Tag Archives: Indian American

INTERNATIONAL: ARTS & CULTURE / INDIAN AMERICAN : Maya Neelakantan: I’m representing all of India on America’s Got Talent stage

Guitarist Maya Neelakantan, who has gone viral for her America’s Got Talent audition, opens up about her dreams, representing India and friendship with legends.

For Maya Neelakantan, who is being dubbed the ‘rock goddess’ after her America’s Got Talent (season 19) audition clip went viral, fame is incidental. “I had never expected all this,” she gushes.

The young guitarist, who hails from Chennai (Tamil Nadu), feels the fusion of Indian classical music with rock and metal is “exciting and hasn’t been explored much”. “These genres are so underrated together! I want to create my own music, which is more like the AGT performance,” she shares.

The 11-year-old went on the reality show stage dressed in an embellished lehenga-kurta set, complete with traditional jewellery, and played Papa Roach’s Last Resort infused with notes of classical Carnatic music, creating an audio-visual juxtaposition. “I was representing all of India and wanted to make a place for traditional music, too. My amma helped me organise the outfit, with the earrings and everything,” says the school student.

Neelakantan, who fell in love with Carnatic music at the age of two, learns it online with Prasanna Ramaswamy (Guitar Prasanna).

Speaking about business tycoon Anand Mahindra sharing her video, she said, “I did not expect that at all. It was very nice of him to do this… I have received love and support from guitar lengends, many of whom are close friends. But for him to discover me in this way was very unexpected, and got me love from the entire country!”

Support Matters

Counting her blessings, Neelakantan says that she’s grateful for all the support she gets from her parents (Indian dad and Australian mum) and others: “I’ve received so much support from legends like Gary Holt (American guitarist), who flew all the way from Sacramento to Los Angeles to watch my AGT audition.” She enjoys good following on the internet with 15.8K followers on YouTube and 49.2K on Instagram.

source/content: hindustantimes.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL : SPORTS / US : Telugu girl Immadi Sanvi secures place in US cricket team

The 15-year-old made her cricket debut in 2020 for San Ramon Youth Cricket Association California.

 Immadi Sanvi, a Telugu native hailing from Hyderabad, got a place in the US women’s national cricket team. Sanvi will represent the American team in the World Cup Qualifiers to be held in the UAE.

This right-arm leg-spin all-rounder took 10 wickets in the recently held San Diego T20 tournament and nine wickets in the US national selections and earned a place in the national team.

The 15-year-old made her cricket debut in 2020 for San Ramon Youth Cricket Association Californai .

Sanvi’s family, hails from Sitafalmandi in Secunderabad.

source/content: telanganatoday.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: SPACE: First Indian Woman at NASA on Mars Rover Mission Dr Akshata Krishnamurthy shares her Inspiring Journey

Dr Akshata Krishnamurthy came to the United States 13 years ago with a dream to work at NASA.

A lot of children in India harbour a dream of working for the American space agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), some day. A woman from India had the same dream and she fulfilled it by becoming the first Indian citizen to operate a rover on Mars, a mission that involves collecting samples to bring back to Earth.

Indian researcher Dr Akshata Krishnamurthy took to Instagram to share her inspiring journey to NASA. She said she came to the United States 13 years ago with a dream to work at NASA and lead breakthrough science and robotic operations on Earth and Mars.

Many people dissuaded her and told her it was impossible as a foreign national on a visa and she should have a plan B or change her field completely, she wrote. But she didn’t listen to anyone and persevered until she found a way.

She did her PhD at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and was hired full-time at NASA. But it didn’t come easily as she had to knock on hundreds of doors to get hired.
“Today, I work on multiple cool space missions including the Perseverance rover collecting samples to bring back to Earth. No dream is ever too big or crazy. Believe in yourself, keep those blinkers on and keep working! I promise, you’ll get there if you work hard,” she wrote further.

Posted three days ago, the video has amassed over 7.62 lakh views and left netizens inspired.
“Women like you are an inspiration to the aspiring female youth leaders!!” a user commented. “That is super amazing! Thanks for making us aware and proud!” wrote another. “The fact that you still represent that Indian flag,” said a third.

source/content: indianexpress.com (headline edited)