I just got back from India (well it has been almost 2 months but I need an excuse to post my first post of 2008) and while all the talk about burgeoning population, rising middle class and even bigger midriffs are certainly true, I was sadly reminded that India is going through an identity crisis. With every family’s dream to have their kids go to America and more Indians returning to India to live their king size, change is happening too fast. Emulating the west has become more important than finding what India can do best. Despite change some things are still the same. 2 weeks spent in my not-so “tiny” coastal hometown was enough time to immerse myself in the cog wheel of the Indian system and know that despite change, old habits die hard. Below is a peek into my version of the old India in 2008:

1. It still takes me a day to get home from a major city
2. Trains are never on time and air transportation is even better. They cancel without explanation
3. My mother still “saves” her money in a cash box at home
4. The cop outside my family’s business establishment continues to take bribes and let people park illegally
5. Movie theaters are still frequented by ruffians who guffaw at every love scene
6. Power cuts are unpredictable and part of everyday existence
7. Local courier service is still unreliable and you’ll be surprised if your package reaches a destination intact in 4 days
8. The cobbler who sewed my high school shoes continues to own his little shack
9. My nephew enjoys reading the same adventure books that I grew up on
10. Arranged marriages are still a common tradition

So while my India decides to have a makeover every year, with each year bringing new globalized chains springing all around my small coastal city and more English speaking youth with strange American accents frequenting these areas, the facade is just a lure. India is still young and will need another century to oust the first world and create it’s own identity. Eradicating red tapism and poverty needs to be more important than getting Walmart and Dolce & Gabbana to open up stores. I am hopeful that with this identity crisis will come a new approach and new way of looking at revitalizing India within it’s traditional boundaries and rich cultural heritage as opposed to changing it to be something that it’s not.

On my way to India I was stranded for over 12 hours on the runway due to bad weather. So what was to be a 4 hour flight turned out to be a 12 hour nightmare with a detour to another airport and 200 passengers just waiting to get home. While I can talk about the pains of being couped up in an aircraft with no food and small doses of water, I found reprieve and inspiration in WNYC’s Radio Lab podcasts that I had downloaded as a last minute effort to keep me company on the long haul. While podcasts have been gaining popularity around the world, I am a late adopter of this media. In fact I am a new podcast fan ever since I discovered the Radio Lab series. What Radio Lab does well is content and delivery, two key ingredients often lacking in podcasts. The content is intriguing and thought-provoking and the voices behind these series have a great style that keep you engaged for the 30 minute shorts. Each series is further broken up into 5-7 minute features that cover one aspect of the overall theme. My all-time favorite is the “Musical Language” series that breaks down music as a language spoken around the world. My favorite line “Music is touch at a distance” is what threads each feature into this podcast.

Download these podcasts

Every once in a while I am silently reminded of this thing called life. While I keep my instrospections away from public domain, this time I feel compelled to write, and forget that my life is compartmentalized into personal, public and private.

A father, a sister, a brother, a daughter - four deaths that have touched me in the last 4 weeks. Each week bringing a new wave of sorrow. Four incidents unrelated yet connected through me. I sense their pain and their loss yet there is nothing I can do. I continue to live my life the same way, just aware that there is life and there is this unexplained thing called death.

My work revolves around solving information problems and bringing meaning to information. Annotations are the lifeline of explaining these information islets with the goal of simplifing the blob. Emotions are high and patience a virtue and I sometimes forget that tied to every information problem is the sound of the beating heart.

And so I am reminded that outside the information microcosm that I am so consumed with, there is the meaning of life that I will never solve or comprehend.

With the recent recall of Mattel toys, I am sure every parent lives in fear of what next. While China is obviously trying to cope with the recent flak and corporations are stepping up their quality control, here is an innovative idea that helps parents take control of their children’s safety. Rick Klau launched Safertoys.org to help parents and people in general track and submit stories on unsafe toys - ala digg style.

Growing up, I sometimes would read Indian comic books that covered stories of epic heroes. The visual depiction was traditional and often lacked the sophistication in story-telling that you are accustomed to in the Western world. Story-telling and character development is in our history, as is evident in the numerous Hindu gods and goddesses that we worship. And comic books would have been the ideal medium to instill the sense of pride and awareness that as a child, I completely lacked. Sadly, epic stories were not as popular as Archie comics. I often knew more about Veronica than about Tansen.

So imagine my surprise when I found out about Virgin Comics and their efforts to revive Indian history through comic books. What was even more surprising was to know that filmmaker Shekhar Kapoor is behind this effort. I have friends in the animation world that have done mini-projects backed by his vision and I have understood that his passion to put Indian history on the world map has been relentless.

So to see what these comics were doing different, I played hookie from my weekend errands and spent a few hours checking out the illustrated Ramayana. I admire the work and the the artists behind the illustrations. While the visual design surpassed my expectations, I was disappointed in the character visualization and story-telling style. Rama looks like a cross between a western superhero and the Indian god Shiva while Ravan had the flavor of an evil Manga character. The language had a yuppie spunk to it that is not typical of Indian story-telling. Call me old skool but I am still not sure if I really like this compared to what I have been used to growing up. I realize that to cater to a western world the characters were modified. This is heartening and despite my initial impressions of the visual impact, Virgin comics will be on my “interesting things to track” list.

Ever thought about capturing the infinite universe of changing information in a computer program? See this unbelievable attempt to capture present day mythology.

Jonathan Harris is the mastermind behind this visualization. Part visual designer, part anthropologist, part artist, part storyteller, Jonathan has a body of work that is often my source of inspiration. As I watched this new applet transforming gobs of infinite data into finite visualizations, I was fascinated at how he uses technology to tell a story.

His philosophy of passive information gathering is an interesting concept, especially when I am building interaction models based on contrived forms of user feedback. Passive information gathering as Jonathan says is about living life, while what you say or do on the web is captured without your knowledge.

Data then is real and spontaneous helping create richer experiences within the web sphere. Universe is one example of that richer experience.

Last night I watched an ad for Spot Runner that talked about “affordable” television advertising. Having been privy to that world, I have known that television advertising has always been elitist, catering to the big fish of the consumer experience. So now that small businesses can advertise and more importantly compete with the big fish, it is going to be interesting to watch the new wave of Spot Runner ads.

While the concept is revolutionary, what piqued my interest is the approach. Read the rest of this entry »

Clive Thompson talks about Twitter in this week’s issue calling it the “social sixth sense”. While some would think that this new app is just another dying fad I tend to agree with a lot of what Clive talks about. Having experienced it myself I now have a better understanding of some of my peers who have hooked this app to their chat client creating as Clive calls it “social proprioception”. Read the rest of this entry »

Twitter serves as a tool to keep friends connected, joining the social networking bandwagon as yet another Web 2.0 technology. I rolled my eyes when I first heard about the tool but then curious, I checked the site out and I am hooked.

I find that this can be useful especially in the corporate space. Think about all the micro managers that you wished could leave you alone.Twitter away! Bombard them with second by second updates of your whereabouts. SMS, IM - the opportunities are endless.Micro managers beware.

• Check the site out

It’s tangy, “tomatoey”, yummy and really simple.

Avg time: 20 - 30 minutes
Pair with bread or rice

Ingredients:

• 1 cup pigeon pea lentils (also called toor dal)
• 1 cup crushed tomatoes
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/4 tsp asfaoetidia
• 1 tbsp tamarind paste mixed with 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/4 tsp chilli flakes/powder
• salt to taste
• 1 tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil

Read the rest of this entry »