The Funny Indian Newsletter, Vol. 224
May 2025: Big, Beautiful Newsletter
Welcome
Welcome to The Funny Indian Newsletter!
Today marks 19 years for me in LA. Tough to believe I left Cincinnati nearly two decades ago.
I continue to post a lot of funny stuff (standup + interviews) on my YouTube, my Instagram, and my Facebook. Thanks for all the love!
I’m the celebrity guest for a golf charity event on June 28th here in LA. I guarantee lots of laughs—especially if you’ve never seen my golf swing.
And here I am on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. More on that in the next NL.
Musings
Rajiv on Regina
I've been pleasantly surprised how many comments I'm getting on this month's Gruntled column.
Last month, I shared Bob Lefsetz's take on life, which reminded me of the best life list I’ve ever read, and not just because I’m turning 50 myself next year.
Perhaps I’m biased as a fellow Ohioan and former Cleveland resident, but here are Regina Brett's, originally published in The Plain Dealer.
𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘁'𝘀 𝟰𝟱 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝟱 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝗼𝗻
I’m writing my reactions after each of her 50 points.
𝘛𝘰 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘐 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 45 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵-𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘯 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯. 𝘔𝘺 𝘰𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 50 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬, 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦:
1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.
I’m not sure it isn’t fair. Desiderata is my guiding philosophy, and to me, the key line is: “No doubt the Universe is unfolding as it should.” I think life would make more sense if we could see God’s entire plan, but we can’t, so it’s easier to accept that whatever befalls us has some greater meaning. It may not—and I respect the POV that life is a series of random events—but we’ll never know so I choose to accept that everything happens for a reason. In my experience, the people who believe this tend to be happier.
Click here to finish on Substack.
Updates
See
Future:
06/01: Akshaya Patra Gala (Boston, MA)
06/28: Akshaya Patra Golf Outing + Dinner (Los Angeles, CA)
Past:
05/02: Comedy Town LA @ Lyric Hyperion (Los Angeles, CA)
05/08 & 05/09: Wedding (Tuscany, Italy)
05/11: Green Mic Comedy (Paris, France)
05/18: ISKCON Temple Fundraiser (Chicago, IL)
05/25: Short Film Shoot (Los Angeles, CA)
Ask
Longest phone call you've ever had? Mine: 5 hours with my then-GF*.
*This was in the year 2000. The longest I'd ever heard of was two friends from high school. She said they were on the phone for 8 hours. In fact, he put her on hold for an hour. (Needless to say, they eventually broke up.)
This changed yesterday, when my Mom told me there was some kind of long-distance special: she & my Dad stayed on the phone with his brother and his wife for 12 hours.
And yes, I'll count Zooms, WhatsApps... anything live.
Click here for some fun answers on Facebook.
Ask
Looking for an artist who can draw people accurately. Please comment/message/tag. I'll tell you what the project is, but want to keep it under wraps for now. I think it's pretty cool.
Laugh
Since this is a FUNNY Indian Newsletter, I present here the 5 funny things that I saw, heard, wrote, or remembered for the last month... otherwise known as FIVE - Funny Indian's V Events. Enjoy.
I found this fascinating. Has fashion changed all that much in the last 22 years or so? People are making a lot of good points in the comments, so I’ll have to think about this.
Short clip from Amy Poehler. I’ve never understood money so maybe I’m younger than I think. That’s my key takeaway.
Maybe segregation isn’t a bad idea in this day and age…
Close
THANK YOU to all of you for your support. You are my true core of fans — I couldn't do this without you.
Love,
- Rajiv