Professional Documents
Culture Documents
e x c e l l e n c e
| TheSouthAsianTimes.info
d i
c e l e b r
a t
e s
R - D a y
Continued on page 6
Continued on page 6
New York: The Indian diaspora across the world celebrated the countrys 68th Republic
Day with zeal and fervor by
hoisting the national flag and
organizing cultural events.
In Washington DC, at the Embassy, Ambassador Navtej Sarna
read out President Mukherjees
R-Day address to the nation. In
New York, Consul General Riva
Ganguly Das led the event at the
consulate and was invited to the
NYSE to ring the closing bell on
January 26 to
honor Indias
Republic Day.
j o u r n a l i s m
Indians the
world over
mark R-Day
i n
Padma Awards 18
Jaipur Litfest 30
US Affairs 36
Spiritual Awearness 44
excellence in journalism
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
R-DAY IN AMERICA
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
THE PARADE
T U R N PAG E
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Hiral Dholakia-Dave
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TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Country's
pluralistic culture
is still being put to
test by vested
interests, says
President in his
Republic Day
address
increase, poverty rat io has
declined by twothirds, average life
expectancy has more than doubled
and literacy rate has shown a four
fold increase, said people have to
work harder as onefifth of the
countrymen were st ill be low
poverty line. He said more hard
President Pranab Mukherjee and Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi during the
National Voters' Day celebrations at Manekshaw Centre in New Delhi. (Photos: IANS/RB)
President Pranab Mukherjee receives General Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown
Prince of Adu Dhabi, during his ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
10
Governor calls
Kerala 'thought
leader'
THE STATES
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Odisha celebrates
Republic Day
Bhubaneswar: Odisha celebrat
ed the 68th Republic Day with
gaiety and enthusiasm, with
state Governor S.C. Jamir
unfurling the Tricolor and tak
ing the salute at Mahatma
Gandhi Marg in the capital city
here.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik
also hoisted the national flag at
the Barabati stadium in Cuttack
and remembered the freedom
fighters and their contributions
to the nation.
About 78 troupes took part in
the Republic Day celebrations
in Bhubaneswar. While several
cultural teams participated in
the parade, performances by
school and college students
along with skating and daredev
il shows were the other attrac
tions during the celebrations in
Bhubaneswar.
The commissionerate police
made e laborate security
arrangements for the smooth
conduct of the Republic Day
here.
As many as 30 platoons of
security personnel and two spe
cial tactical units of SOG were
deployed in the city. Besides,
CCTVs were installed to keep a
close watch on the parade
ground.
Republic Day celebrations
were held across the state amid
tight security. The Odisha police
made special security arrange
ments in Maoist affected areas.
THE STATES
11
Rajasthan celebrates
68th R-Day with fervor
from the marching contingents,
which were cheered by and
received thunderous applause
from the spectators.
Intermittent showers failed to
dampen the spirit and enthusiasm
rumours
that the Centre had re jected
Delhi's tableau for the Republic
Day parade by citing poll code
violations.
But Delhi Culture Minister Kapil
Mishra put the rumours to rest,
saying the participation of the
state government was confirmed.
The last time Delhi's tableau
was thematically and aesthetical
ly accepted for the Republic Day
parade was in 2013.
Delhi
makes a
comeback
at RDay
parade
12
Despite unrest,
Kashmiri youth
proved their
brilliance: Vohra
Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir
Governor N.N. Vohra said despite
unrest and odds, the state's
youth had proved their brilliance
in various fields.
"As we have seen for ourselves
in the past few years, despite the
severe constraints arising from
recurring spells of disruption
and disorder, our youth has been
doing very well in almost every
arena," Vohra said while address
ing the Republic Day function
here.
Vohra hoisted the national flag
and took salute at an impressive
parade at the Maulana Azad
Stadium here.
"In Jammu and Kashmir, our
greatest strength is our youth
who comprise almost half of our
population.
"Besides excelling in studies
and winning awards and nation
al fellowships, a growing num
ber of our students have been
gaining high positions in All
India Services, central services,
defence, central police forces
and other services."
Vohra praised actress Zaira
Wasim. He expressed his unhap
pines over the loss of lives dur
ing last year's unrest in the
Kashmir Valley and said the
protests were only hurting the
wheels of progress.
"The prolonged disturbance in
the valley last summer resulted
in large human losses and an
unprecedented number of secu
rity force personnel were
injured. I share the grief of all
those who have lost their dear
ones. "The hartals (protests)
which extended from week to
week caused large economic
losses and particularly severe
hardships for daily wage earn
ers. "The violent demonstrators
burnt several dozen schools and
set ablaze government offices,
police stations and private prop
erties. "The disturbances caused
irreparable damage to the func
tioning of the educational sys
tem. The studies of over 14 lakh
school going children and nearly
a lakh college and university stu
dents were disrupted," he said.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
meritorious service.
"Their deeds of bravery show
these children's decisiveness and
courage," the Prime Minister said
during the felicitation ceremony.
Interacting with the awardees,
he said: "You must ensure that
this award does not become the
end of your life's purpose, but
rather should only mark the
beginning." He said that bravery
is a state of mind; a healthy body
he lps, but the prime moving
force is the mind. He further
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14
INDIA-UAE TIES
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Special to The
South Asian Times
New Delhi: India, for the first time,
laid out the red carpet for a leader
whos not a Head of State. The Abu
Dhabi Crown Prince, Sheikh
Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan
who arrived here on January 24
was the Chief Guest at India's 68th
Republic Day celebrations. The
Crown Prince is the next genera
tion of the UAEs leadership, and
its future leader, and as an Indian
diplomat explained, We are bet
ting on the future MBZ (as the
Sheikh is known) is a highly popu
lar leader not just in the Emirates,
but in the Gulf as a whole. The
Crown Prince was accompanied by
a highlevel delegation comprising
cabinet Ministers, senior of ficials
and business leaders.
Many feel that it was after the
1999 hijacking of IC814 that
India decided to take the UAE rela
tionship seriously. It wanted to
step up security cooperation, espe
cially in the light of reports that
Dawood Ibrahim and some of his
henchmen had fled to the UAE
after the 1993 Bombay attacks.
L.K. Advani as Home Minister did
visit the UAE in 2001, but the pace
of cooperation remained slow due
to Pakistans influence. Trade ties
did better than those of politics
despite challenges faced by Etisalat
and Emaar. Bilateral trade, valued
at $180 million a year in the
1970s, is today around $ 50 bil
lion, making UAE Indias third
largest trading partner for 2015
16 after China and the US. The
UAE is Indias second largest
export destination, with exports of
over $ 30 billion in 201516. For
the UAE, India was the biggest
trade partner in 2015 over $ 28
billion in nonoil trade. Thus, from
investments to security coopera
tion, India has many reasons to
invest in MBZ. PM Narendra Modi
has described the Gulf nation as
"an important partner in India's
growth story".
Over the last fourandahalf
A
milestone
in India-UAE
relations
port,
freight logis
tics, warehousing, prevention and
combating of human traf ficking,
small and medium enterprises,
agriculture, cyberspace and in the
adoption of trade remedial meas
ures in areas of mutual interest.
The summitlevel talks, however,
fell short of clinching a major
investment agreement for India,
though the visiting Crown Prince
Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al
Nahyan said the UAE would further
intensify ties with India.
UAE also has the largest sover
eign wealth fund that we are look
ing to investm. There is an agree
ment that they will invest nearly
$75 billion in India over the next
couple of years. During the visit we
are hoping that an MoU will be
signed between their investment
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
16
I N D I A R- DAY S P E C I A L
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
18
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Kohli, KJ
Yesudas,
Sadhguru Jaggi
Vasudev, Vishwa
Mohan Bhatt,
HR Shah among
honorees
Sadhguru Jaggi
Vasudev
HR Shah
M E S S AG E S
19
Message from
Indias Ambassador to UN
Vibhuti Jha
Executive Director,
Nalanda International
The election of Mr. Trump is as
shocking an event for the liberals in
the US as was Mr. Modis election in
2014 in India. Liberals and the selfproclaimed intelligentsia were livid
and angry. But what they missed
out was that the deplorables vote
in reality reflected an equal and
opposite reaction to the failings of
things being done by the left-ofcenter liberal elites. Both Mr. Modi
and Mr. Trump lead two strongest
and largest democracies in the
world and both are right of center.
That alone is a good sign for better ties between the two countries
in addition to a good foundation
laid by former President Bush and
friendship established between Mr.
Modi and President Obama. Both
the countries need a faster economic growth and provide real employment to its people. India needs its
Make in India program to succeed
with skill development at its core to
Renee Mehrra
Broadcaster, activist
Ashok Ojha
Mukesh Modi
Entrepreneur,
community leader
20
ital literacy opportunities to all skillseekers. The web skilling opportunities come with the convenience
of learning and practising skillnuggets with a mobile app as well.
The ambitious program completed one year in July 2016 and
on the first anniversary of the initiative, the Minister of State for
Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (independent charge),
Rajiv Pratap Rudy, reinforced the
commitment promised by PM
Modi. During an event in New
By Akanksha Jain
Delhi, in the presence of President
Pranab Mukherjee, Rudy outlined
ince the launch of the Skill the following programs that will
India program, a lot of im- chart the way forward:
petus is being given to it as
the initiative aims at training the PradhanMantri Kaushal
youth of the country in specific Vikas Yojana - 2
skills through which they can earn
As of July 18, 2016, 17.93 lakh
a livelihood and live with pride.
Aiming to generate surplus candidates were trained out of 18
manpower of, at least, five crore lakh who enrolled. In 2015, the
over the next decade with skilled scheme had an outlay of 1,500 crore,
labor, India will be able to tackle with a target to cover 24 lakh perglobal challenges. It is estimated sons within the next year under skill
that a meager 2.3% of the work- training (including 10 lakh under
Recognition of Prior Learning).
force in India has formal training
as compared to the UK (68 per PM Modi this year approved the
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yocent) and the US (80 per cent).
Since the launch of Skill India, jana (PMKVY) with an outlay of Rs
a number of training universi- 12,000 crore to impart skilling to one
ties, institutes and schools have crore people over the next four years.
Under this scheme, around 60
mushroomed across the country
and tied up with the state gov- lakh youth will get trained and
ernments to enroll the maximum skill training would be imparted
number of youth. So far, over 55 based on industry-led standards
lakh people have received training aligned to the National Skill Qualiand 23 lakh have been employed. fication Framework (NSQF).
There will be special focus on
Over the last year, the number of
training centers crossed the 3,000 placement of trainees along with
mark and the Government has incentives. This scheme will emphatied up with around 250 training size on skill training as per internapartners. The campaigns vision is tional standards for employment in
to train over 40 crore people by Gulf countries, Europe and other
overseas destinations. Students un2022 in different skills.
Skill India resolves to bridge the dergoing training in high-end job
digital divide by providing basic dig- roles will be provided scholarships.
D E V E LO P M E N T
22
By Amit Kapoor
D E V E LO P M E N T
D E V E LO P M E N T
23
26
F E AT U R E S
Overseas Indians
rale. The advent of satellite television, Internet and rising tele-density in the 1990s meant overseas
Indians could be in regular touch
with India. It was now possible for
an NRIs to think of the interests
of his mother country. Indians,
resident and overseas, could commonly exercise opinion on bolstering Indias position in the world
stage. This gave rise to the concept
of New Global Indian.
But overseas Indian community,
in several parts, continues to face
severe challenges of racism, religious fanaticism and legislative
disabilities. As against popular
misconception not everyone is successful. Thus it is not yet time to
lower the baton raised by Gandhi
in South Africa in the 1890s.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
OP-ED
27
Narendra Modi has the mandate to bring about change within the
country that no other government at the Centre has had
in the last three decades.
advantage. Here we need to ask
the question: What is the job of a
civil servant? Is it to enable or con
trol? What I see is that processes
in the country have been built to
perpetuate control at all possible
levels, and the bureaucrats have
have ended up being the de facto
rulers of the land. The advantage
that the bureaucracy has is accen
The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
28
By Shivaji Sengupta
OP-Ed
ing him one of the most successful presidents. However, if he cannot deliver what he is saying, for
whatever reasons, then Donald J.
Trump will have turned into exactly what he warned against in
his speech: empty talk.
Both Modi and Trump and those who supported them were depicted as deplorable communalists/Islamophobes and anti-immigrant. And throw in paternalist/sexist for extra effect.
By Arul Louis
quickly sank into personalized confrontations and name calling while issues
faded into the background.
Dismissing Modi-Trump with contempt
as personalities unfit for office, the media
pushed itself into a corner. Meanwhile,
Modi/Trump managed to get the message
out to the base by manipulating the media.
The Indian media at least was more
accurate in its polls, even if it didnt get
Modis victory margin right. The US media was left stunned by the result.
Modi and Trump during the campaigns
and after the elections treated the media,
NGOs, activists, the intelligentsia and the
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
30
JAIPUR LITFEST
By Prakash Bhandari
Jaipur: With over 400 leading
writers and minds of the world in
fiction and non-fiction created a
feast of words in the Pink City during the Jaipur Literature Festival
(January 19-23) that was packed
with debate, discussion, humour
and sunshine.
Highlights of the 10th edition of
JLF included the exuberant American poet Anne Waldman who has
appeared in a number of sessions
to talk about Beat poet Allen Ginsberg, her life and to share her
experimental poetry. Young UK
of Inner Engineering:
A Yogis Guide to Joy,
suggested that Human intellect is firing
like never before. This
is why people are suffering. They have to
think for themselves,
not rely on scripture
or a guru.
Unsurprisingly the economy
was discussed in a number of sessions, always returning to the issue
of demonetisation in India. Some
of the worlds finest economists
and business minds including
Ha-Joon Chang, Sanjay Agarwal,
Kunal Bahl, Amitabh Kant, Frank
Trentman, Dumbisa Mayo got together at the ZEE JLF to discuss
this and other economic issues.
Aishwarya Dhanush,
UN Goodwill Ambassador for gender equality, has borne witness
to the positive changes that have
come about in the film industry in
the last decade. She shared, Five
years ago, it would have been close
to impossible for a woman director
to do more than one film, but now
Im about to direct my third.
Brexit is the most divisive issue
in Britain, according to Guardian journalist Jonathan Shaimin,
who was in a panel with Andrew
Roberts, Tomothi Andrew and
Garton Ash who described the
Brexiters as nave utopians.
Shashi Tharoor stirred up the
crowd declaring that the British
empire was an exercise in serving
its own perpetuation. What the
British Raj has deprived us of is
our self-respect, he said to enormous applause.
Exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen told the assembled
crowd, I dont believe in nationalism, religious fundamentalism. I
believe in one world. I believe in
rights, freedom, humanism and
rationalism. Until Islam accepts
criticism, no Islamic country can
be considered secular. Whenever I
criticize, people want to kill me.
Citing the fact of the fatwa against
Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia inaugurated JLF, which had keynote address by Gulzar and Sadhgurus book launch.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
INDIA NEWS
31
Narendra Modi
has invited
Donald Trump
to visit India.
Priyanka scoffs at
Katiyar's 'sexist'
remarks
New Delhi: BJP MP Vinay Katiyar courted con
troversy for his alleged sexist remarks against
Congress star campaigner Priyanka Gandhi
Vadra, inviting flak from her and the Congress
over the comments that she said exposed the
"BJP's mindset".
Katiyar's comments, which came a day after
Priyanka was named among the Congress' star
campaigners for pollbound Uttar Pradesh,
attracted condemnation from his own party as
well as the Delhi Commission for Women.
The BJP leader said his party had "prettier
star campaigners" (than Priyanka).
"It doesn't make any difference. We have far
prettier women, heroines as star campaign
ers," he said in a remark that was seen as
underestimating Priyanka's ability to attract
voters through her political acumen and rat
ing her on the basis of looks.
Katiyar, however, did a volte face later and
blamed the media for distorting his comments.
32
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Rupen Shah
(Image : newsleader.com)
Local prosecutor
becomes first
Indian-American
judge in Virginia
Washington, DC: Rupen R.
Shah, who is currently the
Chief Deputy of Augusta
County Commonwealth in
Virginia, has become the first
Indian American judge to be
elected the southeastern US
state.Shah is a resident of
Staunton city and his sixyear
term will commence on
February 1, according to a
press release from the local
General Assembly delegation
announcing his confirmation
on Thursday.Shah has served
on executive committee and
council of Virginia State Bar
and also as chair of Diversity
Conference of Virginia State
Bar.He was recognized by the
State Bar as a local leader of
the year 2009 and also served
as president of the Augusta
County Bar Association during
20082009.Shah, who has a
law degree from New York's
Syracuse University, founded
the nonprofit Valley
Children's Centre, which helps
law enforcement and Child
Protective Services workers
interview abused and neglect
ed children.The Indian
American also has extensive
experience in teaching law.Tim
Martin, the Augusta County
Commonwealth's Attorney,
said Shah is deserving of the
judgeship."The bottom line is
he is an excellent choice,"
Martin said. "I will miss him
both personally and profes
sionally. Our office's great loss
is the judiciary's gain." Shah
has worked as a prosecutor in
Augusta County for more than
20 years, Martin said.
Administered by Congressman Joe Crowley, Dr Neeta Jain took the oath of office
over the Jinvani, the sacred book of Jains.
the event, Dr Jain was praised for
her
accomplishments
by
Cong ressman Gregory Mee ks,
Queens Borough President Melinda
Katz, NYC Public Advocate Letitia
James, NYC Comptroller Scott M.
Stringer as well as NYC Council
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Happy
Republic
Day
Happy
Diwali
34
N AT I O N A L CO M M U N I T Y
Los Angeles: Indian origin actor Dev Patel has been nominated
for an Academy Award in the Best
Supporting Actor category for his
performance in Lion. The actor
who made his debut with Slumdog
Millionaire, is in the race for the
trophy along with Mahershala Ali
for Moonlight, Jeff Bridges for Hell
or High Water, Lucas Hedges for
Manchester by the Sea and Michael
Shannon for Nocturnal Animals.
Based on non-fiction book, A Long
Dev Patel
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
35
Nassau County Commissioner of AAA, Sharon Mullen, with (L to R) Rajeshwar Prasad, Dr.
Samir Dutta (NIAASC VP) and Dr. Thomas Abraham (founder of GOPIO). Sharon gave a
citation to NIAASC on behalf of Nassau County Executive.
local agency by the State to address con
cerns of all seniors of 60 years or older. An
AAA could be public entity or a private
notforprofit organization. The AAA pro
vides information about available pro
grams and services for seniors; and pro
vides and administers funds through con
tacts with a number of service agencies
36
U S A F FA I R S
Trump calls
for major
investigation
into voter
fraud
Washington: President Donald
Trump on Wednesday called for
a major investigation into voter
fraud in the 2016 election, after
his claims earlier this week, without citing any evidence, that millions of illegal votes were cast during the November polls.
I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD,
including those registered to vote
in two states, those who are illegal
and even those registered to vote
who are dead (and many for a long
time). Depending on results, we
will strengthen up voting procedures! Trump tweeted.
evidence that any substantial illegal voting had occurred or influence the popular vote.
Ohios secretary of state responded to Trumps tweet on Wednesday,
Narayanachar Digalakote (right) of the Sri Siva Vishnu Temple in Maryland, who
recited a Hindu prayer at the interfaith service for President Trumps inauguration.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
38
INTERNATIONAL
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Iraqi PM declares
full liberation of
eastern Mosul
Mosul (Iraq): Iraqi Prime Minister
Haider alAbadi declared full libera
tion of the eastern side of the city of
Mosul after more than 100 days of
fighting against the extremist mili
tants of the Islamic State.
Abadi, according to Xinhua, urged
the security forces to move quickly
to liberate all the remaining areas
of Iraq's northern province of
Nineveh, in particular the western
side of the provincial capital city of
Mosul, locally known as the right
bank of Tigris River which bisects
the city. He made the remarks at a
press conference here, praising the
"heroic forces and the unity of all
Iraqis". In addition, a military state
ment said that the army soldiers ful
filled liberation of eastern Mosul
after they swept the remaining
areas left in the hand of IS militants
in the northern outskirts of the
eastern bank of the city.
The troops, backed by the USled
coalition and Iraqi aircraft, freed
the neighborhood of Rashidiyah
and the nearby villages of Ba'wiza,
Baysan and Shrikhan after heavy
clashes with the IS, leaving dozens
of them killed and destroying eight
car bombs, according to a statement
from the Joint Operations
Command.
The troops also killed two suicide
bombers, shot down five unmanned
drones carrying bombs and
destroyed three vehicles carrying
heavy machine guns, the statement
said. Experts believe that with the
recapture of the whole eastern side
of Mosul, the troops will soon begin
a new phase of the antiIS major
offensive on the western part of the
city. On October 17, alAbadi
announced the start of a major
offensive to retake Mosul, the coun
try's second largest city.
The second phase of the offensive
to free the eastern bank of Mosul
began on December 29.
Russian President
Vladimir Putin.
Moscow: Normalizing ties with
the US will take time, but Russia
is ready to begin the process,
the Russian Foreign Minister
said during in the State Duma
here.
Addressing members of
Russia's lower chamber of
Parliament, Sergey Lavrov said it
would take time and serious
effort to recover from the dam
age that RussoAmerican ties
suf fered under the administra
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
40
BOLLYWOOD
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Bollywood dance
probably the best
in the world, says
Jackie Chan
Mumbai: Legendary actor Jackie
Chan, who is in India to promote
his forthcoming film "Kung Fu
Yoga" is quite impressed with
Bollywood dance style and thinks
it has improved a lot.
"When I was 16, I watched
Bollywood movies. I didn't under
stand the language and I went
away after seeing the dance. But
for the last 15 years, I watch
Hindi films... Why? Because of
the dancing, the movements are
so good, probably the best in the
world," Chan said at an event
here on Monday.
"Earlier in Bollywood and
Chinese films, the actions and
dancing were not up to the mark.
But now we have money and
technology and now we can train
people. Currently, Bollywood pro
duces some of the best films in
Asia." He added.
Chan has been acting in movies
for over five decades.
"You've been growing up
watching me when your father
took you to see my movies. Now I
want that you should take your
parents to see my movie," he
said. Talking about his love for
the Indian people, Chan said: "I
know Indian people love me and
I love them too. I come here for
making movies, charities, film
festivals because I love you all."
The 62yearold says his inspi
ration of doing action at this age
are his fans from all over the
world. "I've been doing actions all
my life. Do I scare? Yes I do. ..
every time when I do the action I
think this is probably my last
shot. But when I see my fans and
I can't meet them one by one.
What can I do for them? The
only thing I can do to bring dif
ferent kinds of comedies, actions,
and different kind of roles. I
don't know how many years I can
continue to make films, but as
long as I can move I will do the
(IANS)
best for you."
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
42
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
HUMOR
check my diary."
Next came a news item from the
Washington Post. An old, homeless bag lady
had long the habit of making deranged
sounding claims that the government owed
her $100,000. Eventually a kindly social
worker took the trouble to read through the
paperwork in one of the woman's bags and
discovered that the government owed the
woman, 80yearold Wanda Witter,
$100,000. Be nice to homeless people, who
may well have more disposable income than
we do.
The fourth talewithatwist came from a
reader who collects "dumb criminal" reports.
In California, a fugitive female, 29, found a
pair of handcuf fs at a friend's house and
REPUBLIC DAY
Independence came into force on Republic Day.
We gathered our own resource on Republic Day.
Democratic government of our Sovereign state,
Came into existence on this date.
Republic Day brought our own Constitution.
Dream came true, ending every illusion.
This day, we celebrate our culture and history.
With brave efforts and patriotic chemistry.
Scenic beauty of men and maids.
Singing and dancing with military parades.
DARSHAN KUMAR JAIN
Malad, Mumbai India
Darshankumar_jain@yahoo.co.in
BEST
RATE
FOR
INDIA
AND
PAKISTAN
New York Head Quarter
422S Broadway
HICKSVILLE
NY 11801
5168271010
by Mahendra Shah
Mahendra Shah is an architect by education, entrepreneur by profession, artist and
humorist, cartoonist and writer by hobby. He has been recording the plight of the
immigrant Indians for the past many years in his cartoons. Hailing from Gujarat,
he lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
ASTROLOGY
43
psharma@premastrologer.com; www.premastrologer.com
Delhi, India: +91-11- 2644 9898, 2648 9899; Chandigarh, India: +91-172- 256 2832, 257 2874;
Annual Predictions: For those born in this week (Jan 28 - FEB 3 2017)
44
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Master.
But life is pulling the disciple
and Master apart from each
other. There is always one
excuse after another that keeps
them apart. One day it may be
that the disciple has to watch the
World Cup competition of a
favorite team. Another day it
may be that we have to shop for
this thing or that thing. Another
day we are growing our busi
ness. Another day we are tied up
with this petty problem or anoth
er. There is no end to the rea
sons we are pulled away from
the moments of love.
Sant Darshan Singh Ji Maharaj
is saying that if we wait for some
time and we complete this task
or that task, resolve this problem
or that problem, take care of this
person or that person, time will
pass us by. We will never get to
the moments of love that are the
most important pastimes in life.
Love is the ingredient that
makes this life beautiful and
worth living. It beautifies every
thing. It fills us with the nectar of
bliss to propel us through the tri
als of life. Once we realize that
time and problems are keeping
us away from those blissful
moments between Master and
disciple without, and the disciple
meeting the radiant form of the
Master within, then we will
attain the goal of love.
It is true that we have some
responsibilities in life to earn our
livelihood, take care of our fami
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