VITAL SIGNS PLEASE for Child Actors of Slumdog Millionaire!

We were all thrilled to celebrate the modern day beautiful "rag to riches" Oscar winner (x8)!!

It captured the world's imagination during this global period of economic crisis ,I believe, because it highlighted that love was the real prize,not the money or the illusions of living a rich lifestyle, or of obtaining power!

Underneath the celluloid tale,(ok maybe films are no longer made like this, I am not that old-seriously folks!!) Oh right, where was I, yes, underlying the Hollywood/Bollywood creation is the reality of these children's lives!??!

First photo presents little Rubina giving an interview prior to leaving for the Oscars.

check out the women's looks! oouch!

 This second photo shows their joy and anticipation en route out of Mumbai 

Of course , in LA at the Oscars, looking very westernized indeed,yet loving it!

Below, fatigue and intense emotions upon Rubina's return to Mumbai!

Their reactions returning home to the slums and to their families were concerning as described in The UK's Telegraph publication  By Barney Henderson in Mumbai Last Updated: 2:23PM GMT 01 Mar 2009

"Having flown in a plane, slept in a soft bed and used a clean and functioning bathroom for the first time in their lives at a five-star hotel, the kids say they have now realised what life is like on the other side of the coin and the reality of being back in the slum is hitting them hard."

"I don't want to live here in the slum anymore," Rubina said, wearing the dirt stained ball gown that she has not wanted to take off since Oscars night. "I don't want to sleep on the floor anymore. I want a proper bed and live where the air does not smell of poo. I have seen what it is like in America. Here, there is garbage everywhere, people get angry, swear and shout. I have realised how bad life is here. I just want to get out."

further photos upon their return to the slums

At school exhausted, Azhar is looking confused and as a pediatrician I would say he is not appearing well--- actually as became clear later, he developed a fever of 103° and required antibiotics for an illness as defined by a local doctor!

Rubina settling in ?!

Further excerpts from the Telegraph article cited above:

Social workers have called for the children to be placed in care and state that they need to be given protection – either from Danny Boyle and the film production company or the Indian authorities.

"I cannot believe these kids have just been left like this after being taken to Hollywood. It is bound to affect them psychologically," said social worker Sanjay Bhatia, who works in the slum.

India's Women and Child Development Minister Renuka Chowdhary is "appalled" at the beating that Azhar took at the hands of his father on Friday. Azhar was thrashed for saying he wanted to sleep rather than talk to a journalist who had offered money to his father.

It is my prayer that these children can find peace and hope and can use this experience in a positive way, though I imagine it will place pressures on them to support their families financially 

• - I wondered as a child and also as an adult if people who are poor are made to feel worse when they obtain a point of comparison---does one miss what one does not know? or experience? 
  
• -does not a child within the Indian family unit find comfort,like all children, from their shared meals, from the banter of neighbors and friends, from the love of their parents? 
  
• -has modern life equiped with global communications, TV, radios brought the harshness of these comparisons into a more acute focus?  
  

I do not doubt for a second that the life within these slums is difficult,dangerous and does not offer its inhabitants an easy way to optimize their personal potentials- why? I believe perhaps, they are too burdened with the primary issues of survival ( I call this the strain of survival mode)where there is more fatigue and potentially illness!

 In any case, I hope you will join me in sending them good vibs ,thoughts or prayers !! What are your take about this issue ? 

photos credits - click on them for the URL's

When our Children get sick- Keeping it LIGHT!

Happy Weekend All! Happy Mardi Gras!!!!

We are finally all back on our feet after the nasty gastro that gripped our family for nearly 2 weeks.  I have managed to get back my appetite enough to prepare meals again- hooray !

I do not like being sick nor playing the bathroom cleanup fairy and shall we say that awaking multiple times a night reminds me of nights on call responding to the in 's and outs of bodily functions of my adorable patients

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 It is altogether different when the whining patient is your preteen daughter who is having a fit because her hair , recently straightened and washed,  is in the way of projectile vomitus and I can do nothing to assuage her ! It is at times like these which are rather bittersweet, happy to be of aid to my own children during their discomfort with illness yet, noting that it is far easier to care for patients because there is no personal stuff to get in the way of treatments!

So I have been musing alot over these past days away from my blog world and there are a few things I wanted to share:

Taking time to honor great things happening in the world like---

• I so loved Obama's Congressional Address - he delivered a clear message to Americans about his objectives regarding  Energy, Health care, and Education.  He drew a line for all to see about how these three issues were necessary to address NOW because they impact  the economic picture so acutely. Hooray for logical,bright leaders who can see the forest and the trees.  

Taking time to notice nature's beauty----

• It has been magnificent these last few days with far reaching rays of gorgeous Mediterranean sunlight  beaming through the french windows.... taunting spring to arrive early!

Taking time to be a bit creative---

• I have been  sketching up ideas for my horrific garden, which is styled to date in early hillbilly. Yes, my husband is a pack rat, so is my son and OK, I admit to having 8 french,iron beds,in parts mind you , in a corner near the outbuilding....I feel a decluttering coming along. And no, we have no chickens,roosters or pigs.
  
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• For the children/ adolescents here the transition back to school was slowed as I mentioned due to virus ville,here at the bohemian mini chateau, I advise pushing them to regain their rhythm with sports and studies( I was a tad eager and ended up doing a round trip to the city where my daughter attends school some 1hour away after she redecorated the girls bathroom- if you follow my drift.... 
• Oh the positives of virus season, you ask- easily inspired weight loss, decrease in the grocery bills for 2 weeks -oh and excuses for long naps and family movie time.
  

THANKS AGAIN  to those of you who kindly alerted me to the problem of being able to follow my WDF- I hope I was able to fix it! Let me know if it persists! 

photos credit-victorian images