The synopsis from the film’s site promotes as a look into the life of these women: “With This Ring lets you step into the ring with members of the Indian Women’s National Boxing Team. From their villages to the podium, these girls quickly rise to the top of their game. At the 4th World Women’s Boxing Competition in 2006, the Indian team makes a clean sweep, winning eight medals and the Championship Team title. They officially become the best women’s boxing team in the world. And the most under-appreciate.”

They came up with the idea when Ameesha learned that there were women boxing in India after seeing their images at a World Press Photo Exhibit. “She was really curious to find out how these women were able to pursue boxing when they are expected to marry and have kids by the age of 20,” explained Anna. With the social pressures on women in India ranging from being a dutiful housewife, mother, daughter to running an entire household and having no life of their own, it is no wonder that the idea of women boxing in India would peak a filmmaker’s curiosity. “She knew there was a story to tell. So in November 2006, we booked a last minute flight and headed to India,” remembered Anna. They booked these tickets without any funding, no equipment of their own – nothing more than just knowing that they were going to do this by whatever means were necessary.

“One of the best moments was the first day we arrived at the boxing camp in India in the summer of 2008, two years after our first visit,” remembers Ameesha. Since their first visit, Mary Kom, one of the documentary’s main characters, had left the boxing scene for two years after having twin boys. No one was sure if she was going to return to boxing, but Mary Kom arrived at the boxing camp the same day as Ameesha and Anna. “Mary was determined to win her fourth gold medal at the next Championships, which she did! But the best part of her returning was her arrival with a baby in each arm,” noted Ameesha.

The story behind “With this Ring” is one of gaining independence and making your own choices. As the film’s website notes, “For the first time, [these women] are gaining independence by setting their own goals, living independently, and taking the world by storm. Yes, some have short hair. And yes, they show their legs and wear athletic gear–something which most Indians would frown upon. As one woman that we interviewed put it, wearing shorts amounts to “degrading women.”’

So let’s support these incredible South Asian women – the ones behind the camera, and the ones on camera in “With this Ring.”

– Prena Gupta

More information is available at: http://withthisringfilm.com

Fairness. Energy. Hope. On June 4, 2009, NY Muslim leaders had this to say after hearing President Barack Obama’s historic speech in Cairo. The discussion was filled with a reinstated sense of optimism stemming from his commitment to eradicate misperceptions surrounding the Muslim community and to reconnect and forge “a new beginning” with Muslim majority countries.

Fast forward one year later, much of that hope was clouded with disappointment. At a roundtable hosted by CAIR-NY on the one year anniversary of the speech, the mantra was that his heavy words and ambitious goals were not put into action. Case in point was the administration’s failure to join the resounding condemnation from the international community following the Israeli massacre on the Flotilla that was carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Faiza Patel, a roundtable participant from the Brennan Center for Justice, pointed out that the shift in national security rhetoric was selectively being enforced. Although there was decoupling of religion from terrorism in speeches delivered by the President and agencies like the Department of Homeland Security, such verbiage had not trickled down to the FBI or NYPD. Even more problematic was that security policies continued to disproportionately impact the community, allowing for the frequent interrogation and arrests of Muslims without any evidence of wrongdoing.

That isn’t to say that the rhetoric itself was not appreciated. It was a sign of improvement especially when compared to the efforts of the previous administration, according to Sarah Sayeed from the Interfaith Center of New York. She noted that Obama has been the only president who set forth a rhetorical framework to deal with the hot button issues concerning Muslims and “the West.” As such, she had less expectations then the rest of the group to hold the president to his promises in a year, noting that democracy was a process that required time to reach consensus through vigorous debate. In agreement, Haroon Moghul from the Maydan Institute noted that if all the president’s commitments were met in one year, we’d have a dictator!

The appointments made by Obama also received a mixed review. Despite the political fear-mongering and bigotry, the White House stood behind Rashad Hussain and Dalia Mogahead, giving young aspiring Muslim political activists like Faiza Ali from CAIR-NY hope that they too could be part of the local and national government. However, Imam Shair Abdul- Mani from the American Muslim Law Enforcement Officers Association expressed guarded optimism about the appointments. Although well deserved, he questioned what impact such appointments had on the grassroots.

At the end of the roundtable discussion, the group rated the overall performance of the Obama Administration. The grades ranged from B+ to D.  Clearly, that sent the message that the American Muslim community is still waiting to exhale.

– Sabeen Sarwar is a civil rights intern with the New York chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations and a student at Barnard College, Columbia University*

*All OP-Eds are the opinion of the authors.  They do not represent the views of NEEM Magazine or its editors, staff, or publishers.*

“So…” said the South Asian Conan O’ Brien look-alike that sat across from me. He had the same lop-sided poufy hair, distinguishable side part and tall gawky gait but unfortunately lacked the comical trademark pigmentation and humorous charisma that has so endeared us to Coco.

His ‘so’, left hanging in the air, flew around with no direction like an abandoned plastic bag – back and forth – here and there – uninterrupted. Awkward Silence crossed her legs like a lady and quietly took a seat in my family living room alongside my parents, his parents and my elder sister as we went through the confused motions of your average rishta viewing. My eyes remained downcast in annoyance – which Brown Coco obviously mistook for traditional coyness – and he continued with more draining drivel about his medical pursuits to fill the space. My older sister, keen to make conversation a two-way street and knowing the predictable pride with which I wear my ‘Third Culture Kid’ badge, decided to play cupid by casually asking Brown Coco: “Do you like traveling?” – my eyes looked up to make a connection – ears anxiously waiting to hear city names and countries dance off his tongue and give way to my enthusiastic rapid fire responses:  “I lived there!” “I went there!” “I want to go there!”

“I went to Florida last year. That was pretty cool.” He responded.

“Nothing overseas?” – Finally some dialogue from my side, much to my parents’ relief.

“Nope!” He said with a girlish giggle – “Well, I went to Pakistan 10 years ago. But it was dirty. Wouldn’t want to go back again. I prefer travel in the US.” And so, my eyes went back to counting the wooden tiles on the floor, Awkward Silence returned to graciously sipping her tea and my parents tried to compensate for the lack of chemistry by noting down every common connection the families shared.

When goodbyes were exchanged, I went to the basement. My father promptly followed. He let me watch “The Daily Show” for 10 minutes, before interrupting with a cheesy grin and a breathless “I think that went really well! He’s a nice boy! The choice is yours, but we are here to facilitate! Marriage is an important milestone in life. If you aren’t interested that’s fine – but if you are, let us know!!”

“I’m not interested.”

“…Why? You’re never interested. Why would you not be interested? He’s tall like you. He’s a doctor. His mom likes you…”

“He’s not international. I mean, he doesn’t even LIKE travelling.” – Apparently, this wasn’t going to suffice as an acceptable explanation. Not only was it met with borrowing eyebrows but I could see the throbbing of his temples –pulsating faster with every passing nanosecond.

“International? Are you international??” – An obvious trap.

“Yes. I grew up in Indonesia and Sudan AND I travel almost every year.” – duh! (I fell for the obvious trap).

My father pursed his lips into a knowing “hmmm.”  Then came his sound-bites, that single handedly deflated my “international” ego… My father (accurately) pointed out that I was a product of circumstance. “My career enabled your travel. You should be grateful, not everyone has had this opportunity– where would you have been if I hadn’t been posted overseas? Would you have traveled as much then? Would you have been as aware? Unless you can answer this with any certainty, don’t judge others. Don’t be so arrogant.”

Internally, I lined up all my retorts and repeated them silently during the long pauses my father used to drive home his point. My gaze held strong towards the muted Daily Show. My father returned upstairs.

A year later, by the time I had graduated and begun my internship at the National Democratic Institute of International Affairs (NDI) – my international ego had had sufficient time to heal its wounds and reclaim a sense of entitlement as a “truly” global citizen. NDI offered a reaffirmation of this, putting me in a room with other interns who hailed from international settings and diplomatic families – we were citizens of the world and eager to reorient ourselves eastward again.

My team of NDI interns looked like a United Colors of Benetton poster.  In the small room we shared, we talked about our identity crises as global citizens caught between multiple worlds – our host countries, our countries of origin and the US. We sent each other articles written by Pico Iyer to haughtily highlight the shared cool confused elements that took center stage in defining our personalities and made us uniquely identical. During these conversations, Jason (the East Asian intern) would be anxiously listening rather than participating – one day, when the spotlight turned to him – Jason told us how he hadn’t even had a passport until he was 21. He grew up in Washington in a fairly homogenous middle class urban setting – no one in his family and barely anyone from his high school had ever traveled outside the US. After graduating from college, he got his passport on his own and went to Rwanda to work for an international justice mission for a year. He then traveled to Tamil Nadu for the summer to work for another NGO – and was heading off to do a backpacking trip through the Silk Route.

It took Jason – with his pale complexion, green eyes and thin wired glasses – to emphasize what my father had said to me following Brown CoCo Gate.  Here was a kid who had had no childhood exposure outside the US, compared to the rest of us with our international schooling, study abroad programs and globe trotting vacations. And yet, he was equally aware in knowing that that there was a world outside of his – and he was trying fervently to leave an imprint on it through his do-good pursuits.

It is effortless to have an international identity when you’ve had the benefits of going to an international school that promotes UN day as the biggest event of the semester and takes you on immersion fieldtrips to remote villages that worship death. But, what Jason demonstrated was a truly international identity – an international identity that had developed in a non-international setting – and, shamefully, it was more heartfelt than mine. Whereas I had been enabled by my father, paid-for tickets, my schooling and my circumstance – Jason had been enabled by his self, his passion, his funds and despite his circumstances.

To me, Jason is what represents a truly international identity. It was a lesson to not always assume that the love for this world and global citizenship belongs only primarily to us unanchored nomads. The world is no doubt getting smaller and smaller and people like Jason are, fortunately, becoming more commonplace. While staying at a hostel in Barcelona, there were several Jasons; Similarly, in Dubai I’ve met both varieties – third culture kids and global newbies – that are drawn to the UAE’s cosmopolitan identity – and it is the newbies who truly appreciate their surroundings and are eager to explore it with a fascination that a lot of us “international” kids take for granted. They’re changing the world by leaping blindly into it and it is a passion to be admired and encouraged.

A truly international identity is represented by this breed of global citizen. Someone who develops a consciousness from his/her living room. As the world becomes more and more integrated, yielding a domino effect which is pervasive through our economic, political, social and environmental spheres – it is important to recognize that being “truly international” is not only a right to those that have grown up straddling borders, but also a responsibility of every global citizen. As the world becomes more international – so should we. This world is at your fingertip and developing a sense of civic responsibility, not just to a nation but to the planet as well as your fellow global citizens is something which is in within reach of all of us, should we want it – even brown Coco.

– Rehana Raza-Azim

More Culture Articles Here.

, the organization once again showed the world the intricacies of gender and sexuality, this time through the medium of dance.  With South Asian artists and choreographers from India, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, Canada and the USA, the organization presented a series of breathtaking dance performances, workshops and panel discussions to bring light to human rights, gender inequities, and sexuality in

Dance speaks all languages and transcends borders.  The audience can understand the intimate value of each move, each beat of music, as the choreography unfolds in a through provoking sequence in front of them.  The Kuchipudi dancers of Kuchipudi Kalanidhi & Kalanidhi dance reached out through the absolute synchronization to tell a story of love. Flexy Studios showed the world that South Asian dance is not just classical and traditional, but groundbreaking.  And the UBC Girlz Bhangra team broke any ill-conceived notions that women don’t do bhangra.

Redefining sexuality and the barriers of dance, the Engendered team introduced the audience to Nighat Chaodhry, a Pakistani woman that is inextricably connected to the world of Kathak.  In her appearance Nighat noted that while many people in Pakistan are “okay” with dance and even want to learn it, their attitudes change once they are asked to wear “ghungroos.”  Her contemporary choreography at Tongues Untied depicted a woman’s struggle to break the barriers of identity.  Who is to say what a woman is?  What can she do or not do?  Must she be categorized as this or that?  And in the end, can it not just be enough that she is a woman?

In the same vein of breaking barriers was Fayaaz, also known as Bijli, who captivated us with her voluptuous movements which have provided her with a feverish following in the South Asian LGBT community.  Defining herself as a woman trapped in a man’s body, Fayaaz uses her formal and informal training in dance to carve out her own identity in the struggle between the tensions of faith and promiscuity.  She noted that as a Muslim she prays, but does not go to the mosque because of ridicule and prolonged glances.  The same people that have seen her perform, and cheered her on, at an underground New York City party, would recognize her and avert their eyes.  Her dance was a celebration of embracing who you are and who you want to be – in the most glamorous and endearing of ways. Engendered helped showcase Bijli and to show the world that talent can be cultivated in any struggle, not just in the four walls of a formal training.

And, while breaking these barriers, Tongues Untied did another service to the audience:  it sparked debate.  Should women be doing bhangra instead of ghidda?  Was it not to masculine?  Should a Pakistani drag queen be representing Muslims?  Why not?  And, even why are there not more Muslims in the world of art and dance?  The commentary went from whispers during performances to do debates at dinners following the intense performances, forcing people to talk about these issues – forcing people to understand the need for change.

As always, the team behind Engendered brought us into a world that captivated us, providing through provoking ideas and intensified emotions.  When we walked out, we were enamored by Engendered once again, this time through the medium of dance.

– Benish A. Shah & Sheheryar T. Sardar