Crying as she is put on an electronic scale, two-year-old Rajini's naked shrivelled frame casts a dark shadow over a rising India, where millions of children have little to eat. The children are scrawny, listless and sick in this run-down nutrition clinic in Madhya Pradesh with its intermittent power supply. If they survive they will grow up shorter, weaker and less smart than their better-fed peers.
Bashiran Bibi and her husband fought everyday because money was too tight. Their hungry children's screams tormented her. She began begging in Pakistan's streets. But that didn't help. So the maid, 25, decided there was only one way to deal with crushing poverty. She jumped in front of a speeding train with her two sons and daughter, all under the age of 3.
A kiss may be just a kiss, but when sweethearts pucker up on Valentine's Day, they will be participating in one of the most bizarre and unlikely of human activities. Experts say kissing evolved from sniffing, which people did centuries ago as a way of learning about each other.
Comedians are rarely known for their diplomatic skills, but three South Asian-American stand-ups may just prove to be the exceptions. Rajiv Satyal, Hari Kondabolu and Azhar Usman recently concluded a seven-city India tour sponsored by the State Department. Their itinerary took them to Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Patna, Kolkata, Durgapur and Mumbai from Feb. 4 to 17.
Hira Mandi, the traditional red light quarter of Lahore, lives in the popular mindscape through its stories of longing, loss and 'mujras' after the Pakistan government clamped down on prostitution in the 1970s, says noted French writer Claudine Le Tourneur d'lson.
– BUFFALO, N.Y. An Indian-American physician at the University at Buffalo is the first in Western New York to carry out a successful heart valve transplant. Dr. Vijay S. Iyer, assistant professor of medicine at the university’s School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, has successfully led a team of highly trained physicians to implant aortic valves in four patients over the last few weeks.
London's Olympics offer the seemingly ageless Leander Paes the chance to outdo his father in the medals stakes and to crown his doubles tennis career. Paes's eyes still light up at the mention of the singles bronze he won at the Atlanta Games in 1996, ending India's 44-year wait for an individual Olympic medal. The success put him on a par with his father, Vece Paes, who was part of India's bronze medal-winning 1972 Olympic hockey team.
