Not Namaste Trump but Phir Milengey: H-1B visas suspended, what now?
It looked like things were getting as close as could be between US President Donald Trump and Narendra Modi but a worldwide pandemic and a scourge of resulting unemployment in the States has put a spanner in the works of ‘Namaste Trump’, as an executive order signed this past week will suspend new visas for foreign workers, including the...
Ketan Dattani speaks on how to rebuild in the post Covid economy
No event in recent history has affected us as profoundly and pervasively as the pandemic. It signifies a completely unprecedented circumstance, as novel as it is life-changing. The virus has not only infected thousands, but has thrust us into an economic recession. How long, how deep and how many are impacted by the recession will be influenced not just by the...
Lockdown Diaries: story of the peas egg bhurji and tawa paratha, scrambled up in ten minutes
For a Guju like me, the ultimate "comfort food" is DBRS (daal-bhaat-rotli-shaak or daal, chawal, roti, sabji, or lentils, rice, Indian bread and veggies for the uninitiated). But if there is one more food item which provides the ultimate warmth of home cooked food and that long lingering ghar-ka-khana taste (home-style taste) on your taste buds, that is Vimla Aunty's...
Lockdown Diaries: Baithak UK brings artists virtually together for music video celebrating togetherness
Despite the logistical issues posed by COVID-19, Baithak UK has managed to bring together artists virtually in order to make a music video which celebrates togetherness. "Those were the days" celebrates the power of music and memory, beautifully melding the globally popular folk song by Robert Burns "Auld Lang Syne", its Bengali adaptation by Rabindranath Tagore, and the recent translation (written exclusively...
Lockdown Diaries: The power of easy-to-make vegan gluten-free pitaya energy balls
I was not a vegan all my life. My journey began after my lovely daughters Nurbanu (26) and Farin (21) turned vegan about five years back and inspired me to do the same, especially when I started experiencing a lot of muscular pain. They pointed out that I was overall following a rather unhealthy diet. Even though they were...
Global Indian Stories – Top 10 stories so far
Global Indian Stories is back! We've moved our website onto a bigger, faster server and changed our domain to globalindianstories.org to better represent our ethos of being a non-profit organisation. Our goals are unchanged. We still aim to help increase literacy by supporting and encouraging writers, especially those who have never been published before, hopefully leading to a greater sense of...
Lockdown Diaries: Showing resilience in coping with Covid during the grey years
India has 110 million elderly, projected to become 177 million by 2025. Of this West Bengal has 750,000 senior citizens and Kolkata itself records 550,000 of them. In a recent research study the Calcutta Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology (CMIG), Regional Resource and Training Centre on Ageing, conducted individual case studies to explore how senior citizens were coping during the...
Open Oven: Baking it Even!
With the world witnessing a paradigm shift, food still holds fort as a constant source of relief. Entrepreneurial ventures stocking on comfort and utility food has become the need of the hour. One such immensely popular bakery in Kolkata, India is the Open Oven Bakery. Instituted by Reshma Sengupta, Open Oven has been supplying tasty and healthy baked food...
Lockdown Diaries: Arya Taware of FutureBricks shares her hands-on attitude to success
I love to start my day properly by making sure I’m awake at 6am. I’ll either go for a morning walk or run everyday before I sit at my desk. I find that routine is everything right now and can help everyone mentally separate the very thin line between personal and professional life. Remaining positive As an entrepreneur and founder, it’s...
Alka Bagri shares her excitement as LIFF’s title supporter for the seventh year
The Bagri Foundation London Indian Film Festival (LIFF) 2021 is set for it's Gala Opening Night on the 17th June in London, with a positive, power-packed documentary Women Of My Billion (WOMB); in a back-drop of a rather grim Covid scenario in India. LIFF this year is poised to premiere the very best of new indie films from the Indian subcontinent with...
