Lokvani Spotlight on Excellence Awards in this issue is focused on recognizing "Amazing Artists". NOMINATE YOUR FAVORITE singer, musician, music teacher, collagist, comedian, painter, sculptor, set designer and other artists NO LATER THAN TUESDAY, July 5 !!! It is easy! [more]

Congratulations to Aakara Medspa, Aalok Fashion, Alankar Decors, ATFS Learning Center, Binita Patel Photography, Boston Sound and Light, Choonari Collection, Nymdesign, Podiatry Healthcare PC, Printing and Graphics Services, Shubhra Design and Timeless Lens Photography, who have been selected to receive the Lokvani Spotlight on Excellence Award for the "Superb Small Businesses" category. The awards will be given on September 9, 201l at the Lokvani Gala. Buy tickets. [more]

(This article is sponsored by Attorney Trupti Patel)

Latha Edavalath is the principal of the Lasya College of Dance in Pilathara, Kerala. She is working with 30 Boston area dancers and teachers to present a unique production "Navavidha Bhakti" which will be performed on July 17 at Ashland High School. Lata talked to Lokvani about the production and her passion for dance. Click here to buy tickets for Navavidha Bhakti [more]

(This article is sponsored by Emerson Hospital)

Chiranth Nataraj is the founder of International Services, Inc. (based in Glen Allen, VA), a BBB accredited company providing good value visitor health insurance & international student health insurance. [more]

(This article is sponsored by Monique Kornfeld, Esq.)

Jaya and I are delighted about Aishwarya's pregnancy, says Amitabh Bachchan. [more]

(This article is sponsored by Russian School of Math)

MITHAS presented a vocal concert by Carnatic Maestro T.M. Krishna on May 22 at the Stata Center at MIT. Present in the audience was the great Hindustani vocalist Pandit Jasraj whose effusive praise of the concert was a clear testament to the brilliance of this recital. [more]

(This article is sponsored by Mumbai Chopstix)

Chinmaya Mission Boston presented a tri-series of Carnatic Classical music concerts on May 14 and 15th in Andover, MA. The series presented Rajesh Vaidya (Carnatic Veena), Nithyashree Mahadevan (Carnatic vocal) and Sudha Raghunathan (Carnatic vocal) in the Mission’s auditorium. The concerts were outstanding. [more]

(This article is sponsored by Prashant H. Fadia Foundation)

The AYV programme, which is implemented by American Indian Foundation, runs across 43 schools in India. Over 150,000 youth and 7,000 educators have been empowered globally through AYV initiative in its first five years. The program now aims to reach 1,000,000 youth and 50,000 educators around the world by 2016. In India, over 4,000 students have been impacted through this program and Adobe expects to expand this reach to cover over 8,500 youth and 400+ educators in the course of next five years. [more]

On April 23, 2011, Kriti Subramanyam stepped onto the stage at Spring Step studio in Medford to perform her first solo recital as a soprano, an event she had been anticipating since she began her training five years ago under soprano Mary Ann Lanier at the New England Conservatory. [more]

Kolam Academy , under the direction of Sujatha Meyappan presented a wonderful selection of dances for their Annual Day program held at the Chinmaya Maruthi Auditorium on June 11, 2011. [more]

On June 11, 2011, Raganjali School of Music, organized a musical fundraiser, Swar Lahri 2 (“Cascading Melodies”) for Camp Anjali. [more]

Shakir Khan opened the June 18th Learnquest Baithak performance in Framingham with an in-depth rendition of evening raga Bageshri. A detailed alaap section steeped in “Gaayaki Ang”, a sonorous and rhythmic jod and jhaala section established a strong opening foundation. [more]

The Carroll Center for the Blind will honor Helen Keller’s birthday on June 27, 2011, by co-hosting the Sunadha Dance Troupe, a group of visually impaired dancers from India, for a 7:00 pm performance at Newton Country Day School. [more]

Association for India’s Development (AID) organized its annual conference at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) over the Memorial Day weekend of May 28-30, 2011. The conference was attended by more than 150 people, from 27 locations (chapters) across the United States, as well as several full-time workers and partners from India. [more]

Dwarkamai celebrated ‘Spiritual Gold’ program on May 29th at the Shirdi Sai Temple in Billerica. This was a very unique initiative undertaken by Dwarkamai to conduct an all day program with many spiritual events focused on the senior citizens of the community to honor them and have them participate in the events. [more]

On June 4, 2011, a bright and plesant evening revealed the joyous celebration Gayatri Jayanti and Ganga Dashahara in the sanctuary of newly renovated Satsang Center. The program started with Sri Hanuman Chaalisa and traditional bhajan invoking Sri Ganesh. Naresh Parmar, Aditi Khare, and Sangeeta Saxena also melodiously rendered “Pragya Geets”, popularized by Gayatri Pariwar. Master Swami Saxena, delighted the audience with his skillful and spontaneous accompaniment on tabla. [more]

This course provides an overview of Vedic Studies with its unique philosophy of the ultimate goal of human birth and the origin and development of Hindu society. [more]

Emerson Hospital will offer a series of four group diabetes education class in July. Called conversation mapping, the class is an interactive way for patients to learn more about diabetes. [more]

Life was not easy for Lila Poonawalla when she came to India as a refugee from Hyderabad, Pakistan with her grandparents, mother and four brothers. The entire family had to survive on the pension from their father's life insurance policy after he died in a train accident. Today she is known to the world as the first woman CEO in India’s business history as Chairman and Managing Director of Alfa Laval from 1987 to 2001. [more]

On May 21st and 22nd Lexington Council of Arts conducted “Lexington Open Studios 2011” – An event that attracted over 60 artists to showcase their talent be it painting, jewelry, fabric or ceramics. Returning back to her passion of fine arts after taking a break for the family and raising two beautiful children, Dr. Java Joshi was the only artist of Indian origin that showcased her work during this much anticipated event. [more]

Anant Agarwal, a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, has been named the next director MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL). [more]

It has been a momentous year for Lokvani team member Anoop Kumar. He received his PhD in computer science from Tufts University. His area of specialization is Computational Biology. He and his wife Tejashri were also blessed with a beautiful daughter Aditi on June 3, 2011. [more]

Bhagwan’s (God) most excellent artistic manifestation(कलाकृति) is Man. In His creation, God has invested intense thoughtfulness (मनोयोग) and high hopes. God cannot stand to see His creation (सृजन) , staying caught up in a pathetic condition for long. [more]

Catch up, register and purchase tickets for the events and concerts during this upcoming fortnight including IAFPE Panel Discussion and Internship Award, Brahmam Okate, Sonu Nigam, Tennis Star Leander Paes, Nine Pathways to Devotion-A Dance Ballet, Vivekananda Family Camp and Lokvani@10. [more]

Congratulations to Kishore Balsara, Aseem Chandawarkar, Arun Lahori and Ranganath Nayak, who were winners of the last set of puzzles. Here is one easy puzzle for students and one for adults. [more]

Golf for Beginners! [more]

(This article is sponsored by Sounds Of India)

Shankar Ehasan Loy's latest creation is a fun album. [more]

Desi Jokes! [more]

Unusual Stuffed vegetables. [more]

Perfect view for an artist. [more]

“If someone does not smile at you,
be generous and offer your own smile.
Nobody needs a smile more
than the one who cannot smile to others.”
~ Dalai Lama [more]