SAJDA Season 3: A tribute to Indian maestros to launch this month

Where words fail, music speaks It is said that music is the universal language of mankind, and music gives a soul to the universe. The annual music and arts festival SAJDA, aims to do that, while being a living bridge between India and the UK, through the showcase of Indian performing arts, unsung heroes from different genres, dying art forms...

Women of my billion (WOMB): An unequivocal film made while walking the length of India to champion equality and end violence against women

Walking 3,800 kilometers might seem like a vast task in itself, but that was only scratching the surface of what Srishti Bakshi aimed to achieve. Her astounding story is told in a new documentary called Women of My Billion (WOMB). The film is a pragmatic, heart-warming documentary about the movement that Srishti Bakshi started. As the Founder of CrossBow...

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...

HCI London celebrates BR Ambedkar’s birth anniversary with reflections on his life and invaluable contributions

The High Commission of India in London paid tribute to Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar on his 130th birth anniversary by garlanding his statue in India House on April 14.  The Indian High Commissioner, Gaitri Issar Kumar was present, along with community leaders and other diplomats. Born on 14th April 1891, the father of the Indian Constitution, Babasaheb, as he was popularly known,...

A momentous trip exploring the Stans

Abhimanyu Narayanmoorthy and his friends wanted a trip that was off the beaten track, somewhere special. With only a short timeframe to spend away they decided on Central Asia, colloquially referred to as "the Stans" because it's made up of the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Abhimanyu begins his story, explaining how the decision...

Of poetry and lockdown diaries

As a writer, raconteur and storyteller, I like to find my material, my stories in the real world. I then imbue them with a setting, a context and characters that find a voice to cut across the real and bring to life a message in my work that needs to be repeated constantly. My most recent work which came...

Rhona Tasmia Rabbani – The bright, young FedEx-pert of the APAC region

People are the core of any business and those who are in charge of driving the people policies, hiring, development and engagement of talents, are the gatekeepers to that resource. Meet Rhona Tasmia Rabbani, the Managing Director of Talent & Learning for FedEx Express in the Asia Pacific region, one of the youngest directors in the region of this...

Lockdown Diaries: Captain Sir Tom Moore, 100, dies with Covid 19 at the NHS Bedford hospital

Sir Thomas Moore, the 100-year-old legendary war veteran and NHS hero who won the nation's heart by raising £32 million for the NHS Charities to support their services during the coronavirus pandemic has died at the Bedford Hospital on Tuesday. He was admitted at the hospital on 31 January, after being tested positive for COVID-19. His  condition deteriorated as...

Legendary contemporary dancer Astad A Deboo passes away in Mumbai

It is with deep sorrow we inform you of the sad demise of the famous Indian dancer Astad Adarbad Deboo, aged 73, in Mumbai on the morning of Thursday 10 December. The dance pioneer, and Padma Shri winner's death is being mourned by artists, friends and family in India and across the globe. Astad was born on 13 July...

Rahul Nangare, First Secretary (Trade) – a tenure of protecting heritage and championing diasporas

Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better, and this cannot be more true than of Rahul Nangare, the First Secretary (Trade) at the High Commission of India (HCI) in London. Rahul received the prestigious 'Specially Distinguished Record of Service Award' from the President of India for his outstanding work over a prolonged period of service,...