Send a Smile Campaign - "Blue Peter"

Listening to the BBC's, Asian Network, I came across an excellent campaign to collect unwanted t-shirts to be used as hospital gowns for children.

Operation Smile and the BBC have teamed up to form, the "Send A Smile" campaign, which aims to help and provide life-changing operations for hundreds of children with cleft lips and palates in India.

Unfortunately, we in the States cannot participate because:  "Children who have made their gowns will be able to drop them off at any Currys, Currys Digital or PC World stores. Alternatively, gowns can also be dropped off at local libraries and local BBC radio stations." Here is a link to the BBC website.

There is no link to contact them. Can the CBBC contact us and give us a shipping address? We would love to assist in this campaign.

Unload those unwanted t-shirts for something significant.

High School Musical gets down to Bollywood

I have not seen the movie, "High School Musical" but this is a pretty good editing job. The film editor almost seamlessly added the Bollywood lyrics of "Doom Taana" from  the movie, "Om Shanti Om".

Here is the excerpt from the YouTube post, which sums it up:

High School Musical meets Bollywood. A BREN EDIT

It's really interesting that HSM is shot exactly like a Bollywood Movie. Guy meets girl, guy sings with girl, guy has inner conflict, guy loses girl... and last but not least, Guy wins girl back!

Here is the original, "Item Number", where  Deepika Padukon and Shahruk Khan dance their hearts out.

Some of you may remember the Newark Airport debacle with Shahruk Khan?

President Obama's Diwali Message

President Obama had recognized the Hindu in his Inaugural Address and now acknowledges one of the biggest Hindu holidays.

Here are some great photos and videos from the SAJA Forum who covered the 2009 Diwali Celebrations in the White House.

I have been reading some interesting posts on Facebook regarding the celebrations:

J.F. - Happy Diwali Actually there have been White House Diwali celebrations for the past 6 years - the George W Bush administration began the tradition in 2002...


J.F. - And according to Rediff, the Obama Diwali was something of an afterthought that came about after a lot of community pressure: Rediff Article

S.S. - The ceremony marked the first-time that Diwali was observed in The White House itself. The Bush Administration traditionally celebrated Diwali in the Indian Treaty Room in the Old Executive Office Building, next to the main White House. And, yes, that's a different kind of Indian.

Thank you Mister President and Sal Mubarak to you and your family, even if you were pressured into doing this for the South Asian Community.

HAPPY DIWALI + NEW YEAR 2066

Happy Diwali and New Year to everyone!

In a selfless act, I am going to offer you spam now, buy the best Desi (Indian) inspired t-shirt on the planet. We know we would make a hot Diwali present for the cool people in your life.

Even if you don't buy a t-shirt, we still hope that you have a great Diwali and a fantastic New Year.

Thank you,

Chor Bazaar Team.

Red Baraat and the Chile Pepper Festival - Brooklyn

The Brooklyn Botanic Gardens hosted their annual Chile Pepper Festival this past Saturday, October 3rd. There were a series of musical artists featured at the festival, but the headliners took the cake....or should I say the Jalebi?

Apart from a rain soaked event, these cats, called the Red Baraat drew everyone that was left of a dwindling crowd. Folks couldn't resist the Baraat flavor infused with Bangin' Bhangra 'n' Brass Funk, as they say on their Twitter account.

Mind you, the Bhangra beats are not for those with heart problems, try 200 beats per minute which makes the "screw in the light bulb" move in Bhangra dancing, insane! Regardless the ethnically, mixed crowd was definitely  entertained and getting down. Even the staff at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens couldn't resist.

The leader of this crew was Sunny Jain, who stated that this group was inspired by his wedding four years ago. For anyone that has been in a Baraat, it is hell of a party were you will see that grumpy old auntie or uncle get down to the beat of a Dhol. One of my favorite Dhol masters are the Dhol Foundation.

I purchased their CD, which they just released, but nothing beats these guys live. I doubt that these guys would do a wedding? If you are considering a Baraat with some flavor and these guys don't do weddings, then buy their CD and drop it in the system. The Baraat procession won't know what hit them and I mean this in a good way. I wish I had known about these guys for my Brother's wedding.

The Crew:

Sunny Jain - dhol / drumset / percussion / MC
Rohin Khemani - tavil / doumbek / percussion

Tomas Fujiwara - drumset / percussion
Arun Luthra - soprano sax
Mike Bomwell - baritone sax
Sonny Singh - trumpet / vocals
MiWi La Lupa - bass trumpet
Dave Smith - trombone
John Altieri - sousaphone / rap

From their site:

Red Baraat is the first and only dhol ‘n’ brass band of its kind in the States, melding the infectious North Indian rhythm Bhangra with brass funk and expressing the human spirit through improvisation and a powerful live sound. Comprised of dhol (double-sided, barrel-shaped North Indian drum slung over one shoulder), percussion and horns, this NYC-based group plays fresh originals, as well as traditional Punjabi songs and Bollywood numbers with a dramatic stage performance and presence.

We see that they are going to be doing t-shirts, maybe we could help out?

Happy Birthday Gandhiji! Google Style

Today marks the 140th Birthday of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Most people will realize this when they open Google's search engine today.

Looks like the artist got a little conceptual with the graphics.

The background stems from "Khādī", which is an Indian handspun and hand-woven cloth. The likely raw materials may be cotton, silk, or wool, which are spun into threads on a spinning wheel called a charkha. Khadi was part of Gandhi's, "Swadeshi Movement", which would free India and today's Bangladesh and Pakistan from British Cotton.

Today people can find a excellent array of Khadi wear at Fab India. I own a bunch of Fab India, Khadi Kurtas, but enough of that for now...

The other interesting aspect of the Gandhi-Google image, is letter "G" boys and girls! "G", is the letter of the day...brought to you by Sesame Street... I never thought of Gandhi's head as the letter G, but it may take a while to get out of my head.

My last observation is the Far East Asian Ink drawing style, of the G, sorry...Gandhi's head and the typography. Is there a connection between, Far East Asian, Ink Drawings and Gandhi's peaceful, "Non-Cooperation Movement? I certaintly felt peaceful, when Google's search engine popped up to reveal Gandhiji's Birthday. I wanted to grab a bottle of Sumi Ink and a paintbrush and make a Google image for, Che Guevara, who's birthday is June 14th.

All kidding aside, Happy Birthday Gandhiji! (October 2, 1869 –  January 30, 1948) No need for me to tell you what an impact he caused in this world.

Update: The design was created by someone from RISD, hence my alumni!

From the Alumni Blog:

Jennifer Hom ‘09 IL, a web designer/illustrator at Google, is responsible for today’s Google Doodle of Mahatma Ghandi - it’s Jen’s first doodle for Google. Nice work, Jen!

Incredible India at Penn Station

I was just at Penn Station the other day and struck by the subway entry, advertising.

Something was fitting about the Taj Mahal being pictured above the subway entry.

Was it the notion that I was reminiscing the descent into the tombs of Noor Jahan? Could the Taj's pure white marble of Makrana, Rajastan, be the analogous to the white tile of the subway stair walls? New Yorkers descend these stairs to the filthy hot and smelly train platforms and tourists descend the Taj Mahal stairs to the wafting scent of roses that could potentially knock you out.

I digress...the advertisers couldn't have been that conceptual. An old post on "Incredible India"