Author Lavina Melwani

24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
0

“Cancer is a roller coaster, I have oft heard it been said. While you are comfortably navigating the undulating rails of an expected life, you suddenly find yourself dropping in a deafening speed that jerks and rattles you to your very core. The only difference is that unlike the carnival line you willingly join, waiting to board the ride, analyzing and preparing for its every loop and dip, this ride is murky, unexpected and you never really know how it will end until you reach the other side. All you can do is hang on and hope you’ll arrive safely back at the platform.” – Ayesha Hakki

24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
5

We’ve all known and loved her – Meena Kumari, the tragic beauty who brought so many wonderful films to life. Many of us have seen her films in crowded theaters in India while another generation has experienced the power of her work via videos, catching on to her life after it was already over.

Most of us don’t know that she was a poet too, writing in Urdu. Now her words have been lovingly gathered into a book, ‘Meena Kumari, the Poet – A Life beyond Cinema’, and fans, poetry lovers and the merely curious will be able to see what made her tick, what were her innermost thoughts

24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
0

“My first performance was at Birla auditorium at the age of 5,” recalls Poonam Kay. ” I had to stand on a folding chair and sing a duet with my mother’s male duet singer, Jethalal. The song was Yeh parda hata do, zara mukhda dikha do.” Many years later she is a recording artist, producer and TV personality. This year she released her new album ‘Nachle Ve’ with music composed by noted Bollywood film music director Anand Raj Anand. Yet she has another avatar, that of business entrepreneur.

24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
16

As a child growing up in New Delhi, India, my favorite pastime was watching the planes take off at the airport. Since my siblings and I had never traveled by plane there was a sense of wonder, even mystery. Where did these shining silver birds go and how would it be to ride off on their backs?

Years later, having migrated to foreign shores – Hong Kong, Africa and then America – I’m quite blasé about air travel but I still love planes. They are my way of getting back home, journeying to family, friends and picking up the threads of past worlds. Now learn how you can win two air tickets to India via British Airways Welcome of Home promotion!

24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
0

If Thanksgiving is a festival of gratitude, then Hindus have been preparing for it their whole lives.

In India, take a walk down the Mumbai waterfront in the early morning mist, and you see ordinary citizens quietly feeding the fish and the birds. Their daily day doesn’t really begin until the deities in their home shrine have been venerated with fresh flowers and offered prasadam.
It is only after eating a little of this blessed offering does the family sit down to their meals. Many remember to keep aside a portion of the food for a hungry person or the birds. It is all about sharing.

24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
2

Indian cinema is so much more than Bollywood, encompassing regional and independent cinema. What would you ask 28 of the top film directors if you had the chance? In ‘Not Just Bollywood- Indian Directors Speak’ Tula Goenka meets noted names from Shyam Benegal to Anurag Kashyap to Farhan Akhtar and gets the inside view on cinema and the film industry. So many personal stories abound in this book that it almost calls for its own big bag of popcorn to indulge in, as you read!

24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
0

Life size peacocks, filigreed gold pillars and small pools of rose petals and lotuses – a little piece of Kashmir had been recreated in New York by Children’s Hope India with its Evening in Kashmir gala at Chelsea Piers in Manhattan. Guests even got a chance to saunter near the iconic Dal Lake – in spirit at least as they posed for family photographs before a large image of this famous body of water.

The evening began with the noted Sufi singer Kailash Kher being spotlighted on a darkened stage as he invoked the Almighty for blessings with a powerful rendering of ‘Kashmir’ and following it up with much loved ‘Allah Ke Bande’. The Pride of Kashmir Award was presented to Kailash Kher by Ambassador D. Mulay for his unifying music and his involvement with social causes.

24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
4

“But isn’t yoga an English word?”

This was the plaintive response one American had when she was told that yoga’s original birthplace was India. Indeed, this ancient practice from India has traveled so far and been so cut off from its moorings that many current day practitioners in the west seem to think it was always a part of American life.

Now comes a comprehensive art exhibition in America, the first of its kind, which through the language of visuals – paintings, sculptures and photographs – traces yoga’s roots back to India, back to Gods and Goddesses, back to spiritual and philosophical aspirations. It can be seen at the Cleveland Museum of Art from June 22 to September 7, 2014.

24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
0

“The only way to work with India’s future is to work with children. India has the highest child population in the world at 40% of the total population. Hence, working with children is essential for the progress of India. In fact, if we solve any problems for the children of India, we can be almost certain that we would be solving it for the world just by virtue of the number of beneficiaries.”
The Sounds of Hope, an India inspired jazz concert on November 14, benefits the Salaam Bombay Fund which works with children in the slums.

The Buzz
7

The triumph of good over evil, light over darkness. This simple sentiment is at the heart of the great festival of Diwali which is celebrated in the Hindu Diaspora all across the world. This year it falls on October 23. In this Diwali 101, everything you ever wanted to know about Diwali – check out the videos.

1 … 6 7 8 9 10 … 74