This week’s question comes from World Moms Blog writer Multitasking Mumma. She asks,
“What is your favorite way to spend a Saturday?”
Check out what some of our World Moms had to say…
Maggie Ellison of South Carolina, USA writes:
“My favorite Saturdays are the ones where we wake up slowly, have our coffee, make breakfast, head to the beach for the day, eat some seafood for dinner and have a few drinks. Sun kissed and happy!!” (more…)
I am a woman and I am writing from India. So, what is special about that, you may ask.
Save the girl child of India
India is the country that gave the world the second woman prime minister (Indira Gandhi in 1966). India has sent its women to space; its women have marked their places in sports, the corporate world, Hollywood and just about everywhere else, too.
But I will not bore you with statistics and data that you can check out on your own here, here and here. The point of my post is to bring to light the reasons behind this statement. First, there are some sociocultural pieces I would like to highlight.
Purnima Ramakrishnan is an UNCA award winning journalist and the recipient of the fellowship in Journalism by International Reporting Project, John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Her International reports from Brazil are found here . She is also the recipient of the BlogHer '13 International Activist Scholarship Award . She is a Senior Editor at World Moms Blog who writes passionately about social and other causes in India. Her parental journey is documented both here at World Moms Blog and also at her personal Blog, The Alchemist's Blog. She can be reached through this page . She also contributes to Huffington Post . Purnima was once a tech-savvy gal who lived in the corporate world of sleek vehicles and their electronics. She has a Master's degree in Electronics Engineering, but after working for 6 years as a Design Engineer, she decided to quit it all to become a Stay-At-Home-Mom to be with her son! This smart mom was born and raised in India, and she has moved to live in coastal India with her husband, who is a physician, and her son who is in primary grade school. She is a practitioner and trainer of Heartfulness Meditation.
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Recently, we had a beautiful Saturday Sidebar question from our Sidebar editor Eva Fannon, titled, ‘I have a dream’. This is my longer answer to that question:
Martin Luther King spoke about the ghosts of racism. Here, in India, racism exists too – but a different kind of racism. It is called the caste system.
If you do not have a prior knowledge of the caste system, briefly it is like this – there is the concept of a higher (or forward or upper) caste of people comprising of Brahmins and such. The lower (or backward) caste comprises of Dalits and such. The lower castes were economically, educationally and socially underprivileged. And so the Indian government created laws, sixty years ago, which alloted a percentage of college seats and jobs for them so that their standard of living could improve. With that background, now you may read on…
Any Indian, who has been a victim of the caste system, could write volumes about it, but I will restrict myself to giving you just one link here for now to understand this better. It is called Reservation system based on caste. Someone unfamiliar with the caste system would be appalled reading just the first few lines of this wiki entry. But this general wiki link is the most muted version of the actual reality.
Reservations in educational institutions and government jobs for the so-called “underprivileged” do not happen the way they were intended to some sixty years ago, before Indian Independence. Uplifting the social and educational status of people should be the goal of such reservation systems, and it should be based on their financial and economic background rather than on the caste system.
Imagine, there is a law, which actually allows my own classmate–whose father could be my father’s colleague–to get admission into an engineering institution (more…)
Purnima Ramakrishnan is an UNCA award winning journalist and the recipient of the fellowship in Journalism by International Reporting Project, John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Her International reports from Brazil are found here . She is also the recipient of the BlogHer '13 International Activist Scholarship Award . She is a Senior Editor at World Moms Blog who writes passionately about social and other causes in India. Her parental journey is documented both here at World Moms Blog and also at her personal Blog, The Alchemist's Blog. She can be reached through this page . She also contributes to Huffington Post . Purnima was once a tech-savvy gal who lived in the corporate world of sleek vehicles and their electronics. She has a Master's degree in Electronics Engineering, but after working for 6 years as a Design Engineer, she decided to quit it all to become a Stay-At-Home-Mom to be with her son! This smart mom was born and raised in India, and she has moved to live in coastal India with her husband, who is a physician, and her son who is in primary grade school. She is a practitioner and trainer of Heartfulness Meditation.
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This week we asked our World Moms Blog writers,
“If a magic genie appeared and offered to grant you one wish in 2012, what would it be?”
Here’s what some of our World Moms are wishing for…
Maggie Ellison of South Carolina, USA writes:
“As long as we stay healthy, then I would like for my husband to be able to find a stable, secure job where he is happy and provides a decent living, so I can continue to stay home with my children, have the stability we have always wanted and not have to move again. Magic genie, come through for us, please.” (more…)
Today, we bring you festive cheer from around the globe! Read the special holiday messages from our World Moms…
Alison Lee of Malaysia writes:
“May your holiday season be filled with love, laughter, family, friends and joy.”
Asta Burrows of Norway writes:
“Happy Christmas everyone! Hope you all manage to avoid the stress, and just enjoy this holiday ”
Dr. Lanham of Arizona, USA writes:
“Have a blessed and happy Christmas and New Year!”
Eva Fannon of Washington State, USA writes:
“Wishing you a joyous holiday season that gives you precious moments to share with loved ones.”
Inspiration to Dream of Australia writes:
“Christmas to me is about family and friends and creating wonderful memories to carry you through the year. So, I hope you’re all creating amazing memories with your loved ones this year.”
Jennifer Burden of New Jersey, USA writes:
“Wishing you a healthy, happy and peaceful holiday season around the globe!”
JPrestholdt of Minnesota, USA writes:
“Wishing you and your family joy this holiday season and peace in the new year.”
Kirsten Doyle of Ontario, Canada writes:
“May your family and friends surround you with love and joy this Christmas. May beautiful memories of departed loved ones warm you from the inside. May your dreams come true in 2012, and may you party hard this Christmas with the knowledge that calories consumed at this time of the year don’t count.”
Kyla P’an of Massachusetts, USA writes:
“Who better to understand a holiday celebrating the birth of a baby than mothers? So, from a blogging Mom on this side of the world to Moms everywhere, Merry Christmas!”
Maman Aya of New York, USA writes:
“Happy holidays to all of you and your friends and families. I hope 2012 is a healthy, happy and prosperous year for everyone!”
Ms. V of South Korea writes:
“Wishing all a peaceful holiday filled with the spirit of giving and gratitude. Joy to the world!”
Polish Mom Photographer of California, USA writes:
Many thanks to Polish Mom Photographer for supplying us with the wonderful image accompanying this post.
Simona Rinfreschi from South Africa writes:
I wish everyone a Healthy, Happy and Peaceful Festive Season, irrespective of personal beliefs. Personally, I love “Merry Christmas”, though. 🙂
Best wishes from Cape Town, South Africa, Simona. xoxox”
Susie Newday of Israel writes:
“Wishing everyone a year and life of tolerance, love, health and inspiration. May this year be the start of a time of peace and understanding that spreads person by person around the world.”
Tatterscoops of Indonesia writes:
“May the holiday bring you lots of joy, peace and most importantly love to share with everyone near or far.”
The Alchemist of India writes:
“Here is my greeting – I wish you all joy, grace and precious time with your beloved family and friends this holiday season. May the spirit of christmas be with us all through the year.”
ThirdEyeMom of Minnesota, USA writes:
“Wishing you peace, happiness and health in 2012!”
TwinMom112 of Pennsylvania, USA writes:
“No matter what you believe in this holiday season.. believe in yourself and the spirit of love, family and friendship. Sending love this season from my heart to yours.”
Unintentionally Brilliant of Nevada, USA writes:
“Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas!
May this New Year be filled with health, happiness, and – most of all – love.”
– World Moms Blog
Photo credit to Polish Mom Photographer.
This week’s Saturday Question comes from World Moms Blog writer Maggie Ellison. She asked our writers,
“What has been the best part of parenting so far?”
Check out what some of our World Moms had to say…
Dr. Lanham of Arizona, USA writes:
“The best part of parenting for me has been to hear my boys tell me they appreciate HOW I’ve raised them. Let’s me know they were listening! 🙂 ”
Maggie Ellison of South Carolina, USA writes: (more…)
