The Washington Post has an encouraging story (Thanks, Deepa) about female mechanics in India that are successfully overcoming caste and gender restrictions:

In taking on such an important role, the female mechanics have challenged feudal notions of gender roles in village society, after centuries of prejudice and discrimination by members of upper castes.

“For a long time people taunted us when we arrived with our tools,” Kabirdas said. “They shooed us away. The upper castes would say, ‘You untouchable women, stay away from our hand pump. What do you know other than making bread and collecting cow dung?’”

But when the women began repairing the broken pumps promptly, they carved themselves an important niche in the hierarchy of the water-scarce village.

The Washington Post: Low-caste Indians carve a niche (free registration required)

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Apparently, starring in XXX flicks in India can land you in a heap o’ trouble:

Nov 4: A local beauty queen was on Thursday arrested and five others booked for being allegedly involved in flesh trade and production of pornographic CDs in Jammu, police said.

The city police registered an FIR against six persons, including Miss Jammu Anara Gupta and five others for offences under the cinematography, immoral trafficking and information technology acts, they said.

Like in America, notoriety can bring opportunity:

Former Miss Jammu Anara Gupta, currently at the centre of a pornography scam uncovered by the Jammu and Kashmir police, is being wooed by Bollywood producers to appear in their films.

Anara, who was crowned Miss Jammu in 2001, had dreams about making it big in the Hindi film industry. But the 18-year-old’s world came crashing down after police arrested her for appearing in pornographic films that she says she was forced into doing…

State Times, one of Jammu’s leading newspapers, carried a front-page story saying Anara was being flooded with requests to appear in films.

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Twelve years ago Indian immigrant Terwinder Singh entered the U.S. without proper documents for an arranged marriage. Since then Singh has worked at Kohl’s Department Store, bought a home, paid taxes, bought a business, and had children in this country. On Nov. 4th Singh flagged down an officer when she had a flat tire. The police then took her to jail and have held her ever since. From NRI-worldwide.com:

Thirty-one-year-old Terwinder Singh, who had entered the United States without proper documents 12 years ago for an arranged marriage, is reportedly being treated like a fugitive by the US authorities. When Terwinder, a mother of two from Wisconsin, appealed for help after she got a flat tyre, police started checking her records as part of routine. They discovered that immigration officials had wanted her detained more than five years ago. Her appeal against the order has been hanging fire since 1998. She had been served an order to depart voluntarily, at her own expense, by March 2002. Why Terwinder ignored the order isn’t clear, but that made matters worse. Her husband, Ram Singh, claims they were unaware that her appeal had been denied or that a final order had been served to report with bags packed for deportation.

This can’t be the best way to deal with this situation. Surely she can appeal to her congressman for some understanding? As fate would have it her congressman is none other than James Sen­sen­bren­ner, the same congressman who held up the 9/11 bill in congress because he wanted tougher immigration provisions thrown in. Is he willing to help? From the Sussex Sun:

Wisdom, a coalition of about 90 Southeastern Wis­con­sin religious congregations, and its Milwaukee and Wau­ke­sha affili­ates will rally outside Congressman James Sen­sen­bren­ner’s office Thurs­day to ask him to intervene on her [Singh’s] behalf and to hold con­gres­sional hearings on broader immi­gra­tion law reform issues.

Sensenbrenner’s press sec­re­tary, Raj Bharwani, said in a telephone interview yesterday that the con­gress­man “never got involved, because he was never contacted by any member of the (Singh) family or a family representative.”

“Concern for this woman and her family is pretty wide­spread,” according to the Rev. Joy McDonald-Coltvelt of Galilee Lutheran Church in Pewaukee, a member of Wisdom’s Waukesha affiliate, Stewards of Prophetic Hopeful Intentional Action (SOPHIA).

Well I am glad to see this woman has such support from the community. Everyone knows that things seem to get done once religious institutions step in.

Oh what to do when your long repressed country suddenly has access to Bollywood films. Its enough to drive a good religious man to have sinful thoughts, no? The Christian Science Monitor reports on what happens when Bollywood flesh presents itself to a society long confined to looking at bharkas:

One midnight during Ramadan, Sullyman got up and flipped on the TV. His family was sitting down to eat before the 4 a.m. prayer and he decided to do a little channel surfing. But the station he landed on stunned him.

“It was 100 percent sex,” says the dapper young man in Kabul’s Macroryan neighborhood. “It was the first time I’d seen anything like that.”

The prurient film – and the questionable programming being pumped to thousands across Kabul – prompted the Supreme Court chief justice to ask President Hamid Karzai to stop cable broadcasts during the holy season. Last month, a Council of Ministers banned virtually all cable broadcasts in the city. The minister of information and culture created an advisory committee to review the cable networks. Since then, the networks have begun to broadcast again.

This wasn’t real sex he was referring to of course? After all, most of us grew up acutely aware of the fact that Indian censors didn’t allow Bollywood stars to kiss. Still, the thought that Bollywood movies, which are tame by Western standards, could have such a strong effect on Afghan society intrigues me. Maybe Bollywood films are the way to “spread democracy” and combat religious fundamentalism in the Middle East. Isn’t that what the U.S. administration wants? Maybe Bollywood films can do what bombs cannot. Maybe the military should broadcast Bollywood movies into Iraq as a way to soothe the insurgents. Maybe I am getting carried away. Continue reading →