Indian American cardiologist-turned-entrepreneur Dr. Kiran Patel and his wife Dr. Pallavi Patel, a pediatrician, contributed $171,500 along with Habitat for Humanity of Hillsborough County in Florida, to buy a home for Sonya Pratt, a single mother of two boys and a girl, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

Tina Swain, the CEO of Habitat Hillsborough praised the couple and the Patel Foundation for their donation which “was made in partnership with the Patel-owned Clearwater Beach Wyndham Grand Hotel & Beach Resort, whose staff members volunteered more than 400 hours to help build homes for many Habitat for Humanity homebuyers.”

Patel attended the home’s dedication ceremony on Monday, March 5 and presented Pratt with the house keys.

Pratt told the Tampa Bay Times that she has always dreamed of owning her own home as until now, she was living with her sister in a two-bedroom apartment along with one other adult and three children.

Patel is thankful to be member of the community and is happy that he can contribute to the Habitat for Humanity of Hillsborough County.

“It’s wonderful being here and this is what happens when fellow human beings help one another. Money is something that people can create, but time is something that God gives us that is so important and so valuable to make life better for others,” he told the Tampa Bay Times.

“I would first like to thank God and then the Drs. Patel, and thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone one else who made this possible,” Pratt told the Tampa Bay Times.

With the help of family members, Pratt completed the required 300 hours of “sweat equity” involvement in building the home as well as the 10 homeownership-related classes she needed to take in order to qualify for the program’s zero-interest mortgage.

Also, Joyce Beeman, a representative of the Tampa Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution presented Pratt with an American Flag and she also received a handmade comforter, which was created by Nancy Blunk and was given to her by Harriet Blymiller of the Quilter’s Workshop of Tampa Bay.

Pratt will now enjoy her new three-bedroom, two-bath home with her mother Ann Jackson and two sons, her adult daughter Kennethia Blue will soon be living next door to her in another home built by Habitat for Humanity.

NEW YORK – A recent MassMutual study confirmed what most Indian-origin residents in the US have known all along: being part of a community is not only good for your body and soul, but also for your bank account.

According to “You Get What You Give: The MassMutual 2018 Financial and Wellness Community Involvement Study” from Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual), one in two Americans say community involvement improves their finances, while four in ten say financial support is a reason they are involved in communities.

When it comes to Asian Americans, community is especially important for cultural connection and resource sharing. Seventy-two percent of Asian Americans participating in the study said that being part of a community was important to their overall well-being.

Additionally, a crucial link between financial security and community participation was identified, according to a press release.

“Those who are more confident in their financial future are also more likely to say community involvement is important,” said Dennis Duquette, Head of Community Responsibility at MassMutual (www.massmutual.com), in a statement.

While communities foster a sense of social and financial security, they also act as support systems in times of crisis according to the study. Eighty percent of Asian Americans in the study believed that it was important to look out for one another and forty-seven percent had supported someone in their community during a time of financial difficulty. Apart from looking out for each other, Asian Americans were also found to be more likely to pursue their financial goals. Sixty percent of the Asian Americans surveyed regularly saved money in a short-term savings account, while sixty-three percent put their money in a retirement savings account, the highest among all ethnicities surveyed.

In a world that’s quickly becoming more isolated, communities are essential in maintaining a sense of belonging and developing lasting bonds. MassMutual started almost a century and a half ago out of a concern for community by offering coverage to help people secure their futures and protect their loved ones.

MassMutual’s study on financial wellness and community involvement discovered that communities today are more relevant than ever.

“Our research indicates that by Living Mutual – coming together and relying on each other – we can make our communities stronger and our lives more secure and fulfilling,” said Candy Chan, Director of Asian Markets at MassMutual.

According to the survey, Asian Americans are most likely to form communities among families, friends, children’s schools, and professional networks. Creating more opportunities for children is particularly important for Asian Indians.

According to another recent MassMutual study that focused on college funding, forty-nine percent of Asian Indians surveyed started saving for their children’s college education before their child turned five, and were most prepared for it among all the ethnicities surveyed. In fact, by the time a child was ten, seventy-nine percent of Indian parents were saving for college and at least one in five had saved up to $50,000. The study was ‘MassMutual’s College Planning & Saving Study’ conducted by New American Dimensions, LLC, last year.

Another interesting finding from the MassMutual’s Financial and Wellness Community Involvement Study is that Asian Americans seem more passionate about career networking. Sixty percent of the Asian Americans surveyed were involved in communities related to their work or professional networks, fourteen percent higher than the U.S. average.

For those who want to explore more, MassMutual offers ideas to further secure Asian Americans’ financial security. Visit MassMutual.com to explore a variety of educational materials and tools such as the MassMutual’s College Savings Calculator, as well as options to connect with a financial advisor.

PBS conducted the research online between September 7 through September 28, 2017 using a nationally representative sample of 10,000 U.S. adults ages eighteen and above. Results are nationally representative of age, gender, race, ethnicity, and education.

MassMutual is a leading mutual life insurance company that is run for the benefit of its members and participating policy owners. MassMutual offers a wide range of financial products and services, including life insurance, disability income insurance, long-term care insurance, annuities, retirement plans and other employee benefits.

NEW YORK – Uplift Humanity, a New York-based organization founded in 2010, whose mission is to use disruptive and innovative curriculums to empower detained juveniles and orphans in India to achieve their full potential through education, will host ‘Shakti’, a soiree in New York City, on April 14^th.

The organization’s goal is to ensure that these incarcerated children successfully assimilate back into society and have higher career prospects once released, ultimately reducing recidivism rates, according to a press release.

The soiree in Manhattan is to celebrate the success of educating 1,000 students, the organization said. The event, co-hosted by Zee TV, will have an evening of food, drinks and entertainment at Manhattan’s Distilled Lounge.

Uplift Humanity (www.uplifthumanityindia.org), which was founded by Anish Patel, who was 16 years-old at the time, has now launched four locations throughout India: Gujarat, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and the newest this year in Delhi.

Over the past eight years, Uplift Humanity has contributed over 250,000 hours of volunteer work and brought over 500 Americans to volunteer in India.

The organization delivers through three key programs:

• The Summer Program: A yearly program in July whereby hundreds of American teenagers travel to India for an 18-day volunteer excursion. These students undergo a rigorous application process to volunteer in either of the organization’s programs in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Gujarat, and Delhi. The purpose of this program is to provide ostracized students in India with life and behavioral skills ranging from anger management to public speaking – taught by like-minded American teenagers.
• The Academic Program: Perhaps the most crucial element of the on-site work done at the juvenile centers, this is a daily program where juveniles and orphans are taught English-speaking skills by local teachers. This program is intended to equip students with the right skills they will need to secure employment once released. By providing these students with these core-skills, it reduces the probability that juveniles and orphans will resort to crime once released, thereby building safer communities.
• The Health and Wellness Program: Launched this month, the health and wellness program is designed to empower kids to learn about themselves and explore their identities. Lessons range from hygiene to mental health, and are delivered through hands-on activities and games. The objective of this program is to normalize educating youth about complex topics like mental disorders and puberty, enabling them to be more mature and understanding individuals.

These programs are all developed in-house by Uplift Humanity’s team, which is one of the youngest teams in the nonprofit space. In fact, the average age of an Uplift employee is 26. Because the team is so young, the organization heavily relies on creative grassroots fundraising to fuel its programs in India, instead of high-net-worth donors and corporations like most nonprofits.

“I think that we have one of the most amazing teams here at Uplift. Our team comes from such global and diverse backgrounds that it enables us to develop effective state-of-the art curriculums. In fact, just within 5 months of us implementing our Academic Program curriculum, we’re seeing results: students are now actually starting to speak English,” says founder and CEO Anish Patel, in a statement.

For more information on Uplift Humanity, please visit: www.uplifthumanityindia.org.

NEW YORK – Indian American Krish Patel, the CEO of Wireless Communications Inc. and owner of Soul Yoga, along with Carl Sobocinski, the founder of restaurant group Table 301 and Olivia Esquivel, the co-owner and founding partner of Southern Pressed Juicery, have taken Southern Pressed Juicery to Austin, Texas, according to the Upstate Business Journal.

This will be the first time the trio will take the juice shop outside of the Greenville market where they established their first shop in 2015 under the Table 301 banner.

Though they didn’t expect Austin to be the second location for the juice shop, Sobocinski told the Upstate Business Journal that they had been looking for other Southeastern cities to expand their business and somehow knew that Austin would be the right next move.

“After talking with some colleagues in the industry and digging a little bit more into the concept, I recognized there was both a need for something like SPJ in Greenville and an opportunity for Table 301 to add a new dimension to our portfolio in the health/wellness category,” Sobocinski told the Upstate Business Journal, about how Esquivel approached him about partnering up.

Esquivel then got Patel involved, since he owns Soul Yoga in Greenville and is also the managing partner of Wanderlust Yoga in Austin. Esquivel thought that it would be a good idea to combine a yoga studio with a smoothie café, the report said.

After recognizing their similar goals for business growth, the three entrepreneurs decided to partner up and will now open up the Southern Pressed Juicery in Austin with Wanderlust Yoga’s second studio in the city, next door.

Sobocinski told the Upstate Business Journal that “having a trusted partnership with Krish to grow outside this market into Austin makes it much easier to navigate a new city,” while Esquivel said that “partnering with Patel is like stepping out with a friend.”

Southern Pressed Juicery, also known as SPJ, serves juices that are 100 percent organic, raw a cold-pressed, they also serve superfood smoothies energy bowls and other plant-based foods.

NEW YORK – Menlo Park Lions Club and Navrang Dance Academy of New Jersey celebrated International Women’s Day, on March 8, with a Zumba fitness charity event, supported by Suhag Jewelers.

Zin Varsha Naik, the owner of Navrang Dance Academy and a licensed Zumba instructor, along with her other fellow instructor Zin Sumathy Iyer and Shivani Verma led the 90 minute-long Zumbathon, to support a breast cancer research program.

“Health and fitness is an important part of women’s life and what better way to celebrate this day than dancing with friends,” said one participant, according to a press release.

The crowd had a lot of fun as various Latin American songs and Bollywood-themed fitness music was played at the meet.

“Music has no language and when we use music for health and fitness it helps with physical and mental health,” said Naik. “We need to support each other and come together to fight breast cancer. Dance can be a wonderful medium that can bring awareness and positivity. We are trying our best to raise funds for this cause,” she added.

The proceeds from this event were donated to RWJ Breast Cancer research program, said the organizers.

The event got generous support from local businesses and businessmen, including Surendra Kumar of Suhag Jewelers, and Akbar Restaurant, apart from individual donors.

Anu Kumari from Suhag Jewelers sponsored a pink T-shirt to all the participants as a token of support for this cause.

Naik said the event was “a perfect way to celebrate womanhood and donate to a worthy cause”.

She added: “We believe that all women should consciously make an effort to take care of their health as strong and healthy women make a healthy society.”

NEW YORK – Miss World Manushi Chillar will be the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin’s (AAPI) Brand Ambassador for ‘Campaign Against Leukemia & Lymphoma’, the organization said in a press release.

AAPI, representing more than 100,000 physicians of Indian origin, while officially launching a campaign against leukemia and lymphomas, donated a large sum of money to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of America, on March 10, during the annual AAPI Spring Governing Body meeting at the Freemont Marriott Silicon Valley, Fremont, CA, said Dr. Gautam Samadder, President of AAPI.

“Continuing with supporting noble causes, AAPI, the largest ethnic association representing the physicians of Indian origin in the USA, has taken on yet another cause to promote through its active support in educating people about the deadly disease around the world,” Dr. Vinod Shah, a past president of AAPI, and a well-known philanthropist, said, in a statement.

Dr. Shah has agreed to match the money being provided by AAPI, thus doubling the donation through AAPI at this event. Details were unavailable of the total amount raised at the meet.

Chillar was present at the ceremony.

Dr. Naresh Parikh, President-Elect of AAPI, said: “Manushi (Chillar), hailing from a family of doctors and scientists, and an aspiring gynecologist and cardiac surgeon herself, has agreed to be the Brand Ambassador of AAPI for creating awareness about the deadly diseases, leukemia and lymphoma.”

Chillar said in a statement: “I am blessed to have got this opportunity, and I want to give my best. I have decided to take a year’s break from my medical studies and my college is very supportive.”

These days, Chillar has been seen showing her support and involvement in spreading awareness about menstrual and feminine hygiene through her pet project ‘Shakti’. She has been emphasizing on the need for educating the rural masses in India on the issue and has been a passionate advocate on why it is important for a woman to use a sanitary napkin.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, a 501 charitable organization, founded in 1949, is the world’s largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research, education and patient services.

“One out of seven doctors in the United States is of Indian heritage. We provide medical care to over 40 million of US population, caring for one in every seven patients in the nation. There are 150 AAPI Chapters across the nation and it has an ever growing membership of Indian American physicians,” Samadder said.

NEW YORK – The National Science Foundation has awarded a combined $10 million to researchers at five universities, including three Indian Americans, according to a Carnegie Mellon University press release.

Srinivasa Narasimhan of Carnegie Mellon University, Ashutosh Sabharwal of Rice University and Ramesh Raskar of Massachusetts Institute of Technology will be part of a five-year program that will develop a new type of camera that peers deep beneath the skin to help diagnose and monitor a wide variety of health conditions.

The project will be led by Rice University and will combine advanced optics and sophisticated computation to make sense of light that penetrates the skin but scatters off internal tissues and anatomical structures, enabling noninvasive bio-optical imaging at a cellular scale.

“Bioimaging today enables us to see just a few millimeters beneath the skin. We’d like to go five to 10 times deeper. With every additional millimeter we go, this technology becomes more useful. We hope that eventually it might reduce or eliminate the need for biopsies,” said Narasimhan, the associate director of the project and a computer vision researcher and professor in CMU’s Robotics Institute.

“Expeditions supports transformative research, and our goal is to create miniaturized, light-based microscopes for use in wearables, point-of-care, bedside diagnostics, ambulances, operating rooms and more,” said Sabharwal, the principal investigator on the grant and a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Rice.

The key of the project is to develop a technique called “computational scatterography” in which most of that light that passes through the body is scattered and that scattering can cause the tissue to glow, just like when a flashlight is pointed at the palm of a hand.

Until now, the scattered light was of little use for medical imaging but new computer vision techniques allow scientists to make more sense of scattered light, essentially descattering the light by tracing the paths that photons took before they reached the camera.

Ioannis Gkioulekas, an assistant professor of robotics, said that CMU researchers have used similar techniques to see through fog, snow and heavy rain and now are applying those lessons to the task of bioimaging.

“Imagine a wearable device no larger than a watch that uses sensors to continuously measure white blood cell count and wirelessly communicate with the oncologist’s office. The patient could go about their daily life. They’d only have to go to the hospital if there were a problem. If we succeed, this isn’t just one product. It’s a platform technology that will be able to spinoff into many products that can be used in the care of nearly 100 health conditions,” Sabharwal said.

The NSF’s newly announced Expeditions in Computing program includes four co-investigators at CMU and another seven at Rice, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Cornell University.

NEW YORK – An Indian American tween, Maanvi Sarwadi, won the annual State Spelling Bee content in Delaware with the word “phyton,” according to a Delaware State News report.

It took Sarwadi, a 12-year-old seventh-grader from Caravel Academy, four hours and 25 straight correct spellings to get the winning trophy in her hands.

“I’m a little impatient. I almost thought it would never end. It’s hard to think that I might be the next one to go every time my turn would come up, but it never did,” she told Delaware State News.

She was up against 76 competitors from throughout the state and will be going to the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. in May.

Sarwadi’s mother Kavita told WDEL that her daughter worked extremely hard over the previous year to get back to the top and she was happy to see it all pay off.

“It’s a proud moment as a parent, because she has put a lot of effort into it. It was a team effort. The whole family got in, and we used to quiz her, and it was a team effort,” she said.

Annie Marie Eanes, the coordinator of the spelling bee, told Delaware State News that this was the longest competition that St. Mark’s High has hosted in 10 years.

“Slurvian,” “keeshond,” “pizzicato,” and “menhaden” were among the last few words that Sarwadi spelled correctly.

William Doyle of Middletown’s Everett Meredith Middle School came in second while Raphael Kim of Newark Charter Junior High came in third.

The words were pronounced by Dave Skocik, who has been pronouncing the words since 1991.

NEW YORK – Saifullah Khan, a former Yale student of Afghani descent, has been acquitted of rape charges, after being accused of raping an undergraduate student in her dorm room at Trumbull College in 2015, according to multiple sources.

According to a Yale Daily News report, it took four hours for a six-person jury to acquit Khan on Wednesday, March 7.

According to a New York Times report, the unnamed woman stated in a complaint that she was sexually assaulted by Khan on Halloween in 2015 when she was attending an off-campus party with her friends, where she had several drinks and was intoxicated enough that she had lost her friends after the party.

Instead, she found herself with Khan, an acquaintance who was with her afterward and brought her to her room. Security camera footage showed the two of them walking back to her dorm, while she appeared to be leaning on Khan with her leg dragging slightly behind her.

The complaint further stated that she woke up in the middle of the night to find Khan on top of her and tried to push him off.

Even though she remembered going to sleep fully clothed, in the morning, she claimed that was naked, saw used condoms on the floor and bruising on her legs.

On Nov. 2, she visited the Yale Sexual Harassment and Assault Response & Education Center to report the incident where an administrator called the police.

Khan was suspended from Yale on Nov. 9, and officers arrested him on Nov. 12.

However, Khan gave a whole other story in court as he recounted the events of the night.

Khan said that she was the one who invited him to her room and took off her own clothes but then became angry at him.

Khan’s lawyers even asked the woman how much she had had to drink, how she decided to not remember certain details but remember the alleged assault itself and how her text messages showed that she had been flirting with Khan days prior to the incident.

According to the New York Times report, Norman Pattis, Khan’s lawyer, even said “what went on in the room that night made everyone uncomfortable, but it wasn’t a crime,” and Michael Pepper, the prosecutor said “the gaps in the alleged victim’s memory were proof that she had not made up the assault.”

“If she wanted to do that so bad, put a nail in the coffin, wouldn’t she have given you a more coherent story?” he asked the jury.

The woman rejected Pattis’s question of whether she was planning to file a civil suit against Khan or Yale, and instead said “I have nothing to gain by this. It’s been difficult reliving it the last three days.”

According to the College Fix, the first attempt to prosecute Khan in October collapsed in a mistrial because Yale police “had not given the defense notes from interviews it conducted with witnesses,” according to the Yale Daily News.

The extent of that failure was alleged in a defense filling about a month ago stating:

“Moments prior to the commencement of evidence [in October], the state notified defense counsel that the Yale Police Department had just discovered what amounted to 40 to 50 pages of notes which were disclosed to the defense shortly thereafter. … Having fully reviewed the notes and the circumstances of their disclosure, they raise the further questions about evidence that existed and may have been withheld, lost, or destroyed by the Yale Police Department, faculty, or administrators.”

NEW YORK – Indian motor company Mahindra’s North American branch is all set to roll out the Roxor, an off-road vehicle which was introduced to the market on Friday, March 2, according to The Detroit News.

Mahindra has been moving several pieces into the U.S. market and it is already a major distributor of tractors, utility vehicles and information technology services, and is trying to build the United States Postal Service’s new delivery vehicle.

But the Roxor, which is assembled in Auburn Hills, Michigan, is for hunters, farmers and off-road enthusiasts, the report said.

According to a Times of India report, the Roxor offers a “simple, hard-worn approach, featuring a steel body on a boxed steel frame” with a heavy-duty Mahindra turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine and a five-speed manual transmission.

In a statement, the company said, “the Roxor signifies Mahindra’s commitment to introducing its tough, no-nonsense automotive heritage to the consumers in the North American market.”

Mahindra currently has more than 300 employees who are working on the Roxor in Auburn Hills and they plan to sell the car through a network of powersports dealers around the country.

So far more than 230 of 300 dealers have signed to sell Roxors at their starting price of $15,549.

“You have to serve the market with local presence. The U.S. is not a kind of market where one can say ‘I have something here in India let me take it to the U.S.’ You’ll never succeed. You have to make the product for the market. It makes a lot of sense to design it here for the U.S. market,” Pawan Goenka, managing director of parent Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd., told The Detroit News, adding that the next step for the company is to aim for the USPS bid.

Mahindra started building jeeps at its Kandivali Plant under contract with Willys Overland Export Corp., more than 70 years ago and the company has since become a leading manufacturer of utility vehicles in India.

NEW YORK – Indian American businessman Nik Patel of Florida was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Tuesday, March 6 in a federal courtroom in Chicago for committing a fraud of $179 million real estate fraud, according to a Chicago Tribune report.

In 2016, Patel admitted to committing a fraud of $179 million by conducting a sale of 26 fake loans to Pennant Management, a Milwaukee investment firm.

According to his plea, Patel submitted these false documents to Pennant showing that a portion of the loans were guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture but in fact, were actually fabricated and had no borrower, no pre-existing loan and no government guarantee.

Patel then used the cash he made and put it towards his hotel projects in Illinois and Florida as well as into his own lifestyle.

According to a Chicago Tribune report, Patel owned luxury vehicles including a Rolls Royce and a Lamborghini, a private jet which he used to travel the world including multiple trips to Panama where he “blew off steam” and visited brothels, and wore custom suits and jewelry.

In Illinois, the Illinois Metropolitan Investment Fund (IMET), an investment fund popular with local governments, schools and park districts, lost more than $50 million as they had invested in Pennant and more than 200 municipalities, school districts, park districts and other public entities in the Chicago area were affected by Patel’s actions.

Last year, Patel convinced U.S. District Judge Charles Kocoras, to let him remain free on bond while he was awaiting his sentence and said that he would help authorities reclaim the money lost for his victims however, he was actually plotting an escape to Ecuador with his family when he was arrested by the FBI in January, according to an earlier News India Times report.

According to court documents, Patel’s elaborate plan for an extravagant new life in Ecuador included luxury vehicles, a million-dollar home in the suburbs of Quito, a private chef and an English-language school for his four daughters.

Patel was also planning another fraud at the same time as he used the name “Ron Elias” and posed as a vice president of Banco do Brasil to sell more than $19 million in bogus loans to investors in Iowa and even created a fake website and email address to help convince his victims.

With a total of $35 million in ‘dirty money,’ Patel was planning to buy diamonds from Dubai but was caught at Kissimmee Gateway Airport near Orlando on Jan. 6 when he tried to flee the country.

According to court documents, Patel had written a document titled “What we are doing” appearing to be written for an unidentified person who was aiding him in the escape attempt, in which he wrote:

“I have got my final asylum approval and need to move things along and cannot just sit around here and wait any longer. I managed to get a few more dollars (don’t ask how) so as of today, I have a total of $35MM in ‘dirty’ money,” adding that that he was finalizing the purchase of a 104-carat “fancy dark” diamond through a trusted merchant in Dubai as that was “the cleanest way” to hide his money.

Andrew DeVooght, Patel’s attorney, asked Kocoras for a prison sentence of less than 20 years since he had already recovered $86 million in losses, but he disagreed.

The Chicago Tribune reported that Patel was charged with attempting to flee to avoid prosecution in January, but prosecutors dropped that count after he was sentenced last week, before which he stood at the lectern and apologized for his behavior, saying he “would not rest until every penny of what he took had been paid back to his victims.”

NEW YORK – A Sikh gas station owner in New Jersey fell victim to a hate crime on Feb. 20 when he was called “a terrorist, a Muslim, and that he should go back to his own country”, by a 20-year-old man.

According to a Daily Record report, police responded to the Exxon gas station in Parsippany off Route 46 at 7:28 p.m. on Feb. 20 where a Sikh man reported that he had been verbally harassed by at least one occupant of a parked 2014 Toyota Corolla, later identified as Steven Laverty of Morris Plains, New Jersey.

When the victim, whose name has not been released, attempted to use his phone to take photos of the vehicle’s license plate, Laverty exited the vehicle and tried to punch him and take the phone, which the victim was able to avoid, according to police.

Laverty then got back in the car and left, reported Daily Record.

About three hours later, a police dispatcher took a call about a suspicious vehicle at the 7-Eleven on North Beverwyck Road and was able to connect that vehicle to the incident at Exxon gas station, reported earlier.

Officers then stopped the Toyota as it attempted to leave the 7-Eleven parking lot and after a brief investigation, arrested Laverty and Antony Wyzga, 23, of Lake Hiawatha, charging them with possession of drugs.

According to Daily Record, Laverty was charged with fourth degree bias intimidation, harassment for striking or offensive touching, harassment for communication in a manner to cause alarm, possession of Xanax and Vyvanse (also known as Lisdexamfetamine), being under the influence of a controlled dangerous substance and failure to turn over CDS to police, while Wyzga was charged with possession of Vyvanse and under 50 grams of marijuana, being under the influence of CDS without a prescription and failure to turn over CDS to police.

During the hearings, Morris County Superior Court Judge Stuart A. Minkowitz noted that Laverty had a “long history of charges related to substance abuse and ruled that he should be detained because he was a danger to himself” as he was on “conditional release for a June 2017 crime and had been arrested three times since then on drug-related disorderly persons charges” while he had completed a rehabilitation program just two weeks before the Feb. 20 incident.

Minkowitz also ordered Wyzga detained until trial after it came to his attention that he had recently skipped four court-ordered appearances and was on conditional release from an August marijuana arrest.

NEW YORK – Indian American cardiologist Dr. Arvind Gandhi of Munster, Indiana, was acquitted on Thursday of charges implanting allegedly unnecessary heart devices into hundreds of patients, according to an nwitimes.com report.

According to the nwitimes.com report, Ray Kammer sued Gandhi for more than $3 million in damages stating that he was alleged persuaded by him to have a cardiac defibrillator implanted in 2007, when he was 25.

He also argued that the device he implanted was defective and claimed that Gandhi did not have the proper training to perform the procedure.

According to a CBS Chicago report, Kammer’s attorney told the jury that Gandhi produced fake medical documents so he could go ahead with the procedure and wrote that “Ray had surgery because he had coronary artery disease” and that Gandhi “acted negligently.”

However, Gandhi’s attorney had described Kammer as “dangerously obese with a history of high blood pressure” and “his feet were so swollen that he couldn’t get his shoes on” adding that “getting the device was the safest thing for him.”

According to the nwitimes.com report, “Kammer was admitted with dangerously high blood pressure, his heart was enlarged, had decreased movement and was performing at 50 percent of normal functioning. After the implant was inserted, Kammer was discharged from the hospital diagnosed with malignant hypertension, congestive heart failure, chronic kidney disease, morbid obesity, sleep apnea and primary cardiomyopathy.”

Gandhi is currently facing about 300 lawsuits alleging that he performed unnecessary procedures, according to a CBS Chicago report.

NEW YORK – Singer Pharrell Williams celebrated Holi in India, this month. He posted photos of him smeared in gulaal, on social media. His fans loved it. Williams seemed to love Holi and its zany colors so much that he, along with the collaboration of the sportswear corporation Adidas, has launched a new line of colorfully splashed and splotched shoes, T-shirts and jackets entitled ‘Hu Holi’.

Now, that’s not gone down well with a lot of people. Some accuse Williams of cultural appropriation. Others condemned him for defiling a Hindu religious and sacred festival.

The Nevada-based Rajan Zed, President of Universal Society of Hinduism, lamented the launch of the ‘Hu Holi’ collection. He urged Williams and Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted to rename their Holi shoes, which he said were highly insensitive as the religious festival of Holi was linked to various deities.

“Pharrell Williams and Adidas should have done some homework before taking Hinduism concepts frivolously and using these to make a fashion statement and sell shoes for mercantile greed, some of which contain leather,” said Zed, in a statement.

Twelve Hu Holi shoes, ranging between $95 and $250, appear on the Adidas website: five of which are “coming soon”, six are “new” and one is “sold out”. The general release date is March 16, while pre-release was on March 2.

The Herzogenaurach, Germany-based Adidas, which was founded in 1924, and claims to produce more than 850 million products annually, in a statement, acknowledged that “inspired by a Hindu festival, artist Pharrell Williams designs these shoes”. Adidas describes Holi as ancient spiritual festival.

However, going by a spokesperson’s statement to the Independent, it doesn’t seem Adidas or Williams has any plans, as yet, to change the name of the collection.

“Adidas Originals and Pharrell Williams created Hu as a global platform to inspire positive change. Hu was founded upon the principles of unity, equality, humanity, and color with an intention to explore humanity and celebrate diversity around the world. Together Adidas Originals and Pharrell Williams use the platform to help tell stories of others from around the globe,” the statement said.

The Independent noted there was anger on social media for Williams and Adidas not giving credit to India, for the cultural appropriation.

“Something about Adidas’ new collection screams cultural appropriation…Using our festival to sell a brand, and it’s shoes on top of it all, which Hindus would easily take offence to and there’s not even an Indian celeb at the face of it,” one person wrote, on Twitter.

Another added: “A European company getting an American musician to market a line of apparel/footwear inspired by an Indian festival. Yuppp, technically, this is cultural appropriation.”

Williams and Adidas are not the first, and are definitely not going to be the last, to be fascinated by colors in India; be compelled to insert colorful ‘images’ from India onto commercial products.

The Brooklyn-based e-commerce company Etsy seem hypnotized by Lord Ganesha, to the point that despite being warned in the past, they continue to use images of the beloved Hindu God, to the chagrin of Hindus worldwide.

In July, 2017, after Etsy was forced by agitated Hindus to withdraw a newly launched toilet seat carrying image of Lord Ganesha, they have now decided to try out their ‘luck’ again: this time they have launched “cute flip flops” with the image of Ganesha, for $25.

Zed has written to Etsy and its CEO Josh Silverman, reminding them that “Hindus considered it a sacrilege to trample his image under one’s feet. Inappropriate usage of Hindu deities or concepts for commercial or other agenda was not okay as it hurt the devotees.”

The trivialization and commercialization of Hindu deities is nothing new.

Ganesha seems to be a favorite of manufacturers catering to the needs of one’s foot: recently, Amazon removed Lord Ganesha stockings after a protest. Last May, the New Jersey-based online retailer Zayze Activewear had apologized and then removed Shiva-Ganesha leggings.

Last November, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based fashion active wear company GearBunch had introduced leggings, capris and bedding carrying images of Ganesha,  priced from $87.99 – $189.

Recently, the online seller Wayfair had launched, and then later removed, a line of ‘Birchwood Golden Ganesha Elephant Cutting Board’ which they priced at $34.99. Walmart had abruptly stopped the sale of a ‘Ganesh Plush Doll’, which they had priced for $18.94.

Outside of the US, the Swiss luxury fashion label Philipp Plein Group had last August launched its high-end ‘Ganesha’ boots, for a whopping $6,010; ‘Ganesha’ shoes with stiletto heels for $1,460; mid heels high ‘Kali’ boots with crystal decorations for $2,590; and another ‘Kali’ boots with heart patterns for $780. The upper of all these shoes was composed of “100% Cow Leather”.

In January, the Hong Kong headquartered e-commerce company CowCow.com had launched various bikini-bottoms named “Grace of Ganesha”, priced from $34.99 to $35.99.

Some other instances of demeaning cultural appropriation was the “Fate/Grand Order” (FGO) mobile role-playing video game, developed by Japan’s Delightworks Inc., last year, which introduced Goddess Parvati as one of the “new” servants, who also was a belly dancer.

However, while this cultural appropriation goes unabated, there is greater awareness and encouragement of Hindu festivals, deities, and culture, in the mainstream society in the US.

The Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University has an ongoing Ramayana exhibition curated by students, till May 20, of this year. The paintings in this exhibition are reportedly dated between the 17th and 19th centuries, including “The Coronation of Rama” (1840).

Last August, the Horatio Colony Museum in Keene, New Hampshire, celebrated Janmashtami, marking Hindu deity Lord Krishna’s birthday, on August 19. The museum also organized an exhibition on “Hinduism”, containing antique Hindu objects from its collection in addition to borrowed items from Mariposa Museum to give “overview of this rich and ancient spiritual belief”.

And recently, yoga – unarguably the most culturally appropriated ‘item’ from India, saw its presence expand to a high school, with Doull Elementary School, in Denver, Colorado, trading detention with the physical and mind-bending exercise.

(Sujeet Rajan is Executive Editor, Parikh Worldwide Media. Email him: sujeet@newsindiatimes.com Follow him on Twitter @SujeetRajan1)

NEW YORK – Children’s Hope India (CHI) inaugurated their first all-girls English medium secondary school in Gandhinagar, Bhopal, India on Monday, March 5, called the Children’s Hope India Girls School (CHIGS) and it will be a game-changer for the girl child in the area.

The opening was attended by supporters and well-wishers from several cities, children and their families as well as distinguished guests, including the Mayor of Bhopal, CHI Advisory Board Member Dr. Bhushan Khashu, Dr. Margaret Busch and many CHI board members, according to a press release.

Today, while more girls are going to school in India, there areas where girls have to give up their right to education after primary school in exchange for household chores, babysitting younger siblings or marriage.

In Gandhinagar, there are many middle to lower income families for whom, a quality education is just a dream and CHIGS will provide these rural students with the highest quality of education as well as a level playing field so they can have brighter future.

“We are so fortunate to have this collaboration with Jeev Sewa Sansthan. Their spirit of volunteerism and dedication is inspirational. They are educating over 10,000 children through schools and colleges, and are starting construction on a massive eye hospital now,” said Dr. Dina Pahlajani, the President of Children’s Hope India.

“Children’s Hope India has a core belief that every child counts, that every child is important.  To this we would like to add Every Girl child is important, and Every Girl child counts. When you educate a girl, you empower the entire family, and therein lies the importance of Children’s Hope India’s first school for girls,” she added.

CHIGS is recognized by the Government of Madhya Pradesh and is affiliated to the board of secondary education in Bhopal.

Children’s Hope India has partnered with Jeev Sewa Sansthan (JSS) for the school; both have a similar vision to help underprivileged children progress from poverty to prosperity giving them a chance for a brighter future.

“It was truly gratifying to see the Children’s Hope India Girls School in Bhopal open its doors to the underprivileged girls of the surrounding communities,” said CHI Advisory Board Member Dr. Bhushan Khashu, who is a prominent physician and philanthropist in New York.

“The impressive structure was constructed in less than a year, a testament to the enthusiasm and hard work of the ground crew. I have no doubt that CHI, jointly with Jeev Sewa, will set up a standard against which our future projects will be measured,” he added.

Many schools and colleges in Bhopal are run under the leadership of Rev. Siddh Bhauji and this particular school will be run by their Laxmidevi Vikyomal Shroff Educational Society in Gandhinagar, Bhopal.

CHIGS was built in less than ten months under the supervision of developer Nari Pohani.

The school offers an education in English medium with great teachers to 800 young girls who are in grades six to 12 and features 16 large classrooms, a library, a Closed Circuit TV system for the campus, a computer lab, a physics lab, a chemistry lab, a biology lab, a recreation room, a seminar hall, a large assembly hall and a playground.

The second phase will include smart classrooms with digital interactive boards for teaching and learning and the girls will go to school in yellow school buses.

NEW YORK – The New York-based Desai Foundation is calling on Whisper’s parent company Procter & Gamble to change the name of their sanitary pad ‘Whisper’ in India and many other countries in East and Southeast Asia.

According to statistics released by the Desai Foundation, in a press release, and accompanying video, 75 percent of females in India right now are at risk of getting an infection because they don’t know about proper menstrual hygiene. In fact, 71 percent of Indian girls don’t even know what a period is when they get it.

Ten percent of girls in India believe that menstruation is a disease and 23 percent of girls living in rural India drop out of school once they start getting their period, says a spokesperson of the Desai Foundation in a video, which can be seen at the end of this post.

Even kids’ consumption of mainstream media, like branding, puts them at risk of developing unhealthy body images, according to Common Sense Media.

Menstruation is a taboo in India and the name ‘Whisper’ certainly does not help remove that stigma, contends the Desai Foundation. Periods are natural and they shouldn’t have to be whispered about, they said.

So join the movement with the Desai Foundation at www.wearedonewhispering.org, and help them break the silence.

Watch the video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qEtgeaLWpmpRRabL3XoVa4lVEPhD2R96/view?usp=sharing

NEW DELHI – He has kept the audience on the edge of their seats with his action roles, made them laugh out loud in his comical avatar and even cry with his emotional characters. Actor Ajay Devgn looks back at his Bollywood career with contentment — having worked on his own terms and conditions.

Over the years, he diversified from being just an actor to also going behind the scenes as a director and producer.

“Content” with how his journey has shaped up, Ajay told IANS: “Whatever I am doing, I am doing it all on my terms and conditions, and that’s what I wanted to do.”

Ajay’s filmography spans action, comedy, romance and drama, and starting with “Phool Aur Kaante”, he has been lauded for his work in “Dilwale”, “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam”, “Company”, “Omkara” and “Yuva” as well as the “Golmaal” and “Singham” franchises.

His next release is “Raid”, based on a true story about money laundering.

About working in myriad genres, he said: “Everything is tough… Making people laugh is as tough as making people feel for you. So it is really not easy. As an actor, you never think about a genre.”

In “Raid”, Ajay essays the role of an Income Tax officer hailing from Uttar Pradesh.

The actor, whose own house was once raided in the 1990s, is confident the movie will make people sit up and think about people who are in the Income Tax Department.

“They are so silent and nobody knows about them… Officers like these keep doing their job and we talk about other people, and people who become famous,” he said.

He also said the audience will get to know about what transpires before and during a raid.

“When you see the film, you will come to know what kind of preparation and planning goes before a raid. So, all that you hear about income tax raids is very simple and very easy, but it’s not an easy thing to do,” Ajay said, adding that while scams and frauds are being heard about more often nowadays, they were “always there”.

“Raid”, directed by Rajkumar Gupta and starring Ileana D’Cruz, is releasing on March 16.

As someone who has taken over four cinema halls in Uttar Pradesh to revamp them, Ajay hopes the issue of rising ticket prices in cinema halls can be tackled by the industry.

“I wish ticket prices were reasonable. They are not in my or anybody else’s control, but I wish we could find a way to bring the prices down. I am myself making theatres where I am keeping a lower range of tickets, but for that, what you need is a whole lot of planning.

“You don’t make a huge multiplex, you make a miniplex. Instead of spending Rs 1,000 on a tile, you spend Rs 800 rupees on a tile… Not that it should look bad, but don’t waste money, so that you can pass on the benefit,” he said.

NEW DELHI – Actor Arjit Taneja, who became a household name after featuring in the show “Kumkum Bhagya”, says a web series is good for experimenting with roles and projects.

“Some people say TV content is ‘regressive’, but everything is being shown in a web series. You can stream mature shows also whereas that doesn’t work in the case of TV. I did a show called ‘Pyaar Ko Ho Jaane Do’. It was a mature love story and was nice but didn’t do well on TV,” Arjit said here on Friday in response to a question by IANS.

“But if it will go on the web, I think it will do well. If you want to do good work and experiment, there are web series. They have an urban audience. Balaji (Telefilms Ltd.) has also come up with ALTBalaji (digital platform). They have amazing shows,” added the fan of actor Ranbir Kapoor.

But he needs a strong and convincing script to do bold scenes.

“I don’t want to do nonsense bold stuff. There is no point in doing it as it might not have a story. If there is a show and you have to present passionate chemistry, then why not?”

Arjit is currently seen as Vivaan, a shrewd businessman, in the new Zee TV show “Kaleerein”.

“Vivaan is from London. He is an angry young man and talks very less,” he said about his character.

Sharing more about the show, he said: “People tell girls that ‘If you don’t know how to cook food, how will you get married? If you wear these type of clothes, it will be difficult to find a groom for you’.”

“The girl in this show thinks otherwise. She wants to stay the way she is and not change for a guy. That is the main message of the show…that girls don’t have to change to get married.”

On TV shows being dominated by women, he said: “I wouldn’t have done this had it (this show) been dominated by women. His (Vivaan) story is completely different. The reason why he has come to India… There is a strong reason for the way he behaves. There is a story revolving around him.”

He also had a great time shooting “Kaleerein” in Punjab.

“It was my first time in Patiala. We were there for nine to 10 days shooting in fields, eating Punjabi food and having a lot of fun,” said the actor, who hails from Delhi.

The show offers an important perspective about marriage. What qualities is he looking for in a bride?

“A nice girl. Someone who will not try to change herself and is honest. I will think about marriage after five years. Right now my relationship status is single,” said the actor, who was linked to actress Mrunal Thakur.

Activists from various organizations are mobilizing voters for the March 20 Democratic primary that could bring an Indian-American to the Illinois State Senate, a historic first if the goal is realized.

A string of progressive organizations are getting behind Ram Villivalam’s campaign to wrest the District 8 State Senate seat from beleaguered fellow Democrat, incumbent Ira Silverstein,

The Equality IL PAC (@EQILPAC) was the latest to join the chorus of voices raised in support of the progressive Democrat. It tweeted on March 12, “Sign up to volunteer and help Ram on #GOTV weekend March 17-19 and/or Election Day March 20.”

Other groups are engaging the community to get out the vote, not for any particular candidate, but rather as their civic act. The Indo-American Center, a non-partisan group, has scheduled a Young Professionals Phone Bank March 15 described on the website as a “Get Out The Vote 2018” event. Anar Parikh, the civic engagement coordinator at IAC, told Desi Talk, that event is part of a year-long campaign to get the community more engaged, especially young professionals who are typically less engaged,

The year-long initiative is aimed at “encouraging people to exercise their right and privilege as American citizens,” Parikh said. The IAC has also taken its members to candidate debates for the State Senate District 8 race, as well as the Illinois State House race from District 17.

Born and raised on the Northwest side of Chicago, Villivalam’s window of opportunity to overthrow a fellow Democrat comes on the heels of ethics and other alleged misconduct publicity that dog Silverstein, even though a final report by an investigative committee cleared him.

Villivalam was till recently, the legislative coordinator for the Service Employees International Union, and has been endorsed by the two important media outlets, Chicago Sun Times and the Chicago Tribune.

Indian-American organizations like the Illinois-based Indo-American Democratic Organization, and the national Indian-American Impact Fund, have all got behind Villivalam in his bid.

“He has extensive experience in the community and broad support from Members of Congress, local community organizations, and others,” Gautam Raghavan, president of Indian-American Impact Fund, told Desi Talk via email, “In addition to endorsing Ram and help raise the visibility of his campaign to a national audience, we have helped him raise funds for his campaign — including funds that will specifically allow him to engage the large number of Indian American voters in his district,” Raghavan said.

This is a battle within the Democratic Party, which wants to put a more diverse and younger leadership to the fore. No Republican has filed to run in the primary, and March 20 will basically be the biggest hurdle for Villivalam to cross. If he wins this primary, he is a shoe-in for the seat and will replace Silverstein when the next class of legislators is sworn in.

In an interview with Desi Talk, Villivalam said a new generation in government and more diversity was the need of the hour. “People who will challenge … and not just check the box,” he said.

He spoke of his parents as his role models. “They came in the 1970s. My Dad worked as a dishwasher for a couple of dollars, Mom worked at Amvets also for $2.30,” he recounted. “Then they went back to school and then came back to public service. I will never forget their service. And I hear these stories in the 8th Senate District,” over and over again, Villivalam said.

According to his estimate, District 8 has the “largest concentration” of Asian-Americans making up some 25 percent of the population. And as it encompasses areas like Devon and Lincoln, he said, 65 percent of Asian- Americans are people of South Asian origin.

The Chicago Tribune said Villivalam “is policy proficient, engaged and prepared to push back against the Democrat establishment,” when it endorsed him Feb. 22. His Democratic rivals for the March 20 primary — Caroline McAteer-Fournier, a community activist; and David Zulkey, an attorney — the paper said, “are both strong contenders, but Villivalam’s policy chops give him the edge.” The Tribune does not mention another Indian- American Democrat, Zehra Quadri, running for the same seat.

Apart from attacking Silverstein’s record, who Villivalam told Desi Talk, has “violated the ethics act,” and therefore “cannot advocate for issues,” Villivalam highlights his own accomplishments.

“As I go out across the district, people want minimum wage raised so that they can support themselves,” Villivalam told Desi Talk, adding, “(They want to) reduce gun violence; and making (sic) sure our schools are equitably funded regardless of zipcode; lowering taxes for the middle class, and raising it on millionaires and billionaires,”

As part of the SIEU, his website says,Villivalam championed home care for seniors and those with disabilities; childcare for working families; Medicaid for those in need; a $15 minimum wage, and was involved with signing people up for the Affordable Care Act, and organizing job fairs. “Ram is a proud board member of the Gun Violence Prevention PAC and the Indo American Democratic Organization,” his website says.

His election website stresses women’s rights. “Ram fully supports a zero tolerance policy for sexual harassment. Women need to be believed, and men need to be held accountable,” it says. He also supports comprehensive immigration reform, the protection of children who fall under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), making Illinois a sanctuary state, “calling out hate crimes for what they are,” and fighting to end discrimination based on race and/or religion, his platform says.

In his interview, Villivalam said he has built a coalition of supporters that gives him an edge over Silverstein. He has been endorsed by federal and state lawmakers like U.S. Representatives Jan Schakowsky, Brad Schneider, Mike Quigley, Danny K. Davis, and Raja Krishnamoorthi; Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle; State Senators Laura Murphy and Omar Aquino; and State Rep. Theresa Mah as well as labor groups, including teachers unions, environmental, and LGBTQ community, retirees and social workers groups.

Going into March 20, Villivalam said his goal is to raise $200,000 “to make sure we get our message out,” and admitted, “It’s always challenging to raise money, plus the short time range,” to the primary. “I’ve been knocking on doors and raising the issues,” he said.

Villivalam lives in Chicago with his wife Elizabeth.

Told by a teen narrator who happens to be half Indian-American, Scholastic Press’ upcoming novel ‘Damselfly’ by author Chandra Prasad unfolds a story that is both exciting and complex in its telling. It kept me glued to the pages till the end in one sitting, and I’m far from being a a ‘Young Adult’.

The stage is set on a seemingly uninhabited island, where a plane carrying a group of teen fencers from an elite private school, crashes. The motley group of survivors includes the narrator, Indian-American Samantha Mishra, of “mixed” descent, whose balanced gaze but very human failings are juxtaposed with the “mean girl” Rittika who is an American of purely Indian origin.

The group learns to live together but without giving too much away, things soon begin to fall apart.

Prasad’s strength lies in breaking stereotypes over and again to keep readers on their toes – about the not-so-model “mixed” Indian-Caucasian  family; the Hispanic member of the group; the high-school jock; the girl with depression symptoms. It also tells a gripping tale of fear, folly, smarts, incest, you name it, that teens cope with, suffer, and learn to live with less, in an alien environment where wits and deviousness compete with reason and goodness. While the juxtaposition of good and evil may not sound that different from many novels, Prasad weaves a more nuanced web.

Prasad told News India Times she is “mixed” American herself and her two sons do not look Indian though they are exposed to Indian culture and relate to it in many ways.  “Identity politics—always interesting, always complicated!” Prasad said.

Asked why she chose a “mixed” Indian-Caucasian teen as the narrator, she said it was “because multiracial characters are VERY underrepresented in literature, and especially in young adult literature.”

She has also brought out another publication, “Mixed: An Anthology of Short Fiction on the Multiracial Experience.”

“It is extremely important for kids to be able to relate to literary characters and to be able to “see themselves” in the books they read,” Prasad told News India Times.  The publishing world is making strides to better represent Asians, Native Americans, and African Americans, she noted, “but “mixed” characters are often still shuffled into one of these categories, if they are noted at all.”

Prasad feels strongly that this has got to change also because the mixed-race population is “exploding” in America. She quotes statistics from the U.S. Census which show that overall, while the total U.S. population increased by 9.7 percent since 2000, many multiple-race groups increased by 50 percent or more. “and it is the responsibility of the literary community to keep apace.”

“As a mixed-race author, I’ve made a promise to myself to include multiracial characters in every book I write from here on in,” she said pointing to two other characters in ‘Damselfly’ who are also of mixed-race.

About breaking several stereotypes even while juxtaposing the narrator of mixed Indian heritage with the Indian-origin girl Rittika, Prasad said she was not trying to make any kind of sweeping statement about race. “but I did intentionally want to throw cold water on the usual stereotypes about Indians. I definitely believe all stereotypes, even the so-called positive ones (like how Indians and other Asians are supposed to be “the model minority”) are harmful in the long run because they strip people of nuance, individuality, and distinctiveness,” Prasad said.

“Prasad deftly builds on familiar themes while also exploring issues like race, mental health, and the toxicity of teenage queen bees… A fun and compelling novel, one that is sure to attract a wide range of readers,” said the School Library Connection in its review.

And Booklist described it as “a compulsive read,” one where “Ethics balance on a knife’s edge as the characters make difficult choices and adapt to their new reality.”

Without revealing more of the intriguing tale, suffice it to say, Prasad seems to want to show that whether a person is observant, caring, and empathetic, or the epitome of perfection – beautiful, accomplished, popular, and wealthy — not that the two are mutually exclusive, stereotypes are best forgotten.

“In Damselfly, Indian Americans are complex individuals who cannot be easily pinned-down—in other words, they are the opposite of stereotypical,” Prasad told News India Times.

This is Prasad’s first young adult novel. The Connecticut resident who is a Yale University graduate and a Fellow at one of Yale’s residential colleges, previously wrote novels for adults, including, Mixed; and  On Borrowed Wings, a historical drama set in early 20th century New Haven; Breathe the Sky, a fictionalized account of Amelia Earhart’s last days; and Death of a Circus, which Booklist called “Richly textured [and] packed with glamour and grit.”  Prasad’s shorter works have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, and other publications.  She is currently working on additional young adult novels.

For more on Chandra Prasad’s books and other writing, visit:www.chandraprasad.com