Hello darkness, my old friend
I’ve come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

Memorable lines from a song, which Paul Simon wrote to lament the breakdown of communication between people in the modern society. It’s kinda weird that these lines were playing on my mind when I decided to try and resume blogging, which is technically, an attempt to resume communication (albeit one-way). Mind you, this is not my first attempt at getting back into groove. I have tried…..and failed, in 2016 and then 2017! And now, after nearly one and half years, at the fag end of 2018, I give it yet another shot! Will it remain just “a shot” or a series of shots….only time will tell.

You see…Writing, like photography provides me the means to the same end- story-telling! Yes, if you know me, you will realise that essentially, I enjoy story-telling and I try to utilise both Writing & Photography to that end. The only difference is that I have been more faithful to Photography. But, I love the whole set of events which goes behind writing any article- You first decide on the topic, the specific things you want to cover, how you will structure the piece, and of course how to ensure that the reader does not doze off before finishing the article! It’s a wonderful feeling, if it flows properly, and I am sure, fellow writing enthusiasts will nod their heads in agreement! For instance, right now, I am thinking and writing, almost simultaneously….deleting a word here…adding a comma there…it continues!

But, as a close friend wondered few days back, why take the trouble to write? Does anyone take the trouble to read it? I mean, take this post for instance. Do I honestly know why I am writing this piece, leave alone the potential readers???

Way back in 2015, the “Golden Era” of my blogging, I actually had an ecosystem of friends in the blogging community. Some friendships actually spilled over to the real world. But, I stopped writing, as I started putting my finger deeper into multitude of pies (Running, Photography, Discovering the joys of chatting on WhatsApp, etc. etc.) and I lost this wonderful set of friends. Some of course used to come looking for me, knocking on the door, just in case…. Aunt Ed, Elizabeth, Nuwan, Cupitonian…you guys still there??? J

But, I was not mentally ready to get back there. I couldn’t find the motivation. But, now that I am back after a long hiatus, will I find any of my friends in the Blogosphere?

Somerset Maugham had beautifully explained this situation in one of his short stories (I don’t recall the name). Before the Suez Canal was built, The Brits who came to India seeking a better future would always be nostalgic about their life, back in England. But, travel was time and money consuming. So, they could return only after long gaps. But, when they finally did reach “Home” they realised, to their dismay, that the country that they remembered and the society that they encountered was vastly different. Their friends had moved on in life and they found it difficult to reconnect. So, after a few visits, they stopped going back, because their “Home” was now the society in Colonial India.

Would I find a similar situation in the Blogging Society? Maybe many of them have also stopped blogging, and moved on to other things in life. Who knows?

But, for me, the important thing is to keep sharing the stories, keep trying to find avenues to share my experiences, keep exploring what’s inside the mind. And if there is a story interesting enough, will there not be an audience, interested enough??? Well…there is only one way to find out. As I was explaining to a colleague yesterday, whilst Columbus never managed to reach his intended destination, he did end up discovering a whole “New World”.