Sunday, October 21, 2007

Inspiration at 200 continues...

The dreaded years of English language in school began with short essays, compositions and paragraph writing in your own words. I had to adapt to the language through a series of mind conversions from the local tongue, before it actually took some time to think in English and write in English. When I wrote my first essay in my own words, there was a startling revelation of how hard it is to write something without by-hearting what the teacher enforced upon us. That was class fifth and the beginning of a whole series of problems with grammar and other small nuances. The English text books were fun to read, which gradually got complicated with Shakespeare entering the fray along with a whole lot of Russian writers. As you like it was a brilliant read, and short stories like God sees the truth but waits by Leo Tolstoy, The bet by Anton Chekov, Gateman's gift by RK Narayan, The last leaf by O' Henry just elevated me to an unexplainable trance by getting me introduced to the choiciest of words in the language. Innumerable phrases of admiration for these authors serves as a major source of inspiration to be on constant improvement.

Writing has always been fun and an integral part of my life from a certain point of time. I started with book, music and movie reviews, then went on to travelogues, finally hitting on general topics. There was a continuous stream of thought process running in my head as to what I could write about. I have always believed in simple themes to come out with easy to write topics that can make a difference in your everyday life. The language had to be simple, and that's because, I have never had it in me to come up with extravagant words resulting in hard to write sentences. As I have mentioned numerous times in my blog, my biggest inspiration in the literary world goes to RK Narayan. Reading his writings can induce a feeling of Writing is simple; anybody can write. Simple day to day activities rendered in heart warming style with a set of easily identifiable characters from day to day life sets an example for brilliant simple writing. Passion for the country, for anything that is Indian, touch of Indianness, how certain things have affected my life, fiction, poetry, politics, sports, personality, love, life, religion, philanthropy, Bangalore, Malleswaram, media, movies, books, travel and inspiration brought out the emotions in me and automatically got translated into words.

Inspiration need not come from a single source; for a person like me, inspiration is a cumulative process. They add up from different places, thanks to many different people who are good at so many things. I just have to go to the blog world and see a wonderful talented bunch of bloggers writing some fantastic stuff which has so much of appeal. Everyone has a style of his own; it is impossible to compare different sets of writing and lay a benchmark. Each sentence is rendered in different style, and that to me is one of the most wonderful things. It just gives you the opportunity to admire so many different people. I have been to many blogs, some of which leave me speechless, as the writing is just out of the world and more importantly simple. So, I thank the many different bloggers who I visit for this important source of inspiration. Thanks a lot!

Interface is another important factor for bloggers. Being a racy character, I just want to do things as fast as possible. Most of my friends would associate the word restless to me instead of racy. Waiting even for a split second more irks me to no end. As soon as I open a page, I just want to load it as soon as possible. So, I try my level best to keep the page as bland as possible. The white background, of course, has to come from the Google homepage. Google has just integrated my web life in such a way that I find browsing disconnected from my life if I do not find it associated with google. So, you just have to put up with this page, without any heavy gadgets in the background. So, Ninaivugal would remain the way it is; the page has to be loaded with the minimum of fuss.

OK! It all started two years back, when I used to write certain things and mail it only to a selected set of people. People, with whom I shared the best of rapport and even today, who make it a point to visit my blog regularly for updates. Comments and viewpoints were exchanged with agreements and in equal measure, disagreements. All these things were exchanged through mails. It was only after one of my ex-roommates Yadu asked me to transfer all my contents to a blog did I realise that blogging after all was fun. To be honest, initially it was an obsession. I used to write atleast two posts a week, ask some of my close friends to have a look at it and give their views. As with anything else, there are periods of crests and troughs, and slowly and steadily, I have reached a point where I write no more than one post a week. Comments are written now and then, from people whom I know, and from anonymous readers, who linger in now and then to post their views. It is all fun and at the end of the day, it gives me great pleasure to go back to the past and see how my views have changed over a period of time about certain things in life. Though the blog is personal, I have to tread carefully not to disrespect any section of the society, and that to me has always been the biggest challenge.

So, as the sojourn goes on, I think, I figure out and I write what I feel is most appropriate, that, which touches my emotional chord, reeling a bout of emotions, sensitive and effective, capturing the important and not so important moments of my life, taking me to a literary, fictitious, and non-fictitious world, encapsulating me in a warm embrace, as I cuddle up and realize that I have just written the 200th blog post in the two years of my blog career.

21 comments:

  1. Happy 200 ! Maybe you have many more :)

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  2. To add, keep up the good job and as you know, it was you who inspired me to start blogging :)

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  3. Congrats !! May your blog sees many 100s posts in future. Waiting for 1000 mark now. ;)

    "I write what I feel is most appropriate, that, which touches my emotional chord, reeling a bout of emotions, sensitive and effective, capturing the important and not so important moments of my life" Spot on !!

    You know what? I always have so much to write about that I can very easily write a post everyday. Just that i don't get time or don't find words to put them down my way. Like you, I too have restrictions. ;)

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  4. 200!!! good going!!! always been impressive and consistent...

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  5. sojourn??

    I am subscribed to Ninaivual...Thoughts :-)

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  6. Suchitra,
    Thanks, and good to know that I inspired you :-)

    Cuckoo,
    Even though my first 200 came in two years, from now on, it would be 100 for every two years. At this rate, it would take me 16 years more to hit the 1000 mark. Take the period of troughs, it can easily go to 18 years :-) That's way too long to get somebody hooked on to my blog :-)

    True, when you say that there is so much to write. Anything is bloggable, but I always feel that it is good to be restrained, so that the whole idea of blogging doesn't turn monotonous.

    Waiting for milestones from your side, and to be honest, it has always been a pleasure to read your writings.

    Shubhika,
    Thank you very much. My blog survives, thanks to regulars like you :-)

    Vyas,
    Sojourn...Mmmm!!! Wait, let me look up at dictionary.com :-)

    Well, sojourn is a temporary place of stay while travelling.

    "So, as the sojourn goes on, I..."

    Here, it means that "So, as long as I continue to live in this transient world, I...". The context here is to refer to the fact that we are mortals having temporary existence. Nothing more to it :-)

    I know you have subscribed to my blog via email. You are one of the oldest subscribers of Ninaivugal :-) I am glad you are continuing with it. Thanks a lot!!! By the way, it is a long time since you left any comment. So, thanks for coming back :-)

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  7. First of all congrats..
    Regarding this post. You seem to speak my mind... well there seems to be a lot that is of common interest to you and me...
    But unlike me you are quite good at putting it in words.. If you want to read blogs regularly, my suggestion is try google reader. It might be of help.
    Happy blogging.

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  8. gr8 going praveen..i have always enjoyed reading ur blog...and let me say once again for the umpteenth time..its simply superb - simple and to the point!! keep up the good work..best wishes

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  9. Vishnu,
    Thanks Vishnu! yeah I do read your blog regularly (whenever you publish a new post), and I get to know that through Google Reader. That's how I am able to visit all the blogs which I want to. You are talking to a Google fan, so obviously, wouldn't miss the Reader :-)

    Your comment says a lot about your modesty. I like your writing style, and as I said, there is no benchmark for good writing. The writing style is meant to be different, and don't you feel that it is such a great feeling to appreciate the different style. Anyways, I don't miss your posts!

    Sameer,
    Thanks a lot dude :-)
    Keep reading!

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  10. You have echoed some of my thoughts exactly. RK narayan was my inspiration in writing too. And initially, for me too, blogging became a serious obsession and now, I am a devoted blogger, blogging once every week. I still love to come back everyday and see the comments on my blog, it gives a strange joy. And yes, I have been writing since 8th std--silly poems and all that, but I didn;t start off on the net, I started off in paper. Today, my blog is my peice of paper where I jot down feelings. Isn;t it fun to write? Keep writing, sir, and I shall visit this blog often, and yes, happy 200!

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  11. Lakshmi,
    Welcome to my blog! Nice to have you here. Great to know that you are a regular blogger. I will visit your blog soon. It is good to know that you write "silly" poems. I love poetry, and btw, nothing is silly, as long as you like what you are doing.

    It is great to write down something over a period of time, because that gives you the benefit of going back to the past and see how your thought process has evolved. As long as blogging is not an obsession, it is absolute fun. I love to write, and blogging has just integrated my thoughts like a personal diary.

    Importantly, feel free to call me by my first name (Praveen), and I am touched and impressed by your mannerism; your comment says it all.

    On a lighter vein, I am happy to have known a fellow libran :-) Happy Birthday! (It should have been sometime now right!!)

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  12. read this somewhere and remembered our chat sometime back...

    The Moving Finger writes and having writ,
    Moves on, nor all your piety nor wit
    Shall lure it back to cancel half a line
    Nor all your tears wash out a word of it
    - Omar Khayyam

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  13. a late entrant to ninaivugal...been hooked on it since...gr8 goin...

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  14. Hehe...Good Good, You have executed my advice in style. Now lets move to lesson #2 and its called clubing :-). See you this weekend.

    -Yadu

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  15. Hats off Mr Genius. The best part about your blog is that you have a very simple and easy-to-understand style of writing. Most of us can relate to the topic too. As pointed out by others, its always a treat to read your blog. And of course thanks for inspiring me to start one too.

    Keep it going sir....Great work!!!

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  16. Anand,
    With whom are you chatting? I don't remember the conversation. Anyway you came up with a good quote :-)

    Abhishek,
    Thanks Abhishek. Keep visiting often :-)

    Yadu,
    Me going clubbing is like a camel getting into water :-)

    Madan,
    Thank you very much sir!!! Pleasure to be in the good books of great people :-)

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  17. Hi!

    I happened to pass by and thought wish you would do a Sachin then a Sachin+Jayasurya!

    All the best

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  18. Mr. Ramachandran,
    Thank you very much for your comment, and Welcome to my blog!!!

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  19. Hope no. 201 is about the newly wed hero.

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  20. praveen,
    congrats on reaching the 200 mark!
    i have loved being a reader here.
    may ninaivugal cross many more milestones.
    wishing you all the best
    regards
    rk

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  21. MAK,
    I am not going to write about him now. Let him enjoy life for some time :-) before we pull him up with a conference call involving the G gang :-)

    RK,
    Thank you very much for the kind words. Your blog was one of the inspiring blogs for me to look upto. Thanks for being a regular here! I really appreciate your comments.

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