First things first

So what is all this craze about blogging all about? The other day, my friend was advocating blogs and he sure had some logical ideas to support his fascination with the world of blogging... The brief discussion-with him camping for blogging and I unclear, rather skeptical about the entire concept, led to some brainstorming in my already stormed up (read confused) mind... The way people put up their day to day happenings for all to see, by all i mean the entire anonymous, rather dualistic e-community is something difficult for a closed person like me to digest. But then, on second thoughts, two simple words came to my mind... 'Why not?!!!' I write scores of things from the bottom of my heart and would be genuinely satisfied to see some delicate matters closely read, understood by people. Yes, the anonymous, sometimes dualistic people (by dualistic, i mean people who hold forth dual personas, thanks to the anonymity net offers) and often hypocritic net users as my readers... I refuse to take the elaborate 'hiiiiiis' and helooooos' from net- to suddenly be a part of a large circle, when i know in truth, only a handful will stand beside me if something happens god forbid. But still, i shall attempt to write. Write what is close to me, and write what i think matters to me and all those dear to me. Why? You are bound to ask- given my skepticism about the e-community... Because the e-community, i believe, with all its dualistic and hypocritic behaviour, has brought to surface with total transparency what we as humans are. When someone swears on net, he's venting out his anger, all bottled up in a long frustrating day. When a person fakes a warm greeting on email, he's allowing a natural social streak to take charge... When people read, they feel. And i would be pleased if a few selected feelings are read and felt. In this blog, i intend to put on some articles and short stories which were held up ( and still are!) on the busy desks of TOI and some other publications... 'There's no space', 'too many ads came up', 'you know, this is too serious', 'our readership is a different class', 'can't you add some glamour to your story'... Good bye to all the above... I look forward to comments and discussions on the material posted. Regards, Gauri Gharpure Chatterjee