MS. SHAZIA ILMI

She has been in television for the longest time and has now made a switch over to activism. She is part of team Anna which is India against corruption. She uses her ideas, knowledge of technology to the fullest advantage for a social change.
Her own inner journey as a Muslim woman, as someone who fought gender biases all her life, she feels technology helped in a huge way because it could get her point across.
Technology is also like a double edged sword. It can work either way. Anonymity gives huge power because you can say what you want to say but anonymity can also be misused on social networking sites. But if one is really looking for that particular medium to go out there to make a difference then they to b have to befriend technology. Mobile telephony has changed people's lives. Farmers and fishermen actually get better prices because they can call up the local market and find out what the prices are and prevent being taken for a ride by the middlemen. So we are saying that whether it is making online communities or trying to create a different kind of community on the net can actually have a great multiplier effect.
When one looks at technology or looks at spirituality, they are great levelers, they bring out the humanity, they cut the class divisions. Much as both are needed to go ahead, we have to get them to coalesce together for a better future.
The Story of India against Corruption-This was just an idea that emerged. Sad about the rampant corruption, a group of people came together and became a voice of the people. They started to talk about a new law, new bill to fight against this evil. They used the power of Social Media to propagate and disseminate the message and gather support and momentum. The result was outstanding.

Sound Bites

• If you look at any art form, any form of communication, it's what you want to say and how you want to say it. So when we look at technology it is the 'how' of the matter.
• So the medium for me is the message and the message is the medium. And I think technology is not really mutually exclusive of anything else.