Lassi with Lavina featured in Global Glam
Lavina Melwani of Lassi with Lavina (c’est moi!) was interviewed by Global Glam, a luxury lifestyle magazine and received some great comments. Here is an excerpt and you can check out the entire interview and comments at Global Glam
Q: What brought on the blog?
A: I’ve been writing so much everywhere that I wanted to find a home for all my stories – I put a lot of effort and research into them and so want to gather them for everyone’s reading pleasure. Also, the interactive aspect of blogs is really appealing – you get immediate reactions and brainstorming. Posts on the Indian passport issue and Joel Stein’s column in Time both got a huge response.
Q: What are some of the fun features?
A: Well, 24/7 – Talk is Cheap is the daily blog with fresh lassi every day. There’s Lassi Lite which is a sly, tongue in cheek look at the news. In Little Black Book, you get to go behind the velvet rope to black tie galas, premieres and art openings.
Q: Most interesting celebrities you’ve met in your blogging career?
A: I’ve managed to meet everyone from Amitabh Bachchan to Shah Rukh Khan to Aishwarya Rai. The most genuine and wonderful was A.R. Rahman who actually went to fetch some orange juice when he learned I was fasting that day.
I’ve also met lots of non-celebrities who got me to see the world in new ways, such as a young South Asian female who is a cabbie in NYC! She invited me home to her 21st birthday party in her Queens home with lots of Punjabi cabbies and their families, great food and Bollywood music!
Q: What are the benefits of the blog?
A: The idea is really to create a cyberspace with everything seen through an Indian prism, be it movies, art or books. Readers get to meet great chefs who share their recipes, learn from top Indian physicians about what South Asians should watch out for, and also get a heads-up on upcoming events.
At the same time I really want it to be a space readers can call their own. In Cyber-circles, I welcome profiles of different organizations across the US so readers can connect and support each others’ efforts.
I’m also very open to guest blog posts when readers have something meaningful to share. Having kept a finger on the pulse of the South Asian community for many years I’m happy to address issues of concern, or to showcase emerging talents.
20 Comments
Thanks Indu – lots more lassi coming up! I think a rich mango lassi should be good during the winter snowstorms. Or maybe a plain salt lassi, with a sprinkling of toasted, powdered cumin?
Hello Lavina
A well deserved write-up.
Congratulations on all your achievements and recognitions.
Looking forward to more delicious lassis in 2011, full of different flavors!
Any thought on what flavor is good during the snow
Hi Mukul,
Today I’m on a comment answering spree!
Thanks for all your encouraging comments. I’m so glad your non-Indian friends enjoy Lassi with Lavina too!
As for Oprah, I don’t think that’s happening (!) but I’ll certainly inform you if it does.
Meanwhile, to all those who’ve left comments, I thank you and wish you all a super 2011!
“I love her site. Her stories are very unique and I am a subscriber to her blog.”
Kavitha thank you for that – and thanks for subscribing to the newsletter. That way you do get a heads-up on the latest posts.
Hi Lakshani, I did meet Aishwarya Rai twice but both times in press conferences with other media. At one she was with Abhishek, and I did ask her some fun questions which I have yet to transcribe! The next was at a smaller event at Dhaba in Curry Hill. And oh, yes, a third time when Amitabh Bachchan was honored at Lincoln Center. She was very poised and seemed quite down-to-earth. I know a close relative of hers in NY who swears she’s the most wonderful person in real life.
“I really respect the fact that she focuses on emerging talent. Most publications and journalists write about the same things and same people.”
Nirali, glad you caught on to this – I love finding untold stories and it gives me a real kick when people make it big.
Mahesh, thank you! Please keep reading – your suggestions are welcome.
Nina, it’s humbling to be called a ‘great’ writer because I know I’m not – but yes, I do try to be open-minded and fair in what I write. Thanks – and I hope you’ll keep reading!
I didn’t get a chance to check out all these comments on Global Glam till almost a month later. I love all these really generous comments so have brought them over to Lassi with Lavina and will respond to them here.
Neetu, thanks for reading what I write through the years and feel free to email me when you think something needs to be addressed!
Comment via Global Glam
I love her site. Her stories are very unique and I am a subscriber to her blog.
Kavitha
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Very cool : She has met Aishwarya Rai? I have to ask her how she is in person.
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I really respect the fact that she focuses on emerging talent. Most publications and journalists write about the same things and same people.
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Hi Lavina! Looking great. Great article
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She is a great writer and very open minded in her articles.
Comment via Global Glam
I love the title! I always read her articles. I love what she is doing for the South Asian community.
Lavina, you deserve a swollen head…………… : )
Really, you are doing a wonderful job, with your tasteful articles and thorough reporting. This is not just a service to the Indian community but readers worldwide. I have sent some of your articles to many non-Indian friends and they have really enjoyed them.
Now just you wait till Oprah discovers you………… : )
That will probably be next. Let me know, since I don’t watch Oprah, but will be watching when you are ON….
Good luck and a Happy New Year
Hi Mukul – now you’re going to give me a swollen head! But isn’t it nice how never having met each other we can still connect through these billion stories, many yet to be told?
Thank you Madhavi – it’s great to be given an opportunity to talk about what I’d really like to achieve with the blog.
Lavina, you are a celebrity YOURSELF……..it is a pleasure and honor to know you
Hey Lavina!
Congratulations! Truly amazing!