Texas Twins On Next Deal

Deal or No Deal (nbc.com)

Look for contestant Uzma Lone from the Lone Star State on the Sunday, March 11, episode of TV game show “Deal or No Deal” hosted by comedian Howie Mandel. Uzma will have her twin sister Saima Bukhari on the show as her helper and the two will be donning desi duds, giving the show’s models a run for their money. Nirali interviewed Saima, the owner of Dallas salon and med spa Glow, for the October 2006 “Fall Beauty Trend Report.”

More: Play Deal or No Deal online
“‘Deal or No Deal’ risky business for Plano contestant”

Nair A Breath of Fresh Air

Photo Credit: FoxSearchLight

NPR’s Terry Gross interviews filmmaker Mira Nair in this Fresh Air feature.

Nair speaks candidly about her latest project (The Namesake), and her first impression of Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel (“I read The Namesake purely by chance on a plane…I was just absolutely captured by the distillation of Jhumpa’s writing of, especially, the death of a parent. I felt like I had found solace, I had found a person in the world who understood exactly what I was feeling…I wanted to make the film as personal to the Lahiri family as Monsoon Wedding was to my family”).

Listen to the full 20-minute interview here.

More:
On The Namesake (Nirali)
Salaam Shantaram!

Spreading The Prakash

Sinha (Nature.Com)

Four years ago scientists discovered SRD, a 32-year-old Ahmedabadi woman born into blindness.

Now her case, published recently in Psychological Science, is forcing scholars to reconsider their approach to the disability.

Neuroscience dogma says little can be done if a blind child isn’t operated on by age six.

But SRD’s case is turning that doctrine on its head–her sight was restored at age 12, and her brain, in strong defiance of theory, “learned to interpret visual information.” The findings provide hope that the brain can learn to see later on in life.

“There is a critical period for perfect acuity,” Pawan Sinha, the study’s primary investigator, and a neuroscientist at MIT tells Time Magazine. “But there is not a critical period of learning to do complex visual tasks.”

Sinha is the founder of Project Prakash, a humanitarian and research effort aimed at expanding access to proper eye care in India.

More:
Project Prakash
Prakash featured in MIT news mag
The Sinha Lab at MIT
Pawan Sinha’s profile on Indian NGOs

Radhika’s Rad Rings

Radhika Tandon

Lawyer by day, jewelry designer by night, Radhika Tandon is responsible for the latest evolution of the timeless cocktail ring. Her company Isharya—which she runs with her sister-in-law Gauri Tandon—features precious and semi-precious stones set in silver and gold.

“If we don’t love it, it’s not going to be in our collection,” Tandon, 32, says. “Ohmigod, how fabulous. Where did you get it?’ That’s the feeling we want to evoke.”

Radhika Tandon is a patent lawyer based in Menlo Park, California, while her sister-in-law (a London School of Economics grad) lives in Mumbai, working with “the artisans who translate their vision into fabulous creations of tourmalines, smoky topaz, coral and rose-cut diamonds.”

Check out the goods at: Jennifer Kaufman in Los Angeles, or by visiting www.isharya.com

The Little Black Dress That Could, Does.

Dominique in Kolkata. Bikas Das (AP)

When the ultimate little black dress was put up for auction last year, estimates suggested it would bring in about $150,000.

The dress, famously worn by Audrey Hepburn in the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s, was designed by Hubert de Givenchy, and most recently modeled by Natalie Portman (“I was so nervous that I wasn’t going to fit. Everyone kept telling me how small it was”).

The frock brought in an astounding $800,000, and proceeds were donated to the City of Joy Foundation–a charitable organization working to better conditions in West Bengal.

Last week, thousands gathered around the City of Joy author and philanthropist Dominique Lapierre as he inaugurated a new school in Kolkata–a school that was built with with the auction-proceeds.

“I hope to build 15 schools with the money for destitute children of West Bengal,” he said. “I am very happy that my efforts are fructifying. Things are changing with more and more children going to school.”

Before her death in 1993, Hepburn visited South Asia (Bangladesh) as an ambassador for UNICEF.

More:
Audrey Hepburn’s Children’s Fund
Tribute to Hepburn’s humanitarian work
City of Joy the book

A-List Akhil

Credit: Village Voice

Granta has come out with (its second-ever) list of best young American novelists .

Among those who made the exclusive cut is Akhil Sharma, author of An Obedient Father (“a powerful debut novel that establishes Sharma as a supreme storyteller with a gift for the macabre”). When the book first came out (2000) it was said to have been in the running for the Booker Prize.

Sharma was born in Delhi, grew up in Edison, New Jersey, attended Princeton and Harvard Law. The former investment banker now lives in the City where he is at work on another novel to be published by W.W. Norton. He is married to Lisa Swanson, a lawyer almost a decade his senior.

More:
An excerpt of Mother and Son
Listen to Sharma read from An Obedient Father
Granta’s first list of best young American novelists (1996)
Sharma interviews Frank Gehry for the WSJ

Raga and Rhythym

A new music group named vidyA merges Carnatic music and jazz into a singular listening experience. Playing tonight and through May as Artist-in-Residence at the Red Poppy Art House in San Francisco, vidyA has been selected by The SF Chronicle for its Bay Area jazz recommendations for 2007. The sound is a unique combination of jazz soul and raga melody.

VidyA brings together a number of distinctive backgrounds and talents. Saxophonist Prasant Radhakrishnan, who released his album “Duality” in 2004, leads the Carnatic Jazz ensemble. Gautam Tejas Ganeshan plays violin. He is founder/director of the Sangati Center for South Asian music and arts. Sameer Gupta on drums and David Ewell on string bass have played with a number of acclaimed jazz musicians in improvisational ensembles The Supplicants and Marc Cary’s Focus Trio.

Tonight’s performance (6:30pm, suggested donation $10) features an interactive Q & A session, where the musicians will answer questions about merging musical styles, exploring improvisational strategies, influences and compositional approach.

More:
“Ascent” (mp3) (video)

Birthday Celebration Will Be Off The Chain

Still from Anup Kurian film Manasarovar

The state of Kerala turns 50 this year.

In honor of the milestone, the Asia Society Washington Center, Sangeet Natak Academy and Indian government are throwing a wild party (And by that we mean they’re sponsoring a film festival).

Celebrating Kerala Cinema begins this weekend in Washington DC, and will run through March 18.

All films are in Malayalam–with English subtitles—and will be screened in the Freer Gallery’s Meyer Auditorium. Tickets are free, but show up an hour ahead of time to secure yours (limit two per person).

For a complete list of films shown at the Smithsonian, go here.

More:
50 Years of Malayalam Cinema (Pdf)
Kathakali: Kalamandalam Ramankutty Nair at the London Film Festival
Manasarovar the movie

Holy Matrimony!

HelloMagazine.Com

British actress and model Elizabeth Hurley will wed long-time boyfriend Arun Nayar today at the historic Sudeley Castle in the English town of Gloucestershire.

The wedding party will then move to India, where a lavish, three-day celebration will take place at the Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur.

Hurley will be having a “proper mehndi” according to the BBC Asian Network. Female guests have been asked to wear saris, and the men will be in orange turbans.

The couple has been together for over three years. Nayar was previously married to Italian model Valentina Pedroni. This will be the first marriage for Elizabeth Hurley, 41.

More:
On Nayar and Hurley’s wedding

Because “Regular” Dating Isn’t Funny Enough

It’s a comedy about blind dating. Literally.

Due out this summer, Blind Dating stars Jane Seymour (wife of the film’s director), and Eddie Kay Thomas (American Pie, American Wedding). It also introduces Anjali Jay, who plays the object of a blind man’s affections. You might not be familiar with Jay’s work (unless you’re a fan of the BBC-series Robin Hood), but prepare to be won over:

The actress and Laban Center-trained dancer, was born in India and raised in London. Her performance as Jamila in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Midnight’s Children received solid reviews.

Blind Dating–which also features Sendhil Ramamurthy –will be in theaters May 11th.