Category: Life Ordinary

  • Heard from myself

    As it appeared at blogadda.com. Thanks Harish. 🙂

    Interview with Manuscrypts

    ‘Manu is a carbon based life form, quite similar to you, but he has a much tinier carbon footprint,  he claims, but then his consumption is usually his own words’. LOL. This is the trailer of the person whom we have interviewed this week for you.  A fultoo humorous person by heart, foodie, Manchester United fan (We need a party from you for their triumph :) ). We have none other than Manu Prasad aka Manuscripts with a Y interviewed for you. You are gonna have a rollicking time reading the interview.

    Manuscrypts

    Q: When and why did you start blogging? Was it out of curiosity or something else?

    A: April 29, 2003- 6 years ago. In my defense, I was relatively young then and as many young people go, I was reckless and had the urge to attempt things that were utterly disproportionate to one’s potential. In fact, just a few days before that, I even got married! Now, judging by the content of the blog initially, you could be pardoned if you thought that I was in shock over that incident but as people in bliss (or denial) would tell you, its actually quite a pleasant experience. Notice that I went all over the place without answering the simple question so yes, I really just wanted to ramble. Still do and hey, its not good manners to laugh at other’s disabilities.

    Rediff in those days was promoting blogs a lot on the homepage and that ‘Start your own blog’ link had this shining, winking, hypnotic effect on me. So I began with a verse and as you can see, from there, it just got worse.

    Q: What topics do you generally blog about?

    A: After the initial euphoria of writing and reading and then re reading my own words, I stumbled upon a curious, befuddling fact. On hindsight, there was obviously nothing curious or befuddling about it, nobody was really interested in me. So I moved from me to meme and wrote stuff about popular culture that captured public interest anyway. Thankfully many of these were of genuine interest to me too. Overall I’d say that I’ve come back to me and the descriptor of the blog – “manu scripts with a y“.

    I chronicle my experiences and usually question and explore them. These experiences could be anything from the books I read to the movies I see, the character of people I come across to the places I go for a dine out.. Anything that gives me food.. for thought….Its my journey..a lifestream. So there is no content strategy per se, just some contentment for myself and those kind enough to read me. Oh, okay, I desperately attempt combinations of wit and profundity. :)

    Q: Do you ever get stuck when writing an entry?  What do you do then?

    A: Ah, the blogger’s block. After years of meditative practices which included hours of sitting in a dark room and alternately crying and praying to God, I have attained a perfect state of detachment. So I shamelessly write on. :)

    Q: Do you earn revenue through your blog? How does one go about it?

    A: Like Twitter, Facebook and many other web 2.0 services, we’re still considering various revenue strategies. Its only been 6 years since we started, so its still an early stage start up, no cause for concern. I even tried those ‘Buy me, Google’ banners for a while. Now I just keep hoping that just around the corner are a few VCs who’ll appear and tell me “V C Potential”.

    Manuscrypts quotes

    Ok, seriously, I did try to add cents to my account through Ad Sense, but it backfired on me when some well meaning people just kept on clicking. So I am a recipient of the tyranny of the evil Googzilla monster – they deactivated my account. I never bothered after that.

    Q: How important is it for the blogger to interact with their readers? Do you respond to all the comments that you receive?

    A: To me blogging is about two things – expression and perspectives. Much as blogging is about expression, I also believe that the process is completed only when someone responds to that expression.

    Manuscrypts quotesI give my perspectives and hope to receive my readers. I really am thankful that I’ve never been at the receiving end of any ‘flaming’ exercises, or maybe I ain’t just not hot enough..Sigh. I do respond to all comments, albeit with a couple of weeks delay sometimes. If someone has been kind enough to read what I write, and then take pains to give his/her view, the least I can do is respond. But having said that, I can also relate to what (for example) a Seth Godin is doing when he removes the commenting option from his site. In my case, I obviously don’t get that number of comments, hehe, but more importantly I believe the blog is as much the commenters’ as its mine.

    Q: How, in general, would you rate the quality of Indian blogs? Share your favourite five blogs.

    A: Its unfair to rate. When I rate, I make the mistake of judging someone’s expression based on my likes and dislikes. That’s not objective. But yes, I sure have my favourites. And that’s really much more than 5. Tys, Mo, Cynic, Arunima, Austere, SwB, Ideasmith, Meeta, Kavi, Vimoh, Dina, Shefaly and that’s perhaps the most incomplete list you’ll find. My ‘Site Seeing‘ and ‘Brandwagon‘ lists are better lists. They make me laugh, they make me think, they make me feel connected. Thank you all.

    Manuscrypts quotes

    Q: What do you find to be the most gratifying aspect of blogging?

    A: A comment that says “You made me smile” or “You made me think“. I am happy when the latter happens and positively thrilled when the former happens.*

    *Conditions apply. Subject to change when my revenue strategy fructifies. ;)

    Q:  Can you share with our readers, a light hearted funny incident from your life?

    A: Life has this huge expense account with me. Many of its jokes are at my expense. A lot of the 55 word stories on the blog are autobiographical. I refuse to disclose more details.

    Q: ‘Being a Joker fan, the idea is to put a smile on your face :}’. That is a thing not everyone can do with utmost ease as you do. have you ever felt that you needed someone to make you laugh in your difficult times?

    A: Oh well, the Joker is twisted, so I twisted his words too. As for me laughing, I sometimes humor myself into thinking I write well. But seriously, if I do make people smile, I can only say I am thankful for the gift, for that’s just what it is. Like I said before, many of those bloggers I mentioned are gifted with an excellent sense of humor, and there’s always The Onion, and Twitter.

    Manuscrypts Quotes

    Q: You have a blog for Brands and Social Media which is very interesting! Brands have started making their presence felt in Social Media, How do you think can Brands benefit from using Social Media for their businesses?

    A: Well, I started it because that’s what I do for a living – the brands part, that is and had views on the subject. The benefits from social media are something that each brand has to answer for itself, basis the objectives it sets. And these brand objectives cannot be isolated from what the corporate does on other fronts – from product planning and development to marketing communication to HR policies to Environmental & Social impact and so on. Social media has the potential to be useful in almost all organizational functions- after all there are enterprise and consumer tools and services, simply because at the basis of it, its a two way communication device. Listen.Introspect.Apply.Repeat. :)

    Q: Manu is a complete foodie as we all know and you write some amazing restaurant reviews. Have you got any feedback from any restaurants as yet?

    A: No Comments. That’s what I get for my intense gastric labour. I mean, come on, I run the risk of an upset tummy, high cholesterol levels etc, and dish out one review after another and only two restaurateurs have ever had the guts to comment. I really can’t digest it. So dear readers, its upto you now, subscribe to my feed, and comment. I have to admit though, those reviews get the maximum views on the site. And that’s when I almost believe Bush’s statement on Indians and our food consumption.  ;)

    Q: You are ‘Ex- Carnatic Vocalist’. We are sure your fans would have loved to hear you croon carnatic classics. Why didn’t you give us the opportunity to do that :) ?

    A: There’s a reason why its ex. Sometimes when you try to crowd source appreciation, it goes terribly wrong. But seriously, its one of those things that require quite some dedication. That was a trip until about a decade back, though one of these days, perhaps I’ll make attempts to get back on trail. If my beta testing proves that the page views won’t drop, I’ll share stuff. :)

    Q: What promotional techniques work best for you and why?

    A: As you can see, I started the interview with a link to my blog. Ta-da. You didn’t click on it, right? Early on in my blogging life, I realized that too, so I don’t try. So no hype, just type. But yes, there are a few things that help – directly or indirectly.

    For instance, commenting on other blogs. Not that ‘Nice post’, ‘Interesting post’ type of generic comment, but do try to appreciate posts that interest you and where you sense that the blogger has sincerely tried to communicate with you.. or even himself. It helps both. I have the RSS feed subscription displayed, and hope for the right buttons to be pressed. I also tweet my posts (not an auto updater, but manually). So feed, and bird feed, that’s about it. :)

    Manuscrypts Quotes

    Q: Which tools/plugins do you use to efficiently manage your blog? Any widgets or tips you would like to share with our readers.

    A: Well, for a long while, I only had wordplay, but ever since wordpress happened to my life, I realised that a lot of plugins actually brought in some great functional benefits. So I’d plug the following – YARPP (Yet Another Related Posts Plugin), Lifestream, Mobilepress, and that’s just a few. You have to figure out your needs, and you slowly realise that thankfully those plugin developers have usually thought of that before you. :)

    Tip: Even the WordPress Site stats plugin works, you just have to stare at it long enough.

    Q: What is your advice to someone who wants to start a blog?

    A: Start. and don’t forget to mention me (with link please) in your About page, as that final push that got you started. Oh, okay, mention Blog Adda too :)

    Woahh! Thanks for making us and our readers smile. Keep writing such wonderful posts and eat in the best restaurants :)

    and this is how, they responded on Twitter.

  • Drivel

    He was humbled by the wisdom of those visionaries – the town planners of the city he lived in. Every time he rode on Bangalore’s roads, he marveled at how they’d managed to forecast the city’s traffic snarls so precisely, and then ensured that the locations were named appropriately – Koramangala 1st Block, Jayanagar 4th Block…

    until next time, block aid!!

  • Head Trips

    Sometime back, a friend and I were discussing Bollywood in general and then we somehow landed up on the subject of Aditya Pancholi. Oh, okay, if you’ve forgotten him already, refresh your memory with Wikipedia.  The last I heard of him was when he tried to give Kangana Ranaut a lift, the story was she didn’t want it. During the discussion, I was able to ‘regurgitate’ information about him, stuff I’m guessing few track, since she is also a Bollywood buff , but wasn’t able to recollect. No, don’t go away, this post is not about him.

    This is about the place that gave me different kinds of education at different stages of my life. A couple of years after I started going to school, I was also deemed responsible enough to go to the nearby barber shop and get myself a haircut. After a few months, it was noticed that the time I took was way longer than warranted. I tried to get away by saying that there was a crowd before me, but my mother had a sneaking suspicion that I was playing cricket for a while before I came home. I wasn’t lying, but she was close to being right too. The barber had realised that I could easily be persuaded to wait, while he dealt even with those who came after me, if he gave me the video games he had. The complete version of the truth was discovered after a few months, when a rather long gaming session caused quite a stir at home, and my gaming education lost its continuity.

    In later years, after my childhood faults were forgotten/forgiven and the time I spent outside wasn’t so strictly regulated, it was noticed that  my haircut trips had suddenly regained their lost long duration. Though I claimed I was spending time with guys i knew, my mother had a sneaking suspicion that I was with friends of the opposite gender. I wasn’t lying, but she was again, close. For these trips was also when I caught up with Sridevi, Juhi, Madhuri, Kimi, and later, Raveena, Karishma, Urmila, Manisha etc, in addition to Big B, Mithunda, Jackie Shroff , and later Govinda,  Anil Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Chunky Pandey etc –  Filmfare and Stardust were read from cover to cover diligently, and random bits of information about actors and actresses were stored. They were always surprised at home, when I expounded on actors’ and actresses’ lives and the gossip surrounding them, since we never got the magazines at home. Some of the Bollywood education has obviously been retained in the memory bank even after more than a decade.

    This magazine habit still continues, despite getting a daily fill thanks to newspapers, TV and the web, who consider Big B catching a cold breaking news. When we move to a new location, and I have to go to a new salon, I make sure that the place is well stacked with magazines. There are so many more sources, and so much more content these days, but reading the magazines is a way of being in touch – with the past.

    Meanwhile, my paternal genes attack me from the temples and my maternal genes attack me from the vertex. When it happens, I’ll miss the hair, and the heady education, the haircuts provide. 🙂

    until next time, fountainhead 🙂

  • Blockheading

    He was asked to write about the blogger’s block. How could he explain, that, on some days the words just flowed, and one could write without a pause. More importantly, how could he explain, that on some days the ideas and the stories just seemed to dry up, and there were only pauses. Like today.

    until next time, clear hai? 😉

  • Juley

    In my mind, I can still hear that Ladakhi greeting, though its been a few days since our return from Leh. There are stories of mountains and mountains of stories I could tell you. Of the trip that almost didn’t start because the taxi service got the day and month right, and booked us a cab for 2010!! Of the Delhi weather which over delivered on the warm welcome premise at 40 deg C.

    Of the jovial captain of the Leh flight, who said that one third of our trip cost would be ‘made up’ by the first view of Leh. Of him being proven right by a sight so magical that one could hear a collective gasp as the lofty snowy peaks were seen for the first time through the windows. Of the mountains that for one moment looked the magnificent phenomena they were, and in another looked like clay models that kids made for school exhibitions.  Of another statement the captain delivered on – a free camel ride, he called it – the landing at the Kushok Bakula Rimpoche Airport.

    Of being on a high already and wondering whether one would be hit by the much written about high altitude sickness. Of being phlegmatic while popping pills and drinking bitter cough syrup at the first sign of phlegm. Of wandering through streets where tiny wrinkled old people chanted with prayer wheels in hand, and the next generation listened to heavy metal and peddled rock bands’ skull tees. Of wandering up mazes to see the ruins of the old palace and then lazing in the relatively palatial comforts of the hotel. Of waking up at dawn and setting out on journeys in which every view was click worthy, of getting tired of clicking and relying on the video mode far too much, even as the mind captured images. Of the visit to the gurudwara, where one was caught between the twin pleasures of the awesome sweet tea and the warmth from the cup.

    Of gazing at the mighty river that spawned a civilisation, and wondering how much has changed for the nomadic tribes that live in tents and roam about with their Dzo (a hybrid of yak and cow). Of the noisy rush of air as one climbed up mountains to gompas (monasteries) that awed you with their silence. Of glass cases that carefully and lovingly stored centuries old manuscripts and a realisation of the tiny timeframe of six years of blogging. Of the excitement of staying in a tent, quickly followed by the realisation of how exactly one could feeze to death, and then feeling an intense thankfulness for one’s supple and warm bed companion, despite the rubbery exterior -the hot water bag.

    Of boarding passes that got you to 35000 ft in no time, and mountain passes at half the height that made you crawl for almost three hours to get to them. Of being driven up narrow mountain roads, slipping on snow every now and then, and wondering if your final destination was going to be up or down. Of pitying the military guys who lived in the severe cold, and then muttering at them for making decisions that cost us an entire day. Of creating yellow snow after getting tired of holes in the ground and portable loos that cleared up the blocked sinuses in no time!! Of seeing a lake at 13500 ft- Pangong, shared by two countries, that competed with the sky for the shades of blue that could be displayed. Of a heavy snow fall that forced one to get out of the comforts of the push back seats in the vehicle and attempt to push the vehicle, which pushed back!! Of the disappointment of knowing that nature took only a few minutes to shatter one’s well laid plans. Of begging and pleading and cajoling cops to let us through after the official closing time.

    But most importantly, of the wonderful wonderful person who took it upon himself to make sure that we got to see all the sights we wanted to – Tsewang. He, who confessed after much questioning, that he was having his first meal of the day at 3 pm after driving 9 straight hours through horrible conditions at altitudes above 14000 ft.  And then proceeded to drive up to Khardung La, the world’s highest motorable road at 18380 ft-  all in a day’s work, he said. Nothing I said or did could assuage my guilt.

    The long journeys through the mountainscape pushed random thoughts into my head- of heaven, and whether living at such high altitudes meant that one was closer to God. 🙂 Of whether the milieu that nature offered in these places instilled the compassion and concern for fellow humans, that I saw in many around, and if that was the secret behind the peaceful and happy faces, despite the hard conditions and lack of even common facilities in several places. The great heights and its citizens gave me perspectives and a sense of harmony that I still seem to be carrying with me, hoping that the daily grind won’t take it away.

    As I looked at Leh before I stepped into the airplane, I realised that this might be the only time I’d visit this place. I also realised that perhaps my memories would fade, and I might forget the images I could now easily recollect in my mind. But I like to think that there’s one picture that will never go away – the lofty peaks of the mighty Himalayas, glistening with snow, and a light breeze that causes the flags at the monastery to flutter silently, all of this can only make up the background for the innocent, peaceful joy on Tsewang’s face as he plays with the Lama kids, and as he sees me approaching, he  asks me with his customary smile, if I’m ready to continue the journey.

    until next time, a daily lama

    PS. You can catch a few photos here.

    collage1