MAN OF MANY ARTS: Courtney; the cover of his CD and instruction set

UNITED STATE OF BLISS: Putting 9/11 behind them, Americans-including the desi set-gathered at Times Square on new year's eve to usher in happier times

David Courtney-musician, musicologist and author-is excited about "the first CD/book instruction set for tabla anywhere". The 80 pages of text and a CD with 95 tracks of musical samples and exercises ($19.95; MelBay Publishers) is just one of several books and CDs on Indian classical music that Courtney has put out over the past few years. He is also the author of a fivepart series "The Complete Tabla", two volumes of which have already been released. Courtney and his wife Chandrakantha, a Hindustani classical vocalist, teach this ancient music system. The two also perform globally. Courtney was trained by Ustad Zakir Hussain and Ustad Shaikh Dawood Khan in Hyderabad, where he met Chandrakantha. He plans to continue writing, expand the content in his website, www.chandrakantha.com, travel, and teach and perform. Wah, Courtney.

-Nitish S. Rele

HELPING HAND: Jinwala

When Jyoti Jinwala became a volunteer for Minds Matter, an organisation that connects 40 students whose family income is less than $25,000 p.a. with mentors to help expand educational goals, it struck her that some had low Scholastic Aptitude Test scores. So she created the SAT workshops. Last year she received the Merck Community Service Award and was recently elected onto the executive committee board. "I love teaching as I can back to the community," says the 25-year-old.

-Sonia Chopra

BALANCED INTAKE: Jaiswal (centre)

Indu Jaiswal's work in raising the profile of the Indian American community and promoting nutrition in health fairs, seminars and public education clinics in Long Island recently won her the Dorothy L. Goosby Award for community service and professional achievement. Jaiswal is the director of the nutrition services at the Promenade Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in Rockaway Park, Queens, which has 240 patients, mostly elderly, with special dietary needs. She also works as a clinical nutritionist for the Western Queens Health Associates. "The award is a symbol of the appreciation, Indian Americans have received. I believe it's more for the community than for me individually and that makes me feel good," says Jaiswal, 50. She spends her spare time as the chairwoman of the Indian American Culture Group of Long Island.

-Sonia Chopra

PHLADELPHIA
Don of Drugs

THE GOOD DOCTOR: Gosai

Starting from a one-room office in Bentleyville, Dr Kamlesh Gosai created a practice of 12,000 patients at two locations. And what's more, he earned the distinction of being on call 24 hours a day for the past 13 years. His patients swear by his treatment and temperament. Little wonder then that a five-person committee found him worthy of the Country Doctor of the Year Award for 2001-2002. Gosai, 45, became the youngest Indian doctor to bag this award. There's more: he has also contributed to the local economy and worked to expand health services to nearby communities. Truly an inspiration for all those who come to the US with dreams. May his tribe increase.

Droopad (right) with coinventor Ramdani

Motorola scientists, including Ravi Droopad, have developed a semiconductor that functions at least 35 times faster than current models. The real test will come when products based on the new invention-smaller and less expensive cell phones and computers, among other things-will hit the market. The discovery grew from the research by Droopad, principal staff scientist with Motorola Labs, who was helped by his colleague, Jamal Ramdani, who worked on Droopad's early research.

-Mabel Pais