march-april - the indian down under
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Facebook phenomena
The Indian Down Under PO Box 99 Thornleigh NSW 2120 Ph (02) 9875 2713 Mobile: 0414 155 402 Email: [email protected]
VOL 26 No. 2Print Post Publication No. 23572300014
Annual Subscription incl. postage & handling $17Newsagencies $1 inc GSTMarch - April 2014
Inside this Issue:9: Rekha Bhattacharjee
analyses Kejriwal and his
outfit Aam Admi Party on the
eve of the Indian elections
19: Its Jhappi time with
India
27: Neeru Saluja attends an
Indian pageant of beauty
mixed with brain and brawn
47: Manifest your destiny
with positive thinking
How Facebookhas transforemd social
scene and its prosandcons...- story Page 8
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02 THE INDIAN DOWN UNDER March - April 2014
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March - April 2014 THE INDIAN DOWN UNDER 03
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04 THE INDIAN DOWN UNDER March - April 2014
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March - April 2014 THE INDIAN DOWN UNDER 05
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06 THE INDIAN DOWN UNDER March - April 2014
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Congress party awaits emasculation
Editor's Letter
March-April 2014 THE INDIAN DOWN UNDER 7
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Third Eye: Rekha BhattacharjeePolitical Columns: Karam Ramrakha, Mallika GanesanFilms and Art: Neeru Saluja, Abhishek Sood,Monica Daswani, Sumi Krishnan, DevakiParthasarthy, Neena Badhwar, Rekha Rajvanshi,Manju MittalBody-Mind-Spirit: Dr Sunder Das, KanakaRamakrishna, Faith Harper, T Selva, Dilip MahantySport: Kersi Meher-Homji, Dilip MahantyFiji Diary: Karam RamrakhaCookery: Promila GuptaChildren Section: Esther Chaudhary-LyonsClassical Music: Sumi Krishnan, Kris Raman,
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Its election time in India April 7 toMay 12 - time for non-stop rallies,discussions and sloganeering, when
all else stops and nothing other than theparties and candidates is talked about,more loaded with cynicism than hope,more about a lesser evil among politi-cians than a dedicated soul who couldgenuinely uplift India and its masses.
The whole country is abuzz withenergy the cities and the countrysidealike, ordinary people suddenly feelingempowered that they also matter. Thelargest democratic election on earthengages some 414 million voters from a
population of more than 1.2 billion peo-ple.
The frontrunner for the post as
Indias next Prime Minister is BharatiyaJanata Partys (BJP) Narendra Modi.PM Manmohan Singh said that electionof Modi will be disastrous for Indiawhile his own inaction against rampag-ing corruption in India has been disas-trous for the Congress party and thecountry, most people feel. Modis clos-est opponent, Rahul Gandhi ofCongress, although not yet declared as a
prime ministerial candidate, is milesbehind, presumably being groomed forlater elections than the current one. Hedoes not yet possess the stature or thefamily charisma to take on the reins ofthe vast and complex India that is nowyearning for a change. There are manyothers who are craving for the PM posi-tion by default the likes of MulayamYadav and Nitish Kumar, evenJayalalitha and Mayawati.
The only freshness in the forthcom-ing election in the rather tainted Indian
politics is provided by a newly formedoutfit, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), led byan IITian and a former bureaucratArvind Kejriwal. His outcry for a cleanand transparent governance led to an
unprecedented success in the recentlyheld state election in Delhi by winning28 seats for the first time party that wasable to form a government, albeit withoutside support from Congress (whichin turn wanted to keep BJP out of
power the saffron party had emerged
the single largest party in the assembly).This astounding success of AAP wouldhave fuelled the partys ambitions for ashot at the Lok Sabha elections. Lackingresources, however, it had to gambleaway its state government role, knowingfully well that it could win back the
state in its own right with an outrightmajority when the re-election wascalled. The major parties, especiallyBJP, are now worried as AAP is
preparing to field some 300 candidatesfor the Lok Sabha elections, plausiblyexpecting to win between 40-60 seatsand spoiling the chances of some noted
politicians who are perceived to be cor-ruption-ridden.
AAP is, however, feeling the pinchfrom none other than its former guidinglights Anna Hazare and Kiran Bedi
who share a similar vision of a corrup-tion-free India but oppose being within
politics on principle. They are nowironically supporting TrinamoolCongress supremo Mamata Banerjeeand BJP to deliberately chafe Kejriwal.
As the saying goes, God save mefrom my friends, from my enemies Ican defend myself, BJP is also tornwhile ingratiating with both Shiv Senachief Uddhav Thackeray and hisestranged cousin Raj Thackeray (whoformed his own Maharashtra NavnirmanSena). And even within the party thereis generational warfare (senior leaderAdvani has never been in favour ofdeclaring Modi as the partys PM candi-date, and Advani protgs like Sushamawaraj are also smarting). It is surpris-ing that the BJP is not openly nettingfor coalition partners, rather opting todo it alone on the regional scene when itis an open secret that it may only winsome 200-220 seats, well short of the
272 required to form a government.AAP has changed the political equa-
tion in the forthcoming elections signifi-cantly, bringing a single, nonetheless, acritical issue of corruption to the fore.Although it lacks the infrastructure of alarge party to contest the election coun-trywide, its commitment and dedicationand the people support well makes upfor the weakness. Although it ran theDelhi Government for a mere 49 days,it impressed Delhiites with its enthusi-asm and commitment. The BJP,
although the party with the maximumnumber of seats in Delhi, may well rueits non-commitment to do the same - afour to five month investment goneastray - that could have won it a largertally at the hustings.
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A measure of the likelihood of Narendra Modi becoming the next PM of India is
US envoy Nancy Powell visiting him in Gandhinagar ostensibly to make amends for
US denying him a visa for his governments role in anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat.
The largest democratic election on
earth engages some 414 million voters
from a population of more than
1.2 billion people.
But BJP-led front also expected to fall short of the 272seats needed in Lok Sabha to form a government after
the April-may general elections in India.
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8 THE INDIAN DOWN UNDER March-April 2014
COMMUNITY
By Neena Badhwar
It has been 10 years since a Harvardsophomore named Mark Zuckerbergcreated a website called The face-
book.com to let his classmates find their
friends online.He did not know that he had created a
social phenomenon which has become anintegral part of our lives.
Facebook just did not become theFace but also our Body, Soul, Mind,Family& friends and life as we foundlong lost friends, some meeting throughFacebook after 30 or 40 years. We start-ed to make connections with people,things that we pined for, remembered andshared cherished moments of our lifethrough Facebook. We got the opportuni-ty to sit and connect and create a socialnetwork as each one of us, throughFacebook, refriended, befriended anddefriended as per our needs and it gave usall a new perspective on life and its mun-dane existence.
Thanks to Mark Zuckerberg whochanced upon this idea which has madehim a multi-billionaire in a matter of adecade when he started it at the age of a21. The reason was that he liked a girl incollege who ignored his advances and hecreated a simple program of like a personout of the two based on their features, agirl in his case.
He called it Facemash and linked itto the university computer which crashedjust in a matter of one afternoon. Somuch was the traffic.
Obviously he was taken to task by theadministration but he had realised that theidea was superb and he dropped out of
college and moved out with a few like-minded friends to work on the softwarethat he called Facebook.
Did he know that it would become sopopular, says Mark about i ts current 1.23billion users, No way I remembergetting pizza with my friends one night incollege shortly after opening Facebook. Itold them I was excited to help connectour school community, but one day some-one needed to connect the whole world."
An article suggested that Facebookhad reduced the six degrees of separationdown to four due to its networking by itsover billion users. The six degree of sep-aration theory was coined in 1929 by aHungarian author Frigyes Karinthy thateveryone and everything is six or fewer
steps away, by way of introduction, fromany other person in the world. Well,Facebooks user network is growing sofast that soon we will be Face to Facewith everyone in this world.
Facebook is currently worth 160 bil-lion dollars as it turned 10 on February 4and its founder 29-year old MarkZuckerberg made $3.4 billion in the firstfive weeks of 2014. He said Facebookhas been successful because it puts peoplebefore profits.
Though easier to use than many othersocial network systems and user friendlyas we amass friends and likes throughFacebook, many say that Facebook hasunleashed some deep seated psychologicalundercurrents that were not normally onthe surface to do with socialising and howwe, as humans, behave and how our mindworks.
The Indian community in Sydney hascreated a great social network on
Facebook and through it we are betterinformed, motivated, inspired as we shareour lives, our photographs, experiences,events and the rest. It even makes uscompete with each other some showingoff with their social engagements, otherstheir travels, some others their achieve-ments and hobbies and interests. The phe-nomena of Selfie also started, thanks toPresident Obama.
There are many who start the day forus with daily affirmations, prayers, pic-tures of gods and goddesses, some withsayings while others put on their favouritevideo clips or old Bollywood songs.
Facebook can be addictive as well andone has to move away from it to take a
break. A breather is also necessary whenan argument starts with comments that alldont agree with. Facebook has broughtout debates, issues and comments that canhave a polarising effect. Take heart, mostof the issues on Facebook die anyway asnew issues emerge in this busy world oftoday.
Facebook has generally been good butat times it has created issues that wenever ever knew before it came into ourlives. They are, at times, quite subtle aswe get sucked into playing the games ofthe mind without realising the effect theycan leave on us.
While the pros are many, yet there aresome negative sides to Facebook. ASydney guy said that he did not want toput his social life on Facebook anymoreas at times it rather created differenceswith his other friends who for some rea-son were not a party to his views.Another person said she has stopped lik-ing the posts of two people who are herfriends but are enemies with each otherbecause that created friction and differ-ences. Some use Facebook as a platformto express issues they are having withtheir friends. At times the comments havebecome gossipy.
Facebook also brings jealousy in peo-ple who see others appearing to be enjoy-ing life a lot more showing off throughposting pictures of what they are up to.Facebook does bring out insecurity
among people. One person pointed outthat what looks good in picture may notactually be as good as it seems.
One person went as far as saying thatFacebook was causing insecurity, hurtand even jealousy and depression having
caused friction amongst many long-timefriends. He said that he was sick of it andwould not like to use it anymore. Thenthere is another one who said thatFacebook was taking too much of hertime and life and that she had decided togo off it.
Facebook can be a self-promotionexercise as people compare who is morepopular due to more likes they get.
It is funny to note that Facebookoffers boosts to your posts if you paymoney that ranges from $6 to $110. Thisis based on the number of people wholike your page that could range from 2000to 46,000 views depending on the amountyou pay. No wonder some have hundreds
and thousands of likes.There are many drawbacks in
Facebook. What about fake accounts by aperson who befriends you by claiming tobe someone else you may actually like.Another fake is when people createaccounts in the name of some well knownperson and manage the account. Forexample, an Amitabh Bachchan can havesix accounts and the users do not knowwhich one is run by the actual Mr A B.
This new way of socialising has creat-ed new behaviours in all of us. At timeswe dress up just for the sake of being onFacebook. And what about people at afunction who are constantly clicking forFacebooking. Some are uploading rightthere at the event.
One may not want to be seen onFacebook, yet your friends take your pic-ture and plaster you all over the cloud.Now there are common paparazzi chasingus with thei r iphones or cameras that wehave to be beware of.
Do we even think for a moment thatwe have not enjoyed the moment, thepresent, for our own memory. Rather weare in a flurry capturing it through thecamera for the sake of Facebook. Arecent US study found that memoryimages leave longer lasting impressionsthan the camera images. The memoryshuts off as the mind is not able toprocess the sheer volume of digital pic-tures. So in future, from personal memo-
ries it is difficult to access and reminisceabout them. Pretty profound isnt it.In January this year, a research,
although not peer reviewed, said thatFacebook users will lose interest inFacebook over time as their peers lose
interest. If the model is correct that itsgrowth will eventually come to a quickend, much like an infectious disease thatspreads rapidly and suddenly dies, sayPrinceton researchers who are using dis-eases to model the life cycles of socialmedia.
For the time being 1/7th of theworlds population who are usingFacebook, life to them without Facebookis unbelievable as it is the biggest socialdriver on the internet which is growingby the day. But the study predicts thatFacebook site will lose 80 per cent of itspeak user base between 2015 and 2017.
How long will Facebook remain topdog in an increasingly crowded socialmedia landscape? Zuckerberg shares histhoughts: Today, social networks aremostly about sharing moments. In thenext decade, theyll also help you answerquestions and solve complex problems.
Today, we have only a few ways toshare our experiences. In the next decade,technology will enable us to create many
more ways to capture and communicatenew kinds of experiences. Facebook hascreated a new way of socialising and net-working and looking at the world with adifferent perspective. Perhaps it isexpanding our brain and helping us toexplore our own psyche in a new way andhence helping us evolve in this new ageof internet.
In the end, common users like us cre-ate the demand and ask the unthinkable.The programmers are there only to makewhat we as public ask for.
We may soon get sick of Facebookbut we are already asking how we canconnect to each other in a more holisticfashion than what Facebook provides.Who knows someone like Zuckerbergmay create holographic software for peo-ple to connect with each other on totallynew level of human invention. It is yet tobe seen as technology races human beingsto new realms!
The Indiancommunity inSydney hascreated a greatsocial networkon Facebookand through itwe are betterinformed,motivated,inspired as weshare our lives,
our photo-graphs,experiences,eventsand the rest.
Facebook has reduced the six degrees of separation down to four due to its
networking by its over billion users.
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By Rekha Bhattacharjee
There is a long and fascinating history
behind India's capital city. FromIndraprastha of 400 BCE to Luteyns'
New Delhi, the teeming northern Indianmegapolis has been through seven majoravatars and numerous rulers. In the historyspread over three millennia, Delhi may haveseen majestic Moghuls and splashy Sultansbut never before Arvind Kejriwal, a rulerwho galvanised Dilliwalas so much.
The nationwide polarisation for andagainst the enigmatic politician has accentu-ated even further with the sudden resigna-tion of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) gov-ernment in February.
AAP leadership has come under heavycannon-fire from, besides Congress andBJP, the electronic and print media. Phraseslike designed martyrdom, well-choreo-graphed harakiri and scripted drama are
being used by the well-heeled media bossesto describe Arvind Keriwal's resignationafter failure to push his Jan Lokpal Billthrough the Delhi Assembly.
Action against Mukesh AmbaniAmong the many controversial decisions
taken by the Kejriwal government, thealleged First Information Report (FIR)against the richest Indian on the planetMukesh Ambani has been in the news head-lines for a while now. The AAP govern-ment has reportedly directed the ACB to filethe FIR against the Reliance chief MukeshAmbani, Petroleum minister M VeerappaMoily, former Union minister Murli Deoraand retired director general of hydrocarbonsVK Sibal.
Both Congress and BJP have reacted
sharply after the AAP government madeannouncements of the FIR against MukeshAmbani and others but without namingthem.
Media criticismThe day Arvind Kejriwal took oath as
the Delhi Chief Minister, it was obvious toall that AAP government would not lastlong. While the die-hard AAP supporters
are preparing for thefuture 'battles', somewell-respected media
commentators have beenscathing in their criti-cism of the party whichgoverned Delhi for amere 49 days.
Outlook Group's editori-al chairman Vinod Mehta isamong those who haveexpressed 'disappointment' overthe quick exit route adopted by ArvindKejriwal
"This is the end of a dream. The revolu-tion has debarred itself. Instead of findingways and means to govern, Kejriwal quit atthe drop of a hat. This gamble willboomerang on him. The urban middle classwill view the party as reckless dema-gogues."
"Their first instinct is to resign. It can-
not be my way or highway. They should tryand find a way thorough compromise. Thegreat hope in Indian politics has comecrushing down," Vinod Mehta mourned.
The veteran journalist is in no mood toaccept it as a principled stand. "If therewere differences on the bill they shouldhave tried to iron them out. They shouldknow they cannot fight the Ambanis fromthe streets of Delhi or from the Ramlilaground," Vinod Mehta added.
'Kejriwal is an escapist'CNN-IBN editor-in-chief Rajdeep
Sardesai agrees with his senior colleaguewhen he said: "Kejriwal always looked toresign from the first day. He took a hugegamble. The critics will call him an escapistand that he ran away from responsibilities.Kejriwal will believe that he will have ahalo of martyrdom on the issue of JanLokpal. This was a jump to the nationallevel in view of the Lok Sabha electionsahead".
"He needed an aam aadmi issue to gal-vanize support and the Jan Lokpal Bill gavejust that. The urban middle class is alreadyquestioning this recklessness. Only peoplebelow a certain income level are still sup-porting him. He wants to keep the left ofcentre space occupied by trying to fire offthe shoulders of Mukesh Ambani. The realtarget is Lok Sabha. Kejriwal's politics is ofturbulence to capture the Indian mind-space," Sardesai said in one of his channel'sdiscussions.
Future courseArvind Kejriwal critics may accuse him
of milking his brief tenure for all its grand-standing potential but those who havereposed faith in the AAP are optimisticabout the future course this party wouldtake. By shaking the well-entrenched politi-cal interests to their very roots, AAP has
met the expectations of their constituentsand some media commentators.
"It could be argued that Arvind Kejriwaland the AAP have successfully mobilizedpopular anger against government arro-gance, inefficiency and corruption," readsan editorial in Indian newspaper TheTelegraph penned after Kejriwal became theDelhi CM. "The result is a potent force thathas shaken the existing structures of Indian
politics," the opinion piece further says.Kejriwal's legacy and achievementsEven though Kejriwal and Co are
preparing to take on their much larger (andnervous) foes in the Parliament elections, anumber of opinion pieces are already talkingabout AAP 'legacy'. The former Delhi CMhas changed the politics of India forever inmany ways. One of the most significantchanges, which we have already witnessedis the reluctance on the part of the main-stream parties to nominate candidates withcriminal records.
The social scientists, media commenta-tors, well-entrenched political interests and,more importantly, the common man on theIndian streets have all been enthralled (orappalled) by the emergence of this phenom-enon called Arvind Kejriwal and his unique-ly named outfit Aam Aadmi Party.
Mercurial rise of KejriwalThe mercurial rise of Arvind Kejriwal
and his political formation has made all theabove-mentioned sit up and take notice forthe simple reason that he has given hope tothe ubiquitous 'aam aadmi' who had all butgiven up on the Indian political and admin-istration systems. The AAP phenomenonhas assumed power in spite of the corrosivecynicism the Indians have been nurturingfor all these decades.
The recent elections for the DelhiAssembly undoubtedly mark a watershed inconducting Indian politics and campaigningfor elections for so many reasons.
While Kejriwal and Co have debuted ina spectacular manner, they need to tackle
the herculean task of what is being seen as averitable explosion of their electorate'spent-up aspirations. It would be a good ideato try to wrap mind around the last month'shappenings and try to work out what iscooking up in the great social laboratory
that is India.
Kejriwal's political modelThe political model designed by
Kejriwal thrives on challenging the cyni-cism. Whether AAP can deliver this andother promises or not, only coming monthswould be able to tell but the debate trig-gered by the Delhi election results is capti-vating the whole India. It is interesting tonote how some leading social scientists look
at the unfolding of a movement which isthreatening to change the complexion ofIndian politics for all times to come.
Revolt against babucracyIts a revolt against officialdom and
highhandedness, sociologist and authorDipankar Gupta said of the public supportfor the AAP. Its the same kind of thingyou saw in Tahrir Square and Tunisia, butnot against one dictator. Its against 1,000tyrants that parade around in the garb ofdemocracy. The AAPs single biggestachievement has been to change the moodof significant sections of the country,Pratap Bhanu Mehta, president of NewDelhis Centre for Policy Research writes.
"The AAP ideology, in short, apotheo-sises non-thought. The fact that its appeal isto a moral sense and not to the intellect isnot accidental. It is intrinsic to its ideolo-gy," the well-known columnist PrabhatPatnaik writes in The Indian Express.
"I consider this not only wrong but alsofundamentally anti-democratic (notwith-standing all its celebration of the aamaadmi). What is more, it is the antithesisof the Left position, which apotheosisesthought," he further writes.
Ideology is not the only stumbling blockbothering those who would like AAP tobecome a viable alternative of the estab-lished political parties. It is becomingincreasingly hard for 1968-born ArvindKejriwal, and his totally inexperiencedteam, to address the aspirations (and griev-ances of course) of the Delhi electorate.
The voters belief that Arvind Kejriwal
has some kind of magic wand is fueling theexpectations which are impossible toredress. The status quoists must be salivat-ing over such scenarios but if Kejriwal andCo fail to consolidate their Delhi gains, itwould be nothing but a national tragedy.
March-April 2014 THE INDIAN DOWN UNDER 9
The Third Eye by Rekha Bhattacharjee
Analysis
The social scientists, media commen-
tators, well-entrenched politicalinterests and, more importantly, the
common man on the Indian streets
have all been enthralled (or appalled)
by the emergence of this phenomenon
called Arvind Kejriwal and his uniquely
named outfit Aam Aadmi Party.
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Bangalore: A day after the BJP
fielded Narendra Modi as its candi-
date from Varanasi, Aam Aadmi
Party leader Arvind Kejriwal
March 16 declared that he wasready to contest against Narendra
Modi in the Lok Sabha polls.
BJP, meanwhile, was in a jubi-
lant mood, saying Modi's candida-
ture in the Hindu holy city will
help it win a majority on its own in
the election. Kejriwal told a elec-
tion rally in Bangalore that he
would take a decision on Modi
only after knowing the response of
the people of Varanasi on March
23. Underlining that it was "impor-
tant to defeat Modi", the former
Delhi chief minister said: "It is a
very big challenge. It is not a small
challenge... I am ready to accept
this challenge." Stating that the
political establishment has becomea symbol of corruption, communal-
ism and rising food prices,
Kejriwal said it was important to
defeat the top leaders of both the
BJP and the Congress. "We are
fielding Kumar Vishwas (popular
poet) to defeat Rahul Gandhi from
Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. Sensing
defeat, Congress leaders are
already causing trouble to Vishwas.We are not going to buckle and
Vishwas is bold enough to take on
Rahul," Kejriwal said.
Challenging Modi's claims of
Gujarat's economic development,
Kejriwal dished out facts and fig-
ures to show that this was not true
and that Modi had spread "white
lies".He said that contrary to
claims, corruption was rampant in
Gujarat and 800 farmers had com-
mitted suicide in Gujarat since
Modi took power in 2001. On
March 15, AAP declared its sixth
list of 55 candidates for Lok Sabha
polls including prominent party
leader Shazia Ilmi, alleged Maoist
conduit Soni Sori and ex-IPS offi-cer officer Kanchan Chaudhary
Bhattacharya. The AAP, which
plans to contest between 350 to 400
Lok Sabha seats, has so far
declared 242 candidates.
10 THE INDIAN DOWN UNDER March-April 2014
India
New Delhi: A survey by a lead-
ing US think tank has found that
Indians expect the BJP to do a
better job in facing the various
challenges faced by India.
The survey by Pew Research
Centre also suggests that BJP
prime ministerial candidate
Narendra Modi is more popular
than Congress vice-president
and putative PM candidate
Rahul Gandhi.
Indians by a margin of more
than three-to-one, would prefer
the BJP to lead the next Indian
government rather than the
Congress, according to the poll.
Seven-in-ten Indians are dis-
satisfied with the way things are
going in India today.The Pew survey results are
based on face-to-face interviews
with 2,464 randomly selected
adults across India between Dec
7 and Jan 12.
Dissatisfaction with recent
developments in India is
remarkably widespread among
both BJP supporters and
Congress backers across all
demographics. The support for
a BJP-led government is
strongest in north India..
Roughly eight-in-ten Indians
(78 percent) have a favorable
view of Modi, compared with16 percent who hold an unfa-
vorable view. Modi's support is
especially high in the North,
and he is seen favorably in both
rural and urban areas and
among high and low income and
well educated and less educated
Indians.Rahul Gandhi is seen favor-
ably by 50 percent of those sur-
veyed and unfavorably by 43
percent, the survey said.
New Delhi: Asserting that "we are battle ready and
we are going to win", Congress vice president
Rahul Gandhi said in his first TV interview some
weeks ago that he was not thirsting for power but
was out to "change the system" that would open up
opportunities for young people, empower womenand make India a manufacturing hub of the world.
He also accused Modi government of "abetting and
pushing" the 2002 riots.
In the interview with Arnab Goswami, editor-
in-chief of TIMES NOW news channel, Gandhi
said he did not choose to be born a Gandhi but was
a "serious politician" who stood for "opening up
the system" and the election this time would be
fought between those who want "deepening of
democracy" and those who stood for "concentration
of power".
He deflected pointed questions thrown at him
regarding corruption by Congress party govern-
ments, but said that "anyone who does any act of
corruption will be punished". But he sidestepped
questions on why the Congress failed to act against
former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan
or Himachal Pradesh chief minister VirbhadraSingh who had been implicated in corrupt deals.
Gandhi described Aam Aadmi Party leader
Arvind Kejriwal as "a leader of an opposition party
like many others."
"There is absolutely nothing I am scared of,"
Gandhi said in between volley of questions related
to Modi but avoided answering a question on
whether he would agree to a direct debate with
Modi. "We are debating the issues everyday..." he
said plainly.
Several times in the interview, Gandhi, 43, said
his focus was on empowering people, particularly
women, bringing in youngsters in Congress and
taking everyone together.
The Congress scion said that he was not "driven
by the desire for power" and was an "anomaly in
the environment" he was in.
"The BJP has prime ministerial candidate, theBJP believes in concentration of power in the hands
of one person, I fundamentally disagree with that, I
believe in democracy, I believe in opening up the
system. I believe in the RTI, I believe in giving
power to our people. We have fundamentally dif-
ferent philosophies," he said.
Gandhi also acknowledged that "some Congress
men were probably involved" in the 1984 anti-Sikh
riots that followed the assassination of then primeminister Indira Gandhi. Asked if he would apolo-
gise for the riots, Gandhi veered away from the
topic. Gandhi also dwelt on the pain of the circum-
stances in which he grew up.
In my life, I have seen my grandmother die, I
have seen my father die, I have seen my grand-
mother go to jail and I have actually been through a
tremendous amount of pain as a child when these
things happen to you. I don't actually keep invok-
ing my family name, I have mentioned my family
name once or twice and then people report that,"
Gandhi said.
He said that "every single thing" he has done in
his political career has been to bring in youngsters.
"I am absolutely against the concept of dynasty."
Gandhi said India has to look at manufacturing .
We have already set up the corridors north, south,
east and west, how we can take the energy of theIndian people and build a manufacturing super-
house. I want to put India on the manufacturing
map, I want to make this the centre of manufactur-
ing in the world. I want to make this place at least
as much as a manufacturing power as China."
BJPs prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi (seen here admir-
ing his own wax figure in Mumbai flanked by party President
Rajnath Singh) is gaining ground as the most popular leader.
Arvind Kejriwal (right): Within a week of starting a membership drive,
AAP made one crore members all over India. Congress vice-president gave his first
interview to Times Now
Kejriwal ready to fight
Modi in Varanasi
We're battle ready and going to win:
Rahul Gandhi
BJP frontrunner in Lok Sabha polls: Surveys suggestBJP led front is likely to get 200-236 seats falling short of majority to form government)and C ongress led front about 100 seats.
Meanwhile, another survey done by ABP News-Nielson opinion
poll in February has predicted BJP-led NDA front-runner in Lok
Sabha polls. It is likely to bag 236 seats with the main party getting
217 seats. The Congress will be reduced to double-digits at 73 of
the 92 seats projected for the UPA, while the Aam Aadmi Party is
likely to get 10 seats, the survey said.
While the Left parties are projected to get 29 seats, others are
likely to collect 186 seats, according to the opinion poll conducted
in 129 constituencies with 29,252 respondents during Feb 4-15.
The projection said BJPs prime ministerial candidate Narendra
Modi was the most preferred face with 57 percent of respondents
backing him. Just 18 percent backed Rahul Gandhi, while Arvind
Kejriwal was a distant third with just 3 percent backing.
Projected results
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March-April 2014 THE INDIAN DOWN UNDER 11
Vrindavan to get India'stallest temple
Was Malaysian flight hijackedfor 9/11-type attack in India?
Vrindavan: A project for building a 70-
storey temple, billed to be the tallest shrine in
the world, was inaugurated here coinciding
with the Holi festival.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh
Yadav participated in the foundation stonelaying ceremony of the skyscraper temple
'Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir' on March
16. The project will cost more than Rs 300
crore and Iskcon is hoping to conclude the
temple construction within the next five years.
Calling it a historic moment for Mathura-
Vrindavan, Yadav said the project exempli-
fied the goodness of religion. He also prom-
ised to extend full support to the project. The
project was first conceived by the devotees of
the International Society for Krishna
Consciousness (Iskcon ) Bangalore.
The proposed 'Chandrodaya Mandir', a
213 metres high temple is expected to mark
Vrindavan, where Hindu deity Krishna is said
to have spent his childhood, on the world
spiritual map.
The temple, which will be the tallestshrine in the world when completed, aims to
imitate Vrindavan of Krishna's times as
spelled out in the ancient texts. Being built in
the heart of Vrindavan, Iskcon will recreate
the verdant forests of Braj, where Krishna is
said to have engaged in his favourite pas-times.
The ISKCON temple will cost
Rs 300 crore and be ready in 5 years.
New York: Was Malaysia Airlines' Flight
370 hijacked with the chillingly murderous
intent of crashing it into a high-value building
in an Indian city in a re-run of al-Qaida's
9/11 attack on the US? And if the plane didn't
crash, where is it now? A week after theplane was thought to have crashed, its disap-
pearance has turned from increasingly myste-
rious to deadly sinister.
Malaysia turned the search into a criminal
investigation on March 15, after its prime
minister declared that the plane had been
deliberately diverted from its planned route
from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The plane
then flew as much as seven hours to an
unknown destination.
Worse, Strobe Talbott, who was deputy
secretary of state in the Bill Clinton adminis-
tration and remains an informed and influen-
tial voice in the US capital, tweeted:
"Malaysia plane mystery: Direction, fuel load
& range now lead some to suspect hijackers
planned a 9/11-type attack on an Indian city."
Malaysia's PM Najib Razak said his gov-
ernment would seek the help of other govern-
ments across a large region of Asia in trying
to find the plane. Malaysian authorities later
released a map showing that the last satellite
signal received from the plane had been sent
from a point somewhere along one of two
arcs spanning large distances across Asia.
This map shows two red lines represent-
ing the possible locations from which Flight
370 sent its last hourly transmission to a satel-
lite at 8.11am on March 8 more than sevenhours after it took off from KL and when the
plane would most likely have been running
low on fuel.
Najib said a satellite orbiting 35,800km
over the middle of the Indian Ocean received
a transmission that, based on the angle of
transmission from the plane, came from a
location somewhere along one of two arcs.
One arc runs from the southern border of
Kazakhstan in Central Asia to northern
Thailand. The other runs from near Jakarta,
Indonesia, to the Indian Ocean.
"These movements are consistent with
deliberate action by someone on the plane,"
Najib said. He noted that one communications
system had been disabled as the plane flew
over the northeast coast of Malaysia. A sec-
ond system, a transponder aboard the aircraft,
abruptly stopped broadcasting its location,
altitude, speed and other information a few
minutes later, at 1.21am, while the plane was
one-third of the way across the Gulf of
Thailand from Malaysia to Vietnam.
India
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12 THE INDIAN DOWN UNDER March-April 2014
India
India born Satya Nadella
reinventing Microsoft as CEONew York: Even a schoolboy can
tell you that Microsoft may still be
minting money but in terms of inno-
vation and gaining an edge, Apple,
Google and Facebook have long
surpassed the worlds largest soft-ware company.
So, after Indian American Satya
Nadella took the helm earlier this
year, Microsoft watchers, along
with consumers, are eager to see
what dramatic changes he has up his
sleeve. In an interview with the New
York Times, Nadella hinted at some
of what he intends to do as CEO of
the company founded by Bill Gates.
"Longevity in this business is
about being able to reinvent yourself
or invent the future. In our case,
given 39 years of success, its more
about reinvention. Weve had great
successes, but our future is not about
our past success. Its going to be
about whether we will invent thingsthat are really going to drive our
future," Nadella states in the inter-
view.
Nadella reveals that he isn't big
on people who say, "this is how we
do it." He believes that to be a dan-
gerous trap. Rather, one should take
valuable experience and apply it to
the current context and subsequently
raise standards. In other words, use
what you know and make the com-
pany better, he feels. He admits that
Microsoft has done well thus far, but
now its time for innovation and fos-tering new growth. "Culturally, I
think we have operated as if we had
the formula figured out, and it was
all about optimizing, in its various
constituent parts, the formula. Now
it is about discovering the new for-
mula," he adds.
This kind of change will not
occur overnight or because the orga-
nizational chart was shuffled around.
Instead, Nadella believes Microsoft
employees need to own an innova-
tion agenda and collectively share
that vision.Nadella's goal is to reinvent.
What could that mean? What does
Nadella have planned? We will like-
ly get our first glimpse at what
Microsoft has in store for us at the
company's upcoming BUILD 2014
Developer Conference in April.
Satya Nadella being introduced as CEO by Bill Gates
The famed carnival in Rio deJaneiro, Brazil, had a boisterousrun from Feb 28 to March 4. The
Sambadrome parade is the mostcolorful event on earth withSamba girls dancing in barely-there thongs and bikinis alongwith giant tableaus on display.However, the Lord Shiva tableauthis time was the surprising ele-ment of the parade. But then heis the ultimate non-conformist!
Blame it on Rio,
not Lord Shiva
India to withdraw
pre-2005 currency notes
Khobragade re-indictment
can hurt relations: India to US
Mumbai: Indian Currency
notes issued before 2005 will be
completely withdrawn from cir-
culation by the end of the cur-
rent financial year ending
March 31, the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) has said.The central bank said from
April 1, 2014, public would be
required to approach banks for
exchanging these notes. Banks
will provide exchange facility
for these notes until further
communication, the RBI said
in a statement.
The central bank stated that
public can easily identify the
notes to be withdrawn as those
issued before 2005 do not have
the year of printing on their
reverse side.
RBI has also clarified that the
notes issued before 2005 will
continue to be legal tender. This
would mean that banks arerequired to exchange the notes
for their customers as well as
for non-customers.
From July 1, however, to
exchange more than 10 pieces
of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes,
non-customers will have to fur-
nish proof of identity and resi-
dence to the bank branch in
which she/he wants to exchange
the notes.
The Reserve Bank has
appealed to the public not to
panic. They are requested toactively cooperate in the with-
drawal process, the statement
said.
On Thursday, RBI Governor
Raghuram Rajan clarified that
the order to withdraw all cur-
rency notes printed and issued
before 2005 was not a demon-
etisation measure and became
necessary to neutralize the fake
currency in circulation. The
post-2005 notes have better
security factors.
On black money, bankers say
that the process could have
implication on unaccounted cur-
rency in circulation. Although
all banks have been asked tofreely exchange currencies,
bankers say that RBI norms
require that every transaction
over Rs 10 lakh has to be
reported to the authorities as a
part of global anti-money laun-
dering norms.
New Delhi: Expressing its dis-
appointment over the US re-
indicting DevyaniKhobragade, formerly posted
in Indian consulate in New
York, on visa fraud charges
and calling it an unnecessary
step, India Saturday said that
any step taken consequent to
the decision would hurt efforts
on both sides to build a strate-
gic partnership between the
two countries.
Sources in New Delhi said
the second indictment takes
the situation back to where it
was earlier this week before a
US court quashed the first indictment
of Khobragade on the ground that she
had diplomatic immunity.
The MEAs official spokesperson
Syed Akbaruddin said that as far as
India was concerned, the case has no
merit and now that Khobragade has
returned, the court in the US has no
jurisdiction in India over her and the
government will therefore no longer
engage on this case in the US legal
system. The 21-page new indictment,
filed by the office of US attorney
Preet Bharara (an Indian American),
said the diplomat knowingly made
multiple false representations and pre-
sented false information to US author-
ities in order to obtain a visa for a per-
sonal domestic worker.
Court picks holes
in Tejpal's CCTV
defencePanaji: FormerTehelka editor-in-
chief Tarun Tejpal's
defence - the CCTV
footage outside the
elevator - does not
hold water, the
Bombay High Court
bench said here
Friday while reject-
ing his bail plea in a
sexual assault case.
Justice Utkarsh
Bakre said at this
stage the CCTV
footage "does not
help the applicantprove his innocence". Tejpal, who has been
accused of raping a then junior employee in an
elevator in a hotel, has claimed in his earlier
statements to the media that the CCTV footage
alone was enough to prove his innocence.
Nirbhaya gang-rape:
Delhi court upholds
death sentencesNew Delhi: The Delhi High Court has upheld the deathsentences awarded to four convicts in the Dec 16, 2012
gang-rape. A division bench of Justice Reva Khetrapal
and Justice Pratibha Rani also dismissed the appeals of
four convicts challenging the trial court verdict awarding
them the death penalty.
The trial court had Sep 13, 2013 awarded death sen-
tences to Mukesh (26), Akshay Thakur (28), Pawan
Gupta (19) and Vinay Sharma (20).
A 23-year-old physiotherapy intern was gang-raped
and brutally sexually assaulted by six men, including a
juvenile, in a moving bus.
The accused then threw her and her male companion
out of the vehicle, stripped of clothing, to die by the road-
side on the cold December night.
The woman died of grave intestinal injuries Dec 29,
2012 at Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital, where shewas airlifted for specialized treatment. One of the six
accused was found dead in a cell in Delhi's Tihar Jail. A
juvenile involved in the crime was Aug 31, 2013 sent by
the Juvenile Justice Board to a reform home for three
years, the maximum term under the juvenile law.
Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade (seen
with her father after returning to India),
whose arrest in New York led to
an India-US spat. Tarun Tejpal is
accused of rape by
journalist who worked
for his Tehelka
newspaper.
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India
Film stars and sundry celebrities have alwaysadded color to Indian politics, but this generalelection is seeing lot of them in the fray. Here is
a list of some of them, and the Lok Sabha seats theyhave been nominated by respective parties.
Raj Babbar: Ghaziabad, CongressNagma: Meerut, CongressMoon Moon Sen: Bankura (WB),Trinamool CongressMohammed Kaif: Phulpur (UP), Congress
Bhaichung Bhutia: Darjeeling, TMCRavi Kishan: Jaunpur (UP), CongressKirron Kher: Chandigarh, BJP
Gul Panag: Chandigarh, AAPChandan Mitra: Hooghly, BJP
Bappi Lahiri: A seat from West Bengal, BJPMedha Patkar: Mumbai NorthEast, AAPRaj Mohan Gandhi: East Delhi, AAP
Mithun Chakraborty: Trinamool nomineefor Rajya Sabha
New Delhi: FinanceMinister P. Chidambaram
cut indirect taxes on cars
and mobile phones in aneffort to revive growth in
an interim budget present-ed to parliament onMonday for the fiscal year
2014/15.
The government'sterm ends in May and the
measure was necessary to
cover expenditure until anational election is com-
pleted and a new adminis-tration installed.
Chidambaram said
India's economy, the 11thlargest in the world, had
stabilised and was showing signs
of turnaround. His speech wasmarred by protests over the pro-
posed division of a southern
state.GROWTH
GDP expansion in thirdand fourth quarters of 2013/14
estimated at 5.2 percent. Growth
for the whole year expected at4.9 percent.
FISCAL DEFICIT
Fiscal deficit seen at 4.6percent of GDP in 2013/14,
below target of 4.8 percent.
Fiscal deficit projected at4.1 percent of GDP in 2014/15
Says need to bring downthe deficit to 3 percent of GDPby 2016/17
CURRENT ACCOUNT
DEFICIT
Current account deficit for2013/14 estimated at $45 billionfrom last fiscal year's $88 bil-
lion.
Forex reserves to rise by$15 billion by end of 2013/14
PRIVATISATION
Target from stake sale instate run firms for 2013/14
revised to 258.41 billion rupees
Target for 2014/15increased to 569.25 billionrupees
SPENDING
Plan expenditure for2014/15 seen at 5.55 trillion
rupees, the same level as the
previous fiscal yearNon plan spending esti-
mated at about 12.08 trillion
rupees in 2014/15SUBSIDIES
Total spending on food,fertilisers and fuel at 2.5 trillion
rupees in 2014/15Food subsidy estimated at
1.15 trillion rupees, fertilisersubsidy at 679.71 billion rupees.
Petroleum subsidy seen at
634.27 billion rupees versusrevised figure of 854.8 billion
rupees for 2013/14.DEFENCE
Spending raised to 2.24trillion rupees in 2014/15, up 10percent year on year.
EXPORTS
Merchandise exports seenat $326 billion in 2013/14, up
6.3 percent year on year.
Agriculture exportsexpected to touch $45 billion in
2013/14, up from $41 billion in2012/13
TAX PROPOSALS
No major change in taxrates
Cut excise duty on smallcars, two wheelers, commercialvehicles to 8 percent from 12
percent
Recommends excise dutyreductions on larger vehicles
Restructure of factory gatetax for mobile handsets
BANKS RESTRUCTURING
Govt to provide 112 bil-lion rupees capital infusion in
state run banks in 2014/15
Propose to set up publicdebt management office to start5work from 2014/15
Hidden hand trying to
sabotage peace talks with
Taliban: NegotiatorIslamabad: Mohammad Ibrahim, leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami and a
senior member of the Pakistani Taliban dialogue, Sunday said a "hid-den hand" is trying to sabotage the upcoming peace talks between the
Pakistan government and the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Ibrahim said the venue and date for the peace talk are yet to bedecided and consultations could take place in Mahsud tribal area in
South Waziristan, the News International reported.He also added that the Taliban was further investigating about the
Ahrar-ul Hind (earlier a part of TTP) which claimed responsibility for
the bomb attacks in Peshawar and Quetta March 14.
Hyderabad: India has the potentialto become the third largest aviationmarket by 2020 and the largest by2030, said a report by FICCI-KPMG.
There is large untapped potentialfor growth due to the fact that accessto aviation is still a dream for nearly99.5 percent of the country's popula-tion, said the report released at'Indian Aviation 2014' Thursday.
According to the report, theIndian civil aviation industry is on ahigh growth trajectory, albeit withminor hiccups.
"The industry has ushered in anew wave of expansion driven byLow Cost Carriers (LCC), modernairports, FDI in domestic airlines,cutting edge IT interventions and agrowing emphasis on No-FrillsAirports (NFA) and regional connec-tivity," said the report.
One of the top 10 in the world,the size of India's civil aviationindustry is around $16 billion.However, the paper says, this is afraction of what it can actuallyachieve.
"In view of the enormous growthprospects of air traffic and substan-tial investment projections, Indianaviation market offers significantlong term opportunities for globalaviation players," said SidharthBirla, president of FICCI.
The report notes that the nextgeneration of aviation growth inIndia will be triggered by regionalairports. At present, there arearound 450 used, unused or aban-doned airports and airstrips spreadall over the country.
It pointed out that many Indianstates, especially in Eastern India,have started taking pro-active meas-
ures to promote air connectivity.
These initiatives include reduction inSales Tax on ATF, development ofno-frills airports, promotion of avia-tion academies and supportive poli-cies for airlines and tourism.
It praised West Bengal forbecoming the first large state in thecountry to declare zero percent salestax on ATF at its regional airportsand 15 percent Sales Tax on ATF
used by additional flights started at
its metro airport in Kolkata."A lot more needs to be done, as
several tier 2/3 cities are still uncon-nected or underserved. Theseinvolve relaxation on regulations,revising the security requirements,allowing domestic code sharing, pro-viding free or discounted utilities andconnecting infrastructure," said thereport. "India is blessed with a greatgeographic location, a large upward-ly mobile middle class and immensetourism opportunities. We have justtouched the tip of the aviation ice-berg," says Amber Dubey, partnerand India head of Aerospace andDefense at global consultancyKPMG.
Islamabad: Former Pakistan presi-dent Pervez Musharraf, facing trialfor high treason, has in an applica-tion before a special court accusedhis erstwhile officers as co-conspira-tors for the imposition of Emergencyon Nov 3, 2007, a media report said.
If the plea is accepted, it wouldimplicate a number of high-profilecivilians and armed forces personnelin the treason trial, the Dawn report-ed March 16.
Musharraf's application recentlyfiled with the special court said thecivilian leadership and the militaryauthorities who allegedly abettedhim in the imposition of Emergency
on Nov 3, 2007, should also be triedalong with him. Musharraf said heimposed the Emergency after con-sulting the then prime minister, thegovernors of all four provinces andthe chairman of the joint chiefs ofstaff committee, the chiefs of thearmed forces, the vice-chief of armystaff and the corps commanders ofthe Pakistan Army. "It is, therefore,imperative for this honourable courtto seek the names of the above offi-cials and supply the same to theaccused... to try all the accusedtogether. In the face of such omis-sion, the trial shall stand vitiated,"Musharraf said in his application
before thespecial court,according tothe Dawn.The applica-tion claimedthat theEmergencywas imposedwith the con-sent of then
prime minis-ter Shaukat Aziz, then Punjab gover-nor Lt. Gen. Khalid Maqbool, Lt.Gen. (Retd.) Ali Jan Orakzai,Governor Jan Mohammad Yousaf ofBalochistan, and Sindh governor
Ishratul Ibad.The former president also named
Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, untilrecently the Pakistani Army chief,who was vice chief of army on Nov3, 2007, the plea stated.
Some celebs in poll fray Highlights of India's2014-15 interim budget
India has potential to be largestaviation market: Report
Musharraf drags former
Pakistani top guns into trial
March-April 2014 THE INDIAN DOWN UNDER 13
P. Chidambaram entering parliament
building to present UPA
governments last budget.
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14 THE INDIAN DOWN UNDER March-April 2014
Community
The Namaskar was always crisp, authoritative and
welcoming. The opinions were strong, yet flexible,
open to logic and research. Patience with people,
who insisted their point of view was the only one, was lim-
ited and the tone was abrasive. This was an exact mix to
spark discussion, challenge ideas, educate people in a new
perspective that Dr Deepak Malhotra did best for over 20
years when he pioneered and hosted the Community
Forum on Voice of India-Monika Geetmala FM 89.7 in
Sydney.
Seems strange that I have to use was when talking of
Deepak who energised, animated and ruffled many feath-
ers. Yet, he kindled a heart that was kind, understanding
and generous, though equally hard on himself as he was on
corrupt politicians, doctors or inept cricketers especially
from India.
Dr Deepak Malhotra passed away peacefully on 12th
December 2013, aged 68, surrounded by his partner Alex,
Sister Neeraja and friend Anne.
Deepaks life traversed a brilliant career spanning over
four decades during which he worked as a medical doctor,
fighter jet pilot in the Indian Air Force, then again as a
doctor in his newly adopted home in Australia over 40
years ago. Here, he pioneered talk-back radio for the
Indian community and, for himself, an acting opportunity
in Bollywood.Dr Malhotra worked as a public hospital chief superin-
tendent and helped numerous Indian origin doctors find
their feet as he helped them gain employment at a time
when India was distant and foreign in the Australian psy-
che. Some of those Dr Malhotra helped relate anecdotes as
he argued with authorities when they refused to recognise
Indian doctors for employment, and used charm and per-
suasion to get them employment in public hospitals.
I knew Deepak for over 13 years and we shared many
hours talking about everything under the sun. Yet, I
believe he remained an enigma to me as he did to others
who knew him for more years than that. He was a private
person keeping the inner workings of his mind to himself,
revealing it in niggardly helpings to some at different
times. For someone who opined freely and abundantly on
everything, he, himself, remained stingy with sharing own
details that he revealed slowly as time lapsed into a trust-
worthy relationship.Deepak Malhotra grew up in Madhya Pradesh, son of a
defence officer who was a personal physician to Indias
first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. He gained entry
into the prestigious Armed Forces Medical College in Pune
and predictably joined the Indian Air Force. He was proud
of the fact that he participated in the Indo-Pak hostilities of
1971 and remained a committed Indian decrying the
malaise of corruption, lethargy and wasteful excess of reli-
gious practice while millions starved in India.
He moved to Australia in 1973 and commenced life as
a factory worker briefly and eventually worked as a med-
ical doctor. He saw the influence of mainstream Australian
radio and realised the powerful impact it could have on
making and changing opinions and decided to use this to
educate and entertain a small Indian subcontinent popula-
tion in the 1990s.
Deepak started broadcasting on Ethnic Radio, the pre-
cursor to SBS, and was discovered by Vikram Sharma who
cajoled him into joining his fledgling Voice of India in
about 1993. This led to the introduction of the Community
Forum, a unique talkback programme for people who
shared English and Hindi as a language. The style was nat-
ural, unpretentious, spiced with opinions that hooked the
listeners and language free from laboured design that
everyone could relate to. Deepak exuded a certain honesty
that was transparent, his wit was edgy and humour that
was frequently directed at himself that his listeners
enjoyed. Those were the days sans the internet and peoplewere hungry for news, music and connection and he pro-
vided all this as a voluntary service, spending both time
and money, getting paid 0 dollars wages, as he liked to
highlight.
In 2001, he landed a role as Steve as Aamir Khans
manager in Sydney in the hit Dil Chahata Hai. While this
was a small role Deepak enjoyed joking about the large
role and the impact it had on his co-stars Khan and
Pretty Zinta. He barraged the listeners for weeks, tongue-
in-cheek, with how his Bollywood career was shaping up
and many flocked to cinema halls just to see the Sydney
star in his new role in Bollywood. He, himself, did not
watch the movie for months after release.
Around that time he also did an expose for Channel 9
when he, reportedly, wore a hidden camera and attended
education dinners provided at expensive locations for
doctors in Australia by leading pharmaceutical companies.
This blew the lid on how doctors were being enticed to
prescribe medications, being pushed by the pharmaceutical
companies. This led to changes in the way such expenses
were handled by the industry.
Perhaps not so well known is the fact that Deepak
developed the concept of the My First Health Record or
Blue Book for recording childrens immunisations while
working as a superintendent at the Liverpool Hospital. This
was adopted by the NSW health system and helped
improve vaccination rates. As every parent knows, this is
an invaluable document for childrens admissions toschool. He also voiced his unhappiness at hospitals being
headed not by doctors but by bean counters.
Deepak continued to deny the existence of God, and
remained an atheist, as the concept could not explain the
dispensing of injustice when innocent childrens lives were
shortened and the corrupt led long and happy lives. He was
consistent in his tirade of religious hypocrisy and even
wrote to the Vatican on the question of innocent children
being punished, for no fault of theirs, with ill health and
poor quality of lives. Deepak hated the ostentatious dona-
tions to temples while millions starved and could not rec-
oncile to this contradiction, especially in the Indian con-
text. Deepak Malhotra touched thousands of peoples lives
and helped many people achieve their potential and
expanded the role of Indian media in Australia. He was
quite a character, loved by most, despised by many and
unthanked by some that he helped provide a direction and
livelihood.
While Deepak believed there was no after-life and once
dead we were just ash, I would differ as I feel him to
continue to live around us and inspire us to carry on the
good work that he had commenced.
Manbir Kohli of Voice ofIndia Monika Geetmalapays a tribute to a friend
and compatriot ...
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Community
March-April 2014 THE INDIAN DOWN UNDER 15
By Vijay Bahdwar
Tastes & Traditions is not
your average cook book;
much more than a few
recipes and cooking, it is rather a
description of a complete culture,
rituals and traditions observed in
Kerala. Beginning with a legendary
tale of Parasurama of how Kerala
was created, the story telling con-
tinues throughout the book, punctu-
ated by genuine recipes as taught by
a mother to daughter.
It was the idea of Leelamony
Pillai, a prominent member of the
Australian-Indian community who
was brimming with nostalgia about
her culture and traditions that she
wanted to share in the multiculturalAustralian landscape, a teacher by
profession who is no longer with us
today. Her co-author Teresa George
traversed the whole dream of writ-
ing the book with Leelamony, who,
she says, was still jotting down
recipes for our book a day before
her death. The book celebrates a
life lived, writes Teresa.The rich tapestry of Indian cul-
tures is so diverse that it sometimes
jolts an outsider from stereotyping:
that the Nairs in Kerala, as
Leelamony writes, are matrilineal,
that a Nair husband marries into his
wifes family and the children take
the mothers family name. There
are other facts the book describes,
from architecture to martial arts to
the namkaran and wedding cere-
monies that the readers will find
interesting.
Kerala is a land of aromas,
famous for its spices that attracted
the Europeans as early as 1498
when Vasco da Gama arrived on its
coast. Even before the Europeans,the spice trade was prevalent among
traders from the Middle East who
knew about the heavenly aromas of
spices in cooking as well as their
magical properties as preservatives.
Pepper is called king of spices in
the Sanskrit texts dating back to
1000 BC, writes Ian Hemphill,
Australias leading herb and spice
expert who has written a glowing
Foreword for the book.
Cooking in Indias south is
dominated by spices like pepper,
cloves and cardamom, as well as
coconut and tamarind that provide a
delicious sting while keeping the
food light on the palate unlike the
creaminess of rich North Indian
recipes. The book provides more
than 80 recipes for Kerala cuisine
for all occasions, from simple
household meals to foods for special
occasions and festivals. Leelamony
seeks the hands behind every dish,
their stories and cultural contextthat truly add spice to the book.
The recipes include the popular
idli-sambar and dosa to rasam and
payasam, including cooks tips and
variations with every recipe that
allow improvisation to suit particu-
lar tastes.
Tastes & Traditions is a richly-
woven book enlivened by some
amazing photographs of fruit sell-
ers, plants and the food prepara-
tions. The photograph of a turmeric
bath ritual in Vandimala Temple is
a scene to behold.
As we live in a distant land, our
traditions and culture are bound to
dilute with coming generations. The
book is a timely repository of therichness of a culture as reminisced
by a nostalgic first migrant.
Teresa Geroge, co-author of the book.
'Tastes & Traditions' is by the late author Leelamony Pillai who was brimming with nostalgia about herculture and traditions in Kerala that she wanted to share in the multicultural Australian landscape.
Tastes & Traditions: Stories of Food, Family, and
Culture from Indias Spice Coast
By Leelamony Pillai & Teresa George
Published by: FC Productions
Herbal soups were traditionally prepared dur-
ing the monsoon months to ward off colds
and fevers. Made from a blend of spices and
Ayurvedic herbs, it was taken on an empty stomach
in the morning or at night. A rotation of herbal
soups was served every three days to ensure variety
in the diet. A special red rice called Njavara is used
in this Kanji. Njvara rice has been cultivated in
Kerala for centuries. It is used in religious cere-monies and therapeutically. Marunnu Kanji has been
mentioned in ancient Ayurvedic texts as a nourish-
ing soup consumed to boost bodys immunity.
1 litre water
cup Njvara rice
A pinch of coriander seeds,aniseed, fenugreek seeds, mustard
seeds, dreid ginger pieces, car-
damom, cloves, nutmeg
teaspoon Ayurvedicherbs
1 cup coconut milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ghee orcoconut oil
1 small onion, thinlysliced
Place water, rice, spices andAyurvedic herbs into a pot and bring to
boil. Lower the heat and simmer until the
rice is fully cooked. Add more water if the mix-
ture becomes thick. Add coconut milk. Simmer for
5 minutes. Add salt and stir. In a frying pan, heat
ghee. Add the sliced onion. Saute until the onion is
soft and carmalised and add to the soup. Mix well.
Remove from the heat. Set aside for 10 minutes.
Transfer to a serving bowl. Ayurvedic herbs such as
Curcuma Longa, Cardiyospermum Halikakabam,
Boerrhavia diffusa or Hog Weed, Sida rhombifolia
roots, Strobilanthes ciliatus, Puthirichundu,Changlam piranda and Caraway seeds, Indian basil
Tulsi, Mint are used that can be bought at Indian
shops as a herb mix in Sydney.
Marunnu Kanji
Medicinal Rice soup recipe from the book
Young bride Leelamoni with Dr Pillay
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16 THE INDIAN DOWN UNDER March-April 2014
Community
This year Indian line-up in
Short+Sweet Theatre
Festival was quite impres-
sive thanks largely to Aishveryaa
Nidhi whose ITC Abhinay School
of Performing Arts (ASPA) with
four plays has delivered a bumper
performance. The plays with
Indian cast and themes included
subjects of racism, revenge, a
Tuk Tuk ride and even a 10-
minute Bollywood bonanza.
Aishveryaa Nidhi showcased
Bollywood in 10 minutes consist-
ing of dance, colour, glamour as
her dancers created a Bollywood
hungama in the otherwise normal
mainstream theatre of Short +
Sweet Theatre Festival.
ASPA actor and member Ravi
Chanana was quite impressive in
Oh! India as the tuk tuk driver
and got an applause on the last
day. Marcelle Wever was excel-
lent in her role of a frustratedAussie tourist stuck in the traffic
in India on a tuk tuk. Oh! India
came second in the Audience
Choice. The play is about a
young Aussie woman touring
India and when she hires a charis-
matic tuk-tuk driver in Delhi, the
journey ends up far richer and
more relevant than her intended
destination thanks to both the
actors. Young Shourya Nidhi
directed Ravi Chanana, Marcelle
Wever, Arnie Dhamoon with
music by Kiran Pradhan and co-
direction was by AishveryaaNidhi.
Another attraction in Week 6
of S+S was writer director
Ridwan Hassims play The Job
Hunter - a bizarre and provoca-
tive comedy where a Muslim
woman applies for a job at a Nazi
agency - and is produced by
Abhinay School of Performing
Arts. Here Barry Walsh plays
Wolfgang, a passionate German
Nationalist Socialist, who works
at the Nazi job agency, interviews
Amina (Emily Ward), a devout
Palestinian Muslim when he isforced to confront his status quo.
Aishveryaa, who is normally
great with acting, this year direct-
ed the play Irish Stew in Week
8. It is about an old couple -
Lauretta and Carlton - getting on
in years, both losing their faculty
to do with language. But years
ago they made a decision to not
rage against it. So, physically
agile but mentally short a few key
nouns, they let it take as long as it
does to find the shoe Lauretta
keeps asking for. And amidst all
the false starts that are oh-so-common now, they remain
patient and loving.
Written by Cary Peppers from
USA, featuring Owain James as
Carlton and Ann Elbourne as
Lauretta, Irish Stew made it to
Peoples Choice Showcase Finals
and then came second . Said
Aishveryaa, It s been great for
India although it was hard to
organise four entries by Abhinay.
Bollywood ne tau bus dhamaal hi
jama diya in Short + Sweet
Arun Goel, Consul General of
India in Sydney who came to seeThe Irish Stew, said, It was an
excellent play and I am impressed
with Aishveryaas theatre work, a
genre that I only got introduced to
in Sydney by her.
And we must support efforts
by such talented people and
appreciate how they are breaking
barriers and trying out in the
mainstream theatre.
Around 300 people turned up in Sydney a week
before the actual festival of Holi as this dar-
ling festival of India brings smile on every-
ones face and they get truly excited by the colours
and its spirit.
It was organised solo by Manju Mittal and that too
for a charitable cause, proceeds of which are going to
the Heart Centre of Children Research Institute asso-
ciated with a Melbourne hospital.
Chief guest Michelle Rowland was represented by
Aisha A.K., who read her message which praised the
Indian community and its contribution and how the
festivals such as Holi bring in true multicultural joy-
ous occasions for the rest of us to celebrate along with
you. Food included Traditional Holi favourites such
as Gujjia and Thandayee.
Parramatta MP Geoff Lee also enjoyed the festi-
val as he proudly carried a huge yellow colour tikka
on his forehead. He said, It is nice to be here and
share Holi celebrations with members of the Indian
community.
There was plenty of Holi fun, dances, songs with
Sydney dancers entertaining all. Also, as the mood
with Holi goes, humour and poetry was recited by
some local poets. People mingled and painted each
other with colours as film maker Ana Tiwary covered
the event for ABC TV and recorded it for posterity.
Abhinays plays make a mark at Short + Sweet!
Holi Milan in Sydney
Director Shourya Nidhi with Marcelle Wever and Ravi Chanana in
Oh! India
Owain James and Ann Elbourne in The Irish Stew
Promotion of Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawla starrer Gulab
Gang was organised in Liverpool and Harris Park, Sydney with
red carpet premiere of the movie held at Burwood Greater Unioncinema in March as Maxine Salma and her friends are beating
Sahil Sood dressed in pink attire like the role played by the actors
in the movie who pick up the baton to beat the ills
out of the Indian society.
Manju Mittal dabbed in colours by Divya Dhingra and her mum Judy
Colours of Holi
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Community
March-April 2014 THE INDIAN DOWN UNDER 17
Indo-Australian filmmaker Kush Badhwar is a quiet
achiever. He was at the world famous film festival
Berlinale recently with his documentary Blood Earth,
a remix of protest songs by tribals in Odisha - a voice
otherwise drowned by the stamping of multinationals in
the area.
The art-documentary depicts the struggle of the weak
against the powerful, their sequestered lives being over-turned by bauxite mining and smelter plants. Despite the
trampling of their lives in the remote bush areas of
Odisha, India is indifferent to their plight, the clamour of
national growth being the only voice heard.
Blood Earth, began by Taru Dalmias Word Sound
Power, founded in 2010 in association with the rapper
and New York producer Chris McGuiness. Taru
Dalmias raps are his main outlet for his socio-political-
ly charged rhymes. The documentary started in earnest
in 2011 to document and remix protest songs by the trib-
als.
Dalmia, McGuiness and Kush Badhwar travelled to
the tribal village of Kucheipadar in southern Odisha
twice over a two-year span to work on Blood Earth.
Says Dalmia, When we went in 2011, it was tough
to get access and even communicate properly with the
people there. We just didnt want to get bytes and create
a documentary, but also have an honest piece of art that
reflects the sentiment of those people.
Armed with Midi controllers, mics and recorders,
Blood Earth includes four dub-meets-Oriya-tribal-folk
songs titled Back Against the Wall, Unity, Poisonand Go Away. Kush Badhwar, who completed his
early education and degree in media/films from
Macquarie University in Sydney, says, We did exhibit
the first version in Delhi in 2011, but the second time
around, we were becoming more adept at understanding
the complex moral issues.
Word Sound Power screened the documentary in
October 2013, at the Experimenta Film Festival in
Bengaluru, where it won the Adolfas Mekas award.
One of the organisers from the Berlinale were there
at Experimenta and she asked us what we wanted to do
with this film next. Thats how we got this opportunity to
screen the film at Berlinale, Kush Badhwar says.
Blood Earth was screened as part of the Forum
Expanded section of the festival which is informally com-
petitive to gain an award. The documentary will soon be
released online in its entirety.
World Sound Power is also working with Dr. Das
who has remixed four tracks from Blood Earth for an
EP, which will also be released later in the year. Blood
Earth was Word Sound Powers second project, follow-
ing a nine-track collaboration with Dalit Sikh Bant Singhtitled The Bant Singh Project in 2010.
Kush Badhwar is not new to Berlin film festivals. One
of his early works as a student at the prestigious Pune
Film and Television Institute (FTI) a film titles Reprise
was screened at the international student festival
Sehsuechte in Berlin in 2009. He will now be working on
Word Sound Powers next project, a yet-to-be-titled doc-
umentary/collaboration featuring Telangana Naxal
activist and poet Gaddar.
Localartist RoshniDennis,betterknownasStellaRhymes,haswrittenamovingsongdedicatedtoEarthHour,aworld-widemassmovementthathelpstheworldtar-getclimatechange.OnMarch29at8:30pm,millionsofpeople,householdsandbusinessesacrosstheworldareswitchingofftheirnon-essentiallightsforonehourtocelebratetheircommitmenttocreateasustainablefuturefor
theplanet.StellaRhymesisanaspiringsinger,rapperandsongwriterfromWentworthPointwhotookontheinitiativeanddecidedtodedicateasongforagreatcause.TheSouthIndianbeau-ty'sEarthHoureventmarksthedebutlaunchofhersingleLullabyatElevenNightclubinPaddington.Thetimingcouldnotbemoreper-fect.
Shesaid,It'sasongIwroteabout lettinggoandputtingtobedourfirst worldproblems,rememberingwhowereallyareandre-estab-lishingandmaintainingaglobal connectionwitheachotherandourplanet -whichIfeelalignswellwithEarthHour'sthree-foldmis-sion.TheinauguralEarthHourwasheldinSydney.2.2millionSydneysiders
and2,100businessesparticipated.Thisyear,EarthHourAustraliahasaskedthefocustobeonprotect-ingthefutureoftheGreatBarrierReef.
Berlin festival screens Indo-Aust documentary
Roshni Dennis
Kush Badhwar wielding the camera. Blind village bard who sings songs made on the spot.
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18 THE INDIAN DOWN UNDER March - April 2014
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Community
March-April 2014 THE INDIAN DOWN UNDER 19
By Neena Badhwar
Jhappi or Japphi, as they say in trueblue Punjabi, is a loving hug hasbeen chosen as a theme to mark the
time for Indian tourists to embrace NSWas their tourist destination.
The Indian visitors to Australia are onthe rise, their numbers being on a steadyclimb having increased by 9.4 per cent in2013 than the year before. Indian touristsare now among the top ten nationalitiesvisiting Australia.
Destination NSW has embarked on astrong marketing campaign with the sloganJhappi time to woo the Indian tourists.The advertisements for the campaign havebeen created and filmed right here inNSW, featuring the Indian communityDown Under and using stories that expressa longing to hug families and relativesand have a great time while visiting NSW.
Visiting family and relatives is thebiggest reason the 164,000 Indian visitorsto Australia gave when they visited lastyear. This earned NSW AUD 183 millionin revenue as each visitor on average spent$2315 on travel, stay and visiting touristattractions that included sightseeing, eatingout, shopping for pleasure and even goingto the beach. Of the total number of Indiantourists to Australia, NSW attracted almosthalf of them 77,700 visitors who stayedmostly at home with friends or relatives.These visitors are expected to rise to333,000 Australia-wide by 2020 almost a100 per cent increase.
Destination NSW CEO SandraChipchase, just after a day in India, felthow important family relationship and val-
ues were for Indians. She started lookingfor a catch phrase and asked ParamjitBawa, Manager, Destination NSW inMumbai office, Give me a word thattruly describes a hug .
He came up with a few words butJhappi is the one that struck me as themost appropriate. It sounded to me as aword which is quite close to the wordhappy, Sandra says.
And when I came back here andtalked to my team and Anupam Sharmawhose company Film and CastingTemple we used for creating Jhappi timeads he loved the idea and was quite
excited about it. We put in all our time,effort and money in creating the campaignto help not just the tourism but help bettercultural ties with India, she says.
The Jhappi time campaign waslaunched at the Museum of Contemporary
Arts by NSW Premier, BarryOFarrell, on February 11. He
said, Almost 60 per cent of thevisitors visited NSW for thefirst time, visiting family andfriends. This can help growother industries such as finan-cial services, infrastructure,location education, tourism,major events, film and creativeventures. And we know that thiscan help grow culturalexchanges between NSW andIndia. We already have sisterstate relation with Maharashtraand are planning to do the samewith the state of Gujarat. I amdelighted that NSW has takenthe tourism lead with Jhappitime to encourage people from
India to visit family and friendsin NSW. Jhappi time will help
people share activities and NSWattractions with families andfriends.
NSW Minister for Arts,George Souris, was happy to tryout some Bollywood gestureswith the dancers on the harbourlaunching the campaign. He said,Jhappi time campaign will benefitthe Indian visitors and help doublethe traffic by 2020 with all theactivities on offer for consumersthrough various link ups with travelsites.
Sandra Chipchase, excited about
the campaign, and how the localIndian community got involved,says, They were superb and just sogenerous and supportive. The com-munity at large can now help pro-mote the Jhappi time ads. It is anopportunity for everyone settledhere to invite friends and familyover and be able to show how theylive, study, enjoy great outdoors,food and our great tourist attrac-tions. As you know Sydney wasvoted as the safest city in the worldand a tourist attraction.
About 77,000 of the total164,000 tourists to Australia fromIndia came to NSW and spentaround AUD 183 million here. With
Jhappi time we plan to increase it by afurther 10 per cent. We have tried to addvalue by giving offers through varioustravel agents, through packages and afford-able accommodation. With Jhappi timeyou can send digital cards to families and
friends encouraging them to visit our
state, she says. With well known Indiancommunity members acting in the Jhappitime ads Aishveryaa Nidhi, Zenia Starr,Lucky Singh, Mala Mehta, Balbir Singhand Dilip Rao, they will act as the culturalmagnets to drive the true message of
Jhappi back home. And for Sydneysiders
who want their friends and relatives to visitthem, visit: http://www.sydney.com/jhap-
pi-time. There is a lot of information andguidance for a Jhappi time in NSW with
plenty of holiday ideas and deals on quitean interactive and friendly site.
AishveryaNidhi,Sukhraj
Deepak,NitinandDimpleG
ursahaniinanotherad.
Anupam Sharma, NSW Minister for Arts George Souris, Sandra Chipchase - CEO Destination NSW and Premier Barry
OFarrell with Bollywood dancers at the launch of the Jhappi time campaign Feb 11 to promote tourism from India.
LuckyandBalbirSingh,AmbikaAsthanaan
dJerrickAdairinJhappiadcampaign
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Philanthropy
By Neena Badhwar
The worlds 85 richest individuals now own asmuch as the poorest half of the 7 billion global
population, according to a report released byOxfam recently.
The leading anti-poverty charity called on the glob-al economic elite gathering in Davos this week for theWorld Economic Forum to counter the growing tideof inequality and prevent a static future in which onlythe rich have access to the best education and health-care.
It is staggering that in the 21st century, half of theworlds population own no more than a tiny elitewhose numbers could all sit comfortably in a singletrain carriage, said Winnie Byanyima, OxfamExecutive Director.
While Mukesh Ambani at US $21.5 billion wasranked at 22 Lakshmi Mittal was ranked at spot 41with an estimated wealth at $16.5 billion according toForbes Rich List 2013.
Other Indian in the list are Azim Premji 11.2 bil-lion at spot 91; Dilip Shanghvi $9.4 billion at spot116; Shashi & Ravi Ruia $8.5 billion on spot 131;Hinduja Brothers $8.3 billion on spot 136; KumarBirla $7.9 billion at spot 150; Savitri Jindal & Family$7.6 billion at spot 155; Sunil Mittal & Family $6.8billion at spot 173; Shiv Nadar $6.5 billion at spot 182with Mukesh Mabanis brother Anil Ambani waydown at spot number 233 with his $5.2 billion.
Australias rich who made it to the list in the top100 are Gina Rinehart with her $17 billion ranked 36and Rupert Murdoch & family at $11.2 billion rankedat 91. Others are Ivan Glasenberg $6.7 billion at spot
175; James Packer $6 billion at spot 198; AndrewForrest at spot 211 with $5.7 billion and Frank Lowyat $5.3 billion on rank 229.
U.S. leads the list with 442 billionaires, followedby Asia-Pacific (386), Europe (366), the Americas(129) and the Middle East & Africa (103). Carlos Slimis once again the worlds richest person, followed byBill Gates. Amancio Ortega of Spanish retailer Zaramoves up to No. 3 for the first time.
Forbes has also valued the fortunes of the wealthydespots, dictators and royals but has listed them sepa-rately as they do not truly reflect individual, entrepre-neurial wealth that could be passed down to a youngergeneration or truly given away. Obviously the rich listof Indians who have deposits in Swiss banks of moneyobtained through corruption, shady deals