Monday, May 10, 2010

Go East, young man

Do I have anything worth saying?

That is what I asked myself every time I thought of blogging.
Do I have anything worth saying?

Books, I finally decided, were something on which I did. I could write something that wasn't a waste of eyeball time, such as it is.

This blog was born on Christmas 2008. These sixteen months later, it is the same question again. For the next few months, I plan to take Brick and Rope in a different direction. East, to be precise.

My remaining time in the United States can now be counted in days. On my fingers. No toes needed, thank you. It might be interesting, I thought, to chronicle my thoughts as I head to India. Might be an interesting diary to keep. I may look back, years from now, to my thoughts from these days, and smile nostalgically. Or wince. Whichever.

So, do I have anything worth saying? We will see. For the next few months, Brick and Rope will be a little diary. Books will continue to be an important theme on these pages. But they will make room for some other thoughts. On my return to India. On culture shock in my motherland. On living and reading in Bombay.

For a little while then, Brick and Rope will work with a new look, and a new masthead: Reflections on going East.

Dekhte hain.

4 comments:

  1. Welcome back home...mumbai not bombay to begin with. I have known you to disect stuff with precision laced with practicality. Will be interesting to read your mind on the desi way of life that still remains strectched between desperately wanting to evolve and forced into the well of ephoria of culture and religion manifesting themselves thru movies and politics; laced with the relief from stress provided by IPL and Idian Idol and packaged with the comedy provided by the characters from the street to the parliment house. Welcome back home..not sure if this is a visit or a permenant move. Do let me know when you are here, would love to see if I can catch up and say hello to arpita and you. Cheers. Nagaraj GN

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  2. I am soooo looking forward to this section of your blog. In some ways to know whether I will have the guts to make the same decision, in some ways to benchmark my image of India with what it is in reality, and in some ways to just vicariously enjoy the thrill of a return to motherland.

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  3. A warm (pun intended) welcome awaits you here in Mumbai, India.. I will be surprised if you get time to read books and even write about them.. Looking forward to reading about the culture shock and the disorientation that awaits you :-)

    cheers

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  4. Thanks for all your wishes guys! (And all those others who wished me on FB) I can't wait!!

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