Creative communities

Time to be creatively crazy. A pilot and an air-hostess fall in love and want to get married.

Can you come up with the fancy ideas how they can do this in the craziest of ways?

A pastor and a party on flight is one way.

Para-jumping is another.

A ceremony in an hot-air balloon is a third.

Exchanging rings in the cockpit? That may be prohibited.

But for my friend Fr. Adolf Washington in Bangalore (yes, I referred to him in my column last week), there is an issue which this couple presents.

Catholics have to attend pre-marriage classes if a formal wedding is to be celebrated in Church.

But busy people like these Bangalore professionals often excuse themselves.

So Fr. Adolf e-mails them Biblical extracts, passages and church teachings. To enable them to access and read and understand them when the duo find the time between flights and transfers.

This young diocesan priest shared this and many other examples at a meeting this week in which Christian media professionals and part timers were participating. The workshop was looking at ways in which priests and nuns can leverage the Net to reach out.

The presentations here reminded me of a recent attempt that has been made in a colony in Thiruvanmiyur in south Chennai.

The residents of upmarket Valmiki Nagar, which lies on the seaside of the East Coast Road (ECR), have formed a new association to address local community issues.

They have formed an e-group to post, discuss, share and interest on these issues.

Perhaps this is the easiest, fastest and most effective way in which busy house-holders can still make a space/time for issues like bad roads and speeding bikes, garbage clearance and better achievement.

One member in this group was quick to react to a fire that broke out and destroyed a richly furnished apartment. Having observers that the local fire sericemen were not fully equipped and trained to address such accidents in high-rise apartments, he decided to post a note.

And a suggestion – join hands with the city Fire Service Department to train the locally –based fire servicemen in the area and hold mock drills periodically.

After all, high rises were already a part of the ECR and OMR landscape.

I am sure there are other communities who tap the Net to network locally and address local issues.

I would like to hear from them. The address of my blog is down below!

Fire!