A Real Life Humorous Story — How I Became An Artist
Posted by admin in April 2018, Past issues on April 4, 2018
By Mahendra Shah  Â
e-mail:Â mahendraaruna1@gmail.com
Editor’s Note: After earning his degree in architecture from the MS University in Vadodara, Gujarat, Mahendra Shah, migrated to the U.S. in 1974. Mahendra, a successful entrepreneur and businessman for many years in real estate and retail businesses, is an enthusiastic contributor to the Pittsburgh Indian community. Over the years, he has recorded his humorous observations on immigrant Indians in America in more than 1500 cartoons. He is also keenly interested in poetry, essays and paintings. His work was originally published by Pittsburgh’s Gujarati magazine and is now featured in several publications and exhibitions.
I was in the 10th grade. Our Gujarati literature class was studying Saraswatichandra, an epic four-volume text written by Govardhanram
Mahendra’s self portrait.
Madhavaram Tripathi. The story is about love, wealth, business, and family. Once a week our teacher, who was also our principal, taught one chapter at a
time. He narrated the story in such a lively fashion that you felt as if the entire scene was being played out right in front of you.
Growing up shy and somewhat reserved. I preferred to sit in the back of the classroom trying to avoid answering questions. I often wandered off into my own thoughts.
In one class the teacher began reading the story in which Saraswatichandra was going from his village to meet his fiancee in her village. He was walking through a wooded forest and ran into a poisonous snake.
As I was listening to the story unfold, my mind began to wander in its usual fashion. I began to doodle in my notebook, at first somewhat aimlessly, but then, the teacher’s words grabbed my attention. As he began describing the poisonous snake creeping closer and closer to 
Saraswatichandra, I started imagining and drawing the whole scene as a pencil sketch.
All other students were mesmerized by the teacher’s reading of the story. They were frozen in their seats in anticipation of what was to come next. The room was absolutely still except for me. My eyes were glued to my notebook as my fingers were busy doodling and drawing out the scene that the teacher was narrating.
Suddenly, the teacher’s eyes set on me and he noticed that unlike the other students, my attention was not fully on him. He stood from his chair and menacingly stared at me. I was frozen stiff. I was certain I was in an enormous amount of trouble. I had never been this frightened in my entire life.
He knew I was doing something in the notebook. He called me to his desk. As I rose from my chair, raising his voice, he said, “Bring your notebook too. I want to see what is so important that it drew you away from my lesson.â€
I approached the teacher with my notebook and was terrified of what would come next. Immediately, he asked me to hand over the notebook and opened it to the page full of my doodles. 
As he looked closer and closer at my notebook, his face stiffened. I was sweating in fear. I was expecting the worst.
Several seconds passed as he riffled through all the pages. Slowly, I saw that his frown was gone. When he finally began to talk, he showed the entire class my sketch of the story. He praised my drawings and said that they were the best narration of the story!
I felt such a sense of relief. Not only was I not in trouble, but from that day on, I was known as the “Resident Artist†of the school. I was commissioned to execute all art-related projects — posters, banners, and others — for school events.
After my education, I married and came to the United States. The responsibilities that came along with work and family made me put my art on the back burner, but I always kept doodling or sketching in my spare time.
Our children had grown and started lives of their own. Several years ago my daughter and son-in-law were visiting us. They had just moved to a city only a couple of hours from Pittsburgh.
When I returned from work in the evening, I was surprised to find my daughter exploring my art portfolio. It had been sitting in the attic for years, and I had nearly forgotten about it. In fact, we were preparing to move to a new house, and the album was meant to go into the trash pile!
My daughter asked, “Dad, would it be alright if I take a few pieces of your artwork with me?â€
“Of course, you can. I was going to throw those away anyway.â€
A few weeks later, we went to visit them in their new apartment. When we entered the house, to my utter surprise and delight, I saw a few of my paintings and drawings hanging nicely on the walls. They were framed aesthetically too. I was so touched. It felt wonderful to have my art appreciated again after so many years by my own children..
Her simple act of appreciating my forgotten paintings inspired me to return again to my childhood passion of being an artist. Â ♣
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Francis Cleetus’ Vibrant Paintings on Display
Posted by admin in April 2018, Past issues on April 4, 2018
By Kollengode S Venkataraman
Francis Cleetus happily poses for the Patrika in front of one of his painting collections.
On a wintry January evening, the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council organized a Gallery Crawl for lovers of the visual arts to “crawl†from one venue to another to enjoy the works of Pittsburgh-based creative minds at several galleries and public places. The artists were also present to answer questions; music programs and a comedy improv also were part of the crawl. Part of the crawl was the works of Indian-American visual artist Francis Cleetus at the gallery at 810 Penn Avenue downtown.
Cleetus has brought 3-d effect simply by imagina-tively using the effect of light and shadows in a 2-d painting. Do you see a Ganesha in this?
Cleetus was born in Bombay (now Mumbai). “Even from my early childhood, I always had interest in visual arts,†he says. He helped friends with their drawing-related homework assignments at school. He says, “My dad, who worked for Reader’s Digest, encouraged me in my pursuits.â€Â Cleetus went to St. Pius High School in East Bombay, where his English teacher Mary D’Souza encouraged his creative pursuits. She was his inspiration.
After earning his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Bombay, he worked as a chemist at a tire company. He soon realized that was not his calling. He went on to earn his diploma in Advertising Management from the Advertising Agencies Association of India. While working on multi-media campaigns for clients, he kept his creative instincts alive. Along the way, he won awards at agencies like Draft FCB, J. Walter Thompson, and Doe Anderson in India. He
A painting of Cleetus shows a snake in 3-d.
developed his style as a painter, designer, illustrator, cartoonist and sculptor. But Cleetus had no formal education or training in visual art. His talents are instinctive, endowed by Mother Nature.
After living in Hong Kong for nine years with his wife Maneesha, Cleetus joined MARC Advertising as its Creative Director in Pittsburgh.
A few years ago, when Phipps Botanical Conservatory organized Tropical Forest India, a 3-year live exhibition, Cleetus’ mandala-type painting decorated the roof of the South-Indian-style entrance created by our own Sthapathi Ayyachami Narayanan of Monroeville.
Cleetus is currently with Mylan’s global creative & design services team working on logo designs, print ads, billboards, digital ads, websites, exhibitions and more.
When asked why all of his paintings on display are inspired by Indian themes, his reply was quite simple and direct: “Because that’s who I am.†  But his sculptures and drawing also have universal themes in terms of imagery.
On the inaugural day, Michael Griska was on the sitar adding to the excitement and enjoyment. See the picture on the side.
Cleetus lives in Upper St Clair with his wife Maneesha and two daughters, Ananya and Antara. More information about Cleetus is here.
Visitors can see Cleetus’ works at the Karmalogue Gallery during weekdays’ by arranging appointments with Christiana Leach at the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council (GPAC) at 412.391.2060 Ext 228. The next Gallery Crawl is on April 27 from 5:30 PM till 10:00 PM, when you can see the works of other artists in galleries and other public places.  ♣
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Nandini Mandal: Inspiring Journey in Dance Through Challenges
Posted by admin in April 2018, Past issues on April 4, 2018
By Dolly Luthra and Juginder Luthra, Weirton, WV
Nandini Mandal has now become synonymous with a talented dancer, teacher, brave and resilient survivor, and a cultural ambassador of India in Pittsburgh. It was a long, difficult but exhilarating journey.
We have known the ever-smiling Nandini since she came to Pittsburgh. She was not a household name when she landed in Pittsburgh from India in 1995. She being from Bengal, her talents were first recognized in the Bengali Association of Pittsburgh. Very many years ago, she was invited to give a performance for the Annual Triveni Family Variety Program. Her amazing dance pieces are still talked about. Just as a rooster cannot take credit for the sunrise, Triveni International cannot take credit for the trajectory of Nandini’s rise in the area; it was just one of the many platforms.
It did not take long for Nandini’s creativity to be known to all Indians — and also non-Indians as well — in Greater Pittsburgh Area.
Even as a young child she stomped and broke into dancing to the beat of music and ghungroo. The inborn talent was quickly recognized by her pare
nts. Her mother, a school teacher, took Nandini to dance lessons. Her father, working in the Indian Railways in Kharagpur, too was very supportive. She started getting formal dance training when she was seven. In 1983 she obtained Junior Diploma in Hindustani Classical music. She earned her Senior Diploma, Sangeet Prabhakar, from Allahabad University with distinction in Bharatanatyam at the age of 14 under Guru Snigdha Pal. In the same year she completed her Arangetram. She also got training in Kathakali, Manipuri, and Nava-Nritya. Credit for the variety of dances in India, she tells, goes to traders and invaders who added new touches to the already existing Natyashastra-based dance traditions.
Later, when she continued her education in Calcutta, her passion for dance followed. She trained at the Kala Mandalam focusing on Bharatanatyam and Nava-Nritya.
Her Bharatanatyam was Tanjavoor School (Gharana). Her structured courses on the theory of Indian dances at college were extremely helpful when she took practical classes under traditional teachers.
After her marriage, she came to Pittsburgh where her husband was employed in the early boom period of the IT industry in the US. The Mandals are blessed with two daughters.
She founded the Nandanik Dance Academy and the Nandanik Dance Troupe in 19
98, where she is the director since inception. She teaches Bharatanatyam, Nava-Nritya, Folk, and contemporary dances. In her classes in Pittsburgh, she tries to teach her students the theoretical foundations to the extent possible.
In life, nothing goes up in a straight line. She developed aplastic anemia which required multiple blood transfusions. Her Indian friends in this town gathered together helping her in many ways — anything from arranging food, monetary help for the long duration of hospitalization and medical care, and social support for their beloved Nandini aunty teacher, mentor and friend, and her betis. This, combined with her grit and determination to live to full under very trying circumstance and share her God-given gift with children and adults, made Nandini survive through the ordeal.
Due to her sickness she lost movement in her thigh bone joint. This required joint replacement. For any dancer, this generally means end of dancing career. But Nandini is not any dancer. Her obstacles did not stop there. She continued with her dance, while restricting her acrobatic moves.
In the middle of all this, she developed an aggressive form of Acute Mylogenous leukemia. The only cure was bone marrow transplant. Her social network once again went into full gear searching for a compatible donor all over the world. An anonymous donor’s marrow matched. She went through a successful surgery, followed with chemotherapy and a lengthy recovery period. She was fragile, having to raise two daughters.
She endured through all this with her grit and smile, and she was able to beat the disease, usually associated with high mortality rate. She credits her survival to the excellent timely care by cancer experts in New York and well-earned social support she received from friends. The strong will to live also critical.
All through this, simultaneously she was struggling with personal issues too. She and the family survived this bitter part of their life as well. She credits her father’s support and for her and positive attitude for coming out of the many challenges.
Nandini continues to pass on her talent to her own daughters and hundreds of children in the Tri-State Area. She has given solo and group performances in and around Pittsburgh, and in other states in the US and India as well choreographing several dance programs. Her numerous activities include being an Art Activist, Event Planner and manager, Interpreter and Translator…
She spreads her understanding of dances, music and various facets of India in numerous schools in and around Pittsburgh. As the cultural ambassador of India with World Affairs Council’s Pittsburgh Chapter, she did a series of lectures at schools in Allegheny and Washington counties. She actively has collaborated with local artists such as Mary Miller, Africa Yetu and Dr. Sheila Collins.
She has performed dances in the presence of Mother Teresa, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalaam, and India’s Air Chief Marshall where she raised funds for the fallen soldiers.
After receiving so much help from society, she is conscious that she needs to give back to the society. Her fundraising activities include Light the Night Walk for Leukemia Lymphoma Society, Dance for Cure for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life. A video of her choreographed dance is being used in India to help raise awareness for need of sanitation facilities for girls. A still photograph of this video, taken with the fountain at the Point State Park in the background was on the cover page of the Pittsburgh Patrika.
Nandini is one of the recipients of the Artist Opportunity Grant of 2016. Due to the efforts of Nadanik Dance Troupe, the Mayor of Pittsburgh issued a proclamation declaring November 14, 2014 as Prakriti Day.
Recently, in February 2018 her efforts and talents were recognized by the Pittsburgh Art Council. She is the first Indian/American to receive a grant of $12,000 for the production of Vilaya.
She feels bad that with so many high-caliber professional dancers living and actively performing in Pittsburgh, the community prefers to invite outsiders, glossing over the “Local” artists. Her dream is to one day perform in larger well-known theaters in Pittsburgh. Wo subah kabhi tho zaroor aayegi (Someday that morning will definitely come!)
In addition to teaching and choreographing dance programs, she enjoys reading, listening to good music and gardening. There is not a dull moment in her life.
Nandini declares, “Humans start dancing when they are born. Just watch the movements of babies.” Her motto in life is “Push forward and do not give up.”
Pittsburgh is richer and a better place to live for Indians because Providence brought Nandini to live among us to realize her dreams here. We wish her success in every sphere of life. ♣
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History of Tax Reform
Posted by admin in April 2018, Past issues on April 4, 2018
By Kris Gopal    e-mail: gutcut@comcast.net
As our present government scurried to create a new tax code before the end of 2016, it will be worthwhile to know how the tax code evolved in this country.
The first income tax bill was introduced in 1861 as a one-time event to raise money for the Civil War, which the then president Abraham Lincoln signed into law the same year. It was meant to be a temporary measure with a flat tax rate of 3% on annual incomes above $800 (equivalent to ~ $22,000 per year income today).
In 1862 congress created what would become the Internal Revenue service. This tax law lapsed in 1872, and there was no income tax till the year 1894 when congress passed law to in recreating income tax code. At that time the Supreme Court by vote of 5-4 voted that the income tax code was unconstitutional. A progressive reform group fighting to reintroduce the tax code led to the passage in 1913 of a constitutional amendment – the 16th amendment – legalizing federal taxation. The first implemented permanent tax code had a top rate of 7% on annual incomes above $500,000 which would be equivalent to $12.5 million today.
The U.S. Government later passed a massive tax hikes to pay for the world War I, including the first version of the estate tax, and raised the taxes yet again to finance the enormous costs of World War II. In 1944 the top income tax rate peaked at 94 percent on taxable income of over $200,000 (about $2.5 million today).
In 1963 President John F Kennedy slashed the top rate for individuals from 91 percent to a more reasonable 65 
percent. This reduction met with still resistance from conservative Democrats and Republicans who worried about the deficit it will entail. When Lyndon Johnson became the president after Kennedy’s assassination, the Revenue Act of 1964 was passed lowering the top individual tax rate to 70 percent and the bottom rate to 14% from 20%. At the same time the corporate tax was also lowered from 52%to 48%.
Another seventeen years elapsed before the next tax reform took place under President Ronald Regan. He created the biggest tax cut by slashing the top individual rate from 70% to 50%. He and his advisers revamped the tax code and introduced the 1986 Tax Reform Act simplifying the tax and reduced fifteen tax brackets to just two, 15% and 28% percent. This tax code also eliminated $60 billion tax loopholes. It was felt to be revenue neutral.
To appease few resentful congressmen and senators, Reagan increased the standard deduction to benefit low-income families. He also increased the capital gains tax from 20% to 28%.
Then in 1991, the then citizen Donald Trump told congress that the new tax reforms had been “an absolute catastrophe for the country.â€
President George W Bush pushed through a major tax cut in 2001. Later Democratic presidents have raised the top tax rate to 39.6% and the number of tax brackets was expanded to seven and several new tax breaks and loopholes were been added.
During President Donald Trump’s first year in office, the Republican controlled House and Senate succeeded in rewriting the tax code. After cantankerous debates both in the House and Senate, the Republicans managed to pass the bill, solely along the party-line vote. It was necessary to raise the debt ceiling. The new tax bill reduces the corporate tax from 35% to 21%. It reduces personal tax bracket from eight to seven. It reduces individual taxes to many Americans. The new bill increases the personal standard deductions from $12,000 to $24,000. The present bill reduces the property taxes and state taxes deduction to $10,000. It reduces mortgage interest deductions for new houses up to $750,000. Some changes were also made in the estate taxes, and alternate minimum tax, and gift taxes.
The new budget increase spending on defense, infrastructure improvements, mental health care, and Catastrophic Fund. This new tax law will not be budget neutral and will leave an enormous deficit. Congressmen of the future will have to reconcile with this huge budget deficit.
References:
The library of Congress. Business Reference Service. compiled by Ellen Terell. https://www.loc.gov/rr/business/hottopic/irs_history.html
The US. and International Media. Vol 17 issue 848
https://www.irs.gov/about-irs/brief-history-of-irs
https://www.loc.gov/rr/business/hottopic/irs_history.html
https://www.infoplease.com/business-finance/taxes/history-income-tax-united-states
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_history_of_the_United_States   ♣
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A Level Playing Field for Electing Pennsylvania’s US House of Representatives
Posted by admin in April 2018, January 2018, Past issues on March 2, 2018
By Kollengode S Venkataraman
e-mail: ThePatrika.@aol.com
The US Congress, as required by the US Constitution, has 435 Members in the House of Representatives, elected from 435 electoral districts from 50 states. Each Congressional district must have approximately the same population (~ 720,000 people).
Consequently, states gain or lose House seats depending on the changes in the population determined by the decennial cenÂsus. The population of Pennsylvania relative to the population of the nation has been declining throughout the second half of the 20th century. Hence the number of House seats from Pennsylvania has been shrinking. See the adjacent table. Reference: https://tinyurl.com/Penna-US-House-Seats
Congressmen are elected from each state from “Congressional DisÂtricts,†which are specific geographical areas within the state. The map for each district is redrawn every ten years. The Pennsylvania legislature’s General Assembly (lower house and the senate) in Harrisburg has the authority to redraw the map after each census. However, the governor has to sign off on what the General Assembly proposes.
Pennsylvania is a Moderate State, Relatively Speaking: In elections for the US president and US Senate, the vote split between Democratic and Republican candidates has been between 45:55 or tighter swinging either way. We have voted both for Republicans and Democrats in presidential elections; we have had both Democratic and Republican Governors and US Senators. So, Pennsylvania is a moderate state, relatively speaking.
The 18-member House delegation is skewed towards Republicans. However, if you see the split between the two parties Congressional delegation from Pennsylvania, it is nothing but a scandal. Look at the numbers of GOP and Democratic Congressmen in recent elections from the state:
————————————————————————————————
Election Year and GOP-Democrat Split:
2010: 12-7
2012: 13-5
2014: 13-5
2016: 13-5
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That is, Republicans have 67% of the state’s 18-member Congressional Delegation to the US House, even though the state votes 48-52, swinging either way in presidential and Senate races. The perpetual grip of the Republican majority in the Pennsylvania general assembly garnered such a disproportionately skewed advantage in the US Congress by gerrymandering congressional district maps. They did this by banding and breaking voters identified to vote against them.
Banding: Segments of voters, mostly urban, well known to vote Democratic (for example Blacks, Jews, Asians) would be herded together into very few districts such that in these districts Democratic candidates would win with an 80%-plus majority.
Breaking: Where it suits them, Republicans have drawn the district maps dispersing Democratic voters in a densely populated urban area into multiple Congressional districts thus diluting their effectiveness against them, and gaining a clear advantage for winning in the general elections.
In many districts, once you win in the primary, you coast to victory in the general election. The intra-party primaries are where the battle is won or lost. To know what gerrymandering is, just look at the example of the 7th congressional district, near Philadelphia shown below.
The state’s ~12.75 million population is clustered around urban centers like Philadelphia (6.0 million), Pittsburgh (2.4 million), and Allentown (0.8 million). The state’s population density is shown in the picture below:
The map of the Congressional districts of the last several election cycles is also shown below. The rural districts are large because they are sparsely populated. This way of drawing the districts gave a disproportionate advantage to the Republicans for winning 13 of the 18 House seats from Pennsylvania’s more than 2/3 of the seats.
Republicans have been in the majority in the Pennsylvania General Assembly for years. This time, a Democrat (Tom Wolf) is the Governor in Harrisburg. Understandably, the governor did not sign off on the Republicans’ gerrymandered redistricting map. When the issue went to the state Supreme Court the League of Women Voters filed the law suit, the court asked the General Assembly to revise their redistricting map, because the Republicans’ plan was “aimed at achieving unfair partisan gain.” The revised redistricting map of the General Assembly too was not endorsed by the Democratic governor.
So, the state Supreme Court took it upon itself to redraw the congressional districts. With the help of a Stanford University professor, the Court redrew the map, saying the map is “superior or comparable” to all the submitted proposals, and is based on “traditional redistricting criteria of compactness, contiguity, equality of population, and respect for the integrity of political subdivisions.” It is a 4-3 decision in the 7-member state Supreme Court. The court-made map is shown below:
Based on votes cast in the 2016 elections, the new map gives a 10/8 split between the GOP and Democrats compared with the disproportionate 13/5 advantage the GOP now has in the Congressional delegation.
With a more level playing field now imposed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the 2018 mid-term elections to the US Congress in the state become more competitive, representative, and also equitable, in the context of the voting pattern in the state.
We thank the state Supreme Court for correcting the grossly unfair way the GOP-controlled General Assembly in Harrisburg gerrymandered Congressional districts. This and similar decisions in other states correcting the blatant gerrymandering by both parties can finally moderate the partisan deadlock we have been seeing in Washington for the last two decades.
Acknowledgments: The two colored maps of the Congressional districts are from the Washington Post. ♠
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The Pittsburgh Patrika Writers Gathering
Posted by admin in January 2018, Past issues on January 9, 2018
And Now, the Turkey Weekend in India, as Covered in The Indian Express
Posted by admin in January 2018, Past issues on January 9, 2018
By K S Venkataraman
India has its own harvest festivals — Pongal, Sankranti, Onam, Naukhai, and Baisakhi, among others — that the urban, English-educated, anglicized 
Indians who are completely uprooted from their hinterland, do not know, or do not care for. Lately, the American Thanksgiving bug seems to have bitten them, if you go by The Indian Express’ Lifestyle story (Ref: www.tinyurl.com/India-Thanxgiving-WkEnd). This English daily is published simultaneously in big cities and several second-tier cities.
In the Indian Express story reproduced below, there is not a single word on the American harvest, or on the Native Americans’ encounters with Whites. I have italicized the phrases to highlight the absurdity in the story. The bold letters are my comments.
“Thanksgiving is a time for family reunions, shopping, merrymaking, feasts and family dinner. People take out time to spend special time to meet near and dear ones and thank them for their kindness. Every year, people all across the world celebrate Thanksgiving Day.
“For Canada it is the second Monday of October and for United States it is the fourth Thursday of November. Other countries like Australia, Grenada, The Netherlands and India also join in the celebration. (Really?)
“This year, the Thanksgiving day will fall on November 23, one day before Black Friday, as per the US’s celebration date.†(Note that the writer puts the cart before the horse.)
Then the story gives a “quick and easy recipe†for roasting Turkey. Turkeys available in India? How many Indian homes have ovens to roast a 20-lb turkey for 4 hours? Then gives a recipe for mash (not mashed) potatoes and cranberry sauce. Where will Indians go for cranberries?
On reading the article, the urban, anglicized Indians in Madras, Bombay, Calcutta, (Chennai, Bengaluru and Kolkata maybe too provincial names for them) will develop a massive inferiority complex on what they are not able to do in India on the Thanksgiving weekend, even though these wannabe-gora Indians are sitting on the very top of the Indian socioeconomic pyramid!!!  ♣
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Shivender Nagar’s Journey in Self-Discovery
Posted by admin in January 2018, Past issues on January 6, 2018
Juginder Luthra, Weirton, WVÂ Â Â Â Â Â e-mail:Â Â dolgin1968@gmail.com
“Life is a package deal. No different from a conducted tour. You may not like some parts of the tour or may want more of something else. But you adjust to the chosen package. Not everything in life or your fellow travelers will be perfect. Learn to adjust and compromise.â€
With such and many more examples, Swami Shivender Nagar, often simply called Nagarji, gives discourses on Bhagvad Gita in India and several other countries.
He was born in 1965 in New Delhi. As a young adult, he had the ambition to choose a career in hotel management and settle in Switzerland. Six months into the management course, spiritual inclination directed him to drop the course and join Bible School in Geneva. The studies did not answer all his questions.
He returned to Delhi after one year and started seeking a guru. Fate connected Nagarji with Parthasarthiji, founder of the Vedanta Academy in Lonavala, near Pune, India. Nagarji was one of the eight students in the first class at the Academy. The three-year intensive course was taught in Sanskrit and English. He stayed for one extra year learning from Vedanta-related books in Hindi.
Parthasarthiji asked Nagarji to go to Delhi and start spreading the message. He started giving weekly classes on teachings of the Gita. Mrs. Rita Puri of Pittsburgh happened to be in the audience in Delhi. She invited Nagarji to come to Pittsburgh in 1995 to give discourses in homes and the Hindu Jain Temple. The yearly trip to Pittsburgh has continued, which resulted in him becoming the teacher at the Hindu Jain Temple Summer Camp. About 100 children and counselors receive training through classroom discussions and interactive games. This is followed by a week-long series of evening lectures on different chapters of the Bhagavad Gita at the Temple.
He sprinkles his lectures with easy to remember one-liners:
Seriousness is a sickness.Â
Hard work hardly works. When you enjoy your job it is not work, it is fun. It becomes hard work when you don’t enjoy it.Â
When you demand definite results from your actions, you are pretending to be God.Â
Several families, including Shashi and Ashok Marwaha, in Pittsburgh have hosted Swamiji at their homes. We met him in 1999 in Rishikesh, and have continued our association with him ever since. More people imbibe his messages in their lives.
Nagarji is married to Prema. They have one daughter, Stuti. When asked if his mother lives with him, he quickly answered “No†and after a short pause he continued, “We live with my mother! I have done it all my life.â€
His plan in India is to start Gita Academy in Uttrakhand near Rishikesh. Six-week long residential courses will be offered to individuals between the ages of 18 and 30. In addition to teaching the Gita, he also offers self-improvement courses including how to set goals in life and mind management (including stress, anger etc.). With this much commitment in India, future overseas trips will become less frequent. Summer Camp in 2018 will be held from July 29 to August 4, with lectures at the Hindu Jain Temple held around those dates. He can be contacted here: shivender@hotmail.com.   ♣
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In Temple Architecture, Form Needs to Follow Function, but Also Weather Patterns
Posted by admin in January 2018, Past issues on January 6, 2018
By Kollengode S Venkataraman thepatrika@aol.com
With over three million Indians in North America and an overwhelming proportion of them being Hindu, temples are springing up everywhere. With so many temples now in North America, it may be time to reassess how we need to incorporate features suitable to the regional weather patterns in North America.
Organizationally, Hindu temples in North America are structured after American churches with bylaws, membership eligibility, membership dues, elections, and governing bodies (president, chairman, secretary and myriad committees).
In other measures, many Hindu temples here resemble Protestant denominations we see on TV in their perpetual appeal for money — tax deductible, of course — for capital projects one after another. With these things in place, disagreements and fights among members on dogma, rituals, and other practices also are the norm in temples, as in churches here.
However, for cultural, sentimental, and nostalgic reasons, temple managements want to keep the exterior of the temples “Indian†in architecture and artwork. Temples spend enormous amount of time and money, first on “Indianization†projects, and then to
maintain these “Indianized†façades. But as we have seen time and again, this does not always go well, especially in places in the Midwest and Northeast and in Canada with several freeze-thaw cycles in winter, freezing rains, storms that pile 8†to 10†inches of snow on the complex “Indianized†structures.
Cracks in plaster and between brick layers, snow freezing into sheets of ice and inadequate drainage on flat roofs lead to leaks and structural damage. In many temples, these are recurring themes that drain the temple’s time, energy and resources.
Why do temple managements resist adapting temple structures’ basic design to the local
weather patterns? The urge to find costly engineering solutions to retain the Indianized façades with “new & improved†building material is irresistible. But Mother Nature always wins if we do not learn to respect Her ways and adapt ourselves to Her patterns. It is time to look at this with some Vedantic detachment.
Let us look at our personal lives as immigrants here. We take great pride in our — and our children’s — accomplishments in education and careers. Good. But also look at how we individually adapted our personal lives along the way — in our food habits; in worship, prayers, observing festivals in our homes; in walking away from proscribed taboos; on divorce and remarriage; in the choices our children make in their life partners. In
all these, we have crossed every line that was a Lakshman Rekha or taboo just forty years ago.
We have seamlessly adapted our personal lives in so many ways to fit into the ever-changing lifestyles and resources around us. So why do we resist the common-sense-based need to adapt the temple structures to the entirely predictable local and regional weather patterns?
After all, Sthapatis, the traditional Hindu temple architects in India, have understood these local realities through the centuries. That is how and that is why many temples in India have survived for several hundreds of years on very low maintenance, compared to temples built in North America in the last 50 years.
Besides, there is NO ONE Indian Model in temple designs. Consider this: In Kerala and Coastal Karnataka where annual monsoon rainfalls are over 70 to 80 inches, even famous temples rarely have Gopurams/Shikhars we see in other regions. Shrines and exteriors in these temples have simple, sleek, sloping roofs with baked tiles or copper sheets so that minutes after the rainfall, not a drop of water stays on the roof. See the pictures in this article.
Further, every temple in India is built with materials locally available in abundance — like soapstone, sandstones, granites, laterite, and hardwoods such as teak.
Temple managements need to develop guidelines and give them to architects to come up with low-maintenance, yet elegant structures for the sanctums for the deities and the exterior. Maybe we need to “Indian-Americanize†the temples’ exteriors and incorporate architectural features taking into account the regional weather patterns, similar to how we have “Americanized†our Indianness here. Compromises are inevitable.
Only when the temple managements do this, can They focus on the real purpose for building temples — namely, educating our children, organically enlivening the core of the cultural features of our faith (like music and dance), organizing classes on Yoga & Mediation, and preserving our open-architecture philosophical traditions.
Remember, temples in India undertake big-scale renovations and Kumbhabhishekam only once every twelve years. This implies that after such renovations, temples will have no recurring maintenance-related chronic headaches for another twelve years.  ♣
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Arts Foundation Honors Artistes & Patrons
Posted by admin in January 2018, Past issues on January 6, 2018
By V Vasudevan, O’Hara, PA   e-mail: Vaidyanathan.Vasudevan@emerson.com
V. Vasudevan, a long-time resident of this area, summarizes the cultural event held in Pittsburgh under the aegis of the Srinivasa Prasad International Foundation for Performing Arts (SPIFPA), instituted in memory of Srinivasa Prasad Gutti by his beloved parents Varaprasad and Parvati Gutti.
The Srinivasa Prasad International Foundation for Performing Arts (SPIFPA) organized a nice program on October 14, showcasing some of the talents in South Indian performing arts and honouring artists
Varaprasada Rao Gutti welcoming the gathering.
and arts patrons. The venue was the auditorium at the Sri Venkateswara Temple. This year’s multi-event program was well-planned, thanks to the attention to detail of the hosts, Varaprasad Rao Gutti and his wife Parvathi.
The program started with Gutti’s opening remarks welcoming the audience and mentioning the mission and objective of SPIFPA in promoting and encouraging South Asian Arts among Indian artists and the mainstream Indo-American youth. The Life Time Achievement Award, Gutti said, is one such form of recognizing patrons and talents.
The invocation pieces were well-done — the Kuchipudi dance rendering of Vande Mataram by Bindu Madhavi Gutti’s students, followed by Manu Narayan singing the American Anthem.
Arpitha Udupa’s recital was a highlight at the program.
In her introductory speech, Parvathi Gutti paid rich tribute to her son, Vasu, his passion for classical music and Kuchipudi and his emphasis that these art forms should become popular among our kids growing up here. The clip showing him performing Entharo Mahanu
Bhavulu was reminiscent of what he aspired to. The foundation is instituted in memory of Srinivasa Prasad. (Editor’s note: Srinivasa Prasad, so full of promise, died in a freak car accident several years ago. He was in his early twenties.)
Rajshri Gopal, who started it all decades ago.
The evening’s program with a Karnatic music piece by a teenage ensemble of Sia, Pallavi, Sarang and Rajan showed great promise in terms of precision, poise and dedication.
The Bharatanatyam piece by Mythili Prakash was inspiring and spell-binding. The piece on Shakti brought her a standing ovation. It is no surprise that she received the 2017 SPIFPA Ambassador award for Performing Arts.
Arpitha Udupa’s Premanjali in Kuchipudi style choreographed by Bindu Gutti-Rachuri was well-rendered, highlighting the devotion, love and perseverance of Vasu to this art form.
An All-American dance group of Jaya Mani from Slippery Rock University and Pitt’s Nrityamala showcased the dancers talents and versatility and mastery in the art form. These young dancers come from a wide range of social background and upbringing, thus fulfilling one of the objectives of SPIFPA.
The 2017 Life Time Achievements Award was presented to Revathi Satyu for her contribution of over fifty-three years to Bharatanatyam. Manu Narayan was conferred the award as the Ambassador of Performing Arts for Theater, Broadway Musicals and multi-faceted talents.
Mythili Prakash at the podium after the award.
Sia Iyer — she is only 12 — received t the Child Vocal Musician Award for her
Revathi Satyu at the podium.
commitment, hard work and skills at such a young age. Pallavi Muluk was SPIFPA’s Youth Vocal Musician for 2017 for her talents in Karnatic music, her love of training young children in Pittsburgh. Sarang Mulukutla and Rajan Srimat were SPIFPA Youth Violin and Mridangam Awardees.
Rajshri Gopal lived here in the 1970s through the ‘90s, and is one of the founding members of the SVTemple. With a keen interest in Indian performing arts, she initiated classes for youngsters even before the idea of a temple in Pittsburgh was conceived. Justifiably, SPIFPA felicitated her for her contribution to the temple and Indian performing arts. It was heartwarming to see that she got recognition for her contributions at the SVTemple venue, even though the event was not organized by the temple.
Ashok Madha felicitating Manu Narayan.
Gutti Rao thanked all the artists, the audience and SVTemple for their support in promoting this art form and hoped that this will continue for
years to come.The young artists getting their awards this year, he was sure, will create interest and enthusiasm among our youngsters, one of the main goals for SPIFPA and Vasu. Gutti Rao said SPIFPA would work to establish endowments and recognition awards both in India and the US. ♣
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Britain’s Diminished Global Role
Posted by admin in January 2018, Past issues on January 6, 2018
 By K S Venkataraman     e-mail:  The Patrika@aol.com
When the UN was formed at the end of WW-II, the Allied victors dictated the composition of its Security Council. The Security Council was formed with five permanent members with veto power — the US, UK, USSR, France, and China. All except China were among the victors in the War. When India was offered permanent membership in the UN Security Council, Jawaharlal Nehru ceded the membership to China.
More than seventy years after WW-II, lots of water has flown under London Bridge, and the UK’s clout has been shrinking globally. British cartoonists portray the UK as a vassal of the US. See the cartoon on the side showing the British premier Tony Blair as a puppet of President Bush 43. It is time to seriously question the legitimacy of the UK’s permanent membership in the Security Council with veto power.
With its exit from the EU in 2016, the legitimacy of the UK’s disproportionate global presence came into rebuke this November in three elections in one week.
First, the UK saved face by withdrawing from an impending defeat for a seat in the UN’s 15-member body of 
the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. The UK’s Christopher Greenwood withdrew from the election and ceded the seat to India’s Dalveer Bhandari (see the picture) after several rounds of deadlocked elections in the UN Security Council. To be elected to the ICJ, candidates need to get a majority votes in both the UN’s General Assembly and the Security Council. Bhandari had an overwhelming support — close to 2/3 of the votes — in all the rounds of voting in the UN General Assembly. In the 15-member Security Council, Bhandari fell short by four votes.
Bhandari was sure to get over 2/3 of the votes in the General Assembly. If this happens, it would be difficult for the Security Council to ignore. Further, after Brexit, even in the Security Council, the UK’s clout has waned. So, Britain ceded the seat to India. For the first time since since its inception in 1945, UK has no representation in the ICJ.
Making matters worse in the same week, the “Great†Britain also lost two high-visibility EU offices. The EU voted to move the office of the European Banking Authority (EBA) out of London to Paris. Similarly, the EU voted that its office of European Medicine Agency (EMA), overseeing Europe’s pharmaceutical industry, will be moved from London and relocated to Amsterdam, Holland.  ♣
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Pittsburgh Chinmaya Mission Fundraiser for a Vedanta Center-Temple Complex
Posted by admin in January 2018, Past issues on January 6, 2018
Chinmaya Mission of Pittsburgh had an impressive fundraising event on Saturday, November 18 at the Shriners Center in Cheswick. The evening included a dinner and a collage of Indian dance programs weaving
The children of the Chinmaya Bala Vihar reciting a hymn at the beginning.
together Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Kathak, and Odissi styles of dance traditions. The artistes were Atri Nundy (Bharatanatyam) from Buffalo; Kamala Reddy-Rajupet (Kuchipudi); Sudeshna Maulik (Kathak) from Toronto; and Shibani Patnaik (Odissi) from the Bay Area. Tejaswini Rao from Buffalo helped in the choreography, and emceed the dance program.
The dance items, interspersed with speeches from the Chinmaya Organization, gave enough scope for the artistes to display their artistry individually and independently. They also succeeded working together in 
pairs and groups in storytelling, while retaining their individual styles while dancing to the same music. The final piece was a nicely choreographed Tillana, ending in a crescendo of all the artistes dancing together in their own unique styles with good kaala-pramaaNam (timing precision) for the same jatis (rhythm patterns) and music.
The focus of the event was fundraising for their Vedanta Center-Temple complex. Over 450 adults and children participated in the fundraiser. They have already acquired land for the place that would include a Shiva Temple, a Vedanta Center, Bala Vihar, and rooms for meetings and classes.
Against their goal of $1.25 million for the evening, they raised as pledges and contribution over $1.1 million — an impressive number by any measure.  Â
— By K S Venkataraman   ♣
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Climate Impact of Excessive Consumption of Dairy ProductsÂ
Posted by admin in January 2018, Past issues on January 6, 2018
By Padma Garvey, MD, Hudson Valley, NY
Padma was born in Nellore India and grew up in Pittsburgh. She earned her medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1992. She is a full-time gynecologist in the Hudson Valley area, married to her physician husband for 25 years. She has two kids in college. She practices yoga and is dedicated to teaching people about the benefits of a plant-based diet. She has a website (www.drpadmagarvey.com).
Editor’s Note: This is a complex topic on many measures. As the author herself notes in the short write-up below, “[G]lobal hunger has very little to do with lack of food and more to do with a lack of access to it,†which means a lack of affordability for the working poor in a country like India. While malnourished infants and young children from poorer families in India do not get even one banana a day or one glass of milk or yogurt a day, upper income families are submerged in dairy products, with cheese being the latest entrant in India. Still the author’s point is valid that these upper income Indians will be helping themselves and the environment by consuming less dairy products.
A few years ago, I went to India with my mother for a visit.  On that visit, I noticed an alarming number of obesity clinics, heart centers, fast food restaurants, and of course pollution. I also noticed that milk consumption had increased substantially, especially in the forms of butter, ice cream, and cheese. I started to wonder how the dietary habits of one billion people could impact the environment, agriculture, and animal welfare. I wondered what had to be done to keep up with the rising demand for milk. How many cows did it take? How much hormonal stimulation did it require? How much machinery was necessary? And what was happening in America where diary consumption is one of the highest in the world?
India sprang from an ancient civilization that reaped enormous benefits from the domestication of cattle and the consumption of milk. The unprecedented access to a highly nutritious food was no doubt the reason for an emergence of a religious and moral philosophy whose central God figure was a cow herder. It was no doubt the reason for the adoration and the worship of the cow, and the commitment to protect it. Well-fed people can make the moral leap to advocate nonviolence against animals and a vegetarian lifestyle. It is no wonder, then, that India is where the first notions of moral and sustainable eating came to be.
Nowadays, global hunger has very little to do with lack of food and more to do with a lack of access to it. We can and do make enough food to feed everyone.  We are trying to feed the world on the backs of animals by eating their meat and drinking their milk. The idyllic image of the happy cow, herded by beautiful maidens along green grasses is not how most cows, in America or in India, find themselves. Dairy farming is a round-the-clock operation where animals are housed in small cubicles, attached to milking machines for hours at a time. There is no joy in their lives. They are carrying the weight of the world’s bellies on their udders and are a major contributor to green-house gases.
The countries with the highest rates of breast-, prostate-, colon-, and uterine-cancer have the highest rates of dairy and meat consumption. The resources required in land, water, and fuel are enormous. This places an undue burden on the environment as well. It might be time for Hindus to, once again, take a moral leap and abstain from dairy consumption as a way of protecting the cow and our planet.  ♣
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The Madhavs Bid Goodbye to Pittsburgh
Posted by admin in January 2018, Past issues on January 6, 2018
By Sudha Pandalai, Cincinatti, OHÂ Â Â e-mail:Â Â sppandalai@yahoo.com
Editor: Sudha P. Pandalai grew up in the Pittsburgh Metro area. Her family and the Madhavs have been friends for many years.
Dr. Ashok and Mrs. Shobha Madhav, long-standing members of the Pittsburgh Indian community, recently moved to Silver Springs, MD to begin a new chapter in their lives. Their friends in Pittsburgh will miss them but wish them well in this next phase.
In the early days of the Indian community in southwestern Pennsylvania, the Madhavs enriched the lives of their colleagues and friends in ways large and small. They have a diverse circle of friends from their fifty-years of living in the Pittsburgh area.
Both have been highly active at the Sri Venkateswara Temple and other local religious and cultural institutions through the years, and have been strong enthusiasts of classical Indian performing arts (both dance and music). Since the 1970’s they have encouraged many artists, both those established, and those who were just beginning their careers, through arranging concerts and hosting them.
Additionally, Dr. Madhav has contributed to the Karnatic music repertoire by composing kritis in all of the 72 Melakarta (parent) ragas. His deep grasp of music theory and history, in topics ranging from Karnatic music Janaka and Janya ragas, to Thaats in Hindustani music, and to taalas, has made Dr. Madhav sought-after by many professionals, and students of music, wanting to clarify finer points in Indian classical music. (Editor’s Note: In the very first issue of the Patrika, Dr. Madhav reviewed “Purushâ€, a dance program with an all-male ensemble, led by Bharatanatyam Maestro C. V. Chandrashekhar and Kathak Maestro Birju Maharaj)
Mrs. Madhav has been a vital part of the community. She is noted for her skill in public speaking, and through the years, she has been a popular emcee at various functions. These include public programs at the Sri Venkateswara Temple and private functions such as many Arangetrams performed by dance students in the area.
With the move further east, the Madhavs will enjoy being closer to their daughter Anita, her husband Jim and their children; and being nearer to their son Nitin. In October close to fifty friends of the Madhavs gathered at the Tamarind Restaurant in Green Tree to bid them farewell. Their friends in Pittsburgh thank them for their years of friendship, wish them well in their new home, and promise to visit them in DC. ♣
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US Economy: President Trump’s First Year after Eight Years of the Obama Presidency
Posted by admin in January 2018, Past issues on January 6, 2018
By Kollengode S Venkataraman      e-mail:  ThePatrika@aol.com
On faith, economics and politics, it is futile to persuade people to change their opinion. This is because to varying degrees, these opinions are based on beliefs. But we can discuss people’s assertions on economics putting them in context so that readers can come to their own conclusions. So, while I am not trying to persuade Mr. Koul to change his opinions, I do put his observations on the US economy under Donald Trump’s first year in the White House in the context of Obama’s eight-year presidency.
Mr Koul’s assertion on the Dow Jones’ new peaks during Trump’s first year is correct if you take the one year of Trump’s residency in isolation. But when you look at the D-J numbers since Obama’s time, we can place the D-J numbers under Trump in context. See the plot below. When Obama won the election in 2008, the D-J average was around 9000. During his presidency, it steadily rose from 9000 to almost 19,000 in the long-haul, with a few inevitable short-term hiccups. In Trump’s first year, this trend only continued.
On unemployment: Again, Mr. Koul’s numbers are correct if you take Trump’s first year in isolation. But here is the trend on unemployment in the last nine years. Plot below. When Obama was elected, unemployment was over 7%, and went up to 10% in his first year. Then, it continuously dropped from 10% in January 2010 to 4.8% when Obama’s presidency ended in November 2016. Even a die-hard Republican would agree that an eight year trend of a steady drop in unemployment is significant for any president.
Now consider GDP growth during Trump’s first year in office. Again, Mr Koul’s claims are correct if you take Trump’s first year in isolation. But below is the plot of the quarterly GDP growth during the last 12 years:
During George Bush’s last three years in office, the GDP growth rate fell from 3% in Jan 2006 to negative growth (-2.8%) by the time Obama was elected. In Obama’s first year, it hit a low of -4%. But since 2010, GDP growth has been in positive territory. For four quarters under Obama, the GDP grew at over 3%; and well above 2% for over 4 years in his 8 years in office. Under Trump’s first year in the White House, this trend continues.
To summarize, Mr. Koul’s claims on the D-J numbers, unemployment and GDP growth numbers during Trump’s first year in office are correct — and also quite noteworthy — only if you consider the Trump presidency’s first year in isolation. However, if you consider Trump’s first year in office in the context of Obama’s earlier eight years in office, the numbers and trends under President Trump are a continuation of the trend set by the Obama presidency. Good for President Trump. And good for the citizens of the USA.
We wish Trump the very best in the remaining three years of his presidency.    ♣
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A Supporter of President Trump Responds to the Lead Article in the July issue
Posted by admin in January 2018, Past issues on January 6, 2018
Hiralal Koul, MD, Johnstown, PAÂ Â Â e-mail: hkfxguts@yahoo.com
 Editor’s Note: Mr Hiralal Koul, MD (now retired), a resident in Johnstown, PA, took umbrage at the lead article titled “Unsettling Early Days of Trump’s Presidency†in the July issue of the magazine. Mr Koul, after a few acerbic e-mails, gave his permission to publish his response, provided we “publish [his] letter in its ENTIRETY (& not an editorialized version).â€Â So, here is Mr. Koul’s response in its entirety, without changing one word, one letter, or one comma.
Dear Editor:
1) Defense, Security & Terrorism. a) ISIS/Daesh (that Obama called a JV team) & “we’ll try to contain itâ€; has Largely been Vanquished & holds NO land anymore. This is something, Obama failed to accomplish, in Nine years. b) Following Trump’s historic trip & Speech to Saudi Arabia; it’s the FIRST TIME, in over 70-years (since SA’s independence), that this Country (the Heart of Islam), BROKE ranks with Qatar, for supporting/Financing Terrorism. Qatar, has been playing both sides, for years. Thanks to Obama Administration; it’s HOME to the largest US Military base. This is the country, where Obama Exchanged, Top FIVE Taliban Commanders (from Gitmo), for the Traitor, BO Bergdahl (referred to as a good soldier by Susan Rice-former NSA). Suggest you read more about this issue & BenGhazi Betrayal, by former Navy Seal, Tej Gill (aka- Tenminder singh, first Indian born US Navy Seal). Gill, has accused, Obama / Clinton Administration personally, of Murdering the American Marines in BenGhazi. Suggest, you also, “look intoâ€, how the “Muslim Brotherhood†in the Obama/Clinton Administration; orchestrated, the exit of “Tulsi Gabbard†(the only practicing Hindu Congresswoman from Hawaii). This position was later filled with Keith Ellison, (a Muslim Convert from Minnesota); an ardent supporter of “Sharia Lawâ€. Furthermore, you may want to “Look intoâ€, who the former, disgraced DNC- chair (Debbie Wasserman), hired as a New IT, personnel; who was just arrested, before fleeing US for Pakistan!
For the first time, since Independence, a $50-Million, package to Pakistan was blocked by the Trump administration; : This is in Sharp contrast, to the $15-Million cash, Hand Carried by Hilary Clinton, as secy: of State (in Obama administration), for the Pak: Military for preventing firebombing a US convoy carrying aid to Afghanistan.
Since Trump inauguration, illegal Border crossings have dropped by 70%, along our Southern border & ZERO, along the Pakistan/ Kashmir border!. 6) First Time, since NATO was created; it’s Non US members; have agreed to pay up their (2% of that country’s GDP) & Incorporate, anti-terror, measures into NATO, Charter. In the process, US taxpayer (I hope you are one); will NOT be burdend with it. it!
2) Economy, Jobs, GDP: a) GDP, has increased from 1% (in Obama administration to 2.6%, now). b) Unemployment has dropped to 4.5%, lowest in about 20-years. c) Average wages are up by 2.5%. d) Consumer spending has increased. e)Trade deficit, has decreased, albeit modestly, first time in over 35-years. f) stock market has recorded 50-NEW records, since Election Night, a 3500-points, increase in DOW & infused 3-Trillion Dollars, into the US Market. These numbers are from the Article “Trump effectâ€; by CNN-money (no friend of Trump).
3) Foreign & Domestic investments, into US: Carrier, Ford, GM, Fiat Chrysler, Toyota & Mazda, while, BMW’s plant in SC, will become the Largest plant in the World. 4) Soft Bank, Foxconn, Mahindra, TransLux (china), will invest in US; about 3-Trillion Dollars. 5) For the first time, since the Birth of this Nation; US is becoming an Energy Exporter! 6) VA reform & incompetent employees can be fired (& have been), since VA was created.
Finally, I’d take issue with your spin of “Unsettling Days†& argue, Future for me (in my adopted Country); is far more Optimistic, Safe, Confident & Bright. That said; I’m under no illusion that “Trump Hatersâ€, would accuse the president (Trump), of Destroying the livelihood of Cancer Doctors; should he discover, a Cure for Cancer tomorrow!
Yes, you may publish this letter in its ENTIRETY (& not an editorialized version).   ♣
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Shruthi Sivakumar: “How I Aced the SAT and ACT Tests?”
Posted by admin in January 2018, Past issues on January 6, 2018
Editor’s Note: Recently, Shruthi Shivkumar who attends Peters Twp. High School, aced the SAT and ACT tests. Here she answers to our questions about her preparation and success.. Shruthi in the photo below is with her parents Shivkumar Anumalachetty and Narmada Sriraman with sparklers during Deepavali. Â
- How did you get started preparing for the SAT exams?
I started with Mukund Uncle’s SAT prep class at the S V temple. His free weekly group classes gave tips and strategies for taking the test.
- What goal did you set for yourself before you took the tests?
I set my goal for the real SATs for “above a 1500,†or a little over 750 in each section. I was ready to take the test multiple times.
- Did you go to any prep and coaching classes?
Mukund uncle referred me to Goldstein Test Prep. I had one-on-one classes with Mr. Goldstein because students aiming high have individual classes with Mr. Goldstein himself. They were incredibly helpful.
- How many AP classes are you taking?
Several, between the 10th and 12th grades in Biology, Physics I, US History, Psychology, Language, Statistics, Calculus, Chemistry, Economics, Environmental Science, Literature, French.  My school does offer many AP classes.
- How early on did you start your regimen of preparation?
I started when I was in the 10th grade.
- How did you prepare? Did you set aside a predetermined time daily?
I set a goal for what I wanted to accomplish and not in what time. For example, I’d say, “OK, today I’m going to finish sections 1 and 2 of this practice test.†As I got closer to the deadline, I’d make sure to always finish within the time constraint for that particular section.
- How many hours a day did you study for the test on an average?
Setting a strict “per day†time frame may not always work for busy students. Closer to the deadline, I spent three or four hours a week taking practice tests. I wouldn’t advise much intense preparation until you’re very close to taking the test. Doing practice tests closer to the actual date just kind of mentally prepared me.
- The essay test is different since you need to think on your seat on a topic you don’t know ahead of time. Is the written essay compulsory?
The written essay is optional for most schools, but I’d say do it anyway just because you might change your mind about applying to that one school that does require it. Most colleges know that it’s not a completely accurate reflection of your writing skills anyway. It doesn’t factor into your whole SAT/ACT score- you get a separate essay score. Having an advanced or AP Language/Literature course beforehand will definitely prepare you for the essay. Try looking at those kind of review books.
- How did you prepare for the written essay in the exam hall? Â
I spent a few minutes, maybe 3 to 5, prewriting. Generally, writing teachers say to spend about 5-10% of your time prewriting. It’s good way to make sure you cover all the points you want to cover.
- Did you prepare for acing the exam? Or was it a situation in which you knew you did very well, but did not expect a clean sweep?
I definitely, definitely did not expect to ace it when I took it. I was hoping for at least a 1490-1500 so that I’d be happy for a first shot, but could then retake the test. I thought a perfect score was completely out of the question… … and for sure, I honestly couldn’t believe it when I got it.
- Is 3 to 4 months prep adequate for the English vocabulary section?
The best preparation for the English test is just reading. Read nonfiction, fiction… anything. The best way to familiarize yourself with the English language is to just constantly be exposed to different usages of it. I also write a lot, so English wasn’t so bad for me. Also, reading helps you for college after the tests are over.
- What single piece of advice would you give a student preparing to take this exam next year?
Don’t spend way too much of your time preparing for it until maybe two to three months before the test. Only then heavy practice benefits you, and not earlier. Earlier exposure is always good. But get to the “6 hours a week routine†when you’re close to the actual test.
- Who motivates you to be a high achiever?
Working hard is instilled in me by my parents. I’m thankful for that.
- Do you want to add anything else?
Mr. Goldstein told me to think of the SAT/ACT as a game. After a certain point, it is more about strategy and test-taking skills. Test makers try to trip you to make mistakes. So, make sure to practice those skills.
Don’t spend way too much time preparing for these tests where it takes time away from your extracurriculars. The admissions process is holistic: colleges want people, and not robots. Standardized test scores are not trophies; they are a sort of roadblock to get over. Getting very high scores doen’t get you a “golden star†at super selective schools. But having a 75th percentile score for a specific school will mean you’ve surpassed one of the many obstacles to get in. Hope this helps. ♣
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Globalization, NOT Something New — Part II
Posted by admin in January 2018, Past issues on January 6, 2018
By Kollengode S Venkataraman
As presented in the first part of this article in the last issue, the industrialized West, after the Industrial Revolution, had unbridled advanÂtages for over 250 years with their superior grasp of S&T (science and technology) and industrial and military power. They fully exploited these advantages through colonization. But this wave has run its course. S&T is now accessible to any society willÂing to invest and work at it. China has already emerged as a global economic and military power. China has recaptured its glorious past with vengeance. InÂdia is still emerging, and may take another 20 to 30 years to regain its foothold.
Having lost the unrestrained advantages they had, England, the US, and other European nation-states find it difficult to adjust to the new realiÂties. The US sees globalization as a contagious disÂease it needs to inoculate itself against.
The industrialized societies first created an uneven playing field slanted in their favor and exploited global human and natuÂral resources for over two centuries. Now they are pleading for a level playing field, when the playÂing field is slanted against them for reasons that are of their own making. Savor these ironies here:
-  In June 1987, President Ronald Reagan stood in front of the ninety-mile long Berlin Wall and addressed the crowd, calling the Soviet Union’s President Mikhail Gorbachev to “Tear down this wall!†After thirty years, US President Donald Trump now declares, “We WILL build this wall†along the 1700-mile long US-Mexico border.
-  Britain, starting as traders, colonized the Indian subcontinent, parts of Asia and many parts of Africa in bits and pieces and declared, “The sun never sets on the Empire.†The empire imploded after WW II, even after winning the war. Today, Britain, only a hundred years ago such an overweening and arrogant empire, is reduced to a state in which she is even afraid of foreigners, not from her erstwhile colonies, but from Europe — from Poland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania – who come to work and live in the UK. So, it left the EU and shrank to the island nation-state that it was centuries ago. Now, the sun barely shines over London’s cloudy skies.
This is the new reality. Individuals are always motivated by their insecurities (real or imagined), the need for power/control, greed and profit. Nation-states in times of war unleash a potent amalgam of these motivating ingredients on citizens, coalescing them around the idea of patriotism and nationhood. They also add a good dose of xenophobia, prompting citizens to respond to their diktat, often with disastrous consequences. Just look at these bone-chilling casualty numbers of WW II:
World Population in the 1940s: 2,300 million (today, it is over 7,000 million).
Deaths in WW II:
Military deaths: 23 million.
Civilian deaths: 30 million.
Civilian deaths (famine/disease): 25 million
Total: 78 million, or
A whopping 3.4% of the world population then
Total Deaths (military personnel, civilians, and war-created famine) in different countries:
USSR: 26 million;Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â China: 18 million
Germany: 7 million; Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Poland: 6 million
S.E. Asia: 3.5 million;       India, 2 million  (India as a colony, and South East Asia had no direct stake in the war)
UK: only 0.45 million; Â Â Â Â Â Â USA: only 0.42 million
Source: WikiPedia
In the infamous Bengal Famine 1943 during Churchill’s regime 2.5 million Indians died out of malnutrition, and malaria famine, total neglect of sanitation, and also on account of war time agrarian policies of the British colonial occupiers in India. Millions of Indians died in the several famines during the British colonial rule of ~150 years. These are well-documented.
Trying to find military solutions, as has been the practice in the last 200 years, would be disastrous today. Now, 50% of the world’s population lives in crowded urban areas, compared to 19% in 1900 and 30% in 1950. In North America and Western Europe, 70% of their populations lives in urbanized areas.
Today we live in a world interconnected by communications, trade, and manufacture. Multinational companies operate all over the globe through their supply chains for raw materials and components, not just for computers and consumer electronics and appliances, but also for important medicines, and critical chemical intermediates that go into manufacture of those pharmaceuticals. This fact alone is a soft but effective deterrent, better than military alliances, against large-scale wars. Consider these:
- Instantaneous, inexpensive communication with an active social media offsets the stranglehold of governments’ propaganda machines and global media houses to sway public opinion.
- Businesses operate in plants in every region taking advantage of low labor costs, tax regimes, even lax environment laws. The self-interest of businesses against uncertainties in war can prevent military conflicts.
- Population migration is the norm of our time, globally, regionally, or even within the large nation-state like China, India or Russia.
- Ethnic groups in every region and in every country realize that they depend on other ethnic groups for their survival and self-preservation, both locally and globally. In the US, as in India, different ethnic/migrant groups in different regions control whole trades. New York City would collapse without its large swath of immigrant population. Farming and slaughterhouse businesses for meat and poultry in North America is simply not possible without low-paid migrant Latino workers from “South of the Border.â€
The converging self-interest of these diverse groups locally, regionally, and globally, offers a counterbalancing force for managing global conflicts without the need for large-scale wars. ♣
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A Mother-Daughter Duo’s Kuchipudi Recital
Posted by admin in October 2017, Past issues on October 7, 2017
By Nangali S Srinivasa, Murrysville, PA Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â e-mail: Â srini111@aol.com
Kamala Reddy Rajupet and her daughter Soumya Rajupet gave an engaging Kuchipudi dance recital at the S V Temple auditorium on Saturday, August 6 2017. It was a tribute to Reddy’s Guru Vempati Chinna Satyam (1929 to 2012), whose
 Soumya Rajupet
decades-long efforts put the Kuchipudi dance on the national pedestal as a classical dance form, with a long line of students like Reddy scattered all over the world today.
Throughout the recital, the mother-daughter duo kept the audience captivated. The invocatory piece had all the characteristic rhythmic patterns & movements of Kuchipudi.
Soumya portrayed the rigorous and joyous dance of Shiva as Nataraja in the Ananda Tandavam,  taking hymns from Adi Shankara’s Shivananda  Lahari, weaving the fluidity of dance form with the energetic, intricate dance movements, dramatically ending in frozen postures.
In the next item Sanchara Dhara from Jayadeva Ashtapadi,  Kamala Reddy beautifully portrayed the playfulness of Krishna, and Radha overcome with love and devotion to the melody of Krishna’s flute, often portrayed as the Jivatma reaching and me
    Kamala Reddy
rging with Paramatma. In the tarangam of Narayana Teertha, Soumya depicted Gopika vastrapaharanam, with Krishna teasing the bashful Gopikas.
The concluding item was a tribute to Reddy’s Guru Vempati Chinna Satyam, highlighting his dedication to put the art form on a firm pedestal, his struggles along the way, and the accolades he received. This item brought fond remembrances of Guru Vempati to those who are associated with him in Pittsburgh. With synchronous and coordinated dance steps, the dance-duo highlighted their guru’s life.
Explaining the spiritual inner meanings of each piece was useful for those unfamiliar with Indian performing arts, which is yet another approach for worshipping the Infinite, even as we recognize the entertainment value of these art forms.
The recital was a blend of good technique and aesthetics, tastefully done costumes to a well-selected repertoire of lyrics, all of which made a lasting impression on both the uninitiated and connoisseurs alike.  ♣
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A Graduation Party to Remember
Posted by admin in October 2017, Past issues on October 7, 2017
By Samar Saha, Irwin, PA Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â e-mail: Â samar_k_saha@yahoo.com
The invitation was for the Graduation Party of Ayan Rivu Sinha at the Fox Chapel Area High School on June 17, 2017. But it was not an ordinary graduation gala. Instead of a plain old-fashioned party, where the graduating child’s resume is mechanically recited, Ayan decided to entertain his well-wishers with a solo vocal concert. Those who knew Ayan, like most lovers of Hindustani classical music in Pittsburgh, were aware of this 17-year-old’s talent. His talents were on full display with considerable flair, seldom seen even among professional singers.
Ayan started learning Hindustani music from his mother, Nidrita Mitra Sinha, when he was five. He continued to learn from Padmasri Pandita Tripti Mukherjee of Pandit Jasraj Instiute of Music (PJIM). On many occasions he was blessed with training and guidance from Sangeet Martand  Pt. Jasraj-ji himself. Academically, graduating from Fox Chapel High School, Ayan is going to Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH.
Part 1 of the concert started, almost on time, with a Khayal in raga Puriya Kalyan—Vilambit Ektal Muraliya Baaji, followed by Dina Raina in Drut Teental, and ending in a chaturang tarana with Tana Dhi-re Na. Chaturang is a variety of tarana with 4 elements: tarana bol, pakhwaj bol, words and sargam. Ayan composed this tarana himself. Next was a Haveli Sangeet (a combination of kirtan and bhajan in worshipping Krishna), a semi classical piece—Laal Gopal Gulaal, in raga Margi Vasant in Deepchandi tal, popular in UP/Haryana/Rajasthan areas.
After a break, Part 2 started with a Chhota Khayal Laj Rakho Banwari in raga Saraswati in Drut Ektal and ended with Tarana style in Drut Teental. Next, Ayan chose a Dhrupad piece, Jagadamba Jagadamba in raga Vasant in Chautal. It was somewhat daring for a young artist to attempt Dhrupad in which there is no taan and paltas; instead it has digun/trigun/chaugun, bol-taan and bol-baat. As the time moved on, the scene changed to soft, romantic and tender version of Khayal, Jiya Mein Laagi Aan Baan, a Dadra piece in raga Pilu followed by a Bengali semi-classical Jhanana Jhanana Baaje in raga Kalavati composed by Salil Chowdhuri in Drut Teental. Ayan finished his concert with a bhajan, Maayi Savare Ranga Raachi in raga Bhairavi, a straight, simple piece without much ornamentation of the notes.
Ayan was accompanied on tabla by his father, Asish Sinha and on the harmonium by Neelesh Nadkarni, both providing commendable support for this young artist.
Nandini Mandal aptly handled the emcee’s job making all feel at home. The concert ended with dinner and each family received Ayan’s first CD recorded in 2017 by our own Rishi Nigam. We all wish this young talent of many success in life – both academic and musical. Let our good Lord bless you in your journey.   ♣