More than 50,000 page views in just three months. Either the Google counter has lost its mind, or something extraordinary is happening.
The old post No women please, I am an MCP, has recently come up to the top of the most-read list. I hope the readers have the intelligence and the sensibility to realize that it was written somewhat tongue in cheek, and would do me the favour of reading the numerous comments that came in. How I miss the deluge of comments that older posts used to fetch. But of course, this is the era of Instagram reels and semi-literate PhD holders and five-second attention spans, so I guess I can hardly expect comments beyond emojis, which I do not accommodate. So be it. I shall continue to write primarily for my own satisfaction. However, a few comments on my recent blogposts from old boys did make me wish that we could have a tete-a-tete. It's been such a long time for most of them.
The horrible summer has descended rather abruptly on us. Late last night, though, we had a very sudden thunderstorm accompanied by torrential rain that lasted slightly more than half an hour, and I am looking forward to more such, as predicted by the Met Office. But they are also threatening us with an imminent heat wave, and the Celsius has already touched 38 today.
Currently reading more Maisie Dobbs, nearly finished The Travels of Ibn Batuta, and going through My Hanuman Chalisa by Devdutt Pattnaik. Also a remarkable book called The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi, recommended by Pupu. I might write a review of this last shortly.
An ex student visited me after a gap of ten years this evening, and we had a long and very nice chat. I was delighted that he agreed entirely with me that if most ex students do not communicate, they either don't want to or are afraid to (whatever the reasons for that may be) - nothing else. Being busy is the most pathetic of excuses. He is 26 and I am 60: it feels good to agree.
Yet another coaching session begins this week. Some of my fond readers might do me the kindness of wishing me luck in my 61st year!
5 comments:
Sir,
Good luck for another year.
Hope we can see you,
And, hope that the weather on your side improves.
Cherry blossoms are in full bloom, and I heard that it is the same for palash in WB.
After reading the trilogy of Greek myths retold by Stephen Fry, I read Devdutt Pattanaik's OLYMPUS - An Indian Retelling of the Greek Myths.
Take care.
Good evening sir. I am Sikha. Your blogs have become a part of daily reading. Though now I will not be able to attend your classes,I learn a lot from your blogs. Wish you a good luck for this year and may we get the chance of reading such blogs in future.
Thank you sir.
Thank you Sikha. You are using the blog for exactly the reason I write ... so that those ex students who liked my classes may continue to be in touch from the comfort of their homes. Keep reading, and best wishes.
Sir
Dear Sir,
I too have noticed that the older blogposts gathered more people willing to devote a few minutes to share their thoughts and views. And I agree that in this day and age, people have shorter attention spans than goldfish. I actually reason this with an index I developed. It's called the 'Recipe Index'. Earlier, people used to read recipe books if their palate craved something different. Then came TV shows. But who would waste 30 minutes watching TV when one could watch the same recipe on YouTube as a video. Slipping and pausing at will. But now there's hardly any market for that too because even 10-12 minutes are a lot! Because there are 30-second reels now. I wonder what we'll have next.
I hope the Kal Baisaikhi brought in some respite from the heat. I have been told that Durgapur has really hot and dry summers.
Bhubaneswar was blessed with a good amount of rain, thunder and lightning today. This was needed badly after the mercury climbed and stayed put at 43 degrees for two consecutive days. Luckily I stay in the greener part of the city. But in 5 years this green cover is going to disappear. I am certain that mindless construction going on everywhere would mean that all Indian cities would suffer the same pain that Bengaluru is facing today.
I don't expect much from my fellow countrymen but I hope that we realise the seriousness of the situation before all is lost.
I sincerely hope more of your ex-students interact with you regularly. I guess a monthly Google Meet session organised by your ex-students wouldn't be a bad idea. Nothing pleases a teacher more. I guess they don't realise how lucky they have been to have a mentor and teacher like you.
Please accept my best wishes for the new academic session.
Your's Sincerely
Aditya Mishra
Alas, Aditya, there hasn't been a single 'kaalbaishakhi' here yet this year, and the mercury is soaring. We are going to see 42-43 celsius this weekend, so pray for us. The heat is getting to me as I get older...
You will be glad to know that we do have a Whatsapp group of intimate ex students (of which Swarnava is a member) and we do keep chatting about all kinds of things, even together on video sometimes :)
Keep commenting!
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