Browsing: The Buzz

Ah Indians! They love nothing more than to hear of desis succeeding big time, be it in the homeland or in the Diaspora. So it’s that time of the year again when the hunt is on to recognize excellence of Indians Abroad across different fields.

Each year the search gets a bit more challenging: In the sphere of business excellence, how do you choose between Ajit Jain and Anshuman Jain, among other noted names? In science and technology, among others, you have three noted physicians who also happen to be writers: Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, Dr. Atul Gawande and Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

“This next blog is dedicated to all you single 20-something’s, who aren’t sure about where life is headed and turning 30 seems to be a scary prospect. Sit back, relax and enjoy yourself, because I am about to share with you some thirty-something secrets that will surely give you plenty to look forward to: yy thirty you should own your own furniture, your own style sense, your own sense of taste – and one great romantic memory.” Guest Blog – The Single Desi

“In a country with the 2nd largest population in the world there have to be preposterous systems of elimination. We must keep in mind that it is this same country that is producing some of the best brains in the world.
In the meantime, all I am seeking is a way to get my daughter to join that stream of screaming thousands for an academic certificate. An extremely ambitious dream to have in a country where expectations go beyond just the crazy procedure of admissions.
These are just the entry tickets to an endless journey of prodding for things that have limited “seats”, like delightful careers or cushy lives.” Guest blog – Chatty Divas

Who are Shah Rukh Khan fans? No anthropological thesis this, but anecdotal evidence and what my eyes saw at the recent Yale event where the Bollywood Badshah was honored with the Chubb Fellowship, I would have to say SRK fans are an ageless lot, going all the way from babyhood to Golden Oldies.

Actually maybe it starts even earlier with Shah Rukh-mad moms watching his movies during their pregnancies, giving their unborn babies a taste of Chammak Challo while still in the womb!

“Before touching ground, I had already decided that this film would be about children. Eye disease is an affliction commonly associated with the old. But, one fifth of the world’s blind children live in India. In my mind, it’s a demographic that still has their whole lives ahead of them. I needed a Director of Photography who was a master at artfully capturing children.

Marcelo Bukin, who had shot and directed many award winning films (Dreaming Nicaragua), was originally from Argentina, but had spent time shooting films for foundations in Latin America. His reel of a little cobbler boy named Joseu speaking about how his father beats his mother, got me.” – Joya Dass, filmmaker, ‘First Sight’

Being single has its benefits. You are free; you are open to new experiences. You go wherever the world takes you and you have all that money and time to yourself.
However there is some negativity attached to being single. For example, there is no socialization security. You limit yourself to whoever is open to you. You go out, put on a nice dress and attract whatever the universe sends in your direction.

More and more of us are searching for opportunities to help improve our daily lives. We want to find the best out there and we strive to achieve it. Unfortunately, we don’t always work with a clear mind. There is so much distraction in our environment and in our own heads.

Some of us have constant chatter and noise inside our own minds. We often try to dispel myths that we grew up with and hope that we can outgrow upsetting experiences that have brought us down in the past. GUEST BLOG

The Chatty Diva, having worked in both India and America, shares some insights into desi networking.
Question asked in Delhi before a networking event – “So what do we do when we get there?” or a blatant “How will this help me?”
Question asked in Manhattan before a networking event – “Where did you say it is?”
GUEST BLOG (Photo by Neal Fowler)

“Well, it is almost here. An age range I never thought I would get to- Mid Thirties. Lately, I have been thinking a lot about myself. Am I at the right place developmentally? Am I living life on my terms? Am I happy?” In her blog Sex and the Single Desi, Monica Marwah indulges in some navel-gazing but also maps out a path for other desi singles.

Living in New Delhi, India, Sulekha Rawat tries out various roles from housewife to ‘domestic engineer’ to career woman and finally entrepreneur. In the blog ‘Chatty Divas’ she recounts the ups and downs of a woman’s world, and the realization of what’s really important in life.
Photo by Harry Scheihing. GUEST BLOG

Some days just begin with news that delivers a powerful kick to your gut and the world seems to stop for a minute.
Sonia Rai, the young woman who gave a human face to the South Asian bone marrow drive, lost her fight against Acute Myelogenous Leukemia today.
You feel saddened and quite helpless.
So we pause and think of the beautiful life lost and what she would have liked us to do, what efforts she would like us to make.
The battle may have been lost but the war goes on.

When is social media too much? When can we call it enough? When does social media become invasive and when do we start de-friending people? Are we just violating each other’s privacy or are we getting what we always secretly wanted – an insight into other people’s lives?
On the blog Sex and the Single Desi, Monica Marwah looks at the good, the bad and the ugly aspects of social media.
(Photo – Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com)

A thoughtful essay which bears re-reading: International Women’s Day is a farce, eyewash and a blatant attempt by the men of this world to flatter the women and lull them into a false state of security. No singIe day is a woman’s day; it is a man’s world and men are the judge, jury and the executioners.

8th March is no different from any other day for a mother of a teenaged daughter; she worries about her going to school/college even on this great and historical day. A bride is set ablaze irrespective of the date, a rape occurs every day, somewhere in the world. What women’s day are we talking about?
GUEST BLOG

This is probably the dream of every emerging entrepreneur – create a start-up and have it acquired by a major company. In 2010, Divya Gugnani, Mariah Chase and ‘Project Runway’ winner Christian Siriano launched Send the Trend, an innovative fashion e-commerce site, raising $ 3 million in venture capital – and then they just worked at nurturing it and creating a unique company.

QVC, the giant home shopping network, obviously liked what it saw because it has acquired Send the Trend for an undisclosed amount.

“The fashion, the best dressed, the worst dressed, the wardrobe malfunctions, the hits, the misses…. I love the movies!
Old Hollywood, New Hollywood, the glitz, the glamour, the prestige, the paparazzi, the fashion, the hair, the makeup, the products.
The diamonds, the designers, the dresses, the free swag, the red carpet, and everything that leads me to believe that being a movie star is everything it is cracked up to be and more,” says the Single Desi, summing up Oscar Night

‘Drink plenty of water and stay out of the sun!’ says makeup wiz Karuna Chani who has made up countless brides and brightened international magazines. Here she talks with Monica Marwah of Sex and the Single Desi on beauty, Priyanka Chopra, makeup tips and her take on the single desi scene.
Guest blog: Sex and the Single Desi

Modern day iconic artists like the late MF Husain, FN Souza or Tyeb Mehta are the rock stars of the Indian art world and you see their celebrity status reflected at art biennales and gallery openings, and in the high prices their work commands in the auction houses. They are the superstars, the rajas of any social event, the focal point of international culture. Everyone knows their name.

Yet there is another set of artists who never achieved fame in their lifetime, and whose names no one knows. We are talking of the superb master painters who lived and worked from 1100 to 1900, who rarely signed a canvas with their own names, and who lived and died in anonymity.
They created some of the most magnificent works for emperors, maharajas and the nobility, and yet today no one knows their names or faces.

Horror stories of the hired help in India abound. Here is a love story about an Indian nanny which brings back memories of days when the ‘Dai Ma’ was a loved and revered figure, a second mother to the newborn. A new post on guest blog ‘Chatty Divas’

In Sex and the Single Desi, Sarina Jain talks about Masala Bhangra – a popular fitness program which she started 12 years ago from her garage. This single woman talks with Monica Marwah about health and fitness and succeeding at what you do. She says, “It is about good nutrition but its also about working out. Lifting weights as well. Building that strength.” She shares quick tips for exercising while commuting and food items she’s never without.

In India you can see man and monkeys living together in an uneasy truce. A photograph that got away was of at least 20 monkeys all dangling from a traffic light pole in Agra! Before I got my camera out, the bus had moved on and the clambering monkeys remain a delightful snapshot in my memory. I’m sure the monkeys run rampant in places like Benares, Mathura and Haridwar.

In fact, I distinctly remember having my toast snatched from my hand by a greedy monkey at the Haridwar Railway Station many years ago. Now I caught glimpses of monkeys – and humans, outside a small wayside temple near the Ranthambhore National Park. Seen as a form of Hanuman, the venerated Monkey God, these monkeys are indulged and even fed by passers-by.