It is possible to encounter so many different worlds within one city because all these immigrants have brought echoes of their homelands into their new home – especially their food!
How many Indias are there?
As many as the eyes that perceive it.
Each visitor sees a different India, bringing in their own experiences to the encounter. British photographer Clive Limpkin has a lively new book ‘India Exposed: the Sub-Continent A-Z’ which shows the results of his brush with India. His camera, however, returns time and again to what really moves him: the human connection. As he writes: “When friends ask for one good reason to visit, I offer them a billion – it’s the people.”
In this festive season, as Diwali approaches, are you the perfect host?
Well, here’s a story that will make you re-evaluate your hospitality skills, for the host in this tale is none other than Lord Krishna. When his boyhood friend, Sudama – hungry, impoverished and in rags – arrived at the palace, the guards almost did not allow him in. But Lord Krishna, overjoyed to see his old friend, received him with open arms and joyfully led him to his throne. He personally washed his feet and fed him with his own hands.
(Ashok Amritraj seen here with Dustin Hoffman on the sets of Moonlight Mile)
When Ashok Amritraj was growing up in Chennai, he saw the Hollywood film ‘Ben Hur’ and was mesmerized. Watching Charlton Heston in that huge epic, he was hooked on to cinema forever. So it was particularly sweet, when decades later, as a big Hollywood producer, he was awarded a plaque at the Academy of Motion Picture Art and Sciences by none other than Charlton Heston himself.
Whether it’s the California text books decision or the passage of the Congressional Diwali Resolution, these are not free gifts which have been dropped into the palms of Indian-Americans but rather hard-won victories by advocates, including a band of young second-generation Indian Americans of the Hindu American Foundation (HAF).
Would you like to go to a birthday party? A 94-year-old’s very special birthday party? Should I add – M.F. Husain’s 94th birthday party?
With a birthday cake decorated with his famous horses and the iconic artist himself showcasing his latest work – a grand 45 by 13 feet canvas which chronicles 9 decades of his life – it was a must-see, must-be-at event.
In the heart of Chelsea in New York stands a bountiful bulwark and anchor of Eastern spirituality, a treasure trove of hundreds of Himalayan artifacts, as peaceful and inspiring as a Buddhist temple. This is the Rubin Museum of Art, started just four years ago by the noted philanthropists and collectors, Donald and Shelley Rubin.
She may have thousands of fans but Bollywood star Preity Zinta is a diehard fan of – New York City!
She comes in to New York so often that it’s like a second home to her. She says, “It is my favorite city in the world because a) it’s one city that never sleeps. b) Its a city that can swallow you and you can disappear in it, which is fantastic. c) It’s so diverse and every time I come back so many things have changed about it.”
Ganesh Barriya is a young rag picker from the Ahmedabad slums who’s donned headphones in a recording studio to perform on Global Lingo, a cool CD which is featured on I-tunes. Indeed, for several children in the slums, be it in India or Nicaragua, this has become a real life scenario, thanks to Project Ahimsa which has opened up a whole new world of music education for them.
Who would have thought you’d be getting gourmet food in the rough and tumble of a ball park? Leave it to celebrity chef Floyd Cardoz and Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group to bring elegance to the usual hot dog, precooked burgers and popcorn routine.