I am not usually a person to watch two films a month and I only watch films in the theatre (As a writer the minimum I can do is to respect intellectual property)… So I watched Natalie Portman’s Black Swan and the 127 Hours directed by Danny Boyle, a favorite in India after Slumdog Millionare and its Oscar Success (Technically its a British Film!)… Both the films are Oscar Success’s this year and I have to still watch the film- The Kings Speech, which is a major winner at the Oscars this time around. I watched these films in the amazing company of friends as well:) Thank you to Shriyanka and Bharat!

Enough of a background introduction as of now… The Black Swan is a technically stunning film based on a second generation ballerina’s career, who is making the transition from being a background artiste to playing a lead- being the main attraction and a show stopper of the production. The director of the production is all powerful, calling the shots and dumping the old star performer for the new performer (The protagonist- Natalie Portman is enacting in the film) and officially driving her into retirement. The Casting Couch Syndrome, sexual exploitation of the entertainment industry, which is the worst kept secret around is categorically characterized with other performers thinking the protagonist has slept her way to the top ( which is not true, although the director did make suggestions in that direction). There is a coup attempt by another performer, taking the protagonist for a wild party evening prior to the debut performance night- an attempt to sabotage her career.  The critical takeaway from this is that lust and temptation can ruin years of hardwork and even more determination and concentration is needed prior to the main performance evening rather than be in a state of awe and jubilation.  The Film is technically brilliant, cinematography and background score is haunting and brilliant. Natalie Portman has given a performance of lifetime. She portrays the transition from an angel to a lustful devil in her pursuit of stardom and success. The moral of the story: People have to adapt to the circumstance in order to make the paradigm shift to success. The shift was in a morally subversive direction, conveying that the world is nasty and success is a temporary phase and fleeting to the core. Always have a Plan B when, your days of Stardom are numbered.

The other film which I watched last weekend was the Danny Boyle film 127 Hours- Its a single man’s story.. He is a adventure freak ,a rebel and he does things his own way. As usual he is young guy..full of adrenalin! The character of the protagonist goes out to explore the canyon’s.. meets two young women, lost in the road..takes them on a journey through the canyon’s unexplored places… goes for diving and swimming in the underground natural pool and promises the women that he would drop in for a beer, at the party which the girls were throwing with an inflated scooby doo!

Then the story unfolds (its very boring for first part of the film), He gets stuck in a part of the canyon with his one arm crushed and stuck under the rock. He has food and water to last him for 3 to 4 days, has a video camera, a knife and all other mountaineering apparatus with him. He is trying to get his arm out of the rock, He is stuck in the horrendous place for 127 hours and that the film.  He loses out on water, food and energy after 3 days… drinks his pee, no number 2- constantly films his story and gets sunlight in the hole for 15 minutes a day! incredible!!

He still masturbates in that desperate condition (Men will be Men even if it is hell) and he remembers that he did not pick up his Mum’s call when he was leaving for this ill fated adventure trip, hence he did not inform her and lost his chances on a rescue (He happens to be a rescuer himself). He fought with his girlfriend before coming too, his case was destines to be lost! Then he cut his arm, which was stuck under the rock with a knife (was very bloody and gore) to free himself of the hell he is in. He finally bails himself out of the hole and gets rescued by a family and the authorities. The last 20 minutes of the film are beautiful, as this film is a book adaptation from a real story, the person who actually did it was shown in pictures in a collage. The background score by Madras Maestro Rahman is stunning, bring to life many a dull scene…

The Takeaway from the film- Value your family, and always let your parents know..where are you heading and this film exemplified the human will to survive, the creativity, ingenuity and the desperation to live and to live life to the full after such an event. Both the films were inspirational to me..

I am quite an avid follower of international current affairs events since I am young, it always bewilders me that mono linguistic and societies with homogeneous socio ethnic structures always do better (with the prominent examples being Germany, Sweden,  Japan and Korea)  , there is another element which differentiates them from the rot of the third world – an emphasis of public values; they lay a premium on how their leaders behave in public and they uphold the sanctum sanctorum of values of good governance. Whether these emanate from Confucian or Protestant values, these nations hold national pride in delivering the goods and upholding respect.

Although there are examples of chronic failure in standards in governance as well such as Greece and Italy (The Prime Minister having a very colorful existence ) in Europe, but they have the EU Safety Shield to protect them.  India, being my country of birth and citizenship; has a total vacuum in value driven governance. With a plethora of scams and goof ups in major events which uphold national honor such as the commonwealth games, the need of the hour in India is someone who restores Indian Pride internationally and inspires us to take up the mantle for growth and development. Nationalism is only demonstrated in India in the event of a cricket match or of a territorial conflict. With the emergence of competent leadership in the opposition camp such as Nitish Kumar, Shivraj Chauhan and above all Narendra Bhai Modi; there is hope. Dynamic leaders in the ruling establishment such as Rahulji Gandhi, Sachin Pilot and Omar Abdullah have brought some efficiency in the system. But these examples are few and far in between. A Kapil Sibal and a Jairam Ramesh can only do so much. Corruption and nepotism is endemic, these are tumors in our system.  The room for values based decision making is squeezed out.

The moment, values are brought back on the seat of power; governance will be restored to its rightful place….

This is my first article in this month, well a few changes have taken place over the last month. I have got a opportunity to pursue Doctoral research in Science and Technology Policy at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Thus I am back to my favorite city once again- Singapore:) This research stint will be the third academic domain transition, I would be making- My undergrad engineering degree in biotechnology from Oman, my masters is in environmental engineering from NUS and my Graduate research degree will be in Science and Technology Policy.  It seems a bit strange to explain the rationale to well-wishers and acquaintances concern my academic career moves… I have had a perchant for Governance and Social issues; the intersection of Technology and the Humanities fascinates me… its a frontier where intellectual value can be created, particularly when Technologists and Scientist do not grasp the social issues and researchers in the Humanities find science, greek and latin to them. Its a risky endeavor, but something which I am excited about pursuing as a career in academia & research.

Policy and Governance issues cannot be intellectually compartmentalized. The issues that are dealt in Social Science and Policy Schools deal ultimately with critical decision making matters, concerns the lives of many at hand. A broad understanding of the various domains in science and tech policy creation will lead to better economies and societies as a whole. I would encourage educators to design programs which have a blend of the sciences and the humanities, which will create the next generation of solution creators, where innovation is the currency for competitive advantage. A right equilibrium of the right and the left brains is essential towards creating more options of ideation and innovative execution.

The tight compartmentalization and super specialization of academic domains creates less than complete individuals for the job market. More efforts towards inter-disciplinary learning should be encouraged in countries such as in South Asia to create broader mind-sets and liberated souls….

The brand of academic institutions is something we all look forward to when we are choosing graduate school or med school or any knowledge+certification granting authority, because its talent, time and financial resources put into a degree. Most of us-humble souls go to college for ‘Shahada’ or certificate in Arabic to make us marketable enough to earn a living. But the question is- Are we adopting a reductionist approach towards the hallowed institutions that we respect if not revere? Commoditizing   something as valued as intellect into a product? I do understand that a structured learning framework is limited in its mandate, that its ultimately fellow humans who are running these organizations and a organization by essence is a network of conversations that people engage in because we all love stories and not raw data…

An Academic institution is a platform to connect with like minded peers, expand our horizons of thought processes and have access as invaluable as the library and the academic treasure trove called a professor…. College is also a place to learn more about life as a process- relationships, fights, ego tussles and a place to pursue our non academic interests as well… Knowledge is infinite, its a super-set that human understanding has not comprehended it, academia only acts an intermediary to channelize a triple distilled version of knowledge.

Academic value can be created outside structured learning domains as well- Einstein and others did not learn from academia, but created knowledge not attained inside the system… People learn from you tube, MIT OPEN COURSEWARE and other Web 2.0 platforms without attending full time school… The process of learning is accelerated in real world offices, on the job training, internships and real world skill sets are not learnt in conventional college or graduate school…Infosys and Vale have their own corporate universities to train their staff… only 10% of India’s burgeoning engineering talent pool are market ready… More people are taking online degrees while working, giving them the flexibility to learn as they earn

Scientific Research in fundamental sciences is still the exclusive domain of academia and will be for a long time to come… Open source solutioneering such as Linux and websites such as Innocentive are creating value outside the system.

Academia will be relevant for quality control and the brand of the institution is like the face value of a stock…but creation of academic value outside universities will the norm rather than a exception as handheld devices and web progresses to the next level, technology is going to be the great leveler, elitism of the high table of academia have to adapt to keep pace with the times.

We will be in the next few days be witnessing the creation of a new nation state in Africa- that of Southern Sudan with its capital being of Juba… The South People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) is the South Sudanese equivalent of the African National Congress or the Palestinian Liberation Front…It has waged a civil war with the North Sudanese Army over the last few decades with over 4 million casualties and millions more internally displaced people… The Civil War ended in 2005 with an agreement over resource sharing and a scheduling over a referendum in early 2011 (currently under way)..

South Sudan is mainly Animist and Christian & of African Stock in comparison to its Northern cousins being Muslim and Arab… South Sudan is also the Kurdistan of Sudan…being Oil rich only complicates the separation…Revenue sharing and citizenship issues have not been agreed upon in addition to concrete borderlines being drawn …. Separation is always painful, with examples in recent history being Kosovo, Montenegro and Timor Leste…. Ultimately such instances result in human tragedies and suffering, a case study being the Partition of South Asia in 1947 into India and Pakistan with millions killed and displaced…a human tragedy sans any comparison…

Timor Leste being the youngest nation state in the Globe currently with its independence a decade ago is one of the largest recipients of external donor aid, weak institutions and gross poverty…. With Oil discovered in the Timor Sea, there is reason for cautious optimism as such nations sans strong leadership and weak institutions are susceptible to the Resource Curse…

We hope that South Sudan does not become a case study for nations with the resource curse in Public Policy Schools internationally…

I have been thinking about this theme since a while, a topic close to my heart… I am a product of a mixed marriage- My Dad is an ethnic Bihari born and bred in West Bengal and my Mum is an ethnic Bengali based in Mumbai. My Father speaks fluent Bengali and my Mum speaks fluent Marathi.  I was bred in Cosmo Mumbai in the 90’s- the transition generation! With stints of my childhood in Muscat, Oman..where my Father is an expat educator- grew up listening to Khaled and Cheb Mami along with Euphoria and Lucky Ali Tracks…

With traditional Rabindra Sangeet playing all day at home (With me listening to Bhoomi and Nachiketa-contemporary Bengali music), my parents tried their best to make me Bengali’ Bangali! Still I am labeled a Bihari many times around! (I have no issues, I consider myself a global nomad! )

I watched BBC at home since I was 6 years old… We are defined by not our biology-the politics of birth, but by the Geography we live in and the thoughts we aspire for ourselves…

In todays Globalization 2.0 age, we study in Singapore, work in the middle east and holiday in europe and do volunteering in West Africa…

Arnold can be born in Gratz but govern in Sacramento..Piyush Jindal can live in the Governer’s Mansion in New Orleans and Sonia Gandhiji born in Italy can rule from 7, Janpath over a billion souls…

Identity related issues have caused Genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia, Power driven by identity and channeled into electoral politics can be of devastating consequences….  Identity channeled into Nationalism led to the second world war…but it also drove Japan to new heights post Hiroshima and Nagasaki… Singapore is one of the most multi-ethnic meritocratic societies in world, where the only currency for access is Talent alone, yet it was formed in 1965 due to the expulsion by Tunku of ‘Cina Singapura’ out of the Malayan Federation, to preserve its Malay Bumiputra identity.

We all have Plural Identities- as Amartya Sen lucidly portrayed in his bestseller-Identity and Violence…  We are Christian, Buddhist, Hindu and American, Indian, Singaporean or British at the same time without any contradictions.

Larry Ellison can be both American, Black and the United States first Muslim Congressman and still be on the same page as all Americans!

Identity is what we carve out of it..its marble slab which we chisel in the dreams we have…

A very Happy New Year to my Friends all over the World, I have shifted base from Singapore to Oman over the last week. I have spent most of my childhood and my undergrad degree from Oman, so I call Muscat my home in many ways although I prefer to call my self a Global Nomad- a wanderer in search of new knowledge and experiences globally.

My Time in Singapore during my masters has been truly influential- a case in how an Asian city-state has transitioned from being a Third World back-water to a First World case study in Urban meritocratic governance. A city-state where electricity access is un-believable, You can drink off the taps and the public transportation is the envy of the world. The key to this to have an educated civil service, a political leadership which is world-class and where meritocracy is the buzz word.

I have come to subscribe to the Singaporean philosophical school of ‘Pragmatism’ as Kishore Mahbubani, the Dean of the Public Policy School at NUS says in his book on the rise of the Asian hemisphere. There is not a system of Governance which is absolute, like the American neo-con policy of global democratization, which has lead to wars in Iraq and Af-Pak. Rather the Late Chinese Premier Deng Xiopeng said- A cat whether, balck or white…does not matter as long as it catches mice!

Democracy sans education and access to livelihood is a recipe for chaos as is the case of the former USSR and countries of Latin America have shown. Governance is the most vital game changer in a country…it can make it or break it.

Singapore has shown the way for Asian cities to manage themselves…Its time that Mumbai and Jakarta take suit!

This is a topic which is very pertinent, as the Social Sector is the one which takes care when there is no one to help in a disaster or the marginalized in Society, who are not plugged in to the Global Economic Grid. Like the Fourth Estate- The Media, the business world is the one which feeds it through advertisements and other products. The messenger is dependent on the protagonist for its survival!

To extend an analogy from the media- the Social Sector is financial aid dependent on the goodwill of people and of institutional donors like foundations. The social enterprise space is a novel concept but it has intrinsic limitations as far as the scale of impact is concerned. Sometimes, Good Old Charity is the best way to fund a cause!

This post is the initiation of a conversation…Lets Talk!

The ‘Second World’ is a book which I had recently read (Its new paperback edition) authored by Parag Khanna, a fellow with the New America Foundation. I had got hooked to his writing by watching his TED Talk, which I thought was a fascinating and a refreshing take on the Post-Soviet Geopolitics and its ramifications on the developing world power dynamics. Its a book on the Developing World, Globalization and the geopolitical chess-game for the hearts, minds and markets of the developing world. The book covers Central Asia, South East Asia and Latin America comprehensively. The books USP is its honesty and ‘no holds barred’ approach to analysing power dynamics. The analysis of the politics of the Arab World is a note-worthy mention as well.

The author is very impressed with Singaporean way of Governance (I second him on this point completely) and completely omits India and Pakistan out of this purview of research. The book’s approach is very meticulous in its details and filled with quips and anecdotes which makes it a fun read.

The book is a relevant read even after two years of its publication.

On this Christmas day, lets remember why is Christmas is Christmas…it is because Jesus Christ of Nazareth was born as a symbol of hope and love for his people. Christmas has been turned into a day where the retail industry has a field day- with all shopping and the dining (well, drinking in some parts of the world)…Christmas and the holiday season has been a time period for economic vibrancy creating part-time and temporary jobs  as well as tourism dependent economies depend on this time of the year for a financial short in the arm.

On this Christmas lets remember the resource poor but spirit rich cousins in our backyard, our kampung or our community. Lets buy someone dinner, lets buy a gift for the elderly and more importantly lets spend some valued time with our loved ones in this rat race called work-life.

Lets have a Christmas to remember!