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Thursday, April 20, 2006

excuses, excuses

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.

11 comments:

  1. Hey! Great to see you back here. ...Dont write about personal stuff if you dont feel right about it. What starts happening sooner or later is that everyone sits and analyses (rather cruelly too sometimes) whatever one puts up. Sosince discussion happens anyway, it might be for stuff that might make a difference to all our lives in general.
    You have a blast though, Babe! Enjoy the Tetley Extra Strong chai too.
    :)

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  2. Anonymous7:19 AM

    thank god u r alive. Do u realise how much I missed you? Havent't i told u not to go anywhere without telling me? Don't you have sense haev responsibility? Have you forgotten all the kisses, the hugs? Get back home and I will remind you how bad can it get when u ebhave so irresponsible

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  3. I think you should keep posting as and when you can. It is a reflection of your self, without being in the face of anyone. A space for writing what you feel and how you feel. Writing is and will always be more powerful than talking. So, I think you should write more :)

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  4. got an accent yet? :D

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  5. And I was wondering where you disappeared for too long... well, you can still write about your country from a foreign shore, but I guess, it won't be the same as writing from home turf. As a life-long expat, I've discovered that I feel more Indian when I'm outside the country because I rarely (or never) feel confronted by boundaries and faultlines that appear to be part of the Indian heartbeat. There is an India amongst the diaspora that very few Indians from India quite understand. We are either caricatured as oddballs or as cash-cows for real-estate and investment companies, and rarely as people with aspirations.

    You dont have to write anything personal in this blog, but you can still write about India from a UK based perspective. Cant' you?

    Well, it's always a pleasure to read your perspective on things, and I hope you'll continue to share with us some of your thoughts and ideas.

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  6. The pleasure of your more-regular observations is missed; but no doubt it's the writer's prerogative to write if and when she wishes.

    It shouldn't surprise me if you might find interesting things to remark on, seen even amid not-so-well-known turf.

    Else, we'll await your return to known turf, in two senses.

    hope the time away proves fruitful.
    d.i.

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  7. Have a good time. Blogging is not the central activity of one's life.

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  8. Anonymous8:34 PM

    in any case, the only indians left are now in UK. :)

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  9. Anonymous10:37 AM

    SUCKS!!!! Just a couple of weeks back I had messaged you on your cellphone to tell you how much I was missing you!! And NOW it seems youre in the UK, and wouldnt even have gotten my message!! :@ -Varun A

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  10. Write Girl Write! It's important that you write. It's disappointing to visit Known Turf & not see a new post on it.

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  11. Anonymous11:58 AM

    Wow, thanks. I thought maybe you'd taken what i'd said to heart and ignored the question about Jesustan Diaries. Was surprised to see it in the post rather than in a comment. Happened upon an article by you, well, actually an interview with Valmik Thapar on tigers in a special edition of Reader's Digest. Made me real sad. Wish i could do something. But then wish i could do something about many things. sigh.
    J.
    p.s. waiting for interesting observations on where you are now. I'm sure noone really looks up Known Turf expecting you to be a Bridget Jones!

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