Letter from the Editor

Dear ABCDlady Readers,

This month, we begin by educating you on issues that are important to South Asians in North America, and discussing some of life’s most important milestones. We also chat about swimwear, children’s allergies and work outings in honor of summer’s arrival.

First, we discuss two very serious topics in our community. You may have already heard of campaigns to get South Asians to register as bone marrow donors. South Asian patients who have life-threatening blood diseases are most likely to find a match from other South Asians, but few South Asians are part of the National Marrow Donation Program’s registry. In our article, we meet Vinay, a 28-year-old orthopedics resident, who has everything to live for, but has recently been diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. With time running out, Vinay must find a South Asian donor whose tissue type matches his own. Vinay’s chance is in 1 in 20,000, due to the low percentage of South Asians who have registered. You, however, can help his cause by becoming a willing donor. Registering is as simple as a cheek swab to determine your tissue type. Help out your fellow South Asians by reading on.

Next, we’d like to bring your attention to abuse within South Asian families. Recently, ABCDlady received a disturbing email that described an extreme case of abuse within a South Asian family in the United States. We referred the victim to the appropriate authorities, but we wanted to go further than that and discuss the topic. Our psychiatrist discusses why abuse victims often choose to stay in their relationships and how you can help.

It seems that, as South Asians, when we’re young, our parents tell us to focus, focus, and focus on our education and eventual careers. Get good grades so you can get into a good school, they tell you. Then, do well at your school, so you can have a successful career. When we are finally settled in our career, we are told that our number one priority is to get married. And when we’re finally through the marriage process, and think that we’ve accomplished everything there is to accomplish, our parents begin tapping us on our shoulders, wondering when their grandkids are coming.

So in honor of every South Asian who is somewhere on that timeline, we bring you three articles. Read about Savan Kotecha’s amazing career as a songwriter for artists like Celine Dion, Enrique Iglesias and Carrie Underwood. Next, meet a woman struggling with whether to settle for an arranged marriage. And, finally, we meet a 35-year-old woman who isn’t ready for children, despite her parents’ nudges.

With the summer season underway, we discuss how to find the right swimwear. Did you know you could use an old sari as a sarong for your bikini? Check out our guide for this and other tips on finding suits that match your personal style.

Summer also brings on a whole new set of allergies for allergy sufferers, so we put together a guide for parents to deal with this issue.

Are you and your fellow employees in a rut at work, and in need of a pick-me-up for the summer months? Check out our guide on how to plan a summer work outing to get your team back on track.

Many of us spend too much time being overachievers at work and home and don’t make the effort to ensure that we’re getting our daily food requirements. So this month, we break out the blender and give you some must-have smoothie recipes that are not only fun to make, but also give you your daily needed fruit dosage.

Enjoy!

Sincerely,

Navdeep Kathuria
Editor-in-Chief, ABCDlady

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