Is India really Incredible?

Day 1: Mumbai
6:00 am - I can't sleep. I turn on the TV...it's some local Indian channel advertising a skin whitening cream called "fair and lovely".

6.10 am - There's that fair and lovely commercial again! This time with another Bollywood face endorsing it.

6.15 am - Yet another skin whitening cream to ensure that your arms and legs are just as fair as the rest of your body because its too embarrassing to walk out in public with uneven skin tone.


In a nation where most people have a dark complexion how do any of these products help teens and women with self esteem and acceptance?!? 


Day 2
8.00 am - It starts to rain cats and dogs. I felt like I was in a steam room with my clothes on.


10.30 am - Conversation with the teenager selling me bangles.
Me - How come there are no women working in the stores around here? 
Him - Women? Working? Are you crazy? Women are not smart enough to work. They need to stay home and take care of the kids. 


I can't let this one go so I engage in half an hour of intense conversation with this kid. He tells me how I'm different from other women because I "look and seem smart" and because I don't live in India. His logic and his arguments are flawed but regardless, he apologizes to me for his earlier comments about women.


Day 3
11.00 am - I'm walking to the fish market. The crowded streets combined with the constant stench of garbage, beaten up stray dogs and heart breaking glimpses of limbless 4 year olds begging for money was extremely disturbing and uncomfortable. 


Day 4: Goa

Goa - a little piece of paradise

I was soooo glad to get away from the pollution, congestion and madness of Mumbai and be in Goa. All of my experiences in this land of peace, love and hippies were peaceful and relaxing. The people, the landscape, community and culture of this place is different from the rest of India. 


I could walk the streets without being nervous. Women in shorts and tank tops were not stared at and locals were not going to take advantage of a lone woman walking through the bustling markets. 


The people of Goa and their hospitality was filled with warmth and generosity.  Goa was a little ray of sunshine and I am positive I'll be spending a lot more time there the next time I'm in India. 


Day 8: Mumbai

5.00 pm - I 'm watching the local news and I see footage of  a female politician attacked and beat up by a mob of complete strangers. Why? Her second marriage was to someone with a different religious background as her, and she apparently didn't divorce her first husband before remarrying.

How do the people of this nation think it's ok to beat their local MLA purely because they didn't like what she did?!? I am completely appalled by what I see. If a local female politician is attacked this viciously in public, I wonder how some men treat their wives behind closed doors. 

I have tons of friends who can't wait to see India and soak up the "Eat, Pray, Love" experience. Additionally, the Yoga craze makes it the place to be if you want to acquire "inner peace". For all those yogis planning their travels to India, please take a minute to step out of your peaceful Ashram and visit a few crowded cities and broken communities. Let's see how easy it is to experience any form of peace when you're confronted with the harsh reality of places like Mumbai. 

If you've watched Slumdog Millionaire, you've seen a snapshot of what the real India is all about. That's the India I experienced it was were far from incredible, special or stunning. It was heartbreaking, maddening and frustrating. It made me realize how blessed I am that my parents did what they could to provide a better future for me. 

I am now proud to be living in a nation where the cops are the good guys, where governments and citizens care for their poor and where even the poor care for their animals.

P.S. I am thankful to my family and some new found friends who helped make parts of time in India memorable and exciting. Their kindness, warmth and generosity gave me some sense of hope for India's future. 

Should government dictate how much pop you drink?

Shouldn't your government care if drinking this kills you?

Should the city of New York legislate how much sugar you consume?

There's quite the buzz around Mayor Bloomberg's thoughts on the soda ban. If this piece of legislation goes through, the health department can slap huge fines on establishments selling more than 16 oz of liquid sugar.

I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to figure out why this is a much needed policy but some  feel like municipal government has no room intervening in "consumer choice" decisions. 

I pondered this and reflected on lessons learnt from my public policy training days but I had to throw some of those lessons out the door and share my honest and not so eloquent opinion -"Swweeet Jesus - why did this take so long and why aren't more cities, provinces and nations not doing this?!?"

At the end of the day, I really don't give a rat's a$$ who legislates it as long as the policy is put into place. Soda consumption leads to some major health issues that are slowly but surely killing our society. In the past 30 years childhood obesity in the U.S. has tripled and more than one third of children are obese (holy crap - I just realized how crazy that is!!! One out of three kids being obese- this is scary!). Obese children are more likely to turn into obese adults and the risk of diabetes, heart attacks and cancers increases significantly as kids and adults shove 20 ounces of Pepsi and Coke down their throats! When consumption of a food or drink causes a health epidemic of all sorts, I think the government does have the right to intervene. The health care costs associated with obesity are insanely high and why wouldn't a government want to cut down on the billions it spends to clean up the after math of the obesity epidemic? 

Some may argue that we should place a ban on all junk food and you know what - as much as I love the odd Mc Chicken burger with fries and coke at 2 am on Saturday, I would commend local government for banning it. 

I think the least a government could do is place a junk food tax for all those awful foods and drinks that are slowly killing our society. I've always believed that policy helps impact major change and I fully support government stepping in to improve the health of a city and nation in crisis! So, Mayor Bloomberg - you have my vote on this one!  

I need a change...

I'm pondering whether or not I should go RED!

Red = passion, depth, brightness and it's also a color I am drawn to. I love experimenting with color. I'm just not sure if I should stick to wearing it on my body and lips.

I'm sitting here contemplating it. I may just take the plunge and do this tomorrow

Let me know what you think! Should I should stick to the blondish highlights (i.e.what I have now) or should I make the change?

XOXO
-Passionista

My first blog post!!!

Hello world!

Here I am! My first step into the world of blogging! I'm ecstatic about the journey my words get to take!!! I have to admit- it took me a fair bit of time and a tad bit of research before I decided to set up this blog but now that my fingers have hit the keyboard, I have to be cautious about not boring you with 10 page posts on anything and everything :)

So, why did I decide to blog? 

1) To explore the art of writing and story telling
2) I think its a great way for an individual to share news and thoughts with a community of people willing to listen!

I love engaging in conversation about topics I feel passionately about. I read blogs and I am inspired by people's ability to openly share their point of view on not just serious issues but also on every day life. Some of the discussion generated from the post can be quite profound...often my favourite part to read.

My hope is that my words can help influence world views. I think the more we inform ourselves and engage in dialogue the the better positioned we are to influence our day to day decisions on the food we buy, the organizations we support (and don't) and the policies we want to see changed.

I'm not sure how many bloggers spend a ton of time thinking about their blogger name and title but it took me a  few days and several chocolate martinis to come up with "Passionista's Ponderings"

PASSIONISTA (If you haven't heard it before, here's how the urban dictionary defines it...P.S. I only looked this up 10 seconds ago!)
A fervent popular activist. Someone who gets very animated and active over fashionable causes such as the political prisoner du jour, climate change, Darfur or whatever is fashionable to be outraged about. Heart in the right place, and will tell you all about it whether or not you want to hear it.

I don't find this an accurate description of my version of the term but it's close. Am I fervent and animated? Is my heart in the right place? Heck yeah! But do I  pick fashionable causes...NO!

I'm an EXTREMELY passionate individual but I feel strongly about specific causes like ending human trafficking, women's rights and child poverty. I couldn't be as enthused about climate change, quantum mechanics or gaming but I am sure someone who feels passionately about these topics has valuable insight to share with those interested in these issues...and kudos to the amazing bloggers who do write about some or all of these topics.

So, back to point I made earlier about "not boring you with 10 page posts". I think its time for me to end my first blog here :)

I look forward to sharing and I invite you into my world to share your thoughts and comments.

I''m off to a BBQ at my friend's place...so adios for now!