By Vidya Pradhan
Kiranjit Ahluwalia (see our ‘Provoked’ review) had had access to the people at Narika, perhaps the movie could have stayed in the realm of fiction. Unfortunately stories like hers are far too common and all we can do is be grateful that Narika and other such organizations are around to offer a helping hand to victims of domestic violence. Continue reading
It got me thinking. Research leads me to believe that ‘Radical Sabbaticals’ are not all that uncommon. Ordinary people leading ordinary lives realize that something essential was lost in the years of mind numbing routine. The rat race, the corporate ladder, running away from the stick, racing toward the carrot, whether you are a student or a full time parent or a professional, it can get daunting, frustrating and most of all boring. A certain complacency creeps into your life, you find yourself cutting corners, losing your edge, slowly burning out.
By Rohini Mohan
A slightly nasal but melodious voice follows me whenever I walk down memory lane; a security blanket that envelops me in its comforting embrace. Manna De, Asha, Talat, Hemant Kumar, Lata, Geeta Dutt, Rafi, Kishore- I grew up with all of them, but none made an impact as much as Mukesh, the man with the golden voice.
Let’s admit it – most of our knowledge of Indian mythology comes from Amar Chitra Kathas. And even here, 7000 miles away from home, most of us have a couple of those comics stashed away in our bookshelves. Indian books are our link to our childhood, a sometimes tenuous link with our culture that we would like to hold on to and pass on to our kids. Desi Knowledge, the brainchild of Monica Khosla, is one such company which aims to help us do just that. Continue reading
With the kind of Indian population we have in the Bay Area, I half-expect to hear the shehnai strains from Vividh Bharati when I turn the radio on during the morning commute. So it was with very pleasant surprise that I discovered ‘It’s Different’, a radio program that airs 6-9 a.m. on Wednesdays on the Stanford FM station KZSU 90.1.The dream family lives a dream life in a dream house but due to a major accident on the race track they are banished to a classic pokey New York one roomer in “cabbie alley”. The parents tell the kids that the whole “poverty” thing is not actually happening; it is part of a reality show to inspire them to “don’t worry and to be happy”. (an unhappy lift from ‘Life is beautiful’). What happens next is entirely predictable even to very young kids who have watched the Disney movie ‘Cars’.
By Rohini Mohan
Teena Arora, co-owner of CurrySutra, conducts cooking classes around the Bay Area, while educating her students on the wonders of vegetarian cooking and the health benefits of the Indian spice pantry. She has experience from the ground-up in the food business, having been hostess, waitress and manager/supervisor at her parent’s restaurant in the Midwest. Who says that the dhaba-esque flavors of Sarson Ka Saag and Makki Di Roti cannot tempt the tastebuds of the stereotypical meat and potatoes kinda guy? Hey, you can’t knock till you’ve tried it, right? Continue reading
Water, No Ice 