft me with a longing to return to dance training. I soon began a difficultsearch and journey, starting from a children’s ballet teacher called VeronicaBalsara to Tushna Dallas, a certified ballet teacher from The Royal BalletSchool. It was a difficult time of no direction or support. Initially, Tushnarefused to train me saying I was too old for ballet, had bow legs and mybody was not suitable. With much convincing I did manage some lessonsFor TII’s exciting free land for subscription offer, please call:Vinod (+971) 4 297 3932 email: vinod.expat@gmail.com

DANCEth16ANNI V ERSARYin the physics of movement andmuscle kinesiology and am gratefulto her for that.In 1998, I was introduced toa teacher named Jan Freeman- an African American whospecialized in the HortonTechnique. He inspired me totrain overseas at the Alvin AileyInstitute. I had no finances but mydetermination and a loan landedme at New York airport without aclue where to start.Tadej, a dancer friend andmy angel in disguise happenedto teach at the Martha GrahamCompany and with his guidanceI joined the open classes atTerence with hisdance troupethe Ailey, doing three classesa day. I was easily the worststudent and the first week washarrowing! I also enrolled atthe Martha Graham School andTadej’s special attention workedwonders resulting in drasticchanges in the quality of mymovements and my confidence.I also discovered classes atthe Broadway Dance Center. Ifthe morning Ailey classes wererigorous, the evening classes atBroadway made up for the fundance can be. I enrolled for modern jazz, video funk and hip hop andwas soon having a blast. My body was tired with the training and myfunds were soon running out. A bar attendant’s job without wages butenough tips helped me stay on for three months and cover an intensiveprogram at the Aileys.This stint in the US was the most memorable and defining time inmy life. Besides the confidence it gave me, I closely watched the danceschools and how dancers were born through their programs. This soweda seed in my heart and a dream that made me realize my purpose in life.Q: Can you mention other shows in India and around the world thatyou have been part of?A: I choreographed the A R Rahman “Unity of Light” concert thattoured 9 cities around the world and had a crew of 150 live musicians,vocalists, dancers and the technical crew.I have taught at the international dance festival called‘Impulstanz’ in Vienna and I was the first Indian to represent Asia atthe International Choreographers meet held in Stuttgart, Germanyin 2006. I have also choreographed other events including:The musical EVITA, a DubaiContemporary Modern Danceproduction,‘Surkh’ at the Braunschweigfestival, Germany in 2008. InternationalMusicals, like ‘Children of the Sea 2005’and ‘Finding Marina 2006” for the civilwar and Tsunami affected children inSri Lanka. These productions premieredat the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, U.K.where ‘Children of the Sea’ won theBest Musical Award in 2005.Q: What has been your experiencetaking Indian contemporary danceoverseas?A: My experience overseas hasincluded both – performance andteaching. The response has beenoverwhelming as classes overseas get booked in advance and my oldstudents look forward to seeing me every year. These students aregenerally trained dancers but are very eager to learn.The challenges are always in the first few sessions as they try tograsp Indian concepts. The manipulation of the wrist and the use ofbreath are new to most westerners. After the first few sessions most feelcompletely at ease and find interesting ways to add color and texture totheir own performances.Fusing Yoga and Indian classical dance motifs into contemporarydance also help many dancers better themselves and provide a widevocabulary of movement. The use of the mudras and hastas with theyoga postures are interesting ways to find solutions to certain styles.Q: What are your future plans / aspirations for Indian talent inContemporary Dance? Do you see a place for it in the international arena?A: Indian Contemporary Dance is unique! I would like to teachthese techniques all over the world. I want the world to take notice ofthe talent that exists in India and of course do everything to make itprofessional and recognized.The scholarship program at my dance academy has two aims – tobring back the dignity of dance to the minds and attitudes of people andsecond, to work hard at making our dancers financially stable and secure.Q: Explain how your dance academy has grown and what position itis in presently?A: India lacks institutes that provide a curriculum in dance and anopportunity to make it a career choice. Students, especially boys lacksupport from parents and many talented dancers succumb to pressureas they are not financially independent. I began a trust to support andfund aspiring dancers through a three year diploma program to learndance and movement at a professional level. More information isavailable on www.terencelewis.comThe free scholarship at the academy is a three year course withthe best teachers from India and abroad. The curriculum includesdance forms of Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Contemporary, Kathak, BharatNatyam, Yoga, Kallari and Bollywood. Theory subjects in Nutrition,Anatomy Physiology, Exercise Injury and the History of IndianClassical, Ballet and Modern Dance is also part of the curriculum.Our first batch of students showcased their performance titled OutOf The Box and received critical appreciation by the dance community.Today we have 70 students indifferent years at the academy.Q: What support do we lack?A: The scholarship programdesperately needs funds as we canafford only a few students in a year.A big rehearsal space in Mumbaiis expensive although teachersare available at reasonable cost.However if we are to maintainhigh standards we must also getthe best faculty from overseas whoare willing and believe in us. Theprogram is run under a trust thatcan receive funds from individualsand international companies. Anysupport we receive will supporta talented student, with him/herhaving to balance their trainingwith work at call centers and otherjobs to make ends meet.Sarina Menezes is a freelancewriter based in the UK.14The International Indian

WOMENBritish Asian Women:forget the stereotype!th16ANNI V ERSARYToday, the modern day British Asian woman is the complete opposite of what she is perceivedto be. So what if she doesn’t go out clubbing or bring her boyfriends home?by: Sarina MenezesAsian women are meek, submissive, and have no controlover their future! Asian women are generally living a lifewhere they are not allowed to do certain things becausetheir religion does not allow them to!Comparing the many Asian women of all ages and socialbackgrounds, they do have far more control over their lives. So what ifthey don’t go out clubbing or bring their boyfriends home. Does that meanthat they are backward?Why isn’t the real story of women in our community being told?Why are we always perceived to be some sort of helpless victims whoneed support at every encounter? Today, the modern day British Asianwoman is the complete opposite of what she is perceived to be. Ifjournalists, writers and TV producers want an example of what BritishAsian women are really like, all they need to do is ask rather thanIs it true?How many times have youheard this? If it isn’t writteninto the token Asian storylineof mainstream TV drama in theUK, you can read it in the presswhere there will be a story whichsuggests that Asian women areliving in closets somewhere.But the truth of the matter is thatBritish Asians know this is nottrue simply because we knowAsian women rule the lives oftheir households. They are notonly independent but they maketheir non-Asian counterpartslook like novices.continue to spread old and datedstereo-types.Vimmi Singh is the CEO ofDynamic Asian Women’s Network(DAWN) in the UK with thevision of freeing, connecting andtransforming the potential of Asianwomen. Before setting up DAWN,Vimmi worked with JP MorganChase, ANZ Investment Bank.She has an MBA from the LondonBusiness School and is a qualifiedChartered Accountant and CompanySecretary. Vimmi has interactedand worked extensively with Asianwomen in the UK and was on theadvisory panel of Different Women,Different Places, a study of blackand minority ethnic women leadersOn the work front…According to Vimmi,“Immigrant life has alwayshad its challenges. For Asianwomen in particular, the ideaof having to work hard to provethemselves at work paired withhigh expectations at homeand from society means thatAsian women need an extradose of resilience to leave alegacy. Personally, in termsof discrimination, I have beenasked offensive questions at jobinterviews at many stages ofmy career based on gender andcolor. Questions such as whetherI will be allowed to work aftermarriage and whether it wouldbe acceptable for me to work asa parent.”sponsored by Credit Suisse, BoozAllen Hamilton and the AlumniWomen in Business committee atthe London Business School.Having grown up in a westernenvironment with multi culturalfriends, today’s British Asianwomen tend to separate home,education and work lives. Once16The International IndianThe International Indian 17

WOMEN22Ritu Sethi: Asian WomanAward 2008 ‘Our girlshave a blank canvas to bewhat they want’The International Indianthe 1st network for Asianwomen in the UK, whichhas a holistic approach toaddressing professional,entrepreneurial & selfdevelopmental needs.The basic aim has beento positively contributeto the changing demandsof the workplace andexpectations which theyface and balance asAsian women.“In today’s Britain,there is the likelihoodthat Asian women areappointed into positionsto tick the diversity box,my advice is – get in andprove what an asset youare to the organizationby challenging theirexpectations. Once youare there you have alegitimate voice whichis far more exciting thanstanding on the sidelines,” advises Shaheena.Where the business community is concerned she says, “for everyAsian owned business that has defied racism and economic depression,women have supported, run and managed behind the scenes. The Asiancommunity is celebrated for the potential to achieve through educationand economic development – the foundation of which lies with motherssupporting and nurturing their children. There are Asian women inpowerful positions and the head of the most influential human rightsgroup ‘Liberty’ is Shami Chakrabarti!Shaheena herself has won the ‘Women of the Future Award’ in2006 which was awarded to her by Cherie Blair. Ritu Sethi haspicked up a string of awards along the way in her career. The latestbeing the ‘Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets /CBI First WomanAwards 2008’ in the Business Services category for her personaland professional accomplishments.Vimmi has made clear observations, “On the domestic front, thingshave changed only after diversity became a business issue. All aroundus the power of the Asian consumer is increasing. Women make all thedecisions with regards to what the family does and in many respects havecontrol over the budgets in the households and major family purchases.For the younger lot, the pressureto marry in the community willalways exist but that is changing asimmigrants realize that it doesn’tnecessarily spell a successfulmarriage. Similarly, living within-laws is a phenomenon thatis dying with the educated andprofessional classes striking outon their own and moving wheretheir work takes them.”As Shaheena concludes, “It isstill a delicate balance betweenwhat they desire, what theirparents desire and of course whattheir parents think they desire! Ithink over time these issues willchange as the measure of successchanges for the younger womenin Britain.”Women’s solidarityDAWN is the first networkfor Asian women in the UK,which has a holistic approachto addressing professional,entrepreneurial & selfdevelopmental needs. Thebasic aim is to positivelycontribute to the changingdemands of the workplace andexpectations which womenface and balance as Asians.For more information visit:www.mydawn.co.ukSarina Menezes is a freelancewriter based in UKWith contributions fromVimmi Singh, Smitha Sujir,Dr. Shaheena Janjuha-Jivraj,and Ritu SethiHolder of theprestigious“CharteredInsuranceBrokers”title fromCharteredInsuranceInstitute,LondonFor the bestavailable adviceSpeak, loginor write to:Delivering Excellencewww.gargashinsurance.comDUBAI Tel: 04-3379800SHARJAH Tel: 06-5754848ABU DHABI Tel: 02-6717100personal insurance?click, pay and get itdeliveredcorporate insurance ?you need the bestavailable professionaladvice on yourinsurance exposureand liabilities tounderstand and avoidfine prints, warrantiesand exclusions youneed professionalinsurance adviceMotor, Home or Travelyou can now buy theseinsurances online andget the documentscouriered to youfree of costwww.gargashinsurance.com

CARTOON24The International Indian

GOING BACKIndia:Where The Livingis easy!Points to PonderIt is important to understand the different strata ofthe upwardly mobile young couples. First is the agebracket: they are all in their thirties and are fond ofthe good things in life. They love good clothes, nicecars, beautiful homes and a bank balance they could beproud of. Having said that it is also important to saythat they are very hard working, putting in an averageof 15 hours everyday.Given that, then the other parameters are:A) There are those who are from very rich familiesbut are not walking into the parental business. Theyare living in their own homes, some gifted by dotingparents. They have no commitments towards theparents, so whatever money they make they bust up.B) The next level is from the middle class where theparents have put the kids through school and collegeand then merit takes them places, especially abroad.Such kids have strong family connections, believein saving for a rainy day, and buy their homes withthe help of bank loans. They believe in bringing theirparents out to the US at least once a year. Most of thesoftware whiz kids in the US are from such homes.67% of these wizards are from rural and urban Andhra.A very large percentage are yearning to come back andget into the same groove in India (meaning the samepay and perks in INR!)C) Then there is the third tier; these are the kids frommiddle class homes where they have got into wellpaying jobs or have started small businesses of theirown, courtesy their education, skills and capability.They are bankers, entrepreneurs, realtors and they are alllooking upwards. One young man told me, “My successis measured by the locality I live in and the kind of carI drive.” So from a Maruti Zen, he moved to a CRV andnow has a Mercedes parked in the garage!The people mentioned in this article are from category Band C only.Indians returning home after spending yearsabroad, should remember that the ‘ danchee’situation is taking a bit of a beating becausethings are no longer ‘damn cheap’ as theyused to be, at least not in the metros.by: Shyamola KhannaMy mother came from Benaras(today’s Varanasi) and she usedto tell us this little story abouthow the shopkeepers in the oldmarkets used to call visitors andtourists the “danchee babus” - which translated into“damn cheap” because that is what the reactionsof people used to be! Everything that an out-oftownertouched appeared to him to be cheap incomparison to wherever they were coming from!Somewhere in the minds of Indians returninghome, the danchee situation is taking a bit of abeating because things are no longer as cheap asthey used to be, at least not in the metros. And99% of people who return want to live in themetros, not in rural or even semi urban localities.Even people relocating from small towns inIndia to a city or from one major city to anothercan feel the difference. When people come intoSouth India from Delhi or Mumbai, they feelthe difference because a 100 rupee note can stillbe stretched a bit more here than back there. InHyderabad, one can still buy a sumptuous plateof Biryani for Rs100 and unless one is a real bigeater, one cannot finish it alone!Since there are a number of peoplerelocating to India now TII figured it was timeto question them about what kind of expensesthey were looking at, especially vis-a-vis theirstay overseas..Let me introduce the players first.The KinisSupriya and Arvind Kini arereturning to Bangalore to setup home after a gap of nearly10 years. They were in livingin San Francisco, California,where Arvind was working witha software firm. They had beentoying with the idea of returninghome for a while because theirparents were aging and they feltthat they should try and giveit a shot while they were stillyoung enough to make a go ofit. Then two things happenedalmost simultaneously.Supriya had been wantingto have a second child becauseher elder daughter Nisa wasalready eight and another littleone would make the familycomplete. They were on theirannual holiday in India and whathad not happened for all those daysArvind and Supriyawith the two girls -returning to Bangaloreto set up home afternearly 10 years.Nisa, (Right) theKini’s daughterand her cousin Titliin the US, happened. She discovered shewas pregnant and the awful morning sickness started. Then Arvind’sboss suggested that he should start the India office for their firm inBangalore itself and there could be no one better suited to look after itthan Arvind!So they are now here to stay - Supriya says it is a trial run for adefinite two years! After that, que sera…sera…As for budgeting and living expenses in India, she says that she isstill working on the whole shebang -more from her later!Meenal and JamesThis young couple were based in Washington where James had a jobwith the government and Meenal worked as a freelance architect. Theylived in a studio apartment in downtown Washington, DC, USA wherethey also kept a dog. They returned to India in February 08 to travel abit and decide where they should stay. They traveled around and finallychose to settle down in Delhi where they have rented a flat in Saket, afairly decent locality in South Delhi. Meenal is also expecting her firstchild. The fertile plains of the Ganga seem to be working overtime!Pinky and Debashish GhoshalThis young couple are relocating to Hyderabad after a long stint inth16ANNI V ERSARYBangalore. They have two babygirls and the elder one is gettingready to start school. Deb is asoftware whiz while Pinky has herhands full with her two babies.Deepa and Pradeep SharmaThe Sharma’s are a youngcouple who have come to settlein Hyderabad after spendinga number of years in the US.According to Deepa, one ofthe main reasons they chose torelocate was the fact that theywanted their 20-month old sonto know his grandparents better.Then there is “this remarkablesupport system and social lifein India” which has no matchanywhere else in the world.Cheers to that - we aregregarious, we are noisy, sowhat? We are like this only...Buy a house or rent it?All the four couples are livingin rented places, with plans tobuy their own homes in the nearfuture. Supriya and Arvind wantto rent a 3-BHK (bedrooms, halland kitchen for the uninitiated)penthouse in Koramangala which26The International IndianThe International Indian 27

GOING BACKPinky and Debashish Ghoshalwith their two baby girlsth16ANNI V ERSARYis closer to Arvind’s place of workas well as Nisa’s school.Rents for them atpresentwouldbe in the rangeof Rs 30,000plus.Rightnow, they arewithSupriya’sparents in IndiraNagar, Bangalore.Supriya is keenon an airy, spaciousplace so she is okay withthe rent. Since they were living intheir own independent bungalowin San Francisco’s Bay Area.There, all of Arvind’s savingswent into paying mortgages andloans. They do plan to buy a flatlater, with the help of a loan.Dipa and Pradeep Sharma arepaying Rs 18,000/- as monthlyrent in Banjara Hills, Hyderabadwhich is quite the uptown placeto be in. They have a 3-BHK flatand have everything availablenearby. Deb and Pinky too haverented a place in Srinagar Colony,Hyderabad which is a fairly posharea and are paying a rent of Rs14,000 per month.In Delhi, Meenal and Jameshave rented a place in Saketand are paying Rs 28,000/- fora 3-bedroom apartment on the2nd floor. Apparently it is a niceneighborhood but much furtheraway from the city center thanthey were used to in DC. Sheadds that the house has “verygood finishes.”Meenal says, “We could havegotten a cheaper place in Delhi, butthe conditions of the city outsideare so much worse than DC, thatit is nice to have a retreat as muchmore time is spent indoors. In DC most of your recreational time can bespent outside in public places, not so much in Delhi.This is primarilydue to the vast differences in the lifestyles of social/economic classesin India and lack of security; thus the need for a nicer, bigger place.”Right now all of them seem to be okay with living in rented places.Slowly and steadily when the right house comes along and the timeis right, they will all buy property, as in India that remains the bestinvestment. All young software professionals have got some savingstied up in stocks, shares and mutual funds and they are all hoping thatthe present meltdown will get over soon.Big car or small car?All of them, without exception are looking at buying the Alto, Swiftor the Zen from the Maruti stable. Otherwise the Chevrolet peoplehave come up with the Spark and the Hyundai has the Getz which areviable options to chose from in the small car segment. At present, nobig cars please. We are in a recession!Food and Eating OutAs a people we are very fond of eating. We love our food and evenidentify ourselves with it. Ever heard a Bong say, “You know Bongwomen have this gorgeous skin and hair and all of it comes from eatingfish regularly?”Another little nugget I heard was that “a good food outlet willalways be a success.” The catch word here is “good” which couldeasily translate into “not available elsewhere” or some exotic stufffrom foreign lands. But let’s face it, the Indian thinks of himself as afood connoisseur and will make sure he remains spoilt for choices, byfrequenting all the different food outlets that open at the rate of almostone a month.Deepa and Pradeep arespending between Rs 8,000 to10,000 on groceries, food itemsand eating out in Hyderabad,while Meenal says that betweenthe two of them their averagespend is between Rs 6,000-8,000on groceries. When they eat outin Delhi they could be spendingas little as Rs 100 all the way upto Rs 1,500. So their monthlyexpenses on food alone couldaverage about Rs 15,000.Supriya and Arvind are notreally eating out at present. Debhas set up a home but Pinky isgoing to join Deb in Hyderabadsoon. So then he will know whathe spends on food etc, ‘‘but he isvery meticulous and notes all thedetails for me,’’ says Pinky..Kid’s ZoneMeenal and Supriya areexpecting babies. Deepa has a20-month old son while Pinky hastwo girls, Titli is two and a halfand Saili is eight months old. Sowe have a cross-section of inputsfor almost all the requirementsfor kids.Let’s start at the very beginningwith pregnancies. Supriya is surethat her expenses on having thebaby in Bangalore will not gobeyond Rs one lakh, even if shegoes to the top hospital. Arvind’scompany gives them medicalinsurance. Meenal is happy sheis going to have her baby in Indiabecause having a baby in theUS is an expensive proposition,unless you have insurance whichis also quite steep. Plus bringingup a child in India, she says is far better and cheaper.Deepa has been taking her son to “Rainbow” hospital ( a children’shospital in Banjara Hills ) and she says, “ if I compare it with the US,I do not find much difference in the way he gets treated. However, thecost of each visit is much less - Rs 250 per visit irrespective of weekdays or week ends. Whereas in the US you first need to have medicalinsurance just to get good hospital treatment (and the money that needsto be paid every month for that is not at all small) and any other costthat may follow would be extra.”Deb has kept aside Rs 15,000 for their kids schooling, health care,medicals etc. That is just to give you an idea!As for schooling, India has different levels for different people. Youcan go completely elitist and put your kid in an air conditioned schoolwhere the kids travel in a/c buses with liveried drivers and attendantsor put them in schools renowned for their teaching, the ambience etc.Or you can put the kids in government schools, which do producebright minds but the child may have to mix with the hoi-polloi. Forall the NRI brat pack used to no uniforms, limited learning syllabi etc,Deepa and Pradeep Sharma:Moving from USA to Hyderabad30The International IndianThe International Indian 31

MOVIE REVIEWSLUMDOGmillionaireDespite all the controversy surrounding it, Slumdog Millionaire is likely to make an impactfar beyond winning Oscars for India’s AR Rahman and Resul Pookutty. AcknowledgingIndian craftsmanship in filmaking is probably the major breakthrough.by: Prem Souri KishoreWatching it I wasswept away in a rushof narrative, color,sound, movementand exhiliration.Slumdog Millionaire was a rollercoaster ride. Thrills, terror, electrifyingexcitement, exultation. After a ride likethat what do you do? You get on again.And that is what I did after seeing itthe first time. I saw it again and thevisceral experience never let up.The inspired music of ARRahman jolts you with its pulsating,intoxicating energy from the firstshot as you are hurtle into the livesof slum dwellers in Mumbai’s shantycommunity. The film is upbeat, sparsedialogue, unflinching, revolting,gaudy, narrating a story of orphans,gangs, poverty, filth, brothels, anti Muslim riots, police brutality,struggling humanity and a tender love story. Appealing?Three kids live in the underbelly of Mumbai. We embrace them rightaway, they are so heartrending, so real, and soon we are rooting for them asthey learn survival skills,. It is horrifying, raw life, this is no fantasy, this isfor real. Intrusive close ups, are electrifying, The acting never overpowersthe narrative. Each of the leads are played by three different actors as theyage and each becomes a different personality, as the film builds into agripping emotional climax. You hold your breath till the end.Meanwhile you laugh at the boys hustling at the Taj Mahal, rootfor Dev Patel, the 16 year old contestant who finds himself on theDanny Boyle with Dev Patel and Freida Pinto: Slumdog walked away with eightOscar’s in 2009. How will Bollywood capitalize on this breakthrough?Indian show Who Wants to be aMillionaire, and is in love withthe lissom Freida Pinto. Youcringe at the gruesome tactics ofthe dons of the shanty, despise thegame show host Anil Kapoor whohas a conflict of interests, marvelat the skill of the narrative whichis told in flashbacks while you aresurrounded by a torrent of images,a mad exhilarating rush of color,sound and movement. At the endof it all the film had me dancingin the aisle.Slumdog Millionaire is thedarling of the critics and has hada dramatic, sweeping impact onreviewers and audiences. TheWashington Street Journal calledit ‘a globalized masterpiece.” “Ihave a Mad Love for this film”said Peter Travers of RollingStone. Richard Corliss fromTime declared it “a hymn to life”.Slumdog the cleverly constructedfilm adapted from Vikas Swarup’sbook Q and A is a rags to richesdrama set in the fetid slums ofMumbai and besides walkingaway with eight Oscars, it wontrophies across the board includingthe Hollywood Press Globe,Golden Globe, Directors Guild,Producers Guild, and WritersGuild, . The film was the season’smost beloved underdog andwalked away with the Oscars forBest Picture, Best Director, Best(Adapted) Screenplay (SimonBeaufoy) Best original Score andBest Song ( A R Rahman), BestSound Mixing (Resul Pookutty),Best Film Editing, and BestCinematography..A headline in LA Times shouted,“Another bone for Slumdog”.Made with a small budgetof 14 million dollars by WarnerIndependent Pictures which shutdown unexpectedly, the film wascontracted with Fox Searchlightto distribute and market in NorthAmerica. Screenwriter SimonBeaufoy said in accepting thehonor from Hollywood ForeignPress Association, “We reallyweren’t expecting to be here inAmerica at all at one time, so34 35The International IndianThe International Indianth16ANNI V ERSARYit’s just amazing to be standing here” “You cannot shoot Mumbaion a set.. you have to be right there,” said Danny Boyle the Directorin an interview. Thousands gathered every time there was a shot.Sometimes DannyBoyle wondered withall the chaos aroundthe characters and thecrew, if he had reallygot a particular shot.And then there werethe permits. Sometimesthe permits cameafter the scene hadbeen shot. Co-directorLoveleen Tandon whowas Casting Directorfor Monsoon Wedding,Vanity Fair, Terminaland Brick Lane hadthe challenging task ofcasting 9 people whoplay 3 parts with equalscreen time. Of thenine, two were slumFreida Pinto and Dev Patelkids and most of theof Slumdog Millionaireothers were first timersin film. Excellentcameo roles were done by Mahesh Manjrekar, Saurabh Shukla, andAnkur Vikal.The author, Vikas Swarup who wrote the book Q and A on which thefilm was based, has never lived in Mumbai. Swarup is the Ambasssadorof India to South Africa. He has already written his second book basedon the Jessica Lall murder in Mumbai and is busy with a new bookwhich is not set in India. Vikas uncannily knows the seamy, brutal,poverty ridden slums of the largest commercial city in India. But howdid he write of the sordid, heartless, raw vitality of the streets withoutliving there? “I Googled,” he says with disarming candor in an interview.“Thanks to Google I got all the information and finished the book intwo months. There was no rewrite, just some editing and I was done.”Unheard of in the publishing industry where a book can take two or threeyears of rewriting with scores of going back back and forth betweeneditors and the author. How much creative control did the author haveover the picture? “I did sit in with the screenplay writer from the first daybut a book is a book and a film is a film and changes had to be made.”Prem Souri Kishore is TII’sContributing Editor based in Los Angeles

36A.R. RAHMANINDIA’S MOZARTFROM MADRASAs the box-office success and world recognition of the British-Indian film Slumdog Millionairecontinues to soar, TII takes a look at A.R. Rahman, the man behind the music of the sensationalfilm that swept the 2009 Oscars, bagging eight awards.by:Andrea MathiasThe almost spontaneouscombustion-like frenzycaused by the releaseof the Oscar winningSlumdog Millionairehas been astounding to say theleast. Having bagged the muchcoveted golden statue for the bestfilm with a total of eight Oscars in2009, Slumdog Millionaire landedtwo cool Oscars into the hands ofAR Rahman for Best Original FilmScore and Best Song for ‘Jai Ho’.Based on the novel Q andA by an Indian diplomat, VikasSwarup, the low-budget film hadall the key ingredients for makingit not just a box office smasher butalso worthy of prestigious awards.Set against the graying backdropof a harsh, urban slum the filmfollows the story of Jamal playedby fresher Dev Patel, a happygo lucky orphan who happens toland himself on a hit reality gameshow winning him twenty millionrupees. It is essentially a love storyand the object of Jamals’ affectionis Latika played by anotherpromising new face, Frieda Pinto.Directed by one of cinemas best;The International IndianA.R. Rahman with Danny Boyle and Anil Kapoor at the Golden Globe awards.Danny Boyle’s edgy contemporary direction of the story is sharp andartistic. I can hear the sound of critics murmuring in pleasant unison.Tossed in are some tastefully peppered young Indian actors who arepunchy and veterans like Anil Kapoor and Irfan Khan add to the zestof the film. To top the already icing laden cake is the musical score ofthe film composed by none other than one of Indias’ finest musicians,the ‘Mozart of Madras’, AR Rahman.AR Rahman was the perfect choice to create the film score becauselike the story of Slumdog Millionaire, his beginnings were humble andyet he overcame most obstacles to rise to his current state of successwith much hard work and determination.Having received a degree in Western Classical music from the famedTrinity College of Music, London, Rahman began his foray into theIndian world of cinema when he was twenty five. He was approachedby director Mani Ratnam and composed music for the film Roja whichwas named one of thegreatest soundtracksof all time by TIMEmagazine.Fromthere he created asort of domino effectof success on all theprojects he laid hishands on or ratherlent his ears to. He hassold over 115 millionalbums which put himin the same leagueas the Queen of Pop,Madonna;makinghim the only Indianmusician to ever reachsuch heights.AR Rahman canbe called a pioneer inhis own terms. He setthe benchmark for Indian musicproducers who were aiming toreach international audiences. Inhis character Rahman embodieswhat you would perhaps call, theperfect Indian. He was born aHindu and later his whole familyconverted to Islam (Sufism), heis a south Indian by birth butwhen it comes to his work hehas no barriers with language orreligion. He magnifies the termaltruistic because he’s alwaysgiving back to people throughhis charity work. And he is in allsense of the term, a true patriot.Few of us can forget the surgeof pride we felt when we firstheard his soundtrack for ‘VandeMantaram’ which was madeto commemorate fifty years ofIndia’s independence.Though Slumdog Millionairehas been created in such a waythat it appeals to internationalmovie goers, it is truly an Indianfilm. Danny Boyle himselfsays part of what makes thefilm so Indian is having ARRahman work on it. And onceagain Rahmans’ ingenioussoundtrack has capturedthe essence of thefilm and taken itswhole ambience toanother level.No doubt, thescript and the cast aregood but the music isthe real backbone ofthe film; weaving andentwining the scatteredbits of the puzzle tightlytogether. Rahman spenta great deal of efforton this film and it hascertainly paid off. Havingwon him a Critics’ Choice Award, a Golden GlobeAward and now the highly coveted Oscars amongstothers. Rahman took two weeks to complete the projectand he roped in some very talented singers. One suchsinger is Alka Yagnik who sings the sexy ‘Ringa Ringa’which is set in a brothel and has an uncanny resemblanceto another raunchy number, ‘Choli ke Peeche’. UK born,Sri Lankan artist M.I.A also contributes to ‘O Saaya’which has the man himself singing in the background.About the Tamil bred M.I.A, Rahman says she speaks thesame language as he does but has different sensibilitiestowards music. Their broadminded collaboration is brilliantand it’s interesting to hear two completely differentstyles melting together in harmony. Othertalented vocalists who are on the album areSukhwinder Singh, Mahalaxmi Iyer andTanvi Shah.On this project Rahmanexperimented with a bit of rap and hedoes it really well. It just goes to show thetrue genius of the man and how he is ableto master any genre of music he delvesinto. Seasoned with the powerfulvocals of rapper Blaaze and acharming Tanvi, ‘Gangsta Blues’is a rough, grimy track that tellsRahman’s Roja was named one of thegreatest soundtracks by TIME magazine.th16ANNI V ERSARYThe International Indian 37

A.R. RAHMAN38A.R. Rahman and the Slumdog Millionaire team at the 81st Oscar Awardsa dark secret of true hardshipliving below the poverty line.The film was in a bit ofcontroversy when critics accusedDanny Boyle of glamorizingpoverty. They went on to saythat the film does not portraythe real struggle of the poor. ButBoyle defended himself and thefilm saying it was about having‘a zest for life’ and it’s just thatthe story takes place in an urbanslum. The film does not glamorizepoverty, it portrays it colorfully. Itdoesn’t diminish the struggle of itscharacters who convey their painwith such awe on screen. In a waythe film is not a story on the slumlife of India but it is a story that canbe related to any third world nation.Rahman too defended the music ofthe film as being subtly internationalin the sense that the story of thefilm could take place anywhere inthe world and therefore does notmake Slumdog Millionaire justabout India. He pointed out, ‘Thestory could happen anywhere. Whowants to be a Millionaire is on inevery damn country!’The real McCoy in the filmsoundtrack is of course the firsttrack titled, ‘Jai Ho’. It’s a strong,The International Indianreverberating piece from Rahman thatcaptures the audience and warms the heart.Sung by the legendary ghazal singer andpoet Gulzar saheb, this song was originallycreated for the film Yuvvraaj starringSalman Khan. But it was later dropped bySubash Ghai for being too commandingto use in his film. He must be wishing hehad thought otherwise because ‘Jai Ho’ isthe track being used to promote SlumdogMillionaire and the one that’s bagging allthe awards.AR Rahman has written musicfor Hollywood in the past for ShekharKapoor’s Elizabeth: the Golden Age. He has also worked with AndrewLloyd Webber on the hit theatrical production Bombay Dreams and hismost recent work is a stage adaptation of J.R.R Tolkiens’ The Lordof the Rings. But there is a stark difference in composing music forBollywood and for Hollywood. For Bollywood the main criterion fora successful movie is to make the music very mass friendly, to attractpeople to come watch the film. Most movies produced in Indian cinematoday run on the item number ticket which is a sure shot winner.Danny Boyle was very clear that he wanted upbeat, catchy musicfor Slumdog Millionaire and not the sentimental, melodramatic mushthat we’re used to hearing alongside emotional stories. In contrast toa typical Bollywood film, this film had just seventeen or eighteencues to work with whereas the former would usually have about 130cues. Rahman also states that he usually gets away with remixingragas for Hindi films as they are so versatile and can be speeded upto sound good. A good example of this is his work in the film Gurustarring Abhishek Bachan.Creating music for Slumdog Millionaire looks like a challengewell overcome. This film has created history by being a cross culturalshowcase of life through cinema. Rahman has tactfully used elementsof Indian music but he has blended it with universal soulfulness andhas whipped out a fantastic soundtrack that is worth all the praise andaccolades it has been receiving. Having received the Oscars and aGolden Globe award it made AR Rahman the first Indian composerever to receive such honors.The example of one such artist is an encouraging tale to say theleast. It inspires and arouses anyone who hears of it, especially ifyou are an Indian. Now that Slumdog Millionaire has bagged eightOscars, we can see how beautifully this magnum opus has slid into thecinematic hall of fame.Andrea Mathias is a freelancewriter based in New Delhi

DESH AUR DIASPORAth16ANNI V ERSARYFRIENDS:HOW WE KEEP THEMHOW WE LOSE THEMWhen it comes to family and friends are Indians different from other nationalities?Do you believe in deep friendships? How many good friends do you have? How manyfriendships have you lost? Are you always ready to make new friends? Do you like to have manyor just a few? Living abroad, away from our extended families and the India we miss, there is aneed for good friends. How do we choose them, keep them and build our relationships?Are there any East-West lessons we can learn? In TIIs continuing ‘Desh Aur Diaspora’ series,we take a look at one of the most fascinating aspects of our lives.by: Frank RajCompleting nearly six decades on planetearth, I’ve come to the understandingthat the best friendships are not deep,but deep and wide. Deep friendshipscan be gratifying, but they invariably setup expectations and make promises that are difficultto keep no matter how good theintentions are. Resentmentbegins to accumulate when highexpectations are not met andpeople begin to feel trapped.There comes the feeling ofbeing taken advantage of,and unless people are moreunderstanding and willing to beflexible with their expectations,such friendships generallydo not last. Nonetheless alot of people get into deeprelationships and invest somuch of their lives only to bedisappointed and frustratedmany years later.Marriage-potentially thegreatest friendship in the worldis one that most of us seriously violate and only afew succeed in rebuilding, though the relationshipis probably never restored completely. Finding theabiding love of a man or a woman is one of thetoughest quests in life, yet after a couple hooks upand commits to each other for life, why do things fallLife in the Gulfadds its ownpeculiar facets toexpatriate life. Oneapart so often? It is the one friendship where mutualneeds can genuinely be met, and it offers the greatestopportunity for a companion who can truly make adifference in our lives. Experience seems to indicateeven deeply cherished, long married relationshipscan fall into a hole. They must be wide as they aredeep, possibly the deeper therelationship, the wider it must beto be truly meaningful.I’ve always wonderedwhether our greatest love songsare unknowingly written aboutthe greatest Love of all, a truerelationship with the Creator -not with a fellow human being.Far above human capacity, theocean of divine love is so deepand so wide we cannot fathom it.Perhaps that’s why we yearn formore depth and understanding inour relationships – because ourdivine role model designed us tobe unique. Ultimately then it is ourCreator that we seek through allour fragile earthly bonds.Life in the Gulf with all its advantages, adds its ownpeculiar facets to expatriate life. One curious fallout inthe NRI scenario, is the impact on relationships. In theconcern for building a nest egg, individual values andrelationships seem to take a beating. Stories abound ofthe “Indian communal crab” mentality but there is also‘curious fallout inthe NRI scenario,is the impact on‘relationships.a curious tendency of people not toacknowledge those who lent them ahelping hand or to keep old friendswho fell behind in the race forprosperity. Genuine appreciationcan be the cement for a long termconnection, but many people findit hard to be grateful for help givenwhen it was most needed.This is a particularly sensitiveissue for many Gulf NRIsbecause their coming out ofIndia was usually facilitated by afriend or a relative. I arrived herebecause a certain MS Prasad,a friend of a friend who onceowned businesses in Dubai andAbu Dhabi, wanted some helplaunching a new business. Hepaid for my ticket to Dubai andput me up in his flat during myinitial stay. He is back in India butI can never forget his kindness tome - he didn’t really need me tohelp him, he just made a way forme to get a break. There are otherfriends like that I cannot forgeteven if they have forgotten me.Such people have helped so manyindividuals start a new life, but inMarriage-thegreatest friendshipin the world is onethat most of usseriously violateand only a fewpossibly succeedin rebuilding.return their family or friends keep a distance, or cut ties and rarelyacknowledge their existence.Friendships however are one area of my life where I admit I havenot invested enough time even though I’ve had some great friends.That’s a deliberate reference to the past – many of my friends and Ihardly keep in touch so I can’t presume on their current affections,although I know some of them would protest at this. But the fact isdistance doesn’t always make the heart grow fonder - we human beingsremember selectively and forget easily. The ability to pickup where youleft off regardless of the reason or duration is valuable in friendships. Iagree one must be a friend to have a friend but the best friendships I’vefigured cannot just be deep, they must be deep and wide, not holdingyou back in anyway.Observing other cultures with regard to friendship is a good learningexperience. Different nationalities living in a melting pot like the Gulf,have to learn tolerance and how to maintain boundaries. The dynamicsof the expatriate life are very interesting as one can observe the entirespectrum of human interaction from blatant racism to heartwarmingsituations of mutual respect and understanding. What sort of friendshipskills do we pass on to our children? Most of us tend to mingle onlywith our own, but it’s fascinating to watch those who breakawayfrom narrow racial groups and make the effort to cultivate a varietyof friends. It’s also pathetic to see many folks stick only to their ownkind, with some desis perversely going the extra mile, preferring onlytheir own caste communities even among their countrymen.Relationships are key in business and the success stories of Indiansworldwide paradoxically does indicate they are as good as anybody else inbuilding networks and succeeding in virtually every field of human endeavor.Amartya Sen in his book The Argumentative Indian, points out thatthe flourishing Indian Diaspora is an indication of India’s interactivepresence. “ Ideas as well as people have moved across India’s bordersover thousands of years, enriching India as well as the rest of the world,”he points out. Rabindranath Tagore noted, “Whatever we understand40 41The International IndianThe International Indian‘‘

DESH AUR DIASPORAth16ANNI V ERSARYand enjoy in human products instantly becomes ours,wherever they might have their origin.” Nonethelessliving in multinational environments undoubtedlybrings challenges and such learning opportunitiesare not easily available in India. Although there aremany expatriates in the country today, they are hugelyoutnumbered and most Indians‘are not exposed to closeinteraction with other nationalities. However westernvalues, not all of them desirable, are clearly impactingIndians through satellite television and the effects arevisible in the way our societyis changing.I once did an exercisewhere I asked a bunch ofpeople I was addressingto list all the factors theybelieved make peopledifferent. I requested theyavoid the all encompassinggeneric term ‘culture,’ askingthem to break it down. Along list came forth – food,clothes, language, values,attitudes, work ethic, etc.,and the inevitable –race andskin color. I asked whetherit was possible that everysingle trait or habit they hadindicated could be learned,changed or adapted over aperiod of time. How longwould someone take tolearn a language or adaptto different kinds of food,clothing etc.? I enquireddoesn’t intermarriage evenremove race and skin colordifferences? When I asked if there was anybody whowas certain their son or daughter would marry onlysomeone of their own race and culture - there wereno takers! The fact is we can choose to stay differentor enjoy learning and adapting.Are women better at maintaining friendships thanmen? From my experience I would definitely say mywife is better at keeping her friendships, even the longdistance ones, although she is probably not as good atmaking them because she feels she has enough! I’mMaybe because ofhow relationshipswork in Indiathere’s somethingabout Indians thatseems to make usvery possessiveabout our friends.Our concept ofboundaries inrelationships isoften non-existent.not sure gender makes a difference, but women seem tobalance relationships better, they are not so competitiveso that probably helps. Guys immediately start sizingup one other to identify any potential threats to theirway of thinking, their work and women. PsychologistShelley E. Taylor who wrote the The Tending Instinct,says when faced with stress men tend to be aggressiveor withdraw – the ‘fight or flight’ behavior. Women calla friend. In group gatherings, people mostly gravitateto the ‘life of the party,’ focusing on someone who isusually an extrovert and holdspeople’s attention. Strong, silenttypes who like to engage inthinking discussions invariablyget the short end of the stick andthose disinterested in alcohol donot win many friends either.Maybe because of howrelationships work in Indiathere’s something aboutIndians that seems to makeus very possessive aboutour friends. Our concept ofboundaries in relationshipsis often non-existent. Urbanlife in India is crowded andprivacy is a luxury for citydwellers. You don’t find thisso much in the West wherepeople have more spaceand are much freer in theirrelationships, in ways thatare probably good and not sogood. Learning to balance thebest of both is a skill worthlearning in friendships. Whatwesterners would considerstifling, Indians would probably approve and cherishas some Bollywood films tend to depict. How muchof it is really played out in the Indian context?I recall one particular incident with a family friendwho should know better, having lived abroad for manyyears. We were at a community gathering and mywife who always attracts little kids, had this adorabletoddler who chose to sit on her lap. Our common friendwhose children are much older, (in fact one was almosta teenager at the time), became absurdly possessive,‘publicly berating my wife for ignoring her grown-upkids! Making the relationship even more circumspect,when our grandchildren arrived from Canada, thesame individual thoughtlessly commented, that wewould henceforth probably ignore her kids! Suchbizarre conduct might pass as an indication of ultimateDosti in a Bollywood film, but looking back it clearlyindicated a friendship that appeared to be deep but wascertainly not wide enough. Needless to say there is atrail of unnecessary hurt and misunderstanding andthe relationship needs mature handling and repair. Oneside believes the relationship should give much more.The other is baffled at how such one-sided thinkingignores a considerable investment in the relationship.Time could bring healing, but only if the relationshipgains more depth and width.From my experience, I would describe mostexclusive, deep friendships as “unfulfilling.” Most ofus are unable to deliveron our expectationsand do what is requiredto consistently sustainsuch relationships overthe years. Avoidingsuch bonds is probablybetter for all concerned.Often they come at theexpense of decliningother links with peoplethat may not have beenas deep but could havebeen meaningful andpossibly developed overa period of time. It’s amazing how just one or twoexclusive, deep relationships can prevent you fromhaving more friends. I realized folks who wantedto be our friends figured we were “committed” to arestricted few and kept aloof. Regrettably, so did we,since we thought we had no need of them.When I meet folks who seem to have plenty offriends, I wonder how they do it. Its obvious most oftheir relationships are superficial, nonetheless wheremutual respect and good motives exist one can see thatvaluable inputs are generated mutually, I’ve alwaysregretted my incompetence at engaging effectively insuch casual interactions. You often hear people say, “Ican’t be bothered with making small talk.” I used to bethat way until I realized that we are all limited to a fewgood friends and must get along with people whereverwe meet them. Not all small talkers are superficial,some are highly skilled conversationalists who cansystematically work through a group easily, sorting outwho they want to network with and selectively add afew to their list of friendships. Larry King in his book,“How To Talk To Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere revealsthat asking questions is the secret of good conversation.King points out that Why? is the greatest question ofall time. It is the one word he uses more than any otheron his long running television show on CNN.Cultivating links in the context of spiritualcommunity has led me to see the value of dialoguewith people of various nationalities and differentfaiths. Sharing my own beliefs in different forumsand learning more about what others believe has beena significant learning curve for me, deepening theunderstanding of myown and other faiths.Perhaps the biggestlesson I have learnedis to eliminate beingin awe of religiousmiddlemen anddiscount adherence toman-made traditionsin matters of whatwe believe. Our faithis not our own if wemindlessly accepted itbecause it was handeddown and we are notsure it can bear scrutiny.In my own situation I finally came to thedecision that I would not give my allegiance togroupthink and superficial spiritual customs nomatter how impressive or longstanding. It wasn’teasy to let go, gripped by an inherited belief systemit took me a long time to see the difference betweena vertical relationship with God and followingsupposedly sacred man-made dictates. Rather thanallow tradition keep control, I accepted a path thathas brought real freedom, peace and purpose. Inthis regard so many people are clearly missingthe wood for the trees, though many do it out ofignorance and inadequate consideration because42 The International IndianThe International Indian 43

DESH AUR DIASPORAFOREIGN AFFAIRSth16ANNI V ERSARYlife is so busy and their conceptof success is a destination.It is reasonable to have deepfriendships with people of thesame faith, and they can beespecially meaningful if thesearch for the truth is genuinelyshared. But major differencesof opinion are inevitable inspiritual discussions and they caneliminate friendships if they arenot received with an open mind orresolved. Iron can sharpen iron butin many situations where religionis controlled and manipulated,fundamentalism seems to breedeasily. Putting God in a little boxis another outcome because peerpressure is so high in closed faithcommunities. People quicklycreate a ‘mutual agreementsociety’ and nobody thinks toquestion the status quo. When someone comes along who challengesgroupthink or if an existing member wants to break free from theherd, conflict is inevitable - something most of us try to avoid. In myown faith journey and experience of what is mostly misunderstood as“Church,” I’ve abandoned the ‘bricks and mortar’ notion for a co-opwhere people are free to debate and engage one another with truth andgrace. This means risk and conflict occasionally, but only in such anetwork can personal growth happen and the meaning of loving oneanother be fully understood.Intimacy with immediate family probably presents the mostdifficult of all relational situations. Family values maybe foundationalfor Indians, nonetheless so is the complexity and hypocrisy that isoften well hidden. I come from a large familyand I am bewildered when I recall some of thedynamics of our unit until our lives stabilised andwe started to mature in our acceptance of one other,a process that still goes on. My observations andexperience leave me convinced that the ‘blood isthicker than water’ perception does not necessarilyendure or always apply across the board. Thepresumptions, expectations and often undeservedsentiments family members inflict on one anotherare astonishing. We wouldn’t dare to treat outsidersin our life the way we treat the people we aresupposed to love the most.Nonetheless the fact remains that all my deepfriendships had a significant impact on my life. Attimes they shifted important paradigms in crucialareas of my life that would otherwise have keptme going in directions I would not have wished tobe stuck in. But while I’m convinced about theircontribution, I believe I should have made themwider, and not permitted them to remain narrowand stifling, which is what happened to some ofthem. I can’t blame anyone, I know I have alsohad that effect on people who came across my pathand thought they needed my inputs for whateverreason. I’ve realized that trying to shield, rescue, judge, or managepeople’s lives around me, including my own children’s lives, my wifeand my friends is seldom a good idea. Better to admit we are all quitepowerless in this regard. People’s lives are their business and theirCreator’s - if they choose to have him involved. Others can play a roleonly if invited and in a very limited way.by:Sreeram ChauliaThe DenialSyndromeFor the truth to emerge from the cobwebs of denial, India must act.After 79 days of beating around the bush, the governmentof Pakistan finally accepted that the 26/11 terroristattacks in Mumbai were carried out by its nationalsfrom Pakistani soil. While Western pressure may haveforced Islamabad to belatedly admit that Indian claims ofPakistani involvement in the attacks were true, it is worth probing whydenial was resorted to in the first place.Just after 26/11, Pakistan issued its standard response of ‘no credibleevidence’ to prove the involvement of its nationals or intelligenceagency. As the weeks wore on, the proof piled up to implicate notonly Pakistan’s ‘non-state actors’ but also their state minders. Yet, thespiel of ‘no evidence’ grew louder in Islamabad. The reasoning behindthis strategy was to show that India was unfairly accusing Pakistan ofcomplicity in terrorism to tarnish its international reputation and thatNew Delhi has a “knee jerk” tendency to always scapegoat Islamabadfor its “domestic problems”.The ubiquitous state ‘agencies’ planted stories in the Pakistani mediathat the lone gunman captured alive from the sites of the attack- AjmalAmir (‘Kasab’)- was “kidnapped” in Nepal in 2006 and handed overto India to be pulled out like a rabbit from the hat for a Mumbai-likeoccasion. Nepal immediately denied this bizarre theory and the ploydid not sell internationally. However, Pakistan’s security apparatusThe world knew the truthand saw all the smokingguns, but it still allowed thePakistani state’s denial-cumevasiontactics to grow bolderwithout fear of costs, eachpassing day.achieved its objective ofconsolidating de facto controlat home by flooding newsprintand airwaves with the linethat India had yet to offer anycredible evidence and that‘pointing fingers’ at Islamabadwas a demonstration of NewDelhi’s eternal hostility andThat conspiracy theories havestrong political motives is notoften appreciated by peoplewho hear them and then castthem aside as gossip or uninformedsensationalism.aggressive intent.The more India got projectedas an unreasonable and reflexivefoe that instinctively searchesfor a Pakistani hand in everyviolent terrorist attack, the morea national consensus was builtup to back the army and the ISI’srejection of Indian demands forthe handover of most-wantedterrorists harboured by Pakistan.The world knew the truth andsaw all the smoking guns, but itstill allowed the Pakistani state’sdenial-cum-evasion tactics togrow bolder without fear ofcosts, each passing day. One ofthe biggest sources of relief forPakistan as India drummed updiplomatic pressure after 26/11came in the form of Islamabad’sall-weather strategic ally-China. The Chinese state pickedFrank Raj is the founder editorof The International Indian.(Part two of this series on friendship44will appear in TII’s next issue.)The International IndianThe International Indian 45

FOREIGN AFFAIRSPROFILESth16ANNI V ERSARY‘The politicisation of thesesocial biases is achievedthrough intelligenceagencies, which finessethem into arguments andforeign policy positions atthe international level.‘the baton where the ISI passed it and fanned the utterly absurdconspiracy theory that “Hindu fanatics” could be the perpetratorsof the Mumbai horror.Two days after the attacks, a report published in Renmin Ribao(People’s Daily), the official organ of the Chinese Communist Party,quoted “analysts” as saying that “radical elements from Hinduismcould also carry out this attack, because they have long opposedthe US’ hegemonistic policies” and since they were “unhappy withdomestic and foreign policies of the Congress-led government.” Li Wei,director of anti-terrorist studies of China’s Institute of ContemporaryInternational Relations told the official media that India was accusingPakistan to “cover up” its own “flaws and shortcomings.” This blatantChinese mimicking of Pakistani conspiracy theories after 26/11 stungIndians and warned them for the umpteenth time that trusting Beijingwas naïve.That conspiracy theories have strong political motives is notoften appreciated by people who hear them and then cast them asideas gossip or uninformed sensationalism. Malicious gossip aboutterrorist attacks does not of course originate always from jihadis andtheir sympathisers. When the Oklahoma City bombing occurred inthe United States in 1995, many Americans saw a “foreign hand” init, notably al Qaeda, and it was a hard pill to swallow for them whena white male was eventuallyconvicted for the attack. Atthe domestic social level,conspiracy theories thus relate tostereotypes of race, religion andethnicity that predestine thinkingindividuals to accept that, say, thedetested Muslim, Christian, Jewor Hindu is the ‘real’ perpetrator.The politicisation of these socialbiases is achieved throughintelligence agencies, whichfinesse them into arguments andforeign policy positions at theinternational level.Now that Pakistan hasacknowledged ‘partial’ responsibilityfor the Mumbai attacks, the questionremains whether all the perpetratorswill ever be brought to book. Theirony of the present junctureis that if India does heed theadvice of strategists and opensa covert front against the jihadiinfrastructure in Pakistan, it willreinforce the weight of the ISI andthe army in Rawalpindi and reifyall the anti-India phobias theypropagate in Pakistani society.But the price of doing nothingis worse for India, because thefears of a perpetually antagonisticIndia have already seeped intoPakistani society and the nextaudacious cross-border attackmay be only a few months oryears away.Sreeram Chaulia is a researcheron international affairs atthe Maxwell School ofCitizenship and Public Affairsin Syracuse, New York.by: Debasree S.The Magic of aHealing TouchDr. Zulekha Daud: UAE’sfirst expatriate woman doctor“The strength of a woman can carry the weight of the world”–Sarah Pezdek Smith, American-born Ukrainian artist, poet and writer.There is no doubt that the endearing matriarch of the Zulekhafamily and UAE’s first expatriate woman doctor, Dr. ZulekhaDaud makes a perfect protagonist in this context.In the early 1960’s when she came to the UAE from theAmerican Mission Hospital in Kuwait, the UAE was a vastexpanse of desert without any electricity and even potable water andmedical facilities were rudimentary to say the least, yet she stayed on toserve the people with a rare display of selfless dedication.“I got my strength from the overwhelming need of the people of thiscountry,” says Dr. Zulekha Daud, now the proprietor of the ZulekhaHealthcare Group, one of the largest private healthcare networks in the Gulf.“Those days, there was a crying need for qualified female gynaecologistswho attend to deliveries, since UAE women loathed to be treated by maledoctors. There were no hospitals and I used travel from door to door todeliver babies,” reminisces Dr. Zulekha in a rare interview with this writer.This soft-spoken and fraillady, now in her late 60’s hasan iron-will and a determinationto give her best despite allodds. At a time when mostwomen happily settled downto domestic bliss, she chose todevote herself to providing “thepeople and particularly womenof UAE the benefits of medicalprogress of the times.”Sometimes, an emergencycall in the wee hours of themorning would deprive her ofsleep, but she would go beyondthe call of duty to save the livesof those who trusted her. Toher, a job was a sacrosanctmission and her patients apart of an extended family.Though she startedpractising from her clinic inSharjah as early as in 1964,the Zulekha Hospital was setup in 1992.“I had to brave hard timeswith just a bag and a few basicmedical amenities. Therewere no nurses or assistants.I just knew that the womenneeded me, they came fromfaraway places and I couldnot fail them. “My biggest46The International IndianThe International Indian 47

PROFILESreward was when I saw thesewomen relieved of their anguishand holding their new-born intheir arms. Those were indeed mygreatest moments of satisfaction.”“In the 1960’s, medicalresearch hadn’t made such rapidstrides. We only had potassiumpermanganate, some sulphurdrugs and penicillin to counteractinfections. Tetracycline wasjust becoming popular. Themost common infections weremalaria, fever, diarrhoea andvomiting,” she reminisces.There were many trials andtribulations during deliveries.Sometimes the baby would be ina breach position, a cord prolapse,placenta previa etc, when thechances of survival were difficult.“I knew I had very little facilitiesand did my best under the difficultcircumstances.”Once when a womandelivered a premature baby andDr. Zulekha knew that she had nomeans to keep her alive, she justtried lip-to-lip resuscitation andbreathed a prayer and a miraclehappened –the baby lived on andthe parents brought the beautifulbaby girl to show to Dr. Zulekha,year after year, in an expressionof their gratitude.“The need for a qualifiedmedical practitioner was so greatat that time that I even had toattend to animals in distress forpatients who came from farawayplaces,” recalls Dr. Zulekha.Her tireless service tothe community did not gounrecognized. Within threedecades Dr. Zulekha, hadgenerated so much of goodwillwithin the community that she‘My biggestreward waswhen I sawthese womenrelieved oftheir anguishand holdingtheir newbornin theirarms. Thosewere indeedmy greatestmoments ofsatisfaction.‘was the first expatriate womanwho was allowed by the Rulers toset up her own hospital in Sharjah.In 1992 November the ZulekhaHospital Sharjah was foundedand believed in her philosophy:“Beyond specialty, besidesspecialists, there is something abit more special... the magic of ahealing touch.”There is an unmistakable auraabout her as she goes about herduty. Her employees are in aweand her patients eternally gratefulto be in such trusted hands --herquiet dignity and compassionclearly in evidence.Today, more than four decadesafter she reached the shores of UAEand dedicated herself to the peopleof UAE, she is completely at homehere and perfectly at peace withherself.But she remembers fondly, herearly life in Nagpur India whereshe grew up amidst a close-knitfamily and an orthodox Muslimcommunity. “This was the placewhere I spent my childhood,completed my schooling, collegeand, later, my MBBS degree atthe General Medical College.”Dr. Zulekha’s father SadiqVali, was in the constructionbusiness and her mother, Bilkis,a housewife. Neither pursuedhigher education, but the lostopportunities in their own livesonly convinced them that theirchildren should have accessto the very best of educationalopportunities. “I am indebted tothem for their outlook and theirefforts. We were three girls andtwo boys in the family.”“We had a lovely childhoodand were brought up like littletreasures. Our parents gave us alot of love and never discouragedus from doing anything. We gotopportunities to try out varioussports, learn music, art, and,above all, meet a lot of people.Their confidence in us made uswhat we are today. As I completedmy schooling, it was evidentto me that doctors had a specialniche in society and were greatlyrespected. That is what helped medecide my career.”Dr. Zulekha was made tobelieve by her parents that therewas nothing that girls couldn’tdo better than boys. “My motheralways taught us to take pride inbeing who we were. Small things,like good handwriting, well-keptbooks and neatness mattered toher, and she would never give upuntil we achieved some degree ofperfection in whatever we had setout to do. Thanks to my parents’perseverance, today my siblingsand I have achieved distinction inour respective fields.”As soon as she finished herinternship and her stint as a housesurgeon in general medicine,gynaecology and obstetrics,her parents arranged for her tomarry Dr Iqbal Daud who is anaccomplished ophthalmologist.It was in late 1962 that he wasoffered a job at the KuwaitiMission Hospital, Kuwait, andsuddenly she was faced with theprospect of leaving India. “I hadmixed feelings, but looked forwardto the new experience. We arrivedin Kuwait and I was surprised howwell organised it was.”“I began working as a GP forthe mission hospital. In 1963, Iwas expecting my first child. I stillremember vividly, the day I arrivedin Sharjah – August 12, 1964. Ihad mentally prepared myself for atough life and sent my son, Adil, toth16ANNI V ERSARYmy mother in Nagpur, as Dubai did not have any proper schools then. Thosedays, there was no proper airport or seaport in Dubai. There was a smallrunway that belonged to the British.”“To me, work is worship and when the authorities asked me where Iwould like to work, I had no reservations as to the choice of place. So theyput me in Sharjah. My husband was offered a job at the Kuwaiti MissionHospital in Dubai and he followed soon after. We used to live in Deira.”“It was a tough life but it was very challenging. I have alwaysloved challenges.”Dr. Zulekha has always held humane values very close to her heartand being a woman has helped her. “A woman’s maternal instinct of loveand compassion is a vital ingredient in the healing process,” explainsDr. Zulekha. Indeed Dr.Zulekha has attended tomore than 15,000 deliveriestill date, displaying acompassion and an empathythat only a woman can feelfor another.When Dr. Zulekhadecided to open the secondZulekha Hospital her firstin Dubai in 2005, she wasoffered the land free of costfrom the Government ofZulekha Hospital in DubaiDubai, as recognition forher service to the people ofthe UAE. The 75-beddedMulti-Specialty hospital has since proved to be a boon for the residentsof Al Qusais, Al Nahda and Mirdiff.“I have never worried about money or the profitability of any venture.I knew that I had been entrusted with a special responsibility and gave itmy best. Everything else fell into place. Today, the Zulekha HealthcareGroup has 45 specialities, a team of more than 125 specialist doctorsand 300 paramedical staff. “At the Zulekha Hospital, we treat ourpatients with concern, compassion and respect,” explains Dr. Zulekhaand her credo in life is expected to hold the group in good stead as itembarks on an ambitious expansion plan across the GCC countries.Looking into the future with characteristic insight, Dr. Zulekhasays:”The private sector has developed very well in this country andnow our medical standards are comparable to that in Europe and otherwestern countries. However the private and the public sector needs tocreate a synergy for the benefit of the people.” Going by her experienceand her understanding of the peoples’ pulse in the UAE, these are pearlsof wisdom that future generations could learn from.Debasree S. is a freelancewriter based in Dubai48 The International IndianThe International Indian 49

TRAVELLondon CallingVegetarians!by Monica ShawEver since London won the bid to host the2012 Olympics, the city has been scramblingto clean up its act. As a result, this oncesmoggy metropolis has transformed itselfinto a clean, green urban oasis. Parks are asDining on a Double-DeckerA visit to London isn’t complete without a ride on aRoutemaster bus. The double-deckers were retired in2005 but you can still get inside one at the Rootmastervegan café. The converted bus houses a kitchen onthe lower deck and a dining room up top. It’s perfectfor an affordable lunch break after a trip to SpitalfieldsMarket or a stroll down Brick Lane. The Rootmasteris also perfect for people watching: this part of townis brimming with designer clothes shops (and thefashionistas who love them).Rootmaster; Elys Yard, E1 6QL; +44 (0)79 12389314; www.root-master.co.ukOlympic fever is spreading and today’s London is better thanever for health-conscious, veggie-minded travelers.popular as pubs, bicycles are on the rise, farmer’s marketsare everywhere, and more restaurants and grocers areemphasizing organic, locally-sourced ingredients.Olympic fever is spreading and today’s London is betterthan ever for health-conscious, veggie-minded travelers.Dosa Ke SaathA raucous “beer and a curry” is most commonlycelebrated at one of the Bangladeshi restaurantshaggling for business along Brick Lane. Instead, headup north for less hassle and better food at Rasa, aSouth Indian restaurant whose all-vegetarian menu isconsistently delicious and surprisingly cheap. Don’tmiss out on the Dosas.Rasa; 55 Stoke Newington Church Street, N16 OAR;+44 (0)20 7249 0344; www.rasarestaurants.comth16ANNI V ERSARYCycling on the SouthbankOnce a marshy wasteland, the south bank of theThames now thrives with restaurants, markets, marinasand even a skateboard park. Rent a bike and explore thesix miles between Albert Bridge and Tower Bridge whereyou can tick off dozens of famous landmarks, includingParliament and Tower Bridge. Be sure to stop at TheTate Modern for a stroll across Millennium Bridge and astunning view of St. Paul’s Cathedral.London Bicycle Tour Company; 1a Gabriels Wharf,SE1 9PP; +44(0)20 7928 6838; www.londonbicycle.comMarket MadnessTucked between Victorian wrought-iron railwayarches, Borough Market is a foodie’s paradise. Whetheryou crave fine chocolate or a fresh pear, you’re sure tofind an edible treat among the dozens of gourmet foodstalls. Be sure to visit The Veggie Table for one of theirsavory burgers, all made with organic whole grains andlocally-grown vegetables. Tip: Go on Thursday to avoidthe crowds.Borough Market; 8 Southwark Street, SE1 1TL; +44(0)20 7407 1002; www.boroughmarket.org.ukHaute VegHankering for haute cuisine? Then there’s no betterchoice than The Gate Vegetarian Restaurant. Housed ina converted church, Gate’s changing menu will make youwish you brought more friends so you could sample allof their inventive dishes, such as shitake won-ton laksaand mushroom duxelle rotolo. Gluten-free options areavailable and most dishes can be prepared vegan.The Gate; 51 Queen Caroline Street, W6 9QL; +44(0)20 8748 6932; www.thegate.tv50 The International IndianThe International Indian 51

TRAVELRADIOth16ANNI V ERSARYBudget Lunch BreakIf you’ve spent all morning in Covent Garden andneed to pep yourself up for the afternoon, refuel yourengines at Food For Thought. Hidden underground, thesmall café serves healthy, wholesome vegetarian foodat cheap and cheerful prices. Exceptional quiches, freshsalads, and comforting stews are mainstays. Get thereearly to secure a seat.Food For Thought; 31 Neal Street, WC2H 9PR; +44(0)20 7836 9072Fancy a drink?Then head over to The Duke of Cambridge, theworld’s first certified organic gastro pub. Built in 1861on a quiet back street, this pub embodies the warm vibeof a traditional English pub. Pick your pint from a rangeof organic beers and ales, including Shoreditch Stoutand Pitfield Lager, both of which are vegan and locallybrewed by Pitfield Brewery.The Duke of Cambridge; 30 St Peters Street, N1; +44(0)20 7359 3066; www.dukeorganic.co.ukPicnic in the ParkFrom lavish royal gardens to cozy public squares,London’s plentiful parks are perfect for alfresco dining.Work up an appetite with a walk up Primrose Hill inRegent’s Park where you can enjoy a fantastic view withyour picnic. Or venture north to Hampstead Heath whereit’s easy to find a private spot in this 791-acre park. If youwant to stay local and happen to be lunching at Food forThought (see above), take your food to go and escapeto the cozy Phoenix Garden, a community-run retreathidden behind the Phoenix Theatre.Monica Shaw is a Chicago nativecurrently living, writing and cycling inLondon. You can find her on theweb at monicashaw.com.Charu Dhawanby: Muaz ShabandriGone are the dayswhen one had topush the play buttonon a cassette playerto listen to theirfavorite songs. With four stationsin the UAE playing music of allgenres from the subcontinent,NRI’s are never at a loss for thekind of music they are used tofrom back home.One of the first Hindi-UrduFM radio stations in UAE startedtransmissions from Umm AlQuwain on 1st March, 1998. Thelaunch marked the dawn of a newera in the radio history of UAE.Operating on the 106.2 frequency,the channel is celebrating its11th year of operations this year.Originally conceived as a puremusic, no-nonsense station theHum FM frequency today featuresa scintillating mix of countdownshows, cricket commentary andthe even the call to prayer. Thename “HUM FM” was chosenthrough a contest in which morethan 1,200 participants suggestedthe name since it stood for Hindi,Urdu and Malayalam.“The UAE is home to a lot ofpeople from the subcontinent. Atthe time we started operations,At home with UAE’sHindi radio stationsWith the UAE having one of the world’s highestratio of vehicles to population, radio listenership ismore dependent on traffic patterns. For NRI’s it’slike home away from home.there was no station with 24 hourprogramming playing Hindi orUrdu songs” recalls ZeeshanAhmed, Director (Programming)at Hum FM.Known for live cricketcommentary, Hum FM is one ofthe only stations to feature livecricket updates from the venue.When asked about the infusion ofcricket commentary on a musicchannel, Zeeshan responded bysaying, “Cricket is big. Peoplecoming from the subcontinentsimply love the game and itis a very significant aspect oftheir lives. That is why cricketconstitutes an important part ofHarsha hosting thedrive time showour programming”.Radio continues to befrienda whole lot of people who livealone in the UAE. Serving as acompanion to the multitudes ofsingle people, radio has continuedto fill the longings of people basedaway from their homes.Featuring a snazzy mix of hitmusic and retro classics, 89.1Radio4FM started operationsin 1998 as the second radiostation targeting people from thesubcontinent. The station haslived up to its repute as one ofUAE’s best stations since startingoperations.“We believe in playing the52 The International IndianThe International Indian 53

RADIOth16ANNI V ERSARYBehind the scenes: Farrukh Viquarreflecting his thoughts on the air wavesbest of the best. What we follow is a popular format of radio whichanybody and everybody can associate with. The only challenge isto maintain continuity and come up with new features and excitingcompetitions to keep the listener engaged” reveals Charu Dhawan,Programme Controller – 89.1 Radio4FM.“The listener’s are so different over here. We have very informedlisteners who add on, correct your mistakes and make the radioexperience interactive and enjoyable at the same time,” she enthuses.Contemporary hit radio also known as CHR is one of the mostdominant forms of radio programming in this part of the world. CHRfocuses on playing current and recent popular music as determined bythe top 40 music charts.City 101.6 featuring some of the brightest names inthe UAE radio industry was founded in 2001. Celebratingits seventh anniversary on 12th May this year, the stationcomes along as a witty and wacky one. City looks at thebrighter side of life, tickling funny bones and twistinglife’s demands into humorous little episodes.Speaking to TII, Sonia Parasnis, ProgrammingManager, Asian Services – Arabian Radio Network,said, “The endeavor right from the start was to dothings differently. There are lots of radio stations thatplay Bollywood music, and feature celebrity interviewsin their talk shows. What we did at City was to tryand package things in a manner which was a lot moreinteresting, a lot more fun and entertaining than some ofthe other stations. Our efforts are always to try and dothings differently.”She added, “I think any FM radio station is a reflectionof the community we are in. City is doing exactly thesame thing; Dubai is young, Dubai is happening, thingsare constantly changing and that’s exactly what we arereflecting on air.”With the UAE having one of the world’s highestratio of vehicles to population, radio listenership is moredependent on traffic patterns. The concept of primetimeprogramming is based largely on drive time in this region.Kritika Rawat, Breakfastshow host at City 101.6Drive time consists of morninghours when listeners wake up, getready and head to work or school.Breakfast shows feature thehighest listenership in this regardas people turn to radio as a formof entertainment while driving towork.“Dubai has a very substantialchunk of prime time. In the fourhours of your breakfast show, youcapture the essence of a station,whether it is the fun and humorelement, or the social angle, youhave the highest listenership on abreakfast show.”Hinglish, a hybrid of Englishand South Asian languages usedboth in Asia and UK is kickingdust among the masses of UAE.This blend of Hindi and Englishis widely used by RJ’s across thePecker at the ARN studios inMedia citycountry to entice listeners.“People from the subcontinenthave a very healthy mix of Hindiand English which we know asHinglish. It is a very pertinentform of communication in Dubaiand that is why the presentersusually speak in Hinglish ratherthan using heavy Urdu or Hindias a means of communication”explains Sonia.Kritika Rawat, BreakfastShow host at City 101.6 says,“There is a thin line of differencebetween a good RJ and a greatRJ. A good RJ entertains peopleduring the show whereas a greatRJ is one who is talked abouteven after the show gets over.”Kritika who hosts the ‘EnglishBreakfast Desi Mem’ show from7 to 10 is known for her vibrantand pulsating talks early in themorning. Kritika’s most popularsegment is Birthday Pappu, whereshe puts birthday people on thespot when they get a surprise callfrom her in the morning.Radio Spice 105.4 FM, oneof the most recent additions tothe existing lineup of Hindi radiostations in the UAE is keepingpace with some of its betterknown competitors. The stationwhich started operations a fewmonths back is the first to partner astrategic alliance with BBC to providelistener’s with up-to-date happeningsincluding the latest news from aroundthe globe.“Radio is one of the fastest mediumsto reach people at a low cost. It is amedium which completely personifies aperson’s lifestyle,” says Herman Lewis,CEO & Managing Director – RadioSpice.He believes the scope of radio is nolonger confined to entertainment as infotainment also plays an activerole in communicating with the masses.“It is a very powerful tool in shaping one’s thinking, emotions andlifestyle. Unfortunately, the power of radio has been underrated aspeople fail to understand the effectiveness of the medium,” he says.Deepa Narwani, an avid radio enthusiast and a student says, “UAEis one of the very few countries in this region to have radio stationsplaying Bollywood songs. I feel fortunate that I get to hear some reallytalented RJ’s and amazing songs whenever and wherever I want.”She laments the fact that radio stations are reluctant to experimentwith new programming formats.“There is a lot of scope for improvement in radio shows which arebroadcast here. The infusion of knowledge based programming intoexisting formats can create a lot of vistas for infotainment.”Hindi radio hascome a long waysince it started adecade ago. Whatstarted as one Hindi-Urdu radio stationin the UAE has ledto the establishmentof several musicchannels that cater tothe expat population.A proliferation ofHerman Lewis of Radio Spiceradio channels isexpected to take placein the coming years which will give listeners more choice over what to hear.At par with some of the best radio stations found around the globe,broadcasters in the UAE are faced with a realm of endless possibilities.So, tune in and keep listening to the constantly changing world of radio!Muaz Shabandri is a freelancewriter based in Dubai54 The International IndianThe International Indian 55

PARENTINGth16ANNI V ERSARYRaising ChildrenAway from IndiaNurturing young minds with a sense of belongingby: Urmila SantoshBishan & Sheeba Ghoshwith their daughter RaptiThe very name ‘India’,has associationswhich few othercountries in the worldcan evoke. Home toexotic jungles and forests, lushriver valleys and barren deserts,busy modern cities and quietvillages, India is contemporaryyet ancient and mysterious.Occupying this vast and variedFor the average Indian living in the Gulf, memoriesof India bring with them a feeling of nostalgia,a sense of belonging and patriotism.landscape, is an intriguingmixture of people whose varietyin race, language, custom, tradition, art and religion bringscolour to every aspect of life and probably creates the strongsense of community all Indians have..The UAE has been the preferred choice of country in theMiddle East for most Indians. NRIs here are a communitybound by common sentiments of cultural interest, religion,and patriotism towards their land and towards preservingtheir heritage. They help each other in times of need andcelebrate festivals and other ceremonies together; in bringingup their children with the same values as their cousins backhome thay share common experiences and emotions. TheGulf offers a comfortable standard of life compared toIndia, in terms of a tax-free income and a relatively peacefulenvironment. However, there is a constant conflict to stayin touch with one’s native culture, language and customs.More so now as the children of Indian expatriates increasingly preferto study at international schools in the UAE.TII decided to ask a few Indian parents living in the UAE abouttheir concerns for how their children learn to appreciate their heritageand develop a love for their roots.A perfect blend of the east and the south is the essence of the Ghoshfamily who reside in the Khalidiyah area in Abu Dhabi, and are parents toeight year old Rapti. This couple have always tried to ensure their daughteris well-grounded in the richness of Indian culture. Sheeba is a MalayaleeChristian, while her husband Bishan is a Bengali Hindu; so their daughter isexposed to the rich customs and traditions of both communities. AlthoughRapti is not very conversant with either parent’s language, she keenlyparticipates in both Hindu and Christianfestivals which the family celebrate withjoyous gaiety in their home. Sheeba andBishan are really particular that littleRapti understands while it’s okay to takein other cultures, it’s equally important toretain her Indian identity.Growing up in multicultural environments, kids pickupcertain mannerisms which isunavoidable. It is then, thatparents need to make a specialeffort to explain how differentcultures allow or disallow certainpatterns of behaviour; and thatto understand each other it isessential to have a strong sense ofbelonging and knowledge aboutone’s native roots.While an education procuredat an international school inthe UAE is at par with globalstandards; it throws open adiverse multicultural environmentwhich necessitates interactionwith students from other cultures,Sandeep & Swati Kadwe withlanguages, accents and such. Sotheir son Harshwardhanmuch so, that expatriate Indianand daughter Gayatrichildren must work hard to beaccepted by their peer group and there are chances that it may affecthow they view their native Indian culture. They see India mainly onTV, via DVDs or websites and occasionally when they visit Indiaon vacations; so it’s difficult to imagine that they will have the sameemotional attachment to India as their parents do.Meet the Katrak family, who think differently. They are Zoroastriansand live in Abu Dhabi with their seven year old daughter Mahzarin.Although she has been brought up in the UAE; she enjoys celebratingNavroze and Parsi New Year with her parents and their close socialcircle. She also shows a lot of keenness in knowing more about thestories related to the festival and therituals and asks a lot of questions.The Katraks are particular sherespects elders and develops aninterest in contributing her miteto society. Patriotism for India,respect for the national flag and the national anthem are simple butimportant lessons they have tried to teach and develop in her.Younger kids, especially those below the age of 10, are at a stagewhere they are fascinated by folktales, mystique and mythology.Producers of Indian animated films are leaving no stone unturned intheir efforts to reach their largest target audience - kids! Most of India’sgreat epics like the Ramayana and Mahabharata for example, have alsobeen produced in their animated avatars.Educational lessons are being passed on through entertainment fortoday’s generation. Technology is playing a role in repackaging ancientfolklore, to ensure it is passed onto the next generations. Hopefullythe scope and quality ofthese will improve to includethe best of Indian literatureand the great classics ofwriters like Tagore, BankimChandra Chatterji etc.Sharjah-based coupleSandeep and Swati Kadwecompletely endorse theidea of instilling deeprootedIndian values in theirprogeny. The family hailsfrom Maharashtra and havetwo children Harshvardhanaged six and Gayatri,two plus, who are veryinterested in stories abouttheir native festivals, andimmensely enjoy regularfolktale sessions with theirdad. A discussion with Sandeepreveals the many perspectives hehas on rearing his children witha strong sense of Indianness.Although Gayatri is too young,Harshvardhan shows a keeninterest in reading religious booksalongside his parents. The couplewould like to enrol him for Indianvocal classical music lessons,The strong sense of community, probably stems fromthe great diversity of India’s people, languages, customs,traditions, art and religion that all Indians cherishbut apparently there are no suchprofessional facilities where theylive. Whenever they travel backhome for vacations, Sandeeptakes his son to his family’sfarms and shows him the variousplantations - Harshvardhan haseven planted a couple of treesby himself! Vacation time alsomeans visiting extended familyand interacting with cousins – the56 The International IndianThe International Indian 57

PARENTINGbenefits of socialinteraction withmany kids his agewhich he misses inthe UAE.Despite all thecultural pitfalls,Gulf NRI parentsVishal & Meghna Gupta with theirstill choose todaughter Kalyani and son Bhaskarraise their kids inthe GCC for themain reason thatcompared to western countries that are faraway for regular trips backhome, places like the the UAE are geographically closer to India andthere’s a large Indian community here.Vishal Gupta and his wife Meghna have also moved to Abu Dhabifor similar reasons. Parents of two cherubic children, Kalyani aged fiveand Bhaskar aged two; the couple also feel that although the culture inthe UAE is in many ways dissimilar to India, it still feels good to livehere. The family belongs to Uttar Pradesh and they celebrate all theirnative festivals with equal gusto. Their kids enjoy watching Indiananimated films like Hanuman Returns, Bal Ganesh etc., and lovedressing up in ethnic wear and listening to the stories associated witheach festival. Vishal and Meghna rue thefact that there are not too many peoplethey know in their friends’ circle whocelebrate the smaller Indian festivalsin their homes. Although Vishal’s wifealso works and they admit to not beingable to spend too much time with thechildren to regularly read stories andfolktales to them; they try and do theirbit by inculcating the right valuesin them. Indian culture is also aboutrespecting our elders, remembering to bethankful for God’s blessings everyday,and learning to adjust with the variousmembers in the family. They have aMerezban & Dilber Katraksmall mandir at home where the family with their daughter Mahzaringathers to worship everyday. Fromtime to time their extended family fromIndia come for visits and in the process the children learn to love andunderstand the value of family and friends in their lives.For the average Indian living in the Gulf, memories of India bringa feeling of nostalgia, a sense of belonging and patriotism. Many havespent their formative years and early youth, growing up in a culturethat means so much to them. Living away from our native land, allwe have are memories; of family,friends, the town or village wegrew up in and so on.Parents who choose to bringup their children outside ofIndia do know that unless theymake an effort to impart therichness of their native culture,our children’s ancient heritagewill soon be extinct over thegenerations. Our food, ourtraditions, our rituals are all sounique and that’s what makesus unique in the great mosaic ofpeople from all over the world.All the families we interviewedare of the same opinion, that nomatter where their kids will goas they find their place in thesun, they will first be known asIndians and for that they need toknow more and be proud of theirethnicity. For all the painstakingeffort that it takes today, therewards will hopefully be visibleand worthwhile tomorrow.Urmila Santosh is a freelancewriter based in Abu DhabiVIEW POINTMy God and II do not have a particular God I believe in. In fact, I believe in themall — which is another way of saying I believe in the power of God.by: Karan ThaparIngrid Betancourt saidsomething on the BBC thatmade me stop and think.“When it comes to God, it’sthe questions you ask thatreally matter.”As I heard her, I instinctively‘knew she was right. In my case,it’s not whether he exists that’simportant, but whether I’mprepared to admit I need him.Today, in my fifties, I can accept Ido. Whether I call that need God,or hide it from myself by usingsome other term, is a matter ofmere detail. At its core lies therealisation that there are timeswhen God, or hope — or anassurance — is necessary.But was that always the case?Yes, except I wasn’t honestabout it. In my twenties or thirties,I claimed to be an agnostic. On theone hand, I did not have the certaintyto be an atheist; but, on the other, Iwould guard myself by observingall the superstitions I knew of.But when most in need,expediency would overpower mydeclared agnosticism! On suchoccasions I would actually bargainwith God. So, for example, toensure the right results after a bigexam, I would strike a deal: ifyou give me a first, I would say,I will give up X and Y. Then, totwist his hand, I would make mysacrifice first. Reassurance layin my presumptuous confidenceGod would deliver. Silly as itmay sound, renunciation wasmy tool to propitiate — or, do Imean bribe? — the power thatdetermines all our futures.Over the years, as I have cometo understand myself, I have alsorealised what I was doing. I waseither camouflaging a need forGod — or hope or reassurance —or, worse, contradicting myself.If I were to say the confidence ofyouth explains my earlier refusalto fully believe, you would beright to riposte that advancing...there was asudden acceptanceof a truth, thecomfortable feelingthat you have alwayssuspected somethingto be true butnever beforerecognised it.58 The International IndianThe International Indian 59‘age has probably conditioned mypresent acceptance.Whatever the explanation,I’m no longer cold or distant toour human need for belief. It’s asmuch a part of our make-up ashunger or desire. Indeed, I wouldgo further and say I don’t know ifGod exists, but I do know we needhim. So, if he is our creation he isundoubtedly the most invaluableone. For, to him we look when weknow we cannot help ourselves.But let me be more explicit.I do not have a particular Godth16ANNI V ERSARYI believe in. In fact, I believe inthem all — which is another wayof saying I believe in the powerof God. And indeed, if I’mhonest, I only turn to him when Ineed him. It’s like food; the lureis powerful when you’re hungryand very different when sated.Which is why, even now, I thinkof him as hope or reassurancerather than the Almighty. Youcan’t have failed to notice I usethe words synonymously.I suspect Ingrid Betancourt’srelationship with God — or a hopeor reassurance — was essentiallyno different, only more desperateand more intense. And I assumethat would also be true of many ofyou who are reading this column.It’s just that her years of dreadfulcaptivity forced upon her anunderstanding that comes to the restof us only with the slow passageof time. (Betancourt was rescuedin July 2008 , after six years inthe captivity of the RevolutionaryArmed Forces of Colombia.)Listening to her on theradio, I could feel the pennydrop. Admittedly, there was noaudible clunk but there was asudden acceptance of a truth, thecomfortable feeling that you havealways suspected something to betrue but never before recognised it.Awareness — if that’s whatit is — happens in strange,inexplicable ways. Now, is thatGod’s work or just coincidence?Karan Thapar is a columnistin the Hindustan Times

MOTOR MAMLA‘More Zoom-Zoom’in every wayth16ANNI V ERSARYGaladari Automobiles launches The All-New Mazda 6 Ultra 3.7L V6by a staff writerThe automotive industry of the UAEwitnessed the launch of a car thatoffers ‘more’ than any in its category,when Galadari Automobiles launchedthe bigger, bolder and more powerfulAll-New Mazda6 Ultra 3.7 Litre V6. The All-New Mazda6 Ultra 3.7 Litre V6 is Mazda’s forayinto offering a whole new sense of refinement - an‘exclusive experience’ - of a car that leads the fieldin this class. Introducing The All-New Mazda6Ultra, Mr. G. A. Kazmi, General Manager, GaladariAutomobiles said, “The All-New Mazda6 Ultraconstitutes ‘more’ in a car - ‘more’ power with abreathtaking 3.7 Litre V6 engine; ‘more’ luxury andstyle with 9 sophisticated colours and 3 rich interiorfinishes and ‘more’ space with enhanced legroomand cargo carrying capacity in its class!”Mr. Hiroshi Kajiyama, Programme Manager,All-New Mazda6 Ultra had this to say. “The All-New Mazda6 Ultra is aimed at achieving best-inclass.It is a more premium vehicle than the Mazda6.It is quite simply, the best Mazda sedan ever.Product Concept - ‘Zoom-Zoom’ Evolution.The product concept for the Mazda6 Ultra was“Zoom-Zoom Evolution”. And to bring this conceptto full fruition, a no-compromise stance with “bestin segment” as a key phrase was adopted. Mazda6’ssporty styling and handling were enhanced withoutcompromising the packaging and practicalityrelatedattributes, while quality was raised – anessential factor in achieving best-in-segment status.This strategy was entirely consistent with Mazda’sZoom-Zoom approach to designing and buildingcars, with the Zoom-Zoom Evolution concept splitinto into three key values: (1) emotional and sporty;(2) insightful packaging; and (3) an exclusiveexperience.Key Value 1: Emotional and SportyMazda6 Ultra has the exciting styling and drivingperformance to delight people every time they see ordrive it. Key attributes are:• Sporty styling that stirs the emotions.• A look that reflects Japanese aesthetics,completely different from any other CD* car.• Driving performance allowing the driver tointeract with the car and achieve a feeling of onenesswith it.Key Value 2: Insightful PackagingMazda6 Ultra combines a wealth of packaginginnovations with attractive styling.Key attributes are:• Interior comfort combined with sporty styling.• Flexible, easy-to-use space with well-thoughtoutluggage capacity.Key Value 3: Exclusive ExperienceMazda6 Ultra offers the highest levels ofcraftsmanship inspiring owners to feel pride ofownership and a strong emotional bond with it. Keyattributes are:• Driving pleasure that satisfies mature tastes.• Exquisite craftsmanship deriving from a desireto please people and increase their comfort.• A cabin environment and equipment that assuresdriver comfort.* Although more generally known worldwide asthe D segment, traditionally Mazda refers to it as theCD segment.60 The International IndianThe International Indian 61

INDIAN AMERICANSth16ANNI V ERSARYEconomy Perils forIndian Americansby: Prem Souri KishoreNine in ten Indian Americans say theyare worried. “ I‘m panicking“ says VirShah, a computer executive on a workvisa“ Two million jobs have been lost,several industries‘need to be bailedout, factories are closing, and the Dow is plungingevery day. I hate to wake up in the mornings.”It’s 2009. Revenue declines are dramaticallyworsening every day.Consumers are desperatelycutting back on spending whilemergers and aquisitons take adive and credit markets collapse.Unemployment is rising and realestate values are sliding evenmore rapidly. It’s deep recessionin America.How did this happen?The financial disaster wasinevitable for the nation’sborrow recklessly and spendlavishly mentality for the past30 years. “People lived farbeyond their means and theynow want federal help, benefitsand mortgage modifications.”says an enraged analyst. ”What did you expect usto do when cars tempted us with their latest models,homes were available for a song, and vacationdreams were just a click away;“says Chetan a youngmarried computer executive who works in UCLA.“Who is guilty, the entrepreneur and advertiserwho made fantasy dreams come true or the gullibleconsumer who lived irresponsibly? “ he adds.Many Indians have given up their vacation, staying longer hours at theoffice to make themselves visible as hard workers, hoping they willnot be put aside when the crunch hits their particular job.Unemploymentis rising and realestate valuesare sliding evenmore rapidlyIt’s recession inAmerica, DeepRecession.“Why have we allowed fat salaries for the topguns?Why have we not protested,” rages Anuradha, acommunications, development director in the artsfacility. “Health insurance benefits are being cutthanks to CEO’s retiring with colossal amountsof money flying in private planes, vacationing inexotic locations and buying up islands. What is thesolution? It’s clear we have to restructure our lives.We have to recreate jobs in theinternal market. We must lookfor opportunities and challengeourselves, and downsizedrastically. As for my family wedo not overspend, we did notinvest blindly, we did not lose,we pay as we go, so we havenot fallen into credit pits nor wedid we borrow money. So weare okay. We did the right thing.But what happens if we lose ourjobs? Thankfully we still havesupport back in India but whatof the others?”“Every investment isbecoming worthless , warnsDeepak a financier”, only goldis of value. But be careful hew warns, “you may beburglarized or worse because everyone know Indianshoard gold.” He adds it is wise to think of foreigninvestments. “Immigration attorneys and collectionagencies are the only flourishing professions in theUS today,” is his parting shot.Indian professionals are worrying about layoffsas companies will certainly reduce hiring abroad to‘save money. The rising employment is making laidoff Indian workers scramble to law firms to see howlong they can staylegally in a countrywhile looking forjobs. Half a millionworkers are onwork or H-IB visasand have appliedfor green cards.Many came todo their graduatestudies andcontinued to work.Economists predictthat unemploymentwill hit an all timehigh this year andkeep climbing.”You could qualifyfor unemploymentbenefits for sometime,” suggests Vinitha, a lawyer “but you will haveto get a job quickly bec`ause these benefits alsomight dry up.”An American business friend however isalarmed at the layoffs. “What will happen if all thebright, intelligent workers return to their homelandsand create projects over there? America will be theloser,” he says anxiously. For sure, as companiesbelt up, fewer visas will be issued to foreignworkers. Hiring abroad will certainly take a backseat. Following the dot com bust, hundreds of Indianworkers have already returned home after losingjobs in management, manufacturing and technologycompanies. “I only hope if I lose my job, I will gettime to hunt for a job, switch to another visa,or settlemy affairs, like selling my condo, which of coursewill be a heartache as prices have fallen, “moansRajesh a software engineer.”I know it is uselessapplying for a green card now as there are thousandsin line and it will take years.”My retired doctor friend Viji, a general physicianconfided that she will have to go back to work thisyear and if they cannot afford me on a fulltimeplan, I hope they offer me part time,” she said. Belttightening consumers are trying to avoid bankruptcyas they struggleto make endsmeet. Couples aredelaying havingkids during therecession. Thechief of obstetricsat UCLA, DrKhalil Tabshin an article inthe LA Timessays, “Peoplewill think twicebefore havingkids, Parents whoalready have oneor two or threekids will probablydefer pregnancyuntil things getbetter.” Fertility specialists have seen fewer clientsappearing in their office. They are even offeringdiscounts. Those looking to adopt are putting theirplans on hold.In the entertainment industry, networks restructure,fire, and battle with advertisers. Fewer films willbe produced this year. Scriptwriters, musicians,technicians, production crews have been laid off bythe hundreds in Los Angeles.Raghu and Deepa who have been in the actingindustry for the past ten years are not being calledto auditions nor can they get voiceover work as theentertainment industry is refusing to take on newprojects fearful of the future. They are consideringdoing solo acts and taking their show to universitiesand schools. The community college near my homeis cutting 20 classes this year and firing at least 40teachers. Some accept the decision gracefully,” saysYasmine an administrator, ”Others breakdown andcollapse. It is heartrending.”Losing a job could mean not being able to visityour family back home. Many Indians have givenup their vacation, staying longer hours at the office64The International IndianThe International Indian 65

INDIAN AMERICANSth16ANNI V ERSARYto make themselves visible as hard workers hopingthey will not be put aside when the crunch hits theirparticular job. Those on work visas and green cardspray ardently that they will not be affected. V Mohan,a retired computer executive decided to return toChennai with his wife for two years as he foundthat he could not afford to pay health insurance forhimself and his wife. His part time job did not coverhealth benefits. He hopes to return when his wifequalifies for Medicare because he wants to be nearhis daughters who live here. The Khans from Poonawho have been living here for four years, say they,will be forced to move back to India, move in withparents and start anew. Thankfully the children aresmall and they will adjust easily. But how will wetake the transition? Will we find jobs?”Indian businesses in Artesia or Little India, a milelong stretch of hyped boutiques, jewellery, and grocerystores, threading parlors, and restaurants are reelingunder the harsh reality of a desperate economy. Themerchants are hoping that the Obama government willmake sweeping changes and get their business on aneven keel. Otherwise they fear they will have to findalternative means of livelihood. Quite a few shopshave already downed shutters and weekends that sawa vibrant and steady stream of shoppers not only fromIndia but other nationalities are now listless placeswith shops offering huge discounts and other highend businesses luring customers with luxury watcheslike Piaget, Chopard and Cartierin order to entice their upscaleclients.Cutting down on expenses,plowing back profits and beingpositive should be the criteriasay some of the businessowners. “Customers only buyessentials, and do not go onshopping sprees like before,”says a fabric store owner whodoes not want to be named. Butas far as travel was concerned,air tickets to India sold out!Economy fallout or not, Indianssimply have to go back to India.Beauty salons are hurtingtoo. Hema, my threading ladysays business has fallen rapidly. People do not comefor threading regularly preferring to tweeze at home,and facials are considered too much of a luxury.Forget about massages,” she says wryly. I have seennotices in salons with special promotions,: Buy oneget one free facial, Hair cut free with hair coloringand coupons offered for future appointments.Only the bridal shops were busy as marriages keephappening even during a spiraling economy.The signs of tough times are everywhere.Restaurant tables around chic spots are empty,Gourmet magazine even offered a recipe calledThe Depression Special. At a time when the pricesof groceries makes you wince, many families aresaving money by not frequenting restaurants andinstead learning how to cook. Most working familieshave depended on Lean Cuisine packaged meals,or pizzas, or happy meals, but with tight budgetscooking up a meal at home and eating leftoversbecomes very appealing. Some folks are growingtheir own tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, beets, herbsand potatoes in their back garden. Inexpensiveingredients are purchased and people eat simply.Young couples like Kartik and Meena are movingin with their parents as the mortgages are too highor the rents today are not affordable. Three and fourcar families are carpooling and giving up their cars.People are even abandoning their pet cats and dogsas dog and cat food are pricey items. Shelters are fullof cats, dogs and even guinea pigs.During the winter holiday season, Los AngelesTimes ran a column of home made gifts. Instead ofsending a turkey to those you held dear, or expensivegift cards, and pashmina shawls, the author advisedgift senders to bake muffins or even breadsticks.Wrap them in parchmentpaper and tied with a bowshe urged. I bet lots of folksfollowed up on it. I hardlysaw any festive greetingcards in shops. Everyonewas emailing their wishesand there were plenty offree websites offering theirdesigns. My neighbors sentbottles of jam while anotherpicked up Thai chilies,submerged them in winevinegar, garlic and thymeand gifted it to her colleague.One thing we all learnedwas to be frugal, and cutback on parties; hey, evenour street, which usuallylit up like Disneyland hada muted display of lights.As the ethicist BruceWeinstein said, ”Its okay tobe a tightwad. You shouldn’tspend what you don’t have.”On New Years Day, wewent to the mountains for alittle peace, and quiet. Theone lane steep mountain roadwas like a frenzied mall.Everywhere, families werepiled into pickups, trucks, cars, bikes, and vans. I guessno one wanted to spend money on New Year partiesand preferred to spend an afternoon in the quiet naturesurroundings. We turned back not wanting to driveamidst traffic and drove into a side road embracedby forests, ravines and a stunning landscape. Thisis where Pamela Anderson lives, I was told by mycousin Dominic as he pointed out a lonely house on amountain. Further down were dozens of magnificenthomes, brand new, empty and unsold. It was like aghost community. Lonely, abandoned and lifeless, thestructures of homes stood like sentinels over a desertedlandscape, mirroring the despair and emptiness ofmillions hurting all over the country.Yes it’s a chorus of bad economic news. Mycousin Hemalatha Souri Parsons who lives inLondon and Californiaand is experiencing thefallout in both countries,says “pray”. We are doingthat more earnestly thanever. My husband and Ihave already lost a fewthousand dollars fromthe 401 K debacle andpray that the remainderof our savings will notdisappear. More peopleare going to churches,temples and mosques. Allthe recession horrors willforce us to spend moretime with our families,make us step back anddespise our consumeristculture, encourage usto recycle, make us livewithin our means andnot be greedy capitalists.A University Professorof English pointed outthat in the 1930’s JamesAgee, Nathaniel West,and Henry Roth producedgreat literature. ”The GreatDepression was one of thegreat creative periods ofour time,”he said. Try telling this to the hundredsof journalists who lost their jobs at Los AngelesTimes and Chicago Tribune. It is a trying time andwe have to rise to meet the challenge and learn notto live and die by Wall Street fortunes. Keep thefaith I urge everyone, we shall overcome.Prem Souri Kishore is a freelancewriter based in Los Angeles66The International IndianThe International Indian 67

th16ANNI V ERSARY68 The International IndianThe International Indian 69

INVESTMENTth16ANNI V ERSARY“In terms of investments,we can easily assumethat 2009 is going to bea poor year for stocks,”says Kunal Sengupta ofIndian investments.What a difference ayear has madeSource: www.bseindia.comby: Archisman DindaThe word ‘hope’ isendemic to humanbeings. It is that whichmotivates humans towork and move frompersonal and collective nadirstowards a more enhanced future.Hence, it is with that same hopefor a better calendar year (CY) Iended my last bi-monthly column.Unfortunately, CY 2009 has notstarted with the best of omens thatwe all prayed for. However, thereis a significant psychological andpathological difference between thetwo. At the start of CY 2008, theIndian economy was plagued by highoil prices, high commodity prices,and high employee costs - alongwith a shortage of skilled labour.In 2009, India has the advantage oflower oil and commodity prices -and a more stable labour pool thatcan be relied on to contribute to thegrowth of companies. “The greedfactor is out and suddenly peopleare going back to their roots andfrugal living is cool,” believes apsychiatrist from a leading institutein India. “Remember the flurrythat took place even in living roomswhere the word share market wascompletely nonexistent even a yearbefore or the sheer hysteria with theReliance Power IPO.”Nevertheless, the real crisis that India business faces this year is notfrom outside but from within. Though Indian entrepreneurs have donewell in such difficult times, despite the government, not because theseentrepreneurs work in a supportive government framework. Ministerswho formulate policies are predisposed by lobbies and are not guided bynational interest alone. This very nature of doing business can eventuallylead to their undoing. There are managements in India - who will be happyto take advantage of bad laws or the silence of investors to further theirprivate wealth, at the cost of the larger shareholder base. There were twonotable such events last year: Ranbaxy and Satyam. The government, asa majority shareholder in many entities, is also guilty of using many listedcompanies to further its political objectives - and putting the price tag onthe silent, minority shareholders. Expect more theft. “Society has to putsimilar pressure on to companies like the way they are dealing with thepoliticians right now to make sure that they pay a very high price for suchdubious activities,” said Rama Sen, a social activist.Though the UPA government is now taking major steps to make sure thatSatyam survives and so does its 53,000 strong work force, many believe,it’s too late and too little. “The major question is why the system permitsindividuals to satiate their greed. Why were major checks and balances notin place? Today the government has dismissed its board and has appointedsome key people, but it will take Satyam and the IT industry as a whole toovercome such a problem,” said Kiran Mangeshkar, a leading corporateanalyst. Secondly, the present Congress government in Andra Pradesh hasconstituted a committee to probe the company, but they were the ones whohad all the praises for Ramalinga Raju’s corporate governance, awardinghim with many infrastructural projects. “To siphon off Rs. 7,000 crores, hemust have at least spent Rs. 1,000 crores. Now those who received thosepaybacks are equal culprits and should be booked,” cribbed a leader of abusiness house, requesting anonymity.In all our previous columns, we have paid much attention to retailbuyers, who have the highest propensity to be washed away, unless theymake a strong effort to stay completely dry on our island of rationality.Though caution is the new buzzword, my advice would be to first reviewyour need for money and figure out individual risk tolerance and abilityto live with such uncertainty. Therefore, depending on your ability towithstand turbulence and uncertainty, it would be a good idea to keepenough money with you to pay the bills to maintain your lifestyle for“some time”. That time period can vary anywhere from 6 months to 24months. You can accomplish this by putting most of your money into asavings account, and not into any investments for a while. This means that- from your monthly savings - you do not invest in stock markets. Henceby design, your “allocation” to cash will increase. You may also decide onselling some of your investments - even at a loss - to build your reserveto your preferred level of “safe cash” to maintain your present lifestyle.Then add back to your investment kitty every month as you get your salaryand monthly earnings. Once you have kept your “safe cash” aside (the6 months to 24 months of lifestyle spending), then invest the balance ofyour money in stock markets (60%) and gold (20%) and the rest in realestate. But how do we choose the bouquet of investments that are goingto yield some returns? “In this environment where it is very difficult topick up investment returns, a portfolio of large-cap value stocks that arediversified among sectors can easily be created with dividend yields of5% or better,” says Amar Ambani,Vice-president, research, IndiaInfoline. Investment advisers saythey’ll also be looking at exchangetradedfunds to play sectors thatwill rebound, but generally warnagainst moves that are overlybroad and include companieslikely to underperform. “In termsof investments, we can easilyassume that 2009 is going to be apoor year for stocks,” says KunalSengupta of Indian investments.“At the same time we’re looking atinvestments you could make todayin high-income vehicles yielding 8,9 and 10 percent that have nowherenear the risk of common stocks butbring common-stock returns.”The world economy willrecover, though there are manypessimistic forecasts, but it couldsink further before it comes outof its troubles. Moreover, noone knows when this economicrecovery will happen. It may be incalendar year 2009, 2010 or even2011, but one thing is for sure: theroad to recovery will not be aneasy one for any of us.Archisman Dinda is a freelancewriter based in Calcutta.70 The International IndianThe International Indian 71

THE INDIA COLUMNThe Trail of‘Right’ TerrorHindutva groups’ involvement in terrorism was brought to the fore by investigating agencies too late –in October 2008, despite the fact that there were explicit leads available to them even in early 2006.by: Vishal AroraOn New Year’s Eve,the Karnatakapolice arrested ninepeople from a localgang in connectionwith a case of robbery and murderin Bagalkot district. A few dayslater, the leader of the gang,24-year-old Nagaraj Jambagiwho had links with Hindutvaor Rightwing groups, includingthe Bajrang Dal, confessed notonly to looting, kidnapping andmurder, but also to planting andexploding a bomb at the HubliThe Indian government seems to be shyingaway from giving it the seriousness due to it.court premises on May 10, 2008– the bomb, fortunately, wentoff when the courtroom wasempty. Jambagi revealed thatthe explosion was aimed at theStudents Islamic Movement ofIndia (SIMI), whose activistswere to appear before themagistrate on May 8, 2008.The emergence of theRightwing terror in a countrywhere bomb explosions arepresumed to be the handiwork ofIslamist groups may be news tomany non-resident Indians, but at home, news stories about such ‘minor’terror attacks by extremist Hindutva outfits do not even make headlinesany longer – the confession of Jambagi was not found newsworthy by themainstream press in India, barring The Indian Express. Unfortunately,the Hindutva groups’ involvement in terrorism was brought to the foreby investigating agencies too late – in October 2008 despite the fact thatthere were explicit leads available to them even in early 2006.In mid-December 2008, Minority Affairs Minister A.R. Antulay toldthe House during the winter session of parliament that the killing ofMaharashtra’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare – ina shootout with terrorists during the Mumbai terror strikes on November26 – should be investigated, hinting that it could be a fallout of Karkare’sinvestigation into Hindutva terror links. As a result, a majority of themembers of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA), includingPrime Minister Manmohan Singh, distanced themselves from Antulay.In 2006, Antulay, a Congress leaderfrom Maharashtra, had expressedsimilar concerns. He claimed that acase of bomb blast in Nanded townin Nashik district, was done byHindutva extremists, but the primeminister shut him up by saying he was making “divisive statements”.Had Antulay’s concerns been heeded to in 2006, many terror attacksthat were to happen in the future could have been prevented. The trailof Hindutva terror explains how.The first signs of Rightwing terror appeared in the summer of April2006, when a bomb exploded in the posh locality of Patbandhare Nagarin Nanded. The explosion took place in a house, atop which a saffroncolourflag was hoisted, belonging to Laxman Gundayya Rajkuntwar,an activist of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and a dealerin firecrackers. The deceased were identified as Naresh Rajkuntwar, theson of the house owner, and his friend Himanshu Venkatrao Panse.The police reportedly told a court on April 9, 2006 that “the explosionwas not fire crackers but it was a bomb explosion,” and that another livebomb and “suspicious types of maps” were found in the house, adding thatthe injured and the deceased wereactive members of the BajrangDal, who were possibly makingbombs to take lives and createcommunal disturbances. Thosearrested confessed that the deceasedHimanshu Venkatrao Panse hadplanned all terror attacks in theMarathwada region, includingJalna (at the Kadria Masjid onAugust 27, 2004), and Parbhani(at a mosque on November 21,2003). The police also reportedlyfound Muslim skullcaps and fakebeards in the RSS activist’s house,and told the court that they wantedto investigate the source of theirknowledge and training, how theyprocured explosive material, theconspiracy they were hatching, andif they were part of a terrorist group.However, the news about theNanded investigations got losta few days later, as an allegedpolice shootout with terrorists ina neighbouring town grabbed theheadlines: the supposed foiling ofa terror attack by fidayeens of aPakistan-based terrorist group onthe RSS headquarters in Nagpuron June 1, 2006. Social activistsfound glaring discrepancies in thepolice version of the shootout.The police, who killed threealleged terrorists, said they spotteda white Ambassador car with a redbeacon atop moving towards theRSS office at 4.15 am. On beingquestioned by a constable sittingin a Tata Sumo police vehicle, theyoungsters opened fire, and thepolice hit back. How the constablecould have made the enquiry froma distance, and if he went close tothe vehicle, how he escaped thebullets, remains elusive. And therewere no eyewitness; the bodies‘How theconstablemade theinquiry froma distance,and if he wentclose to thevehicle, howhe escapedthe bullets,remainselusive. Andthere were noeyewitnesses‘of the alleged terrorists had beenremoved when the press reachedthe spot at 5 am. In addition, localresidents revealed they saw thepolice rehearsing the shootout afew days before the incident.A report on the Nagpurincident released by a factfindingteam led by the People’sUnion of Civil Liberties(PUCL) on June 16, 2006 foundmany other incongruities. “Theexchange of fire took place for20 minutes, it was reported. Cananyone explain how the policedisabled the terrorists fromusing the dozen hand grenadesand the 360 rounds of bullets?That the terrorists had 12 handgrenades, 360 rounds of bullets,5.6 kg of highly explosivematerial which was later statedto be RDX, and they battledth16ANNI V ERSARYfor 20 minutes ‘hopelessly’ notusing any of them, is a narrationthat fails to convince commonsense… The terrorists werereported to have fired fromAKM automatic assault rifles.The bullet marks on the blueTata Sumo of the police bearbullet marks that are all singleshot marks,” it pointed out.As regards the Nanded blastcase, Maharashtra’s ATS, whichprobed the incident along withthe local police, had arrested 26people, including Rajkuntwar,for planning to plant a bomb ata mosque in Aurangabad city(200 km from Nanded), but theCentral Bureau of Investigation(CBI), which took over the casein 2007, unaccountably liftedcriminal conspiracy chargesagainst 11 of the accused,including Rajkuntwar, inFebruary 2008.Three months after the reportedbomb-making incident in Nanded,Maharashtra’s investigating agenciesgained more leads on Hindutvaextremists’ terror links. On September8, 2006, on the occasion of Shab-e-Barat (the Night of Fortune whenMuslims hold all-night prayers), fourbombs exploded in the communallytense, Muslim-majority town ofMalegaon. While there were threeblasts in Hamidiya Masjid and BadaKabristan, another bomb went offat the crowded Mushawart Chowk,killing 31 people, mostly Muslim,and injuring more than 300.Inquilab, an Urdu language dailypublished from Mumbai, reportedthat a tailor, Aqeel Ahmed, fromIslampura in Malegaon had removedthe body of a man from the blast sitewho was wearing a fake beard.72 The International IndianThe International Indian 73

THE INDIA COLUMNth16ANNI V ERSARYAhmad moved the badlymutilated body without legs intoan ambulance when his (fake)beard came off. Later, an Inquilabcorrespondent visited the mortuaryalong with Ahmed, but the body haddisappeared. The daily suggestedthat the body with fake beard couldbe linked to the Nanded explosionpointing fingers at the investigatorsfor covering up the possible role ofHindutva extremists.Initially, the police had detainedboth Hindus and Muslims forinterrogation, but only the latterwere formally arrested. On October8, 2006, then deputy chief ministerRR Patil announced that theinvestigation had reached the finalstage. But a fortnight later, the DGPtransferred the case to the Mumbai’sATS. And on November 27, 2006Pasricha told the media that thecase had been “solved”, claimingthat two Pakistani nationals wereinvolved in the explosions that werecarried out by SIMI. However, whileappearing before a magistrate onDecember 6, 2006 the two accused– Shaikh Mohammed Ali and AsifKhan alias Junaid – retracted theirstatements made before the deputycommissioner of police earlier thatday. They said they had not madea voluntary disclosure. In anothertwist, on December 8, 2006 thestate government announced thatthe case would now be transferredto the CBI. And before handingover the case to the CBI, the ATShurriedly filed a chargesheet againstnine accused in a special court onDecember 21, 2006.The arrests made by the ATSwere dubious. In a letter submittedto the inquiry office of the CBIon September 17, 2007, JamiatUlama-I-Malegaon pointed outthat Shabbir Masiullah, the main accused in the Malegaon 2006 blastscase, was in police custody since August 3, 2006. Another accused,Noorul Samsudoha, was first arrested in 2001 for providing a meal to aterrorist but was later cleared of all charges. In the last five years, policesummoned him 50 times. Two more accused, Dr Salman Farsi and DrFarogh Iqbal Ahmed, were once arrested for distributing inflammatoryleaflets, but were acquitted of the charges. They, too, were summonedfrequently by the police. “How did they hatch a conspiracy right underpolice’s nose?” the Islamic group asked.Amid the Maharashtra government’s ignorance’ on Hindutva terrorism,more incidents of bomb-making took place. On November 27, 2006,a retired army officer, Madan Mohan Shinde, and his brother JagannathShinde died while making a bomb in their residence in Kanjal Gaon inMahad area near Mumbai. In its editorial on January 12, 2007, Urdu dailyRashtriya Sahara, questioned why the Maharashtra government and theATS were still silent, pointing to the impunity the non-Muslim bombmakerswere enjoying in the state. On February 10, another explosion tookplace in a biscuit factory unit in Nanded, killing two people. The policedeclared it as a ‘fire accident’. However, an independent inquiry led by threesocial activists, including Teesta Setalvad, called it a possible explosiveaccident. “The Central government should keep a close watch and monitorthe increasing low intensity terror generating activities being conducted bypolitical outfits that are misusing the Hindu religion,” warned their reporton February 22, 2007 that year.Amid these bomb-making incidents came the explosions on theSamjhauta Express train (that connects India and Pakistan) near Panipatin Haryana on February 18. Two days later, Setalvad hinted that Hindutvaterrorist groups could be behind the bombings. Investigating agencies areprotecting these groups, she said, claiming the acts of terror perpetrated byHindu fundamentalist groups were not being properly examined, reportedthe DNA daily.“In some cases, investigations were abandoned midway while in someothers the investigating agencies just preferred to turn a blind eye to theexisting state of affairs. The need of the hour is to instil a sense of neutralityand purpose in our police agencies and the way they are marshalled by theirpolitical masters,” the daily quoted her as saying.Even as the Maharashtra government chose to remain oblivious tothe Hindutva terror links, two men were killed in yet another explosion,this time in a hostel room in the Kalyanpur area of Kanpur city in UttarPradesh on August 24, 2008. The deceased, Rajiv alias Piyush Mishraand Bhupinder Singh, were identified as Bajrang Dal core members.Police found 11 live bombs, and enough material to make nineadditional bombs, seven timer devices, batteries, ammonium nitrate,and potassium nitrate.A month later, on September 29, 2008 six people were killed and80 injured as bombs exploded again in Malegaon, and also in Modasatown in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district. And as usual, a Muslim man,Abdul Rehman Salem Chaus, was arrested on October 4 for his allegedinvolvement with the blast. Chauswas initially held by the policefor his supposed involvement inthe violence that ensued and fortaking away the firearm belongingto the bodyguard of AdditionalSuperintendent of Police, SanjayPatil. Later, the police declared himas of the accused in the blast case.However, a few days later,the ATS finally acted on cluesthat led to the arrest of severalHindutva supporters and servingarmy officials, including SadhviPragya Singh Thakur, self-styledgodman Dayanand Pande, Lt-ColPrasad Srikant Purohit, and MajorTII HALL OF FAMEIwas an acrobat in my youth– exercising and everything.Those days you had only ahandcraft and when the oldpall bearers could not pickup the body, young people like mehelped out. We received Rs. 10 eachtime but in those days Rs. 10 seemedlike Rs. 10,000.Everyone does not want to workas pallbearers, only the few whohave a feeling for their religion. Iam interested in this work and willdo it as long as my physique permits.It is a sentimental thing and not formoney. For this work you need astrong heart. Like after placing one body in the tower, you have to goin again with another body and you see that the vultures have taken thefirst body.I don’t know what my son will do. He is only 16 years old. I teach himabout our religion, the rules and regulations and how to pray. He himselfPrabhakar Kulkarni. This made headlines in the mainstream media, twoyears too late. In its aftermath, even the CBI could see the possibility ofa link between the 2008 blasts in Malegaon and Modasa and the 2006Nanded blast – it is now expected that investigating agencies will see alink between the 2006 and 2008 Malegaon blasts as well.Given the narrative account of how some Hindutva extremistshave been continually launching terror attacks in the country,the Indian government needs to tackle this menace with thesame seriousness it attaches to acts of terrorism by members ofany other ideological group. Playing a ‘soft Hindutva” card inthe wake of general elections can cost many morepeople their lives.Vishal Arora is a freelancewriter based in New DelhiPEOPLE DON’T LIKE TO SEEOUR FACE IN THE MORNINGlikes to go to the Fire templeespecially during exam days. Sohe is interested. Nature will take itscourse. He is not ashamed to tell hisfriends that I am a pallbearer. Nowthe attitude has changed but somepeople in the community still don’tlike to see our face in the morning.Like some women on seeing mewill pull away their sari as if I willtouch them.Homi Cooper, Parsi pallbearer,Born Mumbai, 1920TII’s Hall of Fame featuresIndia’s elderly, great, interestingand unusual men and women.Excerpted from the book‘Ageless Mind and Spirit’ bySamar and Vijay Jodhawww.agelessmindandspirit.com74 75The International IndianThe International Indian

TII INVESTORth16ANNI V ERSARYTAILOR MADEADVICE FORTII READERS!HOW TOINVEST2009TII introduces a new personal finance section powered by www.personalfn.com.Personalfn is an eight year old Mumbai headquartered company, and offers unbiased,tailormade advice to help you plan and structure your financial goals.SATISH MEHTA, Director, Personalfn tells how NRIs can benefit from these services.location. It will truly make life somuch simpler for them!And, finally, we offerpaid subscription services onmutual funds. One is a weeklyrecommendation on mutualfunds, FUNDSELECT. The otherservice, FUNDSELECT Plus isa recommendation of six mutualfund portfolios for various timehorizons and risk appetites.QHow can Personalfn helpNRIs?APersonalfn has many existingNRIs as its clients for all ofits three services. NRIs that arelooking for unbiased expert adviceon investing in India can get intouch with Personalfn. This can bedone over the phone, email or whenNRIs visit India they can get in touchwith us in one of the 8 cities where we have an office. Our website – www.personalfn.com is probably the best way to get more contact details.QDo you have a branch in the Gulf?ACurrently, we do not have a branch in the Gulf. Having said that,it should not prevent NRIs from obtaining the right advice bysubscribing to one of our services.QWhat is your advice for NRIs?AMarkets, world wide are in a state of turmoil and 2009 is the year ofuncertainty! Even Nostradamus would find it difficult to forecast whereall asset classes will be in December 2009. I would advice NRIs to keep calmand not react to short term speculative directions that the markets may take. Themedium to long term story is still valid. Markets in India have become veryattractive and it would be a good time for NRI investors to have a look at theirportfolios and allocate money to Indian investments in line with their plans. TheIndian GDP growth will, in our estimate be around 6.5%. For example, givenwhere the BSE index is currently, there must be attractive valuations availableon select scrips. The important thing is to first create a financial and investmentplan. The plan then helps identify the right investments that would help you toachieve your objectives as envisaged in the plan.QWhat is Personalfn?APersonalfn is an eight year oldcompany promoted by AjitDayal (Quantum). By providingfinancial planning advice, weprovide plans to individuals toSatish Mehta,Director, Personalfn enable them to meet their financialgoals and commitments.By Asset class, we research mutual funds, insurance,fixed income instruments and gold and provide advicebased on this research. Collectively, we have over 100person years of research experience across market cycles.We view investments from a very fundamentalperspective. Our intention is to provide sincere andunbiased advice, minimize risk and work towards asteady return on your assets, while recognizing yourgoals and needs.QWhat are the services offered by Personalfn?AThe services from Personalfn can broadly becategorized as under:*Financial Planning*Transactions*Premium Subscription ServicesUnder Financial Planning, we help individuals buildpersonalised plans for their specific needs and goalswhich include cash flow planning, asset allocation andspecific instruments in which they should invest. Thisis a paid service and in these times especially, expertadvise on planning your investments becomes all thatmore critical – again more so when the NRI is so manymiles away.We also help facilitate mutual fund transactions andFixed Deposits in certain companies. This providesinvestors the convenience and option to get theiradvice and manage their portfolio at a single place.We will shortly be launching our Online MutualFund platform in February 2009. This platform willenable NRI’s to invest, view and therefore managetheir investments from the convenience of theirFinancial Planning: Why?Financial planning is a process through which an individual can chart a roadmapto meet expected and unforeseen needs in lifeOver the last few years, financialplanning has emerged as a buzzwordof sorts. Newspapers, magazines andtelevision channels are all talking aboutthe importance of financial planning.So what is financial planning; more importantly, doesit merit the attention that it is being given?Financial planning is a process through whichan individual can chart a roadmap to meet expectedand unforeseen needs in life. Simply put, theintention is to take necessary steps to ensure thatthe individual is equipped to accomplish what hehas set out to achieve and is prepared to deal withcontingencies as well.76 The International IndianThe International Indian 77

TII INVESTORth16ANNI V ERSARYAnd yes, the importance offinancial planning cannot beoverstated. Among others, twofactors are mainly responsiblefor the same i.e. inflation andchanging lifestyles.Inflation is a situation whereintoo much money chases a limitednumber of goods. This leads toa fall in the value of money. Itis also expressed as a rise in thegeneral price level. For example,a product that costs Rs 100 atpresent would cost Rs 105 a yearfrom today, assuming that prices‘Financialplanning canensure that oneis equippedto deal withthe impactof inflation,especially inphases likeretirementwhen expensescontinue,but incomestreams dry up.‘rise at 5% pa. This is the impact of rising prices over one year; overa 30-Yr period, assuming that inflation continues to rise at 5% pa, thesame product will be available at Rs 432!Financial planning can ensure that one is equipped to deal with theimpact of inflation, especially in phases like retirement when expensescontinue, but income streams dry up.The second factor is changing lifestyles. Over a period of time, whenindividuals have higher disposable incomes, it is common for them toupgrade their standard of living. For example, objects like cars that wereconsidered luxuries not too long ago, have become necessities today.Financial planning has a role to play in helping individuals both upgradeand maintain their lifestyle as well.Finally, there are contingencies like medical emergencies orunplanned expenditures that an individual might have to cope with.In times like these, when pink slips have become commonplace, it isimportant to have an ‘emergency corpus’ to sail through periods of lossof income.Financial planning for NRIsFinancial planning for NRIs isn’t very different from that for residentIndians. Sure, some peculiarities have to be accounted for. However,the same principles are applicable in both cases. Among others, NRIslargely invest in India for the following reasons:1. To create a corpus for their retirement when they return to India2. To provide their dependents back home in India with a regular income3. To accumulate monies for buying a property in IndiaHowever, one factor that separates the financial planning exerciseof an NRI from that of a resident individual is the tax implication.Furthermore, there are certain investment avenues that NRIs are noteligible to invest in. While drafting a financial plan for an NRI, suchfactors need to be accounted for.Basic PrinciplesAt its core, financial planning is not a very difficult task. All ittakes is discipline and religious adherence to the principles of financialplanning.Discipline has a part to play at every stage, from setting objectivesto executing plans meant to achieve those objectives. In fact, an adhocapproach while dealing with finances is one of the major reasons forthe financial distress individuals find themselves in.Setting objectives, investing in line with one’s risk appetite and assetallocation are some of the fundamental principles of financial planning.In conclusion, it can be stated that achieving financial nirvana isn’tas difficult as it is often made out to be. To get there, all one needs to dois, stick to the basics of financial planning and the rest falls into place.THE DOWNSIDE OFCONVENIENTINVESTINGFew would dispute that the adventof technology has broughtabout a sea change in the manner inwhich investments are made. Overthe past few years, an increasingnumber of investors have migratedfrom an off-line to an on-line investmentmode. And the NRI investorwould certainly agree thatinvesting is virtually a cakewalknow, thanks to technology.Remember the time whenmaking investments in India wasnothing short of an ordeal. TheNRI had to coordinate with hisfamily in India, discuss variousinvestment avenues, take care ofthe paper work, issue cheques andfinally hope that the investmentswould pan out as intended.Thanks to technology, thatstyle of investing is passé. Internetbanking and on-line investing arethe new buzzwords. And that’s notall. Brokerage firms, banks anddistributors who offer the facilityto make on-line investments,are also armed with a legion ofrelationship managers who are justa phone call or an e-mail away.Increasingly, the relationshipmanager/investment advisor hasemerged as a “one-stop-shop” forall investment needs. Investmentadvice flows seamlessly at theclick of a mouse. A phone call oran e-mail and the investments aretaken care of. A couple of minutesand minimal effort is all it takes.The cost factorAlthough the convenienceenjoyed by NRIs while investingis undisputed, investing hasn’tnecessarily become any better. On the contrary, the convenience maycome at a cost – the risk of landing up with unsuitable investments.Don’t be surprised! A closer look at the relationship manager mightreveal that there is more than what meets the eye. He is the polite,suave and efficient individual, who regularly sends e-mails and updates(NRI) investors of attractive investment opportunities. But how canthe investor be confident that the relationship manager is honest andalways offers advice that is in the former’s best interest? Maybe hedoes, but what if he doesn’t?Let’s not forget that the relationship manager’s interests are served, whenhe gets the NRI to invest. Every investment made translates into income(commission earnings) for him. The more the investment made, the higheris his income. Investment avenues fetching the highest earnings are clearlymost beneficial to him, but they need not be in the investor’s best interests.So we have a “conflict of interest” situation. What’s right for the investorneed not necessarily be right for the relationship manager and vice-versa.Evaluate your relationship managerEvaluating the relationship manager is vital. It will help the investorunderstand whose interests, the advisor really serves.1. Ask the relationship manager to disclose the commissions he earnson the various investment avenues recommended by him, comparethese with the funds that have not been recommended.2. Investors must check if the relationship manager routinely gets themto switch their monies from one fund to another on the pretext thatother fund is likely to perform better. This is commonly referred toas churning. If the recommendations were honest and accurate in thefirst place, frequent changes to the portfolios shouldn’t be necessary.Every “fresh” investment in a mutual fund made using the servicesof a broker/distributor translates into income for the latter. This is onaccount of the entry load charged by the fund house.3. When the equity markets were surging northwards, what was the adviceoffered - to aggressively make equity investments (typically the sametranslate into higher remuneration) or to adhere to asset allocation?While the above list isn’t exhaustive, it will certainly offer investorsan insight into their relationship manager’s modus operandi.The solutionThe solution lies at the core of the problem itself - the conflict ofinterest, so separate the two i.e. advice and investing.Investors being advised by a research outfit can rest assured theywill get unbiased and accurate advice. For investing they always havethe option to fall back on their reliable relationship manager, ensuring theproverbial “best of both worlds.” With new age investing, the hidden costscan be a bit more than what you bargained for.78 The International IndianThe International Indian 79

GUPTARA GARMAGARAMObama’s stimulus packageand what to do about itPerhaps its better to look for security anchored in a source more lastingthan money, shares, bonds or anything else in this world.by: Prabhu GuptaraWill President Obama’s historically unprecedentedstimulus package of over $800 billion work? I hopefor all our sakes that I am wrong and that it does work!But here are the reasons that it will not work, as far asI can see.1. Rescuing the biggest of the bankrupt institutions may keep justenough “faith” in the system to keep it going, but does so at the cost ofmaking everyone’s savings worth less than they were. Why? Becausewhen governments borrow or print such huge amounts of money theyinevitably increase inflation as soon as the economy does get moving. Isthat an incentive to save? In the immediate short term, maybe because thereis a chance that prices may fall further, even though we know that priceswill rise exponentially as soon as the economy gets going! So any potentialcustomer is torn between wanting to buy essential things now (becauseprices are low) and waiting to see if prices will fall further but beingfrightened to wait too long because prices will rise suddenly and steeplyas soon as the economy gets moving. On the other hand, bailouts at publicexpense (by getting everyone who is taxed, to pay for them) do of coursealso decrease the real value of any loans that anyone might have taken orbe able to take right away. However, we need to note that while certainwell-placed individuals may benefit, most people cannot - so any possiblesystemic advantage from this is precluded because loans are simply notavailable so freely at present. Briefly, therefore, bailouts rescue the systemshort-term but damage it long-term.2. Rescuing the “biggest” may be necessary, but what about thenext-biggest? And the next-biggest? And the next? At whatever pointgovernments stop rescuing bankrupt institutions, they signal that everyother institution is too small to be rescued, which leads to an immediatefall in the market value of all such institutions and, as such institutionsare basically every other institution in the system, that does not reallyhelp the overall situation. We know the few who are guaranteed butwe also know that they are basically bankrupt and are being kept goingonly by the government and we don’t know how long that can or willcontinue. More important, we know that all of the rest (i.e. thosewho are not guaranteed) might go bankrupt and will not be rescuedbecause they have been publicly announced as too small to rescue, sowe are afraid to trade with such “unrescuable” entities. In other words,bailouts actually choke the wholeof the “non-guaranteed” part ofthe economy.3. The rescue package doesnot deal with the root issue: offbalance-sheetvehicles, specificallythose which are tied to speculation(gambling). There are lots ofsimple-minded arguments that aregiven for not attending to this basicissue. But the fact of the matteris that companies, municipalitiesand indeed whole countries (suchas Iceland and the UK) gambledthat house prices would continue torise, and built their entire economiccalculations and structures onthe basis that house prices wouldcontinue to rise. That is whygambling related to house price(and other “goods”) increasedexponentially since 2000, and itis the collapse in these (linked tosub-prime mortgages) which iswhat caused the collapse. In otherwords, what caused the collapsewas not that some hundreds ofthousands of people could not paytheir mortgages. What caused thecollapse was that some people hadbet many times the total value ofall of these sub-prime mortgagesthat the people concerned wouldcontinue to be able to pay for them,and that the entire housing marketwould continue rising in value(even when it was clear that thehousing market was a bubble).4. People are holding back onbuying and selling anything exceptwhat they really have to, shortterm,because we have been toldthat new regulations will come in,and we do not know what these aregoing to be. Everyone who canafford to do so would (and should!)rather wait till the new rules andregulations are clear - probably as aresult of the G20 meeting in April.5. The package includes only$275 billion in tax relief forindividuals, mainly in the formof refundable tax credits throughpayroll tax deductions. This is theonly bit that goes to individualsbut, because it is in the form of taxrelief, it will “help” only those whoare in the employed classes and, ofthose, only individuals employedat some significant salary. Whilethis will no doubt stimulate “goodfeelings” among this whole class, isthere any evidence that this is goingto stimulate any truly economicbenefit? What is to prevent theseindividuals from simply saving themoney in their bank account? Well,the truth of the matter is that, evenif individuals only keep the moneyin their bank account, that will swellthe money held by the banks, whichthen could get loaned more than12 times over to individuals andbusinesses that need or want moneyassuming that loans are beingsought by people and organisations(which there are), and assuming thatthere are such loans being providedby banks and other organisations(which there are not). In otherwords, President Obama’s packagedoes not provide any real incentiveto either spend or loan any money,because it does not touch the issueof instability and vulnerability forindividuals and organisations.th16ANNI V ERSARY6. Will the stimulus package provide enough of a stimulus? Nearlyone trillion seems like a lot of money. It is a lot of money. But what isthat in the face of the three trillion that is supposed by needed, by onecalculation, to save only the financial sector?So it is fairly clear to me that what is ahead is either the de facto or theofficial devaluation of the dollar with the alternative that a new BrettonWoods sort of system is put in place.In any case, the new sectors which promise growth are: defence,infrastructure and “green technologies”.Few people with any sense of morality wish to invest in the defencesector but there are of course those who will do so because they are moreinterested in profits than in morality.Infrastructure tends to be one of the most corrupt sectors. In mostcountries, that is still the situation. But that does not mean that all companiesare equally corrupt. Further, it isstill possible to exercise influenceon the sector as a whole, in orderto find systemic ways of reducingcorruption in the sector.Anyway, that leaves “greentechnologies”. The challengehere is to find the right areas ortypes of technology - becausewhat will be most promisingin, say, Egypt, will not be mostpromising in Germany, andvice versa. However, there isa question about whether most“green technology” companiesare not over-sold at present. Isthere already a “bubble” in the“green” area? You will have todo your own investigations andcome to your own conclusions.“And what about gold?”, Isense you asking. Well, gold is a great thing to own. People have evenmade money on it recently! The question is whether it too is not alreadymore expensive than it should be. Certainly, a part of your portfolio oughtto be in gold, but how much depends on individual circumstances. In anycase, what you want, with gold, is not gold stocks or gold options or goldcertificates but actual gold. And the question is: where do you store that?!So: no easy answers in our world. Perhaps better to look for securityanchored in a source more lasting than money, shares, bonds or anything elsein this world. After all, true security and happiness comes from knowingGod who alone can carry us through the ups and downs of this world.Prabhu Guptara writes here in apersonal capacity. His website is:www.prabhu.guptara.net80 The International IndianThe International Indian 81

POLITICSth16ANNI V ERSARYINDIAN AMERICANS& BARACK OBAMAby: Davita MaharajEvery day on the wayto work these pastwinter months, Ipassed a large handpaintedsign onto anapartment window. It was paintedwith the same kind of fluffy paintthat Americans use to write “JustMarried!” on their cars as theyhead off to their honeymoons.But this window referred toanother kind of honeymoon. “YesWe Did!” it says.Throughout his electioncampaign, President BarackObama used the slogan, “Yes WeCan” to rouse up voters. Eventoday, T-shirts, bumper stickers,and the occasional Internet adstill pop up as reminders of hissuccessful campaign.Why Most Indians EmbracedObamaThe vast majority of Indiansin the United States supportedObama. Their turnout at the 2008Democratic Convention wasunprecedented, totaling 50 SouthAsian delegates, of which 37were Indians.Just hours before Obama’svictory, an informal poll byWashington-based non-partisanThe meaning of his victory to IndiansThe vast majority ofIndians in the Statessupported Obama.non-profit organization‘Bridging Nations’found that 81 percentof Indian Americanswith U.S. citizenshipsurveyed said theywould vote for Obama,with only 19 percentvoting for McCain.‘Bridging Nations’said their poll wassupported by theNational AsianAmerican Survey(NAAS), which wasjointly conducted byfour top universities;it revealed that 62percent of Indiansplanned to vote forObama, 12 percentplanned to vote forMcCain, and 25percent were undecided. Clearly the number grew since then, in partdue to grassroots organizations such as South Asians for Obama(SAFO). SAFO succinctly summed up South Asian alignment withObama by explaining,“…His story is our story. As the son of a foreign-born father, he haspersonally experienced the challenges of race and identity that affectour community. By uniting around Barack Obama’s candidacy forPresident in 2008, the South Asian community can assume a leadingrole in shaping the future of America.”SAFO formed a strong presence on Myspace, Facebook, and Flickr,which target a young audience.This makes sense, sinceuniversity students and youngIndians tend to espouse politicallyliberal views. Another partialreason that many Indians votedfor Obama is that the majority ofIndians live in Democrat statessuch as New York, New Jersey,and California.Devon Phillips works inthe South Asian community ofObama’s hometown, Chicago.There she observed that theoverwhelming majority of herHindu and Muslim friends,young and old, gave Obamatheir blessing.Does Obama’s victorymark a new day forthe Dalits of India?“There were several articles in Desi Newspapers such as Swad-E-Pakistan, The Urdu Times, and The Indian Reporter, that were allwithout fail whole-heartedly behind Obama and regurgitated much ofthe rhetoric the Obama-campaign was known for,” says Phillips.While she notes that a few Chicago-Indians were softened towardthe McCain family because of his Bangladeshi daughter, mostChicago-Bangladeshis supported Obama due to his minority statusand their dissatisfaction with the Bush administration’s involvement inIraq and Afghanistan. Indeed, most Indians with whom I have spokenare hopeful that Obama’s Muslim background will serve as a bridgebetween Christians and Muslims throughout the world.Another “bridge” to the world came with President Obama’schoice of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. Clinton’s South Asianconnections and popularity made yet another splash among Indianseverywhere. As Clinton herself once joked at a fundraiser hosted byMaryland-based Indian Dr. Rajwant Singh, she could “certainly run forthe Senate seat in Punjab and win easily.”Finally, many urban, lower income South Asians favored Obama’sKeynesian-leaning plans for reviving the U.S. economy, made hopefulby his many promises to struggling families and minorities.Obama’s Victory Inspires India’s DalitsJust four decades ago, some communities in the U.S. deterredAfrican Americans from voting, and forbade them from using the samerestrooms as whites.Now that America’s most powerful leader is an African American,minorities can no longer claim victimization. The victims have become victors.In the words of Jonetta Rose Barras, political analyst for The Washington Post,“African Americans have just entered the no-excuses zone.”So have Indians.On a snowy day in Denver,Colorado, just days after theUS presidential elections, Ireviewed the elections withMoses Parmar, a prominentDalit leader in North India.He explained that Obama’svictory marks a new day forthe Dalits of India. In the past,whenever Americans condemnedIndia’s caste system, Indians couldeasily call Americans hypocrites,by pointing to America’s racism.Parmar suggests that nowAmerica has the necessarycredentials to forthrightly addresscaste issues and the plight ofIndia’s Dalits, noting that much ofIndia “still cannot accept a Dalit asprime minister.” He imagines thatthese same caste-conscious Indiansmay be shocked, even appalled,that Americans have elected anAfrican-American president.Thus, while Obama establishesa victorious precedence forIndia’s Dalits, theirs may be amuch steeper hill to climb.Shashi Tharoor, former82 83The International IndianThe International Indian

POLITICSth16ANNI V ERSARYUnder-Secretary-Generalof the United Nations,seems to agree.In his recent articlein The Sunday Times,Tharoor concludes thata (potential) Dalit PrimeMinister would have toovercome a “far longerlegacy of discrimination”than Obama’s on USsoil. Still, he sees a goodchance that “India’sObama” will be able tofollow suit, perhaps alot sooner than formerlyconceived as possible.Initial Concerns withObama’s ForeignPolicyWhile South Asiansin urban U.S. citieswere whole-heartedlybehind Obama, a smallerbut significant base ofconservative IndianAmericans – and economicpundits in the Indian Diaspora –were critical of his policies fromthe start.Some of India’s leadingintelligentsia sided with Republicansbecause President W. Bush hadhelped the Indian economy bysupporting free trade, a globaleconomy, outsourcing, the nuclearagreement, and by affirming India’supcoming title as one of the world’snew super powers.Less than a month beforethe elections, Anand Mahindra,Vice Chairman of MahindraGroup of India succinctlyexplained while broadcastingon a panel at Harvard BusinessSchool that unlike most of theworld, India had “no problemsIt is difficult toknow exactlyhow India will beaffected by theObama - Bidenadministration.with Bush’s policies.Bush continued theopening up of India whichBill Clinton had started…He didn’t subvert that.”Following this rationale,some of India’s businessleaders were pro-McCainbecause they hoped that hewould continue to makeIndia wealthy by outsourcingU.S. jobs and supportingfree trade. They feared thatObama’s anti-outsourcingand anti-free trade idealscould be disastrous for theIndian economy.Indians’ Value-BasedConcerns with Obama’sPoliciesSome conservativeIndian voters were largelydissuaded by Obama’sliberal values. They worrythat Obama’s welfareestablishment, whichessentially pays women to have children out of wedlock, will dismemberfamilies nationwide. Furthermore, some regret that Obama’s radicalabortion policies are masked under the auspices of family planning.Take for example, Chris Rodricks, an Indian Republican living inthe Midwest. He represents a significant group of conservatives whocould not bring themselves to vote for Obama due to his nebulousdefinition of the sanctity of life, and his endorsement of partial-birthabortion. Rodricks states,“My litmus test is a candidate’s stand on moral issues. If he failsthis test I strike him off as my leader. Health insurance, tax cuts, theeconomy...these are secondary issues...bribes we accept to look theother way to allow him to aid, abet and allow the dismembering of3,000 children everyday.”It seems that Rodrick’s fears have materialized, as President Obamastrongly supports the public funding of abortions, and he has nowreversed the abortion-funding policy so that US funds can be used topromote and conduct abortions worldwide.Yet another cause for concern among conservative Indians wasObama’s nomination of David Ogden as Deputy Attorney General. Asa pornography industry lawyer, Ogden believes that child pornographyshould be legal, and argues that pornography is an American “freedomof speech.” As one conservative Indianlamented, “President Obama spoke abouta return to family values, but instead he haslowered moral standards. Is this what wecall “change?” If this is the change that wewanted, then there may be some blood onour hands.”Despite his concerns with Obama’svalues and aptitude, Rodricks and hiswife are committed to respecting andpraying for President Obama, since he is,after all, their President. But they wouldmuch rather see fellow Republican IndianBobby Jindal in the White House, andthey hope that the Louisiana governorwill run for office in 2012.What Obama means to India’s futureIn all honesty, there is a lot aboutObama that we do not know as yet, sincehe continues to use broad, generalizedbrushstrokes to discuss complex issues.And while Obama spoke aboutbringing peace to South Asia, hisinitial strategy focused on Pakistan andAfghanistan, but rarely mentioned India.Therefore it is difficult to know exactly how India will be affectedby the new administration.Domestically, there is incredible pressure on Obama to lead theU.S. out of a recession and to bring stability to the economy, toimprove American schools, energy, and healthcare; to end the war inIraq, to boost the confidence of U.S. citizens in their country, and todo all this while having considerably less political experience thanmost of his 43 predecessors.With all his challenges on U.S. turf, many are wondering whetherObama will even have time to think about the wellbeing of other nations.It is clear that the plight of India’s caste system, its underfed millions,and the insurgence of violence by India’s religious fundamentalists arenowhere near his top priorities. Nor can they be expected to becomepart of his administration’s agenda.But would Obama promptly respond if someone were to presenthim with a brilliant plan to fight AIDS or to contain a major genocide?Will he share the sentiments of former President Clinton, who refusedto help contain an 80-day genocide because America had no “interest”in Rwanda?Earlier this year, Indian journalist and peace activist J. Sri Ramanquoted an anonymous Indian journalist warning prior to the election, “anAmerica preoccupied with itself will create openings for terrorists in bothWest and South Asia... America’sretreat will give the forces of terroran additional opening in Indiaand its neighborhood… India hascompelling reasons to hope thatObama doesn’t win in November.”One day we will be ableto assess the validity of thisstatement for ourselves. In themeantime, Indians should not beso quick to believe that PresidentObama will act as Messiah toIndia and its Diaspora. He hasample challenges living up to thetitle at home.Davita Maharaj grew up inthe US, and Switzerland, andcurrently works in California.She loves the arts, internationaldevelopment, and makingfrequent visits back to India.84 The International IndianThe International Indian 85

PAKISTANI VIEWby: Ikram SehgalBREAKINGA LOGJAMWithin hours of the Mumbai outrage, the Indiansmade many allegations against Pakistan, particularlytargetting the ISI. The Indian penchant for such,and credibility thereof, can be gauged from afact hitherto unknown, that Indian intelligencegave “credible information” to the Indians one day after 9/11 “that“Pakistani Jihadists” were going to attack the White House”. Asrecounted in Bob Woodward’s book “Bush at War”, the US Presidentand his family alongwith Condoleezza Rice were rushed pell mellby the Secret Service to a White House bunker for safety. What anopportunity to defame Pakistan, how could the Indians miss it? Moreastonishing is that the US never questioned the source of this canard,or the motivation, later!Even before Ajmal Kasab was in Indian custody, the “Pakistaniconnection” was reiteratedendlessly to influence worldperception about Pakistani Stateinvolvement. We did not helpmatters by denying Ajmal Kasabwas a Pakistani, this despite Geo TV’s initiative in uncovering his identity.To quote my article in early December 2008, soon after the incident, viz“It is the height of stupidity not to accept that Ajmal Kasab is a Pakistani,NADRA ID or not, our investigators can get far more out of him thanwhatever the Indians can. India and Pakistan need to tackle terroristproblems together by sharing “actionable intelligence” instead of indulgingin a blame game. With interests coinciding in the “war against terrorism”,why is India attempting to isolate Pakistan as “a failed State” in the making?The US passed on credible intelligence to India on Nov 18, 2008 that aterrorist assault was likely from the sea, two five-star hotels were to betargetted. In not passing on this information to pre-empt the attack, did theIndians want the incident to happen to impress upon the incoming BarackObama administration about Pakistan being an irresponsible and dangerousentity one could not do business with? The concerted Indian media attackhas been akin to a pack of mad dogs, matched only by the official Indianth16ANNI V ERSARYIndia and Pakistan need to tackle terrorist problems together by sharing “actionable intelligence”instead of indulging in a blame game. With interests coinciding in the “war against terrorism”,why is India attempting to isolate Pakistan as “a failed State” in the making?rhetoric in lambasting Pakistaneven through the “ISI connection”did not stick”, unquote.The persistent lack oftransparency from the Indiansis puzzling, only selectiveinformation is being handedover to the Pakistani authorities.Notwithstanding independentinvestigations being conductedby various State agencies on thebasis of Indian media reports, ateam was specially constituted byPakistan’s Ministry of Interior to“The Mumbai operation was not possiblelogistically without indigenous support.”process the information suppliedby the Indians on or about Jan 5,2009.As declared by the Adviser tothe PM for the Ministry of InteriorRahman Malik recently, theenquiry established that a numberof Pakistani nationals, ostensiblyfrom Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, wereinvolved and that a major partof the planning for the Mumbaioutrage done by them. RahmanMalik moved expeditiously tolodge an FIR against the suspectedpersons, taking several suspectsinto custody, including the alleged mastermind. Links were found outsideof Pakistan, in Italy, Spain, Austria and as far away as Houston, Texas, inthe US. Even with India silent on the involvement of locals in the terroristattack which lasted for more than 72 hours, the Ministry of Interior wentthe extra mile to make the facts public. Involvement of Pakistanis does notmake Pakistan culpable as a State. What was their motivation, indeed whocontrolled them? They could have been agents of anyone with motivationand interest in any number of possibilities ie. defaming Pakistan, sparkingconflict between India and Pakistan, etc.Terrorists have no nationality, no mercy and no remorse. As such it doesn’treally matter who they are, what matters is that once they are identified, whatis done with them? The investigation was a success because no cover-up wastried or intended. With the “Indian connection” silent, there are large gaps inthe evidence at hand, the criminal puzzle remaining a jigsaw.To quote from my article of early Dec 2008, viz “The Mumbai operationwas not possible logistically without indigenous support. The 10-12attackers (in 2-man teams went about their deadly business confidently andprofessionally, secondary locationscreating diversions before attackingprimary targets, the Taj Hotel,Hotel Oberoi and Nariman House,suggesting intimate knowledge ofMumbai. They moved about as if they had lived in the place for years. Thevolume of ammunition, grenades and explosives used in Close QuarterBattle (CQB) in the first few hours, would put the “first” and “second line”authorization of an infantry company (comprising 149 soldiers) to shame,the incident went well past 72 hours. Ammunition was definitely prestoredin the hotels”. Was a “Control Room” established by the terroristson the 16 th Floor of the Taj before the incident? Why is India not revealingthe nationality of the “hotel guests” who checked into that room?There are causes of simmering Muslim resentment within India.The Babri Mosque incident made fragile the secular bubble that Indianprides itself upon, it was assiduously exploited for crass politicalpurposes by the BJP to garner the Hindu majority vote. The movie“Slumdog Millionaire” which depicts the cruel treatment of the masspoverty-stricken Muslims of India won eight 2009 Oscar awards. It ispotentially a media disaster for India’s carefully crafted secular imagein the world. Why did Amitabh Bacchan go on record to decry themovie (the gaffe motivating a recant later)? Negative reports aboutthe movie’s Director have suddenly surfaced, any wild guesses as towho is feeding the media to tar and feather Danny Boyle? By the way,“Slumdog Millionaire” is not an ISI production! One must give creditto a vast majority of Indians across the broad spectrum for decryingthe way BJP has built up Gujarat Chief Minister Modi as a potentialnational leader at the cost of their secular image. Can anyone doubthis hand behind the widespread massacre of Muslims in his state? Thefrustration and resentment deeply embedded among Indian Muslimsth16ANNI V ERSARYis where the local involvementand logistics came from, as wellas planning and the selection oftargets thereof.The publication of the enquiryreport and arrests made put theIndians in some disarray. Whilefuming that “Pakistan has not doneenough”, Pranab Mukherjee andparty have reluctantly acknowledgedthat some progress had been made. Amonth or so ago war was imminent,the Indian COAS Deepak Kapoor,trotted out to speak to the media,is still murmuring darkly about“surgical strikes”.The Rahman Malik reportTerrorists have no nationality, no mercyand no remorse.has defused the situation. Onehas to acknowledge that in thecircumstances this was a job welldone. We decry and vilify the govtfor everything under the sun, let’sgive credit when it is due! It wouldbe unfair to Rahman Malik to denyhim his place under the Pakistanisun for this success, and up theline why not include the PM SyedYusuf Raza Gillani and PresidentAsif Zardari? More work isrequired to get to the bottom ofthe Mumbai outrage. As much asthey may not like it, the Indianshave to make their own enquiriestransparent, and available! Toeliminate terrorism from SouthAsia, and India has plenty of itwhich is not of the Muslim-kind, ajoint South Asia effort is required.Ikram Sehgal is theManaging Editor of theDefence Journal in Pakistan86 The International IndianThe International Indian 87

TII FASHIONth16ANNI V ERSARYSunset Catwalk andPoolside FrolicSplash showcases its vibrant SS09 collection amidst poolside revelryDubai based fashionretailer Splash’sSpring-Summer 2009Fashion Show was aquintessence of sheerclassic-luxe, haute couture and chicensembles! Inspired by a tropical andfloral theme, the show reverberatedwith a beautiful Old Town feel whichwas complimented by the venue, thePoolside Garden at The Palace Hotelin Burj Dubai.Splash played host to Dubai’smedia, stylists, industry expertsand fashionistas who were dapperdressed in their cabana chic threads.The sunset show was preceded bytheme inspired cocktails & canapésserved to guests lounging in thepoolside cabanas and sun beds underthe warm spring sun.At sundown, as the lights came onthe attention moved to the catwalkbuilt on the pool. The glitteringfashion finish witnessed 26 maleand female models sashaying therunway donning Splash’s SS09collection. The outfits showcasedcome from collections that wouldbe available in Splash stores rightthrough the season until June 2009.Key inspirations for these werethemes from the 80s and vibrantrelaxed silhouettes.Models styled in elaborate backcombed hair dos inspired by the 60s,(L to R )Micky Jagtiani, Nisha Jagtiani and Raza Beigornate eye shadows and gigantic eye make-up walked onto the rampwearing linen in colours like white, vibrant yellow, bougainvilleaand azure blue giving the walk a youthful vibe. Next came summerycocktail dresses in luxe fabrics like chiffons and satins. These werefollowed by lively summer gowns, maxi dresses and kaftans styledwith exotic rainbow colored accessories.The extravaganza continued with outfits showcased in an electricbright palette inspired by the 80’s styling. Super-trendy, cool and sexy;the pop flavor of the 80s was reignited to suit the fancy of bad girlsand geeky boys. Bold and loud style statements personified the Trash-Glam-Punkette look in mini-skirts, neon tights, cropped jackets andshiny leggings. This finally gave way to stunning party wear with boldprints, graphic tees, and color printed distressed denim. The musicflowed into a perfect tempo, making it a befitting finale.Raza Beig, CEO-Splash, closed the show by walking the ramp forthe show finale along with Nisha Jagtiani. Beig commented, “Splashfashion shows and parties have evolved to be one of the most awaitedevents in the region’s fashion and social calendar.88 89The International IndianThe International Indian

BUZZ WORDth16ANNI V ERSARYJET AIRWAYS CHAIRMANNARESH GOYAL HONOUREDAT THE PRESTIGIOUSCNBC TV18 INDIA BUSINESSLEADER AWARDSMr.Naresh Goyal, chairman, Jet AirwwaysCELLUCOM INDIA RETAILPRIVATE LTD PARTNERSWITH SPICE GROUPLeading mobility retailer joinshands with Spice Group in India.Cellucom India Retail Private Ltd,associate company to Dubai basedmobile retail chain Cellucomcompleted a new J.V. Agreement inIndia with Spice Group. Led by Dr.B.K. Modi, Spice Group has substantial interestsin the telecom and I.T. sector in India and hasacquired a 100 percent stake in Cellucom India,the master franchisee of Dubai-based mobileretail chain in an all stock deal.Expressing his delight on the joint ventureagreement Mr. Arun Nagar, Founder, CEO &MD Cellucom said, “The mobile and technologyJet Airways Chairman Naresh Goyal was honouredat the fourth edition of the prestigious CNBCTV18 India Business Leader Awards, in the‘Taking India Abroad’ award category, at the TajLands End, Mumbai on January 22, 2009.The award was given away by Shri Narendra Modi,Honourable Chief Minister of Gujarat, in the presenceof an august gathering of industrialists, bankers andother eminent personalities, including Shri AshokChavan, Honourable Chief Minister of Maharashtra andShri Kamal Nath, Honourable Minister for Commerceand Industry, among others.According to Mr. Goyal, “At Jet Airways, we haveendeavoured to create a truly international brand, yet onethat retains its intrinsic Indian core. With the airline’scommitment to excellence in every sphere of its operations,Jet Airways has attempted to redefine international travel,and keep India’s flag flying high around the world. Idedicate this award to the Jet Airways family around theworld, and to our customers, for choosing to fly withIndia’s premier international airline.”Mr.Arun Nagar,CEO & MD, Cellucomproduct retail business in India is growing at a fastpace and holds tremendous potential. The mergerbetween Cellucom India Retail Pvt Ltd and SpiceGroup is a significant development for CellucomIndia. The company would benefit from SpiceGroup’s substantial presence in the field of telecom,their professional expertise in managing largebusinesses through strategic initiatives and theextraordinary vision of its Founder and ChairmanDr. B.K. Modi.”The consumer electronics and technologymarket is demonstrating resilience, witha positive growth forecast that retail saleswill reach about US$40 billion in 2009, astudy reveals.Market researchers with the GfK Group saythat retail sales of liquid crystal display (LCD) andplasma televisions have contributed significantlyto the growth of the digital consumer technologysector. The LCD television market is valued atUS$4 billion and the group’s monitor for the MiddleEast’s domestic appliances market anticipatesfurther growth in the region, particularly in theUAE, Saudi Arabia and Iran.Resilient Indian EconomyOffers NRIs Better InvestmentOpportunities Than Ever, saysnew CEO of UTI InternationalThe resilient Indian economy is poised tobounce back sooner than later, drivenby declining prices of oil and othercommodities and falling interest rates,according to Mr. Tarun Ghulati, the newlyappointed Chief Executive Officer of UTI InternationalLimited, whose responsibilities include the Gulf.“All current indicators point to an early recovery.This is, therefore, an opportune time for NRIsto explore investments in Indian Equity & DebtMutual Funds that could yield attractive returnsin the short and long term,” said Mr. Ghulati, whoGrowth Forecast for ConsumerElectronics Market in 2009relaunchesGRUNDIG productsDemonstrating a shared confidence in themarket, high-end appliance retailer Better Lifehas launched a range of television and nontelevisionproducts from innovative Germandesigners Grundig.“Innovation is what keeps driving the consumerelectronics market forward, and Grundig has alwaysbeen at the forefront of this movement. It was thefirst company to develop the 100 hz techonolgyfor television and continues to innovate. The latestrange features superior imaging with forwardtechnology pictures and Grundig’s legendarysound,” commented Ajai Kumar Dayal, GeneralManager Retail and Marketing, Easa Saleh Al Gurg.will be spearheading UTI’sglobal business throughcountry offices in London,Dubai and Bahrain.“We expect the fallingprices of oil and othercommodities will help IndianIndustries to reduce theiroverall cost of production, andthe lower interest rates willfuel the growth in the hugeconsuming economy. The Indianeconomy is projected to growth atMr. Tarun GhulatiCEO of UTI Int Ltd.around 7%, despite the global financial crisis, a barometerof the strong fundamentals of the Indian economy.”“We will take UTI’s exceptional fund managementcapability and bespoke portfolio management solutionsto new markets globally and launch new products/fundsfor our diverse investor base,” added Ghulati.90The International IndianThe International Indian91

PUNDIT’S VIEWWhat’s in store for 2009?Que sera, sera or can we anticipate?‘You can anticipate what 2009 will be like for you and your business,by interpreting signals that are there for anyone to pick up today.by: Raj NairThere are people whowill be rueing the The signalsfact that they did notpredict the crises of are now clear that2008. They were mostprobably picking up the signals in the Government2007 but those were getting lost inthe noise or not being interpreted. will come upFor example when the Scottishbank, Northern Rock, ran aground with some seriousin May 2007, some people in thefinancial services industry realised packages inthat the sub-prime game wasover, but most people did not. The January -Februaryformer included Warren Buffettwho called sub-prime based 2009 to revive thederivatives, Weapons of MassFinancial Destruction. mother sectors ofEven as early as September‘07, it was clear that the total the economy.outstanding derivatives weretoo huge to handle - $485 down earlier given a build uptrillion ( eight times the global of excess capacity in OPECGDP! ) Unwinding that without countries and oil demand hada global financial crisis would risen only by 1.5% in the nextbe impossible. My warning on 12 months.Nov 21, 2007 that The Indian The argument of heightenedcapital market would collapse war risks clearly could notsoon was largely ignored. The explain it. Index Speculators hadoutstanding derivates swelled to stockpiled, via the futures market,$ 600 trillion on Dec 31, 2007. the equivalent of 1.1 billionThe rest is history.barrels of petroleum (eight timesOil prices firming up by July as much oil as the United States07 and the leap to $147 a year has added in 5 years).later, sounded counter intuitive Speculators had gonebecause oil prices were going beyond oil. From 2003 to 2008,‘investment in the index fundstied to commodities has grownby 20-fold, to $260 billion from$13 billion! The fact shouldhave sent strong signals of animminent price collapse foreverybody to pick up. It was notdifficult to anticipate in July 2008that the sinking global economicsituation would shrink thedemand for all commodities andsoon thereafter, the speculativebubble would burst.I had spoken about sub $100oil price on July 11, 2008 whenGoldman Sachs was looking at$200 per barrel. Surely the signalswere there for all to see andinterpret. But most people werehappy trying the game of baselessprediction or getting swayed byother people’s predictions.You can anticipate what 2009will be like for you and yourbusiness, by interpreting signalsthat are there for anyone to pickup today. Now, with volatilityas we are experiencing today,predicting is tough.Signals from the US, UK andEurope:With consumer-spendingdropping, banks going under,national deficits being reigned in,etc. there are certain things thatwe can anticipate in the WesternRaj Nair,Chairman, Avalon Consultingworld in 2009.••More job losses.Postponement or reductionin of high ticket/ discretionarypurchases.• Severe cut in marketingspending by companies.• A Bretton Woods-typeinitiative to save the globalfinancial system from collapse.Risk management policies willdominate discussions.• Credit & liquidity problemsdespite bail-outs.• Sectors like automotive,plastics, textiles, chemicals,travel and tourism, etc. slipping.• Sectors like healthcare, foodstaples, doing relatively better.• More people will resort toecommerce to fish for savings /discounts.• More business failure andconsolidation than in 2008.• Service industries suffering ingeneral.• Protectionism versus freetrade debate may swing a bittowards the former.• Obama knows his politics. Willattempt to create many new jobsin the US by offering incentives toinvest in job creating ventures andto plug loopholes in the tax regimethat put those who have offshorejobs on the same plane as thosewho keep jobs in the USth16YANNI V ERSARYA16• Obama knows his economics.Willing to negotiate rather than fightavoidable wars. Same goes for otherWestern countries.• The Dollar could weaken before end2009 because the ‘safe haven’ concept atnear zero returns will not make the USTreasury the best bet for investors. Someinvestments will seek more returns in India(if there is no war with Pakistan) and China.• Russia is richer, stronger than before despite the drop in oil prices.The Russians will continue to bully neighbours.• China’s exports will be impacted but has the capability to rebounddue to the size of the domestic market. Watch out for dumping inmarkets like India, ME and parts of SE Asia.One or more of these may impact you or your business?...What signals can we see now in India which are relevant to industryin 2009?The signals are now clear that the Government will come up withsome serious packages in January -February 2009 to revive the mothersectors of the economy, viz. Construction (housing and infrastructure),Automotive and Textiles, on which a large number of industries andservice businesses depend. Exporters can expect rationalisation oftaxes which hurt exports and also some incentives. While it is betterThe second half of 2009 will be the start ofan economic revival in the Indian economy.However, 2009 will not be good for all.late than never, the fate of FY 08-09 has been sealed by the unwisecredit squeeze–cum-interest rate hike in mid 2008 and the delay inundoing the damage. GDP for the year will be in the 6 range and not inthe 7s which was possible mid-year Things will be better in India thanin the rest of the world. That is mainly because there is an underlyingviability in the economy due to low cost structure, growing incomes,good agricultural output in this year and the banking system is notbroken as in the West. Thankfully, the global crisis happened in 2008and not in 2011, because Indian banks had not yet fully adopted the badhabits of the western banks. They still have a decent lending portfolioand manageable bad debts.• Consumer confidence is low and uncertainty prevails...restaurants, movie halls, big ticket purchases at malls are reportinga significant drop but consumer demand is not dead.Will need astrong trigger to revive ‘fee good’, like good corporate news. June09 quarter results published in July may turn the tide.92 The International IndianThe International Indian 93

94PUNDIT’S VIEW• Interest rates will be loweredand liquidity will be improved butbusinesses will not have adequateliquidity for most part of the year.Banks will return to consumerfinancing but will not go berserkas they did in till 2007. Therewill be closures and acquisitionsespecially in the SME categorybefore mid 2009.Interest rates will be lowered and Liquiditywill be improved but businesses will not haveadequate liquidity for most part of the year.Infrastructure projects willbe effectively activated ...willhelp cement, steel, and severalother businesses.Taxes may be reduced ( even atthe cost of deficit financing) to putmoney in the hands of consumers.• Real estate buying is beingpostponed, prices have droppedand big builders are illiquid....interest rate reduction will soothethe • mood but the real trigger willbe only six months after the capitalmarket revives. Not in 2009.• Reduced working days inmany industries (especiallyautomotive and exports related),because of poor off-take...thingswill get worse for the exportdependent industries in 2009 andon those who rely upon them.• Terrorist attacks haveincreased and there is no effectivesolution to curb them as yet...they could continue in 2009.Hospitality and travel industry,already affected by the softeconomy will suffer also becauseinward tourism will be affected.• Political brinkmanship inThe International IndianPakistan can keep tensions high though the year till either the military orthe civilians take(s) effective control...war if it happens, will be ruinousfor India and Pakistan.• Period of lull at the wrong time. There will be a period of 3 monthsor so from March onwards when no major economic decisions maybe taken by the Government because of the pre-election cool offrequirements. This is the period to be most carefully watched.• Fractured mandate at the polls in 2009 will continue to make itdifficult to take quick and bold decisions....expect to fend for yourselffor while from March.• Russia (and countries in itszone of influence) will becomean alternative market for Indianexporters and India will try tocosy up to them. OVL’s expensiveinvestment in Russia is just the start.Harried Indian exporters of goodsfrom garments to tea, will try diversify their customer base to enter thosemarkets. They have already started probing Japan and Asian countries.What does all this add up to?The second half of 2009 will be the start of an economic revivalin the Indian economy. However, 2009 will not be good for all. Theinternational environment will remain depressed and volatile. Thewinners will be those who change the way they work to adjust to thenew reality. There are too many tactical things to list when it comes tothe perspective of individual businesses but at a general level, there are6 issues worth considering. Companies will need to:••••••Be very flexible to deal with volatilityBe quite liquidBe very innovativeHave very quick response time to deal with changesHave their ears close to the ground to pick up and interpret early signalsGet closer to their key customers and be part of the customer’s solutionVery few companies can honestly claim that they are where theyshould be on any of these 6 issues. Serious transformation work will berequired to attain them.Make sure that you are not easy prey for another hunter. It need notbe ‘Que sera, sera’ (what will be, will be).For feedback or questions please contact Raj Nair at raj.nair@consultavalon.comRaj Nair is the founder of Avalon Consulting in India(www.consultavalon.com)In 2000 he co-founded Ugam Solutions one ofthe largest market research companies in the world(www.ugamsolutions.com)th16T CentralTIIs ‘where-to-get-it’ section. Products andservices for our 150,000 discerning readers.TIIEmigrationEmigrationEmigrationEmigrationANNI V ERSARYA16CentralYTII CentralOnly AED 1,000 for thisspace. Minimum 6 ads.Ideal for: Travel, RealEstate, Restaurants etc.CONTACT:MUMBAI :deanne_dsouza@yahoo.comDUBAI :melany26@gmail.comBAHRAIN :premal@veritasinvestments.meEmigrationThe International Indian 95

FUTUREQUESTCan Politicians ReallyChange a Nation?“The world is especially waiting for a new social and political agenda drawn not from bickeringpartisan loyalties, blatant ideological bias, or corrupting special interests, but rather from ourdeepest moral values.” – Jim Wallis, author of The Great Awakeningby: Frank RajIdeas have consequences.Throughout history every leaderworth his salt has captured theminds and hearts of people withone powerful idea. Gandhijistood for Satyagraha; Lincoln’s questwas to end Slavery; Martin LutherKing’s dream was Equality; BarackObama got elected on the promiseof Change. Challenging America’svested interests to a legislative duel,he has pledged to fight for changesin health care, energy and education,disregarding the status quo. Obama isnot winning friends in the corridors ofpower by rocking the boat, alienatingpowerful lobbies and his resolve totax the rich.My thoughts naturally turnto India’s upcoming Lok Sabhaelections and I look for any greatideas that maybe lurking somewhereon the campaign trails of ourdubious netas. I am intrigued thatLK Advani is speaking out againstthe Ram Sena’s moral policing inMangalore –no great BJP idea there,only more deception. Sonia Gandhihas confirmed Manmohan Singhwill be the PM again if the Congressreturns to power. Rahul obviously isnot ready, good idea to wait for somemore time. Notice anything great?How about Mayawati coming topower -the first Dalit woman PrimeMinister would indeed be a greatidea – for Mayawati that is, I’m notso sure about the country. One ofIndia Today’s recent issues publisheddetails of the wealth declared by ourpoliticians - not what they actuallymight have squirreled away. How their ‘political entrepreneurship’ hasacquired such fabulous assets proves they have no shortage of great ideas toserve themselves – oops I mean serve the nation!Of the few history-in-the-making events I’ve seen in America, BarackHussein Obama’s installation as 44th President of the United States isunforgettable. It’s a singular piece of history I will cherish because as a brownman I contend with the minefield of race prejudice. But I will also rememberthe event because I spent January 20, 2009, in the first African American homeI have been privileged to enter. Coinciding as it did with Obama’s triumph itwas very special to spend the day with Dawn Stanton a jewelry designer inFrederick, Maryland, a mere 45 minute drive from Washington DC, whichI decided against on this crowded occasion! During my five year stint inCalifornia in the 1970s, I missed the opportunity to make Black friends, fourdecades later I’m so glad my daughter Raina and Dawn chose to be friendsand didn’t hold back like I did.I am not in awe of popular politicians; I was in America to observe a countrythat overwhelmingly responded to Obama’s call for change. As I watchedDawn’s tears freely flowing on that surreal inauguration day, I saw hope andfear; a chance to restore the dignity of America’s minorities clouded by theever present danger of violent death for one man chosen to alter their agonizinghistory. I wondered, is this election just a novelty, or is it a paradigm shift? Ifthere were people who could kill JFK with impunity, what restrains them now?But Barack Obama doesn’t seem to be concerned.“The system we have now might work for the powerful and well-connectedinterests that have run Washington for far too long,” said the new Presidentrecently. “But I don’t. I work for the American people. I know these steps won’tsit well with the special interests and lobbyists who are invested in the old way ofdoing business, and I know they’re gearing up for a fight. My message to them isthis: So am I.” Ready to fight for change or not, if Obama compromises truth forthe sake of power, the results will be predictable. The house that America built onsand will not stand much longer on false premises.Nations rise and nations fall. Only one person in history did not pointto any great idea. Many wise men with good ideas have come and gone -none succeeded in implementing them conclusively. Perhaps that’s why Jesusaudaciously points to who he is. Is he daring us to sift through the greatestideas of the ages – none of which ushered in the Change they promised - andto investigate if he can truly change individual lives?Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.Futurequest is a search for the truth in our times.Frank Raj is the Founder Editor of TII96The International Indian