Information Overload

Has any literate soul on this planet been spared the torture of reading about Paul McCartney's divorce? How many oceans must I cross to not have to read about Sanjay Dutt's daily diet in prison?

This is something that has been troubling me since quite sometime now. I seem to be reading ("flipping through" would be more appropriate in retrospect) the newspaper every morning more as a matter of habit rather than in the hope of gaining some valuable information.

I grew up in an era when our teachers drilled the importance of reading the newspaper daily into our heads. An era when newspapers were considered as essential as a dictionary or an encyclopedia in the educational system. Present day scenario: I would seriously think twice about advocating the benefits of reading a paper to a child. Unless of course they're short of cheap novels and would rather read about Paris Hilton's affairs than a (perhaps less graphic) Mills and Boons.

In a country which seems to leave skid marks on the roads of time owing to its phenomenal pace of development, the regression of our media reporting surely does take me by surprise. I mean please spare me the liberal lashings of the words hook-ups and break-ups and kindly tell me what is actually happening in the real world!

Having said this, I am not oblivious to the fact that this unceasing supply of gossip is only catering to the all consuming demand for the same. The common man does seem to derive sadistic pleasures out of seeing a distraught Britney knocking down her ex husband's door. The question I ask is this: How is this a news item? Would this piece of news interest us had it been just any bald mother going ballistic to meet her kids? Are we subconsciously trying to feel good about our mundane lives at the cost of snooping into the less than perfect lives of celebrities?

Our fondness for trashy media is what has brought us down to this day when one really cant tell the difference between the Times of India and a Stardust. While most people seem to be enjoying this roller coaster ride of daily scoops and scandals, I am beginning to get really dizzy on this particular "joyride".

A Reluctant Blogger

A couple of days ago my Orkut buddy Kunal asked me if I Blogged and he was quite surprised when I confessed that I didn't. I was quite relieved that he didn't ask me why since I didn't really have a valid answer. Anyways, it did get me thinking and here are a couple of reasons due to which I always steered clear of Blogging :

I've always harboured this idea that Blogging is writing about one's personal life or thoughts. Things that you wouldn't dare to say to anyone in particular but still are comfortable to put up to be read by everyone in general. Since I've never felt the need to share my inner most feelings with others I thought that Blogging was not for me.

I also felt that the topic of a blog was usually something that one felt extremely deeply about and while I do write about stuff that I feel I cannot contain within myself, it is only for my solace that I do so and would never want anyone else to read it which was another reason why I had refrained from Blogging.

Also I'm someone whose always been attracted by the beauty of words - be it from novels or poems, dialogues from a movie or lyrics of a song. Well written words have always had the power to move me and leave a lasting impact on my mind. I muse over certain writings of my favourite authors endlessly so much so that at times I find their words muddled with my own. Thus, one of the main reasons for not blogging until now was the lame fear of being thought of as a plagiarist or worse, someone with no thinking of her own.

Being a stickler for grammar, the use of correct English and a compulsive need to write in the most appropriate and fluid manner also made me a reluctant Blogger.

However, after giving it some thought this is what I came to realize. Blogging didn't necessarily have to involve talking about my personal life or emotions (or the lack of them). It could involve writing on any topic that I have an opinion about (and I for one have an opinion about everything!) My life didn't depend upon being original in my writings and the chances of me being condemned by fellow Bloggers for an occasional slip-up were remote.This was no essay writing contest and I really didn't need to spend sleepless nights worrying about my quality of writing. Having figured this out; I've decided to give Blogging a shot and I can't wait to get started.

So here I am, ready to take my first baby steps in this big bad world of Blogs - armed with loads of ideas, opinions and ironies, some sense of humour and my usual OCDs. But then again, in good company one can be brave! ;-)