Reflections and Retrospective (Of a Blogger)

Reflections and Retrospective (Of a Blogger)

It is not for want of ideas or topics that I am writing this post. Purely I want to take a little break from all the noise of current wars, the lingering aftereffects of Covid pandemic (ex: children’s falling school grades), and the food shortage, etc.. At times it seems appealing to wade into controversial topics (ex: politics, religion) but one can get stuck in the muck of the moment and lose the larger picture of life. Any way there is no point in getting the blood pressure up and losing mental equanimity over the price of milk, gas, fad (the Zeitgeist, a fancier word) of the moment (ex: AI, Artificial Intelligence), or the ubiquitous temperamental weather. 

Years ago I started blogging on poetry, Telugu literature, Carnatic music, science, and gardening. There were some miscellaneous topics like bodily upkeep too. The articles were mostly non-controversial and they helped me polish my writing (communication) skills and share some hidden beauty in (500 year old) ancient musical compositions and nature. That the blogs cumulatively attracted more than a million (~1,000 k) page views speaks some thing about the sites’ durability and continued interest among its readers. And the readers are scattered all over the world; bulk of the visitors are from US and India with a smattering of page views from Canada or Australia. Occasionally a dance student or Carnatic music fan requested for the lyrics of a rare Kshetrayya padamu or the meaning of a popular Ramadasu kirtana. I’ve always acceded to such requests and posted the musical pieces on my site. All this work I assiduously did with care within my time constraints and without any reward per se (except a pair of pearl earrings!); I simply considered this as part of paying tribute to my homeland, teachers, and family. To my surprise some of the articles have withstood the test of time and they turned out into a set of “benchmark critical essays”. Whether any of these posts influences the Indian youth (or contemporary Telugu generation) – I cannot comment. Literary or musical interests do not rub on everybody easily; it does not matter whether they are of highbrow or lowbrow type. Some get it and some don’t – that’s the beauty of life. Hobbies, i.e., non-monetary idle diversions – ideally they should be honed during the prime of life, if they have to be of any help or lasting value in life. 

So like the little sparrow (see a Puranic story about Garuda) on the sandy beach, I’ve kept on writing, adding attractive nature photos, several original Telugu compositions, and a few exploring pieces on the timeless ancient Sanatana faith (dharma). Through these writings I too have benefited. It sharpened my abilities in observation, expression, translation, science, and arts. Here, at this juncture I just want to express my thanks to all the visitors, the random browsers, and keen readers of both the websites: Google and Sulekha. Though I do not know the readers personally, though I’ve not seen any of them personally like many authors I feel a special kinship with all of them. One may consider such a relation as purely a figment of imagination, but then the conscious world is not the only tangible worldly thing in this universe. I am sure a Viswanatha or Tagore would agree, even Adi Sankara will nod in unison! Like pure aural music this mode of communication works wonders only through words, sentences, and passages; it is shorn of all other glitzy bling-bling as in a video clip or reel. The early morning chirping bird catches our attention though it is invisible and far away tucked in the branches; yet occasionally a flying pileated woodpecker or blue jay betrays its identity through a raucous screechy call. Copyright 2026 by the author