Browsing: 24/7 Talk is Cheap – The Blog

24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
0 International Widows Day – Righting a Wrong

Raj Loomba was only ten years old when his father passed away but he never forgot the turbulence of that event, the way the family’s life changed when Pushpa Wati, his 37 year old mother, became a widow and had to bring up seven children. Now decades later he has taken the pain and grief of that time and turned it into something positive – a determination to help other women who find themselves in his mother’s helpless state.

24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
7 Books in the Age of Internet

As an immigrant writer from India, I well remember my first day in New York City.
Overwhelmed by the enormous skyscrapers, fast moving crowds and nonstop traffic on Fifth Avenue, I suddenly came across an ocean of calm, an iconic, strikingly beautiful Beaux-Arts building at a height, with cascading stairs below it.

At the foot, on either side were two life-size handsome marble lions. Patience and Fortitude.

24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
0 Waiting for Warren Anderson

Recently 12-year-old Akash Viswanath Mehta, founder of Kids for a Better Future, along with his 14-year-old brother Gautama and other volunteers, tried to deliver a warrant for the arrest of Warren Anderson, former CEO of Union Carbide, in Manhattan. Not much happened but at least some awareness was created, especially in the media. Even symbolism is better than no protest, because without protest, it’s an easy road to indifference, and eventually to forgetting.

24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
0 President Barack Obama’s Shoe Story

Ah, the things citizens choose to tell their presidents! Recently a New York based Indian artist, Anand Patole, didn’t quite like what he saw in a newspaper picture of the big Nuclear Security Summit – President Barack Obama’s shoe was pointing like a missile toward the Indian prime minister!

So what did Patole do? He shot out a letter to the Prez, advising him that pointing one’s footwear at someone was a no-no in eastern culture.

24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
1 Spelling Bee Wiz – Anamika Veeramani

It’s not every day that something dearly loved by Indian parents becomes a Twitter trending topic but that’s what happened with the 2010 Scripps National Spelling Bee championship finals! We are speaking of course of the annual spelling-fest in which Indian children do so well, and which becomes a magnificent obsession for the concerned parents.

Interestingly, there was a desi word which one of the spellers stumbled over and which seems fast to be becoming a recognized word in the English language – Lassi, which Hannah Evans spelled as lasse. Just shows the importance of eating out frequently at Indian restaurants (and reading L-a-s-s-i with Lavina!)

24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
0 The Obama Platter

President Barack Obama dropped in at the U.S- India Strategic Dialogue Reception hosted by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna – and amongst all the serious issues, Indian food, inevitably, found its way into the conversation!

“Secretary Clinton, I think as you may be aware, is a great admirer of India, and I know the sentiment is shared in return,” said Obama. “In fact, I’m told that one of the Secretary’s favorite restaurants in Delhi added a new item to the menu —- the ‘Hillary Platter.’ This is true. What does it have — chapatti?”

24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
0 Your Personal Taj Mahal

Got $20,000 to spare? You can live like a Mughal emperor in New York’s own Taj – the iconic Pierre Hotel in New York.

It’s always nice to see the Indian tricolor flag flying outside the landmark Pierre Hotel on Fifth Avenue, which was acquired by the Taj Hotels of the Tata Group in 2005. Now known as the Taj Pierre Hotel, the hotel underwent a multimillion dollar transformation recently and is the very visible US flagship of Taj Hotels, a stone’s throw from Central Park.

24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
3 India on My Mind

As spring turns into fall, we should be seeing a lot of excitement and action in the fashion arena. Will more and more Americans be seduced by Indian fashion through travel to India, through cinema, and through Indian-American friends in an ever increasing Asian population?
Will American designers continue to find inspiration in India’s myriad delights of color, crafts and couture? Will Indian designers make it big in America? Will new mega-fashion stores dedicated to India ring up the sweet music of cash registers?

24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
1 Jai Ho A.R. Rahman

Like hundreds of fans, I’m headed out for the AR Rahman show tonight. Will have a report for you tomorrow. Meanwhile some Rahmanisms to keep you going!
I recalled a very different, calmer afternoon with Rahman several years ago when I was doing an interview with him for Beliefnet, the spirituality website. It was a one-on-one with the maestro in his hotel room and his staff had placed an Indian lunch for us on the table. Learning that I was fasting on that day, Rahman himself disappeared and returned with a glass of orange juice which he silently placed before me. Such is his empathy for other people.

24/7 Talk is Cheap - The Blog
0 Ayurvedic Eats in Yogi’s Kitchen

Curry Hill’s new eatery is such a guilt-free space it doesn’t even have a deep fryer! ”Even our papads are roasted,” says Mamta Mulloi, who owns this brand new little restaurant in Manhattan with her husband Dinu. Indeed, ancient Ayurvedic seers would have given their stamp of approval to the pristine menu at Yogi’s Kitchen and so will modern day vegetarians, healthy eaters, and those watching their wallets. For starters, the food is wholesome, based on India’s 5000 year old Ayurveda, the science of life-balance.

Then there’s the visual pleasure of eating from steel thalis, with little katoris encircling the thali with a touch of all the ingredients necessary for a nutritious meal. Says Mamta, “We don’t do a la carte because people will order one dish – and that will not have all the elements to make it a balanced meal.”

1 38 39 40 41 42 50