Another article on Childless couples who look to India for surrogate mothers

Childless couples look to India for surrogate mothers
By Anuj Chopra | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

ANAND, INDIA – Eight months pregnant, Reshma is like any other expecting mother, except that the child she's carrying isn't her own.

When Reshma gives birth next month in this small Indian town, the newborn will be immediately handed over to its biological parents, non-resident Indians who live in London and who have been unable to bear a child on their own. In return for renting her womb, Reshma will be paid $2,800 - a significant sum by Indian standards.

"I have two cherubic children of my own," says Reshma, who withheld her real name for fear of disapproval by neighbors. "That couple has none. Imagine how much happiness this baby will give them."

A year ago, the couple flew down from London to this dusty, unremarkable town to choose a surrogate mother. They are part of a growing number of childless foreigners beating a track to India, drawn here for many of the same reasons that have made India a top destination for medical tourism: low costs, highly-qualified doctors, and a more relaxed legal atmosphere.

The industry is estimated to be valued at $449 million, and the number of cases of surrogacy are believed to have doubled in the last three years based on newspaper

classifieds and inquiries at clinics. But hard numbers remains elusive, partly because the practice is defused among small towns like Anand, where the lure of money is stronger than in wealthier cities.

First South Asian Governor of a Southern State!

Like many others, what I found even more interesting than the fact that Bobby Jindal was the first South Asian to be elected governor of any American state, was the fact that it was of a Southern state. Tells us a lot about the current state of affairs and how people are willing to overlook color, race, and anything else to vote for someone who they think can make life better for them.

Good Luck to Jindal.

Reading Books on the Internet...

While doing a search for one of my articles I was surprised to find chapters from a book that I had contributes to atleast 10 years ago. This book was part of Project Guttenberg and was available online. While searching through this database, I actually found it amazing that several classics by Maughm and Jane Austen and several others were available to the public over the Internet.

Many find this downright sacrilegious, but for someone like me, this is just an introduction to a book that I look forward to buying, reading and owning. For me nothing will ever replace the pleasure of flipping through the pages of a book, especially the ones that are yellow and have the smell of old and rich paper!

Yesterday I found it interesting to read this in the London Times --
"The Man Booker Prize has been criticised over the years for selecting
dark, unreadable and worthy tomes unlike the winners of other more
populist literary prizes.Now, in the week that Anne Enright became its 2007 winner, it is shaking
off criticisms of being elitist and out of touch by taking the radical
step of placing all its shortlisted novels online, available free to
anyone worldwide."

Read the full article "Every novel on Man Booker Prize shortlist to be available free for online
readers" in The London Times dated October 18, 2007
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article2681255.ece

Indian Americans and Jews

New York Times -- October 2, 2007
In Jews, Indian-Americans See a Role Model in Activism

By NEELA BANERJEE
When Anil Godhwani and his brother, Gautam, looked into creating a community center for Indian-Americans in Silicon Valley, they turned to the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco as a model.

When the Hindu American Foundation began, it looked to groups like the Anti-Defamation League and the Simon Wiesenthal Center for guidance with its advocacy and lobbying efforts.

Indian-Americans, who now number 2.4 million in this country, are turning to American Jews as role models and partners in areas like establishing community centers, advocating on civil rights issues and lobbying Congress.

Indians often say they see a version of themselves and what they hope to be in the experience of Jews in American politics: a small minority that has succeeded in combating prejudice and building political clout.

Sanjay Puri, the chairman of the U.S. India Political Action Committee, said: “What the Jewish community has achieved politically is tremendous, and members of Congress definitely pay a lot of attention to issues that are important to them. We will use our own model to get to where we want, but we have used them as a benchmark.”

See full article at-
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/02/us/02hindu.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print&adxnnlx=1191438607-nOxhI2urvz8WvZZ75NRH6g&oref=slogin

For Thiru "The Dosa Man" Kumar, the third time is the charm

Kumar, who runs NY Dosa, a vegan food cart at Washington Square Park South and Sullivan Street, won the third annual Vendy Award, which is bestowed upon the city's top street chef vendor. Kumar, who had competed unsuccessfully in the two previous Vendy Awards, finally won for his specialty Pondicherry dosas, a type of filled crepe. He accepted the large silver Vendy cup on Saturday night.

Read the full article at --
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--streetfoodcontest0930sep30,0,3886403.story