Quit Your Day Job

On January 22nd 2007 at 5.18 pm (my time) I got my first comment from a young lady named Veda (apparently she is the other Veda, I’m not really sure who the original Veda is and now that I write this I wish I had asked!). She said some very nice things which made my day and she has continued to do so ever since.

I don’t comment nearly half the amount that I wish over at The Other Veda, it’s not that I’m stingy with my comments, I love commenting on other people’s blogs but am often at a loss of words. I worry a lot about leaving the ‘oh yeah I agree’ comments even though I’m sure they are still welcomed. Take one of her posts: One Good Turn it is a piece of short fiction that is very well written and stole me away from work for ten minutes whilst I read it and then thought about it. The first thing which came into my mind was simply ‘that’s cool’ and it mentions The Good the Bad and the Ugly which is doubly cool. But I don’t want to comment because I can’t say enough about how much I enjoyed this peek into the creative mind of Veda without sounding lame. I’m suspecting I should just get over this though LOL.

Veda lives in Mumbai India and I have to admit that I know very little about Mumbai (I will wikipedia it), Veda works in advertising, has issues about having ‘real’ hair that doesn’t act like hair does in the commercials and has an ongoing (well hopefully ongoing as I thoroughly enjoyed the latest) dialog with her internal mini-me.

I recently asked Veda ten questions in the hope of forcing her to take sides in the Batman/Superman debate:

1. Why did you start blogging?
   I’m a copywriter by profession, but funnily enough, these days most copywriters barely get to write anything much. It’s all about conceptualising and ideation and perhaps the odd headline now and then. So I suppose I started blogging to get out all the words that were cut on the editing table.

2. Best or worst experience resulting from something you’ve written on your blog?
   I don’t really know. I’ve met some fairly interesting people in the blogosphere, read loads of good writing and discovered a lot about myself in the process. I can’t really put down a good or bad experience per se, but its gratifying to know that all kinds of people (including, disturbingly enough, my bosses) visit my blog and like what they find there.

3. I find when I read through your blog that I’m struck by certain cultural differences. Do you find the same thing when you read people from other countries blogs?
   Sometimes. Actually, thanks to cable TV we’re pretty much in sync with Western culture. By which I mean that I have some kind of idea what life outside India is like and sort of take it for granted. But every now and then I come across something totally unexpected. I guess that’s half the fun of reading other blogs.

4. What music are you listening to currently?
   Usually, I tend to listen to all kinds of music from hard rock to Indian classical. So at any given point in time I’m listening to all kinds of tracks from various genres. Right now though, my colleagues play ‘Fix You’ by Coldplay on their speakers, so it’s kind of playing in my head too.

5. What are you currently reading?
   I just finished Stephen Fry’s The Liar. Next on my list is Italo Calvino’s If On A Winter’s Night A Traveller. It promises to be an interesting read because apparently the writer has done all kinds of cool experiments with the narrative form.

6. What food/meal do you cook/prepare the best?
   Apart from coffee you mean? I make a mean ‘soul curry’ - that’s a spicy-tangy coconut milk drink made in the kitchens of the west coast of India. It’s usually had with or after a meal of fish. I make a passably good bacon-and-eggs breakfast too.

7. Favourite character from anything?
   Ok, this is difficult so I’m going to give you options. Elizabeth Bennet from Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Chandler Bing from F*R*I*E*ND*S, Matthew Albie from Studio 60… it’s a never-ending list really.
8. Your favourite post written by you on your blog?
   I’d have to say the one on nice girls. I think that was the first time I wrote straight from the heart and I guess it shows.

9. Batman or Superman?
   Batman, hands down, no questions, Batman. A superhero with no superpowers except his intelligence and courage? Someone who is rich and protects people? Hell yeah. Also, I suppose Batman’s dark side appeals to me because it makes him more real, more human somehow. Superman doesn’t have a grey side, which makes him a one-dimensional and unreal character for me. So yes, basically I vote for Batman.

10. One thing you wish everyone knew about you but they probably don’t?
    I can’t function in really loud, discordant noise. It’s called auditory stress or something, but I can’t think straight in the middle of blaring car-horns or really loud music or whatever. Most people seem to handle it ok and they expect the same of me but really, I’m completely handicapped in a noisy environment. Makes me a hell of a party person, I tell ya

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