Browsing: India

This year on India’s Independence Day, we pay tribute to the wonderful Homai Vyarawalla, India’s first woman photojournalist (1913-2012) who captured the nation’s ups and downs in a series of remarkable photographs.

We are fortunate that the Rubin Museum of Art hosted a retrospective of her work right through January 2013, with free tours every day. Visitors could catch a glimpse of the India that was, and also see the work of a woman who captured history as it was being made. Her images include those on the historic meeting of Gandhi and the Congress Committee on the 1947 plan for partition, of a changing India as well as of many dignitaries who visited India including Queen Elizabeth, Ho Chi Minh, Zhou En-lai and Jacqueline Kennedy.

You’ve heard of Versace, St. Laurent and Prada – now here comes Temple Fashion! If you can dress for social events, then why not for God? When it’s Ganesh Chathurthi, the nine-day festival dedicated to that most beloved of Gods, Ganesha, people go all out to look their best.

For all those who’ve watched King Khan, the Badshah of Bollywood, dance and sing and romance over the years, Shah Rukh Khan’s talk at Yale was one of a kind, a look at the real man, rather than the reel man.

Un-awed by the pomp and ceremony of being honored with the prestigious Chubb Fellowship, he was down-to-earth and funny, talking one on one to Yale students, as someone human and humane, a striver, a dreamer and a parent.
Here, Shah Rukh Khan, in his own words….

What can you, an immigrant who came with nothing but a battered suitcase filled with bits and pieces of a disappeared life, offer this new country? What gift can you give America on its Independence Day celebration? A Punjabi immigrant love story.

Children’s Hope India Celebrates Spring and Strong Women
Mona Sinha honored as CHI Woman of Distinction

Portrait of a mother – as this young artist, who is very close to me, has depicted in this art from the heart, may the flowers always bloom for you, the sun shine on you and your lives always be full of love. Roses, gifts, visits to the spa, jeweled baubles, lunches and dinners, lots of pampering – you deserve them all! A perennial post I love to share on Mother’s Day.

A perennial favorite that I like to share on Mother’s Day.

Mothers, Sons and Daughters…

To all the wonderful moms – Happy Mother’s Day! As this young artist, who is very close to me,  has depicted from the heart, may the flowers always bloom for you, the sun shine on you and your lives always be full of love. Roses, gifts, visits to the spa, jeweled baubles, lunches and dinners, lots of pampering – you deserve them all!

Sharing a wonderful video tribute to mothers by SNL’s Tina Fey!

Our Communities: India’s 75th Independence Day  – and Indian-Americans are celebrating [dropcap] T[/dropcap]hey may be far,…

Her transformation from an “It” Style Girl to a Buddhist nun is so complete that people who knew her earlier do a double-take. She admits, “It was hard at first because your sense of identity is tied to how you look and your look determines your self-worth. As a renunciate you shave your head, use no makeup, perfume or high heels – but the beauty of wisdom that adorns you is far more beautiful than any couture dress.”

This year we are witness to a catastrophic nightmare in India, multiplied many, many times over. Covid-19, in a virulent second wave, has invaded the country and has its powerful knee on the collective neck of India

Who would have imagined H.R.H Prince Philip would spontaneously agree to write an article for an unknown ethnic magazine, sharing his personal memories? I was on the receiving end of this generosity.

A Suitable Boy has been with us for decades, in our hearts, the gift of everyone’s favorite author Vikram Seth. This global best-seller clocks in at 1349 pages and is one of the most beloved novels about a post-independence India. It has now been adapted to a BBC six part series by Mira Nair.

The tea had a special earthy flavor in this cup and the fact that the clay container would once again become one with nature seemed a beautiful idea. After all, aren’t ancient civilizations traced out by the clay remains of their days?

Our civilization of course will probably be remembered by the piles of plastic containers and garbage stuffed landfills we will leave behind! So the idea of the reborn clay utensils really appealed to me.

By binding the past and the present, Birendra Pani’s gorgeous art creates a new way of thinking for the visitors to the gallery: He says: “Relooking and revisiting our local culture and re-establishing  a new relationship with the positive aspects of our tradition will sustain us in a situation of loss in a disoriented and homogenizing world.”

Indian Matchmaking on Netflix turns a magnifying glass on the traditional Indian arranged marriage with modern couples.

India is like a gigantic Hall of Mirrors – so many reflections, some magnified, some distorted. Which is the true India? And who is the true Indian? In ‘Kai Po Che’, Abhishek Kapoor’s stunning new film, you realize there are no easy answers as you step into the complex, complicated terrain that is India.

‘Kai Po Che’, based on Chetan Bhagat’s best-selling novel ‘The Three Mistakes of My Life’, takes you into the innards of the bustling city of Ahmedabad and introduces you to real people in situations taken right out of real life, such as the 2001 earthquake and the Godhra killings. You are relentlessly drawn into the ugly, unpredictable vortex of current events, of unforgiving real life as it happens.

When immigrants came to America, they bought their home cures and folk remedies along, a legacy of mothers and grandmothers. It is surprising how many families still turn to ginger as the first remedy for coughs and colds, and even motion sickness. Ginger has certainly been around for centuries and everyone from the ancient Greeks to Confucius to the Emperor Akbar is supposed to have been a fan, not to mention the sage Vatsyayana – author of India’s famed sex manual, Kama Sutra, who recommended ginger as an aphrodisiac for lovers.

As the caronavirus pandemic hits countries around the world, Indiaspora’s ChaloGive for Covid-19 has raised over $1 million for food security for hard-hit populations in both India and America.

Indian-American physicians, nurses and health workers are on the frontlines treating patients during the Coronavirus pandemic

In American culture, it’s becoming increasingly common for parents to be more like your friends than authority figures, but as a desi that can be an uncomfortable situation both for the parents as well as children.

In ‘Ajanta – Regional Feasts of India’ cookbook author and restaurateur Lachu Moorjani explores the diverse foods of India, with regional feasts from different states. Here he shares some recipes from different regions of India. Come hungry!