A Monthly Publication of the Federation of India Community Associations (FICA) Since 1967INSIDE

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FICA Matters 2Community News67th Republic Day 3 Cleveland Museum of Arts 4The End of an era 5 Message of non-violence 6Mahatma Gandhi Campus 7Rus(Lentil Soup) 8Arun’s legal corner 9Dr. Ambedkar 10CLIFF 11Community News 12

LOTUS TEAM

Publishing & EditorialSujata Lakhe BarnardRamesh “Ray” GehaniPriyanka Gopal

Email Distribution & AdvertisingRadhika ReddyArielVentures.com

Public Relations/CreativeParamjit Singh paramlinda@gmail.com

Email:Lotus@ficacleveland.orglakhe4fica@gmail.com216 791-FICA(3422)Sign up and pdf archive:www.FICAcleveland.org/Lotus tab

India achieved indepen-dence from British rule on 15 August 1947 as a con-stitutional monarchy with George VI as head of state

and the Earl Mountbatten as governor-general. The country, though, did not yet have a permanent constitution. On 28 August 1947, the Drafting Commit-tee was appointed to draft a perma-nent constitution, with Dr B R Ambed-kar as chairman. Brief biography of Ambedkar is on another page in this paper, his story, his childhood to adult-hood evolution parallels almost the evolution of India society itself. While India’s Independence Day celebrates its freedom from British Rule, the Republic Day celebrates of coming into force of its constitution. Meeting

of many and diverse ancient traditions of people bounded by geo-graphical constraints of Himala-yas on the north and oceans on east, west and south

with the a book of law-India’s constitution! What is remark-able, was that this transition was accepted peacefully and with rapid adaptability. One key to this was an inherent inclusiveness, non-rigidity and un-imposed tendency towards non-violence and a society which is run on recip-

rocal favors to solve social and existen-tial problems.

An event to celebrate 67th Republic day was attended by 268 people on January 23, 2016 at Holiday Inn, Inde-pendence, Ohio and hosted by FICA of NEO. The theme this year was “solidarity in diversity”. While differ-ent organizations representing Indian-Americans may separately celebrate different events under their respective banners, all of them should come for-ward to join hands to have one single united celebration for two events of great national importance-- Indepen-dence Day and Republic Day. People attending included kids of various ages, diverse language groups, diverse ethnicities of greater Cleveland, stu-dents and people well established in

their careers, avid supporters of our community and prominent elected of-ficials including Cleveland City Coun-cil man Joe Cimperman and Solon City Mayor Susan Dru.

Joe Cimperman, who has served the constituents of Ward 3 and the City of Cleveland for the last 18 years, will begin his new job as President of Glob-al Cleveland in the spring after wrap-ping up city bud-get hearings. He

replaces Joy Roller, who resigned from the position in April. Cimperman will have a direct line to this talent-laden demographic as the new president of Global Cleveland, a nonprofit eco-nomic development group focused on enticing and retaining immigrants, refugees and other newcomers.

FICA celebrates 67th Republic day of India

( Continued on Page 2 )

www.FICAcleveland.org

Chairman of FICA board of Trustees andPresident of Executive board of FICA.

A report by Sujata Lakhe Barnard in Lieu of President’s Message

Recently appointed President of Global Cleveland, current Cleve-land Councilman Joe Cimperman with FICA Executives.

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FICA Matters

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Growing up on Cleveland’s East Side as the child of a Slovenian immi-grant, Joe Cimperman understands the need for a welcoming environ-ment that connects newcomers to the city’s burgeoning economic and so-cial opportunities. Joe went on to speak about ‘change’ and about how he empathizes with many in the room that night who have made a profound change..leaving something one knows as home to go somewhere mostly unknown, unfamiliar!

The night’s festivities included high-end entertainment, mesmerizing music, energetic dances, children dressed in diverse Indian-cultural garb, exciting raffle prize, great food and updates from community organiza-tions! Chairman of Board of Trustees, Chitranjan Jain gave a welcome address and important happenings at FICA. An update on Project Seva was presented by Mona Alag and Sanjay Garg and few students presented a progress report for Shiksha Daan. Sudarshan Sathe very graciously described an initiative taken by few from Indian community in Greater Cleveland area in developing the Mahatma Gandhi Campus in the city.

(Continued from Page 1)FICA celebrates 67th Republic day of India

Republic Day celebrations are an expression of profound appreciation of the ideals of Justice, Pluralism, and Democracy, which are shared and cherished both India and the US. Republic Day is an occasion to celebrate not only India but also In-dian-Americans. Indian-Americans have become the pride of the US, on account of their positive work ethics, spirited values, vibrant culture, inspiring traditions,

and their innumerable success stories. Republic Day celebrations provide an oppor-tunity to the Indian Diaspora to showcase the culture of their mother country to

younger generation. An organization like FICA helps in enriching and consolidat-ing the voice of the Indian-Americans and providing platform to engage in socially relevant activities in the country they have chosen to reside. I urge one and all to support this not-for-profit organizations in a big way. Financial contribution is equaled by contribution of your valuable time and talent in order to enable this organization to achieve its cherished goals found in the mission statement pub-

lished on our website:www.FICAcleveland.org

After conveying a heart-felt message from his young daughter about her fondness for the Gandhi Statue at the Cleveland Cultural Garden, Joe Cimperman told a 13th century

Slovenian folklore when Dukes of Corinthia made a pact to create a place which is by the people and for the people. He said, “Democracy is as old as the earth and as present as the

water we drink but achieving it is not” We are celebrating foundation of Constitution as much as freedom. Freedom is not what a culture or group of people own whether it is India, Slovenia or USA, it is who we are as human beings and we strive for it. Indian

society not only just tolerate diversity but embraces, celebrates and to understand that it is that diversity which makes India that place with very few equals in the world’. He went on to say “What is so uniquely Indian tonight is the Constitution and the country that

holds that Constitution together, that continues to be a shining light to many and even to United States.”

Asim Datta with his award

(Continued on Page 3)

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FICA Matters

FICA StaffAdministration

Board of Trustees Chittaranjan Jain, Chairc.jain@csuohio.edu 440/942-4369

Executive Board Sujata Lakhe Barnard, Presidentlakhe4FICA@gmail.com216/791-FICA(3422)

Giri Guruswami, Vice President ggstra@gmail.com, vicepresident@ficacleveland.org440/317-3911

Jessica Kumar, Secretarysecretary@ficacleveland.org660/349-0480

Vacancy, Treasurertreasurer@ficacleveland.org216/791-FICA(3422)

Shenaz khankhan.shenaz@gmail.com216 543 0616

Sujata Lakhe BarnardEditor & Publisher, The LotusLotus@ficacleveland.org216/791-FICA(3422)

Priyanka Gopal , Lotus Copy EditorLotus@ficacleveland.org512/201-0443

Lotus Business ManagerVacancy

India Cultural GardenRaj Pillai - Chairpillairp@yahoo.com440/724-4398

Shiksha DaanSanjay Garg - Chairsangarg@aol.com440/590-1261

Project SevaMona Alag, Chairpersonmonaalag@yahoo.com

Sister Organizations

Association of Indian physicians of Noth Ohio (AIPNO) www.aipno.orgDr. Umesh Yalavarthy, President216-513-4964 ckhcuy@gmail.com

Bengali Cultural Society of Clevelandwww.bcscle.orgSunil Dutta, President440 316 6024sdutta@oh.rr.com

Marathi Mandal www. neomm.orgSmita Samant, President440 725 1503President@neomm.org

Odisha SocietyBirendra Jena, President 330 544-1725 birendrajena@hotmail.com

(Continued from Page 2)FICA celebrates 67th Republic day of India

Arushi Badola, Simran Fulton, Shreya Datta and Shubhamita Basu., all students of the Anga Kala Kathak Academy students presented sampling of this classical dance of Northern India. Anga Kala Kathak Academy is a premier Kathak school in North East and Central Ohio under the artistic direction of Antara Datta. Ratipriya Suresh presented a piece in Bharatnatyam style and later on along with Swetha Ravi presented a fusion piece inspired by songs of Bajirao Mastani. Robin Vanlear, Artistic director of Community Arts at Cleveland Mu-seum of Arts brought her giant (12 feet tall, operated by a person inside) Puppets, Shakuntala, Dushyant and Muni Durvas to enact ‘The Story of Bharat’ narrated by Sujata Lakhe Barnard based on Kalidasa’s famous play, Abhijñānashākuntala.It is thought that son of King Dushyant and Shankuntala, Bharat conquered and ruled the entire sub continent of India, from sea to Himalaya. His empire was named Bharatavarsha, the land of Bharata. Last but not the least, there was an award ceremony where Award for Resiliency was given to two students at Cleveland State University- Anjana Subramanian and Swapna Khandekar. Their story and how FICA plans to respond in future to a need of young Indian students brought to light by the situation faced by Anjana and Swapna soon after their arrival in Cleve-land will be published in later issue of Lotus. Award for Contributions to FICA mission was given to Asim Datta,

past-contiguously four year-President of FICA. He was unable to receive the award on that day but I personally delivered it to him just a few days before his departure for India.

The beginning of festivities was enlivened by children dressed in various Indian Garbs marching in to the tune of a song iconic for its message of diversity-Mile sur Mera Tumhara and the end before dinner was brightened by delightful performance of a band lead by Prerna Khemka and accompanied by Josh Sherman on Tabla, Shruti Raghavan on Violin, Mike McNamara on Guitar, Vijay shah on Dholak and Bharat Kumar on Keyboard and singing of patriotic songs. Sangita Bafna conducted the proceedings with a professional touch. Sujata Lakhe Barnard, President, FICA gave a vote of thanks to all who made the event possible financially and took a bow with her dynamic team for the event of Geetan-jali Thakur, Anu Giriswami, Suyog Bapat, Anil Kumar Singh and Jessica Kumar. The winner of the raffle prize-a Vitamix donated by William G. Barnard IV was Sree N. Sreenath, a prominent community member and President of Sewa International and a professor at Case Western Reserve University. The event concluded with a sumptuous dinner catered by Saffron Patch, which was relished by all.

Federation of India Community Associations of NE Ohio Annual Meeting/Election of New Officers

Please grab your calendar open up your apps or whatever method you use To save the Date of our Annual Meeting

Sunday, March 27 at 3:00 PM At

India Community Center

12412 Cedar Rd

Cleveland Hts, OH 44106 Agenda for the day includes Updates and reports from all projects under FICA umbrella, meet new and old executives and

trustees, opportunity to express your ideas and hear other’s ideas, shape the future of FICA and last but certainly not the

least FOOD! The joint nominating committee for Executive Board and Board of Trustees is:

Mona Alag, monaalag@yahoo.com 440-256-3247 4407965524

Sujata Lakhe Barnard

lakhe4@gmail.com 216 496 7155

Sanjay Garg sangarg@aol.com 440-892-1317 440-666-2366

Jessica Kumar jessicakumardo@gmail.com 660-349-0480

Vinod Nagpal vnagpal@nrengineering.com

440-572-1634 440-821-0479

Please look for guidance on our website www.FICAcleveland.org, Document tab (http://www.ficacleveland.org/fica/documentsPage.html) and feel free to contact any one of the above committee members with your nomination/s.

Indian Republic Day Celebration 2016 SponsorsSilver Sponsors

Swati and Sudershan Sathe (Two sponsorships)Mala and Sanjay Garg (Shiksha Daan)

Suresh and Guniya BafnaShiva-Vishnu Temple

Cognizant TechnologiesBronze Sponsors

Cleveland Asian FestivalAIPNO

Cleveland State UniversityMargaret W.Wong & Associates.

Rajanee Shendure, BDS Financial NetworkBengali Cultural Society

Kathy Ghoshe (First National Bank)Dr. Manish Gupta & family

Saffron PatchRaffle prize donation

William G Barnard IV - Vitamix S30 a $400 value

4 Events Future & Past

In celebration of the Cleveland Museum of Art’s 100th birthday, the de-partment of Community Arts would like to present two opportunities for collaboration between the museum and the Indian communities of North-

east Ohio.

As a part of the museum’s Centennial, Parade the Circle has invited a team of artists from the Purulia region, located at the border of West Ben-

gal and Bihar state of India, to travel to Cleveland for an intense residency. The group will be led by Sanjib Bhattacharya, recipient of the President’s

Award from A.P.J Abdul Kalam. Sanjib is an accomplished Manipuri Dance Exponent, Guru, and well-known choreographer in India and

abroad.

Robin VanLear, Artistic Director of CMA’s Community Arts, recently travelled to rural India to meet Sanjib and assemble a team including Sha-shadhar Acharya, Chhau Dancer of Seraikella style, and other performers and artists. This team will conduct a series of workshops at the museum teaching their skills in chhau dance, mask making, and costuming. Par-

ticipation in the workshops culminates at the annual Parade the Circle, a signature summer event in which international and national guest artists join Greater Cleveland artists, families, schools, and community groups in a spectacular display of bright costumes, giant puppets, stilt-dancers, handmade masks, and colorful floats. Parade the Circle will be held at

CMA on June 11.

The dates and times of the workshops are below. All members from our community are invited to join. Workshops will be held at the Cleveland

Museum of Art.

• Wednesdays, May 18, June 1, 8 – 6-8:30pm• Saturdays, May 21, 28, June 4 – 10am-12:30pm

• Sundays, May 22, 29 and June 5 – 10am-12:30pm

To hold the workshops, there is a minimum number of participants (15-25) and some cost associated to cover materials. It is not required to attend all sessions to participate in the workshops or at Parade the Circle. For more information, please email info@ficacleveland.org or lotus@ficacleveland.

org (our media partner).

In addition to the workshops, the Cleveland Museum of Art extends an invitation to FICA to host a free public performance in Gartner Auditori-um featuring Sanjib and Shashadhar along with other chhau dancers and mask makers. Performers of Indian art forms in Northeast Ohio will do a

presentation to highlight local talent. Proposed concert date:

Wednesday, May 256:30-8:30pm

Gartner Auditorium, the Cleveland Museum of ArtFREE to attend

This concert will be featured in the May/June CMA Members Magazine along with other publications. Please contact Lotus@ficacleveland.org or Sujata Lakhe Barnard, President, FICA of NEO at 216 496 7155 if you need

more information.

FICA community and its sister organizations will soon be receiving more information on how FICA can partner with CMA in organizing these

events that promote the rich cultural heritage of India in greater Cleve-land.

The Lotus is a monthly newspaper, regarded as first of all Asian commu-nity newspaper started in United States! It was started by Association of

Indian students at Case Western Reserve University. in the year 1967. The paper is distributed to all members and to any one interested in Asian-In-dian culture and activities. It is mailed to about 2000 subscribers and 3000 email recipients, thus there is a large community of Greater Cleveland area

who enjoy reading The Lotus and find the information in it interesting and useful. Every month an email with a collection of our best content is

sent to help you stay updated with political, Social, economical and family related issues of people of Indian decent living in United States.

You can see some of our past issues, you can read it online or download or sign up to receive pdf into your In-Box.by going to the “The Lotus” tab of our website www.ficacleveland.org or by typing in the link: http://www.ficacleveland.org/fica/

lotusPage.html.

The Lotus, first ever Asian community newspaper started in US is seeking Volunteers to help out with Marketing, Editing, Story writing, Local event

reporting, Community outreach. Please send your interest, experience, availability and contact information to lotus@Ficacleveland.org. You do not have to be of Indian origin, just interested in events, arts or anything

influenced by and has a potential to impact people of Indian origin in North East Ohio. Recently The Lotus has partnered with Cleveland Muse-um of Arts, Cleveland Public Library, Cleveland Film Festival. Moreover reputable Law firms and Financial planners choose to Advertise in The

Lotus.

To subscribe paper copy delivered to your address: Email your name and address to lotus@ficacleveland.org with subject line subscription.

Many thanks to our community for helping it stay alive.Sujata Lakhe Barnard

Paramjit Singh Many authors who contribute.

Now sign up on our Website, www.ficacleveland.org

to receive The Lotus in you Inbox.

5 Community NewsTHE END OF AN ERA

December 28, 2015 was a bitter-sweet day for the India Community of Northeast Ohio. The ICC building which stood at12412 Cedar Road, Cleveland Heights was sold to The Church in Cleveland Heights. .

By: CHITTARANJAN JAINChairman, FICA Board Of Trustees (BOT)

For almost forty years the Indian Community Center (ICC) was the symbol of our presence, pride, cul-ture and heritage. It was acquired in 1978 by the sheer hard work, com-munity spirit, love and dedication of a handful of visionaries. These stalwarts included Drs. Mohan Baf-na, Mahesh Patel, Chandra Haria, Kailash Kedia, Dinkar Rao and The Late Sukumar Roy. They were soon joined by others such as Surinder & Dharminder Kampani, Ratanjit Son-dhi, Janak Desai and Mahesh Tan-don. Over the years the building has been home to numerous com-munity events including the festi-vals of Holi, Diwali, Durga, Kali, Lakshmi and Saraswati Pujas, Mu-sical Events, Community Interest Lectures, Workshops, Educational Classes for Language, Music and Dance for children and adults alike. It has been the site of many private gatherings celebrating birthdays, graduations, engagements, wed-dings as well as New Year’s Eve and other social events. The ICC building was built in 1935, prior to our acquisition it was a defunct printing press. To make it suitable for a community center the Trustees undertook a ma-jor renovation project in 1984. It was designed and supervised by our own professional Mr. Lal Lalwani; it included total refurbishing of the interior walls, ceiling, carpeting and floor; lighting, heating and ventila-tion as well as installation of a com-mercial grade kitchen. The building served the community very well for the subsequent 20 years. Several attempts were made by donations from our benefactors notably among them being Drs. Bafna, Haria, Ajit Shah, Subha Sen Pakrashi and others including Su-darshan Sathe, Monte Ahuja, Suresh Bafna, Dinesh Bafna, Ajit Pagedar, Darshan Mahajan, Ashok Patil and Ramesh Gavhane, to create a per-manent fund dedicated to building maintenance. However, successive Executive Boards (EB) failed in this critical responsibility and the fund was soon depleted. The building was repeatedly being cited for innu-merable city and other safety code violations. It was kept open for a few additional years by the sheer personal hard work of Kanu Patel and Anjan Ghose. In 2008, we came very close to boarding up the facility and put-

ting it up for sale. Fortunately, our community received a reprieve by the game changer promise of a con-tribution of a contribution of $50,000 by The Bengali Cultural Society (BCS) for renovation and refurbish-ing. A massive fundraising under the leaderships of Subha Sen Pak-rashi, Gita Gidwani, Guniya Bafna and Mona Alag resulted in a very successful refurbishing at a cost of over $125,000. All code violations were corrected, leaky roof was re-paired, new commercial grade heat-ing and ventilation systems were installed along with two new bath-rooms on the first floor. In 2010, ICC as reopened for business with much fanfare. Although it is not possible to mention the names of over 400 Donors, FICA acknowledges their gifts, no matter how small, with sin-cere gratitude. However, significant donations for several of our projects came, in addition to earlier names, from The Church Of Cleveland Heights, Prasanta Raj, Mona Alag, Amiya Banerjee, Chhagan Bapna, Bill Barnard, Kul Bhushan, Manohar Daga, Lal Jagetia and Sanjay Garg. The list continues to include Ranjan Jagetia ,Sunil Kansal, Hemant Main-thia, Batuk Modi, Raj Pillai,Ramesh Shah, Chittaranjan Jain and of course, Association Of Indian Physi-cians Of Northeast Ohio (AIPNO) to mention a few. In spite of all the efforts, it soon became apparent to the BOT which is entrusted with strategic planning and financial oversight that every few years, major effort is needed to raise funds just to sustain

the building. Inevitably, once again we go back to the same pool of Do-nors! It was time to evaluate the changing demographics and with it the interests, need, and expectations of the community. Today we are very differ-ent from those who arrived in the sixties. By and large, we are a well educated, professional and afflu-ent community that is spread over a vast geographical area. One could clearly witness growing apathy and little interest in community spon-sored events resulting in precipi-tous decrease in building use and income. In recent years annual in-come could barely meet the running expenses which are in the range of $20K to $25K; no funds are left for continuing repairs and maintenance demanded by the aging facility. The decision to sell the prop-erty was arrived at after much soul searching, General Body (GB) meet-ings, input from the community and ‘due diligence’. Many alternatives were considered including seek-ing Developers, market study and hours of meetings and discussions with interested potential buyers. But nothing materialized. With the initiative of then FICA President Asim Datta, be-ginning in 2013 The BOT started exploring options with our long-term regular tenant, The Church of Cleveland Heights. On September 20, 2015, a Unique Rental as well as a Purchase Agreement was signed with them without the services of a real estate agent thus avoiding the traditional agent fees. The Building has been sold “As Is Where Is” with

an Escrow Deposit of approximately $6,000.00 to take care of any viola-tions that may be found by city or EPA mandated “Point Of Sale” in-spections. It is to be noted that FICA has recovered its investment. Unique Features of the Sale: For a period of five years until De-cember 28, 2020 FICA and Sister Society members will be able to use the building under very gen-erous terms set forth in the Rental Agreement that accompanies the Purchase Agreement. Reservations for using the facility can be made through the Executive Board. These agreements took al-most two years of deliberate and painstaking negotiations. The Buyer had the legal services of a real-estate attorney. FICA Remains Indebted to fellow Trustee Dharminder Kam-pani, a practicing attorney who do-nated significant number of hours of his professional services and his personal funds for secretarial, copy-ing and mailing expenses. Many of us cherish the won-derful memories of personal pride, celebrations and triumphs in this building but collective judgment dictated that, although painful, it is the right course of action that pro-tects and preserves the investment and the larger interest of the com-munity. As this chapter comes to an end, we seek your input to chart fu-ture direction, format and the con-tinuing relevance of FICA and with it examining the very need for a Community Center that that meets the vision, status, and expectations of the current demographic of our community. However, FICA endures: It has ex-panded its activities beyond its stan-dard yearly events and festivals.

Expanded Scope of Public Service: foremost among these being “Shikshadan” dedicated to provid-ing learning and educational op-portunities to the disadvantaged children in our community. It is under the able leadership of fellow Trustee Dr. Sanjay Garg and “Project Seva” lead by fellow Trustee, past President and a veteran community organizer, Mona Alag. It provides assistance through food, temporary shelter, and clothing and hygiene supplements to the deprived and ig-nored citizens in the community.

( Continued on Page 11)

6 Community News

John Carroll University hosted the Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration on Tues-day, January 26, 2016 featuring Arun Gandhi’s lecture on “Lessons Learned from My Grandfather: Non-Violence in a Violent World” at the Donahue Auditorium, Dolan Center for Science and Tech-nology. Attendance at the event was incredible. The auditorium was completely packed with ea-ger students, faculty, staff, and community mem-bers. Arun Gandhi shared his reflections on the personal and historical legacy of his grandfather, Mohandas Gandhi, helping set forth a message of integrity, social harmony, nonviolence, inclusion and peace in the wake of terrorism, internation-al conflicts, immigration debates, and religious, political, and ideological differences threatening our future. Mr. Gandhi’s closing remarks were met with immense applause from the audience. The audience received his message and wisdom with great admiration. In 1998, Arun declared the season of nonviolence to be between 30th Janu-ary and April 4th. The timing of the season was chosen in honor of Dr. King’s 30th memorial an-niversary and 50th memorial anniversary of his grandfather. The same year, he began working on his mission to promote this season of nonvio-lence by travelling around the world and inspir-ing many communities to engage in activities that would lead to peaceful societies. His imme-diate efforts resulted in over 300 communities in USA to sign up to commit to activities during the season for nonviolence. As a part of the season and his initiatives, Arun takes a group of people

on a Gandhi legacy tour to see how people use nonviolence when solving problems. Arun’s main message shared to students was to remember that the US is the world’s leading country, and thus is the most responsible in practicing nonviolence due to its major influence on the world. Arun sent a clear message, “believe in it, practice it and live with it.” We human beings are not born as violent individuals. We are not born with vio-lent instincts. Violence is learned through experi-

ence. The way we perpetuate violence in life is in how we bring up our children. We have created a whole culture of violence, instilled so deeply in us that it affects every aspect of our lives. Vio-lence can be seen in parenting, entertainment, sports, language, and social interactions. It is through parenting that we plant the first seed of violence in the minds of children. The parenting is where the nonviolent practices must start. Par-ents should instead practice penance when chil-

dren misbehave to teach them the lessons instead of punishing children. He also mentioned that this message of practicing penance works only when the relationship between parents and chil-dren is based on mutual respect and love. Par-ents and teachers must take the responsibility on themselves. Anger journals are good way to re-flect and use the energy of anger to do something constructive. We must learn from the start that violence also is done against nature as well. We overconsume the resources of the world. That is violence against humanity. Such violence is con-sidered passive violence. He reminded us that 60 billion dollars’ worth of food is wasted in the US each year. Anger is created in the victims of violence. Fuel supply comes from all of us by committing passive violence. We have to be the change that we want to bring about. His final message was that we must spread the idea of the nonviolent way of solving social problems. Plant the grain and let it sprout and grow to make it a campus culture. We must not lock up this mes-sage in the heart but instead share it with every-one. He stated that he came to campus to share his thoughts. He asks us to not let it rot and make the campus a better place for future generations.

A Message of Non-Violence

Change a Life: Help Build a Children’sLibrary in Tamil Nadu

Jared Scott Miller wanted to share his love of learning with underprivileged children in India. To fulfill his dream & to honor his memory, Jared’s parents, Cheryl & Paul Miller, are raising funds for a library at New Colors, a creative

learning center in Tamil Nadu. The Jared Scott Miller Library is a living memorial to the

Miller’s son that will help thousands of village children, from youngsters to teenagers. Celebrate Jared’s life with a tax deductible donation.

Send a tax-deductible donation to Cheryl & Paul Miller, PO Box 21703, Cleveland, OH 44121-4048.

Please make the check out to “Gabriel Project Mumbai,” the organiza-tion that is helping the Millers raise funds for the library. Or go to http://www.

rootfunding.com/campaign/jareds-library.For info, email the Millers at clmiller17@roadrunner.com

www.facebook.com/jaredscottmillerlibrary

By:Dr. Simran Kahai, a professor of Economics at John Carroll University. She originally hails from Punjab but has settled in Greater Cleveland area for several years now. Some additional positions held by Dr. Kahai are as follows;President of American Academy for Global Education,CEO of Designs Beautiful, VP of the Board of International Services Center, Cleveland, Visionary Executive Team member at Elite Women Around the World.

US is the world’s lead- ing country, and thus is the most responsible in practicing nonviolence due to its major influence on the world. Arun sent a clear message, “believe in it, practice it and live with it.” We hu-man beings are not born as violent individuals, with a violent instincts.Violence is learned through experience. We over-consume the resources of the world. That is violence against humanity. Such violence is con-sidered passive violence. However, the anger which is created in the victims of passive violence could drive them to active violence against society.

Arun’s Message

Simran Kahai, a faculty JohnCarroll Univer-sity attended the lecture with friend Pinki Bhogal

Sujata Lakhe Barnard, President of FICA wore a t-shirt honoring Indian cultural Garden, Cleveland, where Arun’s grandfather Mahatma Gandhi’s statue was placed by Indian Community ten years ago.

7Health & Arts

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On October 2, 2015, what would have been Mahatma Gan-dhi’s 146th birthday, Cleveland’s Breakthrough Schools named Citi-zens Academy, an urban K-5 school serving the underserved, the Ma-hatma Gandhi Campus. Breakthrough, the highest-rated public charter school network in Cleveland, held a dedication cere-mony in the school’s auditorium in part to honor members of the com-munity that came together to donate $1 million to the network last year. “This was transformational gener-osity,” said Susan Ertle, Executive Director of Friends of Breakthrough Schools, who pointed to Suresh and Guniya Bafna as leaders of the ef-

fort to raise the funds. Citizens Academy is the first school in Ohio to be named after M.K. Gan-dhi, and in accordance with his core message, the school was dedicated to peace and nonviolence. The Reverend Dr. Otis Moss Jr., Pastor Emeritus of the school’s nearby Olivet Institutional Baptist Church, and Civil Rights Movement activist, delivered the keynote speech at the ceremony, speak-ing of the importance of Gandhi’s message in America’s present-day soci-ety. Mr. Sudarshan Sathe, an active member of the Indian-American com-munity, also spoke eloquently about Mahatma Gandhi and his work as it relates to education and civic service – a speech that was both passionate and inspiring. In addition, Citizens Academy students also took part in the ceremony and gave performances pertinent to the goals of school, and the school’s founder expressed his vision and pleasure regarding the nam-ing development.

Mahatma Gandhi Campus, A Cleveland Breakthrough school- By: Susan Ertle; sertle@breakthroughschools.org

Contributors to Breakthrough Schools honored through the Citizens Academy Mahatma Gandhi Campus dedication

Munna & Archana AgarawalDinesh & Sangita BafnaSuresh & Guniya Bafna

Dr. Mohan BafnaKamla Bafna Charitable Foundation

Chhagan & Indu BapnaAlok & Cristine Bhaiji

Kul BhushanSubodh Chandra, Chandra Law Firm, LLC

Manohar & Chandra DagaSunil & Kavita Daga

Om & Veena GargGita Gidwani

Mont Granite, Inc.Ranjan & Neelan JegetiaLal C. & Shanta Jagetia

Jagetia Family FoundationDr. Vinod & Manju Joshi

Sunil & Meera KansalHemant & Kusum Mainthia.

N. K. MehtaAmit & Sonya PatelNavin & Shila PatelSanjay & Rita Sehgal

Sudarshan & Swati SatheDinkar & Shakuntala RaoMohan & Geetha ReddyPravin & Harsha ShahVijay & Neeti Sharma

Ashok & Rajanee ShendureArun & Annapurna Singh

Swamy Family Foundation

WGBiv photo

Swati and Sudarshan Sathe

7Issues that matter8 News of Interest

RUS(LENTIL SOUP) in US- By Priyanka Bhandari Sharma, priya_sharma24@yahoo.com

There is a saying in Hindi, “Kos kos pe badale pani, char kos pe vani (The taste of water changes every 3 km, and the language every 12 km.),’’ which describes very well the diversity of India. Along with water and language what also varies is the appearances, attire, jewelry, vegeta-tion and of course, food and recipes in India. Biryani, Naan and various popular curries have been symbolic of Indian cooking for many, but some hidden treasures of Indian cuisine from various small regions and villages of India of un-noticed. One such region is Kumaun located in Uttarakhand, North India. The Kumaun region is nestled in the foothills of Himalayas and jeweled with favorite vacation spots like Nainital, Almora and Ranikhet. Tiger’s preserve Jim Corbett National Park is next door. It is also known as “Dev Bhoomi” (God’s Land) due to the pres-ence of multiple ancient and serene temples at places like Kedarnath, Badrinath, Jogeshwar, Bageshwer where one can experience inner peace and harmony. The hills of Kumaun have given birth to many famous poets and writers like Sumitanandan Pant, Shivani and Mrinal Pandey. Shivani’s simple stories made the culture of Kumaun known to people across the country. For now let’s try a not so well known but very delicious and nutritious lentil soup from Kumaun called Rus. It is prepared with mixed dal (dif-ferent type of beans) stock, thickened by Rice paste and served with hot rice. This was a favorite lunch at my home on lazy winter Sundays. The deliciousness is elevated to unmeasurable heights when it’s prepared by

mom and served hot with ghee (clarified butter). Kumaun recipes are enriched with ghee and spices to combat the chilly weather. So by all means this flavorful Kumauni lentil soup will be perfect for the weather of Cleveland. Recipe for RUS1.Soak Rice overnight and grind into fine paste after the rice has been soaked.2.Soak all the dals (lentils) mixed together overnight. 3.Boil the mixed lentils with all the dry spices (Cloves, Big cardamom, cinnamon) in plenty of water (in a pressure cooker) until tender.4.Make fine paste of black pepper, ginger, garlic, green chilies and cumin seeds.5.In a thick bottom pan add two table spoon of ghee (clarified butter).6.Fry the ground paste in ghee (clarified butter) for some time.7.Add dal extract (Stock) and bring to boil.8.Add Rice paste and cook it for another 10-15 minutes.9.Garnish it with chopped Green Coriander and Ghee.10.Serve it hot with freshly prepared Boiled Rice.

TIP: The left over drained lentils can be enjoyed with salt, season-ings and lemon for healthy bean breakfast.

Ingredients:

1.Bhatt(Black Beans) – 50 gms2.Gahat (Kulath) – 50 gms3.Chana dal – 50gms4.Urad dal – 50 gms5.Massor(red) dal -50gms6.Rice – 30 gms7.Green Chilies - 3to 58.Ginger – 30 gms9.Garlic – 5-6 Flakes10.Cumin seeds – 1 Tea Spoon11.Cloves – 5-612.Black pepper – 1 ½ Tea spoon13.Big black cardamom – 214.Cinnamon stick - 1 inch 15.Green Coriander – ½ Bunch16.Ghee – 2 table spoons

Some moments from Inauguration of Mahatma Gandhi Campus

WGBiv photoWGBiv photo

WGBiv photo

News of Interest 9

As you drive down the street on a cold Feb-ruary day, you notice a very cute and bright-eyed puppy that appears to be abandoned. You instantly decide to adopt this lovable creature. As you get to know

and love your new pet, you name her Vinamra owing to her gentle disposition. Time passes on. As the weather gets warmer, you take Vinamra on increasingly lon-ger walks. You are walking her in the neighborhood one day as a boy, Shararati, walks past. He begins to scream and you notice a drop of blood on his finger. Vinamra ap-parently nipped Shararati, who is now inconsolable. His parents are visibly upset and rush him away to

seek medical attention. Some weeks later, you receive a letter from a local attorney seeking reimbursement for medical bills and $100,000 for pain and suffering.What is the rule on dog bites in Ohio?One inquiry is the historic develop-ment of cases applying simple neg-ligence principles to dog bites. The analysis turns on whether the defen-dant knew or had reason to know that the dog was vicious. This led to the development of the so-called “one free bite” rule. Before a dog had bit someone, the rule went, it was very difficult to establish liability because there was no prior display of aggres-sion to alert the owner of the need to take extra care. A more recent devel-opment, however, happened in 2008 when the Ohio General Assembly amended the Ohio dog bite statute to establish a strict liability scheme. Under the statute, it is irrelevant whether you had no knowledge of Vinamra’s tendency to bite. Dog

owners are liable for injuries caused by their dog’s bites. Period. The only defense that could apply here is if Shararati provoked the dog. But Shararati was just walking by, not tugging at Vinamra’s ears, slapping her, or poking her eyes. You are on the hook. Ohio’s dog bite statute is a strict one. You had no indication that docile Vinamra would bite. The intent of the statute, however, is to provide some measure of protection against people from injuries, espe-cially where owners are in a better position to control their dogs and procure insurance coverage. The claimed damages could be covered through a general (umbrella) li-ability policy, which are commonly available. Homeowners’ policies also typically offer a small amount of general liability coverage, even for events that happen miles away from your home. In the end, we should be glad the boy was not se-riously harmed. While the claim

against you is a valid one, you luck-ily have insurance to cover the loss.Over time, hopefully your neigh-bors can forgive you for Vinamra’s actions. As Mahatma Gandhi stat-ed, “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” Whether you can repair your relationship with your neigh-bors, therefore, is up to them. ###Arun Kottha is an attorney with Tucker Ellis LLP in Cleveland, Ohio. He focuses on the defense of person-al injury, product liability, and com-mercial lawsuits. Please feel free to submit a topic for a subsequent ar-ticle. Contact: arun.kottha@tucker-ellis.com. This article is for informational purposes only and not for the pur-pose of providing legal advice. You should contact an attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem.

ARUN’S LEGAL CORNERBY: ARUN J. KOTTHA, ESQ.©

Yoga by Vishali GuptaVishali is a certified Yoga teacher who lives in Solon with her family. Yoga is her passion. She learnt Yoga while growing up in India and also completed a 200 level teacher train-ing at Chagrin Yoga. She teaches group classes in Chagrin Yoga and Solon Recreation Center. She offers an inspiring and powerful combi-nation of asana, breath, meditation, and chanting that leaves students uplifted and empowered. Vishali specializes in Yoga and meditation techniques to promote overall well-ness strengthen the core muscles to bring agility and alleviate back pain. She also helps private clients and also does instruction for individu-als training to be Yoga teachers at licensed Yoga Schools. She can be reached at guptava@sbcglobal.net

UTKATASANAThe name of this asana comes from the Sanskrit word utkata meaning fierce, intense, gigantic, or furious and asana meaning posture or seat. As the name suggests it is a power-ful standing posture that tones the entire body, particularly the quad-riceps. This asana gets the heart pumping very quickly. This asana requires a great deal of core strength, flexibility in the shoulders and right spinal alignment.

BENEFITS OF UTKATASANAIt strengthens the thighs and an-kles, while toning the shoulders,

butt, quads and back. It stretches the Achilles tendons and shins. It stretches the armpits and opens the chest. It tones the digestive organs and lifts the heart, physically and energetically. Holding the asana for few breaths will rapidly increase the heart rate, stimulating the circulato-ry and metabolic systems. It builds tapas or heat very quickly.

CAUTIONSThis asana is not recommended if

you suffer from headaches, low blood pressure and insomnia. Dur-ing pregnancy keep the feet wide apart.

INSTRUCTIONS1.Begin in Tadasana. Stand with your feet together, with your big toes touching. Beginners or those experiencing lower back pain can keep their feet hip width apart. 2. Inhale and raise your arms over your head.

3. Exhale and bend your knees, bringing your thighs as close to the floor as they can get. 4. Draw your shoulder blades into your upper back ribs as you reach your elbows towards your ears. Do not puff your rib cage forward. Draw your tailbone down to the floor, keeping your lower back long. 5. Lower your hips and lift your heart. 6. Shift your weight into your heels. Majority of the weight is on the heels so if you wanted to lift your toes off the mat you could.7. Make sure your knees don’t go be-yond your toes. 8. Keep your breath smooth, even, and deep. If breath becomes strained, soften the effort by sitting a little higher. 9. Spread your shoulder blades apart. Spin your pinky fingers to-ward each other so your palms face each other, rotating your arms exter-nally. 10. Gaze directly forward. Keep it soft. 11. Be comfortable or at least try to be as if you are reading a newspaper in an imaginary chair. 12. Hold for five breaths. Inhale to straighten your legs. Exhale and re-lease back to Tadasana.

January 30th, which has just passed this year , is a very significant day in India. This was the day I witnessed the funeral of Mahatma Gandhi , the father of the nation, who was assas-sinated 66 years ago on January 30th, 1950. I witnessed miles long proces-

sion of people from India Gate to Tilak Bridge looked like a sea of hu-man heads mourning behind the vehicle carrying the life-less body of the saintly soul, Mahatma Gandhi. On this year’s 66th anniver-sary of his martyrdom I am remind-ed of some of his words of wisdom which still reverberate all over the world. We also know that when the question of grant of independence to India was being discussed he was not in favor of partition of India. In his memory, let us recall some of his words of wisdom:- At a certain gathering of Indians one Muslim woman asked Mahatma Gandhi a question: “If two brothers were living together and wanted to separate and live in two different houses, would you object?” “Ah,” said Mahatma Gandhi, “if only we could separate as two brothers. But we will not. It will be an orgy of blood. We shall tear ourselves

asunder in the womb of the moth-er who bears us.” How true he proved! The partition of the country showed his catastrophic prediction to be absolutely right. Some other sayings of the Mahatma worth listening to are:-” Strength does not come from physical capac-ity. It comes from an indomitable will”. Leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people.” The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the at-tribute of the strong.” Where there is love there is life. “ Let us also recall the few lines of Sanskrit, which Mr. Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India quoted at the Global Citizens Festival in New York last year, and these were the thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi too. Translated, this prayer means : - “May all (humans) be prosperous, and happy! May all be free from ill-ness! May all see what is spiritually

uplifting! May no one suffer! As a sign of reverence to the great men let all of us also wish and pray that wiser counsels should prevail and ‘Allah Hu Akbar’(God Almighty –the Great), should stir the conscience of terrorists to live and let live by learning the lesson of peaceful co-existence. India had 275 million Hin-dus, including 70 million scheduled casts, 50 million Muslims, 6 million Sikhs, 100,000 Parsis, 24000 Jews and 10 million nomads before Parti-tion of the country. It is a lesson that even now they all lived together in peaceful co-existence when there are 3 lakh mosques and 180 million Muslims living in India but there are no terrorists there. . India has pros-pered and kept secularism intact. But what has terrorism achieved ? Only death and destruction as witnessed in their recent attack on Pathankot Air Force station.

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, popu-larly known as Babasaheb, was an Indian jurist, economist, politician and social reformer who inspired the Modern Buddhist Movement and campaigned against social dis-crimination against Untouchables (Dalits), while also supporting the rights of women and labour. He was Independent India’s first law minis-ter and the principal architect of the Constitution of India.

Ambedkar was born on 14 April 1891 in the town and military cantonment of Mhow in the Central Provinces (later Madhya Pradesh). He had 13 siblings and his father Ramji Maloji Sakpal was a ranked army officer and his family was from Ratnagiri district of modern-day Maharashtra. Ambedkar was born into a poor family in Mahar com-munity considered a dalit (so called ‘low’ in then prevalent social heirarchy)caste, who were treated as untouchables (literal taboo to touch them by upper caste) and subjected to extreme socio-economic dis-crimination. Ambedkar’s an-cestors had long worked for the army of the British East

India Company. Although they at-tended school, Ambedkar and other untouchable children were segre-gated and given little attention or help by teachers. They were not al-lowed to sit inside the class. When they needed to drink water, some-one from a “higher” caste had to pour that water from a height as they were not allowed to touch ei-ther the water or the vessel that contained it. This task was usually performed for the young Ambedkar by the school peon, and if the peon was not available then he had to go without water. He was required to sit on a gunny sack (thin woven rug made of jute rope) which he had to

take home with him after school as the rug was considered “contami-nated” by a un-touchable!

Ambedkar’s grew up to became the only untouchable enrolled at Elphinstone High School in Mum-bai in 1897 and later in Elphinstone College, which was affiliated to the University of Mumbai. In 1913, he moved to the United States to get post-graduate degree in Econom-ics from Columbia University. He presented his thesis, Ancient Indi-an Commerce, to earn a M.A. After earning a second M.A. by writing a second thesis, National Dividend of India A Historic and Analytical Study, he went on to get a M.A. and Ph.D. from London university and finally

a Ph. D. in Economics from Colum-bia University at the age of 37. He was conferred two honorary Ph.D degrees later in his life, one by Co-lumbia University and other by Os-mania University of India. His au-tobiographical short book, Waiting for a Visa, set in 1935-36 is used as a textbook in Columbia University.

However, during India’s struggle for Independence from British and later Dr. Ambedkar played a critical role. He was 1st Minister of Law and Justice of free India and Chairman of the Constitution drafting Commit-tee and eventually awarded Bharat Ratna (translation; Jewel of India), a highest honor a civilian can get.

Community News10Significance of 30th January

- By Om JulkaContact: omjulka2@gmail.com

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar

“Life should be great ratherthan long”

- Dr. Ambedkar

“Cultivation of mind should be the ultimate aim of human existence.”

-Dr. Ambedkar

“I measure the progress of acommunity by the degree of progress

which women have achieved.”-Dr. Ambedkar

Community News 11

The End of an Eraprovide sorely needed medical help including diagnosis, treatment, med-icines and supplies, free of charge, to thousands of impoverished citizens. ‘Shiksahdan’ and ‘Project Seva’ are receiving wide recognition and support from sources beyond our immediate area. “Disaster Relief” Is a sepa-rate fund that FICA maintains to aid of people facing calamities like, fam-ine, pestilence, flood, earthquake or wild fire. “India Cultural Garden” is another major FICA project that lan-guished for many years. However, in the year 2000, Seema Haria and her friends were soon joined by Raj Pillai and the Late FICA EB President Vi-jaya Emani to revitalize it. Their hard work got an approved design and initial funding. Chittaranjan & Nisha Jain, Ashok & Rajani Shendure and AIPNO provided the major funds that resulted in the tallest Gandhi Statue in North America. It was un-veiled in the Cultural Garden in 2006. Six Heritage Pillars were installed thereafter. These depict India’s ‘Leg-

acy’, ‘Modern India’ role in ‘Leader-ship’ and ‘Artistic traditions’ as well as establishing ‘Connections’ and concept of, ‘Universal Brotherhood’. Funds for the pillars were generous-ly donated by the families of Monte Ahuja, Mohan Bafna, Hira Fotedar, Chndravadan Haria, Rajshekhar Pil-lai and Sudarshan Sathe. The Garden is now in its final phase of comple-tion under the Chairmanship of Raj Pillai. AIPNO has pledged an addi-tional $25,000.00 and your contribu-tion will add yet another jewel to the legacy of Rockefellers in Cleveland. You may now designate your donation to any of the above projects and none to support an aging build-ing. FICA maintains strictly separate accounts for each project. These are subject to annual audit and project accounts cannot be mixed or used for regular FICA operations. No FICA story is complete without recognizing the contribu-tions of George Stamos of Saffron Patch. He has provided catering ser-vice for many FICA events either free or below cost. Thank you, George.

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Community News12

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