Author Lavina Melwani

24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
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You can call it eating your gulab jamun and having it too! For Indians in America there is a special thrill in seeing small remembrances of India’s independence day in so many varied ways.

One of the most delightful is seeing the New York landmark of the Empire State Building lit up in the colors of the Indian flag. As the Facebook page of the big tourist attraction noted, “To our friends from India, the Empire State Building wishes you a happy Independence Day! Our lights will glow saffron, white & green tonight to celebrate the occasion and NYC’s 35th India Day Parade.”

24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
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Imagine blindfolding yourself and trying to do your daily chores in a dark world. Now imagine blindfolding yourself and managing to get a perfect SAT score, going on to Harvard and Stanford to get an MA, JD and a Ph D, becoming a lawyer in a topnotch law firm, a business professor in an Ivy League school, traveling all over the world, becoming an accomplished researcher and writing a critically acclaimed book.
All while blindfolded.

Impossible, you say? Well, between the two of them, Sheena and Jasmin Sethi have accomplished all this in spite of their blindness. Both of the sisters suffer from Retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited disease, but have not let that stop them from creating vibrant, successful lives and conquering the sighted world.

24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
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Recently US Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard got married in a Vedic ceremony in Hawaii. A Hindu, she has even taken her congressional oath on the Bhagavad Gita. Her name Tulsi means the Holy Basil which is so central to Hindu belief. Her mother Carol Gabbard was brought up in the Brahma Madhwa Gaudiya tradition and named her five children Bhakti (worship), Jai (a Hindu salutation), Aryan ( noble one), Tulsi (sacred plant) and Vrindavan ( Lord Krishna’s abode).

It got me thinking – what’s in a name and how can one use such a simple device to enhance the spiritual lives of one’s children? It certainly has deeper connotations than naming a child after candy or a jewelry store!

Travel Philip Lilienthal, Dr. Jeffrey Laurence and Nicole Hazard at Red Ribbon's Bollywood Gala
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“I was so amazed at the thought of somebody cycling me, who was just turning 20, who was a fit young American man, that I insisted on bicycling half the way myself. That’s how I entered India, bicycling a rickshaw, with the rickshaw-wallah sitting in the back, wondering what the hell I was doing!”

24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
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Why have Indian-Americans lost the art of eating with their hands? Eating with your hands is a no-no, a taboo in polite ‘civilized’ western society yet hands are the utensils of choice in some parts of the world including South Asia. However, when it comes to eating out, even Indians who happily eat with their hands at home seem to lose the desire.
Why do so many Indians hide this guilty secret? Why is there shame attached to this natural act? Is it perhaps a lasting legacy of the British Raj – a side-order of racism, of inferiority? What does it say about accepting our cultural ethos? Are we the kind of Indians abroad who would eat even a roti with fork and knife in the ‘civilized’ world, just to fit in

24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
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At times you’re not even sure you’re watching a movie – it seems like a very extended, very elaborate dance contest on TV and goes on and on. If you’re with a group of teenybopper friends and love hip-hop dance moves, have access to a large size Coke and a huge tub of popcorn, you’ll have a pretty good time.

24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
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There’s probably nothing more valuable that you could introduce into your life than chanting. It’s been practiced for centuries in so many different faiths but is especially powerful in the Hindu tradition, where the Shastras and gurus have extolled the virtues of chanting God’s name as an anchor in the turbulence of life.
Listening to a chant can be as powerful as chanting yourself. Whether it is the sages chanting on the banks of the Ganges or a New Yorker commuting to work in the subway and listening to a CD of chants on her earphones, there’s a way to keep the spiritual in your life, no matter what life you’re living.

The Buzz
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Your last chance to see the Sultans of Deccan India and their fabulous treasures at the MET!
We talk of today’s India as a great global power and of its international trade and cosmopolitan nature, but all this was already happening in India’s Deccan Plateau in the 16th and 17th centuries where, drawn by the access to port cities, diverse immigrants, merchants, mercenaries and missionaries from different parts of the world had landed, lured by the riches of India.

24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
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Do you have a weakness for burgers? What if you could eat the burger – without the bun? McDonalds has come up with a creative idea, substituting the high calorie buns with low-calorie lettuce. Can this work or will eaters get withdrawal symptoms hankering for the substantial, filling bread? Well, this has been introduced only in Australia yet – let’s see how it catches on!
Lettus see!

24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
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Ever visited Planet Shankara? You don’t need to journey as far as Mars or Pluto and you don’t need a rocket to get there but you will fly to a place of total musical bliss!

Planet Shankara is coming to you, right to the Lincoln Center Performing Arts Center and you’re in for a mind-blowing musical experience when three mighty talents come together – Anandan Sivamani – the magician of percussion, Anurag Harsh whose powerful voice transforms words into a direct conversation with the Almighty, and Stephen Devassy, the amazing keyboardist who has performed so often with AR Rahman.

A solo performance by even one of them would be heady enough but when all three are unleashed together on the stage, it is a joyous ride for the listeners, a musical monsoon to get thoroughly drenched in.

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