Rest in Peace, Ruth Bader Ginsburg…May Your Legacy Live On

As we wish a tearful farewell to our beloved RBG, Justice Ruth Badger Ginsburg, I pray and hope that we are not wishing farewell to all that she stood for.   She successfully fought against gender discrimination and enabled women like myself to have the right to work, the right to equal pay, the right to own our bodies, and the right to so many  other things that did not come easily to her.
    As I look at the nominee that President Trump is trying to ram throread more

Break the Stigma…

Every time I read a new story on Nima Bhakta, the beautiful young mother who lost her battle with postpartum depression, it just breaks my heart – breaks my heart for the beautiful woman gone too soon, the 7 month old child that will not know his mother, the devastated father who is now a single parent, and the family coping with this loss.  Nima’s story, shared in this editionbrings up a subject that we as South Asians just do not take seriously – issues pertaining to read more

And It Continues…

Another month passed and no end in site to when life may go back to normal or what we used to define as normal.  I am starting to question whether we will ever go back to the way things used to be even after the pandemic is behind us and vaccines and treatments are readily available.  
Many large corporations are already finding that working from home is effective and there are cost savings to be hand with reduced real estate and other expenses that come with owning or leasinread more

Stay Safe…

We got impatient, we started venturing out, we opened too soon and now we are paying the price.  Like many other states that opened too soon, Arizona is backtracking and shutting down again due to the spike in cases and our hospitals capacity to handle our surge of cases.   Back when we opened, our excuse was that businesses have been shut too long, this is their livelihood, and the economy must be revived.  Data and science warned us that we are opening too soon, we will likelread more

A Life Once Lost Cannot be Given Back…

My last column ended on the sentiment that a life once lost, cannot be given back.  In that column I was referring to the devastating impacts of COVID-19.  This month my heart is still deeply saddened by this sentiment but not because of a pandemic that we cannot treat but rather because of a sentiment that can be controlled if we forgot hatred and practiced empathy and acceptance.   
    My heart is filled with anger and sadness at the deaths of men read more

The Quarantine Continues…

When COVID-19 finally started becoming a serious issue in the USA and quarantines and stay at home orders started making their way across the country in March, I never imagined this would continue as long as it has.  When it all began, I was convinced that maybe we’d see the end of it by April.  And here we are at the end of April with still no end in sight. While we have flattened the curve and the cases and death rates are going down, there are still many stay at home ordersread more

“Success Will Win You False Friends and True Enemies – Succeed Anyway”

Asia Today Arizona has come a long way since its initial start in 2007.  We have grown from a small print only publication to a large print publication with a strong web and social media presence.  We get consistent feedback from readers on the quality of our articles and what they enjoyed about last month’s edition and are always pleased with those notes of appreciation.   And another way to measure our success is by the growing number of attacks we continue to see read more

Hints of Change

“All great changes are preceded by chaos,” said our very own Deepak Chopra.   Is this what we are to make of the chaos that is currently ensuing in our great State of Arizona.  History has been made in the month of April in Arizona – chaotic History!!!

For the first time in Arizona, all our public school teachers are on strike fighting against the lowest teacher wages nationally and the continued drain of funding and resources from school programs, mread more

Our Community Stepping Forward...

In the month of March, my involvement with Asia Today gave me the opportunity to interview individuals making a difference in unchartered territory who truly brought to my attention how our community is stepping forward in all walks of life.  We are a society that has always had a large part to play in industries such as healthcare, law, and engineering.  However, we do not have the opportunity to have a lot to choose from in role models in sports or politics of South Asian descent read more

The Judgment Never Ends…Even After Death

The end of February brought with it the end of a life that was an inspiration to many – Sridevi.  One of the few females in the South Asian film industry known to carry a movie on her own without a big name male costar, she was a trendsetter that created a path for many women to follow.  Fans and the industry mourned the untimely death and incredible loss to the South Asian film industry.   In the midst of condolences to the family and shock and disbelief at the unexread more

Diversity and Politics…

Being a 1st generation female immigrant, I can definitely say I have encountered both racism and sexism throughout my personal and professional life.  While my parents brought us to this country for equal opportunity, the country definitely gave us more opportunity than our place of birth but that opportunity was not always equal.  One has to create a thick shell around them to not let racist and sexist behavior bring them down and keep marching forward.  Whether it is always bread more

Conquering Your Fears

Not much can be achieved without a lot of hard work, pain, and dedication. It also seems that life has a way of putting you in situations where you must face your fears to achieve something you really want. You will have no choice but to either face that fear or give up on something that is extremely important to you and those moments are what will define you. Do you choose to succumb to your fears and walk away from your desires or look fear in the face and conquer it to fulfill your desiresread more

Expectations and Honesty

Expectations are a part of human nature and we expect something or the other from all friends and family. But it is those same expectations that lead to disappointment because sometimes they are not fulfilled. When an acquaintance you don’t care about or someone you don’t get along with does something knowing it would hurt you, it does not hurt as much as where it is not expected. So one would argue that it is not the action that hurt us but our own expectations. Martin Luther Kinread more

Transitioning from the South Asian Festival Season to American Festival Season

The advantages of being immigrants is the ability to celebrate traditional festivals from our countries of origin and the festivals of our home country as Americans. As we leave the South Asian festival season behind, Asia Today is once again proud to present coverage from the various colorful happenings around town celebrating the diversity of our culture. As I watch social media feeds change from colorful attires at traditional celebrations to costumes from Halloween, I am reminded of our dread more

Festival Season The Triumph of Good over Evil

As the South Asian community steps foot into its prime festival season with Dussehra, Diwali, Durga Puja, Karva Chauth – festivals celebrating the triumph of good over evil or fasts for the long and healthy life of their loved ones, we are shaken by the pure evil in Las Vegas that is responsible for the loss of so many lives in the tragic event that occurred recently. 

While we celebrate historic battles where our ancestors, gurus, gods destroyed pure evil and brought jusread more

A National Tragedy

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by the catastrophic tragedy that Hurricane Harvey has left behind. Images of homes submerged in water, people being rescued in boats and rafts, and communities destroyed have left the whole nation in shock on what mother nature is capable of at its ultimate wrath. A storm that did not discriminate by race, gender, legal or illegal status, or financial strength left those of all races, genders, legal and financial status equally torn read more

Success Requires Discomfort

With the continued emphasis on equality and fixing the gap in the gender ratio in Corporate America, there is an increase in training on how to be successful as a female as well as how to be supportive of your female colleagues in the workplace as a male. However, theoretical learning and application in the real world of those same concepts can sometimes be two very different things. Theoretical learning in the classroom can make you feel very empowered and strong. You are surrounded by peoplread more

Is Chivalry Sugar Coated Sexist Behavior?

Recently, I walked into a very interesting conversation regarding chivalry being sugar-coated sexist behavior stemming from those that believe woman are the weaker sex that need to be taken care of and protected. Conversation ranged from the opening of doors indicating a woman’s inability to open the door herself to a male defending her honor when she is being harassed being an indication that she cannot speak for herself or defend herself when in these situations. The person arguing thread more

Expectations…

Expectations are an interesting thing, doomed if you have them and doomed if you don’t and they can speak volumes for the status of your relationships – personal, professional, intimate, friendships, family, etc.   If you have no expectations of someone, that is a clear indication that you have no relationship with them fitting any of those categories because the only place one expects something is where they feel like they have a right to and the only thing that can givread more

The Difficult Advice is always for Others

It’s always easy to give advice but harder to heed it or so I have heard it said. But the more I see in life, the more I realize that it is critical that one make their own decisions so they have no regrets rather than relying on the advice of those that may not live to regret it. It is easy to give advice in situations where you have no emotion and no personal ties and maybe that is the best practical advice, but is that advice really what is best for you? The only person that can answread more

Fearless in a Man’s World…

First impressions are sometimes everlasting but that is rarely the case with me.  When people meet me, I may come across as arrogant, brash, outspoken, not ladylike and who knows what else and these traits are automatically associated with being a bad person, especially in our South Asian community.  And the few that look past that and take the time to get to know me are the first ones to say that I didn’t think well of you but I was wrong.  A similar conversation recentlread more

Make America Hate Again with Selective Empathy…

Empathy by the definition of the word is the feeling that you understand and share another person’s experiences and emotions.  Can a person really be considered empathetic if their feelings of empathy are selective and restricted for individuals of a certain race, religion, or background?  I see and hear our government be empathetic towards hate crimes committed by immigrants that have hurt innocent citizens and why it is important to crack down on immigration related issues.&read more

A Woman’s Fight Gains More Adversaries…

“Kasturi,” the second place winner of Action Against Gender Based Violence Film Festival by U.S. Consulate General Mumbai explores equality and how it plays into society.  In the movie, it is not the outside world that is behaving violently towards women, it is their own families and loved ones.  It shows scenes that can be seen in a typical South Asian home – the male child sites comfortably and eats while the female children are asked to help with cooking and cleread more

New Year, New Resolutions

As we ring in the New Year, many of us are filled with resolutions – goals we conjured up from moments that either taught us something in 2016 or left us with regrets from 2016. I am excited to share both my personal and professional resolutions with the readers of Asia Today that have become like our extended family for completely different reasons. The personal one I hope inspires more to join me because it is one that is truly needed by South Asian Women in the United States and the read more

Internal Battles…

 “No one who conjures up the most evil of those half-tamed demons that inhabit the human breast, and seeks to wrestle with them, can expect to come through the struggle unscathed.” — Sigmund Freud

We are harder on ourselves than anyone else whether that be family, friends, or enemies and maybe that is just part of human nature.  When we hear things being said either to us or about us, we immediately go into this mode of what we could have done different tread more

Those who can, do. Those who can’t, bully.

The quote rings loud and true and this month I want to take a few moments to talk about bullying. We all hear about it, read about it, and are encouraged to ensure children in our communities are not being bullied. But, do we really understand the impact of bullying? I definitely didn’t up until very recently. I would read stories in the news or see posts on social media related to keeping an eye out for bullying and stepping in to help and I would glance over them and move on. It was nread more

Adapting to the Digital Customer...

You are at the airport for your scheduled flight and your smartphone beeps [Flight Number] Departure Time Changed To [A Time Other than your Scheduled Departure Time]. If you are lucky, you get one beep and then take off with a slight delay. If you are not so lucky as I was in a very recent experience, the beeps keep coming until the delay is so late that the final beep states flight changed to the next morning; the airline gives you room and board to return to the airport the next morning. Veryread more

Open the Doors in Your Path...

When I looked at my mom, I always wondered where she found her strength. Holding a job, taking care of a household, raising her kids, doing community service, and always starting new ventures like this newspaper Asia Today Arizona or her Diwali Mela, she is always running a million miles an hour.

Sometimes you truly cannot appreciate an individual especially if you have known them your whole life until you see them from the lenses of another. Lately, I have been running into so manyread more

Lighting the Way!

This month note is inspired by my visit to the Montauk Point Lighthouse, the fourth oldest active lighthouse in the US and the first lighthouse in New York at the easternmost point of Long Island in the Hamptons. Lighthouses are a lovely object and I have heard many a tale say they have souls. My first visit to a lighthouse and it happens to be historic convinced me they do. There was an energy around it that I cannot explain. If you think about their purpose, it is almost heroic - shining theirread more