City Lights

"How do you like this view from the window?" she smiled.

"It is... absolutely... breath taking... ", gasped Ira.

"I know. Spent many a night cherishing this"

She really had. That fantastic horizon... with that extensive and all embracing sea kissing the shore so gently. And yet the necklace of soaring towers embellishing the expanse, reflecting her thoughts in resonance. Darkness cradling the scene lightly, announcing it's presence, and yet allowing the little beads of light to glow. And these little lights, emanating from giant buildings, in their stillness seemed to understand. Not judge, or plan or solve. But just understand. They were constant. Re assuring. And amazing. Always there, every time Maya stood by her window at night.

It had just been about two years for Maya. Away from home, adjusting to her new life. She had seen every other cliche that she had been warned about, come true. She was single, in a large city full of people. Alone and yet hardly every had the time to be on her own. Growing and still wanting to know more. Excelling at work but never really celebrating her success. The only time she was able to reflect, absorb and realise - was at that window. All these moments came alive, with a tune of nostalgia, when re counted. She lived in the moment, in recollection. And it was this view that had transformed her. Matured her and assured her, of her existence. The day came into being, at night, by the window. 

And every day she realised, how far she had come. How wide her horizon had grown, as though guided by the horizon right outside. She felt grateful about taking the decision to leave her home town and come so far - 'to see the world' as they say. And the world really was an astonishing place. She had challenged her beliefs, and stretched every bone in her body to grow and absorb everything she could from this world. And today, she was a combination of all the people she had met. So different from what she was two years ago.

Maya lit her cigarette as she gazed upon the magnificence outside. And in that long drag that followed, it hit upon her. Did she really want to be that different?

The Blogger in You

This has been a blog left quite in the dark. And now that I return to it, that is also what is lending to the charm of writing here again. It's like writing to myself, and yet, what if some lonely lost blogger comes upon it? What if she gets lost in her thought camp and lands on mine? And that's what brings us to the fundamental question - why do people blog?

My profession is such that it makes me question things. Attitudes, emotions, motivations and behaviour. Sounds fantastic doesn't it? Well let me not burst that bubble but instead reconfirm that it's quite an interesting place to be actually. It provides perspectives and always sets the lens right. But now I'm just rambling. The sole intention of telling you what the nature of my job is to technically justify why I would be thinking of such a fundamental question in an article with so emotional a title, in the first place.

So getting back to that. Why do people blog? Think about it. And if you don't blog. Why not? Is it too painstaking? Are you secretive? See all your actions would have an attitude fundamentally driving it. What drives YOU to behave the way you do?

See, from where I come from, people love talking. There are sessions for daily banter as I would call it, which locally is referred to as adda. They love talking about everything on earth - from the weather to the changing political weather and more. It is what keeps them breathing and refreshes them even after a long hard days work - shei parar adda.

But it was only at the end of an interview in Kolkata that I realised this, when my new acquaintance told me:

"It was so great talking to you... after a long while I really enjoyed talking to someone"

What did we talk about may you ask? Well it was a 2 hour interview in which I got a sneak peek into what he stood for, what his values in life were and what had gone into making him - the individual. Our conversation spanned years - from his childhood days to his college days to his boring work life. He expressed his frustrations and motivations and what kept him going. He spoke with pride about his son and the family he had made. In all, it was 2 hours of him telling me, about himself. And all I had to do, was listen.

And even though this man lives in a city where everyone loves to talk, where everyone has an opinion and a thought, and everyone listens... but seldom is it, just about them. People feel the need to be heard. They feel the need to express and to tell their story as after all, life is on  a fast track rail road with no halt button! So when does one stop and take a breather and reflect? Apparently this 2 hour interview let the man vent and reflect and for a second step back, and think about how things had unfolded in his life.

And it is this need, of wanting to be heard, of getting our opinions out there that makes us blog, and that makes us put this information out there, whether someone chances upon it or not.

May be this is obvious.