Sacred Cows

The X Chromosome

Christmas Baby

What a momentous year! After half a decade of unexplained infertility (i.e. stress!)... I am pleasantly shocked to be expecting a second baby. I confess that in moving to India and attempting to get back to work, this sudden pregnancy did slightly pull the rug from under my feet. But the idea that by Christmas, there will be another child in our lives - a sibling for my son - is so delightful and sweet! And now that the nausea is gone, I couldn't be more content.

Boy or girl?

Any expecting couple is curious to know. And we're no different. The thought of buying little dresses... brushing a little girl's hair... watching her grow into a beautiful, strong, intelligent woman... and sharing all I've learned with her, regularly brings tears of joy to my eyes.

But here in India, that microscopic thread of X chromosome can prove deadly for a baby girl:

10 million missing Indian girls

I did the above report for BBC World TV back in 2006. And believe it or not, the problem is actually getting worse. Latest statistics show that the number of wealthy, educated Indians aborting baby girls is growing. Sex ratios are now so skewed, experts are predicting a breakdown of society within a generation.

"If sex ratios stay the same, 600,000 missing girls this year will become, in 18 years’ time, over 10m missing future brides. Robbery, rape and bride-trafficking tend to increase in any society with large groups of young single men." - The Economist, Apr 7th 2011

It's already happening in places like Harayana state, where female foeticide has been rampant for decades.

So why on earth does a girl engender such loathing in some prospective parents?

Return to INDIA!

~By Anu Anand Hall

Finally! Finally! After four postponed departure dates, we've arrived back in Delhi!!

First Impressions 

So... how has India changed?? Well, the capital has a brand new international airport. And while the carpet is particularly nauseating... (ugly doesn't do it justice, and yet, the design was apparently well thought out!) ... the terminal itself is refreshingly large, bright and modern.

And at first glance, the city too has been transformed for the better. There are no longer medieval road works and half-finished metro stations to negotiate when driving around. Traffic flows better. There are road signs everywhere to point you in the right direction. The re-vamped Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, where the Commonwealth Games opening and closing ceremonies were held, is an impressive landmark. And the Metro, which has opened dozens of new stations in all new directions, is quite simply, world-class (elevators to streets and platforms, electronic ticketing, air-conditioned trains with mobile phone signals, well-enforced 'Women Only' carriages! Better than the London Underground or NYC Subway any day!)

There are other changes: foreigners everywhere you look. Every neighborhood, block and building seems to have at least one European, Malaysian, Filipino, American, British, Canadian, Chinese, Korean or African expatriate on a stint working in India. And they're all forming Yahoo! Groups, exchanging information, banding together on new businesses and projects... Hooray! I'm all for the world coming to India! Or as one fellow expat put it so well:  "...nice to live in a very tiny cobweb in a nation of one billion."

And of course, India's capitalist culture is booming: new stores, malls, products and services from organic foods, toys, designer clothes, furniture, design, animation, medical tourism, leisure, new restaurants, cafes, bars, music... you name it, it's here somewhere!

The Commonwealth Games

Two opinion pieces to share with you. This one by Amelia Gentleman, who says athletes should come to Delhi at least to honour the sacrifice made by those thousands of poor slum-dwellers brutally evicted to make way for the Athlete's Village.

She's a fantastic journalist whose stories from India have always been exquisitely reported and told. But I couldn't disagree with her more on this issue.

Rather, I have to agree a million times over with Dileep Premachandran, who, writing this piece in the Sports pages, argues that only a spectacular international failure stands any chance of rescuing Indian sport from the venal clutches of the country's shamelessly inept, cruel politicians.

I don't wish to see India shamed... but hopefully, he's right. 

On a personal note: Tarquin, Maurya and I are headed back to Delhi in a few weeks- hooray!!! We deliberately skipped the Games on the advice of almost everyone... Sadly, it was clear months ago that they would prove an embarassing fiasco.

Still, we're mightily excited!! First on my agenda is a visit to the Lotus Temple... a meal at Colonel Kebabz... and a round of drinks with all our long, lost Dilli friends!!!

India- Land of a Million Middlemen (or Wallahs)

~By Anu. While President Obama gets to grips with the crisis in the American economy... I've been learning in-depth about the Indian economy under the tutelage of Professor Arun Kumar at Jawaharlal Nehru University. I'm sure you've heard the glowing headlines over the past few years:

"Record Growth!"

"Sky-rocketing Stock Market"

"Booming Middle Class"

But these headlines reflect a tiny proportion of India's overall economy. It would be as if America's economic statistics were based on the economy of Silicon Valley and a few surrounding areas, and the rest was represented by variables based on incomplete data.

Here's what you won't read in the newspapers, or even The Economist:

Mumbai Massacre - here we go again...

Ten days to go before we head back to Delhi and the grim news emerging is of another potential conflict between India and Pakistan. Again, the Indians failed to prevent or respond quickly to terrorism. Again, Pakistan cannot admit it has a unique home-grown problem, whether or not it played a role in these attacks. India can't ignore such a brazen assault like this. But sadly, neither will it take this opportunity to clean up its own act in Kashmir with its security forces, nor to update basic services with the same zeal that its allowed super malls to be built across the country.

These are the best news stories and commentary I've seen so far on the Mumbai attacks. Randeep Ramesh, Guardian correspondent, reminds us that in the frenzy of headlines about foreigners, dozens of ordinary Indians, both Hindu and Muslim, lost their lives. Their names and photos deserve to be shared globally as much as the foreign, white victims of these attacks.

Here is an excellent analysis of how India has failed, again and again, to address terrorism politically and in terms of security. It's failed so utterly to include Muslims in its economic success and created animosity where less existed previously.

This story in the Wall St. Journal really made me laugh. It's premise is that Mumbai was poised to become a global financial capital, but the attacks have thwarted that. Really? A city largely without sewers? With no 911 emergency service? Where an ambulance would take 3 hours to reach you, even if it bothered? Has anyone read Suketu Mehta's 'Maximum City'?? PLEASE!!

Meanwhile, the BJP's arch shit-stirrer, Narendra Modi, has been busy earning political capital from this tragedy. This man was in charge when religious riots tore apart Gujarat. I met him just days after the worst of the violence, when victims who'd survived being set afire lay trembling with pain in their homes, too scared to go to the hospital for fear of retribution by Hindu mobs. Mr. Modi, addressing a large meeting, appeared non-plussed, barely breaking a sweat as he launched into a thinly-veiled speech espousing intolerance. How ironic that a man who presided over some of the worst mob violence in Indian history is now invoking UN conventions. Where were those conventions when his police turned a blind eye to the hacking and burning of innocent people in Gujarat?

This man is now poised to become the next Prime Minister of India. The country's problems have only just begun....

Paragliding in paradise

Check this out! Me floating over the Himalayas in the Kangra Valley!

Happy Birthday India and Pakistan!

~By Anu. Meet Midnight's Twins.

    Zafar Hameed and Azhar Sherwani are identical twins, born on August 15th, 1947--the day India gained independence from Britain. Like so many communities in Punjab and Bengal, their lives were ripped apart when the departing British divided the subcontinent into Hindu India, and Muslim East and West Pakistan.

    As a result, Zafar grew up in Lahore and Azhar in Delhi, their personal lives mirroring the tragic, bitter history of the divided subcontinent. I took this photo ten years ago at a rare reunion in Delhi, when Zafar managed to get an Indian visa to attend a family wedding. On August 15th, 1997, they celebrated their 50th birthdays... as well as 50 years of Independence. I dug this photo out because their story stands out in my mind as the perfect parable for what has happened to India and Pakistan since the Raj. Keep reading to find out more about these real life 'Midnight's Children'.... Happy 60th Birthday Zafar and Azhar!! Hope this occasion brings the two of you together once more.

Keralaaaah, continued

~By Anu. There is alot of bad stuff going on all over the world, but before I get into the Virginia shootings, Somalia and other big stories, I just wanted to share something I wrote while still in Kerala. I'm trying to hold onto that feeling of peace and tranquility!! Here goes:

"There's a pigeon coo-ing passionately in the eaves of the pitched tile roof above this divine little balcony overlooking Vembanad Lake. Its waters stretch north, south and west to the horizon. The cloudless, pale blue sky is broken only by arrowheads of ducks or the odd little cormorant flying past. Beneath it, the sun has lit a broad golden avenue on the slate-coloured waves. Occassionally, the wooden hull and squat bamboo cabin of a houseboat purrs gently past. Or a long canoe glides by, its wiry boatmen vigorously rowing. The crackly whisper of palm trees blowing in the wind.... the shameless caw of a crow... and the sweet 'whoo-ooo whoo-OOO!' of an Indian cuckoo (koel) complement the perfect silence. I have never seen a more bountiful, tranquil or balanced paradise."

Keralaaaaah!

~By Anu. I've discovered my perfect paradise! Kerala, on India's southwestern coast, is the most tranquil, beautiful, bountiful place I have ever visited. This web-guide sums it up perfectly:

"Kerala is a land of surf, spice and magic and an ancient crossroads of cultures... Chinese fishing nets drawn up on the golden sand, Jewish synagogues, Portuguese forts, Dutch and Syrian churches, and of course beautiful Indian temples and palaces... backed by mountains, fringed with surf, beautiful beaches, alluring backwaters, paddy fields, spice plantations and swaying palms trees."

    Kerala is what I imagine India could be- clean, beautiful, exotic, polite and equitable... in touch with its natural heritage, but literate and rational too. The girls in the boat, paddling along the backwaters have good reason to smile. Although Kerala has a per capita income of only $265 and low 'economic productivity', it's people are among the most literate in the subcontinent and enjoy a fantastic standard of living. There are schools, homes and plots of land for everyone. True, many of the state's young people leave to find jobs, but with their excellent levels of education, they're got the upper hand. And life for those left behind is hardly difficult or full of wont. I'm still looking for a chink in the armor of the 'Kerala Development Model', but so far, thankfully, I've found nothing much!

    Meanwhile, for a consummate gardener like me, it was like being in the (Hindu) garden of Eden! At the Vanilla County Spice Plantation, I saw pepper, cardamom, bananas, cocoa, pineapples, cinnamon, pomegranates, turmeric, coffee, rubber, coconuts, teak and yes-- cashews growing naturally. Check out the photo on the left. It's a cashew fresh off the tree. The red bit is fermented to make feni. And the funny little hooked pod on the bottom is... you guessed it... the cashew nut!