Thirty-two-year-old Manaka Singh remembers being discriminated against as a child by the elders of her family who thought she was possessed and inauspicious because of a birthmark on her neck.
"People still have myths associated with these birthmarks and I had to face a lot of discrimination because some people in my family thought I was possessed and was inauspicious," Singh said.
"This discrimination forced me to get rid of this mark because it was affecting my mental state and social interactions," she added.
According to Anup Dhir, senior cosmetic surgeon at Apollo Hospital, some other myths associated with these birthmarks are that they are caused when an expecting mother sees something strange, or experiences a great deal of fear. None of this is true, of course.
Kaya skin clinic's medical head Snehal Sriram agrees with Dhir: "Some people believe that birthmarks are caused by anything done or not done during pregnancy. There is no truth to these old wives' tales about these 'stains' being caused by something the mother did or ate."
Though the real cause behind birthmarks is still unknown, they are mostly harmless and painless.
As Dhir explains, a birthmark is a blemish on the skin formed before birth. It is a vascular lesion (abnormal tissue) and looks like soft raised swelling on the skin, often with a bright red surface, and some may look a bit like a strawberry or may be a black or a brown mole.
"They are a benign overgrowth of blood vessels in the skin, and are made up of cells that usually form the inner lining of blood vessels. Some birthmarks show up soon after a baby is born. Most birthmarks are obvious at birth. Some kinds of birthmarks fade or go away as a child gets older. Others stay the same or get bigger, darker, or thicker," Dhir told IANS.
Another reason for having these birthmarks is to have extra colour (melanin pigment) in that part of skin, says Mumbai-based cosmetic surgeon Meenakshi Agarwal.
Different types of birthmarks are vascular (such as strawberry hemangiomas, port-wine stains, and stork bites) and pigmented (such as moles, cafe-au-lait spots, and Mongolian spots).
"Hemangiomas are caused by many tiny blood vessels bunched together and vary in severity whereas port wine stains are caused by abnormal development of blood vessels and last a lifetime," Agarwal told IANS on phone.
A lot of people shy away from social gatherings to avoid unwanted attention because of these marks.
Pragya Khanna, 18, is very conscious about the birthmark on the right side of her cheek. She hides it with her hair whenever she goes out and tries to avoid meeting new people who ask her about this black patch.
"Every time I meet a new person, his attention is automatically directed towards my cheeks and the worst part is that either they will stare at it or else will ask me obvious questions like what is it? It does get embarrassing for me. Hence I either try to hide it or else avoid meeting new people," Khanna said with a bit of irritation.
"I am planning to get rid of this because my confidence level is already shattered and I don't want to live my life with people staring at my face," she added.
The good news is that most of these marks can be treated with laser therapy.
"These treatments can be painful and it is very important to know the benefits and risks involved in it. Success rate varies according to type of mark. Though lasers are generally successful on improving them but at times complete cure may not be possible," Dhir said.
According to experts, one should take a few precautions after undergoing treatments.
"After the birthmark has been treated with surgery or laser therapy, avoid scratching the treated area. It's also important to restrict exposure to the sun for several weeks after surgery. Until the treated areas are completely healed, use sunscreen regularly," Sriram said.
Sometimes there is no water in the campus for days altogether and we have to queue up with buckets in front of the tankers which, mind you, is not a rare occasion
The water trickles in for only an hour a day and those who need more queue near tankers, bucket in hand. This is not a scene from a slum or a deprived village, but in the campus of the premier Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in south Delhi.
While water shortage is a problem throughout the year in JNU, the last two months when the mercury level has been soaring has been especially difficult for the students, teachers and others staffers who stay on campus.
Reshma Hasan, a student doing her M.Phil in political science in JNU, said that although they suffer throughout the year, the problem aggravates during summers when the water consumption increases.
"The water crisis has been there for ages. Ask us how much we suffer throughout the year. But the severity of the problem increases with the onset of summer. Usually, we get water for two hours twice a day but during summers the water supply is cut to just an hour and that too in low pressure," Hasan told IANS.
With temperatures soaring and no long term solution in sight, the shortfall is compensated by water tankers. So professors and their family members queuing up with buckets is not a rare sight in JNU.
A faculty member said: "Sometimes there is no water in the campus for days altogether and we have to queue up with buckets in front of the tankers which, mind you, is not a rare occasion."
What irks most of the university residents even more is that while JNU remains waterless, surrounding areas like Katwaria sarai do not seem to be facing the problem to the same extent.
"It is extremely annoying because we know that the neighbouring areas like Katwaria Sarai have regular water supply, even during summers, while we face such crisis everyday," said Anusuya Verma, a student.
According to the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) - the government agency responsible for supplying water in the capital - the main reason for water scarcity in JNU is the fast increasing population of Delhi, and everybody needs water.
DJB spokesperson Sanjam Cheema told IANS: "Delhi is expanding at an exponential rate while our water supply is fixed and limited. We cannot manufacture water but it is our endeavour to efficiently manage the limited resource (water) and fulfil a humanitarian goal - water for all."
Cheema said that they are doing all they can to counter the problem by building underground reservoirs to store water underground and promote rainwater harvesting.
Much to the dismay of the JNU residents, she refused to acknowledge the water crisis there, saying: "Isn't an hour's water supply enough for everyone?"
If the Manmohan Singh government appears to have made a faltering start, the blame falls on the unavoidable exigencies of coalition politics. However, of all its partners, it is the regional ally from Tamil Nadu, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which must be held responsible for creating most of the problems.
Its antics started with its ailing leader, M. Karunanidhi, leaving Delhi in a huff and returning to Chennai with his band of relatives and party members because he was unhappy with the ministerial berths being offered to the party.
Although the differences were subsequently sorted out, it left a bad taste in the mouth. What is more, it is the DMK whose reputation suffered the most because Karunanidhi's demands showed that the party has been reduced to virtually a family concern.
In the end, however, only one of the ageing patriarch's sons, M.K. Azhagiri, was sworn in along with his grand-nephew, Dayanidhi Maran, but the fact that his daughter, Kanimozhi, opted out suggested that there was a row within the family before the final decision was taken.
That the family drama hasn't ended was also evident from Kanimozhi's absence during Thursday's swearing-in ceremony.
While the DMK evidently did not come out of the episode smelling of roses, neither did the Manmohan Singh government. The latter's acquiescence in the appointment of the former telecommunications minister, Andimuthu Raja, who did not really excel with his performance and made some dubious decisions, in the same position disappointed those who had presumed that the prime minister would make a new beginning free of the scandals of the past.
The only consolation was that another controversial former minister, T.R. Baalu, belonging to the DMK, did not find a place in the ministry. But the fact that his name was mentioned as a possible deputy speaker underlined the unwarranted influence which the DMK wields over the Congress at the national level.
It is noteworthy that Baalu's earlier portfolio has gone to the Congress' Kamal Nath, who is known for his efficiency. He is expected, therefore, to clear the mess left by Baalu in the surface transport ministry, which handles the important national highways project. However, to cap a period of unedifying haggling, Maran went on record to say shortly after being sworn in that the DMK should have had more ministers.
Since the Congress, with its 200-plus seats, now holds the whipping hand in the new United Progressive Alliance (UPA), one would have expected it to be more stern with greedy allies. But it probably did not want to illtreat the DMK lest it lost ground to its equally demanding rival in Tamil Nadu, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), which was earlier regarded as a possible winner.
In contrast to the DMK, the other allies exhibited exemplary behaviour, accepting the Congress's prerogative as the No. 1 party to allocate portfolios. As expected, Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress became the railway minister. As the leader of a one-person party, she did not seem to favour anyone else from her party becoming a cabinet minister. So, six from her party became ministers of state.
The Congress has also been quite generous towards the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) considering that it gave its leader, Sharad Pawar, all the portfolios he held in the last cabinet - agriculture, food and civil supplies, consumer affairs and public distribution. This gesture was somewhat surprising since Pawar did not seem totally loyal before the elections when he hobnobbed with the Third Front. His name was also proposed by the Shiv Sena, among others, for the prime minister's post.
Not surprisingly, when Pawar entered the room in Congress president Sonia Gandhi's house where the UPA's first meeting was being held, he first took a chair away from the big guns before his party member, Praful Patel, escorted him to a more prominent place.
Patel, however, suffered a relegation as he was made a minister of state, though with independent charge, despite being a full minister before. Another minister of state from the party is Agatha Sangma, who, at 28, is the youngest member of the cabinet. Her induction was also surprising since her father, former Lok Sabha Speaker, P.A. Sangma, had been cozying up to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) before the elections and had made a political issue of Sonia Gandhi's foreign origins.
Against the background of the reports that the Congress intends to part company with the NCP in Maharashtra before the assembly polls in the state, the relations between the two parties at the centre will be watched closely.
The choice of the Congress ministers and their portfolios was along expected lines except for the selection of S.M. Krishna as the external affairs minister. The former Karanataka chief minister and Maharashtra governor may initially feel a little out of his depth in his new, unaccustomed position, especially at a time of turmoil in the neighbourhood with Pakistan imploding, Sri Lanka still coping with the bloody aftermath of a civil war and the Maoists in Nepal uncertain about their role in a democracy.
Otherwise, the continuation of Pranab Mukherjee in finance, P. Chidambaram in home and A.K. Antony in defence was expected. Mukherjee, the Congress's man for all seasons, will undoubtedly focus on the revival of the economy at a time of recession while Chidambaram will carry on his task of strengthening internal security, with which he was entrusted after 26/11.
The arrival of the aerial-borne radar system from Israel soon after Antony's reappointment as the defence minister shows that he remains engaged in his job of boosting the strength of the country's armed forces.
Among those who fell by the wayside was the former human resource development minister, Arjun Singh, a sulking heavyweight who became an embarrassment for the government with his penchant for striking out on his own on sensitive policy matters, such as reservations for the backward castes in higher educational institutions. It was no secret that he was driven by resentment over Manmohan Singh's elevation to the prime minister's post.
His place has been taken by the eminent lawyer, Kapil Sibal, who is expected to restore a semblance of sanity in the ministry, which needs to pay greater attention to primary education.
Similarly, Ghulam Nabi Azad is expected to bring the healthy ministry back on track after the antics of the former minister, Anbumani Ramadoss of the PMK, derailed it. The latter's sole concern was to deprive premier institutions like the All India Institute of Medical Sciences of their autonomy.
Another prominent omission was of former law minister, Hansraj Bhardwaj. Perhaps his suspected role in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) giving a clean chit to Italian businessman, Ottavio Quottrocchi, whose name is related to the Bofors gun purchase scandal, was not appreciated because it gave the Congress, and especially the Gandhi family, a bad name.
For all the drama before the two swearing-in ceremonies, Team Manmohan has a settled look, suggesting that it should be able to act more purposefully this time than during the last five years when the Congress was heavily dependent on pushy allies like the Left. It also has the satisfaction of knowing that its principal opponent, the BJP, is too demoralised to create any problems in the immediate future.
The prospects for the government, therefore, are reasonably bright.
Indian foreign policy will be pro-active in pursuit of its trade and economic ties with all countries in an interdependent world, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said Friday.
"Diplomacy, trade and economy go together in an interdependent world. As a critical component of governance, the foreign policy is tailored to serve our national interests," Krishna, 77, told IANS in an exclusive interview at his home in the city's upscale Sadashivnagar.
On his first visit to the tech hub after assuming office a week ago, Krishna said India had to keep pace with developments across the world, as nothing was static in diplomacy and one had to prepare for any eventuality.
"As one of the fastest developing countries, India has an important role in the geo-politics of the world. We need to respond appropriately, keeping in view our larger interests," Krishna said.
Hesitant to elaborate on his assessment of the latest developments in South Asia and the rest of the world, Krishna said India would continue to maintain its independent foreign policy regardless of the situation prevailing either in the neighbourhood or elsewhere.
"It is only a week since I have been in this job. Various developments during the last four-five days have kept me occupied to respond accordingly. My views are not different from the stated policy," Krishna noted.
Reiterating that resumption of composite dialogue with Pakistan depended on its response to India's persistent demands to dismantle the terror networks and their infrastructure, Krishna said the culprits of the 26/11 Mumbai carnage would also have to be brought to justice for creating a conducive atmosphere for talks.
Asked the significance of his new posting to his home state, Karnataka, and its knowledge economy driven by the burgeoning IT and biotech sectors, the state's former IT-savvy chief minister said that he, as the foreign minister, would strive to work for all states and sectors of the economy.
Krishna said he was planning to visit Bhutan and Nepal soon on his first overseas trip as external affairs minister.
On India-US bilateral ties, Krishna said it was too early to comment but he was looking forward to the visit of secretary of State Hillary Clinton to India.
Though Krishna had planned to spend the weekend in the city, he said he was going back to New Delhi Friday night as the prime minister had scheduled a cabinet meeting Saturday.
Krishna, however, declined to respond when told that he was the oldest minister in the Manmohan Singh government or that he was the first to hold a high-profile cabinet post from Karnataka. He is a Rajya Sabha member from the state.
A Fulbright scholar in George Washington and Southern Methodist Universities in the US during the 1960s, Krishna was minister of state for finance in the Indira Gandhi government 1980-84. He was also Maharashtra governor from 2005 to 2008.
Krishna is also credited for putting Bangalore on the world IT map by attracting global investors and multinationals to set shop in the state during his tenure as chief minister from mid-1999 to early 2004.
India and the US Friday discussed their growing strategic ties when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton rang up External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and congratulated him on assuming the office.
The two also discussed the forthcoming visit of US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns, likely early next month.
Burns will be the first high-level US official to visit India after the Manmohan Singh government took charge this week following the victory of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance in the elections.
The two also discussed possibilities of taking their strategic cooperation to a new level, external affairs ministry spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said here.
Burns is expected to meet Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and discuss a host of issues, including the situation in the Pakistan-Afghanistan region, the Mumbai terrorist attacks and non-proliferation.
Burns' trip to Delhi will also set the stage for Hillary Clinton's first visit to India, likely in July, after she became secretary of state early this year.
Krishna, who took charge of the ministry last this week, also got a congratulatory call from his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner.
The initiatives have been taken following the Delhi serial blasts last year
Under a public-private initiative, Delhi Police with the help of local business houses and traders' associations will install high-end cameras and security gadgets at markets and business centres which see footfalls of over 100,000 a day, officials said Friday.
Under the initiative, south Delhi's Nehru Place business centre, the capital's biggest IT market, has become the first centre where 32 CCTV cameras have been installed.
"The police, with the help of local business houses and traders associations, has set up high-end cameras at strategic points of the Nehru Place business centre that consists of several multi-storied buildings that see a footfall of over one lakh a day," Joint Commissioner of Police (Southern Range) Ajai Kashyap told reporters here.
"We are planning to replicate this model at several other markets like Lajpat Nagar, CR Park and Sarojini Nagar," Kashyap said.
The initiatives have been taken following the Delhi serial blasts last year, which especially targeted crowded markets.
"Crowded business centres like Nehru Place are also vulnerable due to various other reasons, besides the militant threat," he said.
With more attacks being reported on Indian students in Australia Friday, its government assured India that the students would be protected from violence that is perceived to be racist and is leading to growing insecurity among more than 80,000 students.
Indian students in Melbourne are deeply concerned over the spate of attacks that has left one of them battling for life while another recuperates from a stab injury.
The friends and acquaintances of Sravan Kumar Theerthala, who was attacked with a screwdriver over the weekend, expressed their concern outside The Royal Melbourne Hospital where he is admitted.
We are not feeling safe basically in Australia, we are not feeling safe at all
Another Indian said: "They told us that it is a multicultural country you know, but after living here for three years, I will just say it is a multi-racism country you know."
Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith rang up his Indian counterpart S.M. Krishna and assured him that Indians would be protected from violence.
"Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Francis Smith spoke to me this (Friday) afternoon. He assured me that Indians would be protected from such attacks and the culprits would be brought to justice," Krishna told reporters in Bangalore.
"Australia is a peace-loving country. I think it is an isolated incident. I told the minister (Smith) to ensure the safety of Indians studying there. Measures are being taken to prevent such racial attacks against our students," the new foreign minister added.
The latest incident which came to light is of an Indian student Rajesh Kumar who sustained burn injuries after a petrol bomb was thrown into his apartment in Sydney. This incident took the number of such assaults in Australia to four in the past three weeks.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd also gave an assurance about the safety of international students.
"I am concerned about any act of violence in the streets and suburbs of Australia's cities and towns and particularly when we are obviously hosts to students from around the world," he said on Melbourne radio Friday.
"It is appalling in every sense. Any act of violence, any decent human being just responds with horror at the sorts of attack which have occurred recently."
In New Delhi, India summoned Australian High Commissioner John McCarthy and urged him to take concrete steps to prevent repetition of such incidents that have cast a shadow over Australia's reputation as a destination for foreign students.
A day after the attack on Theerthala, an Indian student was stabbed during what appeared to be a robbery. He was in hospital for four days. There were three more attacks in early May, including two on Indian taxi drivers.
N. Ravi, secretary (east) in India's foreign ministry, met the Australian envoy and sought assurance about the safety of Indian students in Australia.
The envoy assured that the state government of Victoria has taken a number of steps to ensure that these attacks do not take place again.
The envoy, however, differed with the growing perception that these attacks were racist in nature.
"I have not seen the evidence that they were racist, but I wasn't there, I wouldn't discount it. Some racism exists in Australia, it's appalling, we condemn it," McCarthy told reporters after the meeting.
He added that the Australian police had made several arrests in the attacks.
Australian police officers have said these attacks were not driven by racial hostility, but India's High Commissioner Sujatha Singh Friday said: ""Our students feel that the attacks on some of them have been motivated racially".
"I do not think that Australia is a racist society. However there are certain elements who have attacked these students and some of these attacks have not been opportunistic."
"They have been motivated by other considerations which is unfortunate because it does not reflect the true face of Australia.
There would be increased patrols around trouble spots in Melbourne to curb these attacks, she said after meeting the police officials in Melbourne.
She said that she has received several e-mails in the past few days asking whether Australia is a safe place to study. "That shows you that many prospective students coming to Australia do have this question on their mind."
The recent attacks have sparked outrage in India. The Australian government sprang into action with a series of preventive measures after New Delhi mounted pressure on Canberra this week.
Sujatha Singh also met the premier of Victoria John Brumby and discussed safety and security of the Indian community in Victoria, the province of which Melbourne is the capital.
Brumby underlined that violence against the Indian community is "completely unacceptable and should not be tolerated".
The Australian government Friday assured India it will protect Indian students from racial attacks in Melbourne and bring the culprits of recent attacks to justice, Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said here.
"Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Francis Smith spoke to me this afternoon. He assured me that Indian students would be protected from such attacks and the culprits would be brought to justice," Krishna told reporters at his house in this tech hub.
Expressing concern over the unabated attacks, he said the Indian High Commission in Sydney was in constant touch with the Australian government and efforts were on to ensure safety of Indian students.
Australia is a peace-loving country. I think it is an isolated incident. I told the minister (Smith) to ensure the safety of Indians studying there. Measures are being taken to prevent such racial attacks against our students
Noting that there was a need to build confidence among the students who were caught in the vortex of such racial attacks, Krishna said the Indian high commission was directed to extend all help to the victims and take measures to maintain peace and harmony.
"India stands for friendly relations with all countries. We are for peaceful co-existence and cooperation. I am told there are about 80,000 Indian students pursuing their academic career in Australia," Krishna averred.
Five Indian students were assaulted in allegedly racial attacks in Melbourne this week, leading to outrage in India.
Five teenagers have been charged for two separate attacks on Indian students in this Australian city, as an official held the assaults were not racially motivated.
One teenager was charged with attempted murder over the attack with a screwdriver on 25-year-old Sravan Kumar Theerthala who is battling for his life, while four others were charged with brutally beating up Sourabh Sharma, 21, on a train.
"A 17-year-old male from Glenroy was charged with attempted murder after four Indian students were attacked with a screwdriver by gatecrashers at a party in Hadfield, in Melbourne's north, on Saturday night. One of the victims remains in intensive care in hospital," The Age reported Friday.
An 18-year-old man from Heidelberg West was questioned in relation to the attack but has since been released.
The police have also charged four minors from Melbourne's west over the brutal bashing of Sharma who was going home on a Werribee line train after a shift at KFC, the report said.
The teenagers have been charged with offences including affray, intentionally causing injury, recklessly causing injury and robbery.
However, Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe said there was no indication that a rise in assaults and robberies against Indian students in Melbourne's west was due to "race hate".
He said there was a perception that Indian people were weak prey for criminals.
"I don't think they are (racist crimes) in general ... more opportunistic activity.
"We think they are vulnerable, we don't think it's racial, we think they are a weak target," Walshe told The Herald Sun.
Walshe said a taskforce was working with representatives of Melbourne's Indian community to catch those responsible for the attacks.
Three attacks on Indian students have taken place in quick succession, with the first incident being reported May 9 while the most recent took place Monday.
Theerthala, who was assaulted Sunday in Melbourne along with three other students, is battling for his life in intensive care unit in The Royal Melbourne Hospital.
Theerthala, who hails from Andhra Pradesh, went to Melbourne to study two years ago.
The attackers allegedly hurled racist abuses at Indian students and hit them with a screwdriver.
Another Indian student Baljinder Singh was robbed and stabbed in Melbourne Monday.
Singh had left a railway station when two men carrying weapons approached him and demanded money. As he searched through his bag to hand over his wallet he was stabbed in the abdomen, Herald Sun reported.
He said: "They just laughed when they stabbed me in the stomach. They laughed at me...I was screaming 'don't kill me, don't kill me'." He was released from hospital Friday.
Australian police Thursday arrested two teenagers over the beating of yet another Indian student on a Melbourne train.
Sourabh Sharma, was beaten by a group of young men as he travelled on a train May 9.
Sharma suffered a fractured cheek bone and a broken tooth in the attack, which was captured on closed circuit television cameras.
He said he was also racially abused and robbed during the attack.
Nearly 600,000 houses have been fully or partially damaged in the calamity.
Hundreds of villages in West Bengal continued to be marooned, with saltwater intrusion destroying crops and rendering vast stretches of land fallow in the Sundarbans area in the aftermath of Cyclone Aila as authorities upped the death count to 117 Friday.
While the government had pegged the toll at 115 Thursday, two more deaths were reported from Darjeeling overnight, state Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta told reporters.
After a high level stock-taking meeting at the state secretariat, Dasgupta said 5.3 million people have so far been affected by Cyclone Aila, which pummeled coastal areas of the state, uprooting trees, snapping power cables and leaving a trail of destruction Monday in 13 of the 19 districts.
Save the Children, an NGO carrying out relief operations in the remote Sundarbans mangrove forest areas of North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas district, said hundreds of villages were still under water, with most of them inaccessible.
"And with each passing day, the risk of a major outbreak of water-borne diseases increases," said Thomas Chandy, CEO of Save the Children.
"People living in these villages desperately need access to fresh drinking water as the groundwater sources are feared to be contaminated by saltwater intrusion," he added.
Farida, a 15-year-old in Rajbati village in Sandeskhali I, said she was forced to move from a relief camp to live under the open skies as the shelter neither had water nor a toilet.
"My house was completely destroyed. There is water everywhere. We stayed in a relief camp the first two days. But there was no water to drink and it was stinking as there was no toilet. We moved out and are now living on the street.
"I have no fresh clothes to wear. And I don't know what happened to my friends. We went to the same learning centre in the village and I have no clue where they are now."
The relief workers of the NGO saw villagers pulling out bodies from the debris.
The saltwater intrusion has destroyed the paddy crop and rendered the land fallow for one or two years, while the floods washed away seeds stock, killed livestock and wiped out all stocks of freshwater fish and shrimp.
A villager said: "It will take several years for us to recover from these losses. My children have lost all the books that we bought them. I'm not sure how they will be able to continue their education next year."