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June 2013 - Volume 0613Non-Profit

OrganizationU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDCLEVELAND,

OHIOPERMIT NO.

1051

FEDERATION OF INDIA COMMUNITY ASSOCIATIONINDIA COMMUNITY CENTER12412 CEDAR ROADCLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OH 44106

Or Current Resident

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FICA Matters 2Community NewsAround the communities 3 Events Future & Past 4Cleveland Museum of Art 5In our beloved India 6Issues that matter 7Looking Back 8Queen of Cleveland 9On the National Stage 10

LOTUS TEAM

Publishing & EditorialAsim Datta (Interim)

Public Relations/CreativeParamjit Singh paramlinda@gmail.com

Editorial HelpCheryl D’Mello

The Bengali Cultural Society of Cleve-land celebrated the birth-anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore and Kaji Nazrul Is-lam on 18th May 2013 evening at Parkside Intermediate School in Westlake, Ohio. Even though both of them were mainly known as poets, both were versatile com-posers in every aspect of literature and music. The theme of the evening was “Love and Humanity”. Under the direction of Ms Seuli Dasgupta and Ms Sunanda Dat-ta, members (young and not so young) presented parts from Tagore’s Dance Dra-mas “Chandalika” and “Chitrangada as well as parts from his drama “Rakta Karabi”. Nazrul was given tribute via his romantic poems, songs and dances. Preparations for this even be-gan back in February, and rehearsals were held every weekend in the India Community Center Building. This event has been on the Bengali Cultural Society’s event calendar for more than thirty years. The program was very well attended, and concluded with a delicious dinner.

Two giants of Bengali Literature celebrated by Bengali Cultural Society - Reported by Chandana Sarkar

Sixth Annual Mother’s Day Peace Party An Eclectic Celebration – By Raj Pillai

Eight year old Janaki Nair has become a fix-ture at the annual Mother’s Day Peace Party sponsored by the India Cultural Gar-den, Cleveland Peace Action and Women Speak Out for Peace and Justice. Two years ago, she vowed the attendees gathered near the Mahatma Gandhi statue by reciting the original Mother’s Day procla-mation by Julia Ward Howe. (A video of her performance can be found at the Facebook

page of the Friends of the India Cultural Garden). Last year, the event was held at the MLK branch of Cleveland Public Library

where she reprised her amaz-ing performance. Having set the bar high, Janaki set out this year to recite a poem about the Immi-grant Mother, a moving tribute to the sacrifice of countless mothers. She lived up to her billing, and moved many in the audience to tears. Janaki’s performance was the first part of “Pulling Up Roots: A Tale of 3 Mothers”, which also featured a Dust Bowl mother and a mother from the Great Migra-

tion. The story of the Dust Bowl mother, portrayed by Sharon Habat of Cleveland Peace Action chronicled the struggles of an Oklahoma family transplanted to California, similar to John Steinbeck’s “Grapes of Wrath”. Sharon highlighted the mother’s resilience and optimism. The story of an African American mother from Mississip-pi dealing with life and work in Chicago (loosely based on “The Warmth Of Other Suns”) was movingly portrayed by Sherrie Tolliver. Sherrie, a member of the group Women in History has been a part of the Mother’s day event four out of the 6 years. She has an impressive track record of portraying inspiring women such as Rosa Parks, Septima Clark and Wilma Rudolph. Sherrie brought to life the story of the African American Rosie the Riv-eter while also giving a glimpse of life in the segregated South. The event was emceed by Margaret Bernstein of the Plain Dealer who commented on the recent headlines about the three local women—Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight and the joy that the community, especially mothers felt about their safe return. A minute of silent prayer was observed to mark the unfolding events. She congratulated the organizers for the non-traditional celebration of Mother’s Day, highlight-ing peace. Julia Ward Howe’s 1870 proclamation, exhorting the mothers of the world to be the champions of peace was narrated by Nina McLellan. Deborah Van Kleef provided the musical en-tertainment. Wynne Antonio was presented the Inspirational Mother Award by local activist Joan Southgate. Following the event, food and refreshments were provided, thanks to the gen-erosity of several local restaurants, including Taste of Kerala, Bamboo Garden, Mi Pueblo and Steve’s Pizza. Attendees also enjoyed making origami cranes, a symbol of peace in the Japa-nese tradition.

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Message from the President

FICA matters

Cleveland celebrated the much anticipated 4th Cleveland Asian Festival on May 19th and 20th, drawing more than thirty-eight thousand visitors during the two days. A report on the festival appears elsewhere in this publication, submitted by the doyen of the Indian community, Mr Om Julka, offering a look at the festival from his unique perspective. There are some photographs added to the report. As in the previous three years, FICA was a Sponsor of this year’s Festival, and once again, I volunteered on the organizing committee, as I did during the previous three years. On the Saturday, the first day of the festival, I ran into Mr Ramesh Shah, a long time member of the Indian community, and he and I chatted briefly. During this conversation, Ramesh Shah expressed to me his surprise at the extremely low turnout of Asian Indians at the event, especially considering the latest fact that the Indians are

now the largest segment in the Asian population in the region, according to latest Census and Research figures. Coincidentally, I have grappled with this same question myself for quite some time. The organizers of the Asian Festival did a terrific job to include a number of performances repre-senting the Indian community, in addition to the Indian food and merchandize vendors who were there. So, the Indian presence on the organizational side of the festival was appropriately reflective of the size and importance of the community. Surprisingly, however, at the volunteer appreciation dinner a week ago, the presence of the Indians was extremely sparse, to say the least, which meant not many offered to volunteer at this event, though there were many non-Asians seen helping out at this Asian event . So, once again it led me to wonder why there is such utter reluctance on the part of the Indians to be “out there”!! I have often heard comments made by non-Indians that we are a community driven to snobbery by our relative successes and greater wealth, and consequently, we chose to remain aloof. Is that true? Do we suffer from a sense of superiority over all others? But how can that be? Are we not a humble people? Isn’t snobbery uncharacteristic of our cultural upbringing? Is our reluctance then to blend with the non-Indians caused by our relative shyness? Any thoughts, anyone?

FICA StaffAdministration

Board of Trustees

Chittaranjan Jain, Chair

c.jain@csuohio.edu, 440/942-4369

Executive BoardAsim Datta, President

point-to-point@usa.net, 216/394-8720

Kathy Ghose, Vice President

kghose50@yahoo.com, 440/785-5940

Sapna Reddy Kumar, Secretary

sapna.reddy@gmail.com, 216 /236 -3727

Rupal Dhruv, Treasurer

rupald6130@hotmail.com, 440/317-1487

Anupa Deogaonkar, Publisher

anupadeogaonkar@gmail.com,

216/704-2455

Mona Alag, Past President,

monaalag@yahoo.com, (440) 256-3247

Sujata Burgess

sburgess@asiainc-ohio.org, 440/465-1790

Anjan Ghose, India Community Center

anjan.ghose@tri-c.edu, 216/214-4317

Meera Kansal

meerakansal@hotmail.com, 440/572-3857

Kenneth Kovach - Outreach

KennethJKovach@wowway.com,

216/952-9501

Vinod Nagpal

vnagpal@nrengineering.com,

Pavithra Simh - Membership

raj.pavithra@gmail.com, 602/321-3128

India Cultural GardenRaj Pillai, Chair

Project SevaMona Alag, Chair

Sister Organizations

Marathi MandalWebsite : www. neomm.orgPresident: Dr. Anupa DeogaonkarEmail : anupadeogaonkar@gmail.comPhone: 216/704-2455

Bengali Cultural Society of ClevelandPresident: Bhaswati Bandyopadhyay Email: bbhaswati@yahoo.comPhone: (440)427-1853

AIPNO :President : Dr. Beejadi MukundaEmail : bmukunda1@gmail.com Phone : 440.488.2300

Federation of India Community Associations of Northeast Ohio (FICA)

Membership Form

Membership is $20 for calendar year for Individual or Family membership. Free for students. Life membership is one time fee of $500. Name(s) Adult(s): ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ Name(s) Child(ren): ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ Address: ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ Phone: Home:__________________________________ Cell: ___ e-mail: ________________________________________________________________________________ Type of Membership: __ Individual __ Family __ Student __Life How I/we can help FICA ________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mail completed form with check payable to FICA and “Membership” in the memo line to:

FICA India Community Center

12412 Cedar Road, Cleveland Heights, OH 44106

Ph: 216/791-FICA (3422) ◊ email: membership@ficacleveland.org ◊ Website: www.ficacleveland.org

Unifies all the regional

cultures of India, and

presents the face of the

entire Indian

Provides the platform for

showcasing of our heritage,

and expression of our culture.

BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP:•Significant Discounts at

FICA events (20% or more)•Significant discount on

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Community.

Advocates and presents a united voice

for Asian Indian community.

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cultural, and social values.

of our culture. •Free subscription to The Lotus Newspaper•Future Discounts at

local Indian merchants•Broader social and professional network

Empowers and strengthens our

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Newsmakers!

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Around the communities

Asian Festival - By Om Julka

Wedding bells for Sujata Emani, daughter of late Vijaya Emani – By Raj Pillai

I visited the fourth Cleveland Asian Festival on May 19, 2013 along with my son Vijay and his wife in Asia Town, Cleveland. I had a fair recollection of the great fun and frolic it offered last year too. There is no doubt about great strength in diversity in Cleveland. It re-flects the richness of the communities and people of various races, faces, customs and costumes living here. The multitude of people who visited this fair on both

days, May 18 and 19 must have exceeded 4000. About 500 were sitting under Music and Dance tent, which looked like a sea of human heads. The Asia Plaza with Li Wah Chinese Restaurant and many unique shops had a big rush.The Mayor, Mr. Frank G. Jackson, in his Special Message emphasized that the Fes-tival offers an opportunity to celebrate and enjoy Cleveland’s rich Asian heritage – including world-class musicians, danc-ers, performers, artists and authentic Asian foods. Napoleon once said, “The army marches on its stomach”. How true? The crowd in the huge dining hall tent with

hundreds of tables and chairs and all overflowing with people carry-ing plates of food, proved it , Chi-nese, Thai, Japanese and Indian in particular. Seekh Kabobs, Chicken tikkas, roasted drumsticks, rice noodles, curries and beyond curry. Indians who missed a lot this year should visit in large numbers next year. This Festival is a showcase of growing Asian community in Greater Cleveland, a marketplace for shopping, cultural performanc-es; Martial Art Demonstrations Under the able guidance of Mr. Asim Datta, President of FICA (Federation of India Community Associations) two Indian booths were offering one-on-one information to those who stopped by. Some vendors were selling Indian jew-elry; or applying Mehndi (Henna) to women’s hands. Other stalls and booths included Key Bank, Festival T-shirts and food. Highland Dancers, Shri Kalaa Mandir, Drummers, Ajyal Ensemble, Dance Israel, Ballet of Yin Tang Chinese Ensemble entertained the crowds.. Although there was a good number of Indians, yet a lot more should have come to interact with other communities. India’s Sikhs, particularly tur-baned ones, should come to such functions in large numbers so that they avoid suffering by mistaken identity.

Sujata R. Emani, Ph.D. and Sri-harsha Mandava were married on May 12, 2013 in Cleveland,surrounded by friends and family from India, California and Detroit. Su-jata is the Research Director at Cleve-land Whiskey, her husband Sriharsha is a Business Analyst at Osborn Indus-tries. Sujata is the daughter of the late community leader Vijaya Emani. Vi-jaya died after being struck by a truck on the turnpike on January 16, 2009. She was posthumously awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal, the na-tion’s second highest civilian honor by Obama in honor of exemplary ser-vice and for her courage in overcom-ing and speaking out against abuse. A “trailblazer” as President Obama referred to her, Vijaya is also remem-bered for her hard work in establish-

ing the India Cultural Garden at Rockefeller Park with the imposing statue of Mahatma Gandhi. Vijaya’s mother Indurani, continues to live in Strongsville with Sujata while her sister Nirmala is an Operations Project Consultant at Bank of Amer-ica.

Submitted by Pavi Simh, Executive Board Member

Newsmakers!4 Events Future & Past

A Tribute to Swami Vivekananda – Laser Show Celebrating Service to Humanity The Cleveland Music Hall will be the venue for an event on Saturday, October 19, 2013 that could potentially uplift you spiritually and stimulate your heart and mind. The event organized by Sewa Interna-tional USA will be a tribute to a great spiritual leader from India in the late nineteenth century. His name was Swami Vivekananda, who was a Hindu monk who introduced the Indian philoso-phies of Vedanta and Yoga to the western world and was credited with raising interfaith aware-ness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion in the late 19th century. Swami Vivekananda revitalized Hinduism within and outside India. He was the principal reason be-

hind the enthusiastic reception of yoga, transcendental meditation and other forms of Indian spiritual self-improvement in the West. He was the chief disci-ple of the saint Ramakrishna and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission. He is perhaps best known for his inspiring speech be-ginning with “Sisters and Brothers of America,” through which he introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago in 1893. Following the Parliament of Religions, Swami Vivekananda spent near-ly two years lecturing in various parts of United States and founded the “Ve-danta Society of New York” in 1894. He also traveled to Europe and attracted several followers and admirers in the US and Europe. Swami Vivekananda summarized the Vedanta’s teachings as follows: “Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this Divinity within by

controlling nature, external and internal. Do this either by work, or worship, or mental discipline, or philosophy—by one, or more, or all of these—and be free. This is the whole of religion. Doctrines, or dogmas, or rituals, or books, or temples, or forms, are but secondary details.”Sewa International USA will be bringing an inspiring biographical Laser Show on Swami Vivekananda to the US this year in the fall as part of its annual fun-draiser. Coincidentally, the 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda occurs in 2013. Cleveland will be one of 25 cities that will host Sewa International’s second annual nationwide fundraiser. This state-of-the-art show will be pre-sented, for the first time in the US, by renowned Laser Artist Manick Sorcar, two-time winner of ILDA Artistic Award, recognized as the Oscar of Laser in-dustry. To learn more about Manick Sorcar, please visit http://www.manick-sorcar.com/laserist.php. The laser show has received rave reviews after its debut in India. The President of India has viewed the show. It is expected that more than 18,000 people will watch the show at over 25 locations throughout the US.The event is planned as a fund raiser to facilitate the tremendous work done by Sewa International. Sewa International is part of a larger development move-ment that started in India in 1989 and is operates in 17 countries with a total of 165,000 individual service projects. The organization serves the needy, irre-spective of race, color, religion and gender. Its guiding principle is ‘Service to Humanity is Service to God (in Sanskrit Nar Seva Narayana Seva)’. Founded in 2003, Sewa International focuses on disaster relief, refugee empowerment, child education, prevention of child trafficking, health, and an impressive array of development projects. Sewa International is a 501(c) (3) Hindu-faith based charitable non-profit service organization.

Asian Pacific Heritage Day 2013 Celebration Asian Pacific Heritage Day was celebrated by Mayor Franck Jackson and the Community Relations Board at the Cleveland City Hall Rotunda on May 30, 2013. The Committee for the event included Joseph Meissner, Judy Chu, Doan Luong, Asim Datta, Tam Luong, and Ken Kovach. Gia Hoa Ryan and Michael Sreshta were the co-chairs for the event.

The keynote speaker was Shiv Aggarwal, a distinguished community leader in Cleveland for more than 40 years. The invocation at the beginning was given by Sister Rita Mary Harwood, SND, from the Parish Life and Devel-opment Office of the Diocese of Cleveland and the closing prayer by Swami Taramataji from Canada. Certificates of Merit were presented to Rufus Darkortey, Sr. Rita Mary Harwood, Cheryl D’Mello. Venkat Raj, Dr. Ivan Tewar-son, and Karna Tirwa.There was cultural entertainment which in-cluded a Nepali song and dance, Kungfu per-formances, Chinese dances, Bollywood dances by CSU students led by Venkat Raj, Martial arts exhibition and Filipino Dance performance. Ethnic foods were served from Saffron Patch, Siam Café, Li Wah Restaurant, Asia Towne Food, and Taste of Kerala; the event was free for all.

UPCOMING FICA AND INDIAN COMMUNITY EVENTS

June 30 : FICA hosting one hundred plus students from India visiting Cleveland Area this summer.July 12 : FICA Project Seva distributes Care Packages in the inner city of Cleveland.August 18 : FICA and the Indian Community celebrate “Indi-aFest”, India 67thIndependence Day.August 25 : FICA participates in One World Festival, featur-ing 66th Annual One World Day at the Cleveland Cultural Gardens.August 25 : FICA Project Seva serves Meals at Ronald Mc-Donald House.November 8 : FICA and Indian Community celebrate Deep-avali at Cleveland City Hall.December 15 : FICA Project Seva serves Meals at Ronald McDonald House.January 25 : FICA and Indian Community celebrate India’s Republic Day.

Newsmakers!5 Community News

In an exhibition that focuses on the concept of Tantra, which has be-come familiar among westerners, visitors can explore how it developed and spread throughout Asia from the ninth century onward through works of art of the highest quality. The first object in the gallery is a bronze image of the cosmic Buddha Akshobhya. It was unearthed with a hoard of some of the most masterful works of the north Indian bronze tradition at the village of Kurkihar in the northeastern state of Bihar, which was a major center for Buddhist study and advanced levels of practice, especially between the ninth and twelfth centu-ries. Lying on the pedestal in front of the Buddha is a vajra, a stylized thun-der bolt, which indicates that this is a tantric image. The Buddha Akshobhya presides over the East, holds his right hand in the earth-touching mudra, and helps especially to eradicate the affliction of anger, one of the main obstacles to enlightenment. Made during the period when tantric imagery was first emerging in northeastern India, this depiction of Akshobhya has the standard physical marks of a Buddha: the cranial protuberance, snail-shell curls, elongated ear-lobes, urna between the brows, triple folds of flesh at the neck, and wheels of righteousness on the palms and soles. He sits in the yogic posture of medita-tion, eyes focused just past the tip of the nose. The artist has skillfully ren-dered the control of his breath by means of the swelling belly underneath the broad pleats of his monk’s robe. The remainder of the exhibition includes depictions of Akshobhya’s emanation into the powerful sixteen-armed, eight-headed, four-legged blue Hevajra from Tibet and Cambodia. Also, Virupa, the yogi who recorded the teachings of Hevajra’s consort Nairatmya after she appeared to him in a vision, can be seen in both paintings and sculpture. Early works of other enlightened beings, male and female are also on view along with an artists’s

sketchbook, ritual weapons from the emperor of China, and an important mandala that depicts an intricate diagram of the realm of enlightened beings. Sonya Rhie Quintanilla, Ph.D.George P. Bickford Curator of Indian and Southeast Asian ArtThe Cleveland Museum of Art

On View at the Cleveland Museum of Art: Tantra in Buddhist ArtMay 5 through September 15, 2013

Dr. Vasu and Lisa Pandrangi, and family, will un-veil a $3 million gift—the largest in Southwest Gener-al’s history—to the Touch the Future capital campaign in support of the hospital’s Building for Your Future expansion project. The largest privately funded project currently underway in Cuyahoga County, the project includes a new Emergency Room (ER), Critical Care Unit, patient bed tower with 96 private patient rooms and an underground parking facility. Images of the newly named facility will be un-veiled during the celebration. A limited number of in-

terview opportunities also will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. For more than 32 years, Dr. Vasu Pandrangi has been a prominent mem-ber of Southwest General’s Medical Staff. During his years at Southwest Gen-eral, Dr. Pandrangi has served as president of the Medical Staff and as a trustee on the Southwest General Health Center board of trustees and the Southwest Community Health System board of trustees, for which he currently serves as chairman. Dr. Pandrangi, and his wife, Lisa, are active community members in the city of Westlake, where they reside. In addition to the gift to the hospital, Dr. Pandrangi has donated funds to acquire air conditioning units, stretchers and wheelchairs for King George Hospital’s Burn Unit in India. Additionally, he has participated in many local, national and international surgery conventions. Dr. Vasu and Lisa Pandrangi’s commitment to the future of Southwest General, and to the health and well-being of the communities it serves, is extraordinary. On this evening, we will not only recognize the Pandrangi’s significant gift to the hospital’s future but also acknowledge their remarkable devotion and thank them for their many years of service to the hospital.

The extension of Southwest General’s Main Campus facility will ex-pand the outstanding quality of care that generations of local residents have relied upon Southwest General to provide. The grand opening of the new ER and Critical Care Unit is anticipated in early 2014, while completion of the pa-tient bed tower is slated for year-end 2014. For more information, go to www.swgeneral.com/expansionproject. About Southwest GeneralSouthwest General is a private, not-for-profit, 358-bed acute care facility located in Middleburg Heights, Ohio. Founded in 1920, Southwest General is home to nationally recognized physicians with full access to state-of-the-art technology. Southwest General has a deep commitment to providing personalized care and building a healthy future for the patients, families and communities it serves. For news highlights, events and additional information, visit www.swgeneral.com, www.facebook.com/SWGeneral or www.twitter.com/SWGHospital.

About Southwest Community Health FoundationSouthwest Community Health Foundation (The Foundation) is a not-for-profit corporation that centralizes all fundraising efforts of Southwest General. The Foundation, through its fundraising programs and volunteer businesses, gen-erates charitable gifts that are used to advance the treatment of care at the hospi-tal and support Southwest General’s mission. Various fundraising efforts have assisted in bringing community residents many health care benefits such as the TomoTherapy Hi-Art® treatment system for radiation oncology, a Residential Hospice facility, the Neighborhood Care Center, and much more. To learn more about the Southwest Community Health Foundation, visit http://11632.than-kyou4caring.org/.

Local Physician Makes Largest Donation in Southwest General’s History

Akshobhya: The Buddha of the East, 800sBronze with silver and copper overlay.Northeastern India, Bihar, Kurkihar. 15 ¼ X 10 5/16 inches.Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1970.10

6 In our beloved IndiaHow India treats its women ?

20600 Chagrin Blvd, Suite #150Shaker Heights, OH 44122-5327

(216) 295-0400www.thesaffronpatch.com

People have called her Brave-heart, Fearless and India’s Daughter, among other things, and sent up a bil-lion prayers for a speedy recovery. When the unidentified woman died in a Singapore hospital early on Saturday, the victim of a savage rape on a mov-ing bus in the capital, Delhi, it was time again, many said, to ask: why does In-dia treat its women so badly? Female foetuses are aborted and baby girls killed after birth, leading to an an appallingly skewed sex ratio. Many of those who survive face discrimina-tion, prejudice, violence and neglect all their lives, as single or married women. TrustLaw, a news service run by Thomson Reuters, has ranked India as the worst country in which to be a woman. This in the country where the leader of the ruling party, the speaker of the lower house of parliament, at least three chief ministers, and a number of sports and business icons are women. It is also a country where a generation of newly empowered young women are going out to work in larger numbers than ever before.But crimes against women are rising too. With more than 24,000 reported cases in 2011, rape registered a 9.2% rise over the previous year. More than half (54.7%) of the victims were aged between 18 and 30. Most disturbingly, according to police records, the offend-ers were known to their victims in more than 94% of the cases. Neighbours ac-counted for a third of the offenders, while parents and other relatives were also involved. Delhi accounted for over 17% of the total number of rape cases in the country. And it is not rape alone. Police records from 2011 show kidnappings and abductions of women were up 19.4%, women being killed in disputes over dowry payments by 2.7%, torture by 5.4%, molestation by 5.8% and trafficking by an alarming 122% over the previous year. The Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen has estimated that more than 100m women are “missing” worldwide - women who would have been around had they received similar healthcare, medicine and nutrition as men. New research by economists Siwan Anderson and Debraj Ray estimates that in India, more than 2m women are missing in a given year.

The economists found that roughly 12% of the missing women disappear at birth, 25% die in childhood, 18% at the reproductive ages, and 45% at older ages. They found that women died more from “injuries” in a given year than while giving birth - injuries, they say, “appear to be indicator of violence against women”. Deaths from fire-related incidents, they say, is a major cause - each year more than 100,000 women are killed by fires in India. The researchers say many cases could be linked to demands over a dowry leading to women being set on fire. Research also found a large number of women died of heart dis-eases.

These findings point to life-long neglect of women in India. It also proves that a strong preference for sons over daughters - leading to sex selective abortions - is just part of the story. Clearly, many Indian women face threats to life at every stage - vio-lence, inadequate healthcare, inequality, neglect, bad diet, lack of attention to personal health and well-being. Analysts say deep-rooted changes in social attitudes are needed to make India’s women more accepted and secure. There is deeply entrenched patriarchy and widespread misogyny in vast swathes of the country, especially in the north. And the state has been found wanting in its protection of women. Angry citizens believe that politicians, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, are being disingenuous when they promise to toughen laws and speed up the prosecution of rapists and perpetrators of crime against women. How else, they ask, can political parties in the last five years have field-ed candidates for state elections that included 27 candidates who declared they had been charged with rape? How, they say, can politicians be believed when there are six elected state legislators who have charges of rape against them? But the renewed protests in Delhi after the woman’s death hold out some hope. Has her death come as an inflexion point in India’s history, which will force the government to enact tougher laws and people to begin seriously thinking about the neglect of women? It’s early days yet, but one hopes these are the first stirrings of change.

LAKSHADWEEP ISLANDS Kerala, a southern state in India, of superb natural beauty, in on and off the coast -By Dinesh Vora

Kerala is a state in southern India on a west coast and one of the most naturally beautiful location. Today the international and domestic tourist inflow crossed 10 mil-lion mark and is rapidly increasing. Kerala has the lowest positive population growth rate in India at 3.44%. It has a density of 819 people per km square. It has the high-est Human Development Index of 0.790 in

the country. It shows highest literacy rate of 93.91% with life expectancy of 74 years. It shows highest sex ratio i.e. 1083 women per 1000 men in India. It has lowest homicide rate with 1.1 per 100,000 and least corrupt state. The Kerala natives are spread all over the world for jobs and Kerala has largest income from foreign income source support of its natives. It is a wonderful mix of Ary-an and Dravidian cultures. The main religion is Hinduism, followed by others. It is also consid-ered cleanest state in India. Kerala has emerged one of the most pop-ular tourist destinations in India since 1980 on-ward. National Geographic’s Traveler labeled it “One of the ten paradises of the world and must see destinations of a lifetime”. Travel and Leisure labelled Kerala as “One of the 100 great trips for the 21st century”. In 2012, it overtook

Taj Mahal to be the number one travel destination in Google’s search trends for India. Kerala’s beaches, backwaters, mountain ranges and wildlife sanctuaries are the major attractions for both domestic and international tourists. The pho-tographs included here are of Lakshadweep Islands area.

7Issues that matter

As I watch the current debate on immigration reform I am regularly asked for my opinion on the reform proposals. In many ways the most frustrating thing about the Gang of Eight’s proposals, is what is not there: simple, straight-forward changes that could turn our immigration system on its head and deliver real comprehensive immigration reform. What is being proposed does not fundamentally change our immigration system and does not tackle many of the deeply ingrained problems that only immigration practitioners talk about.So what are some of these simple things that would really deliver change to a broken system? The first would be to take immigration out of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), where it does not belong. DHS deals with terrorists and the implication that immigrants are potential terrorists does not send out the signal that United States is a friendly, welcoming country. A separate agency dealing with visas, tourism, and promoting our country to investors and the best and the brightest from around the world could effect a sea-change in how America is perceived around the globe. This would benefit our economy and our national security. Moreover, it would demonstrate that we are serious about making the changes to our immigration system truly comprehensive in nature.A second change would be to lift the ceiling on the number of visas available to immigrants who intend to come here and build their lives. Currently, the number of visas is capped at 700,000, with the number of specialized H-1B visas set at 65,000 of these. This number is simply far too low to cope with the demand for visas and the needs of the American economy. I am not suggesting “opening the floodgates,” but it is time to recognize some important facts about immigration to the United States. With a population of over 310 million people we can easily absorb a higher rate of immigration and more importantly as a result of our demographic profile we need this influx of people to continue growing our population. History is not kind to great powers whose population levels stagnate or decline.As the current immigration reform efforts work their way towards the House of Representatives we will hear a lot of scaremongering about an immigration am-nesty. The reality is that what the Gang of Eight is offering is not an amnesty, but they should propose a re-instatement of what immigration practitioners refer to as 245(i). This refers to a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act first added in 1994 and later extended in 2000. What this section of the law does is recognize that many of the people in the United States who are “illegal” have fallen into that status due to technicalities in the immigration system. Many of them have been made significant efforts to remain in legal status and are otherwise eligible for a green card but for their illegal status. Under this law, people without status who have had a petition filed on their behalf by an employer or relative before April 30, 2001 can adjust their status to permanent residence after paying a fine. One of the first set of questions I ask any potential new client is to determine if they have a 245(i) claim. This law has helped many thousands of people stay in the United States – people whose removal would be of no benefit to our society. Congress could easily extend 245(i) once again and allow many thousands of people who have built lives in the US a simple and straightforward way to legalize their presence.So these are three simple measures Congress could enact today that would help alter our immigration system in very meaningful ways. I support the work of the Gang of Eight and very much hope that the bill they have proposed passes the Senate and remains largely intact in the House, but I see their work as only the start of a long process to comprehensively change a system that is failing all of us.

Three simple ways to improve the current immigration system - Margaret Wong

8Sam Mankeshaw - By Om Julka

Looking Back

Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manek-shaw, a legend and the only Field Marshal of In-dia who passed away in the military hospital at Wellington in Tamil Nadu India, on Friday, June 27th, 2008, was 94. He was India’s former Chief of Army Staff, which he assumed on June 7 1969. I had the proud privilege of serving under him and even travelling with him in his Aircraft from Jammu to New Delhi once. He secured his place in history by his victory over Pakistan in a 14 days war in December 1971.I also took part in these operations on the Western Front.

. His experience and battle skills were put to the test, when in 1971 thou-sands of Muslim refugees from Eastern wing of Pakistan started crossings over to India, groaning under the oppression unleashed by their central Govern-ment of Western Pakistan. This most decorated General won Military Cross during World War II under the British Indian Army and was awarded Padma Vibhushan by India in later years. When asked by Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister to attack Pakistan and save the volatile situation of refugees crossing to India, he firmly advised her to wait until he was adequately prepared. He was right. When the war against Pakistan started in December, it soon culminat-

ed in India’s victory within 14 days, and Pakistan’s unconditional surrender. Over 90,000 Prisoners of War were taken.. The former East Pakistan was thus liberated from Pakistan’s oppressive rule, and Bangladesh was born as a new Muslim independent country. These Muslims felt great relief and joy. Most refugees started going back from India to their homes in Bangladesh. The nation honored this General in his life when he was made a Field Marshal for his military achievements, defeating Pakistan Army and capturing over 90,000 Prisoners of War. Therefore it was befitting tribute to have honored him in death also, which he deserved. He was accorded the rare distinction of a state-funeral with 21-gun-salute. He was buried beside the grave of his wife Silloo as per his wish, though under the tradition of Parsi community to which he belonged, they place the dead body in a special open enclosure called tow-ers of silence and allow the vultures and other birds to pick their flesh leaving the bones clean. Parsis believe the earth and fire are sacred and must not be violated by burying or burning a corpse. India’s then President,Ms. Pratibha Patil in her condolence message called him one of India’s greatest soldiers. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that the Field Martial inspired several generations of Indian soldiers over the last fifty years; and his legacy will continue to live with us for years to come.. The Guardian and the Times of London also paid glowing tributes to this legendary soldier of India.

9Community News

Dr. Shyamala Chitaley, former Curator and Head of Paleobotany (the study of an-cient plants) at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History passed away on March 31, 2013 at her son Dr. Aniruddhha’s home in Ashland, Massachusetts. Originally from Nashik, India, Shyamala Dixit was married to lawyer Dinkar Vaman Chitaley. She completed her B.Sc. and M.Sc at the University of Nagpur before being invited to England to do her Ph.D.at the University of Reading.

Dr. Chitaley was hired by the Cleveland Museum of Natural History in 1980, at the age of 62, and established the museum’s department of Paleo-botany where she worked for 31 years. She drove until she was 90 and then commuted for some years by bus while living in a condominium in Parma. Scientists throughout the world considered her to be a “giant” in her field; she was a valued member of the international paleobotany community. Her research at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History centered upon the reconstruction of the 363 million-year-old (Late Devonian) forest of club mosses of Ohio. She conducted pioneering research into fossil plants from the ancient Cleveland Shale formation. She was also interested in research on Ayurveda.

The title Curator Emerita was bestowed on her by the Natural History Museum on February 10, 2011. Dr. Chitaley was the author of 147 research publications and collaborat-ed and presented papers at several national and international conferences, re-ceiving numerous awards and honors all over the world. Among those awards were the Medal for excellence in paleobotanical research and lifetime achieve-ment award from the Birbal-Savitri Sahni Foundation in Lucknow, India and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s Jared Potter Kirtland Award for outstanding achievement in a field of natural science. She tried to popularize her field and led many fossil searches in India and the U.S. In 1982, she organized the Fossil Society, which has become the North Coast Fossil Club. She discovered a species she named Clevelandodendron ohioensis (Cleveland tree) in honor of the city’s bicentennial. In 1980 she launched a new journal “Botanique”. Her husband passed away in 2000; one of her son’s passed away in 2003, and her daughter in law too in 2006. She is survived by her son Ani, of Ashland, Mass., five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. A local me-morial event is being planned for 2014.Contributions can be made to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Pa-leobotany Endowed Chair, 1 Wade Oval, Cleveland, OH 44106, cmnh.org.

You can read about her in an interview in our June 2012 issue of Lotus.

Queen of Cleveland Shale, Dr. Shyamala (Dixit) Dinkar Chitaley passes away - By Cheryl D’Mello

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10 On the National Stage

WASHINGTON - Today, the U.S. Senate voted 97 to 0 to confirm Srikanth (“Sri”) Srini-vasan as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Mr. Srini-vasan is both the first South Asian American federal appellate court judge in the history of the United States and the first Asian Pacific American to serve on the D.C. Circuit. “We are deeply gratified that the Sen-ate has confirmed Mr. Srinivasan today,” said Wendy C. Shiba, president of the Na-tional Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA). “Given that over 3.5 million South Asian Americans live in the United States, it is particularly noteworthy that Mr. Srinivasan

has made history by becoming the first-ever South Asian American federal ap-pellate court judge. Moreover, the D.C. Circuit long has been recognized as one of the most important courts in the country. The presence of an Asian Pacific American on that court gives testament to the strides made by the Asian Pacific American community in recent years. It is a fitting and momentous way to con-clude and celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.”Mr. Srinivasan is an attorney of exceptional accomplishment and merit who has received highest praise from all segments of the legal community. Numerous federal judges (including Justice Sandra Day O’Connor), former government officials, and professors have lauded Mr. Srinivasan’s legal skills, intellect, and integrity. These individuals include officials and judges appointed by the Rea-gan, George H.W. Bush, Clinton, George W. Bush, and Obama Administrations. They invariably have described Srinivasan as “a tremendous lawyer,” “one of the very smartest, most talented,” and “especially gifted.” They all have con-cluded that Srinivasan will be an “excellent” or “tremendous” appellate court

judge. Until his confirmation, he served as the Principal Deputy Solicitor Gen-eral of the United States, where he regularly appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court. He previously served as a partner and Chair of the Supreme Court and appellate practice for the law firm of O’Melveny & Myers LLP. “Sri Srinivasan is an exceptional attorney with a long history of work in civil rights,” said Mee Moua, president and executive director of the Asian American Justice Center (AAJC), member of the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice. “In private practice he handled some of the most important Supreme Court cases pro bono for AAJC and for the greater civil rights com-munity. We congratulate him on his historic confirmation and look forward to his tenure on the D.C. Circuit.” Mr. Srinivasan is Indian by birth, Kansan at heart, and all American in story. He was born in Chandigarh, India, and immigrated to the United States as a child with his parents and two younger sisters. Mr. Srinivasan grew up in Lawrence, Kansas, where his father was a professor of mathematics at the University of Kansas, and his mother taught at the Kansas City Art Institute. Throughout his upbringing, Mr. Srinivasan attended public schools in Kansas. In high school, he was very active in sports and music, including playing on the high school varsity basketball team. He became, and to this day remains, a die-hard University of Kansas basketball fan. With Mr. Srinivasan’s confirmation, three Asian Pacific Americans will sit as federal appellate court judges out of approximately 175 nationwide. All three have been nominated and confirmed in the last four years. One additional Asian Pacific American federal appellate court nominee remains pending be-fore the U.S. Senate at this time – Raymond Chen, who has been nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.NAPABA and AAJC are proud to have supported Mr. Srinivasan. We thank President Obama for nominating Mr. Srinivasan, and commend the U.S. Senate for the noteworthy bipartisan support that he received during the confirmation process.

CONFIRMATION OF SRI SRINIVASANSrinivasan Becomes First South Asian American

Federal Appellate Court Judge In Nation’s History - Published with permission from NAPABA

India is becoming heart of the world on account of its progress, especially dur-ing last couple of decades. But the country also has some acute problems today. Diminishing resources of fresh water is one such problem of great concern. Al-most a million children die there of water-borne diseases every year. Lack of sanitation conditions is becoming unbearable, even if India was the 3rd country in the world to have installed flush system (in Kolkata / erstwhile Calcutta) in 1870 (UK installed in 1850, and US in 1860). As per press, 1.1 billion people of modern world defecate in the open (do not have latrine facility). Nearly 630 million of them live in India. Nearly 100,000 women die in India every year on account of pregnancy-related causes. Includ-ing small and big, India has about 5,000 cities today. Flush system is only avail-able in 200 cities. No doubt, WHO has mentioned that Indians have more cell phones available to them than toilets. In urban India, 11% homes do not have latrines. In rural India, it is hard to find a hospital. If one is available, then do not be surprised if hospitality is missing. It is true that India is a young country with a lot of potential and Indian Government is doing its best to fix many of the said and more problems. Given time, situation should greatly improve. But Asian-Indians do have to wake up, for Government alone won't be able to fix nation's problems by itself. Not only private and public sectors need to join hands but each individual must take some responsibility. We are lucky ones who live in this Great Democracy of USA - the largest Econ-omy of the World and, hence, plenty of everything is available to us here-from education to food to palace-like houses to live in and best of the best to wear. By and large, all Asian-Indians living in USA I know are doing great in every way. It is the responsibility of all of us never to let down this Great Country we have opted to migrate to and live in. This is our home now. But we also must keep our hearts open to help those in need, here in USA and at least in country of our origin, as and when possible and within our means, rules and regulations and within applicable laws. Many of you, Gentlemen and Ladies, already do all this. Isn't it? And I am

sure that your spreading of this awareness will bring more Asian-Indians and people to the forefront. After all, you all comprise those Great Minds who talk about problems and ideas. Leave the talking about events to the average minds, and about people to the small minds. Great American Writer and Humanitar-ian, Mrs. Anna E. Roosevelt (1884-1962) once beautifully wrote about such a thinking of human minds.

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