Since people have begun to ask, I had better post something about where I am and what keeps me from blogging (though I must confess that I have also been wondering and testing the issue of how long it takes before bloggers start wondering about where another blogger is, and why the blog is silent... it took nearly three weeks.)
Anyway, the blog is silent because I am not in India at the moment. I'm at Stirling University, UK, and will be here for another couple of months, thanks to a residency offered by the Charles Wallace India Trust... which is no reason to abandon the blog. Some friends suggest that it is all the more reason why I should blog - new stuff, new country, new eyes.
But the thing is - this blog has a persona, an identity of her own.
Known Turf has never been a 'personal' blog, yes, I do believe that the personal is public and the public is personal, but I have rarely written about my life, my feelings - unless it was in the context of my work. Known Turf is the result of my experiences on the reporting field, the discovering my own country and people, smaller and larger issues of social concern, media debates...
and well, also about chai (but that is only because chai is an issue of great social import. And while I am on the subject, I might as well say that I have a peculiar longing for extra-sweet, extra-strong, thick and full-bodied chai, which is impossible to get anywhere except at street corners in Bombay, where the tea-leaves are boiled for at least an hour... here, I manage by boiling tea-bags - yes, you can get a reasonably strong brew if you boil two dainty English Breakfast tea bags, for a good ten minutes - am wise enough not to attempt buying ready-made tea from a cafe.... and oh, there's an advertisement for Tetley Extra-strong which I totally love: a hefty, middle-aged lady is held up, horizontally, by three young men with big muscles, smiling faint but determined smiles. Winking, the lady advocates the virtues of 'extra-strong' tea. Must try it next.)
But what I'm trying to say is - Known Turf is the record of what I see, wonder at, grow thoughtful about, fail to understand, want to change - but only when I looking outward, especially in my own country.
Over here, my life is turned inward... I don't step out much, or travel much, or even talk to people all that much.
I'm still keeping a record of living and thinking and wondering etc - but am not sure if I want to blog all of it (though I get tempted sometimes - there is a certain amount of gratification that comes from writing and immediately being able to hit 'publish'). But I am not yet ready to make Known Turf a personal diary... so the likelihood of updates happening is not high.
I may change my mind, though... and if I do... well, either your bloglines account will inform you of the change. Or, just keep coming back here every week or so, to check.
PS - for the reader who asked me about the Jesustan Diaries: I do know that the said blogger is alive, but I don't know why he isn't updating. To the best of my knowledge, he does not have another blog. But it is possible - if and when he chooses to tell me, I'll post the link.