So why do I persist in writing this Blog?

Dear Reader,

 

This will be the 100^th article I publish and I thought it might be worthwhile to reflect on the reasons I write.

Last year my wife bound a booklet of my articles for my Dad (since he does not have access to a computer). Looking at the size of that binder made me realize how much I have actually written. My guess is that I have penned in excess of a hundred thousand words, which amounts to a sizeable (even if not very enjoyable) book.

Possibly having noticed it in the living room back home, his friends must have scanned through the same. So last December when I met them in Bombay they asked me as to - why I write, where do I get my ideas, when do I get the time, etc.? From their tone it seemed that they thought it to be a futile endeavor.

I guess from their point of view, since I was not planning on becoming a writer - why bother? With refreshing honesty they indicated that some articles were long-winded, topics had no relevance and that reading was a dying habit. With TV, FB and Twitter - who had the desire to read anything over 143 characters? I did not have an answer for them!

I realize that I am not writing as an expert nor is it a personal diary. My blogs do not fit neatly into any particular category. They are neither technical nor fictional. They are a jumble of everything and nothing.

Individual Expression

Anyway I started writing because of an urge to articulate and communicate. I realized that, in general conversations had become muted and subdued. Debates, arguments and discussions that defined my college and internship days and my early working life had withered away.

 

I did understand that there could be a variety of reasons for that.

Maybe it is the times we live in that make it difficult to argue and debate issues without offending, alienating or boring someone. Maybe beyond a certain size Group conversations just cannot aspire to get above ground level. It could be that we do not meet often enough to get past the safe topics and delve deeper into a contentious one. It might be that we are too distracted by the tech toys that have taken over, or that we are too comfortable in our mental paradigms to explore outwards. Probably after hard days at work and the stresses endured, a serious discussion is neither desired nor appreciated. (Strangely I find that 'I' get energized with a lively exchange.)

Whatever the reason, I prefer to believe that it is one of the above, rather than a vacuity of thought and opinions!

 

So when people ‘do’ meet in social settings, they tend to skirt around getting personal. There is an inherent embarrassment to intrude and ask pointed questions. Conversations are steered towards more benign topics - like food, gossip and movies. There is safety in skipping from one topic to another, rather than have a prolonged discussion on one. There is also an evident preference to focus on the trivia in our lives, thus avoiding the bigger picture.

As a result the art of conversation has suffered and become impoverished. Views when expressed are couched, understanding and acceptance of differing opinions diminished. As bits and bytes of nonsense assault us from all sides, our attention spans have narrowed and consequently we have lost the ability to distinguish information from knowledge and intelligence from wisdom.

I enjoy a good discussion or debate and believe that an argument often clears the air. Having a philosophical bend of mind, I find it disturbing that the very term “Philosopher” has taken on a negative connotation with many. Do not be a “philsooph yaar” – is a common refrain! A Philosopher is a seeker of knowledge – how the hell is that bad?

Anyway I want to give people pause to think and would love them to do the same to me. I want to influence and be influenced, to correct and be corrected, to illuminate and be illuminated in turn.

This blog started as an attempt to meet one side of that equation.

Public Diary

 

Then (much to my amazement) as I continued to write, it started to become a sort of diary.

I would record my thoughts, feelings and experiences and reflect on them later. My memory for events and places is leaky at best and this bog could serve as a journal. Reading my early blogs now amazes me at how some of my views have changed and some not at all. My memory for events and places is leaky at best, but going back and reading my diarized experiences brings them back to life in vivid detail.

I also found that writing about my childhood and early days in Dubai, actually brings those days back into focus - gets my memories refreshed so to speak! Having grown up in a close circle of friends, we shared a lot of those early experiences. Our memories were maintained through shared recollections and collective association. In those days I took for granted the process of keeping our experiences alive by constant repetition. Not having those friends around to reminisce with has dimmed those memories, making it hard work to dredge them out.

 

Having written about some of those incidents in my blogs, as I was drifting down nostalgia lane, I have provided those memories a permanence that is denied the author. Friends who played a part in those memories will either curse me for bringing them out of the closet or laugh with me, and the rest will just enjoy them as a sideshow.

Personal Communiqué

 

And now this blog is also about keeping connected. My family and friends are scattered around the world, and not being very good at keeping in touch (through phones, social media, emails or letters) I find this a good way to keep them updated.

 

I know that Facebook is the current favorite medium, but I have somehow not yet mastered the ability to condense my message in a few words. In that world, one-liners and snappy comebacks abound, interspersed with pictures - basically that platform is for the young and the quick witted. I need the space that this forum provides to express myself. It takes me a few hundred words to get warmed up, and more than a thousand to wrap up. This same ineptitude then takes care of the SMS and Twitter platforms for me as well.

In my blog every article opens a window into my thoughts or lets you in on my life. Sometimes I feel it leaves me bare and defenseless - devoid of pretence and also open to misinterpretation. But therein lies the beauty of this medium! Just as it allows me enough space to express myself, it also provides enough rope to the reader to hang me.

This journey is still evolving and it is possible that it will morph further. It may stop entirely or stabilize on one path. But if through my writing I can amuse you, make you ponder, or let you in a bit deeper into my life, then that is as good a reason as I can think of.

 

In the end, I guess I write because I can.