Browsing: The Buzz

Once you hear the four magic words “Will You Marry Me?” your world changes forever. Planning a wedding has been the dream of a lifetime and it is not uncommon to have your ideas laid out before even meeting the man of your dreams.

‘The other day I was reading an article about Priyanka Chopra and the headline read, “I’ll get married six times.” According to Priyanka Chopra, she wants to get married six times to the same man. I immediately thought, “How fun!” Priyanka’s ideas for a wedding ceremony are just as creative and fabulous as she is.’
Guest Blog – The Single Desi by Monica Marwah

For all those separated by artificial, manmade borders, here is a love story, a story of friendship which can make you cry – in a happy sort of way. And guess who made it happen? Google! Really, I think we are getting over-dependent on Google to help us in our search for knowledge, words, images, addresses, cat videos – and now even in our search for emotional well-being.

Never knew a Google commercial could make us cry, reach deep down to our better selves, to our aspirations for reunion and healing. The Big G seems to have become an indispensable part of our lives.

Where would you get to rub shoulders with Salman Rushdie, Shabana Azmi, Danny Boyle, Shashi Tharoor, M.F. Husain, Mira Nair, Deepa Mehta, Madhur Jaffrey – and the late, great Ismail Merchant? Well, I met all these topnotch names in New York, all thanks to a small, spunky organization which has survived and thrived by sheer chutzpah. It’s brought a mix of Indian cinema, art, theater and dance to barren city streets, making them all a natural part of American life.

Indeed, if you’re talking about Indian art and culture in the city, you can hardly go a few sentences without mentioning Indo American Arts Council or its creator, Aroon Shivdasani. This year IAAC celebrates its 15th tumble and toss year, and so here’s the story of the little engine that said I think I can, I think I can, against all odds.

Hardly a decade back, Diwali was an unknown, hard-to-pronounce word for Americans. Now it’s been showcased in ‘The Office’ on mainstream TV, splashed across Times Square, acknowledged in the US Congress – and celebrated in the White House by First Lady Michelle Obama. The First Lady, dressed in a festive pink dress by Naeem khan, welcomed guests to the White House for a Diwali celebration. Not only did she surprise students at a Bollywood dance clinic but tried out some fancy desi moves herself!

Wandering around the web, you find hidden facets of India: towns and cities you had no idea existed, a fabulous Indian jewelry collection that exists outside of India, and images from the past when an American First Lady visited India and won over the nation.

New Yorkers are getting thoroughly pampered – if they can’t get to India to catch the latest Indian fashion, topnotch Indian designers with celebrity models are coming to New York! You had the gorgeous Lisa Ray walking the ramp for Satya Paul, and the equally eye-catching Soha Ali Khan for the designer Joy Mitra.

And so it was that some of India’s hottest fashions came to New York in a space which is the only neo-Gothic Reformist Synagogue built back in 1849. The surreal internal architecture of this space, now known as the Angel Orensanz Foundation for the Performing Arts, really added to the atmosphere.

Best of the Web – India’s Tall Ambitions
How should India spend $340 million? Watch the video and give your opinion!

Have you always wanted to have a fabulous, grand slam Big Fat Indian Wedding but have been stopped by one minor detail – the fact that you still haven’t found a significant other, bride or groom?

Well, no worries – entrepreneur Preeti Shah has taken care of that too! She has an innovative concept – Shaadi Chic – a creative bridal expo where you not only catch up on all the latest wedding trends and flavors but also get a chance to perhaps meet the right person to have that wedding with!

Sponsored Content – Tips You Can Use.

The fireworks still explode in the memory, and the taste of nuts and cream and sugar still linger on the tongue. For immigrants from India, the childhood memories of Diwali are strong, for it is a time when India transforms into one glittering celebration. Public buildings are illuminated with neon lights and every home, no matter how humble, is ablaze with earthen lamps. In fact, entire villages are turned into fairylands, dotted with millions of lamps, glowing in the dark of night.

“It is that time of year again…Diwali, the festival of lights is upon us….those of you who are just graduated college and are 20-something women probably have a lot of family and friends that they celebrate with.
Those of you 30 or 40 year old single women are probably trying to figure out a way to keep the spirit alive in your heart and soul without the frequent trips back to India and the constant reminder that India lives inside of you.” Guest Blog – Single Desi

Is there a desi who doesn’t love to dance? Indeed, dance moves and music are embedded in our DNA!
Knowing that, Lufthansa, the International Carrier with the local touch, has launched a fun MoveWithUs promotion with a dedicated microsite to maximize the fun of the upcoming Holiday Season for the whole family.

And now – here are the top 10 reasons for joining in the celebration of Indian dance at Lufthansa’s LH.com/MoveWithUs
(Sponsored Content)

India’s towns and cities are full of surprises and religion is part of the landscape. Small, functional temples are everywhere – an idol of an Hindu God, a few temple bells, a scattering of marigolds – and it becomes God’s abode. All that’s needed is faith – which there is in plenty. Yet nothing is quite as it seems – or there is at least a footnote to the larger story.

This Dusshera the Goddess Durga herself descended to earth in a powerful tableaux at the Children’s Hope India Gala – Viva Calcutta on October 13, 2013. Over 430 guests who came to this fundraiser for children’s health and education at Pier Sixty in Chelsea Piers, New York, saw this breath-taking 200 1b idol seated in a pandal of radiant hues of red, gold and orange.

A day of celebration indeed as it was not only Dusshera and the last day of the Bengali Puja holidays but also an evening to enjoy the seductive charms of the city of Calcutta, now known as Kolkata. The festive evening, which had a keynote address by Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, raised $450,000 for CHI projects.

Good news for masala lovers – Bollywood is coming to the borough of Brooklyn! Queens and Manhattan have long been the strongholds of Indian cinema but the heady cocktail of comedy, melodrama, fights, songs, romance, item numbers and more are now making their way to Park Slope, with a theater showing ‘Boss’, hopefully the first of many Hindi movies.What is coming to Brooklyn is quintessential masala, amplified in true Akshay Kumar ishtyle.

Malala Yousafzai has received lots of honors and awards for her courageous fight for education – but you know the masses have got the message when Amul Butter puts her saga into its popular ads that people in India have been seeing since their childhood. After all, what’s more basic to life than bread – and butter? This is called buttering up – in an utterly, butterly good way!

For someone who’s gone through so much and for a situation which is so serious and unresolved, this is a dizzy moment of pure silliness and fun.

She’s been called One of the most beautiful women in the world by none other than Oprah and Bollywood fans would love to experience a bit of her life. Well, here’s a chance to actually wear one of her sarees, designed by the hottest fashion designer Sabyasachi. She wore this gorgeous black Matka saree at Cannes. It has vintage hand-embroidered details and a tulle skirt, inspired by the Old Muslim Gharanas of Hyderabad
Yes, you can actually take this saree home! It’s one of the many one-of-a-kind luxe items at the Viva Calcutta Gala in New York on October 13, which includes tickets to the NY Jets game, a cricket bat signed by Saurav Ganguly and a wonderful sketch especially done for this Calcutta themed gala by the noted artist Jogen Chowdhury.
Check it out and the videos about this noted artist.

It’s the biggest block party in America with a desi touch. In fact, it’s become an American tradition – the AIA Deepavali Mela at South Street Seaport where thousands of people of Indian origin gather to celebrate their most important festival – Diwali. Having been to many Diwali Melas in India, I can attest this is as big, as grand and as fun as the ones back in India.ndians are also famous for making and breaking records of all kinds and this year you also get to dance with DJ Rekha and set the Guinness World Record for the largest Outdoor Bhangra party!

“With zero family history my mom had an irregular mammogram in the Spring of 2000. She was in the midst of moving to California to be with her future grandchildren and incorrect reads happen often, she was told, so she put off her repeat… for over a year.

It grew to stage 2B. She did chemo and radiation after her mastectomy. Brave and positive, “It’s bringing our whole family together daily!” Always the silver lining! Then it came back in 2008″…Here’s the story of losing a mother and pinking the world in her memory… Guest Blog.

By winning the Miss America title, Nina Davuluri has scored big for all those little brown girls who were always the outsider and had to answer the taunt “But where are you really from?” Generations of kids were often asked why their mothers had dots on their heads and whether they lived in huts and about their connection to tigers, snakes and elephants.

The title of Miss America makes Nina Davuluri as American as apple pie, as American as American can be. In fact, you can dance the bhangra, eat dosas and sambar, worship any God you choose – and you’re still American. Davuluri’s win shows Indian-American children that their many differences are what make America rich and special, and don’t make them any less American

“Once you hit your 30’s, you aren’t going back. It is essentially your last time to have children before having children at a later age of 40. If you are in your 20’s, you have a lot of time on your hands; you can mess up and get back in the dating game. You have a lot of energy to introduce yourself and re- introduce yourself to different people…. However 30 something women know that they are running out of time and their biological clock is ticking.

30 something women have to make the choice of whether to be parents without a life partner in which case, their option would either be adoption or in vitro fertilization. Nowadays, there are a lot of women who want children and want to move on with their life without the help of a partner.” Guest Blog