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Showing posts from January, 2007

The Shilpa Shetty Controversy

Ok. This would be a nice topic to blog about only because so many people would be searching for this tag. That! Without doubt is the greatest accomplishment of this entire hullabaloo. As the story unfolds, it’s fascinating to see the players jumping in to generate as much as noise as possible. I live in India; we don’t get the British Channel that’s airing Big Brother and are definitely not part of the 4.5 million that’s tuned into the show post the melodrama of the past week. Why are we up in arms? because a celebrity is also not protected against racial abuse. Come on! Racism is a reality in this multicultural globalized world. I’m reminded of a question I saw posted in a forum, the aspiring Indian student wanted to know from the moderator as to which of the American Universities were most tolerant to Asian students. Not which was completely rid of racist abuse, but which of the temples of learning was the least of the evils. The moderator surprised everyone with his answer, he said

Couldn't have said it better!

Saw this in TOI on 29th December 2006. Blog Blah Himani Dalmia All this hype about Web 2.0, the new generation of Internet services, where dotcom is so last season and Wiki is not just a funny word, seems to overlook the fact that blogging and online collaboration are just ways to give mindless drivel a free hand. First, let's take blogs themselves. Who wants to read pages of claptrap by some Johnny-got-empowered with detailed expositions on subjects like his favourite fruit or things he feels guilty about? Even the few sensible bloggers out there receive such dippy responses that it's a wonder they find the strength to go on writing. The blogosphere is like an overcrowded city where people streak down the street naked and complete strangers thrust pamphlets in your face. It thrives on reverse voyeurism, the instinct that makes you secretly hope someone will peep through the window while you shower. Here, one doesn't need to convince a TV producer or editor that what you ha