https://www.scmp.com/rss/500810/feed Sonia Sarkar is a journalist based in India for the past 17 years. She writes on human lives, conflict, religion, politics, health and gender rights from South and Southeast Asia. Her work has appeared in a range of international publications including Al Jazeera, British Medical Journal, Ozy.com and Nikkei Asian Review. She loves to travel and considers the world as her "beat." en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com When Sydney-based IT professional Devi asked someone from her company for another colleague’s phone number last year, she was told that the colleague was from an upper-caste family, implying she should be mindful of his status before approaching him. “The response was uncalled for because I was not concerned about other people’s caste,” Devi, who goes by one name and originally hails from India’s Tamil Nadu state, told This Week In Asia. “It was specifically told to me because I belong to a... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3292026/australias-south-asians-hail-inclusion-caste-discrimination-anti-racism-framework?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3292026/australias-south-asians-hail-inclusion-caste-discrimination-anti-racism-framework?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Dec 2024 09:20:17 +0000 Sudeshna Basu always considered Kolkata, the vibrant state capital of West Bengal, a safe haven for women like herself. But on a recent evening, the 52-year-old Sanskrit lecturer found her sense of security shattered when an autorickshaw driver brazenly catcalled her on her way home from work. It was just after 9pm – a time Basu and many Kolkatans once regarded as still relatively early and unthreatening. Yet, as she walked by Sovabazar metro station, Basu encountered a group of drunk men... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3274990/brutal-rape-murder-taints-kolkatas-reputation-indias-safest-city-women?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3274990/brutal-rape-murder-taints-kolkatas-reputation-indias-safest-city-women?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Aug 2024 04:40:10 +0000 When Rajiv Khattar, 60, was driving more than 450km from Amritsar to Delhi, his main concern was keeping the battery of his electric car charged. It was May, the peak of India’s summer, his battery was exhausting quickly, and it wasn’t easy for him to find a charging station along the highway. The first charging station that he could find was 314km away, but it was not operational. He had to drive another 35km before he finally found one he could use. “Electric vehicle owners need to be... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3273053/indias-electric-vehicle-owners-turned-countrys-lack-charging-stations?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3273053/indias-electric-vehicle-owners-turned-countrys-lack-charging-stations?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Aug 2024 05:30:10 +0000 In September, when the mother of 17-year-old Pinki Sahoo* in West Bengal’s Dakshin Dinajpur had arranged her marriage to a construction worker, the teen informed her school in a desperate plea for help to stop the union. One of her teachers along with a child rights’ activist took the matter to local authorities, who eventually convinced Sahoo’s mother, a beedi roller, not to allow her daughter to marry before the age of 18. “There are many poor families, like mine, who want to get their... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3261362/indias-west-bengal-state-tries-put-end-child-marriages-we-want-save-all-girls?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3261362/indias-west-bengal-state-tries-put-end-child-marriages-we-want-save-all-girls?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 May 2024 08:00:12 +0000 Every morning at 4am, Srikanth K pores over satellite images, maps, charts, and weather models released by different global forecast systems and India’s meteorological department. Over the next two hours, the 50-year-old gives out the day’s weather update for his hometown Chennai in his blog “Chennairains”. Throughout the day, he is flooded with numerous queries on the weather from students, farmers and housewives to wedding planners. “People want personalised answers for their queries,”... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3260565/how-indias-independent-weathermen-are-taking-internet-storm?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3260565/how-indias-independent-weathermen-are-taking-internet-storm?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Apr 2024 10:00:25 +0000 Sonia Sarkar Sonia Sarkar Jitu Jakesika was barely nine when foreign tourists started coming in groups to Kurli village in the eastern Indian state of Odisha. Jakesika, a member of the village’s indigenous Dongria Kondh tribe, remembers the visitors wore sophisticated clothes, tasted local food and watched tribal girls dance. Some even inspired him to learn English and become a tour guide. But Jakesika, 35, is worried about the increasing footfall of tourists in tribal villages, as this has posed a threat to their... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3258931/destructive-tribes-india-risk-expanding-tourism-plans-threaten-cultural-identity-ecosystem?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3258931/destructive-tribes-india-risk-expanding-tourism-plans-threaten-cultural-identity-ecosystem?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Apr 2024 08:00:24 +0000 In 2019, when Deepak Joshi visited New Delhi, protests had just started against the new citizenship law that critics said discriminated against India’s Muslims. After he returned home to Melbourne, Australia, Joshi was drawn into Indian diaspora groups, who called for the law to be repealed, and later became involved in other migrant and refugee associations. In 2020, the 64-year-old co-founded an advocacy group that worked with political leaders to resolve issues related to migrant rights,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3258087/australias-indian-diaspora-wants-more-political-representation-there-glass-ceiling?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3258087/australias-indian-diaspora-wants-more-political-representation-there-glass-ceiling?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Apr 2024 04:00:19 +0000 Sharifa Hussaini, 33, inserts a needle through silk fabric and pulls the thread taut to stitch floral motifs bursting with colours from red to orange and yellow. Her latest work is a traditional Afghan dress. Since her husband lost his job as a construction worker following the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan in August 2021, Hussaini has been working 15 hours a day to feed her family of six. “I thank my mother and grandmother that they taught me this craft while I was a child. Without this... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3257255/afghanistan-women-turn-breadwinners-selling-handmade-products-make-ends-meet?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3257255/afghanistan-women-turn-breadwinners-selling-handmade-products-make-ends-meet?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 31 Mar 2024 08:00:15 +0000 For years, Thalin Raj ignored his parents’ advice to eat millet at breakfast because of its bland taste. But the 12-year-old student’s interest in the grain was piqued after he took part in a millet planting campaign in the Indian city of Chennai in January with thousands of other children. Raj brought some pearl millet seedlings home after the event and began to nurture the grain. These days, he insists that his parents serve him several varieties of millet at breakfast and with his evening... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3255580/why-are-more-people-india-eating-millet-ancient-grain-flavour-month?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3255580/why-are-more-people-india-eating-millet-ancient-grain-flavour-month?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 Mar 2024 08:00:15 +0000 A recent ruling by the top court in Canada’s Quebec province upholding a law barring people from wearing religious symbols at public workplaces has enraged the minority community that denounced the policy as “discriminatory”. Amrit Kaur, one of multiple petitioners that challenged the secularism legislation introduced in 2019, accused the regional administration of abandoning its residents. “It felt like a betrayal by the government, who refused to accept its own people,” Kaur said. “I was... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3255654/minority-communities-canadas-quebec-slam-discriminatory-secularism-law-i-feel-alienated?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3255654/minority-communities-canadas-quebec-slam-discriminatory-secularism-law-i-feel-alienated?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 Mar 2024 11:28:36 +0000 South Korean YouTuber Lee Jun-hak fell in love with Bengali culture and language when he arrived in India in 2016 for his university studies. While pursuing a degree majoring in Hindi, Lee picked up the basics of Bengali grammar from local friends in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal and watched Bangladeshi news channels to improve his speaking skills. His experience has since grown into an all-consuming passion with the creation of Bengali Lala, his Bengali-language YouTube channel, in... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3253870/south-korean-influencers-wow-bangladeshis-and-indians-their-love-bengali-language-and-culture?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3253870/south-korean-influencers-wow-bangladeshis-and-indians-their-love-bengali-language-and-culture?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 Mar 2024 08:00:18 +0000 For the past month, TB, who prefers to use his initials, has been flooded with messages at his university in Boston from fellow students from the southern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana over safety concerns. They were worried after three students from these states were found dead in mysterious circumstances in Connecticut while another was attacked by robbers in Ohio over the period. “The incidents have created a sense of risk in the minds of these students, and for some, their... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3252094/indians-us-universities-alarmed-mysterious-deaths-fellow-students-seek-help-tackle-safety-concerns?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3252094/indians-us-universities-alarmed-mysterious-deaths-fellow-students-seek-help-tackle-safety-concerns?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Feb 2024 13:00:10 +0000 More than US$1 million worth of illicit snake venom was seized recently at India’s border with Bangladesh, underscoring what authorities say is a growing trend of smugglers trafficking the dangerous commodity to China for use in traditional medicines. Venom experts, however, have raised doubts about some of the claims – especially surrounding the substance’s supposed use as a rave drug. Indian Border Security Force (BSF) officers arrested a man in the eastern border state of West Bengal on... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3251816/snake-venom-smuggled-india-china-traditional-medicine-rave-drug-or-absolute-nonsense?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3251816/snake-venom-smuggled-india-china-traditional-medicine-rave-drug-or-absolute-nonsense?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Feb 2024 07:00:14 +0000 When drag artist Patruni Chidanand Sastry, 31, stepped on to the open-air stage at an elite school in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad – dressed in an embroidered blouse and skirt, a multicoloured wig and a mask made of sawdust and tamarind seed paste – children sitting in the front row looked at him in awe. As Sastry began to sing a self-composed Telugu song about gender diversity, the children clapped and asked for more. When he visits schools wearing his colourful outfits, children... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3250733/class-act-indian-drag-artists-spread-strong-and-clear-messages-gender-equality-across-schools?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3250733/class-act-indian-drag-artists-spread-strong-and-clear-messages-gender-equality-across-schools?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Feb 2024 05:00:10 +0000 When Indian writer Khushwant Singh in 2014 published his novel, Maharaja in Denims, he did not foresee that it would one day be adapted for the big screen – much less that it would make history as a film with no sets, actors, or even cameras. The story – about a Punjab teenager who believes he is a reincarnation of a prominent historical figure – may well be the world’s first feature-length film generated entirely by artificial intelligence (AI), and its production marks a potentially huge shift... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3248487/does-ai-generated-film-maharaja-denims-mark-shift-indian-cinema?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3248487/does-ai-generated-film-maharaja-denims-mark-shift-indian-cinema?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Jan 2024 12:00:15 +0000 In the past few years, Pakistan’s southwest province of Balochistan has experienced a spike in insurgent attacks amid widespread accusations of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in the conflict. For a group of artists from the province, art is the medium through which they can capture the agony suffered by women in the province as the decades-long separatist insurgency rages on. Among them is Ahmed Ibn e Sakeena, whose painting The Conversation Behind the Canvas shows three... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3247477/women-pakistans-balochistan-province-hailed-artworks-their-sacrifices-amid-insurgency?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3247477/women-pakistans-balochistan-province-hailed-artworks-their-sacrifices-amid-insurgency?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Jan 2024 07:00:09 +0000 When Vaibhav Gaikwad arrived in the Australian harbour city of Newcastle from India’s Mumbai in 2010, he found himself being invited to social gatherings by other members of the diaspora – at first. But over time the invites began to dry up as the event organisers, many of whom were well-educated upper-class Hindus, discovered his surname with a smirk. “They did this because I belong to the Dalit community,” the 36-year-old sustainability professional told This Week in Asia. Gaikwad’s... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3246546/caste-discrimination-legal-australia-home-over-1-million-south-asians-some-deny-it-even-exists?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3246546/caste-discrimination-legal-australia-home-over-1-million-south-asians-some-deny-it-even-exists?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Dec 2023 12:00:12 +0000 Back in 2000, when Josephine Chung, a woman of Chinese descent from the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, told her family that she wanted to marry Abhishek Jaiswal, a man of Indian origin, her parents locked her up in her room for a couple of days and beat her up. Her brothers monitored the messages and call lists on her mobile phone. Being from a conservative Chinese family, they couldn’t accept Chung’s relationship with an Indian man because marrying outside their race was a matter of... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3246089/traitors-peacemakers-indian-chinese-couples-share-challenges-mixed-marriages-new-book?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3246089/traitors-peacemakers-indian-chinese-couples-share-challenges-mixed-marriages-new-book?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Dec 2023 02:30:16 +0000 When Indian student Anoushka Jolly was barely nine, she was bullied because of her dark skin and curly hair. Three of her peers demanded her to tie their shoelaces and clean their plates after lunch at their school in the northern Indian town of Gurgaon. Jolly, 15, struggled to overcome the mental distress suffered until one day, on the advice of her parents, she decided to politely refuse her bullies. They stopped bothering her, and instead targeted a younger child. This time, Jolly had enough,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3240272/indian-teen-launches-app-build-self-confidence-among-youth-overcome-cyberbullying-mental-health?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3240272/indian-teen-launches-app-build-self-confidence-among-youth-overcome-cyberbullying-mental-health?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Nov 2023 12:00:22 +0000 Techa is studying to become a doctor, with hopes of serving her aboriginal community in the Andaman Islands. But the 19-year-old has one regret – she never learned to speak her own indigenous language. Techa is from the Great Andamanese tribe, an indigenous community living in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands – a union territory of India at the junction of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. While she studied Hindi and English in school for years, she cannot speak Jero, one of her tribe’s 10... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3237908/dying-voices-indias-remote-great-andamanese-tribe-risks-losing-its-identity-language-and-traditions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3237908/dying-voices-indias-remote-great-andamanese-tribe-risks-losing-its-identity-language-and-traditions?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Oct 2023 06:00:15 +0000 At a nondescript store in Kolkata, India with worn-out glass cabinets flaunting elite fountain pens, Shahbaz Reyaz is busy with a surgery of sorts. He gingerly unscrews a fountain pen, then removes a nib with two fingers and pulls it away from its body. Next, the 24-year-old takes out the cartridge and pours water into the feed and through the nib to flush out any hardened ink or sediment. “We have to be extremely gentle with an ‘ailing’ fountain pen, as we would be with an ailing patient,” he... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3235465/indias-fountain-pen-history-continues-be-written-vintage-shops-young-fans-seeking-touch-elegance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3235465/indias-fountain-pen-history-continues-be-written-vintage-shops-young-fans-seeking-touch-elegance?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 24 Sep 2023 06:00:12 +0000 Indian artist Saira Chitrakar left hundreds of people in Indonesia enraptured earlier this year when she sang emotionally in Bengali: “Men and women are the same, both have the right to survive, but why are women subjected to violence?” The stirring performance unfolded at the International Seminar and Festival of Oral Traditions in June, where Saira also presented a captivating 3-metre-long (10-feet) cloth painting. Her art denounced the practice of child marriage, earning her a resounding... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3233082/indian-folk-artists-use-centuries-old-tradition-highlight-modern-issues-bring-muslims-and-hindus?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3233082/indian-folk-artists-use-centuries-old-tradition-highlight-modern-issues-bring-muslims-and-hindus?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 Sep 2023 06:00:18 +0000 Indian farmer Probir Mandal, 51, recently planted seeds of two traditional paddy varieties on his one-acre land in Kalitala, the last border village in the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest on the Indo-Bangladesh frontier. He is fervently hoping for rain, so he can transplant the gobindobhog and kamini seedlings into the field. “I’m keeping my fingers crossed for the rains,” said Mandal, who lost 25,000 Indian rupees (US$300) from low yields arising from unexpected drought, cyclone... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3229355/climate-ravaged-indian-village-marginalised-farmers-sing-about-floating-tears-after-years-erratic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3229355/climate-ravaged-indian-village-marginalised-farmers-sing-about-floating-tears-after-years-erratic?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 30 Jul 2023 08:00:24 +0000 In 2003, when 92-year-old Fauja Singh was about to run a marathon in New York, some onlookers called him “Osama bin Laden” because of his turban and beard. Despite being unwell, Singh, a Sikh by religion, proved his mettle by completing the marathon in seven hours. Singh collapsed at the finishing line, but fought to stand up again before receiving first aid, as he did not want pictures of a collapsing Sikh in the media. “Sikh pride was at stake,” he said. Singh’s story is featured in The Global... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3226963/making-impact-indian-author-documents-sikh-success-stories-counter-rise-hate-crimes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3226963/making-impact-indian-author-documents-sikh-success-stories-counter-rise-hate-crimes?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 09 Jul 2023 06:00:17 +0000 For five hours a day, Hasina Bibi painstakingly untangles cast-off human hair, sorting it into strands and making “balls” with the pieces longer than six inches (15cm), throwing the rest into a bin. For untangling about 25kg of hair per month, she earns 7,500 rupees (US$92). “I could never imagine that waste human hair could provide me a stable source of income,” said Bibi, 35, who lives in Habi Chak village, some 100km southwest of Kolkata, capital of India’s West Bengal state. Many... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3226155/indias-human-hair-trade-risk-rampant-smuggling-china-bangladesh-myanmar-cuts-profits?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3226155/indias-human-hair-trade-risk-rampant-smuggling-china-bangladesh-myanmar-cuts-profits?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 02 Jul 2023 03:30:19 +0000 Picture this: an Indian woman warns her son that she will complain about his misbehaviour to his father. With a rolling pin in her hand, she berates him for being glued to his mobile phone all day. She also cajoles her son to eat whatever has been cooked and to not make unfair demands. These are various scenes and moods of Indian mothers portrayed on a variety of gifts in India, such as coffee mugs and cushions, to celebrate Mother’s Day on May 14. These items, which put a funny spin on the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3220394/do-indias-funny-mothers-day-gifts-subvert-supermum-trope-or-reinforce-gender-roles?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3220394/do-indias-funny-mothers-day-gifts-subvert-supermum-trope-or-reinforce-gender-roles?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 May 2023 08:00:21 +0000 Whenever Reva Malik visited India’s tribal areas, she felt drawn to their inherent sense of sustainability. After living in multi-room flats and houses in multiple cities, three years ago she moved to a one-room open plan 750 sq ft (59 sq m) mud house in a small community consisting of such homes on the outskirts of the southern Indian city Bangalore. Malik, a married mother of one, spent 2.5 million Indian rupees (US$30,500) to build her new mud house. “We wanted to reconnect with nature and go... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3218042/why-are-some-urban-indians-choosing-live-homes-made-out-mud-cow-dung-or-sugar-cane?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3218042/why-are-some-urban-indians-choosing-live-homes-made-out-mud-cow-dung-or-sugar-cane?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 23 Apr 2023 08:05:14 +0000 A manhunt launched by police against a separatist leader in the Indian state of Sikh-majority Punjab that resulted in mass arrests, deployment of paramilitary forces and an internet blackout affecting millions of people has sparked anger among the Sikh diaspora. The pursuit of Amritpal Singh, a self-styled Sikh preacher, was triggered after Indian police accused the 30-year-old and his supporters of creating discord. Police said Singh has been on the run since Saturday when officers tried to... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3214481/anger-mounts-among-sikh-diaspora-indian-police-cut-internet-search-fugitive-separatist-preacher?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3214481/anger-mounts-among-sikh-diaspora-indian-police-cut-internet-search-fugitive-separatist-preacher?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Mar 2023 04:00:13 +0000 Archee Roy, 34, a queer Dalit artist in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata, has been in a committed same-sex relationship for over four years. However, she cannot list her partner officially as family in office and bank records even if they were to marry, as India does not legally recognise same-sex marriages. “India provides a space for heterosexual couples to marry but that space and right is denied to us completely,” said Roy, who belongs to the so-called low caste Dalit community. “Queer... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3213988/indias-lgbtq-community-urges-supreme-court-recognise-fundamental-same-sex-marriage-rights?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3213988/indias-lgbtq-community-urges-supreme-court-recognise-fundamental-same-sex-marriage-rights?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Mar 2023 06:00:21 +0000 Two years ago, Canadian-Pakistani musician Urvah Khan launched an underground music festival, ScrapFest, to create a diverse and inclusive platform for the transgender community in Pakistan. After four underground gigs, Khan was all set to take the event to a mainstream stage in Karachi earlier this month. But a day before the event, Karachi’s Sindh High Court suspended permission for the event, which had been granted by local authorities. “I wanted to offer a platform to people like me to... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3210643/pakistans-axing-transgender-music-festival-shows-nation-not-ready-be-inclusive?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3210643/pakistans-axing-transgender-music-festival-shows-nation-not-ready-be-inclusive?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Feb 2023 08:00:11 +0000 Dragon fruit is gaining popularity as the crop of choice for India’s fruit farmers, who favour it for its profitability, resistance to pests, ability to grow in arid conditions and comparatively low water needs. Siddhu Arani planted 1,600 dragon fruit saplings in drought-hit Maroli village, Maharashtra state, nearly a decade ago. Within three years, the 50-year-old fruit farmer had not only recovered her initial 600,000-rupee (US$7,250) investment but was actually making an annual profit of... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/article/3204362/indias-drought-hit-farmers-make-fruitful-pivot-only-crop-can-survive-hardy-dragon-fruits?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/article/3204362/indias-drought-hit-farmers-make-fruitful-pivot-only-crop-can-survive-hardy-dragon-fruits?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Dec 2022 09:00:14 +0000 Five years ago, when Joginder Kaur, 70, was prescribed knee replacement surgery by an allopathic doctor, she consulted a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) specialist. After taking Chinese herbal medicines and receiving acupuncture treatment for over four years, Kaur, who had been in a wheelchair, became fit enough to easily climb a few stairs. “I lost all hope of standing on my feet but my condition improved drastically,” Kaur told This Week In Asia. “It’s nothing short of a miracle.” Despite... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3202827/tcm-diplomacy-indians-take-acupuncture-cupping-therapy-amid-strained-ties-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3202827/tcm-diplomacy-indians-take-acupuncture-cupping-therapy-amid-strained-ties-china?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Dec 2022 08:00:12 +0000 Pakistani health worker Mai Janat Buriro, 37, spends three hours every day handing out medicines to pregnant women with iron deficiency or malnutrition in the flood-affected province of Sindh. Of the 11 mothers who gave birth last month in her neighbourhood in the Allah Rakha colony, three who suffered from maternal malnutrition lost their infants. “Most pregnant women have nothing to eat,” Buriro told This Week In Asia. “They don’t have access to milk either because animals they reared had died... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3199316/pregnant-women-caught-pakistans-floods-left-struggling-maternal-healthcare?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3199316/pregnant-women-caught-pakistans-floods-left-struggling-maternal-healthcare?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Nov 2022 08:00:22 +0000 Last year, a 45-year-old homemaker in the south Indian city of Chennai played rummy online for the first time. Placing a small bet, she was pleasantly surprised to win 500 Indian rupees (US$6) from just a 20-minute mobile game. Feeling encouraged, she started a new game, and from then on, she began playing for six hours every day, placing higher stakes – 500 Indian rupees – for bigger returns. When she exhausted her money, she borrowed from different loan apps and her relatives. By September,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3197090/playing-lives-indian-state-bans-online-gaming-over-addiction-fears-industry-cries-foul?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3197090/playing-lives-indian-state-bans-online-gaming-over-addiction-fears-industry-cries-foul?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Oct 2022 13:00:43 +0000 Rasika Rajabdi was barely eight years old in 1990 when she and her family were forced out of their ancestral hometown of Mullaittivu in Sri Lanka’s northern province by armed rebels during the nation’s civil war. The youngster and her parents spent a few months in a camp for internally displaced people in the western coastal town of Puttalam, 200km away, before moving to a rented house in the area. The war ended in 2009 after 26 years and Rajabdi, who was married by then, was able to return to... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3192787/sri-lankan-muslims-struggle-belong-after-civil-war-still?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3192787/sri-lankan-muslims-struggle-belong-after-civil-war-still?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Sep 2022 03:00:20 +0000 At 7am, Velupillai Rasaratnam, pushes his 15-feet long wooden boat closer to the Karainagar shore with the help of a younger fisherman in Sri Lanka’s war-torn Northern Province. Wearing a black T-shirt and red shorts, the 70-year-old rows for around an hour, catching a few grey mullets that he plans to sell for 700 Sri Lankan rupees (US$2) at a local fish auction. An hour is as far as his tired arms can take him. And as Sri Lanka reels from an acute economic crisis, it is increasingly clear that... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3191231/indian-trawlers-steal-sri-lankan-fish-chinese-sea-cucumber-firm?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3191231/indian-trawlers-steal-sri-lankan-fish-chinese-sea-cucumber-firm?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Sep 2022 08:00:13 +0000 Sri Lankan social media expert Vimukthi Dushantha quickly left anti-government protests in Colombo’s Galle Face Green park late last month after Ranil Wickremesinghe was elected president. Then, at his invitation a couple of weeks ago, Dushantha and around 20 other protesters were happy to meet him to try to help map out a course of action for the debt-ridden island nation, which saw ousted president Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation on July 15 amid huge demonstrations over the mismanagement of... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3189696/why-sri-lankas-aragalaya-protesters-are-divided-backing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3189696/why-sri-lankas-aragalaya-protesters-are-divided-backing?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Aug 2022 02:05:15 +0000 Last year, Delhi-based homemaker Suchitra, who prefers to be identified only by her first name, went to a nearby clinic for an abortion. But the legal procedure was denied by the doctor, who insisted the abortion pills had to be prescribed in front of her husband – who was not in town. Only after Suchitra’s husband, who was touring abroad for work, spoke to the doctor on a video call, did she authorise the pills. “Despite abortion being legalised in India, a woman’s right and agency over her... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/article/3183879/roe-v-wade-india-women-fear-ripple-effect-after-us-abortion-law-struck?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/article/3183879/roe-v-wade-india-women-fear-ripple-effect-after-us-abortion-law-struck?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 Jul 2022 08:00:14 +0000 In Pakistan, a good husband is expected to have evening tea with his wife while a good daughter-in-law is expected to master the art of making tea to impress her husband’s family. Young men use tea as an excuse to hang out with friends late into the night, while women console their girlfriends after a heartbreak over several cups of tea. On the roads, a corrupt traffic guard will let an errant driver go without a fine if the latter pays for his chai-paani (tea and water). “Tea is an embedded... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3183034/pakistan-loves-chai-so-much-it-may-need-export-green?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3183034/pakistan-loves-chai-so-much-it-may-need-export-green?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Jun 2022 06:00:26 +0000 Jagdeep Singh, a 31-year-old farmer from India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh applied to local authorities for a revolver licence four months ago. His village of Lakhimpur Kheri, home to 4 million people, is filled with lush green sugar cane and paddy fields. It was in one such sugar cane field Singh’s father died last year. The son of a federal minister was allegedly part of a convoy comprising a jeep and two SUVs that rammed into the elder Singh and three other farmers. They were... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3169348/when-indian-hindu-hardliner-runs-your-state-whats-it-if-youre?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3169348/when-indian-hindu-hardliner-runs-your-state-whats-it-if-youre?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Mar 2022 08:00:14 +0000 As Russia continues its assault on Ukraine, several Asian governments are scrambling to evacuate their citizens via its neighbours to the west. Japan said it had an estimated 120 citizens in Ukraine as of late January and evacuation flights were being arranged out of Warsaw, the capital of Poland. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida urged citizens to make their way to the west, towards Poland or Hungary. India said it had already evacuated 4,000 Indians since it started repatriating citizens home a... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3168450/ukraine-invasion-thousands-asians-struggle-evacuate-ahead?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3168450/ukraine-invasion-thousands-asians-struggle-evacuate-ahead?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 25 Feb 2022 23:00:11 +0000 A recent move by California State University in the United States to institute protections against caste discrimination has sparked a backlash from academics of Indian origin, who say the move in itself is discriminatory. A debate has broken out on Twitter among opposing camps. Over 80 faculty members have written to university trustees saying the policy unfairly targets a minority community among Hindus. Including caste in the policy also singles out only those of Indian and South Asian... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3164977/us-universitys-anti-caste-discrimination-policy-discriminates?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3164977/us-universitys-anti-caste-discrimination-policy-discriminates?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Jan 2022 13:30:19 +0000 British police are investigating a video that is circulating on social media, purportedly of a man who is now in custody and being treated for mental health issues. The 19-year-old was arrested for trying to break into Windsor Castle where Queen Elizabeth was spending Christmas. In the video, the man dressed in a dark hoodie and holding a crossbow, said he wanted to assassinate the 95-year-old monarch for an incident in British-ruled India in 1919. The man also said in the video that he was... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/explained/article/3161416/what-happened-1919-jallianwala-bagh-massacre-sikhs-british?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/explained/article/3161416/what-happened-1919-jallianwala-bagh-massacre-sikhs-british?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Dec 2021 09:39:14 +0000 Eight years ago, when businessman BK heard a couple at a shop in Adelaide speaking his native Indian language, he enthusiastically introduced himself to them. But the other man’s smile vanished after BK gave his surname, which signified he belonged to one of the lowest groups in India’s strict social hierarchy. “I was shocked to see that Indians [overseas] still feel embarrassed when they meet people belonging to lower castes,” said the 39-year-old, who wished to be known by his initials. Can a... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3158419/south-asian-migrants-face-caste-discrimination-even-australia-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3158419/south-asian-migrants-face-caste-discrimination-even-australia-us?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Dec 2021 09:00:26 +0000 Kayas Irshad, a British-Pakistani actor and filmmaker based in London, was excited when he got his first job aged 17 at a retail company. But his enthusiasm soon turned to dread. He says his supervisor picked on him in a racist way as he was the only Pakistani employee, and he was not asked along when other staff members went out together after work. Kayas reported the behaviour to his company’s human resources department, but nothing was done, he said, and he ended up leaving the job after four... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3156966/british-pakistanis-call-out-racism-uk-after-cricketer-azeem-rafiq?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3156966/british-pakistanis-call-out-racism-uk-after-cricketer-azeem-rafiq?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Nov 2021 11:00:29 +0000 After news of Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai’s marriage broke, Bangladeshi feminist writer Taslima Nasreen, who lives in India, felt shocked. Malala, 24, wed fellow Pakistani Asser Malik in her home in Birmingham on Tuesday. She moved to Britain after she was shot in the head by the Pakistani Taliban in 2012 for campaigning for girls’ education. She later recovered and graduated from Oxford University last year. Malala’s marriage announcement, accompanied by photos of her in a pink dress,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3155808/malala-yousafzai-marries-pakistani-asser-malik-sparking-debate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3155808/malala-yousafzai-marries-pakistani-asser-malik-sparking-debate?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Nov 2021 05:10:45 +0000 An international student asked to leave Australia after allegedly assaulting members of the Sikh community received a hero’s welcome on his return to India. A roadshow greeted Vishal Jood, 24, “an unlawful non-citizen” of Australia as he arrived back in his home state of Haryana on Sunday. A fleet of cars drove through the streets of the city of Karnal in celebration, while a garlanded Jood appeared from a sunroof, waving the Indian flag and smiling. To foreign eyes, such a welcome – for a... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3153355/why-did-hindu-who-attacked-sikhs-australia-receive-heros-welcome?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3153355/why-did-hindu-who-attacked-sikhs-australia-receive-heros-welcome?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 Oct 2021 11:30:12 +0000 Close to two-thirds of public health facilities in Afghanistan are facing a shortage of medicine, while 63 per cent of their staff have not been paid for the past four months, a new survey has revealed. The study, carried out last month by Integrity Watch Afghanistan, a Kabul-based non-profit, is the first of its kind since the Taliban seized power in August. “The lack of medicine, and the unpaid salaries, are alarming findings, and it clearly highlights that the future of the health sector is... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3152038/afghanistans-running-out-medicine-oxygen-hospitals?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3152038/afghanistans-running-out-medicine-oxygen-hospitals?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Oct 2021 06:00:10 +0000 Last week, when the newly appointed Taliban foreign minister called the ministry staffers for a briefing, a female desk officer hoped she would be able to retain her job and return to work. The desk officer, who did not want to be named, had served in the previous Afghanistan government for three years and was expecting to be posted overseas this year. But the Taliban takeover left her and other women colleagues worrying about the future of their careers. On Thursday, all hopes were dashed after... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3149312/afghan-women-officials-and-diplomats-seek-asylum-taliban-targets?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3149312/afghan-women-officials-and-diplomats-seek-asylum-taliban-targets?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Sep 2021 11:00:27 +0000 The United States has left Afghanistan after 20 years of war, and thousands of Afghans are desperate to follow suit, as they fear for their lives under Taliban rule. But Nadima, a Kabul-based Canadian-Afghan comedian and social influencer, is urging them to stay and take part in the “new beginning”. “It’s time for people to reflect upon themselves and rise together, from being dependent on the international community to starting afresh with an independent mindset,” the 38-year-old, who uses only... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3147541/flee-afghanistan-no-way-comedian-determined-stay-she-keep-laughing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3147541/flee-afghanistan-no-way-comedian-determined-stay-she-keep-laughing?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Sep 2021 04:59:50 +0000