30 Nov 2005
· media
The ICT4All (Information and Communication Technologies) exhibition that accompanied the World Summit of Information Societies in Tunis, Tunisia was, in real terms, for all. From 15-19 November, 2005, exhibitors of all shades displaying a range of technologies and solutions that could be called ‘liberating’. Consider telemedicine, community radio, playground computers etc. And then there were the usual suspects like Microsoft, Intel, and CISCO occupying center-stage with space commensurate with their financial muscle. The visitors too displayed the spirit of ICT4All, ranging from ministers and heads of states, to opinion leaders and NGOs from across the world, all the way to pure brochure hunters. (I have always wondered what they do with all the brochures they collect. Though one mystery has been solved, they put the visiting cards to good use. Ever since I have returned from Tunisia I have started receiving endless email offers to work with some relative of a deposed dictator to collect untold millions. They believe we will still fall for it.)The ‘digital divide’ has not yet been bridged: ‘empowerment’, ‘liberation’, ‘education’, ‘health’ for all, and ‘gender equality’ are issues, to name just some, that still haunt civil society. But it appears that a concerted effort is being made. Being at the Summit and the exhibition, I was left with no doubt that this is so. This is perhaps the first time in the history of the world that the buzz words have a ring of equality, development and empowerment around them – from open source, to blogs, to the digital divide…
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25 Nov 2005
· travel
A good traveler has an open mind. And if not, then good travel jolts him or her out of the habit of falling in for the stereotype and see things as they really are and not as locals in either country would have one believe.
My recent trip to Tunisia made me into a bit better traveler, or so I’d like to believe. I went in with an image of ‘Arab Africa’ accompanied with a baggage of stereotype. Not that I have any problem with an Arab Africa (if there is such a thing) it is just that the phrase conjures up images which may or may not exist. They certainly did not exist in Tunisia.
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24 Nov 2005
· travel
Some more pictures from my Tunisia trip.
Old houses in Tunis, Tunisia Click on any image to view an enlarged image gallery
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29 Sep 2005
· travel
M iddle-age has its symptoms. In my case, I sense an old flame flaring up. My passion for travel, especially to the mountains, is getting a fresh supply of oxygen with each passing year. Every experience leaves me craving for more: a more exotic and a more adventurous fix. Best of all, instead of threatening my marital life, mountains help us spend time together away from the constantly ringing phones, endless homework, and the relentless tube.
Continue reading →08 Aug 2005
· comment
Who will teach the teachers to see the hunger for learning in these bright sparks?
“I am not sure, what is it that I want to do when I grow up… I don’t know… maybe I’ll get a job of some sort… or may be I will drive the camel cart, like my father… I am not sure at all, but I am not thinking about it…” As his voice died out, 10-year-old Ratan turned his spectacularly bright eyes to the ground. It hurt to hear the despair in his voice. I guess I’d be equally worried if he had said that he wanted to grow up and be an astronaut. But that would have been a worry mixed with hope rather than despair. Ratan lives in a small village called Sankhda, about 80 kilometers from the small touristy town of Jaisalmer, in Rajasthan. Here, people have lived for generations with very little water, surrounded as they are with sand dunes, and miles of barren land punctuated by occasional patches of fields irrigated by ground water.
Continue reading →21 Sep 2002
· comment
I was born a Hindu, and had no choice in the matter. As an adult I have had no doubt in my mind that to me, personally, god, idols,temples or pilgrimages have no meaning at all. Yet, I have never refused to go to a temple or participate in a ‘puja’ along with my family, mainly because I believe that religion serves a purpose, it gives meaning, hope and direction to the lives of a lot of people and I should not do anything to take this away from them.
Continue reading →06 Nov 1998
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A review of “Impressions of Bhima”
Directed by Veenapani Chawla At British Council Division
It’s been almost ten years since Veenapani Chawla attended Eugenio Barba’s theatre laboratory. Ten years, two substantial productions and a few small pieces for local audiences in Pondicherry, where she now lives. Not much, one could assume, for the quiet girl whose passion for theatre first began while doing backstage work in college productions in Delhi’s Miranda House.
Continue reading →27 Nov 1997
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The history and practise of the Indian martial art Kalarippayattu
Dawn. Outside, a cool “half-light” heralds the ritual of prayer, as temple bells wake a sleeping village. Inside, however, the flickers of light from a solitary oil lamp light up red earthen walls and the mud-packed floor under an ageing thatched roof — mute witnesses to the ritual of combat.
Surrounded by the silent aura of warm red earth, two glistening, oil-soaked bodies come forward slowly, like leopards about to attack. Bare, but for a tightly wrapped loin-cloth, their lithe bodies ripple like a coiled serpent waiting to unleash its power. As the two coils of energy meet in the centre of the room, they crouch down to give a low salute, slow and dance-like in its elegance, breathtaking in its beauty. With a gentle touching of arms, they return to their crouch; feet set firmly on the ground, thighs forming a rock-stable square with the earth, and hands clenched tight and drawn up together under the chin. As their arms circle their heads, one “sees” the centring of energy, the coiling of the serpent, as it were. The movement complete, the “serpent” stands coiled and ready, waiting to spring forward and unleash its deadly power.
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