change of plans (life)

I had planned on writing about my recent car ride with a man who thought it was his karmic duty to pass every other car on the road or something about the fact that if I was a teacher in India I would be paid about $50 a month (paid at the end of the year). But, some things that have happened here in India are much more worthy of a post.

 

Several days ago, I tried to log onto my friends' blogs. I was not able to see them and thought it was probably due to the fact that the monsoons impact internet connection. Yesterday, when I read the paper, I found out that something else was at work. The Indian government has blocked several major blog sites from being viewed within India. There is concern about the anti-Indian content of some of the blogs on the sites. For me, not being able to read my friends blogs was my first (surprising) interaction with direct censorship. I miss reading my friends updates on their lives. For the people of India, the impact is much greater.

 

Today, I read an article by an Indian blogger who no longer has access to his own sight. Without using backdoor access, he could not view the words he had written for one year. I am not sure if he is able to post via email, as I am right now. Blogs have become such an important network of communicaiton world wide. In his article, he talked about the blogs of Mumbai sharing current information about the bombings faster than the news networks.

 

Our world is changing. The way information is shared and who is sharing mass information is also changing. It seems like blocking a major network of information sharing will not do anything to stop spreading hatred. Rather, it will cause disconnection and frustration...both of which perpetuate terror.