This and That

No Haul Sunday

Lying in bed, swathed in woolens wasn’t what I imagined myself to be doing on the first Sunday of the New Year but that was exactly what I was forced to do as I was down with the flu. Maybe the hectic activity in the previous month had got something to do with it. But whatever it is, I missed doing several things I had planned for Sunday. I had thought of doing the Necklace Road routine first thing on Sunday morning followed by a leisurely read of the Sunday papers in Adarsh Restaurant and later a visit to Abids. All I could do was lie in bed for the whole day on Sunday telling myself it wasn’t my fault that the flu chose to strike me. Needless to say, I am looking forward to the next Sunday quite eagerly.

On the other hand, the positive (if you can call it positive) thing is that for once there wasn’t an influx of books into the house on Sunday. I have decided to drastically cut down on book buying until I finish reading at least six books a month until March.

15 Years on the job

On the first day of the New Year I began my sixteenth year in this job. Another five years and I can actually retire, a prospect that I find very alluring. Mine isn’t a very interesting job though if I had tried I could have made it very interesting although I spent half my service in interesting posts without even trying. On the whole it has been a very dull period for me and I sometimes feel sad that I had spent a great part of my life doing practically nothing worthwhile.

The only consolation is that I have lived in the rural areas and have seen the life of the farmers and the rural folks up close. It is an experience worth gathering. When I was posted in a far off place without either a boss or an assistant I wondered what I had got myself into, but that initial hardship that lasted for three and half year is priceless when it comes to telling off the guys who spent their whole lives in offices pushing files. Having field experience is a valuable asset, I discovered long back. Add to it a stint with the cops in civvies and one can actually be a loose cannon which I try to be sometimes in my office.

Some of the experiences I had in my first posting form a major chunk of my book. Prior to this job I had been a copywriter in a smallish advertising agency for about two years which also forms part of my book. I don’t know how those who read my book (if it gets published) will find it but I enjoyed writing the first draft though I cannot say the same about revising it. It is taking a horrendously long time. But I plan to finish it sometime by March or later.

I’ll Do it Twice a Week Now

Writing three posts a week on the blog is pretty tiresome though not impossible. So far I have managed to maintain the schedule of posting thrice a week on the blog but now I am thinking of doing it twice a week. One reason is that it gets boring for those who read it to find that I am writing only about books, some trips and other stuff which may not be half interesting than what they are doing in their own lives. Another reason is that writing a post takes up a lot of time not to mention the effort spent thinking of an idea for it. Sometimes the ideas present themselves quite easily but most of the time it isn’t just so.

Another reason is that there are not many people who read my blog if the hits I get are anything to go by. I get an average of twenty hits a day, down from twenty five a few months ago. It is one indicator that I am not exactly setting the blogosphere on fire with my posts. So I’ve planned to write only two posts a week (Tue and Fri) in the hope that I might get better at my writing if I have the time to revise the posts.

Those who want me to continue writing three posts a week can take heart. I can be easily persuaded to do so since all that is required is send me a cheque for a couple of million dollars…