Say

The Times are-a-changing! I mean literally, too...The Times, of late, had a collection of articles on Blogs. But wait..not just any kind of blog. Celebrity Blogs.
Ooh! I know! SO exciting! I mean, I don't know which world I've been living in till now, but I honestly hadn't the faintest clue about Indian Celebs indulging in the one activity that I've newly come to greatly respect.

People think Blogging is simple. "Oh, just write about your life, yaar", they say. Hah! If only it were that simple. Really. Blogging is, in my opinion, the product of an unbeatable combination- of patience (for when you really don't want to blog), the gift of the gab (and the gift of the typing-patience), sheer guts (to say what you want to), sheer joblessness (for actually doing something that people may never see..and while we're on this, it wouldn't hurt for readers to comment and let the people who put in time and patience and blah into actually writing..feel nice about themselves.I mean, if you like a post..SAY IT! participate in the informal thinking process worldwide! "Oh, just write about your life, yaar", they say. being a silent reader is like being a sleeping spectator..they're both equally useless), and most importantly..the ability to comment. Criticise. Praise. Be Opinionated.

So it really made me happy to see blogs by Mr Bachchan, and Mr Khan and so on. Way to go, guys. Really. It's nice to see people taking blogging as a serious communication medium. I mean, sure..the content of their blogs may vary from a lot of others', but hey..blogging..is blogging. That's all. In fact..I' ve so far checked out only their blogs..but both are very well turned out and perfectly sensible.

Now what I didn't like (and oh, dear media- no offence. This is just me exercising my right to an opinion) was the oh-so-dramatic hype surrounding their posts. Deal with it, frosh! Personally, I found Aamir Khan's post (regarding Shah Rukh, the dog..and if you haven't seen it then google it..I'm way too lazy to provide a link for you, dear reader. So sorry!) refreshingly amusing and mildly funny. Who knows how far we can read into the whole thing! I liked the pun he used, and it was merely to create the whole celeb-bitching effect, that's all. What's sad is the media actually fell for that prank, hook, line and sinker. He literally exposed not his brutal idea of SRK being the underdog, but the stupidity of the media in understanding one simple thing- In a blog, the writer is the master.

Ditto for Mr A.B. His comments were blown ridiculously out of proportion. The most ironic part- Both had to apologise to SRK to avoid this media scrutiny. Oh, jeezbel. Now, now. An unwritten rule of the blogosphere has been definitely dis-obeyed. Outright.

See, you don't write a post and then apologise for it! It's meant to be in good humour and I'm sure SRK sees it (judging by the humour he dished out at recent award shows, come on people..grow up!) You probably print retractions in public newspapers, but apologising for a blog post (which usually is an opinion) is like apologising for the head you have. It is yours. You are the master. You created something, because you felt like saying it. You can clarify its interpretation, but tsk, tsk, for heaven's sake..stick to your guns. Apologising is being politically correct, and a blog is the one place you can say what you want, how you want to..and get away with it!

The Indian media..hang your heads in shame. Respect the Blogosphere. Bow before it. It has an unwritten, unsaid, yet fully understood structure. You don't see people battling it out on blogs about statements they never said. You see smart, individualistic opinions..and even famous people have the right to their personal space, even online. Leave a comment and move on with your lives. That's how it works here and that's the only way it ever will.

And as for anyone who blogs..say what you want, without retraction. Be who you'd like to be. Life's too short, really, to be politically correct even on a Blog.
Such sensitive people (I mean the media..hmmph!) should be subject to someone really really forthright (and awesomely funny and entertaining), like Chris Rock. Such mild Blog posts will seem downright dandy, in comparison..