Author: Lavina Melwani

10,109 people reached on Lassi with Lavina FB page – 586 engagements Vinita Ramnani, Milan Devjani, Shagun Mehandru and 21 others like it on FB  Children’s Hope India Raises $ 50,000 at Spring Luncheon [dropcap]W[/dropcap]hen 260 women get together, what can be better than getting inspired, enjoying shared laughter over common experiences, shopping to support emerging women entrepreneurs – and at the same time helping the girl child to get a great education? All this happened on May 8, 2019 at the much anticipated Children’s Hope India Spring Luncheon at the Carltun in Eisenhower Park in East Meadow, Long Island.…

Sometimes ten years can pass in the blink of an eye! Hard to believe, but it was a decade ago that social entrepreneur Meera Gandhi launched The Giving Back Foundation to uplift and empower girls.

This year women of Indian heritage had a fine showing at the Sundance Film Festival and it was the first time that two of the biggest sales were of films created by desi women.

On Father’s Day, what gift do you give to the perfect dad? Two creative teens give you the perfect solution!

Many NRIs have supported the re-election of PM Narendra Modi, and the OFBJP has been very active in drumming up support among the Indian community.

Vishwesh Bhatt  become the first Indian-American to win the prestigious James Beard Foundation Award for best chef from the South, after five nominations as finalist in the past.

Nina Duvuluri and Reshma Saujani – both are the daughters of Indian immigrants, both have encountered racism and stereotypes and both have had to overcome challenges to forge new paths for Indian women. They are warriors in the field of tech and STEM studies for women.

Walking in Times Square, you suddenly realize something strange – everyone is taking selfies! What is it about this part of New York that makes you want to record your visit for posterity? It’s like the Taj Mahal –  you feel it looks so much more meaningful when you’re standing in front of it!

We all love stories and cinema is the ultimate story-teller which spins magical tales of love and loss, set in unimagined realms. Sometimes cinema is a mirror of society, sometimes a celebration of the imagination and the invincibility of the human spirit.  It is always the magician which draws us into people’s lives

Heard of India in a Bottle? And spiced dark artisanal chocolates? Fashion designer and tireless entrepreneur Bina Ramani, who was a New Yorker for over two decades, was back in the city to introduce friends to her latest flight of fancy at a fun launch event hosted by Robin Roche, Director of the DAG Gallery.

“I think I’m one of the few people who don’t feel what they do is a job,” Hari Nayak says. “People who eat my food –I make them happy – there is a direct reaction right away and that doesn’t happen in most jobs except cooking. And that’s what drives me.”

he casual browser of Indian art may not know this but Indian modern art has a definite French and strong connection. It’s hard to believe but over a hundred Indian artists have called Paris home, studied at various French institutions and made their life far from the heat and dust of India.

Madhur Jaffrey, the elegant, 85-year-old culinary icon and award-winning actress, has a wild new avatar, thanks to Queens desi rapper Mr. Cardomom, known in real life as Zohran Mamdani – and she couldn’t be more pleased.

A new study MASALA has some startling new facts for Indians, heart disease, and diabetes. The two investigators are Dr. Alka Kanaya & Dr. Namratha Kandula

Kalank is about love and violence in time of partition and tells the story of six entangled lives.

Learning Upgrade, a small business in California headed by Vinod Lobo has hit the big times by being selected as the co-winner for the grand prize in the $7M Barbara Bush Foundation Adult Literacy X PRIZE.

Shiraz – A Romance of India’, one of India’s films of the silent era, has the distinction of being reviewed twice in The New York Times – once in 1929 when it was first released and now in 2019 in its new avatar. The film which has had a 2 K restoration by the British Film Institute and a fabulous new musical score by Anoushka Shankar has been shown in several US cities

Indian-American students are among the 40 finalists in the Regeneron Science Talent Search

Adda’ means a hangout in Hindi and New York’s Adda India Canteen is exactly that – a small homey place in an industrial neighborhood in Queens, next to a 711 and set close to a rumbling overhead subway track, small businesses and a community college in prosaic Long Island City, away from Manhattan’s frenetic dining world.

In my column, From Me to You, I share the tale of the last rose which battled the snowfall to tell us about optimism and beauty and how we can go out in a blaze of joy and color.