By Vidya Pradhan  “I was in India recently, traveling from Chennai to Mumbai by train when a little girl came up to me begging for food,” says the rapper named Ajaxxx. “She told me her story, how she had been singing on the trains to earn something. It really shook me and inspired me to write a song about not taking what we have in this country for granted.” Ajaxxx, or Ajay Dani, is an Indian American of Sindhi origin. He is also a seasoned rapper, well known in Orlando, Florida, with several CDs to his name.

By Kashyap Deorah Let's just say our job in the US was done for now and it was time to go back home. Shruti and I returned to Mumbai at the end of October 2007. We carried back memorable moments from our time in the US: the parties, road trips, startups, ideas, cracking the code, problem solving, craigslist, blueberries, wine, mountains, lakes, snow, runs, beaches, dance, gigs, deals, money, stock options, weather, cars, hacks, radio stations, the daily show; but, most of all,our friends who helped us live each moment to the fullest. It took us two years of planning to pull this off. Shruti decided to take a break and explore an entry into the environment and climate change industry. I decided to start a business to serve the Indian mass market with a direct-to-consumer service over the phone. Though the impulse to simultaneously desert our lucrative career paths front-loaded the risk; moving back with my parents into their nice spacious apartment with a bonsai garden and a window plunge into Juhu beach provided a launch-pad.So what did we learn in the first few months? I share these thoughts so you can set your own expectations as you consider or plan your own back-to-India move. I try to stay away from the points that are oft discussed about the differences between the two places (lifestyle, economy, growth, family, food, kids, etc.), though they are all relevant and significant. Here I point out differences that oft get missed as we imagine our new lives from 10,000 miles away.

By Geeta Padmanabhan The simple answer is “Yes, we do,” though the issue itself is not simple. When I say “Grammar”, I mean the basic structure of a language. I don’t mean the grammar vocabulary. You can write heart-warming, elevating, wise-cracking English without wondering whether you are possessive about adjectives or definite about articles. You don’t have to be able to whip out grammatical terms like Allomorphs or Apodosis. No one will ask you to name “some” and “any” as Quantifiers. Or “Walking” in the sentence Walking is a good exercise as a gerund.  It is not a crime if you don’t know how to describe words and structures in grammatical terms. But putting words and phrases in the wrong places is. It is an age-old question. “Why is the sentence wrong if it conveys the meaning?” I have heard this for thirty years now. Mostly from students horrified to find their first test paper soaked in red ink. “You nit-pick!” is one of their mildest comments. My defense starts with the argument that their writing does not convey the meaning they intended.

By Vidya Pradhan  Zomg! Woot, you totally pwned me n't, moran! I just smurfed the pools with you. I drank your milkshake. Don't go crying GBCW on me now. eom The above passage sent my spellchecker into a frenzy as it swamped the page in red ...

By P.R. Ganapathy  I've been reading the recent spat about the US Air Force's award of a Tanker Contract to a consortium of Northrop Grumman and EADS, the European Conglomerate and parent of Airbus, with great interest. I have a strong sense of deja vu when ...

By Vidya Pradhan You might not think the two go together, but the earthy, energetic, loud and lusty sounds of the Raghu Dixit Project make for a perfect harmony between folk and rock, between contemporary and traditional, between the overproduced sounds emanating from a recording studio and the simple but powerful tunes of a street musician. The lungi-wearing, junk jewellery-sporting singer wows listeners with a pan-Indian sound that is difficult to classify and easy to listen to. What is clear is the gusto and the enthusiasm of the musicians collaborating with Raghu on his debut album as they use acoustic instruments to give a vibrant feel to the foot-tapping numbers.

By Aarti Johri Our local town newsletter arrived a few days ago. In one corner, there was a small note, “Bullis goes to Bollywood”, it said. Our small town, whose demographics read- 73% white, 21 % Asian, 2.66% other- has just one public school. This announcement was that of its spring auction, a fundraiser with a 'Bollywood' theme. For me, the announcement established once again, India is “in”.

Swati Prasad Siddharth, an eclectic traveler in India, takes a stark look at the transformation of the big, bad (mad?) megalopolis Bombay to Mumbai. I left Bombay and came back to Mumbai. Fifteen years ago I was a daughter in Mumbai. I never had to deal with the day-to-day issues of running a home. Or lose sleep over the cost of living. I just enjoyed the benefits that Bombay offered within the luxury of my parents’ protection. I spent the first quarter century of my life here. Given that I have always missed the city and its wonderful ethos. Given that I have missed the efficiency and tempo of living I was used to. Am I thrilled? Am I ecstatic? Am I really happy to be home?   Today I return to the realization that being a daughter in Mumbai is infinitely easier than being a housewife.

By Laxmi Natarajan  The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another.  The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month.  ~Henry Van Dyke This morning I looked out of my window and saw the first blooms on my flowering plum and could smell the spring in the air.   This month early spring flowering bulbs such as daffodils and grape muscari start to flower and it reminds me that it is time to get ready for the sowing season ahead.  It is the time to fix your garden structures, ready the flower beds, prepare the soil for the vegetable garden, cleanup the weeds, add a bare-root fruit tree or a rose bush and the list goes on.

 By Vidya Pradhan Sometimes you have a dream that is so big, so absurd, that pursuing it is like tilting at windmills. But if you happen to be that rare person who will stop at nothing, sometimes that sheer force of will can turn that dream into reality. Aman Boparai, a project manager in the software industry, nursed his dream to make a full-length Hindi film for years. He tried his hand at short films and eventually wangled his way into assisting a Bollywood film company when they were in town. His experience convinced him that he was ready to tackle the rigors of his own production.