Delhi played host this January to the flagship Diaspora event India hosts for overseas Indians every year, the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2014. The event was low key and quiet, and took place between the 7th and 9th of the month, with not many media mentions, or television channels featuring the event per se, though we saw more than adequate coverage of the inauguration ceremony by the PM, and live broadcast of Gujarat CM Narendra Modi’s address and presentation at the PBD. January also saw the PM Manmohan Singh holding one of his rare press-conferences, his third during his entire tenure, to announce that he was no longer in the race for another tenure. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal chose to sit on a civil disobediance ‘Dharna’ near the Rail Bhavan, threatening to upset the Republic Day applecart for the Central Government. An eventful month indeed, as you would see as you browse through this current issue of NRI Achievers.
The PBD experienced increased footfalls as compared to previous years, but not too impressive if we take into account the sheer numbers of the Indian Diaspora across the globe. Maybe a relook is warranted, if this platform is to be made more and more inclusive, and capable of effectively addressing NRI and PIO issues that concern most Diaspora. Better organisation, spreading more awareness, and mass mobilisation campaigns abroad, not to mention the use of conventional and new-media vehicles to reach out to older Diaspora as well as NRIs and youth, would fetch dividends. On the PBD, we bring you several vignettes, and short special features in the form of our cover story in this edition.
Our usual content-segments are all of course still there for your reading pleasure, ranging from news drawn from the worlds of business, sports and cinema, to articles on heritage, culture and architecture, and yes, our ubiquitous travelogue that takes you on a foodie’s journey through the lanes and old-world charm of the land of nawabs, Lucknow. Heritage acquaints you with the Namdhari Sikhs and their origin, and the column on Vaastu tells you about how a child’s living and studying environment at home can influence his or her attitude and world view for the better. Our other regular sections on real estate and property, health and wellness, and similar are also very much there for you to spend your quality time with. Dossier acquaints you with the success stories of some overseas Indians.
We do hope our mixture of content and the persona we portray are of interest to you, and yes, we would like to reiterate that as ever, we are feedback-driven, and so keener than ever before to get quality inputs from our readers, so I would encourage you all to get back to us with your views and opinions on content that is of most interest to you. Yes, do keep talking to us, be it by email or snail-mail, or via social networks ! Do send in feedback on what you like, and continue sharing your wish-list on what more you would like us to feature in this magazine of yours.