Indian-American Sonal Shah appointed Obama’s advisor
Submitted by Parasshuram Shalgar on Friday, 7 November 2008No Comment
US President-elect Barack Obama has picked Indian-American Sonal Shah, an eminent economist who heads Google’s philanthropic arm, as one of the advisers to help him assemble his White House team.
Shah, 40, is part of an advisory board comprising individuals with significant private and public sector experience who will offer their expertise in their respective fields to Obama’s transition team, according to US media reports.
Sonal Shah along with other members of the advisory board will help the transition team headed by former White House chief of staff John Podesta, longtime Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett, and Pete Rouse, the President-elect’s Senate chief of staff.
This is indeed a wonderful news to hear that a lady of indian origin is a part of most powerful advisory board on earth!Kudos to Sonal shah!Kudos to Obama!
Tis commendable Ms.Shah has joined the president-elect Obama’s team. The significance of this achievement would be lost unless she does anything constructive with her position.
We are very proud of Sonal Shah to be picked up as one of the advisors of Obama’s team. We are sure that she wil be using her Indian cultural values of ” treating whole world as a family” and make the world Nobel to bring the world peace back on track and let our future generation enjoy the world.
The suffering of human being and the health condition will be adequately taken care by the new administration.
Wish you all the best Sonal Shah.
And she has links to fascist Hindu organizations from India. You can read it yourself here.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=HomePage&id=c92bdef7-a366-47df-bf51-daae396caeec&MatchID1=4816&TeamID1=6&TeamID2=1&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1212&PrimaryID=4816&Headline=Obama+team+member%2c+Sonal%2c+has+VHP+links
Sonal Sha’s management is a process of aligning people and getting them committed to work for a common goal to the maximum social benefit – in search of excellence. Major functions of a manager are planning, organizing, leading and coordinating activities — they put different emphasis and suggest different natures of activities in the following four major functions..
The critical question in all managers’ minds is how to be effective in their job. The answer to this fundamental question is found in the Bhagavad-Gita, which repeatedly proclaims that “you must try to manage yourself.” The reason is that unless a manager reaches a level of excellence and effectiveness, he or she will be merely a face in the crowd. Wish her all success.
Please read more about Sonal Shah at the following link
http://www.indicorps.org/docs/INDIA_ABROAD_12-19-2003.pdf
She has done great humanitarian work during her short life, while working at her very illustrative career. I wish we had more people like her all over the world.
Indian?
Why not revealing your identity?
Hindus are never fascist. Why Hindu cannot live as Hindu for just to be called secular???
Hindus teach moral values and the way to live for the benefit of the self and the society and the Universe.
Mind your language please.
It is gratifying to note that an Indian American is appointed for this post.But at the same time it is distressing to note that Sonal Shah has deep rooted relationship with VIshwa Hindu Parishad -VHP- and RSS fundamentalistic,facist,organization which is committing atrocities against religious minorities and lower cast Hindus in India which will destroy the fabric of Secular Democracy in India.
As someone whose life work of teaching in the inner-cities has been directly inspired and supported by the mentorship of Sonal, I am so proud to congratulate her for this achievement. Sonal has always been a voice of transformational leadership, tolerance and hope. She has lived her life the way that Obama has run his campaign and I can’t wait to see how she is able to influence our country.
I know Sonal, Roopal, and Anand Shah personally, and hold all three of them in the highest regard. They are morally upright, highly principled people, with a steadfast commitment to India. They have dedicated their lives to inspiring Indian youth to believe in India, and in turn, themselves. This, to me, is the ultimate form of service – one that is non-denominational, apolitical, and areligious. I am disappointed in the waves of unfounded accusations that have erupted all over the internet. We should be proud that President-elect Obama chose Sonal Shah as a member of his transition team.
Let’s be honest – what’s the real issue here? As Indian-Americans, why are we always intent on tearing ourselves up from within? We should be rejoicing that we have the honour and the privilege of being represented by Sonal Shah, not bickering over petty, baseless claims about her background. When will we, the Indian-American community, come together and speak as one, on behalf of, not against one another?
I don’t think you should take Vijay Prashad’s word for the whole truth. You might like to check out the Wikipedia page for Indicorps (http://tinyurl.com/6p5kl6), the organization the Shah siblings founded, as well as the site for the organization itself (http://tinyurl.com/6rczrp). I worked with Indicorps to benefit Muslim populations in the slum areas of Delhi in 2005-6, and can attest to Sonal Shah’s character.
I find it fascinating that people continue to attack people that they do not know. It is a hallmark of the American campaign to attack your candidate’s opponent due to emotional support, and it continues after the campaign.
While I’m all for accountability and openness, it seems that that is dependent upon having access to a variety of information. Surely the Obama team vetted Sonal before appointing her as part of the transition committee. Surely, they saw something in her worthwhile.
The Sonal I know has been incredible in her thoughts and actions. She believes fundamentally in people and their ability to do something worthwhile. I have no idea if that falls under any religion’s fundamentalist beliefs…but I do believe that it is a worthwhile belief to have, and having that kind of a voice on a transition team is good news to me.
Best of luck to Sonal.
It is really sad that some people are trying to fabricate lies and tear down a progressive south asian who has done nothing but serve the interests of ALL Indians of all religions with her development intiatives and goals-be it through Indicorps, or through her work in the u.s.–Get your facts straight, learn what indicorps actually is and does; the organization Sonal has started, Indicorps has in fact promoted communal harmony in gujarat through its projects; She is a huge asset to the Obama administration and we are lucky to have someone like this hailing from our community!
I am very happy that Ms. Shah’s appointment to the Obama Transition Advisory Body and her involvement will help the Asian Indian community’s hope’s and aspirations in our adopted country and help our Hindu religion to be not looked at with prejudiced eye glasses. Ms. Shah is a great achiever and I am very proud of her as an Asian Indian.
I was a volunteer with Indicorps some time ago for a year, and had the opportunity to work with rural youth in a village a few hours away from Udaipur in Rajasthan. The youth program focused on getting students from various economic and social backgrounds to participate in activities together. The program involved organizing a secondary school that taught varied subjects (Geography, General Knowledge, Hindi, English, Health/Sanitation (etc). Among the many other activities the youth program worked on were the creation of a football team that had tournaments and matches against other villages, the organization of community plays and events, girls empowerment workshops, health awareness workshops and field trips to the Udaipur.
My experience with Indicorps is nothing but positive. It gave me the opportunity to leave the America I was brought up in, and to experience India in a way that was not like a family visit or a touristy trip. I have both the Shahs and Indicorps to thank for this experience. That being said, since my time with Indicorps, I have never been pushed to support/believe ANY ideology by the Shahs or anyone associated with them. They did however wholeheartedly support the value of service, simple living and a united India.
I want to congratulate Sonal on her recent appointment to Obama’s Transition Team. I find it unfortunate that there are multiple unfounded attacks on her. It seems that the internet not only has the potential of spreading awareness, it also provides people with the opportunity to have their own personal McCarthy era option switch. Especially in the public sphere accusations can be enough. I hope people are analytical to see beyond the juicy gossip of the day and question the sources of what they read.
Congratulations to Sonal Shah on her recent appointment! I am incredibly excited for her and for what this means for Indian-Americans. Sonal Shah has been an unbelievably positive role model for my personal growth as well as in my professional life ever since I had the amazing opportunity to volunteer at Indicorps. To make baseless claims against her character, or against her service-oriented career, would be ignorant of the truth.
swell… will the last American in govt pls turn out the lights.
I was an Indicorps fellow from August 2007 through August 2008. My project was in a small tribal community trying to improve primary education there through teacher training and resource building. The other fellows in my class worked on a range of issues from small business development to health and sanitation to governance and more. Our collective focus was always and unwaveringly on our relationship with India and how we could use our time, skills and passion to do something positive and meaningful for the country of our heritage. Never once did religious fundamentalism, let alone support of such a thing, ever enter the conversation. Indicorps is about inspiring young members of the diaspora to explore their relationship with India through grassroots service work. Fellows come from all religious backgrounds and the partner NGOs that we stay with work in diverse areas from tribal Maharashtra to slum communities in Gujarat to middle-class Bangalore – areas that include Indians from every religious and cultural background imaginable.
President-elect Obama could not have made a better decision than to pick Sonal Shah as a member of his transition team. If the organization that she co-founded is at all representative of her values, which I know it is, then people should be able to see past all of these unfounded accusations and realize that she is a person who possesses supreme intelligence, tolerance and desire to make the world a better place.
I am aware that some people may think I am looking at Indicorps through rose-colored glasses because I was a part of it. I cannot say anything to that other than I assure you that everything I say is based on my direct experience with the organization and its founders. I do not have anything to gain from making Indicorps seem better than it is; my only interest is in representing the truth. People who still have questions should do their research: check out Indicorps’ Wikipedia page as well as their website to see what the organization is really all about.
I have known Sonal for many years and have seen the outcome of her focus and passion. She has accomplished much, and will continue to do so despite these types of unscrupulous attacks.
I am very excited to hear about Sonal Shah’s appointment to Obama’s transition team. As a former Indicorps fellow I have experienced the inspiration that Sonal’s work and life philosophy can ignite in those seeking positive and honest progress.
If Sonal has any links with the VHP and the RSS, that actually makes me even more proud. People need to educate themselves more about these two philanthropic and patriotic hindu organizations. These organizations have kept the traditions and the real spirit of India alive. Unfortunately some anti-India elements who take pride themselves calling ’secular’ are not able to stomach the truth.
I have known Sonal for 5 years now and am absolutely in awe of her.
She is a brilliant, stead-fast, highly principled and visionary individual. Her commitment to public service and progress is of the highest caliber. It is to no wonder that an extraordinary leader like Obama has asked for her support during this critical time of transition.
The Sonal I know would be the first to condemn politics of division and/or violence. She is an absolute inspiration to me and so many others. She has passion and focus and will continue to be a mark of change. Let’s support her, as a community, rather than debase her on false and ignorant accusations.
Ironic how Vijay Prashad has a new book coming out soon. Did anyone ever think that this could just be a ploy for some free publicity?
Here’s a statement issued by Sonal Shah for all you haters:
http://www.newkerala.com/topstory-fullnews-44256.html
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=HomePage&id=a5c3d2c2-d766-4db0-87bf-de4c552e02a2&&Headline=Sonal+Shah+denies+links+with+VHP%2c+RSS
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Obama-advisor-Sonal-Shah-denies-VHPRSS-link/384249/
Congratulations to Sonal Shah on her recent appointment! I am incredibly impressed for her and for what this means for Indian-Americans.
Congrats once again!!
Sonal Jani
Yes she can change the economy and save US.The management philosophy emanating from the West is based on the lure of materialism and on a perennial thirst for profit, irrespective of the quality of the means adopted to achieve that goal. This phenomenon has its source in the abundant wealth of the West and so ‘management by materialism’ has caught the fancy of all the countries the world over, India being no exception to this trend. My country, India, has been in the forefront in importing these ideas mainly because of its centuries old indoctrination by colonial rulers, which has inculcated in us a feeling that anything Western is good and anything Indian, is inferior. Gita does not prohibit seeking money, power, comforts, health. It advocates active pursuit of one’s goals without getting attached to the process and the results.
The result is that, while huge funds have been invested in building temples of modem management education, no perceptible changes are visible in the improvement of the general quality of life – although the standards of living of a few has gone up. The same old struggles in almost all sectors of the economy, criminalization of institutions, social violence, exploitation and other vices are seen deep in the body politic.
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