Royal Pains

Reshma Shetty has a starring role on the show as Divya Katdare, who finagles a job as the reluctant Hank’s assistant in Episode 1. Not much is known about her character, except that she is well connected in the Hamptons and despite having some medical knowledge, does not fall into the typical Indian TV stereotypes of doctor/7-11 clerk.

So what is Divya’s back story?
RS: We’re going to learn her back story so I can’t give too much away. Around episodes 8 and 9 we should be getting more of the story. I hope a lot of people are curious. There are some things we do know. Divya has obviously grown up internationally. Her family moved around a lot. Her father is a businessman who works in Mumbai, London and New York. Her family is very well connected in the Hamptons. She is very much a girl who has a dream and you’ll find out more details later.

Did the writers take your own history into account while developing the character?
RS: The really great part about a new show is that the writers and the actors are always collaborating. They welcome my input. I suggest sometimes that “this is not how Indians would think, or how they would act or behave”; what are the expectations from an Indian character beauty wise and career wise.
The character was not specifically written for a British girl and I auditioned in an American accent. They enjoyed my natural speaking voice. So they changed the character so I could speak in my normal voice. Every new script you get to know her better.

Katdare is a hard name to pronounce.
RS: It is, it is. The original name of the character was Divya Sharma but I was not comfortable with it. I suggested but my boyfriend’s ( Deep Katdare, from American Desi) last name. His family had anglicized it to be pronounced as “cat dare”. (The irony is) that when we picked Katdare as my character’s last name, the pronunciation was changed to “Kuhdaaray” which is a lot closer to the original.

How did the role in Bombay Dreams happen?( Reshma played the role of Priya in the touring version of the play).
RS: I was in opera school in Cincinnati. I had heard about Bombay Dreams while I was still in school. When it went on Broadway, I sent in my materials to David Grindrod who was casting for the London replacements. His partner office in New York asked me to audition, just to be heard. I flew in from Cincinnati, saw the show and I auditioned for the ensemble track though I couldn’t dance, because (eventually) I wanted to try out for Priya. I didn’t make it then but once I graduated, I auditioned again and got it. It was one of those surreal things. Life is very funny … everything happens at the time it’s supposed to happen. I am a big believer in watching out for signs.

It seems like your perseverance made it happen, though.
RS: I believe that if you work hard at your craft and respect your craft, talent rises. Persistence is a big thing and as long as you try to be the best you can be, you’ll make things happen.

Has music taken a back seat?
RS: It has. People don’t get the fact that even in musical theater or in opera, you have to take acting classes. I always wanted to be an actress as an undergrad. It is not a big leap but a different asset being brought to the surface. I do miss singing on the stage. You have people’s reactions in a moment. But it wasn’t what I ultimately wanted to do.

Is it easier for an Indian actress to get a role in television these days?
RS: I played in Rafta Rafta off Broadway and Sarita Choudhury played my mother. Her  Mississippi Masala was the first time I had seen an Indian face in an American movie. We always work in the footsteps of our ancestors. What I’m doing will help an Indian actress 10 years form now. There are lots of Indian faces on television these days. There’s Parminder Nagra( E.R.), Sendhil Ramamurthy( Heroes). I have a good friend called Zahf Paroo, who’s in an upcoming show called  Defying Gravity on ABC. There seem to be more interesting character parts for men, though.

Why?
RS: Indian women easily fit into roles requiring ethnicity and exoticism. Men seem to find roles that are less ethnic and stereotypical. But Divya Katdare’s character is based on one of the writers’ best friends from college so the role was specifically written for a smart Indian woman. I think it’s getting better.
The role I have in Royal Pains is not very common. The family is (made up of) wealthy, attractive smart people. They don’t fall into the stereotypes of an Indian family. I hope that it continues and manifests in more roles and leads to better roles. I am proud of being Indian but I don’t want to get roles because of that.
Divya Katdare has gone to business school. She is a different kind of girl.  I think it is changing, slowly and we are the ones who are doing it.

How is the show doing?
RS: We are doing well. Our pilot was highly rated. Our ratings actually increased the second week and kept going up.

Has the show been picked up for next year?
RS: I don’t know. We are still filming. The cast and the crew are one of the best I’ve ever worked with. I loved every single person on the show. It is an absolute honor and delight to go to work every day.

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Tanya with "Waiting for him"

It is a nondescript salon tucked away in a strip mall on the long stretch of El Camino Real. You may have even passed it on your way to the various Indian restaurants that litter the Mountain View/Sunnyvale corridor. Inside, stations are set up for manicures, pedicures and haircuts, just your everyday beauty parlor offerings.

But just a glance at the walls will tell you that this is no ordinary shop. One wall has a cubist rendering of a reclining woman. On another, the liquid eyes of a young couple stare out from a pair of paintings. An easel on the corner has a painting embellished in gold flakes.

This is the Spoil-Me Salon, home to artist Tanya Momi whose nimble fingers are equally adept at threading eyebrows and wielding the paintbrush. Hers is a remarkable story.  Born to an intellectual family in Chandigarh, the shy Tanya found expression in art, showing an early talent. She did her studies in the field and participated in several competitions, winning prizes and acclaim. She became a docent at the Chandigarh art gallery, happy to spend her leisure surrounded by the works of masters.

"Wounded"

Her family found her a match in the US and that’s when the long nightmare began. Rigid and orthodox, her in-laws refused to allow her to pursue her passion, treating her like an “educated maid”, in Tanya’s own words. She took on the role of a dutiful wife and mother, sublimating her passion and desires for nearly 2 dozen years. She was not allowed to make friends, to drive or to step out of the house to shop. After several years a kind neighbor suggested to her that she might want to take a short course and become a manicurist. When the in-laws were convinced that she could bring in a decent income, they consented. Tanya jumped at the opportunity. “Painting is painting,” she reasoned. “So what if it is on nails instead of canvases.” Soon she had a huge list of clients among whom she made many dear friends.

When the evidence of abuse at home became evident, her friends gave her the courage to break out of her prison. With the help and support of friends and parents, Tanya finally separated from her abusive relationship and started out on her own. Clients donated easels and paints and encouraged her to go back to her first love, painting.

"Circle of Trust"

The Spoil-Me Salon is in the process of renovation, but I took a tour of Tanya’s works, currently stored in an anteroom at the salon. The repressed passion of 2 decades bursts out of every painting. Vivid and earthy, each painting has a message. After her divorce, Tanya was shunned by the women of her own community and propositioned by the men and the pain of those encounters is captured on many canvases. A beautiful one called “Circle of trust” is a poignant reminder of the support that only women can give other women. An extra long canvas called “Everytown and Country Therapy Sessions” questions why therapy should not be more easily available for the many wounded souls our modern lifestyle creates. Many paintings display cherished passages from the Guru Granth Sahib, whose inclusive messages are a balm to Tanya’s heart.

Tanya at work

It’s been only 2 years since Tanya resumed painting, but she has over 200 paintings to show for it. She works like a woman possessed, sometimes painting up to 8 hours a day till her fingers cramp. She experiments with many styles from cubism to impressionism to portraits on commission. Her paintings have been featured in many international tours. One set of paintings is currently traveling with Amnesty International’s Stop Violence Against Women Art Exhibit.

Tanya Momi rebuilt her life after a traumatic marriage and divorce and in her own quiet way she helps other women do the same. “Women come into my life through the salon,” she says. “They are like the missing puzzle pieces of my life.” Through her work in the salon and her paintings she reaches out to offer comforting messages of hope and renewal. This Muy Thai kickboxing enthusiast has a full plate – working full time, painting full time and enjoying every moment of her busy life. “Don’t complain,don’t explain, just do something,” says the irrepressible Tanya Momi.

More information on Tanya can be found at www.tanyamomi.com. She would love to be contacted at tanya.momi@yahoo.com. And do step in Spoil-Me Salon if you feel the need for a little pampering.

Tanya will also feature in a panel discussion in a segment  on “Following Your Bliss” organized by Narika in a South Asian Women’s Conference on March 21st, 2009.

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He is a quiet phenomenon. Dya Singh may not be part of the spiritual mainstream yet, but the jovial singer attracts capacity crowds as he makes his way around the world, singing shabads, kirtans, bhajans and semi-classical film songs with the underlying purpose of spreading truth and goodness. The message is simple, the delivery full of joy and music.

I attended a special performance by Dya Singh and his multi-ethnic troupe at the Sunnyvale Temple last week. Accompanying him were his daughter Parvyn and three of his finest musicians – Dheeraj Shrestha, Andrew Clermont and Josh Bennett.  Even with such a small entourage, through sheer strength of talent and creativity, the evening was rich with both musical substance and spiritual feeling. The songs ranged from a multi-religious chant( the audience provided the choruses of “Hare Ram” and “Allahu Akbar”) and a fiery, improvised version of Man Tarpat Hari Darshan Ko Aaj that had us clapping several times through the performance. The solo riffs by the talented accompanists were breath-taking as they switched between the didgeridoo and the mandolin, dilruba and guitar. Parvyn’s pure voice provided a haunting harmony to the powerful vocals of Dya Singh.
I chatted with the singer a few minutes before the show began to find out a little more about what makes this energizing personality tick.
Your father was a big influence on you. I read that he was part of a Sikh ministry in Malaysia.
DS:Well, the word is minstrel. Minstrel to me means a musical preacher who is on the movie. The Malaysian Sikh community hired my father, Giani Harchand Singh Bassian to come and become the preacher in the community. In Malaysia there are 147 gurudwaras as the community goes back to about 1890. The Sikhs came as a police force for the British. They loved the weather and decided to settle there.

How do you maintain the Sikh identity after 5 generations in a foreign country?
DS:The reason why we were able to do it was because we didn’t have the external pressures that we have in western countries. Malaysia being a Muslim country, we were not heavily influenced by television, radio, etc. Also because of people like my father, there was a lot of influence on the younger children. Our parents were very dedicated, pious people and they made sure we had the right influences in our lives.

Is it easier to maintain the culture in Sikhism, rather than, say Hinduism?

DS:Not necessarily. I would say it is harder because you have an external identity to worry about. Once you are proud of what you are, once it is an identity you relate to, it is not difficult.

What is the guiding principle of Sikhism?

DS:I think the big principle is what we have on our tee-shirt. ( If you don’t see God in all, you don’t see God at all). That has become my biggest motivation. You must be able to see God in everyone. If you can’t do that, that creates a problem. If you can preserve your identity, but at the same time accept every other identity as equal to yours, that is the heart of our philosophy. That has been the saving grace of Sikhism.

Don’t forget that in our scriptures, we have over thirty sages writing in our Sri Guru Granth Sahib who were both Hindu and Muslim. And high caste and low caste. Our Guru Sahibs accepted whatever writing was true to the spirit of Sikhism. We bow to the Guru Granth Sahib. That means we accept every faith, every thought, as long as it is in the pursuit of truth.

How did you distill your message over the years?

DS:I think that the simple answer is that I have 3 daughters of my own and I am bringing them up in western countries. I wanted to communicate what I learned from my parents across to the younger generation at a time when they were under a tremendous amount of societal pressure. I wanted to put it across in a way that made sense to them. So in the process of teaching them, it became a mission that this was something I could do for other youngsters as well. And the medium is music.
But the music( shabads and kirtans) has a language barrier. How do you overcome that?
DS(laughing):Amazingly enough, music is the one tool that does not have a language barrier. The strength is the music, not what I am saying. Take the word mantra. Mantra means magic. It is like a magic potion. They know I am singing about goodness and truth and it is coming from the heart. Our first concert in the US was in the university in Chico. The 500 seat auditorium was packed with Americans and I started singing gurbani. All I do(in my performances) is say one or two lines in the beginning of each song to explain what it is all about – then I invite the audience to jump on the vehicle and go. Music has that power. That is the reason the Guru Granth Sahib is set to music.

I was not aware of that.
DS:All Guru Nanak did was sing. He had two followers – one was Mardana, a Muslim and the other was Bala, a Hindu and they sat under a tree and started singing. That’s what he did all his life. I am doing the same thing, 500 years later.

There are no discourses, just music?
DS:No. Sometimes if I am moved, I try to explain in the middle of a song. If I feel like it, just spontaneously, I’ll stop and talk about what I am singing.

You experiment a lot with the music. Are the lyrics pure to the original gurbani?
DS:They are very important. One stipulation from our 'Gurus' that is upon us when we sing gurbani is that it must be pure, because that is the mantra. I also sing old Hindi songs and bhajans.

There is a lot of classical influence in the music. I was not under the impression that gurbani had such a classical element to it.
DS:The Sri Guru Granth Sahib is written in 31 ragas with 66 variations. It is set to music. Gurbani is written to ragas! Unfortunately, we don’t have the level of musicians that can produce the depth that is required to render gurbani. The final destination for me is to present the simple 31 gurbani shabads in the 31 ragas they were written. And I want to do it in a modern way. The raga should not take over the shabad.

Does it keep evolving?
DS:It cannot be static. As time goes on, the instrumentation evolves as well. How are you going to connect with the younger generation if you do not evolve with them? I tell my musicians that I am not interested in the purity of the raga; I am interested in their spirit showing in the music they play. To me there is no such thing as a wrong note.

How successful have you been in your original mission, to communicate your message to your own children?

DS:The reflection of the communication that I have done with my children is reflected in my grandchildren. My grandchildren sit with me and sing. My greatest joy is when they want to join me on stage to sing. The other important thing to me, at the end of the day, is that the outward signs of faith are less important than what they feel inside. That is what I have been able to achieve with my children.

What do you do in the youth camps you hold frequently?

DS:Exactly what I do with my kids. We held a youth camp recently in Sacramento. We sat down and recited the Mool Mantra in Raga Bilaval. The kids enjoyed themselves. We did the scales and the parents sat there with their mouths open, unable to believe that their kids could sit for so long and sing in a gurudwara. It is the attraction of the music.

What is the significance of gurbani to non-Sikhs?

DS:The message is universal. Gurbani is really the message. I’ll tell you the main things that gurbani says – love thy neighbor, always go for truth, do naam simran( meditation), make sure you eat the right things, make sure you do not drink the wrong things.

That sounds like common sense.

DS:That is all it is. It is the job of Sikhs to keep dishing it out to everyone. It is like the Vedas or Puranas. It is advice for us to lead good lives. Just like the Vedas and Puranas are applicable to the whole world, so is gurbani.

Is spreading the message an important tenet of Sikhism?

DS:Yes it is. It is very important because you want to spread goodness throughout the planet. There is a lot of evil in this planet, so spread goodness. Do not proselytize, just spread the word – Truth. Nanak said – ‘Truth is the highest virtue. Higher still is truthful living’

There have been Americans who have converted to Sikhism.
DS:Yes, Yogi Bhajan is one of the well known Sikhs in the west. I think being a Sikh is a status symbol as well. Youngsters want to be different, find some meaning. The image of a Sikh, dressed in all his resplendent glory, is something unique. Where Yogi Bhajan was concerned, he advocated vegetarianism, he was a very strict follower of Sikhism. So much so that he is a shining example to us now. His followers live such a pure life, it is a model for us.

I asked him why his name was spelt Dya when the usual spelling is Daya. "According to me, Daya is a male midwife," jokes Dya Singh. "I'd rather be merciful than a midwife."

More info about Dya SIngh and CDs for purchase can be found at his website, http://dyasinghworldmusicgroup.com.

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Her grandmother is Indian; grandfather Jamaican. Her father is Italian/Caucasian. No prizes for guessing who she’s supporting in this year’s Presidential elections in the US.

23-year old Meena Harris is part of Generation Obama, a media and technology-savvy group of young people who are changing the dynamics of politics and political campaigning in this country.

A graduate in American Studies and Political Science from Stanford, Meena currently works for an internet startup in the valley. She has also been actively involved in the Obama campaign, starting with GOTV( get out the vote) and voter registration efforts in New Hampshire and other early primary states.

“Before New Hampshire, I had helped out in local campaigns, but this was my first experience with national politics,” says Meena. “ It was exciting to see first hand how the process operates.”  She trudged for miles in rural New Hampshire, in the freezing January cold, covering long distances between houses. “It was amazing how many people really wanted to listen to what I had to say. Some would invite me into their homes to talk to them.”

Senator Obama narrowly lost the New Hampshire and Meena came back to work on the California primary.

Meena, who participated in political campaigns on the Stanford campus, was invited by friends to volunteer for the Obama campaign. “It is a pretty close knit community,” she says. “It was easy to get involved.” Did she ever consider working for Senator Clinton’s campaign? “Never,” she says emphatically. Her reasons echo the sentiments of youngsters around the country. “The campaign has become a movement of young people, people who have in the past felt betrayed by the political process. It is also a grassroots campaign, which makes us feel like we are making a real difference. Obama has given young people the opportunity to seize the political process and run with it.That will make a big difference going forward.”

On the eve of the California primary, Meena and her friends went around putting up fliers on college campuses. After they wound up at midnight, most slept in their cars outside the campaign office. The next morning, the campaign staff and volunteers filled up every corner showing support for their candidate and urging passersby and motorists to go vote. “There were high school students with signs made by their parents,” remembers Meena. “They had decided to give up two hours of sleep before their classes to volunteer.”

Senator Obama lost the California primary as well. Wasn’t it demoralizing? “Not at all,” says the optimistic Meena. “These are just minor speed bumps. It makes the ultimate goal all the more rewarding. We did win our district.”

For the Presidential election, Meena is the go-to person in Silicon Valley for small fundraisers held by individuals. She provides support in the form of information and advice. “I make sure donations are received properly, that people know what they are supposed to do and how they should do it.”

California does not appear to be a battleground state this time around and in a way Meena’s job reflects the state’s role in the campaign. “Fundraisers are how California contributes to the campaign.”

Meena has met Senator Obama a few times. “He is personable and charming, remembers people’s names and looks like he is listening intently.”  In other words, a good politician! “One key problem he has is that people don’t know enough about him. The Indian community should see that because of his experiences, he has a global perspective. Between now and November, he will reach out to the minority groups so they can learn more.”

I mention that the polls reflect a closer race than one would have thought. “I don’t trust polls,” says Meena. “The primaries have shown that record turnouts are possible. Many of my friends are in traditionally red states, working to turn them blue. We are doing so much better that democratic nominees usually do in these Republican states.” She has yet to meet anyone of her generation who is involved with the McCain campaign.

Meena Harris is cheerful, energetic, optimistic and hard-working. If she is a representative of Generation O, all one can say to Senator McCain is “You better watch out, you better not cry…..”

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For Hindus, the single syllable “OM”, repeated the right way, represents the creation of the universe and the sum of all existence. Om is a mantra, a hymn( shloka) or phrase that is supposed to raise consciousness when recited over and over. Mantras have power and meaning independent of the understanding of the person chanting them if chanted the right way, so say the scriptures. Nina Patel has experienced this for herself.

A management professional working in the field of public relations, Nina found the need for comfort during a transitional period in her life when she moved to Houston after an arranged marriage. As a child, she had learnt mantras from her grandmother when visiting India. In Houston, she found herself chanting those shlokas to help her through a period of adjustment. “Unlike meditation, there is no need to find a quiet place and free time to recite mantras. I even chanted mantras throughout the birth of my second child,” says Nina.

Then Nina’s grandmother in India passed away and Nina felt tremendous sorrow and regret that her children had not had a chance to meet the wonderful woman who had been such a source of inspiration to her. When her father went to India for the funeral ceremonies, Nina asked for her grandmother’s chanting beads. Using them to continue her chanting brought her some measure of peace. She began teaching her children the mantras she had learnt and soon found a significant difference in their attitudes and emotions. The mantras helped her children to calm down and become more reflective.

“When I chanted with my grandmother’s beads I felt I was receiving a message from her that I should create a Mantra CD,” says Nina. She started researching the science behind chanting mantras and found a specialist named Thomas Ashley-Farrand. Unlike the Hindu priests she first met, he was able to communicate the meaning and science of mantras and the difference it makes to the body in a simple way in English.

“Once I vocalized my desire to make the CD to the universe it all came together,” says Nina. “It only took 9 months from an idea to a complete CD. I started working with one of the most famous mantra experts who happened to live in Houston named Chandrakantha Courtney. I explained to her that I wanted to introduce some fusion elements and make it accessible to kids. I used a royalty-free website from Norway which has beautiful Indian fusion music and had Chandrakantha do the background singing for the chants.”

The result is a lovely CD with many of the well-known mantras in melodious versions. Here is a sample.
[mp3]mantra.mp3[/mp3]
Since the enunciation and pronunciation of the mantras are paramount, Nina collaborated with Chandrakantha to make sure she got it right. “Being a Sanskrit expert, she made sure I was true to the legacy of mantras and maintained their integrity. I have just put a 21st century twist to them,” adds Nina.

Nina has left her mainstream job and now devotes herself to the cause of promoting mantras. Her CD has received terrific responses, especially from non-Indian kids. Nina herself teaches mantras to kids on weekends.

The Mantra CD is called Mantras for my children..and yours. Another CD aimed at mothers is in the works. “I am researching specific mantras and affirmations for mothers,” says Nina. Surprisingly, help and support is more forthcoming from non-Indians. “It is almost a dying art for Indians,” regrets Nina. “There is so much more interest in the Western community. Are we losing our traditions?”

The CD is currently available on Nina’s website. From August 3rd onwards, the CD will be available for purchase on Amazon and Target.com via Cdbaby.  As Nina puts it, “This way, I can focus more on PR and marketing (you know, the fun stuff) and less time stuffing CDs in the middle of the night.”
The CD, which costs 14.99 on Nina’s website now, will be sold at these new distributors from $15.98-18.98 + tax and shipping, if applicable. 10% of the CD profits will continue to go towards Vibha, a non-profit organization helping kids in India.

If you purchase the CD right away, Nina can include a gift card with a message if your CD is a gift for someone and sign the CD. Just make a note during the paypal payment process or email her at nina@mantramom.com with your special instructions.  

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College in India is something that would never enter the mind of an Indian American. Because really, that’s why our parents moved to the States, (besides the whole ‘chasing the American dream’, that is). My parents moved to California for that, well that and the great weather in Sunny San Diego. The thought of college in India sounded twisted to me; it was like some sort of joke that just wasn’t funny at all. When my Dad drove me out to the Integrated Institute of Learning Management in Delhi I remember just thinking about the my situation in total disillusionment and disbelief. I kept telling myself that it wasn’t happening, that I was going to go back to the States and finish my degree, that my parents were just tricking me trying to see how hard they could push me into saying that I wanted to stay.

First day at IILM was interesting. It was sweltering hot, but my Von Zippers made things a little easier. I was introduced to the practice of ‘ragging,’ a concept illegal in the United States of America, and other ‘developed’ nations. On day one a girl (aka sidey) and her sidekick (for my purposes, chokra) walked up and asked me to ask a guy to marry me. I did so, accommodatingly because really, what do I have to lose? I don’t know these people, I don’t want to know them, and I hopefully will never have to see them ever again in life.

On day two, this wannabe cool Delhi dude (we’ll call him Gunda da Delhi) started the interview process. First question: What are you? I’m sorry but when you say ‘what are you’ I usually say a girl, because that’s the most natural answer right? They’re actually referring to your ‘family’ to know your heritage and thus define you by something. Next: Your name, your address in America (?) your blood type (???) and then to top it all, sing a song – in Hindi. Being the Bollywood buff that I am, I envisioned an immortal scene from a monumental movie. Remember when Rani aka Tina sang ‘Om Jai Jagdish’ to SRK aka Rahul? Oh yeh, I totally did that, so really I like to think that I totally got him back by doing it because he didn’t even get it. I also remember getting picked up by my parents 5 minutes later and having tears in my eyes that my Von Zippers were hiding. That was hideous; I was not supposed to ever be subject to such humiliation, but the fact remains that it did happen- I never told my parents or anyone else what happened that day, they had enough to deal with thanks to my unbearable attitude.

From then on I treated IILM as a place that I went to in order to get my Dad’s money’s worth and get an education. I tried really hard to associate myself with the other kids that went there. But I couldn’t. They’d converse in Hindi, yet dress western. They didn’t understand the concept of plagiarism, and most couldn’t form a proper sentence on their own. These kids were the rich Delhi businessmen/politician kids, who, quite frankly, knew nothing about life or the real world. They got allowances, Dad bought them new cell phones monthly, and they were always taken care of.  Dad and Mom gave them everything they want; they had their own cars, and treat life as a (always fun) game. They ‘bunked’ classes and did not get reprimanded. On final exam days I would see faces of people that had never come to a single class (this I know because I attended classes regularly- a little too regularly.)

I’ve come a long way from that time though. I think I was the female version of Amitabh Bachan’s ‘Angry Young Man.’ I hated the house help (primarily because there was another person IN OUR HOUSE- that’s a concept that is totally foreign to us Americans) I couldn’t stand the men staring and constantly resorted to wearing high neck, loose fitting tops and pants- even in the Delhi heat, refused to speak in Hindi (just to prove that I could speak English?) These are the things that happened, and at some point you realize how stupid you are being, and turn the attitude off.

At some point you realize that you’ve been given an opportunity to do a few things that not a lot of people get to do. I’ve been able to spend quality time with my grandparents- and look at them as more than just old people- I’ve learned about their likes and dislikes, which a few years down the line I know I’m going to appreciate. I’ve been able to visit some beautiful places in India like Coorg, whose beauty remains understated. I’ve learnt that if you’re given the opportunity to live here- you should embrace the situation whole heartedly- don’t try to convince yourself that you’re being punished, this is one of the greatest gifts you’re ever going to get, and it’s better to enjoy it and make the most of it, because in a few years from now you’ll regret not taking advantage of all that this beautiful place has to offer.

As you may have guessed, Isheeta Sanghi recently relocated from San Diego to New Delhi and writes for WNI about the challenges of transition. 

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Manjula Gupta is no stranger to philanthropy. Once a software entrepreneur in the valley, she became involved with the American India Foundation (AIF) in its nascent years. As a volunteer Chair for the India Community Center, she worked to bring the community together by starting programs such as the weekly karaoke club. In the course of her varied experiences, she tapped into the rich vein of philanthropy that runs through the successful Indian American community in the Bay Area. “There are so many Indian Americans doing amazing work,” she says. “I found that there was a need to give them a platform.”
When the mayor of Milpitas approached her to start a community based program, she found her calling. “Chai with Manjula”, a TV show focusing on Indian American good Samaritans, now airs in 11 cities throughout the area.( More cities are being added.)

The format is simple. Manjula invites local philanthropists and members of non-profit organizations to come and do a free-form interview on her show. Over a cup of tea, her guests talk about their organization and its goals. This gives the charities the exposure they need to highlight their cause. The show creates archived footage that the charities can use for publicity and promotion at other times.

Every aspect of “Chai…” is produced by Manjula  – from the editing to the sound mixing to titles to music composition. She has taught herself the various aspects of TV production and uses the Comcast studio in Milpitas.

One of her first shows was about the Sangati Center, a nonprofit community center focused on providing an intimate venue for un-amplified performances of Indian classical music. After the show aired and the footage was posted on the website, Sangati Center’s event posted a record turnout.  “It was a gratifying feeling to be able to help,” says Manjula.

“This is probably the only show of its kind for the community,” says Manjula. “The Indian American community is known for its professional success but we are also a community that gives back in so many different ways. Just like our reach, our responsibilities are also global. My show is about documenting this legacy for the future generations.”

Manjula’s latest project is “Sing for a Cause.” She organizes music parties at her home or other locations where a cause is highlighted. Guests are under no pressure to donate. It is just a forum to learn about worthy charities and listen to pleasant music performed by accomplished local artists. The first such event, organized on June 7th was a huge success. Over a 100 guests attended the invitation-only event. More than 20 singers, including some of the top Bay Area artists participated, and the cause promoted was the Sankara Eye Foundation.

Another initiative in the works is “Pick a Cause” an annual event starting early next year.  Several organizations representing worthy causes are to be invited and featured under one roof, enabling guests to learn about a wide range of initiatives, and pick a cause that they would like to support.

Come and have “Chai with Manjula”  one of these days. The show airs on Public Access Television. Here is the schedule in your city. Archived shows can be seen here.

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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.

“When I uploaded my songs to YouTube, I was suddenly discovered by strangers,” says Sheena. YouTube has been responsible for the discovery of singers like Mia Rose and Esmee Denters, with the latter now being offered a contract with Justin Timberlake. Will the medium take Sheena to such dizzying heights? Here is an original song by the talented singer.

“You have an amazing voice” goes one comment. “and such amazing talent… You are great. Keep up the good work… I will be looking for your album in stores… ”.

A song recorded in Japanese prompted the following comment – "OK! Let's break this down Sheena!! You are not only gorgeous, you sing, play the piano, you seem to be a very pleasant individual. Most people would settle for that but you have to raise the bar by singing in another language. Are there any limits to your talents?? How do we mere mortals compete?? Lol…"

“The power of the internet is amazing,” says Sheena, “I just didn’t give it enough credit.” Within days she had a steady listenership and a fan offered to set up a website for her. “I don’t want to diminish the work involved,” insists Sheena. “When we found people were responding positively to my songs, we started sending emails asking people to spread the word. Sometimes we would be working the emails a couple of hours every day.”

Sheena set up a MySpace account for her music. She also started broadcasting live on Yahoo! Live 3 times a week. She has fans that log in every single time. “They may have jobs or homework but they are there every night. I have such close relationships with people I have never met.”

Many of Sheena’s fans are young girls and Sheena is very conscious of the fact. “I would never wear immodest clothes, use inappropriate language, wear sleazy make-up,” says Sheena. “The message I want to send is that it is possible to be cool and hip and pursue your dreams without disrespecting yourself.”

Her internet outreach has brought her very close to recording a CD in New York. She is also looking into making her original songs available for download on ITunes soon. Meanwhile, “this is my ideal job, I’m singing every day. If this is the end, fine. If I can go ahead, then great. I don’t have to make any sacrifices, compromises that I don’t want to. I’m already having the time of my life.”

Sheena’s music can be found on Youtube. Her MySpace page features all her original songs. Her live show plays at 5:30pm PST / 8:30pm EST every Wed/Fri/Sun at:http://www.live.yahoo.com/Sheenatv. To keep track of all her new music, she offers a facility to subscribe to her newsletter at her website.

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“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.

“I’ve been rapping with my friends since I was 12 or 13,” says Ajaxxx. “But it was in high school that I decided to take it seriously.” He entered a radio contest called “Open Mic” where phone-in callers were given a beat and asked to come up with rap lyrics on the spot. He won the contest 5 times and decided to pursue the genre as a possible career. Many rappers consider themselves poets and with good reason. Rapping, which occupies a gray area between speech and song, is one of the few musical genres that developed as a way of expressing cultural angst and is much more lyric driven than other genres.

The beat provides the base for the message and the composition of the song begins with producing the beat. Here’s how Ajaxxx puts it- “Usually I have a concept in mind. I take it to the producer and ask them to give me a beat to match the feeling. We work out several iterations of the beat till it mirrors the feeling or concept I have in mind. The beat then gives me the inspiration for the lyrics.” The song is then recorded then ‘mixed down’ which is to get the vocals cleaned up by a sound engineer who might also add some effects to give the number some pop.

Ajaxxx raps about a variety of subjects. Sometimes it is the stuff of mainstream music, of heartbreak and recovery, but the medium can also be a powerful way to convey a message to youngsters tuned out from parental haranguing. “And sometimes I just like to have fun,” he says with a laugh. “Rap music is an outlet to express myself,” he adds. “I want my songs to make people think.”

One such meaningful number is “Walk with you” a song about the aftermath of violence. In 2006, Ajaxxx decided to enter a contest called “Rap Against Violence.” Recent school shootings had shaken the country. “I kept thinking about how the real victims were the friends and the family who were left behind,” he says, “and I wrote my lyrics to reflect that feeling.” His friend and music producer TyPeNyCe provided the beat. "Walk With You" was picked as one of the ten winners of the contest.

Despite becoming fairly well known in his corner of the hip-hop scene, Ajaxxx continues to keep his day job as a graphic designer and web designer. As an independent artist, financial success is slow to come by. But he is super confident. “I know I have a voice and I want people to hear my story.” In the meantime, the internet is his best friend. He sends out email blasts for promos, posts on various forums and distributes a couple of CDs worth of downloads free on his site.

Ajaxxx has an ambitious plan of releasing 4 new CDs this year with one of theme featuring Indian beats and instrumentation. Meanwhile his brand of rap with "Dirty South" influences (music from southern US states like Florida, Tennessee and Georgia) and the Indian flavor from his heritage is as he says, “dominating.”

Here’s a link to the award winning song “Walk with you” and part of the lyrics.

Walk With You

VERSE I
It came to me, when my brother started to cry
I seen him sitting in the corner like he wanted to die
He told me of the pain that he saw in his eyes
And that if you pull the trigger, you take more than a life
If one person dies, it affects a whole family
A parent loses a child, to a senseless tragedy
A brother or sister, has to witness a calamity
And what was once love, now has turned into the saddest scene
And yo, it saddens me…and I don’t get it
Someone died, and this could have been prevented?
A life is gone, and although you’re in heaven
I can’t seem to breathe and it’s hard to accept it
My friend is long gone, and my soul’s grieving
My friend is long gone, and all for no reason
It’s so heated, so if you’re hearing this
Please put yours guns down…it ain’t worth it…I’m serious

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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.
Once an accomplished Bharatnatyam dancer, Raghu was often jeered by his classmates at college for having a rather ‘feminine’ accomplishment to his credit. “It triggered a need in me to learn a rock song and perform it,” laughs Raghu. He did it and was hooked to the joys of letting his emotions out through song. When he moved to Bangalore in search of a job, he left dance behind and started a band called Antaragni. When that disbanded a few years later he decided to go solo, collaborating with different musicians at different times, keeping his sound fresh and dynamic.

“I am a self-taught musician,” admits Raghu. “I cannot read or write music. When I compose a tune I usually record it on my cell phone” Often ideas come at night and since he cannot write his songs down “the test is if I remember it in the morning! If I can’t the song was worth forgetting anyway.”

It has been a 10 year long journey to his first album. After college, Raghu started off as a technical writer for a pharma company. He quit it to pursue a musical career but soon found himself without any visible means of support. He rejoined a software company and rode out a stock option vesting period to give himself the capital to try the music business again.

He invested in a music studio and started recording ad jingles. Once that started generating some revenue, he quit his job and concentrated on music full time.

“I have never had any problems getting gigs to play at events and shows,” he says. “But getting a recording contract is a completely different matter.” He made many trips to Mumbai to meet labels but came away disappointed. (In fact, one of his songs, In Mumbai, voices some his frustration with the city and its culture). “My music is not synthesized and has a live feel to it, which record labels don’t recognize or trust.”

He caught a break when one of his friends put him in touch with Vishal/Shekhar, the composing duo that has been responsible for many hip Bollywood hits like “Right here, right now” from Bluffmaster and “Dard-e-disco” from Om Shanti Om. “I thought I could get a job as a playback singer for them so I went to Bombay to audition,” reminisces Raghu, “and sang one of my own songs.” Bowled over by the new sound, Vishal and Shekhar decided to promote and distribute the struggling singer’s home-made album.

“They sent it around to their friends in the movie industry and amazingly, some of them actually listened to it,” says Raghu humbly. Stars like Priyanka Chopra and Sunjay Dutt were so impressed they decided to endorse the album. Music videos were shot for some of the songs from the album and got favorable plays on MTV. The Raghu Dixit project had arrived.

The singer remains grounded and self-effacing despite his growing popularity. I asked him if he had any advice for aspiring musicians, having gone through a long period of struggle before getting recognized.

“In some ways it is easier for singers these days,” says Raghu, speaking from his home in Bangalore, “because of the number of reality shows that give them the opportunity to have a public display of their talent.” His brother Vasu made it as a singer in just two years. “People can actually consider having music as a career.”

But he is not certain that the same can be said about the future of Indipop. “Bollywood music has become so much better, so cool. There is less of a market for the imitator when the original itself is so hip. I am so grateful that my music has been validated in such a competitive environment.”

To budding artists he says, “don’t quit your day job, but keep trying. Don’t force destiny; if it is meant to happen, it will.”

Check out samples from the new album here. The songs are wonderfully melodious, full of life and because they come from the untrained and simple soul of the singer, are eminently singable.

Unfortunately, the album itself is available only in select stores in Mumbai and Bangalore. “Distribution is our main challenge and Itunes does not allow music from labels exclusively based in India,” says Raghu. The album is worth picking up on your next trip to India, though.  It is also available online at musicyogi.com.

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