I thought blogging was going to be easy .... i'm rapidly changing my mind ... there's so so much to learn ... RSS feeds, blogrolling, upstreaming, creating links, uploading images ......

Exciting times ahead.

And i still haven't got a suitable name and description !

11:56:13 AM    comment []  trackback []

There's a heated discussion on at the 500 Citizens Network on Ryze - with people taking strong stances for or against war. 

My views :

9/11 was perhaps one of the worst days in modern history ... the horror shook the  whole world.  Yet, India has witnessed terrorism of the worst kind - we have experienced the horrors of terrorism for far too many years, and on a frighteningly prolonged and regular basis. You might say that India should have wiped out Pakistan ... to rid the world of terrorism, just as the US, along with some others is aiming to do.   

Is this the only solution ... when history has proved time and again that war begets war - or retaliation of the worst kind ?  Will our kids grow up on the wings of hatred and force ? With a certain callous disregard for human life ? Is this the freedom we so desire?

There are some who share this fear, like Rob Gordon and Eric Pederson : 

"The world was very relieved that India did not attack Pakistan. I think you're right though- it would have been morally equivalant to what we (the U.S.) are doing. Earlier today I heard that Turkey was sending troops into Northern Iraq (against U.S. wishes) and one of the reasons they gave was that it was to prevent Kurdish terrorism (I'm told that the Turks and the Kurds hate each other so this could be a rear situation). Hopefully this will be defused quickly but I fear this is just one of many genies that Bush has let out of the bottle."

And there are some who argue :

"If the common complaint on this board is that the USA is a big, powerful country with a enoroumous global presence - it we don't become proactive in fighting the despots, dictators and terrorist .... who should? With power comes responsibiity.

We tried many times in the past 100 years to stay out of the world's affairs, only to be asked to come in and help.

How many other countries have such vast humanitarian Aid programs? ... how many countries lend a helping hand to both our allies and enemies?

I don't see too many other countries rushing in to feed Africa (or by risking the lives of our soldiers to make sure that the food gets to the people), or spend money on Aids in countries other than their own, or to prevent Genocide in I don't know how many countries ... but we do it often.. and WHEN we do it .. it is just never enough for most people ...

It must be pretty easy to criticize our motives in Iraq when ignoring all the good we do in the world. I guess when you ignore those facts - we do look pretty evil" 
 

I appreciate there are views and views on this - maybe in this debate there is some hope :):):):)

11:52:21 AM    comment []  trackback []

'Shock and Awe' - the Aussies did just that to the Indians and the cricketing world in the World Cup Finals - they were just brilliant !  Yet its the youth in our team that keeps our hopes for excellence alive ... ok ... they had an off-day at the finals yesterday but they're here to stay. And we're behind them all the way ! 

'Shock and Awe' - this is the new generation Indian Youth - they work hard, play hard - you can see them enjoying each game, and they can be ruthless in their desire to succeed. They have brought in new values that were sadly lacking in our team - aggression, competition, a 'never-say-die' attitude, energy, vitality and team spirit. 

These emergent youth values are evident not just in our young cricketers but among all Indian Youth.  Having studied the youth for over 14 years, what excites me the most is their ability in bringing about very real, enduring and welcome changes  - there's a new 'lingo' in the making, slowly yet surely forging a new cultural paradigm. 

And technology seems to be their window to this new world - Nehra in his comments after winning the Man of the Match Award against England at the ICC World Cup, with a six wicket haul, gave all the credit to his fitness program and trainer.  We could extend this to the whole area of fitness ... there's so much awareness about fitness today .... propelled by youngsters, and being adopted by older persons too.  In a recent study i did on fitness - i heard this comment from 40 year old mum's so often ... "My children tell me that i should do something about my weight.  I feel bad then ... yet they are right.  Its not good for me"  

Another example -  here's an extract from my comments on a recent Chautaqua at groupjazz - a discussion with Howard Rheingold ... on how tech in the context of SMS specifically, but in a broader sense as well, is changing the socio-cultural paradigm in India :

"In India, which is so driven by  prescribed social norms, taboo and sanction, people are forced to wear masks as there is no personal space that allows one to 'be'... and the educated urban youth has felt so trapped. There is a subtle change today however ... technology has allowed for a certain respect from parents for their kids.  Parents know technology is a good thing, the future path, although they have little idea of the mechanics of how it works. In this context, while there is an emergent thumb tribe among the youth, they are carrying the older generation with them.  Today, the parent has begun to believe that her child knows more than she does, and she's willing to learn from the child.   Technology has made this possible. So rather than exclusivity becoming a dominant theme, it is in some ways paving the way for a new relationship and new parent-child stereotypes, that may be far healthier than the 'authoritative' role parents had earlier.  The industry too is recognizing this....SMS is forming an integral part of a marketer's plan"

A number of links on how SMS seems to be taking off, with serious cultural impacts on multiple cultures in India - blogged by Howard Rheingold at Smart Mobs.

11:34:01 AM    comment []  trackback []