Neha handing sports equipment to kids at a halfway house in Valencia, Spain. (Project Deportes)

@Siliconeer #Siliconeer #SiliconValley #IndianAmerican #SiliconeerEditorialApril2017 #India #IndianCulture #narendramodi @nehavenkatesh #scholarshipswithoutborders #Cricket #TeamIndia #ViratKohli #presidiopicnic #goldengatebridge #sanfrancisco #filoligardens – From a vacation back home, Neha Venkatesh takes with her a cause. Barely out of High School, she is already making sure no kid lacks good education and health. Meanwhile, in India, Prime Minister Modi makes an unusual choice in Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath, and India’s cricket captain Virat Kohli is giving the Aussies an earful.

The blistering heat pierced through my thin cotton kurti. Speeding rickshaws kicked up the gravel and dust. Stepping out from the comfort of my grandparent’s home, I walked into the streets of Shimoga, in Karnataka, India. The air smelled so different, yet so familiar. As I watched the bustling little town come to life, my eyes were drawn to a group of children on their way to school. With their bare feet kicking up dust, they trudged through the street dressed in rags with a book in hand. This indelible image was scorched into my memory, writes Neha Venkatesh, founder of Scholarships Without Borders.

The mother of all surprises was that of all the contenders to the seat of Chief Minister of U.P., one of the largest and most populous states and hence the most important, Yogi Adityanath emerged as the winner, thereby compelling the commentating classes and media to join the cry of opposition and speculation over promises of a “New India” by Modi getting sabotaged even before takeoff at the altar of majoritarian fundamentalism, writes Priyanka Bhardwaj.

It is good to know that our boys are giving the Aussies an earful with Virat Kohli, who unfortunately could not play in the series winning Dharamshala test due to shoulder injury, leader of the sledging pack. Kohli must be doing a tremendous job of getting under the skin of the visitors as the biased Aussie media has compared him to Donald Trump. I follow Virat on Instagram, writes Siddharth Srivastava.

The regional alignments in South Asia are changing rapidly and Ayesha Siddiqa’s topic for this late February, 2017 event in Berkeley was “Pakistan: Civil-Military Relations in a Changing Domestic, Regional and Global Environment,” very relevant and of possible interest to serious watchers of the developments in Pakistan visa vi Afghanistan, China, India and Russia here in the United States. In the India context, a divergence of views remains amongst the civilian and military power bases in Pakistan. Some civilian entities want much more people to people contact, trade and cooperation between the two countries and Dr. Ayesha remains a strong proponent of that kind of relationship. And that was just a small part of her talk here, writes Ras H. Siddiqui.

Indian American Congressman Ro Khanna has said the U.S. needs to “remain open” to immigrants who contribute to creating jobs and help shape the economy, as he called for “common sense” reforms in the H1B visa system, writes Lalit K. Jha.

Imagine a large grassy field overlooking the Bay. The Golden Gate Bridge in the background. Add food trucks serving delicious ethnic cuisine, large, spirited crowd, music, and now, an App, writes Siliconeer youth editor Vansh A. Gupta, feeling refreshed at the Presidio Picnic.

William Bowers Bourn II, is one of the least known millionaire in the gold rush history of San Francisco. He was the owner of one of California’s richest gold mines and owned Spring Valley Water Company and Crystal Springs Reservoirs, supplying San Francisco’s water. William Bourn also had a dream, writes our travel editor Al Auger.