One of the things we did for our 10th anniversary was head over to the Allen Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center to watch a great show called ‘The Beats of NYC: A Jazz Journey Through Dance, Rhythm and Rhyme‘. Put together by music director Ali Jackson, it was an ambitious mix of jazz, gospel, spoken word, African rhythms, modern dance, interpretive dance and tap dance that explored a number of elements that influenced jazz, and especially the blues, as we know it today. And it worked spectacularly.

Tanu called it the best musical show she has ever been to. I wouldn’t go quite that far (I’m still partial to ‘Bring in da Noise, Bring in da Funk‘ that introduced me to the great Savion Glover), but it is up in my top 4 or 5. The setting was especially intimate for us because we were in the very front row in the center, and that was on the floor where they were performing (no stage). So we were literally inches away from the performers. And you could feel their power and energy as they thundered away, especially the tap crew. I have never really appreciated spoken word, but I loved the performances here, especially the powerful “New Orleans” as performed by Jessica Care Moore. The Senegalese dance was cute and especially appropriate for our anniversary. And the solo performed by Ali Jackson himself was superb.

I hope Ali takes this show on the road, because it was truly wonderful, and it would be great if others could experience it as well. Truly an evening we won’t forget.

There are two things that need the immediate attention of those of us fortunate enough to be in a position to help.

The story dominating the headlines is the devastation in Haiti. Massive relief efforts are underway to try and provide aid and support to the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country, as it tries to dig its way out from under the rubble. Officials fear more than 100,000 people have died as a result of Tuesday’s 7.0-magnitude earthquake in Haiti. I donated to the Red Cross today through the website they set up for Haiti relief efforts. But another way to donate is through their remarkable text message campaign, which has already raised over $800,000 dollars. You simply text “Haiti” to 90999 to donate $10 via your cell phone bill. I donated via the website because I wanted to donate more, but I have to salute the Red Cross for the ingenuity of this campaign.

Another call for action has come from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a foundation we have supported for a long time. Tanu and I have personally witnessed the impact that this great institution can have on the life of a child with cancer. Well, it seems like St. Jude is facing a big budget shortfall, no doubt brought on by a drop in donations during this current recession. They need people to donate now so they can keep doing their work of providing care to children with cancer, where families never pay for treatment not covered by insurance. No child is ever denied treatment because of the family’s inability to pay, and that is on all of us to support. So donate now if you can. Please.

WTF Glenn Beck, you racist a-hole! How dare you insult India this way! First off, you dumb ass, learn to pronounce a name correctly before you say it sounds like a disease. It’s the “Ganga”, not the “Gaanjees”. Oh, and quick geography lesson, you ignorant schmuck, India has way more than “that one big river”.

FOX News better get hell about this from my Indian brethren. I hope there’s a way we can completely take down anything to do with him. Maybe enough noise to his sponsors will hit him in the one place real to him – his pocketbook.

So it seems all I ever blog about nowadays is my brother. But that is kind of the way things have been recently, what with all the good stuff going on for him. And the new year has brought even more for Naveen Kaushik.

First, he got nominated for the award of “Most Promising Newcomer – Male” in the 16th annual Star Screen awards. It’s a good sign that his work in “Rocket Singh” has been widely appreciated (and that it isn’t just us in the family).

On top of that, the new year starts off with his next project hitting the small screen. Naveen will be appearing in Yashraj Films new sci-fi/fantasy TV series called “Seven“, showing on Sony Entertainment Television starting Friday, Jan 1 at 9pm. It’s an adaptation of the hit NBC series “Heroes“, but with a decidedly Indian twist to it as it incorporates elements of Hindu mythology. Check out the promo below, and keep an eye open for Naveen (you can’t miss his aerodynamic look ).

Hopes are high for the series, and I’m trying to figure out a way to watch it (we don’t get Sony on DirecTV). From all the comments being left on this blog and on his facebook fan page, it seems like people are hungry to see more of Naveen. Let’s hope this year proves to be big for him.

It’s Monday morning, but I’m still on a high from the weekend (and no, the Giants being clobbered by the Eagles hasn’t dampened my mood — well maybe a little). On Saturday Tanu and I got together with family to go watch ‘Rocket Singh, Salesman of the Year‘. We were all really excited to see my brother in his first big Bollywood movie role. And it was such a blast.

Naveen plays the character of Nitin Rathore, the sales manager for a successful computer assembly and servicing firm where the hero gets hired as a trainee. Nitin’s character is a shark, with a cut throat attitude and a tongue to match. He’s been in the business so long that his cynical view of the corrupt business world drives his entire approach to life. But through the course of the movie, he gets forced into a situation where he tastes what life would be like if he didn’t have to work that way, and grows to like it.

Naveen did an absolutely fantastic job in the movie. He really inhabited the role of the wise-ass sales guy who initially looks down on the hero’s idealism, but then gets pulled in. He had the hard task of playing the character that went through the biggest change during the course of the movie, going through a complete moral and ethical revamp. And he did it so naturally, that he made the complex change believable. Oh, and he totally rocked those awesome sideburns.

Of course, I may be biased here. But the comments that I have been receiving on my previous posts about this movie would say otherwise. Traffic on this blog has skyrocketed because people have been so impressed with my brothers work that they have been searching the web for information on who played the character of Nitin. Unfortunately, Naveen’s website (at www.naveenkaushik.com) and his Facebook fan page are pretty new. So people have not been able to find those through search engines yet. But they will eventually, judging from the comments, which have been full of praise.

I remember back in March when we went to Delhi, and Naveen came down from Mumbai to meet his nephew for the first time. He had just been offered the role, and actually had to fly back a few days early to sign the contract. We chatted about the opportunity, and he grilled me about my experience working with sales people, what they were like, how they worked and talked. He had an understated excitement there. Maybe he knew what was coming. But it is so gratifying to see all his hard work right there on the screen for everyone to see and appreciate. My feelings are all jumbled up together inside me – happy, nervous, excited, awed. But proud is definitely at the top of the list.

My kid brother. Wow!

It’s gonna be a big family outing tomorrow, as I have roped in a bunch of people to go watch ‘Rocket Singh, Salesman of the Year‘, the first big movie role for my brother, Naveen Kaushik. I’m really excited, and finding it very hard to wait. I noticed that my friend Raj had left a comment about some of the positive reviews my brothers act has received, so I decided to check out some of the reviews.

Overall, the movie itself is getting some really great reviews. Within those reviews, I am finding little nuggets about Naveen’s performance:

The Economic Times:

Navin Kaushik as Nitin, the senior sales manager reminds of Raghu from Roadies for his cheekiness and is brilliant.

Times of India:

…wily manager, Nitin-with-the-natty-sideburns (excellent act) during…

DNA India:

Naveen Kaushik, as Nitin, is very natural and almost takes you by surprise in what is probably his first mainstream film role

Mixxnews:

A number of new faces enact pivotal roles here, but the ones who stand out are Ranbir’s boss Puri and colleague Nitin. Both are fantastic.

This is just crazy. On Friday, the Bollywood movie ‘Rocket Singh, Salesman of the Year‘ is going to be released, and my brother Naveen Kaushik has a significant role in the movie. It’s a big release, coming out of one of the most prestigious production houses in India. As you can imagine, everyone in my family is pretty excited. Not only is the movie releasing all over India, but it will also be opening right here in the US, and I am hoping to get together a family outing to go watch the movie. I’ve been monitoring the Moviefone listing for the movie, and while showtimes are still not out, it was really cool to see my brothers name listed 5th in the cast.

It’s the first movie in which my brother has a major role (he had a bit part in the 2008 megahit ‘Dev D‘, playing the protagonists lawyer). I’ve heard his stories about bumming a smoke from Shah Rukh Khan, and meeting the megastars of Indian cinema in the commissary at Yashraj Films. But the reality of it never really sunk in. Now the movie is coming out, he’s visible in the promotional material for the film, and featured on the movie’s website. I have to say all this is kind of surreal. I’ll be seeing my kid brother on the silver screen (I saw Dev D on DVD, so it was not the same), fulfilling a dream he has been working hard towards for a number of years now.

For fun, I combined all the wallpapers you can find on the movie website into one that features Naveen exclusively. Check it out below (click for a larger version).

Words cannot describe the feelings of revulsion, anger and sheer disgust that I felt when I read this story of how 2 women doctors forced a 15 year old rape victim to give birth to a baby, and then killed it by letting it starve for 3 days. It is the kind of stomach-churning story that makes me, a strong opponent of capital punishment, want to bring back the days of public stoning and lynching. And to think that these are doctors, sworn to the Hippocratic oath, supposedly the most noble of people. And women on top of that.

What I find most disturbing is that this kind of crime happens enough that there is actually a section for “forcible delivery of a child with intent to kill” in the criminal code. India may be rising, but until this callous atttitude towards life and women is obliterated, it will never reach the standing it should.

It has been a long time since I posted any new photo albums to my website. Things have been just that crazy. But I finally managed to figure out how to host the albums on flickr and use them in my website, so that adding new albums will become easier in the future, thereby preventing these kind of delays again.

Anyway, I added 8 new albums to the ‘Life As We Know It‘ section: “Day at NY Aquarium”, “Barry-Tina Brunch”, “Hudson Waterfront Park”, “1 Day, 2 Parties”, “Day in the City”, “U2 Concert”, “2009 World Series” and “Halloween 2009″. I also added 2 new albums to the ‘Family Scrapbook‘ section: “Astha’s Wedding” and “Sonu-Manish Visit”. So check them out. Now I just need to add an album from our Vancouver trip and I’ll be all caught up.

The Yankees are back on top of the baseball world, where they belong. I know I am spoilt as a Yankee fan, but 9 years did feel like a heckuva long time to wait for a World Series win. It’s more about Yankee pride than anything else, because the joy of the Yankees winning didn’t compare to the ecstasy of watching the Giants win the Superbowl. But there was plenty of joy, and it was great to see the only remaining members of the last dynasty – Jeter, Rivera, Posada and Pettitte – win championship number 5.

But this World Series was special in a different way. This was the first time I was able to attend a World Series game, thanks to my cuz Siddi-B, who shares a season pass with some friends. He took me to game 2 of the series, the game the Yankees HAD to win at home after they had lost game 1. I thought it was a good sign when my favorite Yankee of all, Paul O’Neill, came out to throw the ceremonial first pitch. The Stadium was just jumping, and the atmosphere got better as the game went on, what with Burnett putting on a masterful pitching performance and some big home runs from the Yanks.

But what really raised the roof (figuratively speaking) was the fact that Pedro Martinez was pitching for the Phillies. The chants of “Who’s Your Daddy” were deafening, as the crowd serenaded one of the most hatest pitchers at Yankee Stadium. And when Mariano came in and closed out the win, the place erupted. Check out the video I made of the last out below.

It was a great experience, but I have to say, it didn’t compare to the 2003 ALCS game 6 I attended at the old Stadium (the game before the Aaron Boone game). That probably has a lot to do with the fact that it was against the hated Red Sox, and was potentially series clinching for the Yankees. And that it was a birthday present for me from my wife. I remember feeling the Stadium literally shake under my feet every time the Yankees got a big hit. And even though they lost (setting up the greatest game 7 ever I have seen), it was an amazing experience that this game didn’t compare to. Still, it wasn’t a bad way to experience the first (of many, I hope) World Series game of my life.

The Parade

But my World Series experience doesn’t end there. Did you know, THE..E…E….E YANKEES WON! And New York threw a party to celebrate like only New York can. As tradition dictates, the champions were feted with a ticker tape parade up the Canyon of Heroes a few days after their win. And I was there, with Siddi-B once again, to scream and shout and cheer my Champions. The number of people that turned out to line Broadway was insane. I literally lost my voice that day. But it was totally worth it.

You can check out all my pictures from the World Series and the parade on Flickr here.

Let’s do it again next year! Go Yankees!!!