August 2015 - Volume 0815 Cleveland, Ohio, USA 1

August 2015 - Volume 0815
INSIDE
2
President’s Message
Parents & Children
3 4
Mahatma Gandhi Campus
5
Anupy Singla Recipe
6
Ardha Matsyendrasana
7
Over-Easy or Scramble ?
8
Runaway Thoughts 9
Geeta Dutt’s Songs
10
Run for Nepal
11
Community News
12
LOTUS TEAM
Publishing & Editorial
Sujata Lakhe Barnard
Ramesh “Ray” Gehani
Priyanka Gopal
Email Distribution &
Advertising
Atul Verma
[email protected]
Public Relations/Creative
Paramjit Singh
[email protected]
Or Current Resident
FEDERATION OF INDIA COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION
Non-Profit
Organization
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
CLEVELAND,
OHIO
PERMIT NO.
1051
For Lotus related questions / comments,
please email : [email protected], or call
216/791-FICA(3422),
and leave a message
INDIA COMMUNITY CENTER
12412 CEDAR ROAD
CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OH 44106
1
A Monthly Publication of the Federation of India Community Associations (FICA) Since 1967
FICA Matters
Community News
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Celebration for Indian’s 68th Independence day anniversary will return
to the vast expanse of fields, monuments and gardens of the Cleveland
Cultural Gardens on August 15, 2015 from 8:30 AM to 2:00 PM. Celebrating Cleveland’s diverse Indian community with its diverse cultural
groups, the event hopes to offer visitors a unique opportunity to march
with pride for our culture, unify in diversity and sample a smorgasbord
of the customs, costumes, music, food, and sports reflecting the diverse
cultures that make up Indian heritage.
Sponsored by Federation of India Community Associations of
NEO (FICA of NEO), this half-day event takes place amidst the gorgeous winding greens running along side the Doan brook of Rockefeller
Park (on MLK Jr. Boulevard between St. Clair and Superior Avenues).
The march along Doan brook on MLK to East blvd ending at Rockefeller Greenhouse at the North end of Rockefeller City Garden will be a
symbolic homage to Mahatama Gandhi famous ‘salt march’ along the
river Sabarmati.
A short walk away from the Mahatma Gandhi statue in the
Cleveland Cultural Gardens, Suresh Bafna. a prominent member of
Indian-American community is spear heading a creation of school to
be named after Mahatma Gandhi, where Gandhi’s teachings will be incorporated into the school’s curriculum. Through this mission, Bafna
hopes to foster a greater investment in the area by the local Indian community and hopes that by “staying engaged,” Indian- Americans can
get involved more deeply into the fabric of the community of which
they are now a part.
Last year was first year for FICA to have this celebration at this
location. Weather was gorgeous and attendees seemed to have enjoyed
the venue and programing. FICA is seeking to celebrate this day at the
same venue also in 2016 (the 100th anniversary of the Gardens) and
beyond. Hope some day kids from the future Mahatma Gandhi school
will march with us!
The Cleveland Cultural Gardens lie in Rockefeller Park, a 276acre tranquil, ravine-like setting that runs two miles between University Circle, Cleveland’s cultural center to the south and Lake Erie to
the north. John D. Rockefeller donated the site as parkland in 1896 to
commemorate the city’s first centennial. Ernest Bowditch, a renowned
Boston landscape architect, designed a meandering parkway flanked
by wide-open green space and framed by steeply sloped terrain running along meadows bordering Doan Brook. There
are 29 formally dedicated gardens representing the various
nationalities that comprise Greater Cleveland and the world
community. The Gardens remain an untapped resource and
unexplored realm by the great majority of Cuyahoga County
residents. Festivals like Cleveland World Festival, Cleveland
one world day, Opera at the Italian garden and hopefully Indian Idenpendence day will some day reopen the region’s eyes
to this hidden cultural gem.
The India Cultural Garden on Martin Luther King Boulevard was dedicated in 2005, joining the Cleveland Cultural
Gardens, a collection of gardens representing various nationalities that symbolize Cleveland’s rich diversity. The garden
includes a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, in fact tallest such statue
in US! His example of civil disobedience anchored in non-violence and truth inspired civil rights movements around the
world, and also inspired a young pastor named Martin Luther
King, Jr. The symbolism of a Gandhi statue on Martin Luther
King Boulevard is inescapable.
Celebrate India’s
Independence at Cleveland
Cultural Gardens!
When and Where ?
Saturday, August 15, 2015:
8:30 am to 10:30 pm: Mahatma statue at Cleveland Cultural
Gardens.
10:30 am to 11:30: March/ a walk of 1.1 miles.
11:30 to 2:00 PM: Rockefeller Green house
Parking: Free parking at Rockefeller Green house. Free shuttle service loops for attendees from the Greenhouse to the
Mahatma and back.
Shuttle service: From 8:00 AM to 12:00 noon. Shuttle loops.
Tickets
$2:00 per adult, all children 17 and under free.
Contact Info
For more information regarding volunteering, applying to be
a vendor , or the event in general, please email us at
Contact: [email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
216/791-FICA(3422)
Donations
FICA is a registered non-profit organization under the IRS
501(c)(3) guidelines and has a Tax ID of 34-1215066
Donations can be mailed to:
India Community Center
12412 Cedar Rd
Cleveland, OH 44106
Please include “Independence Day” on the memo line on the
check. Email your name and check number and amount to
[email protected], so we can appropriately acknowledge your contribution.
Highlights of the Festival offerings include:
• Free Yoga sponsored by Sewa International.
• Cultural community with its customs, costumes, music,
food, and dance/music by artists never seen in Cleveland
before..
• Umadaop drum corp
• Little “Gandhis” leading the march.
• Kathak by new Case Western Reserve university studentstwo girls ensemble!
•
Tabla and Vocal Indian singing by Solon High
schoolers
• DJ/Bollywood open dancing.
Free Monthly Subscription - A Non-Profit & Tax Exempt Organization - Tax ID# 34-1215066
2 FICA matters
Swetha Ravi getting ready for one of her performances!
Bharatnatyam at Lower Italian Garden at World Festival in 2014
Around the communities
President’s Message
FICA Staff
Even life will not continue for very long
without diversity of
genes coming together
to make a new individual!
Administration
Board of Trustees
Chittaranjan Jain, Chair
[email protected]
440/942-4369
Executive Board
Sujata Lakhe Barnard, President
[email protected]
216/791-FICA(3422)
Giri Guruswami, Vice President
[email protected],
[email protected]
440/317-3911
Jyoti Sadekar, Treasurer
[email protected]
[email protected]
216/791-FICA(3422)
Ashish Deshpande
[email protected]
626/202-6662
Sujata Lakhe Barnard
Editor & Publisher, The Lotus
[email protected]
216/791-FICA(3422)
Priyanka Gopal , Lotus Copy Editor
[email protected]
512/201-0443
1
Atul Verma, Lotus Business Manager
[email protected]
[email protected].
704/307-5470
Jessica Kumar, Secretary
[email protected]
660/349-0480
India Cultural Garden
Raj Pillai - Chair
[email protected]
440/724-4398
Shiksha Daan
Sanjay Garg - Chair
[email protected]
440/590-1261
Project Seva
Mona Alag, Chairperson
[email protected]
Sister Organizations
Association of Indian physicians of
Noth Ohio (AIPNO)
www.aipno.org
Dr. Umesh Yalavarthy, President
216-513-4964
[email protected]
Bengali Cultural Society of Cleveland
www.bcscle.org
Sujit Ghosh, President
440-542-0363
[email protected]
Marathi Mandal
www. neomm.org
Dr. Sharad Wankhade
330-321-7677
[email protected]
Odisha Society
Birendra Jena, President
330 544-1725
[email protected]
3
One of FICA’s missions is to build a bridge
between the a piece of
Indian culture which gets
here with its people and
the mainstream Americans society. In Summer, when weather ‘could be’ nice
in Cleveland, outdoor festivals like ‘world festival (Aug
2nd)’ , ‘Indian Independence day Celebration (Aug
15th)’, ‘One World Day (Aug 23rd) at a place like Cultural Gardens of Cleveland add in creating a space in
our society where recent immigrants, expats and other
americans who have been here for many generations
can live in a harmonious, un-prejudiced and condition
of mutual appreciation and enjoyment.
Celebrating our differences helps us realize that
we all, irrespective of our religion, language, country of
origin, have common interests. Through understanding of each other’s diversity we become more aware of
our own. Not only do we become more aware we gain
a sense of pride of our own culture. It’s very energizing
and thought provoking.
FICA will participate in World Festival by presenting a cultural show at CoolCleveland Cabaret Stage
from 12:45-1:15pm. and between 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM at
Hungarian Garden. Our main objective is to introduce
our heritage to mainstream American society. Swetha
Ravi a recent arrival in Cleveland, a graduate student
pursuing Masters in Engineering Management at Case
Western Reserve University is the main performer.
Swetha is unity in diversity personified! She is trained
in two centuries old traditions, Kathak, a dance style
originated in North of India and Bharatnayam originated in South of India and also in modern Bollywood
Letter to the Editor
Hello Lotus,
My name is Sumukh Torgalkar. I am a stand-up comedian living in Columbus, Ohio, however I grew up in
Cleveland and have been familiar with The Lotus since
I was a child.
For whatever it may be worth for news for Cleveland
area Indians, I recorded my first stand-up comedy in
April at the comedy club in Columbus. It releases on
August 4. It is now available for pre-ordering on iTunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/mispronunciation-sumukh-torgalkar/id1014735955
I have opened for Russell Peters on a number of occasions when he has performed in Cleveland, so perhaps
some of the Asian Indian community is aware of me.
I do live performances including private shows. It is
possible that I will be back in Cleveland at Hilarities in
mid-October.
Just wanted to forward this info on to spread the word
to the community. Thank you for your support!
Sumukh Torgalkar
www.sumukhcomedy.com
dancing. In her pursuit of achieving expertise in Kathak
she was fortunate to attend workshops under Shri Pandit Birju Maharaj, who himself was in Cleveland last
year for Thyagraja festival, biggest such festival of south
Indian dance/music outside of India,
Getting back to why FICA’s objective of bridge
building is so important, understanding people and
their backgrounds is crucial to personal and community
growth. FICA began as a small organization of Indian
students in 1962 and has grown to serve a community of
over 20,000 people of South-Asian Indian ethnicity. With
that big a number and vast expanse of suburbs of Cleveland, a lot of us tend to live in isolation and insulated
from other cultures, whether they are cultures which
still fall in the bracket of Indian ethnicity or outside of
it. The Lotus, which was started in 1967 as a monthly
newspaper to report on the Indian Community and its
activities is a great vehicle for informing and communicating through columns about Cultural, political, social,
legal, parenting,educational aspects pertaining to Indian diaspora. Therefore the other day I was surprised
when a prominent member of FICA and then person
associated with other Indian newspaper in Cleveland
degraded Lotus by calling it a ‘mouthpiece’ for FICA.
However, I am at loss to know what they really meant
but as I understand and the plaque issued by the city
outside ICC building indicates, The Lotus is the oldest
Indian Community newspaper in U.S.A. and the only
non-profit Indian Community newspaper in Cleveland,
Ohio. It is a great joy to read in it how different forms
of music can bring happiness to groups outside of their
own traditional roots, analyze legal contradictions one
faces here compared to India, perspective of individuals
who were witness to the drama of Independence and
pride in achievements of high-schoolers and professionals alike and philanthropic endeavors of prominent Indian Clevelanders!
Let us all spend some time together. and enjoy
each other and celebrate how far our community has
come! Lets also not forget diversity makes the world go
round!
Lotus team is very saddened by Passing away of Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam a
great Scientist and Former President
of India, who will always be loved
4 Events Future & Past
Parents and Children
- By Om Julka
In a paper published on June 28,
2012 in Springer
Science + Business
Media, LLC, there
was an assertion,
“The socialization
goals shape parents’ everyday interactions and parenting styles with
their children….Western cultures
endorse autonomous socialization
goals that focus on helping their
children become independent, competitive, and self-expressive, while
parents in Asian cultures emphasize
obedience, respect, and social interdependence….Indian immigrant
mothers in the United States were
most likely to report using authoritarian parenting.” This is consistent
with the Indian cultural values of
respect for elders and duty towards
parents and grandparents. Other
teachings include bravery, love, respect, wisdom, honesty and truthfulness.
In practical terms we have observed
that Indian American kids have
dominated the Scripps National
Spelling Bee since 1999, winning 11
of 15 competitions and the last six
in a row. Nearly a third of the semifinalists at this year’s national spelling bee weByre Indian-Ameircans.
Obviously it is the result of parenting styles implanted in India’s educational system and oriented extracurricular pursuits also.
In 2012, President Obama
invited 55 science fair winners to
the White House; nine of them were
South Asians. At the 2012 Science
Talent Search, three of ten Junior
Nobel Prize winners were IndianAmericans’ children. In just the last
two months, Indian American Iesha
Khare was a top winner at the Intel
International Science and Engineering Fair. Aseem Jha earned perfeect
scores on the SAT and ACT. Is it any
wonder that the last six national
spelling bee Champions have also
been children of Indiana-Americans? They and their parents have
a belief that if they work hard they
will get better and better.
Every educated parent definitely appreciates education more
than many others, but why do Indians dominate the spelling bees more
than Math or Science competitions? I
think it might be beccause Math and
Science are Universal languages;
so even those who don’t have good
knowledge of English skills can be
good at Math and/or Science. Of
course for most Indians English is
one of their national languages due
to British influence from colonial
times. So, they are more likely good
at English, though they are also
good at Math and Science. Sometimes we also wonder why native
English speaking kids don’t achieve
better results in Spelling Bees. Many
of them don’t even have very good
writing skills in their own language.
There may possibly be some other
reasons as to why children of Indian
Americans have been doing much
better than others in their spelling
bee and other contests. Let the parents of all nationalities keep taking
good care of upbringing and educational achievements of their children.
Historically Speaking
- By Om Julka
I was a student when
Churchill famously called Gandhi
“a seditious Middle Temple lawyer,
now posing as a fakir of a type well
known in the East, striding halfnaked up the steps of the Vice-regal
palace.” That was in 1931 at the time
when Mahatma Gandhi signed a
Pact with Lord Irwin, the Viceroy of
India.
What an ironic twist now
when the 9 foot tall statue of Mahatma Gandhi was unveiled by Indian
Finance Minister in March 2015, in
London, opposite British Parliament
and close to that of Churchill.
It must have irritated Winston Churchill’s soul in heaven to
see that this statue of Gandhi (whom
he despised) stands right close to his
own.
It is said that Churchill was
also much irritated when, in 1932,
during the Indian Round Table Conference, Mahatma Gandhi said to
him, “I have an alternative that is
unpleasant to you…and to imperialists: India demands complete liberty
and freedom. The same liberty that
Englishmen enjoy…and I want India to become a partner in the Empire…not merely for mutual benefit,
but so that the great weight that is
crushing the world to atoms, may be
lifted from its shoulders”.
Subsequently the whole
world must have realized that it was
largely due to Mahatma Gandhi’s
peaceful struggle and civil disobedience campaigns that no bitterness
remained between Britain and India and no bloodshed of rulers was
spilled, even when the British were
leaving India. In fact, even now, 68
years after independence, the relations between both countries, with
good economic ties remain good
and strong.
In a spirit of “forgive and forget” the Indians have also ignored
how India was looted during the
long period of about three hundred
years of British rule. Disgruntled Indian poets in those days used to sing
sorrowful songs in the 1920’s. I still
recall part of one given below:
“Khudaya kaisi museebaton
mein yeh Hind waale padey hue
hain; Ghazab toh yeh hai, makaan
waale makaan se baahar pade hue
hain”
(“O, God, what calamities
have befallen on the Indians. What a
pity that the house-owners are themselves living out of their home!”)
Now all the past is dead and
gone. On this Independence Day
August 15, 2015 let all Indians recall
the sacrifices of those Indians who
under the guidance of Mahatma
Gandhi helped to achieve it with
non-violence. Let them “forgive and
forget” the tragic happenings of the
past in the spirit of mutual benefit,
and well-being. A Saint rightly said,
“Man is one name belonging to every nation upon earth. The subjects
of which untutored soul speaks are
the same everywhere.” Let us live
and let live in peace and prosperity
of all human beings.
Community News 5
“Mahatma Gandhi Campus in Cleveland”
- By Raghav Sharma
A short walk away from the Mahatma Gandhi
statue in the Cleveland Cultural Gardens lies Citizens Academy. Birthed from the abandoned husk
of a former Cleveland public school, CA is part of
the Breakthrough charter schools network. As of
this upcoming fall, the network manages the administrative affairs of 11 Cleveland schools, and
provides unparalleled educational opportunities
to some three thousand local children.
Citizens Academy’s stated mission is
“to produce learners who exemplify academic
excellence and responsible citizenship.” Their
commitment to this mission is evident as one
walks through the school. Its walls are adorned
with posters of prominent American figures;
from writer and social critic James Baldwin to
Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, the
children who attend CA are constantly presented
with models who represent the value of academic
success. A board hanging outside the gymnasium
has pictures of all the students accompanied by
their own handwritten words describing their aspirations and dream colleges.
Susan Ertle, executive director of development at Friends of Breakthrough (a group dedicated to building a powerful volunteer network
to assist with administrative duties at Breakthrough schools), describes the Breakthrough
business model as “efficient and cost effective.”
Breakthrough reduces the cost of opening a new
school by finding unused buildings and leasing
– or sometimes purchasing – them from the city.
A potential site for a new Breakthrough school
must meet a very basic list of criterion – it must
be “clean, warm, safe, and dry.” Citizens Academy found a home in a former Cleveland public
school, located on Hampden Avenue, which had
been shut down by the city. According to Ertle,
the residents of the surrounding neighborhood
were overjoyed to see the school building revitalized “because it elevates the sense of community
in the area.”
Breakthrough’s biggest hurdle is raising
the funds required to purchase new facilities. A
new method of alleviating the financial burden
associated with buying buildings presented itself
when Lubrizol, a chemical company with extensive philanthropic operations in the Cleveland
area, donated $1 million to Breakthrough in exchange for having their name on a Breakthrough
school. This led Breakthrough to develop a program through which individuals or organizations would be granted naming rights to one of
Breakthrough’s buildings in exchange for their
donation.
Enter Suresh Bafna. A local businessman
and a member of Breakthrough’s board, Bafna’s
mission is to raise the $1 million needed to rename Citizens Academy after Mahatma Gandhi.
The name would not be purely for show. Gandhi’s time spent fighting for equal rights in South
Africa and India and the influence of his philosophy of satyagraha on civil rights crusaders such
as Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela is
directly in line with the values of active citizenship which CA seeks to impart on its students.
Following the naming, Gandhi’s teachings will
be incorporated into the school’s curriculum.
Through this mission, Bafna hopes to foster a greater investment in the area by the local
Indian community. By “staying engaged,” Indian-Americans can ingratiate themselves into the
fabric of the community of which they are now a
part. Although many in the Indian community
have taken an active role in improving the conditions of their fellow citizens, Bafna believes that
“considering the size of the [Indian] community
in this town and the resources we have, we can
do a lot more.”
Donations for the Mahatma Gandhi
project are currently being accepted by Citizens
Academy. Anyone can write a check, addressed
to Friends of Breakthrough Schools and with
“Mahatma Gandhi” in the memo, to help reach
the $1 million goal. Already more than eighty
percent of the required funds have been raised
with the Bafna Family committing $500,000, but
a final push is necessary. Anyone gifting $25,000
will have a classroom named in their honor. All
gifts are welcome. For further information please
send your inquiries to gandhischoolcleveland@
gmail.com.
Please send your gift to: Friends of Breakthrough
30405 Solon Road, #9
Solon, Ohio 44139
Please make sure to put “Mahatma Gandhi” in
the memo.
The gift of education, says Bafna, “is the best gift
you can give someone.” Education empowers
people like nothing else can, and grants a level
of independence for which there is no substitute.
By contributing to this cause, members of the
Greater Cleveland Indian community have the
power to shape countless lives and forever alter
the future of the city to which their own futures
are inextricably linked.
According to their website Breakthrough schools of Cleveland are tuition-free, non-profit public charter schools are recognized nationally
as the best charter schools in Cleveland. These schools have high expectations for everyone – children and adults – and believe in every
student. Like all the best public charter schools, they do what’s best for their students, and make sure every child receives a high-quality
education to prepare them for success in college and in life.
Citizens Academy was founded in 1999 by Perry White in Cleveland, Ohio. Since then, it has become one of the top-performing elementary schools in Cleveland. According to their website due to high demand and community interest, they opened a second campus in 2012,
Citizens Academy East. They will also open their third campus in 2015, Citizens Academy Southeast. According to their website, their
schools have developed a national reputation for their commitment to academic excellence and responsible citizenship.
6 Community News
Cremini Mushroom Curry in Spiced Cashew Cream
- Permission granted by Anupy Singla, the famous chef, to print one of her recipes here
Mushrooms. Yum. Add spices,
cream, and some heat to them, and
you’ll have a curry on your hands
that will be a weekly staple. It’s at
once decadent and healthy, especially if you substitute cashew cream
for the typical dairy version. If you
want to use cashew cream, you
want to ideally soak your cashews
overnight. You can still make it successfully without soaking, but if you
take that extra step you’ll have a
creamier product, so plan ahead.
While you can use any mushroom,
I love using the cremini (or crimini),
sometimes referred to as a ‘baby
portobello’ or ‘baby bella’. What are
these exactly? I was really surprised
to find out that they are the same variety of mushroom as the more-commonly eaten white button mushroom and the larger portobello. The
only difference is maturation. First
come white button, they mature to
cremini, and then onto portobella.
Read more here. That’s really all it
is.
Cremini, because they are grown a
little longer, taste a bit more robust
and hold up better in an Indian curry. But, use what you have on hand.
While we make various mushroom
curries in Indian cuisine, this one is
made a bit more decadent because
of the combination of spices and
nuts. The Muslim royals of India
(Nawabs) introduced nuts to Indi-
an cuisine. I’m not professing to do
anything extraordinarily new here,
except use those nuts as a base for
the curry rather than a dairy cream
and sub cremini for button mushrooms. It all makes a difference,
though!
Here’s your mise en place. You’ll
need (from the left): green cardamom pods, cloves, cinnamon sticks,
cassia or bay leaves, black cardamom pods, cremini mushrooms, red
chile powder, spiced cashew cream,
onion, cilantro, and garlic.
Cremini Mushroom Curry inSpiced Cashew Cream
6 green cardamom pods
4 black cardamom pods
8 whole cloves
2 - 3 tablespoons vegetable oil (I use
grapeseed)
2 cinnamon sticks
3 cassia leaves (or bay leaves)
1 medium yellow or red onion,
minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 1/2 pounds cremini mushrooms,
cleaned and trimmed (about 70) *
1/2 cup spiced cashew cream (see
recipe below) or dairy cream
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon red chile powder or cayenne
1/4 cup chopped cilantro or parsley
1. Lightly crush both green and
black cardamom and cloves lightly
chile, and cilantro or parsley.
* I really love using the mushrooms
whole, so I lean towards smaller
mushrooms. I just couldn’t find
small ones, so used medium-sized
ones and they worked just perfectly.
Slice them in half if you prefer.
Spiced Cashew Cream
1 cup raw, unsalted cashews, soaked
overnight
1 1/4 cup water
2 teaspoons Indian spice blend like
pav bhaji masala or garam masala
1 teaspoon salt
Drain cashews and blend them with
other ingredients in a high-powered
blender (I use a Vitamix). Blend
until smooth and creamy. Refrigerate up to one week or freeze to use
later. This makes about 1 1/2 cups.
Us it like its dairy equivalent in Indian curries, over Italian pasta, or
drizzled over steamed veggies like
broccoli and cauliflower. For dedicated plant-based eaters like me, cashew cream is da bomb! Here’s what
you’ll have once you blend it down.
Just keep in mind that cashews,
while plant-based, are high in fat
(the good kind) and calories. One
ounce of cashews is 5 grams of protein, 12 grams of fat, and 157 calories. You don’t want to overdo it.
Over-Easy or Scramble ?
- By Sanju Vinekar
Summer breaks have changed since
I was a child. They used to be long
hot days spent reading novels and
riding bikes, catching cray fish in
the creek or playing board games
with the neighbors, going to airconditioned theaters for the summer
blockbuster and then to the BaskinRobbins in the late evening to choose
one from the 31 flavors, sometimes
even a double-dip, or walking alone
to a neighborhood playground and
daydreaming about things while
feeling the air catch one’s hair while
swinging, writing long, long letters
to faraway penpals and receiving
the same or postcards from exotic
locales, too. Those summers were
more like the song from Porgy and
Bess. “Summertime and the livin’ is
easy ...”
work to prevent something called,
“summer slide.” And, electronics
have filled all the spare moments,
and they are in contact minute-byminute with friends through texting. On Tuesday, we rushed to the
library to get some of the limited
tickets to the magician’s show before
they ran out. Most school mates are
at one of various skill camps. Skills
camps aren’t day camps consisting
of swimming, canoeing, and winding yarn around popsicle sticks to
make “God’s eyes,” and then singing
“Kum Ba Yah.” Skills camps hone
skills: Sports skills, music skills, acting, voice, robotics, art technique,
for example. And, parents of sporty
kids get worried that, if their kid
does not attend the skill camp, then
he or she will be replaced on the Ateam by another who did attend.
That would be a failure on the part
of the parents, and apparently the Bteam is for the lesser talents.
These days, summers seem a little
different. Children are given school
A friend of mine recently moved to
a new town. At the beginning of the
The summer break is rapidly coming
to a close. How did it go? What lies
ahead?
in a mortar and pestle. Don’t worry
if you can’t find black cardamom.
Leave it out until you can.
2. Heat oil in a 6-quart saute pan over
medium-high heat. Add crushed
spices, cinnamon sticks, and cassia
or bay leaves. Cook over a minute
until just toasted and fragrant.
3. Add onion and garlic. Cook 2 to
3 minutes until lightly brown. Mix
well.
4. Add mushrooms carefully. Do it
in batches if it’s easier. Turn the heat
to low and cook a total of about 12
minutes. About 3 minutes into cooking I will add a 1/2 cup of water to
prevent the mushrooms from sticking. You want that curry or gravy
later so adding moisture does not
hurt the dish.
5. Make a well in the middle and
add cashew cream. Mix well. Cook
another few minutes. Add salt, red
school year, she missed several opportunities to enroll her kids in the
school activities they had wanted to
join. Turns out that the registration
announcements came out by email
first thing in the morning. But, my
friend wasn’t in the habit of monitoring her email from the moment
she woke up. By the time my friend
checked her email, in the mid-morning after she had gotten the children
off to school, washed up the breakfast dishes, put in a load of laundry,
and sat down at her computer with
a cup of coffee, when she clicked
on the link to get to the registration
form, the activities were already full
and registration was closed. She felt
a sense of panic and guilt. She had
failed at the number one motherly
duty. She had not scrambled fast
enough to grab the limited opportunities for her children. They would
be disappointed. Worse, they might
be at a disadvantage relative to their
peers. Her solution for the next semester: keep her email app on her
smart phone in her field of vision
from the moment she woke up.
It bamboozles me. It isn’t only summer break or extra-curricular activities anymore that we scramble for.
Anymore, is there any area for which
we don’t feel we need to scramble?
Certainly, there are times to scramble. But, why did no one ever tell
me that after we scramble the eggs
in the morning, we are supposed to
continue to keep scrambling all day
long until the moment our heads hit
the pillows? For almost everything?
And, that we are meant to feel as if
we failed our children if we don’t
participate in this continual scrambling?
There are these funny pictures that
are in all the optical illusion books.
One of these is a picture of two darkcolored silhouettes facing each other
against a light-colored background.
The first image we see is of the two
silhouettes in the bright color. It
pops out at us. Two people facing
each other, interacting, planning
something or working together.
(Continued om page 8)
Arts Review
This asana is named after the great
yogi Matsyendra. The name comes
from the Sanskrit words ardha
meaning “half”, matsya meaning
“fish”,endra meaning “king” and
asana meaning “posture”. The sage
Matsyendra lived sometime between the fifth and tenth century
AD. There is a great story where
Shiva was explaining yoga to this
consort Parvati on an island. A fish,
remaining motionless heard all the
mysteries of Yoga. Shiva, noticing
that the fish had overheard him,
sprinkled water on the fish, which
instantly turned into the divine
form of Matsyendra, who then went
to spread the knowledge of yoga.
He is credited as the first teacher of
Hatha yoga. He and his well-known
disciple Goraksha are considered
the great masters and the originators of Hatha Yoga.
This is a deep spinal twist and one
the best and most effective asanas
in Hatha Yoga. It provides elasticity
to the spine with the deep twist and
removes toxins from the internal organs.
GETTING INTO THE ASANA
1.
Sit in Dandasana with legs
stretched out in front. Anchor down
through sitz bones. Flex the heels
and elongate the spine.
2.
With an exhale, bend right
knee and place the right foot to the
outside of left knee. Press the foot
very actively into the floor. Right
knee will point directly to the ceiling.
3.
Bend left knee and place the
left foot under the right buttock.
7
ARDHA MATSYENDRASANA
- By Vishali Gupta
4.
Inhale to lengthen the spine
and exhale to twist the trunk to the
right. Turn the neck so that the chin
is in line with the sternum.
5.
Place right hand behind the
right hand behind the tail bone and
reach up to the sky with left fingertips.
6.
Place left elbow to the outside of right knee.
7.
Roll shoulders back and
down.
8.
Place both buttocks firmly
and evenly on the floor so that the
spine is centered.
9.
Head can be turned in two
directions: in the direction of the
twist to the back of the room or
counter twist of the torso by turning it left and looking over the left
shoulder at the right foot.
10.
With every inhalation lift
a little more through the sternum,
pressing the back hand into the floor
without leaning into it. Twist a little
more with every exhalation. Distribute the weight of the spine evenly
without concentrating it in the lower back.
11.
Lift up through the crown of
your head and stay in the asana for
30 seconds to 1 minute and then release with an exhalation.
As you surrender your weight into
gravity, the Earth’s rebound energy
will move in a wave through your
pelvis and upward through your
spine, bringing your upper body
into vertical alignment and a sense
of almost weightlessness. Allow
yourself to experience this.
BENEFITS OF THIS ASANA
1.
Dissolves tension in the spinal muscles.
2.
Provides re-hydration to the
intervertebral discs by a squeeze
and soak process.
3.
Removes rigidity from spinal vertebrae.
4.
Helps slipped disc.
5.
Massages the abdominal organs and stokes agni, the digestive
fire.
6.
Opens the chest and rib cage
providing more oxygen to lungs.
7.
Stimulates the liver and kidneys.
8.
Tones and strengthens abdominal organs and oblique muscles.
SPECIFIC FOCUS FOR THIS ASANA
1.
Begin by grounding yourself
into the earth. Use a folded blanket
if needed to provide a lift to the lower back and keeping pelvis leveled.
2.
Maintain breath awareness.
3.
Remain centered in your
spine, maintaining the integrity of
the central axis.
4.
Initiate twists from the inside of the body- the internal organs
and soft front of the spine-rather
than muscular force.
5.
Feel the body’s willingness
to move into an ascending spiralfrom the bottom of the spine up, like
a spiral staircase.
6.
Remember, spine must elongate before it twists.
7.
Keep limbs, head, and neck
free from rigidity.
8.
Degree of rotation: lumbar=60 , thoracic=120 ,cervical=180
CONTRADICTIONS AND
CAUTION
1.
Back or spine injury especially disc herniation. Perform this
asana with the supervision of an experienced teacher.
2.
Pregnancy in later stages.
3.
Sacroiliac joint injuries.
9.
Traditional texts say that this
asana increases appetite, destroys
most deadly diseases, and awakens
Kundalini.
See things from a new perspective
with this twist. This asana will remove tension and agitation from the
mind and any sluggishness from the
belly. The next time you feel wound
up by life, spiral yourself into this
twist. As the body uncoils, the mind
unwinds and finds liberation or
moksha.
20600 Chagrin Blvd, Suite #150
Shaker Heights, OH 44122-5327
(216) 295-0400
www.thesaffronpatch.com
8 News of Interest
Issues that matter
7
Over-Easy or Scramble ?
(Continued from page 6)
Perhaps these two people are enjoying an interesting and satisfying conversation or planning an outing. On the other hand, perhaps they are comparing themselves to one another.
“I’m going to coding camp.”
“Well, I’m going to tennis camp.”
“Well, I am going on a Disney cruise.”
“Well, I got tickets for Taylor Swift.”
And, so on.
left over after the successful scramblers jump on limited opportunities? Or
do those lives actually have an entirely different shape of their own worth
exploring? Like the wine goblet? A secret non-scrambling world of wonders and pleasures and even growth and learning experiences that is totally
invisible to the vast majority of us, like so many leprechauns?
“The problem with taking the most difficult path?”
At first, these two silhouettes are all we notice and we pay no attention to
the background. But, if we look closely, the background emerges. We notice
that the background shape, in its quiet way, actually makes an image of its
own. In the case of the picture of the two silhouettes, the background shape
is of a wine goblet. A wine goblet that may be filled with a chilled rosé, sitting on a table, on a deck overlooking a calm lake, in which the sunset is
reflected. The silhouettes are social, interactive. The wine goblet is solitary
and still. The silhouettes evoke action and engagement. The wine goblet
evokes reflection and repose. Each image is compelling but in a different
way.
Isn’t it similar with our approach to life? There is the obvious approach, the
one that jumps out at us. And, another reason it is all the more obvious is
usually because it is what everyone else is doing. But, then there is the opposite approach, which is not obvious because hardly anyone else is doing
it. In fact, the thought might not have crossed anyone’s mind.
What kind of lives do the people who don’t scramble, or don’t scramble fast
enough lead? Are those lives simply the background, the debris, what is
EMPTY
Runaway Thoughts
By the time this monthly edition of
esteem Lotus (a prestigious release of
your own Federation of India Community Associations/FICA (since
1967) reaches you, it will be time to
Celebrate India’s 68th Independence
Day. Thanks to the foresightedness,
commitment, nonviolent approach,
and leadership of Mahatma Gandhi
(10/2/1869-1/30/1948) that India
became a free nation on August 15,
1947. Gandhi Ji proved to the entire
World that we all can be greater than
we are. He did not need any weapons to prove his point. The wounds
Gandhi Ji and other Freedom Fighters (Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar
Patel, Lala Lajpat Rai, to mention
a few) received during demonstrations and when locked up in jails
became their ammunition. Gandhi
Ji exhibited such a profound belief
in the dignity of human race and
unshakable sense of sacrifice that he
has become immortal. He has truly
become the epitome of sacrifice, the
giving up of all worldly addictions
- material as well as personal. For
1948 Nobel Prize, Gandhi Ji was being duly nominated by the selection
committee (5th time) but he could
not receive one on account of his assassination by a fanatic individual,
Mr. Godse. To honor Gandhi Ji in
1948 after he passed away, Noble
Prize selection committee decided
to not award Nobel Prize to anyone.
That is what Saint of Sabarmati was
all about.
India has become today one
of the largest democracy and one of
the most economically progressive
- By Inder Suneja
nation in the World. Indian economy has jumped from $300 million
around 1995 to $2 trillion today.
Based on the current reforms by the
Indian Government, it is likely to
touch about $6 trillion in next five
years or so, Just the other day (some
20 years ago), India did not have
enough funds to pay its bills and
had to pawn quiet a few tonnes of
Gold from its official holding with
couple of leading Banks in England
and Switzerland. And today India
is sitting on about $320 billion in
surplus. India had offered Greece financial help during recent financial
crisis on account of both countries’
centuries old good relations but
Greece decided to not avail of the
help for it might have affected that
country’s future and progress in Eurozone. Speaking of India’s growth
and progress over last a couple of
decades, Indian engineers and researchers deserve a lot of credit. Germany has started showing tremendous interest in joint collaborations
in manufacturing with India lately,
as many as 1,500 German firms have
established Offices in India.
It is very much in the blood of almost all Asian Indians that they do
care for others in genuine need, irrespective of their origin/race and
faith. Melody Queen of India, Lata
Mangeshkar, born on Sept. 28, 1929
at Indore in Madhya Pradesh State
in a Marathi-speaking family, has
helped thousands of families all
over Inida. Among many others,
well known entrepreneur Ratan Tata
came to Harvard School of Business
for a year or so for an advanced
management course and before he
went back to India to look after his
business, he donated $50 million to
Harvard, the wealthiest University
in the World with about $32 billion
endowment.
By the way, Yale is the 2nd
wealthiest University with $21 billion, and King Abdullah University
of Science and Technology is at #3
with $19 billion endowment today. I
believe humans think, by and large,
alike when it comes to helping those
in need (whether they are Asian Indians or non-Asian Indians). Charity work done by Bob Geldof (born
at Dublin in Ireland on 10/5/1954),
Creator of Boomtown Rats Band In
1975 with well-known artists, like
Elton John, Madonna, U2, Sting is
unforgettable. My Respected Mom
used to say, ‘ Even an animal can
live for oneself, Always try to think
beyond yourself. Minting money
does not make anyone admirable or
honorable....and so on’.
Thanks to new tech that
anyone can not only further one’s
business/work but can also move
it faster and easier. In this booming
economy, if you have an idea (and
believe me, there are many underpenetrated areas in various industries when you view it thru the lens
of new tech and latest researches),
give it some shape now or at least
work towards it little by little on
daily basis. ‘I’ll try some day or I’ll
try one day’ is not going to work,
for some day and one day do not
News of Interest 9
constitute days of the week (as wise
people often remind us). Now is the
time, Past was past and won’t come
back. And what is the future of our
otherwise beautiful civilization?
Who knows? Who had known that
drip-irrigation will save 60% water
and tissue culture (using single cell
or a group of cells under hygienic
and controlled conditions will become the backbone of propagation
of certain crops in a tiny 1/676th
portion of India when idea got experimented there not long ago? I
am glad scientists over there did not
keep waiting for someone else to
prove first and took the shot themselves, which proved to be right on
the money. Therefore, please think
of coming forward with your idea(s)
now. Plenty of funds are available
for the right type of idea/startup
these days. Worst scenario could be
it won’t work. So what? Thomas Edison (1847-1931), who is well-known
for his 1,000 patents, always kept experimenting with products, apparatus, etc. and never gave up even if
he failed for about 10,000 times. As
per him, ‘I did not fail 10,000 times.
I proved that those 10,000 ways did
not work’. Just move on by keeping
your feet on the ground and eyes on
the stars, and let life throw a curve
ball on your path from time to time.
That happens to almost everyone, at
one point or the others.....After all,
Calm Seas don’t Create Skilled Sailors anyway!
10 Community News
FORTY THREE YEARS AFTER HER DEATH, GEETA DUTT’S
SONGS ARE STILL EVERGREEN
“Contributed exclusively to The Lotus by Raj Kanwar, father of Minnie Gautam and father-in-law of Samir Gautum. Cleveland residents since 1986.
Raj Kanwar, at age 84 continues to write for local newspapers in Dehradun and has his work published in Indian national newspapers.”
When Geeta Dutt née Roy sang
“Yaad karoge, yaad karoge, ik din
humko yaad karoge” in Do Bhai
in 1947, she had not imagined how
prophetic the lyrics by Raja Mehdi
Ali Khan would turn out to be. Today, 68 years after that song had
captured the imagination of the music lovers all across the country and
43 years since her death in 1972, the
three generations of her die-hard
fans still fondly remember her, and
her melodious and soulful voice
continue to haunt and mesmerize
them. The music of the Do Bhai with
another of Geeta’s song “Mera sundar sapna beet gaya” topping the
charts was a hit, and the movie became the second highest grosser at
the box office in 1947.
It was virtually Geeta’s first movie,
and the countrywide popularity of
her songs in Do Bhai had overnight
leapfrogged to another dimension
the nascent playback singing career
of the sensational teenager. Her popularity had scaled to newer heights
in the years 1948 and 1949, eclipsing
Shamshad Begum and Raj Kumari
who then ruled the roost. Virtually,
overnight she had become the first
choice of every music director worth
his salt and crowned Hindi moviedom’s reigning diva.
And then suddenly she found her
supremacy being challenged by another teenager, Lata Mangeshkar
who had scored a unique hat-trick
in 1949 with three mega-hit films
in Mahal, Andaz and Barsaat. Naushad’s lilting music in Mehboob
Khan’s Andaaz and Khemchand
Prakash’s soulful songs in Kamal
Amrohi’s Mahal with the haunting
theme song “Aayega Aanewala”
had enthralled the music lovers all
over the country. However, it was in
Raj Kapoor’s Barsaat with amazing
music by the new duo of ShankarJaikishan that Lata demonstrated
her varied inbred talents that caught
the imagination of cinegoers. Interestingly, she had had the rare
distinction of singing both for Nargis and Nimmi as also for a starlet
named Bimla Kumari on whom
the popular “Hawa mein udta jaye
mera lal dupatta” song was picturized. With rich musical lineage and
training as her assets, it was thus not
surprising for Lata to have won the
love of music buffs.
Lata then emerged as the new sing-
ing sensation, and Geeta found herself relegated to the second position.
Yet, despite this relegation, Geeta
nevertheless managed to hold her
own and was too in great demand.
In fact, 1950 turned out to be the
most productive year for Geeta during which she recorded more songs
than in any of the previous year. In
Jogan with Nargis in the lead, she
sang six of Meerabai’s devotional
bhajans like “Mat jaa mat jaa jogi”,
“Main to Giridhar ke ghar jaaoon”,
“Eri main to prem diwani” and the
most popular one “Ghunghat ke pat
khol” that captured the imagination
of the devout. In fact, during that
year, she sang for several reputed
music composers such like SD Burman, Avinash Vyas, Bulo C. Rani,
Chitragupta, Ghulam Mohammed,
Khayyam, Hansraj Behl, Khemchand Prakash, Husnlal Bhagatram,
SN Tripathi, Vasant Desai et al.
And then Guru Dutt happened in
1951. Dev Anand’s Baazi was his directorial debut. It was on its sets that
Geeta and Guru met. Geeta was bewitchingly beautiful and her voice
enchanting. The Cupid duly played
its role; soon enough the two fell in
love and were married in May 1953.
They blissfully spent the first three
years of their marriage; their first
son Tarun came in 1954 and the next
Arun in 1956. But unfortunately
they were not destined to ‘live happily thereafter’. It was ironical that
Dutt’s entry into her life became both
a blessing and a curse. It was a blessing as Geeta’s singing career further
blossomed and she sang some of the
most titillating songs of her career in
movies like Aar Paar (1954) and Mr.
and Mrs.55 (1955). Both the movies were big hits. Coquettish songs
like “Ye lo main haari piya”, “Jaa
jaa jaa bewafa” and “Babu ji dheere
chalna” became chartbusters. There
were other singers like Lata who
were as good, if not better, than
Geeta but her singing possessed an
ethereal charm of its own; she sang
from heart that lent an extra magic
to her singing. At one moment, she
would sing a devotional “Main to
Giridhar ke ghar jaaoon” and the
next she would without taking a
breath switch over to a completely
different genre, “Mera naam chin
chin chu” and then to a seductive
number “Tadbir se bigdi hui taqdeer
bana de”. There was no end to her
versatility. “A soft spoken woman
in real life, she would metamorpho-
se into an exotic cabaret performer
with clever modulation of voice in
the recording studio. Her voice was
rich, vibrant and well-toned and
could switch from exotica to melancholy in a matter of minutes,” says
Shikha Biswas Vohra, daughter of
the veteran composer, Anil Biswas.
Both Geeta and Guru were temperamental, sensitive and emotionally
fragile. Geeta as a top playback singer in 1953 made much more money
than Guru Dutt who then struggled
to make his mark as a director. A few
busybodies insinuated that Dutt had
married Geeta only for financial reasons. That hurt Guru no end and he
asked her to sing only for his movies and not for any other producer.
However, others pooh-pooh this
insinuation. “Guru Dutt belong to
the kind of people for whom money
meant nothing; it was only a commodity to trade dreams with,” comments Amit Biswas who, as a kid,
used to play with Tarun and Arun
in their beautiful bungalow on the
top of Pali Hill. If he stopped Geeta
from singing for other producers, it
was probably because he “considered her as his treasure, not to be
shared,” adds Amit. Being a compulsive singer, Guru Dutt’s ban muffled
her natural singing instincts. She felt
suffocated and secretly sang for a
few outside producers but that was
not the solution.
It needs to be remembered that
Guru Dutt was the most creative of
directors of his time and his movies like Pyasaa were sheer ‘work of
art’ on celluloid. He was a strict disciplinarian when it came to movie
making, but he was just the opposite in his personal life; he was virtually a chain smoker and drank a
lot. Though ostensibly they continued to live together, their lives had
started drifting apart. In the midst
of this marital turmoil, Guru Dutt
introduced a newcomer, Waheeda
Rehman in his movie C.I.D. in 1956.
Rumours started doing the rounds
of Guru Dutt’s affair with her that
further upset and distressed Geeta.
She ignored rehearsals and recordings, neglected her riyaz and generally became careless. If all this was
not enough, Geeta took to drinking.
Thus they both began neglecting
their respective careers and to make
matter worse, Guru Dutt made
heavy financial losses in Kaagaz ke
phool.
Amid all this marital turmoil was
born their third child, Nina in 1962.
Two years later on 10 October 1964,
Guru Dutt allegedly committed
suicide. Even though disharmony
and discord had torn asunder their
personal lives, the sudden death of
Guru Dutt nevertheless shattered
Geeta so much that she could not for
six months recognize even her own
children.
After her husband’s death Geeta
lived for eight years. Those were the
years of financial hardships since
Guru Dutt had not saved much,
and Geeta too had stopped singing.
It was then out of sheer compulsion that she took up again singing
in Basu Bhattacharya’s Anubhav
with music by Kanu Roy and lyrics
by Gulzar. She sang three memorable songs, “Meri jaan mujhe jaan
na kaho”,“Koi chupke se aake” and
“Mera dil jo mera hota” that hypnotized the Hindi music lover. It was
remarkable indeed that Geeta even
after a gap of few years had not lost
the verve and vivacity of the old.
She loved her children. “She was an
extrovert, and a fun-loving, happy
person and extremely generous.
(Continued om page 11)
Community News 11
GEETA(Continued
DUTT’S
SONGS
from page 10)
I remember the good times we had;
at a moment’s notice Mummy would
say, “Come on, let’s go for a picnic,
and we would pack up and leave.
She loved having people around,
our friends used to stay over and she
would cook and look after everyone.
She loved doing that,” said Arun of
his mother.
She had, however, not given up drinking and that eventually took its toll
when she died on 20 July 1972 of cirrhosis of the liver. She was then only
42. I cannot do better than quote a
passage from http://www.geetadutt.
com/life.html “Yet, Geeta’s scourge
is somehow very poignant. It still hits
home. Her spirit was not tailored for
tragedy. It was joyous, resplendent
and luminous. When such a spirit
breaks down and withers away, it is
difficult to remain untouched.
But the brighter side of things is that
what will never wither away is the
immortal art that came out of this
suffering. And at the end of the day
whichever angle we look at it – famous or rare, club song or cabaret,
Roy or Dutt, Geeta’s voice remains as
enticing and magical.”
In a rare tribute to Geeta Dutt’s memory, the government of India selected
her 41 years after her death for a special honour and issued a Rs. five postage stamp in 2013 to celebrate 100
years of Indian cinema. How, prophetic her 1947 song “Yaad karoge, yaad
karoge, ik din humko yaad karoge”
turned out to be.
The writer is a Dehra Dun-based author, freelance journalist and a music
lover. <[email protected]>
12
Community News
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