New York Diary

Meet the Amazing Queen Behind ‘The Lion King’ – A True Fan Moment!

Sometimes you meet a genuine celebrity when you least expect it – among the nameless crowd in the push and tumble of a packed theater foyer.
Julie Taymor is the Queen behind the magnificent Lion King which continues to draw audiences to Broadway. She is the Academy Award nominated and Emmy and Tony Award winning director whose productions range from musicals and Shakespeare plays to classical operas and films.

We have all seen The Lion King and her creativity and magic has fired up the imagination of a whole generation.

Talk of a language that everyone understands: Taymor’s The Lion King continues to play in New York, and its worldwide gross exceeds that of any entertainment title in box office history, seen in over 100 cities in 20 countries. It is said that over 110 million people have seen this beloved show and it made her the first woman to receive the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical, and another Tony for best original costume design.

In addition to her two Tony Awards, Taymor has also received a MacArthur Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, two OBIE Awards, the first Annual Dorothy B. Chandler Award in Theater, the Brandeis Creative Arts Award, the 2015 Shakespeare Theatre Company’s William Shakespeare Award for Classical Theatre, a 2017 Disney Legends Award, and induction into the Theater Hall of Fame for Lifetime Achievement in the American Theater.

In that crowded theater, her humanity and unpretentiousness shone through, and we, at a loss for words, were turned into selfie-seeking fans with this lightning quick brief encounter with a real legend.

Related Articles

Broadway’s Magic Box

The Kite Runner Comes to Broadway

The post Julie Taymor: Meet the Amazing Queen Behind ‘The Lion King’ first appeared on Lassi With Lavina.

New York Diary

Jack Kennedy Schlossberg Meets and Greets Desis

Believe in Something Again

Yes, there’s another idealistic young changemaker from Camelot and his name is Jack too. Like his iconic grandfather, JFK, he too wants to bring about change in troubled times. Jack Schlossberg, son of Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg and Edwin Schlossberg, is running for Congress in the Democratic Primary.

Recently, long time New Yorkers Aroon and Indur Shivdasani had a Meet and Greet for him in their Upper East Side townhouse for about 60 of their friends.

Meet and Greet for Jack Schlossberg
Meet and Greet for Jack Schlossberg

While almost every guest had fond memories to share about the past and the Kennedy family’s India connections, the evening was very much about the future, of how change could be affected in this most blue of cities. Jack is only 33 years old and brings many new and bold ideas to the Democratic equation. His mottos are No Superpac or Dark Money and Real Plans You Can Count On.  After meeting with the voters, he clearly outlined his plans for New York and America.

Will this be the year generation gaps are obliterated? Jack, at 33, is the youngest to stand for Congressman, and his team is even younger than he is. And yet Congressional District 12 where he lives, was born and raised, and where his family has lived for five generations, has the  oldest demographics – 65 and up. His following, built up on social media is amongst the youngest, so perhaps he can bridge the gap between old and young. He can be the one both grandparents and grandchildren find a rapport with and can vote for.  His priorities and policies can be seen at  https://jackfornewyork.com/

In many ways he is so like another idealistic New Yorker – Zohran Mamdani, who became mayor of New Yorik this year at the age of 30. Both wear their hearts and convictions on their sleeves, both want the best for New Yorkers and their children, and both want free buses! Indeed, this Meet and Greet was taking place a stone’s throw away from Gracie Mansion, the Mayor’s residence.

The old ways don’t seem to work and it’s time for some excitement and new leadership. 

 So please don’t sit out the Democratic Primary – it’s your chance to make a difference. Remember – Election Day is June 23^rd!

For those who want to get involved with Jack’s campaign, here are some links from his site.

1. Support Jack’s campaign with a donation! Here’s a link to contribute online: 

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/jack-friendraisers

2. Volunteer with us! You can knock on doors, call voters, and help spread the word! Here’s a link to sign up: https://www.mobilize.us/jackfornewyork/. 

3. Wear Jack for New York merch around NYC! You can buy t-shirts, hoodies, totes, and more on our website: https://store.jackfornewyork.com/. 

4. Become an apartment captain! Let us know if Jack can come knock on doors in your apartment building here: https://mobilize.us/s/pIVrV8. 

The post Jack Schlossberg Connects with New York Desis first appeared on Lassi With Lavina.

New York Diary

The Sa Dancers RISE Again In A Strong Performance.

Some things just get better with age. The Sa Dancers are one of them. Started in 2008 by Payal Kadakia Pujji, the Sa Dance Company came at a time when Indian immigrants and their children were still finding their bearings, long before all things Indian become cool.  Payal, a spunky Indian-American brought contemporary Indian dance to the stage, often in mainstream settings. It celebrated all movements Indian from classical to folk to Bollywood and helped give them a space in the American landscape.

I had last written about the Sa Dancers 15 years ago, so it was a delight to see how, like fine wine, they had seasoned and matured. Payal has a parallel career in entrepreneurship with her highly successful company ClassPass. Her first love remains dance, and as she sometimes says, The Sa Dance Company was her first startup!

This latest production The Rise – A Journey Through Resilience, which premiered at the Alvin Ailey Theater, is the creation gestated all these years and through all her experiences as the child of immigrants. As Payal says, “RISE is a love letter to the grandmothers, aunties, and mothers who continue to show the way. With unwavering determination and limitless generosity, they empower each new generation of women to nourish and perpetuate the remarkable bond of sisterhood that unites us all.”

 RISE is the celebration of the metamorphosis of the Indian woman from sheltered childhood to girlhood to womanhood, overcoming the expectations of society and narrow world views to finding her own courage and resources, and finding her true self, and her community.

Payal’s artistic roots lie in traditional Indian folk dance, when at the age of three she began training with her lifelong Guru, Usha Patel. Born and brought up in America, she also trained in jazz, contemporary, and ballet, bringing the dual aspects of her life together and shaping her choreographic language, pulling Indian movement out of Western technique and giving new meaning to contemporary South Asian dance.

Payal’s work has been featured at numerous events and festivals as well as in film and television productions, including The inaugural Diwali Celebration at the White House; Lincoln Center, SummerStage as well as performances for Disney, Art Basel, and New York Fashion Week.

Over the years dancers have come and gone.  In the older stories from 2013, you can read the interviews  I had done with the first dancers many years ago. All beautiful Indian-American women starting out in a new world. The company currently comprises of Roshni Badlani, Rashi Birla, Radhika Mehta Kirpalani, Nitya Srikishen Lakhi, Bhavika Kapadia Patel, Dhruti Patel, Neha Pathamanaban, Sharanya Mukhopadhyay Sekhri, and Manisha Nair Sokka.

Now comes a dance tour and a film about dance. SEEING SHAPES is a documentary film following The Sa Dance Company from rehearsals to a stunning performance at the Alvin Ailey Dance Center in NYC. Here is a clip of the upcoming film.

Seeing Shapes – an upcoming documentary about Sa Dance Company

Says Payal: “I think my eyes really opened of a new way to share who I was as an Indian American, and someone who has lived here for 40 plus years, and my parents, who’ve lived here for even longer than that, and really trying to create a dance, idiom, music, costumes that felt really authentic to who I was and my community was, and that was my goal.”

She mentions certain qualities which inspired the show and the documentary:

“I think there’s this this purity and innocence that people see in us, because that’s sort of what we were taught as little girls. But there’s this strength in us. And I always wanted to show people the power of any little girl out there. And at the same time, I wanted everyone to know how incredibly resilient women are, especially Indian women, the heritage I come from as an entrepreneur and someone who’s had a life outside of this for many years.”

Related Articles: 

Sa Dancers: Bringing Bollywood to America

Indian Dance: SA Dancers Take You Home

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How are Immigrants Doing in Zohran Mamdani’s New York?

By Lavina Melwani

A hundred days have come and gone – but is there any definitive verdict on how Mayor Zohran Mamdani is doing? Just as he won with a mixed mandate so too the verdict on how he is doing seems to be mixed. The rich have not fled the city as it was feared, nor have the illegals or the homeless taken over the city. Israel and Palestine have not become dynamite issues, and New York remains New York – bold, nonchalant and with a spirit all its own.

How is Mayor Mamdani doing?  With inexhaustable energy he seems to be everywhere. While fixing the City’s budget and scores of issues, he also found time to join the bike marathon, becoming the first sitting mayor to bike the entirety of the Annual Five Boro Bike Tour.  The fact is that though the Mayor is the kingpin of the city, the captain of the ship, the city is made up of thousands of moving parts and millions of New Yorkers, cogs in the machine, who make it all happen, who make this buzzing metropolis tick.

Mayor Mamdani is the mastermind behind the City of New York, the conductor who has to ensure that all players are synchronized. He has created a blueprint and hired talented people to make these plans materialize in real time.  New York is the original Sanctuary City, and sacrosanct to the idea of immigration as almost a right. A city which had been threatened by President Trump with being overrun by federal troops, seems to be holding its own and listening to the first birdsongs of Spring, even as the globe continues to undergo constant turmoil.

Ensuring that New York remains a City of Immigrants, Mamdani has selected a team that includes immigrants and the children of immigrants themselves to run the Mayor’s office of Immigrant Affairs. (MOIA)

Last month he introduced Faiza Ali, Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs.  At a roundtable for the ethnic media, she spoke about her own immigrant history. She said, “I’ve spent about 20 years doing work in public service and in community organizing. You know, I started out much like many of folks in this room, working in community organizations. Oftentimes I would be one of the advocates standing on the steps of City Hall, like screaming at City Hall, right? Like the city needs to be doing more. That was really the role that I played in my early career.

And then at some point, I made the pivot to public service, and wanted to really work in government, because part of what I was hoping was to challenge government to do more and to do better by our communities. There’s a really important role that our community leaders and advocates play standing on the steps of City Hall, holding government accountable, but there’s also an important role that I believe we can play inside.

Everyone in the city, no matter who you are, regardless of your status, no matter where you’ve come from, no matter how long you’ve been in the city,  you deserve to be treated with dignity and respect and our job is to ensure that that happens. If we really, truly care about community, we’re going to shape government in the image of everyone who is sitting around this table.”

A Chat with MOIA  Com. Faiza Ali about  New York for all New Yorkers

 She added, “While building a city that that can really step up to the moment, we want to make sure we don’t lose sight of some of the beauty in our communities, like we’re not just in a defensive posture. We also should be able to celebrate who we are. I think that we are in a very unique moment, having a mayor who is an immigrant himself, having a mayor who is not afraid to say we’re a sanctuary city, who’s not afraid to say that we’re going to protect New Yorkers, no matter what. It’s an incredible moment right now, and it’s a moment that we don’t take for granted.”

Asked how the Mamdani Administration was reaching some of the most vulnerable parts of immigrant communities, she said, “We’ve always done work engaging immigrant workers, but there is now a new intentional effort that we’re engaging and assessing, and figuring out what is the best way to reach some of the most vulnerable workers. For me, it’s local agencies who are upholding local responsibilities. Our job is not to do the federal government’s work. Our job is to serve you all in this room and the 8 million New Yorkers who live here.

 I think it was day 36 of Mayor Mamdani Administration, where he signed an executive order, Executive Order 13, that basically put teeth behind the sanctuary of cities. So, the laws have been on the books, but making sure agencies are living up to what the law is requiring them to do is something that was detailed in this executive order.”

This month, Mamdani’s officials held a second ethnic media roundtable supporting immigrant worker rights in New York City with Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su, Commissioner Samuel A.A. Levine of the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP), Commissioner Faiza Ali of the Office on Immigrant Affairs (MOIA), Commissioner Midori Valdivia of the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC),  and Deputy Commissioner Kitty Chan of the New York City Department of Small Business Services (SBS) 

Faiza Ali, Commissioner for the New York City Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, and Deputy Mayor Julie Su emphasized the crucial role of immigrant workers in the city’s economy and culture emphasized the fundamental fact that really remind us of immigrant workers are essential to the strength and economy life of New York City.

“Immigrants power our restaurants, our construction sites, our small businesses, our transportation infrastructure,” said Su. “One of our key priorities for MOIA is ensuring that immigrant New Yorkers are fully integrated into the city’s affordability agenda, and the economic justice portfolio, because it’s created an even stronger opportunity for us to connect immigrant communities to workforce pathways to business support, to worker protections and economic opportunities.”

Reaching Immigrants through MOIA

MOIA has planned multilingual Know Your Rights outreach to immigrant workers, so they understand what their protections are. This portfolio of economic justice is how we’re going to deliver on the mayor’s agenda, and what that means is that we want full economic growth in the city, and we want everyone to get to benefit from it. For a very long time, we have had economic growth in the city. We are the wealthiest city and the wealthiest nation in the world, but that growth has not been widely shared, and so we are going to put workers first when it comes to economic growth.”

Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su noted, “Immigrant New Yorkers are a critical part of the fabric of New York City. We want immigrant New Yorkers to know that they have the same labor and human rights as all workers. They should not be afraid to submit a complaint if their rights are being violated and they should know that this administration will leverage all of our power to defend them.”

Su referenced Executive Order 13 as a foundational tool for the city to ensure that all workers, regardless of immigration status are protected from workplace discrimination and unsafe conditions. The Executive Order signed by Mayor Mamdani strengthens the city’s sanctuary laws and mandates greater Know Your Rights outreach to immigrant New Yorkers including workers.

Commissioner Sam Levine from the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) discussed efforts to combat fraudulent immigration services and protect immigrant workers, including lawsuits against companies like Uber and Hungry Panda for wage theft. The city is also addressing the impact of corporate remittance taxes on immigrant families.

MOIA: Safeguards for Taxi Drivers

More than 90 percent of TLC drivers are immigrants, Taxi & Limousine Commissioner Midori Valdiva emphasized the importance of ensuring that the immigrant drivers had access to measures that strengthen their ability to drive safely across our city with dignity. She further spotlighted TLC’s new driver engagement, a first-of-its-kind driver survey, that is designed to gather direct input from licensees, guiding the policies, priorities, and initiatives of theagency to help promote working class immigrant voices and uplift economic justice under the Mamdani administration.  

SBS Deputy Commissioner Chan and SBS Chief of Staff Haris Khan, both elevated several programs that immigrant business owners, street vendors, and entrepreneurs can utilize. Programs like Workforce 1, NYC Business Express Service Team (BEST), and the upcoming NYC Small Business Month Expo on May 28th serve as key resources for the City to support immigrant businesses through partnership, collaboration, and education.  

 New York is one of the world’s best cities, with heart and heartbeat. These officials shared strategies for creating safer, fairer workplaces across New York City. What happens to much maligned yet very necessary street vendors who provides food and respite at all times and in all-weather to New Yorkers, especially at upcoming summer events, such as the FIFA World Cup and America 250.   

DCWP Commissioner Samuel A. A. Levine. “In a moment where we see ICE dragging people out of hospitals and disappeared off the street, and where multimillion dollar mergers threaten immigrants’ economic stability as seen through the proposed Western Union and Intermix merger, DCWP is committed to reaching immigrant New Yorkers directly and helping them understand their rights as workers, consumers and small business owners.

There are no wrong doors in New York City. We want to hear from immigrant communities to make sure you can’t get exploited. You come to us and we’ll take action to make sure that the era of exploiting immigrant New Yorkers is over.”

Finally there is the small business bureau and many mom and pop stores and one man businesses that don’t even know about all the great safeguards nd opportunities available to them as New Yorkers.

Chan said,  “We are really proud to be able to offer comprehensive services for small businesses, not just direct business services such as capital access and capital and government navigation, but we also assist the worker. We run 18 workforce one centers throughout the city. We also work with our business improvement districts to help stimulate the commercial corridors. We also have our MWBE program to ensure that the economy is there to help minority and women own business enterprises.

 I am inviting everyone to our May 28 Small Business Expo. This is our third annual event where we actually bring all the services to one place. If you are an entrepreneur, business owner, a worker or even a CBO that actually needs more information about working with small businesses, we’ll have direct services available to business owners as well, such as legal services and financial consultations.”

So, while Mayor Zohran Mamdani was not in the room or at the roundtable, he was very much there in spirit.

This gathering of his commissioners was speaking his language and pushing forward his plans for a new New York, a city where immigrants are the life-blood and the ones who make the city flourish.

What the future holds remains to be seen, but there are some positive steps immigrants in the community can take in tandem with the city to ensure positive changes are happening.

 Immigrant New Yorkers: Know your Rights, including Worker and Consumer Protections.

Links and Resources: 

• https://www.nyc.gov/site/immigrants/legal-resources/know-your-rights.page  
• nyc.gov/smallbizmonth 
•  nyc.gov/dcwp 
• Consumer Bill of Rights Regarding Immigration Assistance Service Providers 
•  https://www.nyc.gov/site/tlc/about/driver-survey.page  
• https://www.nyc.gov/mayors-office/news/2026/02/executive-order-13  

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Celebrating Girl Empowerment and Women’s Entrepreneuship at CHI Spring Luncheon 

This year’s CHI Spring Luncheon marks the 20th year of this fundraising event – it has become an institution in itself! Supporters look forward to gathering after the cold of winter with friends and family to celebrate the power of helping children get an education and to especially empower the girl child. Close to 300 women come together for a cause close to their hearts.

This year we raised funds for She Shine, our project in community centers in India. CHI, as usual, did it in a fun way through a marketplace of dynamic women entrepreneurs who all donated to the cause. This was created by Artistic Affairs.

CHI honored strong women – the mother and daughter team of Anita Lulla and Rama Ginde, both chefs and co-founders of Satya Blends, were given the Women of Distinction awards; Monisha Agrawal, Vice President of Global Marketing at Tiffany & Co, spoke powerfully about women breaking barriers. Aditi Gugnani was honored as CHI Ambassador for all the wonderful work she has been doing, both in India and the US.

Grammy winner Falu, Mithu Malik, CEO of Musaafer, culture thespian Aroon Shivdasani, & Meera Gandhi of Giving Back Foundation were among several special guests. Great vibes at Leonard’s of Great Neck, cocktails, lunch and desserts, a chance to shop with 20 different women vendors of high fashion, jewelry and cosmetics – all for raising funds for CHI.

The icing on the cake was a first time guest who was so moved with the work of Children’s Hope India that she wrote us a surprise check for $20,000!

http://www.childrenshopeindia.org

The post Celebrating Girl Empowerment and Women’s Entrepreneuship at CHI Spring Luncheon  first appeared on Lassi With Lavina.

Home and the World: Sundaram Tagore goes Global

In an America which is increasingly insular and inward-looking, there is an Indian immigrant from Calcutta who celebrates diversity and embraces global cultures in New York.

A descendent of the great Rabindranath Tagore, Sundaram Tagore is an Oxford-
educated art historian, gallerist, and an award-winning filmmaker. This year marks 25
years of ground-breaking work, always promoting an East-West dialogue among artists,
art lovers and nations.

Rabindranath Tagore worked tirelessly through his life encouraging others to break free
from “narrow domestic walls,” as he put it, through social justice and a universalism that
merged the best ideas of East and West. Ta he family legacy is the world university
Viswa Bharti founded in 1921 in Santiniketan, based on humanism and a cross-cultural
ethos. Sundaram does the same through the language of art in his galleries in New
York, Singapore and London.

Sundaram’s father, Subhagendranath, known as Subho, was the great-grandson of
Maharshi Debendranath Tagore, Rabindranath’s older brother. Subho was one of
India’s first modernist painters, a poet and a magazine publisher. His art magazine was
named Sundaram, and when he got a son, he named him Sundaram.

The Tagore family was entrenched in traditional art and culture, and young Subho
rebelled against that, leaving the ancestral home in Jorasanko at the age of 26. After
living the Bohemian life in London, he distanced himself from the Bengal School, which
dominated the art scene in India, and formed the Calcutta Group in 1943 with Nirode
Mazumdar and other young artists such as Gopal Ghose and Kamala Das Gupta,
merging styles of the East and West in his work.

Like his father, Sundaram has always been drawn into the lure of many cultures, the
forks in the road, rather than the traditional path. The son of an Assamese mother and
having lived in varied cultures, he is at home in all.
“I’ve lived in eight different countries and in countless cities across the globe. The global
exposure, combined with my Indian heritage has changed my outlook profoundly,”
admits Sundaram.

“I currently live in New York, arguably the most global, multicultural and intellectually
dynamic city in the world. It’s a postmodern experiment in coexistence, in hybridity and
in rethinking identity. So, it made complete sense to build a gallery here that is
dedicated to cross-cultural dialogue and to art that transcends borders.”

When Sundaram opened his first gallery on Greene Street in SoHo in 2000, his mission
was to show that some of the best, most meaningful art was being created by artists
deeply engaged in cross-cultural explorations, artists of color, often ignored by the art
world.

In the blink of an eye 25 years have passed, and this year his gallery, now in the chic
new art district of Chelsea, is celebrating its milestone anniversary. There are no
borders at Sundaram Tagore’s eponymous gallery in Chelsea for on its walls you’ll see
the work of artists from countries as far apart as South Korea, Morocco, Iran and the
US. Tagore has gone ever more global in his embrace of artists whose work defies
cultural and geographic demarcations in their cross-cultural dialogue. Earlier he had
opened galleries in Los Angeles and Hong Kong, and currently he has two galleries in
New York, in Singapore and in London. He shows the art in all the major shows and
festivals internationally.

To mark this signature year, the Sundaram Tagore Gallery has mounted a landmark
exhibit of paintings, sculptures, photography and installations by more than thirty artists
who each share a humanity in their complex creations. These noted artists include Miya
Ando, Fre Ilgen, Ricardo Mazel, Golnaz Fathi, Nathan Slate Joseph, Trishla Jain, Susan
Weil, Lee Waisler, Hiroshi Senju, Sohan Qadri, Steve McCurry and Judith Murray.

Art lovers, friends and collectors had gathered for a joyful celebration to mark this
milestone anniversary, and events are to follow in the Sundaram Tagore Gallery in
Singapore as well as the one reopening in London in a new location in the spring.

Art is indeed the great unifier and proves that entire worlds can all be squeezed into the
confines of one room. As Tagore points out in the sumptuous book published on the 25 th
anniversary, “With every exhibition, our goal is to spark dialogue -to use art as a vehicle
to bring people together and remind them that more unites us than separates us.”
Sundaram is also an avid writer on art and an award-winning filmmaker. who had the
opportunity to interact with the great filmmaker, Satyajit Ray, as well as others. He has
made The Poetics of Color about the artist Natvar Bhavsar about 20 years ago which
was well received in the film festival circle. He next produced Louis Kahn’s Tiger City,
which debuted at the Museum of Modern Art. He is currently working on Art Matters, a
short narrative film with actors Nandita Das and Linus Roache.

He says, “I feel deeply connected to the story we have told, and in the way Nandita and
Linus and the rest of the team have brought it to life. It makes me hopeful that it can
spark some important conversations because in the end, it's not just about making art,
it's about making sure that art matters in all its complexity, diversity and truth. “

Face to Face with Sundaram Tagore

I had first interviewed Sundaram Tagore in the 80’s when he had not yet opened his
galleries and was a Director of South Asian art at the Pace Wildenstein Gallery. I sat
down with him again, 25 years later, to discuss his art journey.
Excerpts from the interview:
How important has Rabindranath Tagore legacy been in your life? Any memories
you can share?

Rabindranath Tagore’s legacy has had a profound and deep personal influence on my
life, not just through the artistic and literary genius, but through the broader cultural,
philosophical and ethical questions that he raised, which shaped family for generations,
and the fact that he always talked about social responsibility. Not to just function in
isolation but always consider the disadvantaged.

This has been a deeply influential thought process throughout the family, even now.
Regarding its influence, I would say that the story of the legacy doesn’t begin with
Rabindranath alone. It goes back to his grandfather, one of the earliest Indian
industrialists and financiers, who laid the foundation for modern banking and railway
and shipping in India. He was a visionary ahead of his time, an entrepreneur,
philanthropist and cosmopolitan, who built bridges between East and West at a time
when such exchanges were rare.

So, as you can understand, Rabindranath, in many ways, was a synthesis of this
lineage of his grandfather and his father, who was a deeply spiritual being. So, the
Tagore household was an extraordinary environment, a place where East and West,
tradition and modernity, art, literature, music and social reform thrived.
I was born in the 60s, so it was my father who was essentially the last of the Tagore to
grow up in that house. And being a rebellious individual, he had many interactions with
Rabindranath Tagore—some on a confrontational level. 

Can you share any anecdote to show his interactions with the older Tagores?

One interesting story that I know from my father, he had just come back from England
and bought this car called Lancia Lambda, and he would speed through the streets. And
in order to get to drive, he went to Chandanagar, a French enclave in Bengal. When he
came back, his car wasn’t functioning as well, so he got together directly below the main
house where all his cousins and friends and family members gathered, and he was
banging away the car to try and fix it. Rabindranath Tagore opened the window and
said, “Who is making that racket?”

Once he went inside after shutting the window, my father told his brother, Rathindranath
Tagore, who is a son of Rabindranath, “At least I managed to stop the old man from
writing another epic!” That story makes me laugh because it shows no matter who you
are or how important you are, family dynamics are as they are.
But in all seriousness, our family has never focused on wealth accumulation. They had
a lot of wealth at one point, but they have always emphasized social regeneration,
believing in the imperative to uplift the underprivileged and serve a greater collective
purpose. 

How did your father continue Rabindranath Tagore’s legacy?

That spirit was embodied in many ways by my father, Subho Tagore, the founder
member of the Calcutta Group, which was India first collective. And this was formed
soon after he returned from England after interacting with some of the folks from the
Bloomsbury Group in London. My father was an artist, a poet, a bohemian, who
continued the Tagore legacy in its commitment to humility, accessibility and social
conscience. In short, Rabindranath Tagore’s legacy is not just historical, it’s lived, felt
and practiced in our daily lives.

Sundaram Tagore, you are that rare Indian gallerist who promotes not only Indian
art, but also global artists and sculptures, and you celebrate life and Indian spirit.
How did that come about?

I would say it really stems from understanding the Indian identity at its core is inherently
pluralistic and deeply cosmopolitan. If you look at Indian history, from the ancient
Aryans to the to the Greeks and Scythians and central Asians and Arabs, and later the
Europeans, such as the Dutch, the Danes, the Portuguese, the French and the English,
all have been part of India in some form. India has always been also a crossroads of
cultures. So, miscegenation, both genetics and culture, has been the norm, not the
exception. We have not only absorbed external influences, but we have also enriched
and transformed them. India has long been part of a global dialog, trading ideas, aesthetics, and philosophies across continents. So, in that context, what I’m doing as a gallerist, in a small way, is nothing radical. Its just a natural extension of that tradition unfolding. 

What has been the biggest challenge of operating international galleries
promoting diverse artists and marching to your own drummer?

One of the biggest challenges has been navigating the tension between artistic vision
and the commercial realities of global art market when you’re committed to promoting
culturally diverse, often underrepresented voices and creating a space for genuine
cross-cultural dialog, you’re often going against the grain of what is considered
marketable or fashionable in the mainstream art world, especially at the top end, where
it can be very trend driven.

There’s often pressure to conform to established taste or represent artists that cater to a
narrow collector demographic, but I’ve always chosen to champion artists whose work
has cultural, philosophical or historical depth, even if they don’t fit neatly into the market.
Prioritizing can be a tough road financially and logistically, especially when operating
across multiple countries with vastly different audiences, economies and regulatory
systems.

There’s also the challenge of educating audiences or indigenous communities, and in
some ways, it can be a challenge staying true to a vision that’s not defined by market
forces. That requires resilience. There are moments of doubt, there are definitely
financial pressures, but I believe that art has a role far beyond decoration or investment.
It is a tool for dialogue, for empathy, for expanding the way we see the world, and that
belief continues to guide everything we do at Sundaram Tagore Gallery. 

So, at a time when America is closing its doors and becoming more inward
looking, you are celebrating diversity and openness.

Yes, and I see that as not just a choice, but a responsibility. At a time when the
divisiveness, nationalism and fear of ‘other’ are rising globally, not just in America, it
becomes even more essential to create spaces that celebrate the differences, fosters
dialogue, and reminds us of our shared humanity.

(Lavina Melwani is a New York based journalist for several publications and blogs
at Lassi with Lavina. This interview first appeared in The Week.)

The post Home and the World: Sundaram Tagore Goes Global first appeared on Lassi With Lavina.

From an Unknown Cook to Time’s 100 Most Influential People

Vikas Khanna has been selected by Time magazine among this year’s 100 most influential people in the world. Maybe it’s his winning smile or his loving involvement with every human being who comes on his radar, but the award-winning chef of Bungalow has definitely got a secret magic talisman which makes him a total crowd pleaser.

I first met Vikas Khanna in the 1990’s when he was still working in a small restaurant called Poornima. His saga is a story of struggles, a rags to riches fairy tale but it’s also a true tale of grit and determination, where he literally pulled himself up by his bootstraps. Vikas was born with a clubfoot in a middle-class family in Amritsar at a time when cooking skills in a male got no respect – they were just derided as cooks and were certainly not ‘chefs’ or celebrities.

Watch this video to learn in his own words about Vikas Khanna’s early struggles.

Vikas came to America in his 20’s, lived in a homeless shelter for a while, cleaned homes and worked in ordinary back-kitchen jobs in Indian restaurants. He finally went on to become the Michelin winning chef at Junoon, the celebrity chef of the highly popular ‘Master Chef’ and rose in New York’s culinary world, gaining recognition from the prestigious James Beard Foundation to all the top international publications. Vikas has consistently helped raise the profile of Indian cuisine in America and across the globe. He has cooked for world leaders, VIPS, the UN and for six American presidents.  And as if cuisine was not enough, Vikas has written scores of books, and award-winning shorts and features starring noted names like Neena Gupta and Shabana Azmi.

From his mother, Bindu Khanna, Vikas learned, as a child, to cook for and serve and feed the unknown masses at langar in the Golden Temple. This divine spark, this dedication to humanity has remained his mantra and during COVID, he became almost a lifeline between two continents, a one-man army feeding desperate people in many regions of India.

And so, this month, it was happy personal news to hear that Vikas Khanna had bought a new home. A beautiful apartment in the very luxury Manhattan building where he once used to clean homes! An invitation to visit him in this gorgeous new home near the United Nations was one not to be missed. About 50 other guests were there and Vikas was the perfect host at this event which he had co-hosted with Sree Sreenivasan and Roopa Unnikrishnan.

Vikas had called this afternoon a Mango Brunch and guests got to sample beautiful Alphonso mangoes from India as well as mango lassi and several snacks and desserts made with mango. It was almost like climbing up one 0f those vast, shady fruit-laden trees in a mango orchard in India, for guests sat down on the ground (the furniture had not yet been installed) and listened to Vikas’ magical stories about life and people.

And just like in a real mango orchard, we all managed to get a selfie with the  King of Mangoes himself – and be handed the gift of a real, fresh mango straight from the orchards of India!

The afternoon had to finally end because Vikas Khanna had to return to his first love – Bungalow, the restaurant which is completing its second year but has already become a part of New York City’s life and folklore. His much loved sister Radha, whom he lost, was the inspiration behind Bungalow, and Vikas has created it in her image and memory. Like her, it is a force of nature, and so much more than just a place to eat. Many are still waiting to get tables in this always booked restaurant. Outside, crowds, who have no reservations, often gather to meet the chef and get tastings.

Every Indian holiday is celebrated at Bungalow so that it has become a part of the Indian identity with its outdoor celebrations of Indian dance, music and culture. Vikas Khanna likes to call Bungalow not a restaurant but a temple to the Indian spirit. And that perhaps is its secret of success.

http://www.bungalownyc.com

Related Articles:

Vikas Khanna’s Himalayan Journey

Vikas Khanna is New York’s Hottest Chef

The post From an Unknown Cook to Time’s 100 Most Influential People first appeared on Lassi With Lavina.

Surrender to the Joy of Music with Grammy winner Falu Shah

It is her inborn language from birth and it comes from the heart. She learned the language of Hindustani music in childhood and has introduced it to major international stages from the Grand Ole Opry to the White House to Carnegie Hall.

Meet Falguni Shah, known to the world as Falu, who comes from an unbroken lineage of 11 generations of Indian classical musicians. She has won Grammys and has performed with major names like Yo-Yo Ma and Philip Glass. In her newest concert Surrender which premiered at the iconic Carnegie Hall in April, she has something for everyone – the diehard classical music fans, the newbies who are just learning about Indian music and its many avatars from classical ragas to thumris to ghazals to the modern music of pan-Indian cinema.

Surrender was sponsored by the Indian Consulate which is the home away from home for so many Indians and the chief guests were CG Binay Pradhan and his wife Mona Lisa. The audience included many New Yorkers from the cultural world and beyond.

Her versatile band comprises of  Gaurav Shah, Avirodh Sharma, Patrick Thompson, Soumya Chatterjee and Nishaad Shah. The newest edition is her own son Nishaad who becomes the 12^th generation to carry on the family musical tradition.

Surrender is a delightful soundscape with many instruments from the sarangi to violin, harmonium and accordion, bansuri and tanpura. As Falu shared with the audience, “I also wanted to share that this instrument that I took out today after 27 years is 150 years old. It is a tanpura that has passed on to me from my teacher’s teacher.”

What was truly wonderful was that before each session Falu or her partner and husband, Gaurav Shah, explained in lucid language the story behind the ghazal or the raga, thus making it even more enjoyable to non-Hindi speakers. As Falu explained to the audience, “Ragas are melodic soundscapes that are shaped by subtle movements of notes and microtones. And each raga, each melodic scale, carries with it its own mood, its own time of day, its own feeling. There are ragas for midnight. There are ragas for waking up early. There are ragas for evening romance. There’s a raga for everything. There’s supposed to be 33,000 ragas but most musicians know about a thousand.”

 If one wondered where Bollywood and filmi music fit into the kaleidoscope of Indian music, Falu had an explanation, “Merged the last century theater soon after, Indian cinema, this became the heart of popular culture after India’s independence, for a nation that was rebuilding its spirit, this cinema offered joy, imagination, emotional connections. Families were gathered in dark theaters, surrendering to melons that carried both hope and heartbreak of a young nation. Through film, India began to sing together across regions, across generations and across beliefs. Cinema brought music to millions. Many of the melodies in it were inspired by something much older, music of the land itself. This was folk and regional music, shaped not by formal rules, but by rhythms of the daily life.”

As Surrender travels to different cities in the US, there is a chance to catch it and enjoy an evening of calm and happiness. The world may be stressful right now, but in the haven of the concert hall one can get a respite. There is peace and harmony.

Face to Face with Falu Shah

1. Singers aspire to perform at the iconic Carnegie Hall. How has your journey been and what is your special connection with the famous space?

Performing at Carnegie Hall is a dream that many singers hold close to their hearts, and I’m no exception. My journey has been one of deep passion, persistence, and a constant desire to grow both musically and spiritually. Carnegie Hall holds a very special place for me; it represents not just artistic excellence, but also a space where stories, cultures, and emotions come alive through music. Each time I step on that stage, I feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude and connection.

2. Tell me about Surrender – what do you hope audiences will take away from it?

Surrender is a deeply personal and spiritual offering. At its core, it is about letting go, trusting the journey, and opening oneself to something greater than the self. Through this work, I hope audiences feel a sense of peace, connection, and introspection. If even a few people walk away feeling more centered or uplifted, I feel I have fulfilled its purpose.

At the same time, Surrender is also a musical journey through the evolution of Indian music itself, from its origins in three notes, to seven, then twelve, and ultimately to the rich 22-note melodic system that includes microtones developed over millennia. In this way, the work invites listeners to connect not only spiritually, but also historically and culturally, tracing the depth and beauty of Indian music across centuries.

3. How are you carrying on ancient traditions while living in a very contemporary city like New York?

 My special guest for this performance is my son, Nishaad, who is 15 years old and currently a sophomore in high school. Having him debut at Carnegie Hall alongside me was an incredibly emotional and fulfilling moment. He represents the 12th generation of our musical lineage, carrying forward a deeply rooted oral tradition passed down through our family for generations.

Witnessing him embrace this heritage with such sincerity, dedication, and depth gives me a profound sense of peace and gratitude. Knowing this music will continue through him, just as it has for the past 11 generations, is truly moving. Sharing the stage with him—sitting side by side as he performed for the first time at Carnegie Hall, was not just a proud moment as a parent, but a deeply spiritual one as an artist. It was, without a doubt, one of the most meaningful experiences of my life.

 4. How do you bring the spirit of Surrender into your daily life?

 The spirit of surrender is something I try to practice daily, though it is always a work in progress. In both life and art, there are so many moments that call for trust, patience, and acceptance. Surrender, for me, is about embracing uncertainty with grace and allowing creativity and life to flow naturally rather than forcing outcomes.

5.What’s next for you and your band?

Looking ahead, I’m excited to continue creating work that bridges tradition and contemporary expression, and that brings people together through meaningful storytelling. I look forward to touring globally with Surrender and spreading the joy that music gives to audiences worldwide.

www.falumusic.com

The post Falu Shah’s Surrender brings joy of music to Carnegie Hall first appeared on Lassi With Lavina.

New York Diary

Meet Zohran Mamdani in Union Square in Manhattan

If you’re a Zohran Mamdani fan/believer or merely hankering for a connect with the new mayor, take a subway to Union Square. You won’t actually see him there, but you’ll get all the Zohran merch your heart desires – from sweatshirts to caps to stickers to Hot Girls for Zohran tees!

 Yes, amongst the art vendors, fruit sellers, street musicians and chess players, now there is a Zohran store catering to the walkers, dawdlers and lovers of the historic Union Square Park and the surrounding area. Hard to believe that this national historic site was once a burial ground.  It is now a celebration of being alive.

This historic park has been an important meeting ground for citizens. It has sombre statues of Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Jackson and Mahatma Gandhi. Now we can also get Mayor Zohran Mamdani tee shirts here which people can take home and wear every day. True democracy!

On a recent visit in search of the hugely popular farmer’s market, I got immersed in the vitality of the area and found the Zohran merch stall was the new kid on the block. The vendor who jokingly introduced himself as Tupac, said he had started the venture just before the new mayor came into office and he has been doing a bustling business since then, every day. Did he vote for the mayor, I asked. He said, “I did but if you didn’t vote for him because you couldn’t vote, you voted for him in your heart.”

So, the next time you want to multitask three things in one go – get your steps in with a walk in the park, listen to street musicians play a concert and  browse some Mamdani Mayor merch – get yourself to Union Square! 

https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/union-square-park/history

Related  Articles:

Zohran Mamdani’s Inauguration: Humanity & Hope in New York

The post Love Zohran Mamdani? Connect with him in Union Square first appeared on Lassi With Lavina.

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Gender Equality – an Aspiration for India and the Diaspora

Women were centerstage this month and women from India and Indian women from the Diaspora had come together at the Consulate of India to celebrate International Women’s Day together. The special guest was the Honorable Minister of State (WCD) Smt. Savitri Thakur, and her delegation from India, who gave a report card on the progress Indian women had made over the years and celebrated their empowerment.

The literacy rate, which was 8 percent in 1951 is now 75 percent and women’s life expectancy has increased from 41 to 74 years.  There are over 9 million self-help groups which benefit over 100 million families, especially in rural areas.

As the host, Consul General of India, Binaya Pradhan, noted, Indian women had made great strides in corporations, academia and science, as well as in self-help groups: “India has created the world’s largest pipeline for women in public office. Today, if you look at the numbers, out of total elected members in Panchayati Raj and municipal system, 14 lakhs are women. 1.4 million women are elected into the municipal system in India today, which is roughly 49% of the total elected officials. Recently, the parliament brought an amendment which takes 33% reservation, both at federal parliament and state assemblies for women. So that’s bringing Indian women right to the top in decision making at every level.”

Nika Shukla, of Bhartiya Stree Shakti, who serves  as the coordinator of the National Short Film Festival, shared the spirit behind their theme, rewriting the stereotypes. “ For nearly four decades, Bhartiya Stree Shakti has worked to advance gender equality across India. Through this journey, we believe that true equality is difficult to achieve by uplifting women alone, but can be achieved by active participation of men.”

As she added, “It is an invitation to redefine the muscularity of our times. It encourages men to embrace empathy, to express emotions without fear, and to share responsibilities with pride. This theme is not about criticizing men; it’s about freeing them from the stereotypes that limit their duality. For generations, society has handed men an unwritten script, one that asked them to be strong but silent, successful but emotionally restrained, responsible but never vulnerable. This script has shaped families, workplaces and communities in ways we rarely question. But today, as the world evolves, the script must also evolve.”

 By bringing this conversation at an international level platform, they hope to build a narrative that supports healthier men, women, relationships, stronger families and this shift strengthens the social fabric.

Grammy winner Falu Shah, who was part of the panel discussion, noted the importance of art and culture to perpetuate or end unhealthy stereotypes: ‘What we portray in cinema, music, in art, affects not only this generation, but also the next generation. So if we are going to portray partnership, respect and love towards other other people – it could be men or women – that’s what the cinema will portray. That is what the younger generation, the next generation, will inherit. So, the responsibility for an artist is actually greater because what we say becomes the story, what we show in films becomes the reality for so many people. So that’s a very big lesson that we as artistes have to remind ourselves every day, every minute, when we create a song, when we make a movie. Make sure you remember that what you’re creating has a ripple, not just for now, for the present – but for the future.”

All the panelists discussed the bright possibilities for women both in India and the globe but agreed there is a lot of room for growth. Falu stressed the importance of women’s solidarity and of women helping women through their self-help organizations: “I think when a woman helps a woman, we grow much more so instead of being threatened by each other, let’s today make a vow. Let’s say I’m a sister. I’m behind you. Go fly, and if you fall, we’re going to be right behind you – so don’t be afraid to fall.”

This feel good celebratory session was followed by a high tea with – what else – Masala chai, pani puri, samosas, mango lassi, paneer pakoras and all the delights of Indian food. The hall was a blast of multicolored sarees and women from all walks of life – artists, politicians, doctors, consultants, lawyers, Columbia students, writers – all happy to network and celebrate Indian womanhood.

Related Article: This essay is from 2014 

Click and watch the video

International Women’s Day – Some Thoughts

The post Gender Equality is an aspiration on International Women’s Day first appeared on Lassi With Lavina.