Bombay Brasserie recently opened its doors to a second location in the Galleria area.  Bombay Brasserie, a Houston favorite, has been serving authentic Indian cuisine to the Houston area for over 6 years and seems to be expanding their horizons with this brand new location.  

Here’s the info:

Bombay Brasserie Gourmet Cuisine (2nd Location - New!)
3005 West Loop South
Suite 110
Houston, TX  77027
Bombay Brasserie (Original Location)
2414 University Blvd # 210
Houston, TX 77005
(713) 355-2000

Congratulations to Bombay Brasserie on the grand opening of their new restaurant!  We’ll be sure to visit you soon. 

Check out this article from the Houston biz Journal, which informs us that Bombay Brasserie is looking to spread their excellent dining experience to the Woodlands and Clear Lake by 2010!

Be aware!!! Times are tough and people will find all kinds of ways to scam people.

IRS Scam - Do not fall for any phone calls where you might hear “This is the IRS and we want to verify your bank account information”, or “You have not yet cashed your check etc.”. The IRS NEVER calls anyone, any and all correspondence are done via mail not by phone. This is a scam to get your account information.

IDProcs.com Scam - Please keep a close eye on your back account statements. If you see any charges from IDProcs.com, please notify your bank ASAP. These transactions are made by IDProcs.com and are in the amount of $31.98 to $149.95.

Is your business involved in any type of offshoring or manufacturing overseas?  Well, we know this is a hot topic for lots of our South Asian business owners, so we thought we’d dive in and explain the differences in opinion expressed by Senators Obama and Clinton over the past few days.

The main question is this - Who should I choose as a democratic candidate if I am currently manufacturing (or developing) my product offshore?  Who will best support my business model?  Maybe this will help you a bit…

Clinton - In her economic speech today, Clinton reinforced her stance on bringing the manufacturing sector back to the united states.  She feels the dependency on other countries puts the US in a crutch, and forces our economy to fluctuate based on others’ economic output.  She also feels that the solution to the economy is a job stimulus plan.  In order to bring jobs back to the states, she feels that we need to regulate the ability to utilize offshore and overseas manufacturing opportunities, therefore bringing those jobs back to the US.  She also believes heavily in governmental intervention, where the government should fund Health Care and other social plans.

Obama - Obama’s economic plan has encouraged and applauded offshoring of technology and manufacturing from day one.  His campaign believes if the U.S. continues to create equal dependancies of trade and manufacturing to overseas countries, it minimizes the threats we face around the globe.  Think about it, if China, India, Russia and other countries have a bigger stake in the U.S., they are less inclined to pose war and conflict against us.  He also believes that the solution for stimulating jobs is not to kill the offshoring industry, but rather to flourish it, and include the US in a more global economy.  Equalization and globalization helps promote world peace, in Obama’s eyes.

So there you have it…If you are a small business, you essentially have nothing to worry about if either candidate were elected.  However, if you are a big company, with solid operations, development or manufacturing in India, China or another overseas country, then you might be in for some tighter regulations and higher fees with Clinton.  Both democratic candidates have valid points, with very different points of views.  Obama definitely creates his strategy from a foreign policy standpoint, while Clinton is more focused on driving change within the country and relying heavily on the government for support.

We have not decided yet who we support as a Democratic nominee, but one thing is for sure.  We are in for a huge CHANGE.

Happy Holi everybody!  I hope all of you had a great Holi and threw powder all over your sister-in-laws, brothers, cousins, dads, uncles, mummy’s daddy’s cousin’s brother’s son, or whoever you care about.

Raghav and I went to the Music Masala Holi Event, and it was awesome!  We’ve never attended a Music Masala event, but we went because all of our friends told us how great it would be.  So, Raghav and I decided to head out to Oyster Park to see what all the fuss was about - we’re glad we went!

When we got there, it was already packed!  We arrived at the park around 2pm, and it was already difficult to find parking.  The security was guiding us through the parking lots and we could hear the music blaring from the park grounds.  People were already covered in colored powder and we think some of the uncles had already had their fair share of Bhang. 

When we got into the park grounds, it was a madhouse!  People throwing powder everywhere, the music jamming, Sunil T on stage dancing…you get the picture.

If you missed it, here is a video of the festivities.  Enjoy!

Raghav and Rohini’s Event Review:

Holi 2008, Festival of Colors - Location:  Oyster ParkDate:  March 23, 2008 (Sunday)

What we Liked:
Raghav and I enjoyed the festive feel to the whole event.  Sunil T is a great host - he’s a comic and also keeps the party going.  It was fun to see him on stage making jokes and also encouraging the kids to get up their and show their talent.  We also liked the music they were playing throughout the event..it made us want to just get up and start dancing.  We also loved that we got blessed with a BEAUTIFUL day in Houston!

Not so Hot:
We didn’t like the organization of getting in and out of the festival.  It was difficult because it was just tight traffic everywhere.  There was only one entrace we could find and things were moving slow.  Maybe next time, there can be more direction as to where to go or where to park.

If We Hosted the Event:
If Raghav and I hosted this event, we would definitely try and bring in a famous singer..there were so many people there that it could almost account for being a large concert.  It would be awesome to see someone like Dahler Mendhi come and rock the crowd with his bhangra songs.  I know it would be expensive, but it would add a nice addition to the party…maybe next year Sunil T?  Wink…Wink

Overall Rating:  5 out of 5 Stars….Great Event!

Has anyone seen the Billboard on 59 going south bound of Sunil T promoting the Music Masala radio station?  I was blown away when I first saw it!  Although I’m not an avid listener of the program, its awesome to see our South Asian Community really taking a stance in Houston and promoting themselves.  It is a great radio program that brings together the South Asian Community.  Much props to Sunil T and his crew for continuously promoting Desis!

Houston serves as a huge hub for South Asian businesses and entrepreneurs.  Our city has grown tremendously over the last 30 years, and so has the South Asian community in Houston.  Hillcroft has become a “little India” of Houston, but South Asian businesses thrive all around the city.

One of the latest businesses to thrive in Houston is Sabse Bada Rupaiya, Houston’s newest FREE desi magazine publication, which hit the stands in January.  Sabse Bada Rupaiya, published by Houston’s very own Nara Lakhani, provides the South Asian community in Houston a quick monthly glance into our own community.  The magazine offers local coupons and discounts, beauty and fashion advice, profiles on people and businesses, upcoming event info, vibrant community photos, and much much more!  The magazine is designed to offer content interesting to all ages.

In January, Sabse Bada Rupaiya successfully distributed over 10,000 FREE copies in and around the Houston area.  Local desi grocery stores, restaurants, beauty salons, travel agents and other businesses supported the distribution by hosting the magazine at their local businesses.   “In only 6 days, all of our copies were gone.  It seems people are very interested and curious to see what’s in this new magazine.”, says Mr. Dube, manager of India’s Restaurant. 

The entire SABAsearch.com team would like to congratulate Nara Lakhani for creating and introducing a solid publication  into the Houston South Asian marketplace.  We wish her and Sabse Bada Rupaiya all the best, and we hope that we continue to see young South Asian entrepreneurs strive to promote our businesses and community in ways similar to this.

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To subscribe and get your FREE publication of Sabse Bada Rupaiya, please visit the website at www.SabseBadaRupaiya.com or email at info@SabseBadaRupaiya.com

Thanks to Joyce for passing this along.  Enjoy!

A Patel family in Gujarat was puzzled when the coffin of their dead mother arrived from the US. It was sent by one of their daughters. The dead body was very tightly squeezed inside the coffin, with no space to spare. When they opened the lid, they found a letter on top addressed to her brothers and sisters:
Dear Chandrakantbhai, Arvindbhai, Mohan and Varsha:
I am sending Ba’s body to you, since it was her last wish that she be cremated in the compound of our ancestral home in Gujarat. Sorry, I could not come along as all of my paid leave is consumed.
You will find inside the coffin, under Ba’s body, 12 cans of cheese, 10 packets of Toblerone chocolates and 8 packets of Badam. Please divide these among all of you. On Ba’s feet you will find a new pair of Reebok shoes (size 10) for Mohan. There are also 2 pairs of shoes for Radha’s and Lakshmi’s sons. Hope the sizes are correct.
Ba is wearing 6 American T-shirts. The large size is for Mohan. Just distribute the rest among yourselves. The 2 new Jeans that Ba’s is wearing are for the boys. The Swiss watch that Reema wanted is on Ba’s left wrist.
Shanta masi, Ba is wearing the necklace, earrings and ring that you asked for. Please take them off her.The 6 white cotton socks that Ba is wearing must be divided among my nephews. Please distribute all these fairly.
Love,
Smita Patel
P.S.: If you need anything else please let me know soon, Bapuji is also not feeling too well nowadays.

Over the years Houston, Tx has closely been associated with the RODEO, all the events that occur in the month of March has a great impact on the Houston market. Lets take a closer look at the numbers…

Economic Impact
Direct Expenditures and Economic Impact

Although the financial impact of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo™ is felt by individuals and businesses directly involved with the organization, numerous other outlets throughout the city — as well as the entire globe — receive economic benefits from this massive event.

Total Direct Expenditures in Houston Metro $179,214,840

Total “New Money” From Outside Houston Metro $84,197,653
Economic impact of “new money” in Houston Metro  $210,494,132
(2.5 economic multiplier)
Economic impact of remaining expenditures $95,017,187
(1.0 multiplier)

New Money Impact and Remaining Expenditures $305,511,319

Import substitution effect (on remaining expenditures)$38,570,734

Total Estimated Economic Impact in the Houston Metro $344,082,053

Total Direct Expenditures Outside Houston Metro $42,737,734

Note: All of the money spent outside the Metro was new to the areas of the expenditures. Because the “economic engines” of the various areas are unknown to the Show, no economic multiplier is applied.

Total Direct Expenditures (world-wide) $221,952,574

Economic impact in Houston Metro $344,082,053
Direct expenditures outside the Houston Metro $42,737,734

Total World-wide Economic Impact $386,819,787

Total hotel/motel room nights in the Houston Metro 204,082

Total hotel/motel guest nights in the Houston Metro 465,512
Total guest/spectator/contestant/exhibitor meals 1,970,289

Source

So my question to you is Do you Rodeo? If not then I would highly recommend that you attend this weekend, since it’s the last weekend for this year. I remember when I went the first time a few years ago, seeing all the livestock show animals and all the rodeo competitions, I got to sit in the first row and really take it in. The fair right outside the reliant stadium is an event all by itself, the food and drinks and games that you can play. I also attended the shows in the evening and the whole experience was just truly wonderful. Made me feel like a true Texan that day. I would not mind going again, but next time I won’t forget the cowboy boots and hat, it is a must have. I would love to hear from the readers, their experiences when they went to the rodeo, was it good or bad?

Are you interested in getting FREE itunes?  Well, rumor has it that Apple is working out some partnerships with all of the media companies to help you do so.  So what’s the reason?

Nokia just came out with a phone that allows you to prepay a certain premium amount for the phone and then receive FREE downloads for an entire year thereafter.  Yes, you do pay a little bit more in the beginning for the phone, but compared to the amount of music you can dowload, it’s quite a bargain.

So, Apple, being the competitive giants they are, want to top the Nokia phone scheme.  They, on the other hand, want to offer consumers the ability to pay a premium for the iPod on a monthly basis and then have the ability to download unlimited free iTunes.

Now, before you wet your pants, this is not confirmed yet.  These are only rumors leaked by the Financial Times.  From what we’ve heard, this is their desperate attempt to keep up their record sales so that their stock price won’t dip any further.

But let us know what you think - if this does go through, will this be beneficial for us or do you think this is just a way for Apple to scheme more moeny away from the consumers?  Will you participate in this scheme?  Let us know what you’re thinking.

Here is an article about this topic.

What are your plans for this Sunday?  Well, if you don’t have any, then make sure you get out to the biggest Holi event to rock the city.  Holi 2008:  Festival of Colors will be hosted on March 23rd, 2008 by the Music Masla crew, Gujrati Samaj of Houston, TARA Energy and many other indian and desi organizations from around the area.

Did you miss the Masala Mela on Hillcroft or the huge bash in Sugarland Town Square?  Well, this is your chance to jump back into the fun.  The events hosted by Music Masala are drawing huge turnouts and you don’t wanna miss out.  This event will have everything from food, entertainment, rickshaw rides and of course, more colored powder than you could ever imagine.

Don’t forget to wear white to this event.  And by the way, its FREE

Here is a little bit more information on the event from the event listing on SABAsearch.com.  Enjoy!

Where:
Oyster Creek Park,
4033 State Highway 6 South,
Sugar Land,
Texas,
77479

Date and Time:
Mar 23 2008 11:00AM to 4:00PM

Contact Details:
281-277-6874

Hosted By:
Masala Radio, Gujarati Samaj, ICC and Tara Energy
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If you are hosting an interesting event in and around Houston, and would like to share it with our blog readers, please email us at Support@SABAsearch.com. 

Houston’s very own, Adil Jafry, CEO of Tara Energy has his eyes set on the Moon.  Yes, that’s right, Adil Jafry is set to lead one of the 10 teams competing for the Lunar X Prize, sponsored by Google.  This famous competition lures in the most impressive scientists and engineers, and we are proud to have Adil Jafry leading this iniative from the Houston area.

The Lunar X Prize is set to change the way we think of this world and what we can do within it.  Sending humans into space is the Lunar X Prize’s core competency and goal.  To learn more about this innovative competition, you can watch the Lunar X Prize Youtube Video.

Adil Jafry has named his team Chandah, which means “moon” in Sanskrit.  Here is an excerpt of Adil’s comments, which was published as an article on the Lunar X Prize website:

“The Google Lunar X PRIZE caught my imagination in January of 2008 just like deregulation of energy had done in January of 2002. It was challenging, required unlimited faith in oneself and his/her team, and a lot of ingenuity in solving the financial and technical challenges that would come ahead. Finally, the allure of undertaking the inordinately difficult task of flying a vehicle from Earth to Moon is itself an attraction – creating excitement that is hard to describe.

It was rare in 2002 for a no-name immigrant entrepreneur (myself) with very little to his name to launch an energy company with little more than a group of well-qualified young energy industry professionals who were driven by the desire and ambition to prove themselves against all odds. This team was required to singularly work hard and stay focused on their mission. In the end however, the TARA team prevailed against all odds – even as half the entrants in the deregulated energy industry in Texas disappeared.

I believe that the Google Lunar X PRIZE, much like the Orteig Prize, will create many future Charles Lindberghs. It will spawn new space technologies and products, and markets surrounding these products will ultimately emerge. In the end, Google Lunar X PRIZE entrants and competitors will have done more to evangelize and popularize opportunities in space for the masses than what could have been achieved by any one company, industry, or a government – and all this on the backs of private initiatives and private funding.

I am an entrepreneur and strongly believe in personal initiative, human ingenuity, hard work, and the abilities of individual private citizens with collective indomitable spirits to achieve the unthinkable. Particularly if lucky breakthroughs emerge as the initiative unfolds. As a student of Finance and Math, I have also been fascinated about how chance favors those who are bold, persistent, and have the staying power to continue tinkering (or rolling the dice) on the margins. Above all I enjoy the thrill of participating in probabilistic plays, where chances of success are limited and can be dynamically adjusted through preparation and innovation.”

SABAsearch.com wishes TARA Energy and Adil Jafry all the best for this competition, and we hope the entire South Asian community in Houston will also support this brave and beneficial effort by offering your thanks and best wishes to the entire TARA Energy team.

About TARA Energy:

Established in 2002 just as “Electricity Deregulation” was being set in motion by the Public Utility Commission, Tara Energy is a Houston-based Retail Electricity Provider (REP). The company provides “value” based electricity services to commercial and residential customers in Texas. The company is the leading affinity-based marketer of electricity in Texas with endorsements from numerous trade associations representing over 1.5 million members who trust Tara’s ability to offer superior value with impeccable customer service.  

Tara Energy is a grass-roots company that is growing rapidly through referrals from loyal customers who enjoy paying less for electricity and trust Tara to provide service with honesty, integrity and respect. By putting its customers first, Tara Energy enjoys one of the highest retention rates in the industry.

Tara Energy allows customer to choose and customize the offering that best meets their business needs. With products ranging from balanced billing and interval data-reading solutions, the Tara Energy team is bringing to fruition the true promise of deregulation and “Customer Choice,” with competitively priced electricity and highest service standards. Further, Tara Energy’s proprietary risk management tools allow mid-market customers to cap their price and consumption risk, obtaining certainty of cash flows.

The Houston Rockets have solidified their name in the record books by winning their 21st and 22nd games in a row. They are now the second team in history to win 22 games in a row, only behind the 71-72 Lakers who won 33. They are also in sole possession of the number one seed in the Western Conference.

Yesterday’s game against the Lakers showed the nation that we are for real. There were many skeptics that thought we did not stand a chance against Los Angeles. It feels so good to prove them wrong! The game yesterday was unbelievable. The crowd was going crazy, the media was all over the game, and the pressure of winning this game for the Rockets was incredible. If you would have told me that T-Mac was going to score 0 points in the first half, and only 11 points in total for the game, I would have been afraid to watch. But, just like the Rockets have shown in all these games, they played as a team. One person has a bad day, someone else will step up. This team has a lot of heart and it is awesome to see them play very unselfish basketball and as one unit.

Offensive player of the game is obviously Rafer “Skip to my Lou” Alston. He was in a zone yesterday and scored a career high 31 points, with 8 three-pointers. It is hard to believe that in the beginning of this year, he was on the verge of being released. The defensive player of the game is undoubtedly Shane Battier. All this guy cares about is winning. He brings so many intangibles to the court that makes his team and his teammates better.

I can hear the excuses already from the national media and the Lakers. Pau Gasol was out – yes he was, but once again, we are still missing our best player, Yao Ming. Even Kobe Bryant made excuses after the game. He said his “shot was flat”. Yeah right! Maybe it was Shane Battier’s hand in your face which prevented you from scoring! Come on, give credit where credit is due! Kobe had a quiet 24 points, on 11-33 shooting.

Either way, the Rockets played an outstanding game and should be proud. Unfortunately, they do not have much time to celebrate as the Celtics are coming into town tomorrow night. This is now the biggest game of the year (for us at least) as the number one seeds in the West and East play each other.

Game Info:
Boston Celtics at Houston Rockets
Date:  March 18, 2008
Tip-off: 8:30 pm
National TV: TNT

Below is a clip that was played during one of the Rockets half-time shows last week. It shows a few of the Rockets imitating Dikembe Mutombo. Check it out!

After reading this article on CNN.com, I wanted to evaluate my readers’ opinion on this very ridiculous gas price crisis that has gotten out of control in the last few months. So who is exactly getting rich off the high gas prices???

If you answered the gas station owner, then you are wrong. The average gas station owner makes between 7 to 10 cents per gallon of gas they sell. After paying back fees, workers, and other expenses, it really trickles down to maybe 3 to 4 cents. Ironically, gas station owners do not expect to make much profit from gas. Their profit comes from merchandise sold within the gas station; for example, coffee, food and other amenities. If you want to know more about this topic, check out the link below leave us a comment.

I would like to know how you feel about this and feel free to leave suggestions for those of us who are tired of paying a high price for gas.

Who gets rich off $3 gas - who doesn’t

India has yet another reason to brag.  India just received recognition for having the most individuals placed on the world’s TOP 10 Billionaire’s list, recently published by Forbes.com.   Lakshmi Mittal, Mukhesh Ambani, Anil Ambani and KP Singh all received placement on this prestigious list.

Here is a little more info on each of the Indian Billionaires, provided by Yahoo Finance:

Lakshmi Mittal:  #4, $45.0B

• Heads world’s largest steelmaker, $105 billion (sales) ArcelorMittal, which accounts for 10% of all crude steel production.
• Just delivered 580 tons to be used in construction of the World Trade Center memorial in New York.
• With 44% stake, is the company’s largest shareholder. Longtime resident of London is Europe’s richest resident.

Mukesh Ambani:  #5, $43.0B

• Asia’s richest resident heads petrochemicals giant Reliance Industries, India’s most valuable company by market cap.
• His fortune is up $22.9 billion since last year, making him the world’s second-biggest gainer in terms of dollars. The biggest gainer was his estranged brother Anil, who ranks sixth in the world, just behind his older brother.
• The sons inherited their fortune from their late father, renowned industrialist Dhirubhai Ambani.  But they couldn’t get along, and in 2005 their mother brokered a peace settlement breaking up the family’s assets.
• Mukesh is using some of his money to build a 27-story home.

Anil Ambani:  #5, $42.0B

• The year’s biggest gainer, Anil Ambani, is up $23.8 billion in the past year and is closing gap with estranged brother, Mukesh, who ranks one spot ahead of him in the world at No. 5.
• The sons inherited their fortune from their late father, renowned industrialist Dhirubhai Ambani.  But they couldn’t get along, and in 2005 their mother brokered a peace settlement breaking up the family’s assets.
• A marathon runner, his biggest asset is his 65% stake in telecom venture Reliance Communications.
• He recently raised $3 billion from the highly anticipated initial offering of his Reliance Power, the biggest in India’s history. Despite the hype, the stock tumbled 17% immediately after its February listing. In a bid to appease investors, company’s board recently approved the issue of bonus shares.
• Still feuding with brother Mukesh: battling him in court over a gas-supply agreement.

KP Singh:  #8, $30.B

• Singh is now the world’s richest real estate baron after listing his real estate development company DLF in 2007. The offering helped triple his fortune to $30 billion this year, up from $10 billion.
• A former army officer, known as K.P., he joined his father-in-law’s Delhi Land & Finance in 1961.
• Singh later built DLF City in Gurgaon, his showpiece township on the outskirts of Delhi, by acquiring land from farmers. Over time, he transformed it into one of India’s biggest real estate developers.
• Group plans to raise another $1.5 billion by listing a subsidiary in Singapore.
• A keen golfer, he now leaves son Rajiv, daughter Pia to run operations.

So the questions our teams have is this:  How much of this money is being used by these top-brass fellows to better the country of India?  Oh ya, that’s right, my man Mukesh is still too busy building his $1B house…hopefully the other bookoo-rich guys on the list have a little more understanding of Deepak Chopra’s second spiritual law of success - The Law of Giving.

Either way, we tip our hats to these fellas as they have helped bold India onto the world map once again.  

The Associated Press reports the results of a recent test of our nation’s drinking water and finds that small amounts of a variety of prescription drugs exist in our drinking water supplies. A vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans.

How do the drugs get into the water?

People take pills. Their bodies absorb some of the medication, but the rest of it passes through and is flushed down the toilet. The waste-water is treated before it is discharged into reservoirs, rivers or lakes. Then, some of the water is cleansed again at drinking water treatment plants and piped to consumers. But most treatments do not remove all drug residue but utility companies still insist that their water is safe.

Perhaps some new filtering devices for our drinking water supply are in order.  Any thoughts?