India and America might still be finding it difficult to retrieve their relations from post-Pokhran stress, but Indian-Americans here are going blithely ahead, settling down comfortably in this country and building a composite culture that takes in the best of both worlds.

.. There are individuals and organisations catering to the expatriate Indians' yearning for music from back home. It is a measure of their quality and effectiveness that' the audience at the functions organised by them contains a fair sprinkling of Americans ... A fine example ... was a solo ghazal performance at the prestigious Kennedy Center here by Vatsala Mehra, who is Washington-based and has, over the years, evolved into an outstanding ghazal singer and winner of the "Best International Woman Ghazal Singer Award" ... She regaled the audience for well over two hours with hardly a break ... One person who clearly understood the nuances of the Urdu poetry and appreciated the singing was Pakistani Ambassador Riaz Khokhar. (Source: The Indian Express, 22 March, 1999)