By Nilayan Das Gupta, Batch of 2013
Why should you blog? A compendium of self-justifications
1) Give people a chance to know you better – If you are a known recluse, an introvert by choice or action, or the demure personality that people around you look up to, the best possible way of opening up to those who wish to know you better is by willing yourself to pen down your thoughts. Agreed, that such an activity of sorts might not guarantee the right impression, as often words without the physical presence of an author are twisted out of context and calumniate the person in question, but for a person with your attributes (read: not at all derogatory – The author himself, in the soundest frame of mind, considers himself to be a recluse by choice) penning down your thoughts makes you come closest to human contact; albeit it might be through the inanimate 1024X768 pixelated display.
2) People like what you write – If that is not an incentive enough, nothing else will be. The greatest fodder for a writer’s ambition is the general adulation of the crowd, not a formal encomium from an established adversary. If you can move the crowds by a flick of your wrist on an empty parchment, you are surely set to move on to greater things in your life. But, in the meanwhile, do BLOG!
3) You are innovative and you know it – You might not be great with words – notwithstanding the fact that you have always worked hard on proving otherwise – but, still, you do possess an innovative streak that few else know about. You like toying with ideas, building solutions to global problems, but are sworn to an oath of secrecy or pretend to be bound by one. One suggestion: Go out and blog! People are not sitting with their hands folded to steal or build upon something that they don’t even know to exist. If you like what you think and how you think find out what others think about it, get yourself involved in tightly knit network of similar thinking individuals and start brainstorming. You might be cherry-picked by the next Zuckerberg/Jobs to head something that you had always dreamt about doing.
4) You are innovative and you don’t know it – Well, there is only way of knowing it then – and I shouldn’t be repeating it – but for what’s what worth please do BLOG!
5) You lie somewhere between the not so sure dilettante and the quintessential achiever – Your writings are not perfect, but people seldom find reason to complain. You are not superficial, neither are you visceral. You lack the depth but not the wisdom. In no way are you banal, but you are also far from being the prodigal vision of yourself. Live up to your dreams, hone your talents, and take the leap of faith. And no, it’s not a Hobson’s choice – all you have to do is BLOG!