Browsing: The Buzz

In the past few days we’ve all been to the Oak Creek Gurdwara in Wisconsin again and again, if not in person then in spirit via scores of live reports on the senseless killings, the grieving congregation, the stories of the lives lost. There’s almost a surreal ring of deja vu to this whole episode as one recalls the painful stories of discrimination against Sikhs in the aftermath of 9/11.

Why does it take some people so long to understand a simple truth – that we may all look different but at heart we are all the same – human? Why do common-sense teachings go awry and lessons which are taught in kindergarten – kindness and love to one’s fellows – get misinterpreted so horribly?

What is particularly sad about these attacks is that they are a backlash against a community which has a sterling track record of service and openness, even to complete strangers. If this assailant had wandered into the gurdwara sick and hungry and hurt, looking for food and help, this would have been the one place in the neighborhood where he would have been showered with both, no questions asked. Indeed, one of the key tenets of Sikhism is service to humanity.

“Music is a vast ocean and no one can claim to know it all. The more you know, the more you realize how little you know. It is an eternal quest.”

-Dr. L. Subramaniam

Music lovers will get a chance to dip into the vast ocean of music with the free Lincoln Center Out of Doors concerts which run through August 12, and on August 8, enjoy a fusion concert with noted violinist L. Subramaniam and his family.

Padma Bhushan L. Subramaniam has had his work performed by the New York Philharmonic and other orchestras. In this fusion concert he will be performing with his wife Bollywood playback singer Kavita Krishnamurthi Suramaniam; Ambi Subramaniam, his violin-prodigy son; Bindu Subramaniam, his daughter; jazz fusion guitarist Larry Coryell; and Corky Siegel, the blues-fusion harmonica player

I caught up with L. Subramaniam and Kavita Krishnamurthi enjoying a dosa break at a press conference at Chennai Garden and discovered the plans for that rocking evening.

If there’s one thing that Indians across the world share, it’s their love for movies. As newborns, they are weaned on cinema by star-struck parents and as toddlers, their first steps are mingled with dance steps learned from Bollywood movies on video. School kids can rattle off famous dialogues from Hindi films and as young adults, they often take their cues from the romantic sequences in their favorite films. Even patriotism and national integration are often invoked by Bollywood’s rousing lyrics and over-the-top emotions.
This year marks the 100th year of Indian cinema and this vibrant industry seems to be gaining in momentum and strength across the world. Immigrants have brought their love of cinema to America, carrying memories of the golden age of cinema of the 50’s, the wonderful films of V. Shantaram, Raj Kapoor, Bimal Roy, and Guru Dutt.
Young Indian-Americans have acquired this passion for film from their immigrant parents and in this essay, which first appeared on the Smithsonian’s blog, a look at their dreams and aspirations.

“Judgey Indians and judgey people make my blood boil. And judgey people are everywhere. But I find comfort in the fact that I live in a city where anything goes. Black. White. Purple. (And I’m just talking about hair color.) All ethnicities. All types.

If you want to get married 8 times or 2 times, you can. If you are 60 and want to date someone who is 20, you can. I love that I can have a conversation with someone about the merits of drinking a 2007 cabernet sauvignon or something banal such as the overload of traffic once the stadium goes up in Brooklyn.”
Joya Dass talks to Monica Marwah on ‘The Single Desi’ – Guest Blog

“An increasing number of young adults will be taking care of elderly parents in the next few years – and that is not going to be a simple process. Where will the senior members in the family live? Do they move in with the children? If the children have transferable jobs, what happens? Do they uproot themselves and start all over again, adjusting to a new climate, a new environment? Will the daughter-in-law/son in-law cope with long term illness?

Some parents insist on staying with the son. What happens to the wife’s parents? What if they do not have a son and wish to stay with the daughter? Is it possible for everyone to stay together? How do you take care of sick parents when you have a job and children? Aging – no matter how beautifully you age – can be fraught with frustration, bitterness, anger and resentment.”
GUEST BLOG

Gladys Perint Palmer, executive director of the School of Fashion, Academy of Art University, and noted fashion illustrator, turned her pen on the charms of Bollywood actor Sonam Kapoor, spotted in the front row at the Paris shows. The drawing will feature in her book “Adam & Yves” (Firefall Editions) to be published later this year.

Palmer’s pen has caught the work of many fashion rajas and ranis from Jean Paul Gaultier to Zandra Rhodes. She says: “It is hardly surprising that when I saw Sonam Kapoor at Elie Saab in Paris, glittering with sequins, bugle beads and embroidery, I had to draw her!”

There are not too many people in their 20’s who have discovered a new, easy way to detect cancer in its earliest stages, raised funds for this research and also become the CEO of a corporation which creates the patents for this breaking technology.

Raj Krishnan of San Diego, California has done all three. While Ph.D students in Bioengineering at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) he and his friend David Charlot created Biological Dynamics, along with Professor Michael Heller. Raj and his team have developed innovative blood tests that use electric fields to detect key signals that a patient has cancer from the blood. “The technology itself is a microchip in a plastic cartridge,” he says. “You insert blood into the cartridge where it reaches the microchip, which uses AC Electric Fields to isolate cancer biomarkers from the blood.”

For most women, conceiving a child is natural, a fact of life. But what about those who just cannot conceive? Is surrogacy the answer? Kriti Mukherjee describes a heart-rending obstacle race on the part of a young couple to finally become parents – and the silent partner who helped them get there.
Guest Blog – Chatty Divas

“Being Indian myself, it has always puzzled me when fellow Indians express their support for the Republican Party, which has rarely shown concern for the interests of minorities. Then why do some support them?

A big reason is financial. Republicans are big on free enterprise and low taxes, which plays well with immigrants who are insecure about their financial future in the new world and with those whose priority is wealth-creation. But another factor, equally powerful, is the need for acceptance in mainstream society; and nowhere can this be seen more clearly than in Dinesh D’Souza, the President of King’s College in New York, an author and a prominent Republican mouthpiece.

Dinesh D’Souza, of course, is Indian.” (Guest Blog – Talkback with Sanjay Sanghoee)

“With the impending divorce of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, I began to think a lot about Scientology. Sources say that Scientology has played a part in their unhappily ever after.

It is reported that Katie wants primary residential custody and primary legal custody of Suri (the couple’s six year old daughter) due to differing parenting styles. Katie is a Catholic girl and would like Suri to be raised Catholic; and Tom is a devout Scientologist and wants Suri to become a Scientologist like his other two children.

I have studied Hinduism, Sikhism, Christianity, Kabbalah and Scientology. I think religion and culture gives us something to depend on and think about. It gives us our belief system and lets us believe that we operate as part of a system.” Guest Blog – The Single Desi. Photo – Harpreet Thinking

Imagine growing gourmet oyster mushrooms from discarded coffee grounds!

Nikhil Arora and Alejandro Velez , both students at UC Berkeley, were headed toward careers in investment banking and consultancy when they heard a professor talk about this little known fact. Intrigued they decided to put it to the test.

“The whole idea seemed so improbable – it’s really been a blast!,” says Nikhil. The gambit has succeeded beyond their wildest dreams, resulting in the reuse of 1 million pounds of used coffee grounds which would have been dumped in landfills. They have been invited to the White House as agents of change.

It’s a place where life and death have no value. In an encounter with the Gangs of Wsseypur, the audience is transported quite literally to the wild, wild world of Wasseypur where human blood gushes like water, gunshots ring out as freely as birdsong, and no one is burdened with a conscience of a moral compass.

Anurag Kashyap, architect of this unforgettable, hellish world, received a standing ovation at Cannes for his 5-hour plus epic ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’, a juggernaut of revenge set in rural India. An interview with the Godfather of Wasseypur…

Marriage…till death do us part? Really? Hmm…in a new study, a high number of 20 something’s are tying the knot with the wrong man. Mistake? Illusion? Why are so many young women between the ages of 20 and 25 headed for unhappily wedded bliss? 40 percent of young brides between the ages of 20 to 25, as opposed to 27 percent of older brides.

It seems as if more and more of smart, beautiful and talented women seem to be driven to find a man and marry him. Mainly because they just want to have it all. Unfortunately, their desire to have it all backfires. Guest Blog: The Single Desi. (Photo: NYHenna)

“How many of us like to go to social events? Let’s be honest. A bunch of strangers standing around, some have their friends, some don’t; some are nice; some are not. Finding your place at a bunch of single networking events can be daunting, especially if you are on the introverted side.”
Guest Blog – Single Desi

“Do you take responsibility for the emotional pain that others have inflicted on you? Do you feel excessively bad? Do you blame yourself for not being good enough to please this person? Do you walk away? Do you not care?

Some of us take life very seriously; some of us don’t take life seriously enough. Some of us are in between. No matter what category you fall into, you can be damaged by other people’s emotional outbursts or nasty actions. As a psychologist, I cannot stress enough the importance of moving on and letting go.”
Guest Blog: The Single Desi. Photo: Harpreet Thinking

” Chances are that anyone who has stayed in motels in the last decade has stayed in at least one owned by an Indian American, even if that is not apparent to the guests. Indian Americans own almost two million rooms with property values of well over $100 billion.
About a third of Indian American owners have independent properties, typically all lower budget. Indian Americans own about 60 percent of budget- oriented motels generally and over half of some motel chains. Of franchise motels built in the last few years, those owned by Indian Americans comprise more than 50 percent. The motels can be found nationwide. They are in major cities, suburbs, and exurbs, and off interstate highways. This accomplishment is all the more remarkable when one considers the small segment of India from which most owners descend. Seventy percent of Indian American owners share the same surname, Patel, although they are not all related.”
Pawan Dhingra on this American phenomenon

It was a day of celebrating women’s inherent potential and success stories. Over 260 women came to Children’s Hope India annual Spring Lunch to support vocational projects for the girl child in the urban slums and rural India. Designer Ranjana Khan spoke eloquently about her journey as model, wife, mother and entrepreneur in the dizzying world of high fashion.

“Let’s be honest – many Indian women want sons, not daughters,” she said. “And yet here we are in this beautiful room filled with beautiful women who are all doing such interesting things with their lives. Today, I have meet salsa dancers, kick boxers and successful businesswomen.”

The verdict is in – Dharun Ravi gets 30 days imprisonment for spying with a webcam on Tyler Clementi, his roommate having a sexual encounter with a male, and then tweeting about it. Clementi later committed suicide. Did the punishment fit the crime or was it too light?

“It seems my tongue has two black strips, like a runway’s tarmac, running along its entire length. It’s an old Indian superstition that people who have black spots on their tongue are capable of predicting things and what they say or wish for comes true. I am the queen of predictions and the mirror of the future.”
Can words spoken in jest come true? Is there such a thing is a ‘black tongue’? Sulekha Rawat explores this less traveled road and wonders whether she is really psychic and whether words spoken without thought can actually come true.
Guest Blog – Chatty Divas. Photo: TheAlieness GiselaGiardino²³

2012 marks the 100th year of Indian Cinema, so what better time to go on a filmi marathon?
Luckily, the 2012 New York Indian Film Festival is just around the corner, so we can eat, drink and dream cinema for 5 days!
But Indian cinema is so much more than just Bollywood and here are 10 tips to help you get the best of this multifaceted festival which brings you a rich mix of regional and Hindi cinema.
The 12th annual New York Indian Film Festival is presented by Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC) and runs May 23-27