In order to make Meaning out of disparate piecemeal events, the language to string together the phenomenon has to be different than the data points. Innovation is a non linear thought project; real time, fresh, with a appreciation of history of what can work and what could be skipped. Demand orientation makes time, the most critical variable.

Gulf Futurism invests (literally) an outlandish belief in mega infrastructure projects to catapult it to a future as as advanced as South Korea or Japan. Modernity in the Gulf appropriates modern technology while rooting it in a traditional anchor of family values. Oil wealth has accelerated the tech curve with high disposable incomes. Everyone has the latest gadget in town, never mind the expensive data rates and having restrictions on the most popular VOIP software in the world. Ofcourse, the tech savvy with a decent risk appetite have VPN to bypass the telecom regulator. Digital has propagated a sub culture of non conformists globally, and the gulf is not an exception.

In this conservative space, digital technology offers a ‘second life’, with Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram presenting opportunities to socialise. Folks are plugged in to their phones all the time, to the extent of obsession. A separate existence is lived online.

People consume entertainment on the phone, via Watsapp forwards, evolving into the community grapevine on groups.

Blue Collar Migrants from South Asia have a program on their phones to unscramble Wifi passwords and ‘share’ data from better off cousins. Technology is socially constructed, as can observed as it takes shape around incumbent community values, all over the world.

In 2010, I enthusiastically watched ‘The Lady’ at the Golden Village in Vivo City Mall in Singapore with an Indo-Burmese Couple. I came out of the movie with a proverbial lump in the throat moment. This is the case of taking the international community for a ride. Ofcourse, I remember, Aunty Suu, speaking a few years back, that she would be rather like to remembered as a politician rather than a Nobel Peace Laureate. The writing was on the wall a long time back.

Theraveda Buddhists are not exactly known for ‘peace’ in the form of Wiranthu.