Old tie network

Old tie network

Even as Ambassador Ronen Sen wards off the flak generated by his “headless chicken” remark — now in popular usage — one constituency backing him is retired diplomats. Sen, a popular officer in his time, is a political appointee, but diplomats stick by their own; Delhi is full of those who have known him. They are a vocal lot, seen everywhere in the city. While politicians have lit into Sen — so have journalists, once he clarified his remarks were about the media — (chickens too, said a wag, should be upset), this group of former Ambassadors and High Commissioners have been saying how he has been misunderstood. And they have been telling the media just that.

Caught in the net

With the focus now on social networking sites, the world is divided between those who are on Orkut and those who are not. The latter are mystified by what the fuss is about and wonder how a website can be declared cool and iconic, or be associated with a heinous crime. The former sing the virtues of this kind of online bonding, arguing it is a generational thing. But HR departments in companies, already worried about time wasted and bandwidth chewed because employees log on while at work, are feeling vindicated at their decision to ban access to Orkut etc. To which users respond that they have ways to bypass anything employers come up with.