| | | Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s much-anticipated address to the gathering of diaspora leaders from across the country at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington DC began with international singer Mary Millben rendering India’s National Anthem. The invitation-only event with the Indian diaspora will focus on their role in “India’s growth story”. | THE DAILY QUIZ He went by Jazzy, still goes by Shawn Carter, is king to Queen Bey, father to Blue, and founder of Roc-A-Fella Records. He remixed Panjabi MC’s 2002 hit Mundian To Bach Ke and performed it at the Louis Vuitton menswear fashion show in Paris last week. Who? a. DJ Jazzy Jeff
b. MC Hammer
c. Jay-Z
d. Ray Charles TAKE THE FULL QUIZ | | THE BIG STORY Conviction, not convenience, driving ties: Modi to diaspora Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrapped up his four-day visit to the US on Friday (local time) by addressing, what he called, a “mini-India” at a community event, where he hailed the contribution of the Indian-American diaspora, thanked President Joe Biden for his work in elevating India-US relations, outlined the new chapter in ties that had begun with his visit, and owned the progress in the bilateral relationship. “In this hall, you have, in a way, made a full map of India. You have come here from different parts of India. And it seems like a mini-India is here,” Modi said at the Reagan Centre in Washington DC Friday evening eastern time. He said the love he got in the US was astonishing, crediting it to the diaspora’s work, behaviour, and contribution to America’s development. Read more. | | | | | | A LITTLE LIGHT READING Routes and leaves: See how a series of guidebooks is reimagining offbeat travel Ojai is a 90-minute drive out of Los Angeles, California. But it’s far from the busy big-city energy of La La Land. Time slows down in Ojai. Tucked in the troughs of the Topatopa Mountains, the city has Spanish casita-style houses and vintage American cars. A blush-pink filter appears magically at sunset. The town is home to a bohemian commune of artisans, farmers and makers. It rarely appears on Instagram. Its mystical energy is, however, captured in an 80-page travelogue produced by the London-based Wallpaper* Magazine in collaboration with the fast-fashion label Zara. It is part of a travel series titled, Where To Now. Ojai is among five rather oddball destinations that include Bruton (United Kingdom), Galicia (Spain), Naoshima (Japan) and Namibia. Read more. | | THE WEEKEND FIX Lords, then and forever: 40 years of India’s 1983 cricket World Cup win “Can you ever forget your first love?” Forty years, and Syed Kirmani’s rhetorical question only enhances the belief that the 1983 World Cup was much bigger than a sporting conquest; it was an agent of reinvention. Indian hockey was losing its charm. And football had never gained enough traction in the country to make a worldwide mark. That left one-day cricket as the only patch where India could have broken new ground. Also imperative is understanding that it came at a time when the urban middle-class was finally warming up to technology. Colour television had just begun making a foray into our homes, and Rakesh Sharma was still 10 months away from making his space sojourn. In that exciting backdrop, Kapil Dev’s toothy grin while lifting the Prudential Cup gave a sense of purpose and achievement to a still-young nation on the move. Read more. | | THE WAY WE WERE BY POONAM SAXENA The timeless lure of cinematic disaster Recently, I saw one of the best films I’ve watched this year, 2018, a Malayalam film about the devastating floods that hit Kerala in 2018. But it’s so much more than that. Apart from being a tense thriller, it is a moving saga of courage and sacrifice, tragedy and hope, and the human will to survive. There’s a fine ensemble cast, led by charismatic leading man Tovino Thomas. Watching 2018 made me go back to Bollywood’s first disaster film, The Burning Train (1980), produced by BR Films, the grand old banner that once made path-breaking movies such as Naya Daur (1957) and Kanoon (1960). The story goes that BR Chopra’s son Ravi Chopra saw The Towering Inferno (1974) while on a trip abroad and was very taken up with the story of a fire that engulfs the world’s tallest skyscraper on its opening night. The Towering Inferno had a vast cast -- Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire and many more prominent names. The film was a big hit and Ravi Chopra probably thought he could replicate its success. Read more. | | HT This Day: June 25, 1953 Dr Moukerjee’s body cremated THE body of Dr S. P. Mookerjee, who died in Srinagar yesterday, was cremated this afternoon at the Keortala burning ghat in Kalighat, near the site where the last rites of Deshbandhu C. R. Das and Deshpriya J. M. Sen-Gupta were performed. Read more. | | Were you forwarded this email? Did you stumble upon it online? Sign up here. | | Written and edited by Shahana Yasmin. Produced by Md Shad Hasnain. | | | | | | | Get the Hindustan Times app and read premium stories | | | | | | View in Browser | Privacy Policy | Contact us You received this email because you signed up for HT Newsletters or because it is included in your subscription. Copyright © HT Digital Streams. All Rights Reserved | | | | |  | |
