I am no expert on education. In my working life of 17 years I have never had the opportunity to work with a school. So, when Vaswati Misra, a dancer and teacher came to me. I was curious to know more.
I visited the Dhwani Zaroorat school 2 days back and was amazed to find an island of excellence in an area full of poverty and despair. What makes the difference is not just the quality of education but the fact that children from below poverty line families are given simultaneous training in performing arts. A training in the arts gives them the tools not only of self-expression, but also of a future career within the arts as a performer or teacher.
Unlike other schools, Dhwani has virtually no dropouts and almost 90% attendance. Children are happy to be part of a large family like atmosphere full of music, dance, theatre and a commitment towards quality education.
Once upon a time mobiles were considered to be a status symbol. Soon after they became a necessity – every person had one – people cycling on the road, the dhaba wala, the domestic help – everyone!
Did it ever occur to any of us that it could still be considered a matter of status symbol in some remote corners- maybe it did
Did it ever occur to anyone that this again can become a feminist thing to fight for maybe it didn’t!
Actually that is a fact.
In small villages in the south, women aren’t allowed mobiles. Its not the cost involved – the mobile is a status symbol. Only a few men can own it and the woman can occasionally use it.
Why and how a mobile can become more than a communicating tool can only be discovered once you see the usage in these areas. The local villagers use the mobile to communicate . The need came from younger college going youth traveling to cities, being influenced into having the luxury of having one and then the worried parents wanting to keep in touch.
The need also arose from the middlemen who constantly commuted between the small villages to the cities to sell.
The need then gave way to the luxury of talking at home and at will.
But the need never became a necessity to use it beyond the regular wanting to stay in touch or to inform. Women who are considered home makers everywhere regardless still aren’t allowed the luxury of the mobile. There are innumerable plans for women, remunerative scheme to help woman becoming independent and earn of her own – there is no plan or an intention to provide these woman to have a voice and communicate.
If this mobile is an empowering tool and can make a difference in each of the rural homes it can only be made by having the woman to use it.
I am not a feminist but I was actually shocked at the thought why a woman is deprived of such a simple tool
We have given her a smokeless chulha,
We have given her health programs to take care of her family,
We have given her and her children affordable education programs
Then why not a mobile
Why hasn’t anyone thought that empowering woman with mobiles is actual empowerment. Why hasn’t anyone thought that lets not think that this mobile is just to communicate its to build community support systems, its to enhance our fragile sense of security and most importantly it can be used to learn and share information.
A company’s sustainability strategy is best delivered through the marketing department, according to Unilever’s new chief marketing and communications officer ...more
In the world that the leader of Faceborg lives in, he thinks of Faceborg as a country on the planet. His ambitions include making Faceborg the center of this planet or maybe replace the name of all people, countries and even the planet. Welcome he says because resistance is futile.
It is interesting that Faceborg thinks of itself as a country. The country is not a democracy and infact they do not hold free and fair elections to anything. They just decide and rule and then change their mind and make new rules. To rule.
In this assimilated world there is only one option you have only one place to turn to. Faceborg and the option to Like.
Faceborg thinks of inhabitants as objects. Objects to be manipulated and mashed and shared with other participants such as the builders who make newer applications that manipulate them. They have forgotten that these are not objects but real people who need to be treated with respect.
In reality, Faceborg is just a company with some customers. A company that has mistakenly thought of its customers as objects. It thinks that its real customers are developers, advertisers etc. The mistake it is repeatedly making is that it is ignoring the people who have made this company.
The Faceborg of the past and the company of today are two different things. The people who signed up for it made the mistake of not understanding the ambitions of this company or were perhaps the company has diverged from its original path. If there is one thing that the history of this planet tells us, mistakes are often corrected, belatedly sometimes .
If Faceborg had their way, they would assimilate but there are enough people who feel that assimilation is futile. We are people who will find a better alternatives away from the greed and ambition of Faceborg.
If you are concerned about your Faceborg account think about this and join the resistance.
If you want to leave this Faceborg, why is there just a deactivation and why not a complete deletion. Why are they profiting from your individuality even after you have stopped the service?
If there is a problem, do you know of any easy way of contacting anyone in Faceborg. There have been many problems people have faced. Have they got a satisfactory response? What is the safety and support net
Why is it not possible to see who of these unknown third parties access your information and to what end they use it?
Should a company have access to so much data just because they can. What are the checks and measures that various countries are going to build so that their citizens are safe from the predatory practices of Faceborg?
Assimilation is Futile. What are your thoughts on Facebook?more
Comments
on July 18th, 2010
Thanks Fabian for the comment.You are right, there is a need to put in sustainability related checks and measures into ...more
on July 18th, 2010
Hi Namrata. Thanks for this very interesting insight. I agree with you on the importance of marketing for sustainability. I also think that the marketing function has a very important role to play ...more
on July 15th, 2010
(There was a similar conversation going on about gender with regards to CSR somewhere else quite recently, so I apologize if I'm cross-posting.)As a man working in CSR, I get the ...more
on July 14th, 2010
The stereotypes are just that: statistically significant behavioural patterns that are broadly applicable to populations. That is why they rile people. But the people who are leading CSR efforts in ...more
on June 9th, 2010
Great thoughts on mentoring Syamant - I wrote a post titled "8 Lessons I Learned on Being ...more
Written on April 5th, 2010 by namrata
