This blog was started exactly one year ago. It has been quite an eventful year. A lot has happened, there have been various unanticipated developments, and the blogging experience has also been a part of this process. It would not be incorrect to say that blogging has helped to shape me.
I started this blog, and subsequently five more blogs, each focussing on some aspect of my interests. This blog has had over 40,000 visitors during the last one year, from over 140 countries. I have posted over 770 pieces (which includes 175 on the "Calcutta photo-blog" series, several of which were accompanied by a commentary / reflection). This blog has some loyal readers from across India and the rest of the world, who view it with some regard. I must express my gratitude to all those who have bothered to read my posts. Through this and the other blogs, I have been able to share my views and concerns with people across the world. This blog is like a visiting card; through it people can know something about me.
Through this blog, I have related to some of the happenings around me. Thus, for instance, I have written about the CPI(M), who have ruled the state of West Bengal for 30 years. I have also engaged with the subject of land acquisition (in Singur and Nandigram) which has flared up in the last one year. But my interests are eclectic, and so my posts have touched on a wide range of subjects.
A happy outcome of blogging has been making new friends. I re-connected with JP after over 25 years. I met Vincent in London last November. And in February, I met Sadiq and Samran in Calcutta, which was the start of a very meaningful friendship. A few days ago, I was overwhelmed to receive a generous donation from Sadiq towards the slum community empowerment programme I am involved with. And just this morning I heard from Irving, who wrote to acknowledge receipt of a small gift I'd sent him. He had sent me a gift earlier. Thanks to blogging, such commerce of the heart has been enabled.
My blogging fervour is at an ebb right now. There have been times when I thought I should put a full stop to it. But I am reluctant to do so. Rather, I wait for a compelling reason / subject to communicate.
From time to time I have received feedback from readers. On the occasion of this first anniversary, I would be happy to hear from anyone who feels like saying something.
6 comments:
There are few blogs that have something original to say, and one of the reasons I have found yours engaging is because of this reason. The other is the evident care with which each post is written.
Hope that you keep writing, at whatever pace it suits you.
Thanks!
Do not give up on your Blogging intent and exercise. It gives us a deeper insight into various aspects of the world which we may have failed to perceive , or have been ignorant about. Your Blogs are an educating experience indeed. If 40,000 viewers have visited your site, it will someday touch a million, and you can be a BEST SELLER author in all ways.
Best Wishes for a HAPPY JOURNEY AHEAD.
It been a pleasure reading you. Would like to continue it.
Desr Brother Rama, your blog is always a delight, and opens up worlds for us in the
West that we never hear about or see. It is a worthy blog, and I hope you continue it :)
Many Blessings!
good show venkat. you led me onto blogging also. the great thing about blogging is that one can go back to one's posts and edit them again and again. and one can also play around with the layout of the blog. thus the blog is a good medium for entertainment. however i object to your terming the conversations that take place as a consequence of blogging as commerce of the heart. i detest trade and commerce and hold it to be the cause of much of the ills from which we suffer. anyway your efforts at enlightening the world are definitely commendable so keep it up.
My sincere thanks to all of you for your kind and generous comments and wishes.
Rahul, I understand and do not disagree with what you mean. But what is language, but its social use? Commerce - means simply a transaction, an exchange, buying and selling, a practical, functional arrangement. We can try to suffuse that notion, that function, with alternative and superior values. That's another way of saying we have to expand the ambit of the non-market, which some call the "social market". When I offered to send to Irving a pot-chitra, and he responded by sedning me his book - this is also a kind of "transaction", but one that stems entirely from the heart. The fact that terms like "commerce" and "transaction" immediately evoke strong negative feelings in you and me - perhaps is itself a pointer to the need to clean up those terms and functions, by washing it with outpourings of the heart!
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