Author: Lavina Melwani

Christmas in Pune is special, says caricaturist Vikram Nandwani, because in his neighborhood people from all faiths join in on the celebrations, giving it a very local twist. “All Parsi Biryani joints go full house on Christmas Eve, People make Karanjis – a favorite Maharashtrian sweet made during Diwali – at home, and everyone – I mean everyone – comes out to the main markets in the evening to see the lights. The festivities end with kids being dragged into midnight mass.”

Work from home or go to the workplace? Questions, questions for everybody as this year winds down and a new one begins! Meanwhile have a very merry holiday season and hope Santa’s elves are working over-time to bring you whatever your heart desires! Maybe Santa can take an Uber if the reindeer revolt and insist on working from home.😉

In a changing economy & environment, it helps to have always been creative with very little. Every day at lunch break at the Convent of Jesus and Mary School in Delhi, India, hordes of ink-stained white-uniformed schoolgirls would surround me, salivating for a taste of my home-made lunch: aam ke achaar ke sandwiches.

Benjamin, the noted Indian-Jewish artist, left Bombay, now Mumbai, decades ago for America but the colors and ethos of India have become embedded into her art and her American life. Her unique works which are populated with blue figures reminiscent of the color of Krishna, the sky and water have been embraced by art collectors in America, Israel and India.

While Christmas is important to Indian Christians as a celebration of faith, many non-Christians enjoy it as a secular holiday in ways small and big. Indeed, Christmas is such a huge, high voltage commercialized event in America that few can escape its allure, be they Christians or not.

What can be better than going home for Christmas, especially if home happens to be warm and sunny Goa? Chris and Beverly D’Souza with their young son Luke visited Goa, their hometown, far away from the cold of New York. This story is a Christmas tradition on Lassi with Lavina!

How about Bombay Masala Puffs for your guests during the holiday season? Easy to put together with ingredients you probably have in your pantry.

For those who love design in the home and the world, the good news is that consumer trade shows and fairs which showcase the latest trends in interiors, furnishings and artifacts, are back with a bang.

Imagine blindfolding yourself and trying to do your daily chores in a dark world. Now imagine blindfolding yourself and managing to get a perfect SAT score, going on to Harvard and Stanford to get an MA, JD and a Ph D, becoming a lawyer in a topnotch law firm, a business professor in an Ivy League school, traveling all over the world, becoming an accomplished researcher and writing a critically acclaimed book.
All while blindfolded.

Impossible, you say? Well, between the two of them, Sheena and Jasmin Sethi have accomplished all this in spite of their blindness. Both of the sisters suffer from Retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited disease, but have not let that stop them from creating vibrant, successful lives and conquering the sighted world.

When Sheena Iyengar went to Spain, people sometimes came up and asked her for a lottery ticket. “Because that is what blind people do in Spain,” she explains. “They sell lottery tickets. And when I was in Japan, random people would come up to me and take my hands and start putting them on their backs or on their necks because they expect blind people to perform magical massages.”

These people would have been stunned to learn that though Iyengar is blind, she is a noted researcher, a professor at Columbia and the author of a critically acclaimed book ‘The Art of Choosing’, in which she dissects and analyzes choice – the ability one has to take on destiny – or even competing brands of cola.

In life, how much can you choose and how much is pre-destined? Can you fight circumstances or is your role pre-ordained?And if you have the power of choice, how do you choose wisely?

They came to New York on a hunt for something elusive – world happiness. The players came from many different countries, from European nations to South Africa to India and Nepal, and each had something valuable to contribute.

If you don’t know anything about Thanksgiving – here are some fun facts!

NYC Marathon 2022 – A beautiful day of family, friends and fellowship. No one was a stranger even in this immense mass of strangers – and that is the unique quality of New York.

The event was the Immersive Frida Kahlo Exhibition which is co-created by the Frida Kahlo Corporation and the Spanish digital arts center Layers of Reality. It is traveling to various parts of the US and can be currently seen in Brooklyn, New York.

“If we only celebrate the pushing of darkness away for one day, then we are betraying the principles of Diwali. It is every day that we must live at that magnitude and at that height.”

Between You and Me 30 Years of Unexpected Journeys Small Experiments in Creating a Better World ….a personal perspective  [dropcap]W[/dropcap]hen we first started children’s Hope India in New York in the 1992, it all started with a simple phone call on our landlines – there were hardly any cell phones or smart phones. There was certainly no social media – five friends got together over a cup of tea and brainstormed on ways of giving back to their home country. It was the idea of Dr. Dina Pahlajani and each of us brought our special skills and talents to…

Is it a restaurant or is it God’s Abode? Down in the basement of the Hindu Temple Society is a hidden gem where you can get the most amazing South Indian food and sumptuous dosas and vadas you will see in your dreams.

Diwali has come to America finally as a VIP, a Rock Star – and Indian-Americans couldn’t be happier.

If you’ve spent many hours at your computer – these simple exercises right in your chair will help you unwind and give you new energy to face the rest of your day. A nice easy way to work yoga into your busy schedule. Try it!

What can be easier to whip up than carrot coconut ladoos? Nandini Mukherjee shows how to make them in easy steps.