आज पता चला कि अब ब्लॉगर में हिंदी लिखी जा सकती है, यानी ब्लॉगर हिंदी transliteration (अनुवाद / translation नहीं) support करता है । तो मैने सोचा कि कोशिश की जाय । फल आपके सामने हैं। जैसा आप देख सकते हैं, अभी भी काफी समस्याएं हैं, पर पहले की तुलना में काफी प्रगति हैं।
एक वजह और भी हैं। भारत में कई अपने ऐसे हैं जिनके लिए हिंदी में पढना अधिक सरल हैं । और, मुझे यह बात खल रही थी कि अब तक जोभी मैने इस blog में लिखा, वोह सब पढ़ना उन लोगों के लिए आसान नही हैं ; यानी , वोह लोग एक मायने में 'excluded' थे।
अगर आप भी हिंदी / देवनागरी transliteration try करना चाहते हैं तोयहां देखें।
P.S. - Please check that your browser is correctly set up to read Indic fonts. In this blog, despite other problems, कि displays correctly, and not as क and इ . See here for help on indic fonts.
March 19, 2007
Global Socio- Cultural Values - Interesting studies
Over the past week, I came across a couple of interesting sites with studies on how social values vary across different cultures and nations. These studies provide a good conceptual framework for understanding the clash of values/ viewpoints; and have helped me understand to a degree the underlying motivation and 'why' of my past posts on this blog (why the outsider's view may be so different). Going forward, I intend to apply some of the learnings from these frameworks and surveys in future posts, but this post aims only to provide the background and list relevant sources.
According to American Environics, social values are:
"
- A person's mental posture or fundamental world view. Shapes definition of "self- interest."
- Formed early in life, usually fixed by one's mid-teens.
- Evolved slowly over time through education and life experiences.
- Major events - wars, depressions, etc - can trigger society- wide values shift.
- NOT fads.
- NOT "moral values" or "core values."
"
And here is a sample socio-cultural map:
(Source URL: http://www.americanenvironics.com/cgi-bin/slides.cgi?slide=13)
Much more detailed work on global values has been done by (World Values Survey), which claims, or at least, aims to be the "world's most comprehensive survey of political and sociocultural change."
The surveys were "designed to provide a comprehensive measurement of all major areas of human concern, from religion to politics to economic and social life and two dimensions dominate the picture: (1) Traditional/ Secular-rational and (2) Survival/Self-expression values. These two dimensions explain more than 70 percent of the cross-national variance in a factor analysis of ten indicators-and each of these dimensions is strongly correlated with scores of other important orientations."
The Traditional/Secular-rational values dimension reflects the contrast between societies. 'Traditional' values, as can be guessed, emphasise religion, deference to authority, family values, national pride and nationalistic outlook; and reject divorce, abortion, euthanasia, and suicide.
The second major dimension reflects the "transition from industrial society to post-industrial societies-which brings a polarization between Survival and Self-expression values". The 'Self- Expression' value cluster emphasises "subjective well-being, self-expression and quality of life" along with environmental protection, tolerance of diversity (including foreigners, gays and lesbians, gender equality), and interpersonal trust.
The above-mentioned findings and correlations are visualized on the following Inglehart-Welzel cultural map of the World.
(Source URL: http://margaux.grandvinum.se/SebTest/wvs/articles/folder_published/article_base_54)
Let us see in later posts as to what extent we agree or disagree with the above values map and where our individual values lie.
Some related documents:
- American Environics' Evolution of Global Values (pdf)
- World Values Survey's presentation on changes in cultural values between 1981 and 2006: Human Development View on Value Change (zipped powerpoint)
According to American Environics, social values are:
"
- A person's mental posture or fundamental world view. Shapes definition of "self- interest."
- Formed early in life, usually fixed by one's mid-teens.
- Evolved slowly over time through education and life experiences.
- Major events - wars, depressions, etc - can trigger society- wide values shift.
- NOT fads.
- NOT "moral values" or "core values."
"
And here is a sample socio-cultural map:
(Source URL: http://www.americanenvironics.com/cgi-bin/slides.cgi?slide=13)
Much more detailed work on global values has been done by (World Values Survey), which claims, or at least, aims to be the "world's most comprehensive survey of political and sociocultural change."
The surveys were "designed to provide a comprehensive measurement of all major areas of human concern, from religion to politics to economic and social life and two dimensions dominate the picture: (1) Traditional/ Secular-rational and (2) Survival/Self-expression values. These two dimensions explain more than 70 percent of the cross-national variance in a factor analysis of ten indicators-and each of these dimensions is strongly correlated with scores of other important orientations."
The Traditional/Secular-rational values dimension reflects the contrast between societies. 'Traditional' values, as can be guessed, emphasise religion, deference to authority, family values, national pride and nationalistic outlook; and reject divorce, abortion, euthanasia, and suicide.
The second major dimension reflects the "transition from industrial society to post-industrial societies-which brings a polarization between Survival and Self-expression values". The 'Self- Expression' value cluster emphasises "subjective well-being, self-expression and quality of life" along with environmental protection, tolerance of diversity (including foreigners, gays and lesbians, gender equality), and interpersonal trust.
The above-mentioned findings and correlations are visualized on the following Inglehart-Welzel cultural map of the World.
(Source URL: http://margaux.grandvinum.se/SebTest/wvs/articles/folder_published/article_base_54)
Let us see in later posts as to what extent we agree or disagree with the above values map and where our individual values lie.
Some related documents:
- American Environics' Evolution of Global Values (pdf)
- World Values Survey's presentation on changes in cultural values between 1981 and 2006: Human Development View on Value Change (zipped powerpoint)
March 14, 2007
Protest. But Which Way?
While walking along the Thames yesterday, this Greenpeace protest banner ('Tony loves WMD') at Westminster caught my eye. (For background, click here).
It made me think of a contrasting style of protest; often witnessed in middle- east and India; with a mob shouting slogans at the top of their voice, burning effigies. Do we believe that we only get heard when we shout? If yes, why?
And, is over- the- top protest effective? I think not; whatever little efficacy exists, it drops sharply with overuse. Imagine a TV advertisement relying solely on sound volume to gain attention or to persuade.. On the other hand, if one is to apply lessons of marketing to protesting, surely a strategy based on differentiation and creative approaches would be more effective.
Hope the loud ones get the message... and turn the volume down.
March 09, 2007
Dead Pensioners - A Contrast
Lucknow pension authorities have delivered an impressive performance once again. While UK pension authorities can't get their get act together, Lucknow has shown tremendous foresight!
Last year, UK paid out more than £57million in benefits to people already dead (see details here). Now contrast that with Lucknow. A pensioner, Sukhdeyi, who landed up to collect her pension found herself officially declared dead! (Dainik Jagran's news-item, in Hindi).
If that isn't foresight and proactive reduction of benefit fraud, what is?
Moreover, it also makes me think how would poor Sukhdeyi prove herself to be alive? How can an officially dead person even submit an application to rescind her dead status? Would she be in a predicament similar to that of Yossarian in 'Catch-22'?
Truly, the world is all Maya, an illusion; and we all are figments of someone's imagination.
Last year, UK paid out more than £57million in benefits to people already dead (see details here). Now contrast that with Lucknow. A pensioner, Sukhdeyi, who landed up to collect her pension found herself officially declared dead! (Dainik Jagran's news-item, in Hindi).
If that isn't foresight and proactive reduction of benefit fraud, what is?
Moreover, it also makes me think how would poor Sukhdeyi prove herself to be alive? How can an officially dead person even submit an application to rescind her dead status? Would she be in a predicament similar to that of Yossarian in 'Catch-22'?
Truly, the world is all Maya, an illusion; and we all are figments of someone's imagination.
March 06, 2007
Lucknow in London, for real!
Made an exciting discovery today, that of Lucknow in London!
Actually, it is Lucknow Street, in the Greenwich borough (see the arrow on the map). That is not too far from where I stay, so hopefully one day I will manage to travel to Lucknow street and take a few photographs of 'Lucknow in London'.
If you now live in a place different from where you were born, have you come across your birthplace in the city of your residence?
P.S.: Since then also found Lucknow Street in Blackburn, Cardiff, Darlington County Durham, Portsmouth and Rochdale in the UK! Mmmm.... more popular name than I thought.
Actually, it is Lucknow Street, in the Greenwich borough (see the arrow on the map). That is not too far from where I stay, so hopefully one day I will manage to travel to Lucknow street and take a few photographs of 'Lucknow in London'.
If you now live in a place different from where you were born, have you come across your birthplace in the city of your residence?
P.S.: Since then also found Lucknow Street in Blackburn, Cardiff, Darlington County Durham, Portsmouth and Rochdale in the UK! Mmmm.... more popular name than I thought.
March 01, 2007
Fashion Models: Standard of Beauty?
An email forwarded to us carried these photos of models. After I had cycled through feelings of revulsion (God! That's horrendous) and disbelief (Must have been Photoshopped), I was forced to think.
I guess most of us assume that fashion models establish a standard of beauty. Yet in this case, the eye gives a lie to our assumptions. Is modelling at all about good looks? If beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, whose eye is it?
Even if we assume a purely functional, than aesthetic, view of fashion models - that they serve to drape the clothes, hence thinner is better - that raises another question. Which customers are the designers designing for? When I look around, I am hard pressed to find stick-thin figures. Increasingly, fashion modelling starts looking like an exercise in creating fanstasies, perhaps like playing a game of 'dungeons and dragons.'
Does anyone know what is going on here?
Victim of Abuse? 218 vs 88
Connor McCreaddie, an 8 year old, has made a big splash because of his weight. In December, he weighed 218 pounds (97 kg), three times of the weight of an average child his age. As The Sun fascinatingly puts it, he "has broken four beds, five bikes and six toilet seats due to his bulk" and "cannot even manage the five-minute walk to school without getting out of breath or being sick."
Situation had gotten so bad that last week there was talk of Connor being taken away from his family and put under protective custody of social care authorities. Apparently, one of the arguments was that letting Connor binge amounted to child abuse.
Well, the sages have weighed in. Connor remains at home. But for some, the questions remain: Is it a form of abuse? Is Connor a victim?
There are alleged victims at the other end of spectrum too. The ongoing debate on 'size zero' fashion models and the effect they have as role models has had the government weighing in against the "cult of size zero" and "tyranny of thinness". The BBC news article also shows a picture of the Brazilian model who died weighing just 88 pounds (39 kg).
What happened to old-fashioned images of weight-challenge, namely those of starving children? How do the new victims like Connor and size-zero models compare with old ones? I cannot help thinking that the 'victim culture' is being taken a bit too far.
Also, should the government or state authorities get involved at all? No wonder, even the TV ads have started taking the mickey out of the 'nanny state.'
What happened to the notion of personal responsibility?
Situation had gotten so bad that last week there was talk of Connor being taken away from his family and put under protective custody of social care authorities. Apparently, one of the arguments was that letting Connor binge amounted to child abuse.
Well, the sages have weighed in. Connor remains at home. But for some, the questions remain: Is it a form of abuse? Is Connor a victim?
There are alleged victims at the other end of spectrum too. The ongoing debate on 'size zero' fashion models and the effect they have as role models has had the government weighing in against the "cult of size zero" and "tyranny of thinness". The BBC news article also shows a picture of the Brazilian model who died weighing just 88 pounds (39 kg).
What happened to old-fashioned images of weight-challenge, namely those of starving children? How do the new victims like Connor and size-zero models compare with old ones? I cannot help thinking that the 'victim culture' is being taken a bit too far.
Also, should the government or state authorities get involved at all? No wonder, even the TV ads have started taking the mickey out of the 'nanny state.'
What happened to the notion of personal responsibility?
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