Our Communities

Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Everything You wanted to Know about SNAP & Medicare

 A Media Round-table with Mayor Mamdani on SNAP and Medicaid

There is loss all around us and there are also ways to stem the flow.

Twelve reporters from the ethnic media – including me – had a sit down conference with Mayor Zohran Mamdani in the Blue Room of City Hall. The Mayor spoke about the new work requirements for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits which went into effect on March 1, and since then, nearly 27,000 New Yorkers have lost their benefits.

Even such a daunting issue he took on with his trademark can-do smile as he looked around the table . “Thank you for the partnership that you provide in reaching out to New Yorkers,” he said. “Since SNAP work requirements have gone into effect, close to 30,000 New Yorkers have lost their SNAP benefits. We know that that has an incredible consequence, especially here in the most expensive city in the United States of America. And we know that when we are looking forward to January 1st, what we will find is at least 900,000 New Yorkers being at risk of losing their health insurance. And this is something that is troubling to the entire city, and we also know that it will disproportionately impact immigrants and communities of color across our five boroughs.”

The Mamdani Administration has launched the Health and Affordability Resource Teams, otherwise known as Heart Teams. These will be tasked with helping New Yorkers get back on SNAP and Medicaid and helping them navigate the new requirements that they are fixing. The new website at nyc.gov/workrules will be a one-stop shop for all the information New Yorkers need on navigating these new rule changes. He added, “Now we need help above all in getting this message out to New Yorkers to ensure that those who are at risk know how they can retain their benefits, and those who have questions know where they can go to have them answered.”

This is causing problems to many New Yorkers, but the good news is that those who lost their SNAP benefits this summer can re-enroll. Mamdani has  launched a citywide outreach effort to help New Yorkers maintain access to SNAP benefits. The Mamdani administration is also broadening its outreach in anticipation of the expansion of work requirements for Medicaid, which take effect on January 1, 2027, and will put approximately 900,000 New York City residents at risk of losing their health insurance.

Now, with the re-enrollment window opening, the administration is expanding community-based outreach to reach approximately 26,500 New Yorkers who lost SNAP benefits under the expanded federal work requirements, which took effect on March 1, 2026.

On March 1, as part of President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” the federal government expanded SNAP work requirements for Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWDs). As a result, thousands of New Yorkers who were previously exempt must now meet federal work requirements to maintain their benefits.

Affected SNAP recipients can meet the requirements by:

• • Working at least 20 hours per week, or 80 hours per month.

• • Participating in an approved job training or education program for at least 20 hours per week, or 80 hours per month.

• • Volunteering with an approved organization for the required number of hours based on their SNAP benefit amount.

• • Participating in other qualifying activities, including approved job search activities.

Beginning in June, newly affected recipients began losing benefits under the federal government’s “three-strike” policy, which reduces or terminates SNAP benefits after three months of noncompliance.

Deputy Mayor Taylor spoke about the Health and Affordability Resource Team:” These are dozens and dozens of community health workers, insurance enrollers, certified application counselors who will be sitting shoulder to shoulder with New Yorkers, helping them to do the work requirements, the medical frailty at destinations, the biannual recertifications.

But it’s more than just getting ourselves ready at the health department. We also have to get our city ready as well. We’ve reached out to over 35,000 clinicians. These are physicians like myself, nurses, social workers to help make sure they’re armed and ready to keep their patients covered. We’ve also worked with over 60,000 community-based organizations and faith-based organizations. And we launched a brand new phone number 866 insured. That’s 866 I N S U R E D that will go along with the brand new website, so we’re here to help New Yorkers. We have your back, and we will help to get through this.”

The heart teams speak up to 13 different languages and they’re specifically being deployed to neighborhoods where, as per the assessments of the New York State Department of Health, they will see the highest impact. So, in the very neighborhoods where people are most at risk, there will be teams that are multilingual, able to make this kind of communication.

Regarding SNAP, Scott French, the administrator of Human Resources Administration, explained how the city process SNAP benefits for New Yorkers. The city has worked to protect New Yorkers at risk of using SNAP: “The city has created volunteer and training opportunities in partnership with more than 200 community-based organizations. Our outreach campaign has been both targeted and expansive. We worked closely with the mayor’s public engagement unit to directly call more than 40,000 at-risk New Yorkers and knock on 10,000 doors. My agency conducted webinars for more than 6,500 community representatives to multiply the reach of our efforts. We have been visible, we have been creative, and we have been relentless. Around 2,500 of those who lost SNAP are already re-enrolled or can re-apply. The most important message for New Yorkers is if you or anyone you know has questions about their SNAP benefits, please call 718 SNAP now.”

Speaking about the losses, Mamdani noted, “These kinds of federal cuts are not just devastating for individual New Yorkers, they are also devastating so many of the institutions that New Yorkers rely on, like bodegas as well as grocery stores. We also see a disproportionate impact in the Bronx in terms of what these SNAP cuts are going to do to the ability for these kinds of institutions to keep functioning in the way they are right now.  For those who cannot get back into Medicaid, there are other NYC programs they can get enrolled into, like NYC Cares.  The administration is also committed to finding jobs for New Yorkers and setting up job centers where they can walk in and get engagement on their resumes.”

The Mayor emphasized: “The reason we were able to save 65% of the New Yorkers we thought were at risk, 220,000 New Yorkers, was because we started early. These teams are going in in advance of January 1. So, we don’t want to wait for when the Medicaid cuts come. We want to be on top of it. We want any New Yorker that we can keep them on their insurance, or we can keep them being eligible for SNAP, that is a healthier New Yorker who is better prepared for life in the city.

The City is also a major employer in this city, employing more than 300,000 New Yorkers. Some New Yorkers have gone in there and actually then been interviewed on site and then gone on to work for city government.  

Mamdani added, “What we have found time and again is the underlying interest is to remove people from the things that can keep them healthy and that can keep them safe. The idea of success from this is a smaller Medicaid program, a smaller SNAP program. That is the issue that we have with these programs. It’s not that they could help people get to work. It’s that what they’re really looking to do is to find ways for disqualifying people from receiving these kinds of benefits. So, we absolutely are looking to connect New Yorkers with jobs. And what we’ve also found is there are too many New Yorkers who fall through the cracks when a federal government says, ‘Remember the one application you needed. Now you need 10 applications.’ That’s our concern.

A lot of it has also been with an emphasis on community-based organizations. Before I was the mayor, before I was an assembly member, I worked at a community-based organization in Jackson Heights in Richmond Hill, and that was a place where people who were uncomfortable going to government were comfortable coming to us. And I know that there are so many organizations who, because of language fluency, cultural fluency,  have the trust of people in their neighborhood, and they have been incredible partners in this work.”

A reporter asked Mayor Mamdani if the city will be receiving any support from the state and federal government for this initiative. He said, “We are not receiving any support from the federal government. What we are receiving instead, to be frank, is cruelty from federal policies. We’re talking about living in the most expensive city in the United States of America, a city where New Yorkers already cite grocery prices and health care as some of their top concerns of cost of living, and what federal policy is doing is now making it harder for them to afford their groceries, harder for them to afford health insurance, and we know that this is a city that moves at the speed of light, and New Yorkers are trying to just keep up with their day to day life.

Our job now is to explain these policies to New Yorkers and to work with them so that we can provide them with the greatest amount of support possible. I do want to credit New York State for their assistance in policy and because of the New York State Department of Health’s assessments of the risk status of certain neighborhoods.”

Finally, Mayor Mamdani was asked, how the elections were going to affect the situation. He said, “I am hopeful about the elections because I think that Americans are tired of a cost of living crisis that has only been exacerbated by federal policy over these last many months, and most people feel like politics is something that they don’t have the time to even afford to worry about. And yet, what they found is that federal policy has made so many of their measures of their day-to-day life more expensive. And what we’re talking about here is fighting the possibility of those same groceries, that same health insurance becoming more expensive.

Here in New York City, we’re focused on making these kinds of things cheaper. Here in New York City, we’re focused on building out the first city-run grocery stores where New Yorkers could go in there and find an actual discount on a basket of essential goods. And yet, what we’re seeing with federal policy is an attempt to make what is an already unbearable situation even more difficult. I’m hopeful that we see Americans take a very different path in the weeks to come.”

The post Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Everything You Wanted to Know about SNAP & Medicaid first appeared on Lassi With Lavina.

Our Communities

 Diwali Prelude: Chants, Caring and Community

Every evening in New York is different. This one was a harbinger of the Diwali to come with joy in community. The waiting audience saw flickering candles and Indian musical instruments on the floor. This evening at Asia Society was organized by Anu Sehgal of The Culture Tree, which celebrates its 10^th anniversary this year, and centered around community, beautiful chants by Grammy winner Chandrika Tandon, and an unopened lotus.

The Honorable Shekar Krishnan, New York City Council member for District 25, gave the keynote speech. He is the first Indian American to ever be elected to the New York City Council, and it was wonderful to see how far the community has come, as the midterm elections draw closer.  Some excerpts from his talk: “As many of you already know, our communities of Jackson Heights and Elmhurst, Queens are the most diverse communities in the world. I represent a neighborhood where over 167 languages are spoken. We represent the largest New York City taxi driver population in all of New York City, a community of workers and drivers that I, along with our Mayor Zohran Mamdani, have worked together with for many years to make sure that they were not bearing the crushing predatory lending debt that they bore for so long, and to make sure that they are getting the protection that they deserve as workers

We are also a community of street vendors, of small business owners. We know on 74th Street, Sam and Raj was there for a very long time too, and so many others. It’s all so hard to believe that 74th Street in Jackson Heights, at one point in time, where all of us would go in our families has now so many such streets across the country, across the city, like of course across the world too.

“But I’m proud to represent such a diverse district. Jackson Heights and Elmhurst are where we all go, where so many go to chase the American dream and to achieve it. And it is also where so many go, as we know, to eat the best food in our city too. As biased as I am, I know that’s true. It is a joy and pleasure to represent such a diverse and vibrant community.

I often think of the small ways that my community has made such an impact on me too. Even during our first campaign, to be out there and see our Patel brothers on 74th Street had my campaign posters the first time ever- in four different languages along the wall: Hindi, Bangla, Nepali, English, and Spanish. So, five actually, and of course, representing so many young children of our South Asian communities. I may be the first in the city council, but I sure hope that I am not the last, and to fight for them and their future, children who look like us in this room, who look like me, who are now learning about our cultures and our languages in their schools. That gives me so much hope and inspiration to keep fighting for our communities in Jackson Heights and Elmhurst and across New York City.”

His love shout-out to the community was followed by Chandrika Tandon’s love chant to the community. It was the major highlight of the evening, for this was no ordinary concert.

This was a concert in which Chandrika the diva, through the magic of her voice and her persuasion powers, made the audience chant along with her. A very special occasion. She evoked the many names of Hindu gods and engaged all the participants in joining their voices to her chants.  Each guest was presented with an unopened lotus, a symbol of their unseen potential.

The young musicians performed beautifully, and in fact, there can be no stronger community than the one that sings together, that chants together. The evening set the stage for the Diwali to come, and in the end, there was festive mithai from Surbhi Sahni of Tagmo which looked like glittering gems and tasted like pure happiness. One which intrigued everyone was a simple mithai, made of cashew nuts. Cut the anonymous little green ball and voila! It turned into a slice of watermelon, complete with pink flesh and black seeds – created totally of nuts!

By end of the evening, a beautiful gossamer web of caring and community had been established through the chants, and people went home joyful, with a peace they did not possess when they came. The next morning, the lotuses, put in water, had opened and bloomed. A beautiful reminder that Diwali, the festival of lights, and the victory of light over darkness was around the corner.

One is reminded of Sekhar Krishnan’s parting remarks on how we can solidify these emotions and take action during dark times: “This is how we make sure that the stories of our communities, of our cultures, are told generation after generation, As families, friends, and neighbors unite, Diwali has always been a time for me when I think about what I am thankful for in our community, and as a father of two young children too, who I now celebrate the traditions with and pass on to them as well.

It’s a moment for me to remember our families, our culture, and our own struggles and hardships too, but let’s zoom out even further. We know that we live in dark times right now, with the federal government attacking our health care, increasing the cost of living, and cutting access to food assistance, and sending ICE into our communities to tear apart families. I say all this not to bring down the mood, but to center on how important today is, and how important it is to have everyone in this room.

As we spend time cherishing our families, hugging our friends, and joining together in community, we are standing up in moments like this and shining a light over the darkness that we may see surrounding us. Now, when we celebrate Diwali and celebrate our culture, which is now a public school holiday in New York City too, we spread knowledge in the face of ignorance.

When we look out for our neighbors, for one another, standing up to ICE, when we feed our community and members and invest in our children’s education, we choose compassion over hatred. And when the moments get difficult, I know for me they do, it can seem like the road ahead is so dark.

Moments like today encourage us, inspire us to turn the gaze inwards as well, to look at that flame that shines brightly, and push us forward. It is my hope, it is my prayer, that when things can seem so difficult, we can turn the gaze inwards, reach deep down within, and remember events and moments like today that can give us the energy, strength, and inspiration to move forward.”

(Chandrika Tandon’s remarks will feature in a Diwali piece on Lassi with Lavina)

http://chandrikatandon.com

https://council.nyc.gov/shekar-krishnan/

http://www.asiasociety.org

http://theculturetree.com

Related Article:

Diwali – Past,Present and Future

The post Diwali Prelude: Chants and Caring Energize the Community first appeared on Lassi With Lavina.

New York Diary

New York City is a place of many faiths and the fervor and beauty of Durga Puja spills out from hearts and homes to temples and streets, and now New York’s mayor, Zohran Kwame Mamdani, has also joined in to make it truly a New York festival where everyone knows the joy of celebrating Ma Durga. Here delightful photos from his participation in a Durga puja ceremony at Om Shakti Temple in Queens on Tuesday, October 20, 2026. You see members of the Bengali community dressed in their festive best to welcome Ma Durga – and in only a New York moment, Mayor Mamdani. There is delight and happiness. The last picture of the Bengali woman dressed up in gold and silk with jasmine in hair, holding a sleeping child in her arms and a knapsack on her back. Only in America!

Photos of the Day: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office

The post Mayor Zohran Mamdani celebrates Durga Puja in New York first appeared on Lassi With Lavina.

Kavery Kaul’s The Bengali is Every Immigrant’s Story

Under Our Sun – Sharing our Stories.

You. Me. They. We immigrants each have a story and the further back we venture into our histories, the more surprising the revelations there are, almost like the layers of an onion.

Award-winning documentary filmmaker Kavery Kaul’s latest film is The Bengali, and it keeps you intrigued, glued to your seat, almost as if it were a mystery adventure. We follow Fatima Shaik, an unsmiling African-American writer from America traveling to India on an impossible quest: a journey to find the past of her dead grandfather, Shaik Mohamed Musa, who was Indian and a Muslim. He left home a hundred years ago and so she is searching for something which may no longer exist, something which has vanished with the passing of time.

Fatima has an Indian name, but she is from New Orleans, a child of the segregated South. She has lived for four generations in Louisiana and has known no other world.  You’d be hard-pressed to say she’s Indian although if you look carefully at her face, there are shadings of an Indian heritage. She is deeply Christian, a committed churchgoer who has never been to a mosque.

Fatima remembers her grandfather’s hookah occupying pride of place and her grandmother’s saree which the grandchildren loved to dress up in – all lost in the churning aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It as these losses and so many family deaths that probably sent her to India to search for her past.

The Bengali is a travelogue of the soul, taking us into squalid, dirt-poor Bengali villages, meeting people we may never know, wandering into their threadbare kitchens and dusty backyards. It is beautifully photographed, shining a candid light on harsh real life. When Fatima meets the villagers of her grandfather’s village – she and they are Bengalis -but worlds apart.

And yet slowly there is conversation, understanding and finally really seeing each other in spite of conflicts and differences. Fatima discovers another world, new family and indeed, herself.

At a screening at Turkish House in New York, audiences got to meet filmmaker Kavery Kaul who had a conversation with Gordon Tapper, President, Give Them a Hand Foundation, Former Section Chief, United Nations. It was moderated by Bedatri D. Choudhury, Arts Editor, Philadelphia Inquirer and Programmer, DOC NYC. As Choudhury noted, “Tonight is really about the stories that connect us, the histories we don’t always know about, and the conversations that bring us closer together.”

https://vimeo.com/1236620546/d3015acff0

Watch the trailer of The Bengali

 Kaul described Fatima’s dilemmas, “Who is she? She’s American. She doesn’t look like them. Doesn’t think like them. Doesn’t act like them. So, what is she doing here, really? She doesn’t even know how to eat with her hands. I mean, these are big differences. That is not just a one-sided unfamiliarity. There’s unfamiliarity in both sides Fatima is a devout Christian. She had never entered a mosque. She knew very little about her Muslim grandfather. In India, in this remote Muslim village, they had never seen a Christian. So, on both sides, there was unfamiliarity, some amount of concern, and what’s important is that they expressed the unfamiliarity and the frustration on both sides, and they found a meeting ground.”

What’s intriguing is that there are many such family histories of immigration buried across America. The Bengali tells the untold story of unions between South Asians and African-Americans in the U.S. In the late nineteenth-century, men from India arrived in the United States and married African-American women in the South or Mexican women in California. Together they created new families and new family trees in America.

In immigration’s long history there are many stories of loss, of division – and also of coming together and seeing the universality of love, human ties and family.

In the discussion after the film, Kaul said, “We can find a meeting ground if we want to. We all have potential, and we have potential to work together, and we also have potential that divides us. What brings us together is our shared humanity.

What really makes the villagers open up to Fatima is those personal moments. What is the spice you use? This is a picture of my children. What about your children? The shared laughter, the shared personal experiences that help us to understand each other. We all like good food. We all have grandmothers that went through something, and if we can focus on that, we will move forward.

 And what divides us? Listening to others, listening to people we don’t have to listen to. Focus on ourselves. Focus on the person next to you. Focus on your grandmother. Focus on the food you eat. Tell me about it. You’ll hear about mine and the food I eat, and we’ll get along beautifully.”

After making The Bengali, Kaul actually went back to the village and showed it to the villagers. She recalls, “The place was packed with at least 100 people from nearby villages who’d heard we were doing this. They listened closely, they laughed and were so insightful. One of the women said, ‘some of the people in this film have died, but you know what’s wonderful? We will always remember them now in this film.’ I thought that was so profound and so moving. It meant a lot.”

In conclusion, Kaul observed, “But as we filmmakers all know, that the making of the film is only the beginning of the story. Under Our Sun is an impact campaign inspired by The Bengali. We found that many people who saw the film found a personal connection to the story, outside of the specific story. It brought up their memories, their heritage, their traditions, their sense of belonging, of being told that they don’t belong, and so we created Under Our Sun as a space for everyone to tell their stories, to bring us all together, and now more than ever, we live in a very polarized world, fueled by hostility, violence, and fear. So, in that climate, I am very, very proud to say that many people have joined Under Our Sun. In fact, we have over 1 million views on our social media already. Follow us, post your story, talk to the digital media team that’s here today, and I want to give a special shout out to some people who are here.

They have created the most wonderful stories, personal stories filled with their hearts and minds, and we need to recognize them for that. I think what brings us together is our shared humanity. That’s what Under Our Sun is about.”  

Gordon Tapper, who has championed interfaith dialog and understanding, including the annual World Interfaith Harmony Week at United Nations, summed up the impact of The Bengali : “The thing is, none of us can change a country or change a city, but we can change. We can have impact on our immediate community, and if we all have an impact on our immediate community, we will end up impacting on the world.”

www.thebengalifilm.com

www.underoursun.com

(The next screening of The Bengali is The LA screening is at the Wende Museum in Culver City on October 21. Panel after moderated by Lorraine Ali, News and Culture Critic, LA Times.)

Photo Gallery – The Bengali Screening

The post The Bengali by Kavery Kaul is Every Immigrant’s Story first appeared on Lassi With Lavina.

Awaiting the Hindu Mother Goddess – Durga Ma

An Evergreen Story from Kriti Mukherjee who now lives in India

The celebration for Durga Ma’s arrival was an integral part of my childhood in India right till very recently when we moved to the US. In our Hindu household, we would wake up at the unearthly hour of 4 a.m. to hear the chants of ‘Mahalaya’ in the radio. The pundit who in his chants told us the story of Ma Durga’s creation and purpose in Sanskrit, would break down with emotion every now and then, and so did many of us.

The story would be told in a period of an hour or so after which we could formally begin the day of the ‘Pujas’.  Somehow, as if by magic, the day would start to unfold with something in the air that could be attributed only to her coming and our hearts filling with joy.

In the US we celebrated her arrival sometimes only after she had left. US, the place of opportunities, also transpired to be the place of convenience for most of us. The entire working class whole-heartedly agreed that weekends was the time to welcome her,  even if she came on a weekday.

It’s understandable because they worked shoulder to shoulder with communities who did not even know her or sometimes even thought her appearance to be mildly peculiar. I am back in India now and of the many things that I cherish is the fact that I can be a true celebrant again: brace inconvenience, fast till I see her face, pray wholeheartedly while repeating the hardest words in Sanskrit after the priest, get intoxicated with the sound of the Dhak (drums) and then go home with the determination of living in her shadow till the day I die.

Durga Ma and I

She may be mythical to many but I have not yet learned to control the free flow of tears when I look at her killing the demon with the spear,  in a trance -like environment created by the sound and movement of the Dhakis, traditional drummers.

To me she is a modern day working girl – our Ma Durga! Created with the fire of the Trimurti, she works diligently to kill Asura  – the ‘demonized’ image of everyday evils that we need to deal with in our lives. In a world where women’s subjugation still is an agenda to be dealt with, it is mesmerizing to see multitudes of strong powerful men bowing their heads to the divine Ma.

Corporate honchos, murderers, laborers, rich business tycoons, the paternal heads of families, wrestlers and thieves come together in complete awe and reverence to pay their respect to her! Seated on her lion, she looks down at all the men and their women reassuringly while a bloody spear pierces through the very heart of the demon, killing him.

Durga Ma: The Long Goodbye

And after the fifth day of her vacation is over, faces fall, hearts sink and a sense of insecurity at her leaving us to fend for ourselves sets in. Even her eyes soften, her smile weakens, her eyes droop but her children in this world try to cheer her up while shouting out strong chants of ‘Aashche bochor abar hobe’ (we shall celebrate your coming again next year). They are actually only trying to reassure themselves.

Chanting devotees carry her to a water-body and immerse her so she can dissolve in the water and return to the abode of Shiva, her celestial husband. The Dhakis and the men who carry her seem drunk even without a drop of alcohol in them. Her going away, the sound of the Dhak to signify that, her face, the chants brings about a surreal feeling all over.

This is all really ritual – and everything only signifies real situations in life, teaches us how to deal with them – there are deep, endless lessons to learn from it – but her ritualistic going away makes me cry buckets of tears. I can hardly face the world the day she leaves me with that mammoth lump in my throat.

The next day, however, is another day – much like any other day. Life resumes and we return to being clever human beings doing anything that makes our lives great in this world. By the time she has been gone a fortnight, her lessons are kind of gone too I think. That is how tough the world is!

I sometimes wonder whether her coming back every month would better the situation and make us worthy of her love – my heart and mind do not seem too confident and I have to bow my head in shame again.

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The post Meeting Durga Ma on Two Continents first appeared on Lassi With Lavina.

Sarina Jain – Celebrating Joy and Fitness through Masala Bhangra

There was a time when Bhangra, a folk dance of rural Punjab, was hardly known in America. Immigrants loved it but in the 70’s, many were shy of doing it in public places or drawing attention to it in mainstream America.

Along came Sarina Jain, born and brought up in America and not a Punjabi, who not only made it a touchstone for young Indians as well as for mainstream Americans by unleashing a fitness frenzy using this village dance as the vehicle. Masala Bhangra practiced first in basements and temple yards has 25 years later become an American success story. This year on the anniversary of Masala Bhangra, Sarina introduced a short film about her endeavor and this month is releasing a book “All You Need is Balle Balle”.

What memories did she have of India that made Bhangra such an important part of her life? “My parents were born in India and immigrated to the United States in the 1970s, and I was born and raised in California,” she says. “Growing up, I was surrounded by families from many different backgrounds, and that exposure gave me a deep appreciation for Indian culture as a whole. My sister and I initially loved hip-hop and popular dance styles, but in our teenage years we discovered Bhangra. Along with friends, we formed a Bhangra team called Dhamaka. We practiced every weekend and performed at local talent shows and competitions.”

Although she and her sister traveled to India every year as children, those trips weren’t centered around Bhangra. They were about spending time with family, connecting with roots, and being immersed in Indian culture.  Recalls Sarina, “Ironically, it was through one of our Punjabi friends in California that we were introduced to Bhangra. What began as a hobby quickly became a passion and eventually a life’s calling.”

What were the difficulties in starting Masala Bhangra? It was a rough road says Sarina. “The biggest challenge was launching a completely new concept with very little support from my own community. In the beginning, the only people who truly believed in me were my mother and my sister. Their unwavering support gave me the confidence to keep going, even when others questioned what I was doing. While the lack of support from my own community was disappointing, it also taught me resilience.”

When she first started teaching Masala Bhangra classes, she imagined the room would be filled with Indian aunties and uncles. Instead, the people who showed up were Americans from all backgrounds and walks of life. They embraced the program immediately and saw value in it before many people in her own community did. Says Sarina: “Their enthusiasm helped me view Masala Bhangra through a different lens. I realized that while the program was rooted in Indian culture, its message of joy, movement, and connection was universal.”

Masala Bhangra received an incredible response, especially when the first workout video was released in 2000. Why does she think there has been such an overwhelming response to Masala Bhangra? “I believe people connected with it because the movements were simple, accessible, and fun and it was different from the standard aerobics. I focused on teaching in a way that made everyone feel welcome, regardless of age, fitness level, or dance experience. The choreography was easy to follow, easy to modify, and easy to enjoy.

 More than anything, people felt successful from the very first class. They could move, sweat, smile, and celebrate without feeling intimidated. Twenty-five years later, that philosophy hasn’t changed. Masala Bhangra continues to bring people together because it makes fitness feel joyful rather than intimidating.”

 What changed? Why have Indian culture and traditions become so popular and been embraced by the mainstream? “I think we’re seeing the natural evolution of a growing and thriving community. Indian culture has become increasingly visible across politics, business, entertainment, wellness, food, and technology. As more South Asians have stepped into leadership roles and shared their stories, the broader world has become more curious and appreciative of what our culture has to offer.

At the same time, people are recognizing that many aspects of Indian culture—from movement and mindfulness to food and community—have real value and relevance today. It’s a combination of timing, visibility, representation, and a greater appreciation for cultural diversity. The world has become more interconnected, and Indian culture is finally receiving the recognition it deserves.”

  Women have played an important role in Sarina’s life—from her mother to her daughters. What inspires her and them to embrace strong, independent roles?

“My mother has always been my greatest role model and strongest supporter. Even before my father passed away from a sudden cardiac arrest at the age of 47, she was the steady force in our family. After his passing, she faced enormous challenges and societal pressures, yet she chose to follow her own path rather than conform to expectations. She trusted me when very few others did. Her belief in me gave me the courage to pursue my dream and build Masala Bhangra from the ground up.”

It is great to be surrounded by a tight-knit circle of women. Sarina adds, “My sister and I made a promise when we were young that no matter where life took us, we would always remain close. That bond continues to be one of my greatest sources of support.” Her young daughters are a great source of strength too: “They have expanded my perspective, made me more compassionate, and remind me of the importance of leading by example. Watching them grow into confident young girls motivates me to continue breaking barriers and creating opportunities for future generations.”

And now there is her first book All You Need Is Balle Balle, Says Sarina, “It shares how I transformed heartbreak into purpose, forged a unique path as the first woman to bring Indian dance fitness to the global stage, and built a worldwide movement rooted in joy, culture, and community.”

What are her plans for the next 25 years? Says the Masala Bhangra Girl, “Right now, my focus is on continuing to grow the Masala Bhangra community through our Ambassador Program, adult performance workshops, corporate wellness programs, and speaking engagements around the world. My mission remains the same: to inspire people to move their bodies, celebrate culture, and build meaningful connections.

As for the next 25 years, my goal is simple: keep moving, keep teaching, keep inspiring, and continue creating spaces where people of all backgrounds can come together through culture, fitness, and joy.”

The post Sarina Jain: Joy, culture and Fitness through Masala Bhangra first appeared on Lassi With Lavina.

CHI Gala Celebrates Education, Caring and Community in New York

Even in this age of AI, it all begins with the written word. At its gala this month CHI celebrated the future of our children with the power of the written word. You’ll rarely find books at a gala, but the evening was a tribute to education and the power it has to enrich the potential of every child.

There were stacks of beautiful books on the stage, on the elegant dinner tables and there was an actual stem and robotic display set up in the cocktail area, along with a children’s library and an art gallery devoted to the paintings of children from the slums and villages. There is such a yearning for real art from the heart that every piece was sold, bought by the 350 guests at the gala.

The weather played sportingly too – a crisp clear day on the waterfront as guests mingled on Pier Sixty’s beautiful waterfront and enjoyed cocktails, pani puri and pao bhaji, among other Indian delights, before a sit-down dinner. The visual delight of course was the sizzling dance segments by the Atma Performing Arts set to addictive Bollywood tunes.

The emcee of the evening was Monisha Agrawal who spoke eloquently about all that CHI has accomplished in 34 years of service including the 30 by 30 Education Initiative which began with just five pilot sites three years ago and has tripled to over 17 centers in underserved communities across 10 states, reaching over 10,000 children. As the CHI video brought alive: “Behind every number is a child discovering confidence, a teacher rediscovering the joy of teaching, a parent becoming their child’s biggest champion. technology is opening a new world. With computers, STEM kits, and robotics in their hands, children are learning to build, experiment, and turn their own ideas into reality. They are learning to imagine, create, and solve problems.”

This year’s honorees included denizens of the medical and pharmaceutical world: Dr. Makarand Jawadekar, recognized with the Lotus Lifetime Achievement Award; Dr. Manish A. Parikh, recipient of the Making a Difference Award.  There was also recognition for internationally renowned chef Vikas Khanna and Mysha Rizvi, recognized as Special Impact Honorees; and Roshni Sawhny, recipient of the Rising Star Award. 

Roshni Sawhny, Co-founder, Storypie, underscored the importance of investing in the next generation, saying, “We believe the success of our society rests in the hands of our children—not someday, but right now: in classrooms, at kitchen tables and at bedtime. How we prepare them and set them up for success begins now.”

Perhaps the most poignant moment came when CHI recognized Master Chef Vikas Khanna and his protégé Mysha Rizvi, with the Special Impact Award.  It was a real life learning moment of how everyone can be included into a more fair and equal world, if there’s encouragement. In her role as special guest relations manager at Bungalow, Mysha has flowered into a confident person finding her way in the world. Her short speech was brave before this big audience and was met with heartfelt applause.

Chef Vikas Khanna said, “I have known Children’s Hope India for decades, and I remember one thing very clearly: during the pandemic, we were doing food trials across India. We crossed almost 100 cities in collaboration with the Government of India. One foundation which truly got my focus to the real needs of India was CHI.  We don’t talk about that so much in our culture, but leaving parents, grandparents, everything familiar behind in search of a better life leaves a huge gap in our hearts. So we want to support foundations like CHI, which not just represent the future but also accountability,  a continuity of what we are here and what we leave behind.” .

Education is vital to what CHI endeavors to do and Sharmila Sani, who had recently visited the CHI projects spoke eloquently about what she saw. “Today, we partner with over 10 government schools, bringing inspiring teachers, viable early learning, technology and opportunity to 1000s more children. Tomorrow won’t ask our children what they memorized. It will ask, can they think? Can they adapt? Can they create? Our responsibility is not just to prepare children for the jobs of tomorrow, but to give them the confidence to shape tomorrow itself”

Dr. Dina Pahlajani, president of CHI, said: “For us at CHI, the end of this gala is the beginning of a new year. Tomorrow, we go back to planning, building, and delivering on the promises we have made to the children, the families we serve, and most importantly, everybody who has supported CHI.”

For more information on CHI and how you can participate please visit www.childrenshopeindia.org

CHI Gala Photo Gallery

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New York Diary

25 Years Later, Thinking about 9/11

9/11. It’s hard to believe but 25 years have passed since the horrific day the world seemed to end. It was a day few of us can forget, the fabric of nightmares.

Just a few days back I was on the East River waterfront. I always tend to look at the sky during my walks, and this made me catch my breath. It was a perfectly nice summer day yet there were rain clouds in the sky. To me the ominous dark clouds reminded me of the billowing black smoke and startled, my mind immediately went back to 9/11, to the endless replays of the Twin Towers disaster over the years.

I stood there, lost in thought, my mind unleashing a flood of memories.
It’s hard to believe but I was there when it happened, taking a train in the following days to the disappeared twin towers, visiting the cathedral and talking to people on the street. I did reports for India Today and The Week with families who had lost loved ones. (Over the years, I have added those stories to Lassi with Lavina.)

In the present, around me on the summery waterfront, families dawdled, walked and played with their kids and dogs, oblivious to what my imagination saw. In the distance I looked at the spot where the mighty World Trade Towers had once stood. In their place was the rebuilt structure, standing tall and resolute. It told its own story about New York and New Yorkers, about their inner strength, their can-do spirit and their love for each other.

New York and New Yorkers would not be vanquished, even though their hearts were broken.

The children who lost their parents that day are young adults today with few memories of the catastrophic day. We pray for them to have a better world and the strength to make it so.

Related articles:

Remembering 9/11 – A Tribute in Images

Related Articles:

9/11 Remembered

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How far would you go for love? How about 6000 miles, from India to Sweden, cycling alone through rough and unknown countries on a ramshackle bike, with no money in your pockets, just longing to unite with the one you love?

In a world of AI and fake news, it’s refreshing to see and hear a real love story and actually meet the couple who conquered impossible caste and race differences, and financial barriers to live happily ever after. ‘The Cycle of Life’ is a love story/documentary/adventure which will keep you in your seats, rooting for a happy ending.

The Cycle of Love is a heart-warming, true-life adventure about PK Mahanandia, a Dalit or untouchable, who earns a living from sketching portraits – Rs. 10 in 10 minutes – on the streets of Delhi.  When he encounters Lotta von Schedvin, a Swedish backpacker whose portrait he sketches, it is love at first sight for PK.  He is convinced she is the woman from afar he is destined to marry, according to a childhood prophecy. The tenderness grows between the two for the next two months, and then Lotta has to return home but promises to return in August. When August comes and goes with no sign or letter from Lotta, PK decided to leave his old life and leave for Sweden. He has no money for a plane ticket and puts all he possesses to purchase a rickety Raleigh bike and decides to cycle the Hiker trail to Sweden. The film is about his Odyssey alone through deserts and unknown lands and rain and snow – and by the end of it, we are all warmed by the many people he meets and the power of self-belief and the human connection.

The film’s premiere in New York at the Directors Guild had an appearance by executive producer Priyanka Chopra Jones and Oscar-winning director, Orlando Von Einsiedel who has directed this film.

Here are some glimpses of the interviews with Orlando Von Einsiedel, as well as the amazing PK and Lotta, who certainly had a well-deserved happy ending. They have been married for 50 years and have two wonderful children who helped bring this love story of their parents to fruition. A truly satisfying real life ending!

The film can be seen for a week at the Angelika in New York. It is also opening in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Orlando Von Einsiedel recalled, “When I was giving a talk at the Nobel Peace Prize, two young people came up to me and handed me a book and said, ‘This is our parents’ story. Would you be interested in reading it and maybe making a film about it?’ And I took the book very politely. I read it, and I was completely blown away. And then I was very lucky. I got to go and meet them in in Sweden, and well, you’ve just seen they’re the most extraordinary, warm, open-hearted people imaginable, and I fell head over heels in love with them both.”

This was a difficult film to make because it’s a documentary without much archival footage. He admitted, “It presented a massive challenge because the story is extraordinary but there was very little archive footage. PK didn’t have a documentary crew following him in the 1970s, so that was terrifying.  but it was kind of wonderfully refreshing in a creative way to try and think problem solve how to do this, and my past work helped.”

Two wonderful actors, Chirag Benedict Lobo and Mina Fuglesteg Dale play the roles of the youthful PK and Lotta and fully capture the tenderness and magic of their love story, and the angst of PK, as well as his journey into self-belief. Orlando says, “They’re extraordinarily talented actors, very emotionally intelligent and deeply empathetic. And what I should say about this film is, they are almost the only actors in it. Everybody else in this film are real people that we met along the route. Nothing was scripted. Everything was improvised and unplanned.”

The film is truly a slice of life and uses real people for the most part, telling this core part of PK’s story through live, unscripted conversations with strangers and how they enriched the journey, teaching him about spreading the love and in the process helping him to learn to love himself. 

Orlando described the complex filmmaking, in simple terms to the audience: those conversations were just natural conversations, street cast on the day. They would find people, have a conversation, find out an interesting story element, like a tattoo that had a bit of meaning behind it, and then he would brief Chirag, and then let these conversations unravel in in you know very much in a way that he had shot many many documentaries.
“So one day we set off with PK and Lotta on this six- seven week odyssey to make this film, and that’s what you just saw. PK’s story happened 50 years agout bthe film you see is a modern story; people talking about hope and dreams and love today, and we spent time with communities from Iran and Afghanistan and in India and in Turkey.”

 It is first and foremost a beautiful love story, but does not shy away from the inhumanity  of discrimination faced by PK as a Dalit.  Says Orlando, “Well, PK’s experience is obviously very specific to his experience, but discrimination is sadly a universal tragedy, You know, there’s darkness in this story. There’s also so much light, and I think one of the things I hope you all took away is that PK could complete his journey because of all the incredible, kind people he met along the way who helped him and gave him shelter and food.”

 In his closing thoughts, Orlando said, “One of the privileges of being a documentary filmmaker is, as you get to travel, you get to meet people around the world. In my experience, the vast majority of people on this planet that we share it with are good. We care about the same things. We want safety, shelter, love, meaning in our lives, and I think that PK and Lotta’s story really, really speaks to showing that.”

A Gallery of Photos from the Premiere of Cycle of Love

The post The Cycle of Love Is a Triumph of the Human Spirit first appeared on Lassi With Lavina.

New York Diary

India @80 – A Massive Celebration of Independence

It was a pilgrimage of sorts, a journey of the heart.  They came by car and by train, by bus and ferry from the tri-state area. New Delhi is very far from New York, but hundreds of Indian-Americans turned up at 8 am on August 15 to salute the tricolor they had grown up with and loved since they were children.

August 15 was always a joyful day in India, no matter which corner of the country you were in. You watched the magnificent parade in person or on television or on your cell phone, listened teary eyed to the powerful patriotic songs and celebrated with family and compatriots. It was those nostalgic memories which were drawing the crowds to the Indian Consulate, in spite of the tie-ups in Manhattan traffic and street closures.

The Indian Consulate, the beautiful  beaux arts mansion known as New India House, embedded between Madison and Fifth Avenue, was decorated in the festive colors of saffron, green and white, and many of the guests had chosen the colors of the tri-color in their dress. There were speeches and celebrations, music, dance and food to mark India’s 80th Independence Day across India and its Diaspora. After Consul General Binaya Pradhan’s  remarks and the cultural program, many guests lingered to take a selfie with the VIP in the room – the tri-color flag flying high. In fact, there was quite a line waiting to get a photo with the flag and their families. I watched them, people of the older generation as well as children, all with happiness and pride on their faces as. standing in New York, they were in spirit in  Old Delhi at the historic Red Fort.

I spoke to a mother and daughter, both in New York since three years, but still missing the homeland and delighting in this touch of home provided by the consulate, their home away from home.

 Later all the guests – Indians, Indian-Americans, green card holders and many Indian students along with American neighbors – all shared a hearty Indian breakfast composed of favorite dishes from many states – chole poori, samosas, dhokla, spring rolls, dahi bhallas, idli and even biryani. Indian cuisine is enriched by the foods of various regions, just as the many dialects and languages of India fill the air with their astonishing variety and sweetness. Yet we are all Indians, and instead of a cacophony there is a feeling of unity, especially when we are abroad.

August 15 is a heady day for Indian organizations and individuals as India’s Independence Day is celebrated in several US states. In New York  iconic landmarks, including the Empire State Building, Grand Central Terminal, Niagara Falls and Bloomberg’s New York headquarters, were illuminated in the colors of the Indian Tricolor.

There was a big celebration in Times Square too, and on Sunday there was the grand parade to look forward to, with thousands of participants thronging the streets of Manhattan. Indians and Indian-Americans like to go all the way, so of course they had to set a Guinness World Record.

The Consulate General of India, New York joined hands with the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) @federationofindianassociations , with the support of @zoho_usa , as the Indian-American community made history in New Jersey by setting the Guinness World Record for the “Largest Flagpole Number” in a Special Celebration of India@80 & America@250!

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