Shunya's Notes

Where the Hell in KGP?

As many readers of this blog know, I went to the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (IIT, KGP) in West Bengal. Years later I visited my alma mater again and wrote about it here. Guess what I found today? Those familiar with Matt Harding's heartwarming dance videos from around the world (Where the Hell is Matt?) will likely relate to what it has inspired the students of IIT KGP to do. (via Pran)

The soundtrack is the same as in Matt's video — a Bengali poem written by Tagore (Praan, or "Stream of Life") and turned into song by composer Garry Schyman and Bangladeshi-American Palbasha Siddique.

A Poll for You News Junkies

Here is a thought experiment for the readers of Shunya's Notes. Let's say you have been cut-off from all news for a long weekend and have just been informed that 200 people died in India yesterday from a single event. The only other detail given to you is that the event is one of the following:

1. A bubonic plague in the city of Nagpur.
2. Indiscriminate bomb blasts/shootings by Pakistani terrorists in Mumbai.
3. A Naxalite guerrilla attack in Chattisgarh against the police and "class enemies".
4. Shortly after takeoff, a plane crashes outside Chennai. 
5. Food poisoning at a big marriage party in Trivandrum.
6. Indiscriminate bomb blasts/shootings by Indian Muslim terrorists in Mumbai.
7. A Hindu-Muslim communal riot in Hyderabad.
8. A levee breach that floods and drowns a few villages in Bihar.
9. A Hindu pogrom against Muslims in Ahmedabad with tacit support from government officials.
10. A chemical industrial disaster in Kanpur (poisonous gas leakage).

Reorder the list such that 1 is the event you find most upsetting, 10 the least (yes, they're all upsetting but some more than others, right?). I have used copy/paste to create mine in the first comment; add yours too — but don't look at mine just yet; finish your own ordering first!

(Photo: "India: Liberty and Death" Time Magazine Cover, October 27, 1947.)

Phone Sex Theater

Philip Toledano's upcoming book PhoneSex reveals some of the people behind those 1-900 calls (via Mother Jones):

From a few mumbled words, a phone sex operator must weave a bespoke and finely detailed fantasy encounter. It requires a vivid imagination, acting ability, and above all, a deep understanding of the human appetite. What do we crave? What words have the maximum yield? What tone will most effectively reach into a man's trousers? When to be gentle, and when to demand fealty.

Phone-sex is theater. An artificial passion-play in real-time, directed by a skilled verbal fantasist, with only one possible conclusion.

Meat Porn

Does it get any more human-headed than this?

Kenya Sings India

A Kenyan choir sings the Indian national anthem. (Click the photo.)

Scroll down the anthem page to see other groups singing other countries' anthems. This video is from the Pangea Day event, which took place on May 10, 2008.

Vacation Break

Tis' the season for travel. Usha and I will be away for 15 days to Northeastern Europe: Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Our mutually negotiated itinerary begins in Warsaw and takes in Krakow, Oswiecim (Auschwitz/Birkenau), Zamosc, Kaunas, Vilnius, Trakai, Riga, Sigulda, Tartu, Tallin, and more. Consequently, new posts may not happen at all (unless of course VP springs into heroic rearguard action).

A terrific book I'm reading in preparation is Walking Since Daybreak by Modris Eksteins. Here is an excerpt:

Death of History

The understanding of human behavior in the past has always been the raison d'etre of history. Because of this, history has prided itself on being a progressive discipline. Historians like to think that they have been to the modern world what theologians were to the age of enlightenment. They have provided meaning. In so doing, they have made the world a better place. History has been not only a subject of study; it has been a moral force. History, one could argue, has been the essence of the Enlightenment project.

Pangea Day

This afternoon I spent four hours glued to my computer screen watching the live stream of the Pangea Day broadcast, a global film festival hosted simultaneously in Mumbai, London, Cairo, Kigali, Rio de Janeiro, Los Angeles, and elsewhere, showcasing short films from new talent all over the world. Interspersed with the short films were video montages of people speaking about universal human experiences—love, anger, sorrow—and short commentaries on human nature and human experience by scientists, activists, and others. The thrust of the event was to promote human understanding by simply presenting a broad sweep of stories that humanize the Other, that break down the categories of "enemy." And as it meandered toward it's final minutes, the focus drew increasingly toward the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

It proved to be a most rewarding way to spend a Saturday. The films, especially, were frequently touching, thoughtful, and moving in surprising ways. I was drawn into the sense of a global experience of discovery that was unfolding at a million points simultaneously across the world, as millions watched and learned and cried together. And (it must be said) laughed together.

But the coup de gras was during the final moments when a Palestinian and an Israeli member from The Bereaved Families Forum stood up together and told their own stories of loss and forgiveness, and this was followed by excerpts from the documentary Combatants for Peace, by the young Egyptian-American filmmaker Jehane Noujaim, previously known for her excellent documentary Control Room (2004).

Indeed, the entire Pangea Day event was organized in fulfillment of Ms. Noujaim's dream. When she won the TED prize in 2006, in which the winners are asked to make a wish that the TED community can bring to reality, she asked for a global day of film to break down the barriers and misunderstandings that divide us.

I believe that over the coming days the organizers will post the event highlights along with all of the films, speakers, musical performances, and more, incase you missed them or want to see them again. Or read their blog. Or check out the viewers' stream of consciousness (you may need to click "View the Latest Media").

Thanks, Ms. Noujaim, for your brave and beautiful dream.

Over 1,000,000 Iraqis Killed by US-Lead Invasion?

Here's something you're unlikely to see in the US press:

Further survey work undertaken by ORB, in association with its research partner IIACSS, confirms our earlier estimate that over 1,000,000 Iraqi citizens have died as a result of the conflict which started in 2003.

This is the conclusion of Opinion Research Business (ORB), an establishmentarian, British polling firm that conducted a study in Iraq in 2007. You can see their results on their website here, with an update here. But apparently, this information isn't newsworthy enough even to warrant discussion in the media.

Meanwhile, the US president is focused on his "legacy." He's aided in the effort by a new Fox documentary eulogizing him and claiming that he's been credited with "some of the most eloquent and visionary speeches ever delivered by an American president." And as the show goes on, with President Bush comparing himself to President Lincoln, it sounds increasingly like a joke. Was this program produced by satirist Stephen Colbert? Unfortunately not. Here's a taste (approx. 10 minutes):

Watch the full documentary here.

Lights, Camera, Action

I am pleased to announce a brand new channel on Shunya — Videos!

Videos should complement the other two channels: Articles and Photos. We will produce original videos besides linking to others on the web. Initially, the original videos will come from the 75+ hours of footage I've taken around the world, most during 2000-05—I've already posted the first five. When appropriate, I'll also showcase some of my favorite music from each region, as I did in the White Desert video. Text captions will be minimal, just enough for context. It's too bad my day job is not as much fun and no one has yet offered to turn my hobbies into a vocation. So a labor of love this remains.

This is also the 200th post on Shunya's Notes in sixteen months. Stay tuned for many more!

Globalization

Shahnaz Hussain, Fox News, reporting in her British accent on Amsterdam inspired Sexpo in Mexico City (click for video).