Georgetown University Qatar Indian Ocean Working Group Webinar on ‘Indian Ocean Humanities’ with Prof Ananya Jahanara Kabir, Mr. Ari Gautier, Prof Jeremy Prestholdt and Prof V Coppan. Moderated by Prof. Firat Oruc.

#IndianOceanHistories

In this open season of the performance of productivity, where podcasts, teach-ins and webinars are creating dialogic spaces for participatory communities of practice and democratizing the hallowed ivory tower academic spaces to lesser mortals such as me for instance who occupy a liminal, interstitial positionality of a writer and consultant. I put by start up cap by asking can these conversations be transcribed and may be edited volumes, or potential collaborations in terms of projects be documented better. All i see is an upload to Vimeo or the YouTube page, which is giving the participants a raw deal as such energy and time is devoted to informal knowledge production. These talks are archived in the black box of the digital archive for the future researcher to dig up.

The same with fabulous Facebook posts which are often far ahead than what the mainstream media writes. These along with videos are lost in the deluge of data. I hope there is some systematic approach to catalog at-least as per themes.

Aliah University, Kolkata Department of Mass Communication and Journalism online webinar on the impact of COVID-19 on the journalism community in India. A wide array of voices convened. @journalistreyaz Bhai moderates.

Some numbers for my own record purely for a writerly reflection: Since December 1, 2019 I have written 47 articles until today (14/07/2020) including 35 for The Tilak Chronicle (thanks to a weekly column), 7 for YE Blog (a monthly delight) on Sustainability, 4 for The Empire Diaries (for Gulf focused writing) and 1 each for AGSIW, premier think tank on the Gulf in Washington DC, and Intangible Mag in Spanish via translation in Caracas.

Around 50k words as it’s on an average 1200 words per article. The minimum is 600 words to a maximum of 2900 words. I prefer writing narrative non fiction In the form of long reads. This is purely thanks to the sheer generosity of the editors and partners I work with.

And I have a pretty engaged growth consulting day job for an energetic boutique policy consulting firm in Oman. I blog on my own website as well with quips, photos and spoken word.

The best way to think is to write and helps in forging networks, ideas and commercial value. To be a writer is to be an entrepreneur.

@MEI_NUS and Qatar University Gulf Studies Centre Online Webinar on Gulf-Asia Relations with Prof @abaabood , Prof @mzweiri and Prof @AnoushEhteshami moderating the panel with 4 speakers from Japan, China, UAE and Kuwait. Enlightening global engagement.

@OxbridgeEmirati has a great panel on Social Distancing in the Gulf with @vanish_forever among others with Hala Ali moderating it. Chatham House Rules apply. Some spaces are vital.