In 1986, in Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh, teenager Guddu and his five-year-old brother Saroo became separated when out to do some manual labor. The boys were from a poor, single-parent family, where mother Kamla would go off to work in construction and the older children would have to look after the younger ones. Tiny Saroo fell […]
Jai Ho in the General Assembly: AR Rahman at the UN
When I first got a text weeks ago from the event organizer hinting there was something big happening in New York on August 15 with AR Rahman, I said “Oh, India Day parade?” and was told “No, no, this is something different.” Well, it certainly was! To see and hear – along with the 1,897 […]
Song of Lahore
Years ago, a friend turned me on to Norwegian jazz saxophonist Jan Garbarek and the album he made with Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, Ragas and Sagas. That was probably the last time I thought about anything having to do with Pakistani classical music, instruments or musicians and jazz, until I caught sight of the Song […]
Malala Lighting the Candle of Knowledge
It was almost three years ago to the day (October 9, 2012) that teenagers Malala Yousafzai, Shazia Ramzan and Kainat Riaz were shot by the Taliban while they sat in their school bus in the Swat Valley. Those men targeted Malala because she was, already, at her young age, an outspoken champion of girls’ rights […]
Don’t miss Meet the Patels
For two years, actor and comedian Ravi Patel (Scrubs, Transformers, and now, Grandfathered with John Stamos) had a Secret White Girlfriend named Audrey. The concept of SWG (or SWB) may be familiar to people who’ve been in “mixed” or multicultural relationships: one person of the pair is too scared or not committed enough to dare […]
Sarita Choudhury interview
Sarita Choudhury’s latest film role is that of Jasleen in Learning to Drive, the bride-to-be who flies from India to marry a man she’s never met before, Darwan (Sir Ben Kingsley). Q: How did you approach this character? Sarita Choudhury: It’s odd to play someone who doesn’t speak, because it would almost be easier […]