Jaya Iyer Launches Gender-Neutral T-Shirts for Kids

October 29, 2015 Ajay GhoshFashion, Women 0

Ever since Jaya Iyer’s daughter was a toddler, she had been fascinated by Saturn and its icy rings. When Swaha turned three, she had a space-themed birthday party. But when her mom went to find clothes with space images for Swaha, she couldn’t find any. They were all in the boys section. Jaya Iyer, an Indian American clothing designer is attempting to do away with gender-specific clothing for children. Iyer, 41, of Washington, D.C., launched her clothing line, Svaha, in response to not being able to find a girl’s shirt with an astronaut graphic on it.

Iyer, mother of two, who has a doctorate in fashion merchandising, started her own business called Svaha (which is how her daughter’s name is pronounced) to sell clothes that upend gender stereotypes. One shirt features a grinning green stegosaurus, the plates on its back adorned with polka dots. A second comes in a blazing pink hue, with an astronaut planting an American flag on the moon. That one should satisfy her daughter. “She was very upset with me for not ever buying her anything with astronauts on it,” Iyer says. “Then she started telling me: ‘I want a ninja on my shirt.'”

Svaha is one of several startups that have emerged in recent years with the goal of changing the standards that govern what kids wear. These upstarts aren’t looking to replace current kid’s apparel entirely. Instead, their founders say they want to provide children with more options. Handsome in Pink says it’s all right for boys to wear pink and purple. BuddingSTEM offers science-themed garb for girls. Perhaps the buzziest label is Princess Awesome, which raised more than $200,000 in a successful Kickstarter campaign, showing demand for pirate-themed dresses and girl’s apparel covered in the symbol for pi. Most of the ventures remain in early stages as online-only entities using crowdfunded or bootstrapped cash to sell small numbers of shirts or dresses.

Originally from Dharwad, Karnataka, Iyer earned her undergraduate degree in India and moved to the United States in 2001 to pursue her master’s in fashion merchandising from the University of Georgia and her doctorate in the same field from Iowa State University. “Since I have experience in this industry, I decided to create a line of T-shirts,” the Indian American entrepreneur told India-West.

Jaya Iyer Launches Gender-Neutral T-Shirts for Kids — Jaya Iyer with her daughter

Iyer launched a Kickstarter campaign with her Svaha partners, Eva Everett and Mansi Patney, and raised more than $30,000 to fund the project. With the funding in the rearview mirror, Iyer noted the hardest part was finding graphic designers and production on a limited budget.

“I wanted to make the T-shirts in the U.S., but, since I was going to do small quantity, nobody was responding to me,” she explained. “I have been able to find a factory in India who is able to help me with production.”

Iyer said the next hurdle Svaha faces is reaching a wider audience, but she remains optimistic it will be accomplished. Svaha has zero gender discrimination, according to Iyer.

“We have astronaut, cars and diggers, along with T-shirts in pink, blue and purple for both girls and boys,” she said of the product. “We also have many STEM-based designs for both girls and boys. “We want to provide children with clothes through which they are able to show their love for anything that they want,” the designer added. “It does not have to be limited to princesses and pink for girls and cars and blue for boys.”

In addition to the design, Iyer said all the customers rave about the feel of the shirts, saying it is like silk, though the shirts are 100 percent cotton. Soon, Svaha hopes to shift to 100 percent organic cotton. “We want to be different and appealing to our customers in many different ways,” she said. Svaha has opened an Amazon store and Iyer said the business is continuing to grow steadily, though the company still has “a long way to go.”

Currently, Svaha offers T-shirts and dresses but plans to expand to more dresses, leggings and boys and girls underwear. In the future, she would like to add non-clothing items like towels and sheets, among other things. Iyer has taught fashion merchandising at Marymount University in Arlington, Va., for nearly five years. She has also authored “Retailing in Emerging Markets” and has been a buyer at ThinkGeek.

Anita Adalja Honored as ‘Champion of Change’

October 29, 2015 Ajay GhoshCommunity, Profiles, Women 0

Anita Adalja, an Indian American farmer manager, was among 12 individuals from across the country who were recognized as White House Champions of Change for Sustainable and Climate-Smart Agriculture at an event in Washington, D.C. Oct. 26.

These individuals were selected by the White House for their achievements and will be honored for their exemplary leadership and innovation in agricultural production and education. The Champions have helped implement agricultural practices that promote soil health and energy efficiency, improve water quality, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Adalja, a manager at the Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture, has worked to create a more equitable and sustainable food system by increasing food access, sustainable farming, farmer training and ‘farm-to-school’ education. Under her management, Arcadia Farm grows thousands of pounds of naturally grown produce that is sold in low- or no-food access areas in Washington, D.C., through its mobile farmers’ market program. A social worker by training, Adalja has previously farmed at One Woman Farm in Gibsonia, Pa., and was the farm manager for Common Good City Farm in Washington, D.C.

The awards ceremony featured remarks by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and was live-streamed Oct. 26 at 2 p.m. ET. “My commitment to food access, food justice and community building was solidified through this experience. From there, I threw myself into farming by attending an apprenticeship programme at the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems in Santa Cruz. I haven’t looked back since,” she said in a United States Department of Agriculture blog recently.

The Champions have helped implement agricultural practices that promote soil health and energy efficiency, improve water quality, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Anita, has worked to create a more equitable and sustainable food system by increasing food access, sustainable farming, farmer training and farm-to-school education.

Under her management, Arcadia Farm grows thousands of pounds of naturally grown produce that is sold in low-or no-food access areas in Washington, through its mobile farmers’ market program. A social worker by training, Adalja has previously farmed at One Woman Farm in Gibsonia, Pa, and was the farm manager for Common Good City Farm in Washington.

Women Earn 24% Less Than Men on Average, U.N. Report Finds

October 27, 2015 Ajay GhoshFinance/Economy, Women 0

Washington, DC: Why isn’t the global economy fit for women? A flagship report, Progress of the World’s Women 2015-2016: Transforming Economies, Realizing Rights, we investigate what this failure means – and propose solutions, takes a fresh, holistic look at both economic and social policies and their implications for the entire economy. It looks particularly at the ‘invisible’ economy of unpaid care and domestic work that anchors all economies and societies.

The globalised economy seems to be working at cross-purposes with our universal vision of women’s rights; it is limiting, rather than enabling them. Where there is no choice, there are few rights. Women are still earning significantly less money than men, despite working longer hours when paid and unpaid work is taken into account, a new U.N. report reveals.

The U.N. Women report shows that even though more women are in the workplace and taking on leadership positions worldwide, pay levels are nowhere near reaching equality worldwide. On average women around the world earn 24% less than men, the report says, and earn just half of the income men earn over a lifetime. Women in South Asia experience the greatest gender pay gap, earning 33% less than men. The Middle East and North Africa have a 14% pay gap.

Women do nearly 2½ times more unpaid and domestic work compared with men and are less likely to receive a pension. Only half of working-age women are in the workforce compared to three-fourths of working-age men.

Conventional measures like GDP have historically been blind to a large proportion of the work women and girls do, and unhearing of the voices of those who would wish to allocate public resources to their relief, for example through investments in accessible water and clean energy.

“Our world is out of balance. It is both wealthier and more unequal today than at any time since the Second World War. We are recovering from a global economic crisis – but that recovery has been jobless. We have the largest cohort ever of educated women, yet globally women are struggling to find work. Unemployment rates are at historic highs in many countries, including those in the Middle East and North Africa, in Latin America and the Caribbean as well as in southern Europe,” a report says.

Where women do have jobs, globally they are paid 24 per cent less than men, on average. For the most part, the world’s women are in low-salaried, insecure occupations, like small-scale farming, or as domestic workers – a sector where they comprise 83 per cent of the workforce.

Data from France, Germany, Sweden and Turkey suggest that women earn between 31 and 75 per cent less than men over their lifetimes. We need policies that make it possible for both women and men to care for their loved ones without having to forego their own economic security, success and independence.

But there are solutions. The report proposes a number of specific ways in which to mobilise resources to pay for public services and social transfers: for example by enforcing existing tax obligations, reprioritising expenditure and expanding the overall tax base, as well as through international borrowing and development assistance.

Global corporations also have a central role to play by being employers that offer equal pay and opportunities. Shareholders can and should ask corporations to act with responsibility to the countries in which they operate. Annual tax revenue lost to developing countries due to trade mispricing, just one strategy used by corporations to avoid tax, is estimated at between 98 and 106 billion dollars. This is nearly 20 billion more than the annual capital costs needed to achieve universal water and sanitation coverage.

With the right mix of economic and social policies, governments can make transformative change: they can generate decent jobs for women and men and ensure that their unpaid care work is recognized and supported. Well-designed measures such as family allowances and universal pensions can enhance women’s income security, and their ability to realise their potential and expand their life options.

Finally, macroeconomic policies can and should support the realisation of women’s rights, by creating dynamic and stable economies, by generating decent work and by mobilising resources to finance vital public services. Ultimately, upholding women’s rights will not only make economies work for women, it will also benefit societies as a whole by creating a fairer and more sustainable future. Progress for women is progress for all.

As a solution, the report suggests creating an economy that prioritizes women’s needs. It provides 10 recommendations for governments and other key players to adopt, such as creating more and better jobs for women, reducing occupational segregation, and establishing benchmarks to assess progress in women’s economic and social rights.

First Woman of Indian Descent Made Postmaster in California

September 17, 2015 Ajay GhoshWomen 0

An Indian American woman has become the first female to be appointed as the postmaster in Sacramento city in California in last 166 years, a media report said. Jagdeep Grewal will oversee 1,004 employees who process and deliver mail on 537 city routes and 94 rural routes – and fill nearly 20,000 post office boxes, American Bazaar news portal reported on Wednesday.

According to reports, Grewal who earned her bachelor’s and master’s degree from Punjab University, started her career in postal services in 1988 as a window clerk. She was promoted to the post of manager after five years of service.

Referring to the steep decline in the usage of postal services due to internet and courier services, Grewal said that she looked forward to working with Sacramento’s Postal Service employees during a challenging time.

“It is only through joint effort and collaboration that we can truly meet our mission of providing extraordinary service while keeping costs down,” Grewal was quoted as saying.

She has also worked as a postmaster in Pacifica-Daly City, California. The US Postal Service is facing cash crunch and recently reported a net loss of $586 million earlier this year.

Pooja Nagpal Named Girl Scout Of USA’s National Young Women of Distinction

September 14, 2015 Ajay GhoshWomen 0

Pooja Nagpal, an Indian-American from Greater Los Angeles, was recently named recipient of 2015 National Young Women of Distinction by the Girl Scouts of United States of America (GSUSA). Pooja, along with nine other young women honorees will be celebrated Oct. 7 at the Edith Macy Conference Center in New York.

“Our 2015 National Young Women of Distinction have demonstrated remarkable leadership through their extraordinary “Take Action projects,” said Anna Maria Chávez, CEO of GSUSA. “At such a young age, these girls are creating positive change in their communities, identifying local solutions that relate to global issues, and taking sustainable action to make a difference in the world. We are proud to recognize the contributions and achievements of these exceptional girls and cannot wait to see how they continue to inspire, influence, and innovate as the leaders and social entrepreneurs of tomorrow,” according to a GSUSA press release quoting Maria Chávez.

Extraordinary females are receiving the highest Girl Scout honor because their Gold Award projects demonstrate extraordinary leadership, have measurable impact and sustainability, and address a local, national, and/or global issue. From addressing the decline in bee populations and working to stop violence against women to providing wider access to an array of educational tools for people of varying ages, these girls are igniting meaningful change in their communities and around the globe.

Nagpal’s project focused on ending violence against women worldwide by teaching self-defense to women and girls in rural villages in Himachal Pradesh, India, and battered women’s shelters in Los Angeles, California.

As a second-degree black belt in Taekwondo, who is also trained in street fighting, Pooja created a two-part curriculum that not only successfully strengthened girls’ and women’s physical abilities but also exercised their mental acuity through discussions and activities around leadership, community service, confidence, and education.

This past year she founded “For a Change, Defend”, a non-profit, and spoke at numerous events to raise awareness around domestic violence and female empowerment. The Girl Scout Gold Award, which turns 100 in 2016, represents the highest achievement in Girl Scouting. According to Girl Scout research, Gold Award recipients rate their overall success in life significantly higher than non-recipients and report greater success in reaching their life goals.

Moreover, they feel their accomplishments in their lives (95 percent), their education (94 percent), their careers (92 percent), and their financial life (78 percent) are largely due to the unique experiences they had and the skills they developed through the Girl Scout program.

Jhumpa Lahiri to be presented with National Humanities Medal

September 14, 2015 Ajay GhoshWomen 0

Indian-American Pulitzer Prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri has been selected for the prestigious 2014 National Humanities Medal which would be presented to her by US President Barack Obama next week. Jhumpa, 48, has been selected for the award for enlarging the human story, the White House said here last week. “In her works of fiction, Lahiri has illuminated the Indian-American experience in beautifully wrought narratives of estrangement and belonging,” the White House said in a statement.

Among other awardees include historians, writers, a philosopher, scholar, preservationist, food activist and an education course. First Lady Michelle Obama will also attend the awards ceremony at the White House on September 10. “The National Endowment for the Humanities (NHE) is proud to join President Obama in celebrating the achievements of these distinguished medalists,” said NEH Chairman William Adams.

“The recipients of this medal have sparked our imaginations, ignited our passions, and transformed our cultural understanding. They embody how the humanities can serve a common good,” he said. In addition to Lahiri, Obama would present the awards to Clemente Course in the Humanities, Annie Dillard (author), Everett L Fly (architect and preservationist), Rebecca Newberger Goldstein (philosopher and novelist), Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham (historian), Fedwa Malti-Douglas (scholar), Larry McMurtry (novelist), Vicki Lynn Ruiz (historian) and Alice Waters (author and food activist).

The first National Humanities Medal was awarded in 1996. Since then, there have been 175 recipients, 163 individuals and 12 organisations, including this year’s. The White House also announced recipients of the 2014 National Medal of Arts.

Jhumpa is an Indian-American author who was born as Nilanjana Sudeshna but goes by her nickname (or in Bengali her “Daak naam”) Jhumpa. Her debut short story collection ‘Interpreter of Maladies’ won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and her book ‘The Lowland’ was a nominee for the Man Booker Prize.

She is currently a professor of creative writing at Princeton University.

Vini Samuel Could Be First Indian American Female Mayor

September 13, 2015 Ajay GhoshProfiles, Women 0

Vini Samuel, Montesano, Washington mayoral candidate aced a primary election and is on her way to becoming the nation’s first Indian American female mayor. The tiny town of Montesano in northwest Washington state has approximately 2,300 registered voters; about half voted in the primaries. Samuel garnered 47 percent of the vote, trumping incumbent Mayor Ken Estes, who received 27 percent, and Montesano city councilman Tyler Trimble, who won 25 percent. Samuel will face off against Estes in the Nov. 3 election.

The candidate believes she has clinched the race. “I just need to keep my head down and stay out of trouble,” Samuel laughingly toldIndia-West in a telephone interview. If elected, Samuel will also be Montesano’s first female mayor and its first minority mayor.

Samuel, who was born in Quilon, Kerala, and raised in Juneau, Alaska, characterized the tiny town of Montesano as “a little piece of Americana.” “The kids still bike on the streets and go fishing. You enter a different reality,” she said, comparing it to the mythical town of Mayberry, RFD, which was the setting for the popular 1960s television sitcom, “The Andy Griffith Show.”

“I want to preserve this place. You really don’t have pockets like this anymore,” stated Samuel, who has lived in Montesano for 18 years with her husband, Guy Bergstrom, who works for the Democratic Caucus in the Washington state House of Representatives, and their son, Thomas, 13. Samuel’s parents, Pona Samuel and Samuel Thomas, also live nearby.

Montesano – about 50 miles away from Olympic National Forest – features three lakes. The town is also the county seat for Grays Harbor County. Samuel, who has previously served on Montesano’s city council, said she was campaigning on the issue of transparency in city politics. She questioned the recent sale of a parcel of waterfront property which sold well under market for about $20,000. The sale was approved by the city council with the stipulation that an easement would be built to allow residents to have waterfront access at the property.

Instead, the property was developed without the easement, disallowing public access to the waterfront, she said. Speculation about a backroom deal between Estes and the developer has been rife. Samuel also sounded off against Estes’ interactions with a deaf city councilwoman, Marisa Salzer, who had requested an interpreter during city council meetings. A confrontation on the issue became more divisive when the city attorney asked Salzer for copies of her private e-mail, alleging the councilwoman used her official and private accounts interchangeably. Salzer has since resigned and wrote in her resignation letter: “I can no longer tolerate the unfair working conditions of discrimination and harassment against me for requesting accommodations from the city for my hearing disability.”

Samuel said she also wants to leverage limited resources for the town’s three elementary schools. Washington state provides insufficient funding and the tax base of the small town cannot meet the schools’ budgetary needs. “But the community here is amazing. I have never seen them say no to anything related to kids,” she told the media.

Samuel regards Wi-Fi as basic infrastructure and said she wants to have free Wi-Fi access throughout the downtown area. Washington’s baby boomers are increasingly moving into Montesano, attracted by lower housing prices in a scenic location. The candidate said more services need to be in place for the town’s aging population.

Samuel attended Western Washington University, where she received a B.A. in history and English literature; she obtained her law degree from Seattle University.

Nikki Haley’s New Chief of Staff Swati Patel Reminisces About Roots

September 13, 2015 Ajay GhoshPolitics, U.S., Women 0

Swati Patel, who became South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s chief of staff this month, remembers feeling like a “rare bird” while growing up in Anderson. Haley announced Aug. 26 that she has chosen Patel to replace James H. Burns as her chief of staff. Burns is returning to the Nelson Mullins Riley and Scarborough law firm where he was a partner before joining Haley’s team in 2014.

“I can’t think of anyone who is more widely respected or uniquely qualified to lead our team than Swati Patel,” said Haley in a statement issued by her office. “(Patel’s) steady leadership as legal counsel has strengthened our staff, guided our administration and helped us deliver results to the people of South Carolina — and, as chief of staff, Swati will keep that momentum going.”

Like Haley, Patel is an Indian American, the daughter of Indian immigrants. In the 1960s, her parents each came to Raleigh, N.C., where her father graduated from North Carolina State University with a master’s degree in mechanical engineering. He later worked at the Owens Corning and Bosch plants in Anderson.

Patel was 6 years old when her family moved to Anderson. At the time, she said, there were only about five Indian American families living here. “Growing up as the child of immigrants in the 1970s in a small town in South Carolina, you were definitely looked at as different,” said Patel, who attended Concord Middle School, McCants Middle School and T.L. Hanna High School.

“I never felt unwelcome or discriminated against,” she said. “People just didn’t know how to categorize me.” A University of South Carolina graduate, Patel, 44, is the wife of a Columbia physician and the mother of a 10-year-old son and a 5-year-old daughter. Her younger sister is a pediatrician in Charleston. Patel has spent almost her entire professional career at the Statehouse complex in Columbia.

While in college, she was appointed to serve as a page by Alex Macaulay, a former state senator and retired judge from Walhalla. After receiving her law degree, Patel worked with legislative committees and the state Judicial Merit Selection Committee.

Patel has a decade of experience as an attorney in the governor’s office. She was deputy legal counsel and then chief legal counsel for former Gov. Mark Sanford before becoming Haley’s top legal adviser in 2011.

Patel said the added managerial responsibilities will be one of the biggest challenges of her new position. She said she hasn’t given any thought to her next career move after Haley’s final term as governor ends in January 2019. “I am just taking it day by day and week to week,” Patel said.

Kiran Gandhi Sparks Global Conversation on Menstruation

September 9, 2015 Ajay GhoshHealth, Women 0

Indian American Kiran Gandhi, a Harvard Business School graduate and a professional drummer, said the silence about the subject has to end, and she was happy to have started “a global conversation online” regarding periods. Since then, she has become an Internet sensation after completing the 2015 London Marathon April 26 sans any sanitary protection during her period in a bid to end the stigma on menstruation.

Born to Wall Street investment banker Vikram Gandhi and social activist Meera Gandhi, she said that after her “free bled” episode went viral, she received letters from diverse countries, including Iran, India, Pakistan and Croatia.

In an e-mail interview with IANS, Gandhi, 26, who has toured globally as a drummer with M.I.A and Thievery Corporation and has been profiled widely by the media for juggling her busy student life with the hectic schedule of a musician, said the world is now talking about periods and how women face the pain in silence.

Asked whether she was able to raise awareness about the issue, she said: “(It has) started a global conversation online that I never could have expected. Just yesterday a brave young woman emailed me a screenshot of her on Whatsapp. It was between her and her trainer, in India. She said that for many years she never told her trainer why she misses certain days of working out each month, but, finally, because of this conversation, she had the courage to say it was because of her period.”

Gandhi said the woman’s trainer created a plan that wouldn’t be as painful or uncomfortable for her so that she could still come in and train. “Imagine — that stigma prevents something as simple as women being able to have honest conversations with their coaches about something natural.”

Gandhi, who was preparing for the London marathon for over a year, got her period a day before the event. She had two options: opt out of the first 26.2-mile race or run and let it flow. She chose the second option. She ran the 41.195 km alongside two of her closest friends, completing the course in 4 hours and 49 minutes, with her running pink pants stained.

“I have received letters from women in Iran, fathers from India, fellow marathoners, young girls from Pakistan to Croatia. I believe that women constantly have to prioritize the comfort of others around them at their own expense. In this case, it felt most comfortable for me to run without anything that might chafe or hurt me. I knew that by the very nature of a marathon course, I could actually liberate myself from this type of oppression. That on a marathon course, I didn’t have to think about how I looked or what people thought of me. That no one can tell you anything if you’ve just run a marathon. The respect of running a marathon speaks first and foremost for itself.”

She now wants to continue “speaking to intelligent and forward thinking people” and the media about the issue as often as possible to raise awareness. Most praised her bold act, but there were some who slammed her, calling the move “disgusting” and “unhygienic.” To her, such reactions only further solidified that people are “deeply uncomfortable with a natural and normal process.

“I didn’t need to be the one to respond to these opinions — women’s and men’s voices chimed in from all around the globe to respond to these feelings of disgust. And the very fact that doctors have already debunked the myths around my run just goes to show how taboo and silence prevents real education and awareness about menstrual health to permeate,” Gandhi told the media.

She said she was aware that in India many girls and young women use unhygienic sanitary pads or dirty cloth but was proud that two NGOs — She Innovates and Saathi Pads, whose founders went to Harvard Business School like her — are doing tremendous work. Gandhi, who has famous parents working in the social sector, said it was heartening for her when she got tremendous support from her family.

Asked about the reaction of her family, she said: “Of utmost support, intelligence and joy, they understood that this act has nothing to do with a girl running a marathon and everything to do with a global problem that needs to be addressed.

“And having them behind me has been exactly the kind of strength I’ve needed to move forward and do my best work. My mom started The Giving Back Foundation, which focuses primarily on women’s and girls issues. My father started Asha Impact Investing, which supports microfinance in India,” Gandhi said. “Both of my parents raised my brother and sister to be socially conscious and especially aware of women’s issues,” Gandhi added.

Alysha Brilla Organizes Topless ‘Bare With Us’ Protest

August 31, 2015 Ajay GhoshSocial Media, Women 0

“Bare With Us” demonstrators gathered at the Waterloo Town Square in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2015. The rally and march were organized by three sisters who were stopped by a police officer for biking topless a week ago. Local media reports said people were waving banners and wearing body paint with messages including “everyone has the right to NOT be harassed” and “Bare With Us! They’re just boobs!”

Musician Alysha Brilla said she and her sisters were not wearing shirts while cycling in Kitchener, Ontario, on July 24 when a male police officer drove up beside them and told them to cover up because it is the law. Brilla said she told the officer he was wrong and that when she started filming the interaction on her cellphone, the officer said he had only wanted to check if the women had proper bells and lights on their bicycles.

Ontario women have had the right to go topless in public since 1996. A similar incident in June garnered headlines after an 8-year-old was told by city staff in Guelph, Ontario, to cover up while she was in a wading pool wearing only a swim bottom.

“It was really well attended, and the people who came were very supportive. I had no idea how polarizing the issue would be. I thought people would not be so disturbed by the female breast. We just want to advocate and let people know that they do have this right,” Brilla was quoted as saying.

Alysha Brilla Organizes Topless “Bare With Us” Protest

They carried slogans of “They feed you, they breed you, but they sure as hell don’t need you” through the streets. Another one read: “They are boobs, not bombs, chill out.” Police in Canada allegedly stopped the three sisters for cycling topless a week ago in Kitchener, Ontario.

A male police officer who asked them to cover up to comply with the law was told that women in Ontario had the right to go topless in public since 1996. As Brilla started recording their conversation on her phone, the policeman changed his stance and said he stopped to check if their bikes had proper bells and lights for safety.

Tweet by Deepa Kumar, Rutgers Professor in Fox News Crosshairs

August 31, 2015 Ajay GhoshSocial Media, Women 0

A Tweet by Deepa Kumar, an associate professor of media studies at Rutgers University, had tweeted — “Yes ISIS is brutal, but US is more so, 1.3 million killed in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.” She linked that tweet to a story which ran on the left-leaning radio station Democracy Now, which interviewed authors of a new report on casualties in those regions and estimated the deaths at 1.3 million.

That was in March this year. Now, months later, her tweet has led to a virtual ideological war about freedom of expression after Deepa Kumar likened the brutality of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, ISIL, to war casualties from the U.S. involvement in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

As per reports here, Fox News in its popular day-time show “Outnumbered” on July 27, featured a discussion on Kumar’s tweet where Judge Andrew Napolitano, Fox’s senior judicial analyst, and several panelists panned Kumar, but agreed she had the right to hold and express her views. The comments however, went further, questioning whether it was right for a publicly funded university to hire professors with these seemingly anti-American views, a paradoxical argument for and against free speech. The commentators also accused Kumar of leading the charge against inviting former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice as commencement speaker in 2014. Rice withdrew in the face of opposition from sections of the faculty and students.

Following the high profile Fox News coverage, Kumar provided her defense to the journal Inside Higher Ed, which in its July 29 report, “Targeted for Tweets” says things were pretty low key after Kumar’s March tweet, until “far-right” blogs and Fox News ran with it. “Now Kumar is being flooded with hate mail and even violent threats,” it says. Kumar did not respond to News India Times request for an interview.

Kumar, however, did speak to Inside Higher Ed. “This is not the only case of a professor being targeted by Fox News and by the right — in fact, there’s a long history here of trying to silence and intimidate faculty who have dissenting opinions on the U.S. government and policies in the Middle East,” she said. “The only way to push back and defend myself is to be public about it.”

She also countered Fox News discussants’ assertions that she orchestrated the charge against Condoleeza Rice. Her defense – faculty wanted to “engage” Rice in a “dialogue” rather than hear her commencement speech. “They distorted a bunch of things about what I’ve said and done,” Kumar complained. According to the Inside Higher Ed piece, responses have contained racist and sexist slurs. A fellow professor at Rutgers accused Fox News of presenting a tweet out of context months after it was made, and argued that the public could not understand the comment in a “larger context.

Kumar is no stranger to vitriol on the Web. On Sept. 11, 2013, after she gave an interview to a relatively obscure web news channel, “breakingtheset” which had a few thousand listeners, one apparent Rutgers alumna fumed, “She just lectured that America is more brutal than ISIS, and Rutgers is funding this …. I’ll have to remember it on the next Rutgers alumni fund drive when they call me begging for money.” Kumar said Fox News coverage of her tweet followed after a far-right group called SoCawlege published her Twitter history after a June conference on terrorism studies where she spoke and made a slide presentation.

Democrat Nidhi Makhija Contests Bridgewater Mayoral Race

August 31, 2015 Ajay GhoshPolitics, U.S., Women 0

For the first time in the history of the state of New Jersey, an Indian American woman, a Democrat, Nidhi Makhija is contesting a mayoral race in the town of Bridgewater. The town’s current Mayor Dan Hayes has filed to run for re-election in the November race, and he will face Democratic challenger Nidhi Makhija.

Innovator, IT Business Executive & Partner, Nidhi Makhija is primed to move from private consulting to public service with her vision to lead Bridgewater Township to the list of “TOP 10 Most Livable Towns in New Jersey.” A keen community player, she hopes to improve citizen quality of life and governance in the township through her methodical approach of planning, implementation and management of her “4C Model” for the Township.

Nidhi was born the youngest daughter in a family of four sisters in a small town in India. With an Engineering undergraduate degree, she went on to earn a Business Management MBA in Finance. A U.S. Big Five Consulting job offer started her American Dream where she’s worked with some of the most influential companies across the U.S. and the globe. She is now a thriving entrepreneur, business IT consultant, mother of 2 children & an American Citizen who is ready to give back to the community that helped her become more of the leader she is today. She believes women play natural roles as nurturers, planners, leaders, innovators, managers, organizers& caregivers. Now is the time to play an even greater role fueling local government success and contribution. Her life’s philosophy is made up of the three pillars below. She hopes to apply that philosophy to improve the quality of life of the citizens of Bridgewater Township.

Career Highlights & Milestones include, over 20 years of significant multi industry, national & international experiencein Fortune 500 as a IT & Business Consultant; worked with powerhouses such as KPMG, Siemens, Price Waterhouse, Bearing Point, etc. Undertook sponsored training on Leadership from YALE School of Management, Connecticut; financial oversight of budgets ranging from $100,000 to $10 million; implemented solutions for reputed companies such as General Motors, Siemens Public Service Networks & Communications, Government of Pennsylvania, SSM Healthcare, Mosaic Agro, Symbol Technologies etc., and Civic Service engagement with Education Foundation of Bridgewater Raritan, 4H Youth Development, Somerset County Leadership Program, School PTO, Actively supports South Asian NGOs.

Stars of New York City Ballet, Indian Kathak Dance, and Chinese Kunqu Opera Share Stage

August 4, 2015 Ajay GhoshEntertainment, Women 0

Renowned former ballerina Wendy Whelan, explosive dynamo Indian Kathak dancer Parul Shah, and effervescent Kunqu opera star Qian Yi came together on stage in New York last month to explore the connections of their performing arts forms. The program took place as part of Asia Society’s annual View points series, which highlights new ideas in the creative world.

Each of the three performers represented a rich classical tradition. Ballet is the quintessential Western classical dance form; Kathak is one of eight classical forms of Indian dance which originated with Sanskrit storytellers in ancient India; and Kunqu opera, one of the oldest forms of classical Chinese opera, combines dance, music, and theater. Each form incorporates rigorous physical training, requires incredible aestheticism and aesthetic understanding, and embodies the history of power in its respective culture over hundreds of years.

For the program, the three performers each gave demonstrations of their respective forms, including two presentations of exquisite footage featuring Qian and Whelan in Slow Dancing, a video installation by photographer and videographer David Michalek. The demonstration finale included all three performers on stage together.

Viewpoints: Classical Connections explored aesthetic beauty, the female form, and innovation as manifested across cultures: from Qian’s serious performance and humorous anecdotes, to Whelan’s rendition of the 18th century French courtiers putting on airs and stuffy walks in well heeled feet that was the precursor of ballet, to the Persian influence of the Mughal Court where the dynamic Kathak dance was born.

The three women who shared the stage have shaped the dance world and now use their art to redefine dance. For those who might have wondered how their dance forms could ever be related, it became clear in their strict classicism, rigorous technique and aesthetic language.

The program was followed by a patron dinner, where the conversations continued. Attendees included choreographer Shen Wei, dancer Rajika Puri, and American Dance Festival Founder (and 1960 curator of performing arts at Asia Society) Charles Reinhardt, capping off an evening in which the history of the Asia Society’s work in the world of dance was vividly on display.

Classical Connections takes a global perspective in comparing classical performance traditions, featuring three of the finest interpreters of these forms: Wendy Whelan, former principal dancer with the New York City Ballet; Parul Shah, celebrated performer of India’skathak dance; and Qian Yi, Chinese kunqu opera star. Each of these dancers has dedicated their lives to the study and performance of their form, and now are pushing the boundaries to explore new territory inspired by tradition. How will the future of these classical connections be influenced by these new directions? The program will consist of short dance demonstrations and screenings of footage from Slow Dancing by photographer/videographer David Michaelek, followed by a panel discussion with these three extraordinary artists.

Parul Shah is an internationally acclaimed Kathak dancer and choreographer whose work is expanding the classical medium beyond cultural boundaries. With a dedication to excellence, Shah preserves the form’s aesthetic integrity while developing a unique and powerful vocabulary. Behind Shah’s work is decades of rigorous Kathak training under the world-renowned guru and choreographer, Padmashree Kumudini Lakhia. Ms. Lakhia’s pioneering work revitalized the form for 20th century audiences, and her training has produced forward-thinking Kathak artists with original voices. “Parul Shah …. brought the house down. Her sources are splendidly hybrid: contemporary dance, the Kathak technique of north India, the female temple-court artists of south India. ‘” – New York Times

Her work includes both traditional and contemporary solo and group choreography. Parul’s New York studio is home to both the parul shah dance company and her training facility. With an M.A. in dance education from Columbia University specializing in Indian classical movement, Parul has been teaching Kathak in the pure form for over 20 years. She has presented her solo and group works at major venues around the world, including City Center’s Fall for Dance Festival in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C, Asia Society in New York, Jacobs Pillow in MA and at the Japan Forum Foundation in Japan. She has collaborated on numerous international projects and presented in Asia, Europe, and North America.

Sunita Viswanath Honored As ‘Champion of Change’

August 2, 2015 Ajay GhoshEnvironment, Women 0

Sunita Viswanath was among 12 faith leaders who was honored as “Champion of Change” on July 20 for their continuous efforts towards climate change. Viswanath, who has worked in women’s and human rights organisations for almost three decades, “is being honored for her work to encourage Hindus in protecting environment and communities from the effects of climate change,” the White House said in a statement.

Viswanath is co-founder and active board member of the 14-year old women’s human rights organisation Women for Afghan Women (WAW).

“Sunita is also co-founder and board member of Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus, living and building a Hinduism that prioritises social justice, and upholding the Hindu principles of ekatva (oneness), ahimsa (non-violence) and sadhana (faith in action).”

Through our grassroots green project, Project Prithvi, we mobilize Hindus, especially the youth, to live out the principle of ahimsa by taking care of the environment. We have adopted a beach in Jamaica Bay, New York, where Hindus worship almost every day. Devotees place their offerings into the bay, but the offerings wash up on shore and become entangled with all the other litter lining the beach – beer bottles, Styrofoam containers, used condoms. It is deeply painful to see our religious offerings, broken idols, trays of flowers and fruits, fabrics that had adorned the deities, washed up on the beach as garbage. We reach out to local Hindu temples, and we enlist priests to help us advocate to devotees that it is important to worship in more environmentally friendly ways. We mobilize temple-goers to come to the beach with us on a monthly basis, and together we clean up the beach. At every beach cleanup, devotees tell us how hurt they are to see broken idols of Ganesha and Lakshmi lying face down in the dirt. Rivers and oceans are considered sacred by Hindus, as are trees, all life forms, and the Earth herself.

“I have always been secure in my identity as a Hindu,” she told the media. “Growing up, I thought a lot about faith and religion, but I also had a very strong sense of social justice, what was fair. I imbibed profound lessons of love and justice from my religious upbringing, from the stories we were told, the prayers we learned, the texts we read. I went on as an adult to devote my life to advancing social justice causes, particularly women’s human rights. If Hinduism cares deeply about all people and all living beings, then there must be an active, vocal Hindu movement for social justice and human rights today.”

A central component of Sadhana is Project Prithvi, which is an environmental initiative.

As part of Project Prithvi, Sadhana is involved with cleaning up a beach in Jamaica Bay, Queens which is a place of worship for Hindus.

Sadhana has officially adopted this beach, conducts regular clean-ups, and also does outreach through Hindu temples to advocate that Hindus worship in environmentally conscious ways, said the interfaithcenter.org. Viswanath was a 2011 recipient of the “Feminist Majority Foundation’s Global Women’s Rights Award” for her work with WAW.

She lives in Brooklyn in New York with her husband Stephan Shaw and their three sons — Gautama, Akash and Satya.

Nikki Haley For Vice President?

August 2, 2015 Ajay GhoshPolitics, U.S., Women 0

There are rumors across the nation that the GOP is actively considering South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley to be its vice presidential candidate after her handling of the June 17 Charleston shooting and its aftermath. Politicians and pundits alike applauded Haley, a 43-year-old Indian-American, for raising bipartisan support to take down the controversial Confederate flag from state grounds. Some predicted the buzz could carry over into a 2016 nomination.

David Beasley, the last Republican governor who took on the Confederate flag, which had fluttered in front of the 19th-century capitol building for 54 years, in 1996 “lost his job,” noted Politico, an influential Washington news site, but “Nikki Haley may get a promotion.”

“Her VP stock is probably on the rise again at the moment,” Republican analyst Ford O’Connell told the Hill, going on to say that she could appeal to young, female and minority voters — groups the GOP has historically had trouble capturing. “She could stop the bleeding of women to Hillary Clinton,” he added.

The move attracted praise immediately, but it also fed speculation about Haley’s future. Her term in South Carolina runs through January 2019, though many have wondered if she’ll cut her time short to run in 2016.

Haley herself has remained quiet on the issue. After winning re-election last year, she wrote a statement that “speculation is just that.” In 2013, at a campaign stop attended by GOP contenders Rick Perry, Scott Walker and Bobby Jindal, she was more specific, telling reporters her campaign for governor didn’t mean “something national.”

“Haley’s decisive action to drive the final removal of the banner from statehouse grounds quickly and relatively cleanly in the glare of the national spotlight proved a well-timed audition for higher office ahead of the 2016 Republican veepstakes,” it suggested. “Nikki showed leadership in this instance, and she represents a new Republican face in the South,” strategist Steve Schmidt, who managed John McCain’s 2008 presidential bid, told Politico.

“Campaign 2016 has already devolved into theatre and absurdity,” wrote Doug Heye, a former communications director for the Republican National Committee, in the Wall Street Journal but “Haley recently showed that politics and government can still live up to our best ideals.”

“Haley’s words, actions, poise, and determination-her courage-over the past month have helped her state heal,” he said noting “Speculation has increased about her potential as 2016 vice-presidential nominee.”

“Other state figures had faltered when confronting the legacy of the Confederate flag and pushing for its removal. But Haley’s quick call for it to be taken off has allowed her to bask in glowing reviews,” said CNN.

“The once-rising star, whose shine had faded after her 2010 gubernatorial victory, has emerged from the flag battle as the face of the ‘new South,’” it said. Shortly after the removal of the Confederate flag from statehouse grounds, Haley told CNN that placing the flag there in 2000 was a poor decision.

“I think the more important part is it should have never been there,” she said. “These grounds are a place that everybody should feel a part of. What I realized now more than ever is people were driving by and felt hurt and pain. No one should feel pain.”

Haley, the youngest current governor in the US and the first woman and the first Indian American to serve as Governor of South Carolina, had previously been a supporter of the flag as a symbol of Southern heritage honoring residents’ ancestors.

But it was after a week of funerals for the nine churchgoers who were gunned down by a white man in a historic black church in Charleston with the alleged intent of “starting a race war” that Haley said she decided that the flag had to come down.

“The biggest reason I asked for that flag to come down was I couldn’t look my children in the face and justify it staying there,” she was quoted as saying.

“Now there’s more reason to come to this state. I am proud to say that it’s a new day in South Carolina.”

Category: Women