eev1 s o e 1e

As [ began to th.ink about ways ro fundraise and build awareness for a very important cause in March, l recal.led memories of how that one thing changed the story of my life and to this day, still plays on my rnind. This thing is called epilepsy.

Epilepsy is a neuro logical diso.rder of the brain funccion and rnkes the form of convulsive and non-convulsive seizures. A person diagnosed with epilepsy suffers from reoccurring seizures, for which no specific cure has yet been fowid. In fact, it is a family of different seizure types. It is like the unwelcome guest that n u:ns up unannounced at any time in a person's life. It doesn't look at age, gender o r lifestyle. Nothing can prevent it from coming into a person's life, and nor can they be warned. And just like that, i t came. into our lives - unwelcome and unexpected. Not once, but twice.

At bare ly nine years, the word 'epilepsy' had no meaning to me; I had no understanding of what i t was. AH I knew was my mum carried a little gold cylinder keychain, which had the green first-aid cross primed on it, witliin which was a scroll of paper which read: 'I am Epileptic'. l encountered what epilepsy was for the first rime at home one afternoon; having returned early from school, my sister, who was pr obably only four or five at the rime, and myself were watching Neighho11n; while mum was vacuuming. Then the next minute she was oo the floor, she had had a seizure. My dad had cold me what ro do if this were to ever happen, but at that age how ,vas 1 to know the seriousness of \vhat he had said?

Too frig h ten ed to climb over her and call the ambuJance as I had been told, 1 remember switching off and unplugging die Hoover, taking her keys and telling my sister to stand at the front door as I wenr ro shop next door to ask for hdp.

Can yo u imagine how fcighteoiog it must be for a young child to see such a thing happen (0 their parent? Even to this day tlie visual of my mother lying on the floor, blood coming om the side of her mouth, caused from having severely b itten her rongue, with her eyes rolled to the back of her bead, as her body stiffened and shook as the seizure took control are srili freshly etched in my memory.

In the end, epilepsy took her life and she was only 36 She left behind three children, the )'oungest, my brother - had only just turned two.

Epilepsy soon returned to our lives, and this time it was my younger sister, who was barely 10 This time epilepsy showed us how much power it had to change a person 's life, and nor just by destroying them. M y sisrer suffered from seizures almost every six months, and as the years went b y, it took over her life, rnking away everything she bad.

She was oo longer the cheeky, highly organised young girl who used to make sure 1 had her clothes ready for tlie next clay, and wouJdn't let me sleep lltltil I did. She was no longer the g irl that used ro call me 'Vish -a- n' instead of 'Vishmaben'. Her health had deteriorated, the se izures had affected her so much so chat she was no longer ab le to speak, walk , eat, see - in simp le words she was unab le to do anything! She too was rnken away from us, at only 16.

Epilepsy doesn't only affect the person suffering from the condition, but also the famil)' and friends of that person. It changes everyone's life, just as cancer does. No matter how long ago d1ings happen in our life, no matter how o ld we were, and no matter bow much we try to move on, there are certain snippets from our lives that leave their mark in our memories and bit by bit are pieced together, almost like making a short filma memoir of The life o/

Even today, visuals from the past p lay o n my mind, raising wiwanted questions such as, am I next? What if it does happen to me? Is it passed on through generics? And is there a possibility of it being passed onto m y children?

But greater tl1an this, the one person who's life it changed, the one person that struggled a nd suffered but never complained, never gave up and still stood by and supported his famil y with strength, smiles and posi tivity - my father. A man that spent his nights in the hospital, and 12-hour days at work. A man who was not only a fadier, but also became a mother.

A man who became a best friend to his daughter, something a sister would normally be, and y et he never complained. Epilepsy is a life-ch anging disorder for everyone involved and not only die person directly affected b y it. Here are a few facts chat everyone should be aware o f:

• Epilepsy is the wodd's most common serious brain disorder.

• There are more peop le with epilepsy in the world tl1an there are with cerebral palsy, Parkinson's disease and motor neurone d isease combined.

• Anyone at anytime can be diagnosed with epilepsy.

• One in 10 people will have a seizure in their Ii fetime.

• 70% of people have their se izures well controlled by medicacion, however, for otliers it may hav e severel y disabling consequences.

• People living with un controlled epilepsy may suffer from wide ranging phys ical, psychological and social issues; including disadvantages in obtaining an education / emplo yment and social isolation , to name a few.

• J\ccording to the Wodd Healtl1 Orgaoisarioo it is probab ly the most universally neglected condition, clue to lack of resources, social stigma and a low profile.

There are many, many more facts about epilepsy; however chis is tlie most important one: according to a number of researches, 'there are just as many, if not more, deaths from epilepsy than there are from breast cancer'. And yet epilepsy is underfunded and there are minimal efforts put into raising awar ene,~s of this serious d isorder.

If breast cancer can be given so much time, research, attention and funding, why can'r the sanie be given to ep ilepsy? Wby aren't more efforts being made to better and save the lives of those suffering from epilepsy?

Time and money should be invested into research of its cause, and in raising awareness of this con dicion. \VJe can make a difference and help individuals and families suffering from epilepsy by s upporting and donating to charities such as Epilepsy Australi a, and fundraising on Internacional Epilepsy Awareness Day, celebrated on !vbrch 26 annually, by simpl y wearing purple.

Forging a new identity for the relatively unknown Chinese Indian community has been an award-winning venture hen former advertising professional turned social emrepreneur Kevin Bathman hunched Th e Ch11l{/ia11 Diaries, it was primarily to trace his roots and explore h is true identi ty Yet, today i[ has not onJ y become a much -needed forum for Ch indians worldwide, but also a compendi um of ethno logical e"--periences of this community.

Most of us are familiar with coinages like Indo-Chi n a, SinoIndian and Indian- Chinese, but what is Chindian? The term is relatively new and loosel y refers to families of mixed ethnicity who trace their an cestry to both China and India.

1n di e South East As ian melting pots of Singapore and Malaysia, the experience of growing up biracial is no[ uncommon, particularly in the last five decades. The experience however, has not been an easy one. Statistics tell us that u p to 2 % of Malaysians and Singaporeans ate Chindians. However, the Chindian descendants are even m this day recognised in official records onl y by d1eir paternal lineage.

Raised i n Kuala Lumpur, Ch.indian Australian Badunan was born into one such famil y Back in die mono-racial era when marrying outside the caste, Jet alone conm1Lu1iry, was still taboo, his paternal grandfather, an Indian -Tamil from rural Thanjavur, fell in love wirll and married a Ch.inese-N yo nya \Xl hat followed was a difficul t journey of cross-c ul mral integration and an even more painful search for personal identi ty

It is this ethnological journey mat Th e Chi11diat1 Dia1ies so poign antly traces. \'Vhat scarted out as a Facebook page, e.xploring the many culmral strands of Batbman's extended famil y, e ventually reached out to Chindians all over me world.

A " deepl y personal side project" as Bad1111an calls it, the diar ies were the direct outcome of a weekend workshop with Performance 4A.

"Th e purpose of the workshop was co de lve into our stories, and it was bere chat I began the journe y of d iscovering m y own ancestry" , Bathman mid Jndirm Link ' ' When 1 was growing up, my dad often told us many stories of m y grandparents' struggles in coming cog etlier", he exp lained. 'My grand father was nicknan1ed 'Hak KJ/(11' or 'Black Devil', and my grandmother was eventually disow ned when they married.

M y Granclmodicr Ang embraced ber husband's cnlmre by learning how to speak Tanill and cooking Indian cuisine. She mastered ir so well that she began cooking for her Indian neighbours. She even adopted an Indian name, Jeyah Ang. M y dad used to say he liked to see the puzz led lo ok on people's faces when they saw a Chin ese woman spea king Auently in Tamil. Because of tl1e challenges wim their own ml.ion, my paternal grandparents were open- minded and liberal in raising rneir children".

A ve r y private person, shar ing .inti.mace derails of bis fan1il y life was nor somed1ing Bamman bad originally intended to do But the p h otos obvio u sly stirred deep sentiments and brought bac k vivid memorie s of an era of innocence, wbere simp le things meant a lot.

'

'ReAecting on m y own ide n tity crises and cuJmra.l confusion when I was younger, I decided to embrace m y mixed heritage and decided to [ell the wor ld about it; by rllis I hope d1at it may help anomer young person wb o may be confused about me ir identity", he added.

In weaving his p ic torial, Bachman has chosen to paint ilie hards11ip as well me beautiful aspects of belonging to the Chind ian cuJrrn:e. "I mink people resonate with d1e brutal honesty dep ic ted in me stories and di e photos", he added Growing well beyond mose small origins, The Chi11di,111 Dimies has evo lved into an arts and community project char documents the stories of individuals and couples who identify themselves as C l1india.ns

''The ma.in intention is to collect stori es and photos d1at showcase a sub culture mat is often overlooked and rarel y ever wr itten about", he revealecL

By capturing these stories and photos, The Chi11dio11 Diaries hopes to act as a resource for future generations, and ensure they are never forgotten. The scories typically range fro m identity crises, cultural clashes, struggles and m isunderstandi n gs, to stori es of Jove and acceptance. "From m y own observations, most Chi.ndians experience an ide nti ty cr isis i n tl1eir lives as they have co straddle between the two distinctly d i fferent cul tures • Chinese and Indian", Badunan believe!"..

And b y sharing stories, he hopes there will be less isolation and prejudice from other people on mixed children "T l1is in turn h elps young Chi.nd ian children to have a sen se of belonging and forms a unique identity, char i t is okay to have pa.rents from a diverse background" , he states.

An advocate of multicultural parrnerships, Bad1man staunchly believes rllat interracial marriages ate a solurion to end racism

According to Batlunan, most C11indians lean towards che Indian culture, because t h ere were 1nore Indian men marrying Chinese women in me 30s till the 90s.

"For families wi th an Ind ian father, it was common to see d1e dlildren follow the more dominan t paternal culture", h e exp lained

''In terms of d1e look, some C l1indians look Malay, but some m ay look more Ch inese or Indian. 1 have been told by Chin dians in omer parts of the world mac tl1ey ate often mistaken as Spanish, i\liexica.n, Latin American and www.i n dia n link com.au even Po lynesian", he added.

Bathman's novel social initiative has gathered a lot of momentum, attracting wide-ranging p u blicity in A L1stralia, Malays ia and Singapore. The Chindi,m Diaries was a finalist at the prestigious 2014 NSW Premier's Multicultural Media Awards.

" The vision is to someday mm it into a performative piece, docw11entary or videos to put d1e stories o ut there", Bachman stared.

The Chindiall Diaries in terestingly is a one-man show, with eve r ything from submissions, tech s upporr, finance and publicity managed by INDIAN LINK

Bachman single- handedly.

"It's always a juggling act co keep the project alive, whilst working on your day job. It has consumed most of my free ti.me", he admits frankly "But I really do enjoy seeing chose phocos and helping others write their own stories. lt's a privilege to be able to listen and write d1e ir stories. I do have a very encomaging Ch in d ian community. When I embarked on this project, I n ever realised chat I would be meeting other Chlndians li.ke m yself, let al one helping them co write their stories. In a way, getting to m y own story was the hardest, but the most rewarding part" , he admitted.

The enterprisi n g Bathman has also forayed into communication strategies for soc ial, humanitarian, culniral and environmental cause.5, through yet anorher initiativeCnalition of Nlischief.

A snapshot of comm ents from the initiative's Facebo ok page (facebook.corn/

TheC hindian D airics) :

"So grateful for this pro ject and love seeing pictures and reading peop le's sto ries! My husband (parent$ from Hong Kong) and I (parents from Chennai) we.re married five years ago and have two l ittle Cbindians of out own. I'm so happy to have this page to s how my girls that there are ocher little girls and boys o m there just like them! Thank you!" Divya Balachandar Wong

" l loved looking at iliese p icmre.s. They are joyous, p layful, tende r and evocative. And so metin1es very stylish! Can't get enough o f cbe large shades, svelte saree,, cool hairdo's, beU- botroms and pleated pants," Sandepp Ray.

" l truly miss everything which existed from that era. The warm th, simplicity and ilie ability of nor bei ng t oo conscious when posing for p ictures, are quire rare nowadays," Raji Shurunu.

"This is the most unusual Facebook (page) I have found. So poignant and reminiscent. 1 an1 rea1Jy moved by ir. Thanks so much for s haring," Rushda Rajak.

" Love how two cul tures can b lend so beautifully. I t felt like one huge celebration. I wish much blessi ngs and love to the couple and tl1eir famil ies," Jacqueline Tegjeu.

Straight from Melbourne to the Rashtrapati Bhavan: Actress Vidya Ba/an receives the prestigious Pad ma Shri award, one of India 's highest civilian honours, from the President oflndia Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi on March 31, 2014.

A former senior Maharashtra cop, a breakaway member of the AAP and an activist working among Sikkimese people - these are among the 24 people who have formed new po litical oudits that will make their elecroral debut, albeit as '\mrecognised parti es", in the coming elections.

The 24 political parties, \Vith names as diverse as Hurn Sabki Parry, Rashttiya Vikalp Party, Apna Dal Uni ted Parry, Ex-Sainik Vikas Parry, Awa.mi Vikas Parry and eveo Free Thought Party, have been registered as U nrecognised Parties by the Election Commission for the April 7-May 12 L~1 k Sabha p o lls.

With e lectoral promises ranging fro m introducing digital currency to tackling corruption, and working for tbe downtrodden to increas ing participati o n of people in law making and administration processes, these new outfits have begun campaigning among voters across t he country

A leading news agency ttied co track these " new" political outfits - with many n o t even having webs ites - and was able co trace three.

The Awami Vikas Party was formed last year by Shamsher Wazir Khan, a former t-.lfaharashtra assistant commissioner of police. " ln order to work for uplift of tbe downtrodden sections of socie ty, there is no other option but to enter the poll fray," Khan said in a phone interview from Mumbai. The Mumbai -based parry is co ntesting for 22 Lok Sabha sears in Maharashtra and one in Uttar Prades h.

He said that though 85 percent of the people in the country come fro m t he Scheduled Castes and backward classes, they are always kept away from the mainstream o f society

"So wha t if our party is ne\v? The par ty's ideology and our work an1ong the people will help us win seats," said Khan, adding that he formed the political ourfo co work for d owntrodden sec tio ns of society, especially the mino rity communities, ro bcing them imo the mainstrean1

Llke his part}; the re are a staggeri ng 1,617 unrecognised outfits in the country so far waiting co ge t the poll panel's nod.

At the moment, the re are six national parties and 47 state partie s

According to a senior official of the Election Co mmission, " Registered uurecogni sed policical parcies are th e ones who neither come under sta re-based, nor national parties. Therefore, tbey are nor even eligible for a permanent par ty symbol during the e lections"

U nder the rules, these parties w ill be allotted symbols from a list of 87 'free symbo ls' only when they fulfil th e criteria of contesting 10 percent of rbe total seats in a st,'lte o r the co untry

Added the Election Co mmissio n offi cial: "If they win the Lo k Sabha elections, d1ey w ill represent the ir party in tl1e parliament. But tl,e parry will not be acknowledged as state -based or national"

They will then need to be engaged in political activities for a continuous period of fi ve years, an d bag six percent o f tl1e valid votes polled, with at least rbree members elected to a legislative a-ssembly and one to the L o k Sabha to ge t recognition from tl1 e poll panel.

Once recognised , the parties are eligible for allo 1ment of permanent symbols

Tbe only Delhi- based party to be registered among the 24 new outfits is the Garib Aadmi Party (GAP / Poor Man's Par ty), wbicl1 ha s fielded 50 candidates across rbe cow1try

The par ry was formed rwo m o mhs ago b y Shyam Bharti, a former Aam Aadm.i Party (AAP) member. Among his poll promises, Bharti has proposed replacing paper currency with digital currency to "aboli sh corrupti o n" and provirling ration cards and Aadhar cards to every poor individual in the coumry.

"Formatio n of Garib Aadmi Par ty was necessary as AAP, which initially clain1ed to work for poor people, has devia ted from its objectives," said B h arti, who is to file hi s n omination from Varanasi - from where BJP prime ministerial caudidate arendra Modi is contesting.

A H yderabad -based omfil, Mahajan Socialist Par ty, is focusing on ''injustice" to tbe Dalir Christians io southern India and is rargetcing its campaign among chem ln eastern India, the Sikkim Liberation Party (SLP) is campaigning among the "original" Sikkimese communities in tl1 e nor t heastern state in a bid to include tl1em i n tbe development process.

"No ne of the p oli tical parti es fighting in tbe elections are serio us abom resolving the imporraor .issues relating co the development of Sikkim," said SLP president Duknath Nepal over the phone from Gangtok.

" Our party's aim is co develop Sik kim , and tl1e people of Sikk..in1 understand this ve ry well. So thi s rime we are confident of a win," said Nepal, a former social activist.

In their b id to bag as many votes, these new pol itical oudits a re focussing on speci.fic communities and raising issue s that concern them during campaign time But only time will tell whetl1er they will even o pen tl1eir accorn1t in this election

RUPESH DUTTA

C hildren cannot vote, they cannot make political demands and tl1erefore do nor have any say in electoral outcomes fa this the reason why, year after year, p o litical parties have been ignoring the needs of children in their poll promises?

This despite the face rbat children constitute over a diird of India's 1.2'l billion population. Children appear ro be tl1e m ost neglec ted segment in l ndia, wi th their rights being vastly ignored.

"l t is time t bat our manifes tos realise that we have an India with 4 40 million children below l8 years U nfortunately elections ate about parnpecing the electorate and children d o n or vo te. Bu r our p olitical parties need co remember rbat o ur electora te values the se children, politicians may no t" ,Jayakrnnar

C hristian., CEO of Wo rld Vision India, a grassroots organisatio n working for children, said recendy in New Delbi..

"Children cannot attend election rallies, tweet or engage on social media Bur our children will vote witl1 their di sconten tm ent thro ug h rbeir parents and comm unities," h e added.

"If o ur finance 111iniscer is able to include child budgeting in the muon budget every year, why not in th e mruiifes tos," Jayakumru· as ked.

A n analysis o f the 2009 general eleccio n rnanifestos of p olitical parties by NGO Child Rig hts and You (CRY), reveals that the space received b y children's iss ues range from a mere fi ve percent to 14 percent across parries.

Th e Communist Par ty of India-Marxist and tbe DMK are at rbe lowest at 5 and 6 percent respectively w liile th e Nationalist Congress Parry (NCP ) scored t he h ighest at 14 perce nt

Pragya Vats, campaign manager ar Save the C hildren, ano ther NGO wo rking for children, told IANS: "Government5 have rare ly prioritised children, and fail to recognise that they have rights. lndi.a continues to hit the headlines for our staggel"ing s tati stic s o n all indicators relating to childre n's we ll-being

"For a country whi ch loses 1.4 million children w1der fi ve yea rs of age every year to death and disease and where eight million children still remain o ut o f school , tl1e wel fare of children i:arely finds a men tion in the campaign of a ny political parry:' she said.

Indi a has the largest child population in the world: Over 1 7 percent of the wo rld's child ren live in India.

Of tl1e 430 millio n children in the 0- 18 age-group, a b out 1 60 milli o n are belo,v t he age of six and abo u t 270 million are between 6 and 1 8, acco rding to tl1e 2011 census.

"Children constitute 40 percent or a third of India's popuL'ltion bm these statistics reflect that we as a nation are n ot doing enough for our children B y ignoring child1·en, we are nor o nly putting o ur present at peril but also ()Ur future," Vats maintain ed. She said issues conc erning children n1ust emerge high on the political agenda and translate int0 cornminnents.

In February, a delegation of children, under tl1e aegis of Chetna, an r GO working for street children, mer Congress leaders Mukul Wasnik and G. Moha n Gopal, b otl1 members of the manifes to drafting comniittee, ru1d presented a charter of demands. However, none of tbe d emands were included in rbe party rn,'lnifes co released Marcl126.

"We were surprised to see that the Congress manifesto did not mention a single tl1ing w hich these leaders prom ised," said Chetna di.rector Sanjay Gnpra " Th e parties should take the issues o f children se r iously," he added.

Recently, World Vis ion India released a manifesto for children which included the right to good health , heal th services in v illages and free and quality health services for all vuL1erable children in hospitals.

It also d emanded strict enforcemeor of laws against trafficking and child labo ur ru1d be tter o ppo rtunities for disabled chil dren Add ed Gupta, "Children are rbe fumre of this cow1try. They are potential vote rs and their issues also affect the adult electo rate. l e is high cin1e political parties tho u gh t a bout diem "

In a bid to isolate Russi a over its annexation of Crimea, d1e US says it is talking with Moscow's friends like lndia and China, but it has not yet asked them to impose any sanctions.

''\'v'ell, I don't think we're there yet Obviously, we've been consulting very closely with the Europeans about sanctions," Stace Department spokesperson Marie Harf told reporters recently in Washington w hen asked if the US was going to seek Iran-oil like sanction from countries outside NATO.

" \~'e have been talking with otl1er countries tliplomatically, though," she said noting that in the recent Security Council vote, " it was significant that China, for example, abstained and did n o t vqte with Russia".

"So, we are actively working on the diplomatic side to iso late Russia and that means with countries lil,e China and India and others," she said. " Bue on tl1e o il part, we're just not there yet"

India has not directly criticised Moscqw though when Russian President Vladimir Putin called Prime :Minister Manmohan Singh lase week to explain the Russian position, Singh, according to the external affairs ministr y, "emphasised the consistent position India had on cl1e issues of unity and terri torial integrity of countries"

Manmohan Singh also "expressed hope tbat all sides would exercise restraint and work together constructively to find political and diplomatic solutions char protected the legitimate interests of all countries in the region and ensured long term peace and stability in Europe and beyond".

Back 1n \X/ashingto n , in response to question, Harf expressed ove r India abstaining fro m US-sponsored resolutio n against Sri Lanka ar the UN Human Rights Council (UN HRC) in Geneva.

"lt is disappointing to us that India abstained from voring on chis resolution when cbey voted yes for cl1e last C\VO years," s he said.

''\~e have made out disappoinrn1enr known to Indian officia ls Beyond that, I'd refer you to them in terms of how they voted," Harf said.

The US resol ution called for a probe into war crimes allegedly committed in cl1e final stages of the war against cl1e Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Rejecting the resolution, India said it ignores the efforts at reconciliation being done b y Sri Lanka in cl1e predominantly Tamil norm, induding holding o f elections

India is expected to have its own satellite navigation system with tl1e launch of three more satellites before the end of cl1is year, said tl1e Indian space agency's chief in Chennai recently.

Indian Space Research Organisarion (ISRO) chairman K Radhakrishnan said that lndian communication satellite INSAT- 3E has been decommissioned a couple o f clays ago and the users are being migrated co otber satellites.

"We will be receiving the signals from our navigation satellite system by the end of mis year. We \Vill be lmmching three more navigatio nal satellites before the encl of tlus year," Radhakris hnan said over tbe phone from Bangalore.

INDIAN LINK