A movement that is gathering momentum

When you are struck by an idea, it is not always possible to sit down and write that idea immediately. Conversely, when you sit down to write, it is not always possible to come up with ideas to write. So you should try and write down as many ideas as you can when you get them, for who knows when the next great idea is going to appear. Ofcourse, by the time you decide to write those ideas onto paper, those ideas appear so mangled and distasteful that you end up throwing them away, and run the risk of not writing anything at all.

But since this is a Sunday, and I can do whatever I please, this will be my second article for this day. Ofcourse, if someone asks me, I will say that it is because artistic brilliance waits for neither time nor tide (I read that somewhere), and since the creative energies that craved the writing of this article had to be satiated, I took the effort of turning my PC on, logging onto the internet, and start writing this article.

I will say that this is a moment that I have awaited a long time and it should be not just a collection of articles, but a movement, that is inspired by one of the most under-rated and overlooked columnists of Indian Journalism - Behram Contractor a.k.a. Busybee.

I will say that I have been deeply influenced by his writings and I have read as many of his articles on the bottom left hand corner of the last page of the Afternoon Despatch and Courier that I could (I was too young to be reading newspapers when he worked at the Mid-day) after I discovered his writing. That I bought the Mid-day for the Mid-day mate and the Afternoon DC for the Busybee. Also the easy crossword, that I usually solved in about 25 minutes (the time it takes to travel from VT to Chunabhatti), and feel good about myself.

I will say that his style is inmitable and it has the basic grandeur of an artist, wearing or not wearing slippers, and his brushstrokes on the canvas of Mumbai are rare masterpieces of loving care and affection he lavished on this city. That his writings are a treasure for all of us educated, reasonably sane, thinly-read people to cherish.

I will say that everyone and anyone could see the Mumbai he saw, and feel the Mumbai he saw, but noone and nobody could express the feelings in words like he could. And that his characters are like old friends now, and the nuances in their behaviour are as predictable as the monsoons. Which is to say, not in the least bit predictable.

I will say that I am selfless, and mindless of the challenges of getting myself and my movement to be noticed, and appreciated. And it will take a lot of hard work, and struggle, and popularisation of my writings for the world to take notice and start visiting and reading what I write. And it might be days, weeks, months, and even years before even a tiny fraction of the world who read his articles are aware that I am writing mine.

I will say that Yes, I know that this cannot even hold a candle to his literary exploits, and that I am very very lucky to be living in a time devoid of bottlenecks that hamper online publishing of my thoughts, and words. That I can write whenever I want, and on whatever I want, and that potentially, I can reach so many people and that I can influence so many minds to think like I do. Ofcourse, 'Potentially' is a very nice word that was invented to encourage people like me.

And I will say that the entire reason that I want to write this is because I will feel amazingly better when I write like this, and that I will be signing off each article with 'utekkare'.

Ofcourse, I want to be popular, and I want to reach a large audience of people and I want them to reach me, and I want to be appreciated by everybody. But this, we will not tell everyone. It is our private secret.

utekkare,

Pranay