Author: Lavina Melwani

Elections 2020 – “Democracy does not just come around in November – it actually happens every single day of every single month of every single year.”

Time is running out! Have you filled the Census 2020?

The Obamas have it. So do the Pope and the Dalai Lama. And Queen Elizabeth too. As does Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan. But unless you’re world-famous or have loads of moolah you probably won’t get your hands on ‘Utsav’ – Vikas Khanna’s book of festivals. That’s because he’s made only 12 customized editions and over 12 years has presented it to some of the world’s movers and shakers.

eeting Kamala Harris in the flesh is compelling. I experienced it first hand when I saw her take the stage for a fundraiser for Pratham in New York two years ago. This was before the pandemic and over 500 Indian-Americans had gathered close, excited to meet one of their own. For them the name ‘Kamala’ resonated – almost every Indian knows or has a Kamala amongst family and friends. In her well-defined Indian eyes and luminous smile, in her genes there were echoes of a shared past and ancestry.

The triumph of good over evil, light over darkness. This simple sentiment is at the heart of the great festival of Diwali which is celebrated in the Hindu Diaspora all across the world. This year it falls on November 7. In this Diwali 101, everything you ever wanted to know about Diwali – check out the videos.

Corona Diaries – The Mask Ask! The most important thing you can do during the Pandemic is also the simplest and easiest thing to do.

In this grim time of the pandemic, what can be more joyful than having the iconic AR Rahman visit you in your home, on the wings of music, along with singer Ila Paliwal and the celebrity chef Vikas Khanna?

“We are stronger because of our diversity, not in spite of it,” says Kamala Harris. “And to all the young women watching this, I just want you to know that leadership starts the day you are born.”

It was an eye-opener to see all that she went through to get where she was, and how she retained her  grace and equanimity – and the steel and determination – within her, as she brought her formidable legal mind and fresh gaze to the Supreme Court and affected real change for women and minorities through her thoughtul dissents in a world of male judges. 

He makes hundreds of pink origami lotuses bloom in the Rubin Museum of Art with a twist of his fingers.
He recreates a surreal miniature world of animated figures and glittering jewels in the show windows of Cartiers on Fifth Avenue.And yet, Uttam Grandhi is a mechanical engineer who’s created new PPE and masks for this age of COVID

“Nature has been revered in Vedic scriptures for thousands of years, and all Indian festivals and traditions are closely linked to nature. I grew up celebrating those traditions and singing folk songs about rivers, trees, rain and nature.”

Indeed, the time of rising Indian American political engagement is ripe as they are part of the Asian American demographic, the fastest growing voting bloc in the country which made such  a difference in suburban house seats in 2018.

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.

Meet Chef Roshni Gurnani who often showcases her Sindhi heritage in her cooking

Lovely video by Bill Gates celebrting Warren Buffett’s 90th birthday – “Warren has the mental sharpness of a 30-year-old, the mischievous laugh of a 10-year-old, and the diet of a 6-year-old. He once told me that he looked at the data and discovered that first-graders have the best actuarial odds, so he decided to eat like one. He was only half-joking.”

Dev Patel is David Copperfield in a modern retelling of the Charles Dickens’ classic – a wonderful color-blind casting which reflects present day Britain

A world-class music concert, a major dance festival, a film festival are the delights of summer, must-see events on our social calendar. In years past each was a much anticipated real life event, with dressed-up crowds meeting their friends and rubbing shoulders with celebrities. Here we share the past memories and how each event has been reborn, reinvented this year.

“We were the first Sikh family in Bamberg. It was a small town in South Carolina, a closed community at that time,” recalls Ajit Randhawa of the 70’s. “Our daughters Simmi and Nikki entered the Little Miss Bamberg contest but the school selected only a White Queen and a Black Queen. So Nikki and Simmi were not eligible as contestants. Nikki was five years old at that time and sang, ‘This land is your land, this land is my land, from California to New York Island’ and received a resounding applause.”

Fast forward to 2010 and Nikki Haley (nee Randhawa) is not only a contestant in the most powerful contest there is – US politics – but has won big time. Forget black and white, she has shown that an Indian-American can be a game changer where race and gender is concerned in the Deep South.

As New York City slowly recovers from the Coronavirus pandemic, you really can’t meet or talk to real people – but there are lots of fake people in the show windows of the elite stores to whom you can connect!

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.”