A u g u s t 2 0 1 3 V o l u m e 1, I s s u e 1 Magazine of the India Association of Nashville You must be the change you wish to see in the world. ~ Mahatma Gandhi
Magazine of the India Association of Nashville President s Message Hello Friends, It is with great pleasure we re-launch the IAN Newsletter; this time with a mind-blowing look. Via this quarterly newsletter, we will be able to provide you the latest in the IAN world while bringing to you useful articles, updates on our events, other creative contributions and achievements by IAN COMMITTEE President: Anil Sawhney Vice-President: Hetal Mehta General Secretary: Srivatsan Pallavaram Treasurer: Mipal Khurana Executive Committee: Priyanka Sharma, Karu Jayathilake, Atul Malhotra, Shashank Kothare, Carol Johnson, Dipendra Chattopadhyay, Kishore Tummala, Swati Aggarwal, Sonia Chaudhury, Sharmistha Ganguly, Mala Jobalia, Ravi Shetkar, Paul Goyal kids and adults from our community. And, if you want to advertise your business through IAN, you are welcome to buy space on our newsletter! On a final note, I want to thank the editorial board for their dedication and hard work. They have done a spectacular job in putting this together By Srivatsan Pallavaram I am very excited to bring the IAN newsletter; the only official publication of our organization back to life. My thanks to our President Anil Sawhney for thinking of me for this project. This is a start to something that will, hopefully, be a great venue for kids and adults from our community to express themselves through creative and informative contributions. This issue has a poem by a little girl Riya Jain, an informative article on home buying by Vini Mothiar, beautiful paintings by Priyanka Prasad, creative ward to future issues. Regards, Anil Sawhney President, IAN From the Editor s Desk and I am looking forpoems on India s cricket World Cup victory by Anuj Sharma, a hilarious article by Cay Kothare on how amazing it is to be a white woman married to a Desi (!), a beautiful article by Karen Espenant on her experiences with the Indian community, and a collage of IAN s events this year. Several articles are already lined up for the next issue. My sincere and enormous thanks to the Associate Editor Karen who worked very very hard along with Jayanthi and Havisha to put this issue together. It could not have happened without their nights out! I n s i d e t h i s i s s u e : Presidents Message 2 Editor s Note 2 The Year in Pictures 3 A Gori s Experience (Cay Kothare) The Beauty of Snow (Riya Jain) Out of the Blue (Karen Espenant) Peace & Victory (Anuj Sharma) Housing Market (Vini Mothiar) Paintings (Priyanka Prasad) Upcoming DIWALI Show Flyer Our Sponsors & IAN On the Web! Editor E d i t o r i a l B o a r d 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 8 Srivatsan Pallavaram Associate Editor Karen Espenant Youth Editor Havisha Munjal Creative Director Jayanthi Karunaratne www.iantn.org For articles email: editor@iantn.org
Click to go back to Index... IAN BLOOD DRIVE S E R V E COMMUNITY HOLI LUNCH for the NEEDY PARADE of NATIONS P I C N I C
Click to go back to Index... A Gori s Experience in Suburban Mumbai By Cay Kothare As the spouse of a Desi, I am blessed to travel to India once a year to spend time with our family there. I truly enjoy my time there with family and friends while discovering the beautiful culture and lifestyle of India. Since we spend our time in the suburbs and not in the tourist areas of Mumbai, I often spend the entire time in India never seeing another Caucasian or even anyone who is not Indian. I actually enjoy this; in fact sometimes I forget that I look different! One of the times that I really notice that I am different is when we go out to eat. This is an adventure that I choose to find humorous. As the years go by, I sometimes feel that I am a part of a play with the same script each time. To me it is reminiscent of the movie Groundhog Day. It begins when we sit down and the waiter brings one fork and one knife to the table of eight. Everyone at the table gets a menu except me. Shank always has to ask for one more menu. The response is the same each time: She reads the menu?. I find this statement curious because the menus are almost always in English. Next is the drink order. I order Aqua Guard paani. The waiter then looks at Shank and asks What will she drink? He replies She asked for Aqua Guard paani. The waiter questions Shank again, shakes his head and leaves. He comes back with Aqua Guard paani for everyone at the table and a bottle of water for me. We finally get that part of the order straight and then move on to the food. Again, I order, the waiter verifies and argues with Shank, acts astonished that I want my food cooked with the same spices as the rest of the table, shakes his head and discusses the order with the other wait staff all the while pointing to me as he walks into the kitchen. My favorite part of the evening and the part that was the most difficult for me to get used to is when the food arrives. This part of the play, which I consider the finale and my finest moment, is always the same. My entrée is delivered. Then the entire kitchen empties out and the staff stands and watches me eat! They watch and discuss the fact that: I eat with my hands I can handle the spice I am enjoying my meal! To me, it feels as if I am in a contest and being judged on my form! When I finish my meal, the waiter and often the Maître de will come and congratulate me on my meal! I smile and the rest of the family shakes their heads as we walk out and on to our next destination! The Beauty of Snow by Riya Jain Riya Jain, daughter of Rinki and Vikas Jain,is a 12-year-old poet and writer who will be a regular contributor to our magazine!!! She goes to Brentwood Middle school and wants to become a lawyer or an architect. In her spare time, she loves to read, sing, watch movies and dance. Below is a wonderful poem that she has written for us. Snowflakes are everywhere Spinning and twirling as they go Creating a chilly frost in the air That's the beauty of snow. The kids rush outside Covered with jackets, their faces glow, "Let's have a snowball fight, one cried That's the beauty of snow. They build a snowman With arms and a little black bow, With earmuffs on its ears, they name it Ann That's the beauty of snow. They come back inside Where no more wind will blow, They're cold, yet satisfied That's the beauty of snow. They get hot chocolate without a delay And a treat in one hand, they look down below, To peer out the window and say, Isn't that the beauty of snow!! OUR COVER PHOTO Pratheeksha Sujay,daughter of Prathiba & Sujay Kumar, is a 7 th grader and a student of Kala Nivedanam in Nashville. She started learning Bharatanatyam at the age of 6 under the guidance of Mrs. Monica Cooley. Picture below (and cover) was taken at her performance from Kala Nivedanam s annual event in 2012 at Sri Ganesha Temple. Pratheeksha dances Alarippu, Pushpanjali, Jathishwaram, and other dances to Carnatic Music in Kalakshetra style.
O u t O f T h e B l u e B y K a r e n E s p e n a n t As long as memory serves, India infused life here with an incomparable flavor and richness. Fragrances wafting from our kitchens take us to its unknown shores. And India became the spice of our lives, simmering in our subconscious. Images of India swirled in the waters of this strange American brew starting with Columbus' search for a western ocean-route to the East Indies - from the misnomer of our natives, the odd tea parties, to the opposition of British colonialism that we share in common. My own home state, Indiana, is the land of Indians. So what if those particular immigrants arrived a little later! During primary school, real life India arrived. Aneeta Pillai joined my third-grade class to become my only nemesis in blackboard math-races. She, also, became my desk-mate and friend. Aneeta wore lovely, tanned skin and long, delicate raven braids. The scent of coconut drifted from her hair when she would lean over and whisper to me. The Desi affair continued as more Indians walked in and out of my life, introducing me to the panoply, different peoples, the staggering 22 official languages and some 24-26 dialects. Lanka cricket world cup 2011 finals and Anuj could not help himself but draw an analogy between the Hindu God Ram and cricketer Sachin Tendulkar. Victory Click to go back to Index... So many sub-cultures! Bollywood films and tunes haunted me. Then other Indian film communities rallied in protest, showing their movies. I learned Bhangra, then some Khatak - only to be told by my southern India constituency that Bharatanatyam is truly THE dance. My cooking repertoire now burgeons Indian dishes North, South, Veg, Non-veg, pollitarian, pescatarian the varieties, ad infintum. The spice amounts? Always a gamble since no one ever seems to write a recipe down. Somehow they seem to work. However, those things don't tell the half. My colleagues and friends list among the greatest minds in medicine, sciences, statistics and math, education, information technology, and so forth. Their contributions contain gold no treasure house could store. America has been blessed to have Indians add to the richness of hegemony in the masala from many peoples. Most will never understand the delicacy of that flavoring any more than they could the use of all of the Indian spices they find in the grocery store. But standing there, we can be thankful, that neither our tea, our food, nor our lives need ever taste like cardboard. P e a c e a n d V i c t o r y Poems by Anuj Sharma Anuj is a graduate student in Biomedical Engineering at Vanderbilt University. He is well known amongst his closest friends for his incredible talent for witty little poems! The following was written by him on the eve of India v/s Pakistan cricket world cup '11 semi-final. The tensions were high, and social media was abuzz with folks from both countries punishing each other. He wondered what if the history between the two nations was written differently. Peace Kaash tab Kargil nahi Mohali Hota Haath me bandook nahi balla hota Hindustan naa hota naa hota Pakistan hota milkar ek nayaa jahaan Shahid bhi tab Sachin jitna apna hota Kaash apne jhande kaa rang aur bhi haraa hota. The following was for India v/s Sri Sachin roop mein Ram padhare hain, Hum sab ke way bahot pyaare hain. Iss baar doguna kiya intezaar, Chodah nahi atthais varsho ka hain bhaar. Hai Prabhu Sachin, bus itna karo upkaar Ravan samaan Malinga ko maaro tum chakke aur chaar. Yaad Rakho, Puri Lanka mein aag lagana hain Sita maiyaa nahi, iss baar World Cup le kar aana hain...
Click to go back to Index... Housing Market Picking Up: Are You Ready? KKR & Co. (KKR), the buyout firm run by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, is preparing to market its first fund dedicated to real estate investments with an initial $500 million committed to the pool. The inventory of homes for sale has reached its lowest level in seven years, which is helping home prices to rise in many markets, says Lawrence Yun, the National Association of Realtors, chief economist. Buyer traffic is continuing to pick up, while seller traffic is holding steady," Yun says. "In fact, buyer traffic is 40 percent above a year ago, so there is plenty of demand but insufficient inventory to improve sales more strongly. We've transitioned into a seller's market in much of the country. While the housing recovery is taking hold, more buyers and sellers are realizing they are in a better place this year than the year before. Super low mortgage rates are keeping home prices affordable, despite recent price gains. In some markets, listings are getting under contract in less than four weeks. You must be inundated with these news flashes all over the place these days. To dig deeper into this, I turned to what I love the most, "Market Data". I pulled data for top 3 counties in Tennessee, Davidson County, Williamson County & Sumner County. In Feb 2012 there were 6,527 homes on the market compared to only 5,369 this year in Feb for a drop of 18%. On the same token, last year in Feb only 753 homes were sold compared to 877 this year in Feb, an increase of 16% more sales than last year. As expected the average days on market reduced by 11% in Feb 2013 compared to Feb 2012, and average selling price rose by 18% last month compared to same month last year. All these data points convince many of us that housing market is picking up and we may have finally bottomed out, at least for now. Buyer traffic is up 40 percent So the big question is are you ready to buy your new home? Or should you invest in Real Estate? There is no doubt, today's historical low interest rates and stabilized home prices create some great investment opportunities. Investing in real estate has unique advantages over other types of investment. One such perk is that the interest on mortgage loans may be taxdeductible. Investors can lower their tax liability while increasing their equity. Tenants pay down your mortgage loan. The demand for real estate will always be there. As with any other investment, one needs to do due diligence before money is invested. The difference between a winning real estate investment and a losing one can be subtle, especially for inexperienced investors. You need to consider a number of factors, including the growth prospects for the area, the monthly cash flow of the property and so on. Consult a reputable realtor or your financial advisor for details. By Vini Motihar Realtor P a i n t i n g s b y P r i y a n k a P r a s a d Priyanka works at Vanderbilt University as a software developer, but in her spare time indulges herself into painting that she loves so dearly. Description: Painted with oil paints on a canvas, these painting's capture the beauty of fall and winter adding color to the environment. Priyanka works at Vanderbilt and says that painting has been her hobby and passion since childhood. She is humble enough to note that she is still learning with every piece that she creates. We are looking forward to more contributions from her for the IAN!
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Click to go back to Index... Thank you to our Sponsors! - To have your advertisement in this magazine email editor@iantn.org I A N o n t h e W e b Website: www.iantn.org Email: ian@iantn.org FaceBook (the quickest way to get our event updates!): https://www.facebook.com/groups/134110922681/ U p c o m i n g E v e n t s! Diwali: Nov 2 nd, 2013 (Flyer on Page 7) Homeless Lunch: Dec 21, 2013 New Year s Eve Party: Dec 31, 2013 (Of course!) For more details on the event check out our website and FaceBook pages or email at the address listed above.