Sports and Recreation, and Education. Amongst the newly inducted board members is Brandon Shamim, serving as the only South Asian member of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Foundation board. Shamim brings his multi-faceted career spanning over 25 years in business, government and higher education including formerly serving as an advisory board member of South Asian Network, South Asian Business Network and The Indus Entrepreneur. Active in the community, he is the recipient of the Innovative Entrepreneur Award from the South Asian Business Network and the “We the People” Award from the International Channel.
Brandon is a proven collaborator who has led efforts in social innovation and entrepreneurship, organizational leadership and development, branding and marketing and issue advocacy for national, state and local corporations, government agencies, hospitals, nonprofits and colleges and universities. Active in civic affairs and community service, he has served on the board of advisors/directors for LA Chamber of Commerce, Habit for Humanity, KCET-TV, Pasadena Child Health Foundation, Asian American Dispute Resolution Center, is a graduate of Pasadena Citizen’s Police Academy, as well as founder of NEXUS Forums, a civic education organization. His efforts have earned him over 18 commendations from congressional, state and local elected officials as well as recognition as a “Forward Thinker” from CA Forward. 
As a graduate of both USC and the University of La Verne, Brandon is currently a lecturer in the Graduate School of Psychology and Education at Pepperdine University and for the nationally recognized Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program. 
As an East Coast transplant who was inspired by the Rose Parade® and Rose Bowl Game®, Brandon and his family have lived in Southern California for over 30 years.

She strives to shock: she has hung naked next to slaughtered animals, created headlines with attacks at fashion shows using leather and fur, burned cars to stop GM from working with animals and shut down labs testing on animals. When she is gone, her will, among things, directs that one of her eyes be mounted and delivered to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a reminder that PETA will be watching until the agency ends useless tests on animals. She has asked her liver be publicly displayed in France to protest the force-feeding of geese and ducks for foie gras. 
It all began innocuously enough in 1980 when a burning desire for justice and a fellow activist Alex Pacheco led to her founding PETA. They shot to fame when their work led to the first ever police raid ever in the US on an animal research lab which ballooned effectively into an amendment in the Animal Welfare Act. Years later, she now presides over a more than a $50 million budget with interests around the world. 
Newkirk has a strong India connect. Born in Britain, she moved with her family to Delhi when she was seven. Her mother volunteered for Mother Teresa and little Ingrid helped. At 18, with her family, she moved to FL where she met, married and later divorced her husband Steve Newkirk. 
India has remained in her radar. In recent years she has met with those in the sugarcane industry to urge them from using exhausted bullocks to using efficient tractors; trying to ban elephant rides; urging Delhi police to seize spiked bits used to control horses in weddings; working to see the Madras High Court confirmed a ban on tail-docking and ear-cropping mutilations of dogs. 
At 70, for all her shock and awe activities, Newkirk is not universally liked. To meet her is to know the other side – slightly built, perfectly spoken and at 70, bright, active and charming.  
Q: Have things changed a bit? Instead of provocation do you think the switch over to vegetarianism can be made by appealing also to one’s health or speak of environmentalism to stop animal cruelty?
A: We still need to get people’s attention and that’s where being provocative comes in, so using humor, shock, showing what really goes on, that’s all still important.  Groups like the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a doctor’s group, has done a first-rate job of waking people up to the health benefits of a vegan diet, and we have a campaign called “You can’t be a meat and dairy eating environmentalist!”  Chennai’s devastating water shortage exemplifies that. It takes just 322 litres of water to produce 1 kilogram of vegetables – but it takes 1,020 litres of water to produce 1 litre of cows’ milk, and 15,415 litres of water to produce 1 kilogram of meat. For World Water Day, a PETA supporter took a bath in public to remind passersby that to produce 1 kg of meat can require the same amount of water as 75 baths.
Q: Do you agree veganism is rising in popularity in Europe and somewhat in the US?
A: Oh, there's no doubt whatsoever. The Economist said 2019 is the “Year of the Vegan” and you see it with vegan labels on foods in the shops everywhere, and with recipes and articles and cookbooks on line and in stores.  According to the article, interest in veganism has skyrocketed with “fully a quarter of 25- to 34-year-old Americans declaring to be vegans or vegetarians.”
Vegan clothing as well as vegan eating, of course.  The United Nations has said that meat and dairy production is killing the planet; medical studies show that vegans live far longer and healthier lives and are not as prone to heart disease, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, and various cancers as meat and dairy eaters, and people have taken that advice seriously.  Of course anyone who cares about animals, now sees that they cannot continue to subsidize slaughter through their food choices. When the UKs largest bakery chain, Greggs, recently introduced a vegan "sausage" roll after more than 20,000 people signed PETA’s petition asking for it, sales topped £1 billion for the first time ever and the chain experienced a 9.6 percent rise in like-for-like sales in the seven weeks after the launch. There has been more than half-a-dozen all-vegan festivals in India in the past year or so, including one in Mumbai with 200 vendors.
Q: When a Shahid Kapoor or Jacqueline Fernandez pose for PETA ads, what do you expect to happen?
A: They call it star power for a reason. When a celebrity shows their heart for animals, it makes all their fans, and everyone who watches what stars do, pay attention to the important message.  Both of these stars drew zillions of eyes to the page. They often think, "Maybe I should get involved, too." Sports stars, too: Cricketer and PETA pal Virat Kohli, who captains India's national team, says going vegan has helped his game, so many young athletes will surely follow his example.
Q: Who are the celebrities, in your opinion, who are the worst when it comes to wearing fur?
A: I would have said Kim Kardashian but PETA Honorary Director, Pamela Anderson, wrote on our behalf to Kim and begged her not to wear fur, and she has now replaced all her furs with faux fur replicas and sworn off it forever.  Almost no celebrity wears the stuff anymore.
Q: India is among the world’s largest exporters of beef. Have you talked to the government about this?
A: Shamefully, India is also the largest producer of milk in the world. It is therefore no coincidence that it is also among the largest beef exporters. Where do people think all the cows/buffaloes the beef industry kills come from? The dairy industry is the primary supplier of animals for the beef industry to kill. If we want to stop beef, we must switch to soya, almond and other milks that are ahimsic, animal-friendly, good for the environment and definitely for our health.
PETA India has written to the government, and we ask that, at a minimum, animal transport and slaughter laws be enforced, because animals are dying on the way to market and slaughter by having their noses tied together and suffocating each other when they fall on a turn in the road due to overcrowding.  We have also appealed on the Supreme Court level, but enforcement remains an issue because so many people buy milk and leather and do not take responsibility for their personal habits when it’s so easy to just stop doing that and reduce suffering.
Q: Japan has begun whaling again…..
A: Yes, to the world’s disgust.  However, that is small potatoes compared to the slaughter of equally sentient beings for the table, for research, in India and the rest of the world.
Q: Which country has been most intractable in resisting animal rights?
A: Every country contains people who care and those who don’t, and regrettably most governments are money-driven, not ethics-driven, e.g. Zimbabwe allowing trophy hunting by paying tourists. That said, many countries are banning wild animal circuses, prohibiting the use of primates in experiments, and banning cosmetics tests on animals, banning fur farms, requiring government agencies to serve vegan meals at functions, and so on.
Q: Tesla has vegan leather seats – what was PETA’s role in this?
A: PETA has been talking personally to Elon Musk, attending shareholder meetings at Tesla, and showing the company the wide choice of vegan leathers. 
Q: When you announced your will did you meet with resistance from your staff? Friends? Do they expect outrageousness from you or do they try to talk you out of it?
A: This idea came to me after a near fatal airplane incident.  I asked my mother if she would object if I turned my body into kebabs, a skin purse, and so on after I no longer need it, and she did not. PETA staff thought it was a great idea that I can live on via activism for animals. To me, it would be more outrageous to fail to think of ways I can continue to make point that flesh is flesh, and that mine is voluntarily given, theirs is stolen from them. 
Q: In your activism - have you ever been scared, feared the outcome, the law?
A: My knees have knocked when I had to seize the microphone at a fur show for the first time to ask people to consider how those skins belonged to someone else, their original owners.  I’ve been arrested as many people throughout history have been in the quest for social justice, but I go willingly because the victims of persecution are locked in prison cells in laboratories and on factory farms for committing no crime and someone has to draw attention to their plight, and the remedy.
Q: You have seen so much horror; have you had moments when you felt desensitized when you saw a bird hurt or animal killed?
A: It only hurts more as time goes on and I see more suffering.  I cry often and I never stop aching for the animals who are so sorely and wrongfully treated, although I discipline myself not to wallow in such feelings but to get out and do something to stop their pain.
Q: Do you worry that PETA won’t be effective after you?
A: At PETA, we are lucky to have a bevy of bright sparks with enormous talents and huge commitment.  I was in that plane incident where we all thought we were going to die, all I could think of was how lucky it is that I’ve found these wonderful, hardworking people who will carry on the good work.
Q: What is your best achievement/s?
A: Motivating the largest youth movement in the world to act on their innate kindness and do things to change the world for the animals, like go vegan, not dissect, influence their parents, and more.  However, stopping all the car crash experiments in the world and getting car companies to switch to computerized crash mannequines is a big one! I also love that within the first year of our campaign against India's gruesome, and secret, leather trade, an international boycott, protests around the world and letters from Sir Paul McCartney, Arun Gandhi, Jackie Chan, and other celebrities got loads of public attention, and forced officials and corporations to take notice. Adidas, Gucci, Gap, Liz Claiborne, Kenneth Cole and about 40 other leather retailers around the world decided to boycott leather from cruelly treated Indian animals. Top fashion designers, including Anita Dongre, Stella McCartney, Hemant Trevedi, and Marc Bouwer, , also refuse to work with leather.
Q: What is the good and bad you remember of your days growing up in India?
A: Growing up in India was very happy with the sounds of the crows, the sight of the hoopoes, the huge numbers of industrious people on the street and in the marketplaces where I often cycled and had my bike fixed and hung out, and, most of all, being taught a lesson in living by a disciple of Rabindranath Tagore, who asked that we not place so much value on material things but respect nature, be compassionate, help others, respect and protect animals.  Convent boarding school in Shimla and Kodaikanal was very harsh and disciplinarian and non-vegetarian, except for “pepper water” from tamarin roots, which I loved.  My childhood volunteer experiences in Delhi—packing pills and rolling bandages for people who were suffering from leprosy, stuffing toys for orphans, and feeding street animals—are what led me to believe that any living being in need is worthy of concern. My mother who worked for unwed mothers cast out of their homes in India as well as for other charities always said "it's not who suffers, it's that they suffer."  I've carried her words with me my whole life. I was eight when actually stopped a man from beating a bull who had collapsed with exhaustion from pulling a heavy cart in the sun.
Q: What are your favorite vegan dishes? Anything Indian?
A: India has the very best selection of vegan foods in the whole world, from different kinds of dals and curries and chutneys and breads to exotic (to Westerners) vegetables, samosas, exquisite fruits from mangoes, papayas, super-easily peel-able oranges, lychees and custard apples -my favorites, and now soya milk dishes, too.  Late at night, I crave the hot pakoras from the Souk's deep fryer inside the Taj Hotel, Mumbai. Oh, and I love sweet paan!
Q: Which is your favorite animal? Why?
A: I respect them all, but I feel particularly deeply about chickens because I have looked after an abandoned flock and know that each has a distinct personality, with emotions, likes, dislikes, and fears so to see them chopped up for a fleeting taste is upsetting.  I also feel for the little mammals so few people understand or care about: the rats people call pests when they are just trying to scrape out a simple existence and look after their children. India of course has more crows than humans and they are truly extraordinary. A mother crow comes to visit my office every morning. She has one foot—two legs but only one foot. I know she’s a “she” because she had a very noisy baby. I hear her, or the noisy baby, and I call out to her. She lands on my windowsill, and I put out her breakfast. She loves blueberries but hates falafel. I know that because she once spat it out onto a man walking by beneath the window.
 Q: Most modern-day presidents have had a pet in the White House but not the incumbent. Does that make him better in PETA’s view?  
A: Not at all. PETA urges anyone with the time, patience, and funds (vet care can be expensive), to adopt a homeless animal and share their lives with them, in fact to adopt two so the two can keep each other company.  We oppose breeding more dogs and cats while any go wanting for love and protection.

Khosla composed the hit song, “We Can Always Come Back To This,” which ranked #12 on iTunes Top 100 songs and #1 in the Billboard Blues Charts for four consecutive weeks, according to IMDb. The song earned Khosla an award nomination from the Guild of Music Supervisors for Best Song/Recording for Television. Following the show’s season two finale, the “This is Us (Music from the Series) Season 2” soundtrack was released and included the song “I Got You Babe” by Khosla’s band, Goldspot.
Khosla also scored award-winning independent film thriller/mystery drama “The Sounding,” from director Catherine Eaton. The film won 17 awards including four Festival Grand Prizes, Best Actor prizes, Best Cinematography Awards, multiple Best Narrative Awards, from festivals like Woodstock, Bend, Istanbul, Napa, Cinequest.
Khosla is currently scoring ABC’s new Tim Doyle comedy series, “The Kids Are Alright,” starring Michael Cudlitz and Mary McCormack. He also scores Hulu’s original series, “Marvel’s Runaways,” and E!’s first scripted drama series, “The Royals,” starring Elizabeth Hurley. Additionally, he composed original songs for the musical film “Basmati Blues,” starring Academy Award-winner Brie Larson and Golden Globe Award-winner Donald Sutherland. Khosla recently scored CBS’ comedy series “Me, Myself and I,” starring John Larroquette and feature film comedy “Fat Camp,” starring Chris Redd and Vivica A. Fox.
Khosla began scoring for television and film while fronting his acclaimed band, Goldspot, which was first discovered on KCRW’s “Morning Becomes Eclectic.” NPR described Goldspot as “An inventive sound and independent vision.” The Sunday Times U.K. called it “the best band to come out of America in years.” In 2013, the band’s album “Aerogramme” captured #1 Album of the Year on the Los Angeles Times’ pop music best albums list. Goldspot released three studio albums, including one with Mercury U.K./Universal Records, with hit singles reaching #10 in the U.K. radio charts, and #11 in the Alternative Charts. Goldspot’s original songs have been featured on numerous TV shows, including “This Is Us,” How I Met Your Mother,” “The O.C.” and “The Neighbors,” as well as in major advertising campaigns for Google, Target and Apple.
Khosla’s Indian-born parents came to the U.S. in the mid-seventies to make the American dream their own, according to IMDb. With only eight dollars upon arrival, they were forced to take night jobs while they completed graduate school during the day. They had no choice but to send their toddler son back to India, where Khosla was raised by his grandparents. During this time, when international phone calls were prohibitively expensive, music became central to Khosla’s life as he listened to his mother sing to him on cassette tapes she mailed from America. Khosla’s song “Evergreen Cassette” is about this very experience, and was featured in the first season of “This is Us.” In November 2013, Khosla was invited as the musical guest for First Lady Michelle Obama’s Diwali celebration at the White House, where he delivered an emotional performance of several of his original songs. Khosla has a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, where he composed and sang for the university’s award-winning a cappella group, “Off the Beat.” He now resides in Los Angeles with his wife and children.

If you’re a match, the procedure is safe with no lasting effects. Contact:  A3M at www.a3mhope.org

talent, and voice to help them raise funds, and reach the common man at the earliest in their journey to recovery.
“Cancer is a lethal disease, and it has changed how I look at life. If help is available at the right stage, cancer can be fought with. Teen Cancer America is doing great work and their goals are well thought through and achievable. My intention behind collaborating with them and CPAA is to help in fundraising through shows which will expedite the process of providing the right treatment at the right time”, Chandra said.
Chandra has also been associated with the Cancer Patients Aid Association for over twelve years now, doing her bit to contribute to their growth. With this collaboration, she strengthens her voice and purpose towards combatting Cancer. Her first event was a ‘Rock N Polo’ event on  June 15, A polo match, where different Hollywood popular names were present. 

domestic abuse survivor who has gone on to becoming a best-selling author who is involved in helping others to emerge out of abuse.
`Unreported’ is the book that Mahajan has authored to serve as a ‘go to book’ for those in a situation where they are victims of abuse, caught in a web of deceit, lies and fear. “This book is my story of transitioning from a victim to a survivor and winner. I want to share this with others so they know that there is life and light at the end of the tunnel.”  The title of the book highlights the fact that the majority of domestic abuse situations go unreported.
In a  exclusive interview with India Journal spoke with Mahajan to gain insight on the book.
When asked how  the idea of writing a book on the subject came about, Mahajan said,``  If I were to use the analogy of life being made up of chapters in a book, my unhappy chapters started when my ex-husband cheated on me.  My trust in him was broken and that created a wedge in the relationship.  As a couple we were very successful in running a profitable business, we travelled, had a beautiful home and two young sons. But, the wedge in the relationship lead to abuse and got consistently worse. I accepted it for a long time because nobody told me that I deserved better.   As women, we are thought to be kind, loving and giving to all others except ourselves.  The calendar in my head said to wait till my sons were 18 to avoid a custody battle. I knew that if I walked out of the marriage before that I would never see my children. ‘’
Mahajan went on to explain that women are taught to make it work no matter what and that is what she tried to do.  Abuse was not new to her. She grew up seeing her mother being abused by her father.  Hence, she stayed married for 23 years and when she did get a divorce, she moved to Malibu, CA as one of her sons decided to get away from the toxic home environment in Michigan and attend school in Los Angeles.  This is when Mahajan truly began the chapter of focusing on herself; that became the beginning of her happy chapter and the book, `Unreported’ began to take shape. Many abuse victims if married think that divorce from the abuser is the final chapter. “All my life I was under someone’s control.  I told myself that I am not going to end my life with my divorce. I am going to live my happy chapter and started interviewing many people who have experienced abuse and are now living a better life.  You are not free until you are really happy.  Once you start on a positive thing, the universe gives you the energy to make things happen.  However, many abuse victims go back to becoming victims all over again as they do not know anything else.I was determined to not let that happen to me.  My book is not about man-bashing as the source of abuse could be your father, your lover, your child…just anybody.  My book shows by example, by lessons learnt, advice and choices made.”
As Mahajan shared her intent of writing a book on domestic abuse, she was warned that the abuser could come back to hurt you, sue you.  She thought long and hard for a year and then went ahead with the book.  Additionally she went on to get a Master’s degree in Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine University and is also trained in spiritual psychology.  She now practices as a family and small business issue resolution expert and is always looking to help anyone who is in an abusive situation.
When asked whether it was a wise decision to stay on in her abusive relation until her sons turned 18, Mahajan responded saying that each abuse situation is different and thought processes are unique.  “When I wanted to go ahead with a divorce, my abuser threatened to take away my children and so I stayed on.  In fact I gave permission to the abuser to continue with the abuse. At that time in my life I felt that is what I needed to do.”
So, what is life like for Mahajan in her ‘happy chapter’? She is a fitness fanatic and her mornings start with a run on the beach, resulting in her running marathons.  Additionally, she has long been a realtor to support herself.  She teaches dispute and conflict resolution on a part time basis.  Her books sales have been brisk on line and now she is working on making a movie based on the book!   Mahajan’s goal in life now is to live and promote the happy chapters of life for herself and for those who need it. If you are a victim of domestic abuse and need help, please reach out to Veera Mahajan at VeeraMahajan.com. `Unreported’ is available on Amazon.com

and latter half of her career. As per the Museum, this is the first comprehensive display of the artist's work in the US.
Born in Mumbai in 1949 to artist parents, Mukherjee studied painting, printmaking, and mural making from influential artist K.G. Subramanyan at the M.S. University in Baroda.
"Nature was her primary inspiration, and this was further informed by her enthusiasm for Indian historic sculpture, modern design, and local crafts and textile traditions. The exhibition will seek to highlight the radical intervention Mukherjee made by adapting crafting techniques with a modernist formalism," the Met said.
It added: "The artist's fibre forms are physical and organic. She used natural as well as hand-dyed ropes sourced from a local market in New Delhi, where she lived and worked."
The vast retrospective will also present the latter half of Mukherjee's career in the mid-1990s, when prompted by an art residency, she began working with ceramics, eventually taking on bronze in 2003.
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has ever been honored or been part of the visionaries program.
‘Halwa’ tells the story of an older closeted Indian immigrant woman who rekindles a treasured relationship with a childhood companion through Facebook messages, until her abusive husband takes notice.
In celebration of Asian Pacific American heritage month, the film is now available on HBO and all of it’s streaming platforms. “South Asian culture in the media too often takes the form of stereotypes played for laughs, with older Indian characters always arranging someone’s marriage. With our film, we hope to draw our audience into the quiet psychology of these characters, and share what makes them human. As a culture it was also important for us to break taboo about the quiet lives of immigrant LGBTQ people, and bring their narratives to the forefront, and that in its truest essence is celebrating what makes us Asian American”. ​