Past Events
Exploring India through the Lens of Novelists
Interested in traveling to India but don’t want to leave your cozy armchair? We have launched a book group that focuses on Indian novels. The group meets regularly, and the discussion is in person and on Zoom.
Our next book is The Elephant Chaser’s Daughter by Shilpa Raj
This is a memoir by Shilpa Raj who, as a young child, was brought by her parents to a boarding school for poor children. The school was started by an Indian-American philanthropist and offered one child from a poor family to attend the school free. Her story focuses on the conflict and struggle between two worlds of her existence. The values with which she is being brought up in the school come in conflict with those of her family, tearing them apart. Torn between despair and dreams, Shilpa finally decides to choose her future.
“Written with raw honesty and grit, this is a deeply moving memoir of a young woman confronting her ‘untouchable’ status in a caste-based society, and her aspirations for a good future.” —Amazon
Location in-person:
Friends of Kalangarai
227 Union Street – Suite 707,
New Bedford, MA 02740
For more information and to register to receive a Zoom link to attend online.
We are excited to announce that our documentary has been selected by the
New Bedford Film Festival
April 10-13, 2025.
Women of Truth and Courage
The Widows of Kalangarai
Join us for the screening of our film
Saturday
April 12, 2025
1:00 pm–3:00 pm
Steeple Playhouse
159 William Street
New Bedford, MA 02740
A Film by Friends of Kalangarai and
Boston College Film Studies
About the Film
For centuries, widowed and abandoned women in India have been treated as outcasts by Indian society. They are among the poorest of the poor in India, especially if they are low-caste women. This documentary traces the footsteps of a widowed woman, Mrs. Manjula, who joins other widows in a movement to challenge cultural and social ostracism. The women’s stories of courage and hope in the face of adversity provide us with a vision of how women can be empowered to change their lives and society.
In Harmony with Nature:
Discover the ancient folk art of the Warli Tribe
Dating back to 2500-3500 BCE, this traditional style of painting is still practiced today by the tribal people in Maharashtra, India. The paintings reflect their relationship with nature throughout their daily activities and celebrations of life.
Join us at the Gallery Night Reception:
Thursday, April 17 ~ 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Sponsor: Friends of Kalangarai—a USA nonprofit that supports community-based programs for widowed women in South India.
Exploring India through the Lens of Novelists
Interested in traveling to India but don’t want to leave your cozy armchair? We have launched a book group that focuses on Indian novels. The book discussion is hybrid—in person and on Zoom—and meets every two months on the second Friday of the month, usually at 5:30-6:30 (EST) but check the time for each event.
Our next book is Honor by Thrity Umrigar
Honor is a story about an Indian American journalist Smita who returns to India to cover a story about a Hindu woman attacked by members of her own village and her family for marrying a Muslim man. As Smita tries to help the woman escape the brutal treatment, she is confronted by her own painful past. This is a story about love, familial devotion, betrayal, and sacrifice.
Location in-person:
Friends of Kalangarai
227 Union Street – Suite 707,
New Bedford, MA 02740
For more information and to register to receive a Zoom link to attend online.
Please Join Us
Friday, Dec. 13, 6:00-8:30 pm
Holiday Open House
A festival fundraiser to support Friends of Kalangarai
Private Home
Lincoln, MA
Address provided to registrants
Tickets $100 per person
Libations
Holiday Treats
Live Music
and
Silent Auction
Please RSVP by Dec. 6 to Jane via text
at 617-763-8860 or jor6@aol.com
Exploring India through the Lens of Novelists
Interested in traveling to India but don’t want to leave your cozy armchair? We have launched a book group that focuses on Indian novels. The book discussion is hybrid—in person and on Zoom—and meets every two months on the second Friday of the month, usually at 5:30-6:30 (EST) but check the time for each event.
Our next book is The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
The God of Small Things (Arundhati Roy) is a story about the childhood experiences of fraternal twins whose lives are impacted by the Indian “Love Laws”—laws of Indian culture to maintain social structures and give parents control of their children. Set in Kerala, India during the 1960s, the novel explores “how small, seemingly insignificant occurrences, decisions and experiences shape people’s behavior in deeply significant ways” (Wikipedia, 2024). The book also examines the effects of casteism and British colonialism in India.
Roy’s book won the Booker Prize in 1997.
Location in-person:
Friends of Kalangarai
227 Union Street – Suite 707,
New Bedford, MA 02740
For more information and to register to receive a Zoom link to attend online.
Exploring India through the Lens of Novelists
Interested in traveling to India but don’t want to leave your cozy armchair? We have launched a book group that focuses on Indian novels. The book discussion is hybrid—in person and on Zoom—and meets every two months on the second Friday of the month at 5:30-6:30 (EST).
Our next book is Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
Jhumpa Lahiri writes brilliantly about the challenges of Indian families who are navigating the divide between traditional Indian culture and contemporary society of a new world. The book consists of nine short stories set in Boston, Bengal, and beyond. The book’s introduction describes the stories as “spiced with humour and subtle detail” and “speak with universal eloquence to anyone who has ever felt the yearnings of exile or the emotional confusion of the outsider.”
Lahiri’s book won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2000.
Location in-person:
Friends of Kalangarai
227 Union Street – Suite 707,
New Bedford, MA 02740
For more information and to register to receive a Zoom link to attend online.
Exploring India through the Lens of Novelists
Interested in traveling to India but don’t want to leave your cozy armchair? We have launched a book group that focuses on Indian novels. The book discussion is hybrid—in person and on Zoom—and meets every two months on the second Friday of the month at 5:30-6:30 (EST).
Our next book is The Covenant of Water, by Abraham Verghese
The Covenant of Water takes place in Kerala, on the southwest coast of India. The story spans the years 1900 to 1977 and follows three generations of a family that suffers a peculiar affliction: in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning.
“A shimmering evocation of a bygone India and of the passage of time itself, The Covenant of Water is a hymn to progress in medicine and to human understanding, and a bumbling testament to the hardships undergone by past generations for the sake of those alive today. Imbued with humor, deep emotion, and the essence of life, it is one of the most masterful literary novels published in recent years.” [From book cover]
Location in-person:
Friends of Kalangarai
227 Union Street – Suite 707,
New Bedford, MA 02740
For more information and to register to receive a Zoom link to attend online.
Exploring India through the Lens of Novelists
Interested in traveling to India but don’t want to leave your cozy armchair? We have launched a book group that focuses on Indian novels. The book discussion is hybrid—in person and on Zoom—and meets every two months on the second Friday of the month at 5:30-6:30 (EST).
Our next book is The Widows of Malabar Hill, by Sujata Massey
The story takes place in Bombay, 1921. Perveen Mistry, one of the first female lawyers in India, is handling the will of Mr. Omar Farid, a wealthy businessman, who has left three widows behind. Perveen notices something strange with the will: all three have signed over their interitance to a charity. What will they live on if they forefeit what their husband left them? Are they being taken advantage of by an unscrupulous guardian?
Tensions escalate to a murder. It’s Perveen’s responsibility to figure out what really happened on Malabar Hill, and to ensure that nobody is in further danger
Location in-person:
Friends of Kalangarai
227 Union Street – Suite 707,
New Bedford, MA 02740
For more information and to register to receive a Zoom link to attend online.
Exploring India through the Lens of Novelists
Interested in traveling to India but don’t want to leave your cozy living room? Our new book discussion group focuses on Indian novelists. Authors include Arundhati Roy, Jhumpa Lahiri, Thrity Umrigar, Abraham Verghese, Sujuta Massey among others. The book discussion will be hybrid—in person and on Zoom—and meets every two months on the second Friday of the month at 5:30-6:30 (EST). Future dates for 2024 are: June 14, August 9, October 11.
The book for our second session (April 12) is Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard by Kiran Desai.
Kiran Desai tells a hilarious and poignant story of life, love, and family relationships that captures the vivid culture of the Indian subcontinent and the universal intricacies of human experience.
Kiran Desai is the winner of the 2006 Man Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction for her second novel, The Inheritance of Loss. She is one of the most talented writers of her generation.
Place in-person: Friends of Kalangarai
227 Union Street – Suite 707,
New Bedford, MA 02740
For more information and to register to receive a Zoom link to attend online.
