Browsing: India

New York is a place of new beginnings and something innovative is always happening in the Big City. The digital age may have sounded the death-knell of the printed word but we are in Manhattan, celebrating new books in a new country. Indian writers and books, long unsung in the mainstream, are getting their moment in the limelight with the Wonderland@IAAC Literary festival which is the fifth literary festival organized by the Indo-American Arts Council.

As a journalist, I’ve always been intrigued by the unique experiences, sights and sounds of individual lives, a billion stories waiting to be told. Immigrants who’ve traveled to a new country always have their idiosyncratic cache of memories, of a past which belongs only to themselves.

I came to the US in the 80’s, as an immigrant via India, Hong Kong and Africa, and landed in Astoria, a gritty Greek neighborhood in Queens. I fell in love with the prosaic neighborhood with its heart of gold, and it was here that I discovered my own private America.The part which never fails to amaze me is that when I take the N subway from Manhattan to Astoria – glancing at my fellow passengers I see a virtual United Nations – Latinos, Chinese, South Asians, Blacks, whites all wedged together, sitting side by side on the Great American Journey. If Lady Liberty was to see them, she would definitely shed a tear – because this is exactly what America is all about. And on this day after the Fourth of July, with the firecrackers still ringing in our ears – we can say amen to that.

No matter which part of the world Indian immigrants live in, they each carry with them their special memories of India filed away in their heads and hearts. For these diasporic Indians, many now with hyphenated identities, India’s Republic Day does bring in a whole lot of memories and a feeling of pride in being a part of India, and India being a part of their emotional DNA.

If the Pilgrim Fathers revisited America this year, they would certainly be amazed by the aromas, tastes and colors of the diverse Thanksgiving table. New York is, of course, one of the most diverse cities in the U.S. and its residents trace their roots to hundreds of countries and ethnicities. Each immigrant family brings its own culture and food habits and incorporates them into the Thanksgiving meal.

If you’re wondering what the Secret Garden is, and where it is,  it is Children’s Hope India’s annual gala and it was held on October 7 at Pier Sixty in Manhattan. The theme of this much anticipated fundraiser for the education of under-served children was based on the classic children’s novel ‘The Secret Garden’ by Frances Hodgson Burnett which shows how love and compassion can transform the lives of children.

He has been Shiva and Krishna, countless mythical heroes and ordinary humans, and he has traveled the globe, telling all their wondrous tales through the magic of rhythm and dance. Datuk Ramli Ibrahim is a changemaker, an innovator with bells on his feet. For over 30 years, this Malaysian dance pioneer has nurtured both Indian classical dance and contemporary modern dance in Malaysia. He brings past, present and future on the lit up stage with audacity and shows that culture is meant to be shared, regardless of faith or nationality.

“Diwali is one holiday I sorely missed when I lived in the US. I remember visiting the Indian stores in the neighborhood to buy my earthen ‘diyas’ (lamps), calling my cleaning service to come and give our home a professionally cleaned look, buying sweetmeats from wherever it was possible.
But I also remember being alone while performing these rituals. I would sheepishly light the diyas on my deck, the window ledges, and the house entrance, guilty that it was against the rules for being a fire hazard!” Guest Blog – Chatty Divas

ow does a 21st century, modern Indian transform himself into a 19th century British Raj clerk, a servant of Queen Victoria?

In ‘Victoria and Abdul’ the story of an unusual friendship between Queen Victoria and her Indian servant Abdul Karim, this was the challenge for Ali Fazal, boy from Lucknow, Bollywood actor from Mumbai who had done a cameo in ‘Fast and Furious’.