Author: Lavina Melwani

New York DiaryPhoto of the Day Photo of the Day: On East River, Chasing the Sun in Manhattan During my daily walk on the New York waterfront, now often deserted, I saw the heavy clouds in the gray sky reflected in the gray waters of the East River. But wait – there was a pale sun struggling to break through them, barely visible! So, I decided to walk it out, chasing the wintry sun – it somehow felt necessary to see it on this cold January afternoon. I followed the moving clouds with my eyes, my finger on my phone…

  New York DiaryOur Communities Raj Goyle for the People of New York New York City is the kind of place where on a Sunday you are likely heading out to a Broadway play, a new restaurant or a book launch – and sometimes it’s for desi chai and bagels to root for a New Yorker who’s trying to change the equation in the public life in America! In a world which is usually full of bad news, this is a happy tale of another super fighter working to change the system. Raj Goyle, a lawyer and former legislator, who…

  New York Diary Celebrating Padma Lakshmi, Food and the World One of the final highlights of 2025 was a buzzing book launch for Padma Lakshmi’s new book at Asia Society. “Padma’s All American: Tales, Travels, and Recipes from Taste the Nation and Beyond” is a cookbook by Padma Lakshmi that celebrates the diverse cultures of America. Packed with a hundred recipes, photos and thoughtful essays, the book is a must-have for foodies. At this packed event, Padma was interviewed by Anu Sehgal of The Culture Tree. In this fun interview Padma spoke of diverse things and I will have…

Zohran Mamdani’s inauguration as mayor of New York brings new hope and possibility to the city

Humans in the loop – Artificial Intelligence, Our World and Us The juggernaut of Artificial intelligence which has taken over our world might seem very far removed from the lives of anonymous tribal women in Jharkhand, and yet, in a thoughtful new film, Humans in the Loop, we learn that both these disparate stories are entwined and very much a part of today’s questing for the future. Aranya Sahay, filmmaker from Mumbai, takes on these two far-flung tales and weaves them together, showing us the dilemmas of our world when an indigenous culture which is thousands of years old and…

How about Bombay Masala Puffs for your guests during the holiday season? Easy to put together with ingredients you probably have in your pantry.

      Between You and Me: Sunita Ratanlal – Celebrating A Beautiful Life Relationships: When You Lose the One You Love   Today morning I lost my much-loved older sister Sunita Ratanlal nee Prabha Kripalani. She left for her true home after a fierce battle fought courageously over the past few years and then finally in the ICU. She was 85 and had been ailing for a few years. I still remember her as the beautiful college student who looked like a model. She could sketch, paint and write and ran her own store before the term ‘woman entrepreneur’…

At Hanukkah, Indian-Jews remember the homeland which nurtured their faith. “India has been the only country in the world where Jews have never been oppressed or suppressed or discriminated against,” says Romiel Daniel, who is Jewish-Indian-American. Indeed, India has been nurturing home and haven for generations of Jews whose ancestors fled from persecution centuries ago. At its peak there were about 37,000 Jews living in India. “Discrimination is something that has never happened in India for 2000 years and that is something we are very proud of, and that is why we go back to India so often,” he says.

  New York Photo: Sunset Meditation over the East River As darkness falls early in December, it is startling to see the sun set over the East River so early in the day and gives me my photo for the day. As bundled up by passers rush home quickly to early dinner, they fail to catch the high drama going on above their heads and miss the most amazing conclusion to the day. Worried about work and family and busy replaying future scenarios of doom in your head? Just look up at the evening sky to witness the sheer magnificence…

Christmas Karma – CharIes Dickens, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Gurinder Chadha and Boy George too! CharIes Dickens, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Gurinder Chadha and Boy George all in the same space? Prepare for a very desified Christmas this season with the iconic director Gurinder Chadha’s new comedy Christmas Karma which is based on Dicken’s famous novel A Christmas Carol. Chadha, whose given us gems like Bend It Like Beckham, takes on her own vision of Charles Dicken’s Christmas Carol which we all know and love. This feel good musical stars Kunal Nayyar of The Big Bang Theory as a desi Scrooge who…

  India Is The Globe’s Largest Vegetarian Foodie Club A Veggie Food Diary: New York to Mumbai to New Delhi By Lavina Melwani The Vegetarian Food Chronicles – Feasting in Delhi and  Mumbai I have just come from Shiv Sagar, a humble vegetarian restaurant in Mumbai where you get hundreds of choices including South Indian and North Indian but also Jain food, Mexican specialties, pizza, burgers and Chinese dishes every single day – including the All-You-Can-Eat Thali which is refilled free as fast as you can finish it! The South Indian menu alone numbers 74 options. Every item is pure…

Meet Zohran Mamdani, the Next Mayor of New York There was a seismic earthquake a week ago, not in any remote part of the world, but right in America, in the middle of one of the world’s largest cities, New York. This sudden shake-up was the stunning political upset in the city’s Democratic Mayoral election: Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old little-known Muslim-Indian-American legislator, had overwhelmingly trounced Andrew Cuomo, 67, former Governor of New York and the scion of a political dynasty.  Mamdani won by 44 percent of first rank votes and Cuomo, who had been so confident of victory that he…

    137,105 views on Lassi with Lavina FB page – 36 Follows 3.1 k Likes on Facebook – 292 comments – 156 shares 50864 impressions on LinkedIn and 38055 people reached 33,145 views on Instagram The Zohran Effect – this post went viral! Zohran Mamdani: The Immigrant Mayor of New York What was Zoran Mamdani, the Mayor-elect of New York, doing when he was four years old? Hanging out on the sets of ‘Kama Sutra’ with his mom, the noted film director Mira Nair! I have been interviewing her since her very first film for various media outlets internationally.…

Cinema: Jafar Panahi’s It was just an accident Sometimes, a film is more than just a film. It is a matter of life and death. Jafar Panahi’s latest film IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT, which won the top prize (Palme d’Or) at this year’s Cannes Film Festival is such a film. It takes you on a wild ride through the streets of Tehran as a dark tale unfolds. Victims of a cruel tormenter, who have tried to rebuild normal lives for themselves, encounter this man in a different setting. He is now the one bound and shackled, the one in their…

Did you ever hear of the arrival of the turkey on to the Thanksgiving table being heralded as the arrival of the ‘dulhan’ or Indian bride? For Sunita Advaney’s family fixing the 30 lb bird was like preparing for an elaborate Indian wedding. Trust desis to bring their own take on this American holiday, imprinting it with their own special flavor!

  New York Diary: Halloween in Scary Times Wars, democracy in danger, inflation, job loss, hunger, climate change, homelessness – the real world is scary enough – and then along comes Halloween! Ghosts, monsters, skeletons, witches and dead bodies have taken over the streets of New York. You can’t walk a few steps without encountering these spooky individuals or hearing bone-chilling cackles from every other townhouse that you pass. The Upper East Side has turned into a Horror Town and in the darkness of fall, it all looks quite macabre. Still, it’s good to remember that these occasional scares for…

While Christmas is important to Indian Christians as a celebration of faith, many non-Christians enjoy it as a secular holiday in ways small and big. Indeed, Christmas is such a huge, high voltage commercialized event in America that few can escape its allure, be they Christians or not.

New York Diary Diwali Reception with New York Governor Kathy Hochul in Flushing, Queens Diwali is Everywhere in New York! It was quite a thrill to meet Gov. Kathy Hochul, New York’s first-ever woman governor. She held a Diwali celebration for New York’s large Indian community at the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Flushing. Hundreds of New Yorkers representing various desi organizations were there. After she spoke, she took selfies with each of the guests and everyone enjoyed a program of dance and music by talented community members. They were also treated to the most delicious vegetarian food and Diwali…

      New York Diary When Even A Storm Advisory Can’t Keep the Givers Away…… New York City is a Giving City where people love to wine and dine and celebrate the power and potential of transforming lives. Over 400 people came to Pier Sixty to rally around the education of vulnerable children, changing lives and making futures at the Children’s Hope India Gala by raising funds for early learning education centers in the slums and villages. This year major corporations and individual givers had come together to create a force for good.   A striking performance about hope…

  Twenty-Five Years of Celebrating One World, Cross-Cultural Artists There are no borders at Sundaram Tagore’s eponymous gallery in Chelsea for on its walls you’ll see the work of artists from countries as far apart as South Korea, Morocco, Iran and the US. Tagore, who started his first gallery in Soho in 2000, has gone ever more global in his embrace of artists whose work defies cultural and geographic demarcations in their cross-cultural dialogue. Celebrating 25 years, it’s only appropriate that the Sundaram Tagore Gallery has mounted an exhibit of paintings, sculptures, photography and installations by more than thirty artists…