Big Sleep On The Radio

The Big Sleep, including Sonya Balchandani who was interviewed for the Nirali story “Renaissance Rebel,” played most if not all the songs from their debut album “Son of the Tiger,” and talked afterwards with Break Thru Radio’s DJ Maia, sharing their thoughts on the creative process, their favorite spots in NY and some details about the making of the video (clip posted below) for their song “Murder.” Listen to the show online.

The band plays tonight in Brooklyn, NY. Check out their site for details and for upcoming winter shows across the East Coast. The Deli Magazine, devoted to the NYC indie rock scene, voted The Big Sleep the best of NYC for 2006.

Shake Your Biryani

Ricky Martin (MTV Finland)

When the tsunami devastated South(east) Asia two years ago, pop phenom Ricky Martin packed his bags and headed to the region (you might remember seeing him on Oprah, talking about his experiences).

Since then, the artist has deepened his ties to India, working to help little girls in Calcutta—forced into a life of prostitution—off the streets (“We started this project with one girl. Today we have 167”).

Soon after, Martin performed at the Taj Mahal in an effort to raise awareness and money for children affected by HIV/AIDS.

“After spending time in silence, away from the stage, I had the time to travel and exchange ideas with people from all over the world–Brazil, Thailand, India, Egypt,” he tells reporters. “Being influenced by all these cultures in a creative process, I’ve learned how connected we all are.”

Next month Martin returns to India, where he will be performing at a “high profile shaadi” in Jaipur.

For more on Martin’s humanitarian efforts (and how you can help), visit the Ricky Martin Foundation.

Bachchan Represents

All in the family: Legion D’Honneur ceremony (Hindu.com)

Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan was honored last week when the French government presented him with the Legion D’Honneur.

The award was given to Bachchan at the French Embassy in New Delhi by Ambassador Dominique Girard (who called the actor a “towering personality” and the “number-one actor of Indian cinema”).

“It fills me with great pride,” Bachchan said during his acceptance speech. “India has arrived on the global cinema stage, the carping critics have been silenced, and the cynicism about the Hindi film industry has given way to world-wide appreciation.”

Bachchan is the fourth Indian national to be recognized (fellow recipients are Satyajit Ray, environmentalist R.K. Pachauri and musician Ravi Shankar).

The Legion d’Honneur was instituted in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte and is considered France’s highest civilian honor.

Shia Revival Author Gives Lecture

Vali Nasr speaks on the topic of “How Conflicts Within Islam Will Shape The Future” at the World Affairs Council of Northern California on Wednesday, January 31. He is Professor of Middle East and South Asia Politics at the Naval Postgraduate School and the Council on Foreign Relations’ Senior Adjunct Fellow on the Middle East.

Nasr’s Shia Revival has been described as worthwhile reading for those seeking a primer on the second-largest Muslim sect. His account offers an introduction to the history and theology of Shia Islam and its relations with the dominant Sunni strain. Nasr also argues that the so-called Shia Crescent—stretching from Lebanon and Syria through the Gulf to Iraq and Iran, finally terminating in Pakistan and India—is gathering strength in the aftermath of Saddam’s fall, cementing linkages that transcend political and linguistic borders and could lead to a new map of the Middle East. The author believes that the sectarian divisions between Shia and Sunni will come to play a large part in determining our collective future. (Publisher’s Weekly)

More:
World Affairs Council
Dr. Vali R. Nasr
Nasr’s interview on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Sikh Chic Down Under

(Andrew Kelly)

In a project completed for his university program, photojournalist Andrew Kelly portrayed male Sikhs in Australia in a range of traditional and modern scenarios and focused his attention on the styles of fashion photography prevalent in today’s market. (More background on Kelly’s concept here. Visit his site to view all 15 portraits.)

Beyond the Buffet

KiransHouston.Com

Zagat calls it Houston’s Best New Restaurant of 2006.

Modern Luxury magazine says the currant-fig chutney will prove this is “not your normal curry house.”

We say: in a town with its fair share of Indian restaurants, “Kiran’s” stands out for all the right reasons.

Owner-slash-executive chef Kiran Verma’s culinary roots and training might lie in tradition (the Sheraton New Delhi) but her commitment to the experimental is clear (four words: Curried Venison Osso Bucco).

In Houston, desi fare has historically been relegated to suburban stripmalls, but Kiran’s brings upscale Indian dining downtown.

Critics praise the cilantro-shot aloo gobi, find the pulao “astonishingly fluffy, each grain hyperdistinct” and suggest capping things off with the saffron, pistachio and cardamom-infused crème brûlée trio.

The restaurant hosts dining events—like this Wednesday’s ‘Scottish Fare With Indian Flair.’ Go here to make a reservation.

Aniston Picks Her Nose

Jennifer Aniston (AnistonAvenue.Com)

Last week Jennifer Aniston was seen leaving the offices of LA-based plastic surgeon Raj Kanodia.

Kanodia, a graduate of the Medical College of Kolkata, has been featured on the E! Network’s hit show Dr. 90210.

Gossip rag US Weekly reports that Aniston went in for a nose job on January 20th, leaving Kanodia’s Beverley Hills-practice later that day with “black-and-blue bruises along her right eyebrow and across the tip of her nose and upper lip.”

Her reps don’t deny that she had work done (“to correct a deviated septum”) but now TMZ reports that Aniston is upset Kanodia spoke to the press about her procedure, saying a “furious Aniston has placed several calls” to him expressing her “extreme displeasure.”

Ennis at Sepia Mutiny suggests its “ironic” that Hollywood A-listers are “coming to a desi doctor to get demure little noses.”

Although Kanodia won’t disclose which Hollywood celebs he’s worked on, it has been said that the good doctor is responsible for crafting Cameron Diaz and Ashlee Simpson’s new schnozzes.

Jennifer Aniston, who played the lovably flawed Rachel Green on Friends, can next be seen guest-starring on Dirt–Courtney Cox’s new FX Network-show.

Shetty Big Winner In Big House

Shetty emerges from Big Brother’s house victorious. AP Photo (Yui Mok)

Shilpa Shetty has just won Celebrity Big Brother.

When it was announced she’d successfully secured the public’s vote, the Bollywood actress burst into tears, saying she found the Big Brother experience “incredible and overwhelming.”

The win comes after Shetty, 31, was subjected to racial bullying in the house (she was mocked repeatedly, and referred to as “the Indian,” and “Shilpa Poppadum”) creating a subsequent uproar.

As the New York Times reports, Celebrity Big Brother generated “300 newspaper articles in Britain, 1,200 in English-language newspapers…around the globe, 3,900 foreign-language news articles and 22,000 blog postings. Around 40,000 people – the highest on record – made complaints to the television standards regulator. Six cabinet ministers, including Prime Minister Tony Blair, commented publicly on it.”

“It’s truly been a roller coaster ride,” said Shetty, who received 67% of the viewers’ votes.

Filmi Food

Samosas (The Hindu Online)

Quick – what’s the world’s most popular movie theater food? If you guessed popcorn, you’re wrong. According to this video clip from ABC World News Tonight, it’s more than likely a desi snack like samosa or papdi chat. While this segment highlights the culinary offerings at a Bollywood movie night in a suburban New Jersey theater, we at Nirali wonder if the trend might not cross over and become standard fare at theaters serving areas with large South Asian populations. What do you think?

Chicken Tikka Pizza To Go?

Chicken tikka pizza (Chris Duffey)

The East Bay Express has praise for Fremont, California’s Mirchi Cafe & Masala Pizza, a two-year-old Italian-American-Indo-Pakistani eatery.

The recipe for that perfect crust comes from Lisa Ahmad’s grandfather, who had a talent for pizza making. Born Lisa Lucia, an Italian-American who grew up working in her family’s local restaurant, where she met co-worker and future husband Khursheed Ahmad, she was inspired to obtain a culinary degree and pursue a restaurant career.

When she was ready to open her own place in 2004, she “grafted Indian and Pakistani flavors onto the Italian-American food she grew up with. And she tried to re-create the simple restaurant dishes she tasted on twice-yearly trips to Pakistan with her husband.” In addition to its pizzas, Mirchi offers desi style Chinese (Pakistani-style Chinese stir-fries) and desi burgers (the Lahori beef and Punjabi chicken).

Related:
Zante Pizza & Indian Cuisine
Uttapam