About: Kanwal

Recent Posts by Kanwal

Yogesh Thakur, one of the founding Members of Friends of India Society NJ, talks to us

The Friends of India Society is run by volunteers, with the mission to preserve and promote the rich Indian cultural heritage through various events in the South Jersey region. It also aims to empower youth to be responsible citizens of the community.

Friends of India Society is actively involved in the community and has donated $83,861 since year 2009 to various charities in USA and India.

Yogesh Thakur, one of the founding members of the society talks to us about the organization, its inception, the work it does and now the upcoming event – which is also their signature event, the “Annual Kite and Color Festival”. So, yes, incase you missed Holi or the Kite festival, or are counting days till next year, you have another chance for a 2 in 1 celebration – just around the corner – to know more, tune – in for this conversation with Yogesh Thakur, today, the 7th of June, on our Show, Saat Samundar Paar, on MeraSangeet Gold, today – at 9:00AM,1:00 PM,5:00 PM and 9:00 PM – EST. You can also catch the interview on MeraSangeet East at 11:00 AM and 6:00 PM – EST

In conversation with Mr. Virendra Bansal, Country Head – US Operations, State Bank of India

Mr. Virendra Bansal is the Country Head of the US Operations of State Bank of India since July 2020, which includes its offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Sao Paulo and Washington DC. Prior to his present assignment, he was Chief Executive Officer, New York Branch since May 2019. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Mechanical) and has certification of AML/ KYC from Indian Institute of Bankers.


Mr.Bansal is a career banker with over 30 years’ experience with State Bank of India in India and outside. Having joined as a directly recruited Probationary Officer in 1990, Mr. Bansal has handled several important and crucial assignments in diverse areas of Credit, International Banking and Retail Banking.

His prior assignments include, Deputy General Manager & Relationship Manager at Corporate Accounts Group of State Bank of India at Mumbai where he managed relationship with some of the large corporates with aggregate credit exposure of USD 8.00 billion approx. His previous roles were Head (Trade) at London branch of State Bank of India and Branch Head of retail branch handling
high net worth customers.

In case you missed it earlier, do listen- in to this conversation, on our Show, Saat Samundar Paar, today as well, on MeraSangeet Gold, 3rd June, at 9:00AM,1:00 PM,5:00 PM and 9:00 PM – EST. You can also catch the interview on MeraSangeet East at 11:00 AM and 6:00 PM – EST

Remembering Krishnakumar Kunnath – one of India’s finest singers

Krishnakumar Kunnath, popularly known as KK, was a popular Indian playback singer. He recorded songs in several languages.

KK began his career by singing for advertisement jingles, and made his film debut with an A.R. Rahman soundtrack. In 1999, he launched his debut album titled Pal. The songs “Pal” and “Yaaron” from the album Pal became very popular and are commonly used in school farewells. He has received six Filmfare Awards nominations, and a Filmfare Awards South.  Courtesy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KK_(singer)

He will always be remembered for his work and for the many popular songs that he rendered.

Rest in peace KK – you will continue to live on, in our hearts, through your music!!

Virtual Press conference held by the Georgia Asian American and Pacific Islander leaders, on the Growing Threat of Gun Violence

The Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) leaders held a virtual press conference raising concerns about the growing threat of gun violence, on Friday, 27th May.

State Senator Dr. Michelle Au, State Representative Sam Park and State Committee Member, Democratic Party of Georgia, Kannan Udayarajan addressed the conference.

Robert Peterson, whose mother, Yong Ae Yue, was murdered in the March 2021 mass shooting targeting Asian American women, was also present. Michael Webb, who said he is a gun owner and a hunter, shared his views during the conference. He is the husband of Xiaojie Tan, who was murdered in the March 2021 mass shooting targeting Asian American women.

Today we bring to you snippets from the press conference, once again, incase you missed it earlier – To listen in, please tune – in to on our Show, Saat Samundar Paar, today, 31st May, on MeraSangeet Gold, at 9:00AM,1:00 PM,5:00 PM and 9:00 PM – EST. You can also listen – in on MeraSangeet East at 11:00 AM and 6:00 PM – EST.

We also look forward to your views, your opinion on this ever growing concern – write in for sure at kanwal@merasangeet.com

Rest in peace – Sidhu Moose Wala – gone too soon

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Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, better known by his stage name Sidhu Moose Wala, was an Indian singer, rapper, songwriter, actor and politician associated with Punjabi music and Punjabi cinema. He started his career as a songwriter for the song “License” by Ninja, and began his singing career on a duet song titled “G Wagon”.

Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu hailed from the village of Moosa in Mansa district of Punjab, India. He pursued his undergraduate course in Electrical Engineering from Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College, Ludhiana in 2016. Thereafter, he moved to Brampton, Ontario, Canada. He released his first song “G Wagon” while living there.

Moose Wala made his debut in Punjabi cinema in the film Yes I Am Student under his own production company Jatt Life Studios. On 3 December 2021, Moose Wala joined Congress for contesting the 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election. Courtesy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidhu_Moose_Wala

Sidhu Moose Wala would have been a year older on 11 June, but that was not be. Rest in peace – Sidhu Moose Wala – gone too soon – May God give all the strength to his family and loved ones…

MAUSIQUI – June 11, Merkin Hall at the Kaufman Music Center, NY

The Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC) supports all the artistic disciplines in classical, fusion, folk and innovative forms influenced by the arts of India.

IAAC aims to help artists and art organizations in North America as well as to facilitate artists from India to exhibit, perform and produce their work here. For information, please visit www.iaac.us.

A few days from now, on 11th of June, the Indo – American Arts council presents, Mausiqui. So, save the dates for sure.

For Tickets, please visit, https://bit.ly/mausiquipremium and
https://bit.ly/mausiqui. The special discount code is Mausiqui15

From our Archives – In conversation with Abhijeet – Bollywood playback singer

Abhijeet Bhattacharya, is a very popular Bollywood playback singer. To his credit are 6034 songs in over 1000 films. He has sung many Hindi songs.

Abhijeet has recorded many non-film pop music Albums, as well. In 2014, he released his album titled AB consist of Seven Songs, penned by Sameer. He also released Bengali pop albums and Tagore song albums. Courtesy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abhijeet_Bhattacharya

This conversation was recorded years back – wherein we talk about his initial days of struggle, his journey, his family and much more.

Today, we take you back in time – to this conversation from our archives – incase you missed it earlier – tune -in today, 20th May, on our Hindi Radio Show, on MeraSangeet Gold at 2:00 PM EST and on MeraSangeet USA at 5:00 PM – EST

Conversations – Noopur Sinha, Divya Kharnare, Mihir Fadnavis – on their respective films – screening at NYIFF 2022

Noopur Sinha is a producer and writer who has worked for over a decade in the two largest film industries, in Los Angeles and India. She has been active as a filmmaker back in India where she recently co-wrote and executive produced her first feature Shoebox.

Divya Kharnare is a young graduate in mass communication who has to his credit a host of documentaries. He received the ‘DOCAVIV Award – Doc Edge Kolkata 2021’ and ‘DOC NYC Storytelling Incubator’ for his work-in- progress film ‘Letters To My Grandma’. ’15 Seconds A Lifetime’ marks his debut for a feature length documentary – produced by Hardik Mehta & Divya Kharnare.

Mihir Fadnavis is a journalist turned filmmaker. He has written a variety of columns for various publications for ten years. Shifting to filmmaking, he was a producer on the Netflix show ‘Ghoul’, directed the genre horror film ‘Chewing Gum’ and has now directed the documentary thriller ‘Lords of Lockdown’.

Do listen- in to this conversation, on our Show, Saat Samundar Paar, today, 14 May, on MeraSangeet Gold, at 9:00AM,1:00 PM,5:00 PM and 9:00 PM – EST. You can also catch the interview on MeraSangeet East at 11:00 AM and 6:00 PM – EST

Conversations – Soumyak Kanti DeBiswas and Bharat Mirle – on their respective films – screening at NYIFF 2022

Kanti’s work as playwright and director has been supported by British Council, National Theatre London, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, National Theatre Scotland, HOME Manchester and Theatre Royal Plymouth. He was awarded Best Director at Thespo Theatre Festival X, Mumbai and performed lead roles in two feature films: Tasher Desh-The Land of Cards (dir: Q/2012/Netflix) and Madly Bangali (dir: Anjan Dutt/2010/Amazon Prime). In 2016, he returned to India to write and produce his first feature film Cat Sticks (MUBI) awarded a Grand Jury prize at Slamdance 2019. The Daughter, about which we talk today, made between 2020/21 is his directorial debut in narrative cinema.

Bharat Mirle is a self-taught, award-winning filmmaker from Bangalore, India. After a brief stint with journalism, he worked as a brand strategist in Bangalore for over 7 years. Since starting his professional film career in 2010 with award winning production house Nirvana Films, he has worked as a director and editor on commercial films, music videos, documentaries and short fiction films. His first feature film – The Road To Kuthriyar, being screened at the New York Indian Film Festival, 2022, was also part of ‘Film Bazaar Recommends’ at the 2020 NFDC Film Bazaar and had its world premiere at the 2021 Busan International Film Festival.

Do listen- in to this conversation, on our Show, Saat Samundar Paar, today, 13 May, on MeraSangeet Gold, at 9:00AM,1:00 PM,5:00 PM and 9:00 PM – EST. You can also catch the interview on MeraSangeet East at 11:00 AM and 6:00 PM – EST.

Conversations – Amey Gosavi, Omkar Achyut Barvé, Akash Sharma – on their respective films – screening at NYIFF 2022

Amey Gosavi,  started his journey as a a VFX Producer/Supervisor. Thereafter, he ventured into becoming a becoming a a feature film producer. In his words, “Now I am completely into producing, with few promising projects with new and renowned directors”. On the show, he talks about Deid, (Marathi).

Omkar Achyut Barve is an independent film writer and director from Pune, India. He started his film career by assisting Umesh Kulkarni on his feature films, Vihir ( The Well) and Deool (Temple). He co-wrote and was the associate director on the Marathi film ‘Killa’ (Fort) which won the crystal Bear at the Berlin international Film festival. Deid (One and half) is his debut film as director.

Akash Sharma (1992, India) is an independent film director and editor based in Kolkata, India. Akash’s first short film, ‘The Mute Call’ (2015), travelled to various national and international festivals including the South African International Film Festival (Rapid Lion), Sanford International Film Festival (US), InShorts Film Festival (UK), Goa Short Film Festival, International Film Festival of South Asia (Canada) and Kolkata Short Film Festival (Best Film). Today, we talk about his film, Waiting for Dawn(Bengali).

Do listen- in to the conversations, on our Show, Saat Samundar Paar, today, 12 May, on MeraSangeet Gold, at 9:00AM,1:00 PM,5:00 PM and 9:00 PM – EST. You can also catch the interview on MeraSangeet USA at 11:00 AM and 6:00 PM – EST. 

Conversations – with Alex Sangha and with Mahesh Danannavar – on their respective films – screening at NYIFF 2022

Alex is the founder of the Sher Vancouver LGBTQ Friends Society which is a social, cultural, and support non-profit organization for LGBTQ South Asians and friends. Sher Films is a division of the Sher Vancouver LGBTQ Friends Society, which again is a member of the Canadian Media Producers Association. He has produced an award-winning short documentary film entitled, My Name Was January. Emergence: Out of the Shadows is his debut feature film. Alex is the recipient of the Meritorious Service Medal from the Governor General of Canada. Do visit https://emergencefilm.net/ and https://alexsangha.com/

Mahesh Danannavar is an Indian film producer. He is well-known for his cinematic works in various regional languages. He is founder of MD Media Corp, a Bangalore based production house, known for producing entertaining films in multiple languages. The “Shu Thayu?!” is the Gujarati movie produced by Mahesh Danannavar, which went on to create box-office history. Shu Thayu?! had the second highest collection in Gujarati cinema till date. Gandhi & Co, is produced by Mahesh Danannavar under the banner of MD Media Corp.

Do listen- in to the conversations, on our Show, Saat Samundar Paar, today, 11 May, on MeraSangeet Gold, at 9:00AM,1:00 PM,5:00 PM and 9:00 PM – EST. You can also catch the interview on MeraSangeet USA at 11:00 AM and 6:00 PM – EST. Alex talks about his film, Emergence: Out of the Shadows. Mahesh talks about his film, Gandhi & Co – both being screened at the New York Indian Film Festival, 2022.

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