Dr P Jayaraman honored with Padma Shri award
Dr. Jayaraman receiving the Padma Shri award from President of India Pratibha Devisingh Patil at a ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi on March 31, 2009
Dr. P. Jayaraman, founder of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, USA in New York was recently honored with the Padma Shri award in New Delhi. Jayaraman was awarded for his services and accomplishments in the fields of education and literature. He received the award at the hands of the President of India Pratibha Devisingh Patil at a ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi on March 31, 2009.
Earlier in 2007, the then President of India, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, presented Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award to Jayaraman during the closing day of the Fifth “Pravasi Bharatiya Divas” (Overseas Indian Conference) in New Delhi, 09 January 2007. During the annual gathering of Non Resident Indians (NRI) over 1200 delegates from 47 countries participated in the three-day conference. Dr. Jayaraman, a scholar in Sanskrit, Hindi, Tamil and Indian philosophy, worked with the Reserve Bank of India before joining Bhavan. He was so captivated by Bhavan’s mandate that he decided to retire prematurely from the bank and seek a full-time position in New York.
Early years saw Dr. Jayaraman and his wife Tulsi personally reaching out to the Indian- American community. Over the years as its activities grew along with awareness about its mandate, they have managed to establish themselves firmly on the city’s cultural landscape. The Bhavan offers courses including in Sanskrit, Hindi scriptures, philosophy, Bharatnatyam, North Indian classical vocal music, Kathak, Kuchipudi, Indian folk dances, Hindi and Indian culture and Indian culture and heritage. Dr Jayaraman said courses in Sanskrit and Hindi offered by Bhavan had 50 percent and 70 percent American students, respectively. “I was very surprised to find so much interest in our languages. I have American students coming to learn Tamil too,” he said.
The Bhavan, U.S., began functioning from Queens in New York. “It is my humble opinion that Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan has touched many hearts during its 25 years in New York,” he said in an interview with the media.
Dr. Jayaraman said Bhavan, U.S., has attempted to live up to the founder’s ideals “in trying to bring Indian culture and heritage to the people here.” “When we first came to New York, there was nothing much going on in terms of propagation of Indian philosophy, culture and heritage. Down the years, I think Bhavan can legitimately claim to be an invisible influence behind the growing awareness about India,” Dr. Jayaraman said.
Visas Denied for Bhopal Survivors Eager to Tour U.S. Anticipating 25th Anniversary of Chemical Disaster
Four Indian human rights activists connected to the devastating Bhopal Chemical Disaster of 1984 were scheduled to begin a two-dozen-city tour of the United States this week to raise awareness about the ongoing human suffering in this central Indian region. However, visas have so far been denied for the youngest activists, Safreen Khan and Sarita Malviya, preventing them from kicking off the public awareness campaign around the 25th anniversary of this tragedy.
The survivor tour — originally scheduled from April 14 – June 1, 2009 – was intended to be the first of many 25th anniversary events planned to commemorate the tragedy of December 3, 1984 when twenty-seven tons of lethal gases leaked from Union Carbide’s pesticide factory, immediately killing 8,000 people and poisoning thousands of others. Around the world human rights, legal, environmental health and other experts are demanding that Dow Chemical, the current owner of Union Carbide, be held accountable for this atrocity.
Khan and Malviya were scheduled to tour with Indian Bhopal Advocates Rachna Dhingra from the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal, and Satinath “Sathyu” Sarangi who founded the Sambhavna Clinic, a nonprofit dedicated to the holistic treatment of gas-affected persons in the region. They were scheduled to visit more than two dozen cities throughout the U.S. including Washington, DC, New York, NY, Midland, MI (where Dow headquarters is based), Chicago and several cities in California. Tour events will start this week without the Bhopalis in New York. It will continue with Dingra and Sarangi, however multiple youth and school group events are being postponed due to the visa delay. Many advocates in the planned tour stops are extremely disappointed that the young survivor advocates may not be able to come.
On March 19, Safreen Khan, 16 and Sarita Malviya, 15 applied for B1/B2 nonimmigrant visas. They had a sponsorship letter from the Association for India’s Development (AID), provided the full itinerary of their trip, and contact people for every stop they were making on the tour. The U.S. consulate rejected both young women’s’ requests for US visas, saying that they did not provide sufficient proof that they will return to India after the trip.
