You’ve heard of TED; now tune into INK. Innovation & Knowledge is the homegrown, TED-affiliated conference that aims to bring the best of India to the world, and the world to India, for a weekend of smart fast-paced talks, cutting-edge ideas, and insight into the innovations that are transforming global culture (some of the marquee US names who are speaking at the conference include "The Simpsons" creator Matt Groening, filmmaker James Cameron); the conference is Dec. 9-12 outside Mumbai.
Get a taste of the first INK ever in this special SAJA webcast, with Vishal Gondal, the “Gaming King” of India; Sunitha Krishnan, the woman who has personally rescued thousands of sex workers from the streets; IVK (I. Vijaya Kumar), the Wipro CTO who harnesses the creative and analytical aspects of the communications industry; and curator Lakshmi Pratury, who is bringing together these and other key thinkers Dec. 9-12 to share “untold stories from around the world.”
Monday, Dec. 6, 2010 Noon-1 pm NY time 10:30-11:30 pm Mumbai time see local time around the world: http://timeanddate.com/s/1wxk
VIA COMPUTER: Listen live or later to a recording: http://bit.ly/sajaink2 (you can set yourself an e-mail reminder there)
VIA PHONE: +1-347-324-5991 (you can call this U.S. number by phone or Skype to listen or ask questions
Or send your questions in advance via e-mail: saja at columbia.edu or via Twitter - @sajaHQ
Thanks to SAJAer Minal Hajratwala (author of "Leaving India") for her help with this webcast.
As you know, the recent floods in
Pakistan have been devastating. Below, you will find four e-mail
messages from people (Mahnaz Fancy, Ethan Casey, Aun Rahman, Beena Sarwar) with
deep Pakistan connections telling you about different ways you can help the flood victims. Please take a look and share with your friends.
Meanwhile, the American Pakistan Foundation (APF) and CEO Awais Khan are looking to
connect with US journalists. APF is involved in a fundraising drive in
the US in partnership with IRC, Relief International and Save the
Children. You can contact him at akhan at americanpakistan.org
o o o o o
From: Mahnaz Fancy <mahnaz.fancy at gmail.com>
Subject: Please support the Relief4Pakistan campaign
Dear Friends,
I have gotten many inquiries over the last few weeks about where to send donations tohelp the flood victims in Pakistan. The situation is awful and grows worse by the day as the rains continue to ravage the land.
The last time we saw former SAJA president Jyoti Thottam on SAJAforum, it was in June 2008, when she was preparing to head to Delhi to be Time's South Asian bureau chief (you can catch our webcast with her). Now, she's back for a short visit to collect a major internal prize at Time Inc. She and a colleague won the Henry Luce Award (named for the founder of Time) for reporting for “The Making of a
Terrorist,” which looked at the Mumbai attacks of 2008:
Time Asia’s Aryn Baker and Jyoti Thottam
burrowed into confidential
documents and conducted exclusive interviews in two countries to
describe the recruitment and radicalization of the only terrorist who
survived.
She collects her prize tonight. See editorial honcho John Huey's note about all the award winners and finalists - impressive list, all from one company.
And they say you can't go home again. Udai Tambar, one of the most experienced and dynamic South Asian leaders in the nonprofit space, is returning to the organization where he began his NGO career. New York-based South Asian Youth Action (SAYA!) has announced that Tambar is going to be the organization's next executive director (succeeding Annetta Seecharran and the organization's founder, Sayu Bhojwani).
SAJA has long been a supporter of SAYA, which, the press release describes as "the only organization in the nation that provides non-sectarian comprehensive youth development services to the South Asian American community." Translation: they do some amazing work with middle-, lower-middle-class and low-income and other South Asian kids in places like Queens and Brooklyn, far from the fancy Desi success stories on Wall Street, big corporations and the like.
Incidentally, he'd never mention it in his bio, but one of his more visible achievements has got to be the fact that he was responsible for coordinating the two-year community efforts that resulted in the Diwali parking holiday in New York City (which is now a permanent part of the official city calendar).
Please see the full press release below and post your comments. Board co-chair Harsha Marti is coordinating press requests.
An important opportunity for those interested in U.S. politics.
The Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote) is pleased to announce the re-opening of its Executive Director search process.
You may be familiar with our work and our partnerships with local and national AAPI community based organizations. APIAVote is a progressive 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that promotes civic participation of the Asian and Pacific Islander community.
The position of Executive Director requires strong field strategy and management experience. APIAVote's primary goal is to build the field and organizational capacity of our local and national partner organizations, through coalition building and training. Its program focus addresses voter registration, get-out-the-vote (GOTV) initiatives, media/communications strategy and voter file operations.
The Executive Director reports directly to the Board of Directors and oversees a small staff that does administrative, field, communications, and program management tasks. S/he is responsible for day-to-day operations including its effective staff administration, fundraising, communications, field organizing, training and partner relationships.
This is a wonderful organization that addresses a distinct community need. It is also a great opportunity for a qualified and innovative candidate. Please forward this to your networks, and any interested parties. If you have any questions regarding APIAVote, please take a look at our website (www.apiavote.org/jobs), or contact the ED Search Committee at APIAVotejobs[at]gmail.com.
Thank you for your help.
Sincerely,
Jeanette Moy Executive Director Search Committee APIAVote Board of Directors
Vida Benavides Interim Executive Director APIAVote
Sammy Chand, a music producer in Los Angeles and former member of Karmacy, tells us that the L.A. Clippers basketball team will be putting on a desi halftime show on Jan. 26, India's Republic Day, when the Clippers will be going up against the Portland Trailblazers. More at the NBA's website, which is emblazoned with the banner above.
From Sammy:
"The halftime show is a highly entertaining showcase featuring Rukus
Avenue artist Sandeep, dance from choreographers Janet Roston, Bosco
and Yogen Bhagat and his Bollywood Step Dance, and singing by Nauzad
and Kushi. The entire night will be a celebration of India, and we
want to give everyone a taste of India, and we thought fusion music
like Sandeep's and Bollywood culture would be very effective."
As you can see from the press release below (which has Clipper contact info), portions of the proceeds from ticket sales are meant to benefit victims of the Mumbai attacks. But Sammy's had trouble lining up a beneficiary and is soliciting suggestions.
"We haven't found an organization that will receive the funds from
us. We were in contact with the Indian Red-Cross, but didn't quite make
that happen. Do you know an organization that could be the beneficiary
for the money we raise?
I asked him how a South Asian entertainment company like his, Rukus Avenue, pitches an idea like this to a major sports franchise. His response:
"The LA Clippers have been amazing and their willingness to blend
our culture into the Staples Center that night shows true progress.
Bringing our culture to the Los Angeles mainstream is a celebration of
our contributions to our greater community. Our pitch was to help
generate awareness for the Clippers but more importantly the NBA to the
South Asian community. The NBA is looking to spread its brand to India
and our organization thought this could be an excellent way to partner
with this powerful entity and begin a ripple effect of publicity.
Please post your suggestions for groups that should receive any funds below. As a friend recently pointed out to us, it doesn't make much sense to highlight the event if we bury info about the recipient of any donations.
December is the month most associated with good deeds, charitable works and such. But for George Mathew (PHOTO: Chris Lee), a Singapore-born Indian-American conductor of Western classical music, January is his month for trying to change the world.
And on Monday, Jan. 12, 2009, Mathew is back with the biggest of his charity concerts. "Mahler for the Children of AIDS," at Carnegie Hall, will, according to the press release below, "raise funds and public awareness for pediatric AIDS
and the Prevention-of-Mother-To-Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV
worldwide but especially in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. The
evening will serve as a memorial for the millions of mothers and
children who have lost their lives, a tribute to the resilience of the
survivors, and an urgent call for help to the global community" (see full press release below).
Here's a what Nobel Laureate Bishop Desmond Tutu, who is an adviser to the project, had to say: "MAHLER FOR THE CHILDREN OF AIDS echoes Mahler's own words scribbled
into the manuscript of this Symphony, – 'Father, let no creature be
lost!' – Your community of artists and humanitarians alike makes that call
resound across the continents. You are giving voice to the voiceless,
hidden suffering of HIV/AIDS that must be heard by the world. I will be
there with you in spirit."
SAJA presents a music-filled webcast with Mathew, two days before Christmas, to talk about the new concert; the world of Western classical music; his efforts to raise interest in the form in the US and in India; and to discuss what it is like to be a South Asian at the highest levels of this kind of music (you'll see from the advisory board below that two brothers who have been at that level for decades - legendary conductor Zubin Mehta and, on the business side, Zarin Mehta, the president of the New York Philharmonic - are supporters of his work).
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 10-11 pm NY time that's Wednesday morning 8:30-9:30 am India time and Wednesday morning 11 am-noon Singapore time See local time around the world: http://bit.ly/RW1P
Listen live or to a recording: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/saja/2008/12/24/MUSIC-George-Mathew-conductor (you can go and set an e-mail reminder for yourself) or listen live via your phone by dialing this NYC number +1-347-324-5991 [send your questions/comments via e-mail to saja@columbia.edu (subject = webcast) or by posting them in comments section below; see the full archives of SAJA webcasts: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/saja]
In a YouTube video, Mathew talks about his latest concert:
- - -
Listen to a recording of George Mathew conducting Dvorak's Eighth Symphony Movement III (Manhattan School of Music Philharmonia, February 2003):
During the webcast, Mathew will explain various aspects of Mahler's Third Symphony and why he selected it to drive this concert. These are the excerpts we will play - and he will explain:
Do-gooder Hemant Wadhwani, a long-time NYC-area resident and friend of SAJA, sent along a great idea for a post: collecting holiday-season community service projects by South Asian groups.
Here's his starting contribution - projects in NYC. "I actually did not comprehend the depth of all the activities going on here in Manhattan until recently, " he wrote.
Please help us by posting, in the comments section, projects in the rest of the US and Canada.
NYC:
Saturday, December 20: Sathya Sai Baba mission - holiday program
distribution of gifts to 2,000 patients at Goldwater Hospital on
Roosevelt Island (12PM - 4PM)
Sunday December 21, 9:30AM: Sadhu Vaswani Center (SVC) and
Missionary of Charities (Mother Teresa) in Newark, NJ - soup kitchen
activities/blanket distribution - all the nuns in Newark are desis
too... Mother Teresa's group runs their soup kitchen every day except for
Thursdays... Over 1,000 blankets have been distributed on the streets and shelters over the past month by the SVC.
Wednesday, December 24 6PM: Healthy Harlem Food Service - Christmas distribution of gifts. Sathya Sai devotees now run 5 different soup kitchen projects in
Manhattan - every Saturday morning in the Bowery, every Saturday
afternoon in front of Bellevue Men's Shelter, every Wednesday evening
at Harlem, a church (Peter's Place) on 23rd Street - every
Saturday/Sunday evening, and the Baptist church on 32nd street every
Sunday afternoon...at the Baptist church, they open it up as a shelter
on weekend, and 1 or 2 Sai devotees sleep there overnight to man it as
an overnight shelter... Gifts have been prepared for distribution at all these sites. The
whole Sai group about 100 volunteers got together for 3 weekends
continually at the Goldwater Hospital auditorium and turned that place
into a working factory/assembly line to prepare gifts for the 2,000
patients at the hospital in addition to the 1,000 plus people they will
feed during the holiday week. I saw all the energy and it was really
heart-warming.
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