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June 2015 - Volume 0615 Cleveland, Ohio, USAN

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FICA Matters 2Community NewsPresident’s Message 3 Joe Sherman’s Experience 4A Rajput Wedding 5 Conditions to Thrive 6Suptavirasana 7Jay Shendure 8Arun’s Legal Corner 9Runaway Thoughts 10Letter to the Editor 11Community News 12

LOTUS TEAM

Publishing & EditorialSujata Lakhe BarnardRamesh “Ray” GehaniPriyanka Gopal

Email Distribution & AdvertisingAtul Vermaficacleveland4u@gmail.com

Public Relations/CreativeParamjit Singh paramlinda@gmail.com

For Lotus related ques-tions / comments, please email : lotus@fi-cacleveland.org, or call 216/791-FICA(3422), and leave a message

Shiv K. Aggarwal was inducted in Cleveland InternationalHall of Fame of 2015

Reported by Dan Hanson of Clevelandpeople.comShiv Aggarwal was born in India, received degrees of B.A (Hons) from University of Delhi and Master of Social Work from M.S. University of Baroda. He came to USA in

1956 for further studies, and received MBA from University of Missouri.He has spent about 60 years in Cleveland, OH as a Community Organizer and helped the communities in need such as Hungar-ian, Slovak, Italian, Slovenian, African, Ap-palachian & Indian Students. He organized Area Council to develop leadership among the residents so that they could solve their own neighborhood problems. During the 1956 Hungarian Uprising, there was an in-flux of immigrants. Shiv coordinated their massive re-settlement.During 1960’s, Cleveland became a tinder box of violence. In 1966, the worst violence took place around the school in its history; the Governor dispatched National Guards to control riots. Youths were dropping out of school and were involved in gang ac-tivities. There were constant clashes among youths, adults and police.Shiv organized Collinwood Youth As-sociation, and embarked upon a massive

outreach to involve youths & adults in meaningful activities. He broke up constant gang wars. One wintry night, they planned to commit a major crime. He reached their den and talked to gun wielding youths, who put a gun on his temple…..shouting kill him kill him. But he convinced them to abandon their plans. On occasions, Shiv saved them from the Juvenile Court actions; then, he devised a landmark Last Chance Rehab Program, which became a model for Cleveland. That was the beginning of gang break-ups.Shiv was constantly raising substantial funds; became one of the best fund-raisers. He expanded his community services and founded Collinwood Community Services Center. His leadership and administrative skills were recognized by Board of Trustees, Mayor of Cleveland at a civic function in City Hall, Ohio State Governor & Senate, Cleveland City Council.Shiv was interested in the unmet needs of Cleveland Community. He developed an innovative outpatient mobilhealth clinic (Doctor on Wheels) for elderly who were on fixed income, had no access to doctors, suffering with chronic illnesses. He pro-cured a large van, fitted with equipment and an examining room; which was driven to congregate housing with an attending

doctor and a physician’s assistant. Many el-derly patient were treated, their quality of life improved; that alleviated the need for expensive emergency room visits and un-necessary institutionalization.. This pioneer project was the success story of Cleveland.During 1990’s, HIV/AIDS epidemic broke out in the USA; the need for infection con-trol was identified. Shiv founded Raymar Medical Corp. to distribute latex gloves to schools, correction institutions, medical & janitorial personnel. Since there was an acute shortage of gloves, Shiv assisted in setting up a glove manufacturing factory in India, and then imported for distribution. When the goal was accomplished, after two decades, Shiv stopped distribution and do-nated supplies worth $500,000 to charities for use in Africa & South America.Recently, Shiv was a keynote speaker at the Asia Pacific Heritage Day and received a ci-tation from the Mayor of Cleveland.Shiv has been married to Saroj (an Ophthal-mologist) for 55 years. His son Dr. Sandeep married to Dr. Neelum who have two sons - Rajan & Ashwin. His daughter Sonali is married to Dr. George Dass. They have a son Shaun and daughter Sabrina.

Where: Mahatma Gandhi Statue at Cleveland Cultural Gardens. We will unfurl flags here at 11:00 AM, national anthems and then a parade to Rockefeller City Garden Greenhouse *prem-ises, A walk of one mile. A shuttle will be available to those who do not wish to walk. All re-gional Indian organizations can join like minded people with their banners and proud members.What: At Rockefeller City Garden Greenhouse, we will set a stage for days entertainment and a tent for shade/rain. We are also inviting food vendors*, Indian art, sarees, jewelry vendors, mehendi artist and DJ for everyone to enjoy. Please try to wear all or some colors of our flag and bring your cheery disposition!Parking: Parking can be along the MLK drive for flag unfurling and then at the vast parking space in front of Rockefeller City Garden Greenhouse*Shuttle: Shuttle will run every 15 mins from 10 AM to 1:00 PM for people who may wish to park at Greenhouse and take a shuttle to Mahatma statue for Flag and national anthem cer-emony.*Subject to approval by City and issuance of appropriate permits.

August 15, Saturday, 2015. Please SAVE the DATE to celebrate our heritage on the 68th anniversary of India gaining SWARAJYA..

Independence and self governance!

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FICA mattersVolunteers clean up and tend gardens around Mahatma statue at Cleveland

Cultural Gardens!By Sujata Lakhe Barnard

The thing about the Cleveland Cultural Gardens is that they seem to be Cleveland’s best kept secret! A couple of winding miles, old tree slopes, busts of cultural heroes, iconic statues and monuments just south of Lake Erie, tailing to the VA Hospital and Art Museum running along Doan

Brook/MLKdrive and ending in Rockefeller City Garden and Greenhouse. Thirty plus gardens and still growing. The grounds for Cleveland Cultural Gardens was donated by Rockefeller which became a canvas for Hun-garian, Slovak, Polish, German, Irish, Greek, Italian and more recently Indian, Albanians, Azer-baijani, Syrian, Croatian, Serbian and on and on ethnic pride. A

walk through the park is very contrasting to daily life of borderless web-based existence we live now a days as one wanders through the gravitas of national pride. The existence of these gardens reminds us of the kind of world we say we want, growing closer hand in hand moving forward instead of scared of ‘others’ running in opposite directions! Summer festi-vals, bicyclists and peace-lovers shine light on these gardens during sum-mer, but not enough in my view.

Due to seemingly disorganized nature of the Gardens is dif-ficult to just pull over. But the Rockefeller City Garden and Greenhouse at the north end of the stretch of the Gardens, a soft turn from MLK drive just before exits for I-90, has a large parking lot and the Garden and Green-house well worth a day trip. The distance between Mahatma Stat-ue and Rockefeller City Garden

is 1.1 miles. Wouldn’t it be great to have a 3K race and 1 mile fun walk on the morning of this year’s Independence celebration this year? If you and your family would like to take part in this race, please email lakhe4FICA@gmail.com, with your interest and number of people you will be running with before July 10th. In addition, hope to see a lot of you at the Indepen-dence day celebration this year

Last years photos, a march from Mahatma’s stat-ue to Rockefeller City Garden and Greenhouse.

Sculpted and cast by Gautam Pal in Calcutta India. Gandhi’s figure stands ten foot tall and is made of bronze with a lead base. The gran-ite base upon which the sculpture stands is ap-proximately seven foot high and is inscribed with a Gandhi quote on its eastern side: “I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cul-tures of all lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any.”

GandhiCleveland is unique in having an im-pressive statue of Mahatma Gandhi on a street named for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Many are unaware of the significance of this. Many are unaware that M. K. Gan-dhi, a young barrister experienced his very first act of racism in South Africa. Dressed in three piece suit, educated and well do family man could not understand why he could not sit in First-Class of the train taking him to work! Thrown on the next platform by the collar when he refused to give up a seat for which he was holding a ticket, set him on a path to seek social change, justice and ultimately India’s In-

dependence. Remarkably even though it was an act of violence which started the wheels in his mind turning, he knew non-violence had more power to bring about a contructive change. His famous quote, “an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind” should be plastered on every street corner! Gandhi-ji’s philosophy had a huge impact on civil rigths leaders and espe-cially on Martin Luther King Jr.

Cleveland the City of Peace and Nonviolence (CCPNV) is a coalition of individuals, families, organizations and religious institutions in the Great-er Cleveland area that seeks to explore, practice and promote Mahatma Gandhi’s and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s philosophy of using nonviolence for righting wrongs and establishing a culture of humanity, justice, peace and nonviolence for the prosperity of the area. Paramjit Singh, a communi-ty leader and long time resident of Shaker height has been working his en-tire life to bring these ideals to his adopted home city of greater Cleveland..

INDEPENDENCE DAY, 2014

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Around the communities

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

Jyoti Sadekar, Treasurertreasurer@ficacleveland.orgrupald6130@hotmail.com216/791-FICA(3422)

Ashish Deshpandedrashishdeshpande@gmail.com626/202-6662

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

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

Atul Verma, Lotus Business ManagerFICAcleveland4you@gmail.com businessmanager@ficacleveland.org.704/307-5470

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

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.orgSujit Ghosh, President440-542-0363sujitghosh@hotmail.com

Marathi Mandal www. neomm.orgDr. Sharad Wankhade330-321-7677sharadw@hotmail.com

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

President’s Message

“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.”~ Rabindranath Tagore

As many of you know, last month was personally the most difficult month I

have ever experienced. As an expat whose older parents live in their native country, one always dreads the fact that you may not be there for the last moments and by the time you get there every trace of their physical being might be gone! However, a drop of solace for me was that I was able to say goodbye to my father, albeit in the midst of umpteen tubes keeping him from going over to the other world. After 18 days of struggle in ICU, my dad passed away from a gentle slowing of heart over a period of 15 minutes. What was remarkable was the pouring in of human warmth to alleviate pain of loss to my family. The automatic turning of the social wheel spared the family from managing and arranging all that needs to be done after one passes away. Friends, Maha-rashtra Mandal sent meals so the loved ones could focus on mourning! Friends in Cleveland, took time out of their busy schedule to make sure my daughter was well taken care of without me. Even though a little piece of my heart seem to have gone missing, never to be found again, I am immensely grateful to my friends and family in India and in US for their tremendous support.

As I was preparing to write this, I was leafing through Lotus issues from past years. One thing I noticed was that there was hurt expressed in previous President’s messages about apathy shown by people for FICA spon-sored events, how response was underwhelming, how “superiority’ complex of Indian community may be the reason for low turn out etc. There was some men-tion of how in spite of having a good representation in terms of Indian businesses, cultural programs and FICA sponsorship at Annual Asian Festival, there were only a handful of Indians in the audience.Then I thought, may be FICA is not doing what people like to do naturally in their lives. And thus instead of trying to twist peoples

arms to make them attend FICA events, why not FICA go to events people already go and help make those event even better! Therefore this year FICA will col-laborate with IndiaFest, an event organized by Bharat Patel and very popular with all generations of Indian diaspora. Our executive team is also preparing to cel-ebrate India’s Independence day at the same location as last year and with similar programing. We are hoping to unfurl our flag and sing national anthems at Gandhi statue and then march from there to Rockefeller City Garden, a 1.1 mile walk. People who have never been there should give themselves a lot time to find the place as in my experience GPS drops you at a random spot on MLK Blvd! We are hoping regional Indian organizations like Bengali Cultural Society, Northeast Ohio Maharash-tra Mandel, Orissa society, Hindu Heritage school, In-dian Christian group, Salaam Cleveland to name a few, will march with their banners and people. Once we get to Rockefeller Garden there will be food to buy, cultural program, Mehendi, Indian knick-knacks. Ofcourse this is all subject to City permits and feedback from people. Final Programing, exact timing should be published in July and August Lotus. So please everyone mark Au-gust 15th, Saturday as pride for our heritage day..get all your green/cream/saffron clothes in order!

One other thing I wanted to talk about was my dis-appointment at FICA’s inability to react to disaster in Nepal. This is one area we need to adapt to changing times. In Cleveland there are many not-for-profit who are operating on zero overheads and making impact in real time in Nepal. FICA’s hands cannot be tied up in red-tape when it comes time to give to such ‘new’ but effective charitable organizations. FICA needs to raise money to donate to these charities. I happen to talk with Seva International Sri Sreenath and C. Jain at Ne-pal disaster fundraising at the Shiv-Vishnu temple and we all came to a conclusion that we should support Seva international in their efforts in Nepal. Please email me at lakhe4fica@gmail.com with suggestions, scoldings or appreciation! ~respectifully, SLB

4 Events Future & PastMy experience from one night at Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana

I want to share what my visit to Cleveland Thya-garaja Aradhana the huge 12-day long South In-dian dance and music festival happening now at Cleveland State, was like. Hopefully this will in-spire some more of my friends to come check out this amazing, very unique event.

I got there 20 minutes late, to see that the perfor-mance before the one I wanted to see still hadn’t ended. It was a young boy, about 12 years old, who was singing. And professional very high level adult accompanists. One of the accompa-nists was Cleveland Balu, one of the festival or-ganizers, one of my favorite people, who I’ve performed with a couple times and who very generously gave me some Kanjira lessons and a couple Kanjira drums to go with it! I am so much in debt to him and the other festival organizers for providing so much great music over the years. This boy’s singing was in my estimation about 10 - 20 times more skillful than the American adult singers who win those TV competitions we as a nation adore so much. Truly a rising star. So I got to see the end of that performance, and already felt like I got my $25 worth that I paid for the en-tire evening. Still coming were the three perfor-mances I went there to see.

The next performance was actually a north In-dian program called a jugalbandi, which means “tied together” and represents a certain for-mat where there are two melodic players trad-ing lines and playing together. This is rare, we don’t see it often here because the artist costs are higher for more people. There was also a great tabla player, Arup Chattopadhyay, who I actu-ally stayed in a hotel room with a long time back when he was playing for my first Tabla teacher in Detroit. And as an extra bonus there was also a Mridangam player. From the beginning, the music was absolutely sublime. It was like the first ray of sun coming above the horizon. If you

could hear someone’s soul when they are at their most peaceful, that’s what it sounded like. I was quite moved. From there the pace built and built until they were playing insanely fast lines, both together and trading back and forth. The percus-sionists were also tearing it up, raising the level of excitement even further. The ending was like a fireworks finale of sound. Again I easily got my moneys worth for that show alone.

Next performance was all people I hadn’t heard of, except the Mridangam drum player who is a legend, one of the top guys. The singer turned out to be really excellent, on a scale of excellence that most western audiences and music lovers are completely unfamiliar with. Picture the most shredding instrument solo you can imagine. It’s that, except with the human voice. It would be incomprehensible for anyone who never experi-enced it. I found out later his Guruji is my favor-ite south Indian vocalist. As usual for this partic-ular format, the violin player shadowed his lines and responded beautifully. The percussionists, also, were out of this world. Trichy Sankaran’s brain is like a human rhythm computer. It was so mind boggling. People sometimes assume I play Tabla so I should play at this festival... I couldn’t even count the beat they were playing to without messing up at times, because their playing was dancing around it and subdividing it so skillfully. Though much of it was over my head, it didn’t stop me from enjoying the sheer ecstasy of it. The other percussionist was a fantastic Kanjira play-er, who has the job of matching the Mridangam player but with only one hand. Also as usual, they had drum solos and a drum duet. We’re not talking playing a few bars either. We’re talking a 20 - 25 minute percussion section. Needless to say, just the percussion alone was worth my en-trance fee, not to mention the rest of that perfor-mance. With yet another one still to come.

The final performance of the night was a Kuchi-pudi dance opera. The first two dancers were quite stunning. The first part depicted Krishna playing flute and frolicking with his Gopi maid-ens, with every glance and slightest movement having deep scriptural relevance. And the danc-ers are also percussionists, dancing highly rhyth-mic patterns with their feet and ankle-bells. The musicians included a woman who did all kinds of vocal percussion (takadimi takajuna!), as well as a singer, a flute player, a violinist, and a Mri-dangam player. The next part was about SHIVA’s Thandav dance (which according to Hindu my-thology created the entire universe) and PAR-VATI’s dance called Lasya which was a response to Shiva’s dance. It was a beautiful performance rich with meaning and significance, and I couldn’t help but be in awe of the skill of the dancers and musicians. Another program easily worth the en-trance fee.

After all that intensity (7+ hours of excitement for $25), I walked with a friend who came with me to Comfort Inn down the street, which is where many of the out-of-towners and artists stay while

they’re here, and where you can get south Indian meals and schmooze with the artists. When you walk in, it’s like the festival took over the place. First thing I heard was a Tanpura sound! Prob-ably pumped through the hotel speakers 24/7 for the duration. We got a huge plate of awesome healthy (sattvic) feeling food for $5. I bumped into this tremendous percussionist and disciple of one of my favorite Ghatam players, who I bugged into giving me a lesson a while back. So it was great to catch up after some time. When my friend and I were leaving, we looked through a slit in a divider where that tanpura sound was coming from, and there were about 25 kids crammed together sitting on the floor of the room in the hotel practicing singing, probably for an upcoming performance or competition.

I just had to share my experience that is so typical of each night of each year of the festival, and how incredibly lucky I feel that such a thing goes on right in our home town... the single largest south Indian dance and music festival outside of India. Which is run on a volunteer basis by a small num-ber of some of the most highly dedicated music fans anywhere in the world. And which started as a few concerts in one of the organizer’s base-ments 38 years ago and grew to the behemoth it is today, hundreds of performances for 12 full days, from early morning until late at night. All right here in Cleveland, Ohio.

By Joe Sherman, who just celebrated 10-year “TABLA” anniversary and also know locally for his ritualistic river plunges including in the months of freezing winter days.

FICA executive board requests community members to please

send suggestions for us to better serve the needs of our community. Please email to info@FICAcleve-

land.org

5 Community NewsA Rajput Wedding

- By Guruji Sonal Mansingh

Mohanji as he has been known for 28 years in Delhi, India & abroad to my family, friends, stu-dents, musicians & their parents came to me from deep countryside village in Western Rajasthan. He is not literate in general sense as we under-stand but more than many ‘Literates’ I know. He is intelligent, efficient, alert, strong, loyal, honest, indeed an example to hold a candle to. As it hap-pens I look upon him as my son, my own family and helped him through highs & lows in his life as he helped me without batting an eye.

For his daughter Pushpa Kunwar’s marriage he waited till she was 18, educated her upto 10th in local school and got her married on 19th May in the village where I was the Chief Guest! My sec-retary. Simran went along curious to see how dif-ferent it would be from Delhi weddings. We flew into Jodhpur and after lunch & rest left on 2 ½ hour road journey off NH, off State Highway in rolling countryside of sand dunes, small Jhoupa (round huts) far between, peacocks perched on boulders, shrubs, groups of pea-hens simpering, innocent young golden spotted deer loping in air gracefully. For miles we did not see a person. Fi-nally at 7:30 pm we saw lights at a distance. Then trough harvested fields our SUV progressed slowly jolt by jolt to the destination where Mo-hanji stood at the head of a welcoming group of village elders, tehsil bringing his face a glow with pride and happiness. That was reward enough for me.

His wife & other women relatives in gorgeous red ghaghra-odhna greeted us traditionally; two young men had been playing non-stop on

Dholak and thaali with steel stick with such pre-cision and skill as to put our city-bred percussion-ists to shame. The ‘Bi-radari’ of these Rajputs extends to 100 villages. The Tehsil and Panchayat elders were introduced, welcome speeches made, flowers offered it was time for me return com-pliments. I too made a speech after strong per-suasion from Mohanji and family. It was as if President of India had landed up! So I made my speech wishing the couple happy life but with a gentle warning to her in-laws and their relatives that if ever I got to know about her discomfort or harassment I would not hesitate to take appro-priate steps. Immediately they stood up with Na-maskars and assured that not even in their dream would such thing happen.

Then it was music time and one singer and one drummer each from the bride & groom’s side sang by turns. I gave my choice of old Marwad songs like Ghoomar, Ganagor, Vayariya re etc. Under clear star-spangled sky we listened to tune from true music and ate delicious home-cooked meal replete with sweets made in cow’s ghee.

After 3 hours I said goodbye, met & blessed the bride and left amidst prolonged “Khama Ghani” and “Hukum”! Back to Jodhpur by past mid-night. I slept tired but contended.

Guruji Sonal Mansigh was in Cleveland in April 2015 to perform during Thyagraja festival. Her energy, grace, intelligence was amaz-ing to behold. I got a chance to spend a few private moments with Sonal-ji and most importantly celebrate her Birthday when she was here. All I can say is interaction with her has filled me with inspira-tion and awe. And I am so grateful that Guru-ji has allowed me to

share this story of her experience with Lotus readers.

Sujata Lakhe Barnard

(Rawat Publications, India), 2015, 152 pages, ISBN: 9788131607183About the BookMost recently, studies have alluded to the South Asian im-migration in the broader context of Asian immigration to the United States. This book is written in the belief that there exists no single work that documents the various is-sues of the Indian diaspora through their own voices, and through successive generations in Ohio. Based on personal

interviews with Asian Indians, it explores the patterns and the reasons for cultural ‘shifts’ amongst the Asian Indian community in Ohio at the same time providing a platform for useful comparisons with immigrants from other countries- exhibiting similar trajectories of cultural encounters and perpetuation of social and cultural values and a distinct identity.

Chapters 1. Reflections on Migration of Asian Indians: An Introduction2 Travels Across: Asian Indians in America3 Breaking the Silence: Nostalgia and Memories4 ‘New’ Identity and ‘Old’ Institutions: Voices and Viewpoints5 Understanding the Trajectories of Asian Indians: Concluding Reflections

* Founding Member of Asian Indian Heritage Project and Visiting Scholar at Cleveland State University. Has authored and edited several books on social history of Indian medicine in colonial India.

Note: Copies of the book (discounted price of $20.00 only) are available with the author. Contact email: pxb43@case.edu or call: 216-4104276

Diaspora, Culture and Identity: Asian Indians in America- By Poonam Bala*

6 Community News

Conditions To Thrive- By Sanju Vinekar

When I was a child, my mother tended an extensive garden. All by herself, she loaded up into her trunk a rented roto-tiller, brought it home and tilled up what seemed to me an excessively large rectangle out of the deeply rooted lawn in the heavy clay soil of our Southwestern back yard. Then she removed each tilled-up clump of grass by hand and mixed in loads of manure and compost. And, then she planted both conventional American garden plants and, of all things, much to my dismay ... karela. Not satisfied with only the large rectangular plot in the back yard, she then proceeded to plant okra all along the narrow strip of soil between our driveway and our house. As she adhered to organic methods, she planted what seemed like hundreds of marigold plants around the borders of her plots to discourage pests, but look-ing back, perhaps more importantly, to provide the flowers for the gar-lands we made on the mornings of pooja days. And, she did all of this in the unrelenting Oklahoma heat. I can’t speak for my brother, but I hated to be out in the garden as a child. I hated the feel of the hairs on the tomato stems against my skin. I hated the slightly prickly okra and the sticky sap that got on my fingers when I picked them. I hated being outside in the searing heat knowing there was a cool spot going to waste inside where I could instead be lost in the garden-free plot of a novel. And, most of all, I hated to see aw-ful bitter karela bhaji on my plate at dinner time. I have to admit that I did not mind the job of collecting the marigold flowers on the mornings of pooja days, bringing them inside, washing them, and then stringing them tightly onto thread to create thick saffron-colored garlands. What I did not realize then, was that, as my mother planted the radish seeds in the earth, she was also planting the seeds of interest into us children. When my husband and I moved to South Louisiana, I dabbled a little with some garden-ing. In the heat and humidity of most of the year and mild winters of South Louisiana, though, the plants pretty much take care of them-selves. A move to the North, where the growing season is substantially shorter, put an end to any delusion that I knew anything much about gardening. But, at this older house in the North, inheriting the ruins of gardens lost under the deep shade of trees, taught me to appreciate the

lessons of the garden. -- Not only for the plants but for human beings, as well.I came across the wild vestiges of what had been, years ago, the tame components of a previous owner’s garden bed, it might be a peony stem and another plant that looked like a weed except for its striking variegated leaves, some plants that looked like irises but didn’t bloom and even some that looked like daf-fodils. These wild things were wait-ing patiently in hopes of once again being in the right environment. I dug up the potential ornamentals and planted them in various spots around the property. After a few years, all of these scraps had become substantially fuller and some of the mystery plants I suspected of being flowering plants did, in fact, bloom. Not all of them, though. So, I dug them up and moved them again.

And, sometimes again and even again. When a plant is in exactly the right place for its make-up, it can reach its full potential.I have to admit that, in the experi-ment, I also managed to move a few weeds to environments that are par-ticularly conducive to their growth. Now I am practicing how to remove them. When it comes to human be-ings, interestingly, the journey to-wards reaching one’s goals is quite similar to the journey of these plants, what we can truly become, the extent of our vibrance, the pace and extent of our growth and development, the depth of our understanding . Those who begin in environments that are not conducive to thriving may never find out if they remain there. And, those who explore a more sup-portive environment may, in fact, be wonderfully surprised to realize that what one suspected was one’s calling is in fact something entirely different. Some plants thrive in im-

poverished soil and will develop fungal disease if their roots are in too nutrient-rich soil. Similarly, some people are motivated to prog-ress when their opportunities are few and their support is thin. Have we not all met and been impressed by such people? Books are writ-ten about such people. Movies are made about such people. On the other hand, some people who live lives without any resistance and in an extremely enriched environment. Yet these people are like the plants who cannot thrive in too nutrient-rich soil. These people cannot find it within themselves to develop and thrive despite, or maybe because of, all the advantages having been made available.There are a complex set of factors that can affect whether or not a plant or a human will thrive.Unlike plants, humans can help

themselves. If we are not finding the support we need to thrive in one environment, then why not try another different environment? If we find ourselves in among society that insists we fit into an externally imposed definition of success that differs from our own, then why not find the place where our own defi-nition of success is appreciated? If we find ourselves associating with weed-like people who see the world as a zero-sum game, who need to overtake, why not simply stop as-sociating with them altogether just as the gardener simply pulls out the weeds by the roots?Some of the plants I found in the deep shade are now blooming but not thriving. They are contributing and performing, but at the expense of their own vigor. Others of the same variety I planted in different spots. These are thriving and mul-tiplying, but they are not bloom-ing. I’m going to move all of them to different spots. Like these plants, sometimes we find ourselves in en-

vironments that meet all our needs so we are healthy and comfortable, but we remain uninspired and per-form below our potential. Like the latter plants, we humans might find ourselves in environments that in-spire us to perform at great heights, but at the expense of our own health and our own sense of well-being. In either case, the environment is not serving us well. It is time for me to move those plants. And, for humans who find themselves in such an en-vironment, it is time to find another, too.Like the plants in the garden, when we surround ourselves by the right factors we are more likely to figure out what is our particular raison d’être, if it has been a mystery, and we are more likely to maximize our potential. Too often, we humans are complacent with less than ideal en-vironments even when we have the opportunity to change them eas-ily. For plants, the change might re-quire an actual physical move, but it could just as easily mean the trim-ming back of overhead branches to let in more sunlight or applying a heavier mulch to stabilize moisture levels and temperatures. Similarly, for humans, a change in environ-ment might mean a physical move. But, it could just as well mean find-ing a different set of people with whom to associate primarily or find-ing a different job that offers more opportunities to shine or finding activities that offer opportunities to meet different people or demon-strate our skills. Perhaps, our lives are full of over-stimulation, we are exhausted like the plants who de-velop disease from too nutrient-rich soils, and we need to streamline and eliminate some of the stimulation. Perhaps, we are like plants who need fertilizer and need to increase our intellectual, physical, and/or social stimulation levels. When it comes to optimizing our own hu-man potential by finding the most advantageous environment, some-times it might help us to think of ourselves like the plants in a garden. When we find the environment that works, we often surprise even our-selves by what we can accomplish and what we can contribute. These days, there are many splendid huge peony flowers on two of those peo-ny stems that had been struggling in the shade. It is a breathtaking sight. Similarly, when we see someone who was just going through the mo-tions somehow adjust their lives so that they thrive, it is breathtaking.

7Arts ReviewSUPTA VIRASANA

(RECLINING HERO’S POSE)

- By Vishali Gupta

Ekla Chalo Re……not!- Reported by Sujata Lakhe Barnard/lakhe4fica@gmail.com

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

(216) 295-0400www.thesaffronpatch.com

Supta Virasana is a reclining Hero’s pose. The name comes from the San-skrit word supta meaning “reclined” and asana meaning “posture”. DescriptionIn this intermediate asana the torso reclines backwards so that the back rests on the floor. The arms rest on the floor to either side of the trunk, palms facing up. This posture elongates the spine and creates space in our torso which prepares the body for Pranayama and Meditation. In this asana, we fully expose and expand our front body not only at the physical level but also unlocking the energy at the anahata chakra (heart center). It also allows us to reset our habitual forward rounding and allows us to navigate through the ups and downs of day to day life with courage and openness like of a hero. Anatomically, this asana lengthens the extensor muscles of the leg and the deep psoas muscles that connect the legs to the trunk. It is a backbend.

How to get into this asana1. Come onto hands and knees position with hands under the shoulders and hips over knees and floating ribs in. 2. Shift the hips back in Virasana with buttocks in between the heels. In-hale fully to lengthen the spine. 3. Exhale, find ease, and lower your spine backwards towards the earth. First lean onto your hands, then your forearms, and then finally onto your elbows. Do not change the position of your legs.4. Place your hands on the floor in a comfortable position palms up.5. Release the lower back by stretching the skin on the back of your but-tocks towards the tailbone.6. Close your eyes and focus on the breath. 7. If front ribs jut up sharply to the ceiling it is a sign of tight hip flexors. Use your hands to press your front ribs slightly in and lift your pubis to-wards the navel engaging the pelvic floor muscles. 8. Thighs remain parallel to the floor with feet pointing backwards. Do not allow the thighs to splay open to the sides which will cause strain on hips and lower back. 9. If knees lift off the floor, support them with a blanket underneath. 10. Remain in this position for about 30 seconds to 1 minute and then re-lease from this asana. 11. To come out, press your forearms into the floor and come onto your hands. Use your hands to lift your torso into Virasana. Lead with your sternum and not head or chin. Contradictions1.Severe back injury/ pain2.Knee injury 3.Severe neck injuryModificationsFor beginners, this asana can be challenging and may seem to confer too deep of a stretch on the quads and ankles and deep extension in the spine. Use blankets, bolsters, and guidance of a qualified Yoga teacher to help you ease into the pose. Benefits1. Stretches abdomen muscles, back muscles, quads and hip flexors. 2. Counteracts the forward hunching of the shoulders. 3. Relieves tired legs. 4. Improves digestive system.5. Helps relieve menstrual pain and cramping. 6. Strengthens knees, ankles, and arches of the feet. 7.This is an excellent posture for runners who have tightness in their quad-riceps, hamstrings, hip extensors and psoas muscles. 8. Stretches inter costal muscles for better breathing thus activating the parasympathetic nervous system.

As you practice this asana, observe yourself. Are you working too hard to be in this asana or can you shift your awareness on your inhalations and exhalations? Can you soften the eye lids or close your eyes and drop into receptivity. Let this asana allow you to face the world as it is, without fear or aggression, not too tight, not too easy..Aum Shanti, Shanti Shantihi.

On April 22, 2015 there was an entertaining and philanthropic program called ‘Pancham (R D Bur-man) - An immortal Note’ consisting of upbeat Bollywood songs spanning 5 decades attended by a large crowd in order to raise funds for a unique school program in India called Ekal Vidyalaya.

Ekal Vidyalaya is primarily funded through dona-tions by individuals and family foundations in In-

dia, the US and around the world. The Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation is a charitable trust that initiates, supports, and runs one-teacher schools (known as Ekal Vidy-alayas) all over India. With the participation of numerous non-profit trusts and organizations, this program has become the largest grassroots, non-governmental education movement that operates in the remote villages of India. The Ekal move-ment aims to help eradicate illiteracy from rural and tribal India. Hurray for the April 22 program in Cleveland Tri-C auditorium, which raised record funds!

Shreedhar Nair, one of the main organizers of the April event said, “What a fan-tastic team work ! 200 + villages and thousands of children will be better off with our effort !” This particular event was extremely well organized and well attended in the history of Ekal events in Cleveland. The front desk was efficient and elegant with Ganesh and diya decoration. The sharply dressed young men and women were brisk and competent ushers.Thanks to an excellent ground work done lead-ing up to the day in conjunction to cordial organizing, the program started at sharp 6:00 PM. The wonderful evening was opened with nice poetry and a quote by Vivekananda.

Swati Sathe , one of the key organizers of this event said, “I think all of us are feel-ing justifiable pride and joy for an effective and well received function with each and every one of us participating heartily. It really felt like a family event and we set a new record in Ekal fundraising.What a fantastic team work !”

While India is making giant advances in software, space, and nuclear power, it is paradoxically still struggling with basic literacy for a large segment of its popula-tion. Upon independence, India’s literacy rate was a staggering 11%. Since then, it has made tremendous strides in educating its people. According to a 2011 census, the literacy rate has grown to 74.04%; however, this figure is still well below the world average literacy rate of 84%. The RGI census data states that though the gap between the literacy rate in urban and rural areas is steadily declining, the divide still exists. The literacy rate among the urban population is 84.1%, while the lit-eracy rate of the rural population is only 67.8%. The tribal villagers live in remote areas far from major cities and are often unreachable by road and untouched by electricity, causing them to be neglected by development agencies. Therefore, Ekal Vidyalaya focuses its primary education programs in these underprivileged com-munities of India.

To date, Ekal Vidyalaya is a movement of over 53,000 teachers, 6,000 voluntary workers, 35 field organization (throughout 22 Indian states), and 8 support agen-cies. It operates in over 53,000 schools and educates more than 1.5 million chil-dren. Apart from its goal of achieving the national standards of Minimum Level of Learning, Ekal Vidyalaya seeks to empower the village community for its own self-development through four aspects: functional literacy, health care education, de-velopment education, and empowerment education.The dedication of the donors, supporters, and workers of Ekal Vidyalaya is the key to this organization’s remark-able success, so keep your ears alert for next Ekal event in Greater Cleveland area!.

7Issues that matter8 News of Interest

Jay Shendure, MD, PhDUniversity of Washington

Science is experiencing a genomics revolution, and Jay Shendure is one of the innovators sustaining its momentum. His work has helped make DNA sequencing faster, cheaper, and more informative. Shendure is a methods developer at heart, but his deep knowledge of medicine and genetics keeps him focused on new technologies that can make a big impact on our un-derstanding of biology and disease. As a graduate student, Shendure laid the groundwork for today’s next-generation sequencing when he devel-oped a method for genome sequencing that simultaneously analyzes mil-lions of DNA molecules – an approach only about one-tenth as expensive as conventional methods. In his own lab, Shendure developed a platform for sequencing only the genome’s protein-coding regions – the exome – and demonstrated how this cost-effective strategy can identify disease-related gene mutations. Labs around the world have since used exome sequencing to discover genes associated with hundreds of human disorders. More re-cently, Shendure’s team showed that it’s possible to sequence the complete genome of a fetus from samples obtained non-invasively from the parents. As Shendure and others apply his methods to real problems, his cross-dis-ciplinary lab team continues to develop new technologies.

Jay Shendure

“Our son was recently in the news and listed in the article :HHMI Selects 26 of the Nation’s Top Biomedical Scientists” say Raj and Ashok Shen-

dure, the proud parents and Solon residents.

News of Interest 9

A long-lost relative bequeaths you a large estate in southern Ohio complete with fields, barn, livestock, and equipment. Your inheritance includes a century-old steam tractor which, despite its age, appears to be functional.

Heeding Ghandi’s admonition that “to forget how to dig the earth and tend the soil is to forget ourselves,” you decide to retire to a simpler life of farming. The first time you start the old tractor, however, it bursts into flames which burns the barn to the ground. Luckily no one is hurt, but there is no insurance to cover the loss. Do you have any recourse against the tractor manufacturer?

The answer is likely no. Many people know the concept of statute of limitations. Applied in the civil context, it means a finite amount of time during which one has to file a lawsuit after a cause of action (here, the fire) accrues, or it is barred forever. At issue here, however, is a lesser known principle called a statute of repose. Stated simply, a statute of repose is a finite amount of time after the offending article is sold after which suit can-not be brought against the manu-facturer. The clock starts to tick at the sale of the product for a statute of repose, whereas the clock starts to tick at the date of loss for the statute of limitations. In Ohio, the statute of repose is 10 years. This means that, absent ex-ceptions in the statute (and there are

several, such as where the manufac-turer extends a warranty past the 10 year period), once a particular prod-uct has been delivered to the first purchaser, a cause of action cannot accrue after the 10 years has elapsed even if it is subsequently purchased by others. The rationale here is that once products are in the real world, they are used, abused, misused, re-paired, and otherwise altered in every imaginable way. A product manufacturer should have some date after sale when it can no longer be sued for injuries caused by that product. Returning to our situation, if your steam tractor had been 9 years and 11 months old when it caught fire, the event would be within the 10 year statute of repose. You would then have had 2 years under the stat-

ute of limitations within which to file a lawsuit. The tractor, however, was built during World War I, and was owned (and used) by numerous people since that time. There has to be a limit to liability. Absent an ex-ception, you are out of luck.###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. Contact: arun.kottha@tuckerellis.com; please feel free to submit a topic for a subse-quent article. 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.

As the weather warms up, many people are thinking about summer plans—and possibly dreaming of buying a vacation home. Although it may sound appealing, purchasing a vacation property isn’t something to be entered into lightly. If you’re considering this major commitment, here are some important questions to ask yourself.What’s your budget?In addition to the cost of the property itself, you need to consider other ex-penses such as:• Property taxes• Insurance• Repairs and maintenance, land-scaping, and utilitiesIf you’d need to take out a second mortgage to finance the purchase, you’ll have to decide if getting fur-ther into debt makes sense. Do your due diligence to see if you’re a candi-date for a second mortgage, includ-ing reviewing your current credit score and your debt-to-income ratio (your total monthly debt payments divided by your gross monthly in-come). Lenders generally look for a debt-to-income ratio below 36 per-cent.How will you use the property? A key factor in the financial calcula-tion is whether you’ll use the home solely as your personal vacation residence, turn it into a rental prop-erty, or some combination of the two. Many people use rental income from a second home to offset the mortgage until the property is paid off.Tax considerations. If you rent out the home for fewer than 15 nights per year, you can keep the income without reporting it to the IRS. If you rent it out more than that, you must report the rental income, but you also

qualify to claim certain deductions.How much you get to deduct de-pends on how you divide your per-sonal time at the property and the rental time. If you spend 14 nights per year at the home, or more than 10 percent of the number of nights it is rented out (whichever is longer), the IRS considers the home a personal residence, and you can write off typi-cal rental expenses against your rent-al income.Who will manage the property?If renting the vacation house is part of your plan, consider who will take responsibility for:• Overseeing the property (including handling cleaning, repairs, and the like)• Coordinating with renters• Assessing the local rental market to price the property accordinglyIf you live a considerable distance away from the second home, hiring a local property manager is an expense that can’t be overlooked.What kind of insurance will you need?Insurance is a necessary protection for any piece of property, and vaca-tion homes can present additional risks. There are many options to choose from, so it’s important to do your research. Some insurers may offer a second-home endorsement to your primary residence coverage instead of selling you another stand-alone policy, which may be a more af-fordable choice.Other insurance considerations in-clude:• Location: Be sure to look into the neighborhood crime rate, natural dangers common in the area (such as flood or hurricane risk), and the his-tory and state of the property itself.

• Amount and type of liability cov-erage: Whether the house will be va-cant for extended periods or rented by many tenants over the course of the year, it’s imperative to ensure that you have sufficient coverage.How easy would it be to sell?If you decide to sell the property eventually, you’ll want to be sure you can make a profit. Popular vacation areas tend to have higher property appreciation rates, but location isn’t everything. You should plan to invest in upgrades and maintenance along the way to maximize the return on your investment.Making a wise choiceBuying a vacation house can be an ex-citing accomplishment (and possibly a great investment), but it requires se-rious consideration, especially from a financial standpoint. Ensuring that you have the means to comfortably purchase a second home—and recog-nizing the additional expenses that come along with it—is key to making a smart decision that your family will

enjoy for years to come.

This material has been provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute either tax or legal advice. Although we go to great lengths to make sure our informa-tion is accurate and useful, we rec-ommend you consult a tax preparer, professional tax advisor, or lawyer.IRS CIRCULAR 230 DISCLOSURE:To ensure compliance with require-ments imposed by the IRS, we in-form you that any U.S. tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Inter-nal Revenue Code, or (ii) promoting, marketing, or recommending to an-other party any transaction or matter addressed herein.

© 2015 Commonwealth Financial Network®

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

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Looking at reformist New Regime/BJP at New Delhi, it appears that In-dia will have plenty to dance about during years to come. Since all issues can’t be addressed effectively at the same time under democratic setting by any Government, India should be able to find at least reason(s) to sing about some other achievements. First Union Budget of BJP for 2015-16 re-cently came out in India. It is notice-able as well as impressive, to say the least. Indian Government seems to be bent upon vital reforms which got neglected during last several decades. For a number of industries in India, interesting times seem to be ahead now. Looking at new budget, this fact can not be disputed. It usually takes about a couple of years before out-come of reforms of such a magnitude can be noticed, felt and/or experi-enced. Reduction of Corporate Tax by 5% in next four years makes it quiet a pro-corporate budget. If inflation could be kept under control and infra projects (physical as well as digital in-frastructure take off without wasting any more time), new budget should have an extremely positive impact on India’s forthcoming economic growth story. All necessary clearances are go-ing to be put in place as per this bud-get. Within four days of presentation of India’s Union Budget for 2015-16, RBI/Reserve Bank of India has cut the repo rate by a quarter percent again (second time in last three months or so) so that banks could meet the grow-ing need of their customers. New Regime/BJP has been in place since May, 2014 (12 Months) only but one can clearly see that country is head-ing in the right direction. It is a long ‘five year game’. Government is quiet in luck. Otherwise Oil and other vital Commodity prices would not have tumbled down, Internationally. Pric-es came down at highly appropriate time. With the much awaited reforms getting in place, Indian Government should be able to reap all the benefits associated with such low Internation-al prices of Oil, Gold, etc. Crackdown significantly on Black Money and Tax Evaders is very much part of new re-gime’s agenda. Tax Evaders will no longer be allowed to approach the ‘Settlement Commission’, as part of new law, should keep tax payers on the right tract.A long awaited and structurally posi-tive Bankruptcy Law, as per Interna-tional Standards will also be in place in India by next 12 months or so. BJP does look like a positive game chang-er. For the first time in India’s history (since Independence of August 15, 1947), a robust Social Security Sys-tem got addressed for millions in the new budget. In less than four months, about 125 million Indian families were brought by BJP into the financial

mainstream. The emphasis on these measures is of prime importance and one should expect a positive impact of current Government’s these exer-cises for years to come. In addition, Senior Citizen Welfare Fund also got created for 105 Million Seniors over 60 years old (including 10 Million over the age of 80 years). Now most of Asian Indians (18 to 50 age group) can get accidental insurance coverage for less than two cents per month and accidental as well as death from natu-ral causes insurance for less that sixty cents per month. Amount of coverage will be quiet reasonable by paying said premiums. India’s financial sec-tor had hitherto multiple laws with quiet a bit of multiplicity, complexity and non-uniformity which made gov-erning markets difficult and costly.BJP’s recent efforts to minimize cur-rent level of regulations in order to achieve maximum governance must be applauded by everyone associated

with financial sector in India. Further, after many years of debate and discussions (since 1986 or so), India’s Insurance sector is finally getting reformed. In addition to do-mestic, these reforms should equally attract foreign investors to ride the growth in said sector. Indian Insur-ance Industry is expected to need a capital of about $10 billion over next 60 months or so. With recent increase in the foreign funding limits, raising needed capital should not be difficult (once BJP’s proposed reforms are in place). New Indian Regime/BJP seem to fully understand that World is passing through the times when mar-ket dynamics are changing quiet rap-idly. Businesses are becoming com-petitive and challenging. Therefore, India needs to be focused as well as sharp, and capable of handling chang-ing market dynamics in the shortest span of time. Fortunately, almost all necessary tools are around, provided we understand as to how to use them effectively and profitably. One should

not be afraid of trying new methods and take advantage of various parts of huge IT field. Effectively using prin-ciples of Data Science to solve busi-ness problems on daily basis we come across should be quiet practical and possible. Looking at success of some global businesses (including in India), I am very much in favor of taking a shot at ‘under penetrated’ space of major industries. I am also in favor of merging and demerging of one’s businesses, if warranted, on account of changing market dynamics. Vari-ous prominent and highly successful Indian businesses have done it and successfully unlocked their overall value in this way in the recent past. Sun Pharmaceutical (it bought Ran-baxy on stock swap basis, i.e., stocks were used as currency), Tata Group of Companies, Bajaj Group, and Sunda-ran Clayton come to my mind imme-diately. Titan of Tata became a signifi-

cant success story not long ago. Tata has also almost immediately moved and opened an Office in Northern France where ICT/Information and Communication Technology has started making quiet a buzz. That part of France was hitherto nothing more than bunch of coal mines and textile mills. Now it has become a recogniz-able hub to incubate innovative ideas and flourish in ICT area. And Jam-shedji’s Tata did not want to lose that

opportunity and made a decision to be part of France’s growth story in ICT also. Some other well-known busi-nesses, like IBM, Amazon, etc. have also recently moved there in Northern France. Ladies & Gentlemen, with qualitative education of staff mem-bers and knowledge about social me-dia and social media networks, exist-ing businesses of most of the World economies can grow significantly (in relatively short span of time) these days. Speaking of social and social media networks, Harvard alone is de-pendent on almost 400 ‘social media pages’ to reach its students, future students, employers of its students, other businesses and industries, and so on. It is time for India to promote working of its public and private sec-tors as part and parcel of each other (like hand and glove). Country’s lead-ing Business Schools and Universi-ties should also be fully involved in order to make its much publicized programs like ‘Make in India’, ‘Clean India’, and ‘Made in India’ become tenable. ‘Made in India’ here should reflect manufacturing for its own 1.25 Billion consumer base. It is also very much in air that World markets (es-pecially emerging ones) are likely to spend about $20 trillion in next 120 months on infrastructures (roads, bridges, airports, housing markets/new houses, and on consumer goods). Timing is in favor of India. Indian In-dustries should receive all the neces-sary support from the Government to upgrade technology in order to en-cash the existing and forthcoming op-portunities. Minimum interference by the Government Agencies by these in-dustries will be highly desirable. Mea-surable success should be apparent in less than next two years, I believe. Industries should focus on innovative and problem-solving technologies to speed up rate of success and growth. By using innovative thinking and in-cubating innovative technologies, In-dia should let the ‘magic of electron and two holes’ (lifeline of both fixed and mobile internets) begin and let the IoT/machines team up with other machines positively change our beau-tiful World for generations to come.....

Community News10Runaway Thoughts

- Inder Suneja

Jamsetji Tata worked in his father’s company until he was 29. He founded a trading company in 1868 with Rs. 21,000 capital. He bought a bankrupt oil mill at Chinchpokli in 1869 and converted it to a cotton mill, which he renamed Alexandra Mill. He sold the mill two years later for a profit. He set up another cotton mill at Nagpur in 1874, which he christened Empress Mill when Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India on 1 January 1877.He devoted his life to four goals: setting up an iron and steel company, a world-class learning institution, a unique hotel and a hydro-electric plant. Only the hotel became a reality during his lifetime, with the inauguration of the Taj Mahal Hotel at Colaba waterfront in Bombay (now Mumbai) on 3 December 1903 at the cost of 42 million rupees (about 11 billion ru-pees at 2010 prices). At that time it was the only hotel in India to have electricity.His successors’ work led to the three remaining ideas being achieved:

Tata Steel (formerly TISCO – Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited) is Asia’s first and India’slargest steel company. It became world’s fifth largest steel com-pany, later on.Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, the pre-eminent Indian institution for research and education in Science and Engineering. Statue of J. N. Tata at the Institure faculty hall with a miniature model of the faculty hall in his hand is

shown here.Tata Hydroelectric Power Supply Company, renamed Tata Power Company Limited, cur-rently India’s largest private electricity company with an installed generation capacity of over 8000MW.

Community News 11Letter to the Editor

Dear Lotus Editor:

I would like to inform The Lotus readers that we have formed a Senior Group to educate and entertain senior people with indian origin called ‘Shiva Vishnu Temple Senior Group’.

In year 2011, Shiva Vishnu Temple of Greater Cleveland organized a Senior Group to meet the growing needs of Seniors with Indian Origin. The membership has grown over the years to approximately 220 members.

The purpose of this organization is two-fold:

First objective is to educate our members on topics beneficial to Seniors. This includes medical related subjects such as symptoms and prevention of Heart attacks, Stroke, Dementia and Alzheimer’s, Prescription Medicines and their side effects, Health In-surance, Home Health and Nursing Care, Importance of Physical Fitness and Regular Exercises, as you age. It also includes Financial Planning and tips on minimizing taxes when passing your assets to your children. In future, we will have seminars on some other topics as we feel necessary.

Second objective is to entertain and involve our members in social activities. We all have worked very hard and it is time to enjoy our retirement and keep healthy physi-cally and mentally. Some of the past programs included Musical Evenings, Picnics to State Parks, Goodtime III Boat Rides, Trips to Niagra Falls, Casino, Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Train Rides etc.

To plan and organize this type of events, we have formed a committee consisting of the following members:

Kachoria Chander kachoria@sbcglobal.netShah Anilbhai anil.kalashah@yahoo.comPatel Jotiben jotiandpravin@gmail.comPatel Kokilaben natukoki60@hotmail.comSidhwa Gope gnsidhwa@hotmail.comShirish Engineer shirishengineer@gmail.com

Our Life Time Membership Fee is $ 15 per person and anyone above (55) years of age can become a member. Please contact any committee members for additional infor-mation or forjoining the group as a member.

Community News12

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