The Green State Dinner

On November 24th, 2009, President Barack Obama hosted the first state dinner, since his inauguration, in honor of Dr. Manmohan Singh, the honorable Prime Minister of India and his wife Mrs. Gursharan Kaur. State dinners honoring foreign head of states are huge events and are attended by members of the top echelon of the society. The official White House fact sheet says:

The first State Dinner for a foreign head of state was held by President and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant on December 12, 1874 for King David Kalakaua of Hawaii.

Since that first dinner, many traditions have been added to State and Official Visits – yet the common theme of forging friendships, exchanging knowledge and building bridges that last for years to come remain unchanged.

As the world’s two largest democracies, India and the United States share common ideals and strengths, and the United States and India are working together to address a number of global challenges of the 21st Century—from security to the economy to climate change to the health and education of our people.

Previous State Dinners at the White House in honor of India include those hosted by the following Presidents and First Ladies:

• President George W. Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush in 2005

• President William J. Clinton and Mrs. Hillary Clinton in 2000

• President Ronald Reagan and Mrs. Nancy Reagan in 1985 and 1982

• President Lyndon B. Johnson and Mrs. Lady Bird Johnson in 1966

• President John F. Kennedy and Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy in 1963

The state dinner for Dr. Singh was held held under a tent on the South Lawn of the White House. The décor reflected the Obamas’ dedication to green and sustainable elements and featured a garden theme. Tables will be covered in apple green linens. Deep purple flower arrangements at each table pay homage to the state bird of India, the Indian Peacock. The centerpiece bouquets were composed of flowers that are evocative of the classic American garden: hydrangea, garden roses, and sweet peas in a rich palette of deep plum, purple and fuchsia. Arrangements of magnolia branches will surround the walls of the tent. Magnolias are native to both India and the United States. The magnolia, ivy, and nandina foliage used for the occasion were locally grown and sustainably harvested.

The tables were set with the following china from the White House’s historic collection.

Service Plates - Eisenhower : Porcelain, 1955, New Castle, Pennsylvania, Castleton China, Inc. U.S. Government purchase, 1955.

Service Plates - Clinton State China Service : China, 2000, Trenton, New Jersey, Lenox, Inc. Gift of the White House Historical Association, 2000. Commissioned to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the White House.

Dinner Plates - George W. Bush State China Service : China, 2008-2009, Kinston, North Carolina, Lenox, Inc. Gift of the White House Acquisition Trust, 2009.

The dinner was prepared by the award winning guest chef, Marcus Samuelsson. Mrs. Obama worked with Guest Chef Marcus Samuelsson and White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford and her team to create a menu that reflects the best of American cuisine, continues this White House’s commitment to serving fresh, sustainable and regional food, and honors the culinary excellence and flavors that are present in Indian cuisine. Herbs and lettuces were harvested from the White House Kitchen Garden.

White House Executive Pastry Chef William Yosses and his team created the desserts. The pears were poached in honey from the White House Beehive. Desserts were garnished with mint and lemon verbena grown in the White House Kitchen Garden. I have attached the dinner menu at the bottom of this article.

The dinner entertainment included two Academy Award winning musicians, Jennifer Hudson and our own A.R. Rehman. The other performers included eight time Grammy nominee Kurt Elling, the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marvin Hamlisch and the United States Marine Band.

The star studded guest list included celebrities like Steven Spielberg, Blair Underwood, M. Knight Shyamalan, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Kal Penn, Bobby Jindal and many others.

Countdown to NABC 2010

The count down to NABC 2010 has started. In little more than seven months from now, Bengalis from all over USA and abroad will converge upon Atlantic City in New Jersey. Kallol of New Jersey, the host organization of NABC 2010, is working at a hectic pace to make it a great event. Most of the performers have been lined up, registrations pouring in and the committee members are busy working on the final details like scheduling and fund raising. On January 8th, 2010, a kickoff meeting/press-conference will be held in Kolkata in the presence of most of the artists and performers.

Lets take a look at some of the foreign performers who will grace the Atlantic City convention center stage. I’ll not be able to cover all of them in this article and plan to continue in future posts. At the 2010 NABC Kallol will be presenting some performers who are relatively unknown to the Bengali crowd in USA. One such group is Sapphire Creations Dance Workshop who will be performing at the opening ceremony. Sapphire Creations is a premier experimental dance company based in Kolkata and the only one of its kind in Eastern India performing regularly and popularly in festivals and arts events in India and abroad. Their objective is to integrate in its dance an awareness of tradition, a dimension of experimentation, an urge to entertain and a purpose to provoke consciousness to inspire us to reach brighter horizons

NABC 2010: Sahaj-Ma and Utpal Faqir

Few months ago, I wrote my wish list about the kind of performers I’d like to see at the 2010 NABC in Atlantic City, and the one artist I mentioned specifically was Sahaj-Ma. When NABC 2010 committee announced the name of their foreign performers, I was delighted to see Sahaj-Ma and Utpal-Faqir’s name on the list. I am not sure whether the committee members actually read my post and felt inspired to invite the duo, or whether it was a sheer co-incidence - I am glad and thankful to the decision makers for giving us a chance to watch these amazing performers on stage.
I heard Sahaj-Ma first on ETV-Bangla on a show called “Baranday Roddur” conducted by the famous Bangla Band Bhoomi. It was kind of a mix of a musical and talk show, and Sahaj-Ma mostly talked about her musical journey. She mentioned about her early training in classical music from her mother and then from Pundit M.R. Gautam and Srimati Sunanda Pattanaik. And when she performed, it was mesmerizing. She has a unique style and tonal quality that is very rare in a female Bengali singer. The next time I listened to her music was in another ETV-Bangla show, “Dada Didir Ganer Lorai”. In this show, whenever she went up to perform, it was almost magical. Although she mostly performs Baul and folk songs, but in this show she proved that she has mastery over all forms of Indian music. Continue reading NABC 2010: Sahaj-Ma and Utpal Faqir…

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Few months ago, a friend of mine forwarded me an e-book (a pdf file) titled “Indian Foods: AAPI’s Guide to Health, Nutrition, and Diabetes”. This book, written by a team of experts appointed by the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) provides an invaluable guide to the Indians living in America to make some sense of their diet in terms of healthiness. The best part of this book is that it contains chapters pertaining to the regional foods of India. For example, in its chapter on Bengali and Oriya cuisine, the author provides a table (no pun intended) showing a typical Bengali diet and how it can be modified to make it healthier.
I’d like to welcome you all to download this book by clicking on this link. AAPI is distributing this book for free. I thank AAPI for providing this valuable resource.

indian food

All around us we find tons of books, websites, and other information about food and nutrition. What we should eat and what not, what foods to avoid for diabetes, what foods to eat to lower cholesterol and what foods to avoid for weight loss. Zillions of nutritionists , dietitians, physicians, nurses, body builders and quacks have made millions writing such books. Most of these books, however, cater to the western food habits. Their meal suggestions, recipes and nutritional information cover only the kind of diet that we Indians hardly eat in our daily lives. Some diet books lightly touch upon some of the Indian foods but they are severely limited to the typical north Indian recipes like tandoori chicken or chicken tikka masala. But if you are a Bengali, then CTM (as they call chicken tikka masala in UK) appears rarely on our diet. We would be interested in knowing whether chhaanar dalna is a healthier meal than shorshe ilish.