Pittsburgh_Patrika_July_2015

The Pittsburgh Patrika, Vol. 20, No. 4, July, 2015

Vol. 20 No 4 July 2015

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The Quarterly Magazine (Jan, Apr, Jul & Oct) for the Indian Diaspora

Vol. 20 No. 4 www.pittsburghpatrika.com July 2105

4006 Holiday Park Drive, Murrysville, PA 15668

Phone/Fax: (724) 327 0953 e-mail: ThePatrika@aol.com

“Like” us on Facebook at

www.facebook.com/pittsburgh.patrika

Highlights in this issue... ... ...

International Air Travel: US & Persian Gulf Air Carriers

Compete and Travelers Stand to Gain

By Kollengode S Venkataraman ................................................... 2

Proxy War: The Syrian Axis Dividing the World

By Kris Gopal ............................................................................... 6

10th Silk Screen Film Festival: A Collage of the Events Past

From the Archives of Silk Screen Festival .................................. 10

5-k Charity Event by the Pittsburgh Indian

Community & Friends (PIC)

By PIC-5-k Volunteer Team ......................................................... 14

India in Transition: Trying to Initiate A Radical

Arranged Marriage

By Kollengode S Venkataraman ................................................. 19

On Intellectual Arrogance

By K. S. Venkataraman................................................................. 22

The Pittsburgh Triveni Samskrita Mela 2015

By Asmita ranganathan and others............................................... 27

Sahana Music Group Raises $17,000 for Helping Veterans

By K S Venkataraman................................................................... 28

Samarth Nagarkar’s Enjoyable Recital

By Ahiri Ghosh .......................................................................... 31

On the Cover: The Pacific Coast beach in Santa Cruz, California.

Thousand and thousands years of slow erosion of the rocky outcrop by

the pounding waves has created a work of art where seagulls and other

birds nest, finding safety from man.— Photo by K. S. Venkataraman •

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The Quarterly Magazine (Jan, Apr, Jul & Oct) for the Indian Diaspora

Vol. 20 No. 4 www.pittsburghpatrika.com July 2015

Phone/Fax: (724) 327 0953 e-mail: ThePatrika@aol.com

International Air Travel:

US & Persian Gulf Air Carriers Compete

Travelers Stand to Gain

By Kollengode S. Venkataraman

For people traveling from second-tier cities like Pittsburgh and

Raleigh in the US to second-tier cities in the Indian subcontinent

(Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Lucknow, Peshawar, Kochi) the gate-to-gate travel

time can be daunting. Often three stopovers

— a major hub in the US, a brief layover

in Europe, another major hub in India

like Mumbai or Delhi with long layovers.

Seniors or people traveling with infants and

kids despair even before they leave home.

This has changed now.

A few years ago, the Big-3 Persian Gulf carriers — Emirates, Etihad,

and Qatar — started their nonstops to US cities beyond JFK. We now

have 18 nonstops to US cities such as Dallas, Houston, Washington

DC, San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, and Miami, to their hubs in Doha,

Abu Dhabi, and Dubai in the Persian Gulf. Incidentally, Dubai and Abu

Dhabi, new entrants to high-end international travel, have state-of-the-art

hubs and airport facilities. Later, the Big-3 US carriers (Delta, United,

and American) also started their nonstops to the Persian Gulf to get their

market share.

The Big-3 Persian Gulf carriers have

nonstop flights from their hubs to secondtier

cities like Ahmedabad, Amritsar,

Goa, Kochi, Kozhikode, Lucknow,

Multan, and Peshawar in the Indian

subcontinent. Several regional air carriers like Jet Airways, IndiGo also

have nonstops from these Persian hubs to smaller cities in the Indian

subcontinent.

Because of these options, the gate-to-gate travel times between second

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tier cities in the US and the Indian subcontinent are shortened anywhere

from 4 to 6 hours or even better.

With the Open Skies policies in the US for international carriers,

the Big-3 US carriers are feeling the heat from competition from

these big Persian Gulf carriers. These new comers have much younger

fleet, better and wider range of in-cabin service (like food, entertainment,

and importantly, cabin crew).

Besides, the Persian Gulf hubs are huge

shopping/entertainment complexes with

even hotels within the airport for long

layovers. The Business Class service in

these new entrants is far better than what

the US carriers offer.

So, these new Persian Gulf airlines are now luring away international

travelers from established US and European carriers such as Lufthansa,

KLM, British Airways, Delta, United, and American. These legacy

airlines for decades had almost 100% share of the international travelers

from the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, and Africa. Those days

are gone for good.

The Big-3 US carriers are complaining to the US government that the

Persian Gulf’s Big-3 get unfair financial subsidies from their governments.

Not many in the US who understand global travel are convinced.

In any case, international travelers in second-tier cities in the Indian

subcontinent and North America now have more travel options, shorter

gate-to-gate travel time between their home towns in the US to their

destinations in India, and possibly also less expensive tickets. The incabin

service in US carriers may even improve with competition, and the

competition will keep the air fare in check.

In the man-eat-man world of international air travel business, India’s air

carriers and big airports in India have missed chance to lure international

travelers compared to the Persian Gulf’s Big-3 carriers and their hubs like

Dubai. On this also, India will be perpetually in the catching-up mode.

If we get a nonstop from PIT,

an excellent airport for international

arrivals and departures, to

a Persian Gulf city like Dubai, we

can reduce our gate-to-gate travel

time by at least 6 to 8 hours. If you

know elected officials in Pittsburgh, or the airport administrators at PIT,

or our regional business leaders, persuade them to look beyond Europe

and explore getting a nonstop to one of the Persian Gulf hubs from the

Steel City before some other city in our region gets it. •

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Proxy War

The Syrian Axis Dividing the World

Kris Gopal, South Hills, PA

e-mail: gutcut@comcast.net

proxy war as defined by the Oxford Dictionary is a war instigated

by a major power, which does not itself become involved.

A

Typically proxy wars function best during cold wars, as they become a

necessity in conducting armed conflict between two belligerents while

continuing cold warfare. Proxy wars are those in which the main actors

face conflict through the use of other means—proxies. These proxies

range from aid and arms supplies to full use of troops, not simply the act

of war itself; there are many ways for outside forces to contribute to war

and conflict between entities other than itself. Proxy war is covert and

illegal, yet still frequently used as a strategy today. The earlier conflict

between the regime and the Taliban in Afghanistan (in 1970) and how the

super powers, United States and Russia, were drawn into the conflict is

a classic example of proxy war.

Our history is replete with innumerable proxy wars from time immemorial

— from the Abhyssinian-Adal war in 1529, from the colonial

era to the present second Saudi-Yemen War. The list is too numerous to

mention all.

The present Syrian conflict is a proxy war at best, with the civil

uprising in the country being manipulated by three super powers,

China, Russia and United States of America. Syria is a complicated place

and an important player in Middle Eastern and global relations.

First and foremost, Syria is the third arm of the anti-Israeli and anti-

West, Iran-Hezbollah-Syria alliance, a Shia threesome that opposes the set

of Sunni-led powers in the Middle East. Syria’s population is dominated

by Sunnis, but the Assad family, who are Shias, controls the country.

In addition, Syria buys some $150-million worth of arms from Russia

every year and hosts a Russian naval port on its Mediterranean Sea Coast.

It has been lorded over by the ruthless Assad family for more than 40

years, with democracy a forbidden notion. And it is situated at a continental

crossroads, between the energy riches of Eurasia and the Middle

East and the energy-hungry markets of Europe.

Syrian conflict has triggered something more fundamental than a difference

of opinion. In sixteen months, the situation in Syria has mutated

from an uprising in outlying areas into full-scale civil war. Now it has

Proxy War... ... Continued on Page 18

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Part-time Hindi Instructor for Fall 2015

The University of Pittsburgh’s Less-Commonly-Taught

Languages Center is seeking a part-time instructor of Hindi

starting end of August, 2015.

Timings for the three courses are already set (evening hours)

at the Cathedral of Learning. Applicants must have:

• Superior level spoken and written Hindi

• Teaching experience (language teaching and college-level teaching

preferable but not mandatory)

• Enthusiasm for teaching

• Willingness to learn and adopt methods of communicative language

teaching

• BA or equivalent

• Legal permission to work in the US

Ideally we are seeking one instructor, but would be willing to split the

position if necessary. Women and members of minority groups that are

underrepresented in academia are especially encouraged to apply.

Please send resume and brief letter of interest to Gretchen Aiyangar,

Administrative Assistant, Less-Commonly-Taught Languages Center:

gma21@pitt.edu •

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The Silk Screen Film Festival

10 th Year Milestone ─ A Flashback

2015 Opening Day Gala: Thursday, July 9

www.silkscreenfestival.org

Mayor Bill Peduto with Harish Saluja (2014)

Jennifer Marino (2014)

Chinese dancers (2009)

Juginder Luthra and Ashok

Trivedi (2012)

Saroj and

Mohinder Bahl

(2008)

Japanese Sword Dancer (2007)

12The festival at the Harris Theater (2011)


Harish with Sumedha Nagpal (2006)

Harish with Sumedha Nagpal (2006)

Sally Wiggin of WTAE TV (2010)

Sally Wiggin of WTAE TV (2010)

Manu Narayan

Manu Narayan

(2006)

(2006)

Some of the guests (2010)

Some of the guests (2010)

Jessica Van Natten and Merritt Wuchina

Jessica Van Natten and Merritt Wuchina

(2013)

(2013)

Filipino dancers(2013)

Filipino dancers(2013)

Venue:

Venue:

A.

A.

J.

J.

Palumbo

Palumbo

Science

Science

Center

Center

Carlow

Carlow

University,

University,

Oakland

Oakland

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Hallie Johnson and Ruby Jain (2011)

Hallie Johnson and Ruby Jain (2011)


If you’ve something to share with readers...

Our readers are scattered over a large area in southwestern Pennsylvania,

eastern Ohio and northern West Virginia. Obviously, it is difficult

for people in one area to know what is going

on in other areas. Social Media is effective

in spreading your news around, but more

media avenues will help you better.

So, if you’re interested, send us details of your upcoming events giving

information on what, when, where, who, why, and the ticketing and contact

details. If you are fundraising, be specific about your beneficiaries.

We will try to include your events as brief announcements.

Also, we may publish brief summaries of events that have already been

conducted. For this, please contact us before your program or before

working on your story to make it easy for the writer and the editor to

allocate space and save time. If you have any story ideas, please get in

touch with us through e-mails at ThePatrika@aol.com •

Congratulations, Graduating Seniors!

Rhea Bedi Mt Lebanon H.S. U. of Pittsburgh (Main)

Karan Bokil S. Fayette H. S. Carnegie Mellon U.

Anya Chopra Pine Richland H.S. Cornell U. Coll. Of Engg.

Sahil Dadoo Pine Richland H.S. U. of N. Carolina, Chpl. Hill

Rama Godse Fox Chapel Area H.S. U. of Pennsylvania

Navin Jain Sewickley Acad. U. of Pittsburgh (Hons)

Madhumita Mahesh Upper St. Clair H.S U. of Pittsburgh (Main)

Roosha Mandal Mt Lebanon H.S. Carnegie Mellon U.

Akansha Mazumdar Sewickley Acad. Virginia Tech.

Shruthi Muluk The Ellis School Harvard U. (Pre-Med)

Rahul Pokharna Sewickley Acad. Case Western Res. U.

Tanvi Rana Sewickley Acad. Penn. State (Med. Prog.)

Bhooma R Shah Thomas Jefferson H.S. U. of Pittsburgh (Pharmacy)

All Graduating Seniors, Congratulations!

We wish you the best in college.

The Tadikamalla Family, Pittsburgh, PA

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Congratulations, Class of 2015!

Ninety-seven percent of our seniors were admitted to one

of their top-choice colleges, and these graduates have been

offered more than $4.5 million in merit scholarships!

Check out where our graduates are

heading off to college this fall at

www.sewickley.org/graduates.

Schedule your visit today! Contact

admission@sewickley.org or 412-741-2235.

We can’t wait to show you around!

315 Academy Avenue. Sewickley, PA 15143

www.sewickley.org | 412.741.2235

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5-k Charity Event by

Pittsburgh Indian Community & Friends (PIC)

We call Pittsburgh our home. So, let’s give back to the city that all

of us have benefited from in many ways. Many of us support nonprofit

charities on an annual basis. However, there is still a perception in local

public that our community does not contribute enough and that we are

somehow indifferent to the local issues despite our education and success.

The mission of PIC-5k is to bring our community together to raise funds

for deserving Pittsburgh-based nonprofits and demonstrate our commitment

to Pittsburgh.

So, in this spirit, we organized our inaugural event last September.

“We call Pittsburgh

our home. So, let’s give

back to the city that all of

us have benefited from

in many ways.”

We were pleased that over 600

people participated in the event

and raised over $35,000. This was

accomplished by the support from

over eighteen organizations representing

our diverse backgrounds

and religious organizations. We

came together under the canopy of the 5k event — an impressive way to

showcase our Unity in Diversity!

The funds raised directly benefitted these Pittsburgh-based nonprofit

organizations: 1) Homeless Children Education Fund and 2) Primary Care

Health Services, Inc.

The PIC-5k this year is on

Saturday, September 12th at

the North Park Boat House.

Mark your calendar.

We urge you to join this event

with family, friends and colleagues.

The scenic course takes you around

the lake, and it is perhaps the best

Volunteer Sumedha Nagpal giving a $ 15,000

check to Bill Wolfe of Homeless Children’s

Education Fund last year.

way to meet and greet all your

friends and even make new friends.

This is a family event and people of

all ages are encouraged to participate.

Also, the event is open to all and please ask your friends, neighbors

and coworkers to join regardless of their background. Help us to reach

our goal of 2,000 participants this year.

Let’s make a difference in the region and the larger community that

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Fresh Carp and Buffalo are delivered

every Monday to

Wholey's Market

Please visit us in the Strip

where we will be happy

to assist you,

or order online at your convenience.

We will hand select your order with the greatest care.

Open seven days a week

1711 Penn Ave.

Pittsburgh, PA 15222

1-888-946-5397

www.wholey.com

we are a part of! Please visit us at http://pic5k.org/ and like us at www.

facebook.com/PIC5K

Our criteria for selecting registered Nonprofits for support with funds:

1) Focus on serving the local community. 2) Small, yet effective organizations

where our contributions can

make a difference. 3) Specific programs

with measurable outcome.

With these objectives we set for

ourselves, we made a list of local

Nonprofits and understood their activities.

We then short-listed a few of

them for our purpose, visiting them

talking to their leaders to understand

Dr. Visala Muluk giving a $13,000 check to their operations and the impact on

Lakshmi Reddy of Primary Healthcare Services the community.

last year.

We satisfied ourselves that the

Nonprofits would benefit from our contributions, and further that they

would work with us and report to us for assessing the impact of our support.

— By PIC-5-k Volunteer Team •

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Proxy War... ... continued from Page 8

mutated into a proxy war between the great powers.

The Russians have been arming Bashar al Assad’s regime and the West

is arming the rebels. The Saudis and the Persian Gulf countries are funneling

weapons straight to the Sunnis. The arms are trickling across the

Syria’s borders with Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Jordan. The CIA has been

channeling the weapons to the “right” people away from al-Qaeda, but

who the right people are anybody’s guess. A rag tag of village insurgents

and army defectors is coming together as a fighting force. The regime

and its opponents are now fighting with special savagery.

While the savagery is going on, the Syrian exile leaders are frittering

away time sitting outside, where they discussed their plans in Cairo to get

their act together. Divisions along the lines of clan, tribe, ethnicity and

Islamic sects would make a united front difficult to achieve. It appears

that the Assads, father and son, were more skillful than Libya’s Muammar

Qadaffi in keeping their opposition weak and divided.

So the Great powers are facing off in the most volatile region on

Earth, which may have a destabilizing effect in the neighboring

countries of Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq, and even beyond. Russians and

Americans are restrained because of the dangerous standoff over the

neighboring Iran.

Russia helped build Iran’s nuclear program, China needs Iranian oil and

both are willing to support Iran’s defense of the region’s Shias, including

Syria’s Alawites. The US and Saudis are lined up behind the Sunnis.

But while Russia and the US want to keep the confrontation at low ebb,

their proxies — Iran and Syria on one side, and Israel and Saudi Arabia

on other — will seek to drag them deeper. Both Russia and China see the

Syrian issue through their own political lenses. They understand Assad

well and support the dictator.

In this complex world of fighting by proxies, now U.S is finding itself

caught in the proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

References.

Making sense of proxy wars, by Michael Innes.

The world deployed by Scot L Bills.

World History, by Jonathan Drsner. Pittsburgh State University.

The New York review of Books. How Syria divided the world,

by Michael Ignatiff

Caught in the cross fire, by Massimo Calabresi, in Time Magazine.

April 2015,

•

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India in Transition:

Trying to Initiate A Radical Arranged Marriage

By Kollengode S Venkataraman

There is a wide perception in the West that Indians are “traditional”

and “orthodox” and very caste-conscious when it comes to marriage.

One proof they cite are the matrimonial ads in Indian dailies —

for that matter also in Pakistani and Bangladeshi dailies — in which the

grooms’ and brides’ parents seek alliance from parents of potential brides

and grooms respectively, identifying their religion, sects and subsects,

caste and subcastes, native tongue, food habits, and so on.

Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs are no exception in this even though

Christianity, Islam and the Sikh faith do not nominally recognize caste.

The caste system may have a Hindu origin, but today, in practical terms,

it pervades the entire South Asian population across all faiths. However,

India is also rapidly changing. This is obvious to those willing to see and

understand the details of today’s marriages not only among the upper crust

and its middle class, but also among the working poor. In this milieu, any

departure is a welcome change.

Given this context, one recent matrimonial ad

in a Mumbai tabloid drew wide attention for

its departure from the norm, and went viral. This

unique matrimonial ad invited proposals for a gay

Iyer man (Iyer is a stereotypical name of a Tamil

Brahmin subsect) from potential gay grooms. Later,

the man’s identity was revealed: Harrish Iyer. See

the picture.

Incidentally, South Indian Tamil Brahmins are

caricatured in the media all over India as orthodox, religious, traditional,

old-fashioned, subservient, compliant... and not courageous, daring and

not entrepreneurial. The famous examples in my younger days (1960s

and 1970s) were the well-known Ranganathan character in the Hindi film

Rajni Gandha; and the actor Mehmood’s tasteless slap-stick caricaturing

of Tamil Brahmins in Hindi films.

However, people outside the Tamil Brahmins’ group also would

grudgingly acknowledge privately this: these Brahmins, in general, are

studious, hardworking, diligent, and single-minded in their pursuits. They

are also self-effacing and low-key in their public persona and with their

higher-ups. The Tamil Brahmins are also reviled subtly and not-so-subtly

by outsiders for these very reasons. The powerful Brahmin-hating Dravidian

Movement in Tamil Nadu in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s portrayed Tamil

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Brahmins as wily, crafty and diabolical; and also as the root cause for all

evils in the Tamil society.

In any case, the matrimonial ad read, “Seeking 25-40, well- placed,

animal-loving, vegetarian groom [for a man] (36, 5'11") who

works with an NGO, caste no bar (though Iyer preferred).” This

matrimonial ad from a gay young man from among the tradition-bound

South Indian Brahmins seeking alliance with a gay man, understandably,

went viral. Within a day or two Harrish Iyer, got over 70 proposals.

The Hindustan Times reported (www.tinyurl.com/Gay-Iyed-Wedding-

Ad) Iyer saying, “Most proposals … … were from men from the Iyer

community, given the preference mentioned in the ad... … Proposals had

come from all over world, including from Australia, the UK, the US and

even Saudi Arabia. Apart from Iyers, many Gujaratis and Muslims also

expressed interest… … Some proposals said they were fine with all my

preferences and wanted to marry me, but were meat-eaters. An interesting

proposal came from Abu Dhabi, where a man offered me his palatial

house to live in after marriage.”

Though the ad was radical in every measure, there was also a traditional,

and simultaneously, a very radical Indian twist to this

ad. The full ad reads thus: “Seeking 25-40, well placed, animal-loving,

Radical Marriage... ... Continued on Page 28

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On Intellectual Arrogance


I

n all cultures, there is always an undercurrent of tension between

wealthy patrons and the recipient honorees receiving their patronage.

This is simply because the recipients of the patronage — typically poets,

painters, musicians, sculptors, and others with creative minds — are temperamental

people to begin with; they are also conscious of their creative

talents, and the lack of it among their patrons. The patrons, while aware of

their limits, are sometimes genuine to help these artistes. But more often,

they want to tell the world that they patronize artists. They also know the

recipients need their support much more. In all sophisticated cultures,

this patronage is expected of wealth and power. In the Krishnadevaraya’s

court in the Vijayanagara Empire, he had eight poets of great talents,

called Ashta-dig-gajas, literally, “elephants in eight directions.” Allasani

Peddanna and Nandi Timmanna are the famous two.

Both the patrons and the recipients need great skills to negotiate their

mutually dependent transactional interactions. Otherwise tension spills

over in public. I have heard these stories in 20th century India:

• Sahir Ludhianvi, a great Hindi/Urdu poet went with idealism to

Pakistan on Partition in 1947. Once in Pakistan, he saw that the literary

ambience there was not what he expected. He was even jailed for his leftist

writings in Savera, the Urdu daily. In disgust he returned to India, never

going to Pakistan even as a visitor. In India he was a star lyricist.

• Veteran Hindustani vocalist Bade Gulam Ali Khan too went to

Pakistan during Partition hoping for better patronage. He was disillusioned

with the condescension he got from the bureaucrats running Radio Pakistan.

He returned to India in revulsion. He too was a star in India.

• Closer to our time, I’ve heard that there was some bad blood

between the Andhra-born Telugu-speaking Balamuralikrishna, the

veteran Karnatic vocalist based in Chennai, and N.T.Rama Rao, the

founder of Telugu Desam Party and the powerful chief minister of Andhra

Pradesh. Balamuralikrishna never performed in Andhra Pradesh as long

as N.T.Rama Rao was the chief minister.

• Poet Kannadasan was a legend in his own life as a lyricist dominating

Tamil cinema in the 50s, 60s, 70s; and well into the 80s. In the Tamil

Cinema dominated by superstar heroes, MGR ruled the roost in this

time. There was a disagreement between MGR and Kannadasan. Feeling

slighted, Kannadasan simply refused to write lyrics for MGR films for

decades and yet dominated Tamil cinema as a song writer.

• O.P.Nayyar, a well-known music director never used Lata Mangeshkar

when Lata dominated Hindi cinema, because of personality clash.

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Nayyar went on to become a celebrity music director without Lata.

There is nothing new in the intellectual arrogance of people with

talents. As a matter of fact, this is very old. Here is an example

from 5th century India of a Sanskrit poet responding to the perceived arrogance

of his patron king (source: Vairagya satakam by Bhartrhari).

Here is the non-poetical Translation:

You’re a king; [but] we too are self-assured of our wisdom

acquired from teachers we served;

You’re celebrated for your wealth and grandeur;

our fame [too] is known in all quarters spread by our peers.

Thus, there is a divide between us both. If you are cold towards us,

we too are perfectly content to be indifferent towards you.

In the 10th century Tamil Nadu lived Kambar, a great poet, who rendered

Ramayanam in 10,000 verses that goes by his name, Kamba

Ramayanam. His patron was the Chola King Kulottungan. Due to some

25


unknown reason — unknown to me in any case — Kambar felt insulted

by his Chola patron. He left Kulottungan’s court in disgust, writing his

resignation letter in a four-line verse (in the style of a veNbaa) dripping

in anger and sarcasm. Here is the Tamil original:

மன்னவம் நேயா? வளநாம் உனேதா?

உன்ைன அறிந்ேதா தமிைழ ஓதிேனன்? -- என்ைன

வைரந்ேதற்க் ெகாள்ளாத ேவந்ண்ேடா? உண்ேடா

ரங்ேகற்க் ெகாள்ளாத ெகாம்?

Free translation:

And you too are a king? Yours is this prosperous kingdom?

I nurtured Tamil [here] knowing you as well as I do [now]?

Is there a king who will NOT eagerly take me into his court?

Is there a bough in any tree that will not accept a monkey?

This is perhaps the only instance of a resignation letter in verse form

conforming to all the rules of grammar, dripping in anger borne out of

humiliation, intellectual arrogance — and also full of of self-confidence.

When the patrons and recipients know they need to nurture their

symbiotic relationship, both gain. Even the outside world gains.

After all, true artists are kings in their own right. •

26


big

moments

are better when shared

Let the newly renovated Sheraton Pittsburgh Hotel at

Station Square help you create the event of a lifetime!

Call Eric Bowman 412-803-3874 or email

eric.bowman@sheratonstationsquare.com

300 W Station Square Dr | Pittsburgh, PA 15219 | (412) 261-2000

©2015 Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. All Rights Reserved

For Getting Free Copy in the Mail: The magazine is mailed

free every quarter to nearly 2000 homes for

Indian-Americans living within a 40-mile

radius around the Point. For your friends to

get their free copies in the mail, ask them to

send their names and mailing addresses to: ThePatrika@aol.com •

I

ndia’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Bangladesh in June on

a 2-day official visit. Apart from official meetings, he also visited

the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum, the Martyrs Memorial, the Ramakrishna

Ashram, and addressed

the students and faculty of the Dhaka

University.

He also worshipped at the Dhakeshwari

Temple (see the picture),

which was rebuilt after the 1971

liberation war. Dhaka is named after

the deity. Incidentally, Modi is the

first Indian prime minister in the 43 year of Bangladesh to go the famous

temple, which was first built in the 12th century. •

27


New Convenience Store Opportunity

• The new C-Store Mini Mart was developed by former 7-Eleven Executives.

They know the business very well, and also know what the new owners

need to succeed.

• They want to build 10,000 locations in 20 years nation-wide

• This is not a franchise. You own the business with corporate support.

• Choose your location — strip mall, free-standing, or convert your existing

store.

• Why pay 7-Eleven 55% of every $ you earn? Purchase your store now while

locations are available.

• No Franchise Fee • No Royalty • No Advertising Fee • No Revenue

Sharing.

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of 2 or more stores.

• For brochures, store amenities, locations, design concepts etc., contact

Richard Ames. Phone: 724 272 9431 or e-mail: rbames@rbames.com

Radical Marriage ... ... continued from Page 22

vegetarian groom for my son (36, 5'11") who works with an NGO, caste

no bar (though Iyer preferred).” (Emphasis mine).

After all, the ad, in one fundamental measure, was not radical at all,

but very, very traditional. For, it was placed, not by Harrish Iyer himself

courageously seeking a same-sex partner in marriage, but by Harrish’s

mother Padma Iyer, who supports her son’s gay identity and even walked

with him in the Queer Azadi Mumbai parade. At another level, it was as

radical as it gets anywhere in the world — a mother placing a matrimonial

ad seeking proposals from other gay men for her gay son.

We wish Harrish Iyer well in his life whoever he chooses to be his

partner and wherever he chooses to live. And we hope that in

his married life with a gay partner of his choice — and also his mother’s

choice, if you go by the ad — the Indian tradition stops with his mother

helping him choose his partner. Ok, give her some slack: Maybe, with

her finalizing Harrish Iyer’s wedding details.

If it extends beyond his traditionally arranged, yet very radical gay

Indian marriage, it has the potential of his mother’s shadowy presence

interfering — and even wrecking — his gay marriage, as it happens so

often in traditionally arranged straight Desi marriages. •

28


The Pittsburgh Triveni Samskrita Mela 2015

By Asmita Ranganathan, Sudarshan Narayanan,

Harichandan Mantripragada, and Jyotsna Kalavar

Samskrira Bharati USA, Pittsburgh Chapter

The Samskrita Bharati USA’s Pittsburgh Chapter, extends an invitation

to all Sanskrit aficionados in and around the Pittsburgh area to participate

and to support Pittsburgh Triveni Samskrita Mela 2015, a festival celebrating

Samskritam. We hope that this Mela will serve as a forum for all Sanskrit

aficionados to come together in propagating this great language.

Triveni in the title draws an analogy between the confluence of the three

holy rivers of India, Triveni Sangam in Prayaag, now called Allahabad,

considered a seat of learning and Hindu culture; and the confluence of

the three rivers of Pittsburgh, a place we endeavor to make an abode for

Sanskrit and Sanskriti. Here are the details of the events:

When: September 19th (Saturday), 2015 from 11a.m. to 5 p.m.

Where: The Holiday Inn, 2750 Mosside Blvd, Monroeville,

PA 15146.

Activities: Songs, dances, skits, games, and others for adults and youngsters

all in Sanskrit! The event is open to all. Further, there will be:

• Exhibits portraying the legacy of the language.

• A book stall displaying books for purchase,

to kindle the interest of both beginners and advanced students of Sanskrit,

featuring a wide collection of media resources.

Samskrita Bharati USA (www.samskritabharatiusa.org) is a non-profit

organization committed to reviving and popularizing Sanskrit as a spoken

language, and thereby enabling us to access our timeless and rich cultural

heritage. A sapling of this tree obtained from its parent organization,

Samskrita Bharati in India, was planted in the US in 1995.

Twenty years later today, that sapling has grown into a tree bearing

fruits of success in the form of increased engagement in speaking Sanskrit

while its branches are growing to reach out and provide shade to many a

Sanskrit enthusiast. In just a few years, Samskrita Bharati USA has grown

from a single center in California to more than twenty all around the US

with hundreds of volunteers.

The Pittsburgh Triveni Samskrita Mela 2015 is being held to commemorate

Samskrita Bharati USA’s 20th anniversary.

For questions and/or enquiries, please contact:

Asmita Ranganathan: (412) 276-1699

Harichandan Mantripragada: (412) 849-9622

Sudarshan Narayanan: (412) 608-5481 •

29


Pittsburgh’s Indian Music Groups Raises

$17,000 for Helping Veterans


Sahana 1 is a 100% Pittsburgh-based music group with versatile traditional

percussionists, guitarists, keyboardists, and also talented vocalists.

A few of them are teenagers and one or two in their 40s, and others, in

all ages in between, both men and women. Most of the adults are from

India, with the teenagers born and raised here.

With full-time jobs in other fields, these people practice music

in their free time for four to five months for their annual 2- to

3-hour long programs, usually in spring. The most interesting part of

Sahana’s program is that even with 100% of the artistes being “local,” their

program is NOT free, as is the case with most programs in this town. They

raise thousands of dollars selling tickets and seeking donations, and give

away their net collections to a charity of their choice. This year, they had

a talented teenager from India, Sai Vignesh Ramakrishnan, a Top-10 vocal

finalist in the Super Singer Indian TV talent show, adding more luster.

This year’s 6th fundraiser, held on May 31, Sunday at the Franklin

Regional Middle School auditorium, exceeded their target of collecting

$15,000 that Sahana gave to the Friends of the Pittsburgh Fisher House

(FOPFH), an organization. FOPFH helps war veterans’ families with their

boarding and lodging needs when they are in Pittsburgh

for medical treatment. Mr. John Corder, a board

member of the organization (see picture) addressed the

gathering giving the stats on war veterans, their needs,

and how FOPFH helps the veterans. Over the years,

Sahana has donated over $60,000 to charities.

The highlights of this year’s 2-1/2-hour program:

1 Sahana (pronounced sa-haa-naa), a common raga both in the Karnatic and

Hindustani traditions, is the janya raga from the parent 22nd Melakarta raga

Karaharapriya (Karnatic); and the progeny of the 10th Thaat Kafi (Hindustani).

The Sahana music group has members coming from all over India.

30


PITTSBURGH MONROEVILLE

CONVENTION CENTER

101 Mall Boulevard, Monroeville, PA 15146

412-373-7300 www.DoubleTreeMonroeville.com

At the DoubleTree by Hilton Pittsburgh - Monroeville Convention Center,

personalization offers you an authentic celebratory weekend with friends and family.

Let us wow you and your guests from start to finish.

For additional information or to discuss how we may assist you in planning,

please contact Kimmie Fitzhugh-Kelly, Director of Catering,

at 412-843-4416 or via e-mail at kfitzhughkelly@doubletreemonroeville.com.

Here at the DoubleTree by Hilton, the little things mean everything.

• Over 20 musical pieces in Sanskrit, Tamil, Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi,

and Gujarati; some of them very old (16th and 17th centuries).

• The songs chosen covered Tamil and Hindi/Urdu film classics

made over five decades, and were interspersed and sequenced well.

• The emcees came well-prepared, delivered their tightly and tastefully

written brief introductions for each piece, and quickly left the stage

for the artistes. Refreshingly, nobody hogged the mike.

• The tuning of instruments in-between pieces — a bane in Indian

pop music events — was kept to the barest minimum.

Overall, an enjoyable program.

Indian film songs describe different moods — joy, pathos, irreverence,

sarcasm, humor, irony, paradoxes, and the dilemmas of life

— often conveying great insights into life’s complexities. Some of the really

good ones are as good as paid sessions with psychologists. So, lyrics

are the heart, soul, spirit, and the very life of film songs, especially the

good ones. (There are, of course, many bad ones, really tasteless and even

obscene ones, I concede.) In this context, here are two observations from

someone who bought the ticket and sat through the whole program.

1. Leaving out the names of the lyricists who penned the masterpieces

in printouts and announcements while mentioning the names of the films,

music directors, and the singers who simply lend their voices (however

31


mellifluous they are), is inelegant, to say the very least. Going forward,

Sahana can correct this quite easily in their future programs.

2. When the vocalists render their pieces, the phrases in the lyrics

should come out loud and clear without getting drowned in the high-decibel

music from instruments such as guitars and keyboards. When we carefully

listen to Indian film songs in their original recordings, we can discern that

when the vocalists render the pallavis/charanams (or mukhda/antaras),

their voices come out clear in the front with the accompanying orchestra

music’s volume in the background in low volume, relatively speaking. In

the musical interlude between the pallavis and charanams (mukhdas and

antaras), the vocalists are absent, and the orchestra music is at higher

volume with great effect on the listening experience of the audience.

In the program the decibel level of the accompanying guitars and

keyboards almost drowned out the vocalists in a few pieces. High decibel

levels for the instruments during singing do not suit Indian film songs based

on melody, where the lyrics are at the very center. Sahana can correct this

by working with the professional sound engineers they hire.

Over all, it was a well-organized, well-rehearsed program with each

member on-stage and off-stage working with passion and dedication.

Acknowledgments: Niveditha Vasudevan, Monroeville and Anandi Balakumar,

Sewickley for the photographs. •

32


Samarth Nagarkar’s Enjoyable Recital

Note: Ahiri Ghosh, a 7th grader, learns Hindustani classical from Smt. Nidrita

Mitra-Sinha at the Saptak Music School.

Chhandayan, dedicated to Hindustani classical music, kicked off the

2015 season with an enchanting

vocal recital by Samarth Nagarkar,

disciple of Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar,

on Saturday, May 23, at Samar &

Mala Saha’s home in Irwin, PA.

Dibyarka Chatterjee, disciple of Pt.

Samir Chatterjee, was on the tabla.

Rohan Prabhudesai (not in the picture)

was on the harmonium. Their

recital showcased their understanding

of the nuances of Indian classical music. Nagarkar demonstrated styles

from the Jaipur and Gwalior gharanas.

Nagarkar started with the Raag Bihagada in thaat Bilawal. Bihagada

is a close relative of Raag Behag, but applies Komal Nishad. Starting with

an alap, he slowly transitioned into a Vilambit Teentaal (16 beats), and

ended the piece in Drut Teental, skillfully demonstrating creative taans

with Gamak.

Nagarkar then moved onto a seasonal raag Basant Bahar, a mixture of

Basant and Bahar in a true sense. He started off this gorgeous raag with

an alap, followed by a piece in Vilambit Tilwara (16 beats). Nagarkar

concluded this raag with another Drut Teentaal.

After a brief intermission, Nagarkar continued with lighter pieces. Accommodating

requests from the audience, he started with Raag Chayanat,

with an alap and a graceful song in Vilambit Jhumra taal (14 beats). Nagarkar

followed it by the layakari sung using words, moving into a Tarana

in Teentaal. The taans and gamak were incredibly crisp and fast.

Nagarkar then sang a semi-classical piece called Dadra in Khamaj in

Dadra taal (6 beats). His skill in holding high pitches for long durations

was astonishing. After that, he sang a Tappa-style Rabindra Sangeet in Kafi

he learned at the Sangeet Research Academy in Kolkata. Nagarkar moved

onto Abhang (traditional Marathi bhakti literature) in Raag Bhimpalasi,

describing that sorrow and happiness follow in cycles. His last piece was

in Raag Bhairavi, with a twist by singing a fast-paced Bandish ki Thumri

set in drut Ektaal (12 beats) that left his audience in a joyful mood.

After the concert, the Sahas hosted a delicious dinner giving opportunities

for the artists and the audience to interact. — By Ahiri Ghosh •

33


Dekho Hamara Hindustan at a Micro Level

Recently, there were sporadic news in the Indian English media on

Muslims having difficulties in getting housing in cities like Mumbai. This

news was picked up by the global media. Understandably, the Pakistani

media also picked up the story to berate India’s secular credentials. Pakistan’s

problem in dealing with divisions within Islam is far more serious

with routine murders of Shias

by its Sunni extremists.

In Pakistan, when they

वdiscuss ◌ा या यापकता the हता need ते for commu-

या मया harmony, वा परता हता ते it is not about

यानेन चेतःपरता हता ते ।

तnal

म व ि◌न यंि◌ वधापराधान ्॥ १॥

reducing tensions among Muslims

(95% of the population),

tvad

Hindus (1.5%) Tvad and Christians

(1.5%); it is about reducing the

tension between Shias (20%)

and Sunnis (75%).

In any case, when The

Hindu, a leading English

daily from Chennai, published

the story on the Muslims’ difficulty

in housing in Mumbai,

a reader’s response to the Letters-to-the-Editor

highlighted

how insidious this problem is

in India at the microlevel.

Here is a letter written by one Annadurai Jeeva from the world-famous

Vaishnava temple town Srirangam in Tamil Nadu that appeared in The

Hindu (http://tinyurl.com/Story-On-Srirangam):

“Judicial interventions and legislative actions are not enough

to eradicate the endemic discrimination in matters such as housing.

The problem is not peculiar to Mumbai.

In Srirangam [the famous Vaishnava temple-town in Tamil Nadu],

it is quite impossible for even an Iyer family [who are Smarta-

Advaita Brahmins] to find rented accommodation in an area dominated

by Iyengars [Vaishnava Brahmins], not to speak of families

belonging to the OBCs and the SCs, which only exposes the hollow

claims of India possessing a secular identity.

Other intermediate castes in the periphery are averse to the SCs,

Muslims and Christians… …”

•

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