India | GlobalPost

Transgender India: Banned in Bombay?

Hanna IngberApril 10, 2010 09:52Updated May 30, 2010 13:28

MUMBAI, India — Laxmi Tripathi stands tall and proud. She — who used to go by he — wears her hair long, her eyes decorated with thick black eyeliner and a low-cut top that reveals a hint of cleavage. Bangles adorn her wrists. Hailed as a success story in India, Tripathi has spoken at the United Nations and addressed conferences around the world on the rights of the transgender community. And yet, being somewhat of a celebrity activist did not shield Tripathi from the very discrimination she has denounced.

What love can't do ...

Sonya FatahApril 8, 2010 12:21

First of all, I'm not all that sure that Shoaib Malik, erstwhile captain of a once great Pakistani cricket team, and Sania Mirza, India's biggest female tennis star to date, are even in love. Its all happened pretty quickly but then that's what they call le coup de foudre I suppose.

Sweden to host first Think Global School trimester

Marcus OscarssonApril 8, 2010 08:45Updated May 30, 2010 14:46

Photo caption: Youth take part in the world's largest LAN (Local Area Network) party, a gathering of computer enthusiasts playing games, browsing the web and developing software on November 26, 2009 in Jonkoping, Sweden. Sweden is the first stop for the tech-savvy students of Think Global School. (Jan Johannessen/Getty Images) STOCKHOLM, Sweden — For the first time in history, a parent will actually be proud that their child attended three different high schools in one year.

India smoking: A ban in Mumbai sticks.

Hanna IngberApril 12, 2010 06:20Updated May 30, 2010 13:28

MUMBAI, India — The comedian wraps up his act, and announces a seven-minute intermission. Audience members rise and file towards the door. Seven minutes – exactly enough time to get in a smoke. A group of friends forms a circle on the street. All light up. Such a scene is common in cities like New York, San Francisco and London. But this is India. It’s Mumbai, to be precise, a city not exactly known for its cleanliness and public hygiene.

India: The orphans of HIV

Hanna IngberApril 26, 2010 06:29Updated May 30, 2010 13:28

Editor's note: The names of the teenagers in this article have been changed to protect their identities. MUMBAI, India — Three teenage girls pull up chairs and form a semi-circle around me. Sabeena, whose pigtails and wide eyes make her look younger than her 15 years, carries a bowl of grapes and offers them to me. No, no, I tell her, I’m fine. “Take one,” she insists. I oblige. Her friend, Amrita, also 15, tells me she is in her last year of high school. How long have you lived at this orphanage, I ask.

India: Community journalism in the slums

Hanna IngberApril 27, 2010 06:20Updated May 30, 2010 13:28

MUMBAI, India — Zulekha Sayyed sits with the men. They talk about the garbage dump directly behind their community and how the children have been playing in it and getting sick. As the wife of one of the men serves the group tea, the men say the dump’s stench gets worse when night falls. The wife returns to the kitchen. The mother-in-law sits on the floor and serves her grandchildren breakfast. She tears off a piece of roti, kneads it in a metal bowl of milk and sugar and then places the bite in the toddler’s mouth.

In a pocket of India, it's a bun fight for Easter goodies

Sonya FatahApril 8, 2010 06:41

For three days you could virtually sniff the raisin-cinnamon-nutmeg concoction as thousands of little hot cross buns were baked in ovens across the state, rising to perfection as little rounded, delicious mounds. The local papers, the Nahvind Times and the Herald were full of bakery advertisements featuring two days of hot cross bun specials in time for Good Friday. And in many of Goa's Christian homes those treats were homemade.

Opinion: High stakes for the trio of tension — US, India, Pakistan

Sonya FatahApril 9, 2010 07:18Updated May 30, 2010 13:28

NEW DELHI, India — Imagine a high-stakes, billion-dollar poker game that just doesn’t end. The players keep upping the ante and the power balance continually shifts. A scene out of fantasy poker you say, but in real life an appropriate analogy for the new great game being played out between the United States, India and Pakistan.

Education: Teaching infrastructure and other new necessities

Shailaja NeelakantanApril 6, 2010 06:49Updated May 30, 2010 14:23

NEW DELHI, India — Last summer John Atchley was working for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection and writing his application for a Fulbright scholarship to study India's water crisis when a serendipitous discovery of "The Power Broker" caused him to rethink his plans. Reading Robert A. Caro's book about the legendary urban planner Robert Moses and the building of New York, including its highway system, Atchley saw parallels to modern-day India.

Global economy: grease is the word

Thomas MuchaApril 3, 2010 09:26Updated May 30, 2010 13:27

BOSTON — The business world is abuzz with Apple's magical new iPad, set for worldwide release today. This column is not about that. That's because the real economic action this week took place not in Apple's shimmering and idealized high tech utopia, but rather, in the greasy and grimy world of manufacturing. No, it's not as sexy as a Steve Jobs marketing orgy. But it is more important. It turns out the world's factories are churning fiercely again, from the U.S., to China to Europe and beyond. And that's a very good thing.