FINE BALANCE: Ghosh

Avijit Ghosh, dean of the business school at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, says employer support is a crucial element for the success of a part-time MBA student. "The employer needs to understand the demands on him and accommodate him in light of how much he will bring back to his job," he said at a seminar recently. As dean, Ghosh intends to strengthen the full-time and executive MBA. He suggests that students choose a programme that advocates a block of students taking evening courses together over a period of time. He notes technology can definitely help make connections.

-Mabel Pais

Celluloid Calling

THE NEW FACE: Chanana

You've probably seen Sushila Chanana in commercials, TV shows, independent films and the recent Miss India-USA pageant. Now the senior at UC Berkeley has snagged the lead role in an upcoming Indian serial called Do Kinare for Star TV. "I am thrilled about this role because it will be the first time I play an Indian woman; I usually play Latino roles because I look the part and speak Spanish," says Chanana, 21, who has been acting part-time for the past eight years. "My goal is to be an Indian American actress and help showcase South Asian talent," she announces. With fluency in English and Hindi as well, Hollywood or Bollywood cannot be ruled out. When she was 13, Chanana took an acting class in Beverly Hills. "Someone there told me that I never had a chance because I was neither white, black or Asian looking. I realised that the American entertainment industry needed more mirch-masala and who is better qualified than Indians to add to the variety and diversity of entertainment," she says.

-Sonia Chopra

Playing Games

A NEW DAWN: The play Subah ...

The India Heritage Center, a newly-floated cultural organisation in Maryland's upscale Potomac area, boasts of a 50-seat auditorium, Aditi, on its sprawling premises-the venue of its play Subah Hoti Hai, Sham Hoti Hai, a saga of ups and downs in the lives of ordinary people. Based on Murray Schisgal's English play The Typists, Subah's scriptwriter Pushpa Agnihotri presented a thoroughly Indianised version, drawing heavily on the works of two modern Hindi poets-Muktibodh and Kunwar Narain. Shimaliya Aurora played the main lead while her mother, Pushpa, scored the music besides doing the script, and Umesh Agnihotri, the dad, is the director. Their friends lent a helping hand in putting up the show.

-C.K. Arora