Indian Culture

Ethnography, Frameworks & Models, Indian Culture, Knowledge, innovation
Learning to be … through Learning Journeys
02.01.08 | Dina | Permalink | 3 Comments

Mahatma Gandhi once said: “We must be the change we wish to see in the world.”
My recent experience with the Learning Journey we organised for Clients actually reinforced to me that given the right balance of content with experiential immersions and a focus on ‘how’ learning would take place, learning-to-be can begin even with just […]
Ethnography, Frameworks & Models, Indian Culture, Knowledge, Market Insights, innovation
My week on a Learning Journey
01.14.08 | Dina | Permalink | 3 Comments

I am just back from a week-long Learning Journey my colleague Shubhangi and I organised for a group of 10 very senior health-care professionals from the US who are on a Futures Task Force … it was intensive, immersive and really very rewarding. It’s been a Learning Journey for all of us - we […]
Indian Culture, Random Views
Should we fear?
12.28.07 | Dina | Permalink | Comment?

I have a group of 13 clients coming in from the US, Mexico and France, early-Jan, on a Learning Journey . Naturally, they have concerns after yesterday’s events, with a lot of the western media talking of Al Qaeda and unrest and potential violence in the entire region. I hope Pakistan stays calm and looks […]
Indian Culture
Nach Baliye 3 Result - glory and shame
12.22.07 | Dina | Permalink | 1 Comment

Just finished watching the finals of Nach Baliye 3 - am so glad Aamir Ali and Sanjeeda Shaikh won - I feel they were really the best dancers, especially Sanjeeda. What shocked me was the unsporting behaviour of Rakhi Sawant and Abhishek who lost, walked off the stage, didn’t come on to take their runners-up […]
Indian Culture, Mobile
Morphing from a qualitative researcher to a mobile phone industry expert?
12.22.07 | Dina | Permalink | 2 Comments

It’s funny - in the last month, I have been interviewed as an ‘expert’ on the mobile phone scene and its future in India by representatives of companies like Nokia and some large telcos (NDA’s prevent me from naming them!). Moni Kivirauma from Finland was here a few weeks ago and she […]
Blogs & Blogging, Brand 2.0, Indian Culture, Social Media
Bollywood meets Twitter
11.02.07 | Dina | Permalink | 4 Comments

I was informed by Twitter that “Saawariya” is following you. Saawariya? Now that’s the new Bollywood movie, yet to be launched! Curious, I went over to their twitter page, and actually found it’s not a spoof (at least I think so) but actually someone involved in marketing the film. They are following 705 […]
Blogs & Blogging, Enterprise 2.0, Indian Culture, Market Insights, Social Media, Voices of the World
Word of Mouth - more powerful in Asian countries
10.23.07 | Dina | Permalink | Comment?

There’s been some recent discussion around whether Word of Mouth and Viral Marketing are indeed different. In my view, viral marketing is the outcome of word-of-mouth recommendations. And it’s not surprising to see Asians rely a lot on word of mouth in this study from Neilsen that reveals some interesting trends:
- 7 of […]
Indian Culture, Market Insights, Qualitative Research Perspectives
The Indian Marketplace - always the bazaar
10.17.07 | Dina | Permalink | 2 Comments

Niti Bhan who writes Perspective 2.0 shares a snapshot of three mega trends in the Indian marketplace, the key words according to her being: “aspirational, ambitious, entrepreneurial, forward looking and pragmatic”
Multiplying Media: “The urbanized consumer has become as demanding and sophisticated as any in the world and the aspirations of the rest are influencing […]
Bridging The Divide Rural India, Indian Culture, Internet And Computing, Uncategorized
Wifi in the Hills
06.18.07 | Conversations with Dina | Permalink | Comments Off

The Indian Express reports that a couple of Israeli geeks have set up a low-cost wi-fi network in Dharamshala, spread over 70 acres, more than 7,000 ft above sea level.

“Thirty-eight-year old David’s technological expertise and perhaps
even nimble athleticism (courtesy his Mossad training) proved useful in
setting up the network in the mountainous terrain. Antennae were
erected in the most unlikely places (in one case the tower was painted
with the insignia ‘Om’ and served as the spire of a local temple), the
Linksys routers were re-engineered to make them power-efficient(most of
them run on solar energy) and the towers were made “monkey resistant” after it was found that the primates found perverse pleasure in
dangling from them.

Other “sabotage” bids were similarly thwarted. There was one
last year in the form of a Distributed Denial of Service Attack (DDSA)
on the website of the Tibetan Technology Centre. Says Ginguld: “It is
difficult to pinpoint who did it but it started after an extensive
series of scans which happened somewhere in China. The same URLs were
loaded to access the database repeatedly…” In a written reply to The
Sunday Express, the Chinese Embassy said it was “unaware of any such
thing”.

Schools, hospitals and other NGOs have benefited immensely
from the service, though the network’s limited bandwidth means it is
not accessible to individuals and laptop-carrying tourists. Says Dawa
Tsering of the Tibetan Medical Institute: “Our earlier connection would
break down frequently and wouldn’t be repaired for long durations. The
connectivity now is more or less uninterrupted.” While the vision of
BPO centres coming up in the region might be a bit too romantic, the
network is being used to promote trade. Dolma Kyap of Norbulingka Art
Institute says they offer Tibetan art works like Thangka painting and
statutes for sale on the Net. But what Ginguld is particularly thrilled
by is the sight of children using the network. “Computer labs in Indian
schools have lots of computers but no internet connection, which is
akin to having a sleek car without petrol. Today when I see
10-year-olds logging on to sites like hi5, chatting with people, I
realise we are on the right path,” he says.”

Cool!
Indian Culture, Social Software Social Networks, Uncategorized
Way to go Sify!
06.09.07 | Conversations with Dina | Permalink | Comments Off

Refuses to block Orkut under political pressure!
Indian Culture, Uncategorized
Freedom of Expression - Art student arrested, MS University Dean suspended
05.14.07 | Conversations with Dina | Permalink | Comments Off

Peter informs the Blogger’s Collective about a series of protests against the arrest of an art student and suspension of the dean of MS University all over the country. Here are details on the incident.

By
now, you would have read, heard or seen the news of the arrest of a
student, Chandra Mohan, and the suspension of the dean of Maharaja
Sayajirao University’s Fine Arts faculty in Baroda, Prof. Shivaji
Panikker. (For those who haven’t, please catch up through the press
links below.)

A simultaneous all-India public protest will take place on 14th May, at 6
p.m. The Mumbai protest wil be in front of Jehangir Art Gallery. Those attending are requested to wear black and/or white.

Protests in other cities:

Date and time for all: 14th May, 6p.m
.
New Delhi - Rabindra Bhavan
Mumbai - Jehangir Gallery
Vishakapatnam - Faculty of Fine Arts, Andhra University
Cochin - Kashi Art Café
Hyderabad - Fine Arts, S N School, University of Hyderabad

Bangalore - M G Road, opposite Gandhi statue
Santiniketan - Kala Bhavan
Guwahati - Press Club

Unfortunately, I’m in groups at that same time so won’t be able to attend, but I urge those of you who are appalled at the incident to go there and lend your voice. Even if you aren’t technically an ‘artist’. This is yet another form of suppressing our freedom of expression, it is an assault on our creativity, another crude and vicious attempt at politics taking over our educational system - and we should fight against it. Am sick of all this moral policing - putting an art student in jail, charging him with non-bailable offenses - come on, we’re going backwards here. Who decides what crosses the boundaries of “outrage” in all these moral policing cases like what happened recently with Orkut and blogs? Why are those that attack an institute free? Do we take it all quietly? And its so ironic really, when so many of our ancient temples, manuscripts, sculptures and paintings depict erotica so overtly - even in the context of Hindu Gods and Goddesses which I have seen.

I like Ranjit Hoskote’s perspective on this:

“It appears that the champions of a resurgent Hindu identity are acutely
embarrassed by the presence of the erotic at the centre of Hindu sacred
art. As they may well be, for the roots of Hindutva do not lie in
Hinduism. Rather, they lie in a crude mixture of German romanticism,
Victorian puritanism and Nazi methodology.

What happens next? Will the champions of Hindutva go around the country
destroying temple murals, breaking down monuments, and burning
manuscripts and folios?“

For those who aren’t aware of the incident, Amit, who believes “isn’t a Hindu then entitled to say that his religious feelings are offended by Hindutva? Huh?“ points to many resources on this matter in a blog post so aptly titled Fascism in Baroda:

“The matter is being followed at Art Concerns, who have a detailed chronology of events up here. Do also read what <br />
Self-appointed Custodians of Hindu Culture—Ranjit Hoskote">Ranjit Hoskote, Gulammohammed Sheikh and Johny ML have to say, as well as this piece by Abhijeet Tamhane. Peter Griffin has more links here, as well as details of a public protest I intend to be part of in Mumbai.”
Indian Culture, Uncategorized
My view of Mumbai
05.02.07 | Conversations with Dina | Permalink | Comments Off

The view from my new place - is on the 16th floor and I have spent all afternoon looking out at city life. I had to drown the sounds of construction and traffic out though - Glenn Frey did well with Strange Weather!