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.”
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.
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.
“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.
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.
United for Peace, Global Gandhi Youth Mission and HAnSA came together to organize a World Peace Art Project by children to promote the idea of non-violence and conflict resolution through a peaceful manner on August 24, 2024 in Palatine Library.
Over 33 children between ages 5 and 14 took part in the event.
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.
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 a politically divided nation celebrates the uniting values of freedom and liberty, the notion of pluralistic inclusive societies, has never been more relevant than any time in its history. While it is tempestuous to be swayed to the left or right of the liberty bell, it is vital to acknowledge that ultimately the gong rings the tone it is meant to produce in resonance with the greater good.
Looking for a purpose to the Met Gala fashions is like looking for a purpose to the universe. Just as merely to exist is the universe’s purpose, so for fashions at the gala. This year’s event was no different.
Internationally acclaimed Indian-origin author Amitav Ghosh has been awarded the 2024 Erasmus Prize, announced the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation on March 7.
The Fowler Museum at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has been running an exhibition titled ‘I Will Meet You Yet Again’ that showcases contemporary Sikh Art form. The exhibition was inaugurated January 28 will run until May 26, 2024, and has displayed more than 40 contemporary paintings, textiles, soundscapes, poetry, and digital media that highlight the Sikh understanding of “home.”
The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) announced its merger with the India Center Foundation (ICF) to promote visual storytelling on topics connected to the South Asian community. IFFLA and ICF aim to incubate and launch an industry development program to showcase the next generation of South Asian talent to studios, funders, and media executives. IFFLA’s 22nd film festival will be held on June 27-30, 2024.
Leela Dance Collective, the Los Angeles-based internationally-touring kathak dance company that combines classical dance from North India with contemporary influences, has collected a $1 million endowment fund for The Leela Foundation to support the future of kathak dance and Hindustani classical music in the United States.
Costume designer Sonu Mishra was nominated for two consecutive Primetime Emmys for her work in the hugely celebrated National Geographic series Genius Einstein and Genius Picasso respectively in 2017 and 2018.
An Indian American expert of South Asian and Islamic art has sued the Worcester Art Museum officials for allegedly subjecting her to racial discrimination and a hostile work environment. In her 64-page lawsuit, the petitioner has raised a number of accusations against the museum director, her supervisor, and four board members.
By Mayank Chhaya- If India sang only in two voices, they would be Mohammed Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar’s. While Mangeshkar has become one of the most celebrated symbols of the Indian nationhood, Rafi remains somewhat eclipsed notwithstanding his preternatural talent as a playback singer. That may have something to do with his death at the […]
Sanjeev Kumar, one of India’s most deftly accomplished actors, would have turned 85 today. By the time he died in November 1985 at 47, he was already regarded as a truly major figure of Hindi cinema whose range as an artist was remarkable. Perhaps unlike any other actor of his generation Kumar, who was born Harihar Jhariwala, exuded a lightness of touch and beguiling lack of effort in his performances.
The Gandhi Mandela King Conference was conducted by the University of Kwazulu Natal, Pietermaritzburg, from June 6-9, 2023. The event was in mark the 130th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s eviction from the First Class Compartment on June 7, 1893.
By Sonia Dhami- DENALI NATIONAL PARK Leaving Fairbanks, we are on the road to Denali National Park early, mounting anticipation of sighting the Big Five of Denali – Bear, Moose, Dall Sheep, Caribou and Wolves. During the 5-hour ride to Denali, we make a stop at the town of Nenana, well-timed with Alaska Railroad […]
By Sonia Dhami- Alaska with its vast Artic Tundra, magnificent glaciers, majestic snow-capped peaks, rugged forests teeming with wildlife had been on my travel list for eons. So, my husband & I booked ourselves (50+) and our parents (80+) into a guided tour of 7 days traveling through the vast wilderness from Fairbanks, Alaska’s largest […]
Unlock exclusive content and support real-time reporting at a special offer of just $120 $100/year.
