This is a unique birthday gift I received a week ahead of the day, and truly cherish it. 20,000 views of this blog, I mean. When I started it, I thought it might interest one or two stray visitors, but I was wrong. Being wrong never felt so good. Also proves I am getting a bit spiritual, like wishing for things that are virtual rather than real.
I wanted to write about authors and their names and what they might suggest. Wilde, for instance, sounds wild, and unbounded by convention. He was one of the best comic writers of his century, and his quotes can be peppered into any conversation and win you brownie points.
Dickens' name turned into unexpected expressions like 'What the dickens' which may not befit the man who wrote some classics like The Tale of Two Cities and a lot more. Why the dickens his name got chosen for this honuor, no one can tell.
Homer has now been immortalised in a comic series by the name Simpsons, as the guy who epitomises (mostly) what is wrong with the world, and like the Common Man of Laxman, is always interesting.
What is the worth of a Wordsworth today? Poetry as an art form is almost dead, and may not survive another century. So we may have to fall back on the 19th century poets mostly Keats, Byron, Shelley, Wordsworth types forever.
You probably need a name like Baldacci to succeed in the cut-throat world of global fiction stakes, but a Bhagat will do in the Indian bestseller space.
Also, the male domination continues, though the black and white distinctions of yore are being replaced by Shades of Grey (pun intended).
Well, more on this theme in a sequel.
I wanted to write about authors and their names and what they might suggest. Wilde, for instance, sounds wild, and unbounded by convention. He was one of the best comic writers of his century, and his quotes can be peppered into any conversation and win you brownie points.
Dickens' name turned into unexpected expressions like 'What the dickens' which may not befit the man who wrote some classics like The Tale of Two Cities and a lot more. Why the dickens his name got chosen for this honuor, no one can tell.
Homer has now been immortalised in a comic series by the name Simpsons, as the guy who epitomises (mostly) what is wrong with the world, and like the Common Man of Laxman, is always interesting.
What is the worth of a Wordsworth today? Poetry as an art form is almost dead, and may not survive another century. So we may have to fall back on the 19th century poets mostly Keats, Byron, Shelley, Wordsworth types forever.
You probably need a name like Baldacci to succeed in the cut-throat world of global fiction stakes, but a Bhagat will do in the Indian bestseller space.
Also, the male domination continues, though the black and white distinctions of yore are being replaced by Shades of Grey (pun intended).
Well, more on this theme in a sequel.
8 comments:
Something about last names ending in 'kar' may have to do with this run rate..look forward to the next 20k
Congratulations and advance wishes for a very happy birthday :)
Thanks, both, but I retain the option of retiring any time, maybe even before the next 20k..:)
Good for you Raja - 20,000 views I mean. The writer does not exist without the reader - or perhaps he does not become what he could really be if not for the knowledge that there is a regular reader who will visit the blog. Just knowing that makes you want to write.
As for the reader - always that bit of wanting to know what comes next.
Keep going and wishing you many more wonderful gifts to come your way on the writerly journey!
And leaving a comment is suddenly easier now. Huge relief.
Happy to meet you after so many months at hyderabad, and to add on to the happiness was the rain that came to greet both of us at ISB campus. I always respected nd loved you as my senior nd brother. You are a true nd genuine person in an uncertain world. Life was easier at IIML nd IIIMK becoz you were around.
Hope to see you soon in Chennai, the alien land. Be happy nd your usual self always --- that's how I know you, all the best tapan
Congratulations for the 20k+ hits Sir! :)
Thanks, Meghna. Readers like you are responsible.
Tapan, we had some great times at IIML and IIMK, and hopefully we'll chill in Chennai too.
Hari, yes, every blogger needs to examine his settings and make it easier for the Lala Amarnaths (commentators)
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