Maximum India!

The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, has a gem for the month of March - an awesome showcase called Maximum India. From March 1st to 20th, the Kennedy Center will showcase India's jewelry, crafts, food, dance, music, movies, theatre, and tons more.
I'm super duper excited to be living super close to DC! This weekend, I am going to see a free performance by Kailash Kher, one of my favorite Indian singers.Tomorrow night, there is a performance by Madhavi Mudgal and Alarmel Valli that will features two Indian classical dance forms - Odissi and Bharatanatyam. 

Other stuff that I'm really excited about:

• Food tasting sessions by the area's best Indian chefs
• A literature panel on letters exchanged between Mahatman Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore
• Indian culinary demos by chef Hemant Oberoi 
• Panels about the portrayal of women in Bollywood films with Nandita Das, the Last Mughal, and Bollywood (also with Nandita Das)

Exhibitions:  

Bharti Kher: I've Got Eyes at the Back of My Head (awesome bindi art!)

• Kaleidoscope: Mapping India's Crafts (traditional crafts from the sub-continent)

• Treasures of the Gem Palace (gorgeously crafted jewelry)

• SARI (a display of different types of Indian saris)  

• Craft Demonstrations: J. Niranjan, Satya Narayan Lal Karn, & Moti Karn (Craft demonstrations)

Check out the gorgeous brochure for the showcase here. ENJOY!

(Note: all images are from the official Kennedy Center website)

Spring Craft Fair

We had a Spring Craft Fair at my university today. I took a couple of photos but didn't get a lot since the it was disgustingly hot and humid outside, and I was super busy with multiple meetings for multiple clubs!!
Here are the few photos that I took --

These lovely necklaces, baskets, and bracelets were all made by men and women from Uganda who are HIV positive, and all of the profits go towards clothing, feeding, and educating their children, some of whom are also HIV positive.

I bought this cute yellow beads necklace. 

The men and women who created this jewelery and other crafts are sponsored by the Maa-Ma and Paa-pa group, which provides HIV+ men and women with a method to become economically stable by selling handmade items like jewelry, bags, baskets, leather good, and more. The website says:

  

Through the creation of beautiful Ugandan inspired handicrafts, the MaaMa- PaaPa psychosocial group provides its members with a chance at a life of economic stability and opportunity.  

MaaMa-PaaPa Handicrafts not only teaches participants to make arts and crafts and manage a business, but to create for themselves hope in a life where there is little left.  

For these HIV+ mothers and fathers, MaaMa-PaaPa Handicrafts is a last chance at making a life for  themselves and their families before the disease takes control. 

Be sure to check out the Maa-ma and Paa-pa website for more information and how you can help!