Deeply Deeps

Ram Lalla

2010-10-01T15:11:00.000-07:00

Last year on a trip, at Rome, wandering about and seeing the ancient relics and studying the history meant I deeply wondered about our own. A few thoughts and assumptions, theories I had crystallised though I’m sure none of them are original or path breaking to write a PhD I want to share it with you.

While discussing the Ayodhya verdict on twitter, in context of a western reporting on the topic, I remembered my thoughts and the occidental versus the oriental approach to viewing and understanding an issue.

1. Firstly get the concept of time in India. For a civilization almost 5000 years old, 300 years is not too much, or more than a hundred years for a verdict on a suit is not as absurd as it may seem to the west. It is absurd to me from a governance angle but from patience of the litigants- it is part of 'Keep the faith'.

2. An idol is not a statue. Especially one that is prayed to. The act performed of “Prana Pratishta" means “Infused with soul" when installing it, means after which it becomes a living thing. How can a philosophy that states everything in the Universe has soul, a leaf, a fish, a bird not have so much more importance to an object of worship?

3. Once it is so, then God is not a distant figure who lived and died a long time ago. Or, not only that. To Hindus, God then becomes and is a part of living routine. Almost human, a family member. Which means the routine of worship includes bathing,feeding and putting him to sleep. Whether Ram Lalla or Balgopal, it is a form (rupa) of a child. If God is worshipped in any other form as adult, female, etc the worship may vary but the principle remains the same. e.g. buying silks,clothes, jewellery & flowers for Devi etc. The God pictures one carries in wallet, seen in taxi and car dashboards and propped up on walls is as dear as a photo of wife & kids on the desk in the West.

4. Given the above, what follows from that is God to many Hindus is a dear member of the household. For example, his birthday is celebrated every year just as one would celebrate ones own or that of a brother or sister or parent. Thus, God is not something that is merely in books, temples or in hands of a powerful few like clergy. In fact, anyone who is devout can still be a person who has not read the 'books' - Gita or Ramayan or Mahabharat unless it is an Amar Chitra Katha or story book form. And no less devout for it as say it'd be in another religion. God (or Godess) is personal, accessible and everything and anything else a family member or friend is. It includes, love, healthy skepticism, some fear, respect,support and all human emotions. Due to this, there is no question of what is faith and belief. One may question the historical reference out of intellectual ignorance, but spiritual blindness is not there. As I am not a very erudite person, I will refer to it here for working purpose as “faith” – in India called as Bhakti.

5. Now the Rome story. In Rome, almost the whole city is built by Christians after destroying the Roman Empire. Of all ancient civilisations, Roman, Greek, Egyptian, Mayan, any other- almost all have died out due to invasions and conversions. India still survives to some extent. One of the main reason for that is all the above and, most of all, the oral tradition. Of story telling. (See more on story telling as way to preserve collective memory).Stories of Sri Ram, Hanuman, Krishna, Shiva, Devi, Ganesh, etc were & are told to every Indian child passed on from grandmother to grandchild. This oral tradition meant that even when temples were destroyed or burnt down and people fled their homes, the stories they took with them. They hid from invaders and when some peace returned slowly returned or rebuilt their lives from where they migrated or settled. Very similar to what is happening today even as I write this with the Kashmiri Pundits in India.

As it goes with stories, when the mother sat to tell a tale, (imagine this in Hindi or language of your choice spoken at home) ‘Once upon a time there was a King who lived in Ayodhya. His name was Dasharath”; if the child interrupts with, this king lived in which year? Or, Where is Ayodhya, give me latitude/longitude. The few (like me) who did ask questions were sternly told, believe this because my mother told it to me. Getit? Anyway, the story would never go ahead.

So the tales were narrated one generation after another. Some people today (as I'm sure there were before them) feel they should question historical accuracy and proof of existence because of various reasons, one is science. That ancient Indian and Hindu religion accepts even atheism and supports scientific enquiry, even puts emphasis on it, is a topic for another day. But briefly, enquiry was for the "thinkers” – people who engaged in study, priests, teachers, philosophers etc (Gyana Yoga); for the common folk (householders) it was “stories” (Karma Yoga) and for saints and mystics it was “Bhakti Yoga”. The underlying premise being that any and all these paths lead to the same realisations.

The path of Inquiry; of Service & Duty, Of Love & devotion would all lead to the same destination. Diferent approaches to the one goal. Moksha.

Most Hindu children are dressed up as Krishna on their first birthday. And for adults, Ram Lalla is "Mere rom rom mein basne wale Ram" (one who lives in every pore of the body). Even outside of a devout context, Urmila Matondkar will sing "Hai Rama yeh kya hogaya" as she sizzles on screen and sets it on fire with her dance in Rangeela. "Ram Naam Satya hai" is what is chanted as a corpse is taken to the pyre. From cradle to coffin. As one may say.

This my friends in short is the story of Ayodhya Masla (issue), Ayodhya Vivaad (argument) and now, Ayodhya verdict -three twitter trending topics for a whole day.

Will it go to appeal in SC, will in 20 years today’s youth forget and totally eschew their roots I don’t know. I care deeply about it and feel emotional about it but, frankly I don’t worry insomuch as I won’t be living to tell the story.

But it is about India. Something we got in inheritance from our forefathers and hold merely in trust for future generation. It is not our own to do as we will. The identity and survival of a civilization that has survived many external attacking armies. And survived due to its stories. If you care about it, tell your children the stories. Protect the idols of Gods and nurture faith. Temples are structures. Though they can be built and rebuilt, the 1000 year old ones are really something uh? Lets face it, a couple of decades down the line, no one is going to visit India to see ruins of CWG village or to eat at a McDonald outlet. The Prince of Ayodhya is the collective heritage of not only India, but many other countries in South East Asia, the sub-continent and rest of the world.

Last but not the least; The wandering minstrel sings, "Mandir todo, Masjid todo, Magar pyar bhara dil kabhi na todo." Every Indian knows this. And one reason why there is support from common folk for the verdict and opposition to what is seen as 'divisive' and 'communal' politics. But one must not forget that we live in troubled times and any peace is also on the basis of hundreds of "preventive arrests" and bans on bulk sms etc for four days after the verdict. Politicians who played the Ayodhya card as they went about setting up investments in other states and buying IPL teams. That is why the posturing of shrill media both new and old poses a threat to peace even as appeals for calm are on.

Someone else, on twitter asked if you had one word to describe India what would it be? Mine would be, "Love". In all its forms, India is the land where Love is synonymous with everything about it.

A post on a related topic I had written in 2007, Squirrel & the Setu is here . It has a link to "Two views of Hinduism" . I heard a 1992 article by Swapan Dasgupta is a good read too but haven't looked it up as yet.

Stand By Me

2010-08-12T23:27:00.000-07:00

Hungry Kya?

2010-07-03T09:02:00.000-07:00

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

Many of the thoughts and advisory on food as propounded by Micheal Pollan (Food Rules) is evocative to me of ancient Indian wisdom. In part due to all things to do with food that stem from a fairly traditional south Indian upbringing and later, partly due to my training as yoga teacher that places much emphasis on 'Ahaar'.

Pollan's food rules presented here in the NYT and elsewhere in a contemporary and attrative manner makes it so much more accesible and endearing to modern readers.

If you like it, then I have linked to more of his writings here.

Officially Summer.

2010-03-14T21:06:00.000-07:00

Marching Ants. Wilting Plants. Red Watermelons. White Cucumbers. Drying Trees. Humming Bees. Chattering Birds. Scorching Roads. Thirsty Souls. Weary Folks. Light Clothes. Raw Mangoes. Ripe Mangoes. Sleeping Strays. Bouganville Blooms. Brilliant and Bright. Early starts. Late nights. Trying to get as much as possible done. Avoiding the sun. Officially Summer.

Friends

2010-02-26T12:24:00.000-08:00

"Friends are God's way of apologizing for your family."

Test

2010-02-23T21:05:00.000-08:00

"The test of courage comes when we are in the minority. The test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority."

Liars

2010-02-23T21:03:00.000-08:00

'Of all the liars in the world, sometimes the worst are your own fears' -- Rudyard Kipling

How safe?

2010-02-23T04:16:00.000-08:00

I'd be happy with just small simple questions asked in a spirit of enquiry by the 300 million (?)- I think it is the number, not sure though- educated, middle class in India.

How safe are our roads?

How safe are our railways?

How safe are our malls?

How safe are our buildings? Homes, schools,offices.

How safe is our air?

How safe is our food? Vegetables, fruits, milk.

How safe is my child?

How safe is my neighbour

How safe am I?

Really. Before asking other weighty questions like foreign policy, poverty, political process, spirituality etc. Or mundane ones like clothes, TV serials, jewellery, fashion,religious rituals, etc.

But in real life. On the web. Or on TV news channel discussions. I never see any one asking these questions.

Update-One more:

How safe is my money?

Can't believe I missed that one! esp. after the financial crisis in the US of A. *facepalm*

Who said what

2010-02-21T09:54:00.000-08:00

"Tomorrow's illiterate will not be the man who can't read; he will be the man who has not learned how to learn."

Or, it is also sometimes quoted as

"The illiterate of the next century will be one who cannot learn, unlearn and re-learn"

This is a well known quote that is often used in presentations especially KM and Learning presentations. I have myself used it a lot and is often, if not always, attributed to Alvin Toffler. It is from his book Future Shock (1970).

But it is wrong to attribute it to Toffler. It is in fact, Psychologist Herbert Gerjuoy as quoted by Alvin Toffler in Future Shock.

So you can as I do, simply give the name of the book as the source or, continue to mis-attribute it :)

Eventually I guess it will be like the one I am told is (mis)attributed to Voltaire. "I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it."

2010 - a new year, a new decade.

2010-01-16T08:18:00.000-08:00

New year. New decade. New look and new theme for my blog! :)

I am not any prolific blogger and lately I have not even been a regular one. Instead I've posted on Twitter and Tumblr most of my thought on the topics of this blog.

To keep up with the "new" and "nothing is constant but change" theme I am also thinking about giving up the older topics I used to blog about or at least blog only occasionally. It will not be because I care less. If anything I care more if not as much as before.

What if at all, I shall write about, I have no idea and I haven't decided as it also depends on if I will be able to sustain it.

If I do not update, it does not mean I have killed my blog or abandoned it. Hopefully I shall be back.

2010 - Ring out the old, Ring in the new

2009-12-31T22:50:00.000-08:00

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light;
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,
For those that here we see no more,
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out thy mournful rhymes,
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease,
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.
--Alfred Lord Tennyson

India- ESET. Elections se Election Tak.

2009-06-28T20:18:00.000-07:00

If you have to read just one thing today, let it be this story from the economist. "After India election- Don't waste it"

In fact, only the first para is of significance. So if you are rushed, bored or not interested the minute one mentions 'Economist', then read only the first few lines.

Going further, considering often media links get deleted or broken after some time, let me give below what it says;

"About 27m Indians will be born this year.
Unless things improve, almost 2m of them will die before the next general election.
Of the children who survive, more than 40% will be physically stunted by malnutrition. Most will enroll in a school, but they cannot count on their teachers showing up. After five years of classes, less than 60% will be able to read a short story and more than 60% will still be stumped by simple arithmetic."

Think about it.

World Environment Day 2009

2009-06-05T00:12:00.000-07:00

A beautiful poster from the Ministry of Environment and Forests. Evangelize it!

The Ministry has equally great stickers encouraging messages to help, save and nurture the environment.

As the President has mentioned in her speech the shloka from the Atharva Veda,

"O pure Earth, May that we utilize your soil well, Without causing you injury or harm or Disturbing any vital element in you. " _/|\_

How are you celebrating World Environment Day today, or even everyday, in your life and your neighbourhood?

Mumbai says Meri Marzi on Election Day

2009-04-30T19:48:00.000-07:00

There was this Govinda Song that went, "M.E.R.I. Marzi!"

For instance, "har chauraahe par main apni murti lagawau, news paper kaat ke apna suit main banawau". A very tongue-in-cheek, humorous, whimsical song defying definition.

Pretty much like Mumbai itself.

How does Meri Marzi translate into English I’m not sure but if I try - it means, ‘I will do as I please’ (or, Do your own thang)

While Mumbai represents a microcosm of India, in many ways it has also its own unique peculiarities, quite obviously not defined by geography but people.

Meri Marzi is a phrase that emerges from a live and let live approach and grows into something that is less statement more attitude (in a nice way mostly), culture and ethos – MYOB Mumbai.

A city that everyone loves or tolerates precisely for its qualities of freedom (to do your thing), opportunities and everything else that defines its tolerant, cosmopolitan, attitude, respect etc reflected in food, lifestyle and everyday living.

It also means that unless you have your finger on the pulse (or even via expensive surveys and studies) nothing can be predicted. I like to think I have my finger on the pulse and everyone I met or talked or heard since Nov- Rickshaw driver se lekar Ratan Tata tak- well, rickshaw wala in person and Ratan Tata as reported by TV yesterday :) - the feedback was ‘Poora ka poora mohalla’- "Iss baar hum vote nahin denge." Or, a peaceful, non-violent boycott. Let whoever wants gets elected to Delhi. Our life never changes so they (politicians) can go jump. Run the country as they wish. We are resigned to our fate.

Cut to my own life. Twitter, neighbours, friends, family. (Why I voted and How I decided who to vote for is a topic for another post)

1. Thanks to Agni, Jagore, citizen groups, celebrity endorsements etc entire complex and neighbouring ones were on voter registration drives. Most of it a huge success. Young, first time voters and old so far apathetic middle aged citizens all enrolled. Then what?

2. Aamir Khan on TV saying, 'Acche ko chuno, Sacche ko chuno.' Really? Yeh hai kahan? Aapko dikhay dete hain. Hame toh nahi dikhayi dete hai. Where are the good and truthful candidates.

3. For the constituency I represent, names- all unknown. Two eminent names- never visited or never lived in the area. Connect with the electorate? You must be joking. In the very last week/few days in an open jeep, with duppatta covered over head/hat they took one quick round.

Take other places in Mumbai. A candidate in his eighties! Senior-senior citizen. Does he even know or use email? Why will youngistan elect him? The choice if one votes for opposite party is another one who shifts and changes party and ideology, participates in reality shows and actively takes sides in one of the most controversial topics of migrants, which is clearly seen as divisive.

Will such candidates connect to educated, middle class expectations and concerns or youngistan aspirations?

Then you have south Mumbai candidates. Sophisticated but living in ivory towers. One who is a scion and inherited his constituency and other who do not meet a minimum requirement (what a voters heart desires) of knowing the local language or having a record of knowing the city as a whole/community service. Even job profiles have such minimum requirements and you would not recruit a person for your organization unless there is a skill and qualification fit but want that you should be elected just on other exemplary points in your bio.

The general feeling was ‘Yeh log, Mumbai ki nahin sochte hain toh desh ki kya sochenge?’ The exact feeling - We do not want politicians, we want leaders.

It was not easy to decide- either on party lines or candidates.

On Party lines- everyone knows how much the citizens feel betrayed by Congress. Really is there a congress at all. There is Sonia Gandhi, Rahul & Priyanka, Manmohan Singh. (& FM). The second choice- BJP. That alienated itself from youngistan over Ram Sene and Orissa.

All the Rest - Take a look. Ageing film stars & ex-cricketers, convicted criminals, verified goondas, budda- buddies (senior citizens, candidates born in 1920, 1930, etc).

1. Candidates who do not treat opposition candidates and parties with respect, and indulge in personal bickering instead of debate on issues;
2. Candidates who use money & muscle. (Dadagiri in the name of Gandhigiri);
3. Candidates who lie- about educational qualifications and assets;
4. Parties who function like corporate bodies on an inorganic growth path and apparently simply sell seats to highest bidders.

In brief, candidates who demonstrate no principles, take no stand on issues of values and national importance. Young Mumbai liked Shashi Tharoor but he is in TVM. We like to tell what is on our mind but look what happens if you speak up. Varun was simply thrown into jail. A young crowd that was eager to participate and make a difference were silenced and confused.

Hence Mumbai chilled. The people Mumbai elects don’t care about Mumbai. (Read this sad story of a South Mumbai resident). And UP and Bihar decides majority in Parliament. Fix the system first.

Add to that, the demographic profile and electoral process itself.

To quote TV. ‘26/11 protests were Face book crowd’. (hence, dimissive tone).

So what? They are real people too you know..

Facebook does not categorize you on domicile boundaries. Mumbai is half migrants (even white collar) which means young boys & girls who have families in other cities and live in Mumbai only for work.

How does a voting system that demands physical presence where you are registered work in real life for a mobile crowd? That too on a long weekend when they have a chance to go home. Add to that even election at home state/location may/may not match the dates. Employers or govt does not enable or allow any manner of support to vote. So they cannot vote anywhere.
- Why is the voter ID not the PAN card? A universal number and valid all over the country?
- Why it is that vote cannot be done via email?
- Why is 49-0 not available on EVMs?

Currently 49-0 is only for manual voting and even after that it does not register as a protest vote but only ensures attendance. Such that your absence is not misused. It does not help in active participation.

Even after that is used, is the electoral process equipped to deal with 49-0 results? Let’s say the whole country will use 49-0 and say 90% of candidates are rubbish. Does the process ensure that they are disqualified, new and better ones are available, re-voting, who pays for it, how does time spans work so many issues around a protest vote system to ensure that it works and does not get mired in judicial processes like candidates with criminal records standing for election using High Court, Supreme Court, etc etc. as merely delay tatics.

For systems to work it must be swift and simple to understand and implement.

What about so many registered voters who turned up but could not vote cos they did not find their name in the list! (See this slide show- it has a powerful quote, "we want leaders, not hooligans')

Slain cop, Hemant Karkare’s wife could not vote. A WTF moment.

So all award winning journalists take a chill pill. Then take a deep breath, go back to the editorial table and draw a map of how and what are the issues you will address in the next episodes instead of yakking about, ‘Did Mumbai deliver' on your prime time slot. Mumbai is officially just one of the constituencies in Lok Sabha elections. It displayed the national average and just cos we are blasted to our deaths you expected some miraculous turnout. Why? We are being killed since 1993. What was new about this years bomb blasts that any thing new should emerge.

On the plus side, even after such a mood, 49% turnout was registered. The number of young citizens and first time voters have swelled thanks to various e-democracy projects, web-sites devoted to candidate information have been developed and are being studied. The glitterati and chatterati (celebrities) have endorsed and got involved in the process- speaking and meeting groups; the elections went peacefully and there was no official boycott or untoward incident.

This is a great opportunity for political parties, candidates, people who design software systems, and citizens to reflect on what next. Get off their backs, travel, meet each other (citizens and elected representatives), discuss and debate issues, and take steps to make it a robust process of citizen and civil participation.

I also think ( hope?) that it may well mark the return of values like integrity, principles and issue based ideology in the Indian system of politics. History and time will tell.

Good Friday

2009-04-09T10:03:00.000-07:00

I happened to see this picture today and felt it was particularly significant for Good Friday so I thought I'd take a picture (taken on a nokia phone) and share with others.

It reads, 'I asked Jesus how much do you love me? "This much," He answered. Then he streched out his arms and died.

Though twitpic and twitter is the norm, since I hadn't updated my blog lately, decided to post it here.

Akal Badi ki Bhains

2009-03-07T22:48:00.000-08:00

Yesterday on Twitter my friend balu @chupchap posted a link to an interview with a rabble rousing person in India of pub attack fame and urged me to read it.

Past experience had told me that it would be ravings & rantings and hence I told Balu I will not read it and expend any time on it . Also do people like this - who in normal life I’d say need intervention – need more publicity?

At the same time I was pulled in another direction that said media needs to expose people like this for who they are and what they stand for and do or don't do.

Such interviews and exposes also brings into focus and contrast what other parties- political, religious or administrative and people have to say and how they deal with such issues.

For instance, who an Indian marries is decided by him/her/family/law. Normally, in that order. Not a self professed vigilantte who has a ‘sena’. Hence any other views are – or should be - completely useless in this country.

What is important however, in the Mangalore pub incident and other such cases attacks on girls in Bangalore, are the views of the other people in the society (families of affected people or who wish to talk); community (voters and people who live in the city) ; state officials (administration like law keepers, police, municipal authorities, justice etc) and, if it affects any legislations then, politicians.

Here is my view;

A. Show people for what they are with interviews and exposes.

However,

B. Do not lose focus. Highlight the REAL issues. Detailed interviews with other people involved are also required.

Like;

1 .The issues of families and girls involved. For instance, in this interview the chap says that the mother of the girl, a Mrs Shetty was ‘grateful’ that he daughter was ‘saved’. I’d love to see media do more interviews with her and families like her. The log kya kahenge, Biradari mein hamri izzat issues. What is izzat, what is biradari, how much is it important, how does it affect you, why do you support people like sene, etc.

We know that in certain countries ruled by religious paries, excommunication can take extreme measures. Hence the fear to comply. But in India?

At one end of the spectrum, we have families who encourage their daughters from mofussil towns to distant cities to participate in dance and MTV reality shows on television as they see it as an opportunity to some fame, fortune and better future. On the other end we have outright ‘honour killings’ for daring to fall in love and/or marry with a person of another caste/community.

Trapped between the two we have this category of families who do not really know, explore, or accept possibilities and change. In other stories gone wrong, instead of ending in a pub attack, they end with suicide or murder. But yet, parents pretend or refuse to accept reality as is (happening) and ‘thank’ vigilantes.

Then, I’d like to see media direct attention on issues such as why do people not file FIRs. The issue of how difficult and tiring the process of seeking legal aid is in India. How to overcome and improve these systems and processes. Alternatives, suggestions, options?

Third, the chap says he has hundreds of people working for him. Including a 'womens' wing. Gasp! Imagine. Arresting him will be of little or no use cos there is one like him in almost every Indian family.

So I’d also like to see more interviews with at least few of the hundreds and thousands of youth (and women) who join such ‘causes’. These are the vigilante armies being trained. Why do the youth choose to opt for this route instead of focusing on improving their talent and skills for other (what we think is more productive) use. How do the women brigade feel about reversing all the hard work Mahatma Phule and Ram Mohan Roy did.

It is my view that with this kind of journalism and reporting, the country will awaken to other and more substantial issues ( such as parenting, education, youth, opportunities & social structures (or lack of it), public & civic governance, insecurities and how they breed etc instead of merely polarise sections of society based on religious beliefs, moral stances and political affiliations. I think what I am saying is I want the people to be interviewed who are neither of ‘Sene’ or ‘Pink chaddi’ brigade. The people who keep quiet and need to find a voice, an expression.

We need a country where each person should be free to practice all the above three (religious beliefs, moral stances and political affiliations ) freely with no fear of reprisals and have law, order and justice prevail.

Only after typing this post did I realise it is International Womens day today. Co-incidence or what! So, this is my Womens Day post. Vive le difference as I love to say.

As for the title of this post. 'Akal Badi ki Bhais' is a well known old hindi idiom that loosely transalated suggests, "use brains" or THINK!

I also came upon this site with some funny pixs which I am linking to just for a few laughs. God knows I feel the need for it after thinking of the madness that threatens the very fabric of our India.

Get involved

2009-01-13T06:17:00.000-08:00

Always wanted to suggest or do something for the locality you live in Mumbai, but did not know where to begin or what to do.

I just posted over at my tumblr page a post on how to submit or enquire about projects for development or beautification of your area.

With barely twenty days left for the deadline, it does not leave much time and does not help that the mail is so late in the day. But it serves as a useful reference point and maybe more if you want to be the person who makes a difference.

If you are not a resident of Mumbai, whichever place you are a resident of in India, enquire with your local body, municipal corporation or equivalent and get involved. An active involved local community will result in safe, healthy and better places to live in.

Good luck!

Equilibrium

2009-01-10T23:45:00.000-08:00

Here is my first post of 2009 - which is actually a short round up of 2008 :)

2008 for me was in a manner of speaking, the best after many years and as close to wish fulfillment as it could probably get, relatively of course. It does not mean that I bought that dream house or that *drool* Roger Federer asked me out on a date - nope :D . A short break at year end, by the sun, sand and sea close to Mumbai was the only holiday or vacation I had in last two years. No other worthy acheivements at all. Yet, it was simply great by its very averageness (is that a word?) . The year began with me giving up my full time job after many years in corporate life and taking the plunge into the world of self appointed goals. It helped maybe that I had planned for it so it wasn't as stressful or scary as I feared. I have been thinking that in fact, given job losses, financial scams & other situations, the timing for me was a blessing in disguise. During the first half of the year I painted and renovated my home, started and completed two writing projects. A collection of articles on.. what.. life? and even a book of poems. While I thought I was getting the writing 'bug' out of my system in some strange way it only made me realise how much more I had/want to write. So it is there but on the backburner.

What I thought I'd miss and felt I'd feel 'lost' if not at full time work, were the interactions with so many people- the emails, the links & articles shared, news bites & gossip, exchange of pictures & daily life, debates & discussions & thoughts, insights - into brilliant minds, average minds, just minds- which is where twitter stepped in. On twitter I have been been connected to the global brains, hearts and life of people. I have learnt and laughed and loved so much with this crowd, it is amazing. At many points I have been inspired and encouraged to think and do more. I am now struggling with a new blog. The place holders (both on blogger & WP) has been there since last year now and I've used only to share some notes with family and friends. I hope to make it live hopefully soon. That is one of my 2009 resolutions. The other being to complete 48 pieces of art.

If you have been one of my blog or twitter friend over the past few months, then thank you for all your support so far. You are always in my mind and prayers and as we go into 2009 I wish you a 2009 filled with good health, much happiness and success any which way you define it.

Update : I changed the title of post after feedback I got that the previous one was not like the ones I choose normally. So here it is in one word what 2008 represented to me. If I was an accountant I'd choose balance, but as I am a libran, I like this word too. Both mean the same of course!

Is desh ka neta kaisa ho

2008-12-08T19:15:00.000-08:00

Five states in India declared the assembly election results today.

Everyone in Mumbai hates politicians and political parties right now. The fact that the CM and HM ousted over their ineffective handling of the terror situation have paved way only for others with equally and more frightening records as criminals and crooks, makes it no better. Mumbai watches helplessly as it is not able to even have an elected Mayor.

Hence it is that while ‘party workers’ celebrated in a vulgar display of loud drums, fire-crackers and red powder/ gulal (as if it is festival of Holi) at party headquarters, the common man sighed and just went on with the day.

It was fun to watch and hear the ‘seasoned and astute’ political comments.

#comment 1- Congress won Rajasthan because of Rahul Gandhi -the youth heir apparent leader who was partying in a farm house near Delhi while Mumbai was held hostage to terror- his campaigning, and ticket allocations he did. Friends, Congress won cos BJP lost Rajasthan the day the first shot was fired at the Gujjar agitation.

(And if Rajasthan has succumbed to charisma it is question of time. Simply in terms of voter turnout, even a state like Kashmir has opted for development finally defying the extremists calls for boycott of elections.)

#2-Chattisgarh - BJP after a neck-to neck race with Congress chugs to victory. - I wish they had strangled each others necks along the way. Whether BJP or Congress- these are the ‘leaders’ who have in the past two decades handed over 1/3rd of the country to naxals; and the ruling govt. had to run the elections with help of Indian army and special forces; alienated tribals and done little to nothing for eradicating poverty. Is it any wonder that ‘rice and dal’ wins votes. Development in this state of hungry stomachs is not defined as highways and IT .

#3- Madhya Pradesh ; Add a little , subtract a little from the above two scenarios and it gives an idea of what election in any state means where these two ruling majority parties dominate . Now that the new CM has won because of his 'clean image' , can we hope that justice will be done in Prof Sabharwals case. But wait, that was transferred OUT of Madhya Pradesh. So much for track records.

Mizoram is a win for Congress. The far-east states are now a congress strong-hold. One more instance of how and where local leadership has failed. Of local populace fed up with greedy leaders and opt for a change in the HOPE that things will change. Hoping against hope. I’d love to see the record/profile of each candidate here who has worked to make a difference in development so it can be used as an example. But as they say, for other parts of the country, the seven sisters do not exist.

Delhi! The capital and the nation’s success story for infrastructure projects. Of course, never mind safety of young journalists, criminal justice system that cannot apprehend killers of arushi, bomb blasts, rising prices, etc etc. What I hear - Sheila Dixit for three consecutive terms is a vote for development. After all, she is the only CM who McKinsey has covered. I wish the population voting for BSP would vouch that. BSP has made significant inroads in percentage terms (if not in seats secured) as it said it would. What does it say for topics like development and upper-middle class votes is a matter of dispute even as it is a city than has seen less than 50% voting and has logged what I think is the first documented invoking of 49-0.

The last time I heard these lines used for Sheila Dixit, it was used for Chandrababu Naidu. Remember, the CM with a laptop which could not connect to the farmers suicides.

While the TV anchors mentioned Sheila Dixit as the only one after Jyoti Basu to have done ‘Hat Trick’, they seem to have forgotten Modi who the populace of Gujarat have elected back into office repeatedly.

So, Is desh ka neta kaisa ho. How should the leader of the nation be.

1. Humble
-Vasundhara Raje is the one example in this election but by no means is she the only one.
2. Of professional integrity and one above corruption
-With so much IT and software tools at hand this should be one of the easier things to ascertain- where can a common citizen view the candidate’s record of public service, development, funds
3. Spirit of service and not entitlement
-the people elect the politicians into seats of power and yet the results are barely declared than they are seating on lawns and accepting flowers garlands. Poor people stream in a line, touch their feet, offer flowers as if they are ‘God”. Mai- Baap.
4. Where age (being young or old) is a asset and not a liability
I won’t elect Rahul Gandhi because he is cute or charismatic and won’t reject Manmohan Singh merely because he is old.
5. Who has his finger on the pulse
which means one who shuns VIP culture, stays involved in issues at ground level and not one who hits the campaign trail only when it is election time

While we work towards a scenario where more people who can be judged and evaluated against these parameters get elected, we must understand that the electoral process is one that is slow, once in five years, complex and at varying levels of maturity in the country.

While changes and interventions in this process is required and will take place, a simultaneous and immediate, urgent need is one to ‘Monitor’ the elected representatives.

It is time to move away from a scenario of “Hoping” that the elected reps fulfil their roles and responsibilities and to move to a scenario of “accountability’. After all, at work, no boss or business owner ever works on mere ‘hope’ that his team will deliver. Hisab Kitab dekha jata hai. Books are checked, time and money accounted for, and attendance monitored. Rewards & recognitions and punitive measures. All are used.

Time to do the same at least in the cities and urban areas . What are the methods available to citizens to monitor how the money that the local corporators are allotted for development is used ?

This is a huge gap currently at least in Mumbai and I hope one which is plugged soon.

Oh..Muummm..baiii..

2008-12-04T06:11:00.000-08:00

We'll be singing...when we're winning..

In what the media has called, 'unprecendented' show of strength, citizens and Mumbaikars came from all walks of life last evening to rally at the Gateway of India- the scene of the horror that took place last exactly one week ago -last wednesday.

It was a completely self-managed turnout and amazed the politicians and police and public officials in it's disciplined and yet powerful show of emotions. The kind of crowd that'd have been the envy of politicians, film-stars and cricketers. It had no agenda but to express grief, respect the memory of those who died and voice complete disgust with the corruption and self-serving politicians.

What started at 5 00 p.m went on till almost 9- four hours during which people expressed feelings in all kinds of ways. One person played his guitar and sang a self composed song; others held prayers; others held banners made - very very creative ones. Posters that said, 'ZEROS (politicians)/HEROS(martyrs)' or 'All dogs are welcome to my funeral, no politicians'. Fliers, posters, charts of all sizes home made and printed. Cartoons and pictures; photos and cloth. Street plays performed -'Bharat hamari ma hai- Baap hamara hijra hai' which demanded public to examine the situations. A wall of grafitti and petitions; advocating electoral reforms; venting against stupid statements by politicians, cricketers, celebrities-you name it- it was there.

Young, old, school children, housewives, students, film stars, poor, rich, middle class, from far & near, grief -stricken, distraught, militant. Fully able and differently abled- they all showed up. As seniors shared their voices of wisdom, the youth loudly affirmed their power. Main stream media, citizen journalism, civic rights organisations, resident welfare societies. Just normal average people. After school, college and work streamed in- placed flowers, lit candles and simply stood or walked in and joined in what was a slap in the face of terror. Shoot us we do not care. We will drive you out and everyone who supports such evil - was the message if any -of the evening. Hindus, muslims, christians, speaking every language spoke as one. Every voice that could speak, spoke up even as fellow brethren in other cities of Delhi, Kolkata, Jaipur, Bangalore and Ahmedabad joined their voices.

So technically it is not unprecedented. Many many years ago, in August Kranti Maidan, people in erstwhile Bombay gathered and declared a war against the British. On Dec 3, 2008, once again people declared war- against terror and against corruption.

There is a little disquiet too- I hope people do not get led astray by people promising the silver bullet. Not paying taxes, 49-0, only two party system etc are not ideas that can be bandied lightly. Every idea, every thought now need to be presented and debated publicly. Examined rigourously and this is the junction at which leadership is required. The momentum and traction needs to be gathered and expanded to all parts and all corners of the country.

Even as we face the prospect of war and, skeptics, naysayers, citizen deshdrohis( they were there during time of british, they are still around now) and such others. To who I say, Lead, Follow or Get out of the way!

Hoping and praying that the spark Mumbai showed yesterday burns at the very roots of all divisive forces and the horror of world terrorism. Never mind how slow or long it may take.

Mumbai RIP

2008-11-26T15:16:00.000-08:00

This post is just a placeholder for a date in history. (Or it may be titled, if the city was a human)

I am not really in the frame of mind to write any blogpost. So this is not a blogpost as much as a tombstone. A graveyard marker -though in Indian thought and as hindus, we cremate and do not bury the dead. The idea being to set the soul free. Not hold it back with any physical reminders or emotional ones.

So who died. Well my city, Mumbai. Armed gunmen and terrorists held the city to ransom, randomly shooting and killing innocent citizens for no rhyme or reason while the administration and other citizens helplessly watched. Kinda like the school campus shootouts we read in the news that happens in US of A. And even as I type this the attacks and hostage situations are still on.

Now Mumbai is no longer this little seven islands town reclaimed to a city and populated by a happy vibrant migrant population with a legendary attitude and spirit. Today Mumbai shed it's humble origins and garb and joined the likes of Tokyo, London and New York. A global city -which wears terror attacks like a badge.

I hope all the politicians and the people who wanted to make Mumbai a global city are happy and proud. I can almost hear them posturing- People dead? Building burnt? Jobs lost? These things happen. It is a small price to pay for what we want to acheive!

Maybe if I shed 'old-fashioned sentimentality' for the city of my birth, I will celebrate too. But not today. Not yet.

Cos if we slip and slide away from the India shining story- then Mumbai will just join the legion of cities around the world known for bombings, terror and poverty.

This is death. And it may well be the re-defining moment for a re-incarnation. Based on past Karma- will it be re-born lower or higher is the question.

RIP Mumbai. I loved you. More than I expressed. More than words can ever say.

Update 1 : Home Minister of Maharashtra says almost to the T what I predicted in my post. "Bade bade Shaharon Mein Aisa Hota Hai."

Khana Kashmir se Kanyakumari tak

2008-11-14T17:40:00.000-08:00

This pic has been doing the rounds of email forwards and it is quite likely that you may have seen this. Recently a chat about a journey around India reminded me about posting this to my blog.

I have no idea if the picture belongs to someone or is copyrighted. If you know, or it belongs to you then do notify me via the comments feature or drop me a mail and I will be happy to credit it rightly or take it off as the case may be.

But in the meantime, travel around India and enjoy some of the flavours it offers. Remember to Share the food too! :D

While your devour this, I will mull over my dream to start my own food show- not a Nigella Cooks, or Kylie Kwong....but, oh well, I have no ideas at all....any help welcome!

Bombay becomes Bihar - well almost.

2008-10-27T13:59:00.000-07:00

Diwali day, a festive day- and what do I see/hear - BEST bus no 332 hijacked in Kurla.

For a fleeting moment, Mumbai became Bihar.

The range of flabbergasted reactions that the news got went something like this,

*BEST* ? bus hijacked in kurla?
BEST *bus*? hijacked in Kurla
BEST bus *hijacked*? in Kurla?
BEST bus hijacked. in *Kurla*?

you know, lets face it…the only hijack attempts and guns Mumbaikars see - as in Really see- are, in the movies. (give or take a mad-man scenario ever so once in a way)

On screen. And on TV. Again, in movies and serials- CID, Haadsa, NYPD blue, Prison Break etc etc or when Tulsi, a very self-righteous mom in a soap materialises one out of thin air and shoots an errant son who has done some horrific misdeeds like rape a young girl or such. A gun is not our daily fashion accessory, so far at least. Then, there are those random reports one only reads about -the shootout at lokhandwala types. Question a cross section of average mumbaiker – no one has actually witnessed one- –encounter killings and such.

Hence, contrary to what the rest of the country thinks, the average mumbaikar leads a very average life even when he his bomb blasted and rioted. Say ‘On the run’ and you will get the response- local trains. Excitement is provided normally by a new purchase or sighting a film star.

(Before I forget, I also saw guns on TV when the election coverage of UP and Bihar were shown.)

So when an adult man takes a gun and threatens passengers in a public transport, the police after some tense moments for all around, fire shots and he is dead. Well, maybe in an ideal world, (a.k.a. movie’s) he’d put his arms in the air and surrender. Or a Bruce Willis commando style black cat chap would climb on the roof and immobilize him. But it wasn't a flim set. It was Kurla. And an Andheri-Kurla bus route that connects the two railway stations I think.

I am aghast at the tragedy, but frankly I don’t care much for such romantic notions a above. I know that I travel by bus a lot and even if I had not died by a stray bullet of the shooter or the police, I’d have died of a heart attack by the sheer fear & stress. And I am a strong person relative to small school kids, heart patients and other patients, old people, pregnant women etc all who do the daily commute. To work, to hospital, to visit loved ones, back to home.

So when I see politicians making mileage out of it and youth in Bihar on the rampage the following thoughts come to mind;

1. Guys, if you had done this rampage much earlier on for development issues, the poor would not have to migrate in the first place.

2. Instead of finding fault with a chap in a far off state, question your own leaders- what have they done for creating jobs and opportunities

3. With floods and thousands dead and in need of rehab, really can you afford to march to Delhi to meet PM for ‘inquiry’ and ‘ban’ of MNS? Wow, if only such unity was shown by political leaders in previous years- there would not be so much death and disaster.

I am aghast at the touchy feely sentimentally brush strokes being given by some 'select' channels. The chap had come to Mumbai looking for a job- which one? That of a hit-man? that he needed a gun? Is no one questioning, where did he get it and how? He was asking for a phone to call who-Thackeray? He owns a gun but not a mobile phone? where exactly did he come from again?

Bali ka bakra to usey banaa hi diya. Like a suicide bomber, he came, he hijacked, and he died. Like all good children, if only he had listened to his mom. Eat your vegetables, study and work hard & acche bacchhe bandook se khela nahin karte.

And last but definitely not the least, the whole crux of this post. The Bihar politicians are very aghast at a youth who was killed while hijacking a public transport bus in broad daylight and terrifying passengers and putting innocent public at risk. Wah! Taaliyaa!!! *Applause*

Remember Satyendra Dubey?

Well, he was also someone’s son, brother and breadwinner. And a citizen of this country.

On his death (killing, assassination, cold-blodded murder- take your pick of term) if you had marched to Delhi as one, asking for a probe into this young, upright, educated, citizen who was only doing his job and exposing rot, then Sirs, I would not be writing this post. I’d be campaigning for you for your win in the next election. But, as matters stand. FAIL!

And thank you for the invite, but no I will not be attending the shinding you parade as pooja on juhu beach. Which so far, I thought like all other sravajanik pooja functions in Mumbai was open to all and all citizens were invited, welcome and could participate. I will prefer to attend and perform the pooja with great devotion and love in Bihar when it is safe for me to travel there. Or, when you do it in Mumbai after you have won the hearts of all mumbaikars ( Did that even occur to you as a choice? I wonder). And, in case I forgot to say it, no thank you also for dividing our bollywood which till recent times were a beacon of solidarity and secularism. No Thank you also for creating rifts and calling names to my family members in our home.

So the powers in charge will announce and conduct a probe. A chowkidar, havaldar, inspector, driver will get suspended. Some leave will be granted, some transfer will be effected. Maybe some human rights, sarva dharma sammelan, society for prevention of cruelty to bus passengers of kurla all will make some gestures.

In the tradition of the best hindi film dialogues, - Yeh lacchan kuch acche nahin. Hum keh dete hai. Haan.

Winter is in the air

2008-10-22T19:07:00.000-07:00

Winter is in the air and this one by John Donne seems appropriate today.

Death Be Not Proud
by John Donne(1572-1631)

DEATH be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures bee,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee doe goe,
Rest of their bones, and soules deliverie.

Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poyson, warre, and sicknesse dwell,
And poppie, or charmes can make us sleepe as well,
And better then thy stroake; why swell'st thou then;
One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.

Blog Action Day 2008- Poverty

2008-10-15T04:07:00.000-07:00

Today is Blog Action Day and hence a post on the topic this year- Poverty.

Living in India, born and brought up here, poverty is a daily feature of life and yet there is no denying the fact that it is next to impossible to get desensitised to this issue. It stares at you in the face, shouts at you on the roads, and haunts you when you sleep.

A large number of blog posts here in Deeplydeeps are to do with India, Mumbai, Society, Development, ICT and KM- and I have often posted on the topic of poverty- this one - A day in the life of an Indian-is of my favorites simply because- it speaks of two things that to me represent this issue;

1. One, the glaring and increasing divide caused due to super conspicuous consumption and,
2. Two, the growing attitude of apathy of the educated, young Indian to recognise that simple living (and giving) is the need of the hour. That, debt, new fancy gadgets and having a great time is not necessarily an outcome of 'being rich' and vice versa.

It is ironic that even as I write this, at least three cases of Indians who have committed suicide due to the fallout of the economic crisis have been reported only in one week.

While poverty is a topic discussed ad nauseaum, and the world struggles with the millennium development goals, what I'd really like to again emphasise if I have not said it adequately or clearly enough in my other posts in this blog is this;

Poverty as it relates to money, wealth, material comforts- food, clothing, shelter, work, debt and other daily conveniences is one thing. The other, what I'd really like anyone reading this, is to reflect a little, on poverty of spirit.

Poverty of spirit is being mean minded, placing a premium on competition over co-operation, forgoing the good Samaritan spirit for selfish pleasures, being rude, petty behaviour, road rage, being unforgiving, malicious, not generous to fault, indulging in criticism for the sake of it without doing anything to 'light the candle', fighting needlessly over trivial matters, refusing to apologise when wrong and sometimes even when right. Not coveting what is not yours and other such matters that quite often one learnt even as a child.

While I debate and discuss the topic at work and as a professional, as a yoga student and teacher, I also believe that it is the matters of the spirit which is what matters.

Unless we develop a generosity of spirit, you will find that generosity will not follow in things. The other name for this is -Love. The need of the hour. Whether you give a penny, a rupee, a dollar, a meal, a hug or even all of your life - Make Giving a habit. Make love a habit. Make service a habit. (or it simply degenerates into an ego trip).

Grows into a larger consciousness. Greater awareness.

Nurture your spirit with as much care as you nurture your investments portfolio. As the Chinese saying goes, if you are down to your last two pennies, spend one on a loaf of bread and Buy a lily with the other.

I loved this post for the charity begins at home theme -it echoes my thoughts.

And to all who plan on changing the world, I urge you to read one of my favorite posts from Occams Razor.

Understanding the sub-prime crisis

2008-10-04T22:23:00.001-07:00

Great set of slides that explains the USA financial crisis.

Read :) As Benjamin Franklin said, An investment in knowledge pays the best interest!

Making Sense of the Mortgage Meltdown

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: kedrosky milken)

Mahtama Gandhi

2008-10-02T07:34:00.000-07:00

National Holiday today in India, for Gandhi Jayanti. To mark the birthday of the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi.

Sometimes all it takes to change the world, is, not to be changed by it.

As calender dates go in history, today India gets the go-ahead to join the world leaders of nuclear powers. Which reminds me of Einstein on Gandhi.

Click here for more on one of my all time favorites as far as movies go Gandhi- the movie.

October 2nd also marks the birthday of Lal Bahadur Shastri, yet another gentle giant of the Indian freedom struggle. As he was of small height and physique, of him it was said thus in marathi-Murti lahan pan kirti mahan. Small in Stature, Big in Status.

We salute all the people who died so that we may live in freedom. It is a tragedy that the politicians and citizens today fragmented in ideologies and given to greed, do not share the vision or dreams that these people had when they lived and died for a free, united India.

Jaago Re! Wake up India.

2008-09-18T19:25:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-07T22:27:00.001-07:00

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

2008-09-05T02:43:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-01T20:53:00.000-07:00

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.

Free Souls

2008-08-07T22:26:00.000-07:00

This moved me deeply when I first saw it. A eautiful compilation of the work of Joi Ito.

Freesouls

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: joi_ito book)

Thoughts become things

2008-08-04T19:46:00.000-07:00

The weekend was spent doing fun stuff -movie, dining out, shopping and driving around Mumbai. Shopping was particularly fun what with the sales and variety and choices available. While some things appeared a steal and very reasonable, at the same time the effect of increasing consumerism was insidious. Fridges that averaged at 40-50 thousand and if designer clothes and designer sofas that cost a crore isn't bad enough, I saw a bike (bicycle) that cost more than a lakh! I stopped for a minute as I wondered at the renowned brand displayed.

I am very happy to see India retail open up. Economic liberalisaton that has made it possible and I cheer the new India. One generation older to us who struggled through the month on a small fixed salary to educate their children (us) and any item of world class quality or luxury could only be bought in the grey market of smuggled goods or at the mercy of more affluent relatives who'd travel abroad. Quality in electronics and perfumes was unheard of and hence I am very happy to see the new India - a generation that takes ipod, mp3, playstations, laptops and Gloria Jean or Costa Coffee coffee for granted.

However, just last week after the Ahmedabad blasts, a friend had commented (in an effort to comfort my angst), 'Urban India is a consumerist society. Give us a distraction and we will soon forget it happened. Sorry if it sounds sick but it is true'.

Is it is really difficult to reconcile the two. On one hand all the lovely things we crave and chase. On the the other hand, violence and terror acts that feed on poverty, deprivation and lop-sided development.

I do not think it is merely about urban and rural India. There are rich and powerful farmers and landlords. Just as there are rich and poor urban dwellers. So obviously it is a deeper social issue and not merely one of economics and as I like to think, a deeply spiritual one too.

Where does spirituality enter into this you may ask. Quite elementary Dear Watson, as Sherlock would say.

As increasing consumerism stares us in the face, in the inevitable materialism that we embrace, it becomes imperative to focus on things of the spirit to balance it. Matters of the spirit means thinking about somethings more than our own selves, PSP, GOW and GTA; The latest Italian restaurant or jaguar bath fittings. A little time everyday given to develop some quietness of the spirit- thoughts of health, developing a hobby, acts that include some charity or giving and such.

It is not important if these are big things or minor things- but if we neglect matters of the spirit we do so at our risk.

Animal Friends

2008-08-03T20:23:00.000-07:00

Look who visited early morning on friendship day. A stray cat, presumably attracted by the warmth of the neighbours door mat, stared me straight in the face and with a plaintive "meow" greeted me as I opened the door in the wee hours of the morning!

It is weird. On my birthday, it was a white, plump stray too- but a dog. This time I took a picture :) Weird because it is an apartment on a higher floor and strays normally do not find their way up.

Animals are such wonderful friends. They ask no questions, make no ~~demands~~ criticisms.

Business and Social Media

2008-07-16T05:00:00.000-07:00

Unless you count the young crowd who use the social networking sites like Orkut, Ibibo, Facebook and others and the IT crowd, Social Media really has little or no presence yet in India. Even in that, certain tragic incidents (such as the Adnan Patrawala murder) have made it something parents view with suspicion and even ask for bans, restrictions, monitoring etc.

Some schools and colleges are even considering or already have banned even the use of mobile phones- the one tool most used tool in social networking in India. A few PR and media firms have embraced the digital and social media in some prelimnary steps, and of course blogging is reasonably 'in the news' now due to, “the film stars do it’.

So when I say that SM has no presence what I mean it is, not numbers of registered users, but maturity - it is still first generation. Which is what makes it also encouraging and exciting!

If there was a term like Web 0.5 - I'd use that to describe how little or badly we harness the tools as a country. I could write an entire book or draft an university syllabus on this topic. While elsewhere in the world, libraries, hospitals, governments, disaster management, moms, educators, disabled or differently abled, poor in Kenya, brand managers are all using SM tools. But for now, I'll stick to SM for business.

Even as in the external world it is gathering traction, with companies it is a different issue. And in few instances is at all they are used, then only behind the firewall. Or in disparate random efforts. Normally one is engaged in questions of ‘persuading’ and enabling companies to embrace SM tools. But recently someone asked when should companies not do social media- which got me thinking to write this post. Organisations - which have the capabilities, even large ones and for employees who need it for the work they do- restrict access to employees to the internet and anything else remotely SM-like. Blogs, Wikis, Streaming media and other Social Networking tools etc. I could immediately identify with the query. Social Media is an extension of the endeavor of listening and engaging with employees & customers- both existing and potential.

When the company already has a good product or service and wants to engage with customers in making the experience a better one then it makes sense. Engaging in social media simply as a PR exercise to cover up or even gloss over inherently poor practices or products and services is futile. If the company is treating its employees, customers and vendors in a fair and good manner then social media makes sense. Because what they then do is really harness the existing good will. If the perception of the organisation is one of an unfair employer, aggressive market participant with no concern for customer but only on profits, or doing it to deliver profits to the company and not demonstrated value to the customer, then the SM exercise may run the risk of being a mere exercise and not deliver any real returns. For instance, if all that a blog will do is provide a place for the company representative to post a reply to a very annoyed customer comment with a "Please contact our Customer Service Dept. for quick resolution of your issue" it is laughable. And yet, quite likely this will be proudly presented by the company as it's commitment to embracing new technologies.

Another example, is when a tool is used or simply works as more of a 'one way' - monitor and report mechanism and broadcast mechanism. If there is a genuine commitment to deliver something superior (product, process, experience, expertise) then the organisation should go in for social media and deliver what it set out to do in the first place. Or it may run the risk of being seen as doing it simply because someone is sold on the latest shiny, bright toy. Then it is better the organisation does not engage in social media because the people - in this case customers, may well get even alienated in the process. In short, like the old Hindi film song that went, 'Yeh Public Hain. Yeh sab jaante hain'. The Indian one is more canny and value-conscious than his counterparts.

Not to mention the huge expenses incurred by the organisation in using social media for communities as mentioned here in this Wall St. Journal blogpost.

Art and the city

2008-07-01T19:22:00.000-07:00

This is a sculpture at a busy and main Mumbai intersection near Mahim and Bandra.

It was installed recently- maybe a year ago and due to its location and size can barely be missed. Yet, to my surprise it elicited little or no interest or comments from the media or even the average citizen (a.k.a. blogs ). Which I find significant because it is almost the first prominent public art display that I have seen in Mumbai.

I concede that the average practical Mumbaite ( me included) does not have much patience to appreciate 'weird stuff'. It is too much at odds with a city culture that places a very high premium on a practical, pragmatic, no-nonsense, make the most of every minute ethos.

And yet, a complete lack of any kind of natural beauty , added to that a lack of any 'bohemian' influence makes the city what it is- a sad, weary, troubled one. No time to stand and stare -slowly it makes us humourless, petty and mean spirited.

Urban spaces, or lack of it is more appropriate in a city of Mumbai has seen increasing land grabbing by building and construction industry. While parks and open spaces are under threat and some hobbly- wobbly approach continues in supporting heritage structures; one more aspect of urban spaces as good as dead or non-existent in Mumbai is to do with Art & Culture.

In contrast to it's northern counterpart New Delhi the capital, Mumbai has no Dilli Haat, India Habitat Center, or even an Arts Council (which is really ironic considering Charles Correa lives in Mumbai). Chennai has a Dakshin Chitra, Artist Village, Goa has an annual carnival- I don’t know what Kolkata has – but last I knew the whole city had ‘kolchure’.

Installations, city squares and public spaces - large (or small) open friendly central areas where people can meet, congregate, celebrate, experience art, music and festivities & culture is non-existent. Small, sporadic, scattered efforts are at best just that. The rest are exclusive. While space is a constraint, lack of any public policy is what really distressing - which means there are no guidelines or governing principles.

Music, art, dance, pottery, puppetry, craft? What is that? Fairs, exhibits, exhibitions, carnivals, cirque de soliel?- will only elicit puzzled confused looks from the harried citizens who can barely make it to work and back. Isn’t that for Page 3 people? Public libraries, town halls- you gotta be kidding right?

Compare this to other global cities -which is why this article caught my attention. It speaks on the importance of creating and preserving urban spots where artists and poets converge as critical to growing urban centers. This article that also has a picture of old New York city precinct by Ed Yourdon, my twitter friend who pointed me to it.

So when I see this update on Twitter by someone who lives in New York, I , wonder, will even the next generation in Mumbai ever post a similar update.

If the current situation and state of the city is any indicator then it seems highly unlikely.

A Brahmakamal Blooms on Twitter

2008-06-28T20:17:00.000-07:00

When talking about culture, communities and connections it is but natural to think in conjunction with new media, social media or social participative media.

However, often the emphasis is so much on the technology part that the people and process part gets scarce attention.

The reality however is that (whether within the enterprise or out of it) even the most simple technology can be used and can get accepted and to the despair of many a CTO and CIO the audience refuses to bite the most sophisticated silver bullet of systems put in place. It is the engagement of the people involved that decides the excitement and effectiveness.

Take for instance a seemingly small matter of a bloom. At first instance to the untrained observer this may even border on a P G Wodehouse kind of quality that lends itself to the whole event.

But from my perspective gleaned out of more than a decade of working with teams, this sharing by Preshit (pronounced Prey-sh-eit ) on twitter represents an amazing story especially because it brings together many things I love- Mumbai, Trees, Culture, Community, Media.

Preshit is as described on his profile 'A 21-year-old Blogger, Webmaster, Content-manager, Apple-lover, Mac-user, iPod-listener, Twitter-boy, IT student who loves travelling, photography and adventure sports.'

First about the plant and the flower that blooms only once a year at midnight (Pics here) and as described on flickr set by him;

Characteristics:

1) Has flowers only once every year
2) Each flower is attached directly to the leaves and not to the branch.
3) One leaf may have upto 4 flowers, even 5 in some cases.
4) Each flower blooms fully at 00:00 hours.
5) The flowers have a characteristic serene smell
6) They are offered to the Hindu Lord Shankara as his favorite flower.

@Preshit was simply answering ' What are you doing' as he used Twitter, Blog, Phone, Camera, Ficker Photo album and I'm sure if he had a recorder it could also be on You Tube to share stuff.

The updates from around 5 p. m to mid-night, gave updates on the crowds gathered, how his grandmother wanted it covered by media, the importance of the event as evident in this, and also a request for a camera!

It elicited responses from people in locations like Bangalore, Chennai, Kerala who immediately identified it or with it and from others in Mumbai - in what I thought was a remarkable display of how in spite of language differences really all of India is bound in common threads of culture - and even from someone in London who did not understand what it was all about.

Thanks to technology and this young person in Mumbai, I could finally claim to have participated in an event what over the years I had missed in my own home :)

I also want to mention one more thing and that is the simple act of 'sticking with it' and involvement. What really builds a community. This wasn't any planned twitter coverage and even I refused to be interested in the first few updates. The motivation to click on the link given to last years photos or even to respond to others like Sathya and Aravind was low. (though Sathya is based in Chennai he was really sharing about his mangalore home).

But as the updates were regular even I got caught up in the excitement. This 'excitement' and involvement is what (building) a community is about.

In a final chilling comment on what Mumbai does with its flora and fauna, the irony is best expressed When he says, 'Now for the BIG news- the plant will be chopped down to make way for a car park'- here in this tweet!

Picture of Brahmakamal flower by Preshit Deorukher

I get by with a little help from my friends

2008-06-21T04:28:00.000-07:00

I had blogged a simple post on J. K. Rowling here.

A second post on the same person?

I just had to share this-'The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination'- speech she gave at the Harvard Commencement that I’m posting today.

After reading the speech, I will never associate the word 'Imagine' with John Lennon’s song or even with Einstein and his famous quote. The word, Imagine now will always remind me of this lady author.

The talk is filled with gems; and as I was reading it I felt very grateful for many things that made it possible to access this, even such small things that we normally take for granted such as to be able to read, to comprehend English, to have access to the Internet, to be able to share it with friends & others via my blog.

Any good blog post has its fair share of fans and follower comments. Since my blog has hardly any comments or traffic (maybe due to the fact that I did not have a comment feature enabled or more likely it is just a boring blog) while I was googling to link to the talk, this post on BoingBoing caught my eye too - it is replete with comments so I thought I'd link to it too - No.38 is my favourite. I stopped reading after that!

Instead of writing this post if all I could do, is say it in 140 characters allowed by twitter, then what I’d say is this:

‘I wish wish wish I could put 'Creator & writer of Harry Potter series' in MY twitter bio.’

Nature Thoughts

2008-06-09T03:25:00.000-07:00

I've always loved the rains.

Many memories of childhood and the past are all interwined with this season and weather. Whether back to school after summer vacations when little or the floods of 26/7 in 2005 - Mumbai rains are a part of me, not just a part of my life.

As Henri Amiel wrote,

"A RAINY landscape has a great charm for me; the dark tints become more ethereal. The country in rain is like a face with tears on it- less beautiful no doubt, but more expressive"

World Environment Day - 2008

2008-06-05T01:21:00.000-07:00

In a majority of the posts I have done here in my blog and specifically in almost thirty of them I have commented upon various themes to do with environment, green causes, development, business, nature and various topics related to it.

Is that the reason I don't feel the need to talk about recycling, carbon credits, mangroves, sea-levels, need, greed and conservation today? I don't know. Maybe.

Instead today I bring you this hymn from the Upanishads.

The word Upanishad means "from the forest" - this is wisdom from the ancestors who knew how to live with and in harmony with nature even as they harnessed all it had to give for their daily requirements. It is also an invocation to The Sun, The waters (ocean), The wind, Nature & all the laws that govern it and, the text given here can never reflect the beauty of the chant.

Visvasaanti Prarthana (Prayer for Universal Peace)

Aum Shamno Mitra Sham Varunaha
Shamno Bhavatvaryama
Shamna Indro Bruhaspatih
Shamno Vishnu Rurukramaha
Namo Brahmane
Namaste Vaayo
Tvameva Pratyaksham Brahmaasi
Tvaameva Pratyaksham Brahma Vadisyaami
Rutam Vadisyaami
Tanmaamavatu
Tad Vaktaaramavatu Avatu Maam
Aum Shanti Shanti Shantihi

May the sun and other Vedic Gods - Varuna, Aryamaa, Indra, Brihaspati and the all pervading Maha Vishnu and all the Devatas shower their Blessings upon us. Salutations to Brahma. Salutations to Vaayu. You are the personfication of Brahma. I shall proclaim thee as Brahma. I shall always abide by Dharma (righteousness). I shall always speak the truth. May that protect us all. Aum Peace, Peace, Peace.

Source: Hymn- Vedic prayers. Picture- from my collection, lily in an urli at home

Cricket and caste - both rock the country

2008-05-28T09:52:00.000-07:00

Meanwhile like Nero fiddled when Rome was burning, the country-jashan manale ishtyle-plays IPL cricket to packed stadiums (and related media coverage of its players, scandals,trivia, gossip etc) even as the gujjar agitation moved into the 5th day completely disrupting now what is daily life to a lot of citizens. In a state that was barely recovering from the bomb blasts in Jaipur, not just daily life, tourism is also badly affected.

Speaking of the blast victims, people in South America (was it Argentina, I'm not sure) lit candles for the dead in Jaipur blasts; China declared a three day mourning for earthquake victims;even military Myanmar did so. India and Indians did nothing as mark of respect for Jaipur blasts victims.

At least we can pretend we care?

Fake it till we make it?

Itna bhi jashan nahin manale.

On the first day of what was to be a peaceful demonstration by the gujjars, the police opened fire to disperse the crowd, leading to the death of some of them and the situation quickly escalated to a stand-off. Representing a tribe of more than tens of thousands of people who elect the leader and government into power and pay to keep them there, it is a tragedy that they resort to and are at the receiving end of violence instead of dialogue. I was intrigued to watch on telly the composed and english speaking (in variance with his traditional attire and turban) leader of the gujjars till I read later that he happens to be an ex-army colonel (and seventy years of age!). An ex-army officer who can get tens of thousands of people to march at this command and lead a fight into death as they announced should have sent some signals on day one? Calling him names and hauling him to court in the midst of such a tense situation makes me very sad and uncomfortable too. He may just turn out to be the next prime minster of the country and those who did so may end up looking foolish?

There was more concern and interest, visible and expressed that Ambani's team lost in cricket.

Whether cricket or caste- both rock the country in different ways.

Just as cricket represents the cultural ethos in society, the crisis represents valuable lessons in leadership, mediation and conflict management, and both of course represent the future of this country.

Murder in Mumbai, Death in Delhi

2008-05-27T09:37:00.001-07:00

The city and the nation were recently rocked by two very gruesome murders. One, the Arushi Talwar case in the capital, and the other the murder of Neeraj Grover in Mumbai.

While the parents are the prime suspects in the first case, the other one is an instance of two young ambitious people, a navy officer and an aspiring starlet, all of 25-27 years of age who jointly hacked the body of the victim into 300 pieces in the bathroom of their flat before disposing it by burning it at a location in the middle of a forest.

While the TV and related panel discussions have been flashing the talwar case, the murder of Neeraj Grover received little or no attention in the national media and in fact even the murderer, Mathew was in a local paper after many days.

Seeing the two I am once again reminded how far superior is the Mumbai Police Crime branch and their handling of the cases in this instance. Maybe in others too, but this one is starkly clear. In less than a week, i.e in 6 days they cracked the missing person report as murder, tracked the location of the place where the body was disposed, arrested both the people, got confessions, booked them and provided protection to the witness, a watchman of the building who was on duty.

I am proud of the Mumbai police who against all odds fight to keep this city (relatively) safe just as I am very distressed at the whole manner the Arushi case has/is evolving-two things that stand out starkly is how evidence has been disposed or disappeared, delays, lack of procedures and strange stuff ( like what is it with dental association announcing 'support'?

The Arushi case to me is poignant because, while many of us now are sensitive to children's issues-runaways, vagrant, poor kids get attention, the status of the middle/upper middle class child in a country that has no laws to protect them is very vulnerable- often neglected.

Isolated and lonely with no-one to turn to-not even a helpline- child abuse,violence or sexual in addition to lack of family support, they bear the brunt of loneliness, emotional blackmail, pressures of study, social restrictions and future prospects that weigh them down. Expensive gifts of mobile phones, gaming, mall visits, holidays only hide these deeper issues.

Mumbai city: facing a future without trees.

2008-05-19T01:31:00.000-07:00

I saw Chronicles of Narnia -Prince Caspian over the weekend on Saturday and it was great fun.

Both the movie and, the movie going experience . Of course I would love it - I love fables. And here are a few thoughts that are buzzing in my head since then.

I do not completely agree with whoever thinks or says that Chronicles of Narnia is a movie only for children. No doubt the narrative is that of a fairy tale replete with children, who travel to the beyond, forest, animals , mythical creatures et. al. To me it was replete with metaphors and symbolisms. One particular one being about protecting nature and giving it its due.

I thought the denizens and administrators of Mumbai would do well to see the movie, especially the scene where the great lion, Aslan (voice of Liam Neeson) with a roar invokes the trees and river waters ( a depiction I felt of the anger, fury and revenge of nature viz: earthquakes, floods, tsunamis) - to save Narnia from the attack of the plundering army and return it to it's original inhabitants.

If 25,000 trees in Mumbai are cut in the name of development as it has been ascertained via the RTI (Right to Information) act and reported in the news, then yes, the prospect of the city facing a forest fire is decreased.

But so are many other prospects. Chief among them, survival.

My twitter story

2008-05-15T12:07:00.000-07:00

This is my twitter story.

I am quite annoyed at myself for falling for its charms, for it seriously has eaten into what I am very otherwise very ‘stingy’ about - my time (after all that is the only non-replenishable resource given to us?).

But I would not have it any other way, and if you ask me why, my answer is - Twitter is about Connections, Learning, Community.

What do these three words translate to?

It translates to participation, vibrancy, caring, criticism, growth, networks, relationships, entertainment, dialogue, conversations-replete with (virtual) food, coffee, drinks, weather, family, pets, in-laws, mood swings, boss, co-workers – you name it, and more.

In the time I have been on twitter I have read some excellent thoughts and writing in all the areas of my interest, from @ewanmcintosh on education; @BrandMilitia and @davidarmano on advertising, branding and marketing @SamLawrence and @Shelisrael on knowledge management and social media and @newmediajim in news.

These and some other names I follow simply for the leadership in their fields they provide. Many aspects of knowledge management which engage me are here for the taking and it delights me to be part of this network. I follow @ikepigttot, @batterista, @alexdc as they tweet on social media and development.

Authors and artists, geeks and gurus - Twitter provides opportunity to connect with experts in all areas, whether it is Darren Rowse as Problogger in blogging, or Anita Campbell on small business and women in small business. When Janet mentions me in her blog ( where I am delighted that I am eponymous with ‘Mumbai’) or @evansdave comments on my blog or @hiway tweet a good morning to me - I am reminded yet again, how closely knit and small the world is or can be-the barriers or distances are in our heads and hearts, not measured in miles or time. Often it is night for them when it is morning for me.

I have connected with @elsbar and @BeckyDMBR who to my unending amazement find it in their heart and time to check on me- even if just an hello (hint for someone in Mumbai : are you reading?). Becky as a mother of three including one pair of twins does an amazing work of talks and blog to help others deal with issues in bringing up twins (or multiple birth issues). Having @SusanReynolds story is yet another one that is close to me as it reminds me of my mom, who battled and gave in to the illness but never gave up on life, energy or enthusiasm. On some days reading some of her tweets is painful and I find that I want to unfollow them and yet, in some way helps me deal with myself.

People on twitter are 'generous'. Who share not just 'what they are doing' but their stories and their lives through updates, blogposts, pictures, advice, support and most times, just plain talk - the glue that holds people together. Just as @Leonardo and @Shawnz light up my twitter stream with their music and quotes.

My Indian twitter friends many of whom are students or just into their jobs, tweet about food, travel, gaming, technology, projects, cricket, gadgets, movies and music. The IIT kgp team have shared tweets as they dealt with studies, wing mates, food and farewells. Tweets from @Preshit reminds me of a Hrishikesh Mukherjee film albeit circa 2008, web 2.0 version.

Twitter is seeing another person through his/her eyes and not through ours as we tend to do all the time otherwise.

Twitter really is a big congregation of sleepy, workaholic, normally happy people - I like to believe encompassed in a circle of love and life- and I enjoy the flow.

On some days the whole followers and friends thingy is also really not anything other than simply a tool of managing your 'tweet inbox'. Everyone on twitter is related to someone directly or indirectly through some degree of separation not necessarily six. I imagine meeting someone and saying, You follow Jane do you, she happens to be the friend of my follower @Nitin. Do you know @Milan? Milans sister works with @Amit

You get the idea. Big World, Small town. Everyone knows everybody. Everyone asks, & knows 'What are you doing'.

Best of all,

a. The people who run twitter also are on twitter. Quite like the little painted board at RamaNayaks hotel in Matunga, Mumbai, that reads, “The owner eats here”. So one can also @ev

and,

b. While there are iconic personalities such as @guykawasaki and @scobleizer really, on twitter there are no A- listers.

It is about perspectives not prophets.

Is twitter a temporary indulgence in my life or will it last? I hope it does, for it has great value in building a network, marketing, branding and working - never mind what work it is that one does. And I haven't touched at all on aspects such as the simple fun, the way news is first on twitter, it's simplicity & ease of use, the various twitter clients etc.

For more erudite, professional, rational, coherent, (and excellent) posts on twitter read Sam Lawrence or Janet Lee Johnson . And of course all the links to articles on twitter I have carefully selected for this post.

Update: 101 uses of Twitter- Another must-read!

Pecking order

2008-05-02T22:58:00.000-07:00

In my earlier posts I had posted about birds of Mumbai and mentioned how the BHNS or the Mahim Nature Park is a better place than my blog to know the birds of Mumbai.

I am not a bird watcher- defined as ones who go with a pair of binoculars and identify every species by its scientific name- but since I have an interest in the environment I have some knowledge which is largely useless.

When I read about how in recent times the crows are dying mysteriously in large numbers and, sparrows disappearing from the city due to rapid urbanisation and concretisation, I revived a childhood habit of feeding birds on the windowsill. For about a year now, every morning two sparrows, two mynas and two crows (in reverse order) visit at the crack of dawn. What I thought was an innocuous task has turned out to be an experience of great fun and learning. And discipline too! Any one who visits or stays over are also very fascinated.

When I heard this on twitter, I thought I could post some pictures of 'my' birds here.

The sparrows, meek and mild visit last, peck daintily and even wipe their beaks clean on the grill which always makes me laugh.

The mynas, I was taken aback are an aggressive lot. If the window is shut they peck on the glass to 'demand' food.

They also quite look like they apply eye make up early in the morning.

I thought the crows would be bold, but he is quite a scaredy one. Just swoops, gobbles up and flies away to eat at some distance.

I have also learnt not to keep any food at one go. The crow has an ability to stuff it all down its hatch, leaving nothing for the other birds. So I learnt to be a 'waiter' serving three courses, learning the nuances as I go along.

As you can see pigeons are 'banned'. As the owner of this establishment I reserve the right of admission to guests :)

I thought this post would not only share my experiences but also maybe encourage Mumbaikars to think of their feathered friends and do something, even if small. Request the local park or building authorities to install a small bird bath; post a comment on their experiences or,just open the mind to possibilities- which really is all that counts.

My favourite lines on my favourite book.

2008-04-28T18:21:00.000-07:00

" I find a solace in the Bhagvad Gita that I miss even in the sermon on the Mount. When disappointment stares at me in the face and all alone I see not one ray of light, I go back to the Bhagvad Gita. I find a verse here and a verse there and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming tragedies- and my life has been full of external tragedies- and if they have left no visible, no indelible scar on me, I owe it all to the teachings of the Bhagvad Gita.”

~ M. K. Gandhi.

My favourite lines on my favourite book.

Sans Nom

2008-04-27T07:30:00.000-07:00

This is a small frame I made, by simply placing two pieces salvaged from used greeting cards within a standard Ikea frame that I found lying around.

The card made by an NGO in South America ( salvaged from a friends desk) , is barely 4" X 3" inches each. And ensconced within that small area are nine stamp size, hand-embroidered motifs of a girl, boy, flowers, cactus, llama and such, that is evocative of rural landscape there. Beautiful or what?

It is not a very good photograph (annoyed at the flash glare it caught but could not help it) .

But the original makes up for that. My lil contribution to 'earth day'

Supporting the local economy in food

2008-04-12T05:42:00.000-07:00

With food prices at high, inflation high, markets low, global recession and such staring us in the face, spending on food is a good place to start thinking about lifestyles.

As India moves to organised retail, gm food, supply-chain logistics and such, progress beckons even as it wipes out centuries old tradition of locally sustained economies.

In Mumbai a simple example is how our mothers would wait or walk and extra half mile for the Vasai vegetable vendors and we now shop in the malls in air-conditioned comfort for fresh and crisp looking vegetables and fruits wrapped in cellophane and clingfilm.

In one more instance (Tweet) of how the west has come a full circle back to local economies while we throng the air conditioned malls emptying the deep freeze and chiller shelves, here is a report on building the local food economy that Seattle is achieving.

In 2005, Sustainable Seattle began a local multiplier project focusing on the food industry in the Central Puget Sound region for this purpose. The project report, Why Local Linkages Matter: Findings from the Local Food Economy Study, explains why we should care about our spending choices when it comes to food and sustainability. It finds that locally directed spending supports a web of relationships, rooted in place, which makes for healthier and more prosperous communities.

Spending involves a choice about the kind of future we want to have. Why Local Linkages Matter explains why we should care about our spending choices when it comes to sustainability.

Community participation extends to many more facets of development and members of the community participate in many ways to contribute to the city. For instance,

Equipped with handheld computers and digital cameras, a team of volunteers paused at the intersection of Rainier Avenue South and Hudson Street in Columbia City, making note of a few pieces of litter and uneven pavement. They spent a recent drizzly Saturday afternoon surveying the area for problems and opportunities for improvement that will eventually be reported to the city and community stakeholders by the non-profit organization Sustainable Seattle. The volunteers hoped their work would lead to continued revitalization in the Columbia City and Hillman City neighborhoods........
"This is a wonderful opportunity to be methodical and detailed. It's not just calling up some city department and saying, 'We have a problem.' Since it's a focused, continued survey, hopefully it will make improvements over time," said volunteer and Mount Baker resident Deborah Sturm. ....Sturm said she was particularly concerned about the increased dumping of large items that she's noticed in the past few years.

Even as we enjoy our weekend sojourns to the malls, in the glorious tradition of Indian innovation can we marry the old and the new to achieve a happy medium that embraces the best of both worlds. Food for thought.

Cry beloved city - Mumbai under water.

2008-03-31T21:51:00.000-07:00

Mumbai city

First we were rude, then dirty , now doomed - if the news reports are anything to go by.

“According to the research conducted at NASA, the sea level will rise by around five meters. Once this happens, major parts of Mumbai and Kolkata would be submerged under water,” said Brikesh Singh, a Greenpeace campaigner. According to the study, areas like Marine Drive, Race Course, Mumbai Central railway station, Sasoon Dock, Mazgaon Dock, part of Bandra Kurla Complex, Mira Bhayander, Juhu Airport and part of JVPD will be under water.

In this case, even without any media reports, I'd believe it - after all I was in the city on 26/7 during the Mumbai floods.

Leading dailies carried this story and some other parts of the study quoted were;

About 75 million people from Bangladesh would migrate to India as climate change, rise in sea levels, drought, shrinking water supplies and monsoon variability takes a toll on coastal states and regions. In all, about 125 million migrants, including 50 million from densely populated coastal regions and other vulnerable parts of India, could become homeless.

The scale of migration would be equivalent to the Partition ten times over. It would displace 375 times the number of people needing rehabilitation from the Sardar Sarovar project.
This is the grim picture painted by S Chella Rajan, a professor at IIT Chennai, in his report titled Climate Migrants in South Asia: Estimates and Solutions, if the country continues to follow the current “business-as-usual’’ approach and fails to take policy interventions to check the impending crisis.

More than the report itself what caught my attention were certain sound bytes given by prominent people interviewed who opined that the report is 'exaggerated' ( I think it is also a politically correct usage to say it is trash, it is lies, what rubbish).

I am all for moderation and would discourage exaggeration unless some artistic endeavour or occasion demands it.

In this case I enquire what exactly is the exaggeration part in the report that the leading personalities who were quoted were making reference to?

That Mumbai will not drown in 2010 but maybe 2050 or 3050?
That it will not drown under 20 feet of water it will be only 5.75 feet of water?
That 125 mn people will not be displaced, it will be only 112 mn people?
The entire basis is flawed and it should be thrown out of the window, a doomsday prediction like 'pralay' in the ancient texts.
Something like- boring, boring, stupid report-take it away!

I am not being sarcastic- really. Only curious.

But I am not surprised at the lack of will displayed to address the issue. If there was any concern at all, we would not have allowed the environment to come to this situation of degradation in the first place.

About my blog

2008-03-28T21:42:00.000-07:00

I blog normally about what is uppermost in my mind, whether a memory or an experience, a news event or a business observation. So I cannot say what will always be my topic. While I love strategy topics, ICT, development issues, nature & environment and knowledge management which is my work, I will write about some of the things I love. Such as my city of Mumbai, my country India and its people and issues.

Regardless of my topic, I am driven to blog to have my own column, if you will and I have been at it because I can self-publish and it is an 'one to one' enabled by the medium.

I enabled comments only in Jan 2008 and not for a whole year of blog posts. One of the reasons I changed my mind was simply the fun I had in posting comments on other blogs.

Whether you are a first time visitor, regular reader, occasional browser, friend or fan of my blog - if you spot a factual or technical errors or corrections that need to be made please let me know about it either as a comment or an email.

(this post is simply the transcript of what used to be there earlier in section, 'About my blog')

The tree of life

2008-03-27T23:29:00.000-07:00

What : This is a typical banyan tree which has roots that drop down from the branches and take root again in the ground.
Where : Mumbai, Cadell Road near Catering College- you can't miss this beauty.
When : May 2006.
Why: It caught my eye simply because of it's aged beauty and its relationship with the wall. Was it resistance, struggle, surrender, or some or all principles of co-existence that one often sees in nature.
How: Just some simple digicam. I can only aim, shoot, click. Anything more is too much technology for me. There is such a thing you know :)

Importance of intellectual property for India

2008-03-25T14:35:00.000-07:00

I read this a couple of weeks back and spent a good amount of time today trying to locate the link to the original article.

By good amount I mean more than what I normally do- simply because I could not remember where I read it, who was the author or any details except why it was so important. I thought I could rely on my memory but mnemonics just do not seem to work for me. Neither had I noted it down, so phew! But I did search because when there is a wonderfully researched and written article then I must link to it, and the topic of intellectual property is very important to us as individuals, firms and as a nation. The topic has various aspects such as;

1. At the first level, an awareness of the topic and implications.
2. Understanding the nuances of the issue.
3. And last but not the least, infrastructure required in terms of an efficient, transparent patent office and procedures.

At this point as the topic is to do with 'protection' of intellectual property and not 'investment' in it, and as the original article does not talk of it either, I am not going to touch upon the overall spending on R&D- which is also a very important indicator used for India to call itself a knowledge economy.

In the author economist Kaushik Basu's words which says it all;

The reason why I am pounding you with data on a Sunday morning is not because of a perverse desire to ruin your holiday, but to alert you that, while India is surging on many fronts, it does badly when it comes to inventiveness; and this can have severe long-run consequences.

The rise of intellectual property is such a recent phenomenon, that most people have no idea what it means. When we speak of property, we usually think of tangible things — land, house, watch. Especially in India, the ownership of an idea seems strange. But unless we wake up to this global phenomenon and partake in it actively, we will lose out.

One way of understanding this is to look at the colonisation of the Americas. Most of the original inhabitants of the New World lost their land not by war but by not understanding what it was that they were giving up. A recent book by Stuart Banner, How the Indians Lost Their Land, documents how, since the native people did not have the concept of property rights in land and had little experience of buying and selling land, they could not fully comprehend what they were giving up every time they sold land (often for a few bottles of rum) to the settlers from Europe. Banner records how the natives would “sell” land and continue to trespass on the land, simply because they were not used to thinking of land as property and did not understand the rights that came with land ownership. By the time they understood it, their land was gone.

Intellectual property today is at a similar juncture.

Please please read the whole article. But if you cannot for some reason then the data that he speaks about is as follows;

If we deflate the absolute number of patents granted to residents by some measure of the size of the nation, the picture changes only a little. In terms of patents granted per capita, Japan is the world leader, followed by South Korea, with US in the third place. If we look at the patents-to-GDP ratio, the US drops to the fifth rank, with South Korea, Japan, Germany and New Zealand leading.

Where does India figure in all this? Virtually nowhere. Even accounting for the fact that we are a poor nation and so cannot be expected to compete with industrialised nations, our performance on intellectual property has been dismal. China, which till recently had a poor record of creating ideas, has become a major international player. In 2005 it moved up to being the third largest patent granting office in the world. The world’s five largest patent-granting offices — Japan, US, the European patent office, South Korea and China — together account for 74 per cent of all patents in the world.

Paani, Jal, Water, H2O

2008-03-23T00:49:00.000-07:00

As India celebrated Holi, a festival of colour and water, yesterday it also was International Water Day.

The theme of World Water Day this year is sanitation in support of the International Year of Sanitation 2008, as the lack of decent toilets and the contamination this causes is a root cause of unsafe water. From the UNDP press release;

Over 2.6 billion people or 41 percent of the global population have no access to improved sanitation services. ‘No access’ is a polite way of saying that 5,000 children under five die every day from diarrhoea for lack of a decent toilet and hygiene, that girls are forced to stay home from school rather than risk indignity and sexual harassment without private latrines, and that raw sewage flows directly into streams, rivers and lakes, fouling the environment and exposing billions of people to disease.

In Mumbai, we are fortunate to have water supply . Yet - shortage, pilferage, contamination, supply by tankers, and (lack of) sanitation are issues that any mumbaikar knows. In fact, a few housing societies made special arrangements and paid to get water thru a tanker to play holi!

Any comments welcome on the topic if you are doing any efforts or you know of in your locality to save, conserve (or even nurture ) water resources, prevent water wastage, or support sanitation efforts.

I noticed recently that one building -out of maybe 10 or 12 in the complex- has a board display on the gate that says, "This building practices rain-water harvesting' (mandatory btw in the city of chennai). If I get more details, I will update this post.

As it has been a while since I updated the personalities label with a post, today I link to Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, the man behind the Sulabh Shauchalaya initiative.

Hyacinths for Holi

2008-03-20T22:14:00.007-07:00

Or, flowers for my friends.

I remembered the flower in the ponds and lakes I mentioned in my earlier post are hyacinths. Not the traditional one, but just as lovely in its delicate hues.

Hyacinth blues and lilac are not the traditional festive colours of India - though the flowers grow all over especially in cooler climes and with a little TLC. But today, this is my colour for the day.

I could not get some flowers or pictures of them, so instead I picked them lovely lines from Nan's blog who also has some truly beautiful pictures on her blog if you'd like to take a walk.

Hyacinths for the Soul;

If thou of fortune be bereft,
And in thy store there be but left,
Two loaves, sell one, and with the dole,
Buy Hyacinths to feed thy soul

~by Muslih-uddin Sadi, a Persian poet in Gulistan

Both the external links are to very beautiful sites, one of them is to the Colorado state extension office that gives out information on gardening. When we have one such for Mumbai Metropolitan office, please wake me up.

Happy Holi. May your life be filled with the colours of love.

Go Goa!

2008-03-18T09:49:00.000-07:00

So Scarlett Keeling was a young girl who should have been in school instead of at a rave party or doing drinks and drugs, her mother should have been with her instead of away, the dog should have been fed, the cat let out and the roses watered. And don't forget to pay the insurance premium dear-today is the 10th of the month too. Update : Read Bachi Karkaria on Why we love to hate Fiona.

How does all the above change or affect the fact that Goa- one of our jewels of land, culture and tourism industry - is, if we go by reports, reduced to a drug haven; run by Russian Mafia ( are they are not migrants?) ; and tracts of land and property sold with no proper procedures (as in many other parts of India). And further, why are police officials, ministers, politicians reduced to calling the girls mother a gypsy and hippie instead of looking into what is a matter of national security and interest.

This is my interest in the issue- why is it not of every Indian?

But then, a ten year old child is raped and killed near the capital city in the midst of what should be a marriage party ( Maybe his parents should not have bought him a bicycle and/or taught him to fight for right too?) ; parts of central India have been seceded to Naxal army; drunken or rash driving, illegal parking and such on an average kills one in the city every day ; land and property rates are obscenely high in South Mumbai (is there no CBI enquiry possible on such trends?) and I could quote a couple more but for today I muse on how nice it will be when an Indian political leader will quit on the basis of having paid for a call girl or commercial sex worker a la the NY governor.

I laugh so much at this 'never will it happen in a million years here' thought that all the other angst is forgotten for the moment.

So I just end the day with a prayer that the mother of the girl finds strength to fight her battles or make her peace- as God determines best for this country. Because it certainly does not seem like anyone else cares.

P.S : The Virgin mobile ad both in content and timing is simply too yucky. Kya hatke? Stupid ad. Young girl in frame. Story line- First scare your folks that your interest in opposite sex is iffy. The folks start hyperventilating and blaming each other and upbringing and schooling (?!) ( do the ad makers have any idea of what statements they are making?) . Then a call from a boy -who invites girl to go to Goa for a trip- parents urge girl to go to Goa -" Take interest in extra-curricular activities(again?) . At end, girl smirks into the phone at her 'smart' idea. Zara hatke - rubbish.

Woman on top

2008-03-16T02:24:00.000-07:00

I first read this when a link to the original post was provided on Desipundit on Valentines day. I wanted to link to it on March 8th as part of my women's day post but one of those things that got left out with many others.

So here is the post by Rational Fool on a report on numbers and plight of widows in India.

According to the most recent Census, there are 34 million widows in India, and more than half of them are less than 50 years of age. A UNIFEM supported survey of 255 widows in Vrindavan, conducted by the Guild of Service in 2002, reports:
A whopping 39 per cent of the widows interviewed had married below 12 years and 47 per cent between the ages of 12 and 17. Thirty per cent of them had become widows by the age of 24. Two had become widows by the time they were 12. They were married when just 7 and 9 years old respectively.
If we extrapolated from this sample, a third of the 34 million Indian widows — 10 million — would have been widowed by the age of 24, approximately the age when most women in the developed nations even begin to contemplate serious relationships.
That the Widows Remarriage Act of 1856 was no match for the Laws of Manu, is underscored by the fact that 60% of surveyed women have been widows for more than 20 years. More disturbing, 90% of the women were against remarriage. Only 13%, however, said they did not believe in remarriage. 70% attributed their reluctance to remarry to social and religious taboos.

When I saw it last it did not have so many comments and they may add more flavour to some of you readers. To me or as far as I am concerned, I could not care less about what Manu wrote and thought or Shankarachraya or any other acharya thinks. (clarification: simply because I feel, one- arguing about people or personalities of 1000 years ago does not absolve people's behaviour in current times and two, at least as compared to other religions, Hindu pontiffs by and large do not influence or dictate daily life, diet, dress and impose other dictates or excommunicate offendors. People in the city of Mumbai at least pretty much live life as 'they' wish- 'they' being themselves and their social circle) . The pressures are socio-cultural (more teeth) than religious or legal (less teeth) .

Therefore, what do Anil, Arun, Vinod, Girish, Atul, Srikant and Mili, Suniti, Divya, Shweta and Anuradha think ?

So if you are raising a toast to the women in your life or women in India, add destitute, abandoned women, victims of domestic violence, divorced women and single mothers also to the list with widows in the report. Mix it all up and serve chilled.

Not related to the above topic of widows/single women at all, but while we are on women & women's day, I did catch the 'discussion' on television on the topic of glass ceiling I think it said. (NDTV-Barkha Dutt et. al) . Maybe the summer heat is just making me too lazy to think this through- but really- where does Role Definition stop and Gender Bias begin?

Till I get that fundamental understanding right, anything further I think will also be flawed. Any thoughts welcome. Just for my clarification, if someone can help me here do drop me a comment or mail on this.

Spring-Summer collection

2008-03-12T19:42:00.000-07:00

When I see other blogs with photos I marvel at the dedication of the blogger/s and in fact there are people who do only that- a photo walk around the city.

In contrast all I do as I did last weekend is take a few random pictures when it is simply too beautiful to resist- that too with only a phone camera- because to me these samples of spring-summer collection represent such a burst of joy.

Other than the temperatures in the city touching almost 38-40 deg., these blooms are a sure sign that summer is in the city ( mangoes used to be the other indicator but that was before all the jhoot-moot ka artificial ripening and sale of the fruit)

The Bougainvillea is an oft-seen flowering shrub that drapes itself creeper style on barbed wire and concrete walls in the city. While walking or commuting the Mumbai streets, the grey and brown urban landscape of dust, tar and concrete is suddenly ablaze with the spurt of bright colour that this hardy shrub offers in myriad hues of red, fuchsia and white - a sight for sore eyes indeed and though it is a tropical shrub that is found in many places around the world- to me, the bougainvillea is a integral part of the Mumbai Mosaic.

Near Century, Worli- The skyscraper in the background a reminder of the changing landscape.

At Andheri. I cropped this to remove the cars parked beneath.

The wikipedia link provides a more beautiful close up of the detail of the flower. Its small white center is the real flower and in fact the coloured portion are only the leaves.

The British/English legacy left the city with lovely trees such as labnurms, raintree and the flame of the forest, gulmohar. The residents then planted more traditional trees such as mango, neem and even others like papaya, curryleaves, tulsi, guava etc; flowering creepers and shrubs such as hibiscus, jasmine and its varieties (mogra, jai, jui, saili) ; pink and white roses (also called gavti gulab or indigenous roses), lilies, neriums, marigold, parijat, anant, raat ki rani, something called locally as 'cup and saucer' for its shape as such- a white flower with a heady fragrance and so many others - flora that were normally seen in every street, house and compound but seems to have not entirely, but gradually disappeared from the city.

In its place the newer constructions have replaced their landscaping with some nondescript ornamental 'imported' varieties that have no charm or beauty. Not to mention so much more expensive to buy, maintain and grow. (Though there is another school of thought that states the contrary too)

The bougainvillea by its very nature did not command any such respect as the above mentioned flowers and was relegated to a 'lowly' compound wall shrub- mainly because of its thorns; not being a flower that has any fragrance or used in worship and in fact I think quite due to this very reason, the poor plant still manages to survive in some manner. It is too humble to even merit destruction.

In a changing urban landscape, I take a few minutes to enjoy the few vestiges of bougainvillea still left in such unexpected corners.

What de India?

2008-03-10T01:45:00.000-07:00

Earlier here I had posted some thoughts on cricket so that it would serve as a reminder why we should not discuss and argue ad nauseum at some future date, about why we do not win Olympic medals.

Today, I feel silly that I did not include a line to state that winning is subject to being selected or qualified to play (one of those Ooops! moments I have quite often)

India fails to qualify for the Olympics in hockey. The national game.

Irony : We can always catch other sporting action at Force One (did I mention when I heard this ad for the first time I thought Sharukh Khan was doing one of those social messages ad to exhort youth to join the armed forces.. Join the Force!...ha.. ha..) and/or avidly follow the status of cricket team uniforms designed by haute-couture designers in a "Sports meets Fashion" concept.

Wonder when it will be in fashion to win. Win well, win lots- with pride and honour for self and the country.

Hiatus and Hibernation

2008-03-01T07:09:00.000-08:00

A bloggy break. Chutti.

I'm on a blog break that I had promised myself at one year or 200 posts whichever is earlier.

Both converged and now is time for my vacation. Need time to think, dream, muse, rest, re-cover, re-charge, sleep, play, ponder, party, yawn, stretch, play ...you get the drift :)

All the things that tigers do. On looooong summer days.

While I am away, you read archives, spot errors, browse links, check up on news around the globe from the world of art, watch Indian ads on you tube, look up reference words in the dictionary, post comments (now open since jan), email me.

TTFN,

Time flies

2008-02-27T13:10:00.000-08:00

Overheard in the middle of the KROMA store, a youngish girl talking into her cell phone and swishing up and down the aisle. "You cheat on me every second night nah, but I still love you nah'. Since there were no tears, I guess it was 'cool' . In typical Mumbai MYOB fashion while I continue with what I am doing, I note with amusement others are avidly enjoying the public entertainment that loud cell phone conversations provide.

For the space it occupies KROMA has good layout, display and interiors. The staff are polite and ubiquitous but not very useful. And some products have limited ranges or brands in stock. I wonder if this is the average feedback- it is a fairly new store.

If it is not shopping and malls, it is movies. And Mumbaikars are divided on JA. Either people love the movie or well, not hate it but complain. Too long, Too this, too that. Take a chill pill
and enjoy. Or go see OSO. Even as they crib, the magic seems to be creeping up the jaded Mumbaikar and box-office sales are climbing says a news item today. While the detractors denounce it, no one seems to want to miss it even if as they profess- it is only curiosity and "just to have or make fun of it'. Who cares.

As long as the people who have made the movie make money. For it certainly deserves to make money.

We loved it and I am glad which means, the after movie conversation and dinner was lovely and not just Aww... come on, Don't tell me.. type. In the movie, the Krishna bhajan rendition was disappointing - other than this very minor thing, overall it made great viewing leaving me with an ineffable sadness that stories from the past have. The four hours length etc did not register. Anyway, if music is a metaphor then whether Khwaja mere Khwaja or Kanha mero Kanha, the prayer of the faithful reaches the power from where it has originated (this is just an aside). I also think that instead of a ban they should make it tax- free. I know I may have just said the most 'uncool' thing but I am a dodo.

Speaking of movies, I surely live under a rock. Did we actually have a movie in Mumbai called 'Mixed Doubles'? I saw it only recently and was surprised it got made and released and screened without any tantrums from the moral brigade. No bans, PILs, bandhs? How did that happen, I wonder, for within the answer may be some interesting insights. Is it confusing or just what I have held all along? That there is predictable method in our madness and when it comes to social mores, morality, freedom etc, Mumbai ke daant, like that of the pachyderm, khane ke aur hain aur dikhane ke kuch aur. Brave Rajat Kapur huh.

I thought of Mixed Doubles cos I saw Konkona in a new ad. And thought why is she doing this-a Horlicks calcium ad?

I'd have thought she is too young to do ads for vitamin supplements. Is she not 27-28 or something? I am older than her and I am wondering now if I should worry about my bones getting brittle. Then I thought WTH! what do I do when I am fifty and going on sixty? Take calcium supplements for the next thirty years of my life? Crazy. After seeing the ad I was in a tizzy. Do I need to take a calcium test? What does that mean anyway- never heard of it. Is it only of you have had kids, or if you have crossed thirty or what. Can one take more than required calcium and what would happen then. Does'nt extra calcium result in kidney stones or something. It is like the 'iodised" namak wala story.

Which brings me to one more of my peeves.

For all the strides we have made in the last decade in information and such, advertisements and product information still seems stuck in the seventies.

There is that one, a hundred words per minute speed at which "Mutual funds are subject to market risk, Please read the offer document carefully before investing' is rattled.

But while products and services are getting to be first world, consumer rights and benefits still continue to be shackled in third- world era. Medicines, health supplements, contraceptives and other pharma products and company ads are aired and printed which do not provide any details, indications or contraindication warnings.

So much for informed choices and consumer rights.

Ads!!...I cannot tell how many people want me to explain what the balti ad is. I would if I knew. All I know is I see a TV spot where a woman is in bed talking to a red plastic bucket about photos and what- getting a life? Is that supposed to be her hubby?

Tell me, who needs a life? A balti or a woman who talks to one?

I rest my case. The only good thing about the radio ad (if in the first place there can be any positive for such an inane ad) is that it reminds/brings back Uddham Singh of many eons ago life on MTV, who narrates the lines.

So much to do. So little time.

Will facebook make you lose face?

2008-02-27T13:07:00.000-08:00

In case you missed it, an article on some (more) risks involved in new technologies.

How information posted on Facebook and social networking sites may be used against you.

Romantic,Regal,Rich

2008-02-22T06:11:00.000-08:00

I was one of those kids in school who loved the subject called Social Studies in Mumbai schools- that includes history, geography and civics.

At least in my class it was least liked and to that extent I was the odd one out. Of course for geography we had the most awesome teacher, and my love for civics made me decide to take Political Science later as one of the electives in high school. But history somehow has always fascinated me and it only remained an interest- never took it up for any further study. But some personalities completely caught my imagination and in fact have stayed there. One of them from Indian history is/has been the Mughal period Akbar. If there is any time I would like to have been born in, one of them would have been this. The fascination for Birbal's sparkling wit, Akbar roaming the streets in disguise to monitor the pulse of his people, and, how can one forget the story of his visit in disguise (almost subterfuge) to hear Meerabai sing. So can you imagine, if there was no Akbar, there'd had been no Tansen (we would not know of Swami Haridas (Tansen's Guru) and Mirabai would never have been denounced by the Rajput king and become a wandering saint etc ( the king threw her out in rage when he discovered that Akbar was part of the group in the temple etc) . Quite fascinating, the whole turn of events. Then simply, for my love of music, I'd die ten times over if I could hear Tansen (or even hear of him- if I was in some distant village and not the capital) Oh, what a time!. Did it really happen? Did he really sing Raag Deepak and light lamps and Megh Malhar and invoke rain? Wow.

I still haven't got around to seeing Jodhaa Akbar. How I just love, love the music of the movie- marhaba I think is my fav but I will decide after I watch it. I can't wait for next week to see it (gave my word to see it with a friend whose birthday it is) and if there are still any silly silly people out there who haven't seen it, please do. Go. For A R Rehmans music; the beauty of Rajasthan; the history of Mughals; a gorgeous leading pair; for simply the wonderful large canvas epics present - and like me if you are also deeply dippy about design and everything to do with it, then for the awesome jewellery and such.

Gosh, this me drooling without seeing the movie. After watching it, I think I will have to be dragged out of the theatre. I really don't care the newspaper reviews give it a 'one point five' star.

Ten reasons for India's poor performance at the Olympics

2008-02-21T19:20:00.000-08:00

Ten reasons- make that twenty- why a nation of a billion people fares as it does in the tally of gold, silver and bronze medals at the Olympics?

1. Cricket
2. Cricket
3. Gully cricket
4. Cricket
5. Maidan cricket
6. Building compound cricket
7. Test cricket
8. Cricket
9. One day cricket
10. One year cricket
11. Twenty- twenty
12. Cricket
13. Day-night cricket
14. Ten-ten cricket...arre nahin hai to ho jaayega.
15. IPL, ICL, Idl, ikl, ijl, itl, I all L
16. Just cricket
17. Cricket
18. Beach cricket,club cricket, league cricket
19. Book cricket
20. More Cricket

Did I mention I have nothing against cricket as a game? I quite like the men in white. Really.

Aayi basant ki ritu kar kar sringaar

2008-02-20T17:47:00.000-08:00

Finally, finally, finally spring is here! In Mumbai.

Whatever small and shy presence she does present in a concrete jungle.

Tra,la,la,la.la.

Though there is a date in the Indian calender that marks the official end of winter and onset of spring, global warming et al has made it a bit off-track.

And while the calender date is revered for itself and love, learning, art and music is celebrated on Basant Panchami and also Saraswati puja- it is a wait, a question mark. Till I can see the signs, smell it in the air, feel it in my bones. Like today.

Conversations with friends

2008-02-19T09:23:00.000-08:00

Over at Krish Ashok's blog, he has written a post on how advertisements are an art and entertainment form. That it is!

And I am intrigued that by now, people point out ads that I should blog about. Or want to know why I haven't about one and such. A couple of samples for instance;

(where R is Reader of blog- different people; different times)

R: The ad in which the chap is reading the paper to a baby, so cute na.
Me: Yes
R: To likho na.
Me: It is so cute - surely everyone likes it. What is there to write?
R: (says nothing but I am sure is thinking) - Wonder what makes her blog and what doesn't.

Another one;

R: Hey, the mentos new ad. It is so funny- the monkey, man and the donkey evolution script. Write about it.
Me: Hmmn. Ya. It is nice.
R: (in what I feel is a demanding tone) - then why haven't you blogged about it?
Me: (In a 'spare me' protesting voice) But I don't like mentos.

At this point we have both completely lost each other.

After such exchanges I find that the quality of chats I have nowadays with people (who read my blog or profess to do so) has become very intense and banal. Believe me, the two emotions can and do exist together.

I dismiss thoughts about ads and blogs and settle down to catch some cricket on TV. All my attention is given to pressing the mute button on the remote every time Ravi Shastri opens his mouth and 'unmute it' to hear Harsha and Wasim Akram speak on the India -SL match . Such remote control virtuosity successfully accomplished I smile a self satisfied smile. Ravi Shastri avoided. Cricket match over. No new ads. Time for tea/coffee. Chillax redefined. Conversations and chai, cake and coffee. Simple joys.

But seriously, my this week picks for ads.

I quite like an old one about LIC - na chinta, na fikar, na ho darr..yeh vaada hai hamesha har pal...la,la,la..hummable tune- it has a nice old fashioned, 'life insurancy' feel like older one,when the lady wipes the dust of her dead husband’s photo after having paid for her daughters wedding with the insurance money. The link between life- death, safety nets and insurance to meet expenses, quite firmly established with no need for lots of clever words.

And for some reason I find the Moser Baer DVD/CDs ad interesting. This is what I was talking about here about seeda- saada simple ads. The 'Hello Happiness' tag line and a high pitched voice piping in a sing-song manner in repeat mode- "DVD- Pachis rupaiye, VCD- Bees rupaiye" (or something to this effect) is very sticky. Like the Akon song, 'I'm so lonely' it buzzes around in my head after it has been shooed away.

Reader recommendations other than two mentioned above- is also the new yuva Moto ad where a teenage boy with the FM radio on his phone zones out his father ranting at him to clean up his room. The Adnan Sami 'Garam Masala" song as a background score is almost in perfect synchronisation with the old mans gestures as he yells at his son. I agree. Nice change also from having to see Abhishek do the moto ad.

P.S. There is one more conversation that comes to mind. This time around it goes like this;

R: Why have you restricted me from reading your blog.
Me: I have done no such thing.
R: Of course. It says login to read.
Me : That was long time back and for a short while.
R: Oh... you know what, I have no net connection to read blogs at office.
Me: (I just nod my head and say something like) Eat something, here, have a cookie.

Ruffled feathers are soothed. Coffee is resumed.

Data, information, knowledge, wisdom- the journey

2008-02-18T09:20:00.000-08:00

Two reflections on the topic of learning, knowledge and wisdom.

Plutarch: The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.

and the other one is by Rajaji, commenting on Bhaja Govindam.

"When intelligence matures and lodges securely in the heart, it becomes wisdom. When wisdom is integrated with life and issues out in action, it becomes devotion. Knowledge, which has become mature, is spoken of as devotion. If it does not get transformed into devotion, such knowledge is useless tinsel"

Added Dictionary search in my blog.

2008-02-15T04:21:00.000-08:00

Added Websters dictionary search in my blog (check footer). Yay.

Websters also gives the option to incorporate the double click option- which I absolutely love over at the NYT - but I am feeling very very lazy today to do any more.

Curmudgeons and a knowledge society

2008-02-14T19:54:00.000-08:00

Is Europe a country? What about Hungry..er..Hungary, and Turkey?

An article in The NYT , Are Americans hostile to knowledge? cites an example from the pouplar TV show -Are you smarter than a fifth grader? (Isn't SRK going to do something similar here?) and in this context, reviews author Susan Jacoby's new book, 'Age of American Unreason'.

It made for a superb read, seen as how much we in India - (I use 'we' here to include a general group of english educated/ speaking/urban /metro residing persons, not others) - are influenced by everything American in the space of media, society, intellectual pursuits, education, thought, knowledge, culture and of course news and television.

I mentioned media earlier, so why I am saying news & television again? pata nahin.

It says,

Ms. Jacoby, whose book came out on Tuesday, doesn’t zero in on a particular technology or emotion, but rather on what she feels is a generalized hostility to knowledge.

She is well aware that some may tag her a crank. “I expect to get bashed,” said Ms. Jacoby, 62, either as an older person who upbraids the young for plummeting standards and values, or as a secularist whose defense of scientific rationalism is a way to disparage religion.

Ms. Jacoby, however, is quick to point out that her indictment is not limited by age or ideology. Yes, she knows that eggheads, nerds, bookworms, longhairs, pointy heads, highbrows and know-it-alls have been mocked and dismissed throughout American history....

...But now, Ms. Jacoby said, something different is happening: anti-intellectualism (the attitude that “too much learning can be a dangerous thing”) and anti-rationalism (“the idea that there is no such things as evidence or fact, just opinion”) have fused in a particularly insidious way.

and, in my view- the clincher,

Not only are citizens ignorant about essential scientific, civic and cultural knowledge, she said, but they also don’t think it matters."

If this was a statement describing India and Indian citizens, which it well could be, then - Truly scary.

The NYT article ends with a particularly insightful comment about the gap between knowing and doing.

For all her scholarly interests, though, Ms. Jacoby said she recognized just how hard it is to tune out the 24/7 entertainment culture. A few years ago she participated in the annual campaign to turn off the television for a week. “I was stunned at how difficult it was for me,” she said.

The surprise at her own dependency on electronic and visual media made her realize just how pervasive the culture of distraction is and how susceptible everyone is — even curmudgeons.'

Though the book is based on the American experience I can see how easily it could be describing the status of knowledge here in India. A few years hence. Soon, Now, Currently, Never? You decide.

Note:

Curmedgeon (definition) n. An ill-tempered person full of resentment and stubborn notions.

Et tu blog reader

2008-02-12T19:43:00.000-08:00

For those of you who thought I made this up about 'doing the laundry' bit. Here it is- the official statement . Hah.

Google Ga ga. Google Gu Gu.

Sounds of Silence

2008-02-12T18:44:00.000-08:00

One of the most enduring of Mumbai experiences is the noise in the city.

Traffic, trains, people, buses, honking, dogs, children, at restaurants, at aiports, on roads. Radio, tv, cricket, commentary, festivals, hawkers. Road rage, train rage, plain rage. The sea side isn't spared nor are the mandatory silence zones around hospitals and places of worship observed. Some of it is quite re-assuring in its own way even as it most of it is quite often uneccessary, but no one can wish it away. Or cuss it away either.

Hence it was the phrase ,'The silence was deafeaning' in the post on the Borivali National Park that caught my attention first over at Full2Faltu blog. In this city of unending noise, to have patch of green where the silence greets you can be unnerving, strange, even surreal.

By the time the pictures loaded, they were a treat. Gives a sense of being there and taking a walk. There is an old functional bridge, a snake skin shed by its owner and the valley. The fog, the foliage, a flight of steps, the forest. A close -up of a cactus- could be Mexico or Mumbai, but Mumbai it is! I loved it. And also because it shows a side of Mumbai which we do not show or see normally. The silent Mumbai. My side of the story. And city.

Borivali National Park though is known by the name of this one suburb, in fact I think stretches around Andheri, Goregaon and Thane too. The post is wonderfully detailed and evocative.

I have also done a guest post over at his blog on the topic of teachers- how we can learn from almost anyone and any experience in life. The invitations to guest blog also supports two good causes that Punds supports, one of them being the strays of Mumbai, the Bombay bow-wows. (clap clap). If you'd like to read it and the other ten guest posts then this is where you should be headed.

Morning has broken

2008-02-10T01:27:00.000-08:00

Lyrics of ' Morning has broken' for picture Sunrise.

As Sung by Cat Stevens

Morning has broken, like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for the springing fresh from the word

Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from heaven
Like the first dewfall, on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness where his feet pass

Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning
Born of the one light, Eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise every morning
God's recreation of the new day

But if you'd rather have the Gayatri mantra which is also a hymn of praise to the sun, then learning sanskrit may not be a such a bad idea. Students of St. James School in London are doing so and seem to be proficient & one- up on all who do not know the language. Does that put a whole new spin on the phrase, ' The sun never sets on the Empire' ? I wonder.

( For more on the phrase- check this )

Sunrise

2008-02-07T11:00:00.000-08:00

Sign seen in a church compound

2008-02-07T06:56:00.000-08:00

'If a problem is not worth praying about, then it is not worth worrying about'

As I mentioned earlier, commuting in Mumbai one often reads sayings like these which are displayed at the gates/wall of the various churches that dot the city. Points to Ponder.

Sympathy pours in for Sania

2008-02-06T09:35:00.000-08:00

I do not understand the term sympathy and how it pours- for some reason, to me the word seems empty. But support her, I do. Completely. Unequivocally.

I have been watching, hearing and reading various people (largely men btw) opining how the 'sporting spirit' she should play and such. Even the HT editorial today and Leander Paes.

I'm intrigued. Where were all these people and their opinions and support ....sympathy (?) - when she was needlessly troubled. And if they feel so strongly then even now do you hear anyone of them coming out in support of her against the ones who file PILs and issue fatwas. Who take it as a responsibility and obligation (to the country, if not to her) to ensure that she is protected against such needless stuff. Anyone who takes it on them to vociferously speak on her behalf till the battle is won. Nope.

No one in their right mind would think she is happy with this choice. But to make it in spite of it shows her determination. The same that makes her the player she is. So, more power to you Sania. And a thumbs up to your manager and sponsors too.

Because, really to me- the words, empowerment, freedom, liberal, contemporary is meaningful only to the extent a woman is allowed to and can use the word 'No'. Even when it makes her unpopular and elicits responses and slurs on her as a player and her professional spirit. Not to mention the money she stands a good chance of winning.

'No' is one of the most powerful word one can use and if the lady says no, it is a no.

If Sania Mirza changes her mind I will continue to admire her. Because again, it is a womans prerogative :)

Now, if only some of our (male) cricketers would take such a stance and refuse to play when their houses are vandalised and effigies burnt if they lose, maybe some of the respect would come back into the game and into the public and civic sense of the nation and its citizens.

Go Sania Go

A debate, a panel and an audience

2008-02-06T06:02:00.000-08:00

Caught some debate on a TV channel (Don't know which one- they all sound and look the same now) on the Mumbai for Mumbaikars (Maharashtrians?) issue .

Some observations:

1. The moderator was anything but that. Moderate. At one point he actually yelled at one of the panelists. Something that sounded like- do not teach me history. Tch. Tch. Yelling at a panel member ? The others looked like they did not want to say anything further.

2. Speaking of others, any particular reason why the audience members are hushed by the channel? All the time. When they answer a question which they are asked or even when they are not. Is the audience only for decorative purpose? Again, at one point- the host said, anyone else with any other point of view? His frustration at not getting enough support (read racous, violent anger) for 'his' cause was apparent. Tch. tch again. Listen to the audience buddy. They are the janta janardan.

(In the one second allowed to them some of them did throw up an insight.)

3. It was quite funny- one audience member stated that the autorickshaw drivers ply multiple autos in one permit and do not pay taxes and the next thing is the channel camera zooms in to Shatrugnan Sinha the actor who loudly professed he and Amitabh pay taxes as Mumbai citizens. When did their status change from film stars to migrants/auto drivers? Once again, the host did not bother correcting it. (I had given up expecting it anyway)

Look at it like this. If there were enough for everyone- trains, buses, housing, water, clean roads and a safe city there would not be any resentment at all. If there was a proper mechanism for monitoring migrants into the city or citizens and their issues and such. As the matter stands, there isn't any of these.

Then finally, the chap kept asking loudly- Is this not divisive politics? No one answered.

Really, grow up. Has there been any other kind in India.

Of kings and kingdoms

2008-02-05T19:24:00.000-08:00

And turfs and territories and fiefs and fiefdoms.

Question: Can we measure what the private sector has contributed to making Mumbai better?

Any study, report, surveys?

[ In God we trust- all others bring data*]

Other than creating and providing jobs of course. This will be the hackneyed answer to my question. But it is posed from a different perspective and if any of you wish to answer or think about it, then I expect something that is other than the tried and tested 'canned responses'.

A couple of weeks ago, the media covered how Dr.T.C will join the private sector (no further update there) and where he joins is his prerogative really, but it got me thinking. Is the 'private sector' vastly better than the alternatives? The obvious answer may be 'yes'- the money and the scope of freedom etc, but scratch below the surface and I wonder.

The private sector does not seem to have done anything for Mumbai in proportion to their presence and influence. Any efforts seem to me very limited and far far short of what could be done. One visible impact is 'greening' (an apology of some ferns and ornamental plants) of the minuscle traffic islands that dot some main thoroughfares with a tiny tinny board that states "maintained by xyz corporation'. Then an odd music show or sport event.

In an individual capacity I have been fortunate to have got a tremendous extent of support and freedom to do the needful in most instances within the private sector. But I have also left a job where to my increasing discomfort, it was as becoming rather difficult to do my work or deliver unless one 'falls in line' with powers that are/may be.

The whole 'shortage' and "famine' of talent that corporate India apparently faces, is largely a self-perpetuating myth.Woven to deflect such governance issues and issues of appropriate freedom, recognition of merit, appropriate rewards and recognitions and other issues ranging from minor to major of corruption or at the very least lack of ethical practices.

When I see the debates on what companies can do as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR), my first response is 'treat the employees well'. The principle of 'First do no harm'. Then care about your surroundings and the community. This includes relationships with vendors and customers and all entities involved. Treat all well and deal with those who also incorporate ethical practices.

While some of them in private sector reasonably support initiative and allow freedom, a large many of them still survive and function as fiefdoms or at best like a military setting with fear and punitive environment ; with insecurities (kissa kursi ka) and babu culture being very prevalent. The bottom line is QoQ profits and never mind if the employee dies on the job delivering it. CSR is relegated to supporting some much distanced good cause while aligning with some NGO of the many that abound.

Therefore as a private sector player, I will develop golf courses to woo and impress my foreign clients but not build or develop or maintain a public park of reasonable size and worth. I will 'adopt' a village some 700 miles away but not a slum that is in the vicinity. (The village will quite likely be the one where the chairman or MD or his wife is originally from so they are like demi Gods when they visit). I will form a foundation for the cause of education but not undertake any responsibility for the state of government funded schools in my city (even if it is something so simple as giving it a fresh coat of paint or some drinking water fountains). I will neither plant nor grow trees or start/support any environment initiatives. I will get all my employees to deduct monies as part of payroll giving while hundreds of years old institutions like museums, libraries, animal and human hospitals, fire stations and science & research institutions in the city languish due to lack of funds and management inputs.

A city that has given birth to me and my company, nurtured me and helped me grow my wealth in the stock market. I will turn a blind eye and deaf ear to all these even as I ensure that the stock options are highly disportionate, if at all existent. The smallest employee at the shop floor should just be grateful that he has a job. Imperialism anyone?

There are many government and public sector companies that have bagged several feathers in their cap and bureaucrats have achieved laurels. Shreedharan of KRC and Delhi Metro, and banks like SBI being recent cases in point. Sheila Dikshit, CM of Delhi has been quoted in how she gave her people the space and freedom to operate. For that matter, Dr. TC himself in Nagpur and Thane!

I could go on but to summarise, it is not so much an outcome of sector, private, public, ngo or government. It is not about politics (statehood or none); it is not only about finances, investments or resources. It is about all these only to the extent of enablers. It is not any more about the Marathi manoos or the Mumbaikar spirit.

It is about leadership.

And all the aspects that go with it. Issues of greed, corruption, integrity, trust and such. Cynics may dismiss it as nice sounding adjectives propounded by a naive blogger, but I cannot see it any other way. And a simple principle of nature states that till one learns, the lessons will be repeated.

In the days of monarchy, the saying went- Jaisa raja, vaisa praja.

As the king, so the citizens.

----------------------

* From Dilbert

I am having the last laugh

2008-02-05T08:59:00.000-08:00

All the occasions of buying scarves, stoles, shawls, cardigans, caps and such has finally paid off. Finally the Mumbai chill justified the buys.

Most of it got used even otherwise- at work, when the aircon was at full blast, or when travelling. And strangely very little got used this year, for some reason my body seems to have adjusted to the cold. So for one who'd be all wrapped up at the slightest sign of chill, I quite enjoyed the lovely weather, and cheerfully lent some and donated other warm clothing.

For friends and family who over the years went- Are you mad, for Mumbai weather, when will all this get used? I just smiled even as within I was chuckling with delight. (S)he who laughs last laughs best. Not to mention the joy of having a nice collection. Material Girl.

Mystery of the missing mom

2008-01-30T18:15:00.000-08:00

Kahan hai mummy?

A combination of factors has triggered this post. I am thinking about my mum. Then, the mommy blogging controversy. And when articles about Mumbai are recommended as excellent reads, I was thinking about the issue of slum dwellers and issues -which in turn is always linked to how we want them as maids and servants and how they contribute to 'local economy'. And last but not the least as it often does, ads often seem to bring out the blogger in me.

There is a new ad airing here which is for either a new dish washing detergent- or wait, I think it is scotchbrite scourer. It shows a family of husband/father and two kids wailing, 'Kahan hai Mummy'- where is Mum? They are shown playing board games, posing for family pics, watching television, doing a host of activities- all without Mom in the picture. With a gap where she should be. Then Lo! She opts to buy the new scourer pad and dishes are done in a jiffy leaving here free for more time with her family. Happiness all around. I just can not stop laughing.

Seriously please tell me, when was the last time anyone saw a 'Mummy' in Mumbai - any well-to-do mother with a kid aged 0-12- do the dishes? That too sari clad, pallu tucked at hip, wiping brow and sweat, labouring over heaps of them at the sink. Even with creative license for little exaggeration, it is just so funny. Three servants ka zamana hai. One for cooking, one for cleaning and one more as 'back-up' if any other bunks. Or for minding the baby, chopping the veggies, dusting, pick the child from school - everything and just about anything.

Whether working moms or stay-at-home moms, no one I know does the dishes as a daily chore- unless maybe by exception. And it has little to do with time available. If the dishes are piled up for the maid has not come; it is an occasion to order take-away and creative people I know also keep a stash of picnic plates as a practical alternative to doing dishes for days when maids are not available. As I mentioned, by exception, when unexpected guests arrive or expensive china scenarios. Dish washing machines are now available in Mumbai, but the take off is low and not so deep.

For the milieu and setting shown in the ad which appears to be what is normally termed 'upper middle class' one, the ad is hilarious. Every time the three of them chorus, 'Mummy, Mummy - kahan hai Mummy.' I can not help myself but chime, tongue-in-cheek, "Mummy gayi blogging karne'. Nahin aane wali. Mommy has gone blogging, get on with life. I am rolling on the floor with laughter.

Confidence Academy

2008-01-28T03:10:00.000-08:00

Every time I watch the Bournvita 'Confidence Academy' ad, it strikes me how much I like it.

It is about two boys, one a city bred yuppie who is a rap dancer and the other a village bred youngster who is a folk singer who challenge each other. The result is a short foot-tapping number where the folk singer modifies his tune to match the foot work of the other boy. At the end of it, the folk singer boy endorses confidence and the last shot is of the rap singer boy at the tabla with both of them in a smiling cameo of camaraderie. Lovely concept, flawless execution and such an unusual idea. No direct co-relation to the product at all and yet relates to it at various levels.

It also appeals to me in many personal ways too. The two youngsters could easily be from within my circle of family, friends or students. The lilting Rajasthani folk tune is so beautiful and I love folk music ( add to that some little training in Indian classical music too- music as far as I am concerned is all pervading in my list of likes and life). For a fleeting moment it also reminds me of the scene from the classic south Indian movie Shankarabharanam, when the group of college youngsters challenge the music teacher, but only very fleeting- as in the movie, the scene is about arrogance, humility, disco v/s classical etc- the ad has none of it. It is about a challenge that leads to confluence, not confrontation. The true mark of confidence.

The execution displays rhythm, energy and bonhomie and much more. Now only if we could extend this kind of inspired work to our television serials.

Magar uske liye chahiye 'confidence'!

Just another -Republic- day

2008-01-27T08:23:00.000-08:00

I was asked why I did not do a republic day post. The reason was quite simple- because I was weeping.

Now see, I am just an average female living in this city. Harried by the traffic, water and maid servant and pre-occupied with mundane issues of loans, credit cards and bill payments and safety on roads. With a bad hair day and some shopping joys thrown in. Grateful that I do not have any significant concerns on other fronts.

So I did not cry because there are still so many people below poverty line, or because so many people in the country do not have access to drinking water and primary health care. Or because the money meant for development goes to fund ministers land purchases, foreign junkets and their children’s ostentious weddings.

I also did not cry because the film stars who spout so much Swades and Mera Bharat Mahaan stuff in their films do not find even a single Indian car worth driving. Though all of them quote typically a Maruti 800 as their first car, the hummers, and BMWs are certainly not their last.

And far from crying, I should have been exultant. After all it was the first time since independence that a Woman President took the parade salute. Wonder why then I felt so hollow.

Then what. Well, I could not help it. I wept for this woman who lay on the suburban train tracks for hours, her body cut in three pieces and finally had to be carted off in a hand cart, because the railway authorities did not call an ambulance. Neither they have one nor do they allow good work to be done. Harvard School case study notwithstanding.

I cried when I read that T. Chandrasekhar, an IAS officer finally decided it was time to move on to private sector. Just imagine, he did not even ask for the job. We brought him to Mumbai, and then refused to let a good man do his work. The person who turned around Surat (not Surat- that was S R Rao) , but Nagpur and Thane, could not turn a page of file here in Mumbai without ‘permission’ or, as Abhishek Bachhan in the movie ‘Guru’ asks of the enquiry tribunal members, 'May I stand up? Or do I need a license for this too? '

I cried because the old and senior citizens on S V Road, take an auto-rickshaw and pay the minimum fare just to get to the other side because crossing the road is impossible.

I cried because it really hurt that my hard earned salary from which 33% (and more) is deducted as tax, pays for the Governors personal trips and for the Municipal Commissioner of the city to be in Davos. The place also known as the ski resort.

So I get neither the road, the pavement nor the drain that the tax should have paid for. I neither get the diamond ring or holiday that avoiding the tax would have paid for, but the elected representatives get their designer clothes and free holidays.

I wish my parents had not insisted we get good grades and an education. After all, how important is education to be a minister or a religious/spiritual leader - both such lucrative career options in this country.

Hence you see I cried only at a few headlines as reported in the paper-not because any trees in my complex were cut . Or on account of any glorified idealist stuff, like why the license and quota raj for almost 50 years killed entrepreneurship in this country and crony capitalism damaged the rest. Or that expensive funded advanced education led to only brain drain with the best of scientists and engineers and doctors leaving the country. And for a development story that has been so flawed.

By the time I finished weeping, I had a headache with the crying. splashed some cold water on my eyes and face and had a cuppa tea, the dial up wasn't working. So I could not blog my 'Vande Mataram' post. (maybe I will save it for Aug 15th). How much worse can a day get. My eyes and nose were red and puffy.

As I think back now, I wonder why I cried so much. After all it was just another day. Like any other. And all I got was, " Buying the paper is useless- why read the nonsense they print.' Ah yes indeed.

Hope you all had a Happy Republic Day. With white and saffron and green outfits and matching bangles and fab-in kurtas (no one buys kvic anymore, didn't you know?) ; the swaying singing on television to 'cottage emporium' patriotism. And the lunch-dinner get-togethers and housie games in your buildings.

I had planned my outfit and accessories too, but that was before I read the morning newspaper. Then I cried. I guess this is where I came in.

Brave Harp

2008-01-25T20:36:00.000-08:00

It is like Burnol on a scalded hand. Soothing.

Brave Harp. A a very loved piece of music. And also about how nice it is to have the choice to tune in to BBCentertainment.

I am hooked to three serials, one about an sci-fi space character living on earth with his (earth) wife and two kids and their life- called My Hero. Then a lovely heart-warming story of a Scottish laird in 'Monarch of the Glen'; and the third 'When you are gone'- humour- about a man and his two teenage children he raises with the help of his mother-in-law.

Speak of Scotland, and among other things, it is now more than ten years ago that I first heard Brave Harp-Mist of Thyme, a music collection of Scottish songs, ballads and the Celtic harp, truly evocative and hauntingly beautiful music from a land that is so too. Watching the characters and story unfold in Glenbogle is the music of Brave Harp come alive. Even after all these years, I never tire of listening to it.

As the story unfolds on the beautiful landscape, its people, their traditions and the travails of the characters in the story, I feel part of it and there is this feeling in my heart that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. Actually I watch the other two simply because they are back to back with the tales of glenbogle and by the time I am done, sometimes my head aches with so much of TV watching..but...I would not miss it.

As Mogambo would have said it- Mogambo Khush hua.

Jab We Met

2008-01-23T08:06:00.000-08:00

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field.
I'll meet you there.

(From: The poems of Rumi.)

What does the hit bollywood movie of 2007 have to do with poetry of Rumi. Nothing. (Maybe)

And Jab we (did not) met, would be more appropriate title for this post (never mind- the wrong use of language). Oh it does not matter. Ignore me. And this post.

But for those who may have landed here while googling for the movie title, there are some excellent posts on the movie here from idlidosa; from passion for cinema; and from dearcinema.com.

As for the rest of the poem of Rumi,

When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase each other doesn't make any sense.'

Now, if I had a beautiful picture to add to this poem, it'd be perfect. Let me go see if I can find one.

Micro-finance- the other side

2008-01-23T08:03:00.000-08:00

With the increasing in interest in the topic especially after the award of the Nobel Prize to the Grameen bank founder, it is interesting to note the other side too.

The Business Week in its report called, The Ugly Side of Microlending-How big Mexican banks profit as many poor borrowers get trapped in a maze of debt, says;

'For three decades, micro-lending was seen as a tool of nonprofit economic development. Now poor people are turning into one of the world's least likely sources of untapped profit, primarily because they will pay interest rates most Americans would consider outrageous, if not usurious.

With no legal limits on interest levels and little government oversight, for-profit banks in Mexico impose annual interest rates on poor borrowers that typically range from 50% to 120%. That compares with a worldwide average of 31% among nonprofit micro-lending institutions, and the 22% to 29% that Americans with bad credit histories incur on credit-card debt.

Azteca's business model succeeds not only because it can charge credit-starved clients almost whatever it wants. Equally important is that low-income Mexicans anxious about maintaining their reputation tend to pay back what they owe, regardless of the hardship. Those who slip behind receive frequent visits from motorcycle-riding collection agents. '

Quite significant for India too I would think. Full story and reader comments here.

Swami Vivekananda

2008-01-20T01:02:00.000-08:00

It has been a slight blog break. Just a little bit of this and a little bit of that, but as you can see, my blog is updated today.

This is an old article I had written once, with the title ' The original role model'. Last week I thought I must post it here too. After all, I did start the 'personalities' label on my blog with the thought of highlighting people who matter.

On January 12, it was the birth anniversary of an Indian, Swami Vivekananda of whom Romain Rolland, (French winner of the Nobel prize in literature, 1915) said,"His words are great music. Phrases in the style of Beethoven's, stirring rhythms like the march of Handel's choruses. I cannot touch these sayings of his, scattered as they are through the pages of books, at thirty years distance, without receiving a thrill through my body like an electric shock. And what shocks, what transports must have been produced in burning words when they issues from the lips of the hero!"

On the topic of faith, Swami Vivekananda said: "First of all, our young men must be strong. You will be nearer to heaven through football than through the study of the Gita. You will understand the Gita better with your biceps, your muscles a little stronger. You will understand the mighty genius and the mighty strength of Krishna better with a little strong blood in you. You will understand the glory of the Upanishads and the glory of the Atman, when your body stands firm upon your feet, and you feel yourselves to be men."

On unselfishness, he urged,"First bread, then religion...I do not believe in a religion which cannot wipe the widows tears or bring a piece of bread to the orphans mouth."

About India, he said,"I consider it that the great national sin is the neglect of the masses, and that is one of the causes of our downfall. No amount of politics would be of any avail until the masses in India once more are well educated, well fed and well cared for."

Gandhiji said of him, "After having gone through his works, the love I had for my country became a thousand fold."

A highlight of the life of Swami Vivekananda's 39 years (1863-1902) is of course, his historic Chicago address of 1893, when he represented Hinduism at the Parliament of Religions. His complete works comprise 9 volumes. And when I visit the modern, colourful and trendy book stores I do wonder why I find hardly any book by or on this giant personality.

The times they are a changing

2008-01-19T23:00:00.000-08:00

Indeed, with the prospect of a non- white or non-male President in the offing the powers in charge decided it was time to move with the times.

So Peter Parker and MJ (of Spiderman fame) have parted ways after two decades and divorce it is. Comics get contemporary.

Sometime earlier, barbie and ken parted ways but they were not married. So while barbie and ken made news- this makes history.

Power on, India on

2008-01-19T22:55:00.000-08:00

I am sure that the percussion based jingle on all channels (which to me sounds like Shankar Ehsaan Loy signature -who can forget the cricket world cup chant last year?) has majorly contributed to the Reliance, -oooops .... don't just say 'Reliance' - repeat it with me, 'Reliance Power. An Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group' - or ADAG - that's better- IPO being fully subscribed within 60 seconds of its opening.

A little known fact is that Dr. Kurien had once proposed the co-operative model in power generation and distribution too.

After success in the milk (Amul) and oil-seeds (Dhara) sector it had seemed like a very viable option. I do not know what happened and why it did not see the light of the day.

Balle Balle- the baarat has arrived

2008-01-19T22:48:00.000-08:00

The Punjab government has ruled against ostentatious weddings.

Quote from the media news article:

"This comes in response to a query from the High Court that was hearing a PIL filed by an advocate, seeking stricter implementation of the Dowry Prohibition Act.Section 4 A of the Act says:
-There should be no display of presents made at the time of marriage in the form of cash, ornaments, clothes or other articles.
-There should not be more than 25 members in a marriage party.
-Any form of shagun, money or gift exceeding the value of 11 rupees in not permitted.

Defaulters may be jailed for 6 months and even fined up to 5000 rupees.

The police say they will act promptly only if there's a complaint."

End of quote.

Other than providing succour to many girls and their parents who sometimes spend a whole lifetimes savings and even incur debt to fund a wedding function, the aam aadmi ki zindagi will also hopefully improve if all of us can get back to our normal lives that has been like a takeover by aliens who had taken over the entire nation after the movie 'Hum apke hain kaun'.

Weddings at least in Mumbai have not been the same since. South Indians, known for their sober habits and where three instead of two sweets served at breakfast would denote a 'grand' wedding were all programmed by the shaadi fever that this one movie generated - and every one since- as it spawned numerous clones.

Sangeets, mandatory dance items to 'shava shava', Mehendi rasms -the couples went the whole nine yards- with svarovski crystal studded designer chaniya cholis replacing the traditional silks.

Unless the Hindi film industry too trims down this ostentation, the law will stay on paper- pretty much like the ban on dowry one.

Ode to a lil car

2008-01-14T07:53:00.000-08:00

ना ना करते Na No हम कर बेटे
करना था इंकार मगर इकरार
उसी से कर बैते
ना ना करते न नो हम कर बैते

Pappu Pichkari

2008-01-11T17:42:00.000-08:00

One of the interesting trends I am observing in the reactions - that range from banal to bizzare - to the Mumbai molestation incidents has been to 'mock' the traditional Indian tradition and culture.

A wide-ranging word but largely taken to include the religious texts, epics, specifically limited to stories of Sita's sorrow and Draupadi's vastraharan, No one seems to have touched upon Manu so far- actually who is credited with many 'women unfriendly' statements- the fair sex shall always be accompanied by the unfair one and such-But, I digress.

Since not many of us have any control or way to cross check and confirm what happened many eons ago (and "proof' will also be required. 'My grandma said this, who heard it from her grandma' will not suffice) it is simpler to merely take a look at contemporary culture. Culture as some students of the topic will know has less to do with ancient history and is a word that denotes many things such as artefacts, mores, people, behaviour, food, language etc.

Normally I enjoy an occasional raunchy song or inane dialogue of a hindi movie as much as the next movie-goer. You know, the 'Tu meri maina, Main tera kabutar' is a song about ornithology and, 'Beedi jalaile' is surrogate advertising for the tobacco industry. 'Teri ankhon ke maikhane se main pi lu' is classic, Drink to me with thine eyes. Sheer poetry. Hence, feminists and all other ists- no need to hyperventilate. Chalta hain, jaane do, take a chill pill, vagera vagaira. Not viagra silly, vagaira. It means etc. etc.

It is quid pro quo when the gals sing, 'Kya karu hai, budda mil gaya', or about 'zulmi' jiske sang aaankh ladi' and 'bedardi baalama'. We enjoy our nok-jhoks. No need to make an issue of our movies ok. After God, Mother, and country, we worship cricket and cinema in India. It is highly unikely that a hollywood actor would agree to lyrics that call him budda.

So you have it give it to our men. They can take what they dish out too, at least in the hindi movies ( & hence, popular culture)- a thapad, a chappal, gaalis and more. (English movies & TV serials may be dubbed in Hindi but do they fall in the genre of popular culture? That will be a debate that will be taken up when the next round of molestations happen.)

So when I see 'Play the Pappu Pichkari game' colourful banner next to a headline on a very prominent newspaper site that says, "Women should raise their voice" - I know it is time to post this to my blog. In a tribute to 'Indian' art (the co-joined twin of 'culture') , Pappu Pichkari has graphic representation of a very teeny weeny (is there any other type?) bikini zoom to a very curvy partially naked bottom of a gosh... "woman".

Some of its tagline reads: aiming is fair game, and, squirt to flirt .

Pammi bikini pahenti hain?- how cool. I thought she'd be in a 'behenji type' salwar kameez that I would not be seen dead in, especially when I go shopping for sexy lingerie. What is the connection? Well don't be silly, What I wear on the outside should loudly and clearly shout what I am wearing on the inside. Remember Salaam namaste & Saif- genuine Jockey or was it Calvin Klein? But again, I digress. Focus. The fact the the elastic on the chaddi's declare how progressive one is, has been permanently established by now. The word for underwear is now accepted in Queens English, but I apologise if use of the term offends any reader.

(Never mind the fact that my 86 year grandmother is more liberal than my 26 year old co-worker when it comes to women's issues. Aaji does not blog you see.)

So, maybe Pappu is playing with Pamela and not Pammi? Pammi jo ghar pe hain, beach pe nahin. Ghungat ke aad me singing the dilbar song. And is it likely that the beach is Miami and not Juhu.

I observe with great disappointment (the modern cool gal me) and great pleasure (the, ladkiya aise nahin karte- 'tradional' part of me), that there is only game for Pappu- not Pammi? Tsk. Tsk. Woh kya hain na, the smart, hip, educated, software grads who work in hip hap happenning IT companies who design these banners and games do not know - that the goose aur gander are not Bharatiya birds. That culture is what they say and do on a daily basis. Seen any game advertisement that has a theme- sock the groper and aim for left jaw - that gets you a high score?

Pappu Pichkari is just an online game, a mole- hill. So why does the real event not qualify as one?

Who designs, who hosts, and who plays to enjoy the Pappu Pichkari game? Insiders and outsiders? Migrants and domiciles? Men & women? Conservatives & Liberals? Contemporary & traditonals? Bandra and Bhayander residents? The culture czars and culture critics?

But I am running scared. Of posting anything, a post or comment. Who knows what I may be accused of next. Regressive fundamentalist. Moral Policing. Rigging the US elections. Closet designer of the Nano car hence environment enemy? Something or the other.

Aaja Pappu, pichkari khelte hain. Life eej hard.

Two Headlines

2008-01-10T10:49:00.000-08:00

To those who question the Nano (and Tata's social responsibility)

- Go take a drive

I root for nano. And yes, I have read all the articles on its alleged drawbacks. (On days like this I love the use of traditional journalistic language- like 'alleged')

Then Why? Simply because it started as a dream. Then was treated as a joke. And now is a reality. It does not happen everyday.

Then there was this headline on the increasing rate of divorce in Pune.

Wonder what they'd respond to this financial services advertisement that advises them to stay invested through ups and downs- just like in a marriage.

And as an aside: Hrithik & Ash look stunning in Jodha Akbar. Individually and as a couple. That guy is amazing. Every movie, every role- he just slips into the skin.

I hope JA does not disappoint. I love epics. Two of my favorite movies are Ben-Hur and Gandhi. I don't expect JH to be anything close. If it is reasonably good, I'd be happy.

Outsider- at home

2008-01-10T08:37:00.000-08:00

The best write-up I have read since.

(Since when? The molestation at juhu of course.. you did not think I had moved on did you?)

Take a look at Jahnavi Samant's Mumbai on the inside article in Mid-Day of 9th Jan.

I prefer this because I am bored of reading people (men & women) spouting womens causes as they see it. You know, the ones who would not pick up a cup or change a light bulb and would need a woman/man to do it for them. Who don't even live in the city of Mumbai but write from some 38th floor of an apartment or a condo in a far away land that has 'security' and 'freedom' - not in the either/or situation we face here. Not to forget the freedom being discussed is that to get drunk and wear revealing/fashionable clothes (else- be perceived as dork!)- the fashion and follies freedom-which again we have no shortage of at least in Mumbai. And not dowry, not rape, not infanticide, choosing contraception, career choices, dress in comfortable clothes instead of traditional in presence of in-laws, property rights and such topics that face the large number of the women here.

By men who'd never in their lives gone to a police station in Mumbai on behalf of a strange(r) woman they are not related to by blood or by law. Even then, unless there has been a burglary at home or the car has been stolen. Definitely not for any other 'minor' (a.k.a molehill) matter.

Those who would treat a single woman relative in the family as an unpaid nanny and (with concurrence of other women in the family) cheat her out of her property rights.

By others who'd enjoy your company and seek you out but would not part with their home number or address or encourage a stay over because who knows? The female may just get 'needy" or emotional.

I prefer this article- because it is a view point of an average ' woman' who lives in 'Mumbai'. An every day view seen in the life of a citizen. Not any pledge, not any poetry. Plain prose. Or as I call it, Direct Dil Se.

Now can we have some people joining 'our' cause? That of a safer city. Where the women as Jahnavi, after making an excellent note of insider-outsider perspectives, concludes;

" ....prefer leaving a moving train instead of getting into a gents compartment in a hurry. [..] hold folders and purses across our breasts while walking in a station or getting into a bus [..] don't walk on the streets when there is a Ganpati procession or political rally about [..]our slinky dresses are reserved for the times when we are picked by a friend's car.....

....But there are no reporters to report it (and even if there are, they are quite capable of just sitting out a rape out of fear or indecision). There are no cameras to catch our humiliation. And there is no one to listen to our pleas...

Mumbai is safe, but only the 'insiders' know how safe.'

Thank you.

Shall we blame the government?

2008-01-09T21:18:00.000-08:00

One day - Two separate media coverages on one topic.

One was a TV news item- I do not have any link to that- about how India is facing a shortage of 14,000 officers for the military. I may have got this number wrong- was it one lakh, 40 thousand? Perhaps.

The reason cited was poor pay and perks/conditions. I was really puzzled. This is a country where jobs and employment generation is a problem, reservations a hot issue and normally all service (government) jobs are considered plum and there is an overwhelming flood of applications for restricted number of seats. So something seems askew here. Unless of course , silly me, the youth who are meant to enlist are comparing it to 'call center job's' - Who would want 4 a.m runs carrying a rifle when one can have voice training to imitate any accent, shifts and hence freedom, a fat wad of pocket money to buy bikes and drinks and generally get the girls/impress the opposite sex! The really bad eggs may also dream of some quick-rich schemes. Hard work- Dude.. are you a fossil? or as they'd say here, Pagal ho kya? Mad or wot. To work hard, learn discipline and serve & die for the country. 'Anyway, yeh government to sab ko kargil bhejta hain marne ke liye' types.

Cut to a Reuters news item that I just happened to click throughand my heart jumped into my mouth. I just wanted to pluck the child out and hug them. The caption for the slide show says;

'Primary and middle school students participate in a winter military camp for civilians at the Cheongryong Self-denial Training Camp run by retired marines in Ansan, about 25 miles southwest of Seoul, January 7, 2008. Forty-one students are taking part in the six-day camp to strengthen their spirit and body.

And it is not even youth we are talking about here. They are primary school children. Don't miss the fact that it comprises girls too.

Now tell me about how bad India has become as a place to live. And what country are we leaving for our children.

Is the blame at the doors of lazy youth or lazy parenting? Or like so much else, shall we tell the President..I mean. . blame the Government?

Maybe we want them to get out of business and economic pursuits so they can run our families and communities for us? Then we can again loudly and vigourously protest (most of the time with each other as no one who matters is really listening or cares) about how the personal freedom is violated.

Or we could always opt for humour (the new opium of the masses). Joke about it in the media & on TV. For instance, ' why should our kids carry rifles? They carry even heavier school bags.' Till we tune in for the next episode. All in all, the Great Indian Tamasha can continue.

Till someone clues in and for the next 400 years we are in slavery.

Round and round. Like the old nursery rhyme in Mumbai school little kids would sing holding hands going around in a circle and at last line, fall to the the ground. It went, 'Here we go around the mulberry bush, mulberry bush, mulberry bush" Hasha.. busha.. ALL FALL DOWN!

Correction update: The rhyme is, I am told, Ringa ringa roses, pocket full of posies etc. The mulberry bush is to do with brushing your teeth & polishing shoes. But the 'All fall down' is right.

Week one of 2008

2008-01-08T02:24:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately I don't get (around) to read Mint, so I was quite happy to catch the post, 'Some Saxy Resolutions' on New Year Resolutions by Amit Verma who posted on his blog, India Uncut.

I wish it was longer. I could do with a few more laughs.

Mumbai molestations (should I use a singular or plural here?) and Mumbai politicians seem to have made this city and this week a very sad one.

E-C-I-D-U-J-E-R-P

2008-01-07T19:40:00.000-08:00

E-C-I-D-U-J-E-R-P is PREJUDICE spelt backwards.

Either way it does not make sense.

(Read this somewhere a long time ago. Remembered it today)

Foldable, Flexible, Roll-able Librofonino

2008-01-06T03:57:00.001-08:00

While you are at it, on NDTV Gadget Guru, I also recommend the video on Librofonino , a Telecom Italia product, touted as the gadget of the future!

The site describes some of its features as;
• Wide rollable 5" QVGA 16 grey scale display (sunshine readability)
• HSDPA and DVB-H dacasting connection
• Device pocket size
• Essential input keys
• OMA content protection
• Low weight (<150gr.)
• SD card memory slot
• Solid cover and device robustness
• USB port
• High battery lifetime (weeks)

But the video is so much more explicit- the foldable, flexible, rollable feature with 'Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes' book displayed. Cool!

Best of Just Books

2008-01-06T00:28:00.000-08:00

It was the logo that caught my attention when it was launched and the first episode was aired.

The spectacle frame forming the double 'o' in the word books was simply unusual. I did find the programme engaging but somewhere along the way lost interest as it seemed sometimes really good- sometimes average and I could never know what to expect. But it filled a gap and still is, I think, one of its kind. I do not think there is any other book oriented show on any other channel. So, channel surfing, when I caught the 2007 round-up of Just Books on NDTV , I think it was almost over. But I paused as it was showing celebrities discussing their book collections and favorite books.

They were women celebrities, so I was even more interested and it was simply too good to have first of all Lola Kutty discuss how the Malayalam Manorama is her favorite book. I simbly love Lola Kutty you see. If there is a DVD of her programme, I will buy the entire set, as she is one who has greatly entertained and educated me. In this clip, after educating us on her choice of Malayalam Manorama, she went on to say why she does not read John Grisham, 'Why does that man write a novel when anyway it will be made into a fillim? He should write screen play directly no?'. Yes indeed. Whatever you say ma'am.

From Lola kutty to Vandana Shiva, the environment activist. Dr. Shiva pulled the three books that she wanted to highlight including World is Flat, and 'Fortune at the bottom of the pyramid' which got her acerbic comment about how the farmers suicides happen because they borrowed beyond their means to purchase costly seeds and fertilizers. I had not heard this perspective before so it was a 'wrinkled brow' moment for me.

Kiran Bedi displayed her collection of books and audio books/tapes/CDs on topics of philosophy. After all, Kiran Bedi did introduce the Vipasanna meditation in Prisons as part of the prison reform programme.

Just as I was settling down to enjoy some more, horror - it went on to politicians and though my better judgement wanted to change channels, it was only a few minutes so I sat through Montek Singh A, Jairam Ramesh and Renuka Chowdhury. I was not happy with myself. I broke my self set rule when it comes to politicians. Ignore them. Or pay attention to them at your own peril.

It then had a round up of eminent authors, one of whom was Paulo Coelho. When the anchor gushed, nine out of ten people have read The Alchemist, I grimaced. The odd one out/minority label pinched. The author spoke about how he is very keen to visit India. 'Not for just one week though , as my publisher would like me to do. I wish to stay for a month at least and get to know India deeper', he said. Yes, I thought to myself. The world famous author of topics to do with mysticism so enamoured like many others about our spiritual heritage- we should really show him the 'real' India. Maybe he should stay at the JW Marriot in Mumbai. We could put up a sign and make it an 'Incredible India" tourist spot. Molestation Point. (Like Echo Point, Sunset Point and such?)

Changing channels got me-Best of Big Fight- another NDTV prog, of which I caught - one, are we a racist country? which kept discussing fair and lovely cream ( ! ) and another on women empowerment and a debate/discussion on item numbers with Rakhi Sawant, Shaina Chudasama, Diya mirza et al. I remembered I had seen it earlier so I decided it was time to call it a day.

I wish I see more of Lola Kutty on TV this year. But please, not Upen Patel as her guest.

P.S. Just as I am about to click the 'publish' button here, my cell phone beeps. I almost fall off my chair- it is a SMS from the Muncipal Commissioner of Mumbai with a message, Clean up Mumbai. But I didn't fall of my chair cos a new mass sms campaign seems to be flavour of the season. Last week, I received one from Aamir Khan inviting me (?) for TZP special pass/contest or such. I wonder, what sms next? Do go for the late night party. Mumbai is safe for women. From Citizens Group Forum/Police Commissioner? As 'Under Honey's hat' from HT would say, Life is such Dearies.

Lalaj laph laph

2008-01-05T21:28:00.000-08:00

From, Winnie- the- Pooh, Chapter 10

Piglet : When you wake up in the morning, Pooh, what's the first thing you say to yourself?

Pooh : What's for breakfast? What do you say, Piglet?

Piglet :I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting to-day ?

Pooh :[nodding thoughtfully] It's the same thing.

A tale of two cities-III

2008-01-03T01:36:00.000-08:00

The J W Marriot incident and thereafter.

This is definitely not a first or an isolated incident. Even as back as just about ten years ago, as youngsters, we'd take a BEST bus or a train to college or to work. In the last 5-10 years, it is practically impossible to travel in a BEST bus especially on the routes in newer suburbs. I am not speaking of 84 ltd. The sanitised Andheri Stn-Churchgate route. I am speaking of routes that travel Borivali, Jogeshwari, Powai , Mulund etc. Throw in a Wadala, Saki Naka, Kurla, Kalina. I still am within city limits. Say a girl who lives in Borivali and travels to a college in Mulund. Or lives in Vashi and travels to Seepz. On an average at least one-two cases of eve teasing and molestation per day (irrespective of rich, poor, dress code, event etc) is reported in Mumbai at least in the media.

The last was the lawyer girl from Vashi who had a man flashing porn on his mobile phone while sitting next to her on a bus. So, the real number may be higher. Rape is not even covered in the scope of this post. Just the normal routine life. Dealing with the dhobi, autorickshaw, commuter and the shopper in the mall. (Does anyone know there is a category of offenders who frequent malls either singly or in groups only to brush against females? ) I am at a loss to write more simply because I said almost all that is there to say almost two years back in my post, Mumbai, wake up and smell the coffee, and in almost every post after that on the changing landscape of Mumbai and its denizens.

More on the Marriot molestation incident over at Nita's blog where she has updated her earlier post on the topic and (update) at Sakshi's blog too. Blog aggregators like DesiPundit and Blogbharti also have collated other responses.

Innovation 2008

2008-01-02T09:39:00.000-08:00

Get ready for anything- the only constant will be change.

We've always said that didn't we..the kay-emm people- but affirmation is always good. The annual Innovation Report in Business Week provides some fascinating glimpses into predictions for 2008 and the slides give examples among others of Flying WI-FI, mobile applications, the Kindle book reader, identity replacing experience in marketing, and urban development. In , Our Urban Planet, it says the 192021 project—a study of 19 cities with 20 million people in the 21st century— gains massive corporate support. Quote: For the first time, in 2007, more than half the planet's people live in cities. 192021 plans to generate uniform data on the rise of these supercities and the role their consumers and creators play in business and civic life. End of quote.

Some concepts are old and at least I don't see them as light bulb moments -such as customer is king; and web -based tool kits for business and I'm not very clear about the one laptop per child-OLPC is a failed experiment.

I find this report interesting not just for the new things that it predicts and those that emerge but how for instance, in 'Unfriend ME'- (the new brahminism- online or offline) it is an indicator of how the more things change the more they remain the same!

About 'Unfriend Me', it says, 'Who you're friends with becomes more important than how many friends you have. Exclusivity and privacy replace open community in social media. People move to gated networks from and MySpace, fleeing the commercialization of their personal information and relationships.'

And in 'Hang on to the good stuff', it seems like just what dadima would have ordered - 'Don't waste and re-cycle' ke nuske.

An interesting set of slides and stories. Take a look.

Ring out the old, ring in the new

2008-01-02T08:47:00.000-08:00

My 2007 round-up.

Well, on the personal front, there was no vacation :( ....or much travel in 2007- both of which I could have corrected, but I am not complaining - because 2007 also meant new friends and re-connecting with old ones and re-visiting many priorities.

On the work front, it involved separation from the project & full time job that took up much of my waking time. More details in this case study that was the cover story in the June 2006 issue of Inside Knowledge. I owe many thanks to Graeme Burton without whom it would never have seen the light of the day and I will also get around and post the image of the simply super art work of the cover done by Emma.

Though I was seriously considering the step earlier, it just took longer to actually say the good-byes. Many asked me why- as it was as good as leaving at a time when all the hard work was over and time to reap rewards. For me it was the joy of the creative process and I get restless unless projects move to the next level of maturity, and then again simply a desire to pay attention to projects and person that I had always put on the back-burner (me). Any creative process is a reward in itself and 2007 did see some long desired creative endeavors including this blog!

Then, the good folk at SE-ictd invited me to join the resource group & meeting which took me by complete surprise since I thought all I was doing was contributing my 'two cents' worth, after which they went on to nominate me for an award in spite of my protests. When I demurred, I got- 'Your name had been nominated by members, they feel that your responses are fresh and you present “ frank and honest perspectives” they also feel that you are one of the respondents they nominated cause you do not “push any agenda but actually present experiences and ideas”. It was the best compliment anyone could have given me - direct dil se! and even as I gave in to their wish it was a great relief to me to know the award finally went to someone else. It was most fulfilling to meet up with this group in Delhi which was a lot of fun & learning though to my regret I could not make it to South India for the visioning workshop and rest of fun and action.

2007 was a year marked by blessings of health, food, friendships and fun- quiet, tranquil and yet full -the 'God is in his heaven and all is right with the world' moments. What more can one ask for? More blogging, perhaps? Nice! A world without blogs? Nah.. But both interesting possibilities.