volume 1 issue 13

1Indian Weekender | September 4, 2009 | www.iwk.co.nz

Indian

Chai time | 5

Indian

Music fest | 13

September 4, 2009Volume 1, No. 13

Tabla maestro Fazal Qureshi in NZ

New Zealand’s first Indian weekend magazine

At a glance

Today’s Exchange Rates

India’s top leather exportersA delegation of leather exporters from India has expressed interest in scaling up trade with New Zea-land as part of their plans to expand aggressively into the Australasian market. Page 3

Jaswant on JinnahWhy Jaswant Singh is right about Jinnah in his new book. Instead of vilifying the author for defending Jin-nah, we must appreciate his courage in exposing the real villains of the Partition, thinks IW’s current affairs commentator. Page 6

Commonwealth suspends FijiDespite the full suspension effective September 1, the Commonwealth has said it remains open to engag-ing with Fiji, while Commodore Bainiamarama calls it “a necessary sacrifice.” 0

Hits and missesLast fortnight saw some exciting cricket all around. England regained the Ashes beating Australia 2-1. But Daniel Vettori’s personal landmark could not stem the Black caps being blacked out by Sri Lanka. IW cricket writer reports. Page 24

1 NZD = USD 0.67 INR 31.97 FJD 1.34EURO 0.46

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Bollywood | 22India-inspired tea launched

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2 Indian Weekender | September 4, 2009 | www.iwk.co.nz

Indian New Zealand

Kollywood’s new darling is from Blockhouse BayDev NaDkarNi meets the Tamil film industry’s latest big find

“I suppose it was just destined to happen,” says Blockhouse Bay girl Uttara Ramkumar whose lovely visage will hit the silver screen the world over come December.

This petite winner of the Miss India New Zealand 2008 pageant had absolutely no plans of embarking on a career in films. In May last year, JK Creations, a movie production house from Chennai in South India – the capital of Tamil movies also referred to as Kollywood – was in New Zealand auditioning for a fresh new female face to suit the role of an “NRI girl” for a film it was planning to shoot here.

The talent scouts from Chennai were unable to select any of the two-dozen or so candidates that auditioned and returned rather disappointed to Chennai. Uttara and her parents knew about the auditions but didn’t consider it. “It was never in our scheme of things,” says Uttara, who had her university studies to pursue.

Then the producer happened to chance upon a DVD of the Miss India New Zealand 2008 pageant in Chennai and was bowled over when he saw Uttara on the screen. He immediately got in touch with Uttara’s parents Anuradha and Ramkumar and the family began to mull over the offer.

Yet undecided, the family sent a set of pho-tographs and a screen test shot at home back to Chennai. Yes, the director and the producers were interested.

Meanwhile the producers said they had decided to shoot the film in Melbourne, not here in New Zealand – which added another dimen-sion to the family’s decision-making process, and for some time they decided to drop the idea.

But the production house and the director had impeccable credentials and the script was

too good as a refreshing new idea. “Besides, the shooting schedule was a short one, spread over a couple of months,” says Uttara. “And it fitted in well with my university schedule, though it was hard being away for so long.”

The film’s director is K.R. Mathivanan, who has been associate director with the much ac-claimed director Shankar and worked on the recent mega-blockbuster Sivaji, starring south-ern India’s biggest star – and reportedly India’s highest paid actor – Rajanikanth.

Uttara joins a long line of a previous genera-

tion of South Indian actresses who were accom-plished Indian classical danseuses before they made their careers on the silver screen. Vyjayan-thimala and Hema Malini are only two of them. Uttara, too, has carved a niche for herself in New Zealand as an accomplished Bharata Natyam dancer having performed at several places. A product of her mother’s popular home-based dance school, Uttara had her Arangetram a few years ago in Auckland.

Has her training in traditional dance come in handy for her new career in front of the camera? “It certainly has,” says Uttara. “There is a lot of Abhinaya (emoting) involved while portraying characters in many dance sequences; we play the roles of several characters – so that helped.”

Uttara has had a fair share of dance sequenc-es in the film. “I enjoyed it and my training really helped,” she says.

But dance is a live performing art and a con-tinuous, unbroken performance unlike acting in a film, which is sliced and diced into dozens of shots even for a single scene. “In that sense I was a little lucky,” replies Uttara. “Most of the shots for scenes in the film were quite long and I was quite comfortable doing them because much of my dialogue delivery was continuous.”

And was she comfortable speaking the lan-guage? “My Tamil had a bit of a Kiwi accent,” she laughs. “But I was playing an NRI girl, so I guess it sounds authentic for the role. I’m more at home with Telugu, which is my mother’s language, and of course Hindi.” She got acting lessons pretty much on the fly from the film’s experienced crew and director before and in between shots.

The film titled “Aridhu, Aridhu” – which means “very rare” is a variation on the boy-meets-girl theme. It’s about a Chennai boy who lands up in Melbourne because of a set of in-teresting circumstances and meets the girl that Uttara plays.

“Unfortunately, I’m not at liberty to reveal the detailed story, but I can tell you it’s very dif-ferent, interesting and very, very intriguing,” she says of the film which besides being a love story has its fair share of action. “But importantly, it has a strong social message,” she adds.

Sai Thaman, the fast rising star of Southern India’s music world, has written the film’s score. He shot to fame with the recent Telugu hit titled “Kick” which has become a blockbuster largely because of its music. Aridhu Aridhu’s music is due for release some time this month. “There are quite a few songs and they’re fantastic,” Uttara says.

Uttara’s “discovery” has been splashed across the film glossies in both Kollywood and neighbouring Tollywood (the Andhra Pradesh film industry) including the redoubtable Tamil magazine Ananda Vikatan. And even before the film has hit the theatres, she already has three firm offers with one schedule already drawn up. “It’s all happening way too fast,” says Uttara.

With Kollywood firmly in her grasp, Bolly-wood is a mere hop, skip and jump away. Are the young actor’s sights on Mumbai’s bright arc lights yet? “Of course,” she gushes. “Which Indian girl doesn’t dream of a career in Bolly-wood?”

Though she loves Auckland and being at home with her parents – especially her mother whom she credits with all her success so far – Uttara realises she will have to spend more time away in coming months. “I will have to spend quite a lot of time in India in the run up to the release,” she says.

Does she have a message for young Kiwi Indians on their paths to achievement? “Just believe in yourself and follow your heart with a sensible plan,” she says. Way to go, Uttara!

Listen to uttara’s audio interview on www.iwk.co.nz

ACtIoN: Uttara in various scenes from Aridhu Aridhu


Indian New Zealand

Indian leather exporters make first foray into NZA delegation of leather exporters from India that spent a day at a buyer-seller meet in Auckland has expressed interest in scaling up trade with New Zealand as part of their plans to expand aggressively into the Australasian market.

Indian leather exporters have established an excellent market for themselves primarily in Europe and to some extent in the United States and are now in the process of finding markets further afield. This was their first trip to the region and included a similar buy-er-seller meet in Sydney and a business visit to Melbourne.

India has a relatively tiny slice of about $US 1500 million of the whopping $US 127 billion leather products market, Indian Leather Ex-porters Council official Ali Ahmed Khan told Indian Weekender. Between themselves, New Zealand and Australia had a market of between $US 55-60 million he said.

Though small, leather trade between New Zealand and India has been rising steadily. It has nearly doubled in the past five years going up from $US 3 million in 2003 to $US 5 million last year. “There is enough potential and we need to make known the good quality of Indian products in these markets. Such buy-er-seller meets do help,” he said.

While India imports raw hides from New Zealand, it exports a range of finished product including saddlery, leather accessories and garments.

Rajeev Bohra of New Delhi-based leather products manufacturer Cheviot said that Indian products had gained a reputation in Europe. His company has been suppliers to high profile labels like Christian Dior, Burb-erry and DKNY besides a host of others.

“European markets now realise that you go to China for quantity and price but to India if you are after quality and fashion,” he said. “And that’s what really matters to the world’s leading fashion brands.”

Hemant Gupta of Cintrones Alwi, a Span-ish-Indian accessories manufacturer and ex-porter to several European markets said that buyers were now aware that Indian manu-facturers now meet the most stringent envi-ronmental standards and fair trade practices. “Our products, for instance, are completely chrome free and we adhere to international manufacturing and process standards,” he said.

Sumit and Preeti Jalan of Leatherman Exports found that buyers in Oceania were predisposed toward China more than India mainly because there was little awareness of Indian products here. Leatherman is a major supplier of a range of accessories to European fashion stores as also to top of the line bou-tiques in the United States. “This is the first time for us here and we are hopeful of making a breakthrough while we are here,” Mr Jalan said.

Speaking of buyer perceptions in Aus-tralia, Mr Jalan said, “Some buyers seemed to be wary of buying from India because of past experiences that were not very good. Such perceptions need to be changed because Indian business has changed and has become extremely professional in recent years.”

Leather Linkers’ Lalit Arora felt that the recent problems in Australia involving Indian students could have also played a part in a sense of wariness in Australian buyers’ ap-proach to Indian businesses.

Agra based Metro & Metro’s Ajit and Meenakshi Kalsi supply a wide range of both women’s and men’s footwear to store chains like Sears, Wolverine and JC Penney and have established themselves as reliable suppliers of high quality products in the European and the US markets. “I think our experience in New Zealand is better than in Australia because it was better organised here,” Mr Kalsi said.

Sangita Gulati of Kolkata-based Rishi Arts has been dealing with the region for over four years. “We’ve been exporting bags, belts, garments and accessories to Australia and New Zealand for some time now. We also import lambskin from New Zealand,” she said pointing to a couple of bags made out of Kiwi lambskin. Her company that has tanneries in

Kolkata and Chennai is looking at expanding its presence in both New Zealand and Austra-lia.

Mr Bohra was rather disappointed with the manner in which the buyer-seller meet was organised on the delegation’s Australian leg of the tour – a sentiment that was shared by several other members. “I wish the organis-ers had marketed our trip better. It would have been much better if we had decision makers come to meet with us,” he said, but was happy with the arrangements in New Zealand.

Global Village Unlimited, the Welling-

ton-based company that organised the New Zealand part of the visit also arranged visits to top Auckland stores in the course of the delegation’s two-day stay in the city. “This has been a very productive first visit and the delegation’s members are looking forward to following up with the contacts they have made,” GVU director Raga D’silva told Indian Weekender.

“GVU will help build on the contacts made between the potential buyers and sellers in the past two days,” Nicola Fenton of GVU said.

- Indian Weekender staff writer

LooKING Good IN LeAtHeR: (Clockwise from top left) Rajeev Bohra, Ajit and Meenakshi Kalsi, wide variety of leather belts, Hemant Gupta, Sangita Gulati, Ali Ahmed Khan; some more leather products


Indian New Zealand

Leading South Asian television channel service in the Australia and New Zealand region, Vision Asia, is set to bring Punjjabi TV exclusively on its bouquet from Septem-ber 2009.

Speaking to the media, chief executive officer Sameer Goswami said, “Keeping in mind our promise of bringing the best from back home, everyday, we are launching Punj-jabi TV as an add-on channel to the wonder-ful Dildar Punjabi community in Australia, New Zealand. “Punjjabi TV is an excellent fit to our current bouquet which already has

Star Plus, Sony, Zee TV, Star One, Colors, Set Max, Star Gold, MTV India and NDTV in English and Hindi.” The channel is focused and dedicated to the promotion of undiluted love of the Punjabi culture, language and music, all types of entertainment exclusively for the Punjabi speaking community and is available as an add-on channel or a stand alone channel on Vision Asia Platform.

It is a complete general entertainment channel that offers an unparalleled line-up of family entertainment programming giving the viewers a vast range of programmes,

right from religious, comedy, cookery, reality shows, movies, news, music and Bol-lywood news.

“Punjjabi TV is truly a complete family entertainment channel with something for each and every member of the family and will have instant connect with the Punjabi community residing in Australia and New Zealand, like what we’ve experienced in US and UK”, said Manish Vasisht, Managing Partner and CEO of Channel Guide.

Vision Asia is an independent multi-channel pay television platform servicing

the cultural and entertainment needs of the people of South Asian background living in Australia and New Zealand. The service was launched on August 15, 2000 in Australia and New Zealand. Besides an excellent program mix, the service has come to be known for the digital transmission of clear picture quality and the fact that their channels are stored and delayed to match the prime time viewing in the New Zealand Time Zone.

- Indian Weekender news desk

Punjjabi TV on NZ TV screens from September

A quICK LooK At WHAt’s oN oFFeR…AAG DE KALIRREY

Focusing the storyline on the importance of the “Waris” in the culture of Punjab, Aag de kalirrey traces the trails and tribulations of the Gill family as it faces a dilemma when the second son of the family dies an accidental death. As the elder son’s wife is not able to bear a child, the Gill family quest for a “waris” makes them force their grieving daughter-in-law into marrying her husband’s younger brother. Will the Gill family be able to come to terms with this reality or will the bride’s auspicious “Kalir-rey” turn into shackles for them?

CHADHYA CHANN SAMUNDRON PARThis is the story of Gurdial Singh, who migrates to Punjab during partition and set up a strong business empire with his hard work and perseverance. The strong entity be-tween the sons is the main cause of tension and turbulence in his life. The entity of Sim-ran, a girl brought up in the west, as Gurdial singh’s grandson’s wife, marks a change in this estranged family.

DIL DIYAN GALLAN DIL HEE JAANEA story of unrequited love, Dil Diyan Gal-lan Dil Hee Jaane is a journey of two lov-ers Aman and Purnima. Destiny brings them together and then separates them, only to get their paths to cross once again after years! Meanwhile, life has moved on and this reunion causes upheavals strong enough to shake their world. Will these forlorn lovers ever find their love?

ISHQ VICH YOU NEVER KNOWRoop, the tomboy with tremendous spark and spunk, meets the most eligble bachelor in town, Ravi. What happens when opposites attract is a series of emotional twists in their life which leads to the age old notion.


Indian New Zealand

The chief editor of a new community newspaper catering for the Indo-Fijian and Indian diaspora in New Zealand has vowed to raise the bar in ethnic publishing.

Speaking at a national Diversity Forum seminar today on the new Asian media, Dev Nadkarni of the Indian Weekender challenged mainstream media to make better use of skilled but marginalised ethnic minority journalists.

“Good and experi-enced ethnic journalists are languishing as bus drivers, supermarket shelvers - or at the best, subeditors,” said Nad-karni at Wellington’s Te Papa museum.

His newspaper has been able to tap into Indian journal-ism talent neglected by the mainstream media when the newspaper was launched in Auckland in March.

Twelve editions later the paper has already impressed with bold layout, strong news se-lection and community coverage along with “cricket and Bollywood”.

The Indian Weekender has captured a claimed third of the readership in the Indian di-aspora of 110,0000 people – catering for readers with cultural roots from Fiji, India, South Africa and the Indian subcontinent countries of Bangla-dash, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The newspaper has also added a website www.iwk.co.nz and this week added a mobile phone-based edition.

Nadkarni, a former coordinator of the Univer-sity of the South Pacific journalism programme and a journalist from Mumbai, has carved out an innovative publishing niche since he migrated to

New Zealand from Fiji in 2005.He founded Pacific Business Online, played a

key role in developing the web-based edition of Islands Business news magazine, and is a co-di-rector of the Knowledge Basket Pacific database.

Nadkarni said it had been especially chal-lenging launching a newspaper in New Zealand amid a recession.

“People said we were either fools or ab-solute brave hearts,” he said, but the newspaper was rapidly becoming consolidated.

“We aim to feel the pulse of the Kiwi Indian,” and engage with the wider com-munity.

Other speakers in the annual forum, hosted by the Human Rights Commission and marking the fifth

year of the NZ Diversity Action Programme, in-cluded Chinese media editors and a researcher.

Henry Ho, chief executive of WTV, spoke of the cluster of television channels catering for the Cantonese, Japanese, Korean and Mandarin audiences in New Zealand, while Dorothy Li, chief editor of Skykiwi and an AUT University business graduate described progress of the most successful local website for Chinese youth.

Phoebe Li, an Asian studies doctoral candi-date from Auckland University, talked about her “virtual Chinatown” thesis, saying how local Chinese media had boosted “brand awareness” with New Zealand mainstream media by pro-viding crucial information during the so-called “pumpkin case” about an abandoned toddler and a high-profile kidnapping.

- David Robie

Manukau Mayor Len Brown says the govern-ment’s decision not to include seats for Maori on the new Auckland Council lacks courage.

“Maori have been an integral part of the Manukau community and have made a huge contribution across the region, and the country,” says Mr Brown.

“They have been very clear about their aspi-rations for the new council, and the Government had the opportunity to take a courageous step forward for the future of this city. They have not so far.”

Mr Brown is also questioning the process around the decision.

“I’m surprised that the government set up a sub-committee to look specifically at Maori representation and have not waited for their rec-ommendations to be reported back,” says Mr Brown.

“This decision seems overly pre-emptive of the process. Local Government Minister Rodney Hide has often spoken of the importance of transparency, but where is that transparency now?”

“The Treaty of Waitangi provides for tangata whenua representation in Local Government. Having Maori seats on the new council would go a long way towards ensuring greater unity across the region.

“We will have 1.4 million people under the new umbrella and the aim is to unite everyone across the region. If the government wants people to support the super city and to build on this new council, you want people to feel includ-ed. I fear this has not happened in this case. “

Mr Brown says Manukau City Council sup-ported Maori representation and allowing their contribution to decision making in its submis-sion to the select committee.

“We are setting in place a structure that we hope will last a hundred years. We need to get this process right the first time. To not do so would create big problems for our city going forward,” says Mr Brown.


India has long been recognised as the home of black tea, with a culture seeped in the ritual of tea making. The teas grown in India are some of the finest and most sought-after in the world. And so it was to India that Bell turned for the inspiration behind their latest blend, and a world first.

Bell India Origin is an elegant blend of two of India’s most famous teas: Darjeeling and Assam. Grown at the foothills of the Himalayas, Darjeeling is often described as the champagne of teas, and has a dis-tinctive muscatel vitality about it, while Assam is renowned for its rich, malty flavour and velvety smoothness. Combined, these two teas make an intriguing blend.

So intriguing, in fact, that Bell Tea’s Master Tea Taster and Blender, Matt Greenwood, used to hand-blend a similar version for Buckingham Palace (using the finest Darjeeling and Assam teas of course!) And this is, in part, where the inspiration for the blend came from.

In what Bell believes to be a world first (at least on a large scale), they have combined this special and highly coveted blend into a tea that is readily available at supermarkets, and blended specifically for the New Zealand palate. India Origin is the perfect mix of India’s two greatest teas, and is ideal for drinking in the afternoon

with friends and family.

Matt comments, “Bell India Origin is a sum2ptuous blend, created with New Zealanders’ tastes in mind. It pairs wonderfully with food and, of all our Bell Tea blends, India Origin is one to be savoured and given time to remain on the palate.”

Bell India Origin is available in packs of 80 tea bags. Priced at RRP$5.35 from supermarkets nationwide.

Visit www.belltea.co.nz for more informa-tion and to view Matt’s blog (just click on the Tea Guy Notebook).

- Indian Weekender Newsdesk

Editor lifts bar for NZ ethnic media

Maori seats decision a backward step: Manukau Mayor

Trade Minister Tim Groser departs for India next Tuesday to attend an informal Ministerial meeting of invited WTO members hosted in New Delhi on 3-4 September by the Indian Commerce and Industry Minister, Anand Sharma.

While in India, the Minister will also advance New Zealand’s trade objectives in the region and issues under his climate change portfolio.

“The New Delhi Ministerial provides a valu-able opportunity to assess progress and provide direction to move the negotiations forward in order to conclude the Doha Round by 2010 - in line with recent commitments, including the APEC MRT in July,” the Minister said.

The Minister will be working to achieve this direction through his efforts at the meeting in New Delhi, and separate bilateral meetings with key WTO members, including Minister Sharma and others.

“What we really need to see is traction on the ground in Geneva, stemming from bilateral understandings reached between the key players on some important remaining issues. New Delhi could be an important staging post leading into the Pittsburgh G20 Summit to build the neces-sary political support for concluding the Round,” he added.

The Minister will also meet with key Indian ministers while in New Delhi.

“While my main focus in India will be the WTO meeting, I will be making the most of the opportunity to meet individually with key Indian contacts” said Mr Groser.

“India has the potential to be of huge long term importance to New Zealand.”

“New Zealand and India have concluded a study which recommended an FTA

between our countries. In February we an-nounced agreement, in principle, to begin FTA negotiations this year.”

“India has since had an election and its new Cabinet will need to approve this study but I have

met with the new Commerce and Industry min-ister Anand

Sharma and I am confident that we will begin negotiations soon. I look forward to working with India to grow our trade relationship.”

“In addition to discussions on trade, I will also be meeting with Indian environment minis-ter, Jairam Ramesh, to talk about the UN climate change negotiations and the need for a greater international focus on agricultural mitigation re-search” Mr Groser said.

- Indian Weeknder news desk

Trade Minister leaves for India for informal WTO ministerial meeting

Indian origin, a Kiwi firstBell Tea Launches New Blend inspired by india


Indian India

New Delhi: Senior BJP leaders it seems are taking turns to court controversy with regard to Mohammed Ali Jinnah. After BJP president L.K. Advani a few years ago now it is the turn of former external affairs minister Jaswant Singh to sing eulogies to the founder of Pakistan Moham-med Ali Jinnah.

Singh’s book Jinnah: India-Partition, Inde-pendence, was launched on August 17. Predict-ably senior BJP members chose to keep away from the function. Not only did they stay away, party president Rajnath Singh issued a state-ment completely dissociating from the views ex-pressed in the book.

‘The book authored by Shri Jaswant Singh does not represent the views of the Bharatiya Janata Party. In fact the party completely dissoci-ates itself from the contents of the book,’ Rajnath Singh said in a statement issued here.

Jaswant Singh in his 699 page book says that the founder of Pakistan was not only misunder-stood but ‘demonised’ by India, while it was ac-tually Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime min-ister, whose belief in a centralised polity had led to the partition of the country in 1947.

Singh goes on to say ‘Nehru believed in a highly centralised polity. That’s what he wanted India to be. Jinnah wanted a federal polity. That even Gandhi accepted. Nehru didn’t. Consistent-ly, he stood in the way of a federal India until 1947 when it became a partitioned India.’

While contradicting Jaswant Singh’s views the BJP president said: ‘Jinnah had an important role to play in the division of India, which led to a lot of dislocation and destabilisation of millions of people. This is too well-known.

‘We cannot wish away this painful part of our history.’

The Congress party did not let this opportuni-ty go by to slam their rivals. While questioning Singh’s nationalism, the Congress accused the BJP for its ‘warped’ sense of history and it asked why Advani and Singh paid tributes to Jinnah while ignor-ing the contributions of a nationalist like Maulana Azad. On a lighter vein a Con-gress spokesperson was heard quipping “ the BJP will soon become Bharatiya Jinnah Party”

Read Comment on page 15

New Delhi: India’s first lunar mission came to an abrupt end on Saturday, August 29, as scien-tists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) lost all contact with the spacecraft.

“The mission is definitely over. We have lost contact with the spacecraft,” M. Annadurai, Project Director of the Chandrayaan-1 said in a press statement. But S.Satish ISRO chief spokes-person said the space agency has not yet declared it dead. ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair claimed the spacecraft was “recoverable”.

“It [Chandrayaan-1] has done its job techni-cally ... 100 per cent. Scientifically also, it has done almost 90-95 per cent of its job,” said Ann-adurai. The mission, which had five indigenous and six international experiments, had almost completed its scientific objectives he added.

Built at a cost of Rs.386 crore, the mission had put India in the elite club of six nations with moon missions. Launched in October 2008, it was slated to be a two year mission and has completed 312 days in space and more than 3400 orbits around the moon.

Earlier in May the satellite lost a critical in-strument called the star sensor and two months later there was an overheating a problem which necessitated the deactivation of some 11 pay-loads to salvage the craft.

This unexpected development poses ques-tions on the future missions of the Chandrayaan programme. ISRO scientists say Chandrayaan-2 is more complex and would need a foolproof plan, which would subsequently lead to a manned mission to the moon.

The unveiling of Tamil saint-poet Thiruvalluar’s statue on August 9 in Banglaore has ended an 18-year old standoff and would pave the way for bonding of hearts between people of Karna-taka and Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister BS Yeddy-urappa said on Sunday. The event marked a new beginning for relations for the two states, who have had a long history of inimical relations for several years.

Chief Minster of Tamil Nadu M.Karunanidhi who had vowed not to attend any public function in Bangalore until the statue was unveiled, said on the occasion that this event was a good begin-ning for opening of hearts of the people.

Speaking at the function the Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa said, “ These are not

just statues. These are symbols of bonding of hearts... It is my dream that the people of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka share a peaceful relation-ship,”

The bronze statue of Thiruvalluvar had been under a veil since 1991 as some pro-Kannada groups had opposed to its installation in Banga-lore. The Karnataka chief minister came down on those opposing the installation of the statue, he said, “I feel it is not appropriate to oppose the statue in the name of Kannada language. We should treat all the visionaries born in any state in the country as assets of our nation.”

Tamil Nadu on its part has reciprocated by agreeing to install a statue of Kannada poet Sar-vagna’s statue in Chennai later in the year.

Jaswant praises Jinnah in his new book Abrupt end to Chandrayaan

Statue diplomacy rocks southern states


Indian India

Mumbai: Forbes, the international business magazine has brought out its new annual list of the 100 most powerful women in the world. Congress president Sonia Gandhi is at 13th place, eight notches higher than her ranking last year.

Two other Indian women on the list are Chanda Kochar, CEO of ICICI bank, who ranks 20th and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, chairman and managing director of Biocon India, who ranks 91st.

For Kochar this is the first time in the list, while Mazumdar like Sonia has risen by eight places from her last year’s ranking.

Two other women of Indian origin who are on the list are Indra Nooyi, chief executive of Pepsico who ranks 3rd and Nevanethem Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, who ranks 63rd.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati who ranked 59th last year has been knocked off the list this year.

New Delhi: Swiss banks have categorically told India that they were not welcome there on a name-fishing expedition.

Swiss Bankers Association’s Head of International Communications James Nason had told re-porters , “Swiss law and even OECD’s Model Tax Convention do not permit fishing expeditions. In other words, the indiscriminate trawling through bank accounts in the hope of finding something interesting.

“This means that India cannot simply throw its telephone book at Switzerland and ask if any of these people have a bank account here,” a top official at Swiss Bankers Association said from Basel.

Nason added that banks had a right to protect the identity and privacy of their clients, but if India has any specific suspicion they would surely cooperate. To reiterate his point he cited the example of the contorversial Bofors case, in which they had provided all information needed.

The illegal stashing away of crores of rupees in Swiss Banks has always been an issue in India, with the Bharatiya Janata Party making it a poll issue in the recent Lok Sabha elections. It had prom-ised to bring back the money if voted to power and said the amount would be used to fund several welfare schemes.

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee recently informed Parliament that the government was com-mitted to unearthing black money within and outside the country.

“Swiss authorities, I am told, have agreed for negotiations (on the issue)... We have already taken it (the issue of black money) not only with Swiss authorities but other nations as well,” Mukherjee said.

“We will also work on specific information and we will also like to follow the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development pattern,” Mr. Mukherjee said.

Interestingly America has reached an agreement with Switzerland, under which Swiss bank UBS AG agreed to hand over details of more than 4,000 secret accounts worth 18 billion dollars.

New Delhi: With Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh being active partners in tracing the long standing problem of fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN), some leading facts have conclusively proved what Indian government had long suspected. Intelligence agencies have traced the origins of the fake currency and found that it is being printed in Karachi, Quetta and Lahore under the patronage of Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).

IB officials have already warned the Centre about fake currency making inroads into the Indian economy through Nepal and Bangladesh. The IB believes that the ISI and its allies use the sea to dis-patch fake currency worth hundreds of crores of rupees into India.

Terror handlers ensure that any would-be terrorist from Pakistan entering India to participate in subversive activities must carry fake currency. IB sources say the ISI’s fake currency racket is cur-rently limited to denominations of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000

With the recent arrests in Nepal and Madhya Pradesh startling revelations have come up linking the Nepal’s former prince Paras to underworld kingpin Dawood Ibrahim. Two Nepali nationals who were caught by the MP police have revealed a prominent minister’s son Yunus Ansari as the conduit between King Gyanendra’s son Paras and India’s most wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim, who between them have been pushing crores of fake currency into India.

Investigations revealed that that Dawood was involved in the printing and manufacture of the fake currency, while Paras was responsible for the transit of the money from other countries into Nepal and then it’s flow into India.

Paras, the son of the former Nepal king Gyanendra, who has now taken refuge in Singapore, used his influence to ensure the smooth flow of this money to the transit points on the India-Nepal border.

In a related development investigating officers have also found out that the Pakistani ISI has im-pressed upon the government in Islamabad to import additional currency-standard printing paper from companies located in London to pursue its nefarious designs in India.

Officials pointed out that Pakistan has been procuring currency-standard printing paper in huge quantities from London-based companies — much higher than normal requirement of the country for printing its own currency presumably for diverting it to print fake Indian currency.

Interestingly America has reached an agreement with Switzerland, under which Swiss bank UBS AG agreed to hand over details of more than 4,000 secret accounts worth 18 billion dollars.

Pakistan’s ISI and Nepal prince involved in counterfeit racket

Don’t bank on us say Swiss Banks to India

Gandhi, Kochar on Forbes list


Indian

As the world seeks to come out of the current economic downturn, the $2 billion Indian pub-lishing industry is getting more organised and getting ready to take advantage of an expected surge in the outsourcing of publishing activi-ties. Catering to the world’s seventh largest book market overall, and third largest for books in English after the US and Britain, the Indian publishing industry has long been characterised by small players. But they are now keenly aware of the advantages of being part of the global fra-ternity, industry experts said.

Outsourcing of publishing activities has become an increasingly bigger market. Arecent report by market research firm ValueNotes es-timates that the Indian publishing outsourcing industry is expected to grow to a $1.2 billion annual market by 2012 from $660 million in 2008.

The growth is expected to come from the rise in the number of publishing firms that will outsource their work. These include traditional segments – academic, educational and legal pub-lishing – as well as new segments such as maga-zines, corporate and publishing of business-to-business (B2B) newslet- ters.

“We also expect a large boom in the out-sourcing of children’s books, which are very expensive to produce abroad because they involve high-end artwork and design,” said the head of a firm that has been in the business of producing children’s books for American and British publishers since 2000.

India continues to remain the favoured pub-lishing outsourcing hub, with 35,550 people in direct employment. The total employee strength is estimated to cross 55,000 by 2012. Publishing outsourcing includes a wide range of services. The four broad heads include content, design,

technology and ‘other’ services. Content con-tinues to drive the industry and contributes 72 percent to the industry’s total revenues.

“The boom in the publishing sector is a result of a sustained effort for the last 40 years by the government of India and the publishers operat-ing in the country to promote readership and reading habits. For example, the National Book Trust (NBT) has been tirelessly promoting the book culture in the country for the last 51 years. Moreover, the readership has also increased,” said Amar Mody, joint director of the National Book Trust.

According to Mody, exposure to the world is one of the pri- mary reasons for the increase in the number of readers in the country. “For the first 30 years since Independence, Indian readers had been rather insulated from what was hap-pening in the publishing industry around the world. “Good books in French, Latin and other European languages were translated to English and we read them. But with the mushrooming of publishers and tie-ups with foreign publishers, foreign books are being translated and published

in India leading to a growth in the industry,” Mody explained.

The translation segment has been a boost to the growth in the industry.

Over the past couple of years, services off-shored have undergone a transition - from low value services such as tagging and copy editing to high value services such as original designs, testing and assessment and e-learning tools. There has been an influx of technology in the industry that has enhanced productivity, work-flow management and most importantly reduced costs and turnaround time.

According to ValueNotes, most providers have access to similar technology. However, the differentiator has really been the capabili-ties developed around workflow and innovation. Today’s technology will become tomorrow’s standard, and constant innovation will differen-tiate the winners.

The academic segment contributes to about 60 percent of books outsourced to India, fol-lowed by the educational publishing segment.The ‘other’ segment – comprising mostly maga-zines, corporate and B2B, which are now fast growing segments in the publishing outsourcing market – has increased its share since 2007, in-dicating significant traction in the last couple of years.

Says Kapish Mehra, the publisher of Rupa & Co: “The younger generation contributes to a large reading segment and since nearly 75 percent of the country is young, it has opened up a huge market.”

ValueNotes reports that Indian players are shifting focus from the matured academic segment to the more lucrative segments in the publishing market. The firm believes that edu-cational, magazines, corporate, B2B, trade and e-books will be attractive segments over the next three-four years, and that Indian service providers can extend their current capabilities to service these upcoming opportunities. It has identified over 140 Indian players in the publish-ing outsourcing industry.

The Confederation of Indian Industry, a leading industry chamber, estimates that the Indian publishing industry, which is growing at an average annual rate of 15 percent, was now exporting its books and publishing services to over 120 countries. The export market alone has been estimated to be worth $550 million a year. Most of the products exported are books, pam-phlets, newspapers and periodicals. Apart from

outsourcing and exports, India itself provides a huge book market, with well over 100,000 titles published each year by more than 16,000 regis-tered and many unregistered publishers.

“A publisher needs to keep in mind the student at which the book is targeted, and ensure quality and pricing is appropriate. The Indian market offers such a wide range of opportuni-ties that the biggest problem is prioritising them. Growth in publishing, prior to the global finan-cial crisis seemed to be about 12-15 percent. Now it appears that the educational market continues to grow, but other segments have had a setback,” Vivek Govil of Pearson Education said. Like most other mature markets, about 60 percent of all books published and sold in India are educa-tional books, including textbooks. An estimated 19,000 books are published in English each year, a figure surpassed only by books in Hindi, an estimated 20,000 a year.

The industry still suffers from a serious piracy problem, caused largely by the high price of books, especially foreign books published under licence, where currency exchange rates push up the prices.

But recently, more and more multinational publishers have realised the way to handle this is to set up Indian subsidiaries and publish the books locally. This process has slowed down due to the global economic situation, but is expected to pick up again by the end of this year.

The industry also has to sort out how to reduce prices of books, since even popular works of fiction rarely sell over 15,000 copies each, and sales figures for top non-fiction works rarely cross 5,000.

It is not easy to solve this problem, because Indian publishers typically price their books at two-and-a-half to four times the direct produc-tion cost, far lower than the global average of 10. Industry experts say increasing volume is the only way to reduce prices, and they expect this increased volume to come mainly from the Indian languages book market. Among the mul-tinational publishers, Penguin has started bring-ing out books in Indian languages, and more are planning to follow suit, as the book-buying population is growing fastest in this segment, in line with newspapers sales – a result of the rising literacy level in the country.

- Indo-Asian News Service.Article supplied by High Commission of

India, New Zealand

India

Outsourcing signals boom in India’s publishing industryJoydeeP GuPtA


Indian Fiji

Suva, Fiji: Fiji’s leader Commodore Frank Baini-marama has dismissed reports he plans to elect himself as the country’s next president, reports Radio Australia.

International media have reported sugges-tions that Commodore Bainimarama plans to appoint himself to the position, following the retirement of 88-year-old Ratu Josefa Iloilo last month

Ratu Epeli Nailatikau is acting as Fiji’s Presi-dent, and Commodore Bainimarama says there is no hurry to appoint anyone to the position.

In comments critical of the media, Commo-dore Bainimarama told New Zealand’s Radio Tarana that the idea of him becoming Fiji’s presi-dent is rubbish.

“What’s coming out of the media is like some stories in the blog. And stories in the blog are

exactly that, just rubbish,” he said.“Don’t believe everything you hear from the

New Zealand media, it shows the lack of knowl-edge of what is happening here in Fiji.”

He also told the radio station that a delegation from the Commonwealth is scheduled to visit Fiji next month.

The Commonwealth has given a deadline of Sept. 1 for Fiji to make positive steps to holding democratic elections, or face suspension.

Commodore Bainimarama has said he wants a Commonwealth team visit Fiji to get a “better picture” of the situation. “We have talked about some dates, and I think the weekend after the 9th of September - that would be when they are coming to Fiji,” he said.

- Pacificbusinessonline/ Pacnews/ Radaus

The prerogative to hold elections lies on the Fiji Government and we can only be willing to assist, says Indian High Commissioner, Prabhakar Jha, Fiji Live has reported.

According to Mr Jha, the Indian Government is ready to assist Fiji in any way to hold elections at the earliest convenient time.

“We can provide all sorts of assistance to Fiji, but the prerogative to hold elections belongs to the Fiji government,” he said.

The recent trade between the two nations has been positive and relations have been strong, Mr Jha said.

“In India we regard democracy very highly and to restore democracy we will always be helpful.

“I may not have the exact figures on me but I can say that trade is being done now on a much bigger scale.

“The tradeshows are a proof of that,” Mr Jha said.

India he said, will continue to support sectors such as health and education.

“India continues to provide scholarships to students who wish to undertake university studies in India and we have a very good relation with the health sector as well.”

The Health Minister earlier this year took a trip to India to recruit doctors and the Fiji Mili-tary signed a $1 million contract a New Delhi hospital, a deal previously held by New Zealand health authorities.

- Pacificbusinessonline.com

Suva, Fiji: Financial assistance from the In-ternational Monetary Fund (IMF) has boosted Fiji’s foreign reserves to over FJD$900 million (US$449 million), the country’s Reserve Bank announced last week.

IMF, as part of its allocation to assist members deal with the impact of the global eco-nomic crisis, allocated FJ$190 million (US$94 million) to Fiji.

“Fiji received F$165 million on Friday 28 August and a further F$25 million will be re-ceived on 9 September. This amount is based on Fiji’s quota in the IMF as a member, said a gov-ernment statement.

Governor of the Reserve Bank, Sada Reddy said the IMF assistance was ‘very timely.

“This boost to Fiji’s foreign reserves will greatly support the country’s balance of payment and engender more confidence in the economy and the financial system.

“While this level of foreign reserves is ad-equate, it is important that we continue to carry out reforms to increase exports and reduce imports so that the perennial and growing current account deficit of the country at around 20 percent of GDP is brought down significantly to around 10 percent of GDP or below over the next 2 to 3 years, Mr Reddy said.

Fiji’s foreign reserves now stands at FJ$920 million, increasing to FJ$950 in September.

According to the Reserve Bank, this is the highest level of foreign reserves since the $912 million in December 2000.

Meanwhile, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will extend an emergency loan of FJ$17.6 million to help rebuild damaged infrastructure and revive economic activity in Fiji’s rural areas.

The Board of Directors approved the assis-tance which will be used to rehabilitate roads, bridges, and other infrastructure, particularly on Viti Levu, Fiji’s main island. Heavy rains last

January caused serious flooding in many regions, including the agriculturally-rich Sigatoka Valley and around Nadi town. The floodwaters forced thousands of people to temporarily evacuate their homes, destroyed crops causing a spike in food prices, and damaged roads, schools, medical fa-cilities and water and sanitation systems.

“The floods have made life much harder for rural people, who were already living below the poverty line, and the rehabilitation of roads, bridges, and water supplies is essential for sus-taining economic activities,” said Keith Leonard, Regional Director of ADB’s Fiji Office.

Ensuring access to markets is a major prior-ity, particularly for the many poor rural dwellers, including women, who grow and sell vegetables for their livelihoods.

“The project will also boost continued access to health and education services, and the deliv-ery of safe water to rural villages,” said Richard Phelps, Infrastructure Specialist of ADB’s office in the Fiji Islands.

Climate proofing is a key feature of the project, with damaged infrastructure to be rebuilt to better withstand extreme events in future. Low-lying Pacific Island nations are con-sidered to be among the most at risk from pro-jected spikes in sea levels and natural disasters linked to climate change.

The loan, to be sourced from Ordinary Capital Resources, has a 32-year term with an 8-year grace period, and interest charges determined by ADB’s LIBOR-based lending facility. The Gov-ernment of Fiji will provide support equivalent to around $2.4 million, for a total project cost of almost $20 million. The executing agency is the Ministry of National Planning and the estimated project completion date is August 2011.

- Pacificbusinessonline.com/ Pacnews

Bainimarama denies eyeing presidency

Holding elections ‘is Fiji s prerogative’ says Indian diplomat

IMF and ADB come to Fiji’s assistance


Indian Fiji

For the third time in its short history since inde-pendence, Fiji’s has been suspended from the 53-member Commonwealth of Nations.

Commonwealth Secretary General, Kamalesh Sharma mad the formal announcement in London on September 1.

“This is an announcement I make with deep regret - it is a step the Com-monwealth is now obliged to take, and one that it takes in sorrow,” he said.

The suspension means that Fiji will be excluded from the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) and any other Commonwealth related activities including sporting activities like the Common-wealth Games.

There will also be no technical assistance to Fiji with the exception of assis-tance to facilitating the res-toration of democracy. Con-tacts at professional and non-governmental levels with Fiji counterparts will be left to the discretion of individual pan-Commonwealth organisations.

The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) last met on July 31. At that meeting, CMAG urged the Fiji regime to reactivate imme-diately the President’s Political Dialogue Forum (PPDF) process, facilitated by the Commonwealth and the United Nations, in a manner that was in-dependent, inclusive, time-bound and without any pre-determined outcome, and that would lead to credible elections in the country by October 2010.

CMAG had sought a firm commitment from Fiji to these terms by no later than 1 September 2009, failing which it would be fully suspended.

“Although I received a letter from Commodore Bainimarama on August 21 reaffirming his com-mitment to the principles of the Commonwealth, his response did not meet the terms set out by

CMAG on July 31, I informed him of this in writing on August 24,” Mr Sharma said.

But the official spokesman of the Fijian administration, Lt Colonel Neumi Leweni has the told local media that the gov-ernment has not received any formal correspondence on the suspension.

Commodore Frank Baini-marama, has time and again reiterated that his government will not bow to international pressure to force Fiji to hold elections this year. His ad-ministration has put in place a roadmap to hold elections by

2014.Despite the decision to fully suspend Fiji, the

Commonwealth remains open to engaging with Fiji.

“I welcome the invitation from Commodore Bainimarama to meet my Special Representative in Fiji in September, and look forward to continu-ing my good offices engagement to promote adher-ence to Commonwealth principles and the welfare of the people of Fiji,” Mr Sharma said.

- www.pacificbusinessonline.com/ Pacnews

Fiji’s suspension from the Commonwealth is the result of Commodore Bainimarama’s refusal to take meaningful steps to return Fiji to democracy, Foreign Minister Murray McCully said on Wednesday.

“Under Commonwealth rules, countries are given two years to return to democracy or face sus-pension,” Mr McCully said.

“At its meeting in July the Commonwealth Min-isterial Action Group (CMAG) agreed to provide the Fiji regime with a further opportunity – until 1 September – to permit genuine political dialogue, and a prompt return to democracy. “Regrettably this opportunity was not taken. “As Secretary-General Sharma has said, the decision to suspend Fiji from the Commonwealth was one taken more out of sorrow than of anger.

“But if there is one thing that underpins the Com-monwealth, it is a shared commitment to democracy, rule of law, and human rights, and Fiji has been given plenty of warnings that it has to show some respect for those basic principles.

“The Commonwealth’s decision follows Fiji’s suspension from the Pacific Islands Forum in May this year.

“Full suspension from the Commonwealth is yet another strong message from the international com-munity to Fiji’s military regime that they must make meaningful progress towards a rapid return to legiti-mate government.

“Fiji was suspended from Commonwealth Min-isterial and Heads of Government meetings immedi-ately after the coup.

“The Secretary-General has made it clear that the suspension will include an end to technical as-sistance to Fiji, except assistance aimed at restoring democracy, and Fiji will not be able to participate in Commonwealth sporting events, including next year’s Commonwealth Games,” Mr McCully said.

A Commonwealth delegation will visit Fiji later this month to discuss assisting Fiji to return to de-mocracy.


Suspension from the Commonwealth was a neces-sary sacrifice, Fiji’s military regime has stated in response to news of its third suspension.

Bainimarama was in Malaysia on Wednesday and acting prime minister Ratu Epeli Ganilau told Radio New Zealand International the suspension was predictable, given that the regime was unable to meet the 2010 deadline.

“Hopefully by the time we get to elections in 2014 all these things can come back as normal, (these are) sacrifices that have to be faced, in order to achieve what we?ve set out to do,” Ganilau said.

“Reforms don’t happen overnight, we’re talking about major reforms here to the political process,”

he said. Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith

said the suspension was a strong message to the military regime to return Fiji to democracy and the rule of law. “Fiji’s full suspension from the Com-monwealth, effective today, is the sad but inevitable result of the failure of Commodore Bainimarama to return Fiji to democracy,” Smith said.

Bainimarama’s regime has agreed to meet the Commonwealth’s special representative to the country, former New Zealand Governor-General Paul Reeves, when he visits Fiji for three days from September 9.

- www.pacificbusinessonline.com/ Pacnews

Commonwealth suspends Fiji; wants to remain engaged

Fiji’s suspension taken with regret, says McCully

Fiji: Commonwealth suspension necessary ‘sacrifice’

Commodore Frank Bainimarama, has time and again reiterated that his government will not bow to international pressure to force Fiji to hold elections this year.

Lord Macualay had given us a glimpse of what colonialism meant when he said: “I have travelled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief, such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such calibre that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage, and, therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their self esteem, their native culture and they will become what we want them, a truly domi-nated nation” (Address to the British Parlia-ment, 2 February, 1835).

Something similar seemed to have hap-pened in Fiji, not during the colonial rule, but after Independence. Since Fiji was ceded to Great Britain, the colonial government looked after Fijian interests to a great extent.

Fiji became a democratic country and fol-lowed the Westminster system from 1970. The country made remarkable progress within a short time. The Fiji Visitors Bureau advertised the country as ‘Fiji: the Way the World should be’ and it was not an empty slogan either. In an imperfect world, Fiji seemed to come close to perfection. Vijay Naidu, an Indo-Fijian academic, noted that for the local people Fiji was not a paradise as the tourist brochures claimed. He neverthe-less admitted that until 1987 it was a home-land where “they could go about their daily chores in peace and without feelings of in-security and fear of discrimination” (Naidu, 1988, p.4).

As Fiji’s fame as a prosperous and har-monious nation spread people started won-dering about its remarkable success. People

who were familiar with Fiji knew the reason for this which was the outstanding leader-ship provided by Ratu Mara. Ratu Mara was first and foremost a Fijian chief but he knew that for the progress of the country it was important to make the Indians feel secure. So he gave them equal rights in every way and just as he anticipated the country made remarkable progress.

“The people of Fiji, when they went abroad, could raise their heads with pride, and not without a bit of justified smugness” noted one scholar. That, however, did not make everyone happy. As the scholar admit-ted: “Outsiders spent a lot of time trying to explain how Fiji, a country that should have been in racial strife wasn’t; why a big bang racial conf lagration had not taken place” (McCall, 1987, p.45).

These outsiders could not accept that a Pacific chief, who was very proud of his Polynesian/Melanesian heritage was pro-viding leadership better than most other leaders.. They realized that it was important to get rid of Ratu Mara as the leader because he was not only against the colonials. He also had the ability to make Fiji a great nation not only through the multiracial harmony that his government fostered but also through the outstanding economic progress the country made as a result of the policies of his gov-ernment. And the European vested interests would have hardly any part to play in this achievement and therefore no share in the success.

Most Indians did not realize the strength of such feelings and attitudes and joined this group of neo-colonials in their efforts to overthrow the multiracial Alliance govern-ment. My fellow student at the University of Western Australia, Charles Eaton, asked me in 1992: ‘Why are the Indians always against Ratu Mara, considering that he is the

best friend that they have ever had?’ I did not know the answer then. But now I know it which is that the Indians had been told by their leaders that Ratu Mara was the cause of all their problems and once he was out they (the Indians) would enjoy security in Fiji.

The policies that the Mara government followed to eliminate inequalities between communities by using positive discrimina-tion, especially in education, were attacked by the Indian leaders, mainly at election times. The Indian leaders’ failure to explain and make their followers understand that such policies were necessary for achieving equity and building a harmonious nation made the political upheavals of 1987 seem inevitable.

Ratu Mara was the most moderate among the Fijian leaders (Norton, 2002, p.143) so it would have been in the best interests of the Indian community for its leaders to co-operate with him rather than trying to defeat his government. The Indo-Fijian scholar, Brij Lal, had warned in 1986 about the dire consequences that awaited the Indian com-munity when the opposition succeeded in its efforts to overthrow the Fijian domi-nated government but unfortunately no one seemed to have taken any notice of this timely warning. When the inevitable hap-pened and the elected coalition government was soon overthrown people were shocked.

Since the Indian leaders failed to realise the consequences of getting rid of Ratu Mara and his government at all cost the ‘dire consequences’ that Brij Lal had hinted at became a reality with the result that “the people of Fiji cannot go about with the pride that they had before, for their land too has demonstrated its imperfections” (McCall, 1987, p.46).

Understanding Colonialism/Neo-ColonialismPAdmINI GouNdeR


Indian Fiji

Fiji rugby lost its coach last week. Removal of national coaches is not uncommon in rugby with past casualties included prominent names such as John Hart and Laurie Mains in NZ, Eddie Jones in Australia, and Jake White in South Africa. What is remarkable is the uncer-emonious manner in which Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) removed Ilivasi Tabua.

On August 19, Suva newsrooms went abuzz when FRU Chairman Viliame Gavoka an-nounced that Tabua had been sacked for in-subordination and conduct unbecoming of a national coach. That night there was only one talk around the kava bowls, in a country where rugby is revered, stood shell shocked.

A bit of snoop work revealed that Tabua had been caught drunk by cops during the recent Pacific Nations Cup (PNC) rounds. His termination letter signed by acting CEO Keni Dakuidreketi also cited gross insubordination for defying demands for a campaign report fol-lowing the PNC.

The besieged coach denied all this saying he’d already submitted the PNC report to FRU and being drunk should not have been an issue as FRU had let off former coach Wayne Pivac and his assistant Peter Murphy who had been charged for drink-driving. Dakuidreketi brushed this aside citing the decision as final.

Not too long ago, Dakuidreketi had sacked 7s coach Waisale Serevi in similar manner. In that case the allegation was insubordination and unsubstantiated claims of financial misde-meanor. The 7s maestro was abruptly handed his letter of termination, and barred from the field, as he prepared to take the national 7s team for an afternoon training run. That was

it!A sustained public outcry followed for

Serevi’s reinstatement, but FRU was unmoved. Tabua is Fiji’s most successful 15s coach having reached the quarter-finals of the 2007 World Cup via a match-of-the-tournament victory over Wales. This was followed by a historic tussle with the eventual champions RSA, who were left gasping for reprieve during the first 70 minutes. Also at the recent PNC, Fiji fin-ished an unprecedented 2nd behind the Junior All Blacks.

Those were Ilivasi Tabua’s achievements in 15s rugby. Waisale Serevi’s was even greater in 7s rugby. Both men are out. There is talk of roping in former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones from Suntory in Japan as replacement. Tabua is threatening court action as Fiji rugby heads back to the drawing boards yet again

- Subhash Appana [email protected]

Fiji Rugby Coach Sacked

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Indian Community

Waitakere Diwali Festival 2009 Devotional music workshop attracts enthusiastsThis year the Waitakere Diwali Festival cel-

ebrates 10 years of providing entertainment, fes-tivities, Indian food and cultural exchange for the people of Waitakere.

With humble beginnings in year 2000 this festival has grown to be one of the largest com-munity events in Waitakere attracting over 20,000 people on the day. Like the past five years this year’s festival will once again be staged at the Trusts Stadium in Waitakere on Sunday October 4, starting from 11.00am and finishing at 10.30pm with a huge fireworks display.

In Waitakere, this festival is celebrated by the whole community irrespective of their back-ground. It is an opportunity to share and cele-brate the colours, costumes and mouthwatering food from the Indian Continent.

This event is intended to attract the wider Kiwi communities to participate in the event. While New Zealanders of varied cultural back-ground and ethnicity live and worked together, there is little opportunity for them to witness and understand each other’s culture and heritage.

The day offers variety entertainment items including a live band, Bollywood dances, cul-tural performances and drama items in the main grandstand. Patrons also have the opportunity to shop around the 40 Indian merchandise stalls inside the stadium. Attractions include tradi-tional hand painting “Henna” and trying out the Rangoli displays. This year there will be a spectacular indoor laser light show and the grand finale of the night will be a dazzling fireworks display.

With the whole family in mind, a Kids amuse-ment area will also be set up inside the stadium making it the largest indoor Diwali celebrations in New Zealand.

For those wishing to try out different Indian cuisines, there will be 18 food stalls.

The organising committee is headed by the Waitakere Indian Association with members from WEB, WCC and the Indian Community. A number of major sponsors including the Waita-kere City Council, The Charitable Trusts Foun-dation, ANZ Bank, Mitre 10 Mega, Indian Week-ender, Radio Tarana, G3, HUM, More FM, Lotus Foreign Exchange and The Aucklander have thrown in their support behind the event together with local Indian businesses.

Entry to the festival is absolutely free and open to all. For more information call the event Project Manager: Sanjay Kumar Ph : 021 0267 6779 or visit www.wia.net.nz

Twelve participants of the Ghosti Gaayana Group did some soulful singing of Krishna Songs for Janmashtami at the Hare Krishna temple, Kumeu. The group also rendered devotional songs and bhajans in chorus at the Bhajan Satsang Jan-mashtami & Raghavendra Swami celebrations.

The Ghosti Gaayana Group has come a long way since their first Bhatki Sangeetha (de-votional music) class on Mother’s Day (which the Indian Weekender covered). Dedicated prac-tice and perseverance have rekindled their desire to sing in praise of Hindu deities while offering every day pooja and during different festivals.

The Bhakti Sangeetha workshop was de-signed and delivered by Vasantha Kalbagal, student of guru late Shri Rudrapatnam K Nara-yaswamy of the Carnatic Mysore style of music.

Women of different professions made time for music enthusiastically. Mangala Prabhakar says this is the first time she has actually found devotion in learning music and it lingrs in her ears.

“I had heard some of the songs but never knew how to sing. This whole exercise was made simple and achievable,” said Padmini Raj. “As a mother, I can now relate to what music my son

is learning,” said satisfied mother Anu Mysore.Senior citizens like Hema, Mani, Vidya and

Rama shared their infectious energies and en-thusiasm in rendering meaningful melody to the chorus. The young and young-at-heart availed of this opportunity.

In September, the forthcoming sessions of the 4-Sunday Bhakti Sangeetha Workshop are on 6 th, 13th, 20th and 27th between 2pm and 4 pm. The Workshop will be conducted at 3/531, Mt Albert Road,Three Kings, Auckland, for a fee of $ 5 per session. Contact Vasantha on 09 625 5890 for registration.

- Indian Weekender newsdesk

Aaron KashyapBA, LLBBarrister and solicitorLevel 1, 351 Manukau Road, PO Box 26-596, DXCP 32513, Epsom, AucklandMobile: 0274 857 302 Phone: (09) 6238277 Fax: (09)6235177Email: [email protected]

For all your legal needs

One of the basic tenets of Sikhism is to give “Dasvand” which enables members to donate10% of their earnings for the welfare of the needy. Members of the NZ Sikh Society have given us all an excellent example of this by sending 2 lakh rupees to India in aid of those who need it the most. One lakh has been given to social worker Harshinder Kaur for paying the fees of poor and needy female students who show excellent abilities and are willing to excel and realize their full poten-tial. Harshinder Kaur is spearheading the campaign for the advancement of females and Society supports this is one of the basic aims of Sikhism.

The other lakh has been sent to Avtar Singh whose 6 year old son, lovingly called “Honey”, needed an urgent liver transplant operation. Avtar Singh who could not afford this opera-tion and requested the public. His plight was

reported in major newspapers in India. In its quest to serve the society and also to support the needy in India, the NZ Sikh Society sent this amount to help with the liver transplant.

Society spokesman and convener of the Supreme Sikh Council, Daljit Singh JP stated that with the grace of the almighty, the members of the Society will continue such noble gestures and he expressed gratitude to all the kind donors.

NZ Sikh Society Auckland is a leading communal body given charitable trust status. NZ Sikh Society runs the Gurudwara’s in Otahuhu and Takanini. All fellow god fearing members who wish to contribute and make a difference in the lives of the needy and the poor can contact Daljit Singh JP on 021803512 or [email protected].

NZ Sikh Community helps Liver Transplant Patient and education of GirlsThe Gurudwara at Takanini, Auckland


Indian Community

Papatoetoe High rocks

Papatoetoe High School rocked the Logan Camp-bell Centre in Auckland last week as they stamped themselves as the kings of the dance floor.

And they also walked away $3000 richer – for winning the Bollywood High School Dance Com-petition (Second Decade) - pitted against 25 other schools from around Auckland and Hamilton in front of a capacity 3000 crowd.

The competition, in its 11th year, is one of the most popular events on the entertainment calendar in the country, and the battle was fierce.

Kelston Boys placed second, collecting $1500 and trophy for their efforts while Manurewa High was third – picking up $750 plus trophy.

Papatoetoe High opened up their performance with enchanting visual effect showing a dancing silhouette behind a screen while the lead performer related to the audience the theme of their perfor-mance – “What is love”.

And then the screen dropped to start of the hit song Ba Khuda Tumhi Ho from the movie Kismet Konnection, and the whole cast joined the lead per-former through a series of other popular tunes.

Manurewa High’s opening number was Khwaja Mere Khwaja from the movie Jodha Akbar, where all performers were appropriately dressed to create a well co-ordinated visual impact.

The show opened up with a spectacular tribute to Michael Jackson the King of Pop, who died sud-denly in July.All participating schools put up im-pressive performances, and point to note was the fact that almost all school teams included several non-Indian performers.Show organizer Binesh Sumer, of Desi Showbiz International, was pleased with the success of the event and promised bigger entertainment next year.

He also announced the start of a new show later this year – the Intermediate Schools Dance Com-petition.

Sumer also thanked sponsors – Radio Tarana, Auckland Sweets and Snacks, Mirchee TV and Indian Weekender.

Participating Schools: Alfriston College, Botany Downs Secondary School, Diocesan Girls, James Cook High, Kelston Girls High, Lynfield College,

Marist College, Mt Roskill Grammar, Pakuranga College, Papatoetoe High, One Tree Hill College, Rutherford College, Westlake Girls, Kelston Boys High, Southern Cross, Avondale College, De La Salle College, Rosehill College, Howick College, Waitakere College, Mt Albert Grammar, Ma-cleans College, Hamilton Girls High, Manurewa High, Onehunga High, Glenfield College, Otahuhu College.

The show also provided a backdrop for the shooting of the movie Pump Up the Mandali – the first feature length Bollywood movie being made in Auckland using Fiji Hindi.

Desi Sowbiz handed out a total of $12,000 in prizes of cash and in kind. An even bigger event looms for next year.

- Arvind Kumar

RoCK oN: (Top) Members of Papatoetoe High, winners of the Bollywood High School Dance Competition held in Auckland on August 22; (Bottom) Second runners-up.

Fazal Qureshi :Hailing from a background that reverber-

ates with the taal of the tabla, music has been Fazal Qureshi’s natural inheritance.

Under the guidance of his Guru and father the late great tabla maestro, Ustad Alla Rakha, and with the inspiration drawn from his brother, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Fazal has developed a unique style that is distinguished for its fine sense of rhythm, versatility and eloquence.

He performs both as a soloist and as an ac-companist. His deep rooted knowledge and dedication to Indian classical music helps him accompany North as well as South Indian in-strumentalists, vocalists and dancers. The mu-sicians he has performed with include Ustad Alla Rakha, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Ustad Sultan Khan, Dr. L. Subramaniam, L. Shankar, Vikku Vi-nayakram, U. Srinivas, Ustad Shahid Parvez, and Sitara Devi.

Fazal has expanded his horizons by being involved with other styles of music of the world especially Jazz and Western classical music, and has performed with many well known Jazz musicians. For the last 16 years he

has been associated with Mynta, his world music band based in Sweden. They have performed all over the world and have released six immensely popular albums.

Besides being a performer he has also composed music for Mynta and for various other events. He has now started composing music for Indian films and is currently working on an album of his own compositions, thus adding to his versatility as a musician.

Adrian McNeil :Born in Melbourne, Australia, Adrian

was based in India for many years, mostly in Calcutta, Mumbai and Dehra Dun. He has undergone intensive training according to the guru-shishya parampara (traditional methods) for more than twenty five years under Pandit Ashok Roy, Professor Sachindranath Roy and Dr. Ashok Ranade. He regularly performs in major concerts in Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta, Bangalore and regional centres where his playing attracts critical acclaim. He often appears in the media in India and has per-formed for National Television and Radio along with leading cable television station Zee TV, and has been interviewed by major national daily newspapers.

He regularly performs in Australia, has made a number of recordings for the Austra-lian Broadcasting Corporation and has toured widely including France and Hong Kong.

Adrian now lives in Sydney, Australia, where he is a lecturer in improvisation studies, musicianship and world music in the Depart-ment of Contemporary Music Studies.

Adrian began his training in Hindustani music in 1980 when he became a disciple of Pt. Ashok Roy, the renowned sarodiya, himself a long-time disciple of the legendary Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. Since this time Adrian has intensively studied the sarod and Hindustani classi-cal music according to the guru-sishya parampara traditional training method which has also included a period of four years of staying with his guru both in India, but also Australia, where Ashok Roy now lives.

Over the last few years he has also became a disciple of the Mumbai-based, senior musi-cian and sitariya, Prof. Sachindra Nath Roy (Ashok Roy’s uncle and a senior disciple of Ustad Alauddin Khan and Ustad Enayat Khan - two of the most important figures in 20th century Hindustani music). He has also studied classical vocal music intensively in Mumbai with the well-known vocalist and musicologist Dr. Ashok Ranade.

The wider music loving community is eagerly waiting for this concert & there have been lot of enquiries about the concert. The tickets for this concert are selling fast. See accompanying advert for details.


Hindustani music maestros to perform in Auckland

Lovers of indian Classical Music will have a unique opportunity to experience the performace as well as Jugalbandi of two great ar-tistes, Fazal Qureshi and adrian McNeil. The concert is going to be held on Sunday, September 27, (which is incidentally the daylight saving begins) at 6.30 pm in the avondale College auditorium. it is organised by the group Music 4 Dreamz formed by Prashant Tijore, Siddharth Sharma, rohitesh Prasad and rakesh Nanda.

Deluxe Compliance and Mechanical Services Limited, situated at 26, Walmsley Road, Otahuhu is a one-stop shop for full mechanical repairs that spe-cialises in Japanese cars.

The spacious and airy workshop is equipped with all the latest machinery for repairs and main-tenance of a range of cars including wheel balancing and bodywork.

Deluxe also specializes in compliance on freshly imported cars and has an onsite inspector from the LTSA all the time to enable the delivery of quick and efficient compliance services.

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The company emphasises on putting customers first and pays close attention to customer service and customer satisfaction.

Deluxe excels in compliance services


IndianMessage & LettersIndian

From the Editor

Indian Weekender is published by Kiwi Media Group, Unit O, 8 Bishop Lenihan Place, East Tamaki, Manukau 2013 and printed at APN Print, Ellerslie, Auckland Copyright 2009. Kiwi Media Group. All Rights Reserved.

Indian Weekender Volume 1 No 13Publisher: Kiwi Media Group LimitedGroup editor-in-chief: Dev Nadkarni [email protected] editor: Arvind Kumar [email protected] Correspondent: Shobha Rao [email protected] technical officer: Rohan Desouza rohan@ indianweekender.co.nzdesign: Tanmay Desai [email protected] / www.desaign.co.nzAdvertising: Rajesh Krishnamurthy - 021 032 7466, [email protected] Giri Gupta - 021 221 1131 Please email original editorial contributions, community notices and pictures to [email protected] expressed in the publication are not necessarily of the publisher and the publisher is not responsible for advertisers’ claims as appearingv in the publication Please send us your name, street address and phone number along

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West’s attitude to Fiji has changed region’s geopolitics

Demerit Points I think the demerit point system unfairly disadvantages those who drive for a living. Good idea for ‘boy races’ but not so good for truck drivers. For example you can now get 20 demerits for not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign. That’s just pathetic.

- Kegan

Positive aspects of Hygiene study ignored When it comes to children washing their hands before eating, 79% of Indian kids obediently do so, while only 29% of Australians do. How come the positive aspects of the study have been ignored? I believe that’s what a balanced article is all about.

- Rakesh Krishnan

Keen on Leather exportI am from Hamilton and I have my leather company, which is exporting products to Europe and now keen to export to New Zealand. Can I get the details of the buyers of New Zealand.

Aamir MirzaYour enquiry has been forwarded to the right channels. -Editor

Indian needs to be wary of Colonialism 2.0I never disagreed with Indian civilisation’s greatness; it was way ahead of most civilisations of its time and had no parallels through the years. It is the decline since then that I’m referring to and none of that had anything to do with colonisation. India’s caste system is still alive, endemic corruption, female infanticide is rampant, poverty is the worst in the world it has a population time bomb. I think our evils needs to be addressed much before harping about colonisation and it’s evils.

- Sundar Rajan

Every country has its failings and India is no exception. Yes, the problems you mention do exist and can’t be wished away. Similar problems exist in the so-called advanced countries includ-ing NZ. Every country is attempting to deal with it in its own way, which you may or may not comprehend or agree with. In India a lot is being done at the grass root level .For that to be visible will take time. “Ask not what the country has done fro you but ask what you can do for the country”.

- Rajesh Krishnamurthy

I think the article is quite relevant. I’m sick and tired of people in New Zealand, epecially, the media showing India as a backward country, where people live in stone houses. While most Kiwis are sensible people, the problem lies with a small elite and the media that carry a deep co-lonial hangover. By showing India’s external investment Mr Krishnan wants to show that India is a major power. We should applaud the extensive research. He is pointing out our strengths, whats wrong with that?

- Arun Ahuja

Who you calling third world?The very basis of this article is completely f lawed. ‘India’ in its sense never existed before the British united it and created it’s existence. It was ruled by a bunch of medieval Maharajas who would never have united to become India, they ruled and conquered to suit their own selfish interests. The remark on emissions was pretty appalling, the world today is facing climate change on a scale never seen before and India doesn’t need to become the biggest polluter to have strong economy.

Sundar Rajan

Sundar Rajan’s view borrowed ref lects a hollow colonial mindset. India has existed as Bharata Desa for at least 2500 years and as empire under Ashok extended from Gandhar (Kandahar) to Kambhuja Desa (Cambodia). India’s political boundaries and structure as we have it today could be argued to be a colonial construct but to say India itself is a creation of the British ref lects extreme intellectual bankruptcy. No nation has remained un-redefined as a result of colonialism.

Suraj Bhan

Fiji’s suspension from the Commonwealth on September 1 was a dead certainty. Its earlier suspension from the 16-nation Pacific Islands Forum didn’t deter it and it would have been naïve to think that the threat of this week’s suspension – it’s third from the Commonwealth since independence – would make the Fijian administration change its mind.

Commodore Bainimarama has repeatedly said that there will be no turning back from the roadmap that has been set for the country to hold elections in 2014 after the reforms planned in the troubled nation’s political system are completed.

The fact that there is little that the Western world can do about it is beginning to dawn on its leaders after more than two years of a stubbornly belligerent stand that involved slapping a slew of sanctions aimed at crippling Fiji’s administration, which they un-doubtedly hoped would bring it to its knees. This has simply not happened and that tack has all but come unstuck.

Responding to Fiji’s suspension from the Commonwealth, Murray McCully, New Zea-land’s Minister of Foreign Affairs has said there will not be any more sanctions from New Zealand’s side. There simply can’t be. It’s a sign that New Zealand and Australia have now realised that the isolationist strategy they have stuck to since early 2007 has not worked. In fact, it has only ended up hurting innocent Fiji citizens more than anyone else.

Despite suspending it, Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma has said that the 53-member grouping will continue to engage with Fiji and is sending a delega-tion to Suva later this month.

Fiji is too be important to be trivialised with the insensitive approach that New Zealand and Australia have had toward it over the past two and a half years. It has always been the gateway to the South Pacific and will remain so. Any attempts to shift it to a neighbouring country like Samoa – which Samoa’s leadership has repeatedly sought – is wishful thinking and well nigh impossible for reasons of its inferior infrastructure, costs and sheer logistics, which New Zealand and Australia simply cannot afford.

Despite suspending it from its membership, the Pacific Forum is still headquartered in Fiji. This is akin to the United Nations, based in New York, suspending the United States from its membership. In the words of a senior Pacific Forum functionary, “The Forum needs Fiji far more than Fiji needs the Forum.”

Nature abhors a vacuum and the one created by New Zealand and Australia has been quickly filled by aggressively ambitious China. The Asian economic powerhouse has stepped up both its profile and investments in Fiji. As well as a huge new embassy, the Chinese are helping Fiji catch up with infrastructure investments that have received a setback. A new super luxury hotel with Venice-style waterways and gondolas is one of the bigger private sector investments that is coming up near Nadi.

The geopolitics of the Pacific has been in slow ferment for about two decades now with Asian powers like China, Taiwan and Japan playing increasingly important roles in its development. It will now begin to accelerate. And the West’s handling of the Fiji situation since early 2007 has already proved to be the catalyst.

Changes in the UN Law of the Sea has enabled Pacific Island countries to redraw their continental shelf boundaries to include several million additional square kilometres of open ocean to their exclusive economic zones (EEZ). This will vest them with rights to farm greater swathes of their waters and prospect larger areas of the ocean bed for minerals and oil, something that has already begun to happen – and no prizes for guess-ing which country is in the best position to win the lion’s share of those prospecting and mining contracts.

Though it puts up a brave face, so worried is the Western world of the changing geo-politics of the Pacific, which is the world’s last largely untapped resource-rich region, that a couple of months ago US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton rather ingenuously said that the US was “not ceding” the Pacific to anyone.

Her use of the word “ceding” is interesting. One can only cede when one possesses something. It betrays the West’s – certainly the US’ – long held belief that the Pacific is its own backyard.

Nothing could be farther than the truth. And its attitude to Fiji has helped in no small way in crashing that belief.


Indian

The Indian freedom movement was sweeping in its scope. From the tribesmen of the Andhra hills led by Alluri Ramachandra Raju to the broad streets of Mumbai, from the Raja of Darbhanga to the revolutionaries of Punjab, all Indians were united in the belief that the oppressive British empire had to be defeated at all costs. But here Congress leader M.K. Gandhi differed from most Indians, including his colleague Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

When Gandhi returned from South Africa, he was in favour of continued British rule in India. In 1907 he wrote, “Should the British be thrown out of India? Can it be done, even if we wish to do so? To these two questions we can reply that we stand to lose by ending British rule and that, even if we want, India is not in a position to end it.” These are the words of a man who was literally thrown out a train for sitting in a whites only coach.

Indeed, Gandhi the votary of non-violence and peace urged all Indians to enlist in the British Army, which had been brutalising India for nearly two centuries. This was the time when Jinnah in-tensified his most vocal criticism of Britain’s in-tensified recruiting drive in India. According to historian Prakash Almeida, Jinnah insisted that, “Indians should be put on the same footing as the European British subjects before being asked to fight”.

Once during a Congress session (called for in-creasing recruitment for WWI), Willingdon, the governor of Bombay, humiliated Bal Gangadhar Tilak by asking him to leave the meeting. An in-furiated Jinnah rose and demanded an explana-tion from the governor general. On another occa-sion Jinnah, still wanting to pay back Willingdon for insulting Tilak, disrupted a meeting and had to be dragged away by the commissioner of police.

So imagine Jinnah’s shock when Gandhi wrote him a letter urging him to make an emphat-ic declaration regarding recruitment saying, “seek ye first the recruitment office and everything will be added unto you”. Here Gandhi exhibits not only amazing flippancy but is also a patronizing attitude.

Like Subhas Bose, Jinnah was frustrated by the tardiness shown by the Congress brass in

demanding full freedom. Gandhi’s non-violence exasperated these leaders because it shielded the British from the wrath of the people. After the Jal-lianwallah Bagh massacre of 2000 unarmed men, women and children by General Reginald Dyer in a public park in 1919, Indian anger had reached critical mass, but Congress leaders failed to capi-talise on it.

Next, the Caliphate Movement, which Gandhi backed to the hilt. “In laying down my life for the Caliphate, I ensure the safety of the cow from the Mussalman’s knife, that is my religion,” he said. Former foreign minister Jaswant Singh writes in his controversial new book Jinnah: India-Parti-tion-Independence, “In 1915 Gandhi told a group of students that politics should never be divorced from religion…The signal was picked by Muslims planning to marry politics with religion.”

Jinnah had nothing but contempt for the Caliph-ate Movement. For the staunchly secular nation-alist it was Indian nation-hood alone that mattered, not an obscure European rivalry involving Britain and Turkey. Where Jinnah displayed farsightedness, wisdom and patriotism, Gandhi exhibited an op-portunistic streak. Gandhi pigeonholed minority in-terests as separate from the larger national inter-est. Jinnah told Gandhi that the ‘Mahatma’ had ruined politics in India by “dragging up a lot of unwholesome elements” and giving them “politi-cal prominence”, “that it was a crime to mix up politics and religion the way he had done”.

Sanjeev Nayyar, current affairs analyst and founder of www.esamskriti.com says, “Gandhi by his action in respect of the Caliphate Move-ment endorsed the view of Muslim leaders that they were Muslims first and Indians afterwards, that their interests were more bound up with the

fate of the Muslim world outside India than that of India herself. What else but Pakistan could anyone expect?”

Jinnah’s aversion for the Caliphate was vin-dicated when the Moplahs of Kerala massacred thousands of Hindu men, women and children. A chastened Gandhi soon gave up his support for the movement.

Finally, it came down to a game of numbers. When Jinnah drafted his Lucknow Pact he wanted the following percentages of Muslim members in each of the legislative councils: 33% at the centre and in Bombay, 50% in Punjab, 40% in Bengal, 30% in the United Provinces, 25% in Bihar and Orissa, 15% in the Central Provinces

and in Madras.In hindsight, reject-

ing the Pact was a colos-sal blunder. Proportional representation would have assuaged Muslim fears. Jin-nah’s mentor Gokhale, a true blue Hindu, had always been inclusive, giving Muslims adequate representation in governing councils. Though Gokhale was a key player in the Hindu revivalist move-ment, Muslims instinctively trusted him.

When Jinnah walked out of the Congress, it was not a walk toward Pakistan. Jaswant Singh says: “It could not be, for almost every

Muslim was with Gandhi when Jinnah left the Congress.”

Indeed, Jinnah had few options. His mentors Gokhale and Tilak were dead. Ever since Gan-dhi’s arrival from South Africa, Gandhi had tried to paint him as a “Mohammedan”. Had Gokhale been alive, Jinnah would have been at the helm of the freedom movement. He himself aspired to be a Muslim-Gokhale, but now he was frustrated by the machinations of Gandhi and the wealthy Congress patron Motilal Nehru.

In fact, Motilal was at one point willing to

postpone independence by a couple of decades. Why? Perhaps because he didn’t want freedom at a juncture when Jinnah was a towering figure, and Motilal’s son Jawaharlal hadn’t quite become a national figure. To Jinnah it meant only one thing – Gandhi wanted the stage all to himself and later for his protégé Jawaharlal Nehru.

Upon joining the Muslim League, Jinnah made it clear to its leaders that he would not com-promise on the question of India’s unity, that he would not attempt to break the union, that the League had to work with the Congress for India’s freedom. He reminded them that the enemy was Britain not Gandhi.

Things, however, did not work out the way Jinnah intended in the League. Perhaps he did not have the patience of Sardar Patel (who like him was saddled with a role subservient to Nehru), so he decided he would create a new secular country of his dreams – Pakistan. The British – eager for a parting shot at the Indians – were only too happy to oblige. Of course, Pakistan ended up becoming an Islamic state.

It’s high time Indians stopped blaming Jinnah for Partition. When 90% Muslim Kashmir finds it impossible to secede from India, how could Muslims who comprised only 24% of undivided India have demanded Pakistan? The demand for Pakistan was made by fringe elements that Gandhi encouraged and Jinnah initially kept away from. The responsibility for India’s vivisection lies with the Congress and British, not with Jinnah.

It has taken a Hindu nationalist, Jaswant Singh, to defend the Muslim Jinnah. Now will a member of the so-called secular brigade do their bit to set right history? India’s scholars and leaders have turned history into hagiography, but facts rather than mythmaking should be the basis of history. As Jaswant Singh says in his book, “Facts are humbling. They prevent you from jumping to conclusions.”

- Rakesh Krishnan is a features writer with Fairfax New Zealand. He has previously worked with Businessworld, India Today and Hindustan

Times, and was news editor with the Financial Express.

RAKesH KRIsHNAN

Comment

Why Jaswant is right about Jinnah

subHAsH APPANA

Media Reporting on Fiji Needs Balance

instead of vilifying Jaswant Singh for defending Jinnah, we must appreciate his courage in exposing the real villains of the Partition.

Fiji’s military-propped government has been the focus of much hostility, speculation and demoni-sation in the Western media. In almost all exposes the presenters have either run afoul of the coup regime or had an acquaintance hard done by the same. Their takes on Fiji therefore, have been tainted. This article analyses blinkered reporting on Fiji in New Zealand, and attempts to place on the public platter a more dispassionate view on the Pacific’s pariah state.

In April, TVNZ ran two short news pieces on Fiji in their 6pm programme. All of their inter-viewees apart from lawyer Dorsami Naidu were ethnic-Fijians. All of the comparatively prolonged footage on squatter dwellers covered ethnic-Fi-jians. Two points were being highlighted in par-ticular: one, that the coup has brought about wors-ening misery; and two, that the people continue to be cowed to keep quiet.

On August 24, Barbara Dreaver (the TVNZ reporter) was interviewed on Maori TV about Fiji’s plight following the “kick” in Cairns, and she highlighted that reporting was not free, that poverty had worsened and that Riyaz Saiyed-Khaiyum’s opinions on Fiji were “understand-able” because he was the coup-installed Attorney General Aiyaz Saiyed Khaiyum’s brother.

In the same breath she said that the Fiji Indians “supported” the coup. It is this subtle ethnic slant that creates cause for concern as ironically no misery was graphically shown among Indo-Fi-jians in her earlier TVNZ skit. And no ordinary

Indo-Fijians were interviewed for the footage. A superficial sidelining has always appeared

to be the most politically prudent stance on the Indo-Fijian and the New Zealand media does not help by making subtle insinuations when pre-senting supposedly knowledgeable coverage of present politics in Fiji. The New Zealand media has failed miserably in this regard and a short re-minder is warranted here.

The Indo-Fijian arrived in Fiji in 1879 as in-dentured labourers saddled with the familiar yoke of making the colony economically viable. Their long struggle for recognition is well documented. Their struggle for acceptance however, continues. This has nothing to do with periodic coups in the country even though the more fanciful and ruth-less cannot resist the temptation to rope in the Indian variable whenever they feel short.

All of Fiji’s earlier coups were justified from the perspective of Indian hegemonic designs on Fiji or an inability of the Indian to fit into the Fijian scheme of things. This was the popular line and mediawallahs loved it; so much so that they refuse to entertain any other takes.

A Community TV interview of Dr. Ray Nichol on August 26 was remarkable for the manner in which the interviewer tried to lead and cajole the academic. There were many useful insights that she provided, but selective deafness appeared to prevail.

The 1987 coup was justified as a necessity to save the Fijian race from being overwhelmed by

the Indians, and the Indo-Fijian from a violent Fijian backlash. What followed for 10yrs was a fragmented Fijian power-grab that forced an enlightened Rabuka to promulgate a broadly ac-cepted constitution in 1997.

All was well until, against expectations, Chaudhry ascended to power at the 1999 polls. Enter George Speight and his shadowy backers and the hijacking of parliament in 2000. The news media went delirious and the hostages were largely forgotten as the savagery and topsy-turvy world of Fijian politics unravelled.

The period 2000-2006 was again characterised by a scramble to consolidate opportunities among a Fijian elite who were largely dependent on the rural Fijian vote to prolong the pillage within a conveniently-spurious democratic framework. It was within this backdrop that the subtle tug-of-war between Bainimarama and Qarase was played out.

Commodore Bainimarama removed Qarase on December 5, 2006, because it was clear that he could not be toppled through the ballot box. Not only were the constitutional provisions undemo-cratic, but Qarase and his cohorts had managed to play the rigging game right under the eyes of in-ternational “watchers”. How else could the 2006 elections bag some 600,000 valid votes from a population of 800,000?

Bainimarama’s focus now is not only on creat-ing consensus, but to ensure that every vote has the same weight. In this regard, it is not only the

Indo-Fijian vote that has always been disadvan-taged, but the more significant urban Fijian vote as well. Moreover, elections in Fiji have not been issues-based because of the distorting influence of the race variable. Bainimarama promises to correct this.

He knows that the consensus that he seeks will never materialise. That was probably the most compelling reason for the “Presidential coup” of April 2009 as it cleared the path for easier elec-toral reforms. No good will come out of isolating the man who holds power in Fiji. That will only aggravate the situation and serve no one’s interest.

Moreover, continued reference to Indians and how they “support” this coup is not only lazy, it is unprofessional. If the Fiji Indian succumbs to the human weakness of feeling perverse pleasure at the forced education of fence-sitters and coup-supporters, should he be blamed for it? I say stop this atrocity; the Fiji Indian was always maligned for the wrong reasons because it served parochial holier-than-thou positions. The media here would do well to rethink the need for balance in report-ing.

- Subhash Appana is an academic and political commentator. The opinions contained

in this article are entirely his and not neces-sarily shared by any organizations he may be

associated with both in Fiji and abroad. Email [email protected]

It’s high time Indians stopped blaming Jinnah for Partition. When 90% Muslim Kashmir finds it impossible to secede from India, how could Muslims who comprised only 24% of undivided India have demanded Pakistan?


Indian CommunityDurga Puja in Auckland

Dance group rarin’ to go for festive season

Old is Gold on October 3

Durga Puja has been celebrated since 300BC with pomp and passion as a community festival. Thanks to the migrant Bengali population, it is now celebrated in Auckland under the auspices of Nandan, a Bengali association, for the past several years.

The biggest festival in the year for Bengalis is the Durga Puja. Nandan has been organising the celebrations in Auckland for the past eight years.

It is a joyous and auspicious occasion for the Indian community at large, as you will see in the cosmopolitan faces at the Glenavon School in Blockhouse Bay on September 25, 26 and 27.

Local talent will get a chance to share the stage and this year different groups in the local com-munity have been invited to participate to make the celebrations all the more varied and eventful. For further details please call Babli on 624 0848.

“Dance group Insight started over a cup of chai while discuss-ing the various dance forms every indi-vidual specialised in like, Salsa, Oddissi and Bharat Natyam,” says group leader Ritika. “We then decided to mix the three dance forms and start a group that gave unique, yet unforget-table performances.”

Ignite gave it’s first performance at the Diwali mela in October 2007. And since then, it has been performing at various shows and community events. The group consists of ten dancers who are well trained in Bharat Natyam, Oddisi, Salsa and contemporary forms of dance.

Insight has also performed at events like Krazy4 Dance, Diwali melas, Konkani and Tamil association functions. Its upcoming events

are Diwali mela on October 3 and 4 at Waitakere City and October 10 and 11 at Auckland City Diwali celebrations. Ignite also performs at com-munity functions on invitation. For futher details please contact Ajay on 021 066 2715 or Ritika on 021 159 3705.

Hindu Elders Foundation, a division of the Hindu Council of New Zealand Inc., has announced the first New Zealand Hindu Elders Conference on Saturday, October 3 at the Hindu Heritage Centre, Auckland. The theme of the conference is Old is Gold.

With the support and hard work of volunteers and senior citizen organisations, the conference organising committee has already received more than 130 registrations when the limit set for the conference was 150.

A number of community groups, NGOs, government agencies and universities are participating in the conference. Eminent persons drawn from various organisations including the government, NGOs, community groups, ministers and members of Parliament will speak at the event.

Mr Pravin Patel is the coordinator of the conference.

Migrant Heritage Charitable Trust Inc (MigHT-i) is continuing its work of bringing to fore the rich heritage of Indian Music in New Zealand. This time it is bringing together two pillars of Indian Music stream – Hindustani and Carnat-ic Music. In a not to be missed ‘Jugalbandi’ between the two styles, the evening will feature top artists in New Zealand on Sarod, Sitar, Tabla, Violin and Mridangam. MigHT-i is glad to bring the program “NAADBRAMHA” on September 19th at Mt Eden War Memorial Hall. Programme: NAADBRAMHADate: 19th September 2009Time: 06.30 pm Venue: Mt Eden War Memorial HallAddress: 487 Dominion Road, Mt Eden, Auckland, New Zealand

The evening will feature Sarod recital by Satish Sharma. Manjit Singh will also be showing the Magic of Tabla at the venue.

Dr Ashok Malur will be enchanting the au-dience with the melodious rendering of Violin, while Lester Silver will show the magic of Sitar

with his nimble fingers. Raman will be creating tapping music on the Mridangam.

Hindustani and Carnatic music will come head to head during the evening and create a magic of “Sur” and “Taal” which will leave you mesmerised and the evening promises to show you what our Indian music is capable of achiev-ing.

The programme is brought to you thanks to the support of Creative NZ, AB International, Brownsons Jewellers - Onehunga, Global Fi-nancial Services, Shivams Panel Beating sup-plies, Premier Panel Beating supplies limited, 0800 Mandap and Indian Weekender.

The tickets for this concert can be pur-chased from Yogiji’s (09 624 5757), Manjit (0211595971) or Varsha (09 5348000) from September 3, 2009.

Tickets: Adults - $15, Children (5-15 yrs) and Senior Citizens (50+) - $10, Family (4 people) - $40.

You can also book your tickets on email: [email protected].

So mark your calendars today and book the tickets early!

MigHTi’s “NAADBRAMHA” brings a ‘Jugalbandi’ of Hindustani and Carnatic music


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Community news in pictures

The NZ Sikh Society had its annual elections at Gurdwara Takanini Sahib on Sunday the 30th of August. A large gathering of members as-sembled at 2 PM and started the proceedings by paying obeisance to the lord almighty and ex-pressing sorrow at some of the members who had passed away.

Manpreet Singh was declared the chairper-son for this meeting in which the activities of the past year including the accounts were pre-sented. A few members of the Sikh community whose memberships had been rejected in the past years expressed their dissatisfaction at not being allowed to be members of the society and staged a walkout when they felt their demands were not met.

The Chairman cited the byelaws, which state that the committee has the unquestionable rights to accept or decline any membership and thus continued the process of the meeting. A few others in the community who were making lot of noises in the days prior to the meeting, failed to make any considerable impact during this elec-tion and annual general meeting. Overall the pro-ceedings were peaceful and unanimous

S. Gurnam Singh a senior baptised Sikh who has been relentlessly serving the community for the past over 12 years were unanimously elected President. His name was proposed by Daljit Singh JP, as Gurnam Singh had earlier success-

fully served as the treasurer for 5 years and as the vice-president for 2 years.

The other office bearers elected were as follows: Vice-President Tarsem Singh Dhirow-al, General Secretary Pargat Singh, Treasurer Santokh Singh Bodal, Librarian Gurnek Singh, Auditor Paramjit Singh and Assistant General Secretary Ranvir Singh. The excutive members elected unanimously are Onkar Singh Soni, Kartar Singh, Rajinder Singh, Harmesh Singh, Varinder Singh, Hardip Singh, Kamaljit Singh Benipal, Naib Singh, Amar Singh Lahoria, Karamjit Singh, Tirath Singh, Manohar Singh Minhas, Balwinder Singh Lanedar, Sahib Singh, Joga Singh, Avtar Singh Jaswal, Harjit Singh Bhaia, Karnail Singh, Sucha Singh, Surinder Singh, Manjinder Singh Basi, Manpreet Singh JP and Daljit Singh JP.

Various sub committees were also formed and it was announced that some more sub committees will be formed to increase the coordination and effectiveness of the NZ Sikh Society within the community. Manpreet Singh and Daljit Singh JP were appointed as the Spokesmen for the Society and were also given the express responsibility of coordinating community related issues with im-migration and the police departments.

- Harjinder Singh Basiala for Indian Weekender

NZ Sikh Society elects office bearers

NeW teAm: The newly elected off ice bearers along with Senior members of the Society

The Auckland Indian Association will be cel-ebrating Gandhi Jayanti and inauguration of Tagore Library on October 3, 6.30pm onwards at Mahatma Gandhi Centre.

The Library will provide services and issuing its resources to the members of the Auckland Indian Association and members of the associ-ated organizations who maintain their language resources. This Library intends to maintain re-sources in terms of books, magazines, cds, dvds, audios in various Indian languages like Gujara-ti, Hindi, English, Kannada, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Bengali. Members will be encouraged to use internet facilities for their extended sources for their studies, research and home works etc.

The facility will have a unique collection of resources mainly on Indian literature, languages, religion, culture, philosophy, history, arts, trade and business etc.

Members of the New Zealand community are welcome to contribute towards library books, Indian magazines/newspapers and any other form of source of information.

For further information on sponsorship and other forms of contribution, please contact: Sec-retary: Dr Lingappa Kalburgi Ph: 09-815 3448; Mob: 021 1142 148; E-Mail: [email protected]. website: www.auckindianassoc.org.nz

Tagore Library for Mahatma Gandhi Centre

Indian Weekender brings you this gallery of Ganesh pictures from around Auckland and thanks the families that have sent in the pictures.

Ganapati Decoration Marathi Mandal

Konkani

Konkani

Niphadkars Belwalkars


Indian


Indian bollywood

What makes Kashmir the ultimate paradise on Earth? What does this paradise look like? Curious minds wanting an answer to these questions found a cue through a visual delight at PVR Juhu today, when ace filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra recently inaugurated a photo exhibition of scenic Kashmir taken during the filming of the recently released, Sikandar, a film written and directed by Piyush Jha and produced by BIG Pictures. The photo exhibi-tion showcased a wide-arrayed display of pic-turesque photographs taken during the 40-day shoot of Sikandar, including Kashmir’s snow-capped mountains, tall chinar trees, the pris-tine waters of the Chenab, the soldiers at fre-quent check posts on every road. Present at the inauguration of the photo exhibition was the entire cast of Sikandar including R Madhavan, Sanjay Suri, Parzaan Dastur, Ayesha Kapur and

debutant Arunuday Singh. Also present were the film’s director Piyush Jha and producer Sudhir Mishra, who were ecstatic to bring their Kashmir memories in Mumbai, and relive them with fellow Mumbaikars. It was befitting that filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra inaugurate the exhibition. Being a Kashmiri himself, he had shot two of his hit films in the valley. “I made Khamosh more than two decades ago and I again revisited the Valley for Mission Kashmir in 2000. So much has changed between this period, and yet much is still the same. I am glad that along with Sikandar this photo exhibition will bring to the fore the idea that Kashmir is indeed paradise on Earth, and this paradise in our own country,” said Chopra.

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Do Knot Disturb’s Zabardast Music Launch!

Plug in your earphones, there’s real cool music coming your way. BIG Music launched the music track of David Dhawan’s Do Knot Disturb on August 25, at a glittering function. Present on the occasion were Govinda, David Dhawan, the film’s producer Vashu Bhagnani, music director Shravan from the Nadeem-Shravan duo, lyricist Sameer and singers Neeraj Shridhar and Anushka Manchanda. Actors Riteish Deshmukh and Lara Dutta joined via video conference from London, which was also the highlight of the event. The pulsating music of Do Knot Disturb has Retro, bhangra, rap ….you’ll find something for every mood here. The key songs ‘Mere Naal’ and ‘Bebo’ capture two distinctive moods. In another innovation, this is the first time a music company in India has launched a major Bollywood blockbuster’s music on a SD (Secure Digital) card, that enables listeners to load and store this in their mobile phones and MP3 players. Do Knot Disturb set to release worldwide on October 2 is a co-production between BIG Pictures and Vashu Bhagnani’s Puja Films.

The young and talented Akriti Kakar recently finished record-ing the revamped version of ‘Meri Desh Ki Dharti’ along with Daler Mehndi, for the upcoming film Kisaan. The original being sung by Manoj Kumar in the film ‘Upkaar’, was a big hit and became as famous as the national anthem. When asked about the intensity with which she ren-dered the song, Akriti revealed, “As a child when I was part of Kalyan-ji-Anand-ji’s little wonder troupe, we would sing this one song in all our trips abroad as well as India. I also remember meeting lyricist Gulshan Bawra, then. Today when I met the duo, I feel nostalgic. At the same time I feel privileged to have lent my voice to such a his-toric score.” We bet that must have been one proud moment for her.

The Stardust Bar at Grand Homtel in Malad was one star-studded affair. It was Deepshikha’s birthday who brought in her special day with family and friends. Interestingly, she shared her birthday with DJ Aman Nagpal (who owns the bar) so, it became a joint party. Deepshikha looked ravishing in a blue gown and for the first time her son Vivaan and daughter Vidhika joined in the celebrations of mommy dearest. A host of television stars and other celebrities graced the event among them being Anupam Bhattacharya who was seen with wife Paulomy, Deepak Para-shar, Poonam Dhillon, Waqar Sheikh, Rajesh Khera, Sai-Shakti Anand, Anchit Kaur, Sandeep Rajora, Kavita Kapoor, Reshma Tipnis, Pari-tosh Painter, Ashiesh Roy, Shweta Salve, Brinda Parekh, Keshav Arora, Kawaljeet, Amisha Khanna, AD Singh, Sandhya Mridul, Suraj Thappar, Manav Gohil, Neha Maheswari, Moon-moon Dutta, Mansi Verma and Mink walked in

one after the other. Also seen were Bhagyashree with her husband, Himalay besides Sheeba and Akashdeep. The ritzy and glitzy crowd mingled over mocktails. Needless to add the birthday bash rocked till the wee hours of the morning.

Akriti Kakar goes patriotic

Deepshika ushers birthday in style

First look of Blue unveiled

The first glimpse of ‘BLUE’ was unveiled in a grand media event by none other than Music Maestro A R Rahman, sound expert Resul Pookuty, Director Anthony D’souza and Producer Dhilin Mehta as they presented a unique ‘Sound promo’ of the film.

The event took off with the special guests A R Rahman and Resul Pookuty speaking about their experience working on Blue, after which director Anthony D’souza and producer Dhilin Mehta spoke about the film and their experiences while filming it. The first promo of the film which was shown at the do, generated tremendous excitement among those present.

BIG Pictures hosts’ photo exhibition of scenic Kashmir taken during the shoot of Sikandar’

tALeNted buNCH: Producer Dhilin Mehta, director Anthony D’Souza, music maestro A R Rahman and Resul Pookuty at the unveiling of the first glimpse of ‘BLUE’ at Cinemax.


Indian bollywood

Unlike most other newcomers in Bollywood who are desperate to sign movies left, right and centre, Sagarika Ghatge who essayed the spunky hockey player, Preeti Sabharwal in Yash Chopra’s ‘Chak De India’ (‘CDI’), refuses to jump on the ‘quantity bandwagon’ . “Fortunately, I am not the insecure and stressed out type who is desperate to grab a role. I have been prudent and extremely selective in my choice of roles, despite the fact that I was flooded with offers after the success of Chak De India,” Sagarika reveals. Sagarika points out that her priority is to look for versa-tile lead characters which leave an impact. Con-sidering that she is averse to being typecast, how would she define her role in her latest film ‘Fox’? “It is definitely not the run-of-the-mill kind of a role to start with. It also has an intellectual side

to it. There is also a romantic undercurrent oppo-site Arjun Rampal to the character of the young attractive internship-lawyer that I have played in the film. Also, it was a one-of-a-kind experience

working with thriller-specialist Deepak Tijori who directed us,” smiles Sagarika who is a ‘sporty’ person off-screen and loves swimming and skating.

Ask her about the reported cat-fights she had with co-star Udita Goswami during the shoot of the film and Sagarika laughs amusedly. “Hey, that’s a figment of someone’s wild imagination. The truth is that Udita and I got along excel-lently because both of us are very chilled out off-screen. We

are still in touch because we even ‘work-out’ together at the same gym,” says Sagarika, who also dismisses misleading media reports that she had shot an item-song for the film. “Gosh, this is ridiculous. It was just a rocking dance sequence

Chak De girl Sagarika GhatgeModel turned actress, Sagarika Ghatge has literally chucked away dozens of flimsy filmy offers post the release of her hockey-centric debut movie ‘Chak De india ’ starring the king khan who incidentally was cast as the adamant tough coach-mentor. Two years later, the tall, winsome actress is elated with the release of her second multi-starrer Hindi film ‘Fox’ .

“i am being prudent in my choice of roles”

CHAItANyA PAduKoNe

which Udita and I briefly shot as part of the slick publicity promos of ‘Fox’,” she shrugs.

Currently, Sagarika has a promising line-up of three films on hand including the romantic lead opposite Imran Khan in ‘Raftaar’ and acclaimed film-maker J P Dutta’s (of ‘Border’, ‘Refugee’ and Umrao Jaan fame) untitled movie, in which she has been paired opposite Ayaan Khan (son

of sarod-maestro Amjad Ali Khan). Off-screen too, the typical Capricornian girl Sagarika feels, admits to being a woman of substance who be-lieves in taking her own decisions. “That’s how I have always been,” she says adding that if and when she has a off-screen boyfriend, he too will have to respect her career and not try to impose himself unneccesarily. Cheers to that !

Cut!: Sagarika with Arjun Rampal and Udita Goswami


Indian bollywood

How excited were you when you were of-fered Kaminey by Vishal bharadwaj?I am excited with every film which I set out to do. Every film then becomes a Mughal E Azam for me because I give my 100% to every film of mine, whether they are small budget films or big budget multi starrers. I do not take any film of mine lightly. describe your journey as an actress from Andaaz to Kaminey! I have been working for the last six years. Believe it or not, in the first two years I did not at all know what I was doing. I think it is high time that I took a break for myself. I need it because all these years I have been slogging day in and day out and have never had the opportunity to be with myself and at peace. In fact, I had even collapsed on the sets when I was shooting for What’s Your Rashee. What is your usP as an actor?If I try to play safe as an actress and do the same types of roles again and again, forget about the viewers, I’d get bored with myself in the first place. I like to etch out characters that challenge me and let me push the enve-lope as an actress. To me, every character that I set out to do is different. I also am glad that I had learnt by trial and error, from my various directors because if I had not fumbled, I could not have learnt on the job. What is your role in Ashutosh Gowarikar’s What’s your Rashee?I have essayed not just one or two but twelve different roles. I do not think any actor, whether male or female has played twelve roles in one single film in the entire world. Were you skeptical about Fashion when madhur offered to cast you in it?I concede that I was very nervous and quite skeptical whether I would be able to carry the entire film on my shoulders since I was called upon to play the title role. I am glad Madhur convinced me to take up the role by repos-ing faith in my capacity to essay the role. Fashion actually gave me the courage to pick up a film which does not boast of a big hero because I now know that it is only the content that can take a film to greater heights. do you regret having acted in films like Love story 2050 and drona? Right from my childhood, I have faced rejec-tions too but I have never felt bad about rejections for the simple reason that I used to feel that it is the loss of people who had rejected me and not my loss. I do not regret having acted in films like Love Story 2050 and Drona, because though they may not have been hits, no one can deny that they were trend setters and will be known as cult films ten years hence. Is it true that you are seeing shahid?If I am seeing someone, I’d be frank enough to come clean and say it openly. In the past, I have had relationships and I have not hidden them, though I am a very private person. At the same time I do not want to talk about what is happening in my bedroom. When stories linking me with my co-actors start cir-culating, it does not create tensions between

me and my co-stars, because we know they are cooked up and hence end up laughing instead of losing our cool. How do you react to rumors linking you with your leading men?Like any other normal young girl from a respectable family, I feel that a small rumor tends to become the truth if it is constantly spread by the media round the clock. Numer-ous link ups about me do bother me because I am a family girl and hate giving clarifications to my family. The more the clarifications I make, the more the stories that are cooked up by the media and hence I remain quiet when I am linked with my co-actors. Specula-tions are part of the lives of actors but I feel it is awful when an actor’s life is made into a tamasha. It is sad that though India has progressed hell of a lot, a boy and a girl still cannot be good friends. How did you react when Ashutosh stated that Ash deserved her award better than you?Ashutosh Gowarikar is one filmmaker that I respect tremendously. I did not take any of-fence to what he said on the stage when IFFA happened and I was given the best actress award for Fashion, because I did not under-stand what was happening on the stage. In any case, I do not believe in carrying on grudges, because I feel that life is in any case short and we should move on. However, if you ask me whether I deserved the award more for Fashion than Aishwarya Rai for Jodha Akbar, I would definitely say yes. to what extent are you scared of new com-ers arriving every day in the tinsel town like Asin in Ghajini, Anushka sharma in Rab Ne bana di Jodi etc? If I were not doing the kind of work that I do these days, I’d have felt the threat when new comers come in droves in the industry. The truth is that I am secure and do not have the time to worry about new actresses, because I feel that there is work for every one and hence do not feel threatened career-wise.

‘Devaa Ho Devaa, Ganpati Devaa, Tumse Badhkar Kaun”, (Oh Lord Ganesha, nobody is greater than thou) goes the popular refrain of a yesteryear Indi-pop number from a Hindi movie. From Amitabh Bachchan to Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan to Ranbir Kapoor and Shilpa Shetty to Rakhee Sawant ---all of them endorse this chant. Almost every second showbiz celeb and film-maker is an ardent devotee of Lord Ganesha. Since the showbiz industry is fickle, unpredictable and slippery they consider the ‘el-ephant-headed’ God as their “lucky mascot and saviour” for achieving starry success.

Despite being branded the off-screen bad-boy, the sinewy Salman religiously worships the Ganesha icon at his posh residence at Bandra Bandstand which points to his secular nature. Incidentally Salman’s mother (Salma after mar-riage) originally happens to be a Hindu Maha-rashtrian. Few are aware that Hrithik Roshan brings home a Ganesh idol for one-and-a-half-day worship-ceremony. “Praying fervently and seeking Lord Ganesh’s blessings gives me the inner strength to give my best, both in my career and my personal life,” enthuses Hrithik who it may be recalled had shot for the latter half of his super-hit debut movie ‘Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai’ on exotic locales in picturesque New Zealand. Cur-rently, the handsome hunk is busy with the post-production of his latest action-thriller home-production ‘Kites’. Not just Hrithik, a galaxy of showbiz luminaries including playback singer Richa Sharma, actors Deepshikha, Meghna Naidu, Sagarika Ghatge (‘Chak De’ glam-girl ), Priyanka Kothari, Hema Malini, Govinda, Jackie Shroff, Jeetendra and Nana Patekar, claim to have openly declared their devotion for Lord Ganesha. They were all seen earnestly offering their prayers in the on-going Ganesha festival in front of artistically carved massive idols.

The outspoken actress-danseuse and now

TV icon (“Swayamvar” reality show) Rakhee Sawant is candid about her sentiments. “Without Bhagwan Ganesh’s blessings I don’t think I could have ever achieved what I have done in the past five years,” insists Madame Sawant whose rags-to-riches story has been a huge inspiration of sorts to many a ‘struggling wannabe’. Not many are aware that the debonair dude actor, Neil Nitin Mukesh (of Johnny Gaddar and New York fame) attributes his success story to Lord Ganesha. Neil recalls how he came out of the ‘strange struggle’ for his big break as a filmy hero. “My dad who is a noted singer was adamant, that I should achieve success on my independent merit. Crazy as it may sound, the ‘Johnny Gaddar’ director (Sriram ) finalized me only after being prompted by several ‘deals’ with his pack of playing cards where he had to choose between top star-heroes and me as a newcomer. It is all thanks to Lord Ganesha’s blessings which made this big break in ‘Johnny Gaddar’ possible,” enthuses Neil who religiously offers aratis and pujas to a huge ornate Ganpati icon which he and his father bring home every year on Ganesh Chaturthi at their Napean Sea Road residence. “Fortunately this year I am in Mumbai to perform the ceremony every day. Last year, I was away in the U.S. for shooting and I had to keep calling up my residence daily to listen to the arati on my cell-phone. My dad (Nitin) fondly refers to it as ‘distance devotion’. This time I am specially seeking the Supreme Deity’s blessings for my realistic hard-hitting movie ‘Jail’ directed by Madhur Bhandarkar who also happens to be a staunch Ganesha-bhakt,” smiles Neil as he replies to his fan-mail from ‘fidaa females’. The bottom-line is that Lord Ganesha reigns over the mega movie industry which needs ship-loads of ‘divine luck’ to tide over the stormy seas full of ‘flop sharks’.

- Chaitanya Padukone

“I do not deny that I have had relationships in the past”

PriYaNka CHOPra tells JYOTHi veNkaTeSH that she is not insecure as an actress, when he meets her on the eve of the release of her latest release kaminey, for this interview at her spacious apartment in Yaari road, where attired in her salwar and kameez, she looked quite the girl next door.

Excel Entertainment’s Luck By Chance to be screened at the Engendered Film Festival at New York Excel Entertainment’s Luck by Chance, which also marked Zoya Akhtar’s directorial debut, is all set to be screened at the Engendered Film Fes-tival at New York. Luck By Chance will be the closing film at the festival, which concludes on August 30. The brother-sister duo Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar are scheduled to attend the event.

The Engendered Film Festival is a trans-national arts and human rights organisation aimed at creating awareness around gender and sexuality in the South Asian Diaspora. This cutting-edge film festival brings together a body of bold and contemporary cinematic work that provides a new lens with which to view South Asian Cinema. Films range from Bollywood to independent Hollywood to eclectic shorts and documentaries from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, as well as the Diaspora in the United States and Australia.

An ecstatic Zoya Akhtar says, “I am really

excited to have Luck By Chance screened at the Engendered Film Festival at New York. En-gendered Film Festival is a platform for Indian cinema in New York and it’s great to be repre-sented and featured with such gusto.”

“Lord Ganesha is our holy mascot and saviour”, chorus the Bollywood celeb


Indian

Even Bollywood screenwriters would have found this obscurity-to-fame, rags-to-riches story hard to pitch. Twenty-year-old Rinku Singh, the son of a truck driver from Bhadohi, Uttar Pradesh, and the youngest of nine chil-dren, wins the “Million-Dollar Arm” competi-tion by throwing a baseball faster and more ac-curately than 30,000 other contestants. The feat earns him a $100,000 cash prize, six months intensive coaching in southern California and the opportunity to try out for America’s leading baseball teams.

When veteran major league scout Ray Poitevint comes to India to see whether Singh, a 6-2, 195-pound left-hander, has potential, he spots Dinesh Patel, who had earlier fouled his competition throw. Patel throws harder but isn’t as accurate but still manages to impress Poitevint, who signs him up. Brought up in Va-ranasi by his uncle and grandmother after his parents found they could not afford to raise him, the 5-11, 185-pound right-hander gets $2500 and six months training in southern California.

That was last year. This year on July 4 Patel and Singh took the mound for the Bradenton Pirates of the Florida-based Gulf Coast League, a rookie-level development league. Both players are prospects for Major League Baseball’s Pitts-burgh Pirates.

Director of player development Kyle Stark says, “The fact that they have pitched in an actual professional game speaks volumes about how far they’ve come. This continues to be a long-term process, with many steps along the way. They’re the first from their country to do something like this. That’s progress.”

The players, with shoulder strength gained through their initial training to become javelin throwers, are minor celebrities in the big, bois-terous world of baseball. They have a loyal fan following, a busy blog, and they run into celeb-rities that most people only read about. And, of course, the American media can’t have enough of them.

Singh and Patel may be the first Indian players to be signed by a major US baseball team, but they won’t be the last – the official Major League Baseball website, MLB.com, reports 500,000 to a million participants are expected to compete in the 2009 season of The Million Dollar Arm in India. J.B. Bernstein, managing director of The Million Dollar Arm, described the contest as an Indian baseball version of American Idol, the popular US tele-vision show.

Their success has already sparked a small-scale frenzy for baseball in India. Says Brahma-din Singh, Singh’s father from Bhadohi: “With telephonic guidance from Rinku, youths in our village have already started practising seriously to become million-dollar pitchers like Rinku.” Adds his mother Antaraja Devi: “He was often dubbed a loafer because he played sport. Now every villager prays for a loafer like him.”

Their transformation from struggling javelin throwers to assimilation in America is nothing sort of miraculous. The first thing the pair did on learning they had been signed up by the Pirates was to go online to find out where Pitts-burgh was. They brushed up on their English by watching baseball games on cable TV – through

which they encountered key terms such as “curveball” and “strike” for the first time.

America was virtually like another planet for the plucky pitchers. Their coach taught them how to operate the washing machine and dish-washer. Patel still has trouble fathoming the idea that you can pick up the telephone to order pizza delivered right to your door. “We like Chinese food, pork ribs, banana pancakes, turkey franks, soup, the choice of food is amazing,” they say.

Singh was a month away from joining the army. His entire family – he is the youngest of eight children – worked in agriculture, where his dad drove a vegetable truck. Now, Singh says, his father pays someone else to drive the truck while he stays home. Patel isn’t sure whether his family – he has two brothers and one sister – quite understands what’s happen-ing. “I miss them,” he says.

There were a million distractions in Los Angeles, where they trained initially, yet they refused to let anything deter them from their dream. Instead of accepting any invitations to campus parties they asked for earplugs so they could sleep.

They remain a humble pair and haven’t lost any of their rustic charm. They speak English

with an improvised idiom that would sound alien even in urban India, addressing me as ‘Rakesh Sir’. I figured I was in excellent company with Barry Bonds Sir, Mark Ciardi Sir, JB Sir, and even the bizarre Santa Sir!

“This is the most amazing thing I’ve been part of,” says Tom House, University of South-ern California pitching coach, who has spent the past year training the pair. “This is like medical science. It’s turning raw athletes into pitchers. You wouldn’t believe how far they’ve come.”

To be sure, it’s more shrewd marketing than science. Ever since signing the two Indians, the Pirates, who won their last World Series title 30 years ago, have been besieged by the media from around the world, including India. Their promoters hope they can make it as profession-als, saying such success would boost baseball in India.

“The Pirates are committed to creatively adding talent to our organisation,” general manager Neal Huntington said in a statement. “By adding these two young men, we are pleased to not only add two prospects to our system but also hope to open a pathway to an untapped market.”

Singh and Patel are hopeful they can play hardball with the big boys. They say they’d like to win the World Series for the Pirates. “We are extremely proud to represent India in the US. No Indian has ever done this before so we are trying very hard to show the USA that India has good athletes too; that Indians can do anything.”

The pitchers want their dream run to contin-ue. “It’s hard to put in words what all of this has meant to us,” Singh says. “This is a world we didn’t even know existed. We’re living it now. We don’t want it to end.”

- Rakesh Krishnan is a features writer with Fairfax New Zealand. He has previously worked with Businessworld, India Today and Hindustan Times, and was news editor with the Financial Express.

sport

Last fortnight saw some exciting cricket all around the world. There were some stunning results and unbelievable escape acts as well. England regained the Ashes through a hard fought series beating Australia 2-1. On the other hand Daniel Vettori’s personal landmark couldnot stem the Black caps being blacked out by Sri Lanka as they were beaten 2-0.

The Ashes dream for England, as they do a Houdini Act!

England will be looking at the 2005 Ashes cam-paign for inspiration when they host Australia this time. Ponting on the other hand will be burying the ghosts of a disastrous T20 World Cup campaign.

England managed to scramble to safety cour-tesy, some rain, some time wasting and to a large extent a rearguard action by the tail enders who frustrated, the Aussies to draw the first test.

England beat a hapless Australia in the second test after setting them a target of 521 runs on the 4th day , which the Aussies could not achieve and lost the test by 115 runs, to take a 1-0 lead in the 5 test series. Aussies managed to stave of England in the 3rd test which fizzled into a draw, England still leading 1-0 as they entered the 4th Match of the series.

Aussies took control of the 4th test on day 1 when England got it horribly wrong and were bundled out for a mere 103 in the first innings.

Aussies then made 445 runs in their 1st innings which proved too much for England as they crashed for 263 runs in their second outing. They lost the test by an Innings and 80 runs, giving a foothold to the Aussies who squared the series 1-1.

The final test was full of drama as England bundled out Australia for a mere 160 while chasing the 332 runs of England. England then made 373/9 in their second outing setting a target of 546 for Australia to chase with 2 full days of play remain-ing. But this proved too much for the Aussies as they were bundled out for 348 giving England a historic repeat of 2005 as they beat Australia 2-1.

Flintoff to retireAmid all the tension filled drama of the Ashes,

the England fans have had to brace themselves for some shocks off the field as well. Hot on the heels of Vaughan who retired from all forms of cricket, Flintoff announced that he will be retiring from Test crickets at the end of the Ashes series to con-centrate and prolong his career in the ODI and T20 series. This might sound as bad news for English fans, but the Chennai Superstar owners must be happy that their investment is paying off! We have to see what happens by the end of the Ashes!

Black Caps blacked out in Sri LankaDan the man managed to achieve a rare double

of scoring 300 wickets and 3000 career runs in this series, he also contributed with 140 runs in the second innings of the second test but that was not

enough to save the second test as the Black caps lost the series 2-0.

The first test saw some excellent batting by the Sri Lankans as they piled up runs thanks to centuries by Mahela Jayawardene, Dilhsan, Sa-maraweera. Murali then worked his magic as they won the first test by 202 runs despite some excel-lent batting by Vettori in both the innings.

Samaraweera continued where he had left off in the 1st test as he compiled is 2nd back to back century while Mahela Jayawaradene missed his century by a mere 8 runs, as they piled up 416 runs in the first innings. Blacks managed to avoid the follow on thanks to 81 by Ross Taylor, but the rest of the batting could not handle Herath and Murali as they were bundled out for 234. Sangakkara played a captains knock in the second innings as he made 109, but the unlucky Mahela once missed his ton by 4 runs. Dan Vettori completed his swoop of 300 wickets in the innings to join the unique 300/3000 group as he become the second New Zealander and only the 8th player in the world to achieve this mile-stone. NZ fought back in the second innings while chasing a target of 493 as they made 397 thanks to 140 by Daniel Vettori. Black caps lost the series 2-0 thanks to some smart bowling by Herath, who has emerged from the shadows of Murali.

Black caps now can find solace in the ODI series.

England regain Ashes, Black caps blacked outPRAsHANt beLWALKAR

Indians Play Hardball in AmericaWhen american talent scouts picked up javelin throwers rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel from northern india last year, the two teenagers couldn’t tell the difference between a curve ball and the rose Bowl, but this month they became the first indians to play professional baseball in the US. But are they good enough to succeed in the major league or just props in an american publicity stunt?

RAKesH KRIsHNAN


Indian

investment experts have often looked to a well respected technique called The investment Clock to work out what they should do with their money next.

Finance

The Investment Clock has been around since it was first published in London’s Evening Standard in 1937. While not flawless, the Clock often provides a useful guide for making investment decisions and can be quite accurate at predicting what might lay ahead in the economic cycle. It is thought to take between seven and nine years for the clock to move a full circle. The difficulty is determining exactly where the hand on the Clock should be placed at any given time. The current cycle has been so volatile that the clock has arguably moved from 12 o’clock (the market high in November 2007) to 7 o’clock (falling interest rates) in just 17 months!

The 4 phases of The Investment Clock:

(i) Slow Down Phase – 12:01 – 3:00 o’clock(ii) Recession Phase – 3:01 – 6:00 o’clock(iii) Recovery Phase – 6:01 –

9:00 o’clock(iv) Boom Phase – 9:01 –

12:00 o’clockLets look at the characteristics of each phase:

12:00 o’clock – Top of the Boom – The Slow Down Phase begins

Boom time is a period of greed and excess. Con-sumerism is at its most extreme, full employment provides for maximum optimism and a feeling of of real and sometimes imagined wealth exists, where investors believe that the favourable conditions will continue indefinitely. A whole range of new players come into the sharemarket at this level, and often regret having little or no knowledge, relying on what others have told them – that sharemarket investment ‘is easy money’. Smart investors get out on the way to and at the top of the boom by taking their share gains and moving into real estate as part of a longer term wealth creation strategy. At this stage of the phase, the rapid increase in the demand for real estate often pushes demand above supply and results in an invrease in property prices. Property prices may rise well above real value and can come back to bite you later, if you have excessive gearing.1:00 o’clock – Cost of funds begin to rise as demand increases

As property purchases are primarily funded by borrowing; the increased demand for funds causes the cost of funds or interest rates to rise. The Govern-ment recognises that the economy is overheating and introduces measures to enable a ‘soft landing’, by in-creasing interest rates to flatten demand by consum-ers. Often the inflation bogey can rear its ugly head in this period and monetary policy in the form of in-terest rate increases can be used to keep it in check. If the Reserve Bank overcorrects in this period by raising rates too quickly and too high, it can cause the market to come to a grinding halt.

2:00 o’clock – Rapid growth cannot be sustained and signs of slowdown emerge

The rapid growth of the property and sharemar-ket cannot be sustained for more than a few years and eventually the economic slow down becomes appar-ent. Interest rates continue to increase until it is no longer viable for purchases to continue in property and soon supply outstrips demand. As interest rates rise, companies find it harder to make profits and this, combined with the booming property market and the fact that fixed interest investments now seem more attractive, causes share prices to begin to fall or at least plateau.

3:00 o’clock – Savvy investors begin to exit; people begin to sell shares

Before the clock strikes midnight, savvy investors have exited shares and are looking for the next oppor-tunity, having realised that there is likely to soon be a correction in the market. 3 o’clock sees the realisation of this correction and the consequences that will in-evitably follow. Subsequently, more people are selling shares within this phase and the lack of demand trig-gers a sell-off, a slump in share prices and coupled with falling commodity prices the decline acceler-ates. High interest rates still persisting at the begin-ning of this cycle slow the economy and lead us into

the beginning of a recessionary phase.

4 o’clock – decline into re-cession begins to become ap-parent

Decline into recession begins as business con-fidence starts to fall and consum-ers start spend-ing. Investors find little value in either shares or property and with impending trouble on the horizon, fixed interest securi-ties and cash become popular again – Cash is now King. A flight to quality assets occurs to protect what remains of an individual’s wealth. Often the gold price escalates at this time as it is seen as a store of value against wors-ening economic conditions. The dollar can also come under pressure to find the right level of adjustment in line with prevailing economic ill winds relative to the rest of the world.

5 o’clock – Initial Public Offerings begin to vanish; capital raising disappears

Poor business confidence means the new capital ventures are postponed and Initial Public Offerings become a thing of the past. This is a time when capital is near impossible to raise and banks are not lending. Less spending and higher interest rates result in lower demand, which results in less production. Con-sumer confidence is at a very low level with demand for goods and services coming under enormous pres-sure. With fewer sales, there is a squeeze on earn-ings, resulting in profit downgrades; and economic rationalisation becomes a hot topic in boardrooms. The economy slows to the point where productivity stalls and then declines. When this happens for two consecutive periods, the economy is said to be in a recession.

6 o’clock – The nadir of the downward swing in the economic cycle

6 o’clock marks the peak of a downward swing in the economic cycle. Investors are either too scared, or cannot afford to borrow money and in response, interest rates slowly start falling. Individuals are now trying to payoff debt and spend less where they can, as well as trying to keep their jobs. A severe contrac-tion in the labour market is often evident in this phase of the Clock. This can exacerbate recessionary deep-ening, unless correction through government fiscal and Reserve Bank monetary stimulus, and return to business confidence becomes apparent.

7 o’clock – A recovery from recession begins

A recovery from recession begins with increased government spending and a sustained easing of inter-est rates. Interest rates fall to historically low levels and eventually a point is reached where long term investors see value in the market and start to accu-mulate the better performing shares – often you don’t need to look any further than the Top 50 companies for investment selection. With a lower demand for money and interest rates falling, the economy is stim-ulated and share prices begin to slowly rise. Cash is no longer King and the value net of inflation begins to erode,

8 o’clock – Companies become leaner; increase productivity

During this time, companies are forced to become leaner and increase productivity. These measures and the slowly improving economy translate into increased company profits and this gradually stimu-lates share prices to recover. Investors who come into

the market at this level often see ex-cellent gains in the years ahead.

9 o’clock – Signs of share prices beginning to rise; unemployment begins decline

The seeds of the recovery are now sown and eventually share prices will rise as unemploy-ment, which is often regarded as a lagging eco-nomic indicator falls. Share prices move through a period of gradual increases from

6 o’clock until about 11 o’clock as commodities in-crease in price, overseas reserves are rebuilt and money becomes easier, subsequently property again becomes an attractive investment opportunity.

10 o’clock – More aggressive market highs become apparent; speculation begins

The improving economy leads to more aggres-sive market highs. A frenzy of interest and specula-tion begins, marking the beginning of the end of the recovery phase, which peaks when the economy is

booming and everyone belioeves the good times will never end, as overseas reserves continue to rise.

11 o’clock – Government spending increases, jobs created; economy gathers momentum

More spending on government projects and infrastructure occurs in this phase, to create jobs, which increases the demand on private sector busi-nesses. This inturn results in employment of more staff to cope with increases production needs. Lower interest rates then prompt business to borrow and invest in capital projects. Well before the Clock strikes midnight, wise investors have exited shares and are looking for the next investment opportunity.

Where are we now?Several recent economic indicators have been

positive and point to the beginning of the recovery cycle. US and China growth figures have also pointed to a positive outlook, giving further credence that the worst of the global financial crisis and its contagion effects on the world is behind us, with prospects of recovery a reality for late 2009-10. Most experts believe the clock may have moved past 6o’clock and currently between 7 o’clock (falling interest rates) and 8 o’clock (rising share prices).

The convergence of good news presents a great opportunity for investors to take advantage of a range of investment options providing some best values in shares in years. Although we can never pick the absolute bottom of the sharemarket, equipped with the investment clock, you can start to identify where you are in the current economic cycle and consult an expert financial advisor to assist you on the road to recovery.

The Investment ClocksuNIL KHemLANI


Indian

Is paying off your home mortgage a good idea? Normally it is –particularly in respect of your own home. In case of investment properties, due to tax advantages, the answer may be dif-ferent.

But there can be some situations where paying off the mortgage faster may not be the best idea. It really depends what opportunities you can avail with your surplus funds which can be used to repay your mortgage faster.

Suppose you are in business and on an average earn 10% on your capital after tax and you have the opportunity to use extra funds for business expansion continuing to earn 10%, why should you pay your mortgage faster than required if mortgage rate is lower than 10%.

But if you who don’t have the opportunity to invest where after tax return are more than the interest being paid on mortgage, you should contemplate repaying mortgage faster.

There are different ways to repay mort-gage faster. The easiest way is to take loan for shorter term rather than standard term the

banks offer.With a standard loan of 30 years with inter-

est rate of 7%, your installment will be approx-imately $153per week on a loan of $100000. The loan term will go down to 15 years if you repay $207 per week.

Put it another way, you will need to put extra $10,000 per year approximately to repay your mortgage of $350,000 carrying an inter-est of 7% per annum in 15 years instead of 30 years. Isn’t it good? Indeed it is, so, should you go for a loan of 15 years term instead of 30 years?

There is risk involved. It is easier to get shorter loan term but difficult to get it extended as most of the banks will re assess the loan at the time you want to get the term extended.

Why you will ask for term to be extended because you may find it difficult to afford higher repayments due to adverse change in your circumstances.

The bank will assess according to circum-stances on the date of application and most

likely the request for extension of loan term will not be approved.

Another thing, if you have been repaying the mortgage faster and at some future date you are going into arrears, the lending institu-tion will not consider what extra amount you have paid, but will take your house to mort-gagee sale.

Then the next option is that you should not go for a reduced loan term, but go for maximum sanctioned term. And after that periodically, put extra lump sums. Most of lending institu-tions allow for the same in fixed interest loans to certain extent without any penalty.

The other way to repay your mortgage faster is to split your loan and have some portion on revolving credit facility.

In your revolving credit facility, you should run your all income with all expenses and mortgage repayments coming out of it. Funds should be allowed to sit in the account for as long as possible to save interest. Your surplus after meeting your expenses will automatically

be left in your loan thereby saving you interest and reducing your outstanding loan balance.

The good thing is that surplus funds are always available for redraw. This way your loan term will be reduced. But this type of arrangement should be used only by those who are financially much disciplined. Those who are not, normally tend to overspend and for them fixed commitment towards loan is a better option.

It is recommended that you seek the advice of your financial adviser before deciding the option for you.

- Ravi Mehta is an Auckland based Finan-cial Advisor and can be contacted on ravi.

[email protected] disclosure statement under Securities

Markets Act relating to his services is avail-able on request and is free of charge.

For further information, please visit www.professionalfinancial.co.nz

Finance

How to pay your mortgage fasterRAVI meHtA

Productivity

These are tough times for most companies. Re-cession hit our shores sometime last year but it is only now that the frost over the market is be-ginning to bite. So everyone is trying to sharpen their pencils and cut down on expenses deemed unnecessary or of low priority. These include the usual suspects like advertising, travel, recruit-ment etc., and in many cases training budgets are slashed too.

On one end of the spectrum there are many people in the marketing field who have tremen-dous experience and have grown through the ranks. They also have excellent track records. But somewhere down the line they are concep-tually weak. In present competitive times, it is important to have a good blend of conceptual clarity and practical experience. Marketing train-ing helps in achieving this balance.

On the other end of the spectrum there are also people who have impeccable academic cre-dentials and conceptual clarity but do not have practical experience. By virtue of their qualifi-cations alone they may be holding positions of responsibility and they may be taking decisions that will have a long term effect on the growth of the company and brand as well. Such people too need exposure and training on a regular basis.

The million dollar question therefore is “What

kind of strategic marketing training is needed by companies?” and more importantly, why is it needed on a regular rather than an ad-hoc basis even during difficult economic times?

The reason regular training in marketing is needed is because techniques in marketing keep changing regularly as also does customer ex-pectations. If one does not realize the changes in the marketplace as well as the change in expectation of consumers, one may end up making inappropri-ate marketing strategies and therefore not able to support the growth of the brand or product. Similarly, even in the area of sales, product man-agement, advertising or market research, if there is no updating of techno-logical advancement in skills, there is a chance that the brand could be left behind primarily because the people behind the brand have not moved with the times.

Just as in accounting, finance, production,

human resources, information technology etc., there is a regular updating of skills through train-ing, there is a similar discipline followed in mar-keting. Even in a field such as medicine, doctors continuously attend seminars or in house train-ing programs to ensure that they are in sync with

the latest trends in global medicine. This helps them get a cutting edge to serve their patients better.

The key area in an or-ganisation where marketing training is needed is actually from top to bottom. First, the frontline sales people need to be trained so that they go around managing their re-spective markets in a profes-sional manner. If not service levels would fall, resulting in a drop in sales, culminating in the loss of brand visibility and from there on it would be a downward spiral for the

brand and the company. Secondly, at the super-visory/manager level, they should not only be able to work with the trade channels but also be able to handle, motivate and lead the field force.

Thirdly, the regional/national sales manager too require various skills which include aspects of portfolio management, riding market expecta-tions, management of promotions- sales promo-tions, consumer promotions etc. Many a time the product manager is skewed towards one or two elements of the marketing mix instead of having a balanced view of all elements. This needs to be corrected through periodical training to get things back in perspective.

Finally, the top management including some-times the chief executive need regular training in strategic marketing thinking; whether it is in terms of brand extensions, brand positioning or re-positioning, new product launches or with-drawals or decisions to prune products or ser-vices etc.

It is therefore extremely crucial to give inputs which are seen as investments in the develop-ment of the marketing human resource through regular, consistent and strategic marketing train-ing which would develop careers as well as help sales and marketing professionals grow brands successfully in the face of intense competition in the marketplace. This needs to be done con-sistently and regularly regardless of the pressing need to cut cost in the short term.

Marketing training in a recessionary marketRAJesH KRIsHNAmuRtHy

The reason regular training in marketing is needed is because techniques in marketing keep changing regularly as also does customer expectations.


Indian

With call centre operators offering to sell you insurance which is supposedly right for you over the phone and bank tellers asking if you would be interested in purchasing life cover when all you wanted to do was cash a cheque – it is all too easy to assume that purchasing in-surance is just an “off the shelf” product. But just stop and think for a moment how much do you know about insurance and how it would work for you especially during the moment of truth: claim time. What is the amount of in-formation that you have to disclose at the time of applying for an insurance cover? What are the repercussions of non disclosure? Which insurance company has the product more suit-able for your requirements? How would you go about the claim process? Listed below are a few questions you may like to ponder on.

Why do you need an adviser?An adviser will often have established

relationships with various insurance com-panies and extensive knowledge of products and processes. This will often prove less time consuming, particularly valuable in the fast settlement of claims during difficult times. Overall it is more beneficial for you to have an adviser as your first contact and as your advocate. An adviser can answer questions, sort out issues, regularly review the appropri-ateness of your policies and generally manage your best interests.

Hints and Tips on finding the insurance adviser you can trust

• Is the adviser ‘independent’? Some ‘advisers’ may in fact be ‘sales-

people’ for a specific insurance company. Independent ad-visers are not af-filiated with any particular insur-ance company and, as such, are not obliged to place business with a particular company. This gives the adviser the freedom to access a variety of insurance so-lutions through which to tailor-make a client’s policy to best fit the client’s needs and circumstances.

• Who are the insurance suppliers? You want to be sure that there is indeed a

variety of options available to the adviser/you that meet your needs.

• How does the adviser identify solution

best for you? A good adviser will generally have a stan-

dard process that he would follow to com-plete a need analysis and discuss how to meet those needs. Subsequently the adviser should be able to tailor-make your insurance policy

and justify why such options are recom-mended over others.

• What sort of knowl-edge and experience should you look for?

It is important to differentiate between a ‘salesperson’ and an adviser. As with most things, detail is the key. Two policies that may appear the same, seem-ingly allowing cost to be the deciding factor, may on a more inter-rogative examination have vast different con-

sequences on your particular circumstance should you come to claim.

A knowledgeable adviser will be acutely aware of these specifics and will be well versed in the policies, processes and develop-ments, and therefore able to offer an expert opinion based on your needs assessment. A good adviser will be aware of and admit the

limitations of their knowledge, advising that they will seek out the answer to your query.

• Does the adviser maintain an ongoing re-lationship with their clients?

Once you are ‘on the books’ and your first premium has been paid, you do not want to be ‘put on the shelf’ to be forgotten. Circum-stances change and you do not want to be in a serious claim situation before you find out that your coverage no longer meets your needs. A good adviser will actively review your situation.

• Ask someone you know! Ask friends, family or colleagues if they

are happy with the services their advisers provide. They may give you some more ideas about what to ask a potential adviser. Hope-fully these key issues will be able to lead you in the right direction.

This information has been provided to serve only as a guideline to assist in evaluat-ing your insurance needs. You are encouraged to do your own research before arriving at any decisions.

- Oliver Pereira OPM Insurance Services Ltd.

Ph. 0800 66 77 92; Faxmail. 021 551 669 Mobile. 021 66 77 92

Email. [email protected]

Finance

Can you trust your insurance adviser?oLIVeR PeReIRA

Patients should be at the centre of all health services. Whether you’ve got a broken bone, the winter f lu, or a baby on the way, it’s important you get the care you need.

The National-led Government inherit-ed a public health system with significant staffing, service and financial problems. The health budget doubled in nine years, but there was little improvement in services.

This is unac-ceptable so we asked some of the most experienced doctors and man-agers in the health sector to recom-mend how to best improve our public health system.

The indepen-dent group’s report recognises that to improve frontline health services we need more input from frontline staff. There are also recommenda-tions to strengthen clinical leader-ship and clinical networks. It’s vital that our doctors and nurses are involved in running the health system.

The report proposes consolidating back office functions across the 21 Dis-trict Health Boards to harness the power of bulk buying. We don’t need 21 pay-rolls, 21 approaches to IT, and 21 pro-curement systems.

It also proposes cutting by two thirds the number of committees that advise the Health Ministry.

The Government will not accept any-

thing that increases bureaucracy and takes resources away from frontline health services. We’re going to do what’s best for patients.

We’ll ensure District Health Boards have the same autonomy they’ve always had to plan and fund local health services within the Government’s priorities.

We want your feedback – people should write to the Health Minister’s office by 18 Sep-tember. Cabinet will consider the report’s r e com mend a t ion s over the next couple of months.

National is com-mitted to delivering better, sooner, more convenient health-care for you and your family. To do this, we’re building a strong and endur-ing public health system based on need.

Just as families and businesses are tightening their belts and economis-ing in the current economic times, the

health system needs to do the same. But this won’t be done at the expense of front-line services.

We need to deliver greater efficiency and productivity, so we need to take sug-gestions that could deliver that seriously. Any savings we make in health will be reinvested into health.

Your health, and the health of your family, is an important priority for Na-tional. We are committed to putting pa-tients first and building a healthier future for all New Zealanders.

The National-led Government is introducing safeguards to give parents comfort that they will not be prosecuted for lightly smacking their chil-dren.

The decision to introduce these safeguards to protect the interests of parents follows the Citizens Initiated Referendum on smacking – the result of which reinforced the message that New Zealanders do not want to see good parents criminalised for lightly smacking their children.

We take this message very seriously and will be working with the Police and Child, Youth and Family to make sure the law is being adminis-tered as it should be.

Family is an important aspect of life for many within our Indian communities and it is crucial that we all feel confident in the raising our chil-dren so they can grow up to reach their full po-tential.

No parent should have to fear prosecution for their role in raising their children and even though the current law is working as intended, with there being no prosecutions, the National-led Government will continue to monitor the way it is being implemented.

For example, we have asked for a review of Police and Child, Youth and Family policies and procedures to identify any changes that are nec-essary to ensure good parents are being treated as Parliament intended. This review is expected to be completed by December 1, 2009.

We are also bringing forward the delivery of a Ministry of Social Development report on data, trends and the effect of the law change. Originally expected at the end of this year, the report will now be completed later this month, or early October.

Police have also been invited to continue to report on a six-monthly or annual basis for the next three years on the operation of the law, and to include data on cases where parents or care-givers say the force used on the child was reason-able in the circumstances.

Prime Minister John Key has said very pub-licly that if future Police data indicates a worry-

ing trend that good parents are being punished, the law will be changed to ensure that they are not criminalised for lightly smacking their chil-dren.

The debate surrounding smacking is not new and has been a hot topic around Kiwi dinner tables since, under the previous Labour govern-ment, changes were made to Section 59 of the Crimes Act making it illegal to smack children for the purpose of correction in 2007.

The changes were made as part of The Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Act 2007, which was introduced by Green Party MP Sue Bradford and raised controversy in Parliament.

When these amendments were introduced they raised fears that they would lead to good parents being unfairly criminalised for disciplin-ing their children.

That was why at the time, Hon John Key, in-troduced the addition of the provision that police can use discretion to ensure good parents would not be prosecuted before agreeing to support the Act.

These fears have proven to be unfounded. In fact, there has not been a single prosecution, which shows that the law is working the way that Parliament intended and that no changes are needed to the legislation at this stage.

If it is shown that the law is not working, we will change it.

Putting patients firstJOHN keY, Prime Minister

PaNSY WONG, ethnic affairs Minister

Good parents should not bebe criminalised

What is the amount of information that you have to disclose at the time of applying for an insurance cover? What are the repercussions of non disclosure? Which insurance company has the product more suitable for your requirements?

We want your feedback – people should write to the Health Minister’s office by 18 September. Cabinet will consider the report’s recommendations over the next couple of months.


Indian


Indian

WeeKeNdCUISINE

Recipe by Ruby dhillon

Recipe by shri desai

Add some salt to the water and boil in a pan and cook the spa-ghetti for 8-10 minutes or until firm. Drain the spaghetti, toss in the oil and keep it aside.Melt butter in a wok, fry onions until they are translucent then stir in the garlic followed by chopped chicken. Cook stirring it for 3 minutes. Sprinkle some salt.Add tomatoes and oregano and stir thoroughly. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring regularly.Add Spaghetti to the chicken sauce. Toss over a gentle heat, season with some more salt and pepper and add half the grated cheese. Toss again.Serve hot, sprinkled with remaining cheese on the top.

Bring water to boil in a sauce panAdd stock cube and sweet corn .Mix well.Add shredded chicken piecesDissolve corn flour in cold water and add to the boiling soup and stir wellBreak egg in a bowl,whisk and strain into the sauce pan .Serve hot after garnishing with spring onion or “Dhania” and serve hot with above mentioned sides...

450g- Chicken (bone-less chicken breasts, finely chopped)350g- Spaghetti tin (from Supermarket)2- Onions chopped400g- Tomatoes chopped (or a chopped tomato can)3- Garlic cloves crushed25g- Butter1tsp- Oregano¾-cup- Parmesan cheeseSalt and Pepper according to taste

Water 1 LtrChicken Stock powder 1 cubeBoiled and shredded chicken 2 Table spoonsCream style sweet corn 150 gmsEgg 1Corn flour 1 tspFreshly chopped “spring onion” 1 TbspFinely chopped “Dhania” 1 Tbsp

on sideVinegerated Green ChiliesSoy SauceSalt and pepper

5 easy tips for diabetes.

By Swami Ramdevji

1. Practice Pranayam everyday with Bhastrika, Kapalbhati, Anulom Vilom & Manduk Asana.

2. Take 1 tablet of Madhunashini along with 1 tablet of Chandraprabha-vati twice a day.

3. Drink Aloe Vera juice & Amla juice together with hot water, twice a day.

4. Pressing the point under the smallest finger below the life line is the acupressure point for Diabetes.

5. After meals take a long walk & avoid sleeping after lunch. Try to eat green vegetables and avoid any sweets.

Next Issue: Cholesterol

Note: Free Yoga classes on Sundays 10am – 11.30am at 8 Bishop Lenihan place, East Tamaki. Ph: 09 622 3308

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New Zealand Indian Central Association (Inc.)PO Box 1941 - Wellington, New Zealand

President: Ratilal Champaneri Phone: 021 383 859 Email: [email protected]

Gen Secretary: Veer KharPhone: 0274 417 654Email: [email protected]

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1. Are you a member of any of the branches of New Zealand Indian Central Association (If not join a branch and avail this opportunity)

2. Do you have any special talent?

Or

Are you a professional who aspires for more respon-sible roles?

Or

Have you made some outstanding contribution to the community?

3. Do you want to shoulder higher responsibility like being on the boards of various governmental and non-governmental organisations

AtteNtIoN CommuNIty membeRs:

If the answer to all the above is ‘yes’; then please forward your CV to:secretary, NZICA, P o boX: 1941, Welling-ton. email - [email protected].

NZICA has been asked to collect CVs and recommend members based on their merit.

Please Hurry!

First round of CV assessment takes placebefore Diwali in the Parliament on October 13, 2009

Chicken Bolognese Chicken Sweet Corn Soup a la Indian style


Indian Personality

Leela Patel is multi-talented – an actress, en-tertainer, singer and an entrepreneur. Instantly identified in New Zealand as Shobhana Kumari playing Shanti’s mom in the popular TV2 soap Shortland Street, Leela will be back on TV from October 17.

When I met with Leela at her modest Avon-dale home, I was expecting to see a lady clad in a blue sari but was taken aback by her youthful ap-pearance and a very down to earth and positive personality. Being a single mum, Leela has effec-tively managed her acting career and her teenage kids (aged 20 and 21) along with caring for her grandmother until recently. Leela comes from a big family (sixth of eight siblings) all based in Auckland. She is the only one in showbiz.

Having taken a keen interest in singing, Leela sang at various shows in the early 1990s. She began in 1990 with a musical group called Bombay Fever managed by Jagdish Punja and has performed numerous shows around New Zealand. She toured Fiji in 1991 and again in 1995 and also performed karaoke shows in Mel-bourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

In 1994 she won the local Auckland Indian Idol Competition organised by Ashvin Anand of AA Promotions. Her biggest challenge in this competition, she says, was memorising Hindi lyrics as she is a “local Gujarati and barely speaks Hindi.”

Her singing eventually led to her acting, which eventually led to acting. With a few acting courses under her belt, Leela approached a few agents and one day she got a call to audi-tion for Shortland Street for the role of Shanti’s aunty (Rani).

She was disappointed when she was not shortlisted. Little did she know that the director at Shortland Street had her in mind for a more im-portant role. She was a huge fan of this soap and always wanted to be a part of it since its infancy 19 years ago. When asked what was challenging in the role Leela says she had to work hard at maintaining the Indian accent during her dia-logues as in reality, she does not have an accent.

“That wasn’t as easy as it sounds. Also, what people don’t realise is that an actor or actress has to perform what they are asked to do; they can’t go about changing the storyline to suit them-selves.” She points out that Shorty is a soap not a documentary – the story has to be juicy to keep the audience interested.

Before her stint with Shortland Street, Leela had only just completed her movie Apron Strings where she played the role of Tara. It is the first Indian feature film to be funded through of-ficial channels in New Zealand. Apron strings is a debut feature for Sima Urale, which raises social issues, examines the incredibly complex yet tender mother-child relationships that you and I can easily relate to.

“It was very inspiring to be working with Sima. She had a great working relationship with the entire team and brought the best out of us,”

says Leela. The film was funded under a unique low-bud-

get initiative called Signature Film, supported by

the New Zealand Film Commission, NZ on Air and Television New Zealand.

A few other movies that Leela has featured

in are Dead Certs in 1996; a teleplay written by Rawiri Paratane, Vertical Limit by Martin Campbell in 2000 and her hour long TV movie Money for Jam in 1999 based on a true story.

She played a dead woman in the mountain climbing movie Vertical Limit but quickly added that it was not all sad as it was shot in Queen-stown and over all they had a lot of fun too. But at the back of her mind, she was always hoping to get a better role than playing dead, she laughs.

She’s been to India a couple of times and intends to take her son and daughter to India sometime in the future.

After her much acclaimed performance in Apron Strings as Tara, Leela was invited to par-ticipate in the Dubai International film festival which in December 2008. “This was an amazing platform to meet and network with fantastic actors from around the world. I even met a few stars from Bollywood like Nandita Das,” she says. Her coffee table has rows of albums full of photos from Dubai and her photos with the cast and crew of Shortland Street.

Amid her hectic schedule, Leela also finds time to teach at pre-school and has plans to set up a home based childcare centre along with her entertainment services, and of course continue acting.

She has taken her acting career seriously and says her past experience has helped her in playing her roles effectively in both Apron Strings and at Shortland Street. Both the roles came easily to her as she has a daughter at home and knows the challenges a mum could have; playing the role of a neglected wife wasn’t too hard as it was some-thing that happened to her.

A similarity in her role in Apron Strings was that she too has a sister who is married to a Kiwi and although it didn’t bring too much heartache to her personally, there was a lot of grief and the emotions ran high in the family.

Listening to soft music, singing, dancing and gardening is what relaxes Leela. Life’s been a struggle but her positive attitude has helped her be successful in what she’s been doing, she says. She believes in God, in being a good person and has been a role model for a lot of people in the community. When she meditates, she has a lot of positive affirmations with abundance of good-ness in life. This has helped her achieve her goals.

Her message to the Indian community, es-pecially to the women “is to follow your dream. Don’t ever think it is too late and don’t let nega-tive people, negative thoughts or any other ob-stacles come in your way.” If you dream it, you can do it.

She hopes to appear on Shorty hopefully for a lot longer this time and is always open to new acting assignments. Talking about openness I asked her if she was open to meeting Mr Right in the future and amusedly she said she was cer-tainly open to that.

Leela Patel – a creative, multifaceted artisteRAsHmI sHeNoy

CLoCKWIse FRom toP: With Laila Rouass in her much acclaimed f ilm Apron Strings; in traditional Indian garb; with Apron Strings director Sima Urale


Indian Heritage

The teacher of teachersremembering the great indian genius in whose honour the country celebrates Teachers Day every year on September 5.

RAm LINGAm

An American scholar Jacques Barzun once said ‘Teaching is not a lost art, but the regard for it is a lost tradition’. And as the adage goes, ‘Teach-ing is the profession that teaches all the other professions‘, the Indian tradition has always re-spected teachers and Gurus. While the teachers and Gurus are both inspiring, the teacher in the general sense teaches a subject and the Guru in the Indian sense unveils the ignorance for wisdom to dawn.

The ‘Teachers’ Day’ in India on September 5 every year is celebrated to commemorate the birthday of one such accomplished teacher ac-claimed as one of the greatest thinkers and phi-losophers of modern India – Dr. Sarvapelli Rad-hakrishnan (1888-1975). He was recognised as a multi-faceted personality – an eminent education-ist, a scholar of eastern and western religions, a world philosopher, a cultural ambassador, a biog-rapher and above all a seeker of truth.The origin of Teacher’s day in India

Somewhere in this glitter of modern consum-erism, Dr Radhakrishnan and his accomplish-ments as a scholar and as a teacher have been less remembered. Teacher’s day may be slipping into oblivion but it matters for those who value their teachers and who value learning. Many learned people, teachers and professors have either heard about him as a scholar but know almost nothing about his contribution to education. Today we seem to know more about film actors and their lives than that of greats like Dr. Radhakrishnan.

While most of us who are from India would have some recollection of Teacher’s day celebra-tion during our school days, we may not know

the incident that was behind 5th Sept becoming Teacher’s day. In fact many teachers from India don’t know about this. The celebration of ‘Teach-er’s day’ has an interesting story behind it. When Dr. Radhakrishnan became the President of India in 1962, some of his students approached him and requested to allow them to celebrate September 5, as his “birthday’’ nationally. In reply Dr. Rad-hakrishnan said, “instead of celebrating my birth-day separately, it would be my proud privilege if September 5 is observed as Teachers’ Day’’. The request showed Dr. Radhakrishnan’s reverence for the teaching profession. From then onwards, the day has been observed as Teachers’ Day all over India.Who is a good teacher?

Dr. Radhakrishnan loved his teaching pro-fession more than any other professions he had

taken up during his eventful lifetime. Dr. S. Rad-hakrishnan believed that “A good teacher must know how to arouse the interest of the pupil in the field of study for which he is responsible. He must himself be a master in the field of study and be in touch with the latest developments in the subject, he must himself be a fellow traveler in the exciting pursuit of knowledge...” According to him, “the aim of education is not the acquisition of information, although important, or acquisition of technical skills, though essential in modern society, but the development of that bent of mind, that attitude of reason, that spirit of democracy which will make us responsible citizens.”His influence

Dr. Radhakrishnan is considered as one of the greatest philosophers of India and the world. In 1952 the Library of Living Philosophers, an insti-

tute of world-wide repute, brought out a massive 898 page volume on ‘The Philosophy of Sarva-pelli Radhakrishnan, devoted wholly to a critical appreciation of his writings.

India’s highest award, the Bharat Ratna, was conferred on him in 1954 in recognition of his meritorious service to mankind.

Dr.S.Radhakrishnan started his career as a college teacher, Vice-chancellor, a Spalding Pro-fessor of Eastern Religions and Ethics at Oxford University held many high offices in Indian and abroad culminating in his becoming the Head of the Indian Republic. His 40 odd books on philoso-phy and religion bear the stamp of his distinctive genius for clarity and precision.

His philosophy was unbiased and inclusive as one can find in his remarks. “Those who separate themselves from the rest of the world in the name of religion or race, nation or polity are not assist-ing human evolution but retarding it”.

There are some 50 plus countries that have a dedicated day for their teachers while more than 100 countries including New Zealand cel-ebrate the 5th of October as World’s Teacher’s day. But in our life pursuits, we easily seem to forget our teachers and Gurus who have built and channelised our capabilities. In the Hindu tradi-tion world the teacher (Guru) is considered even greater than God as Sant Kabir says “I face both God and my guru. Whom should I bow to first? I first bow to my guru because he’s the one who showed me the path to God.”

It’s also a great day for budding teachers to take the pledge to create educated people and not just qualified ones.

“A good teacher must know how to arouse the interest of the pupil in the field of study for which he is responsible. He must himself be a master in the field of study and be in touch with the latest developments in the subject, he must himself be a fellow traveler in the exciting pursuit of knowledge...”

- Dr. S. Radhakrishnan

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volume 1 issue 13

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