Browse by author: Manan Desai
H.G. Mudgal, Harlem Editor
In India, he was known for his part in an infamous bribery scandal in the 1940s. But in the U.S., H.G. Mudgal played an important role in Marcus Garvey’s Pan-Africanist movement during the late Harlem Renaissance.
Oh Niagara!
"The scenery here is magnificent, grand, and awe-inspiring. Here you see Nature in its naked majesty and are at once struck with its grandeur and beauty." Lala Lajpat Rai at Niagara Falls in 1905
The Indian Wants the Bronx
Years before they were immortalized as the Corleone brothers in The Godfather, Al Pacino and John Cazale appeared together in a short and unsettling play that explored anti-Asian racism and violence in the late 1960s.
D.W. Griffith Presents: "The Hindoo Dagger"
Five years before his infamous and racist masterpiece Birth of a Nation, D.W. Griffith directed a short, silent film entitled The Hindoo Dagger.
The Crooner from Kashmir
Described as the "East Indian warbler" and the "crooner from Kashmir," Kuldip Rae Singh's life as an entertainer began in 1956 when he was a 21-year-old medical student at UCLA.
Connolly vs. Singh: Showdown in Vancouver
A century ago, five-hundred were packed in a Vancouver hall to see the prize match-up of Dalbagh Singh, Champion of India vs. Pat Connolly, the Champion of Great Britain.
A.A. Advani, International Conman (Part II)
Who exactly was A.A. Advani? A prince? A merchant? Or a dangerous con-artist? Learn more about A.A. Advani and his travels across the U.S. and Canada.
A.A. Advani, International Conman (Part I)
Who exactly was A.A. Advani? A prince? A merchant? Or a dangerous con-artist? Learn more about A.A. Advani and his travels across the U.S. and Canada.
'The Dancing Ranee': Bollywood in Sixties California
In the 1960s, Hindi cinema was still only a minor curiosity in the American film landscape. If you lived in California, though, you had a few chances to catch a Hindi film in theaters.
The 'Tan Stranger' from Ceylon
Born in Ceylon and educated in Chicago, Chandra Gooneratne lectured in the U.S. in the 1920s and 30s, where he encountered America's color line firsthand and toyed with American expectations of his racial identity.