An open letter to a daughter

My dear daughter,

This letter is not just to you but to all those young women out there. This is from a concerned mother to all of you who are racing against time that they have forgotten to stop and smell the rose in their journey called life.

Somewhere down the line, we mothers in our quest for giving our girls independence and financial security have not taught them the beauty of being a woman. We have coaxed and coached you and today you wonderful young girls are standing on the threshold of an exhilarating world of a career. You are all happier carrying a briefcase than a rolling pin — why not? You are all princesses at multi-tasking and most of you learn to handle both the briefcase and the rolling pin with finesse. Why, then, this letter?

No city for young women

Mumbai has awoken again to a spectre that's never really asleep. On November 7, a Spanish exchange student was raped in her flat. A day later Aryanka Hosbetkar had a corrosive chemical thrown at her face. These two women have been scarred for life, but they are luckier than Pallavi Purkayastha, who was not just savagely molested, but also murdered this August. All three were around 26 years old and were home alone in the early hours of the morning. They were not exceptions but a fact that we aren't allowed to forget - shamefully, angrily, helplessly. These cases, and the legion of lookalikes, remind us that the liberating metro is only a sham. The new breed of smart independent women think they can live by their own rules, but they continue to be trapped.

R Gopalakrishnan: Emotion and innovation

Young leaders must not just throw up ideas, they must develop them

Young executives feel  that despite the bombast at town hall meetings, leaders do not demonstrate the emotional entanglement with innovation to drive innovation. They quote how a "great" suggestion did not get implemented or how due promotion or recognition did not follow in some case. They seem to expect their leader to behave like a hungry lion, which should "leap and grab meatballs of innovation" with alacrity. The leadership view, on the other hand, is that young folks must show innovation stamina. They must not just throw up ideas; they must develop the ideas in detail, subject their proposal to challenge and review, and, above all, must demonstrate a personal commitment to persist with the idea.

Life in a Russian Prison

By MASHA GESSEN

Sergei Karpukhin/ReutersNadezhda Tolokonnikova.

MOSCOW — “I am declaring a hunger strike starting Sept. 23. I refuse to take part in slave labor in the camp until the penal colony authorities start to conduct themselves in accordance with laws and start treating women inmates like people rather than cattle.” After a year-and-a-half behind bars, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova has given up her struggle to keep the peace and has declared war on her jailers.  But only after they threatened to kill her.

World's first ethically sourced smartphone unveiled

Dutch company Fairphone is introducing its ethically sourced phone while industry leaders, including Samsung and Apple, continue to face criticism over factory conditions and mineral sourcing

Dutch company Fairphone is introducing its ethically sourced phone while industry leaders, including Samsung and Apple, continue to face criticism over factory conditions and mineral sourcing.

Here's how inflation will affect economy and market

CNBC-TV18's Executive Editor Latha Venkatesh explains the impact of a hike in the wholesale price index (WPI) inflation on the economy and the market

The wholesale price index (WPI) inflation rose to 6.1 percent for August from 5.79 percent. CNBC-TV18’s Executive Editor Latha Venkatesh explains what the data means to the economy and the market.

Terrific Travel Tips: Nutrition on the Road!

be a wonderful experience (especially when heading on vacation), it sure can play havoc on our nutrition and diet plans.  High quality food choices out there in the big world can be hard to find, the servings are enormous, and it is often a giant pile of fat and salt!

But there are lots of ways to stay focused and keep on track!

Sukkot and the Single Woman: A Holiday of Thankfulness and Self-Invention

I never felt comfortable in my Orthodox neighborhood on Sukkot until I made a sukkah of my own—from the most unlikely materials

Sukkot was coming. Or, as the Municipal Parking Bureau of New York City calls it, the Festival of the Booths.

I was 30, single, working as a secretary, and living in Brooklyn just a scant block

History of economic crisis and reforms: Deja Vu?

The fourth volume of RBI’s history is an exciting read, particularly when the govt is grappling with a critical phase of the economy

The fourth volume of RBI’s history (1981-1997), is much more than the story of central banking—it’s the economic history of India during that period. Photo: Pradeep Gaur/Mint

In the past few years, former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor D. Subbarao repeatedly urged the government to address structural issues in the Indian economy. He was not the first one to do so. In May 1989, then RBI governor R. N. Malhotra wrote to the finance ministry: “From all accounts,

Angry tweets question Indian-origin winner of Miss America

Nina Davuluri is a native of Syracuse

Nina Davuluri, 24, had this to say after winning the Miss America pageant held in Atlantic City on September 15, 2013: "I'm so happy this organization has embraced diversity. I'm thankful there are children watching at home who can finally relate to a new Miss America."

Should I be more emotional?

Some studies have found that a positive mental attitude and not bottling up feelings can lead to a longer life, but the evidence is not conclusive

There has long been a debate about whether stress is a cause of ­cancer. Photograph: Alamy

I found a message in a bottle from my dead daughter

'It felt like discovering buried treasure. It was a beautiful message for a mother to get'

Mimi Ferry: 'It felt like discovering buried treasure. It also felt as if she was telling me everything was all right.' Photograph: Carroll Tavares for the Guardian

My daughter Sidonie was 10 when she put a message in a bottle and threw it into the sea. We were visiting friends in Long Island, New York, at the time and she always disappeared with their children immediately, engrossed in some project or other. I knew what they were doing, but didn't think much about it.

Threads of Many Cultures, Embroidering a World

‘Interwoven Globe,’ a 300-Year Survey of Textiles at the Met

‘Interwoven Globe’: Images from the Met’s sweeping new exhibition about the textile trade.

Mind your footwear. Few New York art seasons are fully under way until the Metropolitan Museum of Art rolls out a fall exhibition with enough visual thrills and historical insights to knock your socks off. Yet this year’s offering may be even more outstanding than usual.“Interwoven Globe: The Worldwide Textile Trade, 1500-1800,”opening on Monday, is a staggering overview of more than three centuries of art, commerce, craft and cross-cultural fertilization.

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Can belief in God predict how someone responds to mental health treatment? A recent study suggests it might.

Researchers at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass., enrolled 159 men and women in a cognitive behavioral therapy program that involved, on average, 10 daylong sessions of group therapy, individual counseling and, in some cases, medications. About 60 percent of the participants were being treated for depression, while others had bipolar disorder, anxiety or other diagnoses.

A Jewish Prisoner Discusses Repentence

Incarcerated since 2001, David Arenberg says he’s found a renewed sense of purpose—and a new connection to Judaism

In 2009, David Arenberg, a Jewish man serving time in an Arizona maximum security prison for financial fraud and drug use, wrote an article for the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Report about his daily life. It was about as grim as you might imagine.

It began simply enough: 

An extended eye

Lens view: Nikita Jajodia.

Nikita Jajodia trains her lens on everything that calls out to her

Photography empowers one to tell a story, evoke an emotion, immortalize moments in time and much more. Nikita Jajodia has been expressing herself ever since she was a child. Now 18, the young photographer has decided to share her ruminations with the world. She exhibited her work ‘Weaving Stories Through my Extended Eye’ at Stainless Art Gallery in Okhla, recently. Hema Singh Rance, who has curated the show, describes her as “Young self-taught photographer who discovered for herself how to communicate with the world around.”

Life’s Hard Lessons

Sarah Williamson

Every so often an especially insightful book prompts me to reflect on or change my behavior, attitudes or both. Years ago, after reading “Type A Behavior and Your Heart” by two San Francisco cardiologists, Dr. Meyer Friedman and Dr. Ray H. Rosenman, I learned to reduce stress and hostility by cramming less into my days and allowing adequate time to accomplish whatever I had to do.

Why a Conservative Female Rabbi Decided To Pull Away From Her Male Friends

It wasn’t a question of modesty, but intimacy: ‘I had to dial back my friendships with men, for the sake of my marriage’

By Rachel Miller Solomin

Last fall, I wrote a blunt email to Nick, my closest male friend. I wasn’t exactly “unfriending” him, to use social-media-speak, but I was pulling away.

Our complicated relationship with cats

Cats are brilliant creatures, and there's more psychological research on felines and their owners than you might think

A wealth of research shows that our interactions with cats affect us in a surprising number of ways. Photograph: Frances Etchells

It would seem that I've made an unforgivable error. Last week, I wrote about a new study that suggested a possible function for sleep. The research in question was a mouse study, so it seemed to make sense to stick up a picture of a mouse alongside the article. However, lots of commenters were outraged – OUTRAGED – that there wasn't a picture of a sleeping kitten instead. So to make amends for my transgression, today I'm going to look at some of the psychological research that's been conducted on cats and their owners. Don't say I don't do anything for you.

Can Emotional Intelligence Be Taught?

Students from Leataata Floyd Elementary, in Sacramento, and Prospect Sierra, in El Cerrito, Calif., demonstrate various emotional states. Above, Jason Perez, 10; Yamiah Lockhart, 7.

One day last spring, James Wade sat cross-legged on the carpet and called his kindergarten class to order. Lanky and soft-spoken, Wade has a gentle charisma well suited to his role as a teacher of small children: steady, rather than exuberant. When a child performs a requested task, like closing the door after recess, he will often acknowledge the moment by murmuring, “Thank you, sweet pea,” in a mild Texas drawl.

As the children formed a circle, Wade asked the 5-year-olds to think about “anything happening at home, or at school, that’s a problem, that you want to share.” He repeated his invitation twice, in a lulling voice, until a small, round-faced boy in a white shirt and blue cardigan raised his hand. Blinking back tears, he whispered, “My mom does not like me.” The problem, he said, was that he played too much on his mother’s iPhone. “She screams me out every day,” he added, sounding wretched.

Wade let that sink in, then turned to the class and asked, “Have any of your mommies or daddies ever yelled at you?” When half the children raised their hands, Wade nodded encouragingly. “Then maybe we can help.” Turning to a tiny girl in a pink T-shirt, he asked what she felt like when she was yelled at.

“Sad,” the girl said, looking down.

“And what did you do? What words did you use?”

“I said, ‘Mommy, I don’t like to hear you scream at me.’ ”