(In India we say ‘Namasté’ — pronounced ‘nah-mah-staey’ — often. What does it mean? Namasté or Namaskar (from Sanskrit namah te) is a South Asian greeting that originated in India. It could mean both hello and goodbye…or have a different meaning.) To read more please click here…
I have completed one year of blogging with The Moderate Voice (TMV), and have thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity provided by Joe Gandelman, a veteran journalist and a dear friend of 30-year standing, to get back to writing. (He has tolerated even my ‘excesses’ in the posts!!!)
I specially benefit from the comments that follow my, and other, posts in TMV. There have been occasions when commenters have pointed out that I write too much about India and Pakistan. While some have even said that I am biased (against Mr George W. Bush and General Pervez Musharraf?) Thank God that so far only very few have questioned my credentials to write about the US affairs!
The latest comes from a commenter after I wrote a somewhat provocative post. Please click here if you wish to read the post and the comment…
The comment was:
AustinRoth Says:
May 13th, 2007 at 8:09 am e…When you stop obsessively blogging about Indian and Pakistani issues, then you will have the right to criticize.
Of course American bloggers main focus is about things related to America. But perhaps I have miss all the Middle East, European Union, Australian, African, South American, and Russian issues posted about here, in the MSM, and on many other blogs.
Wait. No I didn’t. There have been TONS lately written about and reported on in those areas. Perhaps you are unhappy that we have ANY discussions of America, or that not every entry is as consistently anti-American and anti-Bush as your body of work.
Or maybe you are jealous that all those other areas I mentioned resonate more than Indian-related issues (and they do) with the American public.
I and the commenter had a good sparring match and I enjoyed it. But I forgot to ask which particular post of mine on India and Pakistan he thought was irrelevant.
However, I feel that at least for a month I should spare the readers by not carrying any posts on India and Pakistan written by me. As it is, on Wednesday I am proceeding to my favourite abode in the lower Himalayas for trekking, cycling and meditation.
Whenever I get an opportunity (which seems unlikely during the next fortnight or so) I would be posting stories about India and Pakistan that are written only by American bloggers (or at least from those who have an American sounding name!).
And let AustinRoth, if he so wishes, revise his opinion after that period.
Meanwhile here is “Someone’s Got Pervez Musharraf Worried (and It Isn’t the Taliban)” posted by Patricia Lee Sharpe at WhirledView. (directed via memeorandum.com) To read please click here…
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.