Dear Readers,
At the outset, let’s welcome New Year 2022 with new hopes and aspirations. We are indeed grateful to you for your continuous support to Namaste Bharat, which has been designed to serve you a veritable feast of in-depth, informative and thought-provoking stories month after month and provide an overarching framework to govern the relationship between India and its diaspora abroad.
We really appreciate your patronage ever since the inception of the magazine, which has now become a resonant voice of millions of Indian immigrants living across the globe. Your keen participation in our endeavour has encouraged us to bring successive improvement in both content and presentation of a wide gamut of issues that strike a chord with the overseas Indians. As a New Year surprise, you are getting this magazine now under a new title Pravasi Indians, which has been approved by the Registrar of Newspapers of India (RNI).
In this issue, our Food Columnists Amita Roy and Anand Manikutty choose to delve into the problem of information asymmetry related to Indian culture including cuisine. They rue that more often than not, discussions around India in the Western media tend to be biased.
Continuing with his memoirs of more than 50 years in the United States, Mustafa Ahsan Siddiqui recounts his schooling in Holy Cross High School, River Grove, Illinois. It is an interesting account of the academic and cultural surprises that await an Indian boy in the 1970s America.
In Arts and Culture section, Malvika Kaul interviews Achutan Ramachandran, renowned for drawing myriad facets of Mahatma Gandhi, besides his fondness for depicting the harmony of nature, the lives, rituals and culture of the tribal community, and his belief in the power of art.
Though Covid-19 has had a disastrous impact on the lives in India and abroad, practitioners and organisers of arts kept alive the hopes to overcome pandemic blues through in-person exhibitions, cultural events, and performances during 2021. Our Photo Feature brilliantly depicts such expression of resilience immortalised through various forms of art.
In the current issue’s Cover Story, B Shekhar takes stock of the state of Indian economy which is now on the road to gradual recovery, with core sectors back to their normal growth trajectory. Another interesting story seeks to deal with the intricacies of the surreal world of crypto currencies which have caught the fancy of investors who want to make a quick buck irrespective of legal implications. The Economy section also carries Shashi Kumar Jha’s incisive analysis of the spurt in black money and hawala activities despite the implementation of GST and strict monitoring by the government at almost every level.
On a lighter note, Harsha Bhargavi Pandiri writes how saree, the six yards of elegance and sensuality, has changed over centuries with the influence of many cultural traditions making it distinct and diverse.
In the Book Nook column, Dr Sanjeev Chopra reviews Indian Forest Officer Sanjeev Kumar Chadha’s ‘Jumbos on the Edge: The Future of Elephant Conservation in India’ that makes an impassioned plea for saving elephants from extinction.
In the travel section, noted Hindi writer Isht Deo Sankrityaayan recounts his visit to Chittorgarh, an epitome of the chivalry and historical grandeur and opulence of Rajasthan.
In Namaste Bharat’s new avatar, from February 2022 onward, we are bringing to you a dedicated section on lifestyle including food, fashion, well-being, youth, interiors and travel. It comes close on the heels of Ritu Agarwal, Ex Editor India Today Travel Plus joining us to add to our editorial acumen to articulate various issues close to the heart of several million people of Indian origins living abroad.
We look forward to your support for the exciting new journey that Namaste Bharat has embarked upon as Pravasi Indians!
Warm regards,
Rashmi
CEO and Publisher
