Jaago Re! Wake up India.

I had written a blogpost on the Tata Tea Jaago Re ad campaign here last year in October.

It is always a great thing to see one of your wishes come true and when I came to know of this site Jaagore.com , launched in less than a year since the ad campaign, I am thrilled to bits. One of those Yipee! moments when you want to simply jump up in joy. (Jaago means - Wake up!).

Electoral reforms in India, specifically of Mumbai - my gaon, have been very close to my heart and I commented often on it on Mumbai Matters the only other blog that even remotely covered such issues and wrote tirelessly to make readers aware of voter card registration procedures. On several occasions I have wondered how with such an educated, elite bunch of people making up the Mumbai population the voter turnout, citizen participation and public partnerships were so low.

Things moved up considerably since the 26/7 floods, and since then, the realisationhas dawned, that while money talks, it is conversations and community that works in action. And while there have been instances of the Juhu election, Agni, and other such efforts what was really missing was the main piece of the puzzle that could make it easy for the common citizen. A one stop shop- preferably online, that would address the issues of ballot.

Jaagore.com makes this possiblenot just for Mumbai but for all of India!

At least they have put the enabler in place. Which is only a small start but embodies big aspirations. It helps many people too who were awake but did not know what to do next.

I have in several places in my blog made reference to the Tata group , their contribution to the country & commitment to social responsibility. Other than the joy of seeing a pet project being done, I am not connected in any way with the TATA group or the campaign. (How sad-I'd love that :D). In sync with the times once again, they have demonstrated their commitment.

The attractive, colourful and interactive design and layout of the site is what the 'Sone pe suhaga'- the icing on the cake.

I plan to check this out and register right away. You must too!

Twitter, Flickr and other Fraandship requests

I read and shared on my tumblr page too the article in the NYT by Clive Thompson, The Brave New World of Intimacy.

In 'I'm so Totally, Digitally Close to You', he takes us through the tools of Twitter, Flickr, FaceBook and others to describe what is termed as 'Ambient Intimacy' (the idea of using communication tools as a form of 'co-presence' ) and how how it affects life, relationships, the way we do business & work, learn, and live life.

When I bookmarked it to read later it had 11 comments, by the time I got around to reading it had 22 and today as I type this it has more than 68! and still on, which goes to show the buzz it is creating. And why not. It is the hot topic of Social Media - and as Warren mentions , a article that analyses the 'social' in the media. Not merely with focus on technology.

Here is how I see the brave (or foolish) new world.

By itself no single thing has any meaning. Any meaning or pattern emerges only in context.

So when people question how many relationships or friends or connects one can have- a reference to the Dunbar Number, i.e the reference to developing social bonds by engaging in some sort of 'grooming' behaviour- derived from behaviour of apes who pick and smooth one another's fur- what emerges is that social interactivity explodes at the junction of 'weak ties'. People you'd have met at a conference or when travelling, or in this case, met or meet on twitter. It says,

...Sociologists have long found that “weak ties” greatly expand your ability to solve problems.....

I find myself in complete agreement here. I like the nature of network or web of relationships that it implies. (and lets face it- apes in the experiment were not trained to use computers, if they could I'm sure the Dunbar number would be different :)). This is the value proposition I'd go with simply because it is what I have observed and or experienced on twitter. And herein lies the crux of sharing- knowledge, time ; a little bit (or more) of yourself; creating or giving trust; having fun; enjoying the process; not harming anyone or setting yourself up for harm; connecting; helping; asking for help; pointing; giving someone the heads up; and many other things that make man 'social' .

So, don't use SM tools if it doesn't work for you. Don't pronounce it as useless if it does not or if you have not given it a try; or if your work and life has no need for such things as problem solving, advise and connections. Some products and services may work, some not at all, some in a limited way. In short, don't be too occupied with analysing its benefits and drawbacks.

Communication does not always have to be deep and philosophical. Or frivolous all the time. Real life is normally one or other or mostly in between. Till computers do it, we will still need real life to have a bath, eat, make love, have babies, smell the roses, raise a toast, listen to the sound of the sea, take care of our health, grow roses and beans (if you are as fond of growing things as I am). It will be important to appreciate a sunset (in real life and not second life), eat, drink, exercise, work, make time for oneself, family, neighbours and pets. But that does not negate the power of technology tools to enhance life and interpersonal communication :D

In no way is technology a threat or support to real life unless we make it so.

Via many personal examples, interviews and experience sharing, the article brings out the various implications and is an interesting read if you are interested in the topic in any way.

Mumbai welcomes the elephant headed Lord Ganesha

On a blazing hot wednesday, normally called Chaturthi, while most who are not locals enjoyed the public holiday sleeping in late, the local residents of the city welcomed its favorite elephant headed God, son of Shiva and Parvati.

At home, and in community pandals and mandals, the festival would be celebrated for the next ten days.

With terror threats looming and traffic and police restrictions all over the city, the average joe, jill and little ones paid no heed to any fears. It was life as normal for the city and day one was especially cool as there was next to none of the usual traffic jams.

While large pandals are decorated in bollywood style and medium size ones display creativity in various themes ranging from cricket, global warming, mythology and anything topical - I saw one with posters celebrating the Olympic medal winners - the festival really belongs to the locals of the city, irrespective of religion or status, who are the custodians of this culture.

While most of them were employed in the past by the now shut textile mills, the next generation who did not move out of the city and continue to work in some small jobs, and other traditional maharashtrian residents still hold on to the festival with great devotion and passion. Even the richer and well educated ones who may have migrated, celebrate it in foreign lands too as a link to their heritage.



In the suburbs, almost all the roads were lined with the local kistch art of posters of sponsors products (in this case a well known masala supari/tobbacco brand) and welcome messages that read 'Sarva Ganesh bhaktana hardik swagat'. Welcome to all Ganesh devotees.


The welcome 'committee' playing large size dhol or drum.

A bus stop decorated with a Ganesha in relief. A very hazy picture but that is the best I could manage from a moving vehicle and a phone camera.

Every inch of space on a round fenced garden supports posters of political parties vying for attention and of local sarvajanik (community) Ganesh pandals.

In the 21st century in the commercial capital of India a beast of burden, the bullock cart lugs a large Ganesh idol. But in some weird way it all seems very natural and fits into the wonderful contradictions of the city and nation. The organisers are all dressed in yellow kurtas.


While the drummers are in same coloured tees. But have traditional 'topis' (caps) as they play the traditional drum.

Maybe the disasters in the city, the police restrictions on loud music and timings, more awareness of global issues, rising costs or just a cycle of cultural cycle/renewal, I see a distinct shift in the festival celebrations (design, music, themes) from loud and garish to traditional and simple(r).


Tempos like these were seen transporting large and small moortis that would later be installed in pandals and homes. Sharing costs.



I love my Ganesha. A boy hugs the Ganesha he is transporting to its destination, to support and protect it from damage and mishap on the potholed roads. A charming and literal slant to the phrase, Mumbai's beloved deity.

Hand carts, taxis, tempos, personally carrying them, in private cars and SUVs, Ganesha was transported to many homes and pandals across the city where he would reign for anything from a 1.5 day stay (the minimum) to all the 10 days (maximum).

It did not occur to me to take pictures earlier of vignettes I saw. One a figurine in all white with really large prominent ears, pretty as a picture. The other cameo of a community near Prabhadevi, bringing home its ganeshas in a hand- cart. The basic wooden hand pushed kind used by vegatable vendors. As it neared its destination from where the 2-3 moortis would be taken to the respective homes after the ladies did the pooja, the simple humble folk, all dressed in their best clothes and gold in the mid-morning heat. An infant fast asleep on his fathers shoulder blissfully immune to the blazing sun and loud blaring music while yet another, danced on up and down on his fathers shoulders.

This was the welcome. Celebrations and Immersion is another story.

Letter to Bihar

People talking to me last week have commented on why I am sounding low as normally I am quite a sunny positive person. Quite simply - watching the news on TV has not helped. The utter devastation that the floods have left in Bihar has etched pictures of the helpless and poor people stranded as the waters have wiped away their homes, lives and everything else.

Any person interested in Web 2.0 has to only see two glaring examples of social media, ICT and disaster management - the Gustav tornado and the floods in Bihar (no link obviously) as a case study.

A large part of my online time last week has also been simply researching the topics related to Bihar. I have been curious if there are any blogs/bloggers from Bihar who write and debate its issues and while I have found something, there has been nothing that was new. Mostly posts to do with the glorious past of Nalanda and Takshila and Buddha and Magadh. Needless to say no twitterer too. (All that Ho ho ho what an idea sirji ad is hogwash and makes a nice story board). During the Mumbai riots and floods, the work done by the MumbaiHelp bloggers is still remembered by the many who were assistted by it and recently, China earthquake and Bangalore blasts were trending topic due to the many twitter denizens who posted updates.

Identifying as I could with floods after the 26/7 that Mumbai faced, I was tempted at first to simply take out my 2005 post on Mumbai and do a find/replace of all words Mumbai in the post and replace it with Bihar, because fundamentally it is about public apathy and poor administration and politics of money. But then I realised how wrong it could also be to do so.

Bihar has always been in the news for all the wrong reasons for the past many years. In a shining India story, it stands as the dark side of the country. While other parts of the country are pockets, Bihar as a state has been a whole bag. Migration/brain- drain, lack of development & any significant industrial investment, poor, backward, caste-ridden, corrupt etc etc. Now these are to some extent true of all states in India so how has the story of Bihar gone so horribly wrong. Other states have yet managed to post some success stories and invited and invested in people and projects. Even as the news, media, politicians continue to post on various theories and topics I am stunned by how similar all the sound bites sound as the blame game continues.

So here is my two bit to contribute- which basically holds the same proposition as my other posts on India and development. Stop attributing blame and assume & accept responsibility.

1. On mythology and the curse of the river

Stories are nice and I love our mythological even more than any others. Man whether in any country of the world is completely helpless against the fury of nature. But simply to attribute it as a ‘curse’ is to turn a blind eye to any advances we may have in the fields of environment and geological studies where science offers solutions to problems in the fields of development of natural resources. To quote the curse of Kosi in a time of natural disaster is ludicrous. This article on Rivers and Water is more than five years old and quite simply the situation of rivers in other states too is no different. A river flooding especially at monsoon times can see a repetition in any state that is not prepared for it. We’d need a lot of mythological archives to rationalise our constant neglect.

2. How about curse of illiteracy

What hurts me more than seeing the victims of the flood is watching how poor and helpless they are; their houses are but small thatched huts; their clothes are tattered and their bones are sticking out of their bodies. Quite like the very pictures India hates that ‘foreigners’ project about India. It could well be characters from a Satyajit Ray movie (of the sixties) instead of the Jaane Tu and Rock On people (of this millenia). I am puzzled, have the floods only affected the poor and left out the rich or is it that there are no rich at all in these areas. There is no city or towns, forget high-rise , not even double storey buildings where people can take shelter. In some rare case only I see a school bldg roof top where people have huddled. Quite obviously Bihar is paying the price for keeping its populace uneducated. Note : Key words ‘school’ building and huddling which means forget about getting polluted by caste restrictions.

3. Apathy and inaction of the educated

Which brings me to the other point of my angst. Consider the number of people I know personally who are extremely well educated and doing very well in all fields outside of Bihar and India. In finance, engineering, banking, academics, technology, software, economics, arts, science- many notable names that shine are from Bihar. So they are equally responsible for not contributing back to their roots. In any other state, Gujarat, All of South, Punjab- the NRI’s plough back a lot to the state. Bihar? If they do/did then maybe the situation would not be so grim.

4. Corruption and rule of might

In any private or public or government projects- the guns and the danda rule. It is an open secret and no one cares, no one acts simply because acting would mean at the risk of your life. The corruption is so rampant and all pervasive that funds meant for development, for NGOs, for education all are pocketed by politicians and businessmen alike as part of the get rich quick schemes.

5. Status of women

Ah. Where does one begin. If you want your state to develop, develop the status of the woman - at home, in society and in community and public life. At the grassroots level all the microfinance schemes in the world revolve around women, so no excuses of being a poor illiterate agrarian economy for not starting.

6. Caste (or maybe I should post CASTE!)

Of all the people I know in India, while people from other parts, quite openly state their caste and wear/display caste signs in names and person, not so if you are from Bihar simply because caste is such a huge issue in the state. It adds insult to injury. Affects all aspects of life from personal to political. Guys -allow people to marry, work and eat and live with whom they choose/want, live and learn from each other without superiority and inferiority mechanisms. Team work never meant teams formed on the basis of caste and team work is required if you want to move from being victims and developing your state. When disaster strikes, once again, it does not choose victims based on caste.

7. Poverty and development

Quite simply pertains to economic and industrial reforms and development. Be seen as a state for attracting investments, doing business, tourism. The world and rest of India has rushed aid today to the flood victims, but even they are handicapped as all routes and connectivity is lost. If there is one lesson Mumbai learnt it is -Be self-reliant as much as possible. Forget the Government is 'Mai- Baap' mentality. It only makes you puppets in the hands of politicians who use you as vote banks and when disaster strikes, reduces any chance of survival and rehabilitation.

So here is my request to media. Focus on what are the human development indicators for Bihar. How much of primary education; what is the mobile phone and internet penetration; what is the industrial investment; where does it rank on corruption and transparency; what is its claim to fame in the story of India shining (software, tourism, health services, industrial investment?). If we have a healthy, literate, active contributing population they will question the administration and demand accountability. 9 o'clock news may well lose a few breaking news headlines and the heated debates. But it will be a small price for nations security and prosperity.

On the other hand, look at the the bright side- eventually you will still be prime time news- for all the good and right reasons.