Author: Lavina Melwani

There are hundreds of people streaming around a circular, stunning white building on Fifth Avenue as cars and buses and taxis honk and inch their way on the traffic laden street. With a start you realize the men are all wearing suits and hats, the women prim dresses, even the children are dressed decorously in coat dresses – and the automobiles are all large, with chrome plating and flashy tail fins.

If all the world is a stage, then who better to tell the story of the ongoing drama of Indian immigration and Diaspora tales than playwrights? For years insightful writers from Africa to the UK to Canada have been documenting the stories of those who left the homeland for uncharted territories, and now some of them gathered in New York to share their experiences.

The chanting of the Gayatri Mantra, it is said, has the effect of liberating one from the fruits of Karma, and its Maha mantra status is universally recognized.

“These are amazing, inventive films and it makes MOMA a home for the most vibrant and intelligent cinema coming out of India, and this is a rare privilege.”

If you’re a Mumbaikar cut adrift from all your soul-satisfying street foods, fret no more. Pasta Lane has come to Bleecker Street in New York, and at Aamchi Pao you can get all the spice and heat your heart desires. The tiny eatery is the creation of Nandini Mukherjee who earlier ran The Indian Bread Co, and Surabhi Sahni, the pastry chef of Devi.

Integrative Medicine, while not curing cancer in any way, can help in even advanced metastasis by bringing about symptoms relief, and giving patients a more positive attitude.

He’s the smarmy, conniving game show host in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, a regular bad guy. We’ve seen him in diverse roles but Anil Kapoor, with a glittering stud in one ear, rugged good looks and oozing Bollywood charisma, has a real life role as a good guy, as spokesperson for children who have received a raw deal in life.

“In our family, the moment a child is born, my grandmother would come with a jar of honey and would dip her little finger into the honey and write ‘Om’ on the baby’s tongue with it. And my mother always tells me, ‘You just opened your mouth and licked up the honey and when she put it again, you licked it up again.”

The mini series was filmed in Mumbai and actually has five full-fledged Bollywood musical numbers, while the soundtrack features Javed Akhtar, Shiksta, Shreya Goshal, and the Bombay Dub Orchestra. Several crew members of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ were also part of this team, including Longinus Fernandes, who choreographed the Jai Ho number.

Through the powerful voices of the dastangohs the tale came alive; you saw life and death, the grandeur, the sorcery, the parades, the fires and the warfare in your mind’s eye. For two hours the crowd at this sold out show sat riveted, taken quite far away, centuries back, on the wings of a language many of them did not understand.

All this was achieved without a blow being dealt, without a sword being drawn or a match lit – a testament to the story-telling powers of the three dastangohs.

“Water is life and I think as a human rights activist there is no more poignant metaphor than water – the commoditization of water and the corporate control of water is to me the human rights issue of the millennium.”

“There is now a real feeling of home, I must say, in all three places. I don’t think I could do without one of them,” says Mira Nair.

It was a sight not to be missed – the Indian flag spotlighted on the NASDAQ Exchange board in frenetic Times Square.What are your thoughts on India’s Independence Day? Do you have any reflections to share?

The long hot summer is upon us, and wouldn’t you rather be in the pool than sweating it over the stove? “Summer is a great time to host a stress-free get-together,” says Rama Ginde of WannabeChef, based in New Jersey. “Entertaining this season can be informal, laidback and fun.”

Besides gourmet home delivered meals which can be ordered on the website, she also teaches all the wanna be chefs cooking, from date nights for romantic couples who learn Mexican cooking and get to eat it with a live Mariachi band to Mom and Me workshops where mothers get to bond with their kids over the kitchen stove.

“Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey were just four feet away from me – and it was the most amazing moment of my life till date because I was singing for Michelle and Oprah and everyone in that room was a celebrity.”

For seven years, young actors, playwrights and musicians let down their hair and through humor, some pathos and a dose of brutal honesty, took on the larger issues of identity, color and immigration.

“What is wrong in having the courage to say, ‘Let’s move America from mashed potatoes to Bombay potatoes’?” asks Meera Vasudevan, the woman who has helped bring Indian food to places like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, and to introduce it to a largely American population.

He’s a rock musician and she’s an architect but the two have been creating some intriguing perfumes together. DS and Durga is the name of the perfume that David Moltz and Kavita Ahuja first began concocting as a hobby and which has evolved into a successful business.

President Clinton certainly has the charisma to get pin-drop silence in a room. He was at the Hilton Hotel for the American India Foundation Annual Spring Awards Gala and over 400 heavy hitters from the Indian community turned up.