8/31/2010  Editor’s note: September is National Preparedness Month. In recognition of this, SAHELI, a Boston-based women’s support group and affiliate of the India Association of Greater Boston, is reaching out to the community on the topic of being prepared during emergencies.
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| 8/17/2010  America is a nation of laws, not men, is a frequently used phrase to describe how America is different from many countries in the world.
It is true that America is governed under a legal framework, and that once someone has been found guilty by legal authorities, then punishment is a certainty.
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8/17/2010  One principle in thermodynamics is so weird that no one can explain why it is so. In an isolated domain – when an entity [e.g. water, gas, matter, etc.] at a higher temperature mixes with another similar or dissimilar entity at a lower temperature [e.g. a 90 degree Fahrenheit cup of water mixing with a cup of milk at 45 degrees Fahrenheit], the new entity reaches a stable state in which its temperature settles between the high and low temperatures of the individual entities. Simple enough, right? However, in this process of heat exchange, the entropy of the universe always increases, and there is no known method to reverse it.
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| 7/30/2010  Many of us who arrived in the United States to work and make a living on the East Coast have paid tribute to Oak Tree Road in Edison, N.J.
No matter what one’s coordinates are in the New England area, a weekend visit to Oak Tree road becomes a prequisite for everything from mundane grocery needs to sacred requirements of lifecycle rituals. This is not to say that the Indian grocery stores in the New England are not up to snuff. ...
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7/30/2010  The profession of spying is as old as prostitution, if not older.
China and ancient Greece are known to have had brothels as far back as 600 B.C. Some trace the Chinese military strategist and spymaster Sun Tzu back to 700 B.C. [Chanakya, the Indian military strategist and spymaster, came a bit later, around 350 B.C.]. There are less well-known records for both professions that predate the above examples.
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| 7/19/2010  As summer advances with sunny beach days, evening cookouts and endless other outdoor plans, we know that the coming months are going to be spent celebrating our natural environments. And relative to that, is the concern for our environment that responds to an ever-growing need to protect and conserve natural resources.
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7/19/2010  According to the Hindu calendar, Greeshm Ritu comprises of the months of Jyeshth and Aashadh, which correspond to the period starting May 21 and running through July 21. Summer is now fully upon us and it is good to have some dos and don’ts in our diary to ensure we do not suffer the ill effects of the season. |
| 7/2/2010  The United States held strategic dialogue with China on May 24-25. Soon after, on June 4-5, it was engaged in strategic talks with India. Below are the highlights of these very important meetings.
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6/18/2010  The 1st annual symposium of Cultural Crossroads was held at the Moses Brown School in Providence, R.I., on May 16 in connection with the Vivek A. Patel Memorial Foundation.
As brought out in the opening remarks, no one will deny the fact that being a teenager today is more difficult than ever before, and the dichotomy of a cross-culture only exacerbates their struggles.
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| 6/14/2010  Besides giving away clothing, footwear and furniture, the Salvation Army has been running soup kitchens in the United States to feed the poor and hungry for about a hundred years. Sikhism – a little known religion in India – has been running free-food kitchens, called “Langar,” for over four centuries.
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5/19/2010  There have been many recent changes regarding immigration and the Department of Labor (DOL) laws and regulations that will impact many businesses. |
| 5/18/2010 
Not to be deterred by – and with an aim to counter – President Barack Obama’s Nuclear Security Summit, which was held in Washington, D.C., on April 12 and 13, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hosted his own Nuclear Disarmament Conference on April 17 and 18. These two very antagonistic meetings provide an interesting comparison:
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5/3/2010  Beautiful, sunny spring is just around the corner. It’s welcome change for those of us who have had enough of the dreary, grey and cold winter weather of New England. But for some of us, the excitement of the longer, sunnier days comes coupled with apprehension. Lurking behind the new tender leaves and the steadily growing lush green grass is a potent source of discomfort and trouble. Spring for many means the worst of the allergy seasons. |
| 5/3/2010  My husband was asked by a smart, professional Brazilian, does your wife have to seek your permission before she leaves the house. Is Sati still prevalent? |
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4/27/2010  Recent events in Pakistan raise a poignant contrast between India and its neighbor of common origin. India prides itself on its adherence to the rule of law and its independent judiciary, concepts that are the source of a constant struggle in Pakistan since partition.
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| 4/27/2010 
For the first time in its turbulent history, Pakistan held a two-day strategic dialogue with the United States in Washington last month.
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4/2/2010  Modern Generation Leaves Its Mark on New Business Ventures
Beneath their boisterous (and oftentimes outrageous) superficial layer, modern stand-up comedians often offer keen insight into the intricate trends and tendencies that define society at large. Russell Peters, a comedian of South Asian descent, exemplified this phenomenon when he aptly observed, in response to the post-9/11 racial profiling of Indians as potential terrorists, that Indians spend too much time "[hating] each other" to pose any great threat to other ethnic groups.
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| 4/2/2010  A recent short stint visiting home in Delhi, India, sent me reeling in several directions. Why is it that each time I travel there is renewed consciousness of straddling the two worlds — of the natal home and the place that we have made a home? And then again, at home, we want some things to stay the same, just the way we left it. We want to find ourselves in the midst of loved ones; we long for familiar sights, whether it is the houses, shops or buildings; we want to experience the same food that we always craved, and so on. How we like to cling to that secure and assured familiarity. |
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4/2/2010 I recently attended one of those long, drawn-out, speech-laden and self-gratifying parties we've all been to. That night, I lay awake wondering, where is the fun in these parties? Typically, instead of fun, these parties turn into a showcase of syrupy emotions, a large showcasing of ego and a lot of work — not only for the organizers but also for the people who attend them, since often they come a long distance, put on a finely worked-out outfits and spend time buying and wrapping gifts. |
| 3/26/2010  The recent, glitzy Academy Awards ceremony was long-awaited and brought to light some very creative productions.
Kathryn Bigelow won an Oscar, the first-ever female director to take the prize. Should we rejoice because she is a woman or because she made a gut-wrenchingly real film? I guess it would be a bit of both. Maybe this is cause for rejoicing as we enter a century of celebration of International Women's Day.
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3/26/2010 This year, South Asian community members have the opportunity to make their presence known and voices heard through the Census. Every 10 years, the U.S. Census Bureau, a federal government agency, conducts a count of every single person in the United States. All individuals living in the United States — whether you are a U.S. citizen, a green card holder, a temporary visa holder or even if you are undocumented — should participate. As Census 2010 approaches, each individual bears the responsibility of making sure the entire community is not only counted but accurately represented. |
| 3/26/2010  President Barack Obama has now completed one year in office and the obligatory reviews of his first year were mixed. President Obama himself evaluated his first-year performance as B+, while others were less generous. This is a good occasion for Indian Americans to evaluate how President Obama has acted on their issues of concern. |
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