The Idea-smithy

Featured in DNA, 27May2012: Mumbai does not welcome you

IdeaSmith — Tue, 29 May 2012 14:33:51 +0000

Mumbai’s victimisation of South Indians happened a little before my time. But I remember life in the city before and after the Babri Masjid incident. My city, my beloved home has gone from an all-welcoming abode to a place that hates Muslims as much as the rest of the propagandized world. The anti North-Indian is relatively newer. Adulthood and living away from home brought me the knowledge of how much Mumbai resents singletons. And no one who grew up in the 90s is likely to forget the anti-Valentine’s Day moral brigade.

I live with the the shrinking tolerance in my city. Everyday my pride in the city I call home, diminishes with every statement I hear like,

“Muslims are not allowed in this building.”

“I don’t rent to bachelors.”

“We will not condone any cheap behaviour which demeans our Indian values.”

I wrote a post titled ‘The city of Mumbai does NOT welcome you‘. As on a previous occasion, I didn’t expect anyone to read, comment or commiserate. My memories of Mumbai are my own after all. But perhaps it struck a chord somewhere. DNA featured an excerpt from my post yesterday.

I began a Twitter conversation tagged #UnwelcomeMumbai asking if anyone felt welcome in Mumbai. At least everyone doesn’t agree with me. Here are some responses:

@swatkat7: I politely disagree.. I’ve lived all across Europe and ‪#Mumbai‬ is one of the friendliest cities to live in..

@NomadWanderer: oh! I’m a north Indian , have lived here when single etc etc Bombay makes u feel everything good is possible

@anaggh: yup. Just like a lot of people. But will continue staying here.

Filed under: Citywatch, Media Tagged: Around the Blog, DNA Newspaper, Media mentions, Mumbai moral police, Muslim harassment in Mumbai, North Indians in Mumbai, Press clipping, saffron brigade, Sena brigade, Singletons in Mumbai, Valentine's Day in Mumbai

I Wear: A Mermaid On Land

IdeaSmith — Sun, 27 May 2012 06:53:46 +0000

This is the second of my acquisitions from the summer shopping spree. Like the inkblot top, this print too was available in a wide range of cuts and styles (including the one I picked in the inkblot print). I daresay the square cut of the inkblot top might have been interesting in this print and given that this fabric is soft & thin as opposed to the stiffer black & white, it would fall very differently. But I was really drawn to the cool, swirly blue print and so the loose, flowing shirt/kurta seemed the best.

I had a chance to wear it the very next week. It was a hot day, one where I’d have to travel the length of the city, work for a few hours at a stretch and also fit in a salon appointment. I wanted to be comfortable and cool and this was perfect!

Jeans would have looked good with this top, especially since it has tails long enough to be tucked in. But it was too hot for denim. So I picked out this off-white cotton pair of drawstring pants, that mum got me awhile ago and that I’ve been waiting for summer to wear.

I love the comfort of drawstring pants but they tend to create a ‘muffin-top’ effect. So I let the top hang out loose.

Given the ultra casual vibe, I did feel the need for extra special accessories to keep this from looking like something I’d wear to a pajama party. I ditched my summer staple of earstuds for these dainty danglers from FabIndia. An unrelated aside – did you know talcum powder can work instant wonders on blackened silver? The pendant is a souvenir from my Goa trip last month and the Tibetan market that I chanced upon.

I had a salon appointment later, to rectify this horror inflicted on me by Enrich Matunga. And I decided to throw in a pedicure to pamper myself too. Here’s the before and after of my feet. The green gladiators are almost two years old and unimaginably comfortable. The glittery blue nailpaint was a whim to match my clothes and is what gave this post its name.

The haircut didn’t come off as well as the original but Tabu did a damn, fine job of getting it out of its mess. That’s her reflection in the mirror. What do you think?

And finally here’s the whole look:

I Wear:

Blue tie-dye sleeveless cotton shirt: Rs.799, Cotton World
Off-white drawstring pants:
Crisscross silver earrings: FabIndia
Eternity symbol silver pendant: Tibetan market, Calangute, Goa
Green strappy gladiators: Lifestyle
Haircut & pedicure: Enrich, Lokhandwala

* Cross-posted to Divadom.

Filed under: Fashion & Style, I Wear, Roving I Tagged: Aqua print, Calangute, Cotton World, Drawstring pants, Enrich Lokhandwala, Enrich Matunga, Geometric pattern jewellery, Glittery blue nailpolish, Goa, Green gladiator sandals, L'Oreal Enrich, Long summer shirt, Muffin top, Repair bad haircut, Silver jewellery, Talcum powder on silver, Tibetan infinity symbol, Tibetan market, Tie-dye print

How Social Content is Different and What This Means

IdeaSmith — Fri, 25 May 2012 08:34:11 +0000

Social Media signals a brave, new world of communication and interaction. Correspondingly the content on it pushes the boundaries of power, of ownership, of usage and of consumption. In my latest Social Samosa article, I take a look at what this means.

“Think of content on traditional media as a stone that you’re about to throw. Science allows us to determine its speed, direction, trajectory and eventually its destination. In contrast, Social Content is like a drop of water in the sky. It might fall as rain or collect on a leaf as a dewdrop. Or along the way, it might transform into a hailstone or even a snowflake. Each of these possibilities lead to numerous others. A snowflake might get trampled upon, slapped onto a snowman or shaped into a snowball. From here, it might get smashed on a surface or roll on the ground, pick up more material and momentum and building speed, go hurtling on to an unknown destination. The last is the phenomenon of going viral, that wet dream of every social media agencyperson.”

Read ‘How Social Content is Different and What This Means‘ on Social Samosa.

* Image via Master isolated images on FreeDigitalPhotos.

Filed under: Blogging, Internet, Social Media, Social Networks, Social Samosa, Twitter!!, Writing Work Tagged: Custodian of conversations, Difference between social media and traditional media, Engaging content, Multidirectional communication, Social content, Social media, Social media changes how businesses relate to customers, Social media content, Social Samosa

The city of Mumbai does NOT welcome you

IdeaSmith — Wed, 23 May 2012 08:52:08 +0000

North-Indians unwelcome.
South-Indians unwelcome.
Muslims unwelcome.

Singletons unwelcome.
Couples unwelcome.

Artists unwelcome.
Drinkers unwelcome.

The City of Gold, blessed land of Mahalaxmi that was once given as a princess’s dowry is a treasure no more.

I’d like to say the average man on the street doesn’t carry these notions but the scary thing is that he does. This isn’t anymore a blamegame between politicians. Sure, every one of these acrimonious, poisonous beliefs have been seeded with a blatant political agenda. But this city and its inhabitants have lapped them up voraciously and the hatred is bearing fruit, the bitter fruit of intolerance.

The real trouble is that it can afford to stay this way since there aren’t any real options. Bangalore, Hyderabad and numerous others once held the promise of new cities. They’ve all sunk into oblivion or inflated beyond the reach of the common man. Delhi continues to grow at a monstrous pace and accumulate as many rape victims, cadavers and tales of debauchery as crores.

If you are a professional with an education, where can you hope to live and build something strong, positive and sustainable? If you’re not, the staggering poverty will make even this hellhole seem like heaven.

Perhaps Mumbai has been a cashcow for this country for too long. And we’re now a society that has successfully slaughtered the golden goose. Welcome to the city of gutters, greed and garbage.

A No Entry sign in San Mateo, California. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Filed under: Citywatch Tagged: City of Gold, Depraved city, Harassment of minorities, Moral police, Mumbai, Muslims harassed in Mumbai, North Indians unwelcome in Mumbai, Performance tax, saffron brigade, Valentine's Day harassment

Woman, are you safe on Social Media?

IdeaSmith — Wed, 23 May 2012 08:26:09 +0000

I combine two of my interests in this next Social Samosa post – womanhood’s challenges & social media. Facebook’s claim to fame were its privacy settings. Last month’s big news in this space was that a staggering majority of Pinterest users were women. Among the theories being bandied about was the belief that women felt safer (for some undisclosed reason) on Pinterest. I don’t believe any place online or offline is truly safe for a woman. This post looks at some basic safety tips that a lot of women don’t seem to realize

Head of Women (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

. Stay on the social space ladies, but stay safe!

The flipside of the Information Age is how it has made the broadcasting of personal information a casual thing. A decade ago, it would have been unthinkable to share a person’s phone number without their consent. But today, since every call center and social network has access to a person’s contact details, the sanctity of this information has been lost. As a result, the average social media user may pass on the contact details of someone he knows, without a thought given to how that information could be misused, validating the recipient or how the owner of that information feels.

Read ‘Woman are you safe on Social Media‘ on Social Samosa.

Filed under: Internet, Social Media, Social Networks, Social Samosa, Writing Work Tagged: Facebook, Image protection online, Online harassment, Personal information online, Pinterest, Social media safety tips, Social Network, Social Samosa, Women safety online