Pittsburgh_Patrika_January 2015

The Pittsburgh Patrika, Vol. 20, No. 2, January 2015

Vol. 20 No 2 January 2015

www.pittsburghpatrika.com

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

Vol. 20 No. 2 www.pittsburghpatrika.com January 2105

4006 Holiday Park Drive, Murrysville, PA 15668

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

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

Cultural Continuum — the Cause of Conflicts

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

Superstar Welcome to Prime Minister Narendra Modi

By Vinod Doshi............................................................................. 10

An Unflattering Facet of Desi life in the US

By Kollengode s Venkataraman.................................................... 16

Phipps’ Adieu to Tropical Forest Live Exhibit

By Premlata Venkataraman........................................................... 18

Nandini Mandal’s Prakriti Portrays Motherhood

By Deepa Godbole........................................................................ 19

Our Experience with Longwood at Home

By Balwant Dixit.......................................................................... 20

University of Pittsburgh’s New Lecture Series on

South Asia Focused on India

By Premlata Venkataraman........................................................... 22

Beware of Charlatans in Your Spiritual Journey

By Kollengode S Venkataraman................................................... 26

A New Kind of TV Commercial in India

By K S Venkataraman................................................................... 32

On the Cover: People in Europe proudly guard their local flavors during

Christmas. Near Brussels’ historic City Center is the famous Manneken

Pis, the 2’ high bronze statue of a naked little boy peeing, installed in an

open-air alcove. When I was in Brussels in early December, I took this

picture of people crowding around the Manneken Pis draped in a seasonal

costume. — Kollengode S. Venkataraman •

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

Vol. 20 No. 2 www.pittsburghpatrika.com January 2015

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

Cultural Continuum — the Cause of Conflicts

After World War I and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the

1910s and later decades, victorious France and England recklessly sliced

and diced the Middle East, Africa and the Indian subcontinent to serve

their interests, unconcerned about the regions’ histories and traditions.

Remember, these large areas — Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Iran, and the

Indian subcontinent — are standing on a cultural/civilizational continuum

going back at least 5000 to 6000 years. After WW I, the US joined the

Big Boys, eventually becoming the Biggest Boy. The problems festering

in these regions today can be traced back to this recklessness.

The West may gloss over what they did to these people as de facto

rulers — even putting a positive spin on the goodies they brought to the

regions. But people in the areas have a very different collective memory of

their histories. And these people, as people everywhere, live in a cultural

continuum identifying with their long histories. This should surprise no

one. Consider these:

• The Chicago Cubs have not won the World Series in over 100

years. If the Cubs won today, their fans would go berserk. We would

understand this as perfectly normal, and even rejoice in their victory.

But in those 100 years the owners of the Cubs have changed, and so

also their logo, uniforms, fan base and players. Only the Roman letters

CUBS and their vocalization have remained constant. Yet, Chicagoans

and baseball buffs see continuity through these 100 years of changes and

passionately identify themselves with the Cubs’ successes and failures.

Whole cultures — not to speak of profitable businesses — are built around

such illusional identities.

• Jews scattered all over the world today feel that on the basis of

their scriptures and their version of history, they have claims on the land

in the Palestine their ancestors left four millennia ago. See here: http://

www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/biblejew.html. Remember,

each millennia is roughly 40 generations. In the last 100-plus years,

Western powers and global power brokers have supported Jews’ claims,

a privilege given to no other ethnic group in the world.

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• Ethnic groups in the former Yugoslavia — the Bosnians, Croats,

Serbs, Macedonians, and Slovenians — recall the internecine wars that

ravaged on their lands several centuries ago as if they occurred only yesterday

and display their ethnic hatred to each other even now.

• In Islam, during Muharram, Shias all over the world passionately

remember and lament the murder of Hussein Ali, the grandson of the

Prophet Mohammed over 1400 years (50 generations) ago by opponents

on the contentious issue of who should succeed the Prophet.

• And of course, Christendom has its Good Friday on which the

faithful somberly remember the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son

of their God, over 2000 years ago. The followers of Jesus at that time collectively

accused all Jews living there of the crucifixion of Jesus, himself

a Jew. This was one reason for the anti-Semitism and the persecution of

Jews in Christian Europe. Only after almost 2000 years, during the Second

Vatican Council (1962–1965), the Catholic Church under Pope Paul VI

repudiated the belief in the collective Jewish guilt for Jesus’ crucifixion.

Similar stories in India are too many given its long history and social

complexities with subtexts based on differences in languages, religions,

sects, and social stratification/compartmentalization. It is worth recalling

the words of Wali Khan, the Pashtun leader of Pakistan and the grandson

of the Frontier Gandhi Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan: “I’ve been a Pashtun

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for 4000 years, a Muslim for 1400 years, and a Pakistani for 40 years.”

Group identity has many virtues, even as it gives exclusiveness,

vanity or victimhood to its members. One feature common to all

types of group identities is that people belonging to any one group look at

everybody else as “the Other.” When these identities are branded on large

ethnic groups, it leads to dislike, aversion, hostility; and when tolerated

by the ruling system, to discrimination, persecution, and xenophobia.

Let us see how it operates in the Indian subcontinent: No matter

what they teach in the sanitized school history books in India, its history

subjectively internalized by India’s Hindus and Muslims is so divergent.

Pakistan’s history books are not even sanitized. By their own account,

they are full of distortions and lies, and anti-India and anti-Hindu. Read

the multi-part essay What is the most blatant lie taught through Pakistan

textbooks? in Dawn (http://www.dawn.com/news/1125484), and the 300-

plus comments at the end of the article. On YouTube several video clips

by veterans in Pakistan are available on this very subject.

One reason for the communal tensions in India is Indian intellectuals’

inability to come up with an unvarnished and matter-of-fact

narrative of its pre-Mughal, Mughal, and post-Mughal history – warts

and all – without glossing over the unpleasant elements that are part of all

histories. Without such a common narrative, mutual distrust runs just below

the surface among Hindus and Muslims. Even a small trigger — such as

miscreants throwing a piece of beef into a temple, or driving a pig into a

mosque — is enough to ignite a communal conflagration.

In this context, the US, compared to England, France, Spain, and Portugal,

has done a far better job in coming to terms with its racial history.

That is why the US has moved forward on racial matters — always a work

in progress — far ahead of the European colonizers of Africa. This is a

good lesson for India to learn and implement in the Indian context.

Living in this continuum, people pass on their collective and skewed

memories of pride, honor, victimization/humiliation, from one

generation to the next. And our behavior is driven by the visceral and often

prejudiced beliefs internalized from what we hear in family gatherings,

social groups, and places of worship. Anthropologists call it meme.

Now, with social media to stay here and become even stronger, no one

organization or group of organizations, however powerful they may be, can

control the flow of information, or thinking and behavior of peoples.

In this environment, groups of ethnically, religiously, linguistically,

and/or racially distinct people traversing in their own orbits, out of necessity,

as they have been all along, overlap and intersect with others’ orbits.

So, how can the interactions among these groups be made such that they

are respectful of each other and can live in relative peace?

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Can political

and

r e l i g i o u s

leaders help

u s ? W i t h

very few exceptions,

the

track record

of political

and religious

leaders over

the last 2500

years is not

reassuring.

R e l i g i o u s

l e a d e r s ,

steeped in

their own

dogma, are

unable or

unwilling to

unlearn the

a r b i t r a r y

axioms on

which they

have built their edifices. These axioms are in mutual conflict with each

other, and are, to begin with, the root cause for many conflicts. Political

leaders have their own compulsions, particularly in a democracy.

Can today’s social thinkers address the problem? Given the lack of

mass appeal of cerebral minds in general, this is not likely to happen.

What is likely to happen? Conflicting ideas have always existed, and

will always exist — and so are the urges by nation-states to annex strategic

land masses and waterways. Resolving these conflicting ideas and pursuits

will not be always peaceful. The League of Nations and the UN in the last

100 years could not prevent WW-II, the Korean and Vietnam wars, the

on-going wars in Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and in the larger Middle East.

Most likely, the world will move episodically from one convulsion to

the next, some really big, many small. All we can do is to learn to manage

the conflicts without too much bloodshed, and lengthen the gap between

the episodes. This conclusion is more realistic, though not reassuring. We

cannot hope for more. If we can accomplish this, that in itself is a great

achievement. — By Kollengode S. Venkataraman •

The Pittsburgh Patrika, Vol. 20, No. 2, January 2015 500 Mansfield Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA

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Superstar Welcome to Prime Minister

Narendra Modi

By Vinod Doshi, Monroeville, PA

e-mail: doshivi@gmail.com

And why not? After 67 years of dynastic rule, economic decline and

rampant political corruption in India, the Indian-American Diaspora was

eagerly waiting to hear Prime Minister Narendra Modi, elected with an absolute

majority in the May elections for the first time for any non-Congress

government in India.

The venue was Madison

Square Garden in

New York with a seating

capacity of 20,000

people.

And what a superstar

welcome it was!

The head of the government

of the world’s

largest democracy was

L to R: Vijay Shah, Shivkumar Anumalachetty, Chetan Patel

Vinod Doshi, Ramesh Shah and Bimal Patel at the Madison

Square Garden.

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visiting the world’s

most powerful democracy.

No other foreign

political leader in US

history has received such a tumultuous welcome addressing a large and

diverse audience (in the Indian context) of 18,000 people gathered in one

place. History was made. It was an experience never to be forgotten.

The event was conceived and managed by the Indian American Community

Foundation with 400 US-based organizations as members.

Actually 700 organizations had applied but only 400 were approved.

Our Pittsburgh Organization was called “Sevapgh.org”, with our group

leaders Mr. Harilal Patel and Mr. Hitesh Mehta. Each organization was

issued tickets depending on the interest shown. 110 people had registered

from Pittsburgh but we were allotted only 83 tickets. As a result, some

people who had applied late could not be accommodated. Forty-eight of

us went in a bus. Others made their own transportation arrangements.

We had to give full background information for security verification by

the local organizer. Several thousand tickets were given out for free on

a lottery basis. There were 10 applicants for each ticket given out in the

lottery. People who did not get a ticket -- there were several thousands

of them — saw the event live outside MSG or on the large screens at


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the Times Square. Furthermore, the event was also beamed live to forty

university campuses nationwide.

The well-managed program was organized with financial support from

various social, religious, political, educational, and cultural organizations

and temples of all denominations throughout the country; and from individual

community, political and industry leaders.

At the end of the fun-filled bus trip (arranged by Chetan Patel), we

were dropped a couple of blocks from Madison Square Garden.

People were converging on the venue from all directions. Lines were very

long, but orderly. Security was very tight. What was allowed inside and

what was not was clearly conveyed to us in advance -- no cameras and no

note books. Smart-phone cameras were OK. At the entrance, they were

checking our tickets against our photo IDs. The whole atmosphere was

exciting with a lot of buzz. People were eager to see and hear India’s new

prime minister. We received a white MODI T-shirt as a souvenir.

The Indian Diaspora at the Garden represented a wide cross section,

and was reassuringly diverse in the Indian context. One could see a large

number — roughly 1/3 of the crowd — of women of all ages. Youngsters

too were there, many of whom were born and raised here.

Nearly 40 high-profile Congressmen and U.S. senators were there to

hear Mr. Modi. Among them, the influential US Senator Chuck Schumer

from New York and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Senator

Bob Menendez (NJ-D). And these members of Congress: Tulsi Hubbard

from Hawaii, Joe Donnely, Jim McDermott, Sandford Bishop, Caroline

Malorie and Sheila Jackson Lee. And the Indian-American Republican

governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley too was there.

Among the business leaders and educators present were: Microsoft

Head Satya Nadela; Pepsico’s Indra Nooyi; Nitin Nohara, Dean

of the Harvard Business School; our own Dr. Subra Suresh – President

of CMU, and Pradeep Khosla, the Chancellor of UC San Diego.

New phrases/expressions were heard: Modinomics, Modism,

“Modi”son Square Garden, Moditva, Modi Movement, Modi Mania, Modi

Magic, “Modi”fication, Pradhan Sevak (not Pradhan Mantri)… …

Some of the key Modi Mantras launched were: “Bharat Vikas,” “Swachha

Bharat,” and “Make in India.”

As I entered the arena to go to my seat on the second level, I was

awestruck to see the welcoming crowd of around 20,000 people – three

floors of humanity, buzzing with Modi Mania: people eating, drinking and

talking in small clusters, waving Indian flags and taking pictures with their

smart phones. Indian music was blasting away over the PA system. Last

minute preparations at center stage were going on at feverish speed. People

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were wearing the white Narendra Modi T-shirts. The buzz was regularly

interrupted by chanting of slogans like “Jai Ho”, “Vande Mataram” and

shouts of “Modi …Modi’. The whole atmosphere was jubilant.

Riding on a wave of popularity, with a loud spontaneous outburst of

Modi, Modi, Narendra“bhai” Modi entered the arena. The “Modi”son

Garden was “Modi”fied--mesmerized by the Modi Magic. In his speech,

Modi charmed everyone and connected extremely well with the audience.

It was a rousing and warm welcome indeed. Applause was spontaneous – I

counted over 100 eruptions of them in his 1-hour speech.

Indian-Americans have been inspired by his work so far. His vision

and mission for this visit seemed very clear – marketing India, and

projecting a positive image of India among overseas political and business

leaders and with the Diaspora.

He invited everyone to participate in this lofty mission of infrastructure

and industrial development of India. “India is very different today,” he

declared. Reassuring business leaders worldwide, he told them he had

already taken “initiatives towards ending the policy of paralysis and dismantling

the barriers to India’s growth.” India has market, manpower and

talent, so, “Come and make in India,” he declared. He wants to unleash

India’s energy and drive for growth.

He came, he met and he conquered with his simplicity, honesty, sincerity,

and with his progressive leadership and zeal to move India forward.

There is now a greater optimism for improving US-India ties.

As I left the arena, I too was in awe of the Modi Magic. The echoes

of his overall vision were ringing in my ears. The sincerity in his

message was inspiring. I was happy to see in Modi’s message, an assured

confidence for a brighter future for India. •

Nikita, daughter of Tejal and Dharmesh Desai

of Upper St. Clair, PA and a student of Shambhavi

Desai had her Bharatanatyam Arangetram on

August 2, 2014, at the S.V.Temple Auditorium

in front of a large number of invited guests.

Nikita, a senior in Upper St. Clair High School,

has been a part of many performances at different

events by Sanskruti School. Nikita is a part

of the UNICEF club, multicultural club, and the

Thai student exchange program. She also plays

the violin in the Upper St. Clair HS Orchestra

and is a sprinter and jumper on the Track and

Field Team. •

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An Unflattering Facet of Desi life in the US

People’s self-preservation mechanism is irrational, if not funny. People

vainly associate themselves with the achievements of other individuals

belonging to their ethnic group. For example, we all feel flattered thinking

about how good we are as an immigrant group when we listen to the

gratifying references to us in the American media, starting from Spelling

Bee championships year after year, our education levels, entrepreneurial

skills, children’s accomplishments in schools, and youngsters’ disproportional

presence in graduate schools... ...

And then Indian-Americans get presidential awards, are appointed as

university presidents or chancellors, as federal judges, and even elected

as governors in state-wide elections. The Wall Street Journal and other

publications report about our high net worth and high family incomes. So,

when Indians really get giddy in elation, others may understand. [But we

are stingy, even towards good causes. Ask any Indian struggling to raise

money for his/her cause. That is real haddi (bone) in the Indian kabab.]

But when people belonging to our ethnic group — like Rajaratnam,

Rajat Gupta, Mathew Martoma — are caught in Wall Street crimes running

into billions of dollars, we instinctively disassociate ourselves from

them. Same is our response when we see Indian healthcare professionals,

including doctors, arrested for Medicare frauds running into hundreds of

millions of dollars. See here http://tinyurl.com/Desis-in-Medicare-Fraud1

and here http://tinyurl.com/Desis-in-Medicare-Fraud2. We rationalize that

these people’s behaviors are individual aberration, so atypical of us.

Illegal Indian immigrants in this country are a case in point. We all

by now know — we should know because we brag we are better

educated — that 12 million undocumented people (aka illegals) are in the

US. This is 4% of the US population of 300 million.

When we think of the undocumented, we think of Latinos from Mexico

and Central America. After all, they make up ~70% of the undocumented

in the US.

But do we know we have 450,000 illegal Indians in the US? This is

nearly 4% of the 12 million of the undocumented. (Ref: The recent Pew

Research Center report on the topic). This may look like a small number.

But consider this: With the population of Indian-Americans around

3 million in the US, 450,000 illegal Indians are 15% of the entire Desi

population here. In Pennsylvania, out of the 135,000 illegals, 10,000 are

Indians, which is 7% of the total illegal population in Pennsylvania.

Is there any wonder why people in India encounter all kinds of hurdles

for getting visas for visiting the US?

— By Kollengode S Venkataraman •

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Phipps’ Adieu to Tropical Forest Live Exhibit

The annual Phipps’ Wines Under the Glass gala in the fall bid goodbye

to the 3-year old Tropical Forest India live exhibit. While tending these

foreign plants with love and care through three harsh Pittsburgh winters,

the exhibit was seen by one million visitors.

The guests at the Wines Under the Glass gala.

On October 30, close to Halloween people gathered to celebrate this

event with colorful masks. Many guests were in their colorful saris and

lehngas. A choice list of wines and cocktails too was there to go with

specially catered food to reflect the theme of the evening.

Krishna and Om Sharma were the Event Chairs, with Alina and Joseph

Massaro as Honorary Event Chairs, and Joan and Robert Peirce as

Honorary Host Committee Chairs.

Live entertainment with music was part of the gala. Ruby Jain’s Kathak

and Bollywood dance items complemented the India theme.

The evening also honored Richard V. Piacentini’s twenty years as the

Executive Director of Phipps. A slide presentation

highlighted his valuable contributions.

Phipps also honored Krishna and Om

Sharma for being hosts for the evening.

Dr. Surinder Bajwa and his wife Jagdeep

of Fox Chapel were effusive with their

Phipps experience: “We’re very pleased

with the Indian Exhibit. We came here a

few times to enjoy the tropical ambience.

We’re now members of Phipps. We bring

our books to sit and read in this verdant

Ruby Jain

Wines Under the Glass.. ... Continued on Page 33

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Nandini Mandal’s Prakriti Portrays Motherhood

By Deepa Godbole, Upper St. Clair, PA

Editor’s Note: Deepa Godbole grew up in Pune, India and came to Pittsburgh 28 years

ago to earn her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering. She now lives in Upper St. Clair with her

family. Her hobbies include Indian culture and arts, yoga and bridge.

On Saturday, November 15th, the Nandanik Dance Troupe staged

Prakriti, a show devoted to Mother in two forms, Devi and Nature. The

well-orchestrated debut performance with many in the audience from the

American mainstream started and ran on time. The show was different from

Nandanik’s past productions. The songs were in several different languages

with very little dialogue, and InterPlay provided the on-stage narration to

relate the traditional story to contemporary events. The performance was

engaging with the performers narrating the story as they danced.

The first half was purely Indian classical dance focusing on the relationship

between a mother and child portrayed in multiple ways. In the second

item, a parallel was drawn between the relationship between Yashoda and

Krishna and a modern-day mother and her son. This dance was the audience’s

favorite with Nandini Mandal first portraying both Yashoda and

Krishna; then InterPlay’s Sheila Collins danced to show the relationship

between herself and her children reciting excerpts from her book Warrior

Mother. The recital was riveting, driving home the point that a mother’s

love for her child is eternal through all the passage of time.

The second half was dedicated to Mother Nature, choreographed in the

Chau style of Indian dance. The story of a kingdom in which villagers,

especially women, fought against their king as he tried to cut down their

beloved trees was paralleled with the modern-day Chipko or Tree-hugger

Movement that has spread across the world. The combination of Indian and

American dance forms for telling this story was well done. InterPlay’s Neil

Prakrti.. ... Continued on Page 26

21


Our Experience with Longwood at Home

Balwant N. Dixit, Ph.D.

608 Ravencrest Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15215 USA

(412) 963-8023, (bdixit@pitt.edu)

Note: Balwant Dixit is now a professor emeritus in pharmacology at the University

of Pittsburgh.

My wife, Vidya, my son Sunil and I flew to Washington DC on June

6th for a short vacation and checked into a hotel in Alexandria (VA),

about a mile from a Metro station. On the first day we spent most of

our time visiting the Holocaust Museum. We had to wait for two hours

to get in, but it was worth the wait. The next day we walked from the

Smithsonian Metro stop all the way to the Lincoln Memorial, a distance

of over a mile. My wife, Vidya, suddenly came down with intense pain

in her left leg; she could not even stand up and nearly collapsed. A park

ranger came and tried to help but realized the situation was serious. She

called DC EMS and Vidya was taken to the George Washington University

Hospital (GWUH) emergency room. Initially admission was declined since

Vidya’s insurance plan rejected the emergency room coverage as well as

in-hospital stay. I had to sign papers agreeing to pay the bills in case our

claim was rejected. I knew that since Vidya was never employed in the

USA, she does not have Medicare A & B coverage on her SS#, although

her “UPMC for Life” insurance ID card lists her SS#. I suggested to the

admitting nurse that she try my SS# since Vidya’s Medicare A & B is on

my SS#. It worked. Vidya was admitted for emergency care and given

pain control medication. X-ray and a few other tests were necessary for

a diagnosis. After about four hours, I was informed that Vidya needed to

be admitted for additional care since she was not able to stand up or walk

even a few steps. I wanted to stay in DC until a diagnosis was made, but

could not find a room to stay after June 8th anywhere in the DC area or

in nearby suburbs, except for one room in the Pentagon City for just two

days and another room in DC for $550/night. Inter-hotel accommodation

services were not helpful either. Hotels recommended by the GWUH were

also full. Vidya agreed to stay in the hospital and Sunil and I returned to

Pittsburgh on June 9th. Our “UPMC for Life” plan (a Medicare Advantage

Plan) covers only the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. After four days in

the hospital Vidya was transported by a fully equipped EMS ambulance

with the help of Assist America from Washington DC to Pittsburgh (246

miles). All those who have “UPMC for Life” plans also get Assist America

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health insurance carriers provide Assist America as a benefit. More than

300,000 companies and schools do. One should call the host insurance

carrier for more information.

When I contacted a representative of Assist America and gave him all

the details about the condition my wife was in, he suggested that my wife

would be transported by taxi cab with a driver but no other equipment such

as a cane, walker, or wheelchair would be available to her, since it takes

Longwood... ... Continued on Page 26

23


University of Pittsburgh’s New Lecture Series

on South Asia Focused on India

Mobasher Jawed Akbar, popularly known as MJ Akbar, the official

spokesperson for the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) spoke on September 30

at the University of Pittsburgh on “India After the 2014 Elections.” His

talk focused on the “new leadership, priorities and possibilities.”

For the geopolitical and business interests of the US, India is strategically

important. So, the University of Pittsburgh started this year an annual

lecture series at its South Asian Studies department. India is front and center

of South Asia not only in geography (see the map), but also in culture,

history, and economy. Akbar was the first speaker in this series.

Akbar’s is a well-known name in India and in the Indian subcontinent.

His name as a journalist is associated with a long list of well-known publications.

He also was a Congress Party MP and served as the official

spokesperson for Rajiv Gandhi when he was India’s prime minister.

Currently Akbar is the spokesperson for the BJP, which he joined just

two months before the 2014 elections -- talk about good timing. How

many political operatives in the

world’s large democracies have

been so close to two diametrically

opposed political systems?

Akbar was introduced to the

audience of over 200 people by

Mark Nordenberg, who recently

ended his long tenure as the university’s

chancellor. Nordenberg,

as he told his audience, is related

to Akbar as sambhandhi,with his

son marrying Akbar’s daughter.

Akbar started by stating that

India’s impatient youth —

54% of the population is under 25

years of age — had reached a point where the lethargic status-quo was

no longer acceptable, which was the main reason for BJP’s spectacular

victory, with Modi becoming India’s Prime Minister. He highlighted the

changes the BJP has made by focusing on four decisions.

• Abandoning the Planning Commission, a relic of the Soviet model

of planning adopted by Jawaharlal Nehru and the Congress Party. The

post-colonial reality of India was that 60% of people lived below the poverty

line. Even 60 years after India’s independence poverty was reduced

24


only by half. The BJP believes in poverty elimination not alleviation.

Government wants the private sector to create millions of new jobs. Government

wants to do this while protecting the environment and the poor.

BJP looks beyond the ideology from both the Left and the Right, and will

pursue ideas that work.

• Secondly, Modi recognizes that “Trickle Down economics,” a term

MJ Akbar addressing the gathering at the University Club in Oakland. Extreme right (R to L)

in the front are Patrick Gallagher, the Chancellor of the University and Mark Laudenberg,

Chancellor-Emeritus. Photo: University of Pittsburgh.

popularized by Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, does not work. Even the

poorest need to be an integral part of India’s economy, and that is why

it brings these people into India’s formal banking sector. Empowering

people at the bottom gives them much needed purchasing power wjhgich

benefits India’s manufacturing and service sectors.

• Third, Modi’s background gives him a better understanding of the

difficulties of those stuck in the cycle of poverty. He addressed the need

for toilets for every Indian from the Red Fort in his Independence Day

speech. He took part in the Global Citizen’s concert at Central Park, joining

in efforts to provide access to toilet for all in India. This initiative will

give basic dignity to women in rural India, so that girls feel safe going to

school (but only when fulfilled, we must say).

• Fourth, Akbar emphasized that the secularism of India predates by

many centuries the secularism of Europ., India accepts all faiths and belief

systems. It is in the very fiber of every Indian. Gandhiji is the best symbol

of secularism in India, gaining inspiration from the Hindu, Christian and

Muslim faiths. Modi, he said, wants the Muslims to be strong in their faith

but modern in outlook and participate in India’s growth. Indian Muslims

are as patriotic as anybody else in India.

25


Modi’s vision, Akbar said, is looking towards the East. Symbolically,

Modi came to the United States after visiting Japan and after Chinese President

Xi’s state visit to India. In Akbar’s choice of words, “East of India

is growth, prosperity and productivity, and west of India is a wasteland

all the way up to Morocco on the west coast of Northern Africa.” Only

three countries, India, Iran and Israel, he said, have stable governments

and democracy. The Middle East, he said, is slipping into medievalism.

On the question of Pakistan, Akbar was quite blunt. Alluding to the

rise of Syria’s Islamic State, IS, Akbar said, “Pakistan is the first Islamic

State,” and hence a natural home for Osama Bin Laden. While the US has

sought Pakistan as a solution to their terrorism problems, Akbar said, India

sees Pakistan as a problem. — By Premlata Venkataraman •

Prakriti ... ... continued from Page 21

Straub portrayed the tree and Sheila Collins and Shari Mastalski danced

to tell the stories of modern-day deforestation around the world.

The imaginatively done last piece was inspiring: A young girl is tending

to a sapling she found after all trees had been felled. As she cared for the

sapling, slowly other saplings sprouted. The dancers begin as logs, and

slowly, one-by-one, they grew into trees, first with their hands, and then

with their entire bodies. It was a finale that will be hard to forget.

Overall, Prakriti was enjoyable and educative. The focus on motherchild

relations as well as Mother Nature kept the audience engaged,

bringing parallels to modern-day life. Integrating beautiful Indian dance

(choreographed by Nandini Mandal and Sanjib Bhattacharya) with Inter-

Play’s unique style was seamlessly done. •

Longwood ... ... continued from Page 23

a minimum of 2.5 hours for a cab to come to Pittsburgh from GWUH.

She could either sit in the front seat or could travel “lying down” in the

back seat. I suggested that he use MAPQUEST to find out the driving

time and the distance.

He was surprised that the distance is 246 miles. When I suggested

that my wife’s condition was such that she needed to be transported by

ambulance, I was informed that I needed to make some other arrangements.

So, as a standby, I contacted a private medical transport company

which agreed to provide the necessary transport at a cost of $3,600. I then

informed the representative of GWUH dealing with the situation that under

the Medicare Act a patient can reject discharge if he/she feels insecure

after discharge and from that point on all the hospital charges become

the responsibility of the hospital. I advised Vidya not to leave GWUH

unless a Medicare representative came to see her. The situation changed

26

Longwood... ... Continued on Page 31


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27


Beware of Charlatans in Your Spiritual Journey

Taayumaanavar, a great poet-spiritualist-philosopher (1705-1742),

lived in Tamil Nadu, expounding Advaita Saiva Siddhantam. His Tamil

name splits into Taayum and aanavar, meaning

in Tamil He Who is Also the Mother, a descriptive

reference to Shiva. In Sanskrit, it would be

Maatr-bhooteshwara.

He was born not in a brahmin family but in a

Vellala family deeply steeped in Saivism.

His parents were Kediliappa Pillai and Gajavalli

Amma. Though most of his poems are addressed

to Saiva deities, he was a universalist on matters

of spirituality. In many verses he addresses the Infinite

using a Tamil word PoruL, literally meaning

“The Thing.” Most probably, he would have struggled for a long time and

failed to find a word or phrase to comprehensively and precisely define

the Infinite. So, he chose poruL, the same way the Upanishads use tat,

literally meaning That.

Etymologically speaking, the English that is cognate with, and derived

from, the Sanskrit tat. Can you get any closer either phonetically or in

spelling?

In an alliterating Tamil verse Taayumaanavar says how difficult it is to

master one’s own mind, a prerequisite in our spiritual journey:

You can control an elephant, catch hold of a tiger’s tail,

Grab the snake and dance, dictate to angels,

Transmigrate into another body, walk on water or sit on the ocean;

But it is far more difficult to still your mind and remain quiet.

He was impatient with theological hair-splitting, common in his time, as

it is in ours. After serving as a minister for the Maratha king Vijayaranga

Chokkanatha Nayak of Tanjavoor, he quit and became a mendicant.

Taayumaanava Swamy was a scholar in both Tamil and Sanskrit. If

you want to understand and enjoy his several hundred verses composed

in a variety of complex Tamil meters, grounding in Sanskrit and the

Indian metaphysical ideas are necessary. Well-versed in the two classical

languages, he would have easily identified charlatans of his time as we see

in the following non-poetic translation of his verse in a dasakam (padigam

in Tamil), a set of ten verses on a theme, called Siddhar Ganam:

Coming to think of it, the illiterate are indeed virtuous.

Look at my karma and my intelligence [that’s impetuous].

I’m well-read, but still live in ignorance!

28


If a sage says, “The liberating Jnana (wisdom) is worthy of pursuit,”

Karma (action) is more important, I will claim.

But if one defends Karma as the better option,

I’ll argue, “The good old Jnana is more important.”

With a Sanskrit pandit, I will elaborate on how great Tamil is.

When meeting people well-versed in Tamil,

I will dazzle them with a few Sanskrit shlokas.

My conceited bombast frustrates everyone, but convinces none!

O, Siddhas, You’ve reconciled the ideas of Vedanta and Siddhanta!

Will this talent of mine ever give me Mukti (liberation)?

The answer to his rhetorical question is obvious: No. Taayumaanavar

deftly brings out the hypocrisy in us by employing the first person singular

in the verse. Obviously, he is not referring to himself. But when you read

his verse, you may see shades of yourself in the first person pronouns I,

my, mine, and first-person case-endings in the verbs. This technique is

commonly used by Bhakti poets all over India since the 5th century to

temper our vanity and pride.

Today we see modern versions of Taayumaanavar’s archetype all over

India. You have to only replace Sanskrit with English, French, German,

Arabic, Persian, or any Indian language other than your native tongue.

Here is the Tamil original for you to enjoy the alliterative and rhyming

verse of this great poet-philosopher:

--- By Kollengode S Venkataraman

29


India-PakistanTrade: It is now MDNA, not MFN

Nothing is simple in India-Pakistan relations given the 70-plus years of

bitterness and the divergent perceptions of the Turkic/Afghani incursions/

invasions into India and the Mughal rule. Only thing common between the

two are mutual suspicion, which quickly morph into bellicosity.

The World Trade Organization decades ago came up with principle

that “a country should treat all its trading partners equally giving them

‘most-favored-nation’ or MFN status.” MFN simply means that one nation

will not arbitrarily discriminate against other nations. India granted

Pakistan MFN status in 1996, but Pakistan has not, making Pakistanis

pay more for Indian merchandise routed through Dubai.

For Pakistan, granting MFN status to India through the Urdu press is

difficult. MFN in Urdu is Sabse Pasandeed Mulk; pasandeed means liked.

In Pakistan, where hatred of India is part of its education curriculum, the

Urdu expression conveys cozy attitude towards India, where there is none.

So, Pakistan’s babus came up with Non-Discriminatory Market Access,

or NDMA to de-fang opposition. MDNA is the same as MFN; that is,

Pakistan agrees that it does not discriminate against India. But even with

NDMA, Pakistan’s bright babus will come up with new roadblocks.

— By K S Venkataraman •

30


Longwood ... ... continued from Page 26

very rapidly. The next day at 6:00 AM a representative of Assist America

called and informed me that my wife will be transported to Pittsburgh by

a fully equipped EMS ambulance. It took almost 6.5 hours for the EMS

ambulance to reach our home in Pittsburgh from GWUH. After her return

to Pittsburgh Vidya underwent X-ray, MRI and bone scans and is being

treated by two orthopedic physicians. Although no definitive diagnosis

has been made, with physical therapy and other supportive treatment she

has shown considerable progress.

What happened to Vidya can happen to anyone anywhere. One

must be prepared with all the information to deal with such situations.

I learned a lot. All throughout this time our assigned social worker

from Longwood at Home was working with us to get everything arranged.

When the ambulance arrived at our house, the Director of Home Care, a

care giver and our social worker were there in the drive-way to help. For

the next 48 hours care was provided around the clock and from then on,

care givers have been visiting us every day for 8 to 10 hours providing

help as needed. All caregivers come on time and are well behaved and

trained, and as of today (July 30th), over 250 hours of assistance has been

given. Caregivers also helped in many household chores such as meal

preparations (if asked), grocery shopping, prescription pick-up, taking

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31


Vidya to medical tests and to doctor’s appointments. They did regular

laundry, cleaning dishes and vacuuming as well as garbage disposal and

any other light housekeeping chores we asked for. Each caregiver wrote

a brief report on Vidya’s progress, medications she took, her diet as

well as all other activities she participated in. Such logs were helpful for

the subsequent caregivers and also to the supervisor who monitors the

services provided. Becoming a member of Longwood at Home was the

most rational decision we made two years ago. We did not have to file

any claims, had no waiting time to qualify to receive help, and made no

payment for any services we have received. In my opinion LaH is a much

better option than having Long Term Care Insurance. We learned a lot

from this unusual experience. Unexpected adversity provides a great

learning experience, but it has its own cost! In another issue I will describe

in details Continuing Care at Home (CCAH) programs.

Acknowledgement: Grace Smith of LaH, Sudhir Manohar and Girish Godbole

made useful comments. •

A Marathi Film Screened in Memory of

Dr. Manohar Joshi

The Dr.Manohar Joshi Film Series was launched in 2012 remembering

Joshi, long-time resident here, who passed away in 2007. He enjoyed

off-beat films. So, each year, a movie with a social issue is chosen and

The audience at the Eddy Auditorium at Chatham U. listening to Shubha Joshi (in

the inset) before the screening of the movie.

the funds raised are given to different causes. On November 8, partnering

with Film and Digital Technology Department at Chatham U., the Marathi

movie, Astu – So Be It, was shown at Chatham U. Past recipients were

Silk Screen Film Festival and Association for India’s Development. This

year, it was India Development Service (IDS) based in Chicago. •

32


The revelers at the gala in their masquerade masks.

and peaceful surrounding.”

Dr. Ritu Thamman, Member, Board of Trustees at Phipps, was sad

the exhibition is coming to an end. “I learnt

so much from visiting and volunteering here.

I am nostalgic every time I see signs in Hindi.

It was particularly wonderful to bring children

to the exhibit,”

she

said.

Shubha

Mullick of

Rashaa and Fred Brown of Global

Pittsburgh at the gala.

Fox Chapel

was all

praise for

Ben Dunigan and Jordyn Melino, cura-Janictors at Phipps, for their countless hours

Held, an Indophile in salwarkameez

in maintaining the plants. “The Indian American community in Pittsburgh

should get more involved in projects like these to give back to the community.”

— By Premlata Venkataraman •

IMPORTANT NOTICE

We regret to let readers know that our website has crashed for reasons

that we will never know. We are struggling to fix it so that readers

accessing our website can read all the articles we published in the last

twenty years.

Please bear with us till we fix the problem. — Publisher •

33


A New Kind of TV Commercial in India

Commercials Indian TVs are bland

and insipid affairs with fully peroxidebleached

models looking like none you

see on the streets even in fancy upscale areas in, Chennai’s Adyar, or

Mumbai’s Pali Hills, or New Delhi’s Green Park.

In this marketing environment, any off-the-wall ad is refreshingly

welcome, and one such as was on TV during my visit in late summer. It

was a Lufthansa ad in English. I do not recall the exact dialog but this

was the gist:

Scene 1: A 60-plus year bald old man walking with his grandson in a

park tells him, “Beta, I am taking you to New York, to your father. We

are going on a German airline. Do you know German?”

“No!”

“Germans, aah, serious people. They build good things. But their films

are all grey. They may not even know Bollywoood.”

“Ummm, really Nana?”

“Yes beta.” He continues pensively: “German food... mmm…” He

breaks off, winces in disgust, and waves off his hand while grunting,

“Aaargh!”

Scene 2: The grandfather and the grandson are inside an airplane.

The grandson opens the dinner tray served to him. He opens the food tray

and sees familiar items on his tray — delicious rotis, vegetables, gulab

jamuns…

Remembering what his nana told him and surprised at the familiar food

he sees on the tray, he exclaims, “Nana, we are in the wrong plane!”

The grandfather nonchalantly smiles and tells his grandson, “It is OK

beta. We are fine,” and relaxes in his seat.

Scene 3: A long-shot of the plane from outside that slowly closes in

on the logo Lufthansa.

Honesty in the Indian Lower Courts: A smart and very honest judge

in one of India’s lower courts called both lawyers into his chambers.

“So,” the Judge said, ‘’I have been presented by both of you with

bribes...” Shocked by the judge’s candor, they expected the worst.

“You, Atty. Sharma, gave me Rs.5,00,000; and you, Atty. Gupta,

gave me Rs.6,00,000.”

Handing over Rs. 1,00,000 to Atty. Gupta, the judge said, “Now that

I am even with both of you, let me I assure you: I will decide the case

purely on the basis of its merit.” •

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