The lightness of blogging

The lightness of blogging

The past few days have been spent at home trying to give some rest to a bad back. That doesn't seemed to have helped much. But, at least, I've managed to post a few times here.
The the disturbing thing about these posts have been my inability to get away from journalism.
It reminds me of Andrea Tapper's writing classes at IIJ. She expected me to write features but I just couldn't - I just couldn't. Andrea's classes were unanimously considered useful. Very interesting lady. She has spent many years in Africa and has a refreshing way of approaching issues. It was nice making her acquitance.
Coming back home. Mandira Moddie is leaving us. That's good for her but that makes the place more boring. It was fun working with her. The good part is that the Chennaite refuses to leave her favourite city. She will be working here itself. So we will continue to meet I'm sure. Wishing her all the very best in her new career -- she deserves it. Mandira's leaving the profession is a loss for journalism. Our inability to retain her is an indictment. I wish people recognise it as such.
I have finalised purchasing a Mac mini. I was expecting it to be delivered today. But as usual things get postponed. I will have to wait for Monday now. I'll have battle with this PC for a couple of days more.

There, it feels lighter now for having tapped a few words on the keyboard and talked to, errrrr, nobody or is it everybody?

A divide without borders

A divide without borders
Karthik voiced his amazement as we drove to the guest house from Tegel Airport. Any visitor to Berlin would first be struck by the graffito. It obviously is an expression of protest. With five million people unemployed the German nation is sure going through a horrendous crisis. Neo-liberalism being the culprit is just one aspect. But the scarier part is that even after 15 years of re-unification, the people stand divided. That is the bigger challenge.
If one reads spiegel.de there are many tongue-in-cheek references to the east and the problems of politicians to come to grips with these former communists.
Here's another one from Spiegel: In the East, the Vote Is Anybody's Guess
So for those who are following the German elections it is all so funny, the floods, the silly attire of Angela Merkel and the come-back-kid Gerhard Schröder. But for a more informed assessment of the situation you might have to learn a whole lot of German, and, tougher still, really hunt for a newspaper web site that takes the plight of the German people more seriously. That's not very different from what is happening in India.

Everlasting friends made in Germany

Everlasting friends made in Germany

The time of my life was spent with the folks in this picture, which has been pinched from Fred Garland's blog. As part of the course we created blogs. Some are still active.

Elvis:http://kwashie.blogspot.com/, the online journalist from Ghana.

Boahene: http://boahene.blogspot.com/, the president of Africa.

KAT: http://katlogs.blogspot.com/, another king.

Meri: http://centrasianormads.blogspot.com/, the petite yet strong and intelligent lady from a beautiful country.

Tai: http://taitoo.blogspot.com/, the creative genius.

Aurel:http://aur-training2005.blogspot.com/, the conscientious "blonde" from Moldova.

Mariana: http://ticolazlivejornal.blogspot.com/, the little girl with a lot of promise.

Claudia: http://periodistas-salvadorenos.blogspot.com/, the beautiful and intelligent online journalist from Latin American. The only one from the other end of the world.

Lyudmila: http://uzbradio.blogspot.com/, the pretty and the most intelligent blonde I've ever come across.

Thuc Anh: http://thucanhblog.blogspot.com/, the strong lady with a handsome son, from Vietnam.

Hanh: http://hanhblog.blogspot.com/, the funny and practical business journalist also from Vietnam.

Rain: http://rainblog.blogspot.com/, the mother of all talkers.

Chenge: http://coolchen.blogspot.com/, the man to watch.

Conrad: http://kingconn.blogspot.com/, the king making the rear entry.

So here we are. Fourteen people who educated me in far away Germany. There are a few others who deserve more than a mere mention. Sabine, my good friend for ever. She is a wonderful lady with a lot of knowledge about the world. I sure will miss the chats I had with her during the breaks. A special mention for the theatre we went to: The Berliner Ensemble. It is Brecht's theatre, and what's great, Sabine and me went to see The Mother - memorable indeed.
Then there is Rita, another wonderful friend. We could just spend the day with her. She showed us the real Germany along with, of course, dear Carol.
Carol, if ever you read my blog: I did not find the CD. I guess it stayed back in Germany. That's still does not absolve me of the crime of not having returned a CD I borrowed from you. Have a wonderful married life dear Carol.
There are three other people Joachim, Werner and Fred I have to acknowledge. But this post will end up being far too long, so I will save it for another post.

Settling down in Chennai
Yes, I'm back in Chennai. It's three weeks since my return from Germany. I did not write much about my stay and the places I visited. In some sense it was a conscious choice. I didn't want to write a travelogue (I was here and I was there types). But now I have ruminated on those 11 wonderful weeks. And I understand things far better. Would that metamorphose into some interesting posts? You will have to judge.
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