by Jessica Mosby
- USA -

Most American romantic comedies and dramadies go something like this: two attractive people "meet cute"; after some witty banter, and maybe a date, they find themselves in bed together; immediately following this sexual encounter they refer to one another as “boyfriend” and “girlfriend"; then some silly misunderstanding momentarily tears them apart; and finally they reconcile and ride off into the sunset – all in a mere 90 minutes.

by Sumukha S. Ravishankar
- USA/India -

In Indian society, where everyone aspires to be perfect in all matters, learning disabilities are not discussed, even within families. Where it is socially acceptable and even encouraged to blatantly compare and contrast children’s achievements among parents, social life is very stressful for those who have children with disabilities. Traditionally, individuals with learning disabilities are labeled as dumb, imperfect or inferior. They are typically marginalized, not only by the members of the larger society, but also within their own homes.

After struggling within the social and educational systems in India, my husband and I made the difficult decision to move to the US to provide our daughter with the education that our country could not.

by Linda Tarr-Whelan
- USA -

Here’s a news flash: in one week, two major economic articles in national newspapers raise the same point – we need more women in top leadership. Why? Because we need more balanced risk-taking, more looking at the long-term and less testosterone-driven hyper-competitiveness. We need fresh blood and new ideas – much of which lies with the talented and experienced people who have largely been cooling their heels outside of the fancy corner offices. That’s women.

by Mridu Khullar
- USA/India -

A few days ago, after weeks of avoiding it, I finally watched Slumdog Millionaire.

The reason I'd put it off for as long as I had wasn't because as a journalist from India currently in the Bay Area, I felt the pressure of giving a long, insightful critique of the film to my non-Indian colleagues. Nor because of the controversy and debates that would inevitably require me to pick a side and try to explain away the complexities of India, which clearly can't be explained away.

It was simply because having endured some awful movies about India in the past, I didn't want to watch yet another foreigner's misrepresentation of something he didn't understand.

by Jessica Mosby
- USA -

On Sunday night, the 81st Academy Awards will air live from Los Angeles. Five documentary films are vying for the coveted Documentary Feature Oscar: The Betrayal (Nerakhoon), Encounters at the End of the World, The Garden, Man on Wire, and Trouble the Water.

by Pushpa Iyer
- USA -

It was close to 8pm on a Saturday two months ago. I was walking down a big, busy street in Phnom Penh, Cambodia with a colleague, returning to our hotel after having dinner. As we passed a poor section of the city, I felt a slight movement behind me. When I turned my head, someone put their hands around my neck, strangling and almost choking me. In those few moments, the only thought in my head was: someone’s trying to kill me! Seconds later when I screamed, I felt a tug at the gold chain around my neck as my assailant let go. I was being robbed! The realization was a relief, and more so when I found my chain in the collar of my shirt - broken but still there.

by Zubeida Mustafa
- Pakistan -

In Pakistan, people with disabilities are generally missing from public places such as shopping malls, restaurants and even universities. But it’s not that the country doesn’t have its share of the disabled; on the contrary, their numbers are estimated to be 16 million. So why are they invisible?

by Alexandra McCabe
- USA -

I should know what an abuser looks like. After all, I was working for then Senator Joseph Biden, who sponsored the Violence Against Women Act. But domestic violence is an equal opportunity offender. It was something I read about and discussed with colleagues, never knowing I would one day walk into a marriage filled with abuse and pain.

by Melissa Hahn
- USA –

On January 20th, John Marshall* joined the ranks of US homeowners who have foreclosed on their homes. The thirty-year old African-American is struggling to make sense of his surreal situation.

by Rose-Anne Clermont
- Germany -

The irony of Pierrette’s troubles could be seen, from one viewpoint, as tragic: She’s a pediatrician but got lost within the maze of the medical system once her son became ill; she once treated patients from low-income families on Medicaid, yet she eventually became dependent on such services herself; for 13 years, she was a homeowner, but then sold her house to relocate to a county that had better health and educational services for her son; she took a subprime loan, lost the second house and ended up sleeping at her friend’s place; and ultimately, she resorted to seeking pantry services for food.

Yet Pierrette hardly complains as she recalls the turn of events that changed her life so drastically. “It has made me a better person,” she says. “It’s an opportunity to turn poison into medicine.”

by Jessica Mosby
- USA -

The premise of the new documentary film Over the Hills and Far Away is straight from the handbook of the American bourgeoisie: Journalist father and professor mother take their young autistic son on a summer vacation to Mongolia where they horseback ride across the country meeting with shamans – all in an attempt to help cure their son after Western medicine has failed. But the film should not be written off as a vanity project conceived by people with money to burn; it is actually a very heartfelt and realistic look at one family’s struggle to confront their son’s autism in an unconventional way. Over the Hills and Far Away premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival in the U.S. Documentary Competition. A companion book, The Horse Boy, will be published this Spring.

by Nora W. Coffey
- USA -

As we tighten our belts at home and abroad, we are all accountable for the burden of national debt we pass along to future generations. Local and international relief efforts for the poor are also feeling the pinch, which makes the search for ways to heal our broken economy a humanitarian effort.

Although medical profits continue to soar, there have been rumblings lately that the next "industry" to show up in Washington hat-in-hand will be medicine. Meanwhile, evidence abounds that an increasing portion of our tax dollars that fund Medicare and Medicaid are the most lucrative revenue stream for the medical industry, and a large portion of those expenditures are going toward unnecessary, even harmful surgeries - not unquestionably-needed emergency care.

by Mridu Khullar
- India / USA -

For five years, Jitender Kumar was unable to find employment. He gave interviews every week, was rejected constantly, and sank into depression as sources of income dwindled and he became increasingly dependent on his parents for financial support.

Mr. Kumar is 33, married, and has two daughters. He is also an amputee with no left leg.