A vent in the Delirium

Social media and its inhabitants, the "netizens", are a prominent force in today's world. They have exerted their influence in reviving a few dying careers, making super hits and igniting revolutions. The power that the online medium possesses is immense and the biggest reason is its openness. Netizens are not bounded by territory, nationality or any such biases of the physical world. This gives social media the power to distribute information to millions of people across the world at a rate which is unimaginable by any other medium. These potentials of social media, however, have seldom been utilized for social reforms. Majority of social media reforms have been for political change or pure entertainment. Social media's first prominent use in political reform was probably in 2009-10 Iranian election protests when after the controversial election of Ahmedinejad and subsequent ban on media meant that all news that came from the country was through the social medi...

There is this interesting talk you hear sometimes in your grad college about " increasing your visibility ". I am pretty sure for all of us it is just an interesting talk, no one gets a hang of what it really is all about. It takes you some time either in your job or post-grad to realise how important this concept really is and how some of your classmates used it so well to succeed in your grad college. The earlier you understand this concept, the easier it is for you in your life. It doesn't come natural to some people and others who master this concept benefit at their cost. This might seem like some cheap tactics to achieve personal gains but in reality it is a part of the culture and as much a reality as office politics. Thus it is more of a skill which is a part of an individual's personality. The real professional life is governed by many such personality driven factors and not just by knowledge. A good visibility, rapport and network is as much an asset...

For long we have debated the rural urban divide that exists in our nation and how this might bring the nation to collapse. But this repeated conditioning of our mind has veiled the unity that exists between the cities and the mofussils. There are threads that bind the two together and the sufferings are similar on both sides. This union can be seen as a very attractive segment by marketeers and politicians alike. It is important that we start looking at people beyond differences in castes, language or geographies. India might be a land of great diversities but the pain and sorrow of the poor is fairly constant everywhere. Pain can be a much stronger uniting factor than any other. This common thread of sorrow and despair among the poor was the major factor responsible for catapulting an year old party to power. The party looked at urban and rural poor with the same eye. The problems in the life of poor in the country are same irrespective of their place of residence. There is rea...

The latest fad in town is all about the Aam Aadmi Party and its poster boy Arvind Kejriwal. But what is much more important than the party is this concept of a more representative form of decision making. There is a limit to the tolerance of people and the rupture after the pent up silence was bound to shake a few things. The Big Bang moment in Indian politics will not last forever and there must be a plan to sustain this momentum in the future. The common man on the other hand should also manage there expectations and realise that this is not magic solution to all of our problems. The biggest problem in front of AAP at the moment is to manage this huge momentum it is carrying forward. They are in a situation similar to a start-up that has seen phenomenal growth but is finding it difficult to maintain the quality at that scale. Managing such explosive growth is just as difficult as managing failure. This is going to be the deciding phase in the history of AAP. They could become ...

It feels so helpless to write something original when all you do every time is Google stuff. When googling is the only inspiration you have had for the past few months then you really have to look deep inside to come up with something original. I wish I could develop some optimal path algorithm to reach back to my originality. But the mechanical me soon realizes that its not quite possible in this domain. In this mechanical world where people work only on numbers, be it- the marks, the deadlines or the count of their likes, it is hard to find an inspiration. How do you differentiate between a bunch of individuals who have very little to separate them? Everyone's running the same mad race that has a finishing line no one knows about. Just that some proclaim to have won it while the others are made to believe their loss. In this madness the outcasts make for a good inspiration. At least they have their own way in the madness. Thus to break the shackles and come out of this m...

A man wants to be a free bird, not bound by the constraints of time, money or geographies but in trying to push one of the constraints he gets more strangled by the others. This forms a sort of an impossible trinity or the unattainable Nirvana that everyone dies reaching. I, however, find myself bounded by concrete walls, confined to a small geography. It's amazing how your world shrinks to a 6 acre plot when you do not have enough time on your hand. This life has exposed the fragility of my concrete resolutions. It's impossible to do everything in life especially when you have so many passions. It is easier to be a master of one than being the jack of all. Prioritizing is the key but very difficult to achieve. I have not been able to prioritize at all and am always playing catching up. A very popular way to prioritize is in order of the opportunity cost of each alternatives but the practical use of this concept is just as alien to me as the others. In this mad rush...

Rumor by weight is a very light object to lift, fairly easy to pass around, but very difficult to put back again. In a recent chain of events in Muzaffarnagar (a town situated 130 kms from Delhi) what started off as an episode of harassment of a Hindu girl, fed by retaliation from the girl's brothers culminated as a full fledged communal riot. An event  well orchestrated by the political parties to suit their vested interests in which, according to official records, 48 unfortunate people have died. What was achieved? What purpose it served? Which side ‘won’? These are the questions which will never be answered. What we can be certain about is that all those who have died from both communities were poor people, too weak to defend themselves. People who lived in slums were easy targets for a maniac mob advancing with grievous steps towards them. Whenever there is a brawl, even the strongest of oppressor looks for the weakest of adversary to prove his mettle .No David d...