#sabany

On Thursday, August 9, members of AABANY and SABANY came together for the second annual mixer at the Chinese Club NYC, a restaurant that offers an excellent window into Indian-Chinese cuisine. Among those who attended were SABANY President Amol Sinha, as well as a number of AABANY leaders, including President James Cho, President-Elect Brian Song, Board Director and Issues Committee Co-Chair Chris Kwok, and Executive Director Yang Chen.

At the event, attendees got the chance to taste some of the restaurant’s most popular dishes, which include Lollipop Chicken, Butter Salt & Pepper Mushroom, Wheels of Fortune (crispy lotus roots), Szechuan Fried Rice, most of which were vegan and vegetarian-friendly. All of the dishes blended together a number of fragrant spices, both sweet and savory, offering an amazing food experience for all who came. During the event, Salil Mehta, owner of the Chinese Club, was kind enough to share his stories about the food, Indian-Chinese cuisine, his inspirations, and the meaning behind his journey with the restaurant. It is worth noting that Salil and his wife Stacey are also professional artists, whose talents and visions can be seen in the exquisite artwork that decorates the restaurant’s interior.

On Thursday, June 29, AALFNY and AABANY held their joint Annual Summer Reception at Baker & McKenzie LLP’s New York Office. On this occasion, the reception featured presentations of the AALFNY Community Service Scholarship and the AALFNY/SABANY (South Asian Bar Association of New York) Public Interest Fellowship.

The AALFNY Community Service Scholarship Award encourages law students to use their legal knowledge and training to benefit the Asian American community in New York. This year’s award recipients are Jane Lo from Temple University Beasley School of Law, working with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) and Marissa Wong from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, working at the Kings County District Attorney’s Office.

The AALFNY/SABANY Public Interest Fellowship enables outstanding law students to spend their summer working unpaid in the public interest sector that focuses on the needs of the South Asian community. It is a pleasure to recognize the recipients for the Fellowship: Devika M. Balaram from New York University Law School will be working with Homeowner and Consumer Right Project at Queens Legal Services and Ruhi Behal from Fordham University School of Law who will be working at the Immigration Advocacy Project and Domestic Violence/Family Law Project at Queens Legal Services.

This year we are also proud to honor Sanket Bulsara, Deputy General Counsel of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Sanket gave inspiring remarks on his path in the public service, and the importance of pro bono work in a lawyer’s personal and career development.

On Wednesday, March 8th, I found myself with members of AABANY and the South Asian Bar Association of New York (“SABANY”) at The Chinese Club, a restaurant in Williamsburg professing to specialize in Indian-Chinese food. Among those who attended were SABANY President, Mahesh Parlikad, President-Elect Amol Sinha and Immediate Past President Rippi Gil. Among the AABANY leaders in attendance were Chris Kwok, Issues Committee Co-Chair, Francis Chin, Professional Development Committee Chair, and Yang Chen, Executive Director.  We were also pleased to welcome Kim Parker, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Black Bar Association (and an AABANY member).

Admittedly, I was rather skeptical at first about the whole idea of altering traditional Chinese recipes. After all, I had grown up with “real” Chinese cuisine, which had instilled into me a certain contempt for Chinese fusion, especially such culinary horrors as General Tso’s Chicken.

The first dish to be served was Manchow Soup, a take on Hot and Sour Soup, with more emphasis on hot than sour. The soup, although pedestrian in appearance, featured not only a perfect texture – being neither too watery nor too thick – but a balanced flavor that ensured the full expression of each and every ingredient used in the composition of the dish. Then came an odd-looking dish called Bhel Salad, followed by more savory dishes of Salt and Pepper Mushrooms and Lollipop Chicken. Other memorable dishes were the exquisitely presented Manchurian Vegetables, Hakka Lo Mein, and the Chili Garlic Fried Rice.  By far the most memorable course was dessert, which was Kulfi – a popular Indian dairy dessert – served with coconut-flavored waffle.

At the end of the meal, Salil Mehta, owner of The Chinese Club, was kind enough to give us a brief talk about the history behind the name of his restaurant, which was apparently taken from the original Chinese Club that had once existed in Darjeeling, India, as a social venue for Hakka Chinese, and how he went from being a student at Parsons to owning his first restaurant, Laut, in Union Square. (Laut is one of the first Malaysian restaurants to receive a Michelin star in New York.) In a charismatically delivered talk that highlighted the meaningfulness of his work, Salil spoke extensively about the forgotten traces of Chinese influences in food cultures all around the world, and how it was through his discovery of Chinese-influenced Indian food that first motivated him to start The Chinese Club. Hearing such passionately spoken words made my experience truly unforgettable.  

Many thanks to Chris Kwok for providing such an excellent recommendation and organizing the event, to Salil Mehta and his team for such a wonderful food experience, to Tsingtao Beer for sponsoring the beer served with our dinner, and to all those from AABANY and SABANY who attended the event.

On May 24, AABANY and SABANY examined the important topic of diversity on the bench. with another installment of the Public Interest Roundtable: An Evening with South Asian Judges at Wilson Elser.

The evening’s panelists included:

Hon. Karen Gopee, 

Hon. Anil Singh, 

Hon. Usher Pandit, and 

Hon. Raja Rajeswari.

On May 20 at the Rubin Museum, we hosted at Get to Know AABANY & SABANY Happy Hour. During this much-needed rest at the end of the week, we saw a few familiar faces and met a few new ones. Among the familiar faces were former Vice President of Programs and Operations Gurinder Singh, SABANY President Rippi Gill, and new mother and Fordham Law student Vi Tran. Among the new faces were Vi’s six-month old daughter Evelyn, the cutest and littlest honorary AABANY member. 

On April 25, AABANY and SABANY presented Kicking Glass: Two Decades and Counting at Kaye Scholer. Kicking Glass: Two Decades and Counting is a follow-up program to a video produced by White & Case that was first presented by AABANY at the 1995 NAPABA Convention. In the 1995 video, APA women lawyers discussed the hurdles they faced, the successes they achieved, and what success meant to them. Following the video presentation, an expert panel discussed these important women’s issues. Speakers included:

Hon. Pamela Chen, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York

Madhu Goel Southworth, Senior Vice President, Legal & Business Affairs, AMC Entertainment Inc. and Sundance TV at AMC Networks Inc.

Poojitha Rao, Principal, Rao Law LLC

Manvin Mayell, Partner, Kaye Scholer

A lovely reception followed the event. Thank you to SABANY for co-sponsoring and Kaye Scholer for hosting. Live feed below.

@southasianbarny President Rippi Gill welcomes everyone to the screening of "Kicking Glass: Two Decades and Counting." #kickingglass #asianamerican #womeninlaw Thanks Kaye Scholer for hosting.

A photo posted by AABANY (@aabany) on Apr 25, 2016 at 3:21pm PDT

Board Director Sapna Palla introduces screening of "Kicking Glass" at Kaye Scholer. #asianamerican #womeninlaw

A photo posted by AABANY (@aabany) on Apr 25, 2016 at 3:26pm PDT

#kickingglass screening in the NY office and other Kaye Scholer offices around the country #asianamerican #womeninlaw

A photo posted by AABANY (@aabany) on Apr 25, 2016 at 3:48pm PDT

Discussion about to start. Sapna introduces the panelists. #kickingglass #asianamerican #womeninlaw

A photo posted by AABANY (@aabany) on Apr 25, 2016 at 3:52pm PDT

Judge Chen: two decades later many of the challenges mentioned in #kickingglass persist #asianamerican #womeninlaw

A photo posted by AABANY (@aabany) on Apr 25, 2016 at 3:58pm PDT

Mahdu Goel Southworth shares some stats showing that minority women make up a large percentage of the workforce but are not found in leadership positions. #kickingglass

A photo posted by AABANY (@aabany) on Apr 25, 2016 at 4:02pm PDT

Judge Chen has seen more women litigators in the courtroom but not as many minority women #kickingglass

A photo posted by AABANY (@aabany) on Apr 25, 2016 at 4:06pm PDT

Madhu's mom's interview advice: don't talk yourself up or you'll be perceived as arrogant. Mahdu soon realized that that was not such good advice. She had to learn to self-promote. #kickingglass #asianamerican #womeninlaw

A photo posted by AABANY (@aabany) on Apr 25, 2016 at 4:12pm PDT

Poojitha Rao provides advice on how to address the work/life balance with your employer. Define what you mean by it and find the right time to ask -- like when you just aced an assignment. #kickingglass

A photo posted by AABANY (@aabany) on Apr 25, 2016 at 4:18pm PDT

Manvin Mayell: speak up at meetings but don't say something just to talk. Prepare. Be proactive. #kickingglass

A photo posted by AABANY (@aabany) on Apr 25, 2016 at 4:22pm PDT

Thanks to Sapna Palla for moderating and thanks to all the panelists for imparting their insights #kickingglass

A devastating earthquake struck Nepal, leaving thousands dead and injured, and countless lives uprooted throughout South Asia. Join SABANY, AABANY, MuBANY, SABA-NJ, NetIP, SAJA and others to support the relief efforts for the victims of the earthquake. 

Where: Pranna When: Thursday, 6:30 - 9:30 p.m.

Please RSVP here: http://goo.gl/forms/4UouU2QJp0

What: Suggested donation $20

Drink Specials and passed appetizers.  

Find us at: https://www.facebook.com/events/920220614704463/

Proceeds from the event will be directed towards Adhikaar, a Jackson Heights based organization on improving the lives of the Nepali speaking community in NYC.  Adhikaar has been spearheading relief and recovery efforts in Nepal.

Additional information and to donate online see here: http://www.adhikaar.org/news/451.php

Additional organizations collecting funds for relief efforts include: 

Food For Life Global - http://www.ffl.org/en/ 

Blue Diamond Society - http://www.bds.org.np/donate-us/