Mamata Banerjee-led TMC-Congress government of West Bengal has taken an “innovative” and “revolutionary” decision.
From now, apart from Bengali and English, West Bengal will have 6 more “second” official languages - Urdu, Punjabi, Nepali, Ol-Chiki, Oriya and Hindi.
So from now onwards every government communication will be printed in all these languages, the Calcutta Doordarshan will have news programme in all these languages, and so on. Wow, what a revolutionary step by our firebrand Chief Minister.
However, I am such a nagging person that instead of appreciating this step for promoting communal harmony, I rather find the decision to be a bitter ill to swallow. I am so sorry.
Actually, I completely fail to understand the logic behind declaring 6 more languages as the second official language fails me. There are some loopholes in the government’s logic, which I cannot ignore.
For example, the government has said that Punjabi has been chosen as an official language to recognize the fact that the Punjabi speaking community has made a huge contribution in the development of the state. Besides, the Punjabi community has a sizeable presence in West Bengal, that too for several years.
Nobody can dare to contradict the logic that Punjabis have really played a very appreciable role in the in various developments of West Bengal, especially in the field of trade & commerce (courtesy their legendary entrepreneurial skill).
But if by that logic the beautiful Punjabi language can be given an official status, then why not the same be done to the Rajasthani language? Punjabis of West Bengal have been staying here for many years, and the community has also played key role in the economic and other developments of the state. But in that case why Rajasthani (the language of Marwari community) was left out? Marwaris have also been in the state since the days of Jobe Charnock and Sirajdaulla, and have played a very significant role in the overall development of the state, with the main area again being the field of trade & commerce. In fact, if today we try to think of any Calcutta based industrialist, then the two names that will obviously come in our mind ar R.P. Goenka and Harsh Neotia (both Marwaris).
And by what logic was Oriya (one of the world’s richest languages) selected? With due respect to Oriya friends who stay in West Bengal (and we cherish their presence), Odisha or Oriya community has historically not played that much a significant role in any aspect of West Bengal’s development and growth, (though since ancient days we have had cultural and business relations with that region). Nor it is so that the educated and erudite Oriya community has any sizeable presence here. (I wish more Oriya friends made West Bengal their home).
Every community should enjoy equal right/prestige/honour on the soil of every Indian state, with the so-called “sons of the soil” enjoying no special status. But this is certainly not the way to offer the “equal treatment”. Rather I find this decision of the West Bengal government to be a big joke.
By the way, I hope nobody will misunderstand me. While opposing the selection of a language as West Bengal’s official language, I have only questioned the cultural and historical logic behind it. And by no means I have tried to show lack of respect to those languages and their speakers.
Thank you so much for reading the post. You have honoured me.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
NY-based Indian Diplomat’s Daughter Arrested For Crime She Did Not Commit, Real Culprit Let To Go Scot Free
It is an unfortunate incident that cannot be expected to take place in a city like New York.
Krittika Biswas, the 18 years old daughter of a New York based senior Indian diplomat, was arrested and suspended from high school for a crime she did not commit in the first place – sending sexually explicit mails to her teachers.
Krittika Biswas is the daughter of Debashish Biswas, the vice consul at the Consulate General of India in Manhattan.
On February 8, 2011, this bright student of John Bowne High School was paraded out of her school in, hold your breath, handcuffs. And that was followed by the ordeal of spending 28 hours in a dark cell.
However, later the school Principal Howard Kwait identified a male student to be the real culprit.
Naturally, now the charges against Krittika were dropped. However, now two interesting (read more unfortunate) things happened.
Though now the real culprit was identified, he did not have to face any legal action like what innocent Krittika had to face. Reason? Well, the school did not want to press charges against him. (Why? Is there any racial angle in this story?)
More interestingly, even after the baseless charges against Krittika were dropped, school officials insisted to keep the hapless girl detained in a suspension centre for more than one month. Reason? Well, I suppose only the almighty has the answer.
Now Krittika is suing the New York City administration for $1.5 million for the wrongful arrest and the subsequent harassments. I feel the amount is quite low given the strong blow that her self-respect sense suffered.
I sincerely hope that the US government will take serious note of the issue, and will ensure that all the people directly or indirectly responsible for Krittika’s nightmarish experience are brought to book.
Krittika Biswas, the 18 years old daughter of a New York based senior Indian diplomat, was arrested and suspended from high school for a crime she did not commit in the first place – sending sexually explicit mails to her teachers.
Krittika Biswas is the daughter of Debashish Biswas, the vice consul at the Consulate General of India in Manhattan.
On February 8, 2011, this bright student of John Bowne High School was paraded out of her school in, hold your breath, handcuffs. And that was followed by the ordeal of spending 28 hours in a dark cell.
However, later the school Principal Howard Kwait identified a male student to be the real culprit.
Naturally, now the charges against Krittika were dropped. However, now two interesting (read more unfortunate) things happened.
Though now the real culprit was identified, he did not have to face any legal action like what innocent Krittika had to face. Reason? Well, the school did not want to press charges against him. (Why? Is there any racial angle in this story?)
More interestingly, even after the baseless charges against Krittika were dropped, school officials insisted to keep the hapless girl detained in a suspension centre for more than one month. Reason? Well, I suppose only the almighty has the answer.
Now Krittika is suing the New York City administration for $1.5 million for the wrongful arrest and the subsequent harassments. I feel the amount is quite low given the strong blow that her self-respect sense suffered.
I sincerely hope that the US government will take serious note of the issue, and will ensure that all the people directly or indirectly responsible for Krittika’s nightmarish experience are brought to book.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Grassroots Activism And Digital Activism - Complementary To Each Other
Grassroots activists often look down upon and mock at digital activists.
I appreciate and respect the “hands on” approach of grassroots activists. Given the fact that it is they who actually run a movement on the ground, there is no doubt that they form the most vital part of a movement’s lifeline.
However, while taking justified pride in their role, they should also appreciate the significant role played by digital activists in bringing an issue to the world’s notice, thereby generating public support and sympathy in many parts of the world.
The fact is that grassroots activism and digital activism are complementary to each other. And it is only through a combined presence of the two that a movement can become most likely to be successful.
Digital activism can draw public sympathy and support for a cause, but that sympathy and support will wither away if there are no grassroots activists to tap that support and utilize it in furthering the movement on the ground.
On the other hand, if there is only grassroots activism and no digital activism, then those grassroots activists will have to fight for their cause without the world sympathizing with them and their cause. And in that case they will be deprived of a strong moral support that often plays a key role in a movement.
I appreciate and respect the “hands on” approach of grassroots activists. Given the fact that it is they who actually run a movement on the ground, there is no doubt that they form the most vital part of a movement’s lifeline.
However, while taking justified pride in their role, they should also appreciate the significant role played by digital activists in bringing an issue to the world’s notice, thereby generating public support and sympathy in many parts of the world.
The fact is that grassroots activism and digital activism are complementary to each other. And it is only through a combined presence of the two that a movement can become most likely to be successful.
Digital activism can draw public sympathy and support for a cause, but that sympathy and support will wither away if there are no grassroots activists to tap that support and utilize it in furthering the movement on the ground.
On the other hand, if there is only grassroots activism and no digital activism, then those grassroots activists will have to fight for their cause without the world sympathizing with them and their cause. And in that case they will be deprived of a strong moral support that often plays a key role in a movement.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
A Few Humble Suggestions To Ms Girija Vyas, President, National Commission For Women (India)
Dear Madam,
Your organization, National Commission for Women (NCW), is a significant and crucial body that is playing a very valuable role in upholding the cause of the respectable womenfolk of our land. It is courtesy the presence of NCW that a number of women from cross sections of the society are being able to fight against various injustices committed against them, thereby managing to safeguard the honour and dignity of their life. Every right thinking citizen of India appreciates the valuable service offered by NCW, and takes great pride in its presence on the Indian soil.
However, I sometimes feel that there are certain occasions when NCW might get vulnerable to misuse and misutilization, without even realizing it. Such incidents are sure to malign your organization, not withstanding its noble objectives.
If you do take it as an audacity, then I will like to present just a couple of humble suggestions which may help you to ensure that there is no misuse of your organization.
a.) NCW must ensure that on the occasion of a normal household arguement a lady can not blackmail her husband/in laws by flaunting her personal contacts with NCW officials and functionaries. I hope you will accept that it is not a good practice for a lady to make remarks like “I know Ms. XYZ of NCW. I will just call her tomorrow”, while having a somewhat normal argument with her husband/in laws.
b.) You must ensure that when a lady visits NCW office for some official or other work (and not to lodge any complaint), then she is not entertained to make any verbal complaint against her husband/in laws while having a casual chat with any NCW official. If she tries to do something like this, then the concerned NCW official must not entertain it. Rather she should tell that lady that if she really has a genuine complaint to make, then she is welcome to lodge a formal, written complaint with the appropriate person. Otherwise, that lady may later blackmail her husband/in laws by saying things like “Today I told Ms. XYX of NCW everything when I visited their office. She was very angry, and has said that she will ensure NCW takes strict action against you people”.
c.) When a lady lodges a complaint with NCW, then, after recording the complaint, NCW may do the following two things – c.) 1.) – It may verify the genuineness of the complaint before taking any action against the accused, And, c.) 2.) – Even after it finds that the incident mentioned in the complaint is true, it may try to find out the root cause, which eventually resulted in that incident. For example, NCW finds that a lady was indeed slapped by her husband as she has mentioned in her complaint. Now, before taking action against her husband, NCW may try to find out whether there was some very strong provocation from the lady which made her husband to slap her at the heat of the moment. It may have been so that the lady was abusing her in laws in a very offensive language, which made her husband lose patience (after all, he is a human being). Worse, it may have been so that the lady had pounced on her husband and was physically assaulting him, and the husband had to slap her back simply for self defence.
So madam, these were just a couple of suggestions that I dared to make, with this hope that the same might help NCW to be further effective in its actions. I again hope that you will not count my action as an audacity.
I want to highlight that my coming up with these suggestions does not mean that I have any doubt about the competence of NCW officials.
I will also like to highlight that I do not claim to have any personal experience as far as the situations/scenarios - that I have mentioned above as examples - are concerned.
Please accept my heartfelt respect and regards and share the same with each and every member of NCW. Please always be there and be a strong support for our mothers, sisters and daughters, who genuinely need your help. I wish you people all the best.
Your organization, National Commission for Women (NCW), is a significant and crucial body that is playing a very valuable role in upholding the cause of the respectable womenfolk of our land. It is courtesy the presence of NCW that a number of women from cross sections of the society are being able to fight against various injustices committed against them, thereby managing to safeguard the honour and dignity of their life. Every right thinking citizen of India appreciates the valuable service offered by NCW, and takes great pride in its presence on the Indian soil.
However, I sometimes feel that there are certain occasions when NCW might get vulnerable to misuse and misutilization, without even realizing it. Such incidents are sure to malign your organization, not withstanding its noble objectives.
If you do take it as an audacity, then I will like to present just a couple of humble suggestions which may help you to ensure that there is no misuse of your organization.
a.) NCW must ensure that on the occasion of a normal household arguement a lady can not blackmail her husband/in laws by flaunting her personal contacts with NCW officials and functionaries. I hope you will accept that it is not a good practice for a lady to make remarks like “I know Ms. XYZ of NCW. I will just call her tomorrow”, while having a somewhat normal argument with her husband/in laws.
b.) You must ensure that when a lady visits NCW office for some official or other work (and not to lodge any complaint), then she is not entertained to make any verbal complaint against her husband/in laws while having a casual chat with any NCW official. If she tries to do something like this, then the concerned NCW official must not entertain it. Rather she should tell that lady that if she really has a genuine complaint to make, then she is welcome to lodge a formal, written complaint with the appropriate person. Otherwise, that lady may later blackmail her husband/in laws by saying things like “Today I told Ms. XYX of NCW everything when I visited their office. She was very angry, and has said that she will ensure NCW takes strict action against you people”.
c.) When a lady lodges a complaint with NCW, then, after recording the complaint, NCW may do the following two things – c.) 1.) – It may verify the genuineness of the complaint before taking any action against the accused, And, c.) 2.) – Even after it finds that the incident mentioned in the complaint is true, it may try to find out the root cause, which eventually resulted in that incident. For example, NCW finds that a lady was indeed slapped by her husband as she has mentioned in her complaint. Now, before taking action against her husband, NCW may try to find out whether there was some very strong provocation from the lady which made her husband to slap her at the heat of the moment. It may have been so that the lady was abusing her in laws in a very offensive language, which made her husband lose patience (after all, he is a human being). Worse, it may have been so that the lady had pounced on her husband and was physically assaulting him, and the husband had to slap her back simply for self defence.
So madam, these were just a couple of suggestions that I dared to make, with this hope that the same might help NCW to be further effective in its actions. I again hope that you will not count my action as an audacity.
I want to highlight that my coming up with these suggestions does not mean that I have any doubt about the competence of NCW officials.
I will also like to highlight that I do not claim to have any personal experience as far as the situations/scenarios - that I have mentioned above as examples - are concerned.
Please accept my heartfelt respect and regards and share the same with each and every member of NCW. Please always be there and be a strong support for our mothers, sisters and daughters, who genuinely need your help. I wish you people all the best.
Monday, May 16, 2011
The Thrilling And Educative “User Testing” Event, Courtesy Teekha Web
As an Internet enthusiast, I will cherish for a long time the nice experience that I had yesterday (15th May 2011). So which experience am I referring to? Well, yesterday I had the opportunity to attend, and be part of, a “User Testing” event conducted by “Teekha Web”, the upcoming online solutions consultancy launched by a bunch of passionate and energetic Web enthusiasts, who eat, sleep and breath WWW.
The concept of “User Testing”, as they explained to me, entails conceptualizing and designing the outline of a web site by strictly keeping in mind the target user. Well, people may say that there is nothing unusual about it, as the target audience is kept in mind while preparing every web site. That is in fact one of the basic rules of web site preparation. True! But as a former content writer I know that this focus on target audience is given mainly while preparing the web site contents (such as text and its language, images and pictures, etc.). But usually not much focus is given on user friendliness in terms of “navigation designing”. It is very common for web site makers to forget to judge whether their web site is easy to navigate, where the user will be able to easily detect the appropriate links, before clicking on the same and accessing exactly those web site pages that contain the information/data that they are looking for.
And it is precisely this factor that is emphasized on in this “User Testing” concept. As per this concept, before actually getting into preparing the web site content, the content preparation team should sit together and conceptualize the web site home page through the eyes of the target audience. They will discuss among themselves (a la brainstorming) and try to identify each and every information/data that the target audience will like to have in the web site. And they will give equal focus on how the links to those data are to be put on the web site, so that the target audience has no problem in detecting/identifying those links and click on them. The basic tenet of the “User Testing” concept is that it is not enough to put necessary information/data in the web site. But you should also ensure it that the target audience has no problem in identifying the links to those data. If the links to those data get lost in the “jungle” of various confusing links, etc., and the target audience fails to access the information/data that they are looking for, then the presence of those information/data in the web site becomes meaningless, right?
I in fact had the “hands on” experience to be a part of this “User Testing” practice. I joined a team that was conceptualizing the home page of a hotel, and enjoyed the experience like anything. While it left me nostalgic by reminding me the experience I used to have as a content writer, I also enjoyed the thrill of learning a new but key concept of web site preparation.
I profusely thank “Teekha Web” team for the great experience (which was both educative and thrilling), and wish them all the best.
The concept of “User Testing”, as they explained to me, entails conceptualizing and designing the outline of a web site by strictly keeping in mind the target user. Well, people may say that there is nothing unusual about it, as the target audience is kept in mind while preparing every web site. That is in fact one of the basic rules of web site preparation. True! But as a former content writer I know that this focus on target audience is given mainly while preparing the web site contents (such as text and its language, images and pictures, etc.). But usually not much focus is given on user friendliness in terms of “navigation designing”. It is very common for web site makers to forget to judge whether their web site is easy to navigate, where the user will be able to easily detect the appropriate links, before clicking on the same and accessing exactly those web site pages that contain the information/data that they are looking for.
And it is precisely this factor that is emphasized on in this “User Testing” concept. As per this concept, before actually getting into preparing the web site content, the content preparation team should sit together and conceptualize the web site home page through the eyes of the target audience. They will discuss among themselves (a la brainstorming) and try to identify each and every information/data that the target audience will like to have in the web site. And they will give equal focus on how the links to those data are to be put on the web site, so that the target audience has no problem in detecting/identifying those links and click on them. The basic tenet of the “User Testing” concept is that it is not enough to put necessary information/data in the web site. But you should also ensure it that the target audience has no problem in identifying the links to those data. If the links to those data get lost in the “jungle” of various confusing links, etc., and the target audience fails to access the information/data that they are looking for, then the presence of those information/data in the web site becomes meaningless, right?
I in fact had the “hands on” experience to be a part of this “User Testing” practice. I joined a team that was conceptualizing the home page of a hotel, and enjoyed the experience like anything. While it left me nostalgic by reminding me the experience I used to have as a content writer, I also enjoyed the thrill of learning a new but key concept of web site preparation.
I profusely thank “Teekha Web” team for the great experience (which was both educative and thrilling), and wish them all the best.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Apa Sherpa – A Steady “Climb” of “Himalayan Success”
The living “Everest Legend” Apa Sherpa has done it again. Boasting the record of scaling Mt. Everest for the most number of times in the world, this jewel of the respectable “Sherpa” community again climbed the world’s highest peak on May 11, 2011, for the 21st time. This time he scaled the peak as a member of Eco Everest Expedition 2011. Eco Everest Expedition 2011 is an initiative aimed at cleaning the litter at Mt. Everest that was left behind by earlier climbers. The initiative also focuses on generating mass awareness on the possible impacts of climate change.
Now in his early 50’s, this pride of the Asian mountaineering community scaled Mt. Everest for the first time in 1990. And then he made it his practice, eventually establishing himself as the man to scale the peak for more times than anybody else.
Apart from being a legendary mountaineer, Apa Sherpa also enjoys the honour of being Nepal’s ambassador to promote tourism. He is also the founder of Apa Sherpa Foundation, the organization which is dedicatedly working for providing better education to Sherpa children located in rural Nepal. The Foundation is also working for the preservation of Sherpa language and culture.
Please accept a bagful of heartfelt salutations, sir.
Now in his early 50’s, this pride of the Asian mountaineering community scaled Mt. Everest for the first time in 1990. And then he made it his practice, eventually establishing himself as the man to scale the peak for more times than anybody else.
Apart from being a legendary mountaineer, Apa Sherpa also enjoys the honour of being Nepal’s ambassador to promote tourism. He is also the founder of Apa Sherpa Foundation, the organization which is dedicatedly working for providing better education to Sherpa children located in rural Nepal. The Foundation is also working for the preservation of Sherpa language and culture.
Please accept a bagful of heartfelt salutations, sir.
Friday, May 6, 2011
One Day The Entire World May Become A Single State
A time may come when the entire world will become a single state
And I have a feeling that one day it will happen, though the idea may sound absurd on today’s date.
There will be a single World Government, running the affairs of the entire globe
Spanning from Africa to America, and Asia to Europe.
There will be no “countries”, but only “administrative divisions”
And people will have no “nationalities”, as there will be no “nations”.
Every person will have only one identity – that he is a World Citizen
No matter originally which place he is from - the USA or India or Kenya or Yemen.
There will be no “international border”, as the entire world will be a single country
With various regions of the world being like the branches of the same tree.
There will be no war, as there will be only one country with not a second one to challenge its “territorial integrity”
And people across the world will enjoy a life of peace, harmony and unity.
The entire global fund will be spent on development, with not a single pie being wasted in war preparation
There will be no “war psychosis”, as that is impossible when the entire world has only one nation.
Words like “patriotism”, “nationalism” and “nationalist feeling” will be completely obsolete
And people will find such feelings to be ridiculously “parochial” and “narrow-minded”.
All the people across the globe will live as a single community
Working together for the world’s over-all development with dedication and integrity.
Just imagine what a beautiful place the world will be, if my dream becomes a reality
I know the dream sounds to be Utopian, but cannot we take at least some baby steps towards a Global Unity?
And I have a feeling that one day it will happen, though the idea may sound absurd on today’s date.
There will be a single World Government, running the affairs of the entire globe
Spanning from Africa to America, and Asia to Europe.
There will be no “countries”, but only “administrative divisions”
And people will have no “nationalities”, as there will be no “nations”.
Every person will have only one identity – that he is a World Citizen
No matter originally which place he is from - the USA or India or Kenya or Yemen.
There will be no “international border”, as the entire world will be a single country
With various regions of the world being like the branches of the same tree.
There will be no war, as there will be only one country with not a second one to challenge its “territorial integrity”
And people across the world will enjoy a life of peace, harmony and unity.
The entire global fund will be spent on development, with not a single pie being wasted in war preparation
There will be no “war psychosis”, as that is impossible when the entire world has only one nation.
Words like “patriotism”, “nationalism” and “nationalist feeling” will be completely obsolete
And people will find such feelings to be ridiculously “parochial” and “narrow-minded”.
All the people across the globe will live as a single community
Working together for the world’s over-all development with dedication and integrity.
Just imagine what a beautiful place the world will be, if my dream becomes a reality
I know the dream sounds to be Utopian, but cannot we take at least some baby steps towards a Global Unity?
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