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Thank you, Reader



Tomorrow my blog will clock half a million views. For me, it’s a significant achievement. It would not have been possible to make that achievement without you, dear reader. A big thank you from the depths of my heart.
 
The Readership
Franz Kafka was a rare genius who did not wish his writings to be read by anyone. He let his friend Max Brod read them, though. Towards the end of his brief life (he died at the age of 40), he ordered Brod to destroy his works. Brod chose to disobey the last wish of his friend and so we have some of the finest novels like The Trial and The Castle. I have read both of them two times and may read them again.

Kafka was a genius. I am a mediocre individual by any standards. Unlike Kafka, I love to be read. There was a time when appreciation meant almost everything to me. Now I have transcended that phase and it doesn’t matter even if no one appreciates me. Yet I would be sad if no one cared to read what I write. That’s why the numbers matter.

I made a lot of friends and a few enemies through my blog. I met many like-minded people through blogging. I met people who questioned my views in very civil and even friendly ways unlike the commentators I come across on Facebook. There were also people who told me not to write certain things. My last employers in Delhi – Radha Soami Stasang Beas – told me explicitly that some of my blog posts were too critical of them. When I told them that I never wrote about them, they laughed. I still remember that laughter of the two ladies, one a wizened old lady with silver hair on her head and a plastic smile on her dead thin lips and the other her symmetrical antithesis. “Readers know what your stories mean,” the old lady told me. I said stories could be interpreted in various ways. Those were days when I transmuted my frustration into fiction. Those familiar with the school where I worked would understand what the stories meant precisely. But the stories had universal appeal too. Otherwise I wouldn’t have so many readers from America, England, France and Germany. The ladies accepted my explanation. I think they were only testing me and were not really serious about their demand. I continued to write stories about what happened in the school and they never interfered.
 
Where do readers come from?
Eventually the school was shut down by them and in the meanwhile Modi had ensconced himself on the Indraprastha throne. Modi became a favourite topic of my blog posts because he is the most fascinating character living in today’s India. I made a lot of enemies because of my political writing. I had to unfriend quite many people from Facebook and many unfriended me. Some concerned friends even called me up and counselled me to avoid political posts. They thought I was putting my life in danger. But I told them that I now lived in Kerala where the BJP had no roots.

The BJP has succeeded in raising its Medusa head in Kerala now and the state is slowly becoming like Adityanath’s UP. The transformation of my home state stunned me so much that I could not write about it. So my writing shifted from politics though not completely.

I have had over 200 readers every day irrespective of the themes I choose. They sustain me. This is to say ‘Thank You’ to each one of them, to you, dear reader. I love your presence here, in this virtual space, with a safe distance between us.





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Comments

  1. Very nice progress, when did you have started your blogging journey?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I started blogging a decade and a half ago. I became serious with blogger in the last 10 years or so.

      Delete
  2. Way to go! Always a pleasure to read your insightful posts. Though I don't comment often, I do read so thank you for writing and sharing your views.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Delighted to have you here. Comments don't matter much.

      Delete
  3. Great that you have half a million visitors and regularly clocking more than 200 visitors. Indication of a successful blog.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. You are one of those readers who know how to dissent like a gentleman. I'm obliged.

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  4. Congrats best wishes for many more laurels

    ReplyDelete
  5. Congrats Tomichan Matheikal on the achievement and wishes!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I try not to miss any of your post sir... each post teaches a new lesson.. thanks for writing..

    ReplyDelete
  7. Congratulations! It is always a pleasure reading your insightful posts.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love reading your posts. It has a right blend of realism with irony.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great Achievements Sir, Congratulations!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great, Congratulations , Keep blogging.
    Best wishes.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Congrats a lot Sir, wish you many more million views ahead...
    Its always been a good treat to go through your posts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Jyotirmoy. Time knows no millions. All measures are human and earthly.

      Delete
  12. You are a compelling read! Congrats!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Congratulations! Sir... It is always a pleasure to read your blog.
    I always respected you as a teacher and as a person for your honest and brave opinions.
    From
    Sumit Chinmaya 2008 batch (kabir house)

    ReplyDelete

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