Chicago Meetups

I've been visiting IM since March this year, and now that I've been to India (and hopefully will go back in March 2006), I am curious as to whether there are any others addicted to IM in the Chicago area. Appears to be many IMers on the east and west coasts, but only a few in the midwest.

Chicagoland is huge (6,000,000 people, just like Chennai!) and there is a very large Indian population here, so there HAS to be someone other than me! (actually, I do know one more IM addict but she has never posted...ha, ha, you know who you are... ).

So, just curious, and if there are more than two of us, anyone want to attempt a meet??

i am an IM'er from chicago, yet i am in india now.

however, you can tap into a wonderful community of india lovers at:

http://circusofthespirit.org/ (a wonderful event first friday of every month)

http://devi2000.org/flash/intro.html (a kirtan band of americans)

http://www.mokshayoga.com/ (a yoga studio with lots of great community events and workshops)

http://www.iwomp.com/index.php (our community's new year's celebration- which shows last year's info)

and, finally, there is the kopi's traveler cafe on the north side, where i've met plenty of people who've graced india soil.

(i'm assuming you know about devon itself, with all of the indians...)

I am also from Chicago, from the western burbs where many Indians and Pakistrani live.

If you are interested in a meetup, I am as good as there!

I'm from the windy city as well. I live right in downtown

WOO-HOO! Three of us so far (and one anonymous one that I know of.... )

Spent five years in Chicagoland. I sure do miss the place sometimes - some of the best years of my life. Would go back in a heartbeat.

Devon has got to be one of the greatest streets in the world. Nothing like a Saturday night on Devon when all the South Asians from the suburbs - with their kids all dressed up - come to town to see, be seen, resupply and soak up some culture. Or going to eat Indian food at three in the AM at one of the all night Indian restaurants that cater to the cabbies. All that mixed up with the Russians, Orthodox Jews, Assyrians and Croatians who share that street!

I wish I could be there for an IM Meetup! Then again, I am living in India now, so no complaints.

not just Devon Ave., but Chicago is a great city! of course, I am biased, being a born and raised south sider, but the one thing I miss living out in the 'burbs is the diversity, as you mention, seraph. The neighborhood where I grew up was a true melting pot of almost every European country. On my block alone there were about 10 different languages spoken....

hmmm.....tell me how Chicagoans end up in India and more importantly, work there???

Hi all,
I'm in Chicago as well, though I just discovered this forum last week.

Thanks for the links, livin-in!

I've been trying to keep up with Indian classical music in Chicago. It seems there's nothing going on in the Devon Street community (unless it's in private homes?), but lots of touring musicians stop by:

Saturday November 5- Ravi Shankar's Festival of India (http://www.cso.org/)

Ustad Faiyaz Wasifuddin Dagar
Wednesday, November 9, 7pm
Preston Bradley Hall (Chicago Cultural Center)
Wasifuddin Dagar represents the 20th unbroken generation of dhrupad singers in the Dagar family. Dhrupad is the oldest vocal and instrumental style of Indian classical music. The nature of Dhrupad music is spiritual, seeking not to entertain, but to induce deep feelings of peace and contemplation in the listener.

and...

http://www.desiclub.com has info on bhangra dances.

BTW I'm Rob. This is my first posting. I went on a two week trip to India last March and was overwhelmed, and frustrated that I only had two weeks. I'm hoping to spend 2-3 months as a volunteer in India this coming year.

Hi RTree! Glad to know you are in Chicago and so vitally interested in music. We just saw Aruna Sairam at the Hindu Temple in Aurora and was awestruck by her artistry and sense of collaboration. Their website is
http://www.balaji.org.

Should we think about trying an IM Meetup in Chicago? Perhaps as we message along about where and when, we might have more visibility with this thread and pick up some other Chicagoans.

Informal Chicago meet-up this Friday night, the 4th of November?

http://circusofthespirit.org/ (a wonderful event first friday of every month) is having an Indian theme this month, with (hopefully) a live video feed from my house in India!!!

Producers Emily and Preston Klik are lovers of India, yet haven't been there yet. They'll be visiting India for the first time this December. Lots of people who've been to India are attracted to this event, so maybe you IM'ers should plan on a meet-up there.

The evening will feature Indian musicians, dance, and lots of other stuff, including samosas!

Have fun! (Maybe one of you should IM the other ones on this thread)...

Friday night's schedule ($10 admission):


8-9:30p DRUM CIRLCE by Hazel L'Aura G + Ed Minka
8-10p INDIAN SITAR +world flutes by Ted Ceplina
8:18-9p
KIRTAN by Amy & the Ananda Bliss Tribe
9p-11p INDIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC by host Alexander Duvel & friends in Acoustic Arts
9p-midnight DJ PRESTON (+EMILY) KLIK spins a mix of 1-world global/dance
9:55p INDIAN vocalist Anita Aysola
10p INDIAN BHARATNATYAM/modern dance by Khatera Hakimi (www.natyarpana.com)
10:05p BHANGRA dance by Lucy Scharbach +Sara Yang +Pooja Rajput
11p KARMA SUTRA featuring MONA JETHMALANI (www. KarmaSutraMusic.com)

yes, yes, yes!!

ContraB, there is a big balaji temple in Chennai, also. did you know you can take tamil lessons at the aurora temple? That temple is only 15 min. from my house, but I could not go see the dance yesterday.

Hi Livin-In-India. I was rather not thinking shoulder to shoulder but face to face somewhere quiet enough to do that old fashioned thing called talking. There is a wonderful Indian restaurant off of the Elgin-Ohare Expressway that I can get the name of, nice compromise between city and western burbs. We could meet at 6 p.m. People want more they can later venture downtown for the other. That day I will already be fried from a force field course (???) and won't need any more religion-parading-as-science.

it is a good compromise. and yes, talking would be a good thing....

I'm all in favor of compromise. If you let me know the address, I will *try* to make it. Being a CTA boy I can get to O'Hare or Rosemont CTA no problem.

I definitely plan on making at least the beginning of the Circus of the Spirit.

Regarding the Hindu Temple...

I don't have any plans to convert to Hinduism any time in the immediate future . But I would be very curious to sit in on a religious service. One of the most spiritually uplifting experiences of my life was sitting in at an African-American gospel church on the south side. I'm just clueless as to whether doing the same with this temple would be kosher.