At the beginning of 2021, WordPress very diligently reminded me that it was the 5^th year anniversary of my blog. It made me wonder, what prompted me start this blog. I had no rhyme or reason to start this blog, I had no strategy and I had absolutely no planning or thought process behind organizing the blog.

My husband, who is more tech savvy than me, had a blog where he would write about odd things ranging from cricket to everyday happenings. I wondered what happened to those countless thoughts and ramblings written and sent down the ether. Would someone years from now find those ramblings? If they were to find it what would they think of it? More importantly how in a bizarre way, we would be then connected across a different time and space.

Usually, weekend mornings at our home are a lazy, languorous and laid-back time, where the day stretches out ahead of us with endless possibilities, we are usually daydreaming and talking about random topics. I often contemplate and ponder about the banalities of life. And we quiz each other about incongruous things and the happenings of the world. It could range from the silliest of question to a soul-searching quest. On one such wintery weekend five years back, I asked my husband “Should I start a blog?”. As he sat with his laptop, I was pondering aloud, even if I started a blog, what would I write about. And pat came his reply – anything under the sun. I thought about all those inane questions and ponderings, I would send them down the ether into the wider world and see what happens. And thus, began my journey of blogging.

It began as hobby, a whim on a weekend where naïve optimism reigns, gradually it turned out to be a little corner of my own, where I could hear my thoughts clearly, away from this noisy world. I loved being able to write, strings words together in to sentences, and be able to create something.

Although I had no set pattern of writing. I was very mindful that it should not become like a personal diary, yet I did want my writing to be drawn from my life experiences. I did not plan my posts ahead nor did I think about the grammatical errors that cropped up as I wrote. I would write as if I were talking to a friend over a cup of coffee or masala chai. As I wrote more on the blog, it helped me clear my thoughts, understand my emotions better, helped me untangle some of the complex thought patterns, reflect over the past, and create memories. Over time, it evolved into a travel memoir. I did not intend it to be one, but it did. Travelling along with blogging has helped me evolve as a person, understand myself better. It felt very right to be able to combine them together.

When I started the blog, it was a place to capture my random ramblings and thoughts. It still is a place for random thoughts. Over time I saw patterns emerge out of these random thoughts, like a story unfolding itself. I was able to reflect over my past life experiences, learn from them.  It became a soul-searching trip, words, writing and travelling. The blogging helped me travel inwards, and the travel helped me have a connection with a wider outside world.

I met other fellow bloggers, who write about random thoughts, life experience, and travel. It helped me see the world through their eyes, yet there was a shared experience with them. Where I thought some of the life experiences and notions were unique to me, I felt a sense of connection and understanding. I felt a camaraderie with these bloggers, whom I have never met face to face, who are culturally from a different background, who have had a different upbringing than me. I was very fascinated by this fact. It made me realise, as humans we are wired to feel emotions, emotions are not unique, we all feel grief, joy, happiness, and loss sometimes, while the intensity may vary, we might have different stories, but the resonance of the emotions binds us together.

My journey with writing a blog has been a surprisingly fruitful one. It has given me a voice, helped me reflect and share my life experience, create beautiful memories. In many ways it has influenced and improved my writing skills. I am pleased with it, for words are very dear and important to me. The blog was like a message in a bottle drifting across a vast ocean. I threw the bottle, assuming my message was random and incoherent, and I believed it would be lost in a sea of ether. Yet somehow it found its way back to me, giving a sense of clarity and belonging.

Perplexity is the beginning of Knowledge-Khalil Gibran

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