INDIAN-AMERICANS FOR OBAMA?
It’s interesting to note how Indian- Americans, especially democrats are shifting their loyalties to Barack Obama. Sen Hillary Clinton was a favorite with the first generation Indian origin crowds due to the warmth in the Indo-US relations developed in Bill Clinton era. She managed to draw huge donations from the wealthy Indian community in US. Now that the African- American Senator Obama is the Democratic nominee, seems a lot of Indian American Clinton delegates are keen on making the move provided Clinton releases them. History has it that Indian Americans have been more Democrats than Republicans. As such despite the fallacy in his foreign policies, President Bush proved a big supporter of India yet Senator John McCain doesn’t seem to have managed to impress the more the two million Indian American population in the US.
- R. Senthil Kumar, North Carolina

LURE OF THE FEAST
The other day I went to the ISKCON temple close to where I stay for the Janmashtami celebrations. The programs lined up included kirtan, discourses, aarti, all in the main hall with a stage set for celebration and pooja out in the lawn where even the prasada is served. Being a festive day, the place was crowded with Indian Americans from all walks of life turning up in droves. However what I found amusing the most was the way people queued up for the prasada, which in case of ISKCON is an elaborate platter, more often than not, and especially it being Krishna Janmashtami. The prayers and offering were still on, on the stage yet as soon as the tables were laid with prasada and volunteers ready to serve, in less than a minute all the attendees vacated their chairs and made a queue. It made me wonder what really got the bhakts to the temple – darshan or prasada?
- Swati Patel, Pennsylvania.

NEED TO UNMASK THE TRUTH
The burning of churches in Orissa and retaliation against the murder of Hindu leader Lakshmananda Saraswati and the government blaming it all on Maoists seems fishy. The experts on the Naxalite movement don’t agree with the government’s allegation that it is the work of Maoists. They say neither the modus operandi nor the motive bears resemblance to Maoist practices. Lots of questions are unresolved yet and I think it’s premature of the government to put it all on Naxalites in effort to mask the real issue. The oncoming elections and government’s efforts to avoid the state to flare up are apparent. The evangelists have been carrying out conversions in the state primarily funded by the Christian organizations throughout the world for years. Saraswati was deeply involved with tribal upliftment and anticonvention flag bearer in the state. He was very well respected leader in the tribal areas. Killing him obviously flared the sentiments of tribal Hindus.
- Indrajit Patnaik, Florida

WHAT AN UNFORGETTABLE TOUR
If watching Amitabh Bachchan’s films is a pleasure even if the movie has been watched n-number of times, watching him on stage was not less than a thrilling experience of a lifetime. His sheer presence set the stage on fire. It’s awesome to see how he remains an enigma despite being in limelight all his life. We had been to the Unforgettable concert in Atlantic City and it was an experience we will cherish for our lives. It had been a hectic tour for him yet his enthusiasm is unrivalled. The best part I liked was that some part of the proceeds of the event would be diverted to worthy cause of lighting up villages in India. Preity Zinta, Aishwarya, Madhuri Dixit and Abhishek were cynosure of all eyes and why not? Who wouldn’t want to see Madhuri perform on stage. And getting to see all of them live that too together is something we Indians in this part of the world had been yearning for long. I made it a point to read Big B’s every day blog and loved how he connected to every individual who wrote to him while maintaining his dignity all along.
- Saurabh Trivedi, New Jersey