My reply to the Researcher

Hello Asim, I have put up this reply on my blogs too as I find this another material fit for posting on some of my blogs. I have these blogs if you may not have noticed and not just the one on Photography where you wrote to me. Specifically they are:-

1. RELATIONSHIPS -- it is my blog on what I feel about relationships

2. The Rate Race -- It is all about that parallel life that we lead to survive, just to exist. This life is different from the life which we would like to live had we not needed money to exist

3. Fascinating Nature -- This is a photography blog where I plan to post photos nature. I feel very close to nature and it affects me deeply. The sea, the mountains, the forests they all make me feel very different when I am amongst or near them. I would like to express my feelings through my photos.. If only I had time to go out. But nevertheless, I will do whatever I can under my constraints.

4. Flora and Fauna of India-- Another photography site where I plan to capture photos of flowers and animals that will show that humans may be the greatest creation of GOD but flowers and animals are as beautiful and no less worthy of sharing this world with us and also provide succour to the humans in form of simple beauty or utility. Again this site will need time to develop.

5. India through my Photoblog -- This is the site one of whose posts you visited and wrote to me from. This is what the name suggests. It will be photos on anything that is typically Indian... from eateries to to toilets to religious places to govt buildings.. to anything else. I have planned to depict photos that will show the world what we really are-- good or bad, ugly or pretty, humourous or sad... A complete India through my Photos.. Again a long task and a difficult one. I too want to see how best I can do it and whether I really have the talent to bring out what I want.

6. The diary of a confused man.... ..this tells exactly what I am and why I am here through my posts. I think readers will see that I am a confused man indeed, not knowing why I am here on the web, what I want from life, what I plan to post and tell here, and how to do all that. So in short I am confused and so this name to my blog.

7. Fascinating India, Fascinating World -- this is a pure views blog. My vies on anything that is Indian or Global. I have always felt that this world and India works peculiarly, their govt works peculiarly and I would like to point out the pecularities and so this name. The ways of the wold Fascinate me.

I told you all the names of my blogs so that if you find time and read the posts you will get an insight on why I am here and how I cam here and what I am doing as a blogger. Besides asking me questions and reading my replies I think this will give you additional information. In fact I feel you should do the same with all bloggers who take part in your research.

Well now to answer you.

I find your research interesting because your subject is one that touches the HUMAN BEING and its mental responses to external stimulii. Blogs in particular and the web in general are nothing but a manifestation of that inner thirst of the humans to create. This creation may result in information useful to others or plain sharing of thoughts which one would like to leave behind for the others to see. While creating we may also form bonds with each another-- be it in fhe guise of providing information (strutured or otherwise) in the name of science, history and all the subjects that we study or be it in the form of sharing thoughts or be it in the form of guding others or whatever form they take.

Barring the goal of earning money from the web by selling wares, information or even porn, I think all the matter that we see on the web are there only because someone took pain to create them there. And such pains are taken by people only because there is a foremost inner desire in all of us and that is CREATE. We as human beings have a natural urge to create and leave something behind us for posterity. This why mankind is evolving, had it not been so it would have died long ago.

After meeting the desire of creation I think the next inner desire in all of us is to form bonds with fellow human beings. When it comes to the web what better way is there than to create a blog or even a website of information which others read and maybe respond too? After all when readers respond, it not only gives a satisfaction of having created and being appreciated but also it makes one feel that there are some people who are reading one's thoughts.... even if one does not meet them ever- offline or online-- even the very people-count meter that says how many people have visited one's site probably gives a satisfaction to the creator of the page (blog or otherwise).... and sometimes we do meet people online and make friends too.

Well these are my feelings in short. Time is a constraint and so I cannot elaborate further on the other aspects of blogging and the web and how it affects us today. I know that is what you are planning to do, so would rather read what you conclude. even if it is eventually something which I already know but the work of the researcher is to collate & out forward to the world, what is already existing or wants to exist in a different form evolving from the existing ones, through his observations, questionning and reasoned conclusions.

Hence now I will just answer your two questions.

1. How did you learn about blogs? Well I am a computer friendly man- meaning I like anything that relates to computers and IT. And so I had an internet connection and have been surfing the web when it was possible in India.. as soon as I could.. and so knew about all that goes on in the www. Blogs are part of the same so I knew of blogs from the web only.

2. What compelled or 'inspired' you to start your blog(s)?
-- As you can see from my 6 blogs, I have different reasons to start the same.

One was maybe I was lonely even with family and work responsibilities. I am not a psychologist but an engineer by qualification and training. So I will not really know WHY I AM BLOGGING.. Perhaps a psychlogist would be in a better position to tell me or you why I am here. But on self introspection I can hazard some guesses. After all I know myself best!! So first was that I felt that my feeling of loneliness was not because I have no one to share my life with. But it something beyond. It is something about my thoughts. I feel my thoughts are something that need an outlet. Whether at office or at home somehow I do not feel like sharing them with anyone- because I do not find anyone suitable to share them with - because of the simple reason-- I feel my thoughts are too erratic, out of the context, difficult to understand for the people who are around me. But I needed an outlet. So I came here. Here at least I can write my tru thoughts and be damned about who likes them and who does not and who agrees with them and who does not.

Now this probably will tell you that as a human being I am one who does not want to listen to disagreements. It is not so. I am not talking of thoughts and ideas which I think are mine and correct. On such thoughts I am very open to debates but I only accept logical debates. And that is what is missing most of the times. But my thoughts are not always and mostly not on matters of debate.. i feel they are something that need to be shared and that is all. Someone should be there to listen that is all. They need not be commented upon or debated on. Most of my thoughts are not for debate to prove them right or wrong but are thoughts that should result in better / improved thoughts and feelings. Examples of this you will find on my RELATIONSHIP site. And also on other sites.

Second reason of my coming here was my hobby of writing and photography. I can use them both here. I need to have something to do to keep my mind active after i retire and what better than dong something I like best? Writing and Photography- and maybe even better if I can combine them. So the blog or a personal web site seemed to be a good idea to get ahead on that distant goal of my life.

Third reason is was forming bonds with like minded individuals. I know the world is vast and I have proof that there are people like me.. who think like me.. and my blogs are invitations to them to link up. I have formed friendships with a couple so far and that is quite good an achievement for me I think and my good luck too. At least sitting from my home I am interacting with people whom I will probably never meet!! And I meet then nothing like it!!

Fourth reason of my blogging can be I have lots of free time now after work ... so to remain mentally active this seemed to me a good way.. I liked to read books and do gardening.. and I have seen my hobbies changed with age and time.. because of changes in circumstances supporting or prohibiting the hobbies. Like money is a problem in pursuing books.. you need money to buy or visit libraries at far places from home.. you need ground for proper gardening.. indoor and terrarce gardening in pots are not that feasible in such hot weather and waterless city. Swimming needs money toooooo - costly in Delhi and NCR... these are examples of why m hobbies changed with time.. the net is the cheapest way to spend time today. And so i took to the net.

Then I asked myself what I can do here? Well I have tried chatting and found that most of the people who chat are nubile fools bent upon some form of adultery or adult activities and only a few are really interested in pure friendships or believe in them. And even among them they are unable to separate the offline lives from their online ones. So even these people are not permanent on the web- they vanish when their offline lives clash with their online ones.

I saw sites which provide information and are veru useful to readers. And I felt the urge to create something as I already have explained. So I went across articles on blogs and what they do and what can be the subjects. I found that blogs basically mean a daily log on the net. Web logs in short BLOGS. But that is best for some people who have created famous blogs of their experiences while travelling across the world constantly uploading text and images through their mobile phones and laptops. Others are maintaining their personal day to day logs of what they do everyday. But this latter one I find no use. Unless I can make it humorous why should others be interested in knowing what I am doing every day!!!??

SO I rejected the idea of a real blog-- a daily log on the web. And I have deviated into the different avataars of blogs as you can see from the description of my blogs above. The ones with photos are to help me develop my hobby of photography and get me some experience and satisfaction of having someone to see them. The other ones are to share my thoughts and form bonds with people and to make me release my emotions. So these blogs are basically helping me keep my sanity in a worryful world- they take me away for a while from the real world where I am bound by rules and demands. Here amongs my blogs I am a free man free to say what I want and feel and free to do what I like? Are bloggers escapists? No I do not think I am an escapist. I think because I want to be in the real world and survive there I am a blogger. Because being a blogger I am preserving my sanity by realeasing my bottled up thoughts and then coming back to the real world charged up once again.

In the process if I make a friend or two-- what better I an ask for? Because they friends I will make here will be people like me!!

Unfortunately I find people do not like to reveal themselves even when appreciating my posts. There was someone who said my thoughts were exatly like hers.. as If I was reading her mind.. But then I DO NOT know who she is. I would have liked to know her because life is short and if we can find someone who is is like us we should bond as friends. and share our minds.. this is what I think. I AM SURE other bloggers have other reasons and through your site and research I hiope to gain insights on how the human mind works...

hope you keep me updated. Thanks.

Research on blogs and the web as a media in the new age

Somebody wrote to me on my other blog here at this link saying he is doing a Research .... "I am a researcher in Delhi university and I am exploring ways in which blogs are helping people to network. I would appreciate if you could pull off some time and visit my research blog at http://nmsoc.blogspot.com and write about something your blogging experiences. In case you do not feel like submitting your writeup on my blog directly, you can email me at newmedia.soc@gmail.com. I will be delighted to receive your comments".

A very interesting Research this should be so I thought yeah why not? Let me reply to him. After all I too did have reason of my coming here to blog and do have a reason to come back again and again.. albeit not so frequently. And likewise many of you bloggers too must be having your own reasons of coming to the web to blog and why only bloggers, maybe he can get more insights into how to world wide web is moulding our thoughts and building relationships- positively or negatively, creating opinions, moving govts, giving succour to the lonely and yearning minds and so on so forth.

He should get feedback from the readers too, who do not have blogs of their own but spend time surfing and reading.. so I welcome all those readers who come to my page to also click on the link above and respond to his questions. You will notice he does not have a question addressed to the readers (those who do not have blogs) but I can dare say if you write to him why you come to the net to read the blogs and how the blogs help you form ideas, solve your problems of information, spending time or whatever he will then get a complete picture and his research material will become another intersting read for all of us. After all somebody doing a research on bloggers and their readers as a part of the macro research on how web as a media is helping in the new age is only helping us understand the power of the web and we will surely benefit from the knowledge.