Browsing: Features

The Much Loved Philosopher-Saint who passed away last year just before his 100th birthday would have been 101 this August, which is being observed as Forgiveness Day. He was gentle, humorous and had all the answers to life’s complexities.

Read More

At a time when refugees, asylum-seekers, migrants and illegal immigrants are regarded as trouble-makers, scum, inconvenient and expendable in America and immigration is itself the new four-letter word, there comes a powerful protest from award-winning author Suketu Mehta, himself the son of immigrants.

Read More

I came to the US in the 80’s, as an immigrant via India, Hong Kong and Africa, and landed in Astoria, a gritty Greek neighborhood in Queens. I fell in love with the prosaic neighborhood with its heart of gold, and it was here that I discovered my own private America.The part which never fails to amaze me is that when I take the N subway from Manhattan to Astoria – glancing at my fellow passengers I see a virtual United Nations – Latinos, Chinese, South Asians, Blacks, whites all wedged together, sitting side by side on the Great American Journey. If Lady Liberty was to see them, she would definitely shed a tear – because this is exactly what America is all about. And on this day after the Fourth of July, with the firecrackers still ringing in our ears – we can say amen to that.

Read More
Art

Creating a space for voices which are seldom heard has been the passion for Myna Mukherjee, director of Engendered, a New York-based human rights organization which recently held the first ever South Asian Queer Leaders Summit in New York. You heard some strong, individual voices including those of Sunil Pant, Nepal’s first openly gay parliamentarian who worked to get same sex marriage rights for the community there

Read More

Walking in Times Square, you suddenly realize something strange – everyone is taking selfies! What is it about this part of New York that makes you want to record your visit for posterity? It’s like the Taj Mahal –  you feel it looks so much more meaningful when you’re standing in front of it!

Read More

It is still hard for me to reconcile the peaceful nature of this predominantly Buddhist country with its violent history, because I really did not live through it for very long. Within a year of moving, the civil war was suddenly over. The emotional scars remain for those who did live through it, but the physical reminders of the war were gone — no more checkpoints and no more rifles.

Read More

We all love stories and cinema is the ultimate story-teller which spins magical tales of love and loss, set in unimagined realms. Sometimes cinema is a mirror of society, sometimes a celebration of the imagination and the invincibility of the human spirit.  It is always the magician which draws us into people’s lives

Read More