Friday, March 30, 2007

One for all…. on a roll

These recent socalled Blog conferences have always seemed like a funny idea to me. I mean, I don't know about you all there, but I started my site precisely so that I wouldn't have to go out and talk to strangers in person. But everybody's going because, as I find some does this blog thing for a living, so I figured I'd check it out, too. May be that the changing scenario of the society has also brought about changes in the thinking and needs of the people. Well, If you are getting into/thru this post here, please do take a time to drop some comments and if not, then just say hi! What I believe is that Those who can, do. Those who can't do, follow. And for those who can't even do this, it’s simple…. Just blog.* And I'm comfortable with this. I don't feel I've used the word "blog" enough in this post. One more should do it:
BLOG!

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Truthiness in Reading

Once my teacher told me that you can't consider yourself a real student of English literature until you've read pretty much everything Shakespeare ever wrote. I guess that officially makes me a “poseur”. I like bits of Shakespeare. I really like certain plays, such as Macbeth and Richard III and The Taming of the Shrew and The Merchant of Venice. But Hamlet? Romeo and Juliet? Come on. They remind me of bad teen angst movies, possibly starring Judd Nelson.
The first time I ever heard or read Shakespeare was during my school days, ofcourse part of it’s curriculum. Later I've tried to read it a few times, but I feel this black cloud descend on me every time, and initially I never get past the first seventy or so pages. I had to fake my way through the book, which meant grilling my friends and, of course, reading the ending he he! Gradually things developed,got taste on it and from then the road never seem ending.
Soon I came across some of Jamyang Norbu’s. Guys! I simply loved his books! It was when The Mandala of Sherlock Holmes crossed my path a year ago, I was going to be taken in again. Now, I can sense public opinion about my taste shifting even as I write this. And I know that a lot of otherwise right-minded souls didn't care for it, either. Which, you know, fine. Well, I have no idea how I managed to bluff my way through this point.....