Lokvani wishes all its readers a Happy Diwali!
On Wednesday, October 14, President Obama signed an Executive Order restoring the White House Advisory Commission and Interagency Working Group to address issues concerning the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. At the East Room ceremony, the President also observed Diwali, or the "Festival of Lights," a holiday celebrated across faiths.

Meet Our Sponsor - CRY: Child Rights and You. [more]

Lead Features, Local Happenings, Performing Arts, People, Contributions and Lifestyle.

(This article is sponsored by Attorney Trupti Patel)
"The landing takes every last iota of her concentration, and the plane’s stamina. Please don’t catch fire, please don’t catch fire,” says Amelia Earhart in Chandra Prasad's richly textured novel Breathe the Sky. Meet the novelist from Connecticut. [more]

(This article is sponsored by Attorney Rachel C. Tadmor)
"I am 13 years young Yugratna from organization Tarumitra, meaning ‘Friends of Trees’, which is an NGO of 1600 high schools and involved in promoting environmental awareness. I feel privileged to represent children and youth, 3 billion of the world’s population in this Summit on Climate Change". – Yugratna Srivatsava addressing the UN Summit on Climate Change recently. [more]

(This article is sponsored by Monique Kornfeld, Esq.)
Katrina Kaif flew in from Bhopal to Mumbai for a day just to be part of the event and walked the ramp in a dress that Salman had hand-painted. [more]

(This article is sponsored by Attorney Jan Albrecht)
The Akshaya Patra Foundation hosted a successful One Million Mark Celebration on Sunday, October 4 at the Marriott Hotel in Burlington. The event recognized the organization meeting its first milestone of feeding one million children daily a year ahead of schedule. [more]

(This article is sponsored by Prashant H. Fadia Foundation)
Think about what you would remember from the cartloads of sweetmeat and chocolate boxes that come your way at festival time, probably just the calories!! But in this glut, if you were to get a beautiful painting or a print which would be ideal on your wall, wouldn’t you be more likely to remember who sent it to you? ...... [more]

Natyanjali's 10th anniversary presentation was a smashing success. Congratulations to Jeyanthi Ghatraju. [more]

Join the UMass Fine Arts Center Asian Arts & Culture Program for a glorious evening of pop music Bollywood style and dance the evening away. Polish up your hip thrust, quick dip and step touch dance moves to music featuring Kehkashaan: Live Bollywood Band on Saturday, November 7 at 8 pm at the Fine Arts Center Concert Hall. [more]

Ritz-Carlton, Boston, sponsored an Indian community appreciation event on the 18th of September. This event was co-sponsored by Shelly Chhabra, who presented some of her new evening gowns made from silk sarees [more]

The Deshpande Foundation and the TIE Boston's Social Entrepreneurship SIG co-sponsored a panel discussion featuring NGO leaders from India at the Taj Boston on October 1, 2009. [more]

How do you recycle *100% *of urban and rural garbage, while providing employment and generating revenue? [more]

TIE-SE's premiere social entrepreneurship conference is being held at Babson college on October 23 featuring leading speakers and also has a business plan competition. Register at tie-boston.org before the early bird special runs out and the event gets sold out! [more]

In the quiet South Shore town of Holbrook, dedicated volunteers continue to put finishing touches on the Braj Mandir, Vrindavana Preservation Society’s new Nimbarki Vaisnava temple. The grand opening of the center will be held on the October 25, 2009 at 4:00 pm. [more]

Conceived under the initiative of President Clinton in 2001, AIF is focused on helping those in India, and has raised over $50 million to invest in education, livelihoods and public health programs. The Boston gala is on Saturday, November 7th at the Hyatt Regency in Cambridge. [more]

The Indian Medical Association of New England (IMANE) is proud to support the operations of two free clinics that provide health services to Massachusetts residents in need. [more]

It is not often that one attends a music recital that lingers in the memory and haunts the thoughts for days after. It is even more surprising when this is the happy outcome of an “Arangetram”! Rasika Murali’s violin arangetram at the Regis College auditorium on October 3, 2009 was such an experience. [more]

The arangetram performance of Niveda Baskaran and Meenu Rajendraprasad was so graceful and exhilarating that the audience were raving about the perfection, synchronization and co-ordination of the dancers and their chemistry on stage. [more]

Against a back drop of the White Mountains of New Hampshire, this Columbus Day weekend brought a Tex-India wedding! [more]

Leader Bank - employees volunteer at the Akshaya Patra One Million Mark benefit event, contributes $5000 to this great cause, and receives 5-Star Superior Safety Rating. [more]

Is it irony or an insult to commemorate one who chose to live like the poorest of the poor, by issuing a gold pen at the cost of Rs. 14 lakhs, to be picked up as a bauble by the richest among the rich? [more]

Catch up, register and purchase tickets for the events and concerts during this upcoming fortnight including Making Green Economy Real, Kadri Gopinath, 8th Annual Sir Syed Mushaira, IAFPE Luncheon, T.V. Sankaranarayanan, Saptaswar Khan Nite, Ali Zafar Live in Concert, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan Memorial Music Festival, Khailash Kher and Gaan Sammelan 2009. [more]

Congratulations to Sitaram Chandawarkar, Dattatraya Joshi, Prabhakar Nadkarni and Bharath Venkataraman, who were the winner of the last set of puzzles. Here is one easy puzzle for students and one for adults. [more]

(This article is sponsored by Sounds Of India)
How well do you know the films of Khans (Amir, Salman and Shahrukh)? Try the quiz and win a pair of tickets to the upcoming Saptaswar show to be held on November 1, 2009. [more]

These are actual instruction labels on consumer goods:
On Sears hairdryer: Do not use while sleeping. [more]

No offense Miss Piggy but I don't want to take any chances! [more]

Pumpkin recipes! [more]

At Nahant Beach! [more]

On life's journey faith is nourishment, virtuous deeds are a shelter, wisdom is the light by day and right mindfulness is the protection by night. If a man lives a pure life, nothing can destroy him. - Buddha. [more]