Pittsburgh_Patrika_July_2014

The Pittsburgh Patrika, Vol. 19, No. 4, July 2014

Vol. 19 No 4 July 2014

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

Vol. 19 No. 4 www.pittsburghpatrika.com July 2014

4006 Holiday Park Drive, Murrysville, PA 15668

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

“Like” us on Facebook at

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

The Deadly Violence in the Murrysville School

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

The Modi Revolution Galvanizes India

By Arun Jatkar................................................................................ 4

Looking Back and Taking Stock

By Samar K Saha............................................................................ 6

Journey in Resolving Multiple Identities

By Priyanka Srinivasa................................................................... 12

Race- and Ethnicity-based Affirmative Action

By Kollengode S Venkataraman................................................... 20

What is Important in Education? Teaching or Learning?


Days of Imperialism Lingers On


Transitions: Usha & Ram Chandra Moving to West Coast


Obama’s Presidency in two Trendlines

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

On the Cover: Summer is finally here after a miserable winter and a

chilly extended spring. The Allegheny River near Washington Landing

with its verdant foliage in full bloom on either side of the river. One of

the readers took this photo using a simple digital camera when she went

hiking along the Allegheny River along the North Shore. •

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

Vol. 19 No. 4 www.pittsburghpatrika.com July 2014

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

The Deadly Violence in the Murrysville School

Violence among teenagers, like domestic violence, has no correlation

with social differentiators such as education, pedigree, wealth, or the

ZIP codes where we live. All three recent incidents of school violence

by teenagers in Columbine, Colorado (1999), Sandy Hook, Connecticut

(2013), and now, in our own backyard Murrysville this April, occurred in

public schools in bucolic neighborhoods with well-manicured lawns and

“desirable” ZIP codes. The stabbings at Franklin Regional High School

in Murrysville in April were by one out-of-control teenager using two

large kitchen knives. In a matter of minutes, 22 students were injured,

three of them seriously. The three required extended stays in ICUs and

multiple surgeries. Fortunately nobody died.

That the student’s choice of weapon was long kitchen knives and not

guns was fortuitous. If he had used guns, we would have ended up with

war-like killings. Just imagine, if the unhinged teenager had no weapons

at all, only a few kids would have gotten bruised faces in a fist fight.

I was speechless at hearing on the radio that they deployed in Murrysville,

a desirable bedroom community, medical triage units trained by

US army medical units that served in Iraq, saving wounded soldiers in

battlefields! Is this where we have arrived as a “civilized” society?

The criminal justice system will go through its winding course deciding

the fate of the 16-year old deranged perpetrator of these violent stabbings.

But the incident leaves behind traumatized kids, parents, the devastated

family of the unhinged student who committed the stabbings, and a community

seeking answers. No matter what the judgment will be — the 16-

year old is being tried as an adult — the young man’s life is ruined, and

his family has an uphill task rehabilitating themselves.

For the many young adults reading this magazine, as your elders

we are deeply committed to your wellbeing and future. So, listen

to this: no matter what the perceived provocation will be, never ever be

in situations where you are the perpetrator of this kind of violence, no

matter what the provocation. Equally important, we also certainly do

not want you to be a victim in this type of senseless violence.

School violence... ... Continued on page 18

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The Modi Revolution Galvanizes India

Arun Jatkar, Monroeville, PA

e-mail: ajmarathi@yahoo.com

Many months ago I heard Damodar Prabhu, an energetic and wiry

octogenarian of Pittsburgh, animatedly telling someone: “You want

progress in India? Make Narendra Modi the prime minister!” I was not

as intimately familiar with the political events in India

as I would like to be. So I did not take it seriously.

But then Harilal Patel, another long-time resident of

Pittsburgh, one day said to me that he had been thinking

about what “we” could and should do to get Modi

elected as India’s prime minister.

As I mulled over these words, I kept saying to

myself, “I can see the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),

winning hands down in Gujarat; but how is BJP going to get a decisive

victory in the elections across the length and breadth of India? If BJP

alone or in alliance with other parties does not get the majority in the

parliament, how would Modi become the prime minister? Modi becoming

the prime minister is a pipe dream.”

So I was even more astonished when BJP announced Narendra Modi

as the party’s prime ministerial candidate. Everyone has read about the

communal riots of February 2002, just months after Modi became the

chief minister of Gujarat and how Modi has been ceaselessly blamed ever

since for those riots in the Western as well as in the Indian media.

When one reviews all the facts around the Ahmedabad riots of 2002

in the light of several other communal riots in India, it becomes

clear that the media, both in the West and in India, have been conducting

a callous, sly and wholly unfair campaign against Modi. Some organizations

undoubtedly played a lead role in perpetrating and perpetuating this

colossal calumny. Eventually the charges of “genocide” and “pogrom”

against Modi took on a life of their own. The Congress Party in power in

New Delhi had a vested interest in keeping the drumbeat going on against

Modi. Many well-funded non-Hindu organizations in India and abroad also

stood to gain by relentlessly vilifying Modi in the media. The left-leaning

pseudo-secularists, having drifted away from the letter and the spirit of

secularism, also joined the bandwagon of Modi-bashing. This, I thought,

was a formidable alliance, very hard for Modi and BJP to defeat.

This was in spite of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) appointed

by the Supreme Court of India unequivocally saying in its report that

Modi Victory... ... Contd. on Page 20

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Looking Back and Taking Stock

By Samar Saha PA e-mail: samar_k_saha@yahoo.com

Growing up in India in the 1950s, it was hammered into our brains

that Indians and India were kept down by the ‘White’ rule and

could flourish only under self-rule. To a young mind this seemed selfevident

then. The ruthless colonial exploitation for

the mind and wealth of the disunited India by the

British and European Whites were the reason of

our downfall. People who were dear to us painted

a dream of how things would change when we had

won our freedom, and how we, the young ones,

would make that change happen.

This message came from respected freedom

fighters – both of the violent and non-violent

kinds – and teachers, historians, journalists, and

our elders. Gleaning over statistics and historical

anecdotes in my teen years, I was convinced. The 1950s was a decade

of hope and dream.

Fast forward the calendar to 1970. I stopped in Bombay and spent a few

days with my radical but intellectually brilliant school friend Umesh Dutta,

on my way to New York with my green card in my pocket. Strangely, I

was not exactly sure why I was leaving India.

My buddy was a researcher working in a prestigious institute. He was

totally at a loss as to why I gave up my good job in a British company to

go to an ‘uncivilized’ White country called the USA. His parting words

at the airport were, “Write me back if they still lynch Negroes on the

street of New York.” I never wrote back anything. Slowly he faded

from my memory.

I

met Umesh this year after nearly forty years. Umesh searched me

out on his own. I flew to Austin, Texas, and spent a few days at his

son’s place. Time had taken its toll. He is mellowed now compared to

the radical he was. Now he lives in Mumbai in retirement.

I could still see that flash of brilliance in his eyes. We finished the

elaborate Thai dinner his daughter-in-law had made for us while relentlessly

talking about our recollections of the past and our current state. He abruptly

said with the patented twinkle in his eye: “I sum up India’s performance

during the last 40 years in one sentence, Samar! Indians have succeeded

in countries ruled by Whites, but failed in their own.”

He continued: “India would have been the USA or Britain if our elders

were smart enough.” There was a dreadful silence as we finished our

drinks without any further talk. I was thinking, “I dare not stop this guy

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now. He’s on a roll and I must hear him out.”

We sat out on the deck in the comfortably cool Texan chill of the

late evening and my friend continued. “The harsh reality is that

Indians have succeeded in countries ruled by Goras (Whites) in America,

Britain and in other places, but failed in their own. Those who stayed back

are pulled down by a disgraceful system that fails to encourage merit or

talent, fails to allow people and businesses to grow, and keeps real power

with politicians and their cronies. When Indians go to the Gora countries

where there is a better sense of fair play and openness, they conquer the

summits once occupied only by the Goras.”

He cited examples and I quietly listened.

• Rono Dutta is head of United Airlines, the biggest airline in the

world. Had he stayed in India, he wouldn’t have a chance in Indian Airlines,

the only government-run airline then. Even if the top job was given

to him by politicians, the trade unions would have ensured that he could

never run it like United Airlines. Vikram Pundit was the CEO of Citigroup

till recently, which runs Citibank, one of the largest banks in the world.

Granted, Vikram Pundit was abruptly and unceremoniously fired by his

chairman. Still, on his watch, the company turned around.

• Rana Talwar in his 40s is the head of Standard Chartered Bank,

a large multinational bank in Britain. Had he been in India, he would

perhaps be a branch manager in one of the government-owned banks --

maybe an area manager -- taking orders from politicians to give loans to

politically favored clients.

• Lakhsmi Mittal is the biggest steel baron in the world. India’s socialist

policies kept the domestic steel industry government-owned. Mittal

went to Indonesia to run his family’s first steel plant there. Once freed

from the shackles of India, he conquered the world.

• Subhash Chandra of Zee TV is now a global media king, one of

the very few to beat Rupert Murdoch in his game. He could never have

risen had he been limited to Doordarshan, a TV monopoly of the Indian

government. He used satellite TV to beam programs in India from Hong

Kong. Once he escaped India, he soared.

• Arun Netravali became the president of Bell Labs, one of the biggest

R&D centers in the world with 30,000 inventions and several Nobel

Prizes to its credit. Had he been in India, he would probably be struggling

in the middle cadre of Indian Telephone Industries. Now, Microsoft has

an Indian CEO; and Carnegie Mellon’s President is Subra Suresh, who

headed the prestigious National Science Foundation. Silicon Valley alone

contains over 100,000 Indian multimillionaires.

“How many examples do you want, Samar? And you ask -- why Indians

in India are in such a mess? I’ll tell you why. It is our system rooted in

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history. We carry historical seeds of corruption in our veins. We cannot

function within the rules of law.”

Umesh was indeed on a roll. I could not stop him even if I wanted to.

He was very perceptive. He continued.

Indians who have soared in the White-ruled West are

the peak of the pyramid. Beneath these peaks, Samar, I

“These

see thousands and thousands of Indians educated in India

and the US who have made imprints as dedicated doctors, professors, researchers,

engineers, and mid-level managers in small and large hospitals

and corporations. And some are running their own businesses.

“When Britain left India in 1947, India was the most advanced of all

colonies with the best future. Today with a per-capita Gross National

Income of only $1550, it is in 127th position among 180-plus countries

in the world.

“Politicians say that is because of population explosion and poverty.

But poverty is not the main problem. If the government was focused on

good schooling and healthcare for all, and the infrastructure in the first 30

years after Independence in 1947, we could have managed poverty, and

the population would not have exploded. We were 300 million in 1947.

Remember Samar, education is the best contraceptive ever invented. Now

India ranks near the bottom in the United Nation’s Human Development

Index, but high up in Transparency International’s Corruption Index.

“And the rule-based society we inherited from the British is today in

shambles. Instead only money, muscle and influence matter.

“At independence we were proud of our political leaders. Today,

everybody knows they are scoundrels and criminals. They have created

jungles of laws in the holy name of socialism, and used them to line their

pockets and create patronage networks. No influential crook ever suffers.

The Mafia flourishes unhindered -- they have political connections. The

sons of politicians behave as if they’ll inherit their parents’ mantle. Talent

cannot take you far in that environment.

“We are reverting to our ancient feudal system where no rules apply to

the powerful. The British brought the abstract concepts of equality before

the law. Sixty years later, citizens wail that India is a lawless land – the

equivalent of the American Wild West in the East.”

I could not resist smiling at his colorful, insightful imagery.

“I have heard of an IAS probationer at the Delhi Training Academy

pointing out that in India before the British came, making money and

distributing favors to relatives was not considered a perversion of power.

It was the very rationale of power. A feudal official had a duty to enrich

his family and caste. Then the British came and imposed a new ethical

Looking Back... ... Continued on page 18

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Journey in Resolving Multiple Identities

Editor’s Note: Priyanka Sriinivasa grew up in the Eastern Suburb of Pittsburgh

in Murrysville. She graduated this year earning her bachelor’s degree

with Magna Cum Laude from the American University’s School of International

Service (SIS). She was the speaker during the graduation ceremonies at SIS.

Here is the major portion of her speech. Priyanka can be reached at ps7316a@

student.american.edu

I came to SIS — the School of International Studies — at American

University with goals of developing the professional skills I needed to

represent a Hindu voice in US Foreign policy. But in a region like South

Asia with thousands of years of civilization, conquest, colonialism, and

Partition, history is complex. Whose

story was I telling? Who was I leaving

behind? At the same time, I knew

I was Indian and American.

As a member of a minority community

in America, I was expected

and pressured to represent this community.

I felt torn between needing

to represent my community and

knowing what it meant to be a South

Asian. How could I represent what I

did not know? I was torn by feelings

of responsibility and feelings of uncertainty.

Feeling lost, I sought refuge when reading Todorov’s Conquest of

America in Professor Patrick Thaddeus’ Jackson’s World Politics class.

I read: “The man who finds his country sweet is only a raw beginner; the

man for whom each country is as his own is already strong; but only the

man for whom the whole world is as a foreign country is perfect.” This

was so powerful — “The man for whom the whole world is as a foreign

country is perfect.” Foreigner, Videshi, Deconocido… Stranger. When

a stranger encounters a strange land, she is forced to be humble…

Being a stranger is not easy. Being a stranger requires that we accept not

only uncertainty but also humility. During my sophomore year in Ambassador

Akbar Ahmed’s “World of Islam” class, I had a fellow-student in the

ROTC program who had a diametrically opposed world-view to my own.

In class, we discussed the politics of identity in post-9-11 America. The

subject matter was close to my heart because it was my living experience.

In recent years, Sikh and Hindu communities in the US have suffered hate

crimes — as a Hindu American I watched, and was horrified.

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Our conflicting views turned into an intense, explosive disagreement.

We were both intransigent, locked into a conflict that rose from what we

imagined the other to be. We could not hear each other …

Quite suddenly I realized — just because I was talking to someone in a

uniform, it did not mean I was talking to a uniform. The man underneath

it was as dynamic and human as I am. We were not trying to solve our

differences — we were confronting them.

Pedagogical environments lead us to certain kinds of estrangement.

SIS did not solve of my or anyone else’s identity. SIS helped me learn

to dwell in the ambiguity of who we are. Estrangement does not have a

fairy tale ending — an easy casting away of differences. Estrangement

is… … confronting humanity of the ‘Other’ without dissolving his/her

‘Otherness’.”

SIS helped me recognize that humanity is not a collective singular, but

a dynamic, organic, fervent, and beautiful force. I recognized humanity

at SIS by going deeper and deeper into myself and by ‘confronting’ other

views and minds. I was only able to do that when I became a stranger and

questioned my initial identity and myself.

So, go out and interrogate your worldview. What makes us, the SIS

Students, is our ability to question…. The School educates students to

recognize humanity through humility. The service we bring to the world

is figuring out the questions for everyone to see, and that is enough.

I have come to terms that perhaps I will not resolve my conflict of

being an Indian, an American, and a Hindu… I have come to terms that

this is my beginning. By studying my own identity, I have realized that

I am a stranger. I have questions which I will spend the rest of my life

figuring out.

If there is one lesson I will give to you, it is this: Reject simple historical

narratives. Reject it. Learn to be a stranger to it. It does not mean

we have no heritage, no home, no identity. But it does mean we are not

bound and constrained by the chains that ascribe us through guilt… My

journey did not make me any less of a Hindu. My incessant questioning

of identity makes even more proud to call myself a Hindu.

Thank you, the Faculty at SIS, for spending countless hours cultivating

our minds. Thank you, all my mentors for giving me the confidence to

keep asking larger questions. Thank you, Amma and Appa — my mother

and father — for trusting me to find my voice. I will not let you down.

Thank you American University School of International Service for letting

me tell my story. •

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Looking Back ... ... Continued from Page 10

code on officials. Indians in power today, even as they are imitating everything

Gora, ask, ‘Why should we continue to choose the British codes

and rules, now that we are independent?’

“The lack of transparency and perverting of rules at every opportunity

are why talented Indians cannot rise in India. The Neta-Raj with cronies

and retainers remains intact despite the economic liberalization.

“But once talented Indians go to rule-based societies, they take off. In

those societies all people play by the same rules, more or less, all have

freedom to innovate without being strangled by cliques and cronies.

“This, then, is why Indians succeed in countries ruled by Non-Indians,

and fail in their own. It is the saddest story of the century. Be Indian but

NOT in India.”

My friend finally stopped. We rose up as the air got chillier outside.

It was sad to see this train of thought in a radical patriot in

his autumn years. He was totally disillusioned.

“But then again, Umesh, how come some Indians in India became

billionaires?” I asked.

It was past midnight. He was exhausted after this cathartic torrent. He

said, “That will be on another day when you come to my home in Bombay.

Till then you keep searching the answer for yourself.” •

School Violence ... ... Continued from Page 2

So, be smart and keep these pointers in mind even as you are having

a good time with your friends during these years:

• Be aware of the changing “mood” of the groups you are in at all

times. If you are sensitive, your instinct will tell you when simple jovial

teenage pranks are getting out of control and beyond acceptable limits.

• Resist the temptation to seek acceptance by approving or participating

in the bullying of a single individual in a group either because he is weak,

or because of his race, faith, ethnicity or other differentiators.

• You don’t need the tribal group identity and acceptance of your peers

to find camaraderie.

• Be fair and respectful towards everyone.

• When things are getting out of hand and may become violent, try to

diffuse the situation. If it is not possible, leave the scene right away.

• Always keep open access to your parents and teachers so that you

discuss with them these kinds of situations brewing in your mind. These

types of experiences may be new to you as a young adult. But they have

seen many of these, and know how to handle them.

Your life is too precious to be wasted in these kinds of traumatic and entirely

mindless excursions. — By Kollengode S Venkataraman •

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Modi Victory ... ... Continued from page 20

Modi was not responsible for what happened before or during the riots

in Gujarat in February of 2002. And yet the anti-Modi megaphones kept

on spewing out their jaundiced opinions, hoping that by loudly repeating

the same lie a thousand times it might become the truth.

Modi was appointed chief minister of Gujarat in October of 2001 by

his party. Though the media kept on blaming Modi for the February 2002

riots, the voters in Gujarat were not swayed by the anti-Modi blitz let

loose by the media. They voted Modi and his party into power in 2002,

2007 and 2012. During the period of 12-plus years from October 2001

till May 2014, Modi brought about the Wirtschaftswunder (the economic

miracle) in Gujarat, the state that was struck a deadly blow by a massive

earthquake in January of 2001 that killed 20,000 people, injured 167,000

and destroyed 400,000 houses. Modi’s state government gave top priority

to the rehabilitation work. Today, Gujarat is an example of progress, peace,

and religious harmony; there is no bureaucratic sloth and no corruption in

high offices — the two endemic problems in India. Modi’s Gujarat model

is working very well.

People least likely to support came to defend Modi: Zafar Sareshwala

is one of those people. He is a member of the Tabitha Jamaat, a puritanical

strand of Sunni Islam and a successful businessman. His family is from

Gujarat. Since some of his family members were victims in the riots of

2002 and his family suffered a huge financial loss in the riots, Sareshwala

wanted to have Modi tried in the International Court at the Hague. However,

after a long meeting with Modi in London in which a London-based

Islamic scholar also participated, Sareshwala became convinced 1 that the

real Modi was different from the image portrayed by the Indian English

language media. He wanted Muslims to work with Modi, and he became

a spokesperson for Modi. Naturally, Sareshwala was vilified by many

Muslim organizations.

Another supporter of Modi was Madhu Kishwar, a prominent New

Delhi-based academic-cum-social activist-cum feminist and a journalist

with integrity. In the long investigation she conducted 2 she met with a wide

cross-section of people in Gujarat including Muslims. What she heard in

Gujarat was very different from what was portrayed in the English language

media. She proclaimed that Modi was not the villain in the 2002

riots as the English language media was portraying.

1 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/stoi/deep-focus/Zafar Sareshwala-

The-Muslim-who-bats-for-Modi/articleshow/26290224.cms

2 http://www.manushi.in/articles.php?articleId=1685

Modi Victory... ... Continued on page 32

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Race- and Ethnicity-based Affirmative Action

By Kollengode S Venkataraman

In April, the US Supreme Court upheld Michigan’s voter-approved

constitutional amendment that bans affirmative action in admissions to

the public universities in the state. It was not, the court stressed, deciding

the larger, divisive question of whether racial preference in admission

policies can be lawful.

The U.S. has a checkered history in assimilating new immigrants

particularly in the early decades of the immigrants’ arrival. Italians,

Irish, Jews, Chinese, Japanese, Eastern Europeans, Hispanics and

Chicanos faced blatant discrimination in housing and education. For many

years, Ivy League schools kept Jewish students out by design. Women

too had problems getting into colleges.

Blacks came here as slaves against their will, and hence are not “immigrants”

as the term is generally understood. Theirs is a painful history

in getting integrated into the education system and in athletics in schools,

colleges, and even professional sports. Their assimilation even today appears

to be a work in progress. The US is not unique in this. Every nation

state has its own problems with immigrants. But what makes the U.S.

unique is that its Declaration of Independence explicitly states “All men

are created equal,” and the country itself was built by immigrants. The

harsh history of Native Americans is in an entirely different basket.

Societies in transition, like individuals in rehab, are prone to recidivism.

So, educators and social scientists worry that this Supreme Court

ruling, if implemented nationwide in both private and public institutions,

will turn back the clock. So, understandably they wonder how to keep

diversity in their student body. As the latest immigrants, we need to grasp

the import of this ruling.

In the last three decades, a large percentage of the latest immigrant

groups from Asia and the Indian subcontinent have integrated themselves

into the American Middle Class in suburbia. This is because of the

selective immigration policies. The US uses filters to let in Asians only

with education, talents and skills that are in demand, or who are the blood

relatives of these immigrants. These policies are periodically fine-tuned

making it more difficult for the “sponsored” relatives to migrate.

Because of selectively choosing immigrants from Asia — a large number

of them are engineers, doctors, lawyers, managers, scientists who

put a premium on education — Indian- and Asian-Americans are over

represented in the student bodies of American universities.

Therefore, children of Indian- and Asian-Americans are no longer

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considered a minority in college admissions. In an earlier article (http://

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Since our kids are competing with others without any preferential treatment,

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and women graduate from schools without having received preferential

treatment in admission, psychologically they are confident and self-assured.

This smoothens their interactions with coworkers, vendors, and clients.

Since they stand out in their appearance, their confident demeanor makes

a big difference in how they are perceived by the US mainstream.

Besides, tolerating under-performance because of race and ethnicity

drags down morale. That is why armed forces all over the world resist the

quota system in promoting people, even though they may give preference

for a diverse work force at the entry level.

But in American educational institutions, for a variety of historical,

social, economic and cultural reasons, Blacks and Hispanics are

under-represented in the student bodies. The US News and World Report

ranks US universities on the basis of the ethnic diversity of its undergraduate

student body. Here are the rankings of some of the schools (1.00 means

highly diversified and 0 means not at all diversified). See here: http://

tinyurl.com/EthncRnkngColleges. :

Rutgers U.: 0.77 Stanford U*: 0.74

MIT* : 0.70 Univ. Calif. Berkeley: 0.67

Carnegie Mellon U*: 0.62 U. Chicago* 0.56

Cleveland State U: 0.48 George Washington U: 0.47

U. of Pittsburgh: 0.32 North Carolina St. U: 0.35

Duquesne U*: 0.22 Florida A&M: 0.10

* Private Universities International students excluded

We see that some of the private universities are highly diverse racially/

ethnically, while some of the public universities are not. So educators’

anxiety in the wake of the US Supreme Court’s judgment striking down

affirmative action is not entirely misplaced.

But racial diversity of the student body says nothing about the socioeconomic

diversity. We can make a case that an injustice is being

done to White and Indian-, and Asian-American kids from low-income

homes who do not have professionally educated parents to guide them in

their middle and high-school years and send them to expensive coaching

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classes. These low-income parents — people working in restaurants and

grocery stores; or driving taxis on erratic schedules — often work two

low-paying jobs having long working hours.

For example, young men and women from low-income Indian-American

families with less educated parents

have great disadvantage when

competing with children of professional

Indian-Americans for college

admissions. This is true among

low-income Whites as well.

The opposite is the case with

Black children from affluent families

— homes of lawyers, doctors,

and managers, not to speak of star

athletes in the NFL, NBA or MLB.

Do these kids still need the Affirmative

Action crutch in college

admissions when compared with

Black children from low-income

families?

So, race and ethnicity all by

themselves cannot be and

should not be a weighted criterion

in school admissions. We need to

factor in race only where necessary,

and economic class where

warranted. This becomes important given the sharply uneven income and

wealth distribution in US households in the last 20 years.

After all, what is the point in having racially and ethnically diverse

student bodies if the students come from the same slice of the economic

class—from the homes of upper middle class professionals or better? •

It’s of value only if it’s rare — Subhaashitaavali

If you live along the Malaya slopes, sandalwood is firewood;

For those living along the ocean, gems are nothing but stones;

For the people of Kashmir, saffron is no big deal.

Rarity lends value and abundance breeds disdain.

Now you understand why Desis get bleached and Goras get tanned!

Subhaashitaavali is a collection of nearly 3000 Sanskrit sayings compiled

several centuries ago by a Kashmiri Brahmin. •


What is More Important in Education?

Teaching or Learning?

By Kollengode S Venkataraman

Children often tell their parents about how good or bad this or that

teacher is in schools. Parents too tacitly agree when children complain

about teachers. Implicit in this is the expectation that a greater responsibility

for students’ learning is on the schools and teachers.

But does this tell the whole story? No is the simple answer. Of course,

the school’s ambience and emphasis on academics and the inspiration of

teachers to students are important in any learning. Inspiring teachers are

known to push many kids to better academic performance. That was certainly

the case with me in my high school and college education.

But then we also know that even with “dull” teachers in the “tough”

courses in “bad” schools, some students always perform well in exams.

How to explain this? A verse in an ancient Hindu classic poignantly

attempts to answer this very question.

Subhaashitaavali, literally meaning “A Series of Well Said Sayings,”

is a compendium of over 3000 verses in Sanskrit. The verses by

various poets and wisemen spanning over 12 to 15 centuries were collated

five centuries ago by Vaallabhadeva, a Kashmiri Sanskrit pandit. In

Shubhaashitavali, each verse is complete by itself in its import on topics

from the profound to the profane, and everything in between.

Here is one on education, specifically on learning. Students and parents

will be helping themselves if they internalize the central message in what

follows. Here is the Sanskrit original for people to enjoy:

In transliteration,

AchAryAt pAdamadattE pAdam sishyah svamEdhayA;

sa-brahmnacAribyah pAdam pAdam kAlakramENa ca.

Here is the translation:

One fourth [of knowledge or learning] is from the teacher;

One fourth from the student’s natural intelligence;

One fourth from [discussions with] classmates;

And one fourth in due course of time.

26


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Note that the emphasis on transmission of skills and knowledge is

not on teaching but on learning. The onus in grasping the material

taught

in classes is

on students,

and not on

the teachers

alone.

Teachers are

o b v i o u s l y

important.

But the hard

work in understanding

the material

is to be done

by students

through att

e n t i o n ,

focus, curiosity,

selfstudy,

and

discussions

with fellow

s t u d e n t s .

Also, what

students lack

in native intelligence

they can always offset, partly in any case, by effort.

Students who the burn midnight oil ploughing through difficult subjects

such as theoretical physics, organic chemistry, calculus, thermodynamics,

anatomy, biochemistry, etc, and manage to get decent grades can appreciate

the import of this pithy Sanskrit verse. •

In the ‘Burgh: An Indian in Pittsburgh in his mid 60s. He has never

sported mustaches all his life. Recently, he was seen growing one.

One of their family friends jocularly told his wife wedded to him for

30 years, “Wow, Nirupama, I see your husband is sporting a mustache.

Does he see a re-run of his ‘baalyam’ (the energetic youthful days)?”

With a wink, his wife nonchalantly deadpanned, “So long he doesn’t

harass me, it’s OK with me.” She did not elaborate. •

28


Days of Imperialism Lingers On

When Narendra Modi becoming India’s next prime minister became

all but certain, but before the actual results came out, the White

House issued President Obama’s prepared statement that the Indian English

media gleefully reported with great relish. See here: http://tinyurl.com/

US-Tayyar-ToI; http://tinyurl.com/US-Tayyar-HT; http://tinyurl.com/

US-Tayyar-TheHindu

President Obama’s was a boilerplate statement prepared by his staff that

heads of nations routinely issue when important nation-states go through

big political changes — talking about looking forward to working with

the new leadership, shared values and challenges confronting them, long

historical relationships…

But two comments, one issued in the President’s name and the other by

the State Department on May 12 (before the election results) were worth

noting: The statement by the president said: "India has set an example for

the world in holding the largest democratic election in history, a vibrant

demonstration of our shared values of diversity and freedom."

The State Department’s statement was gushing that the Indian election

process "[was an] inspiring example of the power of the democratic process

in action, and the United States... has great admiration and respect for the

vibrancy, diversity, and resilience of India's democracy."

While the anglicized Indian media drooled over these comments,

I could only see shades of a patronizing tone of political missionaries,

given India’s colonial/imperial past. Here is why:

After all, this is not India’s first parliamentary election. This was the

16th national election after its independence in 1947. And ever since its

independence, India has always been, and will continue to be, the largest,

most open and most diverse democratic nation-state on earth.

On every measure of diversity — ethnicity, race, religion, faith, and

religious practices, intellectual inquiry and philosophical traditions, social

groups, arts and entertainment, music, languages, dress habits, culinary

traditions, extremes of weather, landscape, geography, types of grains,

fruits, vegetables harvested, variety of healthcare available (and affordable)

— India stands leaps and bound ahead of all other nations.

So, India has been for the last 60-plus years, and over 16 nationwide

parliamentary elections, setting an example for the world “in holding the

largest democratic election in history...” Nothing new here. It is routine.

With over 500 million people participating in voting (66% of the voters cast

their ballot in the scorching heat), there were no complaints about rigging,

or election officials’ bias or bowing to the pressures of the ruling party.

The defeated candidates accepted defeat, congratulated their opponents

29


and moved on as it routinely happens in all mature democracies. Nobody

congratulates, say, Italy, or Germany, or the UK, or Japan, or the US “for

an inspiring example of the power of the democratic process in action...

and for the vibrancy, diversity, and resilience of [its] democracy.”

going forward, the US, the leader of the Industrialized West,

So, its media, political class and the opinion makers may be helping

themselves by refining their understanding of India’s history and complexities

before issuing patronizing statements. For starters, they need to

look at India comprehensively on India’s own complex terms, and NOT

through the habituated out-of-date vocabulary of colonial occupation,

imperialism and European missionary work; or through India’s culturally

and linguistically disengaged anglicized upper crust they feel comfortable

relating to. — By K. S. Venkataraman •

Transitions:

Usha and Ram Chandra Moving to West Coast

Usha and Dr. Ram Chandra of Mt Lebanon, after nearly 30 years of

productive professional and social lives here, are moving to San Jose,

Calif, to live close to their daughter and grandchildren in their retirement.

They are with their first grandchild Alok in the picture.

Dr. Chandra practiced pediatric gastroenterolgy at the Mercy Hospital

as its director of Pediatric GI program, compassionately treating children

having problems in the digestive tract. He was

a clinical associate professor at the University

of Pittsburgh’s School of Medicine and an

academic staff at UPMC Children’s Hospital.

He has published many peer-reviewed articles

in medical journals.

Usha was active at the S.V.Temple as a

volunteer and in its governing bodies. She

had helped organize the annual Pongal events at the Temple and others

with arangetrams for years. She was active in the Tamil Nadu Foundation

supporting charities in Tamil Nadu, India. Usha earned an MS in physics

from Madras University, and administered her husband’s practice.

Ram Chandra, a connoisseur of Tamil film songs of the 60s, 70s, and

80s, has entertained many friends singing from memory. Chandra’s wacky

sense of humor is known among his friends.

The Chandras supported the Pittsburgh Patrika providing encouragement

and through ads in the magazine’s early critical days.

Their friends in Pittsburgh wish them good health and happiness in

their retirement. — By K S Venkataraman •

30


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Modi Victory ... ... Continued from Page 20

had gone to India in February this year. When I tried to talk to my

I friends and relatives on Indian politics, most were reluctant saying

they had no interest in politics. Those I goaded said they did not believe

the BJP alone or in alliance would win a clear majority.

On my return, my attention really perked up when I read that in Amethi

and Varanasi people waited for hours for a darshana of Modi. It stirred up

a memory from my own childhood. I was at my uncle’s place in Vité in

Southern Maharashtra during the sultry summer of 1954. One day, Pandit

Jawaharlal Nehru’s motorcade was going to pass through Vité and I was

one of the hundreds of folks standing along the roadside for a darshana

of Nehru. That sort of popularity and halo of respectability were being

conferred on Narendra Modi, much to the chagrin and grief of India’s

pseudo-secularists and Media Māntriks’ (magicians), whose black magic

was unable to stop Modi’s march to victory.

On May 16, Indian voters spoke loudly and clearly. They gave Modi

and the BJP a decisive victory, and rejected the Congress Party’s

dynastic democracy

imposed on the nation

by the Nehru-Gandhi

family. When the results

streamed in,

there were spontaneous

celebrations of

the astounding victory

of BJP all over

Kishan Agarwal (inset) addressing the audience at the India

Garden Restaurant in Monroeville on May 16.

32

India, and also in

North America.

To the more than

100 people gathered in Monroeville’s India Garden restaurant, its owners

Shinghara Singh and Davindar Kaur sponsored the dinner and Harilal

Patel brought in the fireworks. It was Diwali in mid-May!

On a large TV in the banquet hall of India Garden, Modi was speaking

in Hindi. What impressed me was his plan for Bhārat vikās: “Mahatma

Gandhi made independence of India a matter of personal concern for every

Indian. The Mahatma’s message ensured that whatever one did was done

with the conviction that he or she was working for India’s independence.

Similarly, I will ensure that my one-hundred-and-twenty-five karod (1

karod = 10 million) brothers and sisters will make this nation’s vikās their

first and foremost priority. Bhārat-vikās will not remain simply a project

to be planned and implemented by the bureaucracy in New Delhi… ...”


This was a welcome radical change in India. Modi is the first politician

in recent times to have traveled all across India speaking to

audiences in many states about their deeply felt concerns. He also talked

about a plan for taking the entire nation into the twenty-first century.

He said he is going to do it by making it a priority project owned by the

people, implemented by the people for the benefit of the people. I prayed,

“May the Force be with Modi!”

This election was not just an election. It was, indeed, a ‘velvet’ revolution,

a genuine triumph of democracy. Modi has achieved what seemed

impossible only a few months ago. Now he is poised for a role for which

the People of India, the Bhāratīya Janatā, will sing his praises in the years

to come, if he does it right.

One hopes that Modi gets the political courage and moral rectitude to

lead India to prosperity, peace and harmony for all. This is a once-in-a-lifetime

golden opportunity people have handed to Modi. Modi can ill-afford

to squander it away on anything of lesser importance. •

Congratulations to the Graduating Seniors

For a variety of logistical reasons, we could not get the details of others

graduating this year. All the best all the same!

First Name Last Name High School University

Surabhi Beriwal North Allegheny Sr. H. S. Duke U.

Sonali Dadoo Pine-Richland H.S. Drexel U.

Nivedha Kannapadi North Allegheny Sr. H. S. U. Virginia

Hemali Shah Stbnvl. Cen. Cathlc. H.S. N.E. Ohio Med. U.

Hemali, daughter of Pallavi and Atul Shah,

and a student of Shambhavi Desai’s Sanskruti

School of Indian Dance and Music, had

her Arangetram on May 31, 2014 at the South

Fayette Middle School auditorium in front of a

large number of invited guests.

Hemali’s interest in dance extends to ballet,

tap, jazz, hip-hop and others. She also has a

Black Belt in karate. Graduating from the Steubenville

Catholic Central H.S., she is going

to the Kent State U.’s Northeast Ohio Medical

University 6-year medical program. •

33


Obama’s Presidency in Two Trendlines

Obama’s foreign policy is a mess with what happened or is happening in

Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Iran, and now Crimea/Ukrain/

Russia. But on home front, he is safe by and large. See the plots below.

11

10

Unemployment Rate, %

9

8

7

6

5

4

Seasonally adjusted

Unemployment

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Obama Elected

Nov 2008

Obama Re-Elected

Nov 2012

Jan-08

Jul-08

Jan-09

Jul-09

Jan-10

Jul-10

Jan-11

Jul-11

Jan-12

Jul-12

Jan-13

Jul-13

Jan-14

Jul-14

No wonder, his GOP/Tea Party detractors see that they are not getting

any traction when they criticize Obama on the economy and unemployment.

So they pile on him on foreign policy issues. But the war-weary nation

is in no mood to engage in one more military misadventure sacrificing in

blood and spending billions in treasury. The president recognizes this well

as we see in his commencement speech at West Point in May 2014.

For the uninitiated, the cost of the over 10-year wars in Afghanistan

and Iraq is nearly $2 trillion and counting. And billions more in deferred

payment for taking care of the wounded and mentally scarred war veterans

now in their 20s for the next several decades.— KSV •

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