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At a time when women are no more talking about emancipation, bringing in the same income at home, and have equal rights as men, yet in the number of emails I get from women, many ask me as to why are they still considered to be not as smart as men? Why do women specific magazines focus only on beauty, household tips, child bearing and rearing articles? One reader emailed me to say ,” Sometimes I feel even the publisher of the magazines who run women specific publications want us poor souls to just sit at home and take care of the house and not pursue professions. A publisher should be unbiased.”
Most women magazines focus on the outer beauty of women-how to look young and beautiful and what cream works for you and which one for her etc. They are filled with articles and advertisements on how to cook a decent meal and where to get the best clothes in town along with pictures of beautiful models most intelligent women do not want to emulate knowing fully well that those pictures are all photo shopped.
One of our readers sent us shocking statistics on women and that if the women’s magazines would have been successful, there would not be 3 billion women who don't look like supermodels and only eight who do. Marilyn Monroe would not wear size 14 and that the average woman weighs 144lb and wears sizes between 12-14; as many as 70% of the women who flip through these magazines feel depressed and guilty thus resolving not to look at them again. Two decades ago, models weighed 8% less than average women and today they weight 23% less.
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There are contrasts-the great Mahatma Gandhi getting off a Third Class compartment while Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister getting off a First Class compartment at a railway station. There are moments captured in frames of Gandhi arguing with Mohammad Jinnah. Moments from chapters in history never seen before, captured in camera by an unknown but talented photographer Kulwant Roy. Aditya, his nephew, now is on a mission of getting some recognition for Roy as well as restoring the treasure the great man left behind. An exclusive report by Dr Neelam Verma.
The year was 1947. The country India. There was chaos everywhere. Deluge of people running helter skelter. Men, women, children, old men, old women, and the disabled the helpless were moving with their mere belongings from one place to the other. Pakistan was being carved out of India and there was misery. People were moving but were aimless. They did not know where they were going but the only thing they knew that they had to move. People from all walks of life suffered tremendous losses in terms of life and property during those times.
As things settled down, a young photographer by the name of Kulwant Roy set up shop in Mori Gate, in old Delhi, India. That shop was then called Associated Press. Over the next few years Kulwant witnessed close up many of the countless events that led up to the independence of India. Following mainstream national leaders, major meetings and events, travels and engagements, his work captured the spirit, energy, hopes and aspirations of those times.
Kulwant learnt the art of photography from Raj Gopal, of Gopal Chitra Kutter studio in Lahore, Pakistan. Documenting the meetings between Mahatma Gandhi and Khan Abdul Ghafar Khan in the North West Frontier Province in 1938, much before partition, at the time not realizing that those pictures were history in the making. In 1941, he joined Royal Indian Air Force and took aerial shots from cockpits of planes. However, he found it difficult to tolerate the discriminatory polices of his British superiors and left the service after he was court-martialled.
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Gary Mauser
Canada has a serious problem with drug gangs, as anyone can see who is not willfully blind. Canada's gang problem has been festering for decades, overlooked and even encouraged by long-standing federal policies and practices. What can be done?
To put this in perspective, Canadians are considered relatively safe on an international scale. According to United Nations surveys, Canada's homicide rate of 1.8 per 100,000 falls in the middle of the pack. India's homicide rate, at 3.5, is twice ours, and Mexico's at 13.4 is shockingly high. On the other hand, several countries, such as, Israel, Switzerland and England, all have homicide rates below 1.0. However, it is a truism that crime statistics are meaningless -- until you or your family face a criminal attack. If we wish to keep Canada's crime rates from getting worse, we must take action now.
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The legal changes in India regarding gay rights have given the only Sikh gay organisation in Vancouver a boost in their struggle for acceptability and protection in society. A special report.
More than a year after Sher Vancouver, the first social and support group for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender South Asians and their families was formed; things have started moving for the group. This is the second year when Sher Vancouver proudly took part in the gay pride parade in Vancouver. The group, formed basically for Punjabi gays, welcomes and supports everyone from any ethnicity and sexuality, though has affirmed that Sikhs or other Indo-Canadians can be gays too. The community can no longer live in denial and it is high time that they accept them as their own.
The group got further boost from their counterparts in India, where the Delhi High Court in its historic ruling asked for legalizing homosexuality. The ruling was upheld later by the Apex court of India. The day, many observed, would be remembered as a landmark in the history of human justice and equality. The judgement came after public interest litigation was filed by a voluntary group of gay rights, the Naz foundation. The Court in its judgement observed that Section 377 of the Indian Penal code, which criminalizes homosexuality is unconstitutional and discriminates against a section of the population. The Naz Foundation International (NFI) is an international agency that has been providing technical, institutional and financial assistance to gays, groups, collectives and organisations in South Asia since 1996, along with some countries in South-East Asia.
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“My mother is the most inspiring factor in my drive to succeed in life”-Kash Heed Kash P. Heed, currently the Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General was the first Indo-Canadian police chief and carries on his shoulders the heavy responsibility of a role model in his community. Heed graduated from the B.C. Police Academy in 1979 and began his career as an officer with the VPD. In June 2007 he lost out to Deputy Chief Jim Chu for the position of VPD's chief constable, but days later was appointed to that title in West Vancouver. He led the West Vancouver Police Department for 19 months and resigned on February 23, 2009 to contest elections for the B.C. legislature with Premier Gordon Campbell. He is also a published author who also teaches criminology and criminal justice at two B.C. colleges. He led the Indo-Canadian Task Force and inspired the formation of grassroots organizations dedicated to preventing gang violence. Though this is his first political experience, controversy is not far from him. Excerpts from an exclusive interview with The Asian Outlook:
Its been a few months in your new job, how are you adjusting?
I’m adjusting well, thanks. It’s a broad ministry, so there’s certainly been a lot of material to master in a short period of time.
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Editorial
Booming India deters future immigrants Every time I go to India, I come back impressed at the developments taking place in the world’s largest democracy. Economists predict that India will overtake Britain and have the world’s fifth largest economy within a decade. Read More
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