“Seinfeld is a show about nothing”. These days I am a big fan of the show as I am getting a lot of ideas from every episode. If there can be a show about nothing I believe we can also write about anything. But that was not the case with me on Dec 12th 2016 when I started my first blog. I have written a few words about Simon Sinek. I believe in those 280 words, most of them were by Simon. As John Dewey brilliantly described “We do not learn from experience…we learn from reflecting on experience.”. Today when I look back at my journey there is one lesson I have learned.
When I look back at my 8-year journey, I believe that putting together a discipline of writing 1000 words, split across 5 paragraphs, every week has helped me immensely. The role of coffee, reading and family encouragement cannot be ignored.
As someone said, ” Your blog is your best networking tool”. When I am in the company of colleagues, I share my blogs on certain topics. This year, I started focussing on things which impressed me very much in life. That is why I wrote blogs about a ” Car Break Down” during a Diwali Holiday “, “Feelings of hate from a boring movie“, ” Experience from a Restaurant with my colleague “, “Shopping Experience One for Headset and Other for Chappel, “In-flight Experience when Engine had some issue “, ” Funny Incidents from Life at home – Assembling a floral lamp“, How our neighbours responded when my younger daughter was locked out in her room, How I bonded with my daughter over maths, How I treated my self on my birthday and how we enjoyed a special 20th birthday of my elder daughter, How school friendship is so special, ” Cricketing stories Oh god we became a fan this year“, ” Elderly warmth – How a visit of an elderly person created good vibes, Metro train journey and finally usual things around minutiae of life, books, philosophy and finally my “Tribute to Ratan Tata, My grandfather and also my pen friend“. I am venturing now to Philosophy and History. When I heard Masnavi I decided to give it a look.
Blogging was my way of enjoying my soul space. It is my way of catching myself in a space where I can express things at will and get into a state of flow. Apart from that, blogging regularly has helped to build my repertoire of writing skills. It has also helped me read books, papers, columns and articles which otherwise I would not have engaged with. For example, this piece of work by Pawan Verma caught my attention and I marvelled at the language and its expressions. I felt so good reading this piece.
The Shloka, The Rasa, The Raga
The enduring appeal of Indian classical music, as performed by greats like Zakir Hussain, lies in its incredible complexity & sophistication. It combines iron-cast fixity with complete freedom of improvisation
” A single resonant beat clear and pellucid – on the table, mridangam or pakhawaj, is a cosmos unto itself. It has the ringing autonomy to reverberate through the universe. And when that beat is part of a pattern, in the hands of a maestro of rhythm, the likes of which the world has rarely seen, the galaxies themselves dance in sheer abandon and delight”.
What fascinates me in writing is the way words are arranged to convey the essence. Descriptors are used in sentences to bring that life possibly into the context just like the way Pawan Varma pays his tribute. Language is like clay and you can mould it the way you want. When I began in 2016 I believed it was more about the confidence to put yourself out. Today along with confidence I am looking forward to competence. That is why I am on the quest to read and research articles which resonate with me so that I can emulate them myself. A few of my favourite columnists are Santosh Desai who comes across as a great observer of life. What stands out in his article of course is the topic. Like the last one in TOI on Mondays: Immortality itch. Twinkle Khanna can tickle our funny bones. I had a good laugh from her last column in TOI on Sundays: “An old friend stayed with me last month. When it was time for her to leave, we hugged each other and I said, ‘After five days, friends and fish both start to smell. You are leaving just in time.“
I am on a quest to discover my style of writing. Believe in the process and the rest will follow. So for the next leg of my journey, I am thinking of some novel ideas. Blogging also made me read a couple of books this year. I must say that two books that I read at least cover to cover with a lot of marginalia notes. When I write along the margins of the pages it is also to get some ideas for the blog and also reflecting things from my life. Finally, I would attribute this journey of my blogging to a simple process.
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