Dear ABCDlady Readers,

A few months ago, a younger cousin of mine announced she was engaged. While I was happy that she was taking this big step, I couldn’t help but imagine what the relatives would be saying about me: the older, unmarried cousin. Would they all be saying things under their breath? Or worse, to my face?

Marriage and dating continue to be hot topics within our reader base — our popular series on shaadi.com received so much feedback that we devoted an entire article to the responses in our August issue. In addition, as a counterpart to the series, we decided to do a feature this month on the pressure to get married. For those attending weddings, we have a special beauty article on how to look good in South Asian formalwear.

Remember how easy it was to make friends as a kid? You sat next to them in Earth Science, and the rest was history. This month, we discuss how to build meaningful friendships as an adult — something easier said than done.

Our Desi Making Waves for this month is shaking things up in the music industry — meet guitar-playing songwriter, Roc Zonte. Just as we were one of the first South Asian publications to feature Slumdog Millionaire, we believe we’re the first to know about this gem. True to her name, this rebellious rock star has been compared to Jimi Hendrix and Van Halen.

This month we also meet Venu. Venu is probably the only person you’ll ever meet who went to the doctor for an acne checkup and came out learning she was pregnant. Venu wasn’t ready for this new stage in life and wrote about how she overcame her struggles during her pregnancy and beyond.

Also this month, one of our Love and Sex Experts chats with one reader afraid to bring up the past with her new boyfriend, and advises another who is trying to find the "One".

With summer barbecues in full gear, volunteer to bring a fresh side salad. This month we bring you recipes for cucumber salad with pineapple vinaigrette and mango-orange salad with citrus vinaigrette. Believe me — once you see the photos of these salads, you’ll be making an ingredient run.

Finally, looking forward to the fall, our Parenting Expert discusses how to prepare your child for preschool.

Sincerely,

Navdeep Kathuria
Editor-in-Chief, ABCDlady