VisionsIndia

About 1.5 years back, I along with a friend formed VisionsIndia. This is an umbrella platform trying to unite scattered micro-steps in social development, working for a better India. The idea is that professional expertise and especially free cycles coupled with an intent to contribute towards social development can help India progress towards a better future. We paired up with a couple of other small organizations in North America including Sai's group based out of Michigan and another small group of individuals operating in Windsor, Canada.

Many small and scattered groups working independently are unaware of what other similar groups are doing often resulting in duplicated and overlapping effort. This is not detected until too late and the effort often goes unnoticed because one other such group has already implemented the idea first. VisionsIndia attempts to bring all such steps under one umbrella.

The above is only a very basic step. VisionsIndia's primary purpose is to serve as a network of professionals working towards social development and a common goal - a better India, a better future. We connect with NGOs working at the grass-root level and with professional experience and expertise, try to resolve some of the stumbling blocks at the grass-roots. Thus on one hand we tie up with professionals who have skills in specific areas (and that actually covers almost everything under the sun) and NGOs on the other.

Of course, social enterprises and social development look great in theory. In practice it is a different ballgame. We are aware that this is a mere beginning and really, we do it because we have cycles to spare and want to see India step towards a better future.

The areas of focus is almost anything connected to a developing country, as it steps into the future. Some of the issues of today include Micro-finance, Waste Management, alternate energy resources, construction, application of technology to improve conditions in the rural areas, water management, employment, politics, education etc. And before you roll your eyes, let me tell you this is really not cliched at all. The number of initiatives in the above areas will stagger you once you start looking at things. You can read more about the above at VisionsIndia.

For example, projects like these are feasible: 1. We develop a google maps mashup of a city say Bangalore with a very easy interface using which a person who has faced some corruption issue en route to work can simply click on the website and add details of the incident. People might be too tied up to visit the local police station (or the local station may not have the right reputation to encourage people to barge in and complain) or might simply want to remain anonymous because of their immense faith in the system. In such cases, a red flag will appear on the map for that city; if you click on the flag the details of the incident will appear in a slick popup. Many such red flags on a city map would mean an alarming rate of incidents in the region. The data can then be taken up by a firm fighting corruption at the local courts. There are lawyers who do that. Unfortunately they don't get the data to substantiate their cases and support from the victims in general. With such an application, the victims need only come forward when the case is actually being fought in the court.

Other than this there are a number of project ideas taking shape. Will update as we progress...

If you are a student or a professional and into social enterprises, social entrepreneurship and think about a better India, don't hesitate to get in touch with visionsIndia. We are currently building a diverse and experienced network of professionals, we usually collaborate over the Net, conference periodically and in general it is good fun...

Cheers.

Koi Sapna

I recoorded an old favorite, which was from one of my favorite singers - Ali Haider. I believe he still is the most talented pop singer out there. Credit for the keyboard programming and mixing is due to Sam. Enjoy!

koi sapna2.mp3

Realization

"It is all about the chase. Men love that...", is a phrase/sentence I have heard only too often. No doubt, you have too. Veering away from the usually fixed frame of reference, my pointer was to the phrase applied in a wholly different context.

That of living life. Now, more than ever I have realized that it indeed is the journey that is important. The chase. The living. Of chasing life I would wager. The spirit. The thought. The process. The high sense. The higher Self. The lower Self. Sensing them. The ever-changing colors in the kaleidoscope of life are bright, beautiful, loud and I view them clear. I have managed to drag a good part of me from the morrow to the today.

...and in your true (not saying darkest) moment you are actually alone. You alone are your best judge, your best friend, your best guide. Not said with even a hint of negativity but instead there is a positive to be drawn out of this. Every person has some thoughts, feelings in his/her deep dungeons that simply cannot be fathomed by anyone else, nor explained to anyone outside of his/her own inner frame of reference. By no means is this an intentional act mind you. But it is you. The closest an external entity can come to these silent thoughts is via some inexplicable mechanism, a kind of 7th sense, simply absorbing the silence, the unsaid and the unknown in an unsaid fashion, in an unknown, silent manner.

A realization.

A person to thank too.

jhankarBeats

No, not talking about the movie.

It has been 1.5 years since jhankarBeats was born. I founded it to primarily fill in the void in India whereby emerging artists could showcase their talents to a global audience. It has been an open, free platform so far in which we have taken measures to protect the copyright issues on behalf of the artists. The reason partly was the frustration I felt at many of the contests on television in which a singer was expected to dance on stage. That was ridiculous. I felt it was unnecessarily filtering out a lot of good talent who without these dancing gimmicks could have made it to the top. With the broadband penetration in India, online platforms are certainly more accessible now. So why not allow the neighborhood talent to surface and help expose them to a global audience, NRIs et al. Therefore jhankarBeats.

A number of interesting musical compositions have emerged. Going by the feedback received, the group Pralay stands out. Their song Sawariya has been a chart topper. Meera Manohar, an independent artist based in the Bay Area has received a lot of applause. It feels great to hear such feedback and many a time, have felt it is a privilege that these artists chose to associate with jhankarBeats. A number of terrific talents have helped shape JB : The song Nadiya by Aurko, the Bengali number Nagar Ratri were remarkable to say the least. The going has been a bit slow but jhankarBeats will be trying its best to bring these talents to the world at large.

If you guys can lend your support, would be super. Simply asking for moral support - if you can help spread the word, pass on the information to any artist friends you might have or even try and upload a song you have sung. You can join the orkut community for jhankarBeats too.

We feel jhankarBeats is growing. It survived pretty much on its own once some good artists uploaded their songs. Unlike other ventures which tend to focus on a single genre like rock/metal, JB additionally targets and caters to some serious listeners and almost all forms of Indian or South Asian music. I believe that has set us apart from the others in this segment.

Have no idea where things might ultimately end up. But am convinced that somehow JB has braved the initial rough waters. Today. It would be great to have your inputs on jhankarBeats.

jhankarBeats is looking for smart marketing people and web developers to join the team. Let us know if you are interested in a fast-paced, challenging Web 3.0 startup!

Happy humming and listening...

A Brush with Inspiration

The brushes, the acrylics and the canvas finally beckoned. Long time.

Open to all interpretation(s).





The Buddha's image was inspired partly by my visit to Bodh Gaya and the visit to Kalighat. This is the preliminary notebook sketch. The final outcome on canvas is unknown to me right now...(Kali - Buddha - Woman - Man - Goddess - God - Intensity - Enlightenment - The Fire - The Calm - Life-like - Death-like - Bodh Gaya - Kalighat: all merge at some point).


The musician's image was partly inspired by Pandit Jasraj at his concert in Kolkata.















Intezaar.

Circle of Taste

A trip down memory lane : I found a list of my favorite movies from some eight years ago. Looking at it, I myself was startled out of my skin. In a quick moment of uncontrolled reflection, I could not help but marvel at my current movie taste.

Then:
Kagaz Ke Phool
Sholay
Pratidwandi (The Adversary) - Satyajit Ray
Shatranj Ke Khiladi
Agantuk
Apur Sansar
Suraj Ka Satwaan Ghoda
Mili
Muqaddar Ka Sikandar
Nayagan
Roja
Ek Din Achanak
Ijazat
Bada Din
Arth

Baap Re.

Gulp.

(...and there were others like Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron, Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro, Albert Pintoo Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai, Saath-Saath, Mrigaya, Lekin, Masoom, Elippathayam, Iruvar, Bombay, Raakh etc.)

Now:
Bheja Fry
Darwaza Bandh Rakho
Chupke Chupke
Do Aur Do Paanch
Golmaal
Angoor
Chhoti Si Baat
Naram Garam
Waisa Bhi Hota Hai (Part II)
Chini Kum
Hyderabad Blues
No Entry
Honeymoon Travels

Pure, sparkling laughter. Pure, blissful entertainment. Bas, aur kya.

Call it Evolution. Call it the birth of yet another moron. Call it Wah-Wah-Wah, call it whatever you please.

I refer to it as the Circle of Taste.

What the ....

We netizens believe in sharing. Whatever we share and whatever we do not, whatever we care or don't care about, there is one virtue that unites all us net users - that of instantly forwarding some email forward which happily happens to land in our Inboxes. Even before one has finished reading the poor email, "Click, Click and one more Click" on the Send button. Sent it to almost all that mattered. There. Now I can work or do anything else. These days you find a lot of the funky YouTube videos etc. But there was a time when it used to be pure, vanilla text forwards. There have been instances when some bandicoot would even walk upto me and say "Yaar woh waala forward waapas bhej na".

One such forward ran something along these lines : a human being can read sentences even if some characters in the words in the sentence are jumbled, garbled. And quite fittingly, most I knew could read the following (as an example) correctly - "Teh trian blew a luod whistle sa it roleld itno eth raliwya statoin."

I often notice the cool kid on the block proudly display his clothing labels by wearing a branded shirt, the logo screaming loudly on his chest, probably along with his attitude. Who knows? The display line often reads "FCUK". Going by the logic presented in the preceding paragraph, I don't want to say more. The first time I ran into one of those raccoons wearing the fcuk t-shirts, I actually asked my friend what is wrong with this guy - "Why couldn't he spell the most famous or infamous word correctly"? I know now. It is one of the cool brands and hey, I am no longer saying anything.

Speaking of which, I don't understand what all this fuss about this cool word is about. It is a favorite with so many of my buddies. They use it when they are happy, they use it when irritated or angry or if they drop their pen or if they see a cool member of the opposite sex. Many use it all the time - just about for everything or just about for nothing. See, it is that cool.

And speaking of which, people the world over seem to be angrily abusing someone else or the other. Look at Hilary and Obama. Just look at our Bhajji boy and Symonds or for that matter, big fella Hayden. If Bhajji said "Monkey", others said he was saying "Maa ki". Our puttar simply was referring to Maa Ki Dal since he was utterly nostalgic and was longing for ghar ka khana. Now, that is a big problem - playing in these far-away lands. Hayden called Bhajji an OLW (Obnoxious Little Weed). So? Big deal. The cool kid on the block would be utterly, butterly proud to be associated with anything weed-like. He says it would be a privilege to be called one. So what was Harbhajan's problem in life? Or for that matter what was Symonds' problem in being compared to the dal (possibly or something else) from Ma's kitchen? This is the age of the Gaalis and the Lord of the Gaalis shall be the winner and shall rule. It is almost uncool not to huff and puff and swear something which no one around has heard hitherto. The more the number of heads you turn or the eyeballs you help pop out, the cooler you are. If you don't agree with me, you know what you are going to get now.

With the gaalis booming in the galis let this post be dedicated to all those who have done us proud over the past month by swearing the hell out of hell itself.

Holy %+#*!!