Indian Ocean is currently on tour across the US and the UK. On the 17th of September, they performed at the Granville Arts Center in Garland to help raise money for the Ram Mandir in Plano.

The Granville Arts Center is a reasonable small venue and seats between 500 and 600 people so it had a very personal touch to it. The show pretty much started on time when the 3 members of Indian Ocean, Amit, Rahul and Susmit along with two supporting members Himanshu Joshi and Tuheen Chakravarty (filling in for Asheem who passed away in 2009) started the show with Khajuraho.

The entire show went for about 2 hours and they played most of their popular songs like Ma Rewa, Hille Le Jhakjor, Leaving Home from their Kandisa album. They played some songs from their new album 16/330 Khajoor Road. They have also done music for Bollywood movies and played a couple of songs from Black Friday and Peepli Live. 

Mausam (English: Weather) is an upcoming Hindi language film directed and written by Pankaj Kapur under the Vistaar Religare Film Fund banner. The film stars Shahid Kapoor opposite Sonam Kapoor along with Pankaj Kapur. The film will mark the first time that Shahid Kapoor has been in a film opposite his father, Pankaj Kapur. It is also Pankaj Kapur's directorial debut film.

The film was shot in London, Edinburgh, Switzerland and India. Some of the night scenes were shot at ND Studios, where the streets of Scotland were re-created, after which they shot for a day at Film City. The cast and crew left for Switzerland around 24 April 2011 for their last schedule. The trailer was launched on July 11th.

The film is set to release on September 16, 2011.

The next Konkani Sammelan is coming back to its birthplace in  New Jersey after 16 years and we have the privilege to celebrate sweet  sixteen of the Sammelan! It will be hosted at the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center in Edison, NJ from June  29-July 1, 2012 (Fri-Sun). Please mark your calendars and save the dates.


The North East region was  finalized for hosting the 2012 Konkani Sammelan only in May 2011. Since then,  we have raced against time to put together a dedicated and motivated team of  volunteers for organizing this mega event. The team's vision is to host the  best Konkani Sammelan to date and provide all attendees with outstanding  cultural and entertainment programs, seminars, authentic and sumptuous  Konkani food, social and professional networking opportunities, youth and  children events.

Edison, NJ is at the heart of Indian and Konkani  community in the North East. It is approximately 25 miles south west of New  York City. The area is serviced by three major airports; the nearest airport  being Newark, NJ (airport code EWR). The NJ Convention Center is an ideal  place for holding the Sammelan, as it is NJ's largest private venue with  modern facilities to host big entertainment programs, meetings, vendor  booths, and has a huge dining area. We have negotiated exclusive discounted  rates with Sheraton and Hilton Garden hotels in Edison, which are near the  Convention Center. Details on hotels in the vicinity, room rates, and how to  make hotel reservations will be published on our website.


The theme for our Konkani  Sammelan 2012, very aptly, is: "Connecting Konkanis, Heart to  Heart, Home away from Home". The various Konkani associations in  North America and events like the biennial Konkani Sammelan are indeed  catalysts for us to connect with our fellow Konkanis, culture, traditions,  language and of course to enjoy our food. For our children and the youth  growing up in North America, and also for adults and seniors, the Sammelan  promises to be a great cultural experience and retreat, home away from home.  We are aspiring for and expecting around 2000 Konkanis under one roof for 3  days in this upcoming Sammelan. This in itself should make us all Konkanis  very proud!


In 2012, as July 4th  holiday in the US falls on Wednesday, we decided to hold the Sammelan on the  earlier weekend, as this would give out-of-town attendees chance to take  advantage of the short week ahead for extended vacation with friends and  relatives or touring the incredible North East region. More information on  nearby sight-seeing areas and tourist attractions will be published on our  website.

Gold is one of the biggest things that people from the sub-continent spend their money on. Gold is an important security for many of us. While most of the growth of the Desi business has been in the area of Indian restaurants and grocery stores, Indian Jewelery stores have not lagged far behind. Most of the Desi neighborhoods have one of more jewellery stores. Some of the stores have branches across the country.

These jewellery stores offer various gold and diamond products that may be needed for weddings, religious ceremonies, home decorations etc.


We have just updated our Desi Jewelery listing in Canada and have added close to 200 listings in the states listed below.

• Alberta
  
• British Columbia
  
• Ontario