Editorial

Just a few weeks back we were getting geared up all gung ho with this issue when things started to go bad with the two train derailments. Things went from bad to worse when Mumbai happened shocking us into numbness.Anything I wanted to write seemed shallow against those tragedies. Condemning , consoling , praying- nothing really felt meaningful-at least that was what I felt. A despair had started setting in and just when I was almost convinced of our uselessness and just when I felt sure that nothing we did or said really mattered, a few random aimless clicks later I came upon a post in the internet which reinstated my faith in mankind, in the so called educated common man and mostly in ourselves that we can make a difference in our small ways if we want to or if we mean to. What I came upon as a news item is worth sharing and this is the link to the story http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/07/14/india.blasts.help/. It is a news item about a techie who became an accidental hero of the Mumbai blasts when in a mad impulse, after hearing of the blast , he created a google spreadsheet, a database of the help and contacts he could garner online via twitter, for the victims of the blast and posted it online. It started a mini movement of sorts and within minutes it gained momentum. More people who wanted to help but were clueless jumped into it and added their own contact details with the help offered. It just shows that if one has the intent and determination, one can make a difference and even the arm chair activism, that is so much scorned these days, if channelized well, can save the day.

Spread the knowledge, spread the information, even if that is the only thing you can do. One never knows who might gain by it, whose life you might be saving. We the people can make a difference too. Never should we doubt our own capabilities, our own strengths.Not for nothing are the common men considered the most powerful group in the world. Hence we dedicate the monsoon issue to the common man which is an attempt through which we have tried to project their woes and their celebrations.

Mumbaikars have shown their never say die attitude and their spirit by springing back to normalcy. While we grief for their loss, we also applaud their indomitable spirit and stand by them in their hour of need. Belonging from a region torn by insurgency, we do know what they are going through.

We had planned our this issue with lots of thoughts and care, stressing on the need for sharing information. Though no words can describe how we feel for Mumbai , but as they say life must go on for the living and so the show continues… but with a hope that maybe we will find light at the end of the tunnel!

Regards,
Mani Padma
Director of Ideas
Fried Eye

Issue Editor & Concept Building: Mani Padma
Cover Design: Pallavi Kapur

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