Blog And Tackle

I finally did it. Always thought I could keep myself away, but I guess The guy up there, one guy down here and another little person (?) in here had something else in mind. I did it. On the twenty-eighth day of the sixth month in the year of our Lord two thousand and seven, I created my own blog.
I have been writing ever since I can remember. Don’t really know whether I write good shit, bad shit or just plain old bullshit, but the truth is, I write. All the stationery shops near Gariahat and now the LincShoppe at Camac Street will surely give me an unblemished character certificate if I ever need one. Wonder what it would say…. “ Ms.Ganguly is a truly noble soul who knows the value of words (probably that’s why she uses so many). She has extremely good taste when it comes to fine stationery (and cheap ones too) and is our most regular patron, averaging a diary a month.”
Good thing they never knew how BIG my handwriting actually is. And I guess neither will the readers of this blog thanks to a truly visionary precaution taken by Bill Gates. Microsoft Word only has font size till 72.
So what was it that had been keeping me away from all the glitz and the glamour of Bloggywood? Why had I banished myself from the fair kingdom of Blogland? The reason my friends, was that I was scared. Terrified, petrified, horrified. Of what? Of the paparazzi. Not the paparazzi that chase you around clicking photographs that sell for a million dollars. But the paparazzi that leaf through your family photo album and see those intimate, priceless snaps you never show anyone. Just today I was reading an article in a magazine, which was accompanied by a naked baby photo of the author’s son. Cute, eh? Well, twenty years down the line the kid might not think so. You bet that’s not the photo he’d want to frame and display in his living room for all the guests to come and admire. (“…and that is how I was making headlines even as a one year old baby.”)
So what was blowing in the wind today that made me change my mind? Nothing much, but it was blowing a gale. And I was stuck inside a cyber-café (my home net connection being fried thanks to the lightning) without an umbrella. So I started chatting with a friend using Yahoo Messenger (Don’t worry. This economics student ain’t doing advertisement campaigns for either Microsoft or Yahoo. But that’s only because they ain’t paying me as yet.). This guy thinks a lot and writes a lot, and doesn’t do a bad job of either. Pesters me a lot to read my stuff and his as well (Sorry buddy! Just kidding!). I was going through his blog when suddenly I decided, “What the hell! Let me just create an account. Just that I have an account doesn’t mean I have to actually post stuff.”
So I did it. The URL I initially wanted wasn’t available. Guess I’m not that much of an original and creative thinker as I pride myself to be. So in the end it was my matribhasha that came to my rescue. Never really did well in Bangla in school, always managed to just scrape through. In the 10th standard we had this one poem in our textbook. “Duronto Asha” by Rabindranath Tagore. “High Hopes” should be the translated title, if I’m not totally wrong. There was this one stanza in there, which I could never forget (except when I had to write an answer on it).



“ Thakite nari khudro kone aamro bon chaye
Supto hoye Lupto hoye
Gupto grihobashe”.




(I cannot stay in my little corner in the shade of the mango orchard
I can’t stay asleep Neither extinct
Nor hidden indoors. )


My skills as a translator are open to criticism. Any help regarding the same will be extremely appreciated.
As a kid, these lines inspired me to no end. I’d write them down anywhere and everywhere. These lines gave me a lot of strength when I needed it. Over the years, as newer things began to inspire me, they were relegated to the deeper regions of my brain. But somehow today when I couldn’t come up with something original enough, something personal enough, I remembered this poem. Duronto Asha felt really personal and a true reflection of what is going through my mind at this point in time and space.
After creating the blog, I sent a message to my friend, telling him about my adventures and giving him the URL. He promptly called back saying,“Hope you will actually post something on your blog”. Well buddy, this one’s for you.
The one question I ask a lot to people has to be “ What are you thinking?”. Or as they hear it, “ Whatuthinkin?”. A very simple question. But not always simple answers. I ask that very frequently. Some complain that I don’t answer that myself as often.
I can’t promise that now that I have my own blog, all this will change. Neither would I want to promise that. I can’t even promise that I’ll write the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Half-truths and whole lies shall creep in unintentionally and maybe intentionally as well. But I shall write. I will speak my mind when I want to. And I will shut up and listen when I want to.