Beauty contests offer a peek into the human psyche. There’s an absolutely gorgeous twenty-something on stage with the eyes of millions of viewers around the globe on her. She knows she is pretty. She knows she is minutes away from riches and glory if she gets the answer to one question right.
Judge: “If you could be one person in this world, who would you be and why?”
[If you ask me, these are the dumbest questions on earth. If I were a beauty queen, I’d much rather be me myself than any other person in this world!]
Beauty: “Hmmm…I’d be Mother Teresa because then I could serve humanity selflessly and give away wealth blah blah blah…”
If a pretty, talented, young girl with the world at her feet were to come and tell me that she wanted to be a saint, I’d think she was nuts. If our dear beauty queen wanted to be Mother Teresa, she wouldn’t be in the contest in the first place.
Anyways, the reason I bring this up is because of blogging. Recently, I was trying to convince a friend of mine to start blogging. He, unlike me, is actually not vetti and is something of a geek. So, he asks me this question:
“So, why do you blog? Give me one good reason to blog. Convince me.”
“Uh..hmm..ahem…I blog because….uh-eh…”
“Go on..”
“Err…I have no clue…”
“There must be some theme to your blog?” [This is the problem with these logical, geeky types. They are the Hercule Poirots of this world. They want to have “order and method” to every single thing!! (]
“Uh..err..I write about nothing…”
Sometimes, when you are under scrutiny like this, you wish you could give an answer like our beauty queens do; something that sounds really "cool" even though it is dumb! But alas, I can rarely come up with something even remotely interesting. And that, folks, is the truth. I write for no reason. I don’t hope to eliminate world poverty. I don’t hope to achieve world peace. I don’t think that some poor suicidal soul is going to come across my blog in his/her last moments and change his/her mind because of my wonderful (I wish!) writing. I don’t aim to become to this one extremely popular blogger and have crowds hang on to every word of mine. I write because I enjoy the process of writing. More than the end result, the act of condensing thoughts into a communication medium is more exciting than anything else.
I think I have some quirky gene that appreciates nonsensical nothings. It is for this exact same “nothingness” that I like Seinfeld. It is a show about “nothing” and I don’t have to look for hidden meanings or undercurrents of philosophy. Everything is there to see right before your eyes and most of it is “nothing”. Catch my drift? Perhaps I should name my blog “The Nothing Journals”.
45 comments:
Hi, I like your blog. That's a funny posting, you have here.
"If a pretty, talented, young girl with the world at her feet were to come and tell me that she wanted to be a saint"
When a handsome(???),talented(???), young guy like me can become a Saint - why cant a pretty girl become one? :P - lol
"I don’t aim to become to this one extremely popular blogger and have crowds hang on to every word of mine."
This shows that u dont understand ur popularity - during the recent mini blogger's meet (TJ,Chakra and I) - we were speaking about u for almost a hour! Isnt it TJ? :)
I think you hit the nail on the head when you say that you enjoy the process of writing. Not everyone does. I don't. One nice thing about writing (when I write) is that it helps me organize my thoughts. I use it often when I do need to organize my thinking process. But I don't like writing as a general past time. Period. It just does not appeal to me. I'm sure different people have different feelings about what writing means to them.
That said, writing also gives a glimpse into your personal thought process. Why in the world I imagine would someone want to give that much out without a good reason ? Blogs dedicated to some theme at least have a focus and intend to communicate something and provide a sufficient reason to talk about something.
Suba,
I dont know about others but ur blogs mean a lot to me, I read some of your posts everyday, get inspired and lead a much better life then i would have if i hadnt read your blog.
If possible I want to become your best friend and buy..chee...sorry earn your trust and make you my best friend. Lemme know if this is possible!!
Probably just a technicality:
Beauty contests offer a peek into the human psyche.
s/human/vacuous-woman/
vaayaala varraadhu (i'm talking about uLaral and not vaandhi) vaarthayaala vara vaikka udhavuvadhu blogging appadeennu radio viLambaram style-la solli irukkalaamE? illa adhayE suththi vaLachchi, kuzhappi puriya vaikka ninaichchaa ask him to click this.
idha vittuttu beauty contest-a ellaam idhu maadhiri simulate paNNa try paNNi irukka vEndaam.
though you said u could not get a pageant like answer then, you somehow managed that as a blog ;)
yes ma'am. I agree with our friend arjuna. You are very popular and you don't know it. When a new post comes out, I don't know if it makes a difference in your life. But it makes a clear difference in mine. So, your answer to your friend should have been
I consistently make a difference in my reader's lives. That's why.
No Hercule poirot could have a rebuttal for that. Or if not for the above reason, you should have atleast said
When I make a trip someplace, I get coffee invites. Does that happen to you ?
If he still appeared unconvinced, you could have said
I get interesting comments like "friend, where in the us are you". These don't just make my days, makes my friends' days too.
I am pretty sure he'd be convinced by then. If not, we'll figure something out.
Hello subha,
U have a wonderful blog here.
I am a poor soul who was about to commit suicide... when i was about to take my 11th sleeping pill i stumbled on ur blog and inspired by ur wonderful writing i changed my mind. Today Im alive because of ur blog.
I here wanted to request the same thing wat Venky asked you for....i want to earn ur trust and be ur best friend if possible, Pleaseeee Dont say No... i have that 11th sleeping pill still with me now.
Lots of people use blogs to be in touch with their friends and family...
@Kay
intha mathiri ithu ponavanellam sethu pogAma irukAnna athuku kAranam intha blog thAna..vara vara intha blog tholla thAnga mudiala da sAmi.
Aaahaa! Ella pasangalum kelambitangaya kelambitagangayaaaa!
Naanum solren:
"Subha, unga post nalla illai-nu nenaikiren, unga blog nalla illai-nu nenaikiren, aaana ithu ellam nadathudumo-nu bayama iruku :P" - lol
Venky and Kay: Ur contact infos please! :P - Uruttu Kattai coming! - lol
@Puranam
"vara vara intha blog tholla thAnga mudiala da sAmi."
Puranam enga Thalaivi'oda blog pathi thappa pesathe man, apram pala thondarhal thee kulika padum, pala bus eriyum atha video vera eduthu veppom.
Arjuna speaks..Take My contact Info
Kay
2nd std,
Avvaiyaar Aaramba Paaada Saaalai.
@Kay
Avvaiyar matriculesan da..namma school. Intha blog illana nee sethu poirupiye..athu mudiyama pochenu sonnen. Namma thalaivi yin tharkolai padaila nAnum oru member!
Yappa pasanagala,
enga thalaiviya patti thapa pesathingapa!Appadi melum pesinal - vibarithangalai santhika vendi varum - Bus-kal eriyum - Vairum eriyum :P..
-Ippadiku Preston Road Noodles chaaa Doodles Rasigar Mandram Thalaivar 'Doodles' Arjuna!
"I dont know about others but ur blogs mean a lot to me, I read some of your posts everyday, get inspired and lead a much better life then i would have if i hadnt read your blog."
Ithu ellam romba over! Venam Aluthuduven :(( - lol
Yappa - Bhagwat Gita-nu onnai Krishnar kashtapatu namaku ellam sonnaru! Athey daily padingapa! :))
Muthukumar
"Namma thalaivi yin tharkolai padaila nAnum oru member! "
Satham pottu solathinga! MI5, MI6, CIA ellam vanthu unga thalaviyaiyum, ellarayum pick up pannida pothu :P - lol
OK jokes apart - wish u all a happy diwali :)..
Mr. Arjuna
En sir eppdi over act kudukaringa..
Vanthoma - padichoma- oru comment vittoma nu kelambitte - erunga
Blogging provides a medium for all of us to express our views and thoughts in public (provided if there are somw ppl who read ur blog :) unlike mine), isnt that reason enough for u to blog?
subha chelli,
nenu reddy gaaru.
nee blog anni chaala manchigaa undhi. naaku konjam konjam tamil theeriyuim.
ee guntur district lo, nee blog chaala prasitham.
naa 2 sons(!) nee fans'uu.
vaadikki nee blog bedhaa inspiration-u, nee language chaala priyamu.
vaadu romba shy type, anthukke nenu ithu type chesthaanu.
nuvvu melu meluum big blogs podanum.
neeku challa bright future unthi.
god bleess you.
-Reddyy Gaaru and 2 sons.
Mr. Anonymous - en muthugu arichuthuna neenga aen soriya vaaringa?
Jaffet,
Thanks.
Arjuna,
>>"why cant a pretty girl become one?"
I still doubt it very much if the answer comes from the stage of a beauty paegant..:))Well, well, well, mini-bloggers meet and I, the subject of discussion?
Anonymous,
sometimes my writing doesn't have a reason..its weird but true..:)
Venky,
Yeah right! :)
>>"s/human/vacuous-woman/"
What??! And Anonymouses, as much as I appreciate all of you reading my blogs, I think it might be interesting if you just tag a name onto the end of your comments..:)
Sridhar,
unga suggestions-ku romba nandri..:)
Anonymous again,
:) I know who you are hehe..
Kay,
if you'd told me this earlier, I'd have stopped by your house and personally given you enough sleeping pills to attain gadhimoksham...:)
Venky Krishnamoorthy,
These days I find my friends back home know more about my life through my blog than through direct communication. So I guess you're right.
Muthukumar, Kay, Arjuna,
Ennadhu "thalaivi" ya?! Ellaruma koottu serndhu ennai blog-la ottaradhukku aaL vittu adikkaren paarunga..LOL Happy Diwali!
Reddy gaaru and 2 sons,
LOL
Ram,
>>"Blogging provides a medium for all of us to express our views and thoughts in public (provided if there are somw ppl who read ur blog :)"
Do you think people write only because of the comments they get? :)
Subha I also asked the same to one of my friend and his answer was 'blog' is for lonely people esp bachelors ;)
And said he prefer talking in person and meeting people.
Anyway some of the comments made here were hilarious.
Subha,
Sorry. Idhu arjuna oda blog nu theriyaama comment pannitten. Ippo dhaan avar ella comment kkum reply pannadhukkapparam idhu avaroda blog, onnodadhu ille nu purinjdhu.
Apologize for the mix up.
Coffee comment anonymous !
Well, you write about not 'nothing' but 'everything'.. your interests in music, Cauvery temples, interesting things in your life, etc.. right?
This is, IMHO, equivalent to having real-life friends and sharing with them 'something' (not nothing, right?)
The world is full of sweet-nothings, which are sometimes more delicious than 'sensible anything'..,
Many happy Diwali Wishes to you!!
Coffee Comment Anon -
That is my nature pa - manasula enna varutho - athey comment-a poduran - so dont mistake me - ok va :)
Wish u a happy diwali as well :)
To me blogging is a nice pastime. An opportunity to be myself and express myself.!! I love doing it..and it gives me a lot of satisfaction.!!
Thanks to my blogging and reading fellow bloggers, my interest in Tamil literature, interest in writing ...all have increased.! I never knew that I could write and compose a song.!! I did it last week and felt so happy when it was sung by JO.!!
I don't think I can live without blogging.!!!
ok pa :)
coffee comment anon.
Ur post reminds me of the episode in Sienfield when that guy ( I forget his name, not a big fan of seinfield anyway) proposes to make a TV show about "Nothing"...wow, that was a hilarious episode..
Even though ppl may not write blogs only for the comments received,adhu oru major reasonaa thaan irukkum. Nobody can deny it, enna solrenga...
"why should one blog?"
idhukku seriousa badhil sollanumna, talent silrukku irukkum, adukku exposure kooda blog la kedaikum.
for eg http://www.joplanet.com/blog/2005/10/venkitu-sirs-song.html
sameebathile ennai rombo impress pannina bloggers kootu muyarchi
but for blog how do i know naraynan sir can compose and Jo can sing thamizh as well as he has done?
Happy Deepavali, Subha (tag enna aachchu? venaamnu vittaachchaa?) :-)
Some people BLOG because they dont have any other important thing to do than to put their silly things up so that whole world can watch and laugh at the blogger. I belive Bloggin is such a waste of time ... but a way to get and show off ur creativitiy for sure ...
Good Blog by the way ;)
I could make 'nothing' out of this post ;)
BTB, did i hear a judgemental note, in your 'beauty queens are dumb' statement ? :-D :P
And reading the comments, am forced to say, 'Reddy Gaaru and 2 sons' wins the 'mahabharatham' hands down ;) :P
finally i mustered up the courage to post in this because
#1 there are extremely HANDSOME and TALENTED people commenting in here... ennala avolo alavukku ellam eedu kuduka mudiyaadhu...
#2 sila peru comment pannananum nu oru veri la kalambirkaanga... ennala mudiyala... "erangi vandhenna, bEd wEds pesuven.." (read 'bad words' in koundamani style) :))
#3 i did not have anything to comment on.. hehehe
IMO..
I guess a lot of us bloggers are in the same boat..
We don't write anything productive..
But what the hell.. we are ordinary down to earth people. We are not beauty queens nor do we seek to be Mother Teresa.. And after all blogging is infinitely more productive to an individual than gossiping or sitting in front of the idiot box..
Perhaps you should ask your friend.. Why is he a geek? Why does he study what he studies.. How does what he study affect anyone else?
I use blog to get good friends and give some Information to the world.
"Blogging for blogging sake",doesn't has to be a reason for every thing what we do in this world. life itself has no reason.
Btw ur blog is really nice!!
pallavi
subha
seekuram adutha blog podu!
bore adikuthu
oru vaaram oorukku poittu vanthu paartha, neenga puratchi thalaivi aaytteenga...very good, lexingtonla eppo cut out vaikkap poraanga?
Hi Subha,
I am a regular visitor to your blog, though this is my first comment.
You can't always do things for others. Sometime you have to do things that will make you happy and boost your spirits. Blogging is one such activity.
Lot many people lack the skill of condensing thoughts into words, and you have it. So keep writing....
Tamil layum niraya ezhudhunga....
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