9/30/2010
9/26/2010
indian connections
Indians love hero worship. From Team India players to Bollywood stars to politicians, we are known to put heroes up there. And in a country of a billion-plus, what does one do when one falls short of heroes? Do we outsource them or appropriate any body remotely Indian? The recent celebration in India over Bobby Jindal’s elevation as Louisiana Governor has once again showed our propensity to fete any Indian connection. Even as his village and the rest of India broke into a jig over his political ascent in the US, very few realised that here was a man who had never even visited India. Mother Teresa may have been from Macedonia originally, but we claimed her as our own and one may argue, that she, too, had claimed us as her own. Then V S Naipaul created waves in the literary circuit and we went all out to embrace him. When NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, born to an Indian father, went into space, we were one of the first to go to town about her victory leap. But is she really more Indian than American? Do we as Indians tend to borrow role models because we don’t have enough of our own? Or are Bobby, Sunita, etc really our heroes and we are just doing what suits us best - hero worship?
9/12/2010
Blogs and us
Blogs have gained a lot of importance in today's world. Peoples' opinion matter a lot, be it a common man or a celebrity. Every person who has an access to the net is always keen on finding out what is todays news from the viewpoint of someone else, be it something like match fixing scandal , obama's insecurity over losing out to indians and chinese or irans' nuclear plan.
What is the effect of this ? positive or negative??? I am not sure. I say this because more than the news article itself- the opinions from various sources seem to influence the news and and diverts from the crux of the matter. and in some cases has an effect of polarising the views thus resulting into a divide. how will this contribute to the society I have my doubts. .
I am sure most of the readers wont agree with this. there is a general viewpoint that todays open discussion forums such as blogs, tweets and various opinion polls have resulted into a more transparent and approachable society where each member becomes accountable for his actions and deeds. I wish this was true. Maybe it is to some extent but otherwise i feel the only purpose it serves is to stir up the issue giving freedom of expression to the wrong, which does not always help navigate in the right direction of seeking solutions.
Freedom of expression and that too as a print format undoubedly has an impressionable effect on our minds. The use of it should be done with full conscience keeping in mind the outcome of the words we write and the views we present.
What is the effect of this ? positive or negative??? I am not sure. I say this because more than the news article itself- the opinions from various sources seem to influence the news and and diverts from the crux of the matter. and in some cases has an effect of polarising the views thus resulting into a divide. how will this contribute to the society I have my doubts. .
I am sure most of the readers wont agree with this. there is a general viewpoint that todays open discussion forums such as blogs, tweets and various opinion polls have resulted into a more transparent and approachable society where each member becomes accountable for his actions and deeds. I wish this was true. Maybe it is to some extent but otherwise i feel the only purpose it serves is to stir up the issue giving freedom of expression to the wrong, which does not always help navigate in the right direction of seeking solutions.
Freedom of expression and that too as a print format undoubedly has an impressionable effect on our minds. The use of it should be done with full conscience keeping in mind the outcome of the words we write and the views we present.