Connections that unite

I am amazed at what my PC has come to mean to me, considering the boring and harrowing computer classes at school, that I understood little of. Since Internet entered my life, I took to my PC like a fish to water. Initially, it was amazing to get to know strangers on chat(i am talking of the early days of msn messenger) and the curiosity of a world out there that you could connect to, was riveting. That is how my journey began with what we today term as \"social media\". Today, I am a fan of close to 150 pages on facebook, that includes magazines, websites, groups, hobby clubs, etc. It also helps me stay connected with my friends in India and abroad, as does twitter which gives me the opportunity to chat 'realtime' with people who are there for a purpose.

In short, what I like about Web 2.0 is that is helps one to actually connect, initiate meaningful discussions, ignite an intellectual debate, share interests with like- minded people, protest against atrocities, form a community of people who support an idea and much much more. The power that Web 2.0 platform carries is huge, and much more kinetic as opposed to the static power of what internet was initially i.e. mails and chats. It’s a whole new world today and although it’s a world fraught with dangers online, if utilised the right way, it can create a lot of impact in the future. How one uses it defines what they make of it. The need today is to make more and more people aware of the power that social media exudes, it is not just how many friends you have on facebook, it is about what you want to say and how you say it.

In a country like India, more than 60 percent of the women I believe might not be aware of what they can do on a computer, let alone utilise the power of social media. Add to this the fact that most of them barely know how to read and write. Contrast this to their urban counterparts who are pros at it. So there exists a knowledge chasm which would take time and effort to fill. But it is heartening to see voices of women globally come together on the internet. Womens feature service(http://www.wfsnews.org) is one such website. Your own website is doing a wonderful job. I think social media can be a platform for women who know it to raise a voice for their brethren and highlight their plight, have support groups, raise funds, bring those suffering out of destitution, correct the wrongs and promote debates on womens rights and their priviliges. A famous Sanskrit quote goes –
यत्र नार्यस्तु पूज्यंते रमंते तत्र देवताः।
यत्र तास्तु न पूज्यंते तत्र सर्वाफलक्रियाः॥
Translated in English it means:
Where women are worshipped, goddesses dwell.
Where they are not worshipped, all actions are fruitless.
Let us work towards a world where even if women are not worshipped, they are treated with dignity.