Kithe Mar Gayi? (Where did you go?)

Hey everyone! Sorry I've been so M.I.A. lately. Everything's been super hectic with exams, the holidays, random family trips and a bunch of other things.


I quit my job at Old Navy because waking up at 4am to work 6-8 hour shifts really wasn't for me. It sucks that I no longer have a part time job but I think my health is so much more important. I felt my health getting worse and worse and barely got any sleep. So yeah, I'm done with that.

Also, I went to Boston with my parents to see my massi's new house and went out with my cousins for the first time. Because I can, legally. Because I'm like 21. I feel cool. The entire time I felt like a total badass even though I wasn't doing anything wrong, but I still feel like I'm not 21. Hopefully that feeling goes away soon.

I got to go to my first legit New Year's party. It was hosted by the organizers of Bhangra In The City, which is a weekly Desi party held at Pranna in New York, which I happen to promote. It was held at Bowlmor at Chelsea Piers in NYC and had over 1200 people attending so technically it was my first real partying experience. I got to see some friends and family there and I had a great time over all. The best part was the fact that I came home at 4am and didn't even get yelled at.

Also as most of you may know already I just started writing for Brown Girl Magazine(their twitter account is linked and here's their Facebook page). At the beginning of Winter break I had the opportunity to meet up with some of the other writers and editors of Brown Girl Magazine for brunch in NYC (or' drunch' as the restaurant called it). We all had an amazing time and instantly knew that we had formed a little BGM family as soon as we all agreed that we were still hungry after brunch. It was a group of 6 of us, 5 girls and one guy. (Yes there is a guy on the team. Shoutout to Farooq for looking like a total boss). I also got to meet my friend Sindhuri who I've known for a good 5 years, but this was the first time we actually met as well as Christine and Kamini! Trisha, the managing editor at BGM (yes we have the same name, HOW AWESOME IS THAT!?) and I brainstormed a bunch of ideas and topics for me to write about so I'm super excited to share everything with you all. We recently recorded an interview with DJ Rekha on my show Bhangra Beats and got to have an interview for Brown Girl Magazine that same day. It was seriously pretty cool because I've been looking up to DJ Rekha ever since I was a little girl. I also wrote my first piece for the magazine called  Bhangra Teams: Girls Vs. Boys( linked) which I'm really excited about because you guys know how much bhangra means to me. Big shoutout to Shaan Muteyara Di Bhangra Club, Nehriyan Bhangra and New England Bhangra Club for their help and support.

In other news, I got to be in a music video, and that too with my sister Jasmine! Anyone who knows me knows that Jasmine is my life and my other half. If there's one person I can talk to about literally anything in the world, it's her, so the opportunity to work with her was such a blessing. G-Deep, an extremely talented singer and music producer is getting ready to release his album and is currently shooting some music videos and Jasmine was the main lead in one of them, so naturally G-Deep's wife Kiran contacted me to play her best friend. It was such a difficult role ( note the sarcasm). I had to wake up at 7:30 to get ready for the shoot but I didn't even mind because I was so excited. Everyone was super sweet, specially G-Deep and Kiran and of course Jasmine and I took tons of selfies. I'll definitely post the link to the video when it's out.

I have a couple more things in the works that I don't want to mention until everything is finalized but I promise I'll be back soon, for those of you who actually read my blog. LOL.
P.S.- I'm thinking of writing a post about my makeup routine for everyday and parties, or my makeup routine for the shoot. What do you think ?

My 21st Birthday (and Boston Bhangra Weekend)

I'M FINALLY LEGAL! woohoo!

I have to say that my 21st birthday was more than I had hoped for. Although some things didn't necessarily go as planned I had a more than amazing time. Here's a rundown of my crazy weekend :

Friday I went crazy trying to pack, being the paranoid person I am I had like 10 different potential outfits and couldn't decide what to take to Boston with me. After, since I was president of the South Asian club in high school, I decided to go support and stop by at their Diwali event. Needless to say, I felt really really old. After that I headed to my cousin Jasmine's house to stay the night since my mom was at work, and my dad unfortunately had to be out of town. I think Jasmine is the only person who was as excited about my birthday as I was, if not more. We spent the night chilling like any other, trying not to fall asleep at 10pm. At midnight the cutest sister in the entire world walked out of the kitchen with a glass of wine and a gulab jamun with a candle in it. Beats a cake any day. OH and she wore one of those 'Happy 21st Birthday' banners as a chunni. Tell me she's not the most awesome sister anyone could ever have. After that we headed out to a place where I could get ID'ed, just because I can.
Neither of us got any sleep all night but we headed out for Boston around 9:30 and got there within a few hours. The drive there was some much needed sisterly bonding time and it was our first road trip together. We checked into the hotel and waited for our friend Sameera to get there. As we unpacked and chilled, Mandeep from E3UK records stopped by to give me some CDs which was pretty cool. We've been working together for a while so it was nice to finally meet someone from the company. Not to mention that British accent was on point. Once Sameera got there the party started because it was super live (and we were super loud) cracking the most obnoxious jokes until our stomachs hurt from laughing so much. Jasmine and I then headed to the show while Sameera went to go see a cousin of hers. Jus Reign was the host and kept picking on some bechara gora which was hilarious and the show was great! During intermission I got to see a couple of my friends. I met up with one of my closest friends since 9th grade who actually wrote and published a book called 'The Look From Beyond' a few years ago. Amrit used to deal with my stupid annoying stories every morning throughout high school so he pretty much knows my entire life's story. I also got to see my friend Sunny, aka Sunny Chakdebooty aka DJ AkC who's remixes I've played on my show a few times. I'm so grateful to have these friends because now a days it's so difficult to find genuine people. Dev Dhillon killed it on stage as the celebrity performer, and he wished me a happy 21st birthday on stage which was seriously the best. After that Mickey Singh got the whole crowd dancing as usual.Congrats to Nachdi Jawani Warriors on 1st place, DCMPAA on 2nd and RU Boys on 3rd place, you all killed it!
Before the afterparty we bumped into my homie Mickey Singh and Jus Reign which was crazy! Mickey is seriously the sweetest person ever and Jasmeet is exactly like how he is in his videos. I still can't believe this happened but at the afterparty Mickey and Jus Reign along with the entire party sang happy birthday to me. Such an epic birthday.
The after after party was insane as well, because everyone did bhangra in a food court which wasn't too far away from the hotel. My friend Harman, who DJ'ed at Bhangra State of Mind in Sacramento the week before did an amazing job DJ'ing at the after after party and I don't think anyone, including myself wanted to stop dancing. I'm so glad I met Harman during BSM weekend because along with being a great DJ he's also a great friend. I'm so thankful that everywhere I go I end up making at least one good friend and enough memories to last a lifetime.
When I got home Sunday night my adorable parents surprised me with a cake and balloons :)

Thank you to everyone who made my 21st birthday so special, specially Jasmine, Sameera, Mickey, Jus Reign, Harman, Mandeep, Hari B and Dev Dhillon! love you all ! :)
For more pictures check out my Instagram: Bhangraobsessed

Bhangra State of Mind 2013

Hey everyone! So I'm on my first flight to Sacramento, stopping over in Chicago. The flight was delayed and I'm not sure if we're going to get there on time for my connecting flight. It's my first time traveling alone so I'm super nervous. My dad's a nervous wreck as well. I mean after all his little girl is going all the way across the country by herself. I've met some pretty nice people and have had a pretty pleasant experience so far but I kind of want to get this trip over with so I can be in Sacramento to kick off Bhangra State Of Mind weekend already. Everyone from the committee has been pretty friendly so I'm looking forward to meeting all of them as well as a bunch of famous people who I met off twitter. Its going to be a pretty epic trip. I'm also going to be meeting my first fan from out of New Jersey, she's been super sweet and I'm so excited because seriously I never thought I could be a role model to someone but I guess I am. I'm going to be writing whenever I get a chance, the next time will probably be on my flight back home if I'm not too exhausted but I'll try to write was much as I can! Wish me luck and let's hope I catch my next flight on time. Airports are intimidating for no reason.

I'm on my flight back from Sacramento now and I have to say it's been one CRAZYYY weekend. I met up with so many awesome people and made so many friends, I think one of my goals is going to be to move to California one day. The fact that barely anyone here knew me was really refreshing. I loved walking into an event where no one had any preconceived notions about me, besides the random girls "muggin" (giving me dirty looks) the whole weekend, had to add some of my newly learned Cali slang thanks to Nikki. The whole committee was even more cool and respectful than I had expected. From the second I signed the contract for this event these guys ended up being homies instead of clients. Almost every hour there was someone checking to make sure I was okay or if I needed anything. Basically I felt like a mini celebrity. So I would really like to thank them for flying me out here for Bhangra State Of Mind this year.
Once I landed Gurjeet and Ashish picked me up from the airport and we went to In N Out, kind of regretting not getting anything but oh well there is always next time. Before even saying hi to Gurjeet the first question I asked was if his eyes were real because he has billiyan akhan and I couldn't tell from Instagram if they were contacts or not. I just had to. No sharam. And honestly I didn't even feel like I was meeting them for the first time at all.The hotel was SOO pretty it had like lakes/fountains and it was huge, like I kept getting lost. But it was super beautiful ( just like Gurjeet's eyes LOL). Once I got to my room and settled in I got ready for a photoshoot that never happened but I got to hang out with my homie Dilpreet Virk who was Mr. India Globe 2010. Super chill guy and once again it didn't feel like I had just met him for the first time. All I'm going to say is he's lucky I didn't throw his new shirt and shoes out the balcony. A little while after that I met Nikki, who is the "fan" of mine I wrote about earlier. I think I was most excited about meeting her because I wanted to know what exactly I did for her to look up to me, I still don't get it but hey I'm not complaining. Nikki and her sister are absolute sweethearts and I basically spent the entire weekend with them. Couldn't have asked for better people to hang out with.
 That night was my first experience at a team mixer. Everyone was so hyped and it pretty much seemed like a big family reunion because most of the teams knew each other from before. It was also the first time I was introduced to the participating teams as the host. The games were hilarious and definitely had everyone (almost) laughing. I got to meet a bunch of local celebrities too like Sumit, the main guy in the 'Pyaar Potion' video on YouTube, and the guys in the Jodi of the Bhangra terminology video, Gurpreet and Preet. Inquisitive, Tandy and my homie Salvin who is a local poet stopped by to say hi and hang out. Harry Singh, an upcoming Punjabi artist from my hometown of Dallas, TX did a little performance as well. This is where I got to meet the rest of the committee like Kirpal, Deep, Sukh, Manpreet, Inder, Indy and everyone else. It was a chill night because everyone was preparing for the competition the next evening but that didn't stop everyone from staying up all night, including myself.
 The next morning I guess I was still running on New York time because after 2 hours of sleep I woke up at 6:30 with ease. Tech time was pretty hectic but props to the committee for trying their best to make it run as smoothly as possible. All of these teams work SO hard on their routines and I really got to see how dedicated and passionate everyone is about Bhangra. It's always great to see people just as passionate about Bhangra as I am, if not more. The rest of the day was just running around and preparing for the show, and me partially on my Mufasa swag trying to air dry my hair so I could style it. My homie from Twitter, Brown Girl blogging came by to meet me and hang out before the show as well as a local singer named Harleen. Brown girl was with me backstage for a while trying her best to calm me down and now I'm going to be a part of her blog which is effing AWESOME. I felt like such a cool kid. And Dilpreet Mayall came out to support as well! The show was amazing, teams were great and overall I had a lot of fun. The girls screamed so much before I even properly introduced Mickey Singh who did a special performance and he killed it as always. Had everyone singing along and dancing. The only downside to the night was the fact that I walked like a cripple because my feet hurt so badly after wearing heels for like 6 hours.
Overall it was a great getaway from the east coast and an unforgettable experience.

We're about to land and I'm going to get on my connecting flight to Newark airport soon so I'll stop writing now. Mostly because I think I've written enough, and the after party was great but I'd rather not go too much into detail about that because I'm lazy. My next post will probably be after my birthday/ Boston Bhangra on the 16th, until then feel free to check out my previous blog posts. Just a reminder too you guys, I don't write this blog to brag or because I think I'm a celebrity or anything. I'm just a girl who loves to write and share her experiences with people. Bye!
For more pictures check out my Instagram: Bhangraobsessed

Vent.

Hey guys,

So I've been super stressed and overwhelmed lately and felt like writing would be the best way for me to vent. As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm hosting the first annual Bhangra State of Mind competition in Sacramento, California on November 9th. I was actually really excited until I realized how much work I need to take care of before my trip. The script writing, the work from all of my classes, the packing, filming my intro video and something else which I'll write a separate post about soon,  it really starts to add up. Don't get me wrong I'm still super excited, but I wish it could just be November 8th so I can get on that plane and be away from everyone on the East coast, even if it's only for 3 days. One issue that's been stressing me out is one (or two) things. My parents.  Although my dad's always been pretty supportive considering he's in the same field, of course every brown dad (or any dad in general) fears for his daughter traveling alone, specially for the first time. When booking my flights I guess my dad had a panic attack or something because he flipped out about me traveling alone. He claimed that according to protocol they should be paying for one parent to come with me. I understand that I'll always be his little girl but according to the US government and the rest of the world, I'm an adult. Gotta let me do my own thing some time.  Because of that argument I wasn't able to book my flights that night and I ended up seeming extremely unprofessional. Of course that wasn't a big deal to the organizers, who were totally chill and understood my situation, but it really bothered me. Knowing the industry and how to work with others, I don't understand why my dad didn't realize he was making me look bad. Is it just me or do some parents put up more of a front in front of others to show how "strict" they are. His theory is that if people know your parents are around, they won't bother you. That's true in a sense but it's also not professional and makes me look like I can't work on my own and that I'm a kid. Regardless I'm grateful for this opportunity and such a supporting father.
With my mom on the other hand, I feel like since I'm not becoming a doctor she thinks I'm not getting anywhere in life, which is never good. So I'm determined to prove her wrong. How do you guys deal with pressure from your parents? Do they really think that the techniques their parents used to raise them will be right to raise us? For me it's not just my parents. People in my extended family have unintentionally made comments which made me feel like crap. I know they don't mean it but the jokes make me feel as though my family doesn't even support me which is pretty sad. Anyways I'm just looking forward to this mini vacation and meeting a bunch of new people. It's the next step to following my dream. Also does anyone know how to cure a sore throat? I like lost my voice :( 

Not As Easy As it Seems

I know it's been forever since my last post and I'm so sorry..if anyone actually reads my blog that is. Lately I've been hearing something a lot that's actually been bothering me. "You're famous" or "You're a celebrity". Usually people would be flattered, but I'm really not. I don't feel as though I'm deserving enough of being labeled as "famous" or being considered a "celebrity" To me I think of Miss Pooja or Neeru Bajwa or someone when I think of the word celebrity. Yes, I have met artists and influential figures in the industry but that's not why I do what I do. I have chosen this career path to give people some positive role models to look up to. If it was for the popularity I don't think that I would be doing my job for the right reasons.
In this field, and even in general, many people come and go from your life according to their benefit or selfish motives. You'll eventually learn how to spot your true friends from your fake ones. I've met many people who have pretended to be my friend when they needed me to promote an event or play their song on my show, but this is why I keep things strictly professional. No matter how close you are to me, I will always follow protocol. Sorry to say this but if your song absolutely sucks, I will give you constructive criticism and a reason as to why I can not play your song whether you like it or not. In the end it's to the benefit of both of us. I will not play bad music on my show and you will get some honest feedback to improve your skills. When you have improved, I will gladly play your music. Actually, I would come and ask you myself to send me your new track to play on my show. Some people take this the wrong way saying I'm stuck up or conceited, but I actually wish I was. If I was conceited I would be able to be a bitch to people who have done me wrong in the past but for some reason I have never been able to do that. I still have such a long way to go before I'm "famous" it's not even funny. So when people tell me that I'm a celebrity I can't help but laugh in their faces. I'm so blessed to have many amazing opportunities come my way and many amazing supporters so I do appreciate every single one of you, but please don't try to gas me up before I even make it anywhere haha. My duty is first to be a sevadar to the community and then comes my role as an RJ and host.
I also want to mention the fact that people say I'm "so lucky" to be meeting some of the people I meet. No doubt, I am truly blessed, but it's not easy. I have worked tirelessly to make these meetings and interviews happen. They don't just come to me. Trust me, my job is not by any means easy. At the end of the day I don't consider myself "lucky" persay, but I believe that I have done my job well and have been successful in completing a certain task. That doesn't mean I don't become completely star struck when I meet someone (after all, I am human) but in the end of the day work is work and I try to do my job to the best of my ability. Most of the celebrities I have met have become huge role models for me. (The humble and down to earth ones at least) have influenced me in a very positive way every time I meet them. Their passion, love and respect for the work they do remind me that this career path, just like any, is a struggle, but if you love what you do it makes things a lot easier and it makes life worth living.

Fight Ignorance.

First of all, congratulations to the new Miss America, Nina Davuluri! I could not be more ecstatic about the fact that someone of South Asian heritage has won the title. She truly deserves it.

"America is a melting pot" " All of our ancestors were immigrants, except for Native Americans" "Indian-American" "America is diverse". I've been hearing all of these things for years now. As a kid I did truly believe that everyone loved each other and got along. As I get older, my eyes are open to the fact that America is NOT such an accepting place. As the child of American immigrants, an Asian/ South Asian woman, as a Sikh, and as a female in the industry I understand that people will hate no matter what although the hate that I receive is nothing compared to what Nina is dealing with. We can blow the haters off and ignore them as much as possible, but what do we do about ignorance?
From the moment Nina Davuluri, Former Miss New York, was crowned Miss America Twitter basically blew up with tweets referring to her as a terrorist, an Arab, a Muslim and much more. First of all, even if she was Muslim, she is still an American and still deserves the title. Religion shouldn't matter. Second, these people need to go back to the first grade and figure out where India is on the map (if their tiny brains could handle that much information). I'm disgusted at the fact that people can be so ignorant and stupid. Calling someone of a different background a terrorist? Really? Last time I checked the TERRORISTS behind the massacre at Oak Creek Gurudwara in Wisconsin, the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, and she shooting in the movie theater in Colorado were all Caucasian. Every race, every religion and every country will have these nut jobs who go around trying to kill people. Don't blame it on one group of people.
As far as people saying Nina Davuluri is not American, I'd like to ask them if they know where she was born and I would also ask them to please go have a look at her passport. It's disgusting that apparently America is one of the top countries to get an education yet people are still so uneducated and ignorant and it's sad that the moment that was probably the happiest moment in her life, is bringing her so many challenges and so much hate.
Now, I kind of expected for some people of different cultures to be hating the new Miss America, but I never expected people of our own heritage to be joining in and hating her as well. Ever since last night I've been seeing comments and tweets saying " She's ugly though. She's so dark. Why did she win?". To all of the jealous brown girls saying these things, SHUT UP. Stop hating for once and just be proud that one of our own has made it this far. Don't be jealous just because your parents wouldn't let you compete in pageants. Everyone has something they're good at and everyone has something great about them. For her, she was meant to be a role model for people around the world. You meant to be something else. Just take your negativity and turn it into motivation to do something great with your lives rather than sitting around and talking crap like a bunch of bibi's in the gurudwara. Brown guys, you're not any better. Stop being mad that she'll never accept your friend request on Facebook and that a woman is more accomplished than you probably are. The hate will never change the fact that she was/is deserving and won the title of Miss America and she'll do great things in the future.
Before I end this, I just wanted to acknowledge all of the people of different cultures who are fighting against this ignorance with us. You guys are true Americans, not these backwards racists. If Miss America was a true representation of America, she would be obese and unemployed.

All Over The Place

I haven't really done anything exciting lately to be completely honest. The semester started so I've been going to class and working, and of course going doing Bhangra Beats every weekend. Since the summer's over my life is back to normal if not more hectic. This week my biggest problem has been trying not to procrastinate and getting my paper on Syria done on time, but I'm struggling and writing this blog post instead.

By the way, did I mention that I'M GOING TO CALIFORNIA?! Yeah, I got booked to host Bhangra State of Mind in Sacramento, California on November 9th and I'm SO excited. I've never been to the West coast so I kind of just want to get there already. Also, I've never really traveled alone before.
I have to admit my dad was pretty mad when I booked this gig behind his back, but if I didn't he would have never agreed since I'll be going to Boston Bhangra the weekend after to celebrate my 21st birthday on November 16th. Everyone who knows me knows that my past few birthdays have been pretty crappy but I plan on making this one fantastic. Cali on the 9th, Boston on the 16th, NYC on the 23rd and then my little cousins sweet 16 on the 29th. It's going to be a hectic but amazing month.
But back to the present, I really don't know how to find sources for this paper. Since the issue with Obama trying to go into Syria is pretty recent I can't find any credible sources. Also, I can't decide which suit to wear to a wedding that I have to go to this weekend. Patiala or Anarkali? FINALLY I have normal problems like everyone else.
Another thing I wanted to mention is the fact that someone who I thought was really close to me has recently been going behind my back talking crap, considering me as "competition" even though they've practically known me since I was born. It hurts to see someone act like that, specially when I considered this person a member of my family. But I was wrong so oh well. I have many other people in my life who genuinely support me and don't act like fake immature little children even though they're grown adults. Someone who's interested into getting started in the industry emailed me a couple of weeks ago which absolutely made my day, and unfortunately I think I had way too many negative things to say about this industry. You really have to have thick skin and not let anything get to you because you never know what you'll end up dealing with in this field. People are selfish and mean, but seriously, just live your life, have fun, and in my case do a lot of bhangra and everything will just fall into place. No matter how tough things are just keep smiling, it'll get you a lot farther than you think. And I'm not sure how religious or spiritual everyone is, but a trip to the gurudwara really puts me in a better mood and gives me the strength to fight any battle that may come my way. Whether it's listening to kirtan in the morning in the morning, or doing ardaas or simply just wearing the khanda pendant every day, now I feel as though so matter how tough things get, Waheguru will always be by my side and help through every single situation.
One more lesson, never tell employers when you're applying for a job that you can work early mornings because waking up at 5am for a 6am shift is absolutely killing me, and my weekends.
Last but not least, good luck to everyone who's just started school, college or uni! And if anyones going to be at Bhangra State of Mind, Boston Bhangra, Or Bhangra in the City on November 23rd at Pranna tweet or FB me! I'd love to meet you guys and I'd love to have anyone who supports me join me to celebrate my 21st birthday :)