Happy Navaratri!

India remains a study in contrasts. It has been found that the country has become the sixth highest contributor to global wealth increase. [more]

(This section is sponsored by Attorney Trupti Patel)

Winner of the MacArthur "genius" grant, Dr. Raj Chetty is one of the youngest tenured professors in the department of economics at Harvard University. His research focuses on refining the economic models behind policy. His studies include one that clearly shows that students who happened to be assigned to talented teachers in elementary school have significantly higher incomes as adults and better future life. He talked to Lokvani about his work and the influence his upbringing has had on his work. [more]

(This section is sponsored by Emerson Hospital)

Pratima Rao is the CEO and founder of Compellink, an on demand extranet platform that allows organizations to link to each other for collaboration and secure sharing of information. She is the President of TIE-Dallas, one of only three women Presidents of a TIE Chapter. She talked to Lokvani about her company and provides advice for women entrepreneurs. [more]

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

Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachachan turns 70 on October 11, 2012. [more]

(This section is sponsored by Masala Art)

The legendary Kathak dancer, Pandit Birju Maharaj, and his ensemble performed live in concert at the Kresge Auditorium at MIT on October 7. The concert was organized as a fundraiser by the Association for India’s Development (AID) – Boston and MIT chapters and was attended by over 700 people. [more]

(This section is sponsored by Kanan Sachdeva)

Joe Aldy, Assistant Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and former Special Assistant to the President (Obama) for Energy and the Environment and Oren Cass, Domestic Policy Director for Governor Romney’s campaign discuss the views of President Obama and Governor Romney on Energy. [more]

The Greater Boston area was enthralled by a sublime Carnatic concert, on the 23rd of September, by eminent Vidwan, Sangeetha Choodamani Shri. O.S. Thiagarajan, to help raise funds for the Sankara Cancer Foundation (SCF). [more]

On September 29th, Naya Inglistan (New England) had the unique opportunity to hear classic poetry of Faraz, Neeraj, Shakir and other poets recited in a wonderful manner by local stars. It was quite an evening to remember. [more]

The grand Boston Sargam Bollywood Music & Dance competition will be held this Saturday Oct. 13th, 2012 at the Littleton Performing Arts Center. [more]

See this phenomenal art form from Karnataka presenting the Shoopanaka Episode in Hindi. It is on Sunday Oct. 14. Do not miss this free dazzling dance drama musical extravaganza! [more]

The Boston Bhangra Competition, called BBC for short, will be hosted on November 10th, 2012 at the Orpheum Theatre. The event has been sold out every year at one of the most historical theatres in Boston, which is located at 1 Hamilton Place in Boston, MA. [more]

TiE-Boston launched its 8th session of the TyE (TiE Young Entrepreneurs) program on September 15, 2012 in Cambridge, MA with over 90 students and parents in attendance. Once again, there was record interest in the program and 40 students have been inducted into the TyE Class of 2013. [more]

The Ashtothara Sata Homa Kunda Srichakra Homam, held on September 29, 2012, by Soundarya Lahari in association with Chinmaya Mission in Cranbury, NJ was a huge success. Close to 2000 participants took part by sitting at one of 108 homa kundams situated on a hand-drawn, 62,500 square feet Srichakra. Soudarya Lahari conducted the same homam in 2003 in Durham, New Hampshire to rave reviews. [more]

IANH 4th Table Tennis tournament was a yet another success and proved the community’s encouragement and love for this sports. About 30 Table tennis enthusiast participated for under 15 and above 15 age groups categories as they gathered at Nashua table tennis club on the bright Saturday morning with all their spirits of sportsmanship at around 9am. [more]

Join New England's largest donation-based Yoga and Peace event on October 13th in Nashua, NH. Pratibha Shah, Sudhir Parikh, Sanjay and Sangeeta Saxena, Ranjani Saigal, Geetha Murali, Gaurish Chandrasekar and others will make special presentations. [more]

Navaratri is the single most important festival in any Devi temple. Navaratri / Durga-Puja is being celebrated at Sree Vijaya Durga Temple from October 15 to 24, 2012. HH Sri Sri Sri Siddheswaraananda Bharathi Swamiji of Siddheshwari Peetham, TN, will deliver spiritual discourse in English everyday from 6:30 to 7:30 pm. [more]

The Merrimack Valley Sandbox will be holding its Winners Showdown Pitch Contest at the University of Massachusetts Lowell on October 18th. [more]

World on Stage is showcasing Annette Philip and Women of the World on Saturday, Oct. 20, while MIT, Tufts, and Wellesley present Milan: Garba/Raas Night! [more]

Pratham invites you to their Annual Gala 2012 at the Waltham Westin, Waltham, MA on Sunday October 21, 2012 at 6:00 pm. It promises to be another amazing event with the CIO of EMC, Sanjay Mirchandani, as a keynote and Prof. Anant Agarwal as an honoree. [more]

At its upcoming Annual ”Bow Ties and Bangles” Gala on Nov. 3rd, the American India Foundation (AIF) will celebrate its success as a leading Indian diaspora philanthropy by honoring Mark Nunnelly, Managing Director at Bain Capital. The recipient of Special Recognition will be Anant Agarwal, President of edX. [more]

A plastic surgeon and a gynecological endocrinologist, Dr. Narendra Pandya and Dr. Geeta Pandya moved back to India leaving successful careers in the US to use their training to impact lives in India. [more]

Kavitha Pazhanisamy, disciple of Veena maestro Smt. Dr. Revathi Ramaswamy, treated the Boston area audience to a veena recital of sophistication, sensitivity, and warm melodic beauty. [more]

Shrunothra’s San's mastery over the nritta (rhythmic rendition) and her grace were both evident on and off the stage. Kudos to Guru Meena Subramanyam on the stellar performance. Both Meena and her accomplished sister Roja Kannan conducted the nattuvangam and accompanied Bhuvana with vocal support. The exquisite choreography was rendered beautifully by Shrunothra’s perfect adavus. [more]

Aniket Lachyankar had his debut tabla solo recital on September 15. This was the first solo recital from New England School of Music (NESOM). [more]

Kaasinath Balagurunath wins 3rd prize in Intermediate percussion category (ages 11-14 years) at CMANA. [more]

According to an annual Kaplan survey, over 33% of admissions officers at the nation’s top 500 colleges found online material that hurt applicant’s chances of admission. Just as social media can be used against you, however, it can also be advantageous in the admissions process. [more]

Chant for Dharma is a novel and experimental fundraising approach that volunteers at the Hindu Temple of New Hampshire are using to raise funds to support the purchase of a new property by the Temple. In the week since "Chant for Dharma" was announced, we have held several Chant for Dharma events and have raised over $2000 in funds. More events are in the pipeline. [more]

If you paid a tax professional to prepare your returns, the preparer will keep copies of his/her work done on your behalf. However, it is your responsibility to provide these records, should the Internal Revenue Service have questions or select your return for audit. How long you should maintain these records depends on several factors. [more]

Catch up, register and purchase tickets for the events and concerts during this upcoming fortnight including Boston Sargam 2012, Kala Ramnath and Vijaylakshmi, Women of the World, TV Shankaranarayan, Pratham Boston Gala, Bappi Lahiri, Alarmel Valli, Ramaa Bharadwaj, Kushal Das, Miss India and Miss India Teen, and Debashish Bhattacharya. [more]

Congratulations to Aseem Chandawarkar and Suhas Joglekar, who were the winners of the last set of puzzles. Here are two puzzles for one and all! [more]

They all went to see OMG! [more]

(This section is sponsored by Sounds Of India)

A fun track from Amit Trivedi! [more]

What do you get is you cross a ghost with a packet of potato chips?
Snacks that go crunch in the night. [more]

Just a reminder that protein is important in your daily diet and it can tasty.. [more]

Asha Shah spotted these different kinds of Heron in Palm Beach gardens in Florida. [more]

Life is like a grindstone: Whether it grinds you down or polishes you up depends on what you’re made of. [more]