Colour Used As Punishment

The Hindu festival of colour (Holi) was celebrated today and I was drawn to the story in the Indian Express of an NGO, Sulabh International,  that arranged for 1000 widows to celebrate Holi in the City of Widows, Vrindavan.  William Dalrymple dedicated a chapter in his book, The Age of Kali to this city and its unique population of cast out women.

In Hindu tradition, a woman is stripped of colour once she becomes a widow.  She can only wear white irrespective of whether

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Mr Wonderful

Princess Diana’s ‘Mr Wonderful’ also known as Pakistani heart surgeon, Dr Khan is reported to be pursuing maximum damages from News International after Scotland Yard informed him it was possible his phone had been hacked.

Dr Khan is of course one of the 600 potential new phone hacking victims

Fashion on Fire

We all know about the dark side of fashion production so I’m not going to go into the morals of it all here but I just wanted to draw attention to Indian current affairs that may affect a global brand near you.  These are facts, whether you feel like you want to change your buying habits or write to complain to any brand mentioned that is up to you.

On Monday this week there was a mini riot and complete carnage at a garment factory just outside Delhi

The Guide is Gone

On Sunday morning, India and South Asians around the world awoke with the sad news that Dev Anand passed away.  The 88 year-old superstar and icon was in London on a trip to launch a season celebrating his career in Indian cinema with Channel 4.

Although I was not a huge fan and must confess

The Talented Mr Singh

It’s a story that would confirm my mum’s long-held belief that my generation of British Asians are not very bright when it comes to dealing with real South Asians as they are far too chalaak (clever).  An Indian man, his wife and his brother have been arrested in Delhi for befriending people of Indian origin in the UK to find out what property they owned in India

The Real Thing

What a hypocrite Osama bin Laden was. The Indian Express reported that he used to get deliveries of Coca Cola to his house.

Misplaced Love Actually

Dear Diary,

After reading one of today’s newspapers, I had a chilling thought.  What happens if someone falls in love with you and it’s not reciprocated? Two unfortunate women in India found out: one was beheaded and the other was doused in kerosene and died in hospital, her mother also murdered by the same vengeful man.

I tell others of stories like this not as a side-show spectacle

Which Witch?

There is a story in one of today’s newspapers detailing a number of gruesome murders of women in Assam accused of being witches.  Yes, it is still 2011 and you haven’t woken up after being in a 300 year long coma.

Melodramatic or Understandable?

A prominent story in one of India’s broadsheets today details the sad tale of two sisters found starving in a flat in Noida (a large city beside Delhi).  The sisters inflicted this upon themselves after suffering from severe depression.