Mandy Grewal for Pittsfield Township Supervisor

Please remember Mandy Grewal on August 5th, 2008. She is running for Pittsfield Township Supervisor. Grewal, born in Chandigarh ( India ), came to the U.S. for further studies. She has a PhD in Urban Planning from U-M and has been representing Pittsfield Township on the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners for the past few years, where she currently serves as Vice-Chair.

Every single vote will count on August 5th – so please take the time to get out, vote and help make history by placing the first South Asian in such a leadership position in Southeast Michigan.

MIBAZAAR gets a NICE mention in Detroit Free Press

Mike Wendland of Detroit Free Press has written a very nice (very....generous) article about me and my work here at MIBAZAAR. Click here to read Mike's article at Detroit Free Press.

Click here for more coverage on MIBAZAAR, in print media and on the web.

FIVE RIVER STUDIO - Michigan's Premier Couture Photography Boutique

FIVE RIVER STUDIO, located in Macomb, MI is owned and operated by Husband and Wife Team of Aali and Fauzeen Qureshi who have an extreme passion for beauty and capturing that beauty on camera. They specialize in wedding, lifestyle, pet, fashion and senior student imagery.

Aali and Fazeen work out of metro detroit, however, their work has taken them out of State and overseas also. Their work has taken them to Miami, Tampa, Virginia, Chicago, and internationally, they have shot in France, and Tahiti, with weddings coming up in Italy and the UK.

There is a vote taking place at http://wdiv.cityvoter.com/five-river-studio/biz/92369 to select Michigan's best Photographer. Five River Studio has been nominated as one of the best in Metro Detroit. Please visit the site to vote for Five River Studio - Michigan's very own Desi Studio.

How much are you paying for a cup of coffee?

Do you feel that you pay too much for a cup of coffee!. Don't...take a look at this Google Maps Mashup of average price of a cup of coffee around the world. It is unbelievable!!. In Moscow, Russia it costs a whopping $10.19 for a cup of coffee. (Source Forbes).

There are 6 locations (and I have added 1 more) shown on this map. You don't have to click anything. Sit back and enjoy your cup of coffee!!

Gas Prices too high? Consider Walking for short distances!!

Google realizes that considering the current Gas Prices it might not be a bad idea to go walking for short distances. It would be lighter on your wallet and might make some of us lighter too.

So what has Google Maps done? They have introduced a brand new feature on Google Maps. Now you can get "Walking Directions" in addition to "Driving Directions". For example you are enjoying a meal at Ashoka Indian Cusine in Canton, MI. For whatever reason you decide that next you want to visit the Canton Hindu Temple. So instead of driving you might want to consider walking. And if your geographically challenged then head over to Google Maps for walking directions. Key in "2100 N Haggerty Rd, Canton, MI 48187 (Ashoka Indian Cuisine)" as your start location and for destination type in "44955 Cherry Hill Rd, Canton, MI 48188 (Hindu Temple)". You can now either pick "Driving Directions" or "Walking Directions". Here's what it looks like: (information on this feature found at Google LatLong Blog)

Gas price too high?

This picture of a smart car taken from iPhone at campus martius,Detroit

Sa Re Ga Ma Pa and Indian Idol Stars coming to Michigan

Raja Hasan and Mauli Dave of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa fame along with Indian Idol stars Emon Chatterjee and Amit Paul will perform live on Saturday August 2nd, 2008 at Detroit Symphony Orchestra Hall located at 3711 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, MI. The show starts at 5.45 pm.

This event titled "August Melodies" is being bought to you by Foundation of Michigan Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (FOMAPI). It is a Fund Raising Event for Cancer Awareness in Michigan and India. Ticket Prices range from $50 to $250. Check out Michigan Mantra for contact information for purchasing the tickets.

Here's the amazing Raja Hasan from Sa Re Ga Ma Pa

Indian Cultural Celebration in Detroit

Netlink, a company in Madison Heights, MI is putting on a Indian Cultural Celebration show in downtown Detroit at the Jazz Cafe on July 27th in the Music Hall from 5PM - 8PM.

As part of the celebration there will be a silent auction for a number of Indian clothes. Indian Food will be catered from Haandi. There will also be a spectacular dance performance by the renowned Sudha Chandra Shekar and the HTR Dance Troup, and comedian Jazz Mann will be on hand to entertain the guests. For more info on this event please click here.

Profits from ticket sales and auction, will go directly to Unicef children's foundation and CROMP, which is a South Asian based children's charity.

The price of the ticket is $100/person. If interested please contact: Anuj Lal - 248.701.0219 - anujlal@umich.edu.

Are we spending enough time with our kids?

My son insisted this morning that I listen to this song - "Harry Chapin - Cats In The Cradle". After I listened to it, it gave me chills. It sure opened my eyes. Here it goes....No description needed here...

Rock the Summer Heat with Bollywood Hit "It's Rocking!"

Anuja Rajendra of BollyFit informs me of her upcoming Fitness classes called "Let's Rock the Summer Heat with "It's Rocking"!. The class will give you a dynamic, aerobic dance workout in Bollywood Style. No Dance experience is required!!

The classes will be held on Wednesdays (July 23, July 30, August 6, August 13) from 7:15-8:15 PM at The Learning Center at My Urban Toddler in Saline, MI.

Here's what the workout might look like. (Call 734-944-3628 to schedule for classes or visit BollyFit).

Big-3 Cricket Challenge Cup in Michigan

Get ready for some good Cricket fun in the Metro Detroit Area. There's a Big-3 Cricket Challenge Cup which will be held on July 26th and 27th at Bloomer Park (Rochester Hills) and at Lyon Oak Park (Wixom)

This year the tournament will feature 6 teams- one each from: Altair Engineering, Caterpillar, Chrysler, Ford, GM and Sprint.

Here's the schedule:

• 26-Jul-08 Lyon Oaks Altair vs Sprint (Pool B) 10.30 am


• 26-Jul-08 Bloomer GM vs Caterpillar (Pool A) 10.30 am


• 26-Jul-08 Lyon Oaks Chrysler vs Sprint (Pool B) 3.30 pm


• 26-Jul-08 Bloomer Ford vs Caterpillar (Pool A) 3.30 pm


• 27-Jul-08 Lyon Oaks Ford vs GM (Pool A) 10.00 am


• 27-Jul-08 Bloomer Chrysler vs Altair (Pool B) 10.30 am


• 27-Jul-08 Bloomer Finals (Winnner from Pool A) vs (Winner from Pool B) - 3.30 pm

Visit Michigan Cricket Association for more details.

Troy - Michigan's Top Ranked City to Live in - 2008

Fortune is out with its list of Top 100 cities to live - 2008. Michigan has 6 cities listed. Topping the list in Michigan is Troy. Here's the list with the ranking and population information:

• 22 - Troy - Population 81,100
• 27 - Ann Arbor - Population 113,200
• 36 - West Bloomfield Township - Population 65,900
• 48 - Novi - Population 54,100
• 61 - Sterling Heights - Population 127,900
• 62 - Shelby - Population - 72,200

For the entire list visit Fortune website.

Barack Obama Events in Michigan

If you are a Barack Obama supporter then check out this page I have put together which will show you all upcoming Barack Obama events in Michigan. Better yet, key in your Zip Code and this Google Maps page will show all Barack Obama events within radius of 10,20,30,40...miles from your zip code.

(Note: This page is not restricted to Michigan. You can select any state or Zip Code within United States)

How to do a Bollywood Dance

I bumped into this video of how to do a Bollywood Dance! at a site called monkeysee.com. There are a bunch of other useful "how to" videos avalaible at monkeysee.com.

This particular video has been put together by folks at Dhoonya Dance from the Washington DC area. So if you are in the DC area and want to learn some Hrithik Roshan moves then check out Dhoonya Dance.

But if you are from the Ann Arbor/Metro Detroit Area and want to learn some Hrithik Roshan moves then check out Anuja Rajendra's bollyfit.com

India Day 2008 - Youth Participation

India League of America is looking for some energetic, enthusiastic and adventurous youngsters to help them with the planning, executing and coordinating the activities of India Day 2008 which will be held on August 10th, 2008 at Rock Financial Showplace at Novi, MI. If you are a student and your school/college has an Indian organization, India League of America would like to hear from you.

Please call the numbers below if you are interested in helping out at the India Day 2008 event or taking part in any of the cultural events. You can also visit the India League of America website for more details.

Vayu - 248 872 1593
Ramesh - 248 613 6926

Feel Stressed? Attend a "Art of Living" workshop in Warren, MI

Niraj Warikoo writes in today's Detroit Free Press about an event called "Practical Wisdom: Getting the Most out of Life" to be held at Renaissance Unity Church, 11200 E 11 mile road in Warren, MI on July 9th, 2008. The event kicks off at 6 PM.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of the Art of Living Foundation, will talk at an event that is expected to draw about 1,500 people.

Niraj then writes about what some in the MI Indian Community have to say about the event.

“It can show you how breath and meditation can bring peace of mind, things you can take home and do on a daily basis” said Karthik Krishnamurthy, 29, of Novi.

Krishnamurthy says that the breathing – known as Sudarshan Kriya – has made him more productive at work. He now teaches others about it.

“It helped me focus a lot more,” he said. “I used to get angry a lot. Now, I don’t as much, and when I do, I get out of it a lot faster.”

Detroit Free Press further adds

Shankar, 52, was born in India and developed his breathing technique in 1982. The Art of Living Foundation has grown into a program that reaches people in 145 countries, organizers said.

After the Sept. 11 attacks, the foundation provided free breathing and relief classes for survivors. It also has helped survivors of Hurricane Katrina and the Virginia Tech shootings. About 1,000 Michiganders have taken Art of Living classes.

Visit www.aolmi.org for event details.

Community Events - July 2008

MIICC (Michigan India Chamber of Commerce) monthly meeting.
If you are Barack Obama or a John McCain supporter then attend the MIICC meeting to hear the Michigan campaign leaders for Senator Obama and Senator McCain who will share their messages wth the Asian Indian community. The meeting is scheduled for July 9th at 39577 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, Mi 48304. The meeting starts at 5.30 pm. For more info visit MIICC website.

Entertaining Evening with Ghazal King - Kamran Mehdi Hassan (Son of Mehdi Hassan)
AFMI (American Federation of Muslims of Indian Origin) welcomes Ram Vilas Paswan (Union Minister of Chemicals and Steel) and Other Dignitaries from India and Presents an Entertaining Evening, with
Ghazal King – Kamran Mehdi Hassan (Son of Mehdi Hassan) along with Narendra Sheth and Rujuta Joshi in Concert on Saturday, July 12, 2008
Program begins 6:00 PM Sharp, at
Lawrence Technological University
Science Building – Auditorium (S-100)
21000 West Ten Mile Rd.
Southfield, MI 48075-1058
(visit AFMI website for more details)

So how much does a typical Indian Wedding Cost ?

I was reading Detroit Free Press Staff Writer ERIN CHAN DING's story titled "Love proves the universal language at Indian weddings". (Detroit Free Press - 07/06/2008).

She covers an elaborate Indian American Wedding of Smitha Reddy (Bloomfield Hills) and Mike Hahn (Taylor, MI) (both University of Michigan alumni).

I don't want to get into details of the wedding which you can read here. What caught my attention is the sidebar to the story which reads

So, how much does a four-day Indian wedding cost?

Smitha Reddy's parents, who took care of the costs, do not want to be specific about how much they paid for her wedding. But Smita Desai, co-owner of Mandavo South Asian Wedding Planners in Troy, says a typical traditional four-day wedding costs between $50,000 and $75,000. The more elaborate ones climb past six figures.

"Indian weddings are really expensive," she says, noting that a four-day affair includes four or five meals and numerous garment changes. (Smitha had six saris and two ghagras, which are detailed, hand-embroidered bridal dresses.)

Desai's mandap packages range from $3,000 to $6,000 and include arches, statues and seats in addition to the wedding canopy.

Wow! $75,000+ (maybe six figures also). That is for some of us an entire 401K wiped out. Is that really a typical wedding cost?

So how much did your wedding cost?

Naveen Sharma a popular Indian DJ from Michigan who is getting married later this year emailed me with this response

my dad gave me a budget of 20,000, and i am going to pay the rest, and i am at 27k right now, the price of 50-75k, is for all the functions, and 3-4 days, and different outfits, and a bunch of crap you dont need but for a wedding ceremony + reception, all in one day, 200 - 300 people, you can do within 20-25k

"Unforgettable Tour 2008" forgets Detroit

Detroit is not in the schedule of "Unforgettable Tour - 2008" which starts on July 18th, 2008 in Toronto, Canada. The Bollywood stars performing in the "Unforgettable Tour 2008" are Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Preity Zinta, Akshay Kumar, Madhuri Dixit, Shilpa Shetty, Ritesh Deshmukh, Vishal and Shekhar.

So if you are loaded with money and you must see Bollywood's 1st Family then here are the cities you can travel to see "MINDBLOWING MAGIC and UNLIMITED MASTI" (BTW that was promo from the show)

• Toronto, Canada - Rogers Center (18th July 2008)
• Los Angeles, California - LA Sports Center (26th July 2008)
• San Francisco, California - Oracle Center (27th July 2008)
• Houston, Texas - Toyota Center (2nd August 2008)
• Atlantic City, New Jersey - Broadwalk Arena (9th August 2008)
• Chicago, Illinois - Sears Center (10th August 2008)
• New York - Nassau Coliseum (15th August 2008)
• Vancouver - General Motors Place (17th August 2008)
• London - O2 Arena (24th August 2008)