Friday, March 11, 2011

Ekalavya & the self-study parampara


So...Sisters & Brothers of the cyber world, here i'm finally with the first post. Like all good things in life, this had to be a long wait. Only consolation being that this time I was the reason for the dealy..! :) This first post is dedicated to my philospher friend, who could be called this 'Ekalavya's, 'Blog-Drona', 'Namaji'. His blogs have been a source of insight, amusement & most of all inspiration behind this blog.
For the uninitiated, Ekalavya was an ardent student, who was not accepted by Drona the teacher, as a student. Those were Mahabaratha days and the subject in question was Archery. Undetered, Ekalavya goes to the forest & fashions a Drona statue, before which he would practice Archery for the next several years, to become more proficient than the favourite student of the teacher - Arjuna. Bound by the promise to make Arjuna the best, Drona ends up asking Ekalavya to part with his thumb, thereby rendering him unfit for Archery. A classic case of "the thing you love most comes back to hurt you!" for Ekalavya.

 Before you start imagining that 'Namaji' denied me any privy knowledge into the world of blogging or wonder whether he's after my thumb, let me stop you right there to point out nothing of that ever happened or ever will. Also let me highlight, taking the thumb might not stop someone from blogging or i've no intent of parting with one!! The only similarity between the Drona of Mahabaratha & Namaji, is perhaps that both are clueless how they have inspired action (thought and action in this instance) just by doing what they are good at.

Interestingly enough Namaji's first blog talks about a 'Guru-Sishya' parampara & how that might be a viable model for helping 'to-be-bloggers' shake their inertia off. But i wanted to point out there are also other models that exist and Ekalavaya's self-study model is one such. There are distinct advantages with this model & i'm reasonably confident that's indeed the operating model when it comes to blogging. A few advantages i can see are:
1. No 'Guru' nudging you for the first post.(will appeal to the lazy types like yours humbly!)
2. Every step of the way you are discovering things. No forewarnings or sign-posts, sort of like the baby's tentative first steps.
3. Puts you in the control seat. I mean you are the one choosing the Guru & the Guru doesn't even have a clue about it. That should feel cool.
4. Most of all no one knows who inspired you into Blogging, unless you choose to reveal it..!!

There might be more merits if we think about it & probably some demerits as some might point out. Eitherway this is what has worked for me...
With this I will sign-off on my first post, in part because its late & in part because i can't think of anything more to write..(should I not be saying that?!!:)).
Hope to make my Blog-Guru proud in the coming posts...others are welcome to join the distinguished list of Guru(s) by their comments and posts. One assurance I can give is, I will reveal who has made it to the Guru list, but let me also assure you, none of you will get my Thumb :)