Asian City Issue 7

AsianCity BRITAIN’S BEST ASIAN NEWSPAPER

Issue 7 • September 27 - October 10, 2012

BARFI STARS SPEAK OUT! FULL INTERVIEW INSIDE...

•OUCH! One Direction star arrives on crutches

EE www.asiancity.co.uk R F

ZAYN IN PAIN! ZAYN Malik spent a wild night hanging out with Justin Bieber and ended up needing crutches. The One Direction star seemed to be having a great night hanging at Justin’s house after the MTV VMA show. Zayn and Justin posted several pictures to their Twitter accounts documenting their night together, but nobody mentioned any injuries.

When Zayn was spotted walking through the airport on crutches the following day, fans wanted to know what happened that night.

Zayn wasn’t talking and would only assure everybody he was okay, but his good pal

Justin has no qualms telling the story. As it turns out, Justin was not even at home when Zayn hurt himself.

The “As Long As You Love Me” singer explains Zayn and Alfredo Flores were horsing around before Justin got there. How nice he lets his pals hang out at his house when he isn’t even there.

Justin goes on to explain the accident that left poor Zayn temporarily crippled, “He rolled his ankle on the half-pipe.” Apparently, Zayn Malik needs a little more practice before he tries anything too fancy...

FACES OF EVIL

MURDERED WIFE WAS SIX MONTHS PREGNANT A HUSBAND and three members of his family have been handed life sentences for the murder of his pregnant young wife at their Birmingham home.

MOVIES! TURN TO PAGE 18

Mohammed Tauseef Mumtaz, aged 25, appeared before Birmingham Crown Court on 24th September, taking the stand alongside his parents, Zia Ul-Haq and Salma Aslam, both aged 51, and his brother-in-law Hammad Hassan, aged 24.

All four had been found guilty of murdering Naila

Continued on Page 2

FASHION! TURN TO PAGE 29

MUSIC! TURN TO PAGE 24 Like us on Facebook facebook.com/asiancity

Killer family believed victim was possessed by jinn from Pakistan

•JAILED Naila’s husband Tauseef Mumtaz, parents Zia Ul-Haq ,Salma Aslam and brother-in-law Hammad Hussan

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Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

MURDER FAMILY JAILED FROM PAGE 1

Mumtaz at their home in Craythorne Avenue, Handsworth back in July 2009.

They were convicted following a 12-week trial in July this year and at this morning’s hearing the Honourable Mr Justice Keith handed the four defendants sentences totalling 56 years.

During the trial the court heard how Naila’s in-laws believed that she had been possessed by Jinn spirits. The 21-year-old was six-months pregnant at the time of her death.

Paramedics were called to the address by family members, after she was found unconscious in bed, however she could not be saved and she was pronounced dead in hospital a short time later. A post mortem confirmed Naila died as a result of smothering.

The court heard how Naila’s husband, father-in-law, mother-in-law, and her sisterin-law’s husband believed that the young woman, who had arrived in Birmingham some two years earlier from Pakistan, had been possessed by Jinn spirits.

Following a lengthy investigation by the Force Criminal Investigation Department the four defendants were charged with Naila’s murder and, after a 12-week trial a jury of four men and eight women found them guilty.

Husband Mohammed Mumtaz and brother-in-law Hammad Hassan will serve a minimum of 13 years in prison, whilst Mohammed’s parents, Zia Ul-Haq and Salma Aslam will serve a minimum of 15 years.

Detective Inspector Simon Astle, who investigated the murder, said: “This was a tragic and deeply upsetting case, where a young woman had her life so horrifically ended by those she loved and trusted.

“Naila was a pretty, outgoing young

NEW CLAIM FOR INDIA’S TOP GEM Petition for Kohinoor THE descendants of the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, who was forced to hand over the Koh-i-Noor diamond to Queen Victoria, will launch a court action for his body and possessions to be returned to India.

•PREGNANT Naila Mumtaz woman who was soon to become a mother for the first time.

“It is unthinkable that those who she was closest to would take her life in the belief that she had been possessed by evil spirits.

“Naila should now be enjoying the joys of motherhood and family life but instead her family back in Pakistan continue to mourn her death, still shocked and unbelieving that the family she entered into caused her death.

“This investigation proved challenging and was a painstaking process for all of the officers and external agencies involved and I would like to offer my gratitude for their hard work in ensuring those responsible have been brought to justice.

The petition from a family claiming to be the descendants of Duleep Singh, who was exiled to Britain, aims to force the Indian government to intensify its efforts to reclaim the Koh-i-Noor.

The family is also seeking the return of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s golden throne and for both to be kept at the Golden Temple, the centre of

the Sikh faith, in Amrtisar, India.

Their case reopens a controversial chapter in British colonial history that still arouses strong passions in India, particularly in Punjab, where Sikhs regard the exile of Duleep Singh and his “gift” of the Koh-iNoor diamond to Queen Victoria in 1850 as a national humiliation.

The diamond had been acquired by his father, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, from the deposed Afghan ruler Shuja Shah Durrani as his price to support his return to power in Kabul.

The legal action seeks to establish the claim of Jaswinder Singh Sandhanwalia, a 50 year old company administrator based in Amsterdam, and his relatives, to be the rightful descendants and heirs of Maharaja Duleep Singh.

According to the family, their great-grandfather Thakur Singh

•BOLD CLAIM Mr Sandhanwalia has taken action to claim back the Kohinoor to its rightful place in India Sandhanwalia was Duleep Singh’s blood cousin. The jewel is currently mounted in the crown of the Queen Consort, last worn by the late Queen Mother.

•NEW ROLE Hrithik Roshan

Hrithik in rom com

HRITHIK Roshan has reportedly signed up to make his first romantic comedy film.

The actor is best known for his action roles in superhit blockbusters like Krrish and Don. A source revealed: “After playing rather demanding roles in the recent past, Siddharth Anand’s film will be a welcome change for Hrithik.

“After going back and forth on the script several times, the actor has said yes to the filmmaker.”

Director Anand is behind the box-office hits Anjaana Anjaani and Salaam Namaste.

Roshan said in August that he has no other projects lined up after the third Krrish film.

It was also reported that the actor was preparing a montage for his director father Rakesh’s filmmaking anniversary.

BRITISH MEN TO FACE US COURTS Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

Barfi makes the Oscars!

RANBIR Kapoor’s deaf and mute act in Anurag Basu’s recent release ‘Barfi’ has beaten 19 other films to be named India’s official entry to the Oscars in February 2013. A love story, the film revolves around a happy-go-lucky Barfi played by Ranbir as he goes through love and heartbreak.

Priyanka Chopra plays an autistic girl in the film, which also marks the Bollywood debut of Southern star Ileana D’Cruz.

“Barfi is the Indian entry to the Oscars. We selected it to represent the country out of 20 films,” Supran Sen, secretary general of the Film Federation of India, told .

Released September 14, the film, which has minimal dialogues, has been lauded by the critics as well as the audience.

The film, about love between differently-abled people- a deaf and mute boy and an autistic girl opened in approximately 700 screens in India.

Trainee imam in theft plot A WOULD-BE imam and another man said to have been part of a plot to rob a betting shop walked free from court after a judge branded them “idiots”.

Mohammad Abdul Ghafaar and Wajid Khan, now both 20, were said to have been captured on CCTV “staking out” Tote Sport in Moorgate, Bury, before it was targeted in an armed raid in September 2009, Burnley Crown Court had earlier been told.

Ghafaar, of Merton Street, and Khan, of Kent Street, both Burnley, had earlier admitted to conspiracy to rob the shop, between August 18th and September 2nd 2009. They had owned up during the second week of a recent trial. Neither had any previous convictions.

KAREENA’S BIG DAY!

THEY say good news comes in threes, well it’s certainly Kareena’s lucky day!

The princess of Bollywood is in London celebrating her 32nd birthday, has one of the biggest movies of her career so far opening in cinemas, and is just days away from becoming a married woman!

Last week her beau Saif officially registered their forthcoming nuptials at Bandra’s marriage registrar’s office which means their wedding date legally must take place within the next 30 days.

Reports suggest October 16th may be the lucky day as some people have received invites to a special post dinner meal on the 18th.

Kareena’s new movie Heroine is one of the most anticipated films of the year.

Directed by Madhur

Birthday, bridal & blockbuster plans Bhankar it sees Kareena play the part of India’s biggest female filmstar and the ultimate diva, and has been likened to his previous film Fashion, which starred Priyanka Chopra as a fallen supermodel.

Kareena recently shocked critics when she said her film will be better.

Her sister Karisma who she has long said is her most important critic, was so moved by the performance that she cried with pride.

Heroine is currently showing in cinemas.

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•EXTRADITION Babar Ahmad is one of five terror suspects to be sent to America

FIVE men ccused of terror charges now face certain extradition to the US after The European Court of Human Rights ruled against them.

The court’s highest judges said they would not re-open the cases of Abu Hamza al-Masri, Babar Ahmad and three others.

The decision means that the extradition of the men, wanted for years by the US, is likely to happen within weeks.

Britain’s Home Office welcomed the decision, saying it would ensure the extraditions happened as quickly as possible.

All five suspects had argued they would face inhumane treatment in the United States if they were sent there.

Abu Hamza is accused of planning a terror training camp in the US and assisting hostage-taking in Yemen.

The US says that Mr Ahmad and his co-accused, Syed Talha Ahsan, ran a jihadist website in London that provided material support for terrorism.

Adel Abdul Bary and Khaled alFawwaz are accused of being aides to Osama bin Laden in London.

In a statement, the Strasbourg court said: “On 10 April 2012 the European Court of Human Rights

held, in the case of Babar Ahmad and Others v. the United Kingdom, that there would be no violation of the applicants’ rights if extradited to stand trial in the United States.

“On 9/10 July 2012, five of the applicants lodged a request for referral of the case to the Grand Chamber. Today the Grand Chamber Panel decided to reject the request. This means that the Chamber judgment of 10 April 2012 is now final.”

Abu Hamza had alleged that he faced inhumane and degrading treatment if imprisoned for life without possibility of parole.

The other four men said that they faced an inhumane regime of solitary confinement in a special “supermax” prison.

A Home Office spokesman said: “The Home Secretary welcomes today’s decision not to refer the cases of Abu Hamza and four others to the Grand Chamber. This follows the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights on April 10 to allow the extradition of these five terrorism suspects to the US.

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Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

MAN DIES IN SHOP ARSON

A MAN and woman set fire to a kebab shop in which another man died as part of an insurance scam, Leicester Crown Court has heard.

The body of 40-year-old Fiaz Ahmed Ansari was found in rubble of Kams King of the Grill, almost 15 hours after the explosion on 29 August 2011.

Shahbaz Khan, from Harrow, and Mehwish Yasin, from Birmingham, both aged 25, deny manslaughter and arson.

The jury heard the business had recently run into financial difficulty.

The prosecution said Ms Yasin drove Mr Ansari and Mr Khan to the kebab shop in the early hours and dropped them off.

They then used petrol to set fire to the kebab shop as part of a plan to claim on an insurance policy taken out a few weeks before the blaze, the prosecution alleges.

The trial continues.

FAMILY IN COURT OVER MOTHER’S ‘EXORCISM’

Relatives deny brutal attack during black magic ritual A WOMAN was battered with a walking stick during a brutal exorcism organised by members of her own family, a court heard.

Asma Hussain was also said to have been tied to a bed and covered with holy water after relatives became convinced she was possessed by a demon.

Her husband Ahmed, 60, summoned the local Muslim preacher to carry out the ceremony and encouraged him to hit his wife harder, Snaresbrook crown court heard.

Mrs Hussain’s back was described as “one massive bruise” and she also suffered injuries to her face and hands.

Ahmed Hussain, his son Mohammed, 28, daughter Salma, 22, daughter-in-law Halima Khatun, 28, and son-in-law Mohammed Azia, 21, are all on trial accused of false imprisonment and assault

home in Bethnal Green, is said to have been instigated by Ahmed Hussain last January. The attack continued into the early hours of the morning, the court heard.

Imam The previous day, Ahmed and son Mohammed are said to have brought the imam to the home of another daughter, Shahana, where Asma had stayed overnight, telling her someone had put “black magic” on her mother.

On the day of the exorcism, Shahana Hussain became concerned after visiting her •TRIAL Mohammed Aziz and Salma Hussain mother to find a relative removing a tie from her leg, the jury heard.

She had a bruised face and was occasioning actual bodily harm. Babatunde Alabi.

They are said to have believed “As a result of this belief, it is crying. Shahana later called police “black magic” had been cast on alleged they kept her captive in who arrived with paramedics, to their victim. her own home, tying her to a bed be allegedly told by Mohammed “It appears that members of in the living room. They also Hussain his mother was possessed Asma Hussain’s family believed arranged for an imam to carry out and needed an exorcism.

All three of the accused plead that she was possessed by an exorcism on her. demons,” said prosecutor The exorcism, at the family not guilty. The trial continues.

•JAILED Mohammed Khatana

Bogus lawyer behind bars A FAKE lawyer who scammed £250,000 from taxpayers has been jailed for eight years.

Despite having no legal training, Mohammed Khatana set up a cowboy consultancy firm helping crooks to hide their cash and assets from the police.

The 51-year-old father-of-three from Lancashire used his daughter to act as a front for his scam – then charged vastly inflated fees for his ‘services’, which he claimed from the legal aid scheme.

Preston Crown Court heard how Khatana – who drove a Mercedes and lived in a five bedroom house on a private estate in rural Lancashire – advertised his services via a website and in prison newspapers.

Khatana was jailed for eight years.

•JAILED Umran Javed

PC terror files lead to prison

•SILENT PROTEST Students show their feelings at a demonstration in Downing Street

Students spared deportation

INTERNATIONAL students facing deportation have been told by a High Court judge they can continue their studies – for now.

The students, many of them from Asian countries, faced being deported after the London Metropolitan University’s licence was revoked by the UK Border Agency in August.

Now the higher education institution in North London has been granted permission to pursue a judicial review into the UK Border Agency’s (UKBA) decision.

In another victory for the international students, the National Union of Students (NUS) was given the go ahead to launch an independent intervention on behalf of those studying at London Met Uni. “The judge is very much on the side of the students,” said one source.

“He has made it clear the students should be part of the decision.”

Liam Burns, president of the NUS, said: “The court has signalled its intention to protect legitimate students at London Met and all parties are now working together to achieve that goal.”

Mr Justice Irwin granted interim relief to the students who are already enrolled and those who are due to start this September to allow them to continue their studies at the university, pending resolution of the case.

In his ruling, he said: “It seems to me that the balance of convenience in this case does not favour a restoration which may well be temporary as that will involve new populations of students being brought into the university and engaging in courses of study which may not then be able to be completed.”

A final decision on whether the students will be able to finish their course will be made on Friday 28th September.

A MAN who had extremist literature on his computer at his home in Derby has been jailed for a year.

Umran Javed, 33, pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey, to three offences of possessing material likely to be useful in terrorism.

The documents were found as a result of parole checks when computer equipment was examined.

Javed was jailed in 2007 for six years for soliciting to murder after telling a crowd to bomb Denmark and the US. He was arrested in February 2006 when about 300 protesters demonstrated after cartoons satirizing the prophet Muhammad were published in Demark and other European countries.

He is expected to be freed in about six weeks because of time served while on remand.

Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

•TAKEAWAY: The Spice of India in Manchester

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•ALLERGY: Emma Egerton

Student killed by nuts in curry

CRUZ WANTS SRK! HOLLYWOOD hottie Penelope Cruz has revealed her desire to star in a movie with Shah Rukh Khan.

The Oscar nominated Spanish actress is a big fan of Indian movies and says she would love to work opposite Bollywood’s main man.

Cruz, who has been nominated for an Oscar in the best actress category for her role in the Spanish movie ‘Volver’, expressed her respect for the Indian megastar’s great body of work.

This is not the first time that she has expressed her wish to work with Shah Rukh.

The actress will soon feature in Woody Allen’s romcom, ‘To Rome With Love’. The story is told in four separate vignettes: a worker who wakes up to

find himself a celebrity, an architect who takes a trip back to the street he lived on as a student, a young couple on their honeymoon, and a funeral director who has a talent for singing in the shower.

Cruz revealed that she already has the rights to a book on India and she plans to shoot it here. The book, is reportedly Javier Moro’s novel ‘Passion India’, and relates the inspired version of the true story of a 17-year-old Spanish flamenco dancer Anita Delgado who scandalised people in the early 1900s when she agreed to marry and settle down with an Indian king, Maharaja Jagatjit Singh Bahadur.

Her comment definitely raises speculation about SRK being signed for the role of the king. Now the

A TEENAGE girl died after having a massive allergic reaction to the nuts in a takeaway curry, an inquest heard.

Emma Egerton took only one mouthful of the chicken tikka korma before the reaction set in.

The student, 18, who was alone at the time, had the presence of mind to dial 999 and leave her front door open for the ambulance crews to get in. But, by the time they arrived she was unconscious and she died in hospital that night.

The inquest heard there was no warning on the menu that the dish she chose may contain nuts.

Yet the korma from the Spice of India restaurant had been cooked in nut oil and contained ground almonds.

South Manchester deputy coroner Joanne Kearsley said she was concerned there was no legal requirement – as there is in restaurants – for takeaways to have clear nut warnings.

She said: ‘We hear an awful lot about food standards and labels – and despite the fact these signs are required in restaurants, they aren’t in takeaways.

‘I intend to write to the Food Standards Agency to highlight the issues in this case.’

Emma, whose father John is a chief inspector with Manchester Police, had been warned that a single nut could kill her when she was diagnosed with the hypersensitivity at the age of five.

She was said to be very careful about what she ate and would ask restaurants to cook her meals in separate pans.

Tragedy struck in November 2010 when she was at home on her own and logged on to the Just Eat website and ordered the dish from the takeaway.

Mohammed Abdul Hannan, owner of Spice of India in Sale, Manchester, said he had repeatedly called the website to ask for nut signs to be put against certain dishes.

An accidental death verdict was recorded.

•IN DEMAND Shahrukh question is, will SRK give his nod and return the compliment?

Admittedly Cruz is a great fan of Indian cinema and has quite an appetite for the cuisine as well.

She said: “India is a culturally strong country and very traditional.

Bollywood is now making its mark and people in Hollywood want to work with the Indian stars. I would love to work with Shah Rukh Khan.”

KNIFE THREAT DRUNK SPARED JAIL A MAN who threatened to slit his pregnant girlfriend’s throat unless she converted to Islam has been spared jail.

Kuldeep Chail, 47, made the announcement about his girlfriend to a complete stranger he had approached at a bus stop, who was so disturbed by the threat he alerted the police.

Chail told Mohammed Malik that he wanted his ‘white Christian’ partner to convert to Islam, but that she ‘woudn’t listen’, before showing the alarmed bus passenger a Stanley knife and making cutting motions across his throat.

Chail approached Mr Malik at a bus stop in Ilford, Essex, and told him his ‘wife’ had a baby ‘in her belly’ and that he was going to show her some videos about Islam.

But when he appeared at Snaresbrook Crown Court it emerged that Chail is a

ADVERTISE IN

•DRUNK Kuldeep Chail with his girlfriend Sikh, not a Muslim, and that he is not in fact married to his pregnant partner.

Chail, who was accompanied by his pregnant girlfriend at the court – was given a suspended prison sentence of nine months.

The defence solicitor told the court his client only made the comments because he was drunk.

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Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

AsianCity LETTERS www.asiancity.co.uk

COMMENT

BRITAIN’S BEST ASIAN NEWSPAPER

Loving it or hating every minute of it, this is your platform to express yourself to thousands of fellow Asian City-zens in the same boat as you. Tell us your points of view or simply vent your spleen, don’t hold back... we’re here to share your joy and pain

Rock of ages

THE debate over whether the Koh-i-Noor diamond should be rightfully returned to India has resurfaced, although in the unimaginable scenario of the descendants of the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire winning their case, you have to wonder if the family of Duleep Singh – who live in Amsterdam – will just had the precious stone over to India. What then?

Because, if the family do get the stone, then they would be the rightful owners. They didn’t steal it. The same thing applies to the British ownership of the stone because, contrary to popular belief, it wasn’t looted by the Raj, but handed over to Queen Victoria as a gift by Duleep Singh (albeit not exactly willingly). And let’s not forget Duleep Singh himself didn’t acquire the rock without the stains of blood shed in its name as it forcibly passed hands throughout history.

Fact of the matter is, artifacts travel from place to place. It’s what enriches museums and galleries the world over. The Rosetta Stone in the British Museum and the Louvre’s Greek Nike of Samothrace are prime examples. If we start insisting that everything must be returned to its rightful place of origin, then we can’t really complain when others demand that people who have lived here for generations should also go back home where they belong!

It’s not a kind magic WE’RE a superstitious bunch. Each one of us knows of an elderly relative who believes in things like kala jaadu (black magic) and nazar (evil eye), and as with most people who won’t walk under ladders or believe in lucky numbers, we let them be. But when that belief is translated into physically harming another human, then things have clearly gone beyond the realms of fantasy.

In villages across the sub-continent, vicious beatings are meted out to those deemed to have been possessed by demons, when in reality, the victims are guilty of nothing more than expressing themselves in an unorthodox way, or more seriously, due to a mental illness.

This sort of sadistic activity goes largely ignored by officials back there, but in the UK, it is viewed as precisely what it is: barbaric.

We hope the family of Asma Hussain, who ganged up to inflict terrible pain on her, are handed out the harshest of sentences. When it comes to sending out the message that there’s no place for self-professed exorcists in a civilized land - that should do the trick.

Hurrah for Chopra CONGRATULATIONS to Priyanka Chopra.

First she wows us with her new single with Black Eyed Peas producer Will.i.am, now she’s in the running for her new movie Barfi to get an Oscar nomination. It’s easy to forget that up until only very recently, Bollywood was being written off as cheesy, clichéd and outdated. Thanks to stars like Priyanka, looks like we’re back in the Bolly good days.

Email: letters@asiancity.co.uk

VIDEO NASTY ANOTHER depiction of Muhammad as bad, another massive reaction worldwide.

Why can’t Muslims ever turn the other cheek? I’m a Muslim and I’m offended by the Muhammad film and also the cartoons in France.

However, I know that Islamophobes are doing this on purpose to rile Muslims just so that they can say ‘look, see how uncivilised they are?’.

I think Muslims should heed the words of the Grand Mufti of Egypt, Ali Goma who said this: Muhammad and his companions had endured “the worst insults from the nonbelievers of his time” “Not only was his message routinely rejected, but he was often chased out of town, cursed and physically assaulted on numerous occasions.

Asians got talent

Wah Wah Voom!

WATCHING X Factor this year, I’m pleased to see that Asians are no longer just appearing when they’ve got a screw loose.

Every year, we see some sort of clown come on and murder a Michael Jackson song or something and the whole audience and judges just laugh at them. This year, it was great to see Gathan make it to boot camp. I really thought he’d make it to judge’s houses at least. It’s a shame he didn’t as he’s clearly very talented, but the competition was fierce. Hopefully, next year we’ll see more credible Asian singers on X factor following in Gathan’s footsteps.

H Perera, Forest Gate

MY WIFE dragged me along to the Wah Wah girls show at the Stratford Theatre in east London. I was not looking forward to it at all. However, it was surprisingly good. A really enjoyable musical. The actors were very talented and the song and dance routines were really fun. And I was really surprised to see so many white faces in the audience, in fact there were more of them than us!

Nishu Ullah, Milwall

No Tesco local here

I SEE India is planning on opening up its borders to multinational supermarkets.

Strange that while there’s a movement in the UK to stop supermarkets and patronise CAN you not have Salman Rushdie in your your local small business man or woman at paper again? He’s a publicity seeker who’s the bakery or butcher, the Indians have looking for a bit more controversy to raise decided to allow big, brash stores which will the profile of his new book. Please don’t send thousands of farmers and store owners cover him again. I don’t care if his book won out of business. If I was in India, I’d be a prize. His latter book insulted millions of protesting too. It’s just a matter of time us. He’s an ugly old fart who loves causing before all of India’s markets become as trouble. Why give him the satisfaction of yet bland and uniform as those of the UK. more newspaper inches. Ignore him and he Parminder Singh, Slough may just go away.

Jamal Hussein, Whitechapel

No more Rushdie

Depressing news THAT girl jumping from the skyscraper shows how more and more people are deep in despair in today’s economic climate. It’s a real shame to see that some people see that they have no hope and think that suicide is the only answer. Having suffered depression myself, I know how that feels. Luckily, I spoke to my GP and saw a mental health specialist. I was also lucky to have good friends and family to help me through my low points. Depression is really common in Asians, especially women. I hope that people out there see the signs in friends or relatives and understand their pain and can help them out like mine did.

Name withheld, via email

Jinn and no tonic

IT’S REALLY sad to see all these women being attacked because their family thinks that they’ve been ‘possessed’. How, when we live in the west and have access to free education, can people still think like they live in the middle ages? Witch burning and such like died out years ago in the UK, but some of the more backward sections of our community carry out these bizarre practices and rituals it’s like they never left the village behind. I’m glad that the murderers of poor Naila got put away. I know Muslims believe in jinn, but I am convinced that this attack was not possession, but merely domestic abuse. Wrapping it up under ‘black magic’ allows the perpetrators to get away with attacking women. It needs to stop NOW! Hena Patil, Harrow

“But his example was always to endure all personal insults and attacks without retaliation of any sort. There is no doubt that, since the prophet is our greatest example in this life, this should also be the reaction of all Muslims.”

Mohammed Choudhury, Ilford I SEE the West is revelling in the controversy surrounding the depiction of our holy prophet. Why do they insist on doing this? It just reeks of double standards. If you verbally attack a woman, it’s called sexism. If you attack a black person, it’s racism. If you attack a gay, it’s homophobia. If you attack a Jew, it’s called anti-semitism.

However, if you attack Islam, it’s called FREEDOM OF SPEECH! Sanjida, Tooting

PUBLISHER Thufayel Ahmed GUEST EDITOR Shihab Salim ART DIRECTOR Virchand Pindoria ENTERTAINMENTS EDITOR Sohail Anjum MARKETING MANAGER Shuhed Miah E: (first name)@asiancity.co.uk CONTRIBUTORS Aliyah Ahmed, Azeem Hussain, Shima Shastry, Hannah Ahmed, Momtaz Begum-Hossain, Jaz Kaur, Ariana Jamila Ayesha Ahmed, Avni Pindoria, Poonam Patel, Lisa Sage, Mandy Jandoo, Jerin Rahat, Adam Ahmed, Asya Ahmed, Faizah Faheem, Rafia Rahman, Tanvir Ahmed, Paul Williams, Ibrahim Ahmed, Amanda Harrison, Mike Singh DISTRIBUTION Qalbi Ali: 07947 279 926 Newstrade: Postscriptum Ltd Non-newstrade: Surma Media PRINTED BY Newsfax Ltd ASIAN CITY MEDIA LTD Unit 103, Greatorex Business Centre 8-10 Greatorex Street, London E1 5NF T: 0207 247 3537 E: info@asiancity.co.uk W: www.asiancity.co.uk

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Copyright © 2012 Asian City Media Ltd

GATHAN’S GOT TALENT! But boot camp is too much for outspoken performer OUTRAGEOUS singer Gathan Cheema has spoken of his massive disappointment after his dreams came to an end on X Factor .

The talented 22-year-old, from Worcester, battled it out at the notoriously tough boot camp after making it through to the audition stage.

He was whittled down from 300 hopefuls during the four-day boot camp in Liverpool for a coveted place at the judges’ houses in the

• ‘HO-DOWN’: Gathan with rival boys

Curry trouble RESTAURANT owners have warned of a wave of closures along the Brick Lane “curry mile” after the area suffered the worst year in its history.

Businesses have seen a 40 per cent drop in trade, which owners blame on the rise in VAT to 20 per cent in January. But Brick Lane has also seen takings drop since tarmac was laid over the road’s cobbles six months ago and the Olympic crowds failed to show this summer.

Two restaurants have already closed this year and a number of owners are now trying to sell up.

next stage of the competition, as seen at the weekend.

His performance of Respect by Aretha Franklin with two other contestants earned him a place in the final stages of boot camp but his rendition of Maroon 5’s Payphone, did not cut it with the judges.

Gathan, who moved to Worcester from Birmingham in 2008 and is now a Michael Jackson tribute singer, said he could not believe how close he came to going through to the next stage after making it to the last 23 boys.

“I was massively disappointed,” he said. “But the standards of singing this year were unbelievably good.

“Everyone was so different as well. The guys were massively strong and they were all so different.

It was one of the hardest years. I can’t wait to see what happens in the show now. Chris Maloney I think is going to do really well.”

FACEBOOK TROLL GUILTY A TEENAGER has been found guilty of posting an offensive Facebook message following the deaths of six British soldiers in Afghanistan.

Azhar Ahmed, 19, from West Yorkshire, was charged with sending a grossly offensive communication.

He told Huddersfield Magistrates Court he accepted the message had been “unacceptable” but had denied it was “grossly offensive”.

The judge said his comments were “derogatory” and “inflammatory”.

The six soldiers were killed by an improvised explosive device (IED) in Lashkar Gah on 6 March in the deadliest single attack on British forces in Afghanistan since 2001.

The offensive message, which said “all soldiers should die and go to hell”, was

Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

7

•TRAGIC Maqbool Shah was a devoted father

Dad killed by car

THE family of a man killed on his way to pick up his children have paid tribute to a ‘proud and loving father’.

Maqbool Shah was walking to collect his wife and two young children from the doctors when he was struck by a car on Stockport Road, Longsight, Manchester.

Police investigating believe the 46-year-old driver of the Vauxhall Astra Estate which hit Mr Shah may have suffered a fit behind the wheel and mounted the pavement.

The family of Mr Shah, 42, a healthcare assistant, said he was relishing family life with wife Zelle, 28, and children Salman, 18 months, and Saira, three months.

They said he had ‘everything to live for’.

Sister Asmat Shah, 45, said: “The most difficult thing is thinking about the children. Salman keeps asking, ‘Where is my daddy?’. It’s heartbreaking to hear and it’s so difficult to think they won’t see him again.

“He was such a kind and loving person who had everything to live for and so much to look forward to. He was devoted to his children.”

Anyone with any information can call Greater Manchester Police on 0161 856 4742 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

•VICTIM Rexford Barnett was run over by Qasim Mir

posted by Ahmed just two days later on 8 March. Ahmed told the court he was only trying to make his point that many other deaths in Afghanistan were being ignored and added he had no idea it would cause so much upset.

He said he replied with apologies to many people who commented on his Facebook page and when some told him they had lost relatives in Afghanistan he realised how serious it was.

“That’s when I realised it was unacceptable for them to see something so upsetting and distressing, to write something like that,” he added.

District Judge Jane Goodwin said Ahmed’s Facebook remarks were “derogatory, disrespectful and inflammatory”.

He will be sentenced later.

•OFFENSIVE Azhar Ahmed

Death driver jailed A 28-YEAR-OLD man who knocked down and killed a great-grandfather was speeding because he was late for work, a Court was told.

Bradford Crown Court heard Qasim Mir – who was due to start work in Wakefield at 11am on September 9 last year – was “rushing” along Manchester Road when he hit father-of-five Rexford Barnett, 73, at 10.59am.

Duncan Richie, prosecuting, told how Mir, a claims advisor on his probationary period, was driving his Audi at speeds of up to 52.8mph in a 30mph zone when he ran over Mr Barnett, who was using a pedestrian crossing.

Jailing Mir for three years for causing death by dangerous driving yesterday, Judge Jonathan Rose said: “You were due to be in work at 11am that day in Wakefield.

You had no reason to be at that point on Manchester Road at 11am.”

Mir was also banned from driving for three years.

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Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

MOSQUE FAMILY ROBBED GOLD jewellery worth £10,000 has been stolen from a home in East Sussex while the owners prayed at a mosque.

Burglars forced a back window of Mehbub Miah’s home in St Leonards and took several sentimental items including chains, bracelets and rings.

Mr Miah and wife Sabira have owned many pieces since they married 13 years ago.

The theft follows several burglaries of Asian homes in Crawley last month and police say Asian families who often own large amounts of jewellery are at risk.

“I hope I’m wrong but I think someone’s ticking the calendar.”

VIDEO GAME SHAME

Bungling burglar spends 4 hours on PlayStation MOST criminals would look for a way to escape if they found themselves trapped in a building they were trying to rob.

•JAILED Paramkesh Ballgobin

suspended ceiling at the Road 2 Success training centre in Sutton, South London, on September 6.

The 20-year-old serial shoplifter, who has an Asbo But dumbo Paramkesh banning him from Sutton Ballgobin was in no hurry to town centre, made himself a leave after he fell 12ft cup of tea and tried to get the through a ceiling into a youth television to work. training centre – he switched Angry on a PlayStation and played a football game for four hours.

But he became angry CCTV footage shows how the jobless criminal took time when he couldn’t operate the to pace about the centre and remote control and so carried even removed some of his on playing football game clothes before he lay back to FIFA on the PlayStation relax in front of the games instead.

At one point, CCTV console.

Ballgobin became trapped cameras caught him ripping a after he fell through a poster off the wall which

said: ‘Some people are gay, get over it’.

It was only at about 6.30am - some four hours after he fell - that Ballgobin realised he would need to concentrate on getting out before youth workers arrived.

He eventually found a ladder in the centre and •SMASHED A worker checks the damage clambered back out of the hole he had fallen through.

Ballgobin was arrested six days later after youth workers and police recognised him.

He was jailed for a month at Camberwell Green Magistrates’ Court last Thursday after he pleaded •BRAZEN CCTV shows Ballgobin at crime scene guilty to burglary.

•MISSING Usman Sethi

Police want iPhone man POLICE are looking for a man in connection with the theft of hundreds of Apple’s newly-launched iPhone 5 smartphones in south London.

The 252 stolen phones were due to go on sale for the first time at the O2 store in the Tandem Centre in Wimbledon, south London, as the new iPhone was launched across the UK. Officers want to speak to Usman Sethi, 23, of Audley Gardens, Ilford, east London, who works as an assistant at the store.

The phones were taken at 1.30am, with a quantity of cash which was also stolen from the shop’s safe.

Mr Sethi is described as Asian, 6’1” tall and may be driving a grey Ford Mondeo.

Anyone who has information should call Merton CID on 020 8649 3062 or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

Doing it for the kids HE’S one of India’s best batmen on the cricket pitch but outside of the game, Virat Kohli has long been a supporter of children, ensuring they are given the tools to achive their full potential. He recently admitted role models have always been important to him; ‘As a kid, I used to see how Sachin Tendulkar would win matches under pressure and I was keen to repeat the same.’

Earlier this year he became the ambassador for International Cricket Council’s partnership with Room to Read, a not-for-profit organisiation that encourages children to read. Last week he launched a children’s book as part of the campaign.

The story, which features him, was launched in Columbo, Sri Lanka, ahead of the ICC World Twenty20, which will be distributed across schools throughout India.

The tournament takes place from September 18th-October 5th and is the first to be held in an Asian country.

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aSIaN CITY

Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

9

FROM BOMBAY TO BRICK LANE, DOWN THESE MEAN STREETS SHIHAB SALIM MUST GO

e: shabbs@asiancity.co.uk

CALM DOWN DEAR, IT’S ONLY CONTROVERSIAL •HAPPILY STONED The Queen Mum and Queen

DIAMOND.

A GIRL’S BEST FRIEND

•HE DID IT Probably

Asians move into Midsomer Town MIDSOMER Murders, hailed by its creator as the “last bastion of Englishness”, is a programme famous for two things: everyone there is white, and every week, someone dies a grisly, horrible death. Now that the producers are finally casting ethnic characters (the introduction of Ace Bhatti and Soraya Radford has already sparked an outrage among true-white die-hard fans), isn’t it going to make the whodunnit aspect of the show a bit of giveaway?

Whodunnit? Must be the darkie! Well, the residents of Midsomer can hardly be surprised to see an influx of Asians moving into their village. With so many murders happening there every other day, property prices must be pretty low…

Visa vis the right to come over WE CAN moan about the ConDem’s unfair visa crackdown all we like, but at least things haven’t got quite as hardcore as the line taken by the United Arab Emirates. Not only do you have to prove your worth in healthy bank balances, if you’re from India, Pakistan or Bangladesh, you are automatically refused entry unless you have a university degree. In particular, electricians, pipe fitters, masons, farmers, drivers, tailors and cleaners are now banned from obtaining a tourist visa.

Seems like the right-wing fascists types over here who moan about Arab law have actually much to admire them for…

•OVERREACTION Angry protestors rush not to see the film

Complain about the video but don’t kill anyone NO ONE likes being offended. If I personally insult you, you have the choice to insult me back, sue me, or even take a swing at me. What you can’t do, however, is to take the streets and kill random people then blame me for making you so angry.

This is exactly what’s happening with the Innocence of Muslims video on YouTube. As well as the controversial 13-minute trailer, I’ve seen it in its entirety (all one hour 14 minutes and 14 seconds of it), and I must say I feel angry and robbed. Of one hour 14 minutes and 14 seconds of my life. I’ll never get those excruciating minutes of my life back.

It’s atrocious and fully deserves contempt.

So complain. Write a scathing review. There are outlets to vent your rage without succumbing to mass rioting and killing 30 people who had nothing whatsoever to do with the making of this movie.

This isn’t the same as The Satanic

Verses (beyond the fact that in both cases, the most fanatic protesters had neither read the book or watched the film), because, like it or not, Rushdie’s tome is a veritable masterclass in literary writing.

While the Innocence of Muslims is nothing more than a badly made rant by someone whose sole mission is to stir up trouble.

Ridiculed And like a shoal of angry fish always ready to take the bait, the fanatics jump at the merest of prods.

What do they think will happen?

That going mental in the streets will make the rest of the world go: “Oops. We’ve offended a Muslim again. Let’s leave them alone from now on.” The blown-out-ofproportion outcry that followed the publication of cartoons mocking the prophet by the Danish rag JyllandsPosten was precisely what has now made the French satire mag Charlie Hedbo print their own cartoons on the same vein, going one step further in the tongue-in-cheek stakes

by hiring the prophet as their Guest Editor. They got firebombed last year for taking an anti-Muslim stance, and far from shying away, they’ve chosen to send out the message: “Bring it on!” They’re doing so because they know they’ll get the right reaction, and seeing as its open season on Muslims the world over, also getting an almighty thrill from goading the easily angered into proving what they believe so vehemently: that Muslims are unreasonable folk that kill people who don’t agree with them.

It’s not nice seeing your faith mocked. Your beliefs ridiculed. But with an instant controversy generator as big as this, they will keep taking potshots.

For those who think this kind of over-reaction is somehow valid, it’s wise to remember that insults can’t physically hurt you. You can’t die from feeling offended. You have the choice. If you don’t want to watch a crap YouTube movie, don’t watch it.

If you want to comment on it, watch it. But no one should have to watch their backs because of it.

PASS ME THE SICK BAG… PITY poor Emraan Hashmi. He has sent out a public plea urging journalists to stop referring to him as “a serial kisser”, saying he is “sick of it”.

No he’s not. Firstly, no one is forcing him to take kissing roles, which just so happens to feature in pretty much every single movie he does. Then there’s this quote he gave to The Times of India not so long ago: “I think I am luckier because I am kissing and crossing that mark. I think I am luckier than Salman. He’s very unfortunate he doesn’t get to kiss.”

Well, if you want to let more people know that you are, in fact, a serial kisser, looks like there’s no better way to ensure all the papers run with the story when you publically announce you hate being a serial kisser.

I’m taking a leaf out of Emraan’s book. I hereby announce that I am sick of being a love god who women want to be with and men want to be. Pass it on.

•KISS OFF Emraan Hashmi

BRITAIN should indeed give back the Koh-i-Noor. And India, famed for their penchant for superstition, should be very worried about having it back if it continues to flaunt a male-dominated leadership. Because (cue ominous soundtrack) the stone is a poisoned challis for all men.

You’ve heard about its famous curse, right? All the men who’ve ever owned it have lost their throne or had some terrible misfortunes befall them.

Women are okay, mind. Queen Victoria was the first reigning monarch to have worn the gem, and nothing terribly bad happened to her. Queen Elizabeth II seems to be doing just dandy with the stone around her. Heed the

warning of the Hindu text relating to the first authenticated appearance of the diamond in 1306, which decreed: “He who owns this diamond will own the world, but will also know all its misfortunes. Only God, or a woman, can wear it with impunity.”

I shudder to think.

After Liz passes on, we’ll see Charlie, William, Harry and Edward ascent the throne, with terrible consequences befalling them thanks to the curse of the Koh-iNoor, before Beatrice of York, the fifth in line, becomes Queen and order is restored again.

Just imagine! That’s four memorial services, and four more rounds of Elton John to go through before the nation finds peace once more. If that happens, I’m moving to India.

CHICKEN TESCO MASSACRE THERE are many things I love about India, but the one thing that stands out for me the most is that despite the onslaught of western influences, the nation still remains resolutely Indian.

Even the arrival of McDonalds and Pizza Huts did little to dent the sights, scents and sounds of peddlers selling authentic food in every street corner that characterises the entire nation.

Now that multinational corporations like Walmart and Tesco have been given the green light to set up shop all across India, the future of street sellers is looking bleak. Remember what they did to corner shops in Britain?

My girlfriend is Indian so we often go there to visit her family, but it’ll be a sad day indeed when I arrive at an Indian home and see we’re about to have a Tesco readymade microwave Chicken Tikka Masala for lunch…

10

Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

RESPECT LEADER QUITS She blames ‘breakdown in trust’ THE leader of the Respect Party has resigned, blaming a breakdown in “relations of trust and collaborative working” at the top of the party.

Salma Yaqoob clashed with Respect’s only MP, George Galloway, over his comments about the sexual assault allegations against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

In a podcast last month, the Bradford West MP said allegations against Mr Assange did

•RESIGNED Salma Yaqoob

“The last few weeks have been extremely difficult for everyone in the party,” said Ms Yaqoob. “I feel necessary relations of trust and collaborative working have unfortunately broken down. I have no wish to prolong those difficulties, and indeed hope Wrong that they may now be drawn to a close.

“I remain committed to the Ms Yaqoob condemned the original comments as “deeply principles and values that led disappointing and wrong” and me to help found Respect. The said at the time that the policies we have fought for need complaints made by two women to be voiced as loud as ever in in Sweden should not be opposition to a political “belittled or dismissed”. Mr establishment that remains out Assange has denied the of touch with working people.

Respect national secretary allegations.

The Respect leader Chris Chilvers said: “We would announced her resignation like to thank her for the great “with deep regret” in a message contribution she has made to Respect over the last decade.” on the party website.

not constitute rape “as most people understand it”, and amounted to no more than “bad sexual etiquette”.

Mr Galloway later clarified his remarks, insisting he had always believed non-consensual sex was rape.

•FISH STAR Shahid Nazir

£1 Fish has X-Factor!

•REMARKS George Galloway

FROM one YouTube sensation to another, One Pound Fish has been ringing in our ears all our summer. A hugely catchy song from an East London market seller, singer Shahid Nazir, has now auditioned for the X Factor! You may have caught the rumour a few issues back in our Music City column, but X Factor bosses have waited till now to show it!

One Pound Fish continues to create a storm in the UK, with England footballer Rio Ferdinand amongst his new fans and X Factor judge Gary Barlow tweeted that he’d made a huge mistake in not putting him through to the next round of auditions! We could have a new star on our hands!

•MURDERED Uzma Naurin and Saif Rehman were shot

Anger as Pakistan police fail to act over couple’s murder

THE family of a man who was killed with his wife fear Pakistani police are not investigating the deaths properly.

Relatives of Glasgow businessman Saif Rehman say there is still no news over the extradition of the chief suspect from the US to Pakistan, a year after he died.

Mr Rehman, 31, who lived in Ibrox, Glasgow, for six years, and his American wife Uzma Naurin, 30, were shot dead when their car was ambushed on November 1 last year in Lalamusa in the Punjab province of Pakistan.

Ms Naurin, who lived in New York, was the first woman in her family to shun the traditional arranged marriage and wed someone outside of the family.

It is said her parents could not accept it and she moved out of the family home.

Mr Rehman’s brother, Abdul Majid, appealed for urgency in bringing his brother’s killer to justice. He said the family had heard there are no moves to extradite the chief suspect, Ms Naurin’s father, Muzafar Hussain, who lives in New Jersey in the US. Mr Majid said: “We tried to get justice but nobody is interested, not even the police or the courts and who knows what is going on. It is very difficult to find justice in Pakistan.

WORLD RECORD PULL

SAILENDRA Nath Roy, 49, a Guinness World Record holder, pulled a train with his ponytail in Siliguri, West Bengal. Mr. Roy pulled the 38-ton train, two and a half meters.

•RED MIST Ian Omondi

Jealous lover attacked ex JILTED Ian Omondi forced his way into his ex-girlfriend’s home and attacked her and her new boyfriend in a frenzy of “passion and jealousy”.

The 19-year-old saw “the red mist” when he realised Nina MarquittaBetteridge was at home with her new boyfriend Mohammed Miah.

Gloucester Crown Court was told Omondi smashed up Mr Miah’s car before hitting him so hard that he broke bones in his hands.

He then went on to attack his ex-girlfriend by biting her and hitting her with a broom.

Omondi pleaded guilty to causing both Mr Miah and Ms Marquetta-Betteridge actual bodily harm.

He was placed under a supervision order for 18 months.

EASTENDERS STAR GET NEW ROLE

Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

11

ACE IS BACK! New brown faces will defuse ITV race row over ‘English village’ IT’S ABOUT time bosses at ITV woke up and smelt the curry! Just a year on from its producer becoming embroiled in a race row after claiming the show was ‘the last bastion of Englishness’ because it didn’t feature any ethnic minorities, two Asian actors are to appear in Midsomer Murders.

Ace Bhatti and Soraya Radford will play a father and daughter in the next episode of the popular ITV series – marking the start of a new commitment by executives to make the show more representative.

Bhatti - who has previously appeared in Eastenders - will star as a widowed village chemist and part-time yoga instructor Harmendra Dutta while Radford will play his 21-year-old PHD student daughter Gagan who works at the local observatory. •TALENT Soraya Radford plays PHD student Last year he said: ‘We are a cosmopolitan society in this country, but if ‘I’ve never been picked up on that, but you watch Midsomer you wouldn’t think quite honestly I wouldn’t want to change so. it.

‘We just don’t have ethnic minorities involved, because it wouldn’t be the English village then. It just wouldn’t work.

‘Suddenly we might be in Slough.

‘We’re the last bastion of Englishness and I want to keep it that way.’

Mr True-May was suspended and later announced he was stepping down as executive producer of the show.

New producer Jo Wright has brought in the Asian cast members to help the show •VERY ENGLISH ITV show Midsomer Murders ‘represent its audience’.

•HANDFULL Konnie plays supermum by carrying Covey

YUMMY MUMMY!

VICTIM’S BLOOD MATCH WAS ‘BILLION TO ONE’

THE jury in the trial of two men accused of murdering a schoolboy by mistake in a bungled contract killing has heard of “significant” forensic evidence found by police.

Jason Richards, 38, and Ben Hope, 39, are alleged to have howled like animals when stabbing to death 17-year-old Alevel student Aamir Siddiqi in the hallway of his home in Roath, Cardiff, in •MURDERED Aamir Siddiqi April 2010.

Patrick Harrington QC, prosecuting at Swansea Crown Court claims it was “a fatal mistake”.

He alleges the pair were hired by a businessman to carry out the attack on a different target who lived at another similar looking red-brick house nearby.

Richards and Hope, both of Cardiff, deny the murder and the attempted murder of Aamir’s parents Iqbal, 68, and Parveen, 55, who tried in vain to defend their son.

Mr Harrington said weeks after the murder, police found a bag near Jason Richards’s home. He said the bag, which was found to contain a fingerprint matched to Richards, contained a grey hooded top which was found to be bloodstained. He told the jury the blood was found to match the DNA profile of murder victim Aamir Siddiqi with a billion to one probability match.

The trial continues.

KONNIE Huq welcomed her first child into the world in March following the shock announcement of her pregnancy last December.

Pictured last week in London, the 37year-old new mother proved to be very hands on with her son Covey Brooker.

Make-up free, Konnie beamed as she crouched over to check on her little boy.

Not enjoying the ride in his pushchair, the six-month-old made it clear to his mother that he wanted to be carried instead.

Bowing to her son’s request, the former Blue Peter presenter lifted Covey out of the stroller and continued the rest of their journey with him in her arms.

Dressed down, Huq donned a mint green loose fitting jumper which she wore over a grey top with a pair of jogging bottoms and black boots.

She wore her long raven hair down and placed a pair of sunglasses on top of her head.

Covey looked adorable in a grey hooded jacket, a patterned jumper, navy trousers and yellow socks.

Konnie wed screenwriter Charlie Brooker two years ago.

12

Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

Wheelchair man robbed A MAN in a motorised wheelchair had a knife held to his throat and was robbed in what police have called a “despicable and cowardly” crime.

The victim, 57, was attacked by two men on the Millennium footbridge in Newport, Gwent at 10pm on September 12.

The pair, who were riding silver bikes, stole cash from the man before riding off.

They were both described as Asian, in their 20s, and 5ft 8in (1.7m).

Their victim, who was said to be left terrified by the attack, was kept in the Royal Gwent Hospital overnight after suffering bruising on his stomach and a cut to his neck.

Det Supt Ian Roberts said: “This is about as low as it gets - I’m really concerned that two people are prepared to attack a vulnerable man like this.”

Both attackers are said to be of average build and wearing hooded tops.

Any witnesses with information are urged to call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

KILLED BY HAIR DRYER Freak accident leads to tragic A MAN died in a fire after his wife left a hot hair dryer on the bed while he was sleeping, an inquest has heard.

to rescue Mr Joshi from the huge house fire in Wolverhampton, after neighbours raised the alarm on February 11 this year.

Mrs Joshi told the inquest Beautician Bina Dawett she had left her husband of Joshi left the appliance, which three years sound asleep after was turned off but still he had returned home from plugged in, smouldering the pub at around 7.30pm. under the fabric, starting a She had attended a charity freak blaze which killed evening at nearby Woodfield husband Ram, 57.

School and had gone for a Fire crews wearing curry afterwards, when a breathing gear battled in vain neighbour got in touch and broke the tragic news by phone.

Coroner Robin Balmain recorded that her husband had died as a result of an accident.

Speaking after the inquest, Mrs Joshi said: “I miss him and I haven’t been the same since.

“I don’t even feel like living in this country any more.

Everything here reminds me •MOURNING Bina Dawett Josh of him. I miss cooking for

•SCENE The Joshi’s home was wrecked by flames him; I haven’t cooked properly since he died.”

Mr Balmain heard Mr Joshi had returned home after watching a football match at the Bruford Arms in Penn Fields. Although he had not been behind the wheel, he was around three-and-a-half times over the drink-drive limit.

Mrs Joshi had dried her hair before embarking on a night out. She was at the Balti

Palace in Merry Hill, Wolverhampton, when she received the phone call telling her what had happened.

Mr Balmain said Mr Joshi had died of cardio-respiratory arrest due to carbon monoxide poisoning, resulting from smoke inhalation.

He added Mr Joshi had eventually become aware of the fire but too late to save himself.

•TRAGIC Ram Joshi

Learner’s trail of mayhem

Padma bursts onto the red carpet...

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SUPERMODEL-turnedsupercook Padma Lakshmi looked fit to burst at last week’s Creative Arts Emmy Awards in Los Angeles.

The 42-year-old failed to show off her usually flawless style when she took to the main event in a dress that appeared to be a size too small.

The rear of the dress was brought together with silk lacing detail which exposed small sections of her back.

The former wife of author Salman Rushdie is now a successful celebrity cook with a number of books and television programmes to her credit.

DIABETIC Kaneez ButtZeeshan left a trail of destruction outside a school after crashing into three cars and a bollard as she rushed to a chemist.

The ‘incompetent’ learner driver drove alone to pick up medication when she had low blood sugar, even though she was unqualified to do so.

Bristol Crown Court heard that, after smashing into a car, she panicked and reversed into it again before slamming into a parked car, torpedoing a moving van and finally destroying a bollard.

She was arrested and gave police a prepared statement in which she conceded she drove off in panic as her first victim got out of his car.

Sorry

She admitted making a series of wrong judgements and was truly sorry.

The mother-of-two, aged 25, from Bristol pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and driving without a licence or insurance.

Judge Michael Longman told her: ‘You simply shouldn’t have been driving that car at all.

‘You are an incompetent driver, you haven’t got a full driving licence.

‘The result is you were not insured to drive that car and you appear to have been in a hurry, for whatever reason.’

The judge handed ButtZeeshan a 20-week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months.

Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

SHOP WRECKED IN RAM RAID ATTACK Owner devastated by brazen robbery

•TWISTED Javid Sadiq

Paedo’s sex with girl,13

THEIVES used a truck to smash their way into a Bradford offlicence leaving it looking like a war zone and its owner £20,000 out of pocket.

The vehicle was reversed through the front of the shop in Torr Road, Bradford, last week destroying the display windows and door and causing huge damage inside.

Shahid Mahmood, the owner, said: “Everything’s lost, the windows, the shutters, the suspended ceiling’s come down, wiring is scattered everywhere. It’s like a war zone, it’s like it’s been hit by a bomb.”

A tenant sleeping in the upstairs flat was woken shortly before 3am by a loud crash as the four-strong gang drove what is believed to be a Mitsubishi Shogun into ADR Convenience and Hardware Store.

“He jumped out of bed and looked

‘ROMEO’ DIES

•DEVASTATION The shop looks ‘like a war zone’ after criminals smashed their way in out the window, shouting. I don’t think they knew anyone was up there, they jumped back in the car and escaped,” said Mr Mahmood, a 39-year-old father-of-five, who has run the shop for the past two years.

Alarm

•ANGRY Shahid Mahmood

The automatic alarm brought police to the scene in minutes and forensic officers have been at the shop shifting through wreckage looking for clues.

Detectives have also been scouring through the store’s CCTV footage for any information that could lead to the gang’s identity.

Mr Mahmood said: “I think they

EX-BANKER MP GETS TOP ECONOMIC JOB

only got away with some cigarettes.

It’s hard to tell at the moment.

“Whoever did it, I think they are from the estate which is a kick in the teeth seeing as I’m only here doing a service for the community and trying to make a living.

“Times are hard but something like this makes it even harder for me and we’ve got another baby on the way.

“Insurance doesn’t pay out straight away so we desperately need to clean up quickly and get open again as soon as we can.”

Mr Mahmood said the shop was broken into a year ago when burglars tried to get in through the roof but were stopped by wooden beams.

FINANCIAL guru Sajid Javid has been given the role of Economic Secretary to the Treasury in David Cameron’s cabinet reshuffle.

With a business and financial background spanning more than 20 years,the Tories hope that the Bromsgrove MP can bail the country out of its current economic problems.

And the announcement was welcomed by the national press, with one newspaper even suggesting it was one of the more encouraging appointments of the whole cabinet reshuffle.

But, Mr Javid himself did not even know about his post until a few hours before the new line-up was released to the public.

“Whenever there’s a reshuffle, there is always a lot of speculation and, as an MP, you never know if you’re going to get a job or not.

“The first I knew was when I was called to Downing Street to meet with David Cameron.

“He told me that he and the Chancellor George Osborne needed my skills to help with the economic challenges the country is facing.”

But, as well as the help with the country’s finances, Mr Javid said he hoped the role would also benefit Bromsgrove in that, it would raise the town’s profile and the issues it faces.

He said, as Economic Secretary to the Treasury, he would be working closely with some very influential people in the Government, including ministers and members of the cabinet.

“Whilst I am honoured to accept my new job, I am the MP for Bromsgrove first and foremost and will never forget that it •HONOUR MP Sajid Javid has a new role in the Government is my constituents who have put me here.”

13

THE world’s tiniest bodybuilder died last week aged just 23. Adida ‘Romeo’ Dev, a 2foot-9 strongman from Punjab, suffered a brain aneurism and died in hospital.

Dev entered the Guinness Book of World Records in 2008 for being the World’s Smallest Body Builder, the same year he was diagnosed with having a brain aneurism.

Family members said the mighty little man was fine before he collapsed.

“He was absolutely fine until last night when he suddenly fell unconscious,” his father, Anil Dev Sharma, 53, told local reporters.

“We rushed him to the hospital and he fell into a coma, he was unconscious all night.

Doctors said the nerve supplying blood to his brain had ruptured, causing his death.”

His family was too poor to pay for proper treatment, and Sharma said they cherished their time with Dev, always aware that he didn’t have long to live.

A MAN who plied an “infatuated” 13-year-old girl with gifts of adult underwear, then tried to hang himself in front of her after their relationship ended, has been jailed for five years.

Javid Sadiq, 27, disregarded a warning letter from police telling him to stop seeing the girl and bought her thongs and a fancy bra, Bradford Crown Court heard. She told victim support workers Sadiq made her pregnant and she had a miscarriage.

Sadiq, of Canterbury, Bradford, pleaded guilty to three sample charges of sexual activity with a child, between September 7, 2010, and January, 20, 2011.

He was jailed for three years for those offences and imprisoned for an additional two years for a separate offence of possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence on August 22 last year.

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Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

Jelly kills toddler

POLICE have launched an investigation after a one-year-old girl choked to death on a raw jelly cube.

Tiya Chauhan stopped breathing at the Dicky Birds nursery in Wimbledon, south London while she was involved in what was understood to be a game to explore touch and feel.

Officers passed the incident to regulator Ofsted. But a full probe has now been opened after the coroner sought an explanation as to how a baby was able to put a jelly cube in their mouth.

The tragedy occurred on August 23 where it is believed the jelly was partly being used in a sensory game.

Tiya was taken by ambulance to St George’s Hospital but died later that day.

CAR CRASH VICTIM STABBED Police probe racist link to death

A MARRIED father who was originally believed to have died in a car crash may actually have been stabbed to death in a racist attack.

Saleem Khan, 37, died after he was found seriously injured behind the wheel of a rented Ford Transit van in the North Yorkshire village of Easingwold.

Police suspected he had been involved in a road accident, but a post mortem revealed Mr Khan had been knifed in the neck.

A murder hunt has been launched, and detectives fear Mr Khan may have been the victim of a racially-motivated attack.

DCI Heather Pearson, of North

Yorkshire Police, said: “Specially trained officers are now following up a number of lines of enquiry.

“One line is that this could have been an unprovoked, racially motivated attack.

“We are also looking to establish Mr Khan’s movements prior to the attack.”

A 26-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder in the early hours of Monday morning, and a 20-year-old woman and two men aged 21 and 25 were arrested on

suspicion of assisting an offender.

Mr Khan, who was orginally from Luton but had recently been living in Birmingham, was delivering shower products in North Yorkshire when he was attacked.

His van was spotted crashed into bollards at 2.30am Monday morning by an off-duty police officer. Mr Khan was found inside without a set belt on, leading police to conclude he had crashed.

Now they think he was trying to flee for his life.

He was taken to York District Hospital but died later.

A floral tribute, reading “R.I.P. Thinking of you and your family”, was left at the scene of the crash.

DCI Pearson added: “I would like to speak to anyone who has any information that can help the investigation to come forward as soon as possible.”

•BOGUS Charantoor Singh

Student tried to hack exam PHARMACY student Charantoor Singh, 22, set up a bogus website which he used in a phishing scam to get lecturers’ and other students’ log in details.

The Liverpool John Moores University student who hacked the email accounts of academics in an attempt to access upcoming exam questions was given a suspended jail sentence.

He had sent emails from academics’ accounts to their colleagues asking them to forward on exam papers.

Liverpool Crown Court heard he only set up the complicated hacking fraud because he feared he was going to fail his final year exams, but ironically he was seen as a “promising student” who was expected to get a first.

•ILLEGAL Sohan Dhillon

Immigrant hid for 13 years

•BUNDLE OF JOY Ash makes her way through security

ASH MAKES A DASH WITH AARADHYA

AISHWARYA Rai and her baby Aaradhya will be moving to Chicago to accompany Abhishek Bachchan, who is shooting there for ‘Dhoom 3’.

While in the airport, the actress was snapped with her bundled up baby.

Ash was all decked up in black, sporting sindoor on her head. As usual, baby Aaradhya was carefully tucked up, well hidden from the media.

Reportedly, Aishwarya will first visit New York to meet her sister-in-law Shweta Bachchan Nanda and then fly to her hubby in Chacago. It’s been almost a month now that Abhishek Bachchan has been away from family, shooting for his film.

Apparently, the actor has been missing his beautiful wife and angelic daughter.

As reported earlier, Aamir Khan’s family is already in Chacago. Abhi’s family will soon be joining them.

SOHAN Dhillon, 52, who arrived in Britain illegally by hiding in a lorry and remained undetected here for 13 years, has been jailed for eight months and faces deportation at the end of the sentence.

Dhillon arrived in the UK in 1999 and went on to earn a living without paying taxes as a builder in Newcastle.

His cover was blown when UK Border Agency officers raided his house in the city.

But during the raid too he gave a false name, claimed to be a UK citizen and produced a stolen passport, reports from Newcastle said.

He has now been jailed for eight months for possessing an identification document with an improper intention.

Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

15

WORLD NEWS •ANGRY Supporters burn an effigy of U.S. President Barrack Obama during a demonstation in Peshawar, Pakistan

•OFFICE Charlie Hebdo after they were firebombed last year

Publishers fear backlash

•NAKOULA Convicted fraudster

Fraudster behind hate-film THE California man who produced the anti-Islam video that has caused outrage across the Middle East is a federal informant who avoided spending longer in jail by telling investigators about an elaborate bank fraud scheme he was involved in.

Nakoula Basseley Nakoula opened a string of bank accounts under assumed names, transferring money between them with bogus cheques and withdrawing cash before they bounced.

He was jailed for 21 months for the scheme after being caught by the FBI in 2009. The sentence was a year less than the punishment sought by prosecutors, and was handed down after Nakoulou gave investigators information about the ring leader of the $800,000 scam, according to the Smoking Gun. It has also been revealed that Alan Roberts, the film’s director, is an experienced editor who has directed a number of low-budget soft porn movies The father-of-three explained how Eiad Salameh, a notorious fraudster on the run from authorities for more than a decade ran the scheme and recruited Nakoula as a ‘runner’.

Fraud is not his only brush with the law. There are reports that in 1997, he was charged with intent to manufacture methamphetamine.

BURNING WITH RAGE FRESH protests are taking place around the Muslim world over an amateur anti-Islam video produced in the US.

At least one protester was killed in violent protests in Pakistan and thousands attended an angry rally in the Philippines city of Marawi.

Weapons were fired and police cars torched in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah has said the US faces “very dangerous” repercussions if it allows the full video to be released.

In a rare public appearance, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah told a rally in the

More protests worldwide over Anti-Islam video

capital Beirut that the world did not understand the “breadth of the humiliation” caused by the “worst attack ever on Islam”.

More than a dozen people have died since last Tuesday in protests sparked by the appearance on Youtube of a trailer for the obscure, poorly made film, which is entitled Innocence of Muslims. embassies, but also to press Muslim governments to express their own anger to the US. At least one protester was killed in Thousands of people were on the streets of Beirut, waving flags and Pakistan as violent demonstrations were chanting, “America, hear us - don’t reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and the country’s biggest city, insult our Prophet”.

Sheikh Nasrallah, the influential Karachi.

Pakistan, as predicted, has blocked leader of Lebanon’s Shia Muslim militant group, earlier called for a week access to Youtube, accusing it of failing of protests - not only against American to remove blasphemous material.

Killed

•MEDIA FRENZY Outside the home of Nakoula

TORTURE CONCERNS

A GROUP of 25 Sri Lankans deported from the UK have arrived in Sri Lanka, amid warnings that Tamils among them may be tortured.

UK officials said on Wednesday that 60 failed asylum seekers and visa overstayers were being sent back.

But many won lastminute court injunctions preventing their return.

Human rights groups say that some Tamils who were sent back are in danger of being tortured because of their alleged links to separatist rebels.

RIOT police were guarding the offices of a satirical magazine in Paris as it prepared to publish cartoons mocking the Prophet Mohammed.

Charlie Hebdo’s HQ in the French capital was firebombed last year after it published an issue it claimed had been guestedited by Mohammed.

Despite the attack, it has now decided to print further drawings, including one of the Prophet in a wheelchair being pushed by a Jewish Rabbi.

It comes three days after unauthorised demonstrations by Muslims threatened to get out of hand on the Champs Elysee.

The magazine, meanwhile, insists it has the right to caricature what it likes, with a spokesman saying they would not be intimidated ‘by the handful of extremists who stir up trouble around the world.’

The weekly, known for its irreverent treatment of the political establishment and religious figures, bore the headline ‘Charia Hebdo’, in a reference to Muslim sharia law, and said that the issue had been guest-edited by Mohammed.

This incident follows similar publications which caused unrest amongst Muslims.

SECTARIAN VIOLENCE IN PAKISTAN AT LEAST 10 people have been killed in two bomb attacks in Pakistan.

Seven people were killed in twin bombings at the busy Hyderi Market in the southern port city of Karachi.

One of the bombs, planted on a motorcycle, went off near a mosque belonging to an Islamic minority sect whom police believe were the target.

Earlier, three people were killed when a bomb ripped through a bus carrying Shia pilgrims near Quetta, in Balochistan province.

That bomb exploded as pilgrims, returning from Iran after visiting Shia holy places, passed though Mastung district, about 15 miles (25km) south of Quetta.

Much of the violence in Balochistan over the last year has been blamed on Sunni militants attacking members of the minority Shia community.

At least 24 people were wounded in the Karachi attacks. The dead were reported to include a 10-year-old girl, a three-month-old baby, a woman and four men.

The two blasts took place in the east of the city, in an area busy with rush-hour traffic.

Mohammad Aslam Khan, head of Karachi counter-terrorism cell, said that the attack was “clearly targeted” at the Bohra Ismaili Shia community, from which most of the dead and injured came.

“I was in my gift shop when we heard a mild explosion and then a huge one minutes later,” shopkeeper Iqbal Rehman told AFP news agency.

“We rushed to the parking lot and saw some vehicles, including motorbikes, destroyed. Several people were dead and injured.”

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Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

WORLD NEWS Children among dead

•DESPAIR Locals watch the rescue operation in the garment factory in Karachi

•BLOWN UP Pakistani police officers stand next to wreckage

FIRE KILLS 258 WORKERS GARMENTS FACTORY BLAZE IN KARACHI

A PAKISTANI court granted bail to three owners of a garment factory in the southern city of Karachi where a fire this week killed 258 people, a defense lawyer said Friday, infuriating and jump for their lives families of those who windows to the ground below. perished in the country’s News that the men had been worst industrial accident. granted bail without even being

Pakistani police have opened a murder case and are investigating whether possible negligence by the owners and managers of the garment factory led to the massive loss of life in the Tuesday night fire.

The horrific way the factory workers died has infuriated many Pakistanis. People caught in the basement suffocated when it filled with smoke while those on the higher floors were forced to break through metal bars over the

arrested, a legal practice in Pakistan which allows people to avoid jail, outraged families still grieving their dead.

Disaster “The owners of the garment factory should be arrested and hanged as quickly as possible,” said Zaitoon Bibi, who lost her son in the fire. “I do not think I will get justice as these owners are powerful and rich.”

ordered them not to leave the country, the lawyer said.

He said the men went to the city of Larkana, north of Karachi, to ask for bail because they feared for their safety in Karachi.

One of the factory owners, Arshad Bhaila, blamed the city’s firefighters for the deaths, saying in televised comments that they arrived late to extinguish the blaze.

In his first public comments since the disaster, Bhaila said they would look after all the families of the dead and injured.

The blaze was the deadliest industrial accident in Pakistan’s 65-year history, and highlighted A lawyer for the men, Amir the woeful safety conditions that Mansoob Qureshi, said the judge exist at many factories around the instructed the police that the country.

An officer at Karachi’s central factory owners cannot be arrested for eight days under bail terms. fire station, Hasan Raza, said The court also asked the owners firefighters had been dispatched to surrender their passports and to the scene almost immediately.

A MAMMOTH TASK

OBESE elephants in the Tamil Nadu region of India are now having to watch what they eat and do more exercise, as they have become dangerously overweight.

Almost all of the temple elephants in the region, which is the far south of the country, are bigger than is deemed healthy, due to a combination of little or no exercise and overfeeding.

The elephants are chained to the temple’s gates for most of the day, making any physical activity difficult.

The problem is compounded further as pilgrims to the temples want to feed the giant animals in the belief it will bring them good fortune if they do.

Such is the importance pilgrims place on elephants in India they are often fed treats such as sweets and rice rather than the more varied diet including bamboo, grass and fruits they would normally eat in their natural habitat.

Temple officials are now looking to change the diets of their elephants on the advice of veterinary surgeons.

‘The female temple elephant - 15 year-old Parvathi - is overweight by 500kg (80 stone) and efforts are on to reduce it,’ said Pon Jayaraman,

•DIET Fatty hati executive officer of the Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple.

Temple officials have said the elephants are taken for walks of at least 5km each day based on vet advice.

However, Dr AJT John Singh, former director the Wildlife Institute of India, called the practice of chaining elephants a ‘grave sin’.

‘It’s like confining a solitary person in... the middle of the forest,’ he said. Elephants are social animals and have amazing social bonds with one another. Breaking that, and keeping the animal alone, is like solitary confinement, the greatest form of punishment to a human being.’

A POLITICAL cartoonist who was jailed on sedition charges for drawings that mocked corruption in the Indian government was released on bail.

Supporters cheered and waved flags as Aseem Trivedi walked out of Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail after a high court said there was no need to hold him in prison.

Trivedi had earlier refused bail until all charges against him were dropped. The local government has promised to review the charges against him.

Sedition is punishable by up to life in prison.

“When you hear the word ‘sedition’ you are transported to 1857 where there is a king and citizens are afraid to criticize him.

We must rethink the law,” Trivedi told reporters after his release.

India’s sedition laws date to the 1800s when the country was a colony of Britain. They have been used in the past to punish rights activists.

A ROADSIDE bomb ripped through a minibus in northwestern Pakistan near the Afghan border Sunday, killing 15 passengers and wounded 12 others, police said.

The bomb was buried in a dirt road in Lower Dir district and apparently detonated by remote control as the minibus passed by, said Ejaz Abid, the local police chief. There was little left of the vehicle after the explosion, just a mass of crumpled metal.

Two children were among the dead, said Mahmood Aslam, a local government official. The vehicle was not carrying any tribal elders, anti-Taliban militia commanders or others from the area frequently targeted by militants, he said.

“I don’t understand why the passenger vehicle was targeted,” he said.

Dilawar Khan, a survivor, said he heard a huge blast, and the passengers suddenly dove to the ground.

“I was listening to people’s cries but unable to see anything as dust and smoke engulfed the air,” said Khan. “Then I found myself in the hospital with my leg and hand bandaged,” he said.

A CLOSE SHAVE...

A PAKISTANI man has revealed how he was made to flee his home simply for owning a long moustache.

Malik Ameer Muhammad (42) from Peshawar has 30-inch long facial hair, which was deemed ‘un-Islamic’ by a local Islamic group.

Lashkar-e-Islami ordered him at gunpoint to shave it off and when he didn’t oblige, they removed it without his consent.

Distraught at losing part of his identity, Muhammad fled after the ordeal and vowed to grow it back. He

said: “I left my dear homeland, my friends and relatives and am prepared to sacrifice all that but will not compromise” He described how he was tortured in captivity in 2010 for keeping his moustache, and after he was forced to have it taken off, spent 18 months growing it back.

•BAILED Trivedi, 25, was arrested on charges of sedition

Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

17

WORLD NEWS

Rebel caught

•EMPTY Where’s The AA?

DIESEL FUMING Anger over rising prices INDIA’S beleaguered government faced angry protests from its political allies as well as the opposition after it raised the price of diesel fuel in a bid to curb a ballooning national deficit.

a reduction in cooking gas subsidies.

The price of diesel — important for farmers’ irrigation pumps and tractors, as well as trains and buses — is politically sensitive in India and both opposition politicians and coalition allies criticized Thursday’s decision.

“It will affect the farmer, it will affect The government raised the price of diesel by five rupees (10 cents) a litre late the common people,” said West Bengal Thursday. The price of diesel is Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. She regulated and kept much lower than demanded that the government petrol prices in India. But the withdraw the hike.

Banerjee, whose Trinamool Congress government has been under intense pressure to reduce its fiscal deficit by party is a key coalition member, said she cutting spending for subsidies, had never been consulted on the price rise. particularly on fuel.

The subsidy reduction is part of the Oppostion government’s economic reform program. The delay in those reforms has Another government ally, the been blamed in part on a sharp drop in India’s growth rate and the rapid fall in Samajwadi Party, also demanded that the government retract the decision. the value of the rupee.

The opposition Bharatiya Janata Concerned by India’s massive subsidy bill, ratings agencies have threatened to Party also slammed the move and said it would add to the problems of India’s downgrade India.

The government has also announced poor.

We don’t want Tescos

THERE have been huge protests across India over government plans to allow multi-national retailers to set up shop.

Millions of people have taken to the streets over a move which could see the likes of Tesco, Carrefour and Walmart entering the lucrative Indian market.

Opposition parties claim the law will tear apart the country’s social fabric.

India is a nation of small shopkeepers and it is feared they would be put out of business by the new liberalisation law called Foreign Direct Investment.

But UK supermarket giant Tesco is cautiously optimistic. It said: “Tesco welcomes this positive development but we await further detail on the conditions.”

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

THE contents of an Indian diplomatic bag found in the French Alps, close to where an Air India plane crashed 46 years ago, have been revealed.

The jute bag, weighing about 9kg (19.8lb), contained newspapers, calendars and a personal letter. The Air India plane flying from Mumbai to New York crashed January 24 1966. All 117 people on board died.

The bag has been opened in the Indian capital, Delhi, and copies of Hindustan Times, The Statesman and The Hindu newspapers, 1966 calendars and a letter addressed to the then Indian consul general in New York CJK Menon have been recovered.

It was recovered by mountain rescue worker Arnaud Christmann and his neighbour Jules Berger on 21 August from Mont Blanc and handed over to the police in Chamonix town at the base of the mountain.

INDIAN police have arrested one of the longestsurviving rebel commanders in the Indiancontrolled portion of Kashmir, authorities said.

Indian Kashmir’s police chief, Ashok Prasad, told The Associated Press that Merajuddin Wani had been operating from neighboring Nepal for nearly 15 years. He said Wani was involved in espionage against India and also channeled finances to half a dozen militant groups active in the disputed Himalayan area.

Prasad said Wani has also claimed to have been associated with five militants who hijacked an Indian Airlines plane.

DENTIST RELEASED ON BAIL INDIA’S Supreme Court has given bail to dentist Nupur Talwar, the accused in the 2008 twin murders of her daughter, Aarushi, and domestic help, Hemraj.

But the court said she would remain in jail until 25 September when the trial court completes questioning witnesses.

The trial court has so far crossexamined nine of the 13 key witnesses put forward by the prosecution.

Nupur Talwar and husband Rajesh, also a dentist, have been charged with murder and destruction of evidence.

Dr Rajesh Talwar has also been charged with misleading the investigations. The couple deny all the charges.

Nupur Talwar has been in jail since 30 April and all her earlier bail petitions were rejected by courts.

The Central Bureau of Investigation, the country’s federal police service, have always opposed Dr Nupur Talwar’s bail plea saying that if she is freed, she will be able to influence witnesses.

The CBI says circumstantial evidence

•BAILED Nupur Talwar points to the parents’ involvement in Aarushi’s death, but there is a lack of hard evidence.

The gruesome murders in an affluent Delhi suburb had generated huge interest in India.

Aarushi, 14, was murdered in her bedroom at the family home in Noida district while her parents slept.

A day later, the bludgeoned body of Hemraj was found on the roof.

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Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

Hot in the City YOUR ULTIMATE GUIDE TO ASIAN ENTERTAINMENT

e: sohail@asiancity.co.uk

Bobby takes a bow NEXT month will be the final curtain for the FRICTION show on BBC Asian Network after 6 and-ahalf years of nightly broadcasts.

Kiss ban Khan APPARENTLY Shahrukh Khan has two conditions before signing any film contract.

1. The actor will not lip-lock with his heroine on screen 2. He will not ride a horse.

The second condition came into force after he experienced severe back pain a few years ago.

We understand why Shahrukh Khan has said no to riding a horse, but does SRK fear the wrath of his wife Gauri when it comes to lip-locking scenes with his fellow heroines onscreen? Maybe Emraan Hashmi could learn a thing or two from King Khan himself!

The nightly show, which started whist Bobby Friction was still presenting on Radio 1, cemented him as the definitive voice championing all genres and styles of South Asian beats on radio.

Bobby Friction said: “This is a big new chapter for me as a broadcaster.

I’m excited to have the opportunity to present in prime-time and to be able to continue to support great music from the UK and globally with Anushka.

I’m also happy that the BBC Introducing legacy will continue as I pass the baton to a new talent that I have mentored for the past five years.”

Hosting a new music and entertainment show alongside new broadcasting partner, Anushka Arora, his new show launches on 22nd October. He will continue to promote Desi and South Asian music as he always has through new emerging projects that will be announced over the coming weeks, as well as DJing globally. “I will still be pushing, extoling and promoting the music that I love” stated Bobby Friction.

FRICTIONLESS NOUREEN’S 10 HABITS

NOUREEN DeWulf who can be seen opposite Charlie Sheen in the new TV comedy Anger Management will be toplining a new indie comedy thriller titled 10 Habits of Highly Effective People. The movie currently in production, centres on executives secretly meeting to sell off their company and being murdered one by one.

All that glitters...

IT IS destined to be one of the most fun books of the year, Journalist & Crafts Expert Momtaz Begum-Hossain brings you 101 ideas for how to add sparkle into your life!

You’ll learn about types of glitter, how it’s made and been infiltrated into popular culture, before being guided through projects that will inspire you to unleash your creativity.

From edible glitter, iron-on to spray on, over 150 types of glitter are explored in a colourful, crazy, creative book that will appeal to all ages, It’s packed with so many hints, tips and quirky facts, you’ll never be lost for ideas!

Momtaz Begum-Hossain stated, “despite it’s allure and irresistibility, glitter is misunderstood. Some people think it’s seasonal, or just for kids; but the truth is, glitter has infinite uses – it’s even used by forensics to track down criminals!”

Glitter is for life and not just for Christmas!

Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

BACK TO SQUARE ONE

19

ON THE HOT SEAT: RIMY THANDI When men are upset, why do they go and get wasted with their friends instead of opening up to their girlfriends or wives?

Im sure that’s not all men and the ones who do im not sure why.. its really good to talk and hugely underrated.

Why do women gossip too much?

Thats a myth ;) Why do men leave their mouldy socks festering on the floor?

Because those men don’t do their own laundry.

Why do women tart themselves up?

I think everyone wants to look their best and feel good about themselves.

Not sure if that is tarting ourselves up, guess its the same as men having designer beards and weekly haircuts!

What irritates you about men the most?

When I get called stuck up just because im not interested! Whats that all about?

AMIRA Shah will be back in Albert Square once again before her ex-partner Syed Masood departs from the show.

Preeya Kalidas will reprise her role as Amira Shah for a few guest appearances on the soap to help wrap up the storyline.

Amira left Albert Square back in March after realizing that Syed Masood would never love her.

The reasons for Amira’s return have yet to be revealed, but show bosses have promised plenty more drama for the Masoods in the build-up to Syed’s exit.

BELIEVE IN JINN FILM director Ajmal Zaheer Ahmad is all set to bring the Jinn to the big screen and will star, Ray Park, Faran Tahir, William Atherton and Serinda Swan. The film has already created an online buzz with its trailer already generating over 2.5 million hits.

Jinn will be a supernatural thriller that will introduce the authentic mythology of the jinn to the western audience. “Almost half the world already believes in the existence of the jinn; however, the other half has never heard of them before. From China to Africa, hundreds of millions believe the jinn are the solitary answer to everything that goes bump in the night” states the writer/director.

In addition to the franchise, the director has also designed a vehicle known as the ‘Firebreather’ and is the first vehicle in motion picture history available for purchase.

Fifty limited editions of the V8, 618 horsepower American muscle cars are being produced as the exact replica of the vehicle in the film and will honor the Detroit automotive industry.

The release date for the film will be revealed in the coming weeks.

•JINN Ajmal Zaheer Ahmad

Why do blokes never call when they say they are going to?

Because they’re just not that into you!

When men ask you what you’re thinking and you say ‘nothing’ is it true?

Never, im always thinking!

Men enjoy sport because secretly they like the idea of playing with each other.

Discuss…

OMG thats hilarious... I think the man who came up with that either cant play sport or fantasies about about men who do!

Is it possible for a woman to be faithful?

Of course.

If you were married and your dream man offered you a one night stand, could you resist?

Yes, as I would already be married to him!

Who should make the first move?

Always the man!

Should men rule the world? hahaha ... well you lot havn’t done the best job so far so definitley NO!

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Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

BOLLYWOOD

BARFI A VERY Sunny Malik talks to Priyanka Chopra New role for Priyanka

•LEGEND Brad Pitt

The Bollywood Pitt

HOLLYWOOD hunk Brad Pitt who has been named amongst the sexiest men in the world is now ready to star alongside former Miss World, Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan if given the chance.

“Indian cinema seems to be growing very well at its own pace. I would love to work in a Bollywood film as there is so much drama and colour in the films there,” Pitt told IANS in an email interview.

“The filmmaking, I hear, has evolved a lot in India and of late we have witnessed some good films making a presence at the Oscars and the world stage,” added the actor.

They missed the opportunity of working together, when Aishwarya was offered the part of Briseis in Troy by director Wolfgang Peterson, but turned it down.

Brad Pitt will be next seen in Killing Them Softly.

AFTER portraying the character of an autistic person in her recently released movie, Barfi!

Priyanka Chopra has now been approached by the Forum For Autism to become the face of their organization. The organization was very impressed by her acting and believe she’ll be the perfect ambassador for their cause.

The Forum For Autism will honour Priyanka once she returns back from Los Angeles trip.

Priyanka, how was the experience working with Will.i.am?

I was in L.A. shooting a part of the video for my single In My City with Will.I.am which was a really exciting for me, he’s one of the most talented musicians around and definitely knows how to make a hit.

I am quite delighted that I got to collaborate with him on my debut single.

Ranbir, you were in Paris for Karan Johar’s Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani?

Yes, I was filming. Fortunately for me, I was filming a part of the movie, which did not really require much work. It was just five minutes of the movie, which we shot over ten days. I actually ended up chilling most of the time.

Ranbir, this was your second interaction with UK fans?

It is always great to come to London and see the love and warmth fans have towards actors and movies. We missed PeeCee (Priyanka Chopra) as she was travelling. It was an amazing experience and I hope we can reciprocate that love in the future again. It is the least we can do for all the fans.

‘I would never have imagined playing Jhilmil’

Priyanka

Priyanka, did you ever imagine you could play the role of Jhilmil in Barfi?

I would have never seen myself like that. I would have never imagined myself playing Jhilmil. Performing the character was very scary in the beginning. I was amazed that director, Anurag Basu even thought I could play the role.

•OUR MAN Sunny Malik with the stars

Jhilmil is autistic. What kind of autism do you portray in the film?

Priyanka: Autism has a huge range. It can go from extremely non-existent, where you won’t even know that you are autistic, to really severe. When we were researching what we wanted Jhilmil to be and how she would be, she turned into that person by meeting and speaking to lots of different people.

DESPERATE TO GET MARRIED

RANI fans can catch her back on the big screen next month not to one but three different item numbers in her forthcoming film Aiyyaa.

Aiyyaa tells the story of a girl whose parents are desperate to get her married.

“I think Aiyyaa character Meenakshi Deshpande is such that every girl, whose parents are trying to get her married, will identify with her. Even I, to some extent, identify with this character” said Rani.

We are pretty much sure there are plenty of girls out there along with 34year-old actresses who will be able to identify with the character.

That is how her character emerged.

There is no real reference point to how Jhilmil was. We did not derive her from any reference of any character. Because autism’s range and the range of symptoms are so huge, it can be anything.

Ranbir tells us that Jhilmil is not innocent and actually quite naughty?

Jhilmil is not naughty. She actually is very innocent. She doesn’t eat butterflies, she gets scared by them!

Tell us more about your characters?

Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

DIFFERENT STORY.... and Ranbir Kapoor about Barfi and Will.i.am Priyanka: Jhilmil, is pretty isolated with every emotion. If she is feeling love, she will only feel love. If she is feeling anger, she will only be angry. It was beautiful for me because it was really free. I was not conscious of anything or anyone but it took me a little while to get there.

Ranbir: He is actually like Charlie Chaplin. He is not innocent at all.

The film has this innocence about it. They are all naughty. I guess, Shruthi, the character played by Ileana D’Cruz, you could call her innocent.

How was it working with director, Anurag Basu?

Priyanka: He is like a six-year-old on the set. He is just like a child. I don’t know when he directed us.

Anurag sums up all three characters in Barfi! He is the sum of Ileana, Ranbir and me in this film.

Ranbir: Anurag is a director who really supports your work. You just want to do the best for him. He is such a great guy and is doing it all for the movie not for personal reasons. He has this amazing quality that makes you happy. When somebody makes you happy and feel good about yourself, you want to do good things for him.

Apparently, you were not narrated the script completely.

Priyanka: I was narrated the film completely. But the film morphed a lot. It changed a lot from the time I was narrated it and said ‘I have to do this film’ to what it has turned to being. I forgot in the middle what the film is about. I did not need to know. As Jhilmil, the character, I did not need to know what the film was about. I just needed to know what the director said and that was to have blind faith and trust that all three of us had in him.

Ranbir: I actually heard 35 narrations of the film. Priyanka was unaware of the script but I was confused and Ileana thought she was starring in Dhoom 6

21

BOLLYWOOD Millionaire back on the box Sony TV Asia is launching a new series of Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), a game show that exposes the general knowledge of ambitious participants. The show first aired in June 2005 with actor Amitabh Bachchan as the anchor. The show, based on the UK’s Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, hosted by Chris Tarrant, was a huge ratings success in India and even inspired the film Slumdog Millionaire.

Transcending all barriers of caste, creed and class, the show engages people from all walks of life, not only to participate and make their dreams of winning a fortune come true, but also to showcase their talent and thirst for knowledge.

KBC follows the same format from Who Wants To Be A Millionaire of giving individuals the chance to win a life changing cash prize. As the contestants scale up the money ladder, the questions increase in difficulty with a total of 13 questions leading to the 5 Crore Rupees fortune.

Following on from its previous season the contestants will now be allowed to set their own safe haven anywhere on the money ladder; however the questions will be timed at 45 seconds until the contestant reaches that level adding to the immense suspense already synonymous with the show.

Last year the show made history with a young aspirant winning the top prize of Rupees 5 Crores.

The innumerable fans of the show can now again see the adventurous contestants battle out with their knowledge prowess for the 2012 cash prizes.

And with Amitabh Bachchan’s powerful star presence and personality, KBC is all set to alight the small screen and draw more ardent audiences to the drawing room .

•VERSATILE Priyanka Chopra

• Barfi is currently showing in cinemas.

VETERAN director Yash Chopra turns 80 on September 27th and will be planning a grand party to celebrate.

Whilst the A-listers and who’s who of Bollywood are sure to attend, it is also been said that Yash Raj Films will be inviting all the heroines the director has worked with spanning his 50 years of filmmaking.

MINI ZINTA BIG B BORDER CROSS FEW months ago Priety Zinta launched a search for a child actor who would play her younger role in her home production of Ishkq in Paris. And it just so happens, Preity Zinta’s six-year-old niece, Maya has been chosen to play the part.

Apparently Maya is said to be a replica and even sports dimples like her aunt. Like they say, it all runs in the family.

“Maya is very young, so she didn’t really care much about acting. For her, it was more of an adventure. She was more than excited to be a part of her aunt’s film. From the professional point of view, she was extremely nice to work with,” director Prem Raj said in a statement.

IF ALL goes to plan then we could soon see legendary veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan playing the character of a Pakistan national in Oscar-winning sound designer Resul Pookutty’s directorial debut.

Resul Pookutty, who bagged an Academy award for best sound mixing for Slumdog Millionaire, said, “I have approached Mr Bachchan for the film that I want to direct. The character is from another country but it is not a political film.

It is an extremely human subject that touches the lives of people on both sides of the border.”

The movie is set to be an emotional one dealing of a relationship between father and son. Although discussions have been made, nothing yet has been finalised.

22

Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

FEATURE

FRAMES OF MIND LASTING THE DISTANCE

WHETHER you are a couple that live in each other’s pockets or one that gets along through a lot of interaction with friends and family, it’s common to occasionally need time out to be by yourself or time apart to spend with others.

But when the need for space feels like you’re growing distant from one another, you need to hold it together before it falls apart. Couples only grow distant when they stop communicating their true feelings and talk about nothing instead…

THE SMALL DETAIL: Your partner seems to be troubled over something, but doesn’t seem to want to share it with you. Thing is, you don’t seem bothered. He always sorts himself out in the end…

THE FRAME OF MIND: Part of you has accepted that you can’t always be the one that sorts out the other’s issues – after all, you’ve had to deal with a fair few things on your own without him making it all better the way he used to when you first started dating. You figure if he really needed your help, he’d ask for it.

It gets a bit boring when you ask

‘what’s wrong?’, only to hear ‘nothing, I’m fine’.

Every relationship has its cracks. But that doesn’t mean you can’t work together to restore the damage and make things picture perfect Wrong distance relationship

THE BIGGER PICTURE: At the start of a relationship, it’s common to share all your thoughts. But once you feel the other knows you well enough, you begin to think it should be obvious when you’re feeling down in the dumps. When one doesn’t respond to the other’s subtle signs of emotional neediness, it starts with sulking and grows into resentment, before finally turning into the bitter conclusion: ‘You’re not there for me when I need you.’ The more he acts like he’s been wronged by you, the more likely you are to feel it’s not your job to keep making amends because it’s not your fault he’s feeling the way he is.

EXPRESS YOURSELF: Accept that it is childish to insist your other half will guess what’s wrong with you. If something’s bugging you, just come out and say it. No one likes playing mind games, especially if you get shouted at for guessing the problem wrong.

MOOD TRANSFERS: This is the major cause for you to close yourself off from him. If his bad mood rubs off on you, and vice versa, sooner or later you’ll blame him for continually bringing you down. Alas, this will only infuriate or sadden him into thinking you no longer care. Make it a policy for the person who’s depressed to at least try to let the other do some cheering up.

THE RESTORATION: Making the other person feel bad for not making you feel better is just asking for trouble. If you’re feeling low, express how you feel without making him feel guilty. If you don’t give him the opportunity to kiss it better, you’ll part without a goodbye kiss.

Similarly, if he’s keeping you in the dark about a feeling, it could be that he’s worried you’ll just think him a miserable sod again.

Remember, people only share their problems when they’re sure the other person genuinely gives a toss.

MARTYR COMPLEX: It might feel noble not to burden your other half with your problems, but it’s actually quite insulting to leave him in the dark.

You won’t get brownie points for suffering alone, but you will get understanding if you let him in.

CLOSE CALL: Once keeping things to yourself becomes a habit, it becomes easier to leave the other out of the picture. When you feel a distance growing between you, turn the TV and your phones off and start talking.

Don’t shout your love TONGUE BITING: Take a deep breath when you sense an argument brewing. It’s not childish to walk away, as long as you come back calm and willing to communicate. If you hear something that gets your back up, clarify that you heard him right. Misunderstandings are the root of all arguments.

LISTEN & LEARN: If one of you wants to talk, the other should give that person a fair hearing. When you’re ready to discuss a prickly issue, you don’t want to hear: ‘I don’t want to talk about this right now.’ It’ll just get bottled up, twisted and suddenly explode.

PIN-POINT: Once you’re no longer furious, it’s easy to say it doesn’t matter. But it does and will again when you’re angry.

When you’re calm, put yourself in the frame of mind you were in and see exactly what got your goat. Especially the bits that sound too petty to admit to!

TOPIC CHANGING: If you’re arguing about the bill, argue about the bill. There’s nothing more infuriating than hearing: ‘Ooh, and another thing, you always leave your socks lying around.’ Stick to the subject!

FIGHTING TALK At the start of any happy relationship, there’s rarely a cross word because when you’re courting – you’re out to impress and careful not to offend. Disagreements sound more like debates, with one always ready to apologise should the other take it the wrong way. So when arguments rear their ugly heads, it seems like the beginning of the end of your happy days.

Not necessarily…

THE SMALL DETAIL: Every time you have a shouting match, it seems better to just forget about it. You’ve convinced yourselves you’re both hotheaded, it’ll be fine once you’ve both calmed down.

THE FRAME OF MIND: After a while, instead of trying to resolve the issue – your first thought becomes: Oh here we go again. This just makes him feel undermined because no angry person ever believes he’s repeating exactly the same thing.

He has a new angle to it, a new realisation and a need to spell out how little has changed since the last time this issue came up.

People raise their voices because they feel the point they’re trying to make is being missed.

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Angry things said in the heat of the moment have a terrible habit of being logged in the memory more strongly than all those loving words shared. As a result, you become cautious not to broach certain topics or worse still, pre-empt his reaction – a sure way of driving him nuts.

THE RESTORATION: Some couples resolve their issues with lovemaking. Sure, a bit of passion following an argument fires you up, but you won’t really grow as a couple if the same issues keep cropping up.

Kiss and make up doesn’t mean you just kiss. The best time to discuss things that bug you is when you’re not actually bugged.

Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

23

FEATURE BORED IT UP The more we get to know someone, the bigger the chances of taking that person for granted.

Especially when routine digs its heel into a path once made up of spontaneous decisions on both sides. The problem with being bored is that it’s easy to think you’ve tired of one another, when you should be using this shared tedium to come up with ways to liven up both your lives…

THE SMALL DETAIL: You’ve both had a long day, neither feels like doing much. It’s no big deal. You do your thing, he does his – you don’t always have to do things together, right?

THE FRAME OF MIND: The bored mind needs stimulation, but being lazy, wants it without having to work for it. Which is why easy distractions like reading a magazine or chatting on the Internet seems preferable than thinking up ways to cheer up your partner. And if he doesn’t look all that bothered to make an effort either, you may as well be left to your own devices. There’s nothing like lethargy to make you sigh: ‘Oh sod you then...’

THE BIGGER PICTURE: As time goes on, you’ll start to become self-sufficient in the way you handle times of tedium. He’ll start to rely on his Xbox, you on the box set of Desperate Housewives.

You’re beginning to create no-go zones where the other will feel like a trespasser. Before you know it, you’re leading separate lives.

THE RESTORATION: In the early stages of most relationships, the man makes the woman laugh; she makes him feel good about himself. Don’t let boredom stamp out this lovely tradition by resorting to yawns and lengthy silences. It may seem like a lot of effort to lose the remote for a night, but it’s worth it if it means you use each other’s minds to stimulate yourselves. Talking about your day isn’t going to be interesting so ask each other the kind of questions you ask random strangers in a chat room! Be silly, do something outrageous, anything but turning into a pair of vegetables...

Snap out of it!

AMBER LIGHT: It’s okay to do things to amuse yourself, but if you signal the red light, you’re basically saying: ‘Leave me alone.’ Always be prepared to let the other come up with an idea that’s more interesting to both, or at least, allow him to join in on what you’re doing.

SHARE INSIGHTS: When asked what you’re doing, it’s tempting to respond ‘oh nothing much’. Just because it doesn’t feel particularly interesting doesn’t mean it won’t become so if you both talked about it. At the very least, sharing your inane thoughts gives him the chance to take the mick out of you, which is always good for a giggle.

GO DELIRIOUS: Boredom isn’t the same as feeling down.

A lot of artistic people thrive on the nervous energy that comes with having nothing to do. Instead of slumping into the sofa, go a bit loopy. It’ll soon become infectious and you can both end up doing something pointless but so much fun.

SLAP & TICKLE: So you’re not in the mood for any funny business, but physical intimacy works wonders for a mind that’s shutting down. Whether it’s a hug, a stroke or a massage, it’s always better to be touched than brushed off.

HAPPY TOGETHER Instead of fooling yourself into thinking it’s always like this, learn to let the good times roll forever HAPPY LESSON 1 Make the moment last

Lovey dovey couples have a foolish habit of believing things will always be like this without stopping to take note of how. All those photos you take, mementos you store in a box, cute little text messages you save – look at them together regularly to remind yourself how lucky you both are. Make memories as you go along.

HAPPY LESSON 2 Say the sweetest things

Why reserve romantic sentiments to the bedroom? All those words you said to get the other into bed and during pillow talk should be used during the most mundane of conversations. We need to hear words of love when we’re feeling least like making love. Keep one another gushing and you’ll stay feeling mushy.

HAPPY LESSON 3 Keep feeling fascination

We’re at our happiest when our object of desire makes us the centre of attention.

As we get used to one another, it becomes less important to make the other feel special. Whether you’re at a social gathering or just calling to bring back some milk, always make the other feel wanted, desired and interesting.

HAPPY LESSON 4 It’s not always like this

One of the saddest realisation lovers have is that things are no longer picture perfect. Your happy times together should be a reminder that life and love is good, not an ideal to keep striving for. If you expect every moment to be magic, you risk shattering the illusion. When it’s great rejoice, when it isn’t, don’t worry. It soon will be again...

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24

Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

MUSIC

MAKE MY DEEYAH New release Nordic Woman

MUSIC CITY IR WITH SAM

Chop of the Pops

from Scandinavian singer WHEN you’re a singer it’s always best to have a plan b up your sleeve, just in case it all goes wrong. In the case of Norwegian half Afghan, half Pakistani Deeyah, she hasn’t just got her voice; she’s a filmmaker, campaigner, music producer and human rights worker – you can’t get more multi-talented than that!

After Nordic Woman, Deeyah is releasing a further nine albums, from every continent, and choosing women from all the nations to take part in the recordings. Some are established singers and others, upand-coming talent that she’s spotted.

Aside from global voices Deeyah hopes the music will play an equally important role. She says: ‘I believe strongly in preserving cultural music like teaching future Her new album Nordic Woman generations to play classical is a compilation but it isn’t a vanity instruments such as the sitar and project of her choosing her favourite tabla.’ Deeyah herself was singers. It’s a showcase of women approached at a young age by one with important stories to tell. of Pakistan’s greatest musical Deeyah describes it as ‘a celebration legends, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. He of women’s voices who have gone asked her to play with him but she through struggles and suffering.’ All declined the offer as she didn’t feel the women have originated from ready.

Today Deeyah has committed Nordic countries, hence the title.

Deeyah admits one of the reasons is her life to music. She also runs a that she believes they are ahead of charity that encourages children the rest of the world when it comes who have little exposure to music, a to valuing women. She explains: chance to take it up, away from the ‘The Nordic countries are the best eyes of their parents. Many children countries for women to live. They contact her for advice as so many gave women equality before the families still discourage music. She reveals: ‘I get emails from boys and other European nations.’

As a firm supporter of human girls who want to play music but rights and interest in international their parents won’t let them. It affairs, Deeyah has embarked on a saddens me and this is my way of musical journey to discover female helping them.’

Nordic Woman is released singers from across the globe, giving them a platform to share September 24th. To find out more visit: www.deeyah.com their compositions.

•NORDIC Deeyah

BHAJANS HITS THE CHARTS AFTER the success of her first album, The Bhajan Project in 2010, Shivali is back with a new soulful Bhajan Vaishnava Janato from her forthcoming album Urban Temple.

Shivali’s Urban Temple is a blend of traditional bhajans and mantras with shades of R’n’B, Soul, Rock and Pop. She believes the best way to illustrate her love for God is through producing music that can help many to bond with the Divine in the modern world.

At first look, you might regard Shivali as a fashionable popdiva but upon singing, her devotion is unquestionable. Her positive attitude, immense passion and devotion for the Lord promises to delight and inspire all who listen to her album.

HELLO Music City-zens! I’m writing this from another City this week, all the way from the sunny and sandy shores of Dubai! That’s right, there’s no holiday when you’re in the music business and on my short trip here I’ve been keeping a close eye and ear on all the latest Asian sounds for your latest dose of Music City!

This week is all about one lady in the Asian music scene. A lady who needs no introduction, but is a newcomer in the music world. It is former Miss World, Bollywood superstar Priyanka Chopra! That’s right, Priyanka has decided the time is right to launch her music career, even whilst her film career is soaring with rave reviews pouring in for her latest hit movie ‘Barfi’. It seems that Priyanka is almost bored of the Bollywood industry and fancies a new challenge altogether… welcome to the world of illegal downloads, record label politics and the inevitable cynicism from the music critics who will box off Priyanka as another below average film star-cum-recording artist.

The song itself ‘In My City’ (clearly Priyanka has taken inspiration from my very own Music City!) is totally mainstream, with production from hitmaker RedOne (Lady Gaga, Akon etc) and features fellow super producer, rapper and ‘The Voice’ judge Will.I.Am. The combination is deadly on paper and I was expecting something a lot more fresh, but ‘In My City’ is a very safe song. It captures a party atmosphere, a very catchy, cheesy, upbeat pop number but doesn’t leave us with a lasting impression that Priyanka is something different. The song sounds like it could be J.Lo or Nicole Scherzinger, which is credit to the producer, the song-writer and behind the scenes team. But will Priyanka get lost in the big bad music world? Only time will tell, but for now, check out ‘In My City’ if you’re in a good mood, it’s addictively fun but lacks artistic direction and substance.

Controversy from the Stranger Family this week. The camp has been torn apart by the departure of fans’ favourite Junai Kaden. The Stranger Family consists of Mumzy Stranger, Tasha Tah, Char Avell and Ramee. Up until last week it also had Junai Kaden but that is no more! A blow to the camp who until now were gaining some momentum and heat with tracks from Tasha Tah and Mumzy’s new one ‘Dreaming’. I think Junai was always the little gem in the line up, and he was hugely popular amongst the teen fan base. Whether he embarks on a solo career with a new management / label is unknown but I think if he does he will find success providing he has hit songs. The Stranger Family will continue as if nothing’s happened but Junai will leave a dent in their ranks.

• Signing off from sunny Dubai. Follow me on twitter @samirsamir for all the latest music news!

RUDE BOY ARJUN After the roaring success of the song Teri Meri featuring the vocals of Priti Menon, Brit Asian singer Arjun is back with a new fusion remix of Rihanna’s Rude Boy. The new track is sounding like another hit, from an artist who has now racked up over an incredible 14 million YouTube hits!

That’s 3rd to only Jay Sean and M.I.A amongst pop artists of Asian origin.

•MUSIC CITY Priyanka Chopra

Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

25

MUSIC

10 years of AMA

NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED FOR 2012 AWARDS The Hunterz Returnz

A HOUSEHOLD name in the Asian music industry, and one of the most versatile artists of his kind, Hunterz is back with the release of his new single Aja Mahiya, which is his first release since 2008 and produced by none other than the Asian beat-master Rishi Rich.

Described as a contemporary clash of Asian and urban sounds, Hunterz states “It’s a killer song! An immense production from Rishi Rich, you wouldn’t expect anything else from him. I really enjoyed this one, from the first day when we recorded it in London to shooting the video in an amazing outdoor location in India, and now I’m very pleased with the end result.

I’m glad to be back releasing new music for all the fans around the world to enjoy once again. There’s a lot more in the pipeline in the coming months.”

Possessing a raw talent with the ability to sing and rap in English, Hindi, urdu and Punajbi, this track will reinforce his status as one of the most talented and versatile Asian artists in the UK.

Dubstep Dhanoa

HER debut single Tere Bina Nahin Jeena went straight to humber 1 on the iTunes World Chart within hours of it’s release. Now Kiran Dhanoa is back with a new single Scared (Darr) produced by Rishi Rich’s protégé Naamless.

Kiran who writes her own music in English, Hindi and Punabi brings a new dubstep vibe to show you another side to her.

Taking a break from the music scene to complete her degree, Kiran is back and ready to give her fans a new sound. “I want to thank the people that have been routing for me since my first release, this is from me to them” she states.

Scared (Darr) is available as a free download from www.kirandhanoa.co.uk

Dham Singh queens JAZ Dhami’s song, High Heels continues to soar, gaining more than 2 million YouTube hits in the process. The collaboration with Honey Singh has been instrumental in Jaz Dhami’s comeback and the two stars have been performing the song together in India, a market that Jaz will surely be looking to crack, off the back of the song’s success.

IT’S one of the most star studded events of the year in the musical calendar – but this year’s Lebara Asian Music Awards isn’t just a celebration of the biggest names in the business, it marks a milestone – 10 years of achievements in Asian Music in the UK.

The final nominees were announced last week at a glittering celebrity do held at The Grange Hotel in London, giving a taste of what to expect for the lavish bash itself, taking place at Wembley Arena on October 25th.

A record 13 artists have been nominated for more than one award including Jay Sean for Best Male and Best Video and M.I.A for Best Video and Best female.

Bhangra music is strongly represented across most of the categories with acts such as Garry Sandhu, Sukshinder Shinda, DJ Sanj, Panjabi By Nature and JK while Jugni Ji singer Kanika Kapoor makes her AMA debut with two nominations, including the hotly contested Best Newcomer award, which also includes Junai Kaden, Shide Boss, Banger and Romy Shay.

Punjabi music legend Gurdas Mann also makes the cut with two nominations for Best International Act and Best International Album, where he will be up against India’s rising rap-star Yo Yo Honey Singh in both categories. There has been no shortage of Urban talent

emerging from the UK over the last 12 months, and Arjun, Raxstar, Roach Killa and Metz N Trix have made it through in the Best Urban category where they are joined by last year’s winner Mumzy Stranger.

This year also sees a new category, Nokia Unsigned to discover the best emerging Asian music talent in the country and after months of online auditions and live auditions via a national summer tour, the Lebara Mobile AMA team and category sponsor Nokia, were delighted to present 17-year old singing sensation Amanjot Sangha as the winner at the AMAs launch. The young Londoner wowed the judging panel with her flawless rendition of Adele’s Don’t You Remember and wins the chance to perform at main awards and a production deal with Sony ATV / Karman Entertainment.

Ecstatic about her win, Amanjot confessed: ‘I honestly can’t believe I have won this amazing prize. Any girl who dreams of being a singer would dream of performing at Wembley Arena, a place where I’ve seen my idols perform year after year.’

Public voting is now open at www.theukama.com and closes on Sunday 14th October 2012.

•TOGETHER Atif and Himmesh

MUSICAL STAND-OFF

THEY say music is a bridge that brings us together where we can form new friendships, heal the sick and lonely, or bring nations closer together.

This can definitely be seen in the form of the new Sahara One’s new music show, Sur-Kshetra, hosted by Bollywood actress, Ayesha Takia, where two teams are mentored by Indian music director, singer Himmesh Reshammiya and Pakistani superstar Atif Aslam, and judging the contestants are three music legends, Asha Bhosle (India) Abida Parveen (Pakistan) and Runa Laila (Bangladesh).

Sur-Kshetra’s will bring forth hidden music talent not only from India but also from Pakistan. So now India-Pakistan cricket matches aren’t the only thing that will be causing excitement amongst the two nations.

•NOMINEE M.I.A

26

Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

BLOGGED ON TECH CITY N WITH EM KWA

..at last - iPhone 5 WITH the iPhone 5 specs revealed and all the hype calming down, you’re probably wondering whether it’s worth the upgrade, from an existing iPhone or another handset.

We take a look at the pros and cons based on what Apple and other tech correspondents have shared.

Pros: • Better Tech: As expected, the newest iPhone is a good step up from previous iPhones. It features the new A6 chip, 5GHz Wi-Fi, the ability to do 720p HD video on the FaceTimes Camera and the ability to take photos while shooting video.

Overall Apple claim to have made advances to the iPhone.

• Better battery life: Apple claims there’s up to 225 hours on Standby time, up from the iPhone 4S, and longer hours on Wi-Fi and 3G. Plus, there’s also eight hours on LTE. • Welcome to 4G: That’s right, the iPhone 5 can finally use 4G LTE. 4G refers to faster speeds of data. Considering this keeps coming to more areas, it’s just nice to see the iPhone joining a space that Android phones have been at for a while. Sure, some people may not get use out of it, but it really does make a difference. Currently in the UK only one carrier, EE has the technology to offer 4G. • Lighter to carry: Besides being almost a full ounce lighter, the phone also doesn’t have as much depth as previous iPhones. The trade-off, though, is that it is slightly taller, at 4.87”. Still it doesn’t look like it will make that much of a difference in height.

• Bigger screen!!!

PASSION FOR FASHION Our regular spotlight on a blog to log onto Name: Nazma N Name of Blog: Asian Fashion Blog Name of Blog: www.asianfashionblog.co.uk

That’s a small list of pros and cons. If you think I’ve missed one, let me know via twitter @emkwan.

Also, let me know if you managed to pick up the new iPhone 5.

What do you do that is considered unconventional in the blogging world?

My blog is very much about the “average” person’s point of view on asian fashion. I’m not friends with loads of designers, I don’t attend all the fashion events and when I go shopping I rarely mention the fact I have a blog - I want to get an authentic shopping experience so I can write about what an everyday shopper would experience.

Similarly, my knowledge of fabrics and cuts and embroidery styles is limited - I just write about what I like and what I don’t like and I think a lot of people can relate to that.

How long have you been blogging?

Around 8 years, I started in 2004 with a personal blog documenting my time at University and falling in love. When I decided to shop writing a personal blog I started Asian Fashion Blog.

How did the idea of blogging come about?

I knew I wanted to keep writing and publishing online and was on the hunt for a topic that I knew I would always be interested in. I loved looking at pictures of asian fashion but the quarterly magazines which focused on this weren’t enough to satisfy my appetite, so I decided to start my own blog.

What is your blog about?

I didn’t give my blog a cool mysterious title my blog name pretty much sums up what I write about - asian fashion trends! I post a lot of photos from fashion shows, write shop reviews and give my views on a lot of other asian fashion-related topics.

How many hours a week do you spend blogging?

It varies, but I’d say 7-10 hours per week on average, this includes research time as well as writing and publishing.

How often do you update your blog?

Again it varies on what events are happening but I aim for at least one update per week.

What is your greatest accomplishment in Blogging?

Being recognised by mainstream media. As well as mentions in mainstream newspaper articles I was also asked to contribute my views on asian fashion for a the local BBC series Inside Out. What has been your greatest challenge?

Keeping up the motivation to blog, I’ve never completely given up on the blog, but sometimes when you’ve been writing about a topic for five years, you go through phases of wanting a break. I don’t force myself to blog, and regular readers of my blog will notice there are times when updates are scarce, but I always find the inspiration to write again eventually!

How many people read your blog?

Asian Fashion Blog has built up quite a following since I started and whilst I don’t want to publish my exact readership figures, I will say that I have over 2000 fans on Facebook.

Cons: • But not big enough. The screen has finally broken the 4” barrier. This is great, considering the 4 and 4S were both 3.5” screens. However, for some they will still have to question why it wasn’t bigger. Android devices have already pushed past the 4.5” mark, with the Galaxy Nexus topping out at 4.6”. Some predict Apple will eventually get there, but how far along with the competition be by then?

• Why a new charge cord? One of the biggest criticisms of the new iPhone is Apple’s newly introduced cord known as ‘Lightning’. So, why is Apple now changing from the 30-pin charger to the Lightning charger? There really doesn’t seem to be any big reason for the change, except possibly faster data connection to computers.

Many high-end speakers and accessories will now no longer be able to be used with the new iPhone unless a £25 accessory is purchased.

More costs.

• New SIM cards: Both the 4 and 4S use MicroSIM cards to store pictures, contacts and more, making them easily swappable when upgrading.

However, that’s not the case with 5. The latest iPhone will use a Nano-SIM card, another ‘new’ iPhone specific feature which will mean the sim will not be swappable with other handsets if required, think traveling internationally.

favourites, another is AAINA Bridal (www.aainabridal.com). For mainstream fashion I really like Fashion Daydreams (www.fashiondaydreams.com).

On the shelf

Why do some people start a blog and then give up after a while?

As I mentioned before, motivation can be a big issue. I stopped writing my personal blog because I felt I was at a different place in my life compared to when I started it. As well as that, changes in the online landscape made me stop personal blogging - I didn’t need a personal blog as much because I had Facebook and Twitter instead.

Who is your biggest influence?

Mainstream journalists and fashion bloggers.

Although my blog focuses on a niche area, I would love to emulate the success of the mainstream fashion blogs which have really made it big.

What advice would you like to share with fellow bloggers?

Make sure you read blogs written by other people in your subject matter and network with them - see them as your friends rather than your competition! If you’re starting out, a guest post on a more popular blog is a great way to increase your own readership.

Do you get upset if you don’t get any feedback on your blogs?

Not at all, there are plenty of blogs I read and never comment on so I know there are plenty of “silent” readers out there just like me. Having said that I often get feedback via email (mostly positive!) which is always nice to receive.

If someone was interested in blogging, what few things would you suggest?

Give it a try and see where it takes you. When I started I never envisioned what it would become now. Also, get to grips with Google Analytics it’s a tool you can add to your blog which will give you detailed statistics about your website traffic.

Do you have a personal favourite blog / or blogger?

Even though my days as a bride-to-be are long gone, I’m really enjoy reading wedding blogs.

Asian Wedding Ideas www.asianweddingideas.co.uk is one of my

What do you do when you aren’t blogging?

I work in online marketing - I write blogs for my company, manage their website content, social media channels, send email campaigns etc.

Although it all equates to a lot of time spent sat at a computer, I love doing what I do.

INDIA FANTASTIQUE Publisher: Thames & Hudson • Hardback £95.00 Twenty years in the fashion industry and how do you celebrate it? With the launch of a book! Known as the masters of revival and reinvention, India’s designer duo Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla who have dressed Holywood stars like Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Freida Pinto and Sophie Marceau have launched their first coffee table book titled, India Fantastique.

India Fantastique gives an insight into the world of Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla, India’s most celebrated couturiers, showcases some of their creativity from fashion to furniture and celebrates their twenty-fifth anniversary in the industry.

“Abu & I thought long and hard about how we wanted to celebrate our milestone, and also about how we would use this celebration to set the vision for our creativity and ourselves in the next twenty-five. It soon became clear that a book, or rather two as it turned out to be, were the ideal vehicle.” stated Sandeep Khosla.

The first volume displays dozens of the duo’s elegant designs created over the past 25 years. The second volume focuses on their extensive work in interior design.

Published by Thames & Hudson, this two-volume publication is an unparalleled showcase of the designer duo’s exuberant fashion and interiors.

The book, which is priced at £95, is probably the cheapest way of sampling the duo’s works!

Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

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ARTS

THE ART OF RELIGION Artist Saif Osmani shares his gospel with Momtaz Begum-Hossain WHEN Saif led me to a carpeted office block to see his latest exhibition I was perplexed at how you can have an art gallery in such an inconspicuous place.

Then again, The Mica Gallery in Sloane Square not being a conventional exhibition space, suits the fact that Saif isn’t your typical artist.

•TV CHEF Madhur Jaffrey

FESTIVE SPIRIT

GET your diaries out and your shopping lists at the ready: it’s that time of the year when you need to update your home library. The 3rd South Asian Literature Festival takes place at the Bush Theatre in London on November 1st but before that, there’s a host of preevents taking place later this month and in October that booklovers will not want to miss.

The pre-event kicks off on Friday 28th September when celebrated graphic novelist Amruta Patil launches of her new work Adi Parva: Churning of the Ocean, part of an ambitious trilogy based on the Indian epic Mahabharata. Patil will discuss the process of adapting the Sanskrit text into graphic novel form with Neel Mukherjee, author of the acclaimed A Life Apart, and comics guru Paul Gravett.

The event is presented in partnership with the inaugural Comica London Festival and takes place at Foyles Bookshop on Charing Cross Road. On Tuesday 2nd October bestselling Indian novelist Samit Basu launches Turbulence, a hyper-real novel set in India and London. The story asks ‘What would you do if you were given the power to change the world?’ and focuses on Aman Sen, a young drifter suddenly given everything he ever wished for. Basu will discuss the mysteries and powers of superhumans with Doctor Who writer Ben Aaronovitch, at Waterstones flagship store in Piccadilly. Later that week on Thursday 4th October at Stationers’ Hall in the City, journalist and broadcaster Sir Mark Tully will be in conversation with BBC London 94.9 presenter Nikki Bedi, reflecting on the story of modern India. Tully will discuss his life reporting from the region.

Madhur Jaffrey and Hardeep Singh Kohli are set to cook up a proverbial storm at the Bishopsgate Institute on Wednesday 17th October, discussing the stories behind Jaffrey’s new book, Curry Nation (Ebury Press). In her only London event, she will share stories about her journey around Britain, undertaken as part of a major new series with the Good Food Channel. Jaffrey explores her native cuisine and the impact it has had on the nation, along with Singh Kohli, who recently toured the UK as part of a BBC Radio 2 series about India and Britain. Together they will examine historical and cuisinebased links between the two countries.

Then, to complete the pre-Festival series, on Wednesday 31st October at the Royal Over-Seas League, Anne de Courcy explores the reality of life during the Raj for countless young women in search of romance and adventure in India, while Britain’s most eligible young men were running the country. They became known as ‘The Fishing Fleet’, and with the help of diaries and letters rescued from attics Anne will bring this forgotten era vividly to life.

• To find out more about the festival and to book pre-festival event tickets visit www.southasianlitfest.com

Born and raised in the East End, Brit Bengali Saif Osmani discovered the pleasures of watercolours aged 11, from a set he bought in Poundland and has since painted, drawn, collaged and sculpted his way through life, while training to be an architect. His journey from the hip Central St Martins to Canary Wharf, via Chelsea School of Art, and a residency in Taiwan where he spent six months exploring bamboo, culminated in him showing at the The Mica, as part of their ‘My Place On The Isle’ exhibition, which encouraged contemporary artists to explore faith and identity. Saif’s contribution was the talking point.

The concept? He cut Jesus out of renowned paintings. An idea that surprisingly delighted his local Newham Christian priest, and crowned him the new face of modern Islamic art. He explains: ‘Originally I approached the National Gallery and asked them if I could get copies of some of the major works that featured Jesus, but they didn’t get what I was trying to do so I recreated them myself. I was never on a mission to re-define religious artefacts - it just got interpreted that way.’

Saif chose seven key pieces of fine art that depicted Jesus, painted replicas of them and then grabbed the scissors. All well and good.

But how does that explore faith? Saif explains: ‘In Christianity images of Jesus are over saturated. Every one has an image of him.

When I see African women in the street with their religious pamphlets depicting an image of an Aryan man with a halo on his head, I always wonder how they can believe that’s what he looked like? No one knows. Just like Muslims don’t know what Muhammed looked like.’

When I ask Saif if being a Muslim makes his controversial pieces a form of Islamic Art, he’s quick to explain that the ‘genre’ is too subjective to define. ‘When you think of Islamic art you imagine calligraphy, geographic shapes and minarets but who decided that is what Islamic Art is?’

Inspired by the relationship between religion and art and whether religion can be art, Saif is currently working on an illustrated Qu’ran something he needed to do after realising he was spending too much time explaining his religion. He reveals: ‘Post 9/11 I was asked lots of questions about what it’s like to be a Muslim.

In the end I bought an English translation of The Qu’ran for a colleague who said it was the best present he’d ever received. The thing about Islam is that it questions your values –

•ARTIST Saif Osmani himself, if at all. ‘People assume I’m Muslim when they see my work, but in truth I identify more with being a Bengali. Don’t be fooled by my Western attire - at home I lounge around in a lungi and string vest! A lot of my work is inspired by the Desh - its landscapes and politics. I was born here but you can’t escape the countries influence when you’re an East Londoner.’

Before we part, Saif opens up a plastic bag and asks me to pick something at random. I unravel a piece of paper with intricately painted script reading ‘Have a beautiful day.’ Saif woke sometimes it’s harder to express this in words up one morning and painted hundreds of the and speech but you can do anything in art.’ same quote until he ran out of ink. In between A sentiment he shares when it comes to his creating new work and his architecture job, he other passion; buildings. ‘It’s always fascinated hands them out on street corners to random me how architects are the people responsible for passer-bys. deciding how we live our lives. They As I left him to an afternoon of doing just conceptualise entire cities and add people in – that, it dawned on me that I hadn’t had such an there’s some really interesting things happening in depth discussion about religion in a long in Delhi, Bangalore and Dubai especially. It’s time. I certainly never expected to have one also intriguing to see how different nations with an artist – though I’m pleased I did. It represent minarets…especially in Europe where beats a school RE lesson any day. they are often banned.’

Trapped in a world of art, religion and • Saif Osmani has solo exhibitions at the architecture, the conversation naturally turns to Rich Mix and Stephen Lawrence galleries identity and I ask Saif how he categorises next year.

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Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

WEDDINGS

BUNDLES OF JOY Hold on! Before you settle for the obvious bouquet, make a grab for the fabulous new array of pomanders on offer.

Look through our pick of the bunch and have yourself a ball…

THEY say marriage is like a ball and chain. We say brilliant.

Especially if the chain in question is a beautiful ribbon and the ball is a pomander – the hottest accessory every fashionable bride is insisting on carrying around with her.

A pomander is a round ball covered in flowers, often attached with a ribbon and are considered one of the oldest styles of floral bouquets. In past times, affluent ladies carried sweet-smelling pomander balls to inhale while travelling through polluted streets.

They have now evolved to become the most elegant and dramatic way to arrange flowers for your wedding.

Pomanders are one of the most creative ways to arrange a bouquet.

There are many ways you can achieve an innovative ball, with a plethora of flowers at your disposal. Usually a single spherical creation, you can be as imaginative as you like by having three

PURPLE REIGN Dramatic shades

speak volumes.

An arrangement of deep burgundy gerbera and maroon tinged cotinus leaf spray screams style

balls in descending size order, tied together with organza or silk ribbon.

Get your florist to match the colours in your bridal outfit to those used in the bouquet. Another exciting idea is to take a piece of material from your wedding lengha and use it to cover the base of the arrangement instead of leaves. You don’t need to stop at flowers – dress up a pomander arrangement by adding feathers, ribbon or pearls to create a totally unique design.

In keeping with this season’s style, go with a woodland feel by adding berries, fruit and greenery to the arrangement. You can use almost every family of flowers in your arrangement, but the ones that are naturally spherical and work perfectly include allius, agapanthus and thistle heads. For those on a lower budget try something simple yet striking like gypsophilia.

Pomanders don’t have to be restricted to the bridal bouquet. They look amazing as table arrangements and are ideal for little flower girls to

hold as they are simple to carry and can be tied with ribbon around their wrists.

Top florist Urvashi Roe adds: ‘Pomander style bouquets are a great way to make a real statement. The great thing is, they can made in any colour, plus pins and beads can be used to help it match with your wedding outfit. It is essential that you use a skilled florist that understands exactly how to tie the ribbon handle – you need the ball to last all day! A good florist will also know which flowers bruise easily. For example, you could never use cream roses in a pomander arrangement as they will get damaged very easily. Check that your florist manually glues in every delicate flower so that you don’t leave a trail of petals behind you – only admiring glances!’

THINK PINK Roses are the

essential ingredient for a fairytale wedding.

Teaming pale pink roses with delicate resomme bloom and pretty pink lisianthus makes this fantasy real

SCARLET WOMAN A destructured contemporary piece where sumptuous lavender allium heads are entwined with wild scabiosa and plum lisianthus oozes passion

Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

I can’t believe it’s not Batur When it comes to designing, talent is what matters Some people may be surprised to hear I’ve already launched my first collection, even though I’ve just turned 23, but it proves that the industry is not about age or experience. I graduated from Pakistan’s most highly anticipated Fashion School Called (PIFD) Pakistan Institute of Fashion and Design in Lahore last year 2011. I was spotted and given an award that sponsored me to put out my debut collection by the end of the year.

•FASHION DESIGNER Batur Muhammad I’m very drawn to nature, which you’ll see in my designs My inspiration comes from everywhere but mainly it’s very organic and comes naturally. I am a green person and am totally in love with mother nature. We learned everything from nature from the day we were born. Even urban life is inspired by the wild.

Animals play a big role in my current collection My Autumn/Winter 2012 collection is called Secure Insecure. I was immensely influenced by my tribe, a minority from my hometown in Quetta City, Pakistan, who are facing genocide. We are a tribe who are helpless and we do not know who these people are and why are they killing us. I have prints of

cheetah and zebra as reference to the killers and victims. I also have chains printed on my garments to represent the lack of security my tribe face.

It was a career highlight to present at Pakistan Fashion Week London It was the first international showcase of my work and it got a great response. I felt the event it self was an extremely important platform for emerging designers and the whole team were so passionate, I’m sure it will soon become one of the biggest Asian fashion events in Europe.

I hope you like the pictures!

While taking part in events and catwalks is exciting, seeing your work professionally styled and

photographed takes it to a whole new level! I had the pleasure of working with stylist Iffat Raja and a fabulous make-up artist called Huma Mirza who understood my vision for make-up for my clothes. It made me realise how important the details are, it not just about having great clothes, but also making them look good is what makes a collection, a success. We also had a nail artist (Mitra Mirza) and hair stylist (Fyza Raja) which added to the overall look we were going for.

The Autumn/Winter theme is made from an usual collection of fibres like natural and synthetic but with an edge. I’m highly influenced

by Lady Gaga because it’s great to have someone who is daring. As a designer it pushes you outside the bubble which helps you gain confidence.

The future’s bright!

Over the next five years I want to work more for other designers and international brands. I am not in a rush to become overly successful until I hit my 30’s. Before then I want to experience as many things as possible, not just by becoming a designer who makes pretty clothes, but someone who designs with maturity.

• To find out more visit www.facebook.com/baturmuhammad.official

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FASHION WEAR IT WELL LONG SLEEVES Long sleeves on evening wear is a welcome addition to stave off the chilly months. However, to avoid looking like your grandma, only choose outfits in light, flowy fabric, with a lovely plunging neckline.

CORSETS Cheap corsets are the downfall of any classy evening look, so make sure you invest in a piece that has been properly boned. Plain colours allow for far more inventiveness on the bottom, so don’t be afraid to go for bold prints.

This season, peacock and rich purples represent the coolest colour palettes to choose from – just make sure you don’t clash.

LAYERING There’s something to be said for simplistic outfits, but if you want your fellow party guests to enviously gawk at the construction of your outfit, only layering will do. Avoid bulkiness with panels of lace, chiffon and light silk

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Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

31

BEAUTY

HEAVENLY HAIR Tame your tresses this Autumn with

advice from celebrity hairstylist Asgar YOU may not know him by name, but you’ll certainly recognise his handiwork! Hairstylist to the rich and famous, internationally renowned celebrity hairdresser Asgar has styled everyone from supermodel Cindy Crawford to Bollywood sirens Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Karisma Kapoor, Deepika Padukone as well as the legendary Rekha.

The UK based hair maestro has worked his magic on scores of celebrities and dignitaries the world over, made the front cover of several leading fashion magazines including Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar and regularly appears in national newspapers with his showstopping and inspirational coiffures.

A regular on the red carpet, Asgar’s hair creations have been showcased at glittering premieres, showbiz events and awards ceremonies – he’s even on the speed dial of the Sultan of Brunei’s household, who call on his styling services ahead of their lavish events.

Thankfully though, he also loves making time for his other clients – real women who like to look good!

Asgar’s Top 10 Autumn hair care tips The Autumn Winter months can dull hair. In order to 1 get a healthy shine you should invest in a good quality shampoo and conditioner. Wash and condition

L A T E H A M M E G :: H C T A W MODEL Modelling highlights?

Every time I model I am so happy and passionate, so for me every single modelling experience had been a highlight. It is always remembered and appreciated. If I had to really

pinpoint a highlight it would be when I was modelling in Egypt in Sinai. I was doing a shoot on a fast moving speed boat through to the Red Sea. It was for a swimwear line and it was just the thrill of it all!....I was having so much fun I almost forgot there was a photographer shooting me; I was also driving the speed boat at one point and it was a beautiful memory.

Model stereotype that frustrates you the most?

When a majority of people hear the word ‘model’ they instantly picture a person that is tall, pretty and very slim. This is something that can be frustrating for me because that it a very traditional and rigid way of thinking that people need to change. Some of the most beautiful women in the world, (actresses, singers) are not all very tall or pencil thin. I have also taken modelling projects on where I have to play a scary aggressive high fashion look which is far from pretty!

There probably is but its not for me. I would rather be a personality model. They get to be themselves and still model for top companies and designers.

How do you keep fit?

I run for 2 hours every morning and go to the gym every day for a full body work out! I take my health very seriously so I try my best to eat well and keep my figure at the best it can look.

How image-conscious are you?

I think image is very important, it’s not easy to look your best so you just have to be prepared for anything everyday and put your best face forward. I believe in natural beauty and if you keep yourself happy the beauty will always show; you dont always need to dress up as a doll!

Dream modelling job?

L’Oreal make up and skin care advertise Ambassador and Gucci clothing lines and oh.. definitely Vogue Magazine covers !!!!!

You seem to prefer the moody look…

Each theme and concept have their moods, I can play many roles and be many different people in Wardrobe essentials? my pictures. A lot of my bridal work is happy, Rolex watches, Louis Vuitton handbags, innocent and soft.

Manolo Blahnik shoes and nude platformed high heels, corporate dresses and blouses and Is there pressure to be a size zero in the high waisted jeans is something I can not live industry? without!!!!!

your hair, then blast it with a cold water rinse to help seal in the conditioner. This kind of treatment will make your hair easier to style and adds extra shine.

Hair becomes damaged by exposure to the sun and sea during the summer months, and so needs to be nourished from within to recover. An ordinary shampoo and conditioner is often not enough. You need an intensive moisturising shampoo and conditioner; products with the word ‘replenish’ on them usually do the trick.

Try to add a hair treatment mask once a week to your hair care routine for even deeper conditioning.

Moisturise your hair once a week with a hot oil treatment to promote a healthy scalp and nourished hair. Natural oils that work particularly well are coconut and almond oils.

Give your hair a new lease of life this season by cutting it to get rid of split ends. Aim to have your split ends cut every six-eight weeks to promote healthy hair.

As the weather becomes colder and the air drier, this takes its toll on your hair and can cause it to become brittle, dry and to break. Cold weather outdoors as well as indoor heating can contribute to damage hair. Wear a scarf or hat when outside and add humidity to the air in your home or office—your skin and hair will thank you.

To avoid frizzy, static-prone hair in tie up your hair as much as possible, particularly when out and about or wear a hat to protect it.

If you use heat styling tools, like curling tongs or hair straighteners, then always use a good quality, nourishing heat defence spray or leave-in conditioner to protect the hair and keep it looking glossy and hydrated.

Try not to go out with wet hair, as the cold weather can cause your hair to freeze at the cuticle, causing it to break.

Lastly, why not rejuvenate yourself and go for a new look this winter by dyeing your hair a dark, warm colour? Popular shades this season include: mahogany, plum and chocolate brown

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9 10

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Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

BEAUTY

BEDTIME BEAUTY Wake up looking your best with these overnight beautifiers

by ANJANA GOSAI

OUR skin loves it when we’re under the duvet. It’s a time where it’s protected from harmful UV rays, harsh winds and other environmental and mental aggressors.

Mah Hussain-Gambles, founder of Saaf Skincare says: ‘If you have oily skin, it’s best to use a light natural oil based serum. Massage into the face in an upward and outward direction.’ We love Saaf Complexion Boosting Serum, £29.99 (0113 226 5849). It’s specially ‘Sleeping is extremely restorative designed to help reduce breakouts and because, during the day, our skin is in re-balance the skin thanks to the added protection mode dealing with damaging anti-inflammatory agent – black seed free radicals, like UV, wind, pollution oil. and even daily stress,’ explains Candice Gardner, Training Manager at the Hydrate International Dermal Institute. ‘But After serum, apply a suitable moisturiser while we’re sleeping, the skin cells and for your skin type. We like Origins body can focus on healing, repairing and Night-A-Mins, (£27). It’s enriched with regeneration. The skin’s immunity is also vitamins, minerals and an exfoliating reinforced during the night, making it extract to help repair damage done by more able to defend when we’re awake,’ day. Dry skin will love Dr Nick Lowe Night Recovery Cream (£18.95), which she adds.

If you’ve been starved of time or is formulated to deliver superior simply forgotten to give your face and hydration and has anti-ageing benefits body the attention it needs, don’t panic! too. If you want an organic option then Here’s our guide to giving the body a top Antipodes Avocado Pear Nourishing to toe overhaul so you can rise looking Night Cream, £29.95 (beautyexpert.co.uk) will help resurrect your complexion. Its and feeling gorgeous. added avocado oil, manuka honey, marigold and sandalwood works to Boost radiance Weeks of stress, lack of sleep and general purify and uplift the skin while you neglect can leave the skin looking dull snooze. For a delicate golden hue by the and drab. Hollywood facialist Ole time you wake, get hold of Prescriptive Henriksen says this skin pick-me up can Good in Bed (£39). It leaves skin super instantly brighten the skin: ‘Empty a tray hydrated and the added self tan will give of ice cubes into a sink full of cold water. you a subtle glow by morning.

Massaging in your moisturiser, rather Add a teaspoon of your favourite essential oil such as eucalyptus or than just slapping it on, is also beneficial. lavender, and blend them into the water. A-list facialist Vaishaly Patel says: Take a face cloth, drench it with this ‘Massage your skin using firm, circular aromatic elixir, squeeze out the water and movements, starting from the chin and press against the face, repeat as often as jaw line and working upwards. Use the fingertips and try to visualise that you necessary.’

A serum used under your moisturiser are going deep inside the skin; this can work double-time to give the stimulates the circulation and disperses complexion a shot of radiance. Serums any congestion under the surface and are formulated with a higher percentage instantly adds radiance.’ of active ingredients making them more potent and faster working than Eye saviours The skin around the eyes is super moisturisers.

Sleep tips • Cotton pillow covers can cause the skin to snag and make it vulnerable to wrinkling and stretching. Sleep on a silk pillowcase instead – its softer fabric is kinder to the skin and hair.

• Avoid foods such as chocolate, spinach, cheese, tomato and potato late at night, they can keep you awake.

• Put a few drops of lavender oil on a tissue and place it inside your pillowcase. The relaxing aroma will help induce sleep.

• Sip a glass of warm milk with a pinch of ground nutmeg 15 minutes prior to hitting the sack. It’s great for soothing the nervous system.

• Foods such as bananas, turkey and bread are great sleep-boosting snacks.

delicate so needs extra TLC. Use tiny amounts of product and make sure it has been specially designed for the eye area.

Heavy lotions used too near to the eyes can prevent the skin from breathing and leave you with under-eye puffiness.

Correct application is also important, use your ring finger to gently tap and smooth the product around the eye zone. The replenishing formula of Aromatherapy Associates Renew Rose Overnight Repair Eye Cream, £35 will leave you bright eyed by the time you wake.

If you’re worried about puffy eye bags, try sleeping on your back with a firm and slightly elevated pillow. This helps prevent fluids from pooling in your facial tissues at night. Try a memory foam contour pillow, which keeps the head propped up – see www.trusleep.com for further info.

Or try this kitchen remedy recommended by Noella Gabriel: ‘Place some chilled tea bags or cucumber slices over the eyes. They really work to cool the eye zone, encouraging circulation and flush out a build up of toxins.’

Hussain-Gambles: ‘Make a paste by mixing a tablespoon of ground turmeric with a few teaspoons of water and a couple of drops of lavender essential oil.

Then dab it onto the spot using a cotton bud.’

Drinking plenty of water to flush nasty toxins from the system will also help. But however tempted you are – don’t touch or squeeze the spot. It will only force the bacteria deeper into the skin and eventually lead to an even bigger zit.

Body smoothers

If the skin on your body is dull, dry and scaly, you still have time to turn this around by the morning. ‘Layering is the only way to deliver a super soft body in a short space of time,’ says Noella Gabriel, Director of Elemis Product & Treatment Development. ‘Try this three step routine: bathe in a skin nourishing milk bath, then slough away dead skin with an exfoliator, paying extra attention to the backs of the arms, elbows and knees. After bathing, smooth on a fine layer of moisturiser, body balm or oil – it will give you a beautiful sheen and cared Zap zits for look.’

‘If you feel a breakout occurring treat the If you’re short of time, jump in the area with a product containing salicylic shower and exfoliate from chest to toe acid, witch hazel or willow bark,’ says Dr with a softening scrub, such as Soap & Nick Lowe, Consultant Dermatologist at Glory Sugar Crush Body Scrub (£9). It the Cranley Clinic in London. ‘These contains smashed brown sugar, ingredients have great antibacterial macadamia grains and is spiked with properties and work to unplug blockage softening sweet lime and almond oil too. in the spot.’

Next, massage in a moisturiser, If you don’t have anything with these remember to look out for ingredients specific ingredients at hand, try this that will work while you sleep. ‘Look for natural solution recommended by Mah alpha hydroxy acids. These will promote

gentle exfoliation as you sleep and skin will be glowing by morning,’ advises Candice Gardner. Try Dermalogica Body Hydrating Cream (£25.80). It’s fast absorbing and leaves your skin supple.

Firm up

It’s probably the last thing you feel like doing but a few simple exercises using your own body weight can leave you with more toned limbs by the following morning. It might not work miracles, but will certainly help. Tighten up loose arm skin by doing a round of good old tricep dips. Start with your back close to a chair with your hands over the seats edge and your feet about 3-4ft away. Lower your body so your elbows are bent at 90°, with your back remaining close to the chair. Push back up and repeat 30-40 times. Then massage on Alqvimia Body Sculpting Oil, £38. It’s full of a fatbusting concoction of natural essential oils including, wheat germ, lemongrass, fennel and grapefruit that works to diuretically eliminate unwanted toxins. If you’re worried about a bulging tummy, start crunching. Lie back on the floor then bring your hands behind your head.

Using your abdominal muscles, bring your body up to a crunch position, while keeping the neck relaxed – aim for 150200. Then rub on some Rodial Tummy Tuck (£100). It contains a stomachflattening blend that helps slim and visibly tighten the abdominal area. If you use it for eight weeks religiously, you could lose up to two centimetres from your stomach area.

Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

33

BEAUTY

5

MINUTE MASTERCLASS

Gold fingers OPI’s The Man With The Golden Gun 18k Gold Leaf Top Coat, £29.98 is set to be a sell out. This limited edition nail polish celebrates 50 years of 007 himself, James Bond.

Apply over your usual nail polish and the flakes of real gold will add a seriously glam finish.

Though it’s a little pricier than standard OPI bottles, the fact that there’s real gold flakes in the polish leaves no room for complaining.

WITH BHARTI VYAS

Beauty guru Bharti Vyas shares her tips on how to look good and feel your best while you are flying.

Moisturise your skin Dry cabin air can leave the skin feeling severely dry. Massage your face with a few drops of coconut, almond or vitamin E oil, every hour or so, to keep it nourished.

Stay hydrated Drink plenty of water to prevent dehydration and reduce symptoms of jetlag. Stay away from alcohol and other stimulants like caffeine, which can dehydrate the skin further.

Prevent airsickness Cardamom is renowned for its wonderful effects in treating digestive problems such as nausea, vomiting, gas and indigestion. Carry some cardamom pods with you and suck on them as often as necessary. Adding a few drops of lavender on a handkerchief whenever you feel sick can also help to strengthen the stomach.

Ease puffy legs If you are prone to puffy legs or water retention, apply some green tea serum onto your body.

It has a wonderful cooling effect and will quickly reduce swelling. You should also walk up and down the plane regularly to keep the blood circulation moving.

• www.bharti-vyas.com

Flawless skin RODIAL have focused on developing amazing skincare, so we’re so excited to hear they’re launching a new BB cream. The BB Venom Skin Tint, £35, hides the appearance of wrinkles, plumps up skin, hydrates, protects and gives a flawless coverage. Team it with their new brightening concealer, BB Venom Eye, £29, and you’ll have that modelworthy complexion nailed in no time!

OUR SECRET TO A FLAWLESS SKIN

Reduce Dark Circles - Significantly Reduce Pigmentation - Even Skin Tone Leaves skin looking Younger, Smoother, Supple & Brighter Night cap

Outdoor weddings in humid conditions leave you at risk of a frizz outbreak.

Take precautions by working a few drops of John Frieda Frizz-Ease Crème Serum Overnight Repair Formula (£15) through the hair. It tames frizz, repairs damage and the best bit is that you don’t need to wash it out in the morning.

Boost shine and add moisture by spritzing on Pantene Night Renewal Nourishing Mist (£3.99).

Hand healers

Your hands will be a constant point of reference on your wedding day and don’t forget the snaps of the wedding ring. Make sure they look their best by massaging them with Dove Regenerating Hand Cream (£2.49), which has a soothing scent and has been specially formulated to renew skin overnight. Repair ragged cuticles by massaging in some oil – olive oil from your kitchen cupboard is ideal.

Feet fix

If you’ve forgotten to have a pedicure and neglected feet are letting you down, this speedy home solution will give hard skin the boot. After a bath or shower, file away dead skin with a foot file such as Scholl Party Feet Smoothing Foot File, £4.29 (0800 074 2040), then smooth on an intensive foot cream. Try Garnier Foot Cocoon (£3.99). If you can’t find a suitable cream, a layer of Vaseline will prove just as effective. Next pop on a pair of cotton socks and leave on over night.

Slumber saviours

‘A good nights sleep is essential’, advises Emma Thomson, aromatherapy guru at Neal’s Yard. ‘In order to clear the mind and to get a good rest, it’s important that both your body and mind are relaxed. Emma suggests starting with a cup of soothing tea such as Neal’s Yard Remedies Lemonbalm & Rose Tea (£3.25), which is very balancing and ideal for soothing emotional stress and extreme emotions.’

A Flower Essence Blend such as Neal’s Yard Unwind Blend (£6.50) can also help to give the mind a relaxing break. ‘Flower essences work on the emotions using the positive qualities of plants to bring us back into balance so they are ideal whenever you need a helping hand’, says Emma.

A warm bath prepared with a cap full of bath oil such as Aromatherapy Associates Deep Relax Bath & Shower Oil, £30 will prepare the body for a peaceful sleep. The comforting blend of camomile, vetivert and sandalwood eases an anxious mind. Stay in the bath for a least twenty minutes in order to thoroughly relax and let the essential oils take effect.

If you still need extra help, dab on some Neal’s Yard Remedies to Roll Night Time (£5) which will really help to banish those circling thoughts that can keep you up at night. The essential oils of bergamot and lavender combine to help ease the mind and banish feelings of anxiety, whilst frankincense helps to deepen breathing, helping you to let go and give in to sleep.

With our clinically-researched and tested Lighter & Brighter Cream with collagen and Mask • No bleaching • No Harsh Chemicals • Excellent anti-ageing effect “The Lighter & Brighter Age-Resisting Skin Lightening range contains Kojic Dipalmitate. The products have had excellent results and I have received good feedback from my patients. In my opinion this is one of the best skin care lightening products on the market” Dr F Hamza, Paris “After testing the Lighter & Brighter Creams my patients reported a very noticeable improvement to their complexion. Their skin was definitely lighter & brighter with a smoother appearance. I recommend this as a very good Skin Lightening product range” Dr. Maurizio Viel, Plastic Surgeon

SPECIAL OFFERS AT www.esskincare.co.uk *Lighter & Brighter Face Cream & Mask @ £19.95 each Or spend over £35 from the Lighter & Brighter Range and receive £5 discount (Enter Code LBOFFER at Checkout)

*Packaging may vary

34

Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

HEALTH

BONE OF CONTENTION Asians don’t like to donate, but what happens should you fall ill?

Zipp-a-day dooda

WE ALL know that the primary cause of being overweight is eating more than your body needs. Zipp (£1.39) is a healthy new fruit drink that contains zotrim - a scientifically proven natural weight loss ingredient that works by reducing the amount you eat by making you feel fuller faster. Tests have revealed drinking Zipp Slenderize can help you lose up to 2lbs a week when teamed with a calorie-controlled diet.

Taut a lesson TAUT Isotonic Energy Drink, £1.15 (from most major supermarkets) is the first clean sports drink, completely free from preservatives, artificial sweeteners, flavourings or colourings. All that’s added are vitamins for energy metabolism and minerals. Helps you rehydrate and fuel up fast during and after serious training.

THERE might be many myths that surround bone marrow donation, but one truth you can be sure of is that, unlike blood, bone marrow is far more likely to match that of a person from the same ethnic origin.

Sabina Raser

‘A little effort for saving a life’

Why does this matter? Because there are currently around 50 Asian patients in the country who urgently need a transplant, but seeing as only 3 percent of the Asian community donates, chances are unless they find a match soon, they won’t survive for long. If your immediate reaction is ‘it’s not my family ergo not my concern’, then you’d be wrong because any one of us could one day be in that situation. Each of those patients has a brother or sister praying for a donor.

The Antony Nolan Foundation, who handle bone marrow donors in the UK, are desperately appealing for people in the Asian community to come forward after the recent clinic held for Hardish Bakshi in Croydon yielded no matches.

From start to finish you’ll have an Antony Nolan representative onboard to explain everything to you and the reward for a few hours of your time is the knowledge that you gave another person and their whole family the one thing that no amount of money can buy, hope.

Azma Meer

‘Putting it off means it’s too late’ Even beyond his death, there was a reason to my son’s life. If at least one person who reads this article becomes a bone marrow donor, then it had a reason. My son Ibrahim was three months old when he started to get rashes on his tummy, and we were told by doctors that he had a disease called Langerhan’s Cell Histiocytosis (LCH).

A person with LCH was someone whose healthy cells were being attacked by overproducing langerhan cells, which normally defend the body from disease. We were devastated but at the same time relieved it had been diagnosed early and could be treated with chemotherapy. During the two precious years that Ibby was alive, he kept relapsing but the whole time we had hope. Then at one point, it was so bad we had to use an extremely strong version of chemo, where we had to wear

•MARROW APPEAL Azma Meer hopes Ibrahim’s death was not in vain gloves and masks and literally paint the chemo on his skin. Instead his rash just got worse and he had boils on the inside folds of his skin, his hair and teeth were falling out and he developed chicken pox inside his eyes. Can you imagine a two year old baby, let alone an adult, going through that? For most of his little life, hospitals were all he knew, having needles prodded into him and when I think about what he went through during that short time, I can’t imagine how brave he was.

After a while we were told it started to affect his bone marrow and that he

BONE MARROW FACTS DID YOU KNOW?

Cardio-kickboxing not only improves and maintains your cardiovascular fitness, it also increases flexibility, improves coordination, sharpens reflexes and gives you sexier and shapely legs… plus it sheds an average of 500 calories per hour!

Bone marrow donation, while causing a slight bit of discomfort, isn’t the horribly painful procedure everyone assumes. There are two methods, the more traditional bone marrow harvest and the newer, and increasingly used, peripheral blood stem cell donation (PBSC). A bone marrow donation under this method requires a two-night stay in hospital and under general anaesthetic the cells are extracted from the pelvic bones by sterile needle and syringe. No surgical incision is required and the blood stem cells replace themselves within 21 days. You’re advised to rest for five days, but Antony Nolan reimburse any loss of earnings and can even contact your employer to ask them for time off on your behalf. The second procedure doesn’t involve a hospital stay and during the five days before the collection the donor receives daily injections of a growth factor to mobilise the blood stem cells and thereby increase their number in the peripheral blood. These cells can then be collected on a cell separator machine in one or two collections lasting four to five hours each, in a process known as ‘apheresis’.

• For further information contact Antony Nolan on 020 7284 1234 or visit www.antonynolan.org.uk

couldn’t produce blood platelets. Our only hope was a bone marrow transplant and we were told that our biggest chance of a match would be relatives or, failing that, someone from our own community. We started a campaign straight away and it was only afterwards we realised how hard it would be. Some radio stations weren’t helpful at all and I discovered how hard it was to motivate people and dispel religious myths about bone marrow donation. We still couldn’t find a match but it didn’t seem that bad because Ibby seemed to be getting better - his rash had disappeared and he’d even put on some weight. Then he caught a simple cold and started to deteriorate. He couldn’t produce any blood cells and so his system failed and he passed away. I was in shock because in the past he’d bounced back from near death so many times. I’m still in shock but I don’t want his life to be in vain because really, it was such a blessing. The frustration at not being able to find a match angered me because if someone had done this in the past, maybe he would’ve been okay.

At present only three per cent of the Asian community donate. We used to knock on the doors of mosques asking them to let us hold clinics but they didn’t know much about it. We’ve been able to build bridges and slowly, teach people that you’ve got to put it into context. If you are a match, you are the only person who can save that person’s life. Can you really think of an excuse to not donate now?

What shocks me about the low number of Asian donors is that we have such a strong sense of community yet when it comes to bone marrow donation, we just don’t want to know. I find this strange, because it’s another way of helping someone, saving them from a life of pain for a few hours of discomfort. I’ve heard a lot of myths like you can’t walk for a week or that you actually have to be dead to give bone marrow, which are rubbish. It really isn’t as painful as some people think it is, in fact when I donated, I actually woke up and wondered whether they’d done the operation or not. I’ve become a donor because I’ve been shaped by the experience of my brother battling leukaemia when he was 11 and we were told we might need a bone marrow donor.

When we were told that we might have three possible matches the feeling that there was someone out there willing to do that for my brother and didn’t even know him, overwhelmed me. That’s why I wanted to donate because that’s how much that incident meant to me. When you first become a donor you have to give a blood sample to the Antony Nolan foundation, who then run tests to see if it matches with a patient and if it does, they’ll send you a letter asking you to come in and do more tests. There’s about 98 percent accuracy of a match so you won’t usually be asked to do it more than once, but the whole time you have a welfare officer from Antony Nolan who explains everything and looks after you.

There are two ways you can give bone marrow; the harvest is when they take bone marrow from the hip bone and you need to have general anaesthetic or the newer method which isn’t as invasive and doesn’t involve being hospitalised. I went for the harvest because the other way was quite new at the time, but the whole time felt at ease because I had a long chat with the doctor. The night before the operation I checked in and was nil by mouth after midnight. First thing in the morning, I was taken in and woke up to find padding on my back and then spent the next week at home to recover. People asked if I was nervous before I went in for the op, but honestly, that’s not what you’re thinking about. The important thing is to keep things in perspective; what you’re going through as a donor is minimal compared to what a cancer patient is going through.

•PIECE OF MIND Sabina Raser’s donation means a life need not be lost

Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

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36

Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

FUN CITY

THE BOULEVARD GITA

by Sandeep Sood

HOROSCOPES ARIES

March 21 - April 20

A passionate encounter awaits near the week’s end and reminds you that, like the phoenix, love can arise from the ashes, as well.

Beginnings and endings highlight this week. What is called for is a realistic assessment of those things in your life that have outworn their usefulness. This also includes old feelings that you’ve been carrying around for too long. Releasing the past will permit the future to unfold.

TAURUS

April 21 - May 21

The challenge is to sort out the important facts from all this mental clutter and to find a focus that will enable you to put your ideas into a viable course of action. This week is about too much information of all types which can result in an overload causing you to neglect or miss an important detail. This is not a good time for travel as communications may also be jumbled and unreliable.

GEMINI

May 22 - June 21

This week, with your focus on career, it is important not to let jealousy of a co-worker or superior work against you. The challenge is to use tact in how you approach the situation since brutal honesty could make things more difficult and, ultimately may not resolve the tension but increase it. You can be firm and direct without being abusive about it. Play fair and you will preserver in this situation.

CANCER

June 22 - July 22

Even though there are some unexpected events at the beginning of the week, these will actually turn out to be positive. Buy the ticket, take the ride, and smile. This is a great week for getting together with your closest friends and enjoying some social activities. You may notice that your mind seems to wander, and as a result, requires some extra effort to communicate with others.

LEO

July 23 – August 23

Discovering that a friend/lover has actually been opposing you in some fashion will require you to decide whether you can forgive them, even if you don’t forget. Right at the beginning of the week you are in for one of those “Aha!!” moments that will reveal some information that had been hidden from you that provides the explanation for some twists of fate that you’ve been struggling with in the financial realm.

VIRGO

August 24 - September 22

Before making any decisions, particularly early in the week, make certain that you have sufficient information on both positive and negative outcomes. Even with all the mental energy you are feeling this week, be careful not extend yourself more than is expected. This is especially true in the emotional realm. Trying to go where you haven’t yet begun may stretch you beyond your capabilities.

LIBRA

September 23 - October 23

This week establishing priorities is very important . Those matters which you feel strongly about, on all levels, should be balanced with a realistic approach to make dreams into tangible results. Understanding those deeper emotions that have been motivating you recently will help you to develop the inspiration needed to set the wheels in motion.

Remember self-worth matters as much as material worth.

SCORPIO

October 24 - November 22

Take some time outside at the end of the week as this can help refresh and revive your spirit. This week finds you questioning your goals since you seem to be receiving mixed messages from family members on how you should proceed. The challenge is to avoid trying to manipulate people and things to a desired outcome and, instead, concentrate your efforts on gathering as much information as you can.

SAGITTARIUS

TO TWEET. TO WHO?

NAME THE STAR

Can you tell who it is yet?

Find out the answer on Twitter @asiancity Last weeks’s star: Shah Rukh Khan

Uday Chopra @udaychopra I believe there are 2 kinds of ppl in the world. The ones who are reading this and…hell! Who cares about the others!

Priyanka Chopra @priyankachopra Headed to the iHeartRadio festival starting today in Vegas! Shud be super fun!

Looking forward to 'no doubt' performing! love gwen!

Amitabh Bachchan @SrBachchan T 875 - Suddenly FaceBook begins to look exciting and involving ... must get down to its greater performance ..

Shah Rukh Khan @iamsrk gotta go now and buy myself some new shoes. the old shoes refused to walk the same path as me....i think their sole is somewhere else...

Dia Mirza @deespeak On Rose Day, I salute the efforts made by all those that strive to bring awareness on Cancer and help Cancer patients.

November 23 - December 21

Home and family base matters, particularly of the financial type, are your focus this week. You feel that you, and only you, should be running the show and, as a result, you find yourself in emotional power struggles for much of the week. What is needed is the recognition of your fear of disappointing those close to you. Once you do that, you can focus your energies on the tasks at hand.

The stars to follow on lonely nights

Rup Magon - JoSH @RupMagon Road trip frm Lahore 2 Multan. Sold out show tonight - JoSH's first performance in Multan!!

Shizzio @shizzio All you had to do was make the damn new iPhone charger wire longer and we woulda been happy but NOOOOO you just couldn't you tight fuckas Bobby Friction @bobbyfriction Salman Rushdie + Birmingham + Technology + babies + wine + family + extremism + thinking + melancholy + sexuality + music = my friday..x Swami Baracus @SwamiBaracus The way some people are hyping over getting the iPhone 5, you'd think Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory has sent out Golden Tickets...

DJ Kayper @djkayper i like eating cheesy cheese. mmmmm cheese my fav cheese how i like you

CAPRICORN

December 22 - January 20

An opportunity for change appears mid-week although the outcome may not be apparent at this time. This week is about tapping into your creative side particularly where work and finances are concerned.

Sometimes the reward of taking the calculated risk outweighs the concern that your plans may fall short. Can you make that leap of faith? You have the will if you have the courage.

AQUARIUS

January 21 – February 18

This week issues and situations at work/school are going to challenge your patience . Keeping a balance between those things you have to do and those that you want to do will require both an open mind and some flexibility on your part to avoid some health issues brought on by stress late in the week. Ultimately, you may just have to locate your “different drummer” and follow that beat.

PISCES

February 19 - March 20

This week romantic matters are under siege . You find yourself having to deal with wild mood swings for no apparent reason. Relating to your lover’s point of view seems more difficult than ever which may cause your temper to flare as a result. Ultimately, you will have to reach an accord concerning the emotional balance of power and, more to the point, remember that love is about giving as well as receiving.

ask Neelam

Dark Side...

Dear Neelam,

I’VE JUST met my future mother-in-law. I’m due to get married this winter.

But she’s commented on me not being as fair skinned as her son. Now I’m worried that I won’t be accepted by his family because I’m darker than they are. It’s OK for a guy to be darker than the girl I’m told, but not the other way round. I’m thinking I should invest in some skin lightening cream, will that make be lighter and more acceptable?

Neelam says..

Well, I’m thinking you’re nuts. Many girls have many reasons for wanting to lighten up their skin tones, but to do it to please your in-laws is simply silly. Your marriage should be based on love and commitment, not the shade of your skin. Tell your future hubby your concerns. If he takes his mum’s view then you should take cab - home.

Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

37

GOT SOMETHING ON YOUR MIND? SHARE IT, HALVE IT, LET NEELAM SORT IT e: neelam@asiancity.co.uk

My friend has fallen for me Dear Neelam,

THINGS have been very awkward between my male best friend and I since he revealed he was in love with me. He initially apologised saying he’d had a bit to drink, but now he avoids my calls and I heard from a mutual friend that he’s heartbroken I turned him down. What should I do?

Neelam says..

Oh dear lord, not another man holding out for the sympathy vote. If I had a rat for every time a male friend has promised to be like a brother to me only to one day have a few drinks to build up the courage to reveal what they’ve really wanted all along was to get into my life, I’d have enough rats to start a plague. It’s just so damn insulting.

Girls are always berated for having male friends – by boyfriends, by family, by other women even – all saying that platonic friendships aren’t possible, and just when you think you’ve proved them all wrong, your allegedly best friend goes and pulls a stunt like this.

I’m tempted to say you’re lucky to be rid of a man that led you onto believe his intentions were noble, but I appreciate you have feelings for him and are looking for a way to make it all better. I suggest you ask him out for a drink, talk both your feelings through, assuring him that you still care for him, but be clear that it wasn’t you who put your friendship in jeopardy.

LOVE FACT

Cover up Dear Neelam,

SHOULD I start covering up to please my futurein-laws?

Neelam says..

The lessons I learned, other than that it’s very hot, is that people react in two ways: nervous respect, or deep suspicion. But more importantly, that I had the choice to not wear it, while many women don’t. I respect those who cover up as a matter of faith, but you’ll be doing them a great disservice by donning the garb, just as I did, merely to get noticed.

If your in-laws don’t accept you for who you are, your man certainly should.

Don’t pretend to be something you’re not. It’s insulting to those for whom covering up is a sensitive matter and a very real fact of life.

When a person falls in love, the ventral tegmental area in the brain floods the caudate nucleus with dopamine. The caudate then signals for more dopamine; the more dopamine, the higher a person feels. The same system becomes activated when someone takes cocaine.

THREATENING RELATIONSHIP Dear Neelam, Neelam says..

I DESPERATELY need a woman’s point of view. My ex girlfriend keeps texting me nasty messages, but every time I respond, she threatens to call the police on me for intimidating her. Is this some kind of sick joke all women play when they’ve been dumped?

Because I too can threaten to call the police on her too.

Oh, poor you. There you are trying to rebuild your life after she destroyed your chance of happiness (naturally, it was entirely her fault). It must be horrible for you to get all those mean messages at such a vulnerable point in your life. Who are you kidding, buddy? For every text she sends, you send one that’s clearly vicious enough to be taken

seriously by the authorities. All this tit for tat aggression, where one claims to be merely retaliating in response to the other’s attack, achieves nothing during arguments in a relationship, and certainly doesn’t do any good after it’s over.

Man up, don’t respond to her texts and move on. There’s no war when one side gives up. Let it go, and she will too…

WE NEED TO TALK Dear Neelam,

poor boy’s sensitivities, do so when he hasn’t just done something wrong), point out that you understand that people make mistakes, but if a person has been wronged by that mistake, it’s only fair to allow the offended person to have their say. Saying sorry isn’t as easy as buying a bunch of flowers – you have to physically vocalise it, take Men famously take things personally responsibility for your actions and when we’re in a bad mood and just explain why it won’t happen again. In need to sound off, but in the instance return, promise that when he fesses where we’re angry directly because of up, you’ll give him a fair hearing. A lot his actions, getting in a hump over it is of men clam up the moment they’re shouted at, so one of you has to be the just plain and simple immature.

When you sit him down to have this adult and encourage a situation where very necessary chat (and to spare the you can both talk like grown-ups!

MY MAN thinks buying me presents is all he needs to apologise whenever he messes up. But I like to talk things through so it doesn’t happen again.

It’s just so frustrating…

Neelam says..

38

Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

STOCKISTS Can’t get hold of the latest ASIAN CITY, no problem, just visit one of our regular stockists listed below: And for those really hard to reach areas, Asian City is on sale at newsagents and mainstream news-vendors such as Tesco, WHSmith, Sainsburys & Asda for a small cover price of 70p.

East London:

Islamabad Halal Butchers 251 Ilford Lane, Ilford IG1 2SB T: 0208 478 0552

Style 2000 155A Upper Tooting Rd SW17 T: 0208 672 1115

Rams Pan 201 Kenton Road,Harrow HA3 0HD T: 07947 621 221

Balo Basha 9 Osborn Street, London E1 6TD T: 07865 053 716

Sangham Video & Fireworks 410 Hoe Street, Walthamstow, London E17 9AA T: 0208 521 4792

JR’s High Class Butchers 163 Upper Tooting Rd, SW17 7TJ T: 0208 682 3949

Prabu Pan@Sakonis 5/8 Dominion Parade HA1 2TR

Geet Ghor Plus 24 Osborn Street, London E1 6TD T: 07958 176443 Sanam Music Centre 266 Bethnal Green Rd E2 0AG T: 0208 552 8008 Music Hunters 133B Green Street, London E7 8JF T: 0208 586 2304 Raishma (London) 37 Green Street, London E7 8DA T: 0208 552 6751 Neelam Hair & Beauty 159-161 Green St, London E7 8JE T: 0208 552 8008 Anand Pan Centre Green Street, London E7 8LL T: 0208 472 4425 Partap Fashion Fabrics 277B Green Street, London E7 8LE T: 0208 472 9979 S.S. Designers 277 Green Street, London E7 8LJ T: 0208 472 9141 Gifts & Favours 300 Green Street, London E7 8LF T: 0208 471 1286 Eastern Styles 302 Green Street, London E7 8LF T: 0208 257 8825 Digital Music 8 Stephens Parade, Green Street E7 T: 07957 126 976

Durga 173-175 Ilford Lane, Ilford, IG1 2RT T: 0208 478 3466 Seasons Asian Designer Wear 196 Ilford Lane, Ilford IG1 2LG T: 0208 553 3999 B&B Cash & Carry 189-195 Ilford Lane, Ilford IG1 2RU T: 0208 514 7840 RDC London 181 Ilford Lane, Ilford IG1 2RT T: 0208 514 8206 Haroons Halal Meat 179 Ilford Lane, Ilford IG1 2RT T: 0208 553 54528 Quality Foods 118 Ilford Lane, Ilford IG1 2LE T: 0208 514 8888 Anand Pan Centre 116 Ilford Lane, Ilford IG1 2LE T: 0208 514 3800 B.B. Fatima 141-143 Ilford Lane, Ilford IG1 2RP T: 0208 553 4770 Mega Blast 131 Ilford Lane, Ilford IG4 5ND T: 07956 931 014 Al-Hussain’s Restaurant & Take Away 72 Ilford Lane, Ilford IG1 2LA T: 0208 478 8252 Imaani London 93 Ilford Lane, Ilford IG1 2RJ T: 0208 478 8558

Nanak Desi Sweet Centre 391 High Road, Ilford IG1 1TF T: 0208 911 8077

South London

Pan Parlour 337 Green Lane, Ilford IG3 8BD T: 0208 597 8328

Tooting Video Centre 71-73 Upper Tooting Rd SW17 T: 0208 682 8818

Khan Halal Butchers 394 Green Lane, Ilford IG3 9JX T: 0208 598 2727

Anand Pan Centre 102 Upper Tooting Rd SW17 T: 0208 762 7576

Quality Foods Hayes Bridge Retail Park 1 Uxbridge Rd, UB4 0JU T: 0208 848 0777

SD Off Licence 167 Upper Tooting Rd, SW17 7TJ

Shayona Sweet & Savouries 168 Pinner Rd, Harrow HA1 4JP T: 020 8427 5650

Saiqa Collection 240 Upper Tooting Rd, SW17 7EX T: 0208 767 6765

Shree Krishna Vada Pav 63 Station Rd, Harrow HA1 2TY T: 0208 863 4185

Quality Foods 47-61 South Road, Southall UB1 1SQ T: 0208 917 9188

Temptation 451 London Rd SW16 4AQ T: 0208 679 4900

Milan Video 75 Station Rd, Harrow HA2 7SW T: 0208 861 4971

Royal Collection 105A The Broadway UB1 1LN T: 0208 571 5554

Yogi Travels Ltd 886 London Rd, CR7 7PB T: 0208 665 6080

Jalaram Pan House 782 Harrow Road, Sudbury HA0 3EL T: 020 8904 3228

Nargis Collection 96 The Broadway UB1 1QF T: 0208 571 2378

Santosh 832 London Road, Croydon CR7 7PA T: 0208 683 2447

Krishna Pan Centre 606a High Road, Wembley HA0 2AF T: 020 8900 0499

Banwait Bros & Co 75-77 The Broadway Southall UB1 1LA T: 0208 574 2635

Capricorn Bar, Club & Restaurant 4 Lakedale Rd, Plumstead, London SE18 1PP T: 0208 855 3366 D G Electronics 30 Plumstead High Street, London SE18 1SL T: 0208 854 5217

Paul & Co 588 High Road, Wembley HA0 2AF T: 020 8902 8192 Amma Food 561 High Road, Wembley HA0 2DW T: 020 8902 7022 Suraj Sweet Mart 44a Ealing Road, Wembley HA0 4TL T: 020 8900 1991

Sarai Sweet Centre 63A Plumstead High Street, London SE18 1SB T: 0208 317 9744

Sonas Haute Couture 48 Ealing Rd, Wembley HA0 4TQ T: 0208 795 1100

West London:

Popat Stores Ltd 138-158 Ealing Road, Wembley HA0 4PY T: 020 8903 6397

Indian Music4U 718 Kenton Rd, Middx HA3 9QX T: 0208 204 5000 Shivan Pan & Sweet Mart 443 Kenton Rd, Middx HA3 0X T: 0208 206 2225 Videorama Pan Centre 8 Kenton Park Parade HA3 8DQ T: 0208 907 0116 Pick & Save Ltd 202-204 Kenton Road, Harrow HA3 8BX T: 0208 907 8880

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Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

39

RECIPES SEMIYYA PAYASAM

COCONUT, CARDAMOM & LIME SAMOSAS

Roasted Vermicelli in saffron infused milk

AN UNUSUAL take on the classic savoury Indian snack but the divine pairing of coconut and jaggery make these incredibly hard to resist! Try them fresh from the oven alongside a spoonful of crème fraiche or ice cream.

Ingredients: (Makes approximately 12 dessert samosas) • Seeds of 8 cardamom pods, finely crushed • 55g jaggery (or sugar if unavailable) • 75g coconut • 1 tbsp. lime juice • 8 sheets of filo pastry (or samosa sheets) • Melted butter for brushing

Method: Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/180°Fan/Gas mark 6 Heat the jaggery in a non-stick pan and once melted, add the lime juice, coconut and ground cardamom. Stir thoroughly and set aside.

Place one sheet of the pastry onto a flat surface and lightly brush with melted butter. Place another sheet on top and gently press to seal together. Cut the sheet into 8cm strips. Take one strip and place 1heaped teaspoon of the jaggery mixture onto the bottom right corner.

Fold this corner over the left to make a triangle shape and continue to fold from left to right until you reach the end of the pastry sheet. Brush a little bit of butter on the edge before sealing over.

Continue until all the coconut and pastry are used up.

Place on a baking sheet, brush with butter and bake for 12-14 minutes, until golden brown.

Serve warm with some ice cream, low fat yogurt or crème fraiche Tip: The samosas can also be prepared ahead of time and chilled in the fridge. Leave at room temperature for 15 minutes before baking)

Food of the Gods

DESSERT STORM LABELLED as the Food for the Gods, this popular south Indian dessert is traditionally served up at festivals and celebrations.

Sublimely adorned with nuts and fruits and ready in less than 25 minutes, it can be prepared in advance and warmed through and garnished before serving (or it can be served cold).

Ingredients: (Serves 4) • 50g vermicelli • 30g ghee or butter • 600ml whole milk

• Seeds from 10 cardamom pods- crushed • 1 tbsp. sultanas • 2 tbsp. chopped/flaked almonds • 1 tbsp. chopped pistachios • 4 tbsp. caster sugar • 4-5 strands of saffron threads • A few extra chopped pistachios & almonds to garnish Method: Melt the ghee or butter in a non-stick pan over a medium heat and fry the vermicelli for 4-5

minutes until golden brown. Add the milk and bring to a simmer; keep this on a medium/low heat while checking that the milk does not boil and overflow.

Add the ground cardamom, sultanas and almonds and continue to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring every now and then. Add the sugar and cook for a further 5 minutes. Take off the heat, add the saffron thread and stir through.

Allow to cool slightly before pouring into serving dishes. Garnish with a few chopped pistachios and almonds and serve. This can be served warm or cold.

CARROT & CASHEW NUT HALWA,

Fresh carrots simmered with butter, milk and cashew nuts A CLASSIC dessert that’s rich in flavour, colour and steeped in celebratory Indian traditions. Simple, frugal and hits the spot when sugar cravings are rife!

Ingredients: (Serves 3-4) • 500g carrots, washed, peeled and coarsely grated • 450ml whole milk • 55g sugar

• 2 tbsp. ghee or butter • 4 cardamom pods, lightly crushed • 1/2 inch cinnamon stick • 1 tbsp. cashew nuts, lightly toasted and roughly chopped • 1 tsp. sultanas Method: Place the milk in a deep based nonstick pan along with the grated carrots, cardamom pods and cinnamon stick.

Bring to the boil and then reduce the

heat and simmer for approximately 3540 minutes (continuously stirring), until all the milk has been absorbed.

Add the ghee and fry over a medium heat for 8-10 minutes until the carrot begins to change colour to a deeper orange tone.

Add the sugar, sultanas and cashew nuts and fry for a further 4-5 minutes.

Turn off the heat and leave to cool.

Chill in the fridge before serving with cream.

Recipes by Sheba Promod, www.absoluteindiancookeryclasses.com

40

Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

CAREERS How do I become

A hairdresser?

Having an NVQ in hairdressing isn’t enough, you need to find a reputable salon to take you on and train you. Celebrity hairdresser Dar advises: ‘You’ll have to start as a junior, before progressing to a trainee level. You’ll be learning everything from cut and colour from the stylists in the salon, so choosing the right mentor is crucial.’

A florist?

Say goodbye to having a liein, a florists’ day starts at the crack of dawn and in return grants immense job satisfaction. Jay from Flower Power advises: ‘An eye for detail is essential, as is a natural passion for design.

It is demanding to get up early but nothing beats watching your work unfurl before your eyes.’ For more information, ring the Society of Floristry on 0870 241 0432.

A barrister?

Becoming a barrister is no mean feat, there’s a lot of hard work on the way. If you have a law degree you need to take the Bar exam (BVC), then you need to get a pupillage with a law firm following a barrister around for six months. If you don’t have a law degree, you can do a conversion course called the CPE which lasts for a year.

For more information visit: www.barcouncil.org.uk

Have a radical sabbatical

If you feel like you’re working round and round the clock, why not take a break?

WHETHER they’ve been working you like a slave, you hate your colleagues or you simply don’t understand how you ended up working the better part of your life in a job you despise – career stress is responsible for a whopping 85 percent of serious illnesses in Britain.

Rather than indignantly handing in your notice, a more productive solution would be to take a career break or a sabbatical. At least that way you won’t be a gibbering wreck from the prospect of impending unemployment.

Although there are no specific guidelines when it comes to sabbaticals, they tend to be unpaid and allocated to those who’ve proven themselves to be a valuable member of the team. Sabbaticals that are paid are often meted out by universities

CAREER ADVICE Q

I’ve been applying for a lot of jobs but haven’t had much luck. I’m beginning to think my CV might be the problem. After doing some research I came across a few companies that offered to revamp my CV for a fee. But I fear I’ll get ripped off.

If you have any friends who work in HR, I would use them as a sounding board for your CV before paying someone

A

else. If not, then you should look at the possibility of sending your CV off to a professional agency because they will know what your potential employer is looking for in a CV. You won’t get ripped off – as long as you choose your agency wisely and check their credentials. But be warned, many employers can tell a CV designed by professionals a mile off, seeing as many such packages come in fancy fonts, binding and coloured paper. Keep it simple.

and government organisations but often have stipulations, such as you need to be doing something that will eventually enhance your work portfolio. Some employers might insist that you can’t do any work for another company in that time, especially if they are deemed as competition.

If, for instance your company has no precedent for sabbaticals, it’s worth having a long think about what you want to get from it and the reasons for taking a break, then putting together a plan and making an appointment with your HR department.

When making your case, make sure you state the benefits on both sides.

Your main perk is that you can take a break to do what you’ve always wanted to, be that mountaineering in Peru, or writing the book you’ve been putting off, with the added assurance that there’s a job waiting when you return. Your employer will

benefit by holding on to a skilled employee who’ll be more rested, more creative and will save money by not paying you during the months you’re away.

take time off if you haven’t consolidated all your debts, so you should formulate a plan to save a specific amount of money beforehand.

What can I do on my sabbatical?

What if I don’t have a job when I come back?

Before you take your sabbatical, you must have a clear outline of what you’re going to do during your time off. You can take time off to live on a remote island, but you must work out what you’ll have to gain from it.

A lot of people go on independent travel to get a clearer perspective of what they want from their career long-term, others do volunteer work and some even start domestic projects.

Despite being on a break, you should maintain contact with your colleagues so you’re not kept out of the loop and feel out of your depth when you do eventually return This will come in particularly handy should your company make . redundancies when you are away. It’s unfair redundancy (for which you can be compensated) if you are made redundant purely because you were on a career break, How should I budget it? but to be on the safe side, get written Before approaching your boss about your confirmation from your employer before sabbatical, work out how much paid leave you go away, to confirm that you are still in you have left and if you can use any leave their employment whilst away. Now relax from the following year. It’s a bad idea to and enjoy the time off!

Q

Since completing my A-level exams last year I’ve been thinking about what I want to do with my career. I want to help people, but I don’t have the grades to go into medicine. An advisor recommended being a speech and language therapist, which has got me very excited. Could you tell me more about this field?

Speech and language therapy consists of assessing, diagnosing and treating people with speech language and communication problems.

The aim of speech and language therapy is to help people to communicate to the best of their ability. This could include difficulty using language, a stammer, a voice problem or difficulty with feeding and swallowing. Clients can have a range of conditions including learning disabilities, physical disabilities and neurological disorders; and approximately 60% are children. You must successfully complete a degree or postgraduate course jointly approved by the Health Professions Council and Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT). For further information contact The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapist www.rcslt.org

A

www.futuretraining4jobs.com

Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

41

CLASSIFIED

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Le Spice Indian Restaurant 26 Forehill, Ely CB74AF 60 cover restaurant 16 years open lease, £4500 - 5500 taking a week brand new restaurant opened since 2010 quick sale £100,000 ono Contact Sham: 07931 970 721

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Call the Classified team on 0207 247 3537 today. For all our advertising rates and sizes please visit www.asiancity.co.uk, or just call 0207 247 3537 for a chat with the ad team and they’ll talk you through the process. You choose the size and how long you want it for and we’ll make sure your message reaches the Asian Comunity of Britain.

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42

Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

SPORT

SEARCH FOR A STAR

Jas sets goal to find new Asian football pros

•MEDALIST Ruqshana won bronze despite diet problems in Russia

Bengali kickboxer’s hunger for success

BRITISH kickboxer Ruqsana Begum won bronze at the IFMA World Championships in Russia last week - despite living on bread and water before the fight.

The Muslim Muay Thai kickboxer from Seven Kings, Essex, was unable to find halal food in St Petersburg but still reached the semi-final in the sub-48kg competition.

She lost on points to her opponent from Belarus.

Across the weight categories fighters from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus took most of the medal places, but among them stood the plucky British fighter.

And Ruqsana – who received a bye in round one and beat an opponent from Mauritius in the quarter-final, before losing her semi-final match on points – was delighted with her performance.

“They’re like superstars over there. I was up against some really tough opponents so I’m very proud,” she said.

“Fighters in Russia and Belarus have funding to train full-time, they have professional coaching and nutritionists, for example, and I gave them a really hard time.

“I knocked my opponent down in the first round of the semi-final, so I was really pleased.

“I’m happy with how far I’ve come and that I’ve won a medal given their resources compared to mine.”

The 28-year-old said she was struggling to meet the weight requirements, but the catering in St Petersburg soon amended that.

Ruqsana, a devout Muslim, only eats vegetarian cuisine or halal meat and was forced to live off bread for the week in order to adhere to Islamic dietary law. But the British Atomweight champion admits she will be stronger for her experience.

“It toughens you up and you grow as a person coming to an event like this in a foreign country,” Ruqsana said.

“I was struggling to eat. I was fighting with no food in me and I dropped so much weight in a week.

“Before I flew out I was struggling to get down to 48kg, now I think I’m less than 47kg.

“People tend to skip the night before a fight and sweat enough to get down to the required weight when really they’re bigger than that. I’m now underweight. I think my stomach has shrunk!”

WILL we ever see an Asian player in the England football team? Well, without passionate fans such as Jas Jassel, we probably won’t.

Jas is part of a growing army of Asians hoping to bring some much needed spice to the beautiful game.

Whilst there are dozens of young players in clubs all over the country, waiting for their break, there are also lots of supporters working away behind the scenes, opening up opportunities to such future talent.

Jas is a huge footy fanatic and advocate of getting more Asians into football. Yet he doesn’t make a living from it. Jas puts all his spare time into volunteering, giving up evenings and weekends for the cause.

His enthusiasm and dedication was recognised earlier this summer when Jas was selected to be an Olympic torchbearer for giving 700 hours to community service. Shocked by his nomination, Jas recalls: ‘I was absolutely gobsmacked; I kept thinking they had the wrong person. I felt very proud to be able to represent my nation and greatly appreciated the gesture.’

Jas was also recently presented with a ‘Volunteer of the Year’

Middlesex Football Association’s Race and Equality Advisory Group, is also involved with a youth project for Queens Park Rangers in Southall.

He explains: ‘It’s a groundbreaking scheme where mentors work alongside children from the age of 16 years, whilst they are still studying their GCSE’s and Alevels and side by side help them either get into coaching, mentoring or playing football.

‘The idea of combining mentoring and education has been hugely popular.’

As well as getting young Asians involved in football, Jas is keen to introduce the idea of volunteering and the benefits that it can have.

•BIG AMBITION Jas Jassel wants to help Asian players break into the big league He enthuses: ‘I personally thrive award by the Middlesex Football break into the industry.’ He admits on volunteering and I would love Association for his work with there’s also a need for a change in to become a volunteering Queens Park Rangers to provide attitude by parents and explains: ambassador and encourage more support, guidance and mentoring ‘The older generation used to people into it.’

There’s clearly a lot of work to young footballers. He believes stress the importance of education there is nothing more inspiring but they are now realising that ahead before they are properly than having a role model who will having a sport under your belt is recognised Asian players in mainstream football, but Jas is show you the way. He reveals: just as essential.

‘When I was younger although I ‘It introduces many life long confident that the movement is used to play football growing up, it skills like social, communication happening.

He says: ‘Clubs are starting to never crossed my mind that I could and team building skills.’ pursue football as a career.

Luckily Jas’ own parents did see realise that they need to look out However, it’s different for the benefits of sport, which is what for Asian players who are talented today’s generation, they should be spurred him on with his - I really think in the next 10 years we will see some signed up.’ given the necessary pathways and volunteering.

He says: ‘This generation of opportunities for them to be able to Jas, who is a member of the Asian children are definitely more concerned with their diet and have been educated about the health benefits of exercise so this excuse will no longer wash!’

For young Asians trying to break into the football industry Jas’s advice is to come out of your comfort zone by not being afraid to show off you skills.

He concludes: ‘I would say that every child has an opportunity they just need to be seen by the decision makers and hopefully this is something I can help with.’ Get involved!

•GLORY Jas was picked as one of the Olympic torch bearers

•TRAINING Asian youngsters get tips from the professionals

• Visit www.inventivesports.co.uk

BANGLADESH OUTCLASSED BY NEW ZEALAND

•SMASH Brendan McCullum

BRENDON McCullum hit the highest score in Twenty20 international history as New Zealand beat Bangladesh by 59 runs at the World Twenty20 in Pallekele.

McCullum grabbed seven sixes and 11 fours in his 58-ball 123, beating the record of 117 previously held by Richard Levi and Chris Gayle.

His stands of 94 and 78 with James Franklin and Ross Taylor helped the Kiwis to 191-3.

Bangladesh faltered in reply, closing on 132-8, with Kyle Mills taking 3-33.

The Tigers’ attempt at the run chase ensured that this was another one-sided World Twenty20 contest, but McCullum’s brilliance had already brought the tournament to life.

The right-hander scored all around the wicket to become the first man to score two Twenty20 international centuries.

His assault made a mockery of Mushfiqur

Rahim’s decision to field after winning the toss in repeated the dose in the following over by hitting grey conditions, as New Zealand dished out some Abdur Razzak over mid-wicket.

An exchange of singles with Taylor and a two brutal treatment to the Bangladesh spinners who taken to point brought McCullum level and, with extracted little turn. two balls remaining, international cricket history Highlight was made as Razzak was again heaved over the leg-side fence.

McCullum regularly swiped the slow bowlers He fell to the final delivery, caught in the deep through the leg side, but the highlight of his on the off side, but McCullum had seemingly done innings came when he advanced down the wicket enough to to put the match well beyond to flat-bat pace bowler Mushrafe Mortaza tennis- Bangladesh’s reach. style over long off for six.

And so it proved as Tamim Iqbal, the Tigers He benefited from one slice of fortune, being batsman most likely to match McCullum’s dropped at extra cover by Mortaza when on 92, exploits, was caught at cover off Mills in the but, later that over he pulled Elias Sunny to the leg- opening over. side fence to bring up his century.

From there, wickets fell with regularity until With eight balls of the innings remaining, Nasir Hossain and Mahmudullah added 50 for the McCullum had the record in his sights and, after fifth wicket, but Hossain’s 39-ball half-century dispatching Sunny straight for a maximum, he came far too late to make an impact on the result.

Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

•LOADED Saina Nehwal

Smashing cash deal!

INDIAN badminton sensation Saina Nehwal has become the country’s best-paid noncricketing sportsperson after signing a threeyear deal worth a reported $7.4m (£4.6m) with a sports management company, underlining the sport’s growth in the otherwise cricket-crazy country.

The only nonChinese in the top five of women’s badminton, Nehwal won a bronze in this year’s Olympic Games and has followed those celebrations by signing a contract with Rhiti Sports, which also manages cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

•SPIN KING Saeed Ajmal

Jamshed’s Knock

FROM BACK PAGE dismissed for a duck in the first over but New Zealand captain Ross Taylor dropped a regulation catch at slip.

Jamshed’s 35-ball knock of 56, which earned him the man of the match award, included four sixes and a couple of boundaries.

“I have improved my game and today I showed those skills in the match,” Jamshed told reporters.

“We just wanted to stick to our plans despite the loss of wickets. I wanted to control the game because I was the set batsman at the time. I wanted to take as much of the strike as possible and score as much as I can.”

WIN FOR RECORD BREAKER MENDIS Amazing 6-8 return seals Zimbabwe’s doom AJANTHA Mendis marked his return to Sri Lanka’s national side by achieving the best figures in T20 internationals.

He puzzled and prised out the Zimbabwe batsmen to contribute to a comprehensive victory in the tournament opener.

After Sri Lanka posted an imposing total, Ajantha tore through Zimbabwe. He took three wickets in his first spell to kill off any thoughts of a chase and returned to take three more to end Zimbabwe’s limp challenge.

Mendis served up deliveries that held their line, those that turned in, the carrom ball and the googly from the back of the hand, leaving Zimbabwe with a sour taste in their mouths and befuddlement in their minds.

Despite not bowling badly, a shoddy showing in the field and being completely at sea with the bat left Zimbabwe looking like the underdogs they were labelled as.

They conceded heavily in the second half of the Sri Lankan innings when Sangakkara and Jeevan asserted their authority over an attack whose spinners held their own while the seamers fell apart.

Kyle Jarvis found swing and bowled an impressive two-over spell upfront, after he loosened up with a full-toss.

He should have had an early wicket, too. Debutant Dilshan Munaweera hoicked a delivery to midwicket and Malcolm Waller

43

SPORT

•ECSTATIC Paul di Resta narrowly missed a podium finish

FOURTH FOR FORCE

PAUL di Resta recorded his career-best result as he picked up 12 points for Sahara Force India with a fourth-place finish, even as his teammate Nico Hulkenberg returned emptyhanded from the incident-filled Singapore Grand Prix.

Di Resta, for whom a sixth place result was best so far, was helped by Lewis Hamilton’s retirement, whose MacLaren had a mechanical failure in lap 23.

Hulkenberg finished 14th after starting from 12th but set the fastest lap of the race with 1min 51.033 secs.

Hamilton was leading the race smoothly from pole position before his gearbox stopped responding. It helped Di Resta move up to fifth from sixth.

It was a blow to Hamilton’s championship chances as a nopoint show has now pushed him to fourth place with 142 points. Hamilton’s crashing out handed the race lead to Sebastian Vettel, who kept it till the end and won the only night Formula One race, which was completed under a twohour time restriction.

Di Resta was ecstatic with his performance.

“Fourth place is a great team result and my best day in Formula One so far. We qualified well, raced hard and took advantage of a few retirements, but in the final stint we certainly showed that we had great pace.

“I was very close to Alonso in the closing stages, but was just missing the pace to really challenge him for the podium”.

•RECORD Sri Lanka’s Ajantha Mendis celebrates taking the wicket could only grasp humid air. Jarvis’ opening partner, Brian Vitori, suffered the same fate.

Tillakaratne Dilshan nicked a leading edge over Brendan Taylor’s head and even though the wicketkeeper moved quickly, he could not get to it in time to take the catch.

A magic box of tricks came from Ajantha’s hands: the ball that held its line to bowl Sibanda, the carrom ball that had Brendan

Taylor stumped and the googly to bowl Masakadza. With their top three dismissed, Zimbabwe needed fighters but Craig Ervine and Waller succumbed to Jeevan’s googly.

After 10 overs, Zimbabwe were 59 for 5 and Ajantha could return to play some more. Zimbabwe reached three-figures but no more, as Mpofu spooned an easy catch to mid-off off Malinga to end the game.

NEW PAGE FOR YUVRAJ

YUVRAJ Singh is set to swap his mighty cricket bat for a pen as he starts work on a book about his father, titled ‘Arrogant Master’.

The 30-year-old cricket superstar plans to include everything about the days spent together with his father, his cricketing career and how he battled cancer.

“He is writing a book on me, whose title will be ‘Arrogant Master’, said dad Yograj Singh. ‘The book will deal with the days we spent together, what all incidents we went through, his journey in becoming a cricketer and his battle with cancer and how he came out of it with everyone’s blessings and support.”

When questioned on the title of the book, Yograj Singh laughed and said he wanted Yuvraj to become a good cricketer while his son wanted to become a skater and was also interested in playing tennis.

“But I was keen that he should become a good cricketer and moulded him that way because I thought he will have some future in the sport,” he said.

Yograj also added that his son will be sharing his cancer experience on

•LIFE STORY Yuvraj Singh will pen new book the small screen soon.

Talking about his son’s battle with the disease, Yograj felt it was a transitional phase, as it changed his life completely.

“I want to say only that it has changed Yuvi completely. “

INDIA TOO STRONG FROM BACK PAGE

England were in danger of falling for the lowest ever total in Twenty20 internationals -- 67 by Kenya against Ireland in 2008 – before the last-wicket pair of Steven Finn and Jade Dernbach prevented the humiliation.

But the total still fell below England’s previous lowest score of 88 against the West Indies at the Oval last year.

Leg-spinner Piyush

Chawla, who was also an unexpected selection for the match, claimed 2-13 as England faltered against both pace and spin.

Seamer Irfan Pathan bowled Alex Hales and trapped Luke Wright legbefore in his first two overs to reduce England to 18-2.

Wickets fell at regular intervals and the innings ended in the 15th over to complete a dominant win for India.

44

Asian City September 27 - October 10, 2012

AsianCity Sport www.asiancity.co.uk

BRITAIN’S BEST ASIAN NEWSPAPER

Man of the Match for Jamshed MOHAMMAD Hafeez led by example and Saeed Ajmal bamboozled the batsmen as 2009 champions Pakistan beat New Zealand by 13 runs in their Group D opener of the Twenty20 World Cup on Sunday.

Electing to bat first, Hafeez forged a 76-run second wicket partnership with Nasir Jamshed, cashing in on New Zealand’s uncharacteristically sloppy fielding, to help his team post 177 for six at

the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.

Returning to defend the total, the Pakistan slow bowlers did not allow the New Zealand top order to accelerate and off-spinner Ajmal (430) denied them a late burst to restrict them to 164 for nine wickets.

Shahid Afridi got one wicket for 30 runs and even though Hafeez did not get a wicket, the Pakistan skipper sent down four tidy overs

conceding only 15 runs to stifle the opponents.

Despite the defeat, New Zealand have booked a place in the Super Eight stage because of their healthy net run-rate.

Pakistan need to avoid a heavy defeat against Bangladesh in their remaining group match on Tuesday to join them in the next stage.

Hafeez could have been

Continued on Page 43

•WINNERS Imran Nazir and Mohammad Hafeez

SINGH IS KING! Brilliant return for hero Harbhajan as England flop

•HOWZAT Graeme Swann walks

No dilemma for Dhoni

WITH Harbhajan Singh making a memorable comeback and Piyush Chawla coming good in the spin department, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni today said that his side would face a selection dilemma, but the best eleven will play in the remaining games of the World Twenty20.

“Now we have a problem of plenty with both the spinners (Harbhajan and Chawla) doing well today. Yes, we have difficult decisions to make. Not to forget that the players who missed out today have won a lot of games for India on their own,” Dhoni said after India thrashed England by 90 runs in their last group league match.

“It will be a difficult decision but we will pick the best eleven,” he added.

He praised the players for the allround show against defending champions England.

“It was an efficient performance.

People might say we were slow for the first 15 overs (while batting), but we were not over-aiming. We had five bowlers, we knew that,” he said.

“Then the bowlers produced a fantastic performance,” he added.

Dhoni revealed that he requested some senior players to take a rest so that the side could try out some new combinations.

“It was a difficult decision, but we requested the seniors to rest so that we could try out some combinations.

All of them cooperated and told me to go ahead,” he said.

“We rested R Ashwin also, our best spinner for some time so that we can try Harbhajan and Piyush.

They did really well today,” he added.

HARBHAJAN Singh grabbed 4-12 on his return after a year in the wilderness as India demolished defending champions England by 90 runs in the World Twenty20 on Sunday.

Rohit Sharma hit an unbeaten 55 off 33 balls as the new-look Indians scored 170-4, before England were shot out for their lowest T20 total of 80 in front of 20,000 spectators at the Premadasa stadium.

India rested seamer Zaheer Khan, spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and opener Virender Sehwag for the group A match that held only academic interest since both teams had already qualified for the Super Eights.

But it was a morale-boosting win for the 2007 champions ahead of the next round, as they dominated England from start to finish.

Harbhajan, 32, who had been out of favour with the selectors since August

•COMEBACK SINGH Harbhajan bowls to England’s Graeme Swann last year before being recalled for the World Twenty20, claimed a wicket off his second delivery when he came on in the sixth over.

When his spell finished in the 12th over, England had slumped to 60-8 and lost their ninth wicket also at the same total.

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