It was quite a celebration of women during Women’s History Month at the Indian American Forum in Long Island. Although lots of supportive men had turned up for this gala dinner, it was very much a women’s grand hurrah.

Recently Meera Gandhi launched her book, Giving Back at the Leela Palace Hotel in New Delhi. As Fareed Zakaria writes, “The act of giving is twice blessed, touching the recipient but also the donor. We are at the beginning of a great revolution of giving. Meera Gandhi describes and celebrates it in this beautiful, heartwarming book.”

I missed it. This beautiful festival of Indian dance in the middle of Manhattan’s bustling downtown business district. A pretty surreal event, I’m sure, looking at the pictures of bedecked dancers striking poses, surrounded by skyscrapers rising against the New York skyline. Yes, the temples of Khajuraho are very far away.

It was the night of maharajas and maharanis, of pomp and splendor. The occasion was Children’s Hope India Royal India Gala and Pier Sixty in Chelsea Piers, Manhattan had been transformed into a royal retreat with life-size peacocks, golden sculptures, rich silks and gorgeous live mannequins draped in Mughal couture. Yes, hookahs and turbans too!

Photo: Shaun Mader

With all the fashionistas in New York, this was bound to happen. Against the grand canvas of New York Fashion Week, a group of young South Asian women entrepreneurs created their own hurrah, a showcase of the sparkling talent of desi designers from the US and the Indian-subcontinent.

At the Fashion for Compassion event at the Ritz Carlton honoring Ranjana Khan, there was a happening buzz with lots of star power on the red carpet : Abhay Deol, Preeti Desai, Archie Punjabi, Samrat Chakrabarti, Janina Gavankar, Anusha Dandekar, Pooja kumar, and Shenaz Treasurywala.

Asian Garden of Many Delights – every table was decorated by a different designer and the dinner menu was designed by Chef Hemant Mathur of Tulsi and his wife, the equally talented pastry chef Surbhi Sahni of Bittersweet NYC.

Bold-face names and big accomplishments amid the opulence of New York’s Waldorf-Astoria – the perfect place for The Light of India Awards, the first ever major recognition of NRI movers and shakers by Remit2India, a Times Group company. Over 200 of the who’s who of the South Asian community gathered to pay tribute to their own, the doers and dreamers of the corporate, business, arts and technology world

Americans had gone Indian for a day and there were enough turbans, kurtas and jewels to outfit a Bollywood film production as over 250 guests, clad in Indian outfits and headgear, danced to the music of Om Shanti Om and Jai Ho with the Bollywood Axion dancers.
One of the most eye-catching sights was the Imperial Court, a fundraising group for gay and lesbian charities, fabulous entertainers resplendent in over-the-top Indian finery and jewels, clad in sarees for the first time. This fantasy evening was Bollywood Gala, the biennial fundraiser to support the cause of HIV/AIDS by Red Ribbon Foundation which is one of the top 25 grantmakers for HIV/AIDS organizations worldwide.

Breakthrough celebrated a decade of work on issues of human rights with the Let’s Breakthrough Together Gala at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City, with over 300 supporters of the organization’s groundbreaking work in India and the US.

“I’ve been watching its influence grow and expand. We now educate children of widows in every one of India’s 29 states,” says Cherie Blair, president of the Loomba Foundation.
L. to R: Cilla Black, Raj Loomba, Cherie Blair, Preity Zinta, Veena Loomba and Joanna Lumley in New York to raise funds for widows at the Loomba Foundation dinner. (Photo: Jonathan Elderfield)