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Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Designer Vino Supraja is winning awards for an unusual fashion formula
'Every step in my career has been unplanned,' laughs fashion designer Vino Supraja, 45, 'but it has prepared me for exactly where I am today.' Her journey is testament to the power of serendipity, she adds. How else could a girl who 'spoke almost no English', growing up in the small temple town of Vandavasi in Tamil Nadu, end up winning a trailblazer award and delivering a speech on India's culture of sustainability, at the British House of Commons? 'I've grown to accept that when I'm willing to let go, be dismantled and reassembled, good things happen to me,' she says. Supraja started out, for instance, with a degree in architecture from Chennai. It was there that she met and fell in love with her husband 'and best friend' Deepak Renganathan, a marketing vice-president with a real-estate company. Eager to explore some of the new technology emerging in the early 2000s, she then completed a course in animation. This led to her first full-time job, as a TV presenter and radio jockey with Jaya TV. At this point, in 2011, her husband was offered a position in China, and she and their son Hriday (then six and now a medical student) moved with him. 'I spent hours browsing through courses there, trying to find something I could do,' Supraja says. That's when she stumbled upon a listing for a course in fashion design at the Shanghai outpost of the International Fashion Academy, Paris. 'This and a business course were the only two listings with websites in English, so I don't think I had much of a choice,' she says, laughing. Suddenly, it came together: her love of storytelling, her love of building, her passion for the arts. Here was a discipline where she could combine all three. Her graduate collection in 2014, inspired by the book The Kite Runner, made it to the Shanghai Fashion Week, where she won the Golden Laureate award. Her collections have since featured at the Brooklyn Fashion Week (2016), New York Fashion Week (2018), and London Fashion Week (2023), with designs increasingly rooted in Tamil culture. The instantly recognisable costumes of the ancient Tamil folk art form of Therukoothu (literally, Street Theatre) are reborn as ensembles. The iconic Bhavani jamakkalam stripes turn up in contemporary vibrancy, as accents on clutches and handbags. *** If it seems like Supraja is weaving her stories in fresh and surprising ways, it's partly because she grew up without the frames of reference of most of the urbanised world, she says. Folk lore took the place of fairy tales in her home. Her family had no TV set. Her father, the physician Dr Audikesavalu, opened up his house to patients from nearby villages that included Purisai, a hub of Therukoothu performers. The local temple hosted a range of folk artists too. 'These productions were not perfect. They were crude, raw and unpolished... which made them beautiful in their own way,' Supraja says. Her mother, Vimala Audikesavalu, ran a local school and was known for her collection of handloom saris, which she washed, starched and sun-dried every weekend, in a ritual that served as a bonding session for mother and daughter (and gave Supraja an early appreciation for and understanding of heirloom garments, traditional weaves and sustainable fashion). Syncretism was everywhere. The local church hosted Bharatnatyam classes. The Therukoothu performers let children from the neighbourhood watch and sometimes help with makeup backstage. 'My childhood was a patchwork of simple experiences but these fragments shaped me into who I am today,' she says. *** Given the opportunity to present a collection at London Fashion Week 2023, she decided to give Therukoothu 'the platform it deserves'. Her designs captured the depth and drama of the art form in flowy silhouettes. She showcased the art form itself too, through a one-minute performance by a Therukoothu artiste. Her latest collection is born of her travels to Bhavani in Erode district, to study the GI-tagged jamakkalam weave. The colourful stripes were traditionally used to make cotton rugs. She reimagines them as couture because 'if they can look like Gucci stripes, they deserve to sit alongside them too'. 'Having had my share of the limelight, I now find myself thinking: Who can I share this moment with?' Supraja says. Her eponymous label uses natural fibres and pigments. She offers to buy items back from customers after 18 months, in exchange for purchase points, and has plans to upcycle these items too. In her speech at the House of Commons, she advocated for garment workers' rights. Without the right kind of intervention, their livelihoods — which have tended to be embodiments of sustainability and yet have been tenuous and marginalised — will become even more challenging, she pointed out, 'as we encourage people to buy less'. She was awarded the Global Sustainable Fashion Trailblazer prize at the House of Commons (awarded jointly by the World Tamil Organization and the UK government) partly for her unusual approach to fashion, and for her work to promote undervalued and underestimated traditional crafts. Supraja's sustainability efforts have also yielded a self-published book (aimed at helping people navigate questions of consumerism), a podcast and a theatrical production. The designer, who now lives in Dubai, is looking forward to her next showcase at London Fashion Week, in September. And to more sustainability outreach work, particularly with children. 'Kids will ask if it's okay to buy new clothes for their birthday,' she smiles. 'They grasp the wastefulness of buying a new outfit to celebrate a friend's birthday.' Her hope is that, with enough of these conversations, they will grow into adults who treasure their heirloom garments, avoid fast fashion, and never buy into a microtrend.
Boston Globe
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Under Trump, book bans have gone federal. Some readers are fighting back.
Write to us at . To subscribe, . TODAY'S STARTING POINT An MIT professor's study of lyric poetry in Elizabethan England, a children's book about a freckled 7-year-old girl, and Vice President JD Vance's best-selling memoir about his working-class roots would seem to have little in common. Yet they all appear to have gotten swept up in the Trump administration's efforts to restrict Americans' access to certain books. Book bans in the US predate the founding of the country. The first known instance was in 1637 in what is now Quincy, Mass. Most efforts to remove books from libraries and school curriculums are usually at the state and local level, hashed out in legislatures, town council meetings, and school board elections. But the Trump administration's various efforts to make them a priority of the federal government is novel. Advertisement 'It's a definite escalation,' Sabrina Baêta, who researches book bans and censorship at PEN America, a free-expression nonprofit. Today's newsletter explains the administration's efforts and how some are resisting them. Flying off the shelves Most directly, the Trump administration The administration says the culling reflects Advertisement The Defense Department has also allegedly removed or placed under review hundreds of books from the PreK-12 schools it runs for the children of service members in the US and abroad. According to '1984,' George Orwell's classic about a government that censors information and polices language. Why officials would have pulled some of those books for review, including Vance's, isn't clear. A spokeswoman for the Department of Defense Education Activity, which oversees Pentagon-run schools, said she couldn't comment 'as this matter is currently the subject of active litigation.' But for Baêta, of PEN America, the notion that a Trump order could end up removing a book by his own vice president 'speaks to the pernicious nature of censorship.' Trying to stifle certain topics, she said, inevitably sucks in ideas that even proponents might not find objectionable. Arguments in the ACLU's case are scheduled for early next month. The administration's actions could also make it harder for other Americans to access books. In March, President Trump signed an executive order that aimed to gut the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which provides federal grants to libraries around the country. A judge has Advertisement Trump The next chapter But the administration's efforts, and ongoing attempts in many states and localities to limit access to certain books, have triggered a response from free-speech advocates. Most Americans Advertisement Book bans can also turn reading itself into an act of resistance. Last fall, the ACLU's Massachusetts branch started Of course, some books do contain information that every kid may not be ready to read. 'The Kite Runner' depicts horrible violence and child abuse and those under 18 needed a parent's permission join the ACLU of Massachusetts' book club to read it. But Baêta argues that engaging with challenging subjects in a classroom, in a book club, or with a parent is better than encountering them for the first time in the real world. 'We don't want students to be coming across uncomfortable topics in their lives for the first time in real life,' she said. 'We want that to be in a book. What softer introduction is there?' 🧩 4 Down: POINTS OF INTEREST The MBTA has said it needs at least $25 billion for repairs, far more than it's budgeting. Lane Turner/Globe Staff Boston and Massachusetts Harvard connection: House Republicans accused the university of having 'hosted and trained' members of a Chinese paramilitary organization and demanded the school turn over information Scathing: The state auditor accused Governor Maura Healey's administration Nuts and bolts: The MBTA's board of directors approved a $9.8 billion budget for construction projects that Karen Read: Her defense attorney continued to cross-examine a digital forensics analyst over his credentials and School's in: The state education board voted to require trade schools to Trump administration Deportations: The administration appears to have begun deporting migrants to South Sudan, a war-torn African country, despite a court order. ( Another one? Shortly after ending a probe into New York City Mayor Eric Adams, the administration is investigating former NY governor Andrew Cuomo, the front-runner to replace Adams, over testimony Cuomo gave to Congress. ( Local resistance: Massachusetts residents RFK Jr.: Trump's health secretary Not quite: A Democratic senator asked Kristi Noem, Trump's homeland security secretary, to define habeas corpus, which protects against wrongful detention. Noem said it lets the president remove people from the US. ( No tax on tips: The Senate unexpectedly passed a bill that would create a tax deduction for workers who earn tips, a Trump campaign promise. It now goes to the House. ( The Nation and the World SCOTUS vs. Maine: The US Supreme Court ordered the Maine House to restore a conservative lawmaker's right to speak and vote on the floor. The House had censured her for posting a transgender minor's name and photo online. ( George Wendt: The actor who earned six consecutive Emmy nominations for his performance as Norm Peterson on the NBC comedy 'Cheers' died at age 76. ( Diddy trial: The mother of Cassie Ventura, Sean Combs's former girlfriend, testified that she photographed bruises Combs allegedly left on her daughter. ( BESIDE THE POINT 🎓 Valedictory: Across New England, graduating high school athletes 💬 Talker: Nobody's spoken the Proto-Indo-European language in 4,000 years, but billions speak one descended from it. A new book explains how it spread around the world. ( Advertisement ☀️ Fun in the sun: From parades to the ice cream trail, consider these nine ways to 📱 Hear that? If Siri eavesdropped on you sometime over the last decade, Apple might owe you money. ( ⛳ Second wind: Burnt out, he decided to play every golf course in Massachusetts. 📸 Authorial dispute: Who really took the famous 'napalm girl' photograph during the Vietnam War? A new documentary upends the official story. ( 🎵 Fan guide: Here's what's new at this year's Thanks for reading Starting Point. This newsletter was edited by ❓ Have a question for the team? Email us at ✍🏼 If someone sent you this newsletter, you can 📬 Delivered Monday through Friday. Ian Prasad Philbrick can be reached at
CBS News
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Banned books return to a Colorado school district's shelves as legal battle continues
Nineteen books are back on the shelves at the Elizabeth School District in Colorado after being removed and disposed of in September. Earlier this month, a preliminary injunction ordered the banned books be returned to shelves while an ACLU lawsuit against the district plays out. The Elizabeth School District appealed. On Monday, an appeals court denied that request and gave the district a deadline to re-shelve the books by Friday at noon. But the books were already replaced as of Thursday afternoon, according to the superintendent of Elizabeth Schools. "Obviously we're disappointed. We still feel like there's a lack of understanding of the content of these books, but obviously we're complying with the court order," said Dan Snowberger, superintendent of Elizabeth Schools. It's a win for the ACLU, who brought suit against the district alleging the removal violated free speech protections. "We think government ought to be out of the business of telling people the ideas that are acceptable," said Tim Macdonald, legal director for the ACLU of Colorado. Most of the books feature stories of LGBTQ+ individuals or people of color. Titles include Toni Morrison's Beloved, The Kite Runner, The Hate U Give and Thirteen Reasons Why. The books in question are as follows: "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas "Beloved" by Toni Morrison "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini "You Should See Me in a Crown" by Leah Johnson "#Pride: Championing LGBTQ Rights" by Rebecca Felix "George" (now published and referred to as "Melissa") by Alex Gino "It's Your World-If You Don't Like It, Change It" by Mikki Halpin "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher "Looking for Alaska" by John Green "Nineteen Minutes" by Jodi Picoult "Crank" by Ellen Hopkins "Glass" by Ellen Hopkins "Fallout" by Ellen Hopkins "Identical" by Ellen Hopkins "Burned" by Ellen Hopkins "Smoke" by Ellen Hopkins "Redwood and Ponytail" by K.A. Holt. "It's a viewpoint discrimination, and it's a violation of the First Amendment and the Colorado Constitution to say we're going to take books out because we don't agree with the political orthodoxy. They don't align with our political values, and so we're going to purge them. The Constitution prohibits that," Macdonald said. "These are not books about LGBTQ or people of color. These are books that have obscene content and that children should not access them at school," Snowberger said. Snowberger says the books were thrown away with support from a majority of parents, and three months later, the ACLU filed the lawsuit. "Anyone who reads content in the books sees a graphic depiction of child rape, sees graphic depictions of incest, sees directions on how to commit suicide, sees vivid descriptions of school shootings. People who feel that belongs in child's hands -- it's sad. I'm very sad about that," Snowberger said. When the district was ordered to return books to shelves, law firm Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell donated copies of the books to the district, but the board voted to reject them. "The Elizabeth School District claimed it could not comply with the court's injunction because the school district already had disposed of the books. As part of our representation of our clients in the case, we provided copies of the books used during the litigation to the school district's lawyer to help facilitate the school district's compliance with the federal court order," a firm spokesperson told CBS Colorado. But after the district's appeals failed, new copies were donated by a local group that wishes to remain anonymous, and returned to shelves Thursday. "We'll put them on the sensitive topic list so that parents who are concerned about this type of content can protect their children from accessing it," Snowberger said. According to Snowberger, the books were primarily shelved in the high school, with one title in an elementary school and five in the middle school. The district received the exact number of copies as they threw out. For most of these titles, the district only ever had one copy. Many of these books have been on the school's shelves for decades, and some have never been checked out. While the books are back in schools, the legal battle isn't over. "The case will move forward in the trial court, and we look forward to prevailing at trial," Macdonald said. "We don't want a liberal school district saying you can't have conservative ideas in the school library. And we don't want self-described conservative school districts saying, 'Here are ideas that we disagree with, and we don't want in the library.'" "We'll take this to court until we get the outcome we need to. There has not been a decision on library books from the Supreme Court since 1982," Snowberger said. Macdonald says this is the first case of its kind that's been litigated in Colorado to his knowledge, but he says it's part of a concerning trend of book banning in the country. "Some groups that have cropped up, like a group called Moms for Liberty, that has pushed an agenda of banning books that involve LGBTQ+ characters or authors and diverse authors. And we've seen it around the country, and it looks like that's the playbook that was run in the Elizabeth School District," Macdonald said. There is no trial date set yet, but both sides say they're prepared to take this fight to the Supreme Court.
The Hindu
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Matthew Spangler talks about his most celebrated adaptation, The Kite Runner
'For you, a thousand times over.' These words from Khaled Hosseini's acclaimed novel The Kite Runner became symbolic of the friendship between Amir, a privileged Pashtun, and his servant Hassan, a Hazara boy. Set against the backdrop when the rise of the Taliban regime (dominated by Sunnis) in Afghanistan led to the persecution of the Hazara population (Shia Muslims). The books explores the themes of friendship, betrayal, guilt, and redemption through the protagonist Amir. Now a celebrated stage adaption by Matthew Spangler, The Kite Runner was recently staged by Arena Theatre Productions under the direction of Tahera S. For longtime fans and newcomers, the production drew a standing ovation and left many in the audience teary-eyed by the powerful narration on stage. What made it even more special was Spangler's presence, who was equally moved seeing his adaption on stage. Spangler's adaption of The Kite Runner has been in production for 20 years now being played in theatres worldwide. Spangler is also a professor of performance studies at San José State University in California, where he teaches courses on how refugees and asylum seekers and other immigrants are represented in plays. Talking about the challenges of adapting an epic into a play, Spangler says, 'With this book, the challenge is length, if you read it aloud, it takes almost 15 hours, while the pay is just over two hours. How do you condense a 15-hour long story to two hours? People who love the book come to the play and say, 'Oh, you didn't leave anything out,' when I might have left 13 out of the 15 parts out.' Even though the play was previously showcased in Mumbai few years back, this was Spangler's first time watching it on stage in India, 'The audience here listen carefully… They are emersed in the story as it unfolds, which I feel was really beautiful.' Theatre plays an important role in cross-cultural understanding and empathy building, Spangler says. 'Amir comes from a very specific background, and life experiences; growing up in Afghanistan and coming to the United States as a refugee, he comes from a Muslim culture; but he is not practicing as you can see from the play. As an adult he wants to do the right thing for the boy (Hassan's son Sohrab). At the end, you understand him at more emotional level.' There has always been a production of The Kite Runner, somewhere over the past 20 years, Spangler says. 'I have seen this play staged in different countries including London, Canada, or Russia. It is just so unique for a writer to be able to see your play in different contexts and settings.' Counting Samuel Beckett's works as his greatest inspiration, Spangler says, 'I did my PhD and my Master's degree in Irish theatre, and it has been a great influence on my work.' The Kite Runner will be staged on May 4 at 3.30pm and 7.30pm at Ranga Shankara. Tickets are available at the venue and online.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
North Dakota Gov. Strikes Down Conservative Bill Restricting Books For Minors
North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong (R) blocked a bill that would have required libraries to put books that feature sexually explicit material in areas that are 'not easily accessible' to minors. The bill, which would have applied to public libraries and libraries at public schools, also threatens prosecution against those that don't comply. A two-thirds vote in favor of the bill in both the state's Senate and the House could override Armstrong's veto. But it passed narrowly in both chambers with neither side of the legislature hitting the two-thirds threshold — by a 27–20 vote in the Senate in February and a 49–45 vote in the House earlier this month. 'While I recognize the concerns that led to its introduction, Senate Bill 2307 represents a misguided attempt to legislate morality through overreach and censorship,' Armstrong wrote in a Tuesday letter explaining his decision. 'The bill imposes vague and punitive burdens on professionals and opens the door to a host of unintended and damaging consequences for our communities.' 'In the last 10 years, The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, Of Mice and Men, Slaughterhouse-Five, The Kite Runner, 1984, and To Kill a Mockingbird have all been targeted by obscenity laws,' Armstrong added. 'I don't pretend to know what the next literary masterpiece is going to be. But I want it available in the library. And if a parent doesn't think it is age-appropriate for their child, then that is a parenting decision. It does not require a whole-of-government approach and $ 1.1 million of taxpayer money.' The move comes as many conservatives across the country, including President Donald Trump, attack libraries and academic freedom. It also follows former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum's decision in 2023 to veto a bill that threatened criminal prosecution against librarians and aimed to require them to screen all books in the libraries for sexually explicit content. He did, however, sign a bill into law removing books with explicit material from children's sections in libraries. North Dakota Library Association President Andrea Placher said in a statement that the association was 'very pleased' about Armstrong's veto. 'Libraries in North Dakota are experiencing increasing usage each year, with more visitors, program attendees, and library card registrations,' Placher wrote. 'The North Dakota Library Association firmly believes that SB 2307 is an unnecessary bill that would significantly hinder the operations of libraries in the state. All libraries have established policies and procedures that make this bill irrelevant.' By contrast, proponents of the bill argue that it is necessary to 'protect' children from pornography. 'We are harming our children, that's all there is to it,' Republican State Sen. Keith Boehm, a sponsor of the bill, argued in a committee hearing, according to The New York Times. 'The bill is all about protecting kids from this material. It has nothing against adults,' he added. 'To fight this battle against the pornographers, pedophiles and groomers, we must cover this issue comprehensively,' Boehm also said in another instance, according to North Dakota Monitor. 'Not every library in the state has this material, but there is enough to support this legislation.' Rep. Ben Koppelman, another sponsor of the bill, said he is 'confident that most red-state governors would have signed that bill, and we'll just be back next time around to do it again,' according to The Associated Press. North Dakota Mayor Who Sent Lewd Video To City Attorney Resigns Supreme Court Signals Support For Religious Parents Against LGBTQ+ Books Michigan Townspeople Move 9,100 Books To New Home One By One
