Author: Lavina Melwani

   This is your chance to be a granter of dreams! Today is India Giving Day and Children’s Hope India asks you to remember those who need your help the most – the vulnerable children in our projects across India.  No amount is too small, no dream too small. It is also HOLI, when good overcomes evil, light dispel the darkness of ignorance. Help us bring a splash of color into the lives of children in the form of books, pictures, arts, crafts and much more. Give children the tools they need to soar and reach for the stars! India…

CHI -The Power Luncheon You CAN’T Afford to Miss!  If you’re lucky enough to be in New York on May 8, book yourself and your friends for the hugely anticipated annual CHI Spring Luncheon! After the cold of winter you’ll get to meet 300 old and new friends.Come felicitate Meera Gandhi, our Woman of Distinction, and hear her speak on the vital topic of mental well-being. Meera is the founder of The Giving Back Foundation; meet Babi Ahluwalia and Ranna Gill, our dynamic fashion duo and shop till you drop in our exciting marketplace of the products of young women…

  Indian-Americans Love Hollywood and the Oscars! Indians love cinema, drama, music and they also love gold so it goes without saying that they deeply love the majestic golden man who symbolizes the best that world cinema can offer and which every film artiste dreams of one day taking home – Oscar! It’s now the eve of the Academy Awards and everyone is caught up in Oscar celebrations – either big ones close to the power people in Hollywood or smaller, intimate ones celebrating their own personal links to the Oscars. New Yorkers Gitesh and Rohi Pandya of Box Office…

    The world may be in a sorry state right now but at the Indian Consulate it was all about joy and a commonality amongst people as India in New York in collaboration with Shanti Fund, commemorated #BlackHistoryMonth by celebrating the many contributions of the African-American community to society.It was a packed hall which showed the solidarity and caring between the two communities.The speakers included Consul General Binaya Srikanta Pradhan; New York State Senate Majority Leader, Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins ; Dr. Bernard Gantt, Vice President of Bronx Community College; Dr. Danielle Lee, Associate Dean at SUNY Old Westbury ;…

New York Diary – Photo of the DayIt’s a Dog’s Life! Sometimes a click of the camera tells you the whole story and gives a bit of emotion to bland signs that set the rules everywhere. ‘NO DOGS ALLOWED” – and then we see the cute little fellow who’s excluded waiting patiently outside – he may be a prince at home but rules are rules!

When Chandrika Tandon first came to America at the age of 24 to interview for a job at McKinsey& Company, she had no American degree and no green card. She did not even own a western outfit, interviewing in a sari and chappals, wearing a borrowed coat. Yet within a few years she went on to become a partner at this prestigious company, the first Indian-American woman to be selected.

My Big Fat Desi Wedding is a young adults romance anthology with 8 South Asian writers sharing stories of desi weddings – messy and magical.

Some stories have so much power – and there’s such a need for them! I had done this in-depth story on adoption four years ago & I’m amazed readers who are looking to adopt come to it even today for information. So I thought I’d share it again and would love your input and personal experiences with the process of adopting children from India. I do intend to revisit this topic in the coming months and would love your insights.

Santosh has been married only two years when her constable husband is killed in a riot and she, a housewife, finds herself literally in his shoes, taking on his police job thanks to a compassionate scheme by the government for widows. On the job she learns the many twists and turns of the world of justice and the brutal back stories of victims

What better way to seek blessings for family and friends and for our troubled world than to start the new year with the One who creates it all? At the Satya Narayan Temple in Queens, on the first day of 2025, there was a hawan to honor the Sindhi Lord of the Sea, Jhoole Lal

  Zarna Garg is The Cure for Many Things My heart is sadly left behind in India along with my beautiful big blue sun-glasses which I forgot on Air India. I’m missing family, friends, food – even the cranky black crows and their unmusical daily crescendo! I’ve come back home to the US where things have changed dramatically overnight while I was away and sleeping. But never fear – Zarna is there to make things right! The smart, funny Zarna has a retort and a solution for everything – I saw her at Broadway’s Town Hall where the New York…

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.

1959 impressions on LinkedIn  – 25 Likes  – 644 views on Instagram – 33 Likes  –  Meena Kashyap Purmasir,  Tirlok Malik and 20 others like it on Facebook. 6P Vada Bagels were served at launch of Bombay-New York – A Tangled Tale of Two Cities Vada Bagel Anyone? Bombay and New York – A Tangled Tale of Two Cities New York and Bombay, two places most of us spend a lot of time talking about, dreaming about, and fantasizing about.  We’re either in New York dying to go to Bombay – or in Bombay manipulating how we can get back…

 1597 impressions  Peter Rajsingh and 18 others like it on LinkedIn Rennu Dhindsa, Sabina Himani and 50 others like it on Facebook  747 views on Instagram – 28 Likes Read comments below the story and do share your thoughts!   Turtle Walker – A Love Story for Our Times   In a world where people are pulled into the pressure cooker of life, trying to accomplish too many things – and too many things of no consequence – Turtle Walker is a small gem of a movie which takes you on one man’s very focused journey of relentlessly following and…

At Christmas, some beautiful images from Roberto Custodio, all created from recycled materials and old magazine images. What could be more meaningful than an article of faith regenerated from the embers of the old and the discarded?

Infant Jesus of Prague is a famous statue located in the Church of Our Lady Victorious in Mal Strana, Prague. Thousands of pilgrims pay homage to the Infant of Prague each year. Claims of blessings, favors and miraculous healings have been made by many who petitioned before the Infant Jesus.
We wish all our readers a Merry Christmas and peace in the New Year.

  Lifestyle: Messe Frankfurt -Celebrating Beauty and Sustainability on Our Planet India is a Significant Player in the Lifestyle Market   With so much unrest and chaos in the world, it is always surprising to see that an alternate world of calm exists side by side – a world that is almost surreal, a world of possibilities enabling us to think, function and operate at our best, facing all challenges. The building blocks for these places of respite and action generation are set at places like the Frankfurt Consumer Goods Fairs where the blueprints are generated by world class designers,…

Exploring the Veggie Food Trail to India Delhi, Mumbai and Bhuj A trip to India means a vegetarian food orgy! I invite you to this delicious gigantic dosa and a glass of cold chas as I eat my way through Bombay, Delhi and Bhuj in the line of duty – a veggie food assignment from the editors of Hinduism Today in Hawaii. I’ll also be blogging for Lassi with Lavina so watch out for these food fantasies. Putting on a few pounds for the entertainment and knowledge of my readers!Let me know of any eateries you think I should visit!#Indianfood…

  Mira Nair, Gurinder Chadha, Deepa Mehta – The Three Bhenjis in The Big Apple THREE FOR THE PRICE OF ONE! Three iconic South Asian film directors -Mira Nair, Gurinder Chadha and Deepa Mehta -all under the same roof at Asia Society was the big draw for film lovers in New York. They live on three different continents so to get these enormously busy power women actually together was a marathon task but here they were, all three of them sitting gleefully together, as if in a Delhi chaat shop. The great sorority of the Bhenji Brigade! As Rachel Cooper,…

  From Nilgiri Hills to New York One Hundred Beautiful Elephants and Sabyasachi too! Who would have thought that on one fine morning in Manhattan you would meet a herd of 100 Indian elephants from the Nilgiris – and noted designer Sabyasachi too! This was the first day of the fabulous public art event – The Great Elephant Migration- which is taking place across the US, starting here in New York. The idea behind the whole effort is a wonderful one about sustainability and the coexistence of humans and animals. The Great Elephant Migration event in the Meatpacking District featured…