M.A, M.Sc (=Master of Assumption, Mis(S)communication)

If a picture is worth a thousand words, and videos even more, what about  personal/face to face meetings - the coffee dates, the handshakes, and ‘let’s talk about this in person' suggestions? In today’s digital lifestyle, they must be, priceless?

What’s rare is more price worthy, ain’t it? We live in a world where most of our personal (and official) communication is increasingly text based, making us rely upon our written communication and speed of typing, to build personal and business relationships.

We frantically reply to emails on the go, we keep in touch with friends on Facebook (even with those who live in the neighborhood) and leave terse responses to their pictures and status updates, we even gift and drink beer on online! We tweet because anything more than 140 characters is laborious. We send text messages to our family using a combination of alpha numeric keys to create emoticons, in hope that they would convey our mood, emotions and affection. 

A graphic designer friend of mine said to me recently, ‘there’s an emoticon for every emotion you want to communicate online, if not, I can craft one’. A very talented graphic designer there, so I had to be doubly sure of what I asked for. I could think of a range of human emotions that don’t have suitable emoticons, but this would not be the place to share them :) and  so I asked for an emoticon that implied ‘to be discussed in person’ or something that simply meant ‘let’s trash the text; I want to read your face and listen to your tone of voice’. Maybe you were faltering when you typed that email? Or grinning from ear to ear…or maybe even trembling with fear - that’s important information that text can’t reveal - that is important information that text based communication renders obsolete - it is important information that instant communication has no time for because it is inherently fast.  Yet, we rely so much on online applications and devices to connect with people on a personal and business level, purely through text! We take refuge in asynchronous exchange of chunks of text, not realizing that repeated use of the same medium with no cues to tone of voice and facial reactions eventually leads to disintegration of that relationship. 

The written word is bound to lose its effectiveness when there’s no personal reinforcement. 

Quickly reviewing my own situation, I have to admit that I have been a ‘text victim’ too! It’s true that my relationship with people who I have communicated only with typed words has either stagnated or nose dived. And relationships that have blossomed or strengthened in recent times are those that included face to face interactions. 

And there’s nothing like meeting to talk about something – no long email, SMS or even essays for that matter compare to personal interaction. So, if you have only been firing electronic missives, then soon the title of this blog would be more appropriate for you!

I am still waiting for the graphic designer to create the emoticon I am looking for but, in the meanwhile, I’m off to request that next coffee date!

Karma Kalender 2011

This might look a bit too early given that we haven't even set foot into the last quarter of the year. But if you want to help a worthy cause, now (until end Oct 2010) is the time.

Karma Kalender, a calendar project, is a private initiative to support Doctors for Developing Countries/Ärtze die Dritte Welt - an international medical humanitarian organization that sends doctors to projects in the Philippines, India, Bangladesh, Kenya and Nicaragua.

If you, your partner/friends/colleagues are evaluating calendars for 2011, then Karma Kalender might be a great way to show your support for a good cause.

The calendar for 2011 features street children from Calcutta - one of the beneficiaries of this project. The pictures were taken by a philanthropic photographer on his recent visit to the Doctors for Developing Countries' base in Calcutta. You can browse more information about the Karma Kalender project under http://karma-kalender.de/

What makes this Calender project different?

• Instead of merely asking for donations for a good cause, the Karma Kalender gives you something that each one of us would need for the new year, a calender.

• If you place orders of 10 or more calenders, you can have your name printed in the list of donors/helpers that appears in the last page of the calender.

• For large corporate orders (> 40 calenders) there is an option to have the company logo printed too.

• Also, in case you pre-order in bulk (>10 calendars) and you are unable to sell some of them, you can return the unsold calenders before the end of the year and get a refund.

• All proceeds raised through these calenders will be strictly allocated for work in the developing countries 

The time for ordering the 2011 Karma Kalender is - Now! until Oct 2010.

You can order at  https://karma-kalender.de/bestellen_de.asp
(the order form is available both in English and German)

You will receive the ordered calendar(s) by the first week of Dec 2010.

Sharing this link with your contacts on Facebook would help increase the amount we can raise for this organization.

Best Wishes

International, eh?

Nowadays the front-runners in the list of self descriptive adjectives seem to be ‘international’ and ‘global’. Or at least that’s what I hear frequently around where I live. In a world of global inter dependencies and diverse work environments, it is hardly a wonder that these same adjectives which were once used only by relief agencies, diplomats and governments have now become commonplace (with everyone wanting a piece of an assorted world).

I am pretty confounded when the word ‘international ‘is used as a personality descriptor.

Often I meet people in neighborhoods, schools, parties and conferences who tell me with a sense of pride that they are ‘quite international’ or refer to somebody as a ‘global person’.

What makes a person international anyways?

Would traveling to countries far and wide win you a right to internationalism? …. with low cost airlines, this status must be quite easy to acquire overnight :)what’s the big deal anyways?

Does sending the kids to an international school make you international? I doubt that would, because often it is English as a medium of instruction that attracts many families to international education. Also going by the annual fees of international schools, this word would then become the sole possession of the rich and affluent.

So does fluency in English make you international? Well no, because a non-English-speaking-monolingual person is entitled to the rest of the word as much as his English speaking counterparts.

By definition international means ‘involving two or more countries…’ but at a certain elementary level I guess, people imply ‘open-mindedness combined with some curiosity’ and use it interchangeably with ‘international’. At the first level, it means they want to know more about the world besides where they come from. At a higher level, it means they would change and adapt to live harmoniously and productively with people from diverse backgrounds, without being prejudiced.

Since this is such a vital human aspect which is only becoming increasingly important in an interconnected world, shouldn’t it be qualified??

Just like how countries have a set of qualifiers to offer citizenship, shouldn’t world organizations come up with a code of conduct? a set of prerequisites to grant an adult the title ‘International’?

Like the titles Dr or Mr. or Prof. why not Intl?

You don’t have to prefix it to your name. But maybe it could be stamped in your passport or green card as a way of showing that you belong to an emerging class of global citizens.

Any thoughts on what these qualifiers could be?
- Ability to converse in one or more foreign languages?
- Been a part of some international relief effort?
- No records/complaints of racial discrimination
- Maybe studied, worked and lived in a foreign country?

Would love to know what you think…