Browsing: India

Over 250 women turned up for a fabulous Spring Luncheon at Swan Club organized by Children’s Hope India to support the children living in homeless shelters in New York City. A highlight of the 2015 spring luncheon is the Woman of Distinction Award, given to a woman who has managed to balance the challenges of the workplace, home and social responsibility. This year we honored Ila Paliwal who is a classically trained vocalist, song writer and producer. She was presented the award by Sadhna Shanker, wife of the Consul General of India, Ambassador D. Mulay.

Now comes a heroine of the road, Melba Pria, the Mexican ambassador to India, whose vehicle of choice is the humble phat-phatti or auto rickshaw. If a highly-placed diplomat can do it then why not our affluent Delhites?

The well-off population is the one gaining the most from subsidies on gold, train fare, aviation fuel, kerosene and small savings schemes in India. The rich get richer!

It’s that time of the year when New York turns into a Fashion Wonderland with the New York Fashion Week, and we had our own Alice in Fashionland, fashion correspondent Christine Philip who was at the shows and filed this report for Lassi with Lavina.

Who is the Indian Bollywood star with a huge mainstream fan following in Spain, Germany and France? Amitabh Bachchan? No. Aishwarya Rai? No. Shah Rukh Khan? No. It’s Sally Bollywood!

Who would have thought a time would come when there would be a Bollywood movie made by a totally non-Indian team, and its heroine Sally Bollywood would become a super-star with French, German and Spanish fans, her own series of books, stationery line, a comic strip, a luggage and textile line. WATCH THE VIDEOS!

The phone line crackled across the Atlantic Ocean. I was in New York, and renowned artist Sakti Burman was in his country house in Anthe, near Toulouse, 650 km from his home in Paris. Thanks to satellite communications, the dialogue was as crystal clear as if we were sitting in the same room. Burman, 74, told me his 13-year-old grandson was with him, while his wife and the other grandchildren had gone for their daily walk.

Prashant Bhargava 1973-2015

Deeply sad to share this news – it’s a loss for all of us. Today the world has lost a wonderful human being and filmmaker – Prashant Bhargava, 42. We remember his brilliant filmmaking, his great potential and his unfinished stories. He gave us many gifts, from ‘Patang’ to ‘Radhe Radhe’ and the last, ‘Ammaji’ – a small meditation on the power of love.

The aspirations behind ‘Patang’ made everyone a part of Prashant Bhargava’s world, his humanity and his caring.

My help here in India, Janki Mashi, pampers me with sweet oranges on a sunny afternoon and treats me with these stories. I call her “my help” for lack of a better word to describe her. She is more like a mother to me. It was a Sunday afternoon in Gurgaon. Janki Mashi had heated some mustard oil to apply on my hair and scalp. She does these things without my asking for it and does not take nicely to my resistance ever.

This Diwali are you longing for the special holiday vibes experienced only in Indian cities and towns? Do you hanker for the mithais made by the women of the house, the unique taste of home and the touch of the individual hand?
Do you also miss the hustle and bustle of the mithai shops, the crowds waiting to buy the ready-made sweets made by the halwais?

Many, many years ago, to catch a reflection of India in America was to be over the moon: a saree on the streets of New York, an Indian name in the phone book, a snatch of Indian music in a mainstream performance. Now of course India has become woven into the fabric of America, so it was no surprise to see the JFK Express – the train which takes you from the city to the airport – immersed in the images of Incredible India!

What is it with New York City – it’s simply buzzing! Today Manhattan is overrun by security, cops and traffic police, there are closures and enclosures everywhere and yet there seem to be people, people, people everywhere too! From the Pope to world leaders, from PM Modi to Malala everyone is in the city. Not to mention Priyanka Chopra too!

Jashobanti Mahanand is the nineteen-year-old daughter of a migrant worker from Orissa, India. Since she was nine she has worked in a brick kiln, tossing bricks in the blazing sun. So what was she doing in New York at a glittering event with some of the city’s most powerful and influential people?

The answer is just one word: AIF.

The American India Foundation (AIF) is the development organization which connects the dots between the poorest of the poor and affluent society, where funds are raised for a better future for the children in the slums, the forgotten villages and small towns of India.