Sreesha Divakaran's Blog, page 14
September 13, 2015
The Women That Contribute To Male Chauvinism
September 9, 2015
Moments With A Stranger
Child Safety In Schools: An Online Event
Barely Forgotten, Barely Remembered
September 7, 2015
Linguistically Biased: Does The Average Indian Hate Indian Regional Languages?
September 3, 2015
Impulsiveness Revisited! [#FridayLessons]
Petrichor and Clouds is now a household name. If you’re surprised by this fact, please become a part of a new household. Warning though, this post is going to be as rambly as possible. It’s not a rant. Call it, a musing of sorts. Or just jump to the bulleted lessons at the bottom. Whatever suits you.
Image: gifrific.com
The first post on my blog was about how I am an impulsive maniac and how I look down upon those who mathematically plan every cunning move they make while on this planet. Please don’t read that post, cos it’s terrible [and can tarnish the good household name that this blog has]. When I started writing, I did not have a loyal readership – just that one classmate, that one disgruntled dude who would disagree with everything I wrote, and a bunch of angry mallu boys whom I didn’t even know [see, trolls existed even back in the 2008s (“2008s”? Moving on…)]. There was no Indiblogger or any of those platforms. By the time I discovered them (late 2013), I had some decent stats, despite having no followers [because, remember, trolls are your friends too]. From there, it was a pretty happy growth. Though my posts never went what-happened-next-will-blow-your-mind kinda viral, life was still good.
Then I thought about moving to WordPress. You know, here’s the thing, thinking about doing something, and actually pondering over it, putting some real thought into it and thoroughly contemplating it are very different things. No, I am not just spouting off a thesaurus. Thing is, I considered moving to WordPress, but I did not know why. I did not think of the technicalities, I did not think in-depth. I just thought “Meh, maybe WordPress. Maybe strawberry ice cream from Baskin Robbins.” So while I thought about it for a long time, I did not “think” about it.
Then I got my AdSense approved finally and bam! Moved to WordPress.
Makes no sense? Yeah. That’s how impulsive I am.
Now, I’ve often stated that stats don’t make up a blog, that they’re not important yada yada yada. But you know, it’s always the rich guy who says that money isn’t everything. After losing all my views is when I realized, “OK, umm, now I gotta build seven and a half years’ worth of page views!” That’s probably when I realized that I am still as impulsive as I was that cold day in November 1986 [I was born 4 days late. It was not like I had a plan, I didn’t think I’ll stay in mommy’s womb and fatten up a bit. When the docs came knocking, I just said, “Nah, not today. I am sleeping in. Another day, dah-lings. Don’t call me, I’ll call you. Tah-tah *flying kisses*”]
Digressing, sorry!
Ergo, the lessons learned are as below:
I was born impulsive and crazy. Docs say there is no cure.
I change my mind a lot. Docs say there is no cure.
Moving suddenly from one blogging platform to another will cause you to lose pageviews. Docs don’t give a shit about this.
Page views do matter, though they may just be an ego-balm. Corollary: Before you say page views don’t matter, make sure you have enough to spout bullshit like that [as I did, a few weeks ago. See bullet point # 2].
Blogger is easy, and WordPress is classy. I am no expert on either. But I will say this – WordPress is a heartbreaker. Blogger will tell you stuff like, “You had 832 pageviews today! You are the queen of the world” It will not mention that 830 of them were by bots. On the other hand, WordPress gets real mean. “You had 7 pageviews today, but only 2 were real and they looked at your post for, like, 0.000063 seconds.” How sweet of you, WordPress. Come, share my ice cream. Or just eat all of it, whatever.
That’s all I learned, how much more can I learn in a week! Why are you still reading? Share already, I am a household name, y’all!
September 2, 2015
The Man In The Corner
The corner of the tavern is where he sat
Day after day until curiosity smothered the deep sorrows in my heart
And raised its head to acknowledge his presence where it was at.
It might have been his artist’s fingers
Or the deep pools of his eyes that reflected my own troubles,
Or those lips that hadn’t stretched in a smile for far too long.
Without preamble, without invitations, and without waiting
Wordlessly, I sat beside him and sipped my wine,
As he stared and stared through the golden elixir resting in his glass,
Through sidelong glances I examined those fingers brown,
Wishing the knots of my hair felt what his cigar did now,
Even as the nape of my neck prickled, daring to wish to be held as his drink.
Much too long I waited, ere I asked, Where do you come from
What ails you that you’ve arrived here to fix
Unblinking, he uttered those words, the words I knew that bound us.
For he said, I carry in my backpack, the dreams you’ve dreamed,
Every star you’ve wished on and the tears you’ve drowned and buried,
In searching for you, I’ve wandered here, and you to me, for you too know.
And I did, though not a moment ago did it come to me,
But the bag he carried glittered with fallen stars and my broken dreams
Then we knew how the air swirled around us, with the perfume of need.
Image Courtesy: Getty Images
August 26, 2015
Moving Notice!
Petrichor and Clouds is now on Wordpress. Please follow it here: http://petrichorandclouds.wordpress.com
Book reviews, new book releases, and all things books will continue to be posted on Rain and a Book.
Copyright Petrichor and Clouds 2015 at petrichorandclouds.blogspot.com
Please do not reproduce the material published here.
August 17, 2015
Dragged Out Of Wonderland
Image: 90skids.com
But enough about cartoons. Growing up in the 90s was an experience to be cherished. It was the period of transition, it was the period of wonder and it was a window to the best of both worlds – the vintageness of the bygone era and the cutting-edge-ness of the era to come. It was the era when rotary dialers were being replaced by number keypads and it was the age of the 5 and quarter inch floppy disk – one you could play with even if you didn’t insert it into the computer! And the era of walkmans! Each day was a new discovery, so to speak.
I recently read an article that said teenagers nowadays are happier than those of the previous generation. It said teenagers are handed everything on a platter and unlike the earlier generations they do not have to demand or struggle for anything. How is that happier? If anything, in my opinion, that would lead to stagnation, saturation, terribly short attention spans, and, an utter lack of wonder in the beauty of life.
That is what kids today lack – wonder. They are born into a world bursting at the seams with technology that it may or may not need. For instance, what good is an Apple watch? Back when we were kids, a watch with a calculator was considered a hot gadget – and it really was,and hell, it was better than the Apple watch! It terrifies me that kids today wear bored expressions at such a young age. Books don’t hold their interest anymore. They will never know what it was like to wait for the next Harry Potter book. And the shock of discovering plot twists while reading it.
My first act of rebellion was at age eight when my group of friends wanted to plant some seeds in a nearby park. My overly-protective father (who, by the way, loves gardening himself) was convinced I would not wash my hands after playing in the mud, and fall ill. Overly-protective, but not really expressive, and as a result the way the message was delivered was, you could say, Amrish Puri-ish! I not only played in the like a kid in one of those detergent commercials (with one of those bogus people called “washing machine scientists”) but also would go to the spot every day to water it and wait for shoots to grow. It didn’t happen for whatever reason, but the waiting, and the anticipation is something kids today will never know, simply because they would rather grow an e-farm on an iPad (irrespective of whether or not you let them – because those are their mild acts of rebellion!) That’s about as much DIY they seem interested in. It does not help either that even schools nowadays show everything using a projector – kids are never going to breathe a dreamy “wow” when their teacher draws a flower on the board, and they will never be called to write on the board themselves. Remember how exciting that was!
I used to have a feature on my blog called “Slaves of Technology” which I stopped updating about two years ago. But from the title of the feature, you could probably guess it content! Truth is, I would give anything to let my son discover the world that is beyond the click of a button, to discover the sheer joy of pulling out an earthworm with a stick, to use a camera at more important places than in front any available mirror. And though he may never wait for Harry Potter (that was an exclusive privilege that the 90s kids had) I hope he discovers the joys of books and stories (without me influencing him, of course!) If he ever wants to go planting seeds, he has my full blessing – and a bottle of handwash.
——————————————
This post is being written for the #BachpanWithFlinto blogger contest. Flintobox creates award-winning discovery boxes filled with fun exploratory activities and games for children in the age group of 3-7. If you wish to gift Flintobox to your child, niece/nephew, or friend’s child, use the exclusive coupon code WELCOME to avail Rs. 250/- off.
Copyright Petrichor and Clouds 2015 at petrichorandclouds.blogspot.com
Please do not reproduce the material published here.
Dragged Out Of Wonderland
Image: 90skids.comBut enough about cartoons. Growing up in the 90s was an experience to be cherished. It was the period of transition, it was the period of wonder and it was a window to the best of both worlds – the vintageness of the bygone era and the cutting-edge-ness of the era to come. It was the era when rotary dialers were being replaced by number keypads and it was the age of the 5 and quarter inch floppy disk – one you could play with even if you didn’t insert it into the computer! And the era of walkmans! Each day was a new discovery, so to speak.
I recently read an article that said teenagers nowadays are happier than those of the previous generation. It said teenagers are handed everything on a platter and unlike the earlier generations they do not have to demand or struggle for anything. How is that happier? If anything, in my opinion, that would lead to stagnation, saturation, terribly short attention spans, and, an utter lack of wonder in the beauty of life.
That is what kids today lack – wonder. They are born into a world bursting at the seams with technology that it may or may not need. For instance, what good is an Apple watch? Back when we were kids, a watch with a calculator was considered a hot gadget – and it really was,and hell, it was better than the Apple watch! It terrifies me that kids today wear bored expressions at such a young age. Books don’t hold their interest anymore. They will never know what it was like to wait for the next Harry Potter book. And the shock of discovering plot twists while reading it.
My first act of rebellion was at age eight when my group of friends wanted to plant some seeds in a nearby park. My overly-protective father (who, by the way, loves gardening himself) was convinced I would not wash my hands after playing in the mud, and fall ill. Overly-protective, but not really expressive, and as a result the way the message was delivered was, you could say, worth rebelling! I not only played in the like a kid in one of those detergent commercials (with one of those bogus people called “washing machine scientists”) but also would go to the spot every day to water it and wait for shoots to grow. It didn’t happen for whatever reason, but the waiting, and the anticipation is something kids today will never know, simply because they would rather grow an e-farm on an iPad (irrespective of whether or not you let them – because those are their mild acts of rebellion!) That's about as much DIY they seem interested in. It does not help either that even schools nowadays show everything using a projector - kids are never going to breathe a dreamy "wow" when their teacher draws a flower on the board, and they will never be called to write on the board themselves. Remember how exciting that was!
I used to have a feature on my blog called "Slaves of Technology" which I stopped updating about two years ago. But from the title of the feature, you could probably guess it content! Truth is, I would give anything to let my son discover the world that is beyond the click of a button, to discover the sheer joy of pulling out an earthworm with a stick, to use a camera at more important places than in front any available mirror. And though he may never wait for Harry Potter (that was an exclusive privilege that the 90s kids had) I hope he discovers the joys of books and stories (without me influencing him, of course!) If he ever wants to go planting seeds, he has my full blessing – and a bottle of handwash.
------------------------------------------
This post is being written for the #BachpanWithFlinto blogger contest. Flintobox creates award-winning discovery boxes filled with fun exploratory activities and games for children in the age group of 3-7. If you wish to gift Flintobox to your child, niece/nephew, or friend’s child, use the exclusive coupon code WELCOME to avail Rs. 250/- off.Copyright Petrichor and Clouds 2015 at petrichorandclouds.blogspot.com
Please do not reproduce the material published here.
