Blogging
And am back!
I have been missing for over a month now, and in my opinion, with good reason! This is probably the first real unforced blogging break I have taken in my 5-year old blogging career. That’s right. Five years is a long time, isn’t it? Since my break coincided with my bloggy birthday, I didn’t even blog on that day. October 16, five years ago, I was bitten by the blogging bug! I have a special relationship with my blog. I blog when I am happy, when I am sad, when I am frustrated, when I am angry. But very rarely do I blog when I really have nothing to complain about, brag about, crib about or rant about. Today, I am doing exactly that, perhaps for the first time in five years.
This month has gone by in a flash. I don’t even remember what exactly happened in this time, what with the wedding, the honeymoon, the house visits, and the second reception. Just when I was getting used to the idea of being married, I was back at work and drowning in an ocean of work! Sigh! A girl can’t even take a decent break and enjoy the first month of marriage! Such is life! The only thing I do remember of the last month is that there were rains, rains and more rains.
You see, I share a rather special relationship with the rains. The rain gods seem to want to participate in every event in my life. It rained when I was born. Oh, sorry! It poured buckets and the entire city was flooded the day I was born. Twenty nine years later, my mother still recounts the horror story to all and sundry. It rained on my first birthday as well apparently. Actually, it rains practically every birthday. A bit difficult to escape that seeing as I was born in October! More recently, the rains decided to grace the earth with their presence the day I left home for the first time to go to France. Again, it rained the day I joined my first (and current) job. I don’t remember a single landmark event in my life where rain was absent.
Being such a beloved child of the God of rain, any wonder then that it rained on my wedding day? The day dawned bright. Actually, my wedding happened when the day was just dawning. But, it seemed a bright and sunny day like any other. The wedding ceremony ended around 6 and we were spared some time to rest. The next thing we know is that the skies are darkening, 7 AM resembles night and that the skies have opened up and it’s pouring! Whatever happened suddenly? A lot of people called in to say they were stuck at home (or on the road in one case) because of the sudden and heavy downpour. Divine benediction maybe?
Anyway, after a self-imposed blogging break of over a month, I am back. As I have frequently promised in the past, I hope to be slightly more regular at blogging that in the past few months. Anyway, until then….ciao!
Literature? Or not?
A few days ago, I came across these two posts by Jai Arjun. Both are rather old posts, but the issues raised in them are still pertinent, especially in the context of the reading bug that has bitten me since the beginning of the year. Now, I am not expert in literature, but I do read rather a lot. My taste in reading ranges from Jeffrey Archer to Salman Rushdie to Paulo Coelho, and I don’t mind experimenting with books. Jai Arjun’s posts set me thinking on what books are deemed read-worthy and what are not. Personally, I would, as I admitted read any book once. If I like the genre and find the author even remotely interesting, I’ll probably read the second or the third. The first link is on the end of pretension in publishing. While discussing the democratization of publishing in India, he says that literary critics often tend to lose sight of the possible directions Indian Writing in English could take in the coming years. I agree that literary critics, especially those who critic for a living tend to be rather partial to what might be termed as literary works. But, beyond the obvious definition of literature to most lay minds as serious, even boring writing, the second post on literature being often considered as “pseudo-intellectual” provided much food for thought.
As a student of literature, I tend to agree that much of what we considered worthy of being classified as literature is serious writing. Rarely, if ever, is any book on the recommended reading list of a literature student unless it wins some sort of award. I also distinctly remember cribbing that Midnight’s Children was eminently unreadable despite having won the Booker of Bookers. I also remember telling a friend that no matter how interesting the style, it just did not cut it for me because it did not manage to hold my attention the way a lot of serious literary works have in the past. I also plead guilty to considering books by Chetan Bhagat and the likes of him (referred to by Jai Arjun as dude-lit fiction) as nothing more than pulp fiction. While I enjoy the occasional chick-lit, Devil wears Prada-type fiction, I really wouldn’t consider adding it to my must-read list. I suppose the authors Jai Arjun interviews would consider me a bit of an intellectual snob! And I plead guilty. While I don’t belong to that group of people who wouldn’t go near a Chetan Bhagat book with a ten-foot barge pole, I also don’t think he is worth discussing or taking seriously by anyone who really loves books. The other extreme that Jai Arjun talks of is even more interesting. This equating of literary fiction with pseudo-intellectual and therefore boring, is also something that I disagree with. A lot of literature is extremely interesting. One of my favourite books is not even a novel: it is a play. Andromache by Jean Racine is the one book I have read again and again over the past 5 years and it is not even in modern French. It belongs to the 17th Century and there is something so appealing about it that even 300 years later, there is someone who finds it interesting.
What I find intriguing, and perhaps even a wee bit distressing, is that authors would want their books to be priced low because it shouldn’t eat into the going-out-with-girlfriend-to-coffee-day-budget! And even more distressing is the intention behind writing easy-to-read books: sells thousands of copies, make a lot of money! I agree that a lot of people do not read because they find it too boring to read. I also agree that the likes of Chetan Bhagat have brought the reading habit to people who wouldn’t have touched a book in their lives without a gun held to their heads. But, this trend of writing books just to make a quick buck is something I will never be able to understand or empathize with. I want to write a book some day. I don’t know if this is going to be fiction or non-fiction, humorous or serious, literary or pulp fiction. But, I do know that when that happens, how many copies my book sells will be the last thing on my mind. Much like writing a blogpost, I will be happy if just one other person in this world (apart from my publisher and editor of course) took the trouble to read the book and give me feedback. Maybe because, for some of us, writing is not a profession, it is a passion. Pardon me if I am being ranting right now because the idea of equating books to cup of coffee with girlfriend, as some of the writers themselves seem to be doing, is too much for me to take. And yes, if I have a thousand extra bucks to spend, I’ll probably spend it on books rather than on coffee….unless am having coffee with someone like Ameen Merchant! đ
The accidental writer…
A new year…a new beginning. Just as a new year often signifies a new beginning, it has, this time, signified the birth of my brand new URL. For long, I have been toying with the idea of migrating away from my existing domain amruthaupendran.com. Not that I have anything against my name, but that I think it’s time to detach myself from this and give this space it’s very own identity. Before you ask, of course this is going to continue to be a personal blog. And no, I am not planning to go anonymous. As I mentioned sometime back, the decision to blog under my real name was taken when I had no idea that it was even possible to stay anonymous and still be widely-read. After 4 long years, I will not go back on that decision now.
As I was contemplating the new URL, it struck me that I am a blogger, a writer, entirely by accident. Over a casual conversation, the suggestion to start a blog came to me. And I registered my first blog on blogger with an air of someone doing it out of sheer boredom. And then, something happened. As I wrote, I realized that this is what I truly wanted. I realized that this blog was getting to be my personal rant-space. Slowly but surely, I began to take myself, and my writing more seriously. Since then, there has been no looking back. The process of migrating to a new domain has been alarmingly simple. I wonder if something is going to break down somewhere. If it does, please do let me know at the earliest, so that I can do my bit of fire-fighting.
Enough said! It is with a sense of accomplishment and pride, that I present before each of you, my new URL. Please do leave a comment, write to me, send me an FB message, DM me on Twitter or call me to tell me what you think of it. Until next time…ciao!
The mandatory end-of-year post!
â2010 wasâ is a hashtag that is trending right now on Twitter. But I honestly donât know what 2010 was for me. It certainly was a learning experience, as every minute is. But it was also a year when I rediscovered myself. It was a year when I felt alternatively on top of the world and in the depths of despair. At the end of every year, life affords us a choice: look back and regret, or look forward and plan. Right now, I feel like doing neither. I know today is December 31 and a few hours ahead, our friends in Kiribati (or is it some other Pacific island?) will welcome the New Year in all pomp and splendor. But I also know that like many other things, itâs just a date. So, on this date (like any other) I choose to think about what I learnt.
1. This year I learnt that love and hate are just two sides of a coin. I learnt that the more you love someone, the more likely you are to hate that person. I learnt that this holds true irrespective of the relationship you share with him/her.
2. This year I learnt that some things are better left unsaid. I learnt that silences speak better than words, especially in situations where words cannot convey what eyes can. I also learnt that those who really love you will read and understand the language of the eyes and that those who donât are not worth your while anyway.
3. This year I learnt that like love, friendships can be made instantly. I also learnt that unlike falling out of love, the break of friendship can also be brutally abrupt and sudden. I learnt that it is always possible to survive that break of friendship because ultimately youâre all you have.
4. This year I learnt that some experiences, however painful can be cathartic and help you overcome a pain you never knew existed.
5. This year I learnt that age is just a number. Having celebrated my 28 years of existence, I feel more beautiful and vibrant than I did ten years ago. I learnt that the number of years youâve walked this earth has nothing to do with who you are and how people perceive you.
6. On that note, I learnt that I still have three years to go to be at my most attractive because apparently, women are at sexiest at 31! đ And, if youâre the one who said it, please remember that that was the greatest compliment Iâve ever received!
7. This year I learnt to never say no to any experience because it might just be the most wonderful youâve ever had in life! I also learnt that sometimes you just need to throw caution to the winds and live your life for what it is worth.
8. And finally, this year I learnt that I love to receive compliments and that they actually make me a nicer person, more beautiful, happier and most contented with life!
So, on this note, what did you learn? Did you too, like me, learn that some things in life should never be compromised and that some others should be discarded because we longer have any use of them? And finally, if youâre reading this, kindly de-lurk. I would love to know who my readers are!
Reasons to write
With 83 posts in 2007, steadily declining to a measly 16 (now 17) in 2010, I decided to make a New Year resolution: to post at least once every two days. Now, all of us make such irrational and impulsive resolutions at the end of the year, more out of desperation than any measure of sanity. But the point is I want to write. I want to be slightly more prolific than I have been this past year. I realize that my blogging break is more because I have slacked off and not bothered to keep myself abreast of happenings around the world, than because of any genuine problem with writing.
But, thatâs not what this post is about. I, like the big-mouth fool I am, decided to share this resolution with the world on Facebook. Now, you might ask me if I am not being a bigger fool by sharing it with the world outside Facebook by writing about it on my blog. The answer is most probably a yes! But again, this is my space and I will say what I want. So, to get back to the point, I shared this with friends on Facebook. The term âfriendâ is probably not the most appropriate here, but thatâs another post for another day. Within seconds of my posting the status, one commented asking me to take a complete blogging break, and get out to meet the ârealâ world and make ârealâ friends, see people with ârealâ faces and have some ârealâ fun! Another promptly commented saying he completely agreed with the first: which is what brings me to the purpose of this post.
I donât understand why so many people confuse blogging with social networking. If I can stay connected with people on Facebook or Orkut or LinkedIn 24/7, why can I not blog with as much passion? Why is blogging considered such a waste of time that I get random advice about stepping out into the real world? I have mentioned in the past that writing for me is about expressing ideas, feelings, thoughts and desires. That writing is a creative outlet that keeps me happy and satisfied. I have also said that by choosing to blog under my real name and by linking my blog to my accounts in Twitter, Facebook and elsewhere, I am probably risking censure and slander. But the very fact that I am still at it, four years on, is an indication of how much this really means to me.
I donât write for people to read and comment. I find comments and discussion extremely stimulating and would love to respond and interact if people chose to comment. But I donât write expecting people to leave all else and follow my blog. I donât look at my blog as a social networking tool that will permit me to make friends in the virtual world. Of the 280-odd friends on my friendsâ list on FB, there are probably just a couple whom I have never met. Also, the fact that I have never met them does not make them any less ârealâ or the friendship any less important. Friendships made in the virtual world can be as stimulating as those made in real life. I write because I feel like expressing myself. I run a blog because it gives me a platform to publish those writings, which would otherwise remain unread and unnoticed.
I canât reiterate this enough. My blog is my every own personal space. It is my sacred haven and my refuge. I choose to share it with those who care enough to read. But, a world outside also exists. I also have friends and family in the real world. I also do fun things like singing, dancing, attending concerts, going to lunches and dinners and discussing a range of topics with those I meet. Am I being unreasonable and unrealistic in expecting people to understand this simple fact? I honestly have no answer to that question. All I know is, I will write no matter what anybody says or does. I will write because it means something to me. I donât promise to publish 15 times a month like I resolved for New Year, but I will certainly try to be a little more prolific that in the past few months. Until next time, have fun and celebrate the coming of a very happy new year!