SHIFTED!!!

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Ghalibiana!

Above: Ghalib as depicted by MF Husain

The internet is a wonderful thing. And I think so because otherwise,I would have not come across this wonderful 'work-in-progress' of a Professor from Columbia, Prof. Frances Pritchett. Reading his works and exploration here, was an out of body experience.

Here, take a look.

http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00fwp/#fwp

The 'Ghalibiana' section particularly interested me. I also plan to download some of the readings mentioned for Islam in South Asia. They could be a very interesting read.

As, for now, I shall ponder over what a Ghalibiana, ' One time, at night, he was lying on a cot, looking at the sky. Seeing the apparent disorder and lack of arrangement of the stars, he said, 'The task done out of self-will is usually done in a disorderly way. Look at the stars-- how badly they're scattered around! No order, no arrangement; neither pattern nor design. But the King has the right over everything; no one can breathe a word.'

Thoughtlings

Spending all my time cooking. Loving trying out new recipes! Often scurry between the kitchen and Google! Have so far, made quite edible dishes! The Garlic dip, The thin-crust pizza, The baked potatoes with cheese! Quite a feat. I cook, Sis and Mother hog! So far, so good!
Wonder how will I find time to do all this once college begins. Realize now, how difficult it is for working women to be juggling home and work, both, for years. My mum did for 27 years! They're still the most grossly underpaid. Even those not working - home-makers - are utterly exploited. A home-makers in India is not even counted as contributing to the GDP. Sad, no? while in Mumbai, every second house, a woman has some work she is doinf form within her home - art and craft classes, a creche, or a tution centre, a cooking class.
Work is seen when one traverses great distances, sits on a chair that gives the individual a backache, blinds himself in front of an unfriendly screen for a good 8-10 hours and comes back home - a living dead.

I hope that people begin to believe that work-from-home is as much a work as it is from a desk-at-work. Yet again once can see my partiality towards Mumbai. But then that is how that city is...it teaches people to believe that each and everyone one of us is an employer- and an employee.

Sharing a new look to the blog/ Hope it makes me write more everyday. Long to write, but somehow paper plastic keys can never replace what a paper and pen can do to you. They work a different charm. Paper is like the land you own. A screen with empty white space never tempts me.

Today was a nebula of thoughts, interspersed with breaths.

Fools of Paper Degrees !

Most of my parents' friends and most of my parents' friends' children also have degrees. This doesn't mean that they've managed to find the kind of work they wanted. Not at all; they went to university because someone, at a time when universities seemed important, said that in order to rise in the world, you had to have a degree. And thus the world was deprived of some excellent gardeners, bakers, antique dealers, sculptors, and writers. - Paulo Coelho in 'The Witch of Portobello'



Sad that paper degrees produce the food that we eat. I'd rather know the variety of Mangoes that grow, than learn the ethics of nonsensical journalism.

Rearing to go!

Rearing to go!

By: Udita Singh (Lady Sri Ram College, University of Delhi)



The first two days at CCS have only strengthened my belief that one learns more in a healthy working environment than in the confines of four walls. The past two days have been filled with many interesting observations about the internship, and the most attractive factor to me was how efficiently it had all been planned for us. Many of us, including me have had little experience in field research and methodologies. But just after two days and two workshops – one on research methodology by Vipin, our research guide and a workshop on efficient usage of internet as a research tool, have insofar yielded good results.

Having said that, it’s not all serious stuff here! We had a couple of ice-breaking games amongst the twenty of us, and that certainly helped us loosen a bit. Also, sitting together at lunch in the kitchen has been a good idea, as sharing our lunches has only got us closer!

There is definitely a lot brimming here! I sense plenty of enthusiasm, vigor and excitement in A-69! People teeming with ideas, thoughts, opinions, counter-arguments – I believe I could not have found a more ‘intellectually-inclined’ batch to be a part of.

As a communications intern, interested in the field of development communication – I wish to make it all a two-way process i.e. ensure that I have a give-and-take outlook towards the internship program.

I am definitely charged up and rearing to GO!