Amitava Sen
If you are not reading or writing in Blogs you are completely out of touch, you are totally un-cool , you are ouside the intellectual landscape; plainly speaking you have forfeited your claim to the membership of “Antel-dom”. Today blogs wield enormous power and influence over politics, society and even literature and publishing, rivalling network news and newspapers. The Blog derives its name from the word Web logs. The word Blog was coined in 1997, where you can post daily scribbings, mostly critiquing anything and expressing any well formulated or stray thoughts. The idea caught on with lightning speed so much so that according to Technorati, the blog tracking site, 70,000 blogs are being launched every day worldwide. Technorati tracks over 20 million active blogs in real time. Most blogs turn out to be servicing specific subjects, specific interests and specific groups, specific may always not be in their contents but in their souls. So what is baring Bengali souls in North America?
But are Bengalees ready for entry into the Blogosphere?
(Or for that matter any group of immigrants from a third world country?)
Most people of current generation came here for making a better living, period. Making money in this country is not difficult, still easier is to look in to the mirror and see your larger than life image At that point most among us get somewhat delusional and forget reality self-check. We hanker for recognition by the peers, some in art area as actors, singers; some in social domain as club presidents and secretaries. But let’s face it; those skills can not be bought. So we end up performing out of tune songs as singers or delivering forgettable speeches as presidents.
Most, almost all of us left our country for acquiring worldly things; we are the material types. We have not transcended hunter gatherer mode, not yet. We are not ready for the stage. We are not ready for letters either. I remember a disastrous effort in Banga Sammelan of the year 2000 publishing an English magazine . So let’s get back to what we do well, make more money. And occasionally get on to the stage for doing what we do not so well.
Do not feel bad, this is the way the country has been. Remember none of the founding fathers was a first generation immigrant.
Blogs are modern day vehicle for thoughtful expressions. We specially the first generation immigrants have not had much time to think and still don’t. Then there is a problem with language, that also is natural and expected. We are naturally shy putting our thoughts, if we have any, down on paper in an alien language. So expressing through writing in blog is not what Bengalees feel comfortable with. That may explain why you are having such a poor support in your admirable endeavor, Sudipta.
NY/NJ BENGALI
About Bengali Life in New York, New Jersey and the World
Amitava-da,
Thank you for your well thought article on Bengali Blog. Your points are well taken.
The primary reason why I opened up this site for any of our community members to contribute is because I think that this can serve as a vehicle to express our opinions on our society as well as share any ideas or information that can be used to enrich our lives. We the Bengalees of this area do not have a common platform to express ourselves. There has been some attempt to publish some newsletters and newspapers in print, but they have several limits incuding the high cost of producing them.
This blog site is not a literary venture; you do not have to be an excellent writer to publish your thoughts and opinions. All you need is an opinion. As Charles McAbe once said, “Any clod can have the facts, but having opinions is an Art.” And I am sure you will agree that Bengalees are never short of opinions.
We tend to complain a lot, at weekend parties or some social gatherings, about how things are not going right, how things should be done, etc. etc.
Why not share them with a broader audience? Maybe someone will care and can initiate a chain reaction of changes.
Yes, we know that we are here to make a living. But I’d like to broaden the scope of the term “living”. Living is not only making money. Living is a process that is much more than making money. The hunter gatherers too drew pictures in the dark cave walls. They wanted to express too; express their living experiences.
So why not us? The internet and the web is our cave walls. Let’s light up the torches of our minds and draw those lines of our lives.
Sudipta