nine-year old Rubina Ali-instant stardom

Slumdog Millionaire propelled nine-year old Rubina Ali to instant stardom and fame. However, too much fame can be a bad thing for a pretty little girl from an impoverished background. She has been subject to near constant media attention, witnessed brawls between her mother and stepmother over her custody and, most recently, been the subject of a dubious international sting operation. The British tabloid News of the World purported to have caught Rubina’s father, Rafiq Qureshi, on video agreeing to a deal to sell the girl to an Arab sheikh for 200,000 pounds (about $280,000). The story quoted Qureshi’s brother as saying, “The child is special now. This is not an ordinary child. This is an Oscar child.” Without bothering to check the allegations with Qureshi, Indian newspapers and cable television channels descended on Rubina in her home in a slum in Bandra, a suburb of Mumbai, asking her to clarify the incident. Qureshi has consistently denied the tabloid’s claims and has not been arrested — despite widespread reports in Indian newspapers and on television to the contrary. (See the real slum of Slumdog Millionaire.) Rubina’s biological mother Khurshida, who does not live with her and has been engaged in a custody battle over the child, then registered a case against Qureshi in the local police station. The Mumbai Police, however, have not found any evidence to back up Khurshida’s claims or the tabloid’s charge of attempted trafficking. “We had only called him in for an inquiry,” says M. Dewar, the investigating officer at the local police station. The authorities did, however, ask a local non-profit group, Childline, to meet Rubina and check on her well-being. “Our chat with the child was informal and was not intended to explore any story or seek the child’s version of events or even to determine whether the story was genuine or not,” a Childline spokesman said. The group has not yet been able to establish anything about Rubina’s relationship with her mother, father or stepmother. “Those require a number of sittings and a variety of investigations,” the spokesman said. (Read a story about what fate awaits Slumdog’s child stars.) In the meantime, The Jai Ho Trust, which was formed to look after the two youngest children in Slumdog Millionaire, Rubina and Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, sprang into action. (It is supported by Slumdog’s director, Danny Boyle, producer Christian Colson and an Indian child rights group, Plan India). The trust issued a statement saying that its representatives are in regular contact with Rubina and her parents to help protect the child’s interests. “We are looking towards shifting the family out of the slum and into a flat, which will be held in trust till the children turn 18,” says Noshir H. Dadrawala, one of the trustees. “We will also provide them a monthly stipend of 5,000 to 6,000 rupees ($100-$120) to cover their living costs.” The trust also plans to hire a local counselor to periodically sit with the children and their families to help them “cope with fame and also how to handle the media.”

I forgive Kasab

As Kasab goes on trial today, one of the victims of the 26/11 attacks talks of forgiveness for the lone surviving terrorist, and prays for him every day…

Andreina Varagona has been a successful marathon runner. She started the morning of 26/11 by running six kilometres on a treadmill. But by night, she couldn’t feel her right leg.

The American national was shot by rampaging terrorists while she dined with friends at Tiffin restaurant in Oberoi Trident. Her dinner companions - Alan Scherr, 58, and his daughter Naomi, 13 - were killed, while Varagona escaped with grievous injuries from the two bullet wounds in her right arm and leg.

“I have pain that reminds me that I am alive,” she said, but stresses that she isn’t angry.

“I forgive Kasab totally because he does not know what he did. It is like Jesus Christ saying this to the misguided souls, after he was nailed on the cross. That is why I pray for Ajmal every day,” the 45-year-old said over the phone.

“If I look closely, all I can imagine is that he was taught something very different from me, and that he must have been made to believe that it was the most important thing to do. Although I don’t agree with it, I wish he understands what he did,” she added.

A special court, in the premises of the Arthur Road Jail, will hear the first day of the trial against Kasab and two others today.

When asked if she would wish capital punishment for the terrorist, like most other victims would, Varagona said: “I leave it to the Indian government to decide Kasab’s fate. Personally, I wouldn’t want him to be sentenced to death. I believe that victims of the attacks would find some solace when a terrorist like Kasab transforms. He needs to find the god within him, as only then can he attain redemption.”

Varagona - a professional meditation teacher - is still recuperating at her Nashville house in Tennessee, where she lives with her husband Santos Lopez, a television producer.

And while the pain of her “saddest night” lingers, she looks at it positively: “The biggest gift of this was that I no longer have the fear of death.”

Though she is yet to receive compensation from the Indian government, Varagona says she couldn’t care less.

“I love India, I love Mumbai, and I was disappointed my trip was cut short due to the tragedy. But I have told Santos that I want to come to Mumbai some time soon,” she said.

And Varagona, who has had to rely on a cane or a walker all these months, had some good news to share: “Thankfully, since a month, I can feel my leg’s quadracep muscles, and I have begun walking a week back.”

“I am happy I am alive,” she said cheerfully.

Varagona with her husband Santos Lopez at the Bombay Hospital after the attacks Source:http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/15/20090415200904150400289898f32c313/I-forgive-Kasab.html