It was a winter’s day in 1999 and the Taliban were coming to dinner. Well, two representatives of the Taliban were coming to Maharaja Resta...
It was a winter’s day in 1999 and the Taliban were coming to dinner. Well, two representatives of the Taliban were coming to Maharaja Restaurant near the United Nations for a talk. Back then, I was running SAJA, the South Asian Journalists Association, a group of hundreds of journalists of South Asian origin across the US and Canada. SAJA had invited Abdul Hakeem Mujahid, the ambassador to the UN and N Zadran, first secretary, to one of its monthly gatherings.
“Pakora-eating meeting”, we called those gatherings, a chance to network and listen to guest speakers (authors Jhumpa Lahiri, Marina Budhos, Chitra Divakaruni, Bapsi Sidhwa, Abraham Verghese and many other journalists and experts would all be speakers later that year). In those days, it wasn’t so easy to meet other South Asian professionals, so the gatherings often attracted those looking to build business or romantic relationships. The restaurant gave us their backroom and pakoras and samosas for free, along with happy hour prices at the bar, and I would end each event holding a tip jar, trying to collect a dollar or two to give to the waitstaff.
Everything was light and informal at our meetings, but not on the day we are revisiting now. Some were...
