Elected and appointed Indian-American officials, as well as allies from Congress and throughout the country mingled with business leaders, think tank analysts and distinguished community members at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 19 at the first Indiaspora Inaugural Ball. “This is a culmination of the journey of the Indian-Americans,” said Indiaspora founder M.R. Rangaswami.
Fashion designers of South Asian origin were well represented at the Golden Globes and parties surrounding the Jan. 13 awards show at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Actress Freida Pinto says growing up in Mumbai she feared the threat of being raped. Speaking to CNN’s Erin Brunett, Pinto talked about reading news reports on rape incidents, but did not recollect reading about any follow up on them and confessed of always being in fear. “This might just happen to me,” Frieda said on The Outlook, which aired Jan. 14. In another incident, eerily similar to the Dec.
Top Chef” judge and model Padma Lakshmi is rumored to be dating hotelier Vikram Chatwal. The duo was spotted together during the holidays. Lakshmi, 42, and Chatwal, 41, who are longtime friends, were first seen in court-side seats together at Madison Square Garden for the Knicks/Nets game in December, The New York Post reported. Chatwal, whose properties include the Dream Hotels, is said to have separated from his wife, Priya Sachdev.
Indo-British actor Ricky Sekhon, who played Osama bin Laden in Kathryn Bigelow’s “Zero Dark Thirty,” says he was known as "Osama bin Loungin” on the set because he got so comfortable lying in a body bag. Even though Sekhon’s character is central to the film, the actor hardly has any screen presence and not a single dialogue in the film. The film focuses on the 10-year manhunt for bin Laden.
– MEDINAH, Ill. The Lohri harvest festival was celebrated Jan. 13 at the Hari Om Mandir here. Despite the chilly night and icy roads, the temple was filled with devotees. There was continuous singing of Lohri songs in Punjabi with funny interpolations to greet and mock various dignitaries present.
Sushma looks as if she's in her late forties but she's not sure about her real age. Her name isn't real either, just the one she goes by in New Delhi's red light district. She is among the many women, men and children living and working in brothel number 300 on Garstin Bastion Road, known as "G.B. Road," in the city's old quarters who are documented by Mayank Austen Soofi in his new book, "Nobody Can Love You More".
