Tagged!

For lootenant Usha, who, in spite of a marked lack of stiffness, is the right sort:

1. Are you happy/satisfied with your blog with its content and look?Does your family know about your blog?

With Blooger Beta, looks & usability have certainly improved. I'm, at best, satisfied with the content; there are only a handful of posts that I'm happy about. I'd definitely like to improve the variety of the content. My wife knows about this blog, & married me in spite of it. Baba, I think, does not know what a blog is though he'll pick it up in a second if I told him. Maa, the last we spoke on the topic, was still unsure what exactly a phone has to do with the internet.

2. Do you feel embarrassed to let your friends know about your blog or you just consider it as a private thing?

I do not publicize this blog. So those who know, also know me in person. And to that extent, I think it is slightly private. Since the digital world is a small one, I'm sure there are people whom I do not know who read this blog. I know this because a large percentage, & a very small number, of the traffic to my blog are returning visitors. So while I'm not embarassed by this blog, I do not rave about it either.

3. Did blogs cause positive changes in your thoughts?

I've never thought about that really. And I do not post very regularly or attract a lot of discussions. However, reading in general has, I believe, played a part in shaping me (& yeah, the shape was rather round until recently!) so I reckon blogging is part of that whole.

4. Do you only open the blogs of those who comment on your blog or you love to go and discover more by yourself?

I read the blogs listed on my blog & primarily of those who comment on Usha's blog. If I chose to open the blogs of folks who comment on my posts only, I would not be reading too many blogs. :)

5. What does visitors counter mean to you? Do you care about putting it in your blog?

Yes, I like to know, objectively & numerically, how badly my blog is doing. That apart, web analytics is of professional interest to me as well.

6. Did you try to imagine your fellow bloggers and give them real pictures?

No, in general. I know the ones listed on my blog, for the most part. Perhaps, they have, or have access to, my pictures which aren't exactly exhibition material. But that is categorically the photographer's fault.

7. Do you think there is a real benefit for blogging?

What is a real benefit, anyway? It is fun, while you're at it. It develops into a community, if you're active & good. I sometimes read my old posts, & would have turned the colour of a ripe tomato, if my skin permitted.

8. Do you think that bloggers society is isolated from real world or interacts with events?

I do not think blogging implies separation from the real world. If some bloggers are such, then that is the way they are, whether they blog or not. So to an extent, blogging could be a result of separation not so much the cause of it. And hey, I wonder how long can we isolate the digital medium from the real world. For all we know, digital medium could very well integrate into the real world sooner than we know.

9. Does criticism annoy you or do you feel it's a normal thing?

I do not know if annoyance is the word. It's more like, "Oh rats, why didn't I think of that?" I try not to take it too seriously.

10. Do you fear some political blogs and avoid them?

No, I'm more of "Bring it on!" All kinds of isms interest me.

11. Did you get shocked by the arrest of some bloggers?

I did not know that arrests had happened. However, I think cybercrime is a reality & the internet will need policing continuously particularly because it serves as a platform beyond blogging & such services, usually construed as harmless.

12. Did you think about what will happen to your blog after you die?

If I live the average Indian male lifespan, I think by then blogging would have been replaced by some other cooler technology. Besides, lately I have not felt like dying, so I have not thought about it either. But I think the answer that this question seeks is that I'm not too concerned about the obscurity of this blog in the event of me popping off.

13. What do you like to hear? What's the song you might like to put a link to in your blog?

This one is easy. There is this one song which, for me, epitomizes "the drift" - the theme of my blog. It is a Dylan song & here it is:

Mr. Tambourine man

Hey, Mr Tambourine Man, play a song for me
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to
Hey, Mr Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.

Though I know that evenin's empire has returned into sand
Vanished from my hand
Left me blindly here to stand
but still not sleeping
My weariness amazes me, I'm branded on my feet
I have no one to meet
And the ancient empty street's
too dead for dreaming.
Take me on a trip upon your magic swirlin' ship
My senses have been stripped,
my hands can't feel the grip
My toes too numb to step,
wait only for my boot heels to be wanderin'
I'm ready to go anywhere,
I'm ready for to fade
Into my own parade,
cast your dancing spell my way
I promise to go under it.
Though you might hear laughin', spinnin' swingin' madly across the sun
It's not aimed at anyone,
it's just escapin' on the run
And but for the sky there are no fences facin'
And if you hear vague traces of skippin' reels of rhyme
Tune your tambourine in time,
it's just a ragged clown behind
I wouldn't pay it any mind,
it's just a shadow you're seein' that he's chasing.
Then take me disappearin' through the smoke rings of my mind
Down the foggy ruins of time,
far past the frozen leaves
The haunted, frightened trees,
out to the windy beach
Far from the twisted reach
of crazy sorrow
Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free
Silhouetted by the sea,
circled by the circus sands
With all memory and fate
driven deep beneath the waves
Let me forget about today until tomorrow.

Hey, Mr Tambourine Man, play a song for me
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to
Hey, Mr Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.

You can listen to Dylan singing it here. The Byrds can be heard singing it here. Please ensure that you have a fast internet connection.

Finally, I'd like to tag Doozie & Manoj.