SLUMDOG ROCK STAR
GANESH BARRIYA is a young rag picker from the slums of Ahmedabad who has donned headphones in a recording studio to perform on Global Lingo, a cool CD which is featured on I-tunes. Indeed, for several children in the slum, be it in India or Nicaragua, this has become a real life scenario, thanks to Project Ahimsa which has opened up a
whole new world of music education for them.

Started by California-based Vijay Chattha, Tejas Patel and Nihal Mehta right after 9/11, the organization is a second generation response to violence. "Our chosen medium through which to raise the awareness for non-violence?" says Robin Sukhadia, director of Project Ahimsa: "Music."
The organization initially provided financial grants to families and victims of hate crimes in America and later evolved its grant giving process to include arts empowerment, connecting with students, artists, corporations and donors.

Global Lingo, produced by Project Ahimsa, is a CD which traverses many worlds, showcasing children from impoverished communities. Sukhadia, who is co-producer on the CD, traveled to India with a Zoom H2 wave recorder, accompanied by JBoogie, who featured on two tracks: "Together, we visited programs where Project Ahimsa has donated musical instruments and provided salaries for music teachers. Everywhere we went, children were eager to share their immense talent."

Back in the US, the samples found their way into the hands of noted music pros who melded their talents with those of the kids on the CD. Says Sukhadia: "Three years later, I was able to take Global Lingo as a finished project back to India. The look on the children's faces when they heard and saw themselves via the CD was priceless."

Ganesh has left the rag picker's life behind and is looking toward a musical apprenticeship, and indeed, over 70 grants by Project Ahimsa have helped 10,000 children in 14 countries. This year Cuban and American children will be brought together to make music via a live video, and while
they will learn about music, hopefully the viewers
will learn about the value of co-existence.

TELLING THE DIASPORA STORY
IF all the world is a stage, then who better to tell the story of the ongoing drama of Indian immigration and Diaspora tales than playwrights? For years insightful writers from Africa to the UK to Canada have been documenting the stories of those who left the homeland for uncharted territories, and now some of them gathered in New York to share their experiences.

The occasion was the launch of the first anthology of their voices in Beyond Bollywood and Broadway: Plays from the South Asian Diaspora, which is edited by Neilesh Bose. This includes 11 classic plays by South Asian Diaspora writers
from the US, Canada, UK and South Africa.

At the two-day fest at The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center of The Graduate Center, CUNY, which was synchronized by Geeta Citygirl, director of SALAAM Theater, all aspects of the Diaspora experience were explored through discussions
and staged readings by New York actors. Ronnie Govender, who is regarded as the doyen of South African theater, was there along with Rukhsana Ahmad from the UK, Canada-based theater artists Rana Bose and Rahul Varma, and from
New York, Aasif Mandvi, Anuvab Pal, Shishir Kurup and Bina Sharif.

Among the Diaspora, there are varying degrees of separation from the home country and the stories will reflect that. Ronnie Govender suggests embracing the factors that point to our common humanity: "We must challenge entrenched stereotypes, that's what the arts are all about."

What is particularly noteworthy is the wealth of resources that has accumulated over the years. Rather than being a lone voice in the wilderness, there are many nurturing organizations such as SALAAM Theater, the Indo-American Arts Council, The Lark Play Development Center, and SATAM , the South Asian Theatre Movement. The ongoing saga of the Indian Diaspora seems to be in good hands!

THE INTERPRETER OF FOOD
ON a bright day in Little India, you might see her leading a bunch of the uninitiated into spice stores to introduce them to the complexities of Indian cuisine; or she might be in her airy cooking school teaching neophytes how to make the perfect
poori.

If anyone knows how to speak the language of food, it's Geetika Khanna. As a psychologist, chef, entrepreneur and cooking teacher she's seen all aspects of food, and the ties that bind us to it. A psychologist who decided to turn chef, Khanna studied at the French Culinary Institute and then
worked as the executive chef at Raga, a restaurant which received great reviews in publications from The New York Times to Time Out for its subtle fusion of Indian and French cuisine, long before this became a trend.

Khanna, ever the experimenter, then moved on to catering and put together everything from a wedding celebration on a boat to catered meals for the Park Avenue crowd: She says, "People who always eat in restaurants don't know how
good traditional home cooking can be - they really
seem to enjoy that."

Her next step was starting a cooking school, and Indian Culinary Center has taken off, through word of mouth, Facebook and Twitter. She teaches everything from Indian tapas to how to cook a full week's meals in one sitting. This fall her classes include demystifying Indian cuisine, whipping up north and south Indian breakfast, and even learning how to duplicate your favorite restaurant dishes at home. And ever the Interpreter of Food, she is also at the Rubin Museum of
Art for a program called Lunch Matters - where she conducts a Q and A after the movies which have food related themes.

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