Sometimes I think that because the Western media is so focused on the egregious human rights violators like the Taliban, some gems of news from the des get unfairly hidden. I cannot believe at the idiocy that flourishes in the name of governance back in the des. The Committee on Petitions in Chennai in its “wisdom” ( and I use the world sarcastically) has decided..

that there should be no sex education in schools since “our country’s social and cultural ethos are such that sex education has absolutely no place in it.”(link)

That is a direct quote from The BJP’s Venkaiah Naidu. Of course this means that teenagers ( the most vulnerable) have been denied access to important information about contraception, sexual health and protection from being abused.

Things I learned from this piece of news :

1) Sex is a Western concept and  Indians are unique on this planet as we  are the product of asexual reproduction

2) Sex education means  teaching kids  to have sex.Chee, chee!

3)  India’s population  will never decrease

Every desi knows the drill, be it at a temple or a church. Incense has always been a big part of our tradition. However a new study claims that prolonged exposure to incense could lead to cancer.

Image from abrinsky

"Given that our results are backed by numerous experimental studies showing that incense is a powerful producer of particulate matter and that incense smoke contains carcinogenic substances, I believe incense should be used with caution," said study author Dr. Jeppe Friborg, of the department of epidemiology research at Statens Serum Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark. "That is, frequent use in rooms where people live should be minimized, or at least sufficient ventilation should be secured. In our study, we find the increased risk of cancer to be present in individuals reporting frequent use of incense for many years, thus, repeated exposure for years should probably be avoided."

Read the rest of this entry »

Globalization has even touched the baby business. As this article in the NYtimes early this year said :

An enterprise known as reproductive outsourcing is a new but rapidly expanding business in India. Clinics that provide surrogate mothers for foreigners say they have recently been inundated with requests from the United States and Europe, as word spreads of India’s mix of skilled medical professionals, relatively liberal laws and low prices

The article goes on to discuss the various ethical and moral issues surrounding surrogacy including the very real possibility that third-world women may potentially be exploited and get into surrogacy without being fully informed of the medical and other issues. Yet, one may counter- argue that such surrogacy allows the surrogates to earn money for the betterment of their own and their families’ lives while at the same time allowing childless folks to have children whom they will presumably cherish.

I try not to be judgmental about the whole issue of assisted reproduction. As a parent myself, I cannot imagine life without my son and can empathize with those who cannot have children but want to. Yet, I am disturbed that current regulation and legislation – especially in India- are not enough to cover the myriad ethical and legal issues that some forms of assisted reproduction present. I said so here

Here comes a case in India that kind of underscores my unease. An 11-day old baby is at the center of a huge issue . (link)

She’s only 11 days old, and already her fate is tied in legal knots and international complications. Her biological parents are Japanese. When her mother, Yuki Yamada, could not conceive, she chose a surrogate mother in Ahmedabad to carry her child.

The child was born on July 25 in Anand, Gujarat. But a month before that, Yuki divorced her husband, Dr Ikufumi Yamada, and disowned the child. And that, it seems, is the root of all trouble for the infant who still does not have a name.

The surrogate mother gave up the baby after birth exactly per the terms of the surrogacy agreement.The biological father of the infant and his mother want to take the little girl back to Japan. But the article states that Indian adoption laws, some of which were written 120 years ago, do not allow a single man to adopt a child.(While the article is not clear on this, I suspect his single status is an issue because the child is being adopted to be taken out of India. From what I know, single parents have successfully adopted children in India). Whatever the reason the little girl is in danger of becoming India’s first surrogate orphan. Her to be – adoptive mother( who is also the biological mother as egg donor) evidently changed her mind after divorcing her husband. She is unwilling to travel to India to complete the adoption procedures.

While its great that Science and Technology pushes the frontiers of reproductive limitation allowing older and infertile couples to become parents, I do feel that it needs to be tempered with some regulation and legislation. Else the price will be paid by innocents like this little 11 day old girl.

In all the debates over the rights of surrogates vs rights of the adoptive /biological parents – who is fighting for the rights of the child?

UPDATE: CNN has picked up the story TODAY much after we did. The article can be seen here .The baby is called Manjhi and looks like the immediate obstacle for the father is that the Indian government will not allow grant an Indian passport to the child unless both Mother and father are present.Add to that the fact adoption by a single father is not possible ( see above) and the baby is stuck in legal limbo.

The 70-year-old grandmother, Emiko Yamada, (ed: mother of the child’s biological father) has stayed put[in India]

Uneasy about how the baby was created, she comes to the hospital to cradle her granddaughter day and night, and has become so attached, she says, she cannot imagine going home without Manjhi.

“I am very worried and stressed. Why can’t they let her father take his child?” the grandmother says

UPDATE 2: Baby Manjhi (sp?) may finally be allowed out of India. One major hurdle towards getting travel documents was cleared when a birth certificate was issues with the father’s name

Anand municipality has issued a birth certificate in her name late on Friday[Augut 10]. The baby will now have to either get an Indian passport or Japanese visa issued in her name before she heads to Japan. (link)

Meanwhile, true to the adage of personal business being everyone’s business in India, an NGO SATYA for no discernable logical reason, filed a petition stating that alleging that in the absence of any surrogacy law in the country, the surrogate child could not be kept in the custody of her Japanese grandmother Emiko.(link)

Luckily , justice of some sort is alive in India and the Supreme Court of Rajasthan made a ruling:

The Supreme Court on Thursday [August 14]granted the custody of surrogate baby Manji to her Japanese grandmother Emiko

All is not decided,however.The Court has issued a directive to the  Union and the State Home Departments asking them to produce the Japanese surrogate baby Manjhi in court within four weeks and explain why the baby was being allowed to be taken to Japan

You must have, at some point yesterday come across the heartbreaking news that Vinay Chakravarthy lost the battle against leukemia.

A spokesperson for the family has this to say [Via SAJA]

“Vinay was an amazing soul who inspired all of us with his will to live. We take some comfort in knowing his journey may have saved lives through the campaign, and in all the lives he touched with his love and spirit.”

I cannot imagine the pain his family, friends and others who worked hard for the cause are going through, but everyone needs to take solace in the fact that Vinay galvanized a lot of us to register at one of the bone marrow drives. Even the normally lazy person like me, took time to register.

If you are not already in the registry, please take some time to get yourself registered.

Thursday:
Viewing is from 5:00 – 7:00 PM ET
Folks will be saying a few words around 5:30 PM
Location: Mann and Rodgers Funeral Home
Located in JP on the corner of South Huntington and Centre Street

Friday:
Rites/Service will be held in the morning from 9:30 AM onward for about an hour.
Location: Mann and Rodgers Funeral Home
Located in JP on the corner of South Huntington and Centre Street

A private cremation for family members only will be held at 10:30 in the Forest Hills area.

Some of you have inquired if you could do something in Vinay’s memory. We request that you do not send flowers or other gifts. If you would like to make a donation in Vinay’s memory, we would suggest that you donate to the National Donor Marrow Program.

Feel free to also donate in Vinay’s name.

Vinay’s commitment to finding other South Indian’s a match has been made evident to the work that him and the group, helpvinay.org have done thus far for the South Asian Community.

Hair plays a big part in our culture. Men grow moustaches, women grow their hair long, sometimes men grow their hair long (a.k.a Dhoni). People take care of their hair – male or female. Parachute hair oil, shikakai shampoos, Anoop hair oil, and numerous products in desi and regular stores – the options available to us are unlimited. Hair rules.
Yet for some reason, when South Asian men start balding, they panic and lose touch with reality. The result – scary hair, combovers of the worst kind. There is nothing wrong with thinning hair. Most men experience it at different stages in their lives, some earlier (like me) and the more fortunate ones, later. The idea is to accept it and move on instead of overcompensating.
As supporting evidence for overcompensation, I present exhibit A.

Anonymous balding guy with hair blowing in the wind

Send similar anonymous combover horror story snaps to our Flickr account at 1000words (at) uberdesi.com.