An Evening dedicated to Talat Mahmood

एक शाम तलत महमूद के नाम. Mark your calendars. Khalid Mahmood son of legendary bollywood singer Talat Mahmood will be performing on Friday May 4th at University of Michigan, Social Sciences Building (Room SSB-1500), 4901 Evergreen Road, Dearborn, MI 48128 (map). The program begins sharp at 7.15.

This event bought to you by Federation of Aligarh Alumni Associations of America. Entire proceeds will support Girls education in India. (more at MIINDIA)

You just might be lucky enough to hear "Jalte Hain Jiske Liye"

Henna and Mehendi Artist in South East Michigan

Meet Bhakti Henna serving South East Michigan for all your Henna and Mehendi needs. Deepali Bhakti, owner of Bhakti Henna a long time resident of Michigan (from the Ann Arbor Area) has done "Indo American, Indian and Pakistani weddings". Check out her website for her client list.

Enjoy this "Mehendi" song from Dilwale Dulhaniya...

Richard Gere - "Wanted" in land of Kama Sutra

A court in Jaipur, India has issued a arrest warrant for Richard Gere for kissing Shilpa Shetty on the cheeks. The court calls the kiss "an obscene act" (Source BBC).

So does the court consider this obscene? (Sadhus at Kumbh Mela)

Aishwarya and Abhishek at Tirupati

Bollywood couple Aishwarya and Abhishek visit Tirupati after their marriage. Here are couple of pictures (via Hindustan Times)
Google Maps view of Tirupati

Ta Ra Rum Pum comes to Novi, Michigan

Ta Ra Rum Pum a Bollywood Hindi Movie starring Saif Ali Khan and the gorgeous Rani Mukherjee comes to SR Movies, Novi, MI on April 27th. Check out MIMANTRA for showtimes.

Ta Ra Rum Pum is a story of Rajveer Singh (Saif Ali Khan) a race car driver and Radhika (Rani Mukherjee) a music student. The two fall in love and get married and are blessed with 2 children.

Rajveer is soaring new heights as he becomes one of the best race car drivers. Then one day he gets into an accident in the racing circuit and is hospitalized. He recovers months later, but because of the mental scars he is not able to perform like before. After a string of failures, financial woes set in. Rajveer and Radhika are forced to auction off their house and move into a run down neighborhood.

Got to see the movie to find out how Rajveer and Radhika try to make the best out of a bad situation.

Indian Professor and an Indian Student killed in Virginia Tech Massacre

IN MEMORIAM - VIRGINIA TECH
Indian Professor GV Loganatghan - age 51 was one of the 33 killed at Virginia Tech.
Quoting Times of India:

Loganathan is from Tamil Nadu and completed his BE from Madras University. He later did his MS from IIT Kanpur and PhD from Purdue University.

Loganathan was the professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He had received the Dean’s award for Excellence in Teaching in 1998.

Minal Panchal a 26 year old Indian Student was also one of the 33 killed at Virginia Tech.
Quoting NDTV.com

Called 'Minu' by her friends, 26-year-old Minal Panchal went to Our Lady Of Remedy High School in Mumbai and later graduated from the Rizvi college of Architecture in Bandra, Mumbai.

She was very sensitive student, very hardwoking and sincere. But most importantly, she was a highly cultural and refined person; very soft spoken and very sensitive.

She was a very promising young architect. She was concerned by humane issues, cultural values and one of the rare students who was committed to sustainable architecture. We'll really miss her tremendously, said Professor Chauhan, Principal, Rizvi College of Architecture.

Shilpa Shetty in a Kiss Controversy

Shilpa Shetty and Richard Gere were preaching safe sex to truck drivers in India. Then in the midst of the preaching, Richard Gere swooped on to Shilpa Shetty and kissed her on the cheeks. That cheeky kiss was good enough reason for some in India to react by burning Shilpa Shetty's poster.

Miss Shetty said the reaction to the kiss made India look 'regressive'. (source DailyMail)

Lord Tirupati invited to Aishwarya-Abhishek wedding

Amitabh Bachchan visits Tirupati Temple to offer prayers and hand out the 1st wedding invitation card to Abhishek-Aishwarya wedding. In addition Mr. Amitabh Bachchan donated Rs. 51 lakh to the temple. (Source ZeeNews)

Related: Aishwarya-Abhishek's wedding location on Google Maps

Congratulations to Subhash Kelkar on the 30th Anniversary of his Indian Radio Show in Michigan

Last week was the 30th Anniversay of Subhash Kelkar's Geetanjali Radio Show which is heard every Saturday from 9 AM to 10 AM on WPON 1460 AM. Last Week on his show Subhash Kelkar played the 10 best bollywood songs from the past 30 years.

I asked Mr. Kelkar to email me the list of the 10 best songs. He was kind enough to email me the list. Here is the list:

Years
77-78-79    Dafliwale, dafli baja - Sargam (Video)
80-81-82    Tere mere beech mein - Ek Duuje Ke Liye (Video)
83-84-85    Sun Sahiba sun   -   Ram, Teri Ganga Maili
86-87-88    Ek do teen        -   Tezaab
89-90-91    Dekha hai pehli baar  - Saajan (Video)
92-93-94    Ek ladki ko dekha   -  1942, a love story (Video)
95-96-97    Tujhe dekha to ye jaana  - 
            Dilwale dulhaniya le jaayenge
98-99-00    Chhaiyan chhaiyan  - Dil Se
01-02-03    Mitwa, sun mitwa    -  Lagaan
04-05-06    Kajrare kajrare - Bunty aur Babli

Ravi Shankar coming to Detroit, MI

Ravi Shankar the legendary Sitarist will be here in Detroit, MI on Saturday April 21st at 8 pm at:
Max M Fisher Music Center,
3711 Woodward Avenue
Detroit, Michigan 48201
Box Office Phone: (313) 576-5111
Box Office Fax: (313) 576-5109
(Google Maps)
Guess what! if you call the BOX OFFICE and mention MIINDIA you get 30% off the ticket price. (via MIINDIA)

Here's Ravi Shankar in "Concert for Bangladesh (1972)"

Infosys Founder - "Indian National Anthem would embarass foreigners"

Oh Mr. Murthy what were you thinking when you said "Indian National Anthem would embarass foreigners". That was like pulling a Don Imus on Indians.

Co-founder of Infosys NR Narayana Murthy, made those statements about Indian National Anthem at a function in Infosys's complex at Mysore, India. Guess who was there at the function? The function was presided over by President of India ABJ Abdul Kalam.

Mr. Murthy has since apologized. (More on this at BBC)

India's Cricket needs this!

Yes! Let's get some Aussie Cricketers. (via MidDay)

Miss India 2007 - Sarah-Jane Dias

Sarah-Jane Dias a 24 year old former Video Jockey was crowned the new Miss Femina India 2007 at Mumbai on April 8th. Sarah will now represent India at the Miss World Contest.

(Check out timesnow.tv)

Early Spring Snowfall - Plymouth, Michigan

Picture I took today in Plymouth, MI.


(Note: Do you have any pictures from around Michigan, India which you would like to share with the community then send it to me.)

एक लडकी को देखा (Ek Ladki ko Dekha)

One of the many songs Subhash Kelkar played this morning on his Michigan Indian Radio Show at WPON 1460.

Haryana Villages in India Ban Cricket after World Cup Debacle

This from a state which produced one of India's greatest cricketer - Kapil Dev.

Quoting Tewa Singh head of Dadan Panchayat in Haryana:

We all have taken this decision and those who go against it will have to face social boycott. We've enshrined this in the Panchayat records of 28 villages

A resident of the village had this to say:

We will stop playing it (cricket). We will play kabaddi, football, volleyball and wrestle instead

How about cheering for Sanjaya Malakar.:)

Mahindra and Mahindra interviewing for positions in India

Interested in career opportunities in India? Mahindra and Mahindra is interviewing for a variety of positions. They will be interviewing on April 14th from 9 AM to 6 PM at:
39500 Orchard Hill Place, Suite 100, Novi, MI 48375.
Telephone No: 248-347-3780.
(Google Maps of the Interview Location). Visit MIINDIA for more details on type of positions and career opportunities at Mahindra and Mahindra.

Indian Radio Programs in Michigan

There are quite a few Indian Radio Programs in Michigan. Which Desi Radio Shows do you tune into?

Majority of these programs are at 1460 wpon. The ones I listen to are:

One of my favorites is Subhash Kelkar. He has got the best voice of the lot (I call him Amin Sayani of Michigan Indian Radio). Tune into 1460 from 9 AM - 10 AM every Saturday. Majority of the content is delivered in Hindi which I feel is great!

Mumtaz Haque is also good. Her programs can be quite informative because of personalities she interviews from time to time. Only thing is its 2 hour long so for some it might be just too long. Nevertheless its a show with impressive content. Tune into 1460AM from 9 AM - 11 AM every Sunday.

Then there is Rajiv Sanghvi on 690 AM on Sundays from 11 AM - 12 noon. The hour goes by pretty quick on Rajiv's show. He is well prepared and delivers the content without you getting bored.