desi

Who is Tushar Atre? CEO killed after being kidnapped from oceanfront Santa Cruz home

Indian-origin entrepreneur Tushar Atre who was abducted from his home in California’s Santa Cruz earlier this week has been found dead inside his BMW car, Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s office said

Atre, Santa Cruz tech executive was forced from his home in the middle of the night and then killed this week, leaving authorities with few clues but plenty of questions in the slaying.

The body of Tushar Atre, 50, was found Tuesday morning about seven hours after the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office was alerted that he had been taken from his home “during a crime.”

Law enforcement officials are still trying to piece together the events that led to Atre’s death, which they believe originated with a robbery attempt.

Atre was also in the cannabis business. The city of Santa Cruz confirmed he was “the owner of Interstitial Systems, which is a licensed cannabis manufacturer that operates out of a location on Fern street,” reported Kion456. Heavy has confirmed through state records that Atre was a licensed Cannabis distributor.

Atre was the owner of AtreNet, a web design company founded in 1996 that caters to Silicon Valley corporate businesses. According to AtreNet’s website, the company’s clients include technology, marketing and software companies such as Hewlett-Packard, BuzzLogic, Seagate and Tealeaf Technology.

Article: The Days of Desi

An article in Deccan Herald “The Days of Desi” makes for an interesting read for Desis in Pardes.

Illustration by Kavitha Mandana

The author, Surekha Kadapa-bose explains “the end of 2017 is witnessing a sudden cacophony, a sudden urgency, and a new-found love for everything desi. This, of course, is a delightful U-turn from the previous passionate adoption of everything foreign. But, just as we went to extremes to adapt the Western lifestyle from the 1970s to the new millennium, we now seem to be doing the same with desi. There seems to be a bit too much stress on desi food, fashion, culture, religion, rituals, films, music, education etc.”

There is a general misconception that fashion, as shown in the big fat wedding scenes of Bollywood films, is ‘the’ desi attire – men dressed in long silky sherwanis, bandhgalas, with a angavastra wound round their necks, and women, of course, have to be dressed in voluminous ghagras with miniscule cholis, blingy saris etc…

After desi attire comes food. The craze for desi has made inroads here too. The best examples are the popular junk foods – pizzas and burgers – which are originally adopted from Italy and America. Now they are getting Indianised and are being served with a desi touch. You get pizzas with toppings like tandoori paneer, chicken tikka, paneer vegorama, and burgers with stuffings like veg aloo tikki, masala dosa, paneer and so on.

My take on this variation: if one is so much in love with desi khaana, then why not say “no” to pizzas and burgers, and have Mom-made dosas, parathas and samosas instead?

GaramChai.com has long prided itself in being the single stop source for “Desi in Pardes” with extensive listings of Desi Restaurants, boutiques, places of worship and culture

Samundar by Babbu Maan has generated over 1.7 million views on Youtube!

Babbu Maan’s new music video on Youtube that has generated over 1.7 million views!

Link to Babbu Maan’s new music video on Youtube that has generated over 1.7 million views!

“Music has a distinct place in my life. In this world of music, ghazals are something that touches my soul the most. The verses and subtle nuances open floodgates to the deepest emotions in me. There is nothing more beautiful than a ghazal composition” says the leading light of the Punjabi & Indian Music Fraternity, Babbu Maan who will mesmerize the audience with his silken voice in his forth coming light ghazal “Samundar ” to be released under the prestigious banner of Swag music.

“Samundar” seeks to transport listeners as it works its way to ecstatic peaks with driving rhythms, concise refrains and the spiraling improvisations at which Babbu Maan is unsurpassed. His voice has a raw, impassioned tone and an acrobatic agility. Whether he repeats a refrain with ever-increasing intensity, streaking through elaborate zigzagging lines, letting loose a percussive fusillade or sustaining a climactic note, he has made “Samundar” that united virtuosity and fervor.

Babbu Maan says “The song is a blend of melody, romance & depth. The music of the song assails your senses, calming the mind in one magnificent sweep of transcendental sound. Looking forward to the response from the audiences”

Babbu Maan is one of those singers & composers who require little analysis. Every aspect of his oeuvre has already been examined and written about. This quest for elegance in sound and avoiding excess in every aspect has also prompted this master musician to introduce new genres and songs to the audience. Driven compulsively to discover new sounds and meanings, he seems invincible. Babbu Maan competes only with himself, constantly resetting the rules of his own game.

Name of the song- Samundar; Released under the banner of Swag music; Music, Lyrics, Composition, Singer- Babbu Maan; Produced by- Munish Sharma; Video Director- Sukh Sanghera.

Sunny Leone’s commercials : Condoms and Ghee !

Canadian-born Indian-American actress and model, Sunny Leone who is currently active in Indian film industry is also making waves in the Indian Advertising industry.

Sunny Leone has worked hard to shed her image of a “former pornstar” but that reputation seems to be following her around. The “Navratri Themed” Condom Ad featuring Ms Leone faces opposition In Gujarat, Goa and elsewhere.

Now, there is news that Sunny Leone is planning to shoot a commercial for a much more uncontroversial product: Fresh Desi Ghee!

“It is neither the gym nor the latest diet programmes, it is ghee that has helped me maintain my physique” quipped Sunny Leone.

In order to promote Dholpur Fresh’s desi ghee, Balaji Creators has roped in Sunny Leone in their latest commercial. Commenting on the campaign strategy , Puneet Sharma of Balaji Creators says

“Featuring Sunny Leone for the ad has been great since she is the face & inspiration to many Indian women and epitomizes hard work and perseverance – an apt quotient for the product. This is the first time we are working with Sunny Leone, infact this also the first time that she is promoting a food brand. The back drop of the ad is very different from other ghee ads. We aim to transport the audience to a different era which epitomizes quality & originality which Balaji Creators stands for”

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Patanjali ‘s advert: appeal to all Patriotic Indians on the eve of 71st Independence Day

Baba Ramdev’s business genius in launching and driving swadesi, ‘Made in India’ products is still being analyzed by business leaders and students of business alike. The Yogi turned business magnate has skillfully introduced and nurtured a series of products that take on well entrenched players in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) space including Unilever, Nestle, Britannia and even Dabur among others.

Behind a folksy, homegrown veneer, Ramdev and his trusted lieutenant Acharya Balkrishna, (managing director of the company) operate a rather strong and serious business.

“According to CLSA and HSBC, Patanjali is the fastest growing FMCG company in India. It is valued at ₹30 billion (US$470 million) and some predict revenues of ₹5,000 crore (US$780 million) for the fiscal 2015–16. Patanjali declared its annual turnover of the year 2016-17 to be estimated ₹10,216 crore (US$1.6 billion). Ramdev baba has stated in his interview with CNN-News18 that profit from Patanjali Products goes to charity.” – Wikipedia

Continuing with a tradition of pandering to emerging desi nationalist sentiment, the company has launched a campaign with “appeals on 71st Independence Day to all Patriotic Indians (facebook)”

Patanjali_Advert

Patanjali products also seem to be a hit with Non Resident Indians (NRIs) and the Indian Diaspora.

Image result for patanjali in america

Promoting desi products and Yoga: Baba Ramdev frequently tours the west to promote made-in-India products

Image result for patanjali in america

Check out recent headlines on the Patanjali Story. And also an earlier blog “Indian Style Innovation? Generate electricity using bulls”

Swastika symbol and Hindu culture

Here is a recent query from a visitor to GaramChai.com

I have a glass beaded necklace . I’m told it could be Hindu but what throws me off is the swaski. I ‘m also told that it was made long before Hitler. What are your thought on it. It has a beautiful peacock on it. – Patricia D.

Response from our editor follows

Hi Patricia,
Thanks for checking in.

Yes, this is likely to be a Hindu necklace with the swastika symbol. The symbol is widely used in Hindu culture. Check out the following link to Wikipedia

The swastika (as a character 卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious symbol used in the Indian subcontinent, East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is also an icon widely found in human history and the modern world.

The swastika is an important Hindu symbol. The word is ancient, derived from three Sanskrit roots “su” (good), “asti” (exists, there is, to be) and “ka” (make) and has meant a “making of goodness” or “marker of goodness”. The icon connotes and reminds the viewer of something “conducive to well-being”, “make good”, prosperity and dharmic auspiciousness. The swastika symbol is commonly used before entrances or on doorways of homes or temples, to mark the starting page of financial statements, and mandala constructed for rituals such as weddings or welcoming a new born.

Here is a funny anecdote. We live in North Carolina and after we moved into a new house, my wife decided to mark the good-luck-swastika symbol on our front-door. Our Caucasian neighbor was alarmed and asked my wife if ‘kids‘ from the neighborhood had market the door (?!). She was genuinely concerned about a possible racial angle to this. We explained the significance of Swastika to her and had a good laugh about it.

The peacock also has a strong Indian significance and happens to be the national bird of India. (link). The image of necklace you have shared certainly looks likely to be of Indian origin. Enjoy the necklace and check out the Wikipedia post for more details about the symbol’s significance in the Hindu culture.

Regards

GaramChai.com Editor

Bahubali 2 Phenomenon in the US

The desi blockbuster movie Bahubali 2 has been sweeping all records for earnings the past few weeks. Not surprisingly (for desis), the movie also beat records in North America this past week.

The Wall Street Journal took note, highlighting

It’s being called India’s “Star Wars,” smashing box-office records worldwide. The wild superhero epic “Baahubali 2: The Conclusion,” which opened at the end of April, has become the highest grossing Indian film in history, and its breakthrough in the U.S. may be just as significant.

With a $10.3 million opening weekend April 28, it was the No. 3 film in America, beating DreamWorks Animation’s “Boss Baby,” Tom Hanks in “The Circle” and other Hollywood fare. It did so even though it opened on only 425 screens around the country, selected for their demographics, averaging $24,364 per screen. The No. 1 film the same weekend, “The Fate of The Furious,” averaged only $4,890 per screen, on 4,077 screens.

“We were stunned. This clearly turned into an event,” said Greg Foster, CEO of IMAX. “When you have full houses on Thursday night, on something that was unbelievably viral in how the information was disseminated to the Indian diaspora, you’re tapping into something.”

WSJ writer was also surprised how the movie took off without support from mainstream movie critics “Critics on Yahoo or Rotten Tomatoes, or somewhere. I haven’t seen anything like that,” he said. On Rotten Tomatoes recently “Baahubali 2” boasted a 92% audience score and had no rating at all from critics. Imports like this still take a back seat to Hollywood blockbusters.