Category Archives: Features

Is India Spiritual?

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By Rohini Mohan 

Religion is a way of life in India. Secularism was constitutionally thrust upon us and for better or for worse this intimately exposed us to the history and the ritualistic details of the various religions that have found a home there. In India, religion is in us and all around us. There is a temple or a mosque or a Church at every corner. Religion comes blaring out at us as devotional music from loudspeakers. It is in our textbooks in school; it is a big component of our cinema and is a huge part of our upbringing at home. We grow up with all these religions and we wear ours on our sleeves. Continue reading →

Preparing for an earthquake – Contd.

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By Vidya Pradhan

“Californians should have the same attitude towards earthquakes that Mid-Westerners have towards tornadoes,” says Mary Biggs. “They will happen. We will move on.” A born and bred Californian, she has seen more that her fair share of earthquakes big and small. Mary is the Assistant District Coordinator for the Ardenwood Community Emergency Response Team(CERT) program. She helps the Fremont Fire Department and the Red Cross to train all the leaders in the community in how to run a shelter after a disaster. She is also a ham radio operator.

WNI talked to Mary about what to do when the big one hits. Her suggestions are useful across a broad range of emergency situations, where help from government agencies may not be immediately forthcoming. Continue reading →

American English – is it really?

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By Rohini Mohan

I’m a Wren & Martin kind of girl. Good grammar, perfect punctuation, the Queen’s English. That’s how I was brought up. So I had a different kind of culture shock when I moved here. If I were to describe American English I would say it is very ‘fit for purpose’. Pithy, funny and bordering on the hyperbole. But it communicates. Continue reading →

Home of Hope

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By Vidya Pradhan

For most of us, ‘Checkbook Charity’ is the way we assuage our conscience. It is painless, effortless and gives a rush of good feeling with the stroke of a pen. Few of us go beyond that first step to examine the impact our donation has had on the recipient. Doctor Nilima Sabharwal’s foray into philanthrophy started with the same first step. A physician at Kaiser Permanente, she was approached by a friend about 10 years ago to help out an orphanage in Chennai called ‘The Children’s Home of Hope.’ She wrote a check and forgot all about it. Come tax time, she was reminded of her good deed and decided to go one step further and organize a small fundraiser in the Bay Area. What prompted her decision she can only ascribe to a ‘higher calling’, a phrase that kept popping up during the course of my interview with her.

The fundraiser was planned like a fun Indian party and Dr. Sabharwal and her friends managed to raise about $7000 which was sent to the orphanage. On a visit to India, Dr. Sabharwal stopped by the place to see what had been done with the money and found it had been responsible for stopping a series of epidemics that had been plaguing the children by the simple expedient of providing clean bathrooms.

Amazed by the impact of a relatively small amount of money by US standards, Dr. Sabharwal decided to set up Home of Hope(HOH), an organization dedicated to funding projects that helped orphan, destitute and disadvantaged children become self-sufficient and self reliant.

Home of Hope has raised over a million dollars since then and assisted several deserving organizations all across India. (A recent project funded in Berkeley is an attempt by the organization to provide a more global perspective to their efforts.) By keeping a tight rein on administrative overheads, HOH ensures that virtually all the funds it raises go to the projects themselves. Each project has a project coordinator, usually in the US, who can visit it periodically to determine progress and use of money.

“We are partners for life,” says Dr. Sabharwal, who calls all the wonderful people back in India incarnations of Mother Teresa for their selfless devotion and commitment to service. The progress and accounting is reported back to the 10 board members of HOH, who serve in a voluntary capacity.

Isaac Abid, who works in private equity for AIG, is one of the project coordination officers(PCO) for HOH, responsible for the Sri Chayadevi Anathashram in Mysore. Isaac advocates for the kids in front of the board members here in the US and, in his trips to India, sets a formal agenda for the way the funds are disbursed. “Food and education is important,” says Isaac, “but kids should also have the experiences of childhood.” He has suggested field trips and other enriching projects for the orphans as part of his advocacy. “I love being a PCO because I am the voice of those kids. I have to articulate their needs to my peer group at HOH.” One of his memorable experiences at his project was providing a digital camera out of his own pocket to the kids. “The wonder and joy in their eyes was just amazing,” he recalls.

HOH’s transparency and tight administrative structure has impressed potential donors. Dr. Sabharwal attributes their success to the direction of a higher power. “I believe there is a higher energy in all of us,” says Dr. Sabharwal, “We just have to be receptive to it.”

Come and be a part of the energy that drives the members of HOH next weekend at Chandni Restaurant in Fremont for its 10th Annual Gala Fundraiser. The simple and unostentatious event is headlined by comedian Daniel Nainan. The event and the people are sure to be an inspiration for those of us who want to be more involved with helping the underprivileged but are unsure about taking that first step. Home of Hope, Inc. is entirely managed and administered via volunteer effort and is mostly funded by individual contributions. Contributions may be made here.

Earthquake 101

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By Rohini Mohan

We are mighty cheery people, going about our daily business, living as we do in a highly seismic area in close proximity to several of the major faults – San Andreas, Hayward, Rodgers Creek, San Gregorio, Calaveras, Concord and Green Valley. With the area ripe for another big one, are we planning to cross the bridge when we come to it? Or are we prepared and waiting with a bring it on attitude? What does earthquake preparedness really mean? WNI did some quick research on the do’s and don’ts. Continue reading →

SezWho?

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By Vidya Pradhan

sezwho-logo.pngAn interesting article in the New York Times talks about how comments are becoming the new social currency on the web. “There are those who have blogs,” goes the article, “and then there are those who leave comments on other people’s blogs.” While the 2 groups may intersect once in a while, there is still a large population of comment writers who roam the web communities leaving their virtual footprints behind. It is to recognize the impact of these unsung participants that Jitendra Gupta and his team developed SezWho, a “distributed context, rating and reputation system for social media sites like blogs, forums, wikis, video/picture sharing sites, discussion boards and anywhere else where people collaborate on the web.” With the proliferation of social media sites, the quantity and democratization of user-generated content often makes it difficult for the lay reader to determine where to find the best quality. Who is adding value to the community and who is just venting? Continue reading →

Emergency Disaster Supply List

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California is a state where various large-scale natural disasters occur: Earthquake, Fires, Floods, etc. The Fremont Fire Department admits they do not have the resources and manpower to serve the entire community at once, so they encourage all Fremont residents to store enough disaster supplies for their own families to survive without outside help for at least 72 hours.

Keep emergency supplies at home and also some in your car, especially water.

Water = minimum 1 gallon per person per day for at least 3 days (Distilled Water Recommended = because it has no microorganisms which produce algae)

Food = enough to last your family at least 1 week, Low salt canned foods recommended

Can Opener

Bleach = 1 gallon to purify domestic water supply

Sanitation supplies = plastic bags to line toilets, toilet paper, personal wipes

Hygiene supplies = soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, sunscreen, feminine hygiene products

Flashlights with extra batteries

Portable Radio with extra batteries

Fire Extinguisher = rating = 3A: 40 B-C

Prescription Medicines and Eyeglasses Heavy clothes, boots, shoes, socks

Crescent Wrench to shut off natural gas

Water shutoff tool to shut off water to house

Shovel, Rope, Camp Stove, and extra fuel

Camping Supplies = Tent, sleeping bags, lantern

Cooking and eating utensils, paper plates and cups

Plastic garbage bags and smaller ziploc bags

Waterproof matches Food and water for pets

Money = in small bills, quarters for pay phones

Phone numbers for Out-of-State contacts or family members

First Aid Kit, Scissors, Tweezers, Needles for splinters, 4 X 4 inch gauze pads, 10 to 20, to cover wounds Kling or roller bandages, 4 rolls.

Sanitary napkins to control excessive bleeding, 2 to 4 pads

1 and 2 inch adhesive tape to secure bandages

1 box of Band-aids

2 ice packs

1 quart of clean water to wash wounds

1 bottle of antiseptic solution

2 triangular bandages to secure broken arm, or wrap as splints (can use old sheets)

1 Ace bandage

Pain relief tablets to reduce pain and swelling

1 space blanket

1 CPR pocket mask, with CPR instructions

Latex or Vinyl gloves

Helpful websites: Federal Emergency Management Association = FEMA = www.fema.gov American Red Cross = www.bayarea-redcross.org 1-888-686-3600 Bay Area Chapter California Office of Emergency Services = www.oes.ca.gov Pacific Gas and Electric = P. G. & E. = www.pge.com/safety

I auditioned for American Idol

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By Shana Dhillon

american-idol.jpgAfter traveling to and auditioning in the first session of American Idol auditions in San Diego, what I realized most is that American Idol is a television show before it is an actual singing competition.

I flew down and registered on Sunday, July 29, and received my wristband for the next day. I was told to return between 5am and 6am and not earlier because they would not allow people to stand in line earlier. I was handed a piece of paper with instructions and I was told to learn the two "crowd songs," " California Dreamin'” and "Walkin' on Sunshine." My dad, uncle, and I drove around downtown San Diego for two hours, going from store to store, looking for CDs that had these songs on them.The first two stores were sold out. We went to Borders and the salesman said, “You are the third or fourth family to come in here asking for those songs. What’s going on?” We explained to him that the American Idol auditions were being held just down the road and they had advised us all to learn these songs. Continue reading →

The Bay Area Housing Market

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By Vidya Pradhan 

US new home sales plunged 8.3 per cent in August of this year to their lowest level since December 1997 and well below analysts’ forecasts. While the ripple effect has been felt in other countries, the severity of the situation seems to be restricted to the US. But does that translate into good news for potential buyers in Silicon Valley and panic for mortgage holders(let’s not call ourselves owners just yet!) of million dollar homes?

Rohini Mohan is a first time home buyer in this area. “I have been looking to buy a home for two years, but I am still not over the sticker shock,” she says. “That I could have bought two 4000 sq ft homes about 40 minutes from downtown Toronto for the price of a <3000 sq ft in a decent school district in the Bay Area is not something I can stomach easily. As an Indian, it is rather difficult to overcome the fear of being in debt; and to get used to the idea of being in debt for close to a million dollars is daunting to say the least. Any hint of reduced prices will be like a breath of fresh air.”

WNI talked to Arti Miglani, an award winning realtor with Alain Pinel Realtors in Palo Alto. Continue reading →

Indian style Chinese, or an ode to the "Newdull"

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By Rohini Mohan 

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, tiny immigrant populations moved to India from China and settled in big cities like Calcutta and Bombay. As time went by, these Hakka Chinese melted into the society, adapting with aplomb to the various ethnicities in their adopted country. So taken were they by the abundance of spice liberally sprinkled in Indian food, that they slowly started to introduce it into their own cooking; this gave birth to that most delectable of fusion cuisines; Indian Chinese. Continue reading →