Four Thousand Miles

REPPIN' BRITISH ASIAN CULTURE IN FASHION + BEAUTY + ARTS There's over 4,000 miles between India and the U.K. Documenting the travel of culture and dress from our diasporic roots. [SIDE NOTE: On the search for British Asian Girls in the the creative industry please message me your recommendations]

[assyrianjalebi]

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Another legend fades out <3

One of the only actresses who demanded equal pay to her male counterparts

BAD GAL POWER MOVES !

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100 YEARS LATER - What does it mean to be a British Asian Woman

So I've had an eventful couple of weeks, dying from this Australian flu (yes, it really felt like I was dying), it completely wiped every ounce of life in me, missed the whole '100 years since Women were allowed to vote' celebrations whilst trying to run down this fever that uninvited itself into my life.

Almost back to my perky self, I feel like it's never to late to celebrate woman hood and talk about all the important issues that come with being a woman (and being an Asian woman.)

I took part in a short viral for BBC Asian Network, In honour of women's rights to vote, we were asked what are some of the challenges as a British Asian woman we still face and the one thing we are grateful for.

It was so easy for me to think of challenges we face and all the things we have to unfortunately consider and live up to in our wider community but when thinking about what I was grateful for I was a little stuck to think of something deep and meaningful, perhaps I was over thinking it and taking some of my privileges for granted because I don't know any different?

I had to really think about the fortunate set of circumstances that have made my life what it is today, from the moment my Grandma made that decision to move to the U.K, would I be doing what I'm doing today living in a small village in India? Such as living alone in another city away from my family unmarried? Going to university? Working in the fashion industry? Not be forced into a marriage that I did not want to be in? Would I have the courage to stand up against hundreds of years of ingraining and be as vocal as I am in my feelings and passions? Perhaps not and its only in that moment when you play a game of sliding doors that you realise the privileges that you have.

Here’s the video link to the viral below. I’ve summarised some of my thoughts on the challenges we face and all the things I am grateful for.

https://www.facebook.com/BBCAsianNetwork/videos/10160051353880381/

It's the constant pressure to be married as if that's the highest point of achievement for a woman, you could find the cure for cancer or save the planet from being hit by an asteroid, if you're not married it's still not good enough! Growing up as a British Asian you soon realise your privileges through your Parents and Grandparents some of the things I feel grateful for; 1.The right to go to the cinema with a friend and not be attacked or killed because women can't be seen in public at night 2.The right and entitlement to an education 3.The right to feel protected when been subjected to abuse by your partner 4.The right to not be forced into a marriage that you don't want to be in What are your thoughts? What are the challenges you still face as British Asian female and what are the things you are most grateful for? I would love to open this subject up into a wider debate. Share your thoughts 

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The Era of Daytimers

I discovered this short film by Riz Ahmed called DAYTIMER. I’ve been reminiscing away thinking about my raving days. The era of Daytimers played a huge part for Asian teenagers in the 90s. They were and still are some of my most memorable moments of my teens. It was a place where young Asians would come together, experience club life without getting into deep shit from their parents. Conflicted by the constraints of our culture and what was expected of us in the family home, we also wanted to fit in like every other teenager in school and experience our youth without the guilt trip of compromising our traditional values.

Daytimers would always fall on the last day of school holidays. The party would start just after lunchtime and finish around 6:00PM.You’d always have half day on the last day of term, so it was easier to get away without having to go through cross-examination from your parents.

My mum was pretty cool though, she genuinely allowed me to go to these places, the only rule I had was that I had to tell her - NO LIES! It was a pretty good deal if it meant I could go out with my mates. She was happy for me to experience these things and have fun as every other (non-Asian) teenager in ways that she didn’t.

However I couldn't say the same for my friends, we'd be ducking and diving through town, hoping no Aunty Ji would catch us or their notorious Uncle, the one who could kill you just by one look! Once the coast was clear we would slip into pure raving heaven. We could’ve been anywhere in the world but in reality, we were in the middle of Leicester City Centre - Club City and that first taste of club life was like no other. 

The scene... lights low, guys on girls, girls on guys, it was all about what you were wearing and how you looked. The girls had that Aaliyah vibe going on and the guys in their overstated brand logos whilst dancing their life away to the sounds of Bhangra infused Rnb & Hip Hop. 'No Scrubs', 'Shorty Swing My Way', the original Destinys Child's and Garage were some of the memorable sounds of the time. It was a safe space with zero chances of any relative seeing you.

The dancefloor was our liberation, the connection between the opposite sex for the first time felt ‘normal’, we weren't under the disapproving eye of the elders in the community or made to feel like talking to a boy or girl was seedy, we were expressing ourselves like every other developing teenager in the western world.

We would then somehow find someone's older brother or cousin to get you some alcohol from the bar, those days no one really hassled you for I.D, you could even smoke in clubs back then, anything forbidden from the prying eyes of family members was permissible. It was a place where we could finally experience youth culture in a way that our white counterparts probably took for granted. 

It was an era that definitely shaped the Asian club culture.

Who else remembers Daytimers? Share your stories and let's have a laugh about the sneaky, cheeky good old days.

Check out this short film - Daytimer by Riz Ahmed

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Over half a million Asians and only one Neelam Gill

I used to religiously buy Asiana and Asian woman magazine, usually flipping between the two depending on which one had better pictures. Apart from fantasising about what jewellery and clothes I wanted to buy, I remember wondering why there were hardly any Indian women modelling the clothes and if there were any it would be the same models repeatedly used for every issue. The only Asian model championing our corner right now is Neelam Gill, surely we can find more Asian models in the U.K?

For those who have never seen the magazines, they would usually have a model who was ‘sort of’ Indian looking, very fair skin, dark hair and blended in with Indian clothes. I read an article In one of the magazines some years ago explaining this issue, claiming it was down to the lack of Indian women signed to agencies. As a lot of money is put into these shoots, their argument was; they didn’t want to risk using someone who may not show or be unprofessional on set.

At the time I remember thinking it seemed like a plausible reason but I’m not entirely convinced now. If this is the case then I don’t feel magazines need to restrict themselves to one type of model. There are plenty of other nationalities that could fit the bill and represent a more diverse palette of Asian women and seeing as there are over half a million Indians living in the U.K I’m sure they can find ONE reliable Asian gal to grace the covers of their magazines.

The thing that pisses people off the most that it’s a simple thing to tackle in terms of; they are in control and can dictate to the audience, it’s a choice that they can choose against but they choose not to, missing the opportunity to celebrate women of colour. People are sick of conforming and want to feel challenged, instead of feeling brainwashed by seeing the same things over and over again. It’s a shame magazines like ‘Asiana’ and ‘Asian Woman’ didn’t use their power to challenge the norm, a lot of these magazines want to be seen as diverse but don’t really want to rock the boat, roll their sleeves and really dig deep. It’s all done for tokenism, they’ll throw a fat girl in there and a couple of dark skin models every now and then and feel that’s enough.

It’s great to have the first British Asian model but we can’t keep wringing out the same person for everything. Hopefully, it will pave the way for many more to come. In the meantime, I will still sit back and wait for a dark skin beauty to grace the cover of one of these magazines… Won’t hold my breath though.

SIDE NOTE: I had someone comment that I created a poorly researched post and that Asian woman magazine had closed down...

To clarify my post was/is reflecting on childhood memories of those magazines and comparing them to what I see now. Far as I am aware Asiana (wedding) magazine is very much alive and kicking as I have physically seen and flipped through a copy myself (most definitely in that last 365 days) and in comparison to magazines such as Kush / Asiana / Vogue India, I don't see a huge change since my teenage years. I genuinely feel strongly about promoting dark skin Asian women (and men) as I am aware how much this impacts on them personally. (There are plenty of documentaries about this)

My point mainly was to highlight that dark skin/light skin beauty aesthetics isn't just an issue in the western world, in India fairer skinned people are given a lot more opportunities than those who are darker skinned, i.e Marriage proposals, job opportunities. My feelings are, we can help challenge these ideas through various media outlets and be seen to be doing more than promoting 'fair and lovely' type beauties.

Anyone from a South Asian background knows this !!!!

Point 2. There are a hell of a lot of hot British Asian girls out there who are equally as worthy as Neelam Gill. WE NEED SOME MORE 'NEELAM GILLS' OUT HERE!

I'm not in any way trying to be a blogger or a journalist, I am specifically using this platform to air my thoughts and start conversations with various women for an up and coming project.

So thank you to those who shared and gave me some your thoughts, hopefully, I will do better at translating.

[dollmeat3-blog]

Helen in Heera (1973)

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The Bollywood ban of female Make-up Artists

Living in the western world with all the privileges that are often taken for granted, I could never imagine training as a Make-up artist and mastering my craft only to be told I couldn't work as a Make-up artist because... I was a woman!

This was very real and apparent for Charu Khurana who trained at the Cinema Makeup School in Los Angeles only to find when she returned to India that there was this crazy rule that prohibited her from obtaining a membership card to work as a Make-up Artist. The rule was there to protect the men from women taking the jobs as they feared women would be favoured more. 

Thanks too bad ass women like Charu Khurana and Namrata Soni for petitioning against the Union, the ban was finally lifted after 60 years by the Supreme Court of India.

The road to winning this battle was far from easy, in a country where women are already placed out of sync in terms of equality, Charu experienced a huge battle ahead of her. She was often threatened on set by the Union, they would fine her and disrupt production.

Charu would have to hide in vans or go to hotel rooms to do her job then send out a male Make-up artist to represent her on set so she wouldn't be seen. Although Charu would be doing most of the work she would then have to split her credits and salary with the man who was sent out to be her face on set. 

Namrata talks about how the Union were violent and very volatile towards her, threatening that women should keep away from Make-up. Namrata had very little supporters, the production crew just wanted to get the job done and when money is at stake, there was no time to have a protest.

In the filming industry in India, 90% of men would be employed compared to women, from cameramen to directors, runners, photographers. You would find most of the women on set were the actresses and dancers,

The union would segregate jobs claiming that you could only apply to be either a Make-up artist or a Hairdresser but even then Make-up was favoured towards men, completely cock blocking women from even having a chance. Their view was hair work isn't respected in the same way as makeup, hence why makeup is higher paid, they do not want women earning higher salaries compared to men finding every excuse not to employ women.

Charu faced a huge fight with the Maharashtra state commission, it was a very slow process. With the Union not responding, she went to the National Women Commission in Delhi where things finally started to take shape, it took her 5 years to put the case together. Finally, November 10th 2014 the Supreme court lifted the ban making waves for women in the Hair and Make-up Industry.  MAJOR GIRL POWER MOVES!

Despite this victory I can’t quite help but think about the prejudices women would still be up against, even with the ban being lifted there would still be unwelcoming attitudes of those who have a cemented view on women in the Filming / Arts industry. It’s unimaginable to think this was only 3 years ago and i am more than sure the fight is not over yet.

[weedio]

May the divine Light of Diwali shine with Peace, Prosperity, Happiness and Good Health in your life. HAPPY DIWALI.

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Happy Diwali, love and light xx

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I attended the #cutandcolour event the other week at Tate Britain. My first stop was with @burntrotimag who put together a Body Hair Positivity Worksop. Being Asian, I feel that hair is a blessing and a curse, we have all the thickness in the right places but unfortunately we all the excess in all the WRONG places 🙈 

It made me think about the times when hairdressers would freak at the site of my hair because it was so thick and curly and their only solution was too thin it out or when Asian beauticians would thread my eyebrows to an unrealistic proportion (and I thought it was cool) because the only time big brows were seen was on the Gallagher Brothers (if you're a child of the 90's you'll know). 

They even went as far as threading my poor little baby hairs and would say "it looked better". It was only when I took control of my hair and brows that thick hair became fashionable #TYPICAL! 

Anyway, It made me wonder, being Asian we have such strong ties with our hair, our religious and spiritual connections, how the culture of long hair defines beauty but then anything in excess should not be seen. I'm curious to know, what have been your hair woes? or do you have a hair story? Good or bad or even funny. I'm interested to know

[dollmeat3-blog]

Amrapali (1966) Vyjayantimala

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#DOPE

[myjustblue-blog]

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The original bad gal of boundary pushing, aka the non conformist, aka the creator, maker, trend setter

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When I was a child I remember when my Dad would pull me up if my tops were seen as a little too tight or too low or if a CM of my midriff would be on show, God forbid!

However, my argument back would be

"What about the old biddys in their sari's showing off their entire back fat and tummy rolls, isn't that too revealing"?

Then jokingly add that maybe he should have a word with them for bad influencing me. With a few eye rolls, his argument was flawed.

A few weeks ago I attended this amazing exhibition at the Truman Brewery in London called the 'Beauty Of Being British Asian' (BOBBA), celebrating South Asian culture by Sharan Dhaliwal who is also the brains behind burntroti.com

Whilst at the exhibition I came across the work of Kiran Gidda, I was drawn to the concept of her shoot that was exhibited, illustrating the hypocrisy of South Asian views on showing too much flesh. Such as when women wear saris, their entire midriff is on show but when wearing western clothes, such as Jeans and crop top it's seen as ‘too revealing' or ‘too exposed'. Making a point that a sari blouse and a crop top are basically the same thing.

Kiran is a self-taught photographer from West London. She has a super cool street style to her work, her models imperfectly perfect and unpolished (which is a personal aesthetic when shooting fashion) sets the tone of her style.

Kiran illustrates this hypocritical point of 'revealing too much skin' by shooting her models in sari blouses under water which are seen to look like swimsuits, accessorised in traditional Indian Jewellery.

You can follow Kirans work at kirangidda.com

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My father named me Meena, after Meena Kumari, India's most iconic star. Like many Asians at the time she was his favourite actress. No one could say my name without saying "Kumari" at the end of it. (and If you're Indian and your names Meena, you can probably relate) 

The glee and happiness as if I was their personal 'Meena Kumari' lead me to be fascinated by this very loved actress. Her enchanting looks, mesmerised by her hair and makeup, she looked magical and the twinkle she left in the viewers eye made me realise how special she was in the hearts of her fans. 

For anyone in the western world who needs some measure to understand how huge Kumari was, she was the equivalent to India's Marilyn Monroe, who uncannily had similar troubled backgrounds, lead a similar path in life and demised under similar circumstances at a very young age. 

Meena Kumari left a huge loss in Bollywood, almost a 100 films in her short time on earth. I guess she resonates the same feeling when people look back at Marilyn Monroe "if only we could have saved her". Thankfully we have the movies, (and Google) and many many "twinkly eyes" to remind us of the Iconic beauty that is Meena Kumari.