It was interesting to see a recent announcement of Independent Television’s (ITV) new Upload Now service.

The service has been introduced partly from research that suggests that the Public are increasingly viewing the Internet for news. They (ITV) also believe that increasingly people are blogging and involved in View Created Content aka VC2 - based on their own commissioned research.

The Times (UK) also recently ran an excellent article entitled, ‘Log on and rediscover the generation gap’. Although initially the point made by the writer is one of who is actually using social media tools, e.g: Facebook and Myspace, the article moves on to the risks of public exhibitionism and the possible future risk of being exposed in terms of either one’s early life or being ‘open’ for others to use information for their own investigative purposes, e.g: job references et al.

ITV’s suggestion that many people are now blogging is probably true, but who and how many actually are.
Clearly, Blogging opportunities are now becoming a reality in a corporate context.

It is interesting the way in which Blogging has now at last found its place in corporate life.
In the last few weeks I’ve noticed the following:

* Online publishers - Key writers publish their thoughts
* Pop Stars - Who is really writing their entries/postings - especially on Myspace where I’ve noticed that the management of a musicians page can be outsourced!
* Recruitment sites
* Tailorable social networks - specific communities communicating for common goals
* Political Bloggers - Was Sandra Howard actually blogging whilst touring the hustling with her husband during the last UK election campaign?
* Named Journalist Bloggers - Complementing their printed columns with additional insights, published online.

There may also be a new era in blogging, where only a select few will be allowed to have the opinions voiced. Or, are we approaching a situation where litigation needs to be controlled?
Sure, anyone can get a blogging platform via commercial engines, for free! However, will there only be a select few who are able to turn their ranked prominence of their opinion to their advantage?

Public Relation companies and the media are more savvy than many give them credit for. They (agencies) create the outlets and their reliable sources.

e.g: Why is Defer is currently a hidden news item? Who selects the stories for the day?

Will ‘Upload now’ further support the public news feed?
What we really need is a news feed that we create and media that we position in the public eye.

Instead, we are faced with the distorted images created by Bollywood.
If we want our opinions to be counted, we need to create great content that yields implied respect.

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On Wednesday night as is a ritual, amongst most decent folk, in the office I was bid farewell by a colleague who also said, ‘I’m off now, have a good evening and by the way, happy 60^th anniversary of independence’!

Unfortunately, my reply commenced with a nod and then ended in a positive suggesting, ‘I’m not sure we should celebrate the follies of others but the good thing is that at least each country is now free’.

Last week I wrote about the price of freedom through the sacrifice of many innocent lives. This week after having watched the Tuesday night BBC documentary examining how India was, ‘a nation on fire’ I was promoted to write more about those sad days. I was in shock when one of the few army patrol officers pointed out that during the long walk between the borders some parents left their children behind.

The BBC documentary (probably heavily edited but lasting 90minutes) re-enforced my view that the leaders at the time were in disarray. Strangely every bit of video footage shows them smiling!? In addition, I was unaware of that the line of partition was known by Earl Mountbatten but not disclosed until after the handover of power?

Why was it that those with such power all seemed to be in such a rush?

A rush to:

* Get the British soldiers out – result, no planning or protection
* Hand over power to a select few – result, years of slow progress and 3 wars!
* Divide up the country, result, millions displaced.
* Not consider the welfare of those that would be affected, result, broken homes and hearts
* Ignore thousands of years of heritage and harmony, result, isolation and a move away from liberalism.

It is the latter that is also of concern. For example, the documentary suggested that the city of Lahore was an example multi-cultural oasis and melting-pot of culture. However, once the populations paranoia ‘kicked in’, mobs were on the move to kill and remove non-muslims from the city?

It is certainly true that hysteria can be created by a select few, resulting and mushrooming into a major calamity. Take for example, the methods used by the Germans against the Jews or embedded messages by colonial powers in Africa. Eventually people react and both paranoia and a state of frenzy takes over.

Does this mean that this power of evil can be tapped again? NB It has happened recently, for example, in India back in 1984 when there was heavy communal violence. It happened in Rwanda. It happens everyday in Iraq. Therefore, the answer is yes and we all need to be aware of the dark side of humans.

As we live our lives we see trouble and strife everywhere with little leadership to plan and resolve. Aggression rather than alternative compromise seems to be the way that most powers approach issues.

60 years of freedom is something to celebrate - we also need everyone to remember the sacrifices of freedom fighters, for example: Uttam Singh and Bhagat Singh.

Popularity: 39% [?]

60 years ago a nation was torn apart and I wonder if there will ever be a point in time if they could reconcile? Probably not, as the way it happened or was allowed to happen is unforgettably tragic.

The legacy of those fateful days continues to haunt many. The tales of displacement slaughter and resettlement transformed the lives of millions. The negativity created has caused ripples and political ramifications that generations will never forget.

It may be relatively easy for us to question why it happened. Many of us were not there at the time. Did the climate and those in power at the time ever anticipate the extent and reach of their decisions? Were these individuals so cold or just too innocent? Was there an ultimatum laid down by the British that has never been documented? Or, were the British so cunning that their ‘divide and rule’ policy had an air of vindictiveness so vile that they had a fit of jealously, running on the lines of, ‘If we can’t have India then no one can’!? Having enjoyed the riches of India for over 200 years they may have adopted this attitude.

When I hear my father recall the events of him reaching Amirtsar railway station in a humanitarian effort to save those who came in on the trains from the newly emerging country of Pakistan, the view of communal violence is unbelievable. These two nations were formed through the blood of the innocent.

60 years on although much is said about India’s emergence as a world economic power, there are still so many challenges. The survival of the fitness still rules as 80 percent of the population are still living in an extreme poor way.

Only this Sunday I read about exploitation of workers from India recruited by agents and then forced to work in inhumane conditions in Mauritius for tiny wages and 72 hours a week. This was not what freedom was supposed to be about. Although colonialism has gone it has been replaced by multi-national greed and local disrespect.

India may be surfacing as an outsource power house with graduates and science parks to match – fast becoming the back-office centre for the world, yet its communist neighbour China, still appears to a preferred powerhouse for manufacturing and investment by the West.

Both will probably continue to ‘pitch it out’. However, will the division of the rich verses the poor in both countries continue to be stretched apart?

60 years on India at least is growing but is it growing in a fair and honest way that will bring all of its people up to a sense of harmonised international standards?

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It has been one of those action packed weeks. On Wednesday 1st August I gave a lecture at the Sikh Camp in Chigwell (Guru Gobind Singh College) to 55 12-16 year olds, entitled, ‘Sikhs in Cyberspace’. I spoke about the need for us to be more visible in the media and that we should develop and post our own content. Then on Friday 3rd August I attended the Sri Guru Singh Sahib (SGSS) organised Sikh Camp at Norwood Hall. The SGSS had invited me in order to present me with a ‘cup’. It was an honour to accept what they described was an achievement – it was for the Sikhwithin Podcast www.sikhwithin.com and my writing contribution! Hey! I’m just writing stuff…

Whilst watching the Kabaddi match between the British Army (also running a special segment of the camp and recruiting…) and the SGSS team, I managed to capture some audio for a future Sikhwithin show – including the European Judo Champion (who also received a much deserved award), Miss Ajit Kaur Sucha, aged just 10! How fantastic is that. I also took some pictures for both my Flickr and Facebook accounts. It was also great to see the amazing seva that everyone performed.

On Friday night, it was off the Shepherds Busch Empire to see Issac Hayes in Concert:

On Saturday morning it was off to North Wales. Technology meant that one day I was using a digital voice recorder, the next driving up the side of a mountain to reach a remote lake. I’m so glad and Thankful to God that we made it up and down the hill in my car.

Soon after we were back down the mountain and at Swallow Falls:

On Sunday after an overnight or should I say sleepless night at a Bed and Breakfast, it was off to climb Snowdon, not by foot but via the Snowdon Mountain railway, established in the early 1800s. More digital pics via my mobile phone were taken on route.

We finished the trip by visiting Portmeirion – the place I describe as the home of the Prisoner series, from way back in the sixties. NB The beach here is dangerous as the tide water slips and creeps in below the sands to create quicksand. An interesting thing happened here. As we walked along the raised promenade behind us we were approached by a 6ft 5 thin Welsh man who said, a ‘kind of’ Hello in Punjab. It turned out that his mother lived in North Wales and he had moved to London. He was visiting her and both were enjoying a walk. They asked if we would like a picture take and then wanted us to return the favour. As I handed back the camera he said, ‘You’re Sikhs aren’t you’? We replied with a ‘yes’. He continued and proclaimed that he liked Sikhs as he felt that Sikh women were treated more equally. I corrected him and said that both Men and Women are equal in Sikhism. Then he proceeded to tell us how he was in awe when one day finding him lost in Slough had found a Sikh community centre and asked for directions. The sangat refused to let him go unless he ate langar with them.

Before we said good bye, he said, ‘Religion divides but spirituality brings us together’. I retorted, ‘Actually, Religion guides you to be more spiritual’.

I wondered with so much technology at our disposal why we cannot harness it more, to ensure misconceptions can be corrected.

Popularity: 53% [?]