May 6, 2011

Volume 3, No. 2
first Indian weekend magazine
For free distribution

2nd
Anniversary
The Indian Weekender’s 2nd Anniversary issue brings you a bumper issue...
Indian

Our second Anniversary

Your favourite Kiwi Indian publication, Indian Weekender, is two years old.
We invite you, dear reader, to share our joy on this occasion of our second
anniversary with this special issue.
Anniversaries are about a sense of satisfaction, gratitude and anticipa-
tion. About completion, renewal, rededication.
Satisfaction at the achievement of yet another milestone, however small,
and peering into the rear view mirror watching the road just travelled fade
away into the past.
Gratitude for the company and help of fellow travellers that we met along
the way and for those who become part of the journey – such as you, our
valued readers, advertisers, contributors, writers, columnists, photographers,
distributors and vendors.
Anticipation for the great things we all hope and dream lie in store for us
in our journey forward toward achieving greater successes in serving the
Kiwi Indian community in a range of media: print, online, mobile, entertain-
ment – and who knows which other new media this long and exciting road
we have chosen for ourselves will lead to?
At the end of our first year we quickly moved to establish Indian Week-
ender as the most printed and circulated Indian publication in New Zealand
– a position that we still maintain and will continue to hold.
We also launched our immensely popular website, which continues to
be the most accessed Kiwi Indian website and one of the most accessed
Indian websites in Australasia. We followed that up with a mobile version
and an iPad version that have ever-increasing access rates.
The second year has been spent consolidating our position and improv-
ing our products to serve the community better. Our efforts have been
amply aided by new advertisers, whose list is growing impressively, new
writers and contributors – and of course new team members, besides a
growing readership, which indeed is our raison d’etre.
Two big initiatives in our second year have been our espousal of the
cause of raising funds for presenting the first ever ambulance from the
Indian Community to St John Ambulance and our foray into sponsoring and
presenting a range of cultural events.
We plan to step up both our community related fund raising activities and
promotion of cultural, sporting and other activities in the Kiwi Indian com-
munity in our third year.
As we enter our third year, we are confident in the thought that the good
wishes of all our readers, advertisers, contributors and associates as well as
the larger community are with us.
Enjoy the second anniversary issue of your favourite Indian Weekender.
 Indian
Indian May 6, 2011
Log on to www.iwk.co.nz Volume 3, No. 2
New Zealand’s first Indian weekend magazine
For free distribution

New Zealand | 8 Bollywood | 44 Column | 49

Around the world Sonakshi: No kissing, How well do you
on solar power no bikinis know your onions?

Our Hearty
congratulations
and gratitude to
all of our readers,
contributors,
advertisers and
well wishes
without whom we
would not have
achieved this
milestone
Thanks a lot
Indian Weekender
Team

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Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz 3

Indian

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4 Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
Indian
New Zealand

Hindi in Kiwi schools a step closer

ARVIND KUMAR get things going on a bigger scale, the Hindi
language in New Zealand could die out in
Are our young people not being Who are your trustee members?
An Auckland group’s quest to have the Hindi time to come.
exposed to enough proper Hindi Satya Dutt, Jagdish Chand, Ragini
language taught in New Zealand takes one “I have national focus and we need to keep
small step closer to fruition on Sunday. pushing for it.” language in the community, on Lata Narayan, Dhirendra Nath, Satya
The first Hindi class, comprising 10 stu- Mr Dutt said other vernacular langages radio and in social gatherings? Wati Kumar, Dinesh Chand, Vijendra
dents, will be held at the Papatoetoe Interme- such as Mandarin, Japanese and even Samoan No, it is a trend nowadays that in so- Prasad, Prem Singh, Indra Deo. Saty-
diate School this Sunday, and the organisers were taught in New Zealand schools. cial gatherings more so over English anand Swami, Shanti Singh, Jagdish
are excited that this could lead to a main- “So why not Hindi? Considering the medium is used. The radio stations Prasad Maharaj, Radha Reddy, Shiu
stream teaching of the vernacular subject. close trade ties New Zealand has with India, have begun to use English as well. Ram, Mahesh Bindra
The project is it should be
being driven by taught in NZ Are our young people in danger
the Hindi Lan- schools on a of forgetting their mother tongue Your first Hindi class in a NZ
guage and Culture bigger scale because of the western influence school is about to start, what are
Trust, headed by and as part of in New Zealand? your feelings?
Auckland school the main cur- Yes, there is a great danger beyond Really excited and looking forward
teacher Satya riculum.” to it. Starting at Papatoetoe Interme-
any reasonable doubt and in four to
Dutt. Mr Dutt
five decades our Indian community diate School from this Sunday 8th of
And Mr Dutt welcomed
and the trust’s support from could be like South African Indians. May.
efforts have been any individu-
further bolstered als or groups Which community groups are sup- What do you think of the standards
by timely support who wanted porting you in your efforts? of the Hindi language being used
from National to support his J.P.Maharaj-Brahiman Sabha of NZ, on our three 24-hour radio sta-
Party’s Papatoetoe trust in the Manikan Pillay-TISI Sangam, Roopa, tions?
MP Kanwaljit project. Waitakere Indian Association, Sunita Mostly commercial based, entertain-
Singh Bakshi. The Hindu Council of New Zealand said it Narayan - Wellington Hindi School, ment, news and community mes-
Mr Dutt told the Indian Weekender that was supportive of Mr Dutt’s efforts. Harnam Singh Golian-Sikh Society,
Mr Bakshi had lent his support “100 per cent” “But we would like to see it happen with sages.
Shiva Charan Hindi School, Vishwa
by sponsoring stationery supply to students a united national effort,” Council general
Shanti Hindi School, Blockhouse Your thoughts for the future?
valued at more than $200 every year. secretary Dr Guna Magesan told the Indian
Bay Arya Samaj Hindi School, Hindi To see that Hindi is being taught in
“We are very grateful to Mr Bakshi for his Weekender.
ongoing support.” Dr Magesan said he had had talks with School running at Kaart Trust in East schools as a language and be avail-
Mr Dutt said he was working in collabora- Mr Dutt and they were “waiting for the right Tamaki. Pt Nitya Nand Sundar, Pt able to anyone wishing to learn.
tion with several other groups in other New time” to give the project a concerted push. Sunil Sharda, Mahesh Bindra-Bel-
Zealand cities in this project. Here, Mr Dutt talks to Indian Weekender moral Mandir.
He said if some action was taken now to about the project:

roop darshan
SO U L O F I N D I A N FA SH I O N

Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz 5

Indian

6 Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz

Indian
New Zealand

n Bhatnagar throws hat in ring

Aaro It has been report-
DEV NADK ARNIn ed that a sig nificant
In the wa ke of Do number of National
Brash’s Act Par ty lead- Par ty suppor ters in
ership coup, all eyes are Epsom wa nted a strong
on the Epsom elector- National candid ate this
ate seat. In the run up to time around and ma ny
Thursday’s development
s have backed the can-
in wh ich Ro dne y Hid e did atu re of Mr Bhat-
stepped dow n as lea der to nagar.
The longti me
ma ke way for Don Brash, ine ssm an pre -
there has been growin
g Hobson resident and bus llor at the
l fly National’s as a cou nci
speculation as to who wil viously ser ved
er his election
flag in Epsom . Auckland Cit y Council aft
that for mer has als o ser ved on
One strong rumour was in October 200 7. He
Bhatnaga r uni Board. He
ty
Auckland cou nci lor Aa ron the local Hobson Comm
ma n. Ind ian Week- an of the Cit y Develop-
would be National’s on Friday
was the chairm
vio usly ser ved
ender has reli abl y lea rne d ment Comm ittee and pre
aga r has file d his an of fin anc e. 
nig ht that Mr Bhatn as deputy chairm election to
n wit h the par ty. He cho se not to see k re-
nom inatio 2010, but
tional Par ty Co unc il in
In the last election, Na the new Auckl and
n Ba nks
vot ed “st rat egi cal ly” to ma ke suppor ted the candid atu
re of Joh
suppor ters e and the has bee n act ive in
Mr Hid bid . He
Epsom a safe seat for l, though,
in his mayoral
ce 200 2 and is
Act Par ty. Mo re tha n one pol
Act National Par ty politics sin rat e for the
sup por t for Ep som ele cto
has shown plu ngi ng t cou ple of
chairman of the
2010.
and Mr Hid e dur ing the pas National Par ty since mid
months.

Indian Commerce Minister, delegation visiting NZ

Anand Sharma, India’s Minister for Commerce
and Industry, will be visiting New Zealand
next week. The India New Zealand Business
Council (INZBC) and the Federation of Indian
Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)
are hosting a joint business forum in Auckland
on the morning of Monday, May 9.
A delegation of prominent businesspeople
from India is accompanying the minister and
his officials. Mr Sharma will be the guest of
honour at the event. After his engagements
in Auckland, the minister will also visit Wel-
lington for talks with New Zealand’s Ministry
of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials. New
Zealand and India are in the process of putting
in place a Free Trade Agreement.
The business delegation from India will
comprise Mr. Robin Banerjee Chief Financial
Officer, Suzlon Energy Ltd; Mr. G. C. Arora,
Chief Operating Officer, New India Assurance
Pvt Ltd.; Mr. Parag S Mate, Chairman, Beyond
Corporation (India) Private Limited; Mr.
Jagdish Singh, Country Head, Tech Mahin-
dra & Mahindra Satyam, NZ; Mr. Sashikant
Karkare, Managing Director, Headstream
Advisory; Dr. Manju Kalra Prakash, Asstt
Secretary General, FICCI; Manoj Nagpaul,
Vice-President & Country Head, WIPRO
Technologies Ltd; Mr. VG Pandit, Country
Head, Bank of Baroda; Mr. Srikanth Badiga,
Chairman EPCES & Director, Phoenix Group;
Mr. John C. Alexander, Sr. Vice President-
BDJM Baxi & Co.; Mr. Amit Chakrapani,
Director - Int’l Projects & Academics, DAV
Institute of Management; Mr SK Agarwal,
Chairman & Mg Director, GNG Trading Co.
Pvt Ltd.; Mr Naresh Mahajan, Chief Execu-
tive Officer, Mahajan Ply & Paper Resources;
Mr Prakash Kumar More, Managing Director,
Mayur Ply Industries Pvt Ltd.; Mr Moham-
med Abdul Aziz Majeed, Managing Director,
BSM Group; Mr Vidhan Prajapati, Manag-
ing Director, ABC Group; Mr Ajay Sharma,
Specialist Consultant - Hydro Power, Entura-
Hydro Tasmania; Mr Aditya Singhania; Chief
Executive Officer; Intercity Traders Pvt Ltd.;
Mr Dilip Kumar Prajapati, Managing Director,
ABC Group; Mr PR Maheshwaran, Managing
Director, Star Trace Pvt Ltd; Mr Ashish Jain,
Vice-President, UTPL Banking & Financial
Services; Mr. Satish Vermani Managing Di-
rector Bank of Baroda, NZ

NZ Parliament petitioned
on Kashmir
Green Party Member
of Parliament Keith
New Zealand Parlia Locke presented a pe
ment requesting tha tition to the
the New Zealand go t the House of Repre
vernment to call on sentatives urge
its occupation of Ka the Indian governmen
shmir, and stop the t to withdraw
civilians. on going violence ag
ainst Kashmiri

Ghulam Haider Lone

and 924 others signe
sented in Parliament. d the petition before
The petition has been it was pre -
and Trade Committe referred to the Forei
e for fur ther action. gn Affairs
and was presented The petition is numb
on December 15 las ered 20 08/115
t year.
A petition is a docume
nt addressed to the
signed by at least on House of Representa
e person. It asks the tives and
policy or law, or to pu House to act on a ma
t right a local or priva tter of public
te concern.
Anyone of any age ca
n petition the House
corporated bodies wi including corporation
th sufficient identity s and unin-
as organisations.
A petition can only be
accepted by the Ho
use if it conforms to
certain rules.

Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz 7

Indian
When the sun powers
you around the world
dev nadkarni
A futuristic, streamlined piece of kit clad in
arrays of thousands of deep blue photovoltaic
cells is traversing the southern Pacific Ocean
this month, on its way to becoming the first
ever solar powered vessel to circumnavigate the
globe.
Beginning its journey in Monaco on Sep-
tember 27 last year, the Planet Solar Turanor has
crossed the Atlantic Ocean, the Panama Canal
and half of the Pacific Ocean so far in just over
200 days, calling at ports all along its route that
tends to stay as close to the equator as possible.
Over the next few weeks, it will make stops in
New Caledonia and Brisbane before continuing
on its final leg back to Europe.
“It all began as an idea. We knew the technol-
ogies for such under-
taking such a mission
existed. It was a
question of putting
it all together and
making it work,” says
Raphael Domjan, the
Planet Solar proj-
ect’s Swiss initiator
and the vessel’s co-
skipper, speaking to
Indian Weekender in
the Tongan capital
Nuku’alofa recently.
Germany based
Swedish renewable
energy technologies
entrepreneur Immo Stroher bought the idea
because he believes “it is possible to achieve
commercially realistic earnings over the long
term with advanced technologies.” The US$ 22
million Turanor was built in Kiel in Germany
from solar technology components and propul-
sion equipment sourced from all over Europe.
“Some of the parts came from all over the
world,” Mr Domjan said.
The co-skipper and some of his crew were
taking a breather in Tonga last week while the
Turanor was undergoing unexpected mainte-
nance work in Bora Bora in French Polynesia.
“It’s nothing to do with the solar system,” Mr
Domjan assured. “There was an issue with the
pitch control of one of the two propellers. A
totally mechanical issue, which needed to be
tuned to gain better energy efficiencies.”
This was the first time the vessel had hit
a hitch after its incident free voyage half way
across the globe.
The Swiss-flagged 31-metre wave-piercer
twin-hulled carbon fibre catamaran derives its
name from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings,
which means “power of the sun”. The vessel
isn’t calling on the shores of the country where
the famous films were made but the Turanor’s
design originated in New Zealand. LOMOcean
Design – which also designed the Earthrace/
Ady Gil – designed the vessel’s naval architec-
ture, styling and structural engineering.
At an efficiency rate of 22%, the solar cells
that power the Turanor’s twin motor propulsion
system are the highest rated photovoltaic cells
available for purchase in the open
8 Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
New Zealand
market. Some 36,000 of these are spread over
a surface area of more than 500 square metres
of the vessel.
Under ideal conditions, the Turanor coasts
along at 14 knots. “But that is the maximum
speed. We have to often run at lower speeds
depending on the conditions as well as the in-
tensity of sunlight available,” Mr Domjan said.
With the array of lithium ion batteries on
board, the Turanor can sail for up to five nights
without direct sunlight. “This period can be
stretched if we drop the cruising speed. For
example sailing at 5 knots will keep us going
for 10 days,” Mr Domjan added.
Purpose built weather and tidal forecasting
software that works in tandem with the vessel’s
geo-positioning and
navigation systems
helps predict the in-
tensity of sunshine
over the next several
days. This helps make
course corrections in
the route dynamically
to achieve the highest
degree of energy ef-
ficiency, Mr Domjan
said.
The boat has stirred
great interest wherever
it has stopped to show-
case its state of art
propulsion and naviga-
tional technology. “There is a great deal of in-
terest. But this is very much a learning experi-
ence,” Mr Domjan said. “So much data is being
continuously collected that when we finish the
mission and analyse it, we will be able to decide
on a future mission and how it needs to be im-
proved over this one.”
As well as governments, there have been
inquiries from private individuals in Europe
and the United States wishing to add a solar
powered yacht to their fleet. “But if it works
well, and we can think in terms of a production
model, it will benefit people of remote tropical
islands the most,” Mr Domjan said.
‘Aka’oula, who heads the Tongan govern-
ment’s energy sector reform programme agreed.
“Spiraling costs of oil are rapidly driving up
inter-island transport costs. Any alternative
technology that will mitigate the situation is
welcome,” he says.
The Tongan government hosted an alter-
native energy expo in Nuku’alofa to coincide
with Turanor’s arrival to focus the Pacific
Island Forum members’ attention on alternative
energy.
Pacific Island governments were keen on
watching the progress of Planet Solar and Tura-
nor’s progress toward developing a production
model that would be well suited to their local
and regional transportation needs.
Dev Nadkarni travelled to Tonga with as-
sistance from Pacific Islands Trade and Invest,
a Pacific Island Forum organisation based in
New Zealand that promotes investment and
trade in the Pacific Islands.
Indian

Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz 9

Indian
Adnan Sami Live In Concert
Manukau’s Telstra Clear Events Centre will
echo with the silken voice of the enormously
talented Adnan Sami on the night of June 17.
The musical prodigy, with a slew of super
hit numbers below his belt, was
Born and raised in London. Sami began
taking lessons from Pandit Shivkumar
Sharma when visiting India during his
school vacations. Indian singing legend
Asha Bhosle spotted talent in a ten-year-
old Adnan Sami at an R D Burman concert
in London, and encouraged him to take up
music as a career.
As a teenager, Sami, when performing on
the sitar at a programme in Stockholm, was
noticed by Keyboard Magazine as being the
fastest man on keyboard in Asia. He gradu-
ated from King’s College and became the
first person to play Indian classical music on
the electric piano.
He had his first solo album Raag Time
in 1991-92. The song from his album “Kisi
Din Teri Yaad” was the title track “Jab
Chandani Barh Kar” of his first album. In
1994, he composed music for a film for the
first time.
The Pakistani film, in which Adnan
was the lead with his wife Zeba and
famous Indian playback singer Asha Bhosle
did the playback, Sargam, was a blockbuster.
The songs “Kabhi To Nazar Milao” and
Lift Karaa De whose music video starred
Amitabh Bachchan from the album became
immensely popular at that time.
The song, “Tu Sirf Mera Mehboob”,
10
from the Hindi film, Ajnabee (2001) sung by
Adnan also became a rage. Screen Magazine
called him the pop personality of the year
in 2001and even said that the success of
his album Kabhi To Nazar
Milao “kept
the Indian
pop music
industry alive
and breathing”
in 2001.
In 2002, Pepsi Foods
made Adnan its brand ambassador in India,
a contract which involved hosting a series of
live music concerts across cities as well as
Adnan featuring in ads for Pepsi products.
His second studio album, Tera Chehra,
was released in October 2002 to critical
eulogies even as his first album was still
selling.
Saathiya (2002) brought him the oppor-
tunity to work with maestro A. R. Rahman
in the form of “Aye Udi Udi”, which he was
looking forward to.
His most successful albums have been
Kabhi To
Nazar Milao and Tera
Chehra, and his music videos usually have
had a host of Bollywood stars in them.
Sami has won many international awards,
including the Nigar Award, the Bolan
Academy Award, and the Graduate Award.
Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
New Zealand
He was given a special award by UNICEF
for the song he wrote for famine-hit Ethio-
pia as a teenager and a United Nations Peace
Medal for a song he wrote and performed for
Africa.
Sami was featured in a documentary,
commissioned by the Foreign and Common
Wealth Office of Great Britain, about ten
people from the Indian subcontinent, who
have influenced the Asian culture in the
UK over the last fifty years. Swedish and
British radio and television have often re-
ferred to him as the fastest keyboard player
in the world.
As a classical concert pianist, Sami
has had the honour of giving “solo” Royal
Command performances before the King of
Sweden and King Hussein of Jordan.
In 2008, he was presented the Naushad
Music Award by Andhra Pradesh Depart-
ment of Culture, at Hyderabad. In 2008 he
also won “Best International Act” at the UK
Asian Music Awards.
He was presented the Life Time Achieve-
ment Award in 2010 from Pakistan Televi-
sion.
Adnan Sami Live In Concert: Telestra
Clear Events Centre, Manukau
Tickets sold www.ticketdirect.co.nz or at
major indian outlets throughout Auckland.
For more information: Doreen 021367469
or Prakash 021888528
Indian

y ! ! e n d e r
n d v e r s a r W e e k
p p y 2 A n n i n d i a n
H a I
e u r a n c
n s
Life I
u r a n c e
t h I n s
Heal t i o n
P r o t e c
r t g ag e
M o
t e c t i on
m e P ro
Inco o v e r
n e s s C
a l I l l
Cr i t i c

Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz 11

 Indian
New Zealand

Local community ignored on Pah Rd development

“Despite strong opposition from local
residents and organisations, and a
Council planning report recommend-
ing against it, commissioners have
granted a resource consent for the
Pah Rd Warehouse proposal,” says
Julie Fairey, Roskill Community Voice
member on the Puketapapa Local
Board.
The decision of the three independent
commissioners was released on April
13th.  “Since then we have been con-
tacted by many locals disappointed
that their very real concerns about
parking, traffic, noise, protected
trees, flooding risk and the character
of the neighbourhood have been dis-
missed by commissioners who don’t
have to live with the consequences of
their decision,” says Michael Wood,
Roskill Community Voice member on
the Puketapapa Local Board.“Given
the Council planner’s recommenda-
tion against the Warehouse building
on the Pah Rd site and the high level
of local opposition the independent
commissioners should have declined
this application.  We are supporting
residents to investigate the options
for appealing the decision, includ-
ing the Environment Court and we
are convening a public meeting for
further local discussion of the issue,”
says Wood.
The public meeting will be held at
the Fickling Centre (beneath the
Mt Roskill Library, Three Kings) at
2.30pm on Sunday May 8th. “It is
particularly worrying that the com-
missioners’ report is so dismissive
of residents’ concerns, implying that
locals have an elitist attitude towards
the Warehouse as a company,” says
Fairey.  “Most of the people we have
spoken to who are opposed to the
Warehouse building on Pah Rd have
told us they shop at the Warehouse
themselves, and would not support
any ‘big box’ retail going in to an
inappropriate site.  What is the point
of having so-called ‘independent’
commissioners if they are not going
to take submitters at face value?”
The proposal to build a “The Ware-
house” retail store, with associated
carparking and additional retail
tenancies and road changes, has
been undertaken by Eldamos Invest-
ments.  The sites the development
would cover are 100 Pah Rd (formerly
the site of the Holeproof factory),
677, 677A and 679 Mount Albert Rd.  organised a public meeting in the
The total retail floor area would be
7500m2, with carparking less than
the minimum required under current
regulations.  public meeting about the proposal
The resource consent notification
for this proposal was notified on
November 5th 2010.  It did not go in
City Scene, as past notifications of
this nature would have, because City
Scene was no longer being published
as a result of the Auckland Council
amalgamation which took effect on
November 1st 2010.  remaining 2 were neutral. Those sub-
Roskill Community Voice leafleted
approximately 500 local households
in early December 2010 to encour-
age public submissions, whether for,
against or neutral. We were surprised
to discover that many locals did not
know about the resource consent
at all, or The Warehouse’s plans.  the proposal as well, presenting an
This was only a matter of a few days
before submissions closed on De-
cember 10th. With the assistance of
Councillor Cathy Casey, we sought an
extension to the submission deadline,
however this was declined by the
CEO of Auckland Council.  commissioners was released on April
Given the high level of contact we
received from locals on this issue we
area to gain broader community feed-
back on the proposal. In mid Decem-
ber 2010 over 70 people attended this
and voted unanimously to oppose it. 
In late January 2011 Roskill Commu-
nity Voice began circulating a petition 
amongst local residents, opposing
the development.  
Of the 23 submissions made on the
resource consent application, 21
opposed the application, while the
mitting against included the James
Wallace Arts Trust, the Onehunga
Business Association, and the Parks,
Sport and Recreation department of
the Auckland Council. All local resi-
dents who submitted on the proposal
indicated they opposed it. Carol
Beaumont MP submitted against
almost 300-signature strong petition
to the commissioners, with several
dozen more signatures coming in
after the hearing.
The decision of the independent
13th.
For more information, contact: Julie
Fairey Julie.fairey@aucklandcity.
govt.nz 021 287 9900 or Michael
Wood Michael.wood@aucklandcity.
govt.nz 027 547 1926

CM

MY

CY

MY

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Indian

Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz 13

Indian
New Zealand
East Tamaki Healthcare is looking to
expand. Kabbadi tournament a big success
We are looking to expand our Clinical Family Navigator team. If you or
someone you know has the
qualifications and skills listed below, please contact us.

• Overseas trained Registered Nurse or Doctor.

• Recent experience in primary health care and patient education.
• Good level of spoken English and the ability to communicate in Hindi.
• Knows how to use a computer.
• Able, and willing, to go into patients’ homes or community environments to
educate and engage family in wellness, health promotion and understanding of life-
style choices.
• Full NZ drivers licence.
• Own car with WOF, current registration and insurance.
• Teamwork.

We are also looking to expand our Receptionist team. If you or someone you know
has the qualifications and skills listed below, please contact us.

• Excellent verbal communication skills.

• Good level of spoken English.
• Knows how to use a computer. The Annual Kabaddi Tournament held at
• Ensures the reception area runs smoothly and that patients are happy and com- the newly built Papatoetoe Sports Centre
fortable. on May 1 was an event to remember. The
• Maintains CONFIDENTIALITY of patient information and the details of the event was organised by Desh Punjab
running of the practice. Sports and Cultural Club in association
• Answers general enquiries. with Papatoetoe Kabaddi Club Inc and
ASB Bank.
If you or someone you know may be interested, please e-mail CV and cover letter
to gabriel@ethc.co.nz Despite the unfavourable weather, the
event was attended by community leaders
Or, mail to and members of the public from all com-
Gabriel Orendain, HR Manager
munities. There was a gathering of around
East Tamaki Healthcare
PO Box 61150, Otara, 600 people at the event, making it a huge
Manukau 2159 success.
Teams from all over New Zealand partici-
pated in Kabaddi, Soccer and Volleyball
matches
In Kabaddi, Kalgidhar Team was named
the champion with the hosting team from
Desh Punajb Sports taking the runners up
trophy. The under 20 Kabaddi tourney was
won by the Desh Punjab team and runners
up were Papamoa Kabaddi team.
In Soccer- Auckland Lions were the win-
ners and Punjabi Sath team scored the
second position and in Volleyball, Black
Spikes came out as Champions and Aims
team was the runner up.
Members of Parliament Ross Robertson
(MP), Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi(MP), Gary
Troup, John Mc Cain, Prithi Pal Singh
Basra, Mohanpal Bath along with other
prominent community leaders attended.
Desh Punjab Sports and Cultural club
plans to make Kabaddi, one of the local
games in New Zealand.
For further inquiries, please contact
Resham Singh , President or Iqbal Singh,
Secretary, Desh Punjab.

14 Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz

Indian
Tablet wars: India’s Adam takes a bite of Apple’s iPad
A small Indian start-up founded by a handful of college kids shakes up the tablet computer market by developing
a technological wonder that has a legion of fanboys worldwide.
Bangalore has become a scare word for
Western companies. Ask Barack Obama or
John McCain and they’ll tell you that more
than China or a resurgent Russia, what
keeps them awake most nights is the fear
that the Indian city will take the remaining
jobs in America.
Until now only software and accounting jobs
were being transferred to India. But now
comes the hardware hunt led by Indian tab-
let computer maker Notion Ink and suddenly
the likes of Apple are getting nervous.
That’s because the best tablet on the planet
currently is not the Apple iPad, Samsung’s
Galaxy Tab or Motorola’s Xoom but Notion
Ink’s Adam.
The what? A-D-A-M: the best tablet you have
not heard of. As the tech website Crunch-
gear wrote earlier this year, “This kit isn’t
coming from a high-profile outlet with deep
distribution channels. It’s coming from a
start-up fuelled by nothing but raw passion.
For us at CrunchGear, the Adam isn’t the
fascinating part of the story; it’s the wide-
eyed company and its crazy fanboys.”
“Created with love by Notion Ink Design
Labs in India,” says the manufacturer’s mes-
sage on the back of every Adam tablet com-
puter. That’s what it is all about – a labour of
love by a handful of college kids from India’s
premier Indian Institutes of Technology.
That’s it – young and the restless techies
led by their mercurial and media savvy
CEO, Rohan Shravan, have developed a
tablet computer that has ruptured the fabric
of the electronics universe. The Adam has
grabbed so much attention online that while
the iPad is merely popular, the Indian ma-
chine has a cult following.
So if you are planning to buy a tablet
computer, don’t make a move until you
read this, for it could save you hundreds of
dollars. The cheapest iPad costs $800 while
the most expensive one will set you back
by around $1300, the Adam costs a lot less
(from $550-$800), while giving you much
more.
Other tablets can’t seem to avoid ending up
like the iPad which is perhaps why Apple
has launched a copycat lawsuit against
Samsung. However, the Adam has a unique,
Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
ergonomic and wedge-shaped design with
a curved rubberised edge. This improves
visibility and ensures you won’t drop it ac-
cidentally.
The tablet sports a 10-inch screen with a
resolution of 1024x600. Its other features
include a 178 degree rotating swivel camera
and a PixelQi screen, which makes it the
only tablet you can read in direct sunlight.
Try reading the iPad outdoors and you’ll see
what I mean.
The only problem with the Adam is getting
one. Every single Adam is sold out. As a
loyal fan I’d been waiting for their release
date and I assumed I could just buy it off
their website.
Well, I was wrong. Notion Ink only invited
those people who had posted comments
on the company’s blog for exclusive sales.
Now, that left me completely pissed. I wrote
them a stinker which they never published.
Free speech is apparently dangerous to a
start-up’s health. However, during the next
round of ordering which came after a few
weeks, I managed to order one.
It took a month to arrive in NZ but finally I
had my ‘aha’ moment. The Adam is a totally
cool machine and it will give anyone hours
of joy. Whether it is taking notes, reading
PDF’s, scrolling photos, or video playback,
For all your
legal needs
Aaron Kashyap
BA, LLB
Barrister and solicitor
Level 1, 351 Manukau Road, PO Box 26-596, DXCP 32513, Epsom, Auckland
Mobile: 0274 857 302 Phone: (09) 6238277 Fax: (09)6235177
Email: aaron@kashyaplaw.co.nz
the experience is outstanding.
For wireless connectivity Adam has Wi-Fi,
3G and Bluetooth. Apart from that it has an
ambient light sensor, GPS, proximity sensor
and accelerometer. It also offers HDMI,
three USB ports, a SIM card slot and a mini
SD card slot which expands the storage by
another 128 GB.
The 3.2 MP auto focus camera is not the
best in its class but under the right condi-
tions it takes great photos. People I have
interviewed have gone crazy about the tab-
let, and some have insisted I use the photo
taken with the Adam than with my company
issued Nikon.
Oh yes, there are detractors. Some users
have experienced software glitches – which
are expected from a start-up – but to their
credit Rohan and his team sent regular up-
dates which smoothened out any wrinkles.
The Adam also suffered at the hands of
amateurish tech writers. They pointed out
the rants left by dissatisfied users on blogs,
but they forget that Apple’s iPhone 4 also
suffered from antenna and other problems.
In fact, a colleague of mine ordered an iPad
but sent it back for a replacement because
of a faulty screen.
It is heart warming that a small Indian com-
Feature
pany has attracted so many fans around
the world. A measure of its quality is that its
biggest fans are in the US and Europe who
have access to the best tablets in the world.
In India, it faced a different – if predictable
– hiccup. Rohan revealed on his blog that a
container of Adams was held up at Mumbai
Customs because Notion Ink refused to pay
a bribe.
Despite the viral marketing coup, Notion Ink
is still relatively unknown outside the blogo-
sphere, and Apple has a seemingly unbeat-
able lead. Asked if he was worried about the
iPad2, Rohan said: “Not really. The market
is too big for one product to rule. And we
are here for decades to come, so we want to
take our time to become a threat to anyone.”
According to their website, “Notion Ink is
young at heart, and proud to wear it on its
sleeve. Youth gives us that extra edge in
bringing a whole new realm of concepts to
reality.”
That spunk was evident at CES 2010, the
electronic world’s premier event. Because
Notion Ink could not afford a booth, Rohan
simply walked around the show area with
the Adam in his hands, giving interviews to
reporters.
To provide better service, the company now
has plans for stores in the US, Germany and
India. “Right now we are into the process of
scaling up and looking for more talent,” says
Rohan, who managed a coup of sorts by
poaching people from iTunes.
What Notion Ink has done is what India is
traditionally good at – leveraging high tech
talent to produce brilliant products that – to
Western competitors – are frighteningly
cheap. Satellite and rocket maker ISRO can
build a moon craft for $100 million, Tata sells
a $3000 car, Mahindra makes a $5,000 SUV,
and Olive offers a $40 smart phone.
The Indian computer market will never be
the same. Notion Ink has shown the lead
to other Indian companies, and today nine
other players have either launched tablets or
plan to.
Bangalore is not yet the technological epi-
centre of the known universe, but after the
Adam it can legitimately aspire to that title.
15
Indian
Games chief Kalmadi in jail
New Delhi: A Delhi court on Wedne sday
remand ed Suresh Kalma di, sacked chief
of the scam-h it Delhi Commonwealth
Games (CWG) Organi sing Comm ittee, to
14-day judicia l custod y.
After Kalma di was produc ed in the
Patiala House court on Wedne sday after-
noon, the Centra l Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) request ed the court to send Kalma di
to judicia l custod y.
Kalma di was ordered eight-d ay police
custod y by a court on Apr 26 after he
was charge d for one of several financial
swindles that he is believe d to have mas-
terminded.
Kalma di, earlier sacked as the Com-
monwe alth Games Organi sing Comm ittee
chairm an, was arreste d by Centra l Bureau
of Investigation (CBI) on Apr 25 for al-
legedly awardi ng a contrac t for the mega
event to a Swiss compa ny at an inf lated
rate of Rs 141 crore in a “pre-meditate d”
manne r.
The Congre ss lawma ker, who was sus-
pended by his party followi ng his arrest,
was also tossed from his post of the chief
of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA)
on last Tuesday - a job that the 66-yea r-old
politician held for 15 years.
IOA Vice Preside nt and Bharat iya
Janata Party membe r Vijay Kumar Mal-
hotra took over organis ation as interim
preside nt.
Meanwhile, even as Kalma di was
taken to court, a slipper was hurled at him
by a protest er suppos edly agitate d by the
appare nt disgrac e that the politician had
Hurre yit’s
befooor late
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16
brought to India though his shoddy ad-
ministr ation of the Games preparations.
Throug h his inf lated contrac ts,
Kalma di alleged ly tripled the cost of the
event to nearly $6 billion and embarr assed
India before the entire world in the run up
to the Games owing to shabby prepara -
tions.
The Games howeve r conclu ded without
any major hitch and Indian athlete s
brought several accolad es to the nation.
On Apr 26 as he was about to enter the
Patiala House court in Delhi, a man iden-
tified as Suresh Thakur from Gwalior in
Madhya Pradesh, attacke d Kalma di with
the slipper which missed him as he was
surrou nded by a group of policemen.
Thakur, a lawyer by profession, was
immed iately detaine d and was taken away
for questioning. Kalma di, unpert urbed by
the incident and smiling ear-to- ear, pro-
ceeded the court, said people present on
location.
At the court, the CBI sought a 14-day
remand to interrogate Kalma di on the
‘timer scam’ but was given eight days.
Terms of some other accuse d already in
custod y were also extend ed by the same
period. The investigating agency claime d
it has ‘fresh evidences’ in the scams.
Even as source s within the investi-
gating agency said aides of Kalma di are
gradua lly turning approvers and sharing
details of the scanda ls, his legal counsel
howeve r passed on the blame of the ir-
regular ities to former sports ministe r M
S Gill.
From Auckland to Indian Subcontinent
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Fares starting from:
However, right to inform ation (RTI)
activis t Subhash Chandr a Agrawal said
Kalma di’s arrest had come too late and
was perhap s designe d to give him time to
tamper evidence.
He said charging Kalma di on the small-
est of the charge s against him sugges ted
“a drama to pacify public- anger” against
the massive swindle.
Agrawal also said that with RTI, he had
procur ed documents that sugges ted links
betwee n Congre ss’ Kalma di and the BJP.
He said that it was imperative that the role
of BJP leaders in the CWG scam should
also be probed .
“It was BJP’s Vijay Kumar Malhot ra
who not only propos ed Suresh Kalma di
as IOA Chief, but even advocated giving
him full power to nominate IOA Execu-
tive Comm ittee,” said the activis t, citing
a document procur ed under the RTI Act.
The BJP on its part demanded further
digging into Congre ss-part y’s Delhi Gov-
ernment which it said was equally respon -
sible for the swindles. They demanded the
arrest of Delhi Chief Minist er Sheila Dik-
shit’s arrest.
Till now, seven people includi ng
Kalma di have been arreste d in connec -
tion with the Commonwealth Games
scam. The others who have been arreste d
include Verma , Lalit Bhanot , Sanjay Mo-
hindro o, M Jayach andran , TS Darbai and
Kalma di’s person al assista nt Shekha r De-
orukhk ar.
Inclusive of taxes
Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
India
Pak needs to do more
on 26/11: Roemer
New Delhi: US Ambassador to India Timothy
J Roemer on Wednesday said Pakistan is not
doing enough to nail 26/11 masterminds.
“Are they (Pakistan) doing enough on LeT
(Lashkar-e-Taiba)? Are they doing enough on
Mumbai trials? Are they doing enough on Hafiz
Saeed and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi (26/11 mas-
terminds)? No, they need to do more,” Roemer
told media on Wednesday.
He said it’s high time US take ‘a very
hard look’ into counterterrorism assistance it
extends to Pakistan.
“We are certainly going to see the Capitol
Hill (US Congress) take a very hard look at the
assistance that we give and we invest in secu-
rity for Pakistan,” Roemer said.
He said US will demand an answer from
Pakistan on how al Qaeda chief Osama bin
Laden was found in the country.
“US congress will question Pakistan with
respect to bin Laden being discovered outside
of Islamabad. This is a concern. We want to
get to the bottom of it. How do we more effec-
tively use that aid to make sure that Pakistan
is helping us not only degrade al Qeada but go
after groups like LeT,” said Roemer.
The Pakistani government on Tuesday
denied allegations that parts of its administra-
tion were sitting on the information that Osama
bin Laden was hiding within the country.
A day after United States forces stormed
Osama bin Laden’s mansion in Abbottabad
deep within Pakistan and killed the militant
chief, authorities said it inconceivable that he
didn’t have a support system in the Muslim
nation.
Indian
India
Osama aftermath: Rushdie wants Pakistan declared terrorist state
New Delhi, May 3 (IBNS) A day after the US for example, for the Haqqani network that has stan is alarmed by the rising Indian influence Zaheer Khan
nominated for
killed al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Paki- killed hundreds of Americans in Afghanistan,” in Afghanistan, and fears that an Afghanistan
stan, eminent author Salman Rushdie feels it’s he said. cleansed of the Taliban would be an Indian
time to declare the country a terrorist state. “This time the facts speak too loudly to be client state, thus sandwiching Pakistan between

In his latest column in The Daily Beast,
Rushdie said: “Are we really supposed to
believe that Pakistan didn’t know Osama bin
Laden was living there for five years?”
“Many of us didn’t believe in the image
of bin Laden as a wandering Old Man of the
Mountains, living on plants and insects in an
inhospitable cave somewhere on the porous
Pakistan-Afghan border.
“An extremely big man, 6-foot 4-inches tall
in a country where the average male height is
around 5-foot 8, wandering around unnoticed
for ten years while half the satellites above
the earth were looking for him? It didn’t make
sense,” said Rushdie in The Daily Beast.
 “Bin Laden was born filthy rich and died in
a rich man’s house, which he had painstakingly
built to the highest specifications. The U.S. ad-
ministration confesses it was ‘shocked’ by the
elaborate nature of the compound.
“We had heard—I certainly had, from more
than one Pakistani journalist—that Mullah
Omar was (is) being protected in a safe house
run by the powerful and feared Pakistani Inter-
Services Intelligence agency (ISI) somewhere
in the vicinity of the city of Quetta in Baluch-
istan, and it seemed likely that bin Laden, too,
would acquire a home of his own.”
The Indian-British novelist said in the af-
termath of the raid on Abbottabad, all the big
questions need to be answered by Pakistan.
“The old flim-flam (“Who, us? We knew
nothing!”) just isn’t going to wash, must not be
allowed to wash by countries such as the United
States that have persisted in treating Pakistan
as an ally even though they have long known
about the Pakistani double game—its support,
hushed up. Osama bin Laden, the world’s most
wanted man, was found living at the end of a
dirt road 800 yards from the Abbottabad mili-
tary academy, Pakistan’s equivalent of West
Point or Sandhurst, in a military cantonment
where soldiers are on every street corner, just
about 80 miles from the Pakistani capital Islam-
abad.
“This extremely large house had neither a
telephone nor an Internet connection. And in
spite of this we are supposed to believe that
Pakistan didn’t know he was there, and that the
Pakistani intelligence, and/or military, and/or
civilian authorities did nothing to facilitate his
presence in Abbottabad, while he ran al Qaeda,
with couriers coming and going, for five years?”
Rushdie said Pakistan’s neighbor India,
‘badly wounded’ by the November 26, 2008,
terrorist attacks on Mumbai, is already de-
manding answers.
“As far as the anti-Indian jihadist groups are
concerned—Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Muham-
mad—Pakistan’s support for such groups, its
willingness to provide them with safe havens,
its encouragement of such groups as a means of
waging a proxy war in Kashmir and, of course,
in Mumbai—is established beyond all argu-
ment.
“In recent years these groups have been
reaching out to the so-called Pakistani Taliban
to form new networks of violence, and it is
worth noting that the first threats of retaliation
for bin Laden’s death have been made by the
Pakistani Taliban, not by any al Qaeda spokes-
man,” read Rushdie’s column.
“India, as always Pakistan’s unhealthy ob-
session, is the reason for the double game. Paki-
two hostile countries. The paranoia of Paki-
stan about India’s supposed dark machinations
should never be underestimated.”
Rushdie said US had long been tolerating
Pakistan’s ‘double game’.
“For a long time now America has been
tolerating the Pakistani double game in the
knowledge that it needs Pakistani support in its
Afghan enterprise, and in the hope that Paki-
stan’s leaders will understand that they are mis-
calculating badly, that the jihadists want their
jobs. Pakistan, with its nuclear weapons, is a
far greater prize than poor Afghanistan, and
the generals and spymasters who are playing al
Qaeda’s game today may, if the worst were to
happen, become the extremists’ victims tomor-
row.”
He said: “There is not very much evidence
that the Pakistani power elite is likely to come
to its senses any time soon. Osama bin Laden’s
compound provides further proof of Pakistan’s
dangerous folly.”
“As the world braces for the terrorists’ re-
sponse to the death of their leader, it should
also demand that Pakistan give satisfactory
answers to the very tough questions it must now
be asked. If it does not provide those answers,
perhaps the time has come to declare it a ter-
rorist state and expel it from the comity of
nations,” said Rushdie.
The world’s most sought after terrorist and
responsible for the most devastating attack on
U.S. soil, Osama bin Laden was killed after
a precise operation on late Sunday night in a
mansion in Abbottabad, just yards away from
a military academy and 60 km north of Islam-
abad.
Arjuna Award
Mumbai: The Board of Control
for Cricket in India (BCCI) on
Tuesday said it has nominated
left-arm fast bowler Zaheer Khan
for Arjuna Award this year.
“The BCCI has nominated Mr.
Zaheer Khan for the Arjuna Award
for 2011,” said BCCI secretary N.
Srinivasan in a statement.
A left-arm fast bowler considered
as the spearhead of the Indian
bowling attack, Zaheer is known
for his ability to swing the ball
both ways, and as a batsman also
holds the record for the highest
Test score by a No. 11.
The Arjuna Awards were insti-
tuted in 1961 by the government
of India to recognize outstanding
achievement in National sports.
The award carries a cash prize
of  500,000, a bronze statuette of
Arjuna and a scroll.

Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz 17

Indian
Sai Baba’s passing mark the end
of one era, the beginning of another
Nalinesh Arun
It is the passing of an era. Sathya Sai Baba, the
focus of millions of devotees around the world,
has left His body. Sai Baba died at 7.40am local
time on Sunday at the Super Speciality Hospital
which he had built for the poor. He had been on
life support for a few weeks.
It is the passing of an era and the making way
for a new one. For devotees, history has marked
its path. We devotees need to look forward to
the coming of the next sad guru, Prema Sai
within eight years of this time in history.
The passing away of Sai Baba falls short of
the time frame we devotees have been told of –
He was supposed to leave his body in 2020 at
the age of 96. But recently Sai Baba has been
talking of leaving earlier as he left his mission
was nearing completion. This he has been
saying for the past few year so it does not come
as a surprise that he has left his mortal coil now.
The message of Sai Baba far superseded
the many social works he was involved in.
The unity that he proclaimed inspired millions
around the world to work towards free educa-
tion (with character); free medical and health
services (with compassion); and commerce with
conscience.
Working off the blueprint of free schools,
free hospitals and free water supply that Sai
Baba has in India, ardent devotees around the
world put together similar programmes in the
country of their origin. Even a small nation like
Fiji has a free Sai school in Lautoka, passing
many benefits to a nearby Fijian village.
Class, creed. colour did not matter to Sai
Baba. I have celebrated Christmas with over
20,000 Christian followers at Puttaparthi, and
enjoyed Eid, celebrated the Chinese New Year
and Buddhist festivals there also. Sai Baba’s
message of universal brotherhood/sisterhood
18
remains true and has remained true for the past
60 plus years.
In many ways Prashanti Nilayam, in the
village of Puttaparthi, was a united nations of
sorts. It is a place of which mixes humanity,
almost like a cauldron in which gold is purified.
Prashanti Nilayam teems with such a cross-
section of people, of so many languages and
so much culture it is hard to think of another
similar place elsewhere.
While many will remember him for his
miracles, Sai Baba himself paid little heed to
that. His greatest achievement, he said, was the
transformation of the human psyche, the real
mission he said he was here for. His lessons are
well documented, in almost all languages. The
scope of these lessons is what makes Sai Baba
truly awesome – he had a true grasp of all the
scriptures and made these easily available to all,
including women.
Women, it is apparent, have a place of im-
portance in Sai Baba’s teachings. His first
school was for girls as he felt women needed
that education to be able to make the right de-
cisions. Women, he said time and again, were
ready to lead the world. But he also demanded
a lot of the women who followed his teachings –
fortitude, compassion and understanding.
Sai Baba placed his faith in children for a
better world. His organisation has a special
wing where child development was taught. This
wing is integral to the mission of service, de-
votion and education that he proclaimed around
the world. The students from his various schools
are making an impact worldwide, in various or-
ganisations, both commercial and social.
In the end his messages of Help Ever, Hurt
Never; Love All, Serve All will be legacy he
leaves behind.
India
Intex unveils phone for
visually impaired
Mumbai: Digital major Intex Technologies on Tuesday announced the launch of Intex
Vision –a mobile phone especially designed for visually impaired.
The phone was unveiled by National Association for the Blind (NAB) amongst its stu-
dents and faculty. NAB is the largest non-government, voluntary organization for the
visually-impaired in India.
Developed at Intex’s Centre for Design & Development, the Dual SIM phone
(GSM+GSM) has a large Braile keypad to facilitate recognition of digits. People, who are
not conversant with Braile, could switch on the ‘Talking Keypad’ feature which speaks
out in English the number they have pressed.
“Keeping in mind communication needs in emergency, the phone has a unique SOS
feature which allows you to save four emergency numbers. By pressing the SOS but-
ton, the call gets automatically directed to the first emergency number,” said an Intex
spokesperson.
Commenting on the launch, Shailendra Jha, DGM-Telecom, Intex Technologies said,
“India has the largest number of blind people in the world and NAB is the best platform
in the country to reach to them.”
“The INTEX Vision phone is an ideal tool for the visually impaired people to satisfy their
communication needs. It can play a very useful role in their integrated development,”
said Mohinder Kapur, President, National Association for the Blind.
With a very simple user interface, the phone, priced at INR 2600, has a robust ‘no-
frills’ design with entertainment and utility features like wireless FM radio, audio player,
expandable memory up to 2 GB, torch light, auto call record, mobile tracker, dedicated
one-touch key for locking the keypad, a phone and SMS memory of 1000 contacts and
250 messages respectively.
For the safety of the users, the FM antenna has been housed in the panel below the
phone to avoid its accidental contact with the eyes.
The backlight has a soothing orange tone which does not affect the eyes and hence
caters to those with a partially impaired vision.
Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
Indian

Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz 19

Indian

the latest buzz of

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Auckland’s 1st Global Indian

& Asian FM Station * Tune Digital Radio to 106.20 FM

106.2
humming the new tune
www.hummfm.com
20 Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
Indian
India

Sathya sai Baba: The end of an era

Millions of people in India and abroad woke
up to shock on Easter Sunday morning as
news of the demise of spiritual guru Sathya
Sai Baba, a man described hailed as the living
reincarnation of god himself, trickled in.
Despite countless allegations of every-
thing from hand-trickery and sexual abuse,
skeptics and believers alike concur on the
fact that the stout saffron-clad man was at
the helm of something quite unlike anything
in recent times.
He presided over one of the biggest chari-
table trusts in the world, with assets that run
up to US$9 billion (Rs 40,000 crore) and
roots in over a hundred countries that opened
hospitals, schools, colleges and even brought
drinking water to entire towns and villages.
He transformed the tiny village of Put-
taparthi in Andhra Pradesh into a budding
hub that hosted some of the arguably best
hospitals and educational institutions in
India, centred around his Prashanthi Nilayam
ashram, the biggest ashram in the world.
Born as Sathyanarayana Raju on No-
vember 23, 1926 in Puttaparthi, the young
Sai Baba apparently showed signs of being
something beyond mortal in 1940 when he
started reciting Sanskrit verses of which he
had no knowledge of, upon being stung a by
a scorpion.
At the age of of 14, he claimed that he was
the reincarnation of the Indian spiritual guru,
Sai Baba of Shirdi and coupled with his ‘acts
of divinity’ of conjuring food items, sweets
and even golden objects from thin year, the
number of his followers mushroomed.
Derived from the words of his followers,
Sai Baba’s life spells a string of miracles and
Godly acts. Early in his age he declared of
having “no worldly relationship with anyone”
and started his travels in South India.
His first temple was built in 1944 and
work on his ashram, the Prashanthi Nilayam,
began in 1948.  In 1954, Sathya Sai Baba es-
tablished a small free general hospital in the
village of Puttaparthi.
In 1963, Sathya Sai Baba suffered a stroke
and four severe heart attacks. It is believed
by some that he healed himself of these, and
on recovering announced that he would die
when he would turn 96 and be reborn as
Prema Sai Baba in the state of Karnataka
years later.
His visits to parts of the country contin-
ued. He even visited Uganda in 1968. The
number of his followers kept increasing and
the Baba poured in much of the donations re-
ceived into opening more temples, hospitals,
schools and colleges.
Among his most remembered feats, that
of providing drinking water to 1.2 million
people in the drought-prone Rayalaseema
region in Anantapur and also in Chennai
with a Rs 400-crore project, will perhaps be
one of most prominent ones.
Since 2005 however, the godman was
forced to take to the wheelchair and cut down
his ‘darshans’ (appearances) amidst ailing
health. In 2006 he fractured his hip.
Sai Baba devotees are said to be present
in as many as 172 countries. His followers
include the poorest of the poor to politi-
cians, move stars, sportspersons and even the
former President of India APJ Abdul Kalam.
Former Prime Minister Atal Behari Va-
jpayee and cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar
are among those who consider Baba a living
god.
But Sai Baba’s critics have often voiced
criticism of his methods and miracles and the
fact that the godman has seldom come out
to publicly contradict their charges has only
fueled speculation.
His ‘miracles’ have been described as
sleight of hand tricks and several documenta-
ries have formed their own theories in trying
to explain the divine acts of Baba. People like
the famous magician P C Sorcar Junior have
come forward to bust Baba’s alleged magic
tricks.
And yet rationalists have had little success
in destroying the faith of his followers, who
are believed to be as many as 50 to 20 million
worldwide, and those who serve him at his
ashram which sees 50,000 visitors everyday.
Even as doctors made last ditch effort to
save him since he was admitted to the hospi-
tal with lung congestion and organ failures,
even the harshest naysayers believed that the
Baba will be remembered for ages to come.
His hospitals and schools will continue
functioning and over a million people will
drink water that was brought to them by the
Baba’s trust. Few will question the 11-year-
too-early demise of the Sathya Sai Baba, and
his legacy will live on.

Reactions by eminent personalities: Twitter floods with condolences

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh:  I learnt of the
passing away of Sri Satya Saibaba with deep and
profound sadness. Sri Satya Saibaba was a spiritual
leader who inspired millions to lead a moral and
meaningful life even as they followed the religion
of their choice. His teachings were rooted in the
universal ideals of truth, right conduct, peace, love
and non-violence.
Sri Satya Saibaba as a preacher of the highest
human values was an iconic figure for over five
decades. He endeared himself to the people
through various institutions, with headquarters
at Prashanthi Nilayam, that promoted egalitarian
values, education and public health. He believed
that it is the duty of every person to ensure that all
people have access to the basic requirements for
sustenance of life. Sri Satya Saibaba was an inspi-
ration to people of all faiths.
The passing away of Sri Satya Saibaba is an ir-
reparable loss to all and the nation deeply mourns
his passing away. I express my sincere condolences
to the millions of his followers, disciples and well
wishers.
Vice President M. Hamid Ansari: I am deeply
grieved to learn about the passing away of Sri
Sathya Sai Baba. Baba’s message of love should be
our guiding light in this trying hour.    Baba’s words
and actions have lit the lamp of love in the hearts
of devotees. His message of service to humanity
as service to God and as a means of destroying
narrow-mindedness is of eternal relevance. My
wife joins me in offering heartfelt condolences to
the millions of devotees of Sri Sathya Sai Baba in
India and abroad.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar
Reddy:  Sri Sai Baba is a symbol of love, affection
and passion. Sri Satya Sai Baba has given his great
self to service of humanity in the form of various
services not only to our State, our country but also
to the entire world. He will be remembered for ages
to come by all sections of people all over the world.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader LK
Advani: His passing away this morning has
plunged the whole country into deep sorrow. I offer
my tearful homage to the great soul. I would like to
go for the antasthi kria (funeral ceremony).
BJP leader and Gujarat Chief Minister Nar-
endra Modi:  In the world of spiritual leaders he
(Sathya Sai Baba) was unique - who without wan-
dering around the world, attracted it towards Indian
culture. He was a great man who dedicated his life
to provide water and education to the rural areas
and medical services to the humanity. Personally,
I have been blessed with his love and grace. I pay
my tributes to Pujya Satya Sai Baba on his nirvana.
Andhra Pradesh Health Minister Geeta Reddy:
The demise of one of the most loved spiritual head
of our time. Bhagwan Sri Sathya Sai Baba is the
well-known spiritual head ever known in our time.
He left his body this morning around 7:40 am…
his family and trust members have taken  the deci-
sion that his body will be laid for public viewing
and paying homage and respect at Sai Kulwant hall
this evening, 6 pm onwards. Wednesday evening
we will tell the exact time when the burial will take
place. This is the decision taken by the trust. Trust
said that Swamiji had made all arrangements of the
trust and the activities of the trust will continue
without change.
Yoga guru Baba Ramdev: First of all, on the
death of Sathya Sai Baba the humanity has suf-
fered a huge loss. The way he served humanity is
incomparable. He was an idol to every one. The
things he did for everyone will be remembered
for ages. His disciples who have worshiped him as
a godman will surely feel sad on his death. They
have worshiped him and also thought at the time
of distress Babaji will help them out of the trouble.
But now also he will continue to serve them in his
spiritual form.
Actor Abhishek Bachchan:  Heard the very
sad news of Shri Satya Sai Baba passing away. I
remember the 1st photo I saw of him was in my
dadima’s mandir. Aishwarya is a great believer in
him. She called this morning to give me the sad
news. We send our prayers....Aum Sai Ram
As spiritual guru Sathya Sai Baba breathed his last, his followers across the world were condoling
his passing over micro-blogging site Twitter.
From eminent personalities to common people all have expressed their shock over the demise of
Sathya Sai Baba, who had been suffering from lung and chest congestion and was in critical condi-
tion for the past few days.
“OM SAI BABA OM, RIP,” popular singer Ricky Martin tweeted.
On the other hand, Indian batting icon Sachin Tendulkar, who turned 38 on the day, was so grieved
that he has hung a ‘Do not Disturb’ sign in front of his hotel door in Hyderabad where he, along
with his team Mumbai Indians, are currently touring to play against Deccan Chargers on Sunday,
media report said.
It is said that a disheartened Tendulkar, who is an ardent follower of Sathya Sai Baba, has decided
to not to celebrate his birthday in a flamboyant manner this year.
It was rumoured that Tendulkar will even skip the scheduled Indian Premiere League (IPL) match
against Deccan Chargers at Hyderabad on Sunday.
“I m praying for Shri Sathya Sai Baba’s quick recovery. Hope everyone will join me in praying for
his return to good health,” Sachin Tendulkar had tweeted earlier.
“Sathya Sai Baba had milions of followers all over the world. Their faith in him held them together.
May God give them strength. RIP Baba,” tweeted actor Anupam Kher.
“SRI SATHYA SAI BABA left his human body and departed away this morning. The body is merely
a vehicle. His spirit will continue to guide us as always.....” Vivek Oberoi posted.
“R.I.P. Satya Sai Baba. Condolences to all his followers, disciples & loved ones,” tweeted model-
turned-actor Neha Dhupia.
“RIP SATYA SAI BABA- Man who spread love and helped the needy. Had the privilege of meeting
him n spending some time with him a few times,” Ritesh Deshmukh said in his Twitter account
‘Riteishd’.
Apart from the world of Bollywood, common people also expressed their shock over the death of
Sathya Sai Baba.
“Satya sai baba passes away big loss for all the followers,” tweeted one ‘amitlans79’.
“Country has lost a good human being.. Satya Sai Baba.. His Legacy has to be continued,” tweeted
one Ragav.
“Satya Sai Baba... We’ve lost a great n noble person..... They don’t make people like him anymore....
God rest his soul in peace!” tweeted Dr. Anuj Saxena.

Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz 21

Indian

22 Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz

Indian
Fiji

Australia needs new FBC to follow in ABC,

approach to Fiji: think tank
A leading Australian think-tank says
Australia should take a new approach to
the restoration of democracy in Fiji.
The Lowy Institute says Australia’s
policy aimed at bringing about early
elections in Fiji has failed. Canberra
should now accept the Bainimarama
government’s timetable of 2014, Radio
Australia’s Jemima Garrett reports.
It says Canberra should build a coalition
of nations to offer assistance in develop-
ing a new electoral system and constitu-
tion.
The Lowy Institute’s Melanesia Director,
Jenny Hayward-Jones, says that coali-
tion should include Asian democracies
such as India, Indonesia and Malaysia,
as well as Fiji’s traditional partners such
as the United States and the European
Union.
BBC footsteps
Suva: The Fiji Broadcasting Corporation
will now be similar to other state-owned
enterprises such as the Australian Broad-
casting Corporation (ABC) and the British
Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) with the
enactment of a new spectrum plan for the
country, says FBC’s chief executive Riyaz
Sayed-Khaiyum.
the timelines given by government. 
Meanwhile, Radio and television stations
in Fiji will be using new frequencies from
the July 1 this year when the government
implements a new spectrum plan for the
country, Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-
Khaiyum has said.

Sayed-Khaiyum says the new spectrum The new frequencies are in line with gov-
plan, which will see radio and television ernment’s plan to drive innovations in the

Fiji’s suspension from

stations in Fiji allocated new frequencies, FM broadcasting and television sectors.
will ensure Fiji becomes one of the first
Pacific countries to move into the digital Sayed-Khaiyum says the new spectrum

Commonwealth continues
age with proper spectrum planning.
Under the new spectrum plan, an ad-
ditional national television programme
London: Australia’s Foreign Minister, Kevin Rudd says the Commonwealth Min- channel will be commissioned through the
isterial Action Group (CMAG) has decided to maintain Fiji’s suspension from the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation.
Commonwealth.
Sayed-Khaiyum says FBC’s entry into the
Fiji has been suspended from the 53-nation bloc since September 2009 over its free-to-air television market, together with
failure to commit to holding elections. Rudd says Fiji remains an ongoing chal- its current PSB broadcast services, will
lenge for the Commonwealth. He says the suspension will not be lifted. position it as a major source of informa-
tion and entertainment for all Fijians.
“The reason being that we have seen no measurable change whatsoever by the
Fiji military regime, in terms of the restoration of democracy in that country,” he A workshop on the roll-out plan for the
told Australian Network News. new spectrum is being held today.
Sayed-Khaiyum says FBC will adhere to
plan will see much better coverage and
clarity for listeners.
The Attorney-General revealed that under
the new spectrum plan, an additional na-
tional television programme channel will
be commissioned through the Fiji Broad-
casting Corporation.
He says the new plan will also enable
interference-free national FM channels for
FM broadcast listeners.
The industry is to adjust their equipment
to the new frequencies as outlined in the
plan by 30 June 2011.

SUDIMA HOTELS REPORT

Finally, an airport hotel with style

as an all day restaurant and elegant bar the hotel will feature a dedicated ballroom,
catering for up to 300 guests and opening out to landscaped gardens, making it an all
season event venue. There will also be an inviting indoor heated pool and a gym with
the latest fitness equipment.

The outside of the hotel is equally stylish with a fantastic art sculpture that takes up
the entire side of the new hotel that sets it apart from other often bland airport hotels.
The Sudima group is family owned and the passion for the hotel business clearly shows
in the attention to detail, from the hi-tech hotel guides on your TV through to sourcing
only local produce for the restaurant. Even the hotel decor has a real modern European
vibe with a clean elegant look.

Sudesh Jhunjhnuwala, chief executive of Sudima Hotels, commented, “The opening

Sudima Hotels are adding a third hotel to their nationwide portfolio, at Auckland airport
and this brand new $30 million, 4 star, hotel to be known as Sudima Auckland Airport,
is leading the way with the very latest in green technology. 
There is a chemical free heated pool and even the rainwater is being collected for
use in hotel toilets. Also unique is the very latest chilled beam air-conditioning system,
which not only uses no refrigerants but has no moving parts which makes it noiseless.
Add in the double glazing so that no traffic noise is heard and you are in for a great
night’s sleep.  forward to the completion of our new hotel at the Auckland Airport well in time for next
Not even the mini bar fridge sounds will keep you awake at night, because there isn’t
one. In an effort to reduce the use of refrigerants throughout the property, a 24 hour
beverage delivery service is available at bar prices with no room service fee added in,
which indeed is a first in New Zealand.
With 150 rooms, Sudima Auckland Airport will be a mid-sized hotel, well placed to
serve business and conference needs in addition to those of tourists in transit. As well
of the new hotel will be timely not only for the needs of the Rugby World Cup but also
for the return of growth to the wider tourism industry. Furthermore, we’ve seen rapid
growth in the Auckland Airport precinct, with many corporations now making it their
home, and the addition of a new quality 4 star hotel and conference centre is likely to be
welcomed with open arms”.
So if you are after a stylish new hotel very close to the airport – with complimentary
shuttles on hand, Sudima Auckland Airport is the perfect choice.
Sudima Hotels New Zealand recently opened its new corporate office in downtown
Auckland, bringing this fast growing hotel chain into the thick of things of New Zealand’s
golden mile on Queen Street.
“The central location will help us better serve our growing clientele as we look
year’s Rugby World Cup,” Mr Jhunjhunwala had told Indian Weekender during the
inauguration.
The chain has two major hotel properties in Christchurch and Rotorua and is finish-
ing a third at Auckland Airport.
More at www.sudimahotels.com

Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz 23

Indian
Fiji to be part of NAM
Fiji will be admitted as a member of the
Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) at the end
of the month.
The NAM is a group of States consider-
ing themselves not aligned formally with or
against any major power bloc.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs Ratu
Inoke Kubuabola said more talks were
expected to take place between Fiji and
member countries of the NAM.
Last month Prime Minister Commodore
Voreqe Bainimarama opened Fiji’s new
embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Ratu Inoke said the embassy would not
only provide a direct platform to improve
New mega sports facility for Labasa
Caroline Ratucadra / Fiji Sun
A major sporting development will soon take
shape in Labasa.
Plans are in place to construct a sports devel-
opment park with facilities, aimed at developing
sporting talents in the Northern Division.
A Labasa businessman is behind the major de-
velopment and has invested about $300,000 in the
project.
The Royale Group chief executive officer,
Rinesh Prasad, said they had acquired a property
in the town’s main street.
This will be renovated into a sporting facility
beginning next week.
The property was worth at least $200,000 and
Mr Prasad said the vacant space would be used for
sports on a user-pay system.
“A lot of talented sportsmen and women have
emerged from the Northern Division but nothing
has been done to develop sporting facilities. This
is an untapped area even though many talented
Leptospirosis kills 4 in Fiji
Suva: Four people are now dead in Fiji
after being infected with Leptospirosis.
Figures released by the Ministry of
Health shows that a total of 42 cases of
Leptospirosis has been recorded from
January 2011 till date.
Ministry spokesperson, Peni Namotu
said there are a total of 42 cases of Lep-
tospirosis in the country compared to
35 for the same period last year. “There
are 18 cases in Colonial War Memorial
Hospital (CWM), 11 in Labasa hospital
and 13 in Lautoka hospital.” Namotu
said.
He said Leptospirosis is caused by a
number of bacteria called Leptospira
and is found in domestic animals. “It
‘Fiji economy to expand by 2.7%’
Suva: Fiji’s economy is forecasted to expand by
2.7 per cent this year compared to the 1.3 per
cent growth announced previously.
Acting Governor of the Reserve Bank of Fiji
– Barry Whiteside says the agriculture, forestry,
manufacturing and fishing sectors will be major
contributors to the 2.7 per cent growth this year.
Whiteside said while the growth projection is
higher than previous expectations, total output
has only returned to 2008 levels and is still
below the 2006 mark. He said continuing strong
visitor arrivals, which are projected at around
24
and deepen bilateral relations, but would
allow Fiji to pursue its ‘Look North’ policy
through direct engagement with the ASEAN
group of countries.
Ratu Inoke said Fiji’s efforts in joining
NAM would help refocus Fiji’s relationships
away from its traditional trading partners
Australia and New Zealand.
As of 2010, the movement had 118
members and 18 observer countries, and it
aims to represent the political, economic
and cultural interests of the developing
world.
The movement will stage a two-day con-
ference in Indonesia from May 23.
sportsmen and sportswomen live here,” Mr Prasad
said.
The renovation of the property will house
other business outlets and facilities. Behind the
property, Mr Prasad said they would develop the
idle ground into a sports park.
“This park will be known as the Royale Sports
Development Park. Since there are a lot of inter-
est and enthusiasm in young people in the North,
especially Labasa, we want to tap into these talents
and help the youths achieve their dreams with
better sporting facilities,” Mr Prasad said.
The proposed sports park will accommodate
soccer and volleyball. Basketball would also be
introduced.
“Coaching clinics will be part of the project
which we lack here in the North. It is in our busi-
ness interest to give back to the community we
serve and we are doing this through sports devel-
opment projects.”
can be contacted through skin contact
and consumption of contaminated
food and water infected by the urine of
animals.” Namotu said.
He said the symptoms of the disease
are body pains, blood clot eyes and
fatigue. “Members of the public are to
immediately seek medical help if they
(are) presented with such symptoms.”
Namotu said.
He said people most vulnerable to the
disease are those constantly exposed
to animals like farmers, veterinary work-
ers and those who milk cows. He also
advised people to cover cuts with water-
proof covering and to wash their hands
after contact with any outdoor animal.
660,000 for this year is expected to sustain the
current expansion of tourism industry.
Whiteside said an accommodative mon-
etary policy will continue to support the needed
growth and investment in the economy. He said
the real GDP growth projections for 2012 and
2013 have been revised upwards to 2.1 per cent
and 1.9 per cent respectively.
The current account deficit for 2011 is fore-
casted at around 4.7 per cent of GDP. Foreign
reserves as at 26 April - is $1,352.1 million
($1.3m).
Pacific Sun Appoints
New General Manager
Nadi, Fiji – Pacific Sun has created history by
appointing Mrs Shaenaz Voss as the first female
General Manager to head a domestic and re-
gional airline in Fiji.
Mrs Voss replaces Mr Jim Samson who re-
cently retired.
In announcing Mrs Voss’ appointment,
Managing Director & CEO of Air Pacific and
board member of Pacific Sun Mr Dave Pflieger
said that “better customer communication, fleet
reliability, and on time performance will be Mrs
Voss’ top priorities.”
All Blacks to play Fiji in July
The All Blacks will play Fiji at Carisbrook
in Dunedin in July, despite New Zealand
Government travel bans on some Fiji of-
ficials following the 2006 military coup.
The “last” test at Carisbrook will be
played on Friday July 22, ahead of the
Tri-Nations series, and is also being
seen as a warm-up for both sides pre-
paring for the Rugby World Cup starting
September in New Zealand.
All Blacks Coach Graham Henry said
the test would be a key match for the All
Blacks.
“It’s important that we have a game to-
gether as a team so that we can reignite
and build on our combinations again
and give the players the best possible
preparation and kick-off to the season,
so it’s fantastic that Fiji has been con-
firmed,” he said.
“We are also delighted that we can raise
money for the people of Christchurch,
who are still very much in the team’s
thoughts.”
NZRU chief executive Steve Tew said fi-
nal confirmation of Fiji as the All Blacks’
opponent had been delayed as the
NZRU worked through issues relating to
the New Zealand Government’s travel
restrictions on some Fijian citizens.
“The NZRU has not asked the New
Zealand Government for any exemp-
tions to the travel ban in place. The
Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
Fiji
“Shaenaz has won the confidence of the
Pacific Sun Board through her work at Air
Pacific, and she will have the full support of Air
Pacific as she leads Pacific Sun forward.”
Until her new appointment, Mrs Voss was
General Manager Guest Services, Cabin Crew
& In Flight Catering at Air Pacific. She joined
our national airline in 2008 as Manager Fiji and
Pacific Islands.
Mrs Voss has 20 years of working in the
airline industry, having also served in a number
of managerial roles at Air Fiji.
Fiji Rugby Union will field a competi-
tive team within the parameters of the
travel ban and see this Test as a major
build-up for their Rugby World Cup
campaign, while the Fijian Government
has confirmed they have no objections
to the team travelling to New Zealand
for the match.”
Mr Tew said as well as the fundraising
effort, a number of other initiatives were
planned to show support for the people
of Canterbury.
“Otago and Southland fans get prior-
ity access to Dunedin test tickets but
we will also be offering the Canterbury
rugby community and then all Canter-
bury residents the chance to buy tickets
before they go on nationwide sale.
“We will also be looking to host repre-
sentatives from the Canterbury earth-
quake rescue, recovery and relief teams
to give them a break, a night out at the
rugby and to thank them for all their
efforts.
“We were keen to have the extra test in
the South Island to give Christchurch
residents and other South Islanders the
chance to see the All Blacks in action
this year so hopefully they get to do
that and we can raise some money for
Christchurch as well,” Mr Tew said.
The All Blacks have played Fiji eight
times since 1974, with the last test in
2005 at North Harbour Stadium.
Indian

In a perfect
world, everyone
would speak
your language.
In the meantime, we’ll do our
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Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz 25

 Indian
Indian
From the Editor
Brash’s audacity is well grounded
Audacious action with surgical precision is as much the flavour of the week for the United
States as it is for New Zealand. Former Reserve Bank governor and National Party’s
previous leader Don Brash’s daring raid on the Act Party challenging the entrenched
leadership of Rodney Hide was as audacious and surgically precise as the US Navy
Seals’ Operation Geronimo in Abbotabad. Both raids produced spectacular results.
Any skepticism around his capability to successfully carry out the raid that existed when
Dr Brash announced the leadership challenge a few days earlier, quickly evaporated
when he forcefully yet deftly neutralised Mr Hide, smothering him with criticism that
unquestionably resonated well with most observers. Adding to that audacity was the fact
that he initiated his action even before he became a member of the party.
Dr Brash quite cleverly leveraged his gravitas, knowledge, seniority smarts and above
all his deep conviction that New Zealand’s economic policymaking was losing its way, to
create a package that would deliver him close to centrestage via the Act Party vehicle.
He factored in people’s obvious disenchantment with Mr Hide’s brand of leadership, as
was evident in the opinion polls. His handling of matters in the run up to the supercity,
the bad press he copped after revelations of his travel expenses and his perceived abra-
sive style saw his popularity plunge, with nothing on the horizon that showed any indica-
tion that things would improve in the weeks leading up to the election.
But what really propelled Dr Brash’s desire to come back into the thick of things was ob-
viously his conviction on what needed to be done to get New Zealand’s economic policy
back on track – and the slights he received from the National government.
As leader of the 2025 Taskforce, which mandated him to investigate how best New
Zealand could catch up with Australia over the next 15 years, he and his team would have
seen at close quarters how much needed to be done and the political will needed to do it.
Prime Minister John Key as well as some commentators thought some of the taskforce’s
recommendations were excessive and Mr Key was quite openly and publically critical of
some of these, even terming them extreme measures.
While it is one thing to make recommendations from a purely rationally economic
standpoint, the compulsions and contradictions of realpolitik can change all that. The
view from within the government, while one actually handles the levers of power is very
different from what it looks from the outside, especially while making a call based on
statistical studies – a thing, which no doubt Dr Brash will quickly realise if he manages
to secure a position of power in the government.
The National government’s continual soft-pedaling on a number of issues it had promised
to deal with drastically before it came to power is testimony to what the compulsions of
realpolitik can do the most determined and rational of leaders, more particularly so in a
tail-wagging-the-dog type of coalition situation.
But whether Dr Brash will be uncompromising on ideology and what he believes is best
for New Zealand irrespective of political repercussions when he jockeys himself into a
position of power in this government or the next remains to be seen.
However, for now, he has touched a raw nerve in New Zealand’s beleaguered business
community that has suffered nine years of anti business policies under successive Labour
governments and then reeled amid the fallout of the global economic crisis only to be
faced with a slew of new hurdles and hoops under National.
Dr Brash’s vocal opposition to the ETS (emissions trading scheme) will undoubtedly go
down well in the business community. So will his stand on what is widely seen as ap-
peasement of Maori especially through National’s handling of the foreshore and seabed
issue.
And of course his views on rationalising welfare – something that needs to be done
forthwith, without delay and which will need extreme political courage, which is clearly
lacking in the present National government – will doubtless add to his fan following,
especially among the well heeled.
If he continues in the same vein as his famous raid into Act’s citadel, his expectation of
garnering 10 to 15% of the vote is a far greater possibility than New Zealand catching up
with Australia in 2025.
– Dev Nadkarni
Opinion Poll:
Would you rate India’s World Cup Cricket win as one of the happiest
moments of your life?
YES NO
73% 27%
Indian Weekender Volume 3 No. 2
Publisher: Kiwi Media Group Limited
Group editor-in-chief: Dev Nadkarni dev@indianweekender.co.nz
Online editor: Arvind Kumar arvind@indianweekender.co.nz
Chief Technical Officer: Rohan Desouza rohan@ indianweekender.co.nz
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26
Letters and Messages
Bin Laden dead or alive doesn’t make any difference
It doesn’t make any difference to India whether laden is dead or alive, it was the US that wanted him
dead for a he had only killed 3000 US citizens. In India due to terrorist more than lakhs of people
have died and this is due to our own neighbouring country (Pakistan), which is supported by US.
So it doesn’t make any difference, first US should stop manufacturing/inventing and mastermind-
ing these terrorists, then the world will be safe place to stay.
– Vikram P
Narayaneeyam
Do you know that Guruvayoorappan is none other than Lord Vishnu? The idol is in the exact form
of Lord Vishnu, in which he gave blessings to the rishis, Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva at Vaikunta.
It is a ‘swayambhoo’ idol in standing posture facing east. As the main deity is Lord Vishnu in his
exact form, Guruvayoor came to be known as ‘Bhooloka Vaikuntam’.
– Vishal Sathyan
Hindu youth conference
An excellent effort! The Story can be more informative by including- a small brief on the achieve-
ments of the Hindu Youth of NZ and Hindu Youth Forum and its members2) Inviting for Sharing the
experience of some senior Hindu outstanding achievers in NZ 3) Inviting Youth leaders of Buddhism
Christianity Muslims and Maori.4) Outstanding contribution/achievement of Hindu Youth in NZ in
Science Commerce Economics and Social Welfare in NZ.
– KGS Singan
Anti corruption campaign
Thanks for your suggestion in the issue dated 15.04.11. One does not need to be a finance profes-
sional to have insight into financial crimes. These sort of news are published in media. Latest one
being about someone having cars worth $250000 and still living in state housing (NZ Herald dated
15.4.11). Regarding our clientele, first of all we are not aware of any wrongdoing. Second, even if
we come across such type of situation, we have right to refuse to serve any client which we may
exercise if need be. But professional ethics of our organisation and ethics of professional bodies,
we are members of do not allow us to report any thing to any authority. It is our professional duty
to protect the confidentiality and privacy of our clients and we will always do that.
– Ravi Mehta
I endorse the views expressed by Ravi Mehta on Campaign on anti corruption here in New Zealand.
Media world over is a sharp tool to unfold the truth and clear the dust around rather than am-
plifying the mud or dirt spoiling the face and image of any country by so called self acclaimed
pseudo-leaders. Any effort or attempt by any NRIs for social change is a sacrifice to his or her
Mother India. Expecting income, attention, publicity or political mileage by defaming motherland
is a social crime as we are promoting evil and evil doers to become corrupt leaders, administrators
or contractors of the society. Appreciate editor Dev for his views about the change in self before
changing others and we all become role model in our respective areas.
– Ram Vasisht
Messages
Congratulations, Team Indian Weekender on your second year milestone. It has been an absolute
pleasure working with you and we, at Cultural Forum of India, wish you many more successes. We
look forward to working with you on forthcoming events for the Indian diaspora in New Zealand.
– Ram Iyer
Wishing you a happy second anniversary from Auckland Indian Association. Your contribution to
Indian community in New Zealand is commendable and we wish you many more years of providing
such useful service to the community.
– Harshad Patel, President, Auckland Indian Association
It is great to know that Indian Weekender has completed two years and stepping into its third. Your
publication has truly made a big difference to the Indian community by bringing timely news stories,
discussing important issues and expressing opinions in the interest of Indians in New Zealand. We
commend your good work and look forward to your continued coverage of news and events in future
as also working closely with you.
– New Zealand Indian Central Association
Congrats on your second birthday to the entire Indian Weekender team. Your coverage of cultural
events is excellent and does a great service in promoting talented people from our community here
in New Zealand. Proud to be associated with Indian Weekender.
– Prashant Belwalkar, Might-I Charitable Trust
It is with great pleasure we note that Indian Weekender has completed two years of publishing. Your
paper has indeed made a difference to the coverage of news and issues relating to the Indian com-
munity. We at SPROUT deeply appreciate our association with Indian Weekender and the coverage
you have given our programmes over the past two years. We wish you all the very best.
– SPROUT
Congratulations on completing two years of publication. Friends of Fiji Health appreciates
Indian Weekender’s support and partnerships in helping us achieve our objective of extending
free healthcare assistance to the people of Fiji. We look forward to a long and successful partner-
ship with Indian Weekender. – Friends of Fiji Health Foundation, Auckland
Ten top stories on iwk.co.nz
1. Youth gear up for Auckland Hindu event
2. Osama buried at sea: reports
3. End of an era, beginning of another
4. Jimmy Shergill in Auckland
5. Hindu Media Forum launched
6. Education pioneers of India
7. NZICA holds 85th Annual General Conference
8. Hamare dosti mein ‘dum’ hain, insists Ramesh Sippy
9. Sathya Sai Baba passes away
10. Police warn of new scam
Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
Indian
Place of Osama bin Laden killing vindicates India
dev nadkarni
While Western leaders celebrated bin Laden’s killing, for Indians, it was all about location, location, location
The West’s relief at the one news headline that
eluded the world for more than a decade after
9/11 was palpable: as leaders expressed jubila-
tion at President Barack Obama’s successful
Operation Geronimo, people spontaneously
broke into late night celebrations at Ground
Zero in New York and outside the White House
in Washington DC. The one, single news head-
line that had eluded the world for more than a
decade after 9/11 was finally flashing across the
globe.
Indian leaders, however, were less celebra-
tory in their tone about the elimination of bin
Laden per se. For them for them it was all about
location, location, location – they were more
concerned with making the point about where
the action had taken place.
Ever since the West’s so called war against
terror began in the months after 9/11, India has
been at pains to impress upon the United States
and the coalition that it has been continually
barking up the wrong tree, for nearly a decade,
in its efforts to flush out bin Laden and his
command centre in Afghanistan.
The crucible and epicenter of terrorism has
all along been in Pakistan, it contended, in
report after report to US intelligence all along
these years – now borne out by Wikileaks reve-
lations. As recently as 2007, Indian intelligence
agencies had twice alerted their US counterparts
that bin Laden was in the vicinity of Islamabad.
Whether that advice went unheeded for tacti-
cal reasons or was simply ignored will become
clearer in the coming weeks and months, but the
fact remains that India knew.
The US instead, for its own perceived stra-
tegic reasons named Pakistan a key ally in its
war, showered it with billions of dollars of funds
GRANDMOTHERS’ NEW IMAGE
Digital grand moms
She is the new version of the old sari- clad spectacled grand mom. This modern age grand mom is a bit of a tech
guru and may opt out of babysitting when inconvenienced,  Anju Munshi finds
Here they arrive, a group of not so young
women with well coiffed hair and perfectly
manicured hands, saddled with their laptops,
ipads and Blackberries, Facebook accounts
, doing online ticketing, trading and tweet-
ing. They can spell out the difference between
Bytes and Roms, MacAfee and Norton soft-
ware. Parked in a health spa with a pulse
rate monitor with a digital transmission and
a Blackberry, she wants to keep in shape,
watches her diet and exercise regimens with
an eagle’s eye. Grandchildren delight her, but
it does not necessarily mean that she is a taken-
for-granted babysitter. These women have left
their daadima image far behind.
Grannies bending backwards to accom-
modate every whim of the little monsters  is
slowly changing her priorities, it seems. Being
economically better off and less dependent on
children to look after their needs has helped in
the makeover, as  also the digital revolution.
Many of them work part-time on their comput-
ers from home. They want to  gratify their own
need of relaxation, enjoy freedom and fun in
their golden years.
“The moment you ask your parents to come
and stay with you, it’s not a favour; in a way
you are getting their old age forward,” feels
Elina Bhattacharjee ,40, a homemaker from
Kolkata. She meets up with her in-laws once
a year.   tributes to an online newspaper and gets her
Both parties treat each other informally and
Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
and military infrastructure and continued to
rely on it for bases to raid supposed hideouts in
Afghanistan, while – as it turns out now – the
prized quarry was very much in Pakistan and in
all probability under the protection of a section
of its own intelligence agency.
Indian Minister of Finance Palaniappan Chi-
dambaram said that the fact that the killing took
place in Pakistan proved once again that terror
networks continue to find sanctuary in Pakistan.
Like India, Afghan President Hamid Karzai,
during his press conference in Kabul, said he
felt vindicated that the scene of the killing – at
bin Laden’s base – was in Pakistan and not Af-
ghanistan, a fact that he has been crying hoarse
for some time.
It is inconceivable that nobody in Pakistan
knew about bin Laden’s base in Abbotabad, not
too far from the national capital of Islamabad.
The compound in which the villa was situated
was just a kilometre away from the country’s
top military academy in what is recognized as
a garrison town swarming with armed forces
personnel.
The US authorities have said they knew
about the compound since August last year and
they surmised that bin Laden had lived at the
address for as long as six or seven years. Yet,
the Pakistanis would have the world believe that
they knew nothing of the occupants of the villa,
even though an important al Qaeda operative
was apprehended there shortly after the villa
was built about eight years ago.
It is impossible to believe that an intelligence
set up that masterminded and remotely directed
a sophisticated attack like the simultaneous
multi-locational Mumbai shoot outs that killed
more than 170 people did not know about the
with great affection but also respect the need
for freedom of space.   “Sitting around and
doing nothing tend to  bring in boredom. The
grand children too are hardly at home;  they are
either in school or for their activities, “ Bhat-
tacharjee adds.
Social scientists find that with awareness
levels rising among women about their well-
being, and with an extended life span, elderly
women want to maintain their cognitive abili-
ties as long as they can. Brain games are un-
doubtedly popular tools for staying sharp, but
they are only one of many in the arsenal of
cognitive maintenance, others being physical
exercise and social interaction skills. Comput-
ers today fill in most of the requirements points
out Jolly Laha, a consultant from Kolkata .“It
helps to build a  feeling of empowerment and
women love this ennobling experience,” she
says.
Parvati Pillay, 58, a grandmother from
Chennai enrolled in a computer training course
at the age of 53. Now she runs a cybercafé. She
earns well and also coaches children in the
neighbourhood on computer skill
Suman Vohra, 65, a grandmother from
Kolkata,  feels that since lifestyle has become
so hectic it is good to keep oneself occupied.
“I spend time interacting with my friends on
the Facebook and am a keen blogger.” She con-
intellectual stimulation from there.  nected.
world’s most wanted man living under their
very nose.
That US intelligence has lost its trust in
Pakistani intelligence as an ally is obvious from
the fact that Pakistan seems to have known
nothing of the top-secret operation and that the
main base for the operation itself was across the
border in Afghanistan – not in Pakistan.
US leaders have already begun to question
the “value” the country and the war against
terror are getting out of its annual US$1.5
billion aid to Pakistan and continuing to count
it as a “key” ally in the war. The continuation of
funding will undoubtedly be questioned in the
wake of revelations that have shocked Ameri-
cans but have not even surprised most Indians.
Even though the toothless Pakistani admin-
istration and its law-unto-itself intelligence
service has been caught with its pants down and
doesn’t know where to look, the US needs to
exercise great caution in making course correc-
tions in its Pakistan policy.
The weak Pakistan government continues to
exist only because it is propped up by various
vested interests, not least of them the US itself,
which has seen stability in Pakistan as key to its
continuing fight against terrorism in the region.
The semblance of political stability in Pakistan
is still important – in fact even more than before.
Bin Laden’s six or seven year sanctuary and
ultimately his end on Pakistani soil is symbolic
of how his ideology and infrastructure has sym-
pathisers in that country. It also confirms long
held suspicions that powerful quarters within
Pakistan – not least its highly secretive intel-
ligence service – have shielded bin Laden and
helped perpetuate the inspiration his ideology
provides to the ever growing hordes of young
Skyping is a boon, feels Malini Himmats-
ingka, 68, from Jaipur . She needs to skype ev-
eryday with her grandson who is an undergrad
student in Rhode Island, USA. “I haven’t seen
my child for two years and Skype has kept my
sanity in order. I feel so blessed to see and chat
with him on a regular basis,” she says. After
some glitches initially, she is now savvy with
knowhow of downloading and installation
of different software,  and gives   tips to her
friends during her evening walks. “I check for
deals on EBay and Make my Trip, an auction
and a travel site respectively, and accordingly
plan my activities. I also challenge the comput-
er and play chess with it,” she laughs.
At present, Himmatsingka is taking lessons
on Microsoft Excel as she wants to do her
household accounting and budgeting on the
computer. She finds that the children of today
are so tied up with school and after- school ac-
tivities that the grandparents have no time to
connect or bond with them. Instead of feeling
isolated and lonely, she found a great compan-
ion in her computerji.
Many find these exercises as a means to
stay young and agile for they provide neces-
sary distractions. Mental stimulation by way of
puzzles and games like Scrabble, card games,
chess and Sudoku, all   can be played online
with no fuss and clutter and social networking
via  Facebook and e-mails make them stay con-
Comment
adherents around the region and beyond.
There will be much finger pointing toward
Pakistan, which, despite al Qaeda’s highly dis-
persed and decentralized leadership pattern will
continue to remain an inspirational focal point
for organisations that draw strength from his
ideology – a sort of a spiritual centre because
that’s where he lived and breathed his last.
The US has acted decisively to counter that
at the very outset by removing his dead body
from the site and claiming to bury it at sea before
there could be any questions raised or opinions
expressed from any quarters of what was to be
done with his remains. To bury the body at sea
was indeed an astute political decision.
But in the aftermath of the killing, the US
will have to be careful with what it does in Paki-
stan. Any aggressive action to bring bin Laden’s
Pakistani protectors and benefactors to book
runs the risk of destabilising the present Paki-
stani government and bringing militant groups
closer to the levers of power.
Such an eventuality will undoubtedly take
the war on terror to its eastern most and riski-
est front: nuclear armed South Asia. According
to media reports fears have already begun to be
expressed in Pakistani intelligence circles that
the US will now step up its vigilance on Paki-
stan’s nuclear command centres, now that its
faith in Pakistan’s intelligence partnership has
been breached.
The US’s worst fear, as is India’s, is Paki-
stan’s nuclear apparatus falling into militant
hands with the complicity of a section of sym-
pathisers among the authorities – not at all an
impossibility, going by what was revealed by
Operation Geronimo.
Women in the “sandwich” generation who
have both children and elderly parents to care
for,  never  seem to have enough time  to indulge
in their own hobbies or relax. Once they are
done with their responsibilities of education
and marriage of their children, they want to
do things that they could not when they were
younger. So for many of them grand-parenting
in the traditional sense may not be appealing.  
As Rohini Bhatnagar, 70, of Jammu  says,
“I love my own regimen without any interfer-
ence. I love listening to birdsongs outside my
window every morning and then make myself
a nice hot cup of tea to drink with some
warm buttery toast.” Her day is busy and well
planned. After breakfast, she reads the tweets
and face book comments. After 11 O’ clock
she goes for a bridge session. Afternoons are
for meets with friends over coffee followed
by a swim. Back home she reads the emails
and e-chats with her children and friends. “I
deserve to live life quietly and on my term,”
she says firmly. In the last five years she has re-
discovered many close college friends through
the Facebook  with whom she had lost touch.
Now she has formed an e-group for her alumni
and they get together often for reunions.
No wonder then, the dadis and nanis are
found walking on a beach of Goa as part of a
shared holiday with their friends or simply net
chatting. The bahus  of today  can  no longer
think of them as default baby sitters.
27
Indian

28 Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz

Indian
Bus and train service
upgrades announced
Auckland Mayor Len Brown
The Mayor has announced a variety of upgrades of
bus and train services across Auckland.
Len Brown has been working with Auck-
land Transport on the issue in the wake of figures
showing public transport patronage at its highest
level in 60 years.
The Mayor says when demand for public trans-
port is increasing at the rate it is at the moment,
providing enough trains and buses is obviously an
issue.
“I’m pleased with
the speed at which
Auckland Transport
and the operators
have responded to
the issue, and I en-
courage people to
continue to let us
know when they see
potential issues.”
Transport
Committee chair
Mike Lee says,
“Aucklanders are using public transport in record
numbers. It’s no longer correct to say people will
only take their car to work.
“We need to cater for more people using buses
and trains and that is why we need projects like the
inner-city rail loop to increase services to the west
and south, unclog our roads and deliver economic
growth.”
The latest figures show that between 1996 and
February 2011, bus patronage has increased by 61.2
per cent, ferry by 89.2 per cent, train by 341.5 per
cent, with an overall public transport patronage in-
crease of 79.6 per cent.
Community built with blessings
Saturday April 2 was a special day for a fledg-
ling group of West Auckland Christians. It
marked the first anniversary of their Waitakere
Three Angels Church (Waitac).
Some 70 people turned up for celebrations at
the Swanson Primary School hall, where Waitac
holds a service every Saturday morning.
For leaders and members the celebration was
a time to reflect on 12 months of achievements.
And it was a time to thank God for bless-
ing the church, meeting its needs and nurturing
growth. Launching a new church and putting
facilities in places for young and old members
isn’t easy.
Waitac Leadership team member Bryn Jones
has been there from day one. Speaking at the
celebration, Bryn outlined how needs arose and
how God quickly fulfilled each need.
No church service is possible without a
venue. Securing the school hall was crucial.
“This hall has served us so well that God ap-
pointed this place,’ he said.
Then on the first Sabbath the leaders realised
the need for carpets for children to sit on to do
colouring-in during the sermon. The following
week, a member secured some carpet offcuts
from a supplier she knew.
“The Lord knew our need even before we
started worshipping here. The carpets were
already rolled up, hemmed and ready for us.”
No church is complete without good musi-
Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
Transport Committe Chair Mike Lee
The upgrades involve bus services to the Hibis-
cus Coast, the North Shore, the isthmus and Botany.
It also involves train services on the Eastern and
Southern Lines.  (Taumarunui) and Wellington, where
l On Hibiscus Coast bus routes including 893,
895 and 897 buses are reaching capacity at peak.
Larger vehicles have been moved to areas of great-
est need.   Phase One of the Silverdale Park and
Ride will be complete by the middle of the year.
Increased frequency is also
being considered.
l On route 881 from Long
Bay to Newmarket, two addi-
tional services will be added to
cope with peak hour capacity
issues.
l On East Coast Bays and
Sunnynook Express routes
863x and 874x and on San-
dringham Road, complaints
about peak hour capacity
issues are being investigated in
association with NZ Bus.
l On the Northern Express route peak capacity
issues will be dealt with by increasing frequency
and sourcing extra buses.
l On Onewa Road and on the route to Botany,
extra capacity has been provided on a temporary
basis while a permanent solution is investigated.
l On Mt Eden Road and Dominion Road, extras
buses are being brought on to those routes to deal
with capacity issues in the morning and afternoon
peaks.
On the Southern and Eastern train lines, four
additional carriages are being brought on and five
car trains will operate from the end of next month.
Members of Waitac at the service on Saturday, April 2.
cians. When the church was looking to replen-
ish its choir, along came a new member – a tal-
ented pianist.
“The rest is history,” Bryn said.
The school’s management also lent its
support. When the church was looking for
storage space, the school obliged.
Perhaps the biggest achievement of the
church has been the launch of a radio station.
NZICA holds 85th Annual
General Conference
NZICA Officers Team 2011. Standing left to right:
Raj Bedi (Assistant Secretary); Raj Singh Thandi
JP (General Secretary); Paul Singh Bains JP
(President); Harshadbhai Patel (Vice President);
and Manjit Singh (Treasurer).
New Zealand Central Indian Association
holds its 85th Annual General Confer-
ence
Delegates, life members and observers
from all over New Zealand attended the
85th Annual General Conference of the
New Zealand Central Indian Associa-
tion (NZICA) on 16th April 2011 at the
Palmerston North Community Leisure
Centre, Palmerston North.
The conference was attended by His Ex-
cellency, Rt. Hon. Sir Anand Satyanand,
Governor-General of New Zealand and
Lady Susan Satyanand; His Excellency
Admiral (Retd.) Sureesh Mehta, the
Indian High commissioner; Government
MP Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi; Labour MP
Dr Rajen Prasad and Tangi Utikere,
Palmerston North City Councillor.
The meeting concluded with the elec-
tion of office bearers for 2011-2012: Paul
Singh Bains JP (President); Harshadb-
hai Patel (Vice President); Raj Singh
Thandi JP (General Secretary); Raj Bedi
(Assistant Secretary); and Manjit Singh
(Treasurer).
Members suggested a radio station but how to
go about it was unknown, says Bryn.
“A transmitter and antenna was costed at
$1300 – all we had in the bank. But we had the
conviction this would play a key role in this
ministry.”
The account was emptied out and four weeks
later Radio Waitac was born, broadcasting on
87.9FM, 24/7 with an excellent range of pro-
Community
The relationship between New Zealand
and India is fundamental to New Zea-
land’s future economic well- being. New
Zealand exports to India have tripled
over the last decade.
The growing community of Indian New
Zealanders highlights the importance of
bilateral trade and investment between
India and New Zealand.
NZICA was formed in 1926 with three
branches Auckland, Country Section
there was a sizable population of Indi-
ans residing.
The Indian community throughout New
Zealand at that time in its history, felt
the need for a single body to represent
them in their fight against oppressive
legislation and discriminatory immigra-
tion policy, and to promote harmony
between Indians, the Maori people, and
the dominant European population in
New Zealand; and to respond to mis-
leading propaganda concerning Indians
living in New Zealand.
The Central Association was also
formed to advance the cause of all Indi-
ans, be it political, educational, health,
welfare or cultural identity.
Today the three branches have grown
into ten independent, self governing,
incorporated branches throughout New
Zealand, all affiliated to the New Zea-
land Indian Central Association (Inc.)
and there are other affiliated branches
representing various Indian ethnic
groups. Association has about 60,000
members as on today.
grammes.
“The Lord blessed as more money came in
to support the radio station: a computer, a mixer
and other associated hardware and a 12.5m aerial
mast which gives coverage as far as New Lynn
and Riverhead. The blessings went further: the
mast installation and erection was done largely
by a group of Pentecostals,” he said.
Bryn says the church founders are happy
with progress in the first 12 months.
Waitac was launched by Nathan Mitchell
(Ministry Leader), his wife Rona, and Bryn
and his wife Christine, who saw the need for a
Sabbath keeping church in Swanson. The four
are still closely involved in running the church.
The first service drew 23 people; an average
of 38 people has attended every Saturday since.
However, fostering an individual relationship
with God is a key focus for these Christians.
Membership is diverse: Kiwis, Asians,
Indians, South Africans andSt Lucians.
But Waitac is not just a Saturday morning
service. The church holds regular Bible studies,
men’s and women’s activity nights and social
outings, even sending a team to support affected
residents in Christchurch.
What: Waitakere Three Angels Church
Where: Swanson Primary School Hall 703
Swanson Rd
Time: 9.30am every Saturday
www.waitac.org.nz
29
Indian
Community

Handbag safety is your responsibility

Gurpreet Arora: South Asian Liaison Officer - Counties Manukau
Auckland: There has been a rise in reported and hold your handbag
incidents of handbag thefts in areas such as close to your body, advise
Botany, Pakuranga, Papatoetoe and Otahuhu. Police.
The thieves are targeting women from Be very wary of suspi-
certain ethnic groups who they believe regu- cious looking people loi-
larly carry large amount of cash in their hand- tering in car parks.
bags. Police investigation into these incidents When you get in
is ongoing and there are some positive lines your vehicle place your
of enquiry. handbag on the passenger
It is expected there will be some arrests in side floor immediately
due course. Police would like to draw the at- and lock your doors.
tention of people who carry handbag or brief- Don’t leave your
cases to secure their personal belongings by handbag unattended, es-
adopting the following guidelines. pecially in the supermar-
First and above all never carry large ket. Secure your handbag through the strap
amounts of cash in your handbag if possible fitted to the trolley. Keep the trolley within
sight at all times.
Take particular care
when loading groceries
into the car. Place your
handbag inside the car,
re-lock it, and then put
the shopping bags in the
boot.
Never leave your
handbag unattended
in a car and remember
parking in busy areas
reduces the opportunities
for theft.
Thieves monitor ATM machines looking
for people withdrawing large amounts of cash.
To avoid attracting undesirable attention, it is
sensible to withdraw only small amounts of
cash at a time. Use ATMs in busy, well-lit
areas.
Consider that you could put yourself at risk
of serious injury, should a physical struggle
occur over your handbag.
Make photo copies of the front and back of
all important cards in your bag and keep them
is two private locations you can get to quickly
in case of theft so you can alert your credit
card and insurance companies, etc
Remember your handbag security is your
responsibility. Following these guidelines will
reduce the risk of you becoming a victim.
In an emergency dial 111.

Police warn of new scam Hindu youth swim for

Christchurch
Auckland: NZ Police would like to advise the community of the activities of certain
criminals, who have adopted a new method for cheating individuals and businesses, by
presenting fraudulently altered bank receipts.

Unfortunately a number of victims have relied solely on the receipt presented by the Members of the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh
fraudster, as proof that full payment has been made, and released goods or services. (Hindu Organisation of Volunteers) organ-
To counter this kind of criminal activity, and as a standard security practice for goods or ised a sponsored swim at the Lloyd Elsmore
services sold under these circumstances, a seller should always, directly verify with the Swimming Pool, Pakuranga, Auckland to
bank first, that full payment has been deposited into the account, before handing over raise funds for the victims of the Christ-
any goods or services. church earthquake.
The fundraising was done in association
The seller will eventually discover a financial loss, and the reality that he or she has been with Sewa International – a not-for-profit
the victim of a scam. By this time the fraudster has disappeared, and cannot be contact- organization inspired by the noble Hindu
ed owing to false identity details, that were provided to the victim by the fraudster. tradition of service before self, working for
promoting volunteerism internationally es-
pecially among children, youth, women and
Police recommend that all individuals and businesses selling goods or services under
energetic senior citizens. The goal of Sewa
similar circumstances, should observe the following guidelines: International is to provide relief to the af-
fected during calamities- natural and /or
(i) If a new client wants to do business with you, take the necessary care to verify the man-made; with the vision to see happiness
client’s background and identity. Check person’s appearance against their ID they pro- and wellbeing in everyone, everywhere and
vide. If it does not match then do not accept the transaction. at all times.
The target to the participants of the event
(ii) Do not give banking details to persons over the phone. was to achieve a total of 500 laps in 1 hour
and to raise $500. However, the volunteers
(iii) Before goods are released or services are provided, check with your Bank or went well beyond the target swimming a
through internet banking to verify the full amount that has been paid in to your Bank ac- total of 700 laps, raising more than $1700.
count on a particular date and time. “This is a brilliant effort by young volun-
teers and I am very proud of each and every
individual who was part of this fundraiser,”
(iv) Be vigilant and scrutinise Bank receipts and notes(money) shown to you by new
said Mr Vishram Wadnerkar, organiser of
clients, for any signs of alteration or erasure. For your established clients, continue with the event.
your normal procedures. “Raising funds through our own efforts,
giving back to the community and country
Anyone with information in relation to suspects involved in this type of criminal activity we reside in and motivating/encouraging
please contact Counties Manukau Police on 09-2611300. If you are a victim of such a our volunteers to help the ones in need”.
SCAM please report it at your local police station.
Nineteen students from Howick, Pak-
uranga, Botany and Bucklands Beach
schools participated in the event. Over 30
people (aged between 8 and 48) came to
support these volunteers. The objective for
the youth was to push themselves physically
for a good cause and raise as much funds
as possible; encourage the youth to partici-
pate in a Sewa (service) activity; physically
challenge the youth to extend themselves in
swimming; give the team a sense of pride
in participating in such a worthy cause; and
work with parents and local authorities to
support event.
Some of the highlights include: Two set
of twins participated in swimming. While
Tanmayi and Tapaswi Pagadala (age 8
years) completed 67 laps together, Neil and
Angad Vadgaonkar (age 14 years) complet-
ed 80 laps each. Priyanka Mistry (aged- 12
years) completed 70 laps on her own. Every-
one else surpassed personal targets set for
the day.
The event was followed by a picnic
where a minute’s silence was observed for
the victims of the Japan Earthquake disaster.
Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh meets every
Saturday, 4.30 pm - 5.30 pm for Youth ac-
tivities called ‘Shakha’ at Pakuranga Inter-
mediate School on Reeves Road, those in-
terested can contact Vishram Wadnerkar on
09 533 3299.

Toddlers at risk of ‘hot cuppa’ burns
It’s an everyday scene. Mum drinking a hot cuppa while
carrying her baby. Dad placing his coffee at the edge of
a table as his baby plays on his feet. The ‘cuppa’ spills,
and baby is hospitalised with deep burn injuries.
Tragic? Yes. Rare? No. It happens more often than you
might think.
Safekids New Zealand advises all parents to be extra
careful when consuming or handling hot liquids around
children, especially during the coming cold months.
According to Safekids, of children aged 1 to 2 years old
hospitalised due to severe burn injuries, over half are
burned by spilt hot drinks (tea and coffee) and other
liquids (such as soups and noodles).
Safekids also says that while fatalities are few, hot
substance burns (liquids, surfaces, objects) caused
at least three times the number of children admitted
to hospitals compared to burns from fire and flame. It
is estimated that almost 6 children are burnt severely
enough to be hospitalised each week.
Ann Weaver, Director of Safekids, said the dangers
posed by hot liquids being split on children are of-
ten underestimated. “A child’s skin is thinner than an
adult’s, so hot liquids burn quicker, deeper and at lower
temperatures. In normal conditions, a hot cuppa that
was made 15 minutes previously, can still burn a young
child,” Ann said.
“Hot water burns like fire, and a single hot drink spilled
over a baby is equivalent to a bucket of boiling water
tipped over an adult,” Ann said.
Safekids added that severely burned babies often
require multiple operations and treatments. “Burnt chil-
dren and their traumatised families will have to deal with
the consequences of these injuries for the rest of their
lives,” she added.
‘Hot’ Tips
Below are tips from Safekids and Burn Support Charita-
ble Trust, Inc. which identifies a number of ways to avoid
‘hot cuppa’ horrors:
- First Aid: Apply running water from the cold tap gently
over the burn for at least 20 minutes. If in any doubt re-
garding the burn, seek medical advice immediately.
- Always keep hot drinks out of reach, near the centre of a
table, NOT at the edge.
- Never hold a child and a hot drink at the same time, and
be aware of children when holding a hot drink.
- Actively supervise children.

30 Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz

Indian

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Fax: 09 2708903
POOJA PRODUCTS T&C’s apply- check instore for when specials expire

Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz 31

Indian

India Gate (Formerly - Chaska Punjab Da).

UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT
Better Ambience, Service & Food.
Contact: Shivani Arora. Ph: 09 631 0047. Mob: 021 870012.
Free Phone: 0800 INDIAGATE. Email: sarora333@gmail.com
Address: First Floor, 380 Manukau Road, Epsom, Auckland - 1023
32 Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
Indian
Community

CLASSIFIEDS GOPIO raises cash for Christchurch, ambulance

Dairy for Sale
Great for first time buyers, Work your
own hours
Small family business, steady income and
manageable
Price Negotiable
Contact: Rose  276 5288
150 Years of
Rabindranath Tagore
In order to pay homage to Kabiguru
Rabindranath Tagore on the auspicious
occasion of his 150 th birth anniversary,
Probasee Bengalee Association of NZ
Inc is organising a cultural event on 21
April, 2011 at 6 PM at Mt Roskill War
Memorial Hall, 13, May Road, Mount
Roskill.
You are invited with your family and
friends........President, Probasee
Bengalee Association of NZ
Looking for an indian girl
between 23 to 26 yrs old. Must be
educated and preferably with a degree. I
am 25 years old originally from Fiji, work
as an engineer and am a NZ citizen. If
interested please email photo and details
to sandeepnair1@vodafone.co.nz
 and I will email my photo and other details
The GOPIO (Global Organisation of People of
Indian Origin) NZ executive committee this week
handed a chenque of $5350 to Red Cross NZ
toward its fund for the victims of the Christchurch
earthquakes.
The cheque was presented at a function at the
Stamford Plaza Hotel in downtown Auckland on
April 17. In addition, GOPIO NZ members have
also contributed personally in cash and provided
assistance to Cantabrians directly through Red
Cross and other organisations.
The function was attended by senior GOPIO
office bearers, members and National list MP
Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi.
In the aftermath of the quake, some members
donated household articles for urgent need to get
them settled temporarily as well as extended hos-
pitality to some of the affected in their homes.
The organisation’s Waikato chapter held all Faith
prayers during the difficult times.
GOPIO NZ is also organising another fund-
raising for the Indian Weekender facilitated Make
a Difference to St John for presenting the first
ever fully loaded ambulance from New Zealand’s
Indian community to St John Ambulance.
GOPIO NZ is proposing to collect approx
$12,000.00 towards this noble cause through a
raffle draw, tickets for which have already been
printed are being distributed among members and
the community.
Anyone can contribute toward this project by
buying $5.00 tickets from GOPIO members of
any chapter across the country. The raffle will
have 5 sponsored prizes:
Ist Prize: 50’’Panasonic HD Plasma TV sponsored
by Global Finance
2nd Prize: I-Pad sponsored by Patton Refrigera-
tion
3rd Prize: Mystery Weekend for two in New
Zealand
4th Prize: Weekend stay for two with breakfast
GOPIO NZ members at the function where a cheque was presented to Red Cross NZ
(Jun- Aug’11) at Stamford Plaza
5th Prize: Dinner for four in Sangeet Restaurant
sponsored by Sangeet Restaurant
A notice on the date, venue and time of the
draw will be published in the NZ Herald, Indian
Weekender and other Indian media on Sunday
June 12, giving the details of Prizes and Sponsors.
A cheque will also be given on that day to St
John’s Ambulance. The results of this draw will
be published in the in Indian Weekender and local
media, giving the details of winners and Sponsors.
GOPIO is a non-political, not profit, apex or-
ganisation worldwide working for the benefits and
wellbeing of more than 22 million People of Indian
Origin living outside India.
President Rakesh Gupta said the Initial task of
the National Executive Committee to review/final-
ise national constitution had been completed. The
amendments for GOPIO NZ constitution were
unanimously approved by the members of Nation-
al Executive Committee as per the rules of previ-
ous constitution on March 27, 2011 in a special
Executive Committee meeting held at Sangeet
Restaurant.
Sunny Kaushal, Co Chairman – Marketing,
PR and Membership said, “GOPIO NZ is cur-
rently in the process of launching an informative
website in New Zealand shortly carrying informa-
tion on GOPIO activities and projects, member-
ship details and procedure for joining GOPIO for
the benefits of the people of Indian Origin.
“In addition to St John’s Ambulance, we have
a number of other community projects in the pipe-
line that GOPIO NZ team is working that include
the awareness on matters concerning Communi-
ties and new migrants, Youth and Parents forum,
Family Violence, Breast Cancer etc. in addition to
liaising with other Indian Community organisa-
tion.”
Indian Weekender publisher Giri Gupta has
commended GOPIO NZ for its efforts to spread
awareness and help raise funds for the ambulance
project. “It shows how Indian organisations can
come together for a worthy cause and work as
one,” he said.

Indian Weekender Council calls for rapid

sincerely thanks
GOPIO NZ,
Shirdi Sai Sansthan,
Senior Citizens Group of Bharatiya
Samaj
Rang Manch
And the growing numbers of Indian
community members around New
Zealand
For donating generously to the St
John Ambulance project co-ordinated
by Indian Weekender.
Your support is deeply appreciated.
Please spread the word and let us all
help ourselves achieve the objective
5 easy steps for Eyes and Dark
circles.
By Swami Ramdevji
Step1 – Apply Baba Ramdev ji’s Aloe Vera
Gel around your eyes and face this will help
in reducing dark circles as well as other
spots from face.   rural Auckland and we are delighted that this initia-
Step2 – Fill your mouth with cold water, hold
it and then splash your eyes with cold water
for better eyesight and reducing dark circles.  and nationally.
Step 3 - Drink Amla Juice and Aloe Vera
Juice 2 table spoon each along with a cup
of hot water twice a day. This process done
every day will gradually improve your eye-
sight, give glow on your skin and remove dark
circles.    ment is a step towards providing more comprehen-
Step 4 - On your Palm, just in between your
middle finger and index finger, there are acu-
pressure points for eyes that you must press
from 30sec. to 2mins.   Telecom and Vodafone are to be applauded for
Step 5 – Do Pranayama everyday. (for more
info go to youtube “ watch yoga for eyes”)  the Digital Auckland Working Party.
broadband deployment to
Auckland’s rural communities
The Auckland Council ap- Join the St John-Indian Weekender
plauds the government’s
announcement that it has
concluded its negotiations ambulance project & help the community...
with Telecom and Voda-
fone for vastly improved
rural broadband services,
and looks forward to Auck-
land’s rural communities
reaping  the benefit of this
Arthur Anae initiative in the near future.
Rural Auckland is sub-
stantial, comprising over 70 percent of the Auckland
region. It contains the third largest number of rural
businesses and the fourth largest number of rural
households in the country. 
Cr Arthur Anae, Chair of the Auckland Council
Economic Development Forum said that the Auck-
land region has been preparing for this initiative
for some time, having invested in the expertise and
structures to work on delivery options with Telecom,
Vodafone and the Ministry of Economic Develop-
ment.
“We have a robust community collaboration
model to ensure the rapid realisation of broadband to
tive has come to fruition. 
“Bringing broadband to Auckland’s rural areas
will have economic and social benefits regionally
 
“Enhancing an innovative rural economy is a key
priority in our draft regional economic development
strategy, and fast, open access broadband is a crucial
element in making this happen,” says Cr Anae.
The combination of fibre and wireless deploy-
sive coverage to Auckland’s urban fringe areas and
it is encouraging to know that a substantial propor-
tion of rural New Zealand will have access to wired
services.
exceeding the expected coverage for rural New
Zealand and for their willingness to collaborate with

Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz 33

Indian
Amma’s devotees do their bit
The Mata Amritanandamayi Satsang
Group Inc is going out of its way to do its
bit for the community.
The Auckland group recently donated
$5000 to the Red Cross New Zealand for
the 2011 Christchurch Earthquake Appeal.
Group president Chandra Kurup and the
fundraising committee member Varima
Narula went to the Red Cross Service Cen-
tre in Manukau to hand over the cheque in
person.
Mata Amritanandamayi Satsang Group
was incorporated in 2007 and is a small
group of people who are devoted to Amma
and meet every fourth Saturday to conduct
Satsang. Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, lov-
ingly called Amma or Mother is one of the
true living saints of today.
Amma’s mission carries out many spiritual
and humanitarian activities all over the
world, for instance: programmes to build
100,000 homes for the homeless, three
orphanages, relief-and-rehabilitation in
the face of disasters such as the 2004
Indian Ocean Tsunami, free medical care,
pensions for widows and disabled people,
environmental-protection groups, slum
renovation, care homes for the elderly, and
free food and clothing for the poor, among
others.
These projects are managed and run by
various organizations world-wide, including
the Mata Amritanandamayi Math (India),
the Mata Amritanandamayi Center (USA),
Amritanandamayi-Europe, Amritanan-
damayi-Japan, Amritanandamayi-Kenya,
Amritanandamayi-Australia, etc.
Amma says “Real love and devotion for
God is to have compassion for the poor
and the suffering. Feed those who are hun-
gry, help the poor, console the sorrowful,
comfort the suffering, be charitable to all.”
As Amma’s devotees and children it is our
duty to follow her teachings.
“So our group here in New Zealand
decided to raise funds for the people suf-
fering after the Christchurch earthquake,”
fundraising committee spokeswoman
Varima Narula said.
“We collected around $4000 through
members’ donations and fundraising ac-
tivities and around $1000 were given from
the group’s accounts. We plan to continue
with our fundraising activities to help other
34
people that may need it and also to get
Amma to visit New Zealand.”
To get more information about Amma you
can visit www.Amma.org or for NZ site visit
www.amma.org.nz
She has hugged over 27 million people
worldwide and is thus also known as the
Hugging Saint. With every hug she passes
on her compassion, healing and blessings,
and you see people simply bursting into
tears as they experience the power of her
true unconditional Love.
While presenting Amma with the Gandhi-
King Award for Non-Violence, Jane Good-
all, the UN Messenger of Peace, said: “She
stands here in front of us – God’s love in a
human body. She teaches by the example
of her own life and conveys the highest
spiritual truths in the simplest language.
Her teachings are universal.”
Amma does not profess any one particular
religion but accepts the various spiritual
practices and prayers of all religions as
different systems for the single goal of
purifying the mind.
Amma says, “Karma [action], Jnana
[knowledge] and Bhakti [devotion] are
all essential. If the two wings of a bird are
devotion and action, knowledge is its tail.
Only with the help of all three can the bird
soar into the heights.”
She stresses the importance of meditation,
performing actions as selfless service, and
cultivating divine qualities such as com-
passion, patience, forgiveness, self-con-
trol, etc. Amma says that these practices
refine the mind, making it fit for assimilating
the ultimate truth: that one is not the limited
body and mind but the eternal blissful
consciousness.
This understanding Amma refers to as
Jivanmukti [liberation while alive]. Amma
says, “Jivanmukti is not something to be
attained after death, nor is it to be experi-
enced or bestowed upon you in another
world. It is a state of perfect awareness
and equanimity, which can be experienced
here and now in this world, while living in
the body.
Having come to experience the high-
est truth of oneness with the Self, such
blessed souls do not have to be born
again. They merge with the infinite con-
sciousness.
Conference actions
Hindu-Maori Health views
Some Maori performers with the conference organisers
The second Wellington Region Hindu Confer-
ence was held at the Waiwhetu Marae, Lower
Hutt, on 9th April 2011. The theme of the con-
ference was “Hindu-Maori Perspectives on Ho-
listic Health: From Individual and Whanau to
Community”. The conference was organised by
the Wellington chapter of the Hindu Council of
New Zealand, Inc. (HCNZ) in cooperation with
the Waiwhetu Marae.
Maori hosts and Hindu manuhiri got togeth-
er at the conference in the spirit of the Arohanui
ki te Tangata (Goodwill to all Men) and Vasud-
haiv Kutumbakam (World is one Family) at the
Marae. The two ancient cultures discussed the
great amount of similarity in their worldview
towards humankind, nature and environment.
The conference participants were wel-
comed by Kaumatua Te Rira Puketapu whose
depth of knowledge about cultures and history
made a deep impression on the participants. Mr
Pancha Narayanan, a member of Community
Sector Task Force, led the local Hindu com-
munity members and delegates in the Powhiri.
Wellington Sanskrit Pathshala did the waiata
during the powhiri.
Participants included local Iwi, Hindus from
New Zealand and overseas, and Government
Ministers, parliamentarians, officials, and rep-
resentatives from the voluntary sectors.
The conference was inaugurated by Hon.
Peter Dunne, Minister of Revenue and Associ-
ate Minister of Health. Appreciating the work
of community-based organisations, Mr Dunne
said these organisations were utilising tradi-
tional medical wisdom to fill in the gap where
the Government was struggling to supply
healthcare needs. He also welcomed such ini-
tiatives where communities came together to
look for common grounds to share their time-
tested knowledge.
In this spirit, the tradition of Rongoa Maori
(Maori herbal medicine) was described by
Jonas Malamanche of the Waiwhetu Marae,
the Hindu practice of Yoga and its scientific
basis was elaborated by the renowned Yoga
scholar Dr. H. R. Nagendra, Vice chancellor of
the SVYASA university, India, and Ayurveda
(Hindu medicinal system) was explained by
Mrs. Prajakta Sapre from Palmerston North.
Dr. Raj Vinod Anand, practicing GP and
Hindu Maori Health session presenters (from Left to Right): Mrs. Prajakta Sapre, Mr. Jonas Malamanche, Dr. H.
R. Nagendra, Dr. Vijay Senan, and Dr. Raj Vinod Anand.
Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
Community
member of the Art of Living Foundation, em-
phasised that the goal of medicinal systems
should be holistic health, and to this end dif-
ferent medical systems should all be a part of
the mainstream. Dr. Vijay Senan, practicing
Psychiatrist, described specific ways in which
traditional health practices can be used to sup-
plement and enhance the modern Healthcare
system.
Based on these deliberations, it was decided
to follow up the Ministry of Health to get offi-
cial recognition for the Hindu system of Yoga as
an alternative therapy. AROGYA (a division of
HCNZ) has been offering yoga and pranayam
classes in various suburbs of Wellington, and
now has plans to train instructors to address the
growing popularity of these classes.
Paul Quinn, Member of Parliament repre-
senting National Party, read out a statement by
Hekia Parata, Minister of Ethnic Affairs. Her
statement stressed on reducing the negative
stereotyping of ethnic communities by main-
stream media. According to Ms Parata, there
should be an alliance of civilizations in New
Zealand, and cross cultural research will be a
key factor towards achieving that goal.
Trevor Mallard, Member of Parliament rep-
resenting Labour Party, had an interesting take
on the word “community”, where the key to un-
derstanding the concept of community lay in its
last part: “unity”.
Ann Dysart of the Ministry of Social De-
velopment, in her note to the conference raised
concerns over the stereotyping of communities.
Ms Dysart also brought focus on the abuses that
continue to happen in some migrant families.
She emphasised that this needs to be addressed
as an urgent priority to support a healthy family
and community. She stressed on non judgmen-
tal approaches for addressing these issues to
help reduce incidents of women and children
abuse.
In addition to main conference theme, two
very successful sessions on “Healthy families
and communities”, and “Rituals and their NZ
adaptations surrounding death in the Hindu
communities” were highlights of this confer-
ence. Outcomes from these sessions will be
shared with the wider community in the near
future, say the organisers.
Indian
Community
Mayor Bob

Community news in pics

Parker being
honoured
at Vaisakhi
celebration in
Christchurch

Wellington Sikhs celebrate ANZAC Day

Christchurch mayor
Bob Parker and MP
kanwaljit Bakshi with
community members

Jagjit Singh in concert last month...

Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz 35

Indian
Women to the fore in Rotorua Diwali fest
Rotorua Deepawali Festival has been celebrated
successfully for the past 3 years. Each year, it
has grown bigger, better and brighter. Last year,
more than 4000 people from both Rotorua and
out of town celebrated this unique smoke-free,
alcohol-free and meat-free festival. People came
from Auckland, Hamilton, Taupo, Tauranga,
Whakatane, Taumarunui and Wellington.
This year, the Rotorua Deepawali Festival
(RDF 2011) will be celebrated on Saturday, 1
October 2011 at the Rotorua Convention Centre.
Entry to the festival is free.
“It is really heart-warming to see people from
various cultures, nationalities, ethnic groups,
faiths, and belonging to various organisations
already booking tickets for this year’s festival,”
said Dr Guna Magesan, festival coordinator.
“Deepawali in Rotorua has been unique in
presenting the best of Hindu and Kiwi, particu-
larly Maori, cultures, and we also aim to make it
that way,” Dr Magesan added.
A measure of the popularity of the manner in
which Deepawali is celebrated in Rotorua is that
festival organisers from other cities have shown
their keenness to participate and observe the
uniqueness of this festival; and to see how this
could be implemented in their respective cities.
Each year, RDF committee has added a novel
feature in organising the Deepawali celebrations.
In the first year, RDF was organised as a smoke-
free, alcohol-free and meat-free festival, sending
a strong message of healthy lifestyle to the com-
munity. In the second year, RDF gave importance
to Hindu Maori whakawhanangatanga (kinship).
Last year the focus was on youth develop-
ment, guided by the vision to let the youth from
Hindu and other communities to take the lead-
ership in organising events that promote social
harmony.
This year’s focus is ‘Women Empowerment’
and the festival will be planned, and organised
by women. Already, young women of Indian,
Nepalese and Fiji origin, and from New Zealand
are part of the RDF11 organising committee.
Pomp and fervour mark
Vaisakhi
NZ Punjabi Cultural Association Inc celebrated
Vaisakhi 2011 at Telstra Event Centre on April 2.
There were more than 1000 people attending and
some 150 participants in the shows.
Raj Bedi introduced Mr Prithipal Singh Basra who
extended a formal welcome to the guests. Mem-
bers of Parliament Mr KS Bakshi, Dr Cam Calder,
Dr Rajen Prasad, Dr Ashraf Choudhary were the
guest speakers. Mr Eru Thompson, kaumatua
Auckland Council, was one of the distinguished
guests and he recognised the QSM awardees Mrs
Gurmeeta and Mr Harshadbhai Patel.
The excellent MC role were performed by Nimi
Bedi, Gurpreet Kaur, Anita Badwal and Taranjit
Singh.
36
Festival organisers in front of Rotorua Convention Centre where Deepawali festival will be held on Saturday, 1
October 2011.
(From Left to Right): Dr Meeta Patel (Joint-Coordinator), Hetal Bhatt, Praneita Narayan, Kavitha Magesan,
Michelle Chopra and Bimala Khatri.
Participants from other countries are expected
to join.
“A focus for the organising committee this
year will be to send a nation wide message to all
New Zealand communities on how women can
exert a positive influence on society in leadership
roles. We invite women from both Hindu and
non-Hindu communities to take part in organis-
ing and promoting this festival,” Dr. Meeta Patel,
Joint coordinator of the festival, said.
Last year, the festival was sponsored by a
number of charitable organisations, supported
The Punjabi folk dances were much appreciated.
Vaisakhi is one of the major festivals of Sikhs
and is celebrated with lot of enthusi-
asm and gaiety in the state of Punjab
and all throughout the world where
there is a significant Sikh population.
For the large farming community of
Punjab, Vaisakhi Festival marks the
time for harvest of rabi crops and they
celebrate the day by performing joyful
bhangra and gidda dance. For the
Sikh community, Vaisakhi Festival has
tremendous religious significance as
it was on a Vaisakhi Day in 1699, that
Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh
Guru laid the foundation of Panth
Khalsa-the Order of the Pure Ones.
by several government agencies, businesses and
community organisations, and promoted by print
and electronic media.
“With the focus on Women Empowerment
this year, we expect more Government agencies
to participate,” Dr Patel added.
Hindu Council of New Zealand (HCNZ) is a
registered incorporated society based in Rotorua,
and has obtained a charitable status from Chari-
ties Commission. HCNZ works towards promot-
ing inter-community exchanges in arts, culture
and heritage.
Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
Community
HCNZ has also been organising Marae stays
for the Hindu community to allow them to expe-
rience and learn about Maori culture and tradi-
tion.
For the last three years, Hindu Council of
New Zealand has raised funds for the success
of the Rotorua Deepawali Festival, thanks to its
track record in terms of community projects and
its relationship with government agencies and
non-government organizations and charitable
funding bodies. This year also HCNZ will raise
the required funds for the festival.
Appreciation for HCNZ and the work by its
volunteers has come from individuals, commu-
nity organisations and government agencies,
for example, the Department of Internal Affairs
published a front page article on Rotorua Deep-
awali in their newsletter ‘Community Matters’.
In his latest support letter, His Worship Mr
Kevin Winters, the Mayor of Rotorua wrote
“The Hindu Council continues to put a lot of time
and effort into organising this event and plan an
even more varied Festival this year with the help
of their women”.
The Mayor adds “Over the past couple of
years the Rotorua community has embraced
the Deepawali Festival and thoroughly enjoyed
the colour, food and entertainment that we have
come to associate with the Festival”.
When HCNZ aims at a project for public
good, it will carry it out with commitment,
passion and sincerity.
“Our aim is to make Rotorua Deepawali Fes-
tival a role model community festival not only
for Rotorua, but also to rest of New Zealand and
the world, by 2015,” Dr Guna Magesan, said.
The seating capacity of Rotorua Convention
Centre for the evening cultural show is 685. More
than 300 tickets have been already reserved –
following the success of last year’s festival. The
remaining seats will be allocated on a first come
first serve basis.
For seat reservation, please email: rotorua.
deepawali@gmail.com
Indian
Community

CDIA: Serving the Indian Community since 1945

Profiling one of the oldest and most active organisations of the Indian diaspora in New Zealand in the NZICA fold
CDIA Diwali Youth Dancers (2010)
The letters CD are the initials for Central Dis-
tricts, which is what many Indians around
New Zealand refer both the Central Districts
Indian Association (CDIA) and the Central Dis-
tricts Indian Sports Club (CDISC) to. Both are
leading organisations in the central and lower
North Island with CDIA organising the cultural
and religious aspects of the Indian community
and CDISC with sports.
The Central Districts Indian Association has
been at the forefront of Indian cultural and reli-
gious events in the Manawatu for many years.
Today the organisation is highly active with a
membership base on the increase. The name
Central Districts Indian Association has been
in use since October 1999. Before this the As-
sociation was under the banner of Manawatu-
Hawke’s Bay Indian Association (MHBIA),
which was originally formed in 1945.
From this point on, the rate of arrival of
Indians to the region increased with many fami-
CDIA Festival of Cultures (2011)
lies settling in the Palmerston North area with
others living in the surrounding towns of Feild-
ing, Foxton, Levin, Marton and Dannevirke,
Eketahuna, Masterton, Pahiatua, Waipukarau
and Woodville.
The surge in Indian population is believed to
have been the catalyst for a number of Indian
residents to create an Indian Association. The
aim was for local Indians to support their fellow
countrymen. The Association also provided
the first point of contact for many new Indian
migrants and helped them to settle into New
Zealand life. Over the years the number of
Indians in the region decreased with most of
them leaving for larger cities. Interest in the As-
sociation’s activities waned resulting in activi-
ties only being held on rare occasions and to the
point where it almost became inactive.
The 1970s saw another increase in Indian
population, especially in the Palmerston North
area. Dannevirke-raised Paul Patel, now living
in Palmerston North, wanted to see the Associa- CDISC is a member of the New Zealand
tion revitalised so he wrote to all the families in Indian Sports Association (NZISA) and par-
the region to gauge their support in forming a takes in the annual NZISA Queen’s Birthday
local association. Sport was a common interest Tournament which consists of hockey, netball
for local Indians and an unofficial Indian Sports and soccer. This tournament is attended by all 8
Club was already in existence. It was decided to regional Indian Sports Club who are also affili-
form an official Indian Sports Club similar to ated to NZISA.
those already operating in other parts of New CD’s main sporting code has been hockey,
Zealand. There was positive support for this where they have entered teams in QBT since the
idea and in March 1982 the Central Districts Clubs formation. CD was competitive to start
Indian Sports Club was formed. Although sport with but did not win many matches. In 2000, CD
was the major focus, CDISC also held Indian re- won two games at QBT, their first victories for
ligious functions including Diwali other social five years. This point was the beginning of an
events. upsurge in their fortunes and by this time a new
In 1988 Paul again wrote to the local fami- generation of players was emerging. In 2003,
lies. He felt that the time was right to revitalise CD’s persistence was rewarded when they won
the original Manawatu-Hawke’s Bay Indian As- the QBT Men’s B-Section in Hamilton. 2008
sociation to organise the cultural and religious saw CDISC’s proudest moment when they won
events in the region. This left CDISC free to the coveted NZISA Dhyan Chand Trophy for the
concentrate on their sporting activities. Once first time in the Clubs history.
again there was a favourable response and CDISC also hold an annual Dannevirke
the Association was rejuvenated with strong Sports Day where CD plays a local Dannevirke
support. Two years later in 1989 Paul took on team for the Chhiba Pancha Patel Memorial
the President’s role, which he
still holds today. Under his lead-
ership the Association became
actively involved with the New
Zealand Indian Central Associa-
tion (NZICA).
The MHBIA title was retired
and replaced by the name Central
Districts Indian Association in
1999. The new title reflected better
with the geographical coverage of
the Association and the range of
activities undertaken. Today the
members of CDIA are largely
based in Palmerston North and
the outlying towns of Feilding,
Marton, Dannevirke and Wan-
ganui. The Association has a mem-
bership base of over 65 families CDISC QBT Men’s Hockey Champions (2008)
and a number of single members,
which is increasing steadily. Many
annual religious events are catered for includ- Trophy. The event recognises Chhiba Pancha
ing the celebration of Janmashtami, Navratri Patel, one of the pioneers of the Indian commu-
and the ever-popular Diwali. Another function nity who arrived in New Zealand in 1917 and
of CDIA has been to raise public awareness of established one of the first businesses in Dann-
Indian culture through the annual Palmerston evirke.
North City Council Festival of Cultures. This One important factor in the success of
popular event, in which CDIA has taken part CDISC is the presence of Indian students study-
since 1995, allows ethnic groups to showcase ing at Massey University, many of whom have
traditional food, song and dance. continued to play for, and maintain ties to,
Central Districts Indian Sports Club repre- CDISC after leaving the region
sents Indians living in the Central North Island Today CDISC is led by current President
as well, particularly the Manawatu, Hawkes Bay Sandeep Patel, with a mix of long serving
and Taranaki regions. Although formed in 1982, members and an increasing number of youth
its heritage extends back to the 1940s with the on the Committee. CD are looking forward to
club ‘Manawatu Indians’ and in the mid 1960s the upcoming 2011 NZISA QBT which is to be
to early 1970s with the ‘Wanganui’ club where held in Auckland on 4th – 6th June where CD
both were involved in cricket and hockey. The will again be entering a Men’s hockey team to
early 1970s saw a decline in membership with hopefully win QBT once again. CDISC are also
Indian families leaving the region which re- looking forward to 2012 as the Club will be cel-
sulted in combined teams competing under the ebrating 30 years along with hosting, for the first
name ‘Manawatu-Wanganui Combined’. From time, the biennial Golden Oldies Indian Hockey
this, Paul Patel suggested Indian communities Tournament in Palmerston North.
in the Wanganui and the Manawatu regions
form an official Indian Sports Club. The newly
formed club took part in hockey, cricket, soccer,
netball and darts matches.

Nagar Kirtan marks Vaisakhi

Manurewa, Auckland: As a part of celebrations of Vaisakhi – birthday of Khalsa Panth, a grand
Nagar Kirtan (street parade) was organised by Gurdwara Nanaksar Thath Isher Darbar, Manurewa
on Sunday, 17th April 2011.
Right from the early morning, a large number of devotees started assembling at the Nanaksar
Gurdwara, Manurewa. The Holy Book, Guru Granth Sahib was placed on a palanquin and carried
on a well decorated truck bedecked with flowers and bunties.
The Nagar Kirtan was led by the Panj Pyaras (the five beloved ones) dressed in saffron uniforms
and carrying swords and Nishan Sahib in their hands passed through the roads of Manurewa. People
stood along the route of procession in Manurewa to have darshan (glimpse) of Holy Guru Granth
Sahib. A continuous recital of kirtan from Guru Granth by the Ragis and devotees added sanctity
to the function.
The entire area wore a festive look. Thousands of devotees joined the procession and there was a
sea of colours all around as the devotees wore traditional colourful dresses. Ahead of the procession,
the devotees cleaned the roads with brooms and sprinkled water for the Panj Pyaras and the Guru
Granth Sahib, followed by the procession.
After passing through the streets of Manurewa, the Nagar Kirtan culminated at Gurdwara
Nanaksar, Manurewa and was followed by Kirtan Darbar at the Gurdwara. Young children per-
formed Kirtan first followed by the Hajuri Jatha of Bhai Gurpreet Singh (Amritsar wale). Baba Hari
Singh (Randhawe Wale) did katha on Amrit and its origin. Bhai Devinder Singh Sodhi (Ludhiana
wale) also congratulated the congregation on this highly auspicious day. His melodious Kirtan was
received very well by the Sangat. The celebrations concluded with serving of sumptuous Langar.
The sewadars of Gurdwara Nanaksar would like to thank all the volunteers, sponsors, contribu-
tors, sangat and above all Guru Granth Sahib ji for another successful programme to celebrate the
“Birth of Khalsa”.

Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz 37

Indian
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Indian
Aishwarya, Sonam to attend Cannes
Mumbai: Indian actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan,
Sonam Kapoor and Freida Pinto will light up the
Red Carpet for L’Oreal Paris at the Cannes Film
Festival to be held from May 11 – 22.
It is for the first time that L’Oreal Paris will
have three spokeswomen representing India at
Cannes, a testimony to India’s growing influence
on the world stage.
Founded in 1946, the Cannes Film Festival is
one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious film
festivals and L’Oreal Paris has been the official
make-up artist of the festival for 14 years.
Vismay Sharma, Director – Consumer Prod-
ucts Division, L’Oreal India said, “On the eve of
the Cannes Film Festival, we are delighted and
proud to have Aishwarya, Sonam and Freida rep-
resenting India and L’Oreal Paris at Cannes. They
represent the diversity that is India and are sure to
be the epicenter of attraction at the festival.”
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who celebrates a
decade of representing L’Oreal Paris at Cannes,
will, like previous years, walk the red carpet on
May 11 for the opening ceremony and will attend
the Opening Gala cocktail and dinner while at-
tending various events at Cannes on May 12.
She said, “Being at Cannes for L’Oreal Paris
has been an absolute pleasure and to experience
this for the tenth consecutive year has been quite
overwhelming. I thank the L’Oreal Paris team
and the Cannes Film Festival for inviting me
Bollywood
Tata Docomo ties up with RaNa Daggubati film
every year to represent India at one of the most
glamorous red carpets on the world platform, cel-
ebrating cinema, showbiz, beauty, diversity and
excellence.”
“Several countries have always had more than
one L’Oreal Paris spokeswoman at Cannes and
I’m glad India is finally getting the same recogni-
tion. I am happy that with Sonam and Freida, both
beautiful women, being invited to the festival this
year, India will have a stronger presence, which
is a clear sign of the growing importance of the
country,” said Aishwarya.
This is also the first year that Freida Pinto and
Sonam Kapoor will represent L’Oreal Paris at the
Cannes Film Festival.
Sonam Kapoor who will walk the red carpet
on May 15, said, “It has always been my dream
to walk the red carpet at Cannes and it is soon
going to be a reality thanks to L’Oreal Paris. I look
forward to meeting actors and film makers from
the world over and attending screenings of some
interesting films. Hyderabad: Tata DOCOMO, the GSM brand paid subscribers from Andhra Pradesh are eli-
“But what excites me the most is meeting of Tata Teleservices has announced its asso- gible for the service.
the L’Oreal Paris international dream team of ciation with director Puri Jagannath’s latest “A chance to Talk to the movie stars is
make-up artistes and seeing how they transform Telugu movie Nenu Naa Rakshasi.  aspirational for everyone and we are sure
me for one of the most glamorous red carpets in The first of a kind tie-up gives Tata Docomo that Celebrity Chat would be a thrilling ex-
the world.” customers an exclusive opportunity to Talk to perience for our valued customers,” said S
Freida Pinto will represent L’Oreal Paris at the stars RaNa Daggubati and Ileana D ‘Cruz. Ramakrishna, COO-AP Circle, Tata Teleser-
the amFAR (The American Foundation for AIDS Both existing and potential pre-paid and post- vices Limited.
Research) dinner and after-party on May 19.

Exclusive pic/s clicked by Pradeep Bandekar

Charlie Chaplin’s 122nd birthday celebrated
Hamare dosti mein ‘dum’ Mumbai: If a day can be dedicated to comedy and humour, then Apr 16 is the perfect
date as it marks the birthday of ‘comedy king’ Charlie Chaplin.

hain---insists Ramesh Sippy Chaplin’s admirers, who have seen him performing various funny activities on-screen,
celebrated his 122nd birth anniversary last month.

“Bulao uss aadmi ko, jisne kahaa hai main aap logon se naaraaz hoon” reacts
legendary singer Asha Bhosle as she bumps into ‘Dum Maro Dum’
producer Ramesh (‘Sholay’) Sippy who is waiting for a ‘calm’ after the
controversial storm--- to meet the legendary Dev Anand for a
‘cease-fire’ of sorts.
Paying tribute to the legendary actor, popular search engine site ‘Google.com’ is mark-
ing the occasion with a special animated doodle in the form of a short film where a Char-
lie look-alike is performing the evergreen moves of the actor, tickling fun and laughter.
Born in 1889, Sir Charles Spencer “Charlie” Chaplin entertained his fans in numerous
films like ‘The Great Dictator’, ‘The Circus’, ‘The Kid’, ‘The Gold Rush’, ‘Modern Times’.

Chaitanya Padukone Known for his remarkable performances in the silent film era, he became one of the
most famous film stars in the world before the end of World War I.

Chaplin died in the year 1977 leaving a void in World Cinema.

Kailash Kher to promote Nepal tourism

Mumbai: Popular Bollywood singer
Kailash Kher has been named the ‘Honou-
rary Goodwill Ambassador of NTY 2011’
by the Nepal Tourism.
Nepal has set an aim to flourish its
tourism and Kailash Kher as an  ambassa-
dor will try to attract visitors to the Hima-
layan nation.
Interestingly, Kailash Kher is the only
person after mountaineer Sir Edmund Per-
cival Hillary to be declared an “Honorary
Goodwill Ambassador”.
The popular Sufi singer said, “This is a
great responsibility as I got  this great op-
portunity after Sir Hillary and I hope I will
do justice.”

Guests at actress Poonam Dhillon’s late-night birth-
day party the other day, ain mid-town were apparent-
ly expecting some heated verbal exchange when the
controversial ‘Dum Maro Dum’ producer Ramesh
Sippy abruptly bumped into legendary songstress
Asha Bhosle as she was leaving the venue at around
mid-night.
Incidentally, Dhillon calls madame Bhosle ‘Aai’
(Mother) and hence the latter religiously waited till
the cake-cutting ritual was over. Currently, a contro-
versy has been raging over the “remixed” version
of the iconic yesteryear hippie anthem ‘Dum Maro
Dum’ in the film ‘Dum Maro Dum (which released
last week to ‘mixed’ responses) with news reports in-
sisting that Asha (who has sung the original number)
is “highly peeved” with the revamped Pritam
version of the iconic ‘Hare Rama Hare Krishna’
trance-dance song.
Both Sippy and Asha had an animated discus-
sion. When asked whether the singer vented out
her ire, Ramesh chuckled. “ On the contrary when I
asked her—kya aap humse naaraz hai—she reacted
with ‘bulao uss aadmi ko, jisne kahaa hai main aapse
naaraaz hoon’ (‘Call the person who says I am angry
with you guys’)and she was amicably smiling . Actu-
ally, I have been knowing Asha-ji and have worked
with her over the past four decades. She specifically
told me she had no issues at all regarding our version
which goes ‘Mit Jaaye Gham’ song. And then our
version is definitely not trying to be ‘one-up’, on the
yesteryear chartbuster composed by R D Burman,
but its just a ‘re-invented’ gen-next salutation to the
original song.
It goes without saying, that I have the highest
regards and adulation for both Dev Anand-saab and
the late genius R.D.Burman. As RDB die-hard fans
are aware, as a director, most of my milestone movies
including the iconic Sholay and Seeta Aur Geeta
have its music scored by Panchamda,” elaborates
Sippy. But wasn’t the seasoned film-maker plan-
ning to meet actor-director Dev Anand (the creative
brain behind the 1972 cult movie ‘Hare Rama Hare
Krishna’) on a ‘personal’ level and ensure a ‘happy
ending’ to the off-screen misunderstanding ?
“Certainly, its always been on my agenda. Un-
fortunately, as they say, a lot of stormy waters have
already flown before I could meet Devsaab. Now that
our movie ‘Dum Maro Dum’ is finally released, I am
waiting for that ‘calm’ so that the timing is right,” he
signs off.

40 Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz

Indian
‘I am shy,
not reserved’
AR Rahman has added one more
feather to his hat, with filmmaker
Mani Ratnam unveiling UK-based
author Nasreen Munni Kabir’s bi-
ography on the music maestro
titled AR Rahman - The Spirit of
Music. The Oscar-winning
composer in conversation with
Sreya Basu
What made you interested in getting
your biography?
In 2004, I met my teacher, who said I
don’t read. But then, there’s something
called knowledge heart-to-heart, which I
believe in, for which I did this (biography).
(Smiles). The book is a process of my life.
I thought it’s the right time to see certain
things which might inspire other people
when they know about the path I went
along, the odds I faced and overcoming
of them. I had a good writer Munni (Nas-
reen) who has made the book readable
for people.
How authentic is Nasreen’s biographic
work- AR Rahman - The Spirit of Music?
The book is a combination of different
meetings, video conferences. Most of
the editing work happened a couple of
months back. By the time, I would finish
my work, it would be morning for her
(Nasreen Munni Kabir). We would go for
three-four hours transcribing. She would
keep sharing photographs and other doc-
uments and ask if they are okay. That’s
how we went about. But one thing, she
was clear that she wanted me to check if
all is okay. So, that’s why I can safely say
that this book is more authorized one.
How much did you enjoy working on
your biography (at times they turn very
tiresome)?
I relived all the moments that was not
possible otherwise. One of the biggest
moments that I relived was the construc-
tion of my studio. I didn’t have money to
buy any equipment. There was an AC (air
conditioner), a carpet in the new-smelling
studio…but no equipment. A couple of
weeks later, my mom saw me sitting in
that empty studio and she asked: ‘What
do you want?’ I said I want to buy equip-
ment that will cost Rs 4 lakhs, which
was like Rs 400 crores at that time. And
Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
Bollywood
my mother immediately sold some of
my sister’s jewellery and bought me the
equipment to set up my studio. That was
a huge, historic moment for me. Thanks to
Nasreen that I could revisit the moment.
 
What is that one thing that has inspired
you the most in life?
When you are a creative person, I think
there are different things which inspire, it
could be the lyrics, the script or the great
persons’ team you are working with.
What took you so long to come up with
your biography? Is it your reserved
nature?
I am shy. Being shy is different from being
reserved. Sometimes you want to hold
your thoughts. Never reveal anything
before it’s complete within yourself. So
there are lots of things in process within
me. And I want to let the process continue
within me before I reveal it. It is very easy
saying that ‘I will do this, I will do that’, but
it has to be complete when it comes out.
 
What is the one thing that you want
people to know about you through the
book?
I dedicate the book to anybody who is
suffering and wants to come up the situ-
ation. The whole idea is redemption; if I
can, anybody can come out of darkness.  
 
The idea of life is…there’s a wall and if you
give up, that brings you to a dead end. If
I would have given up hope, I would have
missed all that are happening in my life
now. Through the book, I want people to
know that something extraordinary exists
beyond the wall. So don’t do anything
foolish like committing suicide. If I would
have done that (suicide), then would have
lost everything…may be, some people
would have been saved from (my) bad
music. (Smiles)
41
Indian
‘I will be a bride soon’
Kareena Kapoor is talking about weddings. Don’t overthink. It’s
just that she was recently seen launching Gitanjali’s mega shop-
ping festival for jewellery-The Great Indian Wedding Carnival-in
Mumbai. The actor in conversation with Sreya Basu
What brings you to launch a wedding
jewellery carnival?
It’s every woman’s dream to be a
beautiful bride. An Indian woman wants
to look most beautiful on her wedding
day…with diamonds, jewellery…that
refine her and define her…that make
her really special. I am really happy that
Gitanjali has started this Great Indian
Shopping Carnival. It is one of the lead-
ing jewellery brands of our country.  
 
Have you too picked some pieces for
your wedding?
I think every little girl collects little little
pieces of jewellery for the Big Day. As
for me and Karisma (elder sister), we
had always dreamt of diamonds, the
special sets, the perfect jewellery that
we would were on the special day.
Is there a jewelery piece that you
wanted to have, but didn’t get?
My mother (Babita) has always given
me all her old jewellery that she got
when she was an actress. She had a
beautiful set with a lot of emeralds and
rubies. But I think she has given that to
Karisma. She hasn’t yet given it to me.
She thinks I am not quite responsible
right now because I am working so
much. And she doesn’t have the mind-
set that I will be able to keep her things
safe. (Smiles)
What is one thing that is a must on a
wedding day?
Wedding is one of the most important
things in life of course. For the bride,
it’s the kind of clothes, jewellery she
42
wears; also, the band bajaa, music,
food…everything…it’s like a big, fat In-
dian wedding. So, it’s very important to
do double yoga for the people who are
attending the wedding, as well as the
couple involved. Else, the food and the
drinks will no longer leave us size-zero.
(Laughs)
What is the one jewellery that you can’t
do without on your wedding day?
Every girl thinks differently on the kind
of outfit and jewellery she will wear on
her wedding. If I am to speak for myself,
diamonds are my best friends. Besides,
wearing diamonds is my family tradi-
tion. I would love to wear a beautiful
diamond necklace on my wedding.
Also, I like bangles a lot. So, I won’t
mind nice gold-and-diamond bangles
also with the necklace.
When are you going to get that neck-
lace?
Well, I haven’t really planned anything
right now. But as I said, since childhood
I dreamt of wearing a beautiful diamond
necklace whenever I get married. Now
that I endorse Gitanjali, I hope I will get
a free diamond necklace.
Well, let’s ask it straight. When are you
getting married?
That’s the only question you people
always want to know…that’s scary now.
But trust me, when I decide some-
thing, the press definitely will know. Of
course, I always dream to be a bride
and I will be a bride soon. But again, as
I said, when I am willing and I decide
to, the press will be the first to know.
Mamta Sharma :
“my dream is to playback for
Bipasha Basu & Mallika Sherawat”
Chaitanya Padukone
Playback singer Mamta Sharma whose infec-
tious anthem item-song ‘munni badnaam hui’
has been the topmost chartbuster of the season
for Indians and NRIs all over, has discreetly
recorded an ad- jingle for Indian ‘Zandu’ an-
algesic ointment (the name ‘Zandu’ cops up in
the refrain of the raunchy
song) No prizes for guessing,
that the jingle includes the
phrase ‘badnaam munni’and
eminent ad-film-maker
Prahlad Kakkar has been ap-
proached to shoot the com-
mercial according to the
singer. ‘‘Its true that I have
recorded a jingle for Zandu
balm, but I am not in a posi-
tion to reveal all the details,’’
shrugs Mamta who refutes
rumours that she is ‘now
considering acting assign-
ments’.
“Post my Dabangg-song
success, there are offers
trickling from Hindi film-
makers who are impressed
with my ‘live’ showmanship
at my foreign and domestic stage-shows and
want to ‘cast’ me in their upcoming movies as
an actress-singer. But I do not wish to dabble in
the dicey game of acting. At this stage, my focus
is only music and singing, clarifies Sharma who
claims to sing fluently in 11 different languages
and aspires to ‘record a marathi laavni number
someday in future’.
Unlike thousands of aspiring female singers
who glide into reality shows and grab instant
fame. Mamta refuses to jump on the TV shows
bandwagon. “Somehow, I felt I was not cut out
to participate in reality shows where you are
bonded to the TV channel and at the mercy of
the edited versions. Besides, how many winners
in recent times have been able to make a mark as
‘Men will be Men’ all set to hit
big screen
New Delhi: Produced by Red Chilies Idiot
Box and directed by Gorky, Seagram’s Impe-
rial Blue’s film ‘Men will be Men’ is all set to
hit the silver screen in the coming days.
The long list of actors for the movie
include popular TV names like Rajesh
Kumar, Gaurav Chopraa, Rohit Khurana,
Rahil Tandon and Rajesh Khattar.
Rohit Khurana, Rahil Tandon, Rajesh Khattar, Zeenal Kamdar and Gaurav Chopraa
Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
Bollywood
a regular bollywood playback singer,”counters
Mamta who has already won nearly a dozen
popular awards for her debut ‘munni’ song in-
cluding the coveted Filmfare trophy.
Wasn’t there an ubiquitous overdose of the
‘munni’ song composed by seasoned composer-
lyricist Lalit Pandit being per-
formed or played at all events
and occasions? She gets into
her defensive mode. “There
is some magical aura about
this raunchy racy ‘ethnic cult
song’ . Would you believe it,
that at my recent ‘live’ show
,where the audience comprised
mainly between 40 to 60 years
there was a frenzied encore
‘seven times’ for ‘munni’ and
I had no choice but to comply,”
chuckles the glib outspoken
Sharma who seems ecstatic
that her birthday ( Sept 7th )
almost coincides with that of
the iconic legendary singer
Asha Bhonsle ( Sept 8th).
Strangely, the ‘Dabangg’
singer whose ‘dream ambition
is to ‘playback’ for Bipasha Basu and Mallika
Sherawat’ does not want to cash in on her item-
songster brand.
“Singing in raunchy nasal or husky tones
is my forte. But I can sing romantic and lilting
songs equally well which will be proved with
my upcoming playback numbers which in-
cludes one for a film produced by Ashim Shakti
Samanta. Was it true that in her personal life
she has her ‘mystery man’ to whom she could
hum ‘shaadi hum tayy karenge—darrlling tere
liye’ ? After a hearty laugh she admits, “That’s
right, there is someone ,with whom I propose to
settle down hopefully, by end of this year. At
the moment I my involvement is only with my
soaring musical career,”she signs off.
The actors who conducted a press confer-
ence of the film at New Delhi said that the
USP of the film surely lies in  the fact that the
film is only 80 minutes long with no interval
in between.
The film has been produced by Red
Chilies Idiot Box for Seagram’s Imperial
Blue Super hits.
Indian

Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz 43

Indian
No bikini, no kissing for Sonakshi
Sonakshi Sinha has been picked up by leading fashion apparel brand Provogue to endorse its women’s wear range. And why
not! After all, she is being seen as Bollywood’s hottest star-in-making. The Dabangg actor in conversation with Sreya Basu
In Bollywood, an actor’s success is
equated with the brand he/she promotes.
You recently replaced Katrina (Kaif) in a
soap brand, and now Provogue. So, do
you consider yourself as the next-big-
thing in terms of brand promotion?
I don’t think I have replaced anyone so as to say.
I just filled up a space that was empty for a long
while. And I am not complaining at all…I am
getting good brands to be associated with, and
very happy about that. I think this is the only
way to go forward.
You also bought a Provogue wear with
your first pocket-money?
Not with my first pocket-money, but with my
first earned money. I have always found Pro-
vogue very cool, confident, young and spunky.
Everytime I look at the hoarding, I just get awe-
struck. The brand connects with the youth in a
very big way. That’s what attracts me to Pro-
vogue.
Since you are endorsing Provogue’s Live
Mad Spring/Summer collection, tell us
what is a really mad thing you have done
so far?
Really mad thing? Well, I studied fashion de-
signing for three years before I realised that I
want to be an actor and took up acting.
You had been a fashion designer. Have
you given style tips to Salman Khan
(during Dabang) or Akshay Kumar (now
that you are doin Joker) with him?
The people I am working with are style icons
in their own way. They don’t need my tips. But
Katrina voted best match for Prince William
Mumbai: Bollywood actor Katrina Kaif has
been voted the Best Indian Celebrity Match for
Prince William.
On the eve of the Royal Wedding of Prince
William and Kate Middleton, leading matri-
monial service Shaadi.com conducted a poll
amongst its members on which Indian celebrity
would make a good pair with Prince William.
They were required to choose from three
Indian Women – Katrina Kaif, Priyanka
Chopra & Sonakshi Sinha.
Out of the 8000 survey takers, 75.3% re-
spondents believed that Katrina would be the
best Indian celebrity match for Prince William,
followed by Priyanka Chopra with 16.7% and
Sonakshi Sinha with 8%.
As the world is following every step of
44
yes, I had styled Salman in one
of his shoots.
Which one was that?
It was for Dabboo Ratnani’s calendar last year.
But unfortunately he was topless. The shirt was
on his shoulder…that was my idea.
Your first and second films are with
Salman and Akshay respectively. Will it
be tricky if I ask you to choose your style
icon from the two of them?
Tricky, but I have to say Salman. From masses to
the classes…everyone follows him. Whatever he
does on-screen…right from tucking sunglasses
the Royal Wedding on the Internet and social
media, Shaadi.com posed the same question
on social networking platforms asking follow-
ers their opinion on which Indian celebrity
women would be make a good pair with Prince
William.
Without any options to choose from, the
results showed that the most preferred celebrity
woman was Sushmita Sen.
Commenting on the poll results, Gourav
Rakshit, Business Head, Shaadi.com said,
“With the hype of Royal Wedding around the
globe, Shaadi.com conducted the survey to
reflect the enthused spirit about the wedding
here in India too. The poll is part of the constant
research that Shaadi.com conducts in its attempt
to gauge the preferences of its members.”
on his back to wearing
bracelets…becomes a style statement for a lot of
youngsters…they imitate him blindly.
Have you ever tried to imitate any actor?
It was Sridevi.
What are the three things that Sonakshi
Sinha will never endorse?
I think you all have already printed all that I
will never endorse…no bikini, no kissing…all
of that. (Laughs)
Are you scared of doing item numbers?
I am not scared of doing item numbers. The
K Balachander gets
Phalke Award
New Delhi: Veteran film maker K.  plays like ‘Major Chandrakanth’, ‘Server
Balachanderhas has been conferred the
Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year
2010.  critical acclaim.
The award is conferred by the Govern-
ment of India for outstanding contribution
to the growth and development of Indian
Cinema.
The award consists of a Swarn Kamal, a
cash prize of Rs.10 lakhs and a shawl. The
award is given on the recommendations of
a committee of eminent persons.
Balachander has been film director,
screen play writer and producer for more
than 45 years.  He has written, directed
and produced more than 100 films in
Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Kannada. 
Balachander is known for his distinct
film-making style.  The films he scripts and
directs analyze unusual or complicated
inter-personal relationships and social
themes. 
Balachander has the uncanny knack of
spotting talent.  He has been responsible
for bringing into limelight many stars of the
present day, including Rajnikanth, Kamal
Haasan, Prakashraaj and Vivek.
Born in Thanjavur District, Tamil Nadu in
July 1930, Balachander came into promi-
nence as a playwright with his dynamic
Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
Bollywood
songs are really good that have been coming
out. But it all depends on my comfort level. Even
when I am doing stage shows, I wear what I am
comfortable in and do moves that I am comfort-
able with.
You are doing Dabangg 2?
Yes. Arbaaz (Khan) is going to direct Dabangg
2. And it’s going to start January 2012.
What is your style statement?
My first film projected me as a very Indian
girl…a village girl. But that will not happen in
all my other films. Personally for me, I was born
and brought up in Mumbai. I am a very urban
girl. I like being casual, cool and spunky…I like
to wear my torn jeans whenever I get the chance.
You once said you don’t want to be a part
of the size zero brigade. But it seems,
day by day you are nearing that shape
only…
I have worked a lot on my figure, I still do…not
to be a size-zero, but to remain fit.
Who do you think has the best size zero
figure in Bollywood?
I think Kareena (Kapoor)…it’s she who started
the trend of size zero.
When you become an over-night star,
it becomes difficult to sustain that
stardom. Do you agree?
I would have been scared if there was nothing
for me to do after my first film. But I have been
very blessed with the work that I am getting, in
terms of films and endorsements. So I am living
in the present. I want to do the work I have right
now…and do them well.
Sundaram’, ‘Naanal’ and ‘Neerkumizhi’. 
These plays enjoyed huge popular and
He entered the film industry in 1965 and
shot into fame with his very first film ‘Neer-
kumizhi’ starring Nagesh.  Since then he
has directed and produced a number of
movies which have won many National
Awards, awards from the State Govts and
other organizations. 
Some of the prominent films he has
directed include ‘Apoorva Raagagal’,
‘Avargal’ ’47 Natkal’, ‘Sindhu Bhairavi, ‘Ek
Duuje Ke Liye’ (Hindi), ‘Maro Charithra,
and ‘Rudraveena’ in Teluguand ‘Bekiyalli
Aralida Hoovu, in Kannada.
For the last few years, Balachander has
also turned his attention to the small
screen and has brought to it the same
perfection and intensity that he exhibited
on the big screen.
He was conferred the Padma Shri  in 1987
and was honoured with the title ‘Kalaim-
amani’ by the Tamil Nadu Government in
1973.
He has also won the Golden Nandi award
and Silver Nandi awards from Govt of
Andhra Pradesh and has also won the
Filmfare award as Best Director numerous
times.
Indian

Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz 45

Indian
Why is ‘Akshaya Tritiya’ a day for GOLD?
ram lingam
India is probably the only country where a religious day is linked to a practice of gold buying. It is the Akshaya Tritiya
festival day and we are talking tons of gold here. According to estimates, Indian consumers bought about 20 tonnes
of the precious metal on this festive day in 2010. However this was much lower than the buy in 2009 due to soaring
prices. India, the world’s largest consumer of the yellow metal, bought some 45 tonnes of Gold in 2009. So what
makes Akshaya Tritiya a day for GOLD?
According to gold industry pundits, in 2011
GOLD is all set to offer fourth best returns to in-
vestors in last 10 years as it has so far gained 18
per cent in price since the festival day last year.
For Indians buying gold is a popular activity on
Akshaya Tritiya day, as it is the ultimate symbol
of wealth and prosperity. According to the Hindu
calendar, this most auspicious Akshaya Tritiya
day falls on Friday next week. This year the date
of Akshaya Trithiya is Friday May 6.This day is
important to both Hindus and Jains. According
to the traditional panchāng Akshaya Tritiya falls
on the third day (Tritiya) of the new moon of
Vaishākh month (April-May) every year.
Akshaya in Sanskrit means one that ‘never
diminishes’ (a—kshaya) and the day is believed
to bring good luck and success. Hindus believe
they can get lasting prosperity by buying pre-
cious metals on the day. Akshaya Tritiya is tradi-
tionally earmarked for beginning new ventures,
for investing and purchasing valuables especial-
ly gold, jewellery and diamond. It is no surprise
Indians buy gold on Akshaya Tritiya as it is con-
sidered very auspicious and a safe investment.
It is also believed that any meaningful activity
started on this day would be fruitful.
The words that annoy us most
GOPINATH MAVINKURVE
The word ‘whatever’ has been voted as
‘The Most Annoying Word of the Year’ by
Americans in the years 2009 and 2010!
The other contenders were ‘like’, which
came a close second, ‘You know what
I mean’ at third, ‘To tell you the truth’ at
fourth, and ‘actually’ at fifth, according
to the Marist poll. The word ‘whatever’ is
the most dismissive word, conveying the
‘don’t-give-a-damn’ attitude, which is a
conversation bump that one can encoun-
ter and puts one off. No wonder the word
has scored high on the annoyance scale.
‘Like’ has several forms. The first is an
unnecessary utterance of the word at the
beginning of a sentence — or at the end of
it. The second form of use of ‘like’ is; “I am
like ‘Why are you surprised?’, when you
mean I ‘said’ or ‘wondered’ or ‘responded’
in place of ‘am like’. I find this being com-
monly used by youngsters these days.
They seem to find this trendy, although
46
Economically this day is quite productive for
marketers as they cash in on the festivity to boost
their sales. Marketers indulge in high voltage
advertisement campaigns especially the jewel-
lery stores. In fact people in India and overseas
book jewellery in advance and take delivery on
Akshaya Tritiya day. It’s a day of frenzy buying
for all precious metals especially gold. Sales on
Akshaya Tritiya day usually increases four to
five times compared to normal days. Tradition-
ally the preference for customers is to buy light-
weight jewellery, diamond jewellery but today’s
economic superpower India sees several buyers
preferring diamond jewellery purchases.
According to Hindu astrology, the entire
Akshaya Tritiya day is auspicious. So there is
no need to look for an auspicious time i.e. no
‘muhurat’ required on this day. This is the only
day in any year when the Sun which is the lord
of the planets and Moon which is the lord of cre-
ativity are in exaltation meaning at their peak of
radiance. Astrologically this is extremely auspi-
cious. That also makes this day one of the most
popular dates in Hindu calendar for marriages
and partnerships.
It is also believed that people born during
this is not the case with the earlier genera-
tions, to which I belong. You know what I
mean? In vogue, these days like!
The next on the list is ‘You know what
I mean?’ Okay, that phrase becomes a
necessity, when one really doesn’t take
‘At the end of the day’ seems to be the corporate world’s
daily dope one cannot live without...”
enough care to be clear about what one
wants to say, but wants the listener to
accept that he has understood, so that
one can trundle along in the conversation.
It may be annoying to the clueless, who
have to nod in agreement, all the same!
‘To tell you the truth’, it annoys me too,
when I am on the receiving side of the oft-
repeated offending admission. But isn’t it
a global necessity? Just as a forewarning
this time shine bright in life due to the exalta-
tion of Sun and Moon in the native’s horoscope.
Many greats were born during this period
like Basaveshwara, Ramanujācharya, Ādi
Shankarācharya, Swāmi Chinmayānanda and
Lord Buddha.
Glance through the annals of ancient Indian
heritage and one finds that on this tritiya day
of Vaishaka month many significant things of
great spiritual importance happened. According
to Jain legends, this day is auspicious as people
from Ayodhya bought gold and jewellery to
offer to their Tirthankara Rshabhdev who was
the King of Ayodhya centuries ago. Jains, even
today, observe long term fast to commemorate
their first Tirthankara Rshabhdev and break
their fast on Akshaya Tritiya day with sugar cane
juice as Rshabhdeva broke his fast with that juice
after 1 year.
According to the ancient Hindu religious
texts like the Puranas, this day marked the be-
ginning of the “SatyaYug” or the Golden Age -
the first of the four Yugas. It is believe that on
this day Lord Krishna gave Draupadi a bowl -
akshaya pātara (where food came in abundance)
when the Pāndavas were in exile. Traditionally
to what could be coming — the rare, bitter
truth, as it were — which may not go down
the alimentary canal of the listener’s con-
science? Or for that matter to confess that
now, one can no longer tell you the lies
for whatever reasons? Unless, of course,
nothing really follows of this nature, but
the phrase has been used just as a filler
in a conversation, it could certainly be an-
noying — and disappointing.
Actually, I find some other words more
annoying than these five contenders.
Actually — I mean it! Words and phrases
like ‘Absolutely’ , ‘Anyways’, ‘At the end of
the day’ or the more recent acceptance of
faults — ‘My bad!’ My problem with ‘Ab-
solutely’ is that it is absolutely surprising
Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
Heritage
this third day in the bright fortnight of Vaishākh
is also the day of the sixth incarnation of Lord
Vishnu ~ the ‘preserving’ manifestation of God
in the Hindu Trinity.
On this day of Akshaya Tritiya, Maharishi
Veda Vyās along with Lord Ganesha started
writing the great epic Mahabharata. It is also the
day the most sacred river of the Hindus, Ganga
descended to earth. On this day Sudāma visited
his childhood buddy Lord Krishna with a hearty
gift of a handful of beaten rice (pohā). The good
returns (prasād) he got in return for his devo-
tion to the Lord is a classical story told in Hindu
households. On such a day associated with Lord
Krishna the story of Sudāma’s offering is men-
tioned along with Lord Krishna’s affirmation in
his Holy Gita ~ “Whoever offers a leaf, a flower,
a fruit or even water with devotion, that I accept,
offered as it is with a loving heart “.
Thus, many are the reasons for Akshaya
Tritiya to be considered a wish fulfilling day.
Any worship performed or daan (donation)
given on this day is considered extremely good
karma. Good karma is considered meritorious
and is supposed to bestow beneficial results.
Happy Akshaya Tritiya day everyone.
Humour
to me how one can ‘absolutely’ agree with
anything that one says? You may agree
just this once, on a specific instance, even
be unsure about the agreement — but
‘Absolutely’ rules! It intrigues me however,
when the listener continues with “Having
said that, this does not hold in all cases”.
‘At the end of the day’ seems to be the cor-
porate world’s daily dope one cannot live
without — other than coffee. At the end of
the day, corporate meetings are a drab en-
counter with heavyweight jargonauts, that
can be endured only with lots of coffee
— to keep awake. If our brains had in-built
counters to keep track of how many times
this phrase has been uttered in one’s pres-
ence by bosses or business barons on
news channels, the device would explode
— probably, at the very beginning of the
day itself!
Gopinath Mavinkurve is a management con-
sultant and writer based in Mumbai.
Indian

Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz 47

Indian

48 Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz

Indian Column

How well do you know your onions?

Subir Roy Kaunds
In India, onions often bring tears to one’s
eyes – not just when they’re peeled but
also when their wholesale price hits the
roof.
Earlier this year India and Pakistan faced
a minor diplomatic storm when Pakistan’s
Commerce Ministry stopped the export of
onions to India due to shortages at home.
Whatever the political reasons, this pun-
gent vegetable caused relations between
these two countries to further sour. This
humble bulb has caused governments to
topple.
The onion is a bulbous root that is often
eaten raw in most parts of the world. It
has a number of cousins, notable among
them being the noble leek, the tiny shallot
and the oft-mistaken scallion. Now unless
you are a Michelin star chef, a botanist or
simply curious one does not really need
to know the subtle differences between
these. This column believes in good every-
day food. For gourmet creations you have
Food TV.
The onion is ubiquitous in Indian cuisine
– except, of course, if you follow Jainism.
Indian cuisine is unique in that, besides
being eaten raw and used as a vegetable
in its own right, the onion is used as a
base for most masalas. In class-conscious
India the way you eat your onions says a
lot about your refinement (and here we are
not referring to onion-breath).
The refined Mughlai chefs knew that dish-
es took on unique characteristics based
ing paste. The Mughals also pioneered
the use of the birista. This is horizontally
sliced onions, deep-fried in oil and nearly
carbonised. The birista is then used as
garnish in biryani, pulao and korma.
And then there is the dish, which is liberal-
ly smothered in tonnes of chopped onion,
called dopiyaza. More on this later.
However two forms of onion are not used
in Indian cooking. One is onion juice. This
is only ever used in Ayurvedic medicine
and never – to my knowledge – in cooking.
The other is dehydrated onion flake which
anyway is a modern invention, most prob-
ably necessitated by war.
In India, like here in New Zealand, many
different types of onions are available. The
red or the pink varieties are the most com-
mon as also the white ones. Generally it
does not matter which variety of onion you
a milder flavour and its layers are meaty
and succulent. Also its red-purple colour
is quite attractive, this colour is lost when
cooked.
The pink (or yellow) onion is firmer and
more astringent and rather better suited
to cooking. In India the white onion is
considered rather pungent and it has thin-
ner layers. People buy the white onions in
a bunch and hang them in the kitchen and
use them sparingly. One bunch often lasts
them months.
And then there is the button onion called
‘ulli’ in Malayalam. This variety is small
– not much bigger than a marble – and
more flat than round. In Mumbai it is col-
loquially called Madras onion or sambar
onion. Some people mistakenly call them
shallot, which are larger, but then they
are all from the same family so it does not
really matter.
Madras onion is often pickled. Just peel
the onion and soak them in vinegar. Just
like that. No nothings added. A variation is
to add green chilli and boiled cauliflower
to the vinegar. And then you have the Ma-
dras onion achar. Don’t bother to make it,
buy the commercial ones. All Indian stores
in New Zealand stock them.
Subir Roy Kaunds has spent 18 years in
journalism and has been the Business Editor
of popular Mumbai afternoon newspaper Mid-
day. He was also Consulting Editor TV World
(Zee TV) and Executive Editor Infrastructure
Today. He is an avid foodie and has been a

NRI
regular television reviewer and food critic and
of whether the masala base used roasted use in your cooking. The red onion is best has worked in public relations in the hospitality
onions, roughly diced onions, thinly sliced suited for eating raw and hence is used in industry. He now lives in Auckland.

Against
onions or onions ground to an eye-water- salads. This is because the red onion has

Can Fletcher help put icing on World Cup cake?
APURV SHUKLA
The appointment of 62-year-old former Zimba-
bwean captain Duncan Fletcher as the next coach
of Indian cricket team was not one on expected
lines taken by Board of Cricket Control in India.
In the outgoing coach Gary Kirsten’s appoint-
ment, the board had constituted a selection com-
mittee comprising former players to head hunt a
coach.
This time the decision was taken by BCCI’s
top brass taking the senior players of the side
in confidence. The deciding factor in his selec-
tion to the coveted position was an endorsement
of Fletcher’s abilities by outgoing coach Gary
Kirsten, who was one of Duncan Fletcher’s
wards early in his career.
Fletcher gained his stripes as a coach when
he took over the England Cricket team in 1999,
and resurrected a team going through one of its
worst phases in their cricketing history to re-
claiming the Ashes in 2005. He resigned after
the debacle of the 2007 Ashes campaign and the
World Cup that year, but was instrumental in
helping England reach back the top echelons of
test cricket, even if in One Day cricket his record
was less than flattering.
After that he has been taking up consulting
projects with South African and New Zealand
cricket teams and also helping players on an in-
dividual basis. His new charges are a side fresh
from a World Cup win and are currently the top
ranked nation in test cricket.
The biggest challenge for Fletcher would be
in earning the confidence and respect of the side
solely on the basis of his past and present coach-
ing man man management methodologies as
unlike his predecessors he will be the first foreign
cricketing coach to not have a solid and in some
cases spectacular cricketing career with experi-
ence of playing in the Indian sub-continent.
He will also soon be overseeing the side go
through a major transformation with seniors
like Dravid, Laxman and Tendulkar nearing the
end of their glorious cricketing days and Zaheer
Khan the senior pace spearhead battling a string
of injuries and solely lacking fast bowling part-
ners.
Sport
Fletcher will have to ensure the new genera-
tion of players who will make it to the test side
are fully equipped to handle the pressure both
technically and mentally of Test cricket. He will
have to ensure that this new generation, which
has come through more of a 50 overs and IPL
background into international limelight unlike
their predecessors who did the hard yards in
Ranji Cricket, and is earning many times more
than the previous generations, is also hungry to
play for the country.
Another challenge for him will be adapting to
the Indian culture and dealing with media .John
Wright and Gary Kirsten both former success-
ful India coaches had one thing in common they
shunned the limelight and ceded it to the captain,
Fletcher will have to follow suit but making his
task easier should be the presence of the cool and
extremely successful Mahendra Singh Dhoni as
the captain.
The obvious advantage also to him will be that
the support structure around the team remains
the same as was during Kirsten’s regime, and
domestic cricket in India in terms of its facili-
ties and in a role as a paymaster is perhaps in the
best ever shape in the history of Indian cricket
thus ensuring a steady stream of talent is at his
disposal to mould into world beaters.
Initially handed a 2 year contract, all Indian
cricket fans would like him to be India’s coach at
the 2014 World for the reason that if he there till
then meaning the Indian team has been success-
ful under his tutelage and we all know how that
is the only thing that matters to a Indian cricket
fan.
Corruption
Corruption is happening every minute
and at almost every possible level of
the system in India right now. Together,
we have the power to remove it from its
roots, and make India the starting point
of action against corruption.
Why is corruption happening?
It’s happening because of poor laws and
policies in the government, which keep
changing according to the whims and
fancies of politicians and get mended
according to what suits them best.
Is there any solution to corruption?
Yes! The first thing is to eliminate corrup-
tion at your own level. Say no to bribes;
join hands to fight corruption through
marches, awareness campaigns and
mass vote. Support India Against Cor-
ruption movement, to lay strict Anti Cor-
ruption rules by the formation of the
*Jan Lokpal Bill* by the citizens.
What can I do? How do I contribute to
this movement?
DEVELOP INDIAN IDENTITY -Indians
should transcend religion, region,
caste, ideology (leftists etc) and identify
as Indians first. Foreigners and dregs
of the society rule us because it is very
easy to divide us.
GET INVOLVED -India Against Cor-
ruption, Janaagraha, Save India From
Corruption, 5thPillar, and many such or-
ganizations, spiritual leaders, activists,
experts are fighting valiant battle.

Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz 49

Indian
Varsha Asrani
Go Green
Mothers and Grandmothers always insisted that
we ate as much greens as we can, however a
common dislike that I encounter in clients who
consult me, is adding green in their plates, be it
spinach or bitter gourd....they generally dislike
these.
Green foods are healthier options available
amongst different food groups. Green leafy
vegetables are ideal for weight management as
they are low in fat, high in dietary fibre, and rich
in vitamins and minerals. There has been evi-
dence to show that these show a positive reduc-
tion in risk of cancers and heart disease.
Another significant benefit of eating greens
is its impact on the digestive system due to the
fibre content. Eating more fibre is beneficial for
the gut and keeps your digestive system healthy.
Greens such as broccoli are particularly for-
tifying. Accustom yourself to the good greens
in your daily cuisine. Adding more green veg-
etables to your daily meals will show a positive
difference soon. Introduce veggies, especially
the greens to kids at an earlier age as this helps
them to develop a taste and liking which will be
beneficial for them in their later years.
When trying to add more greens to your
diet there are multiple ways to accomplish this,
the obvious way is through consuming salads,
however there are other ways like stir-fry,
soups, roasted or grilled, anything that works
for you. Latest trends have seen an advent of
having greens by way of juices and smoothies
too, adding a fresh fruit to green or veggie juice
makes it even more palatable and refreshing.
Eating greens can be a challenge; for more
interesting and tasty options pick up a cook
50
book, you’ll be surprised at the number of
books available with variety of options to make
greens more interesting and tasty.
There are many green vegetables available
throughout winter. When shopping for greens,
freshness is the key.  Look for bright green
leaves avoid anything wilted or soggy-looking.
At home, store them in a bag before placing
them in the refrigerator; this will help preserve
its freshness.
It’s ideal to buy seasonal greens, as they can
be bought fresh and at times you can buy them
at bargain prices too. Organic greens are be-
coming more popular; choose them when avail-
able, have a look at the organic shop at the local
farmers market and try something different.
Follow the 5+ a day rule, so when you visit
the supermarket next, fill your trolley with loads
of freshness to give your health a kick start.
Remember Green is good!!!
Good news for all our valued readers, there
were multiple requests to conduct another su-
permarket – label reading tour and we are
pleased to announce that the next tour will be
conducted mid June. For registering your in-
terests, please email us your details at info@
varshaasrani.com before 31st May’11. There are
early bird surprises for the first 25 confirmed
participants.
This article is a general guideline ONLY.
Please see, a health professional for individual
conditions and needs.
Varsha Asrani is a New Zealand Registered
Dietitian. For personal consultations or any
questions, suggestions or views please email
her on info@varshaasrani.com.
Congratulations to The Indian Weekender for reaching
this phenomenal two year milestone. You have been
very valuable and instrumental in keeping our commu-
nity up to date with the news concerning our wider com-
munity and also promoting our cultural values. Your
exceptional team of journalists have always showed
professionalism in publishing The Indian Weekender
and I highly applaud them.
The Auckland Indian Association wishes you very suc-
cessful years ahead, may you flourish to serve the
community in preserving our enriched culture in the
culturally diversified society of New Zealand.
Happy Anniversary.
Harshad Patel
President
The Auckland Indian Association
Alcohol and pregnancy
– A heady cocktail
How much alcohol is safe during preg-
nancy has been a topic of research and
debate among the medical scientists
and there have been conflicting reports
on this issue.
A major study in Ireland has now looked
at this issue once again to determine the
quantity of alcohol that can be safely
consumed by a pregnant women. The
findings are surprising as it find low re-
porting of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)
though from the medical faculty though
81% women consumed alcohol.
A closer look at data on more than
61,000 expectant mothers reveals that
drinking is common among women
during their peri-conceptional period
and more attention needs to be paid
in educating young women about fetal
alcohol syndrome.
During the study, researchers looked at
the medical records of 61,241 expect-
ant mothers between 2000 and 2007.
They also had a look at the women’s
self-reported alcohol consumption and
rated it as “low”, “moderate”, or “high”.
Low consumption was accounted as 5
or fewer drinks per week, moderate - 6
to 20 drinks per week, and high - 20 and
more drinks per week.
Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
Health
Researchers noticed that 20% were
non-drinkers, almost 70% came into the
“low” category, nearly a 10% fell into
the “moderate” category, and only 0.2%
actually reported as “high” consum-
ers. Approximately 81% of the mothers
reported consuming alcohol around the
time of conception.
Dr. Deirdre J Murphy of Trinity College,
Dublin, author of the study, explained
that the study did found correlation
between heavy drinking during or just
after conception and miscarriages. What
surprised the researchers most was a
“non-spike” in cases of fetal alcohol
syndrome (FAS), leading them to specu-
late that FAS is being under-reported in
Ireland.
Researchers strongly believe that health
services need to do more in identifying
women who are drinking heavily in the
early stages of their pregnancy.
In a concluding note, Professor Mur-
phy said, “This study emphasizes the
need for improved detection of alcohol
consumption during pregnancy and for
early intervention in order to minimize
the risks to the developing fetus. We
would recommend that further research
is required before even low amounts of
alcohol can be considered safe.”
Indian

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Indian
Education pioneers of India
In a relatively short number of years the largest
privately-owned chain of schools in India has
been established, setting a new direction in edu-
cation that is an example to all other countries
of the world.
Maharishi Vidya Mandir, public school
system for boys and girls, is a legacy of Vedic
scholar, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (1917-2008)
who actively promoted education for enlight-
enment – full inner development of each indi-
vidual.
Over 200 Maharishi Vidya Mandirs have
been established in 17 states in just a couple of
decades, indicating a deep appreciation on the
part of the public for the quality and proven ef-
fectiveness of the knowledge and teaching avail-
able at these schools.
Many of the schools are already affiliated
to the Central Board of Secondary Education
(CBSE) and the remaining schools will be affili-
ated soon. All schools are following the normal
curriculum of Hindi/Regional Language/
English medium public schools, and in addition
to this, provision has been made for learning
Sanskrit as a compulsory subject.
What Makes These Schools Special?
They are pioneers in the world of education
today, as they provide students with a natural
way to develop their consciousness and thereby
unfold their full creative potential. Through
the approach of Maharishi’s Vedic Science and
Technology based education, students not only
learn all the traditional academic disciplines,
but they also experience growth of conscious-
ness, the basis of the whole learning process.
The principal aspect of this technology is
Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation tech-
nique, or TM for short, which is used by all staff
and students for a period of about 15 minutes at
the start and end of each school day. Many pub-
Of Diplomats and Diplomacy
Padmini Gaunder profiles India’s envoys to Fiji over the years
Diplomacy is the management of a country’s
affairs by its representatives abroad who are
given direction by the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs from home. Ordinarily the diplomats are
expected to look after the interests of the home
country in promoting trade, tourism, education
etc. They are also expected to look after the in-
terests of the citizens of their country who are
temporarily in the country where the diplomats
are posted. These people could be in this foreign
country as tourists, students or in some other
capacity.
In a country like Fiji, however, the Indian
High Commissioner has some additional re-
sponsibilities to that of the ordinary duties of
a diplomat. So the position of the Indian High
Commissioner there becomes a very important
and delicate one. This is because of the large
Indian presence in the country. The Indian
population, which had grown to over fifty per
cent at the time of Independence, remained the
majority ethnic group until 1987. So the Indian
High Commissioner there also had, and still
has, the additional responsibility of making sure
that he/she acts in such a way as to promote the
welfare (including the future welfare) of the
Indian population there.
The first Indian Higfh Commissioner to Fiji
was Mr. A.P. Venkateswaran who came to that
country just before Independence and remained
there for a couple of years after that. He and
his wife Usha set a good example for their suc-
cessors to follow. In that short time Mr. Ven-
kateswaran learnt the Fijian language and even
gave a speech in Fijian before he left. It was not
only an example for his successors but also to
52
lished scientific research findings have shown
how the TM technique enlivens the total func-
tioning of the brain and expands the learning
ability and general awareness of the individual.
Also the school curriculum is more holistic
in that it takes in the relationship between the
student and what he or she is learning. Educa-
tion in the past has focused mainly on the object
of study, the known. For education to be com-
plete, it must fully develop all three aspects of
Maharishi Vidya Mandir, public school system for boys
and girls, is a legacy of Vedic scholar, Maharishi Mahesh
Yogi (1917-2008) who actively promoted education for
enlightenment
knowledge: the knower, the process of knowing,
and the known. By enlivening their common
basis in pure consciousness with the TM tech-
nique, Maharishi Vidya Mandirs unfold the
full value of knower, process of knowing, and
known, the thereby make knowledge complete.
These schools say that their students display
a remarkable eagerness for knowledge, and
with their happiness and profound grasp of the
deepest principles of life, they exhibit a beauti-
ful balance and wholeness that is rarely seen in
other schools.
For educators worldwide this is definitely a
new paradigm and this system known as Con-
sciousness Based Education has started in other
countries, either as private institutions in their
own right, or as part of the programme of an ex-
isting state school.
Maharishi established his first tertiary in-
stitution, known as Maharishi International
the Indian population and their leaders. The
message was that since they had chosen Fiji as
their home, they should learn the language and
integrate.
Unfortunately, neither the Indian people nor
their leaders learnt from Mr. Venkateswaran’s
example. So much so that when the Fijian Na-
tionalists started their call for the repatriation of
the Indians from Fiji, the Indians did not even
know what was being published in the Fijian
newspapers.
One may condemn British colonialism but
their efficiency and thoroughness to detail were
to be admired which enabled them to rule over
such a vast empire where the sun never set.
Before Independence in Fiji the position of the
Public Relations Officer was an important one
in the Colonial Service. The last Public Rela-
tions Officer was Jack Hackett. He knew what
was being written in every vernacular paper
so that the colonial government knew what the
Fijians and Indians had in mind.
If Mr. Venkateswaran, the first High Com-
missioner was exemplary, his wife, Usha Ven-
kateswaran, also played an equally important
role. She is an accomplished Bharatanatyam
dancer and she set up the Indian Cultural Centre
in Suva to promote Indian classical music and
dancing among the multiracial population of
Fiji. Apart from the Indians, the Fijians, who as
a population are very much interested in music
and dancing, were expected to take an interest in
learning Indian classical dancing.
Another Indian High Commissioner who
made an impact on the people of Fiji was Mr.
Bhagwan Singh. Indians were interested in him
University, in California in the early 1970’s. Its
motto was “Knowledge is Structured in Con-
sciousness.”
He maintained that to gain the full value of
knowledge, one must develop the full value of
consciousness. If the student’s consciousness is
dull, if full potential is not being used, then re-
ceptivity and creativity are cramped. If the stu-
dent’s consciousness is wide awake, receptivity
to knowledge is maximum and learning is most
efficient and most complete.
That University is now known as Maharishi
University of Management and is situated in the
state of Iowa, USA. It has helped many thou-
sands of graduates to successful careers in their
chosen fields. (See: www.mum.edu)
Full Range of Subjects
At Maharishi Vidya Mandir, the following sub-
jects are offered: Science, Social Studies Mathe-
matics, Language Arts, Music, Dance, Painting
and Vedic Science and physical education.
Computer Science is also introduced at
class-3 stage provided student strength is suf-
ficient to support the introduction of the pro-
gramme. Throughout the school, there is an
emphasis on developing writing, speaking and
communication skills for students of all ages.
Faculty also share a commitment to cross-
curricular focus on writing, grammar, and spell-
because he was Fiji born. His parents went back
with him to India when he was very small but
his interest in Fiji remained. So he was happy to
come back to the country of his birth as the high
commissioner. He was a very popular diplomat.
Though he mingled with the Indian population
he understood his limits and was able to main-
tain the distance when it came to, for instance,
local politics.
The one Indian diplomat who seemed to have
had difficulty in understanding the boundar-
ies was Mrs. Soonu Kochar who was the High
Commissioner in Fiji in the late 1970s and early
1980s. I remember attending the Girmit Cente-
nary Celebrations in 1979 in Lautoka where she
was one of the main speakers. She spoke very
eloquently though what she said was perhaps not
what was expected of a diplomat. She made an
impassioned plea for Indian unity.
The National Federation Party, the party
that the majority of the Indians supported, was
racked with internal problems. These divisions
were to the advantage of the ruling Alliance
Party which was led by the Fijian chiefs and was
supported by most Fijians and Europeans, part
Europeans, Chinese and other minorities but
few Indians.
When Indians voted as a block for the Na-
tional Federation Party in 1977 elections the Al-
liance Party had lost narrowly but the divisions
in the NFP soon surfaced and they were not able
to form the government. In the following elec-
tions a few months later the Alliance Party was
able to win again.
In her speech Mrs. Kochar pleaded eloquent-
ly with the Indians to forget their differences
Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz
Feature
ing abilities.
The administrators say that their students
develop their creativity and skills to a high
degree of competence, distinguishing them-
selves in competitions, exhibitions, and per-
formances, and winning many honours. On a
national level, Maharishi Vidya Mandir spon-
sors various All-India competitions, bringing
together students from all parts of the country.
This system believes that education should
be defined as the process of culturing the indi-
vidual to display perfection in life.
Education should enable any individual to
spontaneously utilise the total Creative Intel-
ligence of Natural Law, and as a result, all his
thought, speech, and action will be spontane-
ously upheld by the silent power of peace that
permeates all activity in the universe. The po-
tential of every human brain is unbounded, in-
finite.
With the aid of the TM technique everyone
is equipped with the physical machinery in his
brain physiology to experience that level of in-
telligence which is the ocean of all knowledge,
the ocean of all energy, intelligence, and bliss.
By starting the school day with group prac-
tice of TM in the classrooms, an environment
is created that is ideal for the learning process.
The students gain a natural orderliness and co-
herence; they become more receptive to knowl-
edge; they exhibit greater alertness; and they
radiate bliss and friendliness to their classmates
and their teachers.
This is just a short introduction to a pro-
found subject and more on Maharishi Vidya
Mandir Schools can be studied at: www.ma-
harishividyamandir.com and more about Con-
sciousness Based Education including in New
Zealand at:
www.stressfreeschools.co.nz
and unite. This surely would not have pleased
the Fijian leaders as Indian unity would mean
a threat to their dominance in politics. As the
Indians were already leading in business and
education the Fijians feared that loss of political
supremacy would mean Fiji becoming a ‘Little
India of the Pacific’ which they did not want at
any cost.            
Perhaps Mrs. Kochar did not realise the full
implications of her speech. Indians, who had
come to Fiji as indentured labourers, after a
century, had now become citizens of Fiji with
equal rights with other ethnic groups. This was
because of the fearless fights their leaders like
Swami Rudrananda and A. D. Patel carried on
against the Colonial Government and the CSR
Company.
After Independence, the Colonial Govern-
ment and the CSR Company were no longer
in Fiji. The situation was different now and
Indians had to co-operate with the Fijian leaders
and live in harmony. The only mention of this
at the Girmit Centenary Celebrations, however,
was in Banarsidas Chathurvedi’s message in the
Girmit Souvenir Magazine.
Chaturvedi was one person in India who had
been carrying on a lone struggle for the welfare
of overseas Indians anywhere in the world. In
his message he said he had heard that the Fijian
leadership under Ratu Mara was sympathetic to
the Indians and advised them to co-operate with
the Fijians for the welfare of Fiji, which would
benefit the Fijians as well as the Indians. No one
in the country, however, paid any attention to his
wise advice. There was a major diplomatic lapse
when diplomacy was most needed.
Indian

Indian Weekender | May 6, 2011 | www.iwk.co.nz 53

Indian

Hearty Congratulations Indian

Weekender
for your 2nd anniversary
CFI EVENTS CONTACT:
Ram Iyer
021 52 9982

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Indian

Looking back at the past year...

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