Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Talk to me

I received a few reproaches when I disabled comments a few weeks ago. I’m sorry -- didn’t mean to shut you out and it was always going to be for a very little while. I’ve met such wonderful people through blogging, and commentspaces are such fun, I’d be daft not to want that.

I disabled comments to help myself write right. I don’t mean writing per se (that’s a cake that either rises or not, depending) but the attitude. Somehow my readers, ­­real and imagined, had crept into the process, looking over my shoulder as I typed. And it’s my feeling that writing, particularly random writing of this sort, is best done for oneself, to please oneself. By switching off comments, I was wanting to write more honestly… to create for myself a sense of isolation. This is one of those psychological games one plays with oneself, somewhat akin to setting your watch ten minutes faster and then making mental adjustments every time you look at it.

It has helped, I think. I’ve learnt the trick and don’t need the prop.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good!

Gayathri said...

I'm glad, really glad!

kuffir said...

i didn't know what to think when this blogdoor was suddenly shut in my face... actually, i did.. a lot of unnameable things.
if you'd ever looked at my blogroll, you'd have found that i link to almost anyone i ever read.. (well not really almost anyone.. only those who i like reading, or find some cultural affinity with).. i don't really care if the linked blogger doesn't ever read me.. doesn't even know i exist..
but i make an exception : bloggers, who disable comments..however interesting they might be, and whatever the irrefutable merit of their craft and message..
because, i believe, blogs are made exciting by the incredible access they allow you to savour diverse.. truth.. and commentspaces, for all their seeming triteness, make the real world more real for the commenters and the writers..hell, i think even the spammers contain some great nuggets of truth.... in fact, i think the writers gain more than the readers sometimes.. i could go on and on.. but some other thoughts that struck me about this haven't fully formed yet..
about the heckler(?) at your shoulder.. remember, he's not the ominous big brother who wants you to write in a certain way, he's as confused and tentative and nervous as you are... i've felt him too, but that's the way it is, you've to make your point, despite him, and take whatever follows( or doesn't).. ultimately, it helps, i think, toughen you.. and..
on a lighter vein, it's not hyderabadi tehzeeb, sheetal, to shut doors on people's faces.. especially when all they want is some chai, biskut.. and some wine and shayari and biryani and.. the autofare back home..

Sheetal said...

Kuffir:
Tum bhi khafa ho, log bhi barham hain doston
Ab ho chala yaqeen ke bure hum hain doston

Achcha, chai biskut to theek hai, wapsi mein auto ke paise bhi dena :-)?