Warren,

You have raised a very pertinent issue in Little Big Communication. And a very complex one.

There are different communication codes even within smaller groups in a larger community. For example, the youngsters have a language of their own. And unless one is wired in, it would be easy for an adult in the community to misunderstand them.

As a woman I have seen a sea of difference between the jokes men and women find funny. I often fail to catch the humour in a joke my male colleagues laugh their lungs out.

Recently in Delhi, a photographer of repute could not display his works portraying women models because some members of a religious fanatic group objected. The photos for most of us were beautiful works celebrating the female form and spirit. For the others, though they come from the same religious group and city, they were an insult to womanhood!

Hindus were horrified when pictures of their Gods got placed on footmats in the West. There were protests when a company in Australia (if I am right) named an alcoholic drink after Mahatma Gandhi, a man who shunned alcohol and is considered the Father of the nation.

And of course we have seen the violent Muslim reactions to the cartoons of the Prophet. In India some years ago there were riots when a character in a fictional story printed in the Sunday section of a newspaper was named "Mohammad".

How do we communicate right? There are problems across generations, between genders, among classes and religious groups. And of course among those with different political leanings.

Can we open the windows so that communication is easier, our understanding of each other clearer. Would mere windows suffice? Or do we need to knock down the walls? Are we as humans living in the 21st century ready for it?

Shree Venkatram