Michigan Indian Community Channel on YouTube

I have created a Michgian Indian Community channel on YouTube. I plan to add videos related to news and events related to Michigan Indian Community.

Some of the videos I have added to the community channel are videos which feature the following members of our community:
Anuja Rajendra, Darshana Menon, Nipa Shah, Mira Bedi, Naveen Sharma

If you have videos which you would like to suggest then do let me know by posting your comments or sending me a note.

Maharashtra Mandal of Detroit presents a play by local artists

Maharashtra Mandal of Detroit brings to you over 2 hours of non-stop entertainment (play) by local artists.

Details:

Ghetlay Shingawar (directed by the legendary Michigan Indian Radio Host: Dr. Subhash Kelkar)

Date: Saturday June 13, 2009

Time: 4.00 pm

Location: Groves Little Theater, Groves High School, 20500 W. Thirteen Mile, Road, Beverly Hills, MI

For more details visit Maharashtra Mandal of Detroit website.

HH Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji in Metro Detroit

HH Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji will be in the Metro Detroit area on June 16th and June 17th.

June 16th:

at Bharatiya Temple, 6850 Adams Road, Troy, MI 48098.

The event starts at 6.00pm

The Program:
1. Essence of Srimad Bhagavad Githa in English (Geetartha Sangraha)
2. Sri Krishna Puja
3. Maha Prasad

June 17th:

at Dr. Krishna Prasad & Vimala Yarlagadda, 609 Weybridge Drive, Bloomfield Hills, MI

The event starts at 8.00AM

The Program:
Theertha Ghosti

For more details on Swamiji's US visit click here or contact Narsraj at (248-924-4367) or email JETMichigan@gmail.com

Happy Memorial Day

This Memorial Day we honor those who serve in the United States Armed Forces, their families, and all military retirees and veterans. On this occasion I would like to share couple interesting/educational pages I have created:

• Michigan casualties of Iraq War
  (For other states check out iCasualties.org)
• National Cemeteries maintained by Veterans Affairs and National Park Service and Army
• IRAQ War Casualties Count (both Dead and Wounded) by State
• Women Casualties of IRAQ War

Anuja Rajendra's Bollyfit featured on Fox 2 Detroit

Congratulations to Anuja Rajendra (Bollyfit) of Ann Arbor for being featured on Fox 2 Detroit in their Health Works segment. (video shown below).

So what is Bollyfit. From their website

BollyFit synergizes artistic elements of Bollywood film dances with classical (Bharat Natyam) and Bhangra styles in a dynamic dance experience. A spiritual thread is woven in and participants increase consciousness ("Presence", as described by Eckhart Tolle) through dance. Clock time slips by and, by the way, you've worked up a sweat and strengthened BollyMuscles!

Listening to Indian Radio in Michigan

Did you know that there are couple of really good Indian Radio programs you can listen in to during weekends. I had mentioned this a year or so ago, thought I should mention it again.

Saturdays:
Subhash Kelkar (Geetanjali) 9 AM - 10 AM on WPON 1460AM
Narendra Sheth (Geetmala) 11 AM - 1 PM on WPON 1460AM

Sundays:
Mumtaz Haque (Manoranjan) 9 AM - 11 AM on WPON 1460AM
Rajiv Sanghvi (Swar Bahar) 11 AM - 12 Noon on WNZK 690AM

Metro Detroit has 4 of America's Best Pizzas

According to GQ Magazine, Metro Detroit has America's Best Pizzas. 4 of the 25 best pizzas in America are right here in the Metro Detroit area. They are:

• Ranked: 13 - Luigi's at 36691 Jefferson, Harrison Township, MI
• Ranked: 15 - Buddy's at 17125 Conant, Detroit, MI
• Ranked: 21 - Tomatoes Apizza at 29275 14 Mile Road, Farmington Hills, MI
• Ranked: 24 - Niki's at 735 Beaubien Street, Detriot, MI

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From the recently concluded event: Indian Musical Show

I would like to share some photographs which were sent to me from the recently concluded "Indian Musical Show" event in the Detroit Area, where the chief guest was Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN.

Mumtaz Haque, host and producer of Manoranjan Radio Programme with Dr. Sanjay Gupta.	Darshana Menon (one of the judges and a previous winner of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa USA) with Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Here is Dr. Sanjay Gupta addressing the gathering:

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Celebration at Lansing, MI

The seventh annual Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Celebration will take place at the State Capitol (Lansing, MI) on May 19, 2009. This year’s theme, “Celebrating Asian Pacific American Heritage” honors the many contributions citizens of Asian and Pacific Island ancestry have made to America.

The celebration features a multi-cultural program highlighting traditional dance performance, video clips of various Asian ethnicities and sampling of authentic Asian cuisines. Most importantly, Dr. Leslie E. “Les” Wong, President of Northern Michigan University, will give the keynote address.

For additional information or to request special accommodations, please contact Hoon-Yung Hopgood at 313/510-4358 or hoonhop@hotmail.com.

For more information on the Governor’s Advisory Council on Asian Pacific American
Affairs, visit http://www.michigan.gov/mdcr-acapaa.

CRY Detroit presents fundraising dinner

The Detroit Chapter of CRY will be having its fundraising dinner on Saturday May 16th, 2009 from 6.00PM to 11.00pm at St. Lucy Croatian Catholic Church Hall, 200 East Wattles, Troy, MI 48058.

CRY, which stands for Child Rights and You, is an Indian Non-Government Organization (NGO) that works towards restoring basic rights to underprivileged Indian children.

The funds raised during this event is for Child Rights in India and the US. The highlights of the evening include keynote speech by CRY Project Leader from India.

For more info visit CRY Detroit website or contact

• Monika Khanna 586-610-6329
  MKHANNA06[AT]GMAIL[DOT]COM
• Apoorv Agarwal 248-505-1519 APOORV.AGARWAL[AT]GMAIL[DOT]COM

Bridging the Generation Gap: An Interactive Workshop

Council of Asian Pacific Americans (CAPA) presents a FREE Interactive Workshop on "Bridging the Generation Gap" on Saturday May 16th, 2009 from 1-4 pm at Oakland Community College, (G Building), 2900 Featherstone Road, Auburn Hills, MI 48326.

This from the event brochure:

This action-packed workshop will bring your family together through teamwork games & thought-provoking discussions by 2 exciting speakers. Enjoy entertaining skits, activities to take home, and a chance to win exciting prizes! There will be a special performance by rising Hip Hop artist, Kidd Skilly (of hit songs such as “Ni Sohniye” featuring Akon) focusing on generation gap issues.

MIICC meeting on May 13th

Michigan Indian Chamber of Commerce (MIICC) will hold its monthly meeting on May 13th at Dykema Gossett Law Offices: 39577 Woodward, Bloomfield Hills, MI from 5:30 pm to 8:30 p.

Learn about "Speed Networking" at this meeting.

Speed networking means YOU get to spend 2-3 minutes with each participant to share what you do and to learn what they do.

So for this meeting be sure to come prepared with your:
60 second commercial (make it short and concise)
specific wants (companies you wish to connect with, customers you want to get, etc.)
brochures, business cards, specials, and any other collateral you want to share.

For more details check out MIICC website.

Mumtaz Haque completes 15 glorious years of "Manoranjan" Radio Program in Michigan

Mumtaz Haque, the producer and host of Manoranjan Radio Show, a very popular Indian radio show in Michigan (airs every Sunday morning 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. U.S. EST on WPON1460 AM (live on the web at www.mumtazworld.com), completes 15 years of Manoranjan Radio show broadcast in Michigan. She has been producing and hosting radio shows since her time at All India Radio. Mumtaz has also produced, written, and hosted many children’s educational TV shows called Daedal Doors on PBS Channel 56.

An educator by profession, Mumtaz has represented her colleagues for two consecutive years in the Detroit Federation of Teachers. Presently, Mumtaz sits on the Michigan Department of Education Bias And Sensitivity Committee for MEAP & MME (Michigan Merit Exam). She has been a council member of the Governor’s Advisory Council for Asian and Pacific American Affairs since 2007. Recently, on April 14, 2009, Mumtaz was appointed by the Michigan Governor to the newly created State of Michigan Asian Pacific Affairs Commission. Mumtaz is also the president of the Council of Asian and Pacific Americans in Michigan for the years 2009-2010. She also serves as a board member of the International Institute of Metropolitan Detroit and India League of America. In fact, she is the Past President of the International Institute (2002-2003) and India League of America (2003).

Through various channels, Mumtaz has been actively serving the Michigan community for over 15 years!

Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN coming to town

Dr. Sanjay Gupta will be the guest of honor this Saturday May 9th (5.00pm) at a Indian Musical Event which will be held at Mother of God Church Hall, 25585 Berg Road, Southfield, MI. This event is a singing competition which will be judged by: (For Ticket Details click here)

• Mumtaz Haque (Host/Producer of Manoranjan Show on WPON 1460AM on Sundays from 9 - 11AM)
• Darshana Menon - A very Talented Singer and winner of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa USA
• Narendra Sheth - Host/Producer of Geetmala on WPON 1460AM on Saturdays from 11AM-1PM)
• Rujuta Joshi
• M.R. (Suri) Surendran
• Norani Chandra

Michigan Schools react to Swine Flu

Plymouth Canton Schools in Michigan, the district I live is closed today and was closed yesterday because of suspected Swine Flu case. Its the 3rd largest school district in Michigan with approximately 19,000 students. There are other schools which are closed here in the Metro Detroit area also. (source Detroit Free Press)

Last week I created a Google Map+Twitter Swine Flu Map which showed tweets from various regions in United States and Europe.

So how worried are folks in Michigan about Swine Flu. Here's a look at folks are tweeting about Swine Flu on Twitter. With Lansing, Michigan as base I searched for Tweets within 175 miles radius from Lansing, Michigan. Check out the Swine Flu related tweets in Michigan in this Google Maps Mashup.

Indian Community members appearing on local TV

Nipa Shah of MIICC and a Community Correspondent for Channel 50 recently interviewed Mira Bedi and Rupali Bedi both members of our local Michigan Indian Business Community. The topic was "Indian Weddings"

Rupali Bedi an Event Planner plans out Indian Weddings and Graduations. Rupali explains the different things she and her team arrange for an Indian Wedding (Haldi, Henna, Mandap, Receptions). You can contact Rupali at 248-212-1555 or check her website (RangoliEvents).

Mira Bedi of Chrysallis Fashions talks about her Fashion Design Business which she started about 3 years back. Mira has a fashion design background from Mumbai. She designs anything custom make/design for the Indian Bride/Groom. As she says "If you can Dream it then I can definitely make it for you". You can contact Mira at 248-396-2767. Here's the interview.