It was lovely speaking earlier in the day to a Nepalese chef and staff from Pokhara in a restaurant in Langkawi who have worked in Mainland China/Punjabi by Nature in Cyber Hub\New Friends Colony in the National Capital Region, India. They spoke about remittances, fluctuating exchange rates and below par work with respect to their … More Langkawi Diaries: Nasi Lemak, Nepal and Migration
Mahesh Bhatt to Karan Thapar in an India Today TV Interview: ‘We make two kinds of films; to comfort the jolted, and to jolt the comforted- for the jolted it is an ice pack and painkiller, and for the rich, pain is an aphrodisiac’ in response to a question on whether cinema is for changing … More Bhatt on Bollywood
Happy Azadi Day India. May we reimagine the way we look after marginalized communities from Bastar to Bombay as we turn 70. It seems too many folks are squeezed in the middle and on the margins. The business of democracy is an imperfect transaction, and we seem to be operating on an auto pilot mode, … More Reimagining Azadi: Making it matter
With recent urban floods in the so called Indian Silicon Valley and The ‘Sahara Mall NH10’ City, I wonder if the narrative will move to climate governance in cities from being technologically smart in design, and rather dysfunctional on the ground. The notion of sociotechnical resilience as I wrote in a January 2013 conference paper … More Cities have to livable, not smart
The recent media discourse on Kashmir and also the run up to the Punjab and UP Polls, fundamentally articulate that there are no apparent issues in India apart from Navjot Sidhu joining AAP and that Kashmir has issues because of one person who was killed. The Bundelkhand droughts was never covered in the same vain. … More Indian Media’s Poverty of Imagination
In January 2015, I went on from being a petroleum industry consultant in Oman and India to a migration and health research lead position driving mini projects within a research program to bring issues of food security and migration experience issues with the Bangladeshi community in Singapore. This was my first formal brush with social … More Why Social Justice work matters
Every conflict zone is a human problem. The national security or the ‘independence’ lens really does not capture the torment of zero healthcare, zilch jobs and real absence of hope. The question to be asked is, is the land so vital even if the people treat you as oppressors? And the other question to the … More Question For Kashmir?
On a crowded Deepawali or Hari Raya eve in Little India, we can observe a sea of humanity passing by, the excitement palpable in the air and faces gleaming with joy. Festivals in Singapore serve as cornerstones of a multicultural society founded on respect for different beliefs and cultural affiliations.Various communities and sub groups within … More Festivals : Diaspora markers of the Past
Writing is more than dishing out information, it’s about expression, aesthetics and shattering the silence. Mediocre writing is insincere at its heart. Great writing is not verbose, yet detailed enough, engaging and not indulgent. Writing is the mainstay of communication as we write emails, chat or write consulting reports. Great writing as a skills takes … More Writing as more than Communication
The entire point of work is to make a dent and not to simply warm the pews of the Church of life. The nature of work is changing; most jobs will be automated and service sector work will be replaced by bots and AI tools. The future lies in work which is meaningful and cannot … More The nature of work is changing
