Author: Lavina Melwani

Lavina Melwani is a New York-based journalist who writes for several international publications. Twitter@lavinamelwani & @lassiwithlavina Sign up for the free newsletter to get your dose of Lassi!

US Immigration in the Time of Coronavirus Bad News for Indian immigrants waiting to enter a sealed off America   [dropcap]U[/dropcap]nable to control the migration of the coronavirus into America, the Trump administration is trying once again to control the immigration of humans.  In an early morning tweet, President Trump wrote, “In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!” With this Immigration Proclamation  (https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/proclamation-suspending-entry-o-outbreak/)  begins another tension for those…

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Have you ever met Apu – Satyajit Ray’s Apu? If not, this is your chance to finally make his acquaintance – and he’s looking better than ever before. As film fans know, ‘The Apu Trilogy’ is master filmmaker Satyajit Ray’s seminal work, a story that is bound to touch whoever sees it, because it is our story. We may never have stepped into a Bengali village or lived in that simple yet hard world a century ago but this tale of family, struggle and aspirations speaks to something so universal, so human that it affects us all.

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Update: Ritesh Batra’s award-winning drama THE LUNCHBOX has now become the highest-grossing Hindi film of 2014 in North America.

The Irrfan Khan hit has grossed $1.45 million to date surpassing the $1.3 million grossed by both Salman Khan’s latest action picture Jai Ho and the sleeper hit Queen to set a new record for this year.

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If there’s only one thing you do today to make yourself happy, watch this excellent video! For all those who love the street foods of India this is the ultimate experience, traveling state by state and eating the delicious eats right on the road. The tears sting your eyes, your nose runs, your tongue burns – and you’re in foodie heaven!
It is amazing how everything is available in the open – be it spicy chat papri, ragra patice, alu tikki, chole bature or seekh kebab. You’ll see foods you’ve never eaten!

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As in much of the world, life is on hold in America, held hostage by the deadly Coronavirus pandemic. In this fast moving news cycle, the figures keep changing and new developments are taking place all over the world.

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This morning we learned that we have lost that wonderful chef and human being Floyd Cardoz to Coronavirus. My eyes welled up with tears; I must have met Cardoz briefly about a dozen times over the span of 20 years – but his grace and his integrity stayed with you. That was the kind of person he was.

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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!

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Life in the Time of Coronavirus Here’s why we should be taking it seriously! View this post on Instagram When the Italian media began reporting on the increased community spread of the novel #coronavirus across the country, filmmaker Olmo Parenti, like many Italian citizens, didn’t take the threat of the pandemic too seriously. “My friends and I were almost mocking the few people who believed the issue was serious from the get-go,” Parenti said. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Just days later, Parenti felt like he was living in a different version of reality—a dystopian one. The number of positive cases had…

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Once upon a time, Yogesh*, a vibrant young dreamer set out for America with his wife and child on a H1 B Visa to conquer the world. Ten years later, he’s still on the waiting line, still waiting for the elusive green card. Immigration has increasingly become a waiting game, and a numbers game. The sheer math of it all is overwhelming.

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When Indian-American men cook, it’s considered cool and they are anointed chefs and stars and given all the respect. But when women cook, they are the housewives, the home-cooks and kitchen-bound who are doing what they’ve done for millennia. But now change is happening and some Indian-American women are taking the rolling pin and the tawa, and turning them into money-making startups!

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Warning: Do NOT Separate an Indian from his Onions! It’s the one ingredient that no self-respecting desi cook would want to be without; whether you are whipping up a Mughal feast or a poor man’s meal – onions are absolutely necessary. In fact, a shortage of onions can cause a near revolution in India!

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