Six degrees of separation...

The first time I heard about the concept of ‘The six degrees of separation’ was soon after I joined Facebook. A friend had sent the ‘Six Degrees’ Facebook application which calculates the distance between people on the network. As I disliked having lots of applications on my profile, I did not accept it, but read up on ‘Six degrees of Separation’. It states that everyone in the world on an average are separated from everyone else through six other people. Being the ‘die hard’ Bon Jovi fan that I am, I remember thinking, hmmm… I wonder if I can connect to him in six levels…

Just yesterday as I was chatting to a colleague I found out that yes I could! Turned out that the son of another colleague knows Bon Jovi’s eldest daughter Stephanie as they attend the same school!!! So that means I’m connected to Bon Jovi in 4 levels!

When she mentioned it, I just thought, wow the world really is growing smaller! With many of us having travelled on studies or work or at least knowing others who have travelled all over the world it’s turning into one big global village day by day.

With the advent of social networking tools such as Facebook, twitter and linkedIn and Skype it’s easier than ever to keep in touch across the miles too… the physical distance between people is getting less and less relevant, after returning back to Sri Lanka and moving to our own house (more on my new home and work on a later post) we still have not been to see our neighbors due to busy schedules, but have managed to at least send a message or email to most of my friends in Switzerland and Cambridge. I know more about my friends on FB living it different countries than about my aunties or uncles in SL who are not on FB!

I have over 600 friends on FB and on linkedIn 250 direct connections with over 3 million connections 3 degrees away. At this rate it does sound like I can connect to anyone in the world (at least the part of the world that is online) if I were to look at 6 degrees away! Of course this wouldn’t work with the many people living in isolated or rural areas, who haven’t had the opportunity or the interest in travelling outside their towns, and who may not know many people. But for many others, even if they have not travelled, they would know someone who has, and can be connected to that person’s network.

What I've also come to realise  is that even these social networks, friendships across the miles all run on the basic principles of any relationship, you need to give before you can expect to receive.  You have to be a connector yourself, when others need help, and then often help comes your way when you need it. Whether in person or across the miles, lasting relationships are all about keeping in touch and being interested in the other person, its not only about you... For me this network has been invaluable in my last few vagabond years, from putting me in touch with people in cities I’ve visited, to giving job advice or forwarding CVs when I was searching for a job. When I first went to Geneva I stayed with a couple introduced through my father's friends friend.  Another cool fact is considering how we can connect to almost anyone if we go through a few degrees is that someone in your network is bound to know something about anything you can think of!

Were the good old days really that much better?

I often hear older aunts and uncles say how ‘In the good old days morals were much better, or the world was less materialistic…etc.’

While we see terrorism and murders and rape in the newspapers every day, there are also lot of young people getting involved in social services and trying to make the world a better place. Unfortunately the virtuous acts of people are not as news worthy as the ‘horror stories’ and so we continue to only hear about how the world is getting worse each day.

So in this blog post I thought of highlighting some amazing young people who have come up with creative ways of helping each other. Most of these are students or normal people like you and me. While there is also a trend of famous millionaires and celebrities such as Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Matt Damon, Bon Jovi establishing their own Not-for-profit (NFP) organisations, I will not go into those which get enough publicity but just mention a few examples of youngsters trying to improve the world even if it is in their own small way.

 Just yesterday I had the opportunity to attend the final presentations of undergrad students for their subject on team work. The assignment was to work in teams and achieve something larger than themselves. I was very touched by the dedication and creativity of these students. One group worked with the residents at Sahanaya (National Council for Mental Health) where they conducted art therapy classes with the residents who were given materials to make Christmas cards and then these cards were sold to raise funds for the organisation. Another group worked with a very poor school to buy them books, another worked on empowering young girls by teaching life skills, and yet another decided to help the cleaning ladies of their own university. At the end of the session most of the students said that at the beginning they worked on these projects in order to get the marks, but at the end they were so moved by the project that they wanted to continue the work they started even after the end of the project.

Another young group of students trying to make a difference from the University of Colombo have come up with their own organisation, Empower Lanka.  Their mission is to provide free electricity for rural villages to help them break out of the poverty cycle and to reduce Sri Lanka's carbon emissions. This organisation was supported by ‘GlobalChange Makers’ a vibrant community of young activists, volunteers and social entrepreneurs. The Global Change Makers community activists and social entrepreneurs aged 16-25 who are actively bringing about positive change with the support of the British Council.

Even in MBAs subjects on philanthropy and social entrepreneurship have become more popular. When I was in Cambridge (2006/07), we had an elective on social entrepreneurship but it was cancelled due to lack of students, but now subjects on these areas seem to be much more popular in most MBA schools. Here is an article from Business Weekly on the subject http://www.businessweek.com/business-schools/philanthropy-gains-eager-followers-in-bschools-08172011.html.

Cambridge University has started a new venture called Beyond Profit in their own words the mission of Beyond Profit is to inspire and support students to make the world a better place through their career or through entrepreneurship. 

Another example of young students using technology and web 2.0 in tackling the world’s major issues is End Ignorance. It is a collaborative non-profit online platform that addresses today’s most pressing issues ranging from extreme poverty to genocide by informing individuals and providing easy access to opportunities to get involved. The content is written collaboratively by volunteers around the world and it has a similar concept as Wikipedia.

Maybe the youth of today want to do something larger than themselves, or maybe after the Financial crisis they realised the temporary nature of material things and thought of doing something more… or looking for their purpose in life, in a world where religion and spirituality seems to be disappearing… With the advent of the internet and web 2.0 privileged youngsters also have the opportunity to learn more about what is happening outside their ‘happy homes’. Whatever the reason there is hope for the future… So I don’t think the ‘good old days were better than today’.

I Love this town...

I just bought the Bon Jovi album Lost Highway and the song 'I love this town' hit close to home cos I'll be leaving Cambridge soon, and I do love this town there are some words which stick in my head.

I always knew, that I'd like this place
You don't have to look too far,to find a friendly face
I feel alive when I'm walkin' on the street
I feel the heart of the citypoundin' underneath my feet

Yeahhhhh let the world keep spinnin round 'n' round
This is where it's goin' down, down, down
That's why I, love this town
That's why I, keep co-min' round
Say hey (say hey) say yeah (say yeah)
You make me feel at home some how, right, now
That's why I, love this town

I've got some good friends here, I might have broke a heart or two
It's gettin' loud over there, they boys must have had a few
And hey the cop on the corner, he knows everybody's name
And a kid with a train singin' forsome spare loose change

One of the things that I love about Cambridge is the historical significance of all the buildings and how whenever you pass a building there’s a wonderful story behind it, like the famous Eagle pub where we meet up often which was the place where Crick and Watson announced the finding of the DNA to the public. Then there's Newton’s famous apple tree (actually a descendant from it) on Trinity Street which I would pass each day on my way home from the University.

I'll also miss my friends, but will be coming back in May next year for my Graduation.

Bon Jovi Rocked the O2 and I was there!!!!

Looks like blogging has now become a monthly thing...

So much has happened since my last blog that I don't know where to begin... Just yesterday some friends and I went on a moonlit punt, only problem was though it was a full moon day, there no moon, it was covered by the clouds and it rained cats and dogs, it's a wonder that I didn't get sick, we were drenched to the skin! Then we also had the May week (in June, it's another one of those crazy Cambridge things) and I stayed up till dawn at the May Ball, had the 'Survivours Breakfast' and got back exhaused!

We've now officially completed all the lectures and I'm now working on my final dissertation. So maybe I'll have a bit more time to blog.

Guess what, after being a fan of Bon Jovi for over 12 years, and having a room which looked more like a Bon Jovi shrine as a teenager, I finally got to see them perform Live at the O2 Arena, on the 24th June 2007. They came to open the O2 Arena formerly known as the Millenium Dome which is now the largest Arena in UK. (this 23000 seater, is even larger than the wembly)

Though I wasn't really close to the stage, the seats(ofcourse we weren't sitting, who could sit through Bon Jovi!) were graded and I had a clear view of the stage. The tickets had been sold within minutes after they went on sale and I had to buy from ebay(don't ask how much, but it was worth every last penny!).

They started with 'Linving on a prayer'. Jon looked gorgeous as ever in his black shirt with golden work, and he was doing his usual dance routine! I screamed and sang along to all the songs and jumped up and down. They really knew to work the crowd!

Bon Jovi played for about 2hrs and sang most of my old favourites and many songs from their new album 'Lost Highway'. Love the new songs. Must get that album.

Jon sang their own version of 'Halelluja' which game me goose bumps... You can see it here

Jon spoke about 'so many memories in this town...and that's why I love this town' just before singing their new song 'I Love this Town' and I was just thinking how true... for me, I'll never forget this unbelievable year or this town!!!

These are some of the pics I took of them playing.

Have a Nice Day!!!!!!!

I bought this Bon Jovi (I love Jon, he Rocks!!!!!!!!) album soon after it was released but only listened to it's lyrics properly yesterday. I love the theme of the album, it's a feel good album which has the underlying message of not letting unpleasant things in life get to you too much.
As the title track says,

"When the world gets in your face, I say 'HAVE A NICE DAY !!!'"

I will end this post with my favourite line from the song, 'Welcome to wherever you are' off this Album

"Everyone’s a miracle in their own way, Just listen to yourself not what other people say"