New Block In TD School Mattanjery Inaugurated By Sudheendra Theertha Swamiji
New Block In TD School Mattanjery Inaugurated By Sudheendra Theertha Swamiji
Go natural: Avoid overnight make-up
TV soap queens Tulsi and Parvati of "Kyunkii Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi" and "Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki" are often seen "sleeping" with layers of make-up on their faces - but experts warn against replicating this as using greasepaint for long hours considerably damages the skin.
According to renowned herbal beautician Shahnaz Hussain, "cleansing the skin at night, before bedtime, is very important, not only to remove make-up but also dirt, pollutants, sweat deposits and other impurities."
"At night, the pores should be left free to breathe. The skin should not be smothered with heavy make-up or cream during the night while sleeping as the body's repair and restoration work takes place at that time.
"This includes the renewal of skin cells. The youth of the skin depends on an efficient cell renewal process. So, the skin should be left clean while this process goes on," Hussain said..
Hema Pant, another skin specialist, voiced a similar opinion.
"The coloured cosmetics that are used can cause contact allergies. Therefore, the skin should be left free at night so that it can breathe," Pant, a senior dermatologist at Kaya Skin Clinic, a skin care solutions centre, said.
Using make-up for an entire day aggravates premature skin ageing, she added.
Although the fashion statements of screen characters do influence many women, Hussain feels that "many viewers are wise enough to realise that heavy make-up is only part of the glamorous world of television and movies."
TV soap stars concur with the experts.
"I always try and take off my make-up before going to sleep," said Sarah Khan, the "fairer" of the two girls in "Sapna Babul Ka...Bidaai".
"I get so irritated with the make-up that we have to wear all day for the shoots that I always make it a point to remove it before I sleep," she added.
Gunjan Walia, who plays Radha in "Parrivar-Kartavya Ki Pariksha", went to the extent of saying that soap directors should be "a little more realistic" in their portrayals.
"Less glamour should be associated with night scenes without oodles of make-up and jewellery (as is the case now), she added.
The extent of make-up should also depend on how photogenic a person is, Gunjan felt.
"Not everyone is blessed with natural beauty. Therefore, we have to put on make up before we face the camera as this appeals to the viewers," she said.
Both Gunjan and Sarah use cleansing moisturisers and toners, while the latter also applies papaya on her face once a week to keep her skin young and glowing. Read more...
Changing Name After Marriage
Before settling into the new life there are some legal aspects that should be taken care of. This includes obtaining marriage certificate, changing the name if needed, etc.
For changing the name you have to notify authorities of your new marital status by submitting a photocopy of your husband's passport and your marriage certificate.
Your marital status will be noted with your husband's name inserted into the spouse's column. Legally, there are two ways to change your name and notify relevant authorities of the same. Either submit a joint notarised affidavit or a copy of the official government gazette in which your new name is duly mentioned.
A joint notarised affidavit is a declaration made by you and your husband on stamp paper, signed by a magistrate or a notary. The declaration states that your maiden name was say, for example, Shalini Sinha and you were married to Manjit Singh on 17 August, 2007. Then by virtue of your marriage, your new name is Shalini Singh and you shall be known by this name hereafter. The affidavit also carries a joint photograph of your husband and yours.
A notarised affidavit, along with your marriage certificate, is enough to change your name at the bank, on your passport, on the Permanent Account Number (PAN) for income tax (IT) deductions and even on your driving license.
However, submitting a notarised affidavit can be a tedious and expensive affair every time your new name has to be recorded. More so, if the concerned departments / officials ask for the original affidavit each time!
Make your life simpler by registering your new name with your state government gazette. Collect a copy of the name change form - available free of cost - and fill in the details correctly. Attach a copy of your marriage certificate and pay a nominal fee.
The concerned officer will give you a receipt and will send you copies of the gazette carrying your name change details and a reference number to your address mentioned in the form. This procedure takes from a few days to a month. You just need to add the gazette copy with all your name change applications to effect the change.
Marriage as a Fundamental Right
Can the Supreme Court decide on an issue which was not raised before it? A recent apex court judgement triggered the Campaign for the Right to Marry for HIV positive patients. To appreciate its concern, it is important to understand the facts leading to the apex court judgement.
A doctor (Mr X) had accompanied a relative of a minister to a hospital in another state South India. X’s blood sample that was tested for donation revealed that he was HIV positive. This was not disclosed to him nor to his finance. The hospital disclosed his HIV status to the minister.
On confirmation of his HIV status, X himself called of his marriage. The issue would have ended there. However, on account of the close knit nature of the community to which X belonged to, he was pressured in not only giving up a lucrative career in the State Medical Services, but he had to literally flee his native state.
All because his status had been disclosed to a stranger and thereby to the community at large. It was this that prompted X to file a complaint in the National Consumer Commission for damages.
The Commission declined to entertain X’s complaint on the ground that the civil court would be the appropriate forum. It was to challenge the Commission’s order that X went to the Supreme Court. The issue before the Supreme Court,therefore, was whether the Commission was right in declining to entertain X’s complaint.
An HIV positive person’s right to marriage was not the issue before the Supreme Court at all. (Refer to Dangerous disclosures by Flavia Agnes which appeared on this page on September 22).
The Supreme Court held and rightly, that as a general rule a doctor has to maintain his patient’s confidentiality. However, there are exceptions. It held that in the case of X there was nothing wrong in the hospital having disclosed his HIV status in view of his impending marriage.
The apex court has also not restricted the scope of the disclosure only to the prospective spouse, but apparently allowed disclosure also to unconcerned parties.
The minister in this particular case was not an interested party. Why was he informed? Can a hospital disclose to all and sundry the medical condition of a private indivbidual? Who is then entitled to information of the status of an HIV positive person? In other countries, courts have limited the extent of disclosure to identifiable third parties who are in imminent and real danger.
The campaign has no quarrel with that. The Campaign is not based on the presumption, that all HIV positive patients contract marriages only after disclosure. In fact, the Campaign, believes that an HIV positive person has a legal, moral and ethical duty to inform not only his prospective and/or existing spouse but also his/her sexual partner about his status.
However, in X’s case since he did not know of his own HIV status, there was no question of him informing anybody. On the other hand, the hospital authorities had denied before the National Consumer Commission that they had informed anybody. This aspect was not considered by the Supreme Court.
What is most unfortunate is that the Supreme Court decided on an issue which was not raised before it a HIV positive person’s right to marry. The Supreme Court judgement is categorical……….. “as long as the person is not cured of the [disease…….] the right to marry cannot be enforced through a court of law and shall be treated to be a ‘suspended right.” Later the Supreme Court says that the legal “provisions impose a duty upon (X) not to marry as the marriage would have the effect of spreading the infection of his own disease, which obviously is dangerous to the life of the woman whom he marries apart from being an offence.”
What is equally unfortunate is that the apex court arrived as its judgement without hearing the concerned parties such as X. Such an important decision was taken without taking the advantage of the parties pointing out the developments of identical issues in other countries. These would have been of invaluable advantage to the Court.
An HIV is not curable as of today and it is obvious that the judgement means that HIV positive persons can never marry. But the right to marry is recognised internationally as a fundamental human right. It is so under Article 23 of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, under Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and under Article 12 of the European Convention of Human Rights.
Our own Supreme Court has repeatedly held that it is a Fundamental Right under Article 21 of our Constitution. Now, the Supreme Court itself has held that a Fundamental Right can only be abridged by a legislation. All the matrimonial laws in the country do not prohibit marriage in case of communicable venereal diseases. These are only grounds of divorce. The Supreme Court, therefore, has no jurisdiction to suspend or abridge a Fundamental Right that too of a whole community.
In ruling about a whole community of HIV positive persons, the Court has only taken into consideration a couple who is about to get married. What about a couple, who contracts HIV after their marriage? Is their marriage suspended or abridged? What about HIV negative person who give their informed consent to marry HIV positive persons? What about a couple where both are HIV positive? Why should they not be allowed to marry? The Supreme Court has not taken these into consideration.
That apart,if the judgement is effectively implemented to prohibit marriage of HIV positive persons it will mean, apart from proliferating the business of false HIV negative certificates, driving the disease underground. Experience in other countries shows that restricting rights of HIV positive persons invariably has negative public health implications.
A genuine concern is that of the innocent bride who unknowingly becomes HIV positive after her marriage. The question before HIV activities is how to enable the woman, whether a prospective or existing spouse or partner to have sex safely with her spouse or partner. Culturally, in India no woman can insist on her spouse using a condoms that she is protected. Firstly because the relationship between the man and woman is totally unequal.
The wife can demand her sexual rights in the bed amongly under the threat of divorce, which most Indian women are not prepared there. Fortunately, the HIV epidemic has forced us to raise these questions most urgently. More importantly, we have to answer them positively to empower women so that they can negotiate sex safely.
By changing laws which are unjust, by encouraging pre-marital counselling, couples can be helped to cope with that they are letting themselves in for. By empowering woman we may be able to reduce partly the transmission of the disease that will benefit society as a whole. This is the greatest challenge before the campaign. Read more...
The legal side of marriage
 Getting married is about commitment. It is a sacred institution that has many legal implications. We often don't pay heed to educating ourselves about the marital laws. To avoid legal hassles, it is good to know some of the most important legal procedures. What is Marriage Registration and Marriage Certification? In India, the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and the Special Marriage Act, 1954 govern the formalization of this institution. The Hindu marriage act, 1955 enables the State Government to make its own rules for the purposes of registration of marriages. These rules for the registration as well for the certification of the same vary from state to state. However, as per the statute, it is not compulsory to register such event and the validity of a Hindu marriage shall not be affected by the registration in any case. Registration serves the purpose of facilitating the proof of Hindu marriage. But, the Supreme Court of India has also recently ordered that all marriages should be compulsorily registered. The aim is to tackle the problems of bigamy, child marriage, desertion by spouses and disputed child support claims. The Special marriage Act, 1954 provides for solemnization of a marriage as well as registration by a Marriage Officer. Registration under this act is resorted to when inter-faith marriages take place. What is streedham and what are the issues related to this? Streedham is the possession of exclusively women, according to the old schools of Hindu Law. The following are considered streedham in the hands of a woman: · Gifts made to a woman before nuptial fire · Gifts made to a woman at the bridal procession · Gifts made in token of love by parents-in-law · Gifts made by her father/mother or brother. In addition, a particular kind of property acquired by a woman is streedham or not, depends on the source from which the property is acquired and her status at the time of acquisition, whether she acquired it during her maidenhood, subsistence of marriage or widowhood. The woman has an absolute and exclusive dominion over all her streedham including the movable and immovable property and has the power to sell, alienate or give it away as she pleases, both during her lifetime and thereafter. Her husband or his family members have no rights over a woman's streedham. Is dowry a punishable act? It is, what legal steps can be taken to fight against it? According to the Dowry Prohibition Act 1961, "dowry" means any property or valuable security given or agreed to be given either directly or indirectly a. by one party to a marriage to the other party to the marriage; or b. by the parents of either party to a marriage or by any other person, to either party to the marriage or to any other person. The practice of dowry in India has been theoretically linked to a number of factors including the nature of residence and inheritance system, kinship organizations, relative availability of potential spouses and social stratification in the society. The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 is a threat to this practice. If a person, gives or takes or abets the giving or taking of dowry, he shall be punished even with imprisonment. There is even penalty for demanding dowry. If any person demands, directly or indirectly from the parents or guardians of the bride or bridegroom, as the case may be, any dowry, he shall be punishable with imprisonment. But the act is not applicable to the presents which are given at the time of a marriage to the bridegroom without any demand having been made in that behalf. |
Marrying an NRI ?
If you are a prepearing for a marriage with an NRI there are certain things that you need to prepare for, especially if you are going abroad.
Language
Even though English is the international language, it isnot the official language in many countries. Learning anew language takes a significant amount of time, effortand practice. The social circle may get very limited onaccount of different culture and language and may leadto feelings of isolation. One should be mentally preparedfor that.
Food
Many people who move to a foreign land initially have difficulties adjusting to the availability of ethnic food. The number of stores and their accessibility vary depending on the place. This may lead to initial health problems and adjustments in food preferences.
Culture
Adjusting to a new culture takes time for different people.Venturing out into the world, to a certain extent, requiresthe ability to communicate and be open to new peopleand new ideas. This ability needs a willingness to let goof certain ideas that are irrelevant or counter-productive to one’s life in a new place. In other words, not being too conservative is helpful. All these possibilities should be borne in mind while making decisions regarding marriage to an overseas Indian.
Lifestyle
One’s attire does influence the way one is perceived, and therefore one’s interactions with other people. One may even feel uncomfortable wearing western outfits or socializing with foreigners hence one should be prepared to adapt to different dress and behavioral requirements depending on climate, social and professional environments.
Time Zone differences
Moving to a different part of the globe means being subject to sudden change in the time zone. A bigger challenge is to connect with relatives and friends in different countries. One needs to realise that they may not be able to have telephonic or online conversations with their kith and kin as and when they desire because of the time zone differences. This may result in psychological stress for some women, especially housewives/home-makers, who feel deprived of communication with their loved ones. Hence mentally be prepared.
Homesickness
Leaving one’s friends and family behind to travel to a distant place can be stressful. A person must be enterprisingand try to find things to keep themselves occupied withand learn new things. Not finding anything that interests the mind may make life in a different country very unexciting and constraining.
Climate
Large parts of countries such as the U.S. and Canada have harsh/depressing winters compared with the tropical/sunny climate of India. This not only is a challenge to one’s health, but also imposes restriction on lifestyle. During the severe cold weather, spending time outside one’s home is nearly impossible. Staying home for prolonged periods of time can result in boredom and feelings of isolation and depression.
Financial and Social preconceptions
One of the misconceptions about Indians living in foreign countries is that they are able to earn enormous amounts of money, relatively easily. This may not be the case always and one should be ready for a very high cost of living and long hours of work. Men and women interact differently in western cultures. Hence one must familiarize oneself with the nature of interpersonal relations in a foreign county to avoid feelings of insecurity.
Employment
As a foreign citizen, the ability to earn a livelihood islimited by the immigration rules. Depending on the type of visa, employment may or may not be permitted. Forexample, in the U.S., a student visa and a tourist/visitor visa do not provide the opportunity to take up a job. The categories of H-1 and J-1 are meant for employment. The spouses of Indians living in the U.S. often arrive hereon the basis of a dependent visa.
With the exception of aJ-2 visa (J-1 dependent), all other dependent visa holdersare not permitted to work. Attending an academic degree program requires a transition to an F-1, which takes time, money and admission to a program.
These conditions obviously hinder one’s economic and educational freedom. For a young person who had the freedom towork and earn a livelihood in one’s own country, being in a restrictive situation such as the above is likely to bequite disagreeable.
Medical facilities and health insurance
Most of the developed countries of the world areperceived to have excellent health-care facilities. While this may be true, access to such facilities is not easy or uniform across the population. Enrolment in an acceptable health insurance plan (most of which are usually expensive) is a necessity for seeking medical consultation and treatment. Visiting a doctor requires making an appointment, and few clinics/hospitals offer walk-in consultations, as is the norm in India. Many medicines that are available over-the-counter in India, are only available by prescription in other countries, which canonly be obtained from a licensed doctor (both require additional payment).
Take an informed decision
The difficult experience that are associated with all the above problems are a significant strain on any marital relationships, let alone a new one. A relatively painless transition into one’s new life is highly desirable for a marriage, while the lack there of can cause damage that is sometimes irreparable depending on the temperaments of the spouses. A failure to adjust to a new life and to be open-minded about new ideas can be a direct cause ofmarital strain; hence one must make an informed decision, taking future possibilities into account.
(Courtesy: Booklet by Ministry of Overseas Affairs)
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