Sujavna 1:12

Giri at 1400 hrs on 15^th May 2011

Welcome to yet another edition of Sujavna. I hope you all had a great week and that you are enjoying a wonderful weekend.

I am writing this from my hotel in Birmingham, UK, where I will be staying for the next 7 days, as I promote the Indian market opportunities for UK’s commercial security businesses. And, even as I began my first day (and probably the only day during my stay here, when I may perhaps have such a leisurely breakfast), I was caught on my backfoot when I read on the Sunday Mercury (local newspaper) an article about Clover Spa Hotel, the first Naturist hotel (read as the first Nudist) in Brimingham. The hotel is sandwiched between a residence and a nursery in the busy suburb if Erdington. Regular guests at the hotel and hotel managers aver that “shedding clothes in front of strangers boosts self-confidence”, “increases bonding as people realize that absence of clothes makes one vulnerable and hence you reach out to be more protective of each other”.

You may wonder as to why I am reporting on this article from a local newspaper about a naturist spa! To me this article and the comments by various guests reveal several interesting possibilities for innovative social experiments. For instance:

• How about a spa-retreat where guests are actively encouraged to play the roles of their alter-egos? This may help individuals realize the extent of goodness (or otherwise) in their current ego states as well as in their latent alter-ego states.
• How about a compulsory stint in a naturist camp for all aspiring politicians, civil-rights activists and global business leaders? Would such an experience make them empathise with others of their ilk (but from competing ideologies and organisations) better and understand their own weaknesses? Should the WEF have such a session in the future?

Well, any takers?

Signing off here. I have to prepare for my business meetings and presentations for at IFSEC 2011 and hopefully still get enough tie to walk around and imbibe the city’s sights and sounds in the afternoon. I will flying most of next Sunday, so I intend to publish my next blog on Saturday 21^st May itself.