By Vidya Pradhan  Given the fact that South Asians in the US have much more in common with each other than they do with their American neighbors, it is rather surprising that Indians and Pakistanis rarely intersect in the social stream. We have different celebrations, different grocery stores and ...

By Rajeev Minocha Perhaps the x= x+1 syndrome has been around from the time desis started coming to the US. For the uninitiated, the x is the year in which the desi targets to return back and of course the value on the right side keeps changing and so does the time to return!Of late, however the value on both sides has become a constant and many are actually taking the plunge to return and many more are actively exploring. It is difficult to estimate the actual number of moves that have taken place, but a couple of sources have pegged this as 20,000 to 25,000 in the last 2 years. The reason for this desire to move back is not hard to identify. Although some may cite personal reasons such as ‘my parents are aging’, ‘want to get the kids to understand the Indian culture before they become too old’, etc. but that is NOT the true reason. Parents have always been aging and the kids have been growing older.

Shreyasi Deb examines the trends faced by employers looking to hire a professional workforce in India. She is the HR manager for a start-up in Mumbai.  There is a sea change in the way the new generation of Indians is joining the workforce. Though the larger socio-economic changes have affected all age groups of workers, there is a distinct generational difference between those who started working in the last decade or so and are in their thirties and the ones who are entering Indian workplaces now.

By Vidya Pradhan When your car stops at a traffic light in India, invariably a swarm of street kids collects around it. Maybe you are an IT professional. Maybe you are a tourist. Either way, your pockets are jingling with change from your last meal or chai; change that is, for all practical purposes, useless to you. It is so tempting to hand over that change to one of the raggedy street urchins. Maybe it will buy them their next meal, save them from having to hold their hand out for an hour or two. You get the warm glow that doing a good deed creates; they get a reprieve from their unhappy lives, even if it is for a short while. What is wrong with this picture?

By Isheeta Sanghi     Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Amritsar, Mumbai, Goa, Bangalore, Mysore. That is the comprehensive list of cities that my friends and I visited last summer. It was a crazy trip, to say the least, not only because we crammed in Agra, Delhi, Amritsar and Jaipur into four days but also because of the lessons that were learned along the way.

Folks, We have a new "Listen Now" button at the top of each post now. This is to make the website more accessible to people who may have trouble reading the print. You can also subscribe to the Odiogo feed using the button in the sidebar. This enables you to ...

By Vidya Pradhan When my 12 year old first heard Sheena Melwani sing, his response was, “I never knew an Indian American could sing that well!” Sheena’s clear, dulcet voice, once reserved for friends and family, is now broadcast worldwide thanks to YouTube. Sheena Melwani has been a singer “for as long as I can remember.” After singing in competitive choir while in school, Sheena joined a jazz band in high school and later went on to do her graduate studies in music. “I was singing all the time,” she says, “at choirs, weddings, functions. It never occurred to me to look for a professional gig.” When her husband’s job took them to Tokyo, Sheena fretted because of the inactivity and decided to get a keyboard so she could resume singing and songwriting. She got herself a Macbook and a special microphone and decided to record some of her songs so she could send them to friends and family back home.

Folks, We are a community that prides itself on the intelligence, talent and drive of its members. Our kids consider B's to be F's and one lone extracurricular activity to be a sign of sheer laziness. We are fast-trackers, entrepreneurs, marathon runners, volunteers, activists and entertainers. To celebrate our overarching ...

By Vidya Pradhan I watch these movies so you don't have to. Note to Bollywoood - SCRIPT IS KING! SCRIPT IS KING! SCRIPT IS KING! Ajay Devgan, who makes his directorial debut with this movie, obviously did not get that note. He also takes credit for the ...

Snippets Water, No Ice is starting a monthly Honor Roll where you can send in details of achievements by friends, family and kids. The India Community Center at Milpitas is planning a full time dedicated Table Tennis Center built to international standards. All donations towards ...