Printing for a cause

A news anchor from Vancouver dreams of giving a facelift to Sikh women who have been victims of domestic violence.

Roma Kaur, a middle class girl from Chandigarh and based in Canada for the last six years, is an Indian woman fighting for the welfare of the expat Sikh women through a movement called Kaurs.

Stirred by the atrocities faced by some Indian women married to NRIs "" a majority of whom are lesser-educated women of the Sikh diaspora who have been abandoned by their husbands "" Roma decided to make them aware by printing a magazine of the same name as her movement.

"The girls in this alien land are ignorant about their rights and even organisations who wish to help such women sometimes need guidance. I decided," she says, "to fight for the cause of economic and social emancipation of Sikh women by giving them positive reinforcements through an anthology of write-ups based on the experiences of their counterparts who are more assertive and successful."

The target was achieved through the magazine with its first issue published in November 2005. It highlighted, besides other things, the achievements of expat Sikh women across the world.

Clearly a first of sorts, this magazine is dedicated to the cause of Sikh women, and Roma, a post-graduate in French from Punjab University, Chandigarh, is determined to make it a monthly magazine eventually. At present, it is published once in two months.

"It was during my stint at the Omni Channel in Ontario that I got an opportunity to interact with Indian expats. I realised that if the achievements of Sikh women in overseas countries could be highlighted in an organised manner, it would inspire many others to emulate them," says Roma, who travelled extensively to attend Sikh Samagams at various places in Canada, London and the USA, to get feedback on her initiatives. "I was confident about getting a tremendous response."

Currently working with Channel M in Vancouver as a news anchor, Roma is now facing teething troubles "" it is exceedingly difficult to get advertisements for a concept like a periodical dedicated to the women of a particular community.

However, Roma has concrete plans for her venture and plans to print in India to cover the Sikh diaspora even more thoroughly.

"I am a solo fighter but will soon lead an army to uplift Punjabi women who are more enterprising and diligent than their male counterparts," she promises. Aye-aye Roma!