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Showing posts from August, 2015

WhatsApp promoting unity in diversity or racism?

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If you are one of those who just updated their WhatsApp app then the talk of town for you must be the variety of features that WhatsApp just introduced. But within the array of features being introduced the one which is getting all the attention is the new set of emoticons. Users can now select face and hand gestures in different skin tones. Associating fairness with beauty and superiority has been a part and parcel of our society though highly de-humanising and fairness creams have long been part of this propaganda but what glued all eyes on the WhatsApp was the segregation of different skin tones on a very popular messaging app like this which introduced its racially diverse emoji update for all users. It has been since facing a lot of criticism for the same, but is it right to criticise? The point to ponder upon is what exactly was WhatsApp thinking about this version? Is it to indicate that a dark tone person should use a dark emoji and vice-versa? However,

Patriotism or Pretence ?

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Jawaharlal Nehru’s words on the midnight of 14 th August 1947, gave the country called India a new life. It was transformed from being a “sone ki chidiya” to “azad panchi”. The whole country men were requested to serve the nation, take a pledge to contribute their part as an individual to serve the society and everyone happily swore to it. But somewhere down the road people have actually forgotten the meaning and essence of all those pledges. As the 69 th Independence Day just passed away and all the social networking sites and media proudly professed about our freedom and independence, I wonder if these feelings are genuinely patriotic or just a pretence to blend with the crowd and go with the ‘trend’? Majority of people if given an opportunity would like to find an escape route to abroad and happily leave the so called beloved ‘motherland’ behind without any signs of remorse or sadness. Why is our patriotism just reduced to a status which is expressed on partic

World Photography Day

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“Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.” – Dorothea Lange Everyone today is celebrating photography as it is the world photography day, which is all about the appreciating the importance of pictures and photography in our life. Irrespective of whether one is a professional photographer, an amateur  or just a photo lover, there is no stopping for sharing pictures today. However it is also essential to understand how this day did came to being celebrated as the world photography day. It all started in 1837 when Daguerreotype photographic processes were invented and developed by Joseph NicephoreNiepce and Louis Daguerre. However on 19 th August 1839, the French Government finally announced this invention as the first practical gift to the world. And this is the story of the birth of photography day! The most amazing thing is that in today’s world we cannot even imagine an era when photography didn’t exist. We live in a techno d