NEW YORK(TIP): The television premiere of Tirlok Malik’s new film On Golden Yearswill be shown on TV Asia on June 1st, 2018 at 8pm and June 3rd, 2018 at 1pm.
Malik who is an Indian American and a New Yorker has made many films starting from Lonely In America, Love, Lust & Marriage, Khushiyaan, On Golden Years and many more. They all deal with the effects of migration in America.
As an immigrant, when we come in the search of American Dream, at times we find ourselves we are “Lonely In America.” After achieving and living the American Dream, we also realize if we want real “Khushiyaan” (meaning: happiness), we need to make time to visit our aging parents and family in India.
Now, in “On Golden Years” (the time to retire), some of us have conflicts such as deciding whether to retire in India vs America, contentedness vs regrets, etc. We need to come to terms with life as an immigrant: the retirement of the American Dream. This romantic comedy teaches us to live every day like Valentine’s Day.
The film On Golden Years is written and directed by New York Emmy nominated filmmaker Tirlok Malik
The film On Golden Years is written and directed by New York Emmy nominated filmmaker Tirlok Malik. The idea of the story is inspired from the book Seeking Rootsby Iggy. Iggy Ignatius is also the codirector/producer of the film. The film stars Ranjit Chowdhry, Jyoti Singh, Reeves Lehmann, Shetal Shah, Noor Naghmi, Tirlok Malik, Shruti Tewari, Farokh Daruwala, Indu Gajwani, Prof. Indrajit S. Saluja, Lovllien Kaurr, Sandeep Suri, Iggy Igantius, Kamlesh Gupta and many more. The film has been shot at the Indian retirement community Shantiniketan in Florida. Other credits of the film are Director of Photography Christo Bakalov B.A.C., Music by Peter Lobo, Art Direction by Sunita Babber, Editing by Tom Knight and others. Malik has given chances to many new talents in front or behind the camera.
The Indian Panorama Editor Prof. Indrajit S Saluja who plays a role in the movie, is seen with the maker of the film Tirlok Malik (extreme left), actor Lovllien Kaurr and the Director of Photography Christo Bakalov (on the right)
Apple Productions has also worked with some of the biggest names in cinema including Sanjay Dutt, Rajnikanth, Surya, Manisha Koirala, Mithun Chakravarti, Raveena Tandon, Anupam Kher, Mammootty, Tananna, Kamal Hassan, Sunny Deol, and Kangana Ranaut. Malik has won many awards, including the New York Citizens’ Award from the New York Mayor’s office, and his work is acclaimed worldwide.
Malik and the cast of On Golden Yearsare very happy to have this premiere on TV Asia. TV Asia is the first cable television channel developed for the International South Asian community and celebrating their 25th anniversary. CEO of TV Asia Padma Shri H R Shah congratulates Tirlok Malik for all the movies he has made about being an immigrant in America.
As Tirlok Malik says, “Migration can bring many complex feelings, sometimes watching cinematic stories can show us the way”.
NEW DELHI (TIP): TV Asia Chairman H.R. Shah received the Padma Shri award from India’s President Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi on April 13.
Shah received India’s fourth highest civilian honor in the field of Literature & Education – Journalism.
Shah, who has lived in the United States for 46 years, is originally from Bahadarpur, Gujarat.
Two other Indian-Americans named for this year’s Padma Shri award include Ustad Imrat Khan in the field of Art-Music and Anant Agarwal in the field of Literature & Education.
Even before Shah received the award formally from Rashtrapati Ji, his friends and admirers celebrated his selection for Padma Shri and felicitated him.
Indo-American Press Club organized a felicitation evening in the month of March. Some other organizations were keen to felicitate him but he wanted them to wait until he received the award formally from President of India.
NEW YORK (TIP): A career diplomat, Dr Manoj Kumar Mohapatra, Deputy Consul General of India in New York, who is returning to New Delhi end of this month after serving in New York for almost three years, says whatever good job he has done here is because of the “enormous support of the Indian community”. He was speaking with Bidisha Roy, assistant Editor of The Indian Panorama in an exclusive interview which he said was his last interview to The Indian Panorama and recalled his first interview to a newspaper in New York was also with The Indian Panorama.
Dr Mohapatra , who assumed the office as DCG (Economic, Political, Consular & Women’s Affairs) on 31 July 2014. has served in a variety of positions with the Indian Foreign Service. He has served as third secretary in the Embassy of India in Berlin; at the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi as the desk officer for India’s bilateral relations with Bangladesh; and as the first secretary and counselor in the Indian diplomatic missions in Budapest, Hungary, and Dhaka, Bangladesh, where he was in charge of political and commercial relations between India and these countries.
He has successfully coordinated many historic events in New York area such as the reception to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Madison Square Garden in September 2014, a little after he joined as DCG in New York; International Yoga Day Celebrations in 2015 and 2016, and visits of many Chief Ministers from India which included Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Phadnavis.
Dr. Mohapatra played a significant role in bringing together people of a State to form a group named “Friends of” Thus, people here belonging to Madhya Pradesh formed a group called “Friends of Madhya Pradesh”. Similarly, with other States. The net result was a better coordination in extending reception to the visiting Chief Ministers by the people belonging to that State. At each of these visits, cooperation of Indian Americans with the State to which they belonged was the major issue of discussion. How people of a State could contribute to the development was an issue which remained the focus of all meetings. Reports from various States in India have suggested that, as a result of these visits by the Chief Ministers of some States and their interaction here with Indian American community which was facilitated by the Consulate here with Dr. Mohapatra leading and coordinating, great enthusiasm was evinced by investors to invest in various States. So much has been a single man’s contribution.
But this humble person gives all credit to the Indian American community. “Community has been an asset. They have always supported us. The events like PM’s reception at Madison Square Garden could not have been so successful without their help. It was made possible because of the tremendous support we got from the community”, Dr Mohapatra told The Indian Panorama.
Dr Mohapatra, who is credited with bringing efficiency and transparency in the functioning of the Consulate General of India, also shares the credit with the media. “I could excel because of the great help from media. The media was so helpful that in a very short period the Consulate was able to change its image. The perception of people (about Consulate) changed because of media.” He was particularly appreciative of The Indian Panorama and its editor-publisher Prof. Indrajit S Saluja who he said, was “my guruji and guided me on many issues”.
Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos presents a Citation to Dr. Mohapatra at the Indo-American Press Club gala, March 4, 2017 Photo/ Mohammed Jaffer-SnapsIndia
Dr. Mohapatra takes pride in the success of Outreach program of the Consulate. “We conducted community outreach programs in all ten states (under the jurisdiction of NY Consulate) and I met eight governors out of ten in a short period of time. It feels good that the Consulate played an important role in strengthening bilateral relationship.” Dr. Mohapatra believes that as a result of contact with the State governors and administration officials there was a growing desire among almost all States to have a closer relationship with the States in India.
And finally, he is confident that the bonhomie between the consulate and the community will continue. “I would request the community to give the same love and support to the Consulate and my successor that I got from them. The Consulate is for the community and vice versa. Our relationship should touch the sky.”
Indian Americans on March 21 will host a reception at Royal Albert’s Palace in Fords, New Jersey to bid farewell to their beloved outgoing Deputy Consul General of India.
The Indian Panorama family, spread over the US and India, looks upon Dr. Manoj Kumar Mohapatra as a worthy son of India who has done his best to keep the flag of India flying high here in the US, and wishes him all success and happiness wherever he goes on his next assignment.
Also, The Indian Panorama is happy to let him carry with him the warm appreciation coming from some community representatives who, in turn, represent adequately, the Indian community in the Tri-State area of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
Dr. Manoj Kumar Mohapatra (10th from right) administered oath of office to FIA officials, January 28, 2017. Mr. Andy Bhatia, President who was sick and could not be present, was administered oath over the phone. Photo/ Gunjesh-Nayaface.com
Dr Manoj Kumar Mohapatra, Deputy Consul General of India in New York
——— From Connecticut, Mr. Andy Bhatia, President, Federation of Indian Associations, NY/NJ/CT says in appreciation of Dr. Mohapatra:-
“Dr. Manoj Mohapatra, Dy. CG has been a true friend of the Indian American community and it has been my privilege to have known him and work with him.
He has been tireless in his efforts to help the community and has always made himself available to us any day of the week.
He is credited for putting in systems in place In bringing efficiency and transparency in the Consulate.
He is a clear thinker and knows how to structure his thoughts to get his point across.
We will miss him and wish him lots of success in his new assignment in New Delhi.”
———
One of the senior community leaders, who is credited with having founded some of the first and the oldest organizations of Indians in the US, and presently, Chairman of GOPIO International, Dr. Thomas Abraham, from Connecticut writes:
“Dr. Mohapatra has been one of the most sincere and dynamic Deputy Consul General who also served as Acting Consul General during the absence of the Consul General. He has been on the top of most of the Consulate activities and has been performing very well with the outreach and resolving issue of the Indian community. He provided leadership in sorting out many of the consular issues and has been instrumental in organizing Open House meeting with the community every week. He had expanded the outreach to American political leaders by utilizing the Indian American community contacts. Community organizations found a good friend in him to promote common goals of our community and India. We will miss him in New York and wish him all success in his new assignment.”
———
And, Dr. Navin Mehta, who has for long been associated with Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan says of Dr. Mohapatra:
“Silent worker-
“When I am silent, I fall into that place where everything is MUSIC – Rumi”
Dr, Mohapatra works silently and have observed that his work is his music. Very few people can be this dedicated and still smile.
As Chanakya says about a diplomate
“मनसा चिंतित्म कर्म, वचसा न प्रकाशयेत्”
People of Indian origin, who are living in USA on refugee status, will soon be able to travel to India with a valid travel visa. The Government of India has decided to grant visa to applicants with refugee status living in USA.
This issue was handled by Manoj Mohapatra.
Pioneer and initiator of Outreach program where consulate for the first time reached door steps of common people.
One of the most excellent organizers ,,,, be it outreach program, Visa and Passport facility or PM visiting Madison Square Garden.
We will surely miss him but wish Dr. Mohapatra the best in life and wish that he continues to serve the Nation’s cause.”
———
And here is a comment from Ranjeet Singh, Manager at CKGS who worked under the watchful eye of Dr. Mohapatra .
“DCG Dr Mohapatra has been an inspiring diplomat who has always put community interests on top of his priorities.
Working with him was an enlightening experience. He went out of his way on many occasions to streamline things and make the consular services accessible to Indian diaspora in the best possible way.
He tirelessly worked on reducing the gap between Indian-American diaspora and the Indian government represented by its mission in NY through his innovative ideas and extraordinary execution of day to day work at NY Consulate.
CKGS family joins me in wishing him a great life and an extraordinary career ahead!!!”
———
And, the last comment which proves the saying “brevity is the soul of wit” comes from Mr. Rajiv Khanna, President of India-America Chamber of Commerce: “It was a great pleasure to work with Dr. Mohapatra. He is an outstanding foreign service officer who is dedicated to furthering India’s interest”.
People of Indian origin, who are living in USA on refugee status, will soon be able to travel to India with a valid travel visa. The Government of India has decided to grant visa to applicants with refugee status living in USA.
Deputy Consul General Mr. Manoj Kumar Mohapatra took questions from the audience. To his right is Mr. Rohit Vyas, who anchored the program Photos / Gunjesh
This was announced by Dr. Manoj Kumar Mohapatra, Deputy Consul General of India in New York, at an outreach event organized at TV Asia in Edison, NJ. Mohapatra said that the consulate was working on 24 hours and seven days basis in order to provide timely assistance to individual visa seekers, who were in dire and unique situations. He invited applicants to open houses at the Consulate so that their issues were resolved. The consulate holds open houses every first and third Wednesday of every month.
Responding to a question about killing of Indian professional in Kansas, Dr. Mohapatra commented that Government of India was very concerned about cases of violence against Indian citizens who were victim of hate or other kinds of crimes. He pointed out the Government of India gave priority to the unfortunate incident that took place in Kansas where an Indian professional Srinivas Kuchibhotla was killed by a gunman. “We acted very quickly to address the situation. As we talk here, Dr. S. Jaishankar, India’s foreign Secretary, was in Washington holding talks with senior members of the Donald Trump administration on various issues for mutual interests.
The outreach event was also utilized to extend a warm reception to a group of diplomats from Washington who visited Indian market in Edison and Jersey City in New Jersey. The five US diplomats showcased their Hindi speaking proficiency. They surprised an audience of community leaders and professionals from wide areas of businesses and occupation, when they spoke in fluent Hindi. All diplomats were studying Hindi language at the institute prior to their postings in India.
Michael Rosenthal, Political Unit Chief, Office of India Affairs, US Department of State, who led the group, said that he and his colleagues were due for their posting in India in the coming months. “We are learning Hindi and Indian culture at the Foreign Service Institute run by the State Department”, he said adding that thousands of US diplomats attend language and culture classes prior to their overseas postings. Rosenthal said that as a part of his language studies he and his four colleagues visited shops and interacted with businessmen in Jersey City and Edison townships. The group was welcomed by HR Shah, Chairman, TV Asia.
A view of the gathering – US diplomats surprise Indian Americans with a flourish of fluent Hindi
Addressing the gathering Nathaniel Farrer, a member of the group, said in Hindi, “He and his colleagues enjoyed watching Hindi movies and often debate about the acting talents of Bollywood actors. “We are yet to agree about who among Amir Khan and Amitabh Bachchan is the better actor”, he said jokingly.
Pushpa Patel, a Hindi instructor at the Foreign Service Institute in Washington, was visibly in tears to see her student perform so well in Hindi. “They prepared their own script for this occasion. I am so happy they are learning Hindi very well”, she commented.
HICKSVILLE, NY (TIP): The Indo-American Press Club (IAPC) will inaugurate its new executive committee at a gala at Antun’s by Minar here on March 4 in the presence of media personalities and community.
Prof. Indrajit Singh Saluja, Editor-Publisher of The Indian Panorama, will take over as President from Parveen Chopra, Managing Editor of The South Asian Times. The Chief Guest, Hon. George Maragos, Comptroller of Nassau County, is set to administer the oath of office to the 2017 office-bearers, including Eapen George as General Secretary and Biju Chacko as Treasurer.
Mr H.R. Shah, Chairman and CEO of TV Asia
A highlight of the event will be felicitating Mr H.R. Shah, Chairman and CEO of TV Asia, on conferment of one of the highest civilian awards of India, Padma Shri.
The keynote address will be given by Jehangir Khattak, Co-Director, Center for Community and Ethnic Media, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism,
Dr. Manoj Kumar Mohapatra, Deputy Consul General, New York will presideover the function.
A book, Musings on Medicine, Myth, and History – India’s Legacy, by Dr. VK Raju and Dr. Leela Raju will be launched. The authors will be present.
The roaster of entertainment includes a skit by New Jersey street theater group, Prayog. Kalpita Chakote, who has performed at the UN and at Metropolitan Museum of Art, will present a classical dance. St. John’s College students will present Bhangra. Surya Makkar will play the dhol.
#IAPC
Under founder and chairman, Ginsmon Zacharia, IAPC has grown from strength to strength.
It has organized three successful annual international conferences in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. A highlight of the conference last year was a presidential debate with representatives from Democratic and Republican sides.Prof. Indrajit S Saluja moderated the debate.
IPAC has six active chapters in America and Canada. The Atlanta chapter celebrated India’s Republic Day this January in a big way. Last year, the Houston chapter hosted a debate and discussion on the presidential election to increase participation of the Indian community in the political process.
NEW YORK CITY (TIP): The Consulate General of India, New York will host the first outreach event of 2017 on 7th February in TV Asia in Edison, New Jersey. There will be a session ‘Ask your Consul General’ and the event will be telecast live.
The program will begin at 6:30 pm with meet and greet followed by welcome address and introduction by Mr. H. R. Shah, Chairman and CEO of TV Asia. Next, Consul General Ambassador Riva Ganguly Das will address the gathering. After introduction by delegation (Nationalized and Private Banks, Tourism office, Chambers of Commerce, and Air India among others) there will be a Live Q&A session. The floor will be open for the viewers of TV Asia who will have the opportunity to ask questions.
With an aim to strengthen ties with the local Indian Community in the ten states under the jurisdiction of The Consulate General of India, New York, the Consulate has been organizing outreach programs in different cities since 2015 for the Indian community on consular, economic, cultural, banking and tourism matters. The Outreach program provides a platform to the community to know more about the activities of the Consulate as well as other economic houses. For more information please visit: www.indiacgny.org
NEW YORK (TIP): TV Asia Chairman/CEO and prominent Indian American community leader HR Shah was on Wednesday, January 25 named for the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian honor in the field of Literature & Education – Journalism. Two other Indian Americans are also named for this year’s Padma Shri award – Ustad Imrat Khan in the field of Art-Music and Anant Agarwal in the field of Literature & Education.
The Padma awards are conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March/ April every year. This year the President of India has approved conferment of Padma Awards to 89 persons. The list comprises of 7 Padma Vibhushan, 7 Padma Bhushan and 75 Padma Shri Awardees. 19 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 5 persons from the category of foreigners, NRIs, PIOs and 6 posthumous awardees.
Mr HR Shah is the recipient of the prestigious 2005 Ellis Island Medal of Honor, which is bestowed only on those who display significant contributions to their own communities and to the US at large. He has received more than a hundred awards and citations from across the globe in serving ethnic American communities in different fields. He is a founding member of GOPIO as well as Past President and Trustee of the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) and a member of the Board of Advisors of the Ellis Island-National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO). As the Chairman and Trustee of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (USA), the world famous institute of Indian culture, education, music and the arts, he has worked for the upliftment in lifestyle of Indians via education. With TV Asia, Mr Shah is the first NRI to run a 24/7 TV station in North America. He is also the first NRI to own a chain store business anywhere in the world – Krauszer’s Food Stores.
Shah said “I am deeply humbled, honored and overjoyed that the Republic of India has decided to confer on me the Padma Shri”. He said he would “rededicate” himself to help India and US further strengthen their ties.
“I look forward to receiving the Padma Shri in New Delhi later this year and rededicate myself to helping India and the United States further their close relations, as well as to promote India’s rich culture and heritage,” Shah said, January 25 after he was announced as a recipient of India’s prestigious civilian honor.
Ustad Imrat Khan, younger brother of sitar maestro Ustad Vilayat Khan, has established his reputation not only by an absolute mastery of two different instruments, the sitar and the surbahar, but also by the consistent purity and integrity with which he presents every aspect of the great Indian classical genres, spanning the whole spectrum of feeling and expression. He is the senior performer of the Imdadkhani gharana, the school of sitar and surbahar performance named after his grandfather Imdad Khan. He spends a portion of each year teaching classical Indian music and instructing sitar students at Washington University in Saint Louis. In 1988 Imrat Khan received a Sangeet Natak Akademi Award from the president of India.
Anant Agarwal is currently the president of eDX.com in Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA. In 2012, he was named by Forbes magazine among the 15 “classroom revolutionaries” who are using innovative technologies to reinvent education for students and teachers globally. Agarwal did his early education in city’s St Aloysius College right from std 1 to second PUC (1977). He then moved to IIT-Madras where he did his BTech, and followed it up with MS and PhD in electrical engineering from Stanford University, USA. At MIT, he led the development of Alewife, an early cache coherent multiprocessor, and founded Tilera, a fabless semiconductor company focusing on scalable multicore embedded processor design.
Here is thecomplete list of 2017 Padma award winners. The list comprises of 7 Padma Vibhushan, 7 Padma Bhushan and 75 Padma Shri Awardees. 19 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 5 persons from the category of foreigners, NRIs, PIOs and 6 Posthumous awardees.
PADMA VIBHUSHAN / Awardee Field of Prominence
Sharad Pawar / Public Affairs
Murli Manohar Joshi / Public Affairs
P.A. Sangma (posthumous) / Public Affairs
Sunder Lal Patwah (posthumous) / Public Affairs
K.J. Yesudas / Art – Music
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev / Others – Spiritualism
Udipi Ramachandra Rao / Science & Engineering
PADMA BHUSHAN / Awardee Field of Prominence
Vishwa Mohan Bhatt / Art – Music
Devi Prasad Dwivedi / Literature & Education
Tehemton Udwadia / Medicine
Ratna Sundar Maharaj / Others-Spiritualism
Swami Niranjana Nanda Saraswati / Others-Yoga
H.R.H. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn (Foreigner) / Literature & Education
Cho Ramaswamy (Posthumous) / Literature & Education –Journalism
PADMA SHRI / Awardee Field of Prominence
Basanti Bisht / Art-Music
Chemanchery Kunhiraman Nair / Art-Dance
Aruna Mohanty / Art-Dance
Bharathi Vishnuvardhan / Art-Cinema
Sadhu Meher / Art-Cinema
T K Murthy / Art-Music
Laishram Birendrakumar Singh / Art-Music
Krishna Ram Chaudhary / Art-Music
Baoa Devi / Art-Painting
Tilak Gitai / Art-Painting
Aekka Yadagiri Rao / Art-Sculpture
Jitendra Haripal / Art-Music
Kailash Kher / Art-Music
Parassala B Ponnammal / Art-Music
Sukri Bommagowda / Art-Music
Mukund Nayak / Art-Music
PurushottamUpadhyay / Art-Music
AnuradhaPaudwal / Art-Music
WareppaNaba Nil / Art-Theatre
Tripuraneni Hanuman Chowdary / Civil Service
T.K. Viswanathan / Civil Service
Kanwal Sibal / Civil Service
Birkha Bahadur Limboo Muringla / Literature & Education
Eli Ahmed / Literature & Education
Narendra Kohli / Literature & Education
G. Venkatasubbiah / Literature & Education
AkkithamAchyuthan Namboothiri / Literature & Education
Kashi Nath Pandita / Literature & Education
Chamu Krishna Shastry / Literature & Education
Harihar KripaluTripathi / Literature & Education
Michel Danino / Literature & Education
Punam Suri / Literature & Education
VG Patel / Literature & Education
V Koteswaramma / Literature & Education
Balbir Dutt / Literature & Education – Journalism
BhawanaSomaaya Literature & Education-Journalism
Vishnu Pandya Literature & Education-Journalism
Subroto Das Medicine
Bhakti Yadav Medicine
Mohammed Abdul Waheed Medicine
Madan MadhavGodbole Medicine
DevendraDayabhai Patel Medicine
Harkishan Singh Medicine
MukutMinz Medicine
Arun Kumar Sharma Others-Archaeology
Sanjeev Kapoor Others-Culinary
MeenakshiAmma Others-Martial Art
GenabhaiDargabhai Patel Others-Agriculture
ChandrakantPithawa Science & Engineering
Ajoy Kumar Ray Science & Engineering
ChintakindiMallesham Science & Engineering
Jitendra Nath Goswami Science & Engineering
DaripalliRamaiah Social Work
Girish Bhardwaj Social Work
KarimulHak Social Work
BipinGanatra Social Work
Nivedita Raghunath Bhide Social work
AppasahebDharmadhikari Social Work
Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal Social Work
ViratKohli Sports-Cricket
Shekar Naik Sports-Cricket
Vikasa Gowda Discus Throw
Deepa Malik Sports-Athletics
MariyappanThangavelu Sports-Athletics
DipaKarmakar Sports-Gymnastics
P. R. Shreejesh Sports-Hockey
Sakshi Malik Sports-Wrestling
Mohan Reddy Venkatrama Bodanapu Trade & Industry
Imrat Khan (NRI/PIO) Art-Music
Anant Agarwal (NRI/PIO) Literature & Education
H.R. Shah (NRI/PIO) Literature & Education-Journalism
He may pass by. You may not notice him. He is one among many. But only when you get to know him, you understand the power of the man. When I say power, I surely do not mean the physical power or the power which comes with position. Nor do I allude to money power. It is the power of self in this man, known as HR Shah which attracts attention and wins admiration.
This charismatic Indian is a well-known entrepreneur, philanthropist and community leader who endeared himself as a close friend of who’s who of the world. Mr. Shah has rubbed shoulders with Heads of states – from Bill Clinton and Obama to Narendra Modi, and celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan.
When I sat down to interview him in his conference room, I saw dozens of pictures of Mr. Shah with who’s who of the world. Let me give a picture of the wall decorated with lovely photographs over the decades.
A wall in the conference room at TV Asia Studios in Edison, New Jersey is decorated with Mr. Shah’s pictures with who’s who of the world.
But behind the seemingly high profile HR Shah is a Hansmukh Shah whose life story will need a whole book or a documentary, and. I found myself at a loss as to how I could do his profile in a page or two of 11″ X 15″ size in the Indian Panorama. His story may be like the story of many others. It may be another rags to riches story His story from a remote village in Gujarat to the US may appear to be another success story. His story of being a penniless young man, looking for employment in his home state and then venturing out to the US, with financial assistance from friends and relatives may just be another story of another man from Gujarat. But it certainly is his unique story.
Honors and awards decorate the walls in TV Asia
In an exclusive interview with The Indian Panorama, Mr Shah revealed the journey of his life like an open book.
Mr Shah was born in a poor family. His father had two wives and seven kids and died when HR was only 2 years old. He had a difficult childhood with enormous financial problems. After completing high school he did his bachelor’s degree with honors in Chemistry but missed first class for just few numbers.
He went door to door for a job but did not get any. But at that situation how could someone think of coming to America?
“In 1967, one of my cousins came to America. That gave me the courage. I started thinking that if he can do it why not me? At that time, there were jobs here for two classes of people – highly educated or labor class. I had no issues to opt for a labor class job in USA as there was no future for me in India.”
But coming to the land of opportunities was not so easy. He ran from pillar to post to make his dream true. Even people were joking at him for his dresses or English speaking capacity. But he was determined to achieve his goal and finally achieved it when he landed in USA in 1970.
“For getting success in life you have to have goal, vision, and determination. Money comes later. You have to work hard”, he says.
His struggle continued here too. After doing some odd jobs like fruit and vegetable distribution, he started a consulting office at The Empire State Building in 1973. It was doing well but did not last for a long. “The business closed due to some problems and I lost huge amount of money. I came down to footpath straight from Empire State”, reveals HR who is now one of the highest donors in any charity event and is serving the community for over 30 years.
Confabulating with PM Narendra Modi
In 1976 HR opened a medical center but this time also luck was not with him. So, this venture also failed. But something very significant happened in his life during this crisis hours. He met Rosemarie who came for a job at the medical center. They fell for each other and married in 1977.
Without having anything, he started driving taxi in New York City. “I took that decision because as a taxi driver I could have worked for as many hours as I want. So, I used to work for 15 to 16 hours a day. I had huge debt on me because of my failed business.”
This honest man was also determined to clear his debts.
Good Old Days- HR Shah’s entertainment connection with Donald Trump dates back decades ago
Every weekend he used to repay even 100 or 50 dollars to people whom he owed money. That earned him a trust among them and grew a strong bond. In personal life, he faced a tragedy as his daughter who was born with a critical disease, died at the age 8.
After running a Limousine service for 2 years, HR started his brokerage business for Indians in USA. Finally, he got real ‘break’ of his life when he took over Krauszer’s Food Stores, New Jersey’s largest chain having over 400 outlets. He took over the firm in 1991 to become the first NRI to own a chain store business anywhere in the world and through his entrepreneurial skills, gave the stores renewed statewide recognition. That acquisition saved over a thousand jobs. He also put hundreds of people from ethnic communities in the convenience store business, making them owners. “The game changer came as a jackpot to me. My life changed”, he said laughingly. Life changed but the man did not change. He did not forget his past, he did not forget the sufferings he went through in India, and he did not forget his poor villagers. His mission was to bring less or uneducated people from his village and establish them here. To date, he has brought 4,000 people from his village. “They salute me but I don’t have any expectations from anybody. If I do something for people, I never ask anything in return”, says the ‘Father Figure’ of community.
Amitabh Bachchan has been a family member to Mr. Shah. Here he is seen with Mr. Shah and Mrs. Shah (extreme right)
In 1996, he took over TV Asia. A turnaround expert, he became prominent for rescuing the channel out of poor viewership – with 350,000 viewers today. With TV Asia, Mr Shah is the first NRI to run a 24/7 TV station in North America. It is the first coast-to-coast television network broadcasting 24 hours a day, on satellite and cable for South Asians in the US. TV Asia was the only Network in North America to bring live coverage of the visit to the UN of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
With 30 bureaus in North America, TV Asia mainly focuses on community events to keep Indian culture and heritage alive, especially for second generation NRIs.
Mr Shah has actively participated in the US political process at many levels and has made outstanding contributions to India-US relations. He has organized or supported awareness meetings for several prominent officials, including Governors, Senators, Congressmen and candidates for the US presidency, including Barack Obama.
He accompanied former US President Bill Clinton to India in the year 2000 and was with him again in 2001 in Gujarat for earthquake relief operations. In fact, TV Asia was the first South Asian media outlet to be invited by a US President to join the Presidential entourage on an overseas visit.
Mr Shah is a founding member of GOPIO as well as Past President and Trustee of the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA). As the Chairman and Trustee of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (USA), the world famous institute of Indian culture, education, music and the arts, he has worked for the upliftment in lifestyle of Indians via education. He is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Ellis Island-National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO).
Mr. HR Shah has received numerous awards and honors, including the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honor, the highest award conferred to honor the ancestral groups who through struggle, sacrifice and success build this great nation of United States of America. Today, Mr H.R. Shah, the Chairman & CEO of TV Asia is regarded as one of those selfless individuals who have made extraordinary contributions for the cause of humanity.
He has generously donated his time, energy and resources and is a pillar of the community, always supporting various social works, cultural, educational and related activities in the US and in India. He has received thousands of awards and citations from across the globe in serving ethnic American communities in different fields.
One admirable strength of the man is that success has not gone in to his head. Asked as a closing question of the interview what he thought was the most important thing to do, he did not bat an eye, nor did he hesitate for a moment and said “Hard Work“.
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