Via S. Mitra Kalita

Chowrangi is quarterly magazine to be published in the United States. Chowrangi is a vital platform for progressive Pakistani and Pakistani-American voices. Chowrangi showcases the cultural diversity and complexity of the Pakistani diaspora. The publication focuses attention on social, cultural, political, technological and business issues as they impact Pakistanis in North America and Pakistan. Insightful, provocative, and candid, Chowrangi is a unique resource for Pakistan-watchers and those who feel a kinship with the country and its people.

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I am not one to go trolling for compliments but when one comes my way, I do have to acknowledge it. This I found on Subhash Rai's January 21, 2004 blog:

Seshu Badrinath's blog is excellent! I guess I can claim we know each other. In fact, Seshu unsuccessfully tried to contribute to IOJ. I am still floating though.

So, yes, he has managed to successfully bait me into writing an article for his other web site – Indian Online Journalism, or IOJ. The basic premises of the article will be that photojournalists should be able to write and that there ought to be a better collaborative spirit between writers and photographers. Playing cat and mouse in the newsroom may make for a funny sitcom, but I feel much of the melodrama can be avoided and a lot more projects can be launched if we just learn to work together. More on this soon. I promise.

Subhash, floating? Do explain.

Google has impressed us all so much that our first inkling to find information about anything or anybody is to “google” it or them. I am not entirely sure that's proper use of a trademarked brand name (hey, my mother still says – “Go, xerox copy the passport,” believing that the word Xerox equals everything involving the act of photocopying).

Today I came across Google Guide: Interactive Tutorial Making Search Even Easier.

“Although this tutorial is for people new to Google, it contains information of interest to those who have experience with Google or another search engine. Unless you're familiar with all of Google's features, you'll learn something by taking this tutorial.”

The tutorial and web site by Nancy Blachman is an acceptable ruse to market a book she co-authored with Google engineers Fritz Schneider and Eric Fredricksen called How to do Everything with Google.

Hemali Dassani must have quite an audience. I have to admit I am actually a bit envious of her. You might be hard pressed to find her writing in bookstores or libraries, but those of us who receive her occasional musings and missives are truly lucky. Her recent thoughts and travelogues from India alone caused quite a stir in me. I'll try and fish out her email from Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Evocative and full of imagery, Hemali writes not from the gut, but from the heart. True, some of her writing may initially appear disjointed, but things always seem to come full circle in the end. It might be something she has read, seen, thought or felt. Whatever it is, she gently nudges us into thinking about things that are beyond the banal, giving us the kind of reprieve I feel we all need from the mundane rhythms of life. I think what I like most about her writing or quotations is that it helps us peer into a different mirror and ask ourselves some very interesting questions.

It's quite simple. She needs to be read by more people. I am trying to persuade her to start a blog of her own, but she just might occasionally post something here on Tiffinbox. Keep hope alive!

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