Sixteen families live in sixteen flats in the same apartment I live. Apart from my family (thanks God I know them!), I have only ever interacted with three other families. The problems and opportunities that are near to us seem to be far! We are only aware of what happens in a world that the television news channels and the front page newspaper headlines reveal to us. And they dictate our reactions, sensitivities and interests. I am concerned and deeply hurt by what has happened in Mumbai. I’m deeply hurt about the poverty in Africa, about the economic crisis in the US, political clamp down in Pakistan, cricket match in Chennai, the surprise visit of George Bush in Iraq, Palestinian Children resisting Israeli Missiles, Manchester United and Chelsea catching up for the top spot in the English Premier League, and lot more that happens in the cyber world.

But, the security guard working at our apartment works 24 hours a day. There is no labour law to protect him. Passengers hang on the stairs of the bus to commute in India’s ‘silicon valley’ (the city that I live, Bangalore). All of us litter freely, use public spaces as anytime-convertible-toilets (we are democratic here; people of all class do that). What about the hungry children and women wandering on the streets of Bangalore, begging for food and money? Thousands of poverty-stricken Indians are migrating from one village to another, from one city to the other, in search of identity and justice. Every morning, I start my day with the newspaper headlines and they dictate my priorities. And, my day at work progresses with discussions about the same problems. And, at home after work, the media reinforces the same issues. Thank God, we live in a world mesmerized by the media!