- The epidemic of child poverty, India’s biggest problem by Jaya Gajparia

- The key to a healthy life including Recipes

‘When I grow up ..............I want to be a Doctor!‘
by Bhavin Garara

‘Now we will find out who got the better A’s.’ This was the first thing I was told on Day One of the Medicine Course!

Not surprisingly, A-levels do not prepare you for the shock you face once you begin the course.

There is indeed a lot of work to do, long hours every week, stressful nights before exams and intense anxiety before results are published. There is no illusion; it is not easy but it is immensely fulfilling.

I am now a fourth year student. It has been a long journey and there is still more to come. I have got one more year before I graduate and two more years to decide on a specialist position.

So why choose medicine?

Personally, I chose it not because it was something I really wanted to do, but more because I was not sure what to do. At the age of 16, it is very difficult to make a choice that will affect the rest of your life. My decision was based on my interest in science and desire to do something challenging.  This meant my application to Medical school had to be that much stronger. I was fortunate enough to work in a small city hospital in Nairobi, Kenya for a month. This work experience not only confirmed my decision, but gave me something to talk about in the interviews.

I am doing an intercalated degree at Nottingham University. Here the first two years of the course focus primarily on biomedical sciences, with some patient contact. For the first half of the third year, I did a research project and then began my clinical practice. Working in the hospital environment has been thoroughly enjoyable. As part of my curriculum, I was able to speak to patients with various diseases and disorders and scrub in to assist and watch surgeries ranging from heart bypass operations to emergency c-sections to a 12-hour long facial reconstruction! To this day, my most valued experience in the hospital has been working in the labour suite, helping midwives deliver babies.

The future, for me, holds a few big decisions. Firstly, I must decide where I want to do my 2 month elective and what specifically I want to do with it. I am in the process of planning a month’s work in Ahmadabad and another month’s work in the USA. I want to use my time during the elective to make an informed choice in the chosen fields of interest.

Secondly, I must think about what area of medicine I want to specialise in. Through my time in the hospital, I have been able to decide things I definitely do not want to do. I know that I want to go into surgery simply because I do not find Medicine as rewarding.

In basic terms, Medicine puts off the inevitable and therefore it takes a long time to see results, where as you see instant result in surgery and it is more importantly, for me, hands on. I have narrowed it down to Orthopaedics, Plastics, Cardiothoracics, ENT, Urology and Anaesthetics with special interests in emergency and intensive care medicine.

I hope I have managed to raise your interest and given you an insight into the life of a Medic. It is not as glamorous as it sounds, but I thoroughly enjoy it. I would invite anyone to join my profession, not because it is pleasing to be called ‘Doctor’ but because you too can someday say I have made a difference to many lives.

New York, New York
By Kishan Rabadia’s

With no job in sight and no grad scheme place secured, I decided that maybe I should apply for the Mountbatten Internship Programme, who knew it would be the experience of a lifetime.

The Programme
The Mountbatten Internship Programme (named in honour of the late Earl Mountbatten of Burma) aims “to foster international and cross cultural understanding through experiential education, practical training and residence abroad, and to provide opportunities for personal growth and professional development”.  They offer internships in Architecture, Event Management, Executive Search, Finance, Government, HR, IT, Law, Marketing, Non-Profit, Post-Production Services (media) and Real Estate.  Almost all the internships are office based.  With the internship you will be required to either study towards the MBA in International Business Practice or the Postgraduate Certificate in International Business Practice. 
         
There are 2 internships offered, one in New York and the other in London.  As this is a cultural exchange no resident or citizen of the UK and Europe can apply for the London programme.  The programme is open to anyone who can speak and write English proficiently.  That will not be a problem for most of you!  It is open to all nationalities; however some may find it easier getting a visa than others.  Although most of the interns are from the UK and a few from Europe, you may get the chance to meet people from Australia, India and Thailand.

All you need to have to apply is to be over 21 at the start of the internship, have a 2.1 degree, be able to type 45 wpm, and have at least 1 years experience in the area that you want to intern in. For more information on the programme and how to apply visit www.mountbatten.org

My Experience
I almost did not make it on the programme for many reasons.  One piece of advice, if you are going to apply, get your application in early and do not leave it till the last minute like I did!  The reason being, you have to organise 3 references and there is no way you can get it done at the last minute unless you are lucky.

My sister went on the programme a few years before I did, so I knew what to expect.  However, having never lived away from home and not knowing anyone on the programme, I was really taking a leap.  Many of you may not have lived truly independent lives, so before you apply be prepared for this. You could convince a friend to apply for the programme as well so that you may have some company. However, even if your friend applies they may not get a placement. There was a rumour when we got to New York that an intern had crossed the Atlantic with us and realised they could not live a year without their family and friends and so they turned back!

My initial thoughts when I got to New York was how tall everything was and I was surprised at how dirty the city was.  I had the misleading impression from the Hollywood movies that it was a clean and sparkling city...how wrong was I.  Saying all that, I learned to love New York and its simplicity when compared to London.  It was so easy to navigate as most of the streets and avenues were numbered. They also had mini areas where you could get Chinese food, Indian food etc.

We lived in Jersey City, New Jersey, so we had the benefits of working in a city and living in a suburban area.  It is a great place to live with most things walking distance away from you.  Take the PATH and you will be in New York.  Most people will take this to get into work if they are working in the city.  Some people are lucky (or unlucky) enough to work in Jersey City itself so do not have to spend anything on travel.  If you want to get your Jiru, Methi or some other masala you can pop to Journal Square (using the PATH).  This place is like Ealing road, filled with Indian shops and restaurants.

I lived with other interns on the programme.  There are two intakes, one in March and the other in September.  I shared with a mixture of the two intakes.  Typically there are six people to an apartment.  One person has their own room, two share another room and three share a room with an en-suite.  The apartments are normally mixed, you can get all girls apartments, but rarely all boy apartments as it would seem the internship attracts more girls.  Normally, the girl to boy ratio is 3:7.  Living with people you do not know can be easy, but as I found out you have to learn to confront them about their habits or ignore them.  And then you have to organise to clean the apartment together and believe me that can be hard.  If you are not happy with the apartment you are put in you can move in with a friend 6 months later.

Within the area that I was living, there are a lot of Indians, so you could get to meet people there.  There is also a Swaminarayan Mandir in Weehawken, which is train ride away and takes about half an hour including walking.  I only went there twice, but if you wanted to you could go every week and meet the American Swaminarayan community.  The intern community is mostly made up from people from the UK and within that I would say 10% is Asian.  There are also people from Thailand, India and Australia, so there is the opportunity to get to know an eclectic mix of people.

Going out was so easy and we never had to worry about getting cabs as the subway and PATH run for 24 hours, although there is a reduced service late at night.  This meant that we could come back from a night out whenever we wanted to.  There are clubs and bars for all types of music.  The cheaper bars and clubs tend to be downtown in the Lower East Side or the Village.  You will find that alcohol is more expensive but since it is free pour and not measured you get more for your money.  Also DO NOT forget to tip (normally $1 per drink).

Being quite lazy in cooking I hardly went to Journal Square as the masalas that I brought with me from the UK lasted me the whole year.  Before you come to New York learn how to cook the basics!  However if you don’t, it is possible to survive on ready meals, but making the food yourself can be more cost effective and in the end you will look at everything and think “can I afford to buy that?”

This experience taught me how to live on a strict budget!  I found budgeting extremely hard as we got paid $460 every two weeks, so $920 every month.  From that I had to pay for my travel, food, and also going out costs.  There were times when I would have hummus and salad (all brought from home) for lunch!  Needless to say when family came to visit I took advantage of them and ate as much as was offered!  I took advantage of everything that was free and believe me there is a lot of things in New York that are free especially during the summer.  I remember the times when I would go to “Morton Williams” (the local supermarket) and take advantage of the free samples they would have!

Being frugal with your money is a must if you are to survive on the programme.  In the end I did cheat and dip into my savings from time to time.

Working in New York was amazing.  I was interning with Citi Private Bank and was based on 46th and Lexington Avenue (near Grand Central Station and the Chrysler Building).  My advice to all is to walk wherever you can, instead of taking the subway or buses, so that you can see the city.  Since the “high street” shops were all around me I started to become more of a shopper.

I learnt to expand my palate as there are so many good restaurants around.  I had Thai, sushi (yes you get vegetarian sushi!), Indian food but my favourite discovery was “Max Brenner” and Australian chocolate restaurant.  My love for chocolate suited this restaurant as almost everything on the menu is derived from chocolate.  They do offer normal food like salads, burgers etc but you can get crepes, chocolate pizza, chocolate cocktails and so on.  The best Thai restaurant I went to, “Sea”, had good food, good portions and was cheap.  It had a great ambiance and the toilets had TV screens inside so that you could see who was waiting for you on the outside!

Then there is the travelling that you could do.  The USA is a continent in itself, so you can experience all types of climates.  You could go skiing or go to the beach.  Take advantage of this.  New York is close to Boston and Pennsylvania, so you can take a weekend or day trip to go visit. I did not really spend that much time travelling during the year, but spent a month road tripping around the USA at the end of the internship.  It was tiring, but a lot of fun.

Deciding to go on the internship will not be cheap.  When I went we paid around £2500, but I believe now it is £6000!  When I went the qualification we studied for whilst doing our internship had no meaning, but now the qualification you will get will give you a number of credits towards a post graduate qualification. 

The internship is a great opportunity.  For me, I gained work experience as well as life experience and many valuable skills for the future.  One of the highlights of the year was volunteering for a fashion show, where I saw some famous people.  The only advice that I could give to any Baladian, is to be prepared to be open to a new experience in order to make the most of the internship.

My dad’s a builder......
by Manish Ragwani

Choosing a career path is an exciting yet challenging part of one’s life. You ask yourself questions as to what you want to do and be in the future. I always had a fascination of building designs and construction and had always wanted to become an Architect. Visiting many different countries and looking at the architecture has always inspired me.

My grandfather formed a very successful construction company many years ago in Nairobi and is now established in many different countries including London. Having been bought up around this industry I was always interested in the building construction industry from a very young age. I remember going on site to view constructions of building and spending a lot of time in the office which I believe had a great impact on what I have become today.

The course is one of the longer courses of 7 years in all. This has put a lot of people off, however I knew what I wanted to study and did not let it put me off as I know it would all pay off in the long term.

Throughout my studies in secondary school I chose to study subjects which I thought would help me on this career path. I chose to study Business Studies, I.T, Maths and Art, all of which have become a great use to me in my further education.

Completing high school, I went straight into university to study Architecture at University of Westminster. This course is very exciting, challenging and at times very stressful as all courses can be, however it is very different to other courses as the classes are very much design base. We would have the whole academic year to design a proposal based on a brief provided by the tutors, sometimes this can challenge the traditional sense of architecture.

The great thing about this course is you get to be as creative as you want and design some weird and wonderful proposals. Besides the design modules I had to take a technical module as well as a cultural context module which allow us to broaden our knowledge of architecture.

Having completed my 3 year BA(Hons) degree receiving a 2:2, I went on to work in an architectural practice full time for a year. This was a very insightful year as I was able to gain a vast amount of knowledge and able to work on projects which I can actually see being built. This year out is a requirement in getting the architectural qualification after the seven years.

I worked for a small company specialising in luxury residential projects. Working in a small company gave me more responsibilities and having the advantage of working very closely with the architect and clients. My roles included preparing all working drawing and construction drawings, designing, attending meetings, site visits as well as dealing with subcontractors and clients.

At the end of the year I felt I was not ready to go back into architecture at university, so I decided to take a different route and do a Masters in Architecture Digital Media, which allowed me to get my creativity flowing. Whilst studying the MA I was still working part time at the practice twice a week. This course allowed me to explore different ways of design and different types of media to use in design, the course was very helpful and enjoyable and I was awarded a Merit for my design project. Towards the end of this course I felt I was ready to go back into my initial course of Architecture and continued my Part 2 studies at the same university. I am currently in my final year of the Part 2 course where I am currently designing a DDR Museum in Berlin.

When I complete this part of the course, ideally I would like to get straight back into working in practice and take my final Part 3 as soon as I can, the Part 3 is the final leg in the route to qualifying as an Architect.

Once I become a fully qualified Architect, I would like to work my way up a professional practice to gain experience before eventually joining the family construction business and take on architecture and design as a major part of the company.

Architecture as already played a major part in my life. We have had a family house build in Baladia which I was able to input my design and drawing skills. I have also been able to take on small design projects for family and friends which has been very exciting.

It seems like only yesterday I started this course and I have been studying at university for 6 years now. Time has flown by and I am looking forward to completing this course and tackling the challenges that lie ahead.

The epidemic of child poverty, India’s biggest problem
by Jaya Gajparia

Having spent considerable time in India some years ago volunteering in an orphanage and travelling throughout, it appeared to me that although much work was being carried out to relieve child poverty by NGO’s, International organisations (UN, Save the children alliance), and the Indian Government, I still couldn’t understand why so many children still suffered from this dense epidemic of poverty all over India. I began to question when would child poverty become a thing of the past? In 2007/8 during my Master of Arts in Human Rights, it was timely that I began a journey to understand the child poverty epidemic from an academic perspective. Ultimately the aim of the research was to provide some understanding on the current situation in India with the hope to be able to provide recommendations to improve and accelerate the speed of relieving the poverty epidemic. This was achieved by specifically evaluating;

1. how well the international community was working with local NGO’s
2. how the Indian government was perceived by the local NGO’s
3. and to what degree NGO’s felt they were being supported by the Indian Government

This report will not focus on the data and results that I gathered, but instead I hope to offer the reader the context of poverty.

There appears to be many different frameworks in sociology to understand the notion of poverty. The complete version of this research contains a full examination of this. As an overview and to illustrate the importance and severity of child poverty, to begin, according to the Childhood Poverty Research Centre, it is estimated that there are over 600 million children worldwide living in absolute poverty (www.unicef.org).

Millennium Development Goals
The United Nations has produced eight Millennium Development Goals in 2000 to be achieved by the year 2015 to address the issues of poverty and to make a global effort to reduce the number of people suffering from this epidemic. One of the goals is to commit itself to eradicating extreme poverty and hunger by;

1. Reducing by half the proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day
2. Reducing by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger and
3. To reduce by two thirds the mortality rate among children under five

(www.un.org/millenniumgoals/)

The Millennium Development Goal’s Declaration was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on the 6- 8th September 2000, the document highlights the values and principles that the Millennium Development Goal’s embody and aim to reach (www.un.org/millennium/declaration/ares552e.pdf).

The progress is monitored by the Millennium Development Goal’s Monitor, in which it aims to; ‘Track’ (progress through maps and country profiles), ‘Learn’ (information on countries challenges and achievements) and ‘Support’ (organisations that are working towards achieving the goals) (www.mdgmonitor.org).

The Millennium Development Goal’s are formulated around a common agreed definition of poverty, but how reliable is this?

What is poverty - UNDP
From the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), a working paper called
‘What is Poverty? Concepts and Measures’ published in December 2006 edited by
Dag Ehrenpreis, the paper aims to understand the phenomena through a  sociological perspective. The collection of papers consists of work by academics such as Robert Chambers and Peter Townsend.

Chambers argues that poverty is understood depending on who is asking the
questions, who responds and how the questions are understood. In the first section of the document Chambers offers an outline of perspectives on poverty which he refers to as ‘clusters of meaning’ (UNDP 2006:3). Chambers argues that these definitions of poverty have been constructed by development professionals and are ultimately, what he terms, ‘expressions of our education, training, mindsets, experiences and reflections’ (UNDP 2006:03). Chambers critiques the definition of poverty taking birth and control in its evolving definition in the hands of non-poor people, thus favouring the view that definitions of poverty are subjective and relative to whom you are, what your experiences have been and where you come from.

Chambers makes a very important point, he asserts; ‘If we are seriously pro-poor professionals, the answer to “What is poverty?” is “That it is the wrong question?” It is our question, not theirs. The question of those who are poor, marginalised and vulnerable is more likely to be, in varied forms and many languages with different nuances: “What can you do to reduce our bad experiences of life and living, and to enable us to achieve more of the good things in life to which we aspire?”’ (UNDP
2006: 04). This leads to asking the question, are the efforts towards achieving the
MDGs' going to benefit the countries that we claim are experiencing poverty? (UNDP
2006:04). When the declaration of the MDGs’ was examined, there was no indication towards consultations with population of people (focus groups) in areas that are defined as experiencing persistent poverty. So what evidence are the MDGs based on?

Townsend’s contribution in this paper highlights that there is now a need to adopt better poverty measures and regular UN monitor reports. He asserts that three new ways to measure poverty have become popular since the 1880s, which are based on the ideas of ‘subsistence, basic needs and relative. Subsistence is centred on the idea that if there is insufficient income to meet the basic needs of physical well being, this leads to relative deprivation (UNDP 2006:5). However Townsend asserts that measuring poverty by subsistence is problematic as it fails to acknowledge that poverty can also be deprivation of social needs therefore one cannot define poverty by physical wealth  (UNDP 2006:5). Townsend concludes with the request for the need of;

“(I) An international poverty line that defines a threshold of income (including in
kind) required in different countries to surmount material and social deprivation;
(ii) Regular reports on the extent of poverty in every country, based on measures of
both “absolute” – i.e. “extreme” – and “overall” poverty, as agreed in 1995 at the
World Summit for Social Development (UNDP 2006:6).

Now, looking more closely at what was agreed at the World Summit for Social Development under chapter 2 ‘Eradication of Poverty’. Under point 18 of the document ‘[o]ver 1 billion people in the world live under unacceptable conditions of poverty, most in developing countries, and particularly in rural areas of low income Asia and the Pacific, Africa, Latin American and the Caribbean, and the least developed countries’( www.un.org/esa/socdev/wssd/agreements/poach2.htm).

World Bank Development Report – how services can work for poor people
World Bank Development Report 2004: ‘Making services work for poor People’ highlights reasons why services for people are failing and what can be done.

One of the immediate problems is affordability to access services like schools, health clinics, clean water, sanitation and transport services which are very limited (WBDR
2004:20-21). It is thought that in rural Asia only 30 percent of the population have access to clean sanitation and in India figures from 1998-1999 show that 50 percent of poor people would start school and by grade five 14 percent would have dropped out (WBDR 2004: 20-21). Figures also illustrate how far schools and health centres are in rural India. For the poorest fifth, schools are on average 0.5 kilometres away and the nearest medical facilities are on average 2.5 kilometres away (WBDR 2004:22).

A recent study illustrates that doctors and other health professionals are not  attracted to rural/poor regions, the effects for Bangladesh have been a 40 percent unfilled vacancy rate for doctors (WBDR 2004:22). In addition to this, the technical abilities are often very low which results in health workers offering wrong advice and medicines and in schools teachers using teaching techniques which are ineffective (WBDR 2004:24).

‘In random visits to 200 primary schools in India, investigators found no teaching activity in half of them at the time of visit. Recent random samples of schools and health clinics in several developing countries found absence rates over 40 percent, with higher rates in remote areas and for some kinds of staff – although there is a wide variation within countries’ (WBDR 2004:23). Figures from Chaudhury and others in 2003 illustrate that primary schools in India have an absence rate of 25 percent and in health clinics an absence rate of 43 percent (WBDR 2004:24).

Facilities are also under scrutiny, the report describes an account of a school in Bihar, northern India as “close to disintegration”, “playground full of muck”, “mosquitoes swarming”, “no toilet” and half the schools visited had no drinking water (WBDR 2004:24), therefore, giving no reason/incentive to parents to want to send their children to school even if they wanted to. In addition to this, in some countries there are also cultural systems that affect the way in which services operate. In India,
districts with high levels of ‘lower caste’ communities or certain religious groups have lower numbers of doctors and nurses (WBDR 2004:25).

There is also the examination of the role of the government arguing that they should make services work better for poor people. Governments have a public responsibility to provide education and health care which is supported by the international MDGs, and governments illustrate their commitment to this responsibility through public spending in which health and education is thought to account for a third of  government spending (WBDR 2004:32).

A case study example of this is the disparity between two Indian states Kerala and Uttar Pradesh illustrates how public spending has different impacts on different states. The role of the public can also play a vital part, for instance, report cards were used in 1994 to rate user experiences of public services in the Indian state of Bangalore, the results eventually opened up a dialogue between providers and user groups, this pushed the State Chief Minister to set up a task force to improve city governance (WBDR 2004:42). Kerala succeeded in improving its services while Uttar Pradesh lagged behind, why? The answer is simple Kerala has learnt the power of protest and action. It is thought that in Kerala if a health centre is left unmanned for a few days the district office would find public protest, but the story would be different in rural Uttar Pradesh, whereby many months’ even years could go by with no public action (WBDR 2004:44). To illustrate the great differences between the two states, Kerala’s infant mortality rate is 16.3 per 1,000 live births compared to Uttar Prasdesh’s 86.7 and the immunization coverage rate of 12-23 month old babies in Kerala is 79.7 percent compared to a very low 21.2 per cent in Uttar Pradesh (WBDR 2004:44). The above illustrates the need to strengthen service delivery, the role the government needs to play in order to correct the failures and also the public engagement of their civil liberties.

Asian Development Bank – poverty and hunger in Asia
2008 Report by Asian Development Bank: Poverty and Hunger in Asia report illustrate the prevalence of poverty is higher in rural areas than any other. Nurul Islam and Joachim Von Braun argue that since the mid-1970s, more than fifty per cent of people were living in poverty in Asia has in 2004 decreased to eighteen percent (ABD 2008:2). According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, this means that currently they estimate that around 520 million people are hungry in Asia and eighty-five percent of those are living in rural areas on under one dollar a day (ABD 2008:2). Rural areas are home to people who predominately rely on agriculture for their income, thus results of increased growth in agriculture saw a knock on effect on the decline of poverty (ABD 2008:2). In addition to this, analysis of regions in a country has also become important, ‘[i]n India for instance, half of the poor are found in just three states. They argue that because evidence shows that rural growth is an avenue to relieve poverty, policy makers need to be involved in promoting rural growth for rural people and landless people to reap the benefits of rural economic growth (ABD 2008:3). They provide a list of components that would make, what they call a pro poor development strategy, some of which includes;

- improved access to markets
- technologies available to small farmers
- public sector investment in crop technologies and biotechnologies
(ABD 2008:3-4).

They argue that adopting such measures will not be enough but addresses one problem of many such as education, health and nutrition. They argue that non agricultural income needs to be explored with the effects of climate change on Asia. Of recent, the state of Bihar in northern India has suffered the serious impacts of climate change with extreme floods killing many thousands and displacing millions. They conclude, policy makers must learn from regional experiences and trends cannot simply be projected but should be used as a guide to implement strategies which is, they argue ‘country-and location-specific’ (ABD 2008:4).

Indian Government’s commitment to eradicating child poverty

The Commission for protection of Child Rights Act 2005 reads;

Chapter 1 point 2
(b) Child rights includes the children’s rights adopted in the United Nations convention on the Rights of the Child on the 20th November, 1989 and ratified by the Government of India on the 11th December, 1992;

Chapter 3 point 13
(a) examine and review the safeguards provided by or under any law for the time being in forced for the protection of child rights and recommend measures for their effective implementation;
(b) present to central government, annually and at such other intervals, as the
Commission may deem fit, reports upon working of those safeguards;
(c) examine all factors that inhibit the enjoyment of rights of children affected by terrorism, communal violence, riots, natural disasters, domestic violence,
HIV/AIDS, trafficking, malnutrition, torture and exploitation, pornography and prostitution and recommend appropriate remedial measures
(j) inquire into complaints and takes notice of matters relating to,
i deprivation and violation of child rights;
ii non-implementation of laws providing for protection and development of children;
iii non-compliance of policy decisions, guidelines or instructions aimed atmitigating hardships to and ensuring welfare of the children and to provide relief to such children (wcd.nic.in/cwnew.htm)

The above is extracted from ‘The Gazette of India’ Extraordinary from the Ministry of Law and Justice which is illustrative of the Indian Government’s commitment to support the international law of child rights by ratifying the convention in 1992 and its commitment to supporting children who are affected in any negative way ‘the enjoyment of rights’. Under International Law, the Indian Government is in support of child rights as human rights but how far is this reality? Already the above reports from the WB and ADB illustrate that there is much work to be done by the Indian Government to prove that they are committed to the promises made to the commission for protection of the Child Rights Act 2005. In 2005 the Indian Government adopted a National Plan of Action for Children (NPAC) to be achieved by 2012 which sets out positive measures for children up to the age of eighteen and identifies the CRC as the guiding principle (Ministry of Women and Child  Development 2007 sub group report:111) The twelve key priorities are;

1. Reducing infant mortality rate
2. Reducing maternal mortality rate
3. Reducing malnutrition among children
4. Achieve 100% civil registration of births
5. Universalization of early childhood care and development and quality education for all children
6. Complete abolition of female foeticide and child marriage
7. Improving water and sanitation coverage both in rural and urban areas
8. Addressing and upholding the rights of children in difficult circumstances
9. Securing legal and social protection from all kinds of abuse, exploitation and neglect
10. Monitoring, review, and reform of policies programmes and laws to ensure protection of children’s interest and rights
11. Ensuring child participation and choice in matters and decisions affecting their lives

(Ministry of Women and Child Development 2007:111)

This is an illustration of the Indian Government being pro elimination of child poverty, although limited resources often play a preventative role in achieving the goals prescribed. Peter Townsend (1993) argues that India’s response to poverty is actually impressive. In his book ‘The International Analysis of Poverty’ he argues that ‘there are three types of studies in India which have much to teach those concerned with the phenomena of poverty in Europe: (i) government plans for social and economic development; (ii) government surveys of income and expenditure; (iii) empirical surveys, local, regional and national, of social and economic conditions’ (Townsend 1993:159). For Townsend, the government of India has produced several five year plans that tracks social development in which the seventh five-year-plan shows India is on track and making progress on the ‘basic objective of removing poverty’ (Townsend 1993:160). In addition to the five-year-plans, India’s National Sample Survey Organisation conducted every five years also illustrate a decline in the number of people in poverty, from 48.3 percent in 1977-78 to 26 percent in 1989-90 (Townsend: 1993:160). For Townsend, compared to other governments, India has a commitment to reducing poverty illustrated by the comprehensive plans.

However, this is not necessarily a common view, if we take a look at the Narmada
Dam project, the fifth largest river in India that runs through the states of Madhya
Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat, it is thought to have displaced millions of people and ruined millions of lives. The project comes with a long history of reluctance and protests with an estimated cost of 200 billion rupees by its completion date in 2040
(Bose 2007:5). Some argue that the dam project is beneficial and others argue that the dam project violates the human rights of indigenous people and people living near and around the dam that have to be moved. It is estimated that 200,000 people from 245 villages will be forced to move and that 140,000 farmers will have their land taken away to make way for the dam (Bose 2007:3). There are rehabilitation packages that have been designed but they are only available to property owners, yet it is estimated that 60% of those who will be affected are adivasi people (tribal people) who are unlikely to have any legal property ownership (Bose 2007:4 -5). As a result, it is thought that many people would not be compensated for their loss of their homes, isn’t this a violation of human rights. In addition to this, it is also argued that compensation is only available to those that own property but it is thought to be an insufficient amount that would be needed to help them to resettle into new communities where re-training in new skills would be required for many in order for them to earn a living. Many of the displacees rely on the environment, thus because of the Narmada Dam, they are forced to change their way of living which is heavily detrimental to ones livelihood, with high possibilities of people being pushed into poverty, leaving families with a generational impact of poverty, in this case especially detrimental for the children as it could lead to other negative things like child labour and non attendance at schools.

Although, there are many different views on how much the Indian Government is doing to ensure the protection of human rights of children, some would argue that there is a huge commitment but lack of resources that is preventing progress and yet others would argue that they only want to be seen as a nation to be pro human rights in the international arena. There are many roots to the causes of poverty, and it should be noted that it is positive to see the Indian government taking steps towards a better future for children at a policy level, as it is more than what many other nation states are doing. This should be embraced, and progress should be encouraged and continue.
 
In conclusion
It became clear that there is a lot of work being done at policy level - nationally and internationally and practical work at grass roots level to work towards eradicating child poverty in India. The interview responses support the hypothesis that relationships between the Indian Government, the International agencies and NGOs are not strong enough towards diminishing child poverty in India. However, in writing this thesis, there are two new factors that have come to light that also play an important role in fuelling child poverty that were not considered in the beginning of research. The first factor that fuels child poverty is, supporting Karl Marx’s view that as long as the global and capitalist markets exist, there will always be poverty (poverty is needed for these markets to exist and to be successful).

And the second factor fuelling poverty in India is the system of hierarchy, which is embedded in the social system of the caste system, whereby the ‘dalits’ or the untouchables (the lowest group in the caste system hierarchy) will always experience poverty because they were born into that caste with the inability to enter into a higher caste group, according to the ‘rules’. With these two systems that are still very strongly observed in India and because they have no ‘sell by date’ as to when they will collapse, child poverty therefore, will not be diminished and will always exist as long as the two systems remain.  This is not to say all the work that has been done by the Indian Government, the International agencies and NGOs should stop. In fact, this thesis illustrates that there needs to be more efforts towards improving their relationships with one another through clear and consistent dialogue of communication. This research supports the claim that if there is a vast improvement of communications between the three sectors, there can be an increased acceleration towards child poverty elimination.

The recommendations are that NGOs are given complete autonomy but increased support from the Indian Government and the international community. Additionally, it can also be argued to stay clear of grand initiatives like the Millennium Development Goals which are too general and some may argue a waste of precious resources, and instead more resources spent on supporting local NGOs in a more country and state specific tailored programme with the emphasis on sustainability.

More than just a competition winner
By Sunita Kerai

As many of us know, from Sunita Kerai’s countless creative entries to the annual Diwali competition over the years and not to mention the many first prize accolades she has taken home, she exuberates creative talent.

In recent years, she has driven this creativity into a venture that has seen her unique one-off hair pieces not only being showcased at a wedding hall near you, but in Dubai!

What started as a personal hobby some years ago, when she realised after the umpteenth time of someone asking her, ‘Wow! Where did you get that stunning hairpiece?’ that there was a niche in the market that she could not only satisfy, but at the same time continue to enjoy what she loved as a hobby, she decided to see where her hobby could take her!

Initially, she did some pieces for a wedding package that was being sold by her husband in Dubai. As we all know, Dubai once was and in some cases still is a city that loves all things that sparkle. This was nothing short of the truth when Sunita’s creations shimmered under the Arabic sun. On the back of that wedding she got commissioned to create 30 pieces all for shipment to Dubai. It was a blur of beads and wire and most of all a platform for her to create and develop original one off designs in an array of colours.

So what initially started as a hobby soon fast tracked into what seemed to be a wholesale empire. Sunita had to improvise and learn fast how to tackle this, particularly since the time taken for each beautifully crafted piece often exceeds 2 hours and since the prices are more than reasonable for what could be considered a bespoke piece of art, buying beads and wires from the local high street retailers was not cost effective. Sunita was learning fast; upgrading from using ready made components and establishing how to create them at home using the raw materials.

Sourcing the beads also led her back to her roots fused with a little twenty first century technology! She managed to find a small back alley shop in neighbour to Baladia, Kera in Kutch that sourced the beads at far more reasonable prices. She then complimented this with locally sourced products, looking to the internet to get value for money and quality items from wires to glass beads to Swarovski crystals. What started as a few accessories in a small box to make hair pieces ended up being small cupboards worth of items!

Sunita takes great pleasure in seeing her hair pieces on other’s heads. It is clear to see from her pieces, that each one is a beautifully created organic sculpture made with a lot of love, care and attention to the smallest of details. Whether it be matching colours to the ladies’ outfits or taking elements from the embroidery to inspire the design, what you can be sure of is that each piece is a one off.

So the investment is slowly paying off, albeit not financially! Sunita knows her market and she respects those that she creates pieces for and keeps prices very low. This is not a commercial venture as much as it is a hobby and an outlet for her to let the creative juices flow. After all a girl can never have too many accessories to bring an outfit to life!

Inspired by the game
By Rakesh Kerai

We all know that for those of us Baladians that have been born and brought up in the UK, football has somehow become part of our blood...an aspect of life that we have whole heartedly adopted from the British. But when we consider the population of our homeland it strikes us that it is amazing India did not have a world cup team representing our nation at the world cup in South Africa. Here Rakesh Kerai talks about how he has inspired young Baladians in the Gaam to fall in love with the game. You never know, by the time 2018 hits, India may just have a world cup winning team in its ranks!

Having been made redundant just before the recession hit in earnest at the height of the credit crunch, I took the opportunity to visit my parents who had relocated to India some years earlier. It was my first trip back to the Gaam in 25 years and frankly I was not sure what to expect. I considered it a means to pass the downturn whilst visiting the folks and enduring a warmer climate than what the cold English December had on offer.

My parents have been volunteering at the school for the last 3 years and after the initial jet lag and holiday feeling wore off, I realised that my parents had already left to face the school children when I woke up. My dad who has been involved in all aspects, has of late been largely involved in the construction work within the new Gujarati school. Whereas my mother, mainly deals with the syllabus and making the teachers and head teacher more accountable, as things in India are not done as we would conventionally expect. More often than not, there are lots of politics involved and the mentality and approach can be a hindrance, preventing things from pushing forward to meet their full potential.

Having been inspired by my parents involvement, I was spurred on and asked them how I could get involved for the duration of my visit. Having reviewed the options, it did not seem appropriate to disrupt the existing curriculum and teach English, particularly since I had planned to do some intermittent touring during my visit. I had noticed there were sports teachers in the school but there were no sports being taught. I knew there would be no chance of me being able to interrupt the schedule of the school so I decided to introduce it at break times. This would allow the children the option to interact more if they wanted to as opposed to being forced into it.

This proposal was discussed with the management team at Chatteri via my father, and this was  approved.  Despite being given the ok,  there was a distinct lack of confidence in what I was proposing, and a reluctance to back the idea and get behind it for what it was. I soon began to appreciate that people in India fail to realise that sports are an important aspect in education and that some children’s academic achievements can be increased by some purposeful team building sporting activity. I evaluated the options and decided that football was the way to go, as it would provide a different set of skills for the children from the cricket that they were all avid followers of, in addition it would give them a new experience.
Upon reflection I realised that I had spent a lot of my time as a child playing with Baladia Youth Club on weekends, through this I enjoyed playing and winning Samaj tournaments and also played football for my school team.

Since the introduction of football was deemed to be an extra-curricular activity I was not permitted to teach on school grounds as there would not be enough space for the other children within the playground. It felt like things started getting more and more complicated. My father once again came to the rescue showing me a derelict ground outside the school. It was not in the best of conditions covered in boulders of rock weeds and on a slope.

At this point, the dream seemed like just that – a dream. I considered letting the dream go, since at every turn there seemed to be an obstacle in the way. It seemed a difficult task to get this ground in a state to play football on. I sat in the Gaam telling the local friends I had made, of the problems I was encountering.

They soon put me in the right direction and within a week we arranged for a JCB and tractor and 4 trailers to start on The Project. It took 4 days and over 80 trailers of soil to improve the condition of the ground. I then rolled the pitch manually in intense heat for two days with a hand roller.

Whilst all the work was going on, the interest from the children started to show.

As you can imagine as soon as the ground was cleared the commercial interest for potential on the land was aroused. Typical, I thought, just as we had put in all the effort to get the scheme off the ground, some hasty developer would steal the opportunity from under our nose. It seemed all around the Gaam interest was picking up and suddenly everyone had a means to make a buck out of the ground. Clearly the interests of the future generation was of little interest to these people. This dispute lasted for the duration whilst I was there in India. The outcome was anybody wanting to buy it for the purpose to construct on would not get it. The ground had been designated solely for recreational purposes, so Chatteri acquired the land for a nominal fee. Finally, I thought, there is a god out there!!

Back to the matter at hand, getting the children kicking ball! Training sessions were programmed at the same time as the children’s breaks, which were 5 - 6pm from Monday to Saturday, and 10am-12pm and 5-6pm on Sundays. Essentially the inspiration came from my parents, who were working hard to help give these youngsters a better future. At the time, I also recalled what a big part football played in my childhood, it was a part of my life, although a cliché those days of an innocent kick about were the best days! 

It seemed the effect football had on me was repeating itself on these children. What started initially with little interest with only 40 children showing up on the first day, was followed by 70 on the second day and a 100 by the third. Clearly the word was getting around, by the end of the week there were 150 kids kicking ball on our ground! It transpired that it was the talk of the dorms! Soon we had a following of spectators too, with those driving by pressing their horns in support, and locals coming to the ground to stop and have a chat and watch. Since there was so much interest the sheer numbers were becoming too difficult to manage, so I introduced more structure and split the different days into different age groups. It seemed that  this did not disappoint the children and those that were not playing on that day were more than happy to watch. What was also important is the other NRI’s showing their support by constantly walking past and encouraging and portraying the importance of it to Chatteri.

Ultimately, the children got plenty of enjoyment out of it. It was good to see other children in the gaam getting involved and other Baladians from London helping out. Astonishingly, teachers were surprised with the change in behaviour and even the caretaker found improvements in the cleanliness of players; in that they would have clean dorms and play areas in time for a kick about, previously they would have dragged this out! But major improvements were mentioned by the school, record cleaning times due to football at 10am. Less rubbish on the grounds, and believe it or not, improvements in grades.

Personally, I found teaching the children a wonderful experience. Gradually, I could see an improvement in performance and the children flourish with a sense of quiet confidence. As a result we introduced a weekly tournament and then the mini league. By the time I left to go travelling, the most encouraging thing was that football was still being played.

Essentially the impact of the game does not vary from Baladia to the UK, that is why it is called, The Game. It is a proven fact all the round the world, football is something that shows no boundaries, rich and poor enjoy it and with a ball anyone can enjoy. This was true in the Gaam where the boys on the Chatteri field had just as much in common as any of the boys playing for a Sunday league in the UK.
 
In addition to having such a rewarding experience with the football team, I did some work with the team leading the internet library. Since it was an established unit I gave them some of help in expanding it as it was getting progressively busier. We have expanded it so that the users are more comfortable and boys use the facilities downstairs and the girls upstairs. This may seem a little orthodox to us but it works for those in the Gaam and it means the use of the facilities is maximised. It is run by a private conglomerate, who also take care of other issues in the gaam, such as rubbish clearance and the irrigation and plantation of trees.

Ultimately it was an amazing experience. I appreciate when most of us return to the Gaam we are only there for a short time, however there are always ways to help out and make an impact. We as westerners have seen and experienced things that we can lend back to our roots, so that progressively they have the knowledge and force to make a difference in their lives. It is shocking that so many of us return some more frequently than others and yet when we use facilities, such as the Internet library, we cannot even dig into our pockets to contribute to the running of such facilities, let alone question how they are operated. Perhaps it is time to reflect on that and assess how we can make a difference back home, however big or small.

My Afghani Heroine
By Jaya Gajparia


International Women’s Day Celebration
My heroine, the woman who escaped war, power, greed
The woman whose husband was kidnapped and later killed
Left with a broken heart, a broken home
Four years on, a refugee today, living in the North East of England and somehow she is able to receive communication of this North East Women’s conference and there she is, telling her story.

Her story is not that of, anger, loss and tragedy of a war. The greed of men with political power who are responsible for stealing her family, her home, her land
But actually today it’s of her passion, to bring women together, for her she places importance of women’s space, ‘Stronger Together’ is the birth of this.

I am sat watching her carefully, admiring her, wondering what her experiences have been like, but amazed by her energy and passion for wanting women of all herstories to have a space. With her candy pink lipstick, lavender shade eye shadow and her beautifully embroidered shawl placed elegantly on her head, she tells me about her success of being awarded several thousands of pounds from the Big Lottery and a thousand or so from a local funder to help her simply create a space to bring women together. Her success, which I know many women here in England did not take part in, is celebrating International Women’s Day. She believes in International Women’s Day, she believes in the strength of Women, she believes in Freedom. She made me believe that much more than I ever did before. The woman who escaped the war in Afghanistan, my heroine

Ms. Jaya Gajparia

My Life as a Dancer
By Dharmisha Vekaria

My name is Dharmisha Vekaria, I am 14 years old, I enjoy dancing. I started dancing from a young age. At the age of 6 my Mum and Dad signed me up for a dance class called Saraswati Dance Academy. This class helped me from the basics to the complicated steps I learnt of different types of Indian Dance like, Bollywood, Folk, Bharatanatyam and Kathak.

All these dances are from different places in India. This also influenced me to learn a little bit more of our home country. It is very enjoyable because I have my friends with me and we all have fun while dancing. The different reasons I enjoy dancing is because you can express of talent and also build confidence while on stage.

My first performance was at Wembley Arena .I performed 2 dances with my dance class and I was 7 years old – it was an awesome experience at that age. I made my parents very proud. As it was my first performance I was really nervous and I thought I would forget my steps as I was so small and since then I have slowly but surely built up my confidence and felt proud about it.

My second performance was for Diwali on the Square at Trafalgar Square. This was an equally amazing experience and I performed in front of hundreds and thousands of people. We did a Diva dance and I still remember my mum talking to my papa saying "i had tears down my eyes seeing my little baby performing and dancing flawlessly” The public cheered for all of us and Satishbhai our teacher was very proud of us all.

And from then on I have progressed even more and still going to the same dance class which I have enjoyed for the last 7 years

The key to a healthy life including recipes

A healthy lifestyle leads to a better life. Exercising and eating an apple daily doesn’t really work for everybody. Eating the right foods can help you on your way to living a full life. It is particularly difficult for vegetarians to get the right amount of vitamins and nutrients as our main diet consists of vegetables, fruits, grains, seeds, nuts and milk. Without the necessary protein we are missing from our diets, it is important for us to replace those with key foods that will provide us with what we need.

Vitamin B12 is needed for the body to gain its energy and helps build red blood cells, but generally can only be found in animal foods. Most vegetarians would have to take the B12 supplement and for the people who have a B12 deficiency, they know this includes the trip to the GP every 3 months. To keep your B12 topped up, regular intake of breakfast cereals, soy and grain milks can be sufficient.

Like every good thing it is important to take it in balanced and moderated intakes. A common disease found in Indians is Diabetes. It affects the level of sugars in the blood and is quite dangerous if not controlled regularly. Other diseases often related to Diabetes are high blood pressure and cholesterol levels, if not taken care of can result in the development of Diabetes. Daily exercise is very important to keep the level of blood sugars down and to keep everything balanced in the body. The development of Diabetes can often be family related but that can be controlled by daily exercise and eating the right foods. For Diabetic patients it is important to not eat too many sugary foods to keep the blood sugar level even, for people who have a bit of a “sweet tooth” they can replace normal sugar with special Diabetic sugar which can be purchased from almost all supermarket outlets. As we know Indian’s love their mithai’s, and it is important to eat the ladoos and jalebi’s in moderation! It is also quite essential to keep a healthy lifestyle by maintaining a regular exercise regime. A daily walk around the park or in the garden for 20-30 minutes is sufficient.

A recipe for a delicious and healthy sugar-free Carrot Cake
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 1 cups dates, chopped
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 cup carrot, grated
- 1/3 cup frozen orange juice concentrate

1.       In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside.
2.       Combine the water, dates, raisins, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg in a small saucepan.
3.       Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and gently simmer for 5 minutes.
4.       Place the shredded carrots in a large bowl and pour the hot water mixture over them and allow cooling completely.
5.       Add the orange juice concentrate to the carrot mixture and mix well.
6.       Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir well to combine.
7.       Pour the batter into a lightly greased cake pan.
8.       Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Indians also often have a tendency to develop Arthritis and this is very often down to the hard manual labour work that we are often doing. Arthritis is the inflammation of joints and it is common in people between the ages of 40-50 but they are not the only ones affected, it can develop in people of all ages. There are many types of different arthritis people can develop, the main kind is Osteoarthritis. This type of arthritis causes the bones to rub against each other whist moving resulting in pain and stiffness around those joints. Even though it causes pain and inability to move properly, it can be taken control of by doing gentle exercise of the paining joints and plenty of walking to get those joints moving to avoid stiffness. You can also soothe the pain and inflammation by rubbing anti-inflammatory cream on those paining joints to give you some relief.

There are some conventional methods you can use which help with easing muscle and joint pains such as using herbal remedies. Turmeric is the best home-made and natural medicine to treat aching joints as it has anti-inflammatory qualities and it can be easily found in your kitchen cupboards! Use fresh turmeric root for a better result and you can turn it into a tea to drink every day for additional soothing effects. This recipe for a Turmeric tea was taken from James Wong’s “Grow Your Own Drugs” which was on BBC2.

- 3 sticks fresh turmeric or 4g dried
- Thumb-sized piece fresh ginger root
- Few pinches black pepper
- 250ml whole milk
- 250ml water
- 1 tsp black tea leaves
- Palm sugar, to taste (or maple syrup or brown sugar)

1.       Peel and chop the fresh turmeric, if using (being careful not to stain surfaces or hands). Peel and grate the ginger. Put into a mortar (with the dried turmeric, if using) and add a few pinches of black pepper, then pound with the pestle until you get a smooth paste.
2.       Combine the paste with the milk, water and tea leaves in a pan and simmer on a low heat for 10-20 minutes, or until the liquid is reduced by half. Strain. Sweeten with palm sugar to taste, and stir.
3.       Before drinking, pour the Tea between two containers, holding them the maximum width apart to aerate the tea as much as possible and produce froth on top. Despite not having too much of a medicinal effect on the remedy, this is more than just a flamboyant whim. Aerating the mix improves its flavour by making it easier for your tongue to perceive the chemicals that give the drink its unique taste.

USE: Make the Tea up as you need it, and drink at once. Take daily to help with arthritis, aches and pains in the joints, psoriasis, Crohn’s disease and other inflammatory conditions.

STORAGE: The paste keeps for up to 1 month in the refrigerator.

Consult your doctor before trying the recipe.

Baladia's Top Model
By Jaya Bhojani

I could not wait until it struck one! Every day there would always be that battle going on in my head for moments. It was a choice between sitting in the sixth form common room glaring in admiration at the popular boys and girls, or it was hanging out with the same two art students in the Art room over at the Design & Technology block. Today was not any ordinary day. It was four months into the New Year. Every four months we would run down to the newsagents during our lunch break with our packed lunch in our rucksacks. The new issue of Asiana magazine would be out. It was like the Asian version of Vogue, only cheesier. Thick, smooth, shiny and glossy was 'the' magazine glowing on the third row shelf at the local newsagent. The moment we set eyes on that magazine we would stare at the front page for a whole minute and examine every inch of the page. Every page was like a dream. Slender women with such elegant posture. Did they look like this all the time? Did they actually exist? Flicking further in we went straight to the fashion and beauty section. It was pretty corny, but we loved looking at the colours, angles, lighting, backgrounds and locations of the shoots - it was fascinating! We were getting ready to get booted out any minute now. After three minutes of flicking, Mr. Shah came over to us like he usually does.
“Oi! Does this bloody look like Kenton library to you!? It’s a bloody confectionery store, now get out unless you’re going to buy it!” said Mr. Shah. Inevitably Mrs Shah didn’t say anything; she remained silent behind the counter. Come to think of it, I never heard her say a word in all my time visiting their shop!
 
It was like our saviour. All of a sudden we had come out of the doom and gloom and transformed into new kids after three minutes of Asiana. We ran back to the Art room and tried to figure out whether we would be able to recreate such heavenly shoots! But it was no use...we just did not have the equipment nor the courage to recreate such divinity. It was official - we were the most hopeless losers alive.
 
So back to reality, I had to go to pick up a CD from my friend Leanna’s house. She told me to pop around after school to collect it. Oh no, it was Rakesh and Bhavesh with their group near the school entrance. I wished so hard that they would not notice me - why could God not make me invisible at times like this.
“Oh look who’s rushing home - Godzilla the hairy beast!” they shouted.
The whole crowd roared in laughter. “Look, how about I bring my dad’s Gillette Mac 3 in and we carve those eyebrows of yours? I’m sure he won’t mind”.
The laughter grew loader and uglier. I wanted to die! I tried to walk through the staggered crowd which then drew closer together. They knew perfectly well that I wanted to get past. It was like a helpless fly struggling to set free from a spider’s web. Suddenly, my prayer was answered. I heard one of the guys in the crowd discretely saying, “Katrina’s coming, quick get the mints in!”
Finally, they did not notice me anymore. During high school and sixth form, that was almost the same drill I would go through with those boys if not others....it was humiliating.

Sweat dripping down my back, I finally arrived at Leanna’s house. She only lived eight minutes away from the school but it ended up taking me double the time with those swines at the entrance. I went in and her whole family were sitting around the dining table drinking tea. My face turned red.

“Hello, Mr. & Mrs Fiole, I’m so sorry to have disturbed you,” I said. Leanna’s three younger sisters politely greeted me. They were the kindest and well mannered family I had met. They offered me tea and biscuits but I kindly declined and told them I had to be on my way. Truth was I just wanted to get home, kick my shoes off, put my CD on and get lost in the moment. I collected the music CD and approached the front door, when suddenly the door bell rang. It was Leanna’s Aunt Shelly. She was tall, with a firm physic and had black thick hair. I said hello and she greeted me back with a long sharp stare. I could not quite tell why she stared at me for so long. It was as if she was studying my body posture from top to bottom. Leanna interrupted her aunt’s rude glare and introduced me to her. At this point I just desperately wanted to leave and go home! I think even Leanna noticed my anticipation and quickly said goodbye.

Leanna had always sat beside me in tutorial class. We were best friends throughout sixth form. She was in class before me as usual. She was so excited to see me. What I loved about her the most was her enthusiasm first thing in the morning. But today, she seemed ecstatic. I greeted her and asked her how she was. She completely ignored what I asked her and squealed like a seven year old child, “Remember my Aunt Shelly you met at my house yesterday?”
“How I could I possibly forget. Yeah, what about her?” I said.
“Well, she owns a hairdressing salon called the ‘Crown Academy’ and she has just recently opened one of her academies in Paris. She launched the academy with a stunning catwalk show,” Leanna says.
“Yeah, so?” I replied.
“So, she's launching her second academy in London and wants to use you as one of her models!” she exclaimed.
Was this some kind of a sick joke? Was she saying this out of spite? How could my one true best friend play hostile jokes like this? She knew how conscious I was about what I looked like. Not to mention the boys and girls constantly taking the mick out of me all throughout high school and now sixth form! I thought I could confide in her about anything. Yet today she pulled a nasty stunt like this?
 
She went on to convince me that it was not a joke and that her aunt thought I had a good posture and distinct features. How could that possibly be when the whole world thought I was damn right ugly? It took her a few days to persuade me - I eventually gave in. I went to rehearsals. I was the only Asian girl there. All the other models were black Caribbean. All twelve of the girls were 5ft 9" and above, with curvaceous bodies and molten brown skin. On the side of the hall there was me, a skinny, 5ft 4" seventeen year old Indian girl. So what part will I play here? - Probably the music girl!
 
I had never walked in three inch high pointy shoes let alone do a catwalk in them! My feet and back were aching after each rehearsal. It was like being a part of the Army. I soldiered it out.
 
Finally, it was the day of the show. We had one performance which was scheduled for 8pm and apparently the local newspaper tabloids were going to be there along with Kelly Holmes, a UK Olympic gold medallist who was the Host of the show.

But it was all going wrong! My hair looked a mess and my makeup was catastrophic. I looked like a white clown with red lipstick and fat black eyebrows. I could not help but scrub the makeup off when I ran into the toilets. My teeth chattered so hard my jaw ached. I was so upset, I did not want to do this. The whole thing was ridiculous. Why did Leanna convince me into it! The audience will heckle me off the ramp if I went out looking like this. The makeup artist was a white, feminine male with curly ginger hair. His name was Terry, but everyone called him Cherry. Apparently he got really offended at me wiping his makeup off, so he went to report it to Leanna’s Aunt Shelly. Shelly was quite a strong looking woman, with a firm physique and character. She looked at me as if a storm just hit the sky - all that lacked now was the sound of thunder. I was terrified of her. I have gone and done it now! Strangely enough she did not seem as angry as she looked. In fact she was calm, like a flowing river. I managed to tell her I did not want to do this show and that I was not cut out to be in a fashion show. I hardly looked the part! I went on to tell her how stupid I looked and how the other models were laughing at me backstage. She calmed me down and helped me bring my tears to a stop. She said that she has a friend who will be working at her London based academy. Hair styling was his forte but occasionally he did make up for women.
 
His name was Jibraan. He was also Asian and happened to be coming to the show to help with the dress fitting that evening. So Shelly said she would get him to do my make up instead of Terry the Cherry. As promised, Jibraan did my makeup. He was a nice guy and very up front. He kept looking at my eyebrows and told me he had to trim the ‘thing’ down.
This was the first time that I had them threaded - it hurt and I wished he had never touched them.
“You know Jaya - right now you have teenage acne which clutters your face. Don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t mean you’re ugly or anything. I mean, I think you have nice eyes and a unique bone structure. Give it a year, your acne will calm down. Don’t look so worried, I’m sure by then you’ll impress someone”.
 
I ignored every word he had just said and thought he perhaps should go see a therapist.
 
The show had already started and I was made the show stopper - this is apparently meant to mean the most striking and impressive model, and the one whom brings the show to a gasping stand still at the beginning/end of a show. Clearly, it was the ugliest in this case.
 
The show went on and it was my turn. I walked out onto the ramp. My hands were sweating, legs turned to jelly and stomach churning. I wanted to drown myself! Why did I agree to do this? I was on the verge of collapsing on the ramp.
 
I managed to focus myself on Leanna who was sitting with her family in the front row seats of the audience. It was my cue...I walked on. The reaction of the crowd was phenomenal, they went wild. It was a crazy success! Despite having a great reaction, I vowed to myself at the end of the ramp that I will never go through this again.
 
A year later, I found myself at an Asian Mela at Wembley Exhibition Hall with a friend. You would never guess who I bumped into! It was like fate kept its promise. It was Jibraan. He was impressed with how I looked and wanted me to be one of his models. He handed me his card and had booked me for a photo shoot at his studios for the next day. Jibraan had stopped working for Shelly and started his own business as a hair and makeup artist.
 
The next day I attended the shoot. It was such a weird yet wonderful experience. I felt pampered with my hair and makeup being professionally done. The photographer was my friend Kay. It was a great shoot and Jibraan decided to use me as the face of his Beauty Campaign. He then dropped the bomb on me, by saying that it would be advertised.  A full page at the back of Asiana magazine!

You do not want to know my reaction. At this point I did not know what was going on. I was shocked; I could not fathom what he said was actually happening, until I saw it with my own eyes.

A month later, I was holding the new issue of Asiana magazine. I turned to the back page and there I was staring back at myself. For a split second a ray of joy shone over me, yet simultaneously my heart sank. I remembered back to when I was at Sixth Form. I used be in awe of the beautiful women in the magazine. I was so dejected throughout my past for being ugly, that today I felt like I did not have a right or feel worthy of being in this magazine. I was caught in an emotional war between the past and the presence. I needed to release myself from this cumbersome.

I began getting more and more work which was advertised in almost every Asiana magazine within the advertisement section at the back of the magazine.
 
One Saturday after a shoot, I got home at around 7.30pm. My parents had just finished cleaning up after dinner and had sat down in the lounge as I walked in. I greeted them both. After I had indulged in a nice home cooked Gujarati meal, my mum had come into the kitchen to talk to me. She noticed that I have had quite a bit of modelling jobs lately and wanted to talk to me about it.
 
“How did the shoot go today?” she asked.
“It was good. Really tiring.” I replied.
“Your Dad was asking me where you were when he got back from work. I didn’t know what to tell him.” she said.
“Oh. Didn’t you just tell him that I went for a shoot?”
“How could I?" She paused. "You remember when you were picking your subjects for your GCSE’s and you wanted to study Drama. He didn’t think there was anything wrong with acting but he didn’t think that one could make a consistent living out of it. But he told you to do as you wished. Don’t you think he’ll say the same thing when you tell him that you’re pursuing modelling?”
“Mum, modelling is different. Anyway, I’m not doing this as a career. I’m at university doing my Fashion degree as well - it’s not like I’m not leaving my options open.”
“Well I think you should tell that to your Dad”.
“But Mum, I’m not doing anything wrong. I’m not losing my dignity by being the face of someone’s company or modelling a couple of sarees for a few fashion houses! We all watch TV, we all read magazines and we all enjoy looking at nice dresses, don’t we? So why would dad be offended by that?”
“Jay, I’m not saying that you can’t model. All I’m saying is that you ought to inform your dad of what you are doing and where you are going. It’s not my position to lie to him or make excuses for you when you’ve gone out on a shoot. Just tell him, he’d appreciate you telling him”.
“Fine, I will”.
“Good, that’s all I wanted you to do”.
 
In the end, I did not actually tell my Dad. I was too scared. I gave off this bravado to my mum that day, but never verbally told him. My father is not a man to be feared; he is the kindest hearted man I know. The only thing I wanted to avoid was his reaction. It could have been a good reaction or a bad one, either way I did not want to face it. I did not exactly lie to him about anything, I just told him in a different way. I remember my first shoot that was in the magazine. Before he sat down for dinner at the dining table, I opened the magazine up to my page and left it on the table where Dad sits. I legged it upstairs and sat on top of the stair case straining my ears hoping to hear some sort of a reaction when he sat down. All I heard were two muffled voices; I could not quite make out what they were talking about. Mum and Dad finished having dinner. I went back into the dining room and the magazine was closed and put to a side.
 
Through time, I think my father had come to terms with my profession as a model, but was far from fully embracing it. He never confirmed his acceptance in person and neither did I confirm my profession in person. Amongst us, the silence lurked between the walls of our home.

As time passed by, I found that my modelling career had become pretty serious. I applied to become a model for Asiana magazine. I bombarded the chief editor with my emails and pictures every so often. I was constantly calling and emailing for a period of eight months, all to NO result! I could not ask anyone for help, I had no contacts within the industry. I had no one to rely on but myself.

I had almost lost hope, when out of the blue, I was sent a letter through the post from Asiana asking me to attend an interview stage. I attended and through perseverance, I was invited back for a second interview.
 
Finally a few months later I received an email saying that I had passed the interview stage and had been accepted as an Asiana House model. I had to sign and return a contract of agreement. I was over the moon. However, three months down the line I was concerned as I had not heard from them in regards to any work. I called the office and asked for the editor. They told me that she no longer worked there and that I was no longer found on their system as a model. This just did not add up. I disputed it of course as I had signed contracts and had worked really hard to pass their long interview process.

Subsequently, they did not succumb. Apparently, if I wanted to be on their books again, I would need to pass two audition stages. Then upon successful completion of the auditions I would need to pass a further two interviews, which then goes through for deliberation. Only then I may determine a contract with Asiana. It sounded like some sort of a military course. I surrendered! I could not go through all that again. It took me almost one whole year of perseverance and hard work just to get a contract signed with them. Was this really the end of my career?
 
A few years later, I had completed my Fashion degree. I moved away from fashion and into the real estate sector - something my father and brother had given me an insight into. I worked really hard and started earning good money. I had worked my way up to managerial level. By then I was managing two different branches. Throughout those few years I continued finding my own work for modelling whilst working full time within the real estate sector. The hours were getting longer at the office and the shoots kept coming. It was hard juggling the two. I started landing big commercial modelling jobs for companies such as Victoria Beckham clothing range, Jasper Conran, Merrill Lynch Bank, Swarovski, an Asian music video, TV commercials and a few American fashion companies. I even managed to join a few modelling agencies and got some work through them.

Every time I walked into any newsagent, I would purposely avoid acknowledgement of the Asiana magazine on the shelf. But this time it was different, I was drawn closer. I saw a girl that I knew who was on the cover of the magazine. In fact, I had done a music video with her not so long ago for H Dhami, namely Sadke Java, an up and coming Asian singer. Suddenly I felt like I was swallowed into a black hole and spat back out as I remembered how Asiana had discarded me. Why could it not be me on the cover? I have worked so hard. Fury, anger and frustration - they all churned at the pit of my gut. I managed to turn that burning flame of fury within into a ball of passion and desire. I became adamant that despite being left behind by Asiana, I would ignite my own fire within and drive my career further without them.
 
One afternoon I arrived home from the office. I was on the phone to a friend and checking my emails at the same time. A particular email stood out. It was from Asian Woman Magazine. Asian Woman Magazine? They were the rivalry magazine of Asiana. The email read that they had seen my portfolio on a model agency online, and that they were extremely impressed by my work. They wanted to meet me.

Thereafter, I went to see them in Chessington. No, not the theme park! The town Chessington. It was pretty amazing. The editor, Salma, had welcomed me in as if I was Shahrukh Khan or someone! OK, maybe not to that extent, but she sure made me feel special. They had asked me to bring a portfolio of my work. This usually consists of many of your great shots which are put in an A5 leather folder to present at interviews. The exterior of the head office looked like it was an industrial warehouse. However the interior was rather plush. In fact, it reminded me of something out of a James Bond movie. To enter any door, Salma would need to get her thumb scanned on this strange machine. I felt like I was definitely Miss Bond!
We sat down and spoke about many things such as hobbies, likes and dislikes, interests and so on. Salma did not want to see my portfolio.
This was not good. Instead she brought out her own version of an A5 folder which to my surprise contained all of my up-to-date modelling work. Shocking! She had done a lot of research on me. Salma was really impressed with me and my work. By the end of the meeting, she had offered me an exclusive contract with Asian Woman and Asian Bride Magazine.
 
Three weeks later, I received a call from the magazine. It was Salma, she asked me if I was available to shoot for the Asian Bride Magazine. We agreed a date, time and a location for the shoot. The thing that surprised me was that the editor Salma had assigned one of my friends from high school to be the photographer at the shoot. We worked well together, and the shoot went according to plan. Salma flicked through the images on her camera and was not really happy with the result. She said she would like to re-do the entire shoot with a new model. Considering it was my first shoot with the magazine I thought I had done exceptionally well. I was really cut up with the way she responded to the images!
 
It was freezing outside and slightly drizzling with rain. I was not in the mood to even take a second glance out of the window. I had called the office to call in sick. In my room, down with a flu, I lay in my bed the day after Diwali. My phone vibrated on my bedside table, I picked it up and looked at the screen. It was a picture message. I opened the image - it took a few seconds to upload. I stared at the image for a moment. This does not make any sense, I do not understand. How could this be? It was a poster, of my face...on the cover of Asian Bride Magazine! What is going on?
 
I immediately called my aunt Jas who sent me the image. She was screaming down the phone. Jas said she was on Ealing Road going into a restaurant called Maru’s Bhajia House and she saw a poster of me on their window. My heart pounded against the wall of my chest. Is this actually happening? It took me a few moments to absorb what just happend. My sister Anj thought I was nuts when I went running around the house screaming.

I called my friend, and told him to meet me at Kingsbury Station. We went to the newsagent right next door to the station. It was true. My hard work finally paid off. I saw a stack of Asian Bride magazines with me on the front cover. I flicked inside and I had a four page beauty spread. We drove down Ealing Road to pick up some Mithai for my family and on almost every shop window my face was on it. Big boards, posters, magazines, leaflets, they were everywhere. It was overwhelming, I could not believe my eyes.
 
Finally reached home. I walked in with the magazine up against my face with the front cover showing. There they were, my entire family waiting for me in the kitchen. They cheered and congratulated me as I walked in. How overwhelming, my entire family were there with me at such a special moment. My dad in particular stood out in the crowd, the happiest I have seen him in a long time. He gave me a big hug and smiled. His smile spoke a million words. He finally accepted me for what I was striving for. We celebrated thereafter with a few bottles of Champagne and a cake which was made just for me...
 
No matter how many obstacles are thrown your way, you have to keep fighting for your dreams and never give up believing in yourself. If you truly want something, visualising and feeling it on every level of your being will lead you to your ultimate dream.

If you have been there in the mind, you will go there in the body.

Here is to your success, see you at the top.