We were shocked and saddened early Saturday morning to hear that Prashant Bhargava suddenly passed away the previous evening .  Prashant, born and raised in Chicago and based in Brooklyn, was a vital part of our South Asian creative community in New York.  He made international headlines with his debut feature film “Patang“, which was based in Ahmedabad during India’s largest kite festival.   His most recent venture was “Radhe Radhe”, a collaboration

Posted: May 18th, 2015

If you woke up early this morning with your alarm clock set to NPR and heard Desilicious and ‘gay desi“, you weren’t dreaming. NPR reporter Alexandra Starr, who wrote a piece on Desilicious for the “New York Times” in 2007, attended our Sholay Birthday Bash last month.  You can listen to the audio version of Alexandra’s  “Weekend Report” here and read the text version.  A big thanks to Sazzad Reza,

Posted: May 9th, 2015

Guests at our Sholay Birthday Bash this past April may have caught a flash of orange sequins and smiles as Junoon Performing Arts took over the dance floor for a dazzling Bollywood fusion performance. The dance troupe will be taking their talents to Manhattan Movement Center with “Dil Se–a Journey of Emotions.” Coming up on Sunday, May 10th. We had a chance to sit down with them between rehearsals to

Posted: May 6th, 2015

“I wondered if I could create a minuscule postmodern hippie outpost, a safe haven for artists, musicians, writers, poets, activists, and thinkers — essentially anyone who wanted to escape the relentless tyranny of the city for a little while,” Sabeen Mahmud described her inspiration behind founding The Second Floor—a coffeehouse and haven for progressive expression—in a recent interview with MIT’s Innovations Magazine. On April 24th, the Karachi-based human rights and counterculture

Posted: April 28th, 2015

With the death toll climbing to 4,000 as a result of Saturday’s 7.9 earthquake in Nepal, the deadliest in 80 years, the situation is extremely dire.  While humanitarian aid is beginning to flow into the capital, authorities are still trying to deal with the situation outside of Katmandu.  There are many ways we can help – most important for Nepal is to donate money to effective and efficient charities that have

Posted: April 27th, 2015

In an unprecedented move, the Indian Censor Board passed a music video by Friends of Linger called “Head Held High” which aims to spread the message of love and acceptance in the LGBT community. This is the first time a video with such a theme has passed the Censor Board without any cuts or edits. This is the same country that still has 377 on its books and persecutes our

Posted: April 24th, 2015

We are looking forward to “The Apu Trilogy:  2015 Restoration” by Janus Films which will be at the Film Forum on May 8th. Do not miss this restored version of a classic trilogy of films by Satyatjit Ray.  Below is a sneak peak:      

Posted: April 23rd, 2015

Thahir Mohammed Sayyed knew he was gay since Class VII. His family was supportive when he came out. Educated, career oriented and fit, 28 year old Thahir decided to represent India at the Mr Gay World 2015 contest in Knysna, South Africa. He expected some backlash and criticism. Unfortunately what he and his family received from the community forced them to go into hiding. The Muslim community leaders ostracized the

Posted: April 20th, 2015