Thursday, January 26, 2006
On making a Jalebi...
In the past few days, I have often made time to sit down and put a serious update up. I have strived to create the right conditions, which every serious blogger knows is most important - the creating of the right conditions that is, not the striving, though it would amount to criminal something to undermine the importance of striving. One must continue to strive, and strive diligently towards the achievement of one’s goals, even if the goal in itself is nothing but to achieve the highest standards of striving. That would, in fact, be considered the purest form of striving - to strive to strive.
I digress. The right conditions to blog vary from blogger to blogger; some must have absolute silence, a dimly lit place, and their favorite stuffed toy by their side before they can get down to the business of serious blogging; others must have the soothing light of a full moon illuminate the blogging sectors of their brain while they sit under the open skies typing out with their right hand while the left hand twiddles a lead pencil incessantly; still others must first complete a five minute mile before they can hope to get anything close to an update. About the latter, I have a theory. I think they are porous bloggers, whose ideas do not take the conventional route when seeking expression; these are ideas that seep out of their whole existences, and eventually find expression in words…
I have known people who must wear their school badges when they sit down to blog, and those who must have at least two sharp lead pencils, a pound of lined A4 sheets at their disposal, and a white board right in front of them, so that they can type out an update on their laptops. There is, of course, Jalali Baba who will not blog until his neighbor has smelled a dozen roses tinged with the smell of JB’s sautéd flesh, or until a yellow Hummer has overtaken a red Aston Martin on the dirt road leading to a highway in Nouadhibou.
There are less particular bloggers too, who need nothing more than a keyboard for a tool to get down to blogging, and those who find a hundred subjects in a sneeze, a sunset, a sunrise, or an alley cat to keep blogging for a month. I have heard about them, but I am quite convinced that they are the stuff of legend, and quite possibly do not exist in reality. I have seen cases that are close though - the blog celeb trio of Momma, Little Baji and Owlie are examples that come to mind.
Unfortunate as it might seem, I find myself closer in my blogging behavior to the former than the latter group. I must have the right conditions. The trouble, however, is that given the dynamic personality that I am, the right conditions for me to blog can ill-afford to be static. This dynamic disposition of the right conditions, while completely commendable, and absolutely impressive, has inherent flaws, or challenges if you may. The biggest challenge for me is to keep pace with the change. Quite often, I am able to figure out the current right conditions, and get down to laying the ground-work for what could possibly be a legendary post in blogistan; but before I can create the absolute right conditions, change sets in, with the result that when I am finished with creating what were until recently the right conditions, I must reconcile myself with missed chances and lost glory - once again.
It has been a cat and mouse game, with the mouse inevitably getting away, and the cat left to lick its wounds. I am not one to give up though, and try, try, try I do as I must. Success continues to elude me, as does that moment of glory when the right conditions are created long before a different set of conditions comes to be defined as the right conditions, and the perfect update is born. Perseverance, however, is seldom in short supply in knicqland. Its, in fact, the only thing that keeps the place going. Ah! The challenges legends-in-the-making must confront.
So, as I was saying, I have often sat down to put up a serious blog, and worked to create the right conditions, so the serious update might just translate into “The Update”. In so far as I can understand, there has been only one ingredient missing, and it is that most elusive of all ingredients that goes by the name “chance”. It takes many disguises, and would rather have me believe that it was an inconsequential fountain pen, or chilled can of Coke, or the right temperature setting that went amiss at that decisive magical moment when everything must fall in place to give birth to a worthy update, but I know better…I know what is amiss is nothing but chance. Luck has not favored me despite my arduous toil…blah, blah, and blah.
There! That is my explanation for not having updated in a century!
p.s. That recipe for making a Jalebi, here it is.
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11 Responses to 'On making a Jalebi…'
1hemlockDecember 11th, 2005 at 2:11 am
*waves right back*i like the way you think. except in all of this, you’ve forgotten to point one thing out. you almost always end up NOT blogging about what you had intended to blog about, having veered off the course, to either the south east, or the north west.
2yasmineDecember 11th, 2005 at 11:36 am
Man, I could so relate to this post, Knicq bhai. The problem with being a blogger (or at least, with being me) is that I’m constantly thinking to myself, “Oh! I should blog about that!” whenever something interesting happens/is said. And I start mentally composing a post right then and there. But if I don’t post it for reals within the next few days or so, then I’ll never get around to writing it. This would be alright, and I would just move on, except for the fact that the post is all half-written in my head already, and if I don’t get it out, it’ll stay there forever, reminding me, ‘Remember? You never wrote about me.’ So that’s a long-winded way of sharing the fact that there are plenty of things from like two years ago that are still just itching to be posted, and someday inshaAllah I’ll get around to it, because I really have no choice, as far as these words floating around in my head are concerned.
3SaeedDecember 11th, 2005 at 2:47 pm
excuse accepted!lol!& we really wouldn’t mind as long as there is a new update to read & comment on!U can strive for those right conditions as much as you like,& althou you may not be elated with the end result, we love it!I’m sure TNQ & ANQ give you enough incidents to blog about incase you cannot think of something when you’re at the comp???
4knicqDecember 12th, 2005 at 1:22 am
Hemmie: Here’s welcoming back to this place. I was beginning to think we’d lost you to cyberworld…that’s a potent observation you make…for as far back as I can see, I end up either not blogging about what I had set out to blog about, or not blogging at all. I guess, what keeps me going is the thought that if I do veer off the course to, lets say, South East, and continue going long enough, I’ll emerge, one day, from the North West to end up at the point where I had started off from…or vice verca. As long as you are at the same point, you can resort to what you had originally set out for…:)
Yasmine: Being a relative amateur at the blogging game, I seldom get past the “Oh! I should blog about that!” part, but you are right, I get to that part a dozen times in a day. It is what one might call the non-blogging-blogger’s syndrome. The trouble is when I sit down to blog, I can’t seem to recall one such moment…sigh!But hey! You’ve got to get those posts out of your system…you owe it to them, to yourself, and most of all to your fan club!!!We, here, are now eagerly looking forward to those floating words settling down in the RM land! Perhaps, that will give me impetus to move on to that I-have-half-written-posts-floating-in-my-head stage…:)
Saeed bro, you rock!You are right about TNQ and ANQ too. They conduct themselves in Urdu, so the essence of their actions/sayings can only be captured in Urdu, which is why I have long toyed with the idea of putting up an Urdu blog…ANQ has, however, picked up a most appropriate english phrase from TNQ, who for his part brought it home from school, but employs it to communicate with high-fliers only—literally. “Come back hea plane!” as she runs after an aeroplane…
5SaeedDecember 12th, 2005 at 4:14 pm
lol @ TNQ & ANQ’s antics!
6SaadieDecember 13th, 2005 at 4:03 pm
:), for me just motivation will do. when I want to write something I write and at times the urge of writing happens at the most oddest of hours errrr so I endup not posting at all.
7AnjumDecember 14th, 2005 at 5:58 am
salaam knicq! ahh, the classic blog-about-not-being-able-to-write-a-blog post always entertaining, despite the supposed lack of subject.
8hemlockDecember 14th, 2005 at 6:53 pm
how is it smart, travelling across the world to end up at square one?travelling for teh sake of travelling is one thing… but if square one is where u want to end up, why take a step forward at all?*ignore me, i tend to give myself headaches*
9knicqDecember 15th, 2005 at 8:48 am
W/salaaaaam Anjum. Where ya been sis.? Good to see you here…:)
Entertainment is often more fun when devoid of subject. It is then that it becomes PURE entertainment. e.g…ever been ticked off by one of those sitcoms with a message? My favorite is Sienfeld, precisely because it is black, and without any messages…not that it all has anything to do with my blog…:)
Hemmie: I think it is all about making an informed choice…you go around the world and ascertain for yourself that there is nothing better than square one…”I have seen the world, and I know now, my square, the one which is one, is the one. Breeds contentment, you know….
I have been known to give headaches to headaches…
10MaranelloDecember 16th, 2005 at 3:07 am
knicq, if I was a Martian, had just come to Earth, and had not read any of your other very interesting and insightful blogs, then my thoughts after reading this particular entry could be summed up this:
Nach na jaanay, aangan terha . . .
However, as I am not one (a Martian, that is!), I have read your other blogs and know keh janab ko naachna toh bahut khoob ata hay (in this limited context only, I hasten to add!).
Hence, the more apt thought for my Martian alter-ego should be:
“Na nau mun tail ho ga, na Radha naachay gi . . .”
True, no?
Though of course, if I was a Martian, I probably would not know Urdu mahawaray…unless Mars is somewhere near Lucknow, maybe on the road to Kanpur, eh?
hmm… not sure why this comment is so naach-obsessed. Don’t blame li’l ole me, blame the ahl-e-zabaan who came up with the mohawaray!
And about the email… well, I hope its a case of neither (the mohawaray that is)
11knicqDecember 17th, 2005 at 12:32 am
Hmmm…so you have a great sense of humor, and write in a style that is close to my heart - yet to find its name, and if so far unnamed give it one - both of which qualities you displayed amply in that satirical eulogy you sent me about me by way of your introduction; and now you seem to not only have dastaras in Urdu, but if above is anything to go by, you have memorized the Kitab-e-Muhavra - if there is one called so, and nurture a fixation with ‘naach’, or at least naach-related muhavras.
You are one of the very few people I know, who know the Catch-22ish muhavra about Radha….that says a lot. So, here my friend, is thanking you for your kind words, and assuring you that the mail is a case of nither of those muhavras…it is actually more a case of me naaching tigni ka naach trying my hand at time-management, prioritizing and all those kind of things, because all those things refuse to get naaching at my isharas…if you know what I mean :) ¶ 1/26/2006 02:36:00 AM
I digress. The right conditions to blog vary from blogger to blogger; some must have absolute silence, a dimly lit place, and their favorite stuffed toy by their side before they can get down to the business of serious blogging; others must have the soothing light of a full moon illuminate the blogging sectors of their brain while they sit under the open skies typing out with their right hand while the left hand twiddles a lead pencil incessantly; still others must first complete a five minute mile before they can hope to get anything close to an update. About the latter, I have a theory. I think they are porous bloggers, whose ideas do not take the conventional route when seeking expression; these are ideas that seep out of their whole existences, and eventually find expression in words…
I have known people who must wear their school badges when they sit down to blog, and those who must have at least two sharp lead pencils, a pound of lined A4 sheets at their disposal, and a white board right in front of them, so that they can type out an update on their laptops. There is, of course, Jalali Baba who will not blog until his neighbor has smelled a dozen roses tinged with the smell of JB’s sautéd flesh, or until a yellow Hummer has overtaken a red Aston Martin on the dirt road leading to a highway in Nouadhibou.
There are less particular bloggers too, who need nothing more than a keyboard for a tool to get down to blogging, and those who find a hundred subjects in a sneeze, a sunset, a sunrise, or an alley cat to keep blogging for a month. I have heard about them, but I am quite convinced that they are the stuff of legend, and quite possibly do not exist in reality. I have seen cases that are close though - the blog celeb trio of Momma, Little Baji and Owlie are examples that come to mind.
Unfortunate as it might seem, I find myself closer in my blogging behavior to the former than the latter group. I must have the right conditions. The trouble, however, is that given the dynamic personality that I am, the right conditions for me to blog can ill-afford to be static. This dynamic disposition of the right conditions, while completely commendable, and absolutely impressive, has inherent flaws, or challenges if you may. The biggest challenge for me is to keep pace with the change. Quite often, I am able to figure out the current right conditions, and get down to laying the ground-work for what could possibly be a legendary post in blogistan; but before I can create the absolute right conditions, change sets in, with the result that when I am finished with creating what were until recently the right conditions, I must reconcile myself with missed chances and lost glory - once again.
It has been a cat and mouse game, with the mouse inevitably getting away, and the cat left to lick its wounds. I am not one to give up though, and try, try, try I do as I must. Success continues to elude me, as does that moment of glory when the right conditions are created long before a different set of conditions comes to be defined as the right conditions, and the perfect update is born. Perseverance, however, is seldom in short supply in knicqland. Its, in fact, the only thing that keeps the place going. Ah! The challenges legends-in-the-making must confront.
So, as I was saying, I have often sat down to put up a serious blog, and worked to create the right conditions, so the serious update might just translate into “The Update”. In so far as I can understand, there has been only one ingredient missing, and it is that most elusive of all ingredients that goes by the name “chance”. It takes many disguises, and would rather have me believe that it was an inconsequential fountain pen, or chilled can of Coke, or the right temperature setting that went amiss at that decisive magical moment when everything must fall in place to give birth to a worthy update, but I know better…I know what is amiss is nothing but chance. Luck has not favored me despite my arduous toil…blah, blah, and blah.
There! That is my explanation for not having updated in a century!
p.s. That recipe for making a Jalebi, here it is.
-->
11 Responses to 'On making a Jalebi…'
1hemlockDecember 11th, 2005 at 2:11 am
*waves right back*i like the way you think. except in all of this, you’ve forgotten to point one thing out. you almost always end up NOT blogging about what you had intended to blog about, having veered off the course, to either the south east, or the north west.
2yasmineDecember 11th, 2005 at 11:36 am
Man, I could so relate to this post, Knicq bhai. The problem with being a blogger (or at least, with being me) is that I’m constantly thinking to myself, “Oh! I should blog about that!” whenever something interesting happens/is said. And I start mentally composing a post right then and there. But if I don’t post it for reals within the next few days or so, then I’ll never get around to writing it. This would be alright, and I would just move on, except for the fact that the post is all half-written in my head already, and if I don’t get it out, it’ll stay there forever, reminding me, ‘Remember? You never wrote about me.’ So that’s a long-winded way of sharing the fact that there are plenty of things from like two years ago that are still just itching to be posted, and someday inshaAllah I’ll get around to it, because I really have no choice, as far as these words floating around in my head are concerned.
3SaeedDecember 11th, 2005 at 2:47 pm
excuse accepted!lol!& we really wouldn’t mind as long as there is a new update to read & comment on!U can strive for those right conditions as much as you like,& althou you may not be elated with the end result, we love it!I’m sure TNQ & ANQ give you enough incidents to blog about incase you cannot think of something when you’re at the comp???
4knicqDecember 12th, 2005 at 1:22 am
Hemmie: Here’s welcoming back to this place. I was beginning to think we’d lost you to cyberworld…that’s a potent observation you make…for as far back as I can see, I end up either not blogging about what I had set out to blog about, or not blogging at all. I guess, what keeps me going is the thought that if I do veer off the course to, lets say, South East, and continue going long enough, I’ll emerge, one day, from the North West to end up at the point where I had started off from…or vice verca. As long as you are at the same point, you can resort to what you had originally set out for…:)
Yasmine: Being a relative amateur at the blogging game, I seldom get past the “Oh! I should blog about that!” part, but you are right, I get to that part a dozen times in a day. It is what one might call the non-blogging-blogger’s syndrome. The trouble is when I sit down to blog, I can’t seem to recall one such moment…sigh!But hey! You’ve got to get those posts out of your system…you owe it to them, to yourself, and most of all to your fan club!!!We, here, are now eagerly looking forward to those floating words settling down in the RM land! Perhaps, that will give me impetus to move on to that I-have-half-written-posts-floating-in-my-head stage…:)
Saeed bro, you rock!You are right about TNQ and ANQ too. They conduct themselves in Urdu, so the essence of their actions/sayings can only be captured in Urdu, which is why I have long toyed with the idea of putting up an Urdu blog…ANQ has, however, picked up a most appropriate english phrase from TNQ, who for his part brought it home from school, but employs it to communicate with high-fliers only—literally. “Come back hea plane!” as she runs after an aeroplane…
5SaeedDecember 12th, 2005 at 4:14 pm
lol @ TNQ & ANQ’s antics!
6SaadieDecember 13th, 2005 at 4:03 pm
:), for me just motivation will do. when I want to write something I write and at times the urge of writing happens at the most oddest of hours errrr so I endup not posting at all.
7AnjumDecember 14th, 2005 at 5:58 am
salaam knicq! ahh, the classic blog-about-not-being-able-to-write-a-blog post always entertaining, despite the supposed lack of subject.
8hemlockDecember 14th, 2005 at 6:53 pm
how is it smart, travelling across the world to end up at square one?travelling for teh sake of travelling is one thing… but if square one is where u want to end up, why take a step forward at all?*ignore me, i tend to give myself headaches*
9knicqDecember 15th, 2005 at 8:48 am
W/salaaaaam Anjum. Where ya been sis.? Good to see you here…:)
Entertainment is often more fun when devoid of subject. It is then that it becomes PURE entertainment. e.g…ever been ticked off by one of those sitcoms with a message? My favorite is Sienfeld, precisely because it is black, and without any messages…not that it all has anything to do with my blog…:)
Hemmie: I think it is all about making an informed choice…you go around the world and ascertain for yourself that there is nothing better than square one…”I have seen the world, and I know now, my square, the one which is one, is the one. Breeds contentment, you know….
I have been known to give headaches to headaches…
10MaranelloDecember 16th, 2005 at 3:07 am
knicq, if I was a Martian, had just come to Earth, and had not read any of your other very interesting and insightful blogs, then my thoughts after reading this particular entry could be summed up this:
Nach na jaanay, aangan terha . . .
However, as I am not one (a Martian, that is!), I have read your other blogs and know keh janab ko naachna toh bahut khoob ata hay (in this limited context only, I hasten to add!).
Hence, the more apt thought for my Martian alter-ego should be:
“Na nau mun tail ho ga, na Radha naachay gi . . .”
True, no?
Though of course, if I was a Martian, I probably would not know Urdu mahawaray…unless Mars is somewhere near Lucknow, maybe on the road to Kanpur, eh?
hmm… not sure why this comment is so naach-obsessed. Don’t blame li’l ole me, blame the ahl-e-zabaan who came up with the mohawaray!
And about the email… well, I hope its a case of neither (the mohawaray that is)
11knicqDecember 17th, 2005 at 12:32 am
Hmmm…so you have a great sense of humor, and write in a style that is close to my heart - yet to find its name, and if so far unnamed give it one - both of which qualities you displayed amply in that satirical eulogy you sent me about me by way of your introduction; and now you seem to not only have dastaras in Urdu, but if above is anything to go by, you have memorized the Kitab-e-Muhavra - if there is one called so, and nurture a fixation with ‘naach’, or at least naach-related muhavras.
You are one of the very few people I know, who know the Catch-22ish muhavra about Radha….that says a lot. So, here my friend, is thanking you for your kind words, and assuring you that the mail is a case of nither of those muhavras…it is actually more a case of me naaching tigni ka naach trying my hand at time-management, prioritizing and all those kind of things, because all those things refuse to get naaching at my isharas…if you know what I mean :) ¶ 1/26/2006 02:36:00 AM
