Rape Princess Spy Pak
Transcription
Rape Princess Spy Pak
Rape Epidemic indian Name of the Game The Oct.-Dec. 2014, Vol. 8 No.2 www.theindianamerican.com Grace Srinivasan as Noor in “Enemy of the Reich: The Noor Inayat Khan Story” conveys the complex emotions with a nuanced understanding of the young Sufi woman who became a British spy American Princess Spy Pak Military Culture CHAIRMAN AND PUBLISHER SUDHIR M. PARIKH, M.D. PRESIDENT AND CEO KRISHNA KUMAR EDITOR SUNIL ADAM CONTRIBUTING WRITERS JOANNE FLYNN BLACK * ASEEM CHHABRA * ELA DUTT DEENA GUZDER * BHARGAVI KULKARNI KAMALA MAHABIR * PAROMITA MUKHOPADHYAY SHILPI PAUL * SWATHI REDDY * DANIELA RIBLE VIJI SUNDARAM * VISI TILAK LAYOUT & DESIGN SUNIL ADAM * SHASHIKANT WARIK NEW MEDIA CONSULTANT VEERABADRA KUMAR CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER SHOMIK CHAUDHURI DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING ILAYAS QURAISHI SONIA LALWANI MANOJ VYAS SYED SHEERAZ MAHMOOD EDITORIAL OFFICE 37 West 20th Street, #1009, NEW YORK, NY 10011 TEL: 212.675.7515 WEST COAST OFFICE 650 VERMONT AVE., SUITE 46, ANAHEIM, CA 92805 TEL. 661.468.3851 CHICAGO OFFICE 2652 W Devon Ave., Suite # B, Chicago, IL 60659 Ph:773.856.3345/0545/3445, Fax:773.856.3537 WEBSITE WWW.THEINDIANAMERICAN.COM The Indian American is published by The Indian American, LLC. Copyright 2011. All rights reserved. No material herein or portions thereof may be reprinted without the consent of the publisher. The publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or illustrations. Views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily in accordance with the opinions and views of the magazine, its personnel, its agents and no liability is assumed by the publisher thereof. Advertising copy and artwork are the sole responsibility of the advertiser. No warranties, guarantees or endorsements are made by the publisher. 2 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 indian The Oct.-Dec. 2014, Vol. 8 No. 2 www.theindianamerican.com News in Jpegs American Boys Will Be Boys The Princes Spy Pakistan’s Dueling Military Cultures 3 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 Name of the Game JULY 2014 NEWS in JPEGS A Muslim man prays before having his Iftar (breaking of fast) meal, during the holy fasting month of Ramadan at the Jama Masjid (Grand Mosque) in the old quarters of Delhi July 1. Left, Hindu priests sit in cauldrons of water and make offerings to in front of a fire while performing the “Parjanya Varun Yagam”, a special prayer for rain, in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad July 1. India’s monsoon rainfall was 43 percent below average in June, the weather office said on July 1, the weakest first month of the season in five years. Right, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi shakes hands with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (L) during a meeting at his residence in New Delhi July 1. France has proposed to give India a 1 billion euro ($1.4 billion) credit line to fund sustainable infrastructure and urban development projects, Fabius said on July 1. 4 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 JULY 2014 NEWS in JPEGS A man arranges strands of vermicelli, which are kept for drying at a factory in the northern Indian city of Allahabad July 1. Vermicelli is a specialty that is eaten during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. U.S. Senator John McCain waves to members of the media after his meeting with India's Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi July 2. A visit to India by McCain on July 2 was overshadowed by a row over reports that the National Security Agency was authorized to spy on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party in 2010. Facebook's Chief Operating Officer (COO) Sheryl Sandberg attends an interactive session organized by the ladies' wing of industry lobby group Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in New Delhi July 2. 5 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 JULY 2014 NEWS in JPEGS A Shi'ite Muslim girl takes part in a candlelight protest against the ongoing conflict in Iraq, in New Delhi July 3. Nearly 50 Indian nurses from the southern state of Kerala have been taken against their will from a hospital in the militant-controlled city of Tikrit in Iraq, India's Foreign Ministry said on July 3. 6 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 JULY 2014 NEWS in JPEGS A laborer prepares to unload sacks of potatoes from a truck at a wholesale vegetable and fruit market in New Delhi July 2. Left. India's Finance and Defense Minister Arun Jaitley attends a meeting with the finance ministers of Indian states on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) issues in New Delhi July 3. Right, An Indian nurse (L), one of a group of nurses caught up in fighting in Iraq, holds flowers upon her arrival at the airport in the southern Indian city of Kochi July 5. The group of 46 nurses who had been holed up in a hospital in the Iraqi city of Tikrit arrived home in India on Saturday after briefly being held captive by suspected militants, an outcome celebrated by the newly elected government in New Delhi as an early diplomatic success. 7 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 JULY 2014 NEWS in JPEGS India's state government officials and policemen stand next to the bodies of construction workers near the site of a collapsed compound wall of a warehouse on the outskirts of the southern Indian city of Chennai July 6. Eleven builders were crushed under a warehouse wall in Tamil Nadu on July 6, barely a week after the collapse of an eleven storey building killed some 60 people in the same state. Below, rescue workers clear debris from the site of a collapsed compound wall of a warehouse on the outskirts of the southern Indian city of Chennai July 6. 8 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 July 2014 NEWS in JPEGS Passengers travel on an overcrowded train at Loni town in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh July 8. India's Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda arrives to present the railway budget for the 2014/15 fiscal year, at the parliament in New Delhi July 8. On July 8, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new government will unveil its maiden railways budget, with expectations high that he will offer bold plans to improve the service - a lifeline for 23 million Indians every day. 9 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 JULY 2014 NEWS in JPEGS A demonstrator shouts slogans during a protest in the southern Indian city of Bangalore July 19. Hundreds of demonstrators on July 19 held a protest rally demanding justice after a 6-year-old student was allegedly raped by two staff members within a school's premises in the city on July 2, the demonstrators said. A devotee performs as she takes part in the annual Hindu religious festival of "Bonalu" in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad July 20. The word "Bonalu" is derived from the Telugu word "Bhojanalu", which refers to the food offered to Goddess Kali, the Hindu goddess of power A father, center, and his two sons have their heads shaven as part of a ritual after what they say was fulfilment of their wishes during the Aadi Krithigai festival celebrations at a temple in the southern Indian city of Chennai July 21. During the festival, Hindu women also fast for the whole day in hope of winning the favor of Lord Muruga. 10 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 JULY 2014 NEWS in JPEGS Two boys push a motor bike through a flooded street after heavy rains in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad July 24. India's monsoon rains were 24 percent above average in the week ended July 23, the weather office said on Thursday, the first week of surplus rainfall during this year's monsoon season. A man carrying his child on his shoulders wades through a flooded street after heavy rains in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad July 24. 11 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 july 2014 NEWS in JPEGS Relatives wail as people crowd at the site of a collision between a train and a school bus in Medak district in the southern Indian state of Telangana July 24. A train slammed into a school bus in southern India on July 24, killing at least 19 children and the driver, police said. The bus crossed a railway track at an unmanned crossing in Medak district without stopping to check if the way was clear, said Indian Railways spokesman Anil Kumar Saxena Devotees with their mouths pierced with tridents participate in a ritual to worship the Hindu goddess Durga during Aadi festival celebrations in the southern Indian city of Chennai July 27. During the festival, Hindu women also fast for the whole day in hopes of winning the favor of Durga. 12 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 JULY 2014 NEWS in JPEGS Onlookers stand at the crash site of an Advanced Light Helicopter of the Indian Air Force (IAF) at Sitapur district in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh July 25. A total of seven Air Warriors, including two pilots, were on board and there are believed to be no survivors, IAF said on July 25. Left, muslims offer prayers at the Jama Masjid (Grand Mosque) on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr in the old quarters of Delhi July 29. The Eid al-Fitr festival marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Right, pigeons eat grains from stacked sacks at the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) market yard, on the outskirts of the western Indian city of Ahmedabad July 29. India threatened to block a worldwide reform of customs rules last week, saying it wants an agreement on food subsidies and stockholding to run parallel to the trade facilitation pact. With grain silos spilling over, exports on the rise and an avowed market champion for prime minister, New Delhi's threat to trash the trade deal in the name of food security and farm subsidies appears puzzling. 13 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 AUGUST NEWS in JPEGS A resident looks at the debris of her damaged house after a landslide at Malin village in the western Indian state of Maharashtra July 30. Heavy rain triggered a landslide in India on July 30 burying up to 150 people and rescuers were struggling through mud to try to reach them, a disaster official said. Left, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry holds a meet and greet with staff of the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi Aug. 1. The visit by Kerry to India is his first following the resounding election win by Modi in May. Right, Kerry (L) shakes hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Prime Minister's residence in New Delhi August 1. 14 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 AUGUST 2014 NEWS in JPEGS Kanwarias or devotees of Hindu god Lord Shiva walk through the banks after filling their pots with the water from the river Ganga in the northern Indian city of Allahabad Aug. 4. Hundreds of the Kanwarias carry holy water from the Ganga to their hometowns to be offered to Shivling (a symbol of Lord Shiva). A student participates in a peace rally to commemorate the 69th anniversary of the atomic bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in Mumbai Aug. 6. 15 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 AUGUST 2014 NEWS in JPEGS Vendors sit at a flower market in the southern Indian city of Bangalore Aug. 7. Above, an artisan works on an idol of Hindu Lord Krishna ahead of the Janmashtami festival in the southern Indian city of Chennai Aug.t 7. The festival, which marks the birth anniversary of Lord Krishna, will be celebrated across India on Aug. 18. An artisan works on an idol of Hindu elephant god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, at a workshop in the southern Indian city of Chennai Aug. 7. Idols of Ganesh are made two to three months before Ganesh Chaturthi, a popular religious festival in India. 16 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 AUGUST 2014 NEWS in JPEGS U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, center, inspects a guard of honor during his ceremonial reception in New Delhi Aug. 8. India has offered to significantly increase an order for U.S. attack helicopters, Indian officials said, as Hagel began a visit to New Delhi on Thursday aimed at boosting defense and strategic ties. A view of a flooded road on the banks of river Ganga after heavy monsoon rains in the northern Indian city of Allahabad Aug. 9. 17 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 AUGUST 2014 NEWS in JPEGS Left, schoolgirls tie "Rakhis" or traditional Indian sacred threads onto the wrists of Indian police personnel inside a police station on the eve of Raksha Bandhan festival in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad Aug. 9. Rakhi is also the name of a Hindu festival, also known as Raksha Bandhan, during which a sister ties one or more of the sacred threads onto her brother's wrist to ask him for her protection.Right, a woman shops at a stall selling Rakhis, traditional Indian sacred threads, at a market in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh Aug. 9. Brahmins, or upper-caste Hindus, hold "Janeu" (sacred thread), also called "Yagnopavit", as they perform prayers at a temple on the occasion of the Raksha Bandhan festival in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad Aug. 10. Raksha Bandhan, an annual Hindu festival celebrating the bond between sisters and brothers, is being celebrated across the country on Aug. 10. A Hindu devotee gets his cheeks pierced as he takes part in an annual religious procession called "Shitla Mata" in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh Aug. 10. Hindu devotees subject themselves to painful rituals during the religious procession to demonstrate their faith and as a penance to the deity at a temple dedicated to the goddess Shitla. 18 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 AUGUST 2014 NEWS in JPEGS Female personnel of India's Border Security Force (BSF) patrol along the fencing of the India-Bangladesh international border ahead of India's Independence Day celebrations, at Dhanpur village in India's northeastern state of Tripura Aug. 11. India commemorates its Independence Day on August 15. A girl practices with a rifle during weapons training course at the firing range of the police headquarters in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad Aug. 12. Thousands of girls across Gujarat state are participating in the fifteen-day self defense training programmes jointly organized by the police and the state government of Gujarat, a police media release said. Real estate developer Donald Trump speaks during a news conference to announce his first project in Mumbai Aug. 12. Trump is planning "substantial investments" in the Indian property and hotel sectors, betting on Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led new government's efforts to revive the economic growth and boost infrastructure. Forest officials prepare a pyre for a dead male leopard at Jorhat in the northeastern Indian state of Assam Aug. 11. A local forest official said a group of tea workers killed the leopard on Sunday after it had attacked them, injuring four people. 19 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 AUGUST 2014 NEWS in JPEGS Above, kites dot the sky during India's Independence Day celebrations in the old quarters of Delhi Aug. 15. Left, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the nation from the historic Red Fort during Independence Day celebrations in Delhi Aug.15. Below left, school students hold a 200-meter-long Indian national flag during India's Independence Day celebrations in the southern Indian city of Chennai Aug. 13. Below right, college students with painted faces pose for a picture as they take part in India's Independence Day celebrations in the southern Indian city of Chennai Aug. 13. 20 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 AUGUST 2014 NEWS in JPEGS Above, devotees try to form a human pyramid to break a clay pot containing curd during the celebrations to mark the Hindu festival of Janmashtami in Mumbai Aug. 18. Janmashtami, which marks the birthday of Hindu god Krishna, is being celebrated across the country today. Left, an Indian artist dressed as Hindu Lord Krishna takes part in a play during celebrations to mark Janmashtami festival in New Delhi Aug. 18. Below, students hold an idol of Hindu Lord Krishna during the celebrations to mark Janmashtami festival inside a school in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad Aug. 16. 21 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 AUGUST 2014 NEWS in JPEGS Boys run carrying chickens after a truck transporting the poultry was set on fire during a protest at Golaghat district in the northeastern Indian state of Assam Aug. 20. Thousands of protesters in the far-flung Indian state of Assam defied a curfew and attacked police in a fifth day of unrest over a territorial dispute with a neighboring state. Villagers move with their belongings to safer places in a boat through the flooded areas of Morigaon district in the northeastern Indian state of Assam Aug. 24. The latest heavy rains have caused landslides and floods in many parts of India and Nepal. Left, Britain's Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg holds a 'Kirpan', a Sikh religious sword presented to him by the Gurudwara authorities during his visit to a Gurudwara (Sikh temple) in New Delhi Aug. 25. Clegg is on a three-day visit to India. Right, rabbi looks at the ceiling of room during the reopening ceremony of Nariman House, which was damaged during the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai Aug 26. 22 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 AUGUST 2014 NEWS in JPEGS Above, a devotee immerses an idol of the Hindu elephant god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, in an artificial pond during the ten-day-long Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai Aug. 30. Ganesh idols are taken through the streets in a procession accompanied by dancing and singing, and later immersed in a river or the sea symbolizing a ritual seeing-off of his journey towards his abode, taking away with him the misfortunes of all mankind. Left, Devotees carry an idol of Hindu elephant god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, during a procession through the streets before immersing it in the waters of the Arabian Sea on the last day of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai Sept 8. A devotee, center, cries as others prepare to immerse an idol of Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, on the banks of the river Yamuna in New Delhi Sept. 8. 23 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 SEPTEMBER 2014 NEWS in JPEGS A man chips out the cross from the entrance of his house after taking part in a religion conversion ceremony from Christianity to Hinduism at Hasayan town in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh Aug. 29. People take part in a religion conversion ceremony from Christianity to Hinduism at Hasayan town in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh Aug. 29. Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott waves to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, right, after his ceremonial reception at the forecourt of India's presidential palace Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi Sept. 5. 24 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 SEPTEMBER 2014 NEWS in JPEGS Performers painted to look like tigers dance during festivities marking the end of the annual harvest festival of Onam in Trichur city in the southern Indian state of Kerala Sept. 10. The ten-day long festival is celebrated annually in India's southern coastal state of Kerala to symbolize the return of King Mahabali to meet his subjects. 25 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 SEPTEMBER 2014 NEWS in JPEGS An aerial view taken from an Indian Air Force helicopter shows the flooded Srinagar city, Sept. 11. Authorities in Kashmir collected the bodies of women and children floating in the streets on Thursday as anger mounted over what many survivors said was a bungled operation to help those caught in the region's worst flooding in 50 years. 26 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 SEPTEMBER 2014 NEWS in JPEGS China's President Xi Jinping's wife Peng Liyuan watches folk artists perform during her visit to the Sabarmati river front in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad Sept. 17. China's President Xi Jinping, center, holds an umbrella as he watches folk artists perform while visiting the Sabarmati river front along with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (2nd L) in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad Sept. 17. Xi arrived in India as the two Asian giants take steps to boost commercial ties. China has pledged to invest billions of dollars in Indian railways, industrial parks and roads, but ties between the nuclear-armed nations have long been held back by distrust, mostly over their contested border. 27 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 September 2014 NEWS in JPEGS Women dressed in traditional attire pose as they take part in rehearsals for the "garba" dance ahead of Navratri festival in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad Sept. 21. Right, Ram Singh Chauhan, 62, shows his moustache, which he claims to be 5.4 meters (18 ft) long, during a ceremony in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad Sept. 24. Chauhan, who holds the Guinness World Record for the longest moustache, claims he has not trimmed it since the age of 17. Folk dancers perform Dandiya, a traditional dance, during a rehearsal ahead of Navratri festival in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad Sept. 24 28 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 SEPTEMBER 2014 Mohammed Jaffer-SnapsIndia NEWS in JPEGS Jay mandal/On Assignment Mohammed Jaffer-SnapsIndia Above, Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in New York for the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Modi was received by India's Ambassador to the U.S. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and his wife Kyoko, India's Ambassador to the United Nations Asoke Mukerji, and Consul General of India in New York Dnanyeshwar Mulay and their wives at the John F. Kennedy International Airport Sept. 26. Below, Prime Minister Modi greets a large number of Indians who had gathered outside his hotel to welcome him. 29 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 SEPTEMBER 2014 NEWS in JPEGS Mohammed Jaffer/SnapsIndia India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the 69th United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters in New York Sept. 27. India's Prime Minster Narendra Modi lays a yellow rose on the name of an Indian at the site of the 9/11 Memorial in the lower Manhattan borough of New York Sept. 27. 30 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 SEPTEMBER 2014 NEWS in JPEGS India's Prime Minster Narendra Modi appears on screen as he speaks on stage during the Global Citizen Festival concert in Central Park in New York Sept. 27. Reuters Modi, left, holds hands with actor Hugh Jackman on stage during the Global Citizen Festival concert in Central Park in New York Sept. 27. 31 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 SEPTEMBER 2014 Mohammed Jaffer/SnapsIndia NEWS in JPEGS Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses Indian-Americans at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Sept. 28. 32 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 SEPTEMBER 2014 NEWS in JPEGS Right, a supporter holds up U.S. and Indian national flags as he assembles with a large crowd of people in Times Square to watch the speech by India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi simulcast on a giant screen in New York Sept. 28. 33 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 SEPTEMBER 2014 Mohammed Jaffer/SnapsIndia NEWS in JPEGS Jay Mandal/On Assignment Above, Hillary Clinton hugs Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, as Bill Clinton greets Modi during their meeting in New York on Sept. 28. Left, Dr. Sudhir M. Parikh, publisher of Desi Talk, greeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a dinner reception hosted by India’s Ambassador to the U.S. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar at the Taj Pierre in New York on Sept. 28. While the two also met at the dinner, this photo was taken when Dr. Parikh called on the Prime Minister at the New York Palace Hotel on Sept. 27. Below, Modi speaks at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Sept. 29. 34 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 Modi meets New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in New York on Sept. 27. Left, Modi meets New York Mayor Bill de Blasio on Sept. 26. Right, Modi with former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. 35 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 Governor’s Office/Tim Larsen SEPTEMBER 2014 NEWS in JPEGS SEPTEMBER 2014 PIB NEWS in JPEGS Left, Modi meets Secretary of State John Kerry at a private dinner hosted by President Obama in his honor at the White House on Sept. 30. Right, Modi at the Sept. 30 private dinner. Below, Modi with South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in New York on Sept. 28. 36 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 SEPTEMBER 2014 NEWS in JPEGS Obama and Modi walk at the National Martin Luther King Memorial on the National Mall in Washington on Sept. 30. Reuters Obama and Modi talk at the National Martin Luther King Memorial on the National Mall in Washington Sept. 30. 37 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 T Princess Spy Cover Story By Ela Dutt Grace Srinivasan as Noor in “Enemy of the Reich: The Noor Inayat Khan Story” conveys the complex emotions with a nuanced understanding of the young Sufi woman who became a British spy he hour-long docudrama “Enemy of the Reich: The Noor Inayat Khan Story” premiered on television on PBS this Sept. 9. The young “matahari” was Noor Inayat Khan, (1914-1943) an Indian-American British spy during the Nazi invasion of Europe, is already famous in the United Kingdom. Now she’s been introduced to American audiences. Unity Productions Foundation, a nonprofit documentary company, recruited a novice to do the part of the brave British secret agent of Indian-American descent. It was pure coincidence and perhaps the stars aligned to make it happen, Grace Srinivasan, 23, a music student at Baltimore’s Peabody Conservatory tells Desi Talk. The docudrama has aired in numerous theaters since February. Srinivasan attended two of the showings, one in Washington, D.C. and the other in New Jersey. “Both shows were sold out. And the audience was so enthusiastic. It was very surreal – people coming to ask for my autograph!” Srinivasan recalls. Her interview is marked by a similar forthrightness. Different Centuries, Different Backgrounds Alex Kronemer, the executive producer of the show says Srinivasan embodied the spirit of Noor – that subtle mix of toughness and gentleness, apart from the same ethnicity – an Indian father and a Caucasian mother. That’s 38 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 where the likeness ends. One hundred years ago Noor was born in Moscow to a Sufi Muslim father from India, and a white American mother. She was brought up in France in a Sufi school run by her father. She also attended Sorbonne University, and was a children’s writer. Then they moved to England, lived through World War II, and she became a spy and secret agent for the British secret service, went behind enemy lines, was betrayed by Nazi collaborators, was caught but escaped twice from her captors while imprisoned in Paris and refused to reveal the names of her collaborators despite being tortured. She was finally executed at the infamous Dachau concentration camp in Germany. Noor was the first woman radio/wireless operator to be sent into Nazi-occupied Paris; she was the longest survivor in that role – a record 3 months according to a biographer, and 4 months according to the PBS website, more than any man had ever survived in that role. Shrabani Basu, author of Princess Spy, the definitive biography on Noor published in 2006, says witnesses corroborated that Noor’s last word before dying was “Liberte.” 39 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 Compare that to the life of Srinivasan who has not seen any conflict at close quarters. She was born in Washington, D.C., to Suresh Srinivasan, a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, of Tamil descent; and mother Nancy Hanna of suburban Pittsburgh. Both parents are into numbers, dealing with math and statistics who met while working at NASA in Greenbelt, Maryland. Grace Srinivasan grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland, was home-schooled because of her rigorous ballet schedule, and went to George Washington University where she did music but also math, science and biolo- gy. She hopes to make classical singing her career. She does not have the same exposure to Indian culture that Noor had, though she did go to India once when she was 17 and relatives from India visit occasionally. India in Her Life Her grandfather is still in India and family from India does visit occasionally, Srinivasan says, but, “My Dad didn’t teach 40 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 me Tamil,” though relatives all speak in Tamil when they call from India or visit her home, and she admits, “I do have a language barrier.” She is a lifelong vegetarian as both her parents are. “My mom was a vegetarian even before she met Dad,” Srinivasan says. She loves Indian food. Unlike Noor’s family, Srinivasan has a secular background. But she sings in a Catholic church, St. Stephen Martyr in Washington, D.C., on weekends to make some money. “It’s my job. I’m very lucky,” she says. “I’m not religious, my Dad was not religious, and our family isn’t. But I do want to “Noor was really connected to all aspects of her family. She embraced all of it. I realized I hadn’t and would like to be more that way. I don’t know how, but I would love to go back again and explore the country (India)” explore religions – Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism – in my non-existent spare time,” she says. However, some influence in music must have seeped in as evident from Srinivasan’s career choices. “My Dad plays Carnatic music on the violin – so that was around me growing up,” she notes. “But I’m really close to my Mom’s family,” she admits. Her mother has always worked from home while Srinivasan was growing up and still does, on issues relating to health statistics. Her father came to study statistics and computer science from IIT, Delhi, and worked with the National 41 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 Institutes of Health and is now with the Centers for Disease Control in their statistics department. Srinivasan has hardly seen any Bollywood or Tollywood movies and laughs at the idea that she might in the future be approached by Indian film makers. “I never really got into Bollywood. I wish I had as a kid, but no.” She loves movies however, “Almost everything – fantasy, period drama, I’m all over the map.” She sees another plus to being in this docudrama. “I am getting more interested in Indian culture now, and this whole project renewed my interest,” she told Desi Talk. “Noor was really connected to all aspects of her family. She embraced all of it. I realized I hadn’t and would like to be more that way. I don’t know how, but I would love to go back again and explore the country (India).” Regarding a future in film, Srinivasan is realistic. “If there are any opportunities, yes,” she says, “But it’s so much about luck,” she adds. As for Bollywood or Tollywood, “I don’t know 42 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 enough to say what I would do (if approached),” she says frankly. How She Got the Part Regardless of the differences, Grace was the one finally chosen from among those selected by a Baltimore casting agency deputed for the task of finding a Noor and another 12 cast members for “Enemy of the Reich” says Alex Kronemer, executive producer of the docudrama. While in her freshman year at George Washington University, Srinivasan had signed up with a local casting agent in case there was any opportunity for landing a summer job. That didn’t pan out. So last year when she got a call from the agent about some company in Baltimore needing a half-Indian-half Caucasian woman, she was astonished at the chance. “I didn’t know the story but I went there and read the script.” A few days later they called her to come back for a second audition. That’s when she got her act together as it were, read up on Noor and got more into the character, before she auditioned again. “I was surprised when I got the call next day for the part. It was really, really crazy.” That Je Ne Sais Quoi Not only did Noor happen to have the same ethnicities as Grace and the looks needed, but Grace also had the je ne sais quoi, that indefinable quality. “Grace kind of inhabited the Noor from history – a combination of somebody with incredible courage but also extremely vulnerable. Noor was petite and her personality was demure, yet when she took on the challenge, she was steely. Grace gives off similar vibes – a person who is determined but also gives off a sense of obvious vulnerability.” So even though Srinivasan had no acting experience, Kronemer and Rob Gardner, the producer and director, took the risk because of that something they saw in the 23-year old musician, the grace in movement, the nuanced approach. “Another person had quite a bit of experience, but at the end of the day, actors have to respond to direction, and she seemed to have the ability to respond to what you were asking her to do and do it,” Kronemer said. It took ten days in June last year to shoot the parts needed on two blocks of Baltimore’s Mount Vernon Square that mirrors the streets of Paris. “All through those 10 Days, Grace was able to convey the nuanced and complicated emotions. So she has acting gifts. It was the best choice,” Kronemer says. 43 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 ‘Boys Will Be Boys’ India O In India's largest state, a misogynistic family-run political dynasty wants to pretend a rape epidemic doesn't exist By Ankita Rao and Vivekananda Nemana n the morning of May 27, villagers in the Badaun district in India's Uttar Pradesh state found two teenage girls, raped and murdered, hanging from a mango tree. The girls had disappeared the night before, never returning after wandering into the fields near their home to go to the bathroom. The attack came days before a series of brutal assaults across the state: Four men gang-raped a 17-year-old girl, and another group of men beat the mother of a different rape victim after she refused to withdraw an official complaint. On May 30, reporters confronted chief minister Akhilesh Yadav in the state capital of Lucknow about the recent wave of sexual violence. But the 41-year-old leader of India's most populous and arguably most lawless state was unrepentant. "Aren't you safe?" Yadav shot back, standing amid a gaggle of microphones, his aides smirking behind him. "You're not facing any danger, are you?" The remarks were consistent with what has become a disturbing party line. Yadav is one of the leading politicians in the Samajwadi Party ("Socialist Party"), a left44 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 Two girls are seen hanging from a tree in a village in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on May 28, 2014, in this still image taken from video. leaning group that has built a reputation as one of the most anti-women parties in the country. In April, Yadav's father, party head and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, opposed capital punishment for rape, citing that "boys will be boys ... they make mistakes." Just days later, Abu Azmi, the head of the party's Maharashtra state branch, argued that if men were hanged for rape, then women should be hanged for having premarital sex. In July, Mulayam sparked controversy again by claiming that out of all Indian states, Uttar Pradesh had the most people but the fewest rapes – a blatant lie. (Reached through a party spokesperson, Yadav and his father declined to Demonstrators from All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) hold placards and shout slogans during a protest against the recent killings of two teenage girls, in New Delhi May 31. 45 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 Onlookers stand at the site where two teenage girls, who were raped, were hanged from a tree at Budaun district in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh May 31. comment.) A combination of uneven development, a flawed judiciary, and systemic police corruption have made Uttar Pradesh among the most difficult places to be a woman in India. The state – with a population of roughly 200 million, enough to make it the fifth-largest country in the world – reported over 32,500 incidents of genderbased crime in 2013, ranking second only to the admittedly less populated Andhra Pradesh. Of those, 3,000 were rapes – more than a 50 percent rise from the year before, according to the Ministry of State for Home Affairs, which oversees the national police service. Yet these numbers don't tell the whole story; rape carries India's Congress party vice president Rahul Gandhi, right, accompanied by local officials, visits the house of one of the two teenage girls, who were raped and hanged from a tree, at Budaun district in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh May 31. 46 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 Supporters of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) shout slogans as police use a water cannon to stop them from moving towards the office of Akhilesh Yadav, the chief minister of the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, during a protest against recent rape and hanging of two girls, in Lucknow June 2. significant stigma in India, and can often lead to abuse directed towards the victim, causing sexual assault to go widely underreported. The scale of gender-based violence in Uttar Pradesh is likely much worse than the already disturbing figures suggest. That is not the way the party sees it, however. "This whole thing about violence against women –this is propaganda," Rajendra Chaudhary, a Samajwadi Party cabinet minister and spokesman, told Foreign Policy. "These incidents are unfortunate and we're trying to fix them, but this is a social problem. We can't say that this is happening because of government." Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party has resisted efforts to reform rape laws, refused to reserve a portion of seats in its parliament for women, and opposed The veiled mother of one of the two teenage girls, who were raped and hanged from a tree, weeps outside her house at Budaun district in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh May 31. 47 THE INDIAN AMERICAN JULY-SEPTEMBER 2014 increased penalties for sexual crimes after the nowinfamous 2012 Delhi gang rape, where a young woman was brutally -- and fatally -- assaulted on a bus in the capital. In Uttar Pradesh "violence against women," said activist Kavita Krishnan, who runs the All India Progressive Women's Association, a women's rights organization, "seems to be a feature of governance." While the state's leaders have long presided over an inept administration that enables widespread sexual violence, the younger Yadav was supposed to be different. Australia-educated, well-spoken, and charismatic, Yadav ran as a reformer who could fix Uttar Pradesh's corrupt and sclerotic bureaucracy -- and, in turn, upend the state institutions that had abetted impunity for criminal perpetrators. But two years later, he has done little to distinguish himself from the party's old guard; sexual assault remains pervasive in his state. It's a product of a systemic rape culture, according to Krishnan, that very much still "flows from the top." – Foreign Policy Indian policemen show two men (L and 2nd R), who are accused of gang raping and hanging two girls, to the media at Budaun district in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh May 30. Onlookers look at the body of a woman, hung from a tree, in Moradabad district in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh June 12. 48 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 NEWS INDIA www.newsindiatimes.com Published Weekly By Parikh Worldwide Media LLC, New York. Vol. XLV. No. 40 60 Cents Friday, Oct. 3, 2014 Great Expectations TIMES Narendra Modi’s American Odyssey PAGE 1 www.newsindiatimes.com By Raza Rumi Pakistan’s Dueling Military Cultures P akistan’s military has been in the global spotlight for several decades. Within the country, it has shaped both state and society, including arbitrating key decisions -- from foreign policy to economic management. A large number of Pakistanis view it as a “guardian” of the state. Yet, scant scholarship exists on the institution itself and the roles it has played. Instead, hagiographical accounts from Pakistani authors (mostly retired military officers) and media commentary that often overlook the important questions dominate the discussion. South Asia Two new books published in quick succession have expanded the debate and provide new insights into the workings of the Pakistani military. The first is a provocative assessment by Dr. C. Christine Fair entitled Fighting to the End: The Pakistan Army’s Way of War and second is Aqil Shah’s indepth study, The Army and Democracy: Military Politics in Pakistan. Both books extend the scope of research by relying on the military’s own literature, and by bringing to light lesserknown dimensions of the internal norms and processes that determine its organizational culture and outlook. It is well-known that the 50 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 Pakistani army soldiers direct Muslim Sunnis arriving to attend the funeral of fellow Sunni who were killed in Friday’s sectarian clashes during a Muharram procession, near Laiquat Bagh, Rawalpindi Nov. 17, 2013. Below, Paramilitary soldiers checks a motorist along a street in a neighbourhood, after a gunfire attack on a security academy run by the Airports Security Force (ASF) in Karachi June 10. Pakistan Army has long viewed itself as the arbiter of “national interest.” The military gave itself a preponderant role in the running of the state and exercises a veto power over the nation’s security, foreign, and economic policies. Fair’s book examines the “strategic culture” of the institution and how its culture evolved from the conflict with Pakistan’s powerful neighbor India, transforming into a larger, more defined viewpoint. The eleven chapters of Fair’s book probe into all the facets – genesis and evolution, ideology, regional and global implications – of this strategic culture. A state that views India as “its eternal foe that not only seeks to dominate Pakistan but 51 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 to destroy it” is the central argument of the various materials that Fair relies upon. However, Fair argues that this fear is primarily an ideological tool that enables the Army to position itself as a defender of Pakistan’s “ideological frontiers,” as defined by the twonation theory, and an “Islamic identity” vis-à-vis a “Hindu” India. The Army takes its capability to mount a challenge to India as its raison d’etre, asserts Fair. Fair also argues that seeking strategic parity with India has been an overriding policy goal within the Pakistani defense literature. She makes a detailed review of Pakistan’s relations with the United States and shows how the United States, despite its historical assistance to modernize the Pakistani Army, is viewed as an unreliable ally. China, on the other hand, gets a favorable position and is viewed a counterweight to U.S. hegemony in the region. Since the nuclearization of the subcontinent, Fair argues, Pakistan has kept its nuclear doctrine flexible, managing to deter India from escalating any conflict while drawing international actors like the United States into various crises. The strategic assessment of the Army, as Fair elaborates, is that Pakistan’s position as a nuclear state restrains the United States from completely abandoning the country. Can this ingrained strategic worldview change? Fair is not hopeful. She paints a dire picture and argues the institution is “fundamentally unsatis52 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 A Pakistani soldier guards a road in Sadda, Kurram Agency, along the Afghan border July 6, 2010. fied with the status quo, desiring additional territory even when it is not desired for security.” In a striking insight, she also challenges the conventional wisdom that democratization will improve things. Fair says the Army’s strategic culture permeates Pakistan’s “civil society, political culture and bureaucracies.” However, she does note a change in recruitment patterns. In 1972, Army officers came from only a few districts in Punjab and KhyberPakhtunkhwa provinces, but by 2005, nearly all of the districts in Pakistan were sending officers. Fair’s research shows that many of these officers may not be sharing the Punjabi-dominated Army’s core values with the same intensity, and shows the potential for transformation. Aqil Shah’s The Army and Democracy is another detailed review of the genesis and evolution of the Pakistani Army’s institutional culture and world view. The book shows that the Army’s attitudes echo the fears and dogma of Pakistan’s early history. Shah argues that the Army’s dominant political role was not inevitable, despite the underdeveloped nature of political institutions. This is a major departure from earlier studies that cited the overdeveloped nature of colonial state. Shah painstakingly traces the anatomy of coups in Pakistan and the underlying belief systems that resulted in the Army taking charge of the country’s affairs. He argues that national security is perceived by the institution to be a “national interest” and this has thwarted the evolution of political institutions in Pakistan. Yet Shah goes beyond the view that the military is driven by its cor- 53 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 A Pakistani soldier oversees the incineration of hashish and betel nuts on International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Karachi June 26. porate interests. He elaborates, through a rich array of literature and interviews, that an adherence to institutional norms and “traditions of tutelage” explains the military’s appropriation of the chief defender role. The “military mentality” (i.e. its norms) informs its overarching role as the savior of last resort. The use of archive material and military documents makes Shah’s study a rich source of global references on the Pakistani military’s dominance and how its own pronouncements reinforce its tutelary traditions. He also explores the military’s socialization program and curricula, and discovers that apprehensions about Indian designs to harm Pakistan continue to be a major theme in defense instruction. Shah also argues that the existence of terrorist groups and nuclear weapons on Pakistani soil raise questions about the viability of the military’s conventional world view. A close reading of both Shah and Fair suggest that the Pakistani Army may be taking huge risks with long-term implications for regional and international security to achieve short- term parity with India. Both books, however, understate the public pronouncements of Pakistan’s former military chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. Since 2011, and until his retirement in 2013, Kayani had advanced the notion that Pakistan’s real threats were internal. There have been some changes to the 2013 Green Book (a leading internal publication that collates essays by serving officers), that also express this idea, along with the usual Indiacentric postulates. The troubled and asymmetrical relationship with the United 54 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 States, ironically, has played some role in this shift; and the discovery of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, and the subsequent criticism of the Army, made it, once again, look inwards. A decade ago, more than 90 percent of Pakistan’s military personnel and assets were deployed to counter the Indian threat. But a substantial number of these resources have been diverted to Western borders; and the rise of the Pakistani Taliban has provided a new challenge to the military and its intelligence apparatus. Internal security challenges have also compounded the emerging world view, and the ongoing security operation in North Waziristan – the third major offensive in the last five years – indicates that there is a greater emphasis on sorting out Pakistan’s internal messes than on fighting a battle for regional domination. Whether the recent changes are lasting and will result in a revision of the Army’s security doctrines or impact its curricula and institutional culture are open questions. There is increasing pressure within Pakistan itself to adopt a zero-tolerance policy for militancy. An important variable here would the trajectory of democratization and how far the political elites are willing to challenge the strategic culture that Fair has elaborately theorized in her book. Pakistan’s incumbent Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has already challenged the India-centric security paradigm and this is one of the reasons why he faces a rocky future. The ongoing trials of former president Pervez Musharraf -- which would have been unthinkable a decade ago – also indicate a subtle shift is underway. Both Fair’s and Shah’s books explain why the civilian space in Pakistan is limited and why Pakistan’s military will likely enjoy many more years as the nation’s ascendant political force. The country’s activist judges and media have expanded the discussion, but it will take a decade or more for this to result in a more rational balance of civil-military power in Pakistan. – Foreign Policy 55 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 Name of the Game India Can TV, Bollywood and Big Money Rescue Fading Village Game of kabaddi? By Rama Lakshmi 56 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 F ourteen players stood in formation on both sides of the starting line for their daily evening practice of the muddy ancient Indian game of kabaddi. They said a quick prayer at the temple in the corner of the field, touched their coach's feet and kissed the soil as they waited for the opening whistle. Bare-chested and barefoot, Kaptan Singh muttered the words "kabaddi, kabaddi" menacingly under his breath as he crossed the line into the opponents' muddy turf in his village on the outskirts of New Delhi. Singh, 25, is the "raider." Dabang Delhi players grab a Bengal Warriors player during their match in New Delhi. 57 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 Tanwar Sports Club members prepare the kabaddi playing field. Seven opponents, called "defenders," knit their hands and circle Singh, ready to pounce. Singh's mission is to touch one of them and make it safely back to his side of the field. As he inches close, one defender roughly yanks Singh's leg, and another pulls his arm. As Singh flees, they chase and tackle him, falling on top of each other in a big pile. Singh is crushed in the sloshy, rain-drenched mud. Turbaned village spectators cheered. The renewed buzz over kabaddi in small villages such as Dera is part of a national revival of a rural sport that until recently was slowly fading into antiquity, overshadowed by the country's craze for cricket, rapid urbanization and affluence, villagers say. The comeback kicked off with the just-concluded sixweek professional kabaddi league, a made-for-TV tournament replete with thumping music, fancy lights, 58 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 Sunil Tanwar holds on tightly to an opponent, No. 21, during a training session. A player tries to score a point by tapping his opponent during the team’s training session. Bollywood stars, fashionistas and big money aimed at recasting the rustic game for India's urban middle classes. "The boys have seen so many kabaddi champions on TV last month that they now feel they too can be stars," said Bijender Tanwar, 38, a coach in Dera. "This was a poor man's village game, wilting away in modern India. It has got a new breath of life." But reimagining kabaddi and fueling a cultural revival of sorts was not easy. The game lacked media attention, stadiums and even a formal vocabulary for TV commentary. "Kabaddi has deep roots and resonance, but the challenge was to present it for the urban middle-class A kabaddi player’s mission is to touch a defender and make it safely back to his side of the field. 59 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 Bijender Tanwar, one of the trainers of the Tanwar Sports Club, wrestles a younger player to the ground during a kabaddi training session in Dera, India. Indians as a style and attitude statement. To get them to say 'Oh my god, kabaddi is actually quite cool,' " said Uday Shankar, chief executive of Star India, the entertainment and sports network that is a division of 21st Century Fox. At the opening and the finals of the professional kabaddi tournament, an Indian who's who — including movie stars and the family of Mukesh Ambani, India's richest businessman — turned out to cheer for their favorite teams. They waved team flags, wore colorful team T-shirts, took selfies with each other and tweeted. The games generated more than 2 billion digital mentions. The razzamatazz in the matches was akin to the NBA Finals. Opening night drew 10 times the number of TV viewers as soccer's World Cup this year, making pro kabaddi the second-biggest sport after cricket here, the channel said. About 426 million people watched the games over 36 days. Opponents wrestle on the ground during a training session. 60 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 A member of the Tanwar Sports Club checks the dimensions of the playing field before a training session in Dera "This was possible only because there is now a new self-confidence among Indians to explore what is in their own back yard even as they chase what is cool abroad," Shankar said. The template for the kabaddi makeover was the fiveday gentleman's game of cricket that was turned into a three-hour TV event a few years ago replete with dance music, cheerleaders and celebrity team owners. In Dera, the number of young children at kabaddi practice has tripled since the TV league. And now, villagers have set themselves the goal of producing at least four players for next year's pro kabaddi season. "The pro kabaddi game drew such glamorous and powerful people. The league players even got police security as if they were VIPs," gushed Rohit Sharma, 23, a truck driver by night and kabaddi player by day. "This makes us feel so important. Nobody bothered about us until now. We were just dismissed as those A few spectators watch the members of the Tanwar Sports Club’s kabaddi team prepare the playing field before their training session in Dera. In rural areas, the game is played on muddy turf. 61 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 Sunil Tanwar, the team’s captain, warms up. Tanwar, 25, has been playing kabaddi since he was 9. who play in the mud." On television, the game looked a bit different. TV kabaddi was played on the mat, and the men wore shoes. The maximum weight is 190 pounds, slimmer than the Dera players. "After seeing that the TV event used mats, our local politician has promised to buy us a mat too," said Pappu Pehelwan, a muscular 38-year-old coach. "My boys are saying, 'Give us a mat if you want our vote.' " Players are enjoying the glamour but are also aware that it is a mixed blessing. "The TV commentary was a bit too dramatic," Singh Tanwar Sports Club Coach Krishna Kumar Dagar instructs his players. 62 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014 Bengal Warriors players try to catch a Dabang Delhi player, No. 10, during a match in New Delhi. said. "Hopefully, the glamour does not take away from the purity of the game later," another player said. Until now, Pehelwan said, the biggest wish of players in Dera was to be picked by the government for a police or railway job because of their talent. But now they are also dreaming of TV fame and fortune. "Kabaddi, the game of the soil, is making unexpected heroes of the sons of soils," said an article in India Today magazine about the impact of the new league. Kabaddi was introduced in the Asian Games in 1990, and India has won gold each time. Indian immigrants in Britain and Canada also have organized kabaddi tournaments in the past decade. But the game remained largely ignored by urbanized Indians. In Dera, coaches reminisced about the game back in their day. In the 1970s, the prize at a kabaddi match was usually a vest and a wooden shield, they said. Then it changed to kitchen utensils and steel buckets. Then bags, radios and color TVs. "Then suddenly, out of nowhere, comes pro kabaddi and the champions win $85,000," said Tanwar, the coach. "That tells you the story of kabaddi. Who knows, India may even forget cricket in some years. It is all destiny." – The Washington Post 63 THE INDIAN AMERICAN OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014