Beachwood Arts Council's to hold Indian DiversityFEST

The Beachwood Arts Council's India Diversity Festival will held on Sunday, June 14th, from 2-5pm, at the Beachwood Community Center, 25225 Fairmount Blvd., at Richmond Road.

 

Beachwood Arts Council's event on June 14

Showcased will be Cleveland's local Asian Indian community with musical and dance performances by Sugata Chatterjee, Antara Datta of Anga Kala Kathak Academy, Dr. Pinaki Chaudhuri and Anindita Tapaswi.  After the performances, offerings include Indian appetizers for a $5/per person charge, from the Saffron Patch, Choolaah BBQ and Café Tandoor.

Amee Patel will be selling costume Indian jewelry and a henna artist, Kristina Habarek of HennaMe Body Art will decorate attendees hands for free!

A photography exhibit in the gallery will feature scenes from India.  For further information contact, Leah Gilbert, Executive Director of Beachwood Arts Council.  The Beachwood Art Council is an volunteer, nonprofit organization that has supported the arts in Northeast Ohio since 1964.  

H1B Visa Immigration Fraud Scheme by Indian Origin Man Alleged

An Indian origin businessman allegedly involved in an alleged H1B immigration visa fraud scheme.  Surprise, surprise,  Not. Many Asian Indians in the US and elsewhere are not unfamiliar with the feeling that these kinds of schemes go on in a few Indian cities involving a few/several Indian IT companies.

Get one IT employee for a reduced price and get a second employee for half the price, which for-profit corporation, would not like considering this package?  This is body shopping.   Fair quality work performed by a large supply of young non-unionized Indian citizens at low Indian prices (at will work at low wages and no additional benefits, open ended work hours, a $ucked up legal system in India, little or no legal recourse in India or the employer's country), this is an ideal perennial high yield labor-gold mine for any for-profit international corporation.  Simply put, its corporate head honchos from one hemisphere harvesting an another human in the opposite hemisphere for fulfillment of wants and profit.  It has less to do, if anything at all, with unavailability of qualified workers in the US or any other country.

H1 B Visas by Company US and Indian

Cheap labor aka wage slaves and consumers in countries like China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and South East Asian countries will continue to attract international corporations for several years to come.  Water flows from higher to lower pressure, jobs flow from higher to lower wages.  This is not in the interest of a job seeking American, on the other side, American corporations are entitled to pursue profit by shipping jobs overseas where they have a higher chance of making higher money.  This is American capitalism aka profit system folks.  Globalization nonsense has taken away food from the dining tables of American children under the mask of whatever BS they can come up with.  Recently someone compared H1B workers in California to an "infestation", how the fook is this okay?  I love the USA and I don't want it to become India. 
  
It happened over about 6 years and involved 13 million dollars, 13 million dollars!!!  This SOB should have made atleast 30 million in 6 years screwing desperate fellow countrymen.  13, that turned out to be unlucky for Phaniraju Bhimaraju.  Someone shock me by advising me that his origin is from the State of Andhra Pradesh in India.  It is noted that on March 22, 2013, Julie Rose of WFAE, reports in her article titled Charlotte Businessman Pleads Guilty to Immigration Fraud Scheme that  a Charlotte resident pleaded guilty in federal court this week to running an immigration scheme that parlayed hundreds of temporary work visas into profits of $13.2 million.

So a Charlotte man named Phani Raju Bhima Raju set up shop as a middleman. He recruited people from his native India – and other countries - to allegedly work for his Pineville tech company called iFuturistics.

In reality, Raju was farming those workers out to companies across the country and making a handy profit of over $13 million.

Phaniraju Bhimaraju of Charlotte North Carolina, arrest dated Nov 28, 2012

 That was over a period of six years ending last November when Raju got caught. In one episode straight out of a con-man movie, Raju got word that Immigration was coming to check on all the H-1B workers he claimed to have in Pineville, so he filled an empty office with fake employees and new computers to throw inspectors off the scent. A month later, the investigators came back to find the same office dark and deserted.

Spradlin won't say how Raju's fraud was ultimately discovered, but court documents indicate at least one woman complained to authorities after coming to the U.S. for the promise of a $60,000 job, only to be given no work and no reimbursement of her $2,500 security deposit.

"That's another common thing that we see referred to as 'benching' where these people don't actually work and they're paying to take a position that they're not actually being given," says Spradlin.

Imtiaz Muqbil writes,

During the six month period from March through August 2009, Mission India’s consular sections identified a total of 3,596 cases of suspected visa fraud (Chennai – 1,237, New Delhi – 949, Mumbai – 809, Hyderabad – 523, Kolkata – 78). 5. Most of India’s fraudulent applicants come from specific and easily defined regional areas within each consular district.

“These states have some of the most mobile populations in India and the largest concentrations of expatriate communities overseas, including in the United States. In New Delhi, cases originating from the Punjab comprise the majority of its IV (Immigrant Visa) and fraud caseloads, while the same can be said in Mumbai with Gujarat. Chennai and Hyderabad’s fraud workload comes principally from Andhra Pradesh.”

It says that “B1/B2 visa fraud is the most commonplace.   Regionally-based fraud rings throughout the country, but especially in Hyderabad, continue to produce fraudulent documents for visa application and travel purposes. Some visa “consultants” and travel agents specialize in fraudulent experience letters and fake document packages, which include passport copies of false relatives, bogus financial documents, and affidavits of support.”

Aseem Trivedi's Cartoons Against Corruption

Aseem Trivedi's Cartoons Against Corruption is a cartoon based campaign by political cartoonist Aseem Trivedi to support anti corruption movement in India, best known for sharp hard hitting anti corruption cartoons. Crime Branch, Mumbai banned the website of Cartoons Against Corruption during the hunger strike of Anna Hazare in December 2011.

Ban on the Aseem Trivedi's website

On the very first day of the hunger strike, Crime Branch (Mumbai) ordered BigRock, the host of www.cartoonsagainstcorruption.com to block the cartoon website and the website was suspended with in 24 hours. The cartoonist was not even served a prior notice either by Crime Branch or by the website hosting company.

Aseem Trivedi Cartoon

Indian Parliament by Aseem Trivedi

Sex in India

Indian Constitution by Aseem Trivedi

Debate in the Parliament about Aseem Trivedi

These anti corruption cartoons also provoked an MP, Ram Kripal Yadav, to initiate a discussion in the Rajya Sabha, labeling the cartoons as an “insult to the Indian Parliament.” RJD MP Ram Kripal Yadav raised the issue in the upper house of the Parliament on the same day, when Rajniti Prasad, another MP of his own party, tore the Lokpal Bill copy in the same house.

Protests against the ban of Aseem Trivedi

Supporters of the artist’s right to freedom of expressions continue to issue harsh critiques against Mumbai Police and the domain holder, Big Rock, for taking down the website without giving Trivedi any chance to defend himself or contest the ban. Arvind Gaur, a core member of India Against Corruption raised his voice supporting the objectivity of the cartoons. He said, “I have minutely observed the cartoons made by Aseem Trivedi who has raised a voice against corruption through this medium of Art. He has not tried to make a fun of the constitution or nation rather he has very perfectly tried to show the anger and the rage of the common people of India who are dying because of the unrestricted corruption in the nation. According to me, putting a ban on Aseem’s cartoons is not only a ban on his cartoons rather it is a restriction on media and social networking sites on their working.” Many writers, artist and activist gathered at Rajghat, New Delhi to protest against the undemocratic ban on the Cartoons Against Corruption.

Save Your Voice

The experience has turned him into a sort of full-time activist. He has floated a body against censorship. After the ban on Cartoons Against Corruption, cartoonist Aseem Trivedi started 'Save Your Voice,' a movement against internet censorship along with his journalist friend Alok Dixit and started protesting against internet censorship in India.

Awards for Aseem Trivedi

Aseem Trivedi has been selected for the "Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award" of Virginia based Cartoonists Rights Network International the award for launching the Cartoons Against Corruption website, in an effort to mobilize his fellow citizens against India’s pervasive political corruption. He is sharing the award with Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat, who was abducted and badly beaten in August, 2011 amid the Syrian regime’s crackdown. Ali Ferzat is in the Time magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.

Nature of Indians

In his article A Dust Over India, Mark Manson makes an observation about Indians.  He paints every Indian with a broad brush and this kind of observation is often wrong.

I have met many Indians who lie.  The most interesting are those (uneducated or highly educated, rich, middle class or poor) who lie point blank and believe it is okay to do that, even when they know it will harm someone, these are the desi psychopaths.  I guess that not lying is rare when it comes to Indian business arena and its slightly to significantly less prevalent in the personal lives of Indians.  Slum Dog Syndrome may be a factor in this habit.  If the nation of Pakistan may be arguably identified as a nation of terrorists/potential terrorists/terrorism sympathizers, what will the nation of India be identified as?

An American friend recently visited India.  I wished him a happy visit but in my heart I feared that he would see all kinds of shit on the streets of India and return with a poor opinion about India.   

Indians/Hindus can be quite petty (particularly some women) in their personal lives and interactions with other Indians.  In interactions with Americans, this pettiness is covert and is not recognizable at first.  I have met some Indians who speak the truth and are upstanding human beings and it is indeed a pleasure to meet these rarities.  I reckon that Gandhi may have been a rarity among these rarities.  I have met a few Americans who lie.  I have met many Americans who more or less speak the truth.  

Here's the excerpt from Mark Manson's article:

The local I got to know the best was Sanjay, the 20-something year old who ran a hostel I stayed in. He had studied in London and been all over Europe so he was fairly westernized. He and I would stay up late together drinking cheap vodka regaling each other with our travel stories. There was little else to do after nightfall in India but get drunk. And little felt more appropriate.

But what Sanjay told me about Indian people is bizarre but true. He said Indians will rarely, if ever, resort to violence. As a foreigner, you never have to worry about being robbed, or having a knife pulled on you, or getting beaten up by a gang of thugs and having your kidney carved out of you. And this is true. I’ve been to many shady parts of the world. But never did I once feel unsafe in India. Even late at night.

BUT, Sanjay said, an Indian will lie to your face. He’ll say anything to get what he wants from you. And most of them don’t see it as immoral or wrong. So on the one hand, they won’t stick a gun in your face to take your wallet. But they’ll hand you fake business cards and offer to sell you something that they don’t actually have, so that you’ll voluntarily empty your wallet to them on your own accord.

And I have to give them credit, they’re really convincing salespeople.

India Is Disgusting-Mark Manson

Indians don't immigrate out of India.  We get the fook out of India.  Those who get out are indeed lucky.  What do you see when you go back to visit your family in India?  When one gets out of any airport, you are in the midst of a human wildebeest herd.  Fooking people everywhere.  Poorly planned and unlawful construction everywhere.  Potholed roads everywhere, if you can call them that.  People moving around like a thick row of ants in their cars and scooters; its like wildebeest herds crossing River Mara at every traffic signal.   You breathe exhaust fumes mixed with fine dust most of the time.  As you head to your destination, you are periodically hit with the smell of piss and shit from roadside open toilets.  Men take out their pricks and let it go on the roadside.  Cows and stray wild dogs and their shite everywhere.  Obsolete temples preying on dumb Indians and brainwashing mosques everywhere.   Stupid commercial and Bollywood billboards everywhere promoting all kinds of aholes and shite in the name of entertainment.  Electric poles and  wires everywhere.  And to top it off, the country has the shitty reservation system in educational institutions and employment that won't end for political reasons.  You unconsciously know that getting out of that environment was the best decision you ever made for yourself and your progeny.  

Is India a Nation?

If you give the environment a thoughtful moment, you realize that human dignity is inversely proportional to the number of human beings.    If you give it further thought, you realize  that there is no fooking government that can solve the problems of this populous country.  The government, its three branches and its self serving members have mostly given up and said, "Oh Fook it" and left the people to fend for themselves.  And I suppose the people do a pretty good job for fending for themselves in that wretched environment.  Those who can, get the fook out of it, at the earliest, by any means, thanks to the global economy fook up.  Does it make sense to sing Vande Mataram or Jana Gana Mana in USA?  Fook, no.

Now here is what a visitor thinks.   

Mark Manson has written an article A Dust Over India.  Here is an excerpt from Mark Manson's article,

The first thing that strikes you about India is how dirty it is. In a word, the place is disgusting. All of it. The entire country. Never before have I seen mountains of garbage the size of a small house stacked on the side of a road, in broad daylight, in the middle of a city, repeatedly. Dumpsters tipped over and overflowing. Mounds of trash — wrappers, cups, papers, napkins, strewn all about, mixed with sludge from the soda and urine and spit coagulated from thousands of daily passersby.

Like the dust, the garbage never ceases. And along with the garbage, there is an unending stream of humanity. It is impossible to spend a full day in the middle of a major Indian city without lobotomizing yourself trying to figure out where the hell all of the people come from. I’ve been to Hong Kong. I’ve been to Manhattan and Beijing. I’ve been to Mexico City. And the swarm of humanity crawling through India’s cities is unparalleled. There’s no comparison. Many streets more closely resemble a bee hive than a functioning human society. When I flew into Mumbai, there were homeless people sleeping on the tarmac. Take a moment for that to sink in: the city is so crowded and disgusting that people decide they’d rather sleep on the airport runway.

And that is the second thing to strike you about India. The poverty. It is legitimate take-your-breath-away poverty. Like the kind you see on TV charity ads but far worse. And far more real. Limbless men stewing about in their own feces. Emaciated children playing on a piles of garbage. A man with his leg literally rotting off to the bone, maggots and all, laying on the curb. It’s everywhere. The amount of suffering is indescribable. And it is unceasing. After a couple days, I was excited to hire a driver to go to Agra because I figured I’d be able to see some countryside and escape the stench and horrors of the city. But no. The entire four hours between Delhi and Agra was an unending stream of people, garbage and cars, with billows of dust drafting in our wake the whole way down.

My initial reaction the first few days was pure shock. But it quickly evolved into anger. How could a place like this be allowed to exist? How could normal people walk around with a clear conscience with so much shit and squalor festering about them? I felt indignant. Where was the social accountability? Where was the charity? Where the fuck was the government?