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Colors, products, and cultural heritage from across India mesmerized Bay Area residents at a vibrant celebration of Indian State Formation Day, hosted by the Consul General of San Francisco, Dr. K. Srikar Reddy, on November 22 at the India Community Center, California. The event brought together the Indian American community and showcased the rich diversity of India’s states and union territories.
To strengthen the connection between India and its diaspora abroad, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited Indians residing abroad to participate in the ‘Bharat Ko Janiye’ quiz.
Reacting to renaming the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library to Prime Minister’s Memorial and Museum, the All-India Congress Committee said the following: ‘Mr. Modi possesses a huge bundle of fears, complexes, and insecurities, especially regarding our first and longest-serving Prime Minister. He has had a single-point agenda of denying, distorting, defaming, and destroying Nehru and the Nehruvian legacy… But he can never take away Nehru’s gigantic contributions to the freedom movement and his towering achievements in building the democratic, secular, scientific, and liberal foundations of the Indian nation-state, all of which are now under assault by Mr. Modi and his drumbeaters.”
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi jointly launched the 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention website on Tuesday, November 12. The 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is scheduled to be held in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, from January 8-10. At the website launch program, Jaishankar said that the government accords the highest priority to the well-being of the more than 35 million Indian diaspora.
Several Indian-American artists have received nominations for the 67th Grammy Awards. The prestigious event will take place at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, on February 2, 2025.
The nominees of Indian-American and Indian heritage are Ricky Kej, Anoushka Shankar, Chandrika Tandon,Varijashree Venugopal, Radhika Vekaria, and Noshir Mody.
Drishtee Foundation USA, a non-profit organization that enables village women entrepreneurs by helping them develop and implement sustainable business models, brought in other successful non-profits and people supporting women to San Ramon in California on October 16, where they shared their work, the challenges they face, and what more needs to be done.
The host, Niharika Srivastav, president of Drishtee Foundation USA, a subsidiary of Drishtee India, who for the past four years was volunteering and is now fully dedicated in supporting rural women in India, highlighted about Drishtee and how it has helped 6,500 villages in the past 25 years in the country.
With Diwali around the corner, the Indian diaspora is gearing up for celebrations and a string of fun events are being organized. The Indian American community members gathered in large numbers for festivities at Times Square in New York.
The fifth annual South Asian Literature and Arts Festival (SALA) with a theme ‘Plurality in community’ began with resounding applause at the Bechtel Conference Center, the historic Encina Hall at the renowned Stanford University, Palo Alto, California.
Held this year on September 28 through 29, SALA’s two-day festival, for the past five years allows artists, activists, poets, authors, scholars, and literature enthusiasts to exchange open thoughts.
Here is some good news for film enthusiasts, 3rd i’s 22nd annual SF International South Asian Film Festival – Beyond Bollywood will bring cinema from India, Pakistan, France, the UK, Canada, and the USA to the Roxie Theater in San Francisco from October 18-20.
More than 8,000 miles separate the small, impoverished village where Vinodhini Duraisamy grew up and the Bay Area where she lives now.
It is a distance so vast, geographically and culturally, that her father, a weaver who struggled to support his family, didn’t want her to come.
“Do patan ke bich mein sabut bacha na koi” [Caught between two stones, no one survives].
With that couplet from Kabir, filmmaker Imtiaz Ali described the events surrounding the death of singer Chamkila. Ali, known for blockbuster movies like “Jab We Met,” “Highway,” “Tamasha,” and “Rockstar.” Ali was one of the keynote speakers at SALA 2024 in Stanford, California, where he talked to indica about his recent biopic, “Amar Singh Chamkila,” the Punjabi singer who was mysteriously killed.
Culture, traditions, and mental health are all at play at the upcoming South Asian Literature and Art Festival, SALA-2024, to be held at the Encina Commons at Stanford University, September 28-29.
The SALA committee (Art Forum SF) has partnered with the Stanford Center for South Asia to bring together the event that will feature contemporary South Asian Art collections, and panel discussions on art, literature, poetry, and cinema. With ‘Plurality in Community’ as its theme, the festival is celebrating its fifth year.
The much-awaited South Asian Literature and Art Festival, SALA-2024, returns to Northern California. The mega event is scheduled to take off soon at the Encina Commons, Stanford, California. The Bay Area festival will feature highly acclaimed contemporary South Asian Art collections, and panel discussions on Art, literature, poetry, and cinema. Authors and artists from across the globe will represent their experiences through keynotes, panels, and live presentations.
By Ritu Jha- Prime Minister Narendra Modi is back to address the Indian diaspora for the fourth time in the U.S. This time the event, dubbed “Modi&us, progress together,” is smaller than the Howdy Modi event held at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, in 2019, or the Ronald Regan Building meeting in Washington DC last […]
All India Movement (or AIM) for Seva, a registered non-profit organization, held their annual Donor Appreciation Gala on Saturday, September 7, at the Elizabeth Hangs Theater in Santa Clara Convention Center in California.
Many people associate the Ghadar Party with California, but this radical organization was actually formed at the Finnish Socialist Hall in Astoria, Oregon, in May 1913. Astoria is situated on the banks of the Columbia River, just before it merges with the Pacific Ocean. I visited this location twice this summer to learn more about the history of the Ghadar uprising.
With my keen interest in Punjabi migration across the world, I have read many books and articles on the Ghadar (revolution or rebellion) Party struggle. However, this book by Ms. Ogden is arguably the most comprehensive and best work on the genesis of the party. It thoroughly explores how the interplay between the U.S.’s denial of equal rights to migrant workers from British India and the abusive colonial rule by the British shaped the minds of ordinary laborers from Punjab. These laborers were influenced by radical intellectuals to wage a violent struggle to overthrow the British colonial subjugation.
GOPIO-Metro Washington hosted the 16th Annual Independence Day bilingual poetry session (Mushaira-Kavi Sammelan) at the Central Library in Arlington, Virginia, on Sunday, August 25. Dr. A. Abdulla, who inaugurated the event, emphasized the significance of celebrating the independence of the entire subcontinent.
While reflecting on the challenges that have persisted over time, he said, “Organizing such literary and cultural activities is like lighting small candles in our hearts, helping us appreciate our shared heritage, our Sanjhi Virasat. This appreciation and mutual respect are what make us human. True freedom lies in liberating ourselves from prejudices.”
As the 25th anniversary of the harrowing hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC 814 to Kandahar in Afghanistan from Kathmandu in Nepal approaches on December 24, a Netflix series about it is reopening old wounds and triggering political ferment.
Kamala, a short film that offers a fresh perspective on the life and journey of Vice President Kamala Harris is set to debut in theaters nationwide this October. Illumin8 Entertainment and Pizarro Creative announced the upcoming release of the short film, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
US diplomats including Minister-Counselor for Political Affairs Graham Mayer and First Secretary Gary Applegarth met National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah at his Gupkar residence in Srinagar on Monday, August 26.
The National Indo-American Museum (NIAM) is showcasing a collection of abstract paintings by Sam Pitroda, a renowned telecom genius, entrepreneur, and development thinker. This special exhibit will be open to the public from August 22, 2024, to November 3, 2024, with a special artist reception scheduled for September 29, 2024, from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM.
President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday extended their greetings on the auspicious festival of Krishna Janmashtami
On the evening of October 20, 2008, a grand Mushaira-cum-Kavi Sammelan in a function called ‘Eid Diwali Milan’ was held on the lawns of the Indian Supreme Court, which was inaugurated by the then Chief Justice of India, Hon’ble Mr. Justice K.G. Balkrishnan. Several Hon’ble Judges of the Supreme Court and Delhi High Court and a large number of lawyers and members of the Registry and others attended it, many with their families.
As many as 1,998 registrations have been issued for 184 product categories under the ‘India Handloom Brand’ for high-quality niche products with zero defects and zero effect on the environment since the launch of the scheme in August 2015, the Textiles Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
As the Democratic National Convention (DNC) is set to kick off in Chicago on Monday, August 19, several prominent figures, including Indian American actor Mindy Kaling, actor Kerry Washington, Nicaraguan-American strategist and commentator Ana Navarro, and actor-singer Tony Goldwyn, have been confirmed as hosts for the convention, The Hill reported, citing officials.
According to organizers who spoke with The Hill on Sunday, August 18, each celebrity will host one night of the four-day DNC in Chicago and help guide viewers through the programs both in the event hall and on television.
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