Rise of 'The Global Village-City'

Are we going through a phase by phase rise of homogeneous society based out massive social contracts in a collection of global City culture. Headed by the western Cities from Berlin to SauPaulo a common lifestyles. As Rajesh writes in an article...

The 'city' is a truly global phenomenon, and modern cities whether in India or Nigeria or Europe are the most globalised elements of the world economy. Indeed it can be argued that a global city civilisation is emerging in which cities the world over are breaking away from their immediate surroundings and connecting with their peers globally. It takes about the same time to fly from Bangalore to Boston as it takes to travel from Bangalore to Dharwad.

The global city-civilisation has New York and London at its apex, Bangalore and Mumbai at intermediate stages, and Lagos as the dregs. While we might not have the unredeemable squalor of Lagos, the position of the Indian city in the global ladder is not enviable. The nature of resource extraction and social hierarchy being what it is, we have a local elite that would rather hobnob with its counterparts abroad (notice ads for cars and paints; all the houses and roads and even people look western), while trying their best to simultaneously exploit and stay away from their not-so-fortunate neighbours.

क्या होगा हमारी चोटी चोटी रिस्ठो का ?

Is Iran Twitter Happy or just made up noise?

'Out of the few hundred real twitter users in Iran recently before fake twitters from Tehran showed hundred actively released the news of mass organising. Gaurav of the following blog questions

'Calling the Iran protests a 'Twitter Revolution' is not only distracting but also dangerous because it reduces a legitimate broad-based grassroots movement to what's quickly becoming a cliche, after Moldova.'

The new fuss about how technology driven revolutions become milestones of twitter and social media band wagon is illusionary and sometimes as the above blog mentions overshadows the real ground effort and organizing.

Is it possible that the free form of internet is leaning towards a certain idea of global lifestyle and becoming a propaganda grounds for media analyst and oppurutnist to get attention while the real news gets sidelined?



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Saugat Datta
Media Artist
<a href="http://saugatdatta.blogspot.com/">Wandering Jogi Flowing Pani</a>

What is "Development"?

As I stand witness in my wanderings how often the word 'Development' is being used in every academic arguments around cafe tables, between frustration to wait in front of a machine to a world map based on development. Everyone seems to agree we need development like we need as one blog states.

'Lant Prichett gives a pretty precise definition of development as rapid "modernization" giving examples of the West's development in the 19th century, Japan's Meiji Restoration and Korea's modernization in the 60's.'

What value does the word carry in our lives today? An attempt is made by reaction article by Najim in India Development blog through a social experiment through answering three questions

1. What is my definition of development? (3 lines)

When change occurs by confluence rather than conflict, development is the measure of that change.

2. One word definition for development?

Convergence

3. If country X (any developing country you can relate to) is said to have achieved development Y years from now, what features of the country constitute your definition of a developed country?

Human culture, Self Governance, Food security, Carbon offset, Water security,


  
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Saugat Datta
Media Artist
<a href="http://saugatdatta.blogspot.com/">Wandering Jogi Flowing Pani</a>

A SpiritBear 'Masala' ... Rare White Bear.

Negative impact of sudden popularity. Rare white bear amid black bears popularly known as the spirit bear has create uncontrolled bear watching endangering the bears themselves in Princess Long Island, B.C. Local Git-ga'at people of the island traditionally give Masala, "the white bear," comparatively high status, also called Kermode Bear after 20th century  naturalist from BC Francis Kermode. 

Travelwatch produced by National Geprgraphic says

"scores of cruise tourists prowling the inlets in day boats and Zodiacs, seeking a glimpse of a spirit bear and disturbing stream valleys and sacred Git-ga'at sites. Many of the Git-ga'at live in Hartley Bay, closest mainland village to the new conservancy. "We want to make sure tourism development is respectful of our own traditions and of the bear itself," says Art Sterritt, a Git-ga'at elder. He helped draft the conservancy agreement. Hartley Bay does want tourism; the community is building a cultural center and feast hall, and has already welcomed a number of "pocket" cruise boats, liners with fewer than 250 passengers."

Princess Long Island has in recent years acquired great popularity due to 'spirit bear' which otherwise as the article continues is best described as raw wilderness of B.C.

"to visit Princess Royal Island. During one four-day stay, you can watch salmon thrash in streams of amber water; duck for cover as black bears (yes, black ones) plunge in to fish for those same salmon; marvel at humpback whales dancing in Grenville Channel or a family of river otters gamboling along the shore; and admire the mile-high granite faces uncloaked as afternoon sun burns off the morning mist. You can go through rolls of film at a haul-out rock where Steller's sea lions carouse; with a rod, you can cast fuchsia flies to catch crimson-splashed cutthroat trout. You may never see a spirit bear, but you'll find something far more significant: spirit of place. If the forests and waters are kept from harm, thousands of visitors can experience that in the future."

To read the full article .

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Saugat Datta
Media Artist
<a href="http://saugatdatta.blogspot.com/">Wandering Jogi Flowing Pani</a>

Looking for a new Home.

The wandering brotherhood of Saugat Datta, Omar Shaikh, Sam and Ben Cooper are looking for a new house to live and work from. 5 or 6 bedrooms ideally located in East Van or West Burnaby for Aug/Sept.  We are bunch of media artist who live, share, work and play together. In the coming couple of months we need to find a new home. Little word about us Saugat is crazy food junkie, and media wallah, Omar Shaikh ( yes he is the youger sibling of Adham Shaikh) works in the tourism industry and fixes his motercycle obcession and The Cooper Bros- Ben is a media guru and bad jokes manufacturing mafia and Sam is our beloved happy buddha, coder and genius mad scientist.  Please spread the word and, of course, the love
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Saugat Datta
Media Artist
<a href="http://saugatdatta.blogspot.com/">Wandering Jogi Flowing Pani</a>