German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a ban on the full face veil in a speech at her party's conference. She said wearing the veil, called niqabs and burkas, was not appropriate in Germany. However, banning the veil does not encourage the cultural assimilation of migrant women.
Remember Career Day in elementary school? We were told that we could each be whatever we wanted to be when we grew up, from an ice-cream vendor to the president of our nation.
It started when we arrived at Bengaluru International Airport and stumbled into the customs line at 4 a.m.
Dear Monsoon, It's over? So soon? I've been in India for a year, and I've thought about what to write in this blog for many months now. But how can one fit the salient features of a year-long experience into 300 words, when the lack of suitable clichés is the only cliché suited to a country like this?
Every country has its own, sometimes unrealistic, perceptions about what it is to be beautiful. India is no exception. In Bangalore, there is a long unwritten list of requirements for "beauty" – and it pushes people to their limits.
We're having an Indian summer in Bangalore right now.
That is the question. The 50th anniversary of the Tibetan rebellion recently passed: March 10, 1959 marked the day when the uprising of Tibetans against the Chinese government officially began.
Beats me, but it probably took him half an hour to get to the other side.
At a glance, you wouldn't recognize the Metro station in Bangalore as a Metro.
Last month I saw a beggar woman sprinting down the street. She had stolen a businessman's laptop, hoping to make a quick buck by selling it - and he was at her heels. But not all lower-class Bangaloreans are thieves. Many are generous and charitable despite their financial situations. Random acts of kindness aren't extinct in Bangalore quite yet.
In India, the regular rules of the universe don't seem to be in effect. Take, for example, the laws of time and space. Einstein stated unequivocally that they can't be bent, yet this country proves otherwise. "In a minute" to an Indian can mean anywhere from an hour to two days.
What, really, is the dress code on Bangalorean streets? Well, when in Bangalore, do as the Bangaloreans do. For one thing, wearing "revealing" clothing like shorts above the knee is generally taboo. Yet sandals are a given for both men and women in Bangalore - whether on a walk in the park or at a formal gathering.
Bangalorean dinner parties are seriously time consuming. If you've ever been to one, you know what I mean. Here's the basic schedule...
There are few places so totally in harmony with nature as Bangalore. South Indian parties and "functions" feature meals served on banana leaves, the perfect disposable plates. Cows roam the streets freely and motorists tend to give them the right of way.
Well, since we're finally in 2009 (the year before the year of all years...ONE-OH) here's a little something from SCO to you: the official unofficial guide to talking like an Indian! Practice speaking with these "Indianisms" to be as hip as those "Slumdog Millionaire" characters.
India is a kaleidoscope, a tapestry woven of 17 languages and a billion people. And it's people who give the country its color: the seemingly ordinary, unsung heroes of everyday life, the blue-collar workers.
"My, how THIN you've gotten! Come in and eat something!" Every Indian has heard this upon visiting the home of a long-lost relative. Whether or not one has actually lost weight is irrelevant. If someone asks you if you want more food at an Indian meal, it's a rhetorical question.
Every day is Black Friday in Bangalore. Comic Russell Peters proudly proclaimed to the world on one of his shows that "all Indians are cheap." And while that's a bit of a blanket statement, most Indians are, truthfully, pretty frugal. It's part of the culture. Why go all the way to the grocery store when there are door-to-door vegetable vendors? It's easier than Peapod and more affordable, too.
When I entered the austere, white concrete reception hall at the Times of India (ToI) printing press in Bangalore, filled with plastic chairs, I stopped in my tracks for a moment. Could this press, I questioned, really be the largest facility of its kind in all South Asia?
The Indian metropolis of Mumbai is home to over 12 million people. This week, they bear witness to a terrorist attack that left 195 dead - including several police officers, American tourists and at least two journalists - and over 300 injured. On Nov. 25, terrorists disguised as students held victims hostage in two famous hotels, the Taj Mahal and the Oberoi, then set fire to the former. Shots were fired and explosives set off around several other Mumbai landmarks. The tragedy lasted for three days as captives remained trapped in the city and the death toll rose seemingly without end.
This week I finally got to, and I'll never look at IT the same way again. There's been a lot of buzz about the information technology (IT) boom, call centers and outsourcing in India lately. I had heard a great deal about the India-based software and technology company Infosys in the past, but hadn't realized until now the extent to which companies like it are revolutionizing the face of India.
Well, not me in particular, but a surprising number of people are. Allow me to explain. The other day I was reading an Indian magazine and two pages of tiny print after all of the main articles caught my eye. It appeared to be a classified ads section. Upon closer examination, I realized I had been right. The ads were all classifieds…for people.
All the usual signs of the holiday season were visible in India last week. Fairy lights were strung along houses, roads were congested with seasonal traffic and ancient television specials were being aired over and over. The fire marshal limit had long since been exceeded in most gift shops. I almost believed it was December instead of the middle of autumn.
We found 23 results.