On Blogging

This is my fiftieth post. I've noticed a few bloggers using the same landmark as an opportunity to look back at how it all started for them and how their blog evolved, and I think I'll do the same. I've always liked milestones, even if most of my milestones have been small ones. Fifty posts in just over two years may not seem like a big deal; most of my favourite bloggers would be able to put out twice that number in the same time, and still exercise great quality control. On the other hand, a lot of people I know have let their blogs fall by the wayside so all things considered, I'm happy I've kept this going.

As with most things, I have an ambivalent attitude towards it. The name was taken from a cassette I have at home, featuring some highly entertaining discussions among BBC radio's cricket commentary team members. In June 2006, when the Bangalore monsoons were bringing about stop-start passages to my routine, blogging seemed to hold this 'rainy day and a cup of tea' sort of appeal, something to kill time with. I eventually found this picture to be very wrong; these days, all my posts inevitably get keyed in when I'm supposed to be working. A look through the posts from the beginning is actually a pretty good indicator of my lack of focus and general direction. I started off intending it to be a simple diary and a way of killing time at the workplace. I next wanted it to be an all-sports blog. I then went back to writing some general everyday crap, till I left Bangalore for Austin. When I was well and truly into the gradschool routine, there was a paucity of things to write about. I now took to posting cricket match reports and reviews involving the only institution I care about, the New Zealand team. This somehow didn't work out, so I shifted all that to another blog, Paint it Black which has been rather in a state of neglect. I've continued to blog ever since, but only occasionally. There's been the odd satisfying post, but most of the time I've been torn between writing a post that feels forced(for the sake of keeping the blog alive), or letting things drift.

I often wanted to rant, but instead ended up discovering that I don't overflow with enough bile. I wanted to review endlessly, but often couldn't summon up the attention to detail. I've tried writing about day-to-day life here, but it's hard because nothing ever happens in boring ol' Grad school(and I mean that in the nicest possible way. I like dormancy and the relative lack of blog-worthy happenings around me). Of course, there's also the issue of everyone in my family from my parents to my zillionth grand-aunt having discovered the blog and wanting to mention the same every time they meet me. That was quite weird to deal with in the beginning, and seemed to take some of the fun out of the whole exercise. I mean, I started becoming rather conscious of the material I was putting up because feedback from a lot of corners is guaranteed. On the other hand I seem to have earned something of a regular readership, not a bad thing at all. It's good to know that people care about how I'm getting along.

I suppose one starts to appreciate blogging for what it is when it gets likened to say, watching Dravid build a long innings, or Grad school life; a series of mostly mundane events with the occasional moments of brilliance that actually make the whole thing seem strangely worthwhile. For example, it was quite heartening to see the response to my critique of Mukul Kesavan's article last year, including a comment from Mukul himself. I really enjoyed coming up with the Beatles spoof, the lines of which occurred to me in a dream and that's as close as I'll get to feeling like Lennon on LSD. So overall it's been a satisfying exercise in timepass; no more, no less.