“Gender equality is more than a goal in itself. It is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and building good governance.”

Kofi Annan, U.N. Secretary-General

Voice of Sneha A N e t w o r k f o r W o m e n o f S o u t h A s i a n O r i g i n I n a u g u r a l N e w s l e t t e r O c t o b e r 3 , 2 0 0 4

From the Editor’s Desk

We are delighted to bring to you this inaugural issue of Voice of Sneha, which, we hope will thread together the commonality of our goals and aspirations. Despite the progress made, women in many parts of the world continue to be subjected to social, cultural, economic, and more recently, technology discrimination.

Among the many issues that surround women, religious fundamentalism is amongst the most destabilizing. Radical Islam’s dictate of women’s place as being behind the veil is extremely offensive. It is one thing if a woman chooses to embrace the veil to express her religious faith, but quite another if it is imposed on her, making her a political pawn in the hands of male policymakers. The former instance retains her freedom, while the latter deprives her of it. What’s unsettling is that women have become “moral police” on themselves and each other. On September 3rd this year, veiled women protesters in Tehran gathered in public to denounce President Mohammad Khatami’s government of “laxity in fighting vice,” in other words, laxity in policing “badly veiled” women. (The New York Times, Sept. 4, ‘04)

Closer to home, many of us have observed that a woman’s education and economic background does not always insulate her from prejudices. Sometime back a friend of mine announced out of the blue, when referring to a groom’s family in India, Continued on Page 2

Dear Sneha supporter,

October is the awareness month for domestic violence and we are happy to publish the organization’s first newsletter at this time.

Sneha’s outreach activities for 2003-‘04 were primarily on three fronts. Helping women and their families through crisis intervention; networking with local and national organizations to enhance Sneha’s partnerships; and creating an awareness of Sneha’s services among the community.

Generally, a typical South Asian woman prefers to contact Sneha rather than a mainstream organization due to cultural factors surrounding her background, and sometimes, due to a lack of proficiency in English. So we have translated Sneha-related material into Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, and Gujarati, and are in the process of translating this into more languages. We expanded our reach by distributing Sneha brochures in South Asian grocery stores, restaurants, and places of worship. We also set up information booths at the India Heritage program hosted by the India Association of Greater Hartford and at the Town of Farmington diversity exhibition.

To facilitate referrals, we conducted presentations to educate the staff of Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence (CCADV) and the Connecticut Sexual Assault Crisis Services (CONNSACS) on cultural and behavioral issues specific to South Asian women,

Continued on Page 3

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FUNDING FOR SNEHA Sneha is a volunteer-based, non-profit organization.

Donations are tax-exempt to the fullest extent allowed by the IRS Code: Section 501 (c) 3. Sneha is also

registered with United Way. When making a donation to the United Way Campaign, please mention Sneha as

the organization of your choice. For more information, please contact Sneha.

Continued From Page 1

“They are very good people, they did not demand any dowry. ”

In another context, an acquaintance remarked with an air of martyr-like finality, “I do all the housework because my husband’s the one who earns. I can’t earn that much, so I cannot expect him to help out with the chores.”

Small instances like these reveal that empowerment will always elude our reach, if we women don’t want to be empowered. But this process starts only with a paradigm shift in our perception of a woman’s role in family and society. For some, this requires challenging one’s upbringing and social environment.

Before we address equality in society, we must first safeguard, with respect and empathy, a woman’s equality in her own home. According to the World Bank’s 1993 World Development Report, women between the ages of 15 and 44 lose more healthy years of their lives not to breast or cervical cancer, malaria, war or motor vehicle accidents -- but to rape and domestic violence.

Domestic violence inflicted by a spouse and/or his family members must be addressed with the same severity accorded to crimes committed by a stranger. Many societies treat domestic violence as a “personal matter between a husband and wife.” What brazen indifference! How can the violation of human rights be a personal matter, given the enormous social cost that all of us eventually will bear, collectively as a community?

This issue of Voice of Sneha is power-packed with hard as nails articles and opinion pieces from some of the finest professionals in their respective fields. We feature an interview with Dr. Kiran Bedi on her current assignment as a Civilian Police Advisor to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Dr. Bedi talks about some of her missions, and the need for women in international

peacekeeping. We also have a narrative on the challenges, and pleasant and unpleasant surprises that immigrant women from the east encounter in the western terrain. Dr. Shyamala Raman, founder of Sneha, writes this candid, evocative, and thought-provoking essay. Catherine Conant, a national award-winning storyteller who has a gift for bringing words to life, explains how stories unite women from different ethnic backgrounds and helps define who we are.

When one hears Sowmya Sundararajan talk about her former students at Vidyasagar (formerly The Spastics Society of India, Chennai), it’s hard to not notice her intuitive insight and genuine empathy to other’s problems. Here, she writes about the myths and realities on reaching out to women who need support.

Dancer and choreographer Anu R. Sharma, with whom I’ve had the pleasure of performing on stage, presents with passion a viewpoint on how classical Indian dance can be used as a medium to convey social issues to a mainstream audience.

The tragedy of 9/11 has caused all of us great grief, writes Shareen Moinuddin. “As parents, we value what all Americans value, the freedom to not be afraid for our children’s future.” But as a woman, a mother, and an American Muslim, Moinuddin worries over her children’s future in this country, which is their home. Will they be marginalized because of their faith? She questions.

Most important, Jyoti Ramesh, Uma Narayanan, and Malavika Vidwans write about Sneha’s outreach activities and cases for the current year.

Hope you’ve already kicked off your shoes, grabbed a hot cuppa, and curled comfortably on the couch or the window ledge with Voice of Sneha.

Sujata Srinivasan Editor Sujata Srinivasan is a Manchester based freelance journalist. In Connecticut, her writing has appeared in the Hartford Courant, Northeast Magazine and Hartford Magazine. She worked at CNBC (India) and The Economic Times in India. She also works in museum education and conducts workshops on creative writing and Indian heritage.

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Continued From Page 1 so that these victims of domestic violence are dealt with in a way that makes them feel safe in a very vulnerable situation. Our board members toured various shelters to ascertain whether they could be recommended to women in need.

Also, board member Trupti Rao gave a presentation on culturally specific behavioral issues among the South Asian population, at the Yale School of Epidemiology and Public Health, which hosted the Annual Yale Domestic Violence Symposium. She participated in workshops on rehabilitating women away from shelters, and assisting them through a “holistic approach” -- that is, start rehabilitation efforts in the victim’s home.

Sneha received its first federal grant for October 2003-‘04, from the Office of Victims of Crime (OVC), an arm of the Justice Department -- thanks to Sneha’s Past Co President Madhu Chandra, who wrote the grant application. We used the $5,000 grant money to print Sneha-related material in Bengali and Urdu, made a documentary film on Sneha, and hosted author Shauna Singh Baldwin to

talk about her book ‘What a Body Remembers,’ dealing with a Sikh woman’s polygamous marriage set in the times of the independence movement in India. The event was free to the public and people enjoyed the reading and discussion. Such events give Connecticut residents an opportunity to hear and debate on issues that otherwise might not have been discussed at all.

Over the past couple of years we have seen a greater acceptance of our role in the community, and have progressed from being just a listening post to a support and network group for South Asian women. Sneha’s vision is to be able to reach out to the entire South Asian population in the State of Connecticut. At present our organization is entirely volunteer-based; however, we are considering hiring a part-time paid intern in the near future. We need resources and more volunteers to help us write grant applications. Since Sneha’s operations are getting bigger, we need an office space. Any kind of help towards this is most welcome and we look forward to your support.

We are very thankful to businesses and individuals who have contributed to Sneha’s cause over the years. Importantly, we are proud of Sneha’s board members who put in numerous hours of voluntary work, sharing the belief that you, as an individual, can make a difference.

Jyoti Ramesh and Uma Narayanan Co Presidents Sneha Inc.

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AN OVERVIEW OF CASES FOR 2004

Since its inception in 1983, the number of women calling Sneha for support has increased steadily,

especially in the last two years, perhaps due to an increase in the population of South Asians residing in Connecticut. This year, we have handled 10 active cases as of June 2004. Of these, 20 per cent of women had visa-related issues, 50 per cent needed advice regarding family law, and 30 per cent were referred to family counselors. Our members also networked with out-of-state agencies on inter-state cases. This is where Sneha depends on community resources, where local lawyers, psychiatrists and counselors offer their services, very often, without prior confirmation of financial reimbursement.

We receive phone calls from local shelters when South Asian women check in, and we hope we have made them more aware of some of the culturally different factors surrounding South Asian women.

Continued on Page 4

Shauna Singh Baldwin discusses her book ‘What the Body Remembers’ at a

Sneha event

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OUR STORIES TELL US WHO WE ARE

By Catherine Conant There was once a young girl who wanted nothing more than to see the wide, wide world. Her parents

worried about her future and wanted her to stay safely at home with them. One night she slipped out of her window and began her search for a life that would truly be her own…

f all forms of human communication, the one most astonishing for its power and potential is stories. Long before the first written or printed pages,

storytellers in all cultures shared stories to instruct, advise, comfort and spark the imaginations of people, helping them make sense of the world around them.

In today’s world technology can be a great economic boon or barrier, but oral stories are economical, endlessly adaptive and give listeners access to their own imaginations. Humans can only remember things as pictures. So when heard in the context of an oral story, information is remembered longer, shared more widely and used more creatively.

For women the human need to place life into a narrative form is one of our most indispensable skills for sustaining ourselves, especially in times of oppression and challenge. Stories and legends of brave women who withstood great trials and fought for freedom serve to inspire. Tales of overcoming great obstacles illustrate courage and endurance, just as stories of love and hope nourish the spirit and strengthen the heart. When we exchange our personal story with another, we are less likely to maintain a prejudice or see them as less than ourselves.

Regardless of our cultural or social backgrounds, we are more alike than we are different. We are all daughters, many are mothers, sisters, and wives, and as such, share common dreams for our families. We admire each other’s courage and tenacity, and grieve for loss of opportunity and freedom. Yet without the stories to ignite our imaginations, we have only facts and figures. Stories awaken our spirits and fuel our desire for change because we can see in them our own lives and those of the people we love.

Our stories tell us who we are, how we may change and what we can become.

Catherine Conant is a professional storyteller who performs, teaches and coaches the art of oral stories. You may reach her at Catherine@4astoryteller.com

© 2004 Catherine Conant

Continued From Page 3 Often, women call Sneha’s toll-free line usually between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., when they are alone at

home. Many women find us on the Internet and we receive numerous e-mails requesting for help. Sometimes, parents or concerned friends of victims also e-mail us. Sneha refers many of these calls and enquiries to local support groups and our members help connect the parties involved. Most women need support over a long period since legal and other issues take months or even years to be settled. In the process, it is gratifying to see some women become self-sufficient, both emotionally and financially.

We thank all community members who have helped us -- from driving a woman to and from the lawyer, or taking her out grocery shopping, or by showing up at the courthouse to render moral support. All this means a lot to the organization.

Malavika Vidwans Vice President, Sneha Inc.

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WOMEN AND COUNSELING By Sowmya Sundararajan

eople often have skeptical notions on counseling and consider it a taboo from

the culture construct perspective, where social image is very important. Hence many individuals from the east, who perceive it as an insult to one’s family, frown upon counseling or professional therapy. However, most women are open to trust-building conversations once they know that there is a person within the professional group who can empathize with their unique situations.

I have worked in India with women in rural communities and interacted with parents of children with special needs. Interestingly, women in India and women of Indian origin living here in the U.S. deal with very similar issues, especially when they come from the same cultural and regional mores. Women in India have issues over their extended families, seek equality and respect from boyfriends or spouses, worry over their careers being thwarted by controlling in-laws, and are driven to stay committed to the development of their children. Those of us living here in the U.S. have similar core issues that we deal with on a daily basis-- the need for independence, for sustenance, for control over our bodies, for financial security, for being recognized for our own personal strengths and not as someone’s spouse or daughter, and the need for identity and independent choice-making.

Since my relocation to the U.S. over four years ago, I have observed and tried to understand the issues surrounding immigrant Indian women. While women’s groups rally around for larger issues such as abortion rights and the right to seek more legislative power, there are other, silent battles going on within each woman. For several newcomers, learning to drive, being able to cash a check at the bank, using an ATM card at the grocery store, and dealing with loneliness result in a

sense of insecurity. Also, many women face internal conflicts between individualism and collectivism- eastern culture is highly collectivist and community based. When we come to the U.S., it is a huge cultural change to be distanced from the everyday

community relationships that one is accustomed to in a country like India.

Often, all a woman needs is to just get to know someone from her community with whom she can be herself and ask “silly” questions. What should she wear for her first

job interview? Where can she get free computer training? Can she drive around with you before her upcoming DMV test? Can she practice speaking English with you?

One must approach and address such simple issues holistically before gaining the trust of women who are victims of domestic violence. The community requires informally structured support groups within apartment complexes, work environment, and places of worship. Not too long ago, I was just another immigrant woman who came to the U.S. and figured life out. It is important to remember that all solutions often rest in a woman’s ability to make choices. -------------------------------------------

Sowmya Sundararajan is a vocational rehabilitation counselor with injured workers, assisting them in finding alternative job placements within the Worker’s Compensation system. In India, she worked at Vidyasagar, formerly The Spastics Society of India, Chennai,

as a special education teacher. A Sneha general member, she has conducted a workshop for fellow members, on counseling. Families of children with special needs may contact her with questions at sowmy24@hotmail.com © 2004 Sowmya Sundararajan

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“.. many women face internal conflicts between individualism and collectivism - eastern culture is highly collectivist and community based.”

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r. Kiran Bedi pioneered prison reforms in India, especially in Tihar jail where she

supervised close to 10,000 prisoners (at the time) as Inspector General of Prisons, Tihar. She is a recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service in 1994. In January 2003,

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed her as a Civilian Police Advisor in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, a position she will hold till February 2005. Prior to this, Bedi was Special Commissioner (Intelligence), Delhi Police. In a freewheeling telephone interview from her home in New York, Bedi talks about her U.N. assignment and shares her observations with Sujata Srinivasan.

SS: What is the nature of

your assignment at the U.N.? KB: This has been a truly international

policing assignment. I’m working as a Civilian Police Advisor to the Secretary-General on civilian peacekeeping matters in countries where the U.N. decides to go based on the Security Council resolution. Three agencies—military, humanitarian, and civilian police, go into areas torn by civil war and internal strife. These areas need a whole recovery to enable the country to stand on its feet and I, along with my team, provide the civilian police component. At the moment, we have deployed more than 6,000 police officers in 14 peacekeeping missions around the world which are in Europe, like in Kosovo, Asia, like in East Timor, and Africa, like Congo, Liberia, and Sierra Leone – these are the crucial ones. Haiti is our latest. If you look at Haiti, it is rampant corruption and exploitation for personal ends. Same thing when Charles Taylor left Liberia; it was basic robbery of a country.

In Congo and Sierra Leone, it’s a huge exploitation of natural resources. Poverty, human trafficking, prostitution, drug trafficking, illiteracy, exploitation, and mass deprivation – all these have been the root causes of problems wherever we are.

SS: In the situations you mentioned, children

and women are invariably the first victims of human rights violations. How do you deal with this, and what is the role of women in peacekeeping?

KB: Yes, children and women are the first

victims of civil strife, women, for their vulnerability, and children, for their impressionability. I’ve seen innumerable child soldiers in possession of weapons and wearing khakis. Women are victims of gang rape. There are far too many agonies that go with women and children. The tragedy is that internationally, women police are not available. In fact, it’s just four percent of our deployed force. While 89 countries are contributing to these 14 peacekeeping missions, women police are offered in just ones and twos. India could have offered many more, but unfortunately, I think the message hasn’t gone down on the amazing role women police officers could play. Compared to the rest of the world, India has many trained and capable women in the Rapid Action Force, the women’s battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force, and various central and state police organizations. Sending women police officers on international peacekeeping missions would be the best ambassadorship for India.

SS: Dr. Bedi, you pioneered prison reforms in

India. What, in your opinion, is the condition of prisoners in the west?

KB: The kind of reforms we did in India and in

Tihar prison in particular, if I can dare say, have not been attempted anywhere else in the world. I’ve not

seen that kind of expansive vision and willingness towards reformative criminality in any western prison. I found western prisons are very rule-bound and prisons are an emotive and political issue. Fortunately in India, it

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“Sending women police officers on international peacekeeping missions would be the best ambassadorship

for India.”

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wasn’t and still is not a political or an emotive issue. In India, there was a discretionary element within the rules that I could apply to bring about reforms, which started in 1993. Today we are ten years ahead (when compared to the rest of the world.) I wish the world would go and see what is possible and how the reforms have worked. Two weeks ago I was in Srinagar visiting a group of Tihar prison alumni of released Kashmiri prisoners. They were not ashamed to say they are from Tihar because all of them had benefited from educational programs inside Tihar through the Indira Gandhi Open University. They graduated inside the prison and after their release, pursued higher studies. Some became professors and lawyers and they invited me to show me how far they have come in these last ten years.

SS: So you haven’t had the opportunity to

implement such reforms in your current assignment?

KB: See, you have to work steadily and very

carefully because you’re dealing with very large diversity. You can’t straightaway start saying, ‘I did this and this is what will work.’ You need patience, time, consensus and greater understanding because you are dealing with homogeneity versus a great deal of heterogeneity. What you can deliver in homogeneity and in a culture you totally understand, in heterogeneity, you have to tread very patiently and take people along with you. For that, time is the essence and not speed. That’s where I learned to be more patient!

SS: Is there resistance to your peacekeeping missions from local special interest groups? For example, what about Darfur?

KB: Not for the U.N., on the contrary, the

majority welcomes us. We have already done an assessment in Darfur and even there the U.N. blue helmets have still been welcome because of the extreme pressure of the Security Council on Khartoum. Things are obviously changing, but

they’re changing slowly. SS: Do you see the funding

reach affected individuals in these areas? Where, through such enormous desolation, do you see hope?

KB: The U.N. holds the funds in

its own hands; that’s why none of this funding is a waste. The problem is so great – these are epidemics

you’re dealing with—but hope is in the recovery process. And the situation does start recovering from day one.

SS: Have you enjoyed your stay in New York

during your current assignment? KB: My writing continued and flourished in

New York since I’m not disturbed at all on weekends. So I’ve been able to use my weekends very creatively in regularly contributing my fortnightly columns to papers. I’m away from home, and away from all the network pressures back home. I live on the same avenue (as the U.N. building) in Tudor City. I go to Broadway plays and I love to walk on Manhattan streets. But I love the silence I get here. I’ve traveled a lot, by the way -- traveling, writing, reading and reflecting. ----------------------------

“.. children and women are the first victims of civil strife, women, for their vulnerability, and children, for their impressionability.”

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NEGOTIATING MULTIPLE TERRAINS WITH LIMITED ROAD MAPS

By Shyamala Raman

hanksgiving 2004 marks the beginning of the thirty-fifth year of my life in the United States. Hence, I have been reflecting a great deal about life in these United States, not only for myself but also for

other first-generation South Asian women1. While stories and oral histories of the earliest immigrants2 in general, and immigrant women in particular, are filled with instances of courageous maneuverings in the midst of a variegated fare of experiences, our stories are ones where the terrains that we were traveling, even if they were cushioned to some extent, have nonetheless been harsh in some ways. This is because, when we landed here, we did not have roadmaps (figuratively speaking) to negotiate the terrains that we encountered, be they psychosocial, physical or spiritual. When I say roadmaps, I do not mean the kinds of detailed maps that we get on the Internet these days -- I mean maps in the metaphorical sense. Over thirty-five years, we have created these maps, helped our families and ourselves to catapult to positions of reasonable and, in some cases, extraordinary comfort. Reflection on the roadmaps that we did not have will be the focus of my short essay. My hope is that this reflection will be indicative of why Sneha was founded twenty-one years ago, in November 1983, and why it has grown and transformed into a much needed organization for South Asian women and their families, so much so that it has become a household name.

We came to the United States of America because we were students coming here for higher studies3 or we were accompanying spouses or we were coming here for jobs in the professional fields -- medicine, engineering, nursing, to name a few. We were somehow mesmerized into thinking that our gold medals and exam scores or our well developed study skills would just give us a linear path of attaining the American Dream4. No one had told us that for Joe Schmoe or Jean Smith, none of our ancestral glory (khandani5, paramparai6) would matter. We did not know the meaning of glass ceilings because, after all, we were the model minority. We were blissfully ignorant about the schoolyard squabbles that our children would get into and the consequent, indelible imprints those incidents would leave in their minds and ours. We thought that raising children was an unconscious act, just as our parents had raised us. We forgot that raising children in a bicultural environment was a conscious act and that the wonderful, extended family infrastructure would not be replicated here. We were ill prepared for the extensive stress, caused by the work or family environment that might cause family violence, irrespective of socioeconomic status. No one had warned us that, given the pressures of our new surroundings, we would become experts at inventing tradition, and would work ourselves to a frenzy in creating showcase weddings and other milestone events in our families. No one had told us that we, as women, would have to face an endless day as waged employees, non-waged household spouses and, most of all, as keepers of our culture. We did not have the mental strength to cope with the paradoxes of the inevitable psychological fragmentations that our children would face when their parents sometimes forced them

1 I am aware of the problem of essentializing when I say South Asian women. I am aware of the multilayered differences among them; nevertheless, certain common threads are detectable. 2 Most all of them were from Northwestern Europe, later followed by Eastern Europeans. So it was mostly a move from the West to the West. 3 According to data reported in the Findings from U.S. Graduate Schools on International Graduate Student Admissions Trends published by the Council of Graduate Schools, applications from India dropped by 28% and admits dropped by 19% during the 2003-2004 academic year. http://www.cgsnet.org/pdf/Sept04FinalIntlAdmissionsSurveyReport.pdf 4 A highly elusive concept—a big reason for a great deal of angst for many of the immigrants who then need support groups such as Sneha to help them negotiate and deconstruct their imaginary paths. 5 Hindi word for family lineage. 6 Tamil word for family lineage.

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“Organizations such as Sneha enable us with respect and

affection, to help others along the terrain with a guiding roadmap.”

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into careers that they were not interested in. No one had told us how we would suffer from feelings of belonging to neither the United States nor our birth-country, while at the same time exulting in discovering that we have two perspectives because of our situation.

As we reflect about what we did not know but learned through our experiences (some harsh, some pleasant), we graduate from the mode of the happy native informant about India. We de-colonize our minds. We look around and understand that we need to comprehend our move from South Asia to the West. We come to terms with ourselves and our choices. We get over the intense competition of the new immigrant. We get over our denial about being different. We slowly begin to recognize the circles of connections and networks of links among ourselves as a community, between and among our larger community.

Three or more decades of living here in the United States gets us to travel strategically the multiple terrains and to lay out roadmaps for newcomers that we ourselves did not have. Organizations such as Sneha enable us with respect and affection, to help others along the terrain with a guiding roadmap.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Shyamala Raman is a Professor of Economics and International Studies at Saint Joseph College, West Hartford, Connecticut, where she directs the International Studies Program and chairs the Social Science Division. Her community activities include board memberships in the following organizations: Connecticut chapter of the National Conference on Community and Justice, Connecticut Council for Interreligious Understanding, West Hartford Community Television, Hill Center for World Studies, Independent Broadcasting Associates and Kumarian Press. She is an active member of the Volunteers in Service to Education in India, Inc. She has recently been appointed as the Asian-American representative to the Interagency Task Force on Trafficking in Persons that has been created by an act passed by the Connecticut legislature. She is the founder of Sneha, the first such organization formed for South Asian women in the United States. © 2004 Shyamala Raman

“We’ve begun to raise daughters more like sons…but few have the courage to raise our sons more like our daughters.”

Gloria Steinem

“They used to give us a day - it was called International Women’s Day. In 1975 they gave us a year, the Year of the Woman. Then from 1975 to 1985 they gave us a decade, the Decade of the

Woman. I said at the time, who knows, if we behave they may let us into the whole thing. Well we didn’t behave and here we are.”

Bella Abzug

“What would men be without women? Scarce, sir, mighty scarce.” Mark Twain

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DIALOGUE THROUGH DANCE By Anu R. Sharma

classically trained Indian dancer has a plethora of enthralling subjects to choose from when it comes to choreography. So then, why bother to go against tradition and explore today’s stark realities?

The answer is disarmingly simple. The unique interpretive quality of a melodramatic art form like Bharata Natyam (a classical South Indian dance form), lends itself exceptionally well to make a statement that stays with the audience. It is what we call ‘total theater’, incorporating music, dance, drama, speech, gesture, make-up and stagecraft into one perfect package.

Like every artist, I try to make sense of the world around in a way that is most meaningful to me. Connoisseurs of classical dance often resent change from the traditional exposition of rhapsody. But I believe that art cannot stay static. Incorporating new elements into the classical alphabet of Bharata Natyam is not diluting it, but enhancing it.

Challenging one’s audience to sit up and realign themselves to questions about the environment, philosophy, cultural atrophy, or the place of art in our society, is the responsibility of every socially conscious artist.

I remember watching Malavika Sarukkai, perhaps the best Bharata Natyam solo artiste in the world today, artfully weave the story of Thimakka, a tribal woman who was socially ostracized for being childless. Thimakka, instead of dissolving in grief, chose a brave path for herself. She planted seeds and tended them as if they were her children. And many years later, she stood proud among her people and boasted about her strong forest-full of children.

Dance is ephemeral in every way, but I will never forget that story because of the way Malavika danced it. Thimakka’s story, incidentally, is quite true.

Some years ago I happened upon a poem about the Ganges by Mrinalini Sarabhai. It was a partial translation of Indian philosopher Adi Shankara’s Gangashtakam -- which extols the purity of the anthropomorphic Ganga -- the river that descended from the heavens. Sarabhai’s poem, however, suddenly cut away from Shankara’s sentiment and became a tirade against the dirty, polluted river that the Ganges is today.

The transition was inspiring. I immediately set about arranging the composition and choreography in my mind. The raga (pattern of notes that create a musical tone) Kunthalavarali bubbled to the surface as the most apt for the sensuous flow of the river. I juxtaposed Shankara’s opening verses in Sanskrit with a narration of Sarabhai’s English poem. Using four dancers I created a short work that began with the tranquil stillness of the void and rushed headlong into the chaotic turmoil of toxic-flooded waters, ending in the finality of the river’s peaceful surrender to the ocean.

I have presented this work at different venues and have always received feedback about the music, dance, and the subject matter. Getting artistic praise is all very well, but it is disappointing when one is trying to make a social statement. The choreographer in me craved a response. And one day I got it when a very flustered middle-aged Indian man came to see me back-stage.

“The Ganga is not tap water,” he sputtered, “it is holy!” “Isn’t all water precious and holy?” I countered. “The Ganga is holy to the Hindus,” he muttered walking away from me with a baleful stare, back to his

group of family and friends. An American woman who had just complimented my dancers on their pretty costumes remarked to her

friend that she thought the dance had been about reclaiming natural resources from industries. Her friend replied that she thought it had been about flooding disasters.

I walked into the dressing room with a big grin on my face. My choreography had initiated dialogue! When people talk about what they had seen instead of just remembering a group of pretty dancers in blue, then all the effort was worth it. Continued on Page 11

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VOICE OF THE AMERICAN MUSLIM

By Shareen Moinuddin

s I reflect on the terrible tragedy three

years ago on 9/11, I also worry about yet another sinister side to that day; the unfortunate burden it has unconsciously placed on the American Muslim community who call this county their home. Of late, our community constantly hears disgraceful remarks and criticism of its faith -- a very unfair and complicated position for us to be in.

The American Muslim community is eager to provide correct information about the religion of Islam, and many of us are trying to rationalize the hate people in general have developed towards Muslims. We want to clarify misunderstandings and correct the misinterpretation of our religion, and reinforce what is right. When we observe our similarity with other religions, we notice that our differences

are so diminutive. The kindness we share with our families also extends to our neighbors and our communities.

As parents, we value what all Americans value, the freedom to not be afraid for our children’s future. And as a mother, I want to know if the struggles of my children will be of a different kind than my own. Though our children will not have language barriers and educational limitations, will they confront silent inequality because of their faith? Will the unjust liability that 9/11 has placed on innocent Muslims like my children distort their future? As parents, we consciously prepare our children for a time much different than our own, yet how can we prepare them for a tarnished future?

9/11 has crept silently into our lives and has changed our nation forever. However, we cannot allow that day to change

the essence of what our nation represents and offers to all her people -- the basic tenets of liberty and freedom. Liberty and freedom has weaved itself into our heritage. As American Muslims these ideals inspire us and motivate us. We hope that they are maintained in our children’s future so that they may continue to be an essential part of this nation we call our home. ------------------------ Shareen Moinuddin was born in England to parents of Indian origin. She moved to Canada with her family during her early childhood, and has lived in Connecticut for 15 years now. She works as a nurse anesthetist in New Haven, and is the mother of two children, aged seven and eight. She has recently become a member of Sneha.

© 2004 Shareen Moinuddin

Continued from Page 10

Over the years I have worked on various topics -- racial discrimination, war, female infanticide, untouchables, and even an anecdotal take on the world’s oldest profession. Through it all my hope for social commentary choreography has been to promote dialogue.

I will never get over my penchant for grandiose, sumptuous, classical Bharata Natyam, but creating thought provoking theater -- that’s what it’s really all about.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anu R. Sharma is the Artistic Director of Leela Dance Theater (www.nrithya.com), and has taught, choreographed and performed in the United States for over a decade. She recently moved from Connecticut to Washington, D.C., where she works as a video and web coordinator at the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business.

© 2004 Anu R. Sharma

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Voice of Sneha

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Contents © 2004 The authors

SNEHA BOARD MEMBERS With Rahul Bose & Konkona Sensharma, stars of “Mr and Mrs Iyer”

- a movie on religious extremism in India

Sneha Fundraiser Event, November 2003 (L-R) Madhu Chandra, Jyoti Ramesh, Parvathi Hosain, Mira Patel,

Jyotsna Patel, Sree Menon, Rahul Bose, Neena Singh, Konkona Sensharma, Malavika Vidwans, Trupti Rao, Uma Narayanan and

Alka Gupta (Not Photographed: Sushma Godha and Kshiteeja Bhide)