Author: Lavina Melwani

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.

The 2022 Booker Prize Goes to ‘The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida’ by Sri Lankan writer Shehan Karunatilaka When Ghosts of the Past Grapple with the Ghosts of the Present… The literary world is a-buzz with the news that ‘The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida’ by Shehan Karunatilaka has won the 2022 Booker Prize – a powerful story about the many tragedies and political unrest in Sri Lanka told in a remarkable way. Here are some snippets from the Booker site, including questions answered by Karunatilaka. What was the starting point for The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida? Was it a…

Always immersed in the past, Sabyasachi’s store is embedded in the Romanesque Revival architecture of The Archive Building which is listed in the National Register of Landmarked Buildings in New York. Walk into this space and you are transported into another world – a small museum, a mansion or an intimate palace.

3,713 people reached on LinkedIn – 70 Likes – 10 comments 421 people reached on Instagram – 32 Likes How the Vegetarian Raj Conquered the British Raj How Saag Paneer took over the Empire…. Imagine living in a carnivorous – and coronavirus – world in the heart of London – and yet exploring soul-satisfying vegetarian food for 20 days! A diehard vegetarian, I was visiting from New York in November 2021 and staying with relatives who all are meat-eaters. Since I would rather starve than eat anything that moves, the challenge was to find the British essence of what vegetarian…

ith the Diwali season approaching you do want to give the family something traditional – and something new! How about Ras Malai Cake Jars which give them the best of both worlds and are quite easy to prepare. And guess who’s doing the teaching – PB! Yes, that stands for Patel Brothers, the amazing genie-like store which always saves us when it comes to ingredients that we must have to make our Indian goodies.

Imagine meeting your saree-clad ancestor in Central Park! And not only is she 18 feet tall but has a cluster of heads in her hand! She it the Ancestor by British artist Bharti Kher, a reimagination of the universal mother.

We all want chocolate but we also want our traditions – and we want them quick!
This chocolate barfi satisfies all the conditions!

an orange sun set over the Hudson River on Manhattan’s Chelsea Piers, over 450 guests had gathered at Pier Sixty for the event of the season, the CHI 30th Anniversary Gala. It was a gathering of New York’s rich and famous, the beautiful and the creative. There was Hollywood film director M. Night Shyamalan, his lovely wife Bhavna and their three talented daughters.

Neena Gupta just turned sixty – and she’s having the time of her life. As she says, “It’s a great time to be a woman in the film industry!”