Reflections

Yet again, our nation has been shocked by a heinous terrorist attack – at Pulwama, martyring more than 40 of our brave CRPF personnel in the prime of life. My heart – numb with shock, can only pray to the Almighty to give strength to their families in this dark hour. Let us, before we analyse our options, spend a minute to think of what these families have lost; with grief in my heart, to those braves, I can only say : shat shat naman … may you Rest In Peace! MOVING AHEAD In this terrible hour, let us do our best to keep calm. This does not mean I recommend inaction; rather, let us allow our Government-   it is an excellent Government – to do its Job. Give them time and space to deal with the terror on their own terms. I do not advocate we forgive and / or forget; just that we remain calm, and confident that our Government is there to respond and deal with this . Building vocal pressure towards any particular response method – there are plenty of options {look below}...

THE WHATSAPP GENERATION The Whatsapp Generation… this is what we are. Regardless of age, in my opinion, it is fair to state that we, the people on Social Media in general and on Whatsapp particularly, can be termed as the Whatsapp Generation. Over the past week or ten days, two or three people have made the same telling comment, focused approximately on how Whatsapp has both brought people together, improved communication / information dissemination – as well as driven a wedge into relationships. This is a feeling gaining currency – that these technological capabilities are both enabling as well as functionally disabling we, the people as face to face meetings, even in families, become all too rare. Image Source: Pexels CATHARSIS These 2-3 comments lead me to a deep catharsis, a searching self-examination – and I had to agree on both aspects – the vitality of this medium to Modern   Life & Business, as well as its deep problems & ability to cause long-ter...

Facebook… or Social Media, to take a broader classification. While this article is focused on Facebook, it will also deal with overall Social Media and its risks and advantages in a more general manner. The immediate trigger for this article has been a rather uncomfortable article in some Media, which I happened to read in a very respected Pink Newspaper, a leading daily. The Bloomberg link of that article is to be found in the below Box, with the given link. Zuckerberg’s social network is a politically agnostic tool for its more than 2 billion users, he has said. But Facebook, it turns out, is no bystander in global politics. What he hasn’t said is that his company actively works with political parties and leaders including those who use the platform to stifle opposition—sometimes with the aid of “troll armies” that spread misinformation and extremist ideologies. The initiative is run by a little-known Facebook global government and politics team that’s neutral in that it w...

I was enjoying my morning read of the Business Standard, when my eye fell upon a story – Facebook and Google helpedanti-Refugee campaign in Swing States, Business Standard, Friday 20thOctober . I  noticed this story, and marked it for later contemplation. The recent saga over Twitter usage by  Indian Politicians brought my mind back to this story – and its many implications. While the ethical & moral implications are also present – but most vital is the implication of this, and similar happenings we may or may not be aware of, for us the people as well as for democracy. Image Credit - Google Search It is one thing for a politician to openly come on Social Media – quite a few have done it quite successfully; they lay their views, attitudes, national plans, ideals, problems etc – like one Indian Politician. Others use Facebook, and especially  Twitter in their own names to further their own views etc. There is nothing wrong with that – in fact, that is act...

Stock image from the internet - Blogger was taking incorrect images, so used this The morning news  - the first article I clicked, an action I sincerely regret now, was on an accident in Pune, the city I live in. I was stunned into shock by the news – people stood around clicking photographs of the poor hapless person while he lay bleeding on the street. Not one person came forward to help. God Bless the only decent man there, a dentist, who came forward to help, and assisted in taking the injured person to the nearest hospital. Just think – people standing around, clicking photographs while a hapless and helpless person lies on the road, bleeding! PUNE: A 25-year-old software engineer, who was bleeding severely after being knocked down by a hit-and-run accident, died because he did not get timely help from passersby at Indrayaninagar corner in Bhosari on Wednesday evening. Shockingly, the onlookers chose to shoot videos and click photos of the accident rather than tak...

The title of this article just about says it all… The Facebook Issue . This article is coming after a long self-examination and Facebook feed examination, with the explicit purpose of putting Facebook and its contemporary utility in Social Media with relevance to me as an individual. This deep introspective examination has lead to startling revelations to myself, which is what I am attempting place here, with an intent to support my decision to move my Social Media content away from Facebook due to issues arising out of the feed and the interaction that happens on it. MY HISTORY WITH FACEBOOK But first, the background. I came onto Facebook as a means to get in daily touch with family, find old friends, and keep connected with them. It then grew into a method of chronicling important events in my life through Photographs & Posts, that I could visit later. Both the above have given excellent results, and shall continue as important aspects of my digital profile with added sec...

ASKING QUESTIONS – IS IT UNACCEPTABLE? Two articles that appeared on social media today have led me to ask everyone a couple of  simple questions : Firstly, can we, in a democracy, not ask questions / give guidance / point errors without being accused of being unsupportive, or taking political sides? Asking questions and critical analysis is the very basis of modern democracy – and it is also the foundation stone of Indian Democracy; asking questions and critically appraising performance is the hallmark as well as the key to a functioning democratic system. The second question that occurs to me is simply this :  a) Who is responsible for Performance in a democracy? And leading to b) How long can we or should be continue to apportion blame – deserved or otherwise, makes no difference – to history? These two ( or if you so prefer – three ) questions are the key to any functioning democratic system. You have to allow space and freedom for questioning and critical ap...