Today (Monday 17th November 2008) marked the inauguration of Chain Reaction 08, a two day conference in London which “will bring together social leaders, community activists, policy makers, business leaders, young people and people like you from around the globe to share learning and to generate new ideas for social change, locally, nationally and globally.”

Today also marches the launch of Global Entrepreneurship Week “the first worldwide celebration of enterprise, which aims to unleash young people’s enterprising ideas and address some of society’s biggest issues, from poverty reduction through to climate change.”

As the day ends in London, and all the delegates wind down, and finish up for the day, later, half way across the other side of the world, in San Francisco, there is another conversation about to begin, at The Global Summit where the question will be asked – “What will it take to build a sustainable future?”.  The Global Summit(TM) a world-wide partnership for a sustainable future, is laying the foundation for annual Summits across the globe. The Global Summit(TM) begins with a two-day symposium and culturally rich welcome reception. Outcomes include guiding principals for a sustainable world across six key social and economic sectors, a blue print for the world’s first global citizen voter platform and an online collaboration system that maximizes our collective impact. Learn more about this event by either reading this press release, or by visiting the website of the Empowerment works – the organisation responsible for putting on the event.

It seems like this week could truly mark the beginning of a significant changing tide in the world we live in today.. I’ll be personally attending Chain Reaction 08, where I’ll be socially reporting on the event, via twitter, and blogging, as best I can.  At the same time two dear friends, fellow facilitators of the Awakening the Dreamer Symposium, and former colleagues from The Pachamama Alliance where I volunteered for 9 months will be attending The Global Summit in San Francisco.  We’re planning to organise a conference call, after both events, to find out about each others experiences of what was shared, and to find out threads between the two events, that we might be able to start weaving together, between the two gatherings, half a world away from each other..

I don’t know about how much virtual engagement will occur at The Global Summit, but we’ll have plenty of resources to engage people online, coming out of the conference, so please do connect into the conversations in whatever way you feel would work best!!

Whilst clarifiying a few details for The Global Summit, I’ve discovered a few more relevant happenings this week..

This week the following related events are also happening, or did already happen:

Governor’s Global Climate Summit, Nov 18th and 19th, 2008, in Beverly Hills, California,
convened by Governor Schwarzenegger

The G-20 Global Economic Summit, on Nov 15th and 16th, 2008, in DC, organised by President Bush.
You can also read the Full G-20 Declaration.

The first pan-European Town Meeting on Climate Change, 15th Nov, 2008, simultaneously in Florence, (Italy), Cornellà de Llobregat (Barcelona, Spain) and Poitiers (France), in the context of the IDEAL-EU project, one of the ongoing Preparatory Actions on eParticipation funded by the European Commission.

So it’ll be interesting to see with all this flurry of activity, what long term sustainable social change could come out of these programs? and what actually ends up coming out of all these meetings…

If you’d like to engage with Chain Reaction 08 – we’re deliberately including an online social element to the community interactions, and so would like to extend the invitation to everyone to join in, participate, and collaborate.

You can start by tagging everything you generate with the official tag of chainreaction08 – so everytime you blog, tweet, post a photo on flickr, or just generally include anything that you would like to include in the conversation, be sure to include that tag (except if you’re replying to something that’s been said in twitter, in which case the fact you’re replying will mean that the earlier part of the conversation, as well as your response will appear in the results :)  This applies to all people who are at the event, and watching from their homes too :)

On twitter, to search for a keyword, you can use http://search.twitter.com and put in the keyword terms for Chain Reaction 08.

A comprehensive query, that includes all related variations can be found by visiting http://tinyurl.com/5pu375 – this will provide you with a complete list of all posts on twitter relating to the London Chain Reaction 08 event. (The RSS Feed for this query can be found here).

For photos, everyone’s been asked to post them on flickr, and to use the keyword tag of chainreaction08 to make sure that they are visible to everyone who is looking for images from the event.  If you’d like to see the latest photos that have been uploaded, just visit here.  If you happen to attend the Chain Reaction 08 event, and have pictures that you’d like to share with the other participants, then I’d like to invite you to create your very own free flickr account, and post the photos you’ve taken during the course of the two days onto flickr, making sure that you tag all your photos with “chainreaction08” (without the quotes, of course!)

You can also find relevant blog posts, that will help weave a connection between the participants of Chain Reaction 08.  Again, if you want to have your blog appear to other people, make sure that when you post your blog, you include the tag chainreaction08, so that other people can find it, when they are looking for related content..

Fortunately, Google has integrated it’s video search into a single interface, that comes from multiple sources, so you can also find all videos from the event, that are shared on youtube and google video using the chainreaction08 tag.

There is also content being video’d and streamed directly online, throughout the event courtesy of David Wilcox, and Qik…

Then, most importantly, we also have an active online community at http://chain-reaction.crowdvine.com/ so if you don’t happen to have been able to join the event, live, or want to join in from a distance, the online community will undoubtedly be a rich resource, that connects people together long after chain reaction 08 is over, and perhaps by chain reaction 09, there’ll be an international dimension occurring simultaneously at the same time.

If I happen to have missed any resources, please add them into the comments section below, and I’ll be sure to update this page, to properly reflect all the resources, and references relating to ChainReaction08, so that everyone can benefit from knowing where to find everything related and relevant to a matter dear to our hearts.

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So, I’ve recently been reading Personal Development for Smart People, being an avid follower of Steve Pavlina, and having just finished the book.. I’ve found myself having experienced a real roller coaster of a ride.

Not least, because of how self-reflective the book is, and how it forces you to examine your life, from so many different angles, and so many different perspectives, and so many different lenses.  But also, just because it truly is heavy reading.  Perhaps, it’s just me, but whilst certain chapters just flowed, and I was able to read, easily and effortlessly, other chapters just totally bogged me down, and sometimes, it would take me a few days to repeatedly go over the same words, until I could move on.  Ironically, as soon as I put the book down, or got past that part, I would be just fine.. which makes me wonder.. is it the book or was it me, that was putting up the resistance??

Being outside of the US, I only got an electronic version of the book, but straight away, I could feel this book had a very significant “conscious” element to it.  I didn’t calibrate it, to the levels of consciousness, using Kinesiology, like David Hawkins does, in Power vs. Force, but intuitively, I’ve often noticed, that certain books, websites, and other written materials often carry a certain energy, especially if there are purposeful intentions behind what’s been created.  I’ll write more about my experiences, and understandings of energy and intention around written works another time, but for now, suffice it to say, that this book felt a little “lighter”, and had an energy around it, that was perceptible.

As I started to make my way through the book, having already read the table of contents online, I was acutely aware of the correlation between the 3 Core values of Truth, Love and Power, and the overlap, between these and the core guiding principles that I’d encountered in the work of The Pachamama Alliance, and the Awakening the Dreamer Symposium.

The work of the Awakening the Dreamer symposium, is to bring forth an “environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling, and socially just human presence on this planet”.

Within the symposium, Environmental Sustainability captures the essence of living in balance with the physical world, being honest about what’s really happening, and in light of that honesty, taking new actions, as a consequence.  Something which having read Pavlina’s book, I believe is signifantly connected with being Truthful, in terms of what’s happening, and having an open and honest evaluation, with the forthrightness to acknowledge what’s really at play, regardless of whether it’s good or bad.

The component of the symposium that deals with Spiritual Fulfillment, deals with our own inner connection, or lack therof with others, in our day to day lives.  The component of Love, that Pavlina talks about relates to the notion of connectedness, and how, once we are in our loving space, we automatically feel the connection between ourselves, and others.  It is that connectedness, or absence of it, that is talked about in the Awakening the Dreamer Symposium, when addressing the component of Spiritual Fulfillment, which gets discussed as the lack, and emptiness… Being devoid of meaning and connection.. Living empty and meaning less lives, which is often attributed to not “doing what you love”.

As for the Socially Just human presence, I believe that to be directly connected the the element of Power, that Pavlina discusses.  A socially just world, is one in which people claim their power, and the capacity for injustice to occur is non-existent, since everyone is equally empowered.  Power is not the same as force, which comes into play, when a situation becomes unjust or is unfair.  And it is this very absence of Power, that is touched upon during the Symposium.  Admittedly the handling of social justice, during the symposium, leans more heavily towards looking at the inequalities in the world, between people, between the rich and the poor, the haves and the have nots, the differences that exists because of race, and culture.  To me, that is but the flip side of Power, for when power is absent, true power, then such inequalities are indeed possible.

Whilst the symposium may present each of these issues in a more global reaching light, looking at the plight of what is, and current status quo, the symposium, having been birthed a few years ago, started a conversation in the world, which I believe is being refined, and rephrased by Pavlina, in his book.  Whilst I doubt there’s any strong connection between him and the work of the Pachamama Alliance, consciously, I know the two strands are directly connected.  Why do I say this? Because both were born out of the same call from the earth, from Pachamama.  One originated, in the Amazonian rainforest, the other in the consciusness of an individual seeking growth.  Both mirror the fact that we are in a changing time.  As people connect with their own innate wisdom, their own innate consciousness, they start to be able to access the consciousness of the planet too.. That is not something which is different from country to country, or by race, language, or religion.  The world over, we as a humanity are sharing the planet we live in, and as we start to bridge the chasm, between the world we are in, of individual, seperate, disconnected beings, to realising that actually, we are all part of a blueprint woven through the ether of life, that collectively sustains life on this planet, we will have to look out our place in this world anew.

It seems that increasingly more and more people are waking up, in a crisis.  Their lives, amounting to nothing, having acquired all the material trappings of wealth, status, and success, yet feeling hollow, and empty inside. This isn’t just co-incidence that this is happening all over the world, in this unprecedented manner.  More and more people are choosing to say no.  Are stepping away from what was once thought to be the “only” way, and asking anew, how can we do this differently??

From the emergence of online portals such as Kiva.org that allows you to lend money to people in developing countries directly, to Zopa.com, which allows you to lend money to each other, challenging the traditional lending cycle of the banks, people are increasingly engaging with the world on new terms, and technology is allowing them to do so in a way that breaks down the old structures, that were fixed, and impermanent.  Life no longer has to follow the same patterns of previous generations, and with that comes a recognition of the fact that what has happened in the past, is not going to be sustainable going forward.  With increasing global populations, and reducing available resources, it’s time to re-think the equation of life, and Pavlina’s book does a great job of thoroughly dissecting everything in your life, and helping you reconstitute it in a new direction, based on some core, and fundamental principles.

Is it the only book out there that does this? I don’t know.  But it is one of the few that I’ve read that really brings Personal Development into the realm of Science, not art… Taking things step by step, in a methodical, and meticulous manner, Pavlina ruthlessly dives into each of the core values, and then builds upon them, until you’ve been cut open, and forced to bare yourself, so that you can see what’s really under your skin.  Then, in the second half of the book, he slowly starts to re-build the very thing he’s dissected, providing suggestions, experiments, and his own experiences of what’s worked for him, to help find a new road out of the chaos, and confusion that might ensue, when you see your flaws for what they are, and find yourself to be openly honest about living a life that is far from ideal, in every sense of the word.

I can’t say that I’m “taken” by his style, and approach.. It’s perhaps a little too linear, and logical for my liking.. At times, it seems to lack heart.  But then it’s perhaps also at the same time, providing me with an accurate mirror of myself, and my own reality, which makes it all the more unbearable, and untolerable.  It’s definitely not another one of those wishy washy, self help books, or flowery, spiritual books, that’s for sure.  And I’m pretty convinced, having experienced Steve Pavlina’s wisdom for a few years now, that following even just a small part of the book, will lead to tremendous growth, and success, in any area of your life.  The real challenge is going to be sustaining that change, and transformation, in a world that increasingly is crumbling apart, and reading this book, could very well shake you, from your very core, destroying any sense of  success and accomplishment you thought you had, whilst forcing you to openly and honestly, set a new course in life.

For me, there’s definitely many many great parts to the book, and whilst I found certain chapters unbearably tough to read, with moments when I was just falling asleep, whilst attempting to read the words on the page, I think there’s enough value in the book, that even if you only read the bits that interest you, you’ll get enough value out of it, to have made the book a worthwhile investment.  I for one, will always suggest, when in doubt, listen to your heart.. Feel your way through something.. If it feels right, pursue it.  If it doesn’t don’t.  Simple as that.. And in time, you may be able to intuit your way through life in a more enriching and meaningful manner.  For now, I don’t have a perfect answer.  My life is no where near perfect.  I don’t have all the outer trappings, or inner richness of perfection by any stretch of the imagination.

But I have a spirit that’s willing.  Willing to live, and try, and experience.  Experience life in all of it’s colours.  And with that, and that alone, with my heart guiding me as my compass, I can honestly say, I’ve only ever been off course, when I’ve stopped listening to this guidance.  And in time, I learn to listen to my heart again, and start to push off in a guided direction, and as if by magic, life starts to flow again.  It’s not magic, it’s not co-incidence, and it’s certainly not crazy nonsense.  But then my world view allows me to understand my heart as being more than just a physical organ that pumps blood around my body.  I’ll definitely share a more deeper and richer understanding of my heart, and what it is for me, in a future article, but for now, let me recommend you go out and buy yourself a copy of Pavlina’s new book, if you’re at all interested in personal growth, and personal development. And if you just have something in you’re life that you want changing, or you’ve found yourself facing challenges that you just can’t overcome, then perhaps it’s time to order this book too, and who knows, six months from now, you’ll be as grateful as I am now, for Steve having taken the time to synthesise and channel his thoughts, perceptions, and experiences into this wonderful book. Personal Development for Smart People: The Conscious Pursuit of Personal Growth, I recommend you order your copy today!

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Imagine you could talk directly to the CEO of a company, whose service you use on a daily basis.  Imagine your ideas, suggestions, feedback and criticisms reaching the guy at the top directly.  More importantly, imagine being able to join in the conversation, and listen in on the thoughts of the person steering the company.  Well, imagine no more, it seems Twitter has started to bring down some of those walls.  No longer do you have to wait for the official statement, vetted by the PR department, approved by the legal team, and then distributed by Press Release through the mainstream media.

No, thanks to Twitter, it’s now possible to listen in on the conversations that the CEO is having with his community directly.  Douglas MacMillan from Business Week went ahead and listed 18 company heads who each use Twitter, sharing some of their experiences, and why they use the service.

If like me, you’d like to go ahead and add all 18 CEO’s to your Twitter, here’s a list of them all in one page, with their Twitter URL’s (it means you can just open each one in a new tab, and follow them all, without having to read the profiles of each of the CEO’s unless you really want to!!):

Kevin Rose
Chief Executive, Digg
http://twitter.com/kevinrose

Tony Hsieh
Chief Executive, Zappos.com
http://twitter.com/zappos

Jason Calacanis
Chief Executive, Mahalo.com
http://twitter.com/JasonCalacanis

Michael Arrington
Editor, Tech Crunch
http://twitter.com/TechCrunch

Loic Lemeur
Chief Executive, Seesmic
http://twitter.com/loiclemeur

Tim O’Reilly
Chief Executive, O’Reilly Media
http://twitter.com/timoreilly

Jack Dorsey
Chief Executive, Twitter
http://twitter.com/jack

David Sifry
Chairman, Technorati
http://twitter.com/dsifry

Christine Perkett
Chief Executive, PerkettPR
http://twitter.com/missusP

Michael Hyatt
Chief Executive, Thomas Nelson
http://twitter.com/michaelhyatt

Jeff Bonforte
Chief Executive, Xobni
http://twitter.com/bonforte

Mike Troiano
Chief Executive, Matchmine
http://twitter.com/miketrap

Jonathan Schwartz
Chief Executive, Sun Microsystems (JAVA)
http://twitter.com/SunCEOBlog

Shafqat Islam
Chief Executive, NewsCred
http://twitter.com/newscred

Barry Libert
Chairman, Mzinga
http://twitter.com/blibert

Eugene Lee
Chief Executive, Socialtext
http://twitter.com/eugenelee

Kel Kelly
Chief Executive, Kel & Partners
http://twitter.com/kelkelly

Lois Paul
Chief Executive, Lois Paul & Partners
http://twitter.com/boslfp

I  was going to write a little about how this is re-shaping the dialogue between management, staff and customers and the competitive business environment, as well as talk about the wonderful positive implications this technology has, when it can allow staff to get over the wall, to management.  But seeing as I’m using a really slow computer, with a trackpad, and it’s getting quite late, I’ll leave that part of the post for a future time.  For now, enjoy following those CEO’s on twitter, and you can also follow me, on http://twitter.com/magitam

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It seems that the modern world is no less susceptible to water outages, as the rest of the world.  Having experienced firsthand, water being cut in India, Pakistan, and hearing stories of it running out in Saudi Arabia, I thought at least here in the UK, we don’t have to worry about the water being cut.  I guess not..  Admittedly this was the first time that the water just stopped.. I think I remember a time maybe 10 or 20 years ago, when it happened once before, but nonetheless it happened.  We fortunately woke up early enough to be able to use the water before it had completely run out..  And at the first hint of there not being enough water, we started running up and down the stairs, with buckets, filling them up with water from downstairs, pouring water into our water tank, in the loft.  Unlike most modern or new houses, whilst our cold water supply comes direct from the Thames Water pipes, our hot water comes through a big tank we have in our loft…

Filling that tank, up in the loft, required many bucket loads of water and many trips up and down.. Eventually we were even using ropes to pull the buckets of water up to the loft.. But alas, the water from our cold taps finally stopped.  Round about 12pm.. The guess everyone made was that “everyone else” had woken up, turned on their taps, and gotten what little water was left in the pipes..

Fortunately, we managed to get enough water into our main tank, that we could at least continue to flush our toilet, and wash our hands.. But then we just had to wait patiently, until about 4pm or was it 6pm, when the water finally started to flow again..

Throughout the crisis, the Thames Water website crashed a few times, and if it weren’t for the public tweets on twitter,  I don’t know that I would have been informed, or been able to figure out what was happening.. The phone lines all were giving automated messages, with no idea of updates or what was the cause of the problem.  Turns out, a couple of entire postcode areas were hit, with a burst waters main in South Wimbledon being the culprit.  Thankfully that got fixed in time.  Now I just hope we don’t have to experience any more water outages.  It did make me think though, how luck we are, and how much we take for granted the ability to be able to turn on the taps, and get water out of them..  I wonder what life would be like, if you didn’t always get water?? When I was travelling around Peru, in Cusco, the entire city would have it’s water supply shut down during the day, and some places I stayed, we would only get ice cold freezing water out of the taps, when we did have water.

I wonder just how lucky we really are??  At least now we can get all those dirty dishes washed, without having to take them down to a river!

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For some reason, I’ve always, from a young age, subscribed to the belief that it’s a bad thing when children have to work, and that it’s wrong, and that it should be stopped. What I failed to realise, is the importance of children starting work at a young age. I was just watching Sansui Boogie Woogie, hosted by Javed Jaffrey, on Sony TV (in the UK at 8:40pm on Friday January 25th 2008) through a Sky dish, and I was blown away by the stark facts that were presented in front of me..

The group that had just performed their dance on Boogie Woogie, was made up of people who all earned between INR1,000 and INR2,000 indian rupees per month (which translates to about GBP£13-GBP£26 per month or about USD$25.43-USD$50.85). Most of these dancers worked either in a biscuit factory, or as labourers. These people were at times the sole provider, or one of two people working in their homes, and to think that everything they spent and earnt was less than some people make in an hour. Shocking.

In order to appear on the TV show, Boogie Woogie, which was filmed in Mumbai, the group had to travel from their home town, and the only way they could afford to do that, was after collecting donations from people in their colony, so they could pay for food and transport to get all the way there. These people were happy to have just appeared on the TV show, and have had a chance to perform on the Boogie Woogie stage. You have to remember that this TV show is a bit of a sensation, having been on TV for 10 years in India.

One of the hosts, Javed Jaffrey, made a point of asking each of the members of the group, what they each earnt, individually. Then started asking them how young they were when they had started working. Some of these children had started working as young as 11 or 12. When he asked them what they thought of the people that want to abolish child labor, they said that they were wrong. Simply because, the had to start working at such a young age to support their families and make sure they had enough food to eat. When people tend to go on about how wrong it is for children to work, most people don’t realise that it’s not out of choice, but usually out of necessity. And when it comes to survival, going to school just isn’t an option, if there isn’t enough food to eat at home. Upon further discussion, the host clarified that there were times when child labor was wrong. That was when the children are exploited, by being made to work 12, 14 or even 16 hours a day, and being paid unfairly. When the working conditions are hazardous to their health, when they’re exposed to toxic fumes, or their life is literally put at risk. But when the children are paid fairly for their work, are able to work in an environment that is safe for them physically, and they work decent hours, then there’s nothing wrong with it. Especially if the alternative is to see their family go hungry, and for them to not have enough food to eat.

I know from my family’s own personal experience that at the end of the day it has absolutely no bearing on what’s possible in the world, whether as a child you have to work or not. My father lost his father at a young age, and so in order for his family to get by he started working from the age of 14. To this day, I’ve never really understood the impact of him working so young could have had on him, but today I realise just how important it must have been for him to work, so that there was some food on the table. There are days when my dad would, as a child have some onion with a chapatti as a meal, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that… But it’s just an eye opener to think how simple and basic the meals would have to have been, so that they could survive. At the end of the day, that they were able to get by, with what they could, if the children in the family hadn’t been working (in addition to my grandmother, who was also working), then there’s nothing wrong with child labor at all. I wouldn’t have my dad here now today, if he had been forced to go to school on an empty stomach, and learn, but not have enough to eat, to be able to continue living.

I say that there’s nothing wrong with it – there’s actually a lot wrong with it. Children should all have the opportunities to play, and learn, and not have to grow up faster than they already have to. But if we’re not going to feed their families and support their homes, than the very least we should do, is make sure that they can work in humane conditions, in a supportive environment, until the rest of the planet that has all the money, and wealth gets their act together, and starts to re-distribute the wealth.

But if we are going to stand up and cry out against child labor, then we have to be willing to pay not just for their education, but to feed their families as well.. Granted that may not be much by most westerners standards. Especially if you’re reading this now, you could probably afford to give some of your wealth to the less fortunate. But at the end of the day, like one wise philosopher shared recently, nature has a way of finding a balance.

Whilst we continue to live rich, decadent, affluent lives, living carelessly, without regard for the other, then there’s always got to be the opposite, to keep things in check.. Whilst we may be a minority, with access to wealth, and technology, the percentage of the worlds wealth that we control is reflected in the larger majority of people who have nothing.

Social Justice is not, nor should it ever be about wealth re-distribution; some people are just better at manifesting abundance powerfully into their lives. What we do want to do however, is as custodians of that wealth and abundance make sure that everyone is fed and clothed, without having to work for those basic necessities. What that looks like in the world, I cannot tell you… But I’ll tell you now, the day we stop having to buy or sell food, is the day that all of the children in this world will be able to consider the option of an education instead of a working life. But seeing as most children in modern education systems don’t tend to learn much anyway, I don’t know what good going to a regular school is really ever going to do?? But that’s going to have to be food for thought, for another day…

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Today, we travelled from Pakistan back to London.

Yesterday afternoon, Benazir Bhutto was assassinated. As a consequence, all the shops closed immediately, and there was rioting on the streets. It’s the first time that I’ve ever been in a country and personally experienced something so terrible happen at such close proximity. We were in Islamabad at the time, and Benazir was murdered near Rawalpindi in Liaqat Bagh, close to where her father was hung for his crimes.

We were just in Rawalpindi on Wednesday, the 26th, travelling back from Lahore, on the Daewoo, and to think, if we had come just a day later, we would be stuck in the chaos, and madness, with all our luggage, and would have had to find some way to safely get to Islamabad, and to the safety of the homes of our Puppo Bajjo (Aunty Bajjo), and my sister-in-law’s Chachu’s (Uncle’s) home.

During the day, my Puppo had invited some of her personal friends who were attuned to Reiki to come and meet me, since she thought both I and they would appreciate meeting each other, given my experiences, and travel, and their interest in all things spiritual! As part of the healing circle, we had consciously sent healing energy to the upcoming Pakistani elections. And then that afternoon Benazir was murdered. I don’t know if the two were connected, but I’m coming to realise how important it is that in the face of such trying times, we must all consciously send peace, love, calm and understanding to the situation. If we start to watch all the media, get wound up by the issues, and become fearful, angry individuals, like everyone else, we too will be adding fuel to the fire. It is only by embracing a non-dualistic, all encompassing state of peace, that we can begin to appreciate how peace in the world can only exist it, when we become that peace in the world. It’s never about the other, but always about us. Of course we may not be able to stop people reacting violently, or angrily straight away, but perhaps, in time, we will be able to direct our loving, supportive, compassionate, and healing energies towards others, in such a way, that they may continue to feel their emotions, but no longer be driven by them, or attach them to physical actions. One day, a time will come, when mankind will learn to deal with their emotions, independently of their actions. When such a time arises, there shall no longer be any war, or armed conflict. It may not be a world where everyone agrees on everything with each other, but it will be a world where the use of violence or force will not be condoned, tolerated, or acceptable, in any shape or form. That is the day, that we will begin to become more like humans, and less like animals. That day, is coming soon… I can feel it…

For now, I pray that the people in Pakistan feel safe, and secure, and that all those performing acts of violence and destruction find a way to express their anger, discontent, or madness in ways that doesn’t harm or destroy anyone or anything physical, and acts out only at the level of their experience of their emotions. In love and light to all…

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Since being in South Africa, it’s really started to become clear how there is so little communication happening between the people, on all sides of society.

There seem to be some serious problems here, in terms of separation between races and classes. Whilst apartheid may be over, it’s very much a reality of life here, that blacks and colored people continue to be the underdogs, whilst the whites are very much still in their places of power, and wealth…

Of course it all depends on who you speak to… Speak to successful white people, and successful indian business people and you’ll get a sense of the forward progression, and wealth and prosperity being enjoyed by those folks. And then when you talk to less some black and colored people you really start to see just how much of a difference there is throughout the society.

I think it’s safe to say, that no matter who the race, everyone sees the white people in South Africa as still in control of the majority of wealth and power in the country. In spite of all the policies, and rules that the government puts in place, the white folk seem to continue to hold the majority of the wealth, and at least the perception of their power and sense of superiority appears to remain. Even when seeing the interactions between whites, and non-whites, you can really see just how much ignorance and separation exists between the two. Whilst it may not be conscious, most white people in South Africa seem to have a way of talking down to non-whites – be it jokingly, or unknowingly, they continue to talk as if their superior, and equally the non-white folk continue to respond as if they’re inferior.

Being a person of Indian descent, and being visibly colored, I’ve also experienced the two sides of this fence. Though when I first arrived in South Africa I wasn’t quite sure as to what this separation, or difference was – until I got to a shopping mall, in Sandton City, and for the first time saw whites, blacks, and coloreds all walking through the same mall… That’s when I realised that until then, I hadn’t seen and asian/indian/colored people in Johannesburg. It even brought home for me how I had completely associated black people with being servants, and maids, and never had once seen black people who were independently wealthy, or on an equal standing with white people.

The shopping mall was the first time that I had properly gotten out of the “security” environment – what with the home I was staying in having security gates, with guards, to the complex of homes, followed by an electric gate for the cars, followed by a locked gate to the home, with then the door to the home being secured at nights, and then going to sleep with a security gate inside the home, to create a secure sleeping section of the home.

Not that I think it’s a little over the top, with all the security… But I guess when you hear some of the stories of what happens to people, and you start to see some of the crime up close and personal, it’s one response to the situation I guess.

Personally I don’t ever want to live in so much fear that I have to lock myself into my own home, to go to sleep at night safe and soundly… But I guess that’s where the real challenges in South Africa arise…

There is so much disparity between the wealthy and the poor – and whilst some might argue that all you need to do is re-distribute the wealth, that clearly won’t ever change the real problem, which is ingrained at the level of the psyche of the society here… That people behave in ways that demonstrate the clear separation of the classes and races, means that the challenges faced by South Africa are entirely mental and emotional, and more visibly, lie beneath the surface of it all.

Last night, in the company of some Asian folk in Cape Town, I learnt just how deeply the wounds went, when you hear how as colored people, unable to watch and support the national rugby team, because of the lack of representation of all the races on the team… And how using the images of white male south africans as national heroes, is so unrepresentative of the true South Africa, and how the perceived ideals of the era of Apartheid appear to linger in the air, when seeing these white South Africans representing the country, and then having people imagine that everyone can rally around a sport, as a cause to bring the nation together really shows how disconnected the whites and the non-whites are.

Whilst having spent the day of the final rugby match with a group of white South Africans, and seeing them getting all elated and joyful at the success and triumph of the Springboks, even just on the ride home, the comment made by a friend of mine of how most South Africans (referring to the black folk), would be clueless to the reason for people celebrating, and being so joyful, and in such great spirits, since most South Africans wouldn’t necessarily follow the rugby – and how that was seen as a bad thing… As if, if only they understood, and could get behind the team, it would make everything better…

I thought back then that clearly there was something wrong with that picture, and after meeting people who in my eyes seemed relatively successful from appearances, but just happened to be Asian, or of colored origin, and hearing their inability to even support the sport, and the team really brought the differences home. It wasn’t a question of right or wrong, it was a question of getting over the pain and injustice from the times of Apartheid, when white people really did discriminate at every turn. When black or colored people couldn’t get on buses. When people were forcibly removed from their homes, so that the white people could live there… When black and colored people had to use different toilets to the whites.

It’s no wonder, with such a sordid past, and no space for people to go through any kind of reconciliation process that the nation really appears to be falling apart at the seams. Whilst there’s the apparent “forgiving” Mandela who sets a great example, it’s almost like the White people use that as an excuse to avoid apologising for the wrongs they did, and carry on as if very little has changed.

My own personal experience of the “superiority” complex that white people appear to live with might appear to be the inhospitable, unwelcoming attitude with which white people will say one thing, and then go and do another, but then I guess part of it really is just cultural. Having spent 8 months in San Francisco before coming to South Africa, where I experienced what it was like living in a family environment, and then living in a rented room, I really appreciated how much I value the Asian sense of family values, and especially within the Muslim faith, the way that a guest is considered a godsend, and an opportunity to serve and be hospitable…

Whilst I’m sure there was definitely not any malicious, or coldness around it – arriving in San Francisco, I really got a sense of how everyone had their own lives to lead, and outside the office, I was very much on my own… (not to mention, inside the office at times too!!!)

Coming to South Africa, it seems that same white cultural detachment from taking an active interest in your guests and their comfort, may have been something that I experienced through my white male South African friend, and his family… but then contrasting that with the warmth and hospitality of the Asian/Muslim families I met, and even of the black people I met, really brought home how perhaps part of the challenge is systemic in the way that most white westerners live their lives, in a state of detachment from each other…

We talked a little last night about respect, and as I write this, I’m starting to appreciate how the feeling of “disrespect” that I experienced whilst staying with white people, was no more than the lack of respect that they had for themselves possibly. If you look at the contrasts between the eastern and the western cultures, you can clearly see that the asian and eastern cultures have an embodied respect within their society. Whilst teaching English in South Korea I really started to see how Asian values affected the locals. Even just the way a friend of mine, being a 32 year old lady, who had lived and travelled in Japan and Indonesia, whilst living back at home, respected her dad’s curfew brought home to me what it meant to be respectful of your elders.

It does sometimes mean taking care of others and respecting the wishes of others above your own. Something which I think in western societies and cultures is lost. Most people are so engrossed in them, and what they want, that they forget to pay any attention to the people around them. Even just the way that older people are put into homes, since the family just doesn’t have the time to care for them. And the one phrase I heard yesterday, of how “a good family is one that you hardly see” just captures the essential difference between asian and western values, and how culturally the eastern and western hemispheres are worlds apart. I can’t imagine what life might possibly be like without having the integral element of family and hospitality within my every day life… And the more time I spend away from home, and family, the more I start to appreciate how valuable it is to live in an environment where people have enough self-respect to not need to get themselves shamelessly drunk, act stupidly in public, and sleep with everyone they come across… I can only pity the folks who have so little respect for themselves that they try to lose themselves in their drunken stupors, or have so little self respect that they’ll be happy sleeping with just anyone, for the sake of it.

I think western values are so overrated – I think for now, I’ve come to be very happy and comfortable with my “conservative” Asian values, that place modesty, sobriety, and virginity above the needs of the self, and it’s distorted sense of what matters, and what’s important. I’ll happily choose my family, and my set of self-respecting values above anything material, or self-centered any day. I’m just glad I was able to find my sense of priorities now, before I became too “western” and self absorbed in what I wanted that I neglected my family more than I already have, for which I can only now repent, and change my way of living in this world. It’s time I stopped thinking about myself so much, and started to put the well being of my immediate family first.

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