Tonight I joined a dynamic discussion about how to make TheStoreFront Community project self-sustaining...and I couldn’t help but flash back into the early days of when TakingITGlobal was founded and we had our discussions on what future directions we would take and how our ideals and dreams could be transformed into actionable plans. Of course, even after 9 years of having the ‘idea’ of TIG, the essence of having challenging strategic conversations still remains part of my current reality – however the energy in the room this evening reconnected me to the Fall of 2000, when we hosted meetings with invitations sent out to friends, organizations and those who joined our website from Toronto.



The dynamics of the room jolted from cohesive and interconnected to somewhat tense given the financial realities of the project. Earlier this year, a 1000 square foot store front space was established in order to serve as a support and communication network in the context of an urban village. Starting in January, the costs of rent will be doubled and the project in its current state does not generate enough revenue to afford costs of rent or administration. That said, an exciting range of events have taken place in recent months including a documentary with interviews of people in the neighbourhood, the inaugural BIG on Bloor Festival (bigonbloor.com/festival), the “b-l-o-o-o-o-r” design campaign including sales of well designed American Apparel t-shirts and bags, the “Everything Local” silent auction event and hosting of meetings, events and exhibits including the Afri Village Fest front window presence & photo documentation.

The project was made possible through a partnership between ThinkTankToronto, Business Improvement Area Office, and a group of students and faculty at the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD).

A key driver and designer of the initiative is a former TakingITGlobal staff member, Ghazaleh Etezal who is currently 21 and worked with us as a graphic designer in 2006. As I connected with Ghazaleh this evening, it was amazing to see her in action in her role as one of the connectors and in hearing people reference her contributions of design, research and coordination for TheStoreFront. It was also great to chat with Ghazaleh this evening and hear her attribute TakingITGlobal as part of her inspiration for the project.



In many ways, the place based goals of creating community for TheStoreFront initiative are aligned with the global online community objectives for TIG. As explained on the website, TheStoreFront aims to be “the common space between two separate disconnected worlds of youth, institutions, neighbourhood NGOs, programs and services available within the BloorCourt and BloorDale Villages (Christie to Lansdowne on Bloor West).” On a conceptual level, it is intriguing for me to observe and be part of a conversation about how to grow and sustain a space that supports vibrant community engagement.

Some of the ideas shared this evening that are most interesting to me include:

- Having a paid membership fee (i.e. $10/month)
- Hosting regular meetings (weekly or monthly) for ‘members’ to attend which would serve as a social space, with topics of discussion
- Utilizing the space to feature the products of local artists (i.e. clothes, jewlery, artwork)
- Having a cafe space with organic chocolate & other organic snacks sold
- Renting out the space to community organizations for events/meetings
- Offering workshops to help meet needs of community members (i.e. English as a second language, or focusing on a particular craft/skill with guest speakers etc).
- Establishing a core base of volunteers (i.e. a partnership with the neighbouring Working Women Community Centre), to offer an experience for newcomers to Canada living in the neighbourhood which would help to ensure that core responsibilities are fulfilled (i.e. keyholders with people who are responsible for opening & closing up the space)

One concern that emerged from the discussions was the issue of timing and how challenging it will be to raise sufficient funds in time for the end of the year. There was some discussion on what the concept or project would be if it did not live in the specific space at 957 Bloor W – however most of the ideas generated were aimed at trying to keep the space alive.
If it ends up not being feasible to maintain the 957 Bloor W StoreFront space due to costs, my recommendation is to develop stronger partnerships with existing places designed for the community (i.e. local community centres, employment centres, libraries etc) and try to help revitalize existing spaces that are supported by the government and that have a history of serving the community. While I love the idea of transforming commercial spaces into being community driven and serving, it may be too challenging to develop a financially sustainable model at this current time due to current economic realities.

On a final note...I do hope that the financial challenges can be overcome and that a proven model can be developed, shared and scaled with other communities!

Here's a list of who came:

Night at the Indies / Meow Films: Gurbeen
Community Arts Collective / Daily Bread Food Bank: Jim
BIG and BIG Festival: Ann
People Plan Toronto: Ann
DIG IN: Donna / Ann
Torontopedia: Himy
Working Women: Diana / Jessica
BloorCourt BIA: Shelley
IF Theatre: Sara
Supportive, active, creative, engaged dedicated locals: Ryan / Michelle / Phil / Darcy / Leah / Leigh / Chatherine S / Craig / Camilo
Delaware Residents (Street Festival): Rosalie
Delaware Open Space: Darcy
Humanist Movement: Nick / Roberto
Sistering (past Chair): France
Green Party: Steve
Annex Lions Club: Monica
Wireless Toronto: Gabe
Concord Café: Genoveva
Christie Ossington Neighbourhood Centre: Tim
Dufferin Grove Residents Association: / Rob
Anarchist U: Christian / Maggie
Laidlaw Foundation: Ana
Globe & Mail: Nadja
Property Owner 957: Robert Markovits
Chemistry Branding (consultant and partner): Will
Jim Allen Photo: Jim
TakingITGlobal: Jennifer

[unconfirmed]
Freedom Clothing: Amanda
Parkdale Liberty: Jennifer
ArchiTEXT: Zahra
Long & McQuade: Jon
Toronto Poets: Jason / Hajile
Linux Caffé: David

Art for me
is a journey
into the unspoken, unknown, unwanted and unheard
realities of our shadows
and of our hopes.

We are suspended in time
glimpsing in the mirror
of our future and our past
They flash before us and cause a jolt
of hope, of fear, of want, of release.

Our senses on overload
we admire and adore
our object of fascination
representing the idol we love
and demon we hate.

we forgive
we empathize
we heal
we bathe
in beauty
and bliss.

This is art
for me.

Digital technologies like Internet, mobile phone and computers banged the world with a claim to work freely. Suddenly there was an air of borderless world. Its popularity and power stunned the world nations. Governments lost track of digital power. Their radar of censorship got blocked by Internet. Information was flowing freely from anywhere to everywhere.

At one point of time there was a global movement try to control the world affairs. What was started in Brazil under the banner of World Social Forum threatened to break the iron cages of Governments. Independent people’s power of the world was half visible. Awaken by such critical realities; some countries tightened their information control. The axe fell on the Internet. Simply certain websites which are anti-national and provoking people to react were blocked.

Technologies which were part of younger generation were slowly impacting the elder sections too. Lagging behind in techno knowledge, Governments constituted cyber cells both to spread its information and to track its rebels and anti-establishments messages in the cyberspace.

China qualifies to the number one spot in censoring and blocking websites. No other country has so powerfully dealt with the Internet power than China. Jonathan Zittrain and Ben Edelman in their study found that collected two hundred thousand website samples and found that about fifty thousand were unavailable at least one and nineteen thousand were unavailable twice. BBC, CNN, US Court System were blocked. Some websites were clever enough to copy past the information from the blocked sites were available. It is a matter of popularity of the free expression of China sites that matter most to the Government. Tibet and Taiwan searches in the Google yielded no information or pro China news. Such was the strength of Government control over internet in China.

The Amnesty International says that the Chinese users were cleverer than their government by using proxy servers. It is the same case in information controlling Iran. The network system got popular from the university campuses. Slowly the anti-establishment students started spreading their message through Internet. Having successfully crushed down the print medium which was spreading anti-government messages, the Internet power came as a great shock.

Despite several tortures and control mechanisms Internet seems to be penetrating right to the end of the Government and hitting hard with antagonistic messages. Naturally the state control seems to be partial rather than totally ruthless. Off late the Chinese authorities are sending proxy pictures with anti-China message and infecting it with virus deliberately. This comes on the top of the searches and threatens the surfers not to download it. This exercise is repeated to fill many search results with virus attached messages and images.

One never knows the time of total takeover of Internet by the Government. Its power can be enhanced and upgraded any time. If a techno person takes over the Government then he/she will apply own mind to control the information. Rarely one can see a liberal implementing his prophecies. With the increasing terror threats anyone in the government will be compelled to give it as an excuse while ordering information control.
It is crucial to separate information freedom and information menace. Naturally every government should allow the free flow of information. Keeping track of the terrorists and troublemakers is a must. Indeed internet should be used proactively by the Government to track terror operators and help public to live peacefully.

In the fast moving career world who got time for formal relationships? This question seems to be answered on the ground and evidences are ample to witness. If a man and woman are living together and enjoying sexual relationship without marriage then it can be termed as ‘live in relationship’. India is totally strange to this model of human relationship few decades back. The Western societies which are accustomed to live in relationships infected traditional nations with this social model. Although this is few in numbers live in relationships will grow in big strength in the future.

There are various reasons for the escalating live in relationships. One, both man and woman are working and earning. In the past women used to be at home managing family. Men worked and brought resources to sustain livelihood. Whatever tensions he had at work are soothed at home by wife and children. Family life gave calmness and guided him at times of crisis. Entry of women in professional and higher education fields compelled them to take employment. Most importantly the high cost consumer economy necessitates women to work. Although work emancipated from ignorance and boredom it has taken their peace of mind. With eight hours of tedious work at office, concentrating on family matters is extremely difficult. But most of the Indian women have managed to strike a balance between work and home.

Few can handle occupational hazards. Either they have to sacrifice work or family. Working in private firms can be challenging for family people. I know some my women staff gets censored every day for coming late. Either they cut sorry figure or inhale frustrations. One of the programme coordinators keep saying “my days are numbered”. For the past two years she continues to come late due to her engagement with her son’s education. Despite giving her Saturday off, she comes late at forty five minutes late everyday to office. With this disadvantage she keeps fighting with everyone. Rarely does she go home with a peace of mind. Naturally one can expect the consequences of her family life.

According to a national survey, 99 percent of the Indian women are married. The remaining one percent enters either live in relationship or remain spinsters. But the number of increasing live in relationships is increasing from the surface view. A study conducted by Public Action in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata says that two percent of the sample of 3000 young age people below 35 identified themselves as live in partners. The respondents mainly pointed out that there is no time for them to think about formal marriage system. They are afraid of registering marriage and filling divorce cases. Basically they are aware of the fragility of their marriage. Why to invite legal trouble by going for the marriage?

The high visibility of live in relationships has attracted the attention of courts. The Maharastra Government has extended the meaning of wife to one who is also living with a man for a long period of time. Justice. Mallimath Committee has recommended in 2003 that a woman who lived with a man for a reasonable period of time enjoys the legal rights of a wife. Is India getting ready for a large-scale live in relationships?

An international organization working in the tsunami affected area gave a CD to give opinion about their research. It was about the miseries of affected children. In one of the moving episodes a dalit child of 11 years said ‘We elected our own community man to improve our lives. But he is improving his own wealth without concern for his community people. One or two poor among dalits who were elected to the public office on reserved ticket are enjoying their power rather doing positive things for the community”. This moved me to explore the correlation between power and change.

Who benefits from the change? This is a very trivial question to answer. It is also difficult to provide an absolute evidence for the change brought in by people who were given mandate. Is it just enough to elect a black as the President of USA to ensure total justice for all blacks? Whether the ascendancy of woman to the top executive position of a country necessarily empowers women in that country? These are few fundamental questions keep cropping up in the minds during the high voltage talk about empowerment of underprivileged communities by electing one among them to represent in the highest power drivers.

One there is change at the structural and functional levels. But the increasing power of information reached to all sections through 24x7 media makes change invisible. All the negative aspects are projected. Rarely positive aspects of society are highlighted. Result of this is the circulation of frustration.

Political and personal benefits occupy the centre stage of change advocacy. There is no genuineness in advocating change. The gap between the lip and heart is very vast. When it comes to lip talk there is a free flow of rhetoric. In heart beats there are more personal desires than community development thoughts.

In India we had a dalit as the deputy prime minister. Babu Jagjeevan Ram occupied prime positions from ministership to deputy prime ministership. Yet he was not able to bring out revolutionary changes in the perception of dalits and also the others perception of dalits. We had Indira Gandhi the omnipotent woman Prime Minister for nearly two decades. Yet women occupy the down bottom position in the social strata. We had K.R. Narayanan the first dalit President. Today we have dalit chief justice.

It is incorrect to raise this correlation of community person at the helm of affairs and their community development. Firstly they are limited by various permutations and combinations of the socio-political setup. Secondly, whether a dalit or woman or black or any underprivileged category person gets carried by the aura of power. He or she loses sight of community feelings and dons the mantle of power person. In this situation the focus of community development is lost.

For instance, for the past two decades railway ministers of the union come from Bihar. They favour their home state by increasing the number of trains and rail related factories. This burns the hearts of other state members of parliament. Kerala MPs always complain about the raw deal they get in the railway budget. They often accuse the monopoly of Bihar in railways concessions, opportunities and employment.

Both ways it is difficult for the community conscious power people to survive. If they work explicitly for community concerns they are branded as ‘community driven’ and if they don’t work their own people condemn them. A right balance that can bring true change in each one of the underprivileged person’s life can remove this dilemma.

Congratulations to Mali Bickley, Grade 5 teacher at W. H. Day Elementary School, Bradford, Ontario who wins over $10,000 in classroom technology and thanks for the mention of TakingITGlobal in your video! We are so thrilled that you are using TIGed.org in your classroom.

Defeat is difficult to digest. But expressing explicitly in anguished form is not considered as sporty and public figure’s style. Elections in America always demonstrated the distinguished way of conceding defeat. John Mccain has lived up to the standard of defeated candidate in the USA’s presidential election. His cool, clam and assuring speech after the final ballot was counted tells the depth of American political culture. This one aspect of Western political culture mesmerizes both common man and politicians in the Indian subcontinent. I heard many people praising Mccain’s gesture of wishing Obama a bright political future and his support to strengthen America. Rarely political figures in India show such a courtesy to congratulate their opponents. Mudslinging is part of the political game played everyday in the Indian society.

A popular personality’s strength is tested during the time of defeat. In that sense Mccain’s stature has climbed few upper peaks after his defeat speech.
To congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love.
“In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving.
This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight.
I've always believed that America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Senator Obama believes that, too.
But we both recognize that, though we have come a long way from the old injustices that once stained our nation's reputation and denied some Americans the full blessings of American citizenship, the memory of them still had the power to wound.
A century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt's invitation of Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage in many quarters.
America today is a world away from the cruel and frightful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African-American to the presidency of the United States.
Let there be no reason now ... Let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth.
Senator Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for his country. I applaud him for it, and offer him my sincere sympathy that his beloved grandmother did not live to see this day. Though our faith assures us she is at rest in the presence of her creator and so very proud of the good man she helped raise.
Senator Obama and I have had and argued our differences, and he has prevailed. No doubt many of those differences remain.
These are difficult times for our country. And I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face.
I urge all Americans ... I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.
Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say no association has ever meant more to me than that.
It is natural. It's natural, tonight, to feel some disappointment. But tomorrow, we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again.
We fought — we fought as hard as we could. And though we feel short, the failure is mine, not yours.
I hold in my heart nothing but love for this country and for all its citizens, whether they supported me or Senator Obama — whether they supported me or Senator Obama.
I wish Godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president. And I call on all Americans, as I have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties, but to believe, always, in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here.
Americans never quit. We never surrender.
We never hide from history. We make history.
Thank you, and God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you all very much.”
This concession speech should inspire the public figures across nations to conduct themselves in dignified manner after electoral defeat. American can be the leader of a decent political culture which equips every public figure to work for the common cause without vitiating the atmosphere and pushing the people towards frustration.

Sunday newspapers are heavy in weight. Multiple pages of matrimonial columns are the big reason for this heavy Sunday editions. Almost all the English dailies carry 8 page matrimonial advertisements every Sunday. The Times of India and The Hindustan Times are the two prominent newspapers which add weight to these columns. Apart from bride and bridegroom information different sociological factors are in an ample display. To decode these factors one has to spend a lot of time in reading these columns. Normally we do not even look at matrimonial columns if there is no need for us to find a partner for life.

To understand whether caste is still an issue in the wedlock, a cursory look at the matrimonial columns is sufficient. All the newspapers classify brides and bridegrooms according to their castes. Otherwise it is difficult for the reader to scan the whole a lot of advertisements. In addition to the newspapers several matrimonial websites have cropped up. Bharat Matrimony.com, simplymarry.com, shadi.com, jeevansaathi.com, and many others. Everyday there is some innovations in these sites and good improvements have been made. In a fraction of seconds one can find a suitable partner according to his or her desires. The search engines have made it very easy. Type Bride, age 23-26, Height 160 cms, complexion, fair, Caste, Kayastha, City, Patna, you will get 210 matches. With these wide ranges of brides with photos one can choose the finest one. If you are premium member of the site which will cost you Rs.3000 you can directly access the bride’s contact number and strike a conversation in the chat rooms.

The advantage of the matrimonial sites over newspaper advertisements is that there are quick search results with multiple photos. Chatting is possible with the girl and a comfort level can be established prior to striking the final deal. In the fast paced life, finding a life partner is both easy and difficult. Easy because of the several technological aids and difficult due to the persistence of socio-religious factors in finalizing the marriage.

Caste and class should match the desires of the partner searching families. In India it is not the choice of the individual over life partner. But the entire family gets into the process. One of my friends told me that he had no choice than to accept what his parents and sister selected. In more than 45 bride search visits he was never allowed to open mouth by his enthusiastic family members. If mother likes, father dislikes the bride. If three of them agree then his sister disapproves the girl for very strong voice and overweight. For the past 6 years he is searching for suitable soulmate but in vain. The consolation his sister got the right groom during bride hunts for her brother.

Despite high progress in education and heavy urbanization, social factors matter most in selection of life partners. It may be not be the choice of the bride or groom but their family members insists on the suitable social matches. A Rajput boy will demand the same caste, higher income, convent educated girl with postgraduate degree who can stay at home and look after the family. These qualifications are mostly thrust by family members. One of the important reasons for such stagnation in attitudes of parents in selecting life partner for their children is the soap operas telecasted. “Kabhi Saas bhi bahu thi” serial showcases the conflict between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law and the consequence of home politics. Most of the mother-in-laws are popular patrons of these types of serials. Obviously the teleserials have impacted them and made them extremely cautious while choosing their bahus.

Most of the matrimonial columns are difficult to decode. To meet the stipulated space and spent less on the advertisement, people adopt strategies and abbreviations. It is difficult for new readers to understand these code languages. It took months of brain racking to find out what BHP, S.M, etc are. Nevertheless matrimonial columns are interesting sociological reservoirs.

Recession is a reality in the current economic crisis. Corporate sector is clueless in managing the trouble. Job cuts, slashing of salary, reduction in allowances, shutting down units which do not give huge profits, and other ways are followed to ward off the sudden death situation. Common people too face the music with the shooting inflation. How Indians are coping up with this gloomy economic condition? Any scale down in celebrations? The initial results show no reduction in the size of the festivities. With diwali nearing most people are continuing their usual fireworks and gifts exchange. One has to wait and see whether the economic crisis has altered the spending. Last year Rs.500 crores worth of gifts was exchanged.

Shops are making all out efforts to woo the customers. The gold price is coming down from Rs.14,000 to Rs.12,000 per 24 karat 10 gms. Dhanteras – an occasion to buy gold is celebrated with fanfare by the jewelers. The purpose of flashy advertisements about Dhanetras is to tempt the customers to buy gold. Non stop louder advertisements in television channels pull the people towards gold buying. Slowly and steadily they are coming to buy. Investment in gold is attractive due to the slump in stock market and banking sector.

Generally festivals are ought to be celebrated even with borrowed money. Lay-offs and economic crisis are temporary phenomenon which does not tamper with the spirit of the people. One of the important reasons for such undeterred festive mood is that it is suppose to dump the worries and look for bright future. For instance diwali is a festival which welcomes Goddess of money – Lakshmi to home. If one does not have money due to the economic crisis, he or she borrows money and do the grand puja to worship Lakshmi. So that the Goddess becomes happy and showers all the prosperity to the worshipped home.

India has too many festivals. There is no stopping of any celebrations. Durga puja, vijayadashmi and diwali come in a month’s time. After two months, New Year and harvest festivals. In north India, Holi comes in March which is a gala event. Apart from these major festivals there are region specific ones which are equally attractive.

Added to the misery of economic crisis, terrorist attacks during festival seasons have slowed down the spirit of shoppers. Diwali season has been the prime target time for terrorists to plant bombs. The dense packed markets provide chance for terrorists to strike at their will. Continuous terrorist strikes have compelled police to erect more security barriers. The fallout is also on the shopkeepers. This year only 35 whole salers were given license to sell crackers in comparison to 250 last year in Delhi. Breaking all these barriers most of the people are shopping and inspiring others to face the grave situation with confidence.

What does the recession mean for Indians? It is not the one stop shock for all. Recession affects different people differently. Those who have good stock of savings and assets need to worry about this situation. Nearly 35% of the Indian population belongs to this category. Another 30% struggle for everyday living and festivals do not matter for them. The final 35% of the middle category may feel little difficult but not completely out. They are salary class people who get into the routine mode of get credit, enjoy now and pay later trend. Who is finally affected by the recession? Those who lost heavily in the stock market crash and lost jobs in the financial tsunami are ones who faces heat in the diwali season this year.

Still diamond –encrusted watches costing more than a million Euros, Armani scarves, Louis Vutton bags, Mont Blanc playing cards, Vertu phones, golf sets and many more exotic gifts are all doing rounds in the wish list of gift givers.

Recession will come and go. Festive spirit is permanent. It should not be bartered for temporary troubles. Live king size life and enjoy every bit of the festival. Pray to Goddess Lakshmi to crush the crisis and continue to pour wealth. Who knows will there be any gloom tomorrow?

The Supreme Court has thrown spanners at the only gala annual event of New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University - student union elections. The stay order issued yesterday instantly outrages all those who have been part of the radical university. Cutting across ideological lines members of the university community feel deprived of an intellectual entertainment during the union elections. Debates, dharnas, campaigns, posters, pamphlets, public meetings and many more unique events are part of the election process. It is the only university where elections are conducted by students. For the past thirty and above years this process has been a quite smooth affair bearing few odd incidents.

J.M. Lyndgoh Committee appointed by the Supreme Court in its report last year proposed few sweeping changes in the conduct of student union elections all over the country. Violence, uncontrolled flow of money, muscle power, political influence and loss of academic character of the institutions during student union elections have influenced the committee to propose stringent measures. Restricting the age limit to 28, amount spent per candidate to Rs.5000, first class pass in all subjects with 80 percent attendance and no second term contest are some of the recommendations of the committee as criteria for students to contest their union elections.

All other universities in the country have either following these guidelines or not conducting student union elections. JNU which is known for questioning the questioner was trying to convince the Court about its unique nature of the elections. The university does not have attendance system. Students are encouraged to do self study and attending lectures are made optional. It is a successful experiment where self struggle breeds all round development. Students from extremely backward families without any basic advantage used the university and reached top positions in life later. Those who have observed such a successful social transformations engineered by JNU supports the university’s unique culture, tradition and ethos. But law and rule of the country cannot be JNU specific.

Knowing well the impact of the Lyndgoh committee report, enlightened student union members of JNU were lackadaisical when the report was accepted and put for implementation by the Supreme Court. I find this as the biggest mistake of JNU student union. Last year when the Supreme Court threatened to stay elections, JNUSU pleaded for course correction this year due to lack of time. After a year the circle is repeated. In the absence of strong record, Supreme Court will not vacate the stay. At best there can be few agreements to the Court order and few amendments can be made to the Lyndgoh’s committee report. There should be segregation between college and university union elections. The age limit can hiked to 35 instead of 28. Two terms can be allowed per candidate due to his/her long term stay in the campus (9 years). Without a give and take policy the stalemate will continue.

Controlling violence, protecting the campus from defacements, excess usage of money and restricting outsiders influence during student union elections are to be taken care by the student leaders. They need to be trained to follow rules and regulations. If students fail to follow law of the land there is no future for legal mechanisms. Instead of stopping the whole process, educating and improving responsibilities of students need to be carried out. Knowing the pros and cons of student life, Supreme Court’s magnanimity in handling student union elections will be highly productive. Not too much. Not too far can be the role play of the legal authority in campus matters.

For many millennia, inequality has been a part and parcel of the social structure. Philosophers and economists have debated non-stop about it. In every civilizational turn there is a new form of inequality taking birth. It seems that inequality cannot be totally eliminated. Only it can be reduced. Different ideologies popped up to destroy inequalities and create egalitarian society. Alas! None survived except inequality.

International, intra-national, class, gender, language, race, caste, religious inequalities are some of the old forms. Technological inequality is one of the latest. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were formulated by United Nations and signed by the world nations to stop the fast pace of inequality. Statistics show the stagnation in the goals. Many of the underdeveloped countries especially in Sub Sahara are going down further. An observation of the living standards of common people reveals the inevitable nature of inequality.

A family was dreaming to chase their neighbhours in social status. Few years back they were without television set, camera, telephone and other consumer durables. After a long struggle somehow they managed to procure a 21 inch colour television set worth of Rs. 10, 000, Kodak camera costing Rs.1000, a cell phone costing thousand rupees and a fridge in the range of Rs.8000. But the consumer products are innovated and marketed in new form every day. His neighbhour now got LCD television which costs Rs.1.2 lakh, digital camera worth Rs.15,000, apple iphone costing Rs.35,000 and latest fridge costing Rs.60,000. The day dream of chasing the neighbhour’s status got crushed by the fasting moving consumer world.

A man walking on the street was envious of the one who was raiding a cycle and he was envied by another man who cannot walk. The cyclist was grumbling against the motorist who fumbled against the car owner. Maruti 800 possessor was biting his teeth against the Honda City owner who in turn was grudging against the BMW owner. The Gandhian saying “World has got for everyone’s need not for greed” is relevant now than ever before. Unmindful racing of consumer products is damaging not only mental but also environmental spaces.

Karl Marx is one of the revolutionary thinkers who thundered against inequality. For him the society is a constant clash between property owners and labour class. To eliminate inequality Marx advocated the transformation from capitalism to socialism to communism. Russia was the first nation to embrace Marxian philosophy and became a communist country in 1917. In eight decades time the first communist country was torn into pieces. It was followed by east European nations.

India is a mixed economy where political socialism and economic capitalism are in a symbiotic relationship. Communism refused to take off beyond Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura. After the Indian public refused to accepted communists for a larger role, they have embraced capitalism in practice. Buddadeb Bhattacharya the hardcore Marxist is the torchbearer of capitalism in Bengal. In the final analysis communism in theory and capitalism in practice is followed. For the past two decades India has been swept by capitalism of neo liberal kind. In this transformation there is an equal mix of rich and poor. One shining and the other suffering.

There is a growing list of millionaires in India. Mukesh and Anil Ambanis wealth is more than few states annual expenditure. Naked display of wealth breeds hatredness against them. Wealth creation is not bad but concentration in few hands is determinant to the long-term social interests. Some enlightened big earners allocate a share of their wealth for public cause. In the recent times, Warren Buffet has become a role model for corporate philanthropy.

In India, Tatas and Birlas have earned everyone’s blessings for their social responsibility. Their time tested giving is an inspiration for the generations of corporations. To bring down inequalities corporate sector devise systematic methods. Any adhoc programmes and policies will not be able to make any visible changes on the ground. The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme ought to imbibe a time bound resulted oriented mechanism. Otherwise it becomes just a flavour of the month talk.

Inequality cannot be removed. It can only be reduced. The first step to minimize inequality is to take away greed mentality of the consumers. Today excess consumerism is the root cause of all evils. The society needs slow-down of ultra pace consumer culture. It cannot be controlled through mere pep talks and advertisements. A consolidated attempt is required to constantly influence people to buy for their needs rather than to equalize their status with others. Corporate companies are hyper active to induce consumer interests. Social leaders should work harder than corporate brains to control greedy consumerism.

In a day and age when most do not agree on anything, from east and west, to conservative and liberal politics, to issues of race and geography, and amongst differing religions and faiths, I believe, along with the founders of Global Dignity, that dignity is the one thing that everyone in the world wants equally. Dignity can be the unifying force that brings us all together at a time when the world needs this more than ever.

On Monday, October 20th 2008, I, in concert with the co-founders of Global Dignity (www.globaldignity.org), His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, Professor Pekka Himanen and John Hope Bryant, and several other Young Global Leaders (as associated with the World Economic Forum) conducted our first ever GLOBAL DIGNITY DAY 2008 in 30 countries, inclusive of every continent.

In this blog, I am sharing an update on Global Dignity Day in Canada. I have taken part in other Dignity Day events including one in Vancouver and another in Jordan that involved Her Majesty Queen Rania in Jordan. I am pleased to report back on Global Dignity Day in Toronto, Canada on October 20th, 2008! We reached 40 grade 9 students (14 years old) in a Leadership Course at Greenwood College (http://www.greenwoodcollege.com/)

I had about an hour to deliver the course for each of the two classes. We kicked off with having the students write what Dignity means to them on a sheet of paper that I handed out, and then it led into a group discussion and a brief presentation on the Dignity Principles. I found that most of the initial definitions people wrote down on defining dignity related to self-respect. My co-facilitator was a grade 11 student (Celine Caira) from the school who helped me to prepare for the event. Celine shared a story about what dignity means to her based on a recent encounter with a 14 year old girl that she met in a recent trip to India with her family. I shared a few personal stories and gave context on the work of TakingITGlobal.org and how we are growing a global community of youth making a difference. I connected the mandate of our website to the dignity principles. In helping the students further understand the meaning of dignity, I asked them to share their own examples of increasing or even decreasing the dignity of others. They were able to generate many strong examples of what dignity is NOT - which actually transformed the energy in the room to be more supportive (for example after talking about the negative impact of making fun of someone for who they are).

As a process note, it was very helpful to have the students read each of the dignity principles out loud and talk about what that particular principle means to them. There were certain words that they did not understand - such as interdependent - so I took time to explain the meaning behind the word.

The bulk of the interactive time was when I had the students break out into groups of 4-5 and develop their own ABC’s of Dignity. They had about 6-7 minutes and I was amazed to see how our their depth of understanding about dignity had significantly increased since I first entered the class. At first, in doing the ABCs, we started out as a full class discussion, but I quickly realized that it would be better to have them work in teams - and this was a very smart decision. Each of the group then had a representative read out their ABCs of Dignity to the class and they were all eager to hear about the different impressions and interpretations.

At the end of the class, I unveiled the ‘Dignity Flag’ which I prepared (a huge canvas with bright colours) with Celine and Caitlin (another student) prior to Dignity Day. The Flag stated ‘We Pledge to DIGNITY’ and the students were invited to put their name on the flag, along with a word that relates to dignity starting with the first letter of their name (i.e. Jennifer - Justice). They were eager to make their pledge and I noted that many of the words were difficult for the students to spell (which could lead to future vocabulary activities in their studies). The Dignity Flag is now being hung in the school and I am hoping that at the next school wide assembly, it will be shared by some student representatives with the entire school!

Thanks for the opportunity to work together!

Special appreciation goes out to Kim Samuel-Johnson who is part of the World Economic Forum community and was a former Global Leader for Tomorrow. Kim helped bridge the connection with Greenwood College and hosted the Dignity Day planning meetings. I would also like to thank Caitlin Samuel-Johnson and Celine Caira, who are the Grade 11 students that helped me in preparing for Dignity Day. Here is our team photo taken at one of our planning sessions! Also, closing reflection from Celine, “Seeing the way Greenwood students responded to Dignity Day gives me hope that one day we will live peacefully with global dignity”.

I am incredibly energized from my experience at World Blu Live in New York last week – what a dynamic group of thinkers and leaders in the area of organizational democracy.



While at the conference, I delivered a presentation in the section on ‘NEXT’ – where I was asked to share examples of democratic and inclusive practices at TakingITGlobal. After providing an overview of the mission, vision and programs our organization offers, I talked about the value of the WorldBlu Scorecard process and how it has provided an opportunity for our core team to improve our internal communications and processes as a result of the feedback from the surveys. TakingITGlobal has been recognized in both 2007 and 2008 on the WorldBlu list of Most Democratic Workplaces. Here are a few quotes from staff members who completed the scorecard:
• “TakingITGlobal is a unique organization not only in the work it does that inspires, informs and involves members, but in the way the organization functions, which is equally inspiring for its team.”
• “This is a genuinely democratic organization with an informal yet effective management system in place. Hierarchy is virtually non-existent. It is idea driven and riding the very crest of the tech-wave. Intellectual blossoming is only one of the benefits of working here”

In my presentation, I talked about how we have created evolving visualizations of or organizational model including an earlier version of a tree. For those interested in understanding this model, here is a description that I wrote in 2003 as part of a mid-term paper that I wrote as part of my Masters course on Management in Turbulent Times. Through the roots, the organization is grounded in its core vision and values. The trunk is where much of the administrative support and technology development occurs, which all helps to nurture the growth and development of TakingITGlobal’s key program areas which are depicted through the fruit. In the diagram, the red fruit symbolize the core areas of engagement which address the various key gaps. These areas focus on engaging key stakeholders that work to support youth such as international and youth-led organizations, educators, local communities etc. The online community which is placed at the centre of the organizations activities and focus, highlights the nature of its core program. The yellow circles which connect to the online community are nodes which are drawn in a way that illustrates each of the various online community components (Action, Community, Opportunities, Expression, Voice), and how they are organized in a way that transcends the notion of a tree/organism. The research and sourced projects are ‘low-hanging fruit’ which provide support for other program areas. The overall framework is best explained in the context of a living system because it is one that needs to be able to respond and adapt to changes in external environments. In contrast to the purpose of most organizational charts, this structure does not exist to support people at the top of a hierarchy, but rather, to serve and support the growth and development of key program areas (‘fruit’) which are supported, nurtured and grounded in the shared vision (roots). The issue of survival is one of great importance to living systems, as it is to TakingITGlobal. In order for organizational objectives and ideals to be achieved, a sustainable and healthy ‘system’ must be maintained.

Another important part of our organizational culture includes teambuilding activities which have ranged from bowling and indoor beach volleyball, to taking part in a ropes course. One of the challenges for our organization is the difficulty in having teambuilding activities that are inclusive our staff and volunteers who are based in different parts of the world and often in different time zones. When Philip Rosedale, Founder and Chairman of Linden Lab, spoke at the conference, he talked about how they utilize Second Life to conduct meetings. Here is a photo of their board room and the various personalities that emerge through the avatars developed! Organizational practices that have been inspired by discussions with other WorldBlu Democratic Companies include the As and Os weekly emails that all staff send out to an 'As and Os' mailing list - each focused on objectives for the upcoming week and accomplishments from the past week. Additionally, we have a monthly Above and Beyond Award based on a staff voting system and a 'kudos' tool where you can send comments through an online system to other staff that are archived on our intranet. For ongoing knowledge management and sharing of information, we have developed an intranet and are constantly using collaborative tools such as wiki's.

Here are a few thoughts that stayed with me after listing to the diverse array of presentations (http://www.worldblu.com/live/schedule.php)

- Bill Shannon, Chief Wisdom Officer at DaVita talked about how their company is oriented around a village-like culture. They have regular town hall meetings, the office of the CEO has a 'Mayor' sign on it and executive employees have a 'uniform' which is designed like a superhero style costume. Considering the large size of the organization, they are able to maintain an atmostphere of community.

- Rodney North, Vice Chair and Answer Man of Equal Exchange focused his talk on the importance of governance and how their company entitles each employee to one vote and one share. This shared sense of ownership creates shared accountability. They believe that the role of a company include the aim of training better citizens.

- Alexander Kjerulf, Chief Happiness Officer and Author talked about how everyone can achieve happiness at work and that it starts with the simple act of how you say 'good morning'. He shared the '5 Levels' - starting off with 1 being a mumble, 2 saying good morning with no eye contact, 3 is good morning with eye contact and a smile, 4 is good morning with eye contact, a smile and a question about how they are, and level 5 includes everything in level 4 plus physical contact through a handshake. The best part of this session was being part of a transformation of energy in the room when we tried out each of the levels.

- Mike Ferretti, CEO of Great Harvest Bread Company talked about the high levels of customization and localization in their franchise model and shared a powerful diagram that includes about 6 concentric circles highlighting various spheres of their competition.

- Brett Jackson, CEO of Generation Think Tank shared his experience in being part of the first 10 employees at Crocs and some of the negative impacts of the hyper growth experienced by the company.

- A personal highlight of the WorldBlu experience was outside the conference venue at at Carnegie Hall where we watched an awe inspiring performance of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra who played in absolute harmony without a conductor!

- Other insights included learning about a simple practice of having an anonymous question/suggestion box where the CEO can respond to what is submitted during staff meetings, several comments on the importance of expressing appreciation, and the significance of having a results-focused workplace. Also, there was discussion on the concept of scarcity and how it is in your mind - as as the concept of abundance. It is important to choose your views carefully. On the last day, someone observed me taking notes based on my notes, he called me a 'concrete random' essentially based on a matrix model where the y axis includes concrete + abstract and the x axis includes sequential and random. I thought it was interesting to have my thought process being analyzed on the basis of my notebook!

My final highlight of WorldBlu live was listening to Bill Taylor, Founding Editor of Fast Company Magazine, who talked about how important it is for those of us to stay connected and ‘stay in the game’. A very special thank you goes out to Traci Fenton, Founder and CEO of WorldBlu for putting this event together and for her vision and dedication towards promoting and supporting organizational democracy in the workplace. Here’s a photo with Traci, Bill and I.

Violence has a unique branding in India. Different people see killings of innocent lives differently. According to their political nature interpretations differ. One group can defend dreaded terrorists who maimed many people by blasting bombs. The other group can justify their attack against fellow Indians in the name of region and religion. Even a police enquiry creates uproar. 48 bomb blasts and 180 incidents of communal clashes in the last six months. Can we separate these two?


Violent activities carried out by Hindu groups are fancifully termed as “Communal” whereas by Muslims are protected as innocent minorities which I refer here as “Secular violence”. The minority syndrome started during the partition days to reassure the Muslims for an equal treatment is misused by political leaders to play vote bank politics. This segregated politics is the true divider between communities and destroy the secular ethos of the nation. India will lose its secular sheen if the law breakers are allowed to have field days. From the day of Babri Masjid demolition this divided politics of communal vs secular is getting louder.

Law is not allowed to function as per the written script. Police are handicapped. A senior IPS officer told me that everyday his official life is getting complicated. Trial by political figures, media, court and common people are disturbing his peace of mind and normal working ability. Despite their powerful positions, power breathing people are feeling helpless. This is amply clear from the statement of Shivraj Patill, Union Home Minister in the Times of India on 19 October 2008 (p.1), “If I am distracted by unfounded criticism, I’d not be able to discharge my duties. The terrorists are to terrify people, demoralize and defame the police and the government. If we succumb they’d succeed. That’s true of not just me but of my predecessors and those who might follow”. According to Patil, the number of violent incidents (communal, J& K terror strikes, Naxal killings) has come down from 36,000 to 24,000 during the tenure of UPA in comparison to NDA record. He puts the decrease in casualities from 11,000 to 6,000.

Politicians invoke “human rights”, “Innocent before final judgment”, “Hindu bias against minority community” and many other forms of rhetoric to protect the accused for petty political dividends. Another group goes on rampaging railway board exam writing students in the name of safeguarding their regional rights. There is a divisive method employed to trigger violent passions in the name of promoting the cause of community, caste, language, religion and region. It is easily understandable all these causes are not the real ones but political motives are the real motivator. Internal troubles by political groups and external terror by anti-national forces are testing the strength of the nation.

A democratic nation which believes in unity in diversity cannot afford to be a mute spectator towards this segregated violence. All forms of violence should be dealt severely and no one should be allowed to rise above the law of the land Whether SIMI or Bajrang Dal or Maharastra Nava Nirman Sena or Bodos all trouble makers should be delivered instant punishments. Any prolongation in punishment sends wrong signals and encourages more challenges to the law enforcing agencies. .

The simple solution advocated to end all these menaces is “ban them”. The past experience shows that a mere banning is not the solution. The groups can resurface under new names. The cross border terrorists have specialized in creating more fanciful names and structures if they are banned. What the nation needs today is a unified command with one vision to put an end to all root causes of violence. This team will not be controlled by any political motives or diktats. Total freedom and time bound action plan are required for such a force which will have only people with fire in their bellies to end violence without any distinction. No more debate or speculation about communal vs secular violence.

Freedoms are different types. Generally the world is loud about territorial freedom and sovereignty of nations. Rarely one talks about personal freedom, institutional freedom and other varieties of freedom. From an observation of day to day events around oneself, it is clear that freedom of a nation does not mean freedom of its citizens. Hunger, illiteracy, safety, security, traffic, crime, political vendetta, diseases and many other ills are ailing the society. Freedom from all these miseries is the complete freedom for both individuals and nations. Is it possible for such a freedom? None can vouchsafe for total freedom and that is not realistic. Unhappiness will persists and freedom will always be troubled and questioned. Nobody can be totally free as long the world system breeds self-centeredness. To breath better air of freedom one has to sacrifice and self-disciplined. To make this another world possible action should start from every individual.

From national to personal freedoms there is a change. The difference is those who control the people. Even today some of the senior citizens in India would like to have the British Raj. They regret sending the colonial rulers out. The common complaint is that the Indian sub-continent has relieved from British rule which was highly judicious. Is justice is more than freedom? Which one is a priority? It depends on the situation. Indians may desire for justice and good governance. Chinese are eager for freedom. The age-old story of the pasture looks greener from this side is the apt description for the current situation.

The fact of the matter is that every individual wants personal rule in the world. Common living needs rules, regulations, control and punishments. If human beings are self-governing and self-disciplined there is no need for laws. Practically that was not possible. Hence the social systems have evolved certain mechanisms which can direct its people for better living. Emile Durkheim the French sociologist studied the ways in which traditional and modern industrial societies differed in treating people for violating rules. Through mechanical and organic solidarities, Durkheim demonstrated that the community in the past acted swiftly and punished the culprits. In the industrial society, elaborate legal procedures were evolved to tackle crime. But that centralized the legal deliveries and prolonged the justice period. In between people lost faith and also lives.

While trying to deliver justice through proper channel, modern industrial societies have installed highly bureaucratic processes. In a hundred year experience this process is found less effective. Across the world cities crime rates are increasing. Policing seems to be futile in controlling crime. The truth is that few khaki clad police forces are not sufficient. A nation cannot afford to deploy police every nook and corner. Community policing is the feasible alternative. Once upon time community policing was the common system. It was replaced by the bureaucratic method. Are we erroneous in the replacement?

The increasing choice for community policing shows that there no one size fits all solution to the nations. General. Pervez Mushraff has written that dictatorship is the best democratic method in Pakistan. It may be true. What the world considers dictatorship is democracy for Pakistan. Whatever suits the local interests should be followed in practice. Any replication of foreign methods will prove detrimental for people. This age-old truth is still not accepted. The governing people lose focus without following the traditional roots.

Some nations are wise enough to avoid ‘dance floor mentality’ and continue to follow their own steps. Bhutan is a fine example for maintaining the traditional systems with adequate dosage of modern methods. Its growth is slow, steady and happy. No wonder this small Himalayan Kingdom which got transformed into a democratic nation few months back is on the top of the World Happiness Index (WHI). Here too individual freedom is controlled to a large extent but people are extremely happy. The minute Bhutan opens its floodgates of global influences it will lose its distinct flavour of happiness and become one among the other unhappy nations.

To be free one needs to sacrifice and lead from the front. Accepting defeat and not accusing others are the crucial lessons to be learnt before embarking on the freedom flight. It is duties not rights, it is respect not fear, it is discipline not compulsion which can keep the world going without much troubles. Any amount of research and talk will be less helpful if we don’t allow others freedom and promote our freedom.