Personally i am in totally agreement with dojero. And there is a factual fallacy in saying 'Islam does not have a monopoly on this." Most parts of the Islamic world outside of Arabic peninsula did not dress conservative in its pre-Islamic times. also only after Constantine moved towards catholicism (for political reasons) did conservative garb come into the picture in the western world. The laborers used to cover their hair for practical purposes. Also the word conservative is very relative. Just take India where i am from, the south of India which remained relatively untouched by invading from the middle-east still practice dress code that might be considered im-"proper", like the Hindu women from the south of India never cover their hair, and the Hindu women from North consider covering their hair "proper". Until 60 years back, women in some states in the south went topless and covering up was considered improper. Until the Wahabi money started pouring into Indonesia, the Indonesian Muslims did not cover up the way they do now. There was no need to cover up because there was no desert sand to contend with. This goes for most of Africa too. I just felt the need to point this out.

Except for one factual error, the tiology of Fire, Water and Earth by Deepa Mehta was not about "Indian women's experiences in the diaspora", but about Indian women in India at various times in recent history. The rest of the article tells the true story of Indian women. Pair this article with Shreyasi Singh's article about Women Politicians in India, one can get a good picture of what lay's beneath the Tech Boom, family values, India's exceptional growth rate, Female Prime minster, and the so called exotic culture that Indians themselves love to showcase, and the west loves to explore. and these articles are just skimming the facade.

My thoughts are in line with Parul. As an Indian woman, i have seen and experienced the pain of my existence from the day i could understand the world around me. I was fortunate to get an education and live my life to my full potential, which is not an option for most females in my country. I have tried to give back to my community of other female, by opting to adopt a girl from an orphanage rather than having my own. I knew that would give some meaning to my life and give hope to at least one girl child. I am most thankful that the mother choose not to go to those scores of clinics that Parul mentioned. Not to sound holy, but i had hoped to be an example to my community. I wish i could do much more and therefor i am part of WIP.