The Sindhi Voices Project (SVP) is a community initiative at the intersections of digital media and oral history. SVP engages people in the production of their histories and hopes to spark inter-community and inter-generational dialogue along the way. At present, they are listening closely to memories of a pre-Partition past and aim to understand how “our collective and individual pasts shape who we are today.”

We interviewed the creator of the Sindhi Voices Project, Natasha Raheja.

What is your background, and what do you expect to learn from this project?
In my undergraduate career at UT Austin, I started off pre-med with a BS in Biology and even took the monster MCAT! Taking electives in South Asian Studies was not enough for me and I soon declared a dual degree including a BA in Asian Cultures and Languages. Wanting to delve deeper, I continued in this field with my MA at UT Austin. In between this time, I spent a year in Lucknow, India as an American Institute of Indian Studies Urdu Language Fellow. During this program I laid the foundations for what is now the Sindhi Voices Project. This September, I’ll be starting my PhD in Media Anthropology at New York University.

I am hoping that this project will be an exploration of how individuals and communities experience forces of history and configure their identities accordingly. Questions that intrigue me and my co-director, Neena Makhija, include: How do we inherit memories? What kinds of things shape the way in which we remember the past? How do or do not physical borders translate into community divides?

How did you personally become involved in this project?
I use a variety of markers I use to identify myself and one of the colors is Sindhi. Interestingly, growing up neither me nor my family strongly identified with being Sindhi. Perhaps it is the ambiguity of what this label entails that has in part provoked my curiosity and this adventure.

Growing up, I was alerted to certain conceptions that I feel may be linked to the community’s fraught contemporary history centered on the 1947 Partition of British India. Given that I myself was born in the United States, twice removed both in time and place from this experience, I was never able to empathize immediately with the nostalgia or bitterness that characterizes much of the collective sentiment amongst some of the elders in Sindhi communities.

Narrator Sharing a Family Photo; Mumbai, Maharashtra

What has been the most memorable story you heard yet?
Ahh! Tough question. There are two anecdotes that immediately come to mind. In Ahmedabad, Gujarat, I met a Sindhi woman who, engaged before Partition, who was separated from her fiancée and his family during their chaotic migration to India from Sindh. Both families found each other through ads they had put in the papers stating their new locations.
In Khairpur, Sindh, I recently met a Punjabi woman whose family migrated to Lahore three months after the creation of Pakistan because of some border line re-drawing that unexpectedly moved her village from being in Pakistani to Indian territory.

How do you relate or don’t to those you speak to?
I really like chatting with elderly people. Many of the narrators I have interviewed have are refreshingly blunt and indifferent to what others think of them. Though when I started doing interviews I struggled a bit, because I’m an opinionated person and had to stop myself from stating my thoughts on controversial issues and just listen!

Are most people willing to share with you?
You know, it depends. Only in Ahmadabad, Gujarat and interior Sindh have I experienced some hesitation from people wanting to make public any comments that are related to Hindu-Muslim relations or are critical of their governments past and present.

Do their lives and stories have much in common or are they all unique?
Yes and no. Factors like socioeconomic class, religion, gender, education, and so on significantly shape the life narratives that emerge.

Oral History Workshop; Jamshoro, Sindh

How long will this project take before you feel it’s completed?
Well we have planned for about one and half years of fieldwork but we hope that people continue to submit stories after this as well. And really, the first several months that I was in India I faced a high learning curve so we’re only now getting closer to figuring out best practices.   A unique feature of the Sindhi Voices Project is its participatory component – we have developed a field kit for people to record and submit interviews with elders on their own and have been conducting oral history how to workshops wherever we can.

Will you want to start a new project, which will focus on a new language?
The Sindhi Voices Project itself has several potential avenues of relevance we hope to further explore. Personally though, I am always provoked by the people and places around me, so, yes, I have some other projects in mind related to participatory media and community building.

How is your team being funded?
So far, we are relying on our savings and the warm hearts of the people that have opened their doors for us along our travels.

And how did you come to read Brown Girl Magazine?
Aditi and I graduated the same year from UT Austin and had mutual friends.

To learn more, visit Sindhi Voices

Photos and captions courtesy of Natasha Raheja. (Photo on right is of an Oral History Workshop in Ajmer, Rajasthan)

Meera Sethi is an artist based out of Toronto, Canada and I recently came across some of her art pieces online. Sethi uses art as an expression of her Indian roots  mixed with contemporary Western culture, truly exemplifying the diasporic nature that so many Brown girls experience,struggle with, and embrace on a daily basis. I caught up with her while she was on a trip to India, and she graciously took some time to answer my questions about her life and  career. If you want to learn more about Sethi, visit her website: http://www.meerasethi.com

• Ila

   

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• Shabana

   

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• Tamana

   

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• Sitara

   

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• Mala

   

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• Shabana

   

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Where did your artistic inclinations start? And how did you make the decision to pursue (what most consider) a potentially risky career?

As a child, my favourite class was always art. I was encouraged from a young age to explore all subjects and grew up aware of an extended family full of artists, designers, writers as well as business people.

My most precious artwork from when I was a child is this self-portrait that I drew with crayons. I am wearing a plaid dress and my arms are brown and my face is white. Apart from the obvious bicultural and biracial implications or rather, confusions, what strikes me about the piece is the emphasis on clothing and style. Some 30 years later, I am still fascinated by the same expressions of identity.

My decision to pursue artmaking as a career choice is very recent and unexpected. In fact, I had all but abandoned my own art for a number of years while I pursued careers in cultural studies, arts management and graphic design, each circumventing the actual making of art. I kept myself away from actually creating as I always felt I didn’t have the technical skill to “draw.” It was a narrow definition, of course. Beginning to draw again came about rather spontaneously. I bought some supplies and began expressing myself, my identity on paper. Something about what I made resonated with me and others and I began to take it more seriously.

I once read this quote by the Sufi poet Rumi that said something to the effect of “Do what you love and the money will follow.” I have faith in this and, moreover, my quality of life is greatly increased because every day I wake up excited for a day filled with creative possibility, with the space to dream, imagine and play. This to me is of far more significance then the stability of a regular income.

Taking a look at your website, you mention you work in several different mediums. Do you have a favorite, or one that you’re most comfortable with?

I work in the mediums of graphic design, drawing, painting and photography. They all sort of ebb and flow depending on what I am trying to communicate. I appreciate them all and enjoy using each. However I am a graphic designer before anything else as I tend to approach the world through a design lens. Wherever I go, I find myself drawn to typography, signage, interior design, architecture, craft. These sources of inspiration find their way into my art.

Can you tell us more about the Firangi Rang Barangi series? I think it’s one that our readers can readily and strongly identify with because of it’s representation of hybrid culture. During the process of creating these pieces, did you have any direct influences?

The Firangi Rang Barangi series came about as an unconscious response to the circumstances of my bicultural life. I was born in New Delhi and immigrated to Toronto at the age of two yet never quite felt fully “Canadian”.  Having constant exposure to Delhi as I was growing up, with summer vacations spent with my grandparents there, I felt a strong connection to the language, culture, style and dress of India. But this was so rarely expressed in Toronto either through the art that I experienced or the clothing of those around me. As a result I felt something was missing or lost: a hybrid style of dress that took into account the experiences of those like me. Without deliberately setting out to, I drew together these cultural influences and geographic locations to create something new, something as yet unexplored.

You have recently made a trip to India. Can you tell us about the significance and impact of this on your art practice?

I was just in Delhi and Mumbai for two moths after a three year hiatus. This was perhaps the longest gap I have ever had in between visits to my homeland. It was also a significantly different to any earlier visits as this time I consciously set out to develop my art practice on Indian soil.

The impact of this trip has been enormous. I have found tremendous support in India for my art, the images and ideas that I explore. There is a sense that people over there “get it.” People in urban centers like Delhi or Mumbai see themselves in the hybrid combinations I create. Their own sense of style is very influenced by the culture they are immersed in, a culture inflected with Western music and media and contemporary Indian design. This is encouraging as I realize that my audience is quite large, diverse and wanting representations of themselves that speak to their lives. I feel excited by my practice in a way that is entirely new for me.

What is your advice to any aspiring/budding artist?

Well, I don’t have all the answers as I am in a constant state of learning and “becoming” an artist. However, I would advise anyone who has a career passion of any kind to let yourself be surprised by what you do and to remember that there is rarely a direct path to achieving our dreams.

Image courtesy of mtvdesi.com

by Komal Thakkar –

Not only do they care about Sinhala, the American government cares about fourteen other South Asian languages including Bengali, Gujarati, Farsi, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Marathi, Malayalam, Nepali, Punjabi, Pashtu, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu. So the question is, why?

One in four people worldwide speaks one or more of these languages, and together they represent politically, culturally, and economically significant nations including India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Based on the economic and national security challenges of the twenty first century, US government has deemed these languages critical.

What exactly is a critical language? It is essentially any language where more speakers are needed than there are available. The national need for this language relies on political, cultural, and economic factors. While these languages may be critical, currently South Asian heritage communities in the United States have limited means and resources to effectively teach their languages to children.

So what exactly is the government doing to increase literacy of US citizens in these languages? The US Department of Education funded DesiLearn K-12!

DesiLearn is the only initiative of its kind in the entire country designed to document and describe all South Asian language education programs for school age children in the US. The objective is to answer two main questions: What is the current state of South Asian language education for students from K-12 in the U.S., and what do teachers and administrators involved in these programs report as the needs of their programs?

Now why do I know all of this, and why do I feel it’s so important as to warrant a Brown Girl post?

I’m a research intern for DesiLearn! Under the leadership of my boss, Mr. Anup P. Mahajan, the Executive Director of the National Capital Language Resource Center (NCLRC) housed at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C., the other interns and I have been compiling a long contact list of those programs (individual tutors, cultural organizations, temples, mosques, etc.) in the United States that teach any of these South Asian languages.

Shameless plug: This is all based on internet research and word of mouth, so if you know any individual or program that teaches these languages please let us know! Just drop us an email at info@desilearn.us with their name, what languages they teach, where they are located, and their contact information.

At the heart of our study is a comprehensive survey to be conducted over the phone. It only takes about half an hour and will help us find out what teachers and administrators need to improve their community-based efforts. DesiLearn is also establishing the nation’s first network of K-12 teachers of South Asian languages, to provide resources and a forum for South Asian communities to connect ongoing efforts.

After we complete this study of existing resources and get an overview of the needs of these programs, we will create a final report to send to the Department of Education that will address the short-term and long-term actions that should be taken to strengthen South Asian language programs for school-aged learners in the U.S.

By participating in this survey and sharing your concerns and needs with us, we can in turn effectively communicate your needs with the government. You would be advocating for your program and helping the South Asian community in the United States. How can you possibly ignore something like that?!

Many of us (and by us I mean children of South Asian Immigrants) take it for granted that our parents brought us up in a bilingual household. I certainly did until I began working at the National Capital Language Resource Center (NCLRC). It’s important to recognize that language and culture are inextricably linked. Many of us are lucky enough to have gained this window into our culture by having learned our parent’s language at such an early age. Future generations should also be given this opportunity. In order to do so, the community needs to make sure that our temples, mosques, and religious and cultural institutions have what they need to instill an appreciation for South Asian language and culture in South Asian American youth through language education.

It would make our day if you would drop us an email to let us know that you have gotten the word out to your community and if you know of anyone that would be interested in speaking with us!

Visit our website at: http://www.nclrc.org/

Read Part 1 here

Watch SBU Thillana 2008 compete!

Finally, it was competition weekend.  We had not slept the night before because we were too busy practicing, but we had a newfound energy and excitement because for many of us, this was our first competition ever.  Our captains and older Thillana members already briefed us on how amazing competing was and how nothing else compared to the feeling of being at competition so the newer members and I were all looking forward to experiencing a national South Asian dance competition.

 Our team took turns driving to Princeton and once we got to our destination, things finally got real.   We stepped out the car and it was no longer just Thillana.  The experience began with a mixer where all of the different teams got to mingle and meet each other.  Naturally, many of my team members and I had our game faces on because each person we saw was a threat to us.  These were our competitors! There was no time to befriend them!  However, this attitude changed as the night progressed.

 It was very easy to delineate the past competitors from the newer ones.  The ones with the meanest faces were the novice competitors, this included me and many of my fellow team members.

 Soon, the initial huddles dispersed and people from different teams approached us with big smiles introducing themselves and wanting to know more about us, about Stony Brook, and about New York.  We were taken aback with the good attitude and friendliness we encountered but the enthusiasm from our competitors encouraged us to mingle even more.  We made friends with our competitors!  The mixer ended with a giant dance party.  You can only imagine what could go down in a hotel ballroom filled with hundreds of dancers who clearly love to dance and had not danced for leisure in months.  We had a blast, which we definitely did not expect, and this set the mood for the actual competition.

The next morning, we were all in good spirits.  As we got to the dressing room, we saw our friends from the night before and we all wished each other luck as we began the dressing up process: sequins, buns, high intensity makeup (yes, even on the boys), hairspray, and spandex.  The atmosphere changed as we got closer and closer to competing time.  Teams stopped smiling and mingling and everyone stuck to their own groups.  Talk of what Curry Bear and Desi Dance Teams would say about the routines was widespread as parents, and friends started crowding into the venue.

The teams were not allowed to watch anyone who performed before them.  Waiting to perform seemed to take forever.  Soon, it was our turn.  We did our cheer and huddled for the last time before performing.  Our captain hyped us up after we prayed and everyone was as ready as we had ever been. 

The actual performance seemed to finish as soon as we got on stage.  The routine was second nature to us.  It was in our blood, messing up was just not an option.  Although I can’t speak for the rest of my team, I knew that just like myself, we all exerted ourselves to the max.  Whatever energy we had left we gave it all into our routine.  After we finished, we were all smiles because each and every one of us knew that the routine went flawlessly.  None of us could breathe but the emotion that hit us after competing was indescribable.  Now all there was left to do was wait for the results.

We all regrouped and finally got to watch the rest of the performances before results were announced.  As the judges handed over the results each team stood on stage huddled together holding each other’s hands and waiting with bated breath to hear the teams that placed.  I knew we did amazingly and I knew we would place.

As the judges announced third and second place, we progressively got more nervous but we maintained hope.  First place was announced and it was not us.  We didn’t hear our name. We stood there and watched as the placing teams exploded in smiles and went to get their trophies.  We felt defeated.

Many of us began to cry as we looked down at our bruised feet.  I was devastated.  I did not want to talk to my family, I did not want to go to the after party, I did not want to congratulate the other teams because we deserved to win.  As the night progressed, the team comforted each other and we finally realized that everyone worked just as hard as us.  There was no use in being upset because every single person at competition worked his or her butt off just to be there.  It wasn’t our year but we had made it through the process and that was an accomplishment in itself.

We all cheered up as the reality of us finally being able to go back to our normal lives hit us.  We had not placed, but we were proud of ourselves because we had done the best we could and had grown as a team, as dancers, and as individuals during the experience.  We joined the rest of the teams at the after party and danced to our heart’s content.

After we returned back home, everything seemed so quiet and not right.  Our bodies were so used to practicing at odd hours of the day that our sleep cycles were completely messed up.  Our practices were filled with “oh my god!  Remember this”’s and “that was crazy”s.  It was as if competition was a dream.  A dream that we would carry with us for the rest of our lives.  We had made it through a national South Asian dance competition alive.

Photographs can capture an array of emotions, stories and realities. Photographers have the ability to relay a sense of freedom within their subjects to portray their inner beauty and lives.

Award-winning photographer, Frederic Roberts presents his years of work done in India at the University Art Gallery in the Staller Center for the Arts at Stony Brook University. His exhibition, “Humanitas: Images of India” has been showcased from November 10 and will come to an end on Saturday, December 11, 2010.

Roberts currently resides in Los Angeles, California. He left the finance industry after 30 years of work to focus on his love for photography. He has made several trips to India since 1974, and his most recent ones have been made in 2003 to Rajastan and 2006 to Gujarat. His two books of photographs published by Abbeville Press, “Humanitas, Volume One” and “Humanitas II” display the cultures of Rajastan and Gujarat.

He will be flying this month to set up a workshop for Indian students ages 14-19 to teach them how to tell photographic stories about environmental practices and renewable energy.

He will do his work in association with Sanjhi, an Indian NGO, and The Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego. Then he will be traveling to Madhya Pradesh to photograph remote tribes where he will spend five weeks.

This particular exhibition reveals stories of work, family, spirituality, devotion, celebrations, and traditions. Roberts was able to grasp the beauty of each subject though their everyday chores, habits, and customs. All of the photographs put together in one glace present a depiction of domestic and economic life, but have been pictured through a lens of rich color and fascination.

Roberts explains his devotion to travel to India and the villages he visits comes from their inner happiness, strong family ties and reverence to God. He says they have nothing in terms of economic wealth, but have created a rich life for themselves.

“I find that these cultures are much richer than our culture in many respects. I would say as a sweeping generality that these people are happy with what they have and that they are richer in that regard.”

He continues to describe the reasons he is drawn to India again and again.

“There are two primary reasons. The first is that, when the work is completed and exhibited, the local people love it. It is a tremendous validator of the work. Second, as these areas develop, and satellite TV and the Internet begin to impact the cultures, my work becomes an archive of the original, essential cultures — clothing, housing, family relationships, rituals, etc. These cultures are melting very quickly.”

Rhonda Cooper, Director of the University Art Gallery tells the Independent that she is very impressed by the bright ornaments and beautiful fabrics that the women wear in the photographs. She is also delighted by the amount of people that have been visiting the gallery.

Cooper also notices how comfortable the subjects are with Roberts even though this might be first foreigner to ever come their way.

Cooper said, “Everyone is looking at the camera. They seem at ease. Roberts has the kind of personality that is easy to work with. He takes pride in wanting to get know his subjects before he shoots any photos.”

Roberts has a lot of patience when it comes to forming a relation with his subjects and he indulges himself into their surroundings.

“My approach is to relate to the people — to spend time with them and develop as much of a real relationship as time will allow,” said Roberts. “That’s why I have to spend a good deal of time there. I can’t rush and start photographing like a machine. I experience first, and photograph second.”

Roberts love for India and photography has been an inspiration for the students, faculty, and friends of Stony Brook University.

Indians and cinema are usually synonymous with the family friendly, melodramatic epics produced by the multi-billion dollar Bollywood industry. However, the seventh annual South Asian International Film Festival, running from Oct. 27 to Nov. 2 in New York City, presents viewers with racier, independent films by young, burgeoning filmmakers who have created works that New York Times columnist, Rachel Saltz, describes as being “eager to bust taboos, sexual and otherwise.” Among the films showcased, there are 16 features and 5 shorts – ranging from the experimental to those that exist on the conventions that Bollywood provides. The article continues to provide short glimpses into the variety of subjects and content showcased. You can read more about Saltz’s impression of SAIFF here.

The SAIFF was founded in New York City to provide a place for Indian Cinema to have a voice. It’s conception brought South Asian filmmakers from all over to present their visions and gain exposure in one of the cultural capitals of the world. This year’s festival also features events that include music, panels, and more. If you’re going to be in the area, make sure you check it out and support South Asian independent filmmaking! You can find more information about times, location, and a schedule for all the films playing at the official SAIFF website:

http://www.saiff.org/2010/

It is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  It is time to wear your pink!

Be sure to get your mammogram to find out early. Breast Cancer is not the common cause of death, however it is the fifth.  According to CDC, the latest statistics show 191,410 women were diagnosed with breast cancer, and 40,820 died. It is more common in women, however men can also obtain this disease. Breast cancer can start out with little or no symptoms.  Here are some symptoms that may occur as it grows:

• Lump in breast or underarm
• Thickening or swelling
• Redness
• Nipple discharge besides breast milk
• Pain in any area of the breast

What exactly is breast cancer? It is a type of cancer where cells divide in the breast and grow in an abnormal control.  They may begin in either the mammary ducts or lobules. Tumors can grow slow or rapidly. Start of by checking your breast yourself about every month. Also, have your doctor check them at ever visit. It would be best to have regular screening tests, a mammogram, to lower the chances. A mammogram is simply an X-ray made to check your breasts for lumps. Your body and breasts change throughout your lifetime. Make sure these changes are normal.

Start of by checking your breast yourself about every month as well as a doctor.

Here are a few sites with more information and opportunities to help women:

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Susan G.Komen for the Cure

CDC Breast Cancer Awareness

National Breast Cancer Foundation

There are many ways to spread your awareness, even with a click of a button.  Wear your pink ribbons and bracelets, run the marathons, donate to the foundation, or share your story.  As Maya Angelou, a global renaissance woman, quotes for National Breast Cancer Foundation:

“When you do nothing, you feel overwhelmed and powerless.  But when you get involved, you feel the sense of hope and accomplishment that comes from knowing you are working to make things better.”

There are certain people in this world whose stories move you to tears within seconds. Their compassion for others regardless of their status touches and inspires you in unparalleled ways. Every year, CNN honors these individuals whom they title “CNN Heroes.” This Thanksgiving we will watch as Anuradha Koirala, one of CNN’s Top 10 Heroes for 2010, will grace the world with her story.

Her career as a primary school English teacher in Nepal came to an end when she found herself in an abusive relationship. After she escaped the horrors of domestic violence, she opened up a retail shop where she employed victims of sex trafficking and abuse.

State Department statistics have indicated that between 10,000 and 15,000 girls are trafficked from Nepal to India annually. In 1993, Koirala created Maiti Nepal, literally meaning “Mother’s home.” A refuge for rehabilitation, Koirala has managed to rescue 12,000 Nepali girls since its inception.

Koirala explains that families are always tricked into giving up their girls. She tells the story of Geeta, the daughter of Nepalese peasant farmers. She was sold to a brothel by a distant family member who had deceived Geeta’s visually impaired mother and promised that Geeta would be getting a job at a clothing company.  Like Geeta, many girls who are rehabilitated remain at Maiti Nepal and assist Koirala in her mission.

The most heartbreaking aspect of this situation is that many girls cannot return home. They contract sexually transmitted diseases and are rejected from their societies. There is even a hospice on the premise for those with untreatable illnesses.

Koirala’s work is funded by grants and donations from all over the world. To assist our CNN Hero on her mission to save the lives of hundreds of innocent brown girls like us, visit the Maiti Nepal website. For the complete story as well as more information on Anuradha Koirala, see the official CNN Heroes page.

2010 has been a banner year for Indian-American politicians.  The first Indian American politican, Dalip Singh Saund (pictured right) was elected to the House of Representatives in 1957, but Indians have not been largely visible in politics since.  The following politicians are running for national office this year. 

Nikki Haley

Running for: governor of South Carolina, Republican

Background: accountant, has served in South Carolina House of Representatives since 2004

Manan Trivedi

Running For: Pennsylvania’s 6^th Congressional District, Democrat

Background: Iraq war veteran and doctor

Raj Goyle

Running For: Kansas’s 4^th Congressional District, Democrat

Background: attorney, has served in Kansas House of Representatives since 2007

Kamala Harris

Running For: California Attorney General

Background: District Attorney of San Francisco since 2003

Reshma Saujani

Running For: New York’s 14^th Congressional District, Democrat

Background: Attorney for Wall Street firms

*After a much-publicized race, Saujani lost her primary to incumbent Carolyn Maloney*

Ami Bera

Running For: California’s 3^rd Congressional District, Democrat

Background: doctor, Dean of Admissions University of California – Davis, Chief Medical Officer of Sacramento County

Surya Yalamanchili

Running For: Ohio’s 2^nd Congressional District, Democrat

Background: worked at Proctor and Gamble

Ravi Sangasetti

Running For: Louisiana’s 3^rd Congressional District, Democrat

Background: attorney

Imagine living in the developing world in a village, where that one river is the only source of water you have for drinking, cooking, and bathing. You don’t have safe flowing water from your tap. You cannot go to the store and buy sanitized bottles of water. Imagine the state of the water from that river… it is filthy and dirty with flies buzzing all around and animals’ feces infesting the water. There is another world out there struggling to live. Can you imagine, the water full of diseases? Right now, 1.1 billion people on the planet don’t have access to safe, clean drinking water.

It is September.  Charity:Water has a September campaign for the Bayaka, an African Pygmy Tribe.  Many live without clean water.  Let’s help raise money to build wells in Africa.   Remember, every $20 donated will give ONE person clean water for 20 YEARS. That is absolutely amazing.

I have started a campaign to raise the money.  Click on the site below, read about the campaign, watch the videos, and donate.  Right now my goal is $1,000 for this month.  Let’s make it happen!

http://mycharitywater.org/p/campaign/?campaign_id=7073

Thanks,

Farah Mithani - Houston Baptist University