Re: [silk] Empathy

[Ingrid Srinath]

Tangentially...

Check out this job at Ashoka: Chief Entrepreneur for Empathy
https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/1800952314

Ingrid Srinath


> On 2 May 2020, at 18:09, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:
> 
> I was listening to a podcast with Penn Jillette and one of the things he
> said stuck in my head.
> 
> As background, he said, notwithstanding Godwin's Law [1] I would say that
> the line about 'the worst thing about Hitler is that he turned his enemies
> into him ' definitely applies to Trump.
> 
> As an experiment, he decided to stop using the term 'them'. Specifically,
> instead of using the term 'Trump voters', he replaced it with the term
> 'those of us who voted for Trump'. What struck me the most about this story
> was his recollection of just how hard this was to do. Empathy isn't easy.
> [2]
> 
> Udhay
> 
> [1] As an aside, perhaps one of his various friends here could invite Mike
> to silk?
> 
> [2] One reason why "assume goodwill" needs to be an explicit rule.
> 
> --
> ((Udhay Shankar N))  ((via phone))

Re: [silk] Coronavirus and behaviour change

[Ingrid Srinath]

One hoped this might change towards greater equity, and for some it has:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/521919/time-spent-housework-countries/

Instead, we’re seeing this:

http://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20200326-coronavirus-domestic-violence-gender-perspectives



Ingrid Srinath

Re: [silk] Coronavirus and behaviour change

[Ingrid Srinath]

> On 8 Mar 2020, at 18:01, Peter Griffin  wrote:
> 
>  What behaviours (if any) have you changed because you're worried about the
> coronavirus?
> Stuff that you would recommend others do too. For instance, washing hands
> more, using hand sanitsers, avoiding crowds, not going to events,
> cancelling travel.

Am doing / have done all of the above. Find myself acutely conscious of just 
how many different surfaces I make contact with each day. 

Ingrid

Re: [silk] Recommended Reading from 2015

[Ingrid Srinath]


>> On 31 Dec 2019, at 05:26, Thaths  wrote:
>> 
>> On Thu, Dec 26, 2019 at 10:32 AM Ingrid  wrote:
>> 
>> My top 10 (no ranks) this year:
>> Not Quite Not White : Losing and Finding Race in America - Sharmila Sen
> 
> I read a sample chapter of this book as part of longreads and
> really enjoyed it. I bought the book, but have not gotten to it yet.

I too stumbled upon it and am glad I did.
> 
> 
>> Winners Take All : The Elite Charade of Changing The World - Anand
>> Giridharadas
> 
> While there is valid stuff in what Giridharadas says, I feel that he
> (intentionally) ignores the nuances.

Yep. The problem with polemics. 
A counter perspective: 
https://www.philanthropy.com/article/Critiques-of-Philanthropy-Are/246338

Ingrid Srinath

Re: [silk] Recommended Reading from 2015

[Ingrid]

My top 10 (no ranks) this year:
A Horse Walked Into A Bar - David Grossman
Milkman - Anna Burns
Less - Andrew Sean Greer
Not Quite Not White : Losing and Finding Race in America - Sharmila Sen
Winners Take All : The Elite Charade of Changing The World - Anand Giridharadas
The RTI Story : Power To The People - Aruna Roy
Everything I Never Told You - Celeste Ng
Partitions Of The Heart - Harsh Mander
Bombay Balchao - Jane Borges 
Twitter and Tear Gas : The Power and Fragility of Networked Protest - Zeynep 
Tufekci


Ingrid Srinath
@ingridsrinath


> On 26-Dec-2019, at 9:15 AM, Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay 
>  wrote:
> 
> The books I liked are:
> 
> * Bottle of Lies (Katherine Eban) - from having a very scattered
> awareness of the underbelly of generics, the book was useful to
> understand what goes on.
> * Coming Out As Dalit (Yashica Dutt) - aside from the topical nature
> of the memoir, the writing/prose has strength which is both authentic
> and makes one pause
> * Assam - The Accord, The Discord (Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty) - have
> always had fragmented understanding of the accords and this provided
> an opportunity to seek to know more and have better understanding of
> the troubles.
> 
> full list of books I read are at
> <https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2019/732796>
> 
> 
>> On Thu, Dec 26, 2019 at 9:04 AM Thaths  wrote:
>> 
>> On Thu, Dec 26, 2019 at 7:49 AM Anil Kumar 
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> Any takers for a book recommendation thread this year?
>>> 
>>> Two books I enjoyed reading are:
>>> 
>>> 1. This Divided Island - Samanth Subramaniam.
>> 
>> 2. A Beginner's Guide to Japan - Pico Iyer.
>>> 
>> 
>> I also enjoyed 'Autumn Light' by Pico Iyer.
>> 
>> Other books that I read and enjoyed in 2019:
>> 
>> * We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families
>> (Gourevitch, Philip) : Excellent book about the Rwandan genocide, and the
>> aftermath
>> 
>> * The Fat Years (Koonchung, Chan): Sometime after the 2008 Great Financial
>> Crisis, China becomes the dominant world superpower following the collapse
>> of the Western economies. But there seems to be a collective amnesia in
>> China. People don't seem to remember what happened during some crucial
>> months. Only a handful seem to be immune from this amnesia.
>> 
>> * A Fish Caught in Time: The Search for the Coelacanth (Weinberg, Samantha)
>> : The story of the discovery of the Coelacanth.
>> 
> 

Re: [silk] My thoughts on old age

[Ingrid Srinath]

> On 25 Oct 2018, at 07:15, Deepa Mohan  wrote:
> 
> Obviously, the musing went on longer than the blogpost:
> 
> https://deponti.livejournal.com/1215542.html
> 
> I wonder how many people on this list are in their sixties?
> 
> Deepa.

Belated birthday greetings, Deepa.

Re: [silk] Ashim - An Introduction

[Ingrid]

> On 05-Nov-2017, at 11:54 AM, Ashim D'Silva  wrote:
> 
> Thanks Ingrid, it’s in a few months so I’ll be back in touch. Right now the
> big question we have is whether we can survive without owning a car; we’re
> getting mostly negative but potentially mixed responses.

I found Uber adequate for commutes within Joburg on recent visits and I suppose 
rentals could cover weekend trips to all the glorious locales nearby. 

Ingrid Srinath

Re: [silk] Ashim - An Introduction

[Ingrid Srinath]

> On 4 Nov 2017, at 17:29, Ashim D'Silva  wrote:
> 
> Hello Silklist,
> 
> Glad to be a part of something that the more I read about, the more I am
> ashamed to not have known about. Better late than never then.
> 
> I’m a web designer and front-end dev, sometimes a photographer and writer;
> I work with Gaurav Vaz; I like movies and great food and coffee. I work
> remotely making pretty internet things and follow my wife around while she
> helps governments develop health systems for their citizens—currently in
> Rwanda, but will be moving to Johannesburg next year. Also then, happy to
> hear recommendations about the city if anyone’s lived there before.
> 
> I trawled through the archives a bit, and it looks like it’s going to be a
> tonne of new faces—excited to hear more views and perspectives and
> hopefully break my social opinion bubble.
> -- 
> Cheerio,
> 
> Ashim D’Silva
> Design & build
> www.therandomlines.com
> instagram.com/randomlies

Hey, Ashim!

I lived in Joburg for a few years. Happy to share any tips you might find 
useful.

Ingrid Srinath

Re: [silk] Soliciting recommendations

[Ingrid]

On 24 October 2017 at 13:54, WordPsmith  wrote:

> Folks:
>
> Do you subscribe to any interesting email newsletters that hold
> interesting news / updates / links to things happening within particular
> disciplines? Things that interest the practitioners in those fields and
> have not yet made it into the realm of the general media?
>
> If so, please send your recommendations. I’m interested in every field —
> the arts, law, history, architecture, bioethics, the sciences — anything.
> The only thing there seems to be an excess of out there is tech and VC
> newsletters: I’m well stocked with those. But any other field at all — I’d
> be grateful for your suggestions.
>
> (It’s possible someone on the list has broached this topic before, I
> realise.)
>
> S


IDR is a nonprofit media outlet that shares cutting-edge ideas and
real-world practice on the development sector in India.
http://idronline.org/
Full disclosure: The Centre for Social Impact and Philanthropy at Ashoka
University, where I work, helped get IDR started and they have published a
couple of pieces that I wrote.

Central Square Foundation has a good newsletter on education policy in
India: http://centralsquarefoundation.org/



Ingrid Srinath
@ingridsrinath

Re: [silk] Hello silklist

[Ingrid Srinath]

> On 12 Oct 2017, at 16:22, Peter Griffin  wrote:
> 
> Hi All
> 
> (This feels like the first day of school)
> 
> Thanks for inviting me in, Udhay.
> 
> I intend to be mostly a quiet reader and observer until I get a feel
> of the etiquette of the list.
> 
> Meanwhile, the quick About Me:
> 
> I'm very fortunate with my friends. And thanks to the work I have done
> and my own limitations, I know a little about lots of things, but not
> very much about any single thing,
> 
> The longer version:
> 
> I've mostly earned my living as a writer of some kind, mainly in
> advertising, content creation, and journalism. I currently work with a
> newspaper, where I edit and commission more than write. Unpaid writing
> includes blogging and poetry.
> 
> I have been a literary curator, and am an informal student of online
> culture and collaboration (and have been fortunate to be part of some
> cool collectives). I co-founded the writing forum Caferati and
> moderate its various web presences. And I advise a couple of
> non-profits and help others when I can.
> 
> I recently got back to dabbling in sculpture (chalk, and now clay); if
> you know me on social media, I am likely to bore you to tears with
> lots of pictures of those or, even more likely, to send you off
> groaning with awful puns.I solemnly promise not to do the former here.
> 
> best
> 
> ~peter

Hey, Peter! Nice to have another connection to you.

Ingrid

Re: [silk] What's your primary computing device?

[Ingrid]

On 12 September 2017 at 14:02, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:

> As in, what do you spend the most time doing serious work/play on? For any
> definition of 'work' or 'play' that appeals to you?
>
> For me, it is still an assembled desktop computer running Windows.
> Notwithstanding the existence in the house of 3 laptops, sundry tablets,
> and many, MANY phones.
>
> Udhay
>

Macbook Air for work. iPad for play. iPhone when I'm in transit.

Ingrid Srinath
@ingridsrinath

Re: [silk] Kids and porn

[Ingrid]

> On 03-Sep-2017, at 9:50 AM, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:
> 
> I saw this article [1] that makes the (quite obvious, if you think about
> it) case
> ​ that kids will look at porn whether you want them to or not - and that
> people need to figure out how they will deal with that.
> 
> Since many people on silk are in the right demographic to have seen this
> either with their own kids or with friends/family, please share
> thoughts/advise/experiences.
> 
> Udhay​
> 
> 
> [1] https://www.wired.com/2017/08/kids-and-porn/
> 
> -- 
> ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))

Similar advice from NSPCC whose guides on online safety I find useful.

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/globalassets/documents/advice-and-info/online-pornography-keep-child-safe.pdf

Ingrid Srinath

Re: [silk] Introducing myself

[Ingrid Srinath]

> On 3 Apr 2017, at 11:10, Cindy Gallop  wrote:
> 
> Dear Silklisters -
> 
> I'm honored and delighted that Udhay kindly invited me to join you.
> 
> If I may introduce myself - I'm Cindy Gallop, founder and CEO of social sex
> videosharing sextech startup MakeLoveNotPorn, which began as a little
> public service site I launched at TED 2009 with this talk:
> 
> http://blog.ted.com/cindy_gallop_ma/
> 
> and which received a huge global response that drove me to turn it into a
> business designed to both make money and do good:
> 
> https://techcrunch.com/2015/04/04/porn-sex-tech-and-cindy-gallop/
> 
> We're building a new category online - social sex - in order to make it
> easier for the world to talk about sex. Because operating a startup in this
> area is extremely challenging:
> 
> https://www.fastcompany.com/3065232/startup-report/when-
> prude-investors-cockblock-sex-tech-no-one-gets-off
> 
> I have been defining, pioneering and championing my own category, sextech,
> in order to open up the tech and business world's minds to what has the
> potential to be the next trillion dollar sector:
> 
> https://www.hottopics.ht/14192/what-is-sextech-and-why-
> is-everyone-ignoring-it/
> 
> and am raising the world's first and only sextech fund, AllTheSky Holdings:
> 
> http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/24/technology/tech-versus-taboos-cindy-gallop/
> 
> I had the enormous pleasure of meeting Udhay in Bangalore last week - MLNP
> gets a lot of traffic and emails from India, especially Indian millennials,
> and I am actively seeking investors to launch MakeLoveNotPorn India in
> order to help promote and educate on good sexual values and good sexual
> behavior - as FactorDaily outlines here:
> 
> http://factordaily.com/sex-tech-startup-funding-pornography/
> 
> #makeindianlovenotporn!
> 
> I'm very much looking forward to the discourse here on SilkList.
> 
> And I thought I'd entertain you by including a link to of one of my most
> favorite Indian experiences - learning the Lungi Dance from the master
> himself ☺
> 
> https://www.facebook.com/cindy.gallop/videos/10153697237373313/
> 
> I love India and hope very much to have business reasons to return soon.
> 

Hi Cindy!

Are you already in touch with Point of View: http://pointofview.org/  or 
EroTICs: http://www.eroticsindia.org/ ?

- Ingrid Srinath

Re: [silk] Myself, Gopi

[Ingrid]

> On 22-Jan-2017, at 12:14 PM, Venkatesh Hariharan  wrote:
> 
> If I recall correctly, you were known as one of the best copywriters in
> India. Welcome to Silk. It''s good to have you here.
> 
> Venky

That's from the era we were colleagues at what was then called Lintas. 

Saddened by the news of Ramu's death, Gopi.

Heartfelt condolences to you and your family. And welcome to silklist.


Ingrid

Re: [silk] Mumbai meetup?

[Ingrid Srinath]

> On 12 Aug 2016, at 13:44, Shenoy N  wrote:
> 
> So tonight, 8 pm, Andheri Doolally. I'll be there
> 
> See you guys!
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Naren

Regrettably, I can't make it. Look forward to highlights.

Ingrid Srinath

Re: [silk] Maacher Jhol

[Ingrid Srinath]

> On 5 Aug 2016, at 05:25, Suresh Ramasubramanian  wrote:
> 
> We had the Portuguese colonising parts of India - they never did get more 
> than a toehold but they did give us -
> 
> Pav bread (which along with the Chinese baozi comes from the Portuguese pao)
> 
> Nav, the Hindi word for a boat - from the Portuguese naõ for a ship
> 
> Potatoes - which the British knew and liked too so that is an additional 
> source but the Hindi word is batata 
> 
> Sapota fruit (derived from a Nahuatl word) and pineapples (called ananas in 
> Hindi as in Portuguese)
> 
> etc 
> 
> --srs

Tangentially, as a descendant of collaborators with the Portuguese, I would 
find more comfort in Mozambican food when I lived in South Africa than in South 
African Indian food, or in the limited range of expat-Indian cuisine. The 
coconut based seafood dishes in particular, closely resemble the food of the 
East Indian community to which my family belongs.

East Indians: http://www.east-indians.com

East Indian fish and seafood curries: 
http://www.freewebs.com/east_indian/foodfishfresh.htm

Ingrid Srinath
@ingridsrinath

Re: [silk] What replaces Landmark in Chennai?

[Ingrid Srinath]

> On 4 Aug 2016, at 18:01, rajeev chakravarthi  wrote:
> 
> would recommend Granth (Juhu) and Kitabkhana (Fort) in Mumbai.

Second those and add my current favourite, Wayword & Wise run by Virat Chandok 
who used to manage Lotus.

http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/wayword-wise-for-the-love-of-books/

Ingrid Srinath

Re: [silk] NGO that teaches village schools to hunt down missing funds?

[Ingrid]

On 15 January 2016 at 13:59, Chew Lin Kay  wrote:

> ​Hello everyone,
>
> Udhay suggested that I tap the Collective Brain for this--has anyone heard
> of NGOs in India (one? many?) that trains volunteers to a) read the
> relevant ​federal and state level documents on funding for schools, b)
> explain said allocations to local schools so that c) schools can go back to
> the authorities to demand for the money that should have been forthcoming?
> I think the programme also involved data collection (e.g. schools saying
> that they need more flexibility in spending, less specific allocations for
> certain less useful areas etc).
>
> Many thanks!
> Chew Lin
>

India's Right To Education policy requires that schools be monitored by
local School Management Committees/Village Education Committees (comprising
representatives of parents of students, teachers, local authorities among
others). Many NGOs that work in this area include capacity building of
these committees as part of their programme design.

A Delhi NGO that focuses entirely on this aspect is Saajha, featured here:
http://forbesindia.com/article/30-under-30/abhishek-choudhary-and-saransh-vaswani-a-class-act/39603/1

Saajha was incubated by Pratham who evaluate school infrastructure and
facilities as part of their ASER report:
http://www.pratham.org/templates/pratham/images/rte_indicators_aser2013.pdf

I'm not aware of an organisation that focuses specifically on school
budgets.

Hope that's useful.

Ingrid

Re: [silk] Recommended Reading from 2015

[Ingrid]

On 11 December 2015 at 08:35, Thaths  wrote:

> For the seventh year in a row, I am turning to silk listers for book
> recommendation
> this holiday season.
>
> What have you read over the last year that has left a mark on you? What are
> you eagerly looking forward to reading over the Christmas/NewYear's
> holidays?
>
> Past silk list recommendations have included such gems as:
>
> * Alice Albina's Empires of the Indus
> * Samanth Subramaniam's Following Fish
> * Sarnath Bannerjee's Barn Owl's Wondrous Capers
> * Devdutt Pattanaik's Myth=Mithya.
> * Nilanjana Roy's Wildings
> * Aman Sethi's A Free Man
>
> The books that I enjoyed reading
> <https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/646599?shelf=read> the most this
> year:
>
> * Between the Wold and Me <http://www.amazon.com/dp/0812993543/> by
> Ta-Nehisi Coates. Searing.
>
> * The Lady and the Monk: Four Seasons in Kyoto
> <http://www.amazon.com/dp/0679738347/> by Pico Iyer. A book published many
> years ago that I finally got to reading after a wonderful week in Kyoto
> during Sakura season.
>
> * Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea
> <http://www.amazon.com/dp/0385523912/> by Barbara Demnick. Books about
> North Korea tend to paint a portrait of the other. Amidst the usual line up
> horror stories it is difficult to understand or imagine what the lives of
> ordinary people is like in that county (I am looking at you, *Orphan
> Master's Son*, as an egregious example). This book does a beautiful job of
> showing the lives of ordinary people and how they get by.
>
> * The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
> <http://www.amazon.com/dp/1439170916/> by Siddhartha Mukherjee. An
> excellent exploration of the history of cancer treatments and mankind's
> experience with the malady.
>
> * The Origins and Development of Classical Hinduism
> <http://www.amazon.com/dp/0195073495/> by A.L. Basham. A short work that
> provides an excellent introduction to how Classical Hinduism evolved.
>
> * Delhi: Adventures in a Megacity <http://www.amazon.com/dp/0312612370/>
> by
> Sam Miller. Miller explores the past and the present of Delhi as he walks
> round and round the city in a somewhat spiral route.
>
> * A Short walk in the Hindu Kush <http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BKQ1FA2/> by
> Eric Newby. Another classic that I did not get to reading till 2015.
>
>
> Thaths
>

Strongly second Ta Nehisi Coates' Between the World and Me. Others I
enjoyed or found illuminating in 2015:

Discontent and Its Civilizations - Mohsin Hamid
Being Mortal - Atul Gawande
The Colonel Who Would Not Repent - Salil Tripathi
Ahmedabad - Amrita Shah


 Ingrid Srinath
@ingridsrinath

Re: [silk] The least random number

[Ingrid]

> On 13-Dec-2014, at 12:30 am, Heather Madrone  wrote:
> 
> Chris Kantarjiev wrote:
>> 
>> 
>>> On Thu Dec 11 2014 at 5:45:42 PM Udhay Shankar N  wrote:
>>> 
>>> 
>>> So when did you join silklist, and how did you hear about it?
>> 
>> 
>> You have only yourself to blame for my membership, Udhay :-)
> 
> 
> That's true for me as well.
> 
> --hmm
> 
And mine. Recruited off Friendster. I can't remember when.

Ingrid Srinath
@ingridsrinath

Re: [silk] Anthropology and Sociology

[Ingrid]

On 9 September 2014 10:17, SS  wrote:

> On Tue, 2014-09-09 at 08:55 +0530, Mahesh Murthy wrote:
> > Shiv, read Heinlien.
>
> Thanks. Will do
>
> shiv
>

Do also see the reading list for this Political Science course:
http://jakebowers.org/PS300S14/ps300s14syl.pdf that incorporates SF as a
way to "enhance the political, social and economic imagination of the
social sciences, [because] science fiction allows us a much more detailed
view of life in alternative futures, and the writers that
we choose to read here tend to think seriously and logically about how
current cutting edge technology might have social and political
ramifications."

Ingrid Srinath
@ingridsrinath

Re: [silk] Child sex abuse and child rights

[Ingrid Srinath]

> On 6 Sep 2014, at 20:41, SS  wrote:
> 
> 
> John Sundman wrote:
>>> Shiv says  "In Britain the state attempts to protect vulnerable
>> children from physical and emotional abuse by parents," and then
>> insinuates, if I understand him correctly, that this impulse to
>> protect children from abusive parents is somehow correlated to the
>> kidnapping and rape of children in Rotherham.
> 
> Yes. There is a correlation. 
> 
> Parental control of children has loosened up from state intervention.
> You cannot regulate a rebellious 12 year old child's ill advised actions
> because if parental actions go beyond a point that can even be called
> "emotional abuse" let alone physical beating - the parents can get
> arrested, which sort of defeats the purpose. The state watches the
> parents.
> 
> Once the child is out on the streets she can be tempted by older wealthy
> men - as described in the article, if you actually bothered reading it. 
> 
> Somehow, it appears that Asian families with their restrictions on their
> daughters do not get subjected to the same standards of state scrutiny
> on whether there is any emotional abuse going on there
> 
>>> I'm not even going to try to parse the discussion of "honor
>> killings" or of how "consensual sex" is somehow tied to child rape.
> 
> Honor killings is about excessive parental control over the sexuality of
> the child. Sex, consensual or not is just not on - the girl is not even
> allowed out of home without supervision. However, once a child is out on
> the street her abuse (as described in the article) starts with
> consensual sex, drugs and later blackmail.
> 
Consider then this gruesome report from Pakistan. 
http://www.dawn.com/news/1129614/

Consider also the possibility that victims of child sex abuse who are of Asian 
origin in the UK are less likely to report abuse.

> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 

Re: [silk] Slacktivism

[Ingrid]

> On 21-Aug-2014, at 9:30 am, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:
> 
> I don't always agree with Seth Godin's pronouncements, but this one
> got me thinking  - both about 'slacktivism', my response to it, and
> the often facile denigration of this behaviour as being facile.
> 
> Thoughts?
> 
> Udhay
> 
> http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2014/08/slacktivism.html

Also, there's slacktivism and there's slacktivism.

https://mayday.us/the-plan/

http://www.aamaadmiparty.org/donation-list

Re: [silk] Help! Anyone familiar with aging initiatives on Kolkata?

[Ingrid]

> On 08-Jun-2014, at 9:44 pm, Chew Lin Kay  wrote:
> 
> Hello Silklisters,
> 
> I'm doing some research on initiatives to make cities more friendly to an
> aging population and read that Kolkata joined the WHO Global Network of
> Age-friendly Cities and Communities. Does anyone know what sort of
> facilities or programmes Kolkata has for its seniors, and where I can find
> out more?
> 
> Thank you!
> 
> Chew Lin
> 
> calcutta as one of the cities with WHO aging city whatsit-- how to find
> detai

mathew.cher...@helpageindia.com (CEO of Helpage India) might know more.

Re: [silk] What You Learn in Your 40s

[Ingrid]

On 19 May 2014 15:51, John Sundman  wrote:

> I'm 61 years old, so my 40's were long enough ago that I confuse them
> sometimes with my youth and sometimes with with my emerging adulthood.
>
> But I have learned a few things over the last 21 years, I think, so I'll
> append a few observations. I mostly, but not entirely, agree with the NYT
> starter list. The observation about "charming people" is certainly true and
> important;  in my experience it did take me until I was about 40 to get to
> the point where I could confidently separate real charming people from
> narcissists, as sheep from goats.
>
> Other observations:
>
> * There are, in fact, some adults. They are few, and most people of adult
> age don't qualify. But such people do exist & are worthy of respect and
> emulation. Don't be cynical.
> * Religion is bunk (hat tip to Henry Ford, "History is bunk."). I believed
> this starting about age 17, but only began to see deep implications of this
> fact in my 40's. Beware religious tribalism. It's everywhere.
> * Although religion is bunk, Jesus was right about kindness & empathy,
> Buddha was right about life being suffering, Judaism is right about the
> importance of humility and rigorous study in finding out how to comport
> ourselves.
> * People who have no sense of connection or obligation to any local
> community are boring. People who follow Buddha's prescription to avoid
> suffering by avoiding making attachments are shallow. Buddha is boring.
> * Beware the "midlife crisis".  You're as susceptible to it as anybody.
> * Don't drink too much.
> * Although there is no single "American" identity, American
> self-righteousness and self-regard are real and they are ugly. If you're
> American, you must actively root them out or you'll miss a lot of life.
> * Be a rebel once in a while! Break some rules! I mean, don't smash
> windows on Main Street, but top-post on Silklist once in a while just for
> that sense of living dangerously!
>
> jrs
>
> On May 19, 2014, at 12:47 AM, Biju Chacko wrote:
>
> > You're only as old as you act. By that definition I'm still a toddler.
> >
> > Grey hair and bald patches only matter as much you want them to.
> >
> > Sometimes old fogeys are right. Especially if you are the old fogey in
> question.
> >
> > You're not going to be a billionaire. So what?
> >
> > You are racist, sexist, intolerant and otherwise prejudiced -- don't
> > try to deny it. It doesn't matter -- just as long as it doesn't
> > influence how you treat people.
> >
> > Life is too short for shoe laces.
> >
> > -- b
> >
> > On Mon, May 19, 2014 at 8:55 AM, Radhika, Y. 
> wrote:
> >> I add the following:
> >>
> >> it is cool to hang out with oneself. it is not stressful, in fact it is
> a
> >> stress reliever.
> >>
> >> Now we see ourselves as insignficant but have a better handle on what is
> >> meaningful.
> >>
> >> Incremental and steady work without deadlines (no longer needed since
> there
> >> is very little time left) is fantastic. It is a real return to
> childhood.
>


I found that by one's forties:

You know who you are and, as a consequence, you need
popularity/validation/approval/affirmation less.

Paradoxically, this means you receive far more of those since people
respond positively to authenticity.

You learn that there are traits that are as, if not more, valuable than
intellect in both personal and professional relationships.

Your greatest risk is becoming a caricature of yourself.

Life is too short to waste on bitter, hypocritical or insubstantial people.

Yet some of its great pleasures are shallow, fleeting, inane.

It gets much easier to say no, walk away from situations, reject norms and
expectations

For women in particular, possibly the best decade of our lives.

Re: [silk] have your reading habits changed?

[Ingrid Srinath]

> On 6 Jan 2014, at 09:51, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:
> 
> In my case, I resisted getting this device for many years. But here are
> the things that finally convinced me to get one:
> 
> 1. As you mentioned, font size flexibility.
> 2. Portability of large book collections.
> 3. It is, like a "real" book, a single-function object. The primary
> problem (for me) with reading things on a computer screen is that I am
> unable to single-task, and end up with 47 open windows and a fractured
> attention span that does not lend itself to immersion.
> 
> To be clear: I am not, by any means, giving up on actual paper books.
> But this seems to be a useful additional option.
> 
> Udhay
> -- 
> ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
> 
And so, a public library with no paper books: 
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/new-library-in-texas-has-no-books_b81420

Re: [silk] have your reading habits changed?

[Ingrid]

> On 30-Dec-2013, at 10:39 am, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:
> 
> So I got myself a Kindle. And whether it is the novelty or the
> device-specific aspects (doesn't need ambient light, sufficiently
> booklike that one can read sprawled in bed, etc) - I have consumed 3
> books in 3 days, more than in the preceding 3 months.
> 
> So - have you folks noticed your reading habits change with the means
> of reading? Is this a special case of the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis [1]?
> 
> Udhay
> 
> [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapir_Whorf
> 
> -- 
> ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
> 

Mohsin Hamid and Anna Holmes on e vs. p books: 
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/01/05/books/review/how-do-e-books-change-the-reading-experience.html

Re: [silk] have your reading habits changed?

[Ingrid]

On 30 December 2013 10:39, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:

> So I got myself a Kindle. And whether it is the novelty or the
> device-specific aspects (doesn't need ambient light, sufficiently
> booklike that one can read sprawled in bed, etc) - I have consumed 3
> books in 3 days, more than in the preceding 3 months.
>
> So - have you folks noticed your reading habits change with the means
> of reading? Is this a special case of the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis [1]?
>
> Udhay
>
> [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapir_Whorf
>
> --
> ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
>

The only significant impact of e-books on my reading has been a lighter
load while travelling. I still prefer dead-tree versions wherever possible.

Ingrid Srinath
@ingridsrinath

Re: [silk] Bollywood's Big-Screen Love Affair With Switzerland Fades To Black

[Ingrid]

On 24 July 2013 14:31, Chew Lin Kay  wrote:

> Am curious--a) do viewers expect dance scenes in foreign locales? Are films
> made exclusively in India seen as cheap/inferior/not-so-good? b) how does
> film financing work?--ie how much of the expenditure goes towards foreign
> shoots, stars' pay, etc?
>

It's also easier to get film stars to give you a block of dates for a
foreign location shoot. Else the producer can be stuck for months shooting
for a few hours per day as stars try to spread their time over a range of
films they're doing simultaneously.

Re: [silk] Any pet-hate subjects? ...why is Mathematics so frequently hated?

[Ingrid]

On 21-Jun-2013, at 10:10 PM, Deepa Mohan  wrote:

> I wrote this some time agosomeone else referred to it on FB recently
> (yes...a woman.)  What makes us detest certain subjects at school, and why
> is Maths (or Math) frequently at the top of the list? It can't always be
> bad teachers
> 
> http://deponti.livejournal.com/902082.html
> 
> 
> I find that a lot of people on this list articulate far, far better than I
> do. It would help me understand my lifelong aversion to mathematics...and
> the odder fact that though I never scored more than 40 percent in Hindi, it
> was so well taught throughout school and college that I love it as a
> language, though I disliked it as a "subject" of academic achievement.
> 
> 
> Cheers, Deepa.

True confession: I love Maths. Always have. In fact it's the only subject I 
stayed true to through the twists and turns of my academic choices. I even 
changed colleges to be able to keep Maths when I dropped Physics, Chemistry and 
the like for Economics. 
This is not to say I'm great at it. My abilities at Maths are on par with my 
piano playing skills - at best those of a hobbyist.
But, like the piano playing, 'doing maths', or just reading about it, provides 
a particular kind of joy that I feel only when I do something for itself rather 
than as a means to some end.
Being a math geek alienated me from many female classmates and colleagues. 
Literally alienated since they reacted as they might to an extra-terrestrial 
species. Boyfriends (that didn't last) have said they found it intimidating.
I had adequate Maths teachers, not great ones, so my explorations were mostly 
self-navigated. That said, the quality of teaching one receives does seem to 
matter. I know people who have discovered the joy of Maths, and/or overcome 
their fear of it, thanks to a good teacher. Based on my experience, I think 
teachers who can evoke in their students a love of discovery are far more 
valuable than those who make a particular subject interesting.
What do I love about Maths? The elegance and economy of its expression. The 
pleasure of puzzle solving. Its abstractness.
There are subjects I've struggled with. Hindi was a particular bugbear, 
particularly since other languages seemed to yield their secrets more easily. 
Most of my Hindi learning came through Bollywood and through learning other 
languages which helped me make sense of Hindi.
Thanks for the question, Deepa. It brought back that joyful feeling at a time I 
was in an annoyed, irritable mood.

Re: [silk] Dan Pallotta: The way we think about charity is dead wrong | Video on TED.com

[Ingrid Srinath]

Meanwhile this welcome development: GuideStar, BBBWiseGiving, Charity Navigator 
campaign to end charity overhead myth:

http://trust.guidestar.org/2013/06/17/launching-a-campaign-to-end-the-overhead-myth/

Ingrid Srinath


On 16 Jun 2013, at 21:46, Vinayak Hegde  wrote:

> On Wed, Apr 10, 2013 at 12:33 PM, Ingrid Srinath
> wrote:
> 
>> One via media that works is organisations who get their start-up costs,
>> investments funded by foundations allowing contributions from the public to
>> be used almost entirely for programmes.
> 
> An article relevant to this thread.
> 
> TL;DR version - $1.3Billion Donated ,$1 Billion siphoned off to
> solicitation organisations. Worst charity only $0.03 out of $1 donated goes
> to charity. Conflicts of interests, Tax-evasion shenanigans and corruption
> is rampant in these charities mentioned in the article.
> 
> http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/13/us/worst-charities
> 
> -- Vinayak

Re: [silk] Dan Pallotta: The way we think about charity is dead wrong | Video on TED.com

[Ingrid Srinath]

On 16 Jun 2013, at 21:46, Vinayak Hegde  wrote:

> On Wed, Apr 10, 2013 at 12:33 PM, Ingrid Srinath
> wrote:
> 
>> One via media that works is organisations who get their start-up costs,
>> investments funded by foundations allowing contributions from the public to
>> be used almost entirely for programmes.
> 
> An article relevant to this thread.
> 
> TL;DR version - $1.3Billion Donated ,$1 Billion siphoned off to
> solicitation organisations. Worst charity only $0.03 out of $1 donated goes
> to charity. Conflicts of interests, Tax-evasion shenanigans and corruption
> is rampant in these charities mentioned in the article.
> 
> http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/13/us/worst-charities
> 
> -- Vinayak

This kind of criminal misconduct at the margins strengthens the case for 
clearer norms and greater transparency.

Re: [silk] An obit writer needed

[Ingrid]

On 12 June 2013 14:39, Venkatesh Hariharan  wrote:

> The folks at www.opensource.com reached out to me and asked me if I could
> write an obit for Atul Chitnis. I declined because I did not know Atul well
> enough. Would anybody on this list be willing to write a short piece on
> Atul?
>
> Venky
>

This, by his brother, was also well done:
http://arun.chitnis.com/2013/06/08/my-brother-atul-chitnis-1962-2013/

Re: [silk] In Mumbai

[Ingrid]

I'm leaving South Bombay shortly. Confirming 7.30 pm at Juhu Mahesh.

Ingrid Srinath
@ingridsrinath



On 29 May 2013 11:49, Biju Chacko  wrote:

> On Wed, May 29, 2013 at 9:34 AM, Ingrid  wrote:
>
> > Juhu Mahesh?
> >
> > Gajalee JVPD?
> > http://www.gajalee.com/rest_juhu.html
> >
> > 7.30 pm?
> >
>
> The last time I ate in Gajalee I was violently unwell, so I'll vote for
> Mahesh unless Sumant is really against it.
>
> The time works for me.
>
> -- b
>

Re: [silk] In Mumbai

[Ingrid]

Juhu Mahesh?

Gajalee JVPD?
http://www.gajalee.com/rest_juhu.html

7.30 pm?


Ingrid Srinath
@ingridsrinath



On 28 May 2013 10:12, Mahesh Murthy  wrote:

> Do tell me if you guys fix a place and time. Would be happy to join and
> partake.
>
>
> On Tue, May 28, 2013 at 9:56 AM, Ingrid  wrote:
>
> > How about Mahesh Lunch Home at Juhu? I'm craving some
> Butter-Pepper-Garlic
> > Crab.
> >
> > Ingrid Srinath
> > @ingridsrinath
> >
> >
> >
> > On 28 May 2013 06:49, Biju Chacko  wrote:
> >
> > > On 27 May 2013 10:41, "Sumant Srivathsan"  wrote:
> > > >
> > > > In, depending on which day gets frozen. I should know by tomorrow
> which
> > > > days are out.
> > >
> > > How does Wednesday night sound? And where would be a good place to
> meet?
> > >
> > > -- b
> > >
> >
>

Re: [silk] In Mumbai

[Ingrid]

How about Mahesh Lunch Home at Juhu? I'm craving some Butter-Pepper-Garlic
Crab.

Ingrid Srinath
@ingridsrinath



On 28 May 2013 06:49, Biju Chacko  wrote:

> On 27 May 2013 10:41, "Sumant Srivathsan"  wrote:
> >
> > In, depending on which day gets frozen. I should know by tomorrow which
> > days are out.
>
> How does Wednesday night sound? And where would be a good place to meet?
>
> -- b
>

Re: [silk] In Mumbai

[Ingrid]

I'm free Wed and Fri evenings. What part of the city will you be in?

Ingrid Srinath
@ingridsrinath



On 27 May 2013 09:32, Biju Chacko  wrote:

> In keeping with current silk practice I thought I'd mention that I'm in
> Mumbai Tuesday through Saturday. Anyone up for a meet?
>
> -- b
>

Re: [silk] India Considers Banning Pornography as Reported Sexual Assault Rises - NYTimes.com

[Ingrid Srinath]

On 26 Apr 2013, at 17:12, Nishant Shah  wrote:

> On Fri, Apr 26, 2013 at 1:40 PM, Srini RamaKrishnan wrote:
> 
>> On Fri, Apr 26, 2013 at 1:12 PM, Nikhil Mehra 
>> wrote:
>>> This should liven up the debate a bit:
>> http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/04/economist-explains-why-iceland-ban-pornography?fb_ref=activity
> And while she does not deal with statistics and numbers, the qualitative
> life of porn is definitely wonderfully articulated here by Nisha Susan, as
> she proposes a pornpal along the lines of the Lokpal
> http://tehelka.com/forget-the-lokpal-who-will-be-your-porn-pal/
> 
> N

And this via @doctorow on Twitter: 

@AmeliaLKD: Pornography gives young girls an unrealistic and unhealthy idea of 
how quickly a plumber will come to your house

Re: [silk] India Considers Banning Pornography as Reported Sexual Assault Rises - NYTimes.com

[Ingrid Srinath]

On 26 Apr 2013, at 12:24, Ramakrishnan Sundaram  wrote:

> On 26 April 2013 12:06, Ingrid Srinath  wrote:
>> The problem with this scenario is that porn, increasingly violent porn, is 
>> the only source of learning on the subject of sex for many boys/men.
> 
> Young Indian men are taught from an early age, by movies, that sexual
> harassment and violence against women is the path to true love.
> 
> Let's ban mainstream Indian cinema, then.
> 
> Ram

For the record, I do not advocate a ban.

Ingrid
@ingridsrinath

Re: [silk] India Considers Banning Pornography as Reported Sexual Assault Rises - NYTimes.com

[Ingrid Srinath]

On 26 Apr 2013, at 07:53, Deepa Mohan  wrote:

> On Fri, Apr 26, 2013 at 6:46 AM, Shoba Narayan wrote:
> 
>>> The principal ground of the petition is that pornography is
>>> directly linked to the rise in heinous sexual offences against women.
>> 
>> Is this true though? Can it be proved through numbers and studies?
> 
> 
> If this is true, why was there  not an explosion of sexual crimes when porn
> became freely available on the internet, about 20 years ago? I believe
> that, within reason, human beings need more outlets, especially in our
> repressed, prudish, hypocritical society. The more we ban things, the more
> we make a moral issue out of them, and the more we push them underground,
> where problems continue to simmer and fester out of sight, occasionally
> erupting in unbearable ways.
> 
> There are no easy solutions...but a ban (how on earth are they to enforce
> this?) is, to my mind, not the answer.
> 
> I have talked to both young women and men (far fewer of the former, given
> the taboos in our society)  who say that when things are very frustrating
> at work, watching porn, and the subsequent release, act as a relief valve.
> But we have such a stigma about every part of our sexuality...one of the
> things my American son-in-law first remarked upon was the total absence of
> open physical context between couples, whether they were married or not. It
> simply is Not Done to touch someone you love in public...I see this, even
> now, with young people.
> 
> I would call different sexual preferences "perverted" when it involves
> hurting someone else, with or without that person's consent, or knowledge.
> Such perversion, I think, has always existed...porn or not. Cain murdered
> Abel before violent movies were being screened.
> 
> Deepa.

The problem with this scenario is that porn, increasingly violent porn, is the 
only source of learning on the subject of sex for many boys/men. 

http://read.thestar.com/#!/article/51753a877b1eac1622a9-is-pornography-changing-how-teens-view-sex

Ingrid
@ingridsrinath

Re: [silk] Migrant workers and bank accounts

[Ingrid]

On 23 April 2013 15:10, Srini RamaKrishnan  wrote:

> On Thu, Apr 18, 2013 at 8:06 PM, Caitlin Marinelli
>  wrote:
> > Do they need micro insurance?
>
> India is generally very passive-aggressive towards insurance isn't it?
> Most insurance products sold here are halfway between investment and
> insurance, with the insurance pay out generally being dismal, and so
> also the investment return, but nevertheless popular. The status quo
> is a self reinforcing cycle since no one in India really trusts
> insurance companies to pay up yet no we are a risk averse lot.
>
> I hear that SEWA's microinsurance offerings work for their constituents:
http://www.sewainsurance.org

Ingrid Srinath
@ingridsrinath

Re: [silk] Migrant workers and bank accounts

[Ingrid]

On 21 April 2013 12:29, Surabhi Tomar  wrote:

>
> As an aside, isn't most of India's working class 'migrant'? As is evident
> from the different answers (in different scenarios) that a person gives for
> "Where are you from?". For example, to people referring to my roots, I'd
> have to answer U.P (where my grand-parents lived), to people referring to
> my schooling, I'd have to say Delhi (where my parents live) and to people
> asking for my current residence, I'd say Bangalore (where I currently
> live).
>
> Also makes Facebook's hometown question an interesting one as you find
> people living in Guwahati for the past 20 years, answering it with
> Bangalore!
>

Immigrant vs. expat: differentiated by race, nationality, class:
http://www.antropologi.info/blog/anthropology/2011/expats-and-migrants

In a sense we're all either refugees or explorers.

Ingrid Srinath
@ingridsrinath

Re: [silk] Help!!help!!

[Ingrid Srinath]

On 20 Apr 2013, at 21:16, Naresh  wrote:

> I and a (male) friend are heading to London 25th april evening till 2nd may 
> and didn't book a hotel /accomodation till now..and it's all full up or 180 
> pounds ++.i need to be in fairly central/south bank /southwark and the hotels 
> / b&b's are full.
> Any Silklisters in London who can help?a little tight on budget!! A largish 
> twin bedder would do !!am happy to pay for it..btw airbnb sucks.!!all the 
> availability charts are out of date!!
> 
> Also is a silk meet possible on next Sunday?28th?we had a great meetup in 
> Bangalore this Thursday with 20+ people showing up!!
> 
> /a little stressed right now !

Have you tried laterooms.com?

Re: [silk] Dan Pallotta: The way we think about charity is dead wrong | Video on TED.com

[Ingrid Srinath]

On 10 Apr 2013, at 12:25, Deepak Shenoy  wrote:

> On Wed, Apr 10, 2013 at 12:19 PM, Ingrid Srinath
>  wrote:
> 
>> The only issue I have with that logic is that it prevents any organisation 
>> from achieving sufficient scale to have significant impact. The charity 
>> sector may be the only one I know where success in terms of growth/size is 
>> penalised by those who support the sector.
> 
> Is there a need for a charity to grow to that scale if it weren't
> actually trying to cut costs substantially? Yes, some costs are cut by
> scale but I've yet to find a charity in India who has an aggressive
> goal to keep costs at 20% or less even in the next five years.
> 
> Scale in this sector hardly seems to have the kind of impact one
> thinks of - even the biggest charities struggle to do the
> on-the-ground things (and usually outsource to more efficient, smaller
> charities). If all they're doing is being middlemen, then everyone
> will question the need for them to exist.
> 
> With the advent of the net and the ability for the smaller folks to
> highlight what they do, like a Project Why, I believe the
> large-charity model will have to be done by the
> large-businessman-who-donates like the Buffetts and the Gates'. (also
> the private charity uses a tax loophole to pretty good effect).
> 

One via media that works is organisations who get their start-up costs, 
investments funded by foundations allowing contributions from the public to be 
used almost entirely for programmes.

Re: [silk] Dan Pallotta: The way we think about charity is dead wrong | Video on TED.com

[Ingrid Srinath]

On 10 Apr 2013, at 10:48, Deepak Shenoy  wrote:

> On Wed, Apr 10, 2013 at 10:09 AM, Ingrid Srinath
>  wrote:
>> Deepak,
>> 
>> Here are a couple of devil's advocate scenarios:
>> 
>> Charity J: Spends virtually nothing on donor acquisition, brand building, 
>> policy advocacy, professional staff, technology or monitoring and 
>> evaluation. Deploys virtually the entirety of the small sums they collect to 
>> feed starving children. Saves their lives but does nothing to expand the 
>> number of lives they can save or to prevent more children from being reduced 
>> to starvation.
>> 
>> Charity Q: Spends about 50% of their revenues on expanding their donor base, 
>> auditing programmes to improve effectiveness/efficiency, building knowledge 
>> on causes of and remedies to poverty. Consequently, reaches greater numbers 
>> of children with greater effectiveness each year, changes policies that 
>> cause poverty or prevent its reduction, develops programme innovations that 
>> are widely replicated by other charities and governments.
>> 
>> Which would you choose to support? Would it be the latter subject to say, a 
>> 30% cap on 'overheads'?
> 
> But that's what I call the problem with overheads per se. You have to
> get more detailed. I have seen brochures from large NGOs and annual
> reports printed on very expensive paper. I've seen NGO seniors travel
> "J" class on flights, billed to the NGO (non international, in the
> late 90s). One of the "building knowledge" pieces involved a sojourn
> to Goa for a large number of people in Fort Aguada or some such
> resort. This is not great ways to spend money; you might actually
> reach more people this way, but it is at a substantially higher cost,
> and it might be more efficient forme to find 10s of Charity J's to
> spend on.
> 
> I would say that Charity Q is doing a disservice by not substantially
> optimizing costs to stay under 20%/30% ranges, or plan to do so in the
> near term. I would like to see more efficient spending by them,
> instead of just attempting to make the programs they sponsor more
> effective. I mean that if you have 10 people in Fort Aguada for a week
> at 10K per person per night, to make a program that costs Rs. 50 lakh
> more efficient by 10%, you might as well ditch the Aguada trip and
> give them the Rs. 6 lakh extra.

I'm sure there are NGOS that live extravagantly and waste donor money. Just one 
caveat on arriving at conclusions on this. The charity I worked for was once 
offered the use of a fancy beach resort for a workshop at no cost. Random 
passers by may well have concluded that we were living large at their expense. 
:) As Deepa says we need more transparency. Fortunately there are no some good 
initiatives in that direction. These 3 for instance:

http://www.giveindia.org/

http://www.guidestarindia.org/About.aspx

http://www.credibilityalliance.org/home/accredited_organisations.php

as well as organisations like CRY and Dasra which specialise in identifying 
grassroots NGOs doing the best work and helping them achieve scale. 
> 
>> By the way, one simple way to help a charity lower its fundraising costs is 
>> to pledge long-term support.
> 
> Agreed. Thats why Payroll giving works so well (in the west at least).
> There's also a theory that instead of doign the spray and pray you
> should find one cause and give enough to do it justice. Like building
> one school, funding one old age home etc.
> 

Re: [silk] Dan Pallotta: The way we think about charity is dead wrong | Video on TED.com

[Ingrid Srinath]

Ingrid Srinath


On 10 Apr 2013, at 10:19, Charles Haynes  wrote:

> On Wed, Apr 10, 2013 at 12:39 PM, Ingrid Srinath
> wrote:
> 
> 
>> Charity J: Spends virtually nothing on donor acquisition... Deploys
>> virtually the entirety of the small sums they collect to feed starving
>> children. Saves their lives but does nothing to expand the number of lives
>> they can save or to prevent more children from being reduced to starvation.
>> 
>> Charity Q: Spends about 50% of their revenues on expanding their donor
>> base, auditing programmes to improve effectiveness/efficiency, building
>> knowledge on causes of and remedies to poverty. Consequently, reaches
>> greater numbers of children with greater effectiveness each year, changes
>> policies that cause poverty or prevent its reduction, develops programme
>> innovations that are widely replicated by other charities and governments.
>> 
>> Which would you choose to support?
> 
> 
> Could a charity spend "overhead" in ways I support? Sure. Do they? Not
> usually, usually "overhead = fundraising." I.e. they are spending money to
> raise money.
> 
> The problem is one of opportunity cost. If charity J spends 10 units
> directly on starving children, while charity Q spends 50 units on starving
> children and 50 units on raising funds, you might say that charity Q does
> more good. You might even be right. However, this analysis neglects the
> opportunity cost of that 50 units of fundraising.
> 
> -- Charles

The only issue I have with that logic is that it prevents any organisation from 
achieving sufficient scale to have significant impact. The charity sector may 
be the only one I know where success in terms of growth/size is penalised by 
those who support the sector.

Re: [silk] Dan Pallotta: The way we think about charity is dead wrong | Video on TED.com

[Ingrid Srinath]

On 10 Apr 2013, at 10:12, Suresh Ramasubramanian  wrote:

> Oh, it depends. There is a tipping point beyond which a charity does need
> to focus on grassroots work rather than on management and logistics.
> 
> And before that tipping point is reached, just ramping up staff, processes
> etc to the level where they need sophisticated management and marketing in
> place in order to maintain their current activities, let alone expand, will
> cost them significantly and possibly even distract from the activity they
> are meant to be performing .. service.

While most charities do focus on service delivery at the grassroots, there are, 
of course, those that provide research, training, policy analysis and such. My 
experience suggests the best overall impact comes from policy advocacy by 
mobilised communities informed by grassroots experience. In practice that could 
mean, for instance, supplementing absent or dysfunctional schools, organising 
to get state schools to function adequately, using the data from such 
interventions to advocate for policy change. In my opinion, most donors are 
willing to support the first link in that sequence, not those that follow, 
since that's where the feel-good factor is highest. The subsequent activities 
are, however, more cost-effective in terms of the scale of impact.

Re: [silk] Dan Pallotta: The way we think about charity is dead wrong | Video on TED.com

[Ingrid Srinath]

> In a) I care about the cost of making hte investment. The more that's
> taken by a "middleman" (say 2% entry load into a mutual fund or
> commissions when I buy a property) the less the money that goes into
> whatever I've invested in. A 2% entry and exit load or commission
> means what I invest has to grow 4% just for me to break even. Beyond
> that, I can't dictate too much. The acquisition cost usually figures
> in entry or exit loads, or annual management fees, so I will try to
> minimize those (unless the intermediary can substantially raise
> investment values)
> 
> In c) I care about the end use of my money, because the only reason
> I'm donating to charity is for it to make me feel good. All altruism
> is about making one feel good about doing good to someone else. If I
> get the whiff that half my money is going to pay for acquisition, then
> I'm thinking: forget it, I'll find an orphanage or old age home and
> donate direct. Yes, there are other causes that need attention. But
> the 50% "load" just puts me off. I think I'll only be happy with 10%
> and other overheads of another 10%.

Deepak,

Here are a couple of devil's advocate scenarios:

Charity J: Spends virtually nothing on donor acquisition, brand building, 
policy advocacy, professional staff, technology or monitoring and evaluation. 
Deploys virtually the entirety of the small sums they collect to feed starving 
children. Saves their lives but does nothing to expand the number of lives they 
can save or to prevent more children from being reduced to starvation. 

Charity Q: Spends about 50% of their revenues on expanding their donor base, 
auditing programmes to improve effectiveness/efficiency, building knowledge on 
causes of and remedies to poverty. Consequently, reaches greater numbers of 
children with greater effectiveness each year, changes policies that cause 
poverty or prevent its reduction, develops programme innovations that are 
widely replicated by other charities and governments.

Which would you choose to support? Would it be the latter subject to say, a 30% 
cap on 'overheads'?

By the way, one simple way to help a charity lower its fundraising costs is to 
pledge long-term support.

Ingrid

Re: [silk] Dan Pallotta: The way we think about charity is dead wrong | Video on TED.com

[Ingrid Srinath]

On 2 Apr 2013, at 23:20, Deepa Mohan  wrote:

>   - *OTOH, the reductionist overhead:revenue ratio as a metric of
>> 'deservingness' . to play the
>> ratio game, as it is of the need for a one-size-fits-all comparator*
> 
> 
> Sorry...but that acronym, those wordsI'm afraid this is a good example
> of the kind of prose that will switch my attention off.  For this passage
> (or failage) above, I have to remember "On The Other Hand". I have to think
> of what "reductionist" means. Figure out what overhead revenue ration is.
> What "metric of deservingness" is...what a "comparator" is...all this
> before trying to follow the actual argument!
> 
> We do seem to forget how to keep our words simple.
> 
> 
> Deepa.

Apologies, Deepa.

Re: [silk] Dan Pallotta: The way we think about charity is dead wrong | Video on TED.com

[Ingrid Srinath]

On 2 Apr 2013, at 23:33, Deepak Shenoy  wrote:

> Ingrid,
> 
> What parts of the DTC are the worst for the NGO sector? Would like to
> hear also of some alternatives, or at least to address whatever has
> caused the IT department to believe that a change from current rules
> was necessary?
> 
The provision that makes all surpluses not disbursed in the year they are 
collected taxable is a key issue. Only incomes raised in the last month of the 
fiscal year and a further 15% of net incomes are exempt provided the NGO 
submits a schedule to disburse these. This ensures that NGOs cannot accept 
multi-year grants, build reserves or plan for the medium or long term.

The proposal to withdraw 35AC (100% deduction) will have some impact on 
revenues.

Possibly most dangerous is the narrowing of the definition of charitable 
purpose to service delivery making advocacy, research etc. taxable.

The stated intent is to prevent for-profit organisations using NGO status to 
evade taxes. 

More here: 
http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/20416062/188164697/name/Appeal+For+Action+(English).pdf

>> OTOH, the reductionist overhead:revenue ratio as a metric of 'deservingness' 
>> is, I believe, as much a consequence of the sector's failure to provide 
>> plausible alternatives, and its willingness to play the ratio game, as it is 
>> of the need for a one-size-fits-all comparator.
> 
> I agree, and in India at least, there is very little effort at
> transparency. When I wrote about Oxfam's heavily skewed ratio, Oxfam
> management did get in touch, and the one thing they mentioned was that
> "at least we reveal these numbers". It's horrendously difficult to get
> appropriate comparisions. When I complained (and continue to complain)
> of acquisition costs - not overhead, but just the costs of acquiring
> donations - of around 50%, I am told this is the industry average. If
> it is, it is obvious why people don't donate...
> 


> That ratio is essentially a consequence of the composition of revenue and the 
> channels used e.g. Large donations from a few institutional donors would 
> typically result in a low ratio whereas an organisation dependent on raising 
> many small sums from a larger number of donors would have a higher ratio.Of 
> course  that choice also affects the organisations level of freedom and 
> stability as larger sums almost inevitably carry conditions and are subject 
> to abrupt changes. Online donations, for example, cost less to raise than 
> those obtained via direct mail, telemarketing or face-to-face methods.

The American Institute of Philanthropy's upper bound on fundraising costs is 
35%. My concern is the absence of norms rather than a particular ratio. 

Re: [silk] Dan Pallotta: The way we think about charity is dead wrong | Video on TED.com

[Ingrid Srinath]

On 22 Mar 2013, at 17:46, Pranesh Prakash  wrote:

> On Thu, Mar 21, 2013 at 6:56 AM, Ingrid Srinath
>  wrote:
>> This TED Talk touches on some of the perverse disincentives non-profits face 
>> that hamper scale, innovation, sustainability and impact. They are issues 
>> I've grappled with, sometimes successfully, sometimes not, for 15 years. 
>> Aspects have featured on silk previously. The proposed Indian Direct Tax 
>> Code exacerbates the problem considerably: 
>> http://www.cafindia.org/DTC-NGO.pdf
>> 
>> I would love to know what folks here think on this subject.
>> 
>> http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pallotta_the_way_we_think_about_charity_is_dead_wrong.html
> 
> 
> I haven't seen this yet, but you might be interested in this:
> http://www.economist.com/node/21556570
> 
Thanks, Pranesh.

Tax exemption aside, the expectation that an organisation can be viable and 
grow to scale when it's not permitted to: 

accumulate reserves 
incur debt
invest in people, technology, marketing
or take risks

especially when these organisations exist to tackle the nasty, intractable 
problems that both state and market have failed at, seems to me unreasonable.

OTOH, the reductionist overhead:revenue ratio as a metric of 'deservingness' 
is, I believe, as much a consequence of the sector's failure to provide 
plausible alternatives, and its willingness to play the ratio game, as it is of 
the need for a one-size-fits-all comparator.

Is there a good norm, for instance, on remuneration or incentives? Benchmarking 
to private or public sector equivalents, seems to me to, at best, set limits. 
Current practice limits entry to those who can afford it, either because they 
have other sources of income/support or are willing to make some stark 
lifestyle choices for themselves and their families.

The perverse donor logic that success must be penalised by favouring 
organisations that are smaller, less 'savvy' is another bugbear.

Most critically, as regular citizens, how do we propose to sustain an 
independent public sphere - media, civil society, regulation - free from the 
control of state and market and/or dependence on the whims of big philanthropy? 
Especially when it is clear that poor governance is at the root of most, if not 
all, our current crises?

The growing trend towards crowdfunding privileges the short-term, easily 
measured, simply communicated, emotional appeal over the boring, unsexy, 
long-term work that yields systemic or structural change.

Recent developments - media regulation in the UK, the new constraints of 
India's proposed direct tax code, the debate around mandatory CSR, and the 
ongoing battle for freedoms of expression, assembly and association around the 
world - make these questions more urgent than ever.

- Ingrid

[silk] Dan Pallotta: The way we think about charity is dead wrong | Video on TED.com

[Ingrid Srinath]

This TED Talk touches on some of the perverse disincentives non-profits face 
that hamper scale, innovation, sustainability and impact. They are issues I've 
grappled with, sometimes successfully, sometimes not, for 15 years. Aspects 
have featured on silk previously. The proposed Indian Direct Tax Code 
exacerbates the problem considerably: http://www.cafindia.org/DTC-NGO.pdf

I would love to know what folks here think on this subject.

http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pallotta_the_way_we_think_about_charity_is_dead_wrong.html


Ingrid Srinath

Re: [silk] myanmar - visa on arrival for indians ?

[Ingrid]

On 20-Mar-2013, at 5:15 PM, ashok _  wrote:

> According to the Myanmar government website, Indian passport holders can
> get a visa on arrival (upto 70 days for a business visa ) :
> 
> http://www.mip.gov.mm/visaonarrival/
> 
> But is this still valid ? Has anyone tried it ?
> 
> Ashok

I followed Mahesh Murthy's advice and got a same-day visa (with my Indian 
passport) at the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok. Hotel booking confirmation, 
e-ticket, photograph were all that were necessary. Turn up at the embassy in 
the morning, fill out the form, pick your visa stamped passport up that 
afternoon.

Re: [silk] Discussion on free press in India, Section 66A, Hindustan Times & Facebook

[Ingrid Srinath]

On 2 Dec 2012, at 12:45, Badri Natarajan  wrote:

>> 
>> My view-S. 66A needs to be drafted better, and to actually focus on 
>> deliberate and malicious acts. Also- I don't subscribe to the view that this 
>> section was put in place to intimidate Facebook users who post inconvenient 
>> things.
> 
> None of which is to say India is perfect - far from it. Of course there are 
> lots of vested interests in play, both in business and in politics - but we 
> still do pretty well on the free speech front. 

While India is still relatively free, speech-wise, the last few years have seen 
a narrowing of that freedom, and freedoms of association and assembly, in the 
name of security, law and disorder and appeasement of various kinds.

The risks of being charged with sedition, harassment by authorities, and 
impunity for those seeking retribution for alleged offence caused have all 
grown.

As Badri points out this trend is not unique to India with countries ranging 
from the USA, UK and Canada to Ethiopia, Russia, Belarus, Zimbabwe, Venezuela, 
Hungary, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Cambodia, among others, all raising the 
penalties for dissent. 

The erosion of civil liberties justified by the "war on terror" was exacerbated 
by the accelerated shift in geo-political power following the financial crisis 
and further exacerbated by governments' responses to the Arab Spring, OWS and 
other protest movements of recent years.

These charts from Freedom House's 2012 report underscore the fact that while 
the long arc does tend toward freedom:

http://www.freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/inline_images/Global%20Data%20Pie%20Graphs_draft.pdf

recent years have seen setbacks:

http://www.freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/inline_images/Aggregate%20Change%20Graph%20Since%202003--draft.pdf

http://www.freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/inline_images/Historical%20Country%20Ratings%2C%20FIW%202012--draft.pdf

Online communication has come in for particular attention across countries with 
governments seeking greater powers of surveillance and censorship, overtly and 
covertly, sometimes abetted by commercial interests.

It is also true, however, that citizens are better informed about, better armed 
with tools, and better organised to respond to, the threats.

Also, the impact of state actions on young, urban, middle-class, well-connected 
groups in particular have considerably expanded the constituency of people 
opposing the erosion of rights and freedoms.

Interesting times!

Ingrid

Re: [silk] LOTR and Ayn Rand

[Ingrid]

On 9 August 2012 09:58, John Sundman  wrote:

>
> *Ugarte *: You despise me, don't
> you?
> *Rick *: If I gave you any thought I
> probably would.
>
> jrs
>

It seems to me that those ranked highest are least conscious of rank and
its impact.

Re: [silk] outdated words in "Indian English"

[Ingrid Srinath]

On 13 Jul 2012, at 19:44, Thaths  wrote:
> 
> My own additions to the list:
> 
> in the family way - To be pregnant

Issue: referring to children
Good name: As in "what's your good name?"
Mr./ Mrs. as substitutes for husband/wife
Prepone
Channelise

Ingrid

Re: [silk] Fwd: Re: Why I Gave Up On 'Social Activism'

[Ingrid]

On 04-May-2012, at 5:57 PM, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:

> 
> 
>  Original Message 
> Subject:Re: [silk] Why I Gave Up On 'Social Activism'
> Date:Fri, 4 May 2012 08:12:22 -0400
> From:John Sundman 
> To:silklist@lists.hserus.net
> 
> 
> 
> Well, one thing about Yoginder Sikand evidently hasn't changed: he
> evidently still loves to hear himself talk.
> 
> I didn't finish reading the whole thing; it was too tedious.
> 
> I'm curious as to whether he would have considered any of the following
> people "social activist" types, and whether they had any impact:
> 
> Thomas Jefferson
> Rosa Parks
> Thomas Paine
> Mahatma Gandhi
> Martin Luther King, Jr
> Abraham Lincoln
> Benjamin Franklin
> Nelson Mandela
> Rose Styron
> Daniel Elsberg
> 
> But I'm not curious enough to keep reading.  He reminds me of Jerry
> Rubin, an American self-proclaimed advocate for "the revolution" and
> "marginalized people", famous as one of the "Chicago 7" who were put on
> trail for raising a ruckus during the 1968 Democratic Party  in protest
> against, among other things, the US War on Viet Nam. The protests
> provoked a police riot.
> 
> In the 1980's Jerry Rubin "saw the light" much in the manner of Sikand,
> and became a proponent of capitalism and the "greed is good" ethos of
> the "me decade."
> 
> jrs

And then there's the traffic heading in the opposite direction:

http://nplusonemag.com/leaving-wall-street

Having spent about equal time on either side of this fence, I can empathise 
with parts of both arguments. There is plenty of self-serving narcissism, too 
little self-awareness in both worlds and very limited ability to translate 
across the divide.

In my experience, most people on each side lack the knowledge, exposure and 
life experience to fathom the other, choosing instead to rely on caricatures.

Ingrid

Re: [silk] Whose morality is being protected?

[Ingrid]

On 2 May 2012 10:04, Venky  wrote:

>
> I'd say that is a straw man, except that definitions of libertarianism are
> all over the place nowadays and I'm sure you can find a citation for just
> such a definition.
>
> At least in my book, I don't see anything fundamentally libertarian about
> "every man for himself" or anything essentially anti-libertarian about
> helping out people you feel need your help.  Charity is not
> anti-libertarian -- your property is yours to do as you see fit, and that
> includes giving it away.  What *is* anti-libertarian though, is forcing
> another man to give up his property for a cause which *you* see as a just
> one.
>

Anti-libertarian on these lines?

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/04/30/stephen-king-tax-me-for-f-s-sake.html


Ingrid

Re: [silk] Quick question - Johannesburg

[Ingrid]

On 10-Mar-2012, at 5:07 AM, Charles Haynes  wrote:

> It looks like I am going to Johannesburg for 4 weeks, are there any 
> Silklisters there?
> 
> -- Charles
> 
Drat! I end my 4 year stint in Joburg to return to Bombay tomorrow. Let me know 
if I can provide any information on people, places or activities that you might 
find useful.

Re: [silk] aqvavit

[Ingrid]

On 21 February 2012 07:23, ashok _  wrote:

>
>
> I found this really weird in NREGA ... the requirement that no
> mechanized equipment can be used. What was the motivation behind it ?
>


> Limiting NREGA work to back-breaking physical labour at less than minimum
> wage available for a maximum of 100 days a year to only one member of each
> household ensures that only the most desperately poor sign up for it.

Re: [silk] Recommended Reading from 2011

[Ingrid]

On 3 December 2011 13:34, Shoba Narayan  wrote:

> Is it just me or are there very few women authors on the recommended
> reading list 2011?
>

I found Tahmima Aman's The Good Muslim good not great and would like to
re-recommend  Agaat by Afrikaans writer Marlene van Niekerk. Even in the
English translation, the prose is incredible, adding to great characters
and a plotline one could interpret as an allegory for the transition of
power in South Africa. It's simply one of the best books I've read in
years. Her Triomf is good too, albeit far bleaker.

Re: [silk] Recommended Reading from 2011

[Ingrid]

Generosity - An Enhancement: Richard Powers
Super Sad True Love Story: Gary Shteyngart
To The End Of The Land: David Grossman
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet: David Mitchell
From Dictatorship to Democracy: Gene Sharp
The New Life: Orhan Pamuk
Tiger Tiger: Margaux Fragoso
River of Smoke: Amitav Ghosh

Ingrid Srinath

Re: [silk] an-NRI again

[Ingrid]

On 23-Oct-2011, at 8:26 AM, "Sriram ET."  wrote:

> 
> On Oct 23, 2011 11:23 AM, "Ingrid"  wrote:
> >
> >
> > On 23-Oct-2011, at 6:43 AM, Mahesh Murthy  wrote:
> >
> > > To me it's a seemingly-eloquently argued defense of cowardice.
> >
> > Isn't that a defining trait of NRIs : to move to an oasis that someone else 
> > built rather than transform one's own desert surroundings?
> 
> You mean cleaning up the crap in a place one was merely born in ( and with no 
> say in the matter?)
One could say that of one's family, no?
I happen to believe building an oasis is a tad more valuable than drinking from 
another's. But, to each his/her own.

Re: [silk] an-NRI again

[Ingrid]

On 23-Oct-2011, at 6:43 AM, Mahesh Murthy  wrote:

> To me it's a seemingly-eloquently argued defense of cowardice.

Isn't that a defining trait of NRIs : to move to an oasis that someone else 
built rather than transform one's own desert surroundings? 

Re: [silk] I don't. And not with Nitin Pai / Amba Salakar either.Re: Red-letter day: I agree with Arundhati Roy

[Ingrid]

On 23 August 2011 04:30, Shoba Narayan  wrote:

>
>
> Look, I agree with you.  The thing I am pondering is: what now? So you
> throw your hat in the ring.  You call it.  I have qualms about the bill, but
> I am now a banner-carrying anti-corruption protestor who was at Bangalore's
> Freedom Park last weekend.  So what?  Then what?
>
>

A somewhat different view from the "left":

We should be there: The Left and the Anna moment

by Nivedita Menon


http://kafila.org/2011/08/20/we-should-be-there-the-left-and-the-anna-moment/

Re: [silk] Subramanian Swamy

[Ingrid]

On 5 August 2011 04:18, ss  wrote:
>
>
> What is a "secular democracy"? How would a non secular democracy work? Does
> anyone have any examples of a non secular democracy?
>
> Democracy and secularism go very easily together if the country has an
> overwhelming majority of one single religion. As the proportion of minority
> religions rises, secularism becomes more contentious.
>
> As  I have stated before on Silklist, predominantly Christian European
> states
> became secular after decades of war, death and strife in Europe.
> Christianity
> per se does not include secularism as a tenet. Islam and secualrism have no
> connection.  Hindus have no concept of secularism. It is "pluralism" that
> Hindus follow.
>
> Yet it is a predominantly Hindu country that writhes and struggles with an
> internal debate on secularism. If democracy is the will of the majority,
> then
> pluralism should be the rule in india, not secularism. And in fact that is
> exactly what I see around me. Pluralism in the guise of secularism. Perhaps
> it
> It is people who object to pluralism who have a problem?
>
> shiv
>

A partial answer to the difference between European and Indian approaches
to, and definitions of, secularism, may lie in the fact that the earliest
struggles for liberty/freedom/rights in Europe were against the dominance of
the church. Much early migration to North America was also fueled by the
need to flee religious persecution.

Secularism in the West, is, as a consequence, defined as the separation of
church and state. In India, by contrast, religion has arguably never been
*the* oppressive force, possibly because of the characteristics of Hinduism.
Even in Kashmir the origins of the struggle were anti-occupation, not
anti-Hindu, before it was hijacked by Islamists.

The Indian constitution defines secularism as equal treatment for all
religions, pluralism, in other words, not the absence of religion in public
life.

This comparison of US and Indian constitutional provisions lays out the
basic differences reasonably well:
http://www.lehigh.edu/~amsp/2006/08/secular-constitutions-us-and-india.html

Re: [silk] Subramanian Swamy

[Ingrid]

On 4 August 2011 15:03, Srini RamaKrishnan  wrote:

> On Thu, Aug 4, 2011 at 5:50 AM, ss  wrote:
> >
> > But as far as i know - it is only in India here there are big debates
> where
> > the members of the majority religion are debating with each other as to
> > whether they are secular enough or not.
>
> I think this is an admirable quality.Would the Italian courts ever
> have the courage to order an inventory of assets of the Vatican, like
> India did with the Kerala temple? Vatican's survived sex scandals,
> mafia involvement, drugs, money laundering, tax fraud. Heck, the City
> of Boston can't get an ordinary Bishop to come clean about his
> pedophilia. I can't think of another country that could have survived
> an act like Operation Blue Star.
>

To pick a bone, Italy has no jurisdiction over the Vatican.

>
> India is a religious land, more so than the West, but the courts,
> civic institutions and civic society are surprisingly effective in
> taking on religion.
>
> This story about the arm twisting powers of the Church of Scientology
> makes Baba Ramdev look like a weakling:
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/books/review/inside-scientology-and-render-unto-rome-book-review.html?_r=1
>
> I can think of Sai Baba as one of those rare exceptions when a
> religious figure seemed above the law, but in general I am very proud
> of India's secular track record.
>
> Cheeni
>
>

Re: [silk] The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work

[Ingrid]

On 14 June 2011 10:03, J. Alfred Prufrock wrote:

> *Chestnut alert - "If you can get paid for doing what you enjoy, you never
> have to work another day in your life."
>
> I have a 5 year deadline to get to that state.
> *
>

Can absolutely vouch for that old chestnut. Have been the beneficiary of
such a state for all but 18 months of the past 25 years. 

Re: [silk] seeking Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) contact info.

[Ingrid]

On 2 June 2011 11:29, .  wrote:

>
> No clue, was hoping Delhi-walla's here would know. I suspect they do
> exist as  they seem to be filing all the PIL's[0] in the SC, in the
> 2G-in-3D scam cases.
>
> [0]
> http://expressbuzz.com/nation/maran-a-beneficiary-of-2g-scam-alleges-petition/280264.html
>
> --
>

You could contact Prashant Bhushan directly at prashantbh...@gmail.com or at
D-16, Sector 14, NOIDA or at 0120-2512632 if that is helpful.

Re: [silk] Why do we hate our girls?

[Ingrid]

On 25 May 2011 12:44, Venkat Mangudi  wrote:

> I completely agree. This "tradition" bullshit is too much and questioning
> it is a big taboo. Isolated pockets such as this mailing list cannot change
> this sickness. And this cancer is so big, it needs organized effort to
> eradicate. People have been trying since centuries (Raja Ram Mohan Roy, for
> instance) to fight this and have failed. How about putting together
> something collectively to fix this?
>
> --Venkat
>
One approach that we underuse is naming/shaming/shunning people we know are
guilty of this and other socially tolerated crimes like corruption.

Re: [silk] Sidin Vadukut - Introduction

[Ingrid]

On 19 May 2011 15:36, Pranesh Prakash  wrote:

> On Wednesday 18 May 2011 04:11 PM, salil tripathi wrote:
>
>> And yes, the City is capitalist, but the rest of UK isn't. And the
>> political mood, as Americans describe UK politics, has always been that UK
>> has two major parties - Conservatives, who are socialists, and Labour, who
>> are Communists :-)
>>
>
> Recently had the (mis)fortune of explaining to a senior executive from News
> Corp that what he thinks of as 'left' and 'right' are anything but.  All
> mainstream US politics are economically very much centre and
> right-of-centre.  Gone are the days when "communist" was a bad word. Now
> even "socialist" is used to bludgeon people.  Reminds me of: "Where is the
> party in opposition that has not been decried as communistic by its
> opponents in power? Where is the opposition that has not hurled back the
> branding reproach of communism, against the more advanced opposition
> parties, as well as against its reactionary adversaries?".[1]


As P J O' Rourke put it: The Democrats are the party that says government
will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your
lawn. Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work, and then
they get elected and prove it.

Versus Karl Rove: As people do better, they start voting like Republicans -
unless they have too much education and vote Democratic, which proves there
can be too much of a good thing.
- Ingrid

P.S. Welcome, Sidin.

Re: [silk] Why do we hate our girls?

[Ingrid Srinath]

On 10 Apr 2011, at 08:40, "Anish"  wrote:

>> Having said that, I'm not sure what >demographic she comes from in India;
>> she's almost certainly not representative. >AIUI her parents are doctors
>> in a small town, so relatively affluent.
> 
> Some states are different from others, Kerala has population inversion. There 
> is a huge divide across India :)
> Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

I haven't seen the state-wise breakdown of these data yet, but the last census 
(2000) reported declining 0-6 gender ratios in Kerala too. The absolute ratio 
there was at that time still marginally in favour of girls.

Some other random facts:

I recall reading that the girl to boy child ratio among US Indians was lower 
than for other US ethnic groups.

Access to sex determining technology, mainly in urban India, has also worsened 
the situation. 

All the measures tried thus far - criminalising sex-selective abortions and 
abetment, financial incentives to enrol and keep girls in school, changing 
economic patterns that give girls an advantage e.g. disproportionate growth in 
the service sectors do not appear to have been effective.

Add systematic neglect that deprives girls of healthcare, nutrition and 
education disproportionately, dowry deaths, 'witch' killing that is usually 
linked to preventing a widow from inheriting her husband's property and mass 
migration of adult men to cities that contributes to rising rates of violence 
against women as well as continuing biases in recruitment, wages and 
professional growth for women across sectors to get the full picture of the 
situation of girls/women in India.

The scheme that facilitated parents abandoning their daughters anonymously did 
help somewhat. Visibly demonstrating the possibilities for girls - panchayat 
leadership, other role modelling within the community, enlisting support from 
religious leaders where possible and ensuring women have equal or greater 
rights to asset allocations e.g. land from government/NGO programmes all help 
as well.

At the risk of provoking angry responses here, I will say that we need 
leadership from the Hindu community in particular on this issue. And to stop 
"condoning" bias in our own circles.

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

[Ingrid]

On 27 February 2011 00:30, Charles Haynes  wrote:

> On Sun, Feb 27, 2011 at 3:14 AM, Thaths  wrote:
>
> > And the article that is mostly a rehash of a press release strikes again:
>
> > http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/article1492697.ece
>
> This is part of why newspapers are dying and will die. The should be
> selling news and analysis and independent journalism, but advertisers
> want lots of customers and positive articles. Unfortunately by
> providing puff pieces and advertorial newspapers instead of news,
> newspapers will lose readers to places where they can get actual news
> and analysis - primarily online.
>
> Which causes a vicious circle - newspapers are caught in a race to the
> bottom. Readers are no longer willing to pay directly for news, I know
> I'm not. (Well except for the New York Times. I picked up a Sunday New
> York Times on my way out of San Francisco last week. I'm still willing
> to pay for the gray lady.)
>
> -- Charles


The phenomenon now has its own neologism: churnalism

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/feb/23/churnalism-pr-media-trust

[silk] Edelmann Trust Barometer 2011

[Ingrid]

http://www.edelman.com/trust/2011/uploads/Edelman%20Trust%20Barometer%20Global%20Deck.pdf

Re: [silk] Books on Words & Language

[Ingrid]

On 13-Feb-2011, at 4:34 PM, Tim Bray  wrote:

> Anything from Guy Deutscher is good on W&L.  I was also immensely fond
> of Steven Pinker's "Words and Rules" which draws some remarkably
> amusing lessons from a ridiculously deep dive on a small number of
> English irregular verbs. -T
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 

Likewise all David Crystal's books. However, my personal favourite is A 
Mouthful of Air by Anthony Burgess.

Re: [silk] Kragen's essay on Egypt

[Ingrid Srinath]

On 30 Jan 2011, at 18:40, underscore  wrote:

> On 1/30/11, Ingrid Srinath  wrote:
>>> the regime, yes -- its a matter of survival. but, i dont think there
>>> is even a single protestor who
>>> is out there in indignant anger because the americans reduced funding
>>> for some civil society groups
>>> 
>> 
>> Absolutely, but choking off the channels that press for democratic reform,
>> social justice etc. leaves people with no avenue but insurrection.  And the
>> signal the regime received was that the new US administration cared less
>> about democratic reform than the Bush administration did.
>> 
> 
> I am not disagreeing with you on the above -- what I am trying to say
> is that these channels did not begin-to-exist / cease-to-exist because
> of the US cutting funds for civil society groups.
> 
> All such funds are channeled via USAID ...which does not fund anything
> remotely smelling of dissidence or having an incendiary agenda.  They
> typically support the powder-puff change-the-world seminar /
> conference kind of project revolving around themes like : urban
> poverty, upliftment of women, infant mortality etc [In my part of the
> world the favorite is : youth empowerment, and FGM ]. They are there
> not just in Egypt, but in every "strategically" important 3rd world
> outpost. No one cares about these programs ...neither a regime worried
> about policy shift ...or the US government.
> 
> 
> This sentence is from a USAID audit of their own democracy projects in
> Egypt in 2008 :
> 
> "the impact of USAid/Egypt's democracy and governance programmes was
> unnoticeable in indexes describing the country's democratic
> environment" (page 2, link below -- also has a description of a
> typical "seminar" run by USAID)
> 
> <http://www.thenational.ae/news/worldwide/africa/egypts-democracy-groups-fear-shift-in-us-policy-will-harm-their-work>
> 
> So, the obama administration decided to do the smart thing : save
> money and shut down some of these programs. The only ones i think,
> willing to come and throw stones for this indignation are American
> commentators on huffington post.
> 
> More interesting is this foreign policy report -- which i believe
> appeared in the economist sometime back --- but is available un-gated
> here :
> 
> <http://www.brookings.edu/articles/2010/10_middle_east_hamid.aspx>
> quote:
> " the hype surrounding the Bush “freedom agenda” – which included
> the creation of the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) and a
> doubling of National Endowment for Democracy funding – obscured the
> fundamental reality that American, as well as European, financial
> assistance has been just as limited as the NGOs and political groups
> it has tried to support"
> 
> quote:
> "As for political groups or movements, they generally have not
> received US assistance. Such groups are obviously more controversial
> as their goals extend well beyond the mandate of NGOs, which are
> relatively small and focused on more limited objectives. In Egypt,
> this includes groups such as Kifaya, April 6, the National Association
> for Change, and the Muslim Brotherhood. None have received U.S.
> funding. "
> 
In sum, there was a policy change that you believe had no impact. My own 
conversations with Egyptian activists from a range of organisations suggest 
otherwise. From small but significant groups operating in a hostile 
environment, the reactions I heard when the change was implemented were of 
abandonment and despair. 

Re: [silk] Kragen's essay on Egypt

[Ingrid Srinath]

On 30 Jan 2011, at 07:47, underscore  wrote:

> On Sat, Jan 29, 2011 at 9:44 PM, Ingrid  wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> Regardless, the shift in policy on democracy did not go unnoticed by 
>> Egyptian civil society and, I'm sure, by the Mubarak regime.
>>> 
>> 
>> 
> 
> the regime, yes -- its a matter of survival. but, i dont think there
> is even a single protestor who
> is out there in indignant anger because the americans reduced funding
> for some civil society groups
> 

Absolutely, but choking off the channels that press for democratic reform, 
social justice etc. leaves people with no avenue but insurrection.  And the 
signal the regime received was that the new US administration cared less about 
democratic reform than the Bush administration did.

Re: [silk] Kragen's essay on Egypt

[Ingrid Srinath]

On 30 Jan 2011, at 07:49, "Suresh Ramasubramanian"  wrote:

> Civil society groups who blow international grant funding on plush 
> conferences are sure a barrel of fun
>> 
>> 
>>> 
>> 
>> 

For instance?

Re: [silk] Kragen's essay on Egypt

[Ingrid]

On 29-Jan-2011, at 11:08 AM, underscore  wrote:

>> The Obama administration has, in fact, significantly cut US funding to human
>> rights and democracy groups in Egypt.
>> 
> 
> I think its only a few americans who care about such things. Fact is,
> without american aid and big brother backing  most egyptians would
> starve.

Regardless, the shift in policy on democracy did not go unnoticed by Egyptian 
civil society and, I'm sure, by the Mubarak regime.
> 

Re: [silk] Kragen's essay on Egypt

[Ingrid Srinath]

On 29 Jan 2011, at 08:00, Dave Kumar  wrote:
> 
> I would add that the point about the US's historical support for 
> corrupt/dictatorial regimes in Egypt and elsewhere is well taken, and I agree 
> with it ... but it far predates the Obama administration, and anyone who 
> assumes that this administration could simply change that policy when it came 
> to power fails to appreciate the realities of US politics.
> 
> That's my $0.02.

The Obama administration has, in fact, significantly cut US funding to human 
rights and democracy groups in Egypt.

Obama Administration Cut Funding To Promote Democracy In Egypt ...
www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/.../obama-cut-egypt-funding_n_815731.html

<>
In its first year, the Obama administration cut funding for democracy and 
governance programming in Egypt by more than half, from $50 million in 2008 to 
$20 million in 2009 (Congress later appropriated another $5 million). The level 
of funding for civil society programs and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) 
was cut disproportionately, from $32 million to only $7 million. Though funding 
levels for 2010 are not yet available, they are expected to show an increase to 
$14 million, says Stephen McInerny, the director of advocacy at the Project on 
Middle East Democracy. He notes that the Bush administration slashed economic 
aid to Egypt in the 2009 budget but kept the funding for democracy and 
governance programs constant, while Obama cut funding to those programs in an 
effort to make the cuts more proportional and under pressure from the American 
embassy in Cairo.

<>

Re: [silk] What's on your "bucket list"?

[Ingrid]

On 19 January 2011 09:30, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:

>
> What's on *your* bucket list?
>
> Udhay
> --
>
> Write my novel.

Re: [silk] Stochastic Terrorism

[Ingrid]

On 13-Jan-2011, at 8:29 PM, Srini RamaKrishnan  wrote:

> On Thu, Jan 13, 2011 at 4:49 PM, ss  wrote:
> The religious leader who calls for violence in the name of god in his weekly
> sermon is the most obvious and common example of this. So this "stochastic
> terrorism" has been discovered and put to use millennia ago.
> 
> And there are laws against inciting terror in most decent countries, though 
> they probably only cover the garden variety foaming at the mouth types and 
> even then don't punish them very severely.
> 
> Cheeni

Unless they're handed a life sentence for sedition by an Indian court  or 
gunned down in a marketplace in Gujarat or Manipur I guess.

Re: [silk] Visa-free and visa-on-arrival travel for Indians: maybeuseful for last-minute travel

[Ingrid Srinath]

On 16 Dec 2010, at 09:27, Suresh Ramasubramanian  wrote:

> Andre Uratsuka Manoel [16/12/10 01:26 -0200]:
>> I'm going to Mexico next year to visit a friend and I can attest that
>> an American visa is accepted by Mexico.
> 
> not for indians it isnt.
> try going to san diego and putting a trip across the border to tijuana into
> your program

It was last month landing in Mexico City.

Re: [silk] Visa-free and visa-on-arrival travel for Indians: maybeuseful for last-minute travel

[Ingrid Srinath]

On 16 Dec 2010, at 04:26, Badri Natarajan  wrote:

> 
>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>> 
>> 
> -I have not been to Mexico, Costa Rica, Taiwan, Turkey or South Korea, but I 
> am nearly certain from previous research that a US or UK visa does not get 
> you visa-free access to those places (unless buried really deep in an embassy 
> website somewhere) - does anyone have personal experience? I am also v. 
> surprised to hear about visa on arrival in places like Indonesia, Kenya and 
> Iran..
> 
> Badri

I can confirm that a US visa is sufficient for Mexico and that Indonesia and 
Kenya will provide visas on arrival to holders of Indian passports. I did 
require visas for Turkey and Taiwan when I travelled there in 2009, and Kenya 
requires a yellow fever vaccination, also available on entry provided you don't 
mind the delay that causes.

Re: [silk] What's the strangest thing you've eaten?

[Ingrid]

On 23 November 2010 23:12, Charles Haynes  wrote:

> On Wed, Nov 24, 2010 at 4:05 AM, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:
>
> Don't know what a mopane worm is so I probably haven't eaten it,
> though I've eaten other grubs and caterpillars.
>

http://www.foodreference.com/html/mopane-worm-917.html

Re: [silk] What's the strangest thing you've eaten?

[Ingrid]

On 23-Nov-2010, at 7:05 PM, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:

> I think we had a similar thread lo, these many years ago, but still.
> 
> Inspired by a friend's status message about lutefisk, I ask silklisters
> to let us know what is the strangest thing they've eaten.
> 
> Maybe Charles can post multiple times to this thread? :)
> 
> Udhay
> -- 
> ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
> 
Spiders
Mopane worms
Crocodile
Locusts

Re: [silk] Fwd: [CCM-L] Looks pretty good for me coming to Chennai (OT)

[Ingrid]

>
>  This guy appears spoiled from not having to fill out too many visa
> applications. Good for him, though.
>
> UK visa application form was 21 pages not too long back; More recently it
> is down at about 10 pages for many categories. Ofcourse he can argue about
> the 'nuclear engineer skills' required to fill them out :-)
>

I've had to get 9 new visas this year. I find that the key difference
between those that are onerous and not is the clarity and specificity of the
necessary documents and procedures, not the quantum and detail of
information required. The only time I've had difficulty was at the Italian
visa service in India which invented new requirements at each stage of the
process.

That said, those Indian embassies I have interacted with do the country no
favours at all on perceptions of efficiency or quality of service.
Everything from their physical appearance to the demeanour of staff are at
best dreary and at worst Kafkaesque.
 I was amused however by the reciprocal visa fees Argentina imposes only on
citizens of the US, Australia and Canada which are explicitly justified as
recompense for the excessive visa fees charged by those countries.

Re: [silk] Chennai meetup?

[Ingrid]

On 2 September 2010 08:32, Deepa Mohan  wrote:

>
>
> On Thu, Sep 2, 2010 at 6:55 PM, gabin kattukaran wrote:
>
> ." mein usee din chalA gayA" can only be sort of translated to "I
>
>> > went that very day" (or as we sometimes say, "I went that day itself.")
>> >
>>
>> Shouldn't that be, "I went that day only" ? :)
>>
>
>
> I was thinking of that only! :D
>
>
> On a related note:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/magazine/29language-t.html

Re: [silk] In India, Sometimes News Is Just a Product Placement

[Ingrid]

On 1 June 2010 12:22, Sruthi Krishnan  wrote:

> I think in the last thread on paid news too this piece by Sevanti
> Ninan was mentioned. Don't remember too well, but it is worth another
> dekko -- 'Paid news for dummies'.
>
> http://www.thehindu.com/mag/2010/03/28/stories/2010032850090300.htm
>
> An excerpt:
>
> So what are the honchos in charge saying about all this? “We live in
> hard times,” said Vinod Mehta, adding that paid advertorial in Outlook
> was called Spotlight, and he played very little role in what went in
> there. At a meeting on election-related paid news organised by four
> media bodies including the Editors Guild, the wisdom was that the best
> you can hope for is disclosure. We will take money for coverage, but
> we will indicate that it is paid coverage. We have to do it, said
> Rajdeep Sardesai, the current president of the Editors Guild. “We are
> listed quarter by quarter. We have to show profits.” “Editors find it
> difficult to stand up to proprietors who want to charge for election
> coverage,” said Mrinal Pande, former editor of Hindustan.
>
> “You cannot run a media company without money,” said Pankaj Pachauri
> of NDTV. “But there are editors who stand up to media marketers. I
> have 150 advertisers. You spread your risk.”
>
> Bottom line: the age of innocence is over. Learn to live with it.
>


http://presscouncil.nic.in/norms.htm

*<>*

*36.Advertisements*

   i) Commercial advertisements are information as much as social,
economic or political information. What is more, advertisements shape
attitude and ways of life at least as much, as other kinds of information
and comment. Journalistic propriety demands that advertisements must be
clearly distinguishable from news content carried in the newspaper.

vi) Journalistic propriety demands that advertisements must be clearly
distinguishable from editorial matter carried in the newspaper.  Newspapers
while publishing advertisements should specify the amount received by them.
The rationale behind this is that advertisements should be charged at rates
usually chargeable by a newspaper since payment of more than the normal
rates would amount to a subsidy to the paper.

<>

It is well established that the freedom of the press is essentially the
freedom of the people to be informed accurately and adequately on all
issues, problems, events and developments.  In discharge of the editorial
functions the editor is supreme and superior even to the owner.

The independence of the newspaper, is essentially the independence of the
editor from all internal and external restrictions.  Unless the editor

enjoys this freedom he will be unable to discharge his primary duty which is
to the people and without such freedom, he can be held responsible in law
for all that appears in the newspaper.

In the running of the newspaper, the managerial, administrative or business
side of the newspaper has to be kept independent of its editorial side and
should not be allowed to encroach upon or interfere with the editorial
section.  This precaution is to be taken even when the owner and the editor
is the same.  The proprietor must not allow his business interests and
considerations to either dominate or interfere with the newspapers
obligation to the people.

That is why there is also an obligation on the management to select a person
as the editor who is competent and bears integrity of character and
independence of mind.

The successful working of any arrangement in the ultimate analysis would
depend on mutual understanding, cooperation and goodwill between the
management, the editor, editorial journalist staff and all those who are
faithfully working in the production of a paper.

If the co-ordination between the different departments including the
editorial is effected by the Brand Management without in any way interfering
with the freedom of the editor to include or exclude news or views, the
length or details as well as their language and the place where they are to
be published, and the prominence with which they should appear,

there may not be much grievance  that such  co-ordination is in violation of
the freedom of the editor.  However, if the choice of the editor with regard
to selection of material in any manner is sought to be interfered with, it
is undoubtedly an unwarranted encroachment on the said freedom.

(ii) The editor under no circumstances can be asked by the proprietor to
serve his private interests.  To require an editor to cater to the personal
interests of the proprietor is not only to demean the office of the editor
but also to encroach upon his status as a trustee of the society in respect
of the contents of the newspaper.In any country which swears by the
freedom and the independence of the press, an attempt by any proprietor of a
newspaper to use his editor as his personal agent to promote his private
interests and to compel him to act and to write, to serve them is both
offensive and reprehensive.  Any editor or f

Re: [silk] The silliness and corruptness of Indian media

[Ingrid]

 If the Government does not have this legitimacy, who does? Simply put
> these theories say, it is capital.Whoever has capital has the
> acquiescence of media.  Who has capital? Monsanto, maybe?
>
> Prabhat Patnaik's lecture elaborates this theory nicely :
> http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/fline/fl1915/19151280.htm
>
> corroborated here:
http://www.campaignindia.in/news/2010/02/16/-media-was-the-most-trusted-institution-two-years-ago-vandermolen



-- 
It is hard enough to remember my opinions, without also remembering my
reasons for them. -Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Re: [silk] of snoozing and retirement

[Ingrid]

2010/1/18 Srini RamaKrishnan 

>
> Oh, but you can. It's getting a lot harder with every passing year,
> but there are still places on this planet where one can be a hermit on
> the mountain, leading an existence disconnected from society. It's
> sub-optimal to living with society, but it really is a question of
> priorities.
>
> It's been argued that agriculture was the single largest blunder
> humans committed; thereby upsetting the natural balance of all life.
> There's a certain wisdom to that.  I have been rather taken of late
> with the idea of leading a nomadic existence at some point in my life.
> It almost feels like that's what humans were meant to do.
>
> It's a great pity that modern civilization has encroached so heinously
> on the lives of people who don't fit its mold. In my opinion, it is no
> different from ethnic cleansing. When you take a nomad or a forest
> dweller and make them lead the life of a settled agriculturalist, or a
> factory worker you take away a very central part of their being, and
> it's a pity we don't even recognize it.
>
> In the situation we currently find ourselves in as a species, it might be
nomadic values - the limiting of wants to match available resources and the
complete absence of asset accumulation, for instance - that are worth
emulating rather than the physical characteristics of that lifestyle.

A 'tribal' leader in Jharkhand once pointed out to me that in 'my India' we
worshipped gods of wealth and prosperity whereas in his the only gods were
gods of pleasure. It's an insight that has benefitted me immensely.

Re: [silk] Engineers of Jihad

[Ingrid]

2010/1/12 Mahesh Murthy 

> Actually, I find myself nodding in agreement here.
>
> My 'logic' is nothing more than the gut-feel that, at least in the case of
> students from developing nations, the ones more driven to "do something
> with
> their lives" typically tend to take the more difficult / "rewarding"
> engineering courses.
>
> Follows that they might also be the ones more amenable to what the rest of
> us might call extremist dogma.




> It's a plausible plotline, methinks:
>
> A young man raised to believe he is among the best and brightest in his
> community/country migrates to a prosperous Western country for higher
> education and/or employment in a field that encourages a reductionist,
> technocratic worldview. Once there he is neither able to find work worthy of
> his talents and education nor social acceptance among his peers. As he sinks
> deeper into self-pity he seeks refuge in a physical or virtual ethnic ghetto
> where he is a highly prized potential recruit to extremist groups who build
> on his persecution complex with evidence of the global conspiracy against
> his people and offer him the opportunity to deploy his skills to achieve
> vengeance for his own tribulations and the significance that he believes is
> his birthright.
>

Re: [silk] The Neuroscience of Screwing Up

[Ingrid]

2010/1/13 J. Andrew Rogers and...@ceruleansystems.com



> To point out a significant bias, in most militaries I am familiar with the
> standards of behavior, compliance, and myriad other things for females are
> substantially laxer than for males. Explicitly so, not just as a matter of
> practice. The military experience for a female is considerably different
> than for a male, so I would expect behavior to vary accordingly.
>
> A few modern militaries have experimented with gender-blind military units
> and they generally worked well after some modest cultural adjustment. Every
> case I am familiar with (e.g. Canada ran this experiment in some combat
> units for a handful of years) the *political* backlash against the policy
> usually kills the idea after a few years even though the results are
> typically good from a military perspective.
>
The other inherent bias is the ''type'' of woman that joins the military. A
military career is a fairly conformist choice for many men, but relatively
nonconformist, even challenging, for most women. Similar findings have been
observed in the corporate sector where female employees account for
disproportionate numbers of whistleblowers, for instance.



-- 


‘That's the difference between me and the rest of the world! Happiness isn't
good enough for me! I demand euphoria!’- Calvin

Re: [silk] testing

[Ingrid]

Yep.



On 10-Dec-2009, at 11:48 AM, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:


--
((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))

___
silklist mailing list
silklist@lists.hserus.net
http://lists.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/silklist


___
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silklist@lists.hserus.net
http://lists.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/silklist

Re: [silk] Visiting South Africa

[Ingrid]

Regrettably, I won't be home in Johannesburg through those dates.
Would be glad to answer any questions you might have.

Ingrid

P.S. The usual apology for top-posting courtesy Blackberry.

On 11/17/09, Zainab Bawa  wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Writing to check if any Silk Listers are Cape Town/Johannesburg. I am in SA
> between 22nd Nov and 5th Dec for a conference and some research work. If
> anyone is around and would like to catch up, I would be happy to meet.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Zainab
>
> --
> Zainab Bawa
> Ph.D. Student and Independent Researcher
>
> Gaining Ground ...
> http://zainab.freecrow.org
>
> http://cis-india.org/research/cis-raw/histories-of-the-internet/transparency-and-politics
>

-- 
Sent from my mobile device

IT IS WHEN WE ALL PLAY SAFE THAT WE CREATE A WORLD OF UTMOST INSECURITY."
Dag Hammarskjöld

Re: [silk] Sand Animation in Ukraine's Got Talent

[Ingrid]

2009/10/17 Vinayak Hegde 

> On Sat, Oct 17, 2009 at 6:27 PM, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:
> > Vinayak Hegde wrote, [on 10/17/2009 2:01 PM]:
> >
> >>> Simonova's sand story portrays the human loss after the German invasion
> in
> >>> 1941. The opening scene shows a couple sitting on a bench under a
> starry
> >>> sky. Warplanes appear and the happy scene is obliterated to be replaced
> by
> >>> crying faces. Then a baby arrives and the woman smiles again, but war
> and
> >>> chaos return and a young woman becomes an old widow, before the image
> turns
> >>> into an obelisk – the Ukrainian monument to its Unknown Soldier.
> >>
> >> On a similar note, I highly recommend watching Persepolis[1] - A
> >> animated fillm (I am not sure that 'Animated film' is the right word
> >> since much of the film mirrors the comic feel). The story follows a
> >> young girl as she comes of age against the backdrop of the Iranian
> >> Revolution.
> >
> >
> > Similarly, I highly recommend the album _Dead Winter Dead_ [1] by
> > Savatage, which I've mentioned here before [2].
> >
> > A love story set against the backdrop of the war in Bosnia, it fuses
> > great storytelling (both musical and lyrical) with amazing musicianship
> > and the fusion on Mozart and metal. Highly recommended.
>
>
> I of my friends whom I am trying to get on silk recommended the Grave
> of the Fireflies [1] (Anime Film - consider one of the best anti-war
> movies). Another great movie on the Kurdish extermination by Saddam is
> Turtles can Fly [2]. All the protagonists in this movie are children
> just like Grave of the Fireflies and Persepolis.
>
> -- Vinayak
>
> References -
> 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grave_of_the_Fireflies
> 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtles_Can_Fly
>
>
and, of course, waltz with bashir : http://waltzwithbashir.com/
-

Re: [silk] Barah anno

[Ingrid]

2009/10/15 Udhay Shankar N 

> Srini RamaKrishnan wrote, [on 10/15/2009 7:26 AM]:
>
> > I will be in India between 13 Dec & 5 Jan. How about the weekend of
> > 18th Dec for the meetup? And where?
>
> Works for me, but at that time, it'll have to be in Bangalore - I'm
> leaving to Singapore later that week.
>


> I'll be in India from Dec 01 to Jan 05. The weekend of Dec 18 works for me.

Re: [silk] Is voter ignorance killing democracy?

[Ingrid]

2009/7/7 lukhman_khan 

>
> Being uneducated in the first place (ignorant is a better word) and then
> *having* a view worth polling ? Isn't that a contradiction somehow?
>
>

1. Do you equate education with schooling, especially of the formal kind?

2. Is there any evidence of correlation between levels of educational
attainment and quality of democratic governance for countries?

Ingrid

Re: [silk] Math, math, every where, nor any ...

[Ingrid]

There is also the stark difference in risk attached to large population
concentrations in less-developed versus more-developed countries/regions :
http://www.preventionweb.net/files/9414_GARsummary.pdf

Re: [silk] test

[Ingrid]

?

2009/5/15 Udhay Shankar N 

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> ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
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"Home is so far from Home."  - Emily Dickinson