India`s "silent" village of deaf-mutes

(INDIA, VILLAGE, BIRTH, CHILD, THERE, HEALTH)

By Sunil Kataria
DADHKAI, India (Reuters Life!) - Silence reigns in the sleepy village of Dadhkai, nestled high up in the Himalayan mountains in northern India and where the majority of residents are either deaf or mute.
Each of the 47 families in this village in Jammu and Kashmir state have a least one member who can neither hear nor speak. The first reported case dates back to 1931 and now the numbers have swelled to 82.
"The birth of a child is a very happy occasion, meant to be celebrated. But here the birth of a child leads to harassment not only for the parents but for the entire village," said Hashmiddin, a village elder who only goes by one name.
"A deaf and mute child only aggravates problems and increases miseries," he told Reuters Television.
The village with a picture-postcard setting stands in isolation from the rest of the region, as there are no roads, and no transport connecting it to the outside world. A river cuts it from the neighboring region.
Three years ago, a team of scientists and doctors came from an Indian health institute to study the village`s case, but no conclusive findings have been made public so far.
Some villagers blame it on pollution in the water or air, while others believe they could be cursed, as adjoining villages have not reported any similar disorders.
But an age-old custom of marrying within the community, coupled with lack of access to medical facilities and immunization, probably led to the large number of deaf and mute cases, says Jan Mohammed, an instructor for the deaf.
"I think it is because of a genetic problem," Mohammed said. "Close relatives marry here. In the past there was no immunization given and also there is a lack of iodine and salt."
Lack of education, and hearing aids, has left many locals disillusioned about the future.
"These days it is so difficult to find matches for well educated normal girls, how will I get my deaf and dumb daughters married," says Lal Hussain, who has two daughters.
But there have been a lucky few.
Bano Begum, who is not hearing impaired, was married to a deaf and mute man and said their relationship was initially a huge struggle as they could not communicated with each other.
But the couple gave birth to three normal children and learnt to communicate with each other through sign language.
Some experts say the locals should be forced to marry outside their village, which the community rejects. India`s Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad recently said another health team would be sent to the village soon.
(Editing by Bappa Majumdar and Miral Fahmy)
Original article

Confused about fitness regimens? Poll tracks trends

(FITNESS, TRAINING, ACSM, THOMPSON, SURVEY, PROFESSIONALS, ABOUT)

By Dorene Internicola
NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) Pilates or yoga? Kettlebells or free weights? Running or spinning?
If you are dizzy from trying to choose among all the fitness regimens out there a new survey of fitness and health experts, who were asked to identity the top trends, may help.
Experienced fitness professionals topped the list while strength training, core work, special fitness programs for older adults, pilates and balance training also made the top ten.
"We give the fitness professional some idea of what they`re going to see," said Dr. Walter Thompson, of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) which conducted the poll.
The ACSM, a nonprofit sports medicine and exercise science organization, tracks trends for the fitness industry and gives the public a heads-up about what they are likely to face at the gym, the doctor`s office and the workplace.
Thompson said 1,540 ACSM-certified fitness professionals from Asia, Europe, Australia, Africa, North America and South America took part in the online survey.
"We really wanted to look at trends," Thompson, a professor of Exercise Science at Georgia State University, explained. "We instructed the respondents to ignore fads, like the devices you see on late-night TV infomercials."
So you won`t discover anything about those contraptions that promise miracle abs for 30 minutes` work a week.
Thompson said it was no surprise that experienced fitness professionals and personal trainers captured the first and third spots in the survey.
"The fitness industry has increased exponentially," Thompson said, but at a price. "There has to be some policing. People are getting hurt by trainers who just don`t have the qualifications."
Personal training, introduced about 10 years ago and once a luxury for movie stars, is now provided by all gyms.
Children and obesity came in second in the poll, thanks largely to the development of more programs to attack the growing problem.
"For the first time in history the next generation of young people may not live as long as their parents or grandparents," the ACSM said in a statement.
Strength training, increasingly a part of most regimens, and core training, which strengthens and conditions the stabilizing muscles of the abdomen and back, rounded out the top five.
The stability ball, which came in at number eight, did not even make the top 20 in an ACSM survey in 2007.  Continued...
Original article

Young, Springsteen give Hyde Park rock masterclass

(YOUNG, SPRINGSTEEN, STAGE, LONDON, PLAYED, VERSION, SONGS)

By Angus MacSwan
LONDON (Reuters) - If Mount Rushmore featured rock `n` rollers instead of U.S. presidents, the faces of Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen would surely be carved there.
The two elder statesmen showed just why they are venerated by fans of all ages at the Hard Rock Calling festival in central London`s Hyde Park this weekend in performances brimming with passion, energy and timeless songs.
To cap it all, Sir Paul McCartney joined Young on stage for his encore, literally bowing at his feet as the Canadian played a feedback-drenched version of the Beatles "A Day in the Life."
Now aged 63 and 59, neither Young nor Springsteen has let up the pace in recent years. Both have released new albums in the past several months which had their moments even if they did not reach the heights of past classics.
They each took prominent positions against former U.S. President George W. Bush and the Iraq War. Springsteen campaigned hard for Barack Obama and played at his presidential inauguration.
Politics was largely absent from the Hyde Park shows though as they focused on entertaining the summer crowds in London, after headlining the Glastonbury Festival earlier in the week.
Young took to the stage on Saturday night looking like an old mountain man seeking shelter from a storm, with his bedraggled, thinning hair, craggy features and muttonchop sideburns. Not known for indulging his audiences, he played a crowd-pleasing set which drew heavily on "Harvest," his best-known album, and the guitar-heavy "Everybody Knows this is Nowhere."
He kicked off in his "Godfather of Grunge" persona with a crunching version of "Hey, Hey, My, My" and its refrain "it`s better to burn out than to fade away." He then stormed though a number of hard rockers, delighting rapturous fans, before switching to a mellow mood with a run of country-flavored numbers including "Heart of Gold" and "Old Man," as night fell on the park.
Young finished with a blazing version of "Rockin` in the Free World," uncharacteristically leading the crowd in a bout of arm-waving and leaving his black guitar wailing feedback, its strings shredded.
McCartney, an old friend, bounded on stage to join Young for the encore of "A Day in the Life," hugging Young and dancing around him. The two were clearly having fun.
Among the crowd was Beth Harley, a 26-year-old archaeologist, who had just arrived from Turkey on Saturday morning to see Young. She said she had grown up listening to his music as her parents played it all the time.
"It`s got a lot of edge. The songs don`t seem to age. It still seems relevant to what`s going on now," she said.
If Young is a willful eccentric, Springsteen is the great showman who delivers every time.
Taking the stage with the mighty, black-clad E. Street band, he launched into The Clash song "London Calling," bellowing its refrain "we live by the river" loud enough to be heard just down the road at Buckingham Palace. He then moved into more familiar territory with "Badlands" and the pace didn`t let up for the next three hours.
Springsteen ran around the stage, danced, and strutted along a special platform to get close to the fans and collect signs with song requests. He sang plenty of old favorites, switching from songs on the dreams and struggles of the working man to joyful sing-alongs.  Continued...
Original article

Downturn creates more working mothers in Asia

(WOMEN, THEIR, FAMILY, MOTHER, HARISH, CHILDREN, SURVEY)

By Miral Fahmy
SINGAPORE (Reuters Life!) - The economic crisis is turning more Asian women into CFOs, or chief family officers, according to a new survey, juggling work and childcare as they try to boost the family income.
Three in four people in Asia believe women are capable of juggling work and family successfully, the massive survey of 33,000 people in 16 countries showed.
Asian women have long been part of the region`s workforce, but the global economic downturn has made having a job a necessity for most, according to the "Eye on Asia" poll by global marketing communications firm Grey Group.
"This, however, has put a lot of pressure on many women, who in addition to having a career, must also take on the role of chief family officer," Charu Harish, regional communications planning director for Grey Group Asia Pacific, told Reuters.
"Because of the traditional attitudes, women feel they must be the picture-perfect wife, mother and employee, which puts them in an unfair, and little recognized, position."
According to the survey, one of the largest snapshots of opinions and trends in the region, nearly 90 percent said it was necessary for mothers to work to contribute to the family income, especially in the current economic climate.
The same survey found that a majority -- 86 percent -- of Asia Pacific respondents worry about their finances and were saving for the future.
Over three-quarters believed women were capable of doing both -- taking care of the family and having a job at the same time -- even though, given a choice, many mothers would prefer to stay at home and watch their children grow up, Harish said.
Some 81 percent of mothers surveyed said they felt so busy these days that they did not spend enough time with their children, which Harish said, led to many mums over-indulging their children to assuage their guilt.
This was particularly the case in the fast-paced economies of Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong, but less so in developing countries such as Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam.
"In many ways, women have evolved, while many men still maintain a traditional attitude and do not acknowledge that they need to take part in the child-minding and running the house," Harish said.
Overall, nearly two-thirds of Asians said they felt society supported working mothers, which, in many cases, meant grandparents taking care of the children.
Harish said that while this was the most convenient child-care solution, it was creating tension in families due to the generational gap. "The older generations believe in stronger discipline, while the parents tend to be more liberal, and their children even more so," she explained.
The survey polled 33,000 people in 16 countries: Australia, Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. For more details click on www.greyeyeon.asia
(Editing by Valerie Lee)
Original article

Just a Minute With: French actress Marion Cotillard

By Alex Dobuzinskis
LOS ANGELES (Reuters Life!) - French actress Marion Cotillard has gone from playing singing legend Edith Piaf to portraying the girlfriend of another kind of popular hero, bank robber John Dillinger.
In the movie "Public Enemies" opening on July 1, Cotillard plays Billie Frechette, a woman who fell in love with Dillinger, played by Johnny Depp, during his ill-fated cops-and-robbers war with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation in the 1930s.
Cotillard won the best actress Oscar for her portrayal of Piaf in 2007 movie "La Vie en Rose." Her role in "Public Enemies" as the daughter of a Frenchman and an American Indian is her first since winning the Academy Award.
She spoke to Reuters in French from Chicago about her character Billie Frechette, her love of the Windy City and her upbringing in France in a family of actors.
Q: What did Billie Frechette see in John Dillinger that attracted her to him?
A: "At a young age, she was sent to a boarding school, and it was a very difficult place where they tried to erase everything that was Indian in her. And I think that she encountered there a great injustice, and she shared with Dillinger a suspicion of authority. I think the two of them saw that in each other and they fell in love immediately, and there was a very strong connection between them."
Q: Growing up in a household of actors, did you often practice scenes with your parents?
A: "Yes, because my parents were actors and theater directors. And my father was a director for children`s theater after having been a mime for a long time. So, seeing actors rehearse was something very familiar to me."
Q: Did that influence you as an actress?
A: "I was absolutely fascinated that you could make a living telling other people`s stories by imparting your emotion to them. And I always wanted to be an actress. My first work as an actress was when I was about five years-old."
Q: You played in a scene that young?
A: "I made two small movies for television. And before that I remember acting in a play with my mother, and it was very disorienting because I played the daughter of another actress. They were telling me that she was my mom, but I knew she wasn`t. In fact, my real mom was also on stage. I remember being very disoriented by that."
Q: How did you prepare for your English-speaking role in this movie?
A: "I worked with a speech coach for several months, and I had to relearn how to use my face and my body, because the way of saying certain letters is so different in French than in English, and it was very hard to train myself in that."
Q: What did you do for fun while you were shooting this movie in Chicago?  Continued...
Original article

Health games become serious business

By John Gaudiosi
RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters Life!) - Videogames were once blamed for rising obesity rates but are now being championed by the medical industry and for use by government departments for their health benefits.
Games like Electronic Arts` "EA Sports Active" and Nintendo`s "Wii Fit" have got players of all ages moving -- and game developers and investors looking for hot new titles to cash in on this booming segment of the market.
Big John Games` upcoming "Butt Kicker" Nintendo DSi game will provide an action-based environment in which players fight against cigarettes and "Karate Bears" for Wii teaches players real karate routines using the Wii`s motion-sensor controllers.
With interest in health games rising, the fifth annual Games for Health Conference in Boston expanded to 390 people this year from 100, including developers, investors and medical experts, while numbers at many other conferences are down up to 40 percent.
"Healthcare is 18 percent of the GDP of the United States and so games for health is probably the largest sector of activity in the serious games field long-term," said Ben Sawyer, co-founder of The Games for Health Project.
"If you add up the 18 month sales of "Wii Fit" and the sales of "EA Sports Active," Konami`s "Dance Dance Revolution" and other healthy games, the worldwide retail numbers are over $2 billion."
Dr. Michael Levine, executive director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop which fosters innovation in children`s learning, has just released a report looking at how digital games can play a beneficial and educational role in health care.
"The White House should launch a national initiative to promote research and development of proven games," said Levine.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, whose mission is to improve the health and healthcare of all Americans, has also called for a public engagement campaign supported by the president, Congress and the federal agencies to teach parents, teachers and health providers about the healthy side of gaming.
"States` governors should direct their school technology officers to look at innovations like "Dance Dance Revolution" and "Wii Fit" as a way to extend the reach of physical education and comprehensive health education," said Dr. Debra Lieberman, director of Health Games Research for the foundation.
The Games for Health Conference also showcased how videogames are being used to help doctors and patients alike.
Serious games developer Virtual Heroes is working on a new first-person shooter sequel for Hope Lab`s popular "Re-Mission" game, which has been distributed to cancer patients in 81 countries since 2006.
"We`re taking their existing concept and trying to raise the fun bar and creating more lifelike and enjoyable environments within the human body," explained Jerry Heneghan, CEO of Virtual Heroes.
"Players will take control of Roxy, the protagonist, and have new weapons to battle cancer with thanks to input from cancer patients."
Virtual Heroes is also updating its HumanSim technology with a new human physiology engine, technology has been used by Duke Medical Center`s nursing school to train nurses virtually.  Continued...
Original article

Generation Y makes waves in workplace

By Ellen Wulfhorst
NEW YORK (Reuters) - They might wear flip flops to the office and address colleagues as "dude," but the youngest generation of workers brings fresh creativity and openness to the workplace.
The challenge of managing Generation Y, or the Millennials -- born between 1980 and 1999 -- has spawned a small industry of expertise and literature, including "Keeping the Millennials," new this month, and "Y in the Workplace," due out in July.
Both books argue that the newest generation is making waves in the office that must be addressed and tended. Some 40 million Millennials work in corporate America, a figure expected to hit 58 million by 2014.
Tech-savvy and fast-working, Millennials are also impatient and indulged, the product of hovering parents and educations that never let them fail, the books say.
And they communicate differently from the rest of us -- tweeting and texting and writing "CYL" for "see you later."
"Y in the Workplace" (Career Press, $15.99) cites an impasse between a Generation Y worker, working at home, and her older boss. "I`m only texting today, not talking on the phone," she wrote. He replied: "Well, I`m only talking on the phone."
"WHINERS, BABIES, BRATS"
Older managers tend to generalize that all younger workers are alike, said Joanne Sujansky, co-author with Jan Ferri-Reed of "Keeping the Millennials" (Wiley, $24.95).
"The mistake we make is we don`t listen, and we have them stereotyped to be whiners, babies, brats," she said. They may expect more praise, feedback and flexibility than their older colleagues, but those needs aren`t all bad, she added.
"If we try to meet some of their needs, we make a workplace that is attractive to other generations also," she said.
The recession is hitting Millennials -- a protected generation -- particularly hard, said Nicole Lipkin, who coauthored "Y in the Workplace" with April Perrymore as a guide for managing the "me first" generation.
Taught to take their time deciding what to do in life and to job-hop if things get tough, they don`t have coping skills for hard economic times, she said. "Life isn`t like they thought it was going to be," she said.
But they have also been taught to speak their minds and say what they want, she added.
"Obviously it`s going to annoy some people here and there, but I think that`s a really good quality," she said.
THE `ME FIRST` GENERATION  Continued...
Original article

Domestic abuse plagues India's upper crust

By Matthias WilliamsNEW DELHI (Reuters) - With stylish sunglasses on her head, brightly painted nails and dressed in black designer gear, the woman sitting at a trendy New Delhi cafe might not look like a battered wife.
But the woman, who asked that her name be withheld to protect her identity and that of her children, was abused for years by her husband, a lawyer.
"He strangled me, he spat on me, he slapped me," the woman, a 37-year-old mother of two who grew up in a wealthy London-based Indian family, told Reuters in an interview.
She is among millions of Indian women, from all classes, who are abused by their husbands. A recent government survey said one in three Indian women were victims of domestic violence.
Her education and status among India's elite gave little protection against her well-heeled and well-connected spouse.
After years of abuse, she took her husband to court under a landmark domestic violence act meant to protect battered wives and give stiff penalties to abusers, but so far to no avail.
"This law, which is enacted by the parliament in 2006, has not been taken seriously," her lawyer, K.K. Manan, told Reuters. "On one pretext or another, the case is being adjourned."
A total of 185,312 crimes against women were reported in India in 2007, compared to 164,765 in 2006. Rights groups say many more cases go unreported.
Domestic violence has long been in the public eye and the media regularly features cases of wife-beating over issues such as dowry, as well as torture and killings of women, especially in poorer households.
India's economic boom has brought a rise in affluent women, often with careers, who enjoy greater freedom than their parents' generation. They dress in Western clothes and visit restaurants, bars and night clubs.
These changes sometimes clash with hardline elements of what remains a largely conservative society. Even among India's upper crust, women's freedom can be superficial.MONEY AND POWER
The domestic violence act was meant for the first time to give protection and compensation for all kinds of abuse in the home, including physical, sexual, verbal, emotional or economic.
Previously, for example, husbands could not be prosecuted for raping their wives, unless the wife was under the age of 15. The new law aims to pass sentence within 60 days of the first hearing.
But more than a year later, the woman's case is still bogged down and in early March she had to make yet another appearance at a special Delhi women's court. Continued...
Source: Reuters