At the Joyce SoHo (in NYC) this week (June 25/26) Preeti Vasudevan and Thresh, a Brooklyn-based dance theatre company she founded will perform “Strings Unattached.”

“Strings Unattached, inspired by ancient texts, involves three contemporary pieces linked not by theme, but by musical instruments, violin and cello.”

For more information, go to Thresh's home page.

I sat with an august group of bloggers last Friday at the SAJA convention in NYC. Jen Chung of Gothamist sat to my immediate left. Others who made the lineup were Prashant Kothari of Finding My Voice, Anil Dash of Six Apart, Mark Dery of NYU, Nimesh Patel of Mahoot Media (and Badmash fame).

While I conceived the panel on blogging for the convention, Mimi Hanaoka of InTheFray.com moderated it with great dexterity, pinching us from time to time to think about how blogging figures in the grassroots mobilization of society (if it does at all), as a part of the democratic process.

There are so many aspects of blogging that I am just discovering. Issues on privacy, advertising and the general lack of access for the majority of people to the kind of technology that makes blogging possible was discussed. It made for an interesting experience.

Rupa Datta, a recent Columbia University J-school grad in the audience sat upfront with her PC laptop propped up on her lap … blogging! The wi-fi signal at Lerner Hall made it possible for her to post her thoughts on her own blog as the panel on blogging unfolded.

“ArtWallah is an annual festival of South Asian arts. Held in early summer of each year, the four-day Los Angeles-based event presents artists from around the world, showcasing their expressions of the South Asian diasporic experience through film, literature, spoken word, music, dance, theater, and visual arts. The festival is made possible by the combined efforts of the Indo-American Cultural Center (IACC) and the South Asian Artists' Collective, the dedication of numerous volunteers, and the generosity of supporting donors and sponsors. ArtWallah's mission is to serve as a platform of expression and a channel of communication between South Asian artists and their communities.”

The dates are July 8th through 11th at the Barnsdall Gallery Theatre and Art Park in Hollywood, California. I have always wanted to submit my work but the deadlines have escaped me. This year was no different. While the organization is not accepting any more submissions, I'll try and do my best so that next year I won't be asleep at the wheel.

Here they are – Padma Lakshmi and Salman Rushdie – at the SAJA convention last Friday.

What was asked of them or said by them is a bit of a blur as I was working on the annual SAJA Photoforum exhibit all day. Add to that my friend Arindam's insistence on drinking a Sam Adams. Head abuzz, I slid through gawkers to make this image of life's most improbable of couples. But who am I to judge love's infinite loops?

More on the SAJA convention real soon. Look here in less than a week for a slide show of the best photography exhibited at the convention.

The next several days I will be attending the SAJA convention in NYC. Will do my best posting about the events at the conference.

Today, in a couple of hours actually, we will be meeting up at Columbia University for the first day-long photography workshop. It will be led by David H. Wells, a photojournalist and a teacher. We are headed to Jackson Heights for the day. I'll make a link to some of the best images produced today soon available here.

SAJA'er and Newsweek International Editor Fareed Zakaria will address us tonight at the Asia Society. Salman Rushdie and his wife Padma Lakshmi will grace us with their presence tomorrow at a reception. Other heavy-hitters in the business of journalism will be present as well.

Should be fun (and naturally all bloggable!)