Kamala, Vikas, Sunita, Indiaspora, JLF USA

Five notes from an Indian summer in America (and space).

Sep 01, 2024

“Bowing to the Universe for this moment.” That’s Chef Vikas Khanna, whose Bungalow became the first Indian restaurant since Tabla in 1999 to receive three stars from the NYT.

✉️ Sree’s newsletter is produced with Zach Peterson (@zachprague). Digimentors Tech Tip from Robert S. Anthony (@newyorkbob). Our sponsorship kit.

☮️ On Thursday, Sept. 5, I am honored to serve as digital co-host of the Nobel Peace Conference 2024 in Oslo. This year’s event honors Narges Mohammadi, Nobel Peace laureate 2023 and will focus on the rollback of women’s rights and its ramifications for peace. Join three other Nobel laureates and experts for a free, online event connecting the world (you’ll be able to ask questions and interact with me and the event). Register here and you can watch live on Sept. 5 or later. Here’s what I learned at the 2023 edition.

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FIVE NOTES FROM AN UNUSUAL AMERICAN SUMMER, INDIA-WISE.

ONE: It started with a rocket launch. 🚀

Astronaut Sunita Williams, known as Suni (her father was an Indian-American) isn’t stranded, she’s working. She went to space for eight days with Astronaut Barry Wilmore on the Boeing Starliner spacecraft and now won’t be back for at least 250 days in all. She told her mother last week not to worry about her and that “everything’s going to be fine.” What a gutsy lady Williams is, as all astronauts are. We’ll be keeping an eye on her story, while following another Indian connection to space, Axiom Space sending an astronaut from India to the International Space Station.

TWO: The Indiaspora Impact Report: “Small Community, Big Contributions, Boundless Horizons.” 🙌

Indiaspora is a nonpartisan networking organization founded by tech entrepreneur M.R. Rangaswami, to inspire the Indian diaspora to be a force for good, and I’m honored to be one of its ambassadors. From the report, which BCG co-authored and is filled with stories, stats and useful research material:

The story of Indian Americans is about motivated immigrants and their children seeking the American dream. It is the story of leaders and innovators, groundbreakers, and trailblazers — people on the frontlines of healthcare, education, philanthropy, science, and culture who have added many a colorful thread to the vibrant tapestry of American society. However, this community is not without its share of challenges. Around 6% of Indian Americans are below the poverty line as of 2020, and an estimated 14% were undocumented in 2021.

Be sure to read at least the summary, featuring factoids like these:

3. JLF USA comes to five American cities. 📚

EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO, THE CITY OF JAIPUR hosted a sleepy book festival with 18 authors and about 100 lookers-on. Fast forward to January 2024 and the Jaipur Literature Festival had 300 speakers and 500,000 attendees. In between, JLF had become what Tina Brown calls “the greatest literary show on Earth,” attracting almost every major living author from around the planet and making breakout stars of folks you hadn’t heard of. Programmed by Namita Gokhale and William Dalrymple and produced by Sanjoy Roy and Suraj Dhingra of Teamwork Arts, JLF has become, with things like Oprah’s book club, a literary tastemaker. And, yes, Oprah made it, too, drawing large crowds in 2012.

For about a decade, versions of JLF have also taken place outside India, including in Boulder, Colorado; Houston and New York City, along with events in the UK, Spain, Maldives, Australia and elsewhere.

This September, JLF USA is going to the next level, adding new editions in Seattle and the Research Triangle in North Carolina, with events in Raleigh and Chapel Hill. Signature JLF programming with local guests. Names you know and ones you will are going to know are going to be the five cities:

Houston: Sept. 6-8
New York: Sept. 9-11
Boulder: Sept. 14-15
Seattle: Sept. 20-22
Raleigh/Chapel Hill: Sept. 27-28

I am proud to say Digimentors and I have partnered with JLF USA to work on programming, outreach and more. Ping me via jlfusa@digimentors.group if you have questions or need help. And spread the word, please!

By my count, about 20% of the US population lives within a two-hour drive of a JLF USA festival this year. Knowing the Teamwork Arts team, that’s only going to increase in the years ahead.

4. A big moment for Indian food in NYC. 🍽️

Vikas Khanna’s Bungalow became the first Indian restaurant since Tabla in 1999 to receive three stars from the NYT (gift link). From Priya Krishna’s review, “No More Butter Chicken: Where Indian Food Finally Gets to Be Itself”:

The rise of regional Indian restaurants that draw big crowds and attention without cutting corners to please a non-South Asian audience — the owners of Semma and Dhamaka even named their company Unapologetic Foods — has been happening for several years. But Bungalow doesn’t need to declare its lack of apologies. This is a restaurant by South Asians, for South Asians, and if others want to join in, they’re welcome, too.

After helping several friends score tables at Bungalow all summer, I finally managed to get a table for my dad’s 80th birthday. We celebrated T.P. Sreenivasan, a foodie and former ambassador, at this special restaurant, and Vikas came out to give him multiple hugs, including the one captured above.

The explosion of expensive Indian dining in NYC can be traced to 1999 and Tabla, launched by legendary restauranteur Danny Meyer and chef Floyd Cardoz and given three stars by the NYT’s Ruth Reichl. We tragically lost Floyd in the pandemic but his legacy lives on in every major Indian restaurant in the city.

In July 2021, Bobby Ghosh, writing in Bloomberg, sent a shot across the culinary world with a simple but shocking headline: New York Now Has Better Food Than London. And then this summer he writes: Indian Restaurants Are Wall Street’s New Celebration Spots. It’s happening as New York extends its lead over London in the quality Indian food department.” Cue more anger from London friends.

If you love Vikas as countless folks do, you will appreciate this playlist of five videos of interviews I have done with him, going back to 2005 (he looks the same, I may have lost a little hair).

Here are some recommendations of other great high-end Indian restaurants in NYC that I’ve eaten at (and taken clients and colleagues to): Saar, Semma, Kabab Aur Sharab, Kanyakumari, Gupshup, Baazi, Indian Accent, Junoon, Gulaabo.

NOTE: Please don’t ask me to help get you a table at Bungalow. Before the NYT review, it was occasionally possible. Now it’s wonderfully, joyfully impossible.

5: And there’s a small election coming up. 🗳️

You might be wondering why I waited so long to bring up Vice President Kamala Harris, who surely has the Indian American story of the summer, the year, the century. Not much more to say about her than what’s being said right now on a TV near you or the lies being amplified on social media, including disinformation by Elon Musk himself.

So, instead, I will tell you about an event Prof. Manu Bhagavan and I organized July 27, after 75 hours from idea to launch:

LAUNCH OF SOUTH ASIAN MEN FOR HARRIS

following in the footsteps of our Black and South Asian sisters
⁠⁠email: southasianmenforharris@gmail.com
⁠⁠sign up for updates for future events: https://bit.ly/sam4hjuly
⁠⁠donate: http://bit.ly/sam4harris
Some info, stats and links:

30 speakers, including 2 Congressmen, 4 local electeds, the co-founders of South Asians for Harris and the national organizing director of Harris for President.

4.4K live viewers
10K total viewers and counting
260 volunteer signups
75 donors (from 100 QR code scans)
$15,263 raised and counting
75 hours from idea to launch

Click here to donate: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/southasianmenforharris

Here are some videos from our YT channel: http://youtube.com/@southasianmenforharris

1.⁠ ⁠⁠Three-hour long livestream, kicked off by Sir Salman Rushdie (did you know we’ve all been saying his name wrong? He schools me on the show!)
2.⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Short video by actor Aasif Mandvi
3.⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Short video by Prof. Raza Rumi
4.⁠ ⁠Short video by Aftab Pureval, Mayor of Cincinnati

And be sure to also check out the recording of AANHPI Men for Harris, launched Aug 7, with some of the biggest stars in Asian America, including Ken Jeong, Daniel Dae Kim, Lou Diamond Phillips, Maulik Pancholy. My Digimentors team and I helped produce it.

My favorite Digimentors Tech Tips from Bob Anthony 💻

In each edition of Sree’s Sunday Note, veteran tech journalist Robert S. Anthony shares a tech tip you don’t want to miss. But in case you’ve missed any, here’s my unofficial top 10 list of his tips. He’ll be back with another great Digimentors Tech Tip next week. Follow Bob @newyorkbob on Twitter and check out his 1.1 million followers on Pinterest!

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