New from this issue! We are starting a new column called 'Social Enterprise'. If you have an idea or person involved with SE, do drop us a word at editors@lokvani.com and it could be featured in our next issue. [more]

(This article is sponsored by Attorney Trupti Patel)

Prat Moghe was most recently Senior Vice President at Netezza, a leader in data analytics, when it was acquired by IBM for $1.7B in 2010. He currently leads Strategy, Products, and Marketing for IBM Netezza appliances. He is the newly elected President of TIE Boston. He talked to Lokvani about entrepreneurship and his vision for TIE. [more]

(This article is sponsored by Emerson Hospital)

Lokvani readers have enjoyed the cartoons created by Mahendra Shah. Shah has published a new book presenting a collection of his cartoons which has been very well received. An architect by training, a businessman by profession, Shah shares the secret of the workings of the cartoonist mind. [more]

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

Genelia D' Souza and Ritesh Deshmukh got married on February 3rd at Grand Hyatt in a traditional ceremony attended by a lot of actors from Bollywood. [more]

(This article is sponsored by Mumbai Chopstix)

The South Asian Showdown was the place to be on February 11th! The venue was sold out, and many many people were still looking for tickets! The show was well marketed and many people came to support the event. However, was it worth all the hype? [more]

(This article is sponsored by Kanan Sachdeva)

Annemarie Ryu of Global Village Fruits, who has an innovative idea to support the underprivileged in India through the use of Jackfruit products, was one of the seven presenters featured at the TIE Social Entrepreneurs group's 2012 kickoff event. [more]

The Thyagaraja Aradhana in Chinmaya Mission Boston started with the rendering of Pancharatna Krithis on 28th January by music teachers and students, while the temple priest Pundit Srinivasa Shastri performed the Rama Abhishekam. As people walked in to the temple to participate in this event, they felt nostalgic about the annual event that takes place in Thiruvaiyaru, Tamilnadu. [more]

A relative newcomer to Boston, Deepa Srinath made an impact with well-chosen pieces that conveyed her expertise in the dance form. The concert followed a conventional format that nevertheless revealed an artist who is at ease with the traditional demands of Bharatanatyam while being attuned to the modern day audience. [more]

Do thoughts materialize? Yes, when they are positive and selfless! My experience at the Hindustani vocal concert performance in Orlando, FL on January 29th performed by Aditya Shah was quite the proof! Aditya, a young artist in traditional Mewati gharana style, was accompanied by Sathesh Jadonath on harmonium from the same gharana and Pranav Ghatraju, from the Farukhabad gharana style on Tabla. [more]

This year’s annual conference starts on March 26th and features a week long celebration of Indian Classical Music through lecture-demonstrations, panel discussions and engaging performances by top-caliber musicians. The conference will also provide a platform for the presentation of Indian Classical Dance “Kathak” for the very first time in seven years. Founder and director of the LearnQuest Academy, Dr. Pradeep Shukla talks about the upcoming conference. [more]

United India Association of New England (UIANE) celebrated their First Annual “Valentine's Bash!” on Friday, February 10th, 'Chali Ishq Ki Hawa Chali' at Mantra Restaurant. [more]

The lecture “Heroic Krishna in the Epic Mahabharata” was held at Harvard University Science Center on January 8th. The lecture was the twelfth in the series “Indian Society through the Ages,” organized by the Outreach Lecture Program at Harvard University. [more]

Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh USA, Inc. (HSS) concluded its Sixth Annual Health for Humanity Yogathon on January 29, 2012. During the two-week Yogathon, over 13,000 participants from 209 cities completed over 1 million repetitions of the yoga routine known as the Sun Salutation, or Surya Namaskara. [more]

The Brahma Kumaris Learning Center for Peace in Watertown sponsors this unique event with special guest Dr. Kala Iyengar, Director of the Brahma Kumaris Peace Village Learning and Retreat Center in New York on March 10, 2012. [more]

The question Nivedha Ram answered to win the Sixth Annual Central Massachusetts Regional Brain Bee would have been a brain-buster for many people. [more]

The Food-for-Education program of Akshaya Patra has received a new boost with a generous $441,264 grant from the Caterpillar Foundation to support Akshaya Patra’s school feeding program and the centralized kitchens in India. This is the second year Akshaya Patra is receiving a grant from the Caterpillar Foundation. [more]

The definition of financial security changes as we age: The needs and wants of a newly married 30-year old are, not surprisingly, very different from those of a 70-year-old retiree. There is one thing that stays the same, however: planning and achieving your retirement goals is a lifetime process. [more]

The saddest part of that trip may have been leaving Swathi’s village, knowing that there was a very small chance that I’d ever go there again. But I’ve realized that this experience goes beyond a simple friendship between a little girl and an Indian American high schooler. It has chipped away at the shield of hesitancy between me and India. [more]

Human mind is like a blank paper or an unexposed photographic film, which records the effect of surrounding situations, events and thoughts, accordingly shaping the mentality. A person is basically neither wise nor a fool, neither good nor bad, but very sensitive, and hence, is deeply influenced by the surrounding and molded in the same pattern. [more]

What is this ‘old fashioned’ mumbo jumbo about herbs and food after all? Let us take a short journey into our Eastern health traditions of yore and decide for ourselves if they are worth our attention or should they be relegated to history. [more]

Catch up, register and purchase tickets for the events and concerts during this upcoming fortnight including Natya Sangamam, IAFPE - GBM and Panel Discussion, Rooh-E-Sahir, Sugar and Spice, IITSINE Annual Social, Awakening of the Soul-The Triveni Ensemble and Chinmaya Mission - Triple Carnatic Concerts. [more]

Congratulations to Kishore Balsara, who was the winner of the last set of puzzles. Here is one easy puzzle for students and one for adults. [more]

Valentine's day - Indian Style! [more]

(This article is sponsored by Sounds Of India)

Salim and Sulaiman have put together a track which is not bad though not their best. [more]

Growing old and finding humor. [more]

On my recent visit to the beautiful city of Istanbul, I had the chance to sample some of their local foods. Here are compiled some of the ones I tasted. [more]

The Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. [more]

Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others. - Aristotle. [more]